PROLOGUE
In the month of December 1918, and on the very day that a British Cavalry Division marched into Cologne, with flags flying and bands playing as the conquerors of a beaten nation, the manager of the Hôtel Nationale in Berne received a letter. Its contents appeared to puzzle him somewhat, for having read it twice he rang the bell on his desk to summon his secretary. Almost immediately the door opened, and a young French girl came into the room.
"Monsieur rang?" She stood in front of the manager's desk, awaiting instructions.
"Have we ever had staying in the hotel a man called le Comte de Guy?" He leaned back in his chair and looked at her through his pince-nez.
The secretary thought for a moment and then shook her head.
"Not as far as I can remember," she said.
"Do we know anything about him? Has he ever fed here, or taken a private room?
Again the secretary shook her head.
"Not that I know of."
The manager handed her the letter, and waited in silence until she had read it.
"It seems on the face of it a peculiar request from an unknown man," he remarked as she laid it down. "A dinner of four covers; no expense to be spared. Wines specified and if not in hotel to be obtained. A
7
