"Berthe Louison knows nothing of these old matters. She only seeks
to approach the child. And she will be here to watch me in a day or
so. Ram Lal, the old scoundrel! Does he know? If he did, he would
bleed the would-be Baronet on his own account. But he may not know
of the golden opportunity, and the old wretch always has many irons
himself in the fire. Hugh Fraser was a canny Scot in his youth.
Sir Hugh Johnstone is a horse of another color. If old Johnstone
has the jewels, why does he not yield them up? Perhaps he wants
the Baronetcy first, and then his memory may be strangely refreshed."

As the wanderer strode up and down the room like a restless wolf,
he returned in his memories to the strange intimacy of Hugh Fraser
and Ram Lal. "I have it!" he cried. "I will kill two birds with
one stone. My pretty 'employer' shall furnish the golden means to
loosen old Ram Lal's tongue. This Swiss woman is fond of gewgaws,
he tells me. I will let Ram Lal 'squeeze' the Madame's household
accounts to his heart's content. If the Swiss woman is susceptible,
she can be delicately bribed with jewels paid for by my haughty
employer's money, and my feeding this 'bucksheesh' out to Ram Lal
liberally may bring him to talk of the old days. I must give Hugh
Johnstone the idea that I am inside the official secrets as to the
affair of the Baronetcy. Fear will make him bend, if he is guilty,
and I will alarm Ram Lal at the right time. If they have any old
bond of union, the ex-Commissioner may turn to me for help, and
all this will bring me nearer to the still heart-whole woman who
is hidden in that marble prison. I will make my strongest running
on the Swiss woman. Once the bond of friendly secrecy established
between us, she can be fed, bit by bit, for then she dare not break
away."