"It would be superfluous to point out to you what bankruptcy would mean to you in your position. Ruin would be the only word. And it would be no ordinary bankruptcy. I have a by no means uncertain idea where these large sums have gone, and my knowledge can hardly fail to be shared by others in London society. "I have still a chance to offer you, however, and, perhaps, you will find me by no means the tyrant you think. "There are certain services which you can do me, and which, if you fall in with my views, will not only wipe off the few thousands of your indebtedness, but provide you with a capital sum which will place you above the necessity for any such financial manœuvres in the future as your--shall I say _infatuation_?--has led you to resort to in the past. "If you care to lunch with me at my rooms in the Hotel Cecil, at two o'clock, the day after to-morrow--Friday--we may discuss your affairs quietly. If not, then I must refer you to my solicitors entirely. "Yours sincerely, "CONSTANTINE SCHUABE." The big man gave a horrid groan--half snarl, half groan--the sound which comes from a strong animal desperate and at bay. He crossed over to the fireplace and pushed the letter down into a glowing cavern among the coals, holding it there with the poker until it was utterly consumed and fluttered up the chimney from his sight in a sheet of ash--the very colour of his relaxed and pendulous cheeks. He opened another letter, a small, fragile thing written on mauve paper, in a large, irregular hand--a woman's hand:-- "15 BLOOMSBURY COURT MANSIONS. "DEAR BOB--I shall expect you at the flat to-night at eleven, _without fail_. You'd better come, or things which you won't like will happen. "You've just _got_ to come.--Yours, GERTRUDE." He put this letter into his pocket and began to walk the room in long, silent strides. A little after five he put on a heavy fur coat and left the now silent and gloomy halls of the Museum. The lamps of Holborn were lit and a blaze of light came from Oxford Circus, where the winking electric advertisements had just begun their work on the tops of the houses. A policeman saluted the Professor as he passed, and was rewarded by a genial smile and jolly word of greeting, which sent a glow of pleasure through his six feet. Llwellyn walked steadily on towards the Marble Arch and Edgeware Road. The continual roar of the traffic helped his brain. It became active and able to think, to plan once more. The steady exercise warmed his blood and exhilarated him. There began to be almost a horrid pleasure in the stress of his position. The danger was so immediate and fell; the blow would be so utterly irreparable, that he was near to enjoying his walk while he could still consider the thing from a detached point of view.