TheDukeofDatchet，comingoutofthebank，lingeredforamomentonthesteps。Inonehandhecarriedacanvasbagwhichseemedwellweighted。Onhiscountenancetherewasanexpressionwhichtoacasualobservermighthavesuggestedthathisgracewasnotcompletelyathisease。Thatcasualobserverhappenedtocomestrollingby。IttooktheformofIvorDacre。
Mr。DacrelookedtheDukeofDatchetupanddowninthatlanguidwayhehas。Heperceivedthecanvasbag。Thenheremarked，possiblyintendingtobefacetious:
“Beenrobbingthebank？ShallIcallacart？“
NobodymindswhatIvorDacresays。Besides，heistheduke’sowncousin。Perhapsalittleremoved；still，thereitis。Sothedukesmiledasicklysmile，asifMr。Dacre’sdelicatewithadgivenhimapassingtouchofindigestion。
Mr。Dacrenoticedthatthedukelookedsallow，sohegavehisprettysenseofhumoranotherairing。
“Kitchenboilerburst？WhenIsawtheduchessjustnowIwonderedifithad。“
Hisgracedistinctlystarted。Healmostdroppedthecanvasbag。
“Yousawtheduchessjustnow，Ivor！When？“
Thedukewasevidentlymoved。Mr。Dacrewasstirredtolanguidcuriosity。“Ican’tsayIclockedit。Perhapshalfanhourago；
perhapsalittlemore。“
“Halfanhourago！Areyousure？Wheredidyouseeher？“
Mr。Dacrewondered。TheDuchessofDatchetcouldscarcelyhavebeenelopinginbroaddaylight。Moreover，shehadnotyetbeenmarriedayear。Everyoneknewthatsheandthedukewerestillasfondofeachotherasiftheywerenotmanandwife。So，althoughtheduke，forsomecauseorother，wasevidentlyinanoddstateofagitation，Mr。Dacresawnoreasonwhyheshouldnotmakeacleanbreastofallheknew。
“Shewasgoinglikeblazesinahansomcab。“
“Inahansomcab？Where？“
“DownWaterlooPlace。“
“Wasshealone？“
Mr。Dacrereflected。Heglancedatthedukeoutofthecornersofhiseyes。Hislanguidutterancebecameapositivedrawl。
“Iratherfancythatshewasn’t。“
“Whowaswithher？“
“Mydearfellow，ifyouweretooffermethebankIcouldn’ttellyou。“
“Wasitaman？“
Mr。Dacre’sdrawlbecamestillmorepronounced。
“Iratherfancythatitwas。“
Mr。Dacreexpectedsomething。Thedukewassoexcited。Buthebynomeansexpectedwhatactuallycame。
“Ivor，she’sbeenkidnaped！“
Mr。Dacredidwhathehadneverbeenknowntodobeforewithinthememoryofman——hedroppedhiseyeglass。
“Datchet！“
“Shehas！Somescoundrelhasdecoyedheraway，andtrappedher。
He’salreadysentmealockofherhair，andhetellsmethatifI
don’tlethimhavefivehundredpoundsingoldbyhalf-pastfivehe’llletmehaveherlittlefinger。“
Mr。Dacredidnotknowwhattomakeofhisgraceatall。Hewasasoberman——itCOULDN’Tbethat！Mr。Dacrefeltreallyconcerned。
“I’llcallacab，oldman，andyou’dbetterletmeseeyouhome。“
Mr。Dacrehalfraisedhissticktohailapassinghansom。Thedukecaughthimbythearm。
“Youass！Whatdoyoumean？Iamtellingyouthesimpletruth。
Mywife’sbeenkidnaped。“
Mr。Dacre’scountenancewasathingtobeseen——andremembered。
“Oh！Ihadn’theardthattherewasmuchofthatsortofthingaboutjustnow。Theytalkofpoodlesbeingkidnaped，butasforduchesses——You’dreallybetterletmecallthatcab。“
“Ivor，doyouwantmetokickyou？Don’tyouseethattomeit’saquestionoflifeanddeath？I’vebeenintheretogetthemoney。“
Hisgracemotionedtowardthebank。“I’mgoingtotakeittothescoundrelwhohasmydarlingathismercy。Letmebuthaveherhandinmineagain，andheshallcontinuetopayforeverysovereignwithtearsofblooduntilhedies。“
“Lookhere，Datchet，Idon’tknowifyou’rehavingajokewithme，orifyou’renotwell——“
Thedukesteppedimpatientlyintotheroadway。
“Ivor，you’reafool！Can’tyoutelljestfromearnest，healthfromdisease？I’moff！Areyoucomingwithme？ItwouldbeaswellthatIshouldhaveawitness。“
“Whereareyouoffto？“
“TotheotherendoftheArcade。“
“Whoisthegentlemanyouexpecttohavethepleasureofmeetingthere？“
“HowshouldIknow？“Theduketookaletterfromhispocket——itwastheletterwhichhadjustarrived。“Thefellowistowearawhitetophat，andagardeniainhisbuttonhole。“
“Whatisityouhavethere？“
“It’stheletterwhichbroughtthenews——lookforyourselfandsee；
but，forGod’ssake，makehaste！“Hisgraceglancedathiswatch。
“It’salreadytwentyafterfive。“
“Anddoyoumeantosaythatonthestrengthofalettersuchasthisyouaregoingtohandoverfivehundredpoundsto——“
ThedukecutMr。Dacreshort。
“Whatarefivehundredpoundstome？Besides，youdon’tknowall。
Thereisanotherletter。AndIhaveheardfromMabel。ButIwilltellyouallaboutitlater。Ifyouarecoming，come！“
Foldinguptheletter，Mr。Dacrereturnedittotheduke。
“Asyousay，whatarefivehundredpoundstoyou？It’saswelltheyarenotasmuchtoyouastheyaretome，orI’mafraid——“
“Hangit，Ivor，doproseafterwards！“
Thedukehurriedacrosstheroad。Mr。Dacrehastenedafterhim。
AstheyenteredtheArcadetheypassedaconstable。Mr。Dacretouchedhiscompanion’sarm。
“Don’tyouthinkwe’dbetteraskourfriendinbluetowalkbehindus？Hisneighborhoodmightbehandy。“
“Nonsense！“Thedukestoppedshort。“Ivor，thisismyaffair，notyours。Ifyouarenotcontenttoplaythepartofsilentwitness，besogoodastoleaveme。“
“MydearDatchet，I’mentirelyatyourservice。Icanbeeverywhitasinsaneasyou，Idoassureyou。“
SidebysidetheymovedrapidlydowntheBurlingtonArcade。Thedukewasobviouslyinastateoftheextremestnervoustension。
Mr。Dacrewasequallyobviouslyinastateofthemostsupremeenjoyment。Peoplestaredastheyrushedpast。Thedukesawnothing。Mr。Dacresaweverything，andsmiled。
WhentheyreachedthePiccadillyendoftheArcadethedukepulledup。Helookedabouthim。Mr。Dacrealsolookedabouthim。
“Iseenothingofyourwhite-hattedandgardenia-buttonholedfriend，“saidIvor。
Thedukereferredtohiswatch。
“It’snotyethalf-pastfive。I’muptotime。“
Mr。Dacreheldhisstickinfrontofhimandleanedonit。Heindulgedhimselfwithabeatificsmile。
“Itstrikesme，mydearDatchet，thatyou’vebeenthevictimofoneofthefinestthingsinhoaxes——“
“IhopeIhaven’tkeptyouwaiting。“
ThevoicewhichinterruptedMr。Dacrecamefromtherear。Whiletheywerelookinginfrontofthemsomeoneapproachedthemfrombehind，apparentlycomingoutoftheshopwhichwasattheirbacks。
Thespeakerlookedagentleman。Hesoundedlikeone，too。
Costume，appearance，manner，werebeyondreproach——evenbeyondthecriticismoftwosuchkeencriticsaswerethese。ThegloriousattireofaLondondandywassurmountedwithabeautifulwhitetophat。Inhisbuttonholewasamagnificentgardenia。
Inagethestrangerwasscarcelymorethanaboy，andasunny-
faced，handsomeboyatthat。Hischeekswerehairless，hiseyeswereblue。Hissmilewasnotonlyinnocent，itwasbland。NeverwasthereamoreconspicuousillustrationofthatreposewhichstampsthecasteofVeredeVere。
Thedukelookedathimandglowered。Mr。Dacrelookedathimandsmiled。
“Whoareyou？“askedtheduke。
“Ah——thatisthequestion！“Thenewcomer’srefinedandmusicalvoicebreathedtheverysoulofaffability。“Iamanindividualwhoissounfortunateastobeinwantoffivehundredpounds。“
“Areyouthescoundrelwhosentmethatinfamousletter？“
Thecharmingstrangerneverturnedahair。
“IamthescoundrelmentionedinthatinfamousletterwhowantstoaccostyouatthePiccadillyendoftheBurlingtonArcadebeforehalf-pastfive——aswitnessmywhitehatandmygardenia。“
