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diff --git a/15712-h/15712-h.htm b/15712-h/15712-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..319766d --- /dev/null +++ b/15712-h/15712-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,10923 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Hugo, by Arnold Bennett. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + .linenum {position: absolute; top: auto; left: 4%;} /* poetry number */ + .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} + .pagenum {position: absolute; left: 92%; font-size: smaller; text-align: right;} /* page numbers */ + .sidenote {width: 20%; padding-bottom: .5em; padding-top: .5em; + padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em; margin-left: 1em; + float: right; clear: right; margin-top: 1em; + font-size: smaller; background: #eeeeee; border: dashed 1px;} + + .bb {border-bottom: solid 2px;} + .bl {border-left: solid 2px;} + .bt {border-top: solid 2px;} + .br {border-right: solid 2px;} + .bbox {border: solid 2px;} + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .u {text-decoration: underline;} + + .caption {font-weight: bold;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + .figleft {float: left; clear: left; margin-left: 0; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: + 1em; margin-right: 1em; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .figright {float: right; clear: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + .fnanchor {vertical-align: super; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;} + + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span.i0 {display: block; margin-left: 0em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 4em;} + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Hugo, by Arnold Bennett + +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: Hugo + A Fantasia on Modern Themes + +Author: Arnold Bennett + +Release Date: April 26, 2005 [EBook #15712] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HUGO *** + + + + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Melissa Er-Raqabi and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net. + + + + + + +</pre> + +<hr style='width: 95%;' /> + + +<h1>HUGO</h1> + +<h2>A FANTASIA ON MODERN THEMES</h2> + +<h3>BY</h3> +<h2>ARNOLD BENNETT</h2> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p class="center"> +<i>[Transcriber's Notes: mismatched quotes have been normalized.<br /> +"L'éat, c'est moi." corrected to "L'état, c'est moi."<br /> +Recalicitant corrected to recalcitrant.<br /> +Other oddities in spelling and punctuation have been left as in the original.]</i><br /> +</p> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2>BY THE SAME AUTHOR</h2> + +<p class="center"> +<b>NOVELS.</b><br /> +<br /> +A MAN FROM THE NORTH.<br /> +ANNA OF THE FIVE TOWNS.<br /> +LEONORA.<br /> +A GREAT MAN.<br /> +SACRED AND PROFANE LOVE.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<b>FANTASIAS.</b><br /> +<br /> +THE GRAND BABYLON HOTEL.<br /> +THE GATES OF WRATH.<br /> +TERESA OF WATLING STREET.<br /> +THE LOOT OF CITIES<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<b>SHORT STORIES.</b><br /> +<br /> +TALES OF THE FIVE TOWNS.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<b>BELLES LETTRES.</b><br /> +<br /> +JOURNALISM FOR WOMEN.<br /> +FAME AND FICTION.<br /> +HOW TO BECOME AN AUTHOR.<br /> +THE TRUTH ABOUT AN AUTHOR.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<b>DRAMA.</b><br /> +<br /> +POLITE FARCES.<br /> +</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h1>HUGO</h1> + +<h2>A FANTASIA ON MODERN THEMES</h2> + +<h3>BY</h3> +<h2>ARNOLD BENNETT</h2> + +<h4>AUTHOR OF<br /> +'THE GRAND BABYLON HOTEL,' 'ANNA OF THE FIVE TOWNS,' 'A GREAT MAN,'<br /> +ETC.</h4> + +<p class="center"> +<img src="images/chatto.png" +alt="printer's mark" title="printer's mark" /> +</p> + +<p class="center">LONDON<br /> +CHATTO & WINDUS<br /> +1906</p> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> +<div><br /></div> + + +<h3>PART I</h3> +<h3>THE SEALED ROOMS</h3> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Part I"> +<tr><td align='right'>I.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_I">THE DOME</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>II.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_II">THE ESTABLISHMENT</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>III.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_III">HUGO EXPLAINS HIMSELF</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>IV.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CAMILLA</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>V.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_V">A STORY AND A DISAPPEARANCE</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>VI.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">A LAPSE FROM AN IDEAL</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>VII.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">POSSIBLE ESCAPE OF SECRETS</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>VIII.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">ORANGE-BLOSSOM</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>IX.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">'WHICH?'</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>X.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_X">THE COFFIN</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<h3>PART II</h3> +<h3>THE PHONOGRAPH</h3> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Part II"> +<tr><td align='right'>XI.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">SALE</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XII.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">SAFE DEPOSIT</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XIII.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">MR. GALPIN</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XIV.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">TEA</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XV.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">RAVENGAR IN CAPTIVITY</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XVI.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">BURGLARS</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XVII.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">POLYCARP AND HAWKE'S MAN</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XVIII.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">HUSBAND AND WIFE</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XIX.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">WHAT THE PHONOGRAPH SAID</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<h3>PART III</h3> +<h3>THE TOMB</h3> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Part III"> +<tr><td align='right'>XX.</td><td align='left'>'<a href="#CHAPTER_XX">ARE YOU THERE?'</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXI.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">SUICIDE</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXII.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">DARCY</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXIII.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">FIRST TRIUMPH OF SIMON</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXIV.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">THE LODGING-HOUSE</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXV.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXV">CHLOROFORM</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXVI.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI">SECOND TRIUMPH OF SIMON</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXVII.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVII">THE CEMETERY</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXVIII.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVIII">BEAUTY</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h3>PART I</h3> +<h2>THE SEALED ROOMS</h2> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>HUGO</h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I</h3> + +<h2>THE DOME</h2> + + +<p>He wakened from a charming dream, in which +the hat had played a conspicuous part.</p> + +<p>'I shouldn't mind having that hat,' he +murmured.</p> + +<p>A darkness which no eye could penetrate +surrounded him as he lay in bed. Absolute +obscurity was essential to the repose of that +singular brain, and he had perfected arrangements +for supplying the deficiencies of +Nature's night.</p> + +<p>He touched a switch, and in front of him at +a distance of thirty feet the ivory dial of a +clock became momentarily visible under the +soft yellow of a shaded electric globe. It was +fifteen minutes past six. At the same +moment a bell sounded the quarter in delicate +tones, which fell on the ear as lightly as dew. +In the upper gloom could be discerned the +contours of a vast dome, decorated in turquoise-blue +and gold.</p> + +<p>He pressed a button near the switch. A +portière rustled, and a young man approached +his bed—a short, thin, pale, fair young man, +active and deferential.</p> + +<p>'My tea, Shawn. Draw the curtains and +open the windows.'</p> + +<p>'Yes, sir,' said Simon Shawn.</p> + +<p>In an instant the room was brilliantly +revealed as a great circular apartment, +magnificently furnished, with twelve windows +running round the circumference beneath the +dome. The virginal zephyrs of a July +morning wandered in. The sun, although +fierce, slanted his rays through the six eastern +windows, printing a new pattern on the +Tripoli carpets. Between the windows were +bookcases, full of precious and extraordinary +volumes, and over the bookcases hung pictures +of the Barbizon school. These books and +these pictures were the elegant monument of +hobbies which their owner had outlived. +His present hobby happened to be music. A +Steinway grand-piano was prominent in the +chamber, and before the ebony instrument +stood a mechanical pianoforte-player.</p> + +<p>'I must have that hat.'</p> + +<p>He paused reflectively, leaning on one +elbow, as he made the tea which Simon +Shawn had brought and left on the night-table. +And again, at the third cup, he +repeated to himself that he must possess the +hat.</p> + +<p>He had a passion for tea. His servants had +received the strictest orders to supply him at +early morn with materials sufficient only for +two cups. Nevertheless, they were always a +little generous, and, by cheating himself +slightly in the first and the second cup, the +votary could often, to his intense joy, conjure +a third out of the pot.</p> + +<p>After glancing through the newspaper +which accompanied the tea, he jumped vivaciously +out of bed, veiled the splendour of his +pyjamas beneath a quilted toga, and disappeared +into a dressing-room, whistling.</p> + +<p>'Shawn!' he cried out from his bath, when +he heard the rattle of the tea-tray.</p> + +<p>'Yes, sir?'</p> + +<p>'Play me the Chopin Fantasie, will you. I +feel like it.'</p> + +<p>'Certainly, sir,' said Simon, and paused. +'Which particular one do you desire me to +render, sir?'</p> + +<p>'There is only one, Shawn, for piano solo.'</p> + +<p>'I beg pardon, sir.'</p> + +<p>The gentle plashing of water mingled with +the strains of one of the greatest of all musical +compositions, as interpreted by Simon Shawn +with the aid of an ingenious contrivance the +patentees of which had spent twenty thousand +pounds in advertising it.</p> + +<p>'Very good, Shawn,' said Shawn's master, +coming forward in his shirt-sleeves as the last +echoes of a mighty chord expired under the +dome. He meditatively stroked his graying +beard while the pianist returned to the tea-tray.</p> + +<p>'And, Shawn—'</p> + +<p>'Yes, sir?'</p> + +<p>'I want a hat.'</p> + +<p>'A hat, sir?'</p> + +<p>'A lady's hat.'</p> + +<p>'Yes, sir.'</p> + +<p>'Run down into Department 42, there's +a good fellow, and see if you can find me a +lady's hat of dark-blue straw, wide brim, +trimmed chiefly with a garland of pinkish +rosebuds.'</p> + +<p>'A lady's hat of dark-blue straw, wide +brim, trimmed chiefly with pinkish rosebuds, +sir?'</p> + +<p>'Precisely. Here, you're forgetting the +token.'</p> + +<p>He detached a gold medallion from his +watch-chain, and handed it to Shawn, who +departed with it and with the tea-tray.</p> + +<p>Two minutes later, having climbed the +staircase between the inner and outer domes, +he stood, fully clad in a light-gray suit, on +the highest platform of the immense building, +whose occidental façade is the glory of Sloane +Street and one of the marvels of the metropolis. +Far above him a gigantic flag spread +its dazzling folds to the sun and the breeze. +On the white ground of the flag, in purple +letters seven feet high, was traced the single +word, 'HUGO.'</p> + +<p>From his eyrie he could see half the West +End of London. Sloane Street stretched +north and south like a ruled line, and along +that line two hurrying processions of black +dots approached each other, and met and +vanished below him; they constituted the +first division of his army of three thousand +five hundred employés.</p> + +<p>He leaned over the balustrade, and sniffed +the pure air with exultant, eager nostrils. +He was forty-six. He did not feel forty-six, +however. In common with every man of +forty-six, and especially every bachelor of +forty-six, he regarded forty-six as a mere +meaningless number, as a futile and even misleading +symbol of chronology. He felt that +Time had made a mistake—that he was not +really in the fifth decade, and that his true, +practical working age was about thirty.</p> + +<p>Moreover, he was in love, for the first time +in his life. Like all men and all women, he +had throughout the whole of his adult existence +been ever secretly preoccupied with +thoughts, hopes, aspirations, desires, concerning +the other sex, but the fundamental +inexperience of his heart was such that he +imagined he was going to be happy because +he had fallen in love.</p> + +<p>'I'm glad I sent for that hat,' he said, +smiling absently at the Great Wheel over a +mile and a half of roofs.</p> + +<p>The key to his character and his career lay +in the fact that he invariably found sufficient +courage to respond to his instincts, and that +his instincts were romantic. They had led +him in various ways, sometimes to grandiose +and legitimate triumphs, sometimes to hidden +shames which it is merciful to ignore. In the +main, they had served him well. It was in +obedience to an instinct that he had capped +the nine stories of the Hugo building with a +dome and had made his bed under the dome. +It was in obedience to another instinct that +he had sent for the hat.</p> + +<p>'Very pretty, isn't it?' he observed to +Shawn, when Simon handed him the insubstantial +and gay object and restored the gold +token. They were at a window in the circular +room; the couch had magically melted +away.</p> + +<p>'I admire it, sir,' said Shawn, and withdrew.</p> + +<p>'Dolt!' he cried out upon Shawn in his +heart. '<i>You</i> didn't see her at work on it. +As if <i>you</i> could appreciate her exquisite taste +and the amazing skill of her blanched fingers! +I alone can appreciate these things!'</p> + +<p>He hung the hat on a Louis Quatorze +screen, and blissfully gazed at it, her creation.</p> + +<p>'But I must be careful,' he muttered—'I +must be careful.'</p> + +<p>A clerk entered with his personal letters. +It was scarcely seven o'clock, but these +fifteen or twenty envelopes had already been +sorted from the three thousand missives that +constituted his first post; he had his own +arrangement with the Post-Office.</p> + +<p>'So it's coming at last,' he said to himself, +as he opened an envelope marked 'Private +and Confidential' in red ink. The autograph +note within was from Senior Polycarp, principal +partner in Polycarps, the famous firm +of company-promoting solicitors, and it +heralded a personal visit from the august +lawyer at 11.30 that day.</p> + +<p>In the midst of dictating instructions to the +clerk, Mr. Hugo stopped and rang for Shawn.</p> + +<p>'Take that back,' he commanded, indicating +the hat. 'I've done with it.'</p> + +<p>'Yes, sir.'</p> + +<p>The hat went.</p> + +<p>'I may just as well be discreet,' his thought +ran.</p> + +<p>But her image, the image of the artist in +hats, illumined more brightly than ever his +soul.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h3> + +<h2>THE ESTABLISHMENT</h2> + + +<p>Seven years before, when, having unostentatiously +acquired the necessary land, and +an acre or two over, Hugo determined to +rebuild his premises and to burst into full +blossom, he visited America and Paris, and +amongst other establishments inspected +Wanamaker's, the Bon Marché, and the +Magasins du Louvre. The result disappointed +him. He had expected to pick up ideas, but +he picked up nothing save the Bon Marché +system of vouchers, by which a customer +buying in several departments is spared the +trouble of paying separately in each department. +He came to the conclusion that the art +of flinging money away in order that it may +return tenfold was yet quite in its infancy. +He said to himself, 'I will build a <i>shop</i>.'</p> + +<p>Travelling home by an indirect route, he +stopped at a busy English seaport, and saw a +great town-hall majestically rising in the +midst of a park. The beautiful building did +not appeal to him in vain. At the gates of +the park he encountered a youth, who was +staring at the town-hall with a fixed and +fascinated stare.</p> + +<p>'A fine structure,' Hugo commented to the +youth.</p> + +<p>'<i>I</i> think so,' was the reply.</p> + +<p>'Can you tell me who is the architect?' +asked Hugo.</p> + +<p>'I am,' said the youth. 'And let me beg +of you not to make any remark on my juvenile +appearance. I am sick of that.'</p> + +<p>They lunched together, and Hugo learnt +that the genius, after several years spent in +designing the varnished interiors of public-houses, +had suddenly come out first in an open +competition for the town-hall; thenceforward +he had thought in town-halls.</p> + +<p>'I want a shop putting up,' said Hugo.</p> + +<p>The youth showed no interest.</p> + +<p>'And when I say a shop,' Hugo pursued, +'I mean a <i>shop</i>.'</p> + +<p>'Oh, a <i>shop</i> you mean!' ejaculated the +youth, faintly stirred. They both spoke in +italics.</p> + +<p>'A <i>real</i> shop. Sloane Street. A hundred +and eighty thousand superficial feet. Cost a +quarter of a million. The finest shop in the +world!'</p> + +<p>The youth started to his feet.</p> + +<p>'I've never had any luck,' said he, gazing +at Hugo. 'But I believe you really do understand +what a shop ought to be.'</p> + +<p>'I believe I do,' Hugo concurred. 'And I +want one.'</p> + +<p>'You shall have it!' said the youth.</p> + +<p>And Hugo had it, though not for anything +like the sum he had named.</p> + +<p>The four frontages of his land exceeded in +all a quarter of a mile. The frontage to Sloane +Street alone was five hundred feet. It was +this glorious stretch of expensive earth which +inflamed the architect's imagination.</p> + +<p>'But we must set back the façade twenty +feet at least,' he said; and added, 'That will +give you a good pavement.'</p> + +<p>'Young man,' cried Hugo, 'do you know +how much this land has stood me in a +foot?'</p> + +<p>'I neither know nor care,' answered the +youth. 'All I say is, what's the use of putting +up a decent building unless people can see it?'</p> + +<p>Hugo yielded. He felt as though, having +given the genius something to play with, he +must not spoil the game. The game included +twelve thousand pounds paid to budding +sculptors for monumental groups of a symbolic +tendency; it included forests of onyx pillars +and pillars of Carrara marble; it included +ceilings painted by artists who ought to have +been R.A.'s, but were not; and it included a +central court of vast dimensions and many +fountains, whose sole purpose was to charm +the eye and lure the feet of customers who +wanted a rest from spending money. Whenever +Hugo found the game over-exciting, he +soothed himself by dwelling upon the wonderful +plan which the artist had produced, of his +extraordinary grasp of practical needs, and +his masterly solution of the various complicated +problems which continually presented +themselves.</p> + +<p>After the last bit of scaffolding was removed +and the machine in full working order, Hugo +beheld it, and said emphatically, 'This will do.'</p> + +<p>All London stood amazed, but not at the +austere beauty of the whole, for only a few +connoisseurs could appreciate that. What +amazed London was the fabulous richness, the +absurd spaciousness, the extravagant perfection +of every part of the immense organism.</p> + +<p>You could stroll across twenty feet of +private tessellated pavement, enter jewelled +portals with the assistance of jewelled commissionaires, +traverse furlong after furlong of +vistas where nought but man was vile, +sojourn by the way in the concert-hall, the +reading-room, or the picture-gallery, smoke +a cigarette in the court of fountains, write a +letter in the lounge, and finally ask to be +directed to the stationery department, where +seated on a specially designed chair and surrounded +by the most precious manifestations +of applied art, you could select a threepenny +box of J pens, and have it sent home in a pair-horse +van.</p> + +<p>The unobservant visitor wondered how +Hugo made it pay. The observant visitor +did not fail to note that there were more than +a hundred cash-desks in the place, and that +all the cashiers had the air of being overworked. +Once the entire army of cashiers, +driven to defensive action, had combined in +order to demand from Hugo, not only higher +pay, but an increase in their numbers. Hugo +had immediately consented, expressing regret +that their desperate plight had escaped his +attention.</p> + +<p>The registered telegraphic address of the +establishment was 'Complete, London.'</p> + +<p>This address indicated the ideal which Hugo +had turned into a reality. His imperial +palace was far more than a universal bazaar. +He boasted that you could do everything +there, except get into debt. (His dictionary +was an expurgated edition, and did not +contain the word 'credit.') Throughout life's +fitful fever Hugo undertook to meet all your +demands. Your mother could buy your +layette from him, and your cradle, soothing-syrup, +perambulator, and toys; she could +hire your nurse at Hugo's. Your school-master +could purchase canes there. Hugo +sold the material for every known game; also +sweets, cigarettes, penknives, walking-sticks, +moustache-forcers, neckties, and trouser-stretchers. +He shaved you, and kept the +latest in scents and kit-bags. He was unsurpassed +for fishing-rods, motor-cars, Swinburne's +poems, button-holes, elaborate bouquets, +fans, and photographs. His restaurant +was full of discreet corners with tables for two +under rose-shaded lights. He booked seats +for theatres, trains, steamers, grand-stands, +and the Empire. He dealt in all stocks and +shares. He was a banker. He acted as +agent for all insurance companies. He would +insert advertisements in the agony column, or +any other column, of any newspaper. If you +wanted a flat, a house, a shooting-box, a +castle, a yacht, or a salmon river, Hugo could +sell, or Hugo could let, the very thing. He +provided strong-rooms for your savings, and +summer quarters for your wife's furs; conjurers +to amuse your guests after dinner, and +all the requisites for your daughter's wedding, +from the cake and the silk petticoats to the +Viennese band. His wine-cellars and his +specific for the gout were alike famous; so +also was his hair-dye.... And, lastly, +when the riddle of existence had become too +much for your curiosity, Hugo would sell you +a pistol by means of which you could solve it. +And he would bury you in a manner first-class, +second-class, or third-class, according +to your deserts.</p> + +<p>And all these feats Hugo managed to +organize within the compass of four floors, a +basement, and a sub-basement. Above, were +five floors of furnished and unfurnished flats. +'Will people of wealth consent to live over a +shop?' he had asked himself in considering +the possibilities of his palace, and he had +replied, 'Yes, if the shop is large enough and +the rents are high enough.' He was right. +His flats were the most sumptuous and the +most preposterously expensive in London; +and they were never tenantless. One man +paid two thousand a year for a furnished +suite. But what a furnished suite! The +flats had a separate and spectacular entrance +on the eastern façade of the building, with a +foyer that was always brilliantly lighted, and +elevators that rose and sank without intermission +day or night. And on the ninth floor +was a special restaurant, with prices to match +the rents, and a roof garden, where one of +Hugo's orchestras played every fine summer +evening, except Sundays. (The County +Council, mistrusting this aerial combination +of music and moonbeams, had granted its +license only on the condition that customers +should have one night in which to recover +from the doubtful influences of the other six.) +The restaurant and the roof-garden were a +resort excessively fashionable during the +season. The garden gave an excellent view +of the dome, where Hugo lived. But few +persons knew that he lived there; in some +matters he was very secretive.</p> + +<p>That very sultry morning Hugo brooded +over the face of his establishment like a spirit +doomed to perpetual motion. For more than +two hours he threaded ceaselessly the long +galleries where the usual daily crowds of +customers, sales-people, shopwalkers, inspectors, +sub-managers, managers, and private +detectives of both sexes, moved with a strange +and unaccustomed languor in a drowsy atmosphere +which no system of ventilation could +keep below 75° Fahrenheit. None but the +chiefs of departments had the right to address +him as he passed; such was the rule. He +deviated into the counting-house, where two +hundred typewriters made their music, and +into the annexe containing the stables and +coach-houses, where scores of vans and automobiles, +and those elegant coupés gratuitously +provided by Hugo for the use of important +clients, were continually arriving and leaving. +Then he returned to the purchasing multitudes, +and plunged therein as into a sea. At +intervals a customer, recognising him, would +nudge a friend, and point eagerly.</p> + +<p>'That's Hugo. See him, in the gray suit?'</p> + +<p>'What? That chap?'</p> + +<p>And they would both probably remark at +lunch: 'I saw Hugo himself to-day at Hugo's.'</p> + +<p>He took an oath in his secret heart that he +would not go near Department 42, the only +department which had the slightest interest +for him. He knew that he could not be too +discreet. And yet eventually, without knowing +how or why, he perceived of a sudden that +his legs carried him thither. He stopped, at +a loss what to do, and then, by the direct +interposition of kindly Fate, a manager spoke +to him.... He gazed out of the corner of +his eye. Yes, she was there. He could see +her through a half-drawn portière in one of +the trying-on rooms. She was sitting limp +on a chair, overcome by the tropic warmth of +Sloane Street, with her noble head thrown +back, her fine eyes half shut, and her +beautiful hands lying slackly on her black +apron.</p> + +<p>What an impeachment of civilization that +a creature so fair and so divine should be +forced to such a martyrdom! He desired +ardently to run to her and to set her free for +the day, for the whole summer, and on full +wages. He wondered if he could trust the +manager with instructions to alleviate her lot.... +The next instant she sprang up, giving +the indispensable smile of welcome to some +customer who had evidently entered the +trying-on room from the other side. The +phenomenon distressed him. She disappeared +from view behind the portière, and +reappeared, but only for a moment, talking to +a foppish old man with a white moustache. +It was Senior Polycarp, the lawyer.</p> + +<p>Hugo flushed, and, abandoning the manager +in the middle of a sentence, fled to his central +office. He had no confidence in his self-command.... +Could this be jealousy? +Was it possible that he, Hugo, should be so +far gone? Nay!</p> + +<p>But what was Polycarp, that old and +desiccated widower, doing in the millinery +department?</p> + +<p>He said he must form some definite plan, +and begin by giving her a private room.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III</h3> + +<h2>HUGO EXPLAINS HIMSELF</h2> + + +<p>'And what,' asked Hugo, smiling faintly at +Mr. Senior Polycarp—'what is your client's +idea of price?'</p> + +<p>For half an hour they had been talking in +the luxurious calm of Hugo's central office, +which was like an island refuge in the middle +of that tossing ocean of business. It overlooked +the court of fountains from the second +story, and the highest jet of water threw a +few jewelled drops to the level of its windows.</p> + +<p>Mr. Polycarp stroked his beautiful white +moustache.</p> + +<p>'We would give,' he said in his mincing, +passionless voice, 'the cost price of premises, +stock, and fixtures, and for goodwill seven +times your net annual profits. In addition, +we should be anxious to secure your services +as managing director for ten years at five +thousand a year, plus a percentage of profits.'</p> + +<p>'Hum!'</p> + +<p>'And, of course, if you wished part of the +purchase-money in shares—'</p> + +<p>'Have you formed any sort of estimate of +my annual profits?' Hugo demanded.</p> + +<p>'Yes—a sort of estimate.'</p> + +<p>'You have looked carefully round, eh?'</p> + +<p>'My clients have. I myself, too, a little. +This morning, for example. Very healthy, +Mr. Hugo.'</p> + +<p>'What departments did you visit this +morning? Each has its busy days.'</p> + +<p>'Grocery, electrical, and—let me see—yes, +furniture.'</p> + +<p>'Not a good day for that—too hot! Anything +else?'</p> + +<p>'No,' said Mr. Polycarp.</p> + +<p>'Ah!... Well, and what is your clients' +estimate?'</p> + +<p>'Naturally, I cannot pretend—'</p> + +<p>'Listen, Mr. Polycarp,' said Hugo, interrupting: 'I +will be open with you.'</p> + +<p>The lawyer nodded, appreciatively benign. +As usual, he kept his thoughts to himself, but +he had the air of adding Hugo to the vast +collection of human curiosities which he +had made during a prolonged professional +career.</p> + +<p>'My net trading profits last year were +£106,000. You are surprised?'</p> + +<p>'Somewhat.'</p> + +<p>'You expected a higher figure?'</p> + +<p>'We did.'</p> + +<p>'I knew it. And the figure might be higher +if I chose. Only I do things in rather a royal +way, you see. I pay my staff five hundred a +week more than I need. And I allow myself +to be cheated.' He laughed suddenly. +'Costume department, for instance. I send +charming costumes out on approval, and +fetch them back in two days. And the pretty +girls who have taken off the tickets, and worn +the garments, and carefully restored the +tickets, and lied to my carmen—the pretty +girls imagine they have deceived me. They +have merely amused me. My detective +reports are excellent reading. And, moreover, +I like to think that I have helped a +pretty girl to make the best of herself.'</p> + +<p>'Immoral and unbusinesslike, Mr. Hugo.'</p> + +<p>'Admitted. I have no doubt that if I put +the screw on all round I could quite justifiably +increase my profits by fifty per cent.'</p> + +<p>'That shows what a splendid prospect a +limited company would have.'</p> + +<p>'Yes, doesn't it?' said Hugo joyously.</p> + +<p>'But why are your clients so anxious to turn +me into a limited company?'</p> + +<p>'They see in your undertaking,' replied +Polycarp, folding his thin hands, 'a legitimate +opening for that joint-stock enterprise which +has had such a beneficial effect on England's +prosperity.'</p> + +<p>'They would make a profit?'</p> + +<p>'A reasonable profit. A small syndicate +would be formed to buy from you, and that +syndicate would sell to a public company. +The usual thing.'</p> + +<p>'And where do I come in?'</p> + +<p>'Where do you come in, my dear Mr. +Hugo? Everywhere! You would receive +over a million in cash. You would have your +salary and your percentage, and you would be +relieved of all your present risks.'</p> + +<p>'All my present risks?'</p> + +<p>'You have risks, Mr. Hugo, because your +business has increased so rapidly that your +income is out of all proportion to your capital, +which consists almost solely of buildings +which you could not sell at anything like their +cost price in open market, and of goodwill. +Now, I ask you, what is goodwill? What <i>is</i> +it? Under our scheme you would at once +become a millionaire in actual fact.'</p> + +<p>'Decidedly an inviting prospect,' said Hugo.</p> + +<p>He walked about the room.</p> + +<p>'Then I may take it that you are at any +rate prepared to negotiate?' the lawyer +ventured, staring at the fountain.</p> + +<p>'Mr. Polycarp,' answered Hugo, 'I must +first give you a little information and ask you +a few questions.'</p> + +<p>'Certainly.'</p> + +<p>Hugo halted in front of Polycarp, close to +him, and, lighting a cigar, gazed down at the +frigid lawyer.</p> + +<p>'Till the age of twenty-eight,' he began, 'I +had no object in life. I was educated at +Oxford. I narrowly escaped the legal profession. +I had a near shave of the Church. +I wasted years in aimless travel, waiting for +destiny to turn up. I was conscious of no gift +except a power for organizing. That gift I +felt I had, and gradually I perceived that I +would like to be the head of some large and +complicated undertaking. I examined the +latest developments of modern existence, and +came to the conclusion that the direction of a +thoroughly up-to-date stores would amuse me +as well as anything. So I bought this concern—a +flourishing little drapery and furnishing +business it was then. I had exactly fifty +thousand pounds—not a cent more. I paid +twenty-five thousand for the business. It +was too much, but when an idea takes me it +takes me. I required a fine-sounding name, +and I chose Hugo. It was an inspiration.'</p> + +<p>'Then Hugo is not your—'</p> + +<p>'It is not. My real name is Owen. But +think of "Owen" on a flag, and then think of +"Hugo" on a flag.'</p> + +<p>'Exactly.'</p> + +<p>'I began. And because I had everything +to learn I lost money at first. I took lessons +in my own shop, and the course cost me a +hundred a week for some months. But in +two years I had proved that my theory of +myself was correct. In ten I had made +nearly a quarter of a million. Everyone +knows the history of my growth.'</p> + +<p>Polycarp nodded.</p> + +<p>'In the eleventh year I determined to +emerge from the chrysalis. I dreamed a +dream of my second incarnation as universal +tradesman. And the fabric of my dream, +Mr. Polycarp, you behold around you.' He +waved the cigar. 'It is the most colossal +thing of its kind ever known.'</p> + +<p>Polycarp nodded again.</p> + +<p>'Some people regard it as extravagant. It +is. It is meant to be. Hugo's store is only +my fun, my device for amusing myself. We +have glorious times here, I and my ten +managers—my Council of Ten. They know +me; I know them. They are well paid; they +are artists. A trade spirit must, of course, +actuate a trade concern; but above that, +controlling that, is another spirit—the spirit +which has made this undoubtedly the greatest +shop in the world. I cannot describe it, but +it exists. All my managers, and even many +of the rank and file, feel it.'</p> + +<p>'Very interesting,' said the lawyer.</p> + +<p>'Mr. Polycarp,' Hugo announced solemnly, +'the direction of this establishment is my life. +In the midst of this lovely and interesting +organism I enjoy every hour of the day. +What else can I want?'</p> + +<p>Polycarp raised his eyebrows.</p> + +<p>'Do you suppose it would add to my fun to +have a million in the bank—I, with an income +of two thousand a week? Do you suppose +I should find it diverting to be at the beck and +call of a board of directors—I, the supreme +fount of authority? Do you suppose it would +be my delight to consider eternally the +interests of a pack of shareholders—I, who +consider nothing but my fancy? And, finally, +do you suppose it would amuse me, Hugo, to +have "limited" put after my name? Me, +limited!'</p> + +<p>'Then,' said the lawyer slowly, 'I am to +understand you are not willing—'</p> + +<p>'My friend,' Hugo replied, dropping into +his chair, 'I would sooner see the whole +blessed place fall like the Bastille than see it +"limited."'</p> + +<p>Polycarp rose in his turn.</p> + +<p>'My clients,' he remarked in a peculiar +tone, 'had set their minds on this affair.'</p> + +<p>'For once in a way your clients will be disappointed,' +said Hugo.</p> + +<p>'What do you mean—"for once in a +way"?'</p> + +<p>'Who are your clients, Mr. Polycarp?'</p> + +<p>'Since the offer is rejected, it would be +useless to divulge their names.'</p> + +<p>'I will tell you, then,' said Hugo. 'Your +client—for there is only one—is Louis Ravengar. +I saw it stated in a paper the other day +that Louis Ravengar had successfully floated +thirty-nine companies with a total capitalization +of thirty millions. But my scalp will +not be added to his collection.'</p> + +<p>'I shall not disclose the identity of my +clients,' Mr. Polycarp minced. 'But, speaking +of Mr. Ravengar, I have noticed that what +he wants he gets. The manner in which the +United Coal Company, Limited, was brought +to flotation by him in the teeth of the opposition +of the proprietors was really most interesting.'</p> + +<p>'You mean to warn me that there are ways +of compelling a private concern to become +public and joint-stock?'</p> + +<p>'Not at all, Mr. Hugo. I am incapable of +such a hint. I am sure that nothing and +nobody could force you against your will. I +was only mentioning the case of the Coal +Company. I could mention others.'</p> + +<p>'Don't trouble, my dear sir. Convey my +decision to Louis Ravengar, and give him my +compliments. We are old acquaintances.'</p> + +<p>'You are?' The solicitor seemed astonished +in his imperturbable way.</p> + +<p>'We are.'</p> + +<p>'I will convey your decision to my +clients.'</p> + +<p>Accepting a cigar, Mr. Polycarp departed.</p> + +<p>Without giving himself time to think, Hugo +went straight to Department 42, and direct +to the artist in hats. She stood pale and +deferential to receive him. The heat was +worse than ever.</p> + +<p>'Your name is Payne, I think?' he began. +(He well knew her name was Payne.)</p> + +<p>'Yes, sir.'</p> + +<p>Other employés in the trying-on room +looked furtively round.</p> + +<p>'About half-past eleven an old gentleman, +with white moustache, came into this room, +Miss Payne. You remember?'</p> + +<p>'Yes, sir.'</p> + +<p>'What did he want?'</p> + +<p>'He was inquiring about a hat, sir,' she +hurriedly answered.</p> + +<p>'For a lady?'</p> + +<p>'Yes, sir.'</p> + +<p>'Thank you.'</p> + +<p>And he hastened back to his central office, +and breathed a sigh. 'I have actually spoken +to her,' he murmured. 'How charming her +voice is!'</p> + +<p>But Miss Payne's physical condition desolated +him. If she was so obviously exhausted +at 12.30, what would she be like at the day's +end?'</p> + +<p>'I've got it!' he cried.</p> + +<p>He seized a pen and wrote: 'Notice.—The +public are respectfully informed that this +establishment will close to-day at two o'clock.'</p> + +<p>He rang a bell, and a messenger appeared.</p> + +<p>'Take this to the printing-office instantly, +and tell Mr. Waugh it must be posted throughout +the place in half an hour.'</p> + +<p>Shortly after two o'clock Sloane Street was +amazed to witness the exodus of the three +thousand odd. The closure was attributed +to a whim of Hugo's for celebrating some +obscure anniversary in his life. Many hundreds +of persons were inconvenienced, and +the internal economy of scores of polite homes +seriously deranged. The evening papers +found a paragraph. And Hugo lost perhaps +a hundred and fifty pounds net. But Hugo +was happy, and he was expectant.</p> + +<p>At ten o'clock that night a youngish man, +extremely like Simon Shawn, was brought by +Simon into Hugo's presence under the dome. +This was Simon's brother, Albert Shawn, a +member of Hugo's private detective force.</p> + +<p>'Sit down,' said Hugo. 'Well?'</p> + +<p>'I reckon you've heard, sir,' Albert Shawn +began impassively, 'the yarn that's going all +round the stores.'</p> + +<p>'I have not.'</p> + +<p>'Everyone's whispering,' said Albert Shawn, +gazing carefully at his boots, 'that Mr. Hugo +has taken a kind of a fancy to Miss Payne.'</p> + +<p>Hugo restrained himself.</p> + +<p>'Heavens!' he exclaimed, with a clever +affectation of lightness, 'what next? I've +only spoken to the chit once.'</p> + +<p>'Don't I know it, sir!'</p> + +<p>'Enough of that! What have you to +report?'</p> + +<p>'Miss Payne left at 2.15, whipped round to +the flats entrance, took the lift to the top-floor, +went into Mr. Francis Tudor's flat.'</p> + +<p>'What's that you say? Whose flat?' +cried Hugo.</p> + +<p>'Mr. Francis Tudor's, sir.'</p> + +<p>Mr. Tudor was famous as the tenant of the +suite rented at two thousand a year; he had +a reputation for being artistic, sybaritic, and +something in the inner ring of the City.</p> + +<p>'Ah!' said Hugo. 'Perhaps she is a friend +of one of Mr. Tudor's—'</p> + +<p>'Servants,' he was about to say, but the +idea of Miss Payne being on terms of equality +with a menial was not pleasant to him, and +he stopped.</p> + +<p>'No, sir,' said Albert Shawn, unmoved. +'She is not, because Mr. Tudor shunted out +all his servants soon afterwards. Miss Payne +was shown into his study. She had her tea +there, and her dinner. The Hugo half-guinea +dinner was ordered late by telephone +for two persons, and rushed up at eight +o'clock.'</p> + +<p>'I wonder Mr. Tudor didn't order an +orchestra with the dinner,' said Hugo grimly. +It was a sublime effort on his part to be his +natural self.</p> + +<p>'I waited for Miss Payne to leave,' continued +Albert Shawn. 'That's why I'm so +late.'</p> + +<p>'And what time did she leave?'</p> + +<p>'She hasn't left,' said Albert Shawn.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h3> + +<h2>CAMILLA</h2> + + +<p>Hugo dismissed Albert, with orders to continue +his vigil, and then he rang for Simon.</p> + +<p>'Do you think I might have some tea?' +he asked.</p> + +<p>'I am disposed to think you might, sir,' +said Simon the cellarer. 'It is eight days +since you indulged after dinner.'</p> + +<p>'Bring me one cup, then, poured out.'</p> + +<p>He was profoundly disturbed by Albert's +news. He was, in fact, miserable. He had +a physical pain in the region of the heart. He +wished he could step off Love as one steps off +an omnibus, but he found that Love resembled +an express train more than an omnibus.</p> + +<p>'Can she be secretly married to him?' he +demanded half aloud, sipping at the tea.</p> + +<p>The idea soothed him exactly as much as +it alarmed him.</p> + +<p>'The question is,' he murmured angrily, +'am I or am I not an ass?... At my +age!'</p> + +<p>He felt vaguely that he was not, that he was +rather a splendid and Byronic figure in the +grip of tremendous emotions.</p> + +<p>Having regretfully finished the tea, he unlocked +a bookcase, and picked out at random +a volume of Boswell's 'Johnson.' It was the +modern Oxford edition—the only edition +worthy of a true amateur—bound by Rivière. +Like all wise and lettered men, Hugo consulted +Boswell in the grave crises of life, and +to-night he happened upon the venerable +Johnson's remark: <i>'Sir, I would be content +to spend the remainder of my existence driving +about in a post-chaise with a pretty woman.'