"Madam, give me my instructions as rapidly as possible; the very walls have eyes sometimes, and--I must be away from here before midnight." "My instructions will be brief. I will state my case, and then answer any questions you find it necessary to ask." "I shall ask no needless questions, madam." "Then listen." She nerves herself for a brave effort, and hurries on, her voice somewhat agitated in spite of herself. "For three months past I have been conscious that I am watched, followed, spied upon. I have been much annoyed by this _espionage_. I never drive or walk alone, without feeling that my shadow is not far away. I begin to fear to trust my servants, and to realize that I have an enemy. Mr. Stanhope, I want you to find out who my enemy is." Behind his starry mask, her listener smiled at this woman-like statement of the case. Then he said, tersely: "You say that you are being spied upon. How do you know this?" "At first by intuition, I think; a certain vague, uneasy consciousness of a strange, inharmonious presence near me. Being thus put on my guard and roused to watchfulness, I have contrived to see, on various occasions, the same figure dogging my steps." "Um! Did you know this figure?" "No; it was strange to me, but always the same." "Then your spy is a blunderer. Let us try and sift this matter: A lady may be shadowed for numerous reasons; do you know why you are watched?" "N--no," hesitatingly. "So," thought the detective, "she is not quite frank, with me." Then aloud: "Do you suspect any one?" "No." "Madam, I must ask some personal questions. Please answer them frankly and truly, or not at all, and be sure that every question is necessary, every answer important." The lady bows her head, and he proceeds: "First, then, have you a secret?" She starts, turns her head away, and is silent. The detective notes the movement, smiles again, and goes on: "Let us advance a step; you _have_ a secret." "Why--do you--say that?" "Because you have yourself told me as much. We never feel that uneasy sense of _espionage_, so well described by you, madam, until we have something to conceal--the man who carries no purse, fears no robber. You have a secret. This has made you watchful, and, being watchful, you discover that you have--what? An enemy, or only a tormentor?" "Both, perhaps," she says sadly. "My task, then, is to find this enemy. Mrs. Warburton, I shall not touch your secret; at the same time I warn you in this search it is likely to discover itself to me without my seeking. Rest assured that I shall respect it. First, then, you have a secret. Second, you have an enemy. Mrs. Warburton, I should ask fewer questions if I could see your face." Springing up suddenly, she tears off her mask, and standing before him says with proud fierceness: