An instinctive disinclination for further conversation brought the interview between them abruptly to a close, and Jost, full of a suspicious alarm, which he was ashamed to confess, drove off to his newspaper offices. The Premier, meantime, though harassed by secret anxiety, managed to display his usual frigid equanimity, when, after Jost’s departure, his private secretary arrived at the customary time, to transact under his orders the correspondence and business of the day. This secretary, Eugène Silvano by name, was a quiet self-contained young man, highly ambitious, and keenly interested in the political situation, and, though in the Premier’s service, not altogether of his way of thinking. He called the Marquis’s attention now to a letter that had missed careful reading on the previous day. It was from the Vicar-General of the Society of Jesus, expressing surprise and indignation that the King should have refused the Society’s request for such land as was required to be devoted to religious and educational purposes, and begging that the Premier would exert his influence with the monarch to persuade him to withdraw or mitigate his refusal. “I can do nothing;” said the Marquis irritably,--“the lands they want belong to the Crown. The King can dispose of them as he thinks best.” The secretary set the letter aside. “Shall I reply to that effect?” he enquired. The Marquis nodded. “I know,” said Silvano presently with a slight hesitation, “that you never pay any attention to anonymous communications. Otherwise, there is one here which might merit consideration.” “What does it concern?” “A revolutionary meeting,” replied Silvano, “where it appears the woman, Lotys, is to speak.” The Premier shrugged his shoulders and smiled. “You must enlighten me! Who is the woman Lotys?” “Ah, that no one exactly knows!” replied the secretary. “A strange character, without doubt, but--” He paused and spoke more emphatically--“She has power!” Lutera gave a gesture of irritation. “Bah! Over whom does she exercise it. Over one man or many?” “Over one half the population at least,” responded Silvano, quietly, turning over a few papers without looking up. The Marquis stared at him, slightly amused. “Have you taken statistics of the lady’s followers,” he asked; “Are you one of them yourself?” Silvano raised his eyes,--clear dark eyes, deep-set and steady in their glance. “Were I so, I should not be here;” he replied--“But I know how she speaks; I know what she does! and from a purely political point of view I think it unwise to ignore her.” “What is this anonymous communication you speak of?” asked the Premier, after a pause. “Oh, it is brief enough,” answered Silvano unfolding a paper, and he read aloud: “To the Marquis de Lutera, Premier. “Satisfy yourself that those who meet on Saturday night where Lotys speaks, have already decided on your downfall!”