“Go on,” he said softly.
“Papa received a letter from a man he used to know – telling him that he was in great trouble and asking Papa if he would meet him in a part of the grounds where they could not be seen by anybody in the Palazzo. Papa thought it strange – but he has never refused to help anybody in distress, especially an old friend.”
“So he went to the meeting place alone?” Lord Mere questioned.
“Yes, it said in the letter he must come alone, so he walked through the garden to a clearing in the woods that was very secluded and – where the man was waiting for him.”
“Did your father know him?”
“No, it was not the man he expected to see, but the man who was there said that his friend was too ill to come himself and – he had brought Papa a special letter from him.”
“Your father d