</i></p> + +<p>He leaned back in his chair and laughed. +'In the whole history of mankind,' he asserted +to the dome, 'there have only been two +really sensible men. Solomon was one, and +Johnson the other.'</p> + +<p>He restored the book to its place, and sat +down to the piano-player, and in a moment +the overture to 'Tannhäuser,' that sublime +failure to prove that passion is folly, filled the +vast apartment. The rushing violin passages, +and every call of Aphrodite, intoxicated his +soul and raised his spirits till he knew with the +certainty of a fully-aroused instinct that +Camilla Payne must be his. He became +optimistic on all points.</p> + +<p>'A lady insists on seeing you, sir,' said +Simon Shawn, intruding upon the Pilgrims' +Chant.</p> + +<p>'She may insist,' Hugo answered lightly. +'But it all depends who she is. I'm—'</p> + +<p>He stopped, for the insisting lady had +entered.</p> + +<p>It was Camilla.</p> + +<p>He jumped up. Never before in his +career had he been so astounded, staggered, +charmed, enchanted, dazzled, and completely +silenced.</p> + +<p>'Miss Payne?' he gasped after a prolonged +pause.</p> + +<p>Simon Shawn effaced himself.</p> + +<p>'Yes, Mr. Hugo.'</p> + +<p>'Won't you sit down?'</p> + +<p>The singular prevalence of beautiful women +in England is only appreciated properly by +Englishmen who have lived abroad, and these +alone know also that in no other country +is beauty wasted by women as it is wasted +in England. Camilla was beautiful, and +supremely beautiful; she was tall, well and +generously formed, graceful, fair, with fine +eyes and fine dark chestnut hair; her absolutely +regular features had the proud Tennysonian +cast. But the coldness of Tennysonian +damsels was not hers. Whether she had +Latin blood in her veins, or whether Nature +had peculiarly gifted her out of sheer caprice, +she possessed in a high degree that indescribable +demeanour, at once a defiance and +a surrender, a question and an answer, a +confession and a denial, which is the universal +weapon of women of Latin race in the battle +of the sexes, but of which Englishwomen seem +to be almost deprived. 'I am Eve!' say the +mocking, melting eyes of the Southern woman, +and so said Camilla's eyes. No man could +rest calm under that glance; no man could +forbear the attempt to decipher the hidden +secrecies of its message, and no man could +succeed in the task.</p> + +<p>Hugo felt that he had never seen this +woman before.</p> + +<p>And he might have been excused for feeling +so; for instead of the black alpaca, Camilla +now wore a simple but effectively charming +toilette such as 'Hugo's' created and sold to +women for the rapture of men in summer twilights, +and over the white dress was thrown +a very rich pearl-tinted opera-cloak, which +only partly concealed the curves of the +shoulders, and poised aslant on the glistening +coiffure was the identical blue hat with its wide +brims that had visited the dome seventeen +hours before. The total effect was calculated, +perfect, overwhelming.</p> + +<p>'I'm sorry to disturb you, Mr. Hugo,' said +Camilla, throwing back her cloak on the left +side with a fine gesture, 'but I am in need of +your assistance.'</p> + +<p>'Yes?' Hugo whispered, seating himself.</p> + +<p>She had a low voice, rare in a blonde, and +it thrilled him. And she was so near him in +the great chamber!</p> + +<p>'I want you to tell me what plot I am in +the midst of. What is the web that has +begun to surround me?'</p> + +<p>'Plot?' stammered Hugo. 'Web?'</p> + +<p>Her eyes flashed scrutinizingly on his face.</p> + +<p>'You have a kind heart,' she said; 'everybody +can see that. Be frank. Do you know,' +she asked in a different tone, 'or don't you, +that you spoke very gruffly to me this +morning?'</p> + +<p>'Miss Payne,' he began, 'I assure you—'</p> + +<p>'I thought perhaps you didn't know,' she +smiled calmly. 'But you did speak very +gruffly. Now, I have taken my courage in +both hands in order to come to you to-night. +I may have lost my situation through it—I +can't tell. Whether I have lost my situation +or not, I appeal to you for candour.'</p> + +<p>'Miss Payne,' said Hugo, 'it distresses me +to hear you speak of a "situation."'</p> + +<p>'And why?'</p> + +<p>'You know why,' he answered. 'A woman +as distinguished as you are must be perfectly +well aware how distinguished she is, and perfectly +capable, let me add, of hiding her distinction +from the common crowd. For what +purpose of your own you came into my shop, +I can't guess. But necessity never forced +you there. No doubt you meant to avoid +getting yourself talked about; nevertheless, +you have got yourself talked about.'</p> + +<p>'Indeed!' She looked at him sideways.</p> + +<p>'Yes,' Hugo went on; 'several thousands +of commonplace persons are saying that I +have fallen in love with you. Do you think +it's true, this rumour?'</p> + +<p>'How can I tell you?' said she.</p> + +<p>'Well, it is true!' he cried. 'It's doubly +and trebly true! It's the greatest truth in +the world at the present moment. It is one +of those truths that a believer can't keep to +himself.' He paused, expectant. 'A woman +less fine than you would have protested +against this sudden avowal, which is only too +like me—too like Hugo. You don't protest. +I knew you wouldn't. I knew you knew. +You asked for candour. You have it. I +love you.'</p> + +<p>'Then, why,' she demanded firmly, with a +desolating smile—'why do you have me followed +by your private detective?'</p> + +<p>Hugo was caught in a trap. He had hesitated +long before instructing Albert Shawn to +shadow Camilla, but in the end his desire for +exact knowledge concerning her, and his +possession of a corps of detectives ready to +hand, had proved too much for his scruples. +He had, however, till that day discovered +little of importance for his pains—merely that +her parents, who were dead, had kept a small +milliner's shop in Edgware Road, that her +age was twenty-five, that she had come to his +millinery department with a good testimonial +from an establishment in Walham +Green, that she lived in lodgings at Fulham +and saw scarcely anyone, and that she had +once been a typewriter.</p> + +<p>'The fact is—'</p> + +<p>He stopped, perceiving that the 'fact' +would not do at all, and that to explain to the +woman you love why you have spied on her +is a somewhat nice operation.</p> + +<p>'Is that the way you usually serve us?' +pursued Camilla, with a strange emphasis on +the word 'us' which maddened him.</p> + +<p>'The fact is, Miss Payne,' he said boldly, +sitting down as soon as he had invented the +solution of the difficulty, 'you will not deny +that this afternoon and this evening you have +been in a position of some slight delicacy. +What your relations are with Mr. Francis +Tudor I have never sought to inquire, but I +have always doubted the bonâ fides of Mr. +Francis Tudor. And to-day I have simply—if +I may say so—watched over you. If my +man has been clumsy, I beg your forgiveness. +I beg you to believe in my deep respect for +you.'</p> + +<p>The plain sincerity of his accent and of his +gaze touched and convinced her. She looked +at her feet, white-shod on the crimson carpet.</p> + +<p>'Ah!' she murmured, as if to herself, +mournfully, 'why don't you ask me how it +is that I, to whom you pay thirty-six shillings +a week, am wearing these clothes? Surely +you must think that an employé who—'</p> + +<p>'At this hour you are not an employé,' he +interrupted here. 'You visit me of your own +free will to demand an explanation of matters +which are quite foreign to our business relations. +I give it you. Beyond that I permit +myself no thoughts except such as any man +is entitled to concerning any woman. You +used the word "plot" when you came in. +What did you refer to? If Mr. Tudor +has—' He could not proceed.</p> + +<p>'As I left Mr. Tudor's flat a few minutes +since,' said Camilla quietly, producing a +revolver from the folds of her cloak, 'I picked +up this. It may or may not be loaded. +Perhaps you can tell me.'</p> + +<p>He seized the weapon, and impetuously +aimed at a heavy Chinese gong across the +room, and pulled the trigger several times. +The revolver spoke noisily, and the gong +sounded and swung.</p> + +<p>'You see!' he exclaimed. 'Pardon the +din. I did it without thinking.'</p> + +<p>'Did you call, sir?' asked Simon Shawn, +appearing in the doorway.</p> + +<p>Hugo extirpated him with a look.</p> + +<p>'How cool you are!' he resumed to Camilla, +and laid down the revolver. 'No, you aren't! +By Jove, you aren't! What is it? What +have you been through? What is this +plot? A plot—in my building—and against +you! Tell me everything—everything! I +insist.'</p> + +<p>'Shall you believe all that I say?' she +ventured.</p> + +<p>'Yes,' he said, 'all.'</p> + +<p>He saw with intense joy that he was going +to be friendly with her. It seemed too good +to be true.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V</h3> + +<h2>A STORY AND A DISAPPEARANCE</h2> + + +<p>'Perhaps I ought to begin by informing you,' +said Camilla Payne, 'that I have known +Mr. Francis Tudor for about two years. +Always he has been very nice to me. Once +he asked me to marry him—quite suddenly—it +was a year ago. I refused because I didn't +care for him. I then saw nothing of him for +some time. But after I entered your service +here, he came across me again by accident. +I did not know until lately that he had one of +your flats. He was very careful, very polite, +timid, cautious—but very obstinate, too. He +invited me to call on him at his rooms, and +to bring any friends I liked. Of course, it +was a stupidity on his part, but, then, what +else could he do? A man who wants to +cultivate relations with a homeless shopgirl +is rather awkwardly fixed.'</p> + +<p>'I wish to Heaven you would not talk like +that, Miss Payne!' said Hugo, interrupting her +impatiently.</p> + +<p>'I am merely telling you these things so +that you may understand my position,' +Camilla coldly replied. 'Do you imagine +that I am amusing myself?'</p> + +<p>'Go on, go on, I beg,' he urged, with a +gesture of apology.</p> + +<p>'Naturally, I declined the invitation. Then +next I received a letter from him, in which +he said that unless I called on him, or agreed +to meet him in some place where we could talk +privately and at length, he should kill himself +within a week. And he added that death +was perhaps less to him than I imagined. +I believed that letter. There was something +about it that touched me.'</p> + +<p>'And so you decided to yield?'</p> + +<p>'I did yield. I felt that if I was to trust +him at all, I might as well trust him fully, +and I called at his flat this afternoon alone. +He was evidently astonished to see me at that +hour, so I explained to him that you had closed +early for some reason or other.'</p> + +<p>'Exactly,' said Hugo.</p> + +<p>He insisted on giving me tea. I was +treated, in fact, like a princess; but during +tea he said nothing to me that might not have +been said before a roomful of people. After +tea he left me for a few moments, in order, as +he said, to give some orders to his servants. +Up till then he had been extremely agitated, +and when he returned he was even more +agitated. He walked to and fro in that +lovely drawing-room of his—just as you were +doing here not long since. I was a little +afraid.'</p> + +<p>'Afraid of what?' demanded Hugo.</p> + +<p>'I don't know—of him, lest he might do +something fatal, irretrievable; something—I +don't know. And then, being alone with +him in that palace of a place! Well, he +burst out suddenly into a series of statements +about himself, and about his future, and his +intentions, and his feelings towards me. And +these statements were so extraordinary and so +startling that I could not think he had invented +them. I believed them, as I had +believed in the sincerity of his threat to kill +himself if I would not listen to him.'</p> + +<p>'And what were they—these statements?' +Hugo inquired.</p> + +<p>Camilla waved aside the interruptions, and +continued: '"Now," he said, "will you +marry me? Will you marry me now?"'</p> + +<p>She paused and glanced at Hugo, who +observed that her eyes were filling with +tears.</p> + +<p>'And then?' murmured Hugo soothingly.</p> + +<p>'Then I agreed to marry him.'</p> + +<p>And with these words she cried openly.</p> + +<p>'If anyone had told me beforehand,' she +resumed, 'that I should be so influenced by a +man's—a man's acting, I would have laughed. +But I was—I was. He succeeded completely.'</p> + +<p>'You have not said what these extraordinary +statements were,' Hugo insisted.</p> + +<p>'Don't ask me,' she entreated, drying her +eyes. 'It is enough that I was hoodwinked. +If you have had no hand in this plot, don't +ask me. I am too ashamed, too scornful of my +credulity, to repeat them. You would laugh.'</p> + +<p>'Should I?' said Hugo, smiling gravely. +'What occurred next?'</p> + +<p>'The next step was that Mr. Tudor asked me +to accompany his housekeeper to the housekeeper's +room, and on the other side of the +passage from the drawing-room I was to dine +with him. The housekeeper is a Mrs. Dant, +a kind, fat, lame old woman, and she produced +this cloak and this hat, and so on, and said +that they were for me! I was surprised, but I +praised them and tried them on for a moment. +You must remember that I was his affianced +wife. I talked with Mrs. Dant, and prepared +myself for dinner, and then I went back to +the drawing-room, and found Mr. Tudor +ready for dinner. I asked him why he had +got the clothes, and he said he had got them +this very morning merely on the chance of +my accepting his proposal out of pity for him. +And I believed that, too.'</p> + +<p>There was a silence.</p> + +<p>'But that is not the end?' Hugo encouraged +her.</p> + +<p>'Oh,' she exclaimed, 'it is useless, all this +story! And the episode is finished! When +I came in here I was angry; I suspect you +of some complicity. But I suspect you no +longer, and I see now that the wisest +course for a woman such as I after such an +adventure is to be mute about it, and to +forget it.'</p> + +<p>'No,' he said; 'you are wrong. Trust me. +I entreat.'</p> + +<p>Camilla bit her lip.</p> + +<p>'We went into the dining-room, and dinner +was served,' she recommenced, 'and there I +had my first shock, my first doubt, for one of +the two waiters was your spy.'</p> + +<p>'Shawn! My detective!'</p> + +<p>Hugo was surprised to find that Albert, +almost a novice in his vocation, had contrived +to be so insinuating.</p> + +<p>'And he made a very bad waiter indeed,' +Camilla added.</p> + +<p>'I regret it,' said Hugo. 'He meant well.' +'When the waiters had gone I asked Mr. +Tudor if they were his own servants. He +hesitated, and then admitted frankly that +they were not. He told me that his servants +were out on leave for the evening. "You +don't mean to say that I am now alone with +you in the flat!" I protested. "No," he +said quickly. "Mrs. Dant is always in her +room across the passage. Don't be alarmed, +dearest." His tone reassured me. After +coffee, he took my photograph by flashlight. +He printed one copy at once, and then, after +we had both been in the dark-room together, +he returned there to get some more printing-paper. +While he was absent I went into +the housekeeper's room for a handkerchief +which I had left there. Mrs. Dant was not +in the room. But in a mirror I saw the reflection +of a man hiding behind the door. I was +awfully frightened. However, I pretended +to see nothing, and tried to hum a song. I +same into the passage. The passage window +was open, and I looked out. Another man +was watching on the balcony. Of course, I +saw instantly it was a plot. I—I—'</p> + +<p>'Did you recognise the men, then?' Hugo +asked.</p> + +<p>'The one in the room I was not quite sure +of. The other, on the balcony, was your +detective, I think. I saw him disappear in +this direction.'</p> + +<p>'But whatever the plot was, Shawn had no +hand in it.'</p> + +<p>'No, no, of course not! I see now. But +the other, in the room! Ah, if you knew all +my history, you would understand better! +I felt that some vengeance was out against me. +I saw everything clearly. I tried to keep my +head, and to decide calmly what I ought to do. +It was from a little table in the passage that +I picked up the revolver. Then I heard +hurried footsteps coming through the drawing-room +towards the passage. It was Mr. +Tudor. He seemed very startled. I tried +to appear unconcerned. "What is the +matter?" he asked; he had gone quite pale. +"Nothing," I said. "I only went to fetch +a handkerchief." He laughed uneasily. "I +was afraid you had thought better of it and +run away from me," he said. And he kissed +me; I was obliged to submit. All this time +I was thinking hard what to do. I suggested +we should go on to the roof garden for awhile. +He objected, but finally he gave way, and he +brought me the cloak and hat, and we went +to the garden and sat down. I felt safer +there. At last I ventured to tell him that I +must go home. Of course, he objected to that +too, but he gave way a second time. "I +will just speak to Mrs. Dant," I said. "You +stay here for three minutes. By that time I +shall be ready." And I went off towards the +flat, but as soon as I was out of his sight I +turned and ran here. And that's all.'</p> + +<p>'You are a wonderful creature,' Hugo murmured, +looking at her meditatively.</p> + +<p>'Why?' The question was put with a sort +of artless and melancholy surprise.</p> + +<p>'How can I tell?' said Hugo. 'How can +I tell why Heaven made you so?'</p> + +<p>She laughed, and the laugh enchanted him. +He had studied her during her recital; he +had observed her continual effort to use +ordinary words and ordinary tones like a +garment to hide vivid sensations and emotions +which, however, shone through the garment +as her face might have shone through a veil.</p> + +<p>He recalled her little gestures, inflections, +glances—the thousand avenues by which her +rich and overflowing individuality escaped +from the prison of her will, and impressed +itself on the rest of the created universe. Her +story was decidedly singular, and as mysterious +as it was singular; that something +sinister would be brought to light, he felt sure. +But what occupied and charmed his mind was +the exquisite fact that between him and her +relations were now established. The story, +her past danger, even her possible future +danger—these things only interested him in so +far as they formed the basis of an intimacy. +He exulted in being near her, in the savour of +her commanding presence. When he thought +of her in his monstrous shop, wilting in the +heat, bowing deferentially to fools, martyrizing +her soul for less than two pounds a week, +he thought of kings' daughters sold into +slavery. But she was a princess now, and +for evermore, and she had come to him of her +own free will; she had trusted him; she had +invited his help! It was glorious beyond the +dreams of his passion.</p> + +<p>'Come,' he said feverishly, 'show me how +you managed to get to my dome.'</p> + +<p>And he threw open the easternmost window, +and she stepped with him out on to the +balcony.</p> + +<p>They looked down across Hugo's little +private garden, into the blackness of the court +of fountains, whose balconies were vaguely +disclosed here and there by the reflection from +lit interiors. On the other side of the deep +pit of the court was the vast expanse of flat +roof containing the famous roof garden. Amid +dwarf trees and festoons of coloured lights, +the figures of men and women who counted +themselves the cream of London could dimly +be seen walking about or sitting at tables; +and the wild strain of the Tsigane musicians, +as they swayed to and fro in their red coats +on the bandstand, floated towards the dome +through the heavy summer air. In the near +distance the fantastic shapes of chimney-cowls +raised themselves against the starry but +moonless sky, and miles away the grandiose +contours of a dome far greater than Hugo's—the +dome of St. Paul's—finished the prospect +in solemn majesty. It was a scene well +calculated to intensify a man's emotions, +especially when a man stands to view it, as +Hugo stood, on a lofty balcony, with a beautiful +and loved woman by his side.</p> + +<p>She was indicating pathways, as well as +she could, when they both saw a man hurrying +in the direction of the dome along by the roof-balustrade +of the court of fountains—the +route by which Camilla herself had come. +He arrived under the dome, and would have +disappeared into a doorway had not Hugo +called:</p> + +<p>'Shawn, I'm here!'</p> + +<p>'I was just coming to see you, sir,' replied +Albert Shawn in a loud whisper, as he climbed +breathless up to the little raised garden +beneath the dome.</p> + +<p>Camilla withdrew behind a curtain of the +window.</p> + +<p>'Well?' Hugo queried.</p> + +<p>'She's gone, sir. But dashed if I know +where, unless she's got herself lost somewhere +on the roof.'</p> + +<p>'She is here,' said Hugo, lowering his voice. +'And it appears that you waited very clumsily +at that dinner, my boy. A bad disguise is +worse than none. I must lend you Gaboriau's +"Crime of Orcival" to read; that will teach +you. Anything else to tell me?'</p> + +<p>'I went back to the balcony entrance of the +flat,' the youthful detective replied humbly, +looking up to Hugo in the window of the +dome. 'I could see through the lacework of +the blind; the drawing-room was empty. +The French window was open an inch or so, +and I could hear a clock ticking as clear as a +bell. Then Mr. Tudor toddled up, and I hid +in the servants' doorway. Mr. Tudor went +in by the other door, and out I popped again +to my post. I see my gentleman stamping +about and calling "Camilla! Camilla!" fit to +burst. No answer. Then he picks up a photograph +off a table and kisses it smack—twice.'</p> + +<p>Camilla stirred behind the curtain.</p> + +<p>'Then he goes into another room,' proceeded +Albert Shawn, 'and lo and behold! +another man comes from round the corner of +a screen—a man much older than Mr. Tudor! +And Mr. Tudor runs in again, and these +two meet—these two do. And they stare +at each other, and Mr. Tudor says, "Hullo, +Louis—"'</p> + +<p>'I knew it!' The cry came from Camilla +within the dome.</p> + +<p>'What?' demanded Hugo, turning to her +and ignoring Shawn.</p> + +<p>'It was Louis Ravengar whom I saw hiding +behind the door. I felt all the time that it +was he!'</p> + +<p>And she put her hands to her face.</p> + +<p>'Ravengar!' He was astounded to hear +that name. What had she, what had Tudor, +to do with Ravengar?</p> + +<p>'That was why I thought <i>you</i> were in the +plot, Mr. Hugo,' she added.</p> + +<p>'Me? Why?'</p> + +<p>'Can you ask?'</p> + +<p>Her eyes met his, and it was his that +fell.</p> + +<p>'I have no relations whatever with Ravengar, +I assure you,' he said gravely. 'But, by +the dagger! I'll see this affair to the end.' +'By the dagger' was a form of oath, meaningless +yet terrible in sound, which Hugo employed +only on the greatest occasions. He +turned sharply to the window. 'Anything +else, Shawn?'</p> + +<p>'There was a gust of wind that shut the +blessed window, sir. I couldn't hear any +more, so I came to report.'</p> + +<p>'Go to the front entrance of the flat instantly,' +Hugo ordered him. 'I will watch the +balcony.'</p> + +<p>'Yes, sir.'</p> + +<p>Camilla was crouching in the embrasure of +the window. Her body seemed to shake.</p> + +<p>'There is nothing to fear,' Hugo soothed +her. 'Stay here till I return.' And he +snatched up the revolver.</p> + +<p>'No,' she said, straightening herself; 'I +must go with you.'</p> + +<p>'Better not.'</p> + +<p>'I must go with you,' she repeated.</p> + +<p>They passed together along the railed edge +of the court of fountains under the stars, +skirted the gay and melodious garden behind +the trees in their huge wooden boxes, and so +came to a second quadrangle, upon whose +highest story the windows of Tudor's flat +gave. Descending a stairway of forged iron +to the balcony, they crept forward in silence +to the window of Tudor's drawing-room, and, +still side by side, gazed, as Shawn had done, +through the fine lacework of the blind into +the splendid apartment.</p> + +<p>The window was almost at a corner of the +room, near a door; but Hugo had a perfect +view of the two men within, and one was as +certainly Louis Ravengar as the other was +Francis Tudor. They were gesticulating +violently and angrily, and a heavy, ornate +Empire chair had already been overturned. +The dispute seemed to be interminable; each +moment heralded a fight, but it is the watched +pot that never boils. Suddenly Hugo became +aware that Camilla was no longer at his elbow, +and the next instant, to his extreme amazement, +he saw her glide into the room. She +had removed her hat and cloak, and stood +revealed in all her beauty. The two men +did not perceive her. She softly opened the +window, and the confused murmur of voices +reached Hugo's ear.</p> + +<p>'Give me the revolver,' Camilla whispered.</p> + +<p>And her whisper was such that he passed +the weapon, as it were hypnotically, to her +under the blind. And then the blind slipped +down, and he could see no more. He heard +a shot, and the next thing was that the revolver +was pushed back to him, nearly at the +level of the floor.</p> + +<p>'Wait there!' The sound of her voice, +tense and authoritative, came through the +slit of the window and thrilled him. 'All is +well now, but I will send you a message.'</p> + +<p>And the window was swiftly closed and a +curtain drawn behind the blind. He could +hear nothing.</p> + +<p>He had small intention of obeying her. +'She must have gone in by the servants' +entrance,' he argued. 'I should have seen +her if she had tried the other.' And he ran +to the small door, but it was shut fast. In +vain he knocked and shook the handle for +several minutes. Then he hastened to the +main door on the broad balcony, but that also +was impregnable.</p> + +<p>Should he break a pane?</p> + +<p>A noise far along the balcony attracted him. +He flew towards it, found nothing but a cat +purring, and returned. The luscious music of +the Tsigane band, one of the nine orchestras +which he owned, reached him faintly over the +edge of the quadrangle.</p> + +<p>Then he decidedly did hear human footsteps +on the balcony. They were the footsteps of +Shawn.</p> + +<p>'She's gone, sir. Took the lift, and whizzed +off in Mr. Tudor's electric brougham that was +waiting.'</p> + +<p>'And the men?' he gasped.</p> + +<p>'Seen neither of them, sir. She put this +note in my hand as she passed me, sir.'</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h3> + +<h2>A LAPSE FROM AN IDEAL</h2> + + +<p>'If you please, sir,' said Simon Shawn, when +he brought Hugo's tea the next morning, 'I +am informed that a man has secreted himself +on the summit of the dome.'</p> + +<p>Hugo, lying moveless on his back, and +ignoring even the tea, made no reply to this +speech. He was still repeating to himself the +following words, which, by constant iteration, +had assumed in his mind the force and emphasis +of italics: <i>'So grateful for your sympathetic +help. When next I see you, if there is +opportunity, I will try to thank you. Meantime, +all is well with me. Please trouble no +more. And forget.'</i> Such were the exact +terms of the note from Camilla Payne delivered +to him by Albert Shawn. Of course, he knew +it by heart. It was scribbled very hastily in +pencil on half a sheet of paper, and it bore no +signature, not even a solitary initial. If it +had not been handed to Albert by Camilla in +person, Hugo might have doubted its genuineness, +and might have spent the night in transgressing +the law of trespass and other laws, +in order to be assured of a woman's safety. +But under the circumstances he could not +doubt its genuineness. What he doubted was +its exact import. And what he objected to +in it was its lack of information. He wished +ardently to know whether Ravengar and +Tudor, or either of them, had been wounded, +and if so, by whose revolver; for he could not +be certain that it was Camilla who had fired. +An examination of the revolver which he and +she had passed from hand to hand had shown +two chambers undischarged. He wished +ardently to know how she had contrived to +settle her account with Tudor, and yet get +away in Tudor's brougham, unless it was by +a wile worthy of the diplomacy of a Queen +Elizabeth. And he wished ardently to understand +a hundred and one other things concerning +Camilla, Tudor, and Ravengar, and +the permutations and combinations of these +three, which offered apparently insoluble +problems to his brain. Nevertheless, there +was one assurance which seemed to him to +emerge clearly from the note, and to atone for +its vagueness—a vagueness, however, perfectly +excusable, he reflected, having regard +to the conditions in which it was written—namely, +that Camilla intended to arrive, as +usual, in Department 42 that morning. What +significance could be attached to the phrase, +'When next I see you, <i>if there is opportunity</i>,' +unless it signified that she anticipated seeing +him next in the shop and in the course of +business? Moreover, he felt that it would +be just like Camilla to start by behaving to +him as though nothing had occurred. (But +he would soon alter that, he said masterfully.) +He was, on the whole, happy as he lay in bed. +She knew that he loved her. They had been +intimate. In three hours at most he would +see her again. And his expectations ran high. +Indeed, she had already begun to exist in his +mind as his life's companion.</p> + +<p>Simon coughed politely but firmly.</p> + +<p>'What's that you say?' Hugo demanded; +and Simon repeated his item of news.</p> + +<p>'Ha!' said Hugo; 'doubtless some enthusiast +for sunrises.'</p> + +<p>'He has been twice perceived in the little +gallery by the men cleaning the roof garden,' +Simon added.</p> + +<p>'And who is it?'</p> + +<p>'His identity has not been established,' said +Simon.</p> + +<p>'Can't you moderate your language a +little, Shawn?' Hugo asked, staring always +absently up into the dome.</p> + +<p>'I beg pardon, sir. I have spent part of +the night with Albert, and his loose speech +always drives me to the other extreme,' +Simon observed, repentant.</p> + +<p>'Has Albert seen the burglar?'</p> + +<p>'No, sir, if it <i>is</i> a burglar.'</p> + +<p>'Well,' said Hugo, 'he's quite safe where he +is. He can't get down except by that door, +can he?' pointing to a masked door, which +was painted to represent a complete set in +sixty volumes of the 'Acts of the Saints.'</p> + +<p>'No, sir.'</p> + +<p>'And he could only have got up by that +door?' Hugo pursued.</p> + +<p>'Yes, sir.'</p> + +<p>'Which means that you were away from +your post last night, my son.'</p> + +<p>'I was, sir,' Shawn admitted frankly. +'When you and Albert and the lady ran off so +quickly, I followed, as far as I judged expedient—beg +pardon, sir. The man must +have slipped in during my absence. I remember +I noticed the masked door was ajar +on my return. I shut and locked it.'</p> + +<p>'That explains everything,' said Hugo. +'You see how your sins find you out.'</p> + +<p>'Yes, sir.'</p> + +<p>'I say, Shawn,' Hugo cried, as he went to +his bath, 'talking of that chap up above, play +me the Captives' chorus from "Fidelio."'</p> + +<p>'It is not in the répertoire, sir,' said Simon, +after searching.</p> + +<p>'Not in the répertoire! Impossible!'</p> + +<p>'No, sir.'</p> + +<p>'Ah well, then, let us have the Wedding +March from "Lohengrin."'</p> + +<p>'With pleasure, sir.'</p> + +<p>But Simon was unfortunate that morning. +The toilet completed, Hugo came towards +him swinging the gold token, the bearer of +which had the right to take whatever he chose +from all the hundred and thirty-one departments +of the stores in exchange for a simple +receipt.</p> + +<p>'I will interview the burglar,' said Hugo. +'But just run down first and get me a pair of +handcuffs.'</p> + +<p>In ten minutes Simon returned crestfallen.</p> + +<p>'We do not keep handcuffs, sir,' he stammered.</p> + +<p>'Not—keep—! What nonsense! First +you tell me that "Fidelio" is not in the répertoire, +and then you have the effrontery to add +that we do not keep handcuffs. Shawn, are +you not aware that the fundamental principle +of this establishment is that we keep everything? +If we received an order for a herd of +white elephants—'</p> + +<p>'No doubt our arrangement with Jamrach's +would enable us to supply them, sir,' Simon +put in rapidly. 'But handcuffs seem to be a +monopoly of the State.'</p> + +<p>'Evidently, Shawn, you are not familiar +with the famous remark of Louis the Fourteenth.'</p> + +<p>'I am not, sir.'</p> + +<p>'He said, "<i>L'état, c'est moi</i>." Show me the +catalogue.'</p> + +<p>Simon, bearing on his shoulders at that +moment the sins of ten managers, scurried to +bring an immense tome, bound in crimson +leather, and inscribed in gold, 'Hugo, General +Catalogue.' It contained nearly two thousand +large quarto pages, and above six thousand +illustrations. Hugo turned solemnly to the +exhaustive index, which alone occupied +seventy pages of small type, and, running +his finger down a column, he read out, +Handbells, handbell-ringers, handbills, hand-embroidered +sheets, handkerchiefs, handles, +handsaws, hansoms, Hardemann's beetle +powder, hares, haricot beans....'</p> + +<p>'Lamentable!' he ejaculated—'lamentable! +You will tell Mr.—Mr. Banbury this +morning to procure some handcuffs, assorted +sizes, at once, and to add them to the—the—Explorers' +Outfit Department.'</p> + +<p>'Precisely, sir.'</p> + +<p>'In the meantime I shall have to ascend +the dome, and face the burglar without this +necessary of life. Give me the revolver +instead.'</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h3> + +<h2>POSSIBLE ESCAPE OF SECRETS</h2> + + +<p>The top of the dome was fashioned into a kind +of belvedere, with a small circular gallery. +Hugo emerged at the head of the stairs, and +saw no living thing; but at the sound of his +footstep a man sprang nervously into view +round the curve of the gallery, and fronted +him.</p> + +<p>Hugo, with his hands still on either rail of +the staircase, took the top step, gazing the +while at his burglar, first in wonder, and then +with a capricious abandonment to what he +considered the humour of the situation. He +thought of Albert Shawn's account of the +meeting between Francis Tudor and his visitor +in Tudor's flat on the previous night, and +some fantastic impulse, due to the strain of +Welsh blood in him, caused him to address the +man as Tudor had addressed him:</p> + +<p>'Hullo, Louis!'</p> + +<p>There was a pause, and then came the reply +in a tone which might have been ferocious or +facetious:</p> + +<p>'Well, my young friend?'</p> + +<p>It was indeed Louis Ravengar. Dishevelled, +fatigued, and unstrung, he formed a +sinister contrast to Hugo, fresh from repose, +cold water and music, and also to the spirit +of the beautiful summer morning itself, which +at that unspoilt hour seemed always to +sojourn for a space in the belvedere. The sun +glinted joyously on the golden ornament of the +dome, and on Hugo's smooth hair, but it +revealed without pity the stains on Ravengar's +flaccid collar and the disorder of his +evening clothes and opera-hat.</p> + +<p>He was a fairly tall man, with thin gray +hair round the sides of his head, but none on +the crown nor on his face, the chief characteristics +of which were the square jaw, the +extremely long upper lip, the flat nose, and +the very small blue-gray eyes. He looked +sixty, and was scarcely fifty. He looked one +moment like a Nonconformist local preacher +who had mistaken his vocation; but he was +nothing of the kind. He looked the next +moment like a good hater and a great scorner +of scruples; and he was.</p> + +<p>These two men had not exchanged a word, +had not even seen each other, save at the +rarest intervals, for nearly a quarter of a +century. They were the principals in a +quarrel of the most vivid, satanic, and incurable +sort known to anthropological science—the +family quarrel—and the existence of this +feud was a proof of the indisputable truth +that it sometimes takes less than two to make +a quarrel. For, though Owen Hugo was not +absolutely an angel, Ravengar had made it +single-handed.</p> + +<p>The circumstances of its origin were quite +simple. When Louis Ravengar was nine +years old, his father, a widower, married a +widow with one child, aged six. That child +was Hugo. The two lads, violently different +in temperament—the one gloomy and secretive, +the other buoyant and frank—with no +tie of blood or of affection, were forced by +destiny to grow up together in the same house, +and by their parents even to sleep in the same +room. They were never apart, and they loathed +each other. Louis regarded young Owen as +an interloper, and acted towards him as boys +and tigers will towards interlopers weaker +than themselves. The mischief was that +Owen, in course of years, became a great +favourite with his step-father. This roused +Louis to a fury which was the more dangerous +in that Owen had begun to overtake him in +strength, and the fury could, therefore, find +no outlet. Then Owen's mother died, and +Ravengar, senior, married again—a girl this +time, who soon discovered that the household +in which she had planted herself was far too +bellicose to be comfortable. She abandoned +her husband, and sought consolation and +sympathy with another widower, who also +was blessed with offspring. Such is the +foolishness of women. You cannot cure a +woman of being one. But it must be said in +favour of the third Mrs. Ravengar and her +consoler that they conducted their affair with +praiseworthy attention to outward decency. +She went to America by one steamer, and +purchased a divorce in Iowa for two hundred +dollars. He followed in the next steamer, +and they were duly united in Minneapolis. +Meanwhile, the Ravengar household, left to +the ungoverned passions of three males, became +more and more impossible, and at length +old Ravengar expired. In his will he stated +that it was only from a stern sense of justice +that he divided his considerable fortune in +equal shares between Louis and Owen. Had +he consulted his inclination, he would have +left one shilling to Louis, and the remainder +to Owen, who alone had been a true son to +him.</p> + +<p>It was a too talkative will. Testators, like +politicians, should never explain.</p> + +<p>Louis, who got as a favour half the fortune +of which the whole was, in his opinion, his by +right, was naturally exasperated in the highest +degree by the terms of the indiscreet testament, +and on the day of the funeral he parted +from the son of his step-mother, swearing, in +a somewhat melodramatic manner, that he +would be revenged. Hugo was then twenty-one, +and for twenty-five years he had waited +in vain for symptoms of the revenge.</p> + +<p>And now they met again, in the truest +sense strangers. And each had a reason for +humouring the other, for each wanted to +know what the other had to do with Camilla +Payne.</p> + +<p>'So you're determined, Louis,' said Hugo +lightly, 'to bring me to my knees about the +transfer of my business to a limited company, +eh?'</p> + +<p>'What on earth do you mean, man?' +asked Ravengar, whose voice was always +gruff.</p> + +<p>'I refer to Polycarp's visit yesterday.'</p> + +<p>'I know nothing of it,' said Ravengar +slowly, looking across the wilderness of roofs.</p> + +<p>'Then why are you here, Louis? Is your +revenge at last matured?'</p> + +<p>Ravengar controlled himself, and glanced +round as if for unseen aid in a forlorn enterprise.</p> + +<p>'Owen,' he said, moved, 'I'm here because +I need your help. I won't say anything +about the past. I know you were always +good-natured. And you've worn better than +I have. I need your help in a matter of +supreme importance to me. I became aware +last night that you and your men were interested +in the proceedings at Tudor's flat. I +ran here, meaning to see you. There was no +one in the big circular room downstairs, and +no one at the entrance. Then I saw your +servant coming, and I retreated through the +door. I wished my presence to be known +only to you. The door was locked on me. I +knocked in vain. Then I stumbled up the +stairs, and found myself out here. I wanted +to calm myself, and here I remained. I knew +your habit of coming up here at early morning. +That is the whole explanation of my +presence.'</p> + +<p>Hugo nodded.</p> + +<p>'I guessed as much,' he said. 'I will help +you if I can. But first tell me what happened +in the flat last night after Miss Payne entered +while you and Tudor were quarrelling. She +fired on you?'</p> + +<p>'No,' said Ravengar; 'I believe she would +have done. It was Tudor who drew a revolver +and fired. Had I had my own—But +I had laid it on a table, like a fool, and +it disappeared.'</p> + +<p>'Is not this it?' asked Hugo, producing +Camilla's weapon.</p> + +<p>Ravengar nodded, amazed.</p> + +<p>'I thought so,' Hugo said, and returned it +to his pocket. 'Were you wounded?'</p> + +<p>'It was nothing. A scratch on the wrist. +See! But I left. She—she ordered me to. +And I saw I had no chance. I came out by +the principal door on the balcony while you +were struggling with the servants' door.'</p> + +<p>'Wait a moment,' Hugo put in. 'Tudor +knew you were hiding in the flat?'</p> + +<p>'Not much!' exclaimed Ravengar. 'I +dropped on him like something out of the +sky. It cost me some trouble to get in. I +had a silly old housekeeper to dispose of.'</p> + +<p>Hugo's heart fell.</p> + +<p>'Great heavens!' he sighed.</p> + +<p>'Why? What's the matter?'</p> + +<p>'Nothing. But tell me what you wanted +to get into the flat for at all. What is there +between you and Tudor?'</p> + +<p>'Man! he's taken Camilla from me!' The +accents of rage and despair were in Ravengar's +voice as he uttered these words. 'He's taken +her from me! She was my typewriter, you +know. I fell in love with her. We were +engaged!'</p> + +<p>Hugo was startled for a moment; then he +smiled bitterly and incredulously. It seemed +too monstrous and absurd that Camilla should +have betrothed herself to this forbidding, ugly, +ageing, and terrible man.</p> + +<p>'You were engaged? Never! Perhaps you +aren't aware that she was engaged to Tudor?'</p> + +<p>'I tell you we were engaged.'</p> + +<p>'She accepted you?'</p> + +<p>'Why not? I meant well by the girl.'</p> + +<p>'And then she disappeared?'</p> + +<p>Hugo spoke with a certain cynicism.</p> + +<p>'How do you know?' Ravengar demanded +angrily.</p> + +<p>'I only guess.'</p> + +<p>'Well, she did. I can't imagine why. I +meant well by her. And the next thing is, I +find her working in your shop, and in the +arms of that scoundrel, Tudor.' He hesitated, +and then, as he proceeded, his tones softened +to an appeal. 'Owen, why were you watching +last night? I must know. It's an affair +of life or death to me.'</p> + +<p>Hugo did not believe most of Ravengar's +story, and he perceived the difficulty of his +own position and the necessity for caution.</p> + +<p>'I was watching because Miss Payne +thought herself in some mysterious danger,' +he said.</p> + +<p>'She came to me, as you have done, to +ask my help. And I won't hide from you +that it was she herself who informed me +definitely that Tudor had invited her to +marry him, and that she had consented.'</p> + +<p>'She shall not marry him!' cried Ravengar, +exasperated.</p> + +<p>'You are right,' said Hugo. 'She shall +not. I have yet to be convinced even that +he meant to marry her.'</p> + +<p>'The rascal! He and I had business relations +for several years before I discovered +who he was. Of course, you know?'</p> + +<p>'Indeed I don't,' said Hugo, 'if he isn't +Francis Tudor.'</p> + +<p>'He has as much right to the name of +Tudor as you have to the name of Hugo,' +Ravengar sneered. 