ould be faithful? How much we poor women do
suffer from that! Why can you never understand that a woman would
be cared for very, very much, with all the strength and all the
passion you can conceive, but let it not last for too long. It gets
weary. It gets stale. It is as you say,--the Englishman he cares
very little, perhaps, but he cares always; and the woman, if she be
an artiste and a woman, she tires. But good afternoon, Mr. Laverick!
I must not keep you here on the pavement talking of these frivolous
matters. You come to-night?"

"You are very kind," Laverick said. "If I may come until eleven
o'clock, it would give me the greatest pleasure."

"As you will," she declared. "We shall see. I expect you, then.
You ask for your box."

"If you wish it, certainly."

She smiled and waved her hand.

"You will tell him, please," she directed, "to drive to Bond Street."

Laverick re-entered his office, pausing for a minute to give his
clerk instructions for the purchase of stocks for Mademoiselle
Idiale. He had scarcely reached his own room when he was told that
Mr. James Shepherd wished to speak to him for a moment upon the
telephone. He took up the receiver.

"Who is it?" he asked.

"It is Shepherd," was the answer. "Is that Mr. Laverick?"

"Yes!"

"You were outside the restaurant here a few minutes ago," Shepherd
continued. "You had with you a lady--a young, tall lady with a
veil."

"That's right," Laverick admitted. "What about her?"

"One of the two men who watch always here was reading the paper in
the window," Shepherd went on hoarsely. "He saw her with you and
I heard him mutter something as though he had received a shock. He
dropped his glass and his paper. He watched you every second of
the time you were there until you had disappeared. Then he, too,
put on his hat and went out."

"Anything else?"

"Nothing else," was the reply. "I thought you might like to know
this, sir. The man recognized the lady right enough."

"It seems queer," Laverick admitted. "Thank you for ringing me up,
Shepherd. Good morning!"

Laverick leaned back in his chair. There was no doubt whatever now
in his mind but that Mademoiselle Idiale, for some reason or other,
was interested in this crime. Her wish to see the place, her
introduction to him last night and her purchase of stocks, were all
part of a scheme. He was suddenly and absolutely convinced of it.
As friend or foe, she was very certai