almers," said Major Whiteley quietly.
"There's no evidence against them, and you can't convict them."

"I must let them go," said Chalmers. "But they're the men who were
there, and the last of them, Denis Ryan, fired the shot."

Mary Drennan never met her lover again, but she wrote to him once before
he left the country.

"You see how I loved you, Denis. I gave you your life. I bought it for
you, and my soul was the price I paid for it when I swore to a lie and
was false to my mother's memory. I loved you that much, Denis, but I
shall never speak to you again."

PART TWO

IX. A BIRD IN HAND

Konrad Earl II. lost his crown and became a king in exile when Megalia
became a republic. He was the victim of an ordinary revolution which
took place in 1918, and was, therefore, in no way connected with the
great war. Konrad Karl was anxious that this fact should be widely
known. He did not wish to be mistaken for a member of the group of
royalties who came to grief through backing the Germanic powers.

Like many other dethroned kings he made his home in England. He liked
London life and prided himself on his mastery of the English language,
which he spoke fluently, using slang and colloquial phrases whenever
he could drag them in. He was an amiable and friendly young man, very
generous when he had any money and entirely free from that pride and
exclusiveness which is the fault of many European kings. He would have
been a popular member of English society if it had not been for his
connection with Madame Corinne Ypsilante, a lady of great beauty but
little reputation. The king, who was sincerely attached to her, could
never be induced to see that a lady of that kind must be kept in
the background. Indeed it would not have been easy to conceal Madame
Ypsilante. She was a lady who showed up wherever she went, and she
went everywhere with the king. English society could neither ignore nor
tolerate her. So English society, a little regretfully, dropped King
Konrad Karl.

He did not much regret the loss of social position. He and Madame lived
very comfortably in a suite of rooms at Beaufort's, which, as everyone
knows, is the most luxurious and most expensive hotel in London. Their
most intimate friend was Mr. Michael Gorman, M.P. for Upper Offaly.
He was a broad-minded man with no prejudice against ladies like Madame
Ypsilante. He had a knowledge of the by-ways of finance which made him
very useful to the king;