aid to me, "You must call on her."

"No," I said; "she is suspected of something and I, at least for a
time, was taken to be an accomplice. That would never do."

"You are right," returned Merton, thoughtfully; "quite right. You must
keep quiet. The matter, whatever it may be, is still unsettled; but I
am resolute to find what this woman has done, and why she is watched
like a suspected thief. I never was more curious."

For a moment we considered the situation in silence. At last Merton
said, "If this woman goes out into society, might you not chance to
meet her?"

"Yes, but I never as yet have done so, and I remember faces well. I
may meet her any day, or never meet her at all, but any direct
approach we must give up. The more I think of it, the graver it
appears. If it be a police affair, no letter reaches her unopened.
Rest assured of that. She is like a fly in a cobweb. Chance may help
us, but so far the luck has been against us."

"No," said Merton; "the game is not played out. There is something
they don't know, and they are, therefore, no better off than we."

With this he went away and Alphonse returned. The man was plainly
troubled. He said he could do no more, and that when he had made his
report to the police that day he had been told to keep a closer watch
on me and my letters. Might he show them a note or two?

I said, laughing: "Yes; there are two replies to invitations and a
note to my tailor."

That would do, and might he venture to say that monsieur would be well
advised to keep out of the matter?

I thanked him, and there the thing stood over for several days longer.

IX

Two days later I dined at one of the great Bonapartist houses. I was
late, and as the guests were about to go to dinner, our hostess said,
"Let me present you to a fellow countrywoman, M. Greville of the
American Legation--Mme. Bellegarde." I was so taken aback that I could
hardly find words to speak to her until we sat down together at
dinner. She, too, was equally agitated. I talked awhile to my
left-hand neighbor, but presently her adjoining table companion spoke
to her and being thus set free, I said to Mme. Bellegarde in English,
speaking low:

"You are my countrywoman, and are, as I know, in trouble. What is it?
After we met I learned your name, but I have been prudent enough to
refrain from calling."

She said: "Yes; you are right. I am in trouble, and of my own making.
In my distress that awful night