Berry laughed hysterically.
"Yes," he said, "go on. 'Any question.' Such as whether they can give me more than five years' hard labour. I understand."
"—get on the telephone to Berwick. He knows the President personally and can do anything."
"Sweetheart," replied her husband, "you may bet your most precious life…. If Berwick wasn't in Paris, I wouldn't touch the business with the end of a forty-foot pole."
"I wish I was going with you," said Daphne wistfully.
Berry took off his hat.
"You are," he said gently, "you are." He laid his hand upon his heart. "I wish I could put the tobacco in the same poor place. But that's impossible. For one thing, lady, you've all the room there is."
Which was pretty good for a king who hadn't been a courtier for nearly nine years.
* * * * *
It was upon the following afternoon that Adèle, who was brushing Nobby, sat back on her heels.