ed, in a low voice.

He regarded her intently. His look held hers. It would seem as though
he tried to read the depths of her soul; as though he was asking if
what had once proved so false could in the end prove true; for it came
to him with sudden force, with sure conviction, that she could help him
as no one else could; that at this critical moment, when he was
trembling between success and failure, her secret influence might be
the one reinforcement necessary to conduct him to victory. Greater and
better men than himself had used women to further their vast purposes;
could one despise any human agency, so long as it was not
dishonourable, in the carrying out of great schemes?

It was for Britain--for her ultimate good, for the honour and glory of
the Empire, for the betterment of the position of all men of his race
in all the world, their prestige, their prosperity, their patriotism;
and no agency should be despised. He knew so well what powers of
intrigue had been used against him, by the embassy of Slavonia and
those of other countries. His own methods had been simple and direct;
only the scheme itself being intricate, complicated, and reaching
further than any diplomatist, except his own Prime Minister, had
dreamed. If carried, it would recast the international position in the
Orient, necessitating new adjustments in Europe, with cession of
territory and gifts for gifts in the way of commercial treaties and the
settlement of outstanding difficulties.

His key, if it could be made to turn in the lock, would open the door
to possibilities of prodigious consequence.

He had been three years at work, and the end must come soon. The crisis
was near. A game can only be played for a given time, then it works
itself out, and a new one must take its place. His top was spinning
hard, but already the force of the gyration was failing, and he must
presently make his exit with what the Prime Minister called his Patent,
or turn the key in the lock and enter upon his kingdom. In three
months--in two months--in one month--it might be too late, for war was
coming; and war would destroy his plans, if they were not fulfilled
now. Everything must be done before war came, or be forever abandoned.

This beautiful being before him could help him. She had brains, she was
skilful, inventive, supple, ardent, yet intellectually discreet. She
had as much as told him that the ambassador of Moravia had paid her the
compliment of admiring