111

XVI. Only Pity! 123

XVII. Riviere is Called Back 127

XVIII. Not Wanted! 138

XIX. A Throne-Room 148

XX. Beaten to Earth 153

XXI. The Bolted Door 171

XXII. The Chameleon Mind 184

XXIII. Larssen's Man Once Again 197

XXIV. Confession 205

XXV. White Lilac 216

XXVI. A Challenge 221

XXVII. Women's Weapons 225

XXVIII. The Counter-Move 235

XXIX. The Parting 247

XXX. Heir to a Throne 254

XXXI. The Reins had Slipped 264

XXXII. The New Scheme 273

XXXIII. Larssen's Appeal 278

XXXIV. On Board the "Starlight" 285

XXXV. Intervention 297

XXXVI. Finality 304

Epilogue 311

SWIRLING WATERS

CHAPTER I

THE WHIRLPOOL

On the crucial night of his career, 14 March, 191-, Clifford Matheson,
financier, was speeding in a taxi-cab to the Gare de Lyon.

He was a clean-limbed man of thirty-seven. There was usually a look of
masterfulness in the firm lines of his face, the straight, direct
glance, the stiff, close-cut moustache. But to-night his eyes were
tired, very tired. He leant back in a corner of the cab with drooping
shoulders as though utterly world-weary.

At the station his wife and father-in-law were looking impatiently for
his arrival. They stood at the door of their _wagon-lit_ in the Cote
d'Azur Rapide, searching the crowded platform for him. It was now ten to
eight, and the express was timed to pull out of the Gare de Lyon at
eight