She said she'd wire her friends
you'd run away from, that they could find you there; and if Charretier
wasn't at Fontainebleau when we passed through, these people would
certainly know where to get at him. I warned you the other night, didn't
I? that if you wouldn't be good and confide in me I'd find out what you
refused to tell me yourself; and I have, you see. Clever, aren't I?"

"You're the hatefullest man I ever _heard_ of!" I flung at him.

"Oh, I say! Don't speak too soon. You don't know all yet. If you don't
want me to, I won't call on Charretier. Lady T. and her tuft-huntin' can
go hang! And you shan't stop at the Athenee to be copped by the
Duchess's friends, if you don't like. That's what I wanted to see you
about. To tell you it all depends on yourself."

"How does it depend on myself?" I asked, cautiously.

"All you have to do, to get off scot free is to be a little kind to poor
Bertie. You can begin by givin' him a kiss, here in the poetic and
what-you-may-call-'em forest of Fontainebleau."

"I wouldn't kiss you if you were made of gold and diamonds, and I could
have you melted down to spend!" I exclaimed. And as I delivered this
ultimatum, I turned to run. His legs might be longer than mine, but I
weighed about one-third as much as he, which was in my favour if I chose
to throw dignity to the winds.

As I whisked away from him, he caught me by the dress, and I heard the
gathers rip. I had to stop. I couldn't arrive at the hotel without a
skirt.

"You're a cad--a _cad_!" I stammered.

"And you're a fool. Look here, I can lose you your job and have you sent
to the prison where naughty girls go. See what I've got in my pocket."

Still grasping my frock, he scooped something out of an inner pocket of
his coat, and held it for me to look at, in the hollow of his palm. I
gave a little cry. It was Lady Turnour's gorgeous bursting sun.

"I nicked that off the dressin' table the other night, when you weren't
looking. Has Lady T. been askin' for it?"

"No," I answered, speaking more to myself than to him. "She--she's had
too much to think of. She didn't count her things that night; and at
Nevers she didn't open the bag."

"So much the worse for you, my pet, when she does find out. She left her
jewels in your charge. When I came into the room, they were all lyin'
about on the dressin' table, and you were playin' with 'em."

"I was putting them back into her bag."

"So you say. Jolly careless of you n