“If you think well, sir, I am going straight away to Lady Beltham’s?”
“To Lady Beltham’s?”
“Well, the Grand Duchess Alexandra’s, if you like it better.”
“But what for?”
“To beg her—and Tom Bob, who is with her, by what the Princess Sonia stated—to come and make their deposition before you, and before Juve, who, I am persuaded, will not be long now in letting us hear of him.”
For the Minister M. Havard’s words were incomprehensible. Still he was too well assured of the ability invariably displayed by the Head of the Criminal Department not to agree to his plan.
“Go by all means, Monsieur Havard; but tell me, is it an arrest you are going to attempt?”
“No, Monsieur le Ministre, it is an invitation I am going to proffer, but I shall be accompanied by a dozen constables when I make it.”
CHAPTER XXIX
THE “EVER-EVASIVE” ESCAPES AGAIN
The Grand Duchess Alexandra gave vent to an exclamation expressive both of surprise and triumph, as she greeted the visitor who stood before her. The latter, dropping his eyes and assuming a humble, almost abject mien, the bearing of a repentant sinner, murmured: