She laughed. "Tarnowsy's agents! Why should they be here?"
"They seem to be everywhere."
"I can assure you there is none within fifty miles of Schloss Rothhoefen. Our men are in the city. Four of them preceded me. This morning I had Mr. Bangs telephone to the hotel where the chief operative is staying—in the guise of an American tourist, and he does it very cleverly for an Englishman, too,—and he assures me that there is absolutely no danger. Even Mr. Bangs is satisfied."
"I am forced to say that I am by no means satisfied that it is a safe or wise thing to do, Mrs. Titus," I said, with more firmness than I thought I possessed.
She raised her delicate eyebrows in a most exasperating well-bred, admonitory way.
"I am quite sure, Mr. Smart, that Dillingham is a perfectly trustworthy detective, and—"
"But why take the slightest risk?"
"It is necessary for me to see Dillingham, that is the long and short of it," she said coldly. "One can't discuss things over a telephone, you know. Mr. Bangs understands. And, by the way, Mr. Smart, I have taken the liberty of calling up the central office of the telephone company to ask if they can run an extension wire to my dressing-room. I hope you do not mind."
"Not in the least. I should have thought of it myself."
"You have so much to think of, poor man. And now will you be good enough to have Hawkes order the man to row me across the—"