Bugg walked reluctantly to the door. "I'll only be just in the 'all if you want me," he observed. "You'll watch aht for any dirty work, won't ye, sir?"
"I shall," said Tony: "most intently."
He waited until the door had closed, and then seated himself on the corner of the table, with the Mauser dangling between his knees.
"Well, gentlemen?" he observed encouragingly.
"Sir Antony Conway," said the taller of the two. "Will you permit me to ask you a perfectly frank question? Are you aware of the identity of this young lady, in whose behalf you seem to have interested yourself?"
"Of course I am," said Tony.
"And may we take it that in coming as you thought to her assistance you acted from—" he paused—"from entirely private motives?" He waited for the answer with an eagerness that was plainly visible.
Tony nodded. "I never act from anything else," he remarked.
The tall man turned to his companion. "It is as I suggested, Colonel," he observed, with an air of quiet triumph.
The other still glared suspiciously at Tony. "Have a care," he muttered. "Who knows that he is speaking the truth."