nto the drawing-room, Amelia beckoned me aside
towards her boudoir for a moment.

"Seymour," she said to me, in a distinctly frightened tone, "I have
treated you harshly at times, I know, and I am very sorry for it.
But I want you to help me in a most painful difficulty. The police
are quite right as to the charge of conspiracy; that designing
little minx, White Heather, or Mrs. David Granton, or whatever else
we're to call her, ought certainly to be prosecuted--and sent to
prison, too--and have her absurd head of hair cut short and combed
straight for her. But--and you will help me here, I'm sure, dear
Seymour--I _cannot_ allow them to arrest my Cesarine. I don't pretend
to say Cesarine isn't guilty; the girl has behaved most ungratefully
to me. She has robbed me right and left, and deceived me without
compunction. Still--I put it to you as a married man--_can_ any woman
afford to go into the witness-box, to be cross-examined and teased
by her own maid, or by a brute of a barrister on her maid's
information? I assure you, Seymour, the thing's not to be dreamt of.
There are details of a lady's life--known only to her maid--which
_cannot_ be made public. Explain as much of this as you think well to
Charles, and _make_ him understand that _if_ he insists upon arresting
Cesarine, I shall go into the box--and swear my head off to prevent
any one of the gang from being convicted. I have told Cesarine as
much; I have promised to help her: I have explained that I am her
friend, and that if _she'll_ stand by _me_, _I'll_ stand by _her_,
and by this hateful young man of hers."

I saw in a moment how things went. Neither Charles nor Amelia could
face cross-examination on the subject of one of Colonel Clay's
accomplices. No doubt, in Amelia's case, it was merely a question
of rouge and hair-dye; but what woman would not sooner confess to
a forgery or a murder than to those toilet secrets?

I returned to Charles, therefore, and spent half an hour in
composing, as well as I might, these little domestic difficulties.
In the end, it was arranged that if Charles did his best to protect
Cesarine from arrest, Amelia would consent to do her best in return
on behalf of Madame Picardet.

We had next the police to tackle--a more difficult business. Still,
even _they_ were reasonable. They had caught Colonel Clay, they
believed, but their chance of convicting him depended entirely upon
Charles's identification, with mine to back it. The