'I will do my best most willingly,' said Carey; 'and after I have settled upon the matter, I may be of some use. At present, I confess that the news has come upon me so suddenly, my obligation to this unfortunate gentleman is so great, and my regard for him and his wife so essentially a portion of my life, that I cannot trust myself to give anything like clear advice or reliable aid.' 'I perfectly comprehend your feelings,' said Bryan Duval, 'and there is no need for us to prolong this painful interview--in fact, Miss Montressor and myself have our duties to attend to at the theatre, and we must go to them. We may, however, rely upon you to take the one step immediately necessary--namely, to apprise Mr. Warren by telegraph that his presence is most desirable in New York.' 'You may depend upon my doing so,' said Carey, 'and upon my being here tomorrow to take my part in any further consultation.' So they parted. Thornton Carey was completely overwhelmed by the news he had just heard. He would have disbelieved it, but he was never in the habit of allowing his common sense to be over-ridden by his sympathies; and that rare and inestimable quality told him that Mr. Bryan Duval had, indeed, good foundation for the deductions he had drawn. The more he thought over it, the less real doubt had he that the _soi-disant_ Foster and his friend and benefactor, Alston Griswold, were one. He knew that Griswold's one idea in life had been to achieve such a fortune as would enable him to vie with the proudest millionaire in New York, and to retire altogether from business. It was evident that, in this endeavour, he had gone in for some great stake; so great as to require the exercise of what in the commercial world is known as tact, but in free-spoken circles, outside the commercial world, is called duplicity. This change of name, for instance--it could be easily learned whether the secret had been confided to Warren alone, or was known to the clerks in Griswold's house of business--that could be learned from the clerks themselves; and Thornton Carey determined at once to inquire of them.