"Then you can see--then you must understand," Demetrius gesticulated excitedly. "Should I surrender Mademoiselle--if I write a letter stating that I do not love, that there can by no means be marriage--Aksakoff will help me, help you, help us both." "As Prince and Princess Demetrius. Yes, I see. And yet--the risk." "There is no risk, publicly. And to snare me in secret--no. I am wary--oh, most wary; no one can trap me. I swear to you, no one." "Demetrius," said Leah, as gravely as her delight would let her, "you have done me a service, which I repay with my hand in marriage. I do not love you as I ought to, but love may come with the honeymoon. Still, even now, I have sufficient affection for you to wish for your safety. Supposing"--she laid an anxious hand on his arm--"supposing M. Aksakoff played you false, and you were trapped into taking this Siberian journey--what would I do? Ah, no, my friend; believe me, it is best to treat with this diplomatist in London. There you are safe; here----"She shook her head warningly. She could not have made a speech, as she very well knew, more likely to provoke Demetrius into remaining in his enemy's camp. He had accepted her disavowal of Mrs. Penworthy's gossip, and yet, now that she asked him to go, urged him to depart, even in Askew's company, his incurable suspicion made him hesitate. "I shall stay here, and see Aksakoff," he announced doggedly. "Very good," assented Lady Jim, accepting the fiat. "He is coming to luncheon; you can speak to him then." "Why to luncheon?" asked the doctor, sharply. "Why not?" demanded Leah, up in arms on the instant. "When we are married, your enemies shall be my enemies; until then, my friends--of whom M. Aksakoff is one--shall be my own." She became less imperative in her speech and looks, dropping to a conversational tone. "If you must know, Katinka asked her father to call while he was in Paris. I could not do less than ask him to luncheon, could I?" A less clever woman would have made a less frivolous excuse, and, despite his cleverness, Demetrius was gulled into accepting the false as genuinely true. "You will permit that I go to brush my clothes--to remove the dust of travel," he asked politely. "I return soon to meet M. Aksakoff." "Half-past two is the time," said Leah, with a careless glance at the gimcrack clock on the mantelpiece; "and perhaps it will be safer for you to meet him in my presence at my table. He can scarcely arrest you there. One moment," as Demetrius turned to go with a hasty bow. "Mention our engagement to him privately. I do not wish Miss Tallentire to know, as she would probably tell Lionel Kaimes, and then the family--very rightly too--would be shocked." "You can always depend upon my discretion, madame," murmured the doctor, bowing over her hand, and brusquely departed with the air of a conqueror.