'He is the son of the +man who dishonoured my father's name by +pretending to marry that woman in Minneapolis. +Even if I hated my father, I've no +cause to love <i>that</i> branch of our complicated +family connections.'</p> + +<p>Hugo whistled.</p> + +<p>'I did not think there was so much money +there,' he said at length.</p> + +<p>'There wasn't. The fellow came into +twenty thousand two years ago, and he has +never earned a cent.'</p> + +<p>'Yet he's living at the rate of five thousand +a year at least.'</p> + +<p>'It's like him!' Ravengar snorted. 'It's +like him!'</p> + +<p>'Perhaps he can't help it,' Hugo said +queerly. 'Everyone isn't like you and me.'</p> + +<p>'He can help robbing me of my future +wife!'</p> + +<p>'But she left you of her own accord.'</p> + +<p>'Owen, she must marry me. It is essential. +You must bring your influence to bear,' +Ravengar burst out wildly. 'She must be +my wife!'</p> + +<p>'My dear fellow,' Hugo protested calmly, +'what are you dreaming of? I have no +influence. You talk like a man at his wits' +end.'</p> + +<p>There was a silence.</p> + +<p>'I am a man at his wits' end,' Ravengar +murmured, half sadly. 'I trusted that girl. +She knows all my secrets.'</p> + +<p>'What secrets?' asked Hugo, struck by +the phrase.</p> + +<p>'My business secrets, of course. What +else do you fancy?'</p> + +<p>'My fancy is too active,' said Hugo, with +careful casualness. 'It runs away with me. +I was thinking of other sorts of secrets, and +of that curious principle of English law that +a wife can't give evidence against her husband.... +You must pardon my fancy,' +he added.</p> + +<p>'Do you mean to insinuate that my eagerness +to marry Camilla Payne is in order to +prevent her from being able to—'</p> + +<p>'No, Louis; I mean to insinuate nothing. +Can't you see a joke?'</p> + +<p>'I cannot,' said Ravengar. 'Not that +variety of joke.'</p> + +<p>'The appreciation of humour was never your +strong point.'</p> + +<p>Something in Hugo's manner made Ravengar +spring forward; then he checked himself.</p> + +<p>'Owen,' he entreated, 'don't let's quarrel +again. I beg you to help me. Help me, and +I'll promise never to interfere with you in +your business—I'll swear it.'</p> + +<p>'Then it was you, after all, that instructed +Polycarp?'</p> + +<p>Ravengar gave an affirmative sign.</p> + +<p>'I meant either to get hold of this place or +to ruin you. Remember what I suffered—in +the old days.... You see I'm frank with +you. Help me. We're neither of us growing +younger. I'm mad for that girl, and I +must have her.'</p> + +<p>Hugo put his hands into his pockets, and +consulted his toes. This semi-step-brother of +his somehow aroused his compassion.</p> + +<p>'No, Louis,' he said; 'I can't.'</p> + +<p>'You hate me?'</p> + +<p>'Not a bit.'</p> + +<p>'Do you think I'm too old to marry, or +what is it?'</p> + +<p>'It's just like this, Louis, my friend: I +have every intention of marrying Miss Payne +myself.'</p> + +<p>'You!... Ah!... Indeed!'</p> + +<p>'I have so decided. And when I decide, +the thing is as good as done.'</p> + +<p>'And that's why you were watching last +night! Good! Oh, good! Only I may as +well inform you, Owen, that if Camilla Payne +marries anyone but me, there will be murder. +And no ordinary murder, either!'</p> + +<p>Hugo took a turn in the gallery. He felt +genuinely sorry for the gray and desperate +man, driven by the intensity of emotion to +utterances which were merely absurd.</p> + +<p>'Louis,' he remarked, with a melancholy +kindliness of tone, 'fate has a grudge against +us two. It ruined our youth, and now it's +embroiling us once more. Can't we both be +philosophical? Can't we contrive to look at +the thing in a—'</p> + +<p>'Enough!' Ravengar almost yelled. 'You +always talked that kind of d——d nonsense, +you did! Unless you can arrange to say +you'll give her up, you may as well hold your +tongue.'</p> + +<p>'Very well,' said Hugo, 'I'll hold my +tongue.'</p> + +<p>'That's all, then?'</p> + +<p>'Quite all.'</p> + +<p>'I suppose I can go? You'll let me pass? +You'll not exercise your right to treat me as +a burglar?'</p> + +<p>'There are the stairs. Pass Shawn boldly. +He is terrible, but he will not eat you.'</p> + +<p>'Thanks.'</p> + +<p>'And that is the unrivalled company promoter! +And this is life!' Hugo meditated +when he was alone on the dome.</p> + +<p>He leaned over the railing of the gallery, +and watched his legions gathering for the +day's battle.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h3> + +<h2>ORANGE-BLOSSOM</h2> + + +<p>Some two hours later Hugo was in one of the +common rooms devoted to the leisure and +diversion of the legions in the upper basement: +a large and bright apartment, ornamented +with bookcases, wicker chairs, and reproductions +of all that was most uplifting in graphic +art. It was the domain of the ladies engaged +in Departments 30 to 45, and was managed +by an elected committee of their number. +Affixed to the walls, in and out among the +specimens of graphic art, were quite a lot of +little red diamond squares, containing in +white the words, 'Do it now,' in excessively +readable letters. A staff notice about the +early closing of the previous day had been +pinned up near the door, and printed information +relating to a trip to the Isle of Man, +balloting for the use of motor-cars on Sundays, +and a gratis book entitled 'Human Nature in +Shoppers,' were also prominent. Above the +fireplace was a fine mirror, and Hugo was +personally engaged in pasting on the mirror a +fine and effective poster, which ran as follows:</p> + +<p>'Interesting. Last year the sales of the +Children's Boot and Shoe Department surpassed +the sales of the Ladies' Ditto by £558. +In the first half of this year, on the contrary, +the sales of the Ladies' Boot and Shoe Department +have surpassed the sales of the Children's +Ditto by £25. Great credit is due to the staff +of the L.B. and S.D. But will the staff of the +C.B. and S.D. allow themselves to be thus +wiped out? That is the question, and Mr. +Hugo will watch for the answer. Managers' +Council, July 10th.'</p> + +<p>Hugo, as the supreme head of Hugo's, had +organized his establishment in such a manner +as to leave no regular duties for himself, conformably +to the maxim that a well-managed +business is a business which runs smoothly +and efficiently when the manager is not +managing, and to that other maxim that the +highest aim of the competent manager should +be to make himself unnecessary. Hence he +was perfectly at liberty to be wayward and +freakish in his activities from time to time. +And this happened to be one of his wayward +and freakish mornings. There were, however, +few young women in the common room +to behold his aberration, for the hour was +within two minutes of nine, and at nine o'clock +the latest of the legionaries was supposed to +be at her post. Three girls who were being +hastily served with glasses of milk by a pink-aproned +waitress politely feigned not to see +him. Then another girl ran in, and she, too, +had to pretend that the spectacle of Hugo +pasting posters on mirrors was one of the +most ordinary in life. Hugo glanced at this +last comer in the mirror, and sighed a secret +disappointment.</p> + +<p>The interview with Louis Ravengar had +left him less perturbed than might be imagined—at +any rate, as regards Ravengar's own +share in what had occurred and what was to +occur. He was inclined to leave Ravengar +out of the account, and to put the greater +part of his hysterical appeals and threats +down to the effect of a sleepless and highly +unusual night. That Ravengar was absolutely +sincere in his desire to marry Camilla +he did not doubt, and he fully shared the +frenzied man's determination that Camilla +should not marry Francis Tudor. But beyond +this Hugo did not go. He certainly did not +go so far as to believe that Camilla had ever +formally engaged herself to Ravengar. He +thought it just possible that Ravengar might +have committed a crime, or several crimes, +and that Camilla might have knowledge of +them, but the question whether Ravengar +was or was not a criminal appeared to him +to be a little off the point.</p> + +<p>The unique point was his own prospects +with Camilla. It may be said that he felt +capable of shielding her from forty Ravengars.</p> + +<p>He had torn prudence to shreds, and +stamped on it, that morning, and had gone +down boldly and directly to Department 42 +at a quarter to nine, in order to meet Camilla. +And she had not then arrived. He had then +conceived the idea of, and the excuse for, a +visit to the common room, through which +every assistant was obliged to pass on her +way to the receipt of custom. In the whole +history of Hugo's a poster had never before +been known to be posted on a mirror, which +is utterly the wrong place for a poster, but +Hugo had chosen the mirror as the field of +his labours solely that he might surreptitiously +observe every soul that entered the +room.</p> + +<p>The clock on the mantelpiece struck +nine, and the last assistant had fled, and +Hugo was left alone with the pink-aproned +waitress, who was collecting glasses on a +tray.</p> + +<p>'Has Miss Payne come this morning?' he +asked casually of the girl, patting the poster +like an artist absorbed in his work.</p> + +<p>It was a reckless question. He well knew +that in half an hour the whole basement +would be aware that Mr. Hugo had asked +after Miss Payne, but he scorned the whole +basement.</p> + +<p>'Miss who, sir?'</p> + +<p>'Miss Payne, of the millinery department.'</p> + +<p>'A tall young lady, sir?'</p> + +<p>'Yes.'</p> + +<p>'With chestnut hair?'</p> + +<p>'Now you have me,' he lied.</p> + +<p>'I fancy I know who you mean, sir; and +now I come to think of it, I don't think she +has.'</p> + +<p>The waitress spoke in an apologetic tone, +and looked at the clock with an apologetic +look. She was no fool, that waitress.</p> + +<p>'Thank you.'</p> + +<p>As he left the room Albert Shawn entered +by the other door, and, perceiving nobody +but the waitress, kissed the waitress, and +was kissed by her heartily.</p> + +<p>Hugo's deportment was debonnair, but his +heart had seriously sunk. Just as he had +before been quite sure that Camilla would +come as usual, now he was quite sure that +she would not come as usual. Ever since he +had learnt from Ravengar that Tudor had +been ignorant of Ravengar's presence in the +flat, and that Ravengar had had to 'dispose +of' the housekeeper, a horrid suspicion had +lurked at the back of his mind, and now this +suspicion sprang out upon his hopes of +Camilla's arrival, and fairly strangled them. +And the suspicion was that Camilla had misjudged +Francis Tudor, that his intentions had +throughout been perfectly honourable, and +that on her return to the flat he had quickly +convinced Camilla of this.</p> + +<p>In which case, where did he, Hugo, come +in?</p> + +<p>As for the terms of the note, he perceived +that he had interpreted them in a particular +way because he wished to interpret them in a +particular way.</p> + +<p>He ascended in the direction of Department +42. Perhaps, after all, she had escaped +his vigilance, and was at her duties.</p> + +<p>On the way thither he was accosted by a +manager.</p> + +<p>'Mr. Hugo.'</p> + +<p>'Well, Banbury?'</p> + +<p>'I telephoned to New Scotland Yard, but +they refused any information. However, I've +got a pair from the nearest police-station. I +shall order our blacksmiths to make a dozen +pairs to pattern. They will be in next month's +catalogue.'</p> + +<p>'I congratulate you, Banbury.'</p> + +<p>And he passed on. The early-rising customers +were beginning to invade the galleries, +the cashiers in their confessional-boxes were +settling themselves in their seats, faultless +shopwalkers were giving a final hitch to their +lovely collars, and the rank-and-file were preparing +to receive cavalry. The vast machine +had started, slowly and deliberately, as an +express engine starts. And already the heat, +as yesterday, was formidable. But <i>she</i> would +not suffer to-day; she was not in Department +42.</p> + +<p>He went further and further, aimlessly +penetrating to the very heart of the jungle +of departments. He had glimpses of departments +that he had not seen for weeks. At +length he came to the verdant and delicious +Flower Department (hot-house branch), and +by chance he caught a word which brought +him to a standstill.</p> + +<p>'What's that?' he asked sharply, of a +salesman in white.</p> + +<p>'Order for orange-blossom, sir. A single +sprig only. Rather a curious order, sir.'</p> + +<p>'You can supply it?'</p> + +<p>'Without doubt, sir.'</p> + +<p>'Who is the customer?'</p> + +<p>'Mr. Francis Tudor,' replied the salesman, +looking at a paper. 'No. 7, the Flats.'</p> + +<p>'Ah yes,' he said; and thought: 'My life +is over.'</p> + +<p>He gazed with unseeing eyes into the green +and shady recesses of the palmarium, where +water trickled and tinkled.</p> + +<p>What was the power, the influence, the +lever, which Francis Tudor was using to +induce Camilla to marry him—him whom, +on her own statement, she did not love? +And could Louis Ravengar be in earnest, +after all, with his savage threats?</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX</h3> + +<h2>'WHICH?'</h2> + + +<p>'And when I decide, the thing is as good as +done.' Those proud, vain words of his, +spoken to Louis Ravengar with all the arrogance +of a man who had never met Fate like +a lion in the path, often recurred to Hugo's +mind during the next few weeks. And their +futility exasperated him. He had decided to +win Camilla, and therefore Camilla was as +good as won! Only, she had been married +on the very morning of those boastful words +by license at a registry-office to Francis Tudor. +The strange admixture of orange-blossom and +registry-office was not the only strange thing +about the wedding. It was clear, for example, +that Tudor must have arranged the preliminaries +of the ceremony before the bride's consent +had been obtained—unless, indeed, +Camilla had garbled the truth to Hugo on +the previous night; and Hugo did not believe +this to be possible.</p> + +<p>Albert Shawn had brought the news hour +by hour to Hugo.</p> + +<p>After the wedding, the pair drove to Mr. +Tudor's flat, where Senior Polycarp paid +them a brief visit.</p> + +<p>Then Hugo received by messenger a note +from Tudor formally regretting that his wife +had left her employment without due notice, +and enclosing a cheque for the amount of a +month's wages in lieu thereof.</p> + +<p>And then Mr. and Mrs. Tudor had departed +for Paris by the two-twenty Folkstone-Boulogne +service from Charing Cross. And +the gorgeous flat was shut up.</p> + +<p>Albert Shawn had respectfully inquired +whether there remained anything else to be +done in the affair, far more mysterious to +Albert than it was even to Hugo.</p> + +<p>'No,' Hugo had said shortly.</p> + +<p>He was Hugo, with extraordinary resources +at hand, but a quite ordinary circumstance, +such as ten minutes spent in a registry-office, +will sometimes outweigh all the resources in +the world when the success of a scheme hangs +in the balance.</p> + +<p>What could he do, in London or in Paris, +civilized and police-ridden cities?</p> + +<p>Civilization left him but one thing to do—to +acknowledge his defeat, and to mourn the +incomparable beauty and the distinguished +spirit which had escaped his passionate grasp. +And to this acknowledgment and this mourning +he was reduced, feeling that he was no +longer Hugo.</p> + +<p>It was perhaps natural, however, that his +employés should have been made to feel that +he was more Hugo than ever. For a month +he worked as he had never worked before, +and three thousand five hundred people, perspiring +under his glance and under the sun of +a London August, knew exactly the reason +why. The intense dramatic and sentimental +interest surrounding Camilla Payne's disappearance +from Department 42 was the sole +thing which atoned to the legionaries for the +inconvenience of Hugo's mistimed activity.</p> + +<p>Then suddenly he fell limp; he perceived +the uselessness of this attempt to forget in +Sloane Street, and he decided to try the banks +of a certain trout-stream on Dartmoor. He +knew that with all the sun-glare of that season, +and the water doubtless running a great deal +too fine, he would be as likely to catch trout +on Dartmoor as on the Thames Embankment; +but he determined to go, and he announced his +determination, and the entire personnel, from +the managers to the sweepers, murmured +privily, 'Thank Heaven!'</p> + +<p>The moment came for the illustrious departure. +His electric coupé stood at his private +door, and his own luggage and Simon Shawn's +luggage—for Simon never entrusted his master +to other hands—lay on the roof of the coupé. +Simon, anxiously looking at his watch, chatted +with the driver. Hugo had been stopped on +emerging from the lift by the chief accountant +concerning some technical question. At +length he came out into the street.</p> + +<p>'Shaving it close, aren't we, Simon?' he +remarked, and sprang into the vehicle, and +Simon banged the door and sprang on to the +box, and they seemed to be actually off, +much to the relief of Simon, who wanted a +holiday badly.</p> + +<p>But they were not actually off. At that +very instant, as the driver pulled his lever, +Albert Shawn came frantically into the scene +from somewhere, and signalled the driver to +wait. Simon cursed his brother.</p> + +<p>'Mr. Hugo,' Albert whispered, as he put +his head into the coupé.</p> + +<p>'Well, my lad?'</p> + +<p>'I suppose you've heard? They've turned +up again at the flat. Yes, this morning.'</p> + +<p>'Who have turned up again?'</p> + +<p>'That's the point, sir. Some of 'em. And +there's been a funeral ordered.'</p> + +<p>'A funeral? Whose funeral? From <i>us</i>?</p> + +<p>'Yes, sir; but whose—that's another point. +You see, I've just run along to let you know +how far I've got. Not that you gave me +any instructions. But when I heard of a +funeral—'</p> + +<p>'Is it a man's or a woman's?' Hugo demanded, +thinking to himself: 'I must keep +calm. I must keep calm.'</p> + +<p>'Don't know, sir.'</p> + +<p>'But surely the order-book—'</p> + +<p>'No order for coffin, sir. Merely the cortège; +day after to-morrow; parties making +their own arrangements at cemetery. Brompton.'</p> + +<p>'And did none of the porters see who +arrived at the flat this morning?'</p> + +<p>'None of 'em knows enough to be sure, +sir.'</p> + +<p>'Well,' said Hugo, 'there isn't likely to be +a funeral without a coffin, and no porter could +be blind to a coffin going upstairs.'</p> + +<p>'I can't get wind of any coffin, sir.'</p> + +<p>'And that's all you've learnt?'</p> + +<p>'That's the hang of it, sir—up to now. +But I can wire you to-night or to-morrow, +with further particulars.'</p> + +<p>Hugo glanced at the carriage-clock in front +of him, and thought of the famine of porters +at Waterloo Station in August, and invented +several other plausible excuses for a resolution +which he foresaw that he was about to +arrive at.</p> + +<p>'You've made me miss my train,' he said, +pretending to be annoyed.</p> + +<p>'Sorry, sir. Simon, the governor isn't +going.'</p> + +<p>Simon descended from the box for confirmation, +a fratricide in all but deed.</p> + +<p>'Have the luggage taken upstairs,' Hugo +commanded.</p> + +<p>He sat for seven hours in the dome, scarcely +moving.</p> + +<p>At nine o'clock Albert was announced.</p> + +<p>'Coffin just come up, sir,' he said, 'from +railway-station.'</p> + +<p>But that was the limit of his news.</p> + +<p>Within an hour Hugo went to bed. He +could not sleep; he had known that he could +not sleep. The wild and savage threat of +Louis Ravengar, and the question, 'Which?' +haunted his brain. At one o'clock in the +morning he switched on all the lights, rose +out of bed, and walked aimlessly about the +chamber. Something, some morbid impulse, +prompted him to take up the General Catalogue, +which lay next to a priceless copy of +the 1603 edition of Florio's 'Montaigne.' +There were pages and pages about funerals in +the General Catalogue, and forty fine photographic +specimens of tombstones and monuments.</p> + +<p>'Funerals conducted in town or country.... +Cremations and embalmments undertaken.... +Special stress is laid on the +appearance and efficiency of the attendants, +and on the reverent manner in which they +perform all their duties.... A shell finished +with satin, with robe, etc.... All necessary +service.... A hearse (or open car, as preferred) +and four horses, three mourning +coaches, with two horses each. Coachmen +and attendants in mourning, with gloves. +Superintendent, £38.... Estimates for cremation +on application.... Broken column, +in marble, £70. The same, with less carving, +£48.' And so on, and so on; and at the top +of every page: 'Hugo, Sloane Street, London. +Telegraphic address: "Complete, London." +Hugo, Sloane Street, London. Telegraphic +address: "Complete, London." Hugo—'</p> + +<p>Whom was he going to bury the day after +to-morrow—he, Hugo, undertaker, with his +reverent attendants of appearance guaranteed +respectable?</p> + +<p>The great catalogue slipped to the floor with +a terrible noise, and Simon Shawn sprang out +from his lair, and stopped at the sight of his +master in pyjamas under the full-blazing +electric chandelier.</p> + +<p>'All serene,' said Hugo; 'I only dropped +a book. Go to sleep. Perhaps we may reach +Devonshire to-morrow,' he added kindly.</p> + +<p>He sympathized with Simon.</p> + +<p>'Yes, sir.'</p> + +<p>He thought he would take a stroll on the +roof; it might calm his nerves.... Foolishness! +How much wiser to take a sedative!</p> + +<p>Then he turned to the Montaigne, and after +he had glanced at various pages, his eye encountered +a sentence in italics: <i>'Wisdome +hath hir excesses, and no lesse need of moderation, +than follie.'</i></p> + +<p>'True,' he murmured.</p> + +<p>He dressed, and went out.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X</h3> + +<h2>THE COFFIN</h2> + + +<p>He was in that mental condition, familiar to +every genuine man of action, in which, though +the mind divides against itself, and there is +an apparently even conflict between two impulses, +the battle is lost and won before it is +fought, and the fight is nothing but a sham +fight. He wandered about the roofs; he +went as far as the restaurant garden, and +turned on all the electric festoons and standards +by the secret switch, and sat down +solitary at a table before an empty glass +which a waiter had forgotten to remove. He +extinguished the lights, wandered back to the +dome, climbed to the topmost gallery, and +saw the moon rising over St. Paul's Cathedral. +He said he would go to bed again at once, +well knowing that he would not go to bed +again at once. He swore that he would conquer +the overmastering impulse, well knowing +that it would conquer him. He cursed, as +men only curse themselves. And then, suddenly, +he yielded, gladly, with relief.</p> + +<p>He hastened out, and did not pause till he +reached the balcony of flat No. 7 in the further +quadrangle. He admitted frankly now that +the dominant impulse which controlled his +mind would force him to enter the flat during +that night, by means lawful or unlawful, and +he perceived with satisfaction that the great +French window of the drawing-room was not +quite shut. The blinds, however, had been +carefully lowered, and nothing of the interior +was revealed save the fact that a light burned +within. In the entire quadrangle, round +which, tier above tier, hundreds of people +were silent in sleep or in vigil, this was the +sole illumination. Hugo leaned over the +balcony, and tried to pierce the depths of +the vast pit below, and those thoughts came +to him which come to watchers by night in +the presence of sleeping armies, or on the +high sea. The eternal and insoluble question +troubled and teased him, and would not be +put aside. In imagination, he felt the very +swish of the planet as it whirled through space +with its cargo of pitiful humanity. What, +after all, were life, love, ambition, grief, +death? What, in the incessant march of +suns, could be the value of a few restless +specks of vitality clinging with desperation +to a minor orb?</p> + +<p>And then he fancied he could hear a sound +within the flat, and he forgot these transcendental +speculations, and for him the secret of +the universe lay behind the blinds of Francis +Tudor's drawing-room. Yes, he could hear a +sound. It was the distant sound of a man +talking—loudly, slowly, and distinctly—but +too far off for him to catch even one word. +He guessed, as he pushed the window a little +wider open, and bent his ear to the aperture, +that the voice must be in a room beyond the +drawing-room. It continued monotonously +for a long time, with little breaks at rare intervals; +it was rather like a parson reading +a sermon in an empty church. Then it +ceased. And there were footsteps, which +approached the window, and retired. He +noticed that the light within the room was +being moved, but it cast no human shadow +on the blind. The light came finally to a +standstill, and then there followed sounds +which Hugo could not diagnose—short, regular +sounds, broken occasionally by a sharp +clash, as of an instrument falling. And +when these had come to an end, there were +more footsteps—a precise, quick walking to +and fro, which continued for ages of time. +Lastly, the footsteps receded; something +dropped, not heavily, but rather in a manner +gently subsiding, and a groan (or was it a +moan, a tired suspiration?) wakened in Hugo's +spinal column a curious, strange thrill. Then +silence, complete, definitive, terrifying.</p> + +<p>By merely pushing the window against the +blind, he could enter and know the secret of +the universe.</p> + +<p>'Why am I doing this?' he asked himself, +while he pushed the window. 'Why have I +done this?' he asked himself, as he stood +within the immense and luxurious room.</p> + +<p>He gazed round with a swift and timid +glance, as a man would who expects to see +that which ought not to be seen. To his left +was the fireplace, with a magnificent mirror +over it. On the mantelpiece burned a +movable electric table—lamp, with twin +branched lights. He observed the silk-covered +cord lying across the mantelpiece +and disappearing over the further edge; by +the side of the lamp was a screwdriver. +Exactly in front of the lamp, on a couple of +trestles such as undertakers use, lay an elm +coffin, its head towards the mantelpiece. At +the opposite end of the room was another +fireplace and another mirror, with the result +that Hugo saw an endless succession of +coffins and corpse-lights, repeated and repeated, +till they were lost in a vague crystal +blur, and by every pair of corpse-lights was a +screwdriver.</p> + +<p>He stood moveless, and listened, and could +detect no faintest sound. Across the room +from the principal window there was a doorway +with a heavy portière; not a fold of the +portière stirred. To his right, near the other +window, was a door—the door by which +Camilla had entered that night a month ago; +it was shut. His glance searched among the +rich confusion of furniture—fauteuils, occasional +tables, sofas, statuary, vases, cabinets. +He peered into every corner of the silent +chamber, and saw nothing that gave a sign +of life. He even gazed up guiltily at the +decorated ceiling, as though some Freemason's +Eye might be scanning him from above.</p> + +<p>The coffin reigned in the room; all else was +subservient to its massive and sinister presence, +and the bright twin-lamps watched over +its majesty with dazzling orbs.</p> + +<p>Hugo went near the coffin, stepping on tip-toe +over the thick-piled rugs, and examined +it. There was no name-plate. He looked at +himself in the mirror, and again he murmured +a question: 'Why am I here?' Then he +listened attentively, fearfully. No sound. +His hands travelled to the screwdriver on +the mantelpiece, and then fifty of his hands +picked up fifty screwdrivers. And he listened +once more. No sound.</p> + +<p>'I must do it. I must,' he thought.</p> + +<p>The next moment he was unscrewing the +screws in the lid of the coffin, and scarcely +had he begun the task when he realized that +what he had heard from the balcony was the +screwing of these same screws. There were +twelve, and some of them were difficult to +start, but in due course he had removed them +all, and they stood in a row on their heads +on the mantelpiece. He listened yet again. +No sound. He had only to push the lid of +the coffin to the left or to the right, or to +lift it up. He spent several seconds in deciding +whether he should push or lift, and +then at length fifty Hugos lifted bodily the +lids of fifty coffins. And after a dreadful +hesitation he lowered his gaze and looked.</p> + +<p>Yes, it was Camilla! He had known +always that it would be Camilla.</p> + +<p>The pale repose of death only emphasized +the proud and splendid beauty of that head, +with its shut eyes, its mouth firmly closed in +a faint smile, and its glorious hair surrounded +by all the white frippery of the shroud. Here +lay the mortal part of the incomparable +creature who had been coveted by three men +and won by one—for a few brief days' possession. +Here lay the repository of Ravengar's +secrets, the grave of Hugo's happiness, +the dead mate of Tudor's desire. Here lay +the eternal woman, symbol of all beauty and +all charm, victimized by her own loveliness. +For if she had not been lovely, thought Hugo, +if the curves of her cheek and her nostrils and +the colour of her skin had been ever so slightly +different, the world might have contained one +widower, one ruined heart, and one murderer +the less that night.</p> + +<p>He did not doubt, he could not doubt, after +Ravengar's threats, that she had been murdered. +And yet he was not angry then. He +did not feel a great grief. He was conscious +of no sensation save a numbed and desolate +awe. He had not begun to feel. Ledging +the lid crossways on the coffin, he placed his +hand gently upon Camilla's brow. It was +colder than he had expected, and it had the +peculiar hard, inelastic touch of incipient +decay—that touch which communicates a +shudder even to the most impassive.</p> + +<p>'I must go,' he whispered, staring spell-bound +at her face.</p> + +<p>He was surprised to find drops of moisture +falling on the shroud. They were his tears, +and yet he had not known that he was +crying.</p> + +<p>He hid her again beneath the elm plank, +and, taking the screws one by one from the +mantel-piece, shut her up for ever from any +human gaze. And then, nearly collapsing +under a nervous tension such as he had never +before experienced, he turned to leave the +apartment as he had entered it, like a thief. +But the mystery of the heavy velvet portière +invincibly attracted him. His steps wavered +towards it. He fancied he saw something +dark protruding under the curtain, and he +pulled the curtain aside with a movement +almost hysteric. A man lay extended at full +length on his chest in the passage beyond—what +Hugo had noticed was his boot.</p> + +<p>'Tudor!' he exclaimed, kneeling to examine +the half-concealed face.</p> + +<p>At the same moment a figure came quietly +down the passage. Hugo looked up, and +saw a sallow-featured man of about thirty-five +in a tourist suit, with light beard and hair, +and long thin hands.</p> + +<p>'What is this?' asked the stranger evenly. +'Who are you?'</p> + +<p>'My name is Hugo,' Hugo answered with +assurance. 'I was walking along the balconies, +as I do sometimes at night, and I +heard strange sounds here, and as the window +was open I stepped in and found this. Are +you a friend of Mr. Tudor's?'</p> + +<p>The other bent in his turn, and after +examining the prone body said:</p> + +<p>'I was. He has no friends now.'</p> + +<p>'You mean he is dead?'</p> + +<p>'He must have died within the last quarter +of an hour or so.'</p> + +<p>'And nothing can be done?'</p> + +<p>'Nothing can be done with death!'</p> + +<p>'I take it you are a doctor?' said Hugo.</p> + +<p>'My name is Darcy,' the other replied. +'Besides being Tudor's friend, I was his +physician.'</p> + +<p>'Yet even for a physician,' Hugo pursued, +'it seems to me that you have been able to +decide very quickly that your friend and +patient is dead. I have always understood +that to say with assurance that death has +taken place means a very careful and thorough +examination.'</p> + +<p>'You are right,' Darcy agreed, stroking his +short, bright, silky beard. 'There is only +one absolute proof of death.'</p> + +<p>'And that is?'</p> + +<p>'Putrefaction. Nevertheless, the inquest +will show whether or not I have been in error.'</p> + +<p>'There will have to be an inquest?'</p> + +<p>'Certainly. In such a case as this no +doctor in his senses would give his certificate +without a post-mortem, and though I am an +enthusiast, I am in my senses, Mr. Hugo.'</p> + +<p>'An enthusiast?'</p> + +<p>'Let me explain. My friend Tudor was +suffering from one of the rarest of all maladies—malignant +disease of the heart. The text-books +will tell you that malignant disease of +the heart has probably never been diagnosed. +It is a disease of which there are no symptoms, +in which the patient generally suffers no pain, +and for which there is no treatment. Nevertheless, +in my enthusiasm, I have diagnosed +in this case that a very considerable extent of +the cardiac wall was affected by epithelioma. +We shall see. Not long since I condemned +Tudor to an early and sudden death—a death +which might be hastened by circumstances.'</p> + +<p>'Poor chap!' Hugo murmured.</p> + +<p>The dead man looked so young, artless, and +content.</p> + +<p>'Why "poor"?' Darcy turned on him +sharply but coldly. 'Is not a sudden death +the best? Would you not wish it for yourself, +for your friends?'</p> + +<p>'Yes,' said Hugo; 'but when one is dead +one is dead. That's all I meant.'</p> + +<p>'I have heard much of you, Mr. Hugo,' +said the other. 'And, if I may be excused a +certain bluntness, it is very obvious that, +though you say little, you are no ordinary +man. Can it be possible that you have lived +so long and so fully and are yet capable of +pitying the dead? Have you not learnt that +it is only <i>they</i> who are happy?' He vaguely +indicated the corpse. 'If you will be so good +as to assist me—'</p> + +<p>'Willingly,' said Hugo, who could find +nothing else to say. 'I suppose we must +call the servants?'</p> + +<p>'Why call the servants? To begin with, +there is only one here, a somewhat antique +housekeeper. Let her sleep. She has been +through sufficient to-day. Morning will be +time enough for the futile formalities which +civilization has invented to protect itself. +Night, which is the season of death, should +not be disturbed by them.'</p> + +<p>'As you think best,' Hugo concurred.</p> + +<p>'And now,' Darcy began, in a somewhat +relieved tone, when he had finished his task, +and the remains of Francis Tudor lay decently +covered on a sofa in the drawing-room, that +mortuary chamber, 'will you oblige me by +coming into the study for a while? I am not +in the mood for sleep, and perhaps you are +not. And I will admit frankly that I should +prefer not to be alone at present. Yes,' he +added, with a faint deprecatory smile, 'my +theories about death are thoroughly philosophical, +but one cannot always act up to +one's theories.'</p> + +<p>And in the study, at the other end of the +flat, far from the relics of humanity, he began +to roll cigarettes with marvellous swiftness in +his long thin fingers.</p> + +<p>Hugo surmised that under his singular and +almost glacial calm the man concealed a temperament +highly nervous and sensitive.</p> + +<p>'You do not inquire about the—the coffin?' +said Darcy at length, when they had smoked +for a few moments in silence.</p> + +<p>As a fact, Hugo had determined that, at no +matter what cost to his feelings, he would +not be the first to mention the other +fatality.</p> + +<p>The two men looked at each other, and +each blew out a lance of smoke.</p> + +<p>'What did she die of?' Hugo demanded +curtly.</p> + +<p>'You are aware, then, who it is?'</p> + +<p>'Naturally, I guessed.'</p> + +<p>'Ah! she died of typhoid fever. You +knew her?'</p> + +<p>'I knew her.'</p> + +<p>'Of course; I remember. She was in your +employ. Yes,' he sighed; 'she contracted +typhoid fever in Paris. It's always more or +less endemic there. And what with this hot +summer and their water-supply and their +drainage, it's been more rife than usual lately. +Tudor called me in at once. I am qualified +both in England and France, but I practise +in Paris. It was a fairly ordinary case, +except that she suffered from severe and +persistent headaches at the beginning. But +in typhoid the danger is seldom in the fever; +it is in the complications. She had a hæmorrhage. +I—I failed. A hæmorrhage in typhoid +is not necessarily fatal, but it often proves so. +She died from exhaustion.'</p> + +<p>'I thought,' said Hugo, in a low, unnatural +voice, 'that typhoid marked the patient—spots +on the face.'</p> + +<p>'Not invariably. Oh no; but why do you +say that?'</p> + +<p>'I only meant that I hope her face was not +marked.'</p> + +<p>'It was not. You mean that you hope her +face was not marked because she was so +beautiful?'</p> + +<p>'Exactly,' said Hugo. 'And so Tudor +brought the body over to England for burial?'</p> + +<p>'Yes; he insisted on that. And he insisted +on my coming with him. I could not refuse.'</p> + +<p>'And now he, too, is gone! Tell me, was +he expecting it—his own death?'</p> + +<p>Darcy lighted another cigarette.</p> + +<p>'Who can say?' he observed to the ceiling. +'Who can say what premonitions such a man +may not have had?'</p> + +<p>'I heard talking before I came into the flat +from the balcony,' said Hugo abruptly. 'It +went on for a long time. Was it you and he?'</p> + +<p>'No,' the doctor replied; 'I was in here, +writing.' He pointed to some papers on a +desk. 'I did not even hear him fall.'</p> + +<p>'Yet you heard me?'</p> + +<p>'No, I didn't. I was just coming to find +out what Tudor was doing when I saw you.'</p> + +<p>'It is curious that I heard talking, and +walking about, too.'</p> + +<p>'Possibly he was talking to himself. Did +you hear two voices?'</p> + +<p>'Perhaps I heard only one.'</p> + +<p>'Then no doubt he was talking to himself. +You won't be surprised to learn that he had +been in an excessively emotional condition all +day.... It is all very sad. Only a month +ago, and Tudor was—but what am I saying? +Who knows what perils and misfortunes he—they—may +not have escaped? For my part, +I envy—yes, I envy Tudor.'</p> + +<p>'But not her? You do not envy her? In +your quality of philosophy, you regret <i>her</i> +death?'</p> + +<p>'Do not ask me to be consistent,' said the +philosopher, after a long pause.</p> + +<p>Hugo rose and approached Darcy.</p> + +<p>'Are you acquainted with a man named +Louis Ravengar?' he demanded in a rather +loud tone.</p> + +<p>The doctor scanned his face.</p> + +<p>'I have heard Tudor mention the name, +but I do not know him.'</p> + +<p>'And upon my soul I believe you,' cried +Hugo. 'Nevertheless—'</p> + +<p>'Nevertheless what?'</p> + +<p>Darcy seemed startled. Hugo's strange +outburst was indeed startling.</p> + +<p>'Oh, nothing!' Hugo muttered. 'Nothing.' +He walked to the window, which looked out +on Blair Street. The first heralds of the +dawn were in the eastern sky, and the moon +overhead was paling. 'It will be daylight +in a minute,' he said. 'I must go. Come +with me first to the drawing-room, will you?'</p> + +<p>And they passed together along the passage +to the drawing-room, where the electric lamp +was still keeping watch. Hugo stood by the +side of the coffin.</p> + +<p>'What is it?' Darcy quietly asked.</p> + +<p>'Have you ever been in love?' Hugo questioned +him.</p> + +<p>'Yes,' said Darcy.</p> + +<p>'Then I will tell you. You will understand. +I must tell someone. I loved her.'</p> + +<p>He touched the elm-wood gently, and hurried +out of the room by the French window.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Four days later Mr. Senior Polycarp called +on Hugo in his central office.</p> + +<p>In the meantime the inquest had proved +the correctness of Mr. Darcy's diagnosis. +Francis Tudor was buried, and Francis Tudor's +wife was buried. Hugo, who had accompanied +the funerals disguised as one of his own +'respectful attendants,' saw scarcely anyone. +He had to recover the command of his own +soul, and to adopt some definite attitude +towards the army of suspicions which naturally +had assailed him. Could he believe Darcy? +He decided that he could, and that he must. +Darcy had inspired him with confidence, and +there was no doubt that the man had an extensive +practice in Paris, and was well known +at the British Embassy. Camilla, then, had +really died of typhoid fever on her honeymoon, +and hence Ravengar had not murderously +compassed her death. And people did die of +typhoid fever, and people did die on their +honeymoons.</p> + +<p>Either Ravengar's threats had been idle, or +Fate had mercifully robbed him of the opportunity +to execute them. Hugo remembered +that he had begun by regarding the threats as +idle, and that it was only later, in presence of +Camilla's corpse, that he had thought otherwise +of them. So he drove back the army of +suspicions, and settled down to accustom himself +to the eternal companionship of a profound +and irremediable grief.</p> + +<p>Then it was that Polycarp called.</p> + +<p>'I come to you,' said the white-moustached +solicitor, 'on behalf of my late client, Mr. +Tudor. He made his will after his marriage, +and before starting for Paris, and it contains a +peculiar clause. Mr. Tudor had the flat on a +three years' agreement, renewable at his option +for a further period of two years. Over two +years of the three are expired.'</p> + +<p>'That is so,' said Hugo. 'You want to +get rid of the tenancy at once? Well, I +don't mind. I can easily—'</p> + +<p>'No,' Polycarp interrupted him, 'I wish to +give notice of renewal. The will provides that +if the testator should die within two months +of the date of it the flat shall be sealed up +exactly as it stands for twelve months after +his death, and that the estate shall be held +by me, as executor and trustee, for that +period, and then dealt with according to +instructions deposited in the testator's private +safe in the vault which I rent from you in +your Safe Deposit.'</p> + +<p>'But—'</p> + +<p>'I have just sealed up the flat—doors, +windows, ventilators, everything.'</p> + +<p>'Mr. Polycarp, this is impossible.'</p> + +<p>'Not at all. It is done.'</p> + +<p>'But the reason?'</p> + +<p>'I know no more than yourself. As executor, +I have carried out the terms of the +will. I thought that you, as landlord, were +entitled to the information which I have +given you.'</p> + +<p>'As landlord,' said Hugo, 'I object. And +I shall demand entrance.'</p> + +<p>'On what ground?'</p> + +<p>'Under the clause which in all tenancy +agreements gives the landlord the right to +enter at reasonable times in order to inspect +the condition of the premises,' Hugo answered +defiantly to the lawyer.</p> + +<p>'I had considered that. But I shall dispute +the right. You may bring an action. What +then? No court will give you leave to force +an entrance. An Englishman's furnished flat, +just as much as his house, is his castle. I +could certainly keep you out for a year.'</p> + +<p>'And may I ask why you are so anxious to +keep me out, Mr. Polycarp?'</p> + +<p>'I am anxious merely to fulfil my duties. +May I ask why you are so anxious to get in? +Why do you want to thwart the wishes of a +dead man?'</p> + +<p>'I could not permit that mystery to remain +for a whole year in the very middle of my +block of flats.'</p> + +<p><i>'What mystery?'