"Well, please wire her at once that I'll arrive this afternoon. Leave in an hour. Is his Excellency disengaged?" "Yes, sir." "Thanks, that will do," and as John departed he added to Randell: "You might go ahead and reserve a corner seat in a first-class carriage for me. Facing the engine. Liverpool Street--you know." "Yes, sir." "Where is Colonel Darcy?" "Waiting at your rooms for an answer." "Ah," said Stanley, "that gives me time to explain things to the Chief. If Colonel Darcy is there when you return after seeing me off, tell him I don't know anything about his wife, and if that isn't good enough he can call on his Excellency. Say I'm away in the country for an indefinite time." "Yes, sir." "You don't know where." "Quite right, sir," and Randell departed for the station. "Quite right!" groaned Stanley as he sought the Sanctum Sanctorum of the Legation. "I only wish it were!" CHAPTER VIII DIPLOMATIC INSTRUCTIONS Mr. Stanley's Chief was a grey, weazened little man, who had achieved distinction in diplomacy and in his country's councils, largely on account of his infinite capacity for holding his tongue. As a result he let fall little and learned much. His reticence, however, was not the reserve of impotence, but the reserve of power. On this occasion he was busy at his great desk, which occupied the centre of the room, and merely glancing up at his Secretary's entrance, he resumed the piece of work on which he was engaged. Ten minutes later he put down his pen and gave his waiting subordinate an encouraging smile. It was his official permission to speak. "I regret to say that I have got into a little scrape, sir, concerning which will you give me leave to clear myself?" "Leave of absence or my approval, Mr. Stanley?" "Both, your Excellency." The Minister leaned back in his chair, rested his elbows on the arms, and bringing the first fingers of each hand together, held them at the level of his face and gazed attentively at their point of contact. It was a favourite attitude which the Secretary understood, and he at once gave a concise account of all the circumstances concerning Madame Darcy. The Minister heard him out in perfect silence, and after taking a moment or two to ponder over his words, remarked quietly: "It's a small world, Mr. Stanley." "You mean the fact that Señor De Costa and my father were friends before they quarrelled, and that his daughter----" "No, I do not mean that." The Secretary thought it better policy not to ask what he did mean, though he much wished to know; and silence again reigned. Presently the Minister sat up to his desk and ran his hand through the mass of papers upon it; finally unearthing one in particular, which he submitted to a careful scrutiny. "Your report of your visit to the Foreign Office yesterday," he said--"a very important communication, Mr. Stanley."