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diff --git a/old/10537-8.txt b/old/10537-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..872da45 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10537-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8588 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Governors, by E. Phillips Oppenheim + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + + + + +Title: The Governors + +Author: E. Phillips Oppenheim + +Release Date: December 27, 2003 [eBook #10537] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GOVERNORS*** + + +E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Rebekah Inman, and the Project +Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + +THE GOVERNORS + +By + +E. PHILLIPS OPPENHEIM + +Author of "A Maker of History," "The Long Arm of +Mannister," "The Missioner," etc. + +1909 + + + + + +ILLUSTRATED +BY WILL GREFÉ AND HOWARD SOMERVILLE + + + + + +CONTENTS + + +BOOK I. + +CHAPTER + +I. MR. PHINEAS DUGE + +II. COUSIN STELLA + +III. STORM CLOUDS + +IV. A MEETING OF GIANTS + +V. TREACHERY + +VI. MR. WEISS IN A HURRY + +VII. A PROFESSIONAL BURGLAR + +VIII. FIREARMS + +IX. CONSPIRATORS + +X. MR. NORRIS VINE + +XI. MR. LITTLESON, FLATTERER + +XII. STELLA SUCCEEDS + +XIII. BEARDING THE LION + +XIV. STELLA PROVES OBSTINATE + +XV. THE WARNING + +XVI. A TRUCE + + +BOOK II. + +I. MY NAME IS MILDMAY + +II. REFLECTIONS + +III. "WILL YOU MARRY ME?" + +IV. THE AMERICAN AMBASSADOR + +V. A QUESTION OF COURAGE + +VI. MR. MILDMAY AGAIN + +VII. AN APPOINTMENT + +VIII. DEFEATED + +IX. INGRATITUDE + +X. A NEW VENTURE + +XI. CONSCIENCE + +XII. DUKE OF MOWBRAY + +XIII. AN INTRODUCTION + +XIV. ANOTHER DISAPPEARANCE + +XV. MR. DUGE THREATENS + +XVI. TRAPPED + +XVII. MR. DUGE FAILS + +XVIII. ADVICE FOR MR. VINE + +XIX. THE CRISIS + +XX. BEWITCHED + +XXI. A LESSON LEARNED + +XXII. A SURPRISE + +XXIII. A DINNER PARTY + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + +VIRGINIA + +"AS I DARESAY YOU KNOW, I AM NOT ON SPEAKING TERMS WITH MY FATHER!" + +ONE OF THE BLOCKS SPRANG UP A LITTLE WAY AND WAS EASILY REMOVED + +A BULLET WHISTLED ONLY A FEW INCHES FROM HIS HEAD + +PHINEAS DUGE DROPPED HIS CIGARETTE, AND FELL ON HIS KNEES BY HER SIDE + +"FOR GOD'S SAKE, TELL ME WHO HAS IT, MISS DUGE!" HE IMPLORED + +"ISN'T IT THE BUSINESS OF ANY MAN TO LOOK AFTER A CHILD LIKE YOU?" + +VIRGINIA, WITH A LITTLE MURMUR OF DELIGHT, RECOGNIZED MR. MILDMAY +STANDING BEFORE HER + +SIMULTANEOUSLY SHE HEARD A STEALTHY MOVEMENT OUTSIDE + +THEN HE CAME SLOWLY BACK, AND PUTTING HIS ARM AROUND VIRGINIA'S WAIST, +KISSED HER + +SHE THOUGHT NOTHING OF THE MOTIVE OF HER COMING, ONLY TO PLACE THE DOOR +BETWEEN HER AND THIS! + +HE HAD AN OPPORTUNITY OF WATCHING A SEARCH CONDUCTED UPON SCIENTIFIC +PRINCIPLES + +THEN IN THE MIDST OF HER WONDERING CAME THE ELUCIDATION OF THESE THINGS + +HE WAS ONLY JUST IN TIME TO SAVE HER FROM FALLING + + + + +THE GOVERNORS + + + + +BOOK I + + + +CHAPTER I + + +MR. PHINEAS DUGE + +Virginia, when she had torn herself away from the bosom of her sorrowing +but excited family, and boarded the car which passed only once a day +through the tiny village in Massachusetts, where all her life had been +spent, had felt herself, notwithstanding her nineteen years, a person of +consequence and dignity. Virginia, when four hours later she followed a +tall footman in wonderful livery through a stately suite of reception +rooms in one of the finest of Fifth Avenue mansions, felt herself +suddenly a very insignificant person. The roar and bustle of New York +were still in her ears. Bewildered as she had been by this first contact +with all the distracting influences of a great city, she was even more +distraught by the wonder and magnificence of these, her more immediate +surroundings. She, who had lived all her life in a simple farmhouse, +where every one worked, and a single servant was regarded as a luxury, +found herself suddenly in the palace of a millionaire, a palace made +perfect by the despoilment of more than one of the most ancient homes +in Europe. + +Very timidly, and with awed glances, she looked around her as she was +conducted in leisurely manner to the sanctum of the great man at whose +bidding she had come. The pictures on the walls, magnificent and +impressive even to her ignorant eyes; the hardwood floors, the wonderful +furniture, the statuary and flowers, the smooth-tongued servants--all +these things were an absolute revelation to her. She had read of such +things, even perhaps dreamed of them, but she had never imagined it +possible that she herself might be brought into actual contact +with them. + +At every step she took she felt her self-confidence decreasing; her +clothes, made by the village dressmaker from an undoubted French model, +with which she had been more than satisfied only a few hours ago, seemed +suddenly dowdy and ill-fashioned. She was even doubtful about her +looks, although quite half a dozen of the nicest young men in her +neighbourhood had been doing their best to make her vain since the day +when she had left college, an unusually early graduate, and returned to +her father's tiny home to become the acknowledged belle of the +neighbourhood. Here, though, she felt her looks of small avail; she +might reign as a queen in Wellham Springs, but she felt herself a very +insignificant person in the home of her uncle, the great railway +millionaire and financier, Mr. Phineas Duge. Her courage had almost +evaporated when at last, after a very careful knock at the door, an +English footman ushered her into the small and jealously guarded sanctum +in which the great man was sitting. She passed only a few steps across +the threshold, and stood there, a timid, hesitating figure, her dark +eyes very anxiously searching the features of the man who had risen from +his seat to greet her. + +"So this is my niece Virginia," he said, holding out both his hands. "I +am glad to see you. Take this chair close to me. I am getting an old +man, you see, and I have many whims. I like to have any one with whom I +am talking almost at my elbow. Now tell me, my dear, what sort of a +journey you have had. You look a little tired, or is it because +everything here is strange to you?" + +All her fears seemed to be melting away. Never could she have imagined a +more harmless-looking, benevolent, and handsome old gentleman. He was +thin and of only moderate stature. His white hair, of which he still had +plenty, was parted in the middle and brushed away in little waves. He +was clean-shaven, and his grey eyes were at once soft and humorous. He +had a delicate mouth, refined features, and his slow, distinct speech +was pleasant, almost soothing to listen to. She felt suddenly an immense +wave of relief, and she realized perhaps for the first time how much she +had dreaded this meeting. + +"I am not really tired at all," she assured him, "only you see I have +never been in a big city, and it is very noisy here, isn't it? Besides, +I have never seen anything so beautiful as this house. I think it +frightened me a little." + +He laid his hand upon hers kindly. + +"I imagine," he said, smiling, "that you will very soon get used to +this. You will have the opportunity, if you choose." + +She laughed softly. + +"If I choose!" she repeated. "Why, it is all like fairyland to me." + +He nodded. + +"You come," he said, "from a very quiet life. You will find things here +different. Do you know what these are?" + +He touched a little row of black instruments which stood on the top of +his desk. She shook her head doubtfully. + +"I am not quite sure," she admitted. + +"They are telephones," he said. "This one"--touching the first--"is a +private wire to my offices in Wall Street. This one"--laying a finger +upon the second--"is a private wire to the bank of which I am president. +These two," he continued, "are connected with the two brokers whom I +employ. The other three are ordinary telephones--two for long distance +calls and one for the city. When you came in I touched this knob on the +floor beneath my foot. All the telephones were at once disconnected here +and connected with my secretaries' room. I can sit here at this table +and shake the money-markets of the world. I can send stocks up or down +at my will. I can ruin if I like, or I can enrich. It is the fashion +nowadays to speak lightly of the mere man of money, yet there is no king +on his throne who can shake the world as can we kings of the +money-market by the lifting even of a finger." + +"Are you a millionaire?" she asked timidly. "But, of course, you must +be, or you could not live in a house like this." + +He laid his hand gently upon hers. + +"Yes," he said, "I am a millionaire a good many times over, or I should +not be of much account in New York. But there, I have told you enough +about myself. I sent for you, as you know, because there are times when +I feel a little lonely, and I thought that if my sister could spare one +of her children, it would be a kindly act, and one which I might perhaps +be able to repay. Do you think that you would like to live here with +me, Virginia, and be mistress of this house?" + +She shrank a little away. The prospect was not without its terrifying +side. + +"Why, I should love it," she declared, "but I simply shouldn't dare to +think of it. You don't understand, I am afraid, the way we live down at +Wellham Springs. We have really no servants, and we do everything +ourselves. I couldn't attempt to manage a house like this." + +He smiled at her kindly. + +"Perhaps," he said, "you would find it less difficult than you think. +There is a housekeeper already, who sees to all the practical part of +it. She only needs to have some one to whom she can refer now and then. +You would have nothing whatever to do with the managing of the servants, +the commissariat, or anything of that sort. Yours would be purely +social duties." + +"I am afraid," she answered, "that I should know even less about them." + +"Well," he said, "I have some good friends who will give you hints. You +will find it very much easier than you imagine. You have only to be +natural, acquire the art of listening, and wear pretty gowns, and you +will find it a simple matter to become quite a popular person." + +She nerved herself to ask him a question. He looked so kind and +good-natured that it did not seem possible that he would resent it. + +"Uncle," she said, "of course I am very glad to be here, and it all +sounds very delightful. But what about--Stella?" + +He leaned back in his chair. There was a pained look in his face. She +was almost sorry that she had mentioned his daughter's name. + +"Perhaps," he said, "it is as well that you should have asked me that +question. I have always been an indulgent father, as I think you will +find me an indulgent uncle. But there are certain things, certain +offences I might say, for which I have no forgiveness. Stella deceived +me. She made use of information, secret information which she acquired +in this room, to benefit some man in whom she was interested. She used +my secrets to enrich this person. She did this after I had warned her. I +never warn twice." + +"You mean that you sent her away?" she asked timidly. + +"I mean that my doors are closed to her," he answered gravely, "as they +would be closed upon you if you behaved as Stella has behaved. But, my +dear child," he added, smiling kindly at her, "I do not expect this from +you. I feel sure that what I have said will be sufficient. If you will +stay with me a little time, and take my daughter's place, I think you +will not find me very stern or very ungrateful. Now I am going to ring +for Mrs. Perrin, my housekeeper, and she will show you your room. +To-night you and I are going to dine quite alone, and we can talk again +then. By the by, do you really mean that you have never been to New +York before?" + +"Never!" she answered. "I have been to Boston twice, never anywhere +else." + +He smiled. + +"Well," he said, "the sooner you are introduced to some of its wonders, +the better. We will dine out to-night, and I will take you to one of the +famous restaurants. It will suit me better to be somewhere out of the +way for an hour or two this evening. There is a panic in Chicago and +Illinois--but there, you wouldn't understand that. Be ready at +8 o'clock." + +"But uncle--" she began. + +He waved his hand. + +"I know what you are going to say--clothes. You will find some evening +dresses in your room. I have had a collection of things sent round on +approval, and you will probably be able to find one you can wear. Ah! +here is Mrs. Perrin." + +The door had opened, and a middle-aged lady in a stiff black silk gown +had entered the room. + +"Mrs. Perrin," he said, "this is my niece. She comes from the country. +She knows nothing. Tell her everything that she ought to know. Help her +with her clothes, and turn her out as well as you can to dine with me at +Sherry's at eight o'clock." + +A bell rang at his elbow, and one of the telephones began to tinkle. He +picked up the receiver and waved them out of the room. Virginia +followed her guide upstairs, feeling more and more with every step she +took that she was indeed a wanderer in some new and enchanted land of +the _Arabian Nights_. + + + +CHAPTER II + + +COUSIN STELLA + +"Well," he said, smiling kindly at her over the bank of flowers which +occupied the centre of the small round table at which they were dining, +"what do you think of it all?" + +Virginia shook her head. + +"I cannot tell you," she said. "I haven't any words left. It is all so +wonderful. You have never been to our home at Wellham Springs, or else +you would understand." + +He smiled. + +"I think I can understand," he said, "what it is like. I, too, you know, +was brought up at a farmhouse." + +Her eyes smiled at him across the table. + +"You should see my room," she said, "at home. It is just about as large +as the cupboard in which I am supposed to keep my dresses here." + +"I hope," he said, "that you will like where Mrs. Perrin has put you." + +"Like!" she gasped. "I don't believe that I could have ever imagined +anything like it. Do you know that I have a big bathroom of my own, with +a marble floor, and a sitting-room so beautiful that I am afraid almost +to look into it. I don't believe I'll ever be able to go to bed." + +"In a week," he said indulgently, "you will become quite used to these +things. In a month you would miss them terribly if you had to give +them up." + +Her face was suddenly grave. He looked across at her keenly. + +"What are you thinking of?" he asked. + +"I was thinking," she answered, after a moment's hesitation, "of Stella. +I was wondering what it must be to her to have to give up all these +beautiful things." + +His expression hardened a little. The smile had passed from his lips. + +"You never knew your cousin, I think?" he asked. + +"Never," she admitted. + +"Then I do not think," he said, "that you need waste your sympathy upon +her. Tell me, do you see that young lady in a mauve-coloured dress and a +large hat, sitting three tables to the left of us?" + +She looked across and nodded. + +"Of course I do," she answered. "How handsome she is, and what a +strange-looking man she has with her! He looks very clever." + +Her uncle smiled once more, but his face lacked its benevolent +expression. + +"The man is clever," he answered. "His name is Norris Vine, and he is a +journalist, part owner of a newspaper, I believe. He is one of those +foolish persons who imagine themselves altruists, and who are always +trying to force their opinions upon other people. The young lady with +him--is my daughter and your cousin." + +Virginia's great eyes were opened wider than ever. Her lips parted, +showing her wonderful teeth. The pink colour stained her cheeks. + +"Do you mean that that is Stella?" she exclaimed. + +Her uncle nodded, and paused for a moment to give an order to a passing +_maître d'hôtel_. + +"Yes!" he resumed, "that is Stella, and that is the man for whose sake +she robbed me." + +Virginia was still full of wonder. + +"But you did not speak to her when she came in!" she said. "You nodded +to the man, but took no notice of her!" + +"I do not expect," he said quietly, "ever to speak to her again. I have +been a kind father; I think that on the whole I am a good-natured man, +but there are things which I do not forgive, and which I should forgive +my own flesh and blood less even than I should a stranger." + +The colour faded from her cheeks. + +"It seems terrible," she murmured. + +"As for the man," he continued, "he is my enemy, although it is only a +matter of occasional chances which can make him in any way formidable. +We speak because we are enemies. When you have had a little more +experience, you will find that that is how the game is played here." + +She was silent for several minutes. Her uncle turned his head, and +immediately two _maîtres d'hôtel_ and several waiters came rushing up. +He gave a trivial order and dismissed them. Then he looked across at his +niece, whose appetite seemed suddenly to have failed her. + +"Tell me," he said, "what is the matter with you, Virginia?" + +"I am a little afraid of you," she answered frankly. "I should be a +little afraid of any one who could talk like that about his own child." + +He smiled softly. + +"You have the quality," he said, "which I admire most in your sex, and +find most seldom. You are candid. You come from a little world where +sentiment almost governs life. It is not so here. I am a kind man, I +believe, but I am also just. My daughter deceived me, and for deceit I +have no forgiveness. Do you still think me cruel, Virginia?" + +"I am wondering," she answered frankly. "You see, I have read about you +in the papers, and I was terribly frightened when mother told me that I +was to come. Directly I saw you, you seemed quite a different person, +and now again I am afraid." + +"Ah!" he sighed, "that terrible Press of ours! They told you, I suppose, +that I was hard, unscrupulous, unforgiving, a money-making machine, and +all the rest of it. Do you think that I look like that, Virginia?" + +"I am very sure that you do not," she answered. + +"You will know me better, I hope, in a year or so's time," he said. "If +you wish to please me, there are two things which you have to remember, +and which I expect from you. One is absolute, implicit obedience, the +other is absolute, unvarying truth. You will never, I think, have cause +to complain of me, if you remember those two things." + +"I will try," she murmured. + +Her thoughts suddenly flitted back to the poor little home from which +she had come with such high hopes. She thought of the excitement which +had followed the coming of her uncle's letter; the hopes that her +harassed, overworked father had built upon it; the sudden, almost +trembling joy which had come into her mother's thin, faded face. Her +first taste of luxury suddenly brought before her eyes, stripped bare +of everything except its pitiful cruelty, that ceaseless struggle for +life in which it seemed to her that all of them had been engaged, year +after year. She shivered a little as she thought of them, shivered for +fear she should fail now that the chance had come of some day being able +to help them. Absolute obedience, absolute truth! If these two things +were all, she could hold on, she was sure of it. + +A messenger boy was brought in, and delivered a letter to her uncle. He +read and destroyed it at once. + +"There is no answer," he said. + +The messenger protested. + +"I am to wait, sir, until you give me one," he said. "The gentleman said +it was most important. I was to find you anywhere, anyhow, and get an +answer of some sort." + +"How much," Mr. Phineas Duge asked, "were you to receive if you took +back an answer?" + +"The gentleman promised me a dollar, sir," the boy answered. + +Mr. Duge put his hand into his pocket. + +"Here are two dollars," he said. "Go away at once. There is no answer. +There will not be one. You can tell Mr. Hamilton that I said so." + +The boy departed. Her uncle looked across at Virginia and smiled. +"That is how we have to buy immunity from small annoyances here," he +said. "All the time it is the same thing--dollars, dollars, dollars! +That messenger boy was clever to get in. When we leave this restaurant, +you will find that there are at least half a dozen people waiting to +speak to me. It will be telephoned to several places in the city that I +am dining here to-night. From where I am sitting, I can see two +reporters standing by the entrance. They are waiting for me." + +She looked at him with interested eyes. + +"But why?" she asked timidly. + +"Oh! it is simply a matter," he said, "of the money-markets. I have been +doing some things during the last few days which people don't quite +understand. They don't know whether to follow me or stand away, and the +Press doesn't know how to explain my actions; so you see I am watched. +You heard what I said," he asked, somewhat abruptly, "about those two +things, obedience and truth?" + +"Yes!" she answered. + +"They say," he resumed, "that a wise man trusts no one. I, on the other +hand, do not believe this. There are times when one must trust. Your +mother and your father were both as honest as people could be, whatever +their other faults may have been. I like your face. I believe that you, +too, are honest." + +"Remember," she said, smiling, "that I have never been tempted." + +"There could be no bidders for your faithfulness," he answered, "whom I +could not outbid. I am going to trust you, Virginia. There are sometimes +occasions when I do things, or am concerned in matters, which not even +my secretaries have any idea of. You only, in the future, will know. I +think, dear, that we shall get on very well together. I am not going to +offer you a great deal of money, because you would not know what to do +with it, but so long as you remain with me, and serve me in the way that +I direct, I am going to do what I feel I ought to have done long ago for +your people down at Wellham Springs." + +Her face shone, and her beautiful eyes were more brilliant still with +unshed tears. + +"Uncle!" she murmured breathlessly. + +He nodded. + +"That will do," he said. "I only wanted you to understand. For the next +week or two, all that you have to do is to get used to your position. +The small services which I shall require of you will commence later on. +Now try some of that ice. It has been prepared specially. How do you +like our New York cooking?" + +"It is all too marvellous," she declared. + +Then there came a sudden interruption. She heard the rustle of a gown +close to their table, and looking up found to her amazement that it was +Stella who was standing there. + +"So you are my cousin!" Stella said, "little Virginia! I only saw you +once before, but I should have known you anywhere by your eyes. No! of +course you don't remember me! You see I am six years older. I mustn't +stop, because, as I dare say you know, I am not on speaking terms with +my father, but I felt that I must just shake hands with you, and tell +you that I remembered you." + +"You are very kind," Virginia faltered. + +Her uncle had risen to his feet, and was standing in an attitude of +polite inattention, as though some perfect stranger had addressed the +lady who was under his care. He appeared quite indifferent; in his +daughter's voice there had not been the slightest trace of any +sentiment. A careless word or two passed between him and the man Norris +Vine, who was waiting for Stella. Then they passed out together, and +Phineas Duge calmly resumed his chair. Virginia, who had expected to +find him angry, was herself amazed. + +"By the by," Mr. Duge said, as he lit a cigarette, "always remember what +I told you about that man. Be especially on your guard if ever you are +brought into contact with him. I happen to know that he registered a +vow, a year ago, that before five years were past he would ruin me." + +"I will remember," Virginia faltered. + + + +CHAPTER III + + +STORM CLOUDS + +Mr. Phineas Duge, since the death of his wife, had closed his doors to +all his friends, and entertained only on rare occasions a few of the men +with whom he was connected in his many business enterprises. On the +arrival of Virginia, however, he lifted his finger, and Society stormed +at his doors. The great reception rooms were thrown open, the servants +were provided with new liveries, an entertainment office was given carte +blanche to engage the usual run of foreign singers and the best known +mountebanks of the moment. Mrs. Trevor Harrison, the woman whom he had +selected as chaperon for Virginia, more than once displayed some +curiosity, when talking to her charge, as to this sudden change in the +habits of a man whose lack of sociability had become almost proverbial. + +"If it were not, my dear," she said one day to Virginia, when they were +having tea together in her own more modest apartment, "that I firmly +believe your uncle incapable of any affection for any one, we should all +have to believe that he had lost his heart to you." + +Virginia, who had heard other remarks of the same nature, looked +puzzled. + +"I cannot see," she exclaimed, "why every one speaks of my uncle as a +heartless person. I do not think that I ever met any one more kind, and +he looks it, too. I do not think that I ever saw any one with such a +benevolent face." + +Mrs. Trevor Harrison laughed softly as she rocked herself in her chair. + +"Dear child," she said, "New York has known your uncle for twenty-five +years, and suffered for him. These men who make great fortunes must make +them at the expense of other people, and there are very many who have +gone down to make Phineas Duge what he is." + +"I cannot understand it," Virginia said. + +"Your uncle," Mrs. Trevor Harrison continued, "has a will of iron, is +absolutely self-centered; sentiment has never swayed him in the least. +He has climbed up on the bodies of weaker men. But there, in America we +blame no one for that. It is the strong man who lives, and the others +must die. Only I cannot quite understand this new development. I have +never known your uncle to do a purposeless thing." + +"You say," Virginia remarked slowly, "that he has no heart. Why did he +send for me, then? Since I have been here, he has paid off the mortgage +which was making my father an old man, he has sent my brother to +college, and has promised, so long as I am with him, to allow them so +much money that they have no more anxiety at all. If you only knew what +a change this has made in all our lives, you would understand that I do +not like to hear you say that my uncle has no heart." + +Mrs. Trevor Harrison stopped rocking her chair, and looked at the girl +thoughtfully. + +"Well," she said, "what you tell me sounds very strange. Still, I don't +see what motive he could have had for doing all this." + +"Why should you suspect a motive?" Virginia demanded. + +"Because he is Phineas Duge," Mrs. Harrison said drily. "But there, my +dear child, I mustn't say a word against your uncle. He has been nice +enough to me because I have promised to look after you. Does he want me +to marry you, I wonder? I don't think that it would be very difficult." + +Virginia blushed, and moved uneasily in her chair. + +"Please don't," she begged. "I do not wish to think of anything of the +sort. My uncle says that presently I am to help him." + +"To help him," Mrs. Trevor Harrison repeated thoughtfully. + +Virginia nodded. + +"Yes! I don't exactly know how, but that is what he said." + +Her chaperon looked thoughtful for a moment. So there was a motive +somewhere, then! But, after all, what concern was it of hers? She was an +old friend of the Duge family, and Phineas Duge had made it very well +worth her while to look after his niece. + +They were interrupted by some callers. It was an informal "At Home" +which Mrs. Harrison was giving in honour of her young charge. Soon the +rooms were crowded with people, and Virginia, slim, elegant, perfectly +gowned, looking like a picture, with her pale oval face and wonderful +dark grey eyes, was the centre of a good deal of attention. And in the +midst of it all a girl, whom as yet she had not noticed, touched her on +the arm and drew her a little away. She started with surprise when she +saw that it was Stella. + +"Come, my dear cousin," Stella said, "I want to have a little talk with +you. Won't you sit down with me here? I am sure you have been doing your +duty admirably." + +Virginia was a little shy. She was not quite sure whether she ought to +talk to her cousin. Nevertheless, she obeyed the stronger personality. + +"Of course I know," Stella said, spreading herself out on a sofa, and +smiling in amusement at the other's slight embarrassment, "that I am in +disgrace with my beloved parent, and that you are half afraid to talk to +me. Still, you must remember that you owe me a little consideration, for +you have taken my place, and turned me out into the cold world." + +"You must not talk like that, please," Virginia said quietly. "You know +very well that I have done nothing of the sort. When my uncle sent for +me, I had no idea that you were not still living with him." + +"I lived with him for three years," Stella said, "after I had come back +from Europe. I call that a very wonderful record. I give you about +three months." + +"I don't know why you should say this," Virginia answered. "I find my +uncle very easy to get on with so long as he is obeyed." + +Stella smiled. + +"Ah, well!" she said, "I don't want to dishearten you, only you seem +rather a nice little thing, and I am afraid you don't quite understand +the sort of man my father is. However, you'll find out, and until you do +I should have as good a time as I could if I were you. How do you like +New York?" + +"How could I help liking it?" Virginia answered. "I came here from a +little wooden farmhouse in a desolate part of the country. I did not +know what luxury was. Here I have a maid, a suite of rooms, an +automobile, and all manner of wonderful things, all of my own." + +"Will you be willing," Stella asked calmly, "to pay the price when the +time comes?" + +Virginia looked at her wonderingly. + +"The price?" she asked. "What do you mean?" + +Stella laughed a little hardly. + +"Little girl," she said, "you are very young. Let me tell you this. My +father never did a kind action in his life for its own sake. He never +befriended any one for any other motive than that some day or other he +meant to exact some return for it. Your time hasn't come yet, but there +will be something some day which will help you to understand." + +Virginia sat upright in her seat. A very becoming touch of colour had +stolen into her cheeks, and her eyes were bright. + +"I like to talk to you, Stella," she said, "because you are my cousin, +and none of these other people are even my friends yet, but I cannot +listen to you if you talk like this of the man who has been so kind to +me, especially," she added, "as he is your father and my uncle." + +Stella leaned over and patted her hand patronizingly. + +"Silly little girl!" she said. "Never mind, we shall be friends some +day, I dare say. You daren't come and see me, I suppose?" + +Virginia shook her head. + +"Not without my uncle's permission," she said. + +"Quite right," Stella agreed. "Don't run any risks. We shall come across +one another now and then, especially since my father seems determined to +throw open his doors once more to the usual mob. By the by, does he ever +say anything about me?" + +"Nothing," Virginia answered, "except that you deceived him. He has told +me that." + +"Any particulars?" Stella asked. + +"I am not sure," Virginia said, "that I ought to repeat them." + +Stella sat quite still for a moment, and a slight frown was on her +forehead. + +"He has told you, then, why he sent me away?" she asked. + +"Yes!" Virginia answered. + +Stella shrugged her shoulders and rose. + +"Well," she said, "I mustn't monopolize you any longer, or I shall be in +disgrace." + +She walked away with a little nod, leaving behind her a faint but +uncomfortable impression. Virginia, an hour or so later, thought it best +to tell her uncle of this meeting. They were standing together in one of +the reception rooms, waiting for some guests who were coming to dine, +and were alone except for a couple of footmen, who were lighting a huge +candelabrum of wax candles. + +"Uncle," Virginia said, "I met Stella this afternoon, and she came and +spoke to me." + +He looked at her without change of countenance. + +"Well?" he said. + +"I thought I ought to tell you," Virginia continued. "I was not sure how +you felt about it." + +"I have no objection," he said, resting his hand for a moment upon her +shoulder, "to your talking to her whenever you may happen to meet. Only +remember one thing! She must not enter this house. You must never ask +her here. You must never suffer her to come. You understand that?" + +"I understand," Virginia answered. + +"And this man Vine, Mr. Norris Vine, have you met him?" he asked. + +Virginia shook her head. + +"No!" she said, "I have never seen him since that night at the +restaurant." + +"The same thing," Phineas Duge said, "applies to him. Neither of them +must cross the threshold of this house. It is a hard thing to say of +one's own daughter, but those two are in league against me, if their +combination is worth speaking of seriously." + +Virginia looked hopelessly puzzled. Phineas Duge hesitated for a moment, +and then continued-- + +"There are phases of our life here," he said, "which you could not hope +to understand, even if you had been born in this city. But you can +perhaps understand as much as this. In the higher regions of finance +there is very much scheming and diplomacy required. One carries always +secrets which must not be known, and one does things which it is +necessary to conceal for the good of others, as well as for one's own +benefit. I have been for some years engaged in operations whose success +depends entirely upon the secrecy with which they are conducted. +Naturally, there is an opposing side, there always must be. There are +buyers and sellers. If one succeeds, the other must fail, so you can +understand that one has enemies always." + +"It sounds," she murmured, "almost romantic, like diplomacy or +politics." + +He smiled. + +"The secret history of the lives and operations of some of us, who have +made names in this country during the last few years," he said, "would +make the modern romance seem stale. Even odd scraps of news or surmises +are fought for by the Press. The journalists know well enough where to +come for their sensation. Our guests at last, I believe. Don't forget +what I have been saying to you, Virginia." + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +A MEETING OF GIANTS + +Phineas Duge, if his manners preserved still that sense of restraint +which seemed part of the man himself, still made an excellent host. He +sat at the head of his table, a distinguished, almost handsome +personality, his grey hair accurately parted, every detail of his +toilette in exact accordance with the fashions of the moment, his eyes +everywhere, his tongue seldom silent. + +Virginia watched him more than once from her seat, in half-unwilling +admiration. She was ashamed to admit that her personal enthusiasm for +him had in any way abated, and yet she was becoming conscious of that +absolute lack of any real cordiality, of any evidence of affection in +his demeanour towards her and every one else with whom he was brought +into contact. She knew very well what the world's account of him was, +for in the old days they had read sketches of his career up in the +little farmhouse amongst the mountains. They had read of his indomitable +will, of his absolute heartlessness, the stern, persistent individuality +which climbs and climbs, heedless of those who must fall by the way. +Perhaps he was really like this. Perhaps her first impressions had been +wrong. Then, with a sudden wave of shame, she remembered the joyous, +affectionate letters which every post brought her from the home, which +notwithstanding all her sufferings, she had loved so dearly. She looked +down at the pearls which hung from her neck. She saw herself in her +spotless muslin gown. She felt the touch of laces and silk, all the +nameless effect of this environment of luxury thrilled in her blood. It +was better, she decided, that she did not think of the future at all. It +was better that she should nurse the gratitude which she most +assuredly felt. + +The dinner-party that night consisted of men only, and although the +conversation was fairly general, even Virginia had a suspicion that +these men had not been brought together absolutely as ordinary guests +for social purposes. Lightly though they all talked, there was something +in the background. More than once the voices were lowered, allusions +were made which she failed to understand, and half-doubting glances were +thrown in her direction. One of these her uncle appeared to notice, and, +leaning a little forward in his chair, he said a few words to the man +at his side in such a way that they were obviously intended for the +information of all. + +"My niece," he said, "is going to take the part which I had once hoped +my daughter might fill. If the occasion arises, you can speak of any +matter of business in which we may be interested, before her. It is +necessary," he continued, after a slight pause, "that there should be +some one in my household who is above suspicion, I might almost say, +above temptation. My niece will hold that post." + +Then they all looked at her, and Virginia was a little frightened. It +did not seem to her necessary, however, to say anything. Two of the men +she met for the first time, but all were known to her by sight. There +was Stephen Weiss, the head of a great trust, long, lean, with +inscrutable face, and eyes hidden behind thick spectacles; Higgins, who +virtually controlled a great railway system; Littleson and Bardsley, +millionaires both, and politicians. It was a gathering of men of almost +limitless power; men who, according to some of the papers, lived with +their hands upon their country's throat. Littleson leaned over and spoke +to her not unkindly. + +"I am sure," he said, "that your uncle has made a wise choice. There are +some secrets too great to be in one man's charge alone, and besides--" + +Phineas Duge lifted his hand. + +"Never mind the rest," he said. "I have not explained those +circumstances as yet to my niece. If you are quite ready, we will take +our coffee in the library." He turned to Virginia, who had risen at once +to leave them. "In an hour and a half exactly, Virginia," he said, "come +into the library. Not before." + +She glanced at her watch and made a note of the hour. Then she wandered +off to one of the smaller drawing-rooms, and, to relieve a certain +strain of which she was somehow conscious, she played the piano softly. +In the middle of a nocturne of Chopin's the door was opened, and a young +man was shown into the room. + +"I beg your pardon," he said, "you are Miss Longworth?" + +She rose at once from the piano seat. He was not dressed for the +evening, and he carried a felt hat in his hand. Nevertheless his bearing +was pleasant enough, and he seemed to her a gentleman. + +"I am Miss Longworth," she answered. "You want to see my uncle, I +suppose? They have made a mistake in showing you in here." + +"Not at all," he answered, with an ingratiating smile. "I know that your +uncle is very busy, so I took the liberty of asking to see you. It is +such a simple matter I required, that it was not worth while +interrupting him. My name is Carr, and I am on the _World_. There was +just an ordinary question or two I was going to put to your uncle, but +you can answer them just as well if you will." + +"You mean you are a reporter?" she asked. + +"That's it," he assented. "Odd sort of life in a way, because it sends +us round seeking sometimes for the most trivial information. For +instance, your uncle had a dinner-party to-night, and I have stepped +round for a list of the guests." + +"I do not see," she answered slowly, "what possible concern that can be +of your paper's." + +He smiled indulgently. + +"Ah, Miss Longworth!" he said, "you have just come from the country, I +believe. You do not understand the way we do things in New York. Your +uncle is a famous man, and the public who buy papers to-day are dead +keen upon knowing even the most trifling things that such men do. In +fact, I have been sent all the way up from down town simply to find out +that simple matter. Of course, I could have asked the servants, but we +always prefer to get our information from one of the family where +possible. Now, let me see. Mr. Weiss was here, of course?" + +Virginia hesitated, but only for a moment. + +"If you really wish for these details," she said, "you must ask my +uncle. I do not care to tell you." + +"But say, isn't that rather rough upon your uncle?" he asked doubtfully. +"We can't bother him with every little thing. Surely there can be +nothing indiscreet in your giving me the names of your guests. Most +people send them to the papers themselves." + +"I do not know," Virginia said, "whether my uncle would wish me to do +so. In any case, I shall do nothing without his consent." + +The young man frowned slightly. This was not to be so easy as he +thought. + +"Well," he said, "I can get the names from your servants, without +bothering your uncle. Must be rather interesting for you, Miss +Longworth, to hear these famous men talk," + +She shook her head. + +"I do not understand one half of what they say," she answered, "but what +I do understand doesn't sound in the least wonderful." + +He smiled appreciatively. + +"I can quite understand that," he said; "but there must have been some +of the conversation that you understood. For instance, the Anti-Trust +Bill that is coming before the House in a few weeks. They ought to have +said some interesting things about that." + +Virginia moved calmly across the room, and before the young man had +perceived her intention she had rung the bell. + +"I think," she said, "that you are a very impertinent person. Please go +away at once." + +He shrugged his shoulders as he turned towards the door. His expression +was still entirely good-humoured. + +"Don't be angry with me, Miss Longworth," he said, as he paused for a +moment with his hand upon the knob of the door; "it's all in my day's +work, you know. One has to try and find out these things, or one +wouldn't be worth one's place. We had word down at the office that you +had just come from the country, and that something might be done +with you." + +"And I think it was most unfair and ungentlemanly," Virginia began. + +"It seems so, I dare say," he admitted, "from your point of view; but +you must remember, Miss Longworth, that it is all part of a game which +is played here all the time. Each side knows the other's moves; there is +no deceit about it. Men like your uncle, who want to cover up their +actions, take as much pains to hoodwink us, and use any means that occur +to them to keep us in the dark when they want to. They just make use of +us, and we have to try and make use of them. Good night, Miss +Longworth!" + +He left the room, and Virginia returned to the piano. Her fingers were +shaking, however, and she was unable to play. She took up a book and +tried to read. All the time she kept glancing at the clock. At last she +rose to her feet and left the room. The hour and a half was up. + + + +CHAPTER V + + +TREACHERY + +Somewhat to Virginia's surprise, when at last she stepped with beating +heart into the library, she found her uncle alone. He was sitting in +front of his open desk, a pile of papers before him, and a long, +black-looking cigar between his teeth. Scarcely glancing up, he motioned +her to a seat. + +"In five minutes," he said, "I shall want to talk to you." + +She sat down in one of the chairs, now vacant, which had been drawn up +to the study table. The air of the room was heavy with tobacco smoke, +and there were empty liqueur glasses upon the sideboard. Yet Virginia +somehow felt that it was not only to take their after-dinner coffee, and +enjoy a chat over their cigars, that these men had met together around +the table before which she was sitting. She had the feeling somehow that +things had been happening in that little room, of which she and Phineas +Duge were now the only occupants. + +"Virginia!" + +She turned her head suddenly. Her uncle was looking at her. His eyes had +lost their far-away gleam, and were fixed upon hers, cold and +expressionless. + +"Yes, uncle!" she said. + +"I want to talk to you for a few moments," he said. "Listen, and don't +interrupt." + +She leaned a little toward him in an attitude of attention. The words +seemed to frame themselves slowly upon his lips. + +"You have been wondering, I suppose, like all the rest of the world," he +began, "why I sent for you here. I am going to tell you. But first of +all let me know this. Are you satisfied with what I have done for you, +and for your people? In other words, have you any feeling of what +people, I believe, call gratitude towards me?" + +"I wonder that you can ask me that," she answered, a little tremulously. +"You know that I am very, very grateful indeed." + +"You like your life?" he asked. "You find it"--he hesitated for a +moment--"more amusing than at Wellham Springs?" + +"I am only an ordinary girl," she answered simply, "and you must realize +what the difference means. Life there was a sort of struggle which led +nowhere. Here I don't see how any one could be happier than I. Apart +from that, what you have done for the others counts, I think, for more +than anything with me." + +"I am glad," he answered, "that you are satisfied. You think, perhaps, +from what you have seen since you came here that the power of money has +no limits. I can tell you that it has very fixed and definite limits, +and it was when I realized them that I sent for you. I hope to gain from +you what in all New York I should not know where to buy." + +She was careful not to interrupt him, but her eyes were full of mute +questions. + +"I mean," he continued, "fidelity, absolute unswerving fidelity. The +four men who have been here to-night call themselves my friends. We are +leagued together in enterprises of immense importance. Yet take them one +by one, and there is not one whom I can trust. I have proved it. I pay +my two secretaries more highly than any other employer in the city. They +do their duty, but I know very well that they only wait for some one +else to outbid me, and they would take themselves and their knowledge of +my affairs to whoever might call them. It has become necessary that +there should be one person in whose charge I can repose the knowledge of +certain things. New York does not hold such a person. That is why I have +sent for you." + +He paused so long that she ignored his injunction of silence. + +"You know very well, uncle," she said, "that I am not clever, and that +I understand nothing whatever about business, or anything to do with it, +but I can at least promise that I will be faithful. That seems a very +poor reward for all that you have done for me." + +"Yes!" he answered, "I believe that you mean that. Now I must tell you +this, that these four men who have dined with me here to-night, with +myself, are under a solemn covenant to conduct all our operations upon +the market and in finance, whether in this country or in Europe, +absolutely in unison. We control practically an unlimited capital, and +we pool all profits. We never speculate individually, at least that is a +condition of our agreement. You may not understand this, but such a +combination as ours, honestly adhered to, can do what it likes with the +money-markets anywhere. We can bend them to our will. We buy or sell, +and our profits are sure. We keep our agreement secret, but even then it +is guessed at. I can assure you that we are probably the five best hated +men in America. During the last two years we have made great fortunes. +Our system is perfect. So far as the acquisition of wealth goes, there +could be no object in any treachery, and yet one of these five men is +playing a double game, if not more." + +"You have found him out?" she asked breathlessly. + +He shook his head. + +"It is not so easy," he said, "only I know. To-night," he continued, +lowering his voice almost to a whisper, "a new suspicion has come to me. +I have an idea that there is a scheme, in which all four are concerned, +for ruining me and sharing the plunder," + +"It is infamous!" she cried, turning pale. + +He smiled slowly. It was the smile she hated. It seemed to change his +face from the similitude of a benevolent divine to something hard, +almost satanic. + +"The odds," he continued, "seem heavy, but I have known one man hold his +own against four before now. You may not understand all these different +points, but I must tell you this. All through America, we millionaires, +who operate largely upon the markets and control the finances of the +country, are hated by the middle classes. We are hated by the merchants, +the fairly well-off people, the labouring classes, and, more than any +others, perhaps, by the politicians. Last month it was decided to strike +a dangerous blow at us and our interests. A bill is to come before the +Senate before very long which is framed purposely to undermine our +power. Can you understand that?" + +"I think so," she answered. + +"It was to discuss this," he continued, "that we met to-night. I laid a +trap for my four friends, and they fell into it. They have signed a +document pledging themselves to resist this bill, in such a fashion that +their doing so renders them parties to an illegal conspiracy. That +document is in my possession. They all signed it, and it was left for me +to be the last. No one noticed that my name was written across a piece +of paper laid over the document itself. Now this I keep as a hostage +over them. Sooner or later, when their plans mature, it will occur to +them what they have done. They will remember that, so long as I hold +this document, I have them in my power. Weiss was uneasy before he left +the room to-night. In less than a week they will be trying to regain +possession of that document under some pretext or other. I am going to +show you where I keep it." + +He pushed his chair away and pulled up the rug from beneath it. Even +then Virginia, who had obeyed his gesture and was standing by his side, +could see nothing unusual in the appearance of the hardwood floor. She +watched his finger, however, count the cracks from a knot in the wood. +Then he pressed a certain spot, and one of the blocks sprang up a little +way and was easily removed. Beneath it was the steel lid of a small +coffer, with two keyholes. + +"This is my hiding-place," he said calmly, "and these," he added, "are +the keys." + +He laid before her two keys of curious device, and he took from a drawer +in his desk a thin chain of platinum and gold. + +"Now," he said, "you are going to be the guardian of these keys. You are +going to wear this chain around your neck all the time, and the keys are +going in here." + +He drew from his pocket a gold locket, and touching the spring showed +her that inside, instead of any place for a photograph, were little +embedded pads of velvet, shaped for the keys. He placed them in and hung +the locket around her neck. She looked at it, half terrified. + +"I do not understand," she said, "why you trust me with this. Surely it +would be safer with you!" + +He smiled grimly. + +"You do not know my friends," he said. "Remember that in my possession +is not only the document which must cause them to abandon their great +scheme of attack upon me, but also that that same document, if made +proper use of, means ruin and ridicule for them. New York is a civilized +city, it is true, but money can buy the assassin's pistol to-day as +easily as it bought the bravo's knife a few hundred years ago. Have you +ever thought of the number of unexplained, if not undetected crimes you +read of continually, in which the victims are generally rich men? +Perhaps not, and you need not worry your little head about it, but take +my word for it, the keys are safer with you." + +Virginia laid her hand tremulously upon the locket. + +"They shall be safe," she said, "but tell me this. I am never to give +them up to any one but you?" + +"Never under any conditions," he answered. + +"Not even," she asked, "if any one should bring a written message from +you?" + +"Distrust it," he answered. "Do not give them up. Into my hands only, +remember that." + +The telephone bell rang suddenly at his elbow. Phineas Duge took off the +receiver and held it to his ear. The quiet, measured voice of Stephen +Weiss came travelling along the wire. + +"Say, Duge, I am half inclined to think we made a mistake in signing +that paper," he said. "Of course, I know it's safe in your keeping, but +I don't fancy my name standing written on a document that means quite +what that means. I fancy that Higgins is a little nervous, too. We'll +meet and talk it over to-morrow night." + +Phineas Duge smiled faintly as he answered-- + +"Just as you like, only I must tell you that I entirely disagree. Unless +we strike, and strike quickly, that bill will become law, and we shall +all have to print a European address upon our notepaper, if we get +as far." + +"I speak for the others, too," Weiss continued. "We'll meet right here +to-morrow night to discuss it. Say at eight o'clock." + +Phineas Duge laid down the receiver and turned away. + +"Well," he said, "this will become interesting. They will not strike now +until they have got hold of that foolish paper. If they are all +determined to get it back, and I resist, they will know that the game is +up, and that I have seen through their little scheme. This must be +thought about. Virginia, do I look ill?" + +She shook her head. + +"I thought you were looking very well, uncle," she said. + +He locked up his desk, and looked down to see that the surface of the +carpet was unruffled. + +"To-morrow," he said, "I am going to be very ill indeed!" + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +MR. WEISS IN A HURRY + +Virginia walked along Fifth Avenue, enjoying the sunshine, the crowds of +people, and the effect of a new hat. Every now and then she stopped to +look in a shop, and more than once she smiled to herself as she +remembered how she had escaped from her uncle's house by flitting out of +the side entrance. For she had found herself within the last few hours a +very important person indeed. From the moment the doctor's carriage had +stopped before the door, a little stream of callers, reporters, business +friends, and others whom she knew nothing of, had thronged the place, +unwilling to depart without some definite news of this unexpected +illness, and all of them anxious to obtain a word or two with her. +Already a "Special" was being sold on the streets, and in big black +letters she read of the alarming illness of Phineas Duge. She had left +both his secretaries, young men with whom as yet she had exchanged only +a few words, hard at work opening letters and answering telegrams. She +alone was free from all anxiety, for she had had a few words with her +uncle before she came out, and at her entrance the languor of the sick +man disappeared at once, and he had spoken to her with something of the +enjoyment of a boy enjoying a huge joke. + +She paused every now and then to look in the shop windows, and make a +few purchases. Then, just as she was leaving a store, and hesitating for +a moment which way to continue her walk, a man stopped suddenly before +her and raised his hat. It was Stephen Weiss, gaunt, ill-dressed, easily +recognizable. He was evidently glad to see her. + +"This is real good fortune, Miss Longworth," he said, holding her hand +in his, as though afraid that she might slip away. "I have just left +your house, but I couldn't seem to get hold of anything very definite +about this sudden attack of your uncle's." + +"I know very little about it myself," Virginia answered. "The doctor had +only just been when I came away. He said, I believe, that it was only a +matter of a complete rest for several days, perhaps a week, and then +possibly a short holiday." + +Mr. Weiss shook his head thoughtfully. + +"I am much relieved to hear that," he declared. "Your uncle is one of my +oldest friends, and, apart from that, we are concerned in one or two +very important speculations just now, things which you, young lady, +would scarcely understand; but it would be awkward if he were laid up." + +"The doctor thinks," Virginia remarked, "that he will be able to attend +to anything very necessary in four or five days. They will not allow +him, however, even to look at a newspaper until then." + +Mr. Weiss nodded thoughtfully. + +"You were going back toward the house, I see," he remarked. "Permit me +to walk with you a little way." + +Virginia hesitated for a moment. + +"I have a little more shopping to do," she said. "I was not going home +just yet." + +Mr. Weiss, however, was already leading her across the street. + +"My dear young lady," he said, "I have something very important to say +to you. I am sure you will not mind going back to the house with me now +and continuing your walk afterwards. It is in your uncle's interests as +much as my own." + +She allowed herself to be led along, and when they had reached the other +side of the Avenue, Stephen Weiss, speaking earnestly, and stooping a +little towards her, commenced his explanation. + +"Your uncle," he said, "and three or four of us whom you met last night, +are engaged just now in a very important undertaking. I cannot explain +it to you, but it involves a great many millions of dollars, more than +we could any of us afford to lose, although, as you know, we are none of +us poor men. Now we can carry this thing right through without bothering +your uncle, and make a success of it, but there is just one thing we +must have, and that is a paper which he has locked away in his study, +and which is a sort of key to the situation. I spoke to your uncle about +it last night over the telephone, and he agreed to have it ready for me +when I called this morning. I could not find any one at the house, +however, who had received instructions about it, so I concluded that he +had perhaps left word with you." + +"No!" she answered, "he has not told me anything." + +"Miss Longworth," he continued, laying his hand for a moment upon her +arm, "you know from what your uncle said last night that we are all +practically his partners. Now in his interests and all of ours, and +naturally therefore in yours, we must have that paper. When we get home, +just step into your uncle's room and say one sentence to him. Say that I +am downstairs. He will know what I want, and I am sure he will tell you +to give it to me. I hate to have to bother him just now, but I can +assure you that it would do him a good deal more harm just when he is +pulling round, to find that we were all on the wrong side of things, +than to have just one sentence breathed into his ear now." + +Virginia seemed to hesitate. + +"The doctor's orders," she remarked, "were very strict. I am sure I +don't know what to say." + +"Doctors," Mr. Weiss said, "are all very well, but they do not know +everything. Just those few words from you can do your uncle no possible +harm, and they may save him a very bad relapse later on. I wouldn't +press this thing, my dear young lady, if I wasn't convinced of its +tremendous importance. You can trust me about that." + +Virginia walked on for a few steps in silence. They were approaching her +uncle's house, and already a small crowd of people were collected, +reading the bulletin which was hung upon the railings. Mr. Weiss +stopped short. + +"Isn't there any way of getting in without being seen by all this +crowd?" he asked. "They'll worry us to death with questions." + +She nodded, and led him round the back way. Even here they were caught, +however, by a reporter, whom Mr. Weiss brushed unceremoniously away. +Virginia took her companion into a morning-room upon the ground floor, +and motioned him to a chair. + +"If you will wait here," she said, "I'll go upstairs and see my uncle. +If I see that it is in any way possible, I will do as you ask." + +"That's good," he declared. "If you don't mind, Miss Longworth, I'll +just step into the study, where we were last night. I dare say one of +your uncle's young men will be there, and there are a few minor details +I'd like to talk over with young Smedley, if he's about." + +"I will find Mr. Smedley for you," Virginia said, "when I come down. I +am sure that he is not in the library, because my uncle uses that always +as his private room. Please wait here until I come down." + +She left him and made her way upstairs. The door of her uncle's bedroom +was guarded by his man servant, who allowed her, however, to pass. +Inside the room Phineas Duge was sitting in an easy-chair, carefully +dressed, smoking a cigarette, and with a pile of newspapers by his side. +On the table a few feet away was a telephone, the receiver of which he +had just laid down. + +"Well," he asked, looking up as she entered, "have they made a move +yet?" + +"I met Mr. Weiss on Fifth Avenue," she said. "He explained that you were +all partners in some business undertaking of very great importance. Then +he went on to say that they could carry it on all right without you, but +that they must have one paper, which he said was the key to the +position. He remarked that he had telephoned to you last night about it, +and he is quite sure that you will give me orders to find it and give it +up to him. He persuaded me even, you see, to break the doctor's orders." + +Phineas Duge smiled quietly. + +"I am too ill to be disturbed about such things," he said, lighting a +fresh cigarette. "I do not know what paper he means. If you come and +talk to me again about business matters, I shall send for the doctor. It +is most unreasonable. By the by, where did you leave Mr. Weiss?" + +"In the morning-room," she answered. "He wanted to go into the library, +and he wanted to see Smedley, but I told him to wait where he was till I +got down." + +"I hope you will find him there," Phineas Duge said. "He can see Smedley +if he wants to, on your responsibility of course. Those boys know +nothing. Come up and tell me how he takes it." + +Virginia went down to the morning-room and found it empty. She crossed +the hall, opened the door of the outer library softly, and passed with +swift silent footsteps into the smaller apartment. Mr. Weiss was +standing there before her uncle's closed desk, regarding it +contemplatively. He looked up quickly as she entered. + +"Don't think I am taking a liberty, Miss Longworth," he said calmly. +"This place has been a sort of office for us, and your uncle lets us do +about as we please here. I trust you are going to unlock that desk and +give me the paper I want." + +Virginia shook her head slowly. + +"I am sorry," she said, "but my uncle will not discuss business matters +at all. He did not seem to remember anything about a paper, and he said +that everything must wait until his head is a little clearer. I am sorry +I disturbed him. I am afraid that the doctor will be very angry with +me." + +Mr. Weiss' face, clean-shaven and lined, with his spectacled eyes and +thin, indrawn lips, was as expressionless as a face could be, but +Virginia heard him draw a quick little breath, and his very attitude +seemed to be the attitude of a man confronted with calamity. + +"Miss Longworth," he said slowly, "this is very unfortunate." + +"I am sorry," she answered. + +"Will you sit down?" he said. "I have something to say to you." + +She shook her head. + +"I am afraid that I cannot stay now," she said. "I have so many things +to do, and so many notes to write." + +His spectacled eyes looked right into hers. + +"This," he said quietly, "is important. There are times, Miss Longworth, +when the junior in command of a great enterprise is faced with a crisis, +when he or she is forced to act upon their own responsibility. The +person who is great enough to rise to an occasion like this is the +person who wins and deserves success in life. You follow me, Miss +Longworth?" + +"I suppose so," Virginia answered, a little doubtfully, although in her +heart she understood him very well indeed. + +"Miss Longworth," he said, "have you pluck enough to save us all several +millions of dollars, and to make your uncle grateful to you for life? In +other words, will you help me look for that paper?" + +"Without my uncle's permission?" she asked. + +"Without a permission which he would give you in one moment," Mr. Weiss +declared, "if he was in a fit state to look after his own affairs. Come, +you shall not have to wait until he recovers. For a part of your reward, +at any rate, there is a pearl necklace in Streeter's, which I saw +yesterday marked forty thousand dollars. It shall be yours within half +an hour of the time I get that paper, and I guarantee that your uncle +will give you another like it when he knows what you have done." + +Virginia shook her head sorrowfully. Her great eyes seemed full of real +regret. + +"Mr. Weiss," she said, "I am too dull and stupid to dare to do things on +my own account. I can only obey, and I am afraid all these beautiful +rewards are not for me. Even if my uncle sends me away when he gets +well, I must do exactly as he told me, no more, nor any less, and one +of those things," she added, turning and pressing the electric bell in +the wall by her side, "was that no one, no one at all, should enter +this room." + +Mr. Weiss stood quite still. He seemed to be thinking, but Virginia +could see that his hands were tightly clenched, and the bones of his +long sinewy fingers were standing out, straining against the flesh. + +"I am disappointed in you, Miss Longworth," he said. "You have a great +opportunity. It need not be only a matter of the necklace--" + +She held out her hands. + +"You mustn't!" she begged. "I am too frightened of my uncle." + +Then she turned suddenly and opened the door to the servant, whose +approaching footsteps she had heard. + +"Will you please show Mr. Weiss out?" she said. "He is in rather a +hurry." + +Mr. Weiss went without a word. + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +A PROFESSIONAL BURGLAR + +There were three men in New York that day, who, although they occupied +their accustomed table, the best in one of its most exclusive clubs, and +although their luncheon was chosen with the usual care, were never +really conscious of what they were eating. Weiss was one, John Bardsley +another, and Higgins, the railway man, the third. They sat in a corner, +from which their conversation could not be overheard; and as often +before when their heads had been close together, people looked across at +them, always with interest, often with some envy, and wondered. + +"I'd like you both to understand," Weiss said, speaking with +unaccustomed emphasis as he leaned across the table, "that I don't like +the look of things. We tackled something pretty big when we tackled +Phineas Duge, and if he has the least idea that these Chicago brokers +have been operating on our behalf, it's my belief we shall find +ourselves up against it." + +Higgins, who was the optimist of the party, a small man, with the +unlined, clear complexion and face of a boy, shrugged his shoulders a +little doubtfully. + +"That's all very well, Weiss," he said, "but if Phineas had been going +to find us out at all, he'd have found us out three weeks ago, when the +thing started. He wouldn't have sat still and let us sell ten million +dollars' worth of stock without moving his little finger. I guess you've +got the jumps, Weiss, all because we were d-----d fools enough to sign +that rotten paper last night. All the same I don't quite see how he +could ever use that against us. His own name's there." + +"I'm not so sure of that," Weiss said quietly. "I tell you it occurred +to me to look across just as he was blotting the page, and I saw that he +had his arm right round the paper, and it didn't seem to me that he was +blotting the place where his signature ought to have been." + +"Why didn't you ask to read the thing through again?" Higgins demanded. + +"I wish I had," Weiss answered gloomily. + +Bardsley, a large man, with grey beard and moustache, and coarse, hard +face, spoke for the first time. + +"Do any of you know," he asked, "whereabouts in that infernal little +room of his Duge keeps his papers?" + +Weiss looked up. + +"I am not sure," he said. "I know that he has a small iron strong-box +screwed into the inside of his roll-top desk, and of course there is a +safe in the outer office; but I don't see how we're going to find out +whether the paper we want is there." + +"The girl seemed a fool," Higgins remarked. "Can't she be got at?" + +"I have done my best," Weiss answered. "It strikes me she's just fool +enough to stick to what she's been told, and she's too scared of her +uncle to do more or less. She practically turned me out of his room this +morning, when I was just having a look round." + +"If there is really anything," Higgins said in a soft voice, "in what +Weiss is hinting at, there's only one thing for us to do, and, difficult +or easy, it's got to be done, even if we use our friends from +down there." + +He motioned with his head toward the window which was behind them, and +which looked out over the river. They were all three silent for a +moment. Then Weiss struck the table lightly with his clenched fist. + +"Fools that we are!" he muttered--"babies! idiots! To think that such +men as Bardsley and Higgins and myself are compelled to make use of +criminals, to put ourselves practically in fear of the law, to get back +a paper which we signed like babes in the wood. What if this illness of +Duge's is a fake! Nowadays a man doesn't need to move from his room to +do mischief in this world." + +"I've been round to his broker's this morning," Higgins remarked. "He is +doing nothing, has done nothing for weeks. He left off the day we all +agreed to leave off." + +"Why couldn't he be doing as we've done," Bardsley remarked, "and work +from Chicago or Boston?" + +Higgins grunted, and poured himself out a glass of wine. + +"You fellows have got the nerves," he said contemptuously. "You're +imagining things like a pack of frightened women. Duge can't swallow us +up, even if he tumbled to our game. I don't believe there's anything in +this funk of yours. As to signing that paper, well, we've got to run the +Government of this country, as well as a good many other things, if the +Government won't leave us alone. Duge's name is on it right enough, but +if you fellows are really going to shake all day about it, let's have +the paper, even if we blow up the house. I'll send for Danes to-night. +We'll meet him down town somewhere--two of us, no more--and see what he +can suggest. If we get that paper, and Duge's illness isn't a sham, +he'll come downstairs to face the biggest smash that any man in New York +has ever dreamed of, and serve him d----d well right. I'm sick of the +fellow and his ways. For every million we've scooped, he's scooped two. +Every deal we've been into, he's had a little the best of us. We are +going to get our own back, but for Heaven's sake don't let us spoil the +game because you fellows have got the shivers. We'll have another bottle +of wine, and right after lunch I shall telephone down for Danes. Now +let's chuck it. There's little Simpson and Henderson watching us like +cats. They'll think we've got caught on something, or that we are going +on the market. Eat your luncheon, and don't forget my supper-party +to-night. The whole crowd from the Eden Theatre are coming. I only hope +the reporters don't get hold of it." + + * * * * * + +A few hours later Virginia was summoned to her uncle's room. As she +entered the door she passed a small, insignificant-looking man, plainly +dressed, and of somewhat servile appearance, whom she remembered to have +seen about the place several times since her arrival. He glanced at her +in passing, and Virginia saw that his eyes, at any rate, were keen +enough. She found her uncle, now fully dressed, walking up and down the +room, with his hands behind his back. + +"I have just had news of our friends, Virginia," he remarked. "They are +evidently very much in earnest. If they can't get hold of that paper by +strategy, they are going to try and steal it." + +"Won't that be a little difficult?" she asked. + +He smiled. + +"More difficult than they imagine. The coffer itself is an inch thick, +and the lock will stand anything but dynamite. However, I hear that +they've engaged a professional burglar, so we ought to get some +amusement out of it." + +"How did you hear this?" she asked. + +"The little man who has just gone out," he answered. "He is one of +Pinkerton's detectives, or rather he was. He is in my service now, and +spends most of his time watching these precious friends of mine. I +expect they will make the attempt to-night." + +"What are you going to do?" she asked. "Send for the police?" + +Her uncle shook his head. + +"Certainly not," he answered. "If it wasn't that I suppose they will +arrange it so that the affair could not possibly be traced back to them, +I should be in the room myself. As it is, I shall leave the matter to +Leverson, the man who has just gone out. He will get as much help as he +wants. Only if you hear a noise in the night, you will know what +to expect." + +Virginia shivered a little. + +"There will be a fight, I suppose," she said. + +"There may be some shooting," he answered. "In any case, I am not afraid +of their opening my safe-box." + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +FIREARMS + +In the middle of the night Virginia was awakened by the sound of a +revolver shot. She put on her dressing-gown, and, with an electric torch +in her hand, started to descend the stairs. The house was already, +however, a blaze of light. Electric alarm bells were ringing, and +servants were hurrying toward the library. The man Leverson was sitting +in an easy-chair, with an ugly gash across the temple, and one of his +men had a revolver wound through the shoulder. One of the two burglars, +however, whom they had surprised, was a prisoner in their hands, a pale, +sullen-looking man, who had apparently accepted his fate quite +philosophically. He was just being marched off by the uniformed police +when Virginia arrived. + +"Has anything been taken?" she asked Leverson. + +"Not a thing, miss," the man answered. "There were three of them, but +two escaped. One was Bill Danes, I'm sure o' that, and we can lay our +hands upon him at any time. This one I don't know, but they meant +business. They had enough dynamite with them to blow the house up." + +She crossed to her uncle's desk and looked downward. The carpet had +apparently not been disturbed. There were no signs that it had been +touched at all. + +"Are these men ordinary burglars?" she asked Leverson. + +He hesitated. + +"Why, I imagine so," he answered. "Their tools are as smart a lot as +ever I saw in my life. They had spies all round the house to help them +escape, and this one would have got away too, if I hadn't tripped +him up." + +"Curse you!" the bound man muttered. + +Virginia looked at him and shivered. + +"Well, I am glad you caught one of them," she said. "I will go and tell +my uncle." + +But Phineas Duge already knew all about it. He smiled when Virginia +brought him her news. + +"They must be desperate indeed," he said, "to run such risks. However, I +suppose they have bought these fellows' silence safe enough." + +The midday papers were full of the attempted burglary. Before the +magistrates, the man who had been apprehended said not a word. He seemed +to accept his position with stolid fatalism. The cross-examination as to +his associates, and the motive of the attempted robbery, was absolutely +futile. + +Phineas Duge kept up during the day the assumption of severe +indisposition. No one was allowed to see him. A bulletin posted outside +announced that he had been ordered complete and entire rest; and all the +time the telephone wires from his bedroom, high up in the back of the +house, were busy flashing messages east and west, all over the country. +The work in which he had been engaged was zealously pushed home. No one +saw his secretaries coming and going so often from his room, and neither +of them was willing to admit, in fact they flatly denied when +questioned, that they had seen their chief at all. Towards afternoon, +Virginia returned from a short drive in the park to be told that two +gentlemen were waiting to see her. She found no one in the drawing-room +or waiting-room, however, or any of the usual reception-rooms, and rang +the bell for the butler. + +"Where are these people, Groves," she asked, "who want to see me?" + +"They are in the library, madam," the man answered. + +"You mean in your master's room?" she asked, with a sudden presentiment. + +"Yes, madam!" the man answered. "You see, they are Mr. Weiss and Mr. +Higgins, two of the master's greatest friends, and they wished to see +the room where the burglary took place." + +Virginia looked at the man in cold anger. + +"Groves," she said, "you had my orders that no one was to be admitted +into that room." + +"I am sorry if I did wrong, madam," the man answered. "I made exception +in favour of these two gentlemen, because they were constant visitors +here, and old friends of Mr. Duge's, and I scarcely thought that your +orders would apply to them." + +Virginia stepped past him and across the hall. She entered the room +suddenly and closed the door behind her. Mr. Weiss, with a bunch of keys +in his hand, was trying to find one that fitted her uncle's desk. +Higgins, who held an open penknife, seemed to have been attempting to +pry the lid. They started as they saw Virginia enter, and it flashed +into her mind at once that they had waited to pay their visit until they +had seen her go out, and that her return so quickly had +disconcerted them. + +"Mr. Weiss," she said, crossing the room towards them, "this room is in +my charge. It is by my uncle's orders that no one enters it. I regret +that you were shown here by a servant who misunderstood his +instructions. Will you come into the morning-room with me at once?" + +Mr. Weiss stood up. Higgins had moved a little toward the door, and +Virginia suddenly realized that her retreat was cut off. + +"Young lady," the former said, "you must forgive us both, and me +especially, if we speak to you very plainly. I told you about the +document in which we were interested, which your uncle was holding +yesterday. We were willing to let it remain here under ordinary +circumstances, but after the events of last night, we do not propose to +let it stay here another hour. If your uncle is not well enough to be +spoken to, then we must take the matter into our own hands. You can see +for yourself what a risk we run, when only last night an attempt was +very nearly successfully made to steal these papers," + +"I hear what you say," Virginia answered. "May I ask what you intend to +do?" + +"To break open this desk, if necessary," Mr. Weiss said, "and to find +our way somehow or other into the interior of the coffer where these +papers are." + +"And supposing I tell you," she answered calmly, "that I shall not +permit a second burglary in this room within twenty-four hours?" + +Higgins came forward. + +"Miss Virginia," he said, "pardon me, Miss Longworth, you look like a +sensible young woman. I believe you are. Consider our position. Our +whole future as men of influence and character depends upon certain +papers, of which your uncle had charge, being kept absolutely secret. We +entrusted him with the care of them in health, but we are not prepared +to let them stay here now that he is lying upstairs dangerously ill, +and one attempt to steal them has already been made. Take the case at +its worst; if your uncle should die, a seal would be put upon all his +effects, and nothing in the world could stop those documents becoming +public property. You can't realize what that would mean to us. It would +mean ruin not only to ourselves, but to hundreds of others. It would +mean a panic in all the money-markets of the world. We only meant that +paper to remain in existence for a matter of twenty-four hours. We are +fully determined that it shall not remain in this room any longer, +guarded or unguarded. Can't you sympathize with us? Don't you see the +position we are in?" + +"Whatever is in this room," Virginia said, "is safe until my uncle is +well enough to decide what shall be done. While he remains in his +present condition I shall not allow anything to be disturbed." + +"You have relations," Higgins said to her meaningly, "whom you would +like to help. One could not offer to bribe you. Don't think that I mean +anything of the sort. But between us we will give one hundred thousand +dollars for those papers, and I guarantee that when your uncle recovers +he will be quite willing to give you another hundred thousand for having +been sensible enough to let us have them." + +Virginia turned her back upon him. + +"This is not a matter," she said, "if you please, Mr. Weiss, which I +can discuss with you or your friend. I cannot let you stay in this room. +If you will not go away, I must ring for the servants." + +Higgins made a sudden movement, as though to seize her by the arms, but +she was too quick for him. She wheeled suddenly round, and something +very small but very deadly looking flashed out in her hand. + +"You will force me," she said, "to treat you like thieves. I know that +you are not, but I shall treat you as though you were if you don't leave +this room. Don't think that this is a toy either," she continued. +"Revolver shooting was one of our favourite recreations up in the +country. Will you get up from that desk, Mr. Weiss?" + +He stooped down and tried one of the keys from his bunch. Virginia did +not hesitate. She pulled the trigger of her revolver, and a bullet +whistled only a few inches from his head. He sprang upright in a minute. + +"Damn the girl!" he said. "Higgins, take that thing away from her." + +But Virginia was standing with her back to the wall, and Higgins, after +one look into her face, shook his head. + +"Don't be a fool, Weiss," he said. "This sort of thing won't do. You've +lost your head. Beg Miss Longworth's pardon and come away. She is quite +right. There is no excuse for our behaving like this." + +Weiss hesitated for a moment, looked into Virginia's face himself, and +with a shrug of the shoulders admitted defeat. The two men moved +toward the door. + +"I am going to call now upon your uncle's physician," Weiss said. "I am +going to tell him that whatever the risk to your uncle may be, we must +have an interview with him." + +"As you please," Virginia answered. "That has nothing to do with me." + +They left the room and closed the door behind them. Virginia, breathing +a little quickly, crossed the room and tried the desk, but it was still +fast locked. She looked down at the carpet and found it undisturbed. +Then she stood up, and started violently. The inner door leading into +the secretaries' room was open, and her uncle was standing there upon +the threshold. He smiled at her benevolently. + +"I congratulate you, Virginia," he said. "You have routed two of the +worst scoundrels in New York. Now please help me to get upstairs again +without being seen." + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +CONSPIRATORS + +The great automobile swung out of the park into the avenue, and Stella +drew a little sigh of regret. + +"Mine is the next turning," she said. "Thank you so much, Mr. Littleson. +I have enjoyed every minute of it." + +Littleson smiled, but he did not slacken speed. + +"I was very fortunate indeed to meet you," he said, "but I shall not +think of letting you go until you have had some lunch. It is nearly +one o'clock." + +Stella settled down again in her seat. + +"That is very kind of you," she said. "I had an idea that you were such +a tremendously busy person, that you never stopped work for luncheon or +trifles of that sort." + +"A mistake, I can assure you," he said. "Which do you prefer, Sherry's +or Delmonico's?" + +"Martin's, if you don't mind," she answered. "I like watching a crowd of +people." + +They found a quiet table in one of the balconies, and Littleson devoted +several minutes to ordering a luncheon which should be worthy of his +reputation. Then he leaned across the table and looked steadily at his +companion. + +"Miss Duge," he said, "we have known one another for some time, although +chance has never been very kind to me in the way of bringing us +together. Now I am going to tell you something which I dare say will +surprise you. When I saw you in the park this morning, I was on my way +to call upon you." + +She raised her eyebrows. She was certainly surprised. + +"Do you mean that?" she asked. + +"I mean it," he answered. + +"But why? I have seen so little of you. I had no idea that you knew even +what had become of me since I had left my father." + +"I am going to explain everything by and by," he said, "but first of all +I want to ask you one question. Do you know anything about this illness +of your father's? Do you believe that it is a genuine thing, or that he +has some motive of his own for keeping to his room?" + +A faint smile parted Stella's lips. + +"I begin to understand," she murmured. "I must admit that I was puzzled +at your sudden interest in me." + +"Does it need any particular reason?" he asked, looking at her +admiringly. + +Stella, who was conscious of a new hat and a very becoming gown, laughed +softly. + +"Well, perhaps it shouldn't," she said, "but, you see, you have given +yourself away. But I may as well warn you at once that I know nothing +about my father. He has even forbidden me the house, and I have not seen +him for weeks," + +He nodded. + +"So I understood," he said. "May I be quite frank?" + +"Of course," she answered. "If you really have anything to say to me, I +should prefer it." + +"Then after the oysters I will undertake to be," he declared, smiling. + +He turned away to send a boy out for some flowers and order some wine, +and afterwards they proceeded with their lunch, talking of the slight +things of the moment. Littleson, in that little group of millionaires, +represented youth, and to a certain extent fashion. He came from one of +the better-known families in New York. He had rooms and connections in +London and Paris. He was fairly good looking, and always irreproachably +dressed. Stella looked at him more than once approvingly. He was +certainly a desirable companion. For the rest, she had little vanity, +and she knew well enough that he had some purpose of his own in seeking +her out. She had only known of him as one of her father's allies, and +she was puzzled to know the meaning of that first question of his. + +He seemed in no hurry, however, to satisfy her curiosity. He had +ordered a wonderful lunch, and not until they had reached its final +stage did he refer again to anything approaching serious conversation. +Then he leaned a little across the table towards her, and she felt the +change in his expression and tone, as he began to speak in lowered +voice. + +"Miss Duge," he said, "I dare say you were surprised at my question to +you. Let me explain. Your father and several others of us have been +allies for some time in some very important matters connected with +finance. For the last few months, however, we have all felt a sort of +vague uneasiness one with the other. Apparently we were all still +pulling the same way, yet I think that each one of us had the feeling +that there was something wrong. We all began to distrust one another. To +come to an end quickly, I hope I do not offend you, Miss Duge, when I +say that it is my belief that your father has been and is trying to +deceive us for his own benefit." + +Stella nodded assent. + +"Well," she said, "I don't know why you should imagine that it could +offend me to hear you say that. I understood that amongst you who +control the money-markets there is no friendship, nor any right and +wrong. At least if there is, it is the man who succeeds who is right, +and the man who fails who is wrong." + +"To a certain extent you are right, Miss Duge," he answered, "but you +must remember that there is an old adage, 'Honour amongst thieves!'" + +She shrugged her shoulders. + +"Well," she said, "we won't discuss that. You have got so far in your +story as to tell me that you believe my father is trying to get the best +of you all, and you seem to be a little nervous about it. Well, I know +my father, and I don't mind telling you that I should not be in the +least surprised if you were right." + +He lit a cigarette and passed the box across the table to her. + +"Good!" he said. "It is a pleasure to talk to you, Miss Duge. You grasp +everything so quickly. Now you understand the position, then. There are +three or four of us, including myself, on one side, and your father on +the other. Supposing it was in your power to help either, and your +interests lay with us," he added, speaking with a certain meaning in his +tone--"well, to cut it short, how should you feel about it?" + +"You mean," she said slowly, "would my filial devotion outweigh--other +considerations?" + +He looked at her admiringly. + +"You are a marvel, Miss Duge," he said. "That is exactly what I do +mean." + +She leaned back in her chair for a moment, and looked thoughtfully +through the little cloud of cigarette smoke into the face of the man +opposite to her. + +"You have probably heard," she said, "that my father turned me out of +his house." + +"There was a rumour--" he began hesitatingly. + +"Oh! it was no rumour," she interrupted. "He took care that every one +knew that I had given Norris Vine some information about his doings in +Canadian Pacifies. If I were back at home, which I never shall be, I +would do the same thing again. I have lived with my father since I came +back from Europe, and I know what manner of a man he is. I think," she +continued, looking away from him, and speaking more thoughtfully, "that +I was just like the average girl when I came