done. Once the idiot friend, always the idiot friend. There’s an etiquette in these matters. By the way, mon ami , can you not part your hair in the middle instead of one side? The present effect is unsymmetrical and deplorable.”
The buzzer rang sharply on Tommy’s desk. He returned the signal and Albert appeared bearing a card.
“Prince Vladiroffsky,” read Tommy, in a low voice. He looked at Tuppence. “I wonder—Show him in, Albert.”
The man who entered was of middle height, graceful in bearing, with a fair beard, and apparently about thirty-five years of age.
“ Mr. Blunt?” he inquired. His English was perfect. “You have been most highly recommended to me. Will you take up a case for me?”
“If you will give me the details—?”
“Certainly. It concerns the daughter of a friend of mine—a girl of sixteen. We are anxious for no scandal—you understand.”
“My dear sir,” said Tommy. “This business has been running successfully for sixteen years owing to our strict attention to that particular principle.”
He fancied he saw a sudden gleam in the other’s eye. If so, it passed as quickly as it came.
“You have branches, I believe, on the other side of the Channel?”
“Oh! yes. As a matter of fact,” he brought out the word with great deliberation, “I myself was in Berlin on the 13th of last month.”
“In that case,” said the stranger, “it is hardly necessary to