down at Thorpe?"

She was angry about that fool of a girl, he told himself. A good sign.
But what an actress! His conceit barely kept him up.

"There really isn't anything I couldn't arrange with Mr. Fields," he
admitted. "I thought, perhaps, as I was up, you might have some special
instructions. That is why I sent to ask if you would see me."

He looked at her almost eagerly. After all, she was the same woman who
had been kind to him at Thorpe. And yet, was she? A sudden thought
startled him. She was changed. Had she guessed that he knew her secret?

"No!" she said deliberately. "I do not think that there is anything. If
you could find out Mr. Macheson's address I should be much obliged."

Hurd was puzzled. This was the second time. What could she have to say
to Macheson?

"He was here last night, but I forgot to ask him," she continued
equably.

"Macheson, here!" he exclaimed.

"It was he who brought the girl, Letty," she said.

He was silent for a moment.

"He's a queer lot," he said. "Came to Thorpe, of all places, as a sort
of missioner, and he was about town last night most immaculately got up;
nothing of the parson about him, I can assure you."

"No!" she answered quietly. "Well, if you can discover his address,
remember I should be glad to hear it."

He took up his hat reluctantly. He had hoped at least that he might have
been asked to luncheon. It was obvious, however, that he was expected to
depart, and he did so. On the whole, although he had escaped from an
exceedingly awkward situation, he could scarcely consider his visit a
success. On his way out he passed Deyes, stepping out of a cab piled up
with luggage. He nodded to Hurd in a friendly manner.

"Miss Thorpe-Hatton in?" he asked.

"Just left her," Hurd answered.

Deyes passed on, and was received by the butler as a favoured guest. He
was shown at once into the morning-room.

CHAPTER XIX

A REPORT FROM PARIS

"For the first time in my life," Deyes declared, accepting the cigarette
and the easy-chair, "I have appreciated Paris. I have gone there as a
tourist. I have drunk strange drinks at the Cafe de la Paix. I have sat
upon the boulevards and ogled the obvious lady."

"And my little guide?" she asked.

"Has disappeared!" he answered.

"Since when?"

"A month ago! It is reported that he came to England."

Wilhelmina sat still for several moments. To a casual observer she might
have seemed unmoved. Deyes, however, was