back to New York. I lived +with my father for two or three years, and--well--it would be a severe +lesson for any one. However, this doesn't matter. And I am not +over-sensitive. If you have anything to say to me, say it." + +"I will," he answered. "We have an idea that at any moment there may be +war between us and your father. I think that the odds would be very much +in our favour but for one thing. Your father has a paper which we +foolishly enough all signed one night, which places us practically in +his power. If that paper were given to the Press, we should all of us be +ruined men--I mean so far as prestige and position are concerned. +Further, I am not sure that we should not have to leave the country +altogether." + +She looked at him in wonder. "Whatever made you sign such a paper?" she +asked. + +He shook his head. + +"Heaven knows!" he answered. "We were a little mad. We did not mean to +leave it in your father's charge, however. That is why this illness of +his is so embarrassing to us. We can't help an idea that it is to keep +out of our way for a few days, and to retain possession of that wretched +document, that he is lying by. If, on the other hand, his illness is +genuine, and he were, to put it bluntly, to die, that paper would be +discovered by his lawyer, and Heaven knows what he would do with it!" + +"I am beginning to understand," Stella said. "Now please tell me where I +come in." + +"We are willing," Littleson said quietly, "to give a hundred thousand +dollars to the person who places that paper in our charge. To any one +who knew your father's house, and where he keeps his important +documents, the task would not be an impossible one." + +She looked at him fixedly for several moments. He was half afraid that +she was going to get up and leave him. Instead, however, she broke into +a hard little laugh, and helped herself to another cigarette. + +"You forget," she said, "that I have no longer the entrée to my father's +house." + +"It would be perfectly easy for you," he answered, "to go there, +especially with your father out of the way upstairs. I presume that you +know where he keeps his important papers?" + +"Yes! I know that," she answered. "It is a pity," she added, with a +faint smile upon her lips, "that those burglars didn't, isn't it?" + +He shrugged his shoulders. + +"A clumsy effort that, of course," he admitted, "especially when your +father has a detective always round the place. He is well guarded, but I +think that you could do better than that if you would, Miss Duge." + +"About the paper?" she asked. + +"It is simply," he answered, "a sheet of foolscap. I will not tell you +exactly what is written upon it, but it contains a proposal with +reference to raising a certain sum of money, to remove from office +certain prominent politicians who are supporting this Anti-Trust Bill. +Our names are all there, Bardsley's, Weiss', Seth Higgins', and my own. +Your father's should have been there, but I believe he was too +clever for us." + +She began drawing on her gloves. + +"Well," she said, "I have had a delightful morning, thanks to you, and +these roses are lovely. Supposing I should feel that my gratitude still +requires some expression, where could I write you?" + +He handed her a card, which she tucked into her muff. They left the +restaurant together, talking again of the people whom they passed, of +the play at the theatre, of which they were reminded by the sight of a +popular actress, and other indifferent matters. He offered his +automobile, which she declined. + +"I am going to make a call quite close to here," she said. "Good-bye!" + +"I hope that I shall hear from you soon," he said, bowing over her hand. + +"You may," she answered, smiling, as she turned away. + + + +CHAPTER X + + +MR. NORRIS VINE + +Stella walked briskly down Fifth Avenue and turned into Broadway. Here +she took a car down town, and presented herself in the space of twenty +minutes or so before the offices of Mr. Norris Vine, at the top of a +great flight of stairs in a building near Madison Square. Vine himself +opened the door, and led her through the clerk's office into his own +small but luxurious apartment. + +"You were just going out?" she asked. + +"It is no matter," he answered. "I have at least half an hour that I can +spare." + +He led her to his easy-chair, and seated himself in the chair before his +desk. The sunshine fell upon his thin, somewhat hard face, and she +looked at him thoughtfully. + +"Are you getting older, Norris?" she asked, "or are things going the +wrong way with you just now?" + +He raised his eyebrows. + +"It is a very strenuous life this," he remarked. "One has to crush all +one's nervous instincts, and when one has succeeded in doing that, one +finds oneself a little aged." + +She nodded. + +"You look like that," she said. "You look as though a good many of the +fires had burned out, and left you--well, something of a machine. Is it +worth while?" + +"I don't know," he answered listlessly. + +"You ought to go to Europe more often," she said softly. "I do not +understand how men can make the slaves of themselves that you do here. +Don't you long sometimes to feel your feet off the treadmill?" + +"Perhaps," he answered; "but the life here becomes like one of those +pernicious habits of cigarette smoking, or morphia taking. It grips hold +of you--grips hold very tight," he added in a lower tone. + +"I wonder," she said, "whether there is anything in the world which +would tempt you to break away from it." + +He struck the desk at which he was sitting, suddenly, with his clenched +fist. His face was still colourless, but his black eyes held a touch +of fire. + +"Don't!" he said. "I am not such a slave, after all, as to love my +chains; but don't you understand that one gets into this morass, and one +can keep a foothold only by struggling." + +"Is that how it is with you, Norris?" she asked. + +"Yes!" he answered, with a sudden fierceness. "Six months ago I think +that I might have freed myself. I shouldn't have been a rich man, but +over there in Europe, where people have learned how to live, wealth +isn't in the least necessary. I had enough for Italy, for a season in +Paris, for a little sport in Hungary, even for a month or two at Melton. +I hesitated, and while I hesitated the thing closed in upon me again. +Then your father and I came up against one another once more, and I +began it all over again." + +"Am I right," she asked softly, "in imagining that just now things are +going a little wrong?" + +"I am fighting for my life," he said tersely. "Wherever I have turned +during the last few months I seem to have encountered the opposition of +your father's millions. Our sales are going down day by day. The great +advertisers are practically ignoring us. We are losing money fast. That +is what happens to any one who dares to raise a finger against the +accursed idols of this country. Three of the greatest advertisement +contractors have given us notice that they have struck off our paper +from their list. It is your father's doings, Stella. I had hoped +something from this illness of his, but the thing goes on. Do you know +whether he is really laid up, or whether this is part of a scheme?" + +"I am not sure," she answered. "I have been told to-day that it is part +of a scheme." + +"Who told you?" he asked quickly. + +"Peter Littleson," she answered. "I have been lunching with him." + +"Peter Littleson!" he interrupted. "But he is one of your father's +allies! He and Bardsley and Weiss and your father are what they call +here 'The Invincibles!'" + +She nodded. + +"I am not sure," she answered, "but I fancy there is going to be a +split." + +He was interested now, almost eager. + +"Tell me what you know!" he begged. + +"I know this," she answered; "that Littleson asked me to lunch to-day to +find out whether my father's illness was genuine or not, and he gave me +to understand that they suspected him of playing them false. I believe +that as usual my father has the best of it. Peter Littleson admitted to +me that just now, at any rate, he held them all in the hollow of +his hand." + +Norris Vine looked out of the window for a moment. His face was haggard. + +"I have begun," he said slowly, "to lose faith in myself, and when one +does that here the end is not far off. I believe that Littleson is +right, Stella. I believe that your father, if it pleased him, could take +them one by one and break them, as he is doing me." + +"Supposing, on the other hand," she said, "something were to happen so +that they were in a position to break him?" + +"Then," he answered coolly, "it would be the very best thing that could +happen for the country and for me. There's no morality about +speculation, of course, and the finance of this country is one of the +most ghastly things in the world. All the same, there are degrees of +rascality, and there is no one who has sinned against every law of +decency and respect for his fellows like Phineas Duge. What are you +doing to-night, Stella? Will you dine with me?" + +She shook her head. + +"Not to-night, Norris," she said. "I have something else to do; but +before I go I want you to answer me a question. Once before, when my +father had you in a corner, I helped you out, and you know the price +I paid." + +He leaned toward her, but she waved him away. + +"No!" she said, "I am not reminding you of that because I want anything +from you, but listen. Supposing I could help you out again? Supposing I +could give you something for your paper which would produce the greatest +sensation which New York has ever known? Would you promise to realize at +any loss, and give it up? Leave America altogether and go to Europe?" + +"Yes!" he said, "I think I would promise that." + +She rose to her feet. He approached her a little hesitatingly, but she +waved him back. + +"No, don't kiss me, Norris," she said. + +He protested, but she still drew herself away. + +"My dear Norris," she said, "please do not think because I show some +interest in your affairs, that you are forced to offer me this sort of +payment. There, don't say anything, because I don't want to be angry +with you. If you knew more about women, you would know that there is +nothing one resents so much in the world as affection that is offered in +the way that you were offering me your kiss just then. Please come and +put me in the elevator. I am going now. You will hear from me in a day +or two. I shall write and ask myself to dinner." + +He took her outside and rang the bell for the elevator. They stood for a +moment in front of the steel gate. + +"I am afraid," he said quietly, "that in your heart you must think me an +ungrateful beast." + +"Yes!" she answered, "I suppose I do! But then all men are ungrateful, +and there are worse things even than ingratitude." + +The lift shot up and the door was swung back. There was no time for any +further adieux. Norris Vine walked slowly back into his office, with his +hands clasped behind his back. + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +MR. LITTLESON, FLATTERER + +Once more a little luncheon was in progress at the corner table in the +millionaires' club. This time Littleson also was of the party. He had +been describing his luncheon of the day before to his friends. + +"I am dead sure of one thing," he declared. "She is on our side, and I +honestly believe that she means getting that paper." + +"But she hasn't even the entrée to the house now," Weiss objected. + +"There are plenty of the servants there," Littleson answered, "whom she +must know very well, and through whom she could get in, especially if +Phineas is really up in his room. I tell you fellows, I truly believe +we'll have that wretched document in our hands by this time to-morrow." + +"The day I see it in ashes," Bardsley muttered, "I'll stand you fellows +a magnum of Pommery '92." + +"I wonder," Weiss remarked, "what sort of terms she is on with her +cousin, the little girl with the big eyes." + +"I wish to Heaven one of you could make friends with that child!" +Bardsley exclaimed. "I'd give a tidy lot to know whether Phineas Duge +lies there on his bed, or whether his hand is on the telephone half the +time. You are sure, Littleson, that Dick Losting is in Europe?" + +"Absolutely certain," Littleson answered. "I had a letter from him dated +Paris only yesterday." + +"Then who in God's name is shaking the Chicago markets like this!" +Bardsley declared, striking the newspaper which lay by his side with the +palm of his hand. "You notice, too, the stocks which are being hit are +all ours, every one of them. Damn! If Phineas should be sitting up there +in his room with that hideous little smile upon his lips, talking and +talking across the wires hour after hour, while we hang round like +idiots and play his game! It's maddening to think of." + +"Oh, rot!" Littleson declared. "You can imagine everything if you try. +There are the doctor's bulletins! We've had a dozen detectives all round +the place, and there is not a single murmur of his having been seen by +any one, or known to have even dictated a letter." + +"I've never known him sick for a day in my life," Bardsley said thickly. + +"It must come some time," Littleson answered. "It's always these men +who've never been ill at all, who come down suddenly. I'm not going to +worry myself about nothing. Our only mistake was in the way that child +was handled. I think Weiss frightened her." + +Weiss shrugged his shoulders. + +"Perhaps I did," he said. "You see I'm not a fashionable young spark +like you. Why the devil don't you go and call on her? It's only a civil +thing to do. You are supposed to be one of her uncle's greatest friends, +and he's supposed to be dangerously ill. Go and call on her this +afternoon. Put on your best clothes and your Paris manners. You ought to +be able to get something out of a child from the backwoods. If you talk +to her cleverly you can at least find out whether Phineas is playing the +game or not." + +Littleson nodded. + +"I'll call directly after lunch," he said. "Perhaps I could get her to +come out for a ride. I'll try, anyhow, and ring you fellows up +afterwards at the club." + +"Don't bother her any more about the paper," Weiss said. "She'll get +suspicious at once if you do. Try and make friends with her. This thing +may drag on for a week or so." + +Littleson nodded and left them soon afterwards. He went to his rooms, +changed into calling attire, and before four o'clock his automobile was +outside the mansion in Fifth Avenue, and he himself waiting in the +drawing-room for Virginia. She came to him with very little delay, and +welcomed him quite naturally. + +"I am afraid," he said, "that you must look upon callers as rather a +nuisance just now, but we are all very anxious about your uncle, and I +thought I would like to hear something more than that little bulletin +outside tells us." + +She motioned him to sit down. + +"You are very kind," she said. "My uncle is really about the same. The +doctor thinks he may be able to get up in about a week." + +"Is there any--specific disease?" he asked, hesitatingly. + +"I think not," she answered. "I don't understand all that the doctor +says. It seems to me that all you men here lead such strenuous lives +that you have no time to be ill. You simply wait until you collapse." + +"I'm afraid that's true, Miss Longworth," he said, "and if you will +forgive my saying so, I fancy you have been doing a little too much +yourself, worrying and looking after your uncle. Can't I tempt you out +for a little way in my automobile? It's a delightful afternoon." + +She shook her head. + +"You are very kind," she said, "but I seem to be the only person for +whom my uncle asks sometimes, and he is awake just now. I should not +like to be away." + +"He is conscious, then?" Littleson asked. + +"Perfectly," she answered. + +"I suppose it is quite useless asking to see him?" + +"Quite. The doctor would never allow it. He has to be kept absolutely +quiet, and free from excitement," + +"I hope," he said, "that he did not hear anything of the attempted +burglary the other night?" + +Virginia smiled very faintly, and her dark eyes rested for a moment upon +his. + +"No!" she answered, "we kept that from him. You see nothing was really +stolen. As a matter of fact there was so little in that room which could +have been of any value to any one." + +"Exactly!" he answered, feeling a little uncomfortable. + +"There are so many lovely things all over the house," she continued, +"that it has puzzled me very much why they should have chosen to try +only to break open that desk in the library. It seems queer, +doesn't it?" + +"Perhaps it does," he admitted. "On the other hand, they might have +thought that your uncle had bonds and papers worth a great deal more +than any of the ordinary treasures they could collect." + +"Well," she said, "they got nothing at all. Somehow, I don't fancy," she +added, "that my uncle is the sort of man to keep valuable things where +they could possibly be stolen." + +He determined to be a little daring. He raised his eyebrows, and looked +at her with a smile which was meant to be humorous. + +"Fortunate for him that he doesn't," he answered, "for, frankly, if I +knew where to find it, I should certainly steal that document that Mr. +Weiss came and worried you about. We ought to have it. If it got into +any one's hands except your uncle's, it would be the most serious thing +that ever happened to any of us." + +"I don't think," she said reassuringly, "that you need worry. My uncle +does not part easily with things which he believes have value." + +He laughed, not quite naturally. + +"I see," he said, "that you are beginning to appreciate your uncle." + +"One learns all manner of things," she answered, "very quickly here." + +He looked at her with more attention than he had as yet bestowed upon +her. She was very slim, but wonderfully elegant, and her clothes, though +simple, were absolutely perfect. Her eyes certainly were marvellous. Her +complexion had not altogether lost the duskiness which came from her +outdoor life. Her hair was parted in the middle, after a fashion of her +own, and coming rather low on the back of her head, gave her the +appearance of being younger even than she was. Stella's beauty was +perhaps the most pronounced, but this girl, he felt, was unique. He +looked thoughtfully into her eyes. Her whole expression and manner were +so delightfully simple and girlish, that he found it almost impossible +to believe that she was playing a part. + +They talked for a little while upon purely general subjects, the Opera, +her new friends, the whole social life of the city, of which he was a +somewhat prominent part. She talked easily and naturally, and he +flattered himself that he was making a good impression. When at last he +rose to take his leave, he made one more venture. + +"I don't know," he said, "whether you get bothered by your uncle's +business affairs at all while he is laid up, but I hope you will +remember that if I can be of any service, I am practically one of his +partners, and I understand all his affairs. You must please send for me +if I can be of the slightest use to you." + +She had apparently listened to him for the first part of his sentence +with her usual air of polite interest. Suddenly, however, she started, +and her attention wandered. She crossed quickly toward the bell and +rang it. + +"Thank you so much, Mr. Littleson," she said. "I won't forget what you +have said. Do you mind excusing me? I fancy that I am wanted." + +She left the room as the servant whom she had summoned arrived to show +her visitor out. Was it her fancy, or had she indeed heard the soft +ringing of the burglar alarm which she had had attached to the library +door on the other side of the hall! + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +STELLA SUCCEEDS + +Virginia crossed the hall with rapid footsteps, and entered the library. +She realized at once that she had not been deceived, but she started +back in surprise when she discovered who it was standing before the +roll-top desk and regarding it contemplatively. Stella looked up, and +the eyes of the two girls met. Stella nodded, apparently quite at +her ease. + +"How are you, cousin Virginia?" she said. "You see I have come back home +to play the part of the repentant daughter." + +Virginia was a little distressed. She closed the door behind her and +came further into the room. + +"Stella," she said, "I am very sorry, but while your father is ill he +does not like any one to come into this room." + +Stella seated herself in his chair. + +"Quite right," she said. "I hope you will be careful to keep them out. +He always has such a lot of secrets, and I know that he hates to have +people prying round." + +Virginia felt that she had never received a more embarrassing visitor. + +"Would you mind, Stella," she said, "coming into the drawing-room with +me? This room is supposed to be locked up. You knew the catch in the +door, of course, or you could not have come in." + +"Yes! I know the catch," Stella answered, "and, my dear child, you must +forgive my saying so, but I have lived here for some years, and it is +still home to me. You, on the other hand, have been here a few weeks. I +know you don't mean anything unkind, but just because I have quarrelled +a little with my father, you must not tell me which rooms I may enter, +and which I may not. I am going to stay here for half an hour, and write +some letters." + +"You can write them in any other room in the house," Virginia declared, +"but not here. It is impossible." + +Stella smiled and shrugged her shoulders as she sat down. + +"I am sorry," she said, "but this is where I mean to write them. You +must remember that this house belongs to my father. You are here +temporarily in my place. I have not bothered you very much, and it is a +very simple thing that I ask. I want to make use of this room, to write +a few letters here. After that I shall go away." + +The troubled frown on Virginia's face grew deeper. + +"My dear Stella," she said, "although nothing would please me better +than to see your father and you friends again, you must know that he +allows no one to enter these rooms when his secretary is away. In fact, +as you know, the door was closed, and if you had not known the secret of +the catch, you could not have entered." + +"Well," Stella repeated carelessly, "since I am here, I am here. Please +unlock this desk and give me some writing paper." + +"I cannot unlock it," Virginia answered. "You must know that." + +"But you have the keys," Stella interposed. + +"If I have," Virginia declared, "it is because your father trusted me +with them." + +"Perhaps," Stella said, leaning a little forward in her chair, "you have +also the keys of that wonderful little hiding place of his that he +showed me one day." + +"Perhaps I have," Virginia answered, "but if so, no other person in the +world will ever know about it." + +"You won't even open the desk for me, then?" Stella said. + +"Certainly not," Virginia answered. "Your father's orders to me were +quite explicit." + +"You do not suppose," Stella asked, "that he meant to exclude his own +daughter?" + +"How can I tell?" Virginia answered. "I know nothing of the trouble +there was between you two," she added more softly, "It is not my affair, +although nothing would please me more than to see you friends again. If +you will come into the drawing-room and wait, I will go upstairs and +try and persuade him to see you." + +Stella shook her head. + +"It would be of no use," she said. "He is frightfully obstinate, and I +shall never have a chance of making my peace with him again unless I can +come upon him unexpectedly." + +"Well," Virginia said, "he is not likely to be downstairs to-day, and, +Stella, don't be angry with me, but I must really ask you to leave +this room." + +"Thank you," Stella answered coldly. "I am at home here, and I mean to +stay so long as I choose. It is you who are the intruder. If you have +any sense at all, you will go away and play with your dolls. You can't +have left them very long, and I'm sure it is a more fitting amusement +for you than ordering me about my father's house." + +Virginia moved up and down the room. The tears were already in her eyes; +she was utterly and completely perplexed. + +"Stella," she said, "you know what sort of a man your father is. If he +learns that you have been here in this room, he will never forgive me. +He will send me home, and that would be hateful, for many, many reasons. +Do please be reasonable, and come away with me now into one of the other +rooms. I will do all that I can to bring you two together." + +Stella seemed to have made up her mind to quarrel with her cousin. Her +face was white and hard. She laughed a little scornfully before +she answered. + +"You bring us together!" she exclaimed. "Do you think that I don't +understand you better than that? I know very well that you are much too +pleased with your position here, and you are afraid that if my father +forgave me and I came back, you would have to go home again. Don't think +that I don't understand." + +Virginia walked to the window, and stood there several moments looking +out upon the avenue. Her eyes were quite dry now, and a spot of colour +was burning in her cheeks. The injustice of her cousin's words had +checked the tears, but they had also achieved their purpose. She turned +slowly round. + +"Very well, Stella," she said, "I will not interfere with you any more, +but I am going to do exactly what is my duty. Will you leave this +room or not?" + +"When I am ready," Stella answered, "not before!" + +Virginia crossed the room, meaning to ring the bell. Stella, springing +quickly from her seat, caught her cousin up, and seizing her by the +shoulders, turned her round. Then she calmly locked the door of the room +in which they were, on the inside. + + * * * * * + +About an hour afterwards, the elder of Phineas Duge's secretaries, +Robert Smedley, entered the bedroom at the top of the house with some +precipitation, and turned a white face towards his master. Phineas Duge, +fully dressed, was entering some figures in a small memorandum book on +the table before him. + +"Mr. Duge," the young man exclaimed, "forgive me for disturbing you, but +I think that if you feel strong enough you ought to come downstairs into +the library at once." + +Phineas Duge did not hesitate. There was a light in his eyes which +transformed his face. He knew as though by inspiration something of what +had happened. He took the back stairs, and descending at a pace quite +extraordinary for a sick man, he was inside the library in less than a +minute. It was easy to see that Smedley's alarm had not been altogether +ill-founded. A chair was overturned; Virginia was lying face downwards +upon the floor in front of the desk. Phineas Duge dropped his cigarette, +and fell on his knees by her side. Then he saw that her hands and feet +were tied with an antimacassar torn into strips, and a rude sort of gag +was in her mouth. She opened her eyes at his touch, and moaned slightly. +In a moment or two he had released her from her bonds, and removed the +handkerchief which had been tied into her mouth. + +"Fetch some brandy," he told the young man, "and keep your mouth shut +about this. You understand?" + +"Sure, sir!" + +The young man hurried away. Duge was still stooping down, with his arm +around Virginia's waist. Gradually she began to recover herself. She +looked all round the room, as though in search of some one. Her uncle +asked her no questions. He saw that she was rapidly regaining +consciousness, and he waited. Smedley returned with the brandy. Together +they forced a little between her lips, and watched the colour coming +back into her cheeks. Then Phineas Duge withdrew his arm and walked to +the other side of the desk. On the floor were the broken fragments of +Virginia's locket. The carpet had been torn up. The steel coffer, with +the keys still in it, was there half open. He slid back the lid, and +taking out a few of the topmost papers, ran them through his fingers. +There was no doubt about it. The document was missing. He returned to +the chair to which he had carried Virginia. + +"Are you well enough now," he asked, "to tell me about this?" + +She raised herself in her chair, and looked with fascinated eyes toward +that spot in the carpet. + +"Has anything gone?" she asked. + +"Yes!" her uncle answered shortly. "I want to know how it was that any +one got into this room, and who it was. Quickly, please!" + +"I was in the drawing-room talking to Mr. Littleson," Virginia said, +"when I heard the small alarm bell that I had had fitted on to the +library door ring. I came in and found Stella here. She locked me in. +She is very strong. I had no idea that she was so strong," Virginia +murmured, half closing her eyes and fainting away. + +He hurried to her side, and forced some more brandy between her lips. +Then he laid her flat on the floor, and began to walk up and down. + +"So this is Stella's work," he muttered to himself. "That accounts for +the message I had yesterday, that she was seen driving with Littleson. +What she did for that blackguard Vine, she has done for them!" + +His face, no longer an amiable one, grew sterner as he walked backwards +and forwards, his hands behind him, his eyes fixed upon the carpet. He +had staked a good deal on his possession of this hold upon the men who +had been his associates. The whole situation had to be readjusted in the +altered light of events. The first impulse of the man, to act, seemed +strangled almost at its birth by the absolute futility of any move he +could possibly make. He had no idea where to find his daughter, with +whom she was living, or how. Any publicity of any sort was of course out +of the question. No wonder that his frown grew heavier as he realized +more completely the helplessness of his position. He was a man +unaccustomed to failure, whose career through life had been one smooth +road of success and triumph. His touch seemed to have transformed the +very dust heaps into gold, and the barren wastes into prosperous cities. +The shadow of failure had never fallen across his path. Now that it had +come he was bewildered. An ordinary reverse he could have met resolutely +enough. This was something stupendous, something against which the +ordinary weapons of his will were altogether powerless. Try as he might, +he could not see his way ahead. He was too deeply involved for any one +to gauge the position accurately. A knock at the door. Phineas Duge +looked up, and paused for a moment in his restless walk. He opened it +cautiously and let in young Smedley, a tall, broad-shouldered young man. + +"Come in, Smedley," he said shortly. "I have been wanting you." + +The young man looked straight across at Virginia, still stretched upon +the floor, and he took a quick step in her direction. + +"What did you find was the matter with Miss Longworth, sir?" he asked. +"Is she ill?" + +Duge glanced carelessly towards his niece. + +"She's only a little faint," he said. "There's matter enough here +without that." + +"What is it, sir?" the young man demanded. + +Phineas Duge looked at him for a moment in silence, while he decided how +much to tell. + +"You remember my daughter Stella?" he asked abruptly. + +The young man looked serious. + +"I remember Miss Duge quite well," he answered. + +"She has been here this afternoon. This is her work," Duge said grimly. +"We had some trouble before, you know, about that Canadian Pacific +report. It was after that, that I was obliged to send her away +altogether." + +The young man looked swiftly around the room. + +"Has she taken anything?" he began. + +"Nothing of importance," Phineas Duge answered calmly, "but that doesn't +alter the fact that she might have done so!" + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + +BEARDING THE LION + +Early the next morning, Littleson's automobile dashed up to the door of +Weiss' office. Without even waiting to be announced, its owner pushed +his way through the clerk's office and entered the private room of +his friend. + +"Heard the news?" he demanded quickly. + +"No! What is it?" Weiss asked. + +"Phineas Duge is in the city. He was going into Harrigold's as I came +out. I tried to speak to him, but he cut me dead. They say that he has +sent for all his brokers, and is coming on this market heavily!" + +"Then his illness was a fake after all," Weiss declared. "We can't stand +this, though. I'll get on to his office. We must speak to him." + +He gave some rapid instructions to a clerk whom he had summoned, then +took a printed sheet of prices from a machine which ticked at his elbow. + +"If it's war," he muttered, "we shall have to fight hard, but what I +don't understand is why he wants to break with us." + +The clerk re-entered the room. + +"There is a young lady here," he said, "who wishes to speak to you, +sir." + +"Name?" Weiss demanded curtly. + +"Miss Virginia Longworth," he answered. + +Weiss and Littleson exchanged quick glances. + +"Show her in at once," Weiss ordered. "What do you suppose this means?" +he asked, turning to Littleson. + +The young man had no time to reply. Almost immediately Virginia was +ushered into the office. She was very pale, and there were dark lines +under her eyes. Stephen Weiss rose at once, and Littleson hastened to +offer her a chair, but she took no notice. They could see that she was +agitated, and she seemed to find some difficulty in commencing what she +had to say. + +"What can I have the pleasure of doing for you, Miss Longworth?" Weiss +asked. "I hope that you have come to tell me--" + +"I have come to tell you that you are both thieves!" she interrupted. +"If you do not give me back that paper, I don't care what my uncle says, +I shall go to the police station." + +The men exchanged swift glances. Littleson suddenly started. He drew +Weiss on one side. + +"Stella has got it," he whispered, in a tone of triumph. "Get rid of +this girl easily. That is what she must mean." + +Weiss turned round and faced her. + +"My dear Miss Longworth," he said, "a thief I would have been if I could +have found the chance, and a thief I would have made of you if you would +have stolen that paper for me, because I considered that it belonged to +us, and we had a moral right to take it. But the fact remains that we +have not got it. When I heard your name announced I hoped that you had +brought it to us." + +"You have not got it!" she repeated contemptuously. + +"Upon my honour we have not!" Littleson declared. + +"Perhaps," she said, turning to him, "you will deny that it was you who +incited my cousin Stella to come and rob her own father?" + +The two men exchanged swift glances. Littleson's surmise had been +correct then. It was Stella who had succeeded where the others +had failed! + +"We know nothing of Miss Duge," Littleson said, "nor have we received +the paper nor any news of it. If Miss Stella has stolen it, she has not +brought it to us. That is all I can tell you." + +Virginia read truth in their faces. She turned away. + +"Oh, I do not understand!" she said. "Perhaps I have made a mistake. I +will go." + +She hurried outside to the automobile which was waiting, and drove to +the address which Stella had given her. It was a kind of residential +hotel, and a boy in the hall took her up in the lift to the floor on +which Stella's rooms were. She knocked at the door. Stella herself +opened it. She started back when she saw who her visitor was. + +"You!" she exclaimed. + +Virginia stepped into the room. + +"Yes!" she answered. "What have you done with the paper that you stole +from the safe?" + +Stella closed the door and looked at her cousin thoughtfully. She had +evidently been busy packing. Dresses and hats lay about on the bed, and +in the next room the maid was busy emptying the cupboards. Stella closed +the communicating door. + +"Why have you come here?" she said to Virginia. "You don't suppose I ran +risks like that, to possess myself of a thing which I meant to give up. +Oh! you need not look as though you were going to spring at me. I have +not got it here, I can assure you. I parted with it hours ago!" + +"To whom?" Virginia demanded. + +"My father will find out some day, perhaps," Stella answered. "I don't +see that it's so much his affair. The men who have to pay for their +folly are the men who deserve to pay. I see that my father was too +cunning to write his name down with theirs." + +"You mean," Virginia demanded, "that you have not given it to Mr. +Littleson and his friends?" + +"Not I!" Stella laughed,--"although they offered me one hundred +thousand dollars for it." + +Virginia sat down on the bed. She had not slept all night, and she had +eaten no breakfast. + +"Stella," she said, looking at her cousin with her big eyes full of +tears, and her voice becoming unsteady, "you have done a very, very +cruel thing. You have ruined my life. Your father had done so much for +my people, and now he is going to stop it all and send me back to them. +You can't imagine what it means to be thrown back into such poverty. It +isn't for myself I mind; it is for their sakes." + +"I don't see," Stella answered, "how my father can blame you." + +Virginia shook her head sadly. + +"Your father is one of those men," she said, "who judges only by +results. He trusted me, and whether it was my fault or my misfortune, I +was a failure. Stella, does it mean so much to you, after all, that you +should keep that paper? Why don't you bring it back and be reconciled to +your father? I should be quite content to go away; anything so long as +he gets it back. Don't you understand that after he has been so kind, I +hate the feeling that I have been so abject a failure?" + +Stella smiled a little bitterly. + +"It is my turn," she said, "to tell you that you do not understand my +father. He would never forgive me, nor do I want him to. If you think +that I was the tool of these men Littleson and Weiss, you make a +mistake. What I did, I did for the sake of the only man I have ever +cared for. Never mind his name, never mind who he is. But if it makes my +father any happier, you can tell him that his friends are no nearer +safety now than they were when the paper was in his keeping." + +Virginia looked around the room drearily. + +"You are going away?" she said. + +"I am going to Europe," Stella answered. "I hate America. I hate the +whole atmosphere here. It is a vile, unnatural life. I am going to try +and live somewhere where people are simpler, and where life is not made +up of gambling and plotting and senseless luxuries. I am tired to death +of it all!" + +"You are going to be married?" + +Stella turned away and hid her face. + +"No!" she said, "I do not think so." + +There was a short silence. Virginia rose to her feet. + +"Well," she said, "I think you have been a little unkind to me, Stella. +I could have reached the bell and stopped you, only I hated to seem rude +in your father's house." + +"I am sorry," Stella said simply. "You see I am like all those other +poor fools who care for a man. I put him first, and everybody else +nowhere. Don't be afraid that I shall not have to suffer for it. I dare +say if you know me, or anything about me, in five years' time, you will +feel that you have had your revenge. If you take my advice, little +girl," she added, speaking more kindly, "you will go back to your +farmhouse and take up your simpler life there. I do not fancy that you +were made for cities, or the ways of cities. I lived in the country +once, and I was a very different sort of person. Run away now. I can do +nothing for you, so it is no use staying, but if ever you need help, the +ordinary, commonplace sort of help, I mean, write to me to Baring's, +either in London or Paris. I'll do what I can." + +Virginia went out again into the street and drove back home. +Mechanically she changed her clothes and dressed for dinner. At eight +o'clock she descended, shivering. Her uncle was already in his place. He +rose as she entered, gravely, and took his place again as she sank into +hers. His face was like a mask. He said nothing, and the few remarks +which he made during dinner-time were on purely ordinary topics. There +was only a minute or two, after the dessert had been placed upon the +table and the remaining man servant had gone out with a message, during +which they were alone. Then Virginia summoned up her courage to speak of +the matter which was like a nightmare in her thoughts. + +"Uncle," she said, "I think you ought to know this. I went to Mr. Weiss' +office. He did not know that the paper was not still in your keeping. I +went to Stella, and she told me that she had not taken it for them. She +told me that they had offered her one hundred thousand dollars for it, +but she never had any idea of letting them have it." + +If Phineas Duge was surprised, he showed no signs of it, only he looked +steadily into his niece's face for a moment or two before he replied. + +"Stella," he said coldly, "has taken her goods to a poor market. Norris +Vine is on the brink of ruin. If I turn the screw to-morrow, he must +come down." + +He sipped his wine for a moment thoughtfully. Then a grim, hard smile +parted his lips. + +"No wonder," he said, "that my friends are still in something of a +panic." + +Virginia rose in her place. It seemed as though her appearance was +woebegone enough to soften the heart of any man, but Phineas Duge looked +into her face unmoved. + +"Uncle," she said, "I am no longer any use to you. I think that I had +better go home." + +He took out his pocket-book, looked through its contents, and passed it +across the table to her. + +"As you will," he answered. "I have a great weakness which I am always +ready to admit. I cannot bear the presence about me of people who have +failed. You have become one of them, and I do not wish you to remain +here. If," he added, speaking more slowly, and looking meditatively +into the decanter by his side, "if you saw any chance by which, with +the help of what you will find in that pocket-book, a little +application, a little ingenuity, and a good deal of perseverance, you +could undo some part of the mischief which your carelessness has caused, +then, of course, I should lose that feeling concerning you, and your +place here would be open for your return. It would probably, also, be to +the advantage of your people if any such idea as this resulted in +successful action on your part. There is enough in that pocket-book," he +added, "to take you where you will, and to enable you to live as you +will for the remainder of the year, and during that time your people +also are provided for. I leave the matter in your hands." + +He turned and left the room. Virginia stood at the end of the table, +clasping the pocket-book in her hands, and watching his retreating +figure. He opened and closed the door. She sank back into her place for +a moment and covered her face with her hands. For a moment she forgot +where she was. The perfume of the roses, with which the table was laden, +had somehow reminded her of the little farmhouse with its humble garden, +far up amongst the hills. + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + +STELLA PROVES OBSTINATE + +Littleson reached the hotel where Stella lived just in time to find the +hall full of her trunks, and Stella herself, in dark travelling clothes +and heavily veiled, in the act of saying farewell to the manager. He +came up to her eagerly. + +"I seem to be just in time, Miss Duge," he said. "You are going away?" + +"I am certainly going away," she answered. "Did you wish to see me?" + +Her manner took him a little aback. Nevertheless he reflected that there +were a good many people within hearing, and she was right to +be cautious. + +"Can I have three words with you?" he begged, "alone, anywhere?" + +She led him into a sitting-room, which was fortunately empty. + +"Well," she said, continuing to draw on her gloves, "what do you want, +Mr. Littleson?" + +"You know very well what I want," he answered quickly. "I have my +cheque-book in my pocket, and I am ready to pay over the hundred +thousand dollars. I know that you have the paper. If you like to wait +for ten minutes, you can have the money in dollars." + +"How do you know that I have the paper?" she asked calmly. + +"Your cousin, Miss Virginia, has been to our office," he answered. "She +thought, naturally, that you had brought it straight to us. I don't know +whether she seriously expected that we would give it up again, but that +seemed to be the object of her visit. At any rate, we learnt that you +had succeeded." + +Stella was busy with the last finger of her glove. + +"Yes!" she said, "I succeeded. It was a brutal action, and I shall never +quite forgive myself for it, but I got the paper." + +"Well?" he said. + +"Well?" she answered calmly. + +A horrible misgiving came over him. + +"You haven't parted with it?" he demanded anxiously. "You haven't let +your father have it back again?" + +"I have not parted with it," she answered, "to my father. On the other +hand, I certainly have not got it. A hundred thousand dollars is a good +deal of money, Mr. Littleson; but I did not commit theft for the benefit +of you and your friends." + +"What do you mean?" he asked hoarsely. + +"Exactly what I say," she answered. "The paper is in safe keeping. You +will probably hear before long who has it." + +Littleson was speechless. All manner of horrible fears oppressed him. +"You must tell me," he insisted hoarsely, "where it is, who has got it! +This is infamous! Why, if I had not told you--" + +"I should not have known anything about it," she interrupted. "Quite +true! I suppose I ought to thank you. However, as I say, the paper is in +safe hands, but not my father's. You will probably hear something about +it before long." + +"For God's sake, tell me who has it, Miss Duge!" he implored. "You can't +understand what this means to us. We were fools to sign it, I know; but +your father insisted, and we had, I suppose, a weak moment. After all, +there isn't anything so very terrible about it. We have a right to +protect ourselves, we of the Trusts, whether our cause be just or not." + +"Exactly!" she admitted. "No doubt you will have a case. I hope you will +find, supposing the worst happens, that popular sympathy will be on your +side. Most things are bought and sold in this country. I don't quite +know how the American public will appreciate this attempted buying of +the conscience of her public men. It might perhaps make you temporarily +a little unpopular, necessitate a trip to Europe perhaps, or something +of that sort. Well, I wish you well out of it, and now I must really go. +If you do have to come across in a hurry, Mr. Littleson, I may see +something of you in Paris." + +"You are going to Europe, then?" he asked breathlessly. + +"By to-morrow morning's boat," she answered. "I am going to send my +trunks down to the steamer, and stay with some friends to-night." + +"At least," he begged, "come down and see Bardsley and Weiss. I'll take +you down in the automobile. It shall not detain you five minutes." + +She shook her head. + +"I cannot see the faintest use," she answered, "in my going to visit +your friends. I have really and absolutely parted with the paper, and +the person in whose possession it is will no doubt communicate +with you." + +"His name?" Littleson demanded. "I must know his name." + +"That," she answered, "I decline to tell you; but I dare say, if you +hurry back to Mr. Weiss' office, you will find some news for you. Don't +look so angry. We all have our own game to play, you know, Mr. +Littleson. I dare say I have behaved a little shabbily to you, but, you +see, I had myself to consider, and in New York you know what that means. +_Au revoir!_ I have an idea that I may see something of you in Europe." + +She left Littleson, who went round to the bar of the hotel and had a big +drink. Then he lit a cigarette and returned to his automobile. + +"Well," he muttered, as he swung round toward the city, "I may as well +go back and face the music...!" + +Weiss' offices were crowded when Littleson returned. There was +excitement upon 'Change, clerks were rushing about, telephones were +ringing. Weiss himself, with his coat off, stood in the midst of it all, +giving orders, answering the telephone, exchanging a few hurried words +with numberless callers. He had a big unlit cigar in his mouth, which he +was constantly chewing. He pushed Littleson into his private office, but +he did not follow him for some time. When at last he came in, the uproar +outside was declining. It was five o'clock, and business was over for +the day. Weiss went to a small cupboard and took out a whisky bottle and +some glasses. Before he spoke a word he had tossed off a drink. + +"Big day?" Littleson asked, mechanically. + +"The devil's own day!" Weiss groaned. "We are in it now thick, all of +us, you and I, Higgins and Bardsley. Do you know that every minute of +the time Phineas Duge was supposed to be lying on his back, he was +buying on the Chicago market?" + +"I am not surprised," Littleson answered. "It seems to me we ought to be +able to hold our own, though." + +"We may," Weiss answered, "but it's a big thing. Even if we come out +safe, we shall come out losers. Well, did you see the girl?" + +Littleson nodded. + +"I saw her," he answered drily. "I fancy things are not moving our way +particularly just now, Weiss." + +"She has not the paper after all?" Weiss exclaimed. + +"She has had it and parted with it," Littleson answered. + +Weiss removed his unlit cigar from his mouth, and drew a little breath. + +"You d----d fool!" he said. "You bungled things, then?" + +"I scarcely see where the bungling comes in," Littleson answered. "I +offered her a hundred thousand dollars for that paper. She took the tip +and got it somehow. How could I tell that she had another scheme in +her mind?" + +"One hundred thousand dollars!" Weiss muttered. "Better have offered her +a million and made sure of it. We shall have to pay that now, I expect. +Who's got it?" + +"She would not tell me," Littleson answered. + +Weiss felt his forehead. It was wringing wet. He went to the cupboard, +poured out another drink, and lit his cigar. + +"Did she give you any idea?" he asked. + +"None at all!" Littleson answered. "Some one seems to have outbid us. I +only know that it was not Phineas." + +Weiss leaned back in his chair. + +"It just shows," he said under his breath, "what fools the shrewdest of +us can be sometimes. There were you and I, and Higgins and Bardsley, +four men who have held our own, and more than held our own, in the +innermost circle of this thieves' kitchen. And yet, when Phineas Duge +sprung that thing upon us, and we saw the thunderbolt coming, we were +like frightened sheep, glad to do anything he suggested, glad to sign +our names even to that d----d paper. Do you realize, Littleson, that we +may have to leave the country?" + +"If we do," he answered, "we are done for--I am at least. I am in +Canadian Pacifics too deep. If I cannot keep the ball rolling here, I +can never pull through." + +"It all depends," Weiss said, "into whose hands that paper has gone. A +week's grace is all I want, time enough to fight this thing out +with Duge." + +"Has he been near you?" Littleson asked. "Has he offered any +explanation?" + +Weiss shrugged his shoulders. + +"None," he answered. "That little fool of a Leslie, the outside broker, +must have given us away. I was afraid of him from the first. He was +always Duge's man." + +A clerk knocked at the door. He entered, bearing a card. + +"Mr. Norris Vine wishes to see you, sir!" he announced. + +Weiss and Littleson exchanged swift glances. The same thought flashed +into both their minds. Neither spoke for fully a minute. Then Weiss, +with the card crumpled up in his hand, turned to the clerk, and his +voice sounded as though it came from a great distance. + +"Show him in," he said. + +Littleson sank into a chair. His eyes were still fixed upon his +companion's. + +"God in heaven!" he muttered. + + + +CHAPTER XV + + +THE WARNING + +Norris Vine shook hands with neither of the two men he greeted upon +entering the room. Weiss, now that he felt that a crisis of some sort +was at hand, recovered altogether from the nervous excitement of the +last few minutes. He bowed courteously, if a little coldly, to Vine, and +motioning him to a chair, took his own place in the seat before his +desk. His manner was composed, his face was set and stern. Behind his +spectacles his eyes steadfastly watched the countenance of the man whose +coming might mean so much. Littleson, taking his cue, did his best also +to feign indifference. He leaned against a writing-table, close to where +Vine was sitting, and taking out his case, carefully selected and lit a +cigarette. + +"Well, Mr. Vine," Weiss said, "what can we do for you? Are you too going +to join in the hustle for wealth? Have you any commissions for us? You +will forgive me if I ask you to come to the point quickly. Things are +moving about here just now, and we have little time to ourselves. By the +by, you know Littleson, I suppose? Your business with me is not so +private that you object to his remaining?" + +"Certainly not," Vine answered calmly. "As a matter of fact, my business +concerns also Mr. Littleson. In fact, there are two other of your +friends whom I should have been equally glad to have seen here." + +"Indeed!" Weiss answered. "You mean?" + +"Mr. Bardsley and Mr. Seth Higgins," Vine replied. + +"No doubt," Weiss said, "Littleson and I will be able to convey to them +anything you may have to say. Come to the point! What is it? Are you +going to write another of your sledge-hammer articles, damning us all to +hell? Perhaps you have come here for a little information as to our +methods. We will do our best to help you. There are times when we fear +enemies less than friends." + +"I, certainly," Vine remarked, "do not come here as a friend, and yet," +he added, "I am not sure that mine might not be called to some extent a +visit of friendship. I have come here to warn you." + +Weiss reached out his hand for a box of cigars, and biting the end off +one, put it unlit into his mouth. He half offered the box to Vine, who, +however, shook his head. + +"Come," he said, "you are a little enigmatic. There is only one sort of +business we understand here. People come to buy or to sell. Have you +anything to sell?" + +Norris Vine smiled quietly, as though at some thought which was passing +through his brain. He raised his eyes to Weiss', and looked him +steadily in the face. + +"I am in possession," he said, "of something which I think, Mr. Weiss, +you would give half your fortune to buy, but I have not come here to +sell. I have come here to warn you of the instant use to which I propose +to put a certain document, signed by you and Littleson, Bardsley and +Seth Higgins. It seems that you have entered into a conspiracy to remove +from their places in the Government of this country the men who are +pledged to the fight against the Trusts which you control. By chance +that document has come into my hands. I propose to let the people of +America know what sort of men you are, who have become the virtual +governors of the country." + +Stephen Weiss' surprise was exceedingly well simulated. + +"I presume, Mr. Vine," he said, "that you are not here to poke fun at +us. Tell me, if you please, what document it is to which you refer." + +"I think," Vine answered, "that I need not enter into too close details. +It is a document which you and your friends signed at Phineas Duge's +house, not many nights ago." + +Weiss rose to his feet, crossed the office, and turned the key in the +lock of the door. He was a big man, and his face was a little flushed. +Littleson, too, had slid softly from the edge of the table, and was +watching his friend's face as though for a signal. Norris Vine, long, +angular, unathletic, showed not the slightest signs of discomposure. He +was leaning back in his chair, gently twirling by its thin black ribbon +the horn-rimmed eyeglass which he usually wore. + +"Mr. Vine," Weiss said, "whatever attitude we may take up afterwards, +there isn't the slightest need to play a part with you. We did sign that +document, and we have been kicking ourselves ever since for doing so. It +was Phineas Duge's idea, and we are fairly well convinced that he +pressed us for our signatures as subscribers to the fund, simply for the +purpose of having in his possession a document which might, if its +contents were known, cause us some inconvenience. Am I right in assuming +that he deceived us that night, that he himself never signed the paper?" + +"His signature," Norris Vine answered, "certainly does not appear." + +Weiss nodded. + +"Just as I thought," he remarked. "There was every indication a few +weeks ago of what has actually happened, namely a split between us and +Phineas Duge. This document was the weapon with which he had hoped to +obtain the master-hand over us. Now, instead of finding it in his hands, +we find it in yours. What are you going to do about it?" + +"I am going to use it," Vine answered. "I am going to use it to strike a +blow against the abominable system of robbery and corruption which is +ruining the finest of all God's countries." + +"Very well," Weiss said, "I am not going to give away our defence, of +course. We may treat the document as a forgery, concocted by you or by +Phineas Duge, either of whom would have sufficient motives. We may +insist upon it that it was an after-dinner joke. We may contest the +meaning of the text, and swear that we intended to use none but +legitimate methods in this fight. Or, to put the whole matter before +you, we may use such powers as we possess to see that you are put out of +harm's way before you have an opportunity to make use of that paper. You +see we have alternatives. We are not absolutely without hope. Now I ask +you this, as man to man. The value of that document is, after all, a +matter of speculation to you. Put a price on it, and fight us with our +own dollars." + +Norris Vine shook his head gently. + +"I think not," he said. "If you gave me half your fortunes, we should +only come into the field level." + +"We are not small men," Stephen Weiss said slowly. "We represent a great +power, and a power for which we mean to fight. When I talk to you of +money, I mean it. We will raise a million dollars for you before midday +to-morrow, if you leave that paper in our hands." + +"We may shorten this discussion," Norris Vine answered, "by my assuring +you solemnly that neither one nor twenty million dollars would purchase +from me this document. I have spent years, and every scrap of such +ability as I possess, in writing against, and lecturing upon, and +attacking in every way that occurred to me, your abominable methods for +collecting into the hands of a few what should be the comfort and +happiness of the many. I mean the wealth of this country. Not even at +the peril of my life would I part with the most efficient weapon which +has ever yet come into my hands." + +"Then why, Mr. Vine," Littleson asked, bending over from his place, +"have you come here to see us?" + +"I have come," Vine answered, "because against you personally I bear no +malice. I am not well acquainted with the laws of this country, but it +seems to me that the verbatim publication of this paper would mean for +you something more than financial ruin. It would probably mean the +inside of a prison. Personally, I have not the least doubt that every +one of you deserves to see the inside of a prison, but I am not +vindictive. I give you your chance. If a trip to Europe in the _Kaiser +Wilhelm_ to-morrow morning seems to you opportune, you will certainly +escape reading the record of your own folly in the evening papers." + +Weiss threw away his half-chewed cigar, and taking another from the box, +lit it deliberately. + +"Now, Mr. Vine," he said, "you are a young man whose attention has +never been turned to the practical affairs of life. You are a literary +person, and you walk a good deal with your head in the clouds. You +haven't the hard common sense of us business men to be able to determine +exactly what the result in a commonplace world is of any definite +action. I can assure you that no prison in America could ever hold me +and my friends, and that our risk is not in any way so serious as you +imagine. But, leaving out the question of our personal safety or +convenience, I want to put this to you. If you publish the contents of +that document in the evening papers to-morrow, you will produce in +America the greatest and most ruinous financial crisis that the country +has ever known." + +For the first time Vine's cold, immobile face showed some signs of +interest. He abandoned his somewhat negligent attitude, and sat up with +an attentive expression. + +"What do you mean?" he asked. + +Weiss struck the table in front of him with his open hand. + +"Don't you know," he said, "that Bardsley, Littleson, Higgins, Phineas +Duge, and myself, are the blood and the muscle of this country, so far +as regards finance? Every one of the great railroad stocks is controlled +by us. Prices are more or less what we make them. Three of the greatest +industrial undertakings which the world has ever known, in which are +invested hundreds of millions of honest American capital, are still +controlled by us. If you publish that document, whatever the ultimate +results may be, there will be the worst scare in the American +money-market which the world has ever known. London and Paris were never +so ill-prepared to come to the rescue, as a glance at the morning papers +will show you. You will not find a city nor a village in this country, +or a street, I almost was going to say a house, in New York, where there +will not be a ruined man to curse you and your ill-considered action. +The shrinkage in values in a few hours, of good and honest stocks, will +come to twice as much as would pay for the Russo-Japanese war. I doubt +whether this country would ever recover from the shock. That, Mr. Vine, +is precisely what would happen if you adopt the methods of which you +have just warned us." + +Weiss ceased speaking and replaced the cigar in his mouth. Littleson, a +few feet off, felt the perspiration breaking out upon his forehead. His +breath was coming fast. The slow, crushing words of his partner had +worked him into a state of excitement such as he had scarcely believed +himself capable of. And Norris Vine, the imperturbable, was obviously +impressed. Weiss had spoken almost as a man inspired. To treat his words +lightly seemed impossible. + +"You have given me something," Vine said slowly, "to think over. I +should be very sorry, of course, to bring about such a state of things +as you have spoken of. At the same time, I am not, as you say, a +practical man. I cannot follow you in all you say. It seems to me that +if this immense depreciation of funds really took place, especially in +the case of undertakings of solid value, the pendulum would swing back +to its place very soon. Values always assert themselves." + +"And the people who would benefit," Weiss said, leaning forward, "are +the foreigners who stepped in with their gold and bought for themselves +a share in our country at half its value." + +He stopped to answer for a moment an insistent ringing of the telephone +from the outer office. As he laid the receiver down he turned to Vine. + +"Look here," he said, "you doubt my statement. Outside in the office +there is waiting to see me, upon a matter of business, a man who is as +much my enemy as you are. I mean John Drayton, Governor of New York. +Would you call him an honest man?" + +"Absolutely!" Vine answered. + +"Would you consider him a shrewd man?" + +"Certainly," Vine assented. + +"Then look here," Weiss said. "I am going to ask him to come into this +office. I am going to treat this matter as an academic discussion, and +I am going to ask him then what the result would be of such a step as +you propose." + +"Very well," Vine answered. "I pledge myself to nothing, but I should +like to hear John Drayton's opinion." + + + +CHAPTER XVI + + +A TRUCE + +Weiss unlocked and threw open the office door, and a moment later +returned with a tall, grey-headed man, with closely cropped beard and +gold-rimmed eyeglasses. He shook hands with Vine warmly, and nodded to +Littleson. + +"What, you here in the lion's den, Vine?" he remarked, smiling. "Be +careful or they will eat you up." + +Vine smiled. + +"I am not afraid," he said, "especially now that you are here to support +me." + +"Mr. Vine," Weiss said, "shows himself possessed of our natural quality, +audacity. He is here, I frankly believe, to pick up damaging information +against us, for use the next time he issues his thunders. We have been +led into an interesting discussion, and we have a point to refer +to you." + +John Drayton sat down and accepted the cigar which Weiss passed him. + +"Sure," he said, "I'll be very pleased to join in; but you are a rash +man, Weiss, to refer to me, for you know very well my sympathies are +with Mr. Vine here. I hate you millionaires and your Trusts, on +principle of course, although I must admit that some of you are very +good fellows, and smoke thundering good cigars," he added, taking his +from his mouth for a moment and looking at it. + +"I don't care," Weiss answered. "The point I want you to decide +scarcely calls upon your sympathies so much as your judgment. We were +imagining a case in which say half a dozen men, who held the position of +myself and Phineas Duge and Littleson here, I think I might say the +half-dozen most powerful men in America, were suddenly, without a +moment's warning, to lose in the eyes of the whole of the public every +scrap of character and stability, were to be threatened with absolute +ruin, and a term of imprisonment for misdemeanour. What would be the +effect upon this country for the next forty-eight hours or so?" + +John Drayton removed his cigar from his mouth. + +"The one reason," he said impressively, "why I hate your Trusts, why I +loathe to see all the power of this country gathered together in the +hands of a few men such as you have mentioned, is that, in the event of +such a happening as you have put forth, the country would have to face a +crisis that would mean ruin to hundreds of thousands of her innocent +people." Then for the first time during this interview Weiss' full round +lips receded in a smile. His spectacles could not hide the flash of +triumph that leapt out. He turned to Vine. + +"You hear?" he said simply. + +"Yes, I hear!" Norris Vine answered. + +"Of course," John Drayton continued, "I do not know how you drifted into +a conversation such as this, but in my last article in the _North +American Review_, which Mr. Vine here will probably remember, I took the +case of even a single man controlling one of the huge mercantile Trusts +in this country, and tried to show what would happen to the small +investors in a perfectly sound undertaking should a collapse happen to a +holder of shares to this excessive extent. It is a painful thing to have +to confess, but there is no doubt that it exists. We Americans are a +great commercial people, and the dollar fever runs a little too hotly in +our blood. We stretch out our hands too far. Vine, I know, agrees +with me." + +"Yes," Vine answered, "I agree with you!" + +He rose to his feet. John Drayton followed his example. + +"My business is really concluded," he remarked. "I had to see your +manager on behalf of a client of mine. Are you coming my way, Vine? I am +going to the club." + +"I will follow you in a few minutes," Vine answered. + +John Drayton went out, and once more the three men were alone. + +"You see, Mr. Vine," Weiss said slowly, "this isn't the country or the +age for Don Quixotes. Fight against our Trusts and our monetary system +with all your eloquence, if you will, but don't tamper with things you +don't understand, or you may do harm where you meant to do good. Now +what can we say to you about that document?" + +"I am not prepared," Vine said, rising, "to come to any definite +decision at this moment. Frankly, I want to use it so as to do you the +greatest possible amount of harm. On the other hand, I never +contemplated any such developments as you and John Drayton have +suggested. I am going to think this matter over." + +"We are open enemies," Weiss said, "and there is no reason why we should +not respect one another as such. We ask you to abide by the ways of +civilized warfare. Don't strike without a word, at any rate, of warning. +It will be in the interests of others, as well as ourselves." + +"Very well," Vine said. "I promise that." + +He left the office without any further word, without shaking hands with +either of the two men. Weiss sat down in his seat, and Littleson, who +was trembling all over, came to his side. + +"Stephen," he said, "you're a great man. Come right along out of this +and go to Parker's and have a bottle. My nerves are all on the twitch." + +Weiss rose and put on his hat. The two men left the office together, and +climbed into Littleson's automobile. + + * * * * * + +Vine walked thoughtfully down to his club. Amongst the letters which the +hall-porter handed to him was one from Stella. He tore it open and read +it standing there. + +"MY DEAR NORRIS," it began,-- + +"Events have been marching a little too rapidly for me lately, and I am +going away. I cannot stand New York any longer. Fifth Avenue gives me +the horrors, and I am afraid to open an American paper. Besides, there +are other things, to which I need not allude, which make me think that +it would perhaps be better for me to take a journey. You will see from +where I am writing I am on board the _Kaiser Wilhelm_. Where I shall go +to in Europe, or what I shall do, I am not sure. I am not sure either +that it would interest you to know. You are very absorbed in your +profession, and I do not think that the things outside it mean much to +you. I suppose that is the usual fate of us women. We are always willing +to give, and we make no bargains. Don't think that I am reproaching you, +only I have made America an impossible place for me just now. I could +not bear to see that poor little cousin of mine, with her big +reproachful eyes. Nor if you fill your purpose, and the storm comes, do +I care to feel that I am responsible for the trouble which must +surely follow. + +"Good-bye, Norris! I wish you every sort of good fortune, and if I +dared I would say that I wish you a little more heart, a little more +understanding, and a little more gratitude! + +"STELLA." + +He folded the letter up and placed it carefully in his coat pocket. Then +he went off into the reading-room in search of John Drayton. Life did +not seem to him so absolutely simple a thing now, as a few hours ago. + + + + +BOOK II + + + +CHAPTER I + + +MY NAME IS MILDMAY + +"I am quite sure," Virginia protested, a little shyly, "that you will +want it yourself before long." + +The young man laughed pleasantly. + +"I am going to run that risk, anyhow," he said. "Please let me wrap it +round you properly, so." + +He did not wait for her consent, but after all she was scarcely prepared +to withhold it, for it was a very cold morning, and the young man who +had been sitting on the next chair, with an unused rug by his side, was +wearing a particularly heavy fur coat. + +"I think," he said, "that it is quite plucky of you to stay up on deck a +morning like this. I suppose your people are all below?" + +She shook her head. + +"My people," she said, "are a very long way away." + +"Your maid, then," he suggested. "Useless creatures maids, at a time +like this. They are nearly always seasick, especially the first +day out." + +Again she shook her head. + +"I am travelling quite alone," she said. + +He looked at her in astonishment. + +"Alone!" he repeated. "Why, you seem to me much too young. Forgive me, +please," he added, apologetically, "I did not mean to be impertinent. I +suppose you are an American?" + +"I am," she admitted. + +"Ah! that explains everything," he remarked with a little gesture of +relief. "You belong, then, to the most wonderful race on earth, to the +only race who have dared to cross swords with Mrs. Grundy and disarm +her." + +"On the contrary," she declared, "Mrs. Grundy of New York is quite as +formidable as Mrs. Grundy of London, only we don't invoke her quite so +often. Still, I will admit that, strictly speaking, I ought not to be +travelling alone. The circumstances are very exceptional." + +"I hope," he said earnestly, "that you will give me the opportunity of +looking after you some of the time. I am quite alone, too, and I know no +one on board." + +She let her eyes rest for a moment or two upon his face. He was very +fair, young, certainly not more than seven or eight and twenty, and +reasonably good-looking; but apart from these things, he had eyes which +she liked, a voice which was indubitable, and manners which left no +possible room for doubt as to his status. She bowed her head alittle +gravely. + +"You are very kind indeed," she said. "I have never crossed before, and +I am quite sure that if you have the time to spare, you can be ever so +useful to me." + +He smiled reassuringly. + +"That's settled then," he said. "I can assure you that I feel very much +more interested in the voyage already. By the by, my name is Mildmay." + +"And mine," she replied, after a moment's hesitation, "is Virginia +Longworth." + +"Virginia," he repeated with a smile. "I think that is one of the most +delightful of your American names." + +"You are English, aren't you?" she asked. + +He nodded. + +"I," he said, "am returning from my first visit to the States. I have +been to stay with a cousin who has a ranch out West. We had ever such a +good time." + +She looked at his sunburnt skin, and smiled to herself. + +"Did you stay in New York?" she asked. + +"Only two days," he answered. "Somehow or other those big places are +rather terrifying. I had no friends there, and I wandered about as +though I were in a wilderness." + +"What a pity!" she murmured. "Americans are so hospitable. Surely you +could have found some friends if you had wished to!" + +He smiled a little whimsically. + +"Yes!" he said, "I dare say I could, but I hadn't the time to spare to +look them up. Now tell me about your visit to England. Where are you +going to stay? In the country or in London?" + +"I am not sure," she answered, "but I think in London, at first at any +rate." + +"You have relations there, of course?" he asked. + +"None," she answered. + +"Friends, then?" + +She turned her dark eyes upon him. He felt himself suddenly embarrassed. + +"I am awfully sorry," he said. "I've no right to ask you all these +questions. The fact is, I was only trying to make sure that I should be +able to see something of you after we had landed." + +She smiled. + +"I am afraid," she said, "that that will be scarcely possible, but, if +you don't mind, you mustn't ask me any questions about my journey. I +will admit that it is rather a peculiar one, that I have no friends in +England, that I made up my mind to come all of a sudden. My journey has +an object, of course, but I cannot tell you what it is, and you must +not ask me." + +"Of course I will not," he answered, "but I shall talk to you again +about this before we land. I mean to say that you must let me give you +my card, and you will know, at any rate, that there is some one in +England to whom you can send if you are in need of a friend." + +She smiled at him delightfully. + +"And I have always been told," she said, "that Englishmen were so slow! +Why, I have known you scarcely a quarter of an hour." + +"But I have watched you," he answered, "for two days." + +"Well," she declared, "I like impulsive people, so I dare say I'll ask +you for the card before we land. Do you live in London?" + +"I have a house there," he answered. "I am there for about two months in +the year, and odd week-ends during the hunting season." + +"Tell me about London, please," she said. + +"Historically," he began, a little doubtfully. "I am afraid--" + +She interrupted him, shaking her head. "No!" she said, "tell me about +the best restaurants and theatres, and how the people live." "That's a +large order," he answered, "but I'll try." + +They talked for an hour or more; neither, in fact, took an exact account +of the time. Suddenly they looked up to see a dark-faced, +correct-looking servant standing before them. + +"The luncheon gong has gone, your Grace," he said. "Shall I take the +rugs?" + +They made their way into the saloon together. Virginia looked up at him +curiously. + +"You said that your name was Mildmay," she remarked. "What did your +servant mean by calling you 'your Grace'?" + +He laughed. + +"Oh! I haven't had the fellow very long," he said, "and he came straight +to me from some Italian duke, or nobleman of some sort. I suppose he +hasn't got out of the habit yet. I wonder whether I can arrange to come +and sit at your table. The purser seems rather a decent fellow." + +"I haven't been in the saloon at all yet," Virginia said, "but it would +be very nice if you could sit somewhere near me." + +Mr. Mildmay found it an easy matter to arrange. His seat at the +captain's table was exchanged for one at the purser's, and the two were +side by side. Then Virginia, looking around, received a little shock. +She heard her name spoken across the table, and, looking up, found that +she was exactly opposite Mr. Littleson. + +"How do you do, Miss Longworth?" he said. "I had no idea that we were to +be fellow passengers." + +She was almost too surprised to answer him coherently, but she faltered +out something about an unexpected journey. Afterwards, on the way to her +stateroom, she overtook him near one of the companion-ways, and laid her +hand upon his arm. + +"Mr. Littleson," she said, "would you do me a favour?" + +"Why, I should say so," he answered. "Nothing I'd like better." + +"Don't tell anybody anything about me," she begged, "I mean about my +uncle, or anything of that sort at all. I am going over to England on a +very foolish errand, I think, and I wish to keep it to myself." + +Littleson became a trifle grave. He was not a bad sort of a fellow, and +Virginia seemed little more than a charming child as she stood in the +passage, looking up at him with appealing eyes and slightly parted lips. + +"Do you mean," he asked, "that you have run away from your uncle?" + +"Not exactly that," she answered. "My uncle was quite willing to have me +leave him, but he does not know exactly where I am, nor do my people. +Will you keep my secret, please?" + +"Certainly!" he answered. + +"From every one on board, as well as from your letters if you write from +Queenstown?" + +"Well, I'll try to do as you say," he answered, "but I should like to +have a talk with you before we land." + +He went to his stateroom a little thoughtfully. It had not yet occurred +to him that Virginia's errand to London and his might possibly have +something in common. + + + +CHAPTER II + + +REFLECTIONS + +Littleson, before many hours of their voyage had passed, became +conscious that Virginia was showing a slight but unmistakable desire to +avoid his society. Being a Harvard graduate, something of an athlete, +and a young man of fashion and popularity, he did not for a moment +entertain the idea that there could be anything personal in her feeling. +He came to the conclusion, therefore, that she had either discovered his +connection with Stella's behaviour, or that the object of her visit to +Europe was one that she desired to conceal from him. On the afternoon of +the day when he had received his first but distinct snub, he made a +point of drawing his chair over to hers. + +"I am not going to bother you very much, Miss Longworth," he said, "but +I feel that I must ask you a question. I don't want you to break any +confidences, and I haven't much to tell you myself, but I should like to +know whether your visit to England has anything to do with what happened +one night in the library of your uncle's house?" + +"So you know about that then, do you?" she asked quietly. + +"I do," he answered. "I know that a paper was stolen by your cousin, and +handed over to a person whom we will not name, but who is now in Europe. +I will tell you this much--I am going across so as to keep in touch with +that person. It seems odd that you, who are involved in the same +affair, should be going over by the same steamer." + +"The object of my journey," Virginia said, looking out seaward, +"concerns nobody but myself." + +The young man nodded. + +"I expected that you would say that," he remarked coolly. "Still, our +meeting like this induced me to ask you the question. If I can be of any +service to you in London, I hope you will not fail to let me know. Your +uncle would never forgive me if I did not do everything I could in the +way of looking after you." + +Virginia smiled a little bitterly. + +"My uncle," she said, "is not likely to trouble his head about me. He +has dispensed with my services for the future. When I go home, I am +going back to my own people." + +Littleson was genuinely sorry. To a certain extent he felt that this was +his fault. + +"That's just like Phineas," he said. "Hard as nails, and without a +dime's worth of consideration. I don't see how you could help what +happened. You gave nothing up voluntarily. You told nobody anything." + +"My uncle," Virginia said, "judges only by results. After all, it is the +only infallible way. I am going to read a little now. Do you mind? +Talking makes my head ache." + +He bowed and went his way. For an hour or more he paced up and down on +the other side of the deck, thinking. It was, of course, impossible that +this child should have come across with the hope of wresting from Norris +Vine the paper which all their offers and eloquence had failed to entice +him to give up. And yet he did not understand her journey. He knew very +well that Phineas Duge had neither connections nor relatives in England. +Only a few weeks ago, in talking to Virginia at dinner-time, she had +told him that she had no hope, at present at any rate, of visiting +Europe. Later in the day he sent a marconigram back to New York. Perhaps +Weiss would see something suggestive in the presence of this child upon +the steamer! + + * * * * * + +"So you have found one friend on board," Mildmay remarked, pausing +before her chair. + +"He is not a friend," she answered, "and I do not like him. That is why +I told him that it made my head ache to talk." + +"Then I suppose--" he began. + +"You are to suppose nothing, but to sit down," she said. "Talk to me +about London, please, or anything, or any place. I am a little tired +to-day. I suppose I should say really a little depressed. I cannot read, +and I don't like my thoughts." + +"You are such a child," he said softly, "to talk like that." + +"I am nineteen," she answered, "and sometimes I feel thirty-nine." + +"Nineteen!" he repeated, "and coming across to a strange country all by +yourself. The American spirit is a wonderful thing." + +She shook her head. + +"It isn't the American spirit," she said simply. "It is necessity. I +think that any girl, English or American, would prefer having some one +to take care of her, to going about alone." + +"You make one feel inclined--" he began, bending forward and looking +into her eyes. + +"After all," she interrupted, "I think I had better read." + +"Please don't!" he begged, "I promise to talk most seriously. It is not +my fault if I forgot for a moment. You looked at me, you know, and we +are not used to eyes like that in England." + +"You are either very silly," she said, "or very impertinent. I think +that I shall send you away." + +"There is no one else," he said, looking around, "to entertain you, and +I am really going to try very hard to." + +"Then please reach me up those chocolates and begin," she said. "Tell me +about where you live in the country." + +Mildmay, who had seven houses in different parts of the United Kingdom, +was a little at a loss, but he talked to her about one, in which, by the +by, he never lived, a gaunt grey stone building on the Northumbrian +coast, whose windows were splashed with the spray of the North Sea, but +whose gardens were famous throughout the north of England. He very soon +succeeded in interesting her. She felt something absurdly restful in the +sound of his strong, good-natured voice, with its slightly protective +intonation. They sat there until the luncheon gong rang, and then they +rose and walked for a time together. The sun had come out, and the grey +sea was changing into blue. The decks were dry. The syren had ceased to +blow. The motion of the ship had become soothing, and the spray, which +leaped now into the air, sparkled in the sunlight like diamond drops. + +"What a change!" she murmured, looking around. + +"Wonderful, isn't it?" he assented. "And what a gloriously salt breeze!" + +"I declare," she said, "I am positively hungry! I believe, after all, +that I am going to enjoy this voyage." + +After luncheon she hesitated for a moment, and then with a little sigh +turned into her stateroom. She sat down upon her bunk, and leaning her +elbow on the round space, gazed thoughtfully out of the open port-hole. +Had she been foolish to forget for a little while, and was she in danger +of being more foolish still! Her thoughts travelled back to the little +farmhouse so far removed from civilization. She thought of the altered +life they were all living there, her father freed from care, her +brother at college, her mother with that anxious light banished from her +eyes, no more having to scheme day by day how to pay the tradesmen's +slender bills which so quickly became formidable. To think that the old +days might return was a nightmare to her. She felt that she would do +anything, dare anything, to win her way back to her old position with +her uncle. Only a few words had passed between them at parting. She had +asked him to let her people know nothing, to let them believe that she +had gone on a journey for him. + +"Let them have a few more months!" she begged. "Then if I succeed in +what I am going to try, it will be all right. If I fail, well, they will +have been happy for a little longer." + +He had spoken no word of hope to her. He had made no promises. All that +he had said had been curt and to the point. + +"What you lost it is open for you to find. If it is found, it will be as +though it were not lost." + +But what a wild-goose chase it seemed! How could she hope for success! +Even Stella would laugh at her; and Vine,--she had seen him only once, +but she could imagine the smile with which he would greet any entreaties +she could frame. She shook her head at her own thoughts. Entreaties! She +would have to choose other weapons than these. By force and cunning she +had been robbed; her only chance of effective reply would be to use the +same means, only to use them more surely. Meanwhile she told herself +that she must keep away from these distractions. After all, she was only +a child, and she had had so little kindness from any one. Her head sank +a little lower, and her hands went up before her eyes. What an idiot she +was, after all! Then she locked the door, and cried herself to sleep. + + + +CHAPTER III + + +"WILL YOU MARRY ME?" + +"This time," he said firmly, "you cannot escape me. Will you sit down in +your chair, or shall we talk here?" + +She glanced up at him, and the words which she had prepared died away +on her lips. She led the way quite meekly to where their chairs remained +side by side. + +"We will sit down if you like, for a short time," she said, hesitatingly. +"I cannot stay long. I still have a good deal of packing to do." + +He did not answer until he had arranged her rug and made her comfortable. +It was the last few hours of their voyage. Facing them they could see in +the distance the lights of Wales. Next morning would see them in dock. + +"I will not keep you very long," he said, drawing his chair quite close +to hers, so that they could not be overheard, "but I insist upon knowing +why for the last twenty-four hours you have done nothing but avoid me? I +have not offended you in any way, have I?" + +"No!" she answered, looking steadily away at the lights, "you know that +you have not." + +"On the contrary," he continued, "I have done what little I could to +make the voyage more endurable to you. Of course I know the pleasure of +your society more than compensated me for any little services I have +been able to render, but still I have done nothing to deserve this +altered treatment from you, and I am determined to know what it means." + +"You are exaggerating trifles," she said coldly. "I have felt nervous +and depressed all day, and I did not care to talk to any one. I have not +avoided you more than anybody else." + +"That," he answered, "is not true." + +She turned slowly round till he could see her face, still and pale and +cold, almost, it seemed to him, luminously white in the heavy darkness +of the moonless hour. + +"You can contradict me if you choose," she said, "but you can scarcely +expect me to sit here and listen to you." + +He leaned a little closer, and she suddenly felt her hand clasped in +his. + +"Virginia," he said,--"yes, I mean it--Virginia, don't be unkind to me, +our last night. You know very well that it hurts me to have you speak +and look at me so. Besides, we are going to be friends; you promised me +that, you know." + +"If I did," she answered, "it was very foolish. Friends means the giving +and taking of confidences, and I have none to give. I am going to do +strange things, and in an odd way, and I have no explanations to offer. +If I had friends, they would think that I had taken leave of my senses, +and they would want me to explain. That is just what I cannot do. That +is why I am sure it would be better if you would let me alone." + +"I shall not do that," he answered firmly. "I am not a morbidly curious +person, nor do I want to pry into your affairs, but I cannot help +feeling that you are in some sort of trouble, and that it would be good +for you, in a strange country, to have some one on whose help you could +rely in case of need." + +"You mean well, I know," she answered, "but you are asking +impossibilities. If you should happen to come across me over here, you +will understand what I