“Really, I do not think so. I can quite understand his desire to kill me. If he succeeded it would be but just. All the same I do not wish to die. I have escaped him for three years, and I propose to go on escaping. But here I babble of my own affairs and do not even thank you for having saved my life. You have done me a great service, mademoiselle--a very great service. I shall not forget it.” At this I laughed. “It is not a very great matter. Indeed, it is hardly worth thanks.” “You shall not find me ungrateful. But I must not inflict myself upon you longer than is necessary. If the coast is clear now, I can get away with safety. Might I ask you to inspect from the window once more?” I went to the window and turned back to him. “It is no good,” I said, “your brother has come back again. He is standing on the opposite side of the road.” “He saw you?” “Yes, I think so. Indeed, I am sure of it.” “Then he saw, as I did, that you gave a little start. Possibly he also saw you watching at the window when he passed the first time. He is rather a clever man, and he can make deductions. I fear, mademoiselle, that in a few moments you will be troubled with a visit from my brother.” “But you,” I said, “what about you?” “If I got through the window of the room at the back of this flat where should I be?” “You would drop into the little yard of the flat below this. It is at present untenanted, and you might make your way into it, or else climb the wall and get----” My electric bell purred loudly. A shower of light taps came from the knocker of the door. “Keep him back for a minute or two, if you can!” said my guest in a whisper. I waited until the kitchen door had closed on him, and then opened the front door to his brother. Seeing him now close at hand, I found that he differed in many ways from the man that he was pursuing. He was much older and his hair was beginning to go grey. He gave me the impression of being a better man altogether than his brother. I do not know and shall never know what the quarrel between them was, but I feel sure it was his brother who was in the wrong. He told me with a pleasant smile that he had come from the house agents who had the letting of these fiats. He could not remember their names; he was a foreigner and these English names easily escaped him. But he believed that there was a flat to be let in that block. “Yes,” I said, “the basement flat is to let. You understand--the basement flat? You go down the area steps to get to it. Why ring here in order to tell me that?” He was desolated. “Because, mademoiselle, I have had the very great misfortune to lose the key of that basement flat. Possibly your own latch-key would fit it.” “No, it would not. But you need not mind, for you would not have taken the flat in any case. They are not intended for rich people.”