XV A COUNCIL OF THREE 147 XVI BARBED SHAFTS 156 XVII "THE BOOTLACE MAN" 169 XVIII THE TRAP IS SET 178 XIX THE SLEEPING SNAKE 185 XX BLUE LIGHT AND GREEN 195 XXI THE TRAP CLOSES 204 XXII THE SHADOW OF HORROR 213 XXIII IN THE STONE GROTTO 223 XXIV IN THE TOILS 234 XXV THE LAST CHANCE FAILS 243 XXVI ENID IS "MIXED UP" 254 XXVII PURSUIT 263 XXVIII TRAVERS NUGENT PAYS 274 XXIX THE STING OF THE NETTLE 287 XXX AFTERMATH OF STORM 296 A TRAITOR'S WOOING CHAPTER I TWO VILLAINS AND THE HEROINE "Your Highness will find your opportunity now; Miss Maynard is for the moment alone," Mr. Travers Nugent whispered to his companion. A guttural "Ah!" was the only answer as the individual addressed left the speaker's side and made his way through the crush towards a tall girl who had just dismissed her partner in the last dance. The ball-room at Brabazon House was almost inconveniently crowded on the occasion of this, the first great function of the London season, and progress was a little difficult. A gleam of satisfaction crept into Mr. Nugent's steadily following eyes when at length the Maharajah stood bowing before the fair young Englishwoman. The Indian Prince, a notable figure by reason of the jewelled turban that crowned his otherwise orthodox European evening dress, gave his arm to the girl, who greeted him with a pleasant smile of recognition, and together the pair strolled out through one of the French windows into the vast tropical winter-garden for which Brabazon House is celebrated. The dusky face of the Maharajah as it disappeared from view wore an expression of ecstatic rapture that caused Mr. Nugent's thin lips to curl in the ghost of a sneer. "His Highness won't look like that when he comes back," the watcher muttered under his breath, as he leaned against a pillar and composed himself to wait. Mr. Travers Nugent spent much of his life in waiting--with the consolation of knowing that there was generally a big stake to wait for. He was a well-built man of middle age and height, wearing a long, fair moustache that at first sight gave him rather a distinguished air--an impression that was, however, negatived for any student of character by a hint of shiftiness in the close-set blue eyes.