head for a moment, and a little gesture of
bewilderment escaped her.

"Will you tell me," she asked almost plaintively, "what on earth Mr.
Brott can have to do with this business--with Lucille--with you--with
any one connected with it?"

Mr. Sabin shrugged his shoulders.

"Mr. Brott," he remarked, "a Cabinet Minister of marked Radical
proclivities, has lately been a frequent visitor at Dorset House,
which is the very home of the old aristocratic Toryism. Mr. Brott was
acquainted with Lucille many years ago--in Vienna. At that time he
was, I believe, deeply interested in her. I must confess that Mr. Brott
causes me some uneasiness."

"I think--that men always know," Helene said, "if they care to. Was
Lucille happy with you?"

"Absolutely. I am sure of it."

"Then your first assumption must be correct," she declared. "You cannot
explain things to me, so I cannot help you even with my advice. I am
sorry."

He turned his head towards her and regarded her critically, as though
making some test of her sincerity.

"Helene," he said gravely, "it is for your own sake that I do not
explain further, that I do not make things clearer to you. Only I wanted
you to understand why I once more set foot in Europe. I wanted you to
understand why I am here. It is to win back Lucille. It is like that
with me, Helene. I, who once schemed and plotted for an empire, am once
more a schemer and a worker, but for no other purpose than to recover
possession of the woman whom I love. You do not recognise me, Helene. I
do not recognise myself. Nevertheless, I would have you know the truth.
I am here for that, and for no other purpose."

He rose slowly to his feet. She held out both her hands and grasped his.

"Let me help you," she begged. "Do! This is not a matter of politics or
anything compromising. I am sure that I could be useful to you."

"So you can," he answered quietly. "Do as I have asked you. Watch Mr.
Brott!"

CHAPTER XVI

Mr. Brott and Mr. Sabin dined together--not, as it happened, at the
House of Commons, but at the former's club in Pall Mall. For Mr. Sabin
it was not altogether an enjoyable meal. The club was large, gloomy and
political; the cooking was exactly of that order which such surroundings
seemed to require. Nor was Mr. Brott a particularly brilliant host. Yet
his guest derived a certain amount of pleasure from the entertainment,
owing to Brott's constant endeavours to bring the conversation round to
Luc