A sweep of her hand carried back her veil; and Cleek, looking round, saw what he considered one of the handsomest women he had ever beheld: a good woman, too, for all her frivolous life and her dark ancestry, if clear, straight-looking eyes could be taken as a proof, which he knew that they could _not_; for he had seen men and women in his day, as crafty as the fox and as dangerous as the serpent, who could look you straight in the eyes and never flinch; while others--as true as steel and as clean-lifed as saints--would send shifting glances flicking all round the room and could no more fix those glances on the face of the person to whom they were talking than they could take unto themselves wings and fly. But good or ill, whichever the future might prove this lovely lady to be, one thing about her was certain: she was violently agitated, and nervousness was making her shake perceptibly and breathe hard, like a spent runner. "It is good of you to come, Mr. Narkom," she said, moving forward with a grace which no amount of excitement could dispel or diminish--the innate grace of the woman _born_ to her station and schooled by Mother Nature's guiding hand. "I had hoped that I might steal away and come here to meet you unsuspected. But, secretly as I wrote, carefully as I planned this thing, I have every reason to believe that my efforts are suspected and that I have, indeed, been followed. So, then, this interview must be a very hurried one, and you must not be surprised if it becomes necessary for me to run off without a moment's notice; for believe me, I am quite, quite sure that the Honourable Mr. Felix Carruthers is already following me." "The Honourable--my dear Lady Essington, you don't mean to suggest that he--he of all men----God bless my soul!" "Oh, it may well amaze you, Mr. Narkom. It well-nigh stupefied me when I first began to suspect. Indeed, I can't do any more than suspect even yet. Perhaps it is he, perhaps that abominable woman he has married. You must decide that when you have heard. I perceive"--glancing over at Cleek--"you have been unable to bring a detective police officer to listen to what I have to say, but if you and your friend will listen carefully and convey the story to one in due course----" "Pardon, your ladyship, but my companion is a detective officer," interposed Narkom. "So if you will state the case at once he will be able to advise." "A detective? You?" She flashed round on Cleek and looked at him in amazement, her lower lip indrawn, a look almost of horror in her eyes. One may not tell a lion that another lion is a jackass, though he masquerade in the skin of one. Birth spoke to Birth. She saw, she knew, she understood. "By what process could such as you--" she began; then stopped and made a slight inclination of the head. "Pardon," she continued; "that was rude. Your private affairs are of course your own, Mr.--er----"