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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/16339-8.txt b/16339-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..410766b --- /dev/null +++ b/16339-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7495 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Passenger from Calais, by Arthur Griffiths + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Passenger from Calais + +Author: Arthur Griffiths + +Release Date: July 21, 2005 [EBook #16339] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PASSENGER FROM CALAIS *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Sankar Viswanathan and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + Works of + ARTHUR GRIFFITHS + + * * * * * + + The Passenger from Calais $1.25 + The Rome Express 1.25 + + * * * * * + + L.C. PAGE & COMPANY + New England Building, Boston, Mass. + + + + + + + The Passenger + from Calais + + + By Arthur Griffiths + + Author of "The Rome Express," etc. + + + + + + Boston--L.C. Page and + Company--Publishers + + + _First Impression, January, 1906 + Second Impression, February, 1906 + Third Impression, February, 1906 + Fourth Impression, March, 1908_ + + Colonial Press + _C.H. Simonds & Co. + Boston, U.S.A._ + + + + + +FOREWORD + + +_I desire to state that the initial +fact upon which I have founded +this story is within my own experience. +I travelled from Calais to +Basle by the Engadine Express in +the latter end of July, 1902, when +my wife and myself were the only +passengers. The rest is pure fiction._ + +A.G. + + + + + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +[_Colonel Annesley's Story_] + + +The crossing from Dover to Calais had been rough; a drizzling rain +fell all the time, and most of the passengers had remained below. +Strange to say, they were few enough, as I saw on landing. It was a +Sunday in late July, and there ought to have been a strong stream +setting towards Central Europe. I hardly expected to find much room in +the train; not that it mattered, for my place was booked through in +the Lucerne sleeping-car of the Engadine express. + +Room! When I reached the siding where this train de luxe was drawn up, +I saw that I was not merely the first but the only passenger. Five +sleeping-cars and a dining-car attached, with the full staff, +attendants, chef, waiters--all lay there waiting for me, and me +alone. + +"Not very busy?" I said, with a laugh to the conductor. + +"_Parbleu_," replied the man, polyglot and cosmopolitan, like most of +his class, but a Frenchman, or, more likely from his accent, a Swiss. +"I never saw the like before." + +"I shall have a compartment to myself, then?" + +"Monsieur may have the whole carriage if he wishes--the whole five +carriages. It is but to arrange." His eyes glistened at the prospect +of something special in this obvious scarcity of coming tips. + +"The train will run, I hope? I am anxious to get on." + +"But assuredly it will run. Even without monsieur it would run. The +carriages are wanted at the other end for the return journey. Stay, +what have we here?" + +We stood talking together on the platform, and at some little distance +from the railway station, the road to which was clear and open all the +way, so that I could see a little party of four approaching us, and +distinguish them. Two ladies, an official, probably one of the guards, +and a porter laden with light luggage. + +As they came up I discreetly withdrew to my own compartment, the +window of which was open, so that I could hear and see all that +passed. + +"Can we have places for Lucerne?" It was asked in an eager, anxious, +but very sweet voice, and in excellent French. + +"Places?" echoed the conductor. "Madame can have fifty." + +"What did I tell madame?" put in the official who had escorted her. + +"I don't want fifty," she replied, pettishly, crossly, "only two. A +separate compartment for myself and maid; the child can come in with +us." + +Now for the first time I noticed that the maid was carrying a bundle +in her arms, the nature of which was unmistakable. The way in which +she swung it to and fro rhythmically was that of a nurse and child. + +"If madame prefers, the maid and infant can be accommodated apart," +suggested the obliging conductor. + +But this did not please her. "No, no, no," she answered with much +asperity. "I wish them to be with me. I have told you so already; did +you not hear?" + +"_Parfaitement_, as madame pleases. Only, as the train is not +full--very much the reverse indeed--only one other passenger, a +gentleman--no more--" + +The news affected her strangely, and in two very different ways. At +first a look of satisfaction came into her face, but it was quickly +succeeded by one of nervous apprehension, amounting to positive fear. +She turned to talk to her maid in English, while the conductor busied +himself in preparing the tickets. + +"What are we to do, Philpotts?" This was said to the maid in English. +"What if it should be--" + +"Oh, no, never! We can't turn back. You must face it out now. There is +nothing to be afraid of, not in that way. I saw him, the gentleman, as +we came up. He's quite a gentleman, a good-looking military-looking +man, not at all the other sort--you know the sort I mean." + +Now while I accepted the compliment to myself, I was greatly mystified +by the allusion to the "other sort of man." + +"You think we can go on, that it's safe, even in this empty train? It +would have been so different in a crowd. We should have passed +unobserved among a lot of people." + +"But then there would have been a lot of people to observe us; some +one, perhaps, who knew you, some one who might send word." + +"I wish I knew who this passenger is. It would make me much easier in +my mind. It might be possible perhaps to get him on our side if he is +to go with us, at least to get him to help to take care of our +treasure until I can hand it over. What a burden it is! It's terribly +on my mind. I wonder how I could have done it. The mere thought makes +me shiver. To turn thief! Me, a common thief!" + +"Stealing is common enough, and it don't matter greatly, so long as +you're not found out. And you did it so cleverly too; with such a +nerve. Not a soul could have equalled you at the business. You might +have been at it all your life," said the maid, with affectionate +familiarity, that of a humble performer paying tribute to a great +artist in crime. + +She was a decent, respectable-looking body too, this confederate whom +I concluded was masquerading as maid. The very opposite of the younger +woman (about her more directly), a neatly dressed unassuming person, +short and squat in figure, with a broad, plain, and, to the casual +observer, honest face, slow in movement and of no doubt sluggish +temperament, not likely to be moved or distressed by conscience, +neither at the doing or the memory of evil deeds. + +Now the conductor came up and civilly bowed them towards their +carriage, mine, which they entered at the other end as I left it +making for the restaurant, not a little interested in what I had +heard. + +Who and what could these two people be with whom I was so strangely +and unexpectedly thrown? The one was a lady, I could hardly be +mistaken in that; it was proved in many ways, voice, air, aspect, all +spoke of birth and breeding, however much she might have fallen away +from or forfeited her high station. + +She might have taken to devious practices, or been forced into them; +whatever the cause of her present decadence she could not have been +always the thief she now confessed herself. I had it from her own +lips, she had acknowledged it with some show of remorse. There must +surely have been some excuse for her, some overmastering temptation, +some extreme pressure exercised irresistibly through her emotions, her +affections, her fears. + +What! this fair creature a thief? This beautiful woman, so richly +endowed by nature, so outwardly worthy of admiration, a despicable +degraded character within? It was hard to credit it. As I still +hesitated, puzzled and bewildered, still anxious to give her the +benefit of the doubt, she came to the door of the buffet where I was +now seated at lunch, and allowed me to survey her more curiously and +more at leisure. + +"A daughter of the gods, divinely tall and most divinely fair." + +The height and slimness of her graceful figure enhanced by the +tight-fitting tailor-made ulster that fell straight from collar to +heel; her head well poised, a little thrown back with chin in the air, +and a proud defiant look in her undeniably handsome face. Fine eyes of +darkest blue, a well-chiseled nose with delicate, sensitive nostrils, +a small mouth with firm closely compressed lips, a wealth of glossy +chestnut hair, gathered into a knot under her tweed travelling cap. + +As she faced me, looking straight at me, she conveyed the impression +of a determined unyielding character, a woman who would do much, dare +much, who would go her own road if so resolved, undismayed and +undeterred by any difficulties that might beset her. + +Then, to my surprise, although I might have expected it, she came and +seated herself at a table close to my elbow. She had told her +companion that she wanted to know more about me, that she would like +to enlist me in her service, questionable though it might be, and here +she was evidently about to make the attempt. It was a little +barefaced, but I admit that I was amused by it, and not at all +unwilling to measure swords with her. She was presumably an +adventuress, clever, designing, desirous of turning me round her +finger, but she was also a pretty woman. + +"I beg your pardon," she began almost at once in English, when the +waiter had brought her a plate of soup, and she was toying with the +first spoonful, speaking in a low constrained, almost sullen voice, as +though it cost her much to break through the _convenances_ in thus +addressing a stranger. + +"You will think it strange of me," she went on, "but I am rather +awkwardly situated, in fact in a position of difficulty, even of +danger, and I venture to appeal to you as a countryman, an English +officer." + +"How do you know that?" I asked, quickly concluding that my light +baggage had been subjected to scrutiny, and wondering what subterfuge +she would adopt to explain it. + +"It is easy to see that. Gentlemen of your cloth are as easily +recognizable as if your names were printed on your back." + +"And as they are generally upon our travelling belongings." I looked +at her steadily with a light laugh, and a crimson flush came on her +face. However hardened a character, she had preserved the faculty of +blushing readily and deeply, the natural adjunct of a cream-like +complexion. + +"Let me introduce myself in full," I said, pitying her obvious +confusion; and I handed her my card, which she took with a shamefaced +air, rather foreign to her general demeanour. + +"Lieut.-Colonel Basil Annesley, Mars and Neptune Club," she read +aloud. "What was your regiment?" + +"The Princess Ulrica Rifles, but I left it on promotion. I am +unattached for the moment, and waiting for reëmployment." + +"Your own master then?" + +"Practically, until I am called upon to serve. I hope to get a staff +appointment. Meanwhile I am loafing about Europe." + +"Do you go beyond Lucerne?" + +"Across the St. Gothard certainly, and as far as Como, perhaps beyond. +And you? Am I right in supposing we are to be fellow travellers by the +Engadine express?" I went on by way of saying something. "To Lucerne +or further?" + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +"Probably." The answer was given with great hesitation. "If I go by +this train at all, that is to say." + +"Have you any doubts?" + +"Why, yes. To tell you the truth, I dread the journey. I have been +doing so ever since--since I felt it must be made. Now I find it ever +so much worse than I expected." + +"Why is that, if I may ask?" + +"You see, I am travelling alone, practically alone that is to say, +with only my maid." + +"And your child," I added rather casually, with no second thought, and +I was puzzled to understand why the chance phrase evoked another vivid +blush. + +"The child! Oh, yes, the child," and I was struck that she did not say +"my" child, but laid rather a marked stress on the definite article. + +"That of course increases your responsibility," I hazarded, and she +seized the suggestion. + +"Quite so. You see how I am placed. The idea of going all that way in +an empty train quite terrifies me." + +"I don't see why it should." + +"But just think. There will be no one in it, no one but ourselves. We +two lone women and you, single-handed. Suppose the five attendants and +the others were to combine against us? They might rob and murder us." + +"Oh, come, come. You must not let foolish fears get the better of your +common sense. Why should they want to make us their victims? I believe +they are decent, respectable men, the employes of a great company, +carefully selected. At any rate, I am not worth robbing, are you? Have +you any special reason for fearing thieves? Ladies are perhaps a +little too reckless in carrying their valuables about with them. Your +jewel-case may be exceptionally well lined." + +"Oh, but it is not; quite the contrary," she cried with almost +hysterical alacrity. "I have nothing to tempt them. And yet something +dreadful might happen; I feel we are quite at their mercy." + +"I don't. I tell you frankly that I think you are grossly exaggerating +the situation. But if you feel like that, why not wait? Wait over for +another train, I mean?" + +I am free to confess that, although my curiosity had been aroused, I +would much rather have washed my hands of her, and left her and her +belongings, especially the more compromising part, the mysterious +treasure, behind at Calais. + +"Is there another train soon?" she inquired nervously. + +"Assuredly--by Boulogne. It connects with the train from Victoria at +2.20 and the boat from Folkestone. You need only run as far as +Boulogne with this Engadine train, and wait there till it starts. I +think about 6 P.M." + +"Will that not lose time?" + +"Undoubtedly you will be two hours later at Basle, and you may lose +the connection with Lucerne and the St. Gothard if you want to get on +without delay. To Naples I think you said?" + +"I did not say Naples. You said you were going to Naples," she replied +stiffly. "I did not mention my ultimate destination." + +"Perhaps not. I have dreamt it. But I do not presume to inquire where +you are going, and I myself am certainly not bound for Naples. But if +I can be of no further use to you I will make my bow. It is time for +me to get back to the train, and for my part I don't in the least want +to lose the Engadine express." + +She got up too, and walked out of the buffet by my side. + +"I shall go on, at any rate as far as Boulogne," she volunteered, +without my asking the question; and we got into our car together, she +entering her compartment and I mine. I heard her door bang, but I kept +mine still open. + +I smoked many cigarettes pondering over the curious episode and my new +acquaintance. How was I to class her? A young man would have sworn she +was perfectly straight, that there could be no guile in this +sweet-faced, gentle, well-mannered woman; and I, with my greater +experience of life and the sex, was much tempted to do the same. It +was against the grain to condemn her as all bad, a depredator, a woman +with perverted moral sense who broke the law and did evil things. + +But what else could I conclude from the words I had heard drop from +her own lips, strengthened and confirmed as they were by the +incriminating language of her companion? + +"Bother the woman and her dark blue eyes. I wish I'd never come across +her. A fine thing, truly, to fall in love with a thief. I hope to +heaven she will really leave the train at Boulogne; we ought to be +getting near there by now." + +I had travelled the road often enough to know it by heart, and I +recognized our near approach only to realize that the train did not +mean to stop. I turned over the leaves of Bradshaw and saw I had been +mistaken; the train skirted Boulogne and never entered the station. + +"Well, that settles it for the present, anyhow. If she still wants to +leave the train she must wait now until Amiens. That ought to suit her +just as well." + +But it would not; at least, she lost no time in expressing her +disappointment at not being able to alight at Boulogne. + +We had hardly passed the place when her maid's (or companion's) square +figure filled the open doorway of my compartment, and in her strong +deep voice she addressed a brief summons to me brusquely and +peremptorily: + +"My lady wishes to speak to you." + +"And pray what does 'my lady' want with me?" I replied carelessly, +using the expression as a title of rank. + +"She is not 'my lady,' but 'my' lady, my mistress, and simply Mrs. +Blair." The correction and information were vouchsafed with cold +self-possession. "Are you coming?" + +"I don't really see why I should," I said, not too civilly. "Why +should I be at her beck and call? If she had been in any trouble, any +serious trouble, such as she anticipated when talking to me at the +buffet, and a prey to imaginary alarms since become real, I should +have been ready to serve her or any woman in distress, but nothing of +this could have happened in the short hour's run so far." + +"I thought you were a gentleman," was the scornful rejoinder. "A nice +sort of gentleman, indeed, to sit there like a stock or a stone when a +lady sends for you!" + +"A lady!" There was enough sarcasm in my tone to bring a flush upon +her impassive face, a fierce gleam of anger in her stolid eyes; and +when I added, "A fine sort of lady!" I thought she would have struck +me. But she did no more than hiss an insolent gibe. + +"You call yourself an officer, a colonel? I call you a bounder, a +common cad." + +"Be off!" I was goaded into crying, angrily. "Get away with you; I +want to have nothing more to say to you or your mistress. I know what +you are and what you have been doing, and I prefer to wash my hands of +you both. You're not the kind of people I like to deal with or wish to +know." + +She stared at me open-mouthed, her hands clenched, her eyes half out +of her head. Her face had gone deadly white, and I thought she would +have fallen there where she stood, a prey to impotent rage. + +Now came a sudden change of scene. The lady, Mrs. Blair, as I had just +heard her called, appeared behind, her taller figure towering above +the maid's, her face in full view, vexed with varying acute emotions, +rage, grief, and terror combined. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +"What's all this?" she cried in great agitation. "Wait, do not speak, +Philpotts, leave him to me.... Do you go back to our place this +instant; we cannot be away together, you know that; _it_ must not be +left alone, one of us must be on guard over it. Hurry, hurry, I never +feel that _it_ is safe out of our sight. + +"Now, sir," Mrs. Blair turned on me fiercely, "will you be so good as +to explain how I find you quarrelling with my maid, permitting +yourself to cast aspersions, to make imputations upon two unprotected +women?" + +"How much have you overheard?" I asked, feeling very small already. My +self-reproach was aroused even before I quailed under the withering +contempt of her tone. + +"Enough to expect ample apology. How dare you, how dare you say such +things? What you may imagine, what unworthy idea you may have formed, +is beyond me to guess, but you can know nothing. You can have no real +reason for condemning me." + +"Let me admit that, and leave the matter there," I pleaded. I could +not bring myself to tell her that she was self-condemned, that she was +the principal witness against herself. It would have been too cruel, +ungenerous, to take an unfair advantage. Why should I constitute +myself her judge? + +She looked at me very keenly, her eyes piercing me through and +through. I felt that she was penetrating my inmost thoughts and +turning me inside out. + +"I will not leave it at that. I insist upon your speaking plainly. I +must know what is in your mind." + +"And if I refuse, distinctly, positively, categorically; if I deny +your contention, and protest that I have nothing to tell you?" + +"I shall not believe you. Come, please, let there be no more evasion. +I must have it out. I shall stay here until you tell me what you think +of me, and why." + +She seated herself by my side in the narrow velvet seat of the small +compartment, so close that the folds of her tweed skirt (she had +removed her ulster) touched and rubbed against me. I was invaded by +the sweet savour of her gracious presence (she used some delightful +scent, _violette ideale_, I believe), by putting forth my hand a few +inches I might have taken hers in mine. She fixed her eyes on me with +an intent unvarying gaze that under other conditions would have been +intoxicating, but was now no more than disquieting and embarrassing. + +As I was still tongue-tied, she returned to her point with resolute +insistence. + +"Come, Colonel Annesley, how long is this to go on? I want and will +have an explanation. Why have you formed such a bad opinion of me?" + +"How do you know I have done so?" I tried to fence and fight with her, +but in vain. + +"I cannot be mistaken. I myself heard you tell my maid that you wished +to have nothing to say to us, that we were not your sort. Well! why is +that? How do I differ from the rest of--your world, let us call it?" + +"You do not, as far as I can see. At least you ought to hold your own +anywhere, in any society, the very best." + +"And yet I'm not 'your sort.' Am I a humbug, an impostor, an +adventuress, a puppet and play-actress? Or is it that I have +forfeited my right, my rank of gentlewoman, my position in the world, +your world?" + +I was silent, moodily, obstinately silent. She had hit the blot, and +could put but one interpretation upon it. I saw she guessed I knew +something. Not how much, perhaps, but something to her discredit. She +still was not satisfied; she would penetrate my reserve, overcome my +reticence, have it out of me willy nilly, whether I would or no. + +"You cannot surely refuse me? I have my reasons for desiring to know +the very worst." + +"Why drive me to that?" I schooled myself to seem hard and +uncompromising. I felt I was weakening under the subtle charm of her +presence, and the pretty pleading of her violet eyes; but I was still +resolute not to give way. + +"If you will only tell me why you think such evil I may be able to +justify myself, or at least explain away appearances that are against +me." + +"You admit there are such appearances? Remember, I never said so." + +"Then on what do you condemn me? You do condemn me, I am certain of +it," she insisted, seeing my gesture of negation. "Are you treating +me fairly, chivalrously, as a gentleman and a man of honour should? +How can you reconcile it to your conscience?" + +"Some people talk very lightly of conscience, or use it when it is an +empty meaningless word," I said severely. + +"You imply that I have no conscience, or that I should feel the +qualms, the prickings of conscience?" + +"After what you've done, yes," I blurted out. + +"What have I done? What do you know of it, or what led me to do it? +How dare you judge me without knowing the facts, without a shadow of +proof?" She sprang to her feet and passed to the door, where she +turned, as it were, at bay. + +"I have the very best proof, from your own lips. I heard you and your +maid talking together at Calais." + +"A listener, Colonel Annesley? Faugh!" + +"It was forced on me. You stood under my window there." I defended +myself indignantly. "I wish to heaven I had never heard. I did not +want to know; your secrets are your own affair." + +"And my actions, I presume?" she put in with superb indifference. + +"And their consequences, madam," but the shot failed rather of effect. +She merely smiled and shook her head recklessly, contemptuously. Was +she so old a hand, so hardened in crime, that the fears of detection, +arrest, reprisals, the law and its penalties had no effect upon her? +Undoubtedly at Calais she was afraid; some misgiving, some haunting +terror possessed her. Now, when standing before me fully confessed for +what she was, and practically at my mercy, she could laugh with cool +and unabashed levity and make little of the whole affair. + +If I had hoped that I had done with her now, when the murder was out, +I was very much mistaken. She had some further designs on me, I was +sure. She wanted to make use of me, how or in what way I could not +imagine; but I soon perceived that she was anxious to be friends. The +woman was in the ascendant, and, as I thought, the eternal feminine +ever agog to attract and subjugate the male, she would conquer my +admiration even if she could not secure my esteem. + +Suddenly, and quite without my invitation or encouragement, she +reseated herself by my side. + +"See, Colonel Annesley, let us come to an understanding." She said it +quite gaily and with no shadow of apprehension left in her, not a sign +of shame or remorse in her voice. Her mood had entirely changed. She +was _débonnaire_, frolicsome, overflowing with fun. + +"What do you mean to do? Give me into custody? Call in the gendarmes +at the next station? Have me taken red-handed with the--stolen +property--the 'swag,' you know the word, perhaps, in my possession?" + +"I am not a police officer; it's not my business," I answered gruffly. +I thought this flippancy very much misplaced. + +"Or you might telegraph back to England, to London, to Scotland Yard: +'The woman Blair in the Engadine express. Wire along the line to +authorities, French and Swiss, to look out for her and arrest +preparatory to extradition.'" + +"I would much rather not continue this conversation, Mrs. Blair." + +"I am not 'Mrs. Blair,'" she cried, laughing merrily as at a +tremendous joke. "It is only one of my aliases. I am better known as +Slippery Sue, and the Countess of Plantagenet, and the Sly American, +and dashing Mrs. Mortimer, and--" + +"Oh, please, please spare me. It does not matter, not a row of pins, +what you are called. I would rather not have the whole list," I +interrupted her, but could not check her restless tongue. + +"You shall hear, you must know all about me and my famous exploits. I +was the heroine of that robbery at Buckingham Palace. I was at the +State Ball, and made a fine harvest of jewels. I have swept a dozen +country-houses clean; I have picked pockets and lifted old lace from +the shop counters, and embezzled and forged--" + +"And turned pirate, and held up trains, and robbed the Bank of +England," I added, falling into her humour and laughing as she rose to +her full height; and again her mood changed, dominating me with +imperious air, her voice icily cold in manner, grave and repellent. + +"Why not? I am a thief; you believe me to be a common thief." + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +I was too much taken aback to do better than stammer out helplessly, +hopelessly, almost unintelligibly, a few words striving to remind her +of her own admission. Nothing, indeed, could take the sting out of +this, and yet it was all but impossible to accuse her, to blame her +even for what she had done. + +She read that in my eyes, in my abashed face, my hands held out +deprecating her wrath, and her next words had a note of conciliation +in them. + +"There are degrees of wrong-doing, shades of guilt," she said. +"Crimes, offences, misdeeds, call them as you please, are not +absolutely unpardonable; in some respects they are excusable, if not +justifiable. Do you believe that?" + +"I should like to do so in your case," I replied gently. "You know I +am still quite in the dark." + +"And you must remain so, for the present at any rate," she said +firmly and sharply. "I can tell you nothing, I am not called upon to +do it indeed. We are absolute strangers, I owe you no explanation, and +I would give you none, even if you asked." + +"I have not asked and shall not ask anything." + +"Then you are willing to take it so, to put the best construction on +what you have heard, to forget my words, to surrender your +suspicions?" + +"If you will tell me only this: that I may have confidence in you, +that I may trust you, some day, to enlighten me and explain what seems +so incomprehensible to-day." + +"I am sorely tempted to do so now," she paused, lost for a time in +deep and anxious thought; and then, after subjecting me to a long and +intent scrutiny, she shook her head. "No, it cannot be, not yet. You +must earn the right to my confidence, you must prove to me that you +will not misuse it. There are others concerned; I am not speaking for +myself alone. You must have faith in me, believe in me or let it be." + +She had beaten me, conquered me. I was ready to be her slave with +blind, unquestioning obedience. + +"As you think best. I will abide by your decision. Tell me all or +nothing. If the first I will help you, if the latter I will also help +you as far as lies in my power." + +"Without conditions?" And when I nodded assent such a smile lit up her +face that more than repaid me, and stifled the doubts and qualms that +still oppressed me. But, bewitched by the sorcery of her bright eyes, +I said bravely: + +"I accept service--I am yours to command. Do with me what you please." + +"Will you give me your hand on it?" She held out hers, gloveless, +white and warm, and it lay in mine just a second while I pressed it to +my lips in token of fealty and submission. + +"You shall be my knight and champion, and I say it seriously. I may +call you to fight for me, at least to defend and protect me in my +present undertaking. The way is by no means clear. I cannot foresee +what may happen on this journey. There are risks, dangers before me. I +may ask you to share them. Do you repent already?" + +She had been watching me closely for any sign of wavering, but I +showed none, whatever I might feel in my inmost heart. + +"I shall not disappoint you," was what I said, and, in a firm assured +voice, added, "You have resolved then to travel forward in this +train?" + +"I must, I have no choice. I dare not tarry by the way. But I no +longer feel quite alone and unprotected. If trouble arises, I tell you +candidly I shall try to throw it on you." + +"From what quarter do you anticipate it?" I asked innocently enough. +"You expect to be pursued, I presume?" + +She held up a warning finger. + +"That is not in the compact. You are not to be inquisitive. Ask me no +questions, please, but wait on events. For the present you must be +satisfied so, and there is nothing more to be said." + +"I shall see you again, I trust," I pleaded, as she rose to leave me. + +"If you wish, by all means. Why should we not dine together in the +dining-car by and by?" she proposed with charming frankness, in the +lighter mood that sat so well upon her. "The waiters will be there to +play propriety, and no Mrs. Grundy within miles." + +"Or your maid might be chaperon at an adjoining table." + +"Philpotts? Impossible! She cannot leave--she must remain on duty; one +of us must be in charge always. Who knows what might happen when our +backs were turned? We might lose it--it might be abstracted. Horrible +thought after all it has cost us." + +"'It' has evidently an extraordinary value in your eyes. If only I +might be allowed to--" know more, I would have said, but she chose to +put other words into my mouth. + +"To join us in the watching? Take your turn of 'sentry go'--isn't that +your military term? Become one of us, belong to a gang of thieves, +liable like the rest of us to the law? Ah, that would be trying you +too far. I see your face fall." + +"I am ready to do much to serve you. I would gladly help you, see you +through any difficulty by the way, but I'm afraid I must draw the line +at active partnership," I answered a little lamely under her mocking +eyes. Once more, as suddenly as before, she veered round. + +"There is a limit, then, to your devotion?" She was coldly sarcastic +now, and I realized painfully that I had receded in her favour. "I +must not expect unhesitating self-sacrifice? So be it; it is well to +know how far I may go. I sincerely hope I may have no need of you at +all. How thankful I am that I never let you into my secrets! Good +afternoon," and with a contemptuous whisk of her skirts and a laugh, +she was gone. + +"I'll have nothing more to say to her," I cried in great heat, vexed +and irritated beyond measure at her capricious temper. I should only +be dragged into some pitfall, some snare, some dire unpleasantness. +But what did I know of her real character? What of my first doubts and +suspicions? She had by no means dispelled them. She had only +bamboozled me by her insinuating ways, had drawn me on by her guileful +cleverness to pity and promises to befriend her. I had accorded her an +active sympathy which in my more sober moments I felt she did not, +could not, deserve; if I were not careful she would yet involve me in +some inextricable mess. + +So for half an hour I abused her fiercely; I swore at myself hotly as +an ass, a hopeless and unmitigated ass, ever ready to be betrayed and +beguiled by woman's wiles, the too easy victim of the first pretty +face I saw. The fit lasted for quite half an hour, and then came the +reaction. I heard her rich deep voice singing in my ears, I felt the +haunting glamour of her eyes, remembered her gracious presence, and my +heart went out to her. I was so sorry for her: how could I cast her +off? How could I withhold my countenance if she were in real distress? +She was a woman--a weak, helpless woman; I could not desert and +abandon her. However reprehensible her conduct might have been, she +had a claim to my protection from ill-usage, and I knew in my heart +that she might count upon a good deal more. I knew, of course, that I +ought not to stand between her and the inevitable Nemesis that awaits +upon misdeeds, but what if I helped her to avoid or escape it? + +The opportunity was nearer at hand than I thought. My kindly +intentions, bred of my latest sentiments towards Mrs. Blair, were soon +to be put to the test. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +The train reached Amiens punctually at 5 P.M., and a stoppage +of five minutes was announced. I got out to stretch my legs on the +platform. No one took much notice of us; it must have been known that +the train was empty, for there were no waiters from the buffet with +_café au lait_ or fruit, or _brioches_--no porters about, or other +officials. + +I had not expected to see any passengers come on board the train, a +through express, made up of sleeping-cars and a supplementary charge +on the tickets. But on running into the station (ours was the first +carriage) I had noticed a man standing with a valise in his hand, and +I saw him following the train down the platform when we stopped. He +addressed himself to a little group of conductors who had already +alighted, and were gossiping idly among themselves, having nothing +else to do. One of them indicated our particular attendant, to whom +he spoke, and who brought him directly to our carriage. + +Evidently the newcomer was bound for Lucerne _via_ Basle. Here was one +more occupant of our neglected train, another companion and fellow +traveller in our nearly empty sleeping-car. Curiosity and something +more led me to examine this man closely; it was a strange, undefined, +inexplicable sense of foreboding, of fateful forecast, that he and I +were destined to be thrown together unpleasantly, to be much mixed up +with one another, and to the comfort and satisfaction of neither. + +Who and what was he? His position in life, his business, trade or +calling were not to be easily fixed; a commercial man, an agent or +"traveller" on his own account, well-to-do and prosperous, was the +notion borne out by his dress, his white waistcoat and coloured shirt +of amazing pattern (a hint of his Italian origin), his rings and the +showy diamond pin in his smart necktie. + +I added to this, my first impression, by further observation, for +which I soon had abundant opportunity. When the train moved on, he +came and took his seat on the flap seat (or _strapontin_) just +opposite my compartment. I could not tell why, until presently he +made overtures of sociability and began a desultory talk across the +corridor. My cabin or compartment, it will be remembered, was the last +but one; the newcomer had been given the one behind mine, and here +from his seat he commanded the whole length of the carriage forward, +which included the compartment occupied by Mrs. Blair and her party. + +I cannot say that I liked his looks or was greatly attracted by him. +He was not prepossessing. Fair, with a flaccid unwholesome complexion, +foxy haired, his beard cut to a point, small moustaches curled upward +showing thin pale lips, and giving his mouth a disagreeable curve also +upwards, a sort of set smile that was really a sardonic sneer, +conveying distrust and disbelief in all around. His eyes were so deep +set as to be almost lost in their recesses behind his sandy eyelashes, +and he kept them screwed up close, with the intent watchful gaze of an +animal about to make a spring. His whole aspect, his shifty, restless +manner, his furtive looks, all were antipathetic and to his great +advantage. I did not take to him at all, and plainly showed him that +I had no desire for his talk or his company. + +It was not easy to shake him off, however. He would take no offence; I +was cold to positive rudeness, I snubbed him unmercifully; I did not +answer his remarks or his questions, which were incessant and +shamelessly inquisitorial. Nothing disconcerted him. I had all but +shut the door of my compartment in his face, but it suddenly occurred +to me that he was capable of wandering on, and when he found the +ladies inflicting his greasy attentions upon them. + +I felt that I had better submit to his unpalatable society than let +him bore Mrs. Blair with his colossal impudence. + +How right I was in this became at once apparent. He had taken out a +cigar-case and pressed one upon me with such pertinacious, offensive +familiarity that I could see no way out of it than by saying +peremptorily: + +"You cannot smoke here. There are ladies in that compartment yonder." + +"Ladies indeed! You surprise me," but I saw a look on his face that +convinced me he perfectly well knew they were there. "Ladies, aha! How +many, may I ask?" + +"One at least, with her maid and a child," I replied gruffly. + +"And a child," he repeated, as if by rote. "Does monsieur, tell me +quickly, I--I--beg--know them! Can he describe them to me?" + +"I shall tell you nothing about them. What the mischief do you mean by +asking me questions? Find out what you want for yourself." I was hot +and indignant with the brute. + +"By George, you're right. I'll go and ask for leave to smoke. I shall +find out then," and he jumped up, the spring seat closing with a bang +from under him. + +The noise concealed the sound of the electric bell which I had pressed +to summon the attendant, as I rushed out and caught the other man by +the arm. + +"You'll do nothing of the kind," I cried with very vigorous emphasis, +backed by all my strength. "I'll shake you to a jelly if you dare to +move another inch." + +"Here, I say, drop it. Who the deuce are you? None of your bally +nonsense. Hands off, or I'll make you." + +But he was too soft and flabby to avail much, and I dragged him back +helplessly with tightened grip, only too delighted to try conclusions +with him. + +At this moment the conductor appeared upon the scene, and began to +expostulate loudly. + +"Here, I say, what's all this? It can't be allowed. No fighting and +quarrelling are permitted." + +"Well, then, people must behave themselves," I retorted. "Don't let +this chap annoy your passengers." + +"I have done nothing to annoy them," stammered the other. "You shall +answer for this. I've done no harm." + +"I'll see you don't. Get in there and stay there;" and with that I +forced him, almost flung him, into his compartment, where he fell +panting upon the velvet sofa. + +"You'd better keep an eye on him," I said to the conductor, who was +inclined to be disagreeable, and was barely pacified by a couple of +five-franc pieces. "Fellows of this sort are apt to be a nuisance, and +we must take care of the ladies." + +As I said this I saw Mrs. Blair's face peering out beyond her door a +little nervously, but she ventured to come right out and along the +passage towards me. + +"What has happened? I heard some noise, high words, a scuffle." + +"Some ruffian who got in at Amiens, and who has had to be taught +manners. I told him not to smoke here, and he wanted to intrude +himself upon you, which I prevented, a little forcibly." + +"Where is he? In here?" and she followed the indication of my thumb as +I jerked it back, and looked over my shoulder into the compartment. + +"Ah!" The ejaculation was involuntary, and one of acute painful +surprise, the gesture that accompanied it spontaneous and full of +terror. + +"That man! that man!" she gasped. "He must not see me; let me go, let +me go!" + +But her strength failed her, and but for my supporting arm she would +have fallen to the ground. Half-fainting, I led her back to her own +compartment, where her maid received her tenderly and with comforting +words. There was clearly a strong bond of affection between these two, +possibly companions and confederates in wrong-doing; the delicate and +refined woman, tormented by the inner qualms of outraged conscience, +relied and leant upon the stronger and more resolute nature. + +"What's come to you, ma'am? There, there, don't give way," said the +maid, softly coaxing her and stroking her hands. + +"Oh, Philpotts, fancy! He is there! Falfani, the--the--you know--" + +Of course I saw it all now. Stupid ass! I might have guessed it all +along. I had puzzled my brains vainly trying to place him, to fix his +quality and condition in life, neglecting the one simple obvious +solution to which so many plain indications pointed. The man, of +course, was a detective, an officer or private agent, and his dirty +business--you see, I was already shaken in my honesty, and now with +increasing demoralization under seductive influences I was already +inclined to cross over to the other side of the frontier of crime--his +dirty business was the persecution of my sweet friend. + +"What are we to do now?" asked Mrs. Blair, her nervous trepidation +increasing. "I begin to think we shall fail, we cannot carry it +through, we shall lose our treasure. It will be taken from us." + +"You cannot, you must not, shall not turn back now," said the maid +with great determination. "We must devise something, some way, of +outwitting this Falfani. We did it before, we must do it again. After +all he has no power over us; we are in France and shall be in +Switzerland by daylight." + +"We ought to go on, you think? Wouldn't it be better to slip out of +the train at the first station and run away?" + +"He would do the same. He does not intend to let us out of his sight. +And how much the better should we be? It would be far worse; we should +be much more at his mercy if we left the train. The journey would +still have to be made; we must get to the end, the very end, or we'd +better not have started." + +"He will know then, if he sticks to us. We cannot hide it from him, +nor where we have taken it; we shall never be able to keep it, they +will come and claim it and recover it;" and she cried hysterically: "I +cannot see my way; it's all dark, black as night. I wish--I wish--" + +"That you had never done it?" quickly asked the maid; and I noticed a +slight sarcasm in her tone that was not without its effect in bracing +up and strengthening her companion's shattered nerves. + +"No, no, no; I do not regret it, and I never shall. I did it +deliberately, counting the cost fully, and it shall be paid, however +heavy it may be. It is not regret that tortures me, but the fear of +failure when so near success." + +"We will succeed yet. Do not be cast down, my sweet dear." The maid +patted her on the cheek with great affection. "We shall find a way. +This gentleman, the colonel here, will help us, perhaps." + +"Will you?" Who could resist her pleading voice and shining eyes? If I +had had any scruples left I would have thrown them to the winds. + +"Whatever lies in my power to do shall be done without stint or +hesitation," I said solemnly, careless of all consequences, content to +hold her hand and earn her heartfelt thanks. What though I were +pawning my honour? + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +[_The Statement of Domenico Falfani, confidential agent, +made to his employers, Messrs. Becke and Co., of the Private +Inquiry Offices, 279 St. Martin's Lane, W.C._] + + +I propose, gentlemen, to set down here at length the story of my +mission, and the events which befell me from the time I first received +my instructions. You desired me to pursue and call to strict account a +certain lady of title, who had fallen away from her high estate and +committed an act of rank felony. The circumstances which led up to her +disappearance and the partners of her flight are already well known to +you. + +The only indication given me, as you are aware, was that I might take +it for granted that she would go abroad and probably by the most +direct route to the South, to Switzerland and across the Alps into +Italy. My orders having only reached me in the early morning, the +theft having presumably been committed during the night previous to +Sunday, September 21, I was unable to ascertain through the tourist +agencies whether any and what tickets had been booked in the +directions indicated. + +My most urgent duty then was to watch the outgoing Continental trains, +the first of which left Charing Cross for Dover and Calais at 9 +A.M. I closely watched it therefore, and its passengers, and +travelled with it to Cannon Street, where I continued my search, but +without result. I was greatly helped in my quest by the not unusual +fact noticeable on Sundays, that travellers abroad are few in number. + +I had no difficulty in satisfying myself that the lady and her party +were not in this train, and I returned at once to Charing Cross in +time for the second Continental train, the 10 A.M. + +I had resolved to book myself by that as far as Amiens, for I knew +that, once there, I should have reached a central point or junction, a +sort of throat through which every train moving southward to Paris or +Switzerland must pass. + +There remained, of course, the route via Dover by Ostend and through +Brussels; but I had been informed by you that Ludovic Tiler, my +colleague and coworker, was to undertake the inquiry on that line. + +It is part of my business to be thoroughly familiar with the +Continental Bradshaw, and I soon ticked off the different trains that +interested me. + +There was first the 11 A.M. from Victoria by Dover and +Calais, where it connected with the Paris express and the sleeping-car +Engadine express, both of which run through Amiens, where, however, +the latter branches off to Basle and beyond, with special cars for +Lucerne, Zurich and Coire. + +Then came the 2.20 P.M. from Charing Cross to Folkestone, and +so to Boulogne, Amiens and the rest, travelling the same road as the +Engadine express. This was the last of the day service, as it gave +most time, allowing people to start at the very latest moment, and I +felt it quite probable that my lady would prefer to take it. + +I reached Amiens a little before 5 P.M., and I had a wait of +half an hour for the first express from Calais. I was greatly +disappointed when at last it appeared issuing from the tunnel, and +passed me where I stood at the commencement of the platform, taking +stock of each carriage as it passed. The train seemed to be quite +empty; there were no passengers, so the officials, the conductors, +informed me when I talked to them, sad and unhappy at the certain loss +of tips. Only one of them had any luck, Jules l'Echelle, of the +Lucerne sleeping-car, who had one or two people on board. + +I questioned him not very hopefully, but was agreeably surprised when +he told me that his clients consisted of two ladies with a child, and +one gentleman. English? Yes, all English. The lady, quite a lady, a +_grande dame belle personne_, tall, fine figure, well dressed; her +companion no doubt her servant; the child, well, an ordinary child, an +infant in arms. What would you? + +I had them, I felt sure. There could be no mistaking this description. +I held them in the hollow of my hand. Here they were in this car, and +it would be all my own fault if they escaped me. It would be necessary +only to verify my conclusions, to identify the lady according to the +description and photograph given me. For the rest I knew what to do. + +But now a quite unexpected difficulty turned up. + +As I have said, there was one other passenger, a gentleman, in the +car, and I felt it would be prudent to make his acquaintance. No doubt +I could tell at the first glance whether or not he was an ordinary +traveller, or whether he was a friend and accomplice of the lady under +observation. + +I regret to say that he met me in a very hostile spirit. I was at +great pains to be affable, to treat him with all the courtly +consideration I have at command, and I flatter myself that in the +matter of tact and good-breeding I do not yield to princes of the +blood royal. But my civility was quite thrown away. The man was an +absolute brute, abrupt, overbearing, rude. Nothing would conciliate +him. I offered him a cigar (a Borneo of the best brand, at 10s. the +hundred), and he not only refused it, but positively forbade me to +smoke. There were ladies in the carriage, he said (this was the first +reference made to them), and, when declining to be ordered about, I +proposed to refer the question to themselves, he threw himself +violently upon me and assaulted me brutally. + +Fortunately the attendant came to my rescue or I should have been +seriously injured. He lifted me into my compartment very kindly, and +acted like an old friend, as indeed he was, for I remembered him as +the Jules l'Echelle with whom I served some time back as an assistant +at the Baths of Bormio. + +It was, of course, clear to my mind that my assailant was associated +in some way with the lady, and probably a confederate. I saw that I +must know more about him, with the least possible delay, and as soon +as Jules had left me, promising to return later and talk of old times, +and the changes that had come over us since then, I ventured to look +out and get a glimpse of the other man, I will not call him gentleman +after his conduct. + +He was nowhere in sight, but I could hear his voice, several voices, +talking together at the far end. No doubt he had joined his friends in +their compartment, and the moment seemed opportune to visit his. It +was next to mine, and the door stood invitingly open. A few minutes, +seconds even, would be enough to tell me something of his identity, +perhaps all I wanted to. + +At least he made no pretence at mystery; his light baggage lay about, +a dressing bag, a roll of rugs, a couple of sticks and an umbrella +strapped together, all very neat and precise and respectable, and all +alike furnished with a parchment tag or label bearing in plain +language all that I wanted to know. + +His name was printed "Lieut.-Col. Basil Annesley," and his club, the +Mars and Neptune, that famous military house in Piccadilly. +Underneath, on all, his destination was written, "Hotel Bellevue, +Bellagio, Como." There could never be the least difficulty in finding +this person if I wanted him, as I thought likely. He was a blustering, +swashbuckling army officer, who could always be brought to account if +he misconducted himself, or mixed himself up in shady transactions. + +In my great contentment at the discovery I had been wanting in +caution, and I lingered too long on forbidden ground. + +"You infernal scoundrel," cried some one from the door, and once more +I felt an angry hand on my shoulder. "How come you here? Explain +yourself." + +"It's all a mistake," I began, trying to make the best of it, +struggling to get free. But he still held me in a grip of iron, and it +was not until my friend Jules appeared that I got out of the enemy's +clutches. + +"Here, I say!" shouted Jules vaguely. "This won't do, you know. I +shall have to lodge a complaint against you for brawling." + +"Complaint, by George!" he replied, shaking his fist at me. "The boot +is on the other leg, I take it. How is it that I find this chap in my +compartment? Foraging about, I believe." + +"Indeed no, Colonel Annesley," I protested, forgetting myself; and he +caught at it directly. + +"Oho, so you know my name! That proves what I say. You've been messing +about and overhauling my things. I won't stand it. The man's a thief. +He will have to be locked up." + +"I'm not the only thief in the car, then," I cried, for I was now mad +with him and his threats. + +"I don't know what you're driving at, or whom you think to accuse; but +I tell you this, my friend, that I shall call in the police at the +next station and hand you over." + +I looked at the conductor Jules, appealing for protection. I saw at +once that it would be terrible for me to have any trouble with the +police. They could do me no harm, but I might be delayed, obliged to +leave the train, and I should lose sight of the lady, possibly fail +altogether. + +Jules responded at once. "Come, come," he said. "You're talking big. +You might own the whole train. Who might you be?" + +"None of your confounded impudence," shouted the Colonel, as he +pointed to one of the luggage labels. "That's who I am. It's good +enough to get you discharged before you're a much older man. And now I +call upon you to do your duty. I have caught this man under suspicious +circumstances in the very act of rifling my effects. I insist upon his +being taken into custody." + +"There isn't enough for that," Jules answered, still my friend, but +weakening a little before this masterly army officer, and I felt that +I must speak for myself. + +"And if you stop me I will have the law of you for false imprisonment, +and bring heavy damages. You will be doing me a great injury in my +business." + +"Precisely what I should like to do, my fine fellow. I can guess what +your business is. Nothing reputable, I feel sure." + +"I'm not ashamed of it, and I have powerful friends behind me. I am +acting for--" + +"Yes?" he asked me mockingly, for I had checked my tongue, fearing to +say too much. + +"It is my affair. Enough that you will feel the weight of their hands +if you interfere with me in carrying out their instructions." + +"Well, anyhow, tell me who you are. I've a right to know that in +exchange. You chose to help yourself to my name; now I insist upon +knowing yours." + +I told him, not very readily, as may be supposed. + +"Domenico Falfani? Is that your own or a 'purser's' name? Come, you +know what I mean. It's part of your stock in trade to understand all +languages, including slang. Is that the name he has given you?"--this +to the conductor. "Show me your way-bill, your _feuille de route_." + +Jules at a nod from me produced it, and no doubt understood my reason +when in my turn I claimed to see it. + +"I have a clear right," I insisted, overruling all objections raised +by the Colonel; and taking it into my hands I read the names aloud, +"Colonel Annesley, Mrs. Blair, maid and child." I pronounced the name +with great contempt. + +"You talk of purser's names," I said sneeringly. "What do you think of +this? Blair, indeed! No more the woman's name than Smith or Jones, or +what you please." + +"Speak more respectfully of a lady," cried the Colonel, catching me +tightly by the arm. + +"Lady? Oho! Don't, Colonel, drop it. At any rate, she is not Mrs. +Blair; you may take that from me," I said as impressively as a judge +on the bench. "And what's more, Colonel, I wouldn't press charges you +can't substantiate against me, or I may hit back with another not so +easy to meet. Try to stop me at the next station, and I'll stop your +pal--ah, don't"--he had a cruelly strong hand--"your Mrs. Blair, and +she'll find herself in a particularly tight place." + +"We'll see about that," said the Colonel, who kept a stiff face, but +was, I think, rather crestfallen. "I shall act as I think best. +Anyhow, get out of this, both of you. This is my private berth, and +you are trespassing." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +Whatever may have been the Colonel's intentions when he caught me in +his compartment, something, and I think my last words, led him to +modify them. He felt, probably, that if he attacked me I might +retaliate unpleasantly. I ought to be able to hold my own with him, +although in truth I was not over happy at the course events had taken, +and I could not compliment myself on my good management. + +I had not been overprudent; I had pressed my attentions on him rather +abruptly, although I had the excuse that I usually found them well +received, thanks to my affable address; again I had behaved most +incautiously in penetrating his identity. + +And, worse than all, I had still no certainty. I could only surmise +that the lady was the one I was in search of, for I had not as yet +clapt eyes on her, and I had been to some extent driven to show my +hand before I had made my ground good. So the first thing I did on +regaining my own compartment was to ring for Jules, the conductor, and +put before him the photograph with which I was provided, and ask him +if he recognized it. + +"But perfectly. It is the lady yonder," he said promptly. "Is it your +own, or did you find it or annex it from next door? Ah, your own; and +what have you to do with her?" + +"I may tell you some day, Jules. For the present you must know that I +am after her; I have to watch her, stick to her like her shadow until +it is time to act." + +"An adventuress, eh?" + +"She is in possession of what does not belong to her; something she +abstracted from--from--Never mind where, and it must be recovered from +her here, or after she leaves the car." + +"Afterwards, please. We can't have any scandal on board here." + +"Five hundred francs wouldn't tempt you to let me have a free hand for +just half an hour? I could do it, say somewhere short of Basle, and on +reaching there make off. No one should be any the wiser, and they, the +women, wouldn't dare to make a fuss." + +"It's I who do not dare--not for twice five hundred francs. My place +is worth more than that; and if it is a dog's life, it is better than +lying on the straw. Besides, there's her friend the Colonel, he'll be +on the alert, you may depend." + +"So must I be, and I must find some way to circumvent him. I'll be +even with him. He sha'n't beat me, the overbearing, hectoring brute. +It's between him and me, and I think I'm a match for him." + +I spoke this confidently to my friend, who engaged for his part to do +all in his power to assist, or at least to do nothing against me, and +I was content to bide my time. Pride goes before a fall. I was not as +clever as I thought, and shall have to tell you how seriously I had +underrated his worth in the coming trial of strength. + +As the train sped on and the night began to close in on us, I remained +quietly in my berth, pondering over my position, and in considering +the course I should adopt under various contingencies. The first and +most serious danger was that the lady should succeed in leaving the +train at any of the intermediate stations at Basle, and so give me +the slip. There were Laon, Rheims, Chaumont, and the rest. + +It must be my business to keep close watch against any evasion of this +kind, and Jules had promised to help. I did not look for any such +attempt until far into the night, when the stations were empty and +half-dark, and I agreed with Jules to divide the hours till daylight, +he taking the first, I the last. We were due at Basle at 5 A.M., and I +expected to join forces then with Tiler, my colleague, coming from the +side of Ostend, via Brussels and Strasburg. + +Meanwhile I kept quiet and made no sign beyond showing that I was +there and on the spot ready to act if it should be necessary. Thus, +when the train slackened speed on approaching a station, I was always +on the move and the first to descend and patrol the platform. The +Colonel always got out too, but he never accosted me; indeed, he +seemed disposed to despise me, to ignore my existence, or dare me to +the worst I could do. + +I suppose the lady must have been of the same mind, for when +dinner-time arrived, she came boldly out of her compartment, and I met +her face to face for the first time, on her way to the restaurant. I +was standing at the door of my compartment. + +"Dinner is ready," the Colonel said to me significantly, but I did not +choose to understand, and shook my head, holding my ground. + +"You are coming to dinner, I think," he repeated in a sharp commanding +way, as if he were talking to his soldiers. + +"I shall please myself about that," I replied gruffly. + +"Not a bit of it. One moment," he whispered to the lady, who walked +on, and turned again to me: "Now see here, my friend, I do not mean to +leave you behind. You will come to the dining-car with us, and no two +ways about it, even if I have to carry you." + +"I won't dine with you," I cried. + +"I never asked you to dine with me, but you shall dine when I do. I +will pay for your dinner, but I wouldn't sit at table with you for +worlds," he shouted with scornful laughter. "You're going to dine +under my eye, that's all, even though the sight of you is enough to +make one sick. So come along, sharp's the word, see? Walk first; let +him pass you, Mrs. Blair." + +I felt I had no choice. He was capable of again assaulting me. There +was something in his manner that cowed me, and I was obliged in spite +of myself to give way. + +There were only three of us in the dining-car, and we were not a very +merry company. Our tables were laid almost adjoining, and there was no +conversation between us, except when the Colonel asked me with +contemptuous civility what wine I preferred. He did not talk to the +lady, or the merest commonplaces, for I was within earshot. But I made +an excellent dinner, I must confess. I had eaten nothing since Amiens. +Then I got back to my berth, where the bed was made. I threw myself on +to it, rejoiced at the prospect of getting a few hours' sleep while +Jules remained on the watch. + +He was to call me a little before reaching Basle, and, like an ass +that I was, I fully relied on his doing so, believing him to be my +friend. Such friendship as his did not bear any great strain, as I +learnt presently to my great chagrin. + +I slept heavily, but in fitful snatches, as a man does when constantly +disturbed by the whirr and whizzing of the train, the rattle and +jangle of wheels passing over ill-jointed points. After one of the +longest periods of unconsciousness I awoke, aroused by the complete +absence of noise. The train was at a standstill in some station and +making a very protracted halt. + +Something moved me to lift the blind and look out, and I saw, not +without uneasiness, that we were at Basle. I thought I recognized the +station, but I soon made out for certain the name "Basilea" (Basle), +and saw the clock with the fingers at five-thirty. People were already +on the move, work-people, the thrifty, industrious Swiss, forestalling +time, travellers in twos and threes arriving and departing by the +early train through this great junction on the frontier of +Switzerland. + +Stay! What? Who are those crossing the platform hurriedly. Great +powers! Right under my eyes, a little party of four, two females, two +men accompanying them, escorting them, carrying rugs and parcels. +There could not be a shadow of doubt. + +It was the lady, the so-called Mrs. Blair, in full flight, with all +her belongings, and under the care and guidance not only of the +Colonel, that of course, but also of the perfidious Jules l'Echelle. +He had sold me! All doubt of his treachery disappeared when on rushing +to the door I found I had been locked into my compartment. + +I rang the electric bell frantically, again and again. I got no +answer; I threw up the window and thrust my head out, shouting for +help, but got none, only one or two sluggish porters came up and asked +what was amiss, answering stolidly, when they heard, that it was none +of their business. "They had no key, it must be a mistake. The +conductor would explain, I must wait till he came." + +Presently Jules arrived, walking very leisurely from the direction of +the restaurant, and he stood right under my window with a grin on his +face and mockery in his voice. + +"What's wrong? Locked in? Can't be possible? Who could have done it? I +will inquire," he said slowly and imperturbably. + +"No, no; let me out first. You can do it if you choose. I believe it +was your trickery from the first. I must get out, I tell you, or they +will escape me," I cried. + +"Not unlikely. I may say it is pretty certain they will. That was the +Colonel's idea; you'd better talk to him about it next time you see +him." + +"And that will be never, I expect. He's not going to show up here +again." + +"There you're wrong; he will be back before the train starts, you may +rely on that, and you'll be able to talk to him. We'll let you out +then," he was laughing at me, traitor that he was. "Here he comes. +We're just going on." + +Now I saw my last chance of successfully performing my mission +disappearing beyond recall. I renewed my shouts and protests, but was +only laughed at for my pains. The railway officials at Basle might +have interfered, but Jules answered for me, declaring with a +significant gesture that I was in drink and that he would see to me. + +I quite despaired. Already the train was moving out of the station, +when, to my intense joy, I caught sight of Ludovic Tiler, who came +down the platform running alongside us, and crying, "Falfani, +Falfani," as he recognized me. + +"Don't mind me," I shouted to him. "I must go on, I can't help myself. +It's for you to take it up now. She's in the restaurant. You'll easily +know her, in a long ulster, with her maid and the child. You can't +miss her. By the Lord, she is standing at the door! Get away with +you, don't let her see you talking with me. She must not know we are +acting in common, and I do hope she hasn't noticed. Be off, I tell +you, only let me hear of you; wire to Lucerne what you're doing. +Address telegraph-office. Send me a second message at Goeschenen. I +shall get one or both. Say where I may answer and where I can join +you." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +The timely appearance of my colleague, Ludovic Tiler, consoled me a +little for the loss of the lady and her lot. I had failed, myself, but +I hoped that with my lead he would get on to the scent and keep to it. +Ere long, on the first intimation from him I might come into the game +again. I should be guided by his wire if I got it. + +For the moment I was most concerned to find out whether Tiler's +intervention and my short talk with him had been noticed by the other +side. If the Colonel knew that another man was on his friend's track, +he would surely have left the train at once so as to go to her +assistance. But he was still in the train, I could hear him plainly, +speaking to Jules in the next compartment. Again, as we sped on, I +reasoned favourably from their leaving me as I was, still under lock +and key. No one came near me until after we had passed Olten station, +the first stopping-place after Basle, where I could alight and retrace +my steps. By holding on to me I guessed that I was still thought to +be the chief danger, and that they had no suspicion of Tiler's +existence. + +I laughed in my sleeve, but not the less did I rage and storm when +Jules l'Echelle came with the Colonel to release me. + +"You shall pay for this," I cried hotly. + +"As for you, l'Echelle, it shall cost you your place, and I'll take +the law of you, Colonel Annesley; I'll get damages and you shall +answer for your illegal action." + +"Pfui!" retorted the Colonel. "The mischief you can do is nothing to +what you might have done. We can stand the racket. I've bested you for +the present--that's the chief thing, anyway. You can't persecute the +poor lady any more." + +"Poor lady! Do you know who she is or was, anyway?" + +"Of course I do," he answered bold as brass. + +"Did she let on? Told you, herself? My word! She's got a nerve. I +wonder she'd own to it after all she's done." + +"Silence!" he shouted, in a great taking. "If you dare to utter a +single word against that lady, I'll break every bone in your body." + +"I'm saying nothing--it's not me, it's all the world. It was in the +papers, you must have read them, the most awful story, such--such +depravity there never was--such treachery, such gross misconduct." + +He caught me by the arm so violently and looked so fierce that for a +moment I was quite alarmed. + +"Drop it, I tell you. Leave the lady alone, both by word and deed. +You'll never find her again, I've seen to that. She has escaped you." + +"Aha! You think so? Don't be too cocksure. We understand our +business better than that, we don't go into it single-handed. You've +collared me for a bit, but I'm not the only one in the show." + +"The only one that counts," he said sneering. + +"Am I?" I answered in the same tone. "What if I had a pal waiting for +me at Basle, who received my instructions there--just when you thought +you had me safe--and has now taken up the running?" + +He was perfectly staggered at this, I could see plainly. I thought at +first he would have struck me, he was so much upset. + +"You infernal villain," he shouted, "I believe the whole thing is a +confounded lie! Explain." + +"I owe you no explanations," I replied stiffly, "my duty is to my +employers. I only account to them for my conduct. I am a confidential +agent." + +He seemed impressed by this, for when he spoke again it was more +quietly. But he looked me very straight in the eyes. I felt that he +was still likely to give trouble. + +"Well, I suppose I cannot expect you to tell me things. You must go +your own way and I shall go mine." + +"I should advise you to leave it, Colonel," I said, civilly enough. +"I'm always anxious to conciliate and avoid unpleasantness. Give up +the whole business; you will only burn your fingers." + +"Ah! How so?" + +"The law is altogether against you. It is a nasty job; better not be +mixed up in it. Have you any idea what that woman--that lady," I +corrected myself, for his eyes flashed, "has done?" + +"Nothing really wrong," he was warming up into a new burst of passion. + +"Tell that to the Courts and to the Judge when you are prosecuted for +contempt and charged as an accessory after the fact. How will you like +that? It will take the starch out of you." + +"Rot! The law can't do us much harm. The only person who might make it +disagreeable is Lord Blackadder, and I snap my fingers at him." + +"The Earl of Blackadder? Are you mad? He is a great personage, a rich +and powerful nobleman. You cannot afford to fight him; he will be too +strong for you. He has been made the victim of an abominable outrage, +and will spare no effort, no means, no money to recover his own." + +"Lord Blackadder is a cad--a cruel, cowardly ruffian. I know all about +him and what has happened. It would give me the greatest pleasure to +kick him down the street. Failing that, I shall do my best to upset +and spoil his schemes, and so you know." + +I smiled contemptuously. "A mere Colonel against an Earl! What sort of +a chance have you? It's too absurd." + +"We shall see. Those laugh longest who laugh last." + +By this time our talk was done, for we were approaching Lucerne, and +I began to think over my next plans. All must depend on what I heard +there--upon what news, if any, came from Ludovic Tiler. + +So on my arrival I made my way straight to the telegraph-office in the +corner of the great station, and on showing my card an envelope was +handed to me. It was from Tiler at Basle, and ran as follows: + +"They have booked through by 7.30 A.M., via Brienne, Lausanne +to Brieg, and I suppose the Simplon. I shall accompany. Can you join +me at either end--Brieg or Domo Dossola? The sooner the better. Wire +me from all places along the route, giving your movements. Address me +in my train No. 70." + +The news pointed pretty clearly to the passage of the Alps and descent +into Italy by another route than the St. Gothard. I had my Bradshaw in +my bag, and proceeded at once to verify the itinerary by the +time-table, while I drank my early coffee in the restaurant upon the +station platform. I was most anxious to join hands with Tiler, and +quickly turned over the leaves of my railway guide to see if it was +possible, and how it might best be managed. + +My first idea was to retrace my steps to Basle and follow him by the +same road. But I soon found that the trains would not fit in the very +least. He would be travelling by the one fast train in the day, which +was due at Brieg at four o'clock in the afternoon. My first chance, if +I caught the very next train back from Lucerne, would only get me to +Brieg by the eleven o'clock the following morning. + +It was not good enough, and I dismissed the idea forthwith. Then I +remembered that by getting off the St. Gothard railway at Goeschenen I +should strike the old Furka diligence route by the Devil's Bridge, +Hospenthal, and the Rhone Glacier, a drive of fifty miles, more or +less, but at least it would get me to Brieg that same night by 10 or +11 o'clock. + +Before adopting this line I had to consider that there was a risk of +missing Tiler and his quarry; that is to say, of being too late for +them; for the lady might decide to push on directly she reached Brieg, +taking a special carriage extra post as far as the Simplon at least, +even into Domo Dossola. She was presumably in such a hurry that the +night journey would hardly deter her from driving over the pass. Tiler +would certainly follow. By the time I reached Brieg they would be +halfway across the Alps, and I must take the same road, making a stern +chase, proverbially the longest. + +I turned my attention, therefore, to the Italian end of the carriage +road, and to seeing how and when I could reach Domo Dossola, the +alternative suggestion made by Tiler. There would be no difficulty as +to that, and I found I could be there in good time the same evening. I +worked it out on the tables and it looked easy enough. + +Leave Lucerne by the St. Gothard railway, pass Goeschenen, and go +through the tunnel down the Italian side as far as Bellizona. Thence a +branch line would take me to Locarno and into touch with the steamboat +service on Lake Maggiore. There was a fixed connection according to +the tables, and I should land at Pallanza within a short hour's drive +of the line to Domo Dossola. I could be established there by nightfall +and would command the situation. Every carriage that came down the +Simplon must come under my eye. + +There could be no doubt that the Bellizona-Locarno Lake line was the +preferable one, and I finally decided in favour of it. I closed my +Bradshaw with a bang, replaced it in my bag, drank up my coffee, and +started for the telegraph office. I meant to advise Tiler of my plans, +and at the same time arrange with him to look out for me just outside +the terminus station at Domo Dossola, or to communicate with me there +at the Hôtel de la Poste. + +On coming out I ran up against the last person I wished to see. It was +the Colonel, who greeted me with a loud laugh, and gave me a slap on +the back. + +"Halloa, my wily detective," he said mockingly; "settled it all quite +to your satisfaction? Done with Bradshaw--sent off your wires? Well, +what's the next move?" + +"I decline to hold any conversation with you," I began severely. "I +beg you will not intrude upon my privacy. I do not desire your +acquaintance." + +"Hoity toity!" he cried. "On your high horse, eh? Aren't you afraid +you may fall off or get knocked off?" and he raised his hand with an +ugly gesture. + +"We are not alone now in a railway carriage. There are police about, +and the Swiss police do not approve of brawling," I replied, with all +the dignity I could assume. + +"Come, Falfani, tell me what you mean to do now," he went on in the +same tone. + +"Your questions are an impertinence. I do not know you. I do not +choose to know you, and I beg you will leave me alone." + +"Don't think of it, my fine fellow. I'm not going to leave you alone. +You may make up your mind to that. Where you go, I go; what you do, I +shall do. We are inseparables, you and I, as much united as the +Siamese twins. So I tell you." + +"But it's monstrous, it's not to be tolerated. I shall appeal for +protection to the authorities." + +"Do so, my friend, do so. See which will get the best of that. I don't +want to swagger, but at any rate all the world knows pretty well who I +am; but what shall you call yourself, Mr. Falfani?" + +"I have my credentials from my employers; I have letters, +testimonials, recommendations from the best people." + +"Including the Earl of Blackadder, I presume? I admit your great +advantages. Well, try it. You may get the best of it in the long run, +but you'll lose a good deal of time. I'm not in a hurry," he said with +emphasis, and promptly recalled me to my senses, for I realized that +I could not fight him that way. It must be by stratagem or evasion. I +must throw dust in his eyes, put him off the scent, mislead, befool, +elude him somehow. + +How was I to shake him off now I saw that he was determined to stick +to me? He had said it in so many words. He would not let me out of his +sight; wherever I went he was coming too. + +The time was drawing on for the departure of the St. Gothard express +at 9.8 A.M., and as yet I had no ticket. I had booked at +Amiens as far as Lucerne only, leaving further plans as events might +fall out. Now I desired to go on, but did not see how I was to take a +fresh ticket without his learning my destination. He would be certain +to be within earshot when I went up to the window. + +I was beginning to despair when I saw Cook's man, who was, as usual, +hovering about to assist travellers in trouble, and I beckoned him to +approach. + +"See that gentleman," I nodded towards the Colonel. "He wants you; do +your best for him." And when the tourist agent proceeded on his +mission to be accosted, I fear rather unceremoniously, I slipped off +and hid out of sight. + +I felt sure I was unobserved as I took my place in the crowd at the +ticket-window, but when I had asked and paid for my place to Locarno I +heard, to my disgust, some one else applying for a ticket to exactly +the same place, and in a voice that was strangely familiar. + +On looking round I saw Jules l'Echelle, the sleeping-car conductor, +but out of uniform, and with an amused grin on his face. + +"It seems that we are still to be fellow travellers," he observed +casually. + +"What is taking you to Lake Maggiore? How about your service on the +car?" I asked suspiciously. + +"I have business at Locarno, and have got a few days' leave to attend +to it." + +I felt he was lying to me. He had been bought, I was sure. His +business was the Colonel's, who had set him to assist in watching me. +I had two enemies then to encounter, and I realized with some +misgiving that the Colonel was not a man to be despised. