bed, and force yourself
to sleep. Give no instructions to be called, but get up when you
waken, and start a new day with a clear head. You'll need it."

"I'm not going to disturb the peace of Lady Hermione's apartments in
59th Street, if that is what you mean."

"Not quite. In fact, not at all. You are not that kind of a man. Did
she leave any message?"

"Yes, a letter. Would you care to hear it?"

"If you have no objection."

Curtis read the note instantly, and, so delicate is the perceptiveness
of the ear, he could almost follow the trend of the detective's
unspoken thought by a hiss of breath or a muttered "Hum," as a name was
mentioned or a reason given for some particular action.

"Like the majority of women, she conveys the most important fact in a
postscript," was Steingall's dry comment when Curtis had reached the
end.

"Where shall I find this man, Schmidt?" inquired Curtis.

"Are you in a hurry, then, to begin the suit for dissolution?"

"That does not account for my anxiety to meet Schmidt."

"He is a stoutly-built individual, with a large, soft neck, and eyes
which would protrude most satisfactorily under pressure. Is that what
you mean?"

"I want to make his acquaintance, and soon--that is all."

"Now, Mr. Curtis, don't destroy the good opinion I have formed of you.
Let well enough alone. Schmidt has done you a splendid turn, and it
would be foolish on your part to requite a benefactor by trying to
strangle him."

"Mr. Steingall, I am tired, and very, very uncertain of myself----"

"So you don't want even to pretend that there is any humor in the
situation. Yet, unless I err greatly, before many hours have passed
you will agree with me that nothing more directly fortunate in your
behalf could have occurred than Schmidt's interference as Lord
Valletort's legal adviser. I know Schmidt, and Schmidt knows me. In
this affair you would be a baby in his hands, just as he would resemble
a bladder of lard in yours. My difficulty is that I really cannot give
reasons, but you will appreciate the position when I say that, for the
moment, the murder of Mr. Hunter has become an affair of state, and all
information regarding recent developments will be withheld from the
press. Do you follow?"

"Yes."

"I take it, too, that if Lady Hermione were restored to you, and it was
left to the pair of you to determine whether or not the marriage
entered into under such extraordinary conditions sho