Now that there was a prospect of something definite being accomplished, Hilda's bravery redoubled, and she supported the old lady with her courage. Raife's mother had at length retired, and Hilda sat alone. It was late and she rang for her maid. When the girl appeared she rather startled her with a request for tea. Tea is an unconventional drink when it is nearly midnight, in an English household. All the conventions had been broken since Raife disappeared, and Hilda cared naught for convention. She was anxious for news that should at least help her to straighten out a situation that had become intolerable. It was impossible to return home to the United States and face the "sympathy" of friends. It was equally intolerable to endure the uncertainties of her present life. At length the telephone rang. Hilda clutched the receiver. "Yes, this is Lady Remington. Who am I speaking to? Oh, yes, Mr Herrion! Any news? What's that? You think I'd better go to Paris, and you'll try and meet me there. Sure, I'll start right away, to-morrow. I have a house on the Champs Elysees! It won't be hard for you to find me, and I'll take Lady Remington, Sir Raife's mother, with me." Here, at last, was action. There was hope in action, and she had suffered from inertia. CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR. HOW THE GRAND COUP WAS PLANNED. Raife's flat in the Rue Lafayette, Paris, was, like most things in which Doctor Malsano was concerned, cunningly contrived. Two adjacent flats had been converted into one in such a manner that it was easy to enter by one door and leave by another, each out of view of the other. The people who foregathered there were not of the type that would have been welcome at Aldborough Park or Green Street, Mayfair. Here, for the first time, Raife met the Apache fellow at close quarters. His impulse was to thrash him, but Mr Lesigne had most ingratiating manners, and quickly assured Raife that he was on his side now, and, if it were necessary to do any spying, it would be in Raife's interests, and not on him. For diplomatic reasons, to avoid suspicion, Malsano lived by himself, and rarely appeared in public, as was his custom, preferring to direct operations rather than participate in them. For the same reason it was considered advisable that Gilda Tempest should occupy an apartment by herself.