lied not she kept up with the pace he set. I saw her frequently and she
was as--well you have not overdrawn the 'reticence picture.' Shall I
continue?"

Harleston smiled and nodded.

"Doubtless you already know the tale," Carpenter remarked.

"I know only what Mrs. Clephane has told me," Harleston replied.

The Fifth Assistant Secretary picked up a ruler and sighted carefully
along the edge.

"I seem to be in wrong, old man," he said. "Please forget that I ever
said it or anything--you understand."

"My dear fellow, don't be an ass!" Harleston laughed. "I'm not sensitive
about the lady; I never saw her until last night."

"Quite long enough for a man disposed to make a fool of himself--if the
lady is a beauty."

"I'm disposed to hear more from you, if you care to tell me," Harleston
replied. "However, jesting aside, Carpenter, what do you know? Mrs.
Clephane is something of a puzzle to me, but I have concluded to accept
her story; yet I'm always open to conviction, and if I'm wrong now's the
time to enlighten me--the State comes first, you know."

"Are you viewing Mrs. Clephane simply as a circumstance in the affair of
the cipher letter?" Carpenter asked.