Stanley sprang to his feet.
"If that cad of a Darcy," he cried, "has been saying——"
"Oh, you needn't assume the high moral rôle," said Kingsland. "I've just had the story first hand from him."
"It isn't the first time he's told it to-night," snapped the Secretary.
"What! You don't mean to the fair Belle?"
Stanley nodded, and Kingsland threw himself on the sofa in a paroxysm of laughter.
"But how did you come to see Darcy?" demanded the young diplomat, ignoring his friend's ill-timed merriment. "I ordered him out of the house."
"Yes," replied the Lieutenant, "so he told me. But he's lost a valuable letter in the hall."
"The hall? Why, there doesn't seem to be much chance of losing anything there. There are no draperies and very little furniture."
"Well, it's a queer business," admitted the officer. "But while the Colonel was telling me about your little escapade, he dropped a letter which he had taken from its envelope, and just at that moment the butler came in. He started to pick up the letter for the Colonel, but Darcy jumped forward, and so between them it was pushed under the crack of that old oak door studded with silver nails."