Lushington's first discovery was not calculated to soothe his feelings.
It had come about simply enough. He had bicycled in the Boulevard
Péreire, keeping an eye on Logotheti's house from a distance, and had
seen the motor car waiting before the door, in charge of the chauffeur.
A man had come out, dressed precisely like the latter, had got in and
had gone off, apparently in no hurry, while the original chauffeur went
into the house, presumably to wait.
It had been easy enough to keep the
machine in sight till it was fairly out on the road to Versailles,
after which Lushington had felt tolerably sure that by going slowly he
should meet it coming back and probably bringing Margaret. As has been
seen, this was what happened, and, as chance favoured him, he passed
the motor before Logotheti had covered his face again. He was not
likely to forget that face either, and it had done more to reveal to
him his adversary's true character than any number of meetings in
society. For once he had seen the real Logotheti, as Margaret had. He
had ridden on till they were out of sight and had then turned back, in
no very amiable frame of mind.
He understood very well that Logotheti had made great progress in a few
days; he even took it for granted that Margaret had expected him that
morning, and approved of the disguise; for it was nothing else, after
all. If the world, and therefore Mrs. Rushmore, had been meant to know
that Logotheti was acting as his own chauffeur, Margaret would have
been sitting beside him in front. Instead, she was behind him, in the
body of the car, and had evidently been talking with him over the back
of the seat. The big machine, too, was moving at a snail's pace,
clearly in order that they might talk at leisure. In other words,
Logotheti had arranged a secret meeting with Margaret, with her
consent; and that could only mean one thing. The Greek had gained
enough influence over her to make her do almost anything he liked.
It was not a pleasant discovery, but it was an important one, and
Lushington thought over the best means of following it up. He almost
choked with anger as he reflected that if matters went on at this rate,
Margaret would soon be going to Logotheti's house without even the
nominal protection afforded by little Madame De Rosa. He rode back by
the way he had taken outward and passed the Greek's house. The motor
car was not there, which was a relief, on the whole.