"The fellow would have shewn his teeth fast enough if it had not been for Maxwell," he said. "It is possible that he is looking for a certain suite of rooms, I should not be at all surprised to find that he has not yet left the building."
Lechmere muttered something to the effect that he was absolutely certain of it. He was very anxious to know if there was a back staircase from the floor and whether it was much used so late at night.
"It isn't used at all after the servants have gone," Maxgregor explained. "There are several very rapid young men living on this floor and they find the back staircase useful for the purpose of evading creditors. The stairs are at the far end of the corridor."
Lechmere murmured his thanks and hurried away. He had hardly disappeared before there was a tiny tap on the door and Jessie came in. She seemed anxious and uneasy, nor was her confusion lessened by the expression of blank astonishment, not to say displeasure, on Maxwell's face.
"Vera," he cried reproachfully. "Oh, I forgot. Events are moving so fast that it is difficult to keep pace with them. And you are so wonderfully like Vera Galloway. I had to be told the facts, you see. Oh, of course you told me yourself by the hospital. But what are you doing here?"
"I came with the queen," Jessie explained. "I am going to her hotel with her. But the queen declared that she could not rest to-night unless she had seen General Maxgregor. Is he better?"
"I am going on as well as possible," Maxgregor said from his bed. "It is dreadful to be laid up just now, at this time of all others. It was good of the queen to think of me, but it occurs to me to be dreadfully imprudent for her to come here now."
"But she had to," Jessie persisted. "There was no help for it. And another extraordinary thing happened. We left the king at Merehaven House being closely guarded by Captain Alexis. When we came away his majesty was actually playing bridge. And yet, as the carriage pulled up outside these mansions, we saw the king seated in one of the windows."
"Impossible," Maxgregor cried. "The king has not been here at all."
"So I should have said if I had been able to disbelieve my own eyes," Jessie went on. "I tell you I have just seen the king. At first I thought that he was actually here. Now I know that he must be on the next suite to this. He was in evening dress just as we left him, but he had his orders on. And the queen is in a position to confirm what I say."