The
rule may be occasionally relaxed, as now, but under the despotism of
Napoleon III. it was enforced with a rigorous exactitude.
Hyde had been barely half-a-dozen hours in Paris, but already his name
was inscribed upon the hotel-register awaiting the inspection of the
police, who would undoubtedly call that same day to note all new
arrivals.
Before starting for the Embassy, Hyde sat down and wrote a couple of
rather lengthy letters, both for England, which he addressed, and
himself posted at the corner of the Rue Royale.
Thence he went on, down the Faubourg St. Honore, not many hundred
yards, and soon passed under the gateway ornamented with the arms of
Great Britain, and stood upon what, by international agreement, was
deemed a strip of British soil.
He saw an _attache_, to whom he quickly explained himself.
"You wish to pursue the investigation yourself, I gather? Is it worth
while running such a risk? Why not hand over the whole business to the
Prefecture? I believe they have already put a watch upon the persons
suspected."
"I have no confidence in their doing it as surely as I would myself."
Hyde, it will be understood, had his own reasons for not wishing to
present himself at the Prefecture.
"You propose to assume a disguise? As you please; but how can we help
you?"
"By giving me papers in exchange for my passport, which you can hold,
and by sending after me if I do not reappear within two or three
days.
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