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +I secured a place with difficulty; there was rather a rush for the St. +Gothard express when it ran in. It was composed as usual of corridor +carriages, all classes _en suite_, and I knew that it would be +impossible to conceal the fact that I was on board the train. Within +five minutes Jules had verified the fact and taken seats in the +immediate neighbourhood, to which he and the Colonel presently came. + +"Quite a pleasant little party!" he said in a bantering tone. "All +bound for Locarno, eh? Ever been to Locarno before, Mr. Falfani? +Delightful lake, Maggiore. Many excursions, especially by steamer; the +Borromean islands well worth seeing, and Baveno and Stresa and the +road to the Simplon." + +I refused to be drawn, and only muttered that I hated excursions and +steamers and lakes, and wished to be left in peace. + +"A little out of sorts, I'm afraid, Mr. Falfani. Sad that. Too many +emotions, want of sleep, perhaps. You _would_ do _too_ much last +night." He still kept up his hateful babble, and Jules maddened me by +his sniggering enjoyment of my discomfiture. + +More than ever did I set my brain to puzzle out some way of escaping +this horrible infliction. Was it not possible to give them the slip, +somehow, somewhere? I took the Colonel's hint, and pretended to take +refuge in sleep, and at last, I believe, I dozed off. It must have +been in my dreams that an idea came to me, a simple idea, easy of +execution with luck and determination. + +It was suggested to me by the short tunnels that succeed so frequently +in the ascent of the St. Gothard Alps. They are, as most people know, +a chief feature in the mountain railway, and a marvel of engineering +skill, being cut in circles to give the necessary length and gain the +height with a moderate gradient. Speed is so far slackened that it +would be quite possible to drop off the train without injury whenever +inclined. My only difficulty would be to alight without interference +from my persecutors. + +I nursed my project with eyes shut, still feigning sleep; and my +extreme quiescence had, as I hoped, the effect of throwing them off +their guard. Jules, like all in the same employment, was always ready +for forty winks, and I saw that he was sound and snoring just as we +entered the last tunnel before reaching the entrance of the final +great tunnel at Goeschenen. I could not be quite sure of the Colonel, +but his attitude was that of a man resting, and who had very nearly +lost himself, if he had not quite gone off. + +Now was my time. If it was to be done at all it must be quickly, +instantaneously almost. Fortunately we sat at the extreme end of a +coach, in the last places, and besides we three there was only one +other occupant in the compartment of six. The fourth passenger was +awake, but I made a bid for his good-will by touching my lips with a +finger, and the next minute I was gone. + +I expected to hear the alarm given at my disappearance, but none +reached my ears, as the train rattled past me with its twinkling +lights and noisy road. I held myself close against the side of the +tunnel in perfect safety, although the hot wind of the passing cars +fanned my cheek and rather terrified me. The moment the train was well +gone I faced the glimmering light that showed the entrance to the +tunnel at the further end from the station, and ran to it with all +speed. + +I knew that my jump from the train could not pass unnoticed, and I +counted on being followed. I expected that the tunnel would be +explored by people from Goeschenen so soon as the train ran in and +reported. My first object, therefore, was to quit the line, and I did +so directly I was clear of the tunnel. I climbed the fence, dropped +into a road, left that again to ascend the slope and take shelter +among the rocks and trees. + +The pursuit, if any, was not very keen or long maintained. When all +was quiet, an hour later I made for the highroad, the famous old road +that leads through the Devil's Pass to Andermatt, three miles above. I +altogether avoided the Goeschenen station, fearing any inconvenient +inquiries, and abandoned all idea of getting the telegram from Tiler +that might be possibly awaiting me. It did not much matter. I should +be obliged now to send him fresh news, news of the changed plans that +took me direct into Brieg; and on entering Andermatt I came upon the +post-office, just where I wanted it, both to send my message and order +an extra post carriage from Brieg. + +It was with a sense of intense relief that I sank back into the +cushions and felt that at last I was free. My satisfaction was +abruptly destroyed. Long before I reached Hospenthal, a mile or so +from Andermatt, I was disturbed by strange cries to the accompaniment +of harness bells. + +"Yo-icks, Yo-icks, G-o-ne away!" was borne after me with all the force +of stentorian lungs, and looking round I saw to my horror a second +carriage coming on at top speed, and beyond all question aiming to +overtake us. Soon they drew nearer, near enough for speech, and the +accursed Colonel hailed me. + +"Why, you cunning fox, so you broke cover and got away all in a +moment! Lucky you were seen leaving the train, or we might have +overrun the scent and gone on." + +I did not answer. + +"Nice morning for a drive, Mr. Falfani, and a long drive," he went on, +laughing boisterously. "Going all the way to Brieg by road, I believe? +So are we. Pity we did not join forces. One carriage would have done +for all three of us." + +Still I did not speak. + +"A bit ugly, eh? Don't fuss, man. It's all in the day's work." + +With that I desired my driver to pull up, and waved my hand to the +others, motioning to them that the road was theirs. + +But when I stopped they stopped, and the Colonel jeered. When I drove +on they came along too, laughing. We did this several times; and when +at the two roads just through Hospenthal, one by the St. Gothard, the +other leading to the Furka, I took the first for a short distance, +then turned back, just to try my pursuers. They still stuck to me. My +heart sank within me. I was in this accursed soldier's claws. He had +collared me, he was on my back, and I felt that I must throw up the +sponge. + +"I gave you fair notice that you would not get rid of me, and by +heaven you shall not," he cried fiercely, putting off all at once the +lighter mockery of his tone. "I know what is taking you to Brieg. You +think to find your confederate there, and you hope that, combined, the +two of you will get the better of that lady. You sha'n't, not if I can +prevent you by any means in my power; understand that, and look out +for squalls if you try." + +I confess he cowed me; he was so strong, so masterful, and, as I +began to fear, so unscrupulous, that I felt I could not make head +against him. Certainly not alone. I must have Tiler's help, his +counsel, countenance, active support. I must get in touch with him at +the earliest possible moment and my nearest way to him, situated as I +was now, must be at or through Brieg. + +So I resigned myself to my fate, and suffered myself to be driven on +with my pertinacious escort hanging on to me mile after mile of my +wearing and interminable journey. We pulled up for luncheon and a +short rest at the Furka; again in the afternoon at the Rhone Glacier. +Then we pursued our way all along the valley, with the great snow peak +of the Matterhorn in front of us, through village and hamlet, in the +fast fading light, and so on under the dark but luminous sky into +Munster, Fiesch, and Morel, till at length we rolled into Brieg about +11 P.M. + +I drove straight to the Hôtel de la Poste, careless that my tormentors +were accompanying me; they could do me no more harm, and Tiler was at +hand to help in vindicating our position. + +There was no Tiler at the Hôtel de la Poste; no Tiler in Brieg. Only +a brief telegram from him conveying unwelcome and astounding +intelligence. It had been despatched from Vevey about 2 P.M., +and it said: + + "Lost her somewhere between this and Lausanne. Am trying back. Shall + wire you again to Brieg. Wait there or leave address." + +My face must have betrayed my abject despair. I was so completely +knocked over that I offered no opposition when the Colonel impudently +took the telegram out of my hand and read it coolly. + +"Drawn blank!" he cried, unable to contain himself for joy. "By the +Lord Harry, that's good." + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +[_The Statement of the Second Detective_, _Ludovic Tiler_.] + + +I travelled via Ostend, Brussels and Strasburg, and was due at Basle +from that side at 4.35 A.M. My instructions were to look out +for Falfani there, and thought I might do so if our train was fairly +punctual, as it was. We were "on time," and the answer to my first +question was that the Lucerne express was still at the platform, but +on the point of departure. + +I got one glimpse of Falfani and one word with him. He was in trouble +himself; they had nipped him, caught him tight, and thrown him off the +scent. I was now to take up the running. + +"You've got your chance now, Ludovic," he said hurriedly, as he leaned +out of the carriage window. "I'm not jealous, as you often are, but +it's deuced hard on me. Anyhow, stick to her like wax, and keep your +eyes skinned. She's got the wiles of the devil, and will sell you like +a dog if you don't mind. Hurry now; you'll pick her up in the +waiting-room or restaurant, and can't miss her." + +He gave me the description, and I left him, promising him a wire at +the telegraph office, Lucerne. He was right, there was no mistaking +her. Few people were about at that time in the morning, and there was +not a soul among the plain-headed, commonplace Swiss folk to compare +with her, an English lady with her belongings. + +She was quite a beauty, tall, straight, lissom, in her tight-fitting +ulster; her piquante-looking heather cap perched on chestnut curls, +and setting off as handsome a face as I have ever seen. And I have +seen and admired many, for I don't deny that I've a strong penchant +for pretty women, and this was the pick of the basket. It was rather a +bore to be put on to her in the way of business; but why should I not +get a little pleasure out of it if I could? I need not be +disagreeable; it might help matters and pass the time pleasantly, even +if in the end I might have to show my teeth. + +I saw her looking me over as I walked into the waiting-room, +curiously, critically, and for a moment I fancied she guessed who I +was. Had she seen me talking to Falfani? + +If so--if she thought me one of her persecutors--she would hardly look +upon me without repugnance, yet I almost believed it was all the other +way. I had an idea that she did not altogether dislike me, that she +was pleased with my personal appearance. Why not? I had had my +successes in my time, and may say, although it sounds conceited, that +I had won the approval of other ladies quite as high-toned. By and by +it might be my unpleasant duty to be disagreeable. In the meantime it +would be amusing, enjoyable, to make friends. + +So far I had still to ascertain the direction in which she was bound. +She had taken her ticket. That might be safely inferred, for she was +in the waiting-room with her porter and her bags, ready to pass out +upon the platform as soon as the doors were opened. (Everyone knows +that the idiotic and uncomfortable practice still prevails in +Switzerland of shutting passengers off from the train till the very +last moment.) + +This waiting-room served for many lines, and I could only wait +patiently to enter the particular train for which she would be +summoned. When at length an official unlocked the door and announced +the train for Biel, Neuchâtel, Lausanne, and Brieg, she got up to take +her seat, and I had no longer any doubt as to the direction of her +journey. So as I saw her go, I slipped back to the ticket-office and +took my place all the way to Brieg, the furthest point on the line. +This was obviously my best and safest plan, as I should then be ready +for anything that happened. I could get out anywhere, wherever she +did, in fact. After getting my ticket I found time to telegraph to +Falfani at Lucerne, giving him my latest news, and then proceeded to +the train. + +I found the lady easily enough, and got into the same carriage with +her. It was one of those on the Swiss plan, with many compartments +opening into one another _en suite_. Although the seat I chose was at +a discreet distance, I was able to keep her in view. + +I was wondering whether it would be possible for me to break the ice +and make her acquaintance, when luck served me better than I dared to +hope. One of the Swiss guards of the train, a surly, overbearing +brute, like so many others of his class, accosted her rudely, and from +his gestures was evidently taking her to task as to the number and +size of her parcels in the net above. He began to shift them, and, +despite her indignant protests in imperfect German, threw some of them +on the floor. + +This was my opportunity. I hurried to the rescue, and, being fluent in +German as in several other languages--it is part of my stock in +trade--I sharply reproved the guard and called him an unmannerly boor +for his cowardly treatment of an unprotected lady. My reward was a +sweet smile, and I felt encouraged to hazard a few words in reply to +her cordial thanks. She responded quickly, readily, and I thought I +might improve the occasion by politely inquiring if I could be of any +further service to her. + +"Perhaps you can tell me, you see I am strange on this line," she +answered with a perfectly innocent air, "do you happen to know at what +time we are due at Lausanne?" + +"Not to the minute," I replied. "I have a railway guide in my bag, +shall I fetch it?" + +"No, no, I should not like to give you so much trouble." + +"But it will be no trouble. Let me fetch my bag." + +I went off in perfect good faith, anxious to oblige so charming a +lady. I had not the slightest suspicion that she was playing with me. +Silly ass that I was, I failed to detect the warning that dropped from +her own lips. + +When I got back with the Bradshaw I came upon them for just one moment +unawares. The maid must have been making some remarks displeasing to +my lady, who was answering her with much asperity. + +"I know what I am doing, Philpotts. Be so good as to leave it to me. +It is the only way." + +Then she caught sight of me as I stood before her, and her manner +instantly changed. She addressed me very sweetly and with the utmost +composure. "Oh, how very good of you, I feel quite ashamed of myself." + +"Why should you? It is delightful to be of use to you. Lausanne I +think you said?" I asked casually as I turned over the pages of the +guide. "You are going to Lausanne?" + +"No, Vevey to Montreux. I only wanted to know whether there would be +time for _déjeuner_ at Lausanne. I think there is no dining-car on +this train?" + +"No, it is on the next, which is extraordinarily bad mismanagement. +It is a slow train the next, and we are a special express. But you +will have a clear half-hour to spare at Lausanne. That will be enough, +I presume? Lausanne at 12 noon, and we go on at half-past." + +"You, too, are going beyond Lausanne?" + +"Possibly, I am not quite sure. It depends upon my meeting friends +somewhere on the lake, either there or further on. If they come on +board we shall run on to Brieg so as to drop over the Alps to Lake +Maggiore by the Simplon route." + +I threw this out carelessly but with deliberate intention, and the +shot told. A crimson flush came over her face and her hands trembled +violently. I had not the smallest doubt that this was her plan also. +She was bound to cross over into Italy, that we knew, or our employers +firmly believed it, and as she had been driven off the St. Gothard by +Falfani she had now doubled back by Switzerland to make the journey to +Brieg and across the mountains by road. + +I had scored as I thought, but I forgot that in gaining the knowledge +I had betrayed my own intentions, and put her upon her guard. I was to +pay for this. + +"Oh, really," she said quietly and with polite interest, having +entirely recovered her composure. "I dare say a very pleasant drive. +How long does it take, have you any idea, and how do you travel?" + +"It is about nine hours by diligence," I said, consulting the +Bradshaw, "and the fare is forty francs, but by private carriage or +extra post a good deal more." + +"May I look?" and I handed her the book, "although I never could +understand Bradshaw," she added pleasantly. + +"I shall be very pleased to explain if you are in doubt," I suggested; +but she declined laughingly, saying it would amuse her to puzzle out +things, so I left her the book and composed myself into a corner while +the train rattled on. I mused and dozed and dreamily watched her +pretty face admiringly, as she pored over the pages of the Guide, +little thinking she was perfecting a plan for my undoing. + +The first stop was at Biel or Bienne, its French name, and there was a +halt of ten minutes or more. I made my way to the telegraph office in +the station, where to my great satisfaction I found a message from +Falfani, informing me that he should make the best of his way to +Brieg, unless I could suggest something better. + +The answer I despatched at once to Goeschenen was worded as follows: +"Declares she is going to Montreux only. Believe untrue. Still think +her destination Brieg. Come on there anyhow and await further from me. +May be necessary to join forces." We were in accord, Falfani and I, +and in communication. + +I was well satisfied with what we were doing, and on receiving the +second and third telegrams at Neuchâtel and Yverdun I was all the more +pleased. At last we were nearing Lausanne, and I looked across to my +lady to prepare her for getting out. I had no need to attract her +attention, for I caught her eyes fixed on me and believe she was +watching me furtively. The smile that came upon her lips was so +pleasant and sweet that it might have overjoyed a more conceited man +than myself. + +"Are we near then? Delightful! I never was so hungry in my life," and +the smile expanded into a gay laugh as she rose to her feet and was +ready to leave the carriage. + +"I'm afraid you will have to wait, Philpotts, we cannot leave that," +she pointed to the child nestling sound asleep by her side. "But I +will send or bring you something. This gentleman will perhaps escort +me to the refreshment-room." + +I agreed, of course, and saying, "Only too charmed," I led the way--a +long way, for the restaurant is at the far end of the platform. At +last we sat down _tête-à-tête_ and prepared to do full justice to the +meal. Strange to say, despite her anticipations, she proved to have +very little appetite. + +"I must have waited too long," she said, as she trifled with a cutlet. +"I shall perhaps like something else better," and she went carefully +through the whole _menu_, so that the time slipped away, and we were +within five minutes of departure. + +"And poor dear Philpotts, I had quite forgotten her. Come and help me +choose," and in duty bound I gallantly carried the food back to the +train. + +I walked ahead briskly, and making my way to the places where we had +left the maid and child, jumped in. + +They were gone, the two of them. Everything was gone, rugs, bags, +belongings, people. The seats were empty, and as the compartment was +quite empty, too, no one could tell me when they had left or where +they had gone. + +I turned quickly round to my companion, who was, I thought, following +close at my heels, and found to my utter amazement that she also had +disappeared. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +For the moment I was dazed and dumfounded, but I took a pull on myself +quickly. It was a clever plant. Had they sold me completely? That was +still to be seen. My one chance was in prompt action; I must hunt them +up, recover trace of them with all possible despatch, follow them, and +find them wherever they might be. + +There was just the chance that they had only moved into another +carriage, thinking that when I missed them I should get out and hunt +for them in the station. To counter that I ran up and down the train, +in and out of the carriages, questing like a hound, searching +everywhere. So eager was I that I neglected the ordinary warnings that +the train was about to start; the guard's _fertig_ ("ready"), the +sounding horn, the answering engine whistle, I overlooked them all, +and we moved on before I could descend. I made as though to jump off +hastily, but was prevented. + +"_Was ist das? Nein, nein, verboten._" A hand caught me roughly by the +collar and dragged me back. It was the enemy I had made in championing +my lady, the guard of the train, who gladly seized the chance of being +disagreeable to me. + +I fought hard to be free, but by the time I had shaken him off the +speed had so increased that it would have been unsafe to leave the +train. I had no choice but to go on, harking back as soon as I could. +Fortunately our first stop was within five and twenty minutes, at +Vevey; and there in ten minutes more I found a train back to Lausanne, +so that I had lost less than an hour and a half in all. + +But much may happen in that brief space of time. It was more than +enough for my fugitives to clear out of the Lausanne station and make +some new move, to hide away in an out-of-the-way spot, go to ground in +fact, or travel in another direction. + +My first business was to inquire in and about the station for a person +or persons answering to the parties I missed. Had they separated, +these two women, for good and all? That was most unlikely. If the maid +had gone off first, I had to consider whether they would not again +join forces as soon as I was well out of the way. They would surely +feel safer, happier, together, and this encouraged me to ask first for +two people, two females, a lady and her servant, one of them, the +latter, carrying a child. + +There were many officials about in uniform, and all alike supercilious +and indifferent, after the manner of their class, to the travelling +public, and I could get none to take the smallest interest in my +affairs. One shrugged his shoulders, another stared at me in insolent +silence, a third answered me abruptly that he was too occupied to +bother himself, and a fourth peremptorily ordered me not to hang any +longer about the station. + +Foiled thus by the railway staff--and I desire to place on record here +my deliberate opinion after many years' experience in many lands, that +for rudeness and overbearing manners the Swiss functionary has no +equal in the whole world--I went outside the station and sought +information among the cabmen and touts who hang about waiting to take +up travellers. I accosted all the drivers patiently one by one, but +could gather nothing definite from any of them. Most had been on the +stand at the arrival of the midday train, many had been engaged to +convey passengers and baggage up into the town of Lausanne, and had +deposited their fares at various hotels and private residences, but no +one had driven any party answering to those of whom I was in search. + +This practically decided the point that my lady had not left the +station in a carriage or openly, if she had walked. But that she had +not been observed did not dispose of the question. They were dull, +stupid men, these, only intent on their own business, who would pay +little attention to humble persons on foot showing no desire to hire a +cab. I would not be baffled thus soon in my quest. A confidential +agent who will not take infinite pains in his researches had better +seek some other line of business. As I stood there in front of the +great station belonging to the Jura-Simplon, I saw facing me a small +façade of the Gare Sainte Luce, one of the intermediate stations on +the _Ficelle_ or cable railway that connects Ouchy on the lake with +Lausanne above. + +It was not a hundred yards distant; it could be easily and quickly +reached, and without much observation, if a person waited till the +immediate neighbourhood had been cleared by the general exodus after +the arrival of the chief express of the day. There were any number of +trains by this _funiculaire_--at every half-hour indeed--and any one +taking this route could reach either Lausanne or Ouchy after a very +few minutes' journey up or down. To extend my investigation on that +side was of obvious and pressing importance. I was only too conscious +of my great loss of time, now at the outset, which might efface all +tracks and cut me off hopelessly from any clue. + +I was soon across and inside the Sainte Luce station, but still +undecided which direction I should choose, when the little car arrived +going upward, and I ran over to that platform and jumped in. I must +begin one way or the other, and I proceeded at once to question the +conductor, when he nicked my ticket, only to draw perfectly blank. + +"Have I seen two ladies and a child this morning? But, _grand Dieu_, I +have seen two thousand. It is _idiote_ to ask such questions, +monsieur, of a busy man." + +"I can pay for what I want," I whispered gently, as I slipped a +five-franc piece into his hand, ever mindful of the true saying, +_Point d'argent, point de Suisse_; and the bribe entirely changed his +tone. + +"A lady, handsome, tall, distinguished, _comme il faut_, with a +companion, a servant, a nurse carrying a child?" He repeated my +description, adding, "_Parfaitement_, I saw her. She was not one to +forget quickly." + +"And she was going to Lausanne?" + +"_Ma foi_, yes, I believe so; or was it to Ouchy?" He seemed +overwhelmed with sudden doubt. "Lausanne or Ouchy? Up or down? Twenty +thousand thunders, but I cannot remember, not--" he dropped his +voice--"not for five francs." + +I doubled the dose, and hoped I had now sufficiently stimulated his +memory or unloosed his tongue. But the rascal was still hesitating +when we reached the top, and I could get nothing more than that it was +certainly Lausanne, "if," he added cunningly, "it was not Ouchy." But +he had seen her, that was sure--seen her that very day upon the line, +not more than an hour or two before. He had especially admired her; +_dame_! he had an eye for the _beau sexe_; and yet more he noticed +that she talked English, of which he knew some words, to her maid. But +whether she was bound to Lausanne or Ouchy, "_diable_, who could +say?" + +I had got little in return for my ten francs expended on this +ambiguous news, but now that I found myself actually in Lausanne I +felt that it behoved me to scour the city for traces of my quarry. She +might not have come here at all, yet there was an even chance the +other way, and I should be mad not to follow the threads I held in my +hand. I resolved to inquire at all the hotels forthwith. It would take +time and trouble, but it was essential. I must run her to ground if +possible, fix her once more, or I should never again dare to look my +employers in the face. I was ashamed to confess to Falfani that I had +been outwitted and befooled. I would send him no more telegrams until +I had something more satisfactory to say. + +I was now upon the great bridge that spans the valley of the Flon and +joins the old with the new quarter of Lausanne. The best hotels, the +Gibbon, Richemont, Falcon, Grand Pont, and several more, stood within +easy reach, and I soon exhausted this branch of the inquiry. I found a +_valet de place_ hanging about the Gibbon, whose services I secured, +and instructed him to complete the investigation, extending it to all +the minor hotels and pensions, some half-dozen more, reserving to +myself the terminus by the great station, which I had overlooked when +leaving for the _Ficelle_ or cable railway. I meant to wait for him +there to hear his report, but at the same time I took his +address--Eugène Falloon, Rue Pré Fleuri--where I could give him an +appointment in case I missed him at the terminus. He was a long, lean, +hungry-looking fellow, clumsily made, with an enormous head and +misshapen hands and feet; but he was no fool this Falloon, and his +local knowledge proved exceedingly useful. + +On entering the car for the journey down I came upon the conductor who +had been of so little use to me, and I was about to upbraid him when +he disarmed me by volunteering fresh news. + +"Ah, but, monsieur, I know much better now. I recollect exactly. The +lady with her people certainly went down, for I have seen a porter who +helped her with her effects from the line to the steamboat pier at +Ouchy." + +"And on board the steamer? Going in which direction?" I asked eagerly. + +"He shall tell you himself if I can find him when we reach the +terminus. It may not be easy, but I could do it if--" + +Another and a third five-franc piece solved his doubts, and I +abandoned my visit to the terminus hotel to seize this more tangible +clue, and proceeded at once to the lake shore. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +On reaching the steamboat pier I was introduced to the porter, a +shock-headed, stupid-looking creature, whom I forthwith questioned +eagerly; but elicited only vague and, I felt sure, misleading replies. +The conductor assisted at my interview, stimulating and encouraging +the man to speak, and overdid it, as I thought. I strongly suspected +that this new evidence had been produced in order to bleed me further. +Had he really seen this English lady? Would he describe her appearance +to me, and that of her companion? Was she tall or short? Well dressed, +handsome, or the reverse? What was her companion like? Tall or short? +How dressed, and did he suppose her condition to be that of a lady +like the other, equal in rank, or an inferior? + +The answers I got were not encouraging. Ladies? Of course they were +ladies, both of them. Dressed? In the very latest fashion. They were +very distinguished people. + +"Were they carrying anything, either of them?" I inquired. + +"Yes, when I saw them first they had much baggage. It was for that +they summoned me. Handbags, _sacs de nuit_, rugs, wrappers, +bonnet-boxes, many things, like all travellers." + +"And you noticed nothing big, no parcel for which they were +particularly concerned?" + +"They were anxious about everything, and worried me about everything, +but about no one thing especially that I can remember." + +This did not tally with my own observation and the extreme care taken +of the child in the woman's arms. I began to believe that my friend +was a humbug and could tell me nothing of his own knowledge. + +"What time was it?" I went on. + +"Some hours ago. I did not look at the clock." + +"But you know by the steamers that arrive. You men must know which are +due, and when they pass through." + +"Come, come, Antoine," broke in the conductor, determined to give him +a lead, "you must know that; there are not so many. It would be about +2 P.M., wouldn't it, when the express boat comes from Vevey and +Bouveret?" + +"Yes, I make no doubt of that," said the man, with a gleam of +intelligence upon his stolid face. + +"And the ladies went on board it, you say? Yes? You are sure?" + +"It must have been so; I certainly carried their traps on board." + +"Now, are you quite positive it was the two o'clock going that way, +and not the quarter past two returning from Geneva?" I had my Bradshaw +handy, and was following the time-table with my fingers. + +"The 2.15?" The gleam of light went out entirely from his stolid face. +"I have an idea you are right, sir. You see the two boats come in so +near each other and lie at the same pier. I could easily make a +mistake between them." + +"It is my firm belief," I said, utterly disgusted with the fellow, "my +firm belief that you have made a mistake all through. You never saw +the ladies at all, either of you." I turned upon the conductor with a +fierce scowl. "You are a rank humbug; you have taken my money under +false pretences. I've a precious good mind to report you to your +superiors, and insist upon your refunding the money. You've swindled +me out of it, thief and liar that you are." + +"Come, come, don't speak so freely. My superiors will always listen +first to one of their own employés, and it will be awkward if I charge +you with obstructing an official and making false charges against +him." + +Mine is a hasty temper; I am constrained to confess to a fault which +often stood in my way especially in my particular business. The +conductor's insolence irritated me beyond measure, and coming as it +did on the top of bitter disappointment I was driven into a deplorable +access of rage, which I shall always regret. Without another word I +rushed at him, caught him by the throat, and shook him violently, +throwing him to the ground and beating his head upon it savagely. + +Help must have come to him very speedily and to good purpose, for I +soon found myself in custody, two colossal gendarmes holding me tight +on each side. I was quickly removed like any malefactor to the lock-up +in the town above, and was thus for the moment effectively precluded +from continuing my pursuit. + +Law and order are not to be lightly trifled with in Switzerland, least +of all in the Canton de Vaud. I had been taken in the very act of +committing a savage assault upon an official in the execution of his +duty, which is true to the extent that every Swiss official conceives +it to be his duty to outrage the feelings and tyrannize over +inoffensive strangers. + +The police of Lausanne showed me little consideration. I was not +permitted to answer the charge against me, but was at once consigned +to a cell, having been first searched and despoiled of all my +possessions. Among them was my knife and a pocket revolver I generally +carried, also my purse, my wallet with all my private papers, and my +handbag. Both wallet and handbag were locked; they demanded the keys, +thinking I had them hidden on my person, but I said they could find +them for themselves, the truth being the locks were on a patent plan +and could be opened with the fingers by any one who knew. This secret +I chose to retain. + +When alone in my gloomy prison, with leisure to reflect more calmly on +my painful position, I realized what an ass I had been, and I vented +my wrath chiefly on myself. But it was idle to repine. My object now +was to go free again at the earliest possible moment, and I cast about +to see how I might best compass it. + +At first I was very humble, very apologetic. I acknowledged my error, +and promised to do anything in my power to indemnify my victim. I +offered him any money in reason, I would pay any sum they might fix, +pay down on the nail and give my bond for the rest. + +My gaolers scouted the proposal indignantly. Did I think justice was +to be bought in Switzerland? It was the law I had outraged, not an +individual merely. Besides--money is all powerful in this venal +country--how could I pay, a poor devil like me, the necessary price? +what could I produce in cash on the nail? My bond would not be worth +the paper it was written on. + +No, no, there was no chance for me; nothing could save me. I must go +before the correctional police and pay in person for my offence. I +might expect to be punished summarily, to be sent to gaol, to be laid +by the heels for a month or two, perhaps more. Such a brutal assault +as mine would be avenged handsomely. + +Now I changed my tactics. I began to bluster. I was a British subject +and claimed to be treated with proper respect. I appealed to the +British Consul; I insisted upon seeing him. When they laughed at me, +saying that he would not interfere with the course of justice on +behalf of such an unknown vagabond, I told them roundly that I was +travelling under the special protection of the British Minister for +Foreign Affairs, the illustrious Marquis of Lansdowne. Let them bring +me my wallet. I would show them my passport bearing the Royal Arms and +the signature of one of H.M. Secretaries of State. All of us in the +employ of Messrs. Becke invariably carried Foreign Office passports as +the best credentials we could produce if we were caught in any tight +place. + +The greeting of so great a personage to his trusty and well beloved +Ludovic Tiler had a very marked effect upon my captors. It was +enhanced by the sight of a parcel of crisp Bank of England notes lying +snugly in the pocket of the wallet, which I had opened, but without +betraying the secret of the spring. When I extracted a couple of +fivers and handed them to the chief gaoler, begging him to do the best +for my comfort, the situation changed considerably, but no hopes were +held out for my immediate release. I was promised dinner from a +restaurant hard by, and was permitted to send a brief telegram to +Falfani, to the effect that I was detained at Lausanne by unforeseen +circumstances, but no more. Then bedding was brought in, on which, +after a night in the train, I managed to sleep soundly enough until +quite late next morning. + +I had summoned Eugène Falloon to my assistance, and he was permitted +to visit me quite early, soon after the prison had opened. He was +prompt and practical, and proceeded to perform the commissions I gave +him with all despatch. I charged him first to telegraph to England, to +our office, briefly stating my quandary, begging them to commend me to +some one in Lausanne or Geneva, for Becke's have friends and +correspondents in every city of the world. He was then to call upon +the British Consul, producing my passport in proof of my claim upon +him as a British subject in distress, and if necessary secure me legal +advice. I had been warned that I might expect to be examined that very +day, but that several were likely to elapse before the final disposal +of my case. + +All that forenoon, and quite late into the next day, I was left +brooding and chafing at my misfortune, self-inflicted I will confess, +but not the less irksome to bear. I had almost persuaded myself that I +should be left to languish here quite friendless and forgotten, when +the luck turned suddenly, and daylight broke in to disperse my gloomy +forebodings. Several visitors came, claiming to see me, and were +presently admitted in turn. First came the Consul, and with him an +intelligent Swiss advocate, who declared he would soon put matters +right. It would only be a question of a fine, and binding me over to +good behaviour on bail. Could I find bail? That was the only question. +And while we still discussed it we found amongst the callers a +respectable and well-to-do watchmaker from Geneva, who had been +entreated (no doubt from Becke's) to do all that was needful on my +behalf. I might be of good cheer; there was no reasonable doubt but +that I should be released, but hardly before next day. + +A second night in durance was not much to my taste, but I bore it with +as much resignation as I could command; and when next morning I +appeared before the Court, I paid my fine of one hundred francs with +hearty good-will. I assured my bail, the friendly watchmaker, that he +need not have the smallest fear I should again commit myself. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +My spirits rose with my release, but there was still more than freedom +to encourage my light-heartedness. I heard now and definitely of my +fugitive lady. Falloon had come upon undoubted evidence that she had +never left the great Jura-Simplon station, but had remained quietly +out of sight in the "ladies' waiting-room" until the next train left +for Geneva. This was at 1.35 P.M., and she must have slipped away +right under my eyes into the very train which had brought me back from +Vevey. So near are the chances encountered in such a profession as +ours. + +Falloon had only ascertained this positively on the second day of my +detention, but with it the information that only two first-class +tickets, both for Geneva, had been issued by that train. To make it +all sure he had taken the precaution to ask at all the stations along +the line at which the train had stopped, seven in number, and had +learned that no persons answering to my ladies had alighted at any of +them. So my search was carried now to Geneva, and it might be possible +to come upon my people there, although I was not oversanguine. I knew +something of the place. I had been there more than once, had stayed +some time, and I knew too well that it is a city with many issues, +many facilities for travelling, and, as they had so much reason for +moving on rapidly, the chances were that they would have already +escaped me. + +However, with Falloon I proceeded to Geneva without delay, and began a +systematic search. We made exhaustive inquiries at the Cornavin +station, where we arrived from Lausanne, and heard something. + +The party had certainly been seen at this very station. Two ladies, +one tall, the other short, with a baby. They had gone no further then; +they had not returned to the station since. So far good. But there was +a second station, the Gare des Vollondes, at the opposite end of the +city, from which ran the short line to Bouveret on the south shore of +the lake, and I sent Falloon there to inquire, giving him a rendezvous +an hour later at the Café de la Couronne on the Quai du Lac. Meanwhile +I meant to take all the hotels in regular order, and began with those +of the first class on the right bank, the Beau Rivage, the Russie, de +la Paix, National, Des Bergues, and the rest. As I drew blank +everywhere I proceeded to try the hotels on the left bank, and made +for the Pont de Mont Blanc to cross the Rhone, pointing for the +Metropole. + +Now my luck again greatly favoured me. Just as I put my foot upon the +bridge I saw a figure approaching me, coming from the opposite +direction. + +I recognized it instantly. It was the lady herself. + +She must have seen me at the very same moment, for she halted dead +with the abruptness of one faced with a sudden danger, an opened +precipice, or a venomous snake under foot. She looked hurriedly to +right and left, as if seeking some loophole of escape. + +At that moment one of the many electric trams that overspread Geneva +with a network of lines came swinging down the Rue de Mont Blanc from +the Cornavin station, and slackened speed at the end of the bridge. My +lady made up her mind then and there, and as it paused she boarded it +with one quick, agile spring. + +With no less prompt decision I followed her, and we entered the car +almost simultaneously. + +There were only two seats vacant and, curiously enough, face to face. +I took my place, not ill pleased, for she had already seen me, and I +was anxious to know how my sudden reappearance would affect her. It +was clear she did not relish it, or she would not have turned tail at +our unexpected meeting. + +I had not long to wait. She chose her line at once, and without +hesitation addressed me, smiling and unabashed. Her self-possession, I +had almost said her effrontery, took me quite aback. + +"Surely I am not mistaken?" she began quite coolly. "Have I not to +thank you for your courtesy in the train a couple of days ago?" + +I stammered a halting affirmative. + +"I am afraid you must have thought me very rude. I ran off without a +word, didn't I? The truth was my child had been suddenly taken ill and +the nurse had to leave the train hurriedly. She had only just time to +catch me and prevent me from going on. I am sorry. I should have liked +to say good-bye." + +"Make no apologies, I beg," I hastened to say courteously. But in my +heart I trembled. What could this mean? Some fresh trick? She was so +desperately full of guile! + +"But I thought you were bound for the other end of the lake," she +continued. "Do you make a long stay at Geneva?" + +"No. Do you?" I retorted. + +"Probably. I begin to like the place, and I have found very +comfortable quarters at the Hôtel Cornavin, near the station. You may +know it." + +Could this be really so? Her perfect frankness amazed me. I could not +credit it, much less understand it. There was surely some pitfall, +some trap concealed for my abounding credulity. + +"I also propose to stay some days, but am not yet established." I made +so bold as to suggest that I had a great mind to try her Hôtel +Cornavin. + +"Why not?" she replied heartily. "The accommodation is good, nice +rooms, civil people, decent _cuisine_. It might suit you." + +She could not possibly have been more civil and gracious. Too civil by +half, a more cautious man might have told himself. + +The tram-car by this time had run through the Place Molard, the +Allemand Marché, and was turning into the Rue de la Corraterie, +pointing upward for the theatre and the Promenade des Bastions. Where +was my involuntary companion bound? + +She settled the question by getting out at the Place Neuve with a few +parting words. + +"I have a call to make near here. I had forgotten it. Perhaps I may +hope to see you again. Do try the Cornavin. If so, _sans adieu_." + +Was it good enough? I could not allow her to slip through my fingers +like this. What if her whole story was untrue, what if there was no +Hôtel Cornavin, and no such guests there? I could not afford to let +her out of my sight, and with one spring I also left the car and, +catching a last glimpse of her retreating skirts, gave chase. + +I cannot say whether she realized that I was following, but she led me +a pretty dance. In and out, and round and round, by narrow streets and +dark passages, backwards and forwards, as adroitly as any practised +thief eluding the hot pursuit of the police. At last she paused and +looked back, and thinking she had shaken me off (for knowing the game +well I had hastily effaced myself in a doorway) plunged into the +entrance of a small unpretending hotel in a quiet, retired square--the +Hôtel Pierre Fatio, certainly not the Cornavin. + +The door in which I had taken shelter was that of a dark third-rate +café well suited to my purpose, and well placed, for I was in full +view of the Hôtel Pierre Fatio, which I was resolved to watch at least +until my lady came out again. As I slowly absorbed an absinthe, +revolving events past and to come, I thought it would be well to draw +Falloon to me. It was past the hour for our meeting. + +I scribbled three lines of a note and despatched it to the Café de la +Couronne by a messenger to whom I fully described my colleague's +appearance, desiring him to show the addressed envelope before +delivery, but having no doubt that it would reach its destination. + +Presently Falloon joined me, and as my lady had as yet made no sign, I +bade him continue the watch, while I left the café openly and +ostentatiously, so that it might be seen by any one curious to know +that I had given up the game. + +Far from it. I designed only to try the Hôtel Cornavin to ascertain +the real facts; and if, as I shrewdly suspected, I had been fooled, +to return forthwith and rejoin Falloon at the true point of interest, +taking such further steps as might seem desirable. I was chiefly +anxious to regain touch and combine forces with Falfani. + +There was no mistake, however, at the Cornavin Hôtel. I had not been +fooled. I was told directly I asked at the bureau that a Mrs. Blair, +accompanied by her maid and child, was staying in the house. Could I +see her? If monsieur would send up his card, it should be given her on +her return. She was not at home for the moment. (I knew that.) Would +monsieur call again? + +I was slow to congratulate myself on what seemed a point gained, for I +had still my misgivings, but I would make the most of the chances that +offered to my hand. I secured a room at the Cornavin Hôtel, and +bespoke another for Falfani, whom I should now summon at once. With +this idea I took the earliest opportunity of telegraphing to him as +follows: + + "Detained by unfortunate _contretemps_ at Lausanne, happily + surmounted, clue lost and regained. Desire your + coöperation. Come instantly, Hôtel Cornavin. She is here. + + "LUDOVIC." + +I noted the time of despatch, 4.17 P.M. It would surely reach +Falfani before the last train left Brieg coming my way, and I hardly +trusted myself to anticipate the comfort and relief his appearance +would bring me. Combined we could tie ourselves to our quarry, and +never let her out of sight until our principals could take over and +settle the business. + +Then hailing a cab, I drove to a point close by where I had left +Falloon, and found the situation entirely unchanged. No one had come +out of the Hôtel Pierre Fatio. Mrs. Blair was paying a very long call, +and I could not understand it. All the time I was haunted with a vague +and ever present idea that she meant to sell me. The more I tortured +my brain to consider how, the less I was able to fathom her +intentions. + +The time ran on, and I thought it would be prudent to return to my own +hotel. Mrs. Blair might have given us the slip, might have left by +some other issue, and I felt that my place was at the Cornavin, where +at least I knew she was staying. Falloon should stand his ground +where he was, but I fully impressed upon him the importance of the +duty entrusted to him. + +I blessed my stars that I so decided. Mrs. Blair had not returned when +the _table d'hôte_ bell rang at the Cornavin, but I had hardly +swallowed the first spoonful of soup when Falloon appeared, hot and +flurried, with very startling news. + +"_Elle se sauve._ She is saving herself; she is running away," he +cried. "Already her carriage enters the station--without doubt she +seeks the train for somewhere." + +I jumped up, rushed from the room, caught up my hat, and hurried +across the Square of Place Cornavin into the station. It was a clear +case of bolt. There she was ahead of me, quite unmistakable, walking +quickly, with her fine upright figure clad in the same pearl gray +ulster she had worn in the tram-car. She passed through the open doors +of the waiting-room on to the platform where the train was waiting +with engine attached. + +"The 7.35 for Culoz and beyond by Amberieu to Paris," I was informed +on inquiry. + +"A double back," I concluded on the spot. She had had enough of it, +and was going home again. In another minute or two she would have +eluded me once more. + +My only chance now lay in prompt action. I, too, must travel by this +train. To secure a ticket and board it was soon done. I chose a +carriage at no great distance from that she had entered; a through +carriage to Maçon, and which I was resolved to watch closely, but yet +I did not mean to show myself to its occupants if it could be helped. + +As we were on the point of starting, I scribbled a few lines on a leaf +torn from my pocket-book to inform Falfani of my hasty departure and +the reason for it. This I folded carefully and addressed to him, +entrusting it to Falloon, who was to seek out my colleague at the +Hôtel Cornavin after the arrival of the late train from Brieg, and +deliver it. At the same time I handed Falloon a substantial fee, but +desired him to offer his services to Falfani. + +I saw no more of the lady. She did not show at Bellegarde when the +French Customs' examination took place, nor yet at Culoz, and I +believed she was now committed to the journey northward. But as I was +dozing in my place and the train slowed on entering Amberieu, the +guard whom I had suborned came to me with a hurried call. + +"Monsieur, monsieur, you must be quick. Madame has descended and is +just leaving the station. No doubt for the Hôtel de France, just +opposite." + +There she was indeed with all her belongings. (How well I knew them by +this time!) The maid with her child in arms, the porter with the light +baggage. + +I quickened my pace and entered the hotel almost simultaneously with +her. Ranging up alongside I said, not without exultation: + +"Geneva was not so much to your taste, then? You have left rather +abruptly." + +"To whom are you speaking, sir?" she replied in a stiff, strange +voice, assumed, I felt sure, for the occasion. She was so closely +veiled that I could not see her face, but it was the same figure, the +same costume, the same air. Lady Blackadder that was, Mrs. Blair as +she now chose to call herself, I could have sworn to her among a +thousand. + +"It won't do, madame," I insisted. "I'm not to be put off. I know all +about it, and I've got you tight, and I'm not going to leave go again. +No fear." I meant to spend the night on guard, watching and waiting +till I was relieved by the arrival of the others, to whom I +telegraphed without delay. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +[_Colonel Annesley resumes._] + + +I left my narrative at the moment when I had promised my help to the +lady I found in such distress in the Engadine express. I promised it +unconditionally, and although there were circumstances in her case to +engender suspicion, I resolutely ignored them. It was her secret, and +I was bound to respect it, content to await the explanation I felt +sure she could make when so minded. + +It was at dinner in the dining-car, under the eyes of her persecutor, +that we arranged to give him the slip at Basle. It was cleverly +accomplished, I think. + +[_Here the Colonel gives an account of all that happened between Basle +and Brieg; and as the incidents have been already described by Falfani +it is unnecessary to retell them, except to note that Annesley had +quickly discovered the detective's escape outside Goeschenen and lost +no time in giving chase._] + +As may be supposed I rejoiced greatly on reaching Brieg to find that +Falfani had been bitterly disappointed. It was plain from the telegram +that was handed to him on arrival, and which so upset him that he +suffered me to take it out of his hand and to read it for myself, that +a friend, his colleague, no doubt, had been checked summarily at +Lausanne. He said he had lost "her," the lady of course. + +I was not altogether happy in my mind about her, for when we had +parted at Brieg it had been settled that she should take the Simplon +route through this very place Brieg, at which I now found myself so +unexpectedly, and I ought to have come upon her or had news of her +somewhere had her plans been carried out. She certainly had not +reached Brieg, for with my ally l'Echelle we searched the town for +news of her that night and again next morning. + +The situation was embarrassing. I could decide upon no clear course +but that of holding on to Falfani and clinging to him with the very +skin of my teeth; any light must come from or through him, or at least +by keeping him in full view I might prevent him from doing any more +mischief. + +One of us, l'Echelle or myself, continually watched him all that day, +the third of this curious imbroglio into which I was plunged. At night +I took the strong and unjustifiable measure of locking him into his +room. + +When he discovered it next morning he was furious, and came straight +at me open-mouthed. + +"I'll appeal to the law, I'll denounce you to the authorities, I'll +charge you with persecution and with false imprisonment. You shall be +arrested. I'll be rid of you somehow, you shall not stay here, you +shall leave Brieg." + +"With all my heart--when you do. Have I not told you that already? +Where you go I go, where you stay I stay." + +"But it is most monstrous and abominable. I will not submit to it. You +have no sort of right to act in this way. Why is it?" + +"You can guess my reasons, surely. Only it is not for your _beaux +yeux_; not because I like you. I loathe and detest you. You are a low, +slimy spy, who richly deserves to be thrashed for bullying a lady." + +"I'll have you to know, sir, that I am fully entitled to act as I am +doing," he said with a consequential air. "I am the representative of +a court of law; I have great people at my back, people who will soon +bring you to book. Wait a little, we shall see. You'll sing a very +poor song when you have to do with a nobleman. The Right Honourable +the Earl of Blackadder will arrive shortly. I hope this very +afternoon. You can settle it with him, ah! How do you like that, eh?" + +I laughed him to scorn. + +"Psha, man, you're an ass. I've told you before now what I think of +Lord Blackadder, and if it be necessary I'll tell him to his face when +he gets here." + +This conversation took place just before the _table-d'hôte_ luncheon, +and immediately afterwards Falfani went out in the direction of the +railway station. I followed, keeping him in sight on the platform, +where, by and by, I saw him, hat in hand, bowing obsequiously before a +passenger who alighted from the incoming train. It would have been +enough for me had I not already known Lord Blackadder by sight. They +walked back together to the hotel, and so, at a certain distance, did +I. + +I was lounging about outside the house, wondering what would happen +next, when a waiter came out to me bearing a card, which he tendered, +bowing low, more in deference to the card, as I thought, than to me. + +"Earl of Blackadder" was the name engraved, and written just below in +pencil were the words, "would like to speak to Colonel Annesley at +once." + +"Well, I've no objection," I began, stiffly. I thought the summons a +trifle too peremptory. "Where is he?" + +The waiter pointed back to the hotel, and I saw a white, evil face +glowering at me from a window on the ground floor of the hotel. The +very look on it stirred my bile. It was an assumption of superiority, +of concentrated pride and exaggerated authority, as though everyone +must yield to his lightest wish and humble himself in the dust before +him. I resented this, and slipping the card carelessly in my pocket, I +nodded to the waiter, who still stood awaiting my reply. + +"Will monsieur come?" he asked. + +"No. Tell his lordship he will find me here if he wants me. That will +do," and I waved him off. + +Soon afterwards Lord Blackadder came out. Mahomet came to the +mountain. I liked his face less than ever. It wore an angry scowl +now; his dark eyes glittered balefully under the close-knit eyebrows, +his lips were drawn down, and the curved nose was like the aggressive +beak of a bird of prey. + +"Colonel Annesley, I understand," he said coldly, contemptuously, just +lifting one finger towards the brim of his hat. + +"That is my name," I responded, without returning the salute. + +"I am Lord Blackadder; you will have had my card. I desired to address +you somewhat more privately than this." He looked round the open yard +in front of the hotel. "May I hope you will accompany me to my rooms? +I have to speak to you on a matter that concerns you very closely." + +"That I cannot admit. There can be nothing between you and me, Lord +Blackadder, that concerns me very closely; nothing that the whole +world may not hear." + +"What I have to say might prove very unpleasant to you in the telling, +Colonel Annesley. You would be well advised in agreeing that our +interview should be private." + +"I can't see it, and I must tell you plainly that I do not care one +jot. Say what you please, my lord, and, if you like, as loud as you +please, only be quick about it." + +"With all my heart, then, if you will have it so. I wish to tell you, +Colonel Annesley, that you have taken a most unwarrantable liberty in +mixing yourself up with my affairs." + +"I am not aware that I have done so." + +"You shall not trifle with me, sir. Your conduct is inexcusable, +ungentlemanlike." + +"Take care, my lord," I broke in hotly. + +"People who forget themselves so far as you have done must accept the +responsibility of their own actions; and I tell you, here and now, +that I shall call you to strict account for yours." + +The man was trying me hard, but still I strove to keep my temper. + +"I don't care that for your opinion, and I do not allow that you are a +judge of what is gentlemanlike. No one would do so who had read the +public prints lately." + +"How dare you, sir, refer to my conduct, or presume to criticize or +question it?" he burst out. + +"Ta, ta, ta! It is a real pleasure to me to tell you what I think of +you, Lord Blackadder; and as I am ready to give you every +satisfaction, I shall not stint myself." + +"I insist upon satisfaction." + +"By all means. It can be easily arranged. We are within a short step +of either France or Italy, and in both countries the old-fashioned +plan of settling affairs of honour is still in force. We shall find +friendly seconds in the nearest garrison town, and I shall be glad to +cross the frontier with you whenever you please." + +"You talk like the hectoring, swashbuckling bully that you are," he +cried angrily, but looking rather uncomfortable.... "I will swear the +peace against you." + +"Do so by all means. It would be like you. A man who would descend to +espionage, who could so cruelly misuse a lady, is capable of anything; +of making assertions he cannot substantiate, of threatening things he +dare not do." + +"I have the clearest proof of what I say. You have chosen to come into +my life--" + +"I should be extremely sorry to do so." + +"Will you deny that you have sided with my enemies, that you have +joined and abetted them in a base plot to defraud and rob me of +my--my--property, of that which I most highly value and cherish of +all my possessions?" + +"I don't know what you are talking about, Lord Blackadder, but +whatever your grievance I tell you candidly that I do not like your +tone or your manner, and I shall hold no further converse with you." + +I turned my back on him and walked away. + +"Stay, stay. You must and shall hear me out. I've not done with you." +He came hurrying after me, following close and raising his voice +higher and higher. "Your very presence here is an offence. You have no +right to be here at all." + +"Do you think that you own all Switzerland, my noble earl?" I answered +over my shoulder as I walked on. "It is not your ground to warn me +off." + +"I tell you you shall not remain here to annoy me and work against me. +I forbid it, and I will put a stop to it. I give you plain warning." + +"You know you are talking nonsense. I shall go my own road, and I defy +you to do your worst." + +Here, when I was on the threshold of the hotel, I met Falfani full, +as he came running out excitedly, holding in his hand the telltale +blue envelope, which, with his elated air, indicated clearly that he +had just received important news. + +I paused for a moment, hoping he might commit himself, and was +rewarded by hearing him say aloud: + +"It is from Geneva, my lord, from Ludovic Tiler," he began +indiscreetly, and was angrily silenced by my lord, who called him "a +triple-dyed idiot," and with a significant gesture towards me bade him +walk away to some distance from the hotel. + +The mischief was done, however, for I had of course heard enough to +know that the other detective had given signs of life at last, and +that the report, to judge by Falfani's glee, must be satisfactory. The +more pleased the other side, the more reason to fear that matters were +adverse on ours. