"Mr. Mallock," he said, "I told the King you were too nice for it. He
said on the contrary that he was sure you would do it; that it was not a
matter of niceness, but of plot against counterplot."

"A pretty simile!" I said with some irony; for I confess I did not like
the idea; though I was far from sure I would not do it in the end.

"'If one army is besieging a castle or town,' said he, 'and mines
beneath the ground after nightfall secretly, is it underhand action to
do the same, and to countermine them?' But I said I was not sure what
you would think of it. You see, Mr. Mallock, I scarcely know a single
person who unites the qualities that you do. We must have a gentleman,
or he would never be accepted by them; and he must be a shrewd man too.
Well, I will not say we have no shrewd gentlemen: but what shrewd
gentlemen have we, think you, who are not perfectly known--and their
politics?"

"The Duchess of Portsmouth knows me," said I, beginning to hesitate.

"But she does not know one word of this affair; nor will they tell her.
She is far too loyal for that."

"But she will have told others what I am."

"It is not likely, Mr. Mallock. We must take our chance of it. Truly I
see no one for it but yourself. I would not have sent for you, if I had,
for you were very useful in France. But the difficulty is, you see, that
we can take no observable precautions. We have doubled the guards inside
the palace at night; but we dare not in the day; for if that were known,