mean. I am going to do things which very likely +you would be ashamed to think that any friend of yours would do." + +He turned upon her a little angrily. + +"Child," he said, "if I weren't so fond of you I think you would make me +lose my temper. How old are you?" + +"Nineteen," she answered, "but it isn't any business of yours." + +"No business of mine!" he repeated. "Heavens! Isn't it the business of +any man to look after a child like you? Nineteen years old, indeed, and +most of them spent in a farmhouse! How do you know that these things +which you talk about doing are right or necessary? Don't you see you are +not old enough to be a judge of the serious things of life? You want +some one to take care of you, Virginia. Will you marry me?" + +"Will I what?" she gasped. + +"Wasn't I explicit enough?" he asked. "I said marry me." + +She would have risen from her chair, but he calmly took her arm and drew +her down again. + +"I will not stay here," she declared, "and hear you talk such rubbish." + +"It is not rubbish," he answered, "but I will admit that I should not +have said anything about it yet, if it had not been for your vague +threats of what you were going to do. Virginia," he added, dropping his +voice almost to a whisper, "you know that I am fond of you. I have been +fond of you ever since I first saw you here." + +"Six days ago," she murmured drearily. + +"Six days or six weeks, it's all the same," he declared. "I wasn't going +to say anything just yet, but I can't bear the thought of leaving you at +Liverpool, in a strange country, and without any friends. Be sensible, +dear, and tell me all about it later on. First of all, I want my answer." + +"Is that necessary?" she replied quietly. "Even in America, we don't +promise to marry people whom we have known but six days." + +"Wait until you have known me longer, then," he answered, "but give me +at least the chance of knowing you." + +"You are a very foolish person," she said, a little more kindly. "You do +not know who I am, or anything about me. Some day or other you will be +very glad that I did not take advantage of your kindness." + +"You think that I ask you this," he said, "because I am sorry for you?" + +"I don't want to think about it at all," she answered, rising. "I am not +going to sit here any longer. We will walk a while, if you like." + +They paced together up and down the deck. She asked him questions about +the lights, the landing at Liverpool, the train service to London, and +she kept always very near to one of the other promenading couples. At +last she stopped before the companion-way, and held out her hand. + +"This must be our good night," she said, "and good-bye if I do not see +anything of you in the morning. I suppose it will be a terrible crush +getting on shore." + +"It will not be good-bye," he said, "because however great the rush is I +shall see you in the morning. As for the rest, you have been very unkind +to me to-night, but I can wait. London is not a large place. I dare say +we shall meet again." + +The look in her eyes puzzled him no less than her words. + +"Oh! I hope not," she said fervently. "I don't want to meet any one in +London except one person. Good night, Mr. Mildmay!" + +He turned away, and almost ran into the arms of Littleson, who had been +watching them curiously. + +"Come and have a drink," the latter said. + +The two men made their way to the smoking room. Littleson lit a +cigarette as he sipped his whisky and soda. + +"Charming young lady, Miss Longworth," he remarked nonchalantly. + +Mildmay agreed, but his acquiescence was stiff, and a little abrupt. He +would have changed the subject, but Littleson was curious. + +"Can't understand," he said, "what she's doing crossing over here alone. +I saw her the first day out. She came and asked me, in fact, to forget +that I had ever seen her before. Queer thing, very!" + +Mildmay deliberately set down his glass. + +"Do you mind," he said, "if we don't discuss it? I fancy that Miss +Longworth has her own reasons for wishing not to be talked about, and in +any case a smoking-room is scarcely the proper place to discuss her. I +think I will go to bed, if you don't mind." + +Littleson shrugged his shoulders as the Englishman disappeared. + +"Touchy lot, these Britishers," he remarked. + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +THE AMERICAN AMBASSADOR + +Conversation had begun to languish between the two men. Vine had +answered all his host's inquiries about old friends and acquaintances on +the other side, inquiries at first eager, then more spasmodic, until at +last they were interspersed with brief periods of silence. And all the +time Vine had said nothing as to the real object of his visit. Obviously +he had come with something to say; almost as obviously he seemed to find +a certain difficulty in approaching the subject. It was his host, after +all, who paved the way. + +"Tell me, Vine," he said, knocking the ash from his cigar, and leaning a +little forward in his chair, "what has brought you to London just now. +It was only a fortnight ago that I heard you were up to your neck in +work, and had no hopes of leaving New York before the autumn." + +Vine nodded. + +"I thought so then," he said quietly. "The fact is, something has +happened which brought me over here with one object, and one object +only--to ask your advice." + +The elder man nodded, and if he felt any surprise, successfully +concealed it. Even then Vine still hesitated. + +"It's a difficult matter," he said, "and a very important one. I have +thought it out myself from every point of view, and I came to the +conclusion that it would be better for me to come over to Europe for a +week or two, and change my environment completely. Besides, I believe +that you are the one man whom I can rely upon to give me sound and +practical advice." + +"It does not concern," the other asked, "my diplomatic position in any +way?" + +"Not in the least," Vine answered. "You see it is something like this. +You know that since I became editor and part proprietor of the _Post_ I +have tried to take up a strong position with regard to our modern +commercial methods." + +"You mean," his host interrupted, "that you have taken sides against the +Trusts?" + +"Exactly!" Vine answered. "Of course, from a money-making point of view +I know that it was a mistake. The paper scarcely pays its way now, and I +seem to find enemies wherever I turn, and in whatever way I seek to +develop it as a proprietor. However, we have held our own so far, +although I don't mind telling you that we have been hard pushed. Well, a +few days before I left New York there came into my hands, I won't say +how, a most extraordinary document. Of course, you know within the last +few months the Trusts have provoked an enmity far greater and more +dangerous than mine." + +His host nodded. + +"I should say so," he answered. "I am told that you are going to see +very exciting times over there." + +"The first step," Vine continued, "has already been taken. There is a +bill coming before the Senate very shortly, which, if it is passed into +law, will strike at the very foundation of all these great corporations. +Five of the men most likely to be affected met together one night, and +four of them signed a document, guaranteeing a fund of one million +dollars for the purpose of bribing certain members of the Senate, who +had already been approached, and whose names are also upon the document. +You must not ask me how or in what manner, but that document has come +into my possession." + +Vine's companion looked at him in astonishment. + +"Are you sure of your facts, Vine?" he asked. "Are you sure that the +thing is not a forgery?" + +"Absolutely certain!" Vine answered. + +"Then you know, of course," his host continued, "that you hold all these +men in the hollow of your hand." + +"Yes, I know it," Vine answered, "and so do they! They have offered me a +million dollars already for the document, but I have declined to sell. +While I considered what to do, I thought it better, for more reasons +than one, that I did not remain in New York." + +"I should say so," the other remarked softly. "This is a big thing, +Vine. I could have scarcely realized it." + +He rose to his feet, and took a few quick steps backwards and forwards. +The two men were sitting in wicker chairs on a small flat space on the +roof of the American Embassy in Ormonde Square. Vine's host, tall, with +shrewd, kindly face, the stoop of a student, and the short uneven +footsteps of a near-sighted man, was the ambassador himself. He had been +more famous, perhaps, in his younger days, as Philip Deane, the man of +letters, than as a diplomatist. His appointment to London had so far +been a complete success. He had shown himself possessed of shrewd and +far-reaching common sense, for which few save those who had known him +well, like Norris Vine, had given him credit. He stood now with his back +to Vine, looking down across the Square below, glittering with lights +aflame with the busy night life of the great city. The jingle of hansom +bells, and the distant roar of traffic down one of the great +thoroughfares, was never out of their ears; but in this place, cut off +from the house by the trap-door through which they had climbed, it was +cooler by far than the smoking-room, which they had deserted half an +hour before. + +For some reason Deane seemed to wish to let the subject rest for a +moment. He stood close to the little parapet, looking towards the +horizon, watching the dull glare of lights, whose concentrated +reflection was thrown upon a bank of heavy clouds. + +"You have not told me, Norris," he remarked, "what you think of my +attempted roof-garden." + +"It is cool, at any rate," Norris Vine answered. "I wonder why one +always feels the heat more in London than anywhere else in the world." + +"It is because they have been so unaccustomed to it over here that they +have made no preparations to cope with it," Deane answered. "Then think +of the size of the place! What miles of pavements, and wildernesses of +slate roofs, to attract the sun and keep out the fresh air. Vine, who +are these men?" he asked, turning towards him abruptly. + +Norris Vine smiled. + +"Don't you think," he said, "that you can give me your advice better if +you do not know? I can tell you this, at any rate. They are men who +deserve whatever may happen to them. They are not of your world, my +friend. They are the men who have sucked the life-blood out of many and +many a prosperous town-village in our country. Don't think that I +hesitate for one moment for their sakes. I tell you frankly that my +first idea was to give the whole thing away in the _Post_." + +"It would have been," Deane remarked, with a faint smile, "the biggest +journalistic scoop of the century." + +Vine nodded. + +"Well," he said, "I should have done it but for one man's advice. It +was John Drayton who showed me what the other side of the thing might +be. He pointed out that the innocent would suffer for the guilty, in +fact hundreds, perhaps thousands, of the innocent, would be ruined that +these few men might be punished. It was his belief that the publication +of this document, and the arrest of the men concerned in it, would cause +the worst panic that had ever been known in America. That is why I +stayed my hand and came over here to consult you." + +The ambassador sighed, as he resumed his seat and lit another cigar. + +"Drayton was right," he remarked softly. "He is a man of common sense, +and yet we must remember that great reforms are never instituted without +sacrifices. Could the country stand such a sacrifice as this? It is not +a matter to be decided in a moment." + +"There is no need for haste," Vine answered. "I have the document with +me, and I do not mean to do anything in a hurry. Think it all over, +Deane, and tell me when I may come and see you again." + +"Whenever you will," the ambassador answered, heartily. "You know very +well that I am always glad to see you. By the by, do you carry this +document about with you?" + +Vine shook his head. + +"No!" he answered drily. "I have too much regard for my personal +safety. The men whose names are there are fairly desperate, and they +would not stick at a trifle to get rid of me." + +"You are very wise," Deane answered. "I should take care even over here. +I have heard of strange things happening in London. Oh, that reminds me. +A young lady was here only two days ago, asking for your address." + +"Did she leave her name?" Vine asked, with a faint curiosity. + +"I think not," the ambassador answered. "Wolfe saw her, and I asked him +the question particularly." + +"I cannot imagine whom she could have been," Vine said, thoughtfully. "I +have not many acquaintances over here." + +"Another man who was asking after you," Deane remarked, "was Littleson. +He was dining here last night." + +Vine smiled. + +"I can imagine," he said, "his being curious as to my whereabouts. I +have taken rooms where I don't think any one is likely to find me out +except by accident." + +Deane rose. + +"I think," he said, "we had better go downstairs. The ladies will be +wondering what has become of us. My wife is expecting a young woman in +this evening whom I think you know--Stella Duge." + +Vine started slightly. + +"Yes," he said, "I have met Miss Duge often in New York." + + + +CHAPTER V + + +A QUESTION OF COURAGE + +Stella turned towards him with a slight frown upon her forehead. + +"Do you mean, Norris, then, that after all you will not use your power +over these men, that you will let them go free?" + +"Not if I can help it," he answered, "but there are many things to be +considered. I shall be guided largely by what Deane advises." + +"It is absurd," she declared. "You have wanted money all your life, +money and power. You have both now in your grasp. If you do not use +them, I shall think--" + +She hesitated. He shrugged his shoulders slightly. + +"Go on!" he said. + +"I shall think that you are a coward," she said quietly. "I shall think +that you are afraid to use what I risked--well, a great deal--to win +for you." + +"It isn't a question of courage," he protested. + +"It is," she answered. "You are afraid to do what in your heart you must +know is the right thing, because for a year or two, perhaps even a +decade of years, it will mean a great upheaval. The end must be good. I +am sure of it." + +"If Deane and I," he answered, "can also convince ourselves of this, I +shall act. You need not be afraid of that." + +"Deane and you!" she repeated, contemptuously. "Who am I, then, in your +counsels? Just a puppet, I suppose? Anyhow, it was I who ran the risk, I +who gave these men into your hands. If you play the poltroon, +everything is over between us, Norris." + +He raised his eyes and looked at her in half-unwilling admiration. She +and their hostess had come out on to the roof, just as the two men had +been in the act of descending. A telephone call a few moments later had +summoned Deane away, and his wife, who found the air a little chilly, +had accompanied him. Stella was standing with her head thrown back, her +figure tall and splendid in her evening gown of white satin, thrown into +vivid relief against the background of empty air. She was angry, and the +pose suited her. The slight hardness of her expression was lost in the +dim blue twilight which still waited for the moon. Vine, an unemotional +man, felt with a curious strength the charm of this isolation on the +housetop, this tranquillity, so much more suggestive of solitude than +anything which could be realized within the walls of a room. He shivered +a little when he saw how close she was to the low parapet, and he held +out his hand. She took it at once, and her face softened. + +"Dear Norris," she said, "forgive me if I am disagreeable, but think +what I went through to get that paper. Think how I have hoped that it +might mean everything to you, perhaps to us." + +She faltered, and it was in his mind then to speak the words which she +had waited so long to hear from him, and yet he hesitated. He was a man +who loved his freedom, not perhaps in the ordinary sense of the word, +but he had still an almost passionate objection to lessening in any +degree his individual hold upon life, to giving any one else a permanent +right to share its struggles and its ambitions. He owed it to her, he +was very sure of that, and yet he hesitated. She bent towards him. +Perhaps she too felt that the moment was one not likely to be let go. + +"Norris," she said, "don't listen to Deane or any of them. Strike your +blow. Your paper will become famous. Trust to that for your reward if +you will. If not a child, you could use your knowledge of what will +happen on the morning of its appearance to make a fortune. Do you know I +have grown to hate those men? If my father goes too, I do not care. I +owe him very little, and I have had enough of luxury. There is more to +be got out of a cottage in Italy or Switzerland, or even in England +here, than a mansion in our country. I wish I could convert you." + +He shrugged his shoulders. + +"It is different with us," he said. "A man must be where life is. I do +not think that I could ever be content with idleness." + +"And yet when it comes," she reminded him, "you love it. Who was it who +spent a year in some little village near the Carpathians, and had almost +to be dragged back to civilization? Norris, sometimes I think that you +are a _poseur_." + +He looked down into the street. A carriage had driven +up, and was waiting at the door below. + +"We must go down," he said. "Mrs. Deane said ten minutes, and they are +more than up. You see the carriage is waiting there to take you to +the Opera." + +She turned away reluctantly. + +"Come with us," she begged, "or give us some supper afterwards. Mrs. +Deane would like that." + +"I'll meet you afterwards," he said. "I am not in the mood for music +to-night." + +"Very well," she answered. "If Mrs. Deane doesn't care about supper you +can drive me home. Our talks always seem to be interrupted, and there is +so much I want to say to you." + +In the lobby of Covent Garden he met Littleson, who had paused to light +a cigarette on his way out. He stepped forward and addressed +Vine eagerly. + +"I was trying to find you only this afternoon," he said. "Can you come +around to the club with me now, and have a talk?" + +"Sorry," Vine answered. "I am here to meet some friends who will be out +directly." + +"Will you lunch with me to-morrow?" Littleson asked. + +"No!" Vine answered. "To tell you the truth, nothing would induce me to +accept any hospitality at your hands." + +"You have made up your mind, then?" Littleson asked slowly. + +"Never mind about that," Vine answered. "I have said all that I have to +say to you and your friends." + +Littleson laid his hand for a moment upon the other's shoulder. + +"Look here, Vine," he said, "you're what I call a crank of the first +order, but you are not a bad chap, and I'd hate to see you make the +mistake of your life. Weiss and the others are not the sort of men to +take an attack such as you threaten, sitting down. You take my advice +and leave it alone. Come round to my rooms, and we'll make a bargain of +it. I can promise you that you'll never need to go back to America to +make dollars." + +"Life isn't all a matter of dollars," Vine answered contemptuously. +"There are other things worth thinking about. If I strike at you and +your friends, it is not for the money or the notoriety I could make out +of it. It is because I want to attack a villainous system, because I +consider that you and Weiss and the rest of you are really doing your +best to throttle the greatest country on God's earth." + +"Well," Littleson said, "I have warned you. You are a crank, and a +foolish one at that. You are going about asking for trouble, and I think +you will find it. If you change your mind, come to me at Claridge's." + +He walked away, and Vine turned to greet Mrs. Deane and Stella, who +were just coming out. Stella, whose eyes were still bright with the +excitement of the music, laid her hand for a moment softly in his. + +"Where are you taking us for supper?" she answered. + +"To the Carlton, or anywhere you choose," he answered. "Let me find the +carriage first." + +Mrs. Deane held up her finger, and a tall footman, touching his hat, +hurried away. + +"James has seen us," she said. "The carriage will be here in a moment. I +am going to speak to Lady Engelton. Will you look after Stella for a +moment, Mr. Vine?" + +She turned away to speak to a little group of people who were standing +in one of the entrances. Stella and Vine stepped outside to escape the +crush, and Stella suddenly seized his arm. + +"Look in that hansom," she said, pointing out to the street. + +Vine's eyes followed her finger. He recognized Littleson, and with him a +man in morning clothes and low hat, a man whose face seemed familiar to +him, but whom he failed to recognize. + +"I think," she said, drawing a little closer to him, "that you must not +hesitate any longer, if ever you mean to strike that blow. You saw Peter +Littleson." + +"Yes!" he answered, "I have been talking to him." + +"Do you know who that was with him?" + +Vine shook his head. + +"I can't remember," he said. + +"That is Dan Prince," she whispered. "You know who he is. They call him +the most dangerous criminal unhanged. I should like to know what +Littleson wants with him." + +Vine smiled a little grimly, as he stepped forward to help Mrs. Deane +into the carriage. + +"I think," he murmured, "I can guess." + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +MR. MILDMAY AGAIN + +It was her third day in London, and Virginia was discouraged. Neither at +the Embassy nor at his club had she been able to obtain any tidings of +the man of whom she was in search. There remained only a list of places +given her in New York by his servant, where he was likely to be met. She +went through them conscientiously, but without the slightest success. +Gradually she began to realize the difficulty, perhaps the hopelessness, +of her task. To find the man in London with such scanty information as +she possessed was difficult enough, and there remained the question, as +yet unanswered in her thoughts, as to what she would say or do if chance +ever should bring them face to face. + +Her experiences in those days became almost a nightmare to her. Dressed +always in her quietest clothes, and with her natural reserve of manner +intensified by the circumstances in which she found herself, she was yet +more than once supremely uncomfortable. She became used to the doubtful +looks of the waiters to whom she presented herself and asked for a table +alone, at the different restaurants on her list. She found herself often +at such times the only unescorted woman in the place, and the cynosure +of a good many curious glances. Even when there were other women, they +were of a class which she instinctively recognized, and from whom she +shrank. But of actual adventures she had few. Apart from the fact of her +appearing alone, there was nothing in her manner to invite attention. + +There came a day, however, when she found herself suddenly plunged into +the midst of more exciting events. She was sitting one afternoon in a +café in Regent Street, at a table near the door, whence she could watch +every one who came and went. Exactly behind her were two men, both +strangers to her, who had been talking in low tones ever since her +entrance. Her attention had been in no way attracted to them, and it was +only by chance that she suddenly caught the name of Norris Vine. + +Her heart gave a little beat. It was only by a strong exercise of will +that she forbore to turn round. She pushed her chair a little further +backwards, saying something to the waiter about a draught, and taking up +a French newspaper which some one had left behind, she listened +intently. All that she could remember of the men was that one was small, +clean-shaven, very neatly dressed, and having rather the appearance of +an American; and that the other was a larger and more florid man, with +red face and burly shoulders. It was apparently the former who +was speaking. + +"It is a matter of five thousand pounds," she heard him say, "that is to +say, two thousand five hundred pounds each, and it can be done without +risk. The man is little known here, and has few friends. He has rooms in +a flat to which there is plenty of access, two lifts on each floor and +separate exits, and he lives quite alone." + +"Two thousand five hundred pounds!" the other man uttered. "It sounds +well, but--" + +Then his voice dropped, and she could hear nothing else for a minute or +two. She called a waiter and ordered something, she scarcely knew what. +The voices behind had sunk lower and lower. She could hear nothing at +all now, but she gathered that the smaller man was pressing some +enterprise upon the other, and that his companion, although inclined to +accept, found difficulties. She waited for a little time, and presently +she began again to catch odd scraps of the conversation. + +"Of course," she heard the smaller man say, "if we had him in New York +the thing would be absolutely easy. It is probably because he knows +that, that he came over here." + +"He knows he is in danger, then?" the other voice asked. + +"He knows that he carries his life in his hand," was the answer. "He +must know that he has done so since a few days before he sailed for +Europe. He is being watched the whole of the time, and from what I have +seen, I should say his nerves were beginning to give way a little under +the strain." + +The other man muttered something which she could not hear. + +"It is not your concern or mine," his companion answered. "He has chosen +to court the enmity of some of the most powerful men in America, and it +is his own fault if he suffers for it. He has been playing a pretty big +game, but he doesn't hold quite all the cards." + +There were more questions and answers, all unintelligible. She pushed +her chair a little farther back, still apparently without awakening +their suspicions, and then at last she heard something more definite. + +"No. 57, Coniston Mansions. It is absolutely easy to get in. Nearly +every one in the flats is connected with the stage, and they are almost +deserted between half-past seven and eleven. To-night we know his +movements exactly. He will dine at his club, and return some time before +eleven to change, as he is going to a reception at the American Embassy." + +"To-night is too soon," she heard the other man say. "I must have time +to look about the place. I want to understand exactly where the risks +are, and the easiest way to leave without being noticed. There are a lot +of small things like that to be considered, if the matter is to be done +artistically." + +"Every day's delay is dangerous," the smaller man said, doubtfully. +"Look here, Dick. It's a lot of money, and the offer may be withdrawn at +any moment." + +It occurred to Virginia suddenly that if these men were to see her face, +she might be recognized. She could see that they were on the point of +leaving, and their conversation was obviously at an end. She called for +a waiter, paid her bill, and went out. + +She walked slowly down Regent Street, and turning up Shaftesbury Avenue, +made her way on foot to the boarding house near the British Museum where +she was living. She went straight up to her room and sat down to think. +She had decided that these men were probably employed by Littleson, and +that they were going to make an attempt, that night apparently, upon the +life of Norris Vine. In any case her first impulse would have been to +warn him, but she had also personal reasons for doing so. If this paper +which Vine held was recovered by some one else, her own mission would be +a failure. In the hands of Littleson and his friends, it would without a +doubt be promptly destroyed, and nothing would be left for her to do but +to go back to America and own her defeat. She decided that Norris Vine +must be warned. At first she thought of writing or telegraphing. Then +she remembered that it was already past six, and that Vine was not +expected to return to his rooms until after dinner. He would probably, +therefore, receive neither telegram nor letter before he had walked into +the trap. There was only one thing left for her to do. If these men +could obtain ingress to Vine's rooms, so could she. She must be there +first and warn him. + +She changed her clothes, and after a few minutes' hesitation, set out +to dine at one of the restaurants which she had on her list. It was a +smart and somewhat Bohemian place, but even here women dining alone were +subjected to a good deal of remark, and her cheeks grew hot as she +remembered her first visit there, and the whispered discussion between +the waiters as to whether she should be given a table. She had become a +fairly regular customer there now, though, and to-night she was given a +table near the wall, an excellent vantage ground for her, but exactly +opposite three men, who had apparently been drinking heavily, and whose +whole attention, from the moment of her entrance, seemed fixed upon her. +She ordered her dinner, steadfastly ignoring them, and sat as usual with +her eyes fixed upon the door, but her indifference was not sufficient to +chill the ardour of the younger of the three men. She saw him call a +waiter and write something on the back of a card, and immediately +afterwards the waiter, with some hesitation, and a half-expressed +apology, presented it to her. She tore it in pieces, and went on with +her dinner without a word. Then a voice at her elbow startled her. + +"Miss Longworth," it said, "won't you allow me to sit at your table? I +will promise not to intrude in any way, and you may possibly be saved +from such impertinences as that." + +He pointed to the waiter, retiring discomfited, and Virginia, with a +little murmur of delight, recognized Mr. Mildmay standing before her. + +"Mr. Mildmay!" she exclaimed, holding out her hand. "Why, how glad I am +to see you again!" + +"And I you, Miss Longworth," he answered heartily, "but to be frank with +you, I would rather have met you somewhere else." + +The colour which had suddenly streamed into her cheeks faded away, and +she sighed. Tall, and very immaculate in the neat simplicity of his +severe evening dress, he seemed to her a more formidable person than +ever he had done on the steamer. The disapproval, too, which he felt, he +could scarcely help showing in some measure in his face. + +"Perhaps," she said, "I ought not to have asked you to do anything so +compromising as to sit with me. Please don't hesitate to say so if you +would rather not." + +He seated himself by her side and drew the carte toward him. + +"Have you ordered?" he asked. + +She nodded. + +"I am so sorry," she said, "but I am in no hurry. You can catch me up." + He ordered something from the waiter who was standing by, and then +turned again to her. + +"You mustn't be unfair to me, please," he said. "It is only because I +hate to see you subjected to such affronts, that I have any feeling in +the matter at all. Couldn't you have a companion, or something of that +sort, if you must come to these places?" + +She laughed softly. + +"No!" she said, "I am afraid I couldn't do that, but if it really gives +you any satisfaction to hear it, I think that my search--I told you that +I had come to look for some one, didn't I?--will be over to-night, and +then it will not be necessary for me to do this sort of thing." + +"I am glad," he answered heartily. "I am glad, that is to say, unless--" + +"Unless what?" + +"Unless it means your going back to America." + +She raised her eyes to his. + +"And how does that concern you?" she asked, simply. + +"I wish to God I knew why it should!" he answered, almost bitterly. "Do +you know what a fool I have been making of myself for the last week or +so? I have given up my club and all my friends, refused every +invitation, and spent all my time going about from restaurant to +restaurant, café to café, hoping somewhere to come across _you_." + +"Mr. Mildmay!"--she began. + +"Oh! you need not look like that," he interrupted. "It's perfectly +true. I think you knew it upon the steamer. I suppose that last day I +made myself a nuisance to you, with my advice and fears, and all that +sort of thing. Well, you see, now I ask no questions. I am content to +take you as you are. You want some one to look after you, Virginia. Will +you marry me?" + +She set down her glass, which was half raised to her lips, and looked at +him with wide open eyes and trembling lips. + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +AN APPOINTMENT + +Virginia seemed to find speech impossible, and it seemed to him that he +could see the tears gathering in her eyes. + +"Forgive me," he said, leaning over the table towards her. "I ought to +have asked you differently, I know, but I am so afraid that you will +slip away, as you did before, and that I shall lose sight of you again. +You want some one to take care of you, dear, and I am going to do it." + +She looked at him with swimming eyes, and he laid his hand softly for a +moment upon hers. + +"Mr. Mildmay," she said, "you must not say such things to me. It is +quite impossible, entirely and absolutely impossible." + +"I don't believe it," he answered calmly. "You will have to give me some +very good reasons before I go away again and leave you." + +"Reasons!" she faltered. "Oh! there is every reason in the world. You +don't know me, or anything about me, and you know very well that I am +doing things here that no nice girl would do." + +"I know nothing of the sort," he answered, smiling, "because you are a +nice girl. But, on the other hand, of course, I am glad to hear that +your search, whatever it may be, is over. You can tell me about it or +not, just as you please. Perhaps I may be able to help. Perhaps you +would like to tell me. If not, it doesn't matter." + +She found speech difficult, almost impossible. He seemed so sure of his +position, so absolutely confident that there could be nothing which +could possibly separate them. + +"But you don't understand," she tried to say. "I am not the sort of +person at all whom you ought to think of marrying. I am very, very poor, +and I am over here because I betrayed a trust, to try and steal back +something which was lost through my carelessness. I might be put in +prison for what I am trying to do. All sorts of things might happen to +me. You mustn't have anything to do with me." + +He smiled, and rested his hand for a moment once more upon her thin +white fingers. + +"Little girl," he said, "I believe in you, and that is quite enough. I +shall get a special license to-morrow." + +She laughed a little hysterically. + +"Forgive me," she said, wiping her eyes, "but over in New York they call +Englishmen slow. How dare you talk of special licenses, when I have told +you that I cannot, that I will not even think of marrying you!" + +He looked at her with sudden keenness. + +"Is there any one else?" he asked gravely. + +She was forced to speak the truth. + +"No, there is no one!" she said. + +"Good!" he answered. "I thought not. As a matter of form, have you any +further reasons why you won't marry me?" + +"I don't--care for you enough," she gasped. + +"You will very soon," he answered reassuringly. "I really can make +myself quite an agreeable companion. You haven't seen enough of me yet. +Of course I know I'm rather taking you by storm, but I am not going to +leave you alone in a strange city, indulging in some melodramatic game +of hide and seek. You don't need to do that, Virginia. I am quite as +rich as ever you will want to be, and if any one has suffered in America +through your carelessness I think I can make amends for you more +completely than you can by trying to break the laws of this country. You +know, dear, I am not curious, but I really think you had better tell me +all about it. It will make things much easier." + +She shook her head. + +"It isn't my secret," she answered, "and besides, it's a dangerous one. +Whoever has the paper which was stolen through my carelessness, and +which I am going to try and get back, goes every moment in danger of +his life." + +He smiled at her a little unbelievingly. + +"That may be all very well in New York," he said, "but here in London +one doesn't do such things. One keeps the law here, for we have an +incorruptible police." + +"You don't understand," she said sadly. "This is really something +great." + +"Can't you buy this paper or whatever it is?" he asked, "or rather +couldn't I buy it for you?" + +She shook her head. + +"The man who has it refused a million dollars for it," she said simply. +"Indeed, I must not tell you anything more. Please, Mr. Mildmay--" + +"Guy!" he interrupted. + +"Guy, then," she continued, with something very much like a blush, +"forget all that you have said to me, at any rate for the present. +Perhaps later on, when this is all over--" + +"You won't want me then," he said. "It's just now you need some one to +look after you. You are too young, and forgive me, dear, too simple, to +be mixed up in such affairs as you have been speaking of. There is only +one way to really protect you, and that is to get that special license +to-morrow." + +"But you mustn't talk about it, think about it even," she protested. +"It's impossible." + +"No, I think not!" he answered. "Come, I am going to make you drink a +glass of my wine. You are looking positively woebegone. That's right, +drink it down," he added, as she sipped it timidly. "Now tell me what +you are going to do for the rest of the evening." + +"I am going," she said, "to try and save the life of the man who has the +paper which was stolen from me. Incidentally I may be able to get it +back again." + +"Can I come too?" he asked. + +"Certainly not!" she answered. "It isn't an affair for you to be mixed +up in, and besides it would spoil my chance." + +"You are not encouraging," he said. "Seriously, Virginia, do let me +come." + +"No!" she answered, glancing at the clock, "and I must be going in a +very few minutes." + +"You haven't told me yet when you will marry me," he reminded her. + +She looked at him piteously. + +"Please don't be foolish," she said, "I cannot marry you; I can never +marry you. I told you that before. You must please put it out of your +head. I am going now, and it must be"--her voice trembled a +little--"good-bye!" + +"It will be nothing of the sort," he answered. "Do you care for me a +little, Virginia?" + +"I--perhaps I do," she faltered. + +"I thought you did," he whispered, smiling. "I hoped so, anyhow. That +settles it, Virginia. You haven't a chance of getting away from me, +dear. You may just as well make up your mind to be Mrs. Mildmay as soon +as I can get that license." + +"You are the most impossible person!" she declared in despair. "How can +I make you believe me?" + +"Nohow," he answered. "Let me come with you, please, this evening." + +"I will not," she answered firmly. "Do believe me, please, that it is +impossible." + +"Very well, then," he answered, "you shall have your own way, but on +one condition, and that is that you tell me where I can find you +to-morrow. I shall probably have the license then." + +Virginia looked around the room as though seeking for some means of +escape, and yet she knew that every word he uttered was a delight to +her; that a new joy, against which she was powerless to fight, was +filling her life. It was absurd, impossible, not to be thought of, and +yet all the time his insistence delighted her. He had so much the air of +one who has always his own way. She felt her powers of resistance +becoming almost impotent, and she watched their dissipation with secret +joy. How was it possible to resist a lover so confident, so +authoritative, especially when her whole heart was filled with a +passionate longing to throw everything else to the winds and to place +her hands in his. Perhaps by to-morrow, she thought, things would seem +different to her, but in the meantime she gave him the address of the +boarding-house in Russell Street. How could she help it! + +"I shall be there," he said, "sometime before twelve to-morrow morning. +You won't be going out before then?" + +"I--suppose not," she faltered. + +He called the waiter and asked for the bill for his dinner. Hers she had +already paid. She rose to her feet. + +"Please," she said earnestly, "do not come out with me. I am going now, +and where I am going I must go alone." + +He glanced opposite, to where the three men were still sitting. + +"Very well," he said, "I will let you go. You will permit me, I presume, +to see you out of the restaurant?" + +He walked down with her to the door, and would have called a hansom, but +she answered that she preferred to walk. + +"I have an automobile here if you will use it," he said, "and I will +engage not to ask the man where he drove you." + +"I am not afraid of that," she answered, "but I would rather walk, if +you please. I have only a very little way to go." + +He took both her hands in his firmly. + +"Virginia, dear," he said, smiling down at her, "good night, and +remember that I am coming to see you to-morrow, and that I am going to +bring that special license. You are going to marry me whether you want +to or not, and very soon too." + +Virginia hurried away, breathless. + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +DEFEATED + +Virginia drew a little breath of relief. After all it had been very +easy. She had simply walked into the flats, entered the lift, ascended +to the fifth floor, opened the door of No. 57, and walked in. She had +had a moment of fear lest there should be a servant in the rooms, but it +was a fear which proved groundless. She had found herself in a tiny +hall, with closed doors in front and on the right of her, and an open +one on the left leading into a small, plainly furnished but comfortable +sitting-room. This she entered, and closed the door behind her. At last +she was in Norris Vine's sanctum. + +She drew a little breath, half of relief, half of excitement, and then +repenting at the closed door, quietly opened it, and left it about a +foot ajar. She looked round the room with a swift comprehensive glance. +There was only one place where it seemed possible that papers of +importance might be hidden, a small desk with pigeon-holes, before the +window. She sat down in front of it, and methodically, one by one, she +examined every paper she found, bills, receipts, prospectuses, +charitable appeals, circulars, memoranda of literary matter. She found +many of these, but nothing in the least like the paper for which she was +in search. + +With a little sigh she closed the desk, and, turning away from it, +seated herself in the easy-chair in front of the fireplace. Almost as +she did so she received a shock which sent the blood tingling through +her body. The outer door had opened very softly. She had the idea that +some one was standing outside hesitating whether to enter. Thoughts +flashed quickly through her mind. This was not Norris Vine, or he would +have entered his own room without hesitation. She affected to be +absorbed in the magazine which she had picked up, but it was almost +certain, from the fact that the door was gently pushed open another inch +or two, that some one was looking through the chink. She read on +unmoved, although she even fancied that she could hear the stifled +breathing of some one peering into the room. Then she heard the door of +the room outside, his bedroom without a doubt, softly opened. The +intruder, whoever he might be, had evidently stolen in there. + +Virginia laid down her magazine for a moment, and with half-closed eyes +tried to think. Within the next room, only a few yards away, and nearer +to the door leading into the flat than she herself was, was hiding the +person who for two thousand five hundred pounds was proposing to rid the +world of Norris Vine. What would happen if she sat still? If Norris Vine +should come in, and it was almost the time at which he was expected, his +assailant would probably be waiting behind the door. She had no doubt +but that the attack would be swift and sudden, and that once made some +means would be taken to keep her a prisoner in the room where she now +was, or perhaps there might be even worse things in store for her. In +any case, within a few yards of her a man lay in hiding with murder in +his heart, and between them the closed door which might at any moment be +opened. What chance would she have to warn Norris Vine? None at all! + +She rose to her feet and sat down again. The very thought of moving +nearer to the room where this man was waiting filled her with horror, +and yet it was surely as dangerous to remain where she was, too far away +to warn any one entering, and herself at the mercy of the conqueror in +the brief struggle. Her breath began to come more quickly as she +realized that she was trapped. Probably that man in the next room knew +all about her, knew just why she was there, and had made up his mind how +to deal with her. She found herself listening in ever-deepening horror +for that turn of the handle which should signal the coming of the man +for whom they both waited. Intervention of any sort would be welcome. An +intervention came, in a manner as commonplace as it was startling. The +bell of a telephone instrument on the top of the desk began to ring. A +moment's breathless indecision, and then she walked to the instrument +and took the receiver in her hand. Simultaneously she heard a stealthy +movement outside. Her fellow-watcher, whoever he might be, had also made +up his mind to know who was ringing up Norris Vine so late. + +"Who's that?" the voice asked abruptly. + +"Coniston Mansions, No. 57," Virginia answered, disguising her voice as +much as possible. + +"Yes! but who is it in my rooms? That isn't Janion's voice, is it?" + +Then Virginia knew that the person who spoke was Norris Vine himself, +and before every word she uttered she hesitated, thinking always of the +listener outside. + +"No, it's not Janion," she answered. "What do you want?" + +"I wanted to know whether my servant was there," the voice replied. "Who +are you, and what are you doing in my rooms?" + +"Gone into the country?" Virginia said, speaking in a loud tone of +surprise. "You mean that he will not be here to-night, after all?" + +The voice down the telephone came angry and perplexed. + +"What the devil are you talking about?" it asked. "I am Norris Vine, and +I am speaking into my own rooms. I want to know who you are, and what +are you doing there." + +"Then I think," Virginia continued, still speaking loudly, "that you +might be a little more careful before you send me on a fool's errand +like this. Here have I been waiting for half an hour for a man who you +declared was certain to come here before eleven o'clock. Now you tell me +that he is not returning to-night at all, gone into the country, or some +rubbish. Why can't you make sure of your facts? You seem to repeat any +stuff that's told you, and then think that it doesn't matter so long as +you say that you're sorry. How about my wasted time sitting here, to +say nothing of the risk of being taken for a thief!" + +"If you don't tell me who you are at once," the voice came back, "I +shall send a policeman round. Can't you understand that I want my man +Janion? I want him to bring my evening clothes to the club. If you don't +tell me who you are, and what you are doing in my rooms, I shall be +round there with a policeman in five minutes." + +"Of course I shan't stop," Virginia replied, still in a loud voice. +"What on earth is there to stop for if the man isn't coming back for +several days? I shall be away before the police can come. Ring +off, please." + +"I don't know who the devil you are," the voice came back, "but I jolly +soon will. You'll have to hurry, my friend, if you mean to get away. I +am going to ring up the manager's office." + +Virginia threw down the receiver. She hesitated for a moment before the +looking-glass, as though straightening her hat--in reality to give the +listener outside time to get back once more into hiding. Then she walked +with fast beating heart and steady footsteps towards the door. She +opened it boldly. The little hall was empty; the door of the room +opposite, which had been closed when she had entered, was ajar now, but +there were no signs of any living person. She opened the door leading +into the corridor and safety. For the first time she noticed that the +key was in the inside. She withdrew it, passed out, closed the door, +and stood in safety in the corridor. Thoughts chased one another through +her mind. She had only to lock the door on the outside, call for help, +and the person who had waited with her for Norris Vine's return was +caught in a trap. Would there be any advantage in it? Would she be able +to clear herself? + +Reluctantly she decided that it was better to let him go. She rang for +the lift, and then turned with fascinated eyes to watch the door leading +into Norris Vine's apartments. The lights were very dim on the landing. +There were no servants or any one about. She watched the closed door +with fascinated eyes. What if it should open before the lift came! She +rang again, kept her finger upon the bell; then with a great sense of +relief she heard the creaking of the wire rope, and saw the top of the +lift beginning to ascend. It drew level with her, and the page-boy threw +open the iron door. Almost at that moment she saw the door of Norris +Vine's apartment softly opened from the inside. She sank down upon +the seat. + +"Down, please!" she said, and the lift began to descend. Her safety was +assured. She turned to the boy. "Does Mr. Vine generally come up this +way to his rooms?" she asked. + +"Always at night, miss," the boy answered. "The other lift don't run +after eleven." + +She reached the hall. The commissionaire opened the doors and she +passed out into the street. She crossed the road, and stood perfectly +still watching the entrance. Five, ten minutes passed; then a man came +out in evening dress, with silk hat, and a white handkerchief around his +neck. He was smoking a cigarette, and he carried a silver-headed cane. +Virginia crossed the road once more, and, trusting to the crowd, kept +within a few yards of him. He turned to the edge of the curb and +called a hansom. + +"Claridge's Hotel!" he said. "As quick as you can, cabby!" + +She gave a little start. Not only had she recognized the voice of the +man who had sat behind her in the café that afternoon, but she also knew +at once that this was one of the three men who had sat opposite her only +an hour or so ago at dinner! + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +INGRATITUDE + +Norris Vine stood in the middle of his room, his hat still upon his +head, and his overcoat on his arm. Before him stood the waiter and the +watchman of the flats. + +"My rooms," he was saying, "have been occupied within the last ten +minutes by strangers, and by people who have no right here whatever. I +have certain proof of this. Do you allow any one who chooses to come +into the building and use the lift, and enter whatever apartment +they choose?" + +"We cannot employ detectives," the manager answered, "and every one who +lives here has visitors." + +There was a soft knock at the door, and almost immediately it was +opened. Virginia entered, and guessed immediately the meaning of the +little scene before her. + +"You want an explanation as to that telephone message," she said +quietly. "I have come to give it to you. If you will send these people +away, I will explain everything." + +Norris Vine looked at her in amazement. Her face somehow seemed +familiar, but he failed at first to place her. The two men whom Vine was +interviewing were only too glad of the opportunity to take their +departure. + +"Am I to understand," Vine asked, "that it was you whose voice I heard +at the telephone?" + +"You are," Virginia answered, "and you may be very thankful for it. I do +not know whether it was wise of me or not, but I am quite sure that I +saved your life." + +"In which case," Vine remarked, with an incredulous smile, "I must at +least ask you to sit down." + +Virginia seated herself and pushed back her veil. + +"You do not remember me," she said. "I am Phineas Duge's niece." + +"I remember you now quite well," he answered. "You were having dinner +with your uncle one night at Sherry's." + +She nodded. + +"That is quite true," she said. "I have been looking for you for some +days. In fact, I came to London to look for you." + +"That," he remarked drily, "sounds somewhat mysterious, considering that +I have not yet had the pleasure of your acquaintance." + +"There is nothing mysterious about it," she answered. "You are a +receiver of stolen goods. Some papers were stolen from my uncle's study +by Stella, my cousin, and given to you. They were stolen through my +carelessness. Unless I can recover them I am ruined." + +"Go on," Morris Vine said. "You have not finished yet." + +"No!" she answered, "I have not. I followed you to England to get those +papers back, either by theft, or by appealing to your sense of honour, +or by any means which presented themselves. I found by accident that I +was not the only American in London who was over here in search of you. +This afternoon I overheard part of a plot in a café in Regent Street +between two men, strangers to me, but who had both apparently made up +their minds that this particular paper was worth a little more than your +life. From them I heard your address. Your valet must be in their pay, +for they knew exactly your movements for the night. I heard them plan to +come here, and I knew what the end of that would be. I determined to +anticipate them. It was not out of any feeling for you, but simply +because if the paper got into their hands my cause was lost. So I came +on here to warn you, but I had scarcely entered your room before I was +aware that some one who had come with very different intentions was +already here. We waited--I in the sitting-room, he in that +bedroom--waited for you. I pretended to be unconscious of his existence. +He seemed to be content to ignore mine. While I was wondering how I +should warn you, the telephone bell rang. I answered it, and it was you +who spoke. Then I had the idea of carrying on some imaginary +conversation with you, which would induce the man who was listening to +go away. I did it and he went away. It must have sounded terrible +nonsense to you, of course, but it was the only way I could think of to +get him out of the place. He left convinced that you were not coming +here to-night." + +"Do you know who he was, this man?" Vine asked. + +"I do not," she answered, "but I can guess who his employers are." + +"And so can I," Vine said grimly. "It seems to me that you are a very +plucky young lady, Miss Longworth." + +"Not at all," she answered. "What I have done, I have done for the sake +of reward." + +"Will you name it?" he asked. + +"I want that paper to take back to my uncle," she said. "Stella stole it +from me brutally, and unless I can get it back again, my uncle is going +to send me back to the little farmhouse where I came from, and is going +to leave off helping my people. I want that paper back, Mr. Vine, and +you must give it to me." + +He looked at her with utterly impassive face. + +"I am afraid, Miss Longworth," he said, "that I must disappoint you. If +I gave you back that paper, it would go into the hands of one of the +most unprincipled men in America. It is not only your uncle whom I +dislike, but his methods, his craft, his infernal, incarnate +selfishness. He wants this paper as a whip to hold over other people. He +obtained it by subtlety. The means by which it was taken from him, +although I had nothing to do with them, were on the whole justified. I +cannot give it back to you, Miss Longworth. I have not made up my mind +yet what to do with it, and I certainly have no friendship for the men +whom it implicates; but all the same, for the present it must remain in +my possession." + +"Do you know," she reminded him, "that I have saved your life +to-night?" + +He laughed softly. + +"My dear child," he said, "my life is not so easily disposed of. I +believe that you have tried to do me a kindness, but you ask too great a +return. Even if the paper you speak of was stolen, it is better in my +keeping than in your uncle's." + +"You will not give it to me, then?" she asked. + +"I will not," he answered. + +She rose from her place. + +"Very well," she said; "I am going now, but I think that we shall meet +again before very long." + +He opened the door for her and walked out toward the lift. + +"My dear young lady," he said, "I hope you will forgive my saying so, +but this is certainly a wild-goose chase of yours. If you will take my +advice, and I know something about life, you will go back to your +farmhouse in the Connecticut valley. These larger places in the world +may seem fascinating to you at first, but believe me you will be better +off and happier in the backwoods. Ask Stella. I think that she would +give you the same advice." + +Virginia looked at him steadily. The faint note of sarcasm which was +seldom absent from his tone was not lost upon her. + +"I thank you for your advice," she said, "It sounds so +disinterested--and convincing. Such an excellent return, too, for a +person who has risked something to do you a kindness." + +"My dear young lady," Vine answered, "it was not for my own sake that +you warned me. You have admitted that yourself. It was entirely from +your own point of view that you judged it well for me to remain a little +longer on the earth. Why, therefore, should I be grateful? As a matter +of fact, I am not sure that I am. I, too, go about armed, and it is by +no means certain that I might not have had the best of any little +encounter with our friend who you say was hiding there."--He motioned +his head towards his bedroom.--"In that case, you see, I should have +known exactly who he was, possibly even have been able to hand him over +to the police." + +Virginia pressed the little bell and the lift began to ascend. + +"I am glad to know, Mr. Vine," she said, "what sort of a man you are." + +He bowed, and she stepped into the lift without any further form of +farewell. Vine walked thoughtfully back to his rooms. He was a man who +had grown hard and callous in the stress of life, but somehow the memory +of Virginia's pale face and dark reproachful eyes remained with him. + + + +CHAPTER X + + +A NEW VENTURE + +Phineas Duge, notwithstanding an absence of anything approaching +vulgarity in his somewhat complex disposition, was, for a man of affairs +and an American, singularly fond of the small elegances of life. +Although he sat alone at dinner, the table was heaped with choice +flowers and carefully selected hothouse fruit. His one glass of wine, +the best of its sort, he sipped meditatively, and with the air of a +connoisseur. The soft lights upon the table were such as a woman, +mindful of her complexion, might have chosen. Behind his chair stood +his English butler, grave, solemn-faced, attentive. The cigars and +matches were already on his left-hand side, ready for the moment when he +should have finished his wine. Outside a footman was waiting for a +signal to bring in the after-dinner coffee. + +Across his luxurious table, through the waving clusters of +sweet-smelling flowers to the dark mahogany panelled wall beyond, the +eyes of Phineas Duge seemed to be seeking that night something which +they failed to find. The last few weeks seemed in a way to have aged the +man. His lips had come closer together, there were faint lines on his +forehead and underneath his eyes. The butler from behind his chair +looked down upon his master's carefully parted and picturesque hair, +wondering why he sat so still, wondering what he saw that he looked so +steadily at that one particular spot in the panelled wall, and lingered +so unusually long over the last few drops of his wine. Phineas Duge +himself wondered still more what had come to him. For many years men and +women had come and gone, leaving him indifferent as to their coming and +going, their pains and their joys; and to-night, though there were many +matters with which his mind might well have been occupied, he found +himself in the curious position of indulging in vague and almost +regretful memories. The place at the other end of his table was empty, +as it had been for many nights; for during the period of his titanic +struggle with those men against whom he had declared war, he had shunned +all society, and lived a life of stern and absolute seclusion. + +To-night that steady gaze which wandered over the drooping flowers was +really fixed upon that empty chair at the other end of the table. A man +of few fancies, he was never quite without imagination. His thoughts had +travelled easily back to a few weeks ago. He saw Virginia sitting there, +watched the delightful smile coming and going, the large grey eyes that +watched him so ceaselessly, the little ripple of pleasant conversation, +which he had never dreamed that he could ever miss. After all, what a +child! As a matter of justice, and he told himself that it was justice +only which had power to sway his judgment, what right had he to blame +her for what was really nothing but a freak of ill-fortune! Had he +punished himself in sending her away? Somehow, during these last few +nights, the room had seemed curiously cold and empty. He had missed her +little timidly offered ministrations, the touch of her fingers upon his +shoulder, the whole nameless delicacy which her presence had brought +into the cold, magnificent surroundings, which seemed to him now as +though they could never be quite the same again. + +These thoughts had come to him before, but it was only to-night he had +suffered them to linger in his mind. Once or twice he had caught them +lurking in his brain and thrown them out. To-night they had come with a +soft, invincible persistence, so that he had felt even his will +powerless to strangle them. He was forced to face the truth, that he, +Phineas Duge, the man of many millions, sat there while the minutes fled +past, looking with empty eyes into empty space, thinking of the child +whom he would have given at that moment more than he would have cared to +confess, to have found sitting within a few feet of him, peeling his +walnuts, or pouring out her impressions of this wonderful new life into +which she had come. + +Some trifle it was which broke the thread of his reflections. When he +realized what he had been doing, he was conscious of a feeling almost of +shame. In a moment he was himself again. He calmly drank up his wine, +and as he set the glass down held out a cigar from the box to the man +who waited with the cigar cutter in hand. A little silver spirit lamp +burning with a blue flame stood all ready at his elbow. The butler gave +the signal, and his coffee, strong and fragrant, in a little gold cup, +was placed before him. + +"You will tell Smedley to be in the study at nine o'clock," he ordered. + +"Very good, sir!" the man replied. "You will not be going out to-night, +sir? There are no orders for the garage?" + +"Not to-night," Phineas Duge answered. + +There was an unexpected sound of voices outside in the hall. Phineas +Duge looked toward the door with a frown upon his face. + +"What is that?" he asked sharply. + +The butler was perplexed. + +"I will go and see, sir," he said. "It sounds as if James were having +trouble with some one." + +The door was suddenly opened. Weiss and Higgins entered quickly, +followed by the protesting and frightened footman. Phineas Duge rose +from his seat, and, resting one hand upon the table, peered forward at +the two men. His face, even under the rose-shaded electric lamp, was +cold and set. The gleam of white teeth was visible between his lips. He +looked like a man, metaphorically, about to spring upon his foes. One +hand had stolen round to the pocket of his dinner coat, and was holding +something hard, but to him very comforting. He offered no word of +greeting. He uttered no exclamation of surprise. He simply waited. + +"These gentlemen pushed past me in the hall, sir," the footman +explained, deprecatingly. "My back was turned only for a moment, and +Wilkins was down having his supper." + +"You can go," Phineas Duge said coldly, waving him out of the room. +"What do you want with me, Weiss?" + +"A few minutes' sensible talk," Weiss answered. "It will do you no harm +to listen to us. Send your servant away and give us a quarter of +an hour." + +Phineas Duge hesitated, but only for a moment. These men had come +openly, and they were known to be his enemies. It was not possible that +they intended to use any violence. He turned to the butler, who stood +behind his chair. + +"Place chairs for these gentlemen," he ordered, "and leave the room." + +They sat on his left-hand side, Phineas Duge pushed the decanter of +Burgundy toward them, and the cigars. Then he leaned back in his chair +and waited. + +"Duge, we ought to have come to you before," Weiss began. "We are +playing a child's game, all of us." + +"Whatever the game may be," Duge answered, "it is not I who invented +it." + +"We grant that to start with," Weiss answered. "We were in the wrong. +You have done a little better than hold your own against us. We are +several millions of dollars the poorer and you the richer for our split. +Let it go at that. We have other things to think about just now besides +this juggling with markets. I take it that we are none of us +particularly anxious to learn what the interior of a police court +looks like." + +Phineas Duge made no motion of assent or dissent. + +"You refer," he said, "to the action against the Trusts which the +President is supposed to be supporting so vigorously?" + +Weiss nodded. + +"The thing's further advanced than we were any of us inclined to +believe," he answered. "Every one of us is interested in this, you more +than any of us. If Harrison's Bill passes the Senate, we are liable to +imprisonment at any moment. We are up against it hard, Duge, and we +can't face it as we ought while we're squabbling amongst ourselves like +a set of children." + +"You propose then," Phineas Duge said slowly, "to close our accounts on +a mutual basis?" + +"Precisely!" Weiss answered. "You have had the best of it, and it might +be our turn to-morrow, so you can well afford to do this. We want to +rest on our oars for a time, while we look round and face this +new danger." + +"Very well," Phineas Duge said, "I agree. We will meet at your office +to-morrow and bring our brokers. I am quite willing to end this fight. +It was not I who began it." + +Higgins drew a little breath of relief. He was perhaps the poorest of +the group, and it was his stock which Duge had been handling so +roughly. "Thank heavens!" he said. "Now we can have a moment's breathing +time, to see what we can do for these fellows who want to teach us how +to manage our affairs." + +"In the first place," Weiss said, "what about that paper we signed? I +can understand your wanting to hold it over us while we were at war. It +was a fair weapon, and you had a right to it, but now we are united +again you can see, of course, that although your name isn't on it, it +would practically mean ruin to our interests if the other side once got +hold of it." + +"If I had that paper," Duge said quietly, "I would tear it up at this +moment, but I regret to say that I have not. It was stolen during +my illness." + +"We know that," Weiss answered. "We know even in whose hands it is." + +Phineas Duge looked up inquiringly. + +"Norris Vine has it," Weiss continued. "We have offered him a million, +but he declines to sell. He would have used it for his paper before now, +and we should have been on the other side of the ocean, but for the fact +that John Drayton advised him not to. Now he has taken it with him to +London. He is going to ask Deane's advice. At any moment the thing may +come flashing back. We may wake up to find a copy of that document in +black and white in every paper in New York State." + +"You have offered him a reasonable sum for it," Phineas Duge said, "and +he declines to sell. Very well, what do you propose to do?" + +"It was stolen from you," Weiss said. "He may justly decline to treat +with us; but it is your property, and you have a right to it." + +"You propose, then?" Phineas Duge asked. + +"That you should catch the _Kaiserin_ to London to-morrow," Higgins +said, "and find out this man Vine. The rest we are content to leave with +you, but I think that if you try you will get it." + +Phineas Duge sat quite still for several moments. He sipped his wine +thoughtfully, threw his cigar, which had gone out, into the fire, and +lit a cigarette. He appreciated the force of the suggestion, and a trip +to Europe was by no means distasteful to him, but he was not a man to +decide upon anything of this sort without reflection. + +"A week ago," he said softly, "even a day ago, and my absence from New +York would have meant ruin. If I leave the country to-morrow, and trust +myself upon the ocean for six days, what guarantee have I that you will +keep to any arrangement which we might make to-morrow?" + +"We will sign affidavits," Weiss declared, "that we will not, directly +or indirectly, enter into any operations in any one of our stocks during +your absence, except for your profit as well as our own. We will execute +a deed of partnership as regards any transactions which we might enter +into during your absence." + +Phineas Duge nodded thoughtfully. + +"I suppose," he said, "we might be able to fix things up that way. I +should be glad enough to get the paper back again, but Vine is not an +easy man to deal with, and he is pleased to call himself my enemy." + +"The men who have called themselves that," Higgins remarked grimly, +"have generally been sorry for it." + +"And so may he," Phineas Duge answered, "but I am not sure that his time +has come yet. You must let me think this over, gentlemen, until +to-morrow morning. I will meet you with my broker and lawyer at ten +o'clock at your office, Weiss, and if I make up my mind to go to Europe, +my luggage will be on the steamer by that time. On the whole I might +tell you that I am inclined to go." + +Weiss drew a great breath of relief. He poured himself out a glass of +wine and drank it off. + +"It's good to hear you say that, Duge," he said. "I tell you we have +come pretty near being scared the last week or so. I feel a lot more +comfortable fighting with you in the ranks." + +Phineas Duge forbore from all recrimination. He filled Higgins' glass +and his own. He could afford to be magnanimous. He had fought them one +against four, and they had come to him for mercy! + +"We will drink," he said, "to the new President. This one has tilted +against the windmills once too often. He must learn his lesson." + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +CONSCIENCE + +Virginia slept little that night. Her room, one of the smallest and +least expensive in the cosmopolitan boarding-house where she was +staying, was high up, almost in an attic. The windows were small, and +opened with difficulty. The heat, combined with her own restlessness, +made the weary hours one long nightmare for her. Early in the morning +she rose and sat in front of the little window, looking out across the +wilderness of house-tops, where a pall of smoke seemed to convert to +luminous chaos the rising sun. There was a lump in her throat, and +gathering tears in her eyes. It seemed to her that no one could ever +realize a loneliness more absolute and complete than hers. She thought +of the early summer mornings in that tiny farmhouse perched on the side +of the lonely valley, where the air at least was clear and pure and +bright, musical with the song of birds, and the west wind which stirred +always in the pine-woods behind heralded the coming morning. If only she +could have dropped from her shoulders the burden of the last few months, +and found herself back there once more. Then a pang of remorse shook her +heart. She remembered the happiness which through her had come to those +whom she loved, and the thought was like a tonic to her. She forgot her +own sorrows, she forgot that dim tremendous feeling, which had shown +through her life for a minute or two, only to pass away and leave behind +longings and regrets which were in themselves a constant pain. She +forgot everything except the thought of what it might mean to those +others who were dear to her if she should fail in her task. Her face +seemed suddenly aged as she sat there, crushing down the sweeter things, +clenching her fingers upon the window-sill, and telling herself that at +any cost she must succeed, hopeless though the task might seem. + +Presently she began to move about the room and collect her clothes. At +half-past nine she had left the boarding-house and departed without +leaving any address behind her. At ten o'clock a great automobile swung +round the corner, stopped before the door, and Mr. Mildmay descended and +ran lightly up the steps. Miss Longworth had gone away, he was told by +the shabby German waiter in soiled linen coat and greasy black trousers. +She had left no address. She had left no message for any one who might +be calling for her. The largest tip which he had ever received could +only send him into the inner regions to interview the proprietress, who +came out and confirmed his words. Mildmay turned slowly around and +drove away. + + * * * * * + +Stella and Norris Vine lunched together that day in a small West End +restaurant. He had telephoned asking her to come, and she had at once +thrown over another engagement. They were scarcely seated before he +asked her a question. + +"Do you know that your cousin is in London?" + +"What! Virginia?" Stella exclaimed. + +He nodded, and Stella was genuinely amazed. + +"Whom did she come with?" she asked. "What does she want here?" + +"She came alone, poor little thing," he answered, "and on a wild-goose +chase. I never heard anything so pathetic in my life. She ought to be in +short frocks, playing with her dolls, and she has come here four +thousand miles to a city she knows nothing of, to steal back--well, you +know what. One could laugh if it were not so pathetic." + +"Little fool!" Stella said, half contemptuously, and yet with a note of +regret in her tone. + +"I thought, perhaps," Vine said, "you might find out where she is and go +and talk common sense to her. If there is anything else we can do, I'd +like to, only I hate the thought of a pretty child like that wandering +about London on such an absurd quest." + +"Do you know where she is to be found?" Stella asked quietly. + +"I have no idea," Vine answered. "The last time I saw her was in my own +rooms. I am only sorry that I let her go." + +Stella looked up at him quickly. + +"Your own rooms!" she repeated. "What do you mean?" + +"Well," he answered, "with the extraordinary luck which comes sometimes +to babies, she overheard two men talking about me and arranging to meet +at a certain hour at my flat. She actually had the nerve to be there +herself at the same time. While she sat in my sitting-room, they waited +in the bedroom. Mind, a great part of this may be her invention. I have +only her word for it, but she certainly seemed as though she were +telling the truth. I rang up for some one to bring me a change of +clothes, and she answered the telephone. What she said to me sounded +such rank nonsense that I jumped in a hansom and went straight back to +my rooms. However, the men who were listening gathered from what she +said that I was not coming back, and they gave it up and stole out. When +I returned I found her waiting there, and she demanded that I should +give her up the paper she wanted as a matter of gratitude." + +"Do you believe her story?" Stella asked. + +"I don't know," he answered. "I know that I am being followed about, and +if she could get into my rooms, it is quite as easy for them to do so. +They may have been there, and I dare say that if I had entered +unsuspectingly, and Dan Prince had anything to do with it, I shouldn't +have had much chance. It amused me to see all my drawers turned out and +my papers disturbed." + +"Little idiot!" Stella said impatiently. "She ought to be at home, +feeding her father's chickens. She is hopelessly out of place here, just +as she was in New York," + +"I wish we could send her back there," Vine declared. + +Stella looked at him with raised eyebrows. + +"My dear Norris," she said, "isn't this rather a new departure for you? +I don't seem to recognize you in this frame of mind." + +He sipped his wine thoughtfully for a minute or two, and helped himself +to some curry. + +"I believe after all, Stella," he said, "that you know very little about +me. I am naturally a most tender-hearted person." + +"You have managed," she remarked drily, "to conceal your weakness most +effectively." + +"A journalist," he reminded her, "is used to conceal them. Without the +arts of lying and acting, we might as well abandon our profession. +Seriously, Stella, I am sorry for the child. I wish you could find her +and pack her off home." + +Stella shrugged her shoulders. + +"In the first place," she said, "I have no idea where to look; and in +the second, she is one of those obstinate children who never do what +they are told, or see reason." + +"I admit," he replied, "that finding her is rather a difficulty, but +after all, you see, it is you directly, and I indirectly, who are +responsible for her troubles. I think we ought to do what we can. I wish +I hadn't let her go the other night." + +"I am becoming," Stella said, smiling, "a little jealous of my cousin." + +He looked at her with steady scrutiny, as though he were curious to +decide how much of truth there might be in her words. + +"You have no need, my dear Stella," he said, "to be jealous of Virginia +or any other girl. This is simply the dying kick of a nearly finished +conscience." + +"If I come across her," Stella said, "I will do what I can. If you see +her again, and I should think you are the more likely, find out her +address and I will go and see her. By the by," she added, leaning across +the table towards him, "you seem very confident of preserving it. Tell +me, where do you keep that paper?" + +He smiled. + +"Ah!" he said. "All my secrets save one are yours, but I think that that +one I will not tell you." + +She frowned at him, obviously annoyed. + +"Do you mean that?" she asked. "Surely you do not hesitate to trust me?" + +"Not for one moment," he answered. "On the other hand, the knowledge of +a thing of that sort is better in as few hands as possible. You will be +none the better for knowing. Circumstances might arise to make even the +knowledge an embarrassment to you. Take my advice, and do not ask me +that question." + +Stella's face had grown darker. + +"It is I," she said, "whom you have to thank for the possession of it. +Considering that you go in danger every moment, I think that some one +else save yourself should share in the knowledge of what you have +done with it." + +"Let me recommend," he said, studying the menu for a moment with his +horn-rimmed eyeglass, "an artichoke with sauce mayonnaise, or would you +prefer asparagus?" + +"I should prefer," she insisted, "an answer to my question." + +He looked at her steadily. His face was utterly impassive, his +forefinger was tapping lightly upon the table-cloth. It was a look which +she knew very well. + +"The knowledge of where that paper is, Stella, would do you no good," he +declared. "Forgive me, but I do not intend to tell a soul." + +They finished their luncheon almost in silence. She only once recurred +to the subject. + +"Perhaps," she said, looking quietly up at him, "as your conscience is +growing so susceptible, you will think it right to restore that paper to +my little cousin. Those are wonderful eyes, of hers, you know, now she +has learnt to use them a little." + +Norris Vine did not answer, and they parted with the briefest of +farewells. + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +DUKE OF MOWBRAY + +This time Mildmay was angry. He showed it alike in his speech and +expression. Virginia looked at him like a terrified child. + +"So, Virginia," he said, "I have found you at last!" + +"What do you want?" she asked breathlessly. + +He looked at her for quite thirty seconds without replying. Her eyes +fell before his. More than ever she felt the shame of her position. + +"What do I want?" he repeated, a little bitterly. "You ask me that, +Virginia, seriously?" + +She covered her face with her hands. + +"Oh! please go away," she said. "It is not kind of you to come here." + +"I do not mean to be unkind," he answered, "but I want to understand. +Why did you leave your boarding-house in Russell Street and run +away from me?" + +"It was not only to run away from you," she answered. "There were other +reasons." + +"Why should you wish to run away from me at all?" he asked. + +"Because," she answered, "I am afraid, and you ask me things which are +impossible." + +"What are you afraid of?" he asked. + +"Of myself, of you, of everything," she murmured pathetically. + +Virginia was a little worn out. Day after day of disappointment had +tried her sorely. He felt himself softening, but he showed no signs of +it in his face. + +"Is there anywhere here where we can talk?" he asked. "You have rooms in +the building, have you not? Are you alone?" + +He could have bitten his tongue out for that question, but its +significance never occurred to her. + +"Yes!" she answered. "Since you are here, perhaps you had better come +in." + +They had met on the landing of the fifth floor of Coniston Mansions. She +led him down the corridor, and, opening a door, ushered him into a tiny +sitting-room. + +"How did you find me out?" she asked. + +"I saw you dining at Luigi's yesterday and to-day," he answered sternly. +"You were with the same man both times. I followed you yesterday. You +both came back here. To-day you came back alone. Is this man +your brother?" + +"No!" she answered. + +"Your cousin? Is he any relation to you?" + +"No!" she repeated. + +"Who is he, then?" + +"A friend," she answered, "or an enemy perhaps. What does it matter to +you?" + +He looked at her steadfastly. She was dressed in white muslin, and she +wore a big black hat without any touch of colour. Her clothes were those +which her uncle had ordered in New York. She was slim and dainty and +elegant, and he found it hard indeed to keep his heart steeled +against her. + +"How can you ask me that, Virginia?" he replied. "Have you forgotten +that I have asked you to marry me?" + +"And I have told you that I cannot," she replied desperately. "I cannot +and I will not. You have no right to come here and worry me." + +"So my coming does worry you?" he asked. + +"Yes!" she answered desperately, "you know that it does." + +"Virginia," he said, "what is this man's name?" + +"It is no concern of yours," she answered. + +"Are you in love with him?" + +"I shall not tell you," she said. + +"Is he in love with you?" + +"If you ask me any more such questions, I shall go into my room and lock +the door," she declared. + +Mildmay took a turn up and down the little apartment. The child was +obdurate, yet all the time he seemed to read her soft frightened eyes. + +"Virginia," he said suddenly, stopping in front of her, "I have the +license in my pocket. Won't you come out with me and be married?" + +"No!" she answered, "I will not." + +"Think!" he begged her. "It would be so easy. We could walk out of this +place together, and in an hour's time you would have some one else to +take your little troubles on their shoulders. Don't you think that mine +are broad enough, little girt?" + +"Please don't!" she begged. "I cannot. I wish you would not ask me." + +"I don't know whether it makes any difference," he said, after a +moment's hesitation, "but I have plenty of money. In fact I am very +rich. If there is any possible way in which money could help your +troubles, they would soon be over." + +"Oh! I know that you have," she answered. "It is not that." + +He looked at her fixedly. + +"You know that I have? Perhaps you know who I am?" + +"I do," she answered. "You are Guy Mildmay, Duke of Mowbray." + +He was taken aback. + +"How did you find that out?" he asked. + +"On the steamer," she answered, "the last few days. People got to know, +I am not sure how, and in any case it does not matter." + +A light began to break in upon him. + +"I believe," he said, "that it is because you know you will not marry +me." + +"Oh! it isn't only that," she answered. "It is utterly, absolutely +impossible. My people live on a little farm in America, and have barely +enough money to live on. We are terribly poor." + +He frowned for a moment thoughtfully. He was looking at her expensive +clothes. He did not understand. + +"And besides," she continued, "there is another reason why I should +never think of it. Now, please, won't you believe me and go away? It is +not kind of you to make it so difficult for me." + +"Very well, Virginia," he said quietly, "for the present I will ask you +no more. But can you tell me any reason why I should not be +your friend?" + +"None at all," she answered. "You can be what you like, if you will only +go away and leave me alone." + +"That," he answered, "is not my idea of friendship. If we are friends, I +have the right to help you in your troubles, whatever they may be." + +"That," she declared, "is impossible." + +Then he began to realize that this child, with her soft great eyes, her +delightful mouth, her girlish face, which ever since he had first seen +it had seemed to him the prototype of all that was gentle and lovable, +possessed a strength of character incredible in one of her years and +appearance. He realized that he was only distressing her by his +presence. The timidity of her manner was no sign of weakness, and there +was finality even in that earnest look which she had fixed upon him. + +"You decline me as a husband then, Virginia," he said, "and you decline +me as a friend. You want to have nothing more to do with me. Very well, +I will go away." + +She drew a sharp breath between her teeth, and if he noticed it he made +no sign. He drew a paper from his pocket and calmly tore it into pieces. + +"That," he said, "was the paper which was to have made us happy. +Good-bye!" + +"Good-bye!" she gasped, tearfully. + +He laughed as he took her into his arms. She did not make the least +resistance. + +"You little idiot!" he said. "Do you know that I very nearly went?" + +Her head was buried upon his shoulder, and she was not in the position +for a moment to make any reply. + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + +AN INTRODUCTION + +He helped Virginia to descend from the automobile, and led her up the +steps in front of the great house in Grosvenor Square. + +"You are not frightened, dear?" he asked. + +"I am terrified to death," she answered frankly. He touched her hand +reassuringly. + +"Silly child!" he said. "I am sure you will like my aunt." + +The door flew open before them. A footman stood aside to let them pass. +An elderly servant in plain black clothes came hurrying down from a +little office. + +"I trust that your Grace is well?" he said. + +"Very well indeed, thank you, Jameson," Mildmay said. "Is my aunt in?" + +"Her ladyship is in the morning-room, your Grace," the man answered, +with an almost imperceptible glance towards Virginia. "Shall I +announce you?" + +"Is she alone?" Mildmay asked. + +"For the moment, yes, your Grace," the man answered. + +Guy led Virginia across the hall, knocked at a door and entered. A tall, +grey-haired lady was sitting on a sofa with a tea-tray by her side. She +was very good-looking, and absurdly like Mildmay, to whom she held out +her right hand. Guy stooped and raised it to his lips. + +"My dear aunt," he said, "can you stand a shock?" + +"That depends," she answered, glancing at Virginia. "My nerves are not +what they were, you know. However, go on." + +"I am trying you rather high, I know," he said, "but there are reasons +for it which I can explain later on. I have brought a young lady to see +you, Miss Virginia Longworth. I want you to like her very much, because +she has promised to be my wife." + +Lady Medlincourt held out her hand, long and slim and delicate, and +made room for Virginia by her side on the sofa. + +"How are you, my dear?" she said quite calmly. "Will you have some tea? +It's beastly, I know, been standing for hours, but Guy can ring for some +fresh. So you are really going to marry my nephew?" + +Virginia raised her eyes, and looked for a moment into the face of the +woman who sat by her side. + +"Yes, Lady Medlincourt," she answered; "I do hope you will not be +angry." + +"Angry! My dear child, I am never angry," Lady Medlincourt declared. "I +have arrived at that time in life when one cannot afford the luxury of +giving way to emotion. You won't mind my asking you a few questions, +though, both of you. To begin with, I do not know your name. Who +are you?" + +Guy leaned a little forward. + +"She will be Duchess of Mowbray in a very short time, aunt," he said. +"Please don't forget that." + +Lady Medlincourt raised her eyebrows. + +"Bless the boy!" she exclaimed. "As though I were likely to! I can feel +it go shivering down my backbone all the time. Sit here for a moment, +both of you. I am going to give Jameson orders myself not to admit any +one for a little while." + +She crossed the room and they were alone for a moment. They exchanged +quick glances, and Guy laughed at the consternation in Virginia's face. + +"Don't be scared, little woman," he said. "You'll get on all right with +my aunt, I am sure. She is a little odd just at first, and she hates to +show any feeling about anything, but she's a thundering good sort." + +"She seems just a little casual, doesn't she?" Virginia asked--"rather +as though you had brought me to call?" + +"Don't you worry, dear," he answered, smiling. "That's only her manner. +Just drink your tea and you'll feel better." + +Virginia shook her head. + +"I can't, Guy," she declared. "It's just too poisonous." + +"I'll ring for some fresh," he said, moving toward the bell. + +"Please don't," she begged. "I hate