“No. 57, Coniston Mansions.  It is absolutely easy to get in.  Nearly every one in the flats is connected with the stage, and they are almost deserted between half-past seven and eleven.  To-night we know his movements exactly.  He will dine at his club, and return some time before eleven to change, as he is going to a reception at the American Embassy.”

“To-night is too soon,” she heard the other man say.  “I must have time to look about the place.  I want to understand exactly where the risks are, and the easiest way to leave without being noticed.  There are a lot of small things like that to be considered, if the matter is to be done artistically.”

“Every day’s delay is dangerous,” the smaller man said, doubtfully.  “Look here, Dick.  It’s a lot of money, and the offer may be withdrawn at any moment.”

It occurred to Virginia suddenly that if these men were to see her face, she might be recognized.  She could see that they were on the point of leaving, and their conversation was obviously at an end.  She called for a waiter, paid her bill, and went out.

She walked slowly down Regent Street, and turning up Shaftesbury Avenue, made her way on foot to the boarding house near the British Museum where she was living.  She went straight up to her room and sat down to think.  She had decided that these men were probably employed by Littleson, and that they were going to make an attempt, that night apparently, upon the life of Norris Vine.  In any case her first impulse would have been to warn him, but she had also personal reasons for doing so.  If this paper which Vine held was recovered by some one else, her own mission would be a failure.  In the hands of Littleson and his friends, it would without a doubt be promptly destroyed, and nothing would be left for her to do but to go back to America and own her defeat.  She decided that Norris Vine must be warned.  At first she thought of writing or telegraphing.  Then she remembered that it was already past six, and that Vine was not expected to return to his rooms until after dinner.  He would probably, therefore, receive neither telegram nor letter before he had walked into the trap.  There was only one thing left for her to do.  If these men could obtain ingress to Vine’s rooms, so could she.  She must be there first and warn him.

She changed her clothes, and after a few minutes’ hesitation, set out to dine at one of the restaurants which she had on her list.  It was a smart and somewhat Bohemian place, but even here women dining alone were subjected to a good deal of remark, and her cheeks grew hot as she remembered her first visit there, and the whispered discussion between the waiters as to whether she should be given a table.  She had become a fairly regular customer there now, though, and to-night she was given a table near the wall, an excellent vantage ground for her, but exactly opposite three men, who had apparently been drinking heavily,