There was a knock at the door.  He raised his head.

“Come in!”

A slim, fair young man obeyed the summons, and advanced into the room.  Wingrave eyed him with immovable face.  Nevertheless, his manner somehow suggested a displeased surprise.

“Sir Wingrave Seton, I believe?” the intruder said cheerfully.

“That is my name,” Wingrave admitted; “but my orders below have evidently been disobeyed.  I am not disposed to receive visitors today.”

The intruder was not in the least abashed.  He laid his hat upon the table, and felt in his pocket.

“I am very sorry,” he said.  “They did try to keep me out, but I told them that my business was urgent.  I have been a journalist, you see, and am used to these little maneuvers.”

Wingrave looked at him steadily, with close-drawn eyebrows.

“Am I to understand,” he said “that you are in here in your journalistic capacity?”

The newcomer shook his head.

“Pray do not think,” he said, “that I should be guilty of such an impertinence.  My name is Aynesworth.  Walter Aynesworth.  I have a letter for you from Lovell.  You remember him, I daresay.  Here it is!”

He produced it from his breast coat pocket, and handed it over.

“Where is Lovell?” Wingrave asked.

“He left for the East early this morning,” Aynesworth answered.  “He had to go almost at an hour’s notice.”

Wingrave broke the seal, and read the letter through.  Afterwards he tore it into small pieces and threw them into the grate.

“What do you want with me, Mr. Aynesworth?” he asked.

“I want to be your secretary,” Aynesworth answered.

“My secretary,” Wingrave repeated.  “I am much obliged to you, but I am not requiring anyone in that capacity.”

“Pardon me,” Aynesworth answered, “but I think you are.  You may not have realized it yet, but if you will consider the matter carefully, I think you will agree with me that a secretary, or companion of some sort, is exactly what you do need.”

“Out of curiosity,” Wingrave remarked, “I should be glad to know why you think so.”

“Certainly,” Aynesworth answered.  “In the first place, I know the story of your life, and the unfortunate incident which has kept you out of society for the last ten years.”

“From Lovell, I presume,” Wingrave interrupted.

“Precisely,” Aynesworth admitted.  “Ten years’ absence from English life today means that you return to it an absolute and complete stranger.  You would be like a Cook’s tourist abroad, without a guide or a Baedeker, if you attempted to rely upon yourself.  Now I am rather a Bohemian sort of person, but I have just the sort of all-round knowledge which would be most useful to you.  I have gone a little way into society, and I know something about politics.  I can bring you up-to-date on both these matters.  I know where to dine well in town, and where to be amused.  I can tell you where to get your clothes, and the best place for all the etceteras.  If you want to travel, I can speak French and German; and I consider myself a bit of a sportsman.”