e got a chance.

Three days later Lady Maud received a document from the Russian
Embassy informing her that her husband had brought an action to obtain
a divorce from her in the Ecclesiastical Court of the Patriarch of
Constantinople, on the ground of her undue intimacy with Rufus Van
Torp of New York, as proved by the attested depositions of detectives.
She was further informed that unless she appeared in person or by
proxy before the Patriarch of Constantinople within one month of the
date of the present notice, to defend herself against the charges made
by her husband, judgment would go by default, and the divorce would be
pronounced.

At first Lady Maud imagined this extraordinary document to be a stupid
practical joke, invented by some half-fledged cousin to tease her.
She had a good many cousins, among whom were several beardless
undergraduates and callow subalterns in smart regiments, who would
think it no end of fun to scare 'Cousin Maud.' There was no mistaking
the official paper on which the document was written, and it bore
the seal of the Chancery of the Russian Embassy; but in Lady Maud's
opinion the mention of the Patriarch of Constantinople stamped it as
an egregious hoax.

On reflection, however, she decided that it must have been perpetrated
by some one in the Embassy for the express purpose of annoying her,
since no outsider could have got at the seal, even if he could have
obtained possession of the paper and envelope. As soon as this view
presented itself, she determined to ascertain the truth directly, and
to bring down the ambassadorial wrath on the offender.

Accordingly she took the paper to the Russian clerk who was in charge
of the Chancery, and inquired who had dared to concoct such a paper
and to send it to her.

To her stupefaction, the man smiled politely and informed her that the
document was genuine. What had the Patriarch to do with it? That was
very simple. Had she not been married to a Russian subject by the
Greek rite in Paris? Certainly. Very well. All marriages of Russian
subjects out of their own country took place under the authority of
the Patriarch of Constantinople, and all suits for divorcing persons
thus married came under his jurisdiction. That was all. It was such a
simple matter that every Russian knew all about it. The clerk asked
if he could be of service to her. He had been stationed in
Constantinople, and knew just what to do; and, moreover, he had a
friend at t