John handed him another cigarette, and hesitated.
"Go on," urged his Chief.
"Well, I should like to report, sir," John said at length, "that my personal position has become—well, peculiarly difficult during the past few days."
"Do you find your work disappointing?"
"I am keener on my work than ever," John answered.
"What is it, then?"
"Well," confessed John, "to be precise, I find I am getting rather entangled with a lady." His tone was serious, and Dacent Smith took the statement gravely.
"Mrs. Beecher Monmouth, do you mean?"
John shook his head.
"Mrs. Beecher Monmouth is rather pressing whenever I meet her," he said, with a deprecating smile, "but she is not the lady in question."