"Mr. Fischer," she exclaimed, "they are saying hard things about our country! Please protect me."
He bowed over her fingers. Then he looked up. His tone was impressive.
"If I thought that you needed protection, Miss Van Teyl—"
"Well, I can assure you that I do," she interrupted, laughing. "You know my friends, don't you?"
"I think I have that pleasure," the American replied, shaking hands with Lutchester and Holderness.
"Now we'll get an independent opinion," the former observed, pointing to the wall. "We were discussing that notice, Mr. Fischer. You're almost as much a Londoner as a New Yorker. What do you think?—is it superfluous or not?"
Fischer read it out and smiled.
"Well," he admitted, "in America we don't lay much store by that sort of thing, but I don't know as we're very good judges about what goes on over here. I shouldn't call this place, anyway, a hotbed of intrigue. Excuse me!"
He moved off to greet some incoming guests—a well-known stockbroker and his partner. Lutchester looked after him curiously.
"Is Mr. Fischer one of your typical millionaires, Miss Van Teyl?" he asked.