able to advise. I can
only suggest that Lord Donal met the Princess herself at the Duchess of
Chiselhurst's ball. The Princess, naturally, would wish to mislead
him regarding her identity; and so, if he had not met her for some
time--say two years, or three years, or five years, or whatever the
period may be--it is quite possible that the Princess has changed
greatly in the interval, and perhaps she was not reluctant to carry on
a flirtation with the young man--your client. Of course, she could not
allow it to go further than the outside of the door of the Duke of
Chiselhurst's town house, for you must remember there was her husband
in the background--a violent man, as you have said; and Lord Donal must
have thoroughly angered the Princess by what you term his rudeness in
tearing off her glove; and now the Princess will never admit that she
was at the ball, so it seems to me that you are wasting your time in a
wild goose chase. Why, it is absurd to think, if there had been a real
disappearing woman, that you, with all your experience and all your
facilities, should not have unearthed her long ago. You said at the
beginning that nothing was more difficult than to disappear. Very well,
then--why have you been baffled? Simply because the Princess herself
attended the ball, and there has been no disappearing lady at all."

The detective, with great vehemence, brought down his fist on the table.

"By Jove!" he cried, "I believe you are right. I have been completely
blinded, the more so that I have the clue to the mystery right here
under my own eyes."

He fumbled for a moment and brought forth a letter from his pile of
documents.

"Here is a note from St. Petersburg, written by Lord Donal himself,
saying the Princess had sent him the companion glove to the one you
now have in your hand. He says he is sure the Princess knows who her
impersonator was, but that she won't tell; and, although I had read this
note, it never struck me that the Princess herself was the woman. Miss
Baxter, you have solved the puzzle!"

"I should be glad to think so," replied the girl, rising, "and I am very
happy if I have enabled you to give up a futile chase."

"It is as plain as daylight," replied the detective. "Lord Donal's
description fits the Princess exactly, and yet I never thought of her
before."

Jennie hurried away from the detective's office, happy in the belief
that she had not betrayed herself, although she was not blind to the