nd
every one else--EVERY ONE else--must not suspect the arrangement"...

"Certainly--I quite understand"...

"Mrs. Leroux will engage you this afternoon--her husband is a mere
cipher in the household--and you will commence your duties on Monday.
Later in the week, Wednesday or Thursday, we will meet by appointment,
and discuss further details."

"Where can I see you?"

"Ring up this number: 18642 East, and ask for Mr. King. No! don't
write it down; remember it! I will come to the telephone, and arrange a
meeting."

Shortly after this, then, the interview concluded; and later in the
afternoon of that day Mr. Soames presented himself at Palace Mansions.

He was received by Mrs. Leroux--a pretty woman with a pathetically weak
mouth. She had fair hair, not very abundant, and large eyes; which,
since they exhibited the unusual phenomenon, in a blonde, of long dark
lashes (Mr. Soames judged their blackness to be natural), would have
been beautiful had they not been of too light a color, too small in the
pupils, and utterly expressionless. Indeed, her whole face lacked
color, as did her personality, and the exquisite tea-gown which she
wore conveyed that odd impression of slovenliness, which is often an
indication of secret vice. She was quite young and indisputably pretty,
but this malproprete, together with a certain aimlessness of manner,
struck an incongruous note; for essentially she was of a type which for
its complement needs vivacity.

Mr. Soames, a man of experience, scented an intrigue and a neglectful
husband. Since he was engaged on the spot without reference to the
invisible Leroux, he was immediately confirmed in the latter part of
his surmise. He departed well satisfied with his affairs, and with
the promise of the future, over which Mr. Gianapolis, the cherubic,
radiantly presided.

XIII

THE DRAFT ON PARIS

For close upon a month Soames performed the duties imposed upon him
in the household of Henry Leroux. He was unable to discover, despite
a careful course of inquiry from the cook and the housemaid, that Mrs.
Leroux frequently absented herself. But the servants were newly engaged,
for the flat in Palace Mansions had only recently been leased by the
Leroux. He gathered that they had formerly lived much abroad, and that
their marriage had taken place in Paris. Mrs. Leroux had been to visit
a friend in the French capital once, he understood, since the housemaid
had been in her employ.

T