Belmanoir nodded shortly and sat down at his desk.
"I have work for you, Harper."
"Yes, sir-your Grace, I should say."
"Do you know Sussex?"
"Well, your Grace, I don't know as how-"
"Do you know Sussex?"
"No, your Grace-er-yes, your Grace! I should say, not well, your Grace!"
"Have you heard of a place called Littledean?"
"No, s-your Grace."
"Midhurst?"
"Oh, yes, your Grace."
"Good. Littledean is seven miles west of it. You will find that out-also an inn called, I think, 'The Pointing Finger.' There you will lodge."
"Yes, your Grace, certainly."
"At a very little distance from there is a house-Horton House, where lives a certain Mr. Beauleigh, with his sister and daughter. You are to watch the comings and goings of these people with the utmost care. Eventually you will become groom to Mr. Beauleigh."
"B-but, your Grace!" feebly protested the astonished Harper.
"You will approach their present groom, and you will insinuate that I, Andover, am in need of a second groom. You will tell him that I pay handsomely-treble what Mr. Beauleigh gives him. If I know human nature, he will apply for the post. You then step in. If Mr.
Beauleigh asks for some recommendation, you are to refer him to Sir Hugh Grandison, White's Chocolate House, St. James's Street. When you are engaged I will send further instructions."
The man gaped, shut his mouth, and gaped again.
"Do you fully understand me?" asked Belmanoir calmly.
"Er-er-yes, your Grace!"
"Repeat what I have said, then."
Harper stumbled through it and mopped his brow unhappily.
"Very well. In addition, I pay you twice as much as Mr. Beauleigh gives you, and, at the end, if you serve me well-fifty guineas. Are you satisfied?"
Harper brightened considerably.
"Yes, your Grace! Thank you, sir!"
Tracy laid twenty guineas before him.
"That is for your expenses. Remember this: the sooner the thing is done, the more certain are your fifty guineas. That is all. Have you any questions to ask?"
Harper cudgelled his still dazed brain, and finding none, shook his head.
"No, your Grace."
"Then you may go."
The man bowed himself out, clutching his guineas. He was comparatively a newcomer in his Grace's service, and he was by no means accustomed to the Duke's lightning method of conducting his affairs. He was not sure that he quite appreciated it. But fifty guineas were fifty guineas.