It was after leaving Miss Daisy Hyslop's flat that the event to which Francis Ledsam had been looking forward more than anything else in the world, happened.

It came about entirely by chance.

There were no taxis in the Strand.

Francis himself had finished work for the day, and feeling disinclined for his usual rubber of bridge, he strolled homewards along the Mall.

At the corner of Green Park, he came face to face with the woman who for the last few months had scarcely been out of his thoughts.