y at Innspruck and escape a close
attention."

"I am ready," O'Toole repeated.

"But we shall not start to-night. There's the passport to be got, a plan
to be arranged."

"Oh, there's a plan," said O'Toole. "To be sure, there's always a plan."
And he sat down again heavily, as though he put no faith in plans.

Misset and Gaydon drew their chairs closer to Wogan's and instinctively
lowered their voices to the tone of a whisper.

"Is her Highness warned of the attempt?" asked Gaydon.

"As soon as I obtained the King's permission," replied Wogan, "I hurried
to Innspruck. There I saw Chateaudoux, the chamberlain of the Princess's
mother. Here is a letter he dropped in the cathedral for me to pick up."

He drew the letter from his fob and handed it to Gaydon. Gaydon read it
and handed it to Misset. Misset nodded and handed it to O'Toole, who
read it four times and handed it back to Gaydon with a flourish of the
hand as though the matter was now quite plain to him.

"Chateaudoux has a sweetheart," said he, sententiously. "Very good; I do
not think the worse of him."

Gaydon glanced a second time through the letter.

"The Princess says that you must have the Prince Sobieski's written
consent."

"I went from Innspruck to Ohlau," said Wogan. "I had some trouble, and
the reason of my coming leaked out. The Countess de Berg suspected it
from the first. She had a friend, an Englishwoman, Lady Featherstone,
who was at Ohlau to outwit me."

"Lady Featherstone!" said Misset. "Who can she be?"

Wogan told them of his first meeting with Lady Featherstone on the
Florence road, but he knew no more about her, and not one of the three
knew anything at all.

"So the secret's out," said Gaydon. "But you outstripped it."

"Barely," said Wogan. "Forty miles away I had last night to fight for my
life."

"But you have the Prince's written consent?" said Misset.

"I had last night, but I made a spill of it to light my pipe. There were
six men against me. Had that been found on my dead body, why, there was
proof positive of our attempt, and the attempt foiled by sure
safeguards. As it is, if we lie still a little while, their fears will
cease and the rumour become discredited."

Misset leaned across Gaydon's arm and scanned the letter.

"But her Highness writes most clearly she will not move without that
sure token of her father's consent."

Wogan drew from his breast pocket a snuff-box made from a single
turquoise.

"He