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + +It might be thought that I was too hard on my Lord Blackadder, but +only those few indeed who were unacquainted with the circumstances of +his divorce would find fault with me. The scandal was quite recent, +and the Blackadder case had been in everybody's mouth. The papers had +been full of it, and the proceedings were not altogether to his +lordship's credit. They had been instituted by him, however, on +grounds that induced the jury to give him a verdict, and the judge had +pronounced a decree nisi on the evidence as it stood. + +Yet the public sympathies were generally with the respondent, the +Countess of Blackadder. It had been an unhappy marriage, an +ill-assorted match, mercenary, of mere convenience, forced upon an +innocent and rather weak girl by careless and callous guardians, eager +to rid themselves of responsibility for the two twin sisters, Ladies +Claire and Henriette Standish, orphans, and with no near relations. + +Lord Blackadder was immensely rich, but a man of indifferent moral +character, a _roué_ and a voluptuary, with a debilitated constitution +and an unattractive person, possessing none of the gifts that take a +maiden's fancy. + +Estrangement soon followed the birth of the son and heir to his title +and great estates. My lord was a great deal older than his beautiful +young wife, and desperately jealous of her. Distrust grew into strong +suspicion, and presently consumed him when an old flame of Lady +Henriette's, Charlie Forrester, of the Dark Horse, turned up from +foreign service, and their names came to be bracketed together by the +senseless gossiping busybodies ever ready to tear a pretty woman's +reputation to tatters. It was so much put about, so constantly dinned +into Lord Blackadder's ears, that he was goaded into a perfect fury, +and was at length determined, by hook or by crook, to put away his +wife, leaving it to certain astute and well-practised solicitors to +manufacture a clear, solid case against her. + +Lady Blackadder, who hated and despised her lord, foolishly played +into his hands. She never really went wrong, so her friends stoutly +averred, especially her sister Claire, a staunch and loyal soul, but +she gave a handle to innuendo, and more than once allowed appearances +to go against her. + +There was one very awkward story that could not be disproved as it was +told, and in the upshot convicted her. It was clearly shown in +evidence that she had made up her mind to leave Lord Blackadder; more, +that she meant to elope with Major Forrester. It was said, but not so +positively, that she had met him at Victoria Station; they were seen +there together, had travelled by the same train, and there was a +strong presumption that they had arrived together at Brighton; one or +two railway officials deposed to the fact. + +Lady Blackadder denied this entirely, and gave a very different +complexion to the story. She had gone to Brighton; yes, but quite +alone. Major Forrester had seen her off, no doubt, but they had parted +at the carriage door. Her visit to Brighton had been for the purpose +of seeing and staying with an old servant, once a very confidential +maid for whom she had a great liking, and had often taken refuge with +when worried and in trouble. She thought, perhaps, to make this the +first stage in the rupture with my lord. + +This maid had earnestly adjured her not to break with her husband, and +to return to Grosvenor Square. + +This flight was the head and corner-stone of Lady Blackadder's +offending. It was interpreted into guilt of the most heinous kind; the +evidence in support of it seemed overwhelming. Witnesses swore +positively to the companionship of Major Forrester, both at Victoria +and Brighton, and it was to be fairly assumed that they were at the +latter place together. + +No rebutting evidence was forthcoming. The maid, a woman married to an +ex-French or Swiss courier, by name Bruel, could not be produced, +simply because she could not be found in Brighton. They were supposed +to be settled there as lodging-house keepers, but they had not resided +long enough to be in the Directory, and their address was not known. +Lord Blackadder's case was that they were pure myths, they had never +had any tangible existence, but were only imported into the case to +support an ingenious but untenable defence. + +It was more than hinted that they had been spirited away, and they +were not the first material witnesses, it was hinted, in an intricate +case, conducted by Messrs. Gadecker and Gobye, who had mysteriously +disappeared. So the plausible, nay, completely satisfactory +explanation of Lady Blackadder's visit to Brighton could not be put +forward, much less established, and there was no sort of hope for her. +She lost her case in the absence of the Bruels, man and wife. The +verdict was for Lord Blackadder, and he was adjudged to have the care +and custody of the child, the infant Viscount Aspdale. + +I had not the smallest doubt when I realized with whom I had to do +that the unhappy mother had made a desperate effort to redress her +wrongs, as she thought them, and had somehow contrived to carry off +her baby before she could be deprived of it. + +I had met her in full flight upon the Engadine express. + +What next? Was she to be overtaken and despoiled, legally, of course, +but still cruelly, separated from her own flesh and blood? The Court +might order such an unnatural proceeding, but I was moved by every +chivalrous impulse to give her my unstinting and unhesitating support +to counteract it. + +I was full of these thoughts, and still firmly resolved to help Lady +Blackadder, when l'Echelle, the conductor whose services I still +retained, sought me out hurriedly, and told me that he believed the +others were on the point of leaving Brieg. + +"I saw Falfani and milord poring over the pages of the _Indicateur_, +and heard the word Geneva dropped in a whisper. I think they mean to +take the next train along the lake shore." + +"Not a doubt of it," I assented; "so will we. They must not be allowed +to go beyond our reach." + +When the 6.57 P.M. for Geneva was due out from Brieg, we, +l'Echelle and I, appeared on the platform, and our intention to travel +by it was made plain to Lord Blackadder. The effect upon him was +painfully manifest at once. He chafed, he raged up and down, grimacing +and apostrophizing Falfani; once or twice he approached me with +clenched fists, and I really thought would have struck me at last. +Seeing me enter the same carriage with him, with the obvious intention +of keeping him under my eye, he threw himself back among the cushions +and yielded himself with the worst grace to the inevitable. + +The railway journey was horribly slow, and it must have been past 11 +P.M. before we reached Geneva. We alighted in the Cornavin +station, and as they moved at once towards the exit I followed. I +expected them to take a carriage and drive off, and was prepared to +give chase, when I found they started on foot, evidently to some +destination close at hand. It proved to be the Cornavin Hôtel, not a +stone's-throw from the station. + +They entered, and went straight to the bureau, where the night clerk +was at his desk. I heard them ask for a person named Tiler, and +without consulting his books the clerk replied angrily: + +"Tiler! Tiler! _Ma foi_, he is of no account, your Tiler. He has gone +off from the dinner-table and without paying his bill." + +"That shall be made all right," replied Lord Blackadder loftily, as he +detailed his name and quality, before which the employé bowed low. +"And might I ask," his lordship went on, "whether a certain Mrs. +Blair, a lady with her child and its nurse, is staying in the hotel?" + +"But certainly, milord. They have been here some days. Salon and suite +No. 17." + +"At any rate, that's well, Falfani," said Lord Blackadder, with a sigh +of satisfaction. "But what of your friend Tiler? Thick-headed dolt, +unable to keep awake, I suppose." + +At that moment a shabbily dressed person approached Falfani, touched +his hat, and offered him a note, saying: + +"This must be for you, monsieur. I heard your name--" + +"From Tiler, my lord, aha! This explains." And he passed the scrap of +paper on to his employer. + +"I'll be hanged if I see it! He says the parties have gone, and that +he is in close attendance; yet this fellow here," pointing to the +clerk, "assures us she is in this very house. I don't understand it, +by Gad!" + +"There is some fresh trick, my lord, you may be sure. The devil +himself isn't half so clever as this fine lady. But we'll get at the +bottom of it. We shall hear more from Tiler, and we've got the lady +here, under our hand." + +"Ah! but have we? This chap's as likely as not to be mistaken. How do +you know, sir," to the clerk, "that Mrs. Blair is still in the hotel? +When did you come on duty? What if she left without your knowing it?" + +"It could not be, milord. See, it is marked in the register. No. 17 is +occupied. I could not let it. Mrs. Blair holds it still." + +"But she may not be in it, all the same. Can't you see? She may retain +it, but not use it." + +"Look, my lord, look, there's one of her party, anyway," interposed +Falfani, and he called his attention to a female figure standing a +little aloof in the shadow of the staircase, and which I had already +recognized. + +It was Philpotts, "Mrs. Blair's" maid, and she was trying to attract +my attention. Lord Blackadder had not seen her, and now his eye, for +the first time, fell upon me. He turned on me furiously. + +"You! You! Still at my heels? This is perfectly monstrous. It amounts +to persecution. You still dare to intrude yourself. Can I have no +privacy? Take yourself off, or I will not answer for the +consequences." + +I confess I only laughed and still held my ground, although my lord's +outcry had attracted much attention. Several people ran up, and they +might have sided against me, when I heard a voice whisper into my ear: + +"Come, sir, come. Slip away. My lady is dying to see you. She is +terribly upset." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + +I was received with great warmth and cordiality by my friend, and it +was made clear to me that my opportune appearance brought her great +comfort and support. + +"I never hoped for such good fortune as this," she began heartily. "I +had no idea you were within miles, and was repining bitterly that I +had let you get so far out of the way. Now you appear in the very nick +of time, just when I was almost in despair. But wait. Can I still +count upon your help?" + +"Why, most certainly, Lady Blackadder." + +"Lady Black--" She was looking at me very keenly, and, as I thought, +was much startled and surprised. Then with a conscious blush she went +on. "Of course, I might have guessed you would penetrate my disguise, +but you must not call me Lady Blackadder. I can lay no claim to the +title." + +"May I be forgiven if I trench on such a delicate subject, and assure +you of my most sincere sympathy? Everybody felt for you deeply. I +hope you will believe that I am, and ever shall be, at your orders and +devoted to your service." + +"Yes, yes, I am sure of it; I know I can depend upon you fully, and I +mean to do so now at once. You know, you have heard, that Lord +Blackadder is here, and actually in this hotel?" + +"I came with him. I was watching that fellow, the detective Falfani, +when his lordship came upon the scene. We had words, a quarrel, almost +a fight." + +"Pfu! He would not fight! I only wish you had thrashed him as he +deserves. But that won't help matters now. How am I to escape him?" + +"With the child?" + +"To be sure. Of course, I do not fear him in the least for myself." + +"You want to keep the child?" + +"Naturally, as I carried it off." + +"And still more because you had the best right to it, whatever the +Court might direct. You are its mother." + +Again she blushed and smiled, rather comically. "I certainly shall not +surrender it to Lord Blackadder, not without a struggle. Yet he is +very near getting it now." + +"In there?" I nodded towards the next room. "It is a close thing. How +are you to manage it?" + +"There would not have been the slightest difficulty; it was all but +done, and then some one, something, failed me. I expected too much +perhaps, but I have been bitterly disappointed, and the danger has +revived." + +"Come, come, Lady Blackadder, keep up your courage. Let us take +counsel together. We can surely devise some fresh plan. Don't give way +now; you have been so plucky all through. Be brave still." + +"Thank you, Colonel Annesley, I will." She put out her hand with +enchanting frankness, her fine eyes shining gratefully. A man would +have dared much, endured much, to win such gracious approval. + +"It is getting late, but you must hear all I have to tell before we +can decide upon the next step. Will you listen to me? I shall not bore +you. It is a long story. First let me clear the ground a little. I +must disabuse your mind on one point. I am not Lady Blackadder--no, +no, do not misunderstand me--not on account of the divorce, but I +never was Lady Blackadder. She was Henriette Standish. I am Claire, +her sister Claire." + +"What a fool I've been!" I cried. "I might have guessed." + +"How should you? But let me go on. I shall never forget that +detestable trial, those awful days in the Divorce Court, when the +lawyers fought and wrangled over my darling sister, like dogs over a +bone, tearing and snarling at each other, while the judge sat above +like a solemn old owl, never moving or making a sign. + +"Henriette positively refused to appear in the case, although she was +pressed and entreated by her legal advisers. She could have thrown so +much light on the worst and darkest part. She could have repudiated +the cowardly charges made, and cast back the lies drawn round her to +ruin her. If the jury had but seen her pretty, pathetic face, and +heard from her own sweet lips all she had endured, they would have +come to a very different verdict. + +"But she would not come forward on her own behalf. She would not +defend the action; she did not want to win it, but waited till it was +all over, hiding herself away in a far-off corner of the Apennines, +where I was to join her with the child, little Ralph. + +"There had been no question of that; the possibility of her losing it +had never been raised, or she would have nerved herself to fight +sooner than give up what she valued more than her very life. + +"It fell upon me with crushing effect, although towards the end of the +trial I had had my forebodings. Lord Blackadder was to have the +custody of his heir, and my dear sweet Henriette was to be robbed for +ever of her chiefest joy and treasure. The infant child was to be +abandoned to strangers, paid by its unnatural and unfeeling father. + +"I had braced myself to listen to all that came out in court, a whole +tissue of lies told by perjured wretches whose evidence was accepted +as gospel--one of them was the same Falfani whom you know, and who had +acted the loathsome part of spy on several occasions. + +"Directly the judge had issued his cruel fiat, I slipped out, hurried +down-stairs into the Strand, jumped into a hansom, and was driven at +top speed to Hamilton Terrace, bent upon giving instant effect to a +scheme I had long since devised. + +"I found my faithful Philpotts awaiting me with everything prepared as +I had arranged. The dear baby was dressed quickly--he was as good as +gold--the baggage, enough for my hurried journey to Fuentellato, had +been packed for days past, and we took the road. + +"I knew that pursuit would not tarry, but I was satisfied that I had +made a good start, and I hoped to make my way through to Italy without +interference. When I first saw you at Calais I was seized with a +terrible fear, which was soon allayed; you did not look much like a +detective, and you were already my good friend when the real ruffian, +Falfani, came on board the train at Amiens." + +[_Lady Claire Standish passed on next to describe her journey from +Basle to Lausanne, and the clever way in which she eluded the second +detective--matters on which the reader has been already informed._] + +"On reaching Geneva I at once opened communications with Henriette. I +felt satisfied, now that I had come so far, it would be well that she +should join me, and that we should concert together as to our next +proceedings. Our first and principal aim was to retain the child at +all costs and against all comers. I had no precise knowledge as to +where we should be beyond the jurisdiction of the English law, but I +could not believe that the Divorce Court and its emissaries could +interfere with us in a remote Italian village. My real fear was of +Lord Blackadder. He was so bold and unscrupulous that, if the law +would not help him, he would try stratagem, or even force. We should +be really safe nowhere if we once came within his reach, and, the best +plan to keep out of his clutches was to hide our whereabouts from him. + +"Fuentellato would not do, for although I do not believe he knew the +exact spot in which Henriette had taken refuge, he must have guessed +something from the direction of my journey, and that I was on my way +to join her. If he failed to intercept me _en route_, he would make +his way straight there. I had resolved he should not find us, but +where else should we go? Farther afield, if necessary to the very end +of the world. Lord Blackadder, we might be sure, would hunt high and +low to recover his lost heir, sparing no expense, neglecting no means. + +"It was, however, essential to elude his agents, who were so near at +hand and likely to press me close. That was another reason for drawing +my sister to me. I had hit upon a cunning device, as I thought it, to +confuse and deceive my pursuers, to throw them on to a false scent, +lead them to follow a red herring, while the fox, free of the hunt, +took another line." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + +"There should be two Richmonds in the field! That was my grand idea. +Two sets, two parties, each of them consisting of one lady, one maid, +and one baby, exactly similar and indistinguishable. When the time was +ripe we should separate, and each would travel in opposite directions, +and I hoped to show sufficient guile to induce my persecutors to give +chase to the wrong quarry. Run it to the death, while the party got +clear away. + +"I had made a nice calculation. Fuentellato was at no great distance +from Parma, on the main line of railway. If she started at once, via +Piacenza to Turin, she could catch the Mont Cenis express through to +Modane and Culoz, where she could change for Geneva, so as to reach me +some time on Tuesday. + +"This was exactly what happened. My sister carried out my instructions +to the letter, and I met her here on arrival. I had taken up my +quarters in this hotel because it was so near the station, but I +thought it prudent that Henriette should lodge somewhere else, the +farther the better, and she went to a small place, the Hôtel Pierre +Fatio, at the other end of the town. + +"It is a long story, Colonel Annesley, but there is not much more, and +yet the most interesting part is to come. + +"We now devoted ourselves to the practical carrying out of the scheme, +just we four women; our maids, both clever dressmakers, were of +immense help. It was soon done. You can buy anything in Geneva. There +are plenty of good shops and skilful workers, and we soon provided +ourselves with the clothes, all the disguises really that we +required--the long gray dust cloaks and soft hats and all the rest, so +much alike that we might have been soldiers in the same regiment. +Philpotts and Victorine, my sister's maid, were also made up on a +similar pattern, and a second baby was built up as a dummy that would +have deceived any one. + +"Everything was completed by this morning, and I had settled that my +sister, with her dear little Ralph, should get away, but by quite a +new route, while I held my ground against the detectives. I felt sure +they would soon hear of me and run me down. I hoped they would attach +themselves to me, and meant to lead them a fine dance as a blind for +Henriette, who, meanwhile, would have crossed to Lyons and gone south +to Marseilles. The Riviera is a longer and more roundabout road to +Turin, but it was open, and I hoped unimpeded. What do you think of my +diplomacy?" + +"Admirable!" I cried, with enthusiasm. "Your cleverness, Lady Claire, +is colossal. Go on, I beg of you. Surely you have succeeded?" + +"Alas! no. Everything was cut and dried and this evening we scored the +first point in the game. Henriette went on this evening to Amberieu, +the junction for Lyons. She went straight from her hotel, alone, for +of course I was obliged to keep close, or the trick would have been +discovered, and it was in part. + +"For I must tell you that to-day one of the detectives appeared in +Geneva, not the first man, but a second, who attached himself to me at +Basle. I met him plump on the Mont Blanc Bridge and turned tail, but +he came after me. I jumped into a passing tram, so did he, and to +throw him off his guard I talked to him, and made friends with him, +and advised him to come and stay at this hotel. Then I got out and +left him, making my way to the Pierre Fatio Hôtel by a circuitous +route, dodging in and out among the narrow streets till I nearly lost +myself. + +"I thought I had eluded him, and he certainly was nowhere near when I +went into the hotel. But I suppose he followed me, he must have, and +found out something, for I know now that he went to Amberieu after +Henriette--" + +"You are perfectly sure?" + +"She has telegraphed to me from Amberieu; I got it not an hour ago. +The man accosted her, taking her for me. He would have it she was Mrs. +Blair, and told her to her face that he did not mean to lose sight of +her again. So you see--" + +"If she goes round by Lyons to Marseilles, then, he would be at her +heels, and the scheme breaks down in that respect?" + +"Not only that, I don't see that he could interfere with her, or do +her much harm, and at Marseilles she might change her plans entirely. +There are ever so many ways of escape from a seaport. She might take +ship and embark on board the first steamer bound to the East, for +India or Ceylon, the Antipodes or far Cathay." + +"Well, why not?" + +"Henriette, my sister, has given way. Her courage has failed her at +this, the most critical moment, when she is within a hair's breadth of +success. She is afraid to go on alone with little Ralph, and is +running back to me by the first train to-morrow morning, at five or +six o'clock." + +"Coming here? Into the very mouths of all the others!" + +"Just so, and all my great scheme will be ruined. They cannot but find +out, and there is no knowing what they may do. Lord Blackadder, I +know, is capable of anything. I assure you, Colonel Annesley, I am in +despair. What _can_ I do?" + +She looked at me in piteous appeal, the tears brimming over, her hands +stretched towards me with a gesture at once pathetic and enchanting. + +"Say, rather, what can _we_ do, Lady Claire," I corrected her. "This +is my business, too, if you will allow me to say so, and I offer you +my advice for what it is worth." + +"Yes, I will take it thankfully, I promise you." + +"The only safe course now is the boldest. You must make another +exchange with your sister, Lady Blackadder--" + +"Call her Lady Henriette Standish. She has dropped the other +entirely." + +"By all means. Lady Henriette then has determined to take the first +train from Amberieu at--Have you a Bradshaw? Thank you--at 5.52 +A.M., which will get her to Culoz at 6.48. You must, if +possible, exchange babies, and at the same time exchange _rôles_. I +feel sure that you, at any rate, are not afraid of going to Marseilles +with the real baby." + +"Hardly!" she laughed scornfully. "But Henriette--what is to become of +her?" + +"That shall be my affair. It is secondary, really. The first and +all-important is for you to secure the little Ralph and escape with +him. It will have to be done under the very eyes of the enemy, for +there is every reason to fear they will be going on, too. The other +detective, this Tiler--I have heard them call him by that name--will +have told them of her ladyship's movements, and will have summoned +them, Falfani at least, to his side." + +"If I go on by that early train they will, no doubt, do the same. I +must not be seen by them. They would fathom the trick of the two +parties and the exchange." + +"Yet you must go on by that train. It's the only way." + +"Of course I might change my appearance a little, but not enough to +deceive them. Cannot I go across to the station before them and hide +in some compartment specially reserved for us?" + +"It might be managed. We might secure the whole of the seats." + +"Money is no object." + +"It will do most things, especially in Switzerland. Leave it to me, +Lady Claire. All you have to do is to be ready to-morrow morning, very +early, remember. Before 5 A.M." + +"If necessary I'll sit up all night." + +"Well, then, that's settled. I'll knock at your door and see you get +some coffee." + +"Philpotts shall make it; no one in the hotel must know. There will be +the bill." + +"I will see to that. I'll come back after you're ensconced, with the +blinds drawn. Sick lady on the way, via Culoz to Aix-les-Bains, must +not be disturbed. It won't matter my being seen on the road, all the +better really if my lord is there, for I have a little plan of my own, +Lady Claire--no, please don't ask me yet--but it will help matters, I +think." + +"You are, indeed, my true and faithful friend," she said, as she put +out her hand and wished me good night. She left it in mine for just a +second, and I flattered myself that its warm pressure was meant to +assure me that I had established a substantial claim to her regard. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + +On leaving Salon No. 17 I descended to the ground floor, seeking the +smoking-room and a little stimulant to assist me in deciding the best +course of action for the following day. + +As I passed along the corridor I caught sight of l'Echelle, whom I +considered my man, in close confabulation with Falfani in a quiet +corner. They could hardly have seen me, at least l'Echelle made no +reference to the fact when he came to me presently and asked if I had +any orders for the morning. I answered him sternly: + +"What was Falfani saying to you just now? The truth, please, or you +get nothing more from me." + +"He is a _vaurien_ and _fainéant_, and thinks others as bad as +himself; said my lord would give me five hundred francs to know what +you were doing, and find out whether the lady who travelled with us to +Basle last Sunday is here in this house." + +"I've no objection to your taking his money if you will tell me +something. How long does my lord mean to stay here? Have you any +idea?" + +"They all go on by the early train to Culoz or farther. A pressing +telegram has come from their man at Amberieu." + +"Ah! Indeed. Then you may say that I am also going by that early +train. They're not going to shake me off very easily. Tell them that, +and that if they want the lady they'd better look for her. She isn't +here." + +I lied in a good cause, for a lady, as a gentleman is bound to do. I +shall be forgiven, I think, under the circumstances. + +The free use of coin had the desired effect at the railway station. +Soon after 5 A.M. I was met at a private door and escorted, +with my precious party, by a circuitous route to where the 5.48 was +shunted, waiting the moment to run back to the departure platform. +There was a coupé ready for Lady Claire, and she took her place +quietly, observed by no one but the obsequious official who had +managed it all. + +As for me, I walked boldly to the hotel and hung about the hall till +the Blackadder party appeared and had left for the station. Then I +asked the hotel clerk for Lady Claire's bill, paid it, with my own, +and went over to the train, selecting a compartment close to the +coupé. As I passed it I knocked lightly on the window pane, giving a +signal previously arranged between us. + +I do not think that Lord Blackadder saw me then, at the start. But at +Bellegarde, the Swiss frontier, where there was a wait of half an hour +for the Customs examination, an irritating performance always, but +carried out here with the most maddening and overbearing +particularity, everyone was obliged to alight from the train, and for +the moment I trembled for Lady Claire. But the appeal addressed to the +French brigadier, "_un galant homme_," of an invalid lady, too ill to +be disturbed, was effectual, especially when backed by two five-franc +pieces. + +Lord Blackadder was on the platform with the rest, and directly he saw +me he came up with the same arrogant air, curiously blended with +aggrieved helplessness. + +"This will end badly, Colonel Annesley. I give you fair warning. I +shall appeal to the authorities. We shall be on French soil directly, +and I know something of French law. It affords protection to all who +claim it against such people as you." + +"If you talk like that I'll give you some reason to seek the +protection of the gendarmes or police," I cried, but checked myself at +once. + +I had made up my mind how to deal with him, but the time was not yet. + +"Your insolence, sir, outsteps all bounds, and you shall answer for +it, I tell you." + +But now the cry was raised "_En voiture! en voiture!_" and we were +peremptorily hustled back to our seats. Lord Blackadder hurried to his +compartment at the end of the train some way from mine and the coupé. +As I passed the latter, seeing the road clear, I gave the signal, and, +taking out my railway carriage key, quickly slipped in. + +She received me with her rare sweet smile, that was the richest +payment a man could ask. + +"The critical moment is at hand, Lady Claire," I said, speaking +mysteriously. "It is essential that we should have a few last words +together. Naturally we must now be guided very much by the way things +happen, but so far as possible we must prepare for them. We have +managed capitally so far. I don't believe Lord Blackadder has any idea +you are in the train, and I much doubt that he expects to find Lady +Henriette at Culoz. You think she will really be there?" + +"I feel sure of it. It is just what she would do." + +"Then everything will depend on you. You must be alert and prompt, on +the _qui vive_ to seize your opportunity. It will be your business to +make your way to her with the dummy the instant the train stops." + +"I shall have to find her." + +"That is the first and chief thing on your part. You _must_ find her +at once. There are very few minutes for the whole job. Find her, +exchange burthens, send her to the train for Aix-les-Bains. It will be +waiting there. You hurry back to this coupé, lie low, and, if all goes +well, you will be travelling on toward Amberieu before the enemy has +the least notion what has occurred." + +"But one word, please. What will the enemy have been doing at Culoz? +Say they catch sight of Henriette as soon as we do?" + +"I hope and trust they may. I count upon that as part of my +programme." + +"But they will catch her, stop her, deprive her of our dear little +Ralph." + +"Wait, wait. You will see. It will be settled in a moment now. But +before it is too late let us arrange how you may communicate with me. +We shall both be moving about, and the best address I can give will be +in London. Telegraph to me there to my club, the Mars and Neptune, +Piccadilly. I will send instructions there to have all telegrams +opened and retelegraphed to me at once. They shall be kept informed of +my whereabouts daily. But now, here we are, close to Culoz and already +slowing down. Look out, please." + +It could not have suited me better. There, standing under the shadow +of the dwarf plane-trees, but with not the slightest suggestion of +concealment, was the exact counterpart of Lady Claire, her twin +sister, Lady Henriette Standish, till lately Lady Blackadder. She was +staring intently at our train as it ran in, deeply anxious, no doubt, +to note the arrival of her sister. + +"Give me a short start," I said to Lady Claire as I jumped out of the +coupé. "You will see why." + +Even as I spoke I was satisfied that the pursuing party had recognized +the object of their journey. They had all alighted and were coming up +the platform in great haste to where she stood. Had any doubt +remained, it would have been removed by the appearance of a man who +ran out from some back part of the station and waved them forward with +much gesticulation. + +Here I interposed, and, rushing forward with all the ardour of a +football player entering a scrimmage, I took Lord Blackadder by the +throat and shook him. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +[_Falfani again._] + + +When that audacious and intemperate English Colonel so far forgot +himself as to assault my lord the Right Honourable the Earl of +Blackadder at Culoz Station in the open light of day before us all, I +greatly rejoiced; for, although horror-stricken at his ruffianly +conduct, I knew that he would get his deserts at last. The French +authorities would certainly not tolerate brawling in the precincts of +the railway station, and justice must promptly overtake the sole +offender. The blackguard Colonel, the cause and origin of the +disturbance, would, of course, be at once arrested and removed. + +The fracas had naturally attracted general attention. One or two +porters ran up and endeavoured, with Tiler and myself, to rescue my +lord from his cowardly assailant. A crowd quickly gathered around us, +many passengers and a number of idlers, who drop from nowhere, as it +might be, all drawn to the spot by overmastering curiosity. Everybody +talked at the same time, asking questions, volunteering answers, some +laughing shamelessly at my lord's discomfiture, a few expressing +indignation, and declaring that such a scandal should not be +permitted, and the guilty parties held strictly to account. + +The gendarmes on duty--a couple of them are always at hand in a French +railway station--soon appeared, and, taking in the situation at the +first glance, imposed silence peremptorily. + +"Let some one, one person only, speak and explain." The brigadier, or +sergeant, addressed himself to me, no doubt seeing that I had assumed +a prominent place in the forefront, and seemed a person of importance. + +"Monsieur here," I said, pointing to the Colonel, who, in spite of all +we could do, still held my lord tight, "was the aggressor, as you can +see for yourselves. Oblige him, I pray you, to desist. He will do my +lord some serious injury." + +"Is one an English milord, _hein_? Who, then, is the other?" + +"An abominable _vaurien_," I answered with great heat. "A rank +villain; one who outrages all decency, breaks every law, respects no +rank--" + +"_Bus, bus_," cried the Colonel, in some language of his own, as he +put me aside so roughly that I still feel the pain in my shoulder. +"That'll do, my fine fellow. Let me speak for myself, if you please. +Pardon, M. le brigadier," he went on, saluting him politely. "Here is +my card. I am, as you will perceive, an officer of the English army, +and I appeal to you as a comrade, for I see by your decorations, no +doubt richly deserved, that you are an _ancien militaire_. I appeal to +you for justice and protection." + +"Protection, forsooth!" I broke in, contemptuously. "Such as the wolf +and the tiger and the snake expect from their victim." + +It made me sick to hear him currying favour with the gendarme, and +still worse that it was affecting the old trooper, who looked on all +as _pekins_, mere civilians, far inferior to military men. + +"Protection you shall have, _mon Colonel_, if you have a right to it, +_bien entendu_," said the sergeant, civilly but cautiously. + +"I ask it because these people have made a dead set at me. They have +tried to hustle me and, I fear, to rob me, and I have been obliged to +act in my own defence." + +Before I could protest against this shameless misrepresentation of the +fact, my lord interposed. He was now free, and, gradually recovering, +was burning to avenge the insults put upon him. + +"It is not true," he shouted. "It is an absolute lie. He knows it is +not true; he is perfectly well aware who I am, Lord Blackadder; and +that he has no sort of grievance against me nor any of my people. His +attack upon me was altogether unprovoked and unjustifiable." + +"Let the authorities judge between us," calmly said the Colonel. "Take +us before the station-master, or send for the Commissary from the +town. I haven't the slightest objection." + +"Yes, yes, the _Commissaire de police_, the judge, the peace officer. +Let us go before the highest authorities; nothing less than arrest, +imprisonment, the heaviest penalties, will satisfy me," went on my +lord. + +"With all my heart," cried the Colonel. "We'll refer it to any one you +please. Lead on, _mon brave_, only you must take all or none. I +insist upon that. It is my right; let us all go before the +Commissary." + +"There is no Commissary here in Culoz. You must travel to +Aix-les-Bains to find him. Fifteen miles from here." + +"Well, why not? I'm quite ready," assented the Colonel, with an +alacrity I did not understand. I began to think he had some game of +his own. + +"So am I ready," cried his lordship. "I desire most strongly to haul +this hectoring bully before the law, and let his flagrant misconduct +be dealt with in a most exemplary fashion." + +I caught a curious shadow flitting across my comrade Tiler's face at +this speech. He evidently did not approve of my lord's attitude. Why? + +I met his eye as soon as I could, and, in answer to my inquiring +glance, he came over to me and whispered: + +"Don't you see? He," jerking his finger toward the Colonel, "wants us +to waste as much time as possible, while my lady slips through our +fingers and gets farther and farther on her road." + +"Where is she?" + +"Ah, where? No longer here, anyway." + +The train by which we had come from Geneva was not now in the station. +It had gone on, quite unobserved by any of us during the fracas, and +it flashed upon me at once that the incident had been planned for this +very purpose of occupying our attention while she stole off. + +"But, one moment, Ludovic, that train was going to Maçon and Paris. My +lady was travelling the other way--this way. You came with her +yourself. Why should she run back again?" + +"Ah! Why does a woman do anything, and particularly this one? Still +there was a reason, a good one. She must have caught sight of my lord, +and knew that she was caught." + +"That's plausible enough, but I don't understand it. She started for +Italy; what turned her back when you followed her, and why did she +come this way again?" + +"She only came because I'd tracked her to Amberieu, and thought to +give me the slip," said Tiler. + +"May be. But it don't seem to fit. Anyway, we've got to find her once +more. It ought not to be difficult. She's not the sort to hide +herself easily, with all her belongings, the nurse and the baby and +all the rest. But hold on, my lord is speaking." + +"Find out, one of you," he said briefly, "when the next train goes to +Aix. I mean to push this through to the bitter end. You will be +careful, sergeant, to bring your prisoner along with you." + +"_Merci bien!_ I do not want you or any one else to teach me my duty," +replied the gendarme, very stiffly. It was clear that his sympathies +were all with the other side. + +"A prisoner, am I?" cried the Colonel, gaily. "Not much. But I shall +make no difficulties. I am willing enough to go with you. When is it +to be?" + +"Nine fifty-one; due at Aix at 10.22," Tiler reported, and we +proceeded to pass the time, some twenty minutes, each in his own way. +Lord Blackadder paced the platform with feverish footsteps, his rage +and disappointment still burning fiercely within him. The Colonel +invited the two gendarmes to the _buvette_, and l'Echelle followed +him. I was a little doubtful of that slippery gentleman; although I +had bought him, as I thought, the night before, I never felt sure of +him. He had joined our party, had travelled with us, and seemed on our +side in the recent scuffle, here he was putting himself at the beck +and call of his own employer. My lord had paid him five hundred +francs. Was the money thrown away, and his intention now to go back on +his bargain? + +Meanwhile Tiler and I thought it our pressing duty to utilize these +few moments in seeking news of our lady and her party. Had she been +seen? Oh, yes, many people, officials, and hangers-on about the +station had seen her. Too much seen indeed, for the stories told were +confusing and conflicting. One _facteur_ assured us he had helped her +into the train going Amberieu way, but I thought his description very +vague, although Tiler swallowed the statement quite greedily. Another +man told me quite a different story; he had seen her, and had not the +slightest doubt of it, in the down train, that for Aix-les-Bains, the +express via Chambery, Modane, and the Mont Cenis tunnel for Italy. +This was the true version, I felt sure. Italy had been her original +destination, and naturally she would continue her journey that way. + +Why, then, Tiler asked, had she gone to Amberieu, running back as she +had done with him at her heels? To deceive him, of course, I retorted. +Was it not clear that her real point was Italy? Why else had she +returned to Culoz by the early train directly she thought she had +eluded Tiler? The reasoning was correct, but Ludovic was always a +desperately obstinate creature, jealous and conceited, tenacious of +his opinions, and holding them far superior to those who were cleverer +and more intelligent than himself. + +Then we heard the whistle of the approaching train, and we all +collected on the platform. L'Echelle, as he came from the direction of +the _buvette_, was a little in the rear of the Colonel and the +gendarmes. I caught a look on his face not easy to interpret. He was +grinning all over it and pointing toward the Colonel with his finger, +derisively. I was not inclined to trust him very greatly, but he +evidently wished us to believe that he thought very little of the +Colonel, and that we might count upon his support against him. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + +There were seven of us passengers, more than enough to fill one +compartment, so we did not travel together. My lord very liberally +provided first-class tickets for the whole of the party, but the +Colonel took his own and paid for the gendarmes. He refused to travel +in the same carriage with the noble Earl, saying openly and impudently +that he preferred the society of honest old soldiers to such a crew as +ours. L'Echelle, still sitting on the hedge, as I fancied, got in with +the Colonel and his escort. + +On reaching Aix-les-Bains, we found the omnibus that did the _service +de la ville_, but the Colonel refused to enter it, and declared he +would walk; he cared nothing for the degradation of appearing in the +public streets as a prisoner marching between a couple of gendarmes. +He gloried in it, he said; his desire was clearly to turn the whole +thing into ridicule, and the passers-by laughed aloud at this +well-dressed gentleman, as he strutted along with his hat cocked, one +hand on his hip, the other placed familiarly on the sergeant's arm. + +He met some friends, too,--one was a person rather like himself, with +the same swaggering high-handed air, who accosted him as we were +passing the corner of the square just by the Hôtel d'Aix. + +"What ho! Basil my boy!" cried the stranger. "In chokey? Took up by +the police? What've you done? Robbed a church?" + +"Come on with us and you'll soon know. No, really, come along, I may +want you. I'm going before the beak and may want a witness as to +character." + +"Right oh! There are some more of us here from the old shop--Jack +Tyrrell, Bobus Smith--all Mars and Neptune men. They'll speak for a +pal at a pinch. Where shall we come?" + +"To the town hall, the _mairie_," replied the Colonel, after a brief +reference to his escort. "I've got a particular appointment there with +Monsieur le Commissaire, and the Right Honourable the Earl of +Blackadder." + +"Oh! that noble sportsman? What's wrong with him? What's he been +doing to you or you to him?" + +"I punched his head, that's all." + +"No doubt he deserved it; anyhow, Charlie Forrester will be pleased. +By-by, you'll see me again, and all the chaps I can pick up at the +Cercle and the hotels near." + +Then our procession passed on, the Colonel and gendarmes leading, +Tiler and I with l'Echelle close behind. + +We found my lord awaiting us. He had driven on ahead in a _fiacre_ and +was standing alone at the entrance to the police office, which is +situated on the ground floor of the Hôtel de Ville, a pretty +old-fashioned building of gray stone just facing the Etablissement +Thermale, the home of the far-famed baths from which _Aix-les-Bains_ +takes its name. + +"In here?" asked my lord; and with a brief wave of his hand he would +have passed in first, but the officers of the law put him rather +rudely aside and claimed precedence for their prisoner. + +But when M. le Commissaire, who was there, seated at a table opposite +his _greffier_, rose and bowed stiffly, inquiring our business, my +lord pushed forward into the front and began very warmly, in passable +French: + +"I am an aggrieved person seeking justice on a wrong-doer. I--demand +justice of you--" + +"_Pardon, monsieur, je vous prie._ We must proceed in order, and first +allow me to assure you that justice is always done in France. No one +need claim it in the tone you have assumed." + +The Commissary was a solemn person, full of the stiff formality +exhibited by members of the French magistracy, the juniors especially. +He was dressed in discreet black, his clean-shaven, imperturbable face +showed over a stiff collar, and he wore the conventional white tie of +the French official. + +"Allow me to ask--" he went on coldly. + +"I will explain in a few words," began my lord, replying hurriedly. + +"Stay, monsieur, it is not from you that I seek explanation. It is the +duty of the officers of the law now present, and prepared, I presume, +to make their report. Proceed, sergeant." + +"But you must hear me, M. le Commissary; I call upon and require you +to do so. I have been shamefully ill-used by that man there." He +shook his finger at the Colonel. "He has violently assaulted me. I am +Lord Blackadder, an English peer. I am entitled to your best +consideration." + +"Every individual, the poorest, meanest, is entitled to that in +republican France. You shall have it, sir, but only as I see fit to +accord it. I must first hear the story from my own people. Go on, +sergeant." + +"I protest," persisted my lord. "You must attend to me--you shall +listen to me. I shall complain to your superiors--I shall bring the +matter before the British ambassador. Do you realize who and what I +am?" + +"You appear to be a gentleman with an uncontrollable temper, whose +conduct is most improper. I must ask you to behave yourself, to +respect the _convenances_, or I shall be compelled to show you the +door." + +"I will not be put down in this way, I will speak; I--I--" + +"Silence, monsieur. I call upon you, explicitly, to moderate your tone +and pay proper deference to my authority." With this the commissary +pulled out a drawer, extracted a tricolour sash and slowly buckled it +round his waist, then once more turned interrogatively to the +sergeant: + +"It is nothing very serious, M. le Commissaire," said the treacherous +gendarme. "A simple brawl--a blow struck, possibly returned--a mere +_rixe_." + +"Between gentlemen? _Fi donc!_ Why the commonest _voyous_, the +_rôdeurs_ of the _barrière_, could not do worse. It is not our French +way. Men of honour settle their disputes differently; they do not come +to the _police correctionnelle_." + +"Pray do not think it is my desire," broke in the Colonel, with his +customary fierceness. "I have offered Lord Blackadder satisfaction as +a gentleman, and am ready to meet him when and how he pleases." + +"I cannot listen to you, sir. Duels are in contravention of the Code. +But I recommend you to take your quarrels elsewhere, and not to waste +my time." + +"This is quite unheard of," cried my lord, now thoroughly aroused. +"You are shamefully neglecting your duty, M. le Commissaire, and it +cannot be tolerated." + +"I am not responsible to you, sir, and will account for my action _à +qui de droit_, to those who have the right to question me. The case +is dismissed. Gendarmes, release your prisoner, and let everyone +withdraw." + +We all trooped out into the square, where a number of persons had +assembled, evidently the Colonel's friends, for they greeted him +uproariously. + +"The prisoner has left the court without a stain upon his character," +the Colonel shouted in answer to their noisy inquiries. + +"But what was it? Why did they run you in?" they still asked. + +"I refer you to this gentleman, Lord Blackadder. Perhaps some of you +know him. At any rate you've heard of him. We had a difference of +opinion, and I was compelled to administer chastisement." A lot of +impudent chaff followed. + +"Oh! really, pray introduce me to his lordship," said one. "Does your +lordship propose to make a long stay in Aix? Can we be of any use to +you?" "You mustn't mind Basil Annesley; he's always full of his +games." "Hope he didn't hurt you. He didn't mean it really;" and I +could see that the Earl could hardly contain himself in his rage. + +Then, suddenly muttering something about "bounders" and "cads," he +forced his way through and hurried off, shouting his parting +instructions to us to join him as soon as possible at the Hôtel +Hautecombe on the hill. + +We followed quickly, and were ushered at once into his private +apartment. It was essential to confer and decide upon some plan of +action; but when I asked him what he proposed to do next, he received +my harmless request with a storm of invective and reproach. + +"You miserable and incompetent fools! Don't expect me to tell you your +business. Why do I pay you? Why indeed? Nothing you have done has been +of the very slightest use; on the contrary, through your beastly +mismanagement I have been dragged into this degrading position, held +up to ridicule and contempt before all the world. And with it all, the +whole thing has failed. I sent you out to recover my child, and what +have you done? What has become of that abominable woman who stole it +from under your very noses? Blackguards! Bunglers! Idiots! Fat-headed +asses!" + +"Nay, my lord," pleaded Tiler humbly, for I confess I was so much +annoyed by this undeserved reprimand I could not bring myself to +speak civilly. "I think I can assure your lordship that matters will +soon mend. The situation is not hopeless, believe me. You may rely on +us to regain touch with the fugitives without delay. I have a clue, +and with your lordship's permission will follow it at once." + +I saw clearly that he was set upon the absurd notion he had conceived +that the lady had gone westward, and I felt it my duty to warn the +Earl not to be misled by Tiler. + +"There is nothing in his clue, my lord. It is pure assumption, without +any good evidence to support it." + +"Let me hear this precious clue," said his lordship. "I will decide +what it is worth." + +Then Tiler propounded his theory. + +"It might be good enough," I interjected, "if I did not know the exact +contrary. The lady with her party was seen going in exactly the +opposite direction. I know it for a fact." + +"And I am equally positive of what I saw," said Tiler. + +His lordship looked from one to the other, plainly perplexed and with +increasing anger. + +"By the Lord Harry, it's pleasant to be served by a couple of such +useless creatures who differ so entirely in their views that they +cannot agree upon a common plan of action. How can I decide as to the +best course if you give me no help?" + +"Perhaps your lordship will allow me to make a suggestion?" I said +gravely, and I flatter myself with some dignity, for I wished to show +I was not pleased with the way he treated us. + +"Whether the lady has gone north or south, east or west, may be +uncertain; and although I am satisfied in my own mind as to the +direction she took, I am willing to await further developments before +embarking on any further chase. To my mind the best clue, the real, +the only clue, lies here, in our very hands. If we have only a little +patience, this Colonel Annesley will act as a sign-post." + +"You think that some communication will reach him from the fugitives?" + +"Most decidedly I do. I firmly believe that the lady relies upon him +greatly, and will in all probability call him to her, or if not that +she will wish to let him know how she has got on." + +For the first time in this unpleasant interview his lordship looked +at me approvingly. He quite changed his tone and dropped his +aggressive manner. + +"I believe you are entirely right, Falfani, and cordially agree with +your suggestion," he said with great heartiness. "Let it be adopted at +once. Take immediate steps, if you please, to set a close watch on +this pestilent villain Annesley; keep him continually under your eye." + +"We've got to find him first," objected Tiler gruffly and +despondently. + +"It ought not to be difficult, seeing that he was here half an hour +ago, and we can hunt up l'Echelle, who will surely know, and who I +have reason to hope is on our side." + +"Do it one way or another. I look to you for that, and let me know the +result without loss of time. Then we will confer again and arrange +further. Leave me now." + +I accepted my dismissal and moved towards the door, but Tiler hung +behind, and I heard him say timidly: + +"May I crave your lordship's pardon--and I trust you rely on my entire +devotion to your lordship's service--but there is one thing I most +earnestly desire to do." + +"Go on." + +"And that is to follow my own clue, at least for a time. It is the +right one I firmly believe, and I am satisfied it would be wrong, +criminal even to neglect it. Will you allow me to absent myself if +only for a few days? That should suffice to settle the point. If I +fail I will return with all speed. If, as I hope and believe, I strike +the scent, assuredly you will not regret it." + +"There's something in what you say. At any rate that line ought to be +looked up," said his lordship. "I am willing to wait a day or two +until you return or report, or unless something more definite turns up +in the other direction. I suppose he can be spared, Falfani?" + +"He will be no manner of use here, it will be better to let him go; +let him run after his red herring, he'll precious soon find out his +mistake." + +"We shall see," said Tiler, elated and cocksure, and I freely confess +we did see that he was not quite the fool I thought him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + + +On leaving his lordship I descended to the grand entrance to the hotel +with the intention of beating up the Colonel's quarters in Aix. +Although the hotels were certain to be crowded at this, the height of +the season, the town is not really large, the visitors' lists are well +posted with new arrivals, and there are one or two public places where +people always turn up at some time or other in the day. The _cercle_ +or _casino_ and its _succursale_ the Villa des Fleurs, with their many +spacious rooms, reading-room, concert-room, baccarat-room, their +restaurants, their beautiful gardens, are thronged at all hours of the +day with the smart folk of all nationalities. + +I stood on the top of the steps waiting for the private omnibus that +plies between the hotel and the town below, when I heard my name +called from behind, and turning, was confronted by Jules l'Echelle. + +"Hullo!" I cried, eying him suspiciously. "What brings you up here?" + +"The Colonel, my master--for I have taken service with him, you must +know--sent me here to inquire whether we could have rooms." + +"Why does he choose this hotel of all others?" I asked in a +dissatisfied tone, although in my secret heart I was overjoyed. + +"It's the best, isn't it? Haven't you come here?" + +"My Lord Blackadder has, but that's another pair of shoes. There's +some difference between him and a beggarly half-pay Colonel who will +very likely have to black the boots to work out his bill. They know +how to charge here." + +"The Colonel, I take it, can pay his way as well as most people. +Anyhow, he's coming to stop here." + +"For any time?" + +"Likely enough. He said something about going through the course, +taking the baths, and among the rest asked me to find out the best +doctor." + +"That'll mean a lengthened stay; three weeks at least." + +"Well, why shouldn't he? He's his own master." + +"Then he's finished with that foolish business about the lady; had +enough of it, I suppose; burnt his fingers and done no earthly good." + +"How do I know? It's not my business; but I fancy I have fallen into a +snug berth, a soft job, better than making beds in a sleeping-car and +being shaken to death in express trains." + +"Good wages, if it's a fair question?" + +"Fifty francs a week, _pour tout potage_." + +I looked at him hard, revolving in my mind how best to approach him. +L'Echelle was a Swiss, and with most of his sort it is only a question +of price. How much would it take to buy him? + +"Well, how have you fared? Have you succeeded in getting your rooms? +Will your Colonel move up?" + +"What would his lordship say? Wouldn't like it much, I expect. Shall I +prevent it? It will be easy to say there are no rooms. I'll do just as +you please." + +"You're very obliging." + +"I'm willing enough to oblige, as I've always told you--at a price." + +"Put a name to it; but don't forget you've had something on account. +Last night I gave you five hundred francs." + +"Bah! I want a lot more than that, a thousand francs down and fifty +francs a day so long as I serve you. Do you agree to my terms?" + +"My lord won't. He looks both sides of his money, and pays no fancy +prices for a pig in a poke." + +"Then I'll take my pigs to another market. Suppose I let the Colonel +know what you've been at, trying to tamper with me. This hotel +wouldn't be big enough to hold him and your patron together." + +"Well,"--I hesitated, not willing to appear too anxious,--"let's say, +just for argument's sake, that you got what you ask, or something near +it. I'm not in a position to promise it, no, not the half of it. But +we'll agree what you'd do for us in return?" + +"Anything you chose to ask." + +"Would you come over to us, belong to us body and soul? Think first of +my lord, put his interests before the Colonel's; tell us what the +Colonel's doing, his game from day to day, read his letters, and tell +us their contents; spy on his actions, watch him at every turn, his +comings and his goings; the houses he calls at, the people he meets, +every move he makes or has in view?" + +"If I promise to do all that will you promise not to give me away? +You'll keep your own counsel and protect me from the Colonel? If he +got a whisper I was selling him I'd lose my place and he'd half kill +me into the bargain." + +"Not a soul shall know but my lord and myself. I must consult him, or +you won't get the money." + +"But there is that other chap, the one who joined us at Culoz, and who +was with you at the Commissariat, a new face to me. One of your own +party, wasn't he?" + +"To be sure, Tiler; he's on the job, too, came out when I did from +London. But he's gone, left us half an hour ago." + +"For good and all? Sacked, dropped out, or what?" + +"Gone to follow up a game of his own. He thinks he knows better than +any one else; believes the lady has harked back, and is following her +to Amberieu, Maçon, Paris, England perhaps. God knows where. It's a +wild goose chase, of course; but my lord leans to it, and so it is to +be tried." + +"You don't agree?" + +"How can I when I'm satisfied he's wrong? She was seen in the express +for Modane, making for the Mont Cenis tunnel. Of course that's the +true direction. She was aiming for Italy from the first; the other +sister, the divorced lady, is there; we've always known that. Go back +to England! Bah! absolute rot. I'd stick to my opinion against fifty +fools like Tiler." + +"It's a bargain, then; I can count upon the cash? How soon shall you +know? I'd like to begin at once; there's something I would tell you +here, and now, that would interest you very much. But money down is my +rule." + +"Let me run up and ask his lordship. I won't keep you five minutes." + +My lord gave his consent a little grudgingly, but was presently +persuaded that it was to his own advantage to have a spy in the heart +of the enemy's camp. That was soon seen when l'Echelle had pocketed +his notes and gave us the news in exchange. + +"Now that I'm my lord's man I don't mind telling you that the Colonel +does not mean to stay long in Aix, not one minute longer than till the +call comes." + +"He expects a call?" + +"Assuredly. He wants you to think he's a fixture here, but he means to +cut and run after my lady whenever she sends to him. He'll be off then +faster than that," he snapped his fingers, "and you won't find it easy +to catch him." + +"That's good. You'll be well worth your money, I can see. Only be +diligent, watch closely, and keep us fully informed. We shall trust +very greatly to you." + +"Your trust shall not be misplaced. When I take an employer's pay I +serve him faithfully and to the best of my power," he said with an +engaging frankness that won me completely. + +Lord! Lord! what liars men are and what fools! I might have guessed +how much reliance was to be placed upon a man who, to my certain +knowledge, was serving two masters. + +Why should he be more faithful to my lord than to the Colonel? + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + + +The rest of the first day at Aix passed without any important +incident. I was a trifle surprised that the Colonel did not put in an +appearance; but it was explained by l'Echelle, whom I met by +appointment later in the day. I understood from him that the Colonel +had decided to remain down in the town, where he had many friends, and +where he was more in the thick of the fun. For Aix-les-Bains, as every +one knows, is a lively little place in the season, and the heart and +centre of it all is the Casino. The Colonel had established himself in +a hotel almost next door, and ran up against me continually that +afternoon and evening, as I wandered about now under the trees +listening to the band, now at the baccarat table, where I occasionally +staked a few _jetons_ of the smaller values. + +He never failed to meet my eye when it rested on him; he seemed to +know intuitively when I watched him, and he always looked back and +laughed. If any one was with him, as was generally the case--smart +ladies and men of his own stamp, with all of whom he seemed on very +familiar terms--he invariably drew their attention to me, and they, +too, laughed aloud after a prolonged stare. It was a little +embarrassing; he had so evidently disclosed my business, in scornful +terms no doubt, and held me up to ridicule, describing in his own way +and much to my discredit all that had happened between us. Once he had +the effrontery to accost me as I stood facing the green board on which +the telegrams are exposed. + +"Where have we met?" he began, with a mocking laugh. "I seem to know +your face. Ah, of course, my old friend Falfani, the private detective +who appeared in the Blackadder case. And I think I have come across +you more recently." + +"I beg you will not address yourself to me. I don't know you, I don't +wish to know you," I replied, with all the dignity I could assume. "I +decline to hold any conversation with you," and I moved away. + +But several of his rowdy friends closed around me and held me there, +compelled to listen to his gibes as he rattled on. + +"How is his lordship? Well, I hope. None the worse for that little +_contretemps_ this morning. May I ask you to convey to him my deep +regrets for what occurred, and my sincere wishes for his recovery? If +there is anything I can do for his lordship, any information I can +give him, he knows, I trust, that he can command me. Does he propose +to make a lengthened stay here?" + +"His lordship--" I tried vainly to interrupt him. + +"Let me urge him most strongly to go through the course. The warm +baths are truly delightful and most efficacious in calming the temper +and restoring the nerve-power. He should take the Aix treatment, he +should indeed. I am doing so, tell him; it may encourage him." + +"Colonel, this is quite insufferable," I cried, goaded almost to +madness. "I shall stand no more of it. Leave me in peace, I'll have no +more truck with you." + +"And yet it would be wiser. I am the only person who can be of any use +to you. You will have to come to me yet. Better make friends." + +"We can do without you, thank you," I said stiffly. "His lordship +would not be beholden to you, I feel sure. He can choose his own +agents." + +"And in his own sneaking, underhand way," the Colonel answered +quickly, and with such a meaning look that I was half-afraid he +suspected that we were tampering with his man. "But two can play at +that game, as you may find some day." + +When I met l'Echelle that same evening as arranged, at the Café Amadeo +in the Place Carnot, I questioned him closely as to whether his master +had any suspicion of him, but he answered me stoutly it was quite +impossible. + +"He knows I see you, that of course, but he firmly believes it is in +his own service. He is just as anxious to know what you are doing as +you are to observe him. By the way, have you heard anything of your +other man?" + +"Why should I tell you?" + +"Oh, don't trouble; only if I could pass him on a bit of news either +way it might lead him to show his hand. If Tiler is getting 'hot'--you +know the old game--he might like to go after him. If Tiler is thrown +out the Colonel will want to give help in the other direction." + +"That's sound sense, I admit. But all I can tell you is we had a +telegram from him an hour or two ago which doesn't look as if he was +doing much good. It was sent from Lyons, a roundabout way of getting +to Paris from here, and now he's going south! Of all the born idiots!" + +"Poor devil! That's how he's made. It's not everyone who's a born +detective, friend Falfani. It's lucky my lord has you at his elbow." + +We parted excellent friends. The more I saw of l'Echelle the more I +liked him. It was a pleasure to work with a man of such acute +perceptions, and I told him so. + +Nothing fresh occurred that night or the next day. I was never very +far off my Colonel, and watched him continually but unobtrusively. I +hope I know my business well enough for that. + +I was rather struck by a change in his demeanour. It was very subtle, +and everyone might have noticed it. He wore an air of preoccupation +that spoke to me of an uneasy mind. He was unhappy about something; +some doubt, some secret dread oppressed him, and more than once I +thought he wished to keep out of sight and avoid my searching +interrogative eyes. + +"You're right," said l'Echelle. "He's down on his luck, and he don't +want you to see it. He's dying for news that don't seem in a hurry to +come. Half a dozen times to-day he's asked me to inquire if there's a +telegram for him, and he haunts the hall porter's box continually in +the hope of getting one. Have you heard any more from Tiler?" + +"Yes, another mad telegram, this time from Marseilles. Fancy that! It +will be Constantinople next or Grand Cairo or Timbuctoo. The folly of +it!" + +"What does my lord say?" + +"Plenty, and it's not pleasant to bear. He's getting fairly wild, and +cart ropes won't hold him. He wants to go racing after Tiler now, and +if he does he'll give away the whole show. I hope to heaven your boss +will show his hand soon." + +"It's not for me to make him, you must admit that. But cheer up, +_copain_, things may mend." + +They did, as often happens when they seem to be at their worst. + +I have always been an early riser, and was specially so at Aix, now +when the heat was intense, and the pleasantest hours of the day were +before the sun had risen high. I was putting the finishing touches to +my toilette about 7 A.M. when I heard a knock at my door, and +without waiting permission l'Echelle rushed in. + +"Already dressed? What luck! There is not a moment to lose. Come +along. I've a _fiacre_ at the door below." + +He gave the _établissement_ as the address, and we were soon tearing +down the hill. As we drove along l'Echelle told me the news. + +"It's come, that satanic telegram, and just what he wanted, I'm +prepared to swear. He simply jumped for joy when he read it." + +"But what was the message? Go on, go on, out with it!" I shouted +almost mad with excitement. + +"I can't tell you that, for I haven't seen it yet." + +"Are you making a fool of me?" + +"How could I see it? He put it straight into his pocket. But I mean +to see it pretty soon, and so shall you." + +"You mean to abstract it somehow--pick his pocket, or what?" + +"Simplest thing in the world. You see he's gone to have his bath, he +likes to be early, and he's undergoing the douche at this very moment, +which means naturally that he's taken off his clothes, and they are +waiting in the dressing-room for me to take home. I shall have a good +quarter of an hour and more to spare before they carry him back to the +hotel in his blankets and get him to bed." + +"Ha!" I said, "that's a brilliant idea. How do you mean to work it +out?" + +"Take the telegram out of his waistcoat pocket, read it, or bring it +to you." + +"Bring it; that will be best," I interrupted, feeling a tinge of +suspicion. + +"But I must put it straight back," continued l'Echelle, "for he is +sure to ask for it directly he returns to the hotel." + +Within a few minutes he had gone in and out again, carrying now one of +the black linen bags used by _valets de chambres_ to carry their +masters' clothes in. He winked at me as he passed, and we walked +together to a shady, retired spot in the little square where the +cab-stand is, and sat in the newspaper kiosk on a couple of +straw-bottomed chairs of the Central _café_. + +"Read that," he said triumphantly, as he handed me the familiar scrap +of blue paper. + +"Have got safely so far with nurse and baby--entreat you to follow +with all possible speed--dying to get on.--CLAIRE, Hôtel +Cavour, Milan." + +"Excellent!" I cried, slapping my thigh. "This settles all doubts. So +much for that fool Tiler. My lord will be very grateful to you," and I +handed him back the telegram, having first copied it word for word in +my note-book. + +"It means, I suppose," suggested l'Echelle, "that you will make for +Milan, too?" + +"No fear--by the first train. You'll be clever if you get the start of +us, for I presume you will be moving." + +"I haven't the smallest doubt of that; we shall be quite a merry +party. It will be quite like old times." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +[_Colonel Annesley again._] + + +I had no reason to complain of the course of events culminating in the +affair at Culoz. I defended to myself the assault upon Lord Blackadder +as in a measure provoked and justifiable under the circumstances, +although I was really sorry for him and at the poor figure he cut +before the police magistrate and gendarmes. But I could not forget the +part he had played throughout, nor was I at all disposed to turn aside +from my set purpose to help the ladies in their distress. Every man of +proper feeling would be moved thereto, and I knew in my secret heart +that very tender motives impelled me to the unstinting championship of +Lady Claire. + +I was still without definite news of what had happened between the two +sisters while I was covering their movements at Culoz. I could not +know for certain whether or not the exchange had actually been +effected, and I did not dare inquire about the station, for it might +betray facts and endanger results. I had no hope of a message from +Lady Henriette, for she would hardly know where to address me. Lady +Claire would almost certainly telegraph to me via London at the very +earliest opportunity, and I was careful to wire from Culoz to the hall +porter of my club, begging him to send on everything without a +moment's delay. + +Then, while still in the dark, I set myself like a prudent general to +discover what the enemy was doing. He was here in Aix in the persons +of Lord Blackadder and his two devoted henchmen, Falfani and Tiler. I +had heard the appointment he had given them at the Hôtel Hautecombe, +and I cast about me to consider how I might gain some inkling of their +intentions. Luckily I had desired l'Echelle, the sleeping-car +conductor, to stick to me on leaving the police office, and I put it +to him whether or not he was willing to enter my service. + +"I will take you on entirely," I promised, "if you choose to leave +your present employment. You shall be my own man, my valet and +personal attendant. It is likely that I may wander about the +Continent for some time, and it may suit you to come with me." + +He seemed pleased at the idea, and we quickly agreed as to terms. + +"Now, l'Echelle," I went on, "after last night I think I may trust you +to do what I want, and I promise you I won't forget it. Find out what +the other side is at, and contrive somehow to become acquainted with +Lord Blackadder's plans." + +"How far may I go?" he asked me plump. "They are pretty sure to try +and win me over, they've done so already. Shall I accept their bid? It +would be the easiest way to know all you want." + +"It's devilish underhand," I protested. + +"You'll be paying them back in their own coin," he returned. "_A +corsaire fieffé corsaire et demi._ It will be to my advantage, and you +won't lose." + +"Upon my soul, I don't quite like it." I still hung back, but his +arguments seemed so plausible that they overcame my scruples, and I +was not sorry for it in the long run. + +[_The reader has already been told how Falfani craftily approached +l'Echelle, and found him, as he thought, an easy prey. We know how +the communication was kept up between the two camps, how Falfani was +fooled into believing that he kept close watch over Colonel Annesley +through l'Echelle, how the latter told his real master the true news +of the progress made by Tiler. When there could be little doubt that +the chase was growing warm and had gone as far as Lyons, the Colonel +felt that there was danger and that he must take more active steps to +divert the pursuit and mislead the pursuers. The Colonel shall +continue in his own words._] + +I was much disturbed when I learnt that Tiler had wired from Lyons. I +saw clearly what it meant. The next message would disclose the +whereabouts of the Lady Claire, at that time the only lady, as they +thought, in the case, and the lady with the real child. It would soon +be impossible for me to make use of the second with the sham child to +draw the pursuers after her. In this it must be understood that, +although I had no certainty of it, I took it for granted that the +little Lord Aspdale was with his aunt and not with his mother, who, as +I sincerely believed, had already reached Fuentellato. + +It was essential now to persuade my Lord Blackadder and his people +that this was the case, and induce them to embark upon a hasty +expedition into Italy. + +I therefore concocted a cunning plan with l'Echelle for leading them +astray. It was easy enough to arrange for the despatch of a telegram +from Milan to me at Aix, a despatch to be handed in at the former +place by a friend of l'Echelle's, but purporting to come from Lady +Claire. My man had any number of acquaintances in the railway service, +one or more passed daily through Aix with the express trains going +east or west; and with the payment of a substantial douceur the trick +was done. + +The spurious message reached me in Aix early on the third morning, and +the second act in the fraud was that l'Echelle should allow Falfani to +see the telegram. He carried out the deception with consummate skill, +pretending to pick my pocket of the telegram, which he then put under +Falfani's eyes. The third act was to be my immediate exit from Aix. I +made no secret of this, very much the reverse. Notice was given at the +hotel bureau to prepare my bill, and insert my name on the list of +departures by the afternoon express, the 1.41 P.M. for Modane and +Italy. It was quite certain that I should not be allowed to go off +alone. + +And suddenly, like a bolt from the blue, came a complete change in the +situation. Not long after I had consumed my morning _café au lait_ and +rolls, the conventional _petit déjeuner_ of French custom, a letter +was brought to my bedside, where, again according to rule, I was +resting after my bath. + +I expected no letters, no one except the porter of my London club knew +my present address, and the interval was too short since my telegram +to him to allow of letters reaching me in the ordinary course of the +post. + +I turned over the strange missive, the address in a lady's hand quite +unknown to me, examining it closely, as one does when mystified, +guessing vainly at a solution instead of settling it by instantly +breaking the seal. + +When at last I opened it my eye went first to the signature. To my +utter amazement I read the name, "Henriette Standish." It was dated +from the Hôtel de Modena, Aix-les-Bains, a small private hotel quite +in the suburbs in the direction of the Grand Port, and it ran as +follows: + +"DEAR COLONEL ANNESLEY:--I have only just seen in the +_Gazette des Etrangers_ that you are staying in Aix. I also am here, +having been unable to proceed on my journey as I intended after +meeting my sister at Culoz. I thought of remaining here a few days +longer, but I have also read Lord Blackadder's name in the list. + +"What is to be done? I am horribly frightened, and greatly vexed with +myself for having put myself in this painful and most embarrassing +position. + +"May I venture to ask your counsel and help? I beg and entreat you +will come to me as soon as possible after receipt of this. Ask for +Mrs. Blair. Although I have never had the pleasure of meeting you, +your extreme kindness to Claire emboldens me to make this appeal to +you. I shall be at home all the morning. Indeed, I have hardly left +the house yet, and certainly shall not do so now that I know _he_ is +here. + +"Always very gratefully and sincerely yours, + +"HENRIETTE STANDISH." + +Here was a pretty kettle of fish! Lady Blackadder in Aix! Was there +ever such a broken reed of a woman? Already she had spoilt her +sister's nice combinations by turning back from Amberieu when the road +to safety with her darling child lay open to her. Now for the second +time she was putting our plans in jeopardy. How could I hope to lure +her pursuers away to a distance when she was here actually on the +spot, and might be run into at any moment? For the present all my +movements were in abeyance. I had reason to fear--how much reason I +did not even then realize--they would be interfered with, and that a +terrible collapse threatened us. + +I dressed hurriedly and walked down to the Hôtel Modena, where I was +instantly received. "Mrs. Blair" had given orders that I should be +admitted the moment I appeared. I had had one glimpse of this tall, +graceful creature, who so exactly reproduced the beautiful traits of +her twin sister that she might indeed at a distance be taken for her +double. There was the same proud carriage of her head, the same lithe +figure, even her musical voice when she greeted me with shy cordiality +might have been the voice of Lady Claire. + +But the moment I looked into her face I saw a very distinct +difference, not in outward feature, but in the inward character that +is revealed by the eyes, the lines of the mouth, the shape of the +lower jaw. In Lady Claire the first were steady and spoke of high +courage, of firm, fixed purpose; the mouth, as perfectly curved as +Cupid's bow, was resolute and determined, the well-shaped, rounded +chin was held erect, and might easily become defiant, even aggressive. + +Lady Henriette was evidently cast in another mould. Her eyes, of the +same violet blue, were pretty, pleading, soft in expression, but often +downcast and deprecating; the mouth and chin were weak and irresolute. +It was the same lovely face as Lady Claire's, and to some might seem +the sweeter, indicating the tender, clinging, yielding nature that +commonly appeals to the stronger sex; but to me she lost in every +respect by comparison with her more energetic, self-reliant sister. + +I heard the explanation, such as it was, without the smallest +surprise; it was very much what I expected now when I was permitted to +know and appreciate her better. + +"What shall I say, Colonel Annesley, and what will you think of me?" +she began plaintively, almost piteously. "But the moment I found I +had to part with my child my courage broke down. I became incapable of +doing anything. I seemed quite paralyzed. I am not brave, you know, +like my dearest Claire, or strong-minded, and I quite collapsed." + +"But I hope and trust you have made the exchange. Lady Claire has +little Lord Aspdale and has left you the dummy? Tell me, I beg." + +"Oh, yes, yes, we made the exchange," she replied, in such a +faltering, undecided voice that I doubted, and yet could not bring +myself to believe that she was not telling the truth. + +"So much depends upon it, you see. Everything indeed. It would be a +very serious matter if--if--" + +"The contrary was the case," I wanted to say, yet how could I? I +should be charging her directly with wilfully misleading me, and +deceiving me in this moment of extreme peril. + +"But what will happen now?" she said, her voice faltering, her eyes +filling, and seemingly on the very verge of hysterics. "What if +Blackadder should find that I am here, and--and--" + +"He can do nothing to you unless he has a right to act, unless," I +answered unhesitatingly and a little cruelly perhaps, regardless of +the scared look in her face, "you have good reason to dread his +interference. Lady Henriette, you have not been quite straight with +me, I fear. Where is little Lord Aspdale?" + +"In there!" she pointed to an inner room, and burst into +uncontrollable tears. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + + +To say that I was aghast at the discovery of Lady Blackadder, or, as +she preferred to call herself, Lady Henriette Standish, in Aix, and +with the precious child, would but imperfectly express my feelings. +For the moment I was so utterly taken aback that I could decide upon +no new plan of action. I sat there helplessly staring at the poor +creature, so full of grief and remorse that I was quite unable to rise +to the occasion. I had counted so securely upon tricking Lord +Blackadder into a barren pursuit that my disappointment was +overwhelming and paralyzed my inventiveness. + +Only by slow degrees did I evolve certain definite facts and +conclusions. The most essential thing was to get Lord Blackadder away +from Aix. So long as he remained he was an ever present danger; our +game was up directly he awoke to the true state of affairs. He could +appeal now to the police with better result than when claiming my +condign punishment. How was he to be got away? By drawing him after +me. Clearly I must go, and that not alone, but take them with me, +following me under the positive impression that I was leading them +straight to their goal. Not one hint, not the slightest suspicion must +be permitted to reach them that their quarry was here, just under +their feet. Undoubtedly I must adhere to my first plan. When I had +gone on with the others at my heels, the coast would be clear for Lady +Henriette, and she must double back once more and go into safe hiding +somewhere, while the hunt overshot its quarry and rolled on. + +So soon as Lady Blackadder recovered from her agitation, I essayed to +win her approval of my plans. But the idea of parting from me now that +she had laid hold of me was so repugnant to her that she yielded once +more to her nerves. + +"I beg and implore you, Colonel Annesley, not to leave me again. I +cannot possibly stay here alone. Let me go with you, please, please. +I'll do what you like, disguise myself, go third class, anything; but +for goodness' sake don't desert me, or I don't know what will +happen." + +"There is simply no help for it, Lady Henriette. You simply must. It +is imperative that you should remain here at least for a day or two +while the others clear out of your way. It would be quite fatal if +they saw you or you came across them." + +"Oh, you're too cruel, it is perfectly inhuman. I shall tell Claire, I +am sure she will take my part. Oh, why isn't she here, why did I let +her leave me? I think I am the most wretched and ill-used woman +alive." + +These lamentations and indirect reproaches rather hardened my heart. +The woman was so unreasonable, so little mindful of what was being +done for her, that I lost my patience, and said very stiffly: + +"Lady Henriette, let us quite understand one another. Do you want to +keep your child? I tell you candidly there is only one way to save +it." + +"My darling Aspdale! Of course I want to keep him. How can you suggest +such a horrid idea? It is not a bit what I expected from you. Claire +told me--never mind what; but please understand that I will never give +my baby up." + +I was nettled by her perverseness, and although I tried hard to +school myself to patience, it was exceedingly difficult. + +"Indeed, Lady Henriette, I have no desire to separate you from your +child, nor would I counsel you under any circumstances to give it up. +But quite certainly while you are here in Aix you are in imminent +danger of losing it. You ought never to have kept it--it was madness +to come here and run straight into the jaws of danger." + +"How was I to know?" she retorted, now quite angrily. "I really think +it is too bad of you to reproach me. You are most unkind." + +"Dear, dear," I said fretfully, "this is all beside the question. What +is most urgent is to shield and save you now when the peril is most +pressing." + +"And yet you propose to leave me to fight it out alone? Is that +reasonable? Is it generous, chivalrous, to desert a poor woman in her +extremity?" + +"I protest, you must not put it like that. I have explained the +necessity. Surely you must see that it would be madness, quite fatal +for us, to be seen together, or for you to be seen at all. I must +still hoodwink them by going off this afternoon." + +"And leave me without protection, with all I have at stake? If only +Claire was here." + +"It wouldn't mend matters much, except that Lady Claire would side +with me." + +"Oh, yes, you say that, you believe she thinks so much of you and your +opinion that she would agree to anything you suggest." + +"Mine is the safest and the only course," I replied, I am afraid with +some heat. "You must, you shall take it." + +"Upon my word, Colonel Annesley, you speak to me as if I were a +private soldier. Be good enough to remember that I am not under your +orders. I claim to decide for myself how I shall act." + +She was no longer piteous or beseeching; her tears had dried, a flush +of colour had risen to her cheeks, and it was evident that her despair +had given place to very distinct temper. + +I was in a rage myself, and sprang to my feet with a sharp exclamation +of disgust. + +"Really, Lady Henriette, you will drive me to wash my hands of the +whole business. But I came into it to oblige your sister, and I owe it +to her to do my best without reference to you. I have marked out a +line for myself, and I shall follow it. Unless you are disposed to +change your views, I shall stick to mine; and I do not see the use of +prolonging this interview. I will bid you good day." + +I moved towards the door, still keeping an eye on her, believing her +to be quite set in her fatuous refusal to hear reason. She still held +herself erect and defiant, and there seemed to be small hope of doing +anything with her. Then suddenly I saw symptoms of giving way. Signals +of distress were hung out in her quivering lip and the nervous +twitching of her hands. All at once she broke down and cried +passionately: + +"No, no, no; you must not leave me--not like that. I cannot bear it; I +am too miserable, too agitated, too terrified. I have no one to lean +on but you. What shall I do? What shall I do?" And she collapsed into +a chair, weeping as if her heart would break. + +The situation was awkward, embarrassing. At another time I might have +been puzzled how to deal with it, but this was a moment of supreme +emergency. A great crisis was imminent, the ruin of our scheme and the +downfall of our hopes were certainly at hand if I gave way to her. +Everything depended upon my action, and I knew that the only chance +of safety lay in the execution of my design. + +This being so, her tears made no great impression on me. I may be +called a hard-hearted brute, but I really had no great sympathy with +her in her lamentations. It was not an occasion for tears, I felt; and +I must be firm and unwavering, whatever she might think of me. I +counted, at any rate, and with some assurance, on the approval of Lady +Claire if the details of this painful scene should ever come to her +ears. + +Nor could I wait till she chose to regain her composure. Time was too +precious to be wasted in any attempts to win her back to common sense, +and without waiting for permission I crossed the room, rang the bell, +and begged the waiter to summon the lady's maid. She was a strongly +built, matter-of-fact French woman, probably not easily disturbed; but +she glanced apprehensively at her mistress, and turned a suspicious +look on me. + +"You had better see to your lady," I said sharply. "She has an attack +of nerves. I've no doubt it will soon pass, but I'm afraid I have +imparted some distressing news. Be good enough to tell her when she +recovers that I shall come back in half an hour, when I trust she +will be ready to accompany me." + +"What is this?" broke in Lady Henriette, suddenly interposing and +evidently roused to deep interest in my words. "Accompany you? Where, +I should like to know?" + +"Is that of much consequence? You have entreated me not to leave you. +Well, we shall not part; I propose to take you away with me. Do you +object? It was your own wish." + +"I retract that. I will not go with you; certainly not in the dark. +You must tell me first where you think of going, what you mean to do. +Is it likely that I should trust myself alone with an almost complete +stranger--a man who has shown me so little consideration, who has been +so unkind, so cruel, and who now wants to carry me off goodness knows +where, because he is so _obstinately determined_ that his is the right +way to proceed." + +"Lady Henriette," I said civilly but very coldly, and putting the drag +on myself, for I confess she was trying me very hard, "let there be no +misunderstanding between us. Either you consent to my proposals +absolutely and unhesitatingly, or I shall withdraw altogether from +your service. I have felt that I had a duty to Lady Claire, and I +have been honestly anxious to discharge it, but by your present +attitude I feel myself absolved from that duty. I am not unwilling to +accept responsibility, but only if I am allowed to act as I please." + +"Oh, how like a man! Of course you must have your own way, and every +one else must give in to you," she cried with aggravating emphasis, +giving me no credit for trying to choose the wisest course. + +"I know I'm right," I urged, a little feebly perhaps, for I was nearly +worn out by her prejudice and utterly illogical refusal to see how the +land lay. But I quickly recovered myself, and said quite peremptorily, +"You shall have half an hour to make up your mind, not a minute more, +Lady Henriette. You shall give me my answer when I return. I warn you +that I shall bring a carriage in half an hour, and I strongly advise +you to be ready to start with me. Have everything packed, please, and +the bill paid. I will take no denial, remember that." + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + + +I returned to my hotel vexed and irritated beyond measure by my +passage at arms with Lady Henriette Standish, and hating the prospect +of any further dealings with her. I very cordially echoed her repeated +cry for Lady Claire. Matters would have been very different had her +strong-minded sister been on the spot to use her influence and help us +with her counsel. What a contrast between the two women! I was more +and more drawn to the one, and more and more heartily despised the +other. + +With my mind full of the beautiful creature who had made me a willing +captive to her charms, her gracious presence was recalled to me by a +message from under her own hand. As I passed the threshold of my +hotel, the hall porter gave me a telegram from Lady Claire. It had +come via London, but the office of origin was Marseilles. + + "Reached so far, yesterday," it said. "One of them turned up + this morning--have no fear--exchange not effected--shall + remain here for the present--Hotel Terminus. + + "CLAIRE." + +I read and re-read this passage with a delightful feeling that it +brought me into touch with my love, and I may be permitted for seeing +in it clear proof of her bright wit and intelligence. She told me just +exactly all that it was essential to know: of the pursuit, of the +absence of pressing danger, of the abortive attempt to exchange +babies, and where she was to be found. Suppose that I had not met Lady +Henriette, I was fully prepared for anything that might occur. + +It was now barely 10 A.M., and the time intervening before +the departure of the eastward bound express (three and a half hours) +was none too much to carry out my intentions as to Lady Henriette. + +I first of all ordered a covered landau to be harnessed as speedily as +possible, and to be sent to await me in a side street near the Hôtel +Modena; then I summoned l'Echelle and bade him make all ready for the +journey. I also told him that I should be busily engaged that +forenoon; but that as I might be obliged to run it very close for the +train, he was to make all preparations, to take the tickets, and await +me on the platform. I had debated anxiously with myself how far I +should betray the presence of Lady Henriette in Aix to l'Echelle, and +decided that, although I had no particular reason to doubt him, I felt +that it would be more prudent to keep the fact to myself. For the same +reason I kept him busily engaged in my bedroom packing, lest he should +spy upon my movements. There was still the fear that Falfani might be +on the watch, but I had been assured by l'Echelle that the Blackadder +party were so satisfied by the news he gave them that they left the +business of shadowing almost entirely to him. + +I was pretty sure that I reached the Hôtel Modena unobserved. I came +upon the carriage by the way, and as I passed briefly desired the +driver to follow me to the Hôtel Modena. Arriving there, I sent up my +name, and followed it, a little unceremoniously, to Lady Henriette's +sitting-room. + +She was there, dressed in hat and jacket, and so far disposed to +comply with my wishes. Her maid, Victorine, was with her, the baby on +her knee. Her baggage, happily light enough, was there, packed and all +ready for a start. + +But if I thought that Lady Henriette meant to yield without another +skirmish I was sadly mistaken. I was in for much more than a skirmish; +it was to be a battle royal. + +"The carriage is at the door," I said as pleasantly as possible. "We +have nearly an hour's drive before us, and I am delighted to think +that you are ready and willing to go with me." + +"I am ready, as you see, but not willing," she answered, bridling up +with a scornful air. "Very much the reverse indeed. The more I think +over it the more outrageous and preposterous your behaviour seems. +Where are we going? I insist upon knowing. I must have a plain +categorical answer or I will not move an inch." Her dogged, determined +air was belied by her dress and the obvious preparations already made +for departure. Her present attitude I set down to the vacillation of +her character. She might make up her mind one moment and one way, and +yet be quite prepared to change it the next. + +"You are fully entitled to know where you are going, and I have not +the smallest desire to keep it from you," I replied, still speaking in +a smooth, courteous voice. "I propose that you should take up your +residence for a time--the very shortest time possible--at Le Bourget, +a small place at the head of the lake. You may know it; there is a +snug little hotel in the village, the Dent du Chat. You will like it." + +"I shall not like it. I dislike the whole idea exceedingly. Why should +I be buried alive in such an out-of-the-way spot?" + +"It will be no worse than Fuentellato, a place you chose for +yourself." + +"I have a house of my own there--my own servants. It is perfectly +safe." + +"Not now, believe me, they will come upon you there; trace you easily +and quickly, and they are capable of any violence to capture and +deprive you of your treasure." I pointed to the child on the maid's +knee. + +"I shall be more at their mercy here in Aix." + +"Be guided by me. I am certain of what I say. All will be well if you +will only keep out of the way now for a few hours, perhaps at most a +couple of days. If they do not find you at once they will never find +you. Only let me have a short start ahead and I'll lead them a pretty +dance, and take them further and further away. You may rely on it, and +I assure you they will never be able to find you or do you any harm." + +"I wish I could believe you," she said. "If I could only believe in +you and trust you as Claire does," she murmured pathetically, still +tortured by doubt. "Why has Claire deserted me? If she were only here, +or I knew where to find her!" + +I was on the point of imparting my last news, but I checked myself. +Lady Henriette had seen her last, and must be well aware of the +direction she was taking to Lyons and Marseilles. It would only +unsettle her to know that her sister was at Marseilles to-day, and +would be at Genoa to-morrow. She would be mad to join her, and it was +my most earnest wish that, for the present at least, Lady Henriette +should keep quiet in the background with her charge. + +"You will soon be able to communicate with her, no doubt. Of course +you arranged that at Culoz?" + +"We arranged nothing. It was all so hurried, and we had much to talk +about. She was so hard on me when I declared I could not part with my +blessed boy. We had words--" + +"Ah!" I had heard enough to know that there had been a strong +difference of opinion, a sharp quarrel probably, and that Lady Claire +had not spared her sister at this fresh exhibition of ridiculous +weakness. + +"May I ask, please, whether you were to believe in me or not?" I +resumed, taking up the discussion where I had left it. "We must be +moving if we are to go at all." + +Her acquiescence, now tardily given, was surly and ungracious. + +"I suppose I cannot help myself; I am quite at your mercy. You may be +sure I shall not easily forget this, or forgive your overbearing +treatment. I will go, but under protest." + +She led the way herself and entered the carriage first, motioning to +Victorine to hand her the baby and take her seat inside. She made no +such sign to me, although I followed close behind. But I also got in +without invitation, only explaining that it might not be wise to show +myself on the box. + +The coachman had his orders, and he drove off briskly along the +Marlioz road till he reached the turning towards the head of the +lake. In less than an hour we pulled up before the Hôtel Dent du +Chat, a simple, unpretending hostelry, to which I had telegraphed in +advance, stating my needs. We were received with profuse civility, the +best of everything placed at our disposal, a best at which Lady +Henriette, as I might have expected, turned up her nose, sniffing and +scornful. + +She uttered no complaint, she would not address a word to me; her air +was one of lofty, contemptuous reserve; she intimated plainly that we +were "dead cuts." + +Only at the last, just as I was driving away and lifted my hat in +farewell, she yielded to an impulse of despair, and seized my arm in +almost frenzied appeal. + +"You must not, you cannot desert me; I will not be left like this. No +man, no gentleman would do it. I beg and implore you to remain within +reach, somewhere near at any rate. I can never face this place alone." + +Her last appeal touched me to the quick. Once more I sought to explain +the dire necessity for this act that seemed so barbarous, but she was +deaf to all my arguments, and still clung to me nervously as I climbed +into the carriage. + +When at length I got away, and I persisted in leaving, being so fully +satisfied it was for the best, her piteous, reproachful accents still +rung in my ears, and I shall count that return drive to Aix as the +most miserable hour I have passed in my life. + +The whole episode had occupied much time, and it was already past one +when I reëntered the town. I drove straight to the railway station, +and was met outside it by the faithful l'Echelle. + +"Monsieur, monsieur, will you believe it? They have gone half an hour +ago, and not by the eastern but the western express." + +"You saw them?" + +"I spoke to them. Falfani himself told me of the change in their +plans. The latest news from their man in the south was so positive, +and has so convinced my lord, that he is hastening full speed to join +Tiler, and they are only too delighted to leave you behind." + +I laughed aloud with intense satisfaction. + +"You do not mind, monsieur? You have no reason to fear them?" + +"Not the least in the world, they are playing into my hands. I, too, +have changed my plans. I shall now remain in Aix for some time +longer. I shall be glad to go on with the baths." + +But I was thinking really of that poor creature I had abandoned at Le +Bourget, and overjoyed to think that I might now meet her wishes, and +perchance regain something of her good-will. + +Once more I took the road to Le Bourget, driving over by the first +_fiacre_ I could pick up on the stand, a much slower journey than the +first, and it was nearly 3 P.M. when I reached the little +hotel. + +It was indeed a day of surprises, of strange emotions and moving +incidents. + +When I alighted and asked for "Mrs. Blair," I was answered abruptly +that she was gone. + +"Gone? When? How?" I cried, in utter amazement. + +"Madame went very soon after monsieur," said the _patronne_, in high +dudgeon. "She was not complimentary, she said this place was too +_triste_, that it got on her nerves. She called me up and said I was +to bring her the _Indicateur_. Then she must have a carriage as soon +as it could be prepared to drive her to Culoz, fifteen miles away, +meaning to take the train from there." + +"Not to Aix?" + +"Assuredly not, for when I suggested that she could more easily find +the train there she told me to hold my tongue, that she knew very well +what she was about, and wanted no observations from me." + +To Culoz? She was bound then to follow her sister, I felt sure of it; +and I was aghast, foreshadowing the new dangers opening before her. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +[_The Lady Claire Standish has her say._] + + +It was as much as I could do to restrain myself when I saw my gallant +knight, the Colonel, rush at that despicable creature, Lord +Blackadder, and shake him. I wanted to put my head out of the window +and cry, "Well done!" But I saw the folly of it, much as I was +delighted, and checked any demonstration of joy. I had no time to +spare for anything outside our settled plan, so I jumped out on to the +platform at once, and closely followed by Philpotts joined Henriette, +and cried: + +"Quick, quick, dear, the train goes on in less than ten minutes. Give +me the child, we must exchange again." + +"What do you mean?" she gasped, and looked at me dazed and bewildered. +"Why should I part with my boy, my own boy! I cannot, indeed I cannot. +Why? Why?" + +"Because Blackadder is over there, and in another minute or two the +child will be taken forcibly from you. Luckily I can still save it." + +"Oh, but please, Claire, please explain. I do not understand, not in +the least. What am I to do? I haven't heard, I do not know." + +"Go on to Fuentellato with the dummy. It is the easiest thing in the +world. They will follow you, Colonel Annesley will see to that, while +I carry our darling to some secure hiding-place and keep out of sight +until we can meet. There, do not, for heaven's sake, delay. Give me +the child." + +"I can't, I can't. I will not part with it. My own, my precious babe. +Never. Nothing will induce me." + +"Upon my word, Henriette, you are too aggravating and impossible. To +think that now at the eleventh hour you should fail me and break down. +Are you going to spoil everything! Let me take little Ralph;" and I +put out my arms for the child, which Victorine held. + +But the mother stood between us, seized the baby convulsively, and +with a gesture of repulsion cried: + +"Go away, go away, you shall not have him. I don't care what happens, +I will keep him against all the world." + +I pleaded and stormed in turn, I tried everything but force, all +without avail. My foolish sister seemed to have taken leave of her +senses; she thought nothing of the nearly certain collapse of our +schemes, her one overmastering idea was, like any tigress, to resist +all attempts to deprive her of her cub. + +Meanwhile the time ran on. Already the officials were crying "_En +voiture_," and I knew my train was timed to leave at five minutes past +8 A.M. If I lingered I should lose it, no great matter perhaps, seeing +that the exchange, my principal object, had not been made; but if I +remained with Henriette, she with her baby and I with mine, the whole +of the artifice might at any moment be laid bare. + +I had to decide then and there, and all I could think of at the time +was to keep the enemy in the dark as to the doubled part of the baby. +At first I thought of sending Philpotts on alone with her charge and +remaining with Henriette. She was so helpless, so weak and vacillating +that I had small hope of her getting through to Fuentellato by +herself. That was clearly the wisest course, and I should have taken +it, but I was sorely vexed and put out by her obstinate refusal to +play her part; and I told her so. + +"Once more and for the last time, Henriette, will you do what I want?" +I asked her peremptorily. + +She only hugged her baby the closer and whispered a soft lullaby. + +"Then I shall go on with the other. It may be best. They may still be +drawn after me, and leave you to your own devices. The only thing for +you to do is to take the first train the other way,--it will be here +in ten minutes,--keep low and you may get through into Italy +unobserved." + +"Are you really deserting me?" she cried piteously. "When shall I see +you again?" + +"I shall go round the long journey to Marseilles, by the South of +France, and will join you at Fuentellato. There is no reason why you +should not get there. Colonel Annesley will detain the others here, +you may be sure of that. Good-bye, now," and without another word +Philpotts and I ran round, regained the up platform, resumed our seats +by the narrowest margin and proceeded on our way to Amberieu. + +The reaction from this agitating scene was little less than despair +and collapse. So soon as I could bring myself to think calmly and at +leisure, I realized that I had done a very foolish thing. Was it +possible for Henriette to get off by herself? Hardly, she had not the +nerve, I had almost said the wit, to escape alone from the toils and +snares that encompassed her. I blamed myself, I became a prey to the +bitterest self-reproach for having abandoned her, for allowing myself +to give way to temper, and treat her so cruelly. As the train rattled +on, one thought took possession of me. I must get out and go back +instantly, at least at the very first opportunity. I must retrace my +steps and return again to Culoz, where I hoped to be in time to +support and strengthen her, please God save her from the consequences +of my unkind and ill-considered action. + +Accordingly, at the very next station, Virieu, I alighted. It was +still no more than 8.21. In less than an hour I was in the return +train and once more at Culoz, where, sending Philpotts to hide with +her charge in the inmost recesses of the ladies' waiting-room, I +vainly explored the station for any signs of Henriette, but to my +delight she was nowhere in sight. I was fairly entitled to suppose +that she had gone on. + +The place was still in a turmoil, the consequences no doubt of the +affray expressly begun by Colonel Annesley to befriend me. I narrowly +escaped being seen by some of my enemies, but they were evidently too +much preoccupied by their indignation at the outrage put upon that +great personage, Lord Blackadder. I passed within an inch or two of my +gallant Colonel and was sorely tempted to speak to him, but was +deterred by the possible mischief it might entail. + +I was relieved when they all took seats in the eastward bound train, +going only as far as Aix-les-Bains, where, as I heard it stated by the +Culoz officials, the case was to be submitted to the Commissary of +Police. I felt sure that my gallant Colonel would hold his own, I felt +no very great concern for him. Although not fully satisfied as to +Henriette, I was so far satisfied by coming upon all the parties, +Ralph, Blackadder, and the rest, at Culoz, that she had disappeared +from the scene without interference. + +I had now to decide upon my own movements. I debated with myself +whether I should not follow my sister to Fuentellato, to which I made +sure she had gone, and I had every reason to hope that I could +eventually join her there. But it seemed to be throwing away that same +chance of mystification which I had always kept in view, which might +have served me so well but for her weakness, and I still clung to my +hope of drawing them after me on the wrong scent. + +At one time I thought of venturing boldly into their midst and +appearing openly at Aix; but this would probably end in abruptly +pricking the bubble, and nothing more was to be done. I thought of +sending Philpotts to hunt up the Colonel and convey a letter to him +detailing my situation, and was much taken with this idea, which I +presently rejected because I did not clearly see what good could come +of it. I was tortured with doubts, unable to decide for the best, and +at last, from sheer inability to choose, resolved to adhere to my +original plan of travelling south. + +I would at least go to Marseilles, which I could reach that very +night, and once there would be guided by circumstances, seeking only +to control them to the extent of reporting my whereabouts to Henriette +at Fuentellato, and to the Colonel via London as arranged. + +This as it proved was the very wisest course I could have adopted, as +will presently appear. + +I was doomed to a long wait at Culoz. There was no train due westward +till 12.40, and I had to put in nearly three solid hours, which I +spent in wandering into the village, where I found an unpretending +_auberge_ and a rather uneatable breakfast. + +Everywhere I was met with wearisome delays. A slow train to Amberieu, +a still slower cross journey to Lyons, which I did not reach till +nearly 4 P.M., and learnt that another hour or more must +elapse before the departure of the next Marseilles express. + +The journey seemed interminable, but just as I was losing all +patience, I received a fillip that awoke me to alertness, and set all +my nerves tingling. + +The man Tiler, the second detective, the man whom I had already +befooled more than once, was there now on the platform, waiting like +myself to embark upon the 5.19 train south to Marseilles. + +He had come after me; that was perfectly clear. He, and he alone, and +I rejoiced greatly that I had to do entirely with him. I had tried my +strength with him more than once already, and felt myself his equal +in guile. Although he owed me a grudge and would certainly be upon his +guard, I thought myself strong enough to face and outwit him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + + +When I first caught sight of Mr. Ludovic Tiler he was busily engaged +in conversation with one of the guards and a couple of porters. From +his gestures, no doubt, he was describing our party, and I was +half-inclined to walk up to him and say "Behold!" But then I drew back +hesitating. I did not fear him in the least, but he would be sure to +draw the others to him, and I did not quite like the idea of having +three of them on my hands at once, and with no Colonel on my side. + +I could only communicate with Colonel Annesley by a roundabout +process, and it might take him some time to reach me, even if he was +not otherwise engaged by Henriette. + +This Tiler man would of course stick to me and follow me if he had the +faintest clue, and I let him have that by directing Philpotts to show +herself, passing quite close to him and walking on towards the train. +She was to return then to the waiting-room, where together we made +some change in our appearance. There were other cloaks in the bundle +of rugs, which we put on over those we were wearing. I got out a thick +veil, and Philpotts replaced her neat bonnet by a soft motor cap. More +than all, we made away with the dummy child, broke up the parcel, +resolved it into its component parts, a small pillow and many wraps, +all of which we put away in the same convenient receptacle. + +Tiler certainly did not recognize us as we walked separately to the +train. He was looking for a party of two and a baby, and all he saw +was one woman who might remind him of me, but without her attendant or +any encumbrance. He had his suspicions, however, for as soon as we +started he walked through the long line of _couloir_ carriages, +deliberately peering and prying, examining the passengers of every +compartment. He passed us at first, and was much put out, I could see, +disappointed no doubt, but he came back presently and stood for some +time at our window, while I hid my face in among the rugs, and +Philpotts cowered in a corner. + +He came back more than once during the journey and stared. No doubt he +would have taken a seat in our compartment, but it was reserved for +_dames seules_ or ladies alone. He was evidently in great doubt, so +much so that I began to fear he would sheer off altogether. That we +were the women he wanted was probably borne in on him, but what had +become of the baby? I could enter into the workings of his mind on +that point. What could we have done with it? Hidden it, left it +somewhere on the road in the lost property office or at a foundling +hospital? All sorts of suggestions probably presented themselves to +him, but none would satisfy him; for why, he would reason, were we +travelling to Marseilles or anywhere else without it? + +To tie him still to our heels, I took the opportunity of having the +compartment to ourselves to revive and reconstitute the dummy. The +baby was quickly reborn behind the drawn blinds of the carriage, and +when at last we arrived at Marseilles at 10.30 P.M. we sallied forth +and marched in solemn procession to the Terminus Hotel under the very +eyes of our watchful detective. I almost laughed in his face as we +entered the lift near the outer door, and were carried up to our rooms +upon the second floor. + +I slept late, and when I woke, refreshed and fortified against +anything that might come, I looked out on to the little square with +its fringe of plane-trees, and saw my friend Mr. Tiler walking to and +fro like a sentry on his beat. He had the hotel under observation that +was clear, and it was little I should be able to do that day unknown +to him. + +It did not worry me in the least, for in the early hours of calm +reflection that followed deep, restful sleep, I had thought out the +course I should pursue. I no longer dreaded pursuit; let them all +come, the more the merrier, and I meant to fully justify Mr. Tiler in +calling them to him. + +I dressed slowly, lingered leisurely over my _luncheon-déjeuner_, and +then ordered a carriage, a comfortable landau and pair. I meant to +lead my follower a fine dance, starting with the innocent intention of +giving myself and my belongings an airing. It was a brilliant day, the +Southern sun struck with semi-tropical fervour, the air was soft and +sleepy in the oppressive heat. I brought out the baby undeterred, and +installed it, slumbering peacefully, on Philpotts's knees in the seat +before me, and lying back with ostentatious indifference, drove off +in full view of the detective. + +I shot one glance back as I turned down the long slope leading to the +Grâce-à-Dieu Street, and was pleased to see that he had jumped into a +_fiacre_ and was coming on after me. He should have his fill of +driving. I led him up and down and round and round, street after +street, all along the great Cannebière and out towards the Reserve, +where Roubion's Restaurant offers his celebrated fish stew, +_bouillabaise_, to all comers. + +Then when Mr. Tiler's weedy horse began to show signs of distress, for +my sturdy pair had outpaced him sorely, I relented and reëntered the +town, meaning to make a long halt at the office of Messrs. Cook and +Son, the universal friends of all travellers far and near. I had long +had an idea in my mind that the most promising, if not the only +effective method of ending our trouble would be to put the seas +between us and the myrmidons of the Courts. I had always hoped to +escape to some far-off country where the King's writ does not run, +where we could settle down under genial skies, amid pleasant +surroundings, at a distance from the worries and miseries of life. + +Now, with the enemy close at hand, and the real treasure in my foolish +sister's care, I could not expect to evade them, but I might surely +beguile and lead them astray. This was the plan I had been revolving +in my mind, and which took me to the tourist offices. The object I had +in view was to get a list of steamers leaving the port of Marseilles +within the next two or three days, and their destination. As everybody +knows, there is a constant moving of shipping East, West, and South, +and it ought not to be difficult to pick out something to suit me. + +The obliging clerk at the counter gave me abundant, almost unending, +information. + +"To the East? Why, surely, there are several opportunities. The P. and +O. has half a dozen steamers for the East, pointing first for Port +Said and Suez Canal, and bound to India, Ceylon, China, and the +Antipodes; the same line for Gibraltar and the West. The Messagéries +Maritime, for all Mediterranean ports, the General Navigation of Italy +for Genoa and Naples, the Transatlantique for various Algerian ports, +Tunis, Bône, Philippeville, and Algiers, other companies serving the +coast of Morocco and especially Tangier." + +Truly an embarrassing choice! I took a note of all that suited, and +promised to return after I had made a round of the shipping +offices,--another jaunt for Tiler, and a pretty plain indication of +what was in my mind. + +After full inquiry I decided in favour of Tripoli, and for several +reasons. A steamer offered in a couple of days, Sunday, just when I +wanted it, although it was by no means my intention to go to Tripoli +myself. That it was somewhat out of the way, neither easy to reach nor +to leave, as the steamers came and went rarely, served my purpose +well. If I could only inveigle my tormentors into the trap, they might +be caught there longer than they liked. + +Accordingly, I secured a good cabin on board the S.S. _Oasis_ of the +Transatlantique, leaving Marseilles for Tripoli at 8 A.M. the +following Sunday, and paid the necessary deposit on the passage +ticket. + +It was a satisfaction to me to see my "shadow's" _fiacre_ draw up at +the door soon after I left, and Mr. Ludovic Tiler enter the office. I +made no doubt he would contrive, very cleverly as he thought, to find +out exactly what I had been doing with regard to the _Oasis_. + +Later in the day, out of mere curiosity, I walked down to the offices +to ask a trivial question about my baggage. It was easy to turn the +talk to other matters connected with the voyage and my fellow +passengers. + +Several other cabins had been engaged, two of them in the name of +Ludovic Tiler. + +There was nothing left for me but to bide my time. I telegraphed that +evening to Colonel Annesley, reporting myself, so to speak, and +counted upon hearing his whereabouts in reply next day. + +Tiler did not show up nor trouble me, nor did I concern myself about +him. We were really waiting for each other, and we knew enough of each +other's plans to bide in tranquil expectation of what we thought must +certainly follow. When I was at dinner in the hotel restaurant he +calmly came into the room, merely to pass his eye over me as it were, +and I took it so much as a matter of course that I looked up, and felt +half-inclined to give him a friendly nod. We were like duellists +saluting each other before we crossed swords, each relying upon his +own superior skill. + +[_We need not reproduce in detail the rest of the matters set forth by +Lady Claire Standish while she and the detective watched each other +at Marseilles. Tiler, on the Saturday morning, made it plain, from +his arrogance and self-sufficient air as he walked through the hotel +restaurant, that all was going well, and he had indeed heard from +Falfani that he would arrive with Lord Blackadder that night._ + +_Later on that Saturday a telegram from Culoz reached Lady Claire from +Colonel Annesley giving the latest news, and bringing down Lady +Henriette's movements to the time of her departure for Marseilles. He +promised a later message from somewhere along the road with later +information, and soon after 9 P.M. Lady Claire was told they were +coming through by the night train, due at Marseilles at 4 A.M. next +morning. Thus all the parties to this imbroglio were about to be +concentrated in the same place, and it must depend upon the skill and +determination of one clever woman to turn events her way._] + +She goes on to say: + +It was a shock to me to hear that Henriette still lingered on the +fringe of danger, and I was very much disturbed at finding she might +be running into the very teeth of it. But I trusted to my good +fortune, and, better still, to good management, to keep her out of +harm's way until the coast was clear. + +I was on the platform at 10 P.M. watching for the Blackadder +lot when they appeared. Tiler was there to receive them and spoke a +few words to my lord, who instantly looked round, for me no doubt, and +I slipped away. I did not wish to anticipate a crisis, and he was +quite capable of making a scene, even at the hotel at that time of +night. I was relieved at seeing him pass on, and the more so that he +did not take the turn into the Terminus Hotel, my hotel, but went +towards the entrance where a carriage was waiting for him. He meant of +course to put up in the town, either at the Noailles or the Louvre. + +I lay down to take a short rest, but was roused in time to be again on +the platform at 4 A.M. to meet my friends. It was a joyful +meeting, but we lost little time over it. Henriette was fairly worn +out, and all but broke down when she saw me. The Colonel came to the +rescue as usual, and said briefly, after we had shaken hands: + +"Take charge of her, Lady Claire, I will see to everything now. We can +talk later." + +"Can you be at the entrance to the hotel in a couple of hours' time? +I shall want your advice, probably your assistance." + +"You know you have only to ask," he answered, with the prompt, +soldierlike obedience, and the honest, unflinching look in his eyes +that I knew so well and loved in him. Here was, indeed, a brave, loyal +soul, to be trusted in implicitly, and with my whole heart. + +I felt now that I should succeed in the difficult task I had set +myself. The plan I had conceived and hoped to work out was to send +Lord Blackadder to sea, all the way to Tripoli, with Philpotts and the +sham child. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + + +We drove down, Philpotts and I, to the wharf where the steamers of the +Transatlantique Company lie. The _Oasis_ had her blue peter flying, +and a long gangway stretched from her side to the shore, up and down +which a crowd passed ceaselessly, passengers embarking, porters with +luggage, and dock hands with freight. At the top of the slope was the +chief steward and his men, in full dress, white shirts, white ties, +and white gloves, who welcomed us, asking the number of our stateroom, +and offering to relieve us of our light baggage. + +One put out his arms to take the baby from Philpotts, but she shook +her head vigorously, and I cried in French that it was too precious. + +Next moment a voice I recognized said: + +"Certainly they are there, and they have it with them. Why not seize +it at once?" + +"Not so fast, Lord Blackadder," I interposed, turning on him fiercely. +"No violence, if you please, or you may make the acquaintance of +another police commissary." + +I had heard the whole story of the affair at Aix from the Colonel, who +I may say at once I had seen shortly before, and who was at no great +distance now. + +"Go on, Philpotts, get down below and lock yourself in," I said +boldly. "Our cabin is thirty-seven--" checking myself abruptly as +though I had been too outspoken. + +"But, Lady Claire, permit me," it was Lord Blackadder behind, speaking +with quite insinuating softness. "Do be more reasonable. Surely you +perceive how this must end? Let me entreat you not to drive me to +extremities. I mean to have the child, understand that; but we ought +to be able to arrange this between us. Give it up to me of your own +accord, you shall not regret it. Ask what you choose, anything--a +pearl collar or a diamond bracelet--" + +"Can you really be such a base hound, such an abject and contemptible +creature, as to propose terms of that sort to me? How dare you think +so ill of me? Let me pass; I cannot stay here, it would poison me to +breathe the same air. Never speak to me again," I almost shouted, +filled with bitter shame and immeasurable scorn, and I turned and left +him. + +Down-stairs I found Philpotts in the cabin, busily engaged in putting +her "doll" to bed in the third berth. + +"Are you at all afraid of being left with these wretches?" I asked a +little doubtfully, counting upon her devotion, but loth to lay too +great a burden on her. + +"Why, how can you suppose such a thing, my lady? What can they do to +me? They will be furiously angry, of course, but the laugh will be +against them. If the worst comes to the worst they will appeal to the +captain, and they will get no satisfaction from him. I can take care +of myself, never fear. You shall hear from Tripoli to the same hotel +in Marseilles." + +"If we go on your letter will follow us. Come back there as soon as +you possibly can and you will find further instructions. Now it must +be good-bye, there goes the bell to warn people ashore. One last word: +I advise you when well out to sea to go to my lord and offer to go +over to his side and desert me altogether. Tell him you will help him +to get the child,--that you will put it into his hands indeed,--at a +price." + +"As if I would touch his dirty money, my lady!" + +"It will be only spoiling the Egyptians! Squeeze all you can out of +him, I say. But that is as you please. You know I shall always be your +firm friend whatever you do, and that I shall never forget what I owe +you." + +I should have said much more, but now the second bell was ringing, and +if I was to carry out my scheme it was time for me to go. + +On leaving the cabin I walked forward along the lower deck seeking +another issue, the position of which I had fixed the day before, +having visited the _Oasis_ on purpose. In a minute I had emerged into +the open air, and found myself in the midst of the sailors sending +down cargo into the forehold. I should have been utterly confused, +bewildered, and terrified, but I felt a strong, firm hand close on +mine, and a quiet, steady voice in my ear. + +"This way, Lady Claire, only a couple of steps," said the Colonel as +he led me to the side of the steamer farthest from the shore. A ladder +was fixed here and a boat was made fast to the lowest rung. Carefully, +tenderly guided by my ever trusty henchman I made the descent, took my +seat in the stern of the small boat, it was cast loose, and we pushed +off into the waterway. Half an hour later we were back at the Terminus +Hotel. + +For the first time in all that stirring and eventful week I breathed +freely. At any rate the present peril was overpast, we had eluded +pursuit, and had a clear time of perfect security to consider our +situation and look ahead. + +As soon as Henriette was visible, I went up to her room to talk +matters over. She was very humble and apologetic, and disarmed me if I +had intended to take her to task for all the trouble and anxiety she +had caused us. But when I magnanimously said, "I am not going to scold +you," she was in my arms at once. + +"Scold me! I should think not! I have been scolded quite enough these +last twenty-four hours. I never met a man I disliked so much as your +fine friend, that Colonel Annesley, the rudest, most presuming, +overbearing wretch. He talked to me and ordered me about as if I was +still in the schoolroom, he actually dared to find fault with my +actions, and dictated to me what I should do next. I--I--" + +"Did it, Henriette? Like a lamb, eh? That's a way he has, my dear," I +laughed. + +"I don't envy you one bit, Claire. You'll be a miserable woman. You +hate to give way, and he'll make you. He'll tame you, and lord it over +you, he'll be a hard, a cruel master, for all he thinks so much of you +now." + +"And does he?" What sweeter music in a woman's ear than to be told of +the sway she exercises over the man of her choice? + +"Why, of course, he thinks all the world of you. He would say nothing, +decide nothing until you had been consulted. Your word is law to him, +your name always on his lips. You know of your latest conquest, I +suppose?" + +"There are things one does not care to discuss, my dear, even with +one's sister," I answered, rather coldly. I was a little hurt by her +tone and manner, although what she told me gave me exquisite pleasure. + +"Come, come," Henriette rallied me. "Make a clean breast of it. +Confess that you are over head and ears in love with your Colonel. Why +not? You are free to choose, I was not," and her eyes filled with +tears at the sad shipwreck of her married life. + +I strove hard to calm her, to console her, pointing to her little +Ralph, and promising her a future of happiness with her child. + +"If I am allowed to keep him, yes. But how can I keep him after that +wicked decision of the Court, and with such a persistent enemy as +Ralph Blackadder? For the moment we are safe, but by and by he will +come back, he will leave no stone unturned until he finds me, and I +shall lose my darling for ever." + +The hopelessness of evading pursuit for any time sorely oppressed me, +too. There seemed no safety but in keeping continually on the move, in +running to and fro and changing our hiding place so soon as danger of +discovery loomed near. We were like pariahs ostracized from our +fellows, wandering Jews condemned to roam on and on, forbidden to +pause or find peace anywhere. + +Yet, after a pleasant _déjeuner_, the three of us held a council of +war. + +"The thing is perfectly simple," said my dear Colonel, in his +peremptory, but to me reassuring fashion. "I have thought it all out +and can promise you immediate escape from all your difficulties. You +must go as quickly as you can get there, to Tangier." + +"Tangier!" I cried, amazed. + +"Yes, Lady Claire, Tangier. It is the only refuge left for +criminals--forgive me, I mean no offence," and he laughed heartily as +he went on. "You have broken the law, you are flying from the law, and +you are amenable to it all the world over, save and except in Morocco +alone. You must go to Tangier, there is no extradition, the King's +warrant does not run there. You will be perfectly safe if you elect to +stay there, safe for the rest of your days." + +"You seem very anxious to get rid of us and bury us at the back of +beyond," I said, nettled and unable to conceal my chagrin at the +matter-of-fact way in which he wished to dispose of us. + +"I venture to hope I may be permitted to accompany you, and remain +with you--" + +It was now Henriette's turn to laugh outright at this rather blunt +proposal, and I regret to add that I blushed a rosy red. + +"To remain with you and near you so long as my services may be +required," he went on, gravely, by no means the interpretation my +sister had put upon his remark; for he fixed his eyes on me with +unmistakable meaning, and held them so fixedly that I could not look +away. There could no longer be any doubt how "it stood with us;" my +heart went out to him then and there, and I nodded involuntarily, more +in answer to his own thoughts than his suggestion. I knew from the +gladness on his frank, handsome face that he understood and rejoiced. + +"You see," he went on, quickly, dealing with the pressing matter in +hand, "I know all about the place. I have soldiered at Gibraltar and +often went over to Africa. It's not half bad, Tangier, decent hotels, +villas furnished if you prefer it. Sport in the season, and plenty of +galloping ground. The point is, how we should travel?" + +I could be of service in this; my inquiries at Cook's had qualified me +to act as a shipping clerk, and we soon settled to take a steamer of +the Bibby Line due that afternoon, which would land us at Gibraltar in +two or three days. Thence to Tangier was only like crossing a ferry. +The Colonel's man, l'Echelle, was sent to secure cabins, and we caught +the ship in due course. Three days later we were soon comfortably +settled in the Hotel Atlas, just above the wide sweep of sands that +encircle the bay. It was the season of fierce heat, but we faced the +northern breezes full of invigorating ozone. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + + +Tangier, the wildest, quaintest, most savage spot on the face of the +globe, was to me the most enchanting. Our impressions take their +colour from the passing mood; we like or loathe a place according to +the temper in which we view it. I was so utterly and foolishly happy +in this most Eastern city located in the West that I have loved it +deeply ever since. After the trying and eventful episodes of the past +week I had passed into a tranquil haven filled with perfect peace. The +whole tenor of my life had changed, the feverish excitement was gone, +no deep anxiety vexed or troubled me, all my cares were transferred to +stronger shoulders than mine. I could calmly await the issue, content +to enjoy the moment and forget the past like a bad dream. + +It was sufficient to bask in the sunshine, revelling in the free air, +rejoicing in the sweetness of my nascent love. We were much together, +Basil and I; we walked together, exploring the recesses of the native +town, and the ancient citadel, with its memories of British dominion; +we lingered in the Soko or native market, crowded with wild creatures +from the far interior; we rode together, for his first care was to +secure horses, and scoured the country as far as the Marshan and Cape +Spartel. I sometimes reproached myself with being so happy, while my +darling Henriette still sorrowfully repined at her past, with little +hope of better days. But even she brightened as the days ran on and +brought no fresh disquiet, while her boy, sweet little Ralph, +developed in health and strength. + +A week passed thus, a week of unbroken quiet, flawless as the +unchanging blue of a summer sky; not a cloud in sight, not a suspicion +of coming disturbance and unrest. It could not go on like this for +ever. To imagine it was to fall asleep in a fool's paradise, lulled +into false serenity by the absence of portents so often shrouded and +unseen until they break upon us. + +One day a cablegram reached me from Philpotts. She had arrived at +Marseilles on her return voyage from Tripoli, and was anxious that I +should know without delay that we had not shaken off Lord Blackadder. +They had recrossed the Mediterranean together in the same ship, the +_Oasis_. + +"So far all well," she said, "but am watched closely, will certainly +follow me--send instructions--better not join you at present." + +This message fell on us two poor women like a bolt from the blue. +Basil looked serious for a moment, but then laughed scornfully. + +"His lordship can do us no harm. There is not the slightest fear. He +may bluster and bully as much as he pleases, or rather, as far as he +is permitted to go. We will place ourselves under the protection of +the Moorish bashaw. I always intended that." + +"Not seriously?" + +"Indeed, yes; I have already consulted our Minister. Sir Arthur is an +old friend of mine, and he has advised me, privately, of course, and +unofficially, to be on our guard. He can do nothing for us, but he +will not act against us. If Lord Blackadder should turn up here, and +sooner or later he will, most assuredly he will not assist him. He +promises that. At the same time he can give you no protection. We must +take care of ourselves." + +"You believe that Lord Blackadder will find his way to Tangier?" + +"Most certainly. He has Philpotts under his hand, but he would not +trust only to her. Diligent inquiry at Marseilles would be sure to +reveal our departure for Gibraltar. He will follow with his men, they +are well-trained detectives, and it will be mere child's play for them +to track us to Tangier. You may look for them here any day. We must be +ready for them at all points." + +"There is no saying what Ralph Blackadder may not attempt." + +"Indeed, yes, he is equal to anything, guile of course, treachery, +cunning, stratagem, absolute violence if the opportunity offers. It is +of the utmost importance not to play into his hands, not to give him +the smallest chance. The child must be watched continually in the +house, awake and asleep, wherever he goes and whatever he does." + +"Then I think Henriette must be warned not to wander about the town +and on the sands in the way she's been doing with Victorine and the +child, all of them on donkey back. I don't think it's at all safe." + +But when I cautioned her she was not particularly pleased. Was she to +have no fresh air, no change of scene? I grudged her the smallest +pleasure, while I was racing up and down flirting and philandering +with Basil Annesley all day and every day; she was to sit indoors, +bored to extinction and suffering torments in the unbearable heat. + +Basil and I agreed that it was cruel to restrict her movements even +with such a good excuse, and had she been willing to accept the +irksome conditions, which she certainly was not. We arranged a +surveillance, therefore, unknown to her. The Colonel, his man, or +myself invariably accompanied her or followed her within eyeshot; and +we hired two or three stalwart Moors, who were always to be near +enough to render help if required. + +Then came confirmations of our worst fears. L'Echelle, who had been +unaccountably absent one morning, returned about midday with news from +the port. Lord Blackadder and his two henchmen had just landed from +the _José Pielago_, the steamer that runs regularly between Cadiz and +Algeçiras, Gibraltar, and Tangier. He had seen them in the +custom-house, fighting their way through the crowd of ragged Jew +porters, the Moorish egg merchants, and dealers in luscious fruit. +They had mounted donkeys, the only means of conveyance in a town with +no wheeled vehicles; and l'Echelle made us laugh at the sorry picture +presented by the indignant peer, with his legs dangling down on each +side of the red leather saddle. Their baggage was also piled on +donkeys, and the whole procession, familiar enough in the narrow +streets of Tangier, climbed the hill to the Soko, and made for the +Shereef Hotel, reputed one of the best in Tangier, and lying outside +the walls in the immediate neighbourhood of the British Legation. + +L'Echelle, who seems an honest, loyal fellow, thought he would serve +us best by marking them down, and, if possible, renewing his +acquaintance with the detectives, one or both of whom he knew. After +hanging about the outside of the hotel, he entered the garden boldly +and went up to the shady trellised verandah where they were seated +together, smoking and refreshing themselves after their journey. + +L'Echelle was well received. Falfani, my friend of the Calais train, +believed he had suborned him at Aix, and now hailed his appearance +with much satisfaction. L'Echelle might again be most useful; at +least, he could lead them to us, and he wisely decided to let Falfani +know where we were to be found in Tangier. The fact would surely be +discovered without him. It was better, he thought, to appear frank, +and, by instilling confidence, learn all there was to know of their +plans and movements. + +My lord had gone to the Legation, Falfani told him at once, +bombastically boasting that everything would yield before him. He had +but to express his wishes, and there would be an end of the hunt. But +my lord came back in a furious rage, and, regardless of l'Echelle's--a +comparative stranger's--presence, burst forth into passionate +complaint against the Minister. He would teach Sir Arthur to show +proper respect to a peer of the realm; he would cable at once to the +Foreign Office and insist on this second-rate diplomatist's recall. +The upshot of it all was that his lordship's demand for help had been +refused pointblank, and no doubt, after what the Colonel had heard, in +rather abrupt, outspoken terms. + +All this and more l'Echelle brought back to us at the Atlas Hotel. He +told us at length of the outrageous language Lord Blackadder had used, +of his horrible threats, how he would leave no stone unturned to +recover his son and heir; how he would bribe the bashaw, buy the +Moorish officials, a notoriously venal crew; how he would dog our +footsteps everywhere, set traps for us, fall upon us unawares; and in +the last extreme he would attack the hotel and forcibly carry off his +property. As the fitting end of his violent declamation, Ralph +Blackadder had left the hotel hurriedly, calling upon his creatures to +follow him, bent, as it seemed, to perpetrate some mad act. + +I confess I shuddered at the thought of this reckless, unprincipled +man loose about Tangier, vowing vengeance, and resolved to go to any +lengths to secure it. My dear Basil strove hard to console me with +brave words inspired by his sturdy, self-reliant spirit. + +But even he quailed at the sudden shock that fell upon us at the very +same moment. Where was Henriette? + +After the first excitement, we desired to pass on the news brought by +l'Echelle to her, and renew our entreaties for extreme caution in her +comings and goings; and with much misgiving we learnt that she was not +in the hotel. She had gone out with Victorine and Ralph as usual, but +unattended by any of us. One Moor, Achmet El Mansur, was with her, we +were told, but we did not trust him entirely. It had been l'Echelle's +turn to accompany her, but he had been diverted from his duty by the +pressing necessity of following Lord Blackadder. Basil and I had +ridden out quite early on a long expedition, from which we only +returned when l'Echelle did. + +We dismissed our fears, hoping they were groundless, and looking to be +quite reassured presently when she came back at the luncheon hour. + +But one o'clock came, and two, and two-thirty, but not a sign of +Henriette, nor a word in explanation of her absence. + +Could she have fallen a victim to the machinations of Lord Blackadder? +Was the boy captured and she detained while he was spirited away? + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + + +It was impossible to disassociate Lord Blackadder from Lady +Henriette's mysterious disappearance, and yet we could hardly believe +that he could have so quickly accomplished his purpose. We doubted the +more when the man turned up in person at the Atlas Hotel and had the +effrontery to ask for her. + +Basil went out to him in the outer hall, and, as I listened from +within, I immediately heard high words. It was like a spark applied to +tinder; a fierce quarrel blazed up instantly between them. + +"How dare you show yourself here?" began Basil Annesley. + +"Who are you to prevent me? I come to demand the restoration of that +which belongs to me. Take my message to those two ladies and say I +will have my boy," replied my lord. + +"Do not try to impose on me, Lord Blackadder. It is the most impudent +pretence; you know perfectly well he is not here." + +"I will not bandy words with you. Go in, you men, both of you, Tiler +and Falfani, and seize the child. Force your way in, push that +blackguard aside!" he roared in a perfect paroxysm of passion. + +I could not possibly hold aloof, but called for help from the hotel +people, and, with them at my back, rushed out to add my protest +against this intemperate conduct. + +A free fight had already begun. The three assailants, Ralph Blackadder +behind egging them on, had thrown themselves upon Basil, who stood +sturdily at bay with his back to the wall, daring them to come on, and +prepared to strike out at the first man who touched him. + +"At him! Give it him! Throw him out!" cried Ralph passionately. But +even as he spoke his voice weakened, he halted abruptly; his hands +went up into the air, his body swayed to and fro, his strength left +him completely, and he fell to the ground in sudden and complete +collapse. When they picked him up, there was froth mixed with blood +upon his lips, he breathed once or twice heavily, stertorously, and +then with one long-drawn gasp died in the arms of his two men. + +It was an apoplectic seizure, the doctors told us later, brought on by +excessive nervous irritation of the brain. + +Here was a sudden and unexpected _dénouement_, a terribly dramatic end +to our troubles if we could but clear up the horrible uncertainty +remaining. + +What had become of my sister and little Ralph? + +While the servants of the hotel attended to the stricken man, Basil +Annesley plied the detectives with eager questions. He urged them to +tell all they knew; it should be made worth their while; they no +longer owed allegiance to their late employer. He entreated them to +withhold nothing. Where and how had Lord Blackadder met Henriette? +What had he done with her? Where was she now? + +We could get nothing out of these men; they refused to answer our +questions from sheer mulish obstinacy, as we thought at first, but we +saw at length that they did not understand us. What were we driving +at? They assured us they had seen no lady, nor had the unfortunate +peer accosted any one, or interfered with any one on his way between +the two hotels. He had come straight from the Villa Shereef to the +Hotel Atlas, racing down at a run, pausing nowhere, addressing no one +on the road. + +If not Lord Blackadder, what then? What could have happened to +Henriette? Tangier was a wild place enough, but who would interfere +with an English woman in broad daylight accompanied by her servant, by +an escort, her attendant Moorish guide? Full of anxiety, Basil called +for a horse, and was about to ride off to institute a hue and cry, +when my sister appeared in person upon the scene. + +"Getting anxious about me?" she asked, with careless, almost childish +gaiety. "I am awfully late, but I have had such an extraordinary +adventure. Why, how serious you look! Not on my account, surely?" + +I took her aside, and in a few words told her of the terrible +catastrophe that had just occurred, and for a time she was silent and +seemed quite overcome. + +"It's too shocking, of course, to happen in this awful way. But +really, I cannot be very sorry except for one thing--that now he will +never know." + +"Know what, Henriette? Have you taken leave of your senses?" + +"Know that I have discovered the whole plot of which I was the +victim. My dear, I have found Susan Bruel, and she has made a full +confession. They were bribed to go away, and they have been here +hiding in Tangier." + +"Go on, go on. Tell me, please, all about it." + +"You must know we went out, the three of us, on our donkeys, and the +fancy seized me to explore some of the dark, narrow streets where the +houses all but join overhead. I got quite frightened at last. I was +nearly suffocated for want of air. I could not even see the sky, and +at last desired Achmet to get me out into the open, anywhere. After +one or two sharp turns, we emerged upon a sort of plateau or terrace +high above the sea, and in full view of it. + +"There was a small hotel in front of it, and above the door was the +name of the proprietor, would you believe it, Domenico Bruel! + +"It was the name of Susan's husband, and no doubt Susan was there. I +could not quite make up my mind how I should act. I thought of sending +Achmet back for you or the Colonel, but I could not bear parting with +him. Then, while I was still hesitating, Susan herself came out and +rushed across to where I was, with her hands outstretched and fairly +beside herself, laughing and crying by turns. + +"'Oh, my lady! It _is_ you, then? What shall I say to you? How can I +tell you?' she began, quite hysterically. 