himself benefited a penny by any of his exploits. It was simply the
love of adventure which led him into it."

"Even if he did," Major Forrest remarked, "that same predatory
instinct is alive to-day in another guise. The whole world is
preying upon one another. We are thieves, all of us, to the tips of
our finger-nails, only our roguery is conducted with due regard to
the law."

The Princess smiled faintly as she glanced across the table at the
speaker.

"I am afraid," she said, with a little sigh, "that you are right. I
do not think that we have really improved with the centuries. My own
ancestors sacked towns and held the inhabitants to ransom. To-day I
sit down to bridge opposite a man with a well-filled purse, and my
one idea is to lighten it. Nothing, I am convinced, but the fear of
being found out, keeps us reasonably moral."

"If we go on talking like this," Lord Ronald remarked, "we shall
make Miss Le Mesurier nervous. She will feel that we, and the whole
of the rest of the world, have our eyes upon her moneybags."

"I am absolutely safe," Jeanne answered smiling. "I do not play
bridge, and even my signature would be of no use to any one yet."

"But you might imagine us," Lord Ronald continued, "waiting around
breathlessly until the happy time arrived when you were of age, and
we could pursue our diabolical schemes."