. This struck us both as a
pleasant manner in which to spend the afternoon, therefore Madame
retired to her room, reappearing a few moments later wearing a smart
cloak and a wonderful black hat adorned with three large handsome
feathers.

She proved herself a very amusing companion as we drove out to
Armenonville, where we sat out upon the lawn, she sipping her _sirop_
while I smoked a cigarette. She knew Paris well, it seemed, and was
communicative over everything--except concerning Rudolph Rayne.

When I put some questions to her regarding my new employer, she simply
replied:

"We never discuss him, Mr. Hargreave. It is one of his rules that
those who are his friends, as we are, preserve the strictest silence.
What we discover from time to time we keep entirely to ourselves, and
we even go to the length of disclaiming acquaintanceship with him when
it becomes necessary. So it is best not to be inquisitive. If he
discovers that you have been making inquiries he will be greatly
annoyed."

"I quite understand, Madame," I replied with a meaning smile. That she
was closely connected with the deep-laid schemes of Rudolph Rayne was
more than ever apparent. But why, I wondered, was Lola so palpably
beneath her influence?

My companion was about thirty-eight, though she looked younger, with
handsome, well-cut features, and possessing the _chic_ of a woman who
had traveled much and who knew how to wear her clothes. There was,
however, nothing of the adventuress about her. On the contrary, she
had the appearance of moving in a very select set. She was English
without a doubt, but she spoke perfect French.

I mentioned Lola, but she said:

"Remember what I have just told you about undue inquisitiveness, Mr.
Hargreave! You will find out all you want to know in due course. So
possess yourself in patience and act always with foresight as well as
with discretion."

I chanced to raise my eyes at that moment, when I noticed that a
well-dressed, black-mustached Frenchman, who wore white spats, while
passing along the terrace of the fine _al fresco_ restaurant had
halted a second to peer into Madame's face, no doubt struck by her
handsome features. She noticed it also but turned her head, and spoke
to me of something else. A woman knows instinctively when she is being
admired.

The position in which I now found myself, employed by a man who was
undoubtedly a crook of no mean order, caused me considerable
trepidation. When I