Lamartine no sooner saw the face of the man who was in conversation
with the hall-porter than he sprang forward.

"Your Excellency!" he exclaimed.

The ambassador turned quickly towards him.

"Where is Delora?" he asked.

"He was here but five seconds ago," Lamartine answered. "He must have
left the door as you entered it!"

The man who was standing with my lady of the turquoises turned
suddenly round.

"Delora!" he exclaimed. "That is my name! I am Ferdinand Delora! My
brother Maurice was here a moment ago. You are Signor Vanhallon, are
you not?" he continued. "You must remember me!"

The ambassador grasped him by the hand.

"My dear Delora," he said, "of course I do! What has been the meaning
of all this mystery?"

Lamartine stepped quickly forward.

"Can't you see what it all means?" he exclaimed. "Ferdinand Delora
here arrives in Paris on a secret mission to England. There, through
some reason or through some cause,--who knows?--he falls ill. There
comes to London Maurice Delora with some papers, playing his part.
Maurice Delora was here a moment ago. His game is up and he is
evidently gone. The one thing to be feared is that we are too late!"

The ambassador turned swiftly to the new Delora, who was looking from
one to the other with the pained, half-vacant expression of a child.

"Delora," he exclaimed, "how comes it that you have let your brother
intervene? Did you not understand how secret your mission was to
be?--how important?"

The man shook his head slowly.

"I am sorry," he said, "I have been ill. I know nothing. There was an
accident in Paris. I have no papers any longer. Maurice has them all."

My lady of the turquoises plunged into the conversation.

"But it has been a wicked conspiracy!" she cried. "Monsieur here," she
added, clutching his arm, "was drugged and poisoned. Since then he has
been like a child. He was left to die, but I found him, I brought him
here And meanwhile, that wicked brother has been playing his
part,--using even his name."

I went to Felicia.

"Felicia," I said, "it is you who can clear this up. The time has come
when you must speak."

Felicia was standing with her hands clasped to her head, looking from
one to the other of the speakers as though she were trying in vain to
follow the sense of what they said. At my words she turned to me a
little piteously. She was beginning to understand, but she had not
realized the whole truth yet.

"The lady over th