'We behaved most +disgracefully, most wickedly, but indeed it was Domenico's doing. He +insisted they offered us such a large sum, enough to make us rich for +life, and so we consented to come away here. I have never had one +happy moment since. Can you forgive me?' + +"All this she poured forth, and much more of the same sort. I could +see she was truly sorry, and that it had not been entirely her fault. +Besides, I began to hope already that, how we had found her, we might +get the case reopened, and that wicked order reversed. It will be put +right now, now that Ralph can no longer oppose it." + +I bowed my head silently, thankful and deeply impressed with the +strange turn taken by events and the sudden light let in upon the +darkness that had surrounded us. + +The rest of the adventures that began in the sleeping-car between +Calais and Basle, and came abruptly to an end on the North African +shore, may soon be told. Our first act was to return to England at +the very earliest opportunity, and we embarked that evening on a +Forwood steamer direct for London, which port we reached in less than +five days. + +Town was empty, and we did not linger there. Nothing could be done in +the Courts, as it was the legal vacation, but Henriette's solicitors +arranged to send out a commission to take the Bruels' evidence at +Tangier, and to bring the matter before The President at the earliest +opportunity. + +As for ourselves, I persuaded Henriette to take a cottage at Marlow on +the Upper Thames, where Colonel Annesley was a constant guest, and +Charlie Forrester. We four passed many idle halcyon days on the quiet +river, far from the noise of trains, and content to leave Bradshaw in +the bottom of the travelling-bag, where it had been thrown at the end +of our feverish wanderings. + +Once again we had recourse to it, however, when we started on our +honeymoon, Basil and I. Once more we found ourselves at Calais with +Philpotts, but no encumbrances, bound on a second, a far happier, and +much less eventful journey by the Engadine express. + + +THE END. + + + + +L.C. Page & Company's +Announcement List +of New Fiction + + +Haunters of the Silences, BY CHARLES G.D. ROBERTS, author +of "Red Fox," "The Watchers of the Trails," etc. + +Cloth, one volume, with many drawings by Charles Livingston Bull, four +of which are in full color $2.00 + +The stories in Mr. Roberts's new collection are the strongest and best +he has ever written. + +He has largely taken for his subjects those animals rarely met with in +books, whose lives are spent "In the Silences," where they are the +supreme rulers. Mr. Roberts has written of them sympathetically, as +always, but with fine regard for the scientific truth. + +"As a writer about animals, Mr. Roberts occupies an enviable place. He +is the most literary, as well as the most imaginative and vivid of all +the nature writers."--_Brooklyn Eagle._ + +"His animal stories are marvels of sympathetic science and literary +exactness."--_New York World._ + + +The Lady of the Blue Motor. By G. SIDNEY PATERNOSTER, +author of "The Cruise of the Motor-Boat Conqueror," "The Motor +Pirate," etc. + +Cloth decorative, with a colored frontispiece +by John C. Frohn $1.50 + +The Lady of the Blue Motor is an audacious heroine who drove her +mysterious car at breakneck speed. Her plea for assistance in an +adventure promising more than a spice of danger could not of course be +disregarded by any gallant fellow motorist. Mr. Paternoster's hero +rose promptly to the occasion. Across France they tore and across the +English Channel. There, the escapade past, he lost her. + +Mr. Paternoster, however, is generous, and allows the reader to follow +their separate adventures until the Lady of the Blue Motor is found +again and properly vindicated of all save womanly courage and +affection. A unique romance, one continuous exciting series of +adventure. + + +Clementina's Highwayman. ROBERT NEILSON STEPHENS, author +of "The Flight of Georgiana," "An Enemy to the King," etc. + +Cloth decorative, illustrated $1.50 + +Mr. Stephens has put into his new book, "Clementina's Highwayman," the +finest qualities of plot, construction, and literary finish. + +The story is laid in the mid-Georgian period. It is a dashing, +sparkling, vivacious comedy, with a heroine as lovely and changeable +as an April day, and a hero all ardor and daring. + +The exquisite quality of Mr. Stephens's literary style clothes the +story in a rich but delicate word-fabric; and never before have his +setting and atmosphere been so perfect. + + +The Sorceress of Rome. By NATHAN GALLIZIER, author of +"Castel del Monte," etc. + +Cloth decorative, illustrated $1.50 + +The love-story of Otto III., the boy emperor, and Stephania, wife of +the Senator Crescentius of Rome, has already been made the basis of +various German poems and plays. + +Mr. Gallizier has used it for the main theme of "The Sorceress of +Rome," the second book of his trilogy of romances on the mediæval life +of Italy. In detail and finish the book is a brilliant piece of work, +describing clearly an exciting and strenuous period. It possesses the +same qualities as "Castel del Monte," of which the _Chicago Record +Herald_ said: "There is color, there is sumptuous word-painting in +these pages; the action is terrific at times; vividness and life are +in every part; brilliant descriptions entertain the reader; mystic +scenes and prophecies give a singular fascination to the tale, which +is strong and forceful in its portrayal." + + +Hester of the Hills. By GROVER CLAY. + +Cloth decorative, illustrated $1.50 + +"Hester of the Hills" has a motif unusual in life, and new in fiction. +Its hero, who has only acquired his own strength and resourcefulness +by a lifelong struggle against constitutional frailty, has come to +make the question of bodily soundness his dominant thought. He +resolves to ensure strong constitutions to his children by marrying a +physically perfect woman. After long search, he finds this ideal in +Hester, the daughter of a "cracker squatter," of the Ozark Mountains +of Missouri. But,--he forgot to take into consideration that very +vital emotion, love, which played havoc with his well-laid plans. + +It is an ingenious combination of practical realism and imaginative +fiction worked out to a thoroughly delightful and satisfying climax. + + +Prisoners of Fortune. A TALE OF THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY +COLONY. BY RUEL PERLEY SMITH, author of "The Rival +Campers," etc. + +Cloth decorative, with a colored frontispiece +by Frank T. Merrill $1.50 + +The period of Mr. Smith's story is the beginning of the eighteenth +century, when the shores of the American colonies were harassed and +the seas patrolled by pirates and buccaneers. These robbed and +spoiled, and often seized and put to death, the sailors and fishers +and other humbler folk, while their leaders claimed friendship alike +with Southern planters and New England merchants,--with whom it is +said they frequently divided their spoils. + +The times were stern and the colonists were hardy, but they loved as +truly and tenderly as in more peaceful days. Thus, while the hero's +adventures with pirates and his search for their hidden treasure is a +record of desperate encounters and daring deeds, his love-story and +his winning of sweet Mary Vane is in delightful contrast. + + +The Rome Express. BY MAJOR ARTHUR GRIFFITHS, author of "The +Passenger from Calais," etc. + +Cloth decorative, with a colored frontispiece +by A.O. Scott $1.25 + +A mysterious murder on a flying express train, a wily Italian, a +charming woman caught in the meshes of circumstantial evidence, a +chivalrous Englishman, and a police force with a keen nose for the +wrong clue, are the ingredients from which Major Griffiths has +concocted a clever, up-to-date detective story. The book is bright and +spirited, with rapid action, and consistent development which brings +the story to a logical and dramatic ending. + + +The Morning Glory Club. BY GEORGE A. KYLE. + +Cloth decorative, with a colored frontispiece +by A.O. Scott $1.25 + +The doings of the Morning Glory Club will furnish genuine amusement to +the reader. Originally formed to "elevate" the village, it quickly +develops into an exchange for town gossip. It has a saving grace, +however, in the person of motherly Mrs. Stout, the uncultured but +sweet-natured and pure-minded village philosopher, who pours the oil +of her saneness and charity on the troubled waters of discussion and +condemnation. + +It is a series of clear and interesting pictures of the humor of +village life. + + +The Chronicles of Martin Hewitt, Detective. NEW ILLUSTRATED EDITION. +BY ARTHUR MORRISON, author of "The Green Diamond," "The Red Triangle," +etc. + +Cloth decorative, with six full-page drawings +by W. Kirkpatrick $1.50 + +The success of Mr. Morrison's recent books, "The Green Diamond" and +"The Red Triangle," has led to an imperative demand for the reissue of +"The Chronicles of Martin Hewitt," which has been out of print for a +number of years. + +It will be remembered that Martin Hewitt is the detective in "The Red +Triangle," of whom the _New York Tribune_ said: "Better than Sherlock +Holmes." His adventures in the London slums were of such a nature that +the _Philadelphia North American_ said: "The reader who has a grain of +fancy or imagination may be defied to lay this book down once he has +begun it until the last word is reached." + + +Mystery Island. By EDWARD H. HURST. + +Cloth decorative, with a colored frontispiece $1.50 + +A hunting camp on a swampy island in the Florida Everglades furnishes +the background for this present-day tale. + +By the murder of one of their number, the secret of egress from the +island is lost, and the campers find themselves marooned. + +Cut off from civilization, conventional veneer soon wears away. Love, +hate, and revenge spring up, and after the sterner passions have had +their sway the man and the woman are left alone to fulfil their own +destiny. + +While there is much that is unusual in the plot and its development, +Mr. Hurst has handled his subject with fine delicacy, and the tale of +their love on the beautiful little island is told with deep sympathy +and feeling. + + +The Flying Cloud. By MORLEY ROBERTS, author of "The +Promotion of the Admiral," "Rachel Marr," "The Idlers," etc. + +Cloth decorative, with a colored frontispiece $1.50 + +Mr. Roberts's new book is much more than a ripping good sea story such +as might be expected from the author of "The Promotion of the +Admiral." In "The Flying Cloud" the waters and the winds are gods +personified. Their every mood and phase are described in words of +telling force. There is no world but the waste of waters. + +Mr. Roberts glories and exults in the mystery, the passion, the +strength of the elements, as did the Viking chroniclers of old. He +understands them and loves them and interprets them as no other writer +has heretofore done. The book is too big for conventional phrases. It +needs Mr. Roberts's own richness of imagery and masterly expression to +describe adequately the word-pictures in this epic of wind and waves. + + + + +Selections from +L.C. Page and Company's +List of Fiction + +WORKS OF +ROBERT NEILSON STEPHENS + +_Each one vol., library 12mo, cloth decorative $1.50_ + + +The Flight of Georgiana + +A ROMANCE OF THE DAYS OF THE YOUNG PRETENDER. Illustrated by +H.C. Edwards. + +"A love-story in the highest degree, a dashing story, and a remarkably +well finished piece of work."--_Chicago Record-Herald._ + + +The Bright Face of Danger + +Being an account of some adventures of Henri de Launay, son of the +Sieur de la Tournoire. Illustrated by H.C. Edwards. + +"Mr. Stephens has fairly outdone himself. We thank him heartily. The +story is nothing if not spirited and entertaining, rational and +convincing."--_Boston Transcript._ + + +The Mystery of Murray Davenport (40th thousand.) + +"This is easily the best thing that Mr. Stephens has yet done. Those +familiar with his other novels can best judge the measure of this +praise, which is generous."--_Buffalo News._ + + +Captain Ravenshaw + +OR, THE MAID OF CHEAPSIDE. (52d thousand.) A romance of Elizabethan +London. Illustrations by Howard Pyle and other artists. + +Not since the absorbing adventures of D'Artagnan have we had anything +so good in the blended vein of romance and comedy. + + +The Continental Dragoon + +A ROMANCE OF PHILIPSE MANOR HOUSE IN 1778. (53d thousand.) +Illustrated by H.C. Edwards. + +A stirring romance of the Revolution, with its scene laid on neutral +territory. + + +Philip Winwood (70th thousand.) + +A Sketch of the Domestic History of an American Captain in the War +of Independence, embracing events that occurred between and during +the years 1763 and 1785 in New York and London. Illustrated by +E.W.D. Hamilton. + + +An Enemy to the King (70th thousand.) + +From the "Recently Discovered Memoirs of the Sieur de +la Tournoire." Illustrated by H. De M. Young. + +An historical romance of the sixteenth century, describing the +adventures of a young French nobleman at the court of Henry III., and +on the field with Henry IV. + + +The Road to Paris + +A STORY OF ADVENTURE. (35th thousand.) +Illustrated by H.C. Edwards. + +An historical romance of the eighteenth century, being an account of +the life of an American gentleman adventurer of Jacobite ancestry. + + +A Gentleman Player + +HIS ADVENTURES ON A SECRET MISSION FOR QUEEN ELIZABETH. (48th +thousand.) +Illustrated by Frank T. Merrill. + +The story of a young gentleman who joins Shakespeare's company of +players, and becomes a friend and protégé of the great poet. + + * * * * * + + + + +WORKS OF +CHARLES G.D. ROBERTS + + +Red Fox + +THE STORY OF HIS ADVENTUROUS CAREER IN THE RINGWAAK WILDS, AND OF +HIS FINAL TRIUMPH OVER THE ENEMIES OF HIS KIND. With fifty +illustrations, including frontispiece in color and cover design by +Charles Livingston Bull. + +Square quarto, cloth decorative $2.00 + +"Infinitely more wholesome reading than the average tale of sport, +since it gives a glimpse of the hunt from the point of view of the +hunted."--_Boston Transcript._ + +"True in substance but fascinating as fiction. It will interest old +and young, city-bound and free-footed, those who know animals and +those who do not."--_Chicago Record-Herald._ + +"A brilliant chapter in natural history."--_Philadelphia North +American._ + + +The Kindred of the Wild + +A BOOK OF ANIMAL LIFE. With fifty-one full-page plates and +many decorations from drawings by Charles Livingston Bull. + +Square quarto, decorative cover $2.00 + +"Is in many ways the most brilliant collection of animal stories that +has appeared; well named and well done."--_John Burroughs._ + + +The Watchers of the Trails + +A companion volume to "The Kindred of the Wild." With forty-eight +full-page plates and many decorations from drawings by Charles +Livingston Bull. + +Square quarto, decorative cover $2.00 + +"These stories are exquisite in their refinement, and yet robust in +their appreciation of some of the rougher phases of woodcraft. Among +the many writers about animals, Mr. Roberts occupies an enviable +place.--_The Outlook_. + +"This is a book full of delight. An additional charm lies in Mr. +Bull's faithful and graphic illustrations, which in fashion all their +own tell the story of the wild life, illuminating and supplementing +the pen pictures of the author."--_Literary Digest._ + + +The Heart That Knows + +Library 12mo, cloth, decorative cover $1.50 + +"A novel of singularly effective strength, luminous in literary color, +rich in its passionate, yet tender drama."--_New York Globe._ + + +Earth's Enigmas + +A new edition of Mr. Roberts's first volume of fiction, published in +1892, and out of print for several years, with the addition of three +new stories, and ten illustrations by Charles Livingston Bull. Library +12mo, cloth, decorative cover $1.50 + +"It will rank high among collections of short stories. In 'Earth's +Enigmas' is a wider range of subject than in the 'Kindred of the +Wild.'"--_Review from advance sheets of the illustrated edition by +Tiffany Blake in the Chicago Evening Post._ + + +Barbara Ladd + +With four illustrations by Frank Verbeck. +Library 12mo, cloth, decorative cover $1.50 + +"From the opening chapter to the final page Mr. Roberts lures us on by +his rapt devotion to the changing aspects of Nature and by his keen +and sympathetic analysis of human character."--_Boston Transcript._ + + +Cameron of Lochiel + +Translated from the French of Philippe Aubert de Gaspé, with +frontispiece in color by H.C. Edwards. + +Library 12mo, cloth decorative $1.50 + +"Professor Roberts deserves the thanks of his reader for giving a +wider audience an opportunity to enjoy this striking bit of French +Canadian literature."--_Brooklyn Eagle._ + +"It is not often in these days of sensational and philosophical novels +that one picks up a book that so touches the heart."--_Boston +Transcript._ + + +The Prisoner of Mademoiselle +With frontispiece by Frank T. Merrill. + +Library 12mo, cloth decorative, gilt top $1.50 + +A tale of Acadia,--a land which is the author's heart's delight,--of a +valiant young lieutenant and a winsome maiden, who first captures and +then captivates. + +"This is the kind of a story that makes one grow younger, more +innocent, more light-hearted. Its literary quality is impeccable. It +is not every day that such a heroine blossoms into even temporary +existence, and the very name of the story bears a breath of +charm."--_Chicago Record-Herald._ + + +The Heart of the Ancient Wood +With six illustrations by James L. Weston. + +Library 12mo, decorative cover $1.50 + +"One of the most fascinating novels of recent days."--_Boston +Journal._ + +"A classic twentieth-century romance."--_New York Commercial +Advertiser._ + + +The Forge in the Forest + +Being the Narrative of the Acadian Ranger, Jean de Mer, Seigneur de +Briart, and how he crossed the Black Abbé, and of his adventures in a +strange fellowship. Illustrated by Henry Sandham, R.C.A. + +Library 12mo, cloth, gilt top $1.50 + +A story of pure love and heroic adventure. + + +By the Marshes of Minas + +Library 12mo, cloth, gilt top, illustrated $1.50 + +Most of these romances are in the author's lighter and more playful +vein; each is a unit of absorbing interest and exquisite workmanship. + + +A Sister to Evangeline + +Being the Story of Yvonne de Lamourie, and how she went into exile +with the villagers of Grand Pré. + +Library 12mo, cloth, gilt top, illustrated $1.50 + +Swift action, fresh atmosphere, wholesome purity, deep passion, and +searching analysis characterize this strong novel. + + * * * * * + + + + +WORKS OF +LILIAN BELL + + +Carolina Lee +With a frontispiece in color from an oil painting by Dora Wheeler +Keith. + +Library 12mo, cloth, decorative cover $1.50 + +"A Christian Science novel, full of action, alive with incident and +brisk with pithy dialogue and humor."--_Boston Transcript._ + +"A charming portrayal of the attractive life of the South, refreshing +as a breeze that blows through a pine forest."--_Albany Times-Union._ + + +Hope Loring +Illustrated by Frank T. Merrill. + +Library 12mo, cloth, decorative cover $1.50 + +"Tall, slender, and athletic, fragile-looking, yet with nerves and +sinews of steel under the velvet flesh, frank as a boy and tender and +beautiful as a woman, free and independent, yet not bold--such is +'Hope Loring,' by long odds the subtlest study that has yet been made +of the American girl."--_Dorothy Dix, in the New York American._ + + +Abroad with the Jimmies +With a portrait, in duogravure, of the author. + +Library 12mo, cloth, decorative cover $1.50 + +"Full of ozone, of snap, of ginger, of swing and momentum."--_Chicago +Evening Post._ + + +At Home with the Jardines +A companion volume to "Abroad with the Jimmies." + +Library 12mo, cloth, decorative cover $1.50 + +"Bits of gay humor, sunny, whimsical philosophy, and keen indubitable +insight into the less evident aspects and workings of pure human +nature, with a slender thread of a cleverly extraneous love story, +keep the interest of the reader fresh."--_Chicago Record-Herald._ + + +The Interference of Patricia +With a frontispiece from drawing by Frank T. Merrill. + +Small 12mo, cloth, decorative cover $1.25 + +"There is life and action and brilliancy and dash and cleverness and a +keen appreciation of business ways in this story."--_Grand Rapids +Herald_. + +"A story full of keen and flashing satire."--_Chicago Record-Herald._ + + +A Book of Girls +With a frontispiece. + +Small 12mo, cloth, decorative cover $1.25 + +"The stories are all eventful and have effective humor."--_New York +Sun._ + +"Lilian Bell surely understands girls, for she depicts all the +variations of girl nature so charmingly."--_Chicago Journal._ + +_The above two volumes boxed in special holiday dress, + per set, $2.50_ + + * * * * * + + + + +WORKS OF +ALICE MacGOWAN AND GRACE MacGOWAN COOKE + + +Return + +A STORY OF THE SEA ISLANDS IN 1739. With six illustrations by +C.D. Williams. + +Library 12mo, cloth $1.50 + +"So rich in color is this story, so crowded with figures, it seems +like a bit of old Italian wall painting, a piece of modern tapestry, +rather than a modern fabric woven deftly from the threads of fact and +fancy gathered up in this new and essentially practical country, and +therein lies its distinctive value and excellence."--_N.Y. Sun._ + +"At once tender, thrilling, picturesque, philosophical, and dramatic. +One of the most delightful romances we have had in many a +day."--_Chicago Record-Herald._ + + +The Grapple +With frontispiece in color by Arthur W. Brown. + +Library 12mo, cloth decorative $1.50 + +"The movement of the tale is swift and dramatic. The story is so +original, so strong, and so finely told that it deserves a large and +thoughtful public. It is a book to read with both enjoyment and +enlightenment."--_N.Y. Times Saturday Review of Books._ + + +The Last Word +Illustrated with seven portraits of the heroine. + +Library 12mo, cloth, decorative cover $1.50 + +"When one receives full measure to overflowing of delight in a tender, +charming, and wholly fascinating new piece of fiction, the enthusiasm +is apt to come uppermost."--_Louisville Post._ + + +Huldah +With illustrations by Fanny Y. Cory. + +Library 12mo, cloth decorative $1.50 + +Here we have the great-hearted, capable woman of the Texas plains +dispensing food and genial philosophy to rough-and-ready cowboys. Her +sympathy takes the form of happy laughter, and her delightfully funny +phrases amuse the fancy and stick in one's memory. + + + + +WORKS OF +MORLEY ROBERTS + + +Rachel Marr + +Library 12mo, cloth decorative $1.50 + +"A novel of tremendous force, with a style that is sure, luxuriant, +compelling, full of color and vital force."--_Elia W. Peattie, in +Chicago Tribune._ + +"In atmosphere, if nothing else, the story is absolutely +perfect."--_Boston Transcript._ + + +Lady Penelope +With nine illustrations by Arthur W. Brown. + +Library 12mo, cloth decorative $1.50 + +"A fresh and original bit of comedy as amusing as it is +audacious."--_Boston Transcript._ + + +The Idlers +With frontispiece in color by John C. Frohn. + +Library 12mo, cloth decorative $1.50 + +"In 'The Idlers' Mr. Morley Roberts does for the smart set of London +what Mrs. Wharton has done in 'The House of Mirth' for the American +social class of the same name.... It is a powerful novel, a merciless +dissection of modern society similar to that which a skilled surgeon +would make of a pathological case."--_The London Literary World._ + +"It is as absorbing as the devil. Mr. Roberts gives us the antithesis +of 'Rachel Marr' in an equally masterful and convincing work."--_The +New York Sun._ + +"It is a work of great ethical force."--_Professor Charles G.D. +Roberts._ + + +The Promotion of the Admiral + +By MORLEY ROBERTS. + +Library 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated $1.50 + +"If any one writes better sea stories than Mr. Roberts, we don't know +who it is; and if there is a better sea story of its kind than this it +would be a joy to have the pleasure of reading it."--_New York Sun._ + +"There is a hearty laugh in everyone of these stories."--_The +Reader._ + +"To read these stories is a tonic for the mind; the stories are gems, +and for pith and vigor of description they are unequalled."--_N.Y. +Commercial Advertiser._ + + * * * * * + + + + +WORKS OF +STEPHEN CONRAD + + +The Second Mrs. Jim + +By STEPHEN CONRAD. With a frontispiece by Ernest Fosbery. + +Large 16mo, cloth decorative $1.00 + +Here is a character as original and witty as "Mr. Dooley" or "the +self-made merchant." The realm of humorous fiction is now invaded by +the stepmother. + +"It is an exceptionally clever piece of work."--_Boston Transcript._ + +"'The Second Mrs. Jim' is worth as many Mrs. Wiggses as could be +crowded into the Cabbage Patch. The racy humor and cheerfulness and +wisdom of the book make it wholly delightful."--_Philadelphia Press._ + + +Mrs. Jim and Mrs. Jimmie +With a frontispiece in colors by Arthur W. Brown. + +Library 12mo, cloth decorative $1.50 + +This book is in a sense a sequel to "The Second Mrs. Jim," since it +gives further glimpses of that delightful stepmother and her +philosophy. + +"Plenty of fun and humor in this book. Plenty of simple pathos and +quietly keen depiction of human nature afford contrast, and every +chapter is worth reading. It is a very human account of life in a +small country town, and the work should be commended for those +sterling qualities of heart and naturalness so endearing to +many."--_Chicago Record-Herald._ + + + + +WORKS OF +ARTHUR MORRISON + + +The Green Diamond + +Library 12mo, cloth decorative, with six illustrations $1.50 + +"A detective story of unusual ingenuity and intrigue."--_Brooklyn +Eagle._ + + +The Red Triangle + +Being some further chronicles of Martin Hewitt, investigator. + +Library 12mo, cloth decorative $1.50 + +"Better than Sherlock Holmes."--_New York Tribune._ + +"The reader who has a grain of fancy or imagination may be defied to +lay this book down, once he has begun it, until the last word has been +reached."--_Philadelphia North American._ + + * * * * * + + + + +WORKS OF +G. SIDNEY PATERNOSTER + + +The Motor Pirate + +Library 12mo, cloth decorative, with frontispiece $1.50 + +"Its originality, exciting adventures, into which is woven a charming +love theme, and its undercurrent of fun furnish a dashing detective +story which a motor-mad world will thoroughly enjoy reading."--_Boston +Herald._ + + +The Cruise of the Motor-Boat Conqueror + +Being the Further Adventures of the Motor Pirate. + +Library 12mo, cloth decorative, with a frontispiece +by Frank T. Merrill $1.50 + +"As a land pirate Mannering was a marvel of resource, but as a +sea-going buccaneer he is almost a miracle of devilish ingenuity. His +exploits are wonderful and plausible, for he avails himself of every +modern device and applies recent inventions to the accomplishment of +all his pet schemes."--_Chicago Evening Post._ + + + + +WORKS OF +T. JENKINS HAINS + + +The Black Barque +With five illustrations by W. Herbert Dunton. + +Library 12mo, cloth $1.50 + +According to a high naval authority, whose name must be withheld, this +is one of the best sea stories ever offered to the public. "The Black +Barque" is a story of slavery and piracy upon the high seas about +1815, and is written with a thorough knowledge of deep-water sailing. + + +The Windjammers + +Library 12mo, cloth $1.50 + +"A collection of short sea stories unmatched for interest."--_New York +Sun._ + + +The Voyage of the Arrow +With six illustrations by H.C. Edwards. + +Library 12mo, cloth $1.50 + +"A capital story, full of sensation and excitement, and a rollicking +sea story of the good old-fashioned sort. The reader who begins this +exciting voyage will sail on at the rate of twelve knots an hour until +it is finished."--_Boston Transcript._ + + * * * * * + + + + +WORKS OF +REGINALD WRIGHT KAUFFMAN + + +Miss Frances Baird, Detective + +A PASSAGE FROM HER MEMOIRS. + +Library 12mo, cloth decorative, with a frontispiece +by W.F. Kirkpatrick $1.25 + +"Miss Baird ravels and unravels circumstantial evidence in her search +for the murderer in a most bewildering and thoroughly feminine +fashion.... The story is brimful of excitement, and no little +ingenuity is displayed in its construction."--_Boston Herald._ + + +Jarvis of Harvard +Illustrated by Robert Edwards. + +Library 12mo, cloth decorative $1.50 + +A strong and well written novel, dealing with the life of a young man +in a modern college. Studies, athletics, social life, and the outside +influences surrounding the youth of a college town are clearly +depicted. + +"Mr. Kauffman's treatment of his subject is dignified, restrained, +sincere, and in admirable good taste throughout."--_New York Mail and +Express._ + + * * * * * + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Passenger from Calais, by Arthur Griffiths + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PASSENGER FROM CALAIS *** + +***** This file should be named 16339-8.txt or 16339-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/3/3/16339/ + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Sankar Viswanathan 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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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Passenger from Calais + +Author: Arthur Griffiths + +Release Date: July 21, 2005 [EBook #16339] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PASSENGER FROM CALAIS *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Sankar Viswanathan and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + + + + + + + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h3>Works of<br /> +ARTHUR GRIFFITHS</h3> + + +<table summary="works"> +<tr><td>The Passenger from Calais</td> +<td align="right"> $1.25</td></tr> +<tr><td>The Rome Express</td> +<td align="right">1.25</td></tr> +</table> + + + +<p class="center">L.C. PAGE & COMPANY<br /> +New England Building, Boston, Mass. +</p> +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + + + + + +<p> </p> +<h1><img src="images/image_01.jpg" alt="Cover Page" width="400" height="426" /></h1> +<h1> </h1> +<h1>The Passenger<br /> + from Calais</h1> +<h3>By Arthur Griffiths</h3> + +<h4>Author of "The Rome Express," etc.</h4> +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><img src="images/image_02.jpg" alt="Seal" width="150" height="149" /></p> +<p class="center"> </p> +<p class="center"> </p> +<p class="center">Boston L.C. Page and + Company <br /> + Publishers</p> +<p class="center"> </p> +<p class="center"> </p> +<p class="blockfor"><i>First Impression, January, 1906 + <br /> + Second Impression, February, 1906 + <br /> + Third Impression, February, 1906 + <br /> + Fourth Impression, March, 1908</i></p> +<p class="center"> </p> +<p class="center"> </p> +<p class="center">Colonial Press + <i><br /> +C.H. Simonds & Co. +<br /> +Boston, U.S.A.</i> + +</p> +<h2> </h2> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> +<ul class="TOC"> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_I"><b>CHAPTER I.</b></a><br /> + <br /></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_II"><b>CHAPTER II.</b></a><br /> + <br /></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_III"><b>CHAPTER III.</b></a><br /> + <br /></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_IV"><b>CHAPTER IV.</b></a><br /> + <br /></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_V"><b>CHAPTER V.</b></a><br /> + <br /></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_VI"><b>CHAPTER VI.</b></a><br /> + <br /></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_VII"><b>CHAPTER VII.</b></a><br /> + <br /></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII"><b>CHAPTER VIII.</b></a><br /> + <br /></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_IX"><b>CHAPTER IX.</b></a><br /> + <br /></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_X"><b>CHAPTER X.</b></a><br /> + <br /></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_XI"><b>CHAPTER XI.</b></a><br /> + <br /></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_XII"><b>CHAPTER XII.</b></a><br /> + <br /></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII"><b>CHAPTER XIII.</b></a><br /> + <br /></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV"><b>CHAPTER XIV.</b></a><br /> + <br /></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_XV"><b>CHAPTER XV.</b></a><br /> + <br /></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI"><b>CHAPTER XVI.</b></a><br /> + <br /></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII"><b>CHAPTER XVII.</b></a><br /> + <br /></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII"><b>CHAPTER XVIII.</b></a><br /> + <br /></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX"><b>CHAPTER XIX.</b></a><br /> + <br /></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_XX"><b>CHAPTER XX.</b></a><br /> + <br /></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI"><b>CHAPTER XXI.</b></a><br /> + <br /></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII"><b>CHAPTER XXII.</b></a><br /> + <br /></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII"><b>CHAPTER XXIII.</b></a><br /> + <br /></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV"><b>CHAPTER XXIV.</b></a><br /> + <br /></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_XXV"><b>CHAPTER XXV.</b></a><br /> + <br /></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI"><b>CHAPTER XXVI.</b></a><br /> + <br /></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVII"><b>CHAPTER XXVII.</b></a><br /> + <br /></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVIII"><b>CHAPTER XXVIII.</b></a><br /> + <br /></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIX"><b>CHAPTER XXIX.</b></a><br /> + <br /></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_XXX"><b>CHAPTER XXX.</b></a><br /></li> +</ul> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p class="center">FOREWORD</p> + + +<p class="blockfor"><i> I desire to state that the initial<br /> + fact upon which I have founded<br /> + + this story is within my own experience.<br /> + +I travelled from Calais to<br /> + +Basle by the Engadine Express in<br /> + +the latter end of July, 1902, when<br /> + + my wife and myself were the only<br /> + +passengers. The rest is pure fiction.</i></p> + +<p class="blockfor1">A.G.</p> + + + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9"></a>[9]</span> </p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<h4>[<i>Colonel Annesley's Story</i>]</h4> + + +<p>The crossing from Dover to Calais had been rough; a drizzling rain +fell all the time, and most of the passengers had remained below. +Strange to say, they were few enough, as I saw on landing. It was a +Sunday in late July, and there ought to have been a strong stream +setting towards Central Europe. I hardly expected to find much room in +the train; not that it mattered, for my place was booked through in +the Lucerne sleeping-car of the Engadine express.</p> + +<p>Room! When I reached the siding where this train de luxe was drawn up, +I saw that I was not merely the first but the only passenger. Five +sleeping-cars and a dining-car attached, with the full staff, +attendants, chef, waiters—all lay there waiting for me, and me +alone.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10"></a>[10]</span> </p> + +<p>"Not very busy?" I said, with a laugh to the conductor.</p> + +<p>"<i>Parbleu</i>," replied the man, polyglot and cosmopolitan, like most of +his class, but a Frenchman, or, more likely from his accent, a Swiss. +"I never saw the like before."</p> + +<p>"I shall have a compartment to myself, then?"</p> + +<p>"Monsieur may have the whole carriage if he wishes—the whole five +carriages. It is but to arrange." His eyes glistened at the prospect +of something special in this obvious scarcity of coming tips.</p> + +<p>"The train will run, I hope? I am anxious to get on."</p> + +<p>"But assuredly it will run. Even without monsieur it would run. The +carriages are wanted at the other end for the return journey. Stay, +what have we here?"</p> + +<p>We stood talking together on the platform, and at some little distance +from the railway station, the road to which was clear and open all the +way, so that I could see a little party of four approaching us, and +distinguish them. Two ladies, an official, probably one of the guards, +and a porter laden with light luggage.</p> + +<p>As they came up I discreetly withdrew to my <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11"></a>[11]</span> own compartment, the +window of which was open, so that I could hear and see all that +passed.</p> + +<p>"Can we have places for Lucerne?" It was asked in an eager, anxious, +but very sweet voice, and in excellent French.</p> + +<p>"Places?" echoed the conductor. "Madame can have fifty."</p> + +<p>"What did I tell madame?" put in the official who had escorted her.</p> + +<p>"I don't want fifty," she replied, pettishly, crossly, "only two. A +separate compartment for myself and maid; the child can come in with +us."</p> + +<p>Now for the first time I noticed that the maid was carrying a bundle +in her arms, the nature of which was unmistakable. The way in which +she swung it to and fro rhythmically was that of a nurse and child.</p> + +<p>"If madame prefers, the maid and infant can be accommodated apart," +suggested the obliging conductor.</p> + +<p>But this did not please her. "No, no, no," she answered with much +asperity. "I wish them to be with me. I have told you so already; did +you not hear?"</p> + +<p>"<i>Parfaitement</i>, as madame pleases. Only, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12"></a>[12]</span> as the train is not +full—very much the reverse indeed—only one other passenger, a +gentleman—no more—"</p> + +<p>The news affected her strangely, and in two very different ways. At +first a look of satisfaction came into her face, but it was quickly +succeeded by one of nervous apprehension, amounting to positive fear. +She turned to talk to her maid in English, while the conductor busied +himself in preparing the tickets.</p> + +<p>"What are we to do, Philpotts?" This was said to the maid in English. +"What if it should be—"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, never! We can't turn back. You must face it out now. There is +nothing to be afraid of, not in that way. I saw him, the gentleman, as +we came up. He's quite a gentleman, a good-looking military-looking +man, not at all the other sort—you know the sort I mean."</p> + +<p>Now while I accepted the compliment to myself, I was greatly mystified +by the allusion to the "other sort of man."</p> + +<p>"You think we can go on, that it's safe, even in this empty train? It +would have been so different in a crowd. We should have passed +unobserved among a lot of people."</p> + +<p>"But then there would have been a lot of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13"></a>[13]</span> people to observe us; some +one, perhaps, who knew you, some one who might send word."</p> + +<p>"I wish I knew who this passenger is. It would make me much easier in +my mind. It might be possible perhaps to get him on our side if he is +to go with us, at least to get him to help to take care of our +treasure until I can hand it over. What a burden it is! It's terribly +on my mind. I wonder how I could have done it. The mere thought makes +me shiver. To turn thief! Me, a common thief!"</p> + +<p>"Stealing is common enough, and it don't matter greatly, so long as +you're not found out. And you did it so cleverly too; with such a +nerve. Not a soul could have equalled you at the business. You might +have been at it all your life," said the maid, with affectionate +familiarity, that of a humble performer paying tribute to a great +artist in crime.</p> + +<p>She was a decent, respectable-looking body too, this confederate whom +I concluded was masquerading as maid. The very opposite of the younger +woman (about her more directly), a neatly dressed unassuming person, +short and squat in figure, with a broad, plain, and, to the casual +observer, honest face, slow in movement and of no doubt sluggish +temperament, not <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14"></a>[14]</span> likely to be moved or distressed by conscience, +neither at the doing or the memory of evil deeds.</p> + +<p>Now the conductor came up and civilly bowed them towards their +carriage, mine, which they entered at the other end as I left it +making for the restaurant, not a little interested in what I had +heard.</p> + +<p>Who and what could these two people be with whom I was so strangely +and unexpectedly thrown? The one was a lady, I could hardly be +mistaken in that; it was proved in many ways, voice, air, aspect, all +spoke of birth and breeding, however much she might have fallen away +from or forfeited her high station.</p> + +<p>She might have taken to devious practices, or been forced into them; +whatever the cause of her present decadence she could not have been +always the thief she now confessed herself. I had it from her own +lips, she had acknowledged it with some show of remorse. There must +surely have been some excuse for her, some overmastering temptation, +some extreme pressure exercised irresistibly through her emotions, her +affections, her fears.</p> + +<p>What! this fair creature a thief? This beautiful woman, so richly +endowed by nature, so <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15"></a>[15]</span> outwardly worthy of admiration, a despicable +degraded character within? It was hard to credit it. As I still +hesitated, puzzled and bewildered, still anxious to give her the +benefit of the doubt, she came to the door of the buffet where I was +now seated at lunch, and allowed me to survey her more curiously and +more at leisure.</p> + +<p>"A daughter of the gods, divinely tall and most divinely fair."</p> + +<p>The height and slimness of her graceful figure enhanced by the +tight-fitting tailor-made ulster that fell straight from collar to +heel; her head well poised, a little thrown back with chin in the air, +and a proud defiant look in her undeniably handsome face. Fine eyes of +darkest blue, a well-chiseled nose with delicate, sensitive nostrils, +a small mouth with firm closely compressed lips, a wealth of glossy +chestnut hair, gathered into a knot under her tweed travelling cap.</p> + +<p>As she faced me, looking straight at me, she conveyed the impression +of a determined unyielding character, a woman who would do much, dare +much, who would go her own road if so resolved, undismayed and +undeterred by any difficulties that might beset her.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16"></a>[16]</span> </p> + +<p>Then, to my surprise, although I might have expected it, she came and +seated herself at a table close to my elbow. She had told her +companion that she wanted to know more about me, that she would like +to enlist me in her service, questionable though it might be, and here +she was evidently about to make the attempt. It was a little +barefaced, but I admit that I was amused by it, and not at all +unwilling to measure swords with her. She was presumably an +adventuress, clever, designing, desirous of turning me round her +finger, but she was also a pretty woman.</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon," she began almost at once in English, when the +waiter had brought her a plate of soup, and she was toying with the +first spoonful, speaking in a low constrained, almost sullen voice, as +though it cost her much to break through the <i>convenances</i> in thus +addressing a stranger.</p> + +<p>"You will think it strange of me," she went on, "but I am rather +awkwardly situated, in fact in a position of difficulty, even of +danger, and I venture to appeal to you as a countryman, an English +officer."</p> + +<p>"How do you know that?" I asked, quickly concluding that my light +baggage had been <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17"></a>[17]</span> subjected to scrutiny, and wondering what subterfuge +she would adopt to explain it.</p> + +<p>"It is easy to see that. Gentlemen of your cloth are as easily +recognizable as if your names were printed on your back."</p> + +<p>"And as they are generally upon our travelling belongings." I looked +at her steadily with a light laugh, and a crimson flush came on her +face. However hardened a character, she had preserved the faculty of +blushing readily and deeply, the natural adjunct of a cream-like +complexion.</p> + +<p>"Let me introduce myself in full," I said, pitying her obvious +confusion; and I handed her my card, which she took with a shamefaced +air, rather foreign to her general demeanour.</p> + +<p>"Lieut.-Colonel Basil Annesley, Mars and Neptune Club," she read +aloud. "What was your regiment?"</p> + +<p>"The Princess Ulrica Rifles, but I left it on promotion. I am +unattached for the moment, and waiting for reëmployment."</p> + +<p>"Your own master then?"</p> + +<p>"Practically, until I am called upon to serve. I hope to get a staff +appointment. Meanwhile I am loafing about Europe."</p> + +<p>"Do you go beyond Lucerne?"</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18"></a>[18]</span> </p> + +<p>"Across the St. Gothard certainly, and as far as Como, perhaps beyond. +And you? Am I right in supposing we are to be fellow travellers by the +Engadine express?" I went on by way of saying something. "To Lucerne +or further?"</p> + + + + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19"></a>[19]</span> </p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> + + +<p>"Probably." The answer was given with great hesitation. "If I go by +this train at all, that is to say."</p> + +<p>"Have you any doubts?"</p> + +<p>"Why, yes. To tell you the truth, I dread the journey. I have been +doing so ever since—since I felt it must be made. Now I find it ever +so much worse than I expected."</p> + +<p>"Why is that, if I may ask?"</p> + +<p>"You see, I am travelling alone, practically alone that is to say, +with only my maid."</p> + +<p>"And your child," I added rather casually, with no second thought, and +I was puzzled to understand why the chance phrase evoked another vivid +blush.</p> + +<p>"The child! Oh, yes, the child," and I was struck that she did not say +"my" child, but laid rather a marked stress on the definite article.</p> + +<p>"That of course increases your responsibility, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20"></a>[20]</span> " I hazarded, and she +seized the suggestion.</p> + +<p>"Quite so. You see how I am placed. The idea of going all that way in +an empty train quite terrifies me."</p> + +<p>"I don't see why it should."</p> + +<p>"But just think. There will be no one in it, no one but ourselves. We +two lone women and you, single-handed. Suppose the five attendants and +the others were to combine against us? They might rob and murder us."</p> + +<p>"Oh, come, come. You must not let foolish fears get the better of your +common sense. Why should they want to make us their victims? I believe +they are decent, respectable men, the employes of a great company, +carefully selected. At any rate, I am not worth robbing, are you? Have +you any special reason for fearing thieves? Ladies are perhaps a +little too reckless in carrying their valuables about with them. Your +jewel-case may be exceptionally well lined."</p> + +<p>"Oh, but it is not; quite the contrary," she cried with almost +hysterical alacrity. "I have nothing to tempt them. And yet something +dreadful might happen; I feel we are quite at their mercy."</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21"></a>[21]</span> </p> + +<p>"I don't. I tell you frankly that I think you are grossly exaggerating +the situation. But if you feel like that, why not wait? Wait over for +another train, I mean?"</p> + +<p>I am free to confess that, although my curiosity had been aroused, I +would much rather have washed my hands of her, and left her and her +belongings, especially the more compromising part, the mysterious +treasure, behind at Calais.</p> + +<p>"Is there another train soon?" she inquired nervously.</p> + +<p>"Assuredly—by Boulogne. It connects with the train from Victoria at +2.20 and the boat from Folkestone. You need only run as far as +Boulogne with this Engadine train, and wait there till it starts. I +think about 6 <span class="smcap">p.m.</span>"</p> + +<p>"Will that not lose time?"</p> + +<p>"Undoubtedly you will be two hours later at Basle, and you may lose +the connection with Lucerne and the St. Gothard if you want to get on +without delay. To Naples I think you said?"</p> + +<p>"I did not say Naples. You said you were going to Naples," she replied +stiffly. "I did not mention my ultimate destination."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps not. I have dreamt it. But I do <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22"></a>[22]</span> not presume to inquire where +you are going, and I myself am certainly not bound for Naples. But if +I can be of no further use to you I will make my bow. It is time for +me to get back to the train, and for my part I don't in the least want +to lose the Engadine express."</p> + +<p>She got up too, and walked out of the buffet by my side.</p> + +<p>"I shall go on, at any rate as far as Boulogne," she volunteered, +without my asking the question; and we got into our car together, she +entering her compartment and I mine. I heard her door bang, but I kept +mine still open.</p> + +<p>I smoked many cigarettes pondering over the curious episode and my new +acquaintance. How was I to class her? A young man would have sworn she +was perfectly straight, that there could be no guile in this +sweet-faced, gentle, well-mannered woman; and I, with my greater +experience of life and the sex, was much tempted to do the same. It +was against the grain to condemn her as all bad, a depredator, a woman +with perverted moral sense who broke the law and did evil things.</p> + +<p>But what else could I conclude from the words I had heard drop from +her own lips, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23"></a>[23]</span> strengthened and confirmed as they were by the +incriminating language of her companion?</p> + +<p>"Bother the woman and her dark blue eyes. I wish I'd never come across +her. A fine thing, truly, to fall in love with a thief. I hope to +heaven she will really leave the train at Boulogne; we ought to be +getting near there by now."</p> + +<p>I had travelled the road often enough to know it by heart, and I +recognized our near approach only to realize that the train did not +mean to stop. I turned over the leaves of Bradshaw and saw I had been +mistaken; the train skirted Boulogne and never entered the station.</p> + +<p>"Well, that settles it for the present, anyhow. If she still wants to +leave the train she must wait now until Amiens. That ought to suit her +just as well."</p> + +<p>But it would not; at least, she lost no time in expressing her +disappointment at not being able to alight at Boulogne.</p> + +<p>We had hardly passed the place when her maid's (or companion's) square +figure filled the open doorway of my compartment, and in her strong +deep voice she addressed a brief summons to me brusquely and +peremptorily:</p> + +<p>"My lady wishes to speak to you."</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24"></a>[24]</span> </p> + +<p>"And pray what does 'my lady' want with me?" I replied carelessly, +using the expression as a title of rank.</p> + +<p>"She is not 'my lady,' but 'my' lady, my mistress, and simply Mrs. +Blair." The correction and information were vouchsafed with cold +self-possession. "Are you coming?"</p> + +<p>"I don't really see why I should," I said, not too civilly. "Why +should I be at her beck and call? If she had been in any trouble, any +serious trouble, such as she anticipated when talking to me at the +buffet, and a prey to imaginary alarms since become real, I should +have been ready to serve her or any woman in distress, but nothing of +this could have happened in the short hour's run so far."</p> + +<p>"I thought you were a gentleman," was the scornful rejoinder. "A nice +sort of gentleman, indeed, to sit there like a stock or a stone when a +lady sends for you!"</p> + +<p>"A lady!" There was enough sarcasm in my tone to bring a flush upon +her impassive face, a fierce gleam of anger in her stolid eyes; and +when I added, "A fine sort of lady!" I thought she would have struck +me. But she did no more than hiss an insolent gibe.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25"></a>[25]</span> </p> + +<p>"You call yourself an officer, a colonel? I call you a bounder, a +common cad."</p> + +<p>"Be off!" I was goaded into crying, angrily. "Get away with you; I +want to have nothing more to say to you or your mistress. I know what +you are and what you have been doing, and I prefer to wash my hands of +you both. You're not the kind of people I like to deal with or wish to +know."</p> + +<p>She stared at me open-mouthed, her hands clenched, her eyes half out +of her head. Her face had gone deadly white, and I thought she would +have fallen there where she stood, a prey to impotent rage.</p> + +<p>Now came a sudden change of scene. The lady, Mrs. Blair, as I had just +heard her called, appeared behind, her taller figure towering above +the maid's, her face in full view, vexed with varying acute emotions, +rage, grief, and terror combined.</p> + + + + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26"></a>[26]</span> </p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> + + +<p>"What's all this?" she cried in great agitation. "Wait, do not speak, +Philpotts, leave him to me.... Do you go back to our place this +instant; we cannot be away together, you know that; <i>it</i> must not be +left alone, one of us must be on guard over it. Hurry, hurry, I never +feel that <i>it</i> is safe out of our sight.</p> + +<p>"Now, sir," Mrs. Blair turned on me fiercely, "will you be so good as +to explain how I find you quarrelling with my maid, permitting +yourself to cast aspersions, to make imputations upon two unprotected +women?"</p> + +<p>"How much have you overheard?" I asked, feeling very small already. My +self-reproach was aroused even before I quailed under the withering +contempt of her tone.</p> + +<p>"Enough to expect ample apology. How dare you, how dare you say such +things? What you may imagine, what unworthy idea you may have formed, +is beyond me to guess, but <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27"></a>[27]</span> you can know nothing. You can have no real +reason for condemning me."</p> + +<p>"Let me admit that, and leave the matter there," I pleaded. I could +not bring myself to tell her that she was self-condemned, that she was +the principal witness against herself. It would have been too cruel, +ungenerous, to take an unfair advantage. Why should I constitute +myself her judge?</p> + +<p>She looked at me very keenly, her eyes piercing me through and +through. I felt that she was penetrating my inmost thoughts and +turning me inside out.</p> + +<p>"I will not leave it at that. I insist upon your speaking plainly. I +must know what is in your mind."</p> + +<p>"And if I refuse, distinctly, positively, categorically; if I deny +your contention, and protest that I have nothing to tell you?"</p> + +<p>"I shall not believe you. Come, please, let there be no more evasion. +I must have it out. I shall stay here until you tell me what you think +of me, and why."</p> + +<p>She seated herself by my side in the narrow velvet seat of the small +compartment, so close that the folds of her tweed skirt (she had +removed her ulster) touched and rubbed against <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28"></a>[28]</span> me. I was invaded by +the sweet savour of her gracious presence (she used some delightful +scent, <i>violette ideale</i>, I believe), by putting forth my hand a few +inches I might have taken hers in mine. She fixed her eyes on me with +an intent unvarying gaze that under other conditions would have been +intoxicating, but was now no more than disquieting and embarrassing.</p> + +<p>As I was still tongue-tied, she returned to her point with resolute +insistence.</p> + +<p>"Come, Colonel Annesley, how long is this to go on? I want and will +have an explanation. Why have you formed such a bad opinion of me?"</p> + +<p>"How do you know I have done so?" I tried to fence and fight with her, +but in vain.</p> + +<p>"I cannot be mistaken. I myself heard you tell my maid that you wished +to have nothing to say to us, that we were not your sort. Well! why is +that? How do I differ from the rest of—your world, let us call it?"</p> + +<p>"You do not, as far as I can see. At least you ought to hold your own +anywhere, in any society, the very best."</p> + +<p>"And yet I'm not 'your sort.' Am I a humbug, an impostor, an +adventuress, a puppet <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29"></a>[29]</span> and play-actress? Or is it that I have +forfeited my right, my rank of gentlewoman, my position in the world, +your world?"</p> + +<p>I was silent, moodily, obstinately silent. She had hit the blot, and +could put but one interpretation upon it. I saw she guessed I knew +something. Not how much, perhaps, but something to her discredit. She +still was not satisfied; she would penetrate my reserve, overcome my +reticence, have it out of me willy nilly, whether I would or no.</p> + +<p>"You cannot surely refuse me? I have my reasons for desiring to know +the very worst."</p> + +<p>"Why drive me to that?" I schooled myself to seem hard and +uncompromising. I felt I was weakening under the subtle charm of her +presence, and the pretty pleading of her violet eyes; but I was still +resolute not to give way.</p> + +<p>"If you will only tell me why you think such evil I may be able to +justify myself, or at least explain away appearances that are against +me."</p> + +<p>"You admit there are such appearances? Remember, I never said so."</p> + +<p>"Then on what do you condemn me? You do condemn me, I am certain of +it," she <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30"></a>[30]</span> insisted, seeing my gesture of negation. "Are you treating +me fairly, chivalrously, as a gentleman and a man of honour should? +How can you reconcile it to your conscience?"</p> + +<p>"Some people talk very lightly of conscience, or use it when it is an +empty meaningless word," I said severely.</p> + +<p>"You imply that I have no conscience, or that I should feel the +qualms, the prickings of conscience?"</p> + +<p>"After what you've done, yes," I blurted out.</p> + +<p>"What have I done? What do you know of it, or what led me to do it? +How dare you judge me without knowing the facts, without a shadow of +proof?" She sprang to her feet and passed to the door, where she +turned, as it were, at bay.</p> + +<p>"I have the very best proof, from your own lips. I heard you and your +maid talking together at Calais."</p> + +<p>"A listener, Colonel Annesley? Faugh!"</p> + +<p>"It was forced on me. You stood under my window there." I defended +myself indignantly. "I wish to heaven I had never heard. I did not +want to know; your secrets are your own affair."</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31"></a>[31]</span> </p> + +<p>"And my actions, I presume?" she put in with superb indifference.</p> + +<p>"And their consequences, madam," but the shot failed rather of effect. +She merely smiled and shook her head recklessly, contemptuously. Was +she so old a hand, so hardened in crime, that the fears of detection, +arrest, reprisals, the law and its penalties had no effect upon her? +Undoubtedly at Calais she was afraid; some misgiving, some haunting +terror possessed her. Now, when standing before me fully confessed for +what she was, and practically at my mercy, she could laugh with cool +and unabashed levity and make little of the whole affair.</p> + +<p>If I had hoped that I had done with her now, when the murder was out, +I was very much mistaken. She had some further designs on me, I was +sure. She wanted to make use of me, how or in what way I could not +imagine; but I soon perceived that she was anxious to be friends. The +woman was in the ascendant, and, as I thought, the eternal feminine +ever agog to attract and subjugate the male, she would conquer my +admiration even if she could not secure my esteem.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, and quite without my invitation <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32"></a>[32]</span> or encouragement, she +reseated herself by my side.</p> + +<p>"See, Colonel Annesley, let us come to an understanding." She said it +quite gaily and with no shadow of apprehension left in her, not a sign +of shame or remorse in her voice. Her mood had entirely changed. She +was <i>débonnaire</i>, frolicsome, overflowing with fun.</p> + +<p>"What do you mean to do? Give me into custody? Call in the gendarmes +at the next station? Have me taken red-handed with the—stolen +property—the 'swag,' you know the word, perhaps, in my possession?"</p> + +<p>"I am not a police officer; it's not my business," I answered gruffly. +I thought this flippancy very much misplaced.</p> + +<p>"Or you might telegraph back to England, to London, to Scotland Yard: +'The woman Blair in the Engadine express. Wire along the line to +authorities, French and Swiss, to look out for her and arrest +preparatory to extradition.'"</p> + +<p>"I would much rather not continue this conversation, Mrs. Blair."</p> + +<p>"I am not 'Mrs. Blair,'" she cried, laughing merrily as at a +tremendous joke. "It is only one of my aliases. I am better known as + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33"></a>[33]</span> Slippery Sue, and the Countess of Plantagenet, and the Sly American, +and dashing Mrs. Mortimer, and—"</p> + +<p>"Oh, please, please spare me. It does not matter, not a row of pins, +what you are called. I would rather not have the whole list," I +interrupted her, but could not check her restless tongue.</p> + +<p>"You shall hear, you must know all about me and my famous exploits. I +was the heroine of that robbery at Buckingham Palace. I was at the +State Ball, and made a fine harvest of jewels. I have swept a dozen +country-houses clean; I have picked pockets and lifted old lace from +the shop counters, and embezzled and forged—"</p> + +<p>"And turned pirate, and held up trains, and robbed the Bank of +England," I added, falling into her humour and laughing as she rose to +her full height; and again her mood changed, dominating me with +imperious air, her voice icily cold in manner, grave and repellent.</p> + +<p>"Why not? I am a thief; you believe me to be a common thief."</p> + + + + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34"></a>[34]</span> </p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + + +<p>I was too much taken aback to do better than stammer out helplessly, +hopelessly, almost unintelligibly, a few words striving to remind her +of her own admission. Nothing, indeed, could take the sting out of +this, and yet it was all but impossible to accuse her, to blame her +even for what she had done.</p> + +<p>She read that in my eyes, in my abashed face, my hands held out +deprecating her wrath, and her next words had a note of conciliation +in them.</p> + +<p>"There are degrees of wrong-doing, shades of guilt," she said. +"Crimes, offences, misdeeds, call them as you please, are not +absolutely unpardonable; in some respects they are excusable, if not +justifiable. Do you believe that?"</p> + +<p>"I should like to do so in your case," I replied gently. "You know I +am still quite in the dark."</p> + +<p>"And you must remain so, for the present <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35"></a>[35]</span> at any rate," she said +firmly and sharply. "I can tell you nothing, I am not called upon to +do it indeed. We are absolute strangers, I owe you no explanation, and +I would give you none, even if you asked."</p> + +<p>"I have not asked and shall not ask anything."</p> + +<p>"Then you are willing to take it so, to put the best construction on +what you have heard, to forget my words, to surrender your +suspicions?"</p> + +<p>"If you will tell me only this: that I may have confidence in you, +that I may trust you, some day, to enlighten me and explain what seems +so incomprehensible to-day."</p> + +<p>"I am sorely tempted to do so now," she paused, lost for a time in +deep and anxious thought; and then, after subjecting me to a long and +intent scrutiny, she shook her head. "No, it cannot be, not yet. You +must earn the right to my confidence, you must prove to me that you +will not misuse it. There are others concerned; I am not speaking for +myself alone. You must have faith in me, believe in me or let it be."</p> + +<p>She had beaten me, conquered me. I was <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36"></a>[36]</span> ready to be her slave with +blind, unquestioning obedience.</p> + +<p>"As you think best. I will abide by your decision. Tell me all or +nothing. If the first I will help you, if the latter I will also help +you as far as lies in my power."</p> + +<p>"Without conditions?" And when I nodded assent such a smile lit up her +face that more than repaid me, and stifled the doubts and qualms that +still oppressed me. But, bewitched by the sorcery of her bright eyes, +I said bravely:</p> + +<p>"I accept service—I am yours to command. Do with me what you please."</p> + +<p>"Will you give me your hand on it?" She held out hers, gloveless, +white and warm, and it lay in mine just a second while I pressed it to +my lips in token of fealty and submission.</p> + +<p>"You shall be my knight and champion, and I say it seriously. I may +call you to fight for me, at least to defend and protect me in my +present undertaking. The way is by no means clear. I cannot foresee +what may happen on this journey. There are risks, dangers before me. I +may ask you to share them. Do you repent already?"</p> + +<p>She had been watching me closely for any <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37"></a>[37]</span> sign of wavering, but I +showed none, whatever I might feel in my inmost heart.</p> + +<p>"I shall not disappoint you," was what I said, and, in a firm assured +voice, added, "You have resolved then to travel forward in this +train?"</p> + +<p>"I must, I have no choice. I dare not tarry by the way. But I no +longer feel quite alone and unprotected. If trouble arises, I tell you +candidly I shall try to throw it on you."</p> + +<p>"From what quarter do you anticipate it?" I asked innocently enough. +"You expect to be pursued, I presume?"</p> + +<p>She held up a warning finger.</p> + +<p>"That is not in the compact. You are not to be inquisitive. Ask me no +questions, please, but wait on events. For the present you must be +satisfied so, and there is nothing more to be said."</p> + +<p>"I shall see you again, I trust," I pleaded, as she rose to leave me.</p> + +<p>"If you wish, by all means. Why should we not dine together in the +dining-car by and by?" she proposed with charming frankness, in the +lighter mood that sat so well upon her. "The waiters will be there to +play propriety, and no Mrs. Grundy within miles."</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38"></a>[38]</span> </p> + +<p>"Or your maid might be chaperon at an adjoining table."</p> + +<p>"Philpotts? Impossible! She cannot leave—she must remain on duty; one +of us must be in charge always. Who knows what might happen when our +backs were turned? We might lose it—it might be abstracted. Horrible +thought after all it has cost us."</p> + +<p>"'It' has evidently an extraordinary value in your eyes. If only I +might be allowed to—" know more, I would have said, but she chose to +put other words into my mouth.</p> + +<p>"To join us in the watching? Take your turn of 'sentry go'—isn't that +your military term? Become one of us, belong to a gang of thieves, +liable like the rest of us to the law? Ah, that would be trying you +too far. I see your face fall."</p> + +<p>"I am ready to do much to serve you. I would gladly help you, see you +through any difficulty by the way, but I'm afraid I must draw the line +at active partnership," I answered a little lamely under her mocking +eyes. Once more, as suddenly as before, she veered round.</p> + +<p>"There is a limit, then, to your devotion?" She was coldly sarcastic +now, and I realized <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39"></a>[39]</span> painfully that I had receded in her favour. "I +must not expect unhesitating self-sacrifice? So be it; it is well to +know how far I may go. I sincerely hope I may have no need of you at +all. How thankful I am that I never let you into my secrets! Good +afternoon," and with a contemptuous whisk of her skirts and a laugh, +she was gone.</p> + +<p>"I'll have nothing more to say to her," I cried in great heat, vexed +and irritated beyond measure at her capricious temper. I should only +be dragged into some pitfall, some snare, some dire unpleasantness. +But what did I know of her real character? What of my first doubts and +suspicions? She had by no means dispelled them. She had only +bamboozled me by her insinuating ways, had drawn me on by her guileful +cleverness to pity and promises to befriend her. I had accorded her an +active sympathy which in my more sober moments I felt she did not, +could not, deserve; if I were not careful she would yet involve me in +some inextricable mess.</p> + +<p>So for half an hour I abused her fiercely; I swore at myself hotly as +an ass, a hopeless and unmitigated ass, ever ready to be betrayed and +beguiled by woman's wiles, the too easy victim <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40"></a>[40]</span> of the first pretty +face I saw. The fit lasted for quite half an hour, and then came the +reaction. I heard her rich deep voice singing in my ears, I felt the +haunting glamour of her eyes, remembered her gracious presence, and my +heart went out to her. I was so sorry for her: how could I cast her +off? How could I withhold my countenance if she were in real distress? +She was a woman—a weak, helpless woman; I could not desert and +abandon her. However reprehensible her conduct might have been, she +had a claim to my protection from ill-usage, and I knew in my heart +that she might count upon a good deal more. I knew, of course, that I +ought not to stand between her and the inevitable Nemesis that awaits +upon misdeeds, but what if I helped her to avoid or escape it?</p> + +<p>The opportunity was nearer at hand than I thought. My kindly +intentions, bred of my latest sentiments towards Mrs. Blair, were soon +to be put to the test.</p> + + + + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41"></a>[41]</span> </p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> + + +<p>The train reached Amiens punctually at 5 <span class="smcap">p.m.</span>, and a stoppage +of five minutes was announced. I got out to stretch my legs on the +platform. No one took much notice of us; it must have been known that +the train was empty, for there were no waiters from the buffet with +<i>café au lait</i> or fruit, or <i>brioches</i>—no porters about, or other +officials.</p> + +<p>I had not expected to see any passengers come on board the train, a +through express, made up of sleeping-cars and a supplementary charge +on the tickets. But on running into the station (ours was the first +carriage) I had noticed a man standing with a valise in his hand, and +I saw him following the train down the platform when we stopped. He +addressed himself to a little group of conductors who had already +alighted, and were gossiping idly among themselves, having nothing +else to do. One of them indicated our particular attendant, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42"></a>[42]</span> to whom +he spoke, and who brought him directly to our carriage.</p> + +<p>Evidently the newcomer was bound for Lucerne <i>via</i> Basle. Here was one +more occupant of our neglected train, another companion and fellow +traveller in our nearly empty sleeping-car. Curiosity and something +more led me to examine this man closely; it was a strange, undefined, +inexplicable sense of foreboding, of fateful forecast, that he and I +were destined to be thrown together unpleasantly, to be much mixed up +with one another, and to the comfort and satisfaction of neither.</p> + +<p>Who and what was he? His position in life, his business, trade or +calling were not to be easily fixed; a commercial man, an agent or +"traveller" on his own account, well-to-do and prosperous, was the +notion borne out by his dress, his white waistcoat and coloured shirt +of amazing pattern (a hint of his Italian origin), his rings and the +showy diamond pin in his smart necktie.</p> + +<p>I added to this, my first impression, by further observation, for +which I soon had abundant opportunity. When the train moved on, he +came and took his seat on the flap seat (or <i>strapontin</i>) just +opposite my compartment. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43"></a>[43]</span> I could not tell why, until presently he +made overtures of sociability and began a desultory talk across the +corridor. My cabin or compartment, it will be remembered, was the last +but one; the newcomer had been given the one behind mine, and here +from his seat he commanded the whole length of the carriage forward, +which included the compartment occupied by Mrs. Blair and her party.