“None whatever; and you could not say words which would delight me more—just at this present moment and crisis.”
“Please go away, Mr. Carter. If this espionage must be continued, send another of your assistants.”
Nick thought deeply for a moment, and then, smiling at her, said:
“Very well. I can send you a man who is almost as old as the one who went away to make room for me, but he is perfectly reliable. I will give you a letter which you will hand to Chick. You shall send him into the city this afternoon, and he in turn will send out the man who is to take my place. Will that do?”
“Admirably,” and Mercedes smiled brightly. Then, impulsively she took a step forward and put out her hand. “Please do not misunderstand me,” she began, but he stopped her.
“I understand you perfectly,” he said. “I realize now that I should have sent an assistant in the first place instead of coming myself; but you——”
“Please say no more now,” she interrupted. “You cannot know how terrible it seems to me to be on terms of intimacy with my butler.”
“It is, perhaps, a good lesson in sociology,” said Nick. Then he seated himself at the library table and wrote rapidly, his instructions to Chick. That done, he sealed the note and gave it to her.
“You will notice that I have sealed the message I have written,” he said. “That is done because I am a butler, and do not know any better; not because I fear that you may read the contents of my letter. The mere sealing of the note is a part of the masquerade;” and he laughed in a low tone.
“Is that necessary, in writing to your assistant?” she asked.