John saw what was passing in my mind and laid his hand on my shoulder.
"Come, Frank," says he, "you'll feel differently about it when you've met her. She's not a usual woman, old chap; she's a sort of angel on earth. You want to thank her, anyway, don't you? Come, jump in."
So in I got, but as we moved off I said:
"What will your friends say when they know that your half-brother is—or was—a crook?"
"They will never know it," he answered. "I've taken care of that. These people at the Santé think it was a domestic scandal; an effort to get possession of some family jewels that you laid claim to. The prefecture knows, but that bureau knows lots of things that would set Society by the ears if they ever got out. You are under bond and under observation to some extent, but what does that matter, since you've chucked the old game? I've got something in view for you now, but we'll discuss that later."
Before many minutes the car drew up in front of the same big gate that I had scaled that night while Ivan and Chu-Chu and Jeff and the girls waited in the motor to see a demonstration of snappy American methods—and came so near getting pinched, doing it. We crossed the garden, and let me tell you, sir, my heart was beating a lot faster than it did the night I first laid eyes on that old, Renaissance house.
"Madame is in the studio," said the maître d'hôtel as he opened the door. He gave me a quick, curious look, for at first glance the resemblance between John and myself is almost that of twins. I