tea anyway. Guy, you are not sorry, +are you?" + +He took her hand and laughed reassuringly. + +"You little idiot!" he said. "Do you want me to kiss you?" + +"I don't much care," Virginia answered. "I have a sort of feeling in my +throat that I want--some one to kiss me. You're quite, quite sure that +whatever your aunt may say you will never regret this?" + +"Absolutely, positively certain!" he declared. "And you?" + +"It isn't the same thing with me," Virginia declared, shaking her head. +"I am not going to marry a pig in a poke." + +"It's a very dear little pig," he said, resting his hand for a moment +upon her shoulder. + +Lady Medlincourt reappeared. She resumed her seat, and motioned Guy to +sit opposite to her. + +"Now we shall not be disturbed for at least a quarter of an hour," she +said, "and I want to hear all about it. You are very pretty, I am glad +to see, dear," she said, looking at Virginia contemplatively. "I hate +plain girls. What did you say that your name was?" + +"Virginia Longworth!" Virginia answered, blushing. + +"Quite a charming name!" Lady Medlincourt said, shutting her eyeglasses +with a snap. "Tell me all about her, Guy." + +"My dear aunt," he answered, laughing, "we aren't married yet." + +Lady Medlincourt nodded. + +"Ah!" she said. "No doubt you'll have plenty to discover later on. Put +it another way. Tell me the things that I must know about the Duchess of +Mowbray." + +"As for instance?" he asked quietly. + +"Her people," Lady Medlincourt said. "You are American, I suppose, +child?" she continued. "You have very little accent, but I fancy that I +can just detect it, and we don't see eyes like yours in England." + +"Yes, I am American, Lady Medlincourt," Virginia answered. + +"Who are your people, then?" Lady Medlincourt asked. "Where did you +meet? Who introduced you? Don't look at one another like a pair of +stupids. Remember that, however pointed my questions may sound, they are +things which I must know if I am to be of any use to you." + +Virginia went a little pale. + +"Lady Medlincourt," she said, "I am sorry, but I cannot answer any +questions just now." + +Lady Medlincourt drew back a little in her place. She looked at the girl +in frank amazement. + +"What!" she exclaimed. + +Guy leaned forward in his chair. + +"Dear aunt," he pleaded, "don't think that we are both mad, but I have +promised Virginia that she shan't be bothered with questions for a short +time. I met her on the steamer coming over from America, and that is all +we can tell you just now." + +Lady Medlincourt looked from one to the other. She was more than a +trifle bewildered. + +"Bless the boy!" she exclaimed. "You don't call this bothering her with +questions, do you? She can tell me about her people, can't she?" + +"Her people," he answered firmly, "are going to be my people." + +Lady Medlincourt gasped. + +"You have known her, then," she said, "about three weeks?" + +"I have known her long enough to realize that she is the girl whom I +have been waiting for all my life." + +Lady Medlincourt shrugged her shoulders. + +"All your life!" she exclaimed impatiently. "Twenty-eight silly years! +Have you nothing more to say to me than this, either of you? Do you +seriously mean that you bring this very charming young lady here, and +ask me to accept her as your fiancée, without a single word of +explanation as to her antecedents, who she is, or where she came from?" + +Virginia rose to her feet. + +"Guy," she said, turning towards him, "we ought never to have come here. +Lady Medlincourt has a perfect right to ask these questions. Until we +can answer them we ought to go away." + +Guy took her hand in his. + +"Aunt," he said, "can't you trust a little in my judgment? Look at her. +She is the girl whom I love, and whom I am going to trust with my name. +Can't you let it go at that for the present?" + +Lady Medlincourt shook her head. + +"No, I cannot, Guy!" she said, "and if you weren't a silly fool you +would not ask me. The future Duchess of Mowbray has to explain her +position, whether she is a gentlewoman or a chorus girl. There's plenty +of rope for her nowadays. She may be pretty well anything she pleases, +but she must be some one. Don't think I am a brute, dear," she added, +turning not unkindly to Virginia. "I like your appearance all right, and +I dare say we could be friends. But if you wish me to accept you as my +nephew's future wife, you must remember that the position which he is +giving you is one that has its obligations as well as its pleasures. +You'll have to open your pretty little mouth, or I am afraid I can't do +anything for you." + +Virginia turned to Guy. + +"Your aunt is quite right," she said. "I know it must sound very +foolish, but I came over here on an errand which I cannot tell any one +about just yet." + +"That, of course, is for you to decide," Lady Medlincourt said, rising, +"but I wouldn't be silly about it if I were you. I must go and change my +gown, as I have some people coming for bridge. Supposing you show her +the house, Guy, and when I come back perhaps both of you may have +changed your minds and be a little more reasonable. Remember," she +added, turning to Virginia, "that I am quite serious in what I say. It +will give me very great pleasure to be of any possible use to the +affianced wife of my favourite nephew, but there must be no secrets. I +hate secrets, especially about women. If your father is a +market-gardener it's all right, so long as you can explain exactly who +you are and where you came from; but there must be no mystery. Talk it +over with her, Guy. I'll look in here on my way out." + +She nodded a little curtly but not unkindly, and swept toward the door, +which Guy opened and closed after her. Then he came slowly back, and, +putting his arm around Virginia's waist, kissed her. + +"You don't want to see the house, do you?" he asked. + +Virginia shook her head. + +"Not a bit," she answered. "I think that we had better go away." + +"There is no hurry," he answered slowly. "We may as well stay and talk +it over a bit. When one comes to think of it, it is trying the old lady +pretty high, isn't it? Suppose we just review the situation for a minute +or two. Something might occur to us." + +Virginia leaned back against the cushions. + +"Certainly," she answered. "You review it and I'll listen." + +"Right!" Guy answered. "I met you first, then, never mind exactly how +long ago, on the steamer coming from America. You were quite alone, +unescorted, and unchaperoned. That in itself, as of course you know, was +a very remarkable thing. Nevertheless, I think you will admit that it +did not terrify me. We became--well, pretty good friends, didn't we?" + +"I think we did," she admitted. + +"Afterwards," he continued, "we met again at Luigi's restaurant. There +again I found you alone, in a restaurant where the women who know what +they are doing would not dream of entering without a proper escort. +Forgive me, but I want you to understand the position thoroughly. I saw, +of course, that you were being annoyed by the attentions of almost every +man who entered the place, and in my very best manner I came over and +made a suggestion." + +Virginia sighed. + +"You did it very nicely," she murmured. + +"I rather flatter myself," he continued, "that I showed tact. I asked +simply to be allowed to sit at your table. Before we had finished dinner +I asked you, for the second time, to marry me." + +"That," she declared, "was distinctly forward." + +"You will remember that I refused to discuss things with you then. I +told you that I was coming for you the next morning, and I mentioned +what I thought of bringing with me. When I arrived at your +boarding-house you had gone. You left no word nor any message. I don't +consider that that was treating me nicely." + +"It wasn't," she admitted, "but you have forgiven me for it." + +He nodded. + +"Of course I have. Well, a few nights later I saw you dining with a man +whom I know slightly, a clever fellow, distinctly a man of the world. +You were dining with him alone. I followed you home to Coniston +Mansions. Then I came away, and hesitated for some time whether to get +drunk or go for a swim in the Thames. Eventually I went home to bed." + +"It was very sensible," she murmured. + +"The next night," he continued, "you were dining with the same man +again, only this time he did not go back with you to Coniston Mansions. +I did, and before I left you, you had promised to be my wife. You warned +me to ask you no questions, and I didn't. I know as little of you now as +I did on the steamer. I know that this man Norris Vine has a flat within +a few yards of yours, and in the same building, but I ask no questions. +I think that you must certainly acquit me of anything in the shape of +undue curiosity. I was content to know that I had fallen in love with +the sweetest little girl I had ever set eyes on." + +She pressed his hand and sighed. + +"Guy, you're a dear!" she said. + +"It was quite sufficient for me," he continued, "that you are what you +are. It is sufficient for me even now. The trouble is that it won't be +sufficient for everybody. You can see that for yourself, dear, +can't you?" + +Virginia drew a little away. He fancied that the hand which still rested +in his was growing colder. + +"I suppose so," she murmured. + +"I am glad you realize that," Guy said earnestly. "Now look here, +Virginia. You saw the line my aunt took. There's no doubt that from a +certain point of view she's right. I wonder whether, under the +circumstances, it would be better"--he hesitated, and looked at her for +a moment--"better--you see what I mean, don't you?" + +"I am not quite sure," she said. "Hadn't you better tell me?" + +Guy looked at her in surprise. + +"Why, that was just what I thought I had done," he declared. "What I +mean is that after all, although for my own sake I wouldn't ask a +question, it might be as well for you to tell my aunt what she wants to +know. It would make things much more comfortable." + +"I think you are quite right," Virginia said softly. + +Guy stooped and kissed her. + +"Dear little lady!" he declared. "I'll go and tell her, and bring her +back." + +He found his aunt descending the stairs, but when they reached the +morning-room it was empty. Guy looked around in surprise, and stepped +out into the hall. Jameson hurried up to him. + +"The young lady has just gone, sir," he said deferentially. "I called a +hansom for her myself. She seemed rather in a hurry." + +Guy stood for a moment motionless. + +"Do you happen to remember the address she gave you?" he asked the man. + +"I am sorry, your Grace. I did not hear it." + +Lady Medlincourt opened the door of the morning-room. + +"I think, Guy," she said, "you had better come in and talk to me." + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + +ANOTHER DISAPPEARANCE + +It was between half-past four and five o'clock in the morning, and +London for the most part slept. Down in the street below, the roar of +traffic, which hour after hour had grown less and less, had now died +away. Within the building itself every one seemed asleep. Floor after +floor looked exactly the same. The lights along the corridors were +burning dimly. Every door was closed except the door of the +service-room, in which a sleepy waiter lay upon a couch and dreamed of +his Fatherland. The lift had ceased to run. The last of the belated +sojourners had tramped his way up the carpeted stairs. On the fifth +floor, as on all the others, a complete and absolute silence reigned. +Suddenly a door was softly opened. Virginia, dressed in a loose gown, +and wearing felt slippers which sank noiselessly into the thick carpet, +came slowly out from her room. She looked all around and realized the +complete solitude of the place. Then she crossed the corridor swiftly, +and without a moment's hesitation fitted the key which she was carrying +in her hand into the lock of Norris Vine's room. The door opened +noiselessly. She closed it behind her and paused to listen. There was +not a sound in the place, and the door on the left, which led into the +sitting-room, was ajar. She stepped in, and, after another moment's +hesitation, closed the door softly behind her and gently raised the +blind. The sunlight came streaming in. There was no need for the +electric light. The sitting room, none too tidy, showed signs of its +owner's late return. There was a silk hat and a pair of white kid gloves +upon the table, and on the sideboard a half-empty glass of whiskey and +soda. Several cigarette ends were in the grate. An evening paper lay +upon the hearthrug. She knew from these things that a few yards away +Norris Vine lay sleeping. + +Without hesitation, with swift and stealthy fingers, she commenced a +close and careful scrutiny of every inch of the room. In a quarter of +an hour she had satisfied herself. There was no hiding-place left which +could possibly have escaped her. The more dangerous part of her +enterprise was to come. Very softly she opened the door, leaving it ajar +as she had found it. She stood before the closed door of the bedroom. +Very slowly, and with the tips of her fingers, she turned the handle. It +opened without a sound. She had no garments on that rustled, and the +soles of her slippers were of thick felt. She stood inside the room +without having made the slightest sound. She held her breath for a +moment, and then summoning up her courage, she looked toward the bed. +The close-drawn curtains were unable to altogether exclude the early +morning sunlight which streamed in through the chinks of the curtains +and the uncovered part of the window. + +Virginia stood as though she had been turned to stone. Every nerve in +her body seemed tense and quivering. The cry which rose from her heart +parted her death-white lips, but remained unuttered. Wider and wider +grew her eyes as she gazed with horror across the room. The power of +action seemed to be denied to her. Her knees shook; a sort of paralysis +seemed to stifle every sense of movement. She swayed and nearly fell, +but her hand met the corner of the mantelpiece and she held herself +erect. Gradually, second by second, the arrested life commenced to flow +once more through her veins. She had but one impulse--to fly. She +thought nothing of the motive of her coming, only to place the door +between her and this! Unsteadily, but without accident, she passed +through the door, and though her hand shook like a leaf, she managed to +close it noiselessly again. Somehow, she never quite knew how, she found +herself outside in the corridor, and a moment later safe in her own room +with the door bolted. Then she threw herself upon the bed, and it seemed +to her afterwards that she must have fainted! + + * * * * * + +Only a few hours later Guy, who had slept little that night, and had +waked with a desperate resolve, stepped out of the lift and knocked at +Virginia's door. There was no answer. The waiter came out from the +service-room and approached him. + +"The young lady has left, sir," he announced. + +"Left?" Guy repeated aimlessly. "When? How long ago?" + +"Barely half an hour, sir," the man answered. + +"She paid up her bill as I know, and left the key behind. The rooms +belong to her for another fortnight, but she didn't seem as though she +were coming back." + +"Did she leave any address for letters?" Guy asked. + +"If you inquire at the office, sir, they will tell you," the man +answered. + +Guy went down to the office. + +"Can you tell me," he asked, "if Miss Longworth has left any address?" + +The man shook his head. + +"She left an hour ago, sir," he said. "She said there would be no +letters, and if we liked we could let her rooms, as she was certain not +to come back." + +"You cannot help me to find her, then?" Guy asked. "I am the Duke of +Mowbray, and I should be exceedingly obliged to any one who could help +me to discover this young lady." + +They were all sent for at once, porter, commissionaire, hall-boy. The +information he was able to obtain, however, was scanty indeed. Virginia +had simply told the cabman, who had taken her and her luggage away, to +drive along the Strand toward Charing Cross. + +Guy drove back to Grosvenor Square, and insisted upon going up to his +aunt's room. She received him under protest in her dressing-gown. + +"My dear Guy," she expostulated, "what is the meaning of this? You know +that I am never visible until luncheon time." + +"Forgive me?" he said. "I scarcely know what I am doing this morning." +"Well, what is it?" she demanded. + +"Virginia has gone!" he answered, "left her rooms, left no address +behind her. What a fool I was not to follow her up last night! She +waited until this morning. She must have expected that I would come, and +I didn't. I was a d----d silly ass!" + +Lady Medlincourt yawned. + +"Have you come here to tell me that, my dear Guy?" she said. "So +unnecessary! You might at least have telephoned it." + +"Look here," he said, "we were too rough on her yesterday afternoon. I +made no conditions as to what she should tell me when I asked her to be +my wife. I was quite content that she should say yes. I know she's all +right; I feel it, and she's the only girl I shall ever care a fig for!" + +"I really cannot see," Lady Medlincourt murmured, "why you should drag +me from my bed to talk such rubbish. If you feel like that, go and look +for her. It is open for you to marry whom you choose, the lady who is +selling primroses at the corner of the Square if you wish. The only +thing is that you cannot expect your friends to marry her too. What did +you come here for, advice or sympathy? I have none of the latter for +you, and you wouldn't take the former. Do, there's a good boy, leave me! +I want to have my bath, and the hairdresser is waiting." + +Guy turned on his heel and left the house. There was only one thing left +to be done, although he hated doing it. He went to the office of a +private detective. + +"Mind," he said, when he had told them what he wanted, "I will not have +the young lady worried or annoyed in any form if you should happen to +find her. Simply let me know where she is living. The rest is my affair. +You understand?" + +"Perfectly!" the man answered. "We are to spare no expense, I presume?" + +It did him good to be able to answer fervently, "None whatever, only +find her!" + + + +CHAPTER XV + + +MR. DUGE THREATENS + +The morning papers were full of the news. Phineas Duge had landed in +London! The Stock Exchange was fluttered. Those whose hands were upon +the money-markets of the world paused to turn their heads towards the +hotel where he had taken a suite of rooms. Interviewers, acquaintances, +actual and imaginary, beggars for themselves and for others, left their +cards and hung around. In the hotel they spoke of him with bated breath, +as though something of divinity attached itself to the person of the man +whose power for good or for evil was so far-reaching. + +Meanwhile Phineas Duge, who had had a tiresome voyage, and who was not a +little fatigued, slept during the greater part of the morning following +his arrival, with his faithful valet encamped outside the door. The +first guest to be admitted, when at last he chose to rise, was +Littleson. It was close upon luncheon time, and the two men descended +together to the grillroom of the hotel. + +"A quiet luncheon and a quiet corner," Littleson suggested, "some place +where we can talk. Duge, it's good to see you in London. I feel somehow +that with you on the spot we are safe." + +Phineas Duge smiled a little dubiously. They found their retired corner +and ordered luncheon. Then Littleson leaned across the table. + +"Duge," he said, "I'm thankful that we've made it up. Weiss cabled me +that you had come to terms, and that you were on your way over here to +deal with the other matter. It's cost us a few millions to try and get +the blind side of you." + +Phineas Duge smiled very slightly; that is to say, his lips parted, but +there was no relaxation of his features. + +"Littleson," he said, "before we commence to talk, have you seen +anything of my niece over here?" + +Littleson was a little surprised. He had not imagined that Phineas Duge +would ever again remember his niece's existence. + +"Yes," he answered, "I crossed over with her." + +"And since then?" + +"I have seen her once or twice," Littleson answered a little dubiously. + +"Alone?" Phineas Duge asked. + +"Not always," Littleson answered. "Twice I have seen her with Norris +Vine, and twice with a young Englishman who was on the steamer." + +Phineas Duge said nothing for a moment. He seemed to be studying the +menu, but he laid it down a little abruptly. + +"Do you happen to know," he asked, "where she is now?" + +"I haven't an idea," Littleson answered truthfully. "To be frank with +you, she was not particularly amiable when I spoke to her on the +steamer. She evidently wanted to have very little to say to me, so I +thought it best to leave her alone." + +"How long is it," Phineas Duge asked, "since you saw her?" + +"It is about a week ago," Littleson answered. "She was dining at Luigi's +with Norris Vine. I remember that I was rather surprised to see her with +him. He seems to possess some sort of attraction for your family." +Phineas Duge looked at the speaker coldly, and Littleson felt that +somehow, somewhere, he had blundered. He made a great show of commencing +his first course. + +"Let me know exactly," Phineas Duge said, a moment or two later, "what +you have done with regard to the man Vine." + +Littleson glanced cautiously around. + +"I have seen him," he said. "I have argued the matter from every +possible side. I found him, I must say, absolutely impossible. He will +not deal with us upon any terms. I fear that he is only biding his time. +Every day I see by the papers that the agitation increases, and it seems +to me that if this bill passes, we shall all practically be criminals. I +think that Norris Vine is waiting for the moment when he can do so with +the greatest dramatic effect, to fill his rotten paper with a verbatim +copy of that document." + +"It would be," Phineas Duge remarked, "uncommonly awkward for you and +Weiss and the others." + +"We couldn't be extradited," Littleson answered, "and I shall take +remarkably good care not to cross the ocean again until this thing has +blown over." + +"If it ever does," Phineas Duge remarked quietly. "Well, go on about +Norris Vine." + +Once more Littleson looked around the room. + +"You know Dan Prince is over here?" he said softly. + +Duge nodded. + +"So far," he remarked, "his being over here does not seem to have +affected the situation." + +"He has made one attempt," Littleson whispered. "He got inside, and he +had certain information that Vine was going to return that night. +Whether he had warning or not no one can tell, but he never came back. +They followed him a few nights ago across Trafalgar Square, hoping that +he was going down toward the Embankment, but he took a hansom and drove +to his club. They followed, and waited for him to come out, but there +was a policeman standing at the very entrance, within a foot of them. +This isn't New York, Duge. You can't depend upon getting the coast clear +for this sort of thing over here, and Prince will take no risks. He is a +rich man in his way, and he wants to live to enjoy his money. He's as +clever as they make them, although he's failed twice here. I fancy he +has something else pending." + +"And meanwhile," Duge said quietly, "to-morrow morning's paper may +contain our damnation." + +"It may, of course," Littleson answered. "I don't think so, though. He +doesn't move a yard without being shadowed, and he hasn't written out a +cable when some one hasn't been near his shoulder." + +"That is the position, then, so far as you know it?" Duge asked. +"Absolutely!" Littleson answered. "I can tell you nothing more." + +Duge finished his luncheon and signed the bill. Then he made an +appointment to dine with Littleson, and sent out for an automobile. When +it arrived he was driven to the American Embassy. At the mention of his +name everything was made easy, and he found himself in a few minutes in +the presence of the ambassador. + +"Glad to meet you once more, Mr. Duge," he said. "You have forgotten me, +I dare say, but I think we came across one another at a banquet in New +York about four years ago." + +"I remember it perfectly," Phineas Duge answered. "A dull affair it was, +but we talked of the Asiatic Powers and kept ourselves amused. Since +then, you see, all that I said has become justified." + +Deane smiled. + +"They say that with you that is always the case," he answered. "'Duge +the Infallible' I heard a stockbroker once call you." + +Duge smiled. + +"Well," he said, "if I remember your politics, and I think I do, you are +going to try and take away that title from me. You are amongst those, +are you not, who have set themselves to dam the torrents?" + +Deane shook his head a little stiffly. + +"In the diplomatic service," he said, "we have no politics." + +"Sometimes," Duge murmured, "you come in touch with them. For instance, +I should like to know what advice you are going to give Norris Vine +about the publication of that little document in his paper." + +Deane looked for a moment annoyed. + +"I am afraid," he said, "that I cannot answer you that question." + +"If you advise him one way or the other," Phineas Duge said, "you give +the lie to your own statement, that in diplomacy there are no politics. +Your advice will show on which side you intend to stand." + +"I have not given any advice," Deane replied. + +"Nor must you," Phineas Duge said pleasantly enough. "It is not your +affair at all, Mr. Deane. I grant your cleverness, your shrewdness, even +your common sense, but all three are academic. They have no direct +relation to the actual things of the world. Wealth is one of those +forces which only strong fingers can gather, a stream which if you like +you can divert, but you cannot dam. I want to tell you, Mr. Deane, that +if you advise Norris Vine at all, you must see to it that you advise him +to place that paper upon the fire, or to restore it from whence it +was stolen." + +"I am afraid, Mr. Duge," the ambassador said, "that I cannot recognize +you as possessed of such authority as to justify the use of the word +'must.' I am in the habit of doing what I think right and well." + +Phineas Duge bowed his head. + +"I will only remind you, Mr. Deane," he said, "of the facts which led to +the withdrawal of our ministers from Lisbon and Paris and Vienna. I am +not proud of the power which undoubtedly lies in the palm of my right +hand. On the other hand, I should be foolish if I did not remind you of +these things at a time like this. I only ask you to take up a passive +attitude. You escape in that way all trouble, and if you fancy that the +climate of Paris would suit you or Mrs. Deane better than London, it +would be a matter of a few months only; but--you must not advise the +other way!" + +The ambassador was distinctly uneasy. Duge saw his embarrassment and +hastened on. + +"I ask you for no reply, Mr. Deane," he said; "not even for an +expression of opinion. I have said all that I came to say. Apart from +any question of self-interest, I can assure you, as a man who sees as +clearly as his neighbours, that you could do no good, but much evil, by +advising Norris Vine to hold up these men to the ridicule and contempt +of the world. He might sell a million copies of his paper, but he would +create an enmity which in the end, I think, would swamp him. Mrs. Deane, +I trust, is well?" + +"She is in excellent health," the ambassador answered. "What can I do +for you during your stay? I presume you know that anything you desire is +open to you? You represent, you see, a great uncrowned royalty, to whom +all the world bows. Will you come to Court?" + +"Not I," Duge answered. "Those things are for another type of man. There +was a further question which I wished to ask you. I have a niece who +came over here on a foolish errand, a Miss Virginia Longworth. Do you +happen to have seen or heard anything of her?" + +"Nothing," the ambassador replied; "nothing personally, at any rate. I +will inquire of my secretaries." + +He left the room for a few minutes, and returned shaking his head. + +"Nothing is known about her at all," he declared. + +"If she should apply here," Duge said, rising and drawing on his gloves, +"assist her in any way and let me know at once. She must be getting," he +continued, "rather short of money. You can advance her whatever sum she +asks for, and I will make it good." + +Phineas Duge walked out into the sunlight and drove away in his +automobile. Was it the glaring light, he wondered, the perfume of the +flowers, the evidences on every side of an easier and less strenuous +life, which were accountable for a certain depression, a slackening of +interests which certainly seemed to come over him that afternoon as he +drove back to the hotel. If he could have summarized his thoughts +afterwards, he would have scoffed at them, as a grown man might laugh at +a toy which a lunatic had offered him. Yet it is certain that the empty +place by his side was filled more than once during that brief ride. He +looked into the faces of the women and girls who streamed along the +pavements with a certain half-eager curiosity, as though he expected to +find a familiar face amongst them, a pale oval face, with quivering lips +and lustrous appealing eyes--eyes which had come into his thoughts more +often lately than he would have cared to admit. + +"It is that infernal voyage!" he said to himself, as he got out of the +car and entered the hotel. "One cannot think about reasonable things on +days when the marconigram fails." + +He bought a cigar at the stall and strolled over to the tape. It was a +busy afternoon, and reports from America were coming in fast. He nodded +as he turned away. Weiss and the rest had had their lesson. They were +keeping, at any rate, to their part of the bargain. + + + +CHAPTER XVI + + +TRAPPED + +Phineas Duge carefully drew off his gloves and laid them inside his hat. +He declined a chair, however, and stood facing the man whom he had +come to visit. + +"I scarcely understand, Mr. Duge," Vine said, "what you can possibly +want with me. Our former relations have scarcely been of so pleasant a +nature as to render a visit from you easily to be understood." + +"I will admit," Phineas Duge said coldly, "that personally I have no +interest or any concern in you. But nevertheless there are two matters +which must bring us together so far as the holding of a few minutes' +conversation can count. In the first place, I want to know whether you +are going to make use of the paper which my daughter stole, and which +you feloniously received? In the second place, I want to know how much +or what you will accept for the return of that paper? And thirdly, I +want to know what the devil you have done with my niece, Virginia +Longworth?" + +"Your niece, Virginia Longworth," Norris Vine repeated thoughtfully. +"Are you in earnest, sir?" + +"I am in earnest," Duge answered. + +"Then I have done nothing with her," Vine declared. "I do not know where +she is. I do not know why you should ask me?" + +"You lie!" Phineas Duge said quietly. "But let that go. It is your +trade, of course. I came here to give you the opportunity of answering +questions. I scarcely expected that such direct methods would appeal +to you." + +"Your methods, at any rate," Vine said, moving toward the bell, "are not +such as I am disposed to permit in my own apartment." + +Phineas Duge stretched out his hand. + +"One moment, Mr. Vine," he said. + +Vine stopped. + +"Well?" he asked. + +"I refer again," Phineas Duge said, "to the question of my niece. As +regards those other matters, if you do not wish to discuss them with me, +let them go. Even in this country you will find that I am not powerless. +But as regards my niece, I insist upon some explanation from you." + +"Some explanation of what?" Vine asked. + +"When she left New York a few months ago," Phineas Duge continued, "you +and she were strangers. Granted that she came upon a silly errand, still +it was not wholly her own fault, and she was only a simple child who +ought never to have been permitted to have left America," + +"Up to that point, Mr. Duge," Vine said drily, "I am entirely in accord +with you." + +"She made your acquaintance somehow," Phineas Duge continued, "and you +were seen out with her at different restaurants; once, I believe, at a +place of amusement. She left her boarding-house and took rooms here in +this building. Her room, I find, was across the corridor, only a few +feet away from yours. What is there between you and my niece, +Norris Vine?" + +Vine leaned against the table, and a faint smile flickered over his +face. + +"Really, Mr. Duge," he said, "you must forgive my amusement. The idea +that anything so trivial as the well-being of a niece should interest +you in the slightest, seems to me almost paradoxical." + +Phineas Duge +was silent for several moments, his keen eyes fixed upon Vine's face. + +"Pray enjoy your jests as much as you will, Mr. Vine," he said, "but +answer my questions." + +"Your niece," Norris Vine said, "came over here to rob me, at whose +instigation I can only surmise. My first introduction to her was in my +room, where she came as a thief. What consideration have you ever shown, +Phineas Duge, even to the innocent who have crossed your paths? Why +should you expect that I should show consideration to this simple child +who came across the ocean to steal from me?" + +There was still no change in Duge's face, but a little breath came +quickly through his teeth, and, as though insensibly, he moved a little +nearer to the man opposite him. + +"Where is she now, Norris Vine?" he asked. + +"If she is not in her rooms," Vine answered, "I do not know." + +"She has given up her rooms, taken her luggage, and gone away," Duge +said. "Perhaps it is you who have driven her out of this place." + +"I was not aware of it," Vine answered. "As a matter of fact I expected +her to lunch with me to-day." + +Phineas Duge looked down upon the table before which he stood. He +seemed to be turning something over in his mind, and opposite to him +Norris Vine waited. When Duge looked up again, Vine seemed to notice for +the first time that his visitor was aging. + +"Norris Vine," he said, "you and I have been enemies since the day when +we became aware of one another's existence. We represent different +principles. There is not a point in life on which our interests, as well +as our theories, do not clash. But there are things outside the battle +for mere existence which men with any fundamental sense of honour can +discuss, even though they are enemies. I wish to ask you once more +whether you can give me any news of my niece." + +"I can give you none," Norris Vine answered. "All that I can tell you is +that I found her a charming, simple-minded girl, in terrible trouble +because of your anger, and the fear that you would impoverish her +people; and goaded on by that fear to attempt things which, in her saner +moments, she would never have dreamed of thinking of. Where she is now, +what has become of her, I do not know; but I would not like to be the +person on whom rests the responsibility of her presence here and +anything that may happen to her." + +Phineas Duge took up his hat and gloves. + +"I thank you, Mr. Vine," he said. "Your expression of opinion is +interesting to me. In the meantime, to revert to business, am I right in +concluding that you have nothing to say to me, that you do not wish even +to discuss a certain matter?" + +"You are right in your assumption, sir," Norris Vine answered. "I see +no purpose in it. What I may do or leave undone would never be +influenced by anything that you might say." + +Phineas Duge turned toward the door. Norris Vine followed him. There was +not, however, any motion on the part of either to indulge in any form of +leave-taking; but Phineas Duge half opened the door, stood for a moment +with his hand upon the handle, and looked back into the room. + +"I fear, Mr. Vine," he said, "that you are developing an insular +weakness. You are forgetting to be candid, and you are just a little too +self-reliant." + +He opened the door suddenly quite wide, but he made no motion to depart. +On the contrary two men, who must have been standing within a foot or so +of it, stepped quickly in. Phineas Duge closed the door. + + + +CHAPTER XVII + + +MR. DUGE FAILS + +Norris Vine without a doubt was trapped. He realized it from the moment +Phineas Duge closed the door and turned the key. The two men who had +entered were to all appearance absolutely harmless and ordinary. They +were dressed most correctly in dark clothes of fashionable cut. Each +wore a silk hat, and would have passed without a moment's question +amongst any ordinary group of better-class city men. Nevertheless, when +at his quick motion toward the bell the fingers of one of them closed +upon his arm, he knew very well that he was helpless. He suffered them +to lead him without resistance into the little sitting-room. What could +he have done? If he had opened his mouth to call out, he saw the hand of +the man who was watching him, with his arm linked through his, ready to +close his lips. They all passed into the sitting-room, and Phineas Duge +closed the door behind them. + +"I am sorry," he said, "to resort to such old-fashioned measures, but +as you know I am methodical in all my ways. The first place to look for +stolen goods is obviously in the abode of the thief. Frankly, I have not +much expectation of discovering anything here. At the same time I could +not afford to run the risk of leaving these rooms and your person +unsearched." + +"I can quite appreciate that," Norris Vine said, seating himself in the +armchair towards which he was being gently pushed. "The only favour I +will ask is that you are as quick as possible, as I have rather a busy +afternoon, and want to lunch early." + +"These gentlemen," Phineas Duge remarked, "are quite used to little +affairs of this sort. I do not think that you need fear that there will +be any undue delay." + +Even while he spoke both of them were busy. Vine felt a silken cord +being drawn about his legs and chest. Something was slid softly into his +mouth. In less than two minutes he was bound and gagged. Then he had an +opportunity, so far as the sitting-room was concerned, of watching a +search conducted upon scientific principles. + +In about twenty minutes the place looked as though a tornado had struck +it. The search, however, was over. The two men were prepared to +guarantee that no papers of any sort were hidden in any place within the +reach of any one in that room. They carried him, bound as he was, into +the bedroom, and he watched with interest, and some admiration, a +repetition of the search. The result, however, was the same. Then the +two men came over to him, and he felt his bonds softly loosened. Only +the gag remained in his mouth, and one by one his garments were removed +from him. A trained valet could not have been more careful or deft. The +contents of all his pockets were hastily run through and restored. His +under garments were felt all over for any hidden hiding place. Even his +shoes were taken off, and the inner sole cut through with a knife. +Finally the two men turned towards Phineas Duge. Their faces were a mute +expression of the fact that the search was over. Phineas Duge motioned +them to remove the gag. They did so, and Vine, who was now free, stood +up and commenced to dress. + +"I am sorry," Phineas Duge said calmly, "to have inconvenienced you, +but, of course, a person who becomes a receiver of stolen goods is +always liable to a little affair of this sort. You are quite at liberty +to ring the bell now if you like, and to make complaints about us. My +methods may have seemed to you a little melodramatic, but as a matter of +fact they are entirely commonplace. These two gentlemen are connected +with the American police, and it may interest you to know that we have +with us warrants for the arrest both of yourself and my daughter, Miss +Stella Duge, on the charge of theft and conspiracy. All that we have +done here has been quite legal, except that we should have been +accompanied by a gentleman from Scotland Yard, with whose presence we +preferred to dispense. You can make what complaints you like, and I +shall immediately apply for your extradition. In any case I expect to do +so to-morrow or the next day, if a certain document is not forthcoming. +You see I am placing myself in your hands. You have time even now to +cable its contents to New York before the warrant can be executed." + +Norris Vine was busy tying his tie, and waited for a moment until he had +arranged it to his satisfaction. Then he turned round. + +"I can assure you," he said, "I had not the slightest intention of +making any complaint with regard to your doings here. In fact, I can +truthfully say that I have rather enjoyed the whole proceeding. To tell +you the truth," he continued, moving across the room and taking a +cigarette from the mantelpiece and lighting it, "when I heard that you +were in England, I was exceedingly curious to know what your methods +would be. 'Phineas Duge the Invincible' they have called you. I knew +that you came over here because you had entered in a fresh alliance with +your gang, and I knew therefore that you came over to get back that +document. I imagine that if you can get it you can make your own terms +with them. I must say that I have been exceedingly curious to know what +your methods would be in approaching me. Littleson could suggest nothing +better than a bribe and a common burglary. There is something much more +attractive about the way you have opened the proceedings. I consider +that this little affair, for instance, has been most artistic. If you +have not discovered what you sought, you have at least discovered the +fact that it is not here. That gives you something to start upon. How +kind of your assistants! I see that they are putting my room +straight again." + +Phineas Duge nodded. He showed no disappointment at the ill-success of +this first effort, and he was watching Vine all the time curiously. + +"Your further plan of operations," Vine continued, "is again worthy of +you. I believe all that you say. I believe that you have the warrants, +and I believe that you could easily obtain an extradition order. On the +other hand, I am perfectly well aware that this is only a feint. It is a +good scheme up to a certain point, of course, although neither your +daughter nor myself could be convicted of conspiracy without the +production of what we are supposed to have stolen. Still, as I said, it +is a good feint, and it has made me curious. I wonder what your real +scheme is! I do not think that you will tell me that." + +Phineas Duge smiled. + +"You should have been a diplomatist. Mr. Vine," he said. "As a +journalist you are wasted. You might even have achieved what I presume +you would have called infamy, as a financier." + +"Ah, well!" Norris Vine said, "the world is full of those who have +missed their vocation. I am content to pass amongst the throng. Can I +offer you anything before you go? A whisky and soda, or a glass +of sherry?" + +"I think not, thank you," Phineas Duge said. "You are naturally in a +hurry to keep your luncheon engagement, and I see that my friends have +succeeded in restoring your apartment to some semblance of order. We +part now to pass on to the second stage of our little duel. Understand +that, so far as regards this little matter of business, I have no +special ill-feeling towards you, Mr. Vine. I ask you even no questions +concerning your friendship with my daughter. She is old enough to know +her own mind, and she has heard my views often enough; but I should like +you to know this, and to remember that I who say it am a man of many +faults, but one virtue: never in my life have I broken my word. If I +find that my niece has disappeared through any ill-usage of yours, I +will risk the few years that may be left to me of life, and I will shoot +you like a dog the first time that we meet." + +Norris Vine looked gravely across at the man whose words so quietly +spoken, seemed yet from their very repression to be charged with an +intense dramatic force. He knew so well that the man who spoke them +meant what he said and would surely keep his word. He shrugged his +shoulders very slightly. + +"My dear sir," he said, "I fear that I have misunderstood you. I could +have imagined your sentiment being aroused by the sight of a dollar bill +being burnt and wasted, but I never expected to see it kindled upon the +subject of your niece, or any other human being. I amend my judgment of +you. You are really not the man I thought you were. If your friends have +quite finished "--he took up his hat and glanced for a moment at his +watch. Duge turned toward the door. + +"Once more, Mr. Vine," he said, "my regrets, and good morning!" + +The three men left the room. Vine remained, leaning against the +mantelpiece, and whistling softly to himself. He went through the whole +of a popular ballad, and then he tried it in a different key. When he +was sure that the three men had had time to leave the building, he too +took up his hat and went out. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + + +ADVICE FOR MR. VINE + +Mr. Deane was on the point of accompanying his wife for their usual +afternoon's drive in the park. A glance at the card which was brought to +him just as he was preparing to leave the house, however, was sufficient +to change his plans. + +"My dear," he said to his wife, "you will have to excuse me this +afternoon. I have a caller whom I must see." + +"Shall I wait for a few minutes?" she asked. + +"Better not," he answered, "I imagine that I may be detained some time." + +He took off his hat and coat, and made his way to the library, where +Phineas Duge was awaiting him. The ambassador was a broad-minded man, +loath to take sides unless he was compelled in the huge struggle, the +coming of which he had prophesied years ago. He recognized in Phineas +Duge one of the great powers at the back of the nation which he +represented, and as a diplomatist he was fully prepared to receive him, +and welcome him as one. + +"I am very glad to see you again, Mr. Duge," he said, hospitably, +extending his hand, "I hope that you have changed your mind, and are +going to let us put you in the way of a few social amusements while you +are over here." + +"You are very kind," Duge answered, "but I think not. My visit here has +to do with two matters only, to both of which I think I have already +referred. You have heard nothing of my niece?" + +"Nothing whatever, I am sorry to say," Mr. Deane answered. + +"Well, there remains the other matter," Duge answered. "You and I have +already had a few words concerning that, and I am pleased to see that up +to the present, at any rate, our friend Mr. Vine has been governed by +the dictates of common sense. Still, I think you can understand that so +long as that paper exists the situation is an unpleasant one." + +Mr. Deane inclined his head slowly. + +"Without a doubt," he admitted, "it would be more comfortable for you +and your friends to feel that the document in question was no longer in +existence." + +"I am here in the interests," Mr. Duge answered a little stiffly, "of my +friends only. My own name does not appear upon it. However, my anxiety +to discover its whereabouts is none the less real." + +"You have seen Mr. Vine?" Mr. Dean asked. + +"I have," Duge answered, "and I have come to the conclusion, for which I +have some grounds, that the document is not for the moment in his +possession. I have therefore asked myself the question--to whom on this +side would he be likely to entrust it? It occurred to me that it might +be deposited at a bank, but I find that he has no banking account over +here. The American Express Company have no packet in their charge +consigned by him. Therefore I have come to the conclusion that he has +placed it in the care of some friend in whom he has unlimited +confidence. Foolish thing that to have, Mr. Deane," Phineas Duge +continued slowly, with his eyes fixed upon his companion. "One is likely +to be deceived even by the most unlikely people." + +"Your business career," Mr. Deane replied courteously, "no doubt has +taught you that caution is next to genius." + +"I would have you," Phineas Duge said impressively, "lay that little +axiom of yours to heart, Mr. Deane. I think you will agree with me that +a man in your position especially, the accredited ambassador of a great +country, should show himself more than ordinarily cautious in all his +doings and sayings, especially where the interests of any portion of his +country people are concerned." + +"I trust, Mr. Duge," the ambassador replied, "that I have always +realized that." + +"I too hope so," Duge answered. "I told you, I think, that I had come to +the conclusion that Norris Vine, not having that paper any longer in his +possession, has passed it on to some other person in whom his faith is +unbounded." + +"You did, I believe, mention that supposition," Mr. Deane assented. + +"I ask myself, therefore," Phineas Duge continued, "who, amongst his +friends in London, Norris Vine would be most likely to trust with the +possession of a document of such vast importance. Need I tell you the +first idea which suggested itself to me! It is for your advice that +Norris Vine has crossed the ocean. You have read the document. You know +its importance. There would, I imagine, be no hiding place in London so +secure as the Embassy safe which I see in the corner of your study!" + +"You suggest, then," Mr. Deane said slowly, "that Norris Vine has +deposited that document in my keeping." + +"I not only suggest it," Duge answered, "but I am thoroughly convinced +that such is the fact. Can you deny it?" + +Mr. Deane shrugged his shoulders. + +"The matter, so far as I am concerned in it," he answered, "is a +personal one between Vine and myself. I cannot answer your question." + +Phineas Duge shook his head thoughtfully. + +"That, Mr. Deane," he said, "is where you make a great mistake. Permit +me to say that your official position should, I am sure, preclude you +from taking any part in this business. The matter, you say, is a private +one. There can be no private matters between you, the paid and +accredited agent of your country, and one of its citizens. To speak +plainly, you have not the right to offer the shelter of the Embassy to +the document which Norris Vine has committed to your charge." + +"How do you know that he has done so?" Deane asked. + +"Call it inspiration if you like," Duge answered. "In any case I am sure +of it." + +There was a short silence. Then Mr. Deane rose to his feet a little +stiffly. + +"Perhaps you are right," he said, "and yet I am not sure." + +"A little reflection will, I think, convince you," Phineas Duge said +quietly. "Your retention of that document means that you take sides in +the civil war which seems hanging over my country. Further than that, +it also means--and although it pains me to say so, Mr. Deane, I assure I +you say it without any ill-feeling--a serious interruption to +your career." + +The ambassador was silent for several moments. + +"Mr. Duge," he said, "I am inclined to admit that up to a certain point +you have reason on your side. It is true that I am guarding the document +in question for Norris Vine, and it is also true that in doing so I am +perhaps departing a little from the strict propriety which my position +demands. I will therefore return to him the document, but I should like +you to understand that with every desire to retain your good will, I +shall give Mr. Vine such advice with regard to the use of it as seems to +me, as a private individual and a citizen of the United States, +judicious." + +Phineas Duge took up his hat. + +"As to that," he said, "I have nothing to say, beyond this. However +things may shape themselves in the immediate future, my influence will, +I believe, still prove something to be reckoned with on the other side. +That influence, Mr. Deane, I use for those who show themselves +my friends." + +The two men parted with some restraint. Deane, after a few minutes' +hesitation, went to the telephone and called up Vine at his club. + +"I want to talk to you, Vine, at once," he said. "Can you come round?" + +"In ten minutes," was the answer. + +"I shall wait for you," the ambassador answered, ringing off. + + + +CHAPTER XIX + + +THE CRISIS + +In a small, shabbily furnished room at the top of a tall apartment +house, Virginia was living through what seemed to her, as indeed it was, +a grim little tragedy. On the table before her was her little purse, +turned inside out, and by its side a few, a very few coins. The roll of +notes, which she had not changed, and which formed the larger part of +her little capital, was gone, hopelessly, absolutely gone. It was +nothing less than a disaster this, which she was forced to face. She had +left the purse about in her rooms in Coniston Mansions, or there were +many other places in which an expert thief would have found it a very +easy matter to remove the little bundle and replace it with that roll of +paper which she found in its place. + +Her first wild thought of rushing to the police-station she had +dismissed as useless. She had no idea when or where the theft had been +accomplished; only she knew that she was alone in a strange city, and +that the few shillings left to her were not even sufficient to pay for +the rent she already owed for her room. + +She dragged herself to the window and stood looking out across the grimy +house-tops. Her eyes were blurred with tears. It is doubtful whether she +saw anything of the uninspiring view, but it seemed to her that she +could certainly see the wreck of her own short life. She seemed to +realize then the mad folly of her journey, the hopelessness of it from +beginning to end. Quite apart from her failure, there was also a madness +of which she refused even to think, the aftertaste of those few hours of +delicious happiness. Had he ever tried to find her out, she wondered, +since that day when she had fled with burning cheeks and aching heart +from her rooms in Coniston Mansions, and sought to hide herself in the +cold bosom of this unlovely city. In any case she would never see him +again. Her one desire now, if it amounted to a desire, when all ways in +life seemed to her alike flat and profitless, was to find her way +somehow or other back to America, and to carry the bad news herself to +the little farmhouse in the valley. + +She looked at her pitiful little store of coins, and the problem of +existence seemed to become more and more difficult. After all, there was +another way for those who did not care to live. She found herself +harbouring the thought without a single sign of any revulsion of +feeling, accepting it as a matter to be seriously considered with dull, +calculating fatalism. What was the use of life when nothing remained to +hope for! It was, after all, an easy way out. + +She opened the window and looked below. The seven stories made her +dizzy. Nevertheless, she looked with a curious fascination to the stone +courtyard immediately underneath the window. Death would probably be +instantaneous. She leaned a little further out and then started suddenly +back into the room. A revulsion of feeling had overtaken her. It was a +hideous idea, this. For the sake of the others she must put it away from +her. She walked up and down the narrow confines of her room, and then +the necessity for action of some sort drove her out into the street. +Curiously enough, though she was being searched for by at least half a +dozen detectives and inquiry agents, she had taken no particular pains +to conceal herself beyond the fact that she had chosen a crowded and +low-class neighbourhood, and had seldom ventured out before dark. She +walked now to the office of a shipping agent which she had noticed on +her way here, and addressed herself to the clerk who hastened forward to +ascertain her wishes. + +"I want," she said, "to get to America, and have no money. All that I +had has been stolen. Could I get a passage and pay for it when I arrive? +A second class passage, of course." + +The clerk shook his head dubiously. + +"Have you no friends in London," he asked, "to whom you could apply for +a loan?" + +"Not a single one," she answered. + +"Why not cable?" he suggested. "You could have money wired over here to +your credit." + +"I do not wish to do that," Virginia answered. + +The young man shrugged his shoulders. + +"The only other course," he said, "would be to apply to the Embassy. +They might advance the money." + +Virginia walked out thoughtfully. After all, why not? Mr. Deane, she +knew, was a friend of her uncle's. He would perhaps let her have the +money, and she could send it back later on. She walked to the great +house in Ormande Gardens and asked to see Mr. Deane. The servant who +admitted her hesitated a little. + +"There is no one in just now, miss," he said, "except Mr. Deane, and he +is busy with a gentleman. If you will come into the waiting-room, I +will ask him whether he can spare you a moment when the gentleman +has gone." + +Virginia sat upon a very hard horsehair chair in a barely furnished +room, and waited. The table was covered with magazines, but she did not +touch them. She sat nervously twisting and untwisting her fingers. Then +the sudden sound of voices outside attracted her attention. The door of +the room in which she sat had been left ajar, and apparently two men, +passing down the hall from a room on the other side, had paused just +outside it. + +"Of course, I don't know what you will do with it, Vine," she heard some +one say, "but if you take my advice, you will find a secure hiding place +without a moment's delay. I am very sorry indeed that I cannot help you +out any longer, but I know you don't want me to run risks." + +"Rather not," Vine answered. "To tell you the truth, I think my mind is +made up. I am going to spend a little fortune cabling to-night." + +"Well, I am not sure but that you are wise," was the reply. "It's one of +those things the result of which it is quite impossible to prophesy. +Good luck to you anyway, Vine, and do, for the next few hours, take care +of yourself." + +Then Virginia heard a parting between the two men. One of them +apparently left the house, the other returned to the room from which +they had issued. Virginia did not hesitate for a moment. She passed on +tiptoe out of the room into the hall. A servant stood at the front door, +having that moment let Vine out. + +"I have decided not to wait for Mr. Deane any longer," she said. "I +will call and see one of the secretaries sometime to-morrow." + +The man let her out without question. She was just in time to see Vine +turn the corner of the square. She followed him breathlessly, then +paused and stopped a passing hansom. + +"Coniston Mansions," she told the man. "Please go as quickly as you +can." + +She was driven there, and passed quickly through the hall and entered +the lift. The commissionaire hurried up to her. + +"Several people, miss, have been asking for your address since you +left," he announced. + +"I will leave it before I go," she answered hurriedly. + +She got out at the fifth floor, and without hesitation she walked +straight across to Norris Vine's rooms. She was as pale as death. After +that last visit of hers she felt a horrible shrinking from entering the +place. Nevertheless, she drew a key from her pocket, turned the lock, +entered, and found, as she supposed, that she was there first. She +looked around, at first in vain, for some hiding place. All the while +she was struggling to put everything else out of her mind except two +great facts. Norris Vine was going to bring that paper back to his +rooms! It was her last chance! If she failed this time, there was +nothing left for her but despair! On the right of the outside door was +a small clothes cupboard. It was the only place in the two rooms where +concealment seemed in any way possible, and Virginia, with beating +heart, stepped into it and drew the door to after her. She was scarcely +there before she heard the sound of a key in the lock. She drew back, +holding her breath as he passed. Norris Vine entered and stepped into +the sitting-room. She heard him take off his hat and coat and throw them +down. She heard the sound of a chair drawn up to the table. He was +preparing, then, to write out his cable! + + + +CHAPTER XX + + +BEWITCHED + +Very softly Virginia pushed open the door one, two, three inches. She +could see Vine now sitting at the table with several sheets of paper +before him, and a book which seemed to be a code, the leaves of which he +was turning over meditatively. Her eyes were fastened upon that roll of +paper at his left-hand side. She had no doubt but that it was the +document which had been stolen, the document to recover which had +brought her upon this wild-goose chase. The very sight of it, even at +this distance, thrilled her. Scheme after scheme rushed through her +brain. There were overcoats hanging up in the closet. Could she steal +out on tiptoe, throw one over his head, and escape with the paper +before he could stop her? Even then, unless she had time to lock him in, +what chance would she have of leaving the building? + +She watched him write, without undue haste, but referring every now and +then to the code-book by his side. If only he would get up and go into +the bedroom for a moment, it might give her a chance. She could feel +her heart beating underneath her gown. Every sense was thrilling with +excitement; and then, all of a sudden, she had a great surprise. Almost +a cry broke from her lips; almost she had taken that swift involuntary +movement forward, for she realized suddenly that she was not the only +one who was watching Norris Vine. Very softly a man, coatless and in his +socks, had stolen out from the bedroom where he had lain concealed, and +was looking in through the opening of the partly closed study door. +Virginia felt her finger-nails dig into her flesh. She stood there rapt +and breathless. Instinctively she felt that the cards had been taken +from her hand, that she was to be a witness of events more swift and +definite than any in which she herself could have borne the +principal part. + +Norris Vine was absorbed in his work. She saw him bend lower and lower +over the table, and she heard his pen drive faster across the paper. His +attention was riveted upon his task. She saw the man lurking behind the +door come gradually more into evidence. He was a stranger to her, but +she could see that he was an athlete by his broad shoulders, his long +arms, and his graceful poise, as he lurked there almost like a tiger +preparing for a spring. Of what his plan might be she could form no +idea. Every pulse in her body was beating as it had never beat before. +Her breath was coming sharply and quickly, and it was all that she could +do to keep back the sobs which seemed to rise in her throat from pure +excitement. What was he going to do, this man who crouched there, +nerving himself as though for some great effort! Very soon she knew. + +He stole to the limit of the protection afforded him by the door. She +saw his head turn a little sideways, and she saw his eyes fixed upon a +certain spot in the wall. Then he glanced back again toward the man +writing, as though he measured the distance between them, as though he +wished even to calculate the exact nature of the movement which it was +necessary to make. Then in the midst of her wondering came the +elucidation of these things. The man poised himself. She could see him +in the act of springing. He made a dash, hit something with his hand, +and the room was in darkness! She heard him leap across the room toward +the table, and she heard the low cry of Norris Vine as he sprang to his +feet to meet this unknown assailant. She knew very well in the darkness +which way the struggle must go. Norris Vine, slim, a hater of exercise, +unmuscular, unprepared, could have no chance against an attack +like this. + +Virginia's brain moved swiftly in those few moments. She heard the +quick breath of the two men as they swayed in one another's arms, and +she did not hesitate for a moment. On tiptoe, and with all the grace and +lightness which were hers, by right of her buoyant figure and buoyant +youth, she crossed the room with swift, silent footsteps, and gathered +into her hands the roll of papers upon the table. As softly as she had +come she went. The deep sobbing breaths of the two men, the half-stifled +cries with which Vine was seeking for outside help, effectually deadened +the faint swish of her skirts and the tremor of her footsteps upon the +carpeted floor. + +She came and went like a dream, and when the man, in whose arms Norris +Vine was after all but a child, finally dragged his victim across the +floor by the collar and turned up the electric light, the table towards +which he looked was bare. He dropped Vine heavily upon the floor, and +stood there rooted to the spot, gazing at the place where only a few +moments before he had seen that roll of paper. A hoarse imprecation +broke from his lips, and Norris Vine, who was still conscious though +badly winded, seeing what was amiss, sat up on the carpet and gazed too, +bewildered, at the empty table. The papers were gone! There was no sign +of them there. There was no sign of any one else in the apartment. There +was nothing to indicate that any one had entered it or left it. The man +who had thought himself the victor stood there with his hands to his +head, an unimaginative person, but suddenly dazed with a curious crowd +of apprehensions. Norris Vine staggered up to his feet, and groped his +way toward the sideboard, where a decanter of brandy was standing. + +"Good God!" he muttered to himself, as he poured some of the liquor into +a glass and raised it to his lips. "Are we all mad or bewitched +or what?" + +His assailant did not answer. He raised the table-cloth and looked +underneath, retreated into the bedroom, sought in vain for any signs of +an intruder. Then he came slowly back into the sitting-room, and the +eyes of the two men met. Norris Vine was leaning back against the +sideboard, his clothes disarranged, his collar torn, his tie hanging +down in strips. In his shaking hand was the glass of brandy, half +consumed. There was a livid mark upon his face, and his eyes were wide +open and staring. + +"My muscular friend," he said, "the ghosts have robbed you." + +"Ghosts be d----d!" the other man answered, a little wildly. "I wish +this job were at the bottom of the ocean before I'd touched it." + + + +CHAPTER XXI + + +A LESSON LEARNED + +The American ambassador was giving the third of his great +dinner-parties. At the last moment he had prevailed upon Phineas Duge to +accept an invitation. Littleson, also, was of the party, and the ladies +having departed, these three, separated only by the German ambassador, +who was engaged in an animated conversation with a Russian Grand Duke, +found themselves for a minute or two detached from the rest of the +party. Littleson took the opportunity to move his chair over until he +was able to whisper into Duge's ear. + +"Any news?" + +"None!" Duge answered shortly. + +Mr. Deane leaned forward in his chair. + +"I suppose you have heard," he said, "that a warrant was issued this +afternoon for the arrest of your friends, Higgins and Weiss?" + +"It was a matter of form only," Duge replied. + +"Unless they pass this new bill through the Senate, nothing more than a +little temporary inconvenience can happen to them. I wonder why our +great President has developed so sudden and violent an antipathy +to capital." + +"I am not sure," Mr. Deane replied, "whether his position is logical. +Capital must be the backbone of any great country, and the very elements +of human nature demand its concentration. I think myself that this will +all blow over." + +"Unless--" Littleson whispered. + +"Unless," Mr. Deane continued, "some greater scandal than any at present +known were to attach itself to our two friends." + +"One cannot tell," Phineas Duge said slowly. "Such a scandal might come. +It is hard to say. The ways that lead to great wealth are full of +pitfalls, and they are not ways that stand very well the blinding glare +of daylight." + +Littleson was looking pale and nervous. He drew a little breath and +fanned himself with his handkerchief. + +"You men love to talk in riddles," he said, or rather whispered, +hoarsely. "Why not admit that they are safe enough so long as Norris +Vine does not move!" + +A servant approached the ambassador and whispered in apologetic fashion +in his ear. + +"There is a young lady, sir," he said, "who has just arrived, and who +insists upon seeing you. She says that her business is of the utmost +importance. I have done my best to make her understand that you are +engaged, but she will not listen to reason. She is, I think, sir, an +American young lady, and she is very much disturbed." + +Phineas Duge leaned forward in his place. His eyes were fixed upon the +servant. He said nothing. He only waited. + +"A young American lady!" Mr. Deane repeated slowly. "Have you seen her +before?" + +"I believe, sir," the man answered, "that it is the same young lady who +came here some weeks ago to inquire after Mr. Norris Vine." + +Phineas Duge was on his feet with a sudden soft, half-stifled +exclamation. Mr. Deane looked around the table. His other guests were +all talking amongst themselves. Littleson, ignorant of what this might +mean, was looking a little bewildered. The ambassador addressed one of +the men a little lower down the table. + +"Sinclair," he said, "will you take my place for a moment? A little +matter of business has turned up, and I am wanted. I shall not be +away long." + +The man addressed nodded, and, pushing back his chair, strolled toward +the ambassador's vacant seat, his cigar in his mouth. Phineas Duge and +Mr. Deane left the room together, and close behind them Littleson +followed. They left the room without any appearance of haste, but once +in the hall Phineas Duge showed signs of a rare impatience, and pushed +his way on ahead. The door of the waiting-room was half open. He strode +in, and a little exclamation broke from his lips. It was Virginia who +stood there, and her hands were crossed upon her bosom, as though there +were something there which she was guarding. Nevertheless, at the sight +of her uncle they fell away, and she started back. + +"You!" she exclaimed. "Uncle Phineas! Here in London!" + +He saw the signs stamped into her face of the evil times through which +she had passed, and the more immediate traces of the crisis which lay so +close behind her. He held out both his hands, and stepped quickly toward +her. He was only just in time to save her from falling. + +"I came," she faltered, "to get money from Mr. Deane to send you a +cable, to catch a steamer to come back to America. I have got it!" she +cried suddenly, her voice rising almost to a hysterical shriek. "I have +got it! It is here! See!" + +She dragged something from the front of her dress--a roll of papers, and +held them out. She was swaying upon her feet now, and Phineas Duge, his +arm around her waist, half led, half carried her to a chair. Littleson, +who had darted out of the room, came back with a glass of water. All +three men stood around her. The papers were there upon her knee, but her +fingers seemed wound around them with some unnatural force. Her burning +eyes were fixed upon her uncle's. + +"Take them!" she begged. "Read them! Tell me that it is all right. Tell +me that you will keep your promise." + +He took them gently away. A single glance at the sheet of foolscap was +enough. + +"You are a wonderful child, Virginia," he said calmly. "It is as you +say. These are the papers which Stella stole. I blamed you for the loss +of them too hardly, but you shall never be sorry that you succeeded in +regaining them." + +She drew a queer little breath of relief, and leaned back in her chair. +She was still as pale as death, but the terrible strain had gone +from her face. + +"I snatched them up," she murmured, "and ran. I am sure they will come +after me. And Vine--I think that that man will kill Vine. His fingers +were upon his throat when I left." + +"You brought them," Phineas Duge asked calmly, "from Norris Vine's +rooms?" + +She had no time to answer. The door was opened. Norris Vine stood there +on the threshold. He looked in upon the little group and shrugged his +shoulders. + +"I am too late, then," he said slowly. + +Phineas Duge thrust his hand into the flames and held the papers there. +Norris Vine seemed for a moment as though he would have sprung forward, +but Littleson intervened, and Deane himself. + +"They shall burn!" Duge cried. "If you are really the altruist you claim +to be, Mr. Vine, you need not fear their destruction. We are changing +our tactics. If the bill becomes law we will face its effect, whatever +it may be. There shall be no bribery. There shall be no underground +history. If the people of America attack us, we will fight our +own battles." + +Norris Vine sighed. + +"In another half an hour," he said, "my cable would have been sent. +To-morrow New York would have been indeed the city of unrest." + +Phineas Duge turned upon him coldly. + +"You," he said, "are one of those unpractical persons, who bring to the +affairs of a purely utilitarian epoch the 'fainéant' scruples of the +dilettante and romanticist. You cannot regulate the flow of wealth any +more than you can dam a river with shifting sand. Don't you know that +destiny, whether it be guided by other powers or not, was never meant to +be shaped by the lookers-on?" + +Norris Vine shrugged his shoulders and turned toward the door. + +"Well," he said, "I will not argue with you. Perhaps those papers are +better where they are. You will learn your lesson. You, sir," he added, +turning to Littleson, "and those other of your friends who, at any +rate, have known the shadow of an American prison, in some other way." + + + +CHAPTER XXII + + +A SURPRISE + +Norris Vine put on his coat, lit a cigarette, and looked around the room +with the satisfied air of a man who has successfully accomplished a +difficult task. In front of him were two steamer trunks, a hold-all, +hat-box, a case of guns, golf clubs, and some smaller packages, all +fastened up and labelled "Vine, New York." He moved toward the bell, +meaning to ring for a porter, but was interrupted by a knock at +the door. + +"Come in!" he called out, and Virginia entered. He looked at her in cold +surprise. He recognized her, of course, but he recognized also that this +young lady had nothing whatever to do with the pale-faced, desperate +child, whose visits to him before had always seemed in a sense pathetic. +He was an artist in such things, and he realized at once the dainty +perfection of her muslin gown and large drooping hat. Her whole +expression, too, had changed. She had no longer the look of a hunted and +frightened child. She carried herself with confidence and with colour in +her cheeks, and though she held out her hand to him with some show of +timidity, the smile upon her lips was delightful, if a little appealing. + "Mr. Vine," she said, "please forgive my coming. I have something so +important to say to you and I heard that you were going back to the +States. You will spare me a few minutes, will you not?" + +Vine was only human, and hers was an appeal it was not easy to refuse. +He placed a chair for her, and stood in a listening attitude. + +"My dear young lady," he said, "I will listen gladly to anything that +you have to say. But as I have nothing more left which it would be of +any interest to you to steal, I scarcely understand to what I am +indebted for this unexpected"--he hesitated for a moment and concluded +his sentence with a not ungracious bow--"unexpected pleasure!" he said. + +She smiled up at him delightfully. + +"I am so glad, Mr. Vine," she said, "that you are going to be generous +and nice, because what I have to say to you is so difficult, and if you +were angry with me it would be very hard to say." + +"I trust," he answered, "that I can accept a defeat; and you had all the +luck, you know." + +"I had," she admitted. "It was, after all, nothing to do with me. I see +you have cleared your cupboard out. I can assure you that it was a +terribly stuffy place with all those clothes of yours hanging there." + +He smiled. + +"Well," he said, "you were very patient and very persistent. You have +won and I lost. I am not at all sure that it is not a good thing that I +lost. My friend Deane tells me so even now. But let that go. I am sure +you would like to tell me what it is that you have come here for." + +"I have come," she answered, "to talk to you about Stella." + +"Stella?" he repeated slowly. + +Virginia nodded. + +"Yes!" she said. "You see, I have all the time the feeling that I have +somehow or other done Stella an injury by taking her place with my +uncle, and do you know, Mr. Vine, since he has been in London he seems +quite altered. He has been simply delightful, and I haven't felt +frightened by him once. He keeps on giving me beautiful presents, and he +does not seem in the least in a hurry to get back to America." + +Norris Vine smiled grimly. + +"I do not blame him," he said. + +"Yesterday," she continued, "I could not help it; I disobeyed his orders +and I spoke to him about Stella, and do you know, he listened to me +quite patiently. Mr. Vine, I am going to say something to you very +serious. You must not ask me how I know, or exactly what I know; but I +accidentally do know so much as this. You and Stella are very fond of +one another, and I should like to see you married." + +He raised his eyebrows slowly. + +"You would like," he repeated, "to see us married!" + +She looked away from him. He could see that for some reason or other she +was embarrassed. The colour had streamed into her cheeks, but she went +on bravely enough. + +"Yes!" she said. "I talked to my uncle about it, and he was quite nice. +He says that he does not want to see Stella again for a short time, but +if you two have made up your minds to be married--that is how he put +it--he is going to give Stella a million dollars." + +"You must be a magician," he said coolly. + +"I am nothing of the sort," she answered, "but I think that my uncle has +been very much misunderstood, or else something has changed him +wonderfully during the past few months. Now, I came straight to see you +and to tell you this, Mr. Vine, because I do not know where to find +Stella. Can't you be married here in London, and ask me to the wedding?" + +There was a knock at the door and it was immediately opened. They both +turned round. It was Stella who stood there. She looked at them both for +a moment in surprise. Then she closed the door and came into the room. + +"Virginia!" she exclaimed. "What on earth are you doing here?" + +"I should have come to see you, Stella," Virginia said, "if I had known +where to find you." + +"Virginia has come," Vine said, "to tell us that your father is inclined +to play the part of a benevolent parent. I think that he must be either +very ill, or going to be. Virginia has come here to tell us that we are +to be married, and that he is going to give you some little trifle for a +wedding present, a million dollars, I think it was she mentioned." + +Stella looked at her cousin in amazement. + +"Do you mean this, Virginia?" she exclaimed. + +"Absolutely," Virginia answered. "He has promised faithfully. There is +no doubt about it at all." + +"Thank goodness!" Stella declared. "I am tired of being poor, aren't +you, Norris? Virginia, you're a dear." + +Stella passed her arm around her cousin's neck. Virginia looked up a +little timidly. + +"And you will marry Mr. Vine, then," she said, "at once?" + +Stella laughed softly. + +"My dear child," she said, "we have been married for six weeks." + +Virginia leaned back in her chair. + +"Oh!" she said. Then suddenly she sprang to her feet. She was obviously +delighted. A certain restraint had left her manner. It was clear that +the news was a relief to her. + +"This," she said, "is delightful. You are both of you to come to dinner +to-night at Claridge's. Your father told me that I was to ask you," she +said, turning to Stella, "if I found you both," + +"At eight o'clock, I suppose?" Vine remarked. "We will be there." + +Virginia and Stella left together. + +"I have an automobile outside," Virginia said a little shyly. "Your +father is ever so much too kind to me, but I do hope, Stella, that you +don't mind. I feel sure that he is going to be quite different now." + +"Mind? Of course not," Stella answered. "I have been rather a beast to +him myself, and I think it's very decent of you, after everything, to +have anything to do with me. Who on earth is this young man?" + +They were in the hall of the Mansions, face to face with a young man who +was in the act of entering. Virginia looked up, and gave a startled +little cry. + +"You!" she exclaimed breathlessly. + +Guy quite ignored her companion, and took her by the hands. +"Virginia!" he exclaimed. "At last! Where have you been hiding yourself, +and how dared you run away from me?" + +"There didn't seem to be much else for me to do," Virginia answered +smiling; "but I am very glad to see you again now," she added in a +lower tone. + +"How well you look!" he exclaimed. "Where can we go and sit down? I want +to talk to you, and remember I am not going to let you out of my +sight again." + +Stella, whom they had both forgotten, intervened. + +"It seems to me," she said, "that it is fortunate I have an engagement. +At eight o'clock then, Virginia." + +Guy lifted his hat, and Virginia murmured something. + +"It is my cousin Stella," she said. "What is it that you want to say to +me, Guy?" she added, half shyly, as soon as they were alone. + +"Come and get in my automobile," he said. "We will sit behind and let +the man drive. Then we can talk. But the first thing I have to say to +you is this: that I do not want to ask you a single question, nor am I +going to permit any one else to ask you anything. Whoever you are and +whatever you are, you are going to be my wife as soon as I can get +another special license." + +She laughed softly. + +"Very well," she said, "only you must come in my automobile instead, +and send yours away. If you like I will take you for a little drive." + +"Just as you like," he answered, looking with some surprise at the car +which stood waiting for Virginia, with its two immaculate servants. "It +seems to me, dear," he added, with a note of disappointment in his tone, +"that you have reached the end of your troubles without my help." + +"I think I have, Guy," she answered, "but I am just as pleased to see +you. Would you like to come and be introduced to my uncle and guardian?" + +"Rather!" he answered. + +"Back to Claridge's," she told the footman, and they stepped inside. + +"This isn't a dream, is it?" Guy asked. + +"I don't believe so," she answered. "You will find my uncle human +enough, at any rate." + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + + +A DINNER PARTY + +Phineas Duge in London was still a man of affairs. With a cigar in his +mouth, and his hands behind his back, he was strolling about his +handsomely furnished sitting-room at Claridge's, dictating to a +secretary, while from an adjoining room came the faint click of a +typewriter. Virginia entered somewhat unceremoniously, followed by Guy. +Phineas Duge looked at them both in some surprise. + +"Uncle," she said, "I met Guy coming away from Coniston Mansions. He was +looking for me, and I have brought him to see you." + +Phineas Duge held out his hand, and in obedience to a gesture, the +secretary got up and left the room. + +"I am very glad to meet you, sir," he said. "By the by, my niece has +only mentioned your first name." + +"I am the Duke of Mowbray," Guy said simply, "and I am very glad indeed +to meet you if you are Virginia's uncle. I think that she treated me +rather badly a week ago, but I am disposed," he added, with a twinkle +in his eyes, "to be forgiving. I want your niece to be my wife, sir." + +"Indeed!" Mr. Duge answered a little drily. "I can't say that I am glad +to hear it, as I have only just discovered her myself." + +"There is no reason, sir," Guy answered, "why you should lose her." + +"You don't even know my uncle's name yet," Virginia said, smiling. + +"I am Phineas Duge," Duge answered. "I dare say you have never heard of +me. You see, I don't come often to England." + +"Phineas Duge!" Guy gasped. "What, you mean the--?" + +"Oh, yes! there is only one of us," Duge answered, smiling. "I am glad +to hear that my fame, or perhaps my infamy, has reached even you." + +Guy laughed. + +"I don't think there is much question of infamy," he said. "I fancy that +over here you will find yourself a very popular person indeed." + +"Even," Phineas Duge answered, "although I allowed my niece to run away +from home and come over here on a wild-goose chase. It was one of my +mistakes, but Virginia has forgiven it. I suppose she has told you +everything now." + +"Everything," Guy answered, "and we should like to be married as soon as +you will allow it." + +"What about your people?" Duge asked. + +Guy smiled. + +"I fancy," he said, "that there will be no difficulty at all about +that." + +"You two," Phineas Duge said, "seem to have come across one another in a +very unconventional manner, and yet, after all, it seems as though you +were doing the thing which your people over here look upon at any rate +with tolerance. I have only two girls to leave my millions to. You must +send your solicitor to see me to-morrow." + +"Virginia knows," Guy answered, "that I should be only too glad to have +her without a sixpence." + +"I myself am fond of money," Phineas Duge answered, smiling, "but I +think that if I were your age I should feel very much the same." + +"Uncle," Virginia said, "I have seen Mr. Vine and Stella, and I have +given them your message. They are coming to dine with us at eight +o'clock to-night. Couldn't we--couldn't--?" + +Phineas Duge interrupted with a little shrug of the shoulders. + +"Make it into a family party, I suppose you were going to say?" he +remarked. "My niece hopes that you too will join us," he added, turning +to the young man. + + * * * * * + +Guy raced back to Grosvenor Square. He found Lady Medlincourt playing +bridge in the card-room. + +"Aunt," he said, after having greeted her guests, "I must see you at +once. Please come into the morning-room. I have something most +important to say." + +"If you dare to disturb me until I have finished this hand, I shall +never speak to you again," she declared. "If we lose this rubber, my +diamonds will have to go." + +He walked about the room, trying to conceal his impatience. Fortunately +Lady Medlincourt won the rubber, and having collected her winnings, she +followed him into the morning-room. + +"Well, Guy, what is it?" she said resentfully. "I suppose you have found +that child?" + +"I have not only found her," he answered, "but I have found out all +about her. Do you know whose niece she is, and whom she is +staying with?" + +"How should I, my dear boy?" she answered. + +"Her uncle is Phineas Duge," Guy said. "He has given his consent to our +marriage, and told me to send my lawyer to him to-morrow." + +"Bless the boy, what luck!" Lady Medlincourt exclaimed. "Why, he's the +richest man in America." + +Guy nodded. + +"I don't care a bit," he said, "except that it will make all you people +so much more decent to Virginia. Come along round to Claridge's and be +introduced. There's just time." + +The dinner-party that night was a great success. In the middle of it +Lady Medlincourt laughed softly to herself. + +"I must tell you all something," she said. "You know Guy went to America +this year to see his cousin who is out ranching. He was so afraid that +people would think he had gone out to find an American heiress--you know +we're all disgracefully poor--that he stayed in New York, and came back, +under an assumed name. In fact, he was only in New York for two days, +for fear that some one should find him out. And to think, Guy," she +exclaimed, "that you are going to do the conventional thing after all!" + +"My dear lady," Phineas Duge said, "the conventions in your wonderful +country are not things to be trifled with. Somehow or other they will +assert themselves. There is your nephew here trying to prove to the +world that he will have nothing to do with them, and yet it will be his +painful duty to receive as much of my hard-earned savings as my +daughter's dowry and Virginia's trousseau will leave to me. Never, until +I was inveigled into Doucet's this afternoon, did I really understand +the absolute recklessness of young women who are going to marry +Englishmen." + +Virginia laughed softly. + +"What there is in me of extravagance," she said, laying her hand for a +moment upon his arm, "I owe to you. Who else would have cabled to all my +people to come over here for such an unimportant function as +my wedding!" + +Norris Vine caught his host's eye and raised his glass. + +"May I be permitted," he asked, "to propose a toast--or rather several +toasts? I drink with you, sir," he added, with a slight bow, "to the +extinction of an ancient enmity! I have been something of a fanatic, I +fear, as all those must be who take to their hearts a righteous cause. I +drink to your charming niece, and to the fortunate young gentleman who +is to be her husband! And lastly, I drink to our great country!" + +"To America, and the extinction of all enmities!" Phineas Duge cried, +holding his glass above his head. + +"To America, and the sweetest of all her daughters!" Guy whispered in +Virginia's ears. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GOVERNORS*** + + +******* This file should be named 10537-8.txt or 10537-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/5/3/10537 + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: +https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: +https://www.gutenberg.org/GUTINDEX.ALL + +*** END: FULL LICENSE *** diff --git a/old/10537-8.zip b/old/10537-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..48d56af --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10537-8.zip diff --git a/old/10537.txt b/old/10537.