</p> + +<p>I cannot say that I liked his looks or was greatly attracted by him. +He was not prepossessing. Fair, with a flaccid unwholesome complexion, +foxy haired, his beard cut to a point, small moustaches curled upward +showing thin pale lips, and giving his mouth a disagreeable curve also +upwards, a sort of set smile that was really a sardonic sneer, +conveying distrust and disbelief in all around. His eyes were so deep +set as to be almost lost in their recesses behind his sandy eyelashes, +and he kept them screwed up close, with the intent watchful gaze of an +animal about to make a spring. His whole aspect, his shifty, restless +manner, his furtive looks, all were antipathetic and to his great +advantage. I did not take to him at all, and plainly showed him <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44"></a>[44]</span> that +I had no desire for his talk or his company.</p> + +<p>It was not easy to shake him off, however. He would take no offence; I +was cold to positive rudeness, I snubbed him unmercifully; I did not +answer his remarks or his questions, which were incessant and +shamelessly inquisitorial. Nothing disconcerted him. I had all but +shut the door of my compartment in his face, but it suddenly occurred +to me that he was capable of wandering on, and when he found the +ladies inflicting his greasy attentions upon them.</p> + +<p>I felt that I had better submit to his unpalatable society than let +him bore Mrs. Blair with his colossal impudence.</p> + +<p>How right I was in this became at once apparent. He had taken out a +cigar-case and pressed one upon me with such pertinacious, offensive +familiarity that I could see no way out of it than by saying +peremptorily:</p> + +<p>"You cannot smoke here. There are ladies in that compartment yonder."</p> + +<p>"Ladies indeed! You surprise me," but I saw a look on his face that +convinced me he perfectly well knew they were there. "Ladies, aha! How +many, may I ask?"</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45"></a>[45]</span> </p> + +<p>"One at least, with her maid and a child," I replied gruffly.</p> + +<p>"And a child," he repeated, as if by rote. "Does monsieur, tell me +quickly, I—I—beg—know them! Can he describe them to me?"</p> + +<p>"I shall tell you nothing about them. What the mischief do you mean by +asking me questions? Find out what you want for yourself." I was hot +and indignant with the brute.</p> + +<p>"By George, you're right. I'll go and ask for leave to smoke. I shall +find out then," and he jumped up, the spring seat closing with a bang +from under him.</p> + +<p>The noise concealed the sound of the electric bell which I had pressed +to summon the attendant, as I rushed out and caught the other man by +the arm.</p> + +<p>"You'll do nothing of the kind," I cried with very vigorous emphasis, +backed by all my strength. "I'll shake you to a jelly if you dare to +move another inch."</p> + +<p>"Here, I say, drop it. Who the deuce are you? None of your bally +nonsense. Hands off, or I'll make you."</p> + +<p>But he was too soft and flabby to avail much, and I dragged him back +helplessly with tightened <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46"></a>[46]</span> grip, only too delighted to try conclusions +with him.</p> + +<p>At this moment the conductor appeared upon the scene, and began to +expostulate loudly.</p> + +<p>"Here, I say, what's all this? It can't be allowed. No fighting and +quarrelling are permitted."</p> + +<p>"Well, then, people must behave themselves," I retorted. "Don't let +this chap annoy your passengers."</p> + +<p>"I have done nothing to annoy them," stammered the other. "You shall +answer for this. I've done no harm."</p> + +<p>"I'll see you don't. Get in there and stay there;" and with that I +forced him, almost flung him, into his compartment, where he fell +panting upon the velvet sofa.</p> + +<p>"You'd better keep an eye on him," I said to the conductor, who was +inclined to be disagreeable, and was barely pacified by a couple of +five-franc pieces. "Fellows of this sort are apt to be a nuisance, and +we must take care of the ladies."</p> + +<p>As I said this I saw Mrs. Blair's face peering out beyond her door a +little nervously, but she ventured to come right out and along the +passage towards me.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47"></a>[47]</span> </p> + +<p>"What has happened? I heard some noise, high words, a scuffle."</p> + +<p>"Some ruffian who got in at Amiens, and who has had to be taught +manners. I told him not to smoke here, and he wanted to intrude +himself upon you, which I prevented, a little forcibly."</p> + +<p>"Where is he? In here?" and she followed the indication of my thumb as +I jerked it back, and looked over my shoulder into the compartment.</p> + +<p>"Ah!" The ejaculation was involuntary, and one of acute painful +surprise, the gesture that accompanied it spontaneous and full of +terror.</p> + +<p>"That man! that man!" she gasped. "He must not see me; let me go, let +me go!"</p> + +<p>But her strength failed her, and but for my supporting arm she would +have fallen to the ground. Half-fainting, I led her back to her own +compartment, where her maid received her tenderly and with comforting +words. There was clearly a strong bond of affection between these two, +possibly companions and confederates in wrong-doing; the delicate and +refined woman, tormented by the inner qualms of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48"></a>[48]</span> outraged conscience, +relied and leant upon the stronger and more resolute nature.</p> + +<p>"What's come to you, ma'am? There, there, don't give way," said the +maid, softly coaxing her and stroking her hands.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Philpotts, fancy! He is there! Falfani, the—the—you know—"</p> + +<p>Of course I saw it all now. Stupid ass! I might have guessed it all +along. I had puzzled my brains vainly trying to place him, to fix his +quality and condition in life, neglecting the one simple obvious +solution to which so many plain indications pointed. The man, of +course, was a detective, an officer or private agent, and his dirty +business—you see, I was already shaken in my honesty, and now with +increasing demoralization under seductive influences I was already +inclined to cross over to the other side of the frontier of crime—his +dirty business was the persecution of my sweet friend.</p> + +<p>"What are we to do now?" asked Mrs. Blair, her nervous trepidation +increasing. "I begin to think we shall fail, we cannot carry it +through, we shall lose our treasure. It will be taken from us."</p> + +<p>"You cannot, you must not, shall not turn back now," said the maid +with great <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49"></a>[49]</span> determination. "We must devise something, some way, of +outwitting this Falfani. We did it before, we must do it again. After +all he has no power over us; we are in France and shall be in +Switzerland by daylight."</p> + +<p>"We ought to go on, you think? Wouldn't it be better to slip out of +the train at the first station and run away?"</p> + +<p>"He would do the same. He does not intend to let us out of his sight. +And how much the better should we be? It would be far worse; we should +be much more at his mercy if we left the train. The journey would +still have to be made; we must get to the end, the very end, or we'd +better not have started."</p> + +<p>"He will know then, if he sticks to us. We cannot hide it from him, +nor where we have taken it; we shall never be able to keep it, they +will come and claim it and recover it;" and she cried hysterically: "I +cannot see my way; it's all dark, black as night. I wish—I wish—"</p> + +<p>"That you had never done it?" quickly asked the maid; and I noticed a +slight sarcasm in her tone that was not without its effect in bracing +up and strengthening her companion's shattered nerves.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50"></a>[50]</span> </p> + +<p>"No, no, no; I do not regret it, and I never shall. I did it +deliberately, counting the cost fully, and it shall be paid, however +heavy it may be. It is not regret that tortures me, but the fear of +failure when so near success."</p> + +<p>"We will succeed yet. Do not be cast down, my sweet dear." The maid +patted her on the cheek with great affection. "We shall find a way. +This gentleman, the colonel here, will help us, perhaps."</p> + +<p>"Will you?" Who could resist her pleading voice and shining eyes? If I +had had any scruples left I would have thrown them to the winds.</p> + +<p>"Whatever lies in my power to do shall be done without stint or +hesitation," I said solemnly, careless of all consequences, content to +hold her hand and earn her heartfelt thanks. What though I were +pawning my honour?</p> + + + + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51"></a>[51]</span> </p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<h4>[<i>The Statement of Domenico Falfani, confidential agent,<br /> +made to his employers, Messrs. Becke and Co., of the <br /> +Private +Inquiry Offices, 279 St. Martin's Lane, W.C.</i>]</h4> + + +<p>I propose, gentlemen, to set down here at length the story of my +mission, and the events which befell me from the time I first received +my instructions. You desired me to pursue and call to strict account a +certain lady of title, who had fallen away from her high estate and +committed an act of rank felony. The circumstances which led up to her +disappearance and the partners of her flight are already well known to +you.</p> + +<p>The only indication given me, as you are aware, was that I might take +it for granted that she would go abroad and probably by the most +direct route to the South, to Switzerland and across the Alps into +Italy. My orders having only reached me in the early morning, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52"></a>[52]</span> the +theft having presumably been committed during the night previous to +Sunday, September 21, I was unable to ascertain through the tourist +agencies whether any and what tickets had been booked in the +directions indicated.</p> + +<p>My most urgent duty then was to watch the outgoing Continental trains, +the first of which left Charing Cross for Dover and Calais at 9 +<span class="smcap">a.m.</span> I closely watched it therefore, and its passengers, and +travelled with it to Cannon Street, where I continued my search, but +without result. I was greatly helped in my quest by the not unusual +fact noticeable on Sundays, that travellers abroad are few in number.</p> + +<p>I had no difficulty in satisfying myself that the lady and her party +were not in this train, and I returned at once to Charing Cross in +time for the second Continental train, the 10 <span class="smcap">a.m.</span></p> + +<p>I had resolved to book myself by that as far as Amiens, for I knew +that, once there, I should have reached a central point or junction, a +sort of throat through which every train moving southward to Paris or +Switzerland must pass.</p> + +<p>There remained, of course, the route via Dover by Ostend and through +Brussels; but I had been informed by you that Ludovic Tiler, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53"></a>[53]</span> my +colleague and coworker, was to undertake the inquiry on that line.</p> + +<p>It is part of my business to be thoroughly familiar with the +Continental Bradshaw, and I soon ticked off the different trains that +interested me.</p> + +<p>There was first the 11 <span class="smcap">a.m.</span> from Victoria by Dover and +Calais, where it connected with the Paris express and the sleeping-car +Engadine express, both of which run through Amiens, where, however, +the latter branches off to Basle and beyond, with special cars for +Lucerne, Zurich and Coire.</p> + +<p>Then came the 2.20 <span class="smcap">p.m.</span> from Charing Cross to Folkestone, and +so to Boulogne, Amiens and the rest, travelling the same road as the +Engadine express. This was the last of the day service, as it gave +most time, allowing people to start at the very latest moment, and I +felt it quite probable that my lady would prefer to take it.</p> + +<p>I reached Amiens a little before 5 <span class="smcap">p.m.</span>, and I had a wait of +half an hour for the first express from Calais. I was greatly +disappointed when at last it appeared issuing from the tunnel, and +passed me where I stood at the commencement of the platform, taking +stock of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54"></a>[54]</span> each carriage as it passed. The train seemed to be quite +empty; there were no passengers, so the officials, the conductors, +informed me when I talked to them, sad and unhappy at the certain loss +of tips. Only one of them had any luck, Jules l'Echelle, of the +Lucerne sleeping-car, who had one or two people on board.</p> + +<p>I questioned him not very hopefully, but was agreeably surprised when +he told me that his clients consisted of two ladies with a child, and +one gentleman. English? Yes, all English. The lady, quite a lady, a +<i>grande dame belle personne</i>, tall, fine figure, well dressed; her +companion no doubt her servant; the child, well, an ordinary child, an +infant in arms. What would you?</p> + +<p>I had them, I felt sure. There could be no mistaking this description. +I held them in the hollow of my hand. Here they were in this car, and +it would be all my own fault if they escaped me. It would be necessary +only to verify my conclusions, to identify the lady according to the +description and photograph given me. For the rest I knew what to do.</p> + +<p>But now a quite unexpected difficulty turned up.</p> + +<p>As I have said, there was one other passenger, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55"></a>[55]</span> a gentleman, in the +car, and I felt it would be prudent to make his acquaintance. No doubt +I could tell at the first glance whether or not he was an ordinary +traveller, or whether he was a friend and accomplice of the lady under +observation.</p> + +<p>I regret to say that he met me in a very hostile spirit. I was at +great pains to be affable, to treat him with all the courtly +consideration I have at command, and I flatter myself that in the +matter of tact and good-breeding I do not yield to princes of the +blood royal. But my civility was quite thrown away. The man was an +absolute brute, abrupt, overbearing, rude. Nothing would conciliate +him. I offered him a cigar (a Borneo of the best brand, at 10s. the +hundred), and he not only refused it, but positively forbade me to +smoke. There were ladies in the carriage, he said (this was the first +reference made to them), and, when declining to be ordered about, I +proposed to refer the question to themselves, he threw himself +violently upon me and assaulted me brutally.</p> + +<p>Fortunately the attendant came to my rescue or I should have been +seriously injured. He lifted me into my compartment very kindly, and +acted like an old friend, as indeed he was, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56"></a>[56]</span> for I remembered him as +the Jules l'Echelle with whom I served some time back as an assistant +at the Baths of Bormio.</p> + +<p>It was, of course, clear to my mind that my assailant was associated +in some way with the lady, and probably a confederate. I saw that I +must know more about him, with the least possible delay, and as soon +as Jules had left me, promising to return later and talk of old times, +and the changes that had come over us since then, I ventured to look +out and get a glimpse of the other man, I will not call him gentleman +after his conduct.</p> + +<p>He was nowhere in sight, but I could hear his voice, several voices, +talking together at the far end. No doubt he had joined his friends in +their compartment, and the moment seemed opportune to visit his. It +was next to mine, and the door stood invitingly open. A few minutes, +seconds even, would be enough to tell me something of his identity, +perhaps all I wanted to.</p> + +<p>At least he made no pretence at mystery; his light baggage lay about, +a dressing bag, a roll of rugs, a couple of sticks and an umbrella +strapped together, all very neat and precise and respectable, and all +alike furnished <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57"></a>[57]</span> with a parchment tag or label bearing in plain +language all that I wanted to know.</p> + +<p>His name was printed "Lieut.-Col. Basil Annesley," and his club, the +Mars and Neptune, that famous military house in Piccadilly. +Underneath, on all, his destination was written, "Hotel Bellevue, +Bellagio, Como." There could never be the least difficulty in finding +this person if I wanted him, as I thought likely. He was a blustering, +swashbuckling army officer, who could always be brought to account if +he misconducted himself, or mixed himself up in shady transactions.</p> + +<p>In my great contentment at the discovery I had been wanting in +caution, and I lingered too long on forbidden ground.</p> + +<p>"You infernal scoundrel," cried some one from the door, and once more +I felt an angry hand on my shoulder. "How come you here? Explain +yourself."</p> + +<p>"It's all a mistake," I began, trying to make the best of it, +struggling to get free. But he still held me in a grip of iron, and it +was not until my friend Jules appeared that I got out of the enemy's +clutches.</p> + +<p>"Here, I say!" shouted Jules vaguely. "This won't do, you know. I +shall have to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58"></a>[58]</span> lodge a complaint against you for brawling."</p> + +<p>"Complaint, by George!" he replied, shaking his fist at me. "The boot +is on the other leg, I take it. How is it that I find this chap in my +compartment? Foraging about, I believe."</p> + +<p>"Indeed no, Colonel Annesley," I protested, forgetting myself; and he +caught at it directly.</p> + +<p>"Oho, so you know my name! That proves what I say. You've been messing +about and overhauling my things. I won't stand it. The man's a thief. +He will have to be locked up."</p> + +<p>"I'm not the only thief in the car, then," I cried, for I was now mad +with him and his threats.</p> + +<p>"I don't know what you're driving at, or whom you think to accuse; but +I tell you this, my friend, that I shall call in the police at the +next station and hand you over."</p> + +<p>I looked at the conductor Jules, appealing for protection. I saw at +once that it would be terrible for me to have any trouble with the +police. They could do me no harm, but I might be delayed, obliged to +leave the train, and I should lose sight of the lady, possibly fail +altogether.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59"></a>[59]</span> </p> + +<p>Jules responded at once. "Come, come," he said. "You're talking big. +You might own the whole train. Who might you be?"</p> + +<p>"None of your confounded impudence," shouted the Colonel, as he +pointed to one of the luggage labels. "That's who I am. It's good +enough to get you discharged before you're a much older man. And now I +call upon you to do your duty. I have caught this man under suspicious +circumstances in the very act of rifling my effects. I insist upon his +being taken into custody."</p> + +<p>"There isn't enough for that," Jules answered, still my friend, but +weakening a little before this masterly army officer, and I felt that +I must speak for myself.</p> + +<p>"And if you stop me I will have the law of you for false imprisonment, +and bring heavy damages. You will be doing me a great injury in my +business."</p> + +<p>"Precisely what I should like to do, my fine fellow. I can guess what +your business is. Nothing reputable, I feel sure."</p> + +<p>"I'm not ashamed of it, and I have powerful friends behind me. I am +acting for—"</p> + +<p>"Yes?" he asked me mockingly, for I had checked my tongue, fearing to +say too much.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60"></a>[60]</span> </p> + +<p>"It is my affair. Enough that you will feel the weight of their hands +if you interfere with me in carrying out their instructions."</p> + +<p>"Well, anyhow, tell me who you are. I've a right to know that in +exchange. You chose to help yourself to my name; now I insist upon +knowing yours."</p> + +<p>I told him, not very readily, as may be supposed.</p> + +<p>"Domenico Falfani? Is that your own or a 'purser's' name? Come, you +know what I mean. It's part of your stock in trade to understand all +languages, including slang. Is that the name he has given you?"—this +to the conductor. "Show me your way-bill, your <i>feuille de route</i>."</p> + +<p>Jules at a nod from me produced it, and no doubt understood my reason +when in my turn I claimed to see it.</p> + +<p>"I have a clear right," I insisted, overruling all objections raised +by the Colonel; and taking it into my hands I read the names aloud, +"Colonel Annesley, Mrs. Blair, maid and child." I pronounced the name +with great contempt.</p> + +<p>"You talk of purser's names," I said sneeringly. "What do you think of +this? Blair, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61"></a>[61]</span> indeed! No more the woman's name than Smith or Jones, or +what you please."</p> + +<p>"Speak more respectfully of a lady," cried the Colonel, catching me +tightly by the arm.</p> + +<p>"Lady? Oho! Don't, Colonel, drop it. At any rate, she is not Mrs. +Blair; you may take that from me," I said as impressively as a judge +on the bench. "And what's more, Colonel, I wouldn't press charges you +can't substantiate against me, or I may hit back with another not so +easy to meet. Try to stop me at the next station, and I'll stop your +pal—ah, don't"—he had a cruelly strong hand—"your Mrs. Blair, and +she'll find herself in a particularly tight place."</p> + +<p>"We'll see about that," said the Colonel, who kept a stiff face, but +was, I think, rather crestfallen. "I shall act as I think best. +Anyhow, get out of this, both of you. This is my private berth, and +you are trespassing."</p> + + + + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62"></a>[62]</span> </p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + + +<p>Whatever may have been the Colonel's intentions when he caught me in +his compartment, something, and I think my last words, led him to +modify them. He felt, probably, that if he attacked me I might +retaliate unpleasantly. I ought to be able to hold my own with him, +although in truth I was not over happy at the course events had taken, +and I could not compliment myself on my good management.</p> + +<p>I had not been overprudent; I had pressed my attentions on him rather +abruptly, although I had the excuse that I usually found them well +received, thanks to my affable address; again I had behaved most +incautiously in penetrating his identity.</p> + +<p>And, worse than all, I had still no certainty. I could only surmise +that the lady was the one I was in search of, for I had not as yet +clapt eyes on her, and I had been to some extent driven to show my +hand before I had made <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63"></a>[63]</span> my ground good. So the first thing I did on +regaining my own compartment was to ring for Jules, the conductor, and +put before him the photograph with which I was provided, and ask him +if he recognized it.</p> + +<p>"But perfectly. It is the lady yonder," he said promptly. "Is it your +own, or did you find it or annex it from next door? Ah, your own; and +what have you to do with her?"</p> + +<p>"I may tell you some day, Jules. For the present you must know that I +am after her; I have to watch her, stick to her like her shadow until +it is time to act."</p> + +<p>"An adventuress, eh?"</p> + +<p>"She is in possession of what does not belong to her; something she +abstracted from—from—Never mind where, and it must be recovered from +her here, or after she leaves the car."</p> + +<p>"Afterwards, please. We can't have any scandal on board here."</p> + +<p>"Five hundred francs wouldn't tempt you to let me have a free hand for +just half an hour? I could do it, say somewhere short of Basle, and on +reaching there make off. No one should be any the wiser, and they, the +women, wouldn't dare to make a fuss."</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64"></a>[64]</span> </p> + +<p>"It's I who do not dare—not for twice five hundred francs. My place +is worth more than that; and if it is a dog's life, it is better than +lying on the straw. Besides, there's her friend the Colonel, he'll be +on the alert, you may depend."</p> + +<p>"So must I be, and I must find some way to circumvent him. I'll be +even with him. He sha'n't beat me, the overbearing, hectoring brute. +It's between him and me, and I think I'm a match for him."</p> + +<p>I spoke this confidently to my friend, who engaged for his part to do +all in his power to assist, or at least to do nothing against me, and +I was content to bide my time. Pride goes before a fall. I was not as +clever as I thought, and shall have to tell you how seriously I had +underrated his worth in the coming trial of strength.</p> + +<p>As the train sped on and the night began to close in on us, I remained +quietly in my berth, pondering over my position, and in considering +the course I should adopt under various contingencies. The first and +most serious danger was that the lady should succeed in leaving the +train at any of the intermediate stations <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65"></a>[65]</span> at Basle, and so give me +the slip. There were Laon, Rheims, Chaumont, and the rest.</p> + +<p>It must be my business to keep close watch against any evasion of this +kind, and Jules had promised to help. I did not look for any such +attempt until far into the night, when the stations were empty and +half-dark, and I agreed with Jules to divide the hours till daylight, +he taking the first, I the last. We were due at Basle at 5 +<span class="smcap">a.m.</span>, and I expected to join forces then with Tiler, my +colleague, coming from the side of Ostend, via Brussels and Strasburg.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile I kept quiet and made no sign beyond showing that I was +there and on the spot ready to act if it should be necessary. Thus, +when the train slackened speed on approaching a station, I was always +on the move and the first to descend and patrol the platform. The +Colonel always got out too, but he never accosted me; indeed, he +seemed disposed to despise me, to ignore my existence, or dare me to +the worst I could do.</p> + +<p>I suppose the lady must have been of the same mind, for when +dinner-time arrived, she came boldly out of her compartment, and I met +her face to face for the first time, on her way <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66"></a>[66]</span> to the restaurant. I +was standing at the door of my compartment.</p> + +<p>"Dinner is ready," the Colonel said to me significantly, but I did not +choose to understand, and shook my head, holding my ground.</p> + +<p>"You are coming to dinner, I think," he repeated in a sharp commanding +way, as if he were talking to his soldiers.</p> + +<p>"I shall please myself about that," I replied gruffly.</p> + +<p>"Not a bit of it. One moment," he whispered to the lady, who walked +on, and turned again to me: "Now see here, my friend, I do not mean to +leave you behind. You will come to the dining-car with us, and no two +ways about it, even if I have to carry you."</p> + +<p>"I won't dine with you," I cried.</p> + +<p>"I never asked you to dine with me, but you shall dine when I do. I +will pay for your dinner, but I wouldn't sit at table with you for +worlds," he shouted with scornful laughter. "You're going to dine +under my eye, that's all, even though the sight of you is enough to +make one sick. So come along, sharp's the word, see? Walk first; let +him pass you, Mrs. Blair."</p> + +<p>I felt I had no choice. He was capable of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67"></a>[67]</span> again assaulting me. There +was something in his manner that cowed me, and I was obliged in spite +of myself to give way.</p> + +<p>There were only three of us in the dining-car, and we were not a very +merry company. Our tables were laid almost adjoining, and there was no +conversation between us, except when the Colonel asked me with +contemptuous civility what wine I preferred. He did not talk to the +lady, or the merest commonplaces, for I was within earshot. But I made +an excellent dinner, I must confess. I had eaten nothing since Amiens. +Then I got back to my berth, where the bed was made. I threw myself on +to it, rejoiced at the prospect of getting a few hours' sleep while +Jules remained on the watch.</p> + +<p>He was to call me a little before reaching Basle, and, like an ass +that I was, I fully relied on his doing so, believing him to be my +friend. Such friendship as his did not bear any great strain, as I +learnt presently to my great chagrin.</p> + +<p>I slept heavily, but in fitful snatches, as a man does when constantly +disturbed by the whirr and whizzing of the train, the rattle and +jangle of wheels passing over ill-jointed points. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68"></a>[68]</span> After one of the +longest periods of unconsciousness I awoke, aroused by the complete +absence of noise. The train was at a standstill in some station and +making a very protracted halt.</p> + +<p>Something moved me to lift the blind and look out, and I saw, not +without uneasiness, that we were at Basle. I thought I recognized the +station, but I soon made out for certain the name "Basilea" (Basle), +and saw the clock with the fingers at five-thirty. People were already +on the move, work-people, the thrifty, industrious Swiss, forestalling +time, travellers in twos and threes arriving and departing by the +early train through this great junction on the frontier of +Switzerland.</p> + +<p>Stay! What? Who are those crossing the platform hurriedly. Great +powers! Right under my eyes, a little party of four, two females, two +men accompanying them, escorting them, carrying rugs and parcels. +There could not be a shadow of doubt.</p> + +<p>It was the lady, the so-called Mrs. Blair, in full flight, with all +her belongings, and under the care and guidance not only of the +Colonel, that of course, but also of the perfidious Jules l'Echelle. +He had sold me! All doubt of his treachery disappeared when on rushing +to the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69"></a>[69]</span> door I found I had been locked into my compartment.</p> + +<p>I rang the electric bell frantically, again and again. I got no +answer; I threw up the window and thrust my head out, shouting for +help, but got none, only one or two sluggish porters came up and asked +what was amiss, answering stolidly, when they heard, that it was none +of their business. "They had no key, it must be a mistake. The +conductor would explain, I must wait till he came."</p> + +<p>Presently Jules arrived, walking very leisurely from the direction of +the restaurant, and he stood right under my window with a grin on his +face and mockery in his voice.</p> + +<p>"What's wrong? Locked in? Can't be possible? Who could have done it? I +will inquire," he said slowly and imperturbably.</p> + +<p>"No, no; let me out first. You can do it if you choose. I believe it +was your trickery from the first. I must get out, I tell you, or they +will escape me," I cried.</p> + +<p>"Not unlikely. I may say it is pretty certain they will. That was the +Colonel's idea; you'd better talk to him about it next time you see +him."</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70"></a>[70]</span> </p> + +<p>"And that will be never, I expect. He's not going to show up here +again."</p> + +<p>"There you're wrong; he will be back before the train starts, you may +rely on that, and you'll be able to talk to him. We'll let you out +then," he was laughing at me, traitor that he was. "Here he comes. +We're just going on."</p> + +<p>Now I saw my last chance of successfully performing my mission +disappearing beyond recall. I renewed my shouts and protests, but was +only laughed at for my pains. The railway officials at Basle might +have interfered, but Jules answered for me, declaring with a +significant gesture that I was in drink and that he would see to me.</p> + +<p>I quite despaired. Already the train was moving out of the station, +when, to my intense joy, I caught sight of Ludovic Tiler, who came +down the platform running alongside us, and crying, "Falfani, +Falfani," as he recognized me.</p> + +<p>"Don't mind me," I shouted to him. "I must go on, I can't help myself. +It's for you to take it up now. She's in the restaurant. You'll easily +know her, in a long ulster, with her maid and the child. You can't +miss her. By <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71"></a>[71]</span> the Lord, she is standing at the door! Get away with +you, don't let her see you talking with me. She must not know we are +acting in common, and I do hope she hasn't noticed. Be off, I tell +you, only let me hear of you; wire to Lucerne what you're doing. +Address telegraph-office. Send me a second message at Goeschenen. I +shall get one or both. Say where I may answer and where I can join +you."</p> + + + + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72"></a>[72]</span> </p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + + +<p>The timely appearance of my colleague, Ludovic Tiler, consoled me a +little for the loss of the lady and her lot. I had failed, myself, but +I hoped that with my lead he would get on to the scent and keep to it. +Ere long, on the first intimation from him I might come into the game +again. I should be guided by his wire if I got it.</p> + +<p>For the moment I was most concerned to find out whether Tiler's +intervention and my short talk with him had been noticed by the other +side. If the Colonel knew that another man was on his friend's track, +he would surely have left the train at once so as to go to her +assistance. But he was still in the train, I could hear him plainly, +speaking to Jules in the next compartment. Again, as we sped on, I +reasoned favourably from their leaving me as I was, still under lock +and key. No one came near me until after we had passed Olten station, +the first stopping-place after Basle, where I could alight and retrace +my steps. By holding <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73"></a>[73]</span> on to me I guessed that I was still thought to +be the chief danger, and that they had no suspicion of Tiler's +existence.</p> + +<p>I laughed in my sleeve, but not the less did I rage and storm when +Jules l'Echelle came with the Colonel to release me.</p> + +<p>"You shall pay for this," I cried hotly.</p> + +<p>"As for you, l'Echelle, it shall cost you your place, and I'll take +the law of you, Colonel Annesley; I'll get damages and you shall +answer for your illegal action."</p> + +<p>"Pfui!" retorted the Colonel. "The mischief you can do is nothing to +what you might have done. We can stand the racket. I've bested you for +the present—that's the chief thing, anyway. You can't persecute the +poor lady any more."</p> + +<p>"Poor lady! Do you know who she is or was, anyway?"</p> + +<p>"Of course I do," he answered bold as brass.</p> + +<p>"Did she let on? Told you, herself? My word! She's got a nerve. I +wonder she'd own to it after all she's done."</p> + +<p>"Silence!" he shouted, in a great taking. "If you dare to utter a +single word against that lady, I'll break every bone in your body."</p> + +<p>"I'm saying nothing—it's not me, it's all <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74"></a>[74]</span> the world. It was in the +papers, you must have read them, the most awful story, such—such +depravity there never was—such treachery, such gross misconduct."</p> + +<p>He caught me by the arm so violently and looked so fierce that for a +moment I was quite alarmed.</p> + +<p>"Drop it, I tell you. Leave the lady alone, both by word and deed. +You'll never find her again, I've seen to that. She has escaped you."</p> + +<p>"Aha! You think so? Don't be too cocksure. We understand our +business better than that, we don't go into it single-handed. You've +collared me for a bit, but I'm not the only one in the show."</p> + +<p>"The only one that counts," he said sneering.</p> + +<p>"Am I?" I answered in the same tone. "What if I had a pal waiting for +me at Basle, who received my instructions there—just when you thought +you had me safe—and has now taken up the running?"</p> + +<p>He was perfectly staggered at this, I could see plainly. I thought at +first he would have struck me, he was so much upset.</p> + +<p>"You infernal villain," he shouted, "I <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75"></a>[75]</span> believe the whole thing is a +confounded lie! Explain."</p> + +<p>"I owe you no explanations," I replied stiffly, "my duty is to my +employers. I only account to them for my conduct. I am a confidential +agent."</p> + +<p>He seemed impressed by this, for when he spoke again it was more +quietly. But he looked me very straight in the eyes. I felt that he +was still likely to give trouble.</p> + +<p>"Well, I suppose I cannot expect you to tell me things. You must go +your own way and I shall go mine."</p> + +<p>"I should advise you to leave it, Colonel," I said, civilly enough. +"I'm always anxious to conciliate and avoid unpleasantness. Give up +the whole business; you will only burn your fingers."</p> + +<p>"Ah! How so?"</p> + +<p>"The law is altogether against you. It is a nasty job; better not be +mixed up in it. Have you any idea what that woman—that lady," I +corrected myself, for his eyes flashed, "has done?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing really wrong," he was warming up into a new burst of passion.</p> + +<p>"Tell that to the Courts and to the Judge <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76"></a>[76]</span> when you are prosecuted for +contempt and charged as an accessory after the fact. How will you like +that? It will take the starch out of you."</p> + +<p>"Rot! The law can't do us much harm. The only person who might make it +disagreeable is Lord Blackadder, and I snap my fingers at him."</p> + +<p>"The Earl of Blackadder? Are you mad? He is a great personage, a rich +and powerful nobleman. You cannot afford to fight him; he will be too +strong for you. He has been made the victim of an abominable outrage, +and will spare no effort, no means, no money to recover his own."</p> + +<p>"Lord Blackadder is a cad—a cruel, cowardly ruffian. I know all about +him and what has happened. It would give me the greatest pleasure to +kick him down the street. Failing that, I shall do my best to upset +and spoil his schemes, and so you know."</p> + +<p>I smiled contemptuously. "A mere Colonel against an Earl! What sort of +a chance have you? It's too absurd."</p> + +<p>"We shall see. Those laugh longest who laugh last."</p> + +<p>By this time our talk was done, for we were <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77"></a>[77]</span> approaching Lucerne, and +I began to think over my next plans. All must depend on what I heard +there—upon what news, if any, came from Ludovic Tiler.</p> + +<p>So on my arrival I made my way straight to the telegraph-office in the +corner of the great station, and on showing my card an envelope was +handed to me. It was from Tiler at Basle, and ran as follows:</p> + +<p>"They have booked through by 7.30 <span class="smcap">a.m.</span>, via Brienne, Lausanne +to Brieg, and I suppose the Simplon. I shall accompany. Can you join +me at either end—Brieg or Domo Dossola? The sooner the better. Wire +me from all places along the route, giving your movements. Address me +in my train No. 70."</p> + +<p>The news pointed pretty clearly to the passage of the Alps and descent +into Italy by another route than the St. Gothard. I had my Bradshaw in +my bag, and proceeded at once to verify the itinerary by the +time-table, while I drank my early coffee in the restaurant upon the +station platform. I was most anxious to join hands with Tiler, and +quickly turned over the leaves of my railway guide to see if it was +possible, and how it might best be managed.</p> + +<p>My first idea was to retrace my steps to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78"></a>[78]</span> Basle and follow him by the +same road. But I soon found that the trains would not fit in the very +least. He would be travelling by the one fast train in the day, which +was due at Brieg at four o'clock in the afternoon. My first chance, if +I caught the very next train back from Lucerne, would only get me to +Brieg by the eleven o'clock the following morning.</p> + +<p>It was not good enough, and I dismissed the idea forthwith. Then I +remembered that by getting off the St. Gothard railway at Goeschenen I +should strike the old Furka diligence route by the Devil's Bridge, +Hospenthal, and the Rhone Glacier, a drive of fifty miles, more or +less, but at least it would get me to Brieg that same night by 10 or +11 o'clock.</p> + +<p>Before adopting this line I had to consider that there was a risk of +missing Tiler and his quarry; that is to say, of being too late for +them; for the lady might decide to push on directly she reached Brieg, +taking a special carriage extra post as far as the Simplon at least, +even into Domo Dossola. She was presumably in such a hurry that the +night journey would hardly deter her from driving over the pass. Tiler +would certainly follow. By <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79"></a>[79]</span> the time I reached Brieg they would be +halfway across the Alps, and I must take the same road, making a stern +chase, proverbially the longest.</p> + +<p>I turned my attention, therefore, to the Italian end of the carriage +road, and to seeing how and when I could reach Domo Dossola, the +alternative suggestion made by Tiler. There would be no difficulty as +to that, and I found I could be there in good time the same evening. I +worked it out on the tables and it looked easy enough.</p> + +<p>Leave Lucerne by the St. Gothard railway, pass Goeschenen, and go +through the tunnel down the Italian side as far as Bellizona. Thence a +branch line would take me to Locarno and into touch with the steamboat +service on Lake Maggiore. There was a fixed connection according to +the tables, and I should land at Pallanza within a short hour's drive +of the line to Domo Dossola. I could be established there by nightfall +and would command the situation. Every carriage that came down the +Simplon must come under my eye.</p> + +<p>There could be no doubt that the Bellizona-Locarno Lake line was the +preferable one, and I finally decided in favour of it. I closed my + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80"></a>[80]</span> Bradshaw with a bang, replaced it in my bag, drank up my coffee, and +started for the telegraph office. I meant to advise Tiler of my plans, +and at the same time arrange with him to look out for me just outside +the terminus station at Domo Dossola, or to communicate with me there +at the Hôtel de la Poste.</p> + +<p>On coming out I ran up against the last person I wished to see. It was +the Colonel, who greeted me with a loud laugh, and gave me a slap on +the back.</p> + +<p>"Halloa, my wily detective," he said mockingly; "settled it all quite +to your satisfaction? Done with Bradshaw—sent off your wires? Well, +what's the next move?"</p> + +<p>"I decline to hold any conversation with you," I began severely. "I +beg you will not intrude upon my privacy. I do not desire your +acquaintance."</p> + +<p>"Hoity toity!" he cried. "On your high horse, eh? Aren't you afraid +you may fall off or get knocked off?" and he raised his hand with an +ugly gesture.</p> + +<p>"We are not alone now in a railway carriage. There are police about, +and the Swiss police do not approve of brawling," I replied, with all +the dignity I could assume.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81"></a>[81]</span> </p> + +<p>"Come, Falfani, tell me what you mean to do now," he went on in the +same tone.</p> + +<p>"Your questions are an impertinence. I do not know you. I do not +choose to know you, and I beg you will leave me alone."</p> + +<p>"Don't think of it, my fine fellow. I'm not going to leave you alone. +You may make up your mind to that. Where you go, I go; what you do, I +shall do. We are inseparables, you and I, as much united as the +Siamese twins. So I tell you."</p> + +<p>"But it's monstrous, it's not to be tolerated. I shall appeal for +protection to the authorities."</p> + +<p>"Do so, my friend, do so. See which will get the best of that. I don't +want to swagger, but at any rate all the world knows pretty well who I +am; but what shall you call yourself, Mr. Falfani?"</p> + +<p>"I have my credentials from my employers; I have letters, +testimonials, recommendations from the best people."</p> + +<p>"Including the Earl of Blackadder, I presume? I admit your great +advantages. Well, try it. You may get the best of it in the long run, +but you'll lose a good deal of time. I'm not in a hurry," he said with +emphasis, and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82"></a>[82]</span> promptly recalled me to my senses, for I realized that +I could not fight him that way. It must be by stratagem or evasion. I +must throw dust in his eyes, put him off the scent, mislead, befool, +elude him somehow.</p> + +<p>How was I to shake him off now I saw that he was determined to stick +to me? He had said it in so many words. He would not let me out of his +sight; wherever I went he was coming too.</p> + +<p>The time was drawing on for the departure of the St. Gothard express +at 9.8 <span class="smcap">a.m.</span>, and as yet I had no ticket. I had booked at +Amiens as far as Lucerne only, leaving further plans as events might +fall out. Now I desired to go on, but did not see how I was to take a +fresh ticket without his learning my destination. He would be certain +to be within earshot when I went up to the window.</p> + +<p>I was beginning to despair when I saw Cook's man, who was, as usual, +hovering about to assist travellers in trouble, and I beckoned him to +approach.</p> + +<p>"See that gentleman," I nodded towards the Colonel. "He wants you; do +your best for him." And when the tourist agent proceeded on his +mission to be accosted, I fear <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83"></a>[83]</span> rather unceremoniously, I slipped off +and hid out of sight.</p> + +<p>I felt sure I was unobserved as I took my place in the crowd at the +ticket-window, but when I had asked and paid for my place to Locarno I +heard, to my disgust, some one else applying for a ticket to exactly +the same place, and in a voice that was strangely familiar.</p> + +<p>On looking round I saw Jules l'Echelle, the sleeping-car conductor, +but out of uniform, and with an amused grin on his face.</p> + +<p>"It seems that we are still to be fellow travellers," he observed +casually.</p> + +<p>"What is taking you to Lake Maggiore? How about your service on the +car?" I asked suspiciously.</p> + +<p>"I have business at Locarno, and have got a few days' leave to attend +to it."</p> + +<p>I felt he was lying to me. He had been bought, I was sure. His +business was the Colonel's, who had set him to assist in watching me. +I had two enemies then to encounter, and I realized with some +misgiving that the Colonel was not a man to be despised.</p> + + + + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84"></a>[84]</span> </p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + + +<p>I secured a place with difficulty; there was rather a rush for the St. +Gothard express when it ran in. It was composed as usual of corridor +carriages, all classes <i>en suite</i>, and I knew that it would be +impossible to conceal the fact that I was on board the train. Within +five minutes Jules had verified the fact and taken seats in the +immediate neighbourhood, to which he and the Colonel presently came.</p> + +<p>"Quite a pleasant little party!" he said in a bantering tone. "All +bound for Locarno, eh? Ever been to Locarno before, Mr. Falfani? +Delightful lake, Maggiore. Many excursions, especially by steamer; the +Borromean islands well worth seeing, and Baveno and Stresa and the +road to the Simplon."</p> + +<p>I refused to be drawn, and only muttered that I hated excursions and +steamers and lakes, and wished to be left in peace.</p> + +<p>"A little out of sorts, I'm afraid, Mr. Falfani. Sad that. Too many +emotions, want of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85"></a>[85]</span> sleep, perhaps. You <i>would</i> do <i>too</i> much last +night." He still kept up his hateful babble, and Jules maddened me by +his sniggering enjoyment of my discomfiture.</p> + +<p>More than ever did I set my brain to puzzle out some way of escaping +this horrible infliction. Was it not possible to give them the slip, +somehow, somewhere? I took the Colonel's hint, and pretended to take +refuge in sleep, and at last, I believe, I dozed off. It must have +been in my dreams that an idea came to me, a simple idea, easy of +execution with luck and determination.</p> + +<p>It was suggested to me by the short tunnels that succeed so frequently +in the ascent of the St. Gothard Alps. They are, as most people know, +a chief feature in the mountain railway, and a marvel of engineering +skill, being cut in circles to give the necessary length and gain the +height with a moderate gradient. Speed is so far slackened that it +would be quite possible to drop off the train without injury whenever +inclined. My only difficulty would be to alight without interference +from my persecutors.</p> + +<p>I nursed my project with eyes shut, still feigning sleep; and my +extreme quiescence had, as I hoped, the effect of throwing them off + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86"></a>[86]</span> their guard. Jules, like all in the same employment, was always ready +for forty winks, and I saw that he was sound and snoring just as we +entered the last tunnel before reaching the entrance of the final +great tunnel at Goeschenen. I could not be quite sure of the Colonel, +but his attitude was that of a man resting, and who had very nearly +lost himself, if he had not quite gone off.</p> + +<p>Now was my time. If it was to be done at all it must be quickly, +instantaneously almost. Fortunately we sat at the extreme end of a +coach, in the last places, and besides we three there was only one +other occupant in the compartment of six. The fourth passenger was +awake, but I made a bid for his good-will by touching my lips with a +finger, and the next minute I was gone.</p> + +<p>I expected to hear the alarm given at my disappearance, but none +reached my ears, as the train rattled past me with its twinkling +lights and noisy road. I held myself close against the side of the +tunnel in perfect safety, although the hot wind of the passing cars +fanned my cheek and rather terrified me. The moment the train was well +gone I faced the glimmering light that showed the entrance to the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87"></a>[87]</span> tunnel at the further end from the station, and ran to it with all +speed.</p> + +<p>I knew that my jump from the train could not pass unnoticed, and I +counted on being followed. I expected that the tunnel would be +explored by people from Goeschenen so soon as the train ran in and +reported. My first object, therefore, was to quit the line, and I did +so directly I was clear of the tunnel. I climbed the fence, dropped +into a road, left that again to ascend the slope and take shelter +among the rocks and trees.</p> + +<p>The pursuit, if any, was not very keen or long maintained. When all +was quiet, an hour later I made for the highroad, the famous old road +that leads through the Devil's Pass to Andermatt, three miles above. I +altogether avoided the Goeschenen station, fearing any inconvenient +inquiries, and abandoned all idea of getting the telegram from Tiler +that might be possibly awaiting me. It did not much matter. I should +be obliged now to send him fresh news, news of the changed plans that +took me direct into Brieg; and on entering Andermatt I came upon the +post-office, just where I wanted it, both to send my message and order +an extra post carriage from Brieg.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88"></a>[88]</span> </p> + +<p>It was with a sense of intense relief that I sank back into the +cushions and felt that at last I was free. My satisfaction was +abruptly destroyed. Long before I reached Hospenthal, a mile or so +from Andermatt, I was disturbed by strange cries to the accompaniment +of harness bells.</p> + +<p>"Yo-icks, Yo-icks, G-o-ne away!" was borne after me with all the force +of stentorian lungs, and looking round I saw to my horror a second +carriage coming on at top speed, and beyond all question aiming to +overtake us. Soon they drew nearer, near enough for speech, and the +accursed Colonel hailed me.</p> + +<p>"Why, you cunning fox, so you broke cover and got away all in a +moment! Lucky you were seen leaving the train, or we might have +overrun the scent and gone on."</p> + +<p>I did not answer.</p> + +<p>"Nice morning for a drive, Mr. Falfani, and a long drive," he went on, +laughing boisterously. "Going all the way to Brieg by road, I believe? +So are we. Pity we did not join forces. One carriage would have done +for all three of us."</p> + +<p>Still I did not speak.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89"></a>[89]</span> </p> + +<p>"A bit ugly, eh? Don't fuss, man. It's all in the day's work."</p> + +<p>With that I desired my driver to pull up, and waved my hand to the +others, motioning to them that the road was theirs.</p> + +<p>But when I stopped they stopped, and the Colonel jeered. When I drove +on they came along too, laughing. We did this several times; and when +at the two roads just through Hospenthal, one by the St. Gothard, the +other leading to the Furka, I took the first for a short distance, +then turned back, just to try my pursuers. They still stuck to me. My +heart sank within me. I was in this accursed soldier's claws. He had +collared me, he was on my back, and I felt that I must throw up the +sponge.</p> + +<p>"I gave you fair notice that you would not get rid of me, and by +heaven you shall not," he cried fiercely, putting off all at once the +lighter mockery of his tone. "I know what is taking you to Brieg. You +think to find your confederate there, and you hope that, combined, the +two of you will get the better of that lady. You sha'n't, not if I can +prevent you by any means in my power; understand that, and look out +for squalls if you try."</p> + +<p>I confess he cowed me; he was so strong, so <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90"></a>[90]</span> masterful, and, as I +began to fear, so unscrupulous, that I felt I could not make head +against him. Certainly not alone. I must have Tiler's help, his +counsel, countenance, active support. I must get in touch with him at +the earliest possible moment and my nearest way to him, situated as I +was now, must be at or through Brieg.</p> + +<p>So I resigned myself to my fate, and suffered myself to be driven on +with my pertinacious escort hanging on to me mile after mile of my +wearing and interminable journey. We pulled up for luncheon and a +short rest at the Furka; again in the afternoon at the Rhone Glacier. +Then we pursued our way all along the valley, with the great snow peak +of the Matterhorn in front of us, through village and hamlet, in the +fast fading light, and so on under the dark but luminous sky into +Munster, Fiesch, and Morel, till at length we rolled into Brieg about +11 <span class="smcap">p.m.</span></p> + +<p>I drove straight to the Hôtel de la Poste, careless that my tormentors +were accompanying me; they could do me no more harm, and Tiler was at +hand to help in vindicating our position.</p> + +<p>There was no Tiler at the Hôtel de la Poste; <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91"></a>[91]</span> no Tiler in Brieg. Only +a brief telegram from him conveying unwelcome and astounding +intelligence. It had been despatched from Vevey about 2 <span class="smcap">p.m.</span>, +and it said:</p> + +<p class="blockquot">"Lost her somewhere between this and Lausanne. Am trying back. Shall +wire you again to Brieg. Wait there or leave address."</p> + +<p>My face must have betrayed my abject despair. I was so completely +knocked over that I offered no opposition when the Colonel impudently +took the telegram out of my hand and read it coolly.</p> + +<p>"Drawn blank!" he cried, unable to contain himself for joy. "By the +Lord Harry, that's good."</p> + + + + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92"></a>[92]</span> </p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.</h2> + +<h3>[<i>The Statement of the Second Detective</i>, <i><br /> +Ludovic Tiler</i>.]</h3> + + +<p>I travelled via Ostend, Brussels and Strasburg, and was due at Basle +from that side at 4.35 <span class="smcap">a.m.</span> My instructions were to look out +for Falfani there, and thought I might do so if our train was fairly +punctual, as it was. We were "on time," and the answer to my first +question was that the Lucerne express was still at the platform, but +on the point of departure.</p> + +<p>I got one glimpse of Falfani and one word with him. He was in trouble +himself; they had nipped him, caught him tight, and thrown him off the +scent. I was now to take up the running.</p> + +<p>"You've got your chance now, Ludovic," he said hurriedly, as he leaned +out of the carriage window. "I'm not jealous, as you often are, but +it's deuced hard on me. Anyhow, stick to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93"></a>[93]</span> her like wax, and keep your +eyes skinned. She's got the wiles of the devil, and will sell you like +a dog if you don't mind. Hurry now; you'll pick her up in the +waiting-room or restaurant, and can't miss her."</p> + +<p>He gave me the description, and I left him, promising him a wire at +the telegraph office, Lucerne. He was right, there was no mistaking +her. Few people were about at that time in the morning, and there was +not a soul among the plain-headed, commonplace Swiss folk to compare +with her, an English lady with her belongings.</p> + +<p>She was quite a beauty, tall, straight, lissom, in her tight-fitting +ulster; her piquante-looking heather cap perched on chestnut curls, +and setting off as handsome a face as I have ever seen. And I have +seen and admired many, for I don't deny that I've a strong penchant +for pretty women, and this was the pick of the basket. It was rather a +bore to be put on to her in the way of business; but why should I not +get a little pleasure out of it if I could? I need not be +disagreeable; it might help matters and pass the time pleasantly, even +if in the end I might have to show my teeth.</p> + +<p>I saw her looking me over as I walked into <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94"></a>[94]</span> the waiting-room, +curiously, critically, and for a moment I fancied she guessed who I +was. Had she seen me talking to Falfani?</p> + +<p>If so—if she thought me one of her persecutors—she would hardly look +upon me without repugnance, yet I almost believed it was all the other +way. I had an idea that she did not altogether dislike me, that she +was pleased with my personal appearance. Why not? I had had my +successes in my time, and may say, although it sounds conceited, that +I had won the approval of other ladies quite as high-toned. By and by +it might be my unpleasant duty to be disagreeable. In the meantime it +would be amusing, enjoyable, to make friends.</p> + +<p>So far I had still to ascertain the direction in which she was bound. +She had taken her ticket. That might be safely inferred, for she was +in the waiting-room with her porter and her bags, ready to pass out +upon the platform as soon as the doors were opened. (Everyone knows +that the idiotic and uncomfortable practice still prevails in +Switzerland of shutting passengers off from the train till the very +last moment.)</p> + +<p>This waiting-room served for many lines, and I could only wait +patiently to enter the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95"></a>[95]</span> particular train for which she would be +summoned. When at length an official unlocked the door and announced +the train for Biel, Neuchâtel, Lausanne, and Brieg, she got up to take +her seat, and I had no longer any doubt as to the direction of her +journey. So as I saw her go, I slipped back to the ticket-office and +took my place all the way to Brieg, the furthest point on the line. +This was obviously my best and safest plan, as I should then be ready +for anything that happened. I could get out anywhere, wherever she +did, in fact. After getting my ticket I found time to telegraph to +Falfani at Lucerne, giving him my latest news, and then proceeded to +the train.</p> + +<p>I found the lady easily enough, and got into the same carriage with +her. It was one of those on the Swiss plan, with many compartments +opening into one another <i>en suite</i>. Although the seat I chose was at +a discreet distance, I was able to keep her in view.</p> + +<p>I was wondering whether it would be possible for me to break the ice +and make her acquaintance, when luck served me better than I dared to +hope. One of the Swiss guards of the train, a surly, overbearing +brute, like so many others of his class, accosted her rudely, and from +his <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96"></a>[96]</span> gestures was evidently taking her to task as to the number and +size of her parcels in the net above. He began to shift them, and, +despite her indignant protests in imperfect German, threw some of them +on the floor.</p> + +<p>This was my opportunity. I hurried to the rescue, and, being fluent in +German as in several other languages—it is part of my stock in +trade—I sharply reproved the guard and called him an unmannerly boor +for his cowardly treatment of an unprotected lady. My reward was a +sweet smile, and I felt encouraged to hazard a few words in reply to +her cordial thanks. She responded quickly, readily, and I thought I +might improve the occasion by politely inquiring if I could be of any +further service to her.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps you can tell me, you see I am strange on this line," she +answered with a perfectly innocent air, "do you happen to know at what +time we are due at Lausanne?"</p> + +<p>"Not to the minute," I replied. "I have a railway guide in my bag, +shall I fetch it?"</p> + +<p>"No, no, I should not like to give you so much trouble."</p> + +<p>"But it will be no trouble. Let me fetch my bag."</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97"></a>[97]</span> </p> + +<p>I went off in perfect good faith, anxious to oblige so charming a +lady. I had not the slightest suspicion that she was playing with me. +Silly ass that I was, I failed to detect the warning that dropped from +her own lips.</p> + +<p>When I got back with the Bradshaw I came upon them for just one moment +unawares. The maid must have been making some remarks displeasing to +my lady, who was answering her with much asperity.</p> + +<p>"I know what I am doing, Philpotts. Be so good as to leave it to me. +It is the only way."</p> + +<p>Then she caught sight of me as I stood before her, and her manner +instantly changed. She addressed me very sweetly and with the utmost +composure. "Oh, how very good of you, I feel quite ashamed of myself."</p> + +<p>"Why should you? It is delightful to be of use to you. Lausanne I +think you said?" I asked casually as I turned over the pages of the +guide. "You are going to Lausanne?"</p> + +<p>"No, Vevey to Montreux. I only wanted to know whether there would be +time for <i>déjeuner</i> at Lausanne. I think there is no dining-car on +this train?"</p> + +<p>"No, it is on the next, which is extraordinarily <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98"></a>[98]</span> bad mismanagement. +It is a slow train the next, and we are a special express. But you +will have a clear half-hour to spare at Lausanne. That will be enough, +I presume? Lausanne at 12 noon, and we go on at half-past."</p> + +<p>"You, too, are going beyond Lausanne?"</p> + +<p>"Possibly, I am not quite sure. It depends upon my meeting friends +somewhere on the lake, either there or further on. If they come on +board we shall run on to Brieg so as to drop over the Alps to Lake +Maggiore by the Simplon route."</p> + +<p>I threw this out carelessly but with deliberate intention, and the +shot told. A crimson flush came over her face and her hands trembled +violently. I had not the smallest doubt that this was her plan also. +She was bound to cross over into Italy, that we knew, or our employers +firmly believed it, and as she had been driven off the St. Gothard by +Falfani she had now doubled back by Switzerland to make the journey to +Brieg and across the mountains by road.</p> + +<p>I had scored as I thought, but I forgot that in gaining the knowledge +I had betrayed my own intentions, and put her upon her guard. I was to +pay for this.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99"></a>[99]</span> </p> + +<p>"Oh, really," she said quietly and with polite interest, having +entirely recovered her composure. "I dare say a very pleasant drive. +How long does it take, have you any idea, and how do you travel?"</p> + +<p>"It is about nine hours by diligence," I said, consulting the +Bradshaw, "and the fare is forty francs, but by private carriage or +extra post a good deal more."</p> + +<p>"May I look?" and I handed her the book, "although I never could +understand Bradshaw," she added pleasantly.</p> + +<p>"I shall be very pleased to explain if you are in doubt," I suggested; +but she declined laughingly, saying it would amuse her to puzzle out +things, so I left her the book and composed myself into a corner while +the train rattled on. I mused and dozed and dreamily watched her +pretty face admiringly, as she pored over the pages of the Guide, +little thinking she was perfecting a plan for my undoing.</p> + +<p>The first stop was at Biel or Bienne, its French name, and there was a +halt of ten minutes or more. I made my way to the telegraph office in +the station, where to my great satisfaction I found a message from +Falfani, informing me that he should make the best of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100"></a>[100]</span> his way to +Brieg, unless I could suggest something better.</p> + +<p>The answer I despatched at once to Goeschenen was worded as follows: +"Declares she is going to Montreux only. Believe untrue. Still think +her destination Brieg. Come on there anyhow and await further from me. +May be necessary to join forces." We were in accord, Falfani and I, +and in communication.</p> + +<p>I was well satisfied with what we were doing, and on receiving the +second and third telegrams at Neuchâtel and Yverdun I was all the more +pleased. At last we were nearing Lausanne, and I looked across to my +lady to prepare her for getting out. I had no need to attract her +attention, for I caught her eyes fixed on me and believe she was +watching me furtively. The smile that came upon her lips was so +pleasant and sweet that it might have overjoyed a more conceited man +than myself.</p> + +<p>"Are we near then? Delightful! I never was so hungry in my life," and +the smile expanded into a gay laugh as she rose to her feet and was +ready to leave the carriage.</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid you will have to wait, Philpotts, we cannot leave that," +she pointed to the child nestling sound asleep by her side. "But I <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101"></a>[101]</span> +will send or bring you something. This gentleman will perhaps escort +me to the refreshment-room."</p> + +<p>I agreed, of course, and saying, "Only too charmed," I led the way—a +long way, for the restaurant is at the far end of the platform. At +last we sat down <i>tête-à-tête</i> and prepared to do full justice to the +meal. Strange to say, despite her anticipations, she proved to have +very little appetite.</p> + +<p>"I must have waited too long," she said, as she trifled with a cutlet. +"I shall perhaps like something else better," and she went carefully +through the whole <i>menu</i>, so that the time slipped away, and we were +within five minutes of departure.</p> + +<p>"And poor dear Philpotts, I had quite forgotten her. Come and help me +choose," and in duty bound I gallantly carried the food back to the +train.</p> + +<p>I walked ahead briskly, and making my way to the places where we had +left the maid and child, jumped in.</p> + +<p>They were gone, the two of them. Everything was gone, rugs, bags, +belongings, people. The seats were empty, and as the compartment <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102"></a>[102]</span> was +quite empty, too, no one could tell me when they had left or where +they had gone.</p> + +<p>I turned quickly round to my companion, who was, I thought, following +close at my heels, and found to my utter amazement that she also had +disappeared.</p> + + + + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103"></a>[103]</span> </p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.</h2> + + +<p>For the moment I was dazed and dumfounded, but I took a pull on myself +quickly. It was a clever plant. Had they sold me completely? That was +still to be seen. My one chance was in prompt action; I must hunt them +up, recover trace of them with all possible despatch, follow them, and +find them wherever they might be.</p> + +<p>There was just the chance that they had only moved into another +carriage, thinking that when I missed them I should get out and hunt +for them in the station. To counter that I ran up and down the train, +in and out of the carriages, questing like a hound, searching +everywhere. So eager was I that I neglected the ordinary warnings that +the train was about to start; the guard's <i>fertig</i> ("ready"), the +sounding horn, the answering engine whistle, I overlooked them all, +and we moved on before I could descend. I made as though to jump off +hastily, but was prevented.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104"></a>[104]</span> </p> + +<p>"<i>Was ist das? Nein, nein, verboten.</i>" A hand caught me roughly by the +collar and dragged me back. It was the enemy I had made in championing +my lady, the guard of the train, who gladly seized the chance of being +disagreeable to me.</p> + +<p>I fought hard to be free, but by the time I had shaken him off the +speed had so increased that it would have been unsafe to leave the +train. I had no choice but to go on, harking back as soon as I could. +Fortunately our first stop was within five and twenty minutes, at +Vevey; and there in ten minutes more I found a train back to Lausanne, +so that I had lost less than an hour and a half in all.</p> + +<p>But much may happen in that brief space of time. It was more than +enough for my fugitives to clear out of the Lausanne station and make +some new move, to hide away in an out-of-the-way spot, go to ground in +fact, or travel in another direction.</p> + +<p>My first business was to inquire in and about the station for a person +or persons answering to the parties I missed. Had they separated, +these two women, for good and all? That was most unlikely. If the maid +had gone off first, I had to consider whether they would not again + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105"></a>[105]</span> join forces as soon as I was well out of the way. They would surely +feel safer, happier, together, and this encouraged me to ask first for +two people, two females, a lady and her servant, one of them, the +latter, carrying a child.</p> + +<p>There were many officials about in uniform, and all alike supercilious +and indifferent, after the manner of their class, to the travelling +public, and I could get none to take the smallest interest in my +affairs. One shrugged his shoulders, another stared at me in insolent +silence, a third answered me abruptly that he was too occupied to +bother himself, and a fourth peremptorily ordered me not to hang any +longer about the station.</p> + +<p>Foiled thus by the railway staff—and I desire to place on record here +my deliberate opinion after many years' experience in many lands, that +for rudeness and overbearing manners the Swiss functionary has no +equal in the whole world—I went outside the station and sought +information among the cabmen and touts who hang about waiting to take +up travellers. I accosted all the drivers patiently one by one, but +could gather nothing definite from any of them. Most had been on the +stand at the arrival of the midday train, many had been <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106"></a>[106]</span> engaged to +convey passengers and baggage up into the town of Lausanne, and had +deposited their fares at various hotels and private residences, but no +one had driven any party answering to those of whom I was in search.</p> + +<p>This practically decided the point that my lady had not left the +station in a carriage or openly, if she had walked. But that she had +not been observed did not dispose of the question. They were dull, +stupid men, these, only intent on their own business, who would pay +little attention to humble persons on foot showing no desire to hire a +cab. I would not be baffled thus soon in my quest. A confidential +agent who will not take infinite pains in his researches had better +seek some other line of business. As I stood there in front of the +great station belonging to the Jura-Simplon, I saw facing me a small +façade of the Gare Sainte Luce, one of the intermediate stations on +the <i>Ficelle</i> or cable railway that connects Ouchy on the lake with +Lausanne above.