t to defraud and rob me of
my--my--property, of that which I most highly value and cherish of
all my possessions?"

"I don't know what you are talking about, Lord Blackadder, but
whatever your grievance I tell you candidly that I do not like your
tone or your manner, and I shall hold no further converse with you."

I turned my back on him and walked away.

"Stay, stay. You must and shall hear me out. I've not done with you."
He came hurrying after me, following close and raising his voice
higher and higher. "Your very presence here is an offence. You have no
right to be here at all."

"Do you think that you own all Switzerland, my noble earl?" I answered
over my shoulder as I walked on. "It is not your ground to warn me
off."

"I tell you you shall not remain here to annoy me and work against me.
I forbid it, and I will put a stop to it. I give you plain warning."

"You know you are talking nonsense. I shall go my own road, and I defy
you to do your worst."

Here, when I was on the threshold of the hotel, I met Falfani full,
as he came running out excitedly, holding in his hand the telltale
blue envelope, which, with his elated air, indicated clearly that he
had just received important news.

I paused for a moment, hoping he might commit himself, and was
rewarded by hearing him say aloud:

"It is from Geneva, my lord, from Ludovic Tiler," he began
indiscreetly, and was angrily silenced by my lord, who called him "a
triple-dyed idiot," and with a significant gesture towards me bade him
walk away to some distance from the hotel.

The mischief was done, however, for I had of course heard enough to
know that the other detective had given signs of life at last, and
that the report, to judge by Falfani's glee, must be satisfactory. The
more pleased the other side, the more reason to fear that matters were
adverse on ours.

CHAPTER XV.

It might be thought that I was too hard on my Lord Blackadder, but
only those few indeed who were unacquainted with the circumstances of
his divorce would find fault with me. The scandal was quite recent,
and the Blackadder case had been in everybody's mouth. The papers had
been full of it, and the proceedings were not altogether to his
lordship's credit. They had been instituted by him, however, on
grounds that induced the jury to give him a verdict, and the judge had
pronounced a decree nisi on the evidence as it stood.

Yet the public sympathies were generally with