“Now perhaps we can come to business. Count—er—I beg your pardon, Mr. Blackton.”
“The mistake is a natural one,” said his host suavely. “Shall we go inside the room to avoid any risk of being overheard?”
“I had better begin at the beginning,” said Sir Raymond, waving away his host’s offer of champagne. “And when I’ve finished, you will see, I have no doubt, our reasons for disturbing you in this way. Nothing short of the desperate position in which we find ourselves would have induced us to seek you out after what Mr. Freyder told my friend Leibhaus. But that situation is so desperate that we had no alternative.”
Mr. Blackton’s face remained quite expressionless, and the other, after a little pause, went on:
“Doubtless you know who we are, Mr. Blackton. I am the President of the Metrop
