"Are you taking her to the station?"
"I am," said the Saint truthfully, and closed the door.
And then the Saint settled back and lighted another cigarette as the taxi drew away from the curb.
"We've just time to catch the next train to town with eighty seconds to spare," he remarked; and the girl turned to him with the nearest thing to a straight-forward smile that he had seen on her lips yet.
"And after that?"'
"I know a place near London where the train slows up to a walking pace. We can step off there, and the synthetic sleuths who will be infesting Paddington by the time the train gets in can wait for us as long as they like."
She met his eyes steadily.
"You mean that?"
"But of course!" said the Saint. "And you can ask me anything else you want to know. This is the end of my career as a policeman. I never thought the hell of a lot of the job, anyhow. I suppose you're wondering why?"
She nodded.