Nick withdrew and closed the door, then stepped noiselessly through the side hall and into the diplomat’s study.
The first words that fell upon his ears from the library told him that Nancy Selig had lost no time in approaching the business engaging her.
“You can safely admit it to me, since you say there is no one to hear us,” she was adding to what already had passed between them. “There is nothing in mincing matters. The question is—do you want to recover it?”
“Assuming that you really know what you have stated, and that I have lost such an article as you suggest, I naturally would be anxious to recover it,” Lady Deland replied.
“There’s just one way you can do it,” said Nancy.
“How is that?”
“By paying for it.”
“Pay whom? Are you the person who has it?”
“No. A man has it who——”
“Send him here, then,” Lady Deland interrupted. “I will talk with him.”