hat Miss Langley would be duly informed of
his presence, and asked if he would be good enough to take a chair and
wait for a moment. Never was To-to known to make the slightest mistake
about the actual condition of things. Never had he run up in advance of
the Dictator when his mistress was not seated in her drawing-room ready
to receive her visitor. Never had he remained lingering in the hall and
the passages when Miss Langley was in her room, and prepared for the
reception. Evidently, To-to regarded himself as Helena's special
functionary. The other attendants and followers--footmen, maids, and
such like--might be allowed the privilege of saying whether Miss Langley
was or was not at home to receive visitors; but the special and quite
peculiar function of To-to was to make it clear whether Miss Langley was
or was not at that very moment waiting in her own particular
drawing-room to welcome them.

So the Dictator, who had not much time to spare, being pressed with
various affairs to attend to, was much pleased to find that To-to not
merely welcomed him when the door was opened--a welcome which the
Dictator would have expected from To-to's undisguised regard and even
patronage--but that To-to briskly ran up the stairs in advance of the
footman, and ran before him in through the drawing-room door when the
footman had opened it. The Dictator loved the dog because of the
creature's friendship for him and love for its mistress. The Dictator
did not know how much he loved the dog because the dog was devoted to
Helena Langley. On the stairs, as he went up, a sudden pang passed
through the Dictator's heart. It might, perhaps, have brought him even
clearer warning than it did. 'If I succeed in my mission'--it might have
told him--'what is to become of _me_?' But, although the shot of pain
did pass through him, he did not give it time to explain itself.

Helena was seated on a sofa. The moment she heard his name announced she
jumped up and ran to meet him.

'I ought to have gone beyond the threshold,' she said, blushing, 'to
meet my king.'

'So kind of you,' he said, rather stiffly, 'to stay in for me. You have
so many engagements.'

'As if I would not give up any engagement to please you! And the very
first time you expressed any wish to see me!'

'Well, I have come talk to you about something very serious.'

She looked up amazed, her bright eyes broadening with wonder.

'Something that concerns the happiness of yourse