e now
caught a faint likeness of Jack Armytage. "Well, well, my dear, I am
very glad you have told me of this. If Mr. Butler is ever taken and in
danger--there will be a court-martial, of course--send me word of it,
and I will see what I can do, both for your sake and for the sake of
strict justice."

"Oh, not for my sake," she protested, reddening slightly at the gentle
imputation. "Mr. Butler is nothing to me--that is to say, he is just my
cousin. It is for Una's sake that I am asking this."

"Why, then, for Lady O'Moy's sake, since you ask it," he replied
readily. "But," he warned her, "say nothing of it until Mr. Butler is
found." It is possible he believed that Butler never would be found.
"And remember, I promise only to give the matter my attention. If it is
as you represent it, I think you may be sure that the worst that will
befall Mr. Butler will be dismissal from the service. He deserves that.
But I hope I should be the last man to permit a British officer to be
used as a scapegoat or a burnt-offering to the mob or to any Council of
Regency. By the way, who told you this about a scapegoat?"

"Captain Tremayne."

"Captain Tremayne? Oh, the man who killed Samoval?"

"He didn't," she cried.

On that almost fierce denial his lordship looked at her, raising his
eyebrows in astonishment.

"But I am told that he did, and he is under arrest for it this
moment--for that, and for breaking my order against duelling."

"You were not told the truth, my lord. Captain Tremayne says that he
didn't, and if he says so it is so."

"Oh, of course, Miss Armytage!" He was a man of unparalleled valour and
boldness, yet so fierce was she in that moment that for the life of him
he dared not have contradicted her.

"Captain Tremayne is the most honourable man I know," she continued,
"and if he had killed Samoval he would never have denied it; he would
have proclaimed it to all the world."

"There is no need for all this heat, my dear," he reassured her. "The
point is not one that can remain in doubt. The seconds of the duel will
be forthcoming; and they will tell us who were the principals."

"There were no seconds," she informed him.

"No seconds!" he cried in horror. "D' ye mean they just fought a rough
and tumble fight?"

"I mean they never fought at all. As for this tale of a duel, I ask
your lordship: Had Captain Tremayne desired a secret meeting with Count
Samoval, would he have chosen this of all places in whi