'I don't think the acquaintance has been a long one, but they seem to get on very well together.' The words were uttered hurriedly. Penelope was beginning to feel deeply ashamed of the part she was playing. Winfrith went on, with some eagerness: 'How extraordinary that Persian Downing should find his way down here! He is one of the few people whom I have always wished to meet.' Her task was becoming almost too easy, and with some perverseness she remarked coldly: 'And yet I believe your present chief--I mean Lord Rashleigh--refused to see him when he was in London?' 'Refused is not quite the word. Of course, such a man as Downing has the faults of his qualities. He arrived in town on a Tuesday, I believe; he requested an interview on the Wednesday; and then, while the chief was humming and hawing, and consulting the people who were up on the whole matter, and who could have told him what to say and how far he could go in meeting Downing--who, of course, has come back to England with his head packed full of schemes and projects--the man suddenly disappeared, leaving no address! Rashleigh was very much put out, the more so that, as you doubtless know, our people distrust Downing.' Penelope was looking down, digging the point of her parasol into the soft turf at their feet. 'There was some story, wasn't there, when Sir George Downing was a young man? Some woman was mixed up with it. What was the truth of it all?' He hesitated, then answered unwillingly: 'The draft of an important paper disappeared, and was practically traced from Downing's possession to that of a Russian woman with whom he was known to have been on friendly terms. But it's admitted now that he was very harshly treated over the whole affair. I believe he had actually met the lady at a F.O. reception! He may have been a fool--probably he was a fool--but even at the time no one suspected him of having been anything else. The woman simply and very cleverly stole the paper in question.' 'I am sure he ought to be very much obliged to you for this kind version of what took place.' 'Well,' he said good-humouredly, 'I happen to have taken some trouble to find out the truth, and I'm sorry if the story isn't sensational enough to please you. But the consequences were serious enough for Downing. He was treated with great severity, and finally went on to America. It was there, at Washington, that he became acquainted with my uncle, and, oddly enough, I have in my possession some of the letters written by him when first in Persia. I shall now have the opportunity of giving them back to him.' 'And out there--in Persia, I mean--did you never come across him?'