ous brute! Faith, I nearly stuck a knife into him last night; he came most cursedly mal àpropos!"
My temper was well under control now; I was learning something.
"A lady?" I asked negligently.
"Aye, and a beauty," he nodded. "But you've seen her."
"Ah! was it at a tea party, when some of your friends got on the wrong side of the table?"
"What can you expect of fools like Detchard and De Gautet? I wish I'd been there."
"And the duke interferes?"
"Well," said Rupert meditatively, "that's hardly a fair way of putting it, perhaps. I want to interfere."
"And she prefers the duke?"
"Aye, the silly creature! Ah, well! you think about my plan;" and, with a bow, he pricked his horse and trotted after the body of his friend.
I went back to Flavia and Sapt, pondering on the strangeness of the man. Wicked men I have known in plenty, but Rupert Hentzau remains unique in my experience. And if there be another
