"I know him."

"For whom?"

"One of the chaplains at the Spanish Embassy."

It was natural that after this I should take a more serious view
of the matter; and I did so. But my former difficulty still
remained, for, assuming this to be a cunning plot, and d'Evora's
application to me a ruse to throw me off my guard, I could not
see where their advantage lay; since the Spaniard's occupation
was not of a nature to give him the entry to my confidence or the
chance of ransacking my papers. I questioned Maignan further,
therefore, but without result. He had seen the two together in a
secret kind of way, viewing them himself from the window of a
house where he had an assignation. He had not been near enough
to hear what they said, but he was sure that no quarrel took
place between them, and equally certain that it was no chance
meeting that brought them together.

Infected by his assurance, I could still see no issue; and no
object in such an intrigue. And in the end I contented myself
with bidding him watch the Spaniard closely, and report to me the
following evening; adding that he might confide the matter to La
Trape, who was a supple fellow, and of the two the easier
companion.

Accordingly, next evening Maignan again appeared, this time with
a face even longer; so that at first I supposed him to have
discovered a plot worse than Chastel's; but it turned out that he