. Hargrove, you and I have been--with, I believe, equal
reluctance--forced into the same boat, and since _bongre malgre_ we
must voyage for a time together, in the interest of this unfortunate
child, candour becomes us both. Men of my profession sometimes resort
to agencies that the members of yours usually shrink from. I too was
once very sceptical concerning the truth of Mrs. Orme's fragmentary
story, for it was the merest _disjecta membra_ which she entrusted to
me, and my credulity declined to honour her heavy drafts. To satisfy
myself, I employed a shrewd female detective to 'shadow' the pretty
actress for nearly a year, and her reports convinced me that my
client, whilst struggling with Napoleonic ambition and pertinacity to
attain the zenith of success in her profession, was as little
addicted to coquetry as the statue of Washington in Union Square, or
the steeple of Trinity Church; and that in the midst of flattery and
adulation she was the same proud, cold, suffering, almost
broken-hearted wife she had always appeared in her conferences with
me. Induging this belief, I have accepted the joint guardianship of
her daughter, on condition that whenever it becomes necessary to
receive her under my immediate protection, I shall be made
acquainted with her real name."

"Thank you, my dear sir, for your frankness, which I would most
joyfully reciprocate, were I not bound by a promise to make no
revelations until she gives me permission, or her death unseals my
lips. I hope you fully comprehend my awkward position. There is a
conspiracy to defraud her and her child of their social and legal
rights, and I fear both will be victimized; but she insists that
secrecy will deliver her from the snares of her enemies. I suppose
you are aware that General----"

He paused, and bit his lip, and again the lawyer's handsome mouth
disclosed his perfect teeth.

"There is no mischief in your dropped stitch; I shall not pick it up.
I know that Mrs. Orme's husband is in Europe, and I was assured that
motives of a personal character induced her to make certain
professional engagements in England and upon the Continent. I am not
enthusiastic, and rarely venture prophecies, but I shall be much
disappointed if her Richelieu tactics do not finally triumph."

"Can you tell me why she does not openly bring suit against her
husband for bigamy?"

"Simply because she has been informed that the policy of the defence
would be to at once attac