ather, madame has been so kind as to offer me
one,' he corrected.

'Would you like some lunch, Lady Georgina?' I asked, in my chilliest
voice. 'There are ten minutes to spare, and the _buffet_ is excellent.'

'An admirable inspiration,' the Count murmured. 'Permit me to escort
you, miladi.'

'You will come, Lois?' Lady Georgina asked.

'No, thank you,' I answered, for I had an idea. 'I am a capital sailor,
but the sea takes away my appetite.'

'Then you'll keep our places,' she said, turning to me. 'I hope you
won't allow them to stick in any horrid foreigners! They will try to
force them on you unless you insist. _I_ know their tricky ways. You
have the tickets, I trust? And the _bulletin_ for the _coupe_? Well,
mind you don't lose the paper for the registered luggage. Don't let
those dreadful porters touch my cloaks. And if anybody attempts to get
in, be sure you stand in front of the door as they mount to prevent
them.'

The Count handed her out; he was all high courtly politeness. As Lady
Georgina descended, he made yet another dexterous effort to relieve her
of the jewel-case. I don't think she noticed it, but automatically once
more she waved him aside. Then she turned to me. 'Here, my dear,' she
said, handing it to me, 'you'd better take care of it. If I lay it down
in the _buffet_ while I am eating my soup, some rogue may run away with
it. But mind, don't let it out of your hands on any account. Hold it
so, on your knee; and, for Heaven's sake, don't part with it.'

[Illustration: THAT SUCCEEDS? THE SHABBY-LOOKING MAN MUTTERED.]

By this time my suspicions of the Count were profound. From the first I
had doubted him; he was so blandly plausible. But as we landed at Ostend
I had accidentally overheard a low whispered conversation when he passed
a shabby-looking man, who had travelled in a second-class carriage from
London. 'That succeeds?' the shabby-looking man had muttered under his
breath in French, as the haughty nobleman with the waxed moustache
brushed by him.

'That succeeds admirably,' the Count had answered, in the same soft
undertone. '_Ca reussit a merveille!_'

I understood him to mean that he had prospered in his attempt to impose
on Lady Georgina.

They had been gone five minutes at the _buffet_, when the Count came
back hurriedly to the door of the _coupe_ with a _nonchalant_ air. 'Oh,
mademoiselle,' he said, in an off-hand tone, 'Lady Georgina has sent me
to fetch her jewel-case.'