"The lady has been purchased by someone to come here and pose as your
wife; the moving consideration to her was enough cash to make her
independently rich and the pleasure of thus being able to square off with
you, on her own account. That's my guess--and I fancy it's yours too,"
he ended.
I laughed. "Yes," said I; "it is. I spent the night over the mix and
that's the best solution I could make."
Courtney lit a fresh cigarette, "Of course, it's Lotzen," said he. "And
a very clever plot it is. No Princess and no Crown for you, my boy,
until this Madame Armand Dalberg is eliminated--and, maybe, not even
then."
"Your 'then' is the only rift in the cloud," said I. "Eliminate the
Spencer woman, and, I think, I can manage."
He looked at me questioningly.
"Her Highness was very gracious to me last night," I explained--and I
felt my face getting red.
Courtney got up and came over to me,
"Is it up to a hand-shake, old man?" he asked.
I nodded, and we gripped fingers.
"It would have been up to the King, to-morrow, but for this miserable
wife business," said I.
"Good!" he exclaimed. "Lotzen does not hold all the cards--you've got a
few trumps, too.
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