“I was passing through Paris, and I heard that Deschamps was threatening Rosa. Everyone is talking of it, and I heard of the scene at the rehearsal, and I began to guess� . I know Deschamps well. I was afraid for Rosa. Then this morning I met Yvette, Rosa’s maid — she’s an old acquaintance of mine — and she told me everything. I have many friends in Paris, and I learnt to-night that Deschamps had sent for Rosa. So I have come up to interfere. They are up-stairs, are they not? Let us watch.”

“You know the house, then?”

“I have been here before, to one of Deschamps’ celebrated suppers. She showed me all over it then. It is one of the strangest houses round about Paris — and that’s saying something. The inside was