“Certainly not!” he said vehemently. “Certainly not! It is you we still suspect, not Lord Penshurst. Good gracious! Certainly not!” “You suspect me, I presume, to such an extent,” replied Westerham, “that if I left this hotel I am pretty sure to be followed. Well, follow me,” he added with a laugh, “and catch me if you can.” And taking up his hat he walked out. He was perfectly right in his suspicions, and as he moved down the Strand and looked into the shop windows he was conscious that a bulky man dogged his footsteps. The pursuit, however, rather sharpened Westerham's wits than otherwise, and raised his spirits rather than depressed them. It served to take his thoughts from the grim business which was beginning to weigh him down. Westerham's notions of evading capture were somewhat immature, as it was a new experience for him to find the police constantly upon his track. Very little ingenuity, however, sufficed to rid him, at least for a time, of his pursuers. He strolled along Piccadilly and up the Burlington Arcade. He entered Truefit's, where he made a small and totally unnecessary purchase. By this move he knew that he placed the detective who followed him in an awkward position. He was conscious that the man's face was pressed against the glass in an endeavour to keep him in sight. He did not enter the shop from the very obvious fear of becoming too obtrusive. Westerham sauntered down the shop, and then, before the detective had any chance of making even an attempt at pursuit, he slipped out into Bond Street and clambered on to a passing omnibus. As the heavy vehicle lumbered past the clubs in Piccadilly, Westerham took a long breath of relief, and startled the other passengers by laughing aloud. He went on to Victoria, where he made several purchases, including a second-hand kit-bag. Armed with this, he walked boldly into the Buckingham Palace Hotel and there booked a room. Immediately after this he wrote a note to Lord Dunton, asking him to call at once, for he was anxious that he should be warned in time of the visit the two men he had met at the gaming-house the night before would surely pay him. Little by little Westerham had begun to confide in Dunton. For in spite of that youthful nobleman's apparent flightiness he was, as a matter of fact, discretion itself and a very tomb for secrets. To his dismay, however, the messenger-boy whom he had dispatched with the note returned with word that Lord Dunton had a couple of days before run over to Paris, and that he was not expected back till the following afternoon. This landed Westerham in a particularly awkward predicament. It was imperative that he should see Melun as soon as possible, if only for the purpose of threatening to give him into charge for murder. It was only, too, from Melun that he was likely to hear any news of Lady Kathleen until Dunton returned to help him out of his difficulty.