courteously and attentively,
said:

"Am I mistaken, sir, in supposing that you are an officer in the
honourable Navy of Great Britain?"

That was the opportunity for which Lady Gordon had been waiting, and she
at once replied:

"Mr Swinburne was, until a few days ago, senior midshipman on the same
ship as my son--the battleship _Terrible_. But a very exalted sense of
gratitude on his part has resulted in a grave miscarriage of justice
whereby, through accepting the blame for another's fault, he has been
dismissed from the Service, to his great grief, for he was passionately
devoted to his profession."

The Viscount rather raised his eyebrows at this, and regarded me keenly,
as though seeking to read my character from my face.

"Really?" he said. "That is indeed a terrible misfortune, which I
should scarcely have thought could possibly happen in such a Service as
yours, where, I have always understood, such matters are inquired into
with the most scrupulous fairness."

"So they are, Your Excellency," I replied. "But my expulsion was not in
any sense due to remissness on the part of the officers who tried me.
It was due to the fact that, for the reason named by Lady Gordon, I
deliberately refrained from producing evidence which would have resulted
in my own acquittal and the conviction of the actual culprit; and thus
the members of the court martial were, in the course of their duty,
compelled to find me guilty and to pass upon me sentence of dismissal."

"I see. Yes, I think I understand," observed the Viscount. "The
feeling of gratitude which could induce you to take the extreme step of
ruining your entire career must have been wonderfully strong. I find
the incident remarkably interesting, Mr--er--Swinburne, so much so,
indeed, that when my friend Gordon and I have concluded the business
talk which has brought me down here to-night I should very much like to
hear all the particulars of your story, if you will do me the favour to
confide them to me."

I replied that I would do so with great pleasure; and then, the meal
being at an end, our hostess rose from the table and retired to the
drawing-room, while Sir Robert, apologising for leaving me alone,
carried off the Ambassador to the study, where he had ordered coffee to
be served.

Naturally, I did not linger at the table after the others had gone, but
followed my hostess to the drawing-room, where I at once proceeded to
thank her for the kindly tact