</i> Polycarp suavely inquired.</p> + +<p>During this brief conversation all Hugo's +suspicions had hurriedly returned, and he had +examined them anew and more favourably. +Polycarp? Was it not curious that Polycarp +should be acting for both Ravengar and +Tudor?... Darcy? Were there not very +strange features in the behaviour of this +English doctor who preferred to practise in +Paris?... And the hæmorrhage? And, +lastly, this monstrous, unaccountable, inexplicable +shutting-up of the flat?</p> + +<p>He felt already that those empty rooms, +dark, silent, sealed, guarding in some recess +he knew not what dreadful secret, were getting +on his nerves. And was he to suffer for a +year?</p> + +<p>'Come, Mr. Hugo,' said Polycarp; 'I may +count on your goodwill?'</p> + +<p>'I don't know,' Hugo replied—'I don't +know.'</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>PART II</h2> +<h2>THE PHONOGRAPH</h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI</h3> + +<h2>SALE</h2> + + +<p>Strange sights are to be seen in London.</p> + +<p>At five minutes to nine a.m. on the first day +of the year seven vast crowds stood before the +seven principal entrances to Hugo's; seven +crowds of immortal souls enclosed in the +bodies of women. They meant to begin the +year well by an honest attempt to get something +for nothing. It was a cold, dank, raw, +and formidable morning; Hugo's tessellated +pavements were covered with moisture, and, +moreover, day had not yet conquered night. +But the seven crowds, growing larger each +moment, recked nothing of these inconveniences. +They waited stolidly, silently, in a +suppressed and dangerous fever, as besiegers +await the signal for an attack. Between the +various entrances, on the three façades of the +establishment, ran the long lines of windows +dressed with all the materials for happiness, +and behind these ramparts of materials could +be glimpsed Hugo's assistants moving about +in anxious expectation under the electric +lights, which burned red in the foggy gloom. +Over every portal was a purple warning: +'Beware of pickpockets, male and female.' +No possible male pickpockets, however, were +visible to the eye; perhaps they were disguised +as ladies. The seven crowds wedged +themselves closer and closer, clutched tighter +and tighter their purses, and stared at the +golden commissionaires through the glass +doors with a glance more and more ferocious. +Then suddenly something went off with a +boom; it was the first stroke of the great +Hugo clock under the dome. Six pairs of +double doors opened simultaneously, six pairs +of golden commissionaires were overthrown +like ninepins, and in a fraction of time six +companies of determined and remorseless +women had swept like Prussian cavalry into +the interior of the doomed edifice.</p> + +<p>But the seventh crowd was left on the +pavement, for the seventh pair of doors had +not opened. And this was the more extraordinary +in that the seventh crowd was the +largest crowd, and stood before the entrance +nearest to the principal scene of the day's +operations. Instantly the world became +aware that Hugo's management was less +perfect than usual, and people recalled incidents +in his business during the previous four +months which had not been to his credit. +The seventh crowd was staggered, furious, +and homicidal. If glances could have killed +the impassive pair of golden commissionaires +behind the seventh portal, they would certainly +have fallen down dead. If the glass +of the seventh portal had not been set in +small squares of immense thickness, it would +have been shattered to bits, and the stronghold +forced. Many women cried out that +justice had come to an end in England, for +was it not an elementary principle of justice +that all doors should open together? A few +women, more practical, and near the edge of +the enraged horde, slipped away to other +entrances. One woman fainted, but she was +held upright by the press, and as no one paid +the slightest attention to her she rapidly came +to. Then at length a tall gentleman in a +beautiful +frock-coat was seen to be expostulating sternly with the seventh +pair of golden commissionaires; the recalcitant doors flew open, +and the beautiful frock-coat was hurled violently against a marble +pillar for its pains. +Just as the seventh regiment was disappearing +to join in the sack and loot, a young +and pretty girl drove up in a hansom, threw +the driver a shilling (which the driver contemplated +with a scorn too deep for words), +and joined the tail of the regiment.</p> + +<p>'I knew I should do it,' she said to herself, +'and Alb said I shouldn't.'</p> + +<p>In another moment Hugo's was a raging +sea of petticoats. In half an hour the doors +had to be shut and locked, and new crowds +formed on the tessellated pavements; Hugo's +was full.</p> + +<p>Hugo's was full!</p> + +<p>For three days past Hugo had bought whole +pages of every daily paper in London, in +order to break gently to the public the tremendous +fact that his annual sale would commence +on New Year's Day, and the still more +tremendous fact that it would close on the +third of January. There are only three +genuine annual sales in the Metropolis. One +is Hugo's, another happens in Tottenham +Court Road, and the third—but why disclose +the situation of the third, since all persons +from Putney to Peckham Rise who are worthy +to know it, know it? Hugo's was naturally +the greatest, the largest, the most exciting, +the most marvellous, the most powerful in its +appeal to the most powerful of human instincts—the +instinct to get half a crown's +worth of value for two shillings. In earlier +years Hugo had made his annual sale prodigious +and incredible, with no thought of +profit, merely for the pleasure of the affair. +But he found that the more he offered to the +public the more he received from them, and +that it was practically impossible to lose +money by giving things away. This is, of +course, a fundamental axiom of commerce. +And now Hugo's annual sale was to be more +astonishing than ever; some said that he +meant at any cost to efface the memory of +those discreditable incidents before mentioned. +Decidedly, many of the advertised +bargains were remarkable in the highest +degree. There was, for example, the 'fine +silvered fox-stole, with real brush at each +end,' at a guinea. Every woman who can +tell a silvered fox-stole from a cock's-feather +boa is aware that a silvered fox-stole simply +cannot be sold for a guinea. Yet Hugo had +announced that he would sell two thousand +of them at that price, not to mention muffs +to match at the same figure. And there was +the famous 'Incroyable' corset, white coutille, +with wide belted band round hips, double belt +to buckle at sides, cut low—' Enough! +Further indiscretions of description are not +necessary to show that eighteen and nine is +the lowest price at which a reasonable creature +could hope to obtain the 'Incroyable' corset. +But Hugo's price was twelve and eleven. And +the whole-page advertisements were a solid +blazing mass of such jewels.</p> + +<p>The young and pretty girl who had known +that she would 'do it' hastened with assured +steps, and as quickly as the jostling multitudes +would allow, to the fur department. +She was in pursuit of one of the silvered fox-stoles +with real brush at each end. She had +her husband's permission—nay, his command—to +purchase a silvered fox-stole at a guinea—if +she could. On the way to her goal she +encountered by chance Simon Shawn, and it +occurred that a temporary block compelled +her to halt before him. The two gazed at +each other, and Simon looked away, flushing. +It was plain that, though acquainted, they +were not on speaking terms. The fact was, +that their silence covered a domestic drama—a +drama which had arisen as the consequence +of a great human truth—namely, that +even detectives will marry.</p> + +<p>It will be remembered that on a certain +morning in July, after Hugo had finished +pasting a notice on a mirror in one of the +common rooms, in the presence of a pink-aproned +waitress, Albert Shawn entered, and +kissed the pink-aproned waitress. So far as +possible, whom Albert Shawn kissed he +married, and he had married the waitress +just the week before Christmas, and this was +she. Simon had objected sternly to the +<i>mésalliance</i>. It seemed shocking to Simon +that a rising detective should marry a girl +who waited on shop-girls. Hence the drama. +Hugo had positively refused to allow an open +quarrel between the brothers, because of its +inconvenience to himself, but he could not +prevent a quarrel between Simon and Lily—such +was her name. They met now for the +first time since the marriage, and Lily's +demeanour may be imagined. She gazed +through Simon as though he did not exist, +and passed magnificently onwards as soon as +the throng permitted. She was Mrs. Albert +Shawn, as neat as ninepence, as smart and +pert as a French maid out for the day. She +drove in hansoms, and she had a five-pound +note in her pocket.</p> + +<p>Albert had been granted two weeks' vacation +for his honeymoon, and he ought to have +resumed his duties of detection that morning. +The honeymoon, however, had lasted only +nine days, and the remaining five days of the +period had been spent by him in some secret +affair of his own, an affair which had ended +in an accident to his left foot, so that he +could not walk. The consequence was that, +on this day of all days, Hugo's was deprived +of his services. Lily was, perhaps, not altogether +sorry for the catastrophe which kept +him a prisoner in the nest-like home in Radipole +Road, for it had resulted in this excursion +of hers to the sale. Albert had bidden +her to go to buy a stole and other things, to +keep her eyes open, and to report to Hugo +in person if she observed anything queer. +He had even given her a pass which would +ensure her immediate admittance to any of +Hugo's private lairs. Therefore, Lily felt +extremely important, extremely like a detective's +wife. She knew that Albert trusted +her, and she was very proud that she had not +asked him any questions concerning a matter +exasperatingly mysterious. Albert had taught +her that a detective's wife should crucify +curiosity.</p> + +<p>She fought her way to a counter in the fur +department.</p> + +<p>'The guinea stoles?' she inquired from a +shopwalker.</p> + +<p>'I—I beg pardon, miss,' said the shopwalker.</p> + +<p>'Madam,' Lily corrected him. 'I want +one of those silvered fox-stoles advertised +at a guinea.'</p> + +<p>'You'll probably find them over there, +madam,' said the shopwalker, pointing.</p> + +<p>'Aren't you sure?' she asked tartly. 'I +don't want to struggle across there and then +find they're somewhere else.'</p> + +<p>The shopwalker turned his back on her.</p> + +<p>'Well, I never!' she exclaimed to herself, +and decided that Albert should avenge her.</p> + +<p>Then, behind the counter, she saw a girl +whom she used to serve with a glass of milk +every morning.</p> + +<p>'Oh, Miss Lawton,' she cried, as an equal +to an equal, 'can you tell me where the stoles +are to be found?'</p> + +<p>'Probably over there, Mrs. Shawn,' said +Miss Lawton kindly, nodding the greeting +she had no time to utter.</p> + +<p>So Lily got away from the counter, plunged +into a chartless sea of customers, and eventually +emerged in the quarter which had been +indicated.</p> + +<p>'All sold out, miss!'</p> + +<p>Such was the blunt answer to her demand +for a silvered fox-stole.</p> + +<p>'Don't talk to me like that!' said Mrs. +Albert Shawn. 'It isn't above half-past nine +on the first morning of the sale, and you +advertised two thousand of them.'</p> + +<p>'Sorry, miss. All sold out,' repeated the +second shopwalker.</p> + +<p>'I shall report this to Mr. Hugo. Do you +know who I am? I'm—'</p> + +<p>And the second shopwalker also turned his +back.</p> + +<p>Could these things be happening at Hugo's, +at Hugo's, so famous for the courtesy, the +long patience, the indestructible politeness of +its well-paid employés? And could Hugo +have descended to the trickeries of the eleven-pence-halfpenny +draper, who proclaimed non-existent +bargains to lure the unwary into his +shop? Lily might have wondered if she was +not dreaming, but she was far too practical +ever to be in the least doubt as to whether +she was asleep or awake. And now she perceived +that scores of angry women about her +were equally disappointed by the disgraceful +absence of those stoles. The department, +misty, stuffy, and noisy, had the air of being +the scene of an insurrection. One lady was +informing the public generally that she had +demanded a guinea stole at three minutes +past nine, and had been put off with a monstrous +excuse. And then a newspaper reporter +appeared, and began to take notes. +The din increased, though shopwalkers said +less and less, and the chances seemed in +favour of the insurrection becoming a riot. +Other admirable bargains in furs were indubitably +to be had—muffs, for example—and +the cashiers were busy; but nothing +could atone for the famine of stoles.</p> + +<p>Lily had a suspicion that Albert would have +wished her to report these singular circumstances +to Hugo at once. But she dismissed +the suspicion, because she passionately desired +an 'Incroyable' corset at twelve and +eleven, and she feared lest the corsets might +have vanished as strangely as the stoles. In +ten minutes, breathless, she had reached the +corset department, demanded an 'Incroyable' +of the correct size, and bought it. There was +no dissatisfaction in the corset department.</p> + +<p>'Shall we send it, miss?'</p> + +<p>'Madam,' said Lily proudly. 'No, I'll +take it.'</p> + +<p>'Yes, madam.'</p> + +<p>At the cash desk (No. 56) she had to wait +her turn in a disorderly queue before she +could tender the bill and her five-pound note. +Customers pressed round her on all sides as +she put down the note and peered through +the wire network into the interior of the desk.</p> + +<p>'Next, please,' said the cashier sharply, +after a moment.</p> + +<p>'My change,' demanded Lily.</p> + +<p>'You have had it, madam.'</p> + +<p>'Oh,' said Lily, 'I have had it, have I? +Now, none of your nonsense, young man! +Do you know who I am? I'm Mrs. Albert +Shawn.'</p> + +<p>'Mr. Randall,' the cashier called out coldly, +and a grave and gigantic shopwalker appeared +who knew not the name of Albert Shawn, and +who firmly told Mrs. Shawn that if she wished +to make a complaint she must make it at the +Central Inquiry Office, ground-floor, Department +1A.</p> + +<p>Lily had been brazenly robbed at Hugo's by +an employé of Hugo! She was elbowed +away by other women apparently anxious to +be robbed. She wanted to cry, but suddenly +remembering her identity, and her pass to the +presence of Hugo, she threw up her head and +marched off through the crowds.</p> + +<p>She had not proceeded twenty yards before +she was stopped by a group of persons round +a policeman—a policeman obviously called in +from Sloane Street. A stout woman of lady-like +appearance had been arrested on a charge +of attempted pocket-picking. An accusatory +shopwalker charged her, and she replied +warmly that she was Lady Brice (<i>née</i> Kentucky-Webster), +the American wife of the +well-known philanthropist, and that her carriage +was waiting outside. The policeman +and the shopwalker smiled. It was so easy +to be the wife of a well-known philanthropist, +and in these days all the best pickpockets had +their carriages waiting outside.</p> + +<p>'I know this lady by sight,' said Lily. +'She visited the common-rooms last year to +see the arrangements, with Mr. Hugo, and he +called her Lady Brice, and I can tell you he'll +be very angry with you.'</p> + +<p>'And who are <i>you</i>, my young friend?' +said the policeman sceptically, and threateningly.</p> + +<p>'I'm—'</p> + +<p>The formula proved useless. Lady Brice +(<i>née</i> Kentucky-Webster) was led off in all her +vast speechless, outraged impeccability, and +poor little Lily was glad to escape with her +freedom and the memory of Lady Brice's +grateful bow.</p> + +<p>She ran, gliding in and out between the +knots of visitors, until she was stopped by a +pair of doors being suddenly shut and fastened +in her face. The reason for the obstruction +was plain. Those doors admitted to the +blouse department, and the blouse department, +as Lily could see through the diamond +panes, was a surging sea of bargain-hunters, +amid which shopwalkers stood up like light-houses, +while the girls behind the counters +trembled in fear of being washed away. Discipline, +order, management, had ceased to +exist at Hugo's.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Shawn turned to seek another route, +but already dozens of women were upon her, +and she could not retire. The crowd of candidates +for admission to the blouse department +swelled till it filled the gallery between +that department and its neighbour. Then +someone cried out for air, and someone else +protested that the doors at the other end of +the short gallery had also been shut. Lily, +whose manifold misfortunes had not quenched +her interest in the 'Incroyable' corset, +opened her parcel, and found that the corset +was not an 'Incroyable' at all, but an inferior +substitute, with no proper belted band, and +of a shape to startle even a Brighton bathing-woman! +The change must have been effected +by the assistant in making up the parcel.</p> + +<p>'Well!'</p> + +<p>She could say no more, and think no more, +than this 'Well!'</p> + +<p>And, moreover, the condition of the packed +gallery soon caused her to forget even the final +swindle of the corset. The air had rapidly +become exhausted. Women clutched at each +other; women rapped frenziedly against the +heavy, glazed doors; women screamed. It +was the Black Hole of Calcutta over again, +and yet no one in the blouse department +seemed to notice the signals of distress. Lily +felt the perspiration on her brow and chin, +and then she knew that she, too, must scream +and clutch; and she cried out, and the pressure +which forced her against the door grew +more and more terrible.... She had dropped +the corset.... She murmured feebly +'Alb—'.... She began to dream queer +dreams and to see strange lights.... And +then something gave way with a crash, and +she fell forward, and regiments of horses +trampled over her, and at last all living things +receded from her, and she was in the midst of +a great silence. And then even the silence +was gone, and there was nothing.</p> + +<p>So ended the first part of Lily's adventures +at Hugo's infamous annual sale.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>When she recovered perfect consciousness, +she was in the dome. She knew it was the +dome because Albert had once, at her urgent +request, taken her surreptitiously to see it. +Simon was standing over her, as sympathetic +as the most exigent sister-in-law could wish, +and the great Shawn family feud had expired.</p> + +<p>In two minutes she was her intensely practical +self again. In five minutes she had +acquainted Simon with all her experiences; +they were but the complement of what he +himself had witnessed.</p> + +<p>The sense of a mysterious calamity over-hanging +Hugo's, and the sense of the shame +which had already disgraced Hugo's, pressed +heavily on both of them. They knew that +only one man could retrieve what had been +lost and avert irreparable disaster. Their +faith in that man was undiminished, and +Simon at least was sure that he had been +victimized by some immense conspiracy.</p> + +<p>'Why don't you find Mr. Hugo?' Lily +demanded.</p> + +<p>'I've looked everywhere. A letter was +brought up to him about an hour ago, and +he went off instantly.'</p> + +<p>'And where's the letter?'</p> + +<p>'I expect it's in that drawer, where he +throws all his private letters,' said Simon, +pointing to a drawer in the big writing-table on +the opposite side of the room from the piano.</p> + +<p>'Is it locked—the drawer?'</p> + +<p>'No.'</p> + +<p>'Then open it.'</p> + +<p>'It's the governor's private drawer,' said +Simon. 'I've never—'</p> + +<p>'Stuff!' Lily exclaimed, and she opened +the drawer and drew out the topmost letter.</p> + +<p>It was on blue paper.</p> + +<p>'Yes, that's it,' said Simon. 'The envelope +was blue, I remember.'</p> + +<p>'He must be in the Safe Deposit,' said Lily, +perusing the letter with flying glance.</p> + +<p>And Simon, at length sufficiently emboldened, +seized the letter and read:</p> + +<blockquote><p>'SIR,</p> + +<p>'Mr. Polycarp has just been here, and +accidentally left behind him keys of his vault, +including safe of late Mr. Francis Tudor, etc. +In these peculiar circumstances I shall be +glad to know what I am to do.</p> + +<p>'Yours respectfully,</p> + +<p>'H. BROWN,</p> + +<p>'Head Guardian,</p> + +<p>'Hugo's Safe Deposit.'</p></blockquote> + +<p>'What on earth can Brown be thinking +about?' muttered Simon. 'Hadn't he got +enough gumption to send a messenger after +Mr. Polycarp, without troubling the governor? +He'll catch it.'</p> + +<p>'Never mind that,' said Lily sharply. +'Run down to the Safe Deposit. Run, +Simon.'</p> + +<p>It was as though a delay of minutes might +mean ruin. Who could say what was even +then happening in the disorganized and +masterless departments?</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII</h3> + +<h2>SAFE DEPOSIT</h2> + + +<p>The Safe Deposit at Hugo's was perhaps the +most wonderful of all the departments. Until +Hugo thought of it, and paid a trinity of +European experts to design and devise it, +there had existed no such thing as an absolutely +impregnable asylum for valuables. In +Dakota a strong-room alleged to be impregnable +had been approached underground, +tunnelled, mined, and emptied by thieves +with imagination. In the North of England +a safe, which its inventor had defied the whole +universe of crime to open, had been rifled by +the aid of so simple a dodge as duplicate keys. +Even in Tottenham Court Road a couple of +ingenious persons had burnt a hole in a +guaranteed safe by means of common gas +at three and threepence per thousand cubic +feet. These surprises could not occur at +Hugo's. His Safe Deposit really was what +it pretended to be. All contingencies were +provided for. It was the final retort of +virtue to vice.</p> + +<p>You approached it by a door of quite ordinary +appearance (no one cares to be seen +leaving what is obviously a safe deposit), +and you signed your name before entering a +lift. You descended forty feet below the +surface of the earth, gave a password on +emerging from the lift, traversed a corridor, +and at length stood in front of the sole entrance +to the Safe Deposit. A guardian, +when you had signed your name again, unlocked +three unpickable, incombustible, and +gunpowder-proof locks in a massive steel +door, and you were admitted, assuming +always that the hour was between nine and +six. Out of hours and on Saturday after-noons +and on Sundays a time-lock rendered +it utterly impossible for any person whatever +to turn any key in the Safe Deposit. +Once the lock was set, Hugo himself could +not have entered, not even to save the British +Empire from instant destruction, until the +time-lock had run its course.</p> + +<p>You found yourself in an electrically lighted +world of passages built in flashing steel, with +floors of steel and ceilings of steel—a world +where the temperature was always 65°. +Every passage was separated from every +other passage by steel grilles, and at intervals +uniformed and gigantic officials wandered +about with impassive, haughty faces—faces +that indicated a sublime confidence in the +safety of the multifarious riches committed +to their care. You might have guessed yourself +in the fell grip of the Inquisition. As a +fact, you were in something far more fell. +You were in a vast chamber of steel, and that +chamber was itself enclosed on all sides by +three feet of solid concrete. No thief could +tunnel or mine you without first getting +through the District Railway on the one +hand, or the main drainage system of London +on the other. No thief could rifle you by +means of duplicate keys, for no vault and +no safe could be opened except in the presence +of the head guardian, who possessed +a key without which the renter's key was +useless. No tricks could be played with the +gas, because there was no gas, and the electric +light could only be turned off or on from the +top of the lift-well.</p> + +<p>Now, it was a singular thing that when +Simon Shawn, having proved his identity and +his mission at the lift, arrived at the entrance +to the Safe Deposit, he discovered the great +steel door ajar, and no door-guardian in the +leather chair where a door-guardian always +sat. This condition of affairs did not affect +the essential impregnability of any individual +vault or safe, but, nevertheless, it was singular.</p> + +<p>Simon walked straight in.</p> + +<p>'There's no one at the door,' he said to the +patrol, whom he met in the main passage. +'I want to see Mr. Hugo at once. He's down +here somewhere, or he's been here.'</p> + +<p>'Yes, Mr. Shawn,' said the patrol politely; +'I did see Mr. Hugo here about an hour or so +ago. I'll ask Mr. Brown. Will you step into +the waiting-room?'</p> + +<p>Half-way along the main corridor was a +large room, whose steel walls were masked by +tapestries, where renters could examine their +treasures on marble tables. It was empty +when Simon went in. The patrol carefully +closed the door on him, and then in a moment +came back to say that Mr. Brown was not in +his office, and had probably gone out to lunch, +the hour being noon.</p> + +<p>'Where did you see Mr. Hugo?' Simon +asked, hurrying out of the room in a state of +considerable agitation.</p> + +<p>'I saw him just here, sir,' said the patrol, +turning down a short side corridor—the grille +was unfastened—and stopping before a door +numbered thirty-nine. 'He was talking to +Mr. Brown, and the door of the vault was +open.'</p> + +<p>'That must be Mr. Polycarp's vault,' +Simon observed; and then he started, and +put his ear against the door. 'Listen!' he +exclaimed to the patrol. 'Can't you hear +anything inside?'</p> + +<p>And the patrol also put his ear to the steel +face of the door.</p> + +<p>'I seem to hear a faint knocking, but it's +that faint as you scarcely <i>can</i> hear it. There! +it's stopped.'</p> + +<p>'He is inside,' Shawn whispered.</p> + +<p>'Who's inside?'</p> + +<p>'Mr. Hugo.'</p> + +<p>'It's God help him, then,' said the patrol, +'if he's there long. There's no ventilation, +Mr. Shawn. We'd better telephone for Mr. +Polycarp. The other key will be in the key-safe. +I can get it. But how do you make +out, sir, that Mr. Hugo can be in there? The +vault could only be locked by Mr. Polycarp +and Mr. Brown together, and surely they +couldn't both—'</p> + +<p>'Mr. Polycarp left his keys behind by accident. +He had gone before Mr. Hugo came +down.'</p> + +<p>'There's been no Mr. Polycarp here this +morning,' said the patrol a minute later. +'I've looked at the signature-book. I thought +it was queer I hadn't seen him. And, what's +more, that isn't Mr. Polycarp's vault at all. +Mr. Polycarp's vault is No. 37. This vault +has been empty for several weeks.'</p> + +<p>'Then you have both the keys?' Simon +demanded quickly.</p> + +<p>'No, sir. It's very strange. There's only +one key of No. 39 in the key-safe, and it's the +renter's key.'</p> + +<p>'Then Mr. Brown must have the other.'</p> + +<p>'I expect so. But he ought not to have. +It's against rules,' said the patrol. 'I know +where he takes his lunch. I'll send for +him.'</p> + +<p>Simon put his ear again to the face of the +door. The faint knocking had ceased, but +after a few seconds it recommenced.</p> + +<p>'And suppose you don't find Mr. Brown?' +he queried, still listening.</p> + +<p>'Then that vault can't be opened. But +never you fear, Mr. Shawn. I'll have him +here in three minutes. It's funny as he +should have left anybody in there by accident—and +Mr. Hugo of all people in this blessed +world....'</p> + +<p>The patrol's accents died away as he passed +down the main corridor.</p> + +<p>Within the next half-hour Simon, who had +the rare virtue of being honest with himself, +was freely admitting, in the privacy of his +own mind, that the crisis had got beyond his +power to grapple with it, and he had begun +to fear complications more dreadful than he +dared to put into words. For the patrol had +failed to find Mr. Brown. Mr. Brown, head +guardian of the Safe Deposit, had disappeared. +Nor was this all. A renter had come to take +his belongings from a safe in the third side-passage +on the left, and the sub-guardian imprisoned +in that passage could not open the +grille between it and the main corridor. He +had his key, but the key would not turn in +the glittering lock. The renter, too impatient +to wait, had departed very angrily at this +excess of safety. Then it was gradually discovered +that every sub-guardian in every +side-passage was similarly imprisoned. Not +a key in the entire place would turn. The +patrol rushed to the main door. The three +keys had clearly been turned while the door +was opened, and the shot bolts prevented the +door from closing. This explained why the +door was ajar, but it did not explain the +absence of the doorkeeper, who had apparently +followed in the footsteps of his chief, +Mr. Brown.</p> + +<p>'The time-lock! Someone must have set +it!' cried the patrol to Shawn, and the two +hastened to the other end of the main corridor, +where the dial of the machine glistened under +an electric lamp.</p> + +<p>And all the sub-guardians stirred and +grumbled in their beautiful bright cages like +wrathful lions. No such scene had ever been +known in that Safe Deposit or any other safe +deposit before.</p> + +<p>The patrol was right. The dial of the time-lock +showed that it had been set against every +lock, great and small, in the Safe Deposit, +until nine a.m. the next day.</p> + +<p>'It's all up!' the patrol said solemnly.</p> + +<p>'Do you mean to say nothing can be done +to open that vault till nine to-morrow?' +Simon demanded in despair.</p> + +<p>'Nothing. The blooming Czar couldn't +manage it with all his Cossacks! No, nor +Bobs either! This is a Safe Deposit, this is, +and if Mr. Hugo is in that vault, it's Mr. Hugo +as knows it's a Safe Deposit by now.'</p> + +<p>A brief silence ensued, and then Simon +said:</p> + +<p>'We must telephone to the police. There's +a telephone in the waiting-room, isn't there?'</p> + +<p>The patrol admitted that there was, but +his manner hinted a low opinion of the utility +of the police. He stood mute while Simon +Shawn told the telephone receiver what had +occurred in the bowels of the earth beneath +Hugo's.</p> + +<p>'Wait a minute,' said the telephone, and +then, after a pause: 'Are you there? I'm +Inspector Winter.'</p> + +<p>'That's him as has charge of all the strong-room +cases,' the patrol interjected to Simon.</p> + +<p>'I've got Mr. Jack Galpin here, as it +happens,' said the telephone.</p> + +<p>'Mr. Jack Galpin?' Simon questioned.</p> + +<p>'He's just done eighteen months for an +attempt in Lombard Street,' the patrol explained. +'I've heard of him.'</p> + +<p>'I'll come down with him immediately in +a cab,' said the telephone.</p> + +<p>When Simon returned to the impregnable +door of Vault 39 he listened in vain for a +sound. Then he knocked with his pen-knife +on the polished steel, and presently there was +an answering signal from within—a series of +scarcely perceptible irregular taps. It struck +him that the irregularity of the taps formed a +rhythm, and after a few seconds he recognised +the rhythm of the Intermezzo from +'Cavalleria Rusticana,' which he had played +for Hugo that very morning.</p> + +<p>It was at this moment that the messenger-boy +attached to the department came whistling +into the steel corridors, and delivered to the +patrol a small white packet, which, he said, +Mr. Brown had handed to him with instructions +to hand it to the patrol. He had seen +Mr. Brown in a cab outside the building, and +Mr. Brown had the appearance of being very +ill.</p> + +<p>The packet contained the second key of +Vault 39.</p> + +<p>'But this'll be no use till to-morrow,' was +the patrol's comment, 'and by then—'</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII</h3> + +<h2>MR. GALPIN</h2> + + +<p>When the patrol and Simon between them +had explained the mysterious and fatal situation +to Mr. Jack Galpin, Mr. Jack Galpin +leaned against one of the marble tables in +the waiting-room, and roared with laughter.</p> + +<p>'Well,' observed Mr. Galpin, 'he didn't +have his Safe Deposit built for nothing, anyhow!'</p> + +<p>And he laughed again.</p> + +<p>'But he's slowly dying in there!' said +Simon.</p> + +<p>'Yes, I know,' said Mr. Galpin. 'That's +what makes it such a good joke.'</p> + +<p>'I don't see it, sir,' Simon remarked.</p> + +<p>'Simply because your sense of humour is a +bit off. What are you?'</p> + +<p>'I am Mr. Hugo's man.'</p> + +<p>'My respects.'</p> + +<p>Mr. Galpin had arrived with Inspector +Winter, and Inspector Winter had introduced +him as knowing more about safes +than any other man in England, or perhaps +in Europe. After the introduction, Inspector +Winter, being pressed for time, had departed. +Mr. Galpin was aged about forty, and looked +like an extremely successful commercial +traveller. No one would have suspected +that he had recently done eighteen months +anywhere but in a first-class hotel; even his +thin hands were white, and if his hair was +a little short—well, the hair of very many +respectable persons is often a little short. +It appeared that he was under obligations +to Inspector Winter, and anxious to oblige. +The relations between distinguished law-breakers +and distinguished detectives are +frequently such as can only exist between +artists who esteem each other. For the rest, +Mr. Galpin had brought a brown bag.</p> + +<p>'You see, the time-lock is placed so +that—' began the patrol.</p> + +<p>'Shut up!' said Mr. Galpin curtly. 'I +know all that. I've got scale-plans of every +Safe Deposit in London, and I decided long +since that this one was too good to try. Of +course, with the aid of the entire staff things +might be a bit easier, but not much—not +much!' he repeated scornfully. 'If I can +manage a job at all, I can usually manage it +alone, and in spite of the entire staff.'</p> + +<p>'I suppose you couldn't burn the door of the +vault with oxy-hydrogen?' Simon suggested.</p> + +<p>'Yes, I could,' said Mr. Galpin; 'and with +the brand of steel used here I should get +through about this time to-morrow. I could +blow the bally vault up with gun-cotton in +something under two seconds, but no doubt +your Mr. Hugo would go up with it, and then +the Yard would be angry. No!'</p> + +<p>He hummed an air, and strolled out into +the main corridor to stare at the curious dial +of the time-lock.</p> + +<p>'Why not blow up the clock of the time-lock?' +ventured the patrol.</p> + +<p>'Look here!' said Mr. Galpin, '<i>you</i> ought +to know better than that, even if this other +gent doesn't. Any violence to the clock +automatically jams all the connecting levers. +Stop the clock, and it's all up. Nothing but +unbuilding the whole place would free the +locks after that. And it would be a mighty +smart firm that could unbuild this place +inside a fortnight. No!' he said again. 'No +gammon with the clock—unless we could +make it go quicker.'</p> + +<p>'Then there's nothing,' Simon stammered.</p> + +<p>Mr. Galpin gazed at the young man.</p> + +<p>'Assuming I do the job, what's the job +worth?' he asked.</p> + +<p>'It's worth anything.'</p> + +<p>'Is it worth a hundred pounds?'</p> + +<p>'Yes.'</p> + +<p>'Cash?'</p> + +<p>'Yes, I promise it. I will hand you my +savings-bank book if you like.'</p> + +<p>'I only ask because I have a sort of a +notion about that clock. It's a pendulum +clock, and you know how fast a clock ticks +when you take the pendulum away, and the +escapement can run free. It does an hour in +about three minutes. Now, if I could get +the pendulum out without alarming the +clock ... it would be nine to-morrow morning +in no time. See?'</p> + +<p>'I see that,' said the patrol. 'I see that. +But what I don't see—'</p> + +<p>'Never mind what you don't see,' Mr. Jack +Galpin murmured. 'Bring me my bag out +of there. I may tell you,' he went on to +Simon, 'that I thought of this scheme months +ago, just as a pleasant sort of a fancy, but +quite practical. It's a queer world, isn't it?'</p> + +<p>'Here's your bag,' said the patrol.</p> + +<p>'Now you two can just go into the waiting-room, +and wait till I call you. Understand? +And tell all these wild beasts round here to +hold their tongues and sit tight. I haven't +got to be disturbed in a job like this.... +And it's a hundred pounds if I do it, mister, +no more and no less, eh?'</p> + +<p>Within exactly twenty-five minutes Mr. +Galpin entered the waiting-room.</p> + +<p>'See that?' he said, holding up a pendulum. +'That's <i>it</i>. You can come and look now. +But I don't invite the public to see my own +private melting process. Not me!'</p> + +<p>He had burnt two holes through the half-inch +plate of Bessemer steel in which the +clock was enclosed, and by means of two +pairs of tweezers (which must certainly have +been imitated from the armoury of a dentist) +he had detached the pendulum without +stopping the clock. The hands of the clock +could be plainly seen to move, and its ticking +was furiously rapid.</p> + +<p>Mr. Galpin made a calculation on his +dazzling cuff.</p> + +<p>'In three-quarters of an hour the clock +will have run out,' he informed his audience, +'and you will be able to open any locks that +you've got keys for. I shall call to-morrow +morning, young man, for the swag. And +don't you forget that there's only one Jack +Galpin in the world. My address is 205, the +Waterloo Road.'</p> + +<p>He left, with his bag.</p> + +<p>Simon rushed to Vault 39 to encourage the +captive by continual knocking.</p> + +<p>Then the messenger-boy, who had been +despatched to obtain food for the prisoners +behind the various grilles, came back with +the desired food, and with a copy of the +<i>Evening Herald</i>. The back page of the +<i>Herald</i> bore Hugo's immense advertisement. +The front page was also chiefly devoted to +Hugo. It displayed headings such as: +'Shocking Scenes at a Sloane Street Sale,' +'Women Injured,' 'Customers Complain of +Wholesale Swindling,' 'Scandalous Mismanagement,' +'The Hugo Safe Deposit Suddenly +Closed,' 'Reported Disappearance of Mr. +Hugo,' 'Is He a Lunatic?'</p> + +<p>And when the three-quarters of an hour +had expired Simon and the patrol unlocked +the massive portal of Vault 39, and swung +it open, fearful of what they might see within. +And Hugo, pale and feeble, but alive, staggered +heavily forward, and put a hand on +Simon's shoulder.</p> + +<p>'Let us get away from this,' he whispered, +as if in profound mental agony.</p> + +<p>Ignoring everything, he passed out of the +impregnable Safe Deposit, with its flashing +steel walls, on Simon's obedient arm.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV</h3> + +<h2>TEA</h2> + + +<p>Arrived on the ground-floor, Simon managed +to avoid the busy parts of the establishment, +but he happened to choose a way to Hugo's +private lift which led past the service-door +of the Hugo Grand Central Restaurant. +And Hugo, although apparently in a sort +of torpor, noticed it.</p> + +<p>'Tea!' he ejaculated. 'If I could have +some at once!'</p> + +<p>And he directed Simon into the restaurant, +and so came plump upon one of the worst +scenes in the entire place. The first day of +the great annual sale was closing in almost a +riot, and there in the restaurant the primeval +and savage instincts of the vast, angry crowd +were naturally to be seen in their crudest +form. The famous walnut buffet, eighty feet +in length, was besieged by an army of customers, +chiefly women, who were competing +for food in a manner which ignored even the +rudiments of politeness. It would be difficult +to deny that several scores of well-dressed +ladies, robbed of their self-possession +and their lunch by delays and vexations and +impositions in the departments, were actually +fighting for food. The girls behind the buffet +remained nobly at their posts, but the situation +had outgrown their experience. Every +now and then a crash of crockery or crystal +was heard over the din of shrill voices, and +occasionally a loud protest. Away from the +buffet, on the fine floor of the restaurant, a +few waitresses hurried distracted and aimless +between the tables at which sat irate and +scandalized persons who firmly believed themselves +to be dying of hunger. A number of +people were most obviously stealing food, not +merely from the sideboards, but from their +fellows. At a table near to the corner in +which Hugo, shocked by the spectacle, had +fallen limp into a chair, was seated an old, +fierce man, who looked like a retired Indian +judge, and who had somehow secured a cup +of tea all to himself. A pretty young woman +approached him, and deliberately snatched +the cup from under his very nose—and without +spilling a drop. The Indian judge sprang +up, roared 'Hussy!' and knocked the table +over with a prodigious racket, then proceeded +to pick the table up again.</p> + +<p>'Is it like this everywhere?' asked Hugo +of Shawn.</p> + +<p>And Shawn nodded.</p> + +<p>'I might have foreseen,' Hugo murmured.</p> + +<p>'I'll try to get you some tea, sir,' Shawn +said, with an attempt to be cheerful.</p> + +<p>'Don't leave me,' begged Hugo, like a sick +child. 'Don't leave me.'</p> + +<p>'Only for a moment, sir,' said Shawn, departing.</p> + +<p>Hugo felt that he was about to swoon, that +he had suffered just as much as a man could +suffer, and that Fate was dropping the last +straw on the camel's back. His head fell +forward. He was beaten for that day by +too many mysteries and too many tortures. +And then he observed that the pretty young +woman who had stolen the cup of tea from +the Indian judge was hastening towards him +with the cup of tea in one hand and several +pieces of bread-and-butter in the other.</p> + +<p>'Drink this, Mr. Hugo,' she whispered, +standing over him. He hesitated. <i>'Drink +it, I say, or must I throw it over you?'</i></p> + +<p>He sipped, and sipped again, obediently.</p> + +<p>'Good, isn't it?' she questioned.</p> + +<p>He looked up at her. He was stronger +already.</p> + +<p>'It's very good,' he said, with conviction. +'Now a bit of bread-and-butter. Thanks.' +Yes, the excellence and power of the Hugo +tea was not to be denied, and he was deeply +glad in that moment that he owned his +private plantations in Ceylon. 'Who are +you, may I ask?' he demanded of his rescuer.</p> + +<p>'If you please, sir, I'm Albert's wife.'</p> + +<p>'Albert?'</p> + +<p>'Albert Shawn, your detective, sir.'</p> + +<p>'Of course you are!'</p> + +<p>'You gave us a bedroom suite for a wedding +present, sir.'</p> + +<p>'Of course I did! By the way, where's +Albert?'</p> + +<p>'He's had an accident to his foot, and +couldn't come to-day. You're less pale than +you were, sir. Take this other piece.'</p> + +<p>Then Simon returned, empty-handed, and +Lily's eye indicated to him her real opinion +of the value of a male in a crisis. She asked +no questions concerning the events which had +ended in Hugo's collapse. She merely dealt +with the collapse, and in the intervals of +dealing with it she explained to Simon how +she had waited and waited in the dome, and +then descended and tried in vain to enter the +Safe Deposit, and been insulted by the messenger-boy, +and had finally drifted to the +restaurant, where she had caught sight of +Hugo and himself, and guessed immediately +that something in the highest degree unusual +had occurred.</p> + +<p>'Come,' said Hugo at last, in curt command, +'I am better.'