which had befallen him.  It was scarcely her fault that she had been the object of attentions which nearly every one agreed were unwelcome, from this young princeling.  Norgate told himself, as he changed his clothes that evening, that his behaviour had been the behaviour of a jealous school-boy.  Then an inspiration seized him.  Half dressed as he was, he sat down at the writing-table and wrote to her.  He wrote rapidly, and when he had finished, he sealed and addressed the envelope without glancing once more at its contents.  The letter was stamped and posted within a few minutes, but somehow or other it seemed to have made a difference.  His depression was no longer so complete.  He looked forward to his lonely dinner, at one of the smaller clubs to which he belonged, with less aversion.

“Do you know where any of my people are.  Hardy?” he asked his servant.

“In Scotland, I believe, sir,” the man replied.  “I called round this afternoon, although I was careful not to mention the fact that you were in town.  The house is practically in the hands of caretakers.”

“Try to keep out of the way as much as you can.  Hardy,” Norgate enjoined.  “For a few days, at any rate, I should like no one to know that I am in town.”

“Very good, sir,” the man replied.  “Might I venture to enquire, sir, if you are likely to be returning to Berlin?”

“I think it is very doubtful, Hardy,” Norgate observed grimly.  “We are more likely to remain here for a time.”

Hardy brushed his master’s hat for a moment or two in silence.

“You will pardon my mentioning it, sir,” he said—­“I imagine it is of no importance—­but one of the German waiters on this floor has been going out of his way to enter into conversation with me this evening.  He seemed to know your name and to know that you had just come from Germany.  He hinted at some slight trouble there, sir.”

“The dickens he did!” Norgate exclaimed.  “That’s rather quick work, Hardy.”

“So I thought, sir,” the man continued.  “A very inquisitive individual indeed I found him.  He wanted to know whether you had had any news yet as to any further appointment.  He seemed to know quite well that you had been at the Foreign Office this morning.”

“What did you tell him?”

“I told him that I knew nothing, sir.  I explained that you had not been back to lunch, and that I had not seen you since the morning.  He tried to make an appointment with me to give me some dinner and take me to a music-hall to-night.”

“What did you say to that?” Norgate enquired.

“I left the matter open, sir,” the man replied.  “I thought I would enquire what your wishes might be?  The person evidently desires to gain some information about your movements.  I thought that possibly it might be advantageous for me to tell him just what you desired.”

Norgate lit a cigarette.  For the moment he was puzzled.  It was true that during their journey he had mentioned to Selingman his intention of taking a flat at the Milan Court, but if this espionage were the direct outcome of that information, it was indeed a wonderful organisation which Selingman controlled.