"It would be useless," she assured him sadly.

"You cannot be sure of that," he insisted. "If this espionage gets on your
nerves, I believe that I have influence enough to have it removed, provided
that you will let me bring a friend of mine to see you here and ask you a
few questions."

She shook her head.

"It is not the espionage alone," she declared. "I am confronted with
something altogether different, something about which I cannot speak."

"Is this man Jocelyn Thew connected with it in any way?" he demanded.

She winced.

"Why should you ask that question?"

"Because it is perfectly clear," he continued, "that Jocelyn Thew exercises
some sort of unholy influence over you, an influence, I may add, which it
is my intention to destroy."

She smiled bitterly.

"If you can destroy anything that Jocelyn Thew means to keep alive," she
began--

"Oh, please don't believe that Jocelyn Thew is infallible," he interrupted.
"I have had a long experience of diplomatists and plotters and even
criminals, and I can assure you that no man breathing is possessed of more