</p> + +<p>He had recovered. He was Hugo again. +And Simon was once more nothing but his body +servant, and Lily nothing but an ex-waitress +who had married rather well. He thanked +Lily, and told her to go and look after her +husband as well as she had looked after him.</p> + +<p>In the dome Simon ventured to show him +the <i>Evening Herald</i>. And, having read it, +Hugo nodded his head and pressed his lips +together. He had ordered champagne and +sandwiches, and was consuming them, at the +same time opening a series of yellow envelopes +which lay on a table. These latter were +reports from his detective corps, which had +accumulated during the day.</p> + +<p>'Get a sheet of plain paper,' he said to +Simon, 'and write this letter. Are you +ready? Yes, it will do in pencil; I even +prefer it in pencil.</p> + +<blockquote><p>'"DEAR SIR,</p> + +<p>'"I have reason to think that you +may be interested in some extraordinary +information which I have in my possession +concerning Camilla Tudor, who is supposed +to have been buried at Brompton Cemetery +in July last year. If I am right, perhaps you +will accompany the bearer to my rooms. At +present I will not disclose my name.</p> + +<p>'"Yours, etc."</p></blockquote> + + +<p>'Put any initials you like. Address it to +Louis Ravengar, Esquire. Now listen to me. +Go down to the auto garage, and choose a +good man to take the note instantly; a second +man must go with him. If they bring back +Ravengar, he is to be taken to No. 6, Blair +Street, shown upstairs, and brought along the +bridge-passage into the building. It will be +quite dark, and he will never guess. If necessary, +he must be brought to me by force, +once he is inside. Have two or three porters +in attendance to see to that. But if it's +managed properly, he'll come without a suspicion, +and he'll be finely surprised when he +finds that the long passage ends in just this +room. Come back to me as soon as you've +attended to that.'</p> + +<p>'Yes, sir,' said Simon, quite mystified, but +none the less enchanted to see Hugo so +actively the old Hugo.</p> + +<p>In ten minutes he had returned, and was +beginning to relate new facts which he had +learnt while downstairs.</p> + +<p>'Stop!' said Hugo. 'Don't worry me with +needless details. I know enough. And don't +ask me any questions. We can't hope to +remedy the state of affairs to-day. Nevertheless, +we can do something for to-morrow. +I must have Mr. Bentley, the drapery manager, +brought here before six o'clock. He must be +found.'</p> + +<p>'He is found, sir. He has shot himself in +his house in Pimlico Road.'</p> + +<p>Hugo started.</p> + +<p>'Ah!' was all he said at first. He added +dryly: 'Good! And Brown?'</p> + +<p>'I have no news of him, sir. He's vanished.'</p> + +<p>'Telephone down to the press department +that Mr. Aked must come up to see me at +seven o'clock precisely, and, in the meantime, +he must secure an extra half-page in all +to-morrow's papers.'</p> + +<p>'Yes, sir.'</p> + +<p>'And after closing-time the entire staff +must assemble, the men in the carpet-rooms, +and the women in the central restaurant—or +what's left of it. I shall speak to them. +Have notices put in the common-rooms.'</p> + +<p>'Yes, sir.'</p> + +<p>'And send me all the buyers from the +drapery department. They must go round +and buy every silvered fox-stole in London +to-night, at no matter what price.'</p> + +<p>'Certainly, sir.'</p> + +<p>'And telephone to Y.Z. that I shall be +down there as soon as I can about these +things.'</p> + +<p>He touched the pile of yellow envelopes. +Y.Z. was the name always given to the +detectives' private room.</p> + +<p>'Precisely, sir.'</p> + +<p>'That's all.'</p> + +<p>Simon Shawn gathered that his master had +a very definite clue to the origin of the unique +and fatal events of that day, and that all +dark places were about to be made light +with a blinding light.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV</h3> + +<h2>RAVENGAR IN CAPTIVITY</h2> + + +<p>'Ravengar, what a fool you are!'</p> + +<p>The dome was in darkness. Hugo, who +stood concealed near the switch, turned on +all the lights as soon as he had uttered this +singular greeting, and stepped forward. He +had decided to kill Ravengar. The desire to +murder was in his heart, and in order to give +all his instincts full play he had chosen a +theatrical method of welcoming his victim +into the fastness from which he was never +to escape.</p> + +<p>'D—n!' exclaimed Ravengar, evidently +astounded to the uttermost to find himself in +Hugo's dome, and in the presence of Hugo.</p> + +<p>He sprang back to the door of the dressing-room +by which he had so unsuspectingly +entered.</p> + +<p>'What a fool you are to fall into a trap so +simple! No; don't try to get away. You +can't. That door is locked now. And, moreover, +I have a revolver here, and also a pair +of handcuffs, which I shall use if I have any +trouble with you.'</p> + +<p>Ravengar gazed at his captor, irresolute. +His clean-shaven upper lip seemed longer +than ever, and his short gray beard and gray +locks gave him an appearance of sanctimony +which not even his sinister eyes could destroy. +Then he sat down on a chair.</p> + +<p>'I should like to know—' he began, +trying to speak steadily.</p> + +<p>'You would like to know,' Hugo took him +up, 'why I am here alive, instead of being +in that vault, suffocated. It was a pretty +dodge of yours to get me down there. You +counted on my curiosity about the Tudor +mystery. You felt sure I should yield to +the temptation. And I did yield. You were +right. I was prepared to commit a breach +of faith in order to satisfy that curiosity. +No sooner was the door closed on me by that +scoundrel Brown, and I found the vault not +Polycarp's vault at all, than I knew to a +certainty that you were at the bottom of the +affair. So easy to make out afterwards that +it was an accident! So easy to spirit Brown +away! So easy to explain everything! Why, +Ravengar, you intended to murder me! I +saw the whole scheme in a flash. You have +corrupted many of my servants to-day. But +you didn't corrupt all of them. And because +you didn't, because you couldn't, I am alive. +You would like to know how I got out. But +you will never know, Ravengar. You will +die without knowing.'</p> + +<p>Ravengar put his hands in his pockets.</p> + +<p>'I can only assume that you are going +mad, Owen,' said he. 'I have long guessed +that you were. Nothing else will explain +this extraordinary action of yours towards +me.'</p> + +<p>'You act well,' replied Hugo, sitting down +and eyeing Ravengar critically. 'You act +well. But you gave the whole show away by +the tone in which you swore two minutes ago. +If there is anyone mad in this room, it is yourself. +Your schemes show that queer mixture +of amazing ingenuity and amazing folly which +is characteristic of madmen. Let us hope you +are mad, at any rate.'</p> + +<p>'My schemes!' sneered Ravengar. 'You +might at least tell the madman what his +schemes are.'</p> + +<p>Hugo laughed.</p> + +<p>'You must have been maturing the day's +business quite a long time, my boyhood's +companion, my floater of public companies, +my pearl of financiers. Yes, decidedly parts +of it were wonderfully ingenious. To sow +the place with pickpockets, to get at my +cashiers, my commissionaires, and my servers. +To substitute your own false shopwalkers for +the genuine article. To arrange for the arrest +of important customers on preposterous +charges of theft. To lock up a hundred +women in a gallery till they nearly died. +To have my best and most advertised bargains +removed in the night. To deprive the +restaurants of food, and to employ women +to turn them upside down. To produce, as +you contrived to do, a general air of pandemonium, +and to ruin the discipline of over +three thousand of the best-trained employés +in England. All this, and much else which +I do not mention, was devilish clever in its +conception, and the execution of it commands +my unqualified admiration. Especially having +regard to the fact that you contrived not to +arouse my suspicions. I may tell you that +certain strange incidents which occurred in +my establishment during the autumn did +indeed lead me vaguely to suspect that you +were at work against me, but you were sufficiently +smart to put me off the track again. +Let me add that until this afternoon I did +not perceive that your purchase of a controlling +share in the <i>Evening Herald</i> was only +a portion of a mightier plan.'</p> + +<p>'Really, Owen—'</p> + +<p>'Don't waste your breath in denials. You +will have none at all presently, like Bentley.'</p> + +<p>'Bentley?' repeated Ravengar, with a slight +movement.</p> + +<p>'Yes; but we will come to Bentley in a few +minutes. I have enlarged to you on your own +cleverness. I must enlarge to you on your +folly. What folly! What was the end of all +this to be, Ravengar? I have tried to put +myself in your place, and to follow your +thoughts. You hate me. You think I robbed +you of a fortune, and that I helped to rob you +of a woman. You wished to buy my business, +and add it to the roll of your companies. +And I deprived you of that triumph. Your +hatred of me grew and grew. Leading a +solitary and narrow life, you allowed it to +develop into a species of monomania. I had +come out on top once too often for your peace +of mind. In your opinion the world was too +small to hold both of us. Accordingly, you +evolved your terrific campaign. My business +was to be seriously damaged. And I was to +be murdered. And then you were to get the +concern cheap from my executors, and to +float me dead since you could not float me +living. What folly, Ravengar! What stupendous +folly! Even if the fanciful and +grotesque scheme had succeeded as far as +my death, it could not have succeeded beyond +that point.'</p> + +<p>'I don't know what you are chattering +about, Owen, but you look as if you expected +me to ask, "Why?" Anything to oblige you. +Why?'</p> + +<p>'You would have known the reason had +you lived long enough to read the provisions +of my will,' said Hugo.</p> + +<p>'I see,' said Ravengar.</p> + +<p>'You do,' said Hugo. 'You see, you hear, +you breathe, but Bentley doesn't. Bentley +has killed himself.' (Ravengar started.) 'So +that if you have not my blood on your conscience, +you have his. You tempted him; he +fell ... and he has repented. Admit that +you tempted him!'</p> + +<p>Ravengar smiled superiorly. And then +Hugo sprang forward in a sudden overmastering +passion.</p> + +<p>'Hate breeds hate,' he cried, 'and I have +learnt from you how to hate. Admit that +you have tried to ruin and to murder me, +or, by G—! I will kill you sooner than I +intended.'</p> + +<p>He had no weapon in his hands; the revolver +was in a drawer; but nevertheless +Ravengar shrank from those menacing hands.</p> + +<p>'Look here, Hugo—'</p> + +<p>'Will you admit it? Or shall I have to—'</p> + +<p>Their wills met in a supreme conflict.</p> + +<p>'Oh, very well, then,' muttered Ravengar.</p> + +<p>The conflict was over.</p> + +<p>Hugo returned to his chair.</p> + +<p>'Miserable cur!' he exclaimed. 'You were +afraid of me. I knew I could frighten you. +I would have liked to be able to admire something +more than your ingenuity. Ravengar, +I do believe I could have forgiven your +attempt to murder me if it had not included +an attempt to dishonour me at the same time. +There is something simple and grand about a +straightforward murder—I shall prove to you +soon that I do not always regard murder as a +crime—but to murder a man amid circumstances +of shame, to finish him off while +making him look a fool—that is the act of a—of +a Ravengar.'</p> + +<p>Ravengar yawned and glanced at his watch.</p> + +<p>'It's nearly my dinner-time,' said he.</p> + +<p>Again Hugo sprang forward, and, snatching +at the watch, tore it and the chain from +Ravengar's waistcoat, dashed them to the +floor, and stamped on them. He was amazed, +and he was also delighted, at his own fury. +The lust of destruction had got hold of him.</p> + +<p>'Ass!' he murmured, suddenly lowering his +voice. 'Can't you guess what I mean to do?'</p> + +<p>'I cannot,' Ravengar stammered.</p> + +<p>'I mean to put you to the same test to +which you put me. You arranged that I +should spend twenty-two hours in a vault +without ventilation. At the end of five hours +I was by no means dead. I might have survived +the twenty-two. But, frankly, I don't +fancy I should. And I don't fancy you will. +In fact, I'm convinced that you won't.'</p> + +<p>'Indeed!' said Ravengar uncertainly.</p> + +<p>'You think this scene is not real,' Hugo +continued. 'You think it can't be real. You +refuse to credit the fact that this time to-morrow +you will be dead. You refuse to +admit to yourself that I am in earnest—deadly, +fatal earnest.'</p> + +<p>'Upon my soul!' Ravengar burst out, +standing, 'I believe you are.'</p> + +<p>'Good,' said Hugo. 'You are waking up, +positively. You are getting accustomed to +the unpleasant prospect of not dying in your +bed surrounded by inconsolable dependants.'</p> + +<p>'Hugo,' Ravengar began persuasively, +'you must be aware that all these suspicions +of yours are a figment of your excited brain. +You must be aware that I never meant to +murder you.'</p> + +<p>'My dear fellow,' Hugo replied with calm +bitterness, '<i>I</i> don't intend to murder <i>you</i>. I +intend merely to put you in that vault. Your +death will be an accidental consequence, as +mine would have been. And why should you +not die? Can you give me a single good +reason why you should continue to live? +What good are you doing on the earth? +Are you making anyone happy? Are you +making yourself happy? That spark of +vitality which constitutes your soul has +chanced on an unfortunate incarnation. Suppose +that I release it, and give it a fresh opportunity, +shall I not be acting worthily? For +you must agree that murder in the strict sense +is an impossible thing. The immortal cannot +die. Vital energy cannot be destroyed. All +that the murderer does is to end one incarnation +and begin another.'</p> + +<p>'So that is your theory!'</p> + +<p>'Was it not yours, when you got me deposited +in the vault?' Hugo demanded with +ferocious irony. 'I am bound to believe that +it was. The common outcry against murder +(as it is called) can have no weight with enlightened +persons like you and me, Ravengar.'</p> + +<p>'Perhaps not,' said Ravengar, summoning +his powers of self-control. 'But the common +outcry against murder is apt to be very inconvenient +for the person who chooses, as you +put it, to end one incarnation and begin +another. Has it not struck you, Owen, that +inquiries would be made for me, that my death +would be certain to be discovered, and that +ultimately you would suffer the penalty?'</p> + +<p>'My arrangements for the future are far +more complete than yours could have been in +regard to me,' Hugo answered smoothly. +'You betrayed some clumsiness. I shall +profit by your mistakes. No one will see you +go into the Safe Deposit except myself and a +man whom I can trust. No one at all except +myself will see you go into the vault. I can +manage the operation alone. A little chloroform +will quieten you for a time. The vault +once closed will not be opened during my +lifetime, unless at four o'clock to-morrow +night I hear you knocking on the door. Of +course, inquiries will be made, but they will +be futile. People often simply disappear. +You will simply disappear.'</p> + +<p>The clock struck six.</p> + +<p>'And your conscience?' Ravengar muttered.</p> + +<p>'It's soon well under control. Besides, I +shall be doing the human race, and especially +the investing part of the human race, a very +good turn.'</p> + +<p>Then Ravengar approached Hugo, and, +Hugo rising to meet him, their faces almost +touched in the middle of the great room.</p> + +<p>'You called me a cur,' he said. 'Yet +perhaps I am not such a cur after all. You +have beaten me. You mean to finish me; I +can see it in your face. Well, you will regret +it more than I shall. Do you know I have +often wished to die? You are right in saying +that there is no reason why I should live. I +am only a curse to the world. But you are +wrong to scorn me when you kill me. You +ought to pity me. Did I choose my temperament, +my individuality? As I am, so I was +born, and from his character no man can +escape.'</p> + +<p>And he sat down, and Hugo sat down.</p> + +<p>'When is it to be?' Ravengar questioned.</p> + +<p>'In a few minutes,' said Hugo impassively, +feeding his mortal resentment on the memory +of those hours when he himself had waited +for death in the vault.</p> + +<p>'Then I shall have time to ask you how you +came to know that Camilla Payne, or rather +Camilla Tudor, is alive.'</p> + +<p>'She is not alive,' Hugo explained. 'The +suggestion contained in my decoy letter was +a pure invention in order to entice you. As +you tempted me into the vault, so I tempted +you here on your way to the vault.'</p> + +<p>'But she is alive all the same!' Ravengar +persisted. 'It is the fact that she is not dead +that makes me less unwilling to die, for a word +from her might send me to a death more +shameful than the one you have so kindly +arranged for me.'</p> + +<p>Hugo in that instant admired Ravengar, +and he replied quite gently:</p> + +<p>'You are mistaken. Where can you have +got the idea that she is not dead? She is +dead. I myself—I myself screwed her up in +her coffin.'</p> + +<p>The words sounded horrible.</p> + +<p>'Then you were in the plot!' Ravengar +cried.</p> + +<p>'What plot?'</p> + +<p>'The plot to persuade me falsely that she +is dead. Bah! I know more than you think. +I know, for example, that her body is not in +the coffin in Brompton Cemetery. And I am +almost sure that I know where she is hiding. +I should have known beyond doubt before +to-morrow morning. However, what does it +matter now?'</p> + +<p>'Not in the coffin?' Hugo whispered, as if +to himself. His whole frame trembled, shook, +and his heart, leaping, defied his intellect.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI</h3> + +<h2>BURGLARS</h2> + + +<p>When at eleven o'clock that same winter +night Hugo stood hesitating, with certain +tools and a hooded electric lamp in his hand, +on the balcony in front of the drawing-room +window of Francis Tudor's sealed flat, he +thought what a strange, illogical, and capricious +thing is the human heart.</p> + +<p>He knew that Camilla was dead. He had +had the very best and most convincing +evidence of the fact. He knew that Ravengar's +suspicions were without foundation, +utterly wrong-headed; and yet those statements +of his enemy had unsettled him. They +had not unsettled the belief of his intelligence, +but they had unsettled his soul's peace. And +that curiosity to learn the whole truth about +the history of the relations between Francis +Tudor and Camilla, that curiosity which had +slumbered for months, and which had been +so suddenly awakened by Ravengar's lure of +the morning, was now urged into a violent +activity.</p> + +<p>Nor was this all. Camilla was surely dead. +But supposing that by some incredible chance +she was not dead (lo! the human heart), +could he kill Ravengar? This question had +presented itself to him as he sat in the dome +listening to Ravengar's asseverations that +Camilla lived. And the mere ridiculous, +groundless suspicion that she lived, the mere +fanciful dream that she lived, had quite +changed and softened Hugo's mood. He had +struggled hard to keep his resolution to kill +Ravengar, but it had melted away; he had +fanned the fire of his mortal hatred, but it had +cooled, and at length he had admitted to +himself, angrily, reluctantly, that Ravengar +had escaped the ordeal of the vault. And +this being decided, what could he do with +Ravengar? Retain him under lock and key? +Why? To what end? Such illegal captivities +were not practicable for long in +London. Besides, they were absurd, melodramatic, +and futile. As the moments passed +and the fumes of a murderous intoxication +gradually cleared away, Hugo had regained +his natural, sagacious perspective, and he had +perceived that there was only one thing to do +with Ravengar.</p> + +<p>He let Ravengar go. He showed him +politely out.</p> + +<p>It was an anti-climax, but the incalculable +and peremptory processes of the heart often +result in an anti-climax.</p> + +<p>The night was cold and damp, as the +morning had been, and Hugo shivered, but +not with cold. He shivered in the mere +exciting eagerness of anticipation. He had +chosen the drawing-room window because the +panes were very large. He found it perfectly +simple, by means of the treacled cardboard +which he carried, to force in the pane noiselessly. +He pushed aside the blind, and crept +within the room. So simple was it to violate +the will of a dead man, and the solemnly +affixed seals of his executor! He had arranged +that the pane should be replaced before +dawn, and the new putty darkened to match +the rest. Thus, no trace would remain of the +burglarious entry. No seal on door or window +would have been broken.</p> + +<p>He stood upright in the drawing-room, +restored the blind and the heavy curtains to +their positions, and then ventured to press the +button of his lamp. He saw once more the +vast outlines of the room which he had last +seen under such circumstances of woe. The +great pieces of furniture were enveloped in +holland covers, and resembled formless ghosts +in the pale illumination of the lamp. He +shivered again. He was afraid now, with the +fear of the unknown, the forbidden, and the +withheld. Why was he there? What could +he hope to discover?</p> + +<p>In answer to these questions, he replied:</p> + +<p>'Why did Francis Tudor order that the flat +should be closed? He must have had some +reason. I will find it out. It is essential to +my peace of mind to know. I meant to +commit murder to-day; I have only committed +burglary. I ought to congratulate +myself and sing for joy, instead of feeling +afraid.'</p> + +<p>So he reassured his spirit as he stepped carefully +into the midst of the holland-covered +and moveless ghosts. On the mantelpiece to +the left there still stood the electric table-light, +and by its side still lay the screwdriver.... +He determined to pass straight through +the drawing-room. At the further edge of +the carpet, on the parquet flooring between the +carpet and the portière leading to the inner +hall, he noticed under the ray of his lamp footprints +in the dust—footprints of a man, and +smaller footprints, either of a woman or a +child. He remained motionless, staring at +them. Then it occurred to him that during +the days between the death of its tenant and +the sealing-up the flat would probably not +have been cleaned, and that these footprints +must have been made months ago by the last +persons to leave the flat. Little dust would +fall after the closing of the flat. He was glad +that he had thought of that explanation. It +was a convincing explanation.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless he dared not proceed. For on +the other mantelpiece to the right there was a +clock, and while staring in the ghostly silence +at the footprints, he had fancied that his ear +caught the ticking of the clock. Imagination, +doubtless! But he dared not proceed until +he had satisfied himself that his ears had +deluded him; and, equally, he dared not +approach the clock to satisfy himself. He +could only gaze at the reflection of the clock +in the opposite mirror. In the opposite +mirror the hands indicated half a minute +past nine; hence the clock was really at half +a minute to three, and if it was actually +going, it might be expected to strike immediately. +He waited. He heard a preliminary +grinding noise familiar to students of symptoms +in clocks, and in the fraction of a second +he was bathed from head to foot in a cold +perspiration.</p> + +<p>The clock struck three.</p> + +<p>The next instant he walked boldly up to +the clock and bent his ear to it. No, he +could hear nothing. It had stopped. He +glared steadily at the hands for two +minutes by his own watch; they did not +move.</p> + +<p>In the back of his head, in the small of his +back, in his legs, little tracts of his epidermis +tickled momentarily. He wiped his face, and +walked boldly away from the clock to the +portière, which he lifted with one arm. Then +he threw the light of his lamp direct on the +dial, and glared at it again, fearful lest it +should have taken advantage of his departure +to resume its measuring of eternity.</p> + +<p>Could a clock go for four months? A +clock could be made that would go for four +months. But this was not a freak-clock. It +was a large Louis Seize pendule, and he knew +it to be genuine of his own knowledge; he +had bought it.</p> + +<p>He dropped the portière between himself +and the clock, and stood in the inner hall. +He had had as much of the drawing-room as +was good for his nerves.</p> + +<p>The inner hall was oblong in shape, and +measured about twelve feet at its greatest +width. In front of him, as he stood with his +back to the drawing-room, was a closed door, +which he knew led into the principal bedroom +of the flat. To his right another heavy +portière divided the inner from the outer +hall. This portière hung in straight perpendicular +folds. He wondered why the portières +had not been taken down and folded +away.</p> + +<p>He decided to penetrate first into the bedroom, +partly because he deemed the bedroom +might contain the solution of the enigma, and +partly because his eye had fancied it saw a +slight tremor in the portière leading to the +outer hall. So he stepped stoutly across the +space which separated him from the bedroom +door. But he had not reached the door +before there was a loud, sharp explosion, and +a panel of the door splintered and showed +a hole, and he thought he heard a faint +cry.</p> + +<p>A revolver shot!</p> + +<p>He did not believe in anything so far-fetched +as man-traps and spring-guns. Hence +there must be some person or persons in the +flat. Some unseen intelligence was following +him. Some mysterious will had ordained +that he should not enter that bedroom. The +shot was a warning. He guessed from the +flight of the splinters and the appearance of +the hole that the mysterious will must be on +the other side of the portière, but the portière +gave no sign.</p> + +<p>What was he to do? He had brought with +him no weapon. He had not anticipated that +revolvers would be needed in the exploration +of an empty and forbidden flat. The very +definite terrors of the inner hall seemed to +him to surpass the vaguer terrors of the +drawing-room, and he decided to return +thither in order to consider quietly what his +tactics should be; if necessary, he could return +to the dome for arms and assistance. But no +sooner did he move a foot towards the drawing-room +than another shot sounded. The +drawing-room portière trembled, and something +crashed within the apartment. The +mysterious will had ardently decided that he +should go neither back nor forward.</p> + +<p>'Who's there? Who's that shooting?' +he muttered thickly, and extinguished his +lamp.</p> + +<p>He had meant to cry out loud, but, to +his intense surprise, his throat was dried +up.</p> + +<p>There was no answer, no stir, no noise. +The silence that exists between the stars +seemed to close in upon him. Then he really +knew what fear was. He admitted to himself +that he was unmistakably and horribly afraid. +He admitted that life was inconceivably precious, +and the instinct to preserve it the +greatest of all instincts. And gradually he +came to see that the safest course was the +most desperate course, and gradually his +courage triumphed over his fear.</p> + +<p>He dropped gently to his hands and knees, +and began, with a thousand precautions, to +crawl like a serpent towards the outer hall. +The darkened lamp he held between his teeth. +If the mysterious will fired again, the mysterious +will would almost to a certainty fire +harmlessly over his head. At last his hands +touched the portière. He hesitated, listened, +and put one hand under the portière. Then, +relighting the lamp, he sprang up with a yell +on the other side of the portière, and clutched +for the unseen intelligence.</p> + +<p>But there was nothing. He stood alone in +the outer hall. To his right lay the side-passage +between the drawing-room and the +<i>cabinet de toilette</i>, which Camilla had used on +the night of her engagement. In front of +him was a door, slightly ajar, which led to +the servants' quarters. He gazed around, +breathing heavily.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII</h3> + +<h2>POLYCARP AND HAWKE'S MAN</h2> + + +<p>Then it was that he heard a noise, something +between scratching and fumbling, on the +further side of the front-door, in the main +corridor of the flats. He could see through +the ground glass over the door that the +corridor was lighted as usual.</p> + +<p>He thought: 'Someone is breaking the +seal on that door!' And his next idea was: +'Since the seal is being broken in the full +light of the public corridor, it is being broken +by someone who has the right to break it. +Only one man has the right, and that man is +Francis Tudor's executor, Senior Polycarp.'</p> + +<p>The noise of scratching and fumbling ceased, +and a key was placed in the lock.</p> + +<p>Hugo hastily extinguished his lamp, and +hid behind the portière. Immediately the +lamp was extinguished he observed, what he +had not observed before, that a faint light +came through the aperture of the door leading +to the servants' quarters.</p> + +<p>The front-door opened, and he heard footsteps +in the hall. Then ensued a pause. Then +the footsteps advanced, and the newcomer +evidently went into the room where the faint +light was.</p> + +<p>'Come out of that!'</p> + +<p>Yes; it was Polycarp's quiet, mincing, +imperious voice.</p> + +<p>'Come out of it yourself!'</p> + +<p>The answering tones were gruff, heavy, full, +the speech of a strong coarse-fibred man.</p> + +<p>Hugo peeped cautiously through the portière. +Polycarp was backing slowly out of +the room into the hall, followed by a tall, +dark, scowling man, who bore an ordinary +kitchen candle. Polycarp halted in the middle +of the floor. The man also halted; he seemed +to be towering over Polycarp in an attitude +of menace.</p> + +<p>'Let me pass,' said the man. 'I've had +enough of this.'</p> + +<p>Polycarp smiled scornfully.</p> + +<p>'You're caught,' said he. 'You're one of +Hawke's men, aren't you?'</p> + +<p>'Go to h—!' was the man's ferocious +reply.</p> + +<p>'Answer my question, sir.'</p> + +<p>'What if I am?' the man grumbled.</p> + +<p>'In five minutes you'll be in the hands of +the police. I got wind yesterday of what +your rascally agency was up to. You needn't +deny anything. You're working on behalf of +Mr. Ravengar. You know me! Mr. Ravengar +happens to be a client of mine, but after +to-night he will be so no longer. What he +wants done in this flat I cannot guess, but it's +an absolute certainty that you're in for three +years' penal, my friend.'</p> + +<p>'Let me pass,' the man repeated, lifting his +jaw, 'or I'll blow your brains out!'</p> + +<p>He produced his revolver.</p> + +<p>'Oh no, you won't,' said Polycarp coldly. +'You daren't. You aren't on the stage, and +you aren't in Texas. And you aren't a bold +Bret Harte villain. You're simply the creature +of a private inquiry agency, as it's called, +the most miserable of trades! Usually you +spend your time in manufacturing divorces, +but just now you're doing something more +dangerous even than that, something that +needed more pluck than you've got. I should +advise you to come with me quietly.'</p> + +<p>Polycarp was in evening dress, and carried +a pair of white gloves. Hugo decidedly admired +the old dandy as he stood there gazing +up so condescendingly at the man with the +candle.</p> + +<p>'Look here!' said the man with the candle. +'Let me pass. I don't want any fuss. I +want to go. There's more in this flat than +I bargained for. Let me pass.'</p> + +<p>'Give me that revolver,' Polycarp smoothly +demanded.</p> + +<p>'Curse it!' cried the man. 'I'll give it +you! Hands up, you old fool! Do you +think I'm here for fun?'</p> + +<p>And he raised the revolver.</p> + +<p>'I shall not put my hands up.'</p> + +<p>'I'll count five,' said the man grimly, 'and +if you don't—'</p> + +<p>'Count.'</p> + +<p>'One!... two!... three! Can't you +see I mean it?'</p> + +<p>Hugo perceived plainly the murderous, wild +look on the man's face. He knew what it was +to feel murderous. He knew that in a fit of +homicide all considerations of prudence, all +care for the future, vanish away, that the +mind is utterly monopolized by the obsession +of the one single desire.</p> + +<p>Polycarp disdainfully sneered:</p> + +<p>'Four!'</p> + +<p>Hugo could withstand the strain no more. +He bounded out from his concealment, and +snatched the revolver from the man's hand.</p> + +<p>'I forgot you,' growled the man, glancing +at him, disgusted.</p> + +<p>And so saying he dashed the candle in +Polycarp's face and knocked him violently +against Hugo. Both Hugo and Polycarp fell +to the ground. The man made a leap for the +door, and in a second had fled, banging it +after him. Hugo and Polycarp rose with stiff +movements. Hugo picked up his lamp, and +the two confronted each other. It was a +highly delicate situation.</p> + +<p>'Your life is, at any rate, saved,' said Hugo +at length.</p> + +<p>'You think it was in danger?'</p> + +<p>Polycarp's lip curled.</p> + +<p>'I think so.'</p> + +<p>'Possibly you foresaw the danger I ran,' +Polycarp remarked with frigid irony, 'and +came into the flat with the intention of protecting +me. May I ask <i>how</i> you came in?'</p> + +<p>'I came in through the drawing-room +window,' said Hugo. 'I did not interfere +with your seals, however,' he added.</p> + +<p>'You know you are guilty of a criminal +offence?'</p> + +<p>'I know it.'</p> + +<p>'And that I, as executor of the late Francis +Tudor, have a duty which I must perform, no +matter how unpleasant both for you and for +me?'</p> + +<p>'Just so.'</p> + +<p>'What are you doing here? Do you +think your conduct is worthy of a gentleman?'</p> + +<p>Hugo put the candle down on a table, and +dug his hands into his pockets.</p> + +<p>'At this moment,' said he, 'I am not a +gentleman. I am just a man. Nothing else. +I will appeal to you as another man. I need +hardly say that I have no connection with the +opposition firm; I was entirely ignorant of the +presence of Hawke's mission here when I broke +into the flat. I had no notion that Ravengar +was pursuing investigations similar to mine. +Mr. Polycarp, Ravengar is, or was, a client +of yours—'</p> + +<p>'Was.'</p> + +<p>'Yes, I heard what you said a few moments +ago. Was a client of yours. I am sure, +therefore, that no one knows better than you +that Ravengar is not an honest man. On the +other hand, I am equally sure that on the few +occasions when you and I have met I must +have impressed you as a comparatively honest +man. Is it not so? I speak without false +modesty. Is it not so?'</p> + +<p>Polycarp nodded.</p> + +<p>'Well, then,' proceeded Hugo, walking +slowly about, 'you will probably need no +convincing that in any difficulty between me +and Ravengar I am in the right. Now, there +have been, and are, matters between Ravengar +and me in which others had best not +interfere, even indirectly. I shall end those +matters in my own way, because I am the +strongest, and because my hands are clean. +I can give you no details. But let me tell +you that once the whole of my life's dream +was in this flat, this flat which you have +legally closed, and I have illegally opened. +Let me tell you that my life, the only part +of my life for which I cared, came to an end +in this flat some months ago: and that a +mystery hangs over that event which has +lately made intolerable even the dead-alive +existence which Fate had left to me. Let +me tell you that circumstances have arisen +this very day which rendered it impossible +for me to keep myself out of this flat, be the +penalty what it might. And, finally, let me +make my appeal to you.'</p> + +<p>'What do you want?' asked Polycarp +quietly. The sincerity of Hugo's emotion +had touched him. 'Don't ask me to act +contrary to my duty.'</p> + +<p>'But that is just what I shall ask!' Hugo +exclaimed. 'Leave me. Leave me till to-morrow: +that is my sole wish. What is your +duty, after all? Tudor is dead. He is +beyond the reach of harm. He requires the +protection of no lawyer. Trust me, and leave +me. I am an honest man. Forget your law, +forget your parchments, forget the conventions +of society, forget everything except that +you are human, and can do a service to a +fellow-creature. Exercise some imagination, +and see how artificial and absurd is the world +of ideas in which you live. Listen to your +heart, and help me. I am worth it. Can't +you see how I suffer? To-day I have been +through as much as I can stand. I am at the +end of my forces, and I must have sympathy. +You will be guilty of deliberate neglect of +duty in leaving me here, but I implore you +to leave me. And I give no specific reason +why you should. Will you?'</p> + +<p>There was a silence.</p> + +<p>'Yes,' said Polycarp.</p> + +<p>'I thank you.'</p> + +<p>'I don't know why I should consent,' Polycarp +continued, 'but I do. I am quite in the +dark. Legally, I am a disgrace to my profession. +I forfeit my professional honour. +But I will consent. Do what you like. Go +out as you came in and leave no trace. If, +however—'</p> + +<p>'Don't trouble to say that,' Hugo interrupted +him. 'I shall take no unfair advantage +of your generosity. The flat and all its +contents are absolutely safe in my hands. +And if you should decide, in the future, that +I must accept the consequences of to-night's +work, I shall not shuffle. All I want is to be +left alone <i>now</i>.'</p> + +<p>Polycarp opened the door.</p> + +<p>'Good-night,' he said. 'Perhaps you did +save my life. But if you had appealed on +that account to my gratitude I should have +been obliged to refuse your request.'</p> + +<p>'I know it,' said Hugo. 'I knew whom I +was talking to. Good-night, and thanks.'</p> + +<p>'I shall lock this door,' Polycarp called out, +departing.</p> + +<p>'Yes, do; and, I say, you'll lay hands on +that man of Hawke's easily enough in a day +or two.'</p> + +<p>'Oh, certainly,' said Polycarp. 'I have +not forgotten him. But I was compelled to +deal with you first.'</p> + +<p>Twisting his white moustache, and buttoning +his overcoat across the vast acreage of +his shirt-front, Polycarp disappeared from +Hugo's view into the corridor.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII</h3> + +<h2>HUSBAND AND WIFE</h2> + + +<p>Hugo bolted the front-door on the inside, +relighted the candle which Hawke's man had +used as a weapon, and placed it in the middle +of the hall floor. He then penetrated into +the servants' part of the flat, and emerged +on to the balcony by the small side-door, +which was open, and had evidently been +forced by Hawke's man. And there, on the +balcony, he leaned over the balustrade in the +cold humid night, and tried to recover his +calmness. He felt that any systematic, +scientific search of the premises would be +impossible to him until his mind resembled +somewhat less a sea across which a hurricane +has just passed.</p> + +<p>Many questions stood ready to puzzle his +brain, but he ignored them all, and fell into +a vague reverie, of which Camilla was the +centre. And from this reverie he was suddenly +startled by the clear, unmistakable +sound of a door being shut within the flat. +It was not the shutting of a door by the +wind, but the careful, precise shutting of a +door by some person who had a habit of +shutting doors as doors ought to be shut.</p> + +<p>'Polycarp has returned!' was his first +thought. But he remembered. 'No! I +bolted the front-door on the inside.'</p> + +<p>The conundrum of the clock and of the two +sizes of footprints in the drawing-room recurred +to him. Without allowing himself to +hesitate, he strode back again into the flat, +with a sort of unbreathed sigh, an unuttered +complaint against circumstances for not giving +him an instant's peace.</p> + +<p>The candle was still placidly burning in the +hall, but its position had certainly been +shifted by at least three feet. It was much +nearer the portière leading to the inner hall. +Hugo listened intently. Not a sound! And +he stared interrogatively at the candle as +though the candle were a guilty thing.</p> + +<p>However, he now possessed the revolver +of Hawke's man, and this gave him confidence. +He left the perambulating candle to +itself, and proceeded to the inner hall by the +light of his own electric lamp. The door of +the principal bedroom, which he had originally +meant to invade, lay to his right; the entrance +to the drawing-room lay to his left. He +thought he would take another look at the +drawing-room, and then he thought:</p> + +<p>'No; I'll tackle the bedroom.'</p> + +<p>And he seized the handle of the bedroom +door. At the first trial it would not turn, +but in a moment it turned a little, and then +turned back against his pressure.</p> + +<p>'Someone's got hold of it inside!' he said +to himself.</p> + +<p>He put the lamp on a chair, and took the +revolver from his pocket in readiness for any +complications that might follow his forcing +of the door.</p> + +<p>Then he heard a woman's voice within the +bedroom.</p> + +<p>'I shall open it, Alb, if you kill me for it. +I don't care who it is. You may be dying +of loss of blood. In fact, I'm sure you are.'</p> + +<p>And the door was pulled wide open with a +single sweeping movement, and Hugo beheld +the figure, slightly dishevelled and more than +slightly perturbed, of Mrs. Albert Shawn.</p> + +<p>'Oh, Alb!' cried Lily. 'It's Mr. Hugo! +Oh, Mr. Hugo! whatever next will happen in +this world?'</p> + +<p>The swift loosing of the tension of Hugo's +nerves was too much for his self-possession. +He burst into a peal of loud laughter. It was +unnaturally loud, it was hysterical; but it +was genuine laughter, and it did him good.</p> + +<p>Lily straightened herself. So far, she had +not admitted Hugo into the chamber.</p> + +<p>'It's all very well for you to laugh like that, +Mr. Hugo,' she protested sharply; 'but perhaps +you don't know that you've nearly +killed my husband with that there revolver. +The shot came through the door, and took +him in the arm just as he was emptying this +safe.'</p> + +<p>Hugo saw Albert Shawn lying on the +stripped bed, a handkerchief tied round his +arm, and in the corner near the door a large +safe opened, and its contents in a heap on +the floor.</p> + +<p>'It's all right, sir,' said Albert; 'come in. +I'm nowhere near croaking. I didn't know +you were on this lay as well as me, sir. I +thought I was going to come down on you +to-morrow with a surprise like a thousand of +bricks.'</p> + +<p>'What lay, Albert?' asked Hugo, advancing +into the room.</p> + +<p>'The secret-finding lay, sir,' said Albert.</p> + +<p>'Your wife has the right to be anxious +about you,' Hugo observed, after a pause. +'But you don't seem to be quite dying, +Shawn; and I think it will be as well if +you explain to me why you have adopted +the profession of burglar. It is extremely +singular that there should have been three +burglars here to-night. You, and then +me—'</p> + +<p>'What did I tell you, Alb?' Mrs. Albert +Shawn exclaimed. 'Didn't I tell you I +heard a scuffle?'</p> + +<p>'The scuffle was between me and No. 3. +And be it known to you, Mrs. Shawn, that +the revolver was not fired by me, but by +No. 3. I took it off him, afterwards.'</p> + +<p>'Then No. 3 must have come on behalf of +Mr. Ravengar, sir,' said Albert.</p> + +<p>'You are no doubt right,' Hugo agreed. +'But how did you know that?'