I
was annoyed with Guest for having kept me in ignorance of what he had
done.
"I do not see how your private papers could have been of the slightest
use to Peters," I said; "but if you like to come down to my state-room
you can question him yourself."
"That," he answered, "I will leave to you. I take it then that you have
no suspicion that your servant is any other than he professes to be?"
"I am perfectly convinced that he is not," I declared.
Mr. de Valentin bowed.
"For the moment," he said, "we will quit the subject. I have another
matter, equally delicate, which I should like to discuss with you."
"I am quite at your service," I assured him.
"You have a saying in English," he continued, "which, if I remember it
rightly, says that necessity makes strange bedfellows. I myself am going
into a strange country upon a strange errand. I do not consider myself a
person of hyper-exclusive tastes, but I must confess that I do not find
myself in sympathy with the country-people and friends of Mrs. Van
Reinberg!"
I shrugged my shoulders.
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