And so it went.  One of the richest men in New York was a sexual degenerate, with half a dozen women on his hands all the time; he would send them cheques, and they would use these to blackmail him.  This man’s young wife had been shut up in a closet for twenty-four hours by her mother to compel her to marry him.—­And then there was the charming tale of how he had gone away upon a mission of state, and had written long messages full of tender protestations, and given them to a newspaper correspondent to cable home “to his wife.”  The correspondent had thought it such a touching example of conjugal devotion that he told about it at a dinner-party when he came back; and he was struck by the sudden silence that fell.  “The messages had been sent to a code address!” chuckled the Major.  “And every one at the table knew who had got them!”

A few days after this, Montague received a telephone message from Siegfried Harvey, who said that he wanted to see him about a matter of business.  He asked him to lunch at the Noonday Club; and Montague went—­though not without a qualm.  For it was in the Fidelity Building, the enemy’s bailiwick:  a magnificent structure with halls of white marble, and a lavish display of bronze.  It occurred to Montague that somewhere in this structure people were at work preparing an answer to his charges; he wondered what they were saying.

The two had lunch, talking meanwhile about the coming events in Society, and about politics and wars; and when the coffee was served and they were alone in the room, Harvey settled his big frame back in his chair, and began:—­

“In the first place,” he said, “I must explain that I’ve something to say that is devilish hard to get into.  I’m so much afraid of your jumping to a wrong conclusion in the middle of it—­I’d like you to agree to listen for a minute or two before you think at all.”

“All right,” said Montague, with a smile.  “Fire away.”

And at once the other became grave.  “You’ve taken a case against this company,” he said.  “And Ollie has talked enough to me to make me understand that you’ve done a plucky thing, and that you must be everlastingly sick of hearing from cowardly people who want you to drop it.  I’d be very sorry to be classed with them, for even a moment; and you must understand at the outset that I haven’t a particle of interest in the company, and that it wouldn’t matter to me if I had.  I don’t try to use my friends in business, and I don’t let money count with me in my social life.  I made up my mind to take the risk of speaking to you about this case, simply because I happen to know one or two things about it that I thought you didn’t know.  And if that’s so, you are at a great disadvantage; but in any case, please understand that I have no motive but friendship, and so if I am butting in, excuse me.”

When Siegfried Harvey talked, he looked straight at one with his clear blue eyes, and there was no doubting his honesty.  “I am very much obliged to you,” said Montague.  “Pray tell me what you have to say.”