</p> + +<p>It was not a hundred yards distant; it could be easily and quickly +reached, and without much observation, if a person waited till the +immediate neighbourhood had been cleared by the general exodus after +the arrival of the chief <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107"></a>[107]</span> express of the day. There were any number of +trains by this <i>funiculaire</i>—at every half-hour indeed—and any one +taking this route could reach either Lausanne or Ouchy after a very +few minutes' journey up or down. To extend my investigation on that +side was of obvious and pressing importance. I was only too conscious +of my great loss of time, now at the outset, which might efface all +tracks and cut me off hopelessly from any clue.</p> + +<p>I was soon across and inside the Sainte Luce station, but still +undecided which direction I should choose, when the little car arrived +going upward, and I ran over to that platform and jumped in. I must +begin one way or the other, and I proceeded at once to question the +conductor, when he nicked my ticket, only to draw perfectly blank.</p> + +<p>"Have I seen two ladies and a child this morning? But, <i>grand Dieu</i>, I +have seen two thousand. It is <i>idiote</i> to ask such questions, +monsieur, of a busy man."</p> + +<p>"I can pay for what I want," I whispered gently, as I slipped a +five-franc piece into his hand, ever mindful of the true saying, +<i>Point d'argent, point de Suisse</i>; and the bribe entirely changed his +tone.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108"></a>[108]</span> </p> + +<p>"A lady, handsome, tall, distinguished, <i>comme il faut</i>, with a +companion, a servant, a nurse carrying a child?" He repeated my +description, adding, "<i>Parfaitement</i>, I saw her. She was not one to +forget quickly."</p> + +<p>"And she was going to Lausanne?"</p> + +<p>"<i>Ma foi</i>, yes, I believe so; or was it to Ouchy?" He seemed +overwhelmed with sudden doubt. "Lausanne or Ouchy? Up or down? Twenty +thousand thunders, but I cannot remember, not—" he dropped his +voice—"not for five francs."</p> + +<p>I doubled the dose, and hoped I had now sufficiently stimulated his +memory or unloosed his tongue. But the rascal was still hesitating +when we reached the top, and I could get nothing more than that it was +certainly Lausanne, "if," he added cunningly, "it was not Ouchy." But +he had seen her, that was sure—seen her that very day upon the line, +not more than an hour or two before. He had especially admired her; +<i>dame</i>! he had an eye for the <i>beau sexe</i>; and yet more he noticed +that she talked English, of which he knew some words, to her maid. But +whether she was bound to Lausanne or Ouchy, "<i>diable</i>, who could +say?"</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109"></a>[109]</span> </p> + +<p>I had got little in return for my ten francs expended on this +ambiguous news, but now that I found myself actually in Lausanne I +felt that it behoved me to scour the city for traces of my quarry. She +might not have come here at all, yet there was an even chance the +other way, and I should be mad not to follow the threads I held in my +hand. I resolved to inquire at all the hotels forthwith. It would take +time and trouble, but it was essential. I must run her to ground if +possible, fix her once more, or I should never again dare to look my +employers in the face. I was ashamed to confess to Falfani that I had +been outwitted and befooled. I would send him no more telegrams until +I had something more satisfactory to say.</p> + +<p>I was now upon the great bridge that spans the valley of the Flon and +joins the old with the new quarter of Lausanne. The best hotels, the +Gibbon, Richemont, Falcon, Grand Pont, and several more, stood within +easy reach, and I soon exhausted this branch of the inquiry. I found a +<i>valet de place</i> hanging about the Gibbon, whose services I secured, +and instructed him to complete the investigation, extending it to all +the minor hotels and pensions, some half-dozen more, reserving to +myself the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110"></a>[110]</span> terminus by the great station, which I had overlooked when +leaving for the <i>Ficelle</i> or cable railway. I meant to wait for him +there to hear his report, but at the same time I took his +address—Eugène Falloon, Rue Pré Fleuri—where I could give him an +appointment in case I missed him at the terminus. He was a long, lean, +hungry-looking fellow, clumsily made, with an enormous head and +misshapen hands and feet; but he was no fool this Falloon, and his +local knowledge proved exceedingly useful.</p> + +<p>On entering the car for the journey down I came upon the conductor who +had been of so little use to me, and I was about to upbraid him when +he disarmed me by volunteering fresh news.</p> + +<p>"Ah, but, monsieur, I know much better now. I recollect exactly. The +lady with her people certainly went down, for I have seen a porter who +helped her with her effects from the line to the steamboat pier at +Ouchy."</p> + +<p>"And on board the steamer? Going in which direction?" I asked eagerly.</p> + +<p>"He shall tell you himself if I can find him when we reach the +terminus. It may not be easy, but I could do it if—"</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111"></a>[111]</span> </p> + +<p>Another and a third five-franc piece solved his doubts, and I +abandoned my visit to the terminus hotel to seize this more tangible +clue, and proceeded at once to the lake shore.</p> + + + + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112"></a>[112]</span> </p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII.</h2> + + +<p>On reaching the steamboat pier I was introduced to the porter, a +shock-headed, stupid-looking creature, whom I forthwith questioned +eagerly; but elicited only vague and, I felt sure, misleading replies. +The conductor assisted at my interview, stimulating and encouraging +the man to speak, and overdid it, as I thought. I strongly suspected +that this new evidence had been produced in order to bleed me further. +Had he really seen this English lady? Would he describe her appearance +to me, and that of her companion? Was she tall or short? Well dressed, +handsome, or the reverse? What was her companion like? Tall or short? +How dressed, and did he suppose her condition to be that of a lady +like the other, equal in rank, or an inferior?</p> + +<p>The answers I got were not encouraging. Ladies? Of course they were +ladies, both of them. Dressed? In the very latest fashion. They were +very distinguished people.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113"></a>[113]</span> </p> + +<p>"Were they carrying anything, either of them?" I inquired.</p> + +<p>"Yes, when I saw them first they had much baggage. It was for that +they summoned me. Handbags, <i>sacs de nuit</i>, rugs, wrappers, +bonnet-boxes, many things, like all travellers."</p> + +<p>"And you noticed nothing big, no parcel for which they were +particularly concerned?"</p> + +<p>"They were anxious about everything, and worried me about everything, +but about no one thing especially that I can remember."</p> + +<p>This did not tally with my own observation and the extreme care taken +of the child in the woman's arms. I began to believe that my friend +was a humbug and could tell me nothing of his own knowledge.</p> + +<p>"What time was it?" I went on.</p> + +<p>"Some hours ago. I did not look at the clock."</p> + +<p>"But you know by the steamers that arrive. You men must know which are +due, and when they pass through."</p> + +<p>"Come, come, Antoine," broke in the conductor, determined to give him +a lead, "you must know that; there are not so many. It would be about +2 <span class="smcap">p.m.</span>, wouldn't it, when the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114"></a>[114]</span> express boat comes from Vevey +and Bouveret?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I make no doubt of that," said the man, with a gleam of +intelligence upon his stolid face.</p> + +<p>"And the ladies went on board it, you say? Yes? You are sure?"</p> + +<p>"It must have been so; I certainly carried their traps on board."</p> + +<p>"Now, are you quite positive it was the two o'clock going that way, +and not the quarter past two returning from Geneva?" I had my Bradshaw +handy, and was following the timetable with my fingers.</p> + +<p>"The 2.15?" The gleam of light went out entirely from his stolid face. +"I have an idea you are right, sir. You see the two boats come in so +near each other and lie at the same pier. I could easily make a +mistake between them."</p> + +<p>"It is my firm belief," I said, utterly disgusted with the fellow, "my +firm belief that you have made a mistake all through. You never saw +the ladies at all, either of you." I turned upon the conductor with a +fierce scowl. "You are a rank humbug; you have taken my money under +false pretences. I've a precious <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115"></a>[115]</span> good mind to report you to your +superiors, and insist upon your refunding the money. You've swindled +me out of it, thief and liar that you are."</p> + +<p>"Come, come, don't speak so freely. My superiors will always listen +first to one of their own employés, and it will be awkward if I charge +you with obstructing an official and making false charges against +him."</p> + +<p>Mine is a hasty temper; I am constrained to confess to a fault which +often stood in my way especially in my particular business. The +conductor's insolence irritated me beyond measure, and coming as it +did on the top of bitter disappointment I was driven into a deplorable +access of rage, which I shall always regret. Without another word I +rushed at him, caught him by the throat, and shook him violently, +throwing him to the ground and beating his head upon it savagely.</p> + +<p>Help must have come to him very speedily and to good purpose, for I +soon found myself in custody, two colossal gendarmes holding me tight +on each side. I was quickly removed like any malefactor to the lock-up +in the town above, and was thus for the moment effectively precluded +from continuing my pursuit.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116"></a>[116]</span> </p> + +<p>Law and order are not to be lightly trifled with in Switzerland, least +of all in the Canton de Vaud. I had been taken in the very act of +committing a savage assault upon an official in the execution of his +duty, which is true to the extent that every Swiss official conceives +it to be his duty to outrage the feelings and tyrannize over +inoffensive strangers.</p> + +<p>The police of Lausanne showed me little consideration. I was not +permitted to answer the charge against me, but was at once consigned +to a cell, having been first searched and despoiled of all my +possessions. Among them was my knife and a pocket revolver I generally +carried, also my purse, my wallet with all my private papers, and my +handbag. Both wallet and handbag were locked; they demanded the keys, +thinking I had them hidden on my person, but I said they could find +them for themselves, the truth being the locks were on a patent plan +and could be opened with the fingers by any one who knew. This secret +I chose to retain.</p> + +<p>When alone in my gloomy prison, with leisure to reflect more calmly on +my painful position, I realized what an ass I had been, and I vented +my wrath chiefly on myself. But it <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117"></a>[117]</span> was idle to repine. My object now +was to go free again at the earliest possible moment, and I cast about +to see how I might best compass it.</p> + +<p>At first I was very humble, very apologetic. I acknowledged my error, +and promised to do anything in my power to indemnify my victim. I +offered him any money in reason, I would pay any sum they might fix, +pay down on the nail and give my bond for the rest.</p> + +<p>My gaolers scouted the proposal indignantly. Did I think justice was +to be bought in Switzerland? It was the law I had outraged, not an +individual merely. Besides—money is all powerful in this venal +country—how could I pay, a poor devil like me, the necessary price? +what could I produce in cash on the nail? My bond would not be worth +the paper it was written on.</p> + +<p>No, no, there was no chance for me; nothing could save me. I must go +before the correctional police and pay in person for my offence. I +might expect to be punished summarily, to be sent to gaol, to be laid +by the heels for a month or two, perhaps more. Such a brutal assault +as mine would be avenged handsomely.</p> + +<p>Now I changed my tactics. I began to bluster. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118"></a>[118]</span> I was a British subject +and claimed to be treated with proper respect. I appealed to the +British Consul; I insisted upon seeing him. When they laughed at me, +saying that he would not interfere with the course of justice on +behalf of such an unknown vagabond, I told them roundly that I was +travelling under the special protection of the British Minister for +Foreign Affairs, the illustrious Marquis of Lansdowne. Let them bring +me my wallet. I would show them my passport bearing the Royal Arms and +the signature of one of H.M. Secretaries of State. All of us in the +employ of Messrs. Becke invariably carried Foreign Office passports as +the best credentials we could produce if we were caught in any tight +place.</p> + +<p>The greeting of so great a personage to his trusty and well beloved +Ludovic Tiler had a very marked effect upon my captors. It was +enhanced by the sight of a parcel of crisp Bank of England notes lying +snugly in the pocket of the wallet, which I had opened, but without +betraying the secret of the spring. When I extracted a couple of +fivers and handed them to the chief gaoler, begging him to do the best +for my comfort, the situation changed considerably, but no hopes were +held out for my <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119"></a>[119]</span> immediate release. I was promised dinner from a +restaurant hard by, and was permitted to send a brief telegram to +Falfani, to the effect that I was detained at Lausanne by unforeseen +circumstances, but no more. Then bedding was brought in, on which, +after a night in the train, I managed to sleep soundly enough until +quite late next morning.</p> + +<p>I had summoned Eugène Falloon to my assistance, and he was permitted +to visit me quite early, soon after the prison had opened. He was +prompt and practical, and proceeded to perform the commissions I gave +him with all despatch. I charged him first to telegraph to England, to +our office, briefly stating my quandary, begging them to commend me to +some one in Lausanne or Geneva, for Becke's have friends and +correspondents in every city of the world. He was then to call upon +the British Consul, producing my passport in proof of my claim upon +him as a British subject in distress, and if necessary secure me legal +advice. I had been warned that I might expect to be examined that very +day, but that several were likely to elapse before the final disposal +of my case.</p> + +<p>All that forenoon, and quite late into the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120"></a>[120]</span> next day, I was left +brooding and chafing at my misfortune, self-inflicted I will confess, +but not the less irksome to bear. I had almost persuaded myself that I +should be left to languish here quite friendless and forgotten, when +the luck turned suddenly, and daylight broke in to disperse my gloomy +forebodings. Several visitors came, claiming to see me, and were +presently admitted in turn. First came the Consul, and with him an +intelligent Swiss advocate, who declared he would soon put matters +right. It would only be a question of a fine, and binding me over to +good behaviour on bail. Could I find bail? That was the only question. +And while we still discussed it we found amongst the callers a +respectable and well-to-do watchmaker from Geneva, who had been +entreated (no doubt from Becke's) to do all that was needful on my +behalf. I might be of good cheer; there was no reasonable doubt but +that I should be released, but hardly before next day.</p> + +<p>A second night in durance was not much to my taste, but I bore it with +as much resignation as I could command; and when next morning I +appeared before the Court, I paid my fine <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121"></a>[121]</span> of one hundred francs with +hearty good-will. I assured my bail, the friendly watchmaker, that he +need not have the smallest fear I should again commit myself.</p> + + + + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122"></a>[122]</span> </p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII.</h2> + + +<p>My spirits rose with my release, but there was still more than freedom +to encourage my light-heartedness. I heard now and definitely of my +fugitive lady. Falloon had come upon undoubted evidence that she had +never left the great Jura-Simplon station, but had remained quietly +out of sight in the "ladies' waiting-room" until the next train left +for Geneva. This was at 1.35 p.m., and she must have slipped away +right under my eyes into the very train which had brought me back from +Vevey. So near are the chances encountered in such a profession as +ours.</p> + +<p>Falloon had only ascertained this positively on the second day of my +detention, but with it the information that only two first-class +tickets, both for Geneva, had been issued by that train. To make it +all sure he had taken the precaution to ask at all the stations along +the line at which the train had stopped, seven in number, and had +learned that no persons <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123"></a>[123]</span> answering to my ladies had alighted at any of +them. So my search was carried now to Geneva, and it might be possible +to come upon my people there, although I was not oversanguine. I knew +something of the place. I had been there more than once, had stayed +some time, and I knew too well that it is a city with many issues, +many facilities for travelling, and, as they had so much reason for +moving on rapidly, the chances were that they would have already +escaped me.</p> + +<p>However, with Falloon I proceeded to Geneva without delay, and began a +systematic search. We made exhaustive inquiries at the Cornavin +station, where we arrived from Lausanne, and heard something.</p> + +<p>The party had certainly been seen at this very station. Two ladies, +one tall, the other short, with a baby. They had gone no further then; +they had not returned to the station since. So far good. But there was +a second station, the Gare des Vollondes, at the opposite end of the +city, from which ran the short line to Bouveret on the south shore of +the lake, and I sent Falloon there to inquire, giving him a rendezvous +an hour later at the Café de la Couronne on the Quai du Lac. Meanwhile +I <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124"></a>[124]</span> meant to take all the hotels in regular order, and began with those +of the first class on the right bank, the Beau Rivage, the Russie, de +la Paix, National, Des Bergues, and the rest. As I drew blank +everywhere I proceeded to try the hotels on the left bank, and made +for the Pont de Mont Blanc to cross the Rhone, pointing for the +Metropole.</p> + +<p>Now my luck again greatly favoured me. Just as I put my foot upon the +bridge I saw a figure approaching me, coming from the opposite +direction.</p> + +<p>I recognized it instantly. It was the lady herself.</p> + +<p>She must have seen me at the very same moment, for she halted dead +with the abruptness of one faced with a sudden danger, an opened +precipice, or a venomous snake under foot. She looked hurriedly to +right and left, as if seeking some loophole of escape.</p> + +<p>At that moment one of the many electric trams that overspread Geneva +with a network of lines came swinging down the Rue de Mont Blanc from +the Cornavin station, and slackened speed at the end of the bridge. My +lady made up her mind then and there, and as it paused she boarded it +with one quick, agile spring.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125"></a>[125]</span> </p> + +<p>With no less prompt decision I followed her, and we entered the car +almost simultaneously.</p> + +<p>There were only two seats vacant and, curiously enough, face to face. +I took my place, not ill pleased, for she had already seen me, and I +was anxious to know how my sudden reappearance would affect her. It +was clear she did not relish it, or she would not have turned tail at +our unexpected meeting.</p> + +<p>I had not long to wait. She chose her line at once, and without +hesitation addressed me, smiling and unabashed. Her self-possession, I +had almost said her effrontery, took me quite aback.</p> + +<p>"Surely I am not mistaken?" she began quite coolly. "Have I not to +thank you for your courtesy in the train a couple of days ago?"</p> + +<p>I stammered a halting affirmative.</p> + +<p>"I am afraid you must have thought me very rude. I ran off without a +word, didn't I? The truth was my child had been suddenly taken ill and +the nurse had to leave the train hurriedly. She had only just time to +catch me and prevent me from going on. I am sorry. I should have liked +to say good-bye."</p> + +<p>"Make no apologies, I beg," I hastened to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126"></a>[126]</span> say courteously. But in my +heart I trembled. What could this mean? Some fresh trick? She was so +desperately full of guile!</p> + +<p>"But I thought you were bound for the other end of the lake," she +continued. "Do you make a long stay at Geneva?"</p> + +<p>"No. Do you?" I retorted.</p> + +<p>"Probably. I begin to like the place, and I have found very +comfortable quarters at the Hôtel Cornavin, near the station. You may +know it."</p> + +<p>Could this be really so? Her perfect frankness amazed me. I could not +credit it, much less understand it. There was surely some pitfall, +some trap concealed for my abounding credulity.</p> + +<p>"I also propose to stay some days, but am not yet established." I made +so bold as to suggest that I had a great mind to try her Hôtel +Cornavin.</p> + +<p>"Why not?" she replied heartily. "The accommodation is good, nice +rooms, civil people, decent <i>cuisine</i>. It might suit you."</p> + +<p>She could not possibly have been more civil and gracious. Too civil by +half, a more cautious man might have told himself.</p> + +<p>The tram-car by this time had run through <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127"></a>[127]</span> the Place Molard, the +Allemand Marché, and was turning into the Rue de la Corraterie, +pointing upward for the theatre and the Promenade des Bastions. Where +was my involuntary companion bound?</p> + +<p>She settled the question by getting out at the Place Neuve with a few +parting words.</p> + +<p>"I have a call to make near here. I had forgotten it. Perhaps I may +hope to see you again. Do try the Cornavin. If so, <i>sans adieu</i>."</p> + +<p>Was it good enough? I could not allow her to slip through my fingers +like this. What if her whole story was untrue, what if there was no +Hôtel Cornavin, and no such guests there? I could not afford to let +her out of my sight, and with one spring I also left the car and, +catching a last glimpse of her retreating skirts, gave chase.</p> + +<p>I cannot say whether she realized that I was following, but she led me +a pretty dance. In and out, and round and round, by narrow streets and +dark passages, backwards and forwards, as adroitly as any practised +thief eluding the hot pursuit of the police. At last she paused and +looked back, and thinking she had shaken me off (for knowing the game +well I <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128"></a>[128]</span> had hastily effaced myself in a doorway) plunged into the +entrance of a small unpretending hotel in a quiet, retired square—the +Hôtel Pierre Fatio, certainly not the Cornavin.</p> + +<p>The door in which I had taken shelter was that of a dark third-rate +café well suited to my purpose, and well placed, for I was in full +view of the Hôtel Pierre Fatio, which I was resolved to watch at least +until my lady came out again. As I slowly absorbed an absinthe, +revolving events past and to come, I thought it would be well to draw +Falloon to me. It was past the hour for our meeting.</p> + +<p>I scribbled three lines of a note and despatched it to the Café de la +Couronne by a messenger to whom I fully described my colleague's +appearance, desiring him to show the addressed envelope before +delivery, but having no doubt that it would reach its destination.</p> + +<p>Presently Falloon joined me, and as my lady had as yet made no sign, I +bade him continue the watch, while I left the café openly and +ostentatiously, so that it might be seen by any one curious to know +that I had given up the game.</p> + +<p>Far from it. I designed only to try the Hôtel Cornavin to ascertain +the real facts; <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129"></a>[129]</span> and if, as I shrewdly suspected, I had been fooled, +to return forthwith and rejoin Falloon at the true point of interest, +taking such further steps as might seem desirable. I was chiefly +anxious to regain touch and combine forces with Falfani.</p> + +<p>There was no mistake, however, at the Cornavin Hôtel. I had not been +fooled. I was told directly I asked at the bureau that a Mrs. Blair, +accompanied by her maid and child, was staying in the house. Could I +see her? If monsieur would send up his card, it should be given her on +her return. She was not at home for the moment. (I knew that.) Would +monsieur call again?</p> + +<p>I was slow to congratulate myself on what seemed a point gained, for I +had still my misgivings, but I would make the most of the chances that +offered to my hand. I secured a room at the Cornavin Hôtel, and +bespoke another for Falfani, whom I should now summon at once. With +this idea I took the earliest opportunity of telegraphing to him as +follows:</p> + +<div class="blockquot">“Detained by unfortunate <i>contretemps</i> at Lausanne, happily +surmounted, clue lost and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130"></a>[130]</span> regained. Desire your +coöperation. Come instantly, Hôtel Cornavin. She is here.</div> + +<p class="blockfor1"> +<span class="smcap">"Ludovic</span>."<br /> +</p> + +<p>I noted the time of despatch, 4.17 <span class="smcap">p.m.</span> It would surely reach +Falfani before the last train left Brieg coming my way, and I hardly +trusted myself to anticipate the comfort and relief his appearance +would bring me. Combined we could tie ourselves to our quarry, and +never let her out of sight until our principals could take over and +settle the business.</p> + +<p>Then hailing a cab, I drove to a point close by where I had left +Falloon, and found the situation entirely unchanged. No one had come +out of the Hôtel Pierre Fatio. Mrs. Blair was paying a very long call, +and I could not understand it. All the time I was haunted with a vague +and ever present idea that she meant to sell me. The more I tortured +my brain to consider how, the less I was able to fathom her +intentions.</p> + +<p>The time ran on, and I thought it would be prudent to return to my own +hotel. Mrs. Blair might have given us the slip, might have left by +some other issue, and I felt that my place was at the Cornavin, where +at least I knew <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131"></a>[131]</span> she was staying. Falloon should stand his ground +where he was, but I fully impressed upon him the importance of the +duty entrusted to him.</p> + +<p>I blessed my stars that I so decided. Mrs. Blair had not returned when +the <i>table d'hôte</i> bell rang at the Cornavin, but I had hardly +swallowed the first spoonful of soup when Falloon appeared, hot and +flurried, with very startling news.</p> + +<p>"<i>Elle se sauve</i>. She is saving herself; she is running away," he +cried. "Already her carriage enters the station—without doubt she +seeks the train for somewhere."</p> + +<p>I jumped up, rushed from the room, caught up my hat, and hurried +across the Square of Place Cornavin into the station. It was a clear +case of bolt. There she was ahead of me, quite unmistakable, walking +quickly, with her fine upright figure clad in the same pearl gray +ulster she had worn in the tram-car. She passed through the open doors +of the waiting-room on to the platform where the train was waiting +with engine attached.</p> + +<p>"The 7.35 for Culoz and beyond by Amberieu to Paris," I was informed +on inquiry.</p> + +<p>"A double back," I concluded on the spot. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132"></a>[132]</span> She had had enough of it, +and was going home again. In another minute or two she would have +eluded me once more.</p> + +<p>My only chance now lay in prompt action. I, too, must travel by this +train. To secure a ticket and board it was soon done. I chose a +carriage at no great distance from that she had entered; a through +carriage to Maçon, and which I was resolved to watch closely, but yet +I did not mean to show myself to its occupants if it could be helped.</p> + +<p>As we were on the point of starting, I scribbled a few lines on a leaf +torn from my pocket-book to inform Falfani of my hasty departure and +the reason for it. This I folded carefully and addressed to him, +entrusting it to Falloon, who was to seek out my colleague at the +Hôtel Cornavin after the arrival of the late train from Brieg, and +deliver it. At the same time I handed Falloon a substantial fee, but +desired him to offer his services to Falfani.</p> + +<p>I saw no more of the lady. She did not show at Bellegarde when the +French Customs' examination took place, nor yet at Culoz, and I +believed she was now committed to the journey northward. But as I was +dozing in my place and the train slowed on entering <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133"></a>[133]</span> Amberieu, the +guard whom I had suborned came to me with a hurried call.</p> + +<p>"Monsieur, monsieur, you must be quick. Madame has descended and is +just leaving the station. No doubt for the Hôtel de France, just +opposite."</p> + +<p>There she was indeed with all her belongings. (How well I knew them by +this time!) The maid with her child in arms, the porter with the light +baggage.</p> + +<p>I quickened my pace and entered the hotel almost simultaneously with +her. Ranging up alongside I said, not without exultation:</p> + +<p>"Geneva was not so much to your taste, then? You have left rather +abruptly."</p> + +<p>"To whom are you speaking, sir?" she replied in a stiff, strange +voice, assumed, I felt sure, for the occasion. She was so closely +veiled that I could not see her face, but it was the same figure, the +same costume, the same air. Lady Blackadder that was, Mrs. Blair as +she now chose to call herself, I could have sworn to her among a +thousand.</p> + +<p>"It won't do, madame," I insisted. "I'm not to be put off. I know all +about it, and I've got you tight, and I'm not going to leave go again. +No fear." <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134"></a>[134]</span> I meant to spend the night on guard, watching and waiting +till I was relieved by the arrival of the others, to whom I +telegraphed without delay.</p> + + + + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135"></a>[135]</span> </p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV.</h2> + +<h4>[<i>Colonel Annesley resumes.</i>]</h4> + +<p>I left my narrative at the moment when I had promised my help to the +lady I found in such distress in the Engadine express. I promised it +unconditionally, and although there were circumstances in her case to +engender suspicion, I resolutely ignored them. It was her secret, and +I was bound to respect it, content to await the explanation I felt +sure she could make when so minded.</p> + +<p>It was at dinner in the dining-car, under the eyes of her persecutor, +that we arranged to give him the slip at Basle. It was cleverly +accomplished, I think.</p> + +<p>[<i>Here the Colonel gives an account of all that happened between Basle +and Brieg; and as the incidents have been already described by Falfani +it is unnecessary to retell them, except to note that Annesley had +quickly discovered the detective's escape outside Goeschenen and lost +no time in giving chase.</i>]</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136"></a>[136]</span> </p> + +<p>As may be supposed I rejoiced greatly on reaching Brieg to find that +Falfani had been bitterly disappointed. It was plain from the telegram +that was handed to him on arrival, and which so upset him that he +suffered me to take it out of his hand and to read it for myself, that +a friend, his colleague, no doubt, had been checked summarily at +Lausanne. He said he had lost "her," the lady of course.</p> + +<p>I was not altogether happy in my mind about her, for when we had +parted at Brieg it had been settled that she should take the Simplon +route through this very place Brieg, at which I now found myself so +unexpectedly, and I ought to have come upon her or had news of her +somewhere had her plans been carried out. She certainly had not +reached Brieg, for with my ally l'Echelle we searched the town for +news of her that night and again next morning.</p> + +<p>The situation was embarrassing. I could decide upon no clear course +but that of holding on to Falfani and clinging to him with the very +skin of my teeth; any light must come from or through him, or at least +by keeping him in full view I might prevent him from doing any more +mischief.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137"></a>[137]</span> </p> + +<p>One of us, l'Echelle or myself, continually watched him all that day, +the third of this curious imbroglio into which I was plunged. At night +I took the strong and unjustifiable measure of locking him into his +room.</p> + +<p>When he discovered it next morning he was furious, and came straight +at me open-mouthed.</p> + +<p>"I'll appeal to the law, I'll denounce you to the authorities, I'll +charge you with persecution and with false imprisonment. You shall be +arrested. I'll be rid of you somehow, you shall not stay here, you +shall leave Brieg."</p> + +<p>"With all my heart—when you do. Have I not told you that already? +Where you go I go, where you stay I stay."</p> + +<p>"But it is most monstrous and abominable. I will not submit to it. You +have no sort of right to act in this way. Why is it?"</p> + +<p>"You can guess my reasons, surely. Only it is not for your <i>beaux +yeux</i>; not because I like you. I loathe and detest you. You are a low, +slimy spy, who richly deserves to be thrashed for bullying a lady."</p> + +<p>"I'll have you to know, sir, that I am fully entitled to act as I am +doing," he said with a consequential air. "I am the representative of +a court of law; I have great people at my <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138"></a>[138]</span> back, people who will soon +bring you to book. Wait a little, we shall see. You'll sing a very +poor song when you have to do with a nobleman. The Right Honourable +the Earl of Blackadder will arrive shortly. I hope this very +afternoon. You can settle it with him, ah! How do you like that, eh?"</p> + +<p>I laughed him to scorn.</p> + +<p>"Psha, man, you're an ass. I've told you before now what I think of +Lord Blackadder, and if it be necessary I'll tell him to his face when +he gets here."</p> + +<p>This conversation took place just before the <i>table-d'hôte</i> luncheon, +and immediately afterwards Falfani went out in the direction of the +railway station. I followed, keeping him in sight on the platform, +where, by and by, I saw him, hat in hand, bowing obsequiously before a +passenger who alighted from the incoming train. It would have been +enough for me had I not already known Lord Blackadder by sight. They +walked back together to the hotel, and so, at a certain distance, did +I.</p> + +<p>I was lounging about outside the house, wondering what would happen +next, when a waiter came out to me bearing a card, which he <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139"></a>[139]</span> tendered, +bowing low, more in deference to the card, as I thought, than to me.</p> + +<p>"Earl of Blackadder" was the name engraved, and written just below in +pencil were the words, "would like to speak to Colonel Annesley at +once."</p> + +<p>"Well, I've no objection," I began, stiffly. I thought the summons a +trifle too peremptory. "Where is he?"</p> + +<p>The waiter pointed back to the hotel, and I saw a white, evil face +glowering at me from a window on the ground floor of the hotel. The +very look on it stirred my bile. It was an assumption of superiority, +of concentrated pride and exaggerated authority, as though everyone +must yield to his lightest wish and humble himself in the dust before +him. I resented this, and slipping the card carelessly in my pocket, I +nodded to the waiter, who still stood awaiting my reply.</p> + +<p>"Will monsieur come?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"No. Tell his lordship he will find me here if he wants me. That will +do," and I waved him off.</p> + +<p>Soon afterwards Lord Blackadder came out. Mahomet came to the +mountain. I liked his face less than ever. It wore an angry scowl + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140"></a>[140]</span> now; his dark eyes glittered balefully under the close-knit eyebrows, +his lips were drawn down, and the curved nose was like the aggressive +beak of a bird of prey.</p> + +<p>"Colonel Annesley, I understand," he said coldly, contemptuously, just +lifting one finger towards the brim of his hat.</p> + +<p>"That is my name," I responded, without returning the salute.</p> + +<p>"I am Lord Blackadder; you will have had my card. I desired to address +you somewhat more privately than this." He looked round the open yard +in front of the hotel. "May I hope you will accompany me to my rooms? +I have to speak to you on a matter that concerns you very closely."</p> + +<p>"That I cannot admit. There can be nothing between you and me, Lord +Blackadder, that concerns me very closely; nothing that the whole +world may not hear."</p> + +<p>"What I have to say might prove very unpleasant to you in the telling, +Colonel Annesley. You would be well advised in agreeing that our +interview should be private."</p> + +<p>"I can't see it, and I must tell you plainly that I do not care one +jot. Say what you <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141"></a>[141]</span> please, my lord, and, if you like, as loud as you +please, only be quick about it."</p> + +<p>"With all my heart, then, if you will have it so. I wish to tell you, +Colonel Annesley, that you have taken a most unwarrantable liberty in +mixing yourself up with my affairs."</p> + +<p>"I am not aware that I have done so."</p> + +<p>"You shall not trifle with me, sir. Your conduct is inexcusable, +ungentlemanlike."</p> + +<p>"Take care, my lord," I broke in hotly.</p> + +<p>"People who forget themselves so far as you have done must accept the +responsibility of their own actions; and I tell you, here and now, +that I shall call you to strict account for yours."</p> + +<p>The man was trying me hard, but still I strove to keep my temper.</p> + +<p>"I don't care that for your opinion, and I do not allow that you are a +judge of what is gentlemanlike. No one would do so who had read the +public prints lately."</p> + +<p>"How dare you, sir, refer to my conduct, or presume to criticize or +question it?" he burst out.</p> + +<p>"Ta, ta, ta! It is a real pleasure to me to tell you what I think of +you, Lord Blackadder; <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142"></a>[142]</span> and as I am ready to give you every +satisfaction, I shall not stint myself."</p> + +<p>"I insist upon satisfaction."</p> + +<p>"By all means. It can be easily arranged. We are within a short step +of either France or Italy, and in both countries the old-fashioned +plan of settling affairs of honour is still in force. We shall find +friendly seconds in the nearest garrison town, and I shall be glad to +cross the frontier with you whenever you please."</p> + +<p>"You talk like the hectoring, swashbuckling bully that you are," he +cried angrily, but looking rather uncomfortable.... "I will swear the +peace against you."</p> + +<p>"Do so by all means. It would be like you. A man who would descend to +espionage, who could so cruelly misuse a lady, is capable of anything; +of making assertions he cannot substantiate, of threatening things he +dare not do."</p> + +<p>"I have the clearest proof of what I say. You have chosen to come into +my life—"</p> + +<p>"I should be extremely sorry to do so."</p> + +<p>"Will you deny that you have sided with my enemies, that you have +joined and abetted them in a base plot to defraud and rob me of + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143"></a>[143]</span> my—my—property, of that which I most highly value and cherish of +all my possessions?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know what you are talking about, Lord Blackadder, but +whatever your grievance I tell you candidly that I do not like your +tone or your manner, and I shall hold no further converse with you."</p> + +<p>I turned my back on him and walked away.</p> + +<p>"Stay, stay. You must and shall hear me out. I've not done with you." +He came hurrying after me, following close and raising his voice +higher and higher. "Your very presence here is an offence. You have no +right to be here at all."</p> + +<p>"Do you think that you own all Switzerland, my noble earl?" I answered +over my shoulder as I walked on. "It is not your ground to warn me +off."</p> + +<p>"I tell you you shall not remain here to annoy me and work against me. +I forbid it, and I will put a stop to it. I give you plain warning."</p> + +<p>"You know you are talking nonsense. I shall go my own road, and I defy +you to do your worst."</p> + +<p>Here, when I was on the threshold of the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144"></a>[144]</span> hotel, I met Falfani full, +as he came running out excitedly, holding in his hand the telltale +blue envelope, which, with his elated air, indicated clearly that he +had just received important news.</p> + +<p>I paused for a moment, hoping he might commit himself, and was +rewarded by hearing him say aloud:</p> + +<p>"It is from Geneva, my lord, from Ludovic Tiler," he began +indiscreetly, and was angrily silenced by my lord, who called him "a +triple-dyed idiot," and with a significant gesture towards me bade him +walk away to some distance from the hotel.</p> + +<p>The mischief was done, however, for I had of course heard enough to +know that the other detective had given signs of life at last, and +that the report, to judge by Falfani's glee, must be satisfactory. The +more pleased the other side, the more reason to fear that matters were +adverse on ours.</p> + + + + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145"></a>[145]</span> </p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV.</h2> + + +<p>It might be thought that I was too hard on my Lord Blackadder, but +only those few indeed who were unacquainted with the circumstances of +his divorce would find fault with me. The scandal was quite recent, +and the Blackadder case had been in everybody's mouth. The papers had +been full of it, and the proceedings were not altogether to his +lordship's credit. They had been instituted by him, however, on +grounds that induced the jury to give him a verdict, and the judge had +pronounced a decree nisi on the evidence as it stood.</p> + +<p>Yet the public sympathies were generally with the respondent, the +Countess of Blackadder. It had been an unhappy marriage, an +ill-assorted match, mercenary, of mere convenience, forced upon an +innocent and rather weak girl by careless and callous guardians, eager +to rid themselves of responsibility for the two twin sisters, Ladies +Claire and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146"></a>[146]</span> Henriette Standish, orphans, and with no near relations.</p> + +<p>Lord Blackadder was immensely rich, but a man of indifferent moral +character, a <i>roué</i> and a voluptuary, with a debilitated constitution +and an unattractive person, possessing none of the gifts that take a +maiden's fancy.</p> + +<p>Estrangement soon followed the birth of the son and heir to his title +and great estates. My lord was a great deal older than his beautiful +young wife, and desperately jealous of her. Distrust grew into strong +suspicion, and presently consumed him when an old flame of Lady +Henriette's, Charlie Forrester, of the Dark Horse, turned up from +foreign service, and their names came to be bracketed together by the +senseless gossiping busybodies ever ready to tear a pretty woman's +reputation to tatters. It was so much put about, so constantly dinned +into Lord Blackadder's ears, that he was goaded into a perfect fury, +and was at length determined, by hook or by crook, to put away his +wife, leaving it to certain astute and well-practised solicitors to +manufacture a clear, solid case against her.</p> + +<p>Lady Blackadder, who hated and despised her lord, foolishly played +into his hands. She <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147"></a>[147]</span> never really went wrong, so her friends stoutly +averred, especially her sister Claire, a staunch and loyal soul, but +she gave a handle to innuendo, and more than once allowed appearances +to go against her.</p> + +<p>There was one very awkward story that could not be disproved as it was +told, and in the upshot convicted her. It was clearly shown in +evidence that she had made up her mind to leave Lord Blackadder; more, +that she meant to elope with Major Forrester. It was said, but not so +positively, that she had met him at Victoria Station; they were seen +there together, had travelled by the same train, and there was a +strong presumption that they had arrived together at Brighton; one or +two railway officials deposed to the fact.</p> + +<p>Lady Blackadder denied this entirely, and gave a very different +complexion to the story. She had gone to Brighton; yes, but quite +alone. Major Forrester had seen her off, no doubt, but they had parted +at the carriage door. Her visit to Brighton had been for the purpose +of seeing and staying with an old servant, once a very confidential +maid for whom she had a great liking, and had often taken refuge with +when worried and in trouble. She thought, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148"></a>[148]</span> perhaps, to make this the +first stage in the rupture with my lord.</p> + +<p>This maid had earnestly adjured her not to break with her husband, and +to return to Grosvenor Square.</p> + +<p>This flight was the head and corner-stone of Lady Blackadder's +offending. It was interpreted into guilt of the most heinous kind; the +evidence in support of it seemed overwhelming. Witnesses swore +positively to the companionship of Major Forrester, both at Victoria +and Brighton, and it was to be fairly assumed that they were at the +latter place together.</p> + +<p>No rebutting evidence was forthcoming. The maid, a woman married to an +ex-French or Swiss courier, by name Bruel, could not be produced, +simply because she could not be found in Brighton. They were supposed +to be settled there as lodging-house keepers, but they had not resided +long enough to be in the Directory, and their address was not known. +Lord Blackadder's case was that they were pure myths, they had never +had any tangible existence, but were only imported into the case to +support an ingenious but untenable defence.</p> + +<p>It was more than hinted that they had been spirited away, and they +were not the first <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149"></a>[149]</span> material witnesses, it was hinted, in an intricate +case, conducted by Messrs. Gadecker and Gobye, who had mysteriously +disappeared. So the plausible, nay, completely satisfactory +explanation of Lady Blackadder's visit to Brighton could not be put +forward, much less established, and there was no sort of hope for her. +She lost her case in the absence of the Bruels, man and wife. The +verdict was for Lord Blackadder, and he was adjudged to have the care +and custody of the child, the infant Viscount Aspdale.</p> + +<p>I had not the smallest doubt when I realized with whom I had to do +that the unhappy mother had made a desperate effort to redress her +wrongs, as she thought them, and had somehow contrived to carry off +her baby before she could be deprived of it.</p> + +<p>I had met her in full flight upon the Engadine express.</p> + +<p>What next? Was she to be overtaken and despoiled, legally, of course, +but still cruelly, separated from her own flesh and blood? The Court +might order such an unnatural proceeding, but I was moved by every +chivalrous impulse to give her my unstinting and unhesitating support +to counteract it.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150"></a>[150]</span> </p> + +<p>I was full of these thoughts, and still firmly resolved to help Lady +Blackadder, when l'Echelle, the conductor whose services I still +retained, sought me out hurriedly, and told me that he believed the +others were on the point of leaving Brieg.</p> + +<p>"I saw Falfani and milord poring over the pages of the <i>Indicateur</i>, +and heard the word Geneva dropped in a whisper. I think they mean to +take the next train along the lake shore."</p> + +<p>"Not a doubt of it," I assented; "so will we. They must not be allowed +to go beyond our reach."</p> + +<p>When the 6.57 <span class="smcap">p.m.</span> for Geneva was due out from Brieg, we, +l'Echelle and I, appeared on the platform, and our intention to travel +by it was made plain to Lord Blackadder. The effect upon him was +painfully manifest at once. He chafed, he raged up and down, grimacing +and apostrophizing Falfani; once or twice he approached me with +clenched fists, and I really thought would have struck me at last. +Seeing me enter the same carriage with him, with the obvious intention +of keeping him under my eye, he threw himself back among the cushions +and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151"></a>[151]</span> yielded himself with the worst grace to the inevitable.</p> + +<p>The railway journey was horribly slow, and it must have been past 11 +<span class="smcap">p.m.</span> before we reached Geneva. We alighted in the Cornavin +station, and as they moved at once towards the exit I followed. I +expected them to take a carriage and drive off, and was prepared to +give chase, when I found they started on foot, evidently to some +destination close at hand. It proved to be the Cornavin Hôtel, not a +stone's-throw from the station.</p> + +<p>They entered, and went straight to the bureau, where the night clerk +was at his desk. I heard them ask for a person named Tiler, and +without consulting his books the clerk replied angrily:</p> + +<p>"Tiler! Tiler! <i>Ma foi</i>, he is of no account, your Tiler. He has gone +off from the dinner-table and without paying his bill."</p> + +<p>"That shall be made all right," replied Lord Blackadder loftily, as he +detailed his name and quality, before which the employé bowed low. +"And might I ask," his lordship went on, "whether a certain Mrs. +Blair, a lady with her child and its nurse, is staying in the hotel?"</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152"></a>[152]</span> </p> + +<p>"But certainly, milord. They have been here some days. Salon and suite +No. 17."</p> + +<p>"At any rate, that's well, Falfani," said Lord Blackadder, with a sigh +of satisfaction. "But what of your friend Tiler? Thick-headed dolt, +unable to keep awake, I suppose."</p> + +<p>At that moment a shabbily dressed person approached Falfani, touched +his hat, and offered him a note, saying:</p> + +<p>"This must be for you, monsieur. I heard your name—"</p> + +<p>"From Tiler, my lord, aha! This explains." And he passed the scrap of +paper on to his employer.</p> + +<p>"I'll be hanged if I see it! He says the parties have gone, and that +he is in close attendance; yet this fellow here," pointing to the +clerk, "assures us she is in this very house. I don't understand it, +by Gad!"</p> + +<p>"There is some fresh trick, my lord, you may be sure. The devil +himself isn't half so clever as this fine lady. But we'll get at the +bottom of it. We shall hear more from Tiler, and we've got the lady +here, under our hand."</p> + +<p>"Ah! but have we? This chap's as likely as not to be mistaken. How do +you know, sir," <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153"></a>[153]</span> to the clerk, "that Mrs. Blair is still in the hotel? +When did you come on duty? What if she left without your knowing it?"</p> + +<p>"It could not be, milord. See, it is marked in the register. No. 17 is +occupied. I could not let it. Mrs. Blair holds it still."</p> + +<p>"But she may not be in it, all the same. Can't you see? She may retain +it, but not use it."</p> + +<p>"Look, my lord, look, there's one of her party, anyway," interposed +Falfani, and he called his attention to a female figure standing a +little aloof in the shadow of the staircase, and which I had already +recognized.</p> + +<p>It was Philpotts, "Mrs. Blair's" maid, and she was trying to attract +my attention. Lord Blackadder had not seen her, and now his eye, for +the first time, fell upon me. He turned on me furiously.</p> + +<p>"You! You! Still at my heels? This is perfectly monstrous. It amounts +to persecution. You still dare to intrude yourself. Can I have no +privacy? Take yourself off, or I will not answer for the +consequences."</p> + +<p>I confess I only laughed and still held my ground, although my lord's +outcry had attracted much attention. Several people ran <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154"></a>[154]</span> up, and they +might have sided against me, when I heard a voice whisper into my ear:</p> + +<p>"Come, sir, come. Slip away. My lady is dying to see you. She is +terribly upset."</p> + + + + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155"></a>[155]</span> </p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI.</h2> + + +<p>I was received with great warmth and cordiality by my friend, and it +was made clear to me that my opportune appearance brought her great +comfort and support.</p> + +<p>"I never hoped for such good fortune as this," she began heartily. "I +had no idea you were within miles, and was repining bitterly that I +had let you get so far out of the way. Now you appear in the very nick +of time, just when I was almost in despair. But wait. Can I still +count upon your help?"</p> + +<p>"Why, most certainly, Lady Blackadder."</p> + +<p>"Lady Black—" She was looking at me very keenly, and, as I thought, +was much startled and surprised. Then with a conscious blush she went +on. "Of course, I might have guessed you would penetrate my disguise, +but you must not call me Lady Blackadder. I can lay no claim to the +title."</p> + +<p>"May I be forgiven if I trench on such a delicate subject, and assure +you of my most <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156"></a>[156]</span> sincere sympathy? Everybody felt for you deeply. I +hope you will believe that I am, and ever shall be, at your orders and +devoted to your service."</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, I am sure of it; I know I can depend upon you fully, and I +mean to do so now at once. You know, you have heard, that Lord +Blackadder is here, and actually in this hotel?"</p> + +<p>"I came with him. I was watching that fellow, the detective Falfani, +when his lordship came upon the scene. We had words, a quarrel, almost +a fight."</p> + +<p>"Pfu! He would not fight! I only wish you had thrashed him as he +deserves. But that won't help matters now. How am I to escape him?"</p> + +<p>"With the child?"</p> + +<p>"To be sure. Of course, I do not fear him in the least for myself."</p> + +<p>"You want to keep the child?"</p> + +<p>"Naturally, as I carried it off."</p> + +<p>"And still more because you had the best right to it, whatever the +Court might direct. You are its mother."</p> + +<p>Again she blushed and smiled, rather comically. "I certainly shall not +surrender it to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157"></a>[157]</span> Lord Blackadder, not without a struggle. Yet he is +very near getting it now."</p> + +<p>"In there?" I nodded towards the next room. "It is a close thing. How +are you to manage it?"</p> + +<p>"There would not have been the slightest difficulty; it was all but +done, and then some one, something, failed me. I expected too much +perhaps, but I have been bitterly disappointed, and the danger has +revived."</p> + +<p>"Come, come, Lady Blackadder, keep up your courage. Let us take +counsel together. We can surely devise some fresh plan. Don't give way +now; you have been so plucky all through. Be brave still."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, Colonel Annesley, I will." She put out her hand with +enchanting frankness, her fine eyes shining gratefully. A man would +have dared much, endured much, to win such gracious approval.</p> + +<p>"It is getting late, but you must hear all I have to tell before we +can decide upon the next step. Will you listen to me? I shall not bore +you. It is a long story. First let me clear the ground a little. I +must disabuse your mind on one point. I am not Lady Blackadder—no, +no, do not misunderstand me—not on account <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158"></a>[158]</span> of the divorce, but I +never was Lady Blackadder. She was Henriette Standish. I am Claire, +her sister Claire."</p> + +<p>"What a fool I've been!" I cried. "I might have guessed."</p> + +<p>"How should you? But let me go on. I shall never forget that +detestable trial, those awful days in the Divorce Court, when the +lawyers fought and wrangled over my darling sister, like dogs over a +bone, tearing and snarling at each other, while the judge sat above +like a solemn old owl, never moving or making a sign.</p> + +<p>"Henriette positively refused to appear in the case, although she was +pressed and entreated by her legal advisers. She could have thrown so +much light on the worst and darkest part. She could have repudiated +the cowardly charges made, and cast back the lies drawn round her to +ruin her. If the jury had but seen her pretty, pathetic face, and +heard from her own sweet lips all she had endured, they would have +come to a very different verdict.</p> + +<p>"But she would not come forward on her own behalf. She would not +defend the action; she did not want to win it, but waited till it was +all over, hiding herself away in a far-off corner <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159"></a>[159]</span> of the Apennines, +where I was to join her with the child, little Ralph.</p> + +<p>"There had been no question of that; the possibility of her losing it +had never been raised, or she would have nerved herself to fight +sooner than give up what she valued more than her very life.</p> + +<p>"It fell upon me with crushing effect, although towards the end of the +trial I had had my forebodings. Lord Blackadder was to have the +custody of his heir, and my dear sweet Henriette was to be robbed for +ever of her chiefest joy and treasure. The infant child was to be +abandoned to strangers, paid by its unnatural and unfeeling father.</p> + +<p>"I had braced myself to listen to all that came out in court, a whole +tissue of lies told by perjured wretches whose evidence was accepted +as gospel—one of them was the same Falfani whom you know, and who had +acted the loathsome part of spy on several occasions.</p> + +<p>"Directly the judge had issued his cruel fiat, I slipped out, hurried +down-stairs into the Strand, jumped into a hansom, and was driven at +top speed to Hamilton Terrace, bent upon <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160"></a>[160]</span> giving instant effect to a +scheme I had long since devised.</p> + +<p>"I found my faithful Philpotts awaiting me with everything prepared as +I had arranged. The dear baby was dressed quickly—he was as good as +gold—the baggage, enough for my hurried journey to Fuentellato, had +been packed for days past, and we took the road.</p> + +<p>"I knew that pursuit would not tarry, but I was satisfied that I had +made a good start, and I hoped to make my way through to Italy without +interference. When I first saw you at Calais I was seized with a +terrible fear, which was soon allayed; you did not look much like a +detective, and you were already my good friend when the real ruffian, +Falfani, came on board the train at Amiens."</p> + +<p>[<i>Lady Claire Standish passed on next to describe her journey from +Basle to Lausanne, and the clever way in which she eluded the second +detective—matters on which the reader has been already informed.</i>]</p> + +<p>"On reaching Geneva I at once opened communications with Henriette. I +felt satisfied, now that I had come so far, it would be well that she +should join me, and that we should concert together as to our next +proceedings. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161"></a>[161]</span> Our first and principal aim was to retain the child at +all costs and against all comers. I had no precise knowledge as to +where we should be beyond the jurisdiction of the English law, but I +could not believe that the Divorce Court and its emissaries could +interfere with us in a remote Italian village. My real fear was of +Lord Blackadder. He was so bold and unscrupulous that, if the law +would not help him, he would try stratagem, or even force. We should +be really safe nowhere if we once came within his reach, and, the best +plan to keep out of his clutches was to hide our whereabouts from him.</p> + +<p>"Fuentellato would not do, for although I do not believe he knew the +exact spot in which Henriette had taken refuge, he must have guessed +something from the direction of my journey, and that I was on my way +to join her. If he failed to intercept me <i>en route</i>, he would make +his way straight there. I had resolved he should not find us, but +where else should we go? Farther afield, if necessary to the very end +of the world. Lord Blackadder, we might be sure, would hunt high and +low to recover his lost heir, sparing no expense, neglecting no means.</p> + +<p>"It was, however, essential to elude his <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162"></a>[162]</span> agents, who were so near at +hand and likely to press me close. That was another reason for drawing +my sister to me. I had hit upon a cunning device, as I thought it, to +confuse and deceive my pursuers, to throw them on to a false scent, +lead them to follow a red herring, while the fox, free of the hunt, +took another line."</p> + + + + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163"></a>[163]</span> </p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII.</h2> + + +<p>"There should be two Richmonds in the field! That was my grand idea. +Two sets, two parties, each of them consisting of one lady, one maid, +and one baby, exactly similar and indistinguishable. When the time was +ripe we should separate, and each would travel in opposite directions, +and I hoped to show sufficient guile to induce my persecutors to give +chase to the wrong quarry. Run it to the death, while the party got +clear away.</p> + +<p>"I had made a nice calculation. Fuentellato was at no great distance +from Parma, on the main line of railway. If she started at once, via +Piacenza to Turin, she could catch the Mont Cenis express through to +Modane and Culoz, where she could change for Geneva, so as to reach me +some time on Tuesday.</p> + +<p>"This was exactly what happened. My sister carried out my instructions +to the letter, and I met her here on arrival. I had taken up my +quarters in this hotel because it was so near <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164"></a>[164]</span> the station, but I +thought it prudent that Henriette should lodge somewhere else, the +farther the better, and she went to a small place, the Hôtel Pierre +Fatio, at the other end of the town.</p> + +<p>"It is a long story, Colonel Annesley, but there is not much more, and +yet the most interesting part is to come.</p> + +<p>"We now devoted ourselves to the practical carrying out of the scheme, +just we four women; our maids, both clever dressmakers, were of +immense help. It was soon done. You can buy anything in Geneva. There +are plenty of good shops and skilful workers, and we soon provided +ourselves with the clothes, all the disguises really that we +required—the long gray dust cloaks and soft hats and all the rest, so +much alike that we might have been soldiers in the same regiment. +Philpotts and Victorine, my sister's maid, were also made up on a +similar pattern, and a second baby was built up as a dummy that would +have deceived any one.</p> + +<p>"Everything was completed by this morning, and I had settled that my +sister, with her dear little Ralph, should get away, but by quite a +new route, while I held my ground against <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165"></a>[165]</span> the detectives. I felt sure +they would soon hear of me and run me down. I hoped they would attach +themselves to me, and meant to lead them a fine dance as a blind for +Henriette, who, meanwhile, would have crossed to Lyons and gone south +to Marseilles. The Riviera is a longer and more roundabout road to +Turin, but it was open, and I hoped unimpeded. What do you think of my +diplomacy?"</p> + +<p>"Admirable!" I cried, with enthusiasm. "Your cleverness, Lady Claire, +is colossal. Go on, I beg of you. Surely you have succeeded?"</p> + +<p>"Alas! no. Everything was cut and dried and this evening we scored the +first point in the game. Henriette went on this evening to Amberieu, +the junction for Lyons. She went straight from her hotel, alone, for +of course I was obliged to keep close, or the trick would have been +discovered, and it was in part.</p> + +<p>"For I must tell you that to-day one of the detectives appeared in +Geneva, not the first man, but a second, who attached himself to me at +Basle. I met him plump on the Mont Blanc Bridge and turned tail, but +he came after me. I jumped into a passing tram, so did he, and to +throw him off his guard I talked to him, and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166"></a>[166]</span> made friends with him, +and advised him to come and stay at this hotel. Then I got out and +left him, making my way to the Pierre Fatio Hôtel by a circuitous +route, dodging in and out among the narrow streets till I nearly lost +myself.</p> + +<p>"I thought I had eluded him, and he certainly was nowhere near when I +went into the hotel. But I suppose he followed me, he must have, and +found out something, for I know now that he went to Amberieu after +Henriette—"</p> + +<p>"You are perfectly sure?"</p> + +<p>"She has telegraphed to me from Amberieu; I got it not an hour ago. +The man accosted her, taking her for me. He would have it she was Mrs. +Blair, and told her to her face that he did not mean to lose sight of +her again. So you see—"</p> + +<p>"If she goes round by Lyons to Marseilles, then, he would be at her +heels, and the scheme breaks down in that respect?"</p> + +<p>"Not only that, I don't see that he could interfere with her, or do +her much harm, and at Marseilles she might change her plans entirely. +There are ever so many ways of escape from a seaport. She might take +ship and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167"></a>[167]</span> embark on board the first steamer bound to the East, for +India or Ceylon, the Antipodes or far Cathay."</p> + +<p>"Well, why not?"</p> + +<p>"Henriette, my sister, has given way. Her courage has failed her at +this, the most critical moment, when she is within a hair's breadth of +success. She is afraid to go on alone with little Ralph, and is +running back to me by the first train to-morrow morning, at five or +six o'clock."</p> + +<p>"Coming here? Into the very mouths of all the others!"</p> + +<p>"Just so, and all my great scheme will be ruined. They cannot but find +out, and there is no knowing what they may do. Lord Blackadder, I +know, is capable of anything. I assure you, Colonel Annesley, I am in +despair. What <i>can</i> I do?"</p> + +<p>She looked at me in piteous appeal, the tears brimming over, her hands +stretched towards me with a gesture at once pathetic and enchanting.</p> + +<p>"Say, rather, what can <i>we</i> do, Lady Claire," I corrected her. "This +is my business, too, if you will allow me to say so, and I offer you +my advice for what it is worth."</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168"></a>[168]</span> </p> + +<p>"Yes, I will take it thankfully, I promise you."</p> + +<p>"The only safe course now is the boldest. You must make another +exchange with your sister, Lady Blackadder—"</p> + +<p>"Call her Lady Henriette Standish. She has dropped the other +entirely."</p> + +<p>"By all means. Lady Henriette then has determined to take the first +train from Amberieu at—Have you a Bradshaw? Thank you—at 5.52 +<span class="smcap">a.m.</span>, which will get her to Culoz at 6.48. You must, if +possible, exchange babies, and at the same time exchange <i>rôles</i>. I +feel sure that you, at any rate, are not afraid of going to Marseilles +with the real baby."</p> + +<p>"Hardly!" she laughed scornfully. "But Henriette—what is to become of +her?"</p> + +<p>"That shall be my affair. It is secondary, really. The first and +all-important is for you to secure the little Ralph and escape with +him. It will have to be done under the very eyes of the enemy, for +there is every reason to fear they will be going on, too. The other +detective, this Tiler—I have heard them call him by that name—will +have told them of her ladyship's movements, and will have summoned +them, Falfani at least, to his side."</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169"></a>[169]</span> </p> + +<p>"If I go on by that early train they will, no doubt, do the same. I +must not be seen by them. They would fathom the trick of the two +parties and the exchange."</p> + +<p>"Yet you must go on by that train. It's the only way."</p> + +<p>"Of course I might change my appearance a little, but not enough to +deceive them. Cannot I go across to the station before them and hide +in some compartment specially reserved for us?"</p> + +<p>"It might be managed. We might secure the whole of the seats."</p> + +<p>"Money is no object."</p> + +<p>"It will do most things, especially in Switzerland. Leave it to me, +Lady Claire. All you have to do is to be ready to-morrow morning, very +early, remember. Before 5 <span class="smcap">a.m.</span>"</p> + +<p>"If necessary I'll sit up all night."</p> + +<p>"Well, then, that's settled. I'll knock at your door and see you get +some coffee."</p> + +<p>"Philpotts shall make it; no one in the hotel must know. There will be +the bill."</p> + +<p>"I will see to that. I'll come back after you're ensconced, with the +blinds drawn. Sick lady on the way, via Culoz to Aix-les-Bains, must +not be disturbed. It won't matter my <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170"></a>[170]</span> being seen on the road, all the +better really if my lord is there, for I have a little plan of my own, +Lady Claire—no, please don't ask me yet—but it will help matters, I +think."</p> + +<p>"You are, indeed, my true and faithful friend," she said, as she put +out her hand and wished me good night. She left it in mine for just a +second, and I flattered myself that its warm pressure was meant to +assure me that I had established a substantial claim to her regard.</p> + + + + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171"></a>[171]</span> </p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2> + + +<p>On leaving Salon No. 17 I descended to the ground floor, seeking the +smoking-room and a little stimulant to assist me in deciding the best +course of action for the following day.</p> + +<p>As I passed along the corridor I caught sight of l'Echelle, whom I +considered my man, in close confabulation with Falfani in a quiet +corner. They could hardly have seen me, at least l'Echelle made no +reference to the fact when he came to me presently and asked if I had +any orders for the morning. I answered him sternly:</p> + +<p>"What was Falfani saying to you just now? The truth, please, or you +get nothing more from me."</p> + +<p>"He is a <i>vaurien</i> and <i>fainéant</i>, and thinks others as bad as +himself; said my lord would give me five hundred francs to know what +you were doing, and find out whether the lady who travelled with us to +Basle last Sunday is here in this house."