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fc9f374 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10537.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8588 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Governors, by E. Phillips Oppenheim + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + + + + +Title: The Governors + +Author: E. Phillips Oppenheim + +Release Date: December 27, 2003 [eBook #10537] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GOVERNORS*** + + +E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Rebekah Inman, and the Project +Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + +THE GOVERNORS + +By + +E. PHILLIPS OPPENHEIM + +Author of "A Maker of History," "The Long Arm of +Mannister," "The Missioner," etc. + +1909 + + + + + +ILLUSTRATED +BY WILL GREFE AND HOWARD SOMERVILLE + + + + + +CONTENTS + + +BOOK I. + +CHAPTER + +I. MR. PHINEAS DUGE + +II. COUSIN STELLA + +III. STORM CLOUDS + +IV. A MEETING OF GIANTS + +V. TREACHERY + +VI. MR. WEISS IN A HURRY + +VII. A PROFESSIONAL BURGLAR + +VIII. FIREARMS + +IX. CONSPIRATORS + +X. MR. NORRIS VINE + +XI. MR. LITTLESON, FLATTERER + +XII. STELLA SUCCEEDS + +XIII. BEARDING THE LION + +XIV. STELLA PROVES OBSTINATE + +XV. THE WARNING + +XVI. A TRUCE + + +BOOK II. + +I. MY NAME IS MILDMAY + +II. REFLECTIONS + +III. "WILL YOU MARRY ME?" + +IV. THE AMERICAN AMBASSADOR + +V. A QUESTION OF COURAGE + +VI. MR. MILDMAY AGAIN + +VII. AN APPOINTMENT + +VIII. DEFEATED + +IX. INGRATITUDE + +X. A NEW VENTURE + +XI. CONSCIENCE + +XII. DUKE OF MOWBRAY + +XIII. AN INTRODUCTION + +XIV. ANOTHER DISAPPEARANCE + +XV. MR. DUGE THREATENS + +XVI. TRAPPED + +XVII. MR. DUGE FAILS + +XVIII. ADVICE FOR MR. VINE + +XIX. THE CRISIS + +XX. BEWITCHED + +XXI. A LESSON LEARNED + +XXII. A SURPRISE + +XXIII. A DINNER PARTY + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + +VIRGINIA + +"AS I DARESAY YOU KNOW, I AM NOT ON SPEAKING TERMS WITH MY FATHER!" + +ONE OF THE BLOCKS SPRANG UP A LITTLE WAY AND WAS EASILY REMOVED + +A BULLET WHISTLED ONLY A FEW INCHES FROM HIS HEAD + +PHINEAS DUGE DROPPED HIS CIGARETTE, AND FELL ON HIS KNEES BY HER SIDE + +"FOR GOD'S SAKE, TELL ME WHO HAS IT, MISS DUGE!" HE IMPLORED + +"ISN'T IT THE BUSINESS OF ANY MAN TO LOOK AFTER A CHILD LIKE YOU?" + +VIRGINIA, WITH A LITTLE MURMUR OF DELIGHT, RECOGNIZED MR. MILDMAY +STANDING BEFORE HER + +SIMULTANEOUSLY SHE HEARD A STEALTHY MOVEMENT OUTSIDE + +THEN HE CAME SLOWLY BACK, AND PUTTING HIS ARM AROUND VIRGINIA'S WAIST, +KISSED HER + +SHE THOUGHT NOTHING OF THE MOTIVE OF HER COMING, ONLY TO PLACE THE DOOR +BETWEEN HER AND THIS! + +HE HAD AN OPPORTUNITY OF WATCHING A SEARCH CONDUCTED UPON SCIENTIFIC +PRINCIPLES + +THEN IN THE MIDST OF HER WONDERING CAME THE ELUCIDATION OF THESE THINGS + +HE WAS ONLY JUST IN TIME TO SAVE HER FROM FALLING + + + + +THE GOVERNORS + + + + +BOOK I + + + +CHAPTER I + + +MR. PHINEAS DUGE + +Virginia, when she had torn herself away from the bosom of her sorrowing +but excited family, and boarded the car which passed only once a day +through the tiny village in Massachusetts, where all her life had been +spent, had felt herself, notwithstanding her nineteen years, a person of +consequence and dignity. Virginia, when four hours later she followed a +tall footman in wonderful livery through a stately suite of reception +rooms in one of the finest of Fifth Avenue mansions, felt herself +suddenly a very insignificant person. The roar and bustle of New York +were still in her ears. Bewildered as she had been by this first contact +with all the distracting influences of a great city, she was even more +distraught by the wonder and magnificence of these, her more immediate +surroundings. She, who had lived all her life in a simple farmhouse, +where every one worked, and a single servant was regarded as a luxury, +found herself suddenly in the palace of a millionaire, a palace made +perfect by the despoilment of more than one of the most ancient homes +in Europe. + +Very timidly, and with awed glances, she looked around her as she was +conducted in leisurely manner to the sanctum of the great man at whose +bidding she had come. The pictures on the walls, magnificent and +impressive even to her ignorant eyes; the hardwood floors, the wonderful +furniture, the statuary and flowers, the smooth-tongued servants--all +these things were an absolute revelation to her. She had read of such +things, even perhaps dreamed of them, but she had never imagined it +possible that she herself might be brought into actual contact +with them. + +At every step she took she felt her self-confidence decreasing; her +clothes, made by the village dressmaker from an undoubted French model, +with which she had been more than satisfied only a few hours ago, seemed +suddenly dowdy and ill-fashioned. She was even doubtful about her +looks, although quite half a dozen of the nicest young men in her +neighbourhood had been doing their best to make her vain since the day +when she had left college, an unusually early graduate, and returned to +her father's tiny home to become the acknowledged belle of the +neighbourhood. Here, though, she felt her looks of small avail; she +might reign as a queen in Wellham Springs, but she felt herself a very +insignificant person in the home of her uncle, the great railway +millionaire and financier, Mr. Phineas Duge. Her courage had almost +evaporated when at last, after a very careful knock at the door, an +English footman ushered her into the small and jealously guarded sanctum +in which the great man was sitting. She passed only a few steps across +the threshold, and stood there, a timid, hesitating figure, her dark +eyes very anxiously searching the features of the man who had risen from +his seat to greet her. + +"So this is my niece Virginia," he said, holding out both his hands. "I +am glad to see you. Take this chair close to me. I am getting an old +man, you see, and I have many whims. I like to have any one with whom I +am talking almost at my elbow. Now tell me, my dear, what sort of a +journey you have had. You look a little tired, or is it because +everything here is strange to you?" + +All her fears seemed to be melting away. Never could she have imagined a +more harmless-looking, benevolent, and handsome old gentleman. He was +thin and of only moderate stature. His white hair, of which he still had +plenty, was parted in the middle and brushed away in little waves. He +was clean-shaven, and his grey eyes were at once soft and humorous. He +had a delicate mouth, refined features, and his slow, distinct speech +was pleasant, almost soothing to listen to. She felt suddenly an immense +wave of relief, and she realized perhaps for the first time how much she +had dreaded this meeting. + +"I am not really tired at all," she assured him, "only you see I have +never been in a big city, and it is very noisy here, isn't it? Besides, +I have never seen anything so beautiful as this house. I think it +frightened me a little." + +He laid his hand upon hers kindly. + +"I imagine," he said, smiling, "that you will very soon get used to +this. You will have the opportunity, if you choose." + +She laughed softly. + +"If I choose!" she repeated. "Why, it is all like fairyland to me." + +He nodded. + +"You come," he said, "from a very quiet life. You will find things here +different. Do you know what these are?" + +He touched a little row of black instruments which stood on the top of +his desk. She shook her head doubtfully. + +"I am not quite sure," she admitted. + +"They are telephones," he said. "This one"--touching the first--"is a +private wire to my offices in Wall Street. This one"--laying a finger +upon the second--"is a private wire to the bank of which I am president. +These two," he continued, "are connected with the two brokers whom I +employ. The other three are ordinary telephones--two for long distance +calls and one for the city. When you came in I touched this knob on the +floor beneath my foot. All the telephones were at once disconnected here +and connected with my secretaries' room. I can sit here at this table +and shake the money-markets of the world. I can send stocks up or down +at my will. I can ruin if I like, or I can enrich. It is the fashion +nowadays to speak lightly of the mere man of money, yet there is no king +on his throne who can shake the world as can we kings of the +money-market by the lifting even of a finger." + +"Are you a millionaire?" she asked timidly. "But, of course, you must +be, or you could not live in a house like this." + +He laid his hand gently upon hers. + +"Yes," he said, "I am a millionaire a good many times over, or I should +not be of much account in New York. But there, I have told you enough +about myself. I sent for you, as you know, because there are times when +I feel a little lonely, and I thought that if my sister could spare one +of her children, it would be a kindly act, and one which I might perhaps +be able to repay. Do you think that you would like to live here with +me, Virginia, and be mistress of this house?" + +She shrank a little away. The prospect was not without its terrifying +side. + +"Why, I should love it," she declared, "but I simply shouldn't dare to +think of it. You don't understand, I am afraid, the way we live down at +Wellham Springs. We have really no servants, and we do everything +ourselves. I couldn't attempt to manage a house like this." + +He smiled at her kindly. + +"Perhaps," he said, "you would find it less difficult than you think. +There is a housekeeper already, who sees to all the practical part of +it. She only needs to have some one to whom she can refer now and then. +You would have nothing whatever to do with the managing of the servants, +the commissariat, or anything of that sort. Yours would be purely +social duties." + +"I am afraid," she answered, "that I should know even less about them." + +"Well," he said, "I have some good friends who will give you hints. You +will find it very much easier than you imagine. You have only to be +natural, acquire the art of listening, and wear pretty gowns, and you +will find it a simple matter to become quite a popular person." + +She nerved herself to ask him a question. He looked so kind and +good-natured that it did not seem possible that he would resent it. + +"Uncle," she said, "of course I am very glad to be here, and it all +sounds very delightful. But what about--Stella?" + +He leaned back in his chair. There was a pained look in his face. She +was almost sorry that she had mentioned his daughter's name. + +"Perhaps," he said, "it is as well that you should have asked me that +question. I have always been an indulgent father, as I think you will +find me an indulgent uncle. But there are certain things, certain +offences I might say, for which I have no forgiveness. Stella deceived +me. She made use of information, secret information which she acquired +in this room, to benefit some man in whom she was interested. She used +my secrets to enrich this person. She did this after I had warned her. I +never warn twice." + +"You mean that you sent her away?" she asked timidly. + +"I mean that my doors are closed to her," he answered gravely, "as they +would be closed upon you if you behaved as Stella has behaved. But, my +dear child," he added, smiling kindly at her, "I do not expect this from +you. I feel sure that what I have said will be sufficient. If you will +stay with me a little time, and take my daughter's place, I think you +will not find me very stern or very ungrateful. Now I am going to ring +for Mrs. Perrin, my housekeeper, and she will show you your room. +To-night you and I are going to dine quite alone, and we can talk again +then. By the by, do you really mean that you have never been to New +York before?" + +"Never!" she answered. "I have been to Boston twice, never anywhere +else." + +He smiled. + +"Well," he said, "the sooner you are introduced to some of its wonders, +the better. We will dine out to-night, and I will take you to one of the +famous restaurants. It will suit me better to be somewhere out of the +way for an hour or two this evening. There is a panic in Chicago and +Illinois--but there, you wouldn't understand that. Be ready at +8 o'clock." + +"But uncle--" she began. + +He waved his hand. + +"I know what you are going to say--clothes. You will find some evening +dresses in your room. I have had a collection of things sent round on +approval, and you will probably be able to find one you can wear. Ah! +here is Mrs. Perrin." + +The door had opened, and a middle-aged lady in a stiff black silk gown +had entered the room. + +"Mrs. Perrin," he said, "this is my niece. She comes from the country. +She knows nothing. Tell her everything that she ought to know. Help her +with her clothes, and turn her out as well as you can to dine with me at +Sherry's at eight o'clock." + +A bell rang at his elbow, and one of the telephones began to tinkle. He +picked up the receiver and waved them out of the room. Virginia +followed her guide upstairs, feeling more and more with every step she +took that she was indeed a wanderer in some new and enchanted land of +the _Arabian Nights_. + + + +CHAPTER II + + +COUSIN STELLA + +"Well," he said, smiling kindly at her over the bank of flowers which +occupied the centre of the small round table at which they were dining, +"what do you think of it all?" + +Virginia shook her head. + +"I cannot tell you," she said. "I haven't any words left. It is all so +wonderful. You have never been to our home at Wellham Springs, or else +you would understand." + +He smiled. + +"I think I can understand," he said, "what it is like. I, too, you know, +was brought up at a farmhouse." + +Her eyes smiled at him across the table. + +"You should see my room," she said, "at home. It is just about as large +as the cupboard in which I am supposed to keep my dresses here." + +"I hope," he said, "that you will like where Mrs. Perrin has put you." + +"Like!" she gasped. "I don't believe that I could have ever imagined +anything like it. Do you know that I have a big bathroom of my own, with +a marble floor, and a sitting-room so beautiful that I am afraid almost +to look into it. I don't believe I'll ever be able to go to bed." + +"In a week," he said indulgently, "you will become quite used to these +things. In a month you would miss them terribly if you had to give +them up." + +Her face was suddenly grave. He looked across at her keenly. + +"What are you thinking of?" he asked. + +"I was thinking," she answered, after a moment's hesitation, "of Stella. +I was wondering what it must be to her to have to give up all these +beautiful things." + +His expression hardened a little. The smile had passed from his lips. + +"You never knew your cousin, I think?" he asked. + +"Never," she admitted. + +"Then I do not think," he said, "that you need waste your sympathy upon +her. Tell me, do you see that young lady in a mauve-coloured dress and a +large hat, sitting three tables to the left of us?" + +She looked across and nodded. + +"Of course I do," she answered. "How handsome she is, and what a +strange-looking man she has with her! He looks very clever." + +Her uncle smiled once more, but his face lacked its benevolent +expression. + +"The man is clever," he answered. "His name is Norris Vine, and he is a +journalist, part owner of a newspaper, I believe. He is one of those +foolish persons who imagine themselves altruists, and who are always +trying to force their opinions upon other people. The young lady with +him--is my daughter and your cousin." + +Virginia's great eyes were opened wider than ever. Her lips parted, +showing her wonderful teeth. The pink colour stained her cheeks. + +"Do you mean that that is Stella?" she exclaimed. + +Her uncle nodded, and paused for a moment to give an order to a passing +_maitre d'hotel_. + +"Yes!" he resumed, "that is Stella, and that is the man for whose sake +she robbed me." + +Virginia was still full of wonder. + +"But you did not speak to her when she came in!" she said. "You nodded +to the man, but took no notice of her!" + +"I do not expect," he said quietly, "ever to speak to her again. I have +been a kind father; I think that on the whole I am a good-natured man, +but there are things which I do not forgive, and which I should forgive +my own flesh and blood less even than I should a stranger." + +The colour faded from her cheeks. + +"It seems terrible," she murmured. + +"As for the man," he continued, "he is my enemy, although it is only a +matter of occasional chances which can make him in any way formidable. +We speak because we are enemies. When you have had a little more +experience, you will find that that is how the game is played here." + +She was silent for several minutes. Her uncle turned his head, and +immediately two _maitres d'hotel_ and several waiters came rushing up. +He gave a trivial order and dismissed them. Then he looked across at his +niece, whose appetite seemed suddenly to have failed her. + +"Tell me," he said, "what is the matter with you, Virginia?" + +"I am a little afraid of you," she answered frankly. "I should be a +little afraid of any one who could talk like that about his own child." + +He smiled softly. + +"You have the quality," he said, "which I admire most in your sex, and +find most seldom. You are candid. You come from a little world where +sentiment almost governs life. It is not so here. I am a kind man, I +believe, but I am also just. My daughter deceived me, and for deceit I +have no forgiveness. Do you still think me cruel, Virginia?" + +"I am wondering," she answered frankly. "You see, I have read about you +in the papers, and I was terribly frightened when mother told me that I +was to come. Directly I saw you, you seemed quite a different person, +and now again I am afraid." + +"Ah!" he sighed, "that terrible Press of ours! They told you, I suppose, +that I was hard, unscrupulous, unforgiving, a money-making machine, and +all the rest of it. Do you think that I look like that, Virginia?" + +"I am very sure that you do not," she answered. + +"You will know me better, I hope, in a year or so's time," he said. "If +you wish to please me, there are two things which you have to remember, +and which I expect from you. One is absolute, implicit obedience, the +other is absolute, unvarying truth. You will never, I think, have cause +to complain of me, if you remember those two things." + +"I will try," she murmured. + +Her thoughts suddenly flitted back to the poor little home from which +she had come with such high hopes. She thought of the excitement which +had followed the coming of her uncle's letter; the hopes that her +harassed, overworked father had built upon it; the sudden, almost +trembling joy which had come into her mother's thin, faded face. Her +first taste of luxury suddenly brought before her eyes, stripped bare +of everything except its pitiful cruelty, that ceaseless struggle for +life in which it seemed to her that all of them had been engaged, year +after year. She shivered a little as she thought of them, shivered for +fear she should fail now that the chance had come of some day being able +to help them. Absolute obedience, absolute truth! If these two things +were all, she could hold on, she was sure of it. + +A messenger boy was brought in, and delivered a letter to her uncle. He +read and destroyed it at once. + +"There is no answer," he said. + +The messenger protested. + +"I am to wait, sir, until you give me one," he said. "The gentleman said +it was most important. I was to find you anywhere, anyhow, and get an +answer of some sort." + +"How much," Mr. Phineas Duge asked, "were you to receive if you took +back an answer?" + +"The gentleman promised me a dollar, sir," the boy answered. + +Mr. Duge put his hand into his pocket. + +"Here are two dollars," he said. "Go away at once. There is no answer. +There will not be one. You can tell Mr. Hamilton that I said so." + +The boy departed. Her uncle looked across at Virginia and smiled. +"That is how we have to buy immunity from small annoyances here," he +said. "All the time it is the same thing--dollars, dollars, dollars! +That messenger boy was clever to get in. When we leave this restaurant, +you will find that there are at least half a dozen people waiting to +speak to me. It will be telephoned to several places in the city that I +am dining here to-night. From where I am sitting, I can see two +reporters standing by the entrance. They are waiting for me." + +She looked at him with interested eyes. + +"But why?" she asked timidly. + +"Oh! it is simply a matter," he said, "of the money-markets. I have been +doing some things during the last few days which people don't quite +understand. They don't know whether to follow me or stand away, and the +Press doesn't know how to explain my actions; so you see I am watched. +You heard what I said," he asked, somewhat abruptly, "about those two +things, obedience and truth?" + +"Yes!" she answered. + +"They say," he resumed, "that a wise man trusts no one. I, on the other +hand, do not believe this. There are times when one must trust. Your +mother and your father were both as honest as people could be, whatever +their other faults may have been. I like your face. I believe that you, +too, are honest." + +"Remember," she said, smiling, "that I have never been tempted." + +"There could be no bidders for your faithfulness," he answered, "whom I +could not outbid. I am going to trust you, Virginia. There are sometimes +occasions when I do things, or am concerned in matters, which not even +my secretaries have any idea of. You only, in the future, will know. I +think, dear, that we shall get on very well together. I am not going to +offer you a great deal of money, because you would not know what to do +with it, but so long as you remain with me, and serve me in the way that +I direct, I am going to do what I feel I ought to have done long ago for +your people down at Wellham Springs." + +Her face shone, and her beautiful eyes were more brilliant still with +unshed tears. + +"Uncle!" she murmured breathlessly. + +He nodded. + +"That will do," he said. "I only wanted you to understand. For the next +week or two, all that you have to do is to get used to your position. +The small services which I shall require of you will commence later on. +Now try some of that ice. It has been prepared specially. How do you +like our New York cooking?" + +"It is all too marvellous," she declared. + +Then there came a sudden interruption. She heard the rustle of a gown +close to their table, and looking up found to her amazement that it was +Stella who was standing there. + +"So you are my cousin!" Stella said, "little Virginia! I only saw you +once before, but I should have known you anywhere by your eyes. No! of +course you don't remember me! You see I am six years older. I mustn't +stop, because, as I dare say you know, I am not on speaking terms with +my father, but I felt that I must just shake hands with you, and tell +you that I remembered you." + +"You are very kind," Virginia faltered. + +Her uncle had risen to his feet, and was standing in an attitude of +polite inattention, as though some perfect stranger had addressed the +lady who was under his care. He appeared quite indifferent; in his +daughter's voice there had not been the slightest trace of any +sentiment. A careless word or two passed between him and the man Norris +Vine, who was waiting for Stella. Then they passed out together, and +Phineas Duge calmly resumed his chair. Virginia, who had expected to +find him angry, was herself amazed. + +"By the by," Mr. Duge said, as he lit a cigarette, "always remember what +I told you about that man. Be especially on your guard if ever you are +brought into contact with him. I happen to know that he registered a +vow, a year ago, that before five years were past he would ruin me." + +"I will remember," Virginia faltered. + + + +CHAPTER III + + +STORM CLOUDS + +Mr. Phineas Duge, since the death of his wife, had closed his doors to +all his friends, and entertained only on rare occasions a few of the men +with whom he was connected in his many business enterprises. On the +arrival of Virginia, however, he lifted his finger, and Society stormed +at his doors. The great reception rooms were thrown open, the servants +were provided with new liveries, an entertainment office was given carte +blanche to engage the usual run of foreign singers and the best known +mountebanks of the moment. Mrs. Trevor Harrison, the woman whom he had +selected as chaperon for Virginia, more than once displayed some +curiosity, when talking to her charge, as to this sudden change in the +habits of a man whose lack of sociability had become almost proverbial. + +"If it were not, my dear," she said one day to Virginia, when they were +having tea together in her own more modest apartment, "that I firmly +believe your uncle incapable of any affection for any one, we should all +have to believe that he had lost his heart to you." + +Virginia, who had heard other remarks of the same nature, looked +puzzled. + +"I cannot see," she exclaimed, "why every one speaks of my uncle as a +heartless person. I do not think that I ever met any one more kind, and +he looks it, too. I do not think that I ever saw any one with such a +benevolent face." + +Mrs. Trevor Harrison laughed softly as she rocked herself in her chair. + +"Dear child," she said, "New York has known your uncle for twenty-five +years, and suffered for him. These men who make great fortunes must make +them at the expense of other people, and there are very many who have +gone down to make Phineas Duge what he is." + +"I cannot understand it," Virginia said. + +"Your uncle," Mrs. Trevor Harrison continued, "has a will of iron, is +absolutely self-centered; sentiment has never swayed him in the least. +He has climbed up on the bodies of weaker men. But there, in America we +blame no one for that. It is the strong man who lives, and the others +must die. Only I cannot quite understand this new development. I have +never known your uncle to do a purposeless thing." + +"You say," Virginia remarked slowly, "that he has no heart. Why did he +send for me, then? Since I have been here, he has paid off the mortgage +which was making my father an old man, he has sent my brother to +college, and has promised, so long as I am with him, to allow them so +much money that they have no more anxiety at all. If you only knew what +a change this has made in all our lives, you would understand that I do +not like to hear you say that my uncle has no heart." + +Mrs. Trevor Harrison stopped rocking her chair, and looked at the girl +thoughtfully. + +"Well," she said, "what you tell me sounds very strange. Still, I don't +see what motive he could have had for doing all this." + +"Why should you suspect a motive?" Virginia demanded. + +"Because he is Phineas Duge," Mrs. Harrison said drily. "But there, my +dear child, I mustn't say a word against your uncle. He has been nice +enough to me because I have promised to look after you. Does he want me +to marry you, I wonder? I don't think that it would be very difficult." + +Virginia blushed, and moved uneasily in her chair. + +"Please don't," she begged. "I do not wish to think of anything of the +sort. My uncle says that presently I am to help him." + +"To help him," Mrs. Trevor Harrison repeated thoughtfully. + +Virginia nodded. + +"Yes! I don't exactly know how, but that is what he said." + +Her chaperon looked thoughtful for a moment. So there was a motive +somewhere, then! But, after all, what concern was it of hers? She was an +old friend of the Duge family, and Phineas Duge had made it very well +worth her while to look after his niece. + +They were interrupted by some callers. It was an informal "At Home" +which Mrs. Harrison was giving in honour of her young charge. Soon the +rooms were crowded with people, and Virginia, slim, elegant, perfectly +gowned, looking like a picture, with her pale oval face and wonderful +dark grey eyes, was the centre of a good deal of attention. And in the +midst of it all a girl, whom as yet she had not noticed, touched her on +the arm and drew her a little away. She started with surprise when she +saw that it was Stella. + +"Come, my dear cousin," Stella said, "I want to have a little talk with +you. Won't you sit down with me here? I am sure you have been doing your +duty admirably." + +Virginia was a little shy. She was not quite sure whether she ought to +talk to her cousin. Nevertheless, she obeyed the stronger personality. + +"Of course I know," Stella said, spreading herself out on a sofa, and +smiling in amusement at the other's slight embarrassment, "that I am in +disgrace with my beloved parent, and that you are half afraid to talk to +me. Still, you must remember that you owe me a little consideration, for +you have taken my place, and turned me out into the cold world." + +"You must not talk like that, please," Virginia said quietly. "You know +very well that I have done nothing of the sort. When my uncle sent for +me, I had no idea that you were not still living with him." + +"I lived with him for three years," Stella said, "after I had come back +from Europe. I call that a very wonderful record. I give you about +three months." + +"I don't know why you should say this," Virginia answered. "I find my +uncle very easy to get on with so long as he is obeyed." + +Stella smiled. + +"Ah, well!" she said, "I don't want to dishearten you, only you seem +rather a nice little thing, and I am afraid you don't quite understand +the sort of man my father is. However, you'll find out, and until you do +I should have as good a time as I could if I were you. How do you like +New York?" + +"How could I help liking it?" Virginia answered. "I came here from a +little wooden farmhouse in a desolate part of the country. I did not +know what luxury was. Here I have a maid, a suite of rooms, an +automobile, and all manner of wonderful things, all of my own." + +"Will you be willing," Stella asked calmly, "to pay the price when the +time comes?" + +Virginia looked at her wonderingly. + +"The price?" she asked. "What do you mean?" + +Stella laughed a little hardly. + +"Little girl," she said, "you are very young. Let me tell you this. My +father never did a kind action in his life for its own sake. He never +befriended any one for any other motive than that some day or other he +meant to exact some return for it. Your time hasn't come yet, but there +will be something some day which will help you to understand." + +Virginia sat upright in her seat. A very becoming touch of colour had +stolen into her cheeks, and her eyes were bright. + +"I like to talk to you, Stella," she said, "because you are my cousin, +and none of these other people are even my friends yet, but I cannot +listen to you if you talk like this of the man who has been so kind to +me, especially," she added, "as he is your father and my uncle." + +Stella leaned over and patted her hand patronizingly. + +"Silly little girl!" she said. "Never mind, we shall be friends some +day, I dare say. You daren't come and see me, I suppose?" + +Virginia shook her head. + +"Not without my uncle's permission," she said. + +"Quite right," Stella agreed. "Don't run any risks. We shall come across +one another now and then, especially since my father seems determined to +throw open his doors once more to the usual mob. By the by, does he ever +say anything about me?" + +"Nothing," Virginia answered, "except that you deceived him. He has told +me that." + +"Any particulars?" Stella asked. + +"I am not sure," Virginia said, "that I ought to repeat them." + +Stella sat quite still for a moment, and a slight frown was on her +forehead. + +"He has told you, then, why he sent me away?" she asked. + +"Yes!" Virginia answered. + +Stella shrugged her shoulders and rose. + +"Well," she said, "I mustn't monopolize you any longer, or I shall be in +disgrace." + +She walked away with a little nod, leaving behind her a faint but +uncomfortable impression. Virginia, an hour or so later, thought it best +to tell her uncle of this meeting. They were standing together in one of +the reception rooms, waiting for some guests who were coming to dine, +and were alone except for a couple of footmen, who were lighting a huge +candelabrum of wax candles. + +"Uncle," Virginia said, "I met Stella this afternoon, and she came and +spoke to me." + +He looked at her without change of countenance. + +"Well?" he said. + +"I thought I ought to tell you," Virginia continued. "I was not sure how +you felt about it." + +"I have no objection," he said, resting his hand for a moment upon her +shoulder, "to your talking to her whenever you may happen to meet. Only +remember one thing! She must not enter this house. You must never ask +her here. You must never suffer her to come. You understand that?" + +"I understand," Virginia answered. + +"And this man Vine, Mr. Norris Vine, have you met him?" he asked. + +Virginia shook her head. + +"No!" she said, "I have never seen him since that night at the +restaurant." + +"The same thing," Phineas Duge said, "applies to him. Neither of them +must cross the threshold of this house. It is a hard thing to say of +one's own daughter, but those two are in league against me, if their +combination is worth speaking of seriously." + +Virginia looked hopelessly puzzled. Phineas Duge hesitated for a moment, +and then continued-- + +"There are phases of our life here," he said, "which you could not hope +to understand, even if you had been born in this city. But you can +perhaps understand as much as this. In the higher regions of finance +there is very much scheming and diplomacy required. One carries always +secrets which must not be known, and one does things which it is +necessary to conceal for the good of others, as well as for one's own +benefit. I have been for some years engaged in operations whose success +depends entirely upon the secrecy with which they are conducted. +Naturally, there is an opposing side, there always must be. There are +buyers and sellers. If one succeeds, the other must fail, so you can +understand that one has enemies always." + +"It sounds," she murmured, "almost romantic, like diplomacy or +politics." + +He smiled. + +"The secret history of the lives and operations of some of us, who have +made names in this country during the last few years," he said, "would +make the modern romance seem stale. Even odd scraps of news or surmises +are fought for by the Press. The journalists know well enough where to +come for their sensation. Our guests at last, I believe. Don't forget +what I have been saying to you, Virginia." + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +A MEETING OF GIANTS + +Phineas Duge, if his manners preserved still that sense of restraint +which seemed part of the man himself, still made an excellent host. He +sat at the head of his table, a distinguished, almost handsome +personality, his grey hair accurately parted, every detail of his +toilette in exact accordance with the fashions of the moment, his eyes +everywhere, his tongue seldom silent. + +Virginia watched him more than once from her seat, in half-unwilling +admiration. She was ashamed to admit that her personal enthusiasm for +him had in any way abated, and yet she was becoming conscious of that +absolute lack of any real cordiality, of any evidence of affection in +his demeanour towards her and every one else with whom he was brought +into contact. She knew very well what the world's account of him was, +for in the old days they had read sketches of his career up in the +little farmhouse amongst the mountains. They had read of his indomitable +will, of his absolute heartlessness, the stern, persistent individuality +which climbs and climbs, heedless of those who must fall by the way. +Perhaps he was really like this. Perhaps her first impressions had been +wrong. Then, with a sudden wave of shame, she remembered the joyous, +affectionate letters which every post brought her from the home, which +notwithstanding all her sufferings, she had loved so dearly. She looked +down at the pearls which hung from her neck. She saw herself in her +spotless muslin gown. She felt the touch of laces and silk, all the +nameless effect of this environment of luxury thrilled in her blood. It +was better, she decided, that she did not think of the future at all. It +was better that she should nurse the gratitude which she most +assuredly felt. + +The dinner-party that night consisted of men only, and although the +conversation was fairly general, even Virginia had a suspicion that +these men had not been brought together absolutely as ordinary guests +for social purposes. Lightly though they all talked, there was something +in the background. More than once the voices were lowered, allusions +were made which she failed to understand, and half-doubting glances were +thrown in her direction. One of these her uncle appeared to notice, and, +leaning a little forward in his chair, he said a few words to the man +at his side in such a way that they were obviously intended for the +information of all. + +"My niece," he said, "is going to take the part which I had once hoped +my daughter might fill. If the occasion arises, you can speak of any +matter of business in which we may be interested, before her. It is +necessary," he continued, after a slight pause, "that there should be +some one in my household who is above suspicion, I might almost say, +above temptation. My niece will hold that post." + +Then they all looked at her, and Virginia was a little frightened. It +did not seem to her necessary, however, to say anything. Two of the men +she met for the first time, but all were known to her by sight. There +was Stephen Weiss, the head of a great trust, long, lean, with +inscrutable face, and eyes hidden behind thick spectacles; Higgins, who +virtually controlled a great railway system; Littleson and Bardsley, +millionaires both, and politicians. It was a gathering of men of almost +limitless power; men who, according to some of the papers, lived with +their hands upon their country's throat. Littleson leaned over and spoke +to her not unkindly. + +"I am sure," he said, "that your uncle has made a wise choice. There are +some secrets too great to be in one man's charge alone, and besides--" + +Phineas Duge lifted his hand. + +"Never mind the rest," he said. "I have not explained those +circumstances as yet to my niece. If you are quite ready, we will take +our coffee in the library." He turned to Virginia, who had risen at once +to leave them. "In an hour and a half exactly, Virginia," he said, "come +into the library. Not before." + +She glanced at her watch and made a note of the hour. Then she wandered +off to one of the smaller drawing-rooms, and, to relieve a certain +strain of which she was somehow conscious, she played the piano softly. +In the middle of a nocturne of Chopin's the door was opened, and a young +man was shown into the room. + +"I beg your pardon," he said, "you are Miss Longworth?" + +She rose at once from the piano seat. He was not dressed for the +evening, and he carried a felt hat in his hand. Nevertheless his bearing +was pleasant enough, and he seemed to her a gentleman. + +"I am Miss Longworth," she answered. "You want to see my uncle, I +suppose? They have made a mistake in showing you in here." + +"Not at all," he answered, with an ingratiating smile. "I know that your +uncle is very busy, so I took the liberty of asking to see you. It is +such a simple matter I required, that it was not worth while +interrupting him. My name is Carr, and I am on the _World_. There was +just an ordinary question or two I was going to put to your uncle, but +you can answer them just as well if you will." + +"You mean you are a reporter?" she asked. + +"That's it," he assented. "Odd sort of life in a way, because it sends +us round seeking sometimes for the most trivial information. For +instance, your uncle had a dinner-party to-night, and I have stepped +round for a list of the guests." + +"I do not see," she answered slowly, "what possible concern that can be +of your paper's." + +He smiled indulgently. + +"Ah, Miss Longworth!" he said, "you have just come from the country, I +believe. You do not understand the way we do things in New York. Your +uncle is a famous man, and the public who buy papers to-day are dead +keen upon knowing even the most trifling things that such men do. In +fact, I have been sent all the way up from down town simply to find out +that simple matter. Of course, I could have asked the servants, but we +always prefer to get our information from one of the family where +possible. Now, let me see. Mr. Weiss was here, of course?" + +Virginia hesitated, but only for a moment. + +"If you really wish for these details," she said, "you must ask my +uncle. I do not care to tell you." + +"But say, isn't that rather rough upon your uncle?" he asked doubtfully. +"We can't bother him with every little thing. Surely there can be +nothing indiscreet in your giving me the names of your guests. Most +people send them to the papers themselves." + +"I do not know," Virginia said, "whether my uncle would wish me to do +so. In any case, I shall do nothing without his consent." + +The young man frowned slightly. This was not to be so easy as he +thought. + +"Well," he said, "I can get the names from your servants, without +bothering your uncle. Must be rather interesting for you, Miss +Longworth, to hear these famous men talk," + +She shook her head. + +"I do not understand one half of what they say," she answered, "but what +I do understand doesn't sound in the least wonderful." + +He smiled appreciatively. + +"I can quite understand that," he said; "but there must have been some +of the conversation that you understood. For instance, the Anti-Trust +Bill that is coming before the House in a few weeks. They ought to have +said some interesting things about that." + +Virginia moved calmly across the room, and before the young man had +perceived her intention she had rung the bell. + +"I think," she said, "that you are a very impertinent person. Please go +away at once." + +He shrugged his shoulders as he turned towards the door. His expression +was still entirely good-humoured. + +"Don't be angry with me, Miss Longworth," he said, as he paused for a +moment with his hand upon the knob of the door; "it's all in my day's +work, you know. One has to try and find out these things, or one +wouldn't be worth one's place. We had word down at the office that you +had just come from the country, and that something might be done +with you." + +"And I think it was most unfair and ungentlemanly," Virginia began. + +"It seems so, I dare say," he admitted, "from your point of view; but +you must remember, Miss Longworth, that it is all part of a game which +is played here all the time. Each side knows the other's moves; there is +no deceit about it. Men like your uncle, who want to cover up their +actions, take as much pains to hoodwink us, and use any means that occur +to them to keep us in the dark when they want to. They just make use of +us, and we have to try and make use of them. Good night, Miss +Longworth!" + +He left the room, and Virginia returned to the piano. Her fingers were +shaking, however, and she was unable to play. She took up a book and +tried to read. All the time she kept glancing at the clock. At last she +rose to her feet and left the room. The hour and a half was up. + + + +CHAPTER V + + +TREACHERY + +Somewhat to Virginia's surprise, when at last she stepped with beating +heart into the library, she found her uncle alone. He was sitting in +front of his open desk, a pile of papers before him, and a long, +black-looking cigar between his teeth. Scarcely glancing up, he motioned +her to a seat. + +"In five minutes," he said, "I shall want to talk to you." + +She sat down in one of the chairs, now vacant, which had been drawn up +to the study table. The air of the room was heavy with tobacco smoke, +and there were empty liqueur glasses upon the sideboard. Yet Virginia +somehow felt that it was not only to take their after-dinner coffee, and +enjoy a chat over their cigars, that these men had met together around +the table before which she was sitting. She had the feeling somehow that +things had been happening in that little room, of which she and Phineas +Duge were now the only occupants. + +"Virginia!" + +She turned her head suddenly. Her uncle was looking at her. His eyes had +lost their far-away gleam, and were fixed upon hers, cold and +expressionless. + +"Yes, uncle!" she said. + +"I want to talk to you for a few moments," he said. "Listen, and don't +interrupt." + +She leaned a little toward him in an attitude of attention. The words +seemed to frame themselves slowly upon his lips. + +"You have been wondering, I suppose, like all the rest of the world," he +began, "why I sent for you here. I am going to tell you. But first of +all let me know this. Are you satisfied with what I have done for you, +and for your people? In other words, have you any feeling of what +people, I believe, call gratitude towards me?" + +"I wonder that you can ask me that," she answered, a little tremulously. +"You know that I am very, very grateful indeed." + +"You like your life?" he asked. "You find it"--he hesitated for a +moment--"more amusing than at Wellham Springs?" + +"I am only an ordinary girl," she answered simply, "and you must realize +what the difference means. Life there was a sort of struggle which led +nowhere. Here I don't see how any one could be happier than I. Apart +from that, what you have done for the others counts, I think, for more +than anything with me." + +"I am glad," he answered, "that you are satisfied. You think, perhaps, +from what you have seen since you came here that the power of money has +no limits. I can tell you that it has very fixed and definite limits, +and it was when I realized them that I sent for you. I hope to gain from +you what in all New York I should not know where to buy." + +She was careful not to interrupt him, but her eyes were full of mute +questions. + +"I mean," he continued, "fidelity, absolute unswerving fidelity. The +four men who have been here to-night call themselves my friends. We are +leagued together in enterprises of immense importance. Yet take them one +by one, and there is not one whom I can trust. I have proved it. I pay +my two secretaries more highly than any other employer in the city. They +do their duty, but I know very well that they only wait for some one +else to outbid me, and they would take themselves and their knowledge of +my affairs to whoever might call them. It has become necessary that +there should be one person in whose charge I can repose the knowledge of +certain things. New York does not hold such a person. That is why I have +sent for you." + +He paused so long that she ignored his injunction of silence. + +"You know very well, uncle," she said, "that I am not clever, and that +I understand nothing whatever about business, or anything to do with it, +but I can at least promise that I will be faithful. That seems a very +poor reward for all that you have done for me." + +"Yes!" he answered, "I believe that you mean that. Now I must tell you +this, that these four men who have dined with me here to-night, with +myself, are under a solemn covenant to conduct all our operations upon +the market and in finance, whether in this country or in Europe, +absolutely in unison. We control practically an unlimited capital, and +we pool all profits. We never speculate individually, at least that is a +condition of our agreement. You may not understand this, but such a +combination as ours, honestly adhered to, can do what it likes with the +money-markets anywhere. We can bend them to our will. We buy or sell, +and our profits are sure. We keep our agreement secret, but even then it +is guessed at. I can assure you that we are probably the five best hated +men in America. During the last two years we have made great fortunes. +Our system is perfect. So far as the acquisition of wealth goes, there +could be no object in any treachery, and yet one of these five men is +playing a double game, if not more." + +"You have found him out?" she asked breathlessly. + +He shook his head. + +"It is not so easy," he said, "only I know. To-night," he continued, +lowering his voice almost to a whisper, "a new suspicion has come to me. +I have an idea that there is a scheme, in which all four are concerned, +for ruining me and sharing the plunder," + +"It is infamous!" she cried, turning pale. + +He smiled slowly. It was the smile she hated. It seemed to change his +face from the similitude of a benevolent divine to something hard, +almost satanic. + +"The odds," he continued, "seem heavy, but I have known one man hold his +own against four before now. You may not understand all these different +points, but I must tell you this. All through America, we millionaires, +who operate largely upon the markets and control the finances of the +country, are hated by the middle classes. We are hated by the merchants, +the fairly well-off people, the labouring classes, and, more than any +others, perhaps, by the politicians. Last month it was decided to strike +a dangerous blow at us and our interests. A bill is to come before the +Senate before very long which is framed purposely to undermine our +power. Can you understand that?" + +"I think so," she answered. + +"It was to discuss this," he continued, "that we met to-night. I laid a +trap for my four friends, and they fell into it. They have signed a +document pledging themselves to resist this bill, in such a fashion that +their doing so renders them parties to an illegal conspiracy. That +document is in my possession. They all signed it, and it was left for me +to be the last. No one noticed that my name was written across a piece +of paper laid over the document itself. Now this I keep as a hostage +over them. Sooner or later, when their plans mature, it will occur to +them what they have done. They will remember that, so long as I hold +this document, I have them in my power. Weiss was uneasy before he left +the room to-night. In less than a week they will be trying to regain +possession of that document under some pretext or other. I am going to +show you where I keep it." + +He pushed his chair away and pulled up the rug from beneath it. Even +then Virginia, who had obeyed his gesture and was standing by his side, +could see nothing unusual in the appearance of the hardwood floor. She +watched his finger, however, count the cracks from a knot in the wood. +Then he pressed a certain spot, and one of the blocks sprang up a little +way and was easily removed. Beneath it was the steel lid of a small +coffer, with two keyholes. + +"This is my hiding-place," he said calmly, "and these," he added, "are +the keys." + +He laid before her two keys of curious device, and he took from a drawer +in his desk a thin chain of platinum and gold. + +"Now," he said, "you are going to be the guardian of these keys. You are +going to wear this chain around your neck all the time, and the keys are +going in here." + +He drew from his pocket a gold locket, and touching the spring showed +her that inside, instead of any place for a photograph, were little +embedded pads of velvet, shaped for the keys. He placed them in and hung +the locket around her neck. She looked at it, half terrified. + +"I do not understand," she said, "why you trust me with this. Surely it +would be safer with you!" + +He smiled grimly. + +"You do not know my friends," he said. "Remember that in my possession +is not only the document which must cause them to abandon their great +scheme of attack upon me, but also that that same document, if made +proper use of, means ruin and ridicule for them. New York is a civilized +city, it is true, but money can buy the assassin's pistol to-day as +easily as it bought the bravo's knife a few hundred years ago. Have you +ever thought of the number of unexplained, if not undetected crimes you +read of continually, in which the victims are generally rich men? +Perhaps not, and you need not worry your little head about it, but take +my word for it, the keys are safer with you." + +Virginia laid her hand tremulously upon the locket. + +"They shall be safe," she said, "but tell me this. I am never to give +them up to any one but you?" + +"Never under any conditions," he answered. + +"Not even," she asked, "if any one should bring a written message from +you?" + +"Distrust it," he answered. "Do not give them up. Into my hands only, +remember that." + +The telephone bell rang suddenly at his elbow. Phineas Duge took off the +receiver and held it to his ear. The quiet, measured voice of Stephen +Weiss came travelling along the wire. + +"Say, Duge, I am half inclined to think we made a mistake in signing +that paper," he said. "Of course, I know it's safe in your keeping, but +I don't fancy my name standing written on a document that means quite +what that means. I fancy that Higgins is a little nervous, too. We'll +meet and talk it over to-morrow night." + +Phineas Duge smiled faintly as he answered-- + +"Just as you like, only I must tell you that I entirely disagree. Unless +we strike, and strike quickly, that bill will become law, and we shall +all have to print a European address upon our notepaper, if we get +as far." + +"I speak for the others, too," Weiss continued. "We'll meet right here +to-morrow night to discuss it. Say at eight o'clock." + +Phineas Duge laid down the receiver and turned away. + +"Well," he said, "this will become interesting. They will not strike now +until they have got hold of that foolish paper. If they are all +determined to get it back, and I resist, they will know that the game is +up, and that I have seen through their little scheme. This must be +thought about. Virginia, do I look ill?" + +She shook her head. + +"I thought you were looking very well, uncle," she said. + +He locked up his desk, and looked down to see that the surface of the +carpet was unruffled. + +"To-morrow," he said, "I am going to be very ill indeed!" + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +MR. WEISS IN A HURRY + +Virginia walked along Fifth Avenue, enjoying the sunshine, the crowds of +people, and the effect of a new hat. Every now and then she stopped to +look in a shop, and more than once she smiled to herself as she +remembered how she had escaped from her uncle's house by flitting out of +the side entrance. For she had found herself within the last few hours a +very important person indeed. From the moment the doctor's carriage had +stopped before the door, a little stream of callers, reporters, business +friends, and others whom she knew nothing of, had thronged the place, +unwilling to depart without some definite news of this unexpected +illness, and all of them anxious to obtain a word or two with her. +Already a "Special" was being sold on the streets, and in big black +letters she read of the alarming illness of Phineas Duge. She had left +both his secretaries, young men with whom as yet she had exchanged only +a few words, hard at work opening letters and answering telegrams. She +alone was free from all anxiety, for she had had a few words with her +uncle before she came out, and at her entrance the languor of the sick +man disappeared at once, and he had spoken to her with something of the +enjoyment of a boy enjoying a huge joke. + +She paused every now and then to look in the shop windows, and make a +few purchases. Then, just as she was leaving a store, and hesitating for +a moment which way to continue her walk, a man stopped suddenly before +her and raised his hat. It was Stephen Weiss, gaunt, ill-dressed, easily +recognizable. He was evidently glad to see her. + +"This is real good fortune, Miss Longworth," he said, holding her hand +in his, as though afraid that she might slip away. "I have just left +your house, but I couldn't seem to get hold of anything very definite +about this sudden attack of your uncle's." + +"I know very little about it myself," Virginia answered. "The doctor had +only just been when I came away. He said, I believe, that it was only a +matter of a complete rest for several days, perhaps a week, and then +possibly a short holiday." + +Mr. Weiss shook his head thoughtfully. + +"I am much relieved to hear that," he declared. "Your uncle is one of my +oldest friends, and, apart from that, we are concerned in one or two +very important speculations just now, things which you, young lady, +would scarcely understand; but it would be awkward if he were laid up." + +"The doctor thinks," Virginia remarked, "that he will be able to attend +to anything very necessary in four or five days. They will not allow +him, however, even to look at a newspaper until then." + +Mr. Weiss nodded thoughtfully. + +"You were going back toward the house, I see," he remarked. "Permit me +to walk with you a little way." + +Virginia hesitated for a moment. + +"I have a little more shopping to do," she said. "I was not going home +just yet." + +Mr. Weiss, however, was already leading her across the street. + +"My dear young lady," he said, "I have something very important to say +to you. I am sure you will not mind going back to the house with me now +and continuing your walk afterwards. It is in your uncle's interests as +much as my own." + +She allowed herself to be led along, and when they had reached the other +side of the Avenue, Stephen Weiss, speaking earnestly, and stooping a +little towards her, commenced his explanation. + +"Your uncle," he said, "and three or four of us whom you met last night, +are engaged just now in a very important undertaking. I cannot explain +it to you, but it involves a great many millions of dollars, more than +we could any of us afford to lose, although, as you know, we are none of +us poor men. Now we can carry this thing right through without bothering +your uncle, and make a success of it, but there is just one thing we +must have, and that is a paper which he has locked away in his study, +and which is a sort of key to the situation. I spoke to your uncle about +it last night over the telephone, and he agreed to have it ready for me +when I called this morning. I could not find any one at the house, +however, who had received instructions about it, so I concluded that he +had perhaps left word with you." + +"No!" she answered, "he has not told me anything." + +"Miss Longworth," he continued, laying his hand for a moment upon her +arm, "you know from what your uncle said last night that we are all +practically his partners. Now in his interests and all of ours, and +naturally therefore in yours, we must have that paper. When we get home, +just step into your uncle's room and say one sentence to him. Say that I +am downstairs. He will know what I want, and I am sure he will tell you +to give it to me. I hate to have to bother him just now, but I can +assure you that it would do him a good deal more harm just when he is +pulling round, to find that we were all on the wrong side of things, +than to have just one sentence breathed into his ear now." + +Virginia seemed to hesitate. + +"The doctor's orders," she remarked, "were very strict. I am sure I +don't know what to say." + +"Doctors," Mr. Weiss said, "are all very well, but they do not know +everything. Just those few words from you can do your uncle no possible +harm, and they may save him a very bad relapse later on. I wouldn't +press this thing, my dear young lady, if I wasn't convinced of its +tremendous importance. You can trust me about that." + +Virginia walked on for a few steps in silence. They were approaching her +uncle's house, and already a small crowd of people were collected, +reading the bulletin which was hung upon the railings. Mr. Weiss +stopped short. + +"Isn't there any way of getting in without being seen by all this +crowd?" he asked. "They'll worry us to death with questions." + +She nodded, and led him round the back way. Even here they were caught, +however, by a reporter, whom Mr. Weiss brushed unceremoniously away. +Virginia took her companion into a morning-room upon the ground floor, +and motioned him to a chair. + +"If you will wait here," she said, "I'll go upstairs and see my uncle. +If I see that it is in any way possible, I will do as you ask." + +"That's good," he declared. "If you don't mind, Miss Longworth, I'll +just step into the study, where we were last night. I dare say one of +your uncle's young men will be there, and there are a few minor details +I'd like to talk over with young Smedley, if he's about." + +"I will find Mr. Smedley for you," Virginia said, "when I come down. I +am sure that he is not in the library, because my uncle uses that always +as his private room. Please wait here until I come down." + +She left him and made her way upstairs. The door of her uncle's bedroom +was guarded by his man servant, who allowed her, however, to pass. +Inside the room Phineas Duge was sitting in an easy-chair, carefully +dressed, smoking a cigarette, and with a pile of newspapers by his side. +On the table a few feet away was a telephone, the receiver of which he +had just laid down. + +"Well," he asked, looking up as she entered, "have they made a move +yet?" + +"I met Mr. Weiss on Fifth Avenue," she said. "He explained that you were +all partners in some business undertaking of very great importance. Then +he went on to say that they could carry it on all right without you, but +that they must have one paper, which he said was the key to the +position. He remarked that he had telephoned to you last night about it, +and he is quite sure that you will give me orders to find it and give it +up to him. He persuaded me even, you see, to break the doctor's orders." + +Phineas Duge smiled quietly. + +"I am too ill to be disturbed about such things," he said, lighting a +fresh cigarette. "I do not know what paper he means. If you come and +talk to me again about business matters, I shall send for the doctor. It +is most unreasonable. By the by, where did you leave Mr. Weiss?" + +"In the morning-room," she answered. "He wanted to go into the library, +and he wanted to see Smedley, but I told him to wait where he was till I +got down." + +"I hope you will find him there," Phineas Duge said. "He can see Smedley +if he wants to, on your responsibility of course. Those boys know +nothing. Come up and tell me how he takes it." + +Virginia went down to the morning-room and found it empty. She crossed +the hall, opened the door of the outer library softly, and passed with +swift silent footsteps into the smaller apartment. Mr. Weiss was +standing there before her uncle's closed desk, regarding it +contemplatively. He looked up quickly as she entered. + +"Don't think I am taking a liberty, Miss Longworth," he said calmly. +"This place has been a sort of office for us, and your uncle lets us do +about as we please here. I trust you are going to unlock that desk and +give me the paper I want." + +Virginia shook her head slowly. + +"I am sorry," she said, "but my uncle will not discuss business matters +at all. He did not seem to remember anything about a paper, and he said +that everything must wait until his head is a little clearer. I am sorry +I disturbed him. I am afraid that the doctor will be very angry with +me." + +Mr. Weiss' face, clean-shaven and lined, with his spectacled eyes and +thin, indrawn lips, was as expressionless as a face could be, but +Virginia heard him draw a quick little breath, and his very attitude +seemed to be the attitude of a man confronted with calamity. + +"Miss Longworth," he said slowly, "this is very unfortunate." + +"I am sorry," she answered. + +"Will you sit down?" he said. "I have something to say to you." + +She shook her head. + +"I am afraid that I cannot stay now," she said. "I have so many things +to do, and so many notes to write." + +His spectacled eyes looked right into hers. + +"This," he said quietly, "is important. There are times, Miss Longworth, +when the junior in command of a great enterprise is faced with a crisis, +when he or she is forced to act upon their own responsibility. The +person who is great enough to rise to an occasion like this is the +person who wins and deserves success in life. You follow me, Miss +Longworth?" + +"I suppose so," Virginia answered, a little doubtfully, although in her +heart she understood him very well indeed. + +"Miss Longworth," he said, "have you pluck enough to save us all several +millions of dollars, and to make your uncle grateful to you for life? In +other words, will you help me look for that paper?" + +"Without my uncle's permission?" she asked. + +"Without a permission which he would give you in one moment," Mr. Weiss +declared, "if he was in a fit state to look after his own affairs. Come, +you shall not have to wait until he recovers. For a part of your reward, +at any rate, there is a pearl necklace in Streeter's, which I saw +yesterday marked forty thousand dollars. It shall be yours within half +an hour of the time I get that paper, and I guarantee that your uncle +will give you another like it when he knows what you have done." + +Virginia shook her head sorrowfully. Her great eyes seemed full of real +regret. + +"Mr. Weiss," she said, "I am too dull and stupid to dare to do things on +my own account. I can only obey, and I am afraid all these beautiful +rewards are not for me. Even if my uncle sends me away when he gets +well, I must do exactly as he told me, no more, nor any less, and one +of those things," she added, turning and pressing the electric bell in +the wall by her side, "was that no one, no one at all, should enter +this room." + +Mr. Weiss stood quite still. He seemed to be thinking, but Virginia +could see that his hands were tightly clenched, and the bones of his +long sinewy fingers were standing out, straining against the flesh. + +"I am disappointed in you, Miss Longworth," he said. "You have a great +opportunity. It need not be only a matter of the necklace--" + +She held out her hands. + +"You mustn't!" she begged. "I am too frightened of my uncle." + +Then she turned suddenly and opened the door to the servant, whose +approaching footsteps she had heard. + +"Will you please show Mr. Weiss out?" she said. "He is in rather a +hurry." + +Mr. Weiss went without a word. + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +A PROFESSIONAL BURGLAR + +There were three men in New York that day, who, although they occupied +their accustomed table, the best in one of its most exclusive clubs, and +although their luncheon was chosen with the usual care, were never +really conscious of what they were eating. Weiss was one, John Bardsley +another, and Higgins, the railway man, the third. They sat in a corner, +from which their conversation could not be overheard; and as often +before when their heads had been close together, people looked across at +them, always with interest, often with some envy, and wondered. + +"I'd like you both to understand," Weiss said, speaking with +unaccustomed emphasis as he leaned across the table, "that I don't like +the look of things. We tackled something pretty big when we tackled +Phineas Duge, and if he has the least idea that these Chicago brokers +have been operating on our behalf, it's my belief we shall find +ourselves up against it." + +Higgins, who was the optimist of the party, a small man, with the +unlined, clear complexion and face of a boy, shrugged his shoulders a +little doubtfully. + +"That's all very well, Weiss," he said, "but if Phineas had been going +to find us out at all, he'd have found us out three weeks ago, when the +thing started. He wouldn't have sat still and let us sell ten million +dollars' worth of stock without moving his little finger. I guess you've +got the jumps, Weiss, all because we were d-----d fools enough to sign +that rotten paper last night. All the same I don't quite see how he +could ever use that against us. His own name's there." + +"I'm not so sure of that," Weiss said quietly. "I tell you it occurred +to me to look across just as he was blotting the page, and I saw that he +had his arm right round the paper, and it didn't seem to me that he was +blotting the place where his signature ought to have been." + +"Why didn't you ask to read the thing through again?" Higgins demanded. + +"I wish I had," Weiss answered gloomily. + +Bardsley, a large man, with grey beard and moustache, and coarse, hard +face, spoke for the first time. + +"Do any of you know," he asked, "whereabouts in that infernal little +room of his Duge keeps his papers?" + +Weiss looked up. + +"I am not sure," he said. "I know that he has a small iron strong-box +screwed into the inside of his roll-top desk, and of course there is a +safe in the outer office; but I don't see how we're going to find out +whether the paper we want is there." + +"The girl seemed a fool," Higgins remarked. "Can't she be got at?" + +"I have done my best," Weiss answered. "It strikes me she's just fool +enough to stick to what she's been told, and she's too scared of her +uncle to do more or less. She practically turned me out of his room this +morning, when I was just having a look round." + +"If there is really anything," Higgins said in a soft voice, "in what +Weiss is hinting at, there's only one thing for us to do, and, difficult +or easy, it's got to be done, even if we use our friends from +down there." + +He motioned with his head toward the window which was behind them, and +which looked out over the river. They were all three silent for a +moment. Then Weiss struck the table lightly with his clenched fist. + +"Fools that we are!" he muttered--"babies! idiots! To think that such +men as Bardsley and Higgins and myself are compelled to make use of +criminals, to put ourselves practically in fear of the law, to get back +a paper which we signed like babes in the wood. What if this illness of +Duge's is a fake! Nowadays a man doesn't need to move from his room to +do mischief in this world." + +"I've been round to his broker's this morning," Higgins remarked. "He is +doing nothing, has done nothing for weeks. He left off the day we all +agreed to leave off." + +"Why couldn't he be doing as we've done," Bardsley remarked, "and work +from Chicago or Boston?" + +Higgins grunted, and poured himself out a glass of wine. + +"You fellows have got the nerves," he said contemptuously. "You're +imagining things like a pack of frightened women. Duge can't swallow us +up, even if he tumbled to our game. I don't believe there's anything in +this funk of yours. As to signing that paper, well, we've got to run the +Government of this country, as well as a good many other things, if the +Government won't leave us alone. Duge's name is on it right enough, but +if you fellows are really going to shake all day about it, let's have +the paper, even if we blow up the house. I'll send for Danes to-night. +We'll meet him down town somewhere--two of us, no more--and see what he +can suggest. If we get that paper, and Duge's illness isn't a sham, +he'll come downstairs to face the biggest smash that any man in New York +has ever dreamed of, and serve him d----d well right. I'm sick of the +fellow and his ways. For every million we've scooped, he's scooped two. +Every deal we've been into, he's had a little the best of us. We are +going to get our own back, but for Heaven's sake don't let us spoil the +game because you fellows have got the shivers. We'll have another bottle +of wine, and right after lunch I shall telephone down for Danes. Now +let's chuck it. There's little Simpson and Henderson watching us like +cats. They'll think we've got caught on something, or that we are going +on the market. Eat your luncheon, and don't forget my supper-party +to-night. The whole crowd from the Eden Theatre are coming. I only hope +the reporters don't get hold of it." + + * * * * * + +A few hours later Virginia was summoned to her uncle's room. As she +entered the door she passed a small, insignificant-looking man, plainly +dressed, and of somewhat servile appearance, whom she remembered to have +seen about the place several times since her arrival. He glanced at her +in passing, and Virginia saw that his eyes, at any rate, were keen +enough. She found her uncle, now fully dressed, walking up and down the +room, with his hands behind his back. + +"I have just had news of our friends, Virginia," he remarked. "They are +evidently very much in earnest. If they can't get hold of that paper by +strategy, they are going to try and steal it." + +"Won't that be a little difficult?" she asked. + +He smiled. + +"More difficult than they imagine. The coffer itself is an inch thick, +and the lock will stand anything but dynamite. However, I hear that +they've engaged a professional burglar, so we ought to get some +amusement out of it." + +"How did you hear this?" she asked. + +"The little man who has just gone out," he answered. "He is one of +Pinkerton's detectives, or rather he was. He is in my service now, and +spends most of his time watching these precious friends of mine. I +expect they will make the attempt to-night." + +"What are you going to do?" she asked. "Send for the police?" + +Her uncle shook his head. + +"Certainly not," he answered. "If it wasn't that I suppose they will +arrange it so that the affair could not possibly be traced back to them, +I should be in the room myself. As it is, I shall leave the matter to +Leverson, the man who has just gone out. He will get as much help as he +wants. Only if you hear a noise in the night, you will know what +to expect." + +Virginia shivered a little. + +"There will be a fight, I suppose," she said. + +"There may be some shooting," he answered. "In any case, I am not afraid +of their opening my safe-box." + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +FIREARMS + +In the middle of the night Virginia was awakened by the sound of a +revolver shot. She put on her dressing-gown, and, with an electric torch +in her hand, started to descend the stairs. The house was already, +however, a blaze of light. Electric alarm bells were ringing, and +servants were hurrying toward the library. The man Leverson was sitting +in an easy-chair, with an ugly gash across the temple, and one of his +men had a revolver wound through the shoulder. One of the two burglars, +however, whom they had surprised, was a prisoner in their hands, a pale, +sullen-looking man, who had apparently accepted his fate quite +philosophically. He was just being marched off by the uniformed police +when Virginia arrived. + +"Has anything been taken?" she asked Leverson. + +"Not a thing, miss," the man answered. "There were three of them, but +two escaped. One was Bill Danes, I'm sure o' that, and we can lay our +hands upon him at any time. This one I don't know, but they meant +business. They had enough dynamite with them to blow the house up." + +She crossed to her uncle's desk and looked downward. The carpet had +apparently not been disturbed. There were no signs that it had been +touched at all. + +"Are these men ordinary burglars?" she asked Leverson. + +He hesitated. + +"Why, I imagine so," he answered. "Their tools are as smart a lot as +ever I saw in my life. They had spies all round the house to help them +escape, and this one would have got away too, if I hadn't tripped +him up." + +"Curse you!" the bound man muttered. + +Virginia looked at him and shivered. + +"Well, I am glad you caught one of them," she said. "I will go and tell +my uncle." + +But Phineas Duge already knew all about it. He smiled when Virginia +brought him her news. + +"They must be desperate indeed," he said, "to run such risks. However, I +suppose they have bought these fellows' silence safe enough." + +The midday papers were full of the attempted burglary. Before the +magistrates, the man who had been apprehended said not a word. He seemed +to accept his position with stolid fatalism. The cross-examination as to +his associates, and the motive of the attempted robbery, was absolutely +futile. + +Phineas Duge kept up during the day the assumption of severe +indisposition. No one was allowed to see him. A bulletin posted outside +announced that he had been ordered complete and entire rest; and all the +time the telephone wires from his bedroom, high up in the back of the +house, were busy flashing messages east and west, all over the country. +The work in which he had been engaged was zealously pushed home. No one +saw his secretaries coming and going so often from his room, and neither +of them was willing to admit, in fact they flatly denied when +questioned, that they had seen their chief at all. Towards afternoon, +Virginia returned from a short drive in the park to be told that two +gentlemen were waiting to see her. She found no one in the drawing-room +or waiting-room, however, or any of the usual reception-rooms, and rang +the bell for the butler. + +"Where are these people, Groves," she asked, "who want to see me?" + +"They are in the library, madam," the man answered. + +"You mean in your master's room?" she asked, with a sudden presentiment. + +"Yes, madam!" the man answered. "You see, they are Mr. Weiss and Mr. +Higgins, two of the master's greatest friends, and they wished to see +the room where the burglary took place." + +Virginia looked at the man in cold anger. + +"Groves," she said, "you had my orders that no one was to be admitted +into that room." + +"I am sorry if I did wrong, madam," the man answered. "I made exception +in favour of these two gentlemen, because they were constant visitors +here, and old friends of Mr. Duge's, and I scarcely thought that your +orders would apply to them." + +Virginia stepped past him and across the hall. She entered the room +suddenly and closed the door behind her. Mr. Weiss, with a bunch of keys +in his hand, was trying to find one that fitted her uncle's desk. +Higgins, who held an open penknife, seemed to have been attempting to +pry the lid. They started as they saw Virginia enter, and it flashed +into her mind at once that they had waited to pay their visit until they +had seen her go out, and that her return so quickly had +disconcerted them. + +"Mr. Weiss," she said, crossing the room towards them, "this room is in +my charge. It is by my uncle's orders that no one enters it. I regret +that you were shown here by a servant who misunderstood his +instructions. Will you come into the morning-room with me at once?" + +Mr. Weiss stood up. Higgins had moved a little toward the door, and +Virginia suddenly realized that her retreat was cut off. + +"Young lady," the former said, "you must forgive us both, and me +especially, if we speak to you very plainly. I told you about the +document in which we were interested, which your uncle was holding +yesterday. We were willing to let it remain here under ordinary +circumstances, but after the events of last night, we do not propose to +let it stay here another hour. If your uncle is not well enough to be +spoken to, then we must take the matter into our own hands. You can see +for yourself what a risk we run, when only last night an attempt was +very nearly successfully made to steal these papers," + +"I hear what you say," Virginia answered. "May I ask what you intend to +do?" + +"To break open this desk, if necessary," Mr. Weiss said, "and to find +our way somehow or other into the interior of the coffer where these +papers are." + +"And supposing I tell you," she answered calmly, "that I shall not +permit a second burglary in this room within twenty-four hours?" + +Higgins came forward. + +"Miss Virginia," he said, "pardon me, Miss Longworth, you look like a +sensible young woman. I believe you are. Consider our position. Our +whole future as men of influence and character depends upon certain +papers, of which your uncle had charge, being kept absolutely secret. We +entrusted him with the care of them in health, but we are not prepared +to let them stay here now that he is lying upstairs dangerously ill, +and one attempt to steal them has already been made. Take the case at +its worst; if your uncle should die, a seal would be put upon all his +effects, and nothing in the world could stop those documents becoming +public property. You can't realize what that would mean to us. It would +mean ruin not only to ourselves, but to hundreds of others. It would +mean a panic in all the money-markets of the world. We only meant that +paper to remain in existence for a matter of twenty-four hours. We are +fully determined that it shall not remain in this room any longer, +guarded or unguarded. Can't you sympathize with us? Don't you see the +position we are in?" + +"Whatever is in this room," Virginia said, "is safe until my uncle is +well enough to decide what shall be done. While he remains in his +present condition I shall not allow anything to be disturbed." + +"You have relations," Higgins said to her meaningly, "whom you would +like to help. One could not offer to bribe you. Don't think that I mean +anything of the sort. But between us we will give one hundred thousand +dollars for those papers, and I guarantee that when your uncle recovers +he will be quite willing to give you another hundred thousand for having +been sensible enough to let us have them." + +Virginia turned her back upon him. + +"This is not a matter," she said, "if you please, Mr. Weiss, which I +can discuss with you or your friend. I cannot let you stay in this room. +If you will not go away, I must ring for the servants." + +Higgins made a sudden movement, as though to seize her by the arms, but +she was too quick for him. She wheeled suddenly round, and something +very small but very deadly looking flashed out in her hand. + +"You will force me," she said, "to treat you like thieves. I know that +you are not, but I shall treat you as though you were if you don't leave +this room. Don't think that this is a toy either," she continued. +"Revolver shooting was one of our favourite recreations up in the +country. Will you get up from that desk, Mr. Weiss?" + +He stooped down and tried one of the keys from his bunch. Virginia did +not hesitate. She pulled the trigger of her revolver, and a bullet +whistled only a few inches from his head. He sprang upright in a minute. + +"Damn the girl!" he said. "Higgins, take that thing away from her." + +But Virginia was standing with her back to the wall, and Higgins, after +one look into her face, shook his head. + +"Don't be a fool, Weiss," he said. "This sort of thing won't do. You've +lost your head. Beg Miss Longworth's pardon and come away. She is quite +right. There is no excuse for our behaving like this." + +Weiss hesitated for a moment, looked into Virginia's face himself, and +with a shrug of the shoulders admitted defeat. The two men moved +toward the door. + +"I am going to call now upon your uncle's physician," Weiss said. "I am +going to tell him that whatever the risk to your uncle may be, we must +have an interview with him." + +"As you please," Virginia answered. "That has nothing to do with me." + +They left the room and closed the door behind them. Virginia, breathing +a little quickly, crossed the room and tried the desk, but it was still +fast locked. She looked down at the carpet and found it undisturbed. +Then she stood up, and started violently. The inner door leading into +the secretaries' room was open, and her uncle was standing there upon +the threshold. He smiled at her benevolently. + +"I congratulate you, Virginia," he said. "You have routed two of the +worst scoundrels in New York. Now please help me to get upstairs again +without being seen." + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +CONSPIRATORS + +The great automobile swung out of the park into the avenue, and Stella +drew a little sigh of regret. + +"Mine is the next turning," she said. "Thank you so much, Mr. Littleson. +I have enjoyed every minute of it." + +Littleson smiled, but he did not slacken speed. + +"I was very fortunate indeed to meet you," he said, "but I shall not +think of letting you go until you have had some lunch. It is nearly +one o'clock." + +Stella settled down again in her seat. + +"That is very kind of you," she said. "I had an idea that you were such +a tremendously busy person, that you never stopped work for luncheon or +trifles of that sort." + +"A mistake, I can assure you," he said. "Which do you prefer, Sherry's +or Delmonico's?" + +"Martin's, if you don't mind," she answered. "I like watching a crowd of +people." + +They found a quiet table in one of the balconies, and Littleson devoted +several minutes to ordering a luncheon which should be worthy of his +reputation. Then he leaned across the table and looked steadily at his +companion. + +"Miss Duge," he said, "we have known one another for some time, although +chance has never been very kind to me in the way of bringing us +together. Now I am going to tell you something which I dare say will +surprise you. When I saw you in the park this morning, I was on my way +to call upon you." + +She raised her eyebrows. She was certainly surprised. + +"Do you mean that?" she asked. + +"I mean it," he answered. + +"But why? I have seen so little of you. I had no idea that you knew even +what had become of me since I had left my father." + +"I am going to explain everything by and by," he said, "but first of all +I want to ask you one question. Do you know anything about this illness +of your father's? Do you believe that it is a genuine thing, or that he +has some motive of his own for keeping to his room?" + +A faint smile parted Stella's lips. + +"I begin to understand," she murmured. "I must admit that I was puzzled +at your sudden interest in me." + +"Does it need any particular reason?" he asked, looking at her +admiringly. + +Stella, who was conscious of a new hat and a very becoming gown, laughed +softly. + +"Well, perhaps it shouldn't," she said, "but, you see, you have given +yourself away. But I may as well warn you at once that I know nothing +about my father. He has even forbidden me the house, and I have not seen +him for weeks," + +He nodded. + +"So I understood," he said. "May I be quite frank?" + +"Of course," she answered. "If you really have anything to say to me, I +should prefer it." + +"Then after the oysters I will undertake to be," he declared, smiling. + +He turned away to send a boy out for some flowers and order some wine, +and afterwards they proceeded with their lunch, talking of the slight +things of the moment. Littleson, in that little group of millionaires, +represented youth, and to a certain extent fashion. He came from one of +the better-known families in New York. He had rooms and connections in +London and Paris. He was fairly good looking, and always irreproachably +dressed. Stella looked at him more than once approvingly. He was +certainly a desirable companion. For the rest, she had little vanity, +and she knew well enough that he had some purpose of his own in seeking +her out. She had only known of him as one of her father's allies, and +she was puzzled to know the meaning of that first question of his. + +He seemed in no hurry, however, to satisfy her curiosity. He had +ordered a wonderful lunch, and not until they had reached its final +stage did he refer again to anything approaching serious conversation. +Then he leaned a little across the table towards her, and she felt the +change in his expression and tone, as he began to speak in lowered +voice. + +"Miss Duge," he said, "I dare say you were surprised at my question to +you. Let me explain. Your father and several others of us have been +allies for some time in some very important matters connected with +finance. For the last few months, however, we have all felt a sort of +vague uneasiness one with the other. Apparently we were all still +pulling the same way, yet I think that each one of us had the feeling +that there was something wrong. We all began to distrust one another. To +come to an end quickly, I hope I do not offend you, Miss Duge, when I +say that it is my belief that your father has been and is trying to +deceive us for his own benefit." + +Stella nodded assent. + +"Well," she said, "I don't know why you should imagine that it could +offend me to hear you say that. I understood that amongst you who +control the money-markets there is no friendship, nor any right and +wrong. At least if there is, it is the man who succeeds who is right, +and the man who fails who is wrong." + +"To a certain extent you are right, Miss Duge," he answered, "but you +must remember that there is an old adage, 'Honour amongst thieves!'" + +She shrugged her shoulders. + +"Well," she said, "we won't discuss that. You have got so far in your +story as to tell me that you believe my father is trying to get the best +of you all, and you seem to be a little nervous about it. Well, I know +my father, and I don't mind telling you that I should not be in the +least surprised if you were right." + +He lit a cigarette and passed the box across the table to her. + +"Good!" he said. "It is a pleasure to talk to you, Miss Duge. You grasp +everything so quickly. Now you understand the position, then. There are +three or four of us, including myself, on one side, and your father on +the other. Supposing it was in your power to help either, and your +interests lay with us," he added, speaking with a certain meaning in his +tone--"well, to cut it short, how should you feel about it?" + +"You mean," she said slowly, "would my filial devotion outweigh--other +considerations?" + +He looked at her admiringly. + +"You are a marvel, Miss Duge," he said. "That is exactly what I do +mean." + +She leaned back in her chair for a moment, and looked thoughtfully +through the little cloud of cigarette smoke into the face of the man +opposite to her. + +"You have probably heard," she said, "that my father turned me out of +his house." + +"There was a rumour--" he began hesitatingly. + +"Oh! it was no rumour," she interrupted. "He took care that every one +knew that I had given Norris Vine some information about his doings in +Canadian Pacifies. If I were back at home, which I never shall be, I +would do the same thing again. I have lived with my father since I came +back from Europe, and I know what manner of a man he is. I think," she +continued, looking away