ning."

Curiously enough, the other man, too had changed as though in
sympathetic deference to his superior officer. He had become simply the
obedient and assiduous secretary.

"Very good, sir," he said smoothly. "I'll do my best to finish the
specifications before you return."

CHAPTER V

Lord Romsey, after his luncheon-party, spent an hour at his official
residence in Whitehall and made two other calls on his way home. His
secretary met him in the spacious hall of his house in Portland Square,
a few moments after he had resigned his coat and hat to the footman.

"There is a gentleman here to see you who says that he made an
appointment by telephone, sir," he announced. "His name is Sidney--the
Reverend Horatio Sidney, he calls himself."

Lord Romsey stood for a moment without reply. His lips had come together
in a hard, unpleasant line. It was obvious that this was by no means a
welcome visitor.

"I gave no appointment, Ainsley," he remarked. "I simply said that I
would see the gentleman when he arrived in England. You had better bring
him to my study," he continued, "and be careful that no one interrupts
us."

The young man withdrew and the Cabinet Minister made his way to his
study. A little of the elasticity, however, had gone from his footsteps
and he seated himself before his desk with the air of a man who faces
a disagreeable quarter of an hour. He played for a moment with a
pen-holder.

"The skeleton in the cupboard," he muttered to himself gloomily. "Even
the greatest of us," he added, with a momentary return of his more
inflated self, "have them."

There was a knock at the door and the secretary reappeared, ushering in
this undesired visitor.

"This is Mr. Sidney, sir," he announced quietly.

The Cabinet Minister rose in his place and held out his hand in his best
official style, a discrete mixture of reserve and condescension. His
manner changed, however, the moment the door was closed. He withdrew his
hand, which the other had made no attempt to grasp.

"I am according you the interview you desire," he said, pointing to
a chair, "but I shall be glad if you will explain the purport of your
visit in as few words as possible. You will, I hope, appreciate the fact
that your presence here is a matter of grave embarrassment to me."

Mr. Sidney bowed. He was a tall and apparently an elderly man, dressed
with the utmost sobriety. He accepted the chair without undue haste,
adjusted a pair of h