"That Mr. Hargreave? The bureau speaking. Monsieur Duperre has come in and is coming up to you now." A minute later somebody knocked, and I called "Come in!" Then, to my amazement, who should enter but my old company commander in France in the early days of the war--Captain Vincent Deinhard, who later in the war had been court-martialed for misappropriating canteen funds and been subsequently cashiered! Altogether his Army record had been an exceedingly bad one. Instantly I remembered the voice. It was Deinhard I had heard in conversation with Rayne at Overstow Hall! He stood stock-still, staring at me. "Why, Hargreave!" he exclaimed at last. "What in the world are you doing here?" "I am Mr. Rayne's chauffeur and general servant now, captain," I replied. "Mr. Rayne told me to inquire on my arrival here for Monsieur Duperre and hand him that suit-case," and I pointed to it. He glanced quickly at the door, to make sure that it was shut, then, looking at me oddly, he said in a low voice: "I am Duperre, Hargreave. You must forget that my name was ever anything else--I got myself into trouble in the Army, you remember--and you must forget that too--and that we have ever met before. So you are his new chauffeur, eh?" he went on, now talking naturally. "It never occurred to me that 'Hargreave,' the new chauffeur, would turn out to be the Hargreave who served under me for two years!" and he laughed dryly. Then, without a word, he went over to the suit-case and picked it up. "Come along to my room," he said. CHAPTER II ROOM NUMBER 88 I accompanied him along the corridor to a private sitting-room at the end, numbered 88, and adjoining which was a bedroom. There he placed the suit-case upon the table, and taking a piece of paper scribbled a receipt. "Better post that on to Rayne at once," he suggested. "My wife will be here in a moment. We'll have lunch later on." All that had already happened had so astonished me that I was only slightly surprised at finding a few moments later that the lady I had seen at Overstow Hall, and again a couple of hours before in the vestibule of the hotel, was Duperre's wife. He must, I think, have told her that we had met before, for she seemed in no way astonished at Mr. Rayne's chauffeur being presented to her. I found her a pleasant woman, well-read, well-educated and widely travelled. She was, too, an excellent conversationalist. And yet, all the time we were talking, I could not help thinking of Lola, and wondering why Duperre's wife should be in such evidence at Overstow Hall, indeed, apparently in authority there, also why Lola seemed to be so afraid of her. Half an hour later I posted the receipt to Rayne, and later we all three lunched together in the restaurant. We took our coffee upstairs in the private room, when Duperre said, _a propos_ of nothing, suddenly looking across at his wife: