himself, however, made his voice sound hard and unfamiliar. There were
little patches of white around his mouth; his teeth showed, when he
spoke, more than usual.

"If there were any one else," he declared, "and that some one else
should chance to be an Englishman, I would find a new hell for him."

"There is no one else," she answered calmly, "but if there ever should
be, Oscar Immelan, and if you ever interfered with him, either in this
country or any other, my arm would follow you around the world. Remember
that."

She turned away for a moment, eager to gain a brief respite from his
darkening face. When she looked around, he was gone. She heard his
footsteps passing down the corridor, the bell ringing for the lift, the
clank of the gates as he stepped in. Once more she gazed out over the
uninspiring prospect. There was a little more sunshine upon the river;
more of the dusty chimney-pots seemed bathed in its silvery radiance. As
she stood there, she felt herself growing calmer. The tension passed
from her nerves. Her eyes grew soft again. Then an impulse came to her.
She stretched out her hand for the telephone book, turned over the pages
restlessly, looked through the "D's" until she found the name for which
she was searching. For a long time she hesitated. When at last she took
up the receiver and asked for a number, she was conscious of a slight
thrill, a sense of excitement which in moments of more complete
self-control would at least have served as a warning to her.

CHAPTER X

The curtain fell upon the first act of "Louise." The lights were turned
up, the tenseness relaxed, men made dives for their hats, and the
unmusical murmured the usual platitudes. Naida leaned forward from the
corner of her box to the man who was her sole companion.

"Father," she said, "I am expecting a caller with whom I wish to
speak--Lord Dorminster. If he comes, will you leave us alone? And if any
one else should be here, please take them away."

"More mysteries," her father muttered, not unkindly. "Who is this man
Dorminster?"

Naida leaned back in her chair and fanned herself slowly.

"No one I know very much about," she acknowledged. "I have selected him
in my mind, however as being a typical Englishman of his class. I wish
to talk to him, to appreciate his point of view. You know what Paul said
when he gave you the appointment and sent us over here: 'Find out for me
what sort of men these Englishmen are.'"

"M