"Ah! Darnborough, I fear that each day brings us nearer the peril, nearer the day of Germany's attack. The exposure of those confidential reports upon our naval manoeuvres was serious enough to our diplomacy. The policy of the Government is, alas! one of false assurance in our defences. The country has been lulled to sleep far too long. False assurances of our national security have been given over and over again, and upon them the Cabinet have pursued a policy of bluff. But, alas! the days of Palmerston and Salisbury are past. Europe can gauge the extent and strength of our national defence, and, with the navigation of the air, we live no longer upon 'the tight little island' of our revered ancestors." "Yes," replied the man seated in the chair by the bedside, as he stretched his legs forward and folded his arms. "In all the capitals it is to-day the fashion to laugh at England's greatness, and to speak of us as a declining Power. I hear it everywhere. The Great Powers are in daily expectation of seeing the tail of the British lion badly twisted, and I quite agree that the most unfortunate leakage of a national secret was that report upon the last naval manoeuvres. The bubble of our defensive and offensive power has burst." "And poor Richard Harborne lost his life," remarked the Earl. "Yes," replied the other, thoughtfully. "He was a fine fellow, Darnborough--a very fine young fellow. He came to see me once or twice upon confidential matters. You sent him to Mexico, you'll remember, and he came to report to me personally. I was much struck by his keen foresight and cleverness. Have you gained any further information concerning his mysterious end?" "I have made a good many inquiries, both at home and abroad, but Harborne seems to have been something of a mystery himself. He was strangely reserved, and something of a recluse in private life--lived in chambers in the Temple when not travelling abroad, and kept himself very much to himself." "For any reason?" "None, as far as I can tell. He was a merry, easy-going young fellow, a member of the St. James's, and highly popular among the younger set at the club, but he held aloof from them all he could. As I told you some time ago, there was a lady in the case." His lordship sighed. "Ah! Darnborough, the best of men go under for the sake of a woman!" "In this case I am not sure that Harborne was really a victim," replied his visitor. "Only the other day, when in Borkum, I ascertained that Harborne had been in Germany and met by appointment a young foreign woman named Fraeulein Montague. She was French, I was told, and very pretty. It was she who carried on the negotiations for the purchase of the secret of the new Krupp aerial gun." "You ought to find her. She might tell you something."