About six o'clock that same afternoon, Mr. Barnes sent his card up to Mr. Mitchel, at the Lafayette, in Philadelphia. A few minutes later he was shown into that gentleman's room, and found him in bed.
"Delighted to see you, Mr. Barnes. You are very kind to come and see me. For doing so, I am almost willing to forgive you for the wrong which you have done me."
"Wrong? What wrong?"
"Do you remember the day you came to see me at the Fifth Avenue, about the button which you had found? You asked me to show you the seventh of my own set. I agreed on condition that you would not annoy the lady."
"Well!"
"You broke your promise—that is all."
"In what way?"
"In the first place you bribed her maid to tell her a lie, and leave her, so that one of your spies could take her place. Secondly, your spy did take her place. The result of which was that Miss Remsen could not re-engage her old maid, and has had much trouble to get another as good."
"I did not foresee, when I made that promise, that such an emergency would arise as did later."