“Where’smywife？“
Thestrangergentlyswunghisstickinfrontofhimwithhistwohands。Heregardedthedukeasamerry-heartedsonmightregardhisfather。Thethingwasbeautiful！
“Hergracewillbehomealmostassoonasyouare——whenyouhavegivenmethemoneywhichIperceiveyouhaveallreadyformeinthatscarcelyelegant-lookingcanvasbag。“Heshruggedhisshouldersquitegracefully。“Unfortunately，inthesemattersonehasnochoice——oneisforcedtoaskforgold。“
“Andsuppose，insteadofgivingyouwhatisinthiscanvasbag，I
takeyoubythethroatandchoketheliferightoutofyou？“
“Orsuppose，“amendedMr。Dacre，“thatyoudobetter，andcommendthisgentlemantothetendermerciesofthefirstpolicemanweencounter。“
ThestrangerturnedtoMr。Dacre。Hecondescendedtobecomeconsciousofhispresence。
“Isthisgentlemanyourgrace’sfriend？Ah——Mr。Dacre，Iperceive！
IhavethehonorofknowingMr。Dacre，though，possibly，Iamunknowntohim。“
“Youwere——untilthismoment。“
Withanairylittlelaughthestrangerreturnedtotheduke。Hebrushedaninvisiblespeckofdustoffthesleeveofhiscoat。
“Ashasbeenintimatedinthatinfamousletter，hisgraceisatperfectlibertytogivemeintocustody——whynot？Only“——hesaiditwithhisboyishsmile——“ifaparticularcommunicationisnotreceivedfrommeincertainquarterswithinacertaintimetheDuchessofDatchet’sbeautifulwhitearmwillbehackedoffattheshoulder。“
“Youhound！“
Thedukewouldhavetakenthestrangerbythethroat，andhavedonehisbesttochoketheliferightoutofhimthenandthere，ifMr。
Dacrehadnotintervened。
“Steady，oldman！“Mr。Dacreturnedtothestranger。“Youappeartobeaprettysortofascoundrel。“
Thestrangergavehisshouldersthatalmostimperceptibleshrug。
“Oh，mydearDacre，Iaminwantofmoney！Ibelievethatyousometimesareinwantofmoney，too。“
EverybodyknowsthatnobodyknowswhereIvorDacregetshismoneyfrom，sotheallusionmusthavetickledhimimmensely。
“You’reacoolhand，“hesaid。
“Somemenarebornthatway。“
“SoIshouldimagine。Menlikeyoumustbeborn，notmade。“
“Precisely——asyousay！“Thestrangerturned，withhisgracefulsmile，totheduke:“Butarewenotwastingprecioustime？Icanassureyourgracethat，inthisparticularmatter，momentsareofvalue。“
Mr。Dacreinterposedbeforethedukecouldanswer。
“Ifyoutakemystronglyurgedadvice，Datchet，youwillsummonthisconstablewhoisnowcomingdowntheArcade，andhandthisgentlemanovertohiskeeping。Idonotthinkthatyouneedfearthattheduchesswillloseherarm，orevenherlittlefinger。
Scoundrelsofthisone’skidneyaremostamenabletoreasonwhentheyhavehandcuffsontheirwrists。“
Thedukeplainlyhesitated。Hewould——andhewouldnot。Thestranger，asheeyedhim，seemedmuchamused。
“Mydearduke，byallmeansactonMr。Dacre’svaluablesuggestion。
AsIsaidbefore，whynot？Itwouldatleastbeinterestingtoseeiftheduchessdoesordoesnotloseherarm——almostasinterestingtoyouastoMr。Dacre。Thoseblackmailing，kidnapingscoundrelsdousesuchemptymenaces。Besides，youwouldhavethepleasureofseeingmelockedup。Myimprisonmentforlifewouldrecompenseyouevenforthelossofhergrace’sarm。Andfivehundredpoundsissuchasumtohavetopay——merelyforawife！Whynot，therefore，actonMr。Dacre’ssuggestion？Herecomestheconstable。“Theconstablereferredtowasadvancingtowardthem——hewasnotadozenyardsaway。“Letmebeckontohim——Iwillwithpleasure。“Hetookouthiswatch——agoldchronographrepeater。“TherearescarcelytenminutesleftduringwhichitwillbepossibleformetosendthecommunicationwhichIspokeof，sothatitmayarriveintime。