Permit me to return it now."
"Thank you, Poynter!" said the Baron and glanced keenly at Themar. "It
is but now that I had missed it."
"Excellency," burst forth Themar desperately, "I found it this morning
on the rug."
"But," purred the Baron, "why seek a keyhole?"
Themar's dark face was ashen.
Philip, with a wholesome distaste for scenes, slipped away.
"Excellency," burst forth Themar passionately as the door closed, "it
is unfair--"
The Baron raised his hand in a gesture of warning.
"Permit me, Themar," he said coldly as the sound of Philip's footsteps
died away, "permit me to remind you that my secretary is quite unaware
of our peculiar relations. He is laboring at present under the
necessary delusion that your arrival here was entirely the result of my
fastidious distaste for the personal services of anyone but a fellow
countryman. Presumably I had cabled home for you. I prefer," he
added, "that he continue to think so."
Themar's eyes flashed resentfully.
"Excellency," he said sullenly, "it is unfair that I am denied the
knowledge of detail that I need. That is why I sought to read the
cipher."
"And yet, Themar," said the Baron softly, "I fancy Ronador has told
you--something--enough!" He shrugged, his impenetrable eyes narrowing
slowly.
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