“Who are you?” said Alec. As he spoke the door opened and “Antony” came in, and stood close to my side.
“I am Louise,” the board spelt out.
I felt Antony give a little start as he read the message. Without a pause the Spook went on:
“Hello, Tony!”
“This is interesting,” said Tony. (That was give-away No. 2.) “Go on, please. Tell us something.”
I now knew that somewhere Tony must have met a Louise. That was a French name. So far as I knew he had not served in France. But he had served in Egypt. One night, a month or so before, in talking of Egyptian scenery, he had mentioned a long straight road with an avenue of trees on either side that “looked spiffing by moonlight,” and ran for miles across the desert. It had struck me at the time that there was nothing particularly “spiffing” about the type of scenery described; nothing, at any rate, to rouse the enthusiasm he had shown, and his roseate memory of it might have been tinged by pleasant companionship. Remembering this, I ventured to say more about Louise. Nothing could be lost by risking it.
“You remember me, Tony?” asked the Spook.
“I know two Louises,” said Tony cautiously.
“Ah! not the old one, mon vieux,” said the Spook.
(Now this looks as if the Spook knew both, but a little reflection shows that, given two Louises, one was quite probably older than the other.)