“‘But I haven’t any package!’ I protested.
“‘Come, come!’ the woman answered briskly. ‘You have it about you somewhere; that was what you were going to the Embassy to deliver?’
“‘Who are you?’ I demanded.
“‘It matters not who we are—we want the package.’
“‘The package is not with me,’ I remarked. ‘It’s locked in the hotel safe.’
“‘Will you permit yourself to be searched?’ she asked, with an amused smile. I knew it was a threat.
“‘I’m perfectly willing to submit to a search by you,’ I said. ‘The quicker you set about it, the quicker I’ll be released. I don’t care for these diplomatic affairs; they may be regular but they seem unnecessarily dangerous. I was simply a substitute anyway, and I won’t substitute again; though how you people discovered it I don’t see.’
“‘Because you’re new at the game,’ she replied, as we passed into the drawing-room.
“She closed the door—and I soon satisfied her that the package was not concealed about me.
“‘I may go now?’ I inquired.