aid Albemarle. "You will be
able to resolve me certain doubts which have been set on foot by these
traitors."

"That," said Mr. Wilding, "is the purpose for which I am here. News
reached me of the arrest that had been made. May I beg that Your Grace
will place me in possession of the facts that have so far transpired."

It was one of his secretaries who, at Albemarle's bidding, gave Wilding
the information that he craved. He listened gravely; then, before
Albemarle had time to question him on the score of the name that might
have been upon the enfolding wrapper of the letter, he begged that he
might confer apart a moment with Mr. Trenchard.

"But Mr. Wilding," said Colonel Luttrell, surprised not to hear the
immediate denial of the imputation they had expected, "we should first
like to hear..."

"By your leave, sirs," Wilding interrupted, "I should prefer that
you ask me nothing until I have consulted with Mr. Trenchard." He saw
Luttrell's frown, observed Sir Edward shift his wig to scratch his head
in sheer perplexity, and caught the fore-shadowing of denial on the
Duke's face. So, without giving any of them time to say him nay, he
added quickly and very seriously, "I am begging this in the interests of
justice. Your Grace has told me that some lingering doubt still haunts
your mind upon the subject of this letter--the other charges can matter
little, apart from that treasonable document. It lies within my power to
resolve such doubts most clearly and finally. But I warn you, sirs, that
not one word will I utter in this connection until I have had speech
with Mr. Trenchard."

There was about his mien and voice a firmness that forewarned Albemarle
that to insist would be worse than idle. A slight pause followed his
words, and Luttrell leaned across to whisper in His Grace's ear; from
the Duke's other side Sir Edward bent his head forward till it almost
touched those of his companions. Blake watched, and was most foolishly
impatient.

"Your Grace will never allow this!" he cried.

"Eh?" said Albemarle, scowling at him.

"If you allow those two villains to consort together we are all undone,"
the baronet protested, and ruined what chance there was of Albemarle's
not consenting.

It was the one thing needed to determine Albemarle. Like the stubborn
man he was, there was naught he detested so much as to have his course
dictated to him. More than that, in Sir Rowland's anxiety that Wilding
and Trenchard should no