“What is this about your resignation, Ducaine?” he asked.

“I do not wish to resign, sir,” I answered.  “I have explained certain circumstances to Colonel Ray, which it seemed to me might make my resignation necessary.  He promised to confer with Lord Cheisford, and let me know the result.”

The urbanity slowly faded from the Duke’s face.

“I am your employer,” he said coldly.  “I do not understand why you thought it necessary to go to Colonel Ray.”

“It was entirely owing to Colonel Ray, sir,” I answered, “that I received the appointment, and he has practically made himself responsible for me.”

“You are mistaken,” the Duke answered.  “The responsibility is shared by all of us.  Your unfortunate family history was known to the whole Board.”

“Then I am less indebted to Colonel Ray, sir, than I imagined,” I answered.  “I am very glad, however, that it is known.  Perhaps Lord Cheisford may not consider my resignation necessary?”

“The circumstances being—?”

“I have seen and spoken with my father in London,” I answered.

The Duke was silent.

“I presume,” he said, after a short pause, “that you must yourself realize the indiscretion of this.”

“I went at once to Colonel Ray and offered my resignation,” I answered.

The Duke nodded.

“Your father,” he said slowly, “is in London?” “Yes, sir.”

“Alone?”

I hesitated.  Yet perhaps the Duke had a right to know the truth.

“He is with the lady who occupied Braster Grange, sir, until last week,” I answered.  “She passed under the name of Mrs. Smith-Lessing, but I believe that she is in reality my stepmother.”

The Duke stood a few paces from me, looking out of the window.  He held his cigarette between his fingers, and he stood sideways to me.  Nothing about his attitude or face was unusual.  Yet I felt myself watching him curiously.  There was something about his manner which seemed to me to suggest some powerful emotion only kept in check by the exercise of a strong will.

“This is the person, I believe,” he said in a slow measured tone, “with whom my son, Lord Blenavon, was said to have been intimate?”

“Lord Blenavon was certainly a constant visitor at Braster Grange,” I answered.

“You know her address in London?” the Duke asked.

“Yes.”

He turned and faced me.  He was certainly paler than he had been a few minutes ago.

“I should be glad,” he said, “if you would arrange for me to have an interview with her.”

“An interview with Mrs. Smith-Lessing!” I repeated incredulously.

The Duke inclined his head.

“There are a few questions,” he said, “which I wish to ask her.”

“I can give you her address,” I said.

“I wish you to see her and arrange for the interview personally,” the.  Duke answered.