He opened his hands with a gesture of unconcern. 'All the bettah for my purpose. See how frank I am, Miss Cayley. I tell the truth. The truth is very rare. You ought to respect me for it.' 'It depends somewhat upon the _kind_ of truth,' I answered, with a random shot. 'I don't respect a man, for instance, for confessing to a forgery.' He winced. Not for months after did I know how a stone thrown at a venture had chanced to hit the spot, and had vastly enhanced his opinion of my cleverness. 'You have heard about Dr. Fortescue-Langley too, I suppose?' I went on. 'Oh, yaas. Wasn't it real jam? He did the doctor-trick on a lady in Switzerland. And the way he has come it ovah deah simple old Marmy! He played Marmy with Ezekiel! Not so dusty, was it? He's too lovely for anything!' 'He's an edged tool,' I said. 'Yaas; that's why I use him.' 'And edged tools may cut the user's fingers.' [Illustration: YAH DON'T CATCH ME GOING SO FAH FROM NEWMARKET.] 'Not mine,' he answered, taking out a cigarette. 'Oh deah no. He can't turn against _me_. He wouldn't dare to. Yah see, I have the fellah entirely in my powah. I know all his little games, and I can expose him any day. But it suits me to keep him. I don't mind telling yah, since I respect your intellect, that he and I are engaged in pulling off a big _coup_ togethah. If it were not for that, I wouldn't be heah. Yah don't catch me going away so fah from Newmarket and the Empire for nothing.' 'I judged as much,' I answered. And then I was silent. But I wondered to myself why the neutral-tinted young man should be so communicative to an obviously hostile stranger.