'
He directed me to the hot dishes and went on.
'Not that I think it will do much good. If your friends were
clever enough to find out the first arrangement they are clever
enough to discover the change. I would give my head to know
where the leak is. We believed there were only five men in England
who knew about Royer's visit, and you may be certain there were
fewer in France, for they manage these things better there.'
While I ate he continued to talk, making me to my surprise a
present of his full confidence.
'Can the dispositions not be changed?' I asked.
'They could,' he said. 'But we want to avoid that if possible.
They are the result of immense thought, and no alteration would be
as good. Besides, on one or two points change is simply impossible.
Still, something could be done, I suppose, if it were absolutely
necessary. But you see the difficulty, Hannay. Our enemies are not
going to be such fools as to pick Royer's pocket or any childish
game like that. They know that would mean a row and put us on
our guard. Their aim is to get the details without any one of us
knowing, so that Royer will go back to Paris in the belief that the
whole business is still deadly secret. If they can't do that they fail,
for, once we suspect, they know that the whole thing must be altered.'
'Then we must stick by the Frenchman's side till he is home
again,' I said.
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