covered by the
French police. Bezard, the new chief of the Surete, is a pretty shrewd
person, remember!"

"But, surely, that is not possible, is it?" gasped the elder man in quick
alarm.

"No; you can reassure yourself on that point. Le Pontois knows nothing,
therefore he can make no statement--unless, of course, your own actions
were suspicious."

"They were not--I am convinced of that."

"Then you have no need to fear. Your son-in-law will certainly not
endeavour to implicate you. And if he did, he would not be believed,"
declared the doctor, although he well knew that Bezard was in possession
of full knowledge of the whole truth, and that, only by the timely
warning he had so mysteriously received, had this man before him and his
stepdaughter escaped arrest.

His dastardly plot to secure their ruin and imprisonment had failed. How
the girl had obtained wind of it utterly mystified him. It was really in
order to discover the reason of their sudden flight that he had made
those two visits.

"Look here, Weirmarsh," exclaimed Sir Hugh with sudden resolution, "I
wish you to understand that from to-day, once and for all, I desire to
have no further dealings with you. It was, as you have said, a purely
business transaction. Well, I have done the dirty, disgraceful work for
which you have paid me, and now my task is at an end."

"I hardly think it is, my dear Sir Hugh," replied the doctor calmly. "As
I have said before, I am only the mouthpiece--I am not the employer. But
I believe that certain further assistance is required--information which
you promised long ago, but failed to procure."

"What was that?"

"You recollect that you promised to obtain something--a little
tittle-tattle--concerning a lady."

"Yes," snapped the old officer, "oh, Lady Wansford. Let us talk of
something else!"

Weirmarsh, who had been narrowly watching the countenance of his victim,
saw that he had mentioned a disagreeable subject. He noted how pale were
the general's cheeks, and how his thin hands twitched with suppressed
excitement.

"I am quite ready to talk of other matters," he answered, "though I deem
it but right to refer to my instructions."

"And what are they?"

"To request you to supply the promised information."

"But I can't--_I really can't_!"

"You made a promise, remember. And upon that promise I made you a loan of
five hundred pounds."

"I know!" cried the unhappy man, who had sunk so deeply into the mire