from him, and speaking more thoughtfully, "that +I was just like the average girl when I came back to New York. I lived +with my father for two or three years, and--well--it would be a severe +lesson for any one. However, this doesn't matter. And I am not +over-sensitive. If you have anything to say to me, say it." + +"I will," he answered. "We have an idea that at any moment there may be +war between us and your father. I think that the odds would be very much +in our favour but for one thing. Your father has a paper which we +foolishly enough all signed one night, which places us practically in +his power. If that paper were given to the Press, we should all of us be +ruined men--I mean so far as prestige and position are concerned. +Further, I am not sure that we should not have to leave the country +altogether." + +She looked at him in wonder. "Whatever made you sign such a paper?" she +asked. + +He shook his head. + +"Heaven knows!" he answered. "We were a little mad. We did not mean to +leave it in your father's charge, however. That is why this illness of +his is so embarrassing to us. We can't help an idea that it is to keep +out of our way for a few days, and to retain possession of that wretched +document, that he is lying by. If, on the other hand, his illness is +genuine, and he were, to put it bluntly, to die, that paper would be +discovered by his lawyer, and Heaven knows what he would do with it!" + +"I am beginning to understand," Stella said. "Now please tell me where I +come in." + +"We are willing," Littleson said quietly, "to give a hundred thousand +dollars to the person who places that paper in our charge. To any one +who knew your father's house, and where he keeps his important +documents, the task would not be an impossible one." + +She looked at him fixedly for several moments. He was half afraid that +she was going to get up and leave him. Instead, however, she broke into +a hard little laugh, and helped herself to another cigarette. + +"You forget," she said, "that I have no longer the entree to my father's +house." + +"It would be perfectly easy for you," he answered, "to go there, +especially with your father out of the way upstairs. I presume that you +know where he keeps his important papers?" + +"Yes! I know that," she answered. "It is a pity," she added, with a +faint smile upon her lips, "that those burglars didn't, isn't it?" + +He shrugged his shoulders. + +"A clumsy effort that, of course," he admitted, "especially when your +father has a detective always round the place. He is well guarded, but I +think that you could do better than that if you would, Miss Duge." + +"About the paper?" she asked. + +"It is simply," he answered, "a sheet of foolscap. I will not tell you +exactly what is written upon it, but it contains a proposal with +reference to raising a certain sum of money, to remove from office +certain prominent politicians who are supporting this Anti-Trust Bill. +Our names are all there, Bardsley's, Weiss', Seth Higgins', and my own. +Your father's should have been there, but I believe he was too +clever for us." + +She began drawing on her gloves. + +"Well," she said, "I have had a delightful morning, thanks to you, and +these roses are lovely. Supposing I should feel that my gratitude still +requires some expression, where could I write you?" + +He handed her a card, which she tucked into her muff. They left the +restaurant together, talking again of the people whom they passed, of +the play at the theatre, of which they were reminded by the sight of a +popular actress, and other indifferent matters. He offered his +automobile, which she declined. + +"I am going to make a call quite close to here," she said. "Good-bye!" + +"I hope that I shall hear from you soon," he said, bowing over her hand. + +"You may," she answered, smiling, as she turned away. + + + +CHAPTER X + + +MR. NORRIS VINE + +Stella walked briskly down Fifth Avenue and turned into Broadway. Here +she took a car down town, and presented herself in the space of twenty +minutes or so before the offices of Mr. Norris Vine, at the top of a +great flight of stairs in a building near Madison Square. Vine himself +opened the door, and led her through the clerk's office into his own +small but luxurious apartment. + +"You were just going out?" she asked. + +"It is no matter," he answered. "I have at least half an hour that I can +spare." + +He led her to his easy-chair, and seated himself in the chair before his +desk. The sunshine fell upon his thin, somewhat hard face, and she +looked at him thoughtfully. + +"Are you getting older, Norris?" she asked, "or are things going the +wrong way with you just now?" + +He raised his eyebrows. + +"It is a very strenuous life this," he remarked. "One has to crush all +one's nervous instincts, and when one has succeeded in doing that, one +finds oneself a little aged." + +She nodded. + +"You look like that," she said. "You look as though a good many of the +fires had burned out, and left you--well, something of a machine. Is it +worth while?" + +"I don't know," he answered listlessly. + +"You ought to go to Europe more often," she said softly. "I do not +understand how men can make the slaves of themselves that you do here. +Don't you long sometimes to feel your feet off the treadmill?" + +"Perhaps," he answered; "but the life here becomes like one of those +pernicious habits of cigarette smoking, or morphia taking. It grips hold +of you--grips hold very tight," he added in a lower tone. + +"I wonder," she said, "whether there is anything in the world which +would tempt you to break away from it." + +He struck the desk at which he was sitting, suddenly, with his clenched +fist. His face was still colourless, but his black eyes held a touch +of fire. + +"Don't!" he said. "I am not such a slave, after all, as to love my +chains; but don't you understand that one gets into this morass, and one +can keep a foothold only by struggling." + +"Is that how it is with you, Norris?" she asked. + +"Yes!" he answered, with a sudden fierceness. "Six months ago I think +that I might have freed myself. I shouldn't have been a rich man, but +over there in Europe, where people have learned how to live, wealth +isn't in the least necessary. I had enough for Italy, for a season in +Paris, for a little sport in Hungary, even for a month or two at Melton. +I hesitated, and while I hesitated the thing closed in upon me again. +Then your father and I came up against one another once more, and I +began it all over again." + +"Am I right," she asked softly, "in imagining that just now things are +going a little wrong?" + +"I am fighting for my life," he said tersely. "Wherever I have turned +during the last few months I seem to have encountered the opposition of +your father's millions. Our sales are going down day by day. The great +advertisers are practically ignoring us. We are losing money fast. That +is what happens to any one who dares to raise a finger against the +accursed idols of this country. Three of the greatest advertisement +contractors have given us notice that they have struck off our paper +from their list. It is your father's doings, Stella. I had hoped +something from this illness of his, but the thing goes on. Do you know +whether he is really laid up, or whether this is part of a scheme?" + +"I am not sure," she answered. "I have been told to-day that it is part +of a scheme." + +"Who told you?" he asked quickly. + +"Peter Littleson," she answered. "I have been lunching with him." + +"Peter Littleson!" he interrupted. "But he is one of your father's +allies! He and Bardsley and Weiss and your father are what they call +here 'The Invincibles!'" + +She nodded. + +"I am not sure," she answered, "but I fancy there is going to be a +split." + +He was interested now, almost eager. + +"Tell me what you know!" he begged. + +"I know this," she answered; "that Littleson asked me to lunch to-day to +find out whether my father's illness was genuine or not, and he gave me +to understand that they suspected him of playing them false. I believe +that as usual my father has the best of it. Peter Littleson admitted to +me that just now, at any rate, he held them all in the hollow of +his hand." + +Norris Vine looked out of the window for a moment. His face was haggard. + +"I have begun," he said slowly, "to lose faith in myself, and when one +does that here the end is not far off. I believe that Littleson is +right, Stella. I believe that your father, if it pleased him, could take +them one by one and break them, as he is doing me." + +"Supposing, on the other hand," she said, "something were to happen so +that they were in a position to break him?" + +"Then," he answered coolly, "it would be the very best thing that could +happen for the country and for me. There's no morality about +speculation, of course, and the finance of this country is one of the +most ghastly things in the world. All the same, there are degrees of +rascality, and there is no one who has sinned against every law of +decency and respect for his fellows like Phineas Duge. What are you +doing to-night, Stella? Will you dine with me?" + +She shook her head. + +"Not to-night, Norris," she said. "I have something else to do; but +before I go I want you to answer me a question. Once before, when my +father had you in a corner, I helped you out, and you know the price +I paid." + +He leaned toward her, but she waved him away. + +"No!" she said, "I am not reminding you of that because I want anything +from you, but listen. Supposing I could help you out again? Supposing I +could give you something for your paper which would produce the greatest +sensation which New York has ever known? Would you promise to realize at +any loss, and give it up? Leave America altogether and go to Europe?" + +"Yes!" he said, "I think I would promise that." + +She rose to her feet. He approached her a little hesitatingly, but she +waved him back. + +"No, don't kiss me, Norris," she said. + +He protested, but she still drew herself away. + +"My dear Norris," she said, "please do not think because I show some +interest in your affairs, that you are forced to offer me this sort of +payment. There, don't say anything, because I don't want to be angry +with you. If you knew more about women, you would know that there is +nothing one resents so much in the world as affection that is offered in +the way that you were offering me your kiss just then. Please come and +put me in the elevator. I am going now. You will hear from me in a day +or two. I shall write and ask myself to dinner." + +He took her outside and rang the bell for the elevator. They stood for a +moment in front of the steel gate. + +"I am afraid," he said quietly, "that in your heart you must think me an +ungrateful beast." + +"Yes!" she answered, "I suppose I do! But then all men are ungrateful, +and there are worse things even than ingratitude." + +The lift shot up and the door was swung back. There was no time for any +further adieux. Norris Vine walked slowly back into his office, with his +hands clasped behind his back. + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +MR. LITTLESON, FLATTERER + +Once more a little luncheon was in progress at the corner table in the +millionaires' club. This time Littleson also was of the party. He had +been describing his luncheon of the day before to his friends. + +"I am dead sure of one thing," he declared. "She is on our side, and I +honestly believe that she means getting that paper." + +"But she hasn't even the entree to the house now," Weiss objected. + +"There are plenty of the servants there," Littleson answered, "whom she +must know very well, and through whom she could get in, especially if +Phineas is really up in his room. I tell you fellows, I truly believe +we'll have that wretched document in our hands by this time to-morrow." + +"The day I see it in ashes," Bardsley muttered, "I'll stand you fellows +a magnum of Pommery '92." + +"I wonder," Weiss remarked, "what sort of terms she is on with her +cousin, the little girl with the big eyes." + +"I wish to Heaven one of you could make friends with that child!" +Bardsley exclaimed. "I'd give a tidy lot to know whether Phineas Duge +lies there on his bed, or whether his hand is on the telephone half the +time. You are sure, Littleson, that Dick Losting is in Europe?" + +"Absolutely certain," Littleson answered. "I had a letter from him dated +Paris only yesterday." + +"Then who in God's name is shaking the Chicago markets like this!" +Bardsley declared, striking the newspaper which lay by his side with the +palm of his hand. "You notice, too, the stocks which are being hit are +all ours, every one of them. Damn! If Phineas should be sitting up there +in his room with that hideous little smile upon his lips, talking and +talking across the wires hour after hour, while we hang round like +idiots and play his game! It's maddening to think of." + +"Oh, rot!" Littleson declared. "You can imagine everything if you try. +There are the doctor's bulletins! We've had a dozen detectives all round +the place, and there is not a single murmur of his having been seen by +any one, or known to have even dictated a letter." + +"I've never known him sick for a day in my life," Bardsley said thickly. + +"It must come some time," Littleson answered. "It's always these men +who've never been ill at all, who come down suddenly. I'm not going to +worry myself about nothing. Our only mistake was in the way that child +was handled. I think Weiss frightened her." + +Weiss shrugged his shoulders. + +"Perhaps I did," he said. "You see I'm not a fashionable young spark +like you. Why the devil don't you go and call on her? It's only a civil +thing to do. You are supposed to be one of her uncle's greatest friends, +and he's supposed to be dangerously ill. Go and call on her this +afternoon. Put on your best clothes and your Paris manners. You ought to +be able to get something out of a child from the backwoods. If you talk +to her cleverly you can at least find out whether Phineas is playing the +game or not." + +Littleson nodded. + +"I'll call directly after lunch," he said. "Perhaps I could get her to +come out for a ride. I'll try, anyhow, and ring you fellows up +afterwards at the club." + +"Don't bother her any more about the paper," Weiss said. "She'll get +suspicious at once if you do. Try and make friends with her. This thing +may drag on for a week or so." + +Littleson nodded and left them soon afterwards. He went to his rooms, +changed into calling attire, and before four o'clock his automobile was +outside the mansion in Fifth Avenue, and he himself waiting in the +drawing-room for Virginia. She came to him with very little delay, and +welcomed him quite naturally. + +"I am afraid," he said, "that you must look upon callers as rather a +nuisance just now, but we are all very anxious about your uncle, and I +thought I would like to hear something more than that little bulletin +outside tells us." + +She motioned him to sit down. + +"You are very kind," she said. "My uncle is really about the same. The +doctor thinks he may be able to get up in about a week." + +"Is there any--specific disease?" he asked, hesitatingly. + +"I think not," she answered. "I don't understand all that the doctor +says. It seems to me that all you men here lead such strenuous lives +that you have no time to be ill. You simply wait until you collapse." + +"I'm afraid that's true, Miss Longworth," he said, "and if you will +forgive my saying so, I fancy you have been doing a little too much +yourself, worrying and looking after your uncle. Can't I tempt you out +for a little way in my automobile? It's a delightful afternoon." + +She shook her head. + +"You are very kind," she said, "but I seem to be the only person for +whom my uncle asks sometimes, and he is awake just now. I should not +like to be away." + +"He is conscious, then?" Littleson asked. + +"Perfectly," she answered. + +"I suppose it is quite useless asking to see him?" + +"Quite. The doctor would never allow it. He has to be kept absolutely +quiet, and free from excitement," + +"I hope," he said, "that he did not hear anything of the attempted +burglary the other night?" + +Virginia smiled very faintly, and her dark eyes rested for a moment upon +his. + +"No!" she answered, "we kept that from him. You see nothing was really +stolen. As a matter of fact there was so little in that room which could +have been of any value to any one." + +"Exactly!" he answered, feeling a little uncomfortable. + +"There are so many lovely things all over the house," she continued, +"that it has puzzled me very much why they should have chosen to try +only to break open that desk in the library. It seems queer, +doesn't it?" + +"Perhaps it does," he admitted. "On the other hand, they might have +thought that your uncle had bonds and papers worth a great deal more +than any of the ordinary treasures they could collect." + +"Well," she said, "they got nothing at all. Somehow, I don't fancy," she +added, "that my uncle is the sort of man to keep valuable things where +they could possibly be stolen." + +He determined to be a little daring. He raised his eyebrows, and looked +at her with a smile which was meant to be humorous. + +"Fortunate for him that he doesn't," he answered, "for, frankly, if I +knew where to find it, I should certainly steal that document that Mr. +Weiss came and worried you about. We ought to have it. If it got into +any one's hands except your uncle's, it would be the most serious thing +that ever happened to any of us." + +"I don't think," she said reassuringly, "that you need worry. My uncle +does not part easily with things which he believes have value." + +He laughed, not quite naturally. + +"I see," he said, "that you are beginning to appreciate your uncle." + +"One learns all manner of things," she answered, "very quickly here." + +He looked at her with more attention than he had as yet bestowed upon +her. She was very slim, but wonderfully elegant, and her clothes, though +simple, were absolutely perfect. Her eyes certainly were marvellous. Her +complexion had not altogether lost the duskiness which came from her +outdoor life. Her hair was parted in the middle, after a fashion of her +own, and coming rather low on the back of her head, gave her the +appearance of being younger even than she was. Stella's beauty was +perhaps the most pronounced, but this girl, he felt, was unique. He +looked thoughtfully into her eyes. Her whole expression and manner were +so delightfully simple and girlish, that he found it almost impossible +to believe that she was playing a part. + +They talked for a little while upon purely general subjects, the Opera, +her new friends, the whole social life of the city, of which he was a +somewhat prominent part. She talked easily and naturally, and he +flattered himself that he was making a good impression. When at last he +rose to take his leave, he made one more venture. + +"I don't know," he said, "whether you get bothered by your uncle's +business affairs at all while he is laid up, but I hope you will +remember that if I can be of any service, I am practically one of his +partners, and I understand all his affairs. You must please send for me +if I can be of the slightest use to you." + +She had apparently listened to him for the first part of his sentence +with her usual air of polite interest. Suddenly, however, she started, +and her attention wandered. She crossed quickly toward the bell and +rang it. + +"Thank you so much, Mr. Littleson," she said. "I won't forget what you +have said. Do you mind excusing me? I fancy that I am wanted." + +She left the room as the servant whom she had summoned arrived to show +her visitor out. Was it her fancy, or had she indeed heard the soft +ringing of the burglar alarm which she had had attached to the library +door on the other side of the hall! + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +STELLA SUCCEEDS + +Virginia crossed the hall with rapid footsteps, and entered the library. +She realized at once that she had not been deceived, but she started +back in surprise when she discovered who it was standing before the +roll-top desk and regarding it contemplatively. Stella looked up, and +the eyes of the two girls met. Stella nodded, apparently quite at +her ease. + +"How are you, cousin Virginia?" she said. "You see I have come back home +to play the part of the repentant daughter." + +Virginia was a little distressed. She closed the door behind her and +came further into the room. + +"Stella," she said, "I am very sorry, but while your father is ill he +does not like any one to come into this room." + +Stella seated herself in his chair. + +"Quite right," she said. "I hope you will be careful to keep them out. +He always has such a lot of secrets, and I know that he hates to have +people prying round." + +Virginia felt that she had never received a more embarrassing visitor. + +"Would you mind, Stella," she said, "coming into the drawing-room with +me? This room is supposed to be locked up. You knew the catch in the +door, of course, or you could not have come in." + +"Yes! I know the catch," Stella answered, "and, my dear child, you must +forgive my saying so, but I have lived here for some years, and it is +still home to me. You, on the other hand, have been here a few weeks. I +know you don't mean anything unkind, but just because I have quarrelled +a little with my father, you must not tell me which rooms I may enter, +and which I may not. I am going to stay here for half an hour, and write +some letters." + +"You can write them in any other room in the house," Virginia declared, +"but not here. It is impossible." + +Stella smiled and shrugged her shoulders as she sat down. + +"I am sorry," she said, "but this is where I mean to write them. You +must remember that this house belongs to my father. You are here +temporarily in my place. I have not bothered you very much, and it is a +very simple thing that I ask. I want to make use of this room, to write +a few letters here. After that I shall go away." + +The troubled frown on Virginia's face grew deeper. + +"My dear Stella," she said, "although nothing would please me better +than to see your father and you friends again, you must know that he +allows no one to enter these rooms when his secretary is away. In fact, +as you know, the door was closed, and if you had not known the secret of +the catch, you could not have entered." + +"Well," Stella repeated carelessly, "since I am here, I am here. Please +unlock this desk and give me some writing paper." + +"I cannot unlock it," Virginia answered. "You must know that." + +"But you have the keys," Stella interposed. + +"If I have," Virginia declared, "it is because your father trusted me +with them." + +"Perhaps," Stella said, leaning a little forward in her chair, "you have +also the keys of that wonderful little hiding place of his that he +showed me one day." + +"Perhaps I have," Virginia answered, "but if so, no other person in the +world will ever know about it." + +"You won't even open the desk for me, then?" Stella said. + +"Certainly not," Virginia answered. "Your father's orders to me were +quite explicit." + +"You do not suppose," Stella asked, "that he meant to exclude his own +daughter?" + +"How can I tell?" Virginia answered. "I know nothing of the trouble +there was between you two," she added more softly, "It is not my affair, +although nothing would please me more than to see you friends again. If +you will come into the drawing-room and wait, I will go upstairs and +try and persuade him to see you." + +Stella shook her head. + +"It would be of no use," she said. "He is frightfully obstinate, and I +shall never have a chance of making my peace with him again unless I can +come upon him unexpectedly." + +"Well," Virginia said, "he is not likely to be downstairs to-day, and, +Stella, don't be angry with me, but I must really ask you to leave +this room." + +"Thank you," Stella answered coldly. "I am at home here, and I mean to +stay so long as I choose. It is you who are the intruder. If you have +any sense at all, you will go away and play with your dolls. You can't +have left them very long, and I'm sure it is a more fitting amusement +for you than ordering me about my father's house." + +Virginia moved up and down the room. The tears were already in her eyes; +she was utterly and completely perplexed. + +"Stella," she said, "you know what sort of a man your father is. If he +learns that you have been here in this room, he will never forgive me. +He will send me home, and that would be hateful, for many, many reasons. +Do please be reasonable, and come away with me now into one of the other +rooms. I will do all that I can to bring you two together." + +Stella seemed to have made up her mind to quarrel with her cousin. Her +face was white and hard. She laughed a little scornfully before +she answered. + +"You bring us together!" she exclaimed. "Do you think that I don't +understand you better than that? I know very well that you are much too +pleased with your position here, and you are afraid that if my father +forgave me and I came back, you would have to go home again. Don't think +that I don't understand." + +Virginia walked to the window, and stood there several moments looking +out upon the avenue. Her eyes were quite dry now, and a spot of colour +was burning in her cheeks. The injustice of her cousin's words had +checked the tears, but they had also achieved their purpose. She turned +slowly round. + +"Very well, Stella," she said, "I will not interfere with you any more, +but I am going to do exactly what is my duty. Will you leave this +room or not?" + +"When I am ready," Stella answered, "not before!" + +Virginia crossed the room, meaning to ring the bell. Stella, springing +quickly from her seat, caught her cousin up, and seizing her by the +shoulders, turned her round. Then she calmly locked the door of the room +in which they were, on the inside. + + * * * * * + +About an hour afterwards, the elder of Phineas Duge's secretaries, +Robert Smedley, entered the bedroom at the top of the house with some +precipitation, and turned a white face towards his master. Phineas Duge, +fully dressed, was entering some figures in a small memorandum book on +the table before him. + +"Mr. Duge," the young man exclaimed, "forgive me for disturbing you, but +I think that if you feel strong enough you ought to come downstairs into +the library at once." + +Phineas Duge did not hesitate. There was a light in his eyes which +transformed his face. He knew as though by inspiration something of what +had happened. He took the back stairs, and descending at a pace quite +extraordinary for a sick man, he was inside the library in less than a +minute. It was easy to see that Smedley's alarm had not been altogether +ill-founded. A chair was overturned; Virginia was lying face downwards +upon the floor in front of the desk. Phineas Duge dropped his cigarette, +and fell on his knees by her side. Then he saw that her hands and feet +were tied with an antimacassar torn into strips, and a rude sort of gag +was in her mouth. She opened her eyes at his touch, and moaned slightly. +In a moment or two he had released her from her bonds, and removed the +handkerchief which had been tied into her mouth. + +"Fetch some brandy," he told the young man, "and keep your mouth shut +about this. You understand?" + +"Sure, sir!" + +The young man hurried away. Duge was still stooping down, with his arm +around Virginia's waist. Gradually she began to recover herself. She +looked all round the room, as though in search of some one. Her uncle +asked her no questions. He saw that she was rapidly regaining +consciousness, and he waited. Smedley returned with the brandy. Together +they forced a little between her lips, and watched the colour coming +back into her cheeks. Then Phineas Duge withdrew his arm and walked to +the other side of the desk. On the floor were the broken fragments of +Virginia's locket. The carpet had been torn up. The steel coffer, with +the keys still in it, was there half open. He slid back the lid, and +taking out a few of the topmost papers, ran them through his fingers. +There was no doubt about it. The document was missing. He returned to +the chair to which he had carried Virginia. + +"Are you well enough now," he asked, "to tell me about this?" + +She raised herself in her chair, and looked with fascinated eyes toward +that spot in the carpet. + +"Has anything gone?" she asked. + +"Yes!" her uncle answered shortly. "I want to know how it was that any +one got into this room, and who it was. Quickly, please!" + +"I was in the drawing-room talking to Mr. Littleson," Virginia said, +"when I heard the small alarm bell that I had had fitted on to the +library door ring. I came in and found Stella here. She locked me in. +She is very strong. I had no idea that she was so strong," Virginia +murmured, half closing her eyes and fainting away. + +He hurried to her side, and forced some more brandy between her lips. +Then he laid her flat on the floor, and began to walk up and down. + +"So this is Stella's work," he muttered to himself. "That accounts for +the message I had yesterday, that she was seen driving with Littleson. +What she did for that blackguard Vine, she has done for them!" + +His face, no longer an amiable one, grew sterner as he walked backwards +and forwards, his hands behind him, his eyes fixed upon the carpet. He +had staked a good deal on his possession of this hold upon the men who +had been his associates. The whole situation had to be readjusted in the +altered light of events. The first impulse of the man, to act, seemed +strangled almost at its birth by the absolute futility of any move he +could possibly make. He had no idea where to find his daughter, with +whom she was living, or how. Any publicity of any sort was of course out +of the question. No wonder that his frown grew heavier as he realized +more completely the helplessness of his position. He was a man +unaccustomed to failure, whose career through life had been one smooth +road of success and triumph. His touch seemed to have transformed the +very dust heaps into gold, and the barren wastes into prosperous cities. +The shadow of failure had never fallen across his path. Now that it had +come he was bewildered. An ordinary reverse he could have met resolutely +enough. This was something stupendous, something against which the +ordinary weapons of his will were altogether powerless. Try as he might, +he could not see his way ahead. He was too deeply involved for any one +to gauge the position accurately. A knock at the door. Phineas Duge +looked up, and paused for a moment in his restless walk. He opened it +cautiously and let in young Smedley, a tall, broad-shouldered young man. + +"Come in, Smedley," he said shortly. "I have been wanting you." + +The young man looked straight across at Virginia, still stretched upon +the floor, and he took a quick step in her direction. + +"What did you find was the matter with Miss Longworth, sir?" he asked. +"Is she ill?" + +Duge glanced carelessly towards his niece. + +"She's only a little faint," he said. "There's matter enough here +without that." + +"What is it, sir?" the young man demanded. + +Phineas Duge looked at him for a moment in silence, while he decided how +much to tell. + +"You remember my daughter Stella?" he asked abruptly. + +The young man looked serious. + +"I remember Miss Duge quite well," he answered. + +"She has been here this afternoon. This is her work," Duge said grimly. +"We had some trouble before, you know, about that Canadian Pacific +report. It was after that, that I was obliged to send her away +altogether." + +The young man looked swiftly around the room. + +"Has she taken anything?" he began. + +"Nothing of importance," Phineas Duge answered calmly, "but that doesn't +alter the fact that she might have done so!" + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + +BEARDING THE LION + +Early the next morning, Littleson's automobile dashed up to the door of +Weiss' office. Without even waiting to be announced, its owner pushed +his way through the clerk's office and entered the private room of +his friend. + +"Heard the news?" he demanded quickly. + +"No! What is it?" Weiss asked. + +"Phineas Duge is in the city. He was going into Harrigold's as I came +out. I tried to speak to him, but he cut me dead. They say that he has +sent for all his brokers, and is coming on this market heavily!" + +"Then his illness was a fake after all," Weiss declared. "We can't stand +this, though. I'll get on to his office. We must speak to him." + +He gave some rapid instructions to a clerk whom he had summoned, then +took a printed sheet of prices from a machine which ticked at his elbow. + +"If it's war," he muttered, "we shall have to fight hard, but what I +don't understand is why he wants to break with us." + +The clerk re-entered the room. + +"There is a young lady here," he said, "who wishes to speak to you, +sir." + +"Name?" Weiss demanded curtly. + +"Miss Virginia Longworth," he answered. + +Weiss and Littleson exchanged quick glances. + +"Show her in at once," Weiss ordered. "What do you suppose this means?" +he asked, turning to Littleson. + +The young man had no time to reply. Almost immediately Virginia was +ushered into the office. She was very pale, and there were dark lines +under her eyes. Stephen Weiss rose at once, and Littleson hastened to +offer her a chair, but she took no notice. They could see that she was +agitated, and she seemed to find some difficulty in commencing what she +had to say. + +"What can I have the pleasure of doing for you, Miss Longworth?" Weiss +asked. "I hope that you have come to tell me--" + +"I have come to tell you that you are both thieves!" she interrupted. +"If you do not give me back that paper, I don't care what my uncle says, +I shall go to the police station." + +The men exchanged swift glances. Littleson suddenly started. He drew +Weiss on one side. + +"Stella has got it," he whispered, in a tone of triumph. "Get rid of +this girl easily. That is what she must mean." + +Weiss turned round and faced her. + +"My dear Miss Longworth," he said, "a thief I would have been if I could +have found the chance, and a thief I would have made of you if you would +have stolen that paper for me, because I considered that it belonged to +us, and we had a moral right to take it. But the fact remains that we +have not got it. When I heard your name announced I hoped that you had +brought it to us." + +"You have not got it!" she repeated contemptuously. + +"Upon my honour we have not!" Littleson declared. + +"Perhaps," she said, turning to him, "you will deny that it was you who +incited my cousin Stella to come and rob her own father?" + +The two men exchanged swift glances. Littleson's surmise had been +correct then. It was Stella who had succeeded where the others +had failed! + +"We know nothing of Miss Duge," Littleson said, "nor have we received +the paper nor any news of it. If Miss Stella has stolen it, she has not +brought it to us. That is all I can tell you." + +Virginia read truth in their faces. She turned away. + +"Oh, I do not understand!" she said. "Perhaps I have made a mistake. I +will go." + +She hurried outside to the automobile which was waiting, and drove to +the address which Stella had given her. It was a kind of residential +hotel, and a boy in the hall took her up in the lift to the floor on +which Stella's rooms were. She knocked at the door. Stella herself +opened it. She started back when she saw who her visitor was. + +"You!" she exclaimed. + +Virginia stepped into the room. + +"Yes!" she answered. "What have you done with the paper that you stole +from the safe?" + +Stella closed the door and looked at her cousin thoughtfully. She had +evidently been busy packing. Dresses and hats lay about on the bed, and +in the next room the maid was busy emptying the cupboards. Stella closed +the communicating door. + +"Why have you come here?" she said to Virginia. "You don't suppose I ran +risks like that, to possess myself of a thing which I meant to give up. +Oh! you need not look as though you were going to spring at me. I have +not got it here, I can assure you. I parted with it hours ago!" + +"To whom?" Virginia demanded. + +"My father will find out some day, perhaps," Stella answered. "I don't +see that it's so much his affair. The men who have to pay for their +folly are the men who deserve to pay. I see that my father was too +cunning to write his name down with theirs." + +"You mean," Virginia demanded, "that you have not given it to Mr. +Littleson and his friends?" + +"Not I!" Stella laughed,--"although they offered me one hundred +thousand dollars for it." + +Virginia sat down on the bed. She had not slept all night, and she had +eaten no breakfast. + +"Stella," she said, looking at her cousin with her big eyes full of +tears, and her voice becoming unsteady, "you have done a very, very +cruel thing. You have ruined my life. Your father had done so much for +my people, and now he is going to stop it all and send me back to them. +You can't imagine what it means to be thrown back into such poverty. It +isn't for myself I mind; it is for their sakes." + +"I don't see," Stella answered, "how my father can blame you." + +Virginia shook her head sadly. + +"Your father is one of those men," she said, "who judges only by +results. He trusted me, and whether it was my fault or my misfortune, I +was a failure. Stella, does it mean so much to you, after all, that you +should keep that paper? Why don't you bring it back and be reconciled to +your father? I should be quite content to go away; anything so long as +he gets it back. Don't you understand that after he has been so kind, I +hate the feeling that I have been so abject a failure?" + +Stella smiled a little bitterly. + +"It is my turn," she said, "to tell you that you do not understand my +father. He would never forgive me, nor do I want him to. If you think +that I was the tool of these men Littleson and Weiss, you make a +mistake. What I did, I did for the sake of the only man I have ever +cared for. Never mind his name, never mind who he is. But if it makes my +father any happier, you can tell him that his friends are no nearer +safety now than they were when the paper was in his keeping." + +Virginia looked around the room drearily. + +"You are going away?" she said. + +"I am going to Europe," Stella answered. "I hate America. I hate the +whole atmosphere here. It is a vile, unnatural life. I am going to try +and live somewhere where people are simpler, and where life is not made +up of gambling and plotting and senseless luxuries. I am tired to death +of it all!" + +"You are going to be married?" + +Stella turned away and hid her face. + +"No!" she said, "I do not think so." + +There was a short silence. Virginia rose to her feet. + +"Well," she said, "I think you have been a little unkind to me, Stella. +I could have reached the bell and stopped you, only I hated to seem rude +in your father's house." + +"I am sorry," Stella said simply. "You see I am like all those other +poor fools who care for a man. I put him first, and everybody else +nowhere. Don't be afraid that I shall not have to suffer for it. I dare +say if you know me, or anything about me, in five years' time, you will +feel that you have had your revenge. If you take my advice, little +girl," she added, speaking more kindly, "you will go back to your +farmhouse and take up your simpler life there. I do not fancy that you +were made for cities, or the ways of cities. I lived in the country +once, and I was a very different sort of person. Run away now. I can do +nothing for you, so it is no use staying, but if ever you need help, the +ordinary, commonplace sort of help, I mean, write to me to Baring's, +either in London or Paris. I'll do what I can." + +Virginia went out again into the street and drove back home. +Mechanically she changed her clothes and dressed for dinner. At eight +o'clock she descended, shivering. Her uncle was already in his place. He +rose as she entered, gravely, and took his place again as she sank into +hers. His face was like a mask. He said nothing, and the few remarks +which he made during dinner-time were on purely ordinary topics. There +was only a minute or two, after the dessert had been placed upon the +table and the remaining man servant had gone out with a message, during +which they were alone. Then Virginia summoned up her courage to speak of +the matter which was like a nightmare in her thoughts. + +"Uncle," she said, "I think you ought to know this. I went to Mr. Weiss' +office. He did not know that the paper was not still in your keeping. I +went to Stella, and she told me that she had not taken it for them. She +told me that they had offered her one hundred thousand dollars for it, +but she never had any idea of letting them have it." + +If Phineas Duge was surprised, he showed no signs of it, only he looked +steadily into his niece's face for a moment or two before he replied. + +"Stella," he said coldly, "has taken her goods to a poor market. Norris +Vine is on the brink of ruin. If I turn the screw to-morrow, he must +come down." + +He sipped his wine for a moment thoughtfully. Then a grim, hard smile +parted his lips. + +"No wonder," he said, "that my friends are still in something of a +panic." + +Virginia rose in her place. It seemed as though her appearance was +woebegone enough to soften the heart of any man, but Phineas Duge looked +into her face unmoved. + +"Uncle," she said, "I am no longer any use to you. I think that I had +better go home." + +He took out his pocket-book, looked through its contents, and passed it +across the table to her. + +"As you will," he answered. "I have a great weakness which I am always +ready to admit. I cannot bear the presence about me of people who have +failed. You have become one of them, and I do not wish you to remain +here. If," he added, speaking more slowly, and looking meditatively +into the decanter by his side, "if you saw any chance by which, with +the help of what you will find in that pocket-book, a little +application, a little ingenuity, and a good deal of perseverance, you +could undo some part of the mischief which your carelessness has caused, +then, of course, I should lose that feeling concerning you, and your +place here would be open for your return. It would probably, also, be to +the advantage of your people if any such idea as this resulted in +successful action on your part. There is enough in that pocket-book," he +added, "to take you where you will, and to enable you to live as you +will for the remainder of the year, and during that time your people +also are provided for. I leave the matter in your hands." + +He turned and left the room. Virginia stood at the end of the table, +clasping the pocket-book in her hands, and watching his retreating +figure. He opened and closed the door. She sank back into her place for +a moment and covered her face with her hands. For a moment she forgot +where she was. The perfume of the roses, with which the table was laden, +had somehow reminded her of the little farmhouse with its humble garden, +far up amongst the hills. + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + +STELLA PROVES OBSTINATE + +Littleson reached the hotel where Stella lived just in time to find the +hall full of her trunks, and Stella herself, in dark travelling clothes +and heavily veiled, in the act of saying farewell to the manager. He +came up to her eagerly. + +"I seem to be just in time, Miss Duge," he said. "You are going away?" + +"I am certainly going away," she answered. "Did you wish to see me?" + +Her manner took him a little aback. Nevertheless he reflected that there +were a good many people within hearing, and she was right to +be cautious. + +"Can I have three words with you?" he begged, "alone, anywhere?" + +She led him into a sitting-room, which was fortunately empty. + +"Well," she said, continuing to draw on her gloves, "what do you want, +Mr. Littleson?" + +"You know very well what I want," he answered quickly. "I have my +cheque-book in my pocket, and I am ready to pay over the hundred +thousand dollars. I know that you have the paper. If you like to wait +for ten minutes, you can have the money in dollars." + +"How do you know that I have the paper?" she asked calmly. + +"Your cousin, Miss Virginia, has been to our office," he answered. "She +thought, naturally, that you had brought it straight to us. I don't know +whether she seriously expected that we would give it up again, but that +seemed to be the object of her visit. At any rate, we learnt that you +had succeeded." + +Stella was busy with the last finger of her glove. + +"Yes!" she said, "I succeeded. It was a brutal action, and I shall never +quite forgive myself for it, but I got the paper." + +"Well?" he said. + +"Well?" she answered calmly. + +A horrible misgiving came over him. + +"You haven't parted with it?" he demanded anxiously. "You haven't let +your father have it back again?" + +"I have not parted with it," she answered, "to my father. On the other +hand, I certainly have not got it. A hundred thousand dollars is a good +deal of money, Mr. Littleson; but I did not commit theft for the benefit +of you and your friends." + +"What do you mean?" he asked hoarsely. + +"Exactly what I say," she answered. "The paper is in safe keeping. You +will probably hear before long who has it." + +Littleson was speechless. All manner of horrible fears oppressed him. +"You must tell me," he insisted hoarsely, "where it is, who has got it! +This is infamous! Why, if I had not told you--" + +"I should not have known anything about it," she interrupted. "Quite +true! I suppose I ought to thank you. However, as I say, the paper is in +safe hands, but not my father's. You will probably hear something about +it before long." + +"For God's sake, tell me who has it, Miss Duge!" he implored. "You can't +understand what this means to us. We were fools to sign it, I know; but +your father insisted, and we had, I suppose, a weak moment. After all, +there isn't anything so very terrible about it. We have a right to +protect ourselves, we of the Trusts, whether our cause be just or not." + +"Exactly!" she admitted. "No doubt you will have a case. I hope you will +find, supposing the worst happens, that popular sympathy will be on your +side. Most things are bought and sold in this country. I don't quite +know how the American public will appreciate this attempted buying of +the conscience of her public men. It might perhaps make you temporarily +a little unpopular, necessitate a trip to Europe perhaps, or something +of that sort. Well, I wish you well out of it, and now I must really go. +If you do have to come across in a hurry, Mr. Littleson, I may see +something of you in Paris." + +"You are going to Europe, then?" he asked breathlessly. + +"By to-morrow morning's boat," she answered. "I am going to send my +trunks down to the steamer, and stay with some friends to-night." + +"At least," he begged, "come down and see Bardsley and Weiss. I'll take +you down in the automobile. It shall not detain you five minutes." + +She shook her head. + +"I cannot see the faintest use," she answered, "in my going to visit +your friends. I have really and absolutely parted with the paper, and +the person in whose possession it is will no doubt communicate +with you." + +"His name?" Littleson demanded. "I must know his name." + +"That," she answered, "I decline to tell you; but I dare say, if you +hurry back to Mr. Weiss' office, you will find some news for you. Don't +look so angry. We all have our own game to play, you know, Mr. +Littleson. I dare say I have behaved a little shabbily to you, but, you +see, I had myself to consider, and in New York you know what that means. +_Au revoir!_ I have an idea that I may see something of you in Europe." + +She left Littleson, who went round to the bar of the hotel and had a big +drink. Then he lit a cigarette and returned to his automobile. + +"Well," he muttered, as he swung round toward the city, "I may as well +go back and face the music...!" + +Weiss' offices were crowded when Littleson returned. There was +excitement upon 'Change, clerks were rushing about, telephones were +ringing. Weiss himself, with his coat off, stood in the midst of it all, +giving orders, answering the telephone, exchanging a few hurried words +with numberless callers. He had a big unlit cigar in his mouth, which he +was constantly chewing. He pushed Littleson into his private office, but +he did not follow him for some time. When at last he came in, the uproar +outside was declining. It was five o'clock, and business was over for +the day. Weiss went to a small cupboard and took out a whisky bottle and +some glasses. Before he spoke a word he had tossed off a drink. + +"Big day?" Littleson asked, mechanically. + +"The devil's own day!" Weiss groaned. "We are in it now thick, all of +us, you and I, Higgins and Bardsley. Do you know that every minute of +the time Phineas Duge was supposed to be lying on his back, he was +buying on the Chicago market?" + +"I am not surprised," Littleson answered. "It seems to me we ought to be +able to hold our own, though." + +"We may," Weiss answered, "but it's a big thing. Even if we come out +safe, we shall come out losers. Well, did you see the girl?" + +Littleson nodded. + +"I saw her," he answered drily. "I fancy things are not moving our way +particularly just now, Weiss." + +"She has not the paper after all?" Weiss exclaimed. + +"She has had it and parted with it," Littleson answered. + +Weiss removed his unlit cigar from his mouth, and drew a little breath. + +"You d----d fool!" he said. "You bungled things, then?" + +"I scarcely see where the bungling comes in," Littleson answered. "I +offered her a hundred thousand dollars for that paper. She took the tip +and got it somehow. How could I tell that she had another scheme in +her mind?" + +"One hundred thousand dollars!" Weiss muttered. "Better have offered her +a million and made sure of it. We shall have to pay that now, I expect. +Who's got it?" + +"She would not tell me," Littleson answered. + +Weiss felt his forehead. It was wringing wet. He went to the cupboard, +poured out another drink, and lit his cigar. + +"Did she give you any idea?" he asked. + +"None at all!" Littleson answered. "Some one seems to have outbid us. I +only know that it was not Phineas." + +Weiss leaned back in his chair. + +"It just shows," he said under his breath, "what fools the shrewdest of +us can be sometimes. There were you and I, and Higgins and Bardsley, +four men who have held our own, and more than held our own, in the +innermost circle of this thieves' kitchen. And yet, when Phineas Duge +sprung that thing upon us, and we saw the thunderbolt coming, we were +like frightened sheep, glad to do anything he suggested, glad to sign +our names even to that d----d paper. Do you realize, Littleson, that we +may have to leave the country?" + +"If we do," he answered, "we are done for--I am at least. I am in +Canadian Pacifics too deep. If I cannot keep the ball rolling here, I +can never pull through." + +"It all depends," Weiss said, "into whose hands that paper has gone. A +week's grace is all I want, time enough to fight this thing out +with Duge." + +"Has he been near you?" Littleson asked. "Has he offered any +explanation?" + +Weiss shrugged his shoulders. + +"None," he answered. "That little fool of a Leslie, the outside broker, +must have given us away. I was afraid of him from the first. He was +always Duge's man." + +A clerk knocked at the door. He entered, bearing a card. + +"Mr. Norris Vine wishes to see you, sir!" he announced. + +Weiss and Littleson exchanged swift glances. The same thought flashed +into both their minds. Neither spoke for fully a minute. Then Weiss, +with the card crumpled up in his hand, turned to the clerk, and his +voice sounded as though it came from a great distance. + +"Show him in," he said. + +Littleson sank into a chair. His eyes were still fixed upon his +companion's. + +"God in heaven!" he muttered. + + + +CHAPTER XV + + +THE WARNING + +Norris Vine shook hands with neither of the two men he greeted upon +entering the room. Weiss, now that he felt that a crisis of some sort +was at hand, recovered altogether from the nervous excitement of the +last few minutes. He bowed courteously, if a little coldly, to Vine, and +motioning him to a chair, took his own place in the seat before his +desk. His manner was composed, his face was set and stern. Behind his +spectacles his eyes steadfastly watched the countenance of the man whose +coming might mean so much. Littleson, taking his cue, did his best also +to feign indifference. He leaned against a writing-table, close to where +Vine was sitting, and taking out his case, carefully selected and lit a +cigarette. + +"Well, Mr. Vine," Weiss said, "what can we do for you? Are you too going +to join in the hustle for wealth? Have you any commissions for us? You +will forgive me if I ask you to come to the point quickly. Things are +moving about here just now, and we have little time to ourselves. By the +by, you know Littleson, I suppose? Your business with me is not so +private that you object to his remaining?" + +"Certainly not," Vine answered calmly. "As a matter of fact, my business +concerns also Mr. Littleson. In fact, there are two other of your +friends whom I should have been equally glad to have seen here." + +"Indeed!" Weiss answered. "You mean?" + +"Mr. Bardsley and Mr. Seth Higgins," Vine replied. + +"No doubt," Weiss said, "Littleson and I will be able to convey to them +anything you may have to say. Come to the point! What is it? Are you +going to write another of your sledge-hammer articles, damning us all to +hell? Perhaps you have come here for a little information as to our +methods. We will do our best to help you. There are times when we fear +enemies less than friends." + +"I, certainly," Vine remarked, "do not come here as a friend, and yet," +he added, "I am not sure that mine might not be called to some extent a +visit of friendship. I have come here to warn you." + +Weiss reached out his hand for a box of cigars, and biting the end off +one, put it unlit into his mouth. He half offered the box to Vine, who, +however, shook his head. + +"Come," he said, "you are a little enigmatic. There is only one sort of +business we understand here. People come to buy or to sell. Have you +anything to sell?" + +Norris Vine smiled quietly, as though at some thought which was passing +through his brain. He raised his eyes to Weiss', and looked him +steadily in the face. + +"I am in possession," he said, "of something which I think, Mr. Weiss, +you would give half your fortune to buy, but I have not come here to +sell. I have come here to warn you of the instant use to which I propose +to put a certain document, signed by you and Littleson, Bardsley and +Seth Higgins. It seems that you have entered into a conspiracy to remove +from their places in the Government of this country the men who are +pledged to the fight against the Trusts which you control. By chance +that document has come into my hands. I propose to let the people of +America know what sort of men you are, who have become the virtual +governors of the country." + +Stephen Weiss' surprise was exceedingly well simulated. + +"I presume, Mr. Vine," he said, "that you are not here to poke fun at +us. Tell me, if you please, what document it is to which you refer." + +"I think," Vine answered, "that I need not enter into too close details. +It is a document which you and your friends signed at Phineas Duge's +house, not many nights ago." + +Weiss rose to his feet, crossed the office, and turned the key in the +lock of the door. He was a big man, and his face was a little flushed. +Littleson, too, had slid softly from the edge of the table, and was +watching his friend's face as though for a signal. Norris Vine, long, +angular, unathletic, showed not the slightest signs of discomposure. He +was leaning back in his chair, gently twirling by its thin black ribbon +the horn-rimmed eyeglass which he usually wore. + +"Mr. Vine," Weiss said, "whatever attitude we may take up afterwards, +there isn't the slightest need to play a part with you. We did sign that +document, and we have been kicking ourselves ever since for doing so. It +was Phineas Duge's idea, and we are fairly well convinced that he +pressed us for our signatures as subscribers to the fund, simply for the +purpose of having in his possession a document which might, if its +contents were known, cause us some inconvenience. Am I right in assuming +that he deceived us that night, that he himself never signed the paper?" + +"His signature," Norris Vine answered, "certainly does not appear." + +Weiss nodded. + +"Just as I thought," he remarked. "There was every indication a few +weeks ago of what has actually happened, namely a split between us and +Phineas Duge. This document was the weapon with which he had hoped to +obtain the master-hand over us. Now, instead of finding it in his hands, +we find it in yours. What are you going to do about it?" + +"I am going to use it," Vine answered. "I am going to use it to strike a +blow against the abominable system of robbery and corruption which is +ruining the finest of all God's countries." + +"Very well," Weiss said, "I am not going to give away our defence, of +course. We may treat the document as a forgery, concocted by you or by +Phineas Duge, either of whom would have sufficient motives. We may +insist upon it that it was an after-dinner joke. We may contest the +meaning of the text, and swear that we intended to use none but +legitimate methods in this fight. Or, to put the whole matter before +you, we may use such powers as we possess to see that you are put out of +harm's way before you have an opportunity to make use of that paper. You +see we have alternatives. We are not absolutely without hope. Now I ask +you this, as man to man. The value of that document is, after all, a +matter of speculation to you. Put a price on it, and fight us with our +own dollars." + +Norris Vine shook his head gently. + +"I think not," he said. "If you gave me half your fortunes, we should +only come into the field level." + +"We are not small men," Stephen Weiss said slowly. "We represent a great +power, and a power for which we mean to fight. When I talk to you of +money, I mean it. We will raise a million dollars for you before midday +to-morrow, if you leave that paper in our hands." + +"We may shorten this discussion," Norris Vine answered, "by my assuring +you solemnly that neither one nor twenty million dollars would purchase +from me this document. I have spent years, and every scrap of such +ability as I possess, in writing against, and lecturing upon, and +attacking in every way that occurred to me, your abominable methods for +collecting into the hands of a few what should be the comfort and +happiness of the many. I mean the wealth of this country. Not even at +the peril of my life would I part with the most efficient weapon which +has ever yet come into my hands." + +"Then why, Mr. Vine," Littleson asked, bending over from his place, +"have you come here to see us?" + +"I have come," Vine answered, "because against you personally I bear no +malice. I am not well acquainted with the laws of this country, but it +seems to me that the verbatim publication of this paper would mean for +you something more than financial ruin. It would probably mean the +inside of a prison. Personally, I have not the least doubt that every +one of you deserves to see the inside of a prison, but I am not +vindictive. I give you your chance. If a trip to Europe in the _Kaiser +Wilhelm_ to-morrow morning seems to you opportune, you will certainly +escape reading the record of your own folly in the evening papers." + +Weiss threw away his half-chewed cigar, and taking another from the box, +lit it deliberately. + +"Now, Mr. Vine," he said, "you are a young man whose attention has +never been turned to the practical affairs of life. You are a literary +person, and you walk a good deal with your head in the clouds. You +haven't the hard common sense of us business men to be able to determine +exactly what the result in a commonplace world is of any definite +action. I can assure you that no prison in America could ever hold me +and my friends, and that our risk is not in any way so serious as you +imagine. But, leaving out the question of our personal safety or +convenience, I want to put this to you. If you publish the contents of +that document in the evening papers to-morrow, you will produce in +America the greatest and most ruinous financial crisis that the country +has ever known." + +For the first time Vine's cold, immobile face showed some signs of +interest. He abandoned his somewhat negligent attitude, and sat up with +an attentive expression. + +"What do you mean?" he asked. + +Weiss struck the table in front of him with his open hand. + +"Don't you know," he said, "that Bardsley, Littleson, Higgins, Phineas +Duge, and myself, are the blood and the muscle of this country, so far +as regards finance? Every one of the great railroad stocks is controlled +by us. Prices are more or less what we make them. Three of the greatest +industrial undertakings which the world has ever known, in which are +invested hundreds of millions of honest American capital, are still +controlled by us. If you publish that document, whatever the ultimate +results may be, there will be the worst scare in the American +money-market which the world has ever known. London and Paris were never +so ill-prepared to come to the rescue, as a glance at the morning papers +will show you. You will not find a city nor a village in this country, +or a street, I almost was going to say a house, in New York, where there +will not be a ruined man to curse you and your ill-considered action. +The shrinkage in values in a few hours, of good and honest stocks, will +come to twice as much as would pay for the Russo-Japanese war. I doubt +whether this country would ever recover from the shock. That, Mr. Vine, +is precisely what would happen if you adopt the methods of which you +have just warned us." + +Weiss ceased speaking and replaced the cigar in his mouth. Littleson, a +few feet off, felt the perspiration breaking out upon his forehead. His +breath was coming fast. The slow, crushing words of his partner had +worked him into a state of excitement such as he had scarcely believed +himself capable of. And Norris Vine, the imperturbable, was obviously +impressed. Weiss had spoken almost as a man inspired. To treat his words +lightly seemed impossible. + +"You have given me something," Vine said slowly, "to think over. I +should be very sorry, of course, to bring about such a state of things +as you have spoken of. At the same time, I am not, as you say, a +practical man. I cannot follow you in all you say. It seems to me that +if this immense depreciation of funds really took place, especially in +the case of undertakings of solid value, the pendulum would swing back +to its place very soon. Values always assert themselves." + +"And the people who would benefit," Weiss said, leaning forward, "are +the foreigners who stepped in with their gold and bought for themselves +a share in our country at half its value." + +He stopped to answer for a moment an insistent ringing of the telephone +from the outer office. As he laid the receiver down he turned to Vine. + +"Look here," he said, "you doubt my statement. Outside in the office +there is waiting to see me, upon a matter of business, a man who is as +much my enemy as you are. I mean John Drayton, Governor of New York. +Would you call him an honest man?" + +"Absolutely!" Vine answered. + +"Would you consider him a shrewd man?" + +"Certainly," Vine assented. + +"Then look here," Weiss said. "I am going to ask him to come into this +office. I am going to treat this matter as an academic discussion, and +I am going to ask him then what the result would be of such a step as +you propose." + +"Very well," Vine answered. "I pledge myself to nothing, but I should +like to hear John Drayton's opinion." + + + +CHAPTER XVI + + +A TRUCE + +Weiss unlocked and threw open the office door, and a moment later +returned with a tall, grey-headed man, with closely cropped beard and +gold-rimmed eyeglasses. He shook hands with Vine warmly, and nodded to +Littleson. + +"What, you here in the lion's den, Vine?" he remarked, smiling. "Be +careful or they will eat you up." + +Vine smiled. + +"I am not afraid," he said, "especially now that you are here to support +me." + +"Mr. Vine," Weiss said, "shows himself possessed of our natural quality, +audacity. He is here, I frankly believe, to pick up damaging information +against us, for use the next time he issues his thunders. We have been +led into an interesting discussion, and we have a point to refer +to you." + +John Drayton sat down and accepted the cigar which Weiss passed him. + +"Sure," he said, "I'll be very pleased to join in; but you are a rash +man, Weiss, to refer to me, for you know very well my sympathies are +with Mr. Vine here. I hate you millionaires and your Trusts, on +principle of course, although I must admit that some of you are very +good fellows, and smoke thundering good cigars," he added, taking his +from his mouth for a moment and looking at it. + +"I don't care," Weiss answered. "The point I want you to decide +scarcely calls upon your sympathies so much as your judgment. We were +imagining a case in which say half a dozen men, who held the position of +myself and Phineas Duge and Littleson here, I think I might say the +half-dozen most powerful men in America, were suddenly, without a +moment's warning, to lose in the eyes of the whole of the public every +scrap of character and stability, were to be threatened with absolute +ruin, and a term of imprisonment for misdemeanour. What would be the +effect upon this country for the next forty-eight hours or so?" + +John Drayton removed his cigar from his mouth. + +"The one reason," he said impressively, "why I hate your Trusts, why I +loathe to see all the power of this country gathered together in the +hands of a few men such as you have mentioned, is that, in the event of +such a happening as you have put forth, the country would have to face a +crisis that would mean ruin to hundreds of thousands of her innocent +people." Then for the first time during this interview Weiss' full round +lips receded in a smile. His spectacles could not hide the flash of +triumph that leapt out. He turned to Vine. + +"You hear?" he said simply. + +"Yes, I hear!" Norris Vine answered. + +"Of course," John Drayton continued, "I do not know how you drifted into +a conversation such as this, but in my last article in the _North +American Review_, which Mr. Vine here will probably remember, I took the +case of even a single man controlling one of the huge mercantile Trusts +in this country, and tried to show what would happen to the small +investors in a perfectly sound undertaking should a collapse happen to a +holder of shares to this excessive extent. It is a painful thing to have +to confess, but there is no doubt that it exists. We Americans are a +great commercial people, and the dollar fever runs a little too hotly in +our blood. We stretch out our hands too far. Vine, I know, agrees +with me." + +"Yes," Vine answered, "I agree with you!" + +He rose to his feet. John Drayton followed his example. + +"My business is really concluded," he remarked. "I had to see your +manager on behalf of a client of mine. Are you coming my way, Vine? I am +going to the club." + +"I will follow you in a few minutes," Vine answered. + +John Drayton went out, and once more the three men were alone. + +"You see, Mr. Vine," Weiss said slowly, "this isn't the country or the +age for Don Quixotes. Fight against our Trusts and our monetary system +with all your eloquence, if you will, but don't tamper with things you +don't understand, or you may do harm where you meant to do good. Now +what can we say to you about that document?" + +"I am not prepared," Vine said, rising, "to come to any definite +decision at this moment. Frankly, I want to use it so as to do you the +greatest possible amount of harm. On the other hand, I never +contemplated any such developments as you and John Drayton have +suggested. I am going to think this matter over." + +"We are open enemies," Weiss said, "and there is no reason why we should +not respect one another as such. We ask you to abide by the ways of +civilized warfare. Don't strike without a word, at any rate, of warning. +It will be in the interests of others, as well as ourselves." + +"Very well," Vine said. "I promise that." + +He left the office without any further word, without shaking hands with +either of the two men. Weiss sat down in his seat, and Littleson, who +was trembling all over, came to his side. + +"Stephen," he said, "you're a great man. Come right along out of this +and go to Parker's and have a bottle. My nerves are all on the twitch." + +Weiss rose and put on his hat. The two men left the office together, and +climbed into Littleson's automobile. + + * * * * * + +Vine walked thoughtfully down to his club. Amongst the letters which the +hall-porter handed to him was one from Stella. He tore it open and read +it standing there. + +"MY DEAR NORRIS," it began,-- + +"Events have been marching a little too rapidly for me lately, and I am +going away. I cannot stand New York any longer. Fifth Avenue gives me +the horrors, and I am afraid to open an American paper. Besides, there +are other things, to which I need not allude, which make me think that +it would perhaps be better for me to take a journey. You will see from +where I am writing I am on board the _Kaiser Wilhelm_. Where I shall go +to in Europe, or what I shall do, I am not sure. I am not sure either +that it would interest you to know. You are very absorbed in your +profession, and I do not think that the things outside it mean much to +you. I suppose that is the usual fate of us women. We are always willing +to give, and we make no bargains. Don't think that I am reproaching you, +only I have made America an impossible place for me just now. I could +not bear to see that poor little cousin of mine, with her big +reproachful eyes. Nor if you fill your purpose, and the storm comes, do +I care to feel that I am responsible for the trouble which must +surely follow. + +"Good-bye, Norris! I wish you every sort of good fortune, and if I +dared I would say that I wish you a little more heart, a little more +understanding, and a little more gratitude! + +"STELLA." + +He folded the letter up and placed it carefully in his coat pocket. Then +he went off into the reading-room in search of John Drayton. Life did +not seem to him so absolutely simple a thing now, as a few hours ago. + + + + +BOOK II + + + +CHAPTER I + + +MY NAME IS MILDMAY + +"I am quite sure," Virginia protested, a little shyly, "that you will +want it yourself before long." + +The young man laughed pleasantly. + +"I am going to run that risk, anyhow," he said. "Please let me wrap it +round you properly, so." + +He did not wait for her consent, but after all she was scarcely prepared +to withhold it, for it was a very cold morning, and the young man who +had been sitting on the next chair, with an unused rug by his side, was +wearing a particularly heavy fur coat. + +"I think," he said, "that it is quite plucky of you to stay up on deck a +morning like this. I suppose your people are all below?" + +She shook her head. + +"My people," she said, "are a very long way away." + +"Your maid, then," he suggested. "Useless creatures maids, at a time +like this. They are nearly always seasick, especially the first +day out." + +Again she shook her head. + +"I am travelling quite alone," she said. + +He looked at her in astonishment. + +"Alone!" he repeated. "Why, you seem to me much too young. Forgive me, +please," he added, apologetically, "I did not mean to be impertinent. I +suppose you are an American?" + +"I am," she admitted. + +"Ah! that explains everything," he remarked with a little gesture of +relief. "You belong, then, to the most wonderful race on earth, to the +only race who have dared to cross swords with Mrs. Grundy and disarm +her." + +"On the contrary," she declared, "Mrs. Grundy of New York is quite as +formidable as Mrs. Grundy of London, only we don't invoke her quite so +often. Still, I will admit that, strictly speaking, I ought not to be +travelling alone. The circumstances are very exceptional." + +"I hope," he said earnestly, "that you will give me the opportunity of +looking after you some of the time. I am quite alone, too, and I know no +one on board." + +She let her eyes rest for a moment or two upon his face. He was very +fair, young, certainly not more than seven or eight and twenty, and +reasonably good-looking; but apart from these things, he had eyes which +she liked, a voice which was indubitable, and manners which left no +possible room for doubt as to his status. She bowed her head alittle +gravely. + +"You are very kind indeed," she said. "I have never crossed before, and +I am quite sure that if you have the time to spare, you can be ever so +useful to me." + +He smiled reassuringly. + +"That's settled then," he said. "I can assure you that I feel very much +more interested in the voyage already. By the by, my name is Mildmay." + +"And mine," she replied, after a moment's hesitation, "is Virginia +Longworth." + +"Virginia," he repeated with a smile. "I think that is one of the most +delightful of your American names." + +"You are English, aren't you?" she asked. + +He nodded. + +"I," he said, "am returning from my first visit to the States. I have +been to stay with a cousin who has a ranch out West. We had ever such a +good time." + +She looked at his sunburnt skin, and smiled to herself. + +"Did you stay in New York?" she asked. + +"Only two days," he answered. "Somehow or other those big places are +rather terrifying. I had no friends there, and I wandered about as +though I were in a wilderness." + +"What a pity!" she murmured. "Americans are so hospitable. Surely you +could have found some friends if you had wished to!" + +He smiled a little whimsically. + +"Yes!" he said, "I dare say I could, but I hadn't the time to spare to +look them up. Now tell me about your visit to England. Where are you +going to stay? In the country or in London?" + +"I am not sure," she answered, "but I think in London, at first at any +rate." + +"You have relations there, of course?" he asked. + +"None," she answered. + +"Friends, then?" + +She turned her dark eyes upon him. He felt himself suddenly embarrassed. + +"I am awfully sorry," he said. "I've no right to ask you all these +questions. The fact is, I was only trying to make sure that I should be +able to see something of you after we had landed." + +She smiled. + +"I am afraid," she said, "that that will be scarcely possible, but, if +you don't mind, you mustn't ask me any questions about my journey. I +will admit that it is rather a peculiar one, that I have no friends in +England, that I made up my mind to come all of a sudden. My journey has +an object, of course, but I cannot tell you what it is, and you must +not ask me." + +"Of course I will not," he answered, "but I shall talk to you again +about this before we land. I mean to say that you must let me give you +my card, and you will know, at any rate, that there is some one in +England to whom you can send if you are in need of a friend." + +She smiled at him delightfully. + +"And I have always been told," she said, "that Englishmen were so slow! +Why, I have known you scarcely a quarter of an hour." + +"But I have watched you," he answered, "for two days." + +"Well," she declared, "I like impulsive people, so I dare say I'll ask +you for the card before we land. Do you live in London?" + +"I have a house there," he answered. "I am there for about two months in +the year, and odd week-ends during the hunting season." + +"Tell me about London, please," she said. + +"Historically," he began, a little doubtfully. "I am afraid--" + +She interrupted him, shaking her head. "No!" she said, "tell me about +the best restaurants and theatres, and how the people live." "That's a +large order," he answered, "but I'll try." + +They talked for an hour or more; neither, in fact, took an exact account +of the time. Suddenly they looked up to see a dark-faced, +correct-looking servant standing before them. + +"The luncheon gong has gone, your Grace," he said. "Shall I take the +rugs?" + +They made their way into the saloon together. Virginia looked up at him +curiously. + +"You said that your name was Mildmay," she remarked. "What did your +servant mean by calling you 'your Grace'?" + +He laughed. + +"Oh! I haven't had the fellow very long," he said, "and he came straight +to me from some Italian duke, or nobleman of some sort. I suppose he +hasn't got out of the habit yet. I wonder whether I can arrange to come +and sit at your table. The purser seems rather a decent fellow." + +"I haven't been in the saloon at all yet," Virginia said, "but it would +be very nice if you could sit somewhere near me." + +Mr. Mildmay found it an easy matter to arrange. His seat at the +captain's table was exchanged for one at the purser's, and the two were +side by side. Then Virginia, looking around, received a little shock. +She heard her name spoken across the table, and, looking up, found that +she was exactly opposite Mr. Littleson. + +"How do you do, Miss Longworth?" he said. "I had no idea that we were to +be fellow passengers." + +She was almost too surprised to answer him coherently, but she faltered +out something about an unexpected journey. Afterwards, on the way to her +stateroom, she overtook him near one of the companion-ways, and laid her +hand upon his arm. + +"Mr. Littleson," she said, "would you do me a favour?" + +"Why, I should say so," he answered. "Nothing I'd like better." + +"Don't tell anybody anything about me," she begged, "I mean about my +uncle, or anything of that sort at all. I am going over to England on a +very foolish errand, I think, and I wish to keep it to myself." + +Littleson became a trifle grave. He was not a bad sort of a fellow, and +Virginia seemed little more than a charming child as she stood in the +passage, looking up at him with appealing eyes and slightly parted lips. + +"Do you mean," he asked, "that you have run away from your uncle?" + +"Not exactly that," she answered. "My uncle was quite willing to have me +leave him, but he does not know exactly where I am, nor do my people. +Will you keep my secret, please?" + +"Certainly!" he answered. + +"From every one on board, as well as from your letters if you write from +Queenstown?" + +"Well, I'll try to do as you say," he answered, "but I should like to +have a talk with you before we land." + +He went to his stateroom a little thoughtfully. It had not yet occurred +to him that Virginia's errand to London and his might possibly have +something in common. + + + +CHAPTER II + + +REFLECTIONS + +Littleson, before many hours of their voyage had passed, became +conscious that Virginia was showing a slight but unmistakable desire to +avoid his society. Being a Harvard graduate, something of an athlete, +and a young man of fashion and popularity, he did not for a moment +entertain the idea that there could be anything personal in her feeling. +He came to the conclusion, therefore, that she had either discovered his +connection with Stella's behaviour, or that the object of her visit to +Europe was one that she desired to conceal from him. On the afternoon of +the day when he had received his first but distinct snub, he made a +point of drawing his chair over to hers. + +"I am not going to bother you very much, Miss Longworth," he said, "but +I feel that I must ask you a question. I don't want you to break any +confidences, and I haven't much to tell you myself, but I should like to +know whether your visit to England has anything to do with what happened +one night in the library of your uncle's house?" + +"So you know about that then, do you?" she asked quietly. + +"I do," he answered. "I know that a paper was stolen by your cousin, and +handed over to a person whom we will not name, but who is now in Europe. +I will tell you this much--I am going across so as to keep in touch with +that person. It seems odd that you, who are involved in the same +affair, should be going over by the same steamer." + +"The object of my journey," Virginia said, looking out seaward, +"concerns nobody but myself." + +The young man nodded. + +"I expected that you would say that," he remarked coolly. "Still, our +meeting like this induced me to ask you the question. If I can be of any +service to you in London, I hope you will not fail to let me know. Your +uncle would never forgive me if I did not do everything I could in the +way of looking after you." + +Virginia smiled a little bitterly. + +"My uncle," she said, "is not likely to trouble his head about me. He +has dispensed with my services for the future. When I go home, I am +going back to my own people." + +Littleson was genuinely sorry. To a certain extent he felt that this was +his fault. + +"That's just like Phineas," he said. "Hard as nails, and without a +dime's worth of consideration. I don't see how you could help what +happened. You gave nothing up voluntarily. You told nobody anything." + +"My uncle," Virginia said, "judges only by results. After all, it is the +only infallible way. I am going to read a little now. Do you mind? +Talking makes my head ache." + +He bowed and went his way. For an hour or more he paced up and down on +the other side of the deck, thinking. It was, of course, impossible that +this child should have come across with the hope of wresting from Norris +Vine the paper which all their offers and eloquence had failed to entice +him to give up. And yet he did not understand her journey. He knew very +well that Phineas Duge had neither connections nor relatives in England. +Only a few weeks ago, in talking to Virginia at dinner-time, she had +told him that she had no hope, at present at any rate, of visiting +Europe. Later in the day he sent a marconigram back to New York. Perhaps +Weiss would see something suggestive in the presence of this child upon +the steamer! + + * * * * * + +"So you have found one friend on board," Mildmay remarked, pausing +before her chair. + +"He is not a friend," she answered, "and I do not like him. That is why +I told him that it made my head ache to talk." + +"Then I suppose--" he began. + +"You are to suppose nothing, but to sit down," she said. "Talk to me +about London, please, or anything, or any place. I am a little tired +to-day. I suppose I should say really a little depressed. I cannot read, +and I don't like my thoughts." + +"You are such a child," he said softly, "to talk like that." + +"I am nineteen," she answered, "and sometimes I feel thirty-nine." + +"Nineteen!" he repeated, "and coming across to a strange country all by +yourself. The American spirit is a wonderful thing." + +She shook her head. + +"It isn't the American spirit," she said simply. "It is necessity. I +think that any girl, English or American, would prefer having some one +to take care of her, to going about alone." + +"You make one feel inclined--" he began, bending forward and looking +into her eyes. + +"After all," she interrupted, "I think I had better read." + +"Please don't!" he begged, "I promise to talk most seriously. It is not +my fault if I forgot for a moment. You looked at me, you know, and we +are not used to eyes like that in England." + +"You are either very silly," she said, "or very impertinent. I think +that I shall send you away." + +"There is no one else," he said, looking around, "to entertain you, and +I am really going to try very hard to." + +"Then please reach me up those chocolates and begin," she said. "Tell me +about where you live in the country." + +Mildmay, who had seven houses in different parts of the United Kingdom, +was a little at a loss, but he talked to her about one, in which, by the +by, he never lived, a gaunt grey stone building on the Northumbrian +coast, whose windows were splashed with the spray of the North Sea, but +whose gardens were famous throughout the north of England. He very soon +succeeded in interesting her. She felt something absurdly restful in the +sound of his strong, good-natured voice, with its slightly protective +intonation. They sat there until the luncheon gong rang, and then they +rose and walked for a time together. The sun had come out, and the grey +sea was changing into blue. The decks were dry. The syren had ceased to +blow. The motion of the ship had become soothing, and the spray, which +leaped now into the air, sparkled in the sunlight like diamond drops. + +"What a change!" she murmured, looking around. + +"Wonderful, isn't it?" he assented. "And what a gloriously salt breeze!" + +"I declare," she said, "I am positively hungry! I believe, after all, +that I am going to enjoy this voyage." + +After luncheon she hesitated for a moment, and then with a little sigh +turned into her stateroom. She sat down upon her bunk, and leaning her +elbow on the round space, gazed thoughtfully out of the open port-hole. +Had she been foolish to forget for a little while, and was she in danger +of being more foolish still! Her thoughts travelled back to the little +farmhouse so far removed from civilization. She thought of the altered +life they were all living there, her father freed from care, her +brother at college, her mother with that anxious light banished from her +eyes, no more having to scheme day by day how to pay the tradesmen's +slender bills which so quickly became formidable. To think that the old +days might return was a nightmare to her. She felt that she would do +anything, dare anything, to win her way back to her old position with +her uncle. Only a few words had passed between them at parting. She had +asked him to let her people know nothing, to let them believe that she +had gone on a journey for him. + +"Let them have a few more months!" she begged. "Then if I succeed in +what I am going to try, it will be all right. If I fail, well, they will +have been happy for a little longer." + +He had spoken no word of hope to her. He had made no promises. All that +he had said had been curt and to the point. + +"What you lost it is open for you to find. If it is found, it will be as +though it were not lost." + +But what a wild-goose chase it seemed! How could she hope for success! +Even Stella would laugh at her; and Vine,--she had seen him only once, +but she could imagine the smile with which he would greet any entreaties +she could frame. She shook her head at her own thoughts. Entreaties! She +would have to choose other weapons than these. By force and cunning she +had been robbed; her only chance of effective reply would be to use the +same means, only to use them more surely. Meanwhile she told herself +that she must keep away from these distractions. After all, she was only +a child, and she had had so little kindness from any one. Her head sank +a little lower, and her hands went up before her eyes. What an idiot she +was, after all! Then she locked the door, and cried herself to sleep. + + + +CHAPTER III + + +"WILL YOU MARRY ME?" + +"This time," he said firmly, "you cannot escape me. Will you sit down in +your chair, or shall we talk here?" + +She glanced up at him, and the words which she had prepared died away +on her lips. She led the way quite meekly to where their chairs remained +side by side. + +"We will sit down if you like, for a short time," she said, hesitatingly. +"I cannot stay long. I still have a good deal of packing to do." + +He did not answer until he had arranged her rug and made her comfortable. +It was the last few hours of their voyage. Facing them they could see in +the distance the lights of Wales. Next morning would see them in dock. + +"I will not keep you very long," he said, drawing his chair quite close +to hers, so that they could not be overheard, "but I insist upon knowing +why for the last twenty-four hours you have done nothing but avoid me? I +have not offended you in any way, have I?" + +"No!" she answered, looking steadily away at the lights, "you know that +you have not." + +"On the contrary," he continued, "I have done what little I could to +make the voyage more endurable to you. Of course I know the pleasure of +your society more than compensated me for any little services I have +been able to render, but still I have done nothing to deserve this +altered treatment from you, and I am determined to know what it means." + +"You are exaggerating trifles," she said coldly. "I have felt nervous +and depressed all day, and I did not care to talk to any one. I have not +avoided you more than anybody else." + +"That," he answered, "is not true." + +She turned slowly round till he could see her face, still and pale and +cold, almost, it seemed to him, luminously white in the heavy darkness +of the moonless hour. + +"You can contradict me if you choose," she said, "but you can scarcely +expect me to sit here and listen to you." + +He leaned a little closer, and she suddenly felt her hand clasped in +his. + +"Virginia," he said,--"yes, I mean it--Virginia, don't be unkind to me, +our last night. You know very well that it hurts me to have you speak +and look at me so. Besides, we are going to be friends; you promised me +that, you know." + +"If I did," she answered, "it was very foolish. Friends means the giving +and taking of confidences, and I have none to give. I am going to do +strange things, and in an odd way, and I have no explanations to offer. +If I had friends, they would think that I had taken leave of my senses, +and they would want me to explain. That is just what I cannot do. That +is why I am sure it would be better if you would let me alone." + +"I shall not do that," he answered firmly. "I am not a morbidly curious +person, nor do I want to pry into your affairs, but I cannot help +feeling that you are in some sort of trouble, and that it would be good +for you, in a strange country, to have some one on whose help you could +rely in case of need." + +"You mean well, I know," she answered, "but you are asking +impossibilities. If you should happen to come across me over here, you +will understand what I mean. I am going to do things which very likely +you would be ashamed to think that any friend of yours would do." + +He turned upon her a little angrily. + +"Child," he said, "if I weren't so fond of you I think you would make me +lose my temper. How old are you?" + +"Nineteen," she answered, "but it isn't any business of yours." + +"No business of mine!" he repeated. "Heavens! Isn't it the business of +any man to look after a child like you? Nineteen years old, indeed, and +most of them spent in a farmhouse! How do you know that these things +which you talk about doing are right or necessary? Don't you see you are +not old enough to be a judge of the serious things of life? You want +some one to take care of you, Virginia. Will you marry me?" + +"Will I what?" she gasped. + +"Wasn't I explicit enough?" he asked. "I said marry me." + +She would have risen from her chair, but he calmly took her arm and drew +her down again. + +"I will not stay here," she declared, "and hear you talk such rubbish." + +"It is not rubbish," he answered, "but I will admit that I should not +have said anything about it yet, if it had not been for your vague +threats of what you were going to do. Virginia," he added, dropping his +voice almost to a whisper, "you know that I am fond of you. I have been +fond of you ever since I first saw you here." + +"Six days ago," she murmured drearily. + +"Six days or six weeks, it's all the same," he declared. "I wasn't going +to say anything just yet, but I can't bear the thought of leaving you at +Liverpool, in a strange country, and without any friends. Be sensible, +dear, and tell me all about it later on. First of all, I want my answer." + +"Is that necessary?" she replied quietly. "Even in America, we don't +promise to marry people whom we have known but six days." + +"Wait until you have known me longer, then," he answered, "but give me +at least the chance of knowing you." + +"You are a very foolish person," she said, a little more kindly. "You do +not know who I am, or anything about me. Some day or other you will be +very glad that I did not take advantage of your kindness." + +"You think that I ask you this," he said, "because I am sorry for you?" + +"I don't want to think about it at all," she answered, rising. "I am not +going to sit here any longer. We will walk a while, if you like." + +They paced together up and down the deck. She asked him questions about +the lights, the landing at Liverpool, the train service to London, and +she kept always very near to one of the other promenading couples. At +last she stopped before the companion-way, and held out her hand. + +"This must be our good night," she said, "and good-bye if I do not see +anything of you in the morning. I suppose it will be a terrible crush +getting on shore." + +"It will not be good-bye," he said, "because however great the rush is I +shall see you in the morning. As for the rest, you have been very unkind +to me to-night, but I can wait. London is not a large place. I dare say +we shall meet again." + +The look in her eyes puzzled him no less than her words. + +"Oh! I hope not," she said fervently. "I don't want to meet any one in +London except one person. Good night, Mr. Mildmay!" + +He turned away, and almost ran into the arms of Littleson, who had been +watching them curiously. + +"Come and have a drink," the latter said. + +The two men made their way to the smoking room. Littleson lit a +cigarette as he sipped his whisky and soda. + +"Charming young lady, Miss Longworth," he remarked nonchalantly. + +Mildmay agreed, but his acquiescence was stiff, and a little abrupt. He +would have changed the subject, but Littleson was curious. + +"Can't understand," he said, "what she's doing crossing over here alone. +I saw her the first day out. She came and asked me, in fact, to forget +that I had ever seen her before. Queer thing, very!" + +Mildmay deliberately set down his glass. + +"Do you mind," he said, "if we don't discuss it? I fancy that Miss +Longworth has her own reasons for wishing not to be talked about, and in +any case a smoking-room is scarcely the proper place to discuss her. I +think I will go to bed, if you don't mind." + +Littleson shrugged his shoulders as the Englishman disappeared. + +"Touchy lot, these Britishers," he remarked. + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +THE AMERICAN AMBASSADOR + +Conversation had begun to languish between the two men. Vine had +answered all his host's inquiries about old friends and acquaintances on +the other side, inquiries at first eager, then more spasmodic, until at +last they were interspersed with brief periods of silence. And all the +time Vine had said nothing as to the real object of his visit. Obviously +he had come with something to say; almost as obviously he seemed to find +a certain difficulty in approaching the subject. It was his host, after +all, who paved the way. + +"Tell me, Vine," he said, knocking the ash from his cigar, and leaning a +little forward in his chair, "what has brought you to London just now. +It was only a fortnight ago that I heard you were up to your neck in +work, and had no hopes of leaving New York before the autumn." + +Vine nodded. + +"I thought so then," he said quietly. "The fact is, something has +happened which brought me over here with one object, and one object +only--to ask your advice." + +The elder man nodded, and if he felt any surprise, successfully +concealed it. Even then Vine still hesitated. + +"It's a difficult matter," he said, "and a very important one. I have +thought it out myself from every point of view, and I came to the +conclusion that it would be better for me to come over to Europe for a +week or two, and change my environment completely. Besides, I believe +that you are the one man whom I can rely upon to give me sound and +practical advice." + +"It does not concern," the other asked, "my diplomatic position in any +way?" + +"Not in the least," Vine answered. "You see it is something like this. +You know that since I became editor and part proprietor of the _Post_ I +have tried to take up a strong position with regard to our modern +commercial methods." + +"You mean," his host interrupted, "that you have taken sides against the +Trusts?" + +"Exactly!" Vine answered. "Of course, from a money-making point of view +I know that it was a mistake. The paper scarcely pays its way now, and I +seem to find enemies wherever I turn, and in whatever way I seek to +develop it as a proprietor. However, we have held our own so far, +although I don't mind telling you that we have been hard pushed. Well, a +few days before I left New York there came into my hands, I won't say +how, a most extraordinary document. Of course, you know within the last +few months the Trusts have provoked an enmity far greater and more +dangerous than mine." + +His host nodded. + +"I should say so," he answered. "I am told that you are going to see +very exciting times over there." + +"The first step," Vine continued, "has already been taken. There is a +bill coming before the Senate very shortly, which, if it is passed into +law, will strike at the very foundation of all these great corporations. +Five of the men most likely to be affected met together one night, and +four of them signed a document, guaranteeing a fund of one million +dollars for the purpose of bribing certain members of the Senate, who +had already been approached, and whose names are also upon the document. +You must not ask me how or in what manner, but that document has come +into my possession." + +Vine's companion looked at him in astonishment. + +"Are you sure of your facts, Vine?" he asked. "Are you sure that the +thing is not a forgery?" + +"Absolutely certain!" Vine answered. + +"Then you know, of course," his host continued, "that you hold all these +men in the hollow of your hand." + +"Yes, I know it," Vine answered, "and so do they! They have offered me a +million dollars already for the document, but I have declined to sell. +While I considered what to do, I thought it better, for more reasons +than one, that I did not remain in New York." + +"I should say so," the other remarked softly. "This is a big thing, +Vine. I could have scarcely realized it." + +He rose to his feet, and took a few quick steps backwards and forwards. +The two men were sitting in wicker chairs on a small flat space on the +roof of the American Embassy in Ormonde Square. Vine's host, tall, with +shrewd, kindly face, the stoop of a student, and the short uneven +footsteps of a near-sighted man, was the ambassador himself. He had been +more famous, perhaps, in his younger days, as Philip Deane, the man of +letters, than as a diplomatist. His appointment to London had so far +been a complete success. He had shown himself possessed of shrewd and +far-reaching common sense, for which few save those who had known him +well, like Norris Vine, had given him credit. He stood now with his back +to Vine, looking down across the Square below, glittering with lights +aflame with the busy night life of the great city. The jingle of hansom +bells, and the distant roar of traffic down one of the great +thoroughfares, was never out of their ears; but in this place, cut off +from the house by the trap-door through which they had climbed, it was +cooler by far than the smoking-room, which they had deserted half an +hour before. + +For some reason Deane seemed to wish to let the subject rest for a +moment. He stood close to the little parapet, looking towards the +horizon, watching the dull glare of lights, whose concentrated +reflection was thrown upon a bank of heavy clouds. + +"You have not told me, Norris," he remarked, "what you think of my +attempted roof-garden." + +"It is cool, at any rate," Norris Vine answered. "I wonder why one +always feels the heat more in London than anywhere else in the world." + +"It is because they have been so unaccustomed to it over here that they +have made no preparations to cope with it," Deane answered. "Then think +of the size of the place! What miles of pavements, and wildernesses of +slate roofs, to attract the sun and keep out the fresh air. Vine, who +are these men?" he asked, turning towards him abruptly. + +Norris Vine smiled. + +"Don't you think," he said, "that you can give me your advice better if +you do not know? I can tell you this, at any rate. They are men who +deserve whatever may happen to them. They are not of your world, my +friend. They are the men who have sucked the life-blood out of many and +many a prosperous town-village in our country. Don't think that I +hesitate for one moment for their sakes. I tell you frankly that my +first idea was to give the whole thing away in the _Post_." + +"It would have been," Deane remarked, with a faint smile, "the biggest +journalistic scoop of the century." + +Vine nodded. + +"Well," he said, "I should have done it but for one man's advice. It +was John Drayton who showed me what the other side of the thing might +be. He pointed out that the innocent would suffer for the guilty, in +fact hundreds, perhaps thousands, of the innocent, would be ruined that +these few men might be punished. It was his belief that the publication +of this document, and the arrest of the men concerned in it, would cause +the worst panic that had ever been known in America. That is why I +stayed my hand and came over here to consult you." + +The ambassador sighed, as he resumed his seat and lit another cigar. + +"Drayton was right," he remarked softly. "He is a man of common sense, +and yet we must remember that great reforms are never instituted without +sacrifices. Could the country stand such a sacrifice as this? It is not +a matter to be decided in a moment." + +"There is no need for haste," Vine answered. "I have the document with +me, and I do not mean to do anything in a hurry. Think it all over, +Deane, and tell me when I may come and see you again." + +"Whenever you will," the ambassador answered, heartily. "You know very +well that I am always glad to see you. By the by, do you carry this +document about with you?" + +Vine shook his head. + +"No!" he answered drily. "I have too much regard for my personal +safety. The men whose names are there are fairly desperate, and they +would not stick at a trifle to get rid of me." + +"You are very wise," Deane answered. "I should take care even over here. +I have heard of strange things happening in London. Oh, that reminds me. +A young lady was here only two days ago, asking for your address." + +"Did she leave her name?" Vine asked, with a faint curiosity. + +"I think not," the ambassador answered. "Wolfe saw her, and I asked him +the question particularly." + +"I cannot imagine whom she could have been," Vine said, thoughtfully. "I +have not many acquaintances over here." + +"Another man who was asking after you," Deane remarked, "was Littleson. +He was dining here last night." + +Vine smiled. + +"I can imagine," he said, "his being curious as to my whereabouts. I +have taken rooms where I don't think any one is likely to find me out +except by accident." + +Deane rose. + +"I think," he said, "we had better go downstairs. The ladies will be +wondering what has become of us. My wife is expecting a young woman in +this evening whom I think you know--Stella Duge." + +Vine started slightly. + +"Yes," he said, "I have met Miss Duge often in New York." + + + +CHAPTER V + + +A QUESTION OF COURAGE + +Stella turned towards him with a slight frown upon her forehead. + +"Do you mean, Norris, then, that after all you will not use your power +over these men, that you will let them go free?" + +"Not if I can help it," he answered, "but there are many things to be +considered. I shall be guided largely by what Deane advises." + +"It is absurd," she declared. "You have wanted money all your life, +money and power. You have both now in your grasp. If you do not use +them, I shall think--" + +She hesitated. He shrugged his shoulders slightly. + +"Go on!" he said. + +"I shall think that you are a coward," she said quietly. "I shall think +that you are afraid to use what I risked--well, a great deal--to win +for you." + +"It isn't a question of courage," he protested. + +"It is," she answered. "You are afraid to do what in your heart you must +know is the right thing, because for a year or two, perhaps even a +decade of years, it will mean a great upheaval. The end must be good. I +am sure of it." + +"If Deane and I," he answered, "can also convince ourselves of this, I +shall act. You need not be afraid of that." + +"Deane and you!" she repeated, contemptuously. "Who am I, then, in your +counsels? Just a puppet, I suppose? Anyhow, it was I who ran the risk, I +who gave these men into your hands. If you play the poltroon, +everything is over between us, Norris." + +He raised his eyes and looked at her in half-unwilling admiration. She +and their hostess had come out on to the roof, just as the two men had +been in the act of descending. A telephone call a few moments later had +summoned Deane away, and his wife, who found the air a little chilly, +had accompanied him. Stella was standing with her head thrown back, her +figure tall and splendid in her evening gown of white satin, thrown into +vivid relief against the background of empty air. She was angry, and the +pose suited her. The slight hardness of her expression was lost in the +dim blue twilight which still waited for the moon. Vine, an unemotional +man, felt with a curious strength the charm of this isolation on the +housetop, this tranquillity, so much more suggestive of solitude than +anything which could be realized within the walls of a room. He shivered +a little when he saw how close she was to the low parapet, and he held +out his hand. She took it at once, and her face softened. + +"Dear Norris," she said, "forgive me if I am disagreeable, but think +what I went through to get that paper. Think how I have hoped that it +might mean everything to you, perhaps to us." + +She faltered, and it was in his mind then to speak the words which she +had waited so long to hear from him, and yet he hesitated. He was a man +who loved his freedom, not perhaps in the ordinary sense of the word, +but he had still an almost passionate objection to lessening in any +degree his individual hold upon life, to giving any one else a permanent +right to share its struggles and its ambitions. He owed it to her, he +was very sure of that, and yet he hesitated. She bent towards him. +Perhaps she too felt that the moment was one not likely to be let go. + +"Norris," she said, "don't listen to Deane or any of them. Strike your +blow. Your paper will become famous. Trust to that for your reward if +you will. If not a child, you could use your knowledge of what will +happen on the morning of its appearance to make a fortune. Do you know I +have grown to hate those men? If my father goes too, I do not care. I +owe him very little, and I have had enough of luxury. There is more to +be got out of a cottage in Italy or Switzerland, or even in England +here, than a mansion in our country. I wish I could convert you." + +He shrugged his shoulders. + +"It is different with us," he said. "A man must be where life is. I do +not think that I could ever be content with idleness." + +"And yet when it comes," she reminded him, "you love it. Who was it who +spent a year in some little village near the Carpathians, and had almost +to be dragged back to civilization? Norris, sometimes I think that you +are a _poseur_." + +He looked down into the street. A carriage had driven +up, and was waiting at the door below. + +"We must go down," he said. "Mrs. Deane said ten minutes, and they are +more than up. You see the carriage is waiting there to take you to +the Opera." + +She turned away reluctantly. + +"Come with us," she begged, "or give us some supper afterwards. Mrs. +Deane would like that." + +"I'll meet you afterwards," he said. "I am not in the mood for music +to-night." + +"Very well," she answered. "If Mrs. Deane doesn't care about supper you +can drive me home. Our talks always seem to be interrupted, and there is +so much I want to say to you." + +In the lobby of Covent Garden he met Littleson, who had paused to light +a cigarette on his way out. He stepped forward and addressed +Vine eagerly. + +"I was trying to find you only this afternoon," he said. "Can you come +around to the club with me now, and have a talk?" + +"Sorry," Vine answered. "I am here to meet some friends who will be out +directly." + +"Will you lunch with me to-morrow?" Littleson asked. + +"No!" Vine answered. "To tell you the truth, nothing would induce me to +accept any hospitality at your hands." + +"You have made up your mind, then?" Littleson asked slowly. + +"Never mind about that," Vine answered. "I have said all that I have to +say to you and your friends." + +Littleson laid his hand for a moment upon the other's shoulder. + +"Look here, Vine," he said, "you're what I call a crank of the first +order, but you are not a bad chap, and I'd hate to see you make the +mistake of your life. Weiss and the others are not the sort of men to +take an attack such as you threaten, sitting down. You take my advice +and leave it alone. Come round to my rooms, and we'll make a bargain of +it. I can promise you that you'll never need to go back to America to +make dollars." + +"Life isn't all a matter of dollars," Vine answered contemptuously. +"There are other things worth thinking about. If I strike at you and +your friends, it is not for the money or the notoriety I could make out +of it. It is because I want to attack a villainous system, because I +consider that you and Weiss and the rest of you are really doing your +best to throttle the greatest country on God's earth." + +"Well," Littleson said, "I have warned you. You are a crank, and a +foolish one at that. You are going about asking for trouble, and I think +you will find it. If you change your mind, come to me at Claridge's." + +He walked away, and Vine turned to greet Mrs. Deane and Stella, who +were just coming out. Stella, whose eyes were still bright with the +excitement of the music, laid her hand for a moment softly in his. + +"Where are you taking us for supper?" she answered. + +"To the Carlton, or anywhere you choose," he answered. "Let me find the +carriage first." + +Mrs. Deane held up her finger, and a tall footman, touching his hat, +hurried away. + +"James has seen us," she said. "The carriage will be here in a moment. I +am going to speak to Lady Engelton. Will you look after Stella for a +moment, Mr. Vine?" + +She turned away to speak to a little group of people who were standing +in one of the entrances. Stella and Vine stepped outside to escape the +crush, and Stella suddenly seized his arm. + +"Look in that hansom," she said, pointing out to the street. + +Vine's eyes followed her finger. He recognized Littleson, and with him a +man in morning clothes and low hat, a man whose face seemed familiar to +him, but whom he failed to recognize. + +"I think," she said, drawing a little closer to him, "that you must not +hesitate any longer, if ever you mean to strike that blow. You saw Peter +Littleson." + +"Yes!" he answered, "I have been talking to him." + +"Do you know who that was with him?" + +Vine shook his head. + +"I can't remember," he said. + +"That is Dan Prince," she whispered. "You know who he is. They call him +the most dangerous criminal unhanged. I should like to know what +Littleson wants with him." + +Vine smiled a little grimly, as he stepped forward to help Mrs. Deane +into the carriage. + +"I think," he murmured, "I can guess." + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +MR. MILDMAY AGAIN + +It was her third day in London, and Virginia was discouraged. Neither at +the Embassy nor at his club had she been able to obtain any tidings of +the man of whom she was in search. There remained only a list of places +given her in New York by his servant, where he was likely to be met. She +went through them conscientiously, but without the slightest success. +Gradually she began to realize the difficulty, perhaps the hopelessness, +of her task. To find the man in London with such scanty information as +she possessed was difficult enough, and there remained the question, as +yet unanswered in her thoughts, as to what she would say or do if chance +ever should bring them face to face. + +Her experiences in those days became almost a nightmare to her. Dressed +always in her quietest clothes, and with her natural reserve of manner +intensified by the circumstances in which she found herself, she was yet +more than once supremely uncomfortable. She became used to the doubtful +looks of the waiters to whom she presented herself and asked for a table +alone, at the different restaurants on her list. She found herself often +at such times the only unescorted woman in the place, and the cynosure +of a good many curious glances. Even when there were other women, they +were of a class which she instinctively recognized, and from whom she +shrank. But of actual adventures she had few. Apart from the fact of her +appearing alone, there was nothing in her manner to invite attention. + +There came a day, however, when she found herself suddenly plunged into +the midst of more exciting events. She was sitting one afternoon in a +cafe in Regent Street, at a table near the door, whence she could watch +every one who came and went. Exactly behind her were two men, both +strangers to her, who had been talking in low tones ever since her +entrance. Her attention had been in no way attracted to them, and it was +only by chance that she suddenly caught the name of Norris Vine. + +Her heart gave a little beat. It was only by a strong exercise of will +that she forbore to turn round. She pushed her chair a little further +backwards, saying something to the waiter about a draught, and taking up +a French newspaper which some one had left behind, she listened +intently. All that she could remember of the men was that one was small, +clean-shaven, very neatly dressed, and having rather the appearance of +an American; and that the other was a larger and more florid man, with +red face and burly shoulders. It was apparently the former who +was speaking. + +"It is a matter of five thousand pounds," she heard him say, "that is to +say, two thousand five hundred pounds each, and it can be done without +risk. The man is little known here, and has few friends. He has rooms in +a flat to which there is plenty of access, two lifts on each floor and +separate exits, and he lives quite alone." + +"Two thousand five hundred pounds!" the other man uttered. "It sounds +well, but--" + +Then his voice dropped, and she could hear nothing else for a minute or +two. She called a waiter and ordered something, she scarcely knew what. +The voices behind had sunk lower and lower. She could hear nothing at +all now, but she gathered that the smaller man was pressing some +enterprise upon the other, and that his companion, although inclined to +accept, found difficulties. She waited for a little time, and presently +she began again to catch odd scraps of the conversation. + +"Of course," she heard the smaller man say, "if we had him in New York +the thing would be absolutely easy. It is probably because he knows +that, that he came over here." + +"He knows he is in danger, then?" the other voice asked. + +"He knows that he carries his life in his hand," was the answer. "He +must know that he has done so since a few days before he sailed for +Europe. He is being watched the whole of the time, and from what I have +seen, I should say his nerves were beginning to give way a little under +the strain." + +The other man muttered something which she could not hear. + +"It is not your concern or mine," his companion answered. "He has chosen +to court the enmity of some of the most powerful men in America, and it +is his own fault if he suffers for it. He has been playing a pretty big +game, but he doesn't hold quite all the cards." + +There were more questions and answers, all unintelligible. She pushed +her chair a little farther back, still apparently without awakening +their suspicions, and then at last she heard something more definite. + +"No. 57, Coniston Mansions. It is absolutely easy to get in. Nearly +every one in the flats is connected with the stage, and they are almost +deserted between half-past seven and eleven. To-night we know his +movements exactly. He will dine at his club, and return some time before +eleven to change, as he is going to a reception at the American Embassy." + +"To-night is too soon," she heard the other man say. "I must have time +to look about the place. I want to understand exactly where the risks +are, and the easiest way to leave without being noticed. There are a lot +of small things like that to be considered, if the matter is to be done +artistically." + +"Every day's delay is dangerous," the smaller man said, doubtfully. +"Look here, Dick. It's a lot of money, and the offer may be withdrawn at +any moment." + +It occurred to Virginia suddenly that if these men were to see her face, +she might be recognized. She could see that they were on the point of +leaving, and their conversation was obviously at an end. She called for +a waiter, paid her bill, and went out. + +She walked slowly down Regent Street, and turning up Shaftesbury Avenue, +made her way on foot to the boarding house near the British Museum where +she was living. She went straight up to her room and sat down to think. +She had decided that these men were probably employed by Littleson, and +that they were going to make an attempt, that night apparently, upon the +life of Norris Vine. In any case her first impulse would have been to +warn him, but she had also personal reasons for doing so. If this paper +which Vine held was recovered by some one else, her own mission would be +a failure. In the hands of Littleson and his friends, it would without a +doubt be promptly destroyed, and nothing would be left for her to do but +to go back to America and own her defeat. She decided that Norris Vine +must be warned. At first she thought of writing or telegraphing. Then +she remembered that it was already past six, and that Vine was not +expected to return to his rooms until after dinner. He would probably, +therefore, receive neither telegram nor letter before he had walked into +the trap. There was only one thing left for her to do. If these men +could obtain ingress to Vine's rooms, so could she. She must be there +first and warn him. + +She changed her clothes, and after a few minutes' hesitation, set out +to dine at one of the restaurants which she had on her list. It was a +smart and somewhat Bohemian place, but even here women dining alone were +subjected to a good deal of remark, and her cheeks grew hot as she +remembered her first visit there, and the whispered discussion between +the waiters as to whether she should be given a table. She had become a +fairly regular customer there now, though, and to-night she was given a +table near the wall, an excellent vantage ground for her, but exactly +opposite three men, who had apparently been drinking heavily, and whose +whole attention, from the moment of her entrance, seemed fixed upon her. +She ordered her dinner, steadfastly ignoring them, and sat as usual with +her eyes fixed upon the door, but her indifference was not sufficient to +chill the ardour of the younger of the three men. She saw him call a +waiter and write something on the back of a card, and immediately +afterwards the waiter, with some hesitation, and a half-expressed +apology, presented it to her. She tore it in pieces, and went on with +her dinner without a word. Then a voice at her elbow startled her. + +"Miss Longworth," it said, "won't you allow me to sit at your table? I +will promise not to intrude in any way, and you may possibly be saved +from such impertinences as that." + +He pointed to the waiter, retiring discomfited, and Virginia, with a +little murmur of delight, recognized Mr. Mildmay standing before her. + +"Mr. Mildmay!" she exclaimed, holding out her hand. "Why, how glad I am +to see you again!" + +"And I you, Miss Longworth," he answered heartily, "but to be frank with +you, I would rather have met you somewhere else." + +The colour which had suddenly streamed into her cheeks faded away, and +she sighed. Tall, and very immaculate in the neat simplicity of his +severe evening dress, he seemed to her a more formidable person than +ever he had done on the steamer. The disapproval, too, which he felt, he +could scarcely help showing in some measure in his face. + +"Perhaps," she said, "I ought not to have asked you to do anything so +compromising as to sit with me. Please don't hesitate to say so if you +would rather not." + +He seated himself by her side and drew the carte toward him. + +"Have you ordered?" he asked. + +She nodded. + +"I am so sorry," she said, "but I am in no hurry. You can catch me up." + He ordered something from the waiter who was standing by, and then +turned again to her. + +"You mustn't be unfair to me, please," he said. "It is only because I +hate to see you subjected to such affronts, that I have any feeling in +the matter at all. Couldn't you have a companion, or something of that +sort, if you must come to these places?" + +She laughed softly. + +"No!" she said, "I am afraid I couldn't do that, but if it really gives +you any satisfaction to hear it, I think that my search--I told you that +I had come to look for some one, didn't I?--will be over to-night, and +then it will not be necessary for me to do this sort of thing." + +"I am glad," he answered heartily. "I am glad, that is to say, unless--" + +"Unless what?" + +"Unless it means your going back to America." + +She raised her eyes to his. + +"And how does that concern you?" she asked, simply. + +"I wish to God I knew why it should!" he answered, almost bitterly. "Do +you know what a fool I have been making of myself for the last week or +so? I have given up my club and all my friends, refused every +invitation, and spent all my time going about from restaurant to +restaurant, cafe to cafe, hoping somewhere to come across _you_." + +"Mr. Mildmay!"--she began. + +"Oh! you need not look like that," he interrupted. "It's perfectly +true. I think you knew it upon the steamer. I suppose that last day I +made myself a nuisance to you, with my advice and fears, and all that +sort of thing. Well, you see, now I ask no questions. I am content to +take you as you are. You want some one to look after you, Virginia. Will +you marry me?" + +She set down her glass, which was half raised to her lips, and looked at +him with wide open eyes and trembling lips. + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +AN APPOINTMENT + +Virginia seemed to find speech impossible, and it seemed to him that he +could see the tears gathering in her eyes. + +"Forgive me," he said, leaning over the table towards her. "I ought to +have asked you differently, I know, but I am so afraid that you will +slip away, as you did before, and that I shall lose sight of you again. +You want some one to take care of you, dear, and I am going to do it." + +She looked at him with swimming eyes, and he laid his hand softly for a +moment upon hers. + +"Mr. Mildmay," she said, "you must not say such things to me. It is +quite impossible, entirely and absolutely impossible." + +"I don't believe it," he answered calmly. "You will have to give me some +very good reasons before I go away again and leave you." + +"Reasons!" she faltered. "Oh! there is every reason in the world. You +don't know me, or anything about me, and you know very well that I am +doing things here that no nice girl would do." + +"I know nothing of the sort," he answered, smiling, "because you are a +nice girl. But, on the other hand, of course, I am glad to hear that +your search, whatever it may be, is over. You can tell me about it or +not, just as you please. Perhaps I may be able to help. Perhaps you +would like to tell me. If not, it doesn't matter." + +She found speech difficult, almost impossible. He seemed so sure of his +position, so absolutely confident that there could be nothing which +could possibly separate them. + +"But you don't understand," she tried to say. "I am not the sort of +person at all whom you ought to think of marrying. I am very, very poor, +and I am over here because I betrayed a trust, to try and steal back +something which was lost through my carelessness. I might be put in +prison for what I am trying to do. All sorts of things might happen to +me. You mustn't have anything to do with me." + +He smiled, and rested his hand for a moment once more upon her thin +white fingers. + +"Little girl," he said, "I believe in you, and that is quite enough. I +shall get a special license to-morrow." + +She laughed a little hysterically. + +"Forgive me," she said, wiping her eyes, "but over in New York they call +Englishmen slow. How dare you talk of special licenses, when I have told +you that I cannot, that I will not even think of marrying you!" + +He looked at her with sudden keenness. + +"Is there any one else?" he asked gravely. + +She was forced to speak the truth. + +"No, there is no one!" she said. + +"Good!" he answered. "I thought not. As a matter of form, have you any +further reasons why you won't marry me?" + +"I don't--care for you enough," she gasped. + +"You will very soon," he answered reassuringly. "I really can make +myself quite an agreeable companion. You haven't seen enough of me yet. +Of course I know I'm rather taking you by storm, but I am not going to +leave you alone in a strange city, indulging in some melodramatic game +of hide and seek. You don't need to do that, Virginia. I am quite as +rich as ever you will want to be, and if any one has suffered in America +through your carelessness I think I can make amends for you more +completely than you can by trying to break the laws of this country. You +know, dear, I am not curious, but I really think you had better tell me +all about it. It will make things much easier." + +She shook her head. + +"It isn't my secret," she answered, "and besides, it's a dangerous one. +Whoever has the paper which was stolen through my carelessness, and +which I am going to try and get back, goes every moment in danger of +his life." + +He smiled at her a little unbelievingly. + +"That may be all very well in New York," he said, "but here in London +one doesn't do such things. One keeps the law here, for we have an +incorruptible police." + +"You don't understand," she said sadly. "This is really something +great." + +"Can't you buy this paper or whatever it is?" he asked, "or rather +couldn't I buy it for you?" + +She shook her head. + +"The man who has it refused a million dollars for it," she said simply. +"Indeed, I must not tell you anything more. Please, Mr. Mildmay--" + +"Guy!" he interrupted. + +"Guy, then," she continued, with something very much like a blush, +"forget all that you have said to me, at any rate for the present. +Perhaps later on, when this is all over--" + +"You won't want me then," he said. "It's just now you need some one to +look after you. You are too young, and forgive me, dear, too simple, to +be mixed up in such affairs as you have been speaking of. There is only +one way to really protect you, and that is to get that special license +to-morrow." + +"But you mustn't talk about it, think about it even," she protested. +"It's impossible." + +"No, I think not!" he answered. "Come, I am going to make you drink a +glass of my wine. You are looking positively woebegone. That's right, +drink it down," he added, as she sipped it timidly. "Now tell me what +you are going to do for the rest of the evening." + +"I am going," she said, "to try and save the life of the man who has the +paper which was stolen from me. Incidentally I may be able to get it +back again." + +"Can I come too?" he asked. + +"Certainly not!" she answered. "It isn't an affair for you to be mixed +up in, and besides it would spoil my chance." + +"You are not encouraging," he said. "Seriously, Virginia, do let me +come." + +"No!" she answered, glancing at the clock, "and I must be going in a +very few minutes." + +"You haven't told me yet when you will marry me," he reminded her. + +She looked at him piteously. + +"Please don't be foolish," she said, "I cannot marry you; I can never +marry you. I told you that before. You must please put it out of your +head. I am going now, and it must be"--her voice trembled a +little--"good-bye!" + +"It will be nothing of the sort," he answered. "Do you care for me a +little, Virginia?" + +"I--perhaps I do," she faltered. + +"I thought you did," he whispered, smiling. "I hoped so, anyhow. That +settles it, Virginia. You haven't a chance of getting away from me, +dear. You may just as well make up your mind to be Mrs. Mildmay as soon +as I can get that license." + +"You are the most impossible person!" she declared in despair. "How can +I make you believe me?" + +"Nohow," he answered. "Let me come with you, please, this evening." + +"I will not," she answered firmly. "Do believe me, please, that it is +impossible." + +"Very well, then," he answered, "you shall have your own way, but on +one condition, and that is that you tell me where I can find you +to-morrow. I shall probably have the license then." + +Virginia looked around the room as though seeking for some means of +escape, and yet she knew that every word he uttered was a delight to +her; that a new joy, against which she was powerless to fight, was +filling her life. It was absurd, impossible, not to be thought of, and +yet all the time his insistence delighted her. He had so much the air of +one who has always his own way. She felt her powers of resistance +becoming almost impotent, and she watched their dissipation with secret +joy. How was it possible to resist a lover so confident, so +authoritative, especially when her whole heart was filled with a +passionate longing to throw everything else to the winds and to place +her hands in his. Perhaps by to-morrow, she thought, things would seem +different to her, but in the meantime she gave him the address of the +boarding-house in Russell Street. How could she help it! + +"I shall be there," he said, "sometime before twelve to-morrow morning. +You won't be going out before then?" + +"I--suppose not," she faltered. + +He called the waiter and asked for the bill for his dinner. Hers she had +already paid. She rose to her feet. + +"Please," she said earnestly, "do not come out with me. I am going now, +and where I am going I must go alone." + +He glanced opposite, to where the three men were still sitting. + +"Very well," he said, "I will let you go. You will permit me, I presume, +to see you out of the restaurant?" + +He walked down with her to the door, and would have called a hansom, but +she answered that she preferred to walk. + +"I have an automobile here if you will use it," he said, "and I will +engage not to ask the man where he drove you." + +"I am not afraid of that," she answered, "but I would rather walk, if +you please. I have only a very little way to go." + +He took both her hands in his firmly. + +"Virginia, dear," he said, smiling down at her, "good night, and +remember that I am coming to see you to-morrow, and that I am going to +bring that special license. You are going to marry me whether you want +to or not, and very soon too." + +Virginia hurried away, breathless. + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +DEFEATED + +Virginia drew a little breath of relief. After all it had been very +easy. She had simply walked into the flats, entered the lift, ascended +to the fifth floor, opened the door of No. 57, and walked in. She had +had a moment of fear lest there should be a servant in the rooms, but it +was a fear which proved groundless. She had found herself in a tiny +hall, with closed doors in front and on the right of her, and an open +one on the left leading into a small, plainly furnished but comfortable +sitting-room. This she entered, and closed the door behind her. At last +she was in Norris Vine's sanctum. + +She drew a little breath, half of relief, half of excitement, and then +repenting at the closed door, quietly opened it, and left it about a +foot ajar. She looked round the room with a swift comprehensive glance. +There was only one place where it seemed possible that papers of +importance might be hidden, a small desk with pigeon-holes, before the +window. She sat down in front of it, and methodically, one by one, she +examined every paper she found, bills, receipts, prospectuses, +charitable appeals, circulars, memoranda of literary matter. She found +many of these, but nothing in the least like the paper for which she was +in search. + +With a little sigh she closed the desk, and, turning away from it, +seated herself in the easy-chair in front of the fireplace. Almost as +she did so she received a shock which sent the blood tingling through +her body. The outer door had opened very softly. She had the idea that +some one was standing outside hesitating whether to enter. Thoughts +flashed quickly through her mind. This was not Norris Vine, or he would +have entered his own room without hesitation. She affected to be +absorbed in the magazine which she had picked up, but it was almost +certain, from the fact that the door was gently pushed open another inch +or two, that some one was looking through the chink. She read on +unmoved, although she even fancied that she could hear the stifled +breathing of some one peering into the room. Then she heard the door of +the room outside, his bedroom without a doubt, softly opened. The +intruder, whoever he might be, had evidently stolen in there. + +Virginia laid down her magazine for a moment, and with half-closed eyes +tried to think. Within the next room, only a few yards away, and nearer +to the door leading into the flat than she herself was, was hiding the +person who for two thousand five hundred pounds was proposing to rid the +world of Norris Vine. What would happen if she sat still? If Norris Vine +should come in, and it was almost the time at which he was expected, his +assailant would probably be waiting behind the door. She had no doubt +but that the attack would be swift and sudden, and that once made some +means would be taken to keep her a prisoner in the room where she now +was, or perhaps there might be even worse things in store for her. In +any case, within a few yards of her a man lay in hiding with murder in +his heart, and between them the closed door which might at any moment be +opened. What chance would she have to warn Norris Vine? None at all! + +She rose to her feet and sat down again. The very thought of moving +nearer to the room where this man was waiting filled her with horror, +and yet it was surely as dangerous to remain where she was, too far away +to warn any one entering, and herself at the mercy of the conqueror in +the brief struggle. Her breath began to come more quickly as she +realized that she was trapped. Probably that man in the next room knew +all about her, knew just why she was there, and had made up his mind how +to deal with her. She found herself listening in ever-deepening horror +for that turn of the handle which should signal the coming of the man +for whom they both waited. Intervention of any sort would be welcome. An +intervention came, in a manner as commonplace as it was startling. The +bell of a telephone instrument on the top of the desk began to ring. A +moment's breathless indecision, and then she walked to the instrument +and took the receiver in her hand. Simultaneously she heard a stealthy +movement outside. Her fellow-watcher, whoever he might be, had also made +up his mind to know who was ringing up Norris Vine so late. + +"Who's that?" the voice asked abruptly. + +"Coniston Mansions, No. 57," Virginia answered, disguising her voice as +much as possible. + +"Yes! but who is it in my rooms? That isn't Janion's voice, is it?" + +Then Virginia knew that the person who spoke was Norris Vine himself, +and before every word she uttered she hesitated, thinking always of the +listener outside. + +"No, it's not Janion," she answered. "What do you want?" + +"I wanted to know whether my servant was there," the voice replied. "Who +are you, and what are you doing in my rooms?" + +"Gone into the country?" Virginia said, speaking in a loud tone of +surprise. "You mean that he will not be here to-night, after all?" + +The voice down the telephone came angry and perplexed. + +"What the devil are you talking about?" it asked. "I am Norris Vine, and +I am speaking into my own rooms. I want to know who you are, and what +are you doing there." + +"Then I think," Virginia continued, still speaking loudly, "that you +might be a little more careful before you send me on a fool's errand +like this. Here have I been waiting for half an hour for a man who you +declared was certain to come here before eleven o'clock. Now you tell me +that he is not returning to-night at all, gone into the country, or some +rubbish. Why can't you make sure of your facts? You seem to repeat any +stuff that's told you, and then think that it doesn't matter so long as +you say that you're sorry. How about my wasted time sitting here, to +say nothing of the risk of being taken for a thief!" + +"If you don't tell me who you are at once," the voice came back, "I +shall send a policeman round. Can't you understand that I want my man +Janion? I want him to bring my evening clothes to the club. If you don't +tell me who you are, and what you are doing in my rooms, I shall be +round there with a policeman in five minutes." + +"Of course I shan't stop," Virginia replied, still in a loud voice. +"What on earth is there to stop for if the man isn't coming back for +several days? I shall be away before the police can come. Ring +off, please." + +"I don't know who the devil you are," the voice came back, "but I jolly +soon will. You'll have to hurry, my friend, if you mean to get away. I +am going to ring up the manager's office." + +Virginia threw down the receiver. She hesitated for a moment before the +looking-glass, as though straightening her hat--in reality to give the +listener outside time to get back once more into hiding. Then she walked +with fast beating heart and steady footsteps towards the door. She +opened it boldly. The little hall was empty; the door of the room +opposite, which had been closed when she had entered, was ajar now, but +there were no signs of any living person. She opened the door leading +into the corridor and safety. For the first time she noticed that the +key was in the inside. She withdrew it, passed out, closed the door, +and stood in safety in the corridor. Thoughts chased one another through +her mind. She had only to lock the door on the outside, call for help, +and the person who had waited with her for Norris Vine's return was +caught in a trap. Would there be any advantage in it? Would she be able +to clear herself? + +Reluctantly she decided that it was better to let him go. She rang for +the lift, and then turned with fascinated eyes to watch the door leading +into Norris Vine's apartments. The lights were very dim on the landing. +There were no servants or any one about. She watched the closed door +with fascinated eyes. What if it should open before the lift came! She +rang again, kept her finger upon the bell; then with a great sense of +relief she heard the creaking of the wire rope, and saw the top of the +lift beginning to ascend. It drew level with her, and the page-boy threw +open the iron door. Almost at that moment she saw the door of Norris +Vine's apartment softly opened from the inside. She sank down upon +the seat. + +"Down, please!" she said, and the lift began to descend. Her safety was +assured. She turned to the boy. "Does Mr. Vine generally come up this +way to his rooms?" she asked. + +"Always at night, miss," the boy answered. "The other lift don't run +after eleven." + +She reached the hall. The commissionaire opened the doors and she +passed out into the street. She crossed the road, and stood perfectly +still watching the entrance. Five, ten minutes passed; then a man came +out in evening dress, with silk hat, and a white handkerchief around his +neck. He was smoking a cigarette, and he carried a silver-headed cane. +Virginia crossed the road once more, and, trusting to the crowd, kept +within a few yards of him. He turned to the edge of the curb and +called a hansom. + +"Claridge's Hotel!" he said. "As quick as you can, cabby!" + +She gave a little start. Not only had she recognized the voice of the +man who had sat behind her in the cafe that afternoon, but she also knew +at once that this was one of the three men who had sat opposite her only +an hour or so ago at dinner! + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +INGRATITUDE + +Norris Vine stood in the middle of his room, his hat still upon his +head, and his overcoat on his arm. Before him stood the waiter and the +watchman of the flats. + +"My rooms," he was saying, "have been occupied within the last ten +minutes by strangers, and by people who have no right here whatever. I +have certain proof of this. Do you allow any one who chooses to come +into the building and use the lift, and enter whatever apartment +they choose?" + +"We cannot employ detectives," the manager answered, "and every one who +lives here has visitors." + +There was a soft knock at the door, and almost immediately it was +opened. Virginia entered, and guessed immediately the meaning of the +little scene before her. + +"You want an explanation as to that telephone message," she said +quietly. "I have come to give it to you. If you will send these people +away, I will explain everything." + +Norris Vine looked at her in amazement. Her face somehow seemed +familiar, but he failed at first to place her. The two men whom Vine was +interviewing were only too glad of the opportunity to take their +departure. + +"Am I to understand," Vine asked, "that it was you whose voice I heard +at the telephone?" + +"You are," Virginia answered, "and you may be very thankful for it. I do +not know whether it was wise of me or not, but I am quite sure that I +saved your life." + +"In which case," Vine remarked, with an incredulous smile, "I must at +least ask you to sit down." + +Virginia seated herself and pushed back her veil. + +"You do not remember me," she said. "I am Phineas Duge's niece." + +"I remember you now quite well," he answered. "You were having dinner +with your uncle one night at Sherry's." + +She nodded. + +"That is quite true," she said. "I have been looking for you for some +days. In fact, I came to London to look for you." + +"That," he remarked drily, "sounds somewhat mysterious, considering that +I have not yet had the pleasure of your acquaintance." + +"There is nothing mysterious about it," she answered. "You are a +receiver of stolen goods. Some papers were stolen from my uncle's study +by Stella, my cousin, and given to you. They were stolen through my +carelessness. Unless I can recover them I am ruined." + +"Go on," Morris Vine said. "You have not finished yet." + +"No!" she answered, "I have not. I followed you to England to get those +papers back, either by theft, or by appealing to your sense of honour, +or by any means which presented themselves. I found by accident that I +was not the only American in London who was over here in search of you. +This afternoon I overheard part of a plot in a cafe in Regent Street +between two men, strangers to me, but who had both apparently made up +their minds that this particular paper was worth a little more than your +life. From them I heard your address. Your valet must be in their pay, +for they knew exactly your movements for the night. I heard them plan to +come here, and I knew what the end of that would be. I determined to +anticipate them. It was not out of any feeling for you, but simply +because if the paper got into their hands my cause was lost. So I came +on here to warn you, but I had scarcely entered your room before I was +aware that some one who had come with very different intentions was +already here. We waited--I in the sitting-room, he in that +bedroom--waited for you. I pretended to be unconscious of his existence. +He seemed to be content to ignore mine. While I was wondering how I +should warn you, the telephone bell rang. I answered it, and it was you +who spoke. Then I had the idea of carrying on some imaginary +conversation with you, which would induce the man who was listening to +go away. I did it and he went away. It must have sounded terrible +nonsense to you, of course, but it was the only way I could think of to +get him out of the place. He left convinced that you were not coming +here to-night." + +"Do you know who he was, this man?" Vine asked. + +"I do not," she answered, "but I can guess who his employers are." + +"And so can I," Vine said grimly. "It seems to me that you are a very +plucky young lady, Miss Longworth." + +"Not at all," she answered. "What I have done, I have done for the sake +of reward." + +"Will you name it?" he asked. + +"I want that paper to take back to my uncle," she said. "Stella stole it +from me brutally, and unless I can get it back again, my uncle is going +to send me back to the little farmhouse where I came from, and is going +to leave off helping my people. I want that paper back, Mr. Vine, and +you must give it to me." + +He looked at her with utterly impassive face. + +"I am afraid, Miss Longworth," he said, "that I must disappoint you. If +I gave you back that paper, it would go into the hands of one of the +most unprincipled men in America. It is not only your uncle whom I +dislike, but his methods, his craft, his infernal, incarnate +selfishness. He wants this paper as a whip to hold over other people. He +obtained it by subtlety. The means by which it was taken from him, +although I had nothing to do with them, were on the whole justified. I +cannot give it back to you, Miss Longworth. I have not made up my mind +yet what to do with it, and I certainly have no friendship for the men +whom it implicates; but all the same, for the present it must remain in +my possession." + +"Do you know," she reminded him, "that I have saved your life +to-night?" + +He laughed softly. + +"My dear child," he said, "my life is not so easily disposed of. I +believe that you have tried to do me a kindness, but you ask too great a +return. Even if the paper you speak of was stolen, it is better in my +keeping than in your uncle's." + +"You will not give it to me, then?" she asked. + +"I will not," he answered. + +She rose from her place. + +"Very well," she said; "I am going now, but I think that we shall meet +again before very long." + +He opened the door for her and walked out toward the lift. + +"My dear young lady," he said, "I hope you will forgive my saying so, +but this is certainly a wild-goose chase of yours. If you will take my +advice, and I know something about life, you will go back to your +farmhouse in the Connecticut valley. These larger places in the world +may seem fascinating to you at first, but believe me you will be better +off and happier in the backwoods. Ask Stella. I think that she would +give you the same advice." + +Virginia looked at him steadily. The faint note of sarcasm which was +seldom absent from his tone was not lost upon her. + +"I thank you for your advice," she said, "It sounds so +disinterested--and convincing. Such an excellent return, too, for a +person who has risked something to do you a kindness." + +"My dear young lady," Vine answered, "it was not for my own sake that +you warned me. You have admitted that yourself. It was entirely from +your own point of view that you judged it well for me to remain a little +longer on the earth. Why, therefore, should I be grateful? As a matter +of fact, I am not sure that I am. I, too, go about armed, and it is by +no means certain that I might not have had the best of any little +encounter with our friend who you say was hiding there."--He motioned +his head towards his bedroom.--"In that case, you see, I should have +known exactly who he was, possibly even have been able to hand him over +to the police." + +Virginia pressed the little bell and the lift began to ascend. + +"I am glad to know, Mr. Vine," she said, "what sort of a man you are." + +He bowed, and she stepped into the lift without any further form of +farewell. Vine walked thoughtfully back to his rooms. He was a man who +had grown hard and callous in the stress of life, but somehow the memory +of Virginia's pale face and dark reproachful eyes remained with him. + + + +CHAPTER X + + +A NEW VENTURE + +Phineas Duge, notwithstanding an absence of anything approaching +vulgarity in his somewhat complex disposition, was, for a man of affairs +and an American, singularly fond of the small elegances of life. +Although he sat alone at dinner, the table was heaped with choice +flowers and carefully selected hothouse fruit. His one glass of wine, +the best of its sort, he sipped meditatively, and with the air of a +connoisseur. The soft lights upon the table were such as a woman, +mindful of her complexion, might have chosen. Behind his chair stood +his English butler, grave, solemn-faced, attentive. The cigars and +matches were already on his left-hand side, ready for the moment when he +should have finished his wine. Outside a footman was waiting for a +signal to bring in the after-dinner coffee. + +Across his luxurious table, through the waving clusters of +sweet-smelling flowers to the dark mahogany panelled wall beyond, the +eyes of Phineas Duge seemed to be seeking that night something which +they failed to find. The last few weeks seemed in a way to have aged the +man. His lips had come closer together, there were faint lines on his +forehead and underneath his eyes. The butler from behind his chair +looked down upon his master's carefully parted and picturesque hair, +wondering why he sat so still, wondering what he saw that he looked so +steadily at that one particular spot in the panelled wall, and lingered +so unusually long over the last few drops of his wine. Phineas Duge +himself wondered still more what had come to him. For many years men and +women had come and gone, leaving him indifferent as to their coming and +going, their pains and their joys; and to-night, though there were many +matters with which his mind might well have been occupied, he found +himself in the curious position of indulging in vague and almost +regretful memories. The place at the other end of his table was empty, +as it had been for many nights; for during the period of his titanic +struggle with those men against whom he had declared war, he had shunned +all society, and lived a life of stern and absolute seclusion. + +To-night that steady gaze which wandered over the drooping flowers was +really fixed upon that empty chair at the other end of the table. A man +of few fancies, he was never quite without imagination. His thoughts had +travelled easily back to a few weeks ago. He saw Virginia sitting there, +watched the delightful smile coming and going, the large grey eyes that +watched him so ceaselessly, the little ripple of pleasant conversation, +which he had never dreamed that he could ever miss. After all, what a +child! As a matter of justice, and he told himself that it was justice +only which had power to sway his judgment, what right had he to blame +her for what was really nothing but a freak of ill-fortune! Had he +punished himself in sending her away? Somehow, during these last few +nights, the room had seemed curiously cold and empty. He had missed her +little timidly offered ministrations, the touch of her fingers upon his +shoulder, the whole nameless delicacy which her presence had brought +into the cold, magnificent surroundings, which seemed to him now as +though they could never be quite the same again. + +These thoughts had come to him before, but it was only to-night he had +suffered them to linger in his mind. Once or twice he had caught them +lurking in his brain and thrown them out. To-night they had come with a +soft, invincible persistence, so that he had felt even his will +powerless to strangle them. He was forced to face the truth, that he, +Phineas Duge, the man of many millions, sat there while the minutes fled +past, looking with empty eyes into empty space, thinking of the child +whom he would have given at that moment more than he would have cared to +confess, to have found sitting within a few feet of him, peeling his +walnuts, or pouring out her impressions of this wonderful new life into +which she had come. + +Some trifle it was which broke the thread of his reflections. When he +realized what he had been doing, he was conscious of a feeling almost of +shame. In a moment he was himself again. He calmly drank up his wine, +and as he set the glass down held out a cigar from the box to the man +who waited with the cigar cutter in hand. A little silver spirit lamp +burning with a blue flame stood all ready at his elbow. The butler gave +the signal, and his coffee, strong and fragrant, in a little gold cup, +was placed before him. + +"You will tell Smedley to be in the study at nine o'clock," he ordered. + +"Very good, sir!" the man replied. "You will not be going out to-night, +sir? There are no orders for the garage?" + +"Not to-night," Phineas Duge answered. + +There was an unexpected sound of voices outside in the hall. Phineas +Duge looked toward the door with a frown upon his face. + +"What is that?" he asked sharply. + +The butler was perplexed. + +"I will go and see, sir," he said. "It sounds as if James were having +trouble with some one." + +The door was suddenly opened. Weiss and Higgins entered quickly, +followed by the protesting and frightened footman. Phineas Duge rose +from his seat, and, resting one hand upon the table, peered forward at +the two men. His face, even under the rose-shaded electric lamp, was +cold and set. The gleam of white teeth was visible between his lips. He +looked like a man, metaphorically, about to spring upon his foes. One +hand had stolen round to the pocket of his dinner coat, and was holding +something hard, but to him very comforting. He offered no word of +greeting. He uttered no exclamation of surprise. He simply waited. + +"These gentlemen pushed past me in the hall, sir," the footman +explained, deprecatingly. "My back was turned only for a moment, and +Wilkins was down having his supper." + +"You can go," Phineas Duge said coldly, waving him out of the room. +"What do you want with me, Weiss?" + +"A few minutes' sensible talk," Weiss answered. "It will do you no harm +to listen to us. Send your servant away and give us a quarter of +an hour." + +Phineas Duge hesitated, but only for a moment. These men had come +openly, and they were known to be his enemies. It was not possible that +they intended to use any violence. He turned to the butler, who stood +behind his chair. + +"Place chairs for these gentlemen," he ordered, "and leave the room." + +They sat on his left-hand side, Phineas Duge pushed the decanter of +Burgundy toward them, and the cigars. Then he leaned back in his chair +and waited. + +"Duge, we ought to have come to you before," Weiss began. "We are +playing a child's game, all of us." + +"Whatever the game may be," Duge answered, "it is not I who invented +it." + +"We grant that to start with," Weiss answered. "We were in the wrong. +You have done a little better than hold your own against us. We are +several millions of dollars the poorer and you the richer for our split. +Let it go at that. We have other things to think about just now besides +this juggling with markets. I take it that we are none of us +particularly anxious to learn what the interior of a police court +looks like." + +Phineas Duge made no motion of assent or dissent. + +"You refer," he said, "to the action against the Trusts which the +President is supposed to be supporting so vigorously?" + +Weiss nodded. + +"The thing's further advanced than we were any of us inclined to +believe," he answered. "Every one of us is interested in this, you more +than any of us. If Harrison's Bill passes the Senate, we are liable to +imprisonment at any moment. We are up against it hard, Duge, and we +can't face it as we ought while we're squabbling amongst ourselves like +a set of children." + +"You propose then," Phineas Duge said slowly, "to close our accounts on +a mutual basis?" + +"Precisely!" Weiss answered. "You have had the best of it, and it might +be our turn to-morrow, so you can well afford to do this. We want to +rest on our oars for a time, while we look round and face this +new danger." + +"Very well," Phineas Duge said, "I agree. We will meet at your office +to-morrow and bring our brokers. I am quite willing to end this fight. +It was not I who began it." + +Higgins drew a little breath of relief. He was perhaps the poorest of +the group, and it was his stock which Duge had been handling so +roughly. "Thank heavens!" he said. "Now we can have a moment's breathing +time, to see what we can do for these fellows who want to teach us how +to manage our affairs." + +"In the first place," Weiss said, "what about that paper we signed? I +can understand your wanting to hold it over us while we were at war. It +was a fair weapon, and you had a right to it, but now we are united +again you can see, of course, that although your name isn't on it, it +would practically mean ruin to our interests if the other side once got +hold of it." + +"If I had that paper," Duge said quietly, "I would tear it up at this +moment, but I regret to say that I have not. It was stolen during +my illness." + +"We know that," Weiss answered. "We know even in whose hands it is." + +Phineas Duge looked up inquiringly. + +"Norris Vine has it," Weiss continued. "We have offered him a million, +but he declines to sell. He would have used it for his paper before now, +and we should have been on the other side of the ocean, but for the fact +that John Drayton advised him not to. Now he has taken it with him to +London. He is going to ask Deane's advice. At any moment the thing may +come flashing back. We may wake up to find a copy of that document in +black and white in every paper in New York State." + +"You have offered him a reasonable sum for it," Phineas Duge said, "and +he declines to sell. Very well, what do you propose to do?" + +"It was stolen from you," Weiss said. "He may justly decline to treat +with us; but it is your property, and you have a right to it." + +"You propose, then?" Phineas Duge asked. + +"That you should catch the _Kaiserin_ to London to-morrow," Higgins +said, "and find out this man Vine. The rest we are content to leave with +you, but I think that if you try you will get it." + +Phineas Duge sat quite still for several moments. He sipped his wine +thoughtfully, threw his cigar, which had gone out, into the fire, and +lit a cigarette. He appreciated the force of the suggestion, and a trip +to Europe was by no means distasteful to him, but he was not a man to +decide upon anything of this sort without reflection. + +"A week ago," he said softly, "even a day ago, and my absence from New +York would have meant ruin. If I leave the country to-morrow, and trust +myself upon the ocean for six days, what guarantee have I that you will +keep to any arrangement which we might make to-morrow?" + +"We will sign affidavits," Weiss declared, "that we will not, directly +or indirectly, enter into any operations in any one of our stocks during +your absence, except for your profit as well as our own. We will execute +a deed of partnership as regards any transactions which we might enter +into during your absence." + +Phineas Duge nodded thoughtfully. + +"I suppose," he said, "we might be able to fix things up that way. I +should be glad enough to get the paper back again, but Vine is not an +easy man to deal with, and he is pleased to call himself my enemy." + +"The men who have called themselves that," Higgins remarked grimly, +"have generally been sorry for it." + +"And so may he," Phineas Duge answered, "but I am not sure that his time +has come yet. You must let me think this over, gentlemen, until +to-morrow morning. I will meet you with my broker and lawyer at ten +o'clock at your office, Weiss, and if I make up my mind to go to Europe, +my luggage will be on the steamer by that time. On the whole I might +tell you that I am inclined to go." + +Weiss drew a great breath of relief. He poured himself out a glass of +wine and drank it off. + +"It's good to hear you say that, Duge," he said. "I tell you we have +come pretty near being scared the last week or so. I feel a lot more +comfortable fighting with you in the ranks." + +Phineas Duge forbore from all recrimination. He filled Higgins' glass +and his own. He could afford to be magnanimous. He had fought them one +against four, and they had come to him for mercy! + +"We will drink," he said, "to the new President. This one has tilted +against the windmills once too often. He must learn his lesson." + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +CONSCIENCE + +Virginia slept little that night. Her room, one of the smallest and +least expensive in the cosmopolitan boarding-house where she was +staying, was high up, almost in an attic. The windows were small, and +opened with difficulty. The heat, combined with her own restlessness, +made the weary hours one long nightmare for her. Early in the morning +she rose and sat in front of the little window, looking out across the +wilderness of house-tops, where a pall of smoke seemed to convert to +luminous chaos the rising sun. There was a lump in her throat, and +gathering tears in her eyes. It seemed to her that no one could ever +realize a loneliness more absolute and complete than hers. She thought +of the early summer mornings in that tiny farmhouse perched on the side +of the lonely valley, where the air at least was clear and pure and +bright, musical with the song of birds, and the west wind which stirred +always in the pine-woods behind heralded the coming morning. If only she +could have dropped from her shoulders the burden of the last few months, +and found herself back there once more. Then a pang of remorse shook her +heart. She remembered the happiness which through her had come to those +whom she loved, and the thought was like a tonic to her. She forgot her +own sorrows, she forgot that dim tremendous feeling, which had shown +through her life for a minute or two, only to pass away and leave behind +longings and regrets which were in themselves a constant pain. She +forgot everything except the thought of what it might mean to those +others who were dear to her if she should fail in her task. Her face +seemed suddenly aged as she sat there, crushing down the sweeter things, +clenching her fingers upon the window-sill, and telling herself that at +any cost she must succeed, hopeless though the task might seem. + +Presently she began to move about the room and collect her clothes. At +half-past nine she had left the boarding-house and departed without +leaving any address behind her. At ten o'clock a great automobile swung +round the corner, stopped before the door, and Mr. Mildmay descended and +ran lightly up the steps. Miss Longworth had gone away, he was told by +the shabby German waiter in soiled linen coat and greasy black trousers. +She had left no address. She had left no message for any one who might +be calling for her. The largest tip which he had ever received could +only send him into the inner regions to interview the proprietress, who +came out and confirmed his words. Mildmay turned slowly around and +drove away. + + * * * * * + +Stella and Norris Vine lunched together that day in a small West End +restaurant. He had telephoned asking her to come, and she had at once +thrown over another engagement. They were scarcely seated before he +asked her a question. + +"Do you know that your cousin is in London?" + +"What! Virginia?" Stella exclaimed. + +He nodded, and Stella was genuinely amazed. + +"Whom did she come with?" she asked. "What does she want here?" + +"She came alone, poor little thing," he answered, "and on a wild-goose +chase. I never heard anything so pathetic in my life. She ought to be in +short frocks, playing with her dolls, and she has come here four +thousand miles to a city she knows nothing of, to steal back--well, you +know what. One could laugh if it were not so pathetic." + +"Little fool!" Stella said, half contemptuously, and yet with a note of +regret in her tone. + +"I thought, perhaps," Vine said, "you might find out where she is and go +and talk common sense to her. If there is anything else we can do, I'd +like to, only I hate the thought of a pretty child like that wandering +about London on such an absurd quest." + +"Do you know where she is to be found?" Stella asked quietly. + +"I have no idea," Vine answered. "The last time I saw her was in my own +rooms. I am only sorry that I let her go." + +Stella looked up at him quickly. + +"Your own rooms!" she repeated. "What do you mean?" + +"Well," he answered, "with the extraordinary luck which comes sometimes +to babies, she overheard two men talking about me and arranging to meet +at a certain hour at my flat. She actually had the nerve to be there +herself at the same time. While she sat in my sitting-room, they waited +in the bedroom. Mind, a great part of this may be her invention. I have +only her word for it, but she certainly seemed as though she were +telling the truth. I rang up for some one to bring me a change of +clothes, and she answered the telephone. What she said to me sounded +such rank nonsense that I jumped in a hansom and went straight back to +my rooms. However, the men who were listening gathered from what she +said that I was not coming back, and they gave it up and stole out. When +I returned I found her waiting there, and she demanded that I should +give her up the paper she wanted as a matter of gratitude." + +"Do you believe her story?" Stella asked. + +"I don't know," he answered. "I know that I am being followed about, and +if she could get into my rooms, it is quite as easy for them to do so. +They may have been there, and I dare say that if I had entered +unsuspectingly, and Dan Prince had anything to do with it, I shouldn't +have had much chance. It amused me to see all my drawers turned out and +my papers disturbed." + +"Little idiot!" Stella said impatiently. "She ought to be at home, +feeding her father's chickens. She is hopelessly out of place here, just +as she was in New York," + +"I wish we could send her back there," Vine declared. + +Stella looked at him with raised eyebrows. + +"My dear Norris," she said, "isn't this rather a new departure for you? +I don't seem to recognize you in this frame of mind." + +He sipped his wine thoughtfully for a minute or two, and helped himself +to some curry. + +"I believe after all, Stella," he said, "that you know very little about +me. I am naturally a most tender-hearted person." + +"You have managed," she remarked drily, "to conceal your weakness most +effectively." + +"A journalist," he reminded her, "is used to conceal them. Without the +arts of lying and acting, we might as well abandon our profession. +Seriously, Stella, I am sorry for the child. I wish you could find her +and pack her off home." + +Stella shrugged her shoulders. + +"In the first place," she said, "I have no idea where to look; and in +the second, she is one of those obstinate children who never do what +they are told, or see reason." + +"I admit," he replied, "that finding her is rather a difficulty, but +after all, you see, it is you directly, and I indirectly, who are +responsible for her troubles. I think we ought to do what we can. I wish +I hadn't let her go the other night." + +"I am becoming," Stella said, smiling, "a little jealous of my cousin." + +He looked at her with steady scrutiny, as though he were curious to +decide how much of truth there might be in her words. + +"You have no need, my dear Stella," he said, "to be jealous of Virginia +or any other girl. This is simply the dying kick of a nearly finished +conscience." + +"If I come across her," Stella said, "I will do what I can. If you see +her again, and I should think you are the more likely, find out her +address and I will go and see her. By the by," she added, leaning across +the table towards him, "you seem very confident of preserving it. Tell +me, where do you keep that paper?" + +He smiled. + +"Ah!" he said. "All my secrets save one are yours, but I think that that +one I will not tell you." + +She frowned at him, obviously annoyed. + +"Do you mean that?" she asked. "Surely you do not hesitate to trust me?" + +"Not for one moment," he answered. "On the other hand, the knowledge of +a thing of that sort is better in as few hands as possible. You will be +none the better for knowing. Circumstances might arise to make even the +knowledge an embarrassment to you. Take my advice, and do not ask me +that question." + +Stella's face had grown darker. + +"It is I," she said, "whom you have to thank for the possession of it. +Considering that you go in danger every moment, I think that some one +else save yourself should share in the knowledge of what you have +done with it." + +"Let me recommend," he said, studying the menu for a moment with his +horn-rimmed eyeglass, "an artichoke with sauce mayonnaise, or would you +prefer asparagus?" + +"I should prefer," she insisted, "an answer to my question." + +He looked at her steadily. His face was utterly impassive, his +forefinger was tapping lightly upon the table-cloth. It was a look which +she knew very well. + +"The knowledge of where that paper is, Stella, would do you no good," he +declared. "Forgive me, but I do not intend to tell a soul." + +They finished their luncheon almost in silence. She only once recurred +to the subject. + +"Perhaps," she said, looking quietly up at him, "as your conscience is +growing so susceptible, you will think it right to restore that paper to +my little cousin. Those are wonderful eyes, of hers, you know, now she +has learnt to use them a little." + +Norris Vine did not answer, and they parted with the briefest of +farewells. + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +DUKE OF MOWBRAY + +This time Mildmay was angry. He showed it alike in his speech and +expression. Virginia looked at him like a terrified child. + +"So, Virginia," he said, "I have found you at last!" + +"What do you want?" she asked breathlessly. + +He looked at her for quite thirty seconds without replying. Her eyes +fell before his. More than ever she felt the shame of her position. + +"What do I want?" he repeated, a little bitterly. "You ask me that, +Virginia, seriously?" + +She covered her face with her hands. + +"Oh! please go away," she said. "It is not kind of you to come here." + +"I do not mean to be unkind," he answered, "but I want to understand. +Why did you leave your boarding-house in Russell Street and run +away from me?" + +"It was not only to run away from you," she answered. "There were other +reasons." + +"Why should you wish to run away from me at all?" he asked. + +"Because," she answered, "I am afraid, and you ask me things which are +impossible." + +"What are you afraid of?" he asked. + +"Of myself, of you, of everything," she murmured pathetically. + +Virginia was a little worn out. Day after day of disappointment had +tried her sorely. He felt himself softening, but he showed no signs of +it in his face. + +"Is there anywhere here where we can talk?" he asked. "You have rooms in +the building, have you not? Are you alone?" + +He could have bitten his tongue out for that question, but its +significance never occurred to her. + +"Yes!" she answered. "Since you are here, perhaps you had better come +in." + +They had met on the landing of the fifth floor of Coniston Mansions. She +led him down the corridor, and, opening a door, ushered him into a tiny +sitting-room. + +"How did you find me out?" she asked. + +"I saw you dining at Luigi's yesterday and to-day," he answered sternly. +"You were with the same man both times. I followed you yesterday. You +both came back here. To-day you came back alone. Is this man +your brother?" + +"No!" she answered. + +"Your cousin? Is he any relation to you?" + +"No!" she repeated. + +"Who is he, then?" + +"A friend," she answered, "or an enemy perhaps. What does it matter to +you?" + +He looked at her steadfastly. She was dressed in white muslin, and she +wore a big black hat without any touch of colour. Her clothes were those +which her uncle had ordered in New York. She was slim and dainty and +elegant, and he found it hard indeed to keep his heart steeled +against her. + +"How can you ask me that, Virginia?" he replied. "Have you forgotten +that I have asked you to marry me?" + +"And I have told you that I cannot," she replied desperately. "I cannot +and I will not. You have no right to come here and worry me." + +"So my coming does worry you?" he asked. + +"Yes!" she answered desperately, "you know that it does." + +"Virginia," he said, "what is this man's name?" + +"It is no concern of yours," she answered. + +"Are you in love with him?" + +"I shall not tell you," she said. + +"Is he in love with you?" + +"If you ask me any more such questions, I shall go into my room and lock +the door," she declared. + +Mildmay took a turn up and down the little apartment. The child was +obdurate, yet all the time he seemed to read her soft frightened eyes. + +"Virginia," he said suddenly, stopping in front of her, "I have the +license in my pocket. Won't you come out with me and be married?" + +"No!" she answered, "I will not." + +"Think!" he begged her. "It would be so easy. We could walk out of this +place together, and in an hour's time you would have some one else to +take your little troubles on their shoulders. Don't you think that mine +are broad enough, little girt?" + +"Please don't!" she begged. "I cannot. I wish you would not ask me." + +"I don't know whether it makes any difference," he said, after a +moment's hesitation, "but I have plenty of money. In fact I am very +rich. If there is any possible way in which money could help your +troubles, they would soon be over." + +"Oh! I know that you have," she answered. "It is not that." + +He looked at her fixedly. + +"You know that I have? Perhaps you know who I am?" + +"I do," she answered. "You are Guy Mildmay, Duke of Mowbray." + +He was taken aback. + +"How did you find that out?" he asked. + +"On the steamer," she answered, "the last few days. People got to know, +I am not sure how, and in any case it does not matter." + +A light began to break in upon him. + +"I believe," he said, "that it is because you know you will not marry +me." + +"Oh! it isn't only that," she answered. "It is utterly, absolutely +impossible. My people live on a little farm in America, and have barely +enough money to live on. We are terribly poor." + +He frowned for a moment thoughtfully. He was looking at her expensive +clothes. He did not understand. + +"And besides," she continued, "there is another reason why I should +never think of it. Now, please, won't you believe me and go away? It is +not kind of you to make it so difficult for me." + +"Very well, Virginia," he said quietly, "for the present I will ask you +no more. But can you tell me any reason why I should not be +your friend?" + +"None at all," she answered. "You can be what you like, if you will only +go away and leave me alone." + +"That," he answered, "is not my idea of friendship. If we are friends, I +have the right to help you in your troubles, whatever they may be." + +"That," she declared, "is impossible." + +Then he began to realize that this child, with her soft great eyes, her +delightful mouth, her girlish face, which ever since he had first seen +it had seemed to him the prototype of all that was gentle and lovable, +possessed a strength of character incredible in one of her years and +appearance. He realized that he was only distressing her by his +presence. The timidity of her manner was no sign of weakness, and there +was finality even in that earnest look which she had fixed upon him. + +"You decline me as a husband then, Virginia," he said, "and you decline +me as a friend. You want to have nothing more to do with me. Very well, +I will go away." + +She drew a sharp breath between her teeth, and if he noticed it he made +no sign. He drew a paper from his pocket and calmly tore it into pieces. + +"That," he said, "was the paper which was to have made us happy. +Good-bye!" + +"Good-bye!" she gasped, tearfully. + +He laughed as he took her into his arms. She did not make the least +resistance. + +"You little idiot!" he said. "Do you know that I very nearly went?" + +Her head was buried upon his shoulder, and she was not in the position +for a moment to make any reply. + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + +AN INTRODUCTION + +He helped Virginia to descend from the automobile, and led her up the +steps in front of the great house in Grosvenor Square. + +"You are not frightened, dear?" he asked. + +"I am terrified to death," she answered frankly. He touched her hand +reassuringly. + +"Silly child!" he said. "I am sure you will like my aunt." + +The door flew open before them. A footman stood aside to let them pass. +An elderly servant in plain black clothes came hurrying down from a +little office. + +"I trust that your Grace is well?" he said. + +"Very well indeed, thank you, Jameson," Mildmay said. "Is my aunt in?" + +"Her ladyship is in the morning-room, your Grace," the man answered, +with an almost imperceptible glance towards Virginia. "Shall I +announce you?" + +"Is she alone?" Mildmay asked. + +"For the moment, yes, your Grace," the man answered. + +Guy led Virginia across the hall, knocked at a door and entered. A tall, +grey-haired lady was sitting on a sofa with a tea-tray by her side. She +was very good-looking, and absurdly like Mildmay, to whom she held out +her right hand. Guy stooped and raised it to his lips. + +"My dear aunt," he said, "can you stand a shock?" + +"That depends," she answered, glancing at Virginia. "My nerves are not +what they were, you know. However, go on." + +"I am trying you rather high, I know," he said, "but there are reasons +for it which I can explain later on. I have brought a young lady to see +you, Miss Virginia Longworth. I want you to like her very much, because +she has promised to be my wife." + +Lady Medlincourt held out her hand, long and slim and delicate, and +made room for Virginia by her side on the sofa. + +"How are you, my dear?" she said quite calmly. "Will you have some tea? +It's beastly, I know, been standing for hours, but Guy can ring for some +fresh. So you are really going to marry my nephew?" + +Virginia raised her eyes, and looked for a moment into the face of the +woman who sat by her side. + +"Yes, Lady Medlincourt," she answered; "I do hope you will not be +angry." + +"Angry! My dear child, I am never angry," Lady Medlincourt declared. "I +have arrived at that time in life when one cannot afford the luxury of +giving way to emotion. You won't mind my asking you a few questions, +though, both of you. To begin with, I do not know your name. Who +are you?" + +Guy leaned a little forward. + +"She will be Duchess of Mowbray in a very short time, aunt," he said. +"Please don't forget that." + +Lady Medlincourt raised her eyebrows. + +"Bless the boy!" she exclaimed. "As though I were likely to! I can feel +it go shivering down my backbone all the time. Sit here for a moment, +both of you. I am going to give Jameson orders myself not to admit any +one for a little while." + +She crossed the room and they were alone for a moment. They exchanged +quick glances, and Guy laughed at the consternation in Virginia's face. + +"Don't be scared, little woman," he said. "You'll get on all right with +my aunt, I am sure. She is a little odd just at first, and she hates to +show any feeling about anything, but she's a thundering good sort." + +"She seems just a little casual, doesn't she?" Virginia asked--"rather +as though you had brought me to call?" + +"Don't you worry, dear," he answered, smiling. "That's only her manner. +Just drink your tea and you'll feel better." + +Virginia shook her head. + +"I can't, Guy," she declared. "It's just too poisonous." + +"I'll