erence.

Now the enigmatic eyes of Monk were boring into him, seeking to search
his soul, with a question in their stare which he could not read and,
quite likely, would have declined to answer if he could. Also the eyes
of Monsieur le Comte de Lorgnes were very round and constant to him.
And before Madame de Sevenie was finished, Phinuit strolled in and
heard enough to make him subject Duchemin to a not unfriendly, steady
and open inspection.

And when the trumpets had been flourished finally for Duchemin, and he
had dutifully assured madame that she was too generous and had
acknowledged congratulations on his exploit, Phinuit strolled over and
offered a hand.

"Good work," he said in English. "Seen you before, haven't I,
somewhere, Mr. Duchemin?"

Under other circumstances Duchemin, not at all hoodwinked by this too
obvious stratagem, would have taken mean pleasure in looking blank and
begging monsieur to interpret himself in French. But, with or without
cunning, Phinuit's question was well-timed: Eve de Montalais was at
that moment entering the drawing-room with Madame la Comtesse de
Lorgnes, and she knew very well that Duchemin's English was quite as
good as his French.

"At the Cafe de l'Univers, this afternoon," he replied frankly.

"I remember. You drove away, just before the storm broke, in a
ramshackle rig that must have come out of the Ark."

"To come here, Mr. Phinuit."

"Funny," said Phinuit, with hesitation, "your being there, and then our
turning up here."

Duchemin thought he knew what was on the other's mind. "I was immensely
entertained--do you mind my saying so?--to hear the way your chauffeur
talked to you, monsieur. Tell me: Is it the custom in your country--?"

"Oh, Jules!" said Phinuit, and laughed. "Jules is my younger brother.
When he was demobilised his job was gone, back home, and I wished him
on Mr. Monk as a chauffeur. We're always kidding each other like that."

Now what could be more reasonable? Duchemin wondered, and concluded
that, if anything, it would be the truth. But he did not pretend to
himself that he wasn't, quite illogically and with no provocation
whatsoever, most vilely prejudiced against the lot of them.

"But you must know America, to speak the language as well as you do."

Duchemin nodded: "But very slightly, monsieur."

"I was wondering ... Somehow I can't get it out of my head I've seen
you somewhere before to-day."

"It is quite possible: when one moves