</p> + +<p>'Hawke's Detective Agency, sir. I found +out before my wedding that one of their men +had been hanging about here, so I chummed +up to him. I spun him a yarn how I'd been +with Hawke's once, and they gave me the +bag, and I wasn't satisfied, and he'd got a +lot of grievances against Hawke's, too, he +had. We got very friendly. Pity I had to +leave the thing for my wedding. But I came +back after a week.'</p> + +<p>'Yes, that he did, sir,' said Lily proudly, +'and insisted on it.'</p> + +<p>'I soon knew they were going to burglarize +this flat to get some phonograph records.'</p> + +<p>'Phonograph records!' Hugo repeated, pondering.</p> + +<p>'Yes, sir; and so I thought I'd be beforehand +with 'em.'</p> + +<p>'Why didn't you tell me directly you +knew?'</p> + +<p>'You gave me that Gaboriau book to read, +sir, and I learnt a lot from it. It's put me +up to a power of things. And, amongst others, +that two people can't manage one job. One +job, one man.'</p> + +<p>'You'll excuse Albert, sir,' said Lily; +'that's only his way of talking.'</p> + +<p>'It was simply this, sir. I found out +enough to make me as sure as eggs is eggs +that you'd like to have those phonograph +records yourself, without having to inquire +too much where they came from or how they +came.'</p> + +<p>'I see.'</p> + +<p>'Exactly, sir. Well, to cut a long story +short, sir, I happened to come across something +yesterday that made me think that the +annual sale was going to be interfered with +by parties unknown. But I'd got all I could +manage, and I left that alone; I'd no time +for it. And last night parties unknown tried +to break my leg for me with an open +cellar-flap. I knew it was a plant, and so I pretended +it had succeeded.'</p> + +<p>'He made me think his ankle was that +sprained he couldn't walk. He wouldn't +trust even me, sir,' said Lily.</p> + +<p>'Gaboriau,' Albert explained briefly. 'I +knew I was watched, and I told Lily to tell +the milkman I couldn't walk. It was all +over Radipole Road at eight o'clock this +morning. And so, while parties unknown +thought I was fast on a sofa, I slipped out +by the back-door as soon as I'd sent Lily +here to warn you about the annual sale, in +case of necessity. I must say I thought I +should be twenty-four hours in front of +Hawke's men, but I expect they changed +their plans. I brought Lily along with me +at the last moment. She's read Gaboriau, +too, sir, and she's mighty handy.'</p> + +<p>'I am aware of it,' said Hugo.</p> + +<p>'Anyhow, we got in here first, by the side-door +on the balcony. Hawke's man must +have come in about an hour after us, and +you just after him. That's how I reckon it.'</p> + +<p>'You went into the drawing-room, didn't +you?' Hugo asked.</p> + +<p>'Just looked in.'</p> + +<p>'And played with the clock?'</p> + +<p>Here he glanced sternly at Lily.</p> + +<p>'I shook it to start it, sir, to see if it would +go,' Lily admitted.</p> + +<p>'I reckon you turned out Hawke's man, +sir?' Albert queried.</p> + +<p>'It amounted to that,' said Hugo. 'But +these phonograph records—what are they?'</p> + +<p>'I don't know what they are,' said Albert, +descending from the bed, 'but I know that +Mr. Ravengar wanted them very badly. It +seems Mr. Tudor was a great hand at phonographs +and gramophones. Like me, sir.'</p> + +<p>'Yes, sir; we've got a beauty. My uncle +gave it us,' Lily put in. 'Oh, Alb! your +arm's all burst out again.'</p> + +<p>The bandage was, in fact, slightly discoloured.</p> + +<p>'Oh, that's nothing, my dear,' said Albert.</p> + +<p>He pushed up a pile of discs from in front +of the safe, and displayed them to Hugo.</p> + +<p>'Can we try them here?' Hugo demanded, +in a voice suddenly and profoundly eager.</p> + +<p>'Certainly, sir. Here's the machine. You +undo this catch, and then you—'</p> + +<p>Albert was mounted on his latest hobby, +and in a few minutes, although he could only +use one arm, the phonograph, which stood on +the table near the safe, was ready for its work +of reproduction. Albert started it.</p> + +<p>'Follow me, follow me!'</p> + +<p>It began to sing the famous ditty in the +famous voice of Miss Edna May.</p> + +<p>'Stop that!' cried Hugo, and Albert stopped +it.</p> + +<p>The next two discs proved to be respectively +a series of stories of Mr. R.G. Knowles and +'The Lost Chord,' played on a cornet. And +these also were cut short. Then came a +bundle of discs tied together. Hugo himself +fixed the top one, and the machine, after +whirring inarticulately, said in slow, clear +tones:</p> + +<p>'In case I should die before—'</p> + +<p>Hugo arrested the action.</p> + +<p>'Go,' he said, almost threateningly, to +Albert and his wife. 'Mrs. Shawn, look after +your husband's wound. It needs it. See the +blood!'</p> + +<p>'But—'</p> + +<p>'Go,' said Hugo.</p> + +<p>And they went.</p> + +<p>And when they were gone he released the +mechanism, and in the still solitude of the +bedroom listened to the strange story of +Francis Tudor, related in Francis Tudor's +own voice. It occurred to him that the man +must have been talking into a phonograph +shortly before he died. He remembered the +monotonous voice on that fatal night in +August.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX</h3> + +<h2>WHAT THE PHONOGRAPH SAID</h2> + + +<p>In case I should die before I can complete my +arrangements for the future (said the phonograph, +reproducing the voice of Francis +Tudor), I am making a brief statement of the +whole case into this phonograph. I am +exhausted with to-day's work, and I shall find +it easier and much quicker to speak than to +write; and I'm informed that I ought never to +exert myself more than is necessary. Supposing +I were to die within the next few days—and +I have yet to go through the business +of the funeral ceremonies!—circumstances +might arise which might nullify part of my +plan, unless a clear account of the affair should +ultimately come into the hands of some person +whom I could trust not to make a fool of +himself—such as Polycarp, my solicitor, for +instance.</p> + +<p>Hence I relate the facts for a private record.</p> + +<p>When I first met Camilla Payne she was +shorthand clerk or private secretary, or whatever +you call it, to Louis Ravengar. I saw +her in his office. Curiously, she didn't make +a tremendous impression on me at the +moment. By the way, Polycarp, if it is +indeed you who listen to this, you must excuse +my way of relating the facts. I can only tell +the tale in my own way. Besides meddling +with finance, I've dabbled in pretty nearly all +the arts, including the art of fiction, and I +can't leave out the really interesting pieces of +my narrative merely because you're a lawyer +and hate needless details, sentimental or +otherwise. But <i>do</i> you hate sentimental +details? I don't know. Anyhow, this isn't +a counsel's brief. What was I saying? Oh! +She didn't make a tremendous impression on +me at the moment, but I thought of her afterwards. +I thought of her a good deal in a +quiet way after I had left her—so much so +that I made a special journey to Ravengar's a +few days afterwards, when there was no real +need for me to go, in order to have a look at +her face again. I should explain that I was +dabbling in finance just then, fairly successfully, +and had transactions with Ravengar. +He didn't know that I was the son of the man +who had taken his stepmother away from his +father, and I never told him I had changed +my name, because the scandals attached to it +by Ravengar and his father had made things +very unpleasant for any bearer of that name. +Still, Ravengar happened to be the man I +wanted to deal with, and so I didn't let any +stupid resentment on my part stop me from +dealing with him. He was a scoundrel, but +he played the game, I may incidentally +mention. I venture to give this frank opinion +about one of your most important clients, +because he'll be dead before you read this, +Polycarp. At least, I expect so.</p> + +<p>Well, the day I called specially with a view +to seeing her she was not there. She had left +Ravengar's employment, and disappeared. +Ravengar seemed to be rather perturbed about +it. But perhaps he was perturbed about the +suicide which had recently taken place in his +office. I felt it—I mean I felt her disappearance. +However, the memory of her face gave +me something very charming to fall back on +in moments of depression, and it was at this +time something occurred sufficient to make me +profoundly depressed for the remainder of my +life. I was over in Paris, and seeing a good +deal of Darcy, my friend the English doctor +there. We were having a long yarn one night +in his rooms over the Café Américain, and he +said to me suddenly: 'Look here, old chap, +I'm going to do something very unprofessional, +because I fancy you'll thank me for it.' +He said it just like that, bursting out all of a +sudden. So I said, 'Well?' He said: 'It's +very serious, and in nine hundred and ninety-nine +cases out of a thousand I should be a +blundering idiot to tell you.' I said to him: +'You've begun. Finish. And let's see +whether I'll thank you.' He then told me +that I'd got malignant disease of the heart, +might die at any moment, and in any case +couldn't live more than a few years. He said: +'I thought you'd like to know, so that you +could arrange your life accordingly.' I thanked +him. I was really most awfully obliged to him. +It wanted some pluck to tell me. He said: 'I +wouldn't admit to anyone else that I'd told +you.' I never admired Darcy more than I +did that night. His tone was so finely casual.</p> + +<p>In something like a month I had got used to +the idea of being condemned to death. At +any rate, it ceased to interfere with my sleep. +I purchased a vault for myself in Brompton +Cemetery. Then I took this flat that I'm +talking in now, and began deliberately to think +over how I should finish my life. I'd got +money—much more than old Ravengar +imagined—and I'm a bit of a philosopher, you +know; I have my theories as to what constitutes +real living. However, I won't bother +you with those. I expect they're pretty +crude, after all. Besides, my preparations +were all knocked on the head. I saw Camilla +Payne again in Hugo's. She had stopped +typewriting, and was a milliner there. I tried +my level best to strike up an intimacy with +her, but I failed. She wouldn't have it. The +fact is, I was too rich and showy. And I had +a reputation behind me which, possibly—well, +you're aware of all that, Polycarp. In about +a fortnight I worshipped her—yes, I did +actually worship her. I would have done +anything she ordered me, except leave her +alone; and that I wouldn't do. I dare say I +might have got into a sort of friendship with +her if she'd had any home, any relatives, any +place to receive me in. But what can a girl +do with nothing but a bed-sitting-room? I +asked her to go up the river; I asked her to +dinner and to lunch, and to bring her friends +with her; I even asked her to go with me to +an A.B.C. shop, but she wouldn't. She was +quite right, in a general way. How could she +guess I wasn't like the rest, or like what I had +been?</p> + +<p>Once, when she let me walk with her from +Hugo's down to Walham Green, I nearly went +mad with joy. I think I verily was mad for +a time. I used to take out licenses for our +marriage, and I used to buy clothes for her—heaps +of clothes, in case. Yes, I was as good +as mad then. And when she made it clear +that this walking by my side was nothing at +all, meant nothing, and must be construed as +nothing, I grew still more mad.</p> + +<p>At last I wrote to her that if she didn't call +and see me at my flat, I should blow my brains +out. I didn't expect her to call, and I did +expect that I should blow my brains out. I +was ready to do so. A year more or a year +less on this earth—what did it matter to me?</p> + +<p>Some people may think—<i>you</i> may think, +Polycarp—that a man like me, under sentence +of death from a doctor, had no right to make +love to a woman. That may be so. But in +love there isn't often any question of right. +Human instincts have no regard for human +justice, and when the instinct is strong enough, +the sense of justice simply ceases to exist for +it. When you're in love—enough—you don't +argue. You desire—that's all.</p> + +<p>To my amazement, she came to the flat. +When she was announced, I could scarcely +tell the servant to show her in, and when +she entered, I couldn't speak at all for a +moment. She was so—however, I won't +describe her. I couldn't, for one thing. +No one could describe that woman. She +didn't make any fuss. She didn't cry out that +she had ruined her reputation or anything like +that. She simply said that she had received +my letter, and that she had believed the +sincerity of my threat, while regretting it, and +what did I wish to say to her—she wouldn't +be able to stay long. It goes without saying +I couldn't begin. I couldn't frame a sentence. +So I suggested we should have some tea. +Accordingly, we had some tea. She poured it +out, and we discussed the furniture of the +drawing-room. I might have known she had +fine taste in furniture. She had. When tea +was over, she seemed to be getting a little +impatient. Then I rang for the tray to be +removed, and as soon as we were alone again, +I started: 'Miss Payne—'</p> + +<p>Now, when I started like that, I hadn't the +ghost of a notion what I was going to say. +And then the idea stepped into my head all +of a sudden: 'Why not tell her exactly what +your situation is? Why not be frank with +her, and see how it works?' It was an inspiration. +Though I didn't believe in it, and +thought in a kind of despair that I was spoiling +my chances, it was emphatically an inspiration, +and I was obliged to obey it.</p> + +<p>So I told her what Darcy had told me. I +explained how it was that I couldn't live long. +I said I had nothing to hope for in this world, +no joy, nothing but blackness and horror. I +said how tremendously I was in love with her. +I said I knew she wasn't in love with me, but +at the same time I thought she ought to have +sufficient insight to see that I was fundamentally +a decent chap. I went so far as to +say that I didn't see how she could dislike me. +And I said: 'I ask you to marry me. It will +only be for a year or two, but that year or +two are all my life, while only a fraction of +yours. I am rich, and after my death you +will be rich, and free from the necessity of this +daily drudgery of yours. But I don't ask you +to marry me for money; I ask you to marry +me out of pity. I ask you, out of kindness to +the most unfortunate and hopeless man in the +world, to give me a trifle out of your existence. +Merely out of pity; merely because it is a +woman's part in the world to render pity and +balm. I won't hide anything from you. There +will be the unpleasant business of my sudden +death, which will be a shock to you, even if you +learn to hate me. But you would get over +that. And you would always afterwards have +the consciousness of having changed the last +months of a man's career from hell to heaven. +There's no disguising the fact that it's a +strange proposition I'm making to you, but +the proposition is not more strange than the +situation. Will you consent, or won't you?' +She was going to say something, but I stopped +her. I said: 'Wait a moment. I shan't try +to terrorize you by threats of suicide. And +now, before you say "Yes" or "No," I give +you my solemn word not to commit suicide if +you say "No."' Then I went on in the same +strain appealing to her pity, and telling her +how humble I should be as a husband.</p> + +<p>I could see I had moved her; and now I +think over the scene I fancy that my appeal +must have been a lot more touching than I +imagined it was when I was making it.</p> + +<p>She said: 'I have always liked you a little. +But I haven't loved you, and I don't love +you.' And then, after a pause—I was determined +to say nothing more—she said: 'Yes, +I will marry you. I may be doing wrong—I +am certainly doing something very unusual; +but I have no one to advise me against it, +and I will follow my impulse and marry you. +I needn't say that I shall do all I can to be +a good wife to you. Ours will be a curious +marriage.... Perhaps, after all, I am very +wicked!'</p> + +<p>I cried out: 'No, you aren't—no you +aren't! The saints aren't in it with you!'</p> + +<p>She smiled at this speech. She's so sensible, +Camilla is. She's like a man in some things; +all really great women are.</p> + +<p>I could tell you a lot more that passed +immediately afterwards, but I can feel already +my voice is getting a bit tired. Besides, it's +nothing to you, Polycarp.</p> + +<p>Then, afterwards, I said: 'You <i>will</i> love +me, you know.'</p> + +<p>And I meant it. Any man in similar circumstances +would have said it and meant it. +She smiled again. And then I wanted to be +alone with her, to enjoy the intimacy of her +presence, without a lot of servants all over +the place; so I went out of the drawing-room +and packed off the whole tribe for the evening, +all except Mrs. Dant. I kept Mrs. Dant +to attend on Camilla.</p> + +<p>We had dinner sent up; it was like a picnic, +jolly and childish. Camilla was charming. +And then I took photographs of her by flashlight, +with immense success. We developed +them together in the dark-room. That evening +was the first time I had ever been really +happy in all my life. And I was really happy, +although every now and then the idea would +shoot through my head: 'Only for a year or +two at most; perhaps only for a day or two!'</p> + +<p>I returned to the dark-room alone for something +or other, and when I came back into +the drawing-room she was not there. By +heaven! my heart went into my mouth. I +feared she had run away, after all. However, +I met her in the passage. She looked +very frightened; her face was quite changed; +but she said nothing had occurred. I kissed +her; she let me.</p> + +<p>Soon afterwards she went on to the roof. +She tried to be cheerful, but I saw she had +something on her mind. She said she must +go home, and begged my permission to precede +me into the flat in order to prepare for +her departure. I consented. When ten +minutes had elapsed I followed, and in the +drawing-room, instead of finding Camilla, I +found Louis Ravengar.</p> + +<p>I needn't describe my surprise at all that.</p> + +<p>Ravengar was beside himself with rage. I +gathered after a time that he claimed Camilla +as his own. He said I had stolen her from +him. I couldn't tell exactly what he was +driving at, but I parleyed with him a little +until I could get my revolver out of a drawer +in my escritoire. He jumped at me. I +thrust him back without firing, and we +stood each of us ready for murder. I couldn't +say how long that lasted. Suddenly he +glanced across the room, and his eyes faltered, +and I became aware that Camilla had entered +silently. I was so startled at her appearance +and by the transformation in Ravengar that +I let off the revolver involuntarily. I heard +Camilla order him, in a sharp, low voice, to +leave instantly. He defied her for a second, +and then went. Before leaving he stuttered, +in a dreadful voice: 'I shall kill you'— +meaning her. 'I may as well hang for one +thing as for another.'</p> + +<p>I said to Camilla, gasping: 'What is it all? +What does it mean?'</p> + +<p>She then told me, after confessing that she +had caught Ravengar hiding in the dressing-room, +and had actually suspected that I had +been in league with him against her, that +long ago she had by accident seen Ravengar +commit a crime. She would not tell me what +crime; she would give me no particulars. +Still, I gathered that, if not actually murder, +it was at least homicide. After that Ravengar +had pestered her to marry him—had even +said that he would be content with a purely +formal marriage; had offered her enormous +sums to agree to his proposal; and had been +constantly repulsed by her. She admitted to +me that he had appeared to be violently in +love with her, but that his motive in wanting +marriage was to prevent her from giving +evidence against him. I asked her why she +had not communicated with the police long +since, and she replied that nothing would +induce her to do that.</p> + +<p>'But,' I said, 'he will do his best to kill +you.'</p> + +<p>She said: 'I know it.'</p> + +<p>And she said it so solemnly that I became +extremely frightened. I knew Ravengar, and +I had marked the tone of his final words; and +the more I pondered the more profoundly I +was imbued with this one idea: 'The life of +my future wife is not safe. Nothing can +make it safe.'</p> + +<p>I urged her to communicate with the police. +She refused absolutely.</p> + +<p>'Then one day you will be killed,' I said.</p> + +<p>She gazed at me, and said: 'Can't you hit +on some plan to keep me safe for a year?'</p> + +<p>I demanded: 'Why a year?'</p> + +<p>I thought she was thinking of my short +shrift.</p> + +<p>She said: 'Because in a year Mr. Ravengar +will probably have—passed away.'</p> + +<p>Not another word of explanation would she +add.</p> + +<p>'Yes,' I said; 'I can hit on a plan.'</p> + +<p>And, as a matter of fact, a scheme had suddenly +flashed into my head.</p> + +<p>She asked me what the scheme was. And +I murmured that it began with our marriage +on the following day. I had in my possession +a license which would enable us to go through +the ceremony at once.</p> + +<p>'Trust me,' I said. 'You have trusted me +enough to agree to marry me. Trust me in +everything.'</p> + +<p>I did not venture to tell her just then what +my scheme was.</p> + +<p>She went to her lodging that night in my +brougham. After she had gone I found poor +old Mrs. Dant drugged in the kitchen. On +the next morning Camilla and I were married +at a registry office. She objected to the +registry-office at first, but in the end she +agreed, on the condition that I got her a +spray of orange-blossom to wear at her breast. +It's no business of yours, Polycarp, but I may +tell you that this feminine trait, this almost +childish weakness, in a woman of so superb +and powerful a character, simply enchanted +me. I obtained the orange-blossom.</p> + +<p>Then you will remember I sent for you, +Polycarp, made my will, and accompanied +you to my safe in your private vault, in order +to deposit there some secret instructions. I +shall not soon forget your mystification, and +how you chafed under my imperative commands.</p> + +<p>Camilla and I departed to Paris, my brain +full of my scheme, and full of happiness, too. +We went to a private hotel to which Darcy +had recommended us, suitable for honeymoons. +The following morning I was, perhaps, +inclined to smile a little at our terror of +Ravengar; but, peeping out of the window +early, I saw Ravengar himself standing on +the pavement in the Rue St. Augustin.</p> + +<p>I told Camilla I was going out, and that +she must not leave that room, nor admit +anyone into it, until I returned. I felt that +Ravengar, what with disappointed love, and +jealousy, and fear of the consequences of a +past crime, had developed into a sort of +monomaniac in respect to Camilla. I felt +he was capable of anything. I should not +have been surprised if he had hired a room +opposite to us on the other side of that narrow +street, and directed a fusillade upon Camilla.</p> + +<p>When I reached the street he had disappeared—melted +away.</p> + +<p>It was quite early. However, I walked up +the Rue de Grammont, and so to Darcy's, and +I routed him out of bed. I gave him the +entire history of the case. I convinced him +of its desperateness, and I unfolded to him +my scheme. At first he fought shy of it. +He said it might ruin him. He said such +things could not be done in London. I had +meant to carry out the scheme in this flat. +Hence the reason, Polycarp, of the clause in +my will which provides for the sealing up of +the flat in case I die within two months of +my wedding. You see, I feared that I might +be cut off before the plan was carried out or +before all traces of it were cleared away, and +I wanted to keep the place safe from prying +eyes. As it happened, there was no need for +such a precaution, as you will see, and I shall +make a new will to-morrow.</p> + +<p>Darcy said suddenly: 'Why not carry out +your plan here in Paris; and now?'</p> + +<p>The superior advantages of this alternative +were instantly plain. It would be safer for +Camilla, since it would operate at once; and +also Darcy said that the formal details could +be arranged much better in Paris than in +London, as doctors could be found there who +would sign anything, and clever sculptors, +who did not mind a peculiar commission, +were more easily obtainable in the Quartier +Montparnasse than in the neighbourhood of +the Six Bells and the Arts Club, Chelsea.</p> + +<p>We found the doctor and the sculptor.</p> + +<p>The hotel was informed that Camilla was +ill, and that the symptom pointed to typhoid +fever. Naturally, she kept her room. That +day the sculptor, a young American, who said +that a thing was 'bully' when he meant it +was good, arrived, and took a mask of Camilla's +head. By the way, this was a most tedious +and annoying process. The two straws +through which the poor girl had to breathe +while her face was covered with that white +stuff—! Oh, well, I needn't go into that.</p> + +<p>The next day typhoid fever was definitely +announced. Hotels generally prefer these +things to be kept secret, but we published it +everywhere—it was part of our plan. In a +few hours the entire Rue St. Augustin was +aware that the English bride recently arrived +from London was down with typhoid fever.</p> + +<p>The disease ran its course. Sometimes +Camilla was better, sometimes worse. Then +all of a sudden a hæmorrhage supervened, +and the young wife died, and the young husband +was stricken with trouble and grief. +The whole street mourned. The death even +got into the Paris dailies, and the correspondence +column of the Paris edition of the <i>New +York Herald</i> was filled with outcries against +the impurities of Parisian water.</p> + +<p>It was colossal. I laughed, Polycarp.</p> + +<p>My mind unhinged by sorrow, I insisted on +taking the corpse to London for burial. I +had a peculiar affection for the Brompton +Cemetery, though neither her ancestors nor +mine had been buried there. I insisted on +Darcy accompanying me. The procession +left the Rue St. Augustin, and the hotel was +disinfected. This alone cost me a thousand +francs. I gave the sculptor one thousand +five hundred, and the doctor two thousand. +Then there were the expenses of the journey +with the coffin. I forget the figure, but I +know it was prodigious.</p> + +<p>But I was content. For, of course, Camilla +was not precisely in that coffin. Camilla had +not been suffering from precisely typhoid +fever. In strict fact, she had never been ill +the least bit in the world. In strict fact, she +had been spirited out of the hotel one night, +and at the very moment when her remains +were crossing the Channel in charge of an +inconsolable widower, she was in the middle +of the Mediterranean on a steamer. The +coffin contained a really wonderful imitation +of her outward form, modelled and coloured +by the American sculptor in a composition +consisting largely of wax. The widower's one +grief was that he was forced to separate himself +from his life's companion for a period of, +at least, a week.</p> + +<p>A pretty enough scheme, wasn't it, Polycarp? +We shall shortly bury the wax effigy +in Brompton Cemetery, with the assistance +of Hugo's undertakers, and a parson or so, +and grave-diggers, and registrars of deaths, +and so on and so on. Louis Ravengar will +breathe again, thankful that typhoid fever +has relieved him of an unpleasant incubus, +and since Camilla is underground, he will +speedily forget all about her. She will be +absolutely safe from him. The inconsolable +widower will ostentatiously seek distraction +in foreign travel, and in a fortnight, at most, +will, under another name, resume his connubial +career in a certain villa unsurpassed, +I am told, for its picturesque situation.</p> + +<p>To-morrow or the next day I must make +that new will, dispensing with the shutting-up +of the flat. The secret instructions, however, +will stand.</p> + +<p>You may wonder why I confide all this to +the phonograph, Polycarp. I will tell you. +The record will be placed by me to-morrow +in my safe in your vault. To-night I shall +lock it up in the safe here. When I am dead, +Polycarp, you will find that the secret instructions +instruct you to realize all my +estate, and to keep the proceeds in negotiable +form until a lady named Mrs. Catherine +Pounds, a widow, comes to you with an autograph +letter from me. You will hand everything +to that lady, or to her representative, +without any further inquiry. But it has +struck me this very day, Polycarp, that you, +with your confounded suspicious and legal +nature, when you see Mrs. Catherine Pounds, +if she should come in person, may recognise +in her a striking resemblance to Camilla. +And you may put difficulties in the way, and +rake up history which was not meant to be +raked up. This phonographic record is to +prevent you from doing so, if by chance you +have an impulse to do so. Think it over +carefully, Polycarp. Consider our situation, +and obey my instructions without a murmur. +The thought of the false death certificates and +burial certificates, and of the unprofessionalism +of Darcy, will abrade your legal susceptibilities; +but submit to the torture for +my sake, Polycarp. You are human. I +shall add to the letter which Mrs. Catherine +Pounds will bring you a note to say that if +you have any scruples, you are to listen to +the phonographic records in the safe; if not, +you are to destroy the phonographic records.</p> + +<p>Do I seem gay, Polycarp?</p> + +<p>I ought to be. I have carried through my +scheme. I have outwitted Ravengar. I have +saved Camilla from death at his hands. I +can look forward to an idyll—brief, perhaps, +but ecstatic—in a villa with the loveliest +view on all the Mediterranean. I ought to +be gay. And yet I am not. And it is not +the knowledge of my fatal disease that +saddens me. No; I think I have been saddened +by a day and a night spent with that +coffin. It is a fraud of a coffin, but it exists. +And when I saw it just now occupying the +drawing-room, it gave me a sudden shock. +It somehow took hold of my imagination. I +was obliged to look within, and to touch the +waxen image there. And that image seemed +unholy. I did not care to dwell on the +thought of it going into the ground, with all +the solemnities of the real thing. What do +you suppose will happen to that waxen image +on the Judgment Day, Polycarp? Surely, +someone in authority, possibly a steward, +fussy and overworked, will exclaim: 'There +is some mistake here!' I can hear you say +that I am mad, Polycarp, that Francis Tudor +was always a little 'wrong.' But I am not +mad. It is only that my brain is too agile, +too fanciful. I am a great deal more sane +than you, Polycarp.</p> + +<p>And I am trying to put some heart into +myself. I am trying to make ready to enjoy +the brief ecstatic future where Camilla awaits +me. But I am so tired, Polycarp. And +there's no disguising the fact that it's an +awful nuisance never to be quite sure whether +you won't fall down dead the next minute or +the next second. I must go in and have +another glance at that singular swindle of a +coffin.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The phonograph went off into an inarticulate +whirr of its own machinery. The recital +was over. Tudor must have died immediately +after securing the record in the safe in his +bedroom, where Hugo had just listened to it.</p> + +<p>'She lives!' was Hugo's sole thought.</p> + +<p>The profound and pathetic tragedy of +Tudor's career did not touch him until long +afterwards.</p> + +<p>'She lives! Ravengar lives! Ravengar +probably knows where she is, and I do not +know! And Ravengar is at large! I have set +him at large.'</p> + +<p>His mind a battlefield on which the most +glorious hope struggled against a frenzied fear, +Hugo rose from the chair in front of the +phonograph-stand, and, after a slight hesitation, +left the flat as he had entered it. Before +dawn the pane had been replaced in the +drawing-room window, and the side-door +secured.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>PART III</h2> + +<h2>THE TOMB</h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX</h3> + +<h2>'ARE YOU THERE?'</h2> + + +<p>The next morning Hugo's dreams seemed to +be concerned chiefly with a telephone, and the +telephone-bell of his dreams made the dreams +so noisy that even while asleep he knew that +his rest was being outrageously disturbed. +He tried to change the subject of his fantastic +visions, but he could not, and the telephone-bell +rang nearly all the time. This was the +more annoying in that he had taken elaborate +precautions to secure perfect repose. Perfect +repose was what he needed after quitting +Tudor's flat. He felt that he had stood as +much as a man can expect himself to stand. +In the vault, and again in the flat, his life had +been in danger; he had suffered the ignominy +of the ruined sale; he had come to grips with +Ravengar, and let Ravengar go free; he had +listened to the amazing recital of the phonograph. +Moreover, between the interview with +Ravengar and the burglary of the flat he had +summoned his Council of Ten, or, rather, his +Council of Nine (Bentley being absent, dead), +had addressed all his employés, had separated +three traitorous shopwalkers, ten traitorous +cashiers, and forty-two traitorous servers +from the main body, and sent them packing, +had arranged for the rehabilitation of Lady +Brice (<i>née</i> Kentucky-Webster), had appointed +a new guardian to the Safe Deposit, had got +on the track of the stolen stoles, and had +approved special advertisements for every +daily paper in London.</p> + +<p>And, finally and supremely, he had experienced +the greatest stroke of joy, ecstatic and +bewildering joy, of his whole existence—the +news that Camilla lived. It was this tremendous +feeling of joy, and not by any means his +complex and variegated worries, that might +have prevented him from obtaining the sleep +which Nature demanded.</p> + +<p>On reaching the dome at 2 a.m., he had +taken four tabloids, each containing 0·324 +gramme of trional, and had drunk the glass +of hot milk which Simon always left him in +case he should want it. And he had written +on a sheet of paper the words: 'I am not to +be disturbed before 10 a.m., no matter what +happens; but call me at ten.—H.'; and had +put the sheet of paper on Simon's door-mat. +And then he had stumbled into bed, and abandoned +himself to sleep—not without reluctance, +for he did not care to lose, even for a +few hours, the fine consciousness of that sheer +joy. He desired to rush off instantly into +the universe at large and discover Camilla, +wherever she might be.</p> + +<p>Of course, he had dreamed of Camilla, but +the telephone-bell had drowned the remembered +accents of her voice. The telephone-bell +had silenced everything. The telephone-bell +had grown from a dream into a nightmare; +and at last he had said to himself in the +nightmare: 'I might just as well be up and +working as lying throttled here by this confounded +nightmare.' And by an effort of will +he had wakened. And even after he was +roused, and had switched on the light, which +showed the hands of the clock at a quarter to +ten, he could still hear the telephone-bell of +his nightmare. And then the truth occurred +to him, as the truth does occur surprisingly +to people whose sleep has been disturbed, +that the telephone-bell was a real telephone-bell, +and not in the least the telephone-bell +of a dream, and it was ringing, ringing, +ringing in the dome. There were fifteen lines +of telephone in the Hugo building, and one of +them ran to the dome. Few persons called +him up on it, because few persons knew its +precise number, but he used it considerably +himself.</p> + +<p>'Anyhow,' he murmured, 'I've had over +seven and a half hours' sleep, and that's +something.'</p> + +<p>And as he got out of bed to go across to the +telephone, his great joy resumed possession +of him, and he was rather glad than otherwise +that the telephone had forced him to wake.</p> + +<p>'Well, well, well?' he cried comically, +lifting the ear-piece off the hook and stopping +the bell.</p> + +<p>'Are you there?' the still small voice of +the telephone whispered in his ear.</p> + +<p>'I should think I was here!' he cried. +'Who are you?'</p> + +<p>'Are you Mr. Hugo?' asked the voice.</p> + +<p>'I'm what's left of Mr. Hugo,' he answered +in a sort of drunken tone. The power of the +sedative was still upon him. 'Who are you? +You've pretty nearly rung my head off.'</p> + +<p>'I just want to say good-bye to you,' said +the voice.</p> + +<p>'What!'</p> + +<p>Hugo started, glancing round the vast room, +which was in shadow except where a solitary +light threw its yellow glare on the dial of the +clock.</p> + +<p>'Are you there?' asked the voice patiently +once again.</p> + +<p>'It isn't'—something prompted him to use +a Christian name—'it isn't Louis?'</p> + +<p>'Yes.'</p> + +<p>'Where are you, then?' Hugo demanded.</p> + +<p>'Not far off,' replied the mysterious voice +in the telephone.</p> + +<p>It was unmistakably the voice of Louis +Ravengar, but apparently touched with some +new quality, some quality of resigned and +dignified despair. Hugo wondered where the +man could be. And the sinister magic of +the telephone, which brought this sad, quiet +voice to him from somewhere out of the +immensity of England, but which would not +yield up the secret of its hiding, struck him +strangely.</p> + +<p>'Are you there?' said the voice yet again.</p> + +<p>'Yes.'</p> + +<p>Hugo shivered, but whether it was from +cold—he wore nothing but his pyjamas—or +from apprehension he could not decide.</p> + +<p>'I'm saying good-bye,' said the voice once +more. 'I suppose you mean to have the +police after me, and so I mean to get out of +their way. See? But first I wished to tell +you—<i>crrrck cluck</i>—Eh? What?'</p> + +<p>'I didn't speak.'</p> + +<p>'It's these Exchange hussies, then. I +wanted to tell you I've thought a lot about our +interview last night. What you said was true +enough, Owen. I admit that, and so I am +going to end it. Eh? Are you there? +That girl keeps putting me off.'</p> + +<p>'End what?'</p> + +<p>'End <i>it</i>—<i>it</i>—<i>it</i>! I'm not making anybody +happy, not even myself, and so I'm going to +end it. But I'll tell you her address first. I +know it.'</p> + +<p>'Whose address?'</p> + +<p>'Hers—Camilla's. If I tell you, will you +promise not to say a word about me speaking +to you on the telephone this morning?'</p> + +<p>'Yes.'</p> + +<p>'Not a word under any circumstances?'</p> + +<p>'Certainly.'</p> + +<p>'Well, it's 17, Place Saint-Étienne, Bruges, +Belgium.'</p> + +<p>'17, Place Saint-Étienne, Bruges. That's +all right. I shan't forget. Look here, Louis, +you'd better clear out of England. Go to +America. Do you hear? I don't understand +this about "ending it." You surely aren't +thinking of—'</p> + +<p>He felt quite magnanimous towards Ravengar. +And he was aware that he could get to +Bruges in six hours or so.</p> + +<p>'That idea of yours about chloroform,' said +the voice, 'and going into the vault, and being +shut up there, is a very good one. Nobody +would know, except the person whom one +paid to shut the door after one.'</p> + +<p>'I say, where are you?' Hugo asked curtly. +He was at a loss how to treat these singular +confidences.</p> + +<p>'And so is that idea good about merely +ending one incarnation and beginning another. +That's much better than calling it death.'</p> + +<p>'I shall ring you off,' said Hugo.</p> + +<p>'Wait a moment,' said the voice, still +patiently. 'If you should hear the name +Callear—'</p> + +<p>There was a pause.</p> + +<p>'Well?' Hugo inquired, 'what name?'</p> + +<p>'Callear—C-a-l-l-e-a-r. If you should hear +that name soon—'</p> + +<p>'What then?'</p> + +<p>'Remember your promise of secrecy—that's +all. Good-bye.'</p> + +<p>'I wish you'd tell me where you are.'</p> + +<p>'Not far off,' said the voice. 'I shall never +be far off, I think. When you've found +Camilla and brought her here'—the tone of +the voice changed and grew almost malignant +despite its reticence—'you'd like to know +that I was always near to, somewhere underneath, +mouldering, wouldn't you?'</p> + +<p>'What did you say?'</p> + +<p>'I said mouldering. Good-bye.'</p> + +<p>'But look here—'</p> + +<p>The bell rang off. Louis Ravengar had +finished his good-bye. Hugo tried in vain to +resume communication with him. He could +not even get any sort of reply from the +Exchange.</p> + +<p>'It's a queer world,' he soliloquized, as he +returned to bed. 'What does the man mean?'</p> + +<p>He was still happy in the prospect of finding +Camilla, but it was as though his happiness +were a pool in a private ground, and some +trespasser had troubled it with a stone.</p> + +<p>The clock struck ten, and Simon entered +with tea and the paper.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI</h3> + +<h2>SUICIDE</h2> + + +<p>The paper contained a whole-page advertisement +of Hugo's great annual sale, and +also a special half-page advertisement headed +'Hugo's Apology and Promise'—a message +to the public asking pardon of the public for +the confusion, inconvenience, and disappointments +of the previous day, hinting that the +mystery of the affair would probably be +elucidated in a criminal court, and stating +that a prodigious number of silvered fox-stoles +would positively be available from nine +o'clock that morning at a price even lower +than the figure named in the original announcement. +The message further stated +that a special Complaint Office had been +opened as a branch of the Inquiry Bureau, +and that all complaints by customers who had +suffered on New Year's Day would there be +promptly and handsomely dealt with.</p> + +<p>In addition to Hugo's advertisements, +there were several columns of news describing +the singular phenomena of the sale, concluding +with what a facetious reporter had entitled +'Interviews with Survivors.'</p> + +<p>As he read the detailed accounts Hugo +knew, perhaps for the first time in his life, +what it was 'to go hot and cold all over.' +However, he was decidedly inclined to be +optimistic.</p> + +<p>'Anyhow,' he said, 'it's the best ad. I ever +had. Still, it's a mercy there were no deaths.'</p> + +<p>He began to dress hurriedly, furiously. +Already the second day of the sale had been +in progress for more than an hour, and he had +not even visited the scene of the campaign. +Simon had said nothing; it was not Simon's +habit to speak till he was spoken to. And +Hugo did not feel inclined to ask questions; +he preferred to reconnoitre in person. Yes, +he would descend instantly, and afterwards, +when he had satisfied himself that the evil +had been repaired, he would consider about +Camilla.... By neglecting all else, he +could reach her in time for dinner.... Should +he?... (At this point he plunged +into his cold bath.) ... No! He was Hugo +before he was Camilla's lover. He would be +a tradesman for yet another ten hours. He +had a duty to London....</p> + +<p>Then Ravengar wandered into his thoughts +and confused them.</p> + +<p>Just as he was assuming his waistcoat, +Simon entered.</p> + +<p>'Mr. Galpin, sir.'</p> + +<p>'And who the d---l is Mr. Galpin?' asked +Hugo.</p> + +<p>'Mr. Galpin is the gentleman who saved +your life yesterday, sir,' said Simon with +admirable sangfroid. 'He has called for a +hundred pounds.'</p> + +<p>'Show him in here immediately,' said Hugo.