“I had arranged everything,” he said, “and all would have been well but for an interfering young jackanapes who chanced along the track and saw fit to espouse Madam Diana’s cause.” He paused. “He tripped me up by some trick, and then⁠— que veux-tu ?”

“Who was it?”

“How should I know? At first he seemed familiar. At all events, he knew me. He may be dead by now. I hope he is.”

“Gracious! Did you wound him?”

“I managed to fire at him, but he was too quick, and the bullet took him in the shoulder. It may, however, have been mortal.”

“And so you went to Paris?”

“Ay. To forget her.”