As he stooped to strap the latter, he saw a sheet of paper, crinkled by recent dampness, lying on the floor.

He picked it up--and read it.
"The plan you suggest is worthy of you, Madame.

The Englishman is fair game, being a common enemy.

Let us gain our ends through the heart, since his purse is impregnable to assaults.

But the countess?
Why not the pantry maid, since the other is an American?
They lack discrimination.