</p> + +<p>Mr. Galpin appeared in the dressing-room, +looking more than ever like an extremely +successful commercial traveller. Hugo could +not think of any introductory remark worthy +of the occasion.</p> + +<p>'I needn't say how grateful I am,' Hugo +began.</p> + +<p>'Certainly you needn't,' said Mr. Galpin. +'I understand. I've been under lock and +key myself.'</p> + +<p>'I should offer you more than this paltry +sum,' said Hugo, with a smile, 'but I know, +of course, that a man like you can always +obtain all the money he really wants.'</p> + +<p>Mr. Galpin smiled, too.</p> + +<p>'However,' continued Hugo, detaching his +watch from his waistcoat, 'I will ask you to +take something that you can't get elsewhere. +This is the thinnest watch in the world. +Bréguet, of the Rue de la Paix, Paris, made it +specially for me. It is exactly the same size +as a five-shilling piece. It repeats the quarters, +shows the time in four cities, and does practically +everything except tell the weather +and the political party in power. It has one +drawback. Only Bréguet can clean it, and +he will charge you five guineas for the job, +besides probably having you arrested for +unlawful possession. I must write to him. +Such as it is, accept it.'</p> + +<p>The golden, jewelled toy was offered and +received with a bow. The practised hands of +Mr. Galpin had opened the case in two +seconds.</p> + +<p>'How do you regulate it?' demanded Mr. +Galpin, staring at the movement.</p> + +<p>'You don't,' said Hugo proudly; 'it never +needs it.'</p> + +<p>Mr. Galpin stood corrected.</p> + +<p>'If there's anything in my line I can do for +you at any time, sir,' said he.</p> + +<p>Hugo pondered.</p> + +<p>Mr. Galpin put the watch in his waistcoat-pocket, +and, tearing the hundred-pound note +in two halves, placed one half in the left breast +pocket of his coat, and the other half in the +right breast pocket of his coat.</p> + +<p>'Could you have opened that vault,' Hugo +asked, 'if both keys had been lost?'</p> + +<p>'No, sir, I could not. It's such people as +you who are ruining my profession, sir.'</p> + +<p>'You think the vault is impregnable?'</p> + +<p>'Yes, sir,' said Mr. Galpin. 'I should say +its name was just about as near being Gibraltar +as makes no matter.'</p> + +<p>'I was only wondering,' Hugo mused aloud, +'only wondering.... Ah, well, I won't +trouble you with my fancies.'</p> + +<p>'As you wish, sir. Good-bye.'</p> + +<p>'Good-bye, Mr. Galpin. And thank you!'</p> + +<p>'Thank <i>you</i>, sir,' said Mr. Galpin, and disappeared.</p> + +<p>'Simon,' Hugo ordered immediately afterwards, +handing Simon the token, 'run down +and get me the best gold watch in the place.'</p> + +<p>Throughout the morning Hugo's thoughts +were far away. Most frequently they were +in Belgium, but now and then they paid a +strange incomprehensible visit with Ravengar +to the vault.</p> + +<p>While he was lunching under the dome, +Albert Shawn came in with the early edition +of the <i>Evening Herald</i>, containing a prominent +item headed, 'Feared Suicide of Mr. Louis +Ravengar.' The paper stated that Mr. +Ravengar had gone to Dover on the previous +evening, had been seen to board the Calais +steamer, and had been missed soon after the +boat had left the harbour. His hat, umbrella, +rug, and bag had been found on deck. As +the night was quite calm, there could be no +other explanation than that of suicide. The +<i>Evening Herald</i> gave a sympathetic biography +of Mr. Ravengar ('one of our proprietors'), +and attributed his suicide to a fit of depression +caused by the entirely groundless rumours +which had circulated during the late afternoon +connecting him with the scandalous disturbances +at Hugo's sale.</p> + +<p>Hugo dropped the organ of public opinion.</p> + +<p>'H'm!' he observed to Albert.</p> + +<p>'I'm not surprised, sir,' said Albert.</p> + +<p>'Aren't you?' said Hugo. 'Then, there's +nothing more to be said.'</p> + +<p>Since Louis Ravengar had certainly been +talking with Hugo that selfsame morning, it +was obviously impossible that he should have +committed suicide in the English Channel +some twelve hours earlier. Why, then, had +he arranged for this elaborate deception to +be practised? What was his scheme? His +voice through the telephone had been so quiet, +so resigned, so pathetic; only towards the end +had it become malevolent.</p> + +<p>Hugo perceived that he must go down to +the vault. No! He dared not go himself. +The sight of that vault, after yesterday's +emotions, would surely be beyond his power +to bear!</p> + +<p>'Albert,' he said, 'go to the Safe Deposit.'</p> + +<p>'Yes, sir.'</p> + +<p>'And inquire if anyone named—'</p> + +<p>Hugo stopped.</p> + +<p>'Named what, sir?'</p> + +<p>'Never mind. I'll go myself. By the +way,' he said, 'I must run over to Belgium +to-night. Perhaps I may take you with me.'</p> + +<p>'Don't forget the inquest on Bentley +to-morrow, sir. You'll have to attend that.'</p> + +<p>Hugo made a gesture of excessive annoyance. +He had forgotten the inquest.</p> + +<p>'Take this telegram,' he said, suddenly +inspired; and he scribbled out the following +words: 'Darcy, 16, Boulevard des Italiens, +Paris. Please come instantly; urgent case.—HUGO, +London.'</p> + +<p>'At any rate, I've made a beginning,' he +murmured when Albert had gone. 'I can +find out all that is to be known about Camilla +from Darcy—if he comes. I wonder if he'll +come. He'd better.'</p> + +<p>And then, collecting his powers of self-control, +he went slowly down to the Safe +Deposit, and entered those steely and dreadful +portals.</p> + +<p>'Getting on all right?' he said to the newly-installed +manager, a young man with light +hair from the counting-house.</p> + +<p>'Oh yes, Mr. Hugo.'</p> + +<p>'Any new customers?'</p> + +<p>He trembled for the reply.</p> + +<p>'Yes, sir. Two gentlemen came as soon as +we opened this morning, and took Vault 39. +They paid a year's rent in advance. Two +hundred pounds.'</p> + +<p>'What did they want a whole vault for?'</p> + +<p>'I can't say, sir. There was a lot of going +to and fro with parcels and things, sir, and a +lot of telephoning in the waiting-room. And +one of them asked for a glass and some water. +They were here a long time, sir.'</p> + +<p>'When did they go?'</p> + +<p>'It was about ten-thirty, sir, when one of +the two gentlemen called me to bring my key +and lock up the vault. The vault was properly +locked, first with his key, and then with mine, +and then he left. Perhaps it might be a +quarter to eleven, sir.'</p> + +<p>'But the other gentleman?'</p> + +<p>'Oh, he must have slipped off earlier, sir. +I didn't see him go.'</p> + +<p>'What did he look like?'</p> + +<p>'Oldish man, Mr. Hugo. Gray.'</p> + +<p>The manager was somewhat mystified by +this cross-examination.</p> + +<p>'And the name?'</p> + +<p>'The name? Let me see. Callear. Yes, +Callear, sir.'</p> + +<p>'What?'</p> + +<p>'C-a-l-l-e-a-r.'</p> + +<p>'What was the address?'</p> + +<p>'Hotel Cecil. He said he would send a +permanent address in a day or two.'</p> + +<p>In half an hour Hugo had ascertained that +no person named Callear was staying at the +Hotel Cecil.</p> + +<p>He understood now, understood too clearly, +the meanings of Ravengar's strange utterances +on the telephone. The man had determined to +commit suicide, and he had chosen a way +which was calculated with the most appalling +ingenuity to ruin, if anything would ruin, +Hugo's peace of mind for years to come—perhaps +for ever. For the world, Ravengar +was drowned. But Hugo knew that his body +was lying in that vault.</p> + +<p>'Louis had an accomplice,' Hugo reflected. +'Who can that have been? Who could have +been willing to play so terrible a rôle?'</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a>CHAPTER XXII</h3> + +<h2>DARCY</h2> + + +<p>That night, when he was just writing out +some cheques in aid of charities conducted by +Lady Brice (<i>née</i> Kentucky-Webster), Simon +entered with a card. The hour was past eleven.</p> + +<p>Hugo read on the card, 'Docteur Darcy.'</p> + +<p>He had nearly forgotten that he had sent +for Darcy; in fact, he was no longer quite sure +why he had sent for him, since he meant, in +any case, to hasten to Belgium at the earliest +moment.</p> + +<p>'You are exceedingly prompt, doctor,' he +said, when Darcy came into the dome. 'I +thank you.'</p> + +<p>The cosmopolitan physician appeared to be +wearing the same tourist suit that he had +worn on the night of Tudor's death. The +sallowness of his impassive face had increased +somewhat, and his long thin hands had their +old lackadaisical air. 'You don't look at all +the man for such a part,' said Hugo in the +privacy of his brain, 'but you played your +part devilish well that night, my pale friend. +You deceived me perfectly.'</p> + +<p>'Prompt?' smiled the doctor, shaking +hands, and removing his overcoat with +fatigued gestures.</p> + +<p>'Yes; you must have caught the 4 p.m. +express, and come via Folkstone and Boulogne.'</p> + +<p>'I did,' said Darcy.</p> + +<p>'And yet I expect you didn't get my telegram +till after two o'clock.'</p> + +<p>'I have received no telegram from you, my +dear Mr. Hugo. It had not arrived when I +left.'</p> + +<p>'Then your presence here to-night is due +to a coincidence merely?'</p> + +<p>'Not at all,' said Darcy; 'it is due to an +extreme desire on my part to talk to you.'</p> + +<p>'The desire is mutual,' Hugo answered, +gently insisting that Darcy should put away +his cigarettes and take a Muria. 'Dare I +ask—'</p> + +<p>Darcy had become suddenly nervous, and +he burst out, interrupting Hugo:</p> + +<p>'The suicide of Mr. Ravengar was in this +morning's Paris papers. And I may tell you +at once that it's in connection with that affair +that I'm here.'</p> + +<p>'I also—' Hugo began.</p> + +<p>'I may tell you at once,' Darcy proceeded +with increasing self-consciousness, 'that when +I had the pleasure of meeting you before, Mr. +Hugo, I was forced by circumstances, and by +my promise to a dead friend, to behave in a +manner which was very distasteful to me. I +was obliged to lie to you, to play a trick on +you—in short—well, I can only ask you for +your sympathy. I have a kind of a forlorn +notion that you'll understand—after I've +explained, as I mean to do—'</p> + +<p>'If you refer to the pretended death of +Tudor's wife—' said Hugo.</p> + +<p>'Then you know?' Darcy cried, astounded.</p> + +<p>'I know. I know everything, or nearly +everything.'</p> + +<p>'How?' Darcy retreated towards the piano.</p> + +<p>'I will explain how some other time,' Hugo +replied, going also to the piano and facing +his guest. 'You did magnificently that night, +doctor. Don't imagine for a moment that +my feelings towards you in regard to that +disastrous evening are anything but those +of admiration. And now tell me about her—about +<i>her</i>. She is well?'</p> + +<p>Hugo put a hand on the man's shoulder, +and persuaded him back to his chair.</p> + +<p>'She is well—I hope and believe,' answered +Darcy.</p> + +<p>'You don't see her often?'</p> + +<p>'On the contrary, I see her every day, +nearly.'</p> + +<p>'But if she lives at Bruges and you are in +Paris—'</p> + +<p>'Bruges?'</p> + +<p>'Yes; Place Saint-Étienne.'</p> + +<p>Darcy thought for a second.</p> + +<p>'So it's <i>you</i> who have been on the track,' +he murmured.</p> + +<p>Hugo, too, became meditative in his turn.</p> + +<p>'I wish you would tell me all that happened +since—since that night,' he said at +length.</p> + +<p>'I ask nothing better,' said Darcy. 'Since +Ravengar is dead and all danger passed, there +is no reason why you should not know everything +that is to be known. Well, Mr. Hugo, +I have had an infinity of trouble with that +girl.'</p> + +<p>Hugo's expression gave pause to the doctor.</p> + +<p>'I mean with Mrs. Tudor,' he added correctively. +'I'll begin at the beginning. After +the disappearance—the typhoid disappearance, +you know—she went to Algiers. Tudor +had taken a villa at Mustapha Supérieure, +the healthiest suburb of the town. After +Tudor's sudden death I telegraphed to her +to come back to me in Paris. I couldn't +bring myself to wire that Tudor was dead. +I only said he was ill. And at first she +wouldn't come. She thought it was a ruse +of Ravengar's. She thought Ravengar had +discovered her hiding-place, and all sorts of +things. However, in the end she came. I +met her at Marseilles. You wouldn't believe, +Mr. Hugo, how shocked she was by the news +of her husband's death. Possibly I didn't +break it to her too neatly. She didn't pretend +to love him—never had done—but she +was shocked all the same. I had a terrible +scene with her at the Hotel Terminus at Marseilles. +Her whole attitude towards the marriage +changed completely. She insisted that +it was plain to her then that she had simply +sold herself for money. She said she hated +herself. And she swore she would never +touch a cent of Tudor's fortune—not even +if the fortune went to the Crown in default +of legal representatives.'</p> + +<p>'Poor creature!' Hugo breathed.</p> + +<p>'However,' Darcy proceeded, 'something +had to be done. She was supposed to be +dead, and if her life was to be saved from +Ravengar's vengeance, she just had to continue +to be dead—at any rate, as regards +England. So she couldn't go back to England. +Now I must explain that my friend +Tudor hadn't left her with much money.'</p> + +<p>'That was careless.'</p> + +<p>'It was,' Darcy admitted. 'Still, he +naturally relied on me in case of necessity. +And quite rightly. I was prepared to let +Mrs. Tudor have all the money she wanted, +she repaying me as soon as events allowed +her to handle Tudor's estate. But as she +had decided never to handle Tudor's estate, +she had no prospect of being able to repay +me. Hence she would accept nothing. Hence +she began to starve. Awkward, wasn't it?'</p> + +<p>'I see clearly that she could not come to +England to earn her living,' said Hugo, 'but +could she not have earned it in Paris?'</p> + +<p>'No,' Darcy replied; 'she couldn't earn it +regularly. And the reason was that she was +too beautiful. Situation after situation was +made impossible for her. She might easily +have married in Paris, but earn her living +there—no! In the end she was obliged to +accept money from me, but only in very +small sums, such as she could repay without +much difficulty when Ravengar's death should +permit her to return to England. She was +always sure of Ravengar's death, but she +would never tell me why. And now he's dead.'</p> + +<p>'And there is no further obstacle to her +coming to England?'</p> + +<p>'None whatever. That is to say—except +one.'</p> + +<p>'What do you mean?' Hugo demanded.</p> + +<p>Darcy had flushed.</p> + +<p>'I'm in a very delicate position,' said Darcy. +'I've got to explain to you something that a +man can't explain without looking an ass. +The fact is—of course, you see, Mr. Hugo, I +did all I could for her all the time. Not out +of any special regard for her, but for Tudor's +sake, you understand. She's awfully beautiful, +and all that. I've nothing against her. +But I believe I told you last year that I had +been in love once. That "once" was enough. +I've done with women, Mr. Hugo.'</p> + +<p>'But how does this affect—' Hugo began +to inquire, rather inimically.</p> + +<p>'Can't you see? She doesn't <i>want</i> to +leave Paris. I did all I could for her all the +time. I've been her friend in adversity, and +so on, and so on, and she's—she's—'</p> + +<p>'What on earth are you driving at, man?'</p> + +<p>'She's fallen in love with me. That's what +I'm driving at. And now you know.'</p> + +<p>'My dear sir,' said Hugo earnestly, 'if she +is in love with you, you must marry her and +make her happy.'</p> + +<p>He did not desire to say this, but some +instinct within him compelled him to utter +the words.</p> + +<p>'You told me that you loved her,' Darcy +retorted.</p> + +<p>'I told you the truth. I do.'</p> + +<p>A silence ensued. All Hugo's previous discouragements, +sadnesses, preoccupations, despairs, +were as nothing in comparison with +the black mood which came upon him when +he learnt this simple fact—that Camilla had +fallen in love with Darcy.</p> + +<p>'She is still in Paris?' he asked, to end the +silence.</p> + +<p>'I—I don't know. I called at her lodgings +at noon, and she had gone and left no address.'</p> + +<p>Hugo jumped up.</p> + +<p>'She can't have disappeared again?'</p> + +<p>'Oh no; rest assured. Doubtless a mere +change of rooms. When I return I shall +certainly find a letter awaiting me.'</p> + +<p>'Why did you come to me?'</p> + +<p>'Well,' Darcy said, 'you told me you loved +her, and I thought—I thought perhaps you'd +come over to Paris, and see—see what could +be done. That's why I came. The thing's +on my mind, you know.'</p> + +<p>'Just so,' Hugo answered, 'and I will +come.'</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXIII</h3> + +<h2>FIRST TRIUMPH OF SIMON</h2> + + +<p>A week later, Simon and Albert stood talking +together in Simon's room adjoining the dome. +Simon had that air of absolute spruceness and +freshness which in persons who have stayed +at home is so extremely offensive to persons +who have just arrived exhausted and unclean +from a tiresome journey. It was Albert who, +with Hugo, had arrived from the journey.</p> + +<p>'Had a good time, Alb?' Simon asked.</p> + +<p>'So-so,' said Albert cautiously.</p> + +<p>'By the way, what did you go to Paris <i>for</i>?'</p> + +<p>'Didn't you know?'</p> + +<p>'How should I know, my son?'</p> + +<p>'The governor wanted to find that girl of +his.'</p> + +<p>'What girl?' Simon asked innocently.</p> + +<p>'Oh, chuck it, Si!' Albert remonstrated +against these affectations of ignorance in a +relative from whom he had no secrets.</p> + +<p>'You mean Mrs. Tudor?'</p> + +<p>'Yes.'</p> + +<p>'She's disappeared again, has she? And +you couldn't find her?'</p> + +<p>Albert concurred.</p> + +<p>'It seems to me, Alb,' said Simon, 'that +you aren't shining very brilliantly just now +as a detective. And I'm rather surprised, +because I've been doing a bit of detective +work myself, and it's nothing but just using +your eyes.'</p> + +<p>'What have you been up to?' Albert inquired.</p> + +<p>'Oh, nothing. Never you mind. It's +purely unofficial. You see, I'm not a +detective. I'm only a servant that gets left +at home. I've only been amusing myself. +Still, I've found out a thing or two that you'd +give your eyes to know, my son.'</p> + +<p>'What?'</p> + +<p>Albert pursued his quest of knowledge.</p> + +<p>'You get along home to your little wife,' +Simon enjoined him. 'You're a professional +detective, you are. No doubt when you've +recovered from Paris, and got into your stride, +you'll find out all that I know and a bit over +in about two seconds. Off you go!'</p> + +<p>Simon's eyes glinted.</p> + +<p>And later, when he was giving Hugo the +last ministrations for the night, Simon looked +at his lord as a cat looks at the mouse it is +playing with—humorously, viciously, sarcastically.</p> + +<p>'I'll give him a night to lie awake in,' said +Simon's eyes.</p> + +<p>But he only allowed his eyes to make +this speech while Hugo's back was turned.</p> + +<p>The next morning Hugo's mood was desolating. +To speak to him was to play with +fire. Obviously, Hugo had heard the clock +strike all the hours. Nevertheless, Simon +permitted himself to be blithe, even offensively +blithe. And when Hugo had finished +with him he ventured to linger.</p> + +<p>'You needn't wait,' said Hugo, in a voice +of sulphuric acid.</p> + +<p>'So you didn't find Mrs. Francis Tudor, +sir?' responded Simon, with calm and beautiful +insolence.</p> + +<p>It was insolence because, though few of +Hugo's secrets were hid from Simon, the +intercourse between master and servant +was conducted on the basis of a convention +that Simon's ignorance of Hugo's affairs was +complete. And if the convention was ignored, +as it sometimes was, Hugo alone had +the right to begin the ignoring of it.</p> + +<p>'What's that you said?' Hugo demanded.</p> + +<p>'You didn't find Mrs. Francis Tudor, sir?' +Simon blandly repeated.</p> + +<p>'Mind your own business, my friend,' he +said.</p> + +<p>'Certainly, sir,' said Simon. 'But I had +intended to add that possibly you had not +been searching for Mrs. Tudor in the right +city.'</p> + +<p>Hugo stared at Simon, who retreated to +the door.</p> + +<p>'What in thunder do you mean?' Hugo +asked coldly and deliberately.</p> + +<p>At last Simon felt a tremor.</p> + +<p>'I mean, sir, that I think I know where +she is. At least, I know where she will be +in a couple of hours' time.'</p> + +<p>'Where?'</p> + +<p>'In Department 42—her old department, +sir.'</p> + +<p>By a terrific effort Hugo kept calm.</p> + +<p>'Simon,' he said, 'don't play any tricks on +me. If you do, I'll thrash you first, and then +dismiss you on the spot.'</p> + +<p>'It's through the new manager of the +drapery, sir, in place of Mr. Bentley—I forget +his name. Mr. Bentley's room being all upset +with police and accountants and things, the +new manager has been using your office. And +I was in there to-day, and he was engaging a +young lady for the millinery, sir. He didn't +recognise her, not having been here long +enough, but I did. It was Miss Payne.'</p> + +<p>'Impossible!'</p> + +<p>'Yes, sir; Miss Payne—that is to say, Mrs. +Tudor. I heard him say, "Very well, you +can start to-morrow morning."'</p> + +<p>'That's <i>this</i> morning?'</p> + +<p>'Yes, sir.'</p> + +<p>'Why didn't you tell me this last night?' +Hugo roared.</p> + +<p>'It slipped my memory, sir,' said Simon, +surpassing all previous feats of insolence.</p> + +<p>Hugo, speechless, waved him out of the +room.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXIV</h3> + +<h2>THE LODGING-HOUSE</h2> + + +<p>The thought of soon seeing her intoxicated +him. His head swam, his heart leapt, his +limbs did what they liked, being forgotten. +And then, as he sobered himself, he tried +seriously to find an answer to this question: +Why had she returned, as it were surreptitiously, +to the very building from which her +funeral was supposed to have taken place? +Could she imagine that oblivion had covered +her adventure, and that the three thousand +five hundred would ignore the fact that she +was understood to be dead? He found no +answer—at least, no satisfactory answer—except +that women are women, and therefore +incalculable.</p> + +<p>'Go and see if she is there,' he said to +Simon at five minutes to nine.</p> + +<p>'She is there,' said Simon at five minutes +past nine; 'in one of the work-rooms alone.'</p> + +<p>Then Hugo put a heavy curb on his instincts, +and came to a sudden resolve.</p> + +<p>'Tell the new drapery manager,' he instructed +Simon, 'to give instructions to Mrs. +Tudor, or Miss Payne, whichever she calls +herself, that she is to meet him in my central +office at six o'clock this evening. He, however, +is not to be there. She is to wait in +the room alone, if I have not arrived. Inform +no one that I have returned from Paris. I +am now going out for the day.'</p> + +<p>'Yes, sir.'</p> + +<p>Hugo thereupon took train to Ealing. He +walked circuitously through the middle of +the day from Ealing to Harrow, alone with +his thoughts in the frosty landscape. From +Harrow he travelled by express to Euston, +reaching town at five-thirty. Somehow or +other the day had passed. He got to Sloane +Street at six, and ascended direct to his central +office.</p> + +<p>Had his orders been executed? Would +she be waiting? As he hesitated outside +the door he was conscious that his whole +frame shook. He entered silently.</p> + +<p>Yes, she was there. She sat on the edge +of a chair near the fire, staring at the fire. +She was dressed in the customary black. +Ah! it was the very face he had seen in the +coffin, the same marvellous and incomparable +features; not even sadder, not aged by a day; +the same!</p> + +<p>She turned at the sound of the closing of +the door, and, upon seeing him, started +slightly. Then she rose, and delicately blushed.</p> + +<p>'Good-evening, Mr. Hugo,' she said, in a +low, calm voice. 'I did not expect to see +you.'</p> + +<p>Great poetical phrases should have rushed +to his lips—phrases meet for a tremendous +occasion. But they did not. He sighed. +'I can only say what comes into my head,' +he thought ruefully. And he said:</p> + +<p>'Did I startle you?'</p> + +<p>'Not much,' she replied. 'I knew I must +meet you one day or another soon. And it +is better at once.'</p> + +<p>'Just so,' he said. 'It <i>is</i> better at once. +Sit down, please. I've been walking all day, +and I can scarcely stand.' And he dropped +into a chair. 'Do you know, dear lady,' he +proceeded, 'that Doctor Darcy and I have +been hunting for you all over Paris?'</p> + +<p>He managed to get a little jocularity into +his tone, and this achievement eased his +attitude.</p> + +<p>'No,' she said, 'I didn't know. I'm very +sorry.'</p> + +<p>'But why didn't you let Darcy know that +you were coming to London?'</p> + +<p>'Mr. Hugo,' she answered, with a charming +gesture, 'I will tell you.' And she got up +from her chair and came to another one +nearer his own. This delicious action filled +him with profound bliss. 'When I read in +the paper that Mr. Ravengar had committed +suicide, I had just enough money in my +pocket to pay my expenses to London, and +to keep me a few days here. And I did so +want to come! I did so want to come! I +came by the morning train. It was an inspiration. +I waited for nothing. I meant +to write to Mr. Darcy that same night, but +that same night I caught sight of him here +in Sloane Street, so I knew it was no use +writing just then. And I didn't care for him +to see me. I thought I would give him time +to return. As a matter of fact, I wrote +yesterday evening. He would get the letter +to-night. I hope my disappearance didn't +cause you any anxiety?'</p> + +<p>'Anxiety!' He repeated the word. 'You +don't know what I've been through. I feared +that Ravengar, before killing himself, had +arranged to—to—I don't know what I feared. +Horrible, unmentionable things! You can't +guess what I've been through.'</p> + +<p>'I, too, have suffered since we met last,' +said Camilla softly.</p> + +<p>'Don't talk of it—don't talk of it!' he +entreated her. 'I know all. I saw your +image in a coffin. I have heard your late +husband's statement. And Darcy has told +me much. Let us forget all that, and let us +forget it for evermore. But you have to +remember, nevertheless, that in London you +have the reputation of being dead.'</p> + +<p>'I have not forgotten,' she said, with a +beautiful inflection and a bending of the head, +'that I promised to thank you the next time +we met for what you did for me. Let me +thank you now. Tell me how I can thank +you!'</p> + +<p>He wanted to cry out that she was divine, +and that she must do exactly what she liked +with him. And then he wanted to take her +and clasp her till she begged for her breath. +And he was tempted to inform her that though +she loved Darcy as man was never loved +before, still she should marry him, Hugo, or +Darcy should die.</p> + +<p>'Sit down,' he said in a quiet, familiar voice. +'Don't bother about thanking me. Just tell +me all about the history of your relations with +Ravengar.' And to himself he said: 'She +shall talk to me, and I will listen, and we shall +begin to be intimate. This is the greatest +happiness I can have. Hang the future! I +will give way to my mood. Darcy said she +didn't want to leave Paris, but she has left it. +That's something.'</p> + +<p>'I will do anything you want,' she answered +almost gaily; and she sat down again.</p> + +<p>'I doubt it,' he smiled. 'However—'</p> + +<p>The sense of intimacy, of nearness, gave him +acute pleasure, as at their first interview +months ago.</p> + +<p>'I would <i>like</i> to tell you,' she began; 'and +there is no harm now. Where shall I start? +Well'—she became suddenly grave—'Mr. +Ravengar used to pass my father's shop in the +Edgware Road. He came in to buy things. +It was a milliner's shop, and so he could buy +nothing but bonnets and hats. He bought +bonnets and hats. I often served him. He +gave my father some very good hints about +shares, but my father never took them. +When my parents both died, Mr. Ravengar +was extremely sympathetic, and offered me a +situation in his office. I took it. I became +his secretary. He was always very polite +and considerate to me, except sometimes when +he got angry with everybody, including me. +He couldn't help being rude then. He had +an old clerk named Powitt, who sat in the +outer office, and seemed to do nothing. +Powitt had just brains enough to gamble, +and he gambled in the shares of Mr. Ravengar's +companies. I know he lost money, +because he used to confide in me and grumble +at Mr. Ravengar for not giving him proper +tips. Mr. Ravengar simply sneered at him—he +was very hard. Powitt had a younger +brother, who was engaged in another City +office, and this younger brother also gambled +in Ravengar shares, and also lost. The two +brothers gambled more and more, and old +Powitt once told me that Mr. Ravengar +misled them sometimes from sheer—what +shall I call it?'</p> + +<p>'Devilry,' Hugo suggested. 'I can believe +it. That would be his idea of a good joke.'</p> + +<p>'By-and-by I learnt that they were in +serious difficulties. Young Powitt was +married, but his wife left him—I believe he +had taken to drink. There was a glass partition +between my room and Mr. Ravengar's—ground +glass at the bottom, clear glass at the +top. One night, after hours, I went back to the +office for an umbrella which I had forgotten, +and I found young Powitt trying to open the +petty-cash-box in my room. He had not +succeeded, and I just told him to go, and that +I should forget I had seen him there. He +kissed my hand. And just then the outer +door of the office opened, and someone +entered. I turned off the light in my room. +Young Powitt crouched down. It was Mr. +Ravengar. He went to his own room. I +jumped on a chair, and looked through the +glass screen. Old Powitt was hanging by the +neck from the brass curtain-rod in Mr. +Ravengar's room. While young Powitt was +trying to get out of their difficulties by +thieving, old Powitt had taken a shorter way. +Mr. Ravengar looked at the body swinging +there, and I heard him say, "Ah!" Like +that!'</p> + +<p>'Great heaven!' cried Hugo, 'you've been +through sufficient in your time!'</p> + +<p>'Yes.' Camilla paused. 'Mr. Ravengar +cut down the body, searched the pockets, took +out a paper, read it, and put it in his own +pocket. Then the old man's lips twitched. +He was not quite dead, after all. Mr. Ravengar +stared at the face; and then, by means of +putting a chair on a table and lifting Powitt +on to the chair, he tied up the cord which he +had cut, and left the poor old man to +swing again. It was an—an interrupted +suicide.'</p> + +<p>She stopped once more, and Hugo fervently +wished he had never asked her to begin. He +gazed at her set face with a fascinated glance.</p> + +<p>'All this time,' she resumed, 'young Powitt +had been crouching on the floor, and had seen +nothing.'</p> + +<p>'And what did you do?'</p> + +<p>'I fainted, and fell off my chair. The noise +startled Mr. Ravengar, and he came round into +my room. Young Powitt met him at the +door, and, to explain his presence there, he +said that he had come to see his brother. +Mr. Ravengar said: "Your brother is in the +next room." But instead of going into the +next room, young Powitt ran off. Then Mr. +Ravengar perceived me on the floor. My +first words to him when I recovered consciousness +were: "Why did you hang him up again, +Mr. Ravengar?" He was staggered. He +actually tried to justify himself, and said it +was best for the old man—the old man had +wanted to die, and so on. Mr. Ravengar +certainly thought that young Powitt had seen +what I had seen. That very night young +Powitt was arrested for another theft, from +his own employers, and it was not till after +his arrest that he learnt that his brother had +committed suicide. He got four years. When +he received sentence, he swore that he would +kill Mr. Ravengar immediately he came out of +prison. I heard his threat. I knew him, and +I knew that he meant it. He argued that +Mr. Ravengar's financial operations had +ruined thousands of people, including his +brother and himself.</p> + +<p>'But the inquest on old Powitt—I seem to +remember about it. Why didn't you give +evidence?'</p> + +<p>'Because I was ill with brain-fever. When +I recovered, all was finished. What was I to +do? I warned Mr. Ravengar that young +Powitt meant to kill him. He laughed. Of +course, I left him. It is my belief that Mr. +Ravengar was always a little mad. If he was +not so before, this affair had strained his +intelligence too much.'</p> + +<p>'You did a very wrong thing,' said Hugo, +'in keeping silence.'</p> + +<p>'Put yourself in my place,' Camilla +answered. 'Think of all the facts. It was +all so queer, And—and—Mr. Ravengar had +found me in the room with young Powitt. +Suppose he had—'</p> + +<p>'Say no more,' Hugo besought her. 'How +long is this ago?'</p> + +<p>'Three years last June. In six months +young Powitt's sentence will be up.'</p> + +<p>Hugo nearly leapt from his chair.</p> + +<p>'Is it possible, Mrs. Tudor,' he asked her +eagerly, 'that you are not aware that in +actual practice a reasonably well-behaved +prisoner never serves the full period of his +sentence? Marks for good conduct are +allowed, and each mark means so many +days deducted from the term.'</p> + +<p>'I didn't know,' said Camilla simply. +'How should I know a thing like that?'</p> + +<p>'I have no doubt that young Powitt is +already free. And if he is—'</p> + +<p>'You think that Mr. Ravengar's suicide +may not have been a suicide?'</p> + +<p>Hugo hesitated.</p> + +<p>'Yes,' he said, and lapsed into reflection.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>'I shall see you home,' he said.</p> + +<p>'I am going to walk,' she replied. 'And +I have to get my things from the cloak-room.'</p> + +<p>'I will walk with you,' he said.</p> + +<p>'What style the woman has!' he thought, +enraptured.</p> + +<p>They proceeded southwards in silence. +Then suddenly she asked how he had left +Mr. Darcy, and they began to talk about +Darcy and Paris. Hugo encouraged her. +He wished to know the worst.</p> + +<p>'Except my father,' she said, 'I have never +met anyone with more sense than Mr. Darcy, +or anyone more kind. I might have been +dead now if it hadn't been for Mr. Darcy.'</p> + +<p>'Mr. Darcy is a very decent fellow,' Hugo +remarked experimentally.</p> + +<p>She turned and gave him a look. No, it +was not a look; it was the merest fraction of +a look, but it withered him up.</p> + +<p>'She loves him!' he thought. 'And what's +more, if she hadn't made up her mind to +marry him, she wouldn't be so precious easy +and facile and friendly with me. I might +have guessed that.'</p> + +<p>They passed Victoria Station, and came +into Horseferry Road. She had informed +him that she had taken a furnished room in +Horseferry Road. The high and sinister +houses appeared unspeakably and disgracefully +mean to him in the wintry gloom of the +gaslights. She halted before a tenement that +seemed even more odious than its neighbours. +Was it possible that she should exist in such +a quarter? The idea sickened him.</p> + +<p>'Which floor?' he questioned.</p> + +<p>'Oh,' she laughed, 'the top, the fifth. +Good-night, Mr. Hugo.'</p> + +<p>He pictured the mean and frowsy room, +and shuddered. Yet what could he do? +What right had he to interfere, to criticise, +to ameliorate?</p> + +<p>'Good-night,' she repeated, and in a +moment she had opened the door with a latchkey +and disappeared. He stood staring at the +door. He had by no means finished saying +all that he meant to say to her. He must +talk to her further. He must show her that +he could not be dismissed in that summary +fashion. He mounted the two dirty steps, +and rang the bell in a determined manner. +He heard it tinkle distantly.</p> + +<p>She was divine, adorable, marvellous, and +far beyond the deserts of any man; but she +had not shaken hands with him, and she had +treated him as she might have treated one of +the shopwalkers. Moreover, the question of +to-morrow had to be decided.</p> + +<p>There was no answer to the bell, and he +rang again, with an increase of energy.</p> + +<p>Then he perceived through the fanlight an +illumination in the hall. The door opened +cautiously, as such doors always do open, and +a middle-aged man in a dressing-gown stood +before him. In the background he descried +a small table with a candle on it, and the foul, +polished walls of the narrow lobby—a representative +London lodging-house.</p> + +<p>'I want to see Mrs. Tudor,' said Hugo.</p> + +<p>'Well, she ain't in at the moment,' replied +the man.</p> + +<p>'Excuse me,' Hugo corrected him, 'I saw +her enter a minute ago with her latchkey.'</p> + +<p>'No, you didn't,' the man persisted. 'I'm +the landlord of this house, and I've been in +my room at the back, and nobody's come in +this last half-hour, for I can see the 'all and +the stairs as I sits in my chair.'</p> + +<p>'Wait a moment,' said Hugo; and he retreated +to the kerb, in the expectation of +being able to descry Camilla's light in the +fifth story.</p> + +<p>'Oh, you can look,' the landlord observed +loftily, divining his intention; 'I warrant +there's no light there.'</p> + +<p>And there was not.</p> + +<p>'Perhaps you'll call again,' said the landlord +suavely.</p> + +<p>'I suppose you haven't got a room to let?' +Hugo demanded, fumbling about in his brain +for a plan to meet this swift crisis.</p> + +<p>'I can't tell you till my wife comes home.'</p> + +<p>'And when will that be?'</p> + +<p>'That'll be to-morrow.'</p> + +<p>The door was banged to. Hugo rang again, +wrathfully, but the door remained obstinate.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXV" id="CHAPTER_XXV"></a>CHAPTER XXV</h3> + + +<h2>CHLOROFORM</h2> + +<p>'Come in,' said Simon grandly, in response to +a knock.</p> + +<p>He was seated in his master's chair in the +dome, which was lit as though for a fête. +The clock showed the hour of nine.</p> + +<p>Albert entered.</p> + +<p>'Oh, it's you, is it?' exclaimed Albert. +'Where's the governor?'</p> + +<p>'I don't know where he is. He was in his +office at something to seven, having an interview +with Mrs. Tudor. Since then—'</p> + +<p>Simon raised his eyebrows, and Albert +expressed a similar sentiment by means of a +whistle.</p> + +<p>'Then, you've been telephoning on your +own for me to come up?'</p> + +<p>'Yes.'</p> + +<p>'It's like your cheek!' Albert complained, +calmly perching himself on the top of the +grand piano.</p> + +<p>'Perhaps it will be. I regret to tear you +from your fireside, Alb, but I wish to consult +you on a matter affecting the governor.'</p> + +<p>'Go ahead, then,' said Albert. 'There's +been enough talk about the governor to-day +downstairs, I should hope.'</p> + +<p>'You mean in reference to Mrs. Tudor's +reappearance?'</p> + +<p>'Yes.' Albert imitated Simon's carefully +enunciated periods. 'I do mean in reference +to Mrs. Tudor's reappearance. By the way, +what the deuce are you burning all these lights +for?'</p> + +<p>'I was examining this photograph,' said +Simon, handing to his brother a rather large +unmounted silver-print photograph which had +lain on his knees.</p> + +<p>'What of it?' Albert asked, glancing at it. +'Medical and Pharmaceutical Department, +isn't it? Not bad.'</p> + +<p>'We're having a new series of full-plate +photographs done for the next edition of the +General Catalogue,' said Simon, 'and this is +one of them. It contains forty-five figures. +It was taken yesterday morning by that +Curgenven flashlight process that we're +running. Look at it. Don't you see anything?'</p> + +<p>'Nothing special,' Albert admitted.</p> + +<p>Simon rose and came towards the piano.</p> + +<p>'Let me show you,' he said superiorly. +'You see the cash-desk to the left. There's +a lady just leaving the cash-desk. And just +behind her there's an oldish man. You can't +see all of his face because of her hat. He's +holding his bill in his hand—you can see the +corner of it—and he's got some sort of a parcel +under his arm. See?'</p> + +<p>'Yes, Mr. Lecoq.'</p> + +<p>'Well, doesn't he remind you of somebody?'</p> + +<p>'He's rather like old Ravengar, perhaps,' +said Albert dubiously.</p> + +<p>'You've hit it!' Simon almost shouted. 'It +is Ravengar.'</p> + +<p>'This man's got no beard.'</p> + +<p>'That comes well from a detective, that +does!' said Simon scornfully. 'It needn't +have cost him more than threepence to have +his beard shaved off, need it?'</p> + +<p>'And seeing that this photograph was taken +yesterday morning, and Ravengar fell off a +steamer into the Channel more than a week +ago!'</p> + +<p>'But did he fall off a steamer more than a +week ago?'</p> + +<p>'He was noticed on board the steamer +before she started, and he wasn't on board +when she arrived.'</p> + +<p>'Couldn't he have walked on to the steamer +with his luggage, and then walked off again +and let her start without him?'</p> + +<p>'But why?'</p> + +<p>'Suppose he wanted to pretend to be dead?'</p> + +<p>'Why should he want to pretend to be +dead?' Albert defended his position.</p> + +<p>Simon, entirely forgetful of that dignity +which usually he was at such pains to preserve, +sprang on to the piano alongside Albert.</p> + +<p>'I'll tell you another thing,' said he. +'When I came in with the governor's tea +this morning he was just dozing and half-dreaming +like—he'd had a very bad night—and +I heard him say, "So they think you are +at the bottom of the Channel, Louis? I wish +you were!" What do you think of that, my +son?'</p> + +<p>'Then the governor must know Ravengar +didn't commit suicide in the Channel? The +governor never said a word to me!'</p> + +<p>'You don't imagine the governor tells you +everything, do you?' said Simon cruelly.</p> + +<p>'Have you shown him the photo?' Albert +asked.</p> + +<p>'No,' said Simon, with a certain bluntness.</p> + +<p>'Why not?'</p> + +<p>'Well, for one thing, I've had no chance, +and for another I wanted to find out something +more first. I'd just like the governor to see +that I'm not an absolute idiot.... Though +I should have thought he might have found +that out before now.'</p> + +<p>'He doesn't think you're an absolute idiot,' +said Albert.</p> + +<p>'He acts as if he did,' said Simon. The +Paris trip still rankled.</p> + +<p>A pause followed.</p> + +<p>'Another thing,' Albert recommenced. +'Even supposing Ravengar's alive, it's not +very likely he'd venture here, of all places.'</p> + +<p>'Why not?' Simon argued. 'Scarcely anybody +knows Ravengar by sight. He's famous +for keeping himself to himself. He's one of +the least known celebrities in London. He'd +be safe from recognition almost anywhere. +Moreover, supposing he wanted to buy something +peculiar?'</p> + +<p>'He might,' Albert admitted. 'But don't +forget this is all theory. I suppose you've +been making your own inquiries in the Medical +Department?'</p> + +<p>'Yes,' said Simon rather apologetically. +'But I couldn't find anyone among the staff +who remembers serving such a man, or even +seeing him. He may have had an accomplice, +you know, on the staff. What makes it more +awkward is that there were two photographs +taken, one about eleven, and another about +half-past, and the photographer got the plates +mixed up, and doesn't know whether this one +is the first or the second. You see, the clock +doesn't show in the picture; otherwise, we +might have pieced things together.'</p> + +<p>'Pity!' Albert murmured.</p> + +<p>'However,' said Simon, with an obvious +intention to be dramatic, 'I thought of Lecoq, +and I hit on something. You see the lady +just leaving the cash-desk with her receipt? +Can you read the number of her receipt?'</p> + +<p>Albert peered.</p> + +<p>'No, I can't,' he said.</p> + +<p>'Neither could I,' Simon agreed. 