Chris conceded the point, though she had her own views on that matter. Lord Littimer had seated himself on the broad stone bench along the terrace, whence he was watching the scene with the greatest zest and interest. "You imagine Mr. Henson to be a friend of yours?" Chris asked. Merritt nodded and grinned. So long as he was useful to Henson he was fairly safe. "Mr. Merritt," Chris asked, suddenly, "have you ever heard of Reuben Taylor?" The effect of the question was electrical. Merritt's square jaw dropped with a click, there was fear in the furtive eyes that he cast around him. "I read about Reuben Taylor in one of our very smart papers lately," Chris went on. "It appears that Mr. Taylor is a person who nobody seems to have seen, but who from time to time does a vast service to the community at large. He is not exactly a philanthropist, for he is well rewarded for his labours both by the police and his clients. Suppose Mr. Merritt here had done some wrong." "A great effort of imagination," Littimer murmured, gently. "Had done something wrong, and an enemy or quondam friend wants to 'put him away.' I believe that is the correct expression. In that case he does not go to the police himself, because he is usually of a modest and retiring disposition. No, he usually puts down a few particulars in the way of a letter and sends it to Reuben Taylor under cover at a certain address. Is not that quite correct, Mr. Merritt?" "Right," Merritt said, hoarsely. "Some day we shall find out who Taylor is, and--" "Never mind that. Do you know that the night before your friend Mr. Henson left the Castle he placed in the post-bag a letter addressed to Mr. Reuben Taylor? In view of what I read recently in the paper alluded to the name struck me as strange. Now, Mr. Merritt, is it possible that letter had anything to do with you?" Merritt did not appear to hear the question. His eyes were fixed on space; there was a sanguine clenching of his fists as if they had been about the throat of a foe. "If I had him here," he murmured. "If I only had him here! He's given me away. After all that I have done for him he's given me away." His listeners said nothing; they fully appreciated the situation. Merritt's presence at the Castle was both dangerous and hazardous for Henson. "If you went away to-day you might be safe?" Chris suggested. "Aye, I might," Merritt said, with a cunning grin in his eyes. "If I had a hundred pounds." Chris glanced significantly at Littimer, who nodded and took up the parable. "You shall have the money," he said. "And you shall go as soon as you have answered Miss Lee's questions." Merritt proclaimed himself eager to say anything. But Merritt's information proved to be a great deal less than she had anticipated.