o doubt that I can
make much better terms with them than you could."

She drew a little sigh of relief.

"That is just what I was hoping you would propose," she declared,
handing it over to him. "It is so good of you, Mr. Saton. I feel there
are so few people I could trust in a matter like this. You will be
very careful, won't you?"

"I will be very careful," he answered.

"And when you have the letter," she continued, "you will bring it
straight back to me?"

"Of course," he promised, "only first I must find out what their terms
are. They will probably begin by suggesting an extravagant sum. Tell
me how far you are prepared to go?"

"You think I shall have to pay a great deal of money, then?" she
asked, anxiously.

"That depends entirely," he answered, "upon what you call a great deal
of money."

"I might manage two hundred pounds," she said, doubtfully.

He smiled.

"I am afraid," he said, "that Messrs. Jacobson & Co., or whatever
their name is, will expect more than that."

"It is so unlucky," she murmured. "I have just paid a huge
dressmaker's bill, and I have lost at bridge every night for a week.
Do the best you can for me, dear Mr. Saton."

He leaned towards her, but he was too great an artist not to realize
that her feeling for him was one of pure indifference. He was to be
made use of, if possible--to be dazzled a little, perhaps, but nothing
more.

"I will do the best I can," he said, rising, as he saw her eyes travel
towards the clock, "but I am afraid--I don't want to frighten you--but
I am afraid that you will have to find at least five hundred pounds."

"If I must, I must," she answered, with a sigh. "I shall have to owe
money everywhere, or else tell Henry that I have lost it at bridge.
This is so good of you, Mr. Saton."

"If I can serve you," he concluded, holding her hand for a moment in
his, "it will be a pleasure, even though the circumstances are so
unfortunate."

"I shall esteem the service none the less," she answered, smiling at
him. "Come and see me directly you know anything. I shall be so
anxious."

Saton made his way to the cafe at the end of Regent Street. This time
he had to wait a little longer, but in the end the man who had met him
there before appeared. He came in smoking a huge cigar, and with his
silk hat a little on one side.

"A splendid day!" he declared. "Nearly double yesterday's receipts.
The papers are all here."

Saton nodded, taking them up and gla