To return to Carmichael.  He had never before concerned himself with resignations.  Up to this hour he had never resigned anything he had set his heart upon.  So it was not an easy matter for him to compose a letter to the secretary of state, resigning the post at Dreiberg.  True, he added that he desired to be transferred to a seaport town, France or Italy preferred.  The high altitude in Dreiberg had affected his heart.  However, in case there was no other available post, they would kindly appoint his successor at once.  Carmichael never faltered where his courage was concerned, and it needed a fine quality of moral courage to write this letter and enclose it in the diplomatic pouch which went into the mails that night.  It took courage indeed to face the matter squarely and resolutely, when there was the urging desire to linger on and on, indefinitely.  That she was not going to marry the king of Jugendheit did not alter his affairs in the least.  It was all hopeless, absurd, and impossible.  He must go.

Some one was knocking on the door.

“Come in.”

“A letter for your excellency,” said the concierge.

“Wait till I read it.  There may be an answer.”

“If Herr Carmichael would learn the secret of number forty Krumerweg, let him attire himself as a vintner and be in the Krumerweg at eight o’clock to-night.”

This note was as welcome to the recipient as the flowers in the spring.  An adventure?  He was ready, now and always.  Anything to take his mind off his own dismal affairs.  Then he recalled the woman in black; the letter could apply to none but her.  More than this, he might light upon the puzzle regarding the vintner.  He had met the fellow before.  But where?

“What sort of clothes does a vintner wear?” he asked.

“A vintner, your Excellency?”

“Yes.  I shall need the costume of a vintner this evening.”

“Oh, that will be easy,” affirmed the concierge, “if your excellency does not mind wearing clothes that have already been worn.”

“My excellency will not care a hang.  Procure them as soon as you can.”

So it came about that Carmichael, dressed as a vintner, his hat over his eyes, stole into the misty night and took the way to the Krumerweg.  He knew exactly where he wished to go:  number forty.  It was gray-black in the small streets; and but for the occasional light in a window the dark would have had no modification.  Sometimes he would lose the point of the compass and blunder against a wall or find himself feeling for the curb, hesitant of foot.  The wayside shrine was a rift in the gloom, and he knew that he had only a few more steps to take.  After all, who was the lady in black and why should he bother himself about her?  She probably came from the back stairs of the palace.  And yet, the chancellor himself had been in this place.  What should he do?  Should he wait across the street?  Should he knock at the door and ask to be admitted?  No; he must skulk in the dark, on the opposite side.  He picked his way over the street and stood for a moment in the denser black.