vely checkmated the formidable Rovere for a season. But then, as
we know, Prince Djem suddenly perished, and while latest writers declare
that he actually reached France, only to die there, ruined by his own
debaucheries, I, for one, have not accepted that story. He never reached
France, my friends, for be sure Alexander VI. was not the man to let
any human life stand between his treasury and three hundred thousand
ducats."

Signor Mannetti preserved silence for a time, then he returned in very
surprising fashion to the subject that had brought him to Chadlands. He
had been reflecting and now proceeded with his thoughts aloud.

"You must, however, restrain your natural impatience a little longer,
until another night has passed. I will, if you please, myself spend some
hours in the Grey Room after dark, and learn what the medieval spirits
have to tell me. Shall I see the wraith of Prince Djem, think you? Or
the ghost of Pinturicchio hovering round his little picture? Or those
bygone, cunning workers in plaster who built the ceiling? They will at
least talk the language of Tuscany, and I shall be at home among them."

Sir Walter protested.

"That, indeed, is the last thing I could permit, signor," he said.

"That is the first thing that must happen, nevertheless," replied the
old gentleman calmly. "You need not fear for me, Sir Walter. I jest
about the spirits. There are no spirits in the Grey Room, or, if
there are, they are not such as can quarrel with you, or me. There is,
however, something much worse than any spirit lurking in the heart of
your house--a potent, sleepless, fiendish thing; and far from wondering
at all that has happened, I only marvel that worse did not befall. But
I have the magic talisman, the 'open sesame.' I am safe enough even if
I am mistaken. Though my fires are burning low, it will take more than
your Grey Room to extinguish them. I hold the clue of the labyrinth,
and shall pass safely in and out again. To-morrow I can tell you if I am
right."

"I confess that any such plan is most disagreeable to me. I have been
specially directed by the authorities to allow no man to make further
experiments alone."

Vergilio Mannetti showed a trace of testiness. "Forgive me, but your
mind moves without its usual agility, my friend. Have I not told you
everything? What matters Scotland Yard, seeing that it is entirely in
the dark, while I have the light? Let them hear that they are bats and
owls, and