"No," said Blacklock candidly, "I couldn't, or I should not have sent for Miss Holland. It was an extremely difficult problem to get you to risk your life, and stand out against your commanding officer's wishes and your own inclinations and your apparent duty, and come back to this house after the whole plan was arranged and every argument seemed to be in favour of your going aboard your boat again. Nobody but a man under the influence of a woman would have taken such a course. Those were the facts I had to face, and--well, the thing came off, thanks entirely to Miss Holland. I have apologised to her twenty times already for making such a use of her, and I apologise again." Suddenly the young German broke out. "Ah! But were there not consolations?" "What do you mean?" "You and Miss Holland living by yourselves in this house--is it that you need apologise for?" "Miss Holland never spent a single night under this roof," said Blacklock quietly. "Not--not a night," stammered von Belke. "Then where----?" "She stayed at a house in the neighbourhood." The lieutenant seemed incapable of comment, and Captain Phipps observed genially, "There seem to have been some rum goings-on behind your back, Mr Belke!" Von Belke seemed to be realising this fact himself, and resenting it. "You seem to have amused yourself very much by deceiving me," he remarked. "I assure you I did nothing for fun," said Blacklock gravely, yet with a twinkle in his eye. "It was all in the way of business." "The story that you preached, for instance!" "Would you have felt quite happy if I had told you I had omitted to do the one thing I had professed to come here for?" Von Belke gave a little sound that might have meant anything. Then he exclaimed-- "But your servant who was not supposed to know anything--that was to annoy me, I suppose!" "To isolate you. I didn't want you to speak to a soul but me." The captive sat silent for a moment, and then said-- "You had the house watched by the police--I see that now." "A compliment to you, Mr Belke," smiled the Commander; and then he added, "You gave me one or two anxious moments, I may tell you. Your demand for mufti necessitated a very hurried interview with the commander of a destroyer, and old Craigie's visit very nearly upset the apple-cart. I had to tell him pretty nearly the whole truth when I got him outside. But those incidents came after the chief crisis was over. The nearest squeak was when I thought you were safely engaged with Miss Holland, and a certain officer was calling on me, who was _not_ Captain Phipps. In fact, he was an even more exalted person. Miss Holland saved the situation by crying out that you were coming, or I'm afraid that would have been the end of the submarine attack."