'But +I've had that part of the photograph enlarged +to-night.'</p> + +<p>'The deuce you have!' Albert opened his +eyes.</p> + +<p>'Yes, the deuce I have! And here it is.'</p> + +<p>Simon took a photographic print from his +pocket, showing the lady's hand and part of +the receipt, very blurred and faint, with some +hieroglyphic figures mistily appearing.</p> + +<p>'Looks like 6,706,' said Albert.</p> + +<p>'It's either 6,706 or 6,766,' Simon concurred. +'Now, Ravengar's receipt must be +numbered next to hers. Consequently, if we +go and look at the counterfoils and duplicates—'</p> + +<p>'Yes,' said Albert, thoughtfully sliding +down from the piano.</p> + +<p>'We may be able to find out something very +interesting,' Simon finished, descending also.</p> + +<p>'Now?'</p> + +<p>'Now. That's what I wanted you for. +You've got your pass-keys and everything, +haven't you?'</p> + +<p>'Yes.'</p> + +<p>'Then run down and search.'</p> + +<p>'Aren't you coming too?'</p> + +<p>'I was only thinking, suppose the governor +came back and wanted me?'</p> + +<p>Albert gazed contemptuously at this exhibition +of timidity—the cowardice of a +born valet, he deemed it.</p> + +<p>'Oh, of course,' he exclaimed, 'if you—'</p> + +<p>'I'll come,' said Simon boldly. 'If he +wants me he must wait, that's all.'</p> + +<p>They descended together in Hugo's private +lift, direct from the dome; the Medical and +Pharmaceutical Department was on the +ground-floor. Simon acted as lift-man, and +slammed the grill when they emerged.</p> + +<p>'Just open that again, Si,' Albert requested +him.</p> + +<p>'Why? What's up?'</p> + +<p>'Just open it.'</p> + +<p>Albert was sniffing about like a dog that is +trying to decide whether there is not something +extremely attractive in the immediate +neighbourhood. He re-entered the lift, and +nosed it curiously.</p> + +<p>Suddenly he bent down and peered under +the cushioned seat of the lift, and drew forth +an object that resembled in shape a canister +of disinfectant powder.</p> + +<p>'Conf—!' he exclaimed, dropping it +sharply. 'It's hot. What in the name +of—'</p> + +<p>He kicked the object out of the lift on to the +tessellated floor of a passage which led to the +Fish and Game Department.</p> + +<p>'I bet you I can hold it,' said Simon +boastfully.</p> + +<p>And, at the expense of his fingers, he picked +it up, and successfully carried it into the Fish +and Game Department, where a solitary light +(which burnt night and day) threw a dim +radiance over vast surfaces of white marble +dominated by silver taps. The fish and game +were below in the refrigerators. Simon let +the cylinder fall on to a slab; Albert turned a +tap, and immediately the cylinder was surrounded +by clouds of steam. The phenomenon +was like some alchemical and mysterious +operation. And the steam, as it rose and +spread abroad in the immense, pale interior, +might have been the fumes of a fatal philtre +distilled by a mediæval sorcerer.</p> + +<p>'I hope it won't blow up!' Simon ejaculated.</p> + +<p>'Not it!' said Albert. 'Let's have a look +at it now.'</p> + +<p>Albert had a mechanical bent, and, with the +aid of a tool, he soon discovered that the +cylinder was divided into two parts. In the +lower part was burning charcoal. In the +upper, carefully closed, was paraffin. The +division between the two compartments consisted +of some sort of soldering lead, which +the heat of the charcoal had gradually been +melting.</p> + +<p>'So when this stuff had melted,' he explained +to Simon, 'the paraffin would run +into the charcoal, and there would be a +magnificent flare-up.'</p> + +<p>They looked at one another, amazed, +astounded, speechless.</p> + +<p>And each knew that on the tip of the other's +tongue, unuttered, was the word 'Ravengar.'</p> + +<p>'But why was it put in the lift?' asked +Simon.</p> + +<p>'Because,' said Albert promptly, 'a lift-well +is the finest possible place for a fire. +There's a natural draught, and a free chance +for every floor. Poof! And a flame's up +nine stories in no time. And a really good +mahogany lift would burn gorgeously, and +give everything a good start.'</p> + +<p>'There are fifteen lifts in this place,' Simon +muttered.</p> + +<p>'I know,' said Albert.</p> + +<p>He approached a little glass square in the +wall, broke it, pulled a knob, and looked at his +watch.</p> + +<p>'We'll test the Fire Brigade Department,' he +remarked; and then, as he heard a man +running down the adjacent corridor, 'Seven +seconds. Not bad.'</p> + +<p>In another seven minutes nine cylinders, +which had been found in nine different lifts, +were sizzling beside Albert's original discovery. +The other five lifts appeared to have been +omitted from this colossal scheme for providing +London with a pyrotechnic display +such as London had probably never had since +the year 1666. The night fire staff, which +consisted of some fifty men, had laid hose on +to every hydrant, and were taking instructions +from their chief for the incessant patrol of the +galleries.</p> + +<p>'See here,' said Albert, 'we'd better go on +with what we started of now.'</p> + +<p>'Had we?' Simon questioned somewhat +dubiously.</p> + +<p>'Of course,' said Albert. 'If that is +Ravengar in the photo, and if we can find out +anything to-night, and if Ravengar's in this +business'—he jerked his elbow towards the +cylinders—'we shall be so much to the good. +Besides, it won't take us a minute.'</p> + +<p>So they went forward, through twilit +chambers and passages filled with sheeted +objects, past miles of counters inhabited by +thousands of chairs, through doors whose +openings resounded strangely in the vast +nocturnal silence of Hugo's, till they came +to the Medical and Pharmaceutical Department. +And the Medical and Pharmaceutical +Department, in its night-garb, and illuminated +by a single jet at either end of it, seemed to +take on a kind of ghostly and scented elegance; +it seemed to be a lunar palace of bizarre +perfumes and crystal magics.</p> + +<p>The two young men halted, and listened, +and they could catch the distant footfall of +the patrols echoing in some far-off corridor. +That reassured them. They ceased to fancy +the smell of burning and to be victimized by +the illusion that a little tongue of flame darted +out behind them.</p> + +<p>Albert gained access to the accountant's +cupboard, and pulled out a number of books, +over which they pored side by side.</p> + +<p>'Here you are!' exclaimed Simon presently. +'Receipts. January 9.'</p> + +<p>And Albert read: 'No. 6,766, Mrs. Poidevin, +37, Prince's Gate; vinolia. No. 6,767, +Dr. Woolrich, 23, Horseferry Road; chloroform! +Can't make out the quantity, but it +must be a lot, I should think; the price is +eighteen and ninepence.'</p> + +<p>'Dr. Woolrich, 23, Horseferry Road?' +Simon repeated mechanically. 'Chloroform?'</p> + +<p>'That's it,' said Albert. 'You may bet +your boots. Let's look him up in the Medical +Directory, if they've got one here. Yes, +they're sure to have one.'</p> + +<p>But there was no Dr. Woolrich in the +Medical Directory.</p> + +<p>Once more the brothers stared at each other. +Was or was not Ravengar alive? Were they +or were they not on his track?</p> + +<p>'Listen, Si,' said Albert. 'I'll drive right +down to 23, Horseferry Road, and have a look +round. Eh? What do you say?'</p> + +<p>'I think I'll come, too,' Simon replied.</p> + +<p>In six minutes Albert pulled up the hansom +at the end of the street, and they walked +slowly towards No. 23, but on the opposite +side of the road.</p> + +<p>'That's it,' said Simon, pointing. 'What +are you going to do now? Inquire there?'</p> + +<p>At the same moment a window opened +behind them, in the house immediately facing +No. 23; they both heard a hissing sound, +evidently designed to attract their attention, +and they both turned their heads.</p> + +<p>From a first-story window Hugo was gesticulating +at them.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXVI"></a>CHAPTER XXVI</h3> + +<h2>SECOND TRIUMPH OF SIMON</h2> + + +<p>'Come up at once,' Hugo whispered. 'Door +opposite top of stairs.'</p> + +<p>And he threw down on to the pavement a +latchkey.</p> + +<p>'What do you think of yourself now, Si?' +Albert asked his brother, as they entered the +house. 'You've let yourself in for something +at last.'</p> + +<p>They found Hugo in an ordinary bedsitting-room. +He was wearing his hat and +his overcoat, and staring out of the open +window. It was a cold night, but he did not +seem to feel the icy draught which blew into +the apartment. The whole of his attention +appeared to be concentrated on No. 23. He +did not at first even turn to look at the +brothers when they came in. They explained +themselves.</p> + +<p>'I will tell you why I am here, and what has +occurred to me,' said Hugo, playing, perhaps +rather nervously, with the knife and cheese-plate +which still lay on the small table by +the window. 'Then we can decide what to +do. I've hired this room.'</p> + +<p>No doubt existed in his mind that Simon +had happened upon the track of the veritable +living Ravengar. It could not be a coincidence +that a man so strongly resembling +Ravengar, a man posing as a doctor, and +buying nearly a sovereign's worth of chloroform, +should be occupying rooms in the same +house as Camilla. The tremendous revelation +of Ravengar's genius for stratagem and intrigue +afforded by the recital of the two +brothers came upon Hugo with a dazing shock. +This man, whom he knew from Camilla's own +story to be curiously deficient in ordinary +human sentiments, had arranged a sham +suicide for the benefit of the general public. +He had let Hugo into the secret of that deception, +but only to cheat him with another +deception, and a more monstrous one. The +brain that could conceive the fiction of suicide +in the vault—a fiction which, while lulling +Hugo into a false security as regards Camilla's +safety, at the same time poisoned his happiness—such +a brain might be capable of unimagined +horrors. Sane or mad, the mere +existence of that brain was a menace before +which Hugo trembled. He realized that +Ravengar had been consummately acting +during the latter part of their interview on +the first day of the sale, and again consummately +acting when he spoke to Hugo on the +telephone. Ravengar had, beyond doubt, deliberately +set himself to lure Camilla back to +England, and he had succeeded. Beyond +doubt, all her movements had been spied and +marked, and Ravengar had been in a position +to complete his arrangements—whatever his +arrangements were—at leisure and with absolute +freedom. She had taken a room in +Horseferry Road, and he had followed.... What +was the sequel to be?</p> + +<p>That she was in his power at that moment +Hugo could not question.</p> + +<p>And the chloroform?</p> + +<p>At that moment Ravengar had meant that +the Hugo building should have been a funeral +pyre—a spectacle to petrify the Metropolis. +And it seemed to Hugo that if Ravengar was +mad, as he must be, he could only have designed +the spectacle as something final, as at +once a last revenge and an accompaniment +to the supreme sacrifice of Camilla.</p> + +<p>'We must get into that house immediately,' +said Hugo, when he had finished his own +narrative. 'The question is how?'</p> + +<p>'I've got a card of Inspector Wilbraham's, +of the Yard, in my pocket,' Albert suggested. +'We might use that, and make out that this +purchase of chloroform under a false name +had got to be explained to the Yard instantly.'</p> + +<p>Albert had recently become rather intimate +with Scotland Yard. Inspector Wilbraham +had even called on him in reference to +Bentley's death and the disappearance of +Brown; and Albert was duly proud.</p> + +<p>'We will try that,' said Hugo. 'Have you +any handcuffs?'</p> + +<p>'No, sir.'</p> + +<p>'Go and obtain a couple of pairs. You +can be back in twenty minutes. Bring also +my revolver.'</p> + +<p>Hugo and Simon were left alone. Hugo +spoke no word.</p> + +<p>'I'll put the room to rights, sir,' said Simon, +after a pause. He could bear the inaction no +longer.</p> + +<p>Hugo nodded absently, and Simon collected +the ruins of the vile repast which his master +had consumed, and put them outside on a +tray on the landing.</p> + +<p>'There's a light now in the first story!' +exclaimed Hugo. 'I hope that boy won't +be long.'</p> + +<p>And then Albert arrived with the revolver +and the handcuffs. He had been supernaturally +quick.</p> + +<p>They descended and crossed the road.</p> + +<p>'You understand,' Hugo instructed them. +'Let us have no mistake about getting in. +Immediately the door is opened, in we all go. +We can talk inside.'</p> + +<p>'Supposing Albert and me went down to the +area-door,' Simon ventured, 'instead of the +front-door. We might get in easier that +way. It's always easier to deal with servant-girls +and persons of that sort in kitchens. +Then we could come upstairs and let you +in at the front-door. Three detectives seem +rather a lot to be entering all at once. +And, besides, you don't look like a detective, +sir.'</p> + +<p>'What do I look like?' Hugo asked +coldly.</p> + +<p>'You look too much like a gentleman, sir. +It's the hat, sir,' he added.</p> + +<p>Simon had certainly surpassed himself that +day. He had begun by surpassing himself at +early morning, and he had kept it up. Probably +never before in his life had he been so +loquacious and so happy in his loquacity.</p> + +<p>'That's not a bad scheme, Simon,' said +Hugo. 'Try it.'</p> + +<p>The brothers went down the area-steps +while Hugo remained at the gate. A light +burned steadily in the first-floor window. +And then another and a fainter light flickered +in the hall, and after a few seconds the front-door +opened. Hugo literally jumped into the +house, and, safely within, he banged the door.</p> + +<p>'Now,' he said.</p> + +<p>A middle-aged woman, holding a candle, +stood by Simon and Albert in the hall.</p> + +<p>'Are you the servant?' Hugo demanded.</p> + +<p>'No, sir; I'm the landlady. And I'd like +to know—'</p> + +<p>'Your husband told me you were away +and wouldn't return till to-morrow.'</p> + +<p>'Seeing as how my husband's been dead +these thirteen years—'</p> + +<p>'We're in, sir. We'd better search the +house to start with,' said Albert. 'There's +three of us. The man that opened the door to +you must have been a wrong un, one of <i>his</i>.'</p> + +<p>'Never have I had the police in my house +before,' wailed the landlady of No. 23, Horseferry +Road, while the candle dropped +tallow tears on the oilcloth. 'And all I can +say is I thank the blessed Lord it's dark, and +you aren't in uniform. Doctor Woolrich's +rooms are on the first floor, and you can go up +and see for yourself, if you like. And how +should I know he wasn't a real doctor?'</p> + +<p>As the landlady spoke, sounds of footsteps +made themselves heard overhead, and a door +closed.</p> + +<p>'Give me that candle, my good woman,' +said Hugo, hastily snatching it from her.</p> + +<p>The three men ran upstairs, leaving the hall +to darkness and the landlady.</p> + +<p>Whether Hugo dropped the candle in his +excitement, or whether it was knocked out of +his hand by means of a stick through the rails +of the landing-banister as he ascended, will +never be accurately known. He himself is +not sure. The important fact is that the +candle fell, and the trio stumbled up the last +few stairs with nothing to guide them but a +chink of light through a half-closed door. +This door led to the rooms of Dr. Woolrich, +and the rooms of Dr. Woolrich were well +lighted with gas. But they were empty. +There was a sitting-room and a bedroom, and +on the round table in the centre of the sitting-room +was a copy of the most modern edition +of Quain's 'Dictionary of Medicine,' edited by +Murray, Harold, and Bosanquet, bound in +half-morocco; the volume was open at the +article 'Anæsthetics,' and Hugo will always +remember that the page was sixty-two. No +sooner were the rooms found to be empty +than Hugo rushed back to the landing, followed +by Simon. The landing, however, even +with the sitting-room door thrown wide and +the light streaming across the landing and +down the stairs, showed no sign of life.</p> + +<p>Then Albert, who had remained within the +suite, called out:</p> + +<p>'There must be a dressing-room off this +bedroom, and it's locked.'</p> + +<p>'Simon,' said Hugo, 'go to the front window +and keep watch.'</p> + +<p>And Hugo ran into the bedroom to Albert.</p> + +<p>Decidedly there was a door in the bedroom +which had the appearance of leading into a +further room, but the door would not budge. +The pair glanced about. No evidence of +recent human habitation was visible either in +the sitting-room or in the bedroom, save only +the dictionary, and Albert commented on this.</p> + +<p>'We must force that door,' Hugo decided, +'and be ready to look after yourself when it +gives way.'</p> + +<p>As he spoke he could see, in the tail of his +eye, Simon opening the front window and +then looking out into the street.</p> + +<p>'One—two—charge!' cried Hugo; and he +and Albert flung themselves valiantly against +the door.</p> + +<p>They made no impression upon it at all.</p> + +<p>Breathless and shaken, they looked at each +other.</p> + +<p>'Suppose I fire into the lock?' said Hugo.</p> + +<p>'We might try a key first,' Albert answered.</p> + +<p>He took the key from the door between the +bedroom and the sitting-room, and applied +it to the lock of the obstinate portal. The +obstinate portal opened at once.</p> + +<p>'Empty!' ejaculated Albert, putting his +nose into a small dressing-room.</p> + +<p>With a gesture of disgust Hugo turned +away. In the same instant Simon withdrew +his head into the sitting-room.</p> + +<p>'I've seen him,' Simon whispered in hoarse +excitement. 'He just popped out of the +kitchen and came half-way up the area steps. +Then he ran back. He saw me looking at +him.'</p> + +<p>'Ravengar?'</p> + +<p>Simon nodded. This was the hour of +Simon's triumph, the proof that he had not +been mistaken in the theory which he had +raised on the foundation of the photograph.</p> + +<p>'Come along,' said Hugo grimly, preparing +to rush downstairs.</p> + +<p>But a singular thing had occurred. While +Simon had been staring out of the front +window, and Hugo and Albert engaged in +forcing a door which led to emptiness, the +door of the sitting-room, the sole means of +egress from the first-floor suite, had been +shut and locked on the outside.</p> + +<p>In vain Hugo assailed it with boot and +shoulder; in vain Albert assisted him.</p> + +<p>'Keep your eye on the street, you fool!' +said Albert to Simon, when the latter offered +to join the siege of the door.</p> + +<p>Hugo and Albert multiplied their efforts.</p> + +<p>'There's a cab driven up,' Simon informed +them from the window. 'A man's got out. +Now he's gone down the area steps. They're +carrying something up, something big. Oh! +look here, I must help you.'</p> + +<p>And Simon ran to the door. Before the +triple assault it fell at last, and the three +tumbled pell-mell downstairs into the hall. +The front-door was open.</p> + +<p>A cab was just driving away. It drove +rapidly, very rapidly.</p> + +<p>'After it!' Hugo commanded.</p> + +<p>The hunt was up.</p> + +<p>Two minutes afterwards another cab drove +up to the door.</p> + +<p>Ravengar and another man emerged from +the area holding between them the form of a +woman. They got leisurely into the cab with +the woman and departed.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXVII" id="CHAPTER_XXVII"></a>CHAPTER XXVII</h3> + +<h2>THE CEMETERY</h2> + + +<p>Both Simon and Albert easily outran Hugo, +and, fast as the first cab was travelling, they +had gained on it by the time it turned into +Victoria Street. And at the turning an incident +happened. The driver, though hurried, +was apparently to a certain extent careful +and cautious, but he did not altogether avoid +contact with a policeman at the corner. The +policeman was obliged to step sharply out of +the way of the cab, and even then the sleeve +of his immaculate tunic was soiled by contact +with the hind-wheel of the vehicle. Now, the +driver might have scraped an ordinary person +with impunity, and passed on unchallenged; +he might even have soiled the sleeve of a +veteran policeman and got nothing worse +than a sharp word of censure and a fragment +of good advice. But this particular policeman +was quite a new policeman, whose dignity +was as delicate and easily smirched as his +beautiful shining tunic. And the result was +that the cabby had to stop, give his number, +and listen to a lecture.</p> + +<p>Simon and Albert formed part of the +audience for the lecture. It did not, however, +interest them, for they had instantly +perceived that the cab was empty.</p> + +<p>Then, as the lecturer was growing eloquent, +Hugo arrived, and was informed of the emptiness +of the vehicle.</p> + +<p>'It was just a trick,' Simon exclaimed; 'a +trick to get us out of the house.'</p> + +<p>'We must go back,' said Hugo, breathless.</p> + +<p>At this moment the second cab appeared, +was delayed a moment by the multitude +listening to the lecture, and passed westwards +into Victoria Street.</p> + +<p>'They're in that!' cried Simon.</p> + +<p>'Are you sure?' Hugo questioned.</p> + +<p>'Of course I'm sure,' said Simon, who in +the excitement of the trail had ceased to be +a valet.</p> + +<p>To jump into a hansom and order the driver +to keep the four-wheeler in sight ought to +have been the work of a few seconds, but it +occurred, as invariably occurs when a hansom +is urgently needed, that no hansom was available. +The four-wheeler was receding at a +moderate rate in the direction of the Grosvenor +Hotel.</p> + +<p>'Run after it!' said Hugo. 'I'll get a cab +in the station-yard and follow.'</p> + +<p>The quarry vanished round a corner just +as they tumbled into the hansom on the top +of Hugo, but it was never out of observation +for more than a quarter of a minute. Through +divers strange streets it came at length into +Fulham Road at Elm Place, and thenceforward, +at a higher rate of speed, it kept to the +main thoroughfare. The procession passed +the workhouse and the Redcliffe Arms. Between +Edith Grove and Stamford Bridge the +roadway was up for fundamental repairs, and +omnibuses were being diverted down Edith +Grove to King's Road. A policeman at the +corner spoke to the driver of the four-wheeler, +gave a sign of assent, and the four-wheeler +went straight onwards into a medley of wood-blocks, +which was all that was left of Fulham +Road. The hansom followed intrepidly, and +then its three occupants were conscious of a +sudden halt.</p> + +<p>'Bobby wants to know where you're +going to,' said the driver, opening the +trap.</p> + +<p>There was a slight hesitation, and the policeman's +voice could be heard:</p> + +<p>'Come out of it!'</p> + +<p>'We're following that four-wheeler,' Hugo +was about to say, but he perceived the absurdity +of saying such a thing in cold blood +to a policeman.</p> + +<p>All three descended. The cabman had to +be paid. There was a difficulty about finding +change—one of those silly and ridiculous difficulties +that so frequently supervene in crises +otherwise grave; in short, a succession of +trifling delays, each of which might easily +have been obviated by perfect forethought, +or by perfect accord between the three men.</p> + +<p>When next they came to close quarters +with the four-wheeler it was leisurely driving +away empty from a small semi-detached +house which was separated from the road +by a tiny garden. They ran into the garden. +The one thing that flourished in it was a 'To +Let' notice. The front-door, shaded by unpruned +trees, was shut, and there were cobwebs +on the handle, as Hugo plainly saw +when he struck a match. They hastened +round to the back of the house, where was a +larger garden. A French window gave access +to the house. This French window yielded +at once to a firm push. The three men +searched the ground-floor and found nothing. +They then ascended the stairs and equally +found nothing. The house must have been +empty for many months. From the first-floor +window at the back Hugo gazed out, +baffled. Far off he could see lights of houses, +but the foreground was all darkness and +mystery.</p> + +<p>'What lies between us and those lights?' +he asked.</p> + +<p>'It must be Brompton Cemetery, sir,' said +Albert. 'The garden gives on the cemetery, +I expect.'</p> + +<p>As if suddenly possessed by a demon, Hugo +flew out of the room, down the stairs, into the +garden. At the extremity of the garden was +a brick wall, and against the wall were two +extremely convenient barrels; they might +have been placed there specially for the occasion. +In an instant he was in the cemetery.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The remainder of the adventure survives +in Hugo's memory like a sort of night-picture +in which all the minor details of life are lost +in large, vague glooms, and only the central +figures of the composition emerge clearly, in +a sharp and striking brilliance, against the +mysterious background.</p> + +<p>He knew himself in the cemetery, and immediately, +by a tremendous effort of the brain, +he had arranged his knowledge of the place +and decided exactly where he was. Instinctively +he ran by side-alleys till he came to +the broad central way which cuts this vast +field of the dead north and south. He hurried +northwards, and when he had gone about a +hundred and fifty yards he turned to the left, +and then went north again.</p> + +<p>'It's here,' he muttered.</p> + +<p>He was in the middle of that strange and +sinister city within a city, that flat expanse +of silence, decay, and putrefaction which is +surrounded on every side by the pulsating +arteries of London. The living visit the dead +during the day, but at night the dead are left +to themselves, and the very flowers which +embroider their dissolution close up and forget +them. Round about him everywhere trees +and shrubs moved restlessly and plaintively +in the night breeze; the angular grave-stones +raised their kindly lies in the darkness. A +few stars flickered in the sky; no moon. And +miles off, so it seemed, north, south, east, and +west, the yellow lights of human habitations, +the lights of warm rooms where living people +were so engaged in the business of being alive +that they actually forgot death—these lights +winked to each other across the waste and +desolation of a hundred thousand tombs.</p> + +<p>With the certainty of a blind man, the +assurance of a seer who has divined what the +future holds, he approached the vault. He +was aware that the little gate in the railing +would be open. It was. He was aware that +the iron door in the side of the vault would +be unlocked. It was. He pushed it and +entered. All difficulties and hindrances had +been removed. No odour of death greeted +his nostrils, unless the strong smell of chloroform +can be called the odour of death. He +struck a match. The first thing he saw was +a candle and a screwdriver, and then the +match blew out. The door of the vault was +ajar, and he would not close it. He dared +not. He struck another match and put it +to the candle, and the vault was full of +jumping shadows. And he looked and looked +again. Yes, down in that corner she lay, +motionless, lifeless, done with for ever and +ever. Only her face was visible. The rest +of her seemed to be covered with a man's +overcoat, flung hastily down. He stared, +enchanted by the horror. What was that +white stuff round her head? Part of it +seemed to be torn, and a strip fluttered across +her closed eyelids. He went nearer. He +touched—cold! Could she be so soon cold? +And then the truth swept over him, and +almost swept his senses away, that this +image in the corner was not she, but merely +that waxen thing made by the sculptor in +Paris, that counterfeit which had deceived +him in the drawing-room of the flat.</p> + +<p>Then where was she? And why was not +this counterfeit in its coffin, in which it had +been buried with all the rites of the Church? +The coffin? Yes, the coffin was there at his +feet, with its brass plate, which had rusted +at the corners; and below it, in some undefined +depth, was another coffin, the sarcophagus +of Tudor himself. He stooped and +shifted the candle. On Camilla's coffin were +a number of screws, rolled about in various +directions; only one screw was in its place. +He seized the screwdriver—and in that +moment a tiny part of his intelligence found +leisure to decide that this screwdriver was +slightly longer than the one he had used +aforetime for a similar purpose—and he unscrewed +the solitary screw and raised the lid +of the coffin, letting all the screws roll off it +with a great rattle.... An overwhelming +rush of chloroform vapour escaped.... She +lay within, dressed in her black dress, and +her dress had been crammed into the coffin +hastily, madly, and was thrust down in thick, +disorderly folds about her feet, and her hair +half covered her face. And her face was +slightly flushed, and her eyelids quivered, +and the cheeks were warm. He put his +hands under her armpits and wrenched her +out and carried her from the vault. And +then he sank to the ground sobbing.</p> + +<p>What caused him to sob? If any man +dared now to ask him, and if he dared to +answer, he might reply that it was not grief +nor joy, nor the reaction from an intolerable +strain, but simply the idea of the terrific and +heart-breaking cruelty of Ravengar which had +dragged from him a sob.</p> + +<p>The path followed by the madman's brain +was easy to pursue once the clue found. He +had been cheated into the belief that Camilla's +body rested in that coffin, and when he had +discovered that it did not rest there he had +determined that the mistake should be rectified, +the false made true. That had seemed +to him logical and just. She was supposed +to be in the coffin; she should really be in the +coffin; she should be forced and jammed into +it. And his lunatic and inhuman fancy had +added even to that conception. She should +be drugged and carried to the vault, and +drugged again, and then immured, unconscious, +but alive; and if by chance she awoke +from the chloroform sleep after he had finished +screwing in the screws, so much the better! +So it was that his mind had worked. And the +scheme had been executed with that courage, +that calmness, that audacity, that minute +attention to detail, of which only madmen at +their maddest appear to be capable. Beyond +any question the scheme would have succeeded +had not Hugo, the moment Albert Shawn +uttered the word 'cemetery,' perceived the +general trend of it in a single wondrous flash +of intuition. He had guessed it, and even +while afraid to believe that he was right, had +known absolutely and convincingly that he +was right.</p> + +<p>Camilla murmured some phrase, and gave +a sigh as she lay on the gravelled path.</p> + +<p>She had recovered from the fatal torpor in +the cool night air. He said nothing, because +he felt that he could do nothing else. Albert +and Simon were certainly looking for him in +the maze of the cemetery; they would find +him soon. It did not seem to him extraordinary +that he had left them in that sudden, +swift fashion without a word.</p> + +<p>Then he heard, or thought he heard, a +noise in the vault, and, summoning all his +strength of will, he descended the steps again +and glanced within. Ravengar was there. +Had he been there all the time, hidden behind +the door? Or had he fled and stealthily returned? +Only Ravengar could say. He had +taken up the image from the corner and was +replacing it in the coffin. It was as if he had +bowed his obstinate purpose to some higher +power which was inscrutable to him. Children +and madmen can practise this singular and +surprising fatalism. Disturbed, he raised his +head and caught sight of Hugo. They gazed +at one another by the flickering candle.</p> + +<p>'Where's the man who helped you?' Hugo +demanded faintly.</p> + +<p>He had not much heart, much force, much +firmness left. Ravengar's eyes, at once empty +and significant, blank and yet formidable, +startled him. He had the revolver and the +handcuffs in his pocket, but he could not have +used them. Ravengar's eyes, so fiendish and +so ineffably sad, melted his spine. Ravengar +stepped forward and Hugo stepped +back.</p> + +<p>'Let me pass,' said Ravengar, in the tone +of one who has suffered much and does not +mean to suffer much more.</p> + +<p>And Hugo let him pass, inexplicably, +weakly; and at the end of a narrow path he +merged into the vague, general darkness. +And then Hugo heard the sound of a struggle, +and the voices of Simon and Albert—young +and boisterous and earthly and sane. And +then scampering footfalls which died away in +the uttermost parts of the cemetery.</p> + +<p>And Camilla sat up, rubbing her eyes.</p> + +<p>'It's all right,' he soothed her.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXVIII" id="CHAPTER_XXVIII"></a>CHAPTER XXVIII</h3> + +<h2>BEAUTY</h2> + + +<p>'Hum! he's going to marry her,' Simon had +said, and Albert had said, and Lily had said. +'I knew it all along.' When, at the end of six +months, Hugo went away, much furnishing +of rooms near the Dome took place by his +orders during his absence.</p> + +<p>Yet here was Hugo back at the end of the +fortnight, radiant certainly, but alone.</p> + +<p>'There was one little matter I forgot,' Hugo +began, rather timidly, as Simon thought, when +assured that everything was in order.</p> + +<p>'Yes, sir?' said Simon.</p> + +<p>'I want you to be good enough to give up +your room.'</p> + +<p>'My room, sir?'</p> + +<p>'To oblige a lady.'</p> + +<p>'A lady, sir?'</p> + +<p>'I should say a lady's lady.'</p> + +<p>Simon paused. He was wounded, but he +would not show it.</p> + +<p>'With pleasure, sir.'</p> + +<p>'To-night,' Hugo proceeded, 'you can +occupy my bed in the dome;' and he pointed +to the spot where, during the day, the bed lay +ingeniously hidden in a recess of the wall. 'I +shall no longer need it. To-morrow we can +make some more permanent arrangement for +you.'</p> + +<p>'Yes, sir.'</p> + +<p>'Also,' Hugo continued, 'I would like you +to go along to the offices of the <i>Morning Post</i> +for me some time to-night before ten o'clock +and take this. There will be a guinea to pay.' +Hugo handed him a slip of paper.</p> + +<p>'Yes, sir.'</p> + +<p>'Read it,' said Hugo.</p> + +<p>And Simon read: '"A marriage has been +arranged, and"—and—has taken place, sir?'</p> + +<p>'Precisely.'</p> + +<p>'Precisely, sir. "Has taken place at Hythe +between Mr. Owen Hugo, of Sloane Street, +London, and Mrs. Camilla Tudor, widow of +the late Mr. Francis Tudor."'</p> + +<p>'You are the first to know, Simon.'</p> + +<p>Simon bowed.</p> + +<p>'May I respectfully venture to wish you +every happiness, sir?' Simon pronounced at +his most formal.</p> + +<p>'No, you may not,' said Hugo. 'But you +may shake hands with me.'</p> + +<p>And he respectfully ventured to explain to +Simon how, in the case of a man like himself, +with three thousand five hundred tongues +ever ready to wag about him, absolute secrecy +had been the only policy.</p> + +<p>'Telephone down to the refreshment department +for Tortoni to come up to me +instantly. I must order a dinner for two. My +wife and her maid will be here in half an hour. +I shall not want you—at any rate, before ten-thirty +or so.'</p> + +<p>'Yes, sir. And the maid?'</p> + +<p>'What about the maid?'</p> + +<p>'You said you would order dinner for two, sir.'</p> + +<p>'Look here, Simon,' said Hugo. 'If you +will take the maid down to dine in the Central +Restaurant and keep her there—take her +with you for a drive to the <i>Morning Post</i>—I +shall regard it as a favour. Catch!' And +he threw to Simon the gold token, which made +Simon master of all the good things in the +entire building. 'Make use of that.'</p> + +<p>Simon felt a little nervous at the prospect. +He had not seen the maid. However, he +hoped for the best, and assured Hugo of his +delight.</p> + +<p>'I forgot to inform you, sir,' he turned back +to tell Hugo as he was leaving the room, +'Doctor Darcy called again to-day. He has +called several times the last few days. He +said he might look in again to-night.'</p> + +<p>The bridegroom started.</p> + +<p>'If he should,' Hugo ordered, 'don't say +I'm in till you've warned me.'</p> + +<p>'Yes, sir.'</p> + +<p>Three hours later the bride and bridegroom +were finishing one of the distinguished Tortoni's +most elaborate dinners. Tortoni had +protested that it was destructive of the elementary +principles of art to order a dinner for +eight-thirty at seven o'clock. However, he +had not completely failed. The waiters had +departed, and Camilla, in dazzling ivory-white, +was pouring out coffee. Hugo was cutting a +cigar. They did not speak; they felt. They +were at the end of the brief honeymoon, and +the day was at an end. The last remnants of +twilight had vanished, and through the eastern +windows of the dome the moon was rising. +Neither the hour nor the occasion made for +talkativeness. Life lay before Hugo and +Camilla. Both were honestly convinced that +they had not lived till that hour—that hour +whence dated the commencement of their +regular united existence. They looked at each +other, satisfied, admiring, happy, expecting +glorious things from Fate.</p> + +<p>There was a discreet alarm at the door. +Simon came in. It would have been a gross +solecism to knock, but Simon performed the +equivalent. He paused, struck when he beheld +Camilla, as well he might; for Camilla +was such a vision as is not often vouchsafed +to the Simons of this world. She was peerless +that evening. And she smiled charmingly on +him, and asked after his health.</p> + +<p>'Your coffee, dearest,' she murmured to +Hugo.</p> + +<p>It occurred to Simon that the dome would +never be the same again. This miraculous +and amazing creature was going to be always +there, to form part of his daily life, to swish +her wonderful skirts in and out of the +rooms, to—to—He did not know +whether to be glad or sorry. He knew only +that he was perturbed, thrown off his balance, +so much so that he forgot to explain his +invasion.</p> + +<p>'Well, Simon,' said Hugo, 'had your dinner +and been to the <i>Morning Post</i> office?'</p> + +<p>'Yes, sir.'</p> + +<p>'Alone?'</p> + +<p>Simon blushed.</p> + +<p>'No, sir.'</p> + +<p>'Good.'</p> + +<p>'Doctor Darcy is here, sir. Are you at +home?'</p> + +<p>Hugo had utterly forgotten about Doctor +Darcy. He glanced at his wife interrogatively, +but Camilla looked at the moon +through the window.</p> + +<p>'Show Doctor Darcy in in five minutes,' +said Hugo.</p> + +<p>'Poor old Darcy!' exclaimed Camilla when +they were alone. 'Does he know?'</p> + +<p>'Know what? That we are married? +No. I wrote to him nearly six months ago +to tell him that you were safe and all that, +and he acknowledged the letter on a postcard. +Afterwards I sent him that trifle of money +that you owed him, and he sent a stamped +receipt.'</p> + +<p>'He always hides his feelings,' said Camilla. +'This will be a blow for him!'</p> + +<p>'How?'</p> + +<p>'Didn't he tell you he was most violently +in love with me in Paris?'</p> + +<p>'He did not,' said Hugo. 'Did he tell <i>you</i>?'</p> + +<p>'No, of course not. He was far too +chivalrous for that. It would have seemed +like taking advantage of my situation to +force me into a marriage.'</p> + +<p>'How do you know he was violently in love +with you, bright star?' Hugo demanded in +that amiably malicious tone which he could +never withstand the temptation to employ.</p> + +<p>'My precious boy,' replied Camilla, 'how +<i>does</i> a woman know these things?'</p> + +<p>And she came over and kissed Hugo.</p> + +<p>'You shall talk to him first,' she said. 'I'll +join you later.'</p> + +<p>'Did he ever commit sublime follies for +you,' Hugo asked, detaining her hand, 'as I +did when I shut up the entire place because +I thought you looked exhausted one hot +morning?'</p> + +<p>She bent over him.</p> + +<p>'Darcy is incapable of any folly in regard +to women,' she said. 'That is one reason why +we should never have suited each other, he +and I. A fool should always marry a fool. +Consider <i>my</i> folly when I came back to work +in your Department 42 simply because I +could not forget your masterful face. Wasn't +that also sublime?'</p> + +<p>'You never told me—'</p> + +<p>'But you guessed.'</p> + +<p>'Perhaps.'</p> + +<p>She withdrew her hand, and then that delicious +swish of skirts which Simon's imagination +had foretold thrilled Hugo with delight. +He launched a kiss towards her as she +vanished.</p> + +<p>'We are all to be heartily congratulated,' +said Darcy, somewhat astonished when Hugo +had put him abreast of the times. 'At one +period I suspected that you were going to +make a match of it, and then, as I heard +nothing, I began to be afraid that she had +been unable to banish my humble self from +her mind. And, to tell you the truth, the +object of this present visit to London was to +inform myself, and, if necessary, to—offer her—See?'</p> + +<p>Hugo was bound to admit that he saw. +Inwardly he laughed to think that he had +been seriously disturbed by Darcy's statement +in regard to the condition of Camilla's +heart.</p> + +<p>'Shall we go out to the top of the dome?' +he suggested.</p> + +<p>They rose.</p> + +<p>And at that juncture Camilla reappeared.</p> + +<p>The greeting between the Paris friends was +commendably calm, but neither seemed to be +able to speak freely. And at length Camilla +said she would get a cloak and follow them to +the belvidere.</p> + +<p>The two men climbed to the summit which +dominated the City of Pleasure. To the east +the famous roof restaurant glittered and +jingled under the moon. To the west the +Great Wheel was outlined in flame—a symbol +of the era. Hugo told Darcy the history of the +night in the cemetery, and what preceded, +and what came after it, including the strange +death of Ravengar in a lunatic asylum, and +how everything was explained or explicable—even +Mr. Brown, the manager of the Safe +Deposit, had run up against justice in Caracas—save +and except the identity of Ravengar's +accomplice during the last days. He was +enlarging upon the inscrutability of that part +of the affair, and upon the interest which it +lent to the whole episode, when Darcy, who +had not been listening, broke in upon his +observation with an inapposite remark which +obviously sprang from deep feeling.</p> + +<p>'She's simply marvellous!' cried Darcy.</p> + +<p>'Who?'</p> + +<p>'Your wife. Simply marvellous! I had +no idea—in Paris—'</p> + +<p>'Recollect, you are not in love with her, +my friend,' Hugo laughed.</p> + +<p>'She must have the best blood in her veins. +With that style, that carriage, she surely must +be—'</p> + +<p>'My dear fellow,' said Hugo, 'beauty has +no rank. It bloweth where it listeth. It is +the one thing in the world that you can't +account for. You've only got to be thankful +for it when it blows your way, that's all.'</p> + +<p>A white figure appeared in the cavity of the +steps leading to the circular gallery.</p> + +<p>'What are you talking about?' Camilla +inquired.</p> + +<p>'Women,' said Hugo.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3>THE END</h3> + + + + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p class="center">BILLING AND SONS, LTD., PRINTERS, GUILDFORD.</p> + +<hr style='width: 95%;' /> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Hugo, by Arnold Bennett + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HUGO *** + +***** This file should be named 15712-h.htm or 15712-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/5/7/1/15712/ + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Melissa Er-Raqabi and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net. + + +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. 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