"In Guilty Bonds" by William Le Queux, newly rich Frank Burgoyne falls in love with a Russian spy only to become involved in a massive, international plot concerning a series of murders. Excerpt: "Come, have another hand, Burgoyne." "I'll have my revenge tomorrow, old fellow," I replied. "Why not tonight?" "It's past two, and I have a long walk home, remember." "Very well; as you wish."
William Tufnell Le Queux (2 July 1864 – 13 October 1927) was an Anglo-French journalist and writer. He was also a diplomat (honorary consul for San Marino), a traveller (in Europe, the Balkans and North Africa), a flying buff who officiated at the first British air meeting at Doncaster in 1909, and a wireless pioneer who broadcast music from his own station long before radio was generally available; his claims regarding his own abilities and exploits, however, were usually exaggerated. His best-known works are the anti-French and anti-Russian invasion fantasy The Great War in England in 1897 (1894) and the anti-German invasion fantasy The Invasion of 1910 (1906), the latter becoming a bestseller.