Notwithstanding his spectacles and the thick coating of dust upon his clothes, the solitary passenger of the car was familiar enough to him.

It was the man for whom this plot had been prepared.

It was Paul Douaille, the great Foreign Minister into whose hands even the most cautious of Premiers had declared himself willing to place the destinies of his country! Hunterleys pursued the road no longer.

He took a ticket at the next station and hurried back to Monte Carlo.

He went first to his room, bathed and changed, and, passing along the private passage, made his way into the Sporting Club.