"And suppose, sir, I decide not to accept your proposal? Suppose I refuse absolutely and doggedly to accede to your demand, whatever the consequence to myself? What then?" D'Aragno rose from his chair, thrust both hands into the pockets of his dress jacket, and took up a position on the hearth-rug before the dying embers of the fire. A curious expression, which I quite failed to analyse, spread over his features, as he regarded me sternly for some moments in silence. At length he spoke: "Your objection I do not regard as sincere. It is idle, and has been prompted, I am convinced, by a vague sense of wounded dignity on your part. Perhaps I have been not sufficiently considerate to your proper pride. You are anxious to 'save your face,' as you express it in your English idiom. I therefore refuse to take your question seriously. You have, I know, in your heart the fullest intention of complying with my arrangements." A pause ensued, and he added with indifference: "In any case, do you suppose for an instant that I have thus spoken to you openly of THE SECRET with the smallest possibility of my sharing it with any living mortal on your Earth? In reality you have no choice left you. Whether you follow or refuse to follow my lead, your connection with your own world is already severed. Need I make the case any clearer to an intelligence such as yours?" Again a spell of silence, which was ended by the harsh five strokes of the Westminster clock resounding through the heavy air. With the final reverberation I bowed my head, and simply said: "I am ready." It may have been only my fancy, but I _thought_ I detected a shade of relief pass over that now sinister face; at any rate, the pleasant earnest look had returned when d'Aragno muttered quietly as though to himself: "I never felt a moment's doubt!" Again I essayed a question, this time, one that was really agitating my mind: "As I am unalterably and inevitably destined to fill the throne of your kingdom in Meleager, surely I may be permitted to ask you for how long a period I am to enjoy the position that has been thus allotted to me? How many years can I expect to rule in this realm whence there is obviously no return? Is my reign to continue till the end of my natural mortal life, or is it to be prolonged indefinitely by mysterious measures, such as you have already hinted at?"