Me, I presume, he has no intention to insult. Permit me, Monsieur."
He drew a card from a small gold case, and presented it to Duncombe, who
accepted it with a little bow.
"If I can aid you in any way," Monsieur Louis continued, "I am entirely
at your service, but I require first of all that in addressing us you
recognize my position as a French nobleman, who amuses himself in this
place as you, Monsieur, also do, and also that you unlock that door."
Duncombe smiled quietly.
"Monsieur le Baron," he said, "I think that we are very well as we
are--secure from interruption. I have sent others here on this same
mission, and they did not succeed. Both of these ladies, I believe, have
been approached for the information I desire, and they have thought well
to withhold it. I have set my heart upon success this time, and I wish
to secure at least the opportunity of being heard."
Monsieur Louis shrugged his shoulders.
"There are secrets," he murmured; "affairs of honor----"
Duncombe interrupted him.
"Monsieur Louis," he said, "I am not so young as I look, and I have
lived in Paris. I know that this cafe, for all its outward smartness,
bears perhaps the worst reputation in Europe.
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