"As has been intimated in that infamous letter, his Grace is at perfect liberty to give me into custody--why not? Only"--he said it with his boyish smile--"if a particular communication is not received from me in certain quarters within a certain time, the Duchess of Datchet's beautiful white arm will be hacked off at the shoulder." "You hound!" The Duke would have taken the stranger by the throat, and have done his best to choke the life right out of him then and there, if Mr. Dacre had not intervened. "Steady, old man!" Mr. Dacre turned to the stranger: "You appear to be a pretty sort of a scoundrel." The stranger gave his shoulders that almost imperceptible shrug: "Oh, my dear Dacre, I am in want of money! I believe that you sometimes are in want of money, too." Everybody knows that nobody knows where Ivor Dacre gets his money from, so the illusion must have tickled him immensely. "You're a cool hand," he said. "Some men are born that way." "So I should imagine. Men like you must be born, not made." "Precisely--as you say!" The stranger turned, with his graceful smile, to the Duke: "But are we not wasting precious time? I can assure your Grace that, in this particular matter, moments are of value." Mr. Dacre interposed before the Duke could answer: "If you take my strongly urged advice, Datchet, you will summon this constable who is now coming down the Arcade, and hand over this gentleman to his keeping. I do not think that you need fear that the Duchess will lose her arm, or even her little finger. Scoundrels of this one's kidney are most amenable to reason when they have handcuffs on their wrists." The Duke plainly hesitated. He would--and he would not. The stranger, as he eyed him, seemed much amused.