nfamy, but from whom in his awakened repentance it would be his duty to
dissociate himself at the earliest possible moment.

During the two or three days he had spent in London on his arrival from
India he had neither been repelled nor attracted by the smooth-spoken
gentleman who had taken him in tow. Beyond the brief discussion
necessary to the elaboration of their arrangements Nugent had been far
too wary to indulge in useless harping on the scheme in hand. It was not
his cue to emphasize the heartless villainy of their compact. Indeed, he
dismissed the moral aspect of the affair in a slurred and utterly
mendacious justification, hinting that Violet Maynard had only herself
to thank for having played fast and loose with the Maharajah. He even
suggested that she had been really partial to the handsome Oriental, and
would speedily become reconciled.

The black business being thus by mutual consent relegated to the
background, Nugent had laid himself out to be a pleasant host without
allowing it to be seen that he was making a minute study of the young
man upon whom his own bribe would so largely depend. Leslie had not
thought very much about him, except as one of the figures in what seemed
more like a bad dream than reality.

But now all that was changed, and the personality of Bhagwan Singh's
English wire-puller had for him a sinister significance. He had no doubt
that the Cockney Jew Levison was acting in collusion with the more
cultured scoundrel, and he wondered how the latter would take his
revolt. Not kindly, that was fairly certain; but Leslie could not see
how Nugent could injure him beyond inflicting the cunningly-provided
punishment of financial ruin which he was powerless to resist. He could
not expose the conspiracy without confessing his own part in it, and he
felt that he would cheerfully prefer death to so abasing himself in
Violet's eyes. At present his intention was to bask in the sunshine of
fictitious happiness for one more day and then vanish to South America,
New Zealand--anywhere where a pair of strong arms could provide him with
bread.

The opportunity for revolt was on him sooner than he expected. When they
reached the Manor House Mr. Maynard was at the hall door in the act of
welcoming Nugent, who had arrived in his car, entering the park by the
north lodge. The brilliant man-about-town turned to the ladies with
effusion, receiving a courteous greeting from Violet and a sniff from
Aunt Sarah