my wife."

"Ah!" said Coquenil, and presently he took his departure with polite
assurances, whereupon the unsuspecting Addison tooted away complacently for
Fontainebleau.

It was now about two o'clock, and the next three hours M. Paul spent with
his sources of information studying the career of Pussy Wilmott from
special points of view in preparation for a call upon the lady, which he
proposed to make later in the afternoon.

He discovered two significant things: first, that, whatever her actual
conduct, Mrs. Wilmott had never openly compromised herself. Love affairs
she might have had, but no one could say when or where or with whom she had
had them; and if, as seemed likely, she was the woman in this Ansonia case,
then she had kept her relations with Kittredge in profoundest secrecy.

As offsetting this, however, Coquenil secured information that connected
Mrs. Wilmott directly with Martinez. It appeared that, among her other
excitements, Pussy was passionately fond of gambling. She was known to have
won and lost large sums at Monte Carlo, and she was a regular follower of
the fashionable races in Paris. She had also been seen at the Olympia
billiard academy, near the Grand Hotel, where Martinez and other experts
played regularly before eager audiences, among whom betting on the games
was the great attraction. The detective found two bet markers who
remembered distinctly that, on several occasions, a handsome woman,
answering to the description of Mrs. Wilmott, had wagered five or ten louis
on Martinez and had shown a decided admiration for his remarkable skill
with the cue.

"He used to talk about this lady," said one of the markers; "he called her
his 'belle Americaine,' but I am sure he did not know her real name." The
man smiled at Martinez's inordinate vanity over his supposed fascination
for women--he was convinced that no member of the fair sex could resist his
advances.

With so much in mind Coquenil started up the Champs Elysees about five
o'clock. He counted on finding Mrs. Wilmott home at tea time, and as he
strolled along, turning the problem over in his mind, he found it
conceivable that this eccentric lady, in a moment of ennui or for the
novelty of the thing, might have consented to dine with Martinez in a
private room. It was certain no scruples would have deterred her if the
adventure had seemed amusing, especially as Martinez had no idea who she
was. With her, excitement and a new sensation we