"Clearly," assented the shrewd detective, "they had a deeper game than that on. They wanted to catch this young friend of yours for a husband, and failing that, to entrap him, so that they could blackmail him on the threat of a breach of promise case." "It looks as if that was their object." "Now, Captain Murchison, may I ask you if your friend is a man likely to fall into the trap? I saw him in the High Street this afternoon with you: and if I may say so without offence, he doesn't give me the impression of a very strong or self-reliant person." Hugh shook his head. "I fear he is very weak, very impulsive, very emotional, a ready prey for a designing woman." "Have you any idea how far the thing has gone?" To this question Hugh could only reply in the negative. His one hope was that the foolish boy had seen her so often that there was no necessity to write incriminating letters. "Well, Captain Murchison, my object in asking you to grant me an interview was two-fold. In the first place, I wanted to know if there had been any card-sharping. Then, as I am aware you go to the house, I wished to tell you that I and my friend are going to take him to-night. It might happen that you would be going there, and of course, you will not want to be on the stage when we play our little comedy." "We have promised to go to dinner tonight. She asked us both when we met her this afternoon." "And of course now, you will not go. I will take him before dinner-time, so you need not send round any excuses." Poor Hugh felt very miserable. What he especially shirked was having to tell this sordid narrative to Pomfret. He expressed to the detective his shrinking from the unwelcome task. "I quite understand, sir, but it's got to be done," replied the detective, firmly. For a few seconds after he had spoken, he seemed to be thinking deeply. Then he came out with a startling proposition. "Look here, Captain Murchison, something has just occurred to me. I am not sure whether you will think it a good plan. Just now I thought it would be better for you not to be there. But if this young gentleman is so gone on the girl, it might make a deeper impression on him, bring home to him more strongly the sense of her unworthiness, if he were actually present at the scene. And it would spare you any painful explanations, beforehand. Afterwards you can tell him or not, as you please, about our interview here." Hugh made a gesture of disgust. "You propose that we should carry out our original intention of dining there and of sitting at the table of a criminal? I don't think I could bring myself to it." If Mr. Davidson did not quite agree with the young man's scruples, he was open-minded enough to see the matter from Hugh's point of view.