"The gallery is closed until Monday," he assured her, falsely. "If you will honour me then, I shall be delighted." She shrugged her shoulders, but said nothing. She had an idea that she was being dismissed, but Bernadine, without the least appearance of hurry, gave her no opportunity for any further suggestions. He handed her into her automobile, and returned at once into the restaurant. He touched Baron de Grost upon the shoulder. "My friend the enemy!" he exclaimed, smiling. "At your service in either capacity," the baron replied. Bernadine made a grimace and accepted the chair which de Grost had indicated. "If I may, I will take my coffee with you," he said. "I am growing old. It does not amuse me so much to lunch with a pretty woman. One has to entertain, and one forgets the serious business of lunching. I will take my coffee and cigarette in peace." De Grost gave an order to the waiter and leaned back in his chair. "Now," he suggested, "tell me exactly what it is that has brought you back into the restaurant." Bernadine shrugged his shoulders. "Why not the pleasure of this few minutes' conversation with you?" he asked. The baron carefully selected a cigar and lit it. "That," he said, "goes well, but there are other things." "As, for instance?" De Grost leaned back in his chair and watched the smoke of his cigar curl upwards. "One talks too much," he remarked. "Before the cards are upon the table it is not wise." They chatted upon various matters. De Grost himself seemed in no hurry to depart, nor did his companion show any signs of impatience. It was not until the two people whose entrance had had such a remarkable effect upon Bernadine, rose to leave, that the mask was for a moment lifted. De Grost had called for his bill and paid it. The two men strolled out together. "Baron," Bernadine said suavely, linking his arm through the other man's as they passed into the foyer, "there are times when candour even amongst enemies becomes an admirable quality." "Those times, I imagine," de Grost answered grimly, "are rare. Besides, who is to tell the real thing from the false?" "You do less than justice to your perceptions, my friend," Bernadine declared, smiling. De Grost merely shrugged his shoulders. Bernadine persisted. "Come," he continued, "since you doubt me, let me be the first to give you a proof that on this occasion, at any rate, I am candour itself. You had a purpose in lunching at the Savoy to-day. That purpose I have discovered by accident. We are both interested in those people." The Baron de Grost shook his head slowly. "Really----" he began.