y. I can't marry you without it, can I, Violet? We should
only be miserable. You understand that?"

"Yes, I understand!" she answered.

She was turning one of her rings round, looking down at her hands with
downcast head.

"You're upset, Violet," he said, soothingly. "I'm sorry. You see I
can't help myself, don't you?"

"Oh, I suppose so!" she answered. "Who is the young lady?"

"A Miss Lois Champneyes," Saton said. "She is a ward of a Mr. Henry
Rochester, who has been my enemy all along. It is he, I believe, who
has stirred up these detectives to keep watching us."

"Henry Rochester," she repeated. "Yes, I remember the name! He lives
at the great house near Blackbird's Nest."

Saton nodded.

"He showed you the way to my cottage once there," he reminded her.
"Well, I'm glad I've told you, Violet. I hope you understand exactly
how much it means. It's Rachael's doings, of course, and I daren't go
against her."

"No, I suppose not!" she answered.

They parted in the street. Saton called a taximeter and drove off.
Violet walked slowly down Bond Street. As she passed the corner of
Piccadilly, she was suddenly aware that the man who had visited her
that afternoon was watching her from the other side of the street. She
hesitated for a moment, and then, standing still, deliberately
beckoned him over.

"You are a detective, are you not?" she asked, as he approached, hat
in hand.

He smiled.

"You are a very clever young lady," he remarked.

"I don't want any compliments," she answered. "Did you come to my show
this afternoon hoping just to catch me tripping, or are you engaged in
a larger quest altogether?"

"In a larger quest," he answered. "I want some information, and if
you can give it me, I can promise that you will be remarkably well
paid."

"And the information?" she asked.

"I want," he said slowly, "to be able to connect the young man who
came in and pretended to be a stranger, and who has just been having
tea with you--I mean Mr. Bertrand Saton--I want to connect him with
your establishment, and also with a little office where some very
strange business has been transacted during the last few months. You
know where I mean. What do you say? Shall we have a talk?"

She walked by his side along Piccadilly.

"We may as well," she said. "We'll go into the Cafe Royal and sit
down."

CHAPTER XXXV

ON LOIS' BIRTHDAY

"Lois is late this morning," Vandermere remarked, looking up at the
cl