"Paris!" They were both looking at him now. Micky was painfully aware of the eagerness in Esther's face. "Yes; I haven't been since September. Anything I can do for you while I'm there?" June raised her brows comically. "Not for me, but perhaps Esther ... Esther has a great friend over there, haven't you, my child?" Esther turned crimson from chin to brow. "Mr. Mellowes is not at all likely to meet any friend of mine," she said stiffly. Micky felt horribly sorry for her. "Don't be too sure, Miss Shepstone," he said lightly. "It's a small world, you know, and it's the most unexpected things that happen." But Esther seemed not to have heard. CHAPTER XIII Micky went to Paris. "No, I shan't want you, Driver," he told his man awkwardly. "I'm only going for a day or two. I--er--I shan't want you," he said again lamely. He looked at the man guiltily, but Driver was as impassive as ever. "Very good, sir," he said. He could not understand what had happened to Micky; as a rule, he refused even to take his own railway ticket or speak to a porter. This new independence worried him. But Micky went off cheerfully enough. He rang June up at her club the morning he started and told her he was really going. He heard her cheery laugh across the telephone. "Micky, you're not up to any mischief?" "As if I should be!" he answered with dignity. "I wouldn't trust you," she said promptly. "However, have a good time, and if you see the phantom lover, you might push him into the Seine for me." "I'll remember," Micky said grimly. He hesitated. "Everything all right?" he asked. She echoed his words, not understanding. "Everything all right? Do you mean the swindle? Oh, yes, it's going fine, thank you. I had another order from those American export people this morning." "Good.... And--Miss Shepstone gone?" "No, she's going on Saturday. Sickening, isn't it?" "I don't think she'll stay long," Micky said soothingly. "It won't do her any harm to see how she likes it. Well, good-bye." He stood for a moment after he had hung up the receiver, staring at it. He wished he had not arranged to go to Paris. Supposing Ashton took it into his head to come back while he was away? Supposing he went home and found Esther there? He tried to believe that it was not at all likely, but at the last moment, as he got into the train and received his ticket from the solemn Driver, Micky said-- "You know where to find me if anything happens--if anything should be the matter?" "Yes, sir." Driver raised wooden eyes to his master's face. "Was you expecting anything to happen, sir?" he asked stolidly. Micky got red. "No, you fool!" "Very good, sir," Driver retorted unmoved. And so Micky went to Paris. It was dark when he got there, and he drove at once to a small and unpretentious hotel in a narrow side street, where he had never been before, but of which he had heard from Philips.