ring for some fresh," he said, moving toward the bell. + +"Please don't," she begged. "I hate tea anyway. Guy, you are not sorry, +are you?" + +He took her hand and laughed reassuringly. + +"You little idiot!" he said. "Do you want me to kiss you?" + +"I don't much care," Virginia answered. "I have a sort of feeling in my +throat that I want--some one to kiss me. You're quite, quite sure that +whatever your aunt may say you will never regret this?" + +"Absolutely, positively certain!" he declared. "And you?" + +"It isn't the same thing with me," Virginia declared, shaking her head. +"I am not going to marry a pig in a poke." + +"It's a very dear little pig," he said, resting his hand for a moment +upon her shoulder. + +Lady Medlincourt reappeared. She resumed her seat, and motioned Guy to +sit opposite to her. + +"Now we shall not be disturbed for at least a quarter of an hour," she +said, "and I want to hear all about it. You are very pretty, I am glad +to see, dear," she said, looking at Virginia contemplatively. "I hate +plain girls. What did you say that your name was?" + +"Virginia Longworth!" Virginia answered, blushing. + +"Quite a charming name!" Lady Medlincourt said, shutting her eyeglasses +with a snap. "Tell me all about her, Guy." + +"My dear aunt," he answered, laughing, "we aren't married yet." + +Lady Medlincourt nodded. + +"Ah!" she said. "No doubt you'll have plenty to discover later on. Put +it another way. Tell me the things that I must know about the Duchess of +Mowbray." + +"As for instance?" he asked quietly. + +"Her people," Lady Medlincourt said. "You are American, I suppose, +child?" she continued. "You have very little accent, but I fancy that I +can just detect it, and we don't see eyes like yours in England." + +"Yes, I am American, Lady Medlincourt," Virginia answered. + +"Who are your people, then?" Lady Medlincourt asked. "Where did you +meet? Who introduced you? Don't look at one another like a pair of +stupids. Remember that, however pointed my questions may sound, they are +things which I must know if I am to be of any use to you." + +Virginia went a little pale. + +"Lady Medlincourt," she said, "I am sorry, but I cannot answer any +questions just now." + +Lady Medlincourt drew back a little in her place. She looked at the girl +in frank amazement. + +"What!" she exclaimed. + +Guy leaned forward in his chair. + +"Dear aunt," he pleaded, "don't think that we are both mad, but I have +promised Virginia that she shan't be bothered with questions for a short +time. I met her on the steamer coming over from America, and that is all +we can tell you just now." + +Lady Medlincourt looked from one to the other. She was more than a +trifle bewildered. + +"Bless the boy!" she exclaimed. "You don't call this bothering her with +questions, do you? She can tell me about her people, can't she?" + +"Her people," he answered firmly, "are going to be my people." + +Lady Medlincourt gasped. + +"You have known her, then," she said, "about three weeks?" + +"I have known her long enough to realize that she is the girl whom I +have been waiting for all my life." + +Lady Medlincourt shrugged her shoulders. + +"All your life!" she exclaimed impatiently. "Twenty-eight silly years! +Have you nothing more to say to me than this, either of you? Do you +seriously mean that you bring this very charming young lady here, and +ask me to accept her as your fiancee, without a single word of +explanation as to her antecedents, who she is, or where she came from?" + +Virginia rose to her feet. + +"Guy," she said, turning towards him, "we ought never to have come here. +Lady Medlincourt has a perfect right to ask these questions. Until we +can answer them we ought to go away." + +Guy took her hand in his. + +"Aunt," he said, "can't you trust a little in my judgment? Look at her. +She is the girl whom I love, and whom I am going to trust with my name. +Can't you let it go at that for the present?" + +Lady Medlincourt shook her head. + +"No, I cannot, Guy!" she said, "and if you weren't a silly fool you +would not ask me. The future Duchess of Mowbray has to explain her +position, whether she is a gentlewoman or a chorus girl. There's plenty +of rope for her nowadays. She may be pretty well anything she pleases, +but she must be some one. Don't think I am a brute, dear," she added, +turning not unkindly to Virginia. "I like your appearance all right, and +I dare say we could be friends. But if you wish me to accept you as my +nephew's future wife, you must remember that the position which he is +giving you is one that has its obligations as well as its pleasures. +You'll have to open your pretty little mouth, or I am afraid I can't do +anything for you." + +Virginia turned to Guy. + +"Your aunt is quite right," she said. "I know it must sound very +foolish, but I came over here on an errand which I cannot tell any one +about just yet." + +"That, of course, is for you to decide," Lady Medlincourt said, rising, +"but I wouldn't be silly about it if I were you. I must go and change my +gown, as I have some people coming for bridge. Supposing you show her +the house, Guy, and when I come back perhaps both of you may have +changed your minds and be a little more reasonable. Remember," she +added, turning to Virginia, "that I am quite serious in what I say. It +will give me very great pleasure to be of any possible use to the +affianced wife of my favourite nephew, but there must be no secrets. I +hate secrets, especially about women. If your father is a +market-gardener it's all right, so long as you can explain exactly who +you are and where you came from; but there must be no mystery. Talk it +over with her, Guy. I'll look in here on my way out." + +She nodded a little curtly but not unkindly, and swept toward the door, +which Guy opened and closed after her. Then he came slowly back, and, +putting his arm around Virginia's waist, kissed her. + +"You don't want to see the house, do you?" he asked. + +Virginia shook her head. + +"Not a bit," she answered. "I think that we had better go away." + +"There is no hurry," he answered slowly. "We may as well stay and talk +it over a bit. When one comes to think of it, it is trying the old lady +pretty high, isn't it? Suppose we just review the situation for a minute +or two. Something might occur to us." + +Virginia leaned back against the cushions. + +"Certainly," she answered. "You review it and I'll listen." + +"Right!" Guy answered. "I met you first, then, never mind exactly how +long ago, on the steamer coming from America. You were quite alone, +unescorted, and unchaperoned. That in itself, as of course you know, was +a very remarkable thing. Nevertheless, I think you will admit that it +did not terrify me. We became--well, pretty good friends, didn't we?" + +"I think we did," she admitted. + +"Afterwards," he continued, "we met again at Luigi's restaurant. There +again I found you alone, in a restaurant where the women who know what +they are doing would not dream of entering without a proper escort. +Forgive me, but I want you to understand the position thoroughly. I saw, +of course, that you were being annoyed by the attentions of almost every +man who entered the place, and in my very best manner I came over and +made a suggestion." + +Virginia sighed. + +"You did it very nicely," she murmured. + +"I rather flatter myself," he continued, "that I showed tact. I asked +simply to be allowed to sit at your table. Before we had finished dinner +I asked you, for the second time, to marry me." + +"That," she declared, "was distinctly forward." + +"You will remember that I refused to discuss things with you then. I +told you that I was coming for you the next morning, and I mentioned +what I thought of bringing with me. When I arrived at your +boarding-house you had gone. You left no word nor any message. I don't +consider that that was treating me nicely." + +"It wasn't," she admitted, "but you have forgiven me for it." + +He nodded. + +"Of course I have. Well, a few nights later I saw you dining with a man +whom I know slightly, a clever fellow, distinctly a man of the world. +You were dining with him alone. I followed you home to Coniston +Mansions. Then I came away, and hesitated for some time whether to get +drunk or go for a swim in the Thames. Eventually I went home to bed." + +"It was very sensible," she murmured. + +"The next night," he continued, "you were dining with the same man +again, only this time he did not go back with you to Coniston Mansions. +I did, and before I left you, you had promised to be my wife. You warned +me to ask you no questions, and I didn't. I know as little of you now as +I did on the steamer. I know that this man Norris Vine has a flat within +a few yards of yours, and in the same building, but I ask no questions. +I think that you must certainly acquit me of anything in the shape of +undue curiosity. I was content to know that I had fallen in love with +the sweetest little girl I had ever set eyes on." + +She pressed his hand and sighed. + +"Guy, you're a dear!" she said. + +"It was quite sufficient for me," he continued, "that you are what you +are. It is sufficient for me even now. The trouble is that it won't be +sufficient for everybody. You can see that for yourself, dear, +can't you?" + +Virginia drew a little away. He fancied that the hand which still rested +in his was growing colder. + +"I suppose so," she murmured. + +"I am glad you realize that," Guy said earnestly. "Now look here, +Virginia. You saw the line my aunt took. There's no doubt that from a +certain point of view she's right. I wonder whether, under the +circumstances, it would be better"--he hesitated, and looked at her for +a moment--"better--you see what I mean, don't you?" + +"I am not quite sure," she said. "Hadn't you better tell me?" + +Guy looked at her in surprise. + +"Why, that was just what I thought I had done," he declared. "What I +mean is that after all, although for my own sake I wouldn't ask a +question, it might be as well for you to tell my aunt what she wants to +know. It would make things much more comfortable." + +"I think you are quite right," Virginia said softly. + +Guy stooped and kissed her. + +"Dear little lady!" he declared. "I'll go and tell her, and bring her +back." + +He found his aunt descending the stairs, but when they reached the +morning-room it was empty. Guy looked around in surprise, and stepped +out into the hall. Jameson hurried up to him. + +"The young lady has just gone, sir," he said deferentially. "I called a +hansom for her myself. She seemed rather in a hurry." + +Guy stood for a moment motionless. + +"Do you happen to remember the address she gave you?" he asked the man. + +"I am sorry, your Grace. I did not hear it." + +Lady Medlincourt opened the door of the morning-room. + +"I think, Guy," she said, "you had better come in and talk to me." + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + +ANOTHER DISAPPEARANCE + +It was between half-past four and five o'clock in the morning, and +London for the most part slept. Down in the street below, the roar of +traffic, which hour after hour had grown less and less, had now died +away. Within the building itself every one seemed asleep. Floor after +floor looked exactly the same. The lights along the corridors were +burning dimly. Every door was closed except the door of the +service-room, in which a sleepy waiter lay upon a couch and dreamed of +his Fatherland. The lift had ceased to run. The last of the belated +sojourners had tramped his way up the carpeted stairs. On the fifth +floor, as on all the others, a complete and absolute silence reigned. +Suddenly a door was softly opened. Virginia, dressed in a loose gown, +and wearing felt slippers which sank noiselessly into the thick carpet, +came slowly out from her room. She looked all around and realized the +complete solitude of the place. Then she crossed the corridor swiftly, +and without a moment's hesitation fitted the key which she was carrying +in her hand into the lock of Norris Vine's room. The door opened +noiselessly. She closed it behind her and paused to listen. There was +not a sound in the place, and the door on the left, which led into the +sitting-room, was ajar. She stepped in, and, after another moment's +hesitation, closed the door softly behind her and gently raised the +blind. The sunlight came streaming in. There was no need for the +electric light. The sitting room, none too tidy, showed signs of its +owner's late return. There was a silk hat and a pair of white kid gloves +upon the table, and on the sideboard a half-empty glass of whiskey and +soda. Several cigarette ends were in the grate. An evening paper lay +upon the hearthrug. She knew from these things that a few yards away +Norris Vine lay sleeping. + +Without hesitation, with swift and stealthy fingers, she commenced a +close and careful scrutiny of every inch of the room. In a quarter of +an hour she had satisfied herself. There was no hiding-place left which +could possibly have escaped her. The more dangerous part of her +enterprise was to come. Very softly she opened the door, leaving it ajar +as she had found it. She stood before the closed door of the bedroom. +Very slowly, and with the tips of her fingers, she turned the handle. It +opened without a sound. She had no garments on that rustled, and the +soles of her slippers were of thick felt. She stood inside the room +without having made the slightest sound. She held her breath for a +moment, and then summoning up her courage, she looked toward the bed. +The close-drawn curtains were unable to altogether exclude the early +morning sunlight which streamed in through the chinks of the curtains +and the uncovered part of the window. + +Virginia stood as though she had been turned to stone. Every nerve in +her body seemed tense and quivering. The cry which rose from her heart +parted her death-white lips, but remained unuttered. Wider and wider +grew her eyes as she gazed with horror across the room. The power of +action seemed to be denied to her. Her knees shook; a sort of paralysis +seemed to stifle every sense of movement. She swayed and nearly fell, +but her hand met the corner of the mantelpiece and she held herself +erect. Gradually, second by second, the arrested life commenced to flow +once more through her veins. She had but one impulse--to fly. She +thought nothing of the motive of her coming, only to place the door +between her and this! Unsteadily, but without accident, she passed +through the door, and though her hand shook like a leaf, she managed to +close it noiselessly again. Somehow, she never quite knew how, she found +herself outside in the corridor, and a moment later safe in her own room +with the door bolted. Then she threw herself upon the bed, and it seemed +to her afterwards that she must have fainted! + + * * * * * + +Only a few hours later Guy, who had slept little that night, and had +waked with a desperate resolve, stepped out of the lift and knocked at +Virginia's door. There was no answer. The waiter came out from the +service-room and approached him. + +"The young lady has left, sir," he announced. + +"Left?" Guy repeated aimlessly. "When? How long ago?" + +"Barely half an hour, sir," the man answered. + +"She paid up her bill as I know, and left the key behind. The rooms +belong to her for another fortnight, but she didn't seem as though she +were coming back." + +"Did she leave any address for letters?" Guy asked. + +"If you inquire at the office, sir, they will tell you," the man +answered. + +Guy went down to the office. + +"Can you tell me," he asked, "if Miss Longworth has left any address?" + +The man shook his head. + +"She left an hour ago, sir," he said. "She said there would be no +letters, and if we liked we could let her rooms, as she was certain not +to come back." + +"You cannot help me to find her, then?" Guy asked. "I am the Duke of +Mowbray, and I should be exceedingly obliged to any one who could help +me to discover this young lady." + +They were all sent for at once, porter, commissionaire, hall-boy. The +information he was able to obtain, however, was scanty indeed. Virginia +had simply told the cabman, who had taken her and her luggage away, to +drive along the Strand toward Charing Cross. + +Guy drove back to Grosvenor Square, and insisted upon going up to his +aunt's room. She received him under protest in her dressing-gown. + +"My dear Guy," she expostulated, "what is the meaning of this? You know +that I am never visible until luncheon time." + +"Forgive me?" he said. "I scarcely know what I am doing this morning." +"Well, what is it?" she demanded. + +"Virginia has gone!" he answered, "left her rooms, left no address +behind her. What a fool I was not to follow her up last night! She +waited until this morning. She must have expected that I would come, and +I didn't. I was a d----d silly ass!" + +Lady Medlincourt yawned. + +"Have you come here to tell me that, my dear Guy?" she said. "So +unnecessary! You might at least have telephoned it." + +"Look here," he said, "we were too rough on her yesterday afternoon. I +made no conditions as to what she should tell me when I asked her to be +my wife. I was quite content that she should say yes. I know she's all +right; I feel it, and she's the only girl I shall ever care a fig for!" + +"I really cannot see," Lady Medlincourt murmured, "why you should drag +me from my bed to talk such rubbish. If you feel like that, go and look +for her. It is open for you to marry whom you choose, the lady who is +selling primroses at the corner of the Square if you wish. The only +thing is that you cannot expect your friends to marry her too. What did +you come here for, advice or sympathy? I have none of the latter for +you, and you wouldn't take the former. Do, there's a good boy, leave me! +I want to have my bath, and the hairdresser is waiting." + +Guy turned on his heel and left the house. There was only one thing left +to be done, although he hated doing it. He went to the office of a +private detective. + +"Mind," he said, when he had told them what he wanted, "I will not have +the young lady worried or annoyed in any form if you should happen to +find her. Simply let me know where she is living. The rest is my affair. +You understand?" + +"Perfectly!" the man answered. "We are to spare no expense, I presume?" + +It did him good to be able to answer fervently, "None whatever, only +find her!" + + + +CHAPTER XV + + +MR. DUGE THREATENS + +The morning papers were full of the news. Phineas Duge had landed in +London! The Stock Exchange was fluttered. Those whose hands were upon +the money-markets of the world paused to turn their heads towards the +hotel where he had taken a suite of rooms. Interviewers, acquaintances, +actual and imaginary, beggars for themselves and for others, left their +cards and hung around. In the hotel they spoke of him with bated breath, +as though something of divinity attached itself to the person of the man +whose power for good or for evil was so far-reaching. + +Meanwhile Phineas Duge, who had had a tiresome voyage, and who was not a +little fatigued, slept during the greater part of the morning following +his arrival, with his faithful valet encamped outside the door. The +first guest to be admitted, when at last he chose to rise, was +Littleson. It was close upon luncheon time, and the two men descended +together to the grillroom of the hotel. + +"A quiet luncheon and a quiet corner," Littleson suggested, "some place +where we can talk. Duge, it's good to see you in London. I feel somehow +that with you on the spot we are safe." + +Phineas Duge smiled a little dubiously. They found their retired corner +and ordered luncheon. Then Littleson leaned across the table. + +"Duge," he said, "I'm thankful that we've made it up. Weiss cabled me +that you had come to terms, and that you were on your way over here to +deal with the other matter. It's cost us a few millions to try and get +the blind side of you." + +Phineas Duge smiled very slightly; that is to say, his lips parted, but +there was no relaxation of his features. + +"Littleson," he said, "before we commence to talk, have you seen +anything of my niece over here?" + +Littleson was a little surprised. He had not imagined that Phineas Duge +would ever again remember his niece's existence. + +"Yes," he answered, "I crossed over with her." + +"And since then?" + +"I have seen her once or twice," Littleson answered a little dubiously. + +"Alone?" Phineas Duge asked. + +"Not always," Littleson answered. "Twice I have seen her with Norris +Vine, and twice with a young Englishman who was on the steamer." + +Phineas Duge said nothing for a moment. He seemed to be studying the +menu, but he laid it down a little abruptly. + +"Do you happen to know," he asked, "where she is now?" + +"I haven't an idea," Littleson answered truthfully. "To be frank with +you, she was not particularly amiable when I spoke to her on the +steamer. She evidently wanted to have very little to say to me, so I +thought it best to leave her alone." + +"How long is it," Phineas Duge asked, "since you saw her?" + +"It is about a week ago," Littleson answered. "She was dining at Luigi's +with Norris Vine. I remember that I was rather surprised to see her with +him. He seems to possess some sort of attraction for your family." +Phineas Duge looked at the speaker coldly, and Littleson felt that +somehow, somewhere, he had blundered. He made a great show of commencing +his first course. + +"Let me know exactly," Phineas Duge said, a moment or two later, "what +you have done with regard to the man Vine." + +Littleson glanced cautiously around. + +"I have seen him," he said. "I have argued the matter from every +possible side. I found him, I must say, absolutely impossible. He will +not deal with us upon any terms. I fear that he is only biding his time. +Every day I see by the papers that the agitation increases, and it seems +to me that if this bill passes, we shall all practically be criminals. I +think that Norris Vine is waiting for the moment when he can do so with +the greatest dramatic effect, to fill his rotten paper with a verbatim +copy of that document." + +"It would be," Phineas Duge remarked, "uncommonly awkward for you and +Weiss and the others." + +"We couldn't be extradited," Littleson answered, "and I shall take +remarkably good care not to cross the ocean again until this thing has +blown over." + +"If it ever does," Phineas Duge remarked quietly. "Well, go on about +Norris Vine." + +Once more Littleson looked around the room. + +"You know Dan Prince is over here?" he said softly. + +Duge nodded. + +"So far," he remarked, "his being over here does not seem to have +affected the situation." + +"He has made one attempt," Littleson whispered. "He got inside, and he +had certain information that Vine was going to return that night. +Whether he had warning or not no one can tell, but he never came back. +They followed him a few nights ago across Trafalgar Square, hoping that +he was going down toward the Embankment, but he took a hansom and drove +to his club. They followed, and waited for him to come out, but there +was a policeman standing at the very entrance, within a foot of them. +This isn't New York, Duge. You can't depend upon getting the coast clear +for this sort of thing over here, and Prince will take no risks. He is a +rich man in his way, and he wants to live to enjoy his money. He's as +clever as they make them, although he's failed twice here. I fancy he +has something else pending." + +"And meanwhile," Duge said quietly, "to-morrow morning's paper may +contain our damnation." + +"It may, of course," Littleson answered. "I don't think so, though. He +doesn't move a yard without being shadowed, and he hasn't written out a +cable when some one hasn't been near his shoulder." + +"That is the position, then, so far as you know it?" Duge asked. +"Absolutely!" Littleson answered. "I can tell you nothing more." + +Duge finished his luncheon and signed the bill. Then he made an +appointment to dine with Littleson, and sent out for an automobile. When +it arrived he was driven to the American Embassy. At the mention of his +name everything was made easy, and he found himself in a few minutes in +the presence of the ambassador. + +"Glad to meet you once more, Mr. Duge," he said. "You have forgotten me, +I dare say, but I think we came across one another at a banquet in New +York about four years ago." + +"I remember it perfectly," Phineas Duge answered. "A dull affair it was, +but we talked of the Asiatic Powers and kept ourselves amused. Since +then, you see, all that I said has become justified." + +Deane smiled. + +"They say that with you that is always the case," he answered. "'Duge +the Infallible' I heard a stockbroker once call you." + +Duge smiled. + +"Well," he said, "if I remember your politics, and I think I do, you are +going to try and take away that title from me. You are amongst those, +are you not, who have set themselves to dam the torrents?" + +Deane shook his head a little stiffly. + +"In the diplomatic service," he said, "we have no politics." + +"Sometimes," Duge murmured, "you come in touch with them. For instance, +I should like to know what advice you are going to give Norris Vine +about the publication of that little document in his paper." + +Deane looked for a moment annoyed. + +"I am afraid," he said, "that I cannot answer you that question." + +"If you advise him one way or the other," Phineas Duge said, "you give +the lie to your own statement, that in diplomacy there are no politics. +Your advice will show on which side you intend to stand." + +"I have not given any advice," Deane replied. + +"Nor must you," Phineas Duge said pleasantly enough. "It is not your +affair at all, Mr. Deane. I grant your cleverness, your shrewdness, even +your common sense, but all three are academic. They have no direct +relation to the actual things of the world. Wealth is one of those +forces which only strong fingers can gather, a stream which if you like +you can divert, but you cannot dam. I want to tell you, Mr. Deane, that +if you advise Norris Vine at all, you must see to it that you advise him +to place that paper upon the fire, or to restore it from whence it +was stolen." + +"I am afraid, Mr. Duge," the ambassador said, "that I cannot recognize +you as possessed of such authority as to justify the use of the word +'must.' I am in the habit of doing what I think right and well." + +Phineas Duge bowed his head. + +"I will only remind you, Mr. Deane," he said, "of the facts which led to +the withdrawal of our ministers from Lisbon and Paris and Vienna. I am +not proud of the power which undoubtedly lies in the palm of my right +hand. On the other hand, I should be foolish if I did not remind you of +these things at a time like this. I only ask you to take up a passive +attitude. You escape in that way all trouble, and if you fancy that the +climate of Paris would suit you or Mrs. Deane better than London, it +would be a matter of a few months only; but--you must not advise the +other way!" + +The ambassador was distinctly uneasy. Duge saw his embarrassment and +hastened on. + +"I ask you for no reply, Mr. Deane," he said; "not even for an +expression of opinion. I have said all that I came to say. Apart from +any question of self-interest, I can assure you, as a man who sees as +clearly as his neighbours, that you could do no good, but much evil, by +advising Norris Vine to hold up these men to the ridicule and contempt +of the world. He might sell a million copies of his paper, but he would +create an enmity which in the end, I think, would swamp him. Mrs. Deane, +I trust, is well?" + +"She is in excellent health," the ambassador answered. "What can I do +for you during your stay? I presume you know that anything you desire is +open to you? You represent, you see, a great uncrowned royalty, to whom +all the world bows. Will you come to Court?" + +"Not I," Duge answered. "Those things are for another type of man. There +was a further question which I wished to ask you. I have a niece who +came over here on a foolish errand, a Miss Virginia Longworth. Do you +happen to have seen or heard anything of her?" + +"Nothing," the ambassador replied; "nothing personally, at any rate. I +will inquire of my secretaries." + +He left the room for a few minutes, and returned shaking his head. + +"Nothing is known about her at all," he declared. + +"If she should apply here," Duge said, rising and drawing on his gloves, +"assist her in any way and let me know at once. She must be getting," he +continued, "rather short of money. You can advance her whatever sum she +asks for, and I will make it good." + +Phineas Duge walked out into the sunlight and drove away in his +automobile. Was it the glaring light, he wondered, the perfume of the +flowers, the evidences on every side of an easier and less strenuous +life, which were accountable for a certain depression, a slackening of +interests which certainly seemed to come over him that afternoon as he +drove back to the hotel. If he could have summarized his thoughts +afterwards, he would have scoffed at them, as a grown man might laugh at +a toy which a lunatic had offered him. Yet it is certain that the empty +place by his side was filled more than once during that brief ride. He +looked into the faces of the women and girls who streamed along the +pavements with a certain half-eager curiosity, as though he expected to +find a familiar face amongst them, a pale oval face, with quivering lips +and lustrous appealing eyes--eyes which had come into his thoughts more +often lately than he would have cared to admit. + +"It is that infernal voyage!" he said to himself, as he got out of the +car and entered the hotel. "One cannot think about reasonable things on +days when the marconigram fails." + +He bought a cigar at the stall and strolled over to the tape. It was a +busy afternoon, and reports from America were coming in fast. He nodded +as he turned away. Weiss and the rest had had their lesson. They were +keeping, at any rate, to their part of the bargain. + + + +CHAPTER XVI + + +TRAPPED + +Phineas Duge carefully drew off his gloves and laid them inside his hat. +He declined a chair, however, and stood facing the man whom he had +come to visit. + +"I scarcely understand, Mr. Duge," Vine said, "what you can possibly +want with me. Our former relations have scarcely been of so pleasant a +nature as to render a visit from you easily to be understood." + +"I will admit," Phineas Duge said coldly, "that personally I have no +interest or any concern in you. But nevertheless there are two matters +which must bring us together so far as the holding of a few minutes' +conversation can count. In the first place, I want to know whether you +are going to make use of the paper which my daughter stole, and which +you feloniously received? In the second place, I want to know how much +or what you will accept for the return of that paper? And thirdly, I +want to know what the devil you have done with my niece, Virginia +Longworth?" + +"Your niece, Virginia Longworth," Norris Vine repeated thoughtfully. +"Are you in earnest, sir?" + +"I am in earnest," Duge answered. + +"Then I have done nothing with her," Vine declared. "I do not know where +she is. I do not know why you should ask me?" + +"You lie!" Phineas Duge said quietly. "But let that go. It is your +trade, of course. I came here to give you the opportunity of answering +questions. I scarcely expected that such direct methods would appeal +to you." + +"Your methods, at any rate," Vine said, moving toward the bell, "are not +such as I am disposed to permit in my own apartment." + +Phineas Duge stretched out his hand. + +"One moment, Mr. Vine," he said. + +Vine stopped. + +"Well?" he asked. + +"I refer again," Phineas Duge said, "to the question of my niece. As +regards those other matters, if you do not wish to discuss them with me, +let them go. Even in this country you will find that I am not powerless. +But as regards my niece, I insist upon some explanation from you." + +"Some explanation of what?" Vine asked. + +"When she left New York a few months ago," Phineas Duge continued, "you +and she were strangers. Granted that she came upon a silly errand, still +it was not wholly her own fault, and she was only a simple child who +ought never to have been permitted to have left America," + +"Up to that point, Mr. Duge," Vine said drily, "I am entirely in accord +with you." + +"She made your acquaintance somehow," Phineas Duge continued, "and you +were seen out with her at different restaurants; once, I believe, at a +place of amusement. She left her boarding-house and took rooms here in +this building. Her room, I find, was across the corridor, only a few +feet away from yours. What is there between you and my niece, +Norris Vine?" + +Vine leaned against the table, and a faint smile flickered over his +face. + +"Really, Mr. Duge," he said, "you must forgive my amusement. The idea +that anything so trivial as the well-being of a niece should interest +you in the slightest, seems to me almost paradoxical." + +Phineas Duge +was silent for several moments, his keen eyes fixed upon Vine's face. + +"Pray enjoy your jests as much as you will, Mr. Vine," he said, "but +answer my questions." + +"Your niece," Norris Vine said, "came over here to rob me, at whose +instigation I can only surmise. My first introduction to her was in my +room, where she came as a thief. What consideration have you ever shown, +Phineas Duge, even to the innocent who have crossed your paths? Why +should you expect that I should show consideration to this simple child +who came across the ocean to steal from me?" + +There was still no change in Duge's face, but a little breath came +quickly through his teeth, and, as though insensibly, he moved a little +nearer to the man opposite him. + +"Where is she now, Norris Vine?" he asked. + +"If she is not in her rooms," Vine answered, "I do not know." + +"She has given up her rooms, taken her luggage, and gone away," Duge +said. "Perhaps it is you who have driven her out of this place." + +"I was not aware of it," Vine answered. "As a matter of fact I expected +her to lunch with me to-day." + +Phineas Duge looked down upon the table before which he stood. He +seemed to be turning something over in his mind, and opposite to him +Norris Vine waited. When Duge looked up again, Vine seemed to notice for +the first time that his visitor was aging. + +"Norris Vine," he said, "you and I have been enemies since the day when +we became aware of one another's existence. We represent different +principles. There is not a point in life on which our interests, as well +as our theories, do not clash. But there are things outside the battle +for mere existence which men with any fundamental sense of honour can +discuss, even though they are enemies. I wish to ask you once more +whether you can give me any news of my niece." + +"I can give you none," Norris Vine answered. "All that I can tell you is +that I found her a charming, simple-minded girl, in terrible trouble +because of your anger, and the fear that you would impoverish her +people; and goaded on by that fear to attempt things which, in her saner +moments, she would never have dreamed of thinking of. Where she is now, +what has become of her, I do not know; but I would not like to be the +person on whom rests the responsibility of her presence here and +anything that may happen to her." + +Phineas Duge took up his hat and gloves. + +"I thank you, Mr. Vine," he said. "Your expression of opinion is +interesting to me. In the meantime, to revert to business, am I right in +concluding that you have nothing to say to me, that you do not wish even +to discuss a certain matter?" + +"You are right in your assumption, sir," Norris Vine answered. "I see +no purpose in it. What I may do or leave undone would never be +influenced by anything that you might say." + +Phineas Duge turned toward the door. Norris Vine followed him. There was +not, however, any motion on the part of either to indulge in any form of +leave-taking; but Phineas Duge half opened the door, stood for a moment +with his hand upon the handle, and looked back into the room. + +"I fear, Mr. Vine," he said, "that you are developing an insular +weakness. You are forgetting to be candid, and you are just a little too +self-reliant." + +He opened the door suddenly quite wide, but he made no motion to depart. +On the contrary two men, who must have been standing within a foot or so +of it, stepped quickly in. Phineas Duge closed the door. + + + +CHAPTER XVII + + +MR. DUGE FAILS + +Norris Vine without a doubt was trapped. He realized it from the moment +Phineas Duge closed the door and turned the key. The two men who had +entered were to all appearance absolutely harmless and ordinary. They +were dressed most correctly in dark clothes of fashionable cut. Each +wore a silk hat, and would have passed without a moment's question +amongst any ordinary group of better-class city men. Nevertheless, when +at his quick motion toward the bell the fingers of one of them closed +upon his arm, he knew very well that he was helpless. He suffered them +to lead him without resistance into the little sitting-room. What could +he have done? If he had opened his mouth to call out, he saw the hand of +the man who was watching him, with his arm linked through his, ready to +close his lips. They all passed into the sitting-room, and Phineas Duge +closed the door behind them. + +"I am sorry," he said, "to resort to such old-fashioned measures, but +as you know I am methodical in all my ways. The first place to look for +stolen goods is obviously in the abode of the thief. Frankly, I have not +much expectation of discovering anything here. At the same time I could +not afford to run the risk of leaving these rooms and your person +unsearched." + +"I can quite appreciate that," Norris Vine said, seating himself in the +armchair towards which he was being gently pushed. "The only favour I +will ask is that you are as quick as possible, as I have rather a busy +afternoon, and want to lunch early." + +"These gentlemen," Phineas Duge remarked, "are quite used to little +affairs of this sort. I do not think that you need fear that there will +be any undue delay." + +Even while he spoke both of them were busy. Vine felt a silken cord +being drawn about his legs and chest. Something was slid softly into his +mouth. In less than two minutes he was bound and gagged. Then he had an +opportunity, so far as the sitting-room was concerned, of watching a +search conducted upon scientific principles. + +In about twenty minutes the place looked as though a tornado had struck +it. The search, however, was over. The two men were prepared to +guarantee that no papers of any sort were hidden in any place within the +reach of any one in that room. They carried him, bound as he was, into +the bedroom, and he watched with interest, and some admiration, a +repetition of the search. The result, however, was the same. Then the +two men came over to him, and he felt his bonds softly loosened. Only +the gag remained in his mouth, and one by one his garments were removed +from him. A trained valet could not have been more careful or deft. The +contents of all his pockets were hastily run through and restored. His +under garments were felt all over for any hidden hiding place. Even his +shoes were taken off, and the inner sole cut through with a knife. +Finally the two men turned towards Phineas Duge. Their faces were a mute +expression of the fact that the search was over. Phineas Duge motioned +them to remove the gag. They did so, and Vine, who was now free, stood +up and commenced to dress. + +"I am sorry," Phineas Duge said calmly, "to have inconvenienced you, +but, of course, a person who becomes a receiver of stolen goods is +always liable to a little affair of this sort. You are quite at liberty +to ring the bell now if you like, and to make complaints about us. My +methods may have seemed to you a little melodramatic, but as a matter of +fact they are entirely commonplace. These two gentlemen are connected +with the American police, and it may interest you to know that we have +with us warrants for the arrest both of yourself and my daughter, Miss +Stella Duge, on the charge of theft and conspiracy. All that we have +done here has been quite legal, except that we should have been +accompanied by a gentleman from Scotland Yard, with whose presence we +preferred to dispense. You can make what complaints you like, and I +shall immediately apply for your extradition. In any case I expect to do +so to-morrow or the next day, if a certain document is not forthcoming. +You see I am placing myself in your hands. You have time even now to +cable its contents to New York before the warrant can be executed." + +Norris Vine was busy tying his tie, and waited for a moment until he had +arranged it to his satisfaction. Then he turned round. + +"I can assure you," he said, "I had not the slightest intention of +making any complaint with regard to your doings here. In fact, I can +truthfully say that I have rather enjoyed the whole proceeding. To tell +you the truth," he continued, moving across the room and taking a +cigarette from the mantelpiece and lighting it, "when I heard that you +were in England, I was exceedingly curious to know what your methods +would be. 'Phineas Duge the Invincible' they have called you. I knew +that you came over here because you had entered in a fresh alliance with +your gang, and I knew therefore that you came over to get back that +document. I imagine that if you can get it you can make your own terms +with them. I must say that I have been exceedingly curious to know what +your methods would be in approaching me. Littleson could suggest nothing +better than a bribe and a common burglary. There is something much more +attractive about the way you have opened the proceedings. I consider +that this little affair, for instance, has been most artistic. If you +have not discovered what you sought, you have at least discovered the +fact that it is not here. That gives you something to start upon. How +kind of your assistants! I see that they are putting my room +straight again." + +Phineas Duge nodded. He showed no disappointment at the ill-success of +this first effort, and he was watching Vine all the time curiously. + +"Your further plan of operations," Vine continued, "is again worthy of +you. I believe all that you say. I believe that you have the warrants, +and I believe that you could easily obtain an extradition order. On the +other hand, I am perfectly well aware that this is only a feint. It is a +good scheme up to a certain point, of course, although neither your +daughter nor myself could be convicted of conspiracy without the +production of what we are supposed to have stolen. Still, as I said, it +is a good feint, and it has made me curious. I wonder what your real +scheme is! I do not think that you will tell me that." + +Phineas Duge smiled. + +"You should have been a diplomatist. Mr. Vine," he said. "As a +journalist you are wasted. You might even have achieved what I presume +you would have called infamy, as a financier." + +"Ah, well!" Norris Vine said, "the world is full of those who have +missed their vocation. I am content to pass amongst the throng. Can I +offer you anything before you go? A whisky and soda, or a glass +of sherry?" + +"I think not, thank you," Phineas Duge said. "You are naturally in a +hurry to keep your luncheon engagement, and I see that my friends have +succeeded in restoring your apartment to some semblance of order. We +part now to pass on to the second stage of our little duel. Understand +that, so far as regards this little matter of business, I have no +special ill-feeling towards you, Mr. Vine. I ask you even no questions +concerning your friendship with my daughter. She is old enough to know +her own mind, and she has heard my views often enough; but I should like +you to know this, and to remember that I who say it am a man of many +faults, but one virtue: never in my life have I broken my word. If I +find that my niece has disappeared through any ill-usage of yours, I +will risk the few years that may be left to me of life, and I will shoot +you like a dog the first time that we meet." + +Norris Vine looked gravely across at the man whose words so quietly +spoken, seemed yet from their very repression to be charged with an +intense dramatic force. He knew so well that the man who spoke them +meant what he said and would surely keep his word. He shrugged his +shoulders very slightly. + +"My dear sir," he said, "I fear that I have misunderstood you. I could +have imagined your sentiment being aroused by the sight of a dollar bill +being burnt and wasted, but I never expected to see it kindled upon the +subject of your niece, or any other human being. I amend my judgment of +you. You are really not the man I thought you were. If your friends have +quite finished "--he took up his hat and glanced for a moment at his +watch. Duge turned toward the door. + +"Once more, Mr. Vine," he said, "my regrets, and good morning!" + +The three men left the room. Vine remained, leaning against the +mantelpiece, and whistling softly to himself. He went through the whole +of a popular ballad, and then he tried it in a different key. When he +was sure that the three men had had time to leave the building, he too +took up his hat and went out. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + + +ADVICE FOR MR. VINE + +Mr. Deane was on the point of accompanying his wife for their usual +afternoon's drive in the park. A glance at the card which was brought to +him just as he was preparing to leave the house, however, was sufficient +to change his plans. + +"My dear," he said to his wife, "you will have to excuse me this +afternoon. I have a caller whom I must see." + +"Shall I wait for a few minutes?" she asked. + +"Better not," he answered, "I imagine that I may be detained some time." + +He took off his hat and coat, and made his way to the library, where +Phineas Duge was awaiting him. The ambassador was a broad-minded man, +loath to take sides unless he was compelled in the huge struggle, the +coming of which he had prophesied years ago. He recognized in Phineas +Duge one of the great powers at the back of the nation which he +represented, and as a diplomatist he was fully prepared to receive him, +and welcome him as one. + +"I am very glad to see you again, Mr. Duge," he said, hospitably, +extending his hand, "I hope that you have changed your mind, and are +going to let us put you in the way of a few social amusements while you +are over here." + +"You are very kind," Duge answered, "but I think not. My visit here has +to do with two matters only, to both of which I think I have already +referred. You have heard nothing of my niece?" + +"Nothing whatever, I am sorry to say," Mr. Deane answered. + +"Well, there remains the other matter," Duge answered. "You and I have +already had a few words concerning that, and I am pleased to see that up +to the present, at any rate, our friend Mr. Vine has been governed by +the dictates of common sense. Still, I think you can understand that so +long as that paper exists the situation is an unpleasant one." + +Mr. Deane inclined his head slowly. + +"Without a doubt," he admitted, "it would be more comfortable for you +and your friends to feel that the document in question was no longer in +existence." + +"I am here in the interests," Mr. Duge answered a little stiffly, "of my +friends only. My own name does not appear upon it. However, my anxiety +to discover its whereabouts is none the less real." + +"You have seen Mr. Vine?" Mr. Dean asked. + +"I have," Duge answered, "and I have come to the conclusion, for which I +have some grounds, that the document is not for the moment in his +possession. I have therefore asked myself the question--to whom on this +side would he be likely to entrust it? It occurred to me that it might +be deposited at a bank, but I find that he has no banking account over +here. The American Express Company have no packet in their charge +consigned by him. Therefore I have come to the conclusion that he has +placed it in the care of some friend in whom he has unlimited +confidence. Foolish thing that to have, Mr. Deane," Phineas Duge +continued slowly, with his eyes fixed upon his companion. "One is likely +to be deceived even by the most unlikely people." + +"Your business career," Mr. Deane replied courteously, "no doubt has +taught you that caution is next to genius." + +"I would have you," Phineas Duge said impressively, "lay that little +axiom of yours to heart, Mr. Deane. I think you will agree with me that +a man in your position especially, the accredited ambassador of a great +country, should show himself more than ordinarily cautious in all his +doings and sayings, especially where the interests of any portion of his +country people are concerned." + +"I trust, Mr. Duge," the ambassador replied, "that I have always +realized that." + +"I too hope so," Duge answered. "I told you, I think, that I had come to +the conclusion that Norris Vine, not having that paper any longer in his +possession, has passed it on to some other person in whom his faith is +unbounded." + +"You did, I believe, mention that supposition," Mr. Deane assented. + +"I ask myself, therefore," Phineas Duge continued, "who, amongst his +friends in London, Norris Vine would be most likely to trust with the +possession of a document of such vast importance. Need I tell you the +first idea which suggested itself to me! It is for your advice that +Norris Vine has crossed the ocean. You have read the document. You know +its importance. There would, I imagine, be no hiding place in London so +secure as the Embassy safe which I see in the corner of your study!" + +"You suggest, then," Mr. Deane said slowly, "that Norris Vine has +deposited that document in my keeping." + +"I not only suggest it," Duge answered, "but I am thoroughly convinced +that such is the fact. Can you deny it?" + +Mr. Deane shrugged his shoulders. + +"The matter, so far as I am concerned in it," he answered, "is a +personal one between Vine and myself. I cannot answer your question." + +Phineas Duge shook his head thoughtfully. + +"That, Mr. Deane," he said, "is where you make a great mistake. Permit +me to say that your official position should, I am sure, preclude you +from taking any part in this business. The matter, you say, is a private +one. There can be no private matters between you, the paid and +accredited agent of your country, and one of its citizens. To speak +plainly, you have not the right to offer the shelter of the Embassy to +the document which Norris Vine has committed to your charge." + +"How do you know that he has done so?" Deane asked. + +"Call it inspiration if you like," Duge answered. "In any case I am sure +of it." + +There was a short silence. Then Mr. Deane rose to his feet a little +stiffly. + +"Perhaps you are right," he said, "and yet I am not sure." + +"A little reflection will, I think, convince you," Phineas Duge said +quietly. "Your retention of that document means that you take sides in +the civil war which seems hanging over my country. Further than that, +it also means--and although it pains me to say so, Mr. Deane, I assure I +you say it without any ill-feeling--a serious interruption to +your career." + +The ambassador was silent for several moments. + +"Mr. Duge," he said, "I am inclined to admit that up to a certain point +you have reason on your side. It is true that I am guarding the document +in question for Norris Vine, and it is also true that in doing so I am +perhaps departing a little from the strict propriety which my position +demands. I will therefore return to him the document, but I should like +you to understand that with every desire to retain your good will, I +shall give Mr. Vine such advice with regard to the use of it as seems to +me, as a private individual and a citizen of the United States, +judicious." + +Phineas Duge took up his hat. + +"As to that," he said, "I have nothing to say, beyond this. However +things may shape themselves in the immediate future, my influence will, +I believe, still prove something to be reckoned with on the other side. +That influence, Mr. Deane, I use for those who show themselves +my friends." + +The two men parted with some restraint. Deane, after a few minutes' +hesitation, went to the telephone and called up Vine at his club. + +"I want to talk to you, Vine, at once," he said. "Can you come round?" + +"In ten minutes," was the answer. + +"I shall wait for you," the ambassador answered, ringing off. + + + +CHAPTER XIX + + +THE CRISIS + +In a small, shabbily furnished room at the top of a tall apartment +house, Virginia was living through what seemed to her, as indeed it was, +a grim little tragedy. On the table before her was her little purse, +turned inside out, and by its side a few, a very few coins. The roll of +notes, which she had not changed, and which formed the larger part of +her little capital, was gone, hopelessly, absolutely gone. It was +nothing less than a disaster this, which she was forced to face. She had +left the purse about in her rooms in Coniston Mansions, or there were +many other places in which an expert thief would have found it a very +easy matter to remove the little bundle and replace it with that roll of +paper which she found in its place. + +Her first wild thought of rushing to the police-station she had +dismissed as useless. She had no idea when or where the theft had been +accomplished; only she knew that she was alone in a strange city, and +that the few shillings left to her were not even sufficient to pay for +the rent she already owed for her room. + +She dragged herself to the window and stood looking out across the grimy +house-tops. Her eyes were blurred with tears. It is doubtful whether she +saw anything of the uninspiring view, but it seemed to her that she +could certainly see the wreck of her own short life. She seemed to +realize then the mad folly of her journey, the hopelessness of it from +beginning to end. Quite apart from her failure, there was also a madness +of which she refused even to think, the aftertaste of those few hours of +delicious happiness. Had he ever tried to find her out, she wondered, +since that day when she had fled with burning cheeks and aching heart +from her rooms in Coniston Mansions, and sought to hide herself in the +cold bosom of this unlovely city. In any case she would never see him +again. Her one desire now, if it amounted to a desire, when all ways in +life seemed to her alike flat and profitless, was to find her way +somehow or other back to America, and to carry the bad news herself to +the little farmhouse in the valley. + +She looked at her pitiful little store of coins, and the problem of +existence seemed to become more and more difficult. After all, there was +another way for those who did not care to live. She found herself +harbouring the thought without a single sign of any revulsion of +feeling, accepting it as a matter to be seriously considered with dull, +calculating fatalism. What was the use of life when nothing remained to +hope for! It was, after all, an easy way out. + +She opened the window and looked below. The seven stories made her +dizzy. Nevertheless, she looked with a curious fascination to the stone +courtyard immediately underneath the window. Death would probably be +instantaneous. She leaned a little further out and then started suddenly +back into the room. A revulsion of feeling had overtaken her. It was a +hideous idea, this. For the sake of the others she must put it away from +her. She walked up and down the narrow confines of her room, and then +the necessity for action of some sort drove her out into the street. +Curiously enough, though she was being searched for by at least half a +dozen detectives and inquiry agents, she had taken no particular pains +to conceal herself beyond the fact that she had chosen a crowded and +low-class neighbourhood, and had seldom ventured out before dark. She +walked now to the office of a shipping agent which she had noticed on +her way here, and addressed herself to the clerk who hastened forward to +ascertain her wishes. + +"I want," she said, "to get to America, and have no money. All that I +had has been stolen. Could I get a passage and pay for it when I arrive? +A second class passage, of course." + +The clerk shook his head dubiously. + +"Have you no friends in London," he asked, "to whom you could apply for +a loan?" + +"Not a single one," she answered. + +"Why not cable?" he suggested. "You could have money wired over here to +your credit." + +"I do not wish to do that," Virginia answered. + +The young man shrugged his shoulders. + +"The only other course," he said, "would be to apply to the Embassy. +They might advance the money." + +Virginia walked out thoughtfully. After all, why not? Mr. Deane, she +knew, was a friend of her uncle's. He would perhaps let her have the +money, and she could send it back later on. She walked to the great +house in Ormande Gardens and asked to see Mr. Deane. The servant who +admitted her hesitated a little. + +"There is no one in just now, miss," he said, "except Mr. Deane, and he +is busy with a gentleman. If you will come into the waiting-room, I +will ask him whether he can spare you a moment when the gentleman +has gone." + +Virginia sat upon a very hard horsehair chair in a barely furnished +room, and waited. The table was covered with magazines, but she did not +touch them. She sat nervously twisting and untwisting her fingers. Then +the sudden sound of voices outside attracted her attention. The door of +the room in which she sat had been left ajar, and apparently two men, +passing down the hall from a room on the other side, had paused just +outside it. + +"Of course, I don't know what you will do with it, Vine," she heard some +one say, "but if you take my advice, you will find a secure hiding place +without a moment's delay. I am very sorry indeed that I cannot help you +out any longer, but I know you don't want me to run risks." + +"Rather not," Vine answered. "To tell you the truth, I think my mind is +made up. I am going to spend a little fortune cabling to-night." + +"Well, I am not sure but that you are wise," was the reply. "It's one of +those things the result of which it is quite impossible to prophesy. +Good luck to you anyway, Vine, and do, for the next few hours, take care +of yourself." + +Then Virginia heard a parting between the two men. One of them +apparently left the house, the other returned to the room from which +they had issued. Virginia did not hesitate for a moment. She passed on +tiptoe out of the room into the hall. A servant stood at the front door, +having that moment let Vine out. + +"I have decided not to wait for Mr. Deane any longer," she said. "I +will call and see one of the secretaries sometime to-morrow." + +The man let her out without question. She was just in time to see Vine +turn the corner of the square. She followed him breathlessly, then +paused and stopped a passing hansom. + +"Coniston Mansions," she told the man. "Please go as quickly as you +can." + +She was driven there, and passed quickly through the hall and entered +the lift. The commissionaire hurried up to her. + +"Several people, miss, have been asking for your address since you +left," he announced. + +"I will leave it before I go," she answered hurriedly. + +She got out at the fifth floor, and without hesitation she walked +straight across to Norris Vine's rooms. She was as pale as death. After +that last visit of hers she felt a horrible shrinking from entering the +place. Nevertheless, she drew a key from her pocket, turned the lock, +entered, and found, as she supposed, that she was there first. She +looked around, at first in vain, for some hiding place. All the while +she was struggling to put everything else out of her mind except two +great facts. Norris Vine was going to bring that paper back to his +rooms! It was her last chance! If she failed this time, there was +nothing left for her but despair! On the right of the outside door was +a small clothes cupboard. It was the only place in the two rooms where +concealment seemed in any way possible, and Virginia, with beating +heart, stepped into it and drew the door to after her. She was scarcely +there before she heard the sound of a key in the lock. She drew back, +holding her breath as he passed. Norris Vine entered and stepped into +the sitting-room. She heard him take off his hat and coat and throw them +down. She heard the sound of a chair drawn up to the table. He was +preparing, then, to write out his cable! + + + +CHAPTER XX + + +BEWITCHED + +Very softly Virginia pushed open the door one, two, three inches. She +could see Vine now sitting at the table with several sheets of paper +before him, and a book which seemed to be a code, the leaves of which he +was turning over meditatively. Her eyes were fastened upon that roll of +paper at his left-hand side. She had no doubt but that it was the +document which had been stolen, the document to recover which had +brought her upon this wild-goose chase. The very sight of it, even at +this distance, thrilled her. Scheme after scheme rushed through her +brain. There were overcoats hanging up in the closet. Could she steal +out on tiptoe, throw one over his head, and escape with the paper +before he could stop her? Even then, unless she had time to lock him in, +what chance would she have of leaving the building? + +She watched him write, without undue haste, but referring every now and +then to the code-book by his side. If only he would get up and go into +the bedroom for a moment, it might give her a chance. She could feel +her heart beating underneath her gown. Every sense was thrilling with +excitement; and then, all of a sudden, she had a great surprise. Almost +a cry broke from her lips; almost she had taken that swift involuntary +movement forward, for she realized suddenly that she was not the only +one who was watching Norris Vine. Very softly a man, coatless and in his +socks, had stolen out from the bedroom where he had lain concealed, and +was looking in through the opening of the partly closed study door. +Virginia felt her finger-nails dig into her flesh. She stood there rapt +and breathless. Instinctively she felt that the cards had been taken +from her hand, that she was to be a witness of events more swift and +definite than any in which she herself could have borne the +principal part. + +Norris Vine was absorbed in his work. She saw him bend lower and lower +over the table, and she heard his pen drive faster across the paper. His +attention was riveted upon his task. She saw the man lurking behind the +door come gradually more into evidence. He was a stranger to her, but +she could see that he was an athlete by his broad shoulders, his long +arms, and his graceful poise, as he lurked there almost like a tiger +preparing for a spring. Of what his plan might be she could form no +idea. Every pulse in her body was beating as it had never beat before. +Her breath was coming sharply and quickly, and it was all that she could +do to keep back the sobs which seemed to rise in her throat from pure +excitement. What was he going to do, this man who crouched there, +nerving himself as though for some great effort! Very soon she knew. + +He stole to the limit of the protection afforded him by the door. She +saw his head turn a little sideways, and she saw his eyes fixed upon a +certain spot in the wall. Then he glanced back again toward the man +writing, as though he measured the distance between them, as though he +wished even to calculate the exact nature of the movement which it was +necessary to make. Then in the midst of her wondering came the +elucidation of these things. The man poised himself. She could see him +in the act of springing. He made a dash, hit something with his hand, +and the room was in darkness! She heard him leap across the room toward +the table, and she heard the low cry of Norris Vine as he sprang to his +feet to meet this unknown assailant. She knew very well in the darkness +which way the struggle must go. Norris Vine, slim, a hater of exercise, +unmuscular, unprepared, could have no chance against an attack +like this. + +Virginia's brain moved swiftly in those few moments. She heard the +quick breath of the two men as they swayed in one another's arms, and +she did not hesitate for a moment. On tiptoe, and with all the grace and +lightness which were hers, by right of her buoyant figure and buoyant +youth, she crossed the room with swift, silent footsteps, and gathered +into her hands the roll of papers upon the table. As softly as she had +come she went. The deep sobbing breaths of the two men, the half-stifled +cries with which Vine was seeking for outside help, effectually deadened +the faint swish of her skirts and the tremor of her footsteps upon the +carpeted floor. + +She came and went like a dream, and when the man, in whose arms Norris +Vine was after all but a child, finally dragged his victim across the +floor by the collar and turned up the electric light, the table towards +which he looked was bare. He dropped Vine heavily upon the floor, and +stood there rooted to the spot, gazing at the place where only a few +moments before he had seen that roll of paper. A hoarse imprecation +broke from his lips, and Norris Vine, who was still conscious though +badly winded, seeing what was amiss, sat up on the carpet and gazed too, +bewildered, at the empty table. The papers were gone! There was no sign +of them there. There was no sign of any one else in the apartment. There +was nothing to indicate that any one had entered it or left it. The man +who had thought himself the victor stood there with his hands to his +head, an unimaginative person, but suddenly dazed with a curious crowd +of apprehensions. Norris Vine staggered up to his feet, and groped his +way toward the sideboard, where a decanter of brandy was standing. + +"Good God!" he muttered to himself, as he poured some of the liquor into +a glass and raised it to his lips. "Are we all mad or bewitched +or what?" + +His assailant did not answer. He raised the table-cloth and looked +underneath, retreated into the bedroom, sought in vain for any signs of +an intruder. Then he came slowly back into the sitting-room, and the +eyes of the two men met. Norris Vine was leaning back against the +sideboard, his clothes disarranged, his collar torn, his tie hanging +down in strips. In his shaking hand was the glass of brandy, half +consumed. There was a livid mark upon his face, and his eyes were wide +open and staring. + +"My muscular friend," he said, "the ghosts have robbed you." + +"Ghosts be d----d!" the other man answered, a little wildly. "I wish +this job were at the bottom of the ocean before I'd touched it." + + + +CHAPTER XXI + + +A LESSON LEARNED + +The American ambassador was giving the third of his great +dinner-parties. At the last moment he had prevailed upon Phineas Duge to +accept an invitation. Littleson, also, was of the party, and the ladies +having departed, these three, separated only by the German ambassador, +who was engaged in an animated conversation with a Russian Grand Duke, +found themselves for a minute or two detached from the rest of the +party. Littleson took the opportunity to move his chair over until he +was able to whisper into Duge's ear. + +"Any news?" + +"None!" Duge answered shortly. + +Mr. Deane leaned forward in his chair. + +"I suppose you have heard," he said, "that a warrant was issued this +afternoon for the arrest of your friends, Higgins and Weiss?" + +"It was a matter of form only," Duge replied. + +"Unless they pass this new bill through the Senate, nothing more than a +little temporary inconvenience can happen to them. I wonder why our +great President has developed so sudden and violent an antipathy +to capital." + +"I am not sure," Mr. Deane replied, "whether his position is logical. +Capital must be the backbone of any great country, and the very elements +of human nature demand its concentration. I think myself that this will +all blow over." + +"Unless--" Littleson whispered. + +"Unless," Mr. Deane continued, "some greater scandal than any at present +known were to attach itself to our two friends." + +"One cannot tell," Phineas Duge said slowly. "Such a scandal might come. +It is hard to say. The ways that lead to great wealth are full of +pitfalls, and they are not ways that stand very well the blinding glare +of daylight." + +Littleson was looking pale and nervous. He drew a little breath and +fanned himself with his handkerchief. + +"You men love to talk in riddles," he said, or rather whispered, +hoarsely. "Why not admit that they are safe enough so long as Norris +Vine does not move!" + +A servant approached the ambassador and whispered in apologetic fashion +in his ear. + +"There is a young lady, sir," he said, "who has just arrived, and who +insists upon seeing you. She says that her business is of the utmost +importance. I have done my best to make her understand that you are +engaged, but she will not listen to reason. She is, I think, sir, an +American young lady, and she is very much disturbed." + +Phineas Duge leaned forward in his place. His eyes were fixed upon the +servant. He said nothing. He only waited. + +"A young American lady!" Mr. Deane repeated slowly. "Have you seen her +before?" + +"I believe, sir," the man answered, "that it is the same young lady who +came here some weeks ago to inquire after Mr. Norris Vine." + +Phineas Duge was on his feet with a sudden soft, half-stifled +exclamation. Mr. Deane looked around the table. His other guests were +all talking amongst themselves. Littleson, ignorant of what this might +mean, was looking a little bewildered. The ambassador addressed one of +the men a little lower down the table. + +"Sinclair," he said, "will you take my place for a moment? A little +matter of business has turned up, and I am wanted. I shall not be +away long." + +The man addressed nodded, and, pushing back his chair, strolled toward +the ambassador's vacant seat, his cigar in his mouth. Phineas Duge and +Mr. Deane left the room together, and close behind them Littleson +followed. They left the room without any appearance of haste, but once +in the hall Phineas Duge showed signs of a rare impatience, and pushed +his way on ahead. The door of the waiting-room was half open. He strode +in, and a little exclamation broke from his lips. It was Virginia who +stood there, and her hands were crossed upon her bosom, as though there +were something there which she was guarding. Nevertheless, at the sight +of her uncle they fell away, and she started back. + +"You!" she exclaimed. "Uncle Phineas! Here in London!" + +He saw the signs stamped into her face of the evil times through which +she had passed, and the more immediate traces of the crisis which lay so +close behind her. He held out both his hands, and stepped quickly toward +her. He was only just in time to save her from falling. + +"I came," she faltered, "to get money from Mr. Deane to send you a +cable, to catch a steamer to come back to America. I have got it!" she +cried suddenly, her voice rising almost to a hysterical shriek. "I have +got it! It is here! See!" + +She dragged something from the front of her dress--a roll of papers, and +held them out. She was swaying upon her feet now, and Phineas Duge, his +arm around her waist, half led, half carried her to a chair. Littleson, +who had darted out of the room, came back with a glass of water. All +three men stood around her. The papers were there upon her knee, but her +fingers seemed wound around them with some unnatural force. Her burning +eyes were fixed upon her uncle's. + +"Take them!" she begged. "Read them! Tell me that it is all right. Tell +me that you will keep your promise." + +He took them gently away. A single glance at the sheet of foolscap was +enough. + +"You are a wonderful child, Virginia," he said calmly. "It is as you +say. These are the papers which Stella stole. I blamed you for the loss +of them too hardly, but you shall never be sorry that you succeeded in +regaining them." + +She drew a queer little breath of relief, and leaned back in her chair. +She was still as pale as death, but the terrible strain had gone +from her face. + +"I snatched them up," she murmured, "and ran. I am sure they will come +after me. And Vine--I think that that man will kill Vine. His fingers +were upon his throat when I left." + +"You brought them," Phineas Duge asked calmly, "from Norris Vine's +rooms?" + +She had no time to answer. The door was opened. Norris Vine stood there +on the threshold. He looked in upon the little group and shrugged his +shoulders. + +"I am too late, then," he said slowly. + +Phineas Duge thrust his hand into the flames and held the papers there. +Norris Vine seemed for a moment as though he would have sprung forward, +but Littleson intervened, and Deane himself. + +"They shall burn!" Duge cried. "If you are really the altruist you claim +to be, Mr. Vine, you need not fear their destruction. We are changing +our tactics. If the bill becomes law we will face its effect, whatever +it may be. There shall be no bribery. There shall be no underground +history. If the people of America attack us, we will fight our +own battles." + +Norris Vine sighed. + +"In another half an hour," he said, "my cable would have been sent. +To-morrow New York would have been indeed the city of unrest." + +Phineas Duge turned upon him coldly. + +"You," he said, "are one of those unpractical persons, who bring to the +affairs of a purely utilitarian epoch the 'faineant' scruples of the +dilettante and romanticist. You cannot regulate the flow of wealth any +more than you can dam a river with shifting sand. Don't you know that +destiny, whether it be guided by other powers or not, was never meant to +be shaped by the lookers-on?" + +Norris Vine shrugged his shoulders and turned toward the door. + +"Well," he said, "I will not argue with you. Perhaps those papers are +better where they are. You will learn your lesson. You, sir," he added, +turning to Littleson, "and those other of your friends who, at any +rate, have known the shadow of an American prison, in some other way." + + + +CHAPTER XXII + + +A SURPRISE + +Norris Vine put on his coat, lit a cigarette, and looked around the room +with the satisfied air of a man who has successfully accomplished a +difficult task. In front of him were two steamer trunks, a hold-all, +hat-box, a case of guns, golf clubs, and some smaller packages, all +fastened up and labelled "Vine, New York." He moved toward the bell, +meaning to ring for a porter, but was interrupted by a knock at +the door. + +"Come in!" he called out, and Virginia entered. He looked at her in cold +surprise. He recognized her, of course, but he recognized also that this +young lady had nothing whatever to do with the pale-faced, desperate +child, whose visits to him before had always seemed in a sense pathetic. +He was an artist in such things, and he realized at once the dainty +perfection of her muslin gown and large drooping hat. Her whole +expression, too, had changed. She had no longer the look of a hunted and +frightened child. She carried herself with confidence and with colour in +her cheeks, and though she held out her hand to him with some show of +timidity, the smile upon her lips was delightful, if a little appealing. + "Mr. Vine," she said, "please forgive my coming. I have something so +important to say to you and I heard that you were going back to the +States. You will spare me a few minutes, will you not?" + +Vine was only human, and hers was an appeal it was not easy to refuse. +He placed a chair for her, and stood in a listening attitude. + +"My dear young lady," he said, "I will listen gladly to anything that +you have to say. But as I have nothing more left which it would be of +any interest to you to steal, I scarcely understand to what I am +indebted for this unexpected"--he hesitated for a moment and concluded +his sentence with a not ungracious bow--"unexpected pleasure!" he said. + +She smiled up at him delightfully. + +"I am so glad, Mr. Vine," she said, "that you are going to be generous +and nice, because what I have to say to you is so difficult, and if you +were angry with me it would be very hard to say." + +"I trust," he answered, "that I can accept a defeat; and you had all the +luck, you know." + +"I had," she admitted. "It was, after all, nothing to do with me. I see +you have cleared your cupboard out. I can assure you that it was a +terribly stuffy place with all those clothes of yours hanging there." + +He smiled. + +"Well," he said, "you were very patient and very persistent. You have +won and I lost. I am not at all sure that it is not a good thing that I +lost. My friend Deane tells me so even now. But let that go. I am sure +you would like to tell me what it is that you have come here for." + +"I have come," she answered, "to talk to you about Stella." + +"Stella?" he repeated slowly. + +Virginia nodded. + +"Yes!" she said. "You see, I have all the time the feeling that I have +somehow or other done Stella an injury by taking her place with my +uncle, and do you know, Mr. Vine, since he has been in London he seems +quite altered. He has been simply delightful, and I haven't felt +frightened by him once. He keeps on giving me beautiful presents, and he +does not seem in the least in a hurry to get back to America." + +Norris Vine smiled grimly. + +"I do not blame him," he said. + +"Yesterday," she continued, "I could not help it; I disobeyed his orders +and I spoke to him about Stella, and do you know, he listened to me +quite patiently. Mr. Vine, I am going to say something to you very +serious. You must not ask me how I know, or exactly what I know; but I +accidentally do know so much as this. You and Stella are very fond of +one another, and I should like to see you married." + +He raised his eyebrows slowly. + +"You would like," he repeated, "to see us married!" + +She looked away from him. He could see that for some reason or other she +was embarrassed. The colour had streamed into her cheeks, but she went +on bravely enough. + +"Yes!" she said. "I talked to my uncle about it, and he was quite nice. +He says that he does not want to see Stella again for a short time, but +if you two have made up your minds to be married--that is how he put +it--he is going to give Stella a million dollars." + +"You must be a magician," he said coolly. + +"I am nothing of the sort," she answered, "but I think that my uncle has +been very much misunderstood, or else something has changed him +wonderfully during the past few months. Now, I came straight to see you +and to tell you this, Mr. Vine, because I do not know where to find +Stella. Can't you be married here in London, and ask me to the wedding?" + +There was a knock at the door and it was immediately opened. They both +turned round. It was Stella who stood there. She looked at them both for +a moment in surprise. Then she closed the door and came into the room. + +"Virginia!" she exclaimed. "What on earth are you doing here?" + +"I should have come to see you, Stella," Virginia said, "if I had known +where to find you." + +"Virginia has come," Vine said, "to tell us that your father is inclined +to play the part of a benevolent parent. I think that he must be either +very ill, or going to be. Virginia has come here to tell us that we are +to be married, and that he is going to give you some little trifle for a +wedding present, a million dollars, I think it was she mentioned." + +Stella looked at her cousin in amazement. + +"Do you mean this, Virginia?" she exclaimed. + +"Absolutely," Virginia answered. "He has promised faithfully. There is +no doubt about it at all." + +"Thank goodness!" Stella declared. "I am tired of being poor, aren't +you, Norris? Virginia, you're a dear." + +Stella passed her arm around her cousin's neck. Virginia looked up a +little timidly. + +"And you will marry Mr. Vine, then," she said, "at once?" + +Stella laughed softly. + +"My dear child," she said, "we have been married for six weeks." + +Virginia leaned back in her chair. + +"Oh!" she said. Then suddenly she sprang to her feet. She was obviously +delighted. A certain restraint had left her manner. It was clear that +the news was a relief to her. + +"This," she said, "is delightful. You are both of you to come to dinner +to-night at Claridge's. Your father told me that I was to ask you," she +said, turning to Stella, "if I found you both," + +"At eight o'clock, I suppose?" Vine remarked. "We will be there." + +Virginia and Stella left together. + +"I have an automobile outside," Virginia said a little shyly. "Your +father is ever so much too kind to me, but I do hope, Stella, that you +don't mind. I feel sure that he is going to be quite different now." + +"Mind? Of course not," Stella answered. "I have been rather a beast to +him myself, and I think it's very decent of you, after everything, to +have anything to do with me. Who on earth is this young man?" + +They were in the hall of the Mansions, face to face with a young man who +was in the act of entering. Virginia looked up, and gave a startled +little cry. + +"You!" she exclaimed breathlessly. + +Guy quite ignored her companion, and took her by the hands. +"Virginia!" he exclaimed. "At last! Where have you been hiding yourself, +and how dared you run away from me?" + +"There didn't seem to be much else for me to do," Virginia answered +smiling; "but I am very glad to see you again now," she added in a +lower tone. + +"How well you look!" he exclaimed. "Where can we go and sit down? I want +to talk to you, and remember I am not going to let you out of my +sight again." + +Stella, whom they had both forgotten, intervened. + +"It seems to me," she said, "that it is fortunate I have an engagement. +At eight o'clock then, Virginia." + +Guy lifted his hat, and Virginia murmured something. + +"It is my cousin Stella," she said. "What is it that you want to say to +me, Guy?" she added, half shyly, as soon as they were alone. + +"Come and get in my automobile," he said. "We will sit behind and let +the man drive. Then we can talk. But the first thing I have to say to +you is this: that I do not want to ask you a single question, nor am I +going to permit any one else to ask you anything. Whoever you are and +whatever you are, you are going to be my wife as soon as I can get +another special license." + +She laughed softly. + +"Very well," she said, "only you must come in my automobile instead, +and send yours away. If you like I will take you for a little drive." + +"Just as you like," he answered, looking with some surprise at the car +which stood waiting for Virginia, with its two immaculate servants. "It +seems to me, dear," he added, with a note of disappointment in his tone, +"that you have reached the end of your troubles without my help." + +"I think I have, Guy," she answered, "but I am just as pleased to see +you. Would you like to come and be introduced to my uncle and guardian?" + +"Rather!" he answered. + +"Back to Claridge's," she told the footman, and they stepped inside. + +"This isn't a dream, is it?" Guy asked. + +"I don't believe so," she answered. "You will find my uncle human +enough, at any rate." + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + + +A DINNER PARTY + +Phineas Duge in London was still a man of affairs. With a cigar in his +mouth, and his hands behind his back, he was strolling about his +handsomely furnished sitting-room at Claridge's, dictating to a +secretary, while from an adjoining room came the faint click of a +typewriter. Virginia entered somewhat unceremoniously, followed by Guy. +Phineas Duge looked at them both in some surprise. + +"Uncle," she said, "I met Guy coming away from Coniston Mansions. He was +looking for me, and I have brought him to see you." + +Phineas Duge held out his hand, and in obedience to a gesture, the +secretary got up and left the room. + +"I am very glad to meet you, sir," he said. "By the by, my niece has +only mentioned your first name." + +"I am the Duke of Mowbray," Guy said simply, "and I am very glad indeed +to meet you if you are Virginia's uncle. I think that she treated me +rather badly a week ago, but I am disposed," he added, with a twinkle +in his eyes, "to be forgiving. I want your niece to be my wife, sir." + +"Indeed!" Mr. Duge answered a little drily. "I can't say that I am glad +to hear it, as I have only just discovered her myself." + +"There is no reason, sir," Guy answered, "why you should lose her." + +"You don't even know my uncle's name yet," Virginia said, smiling. + +"I am Phineas Duge," Duge answered. "I dare say you have never heard of +me. You see, I don't come often to England." + +"Phineas Duge!" Guy gasped. "What, you mean the--?" + +"Oh, yes! there is only one of us," Duge answered, smiling. "I am glad +to hear that my fame, or perhaps my infamy, has reached even you." + +Guy laughed. + +"I don't think there is much question of infamy," he said. "I fancy that +over here you will find yourself a very popular person indeed." + +"Even," Phineas Duge answered, "although I allowed my niece to run away +from home and come over here on a wild-goose chase. It was one of my +mistakes, but Virginia has forgiven it. I suppose she has told you +everything now." + +"Everything," Guy answered, "and we should like to be married as soon as +you will allow it." + +"What about your people?" Duge asked. + +Guy smiled. + +"I fancy," he said, "that there will be no difficulty at all about +that." + +"You two," Phineas Duge said, "seem to have come across one another in a +very unconventional manner, and yet, after all, it seems as though you +were doing the thing which your people over here look upon at any rate +with tolerance. I have only two girls to leave my millions to. You must +send your solicitor to see me to-morrow." + +"Virginia knows," Guy answered, "that I should be only too glad to have +her without a sixpence." + +"I myself am fond of money," Phineas Duge answered, smiling, "but I +think that if I were your age I should feel very much the same." + +"Uncle," Virginia said, "I have seen Mr. Vine and Stella, and I have +given them your message. They are coming to dine with us at eight +o'clock to-night. Couldn't we--couldn't--?" + +Phineas Duge interrupted with a little shrug of the shoulders. + +"Make it into a family party, I suppose you were going to say?" he +remarked. "My niece hopes that you too will join us," he added, turning +to the young man. + + * * * * * + +Guy raced back to Grosvenor Square. He found Lady Medlincourt playing +bridge in the card-room. + +"Aunt," he said, after having greeted her guests, "I must see you at +once. Please come into the morning-room. I have something most +important to say." + +"If you dare to disturb me until I have finished this hand, I shall +never speak to you again," she declared. "If we lose this rubber, my +diamonds will have to go." + +He walked about the room, trying to conceal his impatience. Fortunately +Lady Medlincourt won the rubber, and having collected her winnings, she +followed him into the morning-room. + +"Well, Guy, what is it?" she said resentfully. "I suppose you have found +that child?" + +"I have not only found her," he answered, "but I have found out all +about her. Do you know whose niece she is, and whom she is +staying with?" + +"How should I, my dear boy?" she answered. + +"Her uncle is Phineas Duge," Guy said. "He has given his consent to our +marriage, and told me to send my lawyer to him to-morrow." + +"Bless the boy, what luck!" Lady Medlincourt exclaimed. "Why, he's the +richest man in America." + +Guy nodded. + +"I don't care a bit," he said, "except that it will make all you people +so much more decent to Virginia. Come along round to Claridge's and be +introduced. There's just time." + +The dinner-party that night was a great success. In the middle of it +Lady Medlincourt laughed softly to herself. + +"I must tell you all something," she said. "You know Guy went to America +this year to see his cousin who is out ranching. He was so afraid that +people would think he had gone out to find an American heiress--you know +we're all disgracefully poor--that he stayed in New York, and came back, +under an assumed name. In fact, he was only in New York for two days, +for fear that some one should find him out. And to think, Guy," she +exclaimed, "that you are going to do the conventional thing after all!" + +"My dear lady," Phineas Duge said, "the conventions in your wonderful +country are not things to be trifled with. Somehow or other they will +assert themselves. There is your nephew here trying to prove to the +world that he will have nothing to do with them, and yet it will be his +painful duty to receive as much of my hard-earned savings as my +daughter's dowry and Virginia's trousseau will leave to me. Never, until +I was inveigled into Doucet's this afternoon, did I really understand +the absolute recklessness of young women who are going to marry +Englishmen." + +Virginia laughed softly. + +"What there is in me of extravagance," she said, laying her hand for a +moment upon his arm, "I owe to you. Who else would have cabled to all my +people to come over here for such an unimportant function as +my wedding!" + +Norris Vine caught his host's eye and raised his glass. + +"May I be permitted," he asked, "to propose a toast--or rather several +toasts? I drink with you, sir," he added, with a slight bow, "to the +extinction of an ancient enmity! I have been something of a fanatic, I +fear, as all those must be who take to their hearts a righteous cause. I +drink to your charming niece, and to the fortunate young gentleman who +is to be her husband! And lastly, I drink to our great country!" + +"To America, and the extinction of all enmities!" Phineas Duge cried, +holding his glass above his head. + +"To America, and the sweetest of all her daughters!" Guy whispered in +Virginia's ears. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GOVERNORS*** + + +******* This file should be named 10537.txt or 10537.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/5/3/10537 + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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