y, as I've said, is to
break Storri's hold on Mr. Harley. Now how could the lady who writes you
benefit by that? What could there be about Storri's ascendency over Mr.
Harley to which a woman who loves Storri would object? I will tell you.
That ascendency gives him not only a hold on Mr. Harley, but a hold
through him on some woman whom the writer fears as a rival. And there
you are; I've brought the argument to Miss Harley. Storri threatens Mr.
Harley. What does he demand? That you be excluded from the Harley house.
Why? Because you see Miss Harley. Why should Storri object to that?
Because he desires to court the lady himself, and would do away with
dangerous competition. His simple hatred of you, and nothing more, would
not set Storri to talking forgery charges to Mr. Harley; that would
sound too much like burning a barn to boil an egg."

Richard growled an acquiescence.

"Very well; the woman who wrote the note would have you get possession
of those French shares. Storri has described you to her as Miss Harley's
lover; that sets her to writing you--you who have an interest as strong
as her own. Storri has never told her that he loves Miss Harley. She has
guessed it and accused him of it, being jealous; and he in reply and
denial has laid especial emphasis upon you as Miss Harley's lover. It's
more than a chance he told her the whole story as part of a jealous row.
As to the woman being French, I infer that from the note. She couldn't
trust her English or she would not have written in French. That note,
being in French, would narrow any search for its author; and that, too,
whether the author were English or French. Certainly there are fewer
people in Washington who can write French than English. You see the
point?"

"But you said a Frenchwoman from Ottawa."

"The note is on paper that was made and sold in Ottawa, as you see by
the raised mark in the corner. We've no trade with Canada for
note-paper; besides, our stores wouldn't handle such as this. It's not
of fashionable shape and size as Americans understand fashions in
note-paper. It's scented, too; and that's vulgar from American
standpoints. Also, it's feminine. No, my word for it, the woman who
wrote that note bought the paper in Ottawa and brought it here. She did
the typewriting herself, which was but natural; and she is not an adept,
as anyone may tell by the clumsy, irregular way in which she begins her
lines. Now take----"

Matzai came in and announ