"I suppose nothing came for us at Cannes, oh, Laing? You said you'd bring anything on, you know." Laing interrupted a pretty speech which he was trying to direct into Dora's inattentive ears. "Beg pardon, General?" "No letters for any of us before you left Cannes?" "No, Gen--" he began, but suddenly stopped. His mouth remained open and his glass fell from his eye. The General, not waiting to hear more than the first word, had rushed of to hail a cab and Deane was escorting his wife. Dora and Charlie stood waiting for the unfinished speech. The end came slowly and with a prodigious emphasis of despair. "Oh, by Jove!" "Well, Mr. Laing?" said Dora. "The morning you left--just after--there were two telegrams." "For me?" said each of his auditors. "One for each of you, but "Oh, give me mine." "Hand over mine, old chap." "I--I haven't got 'em." "What?" "I--I'm awfully sorry, I.----I forgot 'em." "Oh, how tiresome of you, Mr. Laing!" "Send 'em round first thing to-morrow, Laing." "But--but I don't know where I put 'em. I know I laid 'em down. Then I took 'em up. Then I put 'em--where the deuce did I put 'em? Here's a go, Miss Bellairs! I say, I am an ass!" No contradiction assailed him. His victims glared reproachfully at him. "I must have left them at Cannes. I'll wire first thing in the morning, Miss Bellairs; I'll get up as soon as ever the office is open. I say, do forgive me." "Well, Mr. Laing, I'll try, but----" "Laing! Here! My wife wants you," shouted Sir Roger, and the criminal, happy to escape, ran away, leaving Dora and Charlie alone. "They must have been from _them_," murmured Dora. "No doubt; and that fool Laing----" "What has he done with them?" "Lit his pipe with them, I expect." "Oh, what shall we do?" "I don't know." "What--what do you think they said, Mr. Ellerton?" "How can I tell? Perhaps that the marriage was off!" "Oh!" escaped from Dora. "Perhaps that it was going on." "It's worse than ever. They may have asked for answers." "Probably." "And they won't have written here!" "Sure not to have." "And--and I shan't know what to do. I--I believe it was to say he had broken off the marriage." "Is the wish father to the thought?" The lights of the station flickered, but Charlie saw, or thought he saw, a hasty unpremeditated gesture of protest. "Dolly!" he whispered. "Hush, hush! How can you now--before we know?" "The cab's waiting," called Deane. "Come along." They got in in silence. The General and the Deanes went first, and the three young people followed in a second vehicle. It was but just twelve, and the boulevards were gay and full of people. Suddenly, as they were near the Opera, they saw the tall figure of an unmistakable Englishman walking away from them down the Avenue de l'Opera. Dora clutched Charlie's arm with a convulsive grip. "Hullo, what's the--" he began, but a second pinch enforced silence. "See that chap?" asked Laing, pointing to the figure. "He's at my hotel."