chie resolved at once that he would use the great advantage which
chance and the ingenuity of his friend had thrown in his way; but that
necessity of putting money in his purse was a sore grievance to him, and
it occurred to him that it would be a grand thing if he could induce his
brother to help him in this special matter. If he could only make Hugh
see the immense advantage of an alliance with the Russian spy, Hugh
could hardly avoid contributing to the expense--of course on the
understanding that all such moneys were to be repaid when the Russian
spy's work had been brought to a successful result. Russian spy! There
was in the very sound of the words something so charming that it almost
made Archie in love with the outlay. A female Russian spy too! Sophie
Gordeloup certainly retained but very few of the charms of womanhood,
nor had her presence as a lady affected Archie with any special
pleasure; but yet he felt infinitely more pleased with the affair than
he would have been had she been a man spy. The intrigue was deeper. His
sense of delight in the mysterious wickedness of the thing was enhanced
by an additional spice. It is not given to every man to employ the
services of a political Russian lady-spy in his love-affairs! As he
thought of it in all its bearings, he felt that he was almost a
Talleyrand, or, at any rate, a Palmerston.

Should he tell his brother? If he could represent the matter in such a
light to his brother as to induce Hugh to produce the funds for
purchasing the spy's services, the whole thing would be complete with a
completeness that has rarely been equalled. But he doubted. Hugh was a
hard man--a hard, unimaginative man, and might possibly altogether
refuse to believe in the Russian spy. Hugh believed in little but what
he himself saw, and usually kept a very firm grasp upon his money.

"That Madam Gordeloup is always with Julia," Archie said, trying the
way, as it were, before he told his plan.

"Of course she will help her brother's views."

"I'm not so sure of that. Some of these foreign women ain't like other
women at all. They go deeper--a doosed sight deeper."

"Into men's pockets, you mean."

"They play a deep game altogether. What do you suppose she is, now?"
This question Archie asked in a whisper, bending his head forward toward
his brother, though there was no one else in the carriage with them.

"What she is? A thief of some kind, probably. I've no doubt she's up to
any rog