The wind was searching and the maid brought a heavy coat with brass buttons from below and put it on her with the word that Mr. Rizzio had sent it and would come to her in a few moments. She sat in a deckchair in the lee of the deckhouse, her lips firmly compressed, trying to think what his ulterior purpose might be, planning a defense which might make her invulnerable, an attack which might search his intentions and discover the true relation that was to exist between them. He came toward her from forward, muffled in a greatcoat, and carrying a rug. He took off his cap with an air of deference, which answered at once some of her questions. She rose and faced him, her color high. “What are you going to do with me?” she asked, trying to keep her lips from trembling. He smiled and pulled at his mustache. “First, I hope you’ll give me a chance to explain.” “What?” she cried hotly. “What can you explain? Don’t you suppose I know what you are? A German spy, a traitor to England, and worse than that--a woman-baiter and a coward, Mr. Rizzio.” He bent his head. “I make no defense,” he said, “except necessity.” And then gravely indicating the chair from which she had risen. “Won’t you sit down? The voyage may be long.” But she still stood. “I am a prisoner, not a guest.” “Then I command you to sit,” he said with a laugh. “Won’t you?” A sound of exasperation came from her throat and she obeyed him, her gaze on the sea, while with some ostentation he covered her with a rug. “What are you going to do with me in Germany?” she repeated dully. He sank into the chair beside her. “As I have often told you, you are a woman of rare intelligence. In reply I can only say that, unfortunately, I do not know.” “A coward who is also a--a liar,” she said bitterly. “A coward is usually a liar, but a liar isn’t always a coward. I am a liar, Doris, if you will, but a courageous one.” “My name is Mather,” she said distinctly. He shrugged and turned his gaze on the sea. “You hate me, of course. We are enemies. I am sorry. I warned you that you were entangled in an affair that was leading you into dangerous paths. I would have saved you, if I could, but you had learned too much.” “And so you had me chloroformed. It was a pity that you didn’t complete your work.” “I merely did what was required of me. Through a most unfortunate combination of circumstances you came into possession of a secret known to but one person in England; and you are the only person with English sympathies who knows my exact political status----” “A spy!” contemptuously.