maxwell turned over the card thoughtfully and studied the neat handwriting thereon.

"we are dealing with one of the cleverest women in europe," he said. "see how wonderfully she recovers her mistakes and picks up the tracks again. but i don't see that maxgregor can have anything to do with it. what do you say, doctor?"

"i should say that maxgregor had a great deal to do with it," varney replied. "if he were not a deadly foe to these people here, there would have been no attempt to shoot him as there was to-night. do you think that he has been tracked back to his lodgings?"

"i should say not," jessie put in. "i was very careful about that. i told you all about the fair woman in the lane, and the way i prevented her from following the general when he went away in the ill-fitting evening dress of the king. but there might have been spies who——"

"i don't think so," varney interrupted. "evidently these people have found out that maxgregor blocks the way. depend upon it that the report has gone out to the effect that the king has left here—or so countess saens thinks. she calculated that maxgregor is still here, because the messenger is sent to mazaroff at the house. if they knew that maxgregor was lying wounded at his lodgings, they would work at their leisure and there would have been no occasion to send that letter here."

[163]

"which must not miscarry," maxwell suggested. "if it does they will never think that the whole affair is an accident. my idea is that mazaroff must have that letter and never imagine for a moment that we have read it. we can see that maxgregor comes to no harm."

varney was disposed to regard the suggestion as a good one. but before doing anything he would like to discuss the matter with lechmere. maxwell's face fell.

"in that case i will stay here till you have finished," he said. "i don't feel much like facing anybody at present, though i am as innocent of this business as a child."

"what nonsense!" varney cried. "this is no time to stand on ceremony. lechmere is a man of the world and a friend of yours. he is not in the least likely to condemn you until the charge is proved. i appreciate your feelings, but an empire is at stake."

without another word the doctor slipped away and returned presently with lechmere. he nodded in his cool, collected way at maxwell as if nothing had happened.

"i have no doubt we shall get to the bottom of this business between us," he said. "varney has been telling me what has happened. i am quite of your opinion, maxwell, that mazaroff must have that letter. when he has read it he shall be watched and followed."

"but how to get it into the fellow's hands without suspicion?" maxwell asked.

"that is easy enough. i suppose you acted on the spur of the moment, but you were foolish to tear that envelope open without steaming it. fortunately[164] the envelope seems to have many counterparts in lord merehaven's study, and luckily it is a different texture to the correspondence card on which the message is written. amongst my many gifts is a fair talent for copying the handwriting of other people. i'll get this fixed up. when the thing is done one of the guests shall hand the letter to mazaroff and say that he had picked it up in the garden. i think i'll select a lady for the part. stay here for a moment."

a little later on, and somebody touched mazaroff's arm as he was watching a game of bridge in the card room. he turned to see a pretty girl standing by and smiling into his face. she held a letter in her hand.

"i fancy this is for you, prince mazaroff," she said. "i picked it up in the garden. on the whole, i came very near to having an adventure over it."

mazaroff glanced at the envelope and his eyes gleamed. then quite leisurely he tore off the ends and read the message. he smiled in a careless way, as if the message were of no importance.

"i am sorry there was any danger," he said, "especially as the note is so trivial. where does the adventure come in?"

"you have destroyed my romance," the girl laughed. "i suppose it was the messenger who brought this letter for you, and not a burglar after all. i expect the messenger made a mistake and came into the garden by the door leading from the lane. anyway, a gardener pounced upon him and the man fled. it was quite thrilling to look at, i assure you. when i had recovered from my fright i saw that letter on the grass. then the real solution of the mystery burst in upon me."

[165]

mazaroff laughed as if he enjoyed the story. his face grew a little grave.

"i should not tell anybody if i were you," he said. "it isn't many women here who have your pluck. if they know they will fight shy of the garden, and many a promising flirtation will be spoilt. and flirtations very often lead to marriage, you know."

the girl laughed in her turn and flitted away. lechmere stood by the doorway awaiting her.

"you did it very well," he said. "you are a born actress, miss cheylesmere. oh, yes, the joke develops; you shall play your part in it. now, i want you to keep an eye upon mazaroff, and if he leaves the house let me know at once."

lechmere strolled off, pleased with the way in which events were going, and quite certain that mazaroff had not the slightest idea what had happened. a pretty scheme was evolving itself in his mind. he went back to the study, where the others were awaiting him.

"so far so good," he said. "mazaroff has received his letter without guessing what we know of it. at the present moment he is hunting all over the place for maxgregor, ignorant of the fact that maxgregor has gone long ago. mazaroff will ask lady merehaven if the general has gone, and she will naturally say no, as the general did not wish her good-night. mazaroff will be quite certain that maxgregor would never commit such a social slip, so that i confidently hope that he will continue his hunt."

"but surely there is a much more important thing to do?" jessie exclaimed. "mr. maxwell, have you forgotten whom we saw in the drawing-room with countess saens just now?"

[166]

"i had forgotten," maxwell admitted. "miss—er—harcourt told me that the king of asturia was here. she went on to say that he was not only here, but in such a condition that he would have to stay all night and be conveyed home in a cab. why was he shamming?"

"shamming!" varney cried. "i'll stake my professional reputation that the king was not shamming. he has had some near shaves during the time he has been under my care, but never has he been nearer to death's door than he was to-night. i sincerely believe that it was only the administration of a very powerful drug that saved him."

"i know, i know," jessie cried. "i saw a good deal of it myself. when i left him the king was unconscious. and yet not half an hour ago i saw him in the countess saens's dining-room."

varney and lechmere smiled incredibly. they both shook their heads.

"impossible!" the former said. "quite impossible, my dear young lady. for the last hour, or nearly an hour, the king of asturia has been in this house clothed and in his right mind. it was i who brought him downstairs. it was i who produced his majesty to the utter confusion of mazaroff and gleikstein, the russian chargé d'affaires. you must have been utterly mistaken."

"it was no mistake," maxwell put in. "i have seen the king often enough here and elsewhere. i am prepared to swear in any court of justice that within the last half hour i have seen the king of asturia in close companionship with countess saens in her own house."

varney and lechmere looked a little bewildered. there still appeared to be cards in the game of[167] which they knew nothing. varney was about to speak when lechmere touched his arm and indicated two figures that had just entered the study.

"to prove that you two are mistaken," he said, "look there. if you know the king of asturia so well, perhaps you will tell me who that is?"

"the king," maxwell cried. "and the queen. and yet i am ready to swear.... you don't think that he might have slipped out and——"

"no, i don't," lechmere said curtly. "as a matter of fact, his majesty is being too carefully watched for that. he has been here all the time, i assure you."

"it's like a dream," jessie said. "the king is in two places at once. and seeing that that is the king, who was the man we saw in countess saens's dining-room?"