ebridge
cast about him a net of invitations which he could find no way of
evading. They justified themselves by saying that it was necessary to
save him from Clara, and he found himself drawn further and further
away, and more and more submitted to an increasing pressure, the aim of
which seemed to be to commit him to supporting the Imperium and the
Fleischmann group which had some mysterious share in its control....
He knew enough about finance to realise that there was more in all this
than met the eye, and upon investigation he found that the Fleischmann
group were unloading Argentines all over monied London, and in due
course he was offered a block of shares which, after an admirable
dinner at the Bracebridges, he amiably accepted.

The network was too complicated for him to unravel, but, as the result
of putting two and two together, he surmised that the Imperium must
have been losing rather more than it was worth to the Fleischmann
group, and that therefore sacrifice must be offered up. He was the
sacrifice. He did not mind that. It would infuriate his trustees when
at last he had to give them an account of this adventure, but he did
object to Charles and Clara being used to make a desperate bid to
revive the languishing support of the public.

Charles and Clara were so entirely innocent of all intrigue. They gave
simply what was in them without calculation of future profit, and with
the most guileless trust in others, never suspecting that they were not
as simple as themselves. Therefore Verschoyle cursed his own indolence
which had committed him both to the Imperium and the Fleischmann group.

As he pondered the problem, he saw that Charles and Clara could be
dropped, and probably would be as soon as it was convenient. The real
controller of the Imperium was Lady Bracebridge, whose skill in
intrigue was said to be worth ten thousand a year to Sir Julius
Fleischmann. She played upon Lady Butcher, Lady Butcher played upon
Sir Henry, who, with Mr Gillies crying 'Give, give,' was between the
upper and the nether millstone, and could only put up a sham fight....
Verschoyle understood, too late, that _The Tempest_ was to be produced
not to present Clara and Charles to the British public, but to capture
himself. Like a fool, in his eagerness to help Clara, he had let
himself be captured, and now he thought he owed her amends.... He did
not know how difficult the situation had become. The danger point, as