“But what is he doing there?”
The Under Secretary pressed the tips of his fingers closely together.
“It is difficult to say,” he replied.
“Surely you will tell me. I have a right to know,” she pleaded. “I understand the position on the Benuë River. I am the daughter of a West African Governor. I am one of the few women in England who can grasp the seriousness of any plot which brings together the men of Oku and the trusted confidant of a meddlesome foreign potentate. Captain Warden was sent to the Protectorate to carry out your instructions, and that is the very reason I wish to write to him. I have news of the utmost importance.”
“Connected with the sailing of the Sans Souci from Hamburg?”
The question was so unexpected that Rosamund looked at the Under Secretary with more shrewdness than her fine eyes had displayed hitherto. He was making a little circle of dots with a pencil on a blotting–pad. Neither by voice nor manner did he display any surprise at her reference to the men of Oku.
“Yes, that is one of the items,” she said.
“And the others?”
“But you are telling me nothing,” she pouted.