"
"Why didn't you try another gate?" I asked.
"I did--three others."
"With similar results?"
"Absolutely."
"Therefore, you inferred?" I asked.
"Nothing, my dear Armand, nothing. I know. At one of the gates, the
officer condescended to tell me that he was acting under the express
order of Field Marshal, His Royal Highness the Governor of Dornlitz."
"And he told you the truth," I said.
"Of course he did," she laughed. "I never doubted it. What I want to
know is your reason for the order."
"And that is what brought you here?" I asked.
"That--and the pleasure of seeing my dear husband," she drawled.
"I'll make a bargain with you, Mrs. Spencer," I said: "My motive for
the order, in exchange, in strict confidence, for your motive for
coming to Dornlitz."
Of course, I had no notion she would disclose the actual motive in the
plot. What I was after was the story they had prepared to explain why
I came to Valeria alone and left her to follow and, in the interim,
posed as a bachelor.
"Surely, Armand, you're not serious!" she exclaimed.
"I never was more so," I said.
"But why should you want me to tell you something you already know?"
she asked--with a quick glance at Moore.
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