</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172"></a>[172]</span> </p> + +<p>"I've no objection to your taking his money if you will tell me +something. How long does my lord mean to stay here? Have you any +idea?"</p> + +<p>"They all go on by the early train to Culoz or farther. A pressing +telegram has come from their man at Amberieu."</p> + +<p>"Ah! Indeed. Then you may say that I am also going by that early +train. They're not going to shake me off very easily. Tell them that, +and that if they want the lady they'd better look for her. She isn't +here."</p> + +<p>I lied in a good cause, for a lady, as a gentleman is bound to do. I +shall be forgiven, I think, under the circumstances.</p> + +<p>The free use of coin had the desired effect at the railway station. +Soon after 5 <span class="smcap">a.m.</span> I was met at a private door and escorted, +with my precious party, by a circuitous route to where the 5.48 was +shunted, waiting the moment to run back to the departure platform. +There was a coupé ready for Lady Claire, and she took her place +quietly, observed by no one but the obsequious official who had +managed it all.</p> + +<p>As for me, I walked boldly to the hotel and hung about the hall till +the Blackadder party appeared and had left for the station. Then <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173"></a>[173]</span> I +asked the hotel clerk for Lady Claire's bill, paid it, with my own, +and went over to the train, selecting a compartment close to the +coupé. As I passed it I knocked lightly on the window pane, giving a +signal previously arranged between us.</p> + +<p>I do not think that Lord Blackadder saw me then, at the start. But at +Bellegarde, the Swiss frontier, where there was a wait of half an hour +for the Customs examination, an irritating performance always, but +carried out here with the most maddening and overbearing +particularity, everyone was obliged to alight from the train, and for +the moment I trembled for Lady Claire. But the appeal addressed to the +French brigadier, "<i>un galant homme</i>," of an invalid lady, too ill to +be disturbed, was effectual, especially when backed by two five-franc +pieces.</p> + +<p>Lord Blackadder was on the platform with the rest, and directly he saw +me he came up with the same arrogant air, curiously blended with +aggrieved helplessness.</p> + +<p>"This will end badly, Colonel Annesley. I give you fair warning. I +shall appeal to the authorities. We shall be on French soil directly, +and I know something of French law. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174"></a>[174]</span> It affords protection to all who +claim it against such people as you."</p> + +<p>"If you talk like that I'll give you some reason to seek the +protection of the gendarmes or police," I cried, but checked myself at +once.</p> + +<p>I had made up my mind how to deal with him, but the time was not yet.</p> + +<p>"Your insolence, sir, outsteps all bounds, and you shall answer for +it, I tell you."</p> + +<p>But now the cry was raised "<i>En voiture! en voiture!</i>" and we were +peremptorily hustled back to our seats. Lord Blackadder hurried to his +compartment at the end of the train some way from mine and the coupé. +As I passed the latter, seeing the road clear, I gave the signal, and, +taking out my railway carriage key, quickly slipped in.</p> + +<p>She received me with her rare sweet smile, that was the richest +payment a man could ask.</p> + +<p>"The critical moment is at hand, Lady Claire," I said, speaking +mysteriously. "It is essential that we should have a few last words +together. Naturally we must now be guided very much by the way things +happen, but so far as possible we must prepare for them. We have +managed capitally so far. I don't believe Lord Blackadder has any idea +you are in the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175"></a>[175]</span> train, and I much doubt that he expects to find Lady +Henriette at Culoz. You think she will really be there?"</p> + +<p>"I feel sure of it. It is just what she would do."</p> + +<p>"Then everything will depend on you. You must be alert and prompt, on +the <i>qui vive</i> to seize your opportunity. It will be your business to +make your way to her with the dummy the instant the train stops."</p> + +<p>"I shall have to find her."</p> + +<p>"That is the first and chief thing on your part. You <i>must</i> find her +at once. There are very few minutes for the whole job. Find her, +exchange burthens, send her to the train for Aix-les-Bains. It will be +waiting there. You hurry back to this coupé, lie low, and, if all goes +well, you will be travelling on toward Amberieu before the enemy has +the least notion what has occurred."</p> + +<p>"But one word, please. What will the enemy have been doing at Culoz? +Say they catch sight of Henriette as soon as we do?"</p> + +<p>"I hope and trust they may. I count upon that as part of my +programme."</p> + +<p>"But they will catch her, stop her, deprive her of our dear little +Ralph."</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176"></a>[176]</span> </p> + +<p>"Wait, wait. You will see. It will be settled in a moment now. But +before it is too late let us arrange how you may communicate with me. +We shall both be moving about, and the best address I can give will be +in London. Telegraph to me there to my club, the Mars and Neptune, +Piccadilly. I will send instructions there to have all telegrams +opened and retelegraphed to me at once. They shall be kept informed of +my whereabouts daily. But now, here we are, close to Culoz and already +slowing down. Look out, please."</p> + +<p>It could not have suited me better. There, standing under the shadow +of the dwarf plane-trees, but with not the slightest suggestion of +concealment, was the exact counterpart of Lady Claire, her twin +sister, Lady Henriette Standish, till lately Lady Blackadder. She was +staring intently at our train as it ran in, deeply anxious, no doubt, +to note the arrival of her sister.</p> + +<p>"Give me a short start," I said to Lady Claire as I jumped out of the +coupé. "You will see why."</p> + +<p>Even as I spoke I was satisfied that the pursuing party had recognized +the object of their journey. They had all alighted and were <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177"></a>[177]</span> coming up +the platform in great haste to where she stood. Had any doubt +remained, it would have been removed by the appearance of a man who +ran out from some back part of the station and waved them forward with +much gesticulation.</p> + +<p>Here I interposed, and, rushing forward with all the ardour of a +football player entering a scrimmage, I took Lord Blackadder by the +throat and shook him.</p> + + + + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178"></a>[178]</span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX.</h2> + +<h3>[<i>Falfani again.</i>]</h3> +<p> +When that audacious and intemperate English Colonel so far forgot +himself as to assault my lord the Right Honourable the Earl of +Blackadder at Culoz Station in the open light of day before us all, I +greatly rejoiced; for, although horror-stricken at his ruffianly +conduct, I knew that he would get his deserts at last. The French +authorities would certainly not tolerate brawling in the precincts of +the railway station, and justice must promptly overtake the sole +offender. The blackguard Colonel, the cause and origin of the +disturbance, would, of course, be at once arrested and removed.</p> + +<p>The fracas had naturally attracted general attention. One or two +porters ran up and endeavoured, with Tiler and myself, to rescue my +lord from his cowardly assailant. A crowd quickly gathered around us, +many passengers and a number of idlers, who drop from <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179"></a>[179]</span> nowhere, as it +might be, all drawn to the spot by overmastering curiosity. Everybody +talked at the same time, asking questions, volunteering answers, some +laughing shamelessly at my lord's discomfiture, a few expressing +indignation, and declaring that such a scandal should not be +permitted, and the guilty parties held strictly to account.</p> + +<p>The gendarmes on duty—a couple of them are always at hand in a French +railway station—soon appeared, and, taking in the situation at the +first glance, imposed silence peremptorily.</p> + +<p>"Let some one, one person only, speak and explain." The brigadier, or +sergeant, addressed himself to me, no doubt seeing that I had assumed +a prominent place in the forefront, and seemed a person of importance.</p> + +<p>"Monsieur here," I said, pointing to the Colonel, who, in spite of all +we could do, still held my lord tight, "was the aggressor, as you can +see for yourselves. Oblige him, I pray you, to desist. He will do my +lord some serious injury."</p> + +<p>"Is one an English milord, <i>hein</i>? Who, then, is the other?"</p> + +<p>"An abominable <i>vaurien</i>," I answered with <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180"></a>[180]</span> great heat. "A rank +villain; one who outrages all decency, breaks every law, respects no +rank—"</p> + +<p>"<i>Bus, bus</i>," cried the Colonel, in some language of his own, as he +put me aside so roughly that I still feel the pain in my shoulder. +"That'll do, my fine fellow. Let me speak for myself, if you please. +Pardon, M. le brigadier," he went on, saluting him politely. "Here is +my card. I am, as you will perceive, an officer of the English army, +and I appeal to you as a comrade, for I see by your decorations, no +doubt richly deserved, that you are an <i>ancien militaire</i>. I appeal to +you for justice and protection."</p> + +<p>"Protection, forsooth!" I broke in, contemptuously. "Such as the wolf +and the tiger and the snake expect from their victim."</p> + +<p>It made me sick to hear him currying favour with the gendarme, and +still worse that it was affecting the old trooper, who looked on all +as <i>pekins</i>, mere civilians, far inferior to military men.</p> + +<p>"Protection you shall have, <i>mon Colonel</i>, if you have a right to it, +<i>bien entendu</i>," said the sergeant, civilly but cautiously.</p> + +<p>"I ask it because these people have made a <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181"></a>[181]</span> dead set at me. They have +tried to hustle me and, I fear, to rob me, and I have been obliged to +act in my own defence."</p> + +<p>Before I could protest against this shameless misrepresentation of the +fact, my lord interposed. He was now free, and, gradually recovering, +was burning to avenge the insults put upon him.</p> + +<p>"It is not true," he shouted. "It is an absolute lie. He knows it is +not true; he is perfectly well aware who I am, Lord Blackadder; and +that he has no sort of grievance against me nor any of my people. His +attack upon me was altogether unprovoked and unjustifiable."</p> + +<p>"Let the authorities judge between us," calmly said the Colonel. "Take +us before the station-master, or send for the Commissary from the +town. I haven't the slightest objection."</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, the <i>Commissaire de police</i>, the judge, the peace officer. +Let us go before the highest authorities; nothing less than arrest, +imprisonment, the heaviest penalties, will satisfy me," went on my +lord.</p> + +<p>"With all my heart," cried the Colonel. "We'll refer it to any one you +please. Lead <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182"></a>[182]</span> on, <i>mon brave</i>, only you must take all or none. I +insist upon that. It is my right; let us all go before the +Commissary."</p> + +<p>"There is no Commissary here in Culoz. You must travel to +Aix-les-Bains to find him. Fifteen miles from here."</p> + +<p>"Well, why not? I'm quite ready," assented the Colonel, with an +alacrity I did not understand. I began to think he had some game of +his own.</p> + +<p>"So am I ready," cried his lordship. "I desire most strongly to haul +this hectoring bully before the law, and let his flagrant misconduct +be dealt with in a most exemplary fashion."</p> + +<p>I caught a curious shadow flitting across my comrade Tiler's face at +this speech. He evidently did not approve of my lord's attitude. Why?</p> + +<p>I met his eye as soon as I could, and, in answer to my inquiring +glance, he came over to me and whispered:</p> + +<p>"Don't you see? He," jerking his finger toward the Colonel, "wants us +to waste as much time as possible, while my lady slips through our +fingers and gets farther and farther on her road."</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183"></a>[183]</span> </p> + +<p>"Where is she?"</p> + +<p>"Ah, where? No longer here, anyway."</p> + +<p>The train by which we had come from Geneva was not now in the station. +It had gone on, quite unobserved by any of us during the fracas, and +it flashed upon me at once that the incident had been planned for this +very purpose of occupying our attention while she stole off.</p> + +<p>"But, one moment, Ludovic, that train was going to Maçon and Paris. My +lady was travelling the other way—this way. You came with her +yourself. Why should she run back again?"</p> + +<p>"Ah! Why does a woman do anything, and particularly this one? Still +there was a reason, a good one. She must have caught sight of my lord, +and knew that she was caught."</p> + +<p>"That's plausible enough, but I don't understand it. She started for +Italy; what turned her back when you followed her, and why did she +come this way again?"</p> + +<p>"She only came because I'd tracked her to Amberieu, and thought to +give me the slip," said Tiler.</p> + +<p>"May be. But it don't seem to fit. Anyway, we've got to find her once +more. It ought <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184"></a>[184]</span> not to be difficult. She's not the sort to hide +herself easily, with all her belongings, the nurse and the baby and +all the rest. But hold on, my lord is speaking."</p> + +<p>"Find out, one of you," he said briefly, "when the next train goes to +Aix. I mean to push this through to the bitter end. You will be +careful, sergeant, to bring your prisoner along with you."</p> + +<p>"<i>Merci bien!</i> I do not want you or any one else to teach me my duty," +replied the gendarme, very stiffly. It was clear that his sympathies +were all with the other side.</p> + +<p>"A prisoner, am I?" cried the Colonel, gaily. "Not much. But I shall +make no difficulties. I am willing enough to go with you. When is it +to be?"</p> + +<p>"Nine fifty-one; due at Aix at 10.22," Tiler reported, and we +proceeded to pass the time, some twenty minutes, each in his own way. +Lord Blackadder paced the platform with feverish footsteps, his rage +and disappointment still burning fiercely within him. The Colonel +invited the two gendarmes to the <i>buvette</i>, and l'Echelle followed +him. I was a little doubtful of that slippery gentleman; although I +had bought him, as I thought, the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185"></a>[185]</span> night before, I never felt sure of +him. He had joined our party, had travelled with us, and seemed on our +side in the recent scuffle, here he was putting himself at the beck +and call of his own employer. My lord had paid him five hundred +francs. Was the money thrown away, and his intention now to go back on +his bargain?</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Tiler and I thought it our pressing duty to utilize these +few moments in seeking news of our lady and her party. Had she been +seen? Oh, yes, many people, officials, and hangers-on about the +station had seen her. Too much seen indeed, for the stories told were +confusing and conflicting. One <i>facteur</i> assured us he had helped her +into the train going Amberieu way, but I thought his description very +vague, although Tiler swallowed the statement quite greedily. Another +man told me quite a different story; he had seen her, and had not the +slightest doubt of it, in the down train, that for Aix-les-Bains, the +express via Chambery, Modane, and the Mont Cenis tunnel for Italy. +This was the true version, I felt sure. Italy had been her original +destination, and naturally she would continue her journey that way.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186"></a>[186]</span> </p> + +<p>Why, then, Tiler asked, had she gone to Amberieu, running back as she +had done with him at her heels? To deceive him, of course, I retorted. +Was it not clear that her real point was Italy? Why else had she +returned to Culoz by the early train directly she thought she had +eluded Tiler? The reasoning was correct, but Ludovic was always a +desperately obstinate creature, jealous and conceited, tenacious of +his opinions, and holding them far superior to those who were cleverer +and more intelligent than himself.</p> + +<p>Then we heard the whistle of the approaching train, and we all +collected on the platform. L'Echelle, as he came from the direction of +the <i>buvette</i>, was a little in the rear of the Colonel and the +gendarmes. I caught a look on his face not easy to interpret. He was +grinning all over it and pointing toward the Colonel with his finger, +derisively. I was not inclined to trust him very greatly, but he +evidently wished us to believe that he thought very little of the +Colonel, and that we might count upon his support against him.</p> + + + + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187"></a>[187]</span> </p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX.</h2> + + +<p>There were seven of us passengers, more than enough to fill one +compartment, so we did not travel together. My lord very liberally +provided first-class tickets for the whole of the party, but the +Colonel took his own and paid for the gendarmes. He refused to travel +in the same carriage with the noble Earl, saying openly and impudently +that he preferred the society of honest old soldiers to such a crew as +ours. L'Echelle, still sitting on the hedge, as I fancied, got in with +the Colonel and his escort.</p> + +<p>On reaching Aix-les-Bains, we found the omnibus that did the <i>service +de la ville</i>, but the Colonel refused to enter it, and declared he +would walk; he cared nothing for the degradation of appearing in the +public streets as a prisoner marching between a couple of gendarmes. +He gloried in it, he said; his desire was clearly to turn the whole +thing into ridicule, and the passers-by laughed aloud at this + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188"></a>[188]</span> well-dressed gentleman, as he strutted along with his hat cocked, one +hand on his hip, the other placed familiarly on the sergeant's arm.</p> + +<p>He met some friends, too,—one was a person rather like himself, with +the same swaggering high-handed air, who accosted him as we were +passing the corner of the square just by the Hôtel d'Aix.</p> + +<p>"What ho! Basil my boy!" cried the stranger. "In chokey? Took up by +the police? What've you done? Robbed a church?"</p> + +<p>"Come on with us and you'll soon know. No, really, come along, I may +want you. I'm going before the beak and may want a witness as to +character."</p> + +<p>"Right oh! There are some more of us here from the old shop—Jack +Tyrrell, Bobus Smith—all Mars and Neptune men. They'll speak for a +pal at a pinch. Where shall we come?"</p> + +<p>"To the town hall, the <i>mairie</i>," replied the Colonel, after a brief +reference to his escort. "I've got a particular appointment there with +Monsieur le Commissaire, and the Right Honourable the Earl of +Blackadder."</p> + +<p>"Oh! that noble sportsman? What's <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189"></a>[189]</span> wrong with him? What's he been +doing to you or you to him?"</p> + +<p>"I punched his head, that's all."</p> + +<p>"No doubt he deserved it; anyhow, Charlie Forrester will be pleased. +By-by, you'll see me again, and all the chaps I can pick up at the +Cercle and the hotels near."</p> + +<p>Then our procession passed on, the Colonel and gendarmes leading, +Tiler and I with l'Echelle close behind.</p> + +<p>We found my lord awaiting us. He had driven on ahead in a <i>fiacre</i> and +was standing alone at the entrance to the police office, which is +situated on the ground floor of the Hôtel de Ville, a pretty +old-fashioned building of gray stone just facing the Etablissement +Thermale, the home of the far-famed baths from which <i>Aix-les-Bains</i> +takes its name.</p> + +<p>"In here?" asked my lord; and with a brief wave of his hand he would +have passed in first, but the officers of the law put him rather +rudely aside and claimed precedence for their prisoner.</p> + +<p>But when M. le Commissaire, who was there, seated at a table opposite +his <i>greffier</i>, rose and bowed stiffly, inquiring our business, my +lord <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190"></a>[190]</span> pushed forward into the front and began very warmly, in passable +French:</p> + +<p>"I am an aggrieved person seeking justice on a wrong-doer. I—demand +justice of you—"</p> + +<p>"<i>Pardon, monsieur, je vous prie.</i> We must proceed in order, and first +allow me to assure you that justice is always done in France. No one +need claim it in the tone you have assumed."</p> + +<p>The Commissary was a solemn person, full of the stiff formality +exhibited by members of the French magistracy, the juniors especially. +He was dressed in discreet black, his clean-shaven, imperturbable face +showed over a stiff collar, and he wore the conventional white tie of +the French official.</p> + +<p>"Allow me to ask—" he went on coldly.</p> + +<p>"I will explain in a few words," began my lord, replying hurriedly.</p> + +<p>"Stay, monsieur, it is not from you that I seek explanation. It is the +duty of the officers of the law now present, and prepared, I presume, +to make their report. Proceed, sergeant."</p> + +<p>"But you must hear me, M. le Commissary; I call upon and require you +to do so. I have <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191"></a>[191]</span> been shamefully ill-used by that man there." He +shook his finger at the Colonel. "He has violently assaulted me. I am +Lord Blackadder, an English peer. I am entitled to your best +consideration."</p> + +<p>"Every individual, the poorest, meanest, is entitled to that in +republican France. You shall have it, sir, but only as I see fit to +accord it. I must first hear the story from my own people. Go on, +sergeant."</p> + +<p>"I protest," persisted my lord. "You must attend to me—you shall +listen to me. I shall complain to your superiors—I shall bring the +matter before the British ambassador. Do you realize who and what I +am?"</p> + +<p>"You appear to be a gentleman with an uncontrollable temper, whose +conduct is most improper. I must ask you to behave yourself, to +respect the <i>convenances</i>, or I shall be compelled to show you the +door."</p> + +<p>"I will not be put down in this way, I will speak; I—I—"</p> + +<p>"Silence, monsieur. I call upon you, explicitly, to moderate your tone +and pay proper deference to my authority." With this the commissary +pulled out a drawer, extracted a tricolour sash and slowly buckled it +round his <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192"></a>[192]</span> waist, then once more turned interrogatively to the +sergeant:</p> + +<p>"It is nothing very serious, M. le Commissaire," said the treacherous +gendarme. "A simple brawl—a blow struck, possibly returned—a mere +<i>rixe</i>."</p> + +<p>"Between gentlemen? <i>Fi donc!</i> Why the commonest <i>voyous</i>, the +<i>rôdeurs</i> of the <i>barrière</i>, could not do worse. It is not our French +way. Men of honour settle their disputes differently; they do not come +to the <i>police correctionnelle</i>."</p> + +<p>"Pray do not think it is my desire," broke in the Colonel, with his +customary fierceness. "I have offered Lord Blackadder satisfaction as +a gentleman, and am ready to meet him when and how he pleases."</p> + +<p>"I cannot listen to you, sir. Duels are in contravention of the Code. +But I recommend you to take your quarrels elsewhere, and not to waste +my time."</p> + +<p>"This is quite unheard of," cried my lord, now thoroughly aroused. +"You are shamefully neglecting your duty, M. le Commissaire, and it +cannot be tolerated."</p> + +<p>"I am not responsible to you, sir, and will account for my action <i>à +qui de droit</i>, to those <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193"></a>[193]</span> who have the right to question me. The case +is dismissed. Gendarmes, release your prisoner, and let everyone +withdraw."</p> + +<p>We all trooped out into the square, where a number of persons had +assembled, evidently the Colonel's friends, for they greeted him +uproariously.</p> + +<p>"The prisoner has left the court without a stain upon his character," +the Colonel shouted in answer to their noisy inquiries.</p> + +<p>"But what was it? Why did they run you in?" they still asked.</p> + +<p>"I refer you to this gentleman, Lord Blackadder. Perhaps some of you +know him. At any rate you've heard of him. We had a difference of +opinion, and I was compelled to administer chastisement." A lot of +impudent chaff followed.</p> + +<p>"Oh! really, pray introduce me to his lordship," said one. "Does your +lordship propose to make a long stay in Aix? Can we be of any use to +you?" "You mustn't mind Basil Annesley; he's always full of his +games." "Hope he didn't hurt you. He didn't mean it really;" and I +could see that the Earl could hardly contain himself in his rage.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194"></a>[194]</span> </p> + +<p>Then, suddenly muttering something about "bounders" and "cads," he +forced his way through and hurried off, shouting his parting +instructions to us to join him as soon as possible at the Hôtel +Hautecombe on the hill.</p> + +<p>We followed quickly, and were ushered at once into his private +apartment. It was essential to confer and decide upon some plan of +action; but when I asked him what he proposed to do next, he received +my harmless request with a storm of invective and reproach.</p> + +<p>"You miserable and incompetent fools! Don't expect me to tell you your +business. Why do I pay you? Why indeed? Nothing you have done has been +of the very slightest use; on the contrary, through your beastly +mismanagement I have been dragged into this degrading position, held +up to ridicule and contempt before all the world. And with it all, the +whole thing has failed. I sent you out to recover my child, and what +have you done? What has become of that abominable woman who stole it +from under your very noses? Blackguards! Bunglers! Idiots! Fat-headed +asses!"</p> + +<p>"Nay, my lord," pleaded Tiler humbly, for I confess I was so much +annoyed by this <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195"></a>[195]</span> undeserved reprimand I could not bring myself to +speak civilly. "I think I can assure your lordship that matters will +soon mend. The situation is not hopeless, believe me. You may rely on +us to regain touch with the fugitives without delay. I have a clue, +and with your lordship's permission will follow it at once."</p> + +<p>I saw clearly that he was set upon the absurd notion he had conceived +that the lady had gone westward, and I felt it my duty to warn the +Earl not to be misled by Tiler.</p> + +<p>"There is nothing in his clue, my lord. It is pure assumption, without +any good evidence to support it."</p> + +<p>"Let me hear this precious clue," said his lordship. "I will decide +what it is worth."</p> + +<p>Then Tiler propounded his theory.</p> + +<p>"It might be good enough," I interjected, "if I did not know the exact +contrary. The lady with her party was seen going in exactly the +opposite direction. I know it for a fact."</p> + +<p>"And I am equally positive of what I saw," said Tiler.</p> + +<p>His lordship looked from one to the other, plainly perplexed and with +increasing anger.</p> + +<p>"By the Lord Harry, it's pleasant to be <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196"></a>[196]</span> served by a couple of such +useless creatures who differ so entirely in their views that they +cannot agree upon a common plan of action. How can I decide as to the +best course if you give me no help?"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps your lordship will allow me to make a suggestion?" I said +gravely, and I flatter myself with some dignity, for I wished to show +I was not pleased with the way he treated us.</p> + +<p>"Whether the lady has gone north or south, east or west, may be +uncertain; and although I am satisfied in my own mind as to the +direction she took, I am willing to await further developments before +embarking on any further chase. To my mind the best clue, the real, +the only clue, lies here, in our very hands. If we have only a little +patience, this Colonel Annesley will act as a sign-post."</p> + +<p>"You think that some communication will reach him from the fugitives?"</p> + +<p>"Most decidedly I do. I firmly believe that the lady relies upon him +greatly, and will in all probability call him to her, or if not that +she will wish to let him know how she has got on."</p> + +<p>For the first time in this unpleasant interview <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197"></a>[197]</span> his lordship looked +at me approvingly. He quite changed his tone and dropped his +aggressive manner.</p> + +<p>"I believe you are entirely right, Falfani, and cordially agree with +your suggestion," he said with great heartiness. "Let it be adopted at +once. Take immediate steps, if you please, to set a close watch on +this pestilent villain Annesley; keep him continually under your eye."</p> + +<p>"We've got to find him first," objected Tiler gruffly and +despondently.</p> + +<p>"It ought not to be difficult, seeing that he was here half an hour +ago, and we can hunt up l'Echelle, who will surely know, and who I +have reason to hope is on our side."</p> + +<p>"Do it one way or another. I look to you for that, and let me know the +result without loss of time. Then we will confer again and arrange +further. Leave me now."</p> + +<p>I accepted my dismissal and moved towards the door, but Tiler hung +behind, and I heard him say timidly:</p> + +<p>"May I crave your lordship's pardon—and I trust you rely on my entire +devotion to your lordship's service—but there is one thing I most +earnestly desire to do."</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198"></a>[198]</span> </p> + +<p>"Go on."</p> + +<p>"And that is to follow my own clue, at least for a time. It is the +right one I firmly believe, and I am satisfied it would be wrong, +criminal even to neglect it. Will you allow me to absent myself if +only for a few days? That should suffice to settle the point. If I +fail I will return with all speed. If, as I hope and believe, I strike +the scent, assuredly you will not regret it."</p> + +<p>"There's something in what you say. At any rate that line ought to be +looked up," said his lordship. "I am willing to wait a day or two +until you return or report, or unless something more definite turns up +in the other direction. I suppose he can be spared, Falfani?"</p> + +<p>"He will be no manner of use here, it will be better to let him go; +let him run after his red herring, he'll precious soon find out his +mistake."</p> + +<p>"We shall see," said Tiler, elated and cocksure, and I freely confess +we did see that he was not quite the fool I thought him.</p> + + + + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199"></a>[199]</span> </p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI.</h2> + + +<p>On leaving his lordship I descended to the grand entrance to the hotel +with the intention of beating up the Colonel's quarters in Aix. +Although the hotels were certain to be crowded at this, the height of +the season, the town is not really large, the visitors' lists are well +posted with new arrivals, and there are one or two public places where +people always turn up at some time or other in the day. The <i>cercle</i> +or <i>casino</i> and its <i>succursale</i> the Villa des Fleurs, with their many +spacious rooms, reading-room, concert-room, baccarat-room, their +restaurants, their beautiful gardens, are thronged at all hours of the +day with the smart folk of all nationalities.</p> + +<p>I stood on the top of the steps waiting for the private omnibus that +plies between the hotel and the town below, when I heard my name +called from behind, and turning, was confronted by Jules l'Echelle.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200"></a>[200]</span> </p> + +<p>"Hullo!" I cried, eying him suspiciously. "What brings you up here?"</p> + +<p>"The Colonel, my master—for I have taken service with him, you must +know—sent me here to inquire whether we could have rooms."</p> + +<p>"Why does he choose this hotel of all others?" I asked in a +dissatisfied tone, although in my secret heart I was overjoyed.</p> + +<p>"It's the best, isn't it? Haven't you come here?"</p> + +<p>"My Lord Blackadder has, but that's another pair of shoes. There's +some difference between him and a beggarly half-pay Colonel who will +very likely have to black the boots to work out his bill. They know +how to charge here."</p> + +<p>"The Colonel, I take it, can pay his way as well as most people. +Anyhow, he's coming to stop here."</p> + +<p>"For any time?"</p> + +<p>"Likely enough. He said something about going through the course, +taking the baths, and among the rest asked me to find out the best +doctor."</p> + +<p>"That'll mean a lengthened stay; three weeks at least."</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201"></a>[201]</span> </p> + +<p>"Well, why shouldn't he? He's his own master."</p> + +<p>"Then he's finished with that foolish business about the lady; had +enough of it, I suppose; burnt his fingers and done no earthly good."</p> + +<p>"How do I know? It's not my business; but I fancy I have fallen into a +snug berth, a soft job, better than making beds in a sleeping-car and +being shaken to death in express trains."</p> + +<p>"Good wages, if it's a fair question?"</p> + +<p>"Fifty francs a week, <i>pour tout potage</i>."</p> + +<p>I looked at him hard, revolving in my mind how best to approach him. +L'Echelle was a Swiss, and with most of his sort it is only a question +of price. How much would it take to buy him?</p> + +<p>"Well, how have you fared? Have you succeeded in getting your rooms? +Will your Colonel move up?"</p> + +<p>"What would his lordship say? Wouldn't like it much, I expect. Shall I +prevent it? It will be easy to say there are no rooms. I'll do just as +you please."</p> + +<p>"You're very obliging."</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202"></a>[202]</span> </p> + +<p>"I'm willing enough to oblige, as I've always told you—at a price."</p> + +<p>"Put a name to it; but don't forget you've had something on account. +Last night I gave you five hundred francs."</p> + +<p>"Bah! I want a lot more than that, a thousand francs down and fifty +francs a day so long as I serve you. Do you agree to my terms?"</p> + +<p>"My lord won't. He looks both sides of his money, and pays no fancy +prices for a pig in a poke."</p> + +<p>"Then I'll take my pigs to another market. Suppose I let the Colonel +know what you've been at, trying to tamper with me. This hotel +wouldn't be big enough to hold him and your patron together."</p> + +<p>"Well,"—I hesitated, not willing to appear too anxious,—"let's say, +just for argument's sake, that you got what you ask, or something near +it. I'm not in a position to promise it, no, not the half of it. But +we'll agree what you'd do for us in return?"</p> + +<p>"Anything you chose to ask."</p> + +<p>"Would you come over to us, belong to us body and soul? Think first of +my lord, put his interests before the Colonel's; tell us what <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203"></a>[203]</span> the +Colonel's doing, his game from day to day, read his letters, and tell +us their contents; spy on his actions, watch him at every turn, his +comings and his goings; the houses he calls at, the people he meets, +every move he makes or has in view?"</p> + +<p>"If I promise to do all that will you promise not to give me away? +You'll keep your own counsel and protect me from the Colonel? If he +got a whisper I was selling him I'd lose my place and he'd half kill +me into the bargain."</p> + +<p>"Not a soul shall know but my lord and myself. I must consult him, or +you won't get the money."</p> + +<p>"But there is that other chap, the one who joined us at Culoz, and who +was with you at the Commissariat, a new face to me. One of your own +party, wasn't he?"</p> + +<p>"To be sure, Tiler; he's on the job, too, came out when I did from +London. But he's gone, left us half an hour ago."</p> + +<p>"For good and all? Sacked, dropped out, or what?"</p> + +<p>"Gone to follow up a game of his own. He thinks he knows better than +any one else; believes the lady has harked back, and is following <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204"></a>[204]</span> her +to Amberieu, Maçon, Paris, England perhaps. God knows where. It's a +wild goose chase, of course; but my lord leans to it, and so it is to +be tried."</p> + +<p>"You don't agree?"</p> + +<p>"How can I when I'm satisfied he's wrong? She was seen in the express +for Modane, making for the Mont Cenis tunnel. Of course that's the +true direction. She was aiming for Italy from the first; the other +sister, the divorced lady, is there; we've always known that. Go back +to England! Bah! absolute rot. I'd stick to my opinion against fifty +fools like Tiler."</p> + +<p>"It's a bargain, then; I can count upon the cash? How soon shall you +know? I'd like to begin at once; there's something I would tell you +here, and now, that would interest you very much. But money down is my +rule."</p> + +<p>"Let me run up and ask his lordship. I won't keep you five minutes."</p> + +<p>My lord gave his consent a little grudgingly, but was presently +persuaded that it was to his own advantage to have a spy in the heart +of the enemy's camp. That was soon seen when l'Echelle had pocketed +his notes and gave us the news in exchange.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205"></a>[205]</span> </p> + +<p>"Now that I'm my lord's man I don't mind telling you that the Colonel +does not mean to stay long in Aix, not one minute longer than till the +call comes."</p> + +<p>"He expects a call?"</p> + +<p>"Assuredly. He wants you to think he's a fixture here, but he means to +cut and run after my lady whenever she sends to him. He'll be off then +faster than that," he snapped his fingers, "and you won't find it easy +to catch him."</p> + +<p>"That's good. You'll be well worth your money, I can see. Only be +diligent, watch closely, and keep us fully informed. We shall trust +very greatly to you."</p> + +<p>"Your trust shall not be misplaced. When I take an employer's pay I +serve him faithfully and to the best of my power," he said with an +engaging frankness that won me completely.</p> + +<p>Lord! Lord! what liars men are and what fools! I might have guessed +how much reliance was to be placed upon a man who, to my certain +knowledge, was serving two masters.</p> + +<p>Why should he be more faithful to my lord than to the Colonel?</p> + + + + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206"></a>[206]</span> </p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a>CHAPTER XXII.</h2> + + +<p>The rest of the first day at Aix passed without any important +incident. I was a trifle surprised that the Colonel did not put in an +appearance; but it was explained by l'Echelle, whom I met by +appointment later in the day. I understood from him that the Colonel +had decided to remain down in the town, where he had many friends, and +where he was more in the thick of the fun. For Aix-les-Bains, as every +one knows, is a lively little place in the season, and the heart and +centre of it all is the Casino. The Colonel had established himself in +a hotel almost next door, and ran up against me continually that +afternoon and evening, as I wandered about now under the trees +listening to the band, now at the baccarat table, where I occasionally +staked a few <i>jetons</i> of the smaller values.</p> + +<p>He never failed to meet my eye when it rested on him; he seemed to +know intuitively when I watched him, and he always looked <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207"></a>[207]</span> back and +laughed. If any one was with him, as was generally the case—smart +ladies and men of his own stamp, with all of whom he seemed on very +familiar terms—he invariably drew their attention to me, and they, +too, laughed aloud after a prolonged stare. It was a little +embarrassing; he had so evidently disclosed my business, in scornful +terms no doubt, and held me up to ridicule, describing in his own way +and much to my discredit all that had happened between us. Once he had +the effrontery to accost me as I stood facing the green board on which +the telegrams are exposed.</p> + +<p>"Where have we met?" he began, with a mocking laugh. "I seem to know +your face. Ah, of course, my old friend Falfani, the private detective +who appeared in the Blackadder case. And I think I have come across +you more recently."</p> + +<p>"I beg you will not address yourself to me. I don't know you, I don't +wish to know you," I replied, with all the dignity I could assume. "I +decline to hold any conversation with you," and I moved away.</p> + +<p>But several of his rowdy friends closed <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208"></a>[208]</span> around me and held me there, +compelled to listen to his gibes as he rattled on.</p> + +<p>"How is his lordship? Well, I hope. None the worse for that little +<i>contretemps</i> this morning. May I ask you to convey to him my deep +regrets for what occurred, and my sincere wishes for his recovery? If +there is anything I can do for his lordship, any information I can +give him, he knows, I trust, that he can command me. Does he propose +to make a lengthened stay here?"</p> + +<p>"His lordship—" I tried vainly to interrupt him.</p> + +<p>"Let me urge him most strongly to go through the course. The warm +baths are truly delightful and most efficacious in calming the temper +and restoring the nerve-power. He should take the Aix treatment, he +should indeed. I am doing so, tell him; it may encourage him."</p> + +<p>"Colonel, this is quite insufferable," I cried, goaded almost to +madness. "I shall stand no more of it. Leave me in peace, I'll have no +more truck with you."</p> + +<p>"And yet it would be wiser. I am the only person who can be of any use +to you. You <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209"></a>[209]</span> will have to come to me yet. Better make friends."</p> + +<p>"We can do without you, thank you," I said stiffly. "His lordship +would not be beholden to you, I feel sure. He can choose his own +agents."</p> + +<p>"And in his own sneaking, underhand way," the Colonel answered +quickly, and with such a meaning look that I was half-afraid he +suspected that we were tampering with his man. "But two can play at +that game, as you may find some day."</p> + +<p>When I met l'Echelle that same evening as arranged, at the Café Amadeo +in the Place Carnot, I questioned him closely as to whether his master +had any suspicion of him, but he answered me stoutly it was quite +impossible.</p> + +<p>"He knows I see you, that of course, but he firmly believes it is in +his own service. He is just as anxious to know what you are doing as +you are to observe him. By the way, have you heard anything of your +other man?"</p> + +<p>"Why should I tell you?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, don't trouble; only if I could pass him on a bit of news either +way it might lead him to show his hand. If Tiler is getting 'hot'—you +know the old game—he might like to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210"></a>[210]</span> go after him. If Tiler is thrown +out the Colonel will want to give help in the other direction."</p> + +<p>"That's sound sense, I admit. But all I can tell you is we had a +telegram from him an hour or two ago which doesn't look as if he was +doing much good. It was sent from Lyons, a roundabout way of getting +to Paris from here, and now he's going south! Of all the born idiots!"</p> + +<p>"Poor devil! That's how he's made. It's not everyone who's a born +detective, friend Falfani. It's lucky my lord has you at his elbow."</p> + +<p>We parted excellent friends. The more I saw of l'Echelle the more I +liked him. It was a pleasure to work with a man of such acute +perceptions, and I told him so.</p> + +<p>Nothing fresh occurred that night or the next day. I was never very +far off my Colonel, and watched him continually but unobtrusively. I +hope I know my business well enough for that.</p> + +<p>I was rather struck by a change in his demeanour. It was very subtle, +and everyone might have noticed it. He wore an air of preoccupation +that spoke to me of an uneasy mind. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211"></a>[211]</span> He was unhappy about something; +some doubt, some secret dread oppressed him, and more than once I +thought he wished to keep out of sight and avoid my searching +interrogative eyes.</p> + +<p>"You're right," said l'Echelle. "He's down on his luck, and he don't +want you to see it. He's dying for news that don't seem in a hurry to +come. Half a dozen times to-day he's asked me to inquire if there's a +telegram for him, and he haunts the hall porter's box continually in +the hope of getting one. Have you heard any more from Tiler?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, another mad telegram, this time from Marseilles. Fancy that! It +will be Constantinople next or Grand Cairo or Timbuctoo. The folly of +it!"</p> + +<p>"What does my lord say?"</p> + +<p>"Plenty, and it's not pleasant to bear. He's getting fairly wild, and +cart ropes won't hold him. He wants to go racing after Tiler now, and +if he does he'll give away the whole show. I hope to heaven your boss +will show his hand soon."</p> + +<p>"It's not for me to make him, you must admit that. But cheer up, +<i>copain</i>, things may mend."</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212"></a>[212]</span> </p> + +<p>They did, as often happens when they seem to be at their worst.</p> + +<p>I have always been an early riser, and was specially so at Aix, now +when the heat was intense, and the pleasantest hours of the day were +before the sun had risen high. I was putting the finishing touches to +my toilette about 7 <span class="smcap">a.m</span>. when I heard a knock at my door, and +without waiting permission l'Echelle rushed in.</p> + +<p>"Already dressed? What luck! There is not a moment to lose. Come +along. I've a <i>fiacre</i> at the door below."</p> + +<p>He gave the <i>établissement</i> as the address, and we were soon tearing +down the hill. As we drove along l'Echelle told me the news.</p> + +<p>"It's come, that satanic telegram, and just what he wanted, I'm +prepared to swear. He simply jumped for joy when he read it."</p> + +<p>"But what was the message? Go on, go on, out with it!" I shouted +almost mad with excitement.</p> + +<p>"I can't tell you that, for I haven't seen it yet."</p> + +<p>"Are you making a fool of me?"</p> + +<p>"How could I see it? He put it straight <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213"></a>[213]</span> into his pocket. But I mean +to see it pretty soon, and so shall you."</p> + +<p>"You mean to abstract it somehow—pick his pocket, or what?"</p> + +<p>"Simplest thing in the world. You see he's gone to have his bath, he +likes to be early, and he's undergoing the douche at this very moment, +which means naturally that he's taken off his clothes, and they are +waiting in the dressing-room for me to take home. I shall have a good +quarter of an hour and more to spare before they carry him back to the +hotel in his blankets and get him to bed."</p> + +<p>"Ha!" I said, "that's a brilliant idea. How do you mean to work it +out?"</p> + +<p>"Take the telegram out of his waistcoat pocket, read it, or bring it +to you."</p> + +<p>"Bring it; that will be best," I interrupted, feeling a tinge of +suspicion.</p> + +<p>"But I must put it straight back," continued l'Echelle, "for he is +sure to ask for it directly he returns to the hotel."</p> + +<p>Within a few minutes he had gone in and out again, carrying now one of +the black linen bags used by <i>valets de chambres</i> to carry their +masters' clothes in. He winked at me as he passed, and we walked +together to a shady, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214"></a>[214]</span> retired spot in the little square where the +cab-stand is, and sat in the newspaper kiosk on a couple of +straw-bottomed chairs of the Central <i>café</i>.</p> + +<p>"Read that," he said triumphantly, as he handed me the familiar scrap +of blue paper.</p> + +<p>"Have got safely so far with nurse and baby—entreat you to follow +with all possible speed—dying to get on.—<span class="smcap">Claire</span>, Hôtel +Cavour, Milan."</p> + +<p>"Excellent!" I cried, slapping my thigh. "This settles all doubts. So +much for that fool Tiler. My lord will be very grateful to you," and I +handed him back the telegram, having first copied it word for word in +my note-book.</p> + +<p>"It means, I suppose," suggested l'Echelle, "that you will make for +Milan, too?"</p> + +<p>"No fear—by the first train. You'll be clever if you get the start of +us, for I presume you will be moving."</p> + +<p>"I haven't the smallest doubt of that; we shall be quite a merry +party. It will be quite like old times."</p> + + + + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215"></a>[215]</span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXIII.</h2> + +<h3>[<i>Colonel Annesley again.</i>]</h3> +<p> +I had no reason to complain of the course of events culminating in the +affair at Culoz. I defended to myself the assault upon Lord Blackadder +as in a measure provoked and justifiable under the circumstances, +although I was really sorry for him and at the poor figure he cut +before the police magistrate and gendarmes. But I could not forget the +part he had played throughout, nor was I at all disposed to turn aside +from my set purpose to help the ladies in their distress. Every man of +proper feeling would be moved thereto, and I knew in my secret heart +that very tender motives impelled me to the unstinting championship of +Lady Claire.</p> + +<p>I was still without definite news of what had happened between the two +sisters while I was covering their movements at Culoz. I could not +know for certain whether or not the exchange had actually been +effected, and I did <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216"></a>[216]</span> not dare inquire about the station, for it might +betray facts and endanger results. I had no hope of a message from +Lady Henriette, for she would hardly know where to address me. Lady +Claire would almost certainly telegraph to me via London at the very +earliest opportunity, and I was careful to wire from Culoz to the hall +porter of my club, begging him to send on everything without a +moment's delay.</p> + +<p>Then, while still in the dark, I set myself like a prudent general to +discover what the enemy was doing. He was here in Aix in the persons +of Lord Blackadder and his two devoted henchmen, Falfani and Tiler. I +had heard the appointment he had given them at the Hôtel Hautecombe, +and I cast about me to consider how I might gain some inkling of their +intentions. Luckily I had desired l'Echelle, the sleeping-car +conductor, to stick to me on leaving the police office, and I put it +to him whether or not he was willing to enter my service.</p> + +<p>"I will take you on entirely," I promised, "if you choose to leave +your present employment. You shall be my own man, my valet and +personal attendant. It is likely that I <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217"></a>[217]</span> may wander about the +Continent for some time, and it may suit you to come with me."</p> + +<p>He seemed pleased at the idea, and we quickly agreed as to terms.</p> + +<p>"Now, l'Echelle," I went on, "after last night I think I may trust you +to do what I want, and I promise you I won't forget it. Find out what +the other side is at, and contrive somehow to become acquainted with +Lord Blackadder's plans."</p> + +<p>"How far may I go?" he asked me plump. "They are pretty sure to try +and win me over, they've done so already. Shall I accept their bid? It +would be the easiest way to know all you want."</p> + +<p>"It's devilish underhand," I protested.</p> + +<p>"You'll be paying them back in their own coin," he returned. "<i>A +corsaire fieffé corsaire et demi.</i> It will be to my advantage, and you +won't lose."</p> + +<p>"Upon my soul, I don't quite like it." I still hung back, but his +arguments seemed so plausible that they overcame my scruples, and I +was not sorry for it in the long run.</p> + +<p>[<i>The reader has already been told how Falfani craftily approached +l'Echelle, and found him, as he thought, an easy prey. We know</i> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218"></a>[218]</span> <i>how +the communication was kept up between the two camps, how Falfani was +fooled into believing that he kept close watch over Colonel Annesley +through l'Echelle, how the latter told his real master the true news +of the progress made by Tiler. When there could be little doubt that +the chase was growing warm and had gone as far as Lyons, the Colonel +felt that there was danger and that he must take more active steps to +divert the pursuit and mislead the pursuers. The Colonel shall +continue in his own words.</i>]</p> + +<p>I was much disturbed when I learnt that Tiler had wired from Lyons. I +saw clearly what it meant. The next message would disclose the +whereabouts of the Lady Claire, at that time the only lady, as they +thought, in the case, and the lady with the real child. It would soon +be impossible for me to make use of the second with the sham child to +draw the pursuers after her. In this it must be understood that, +although I had no certainty of it, I took it for granted that the +little Lord Aspdale was with his aunt and not with his mother, who, as +I sincerely believed, had already reached Fuentellato.</p> + +<p>It was essential now to persuade my Lord <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219"></a>[219]</span> Blackadder and his people +that this was the case, and induce them to embark upon a hasty +expedition into Italy.</p> + +<p>I therefore concocted a cunning plan with l'Echelle for leading them +astray. It was easy enough to arrange for the despatch of a telegram +from Milan to me at Aix, a despatch to be handed in at the former +place by a friend of l'Echelle's, but purporting to come from Lady +Claire. My man had any number of acquaintances in the railway service, +one or more passed daily through Aix with the express trains going +east or west; and with the payment of a substantial douceur the trick +was done.</p> + +<p>The spurious message reached me in Aix early on the third morning, and +the second act in the fraud was that l'Echelle should allow Falfani to +see the telegram. He carried out the deception with consummate skill, +pretending to pick my pocket of the telegram, which he then put under +Falfani's eyes. The third act was to be my immediate exit from Aix. I +made no secret of this, very much the reverse. Notice was given at the +hotel bureau to prepare my bill, and insert my name on the list of +departures by the afternoon express, the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220"></a>[220]</span> 1.41 <span class="smcap">p.m</span>. for +Modane and Italy. It was quite certain that I should not be allowed to +go off alone.</p> + +<p>And suddenly, like a bolt from the blue, came a complete change in the +situation. Not long after I had consumed my morning <i>café au lait</i> and +rolls, the conventional <i>petit déjeuner</i> of French custom, a letter +was brought to my bedside, where, again according to rule, I was +resting after my bath.</p> + +<p>I expected no letters, no one except the porter of my London club knew +my present address, and the interval was too short since my telegram +to him to allow of letters reaching me in the ordinary course of the +post.</p> + +<p>I turned over the strange missive, the address in a lady's hand quite +unknown to me, examining it closely, as one does when mystified, +guessing vainly at a solution instead of settling it by instantly +breaking the seal.</p> + +<p>When at last I opened it my eye went first to the signature. To my +utter amazement I read the name, "Henriette Standish." It was dated +from the Hôtel de Modena, Aix-les-Bains, a small private hotel quite +in the suburbs in the direction of the Grand Port, and it ran as +follows:</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221"></a>[221]</span> </p> + +<p class="blockquot">"<span class="smcap">Dear Colonel Annesley</span>:—I have only just seen in the +<i>Gazette des Etrangers</i> that you are staying in Aix. I also am here, +having been unable to proceed on my journey as I intended after +meeting my sister at Culoz. I thought of remaining here a few days +longer, but I have also read Lord Blackadder's name in the list.<br /> + +<br />"What is to be done? I am horribly frightened, and greatly vexed with +myself for having put myself in this painful and most embarrassing +position.<br /> + +<br />"May I venture to ask your counsel and help? I beg and entreat you +will come to me as soon as possible after receipt of this. Ask for +Mrs. Blair. Although I have never had the pleasure of meeting you, +your extreme kindness to Claire emboldens me to make this appeal to +you. I shall be at home all the morning. Indeed, I have hardly left +the house yet, and certainly shall not do so now that I know <i>he</i> is +here.</p> +<p class="blockquot"> +"Always very gratefully and sincerely + yours, +</p> +<p class="blockfor"><span class="smcap">"Henriette Standish</span>."</p> + + +<p>Here was a pretty kettle of fish! Lady Blackadder in Aix! Was there +ever such a <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222"></a>[222]</span> broken reed of a woman? Already she had spoilt her +sister's nice combinations by turning back from Amberieu when the road +to safety with her darling child lay open to her. Now for the second +time she was putting our plans in jeopardy. How could I hope to lure +her pursuers away to a distance when she was here actually on the +spot, and might be run into at any moment? For the present all my +movements were in abeyance. I had reason to fear—how much reason I +did not even then realize—they would be interfered with, and that a +terrible collapse threatened us.</p> + +<p>I dressed hurriedly and walked down to the Hôtel Modena, where I was +instantly received. "Mrs. Blair" had given orders that I should be +admitted the moment I appeared. I had had one glimpse of this tall, +graceful creature, who so exactly reproduced the beautiful traits of +her twin sister that she might indeed at a distance be taken for her +double. There was the same proud carriage of her head, the same lithe +figure, even her musical voice when she greeted me with shy cordiality +might have been the voice of Lady Claire.</p> + +<p>But the moment I looked into her face I saw a very distinct +difference, not in outward <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223"></a>[223]</span> feature, but in the inward character that +is revealed by the eyes, the lines of the mouth, the shape of the +lower jaw. In Lady Claire the first were steady and spoke of high +courage, of firm, fixed purpose; the mouth, as perfectly curved as +Cupid's bow, was resolute and determined, the well-shaped, rounded +chin was held erect, and might easily become defiant, even aggressive.</p> + +<p>Lady Henriette was evidently cast in another mould. Her eyes, of the +same violet blue, were pretty, pleading, soft in expression, but often +downcast and deprecating; the mouth and chin were weak and irresolute. +It was the same lovely face as Lady Claire's, and to some might seem +the sweeter, indicating the tender, clinging, yielding nature that +commonly appeals to the stronger sex; but to me she lost in every +respect by comparison with her more energetic, self-reliant sister.</p> + +<p>I heard the explanation, such as it was, without the smallest +surprise; it was very much what I expected now when I was permitted to +know and appreciate her better.</p> + +<p>"What shall I say, Colonel Annesley, and what will you think of me?" +she began plaintively, almost piteously. "But the moment I <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224"></a>[224]</span> found I +had to part with my child my courage broke down. I became incapable of +doing anything. I seemed quite paralyzed. I am not brave, you know, +like my dearest Claire, or strong-minded, and I quite collapsed."</p> + +<p>"But I hope and trust you have made the exchange. Lady Claire has +little Lord Aspdale and has left you the dummy? Tell me, I beg."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, yes, we made the exchange," she replied, in such a +faltering, undecided voice that I doubted, and yet could not bring +myself to believe that she was not telling the truth.</p> + +<p>"So much depends upon it, you see. Everything indeed. It would be a +very serious matter if—if—"</p> + +<p>"The contrary was the case," I wanted to say, yet how could I? I +should be charging her directly with wilfully misleading me, and +deceiving me in this moment of extreme peril.</p> + +<p>"But what will happen now?" she said, her voice faltering, her eyes +filling, and seemingly on the very verge of hysterics. "What if +Blackadder should find that I am here, and—and—"</p> + +<p>"He can do nothing to you unless he has a <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225"></a>[225]</span> right to act, unless," I +answered unhesitatingly and a little cruelly perhaps, regardless of +the scared look in her face, "you have good reason to dread his +interference. Lady Henriette, you have not been quite straight with +me, I fear. Where is little Lord Aspdale?"</p> + +<p>"In there!" she pointed to an inner room, and burst into +uncontrollable tears.</p> + + + + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226"></a>[226]</span> </p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXIV.</h2> + + +<p>To say that I was aghast at the discovery of Lady Blackadder, or, as +she preferred to call herself, Lady Henriette Standish, in Aix, and +with the precious child, would but imperfectly express my feelings. +For the moment I was so utterly taken aback that I could decide upon +no new plan of action. I sat there helplessly staring at the poor +creature, so full of grief and remorse that I was quite unable to rise +to the occasion. I had counted so securely upon tricking Lord +Blackadder into a barren pursuit that my disappointment was +overwhelming and paralyzed my inventiveness.</p> + +<p>Only by slow degrees did I evolve certain definite facts and +conclusions. The most essential thing was to get Lord Blackadder away +from Aix. So long as he remained he was an ever present danger; our +game was up directly he awoke to the true state of affairs. He could +appeal now to the police with better <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227"></a>[227]</span> result than when claiming my +condign punishment. How was he to be got away? By drawing him after +me. Clearly I must go, and that not alone, but take them with me, +following me under the positive impression that I was leading them +straight to their goal. Not one hint, not the slightest suspicion must +be permitted to reach them that their quarry was here, just under +their feet. Undoubtedly I must adhere to my first plan. When I had +gone on with the others at my heels, the coast would be clear for Lady +Henriette, and she must double back once more and go into safe hiding +somewhere, while the hunt overshot its quarry and rolled on.</p> + +<p>So soon as Lady Blackadder recovered from her agitation, I essayed to +win her approval of my plans. But the idea of parting from me now that +she had laid hold of me was so repugnant to her that she yielded once +more to her nerves.</p> + +<p>"I beg and implore you, Colonel Annesley, not to leave me again. I +cannot possibly stay here alone. Let me go with you, please, please. +I'll do what you like, disguise myself, go third class, anything; but +for goodness' sake don't desert me, or I don't know what will +happen."</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228"></a>[228]</span> </p> + +<p>"There is simply no help for it, Lady Henriette. You simply must. It +is imperative that you should remain here at least for a day or two +while the others clear out of your way. It would be quite fatal if +they saw you or you came across them."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you're too cruel, it is perfectly inhuman. I shall tell Claire, I +am sure she will take my part. Oh, why isn't she here, why did I let +her leave me? I think I am the most wretched and ill-used woman +alive."</p> + +<p>These lamentations and indirect reproaches rather hardened my heart. +The woman was so unreasonable, so little mindful of what was being +done for her, that I lost my patience, and said very stiffly:</p> + +<p>"Lady Henriette, let us quite understand one another. Do you want to +keep your child? I tell you candidly there is only one way to save +it."</p> + +<p>"My darling Aspdale! Of course I want to keep him. How can you suggest +such a horrid idea? It is not a bit what I expected from you. Claire +told me—never mind what; but please understand that I will never give +my baby up."</p> + +<p>I was nettled by her perverseness, and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229"></a>[229]</span> although I tried hard to +school myself to patience, it was exceedingly difficult.</p> + +<p>"Indeed, Lady Henriette, I have no desire to separate you from your +child, nor would I counsel you under any circumstances to give it up. +But quite certainly while you are here in Aix you are in imminent +danger of losing it. You ought never to have kept it—it was madness +to come here and run straight into the jaws of danger."</p> + +<p>"How was I to know?" she retorted, now quite angrily. "I really think +it is too bad of you to reproach me. You are most unkind."</p> + +<p>"Dear, dear," I said fretfully, "this is all beside the question. What +is most urgent is to shield and save you now when the peril is most +pressing."</p> + +<p>"And yet you propose to leave me to fight it out alone? Is that +reasonable? Is it generous, chivalrous, to desert a poor woman in her +extremity?"</p> + +<p>"I protest, you must not put it like that. I have explained the +necessity. Surely you must see that it would be madness, quite fatal +for us, to be seen together, or for you to be seen at all. I must +still hoodwink them by going off this afternoon."</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230"></a>[230]</span> </p> + +<p>"And leave me without protection, with all I have at stake? If only +Claire was here."</p> + +<p>"It wouldn't mend matters much, except that Lady Claire would side +with me."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, you say that, you believe she thinks so much of you and your +opinion that she would agree to anything you suggest."</p> + +<p>"Mine is the safest and the only course," I replied, I am afraid with +some heat. "You must, you shall take it."</p> + +<p>"Upon my word, Colonel Annesley, you speak to me as if I were a +private soldier. Be good enough to remember that I am not under your +orders. I claim to decide for myself how I shall act."</p> + +<p>She was no longer piteous or beseeching; her tears had dried, a flush +of colour had risen to her cheeks, and it was evident that her despair +had given place to very distinct temper.</p> + +<p>I was in a rage myself, and sprang to my feet with a sharp exclamation +of disgust.</p> + +<p>"Really, Lady Henriette, you will drive me to wash my hands of the +whole business. But I came into it to oblige your sister, and I owe it +to her to do my best without reference to you. I have marked out a +line for myself, and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231"></a>[231]</span> I shall follow it. Unless you are disposed to +change your views, I shall stick to mine; and I do not see the use of +prolonging this interview. I will bid you good day."</p> + +<p>I moved towards the door, still keeping an eye on her, believing her +to be quite set in her fatuous refusal to hear reason. She still held +herself erect and defiant, and there seemed to be small hope of doing +anything with her. Then suddenly I saw symptoms of giving way. Signals +of distress were hung out in her quivering lip and the nervous +twitching of her hands. All at once she broke down and cried +passionately:</p> + +<p>"No, no, no; you must not leave me—not like that. I cannot bear it; I +am too miserable, too agitated, too terrified. I have no one to lean +on but you. What shall I do? What shall I do?" And she collapsed into +a chair, weeping as if her heart would break.</p> + +<p>The situation was awkward, embarrassing. At another time I might have +been puzzled how to deal with it, but this was a moment of supreme +emergency. A great crisis was imminent, the ruin of our scheme and the +downfall of our hopes were certainly at hand if I gave way to her. +Everything depended upon <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232"></a>[232]</span> my action, and I knew that the only chance +of safety lay in the execution of my design.</p> + +<p>This being so, her tears made no great impression on me. I may be +called a hard-hearted brute, but I really had no great sympathy with +her in her lamentations. It was not an occasion for tears, I felt; and +I must be firm and unwavering, whatever she might think of me. I +counted, at any rate, and with some assurance, on the approval of Lady +Claire if the details of this painful scene should ever come to her +ears.</p> + +<p>Nor could I wait till she chose to regain her composure. Time was too +precious to be wasted in any attempts to win her back to common sense, +and without waiting for permission I crossed the room, rang the bell, +and begged the waiter to summon the lady's maid. She was a strongly +built, matter-of-fact French woman, probably not easily disturbed; but +she glanced apprehensively at her mistress, and turned a suspicious +look on me.</p> + +<p>"You had better see to your lady," I said sharply. "She has an attack +of nerves. I've no doubt it will soon pass, but I'm afraid I have +imparted some distressing news. Be good enough to tell her when she +recovers that <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233"></a>[233]</span> I shall come back in half an hour, when I trust she +will be ready to accompany me."</p> + +<p>"What is this?" broke in Lady Henriette, suddenly interposing and +evidently roused to deep interest in my words. "Accompany you? Where, +I should like to know?"</p> + +<p>"Is that of much consequence? You have entreated me not to leave you. +Well, we shall not part; I propose to take you away with me. Do you +object? It was your own wish."</p> + +<p>"I retract that. I will not go with you; certainly not in the dark. +You must tell me first where you think of going, what you mean to do. +Is it likely that I should trust myself alone with an almost complete +stranger—a man who has shown me so little consideration, who has been +so unkind, so cruel, and who now wants to carry me off goodness knows +where, because he is so <i>obstinately determined</i> that his is the right +way to proceed."</p> + +<p>"Lady Henriette," I said civilly but very coldly, and putting the drag +on myself, for I confess she was trying me very hard, "let there be no +misunderstanding between us. Either you consent to my proposals +absolutely and unhesitatingly, or I shall withdraw altogether from +your service. I have felt that I <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234"></a>[234]</span> had a duty to Lady Claire, and I +have been honestly anxious to discharge it, but by your present +attitude I feel myself absolved from that duty. I am not unwilling to +accept responsibility, but only if I am allowed to act as I please."</p> + +<p>"Oh, how like a man! Of course you must have your own way, and every +one else must give in to you," she cried with aggravating emphasis, +giving me no credit for trying to choose the wisest course.</p> + +<p>"I know I'm right," I urged, a little feebly perhaps, for I was nearly +worn out by her prejudice and utterly illogical refusal to see how the +land lay. But I quickly recovered myself, and said quite peremptorily, +"You shall have half an hour to make up your mind, not a minute more, +Lady Henriette. You shall give me my answer when I return. I warn you +that I shall bring a carriage in half an hour, and I strongly advise +you to be ready to start with me. Have everything packed, please, and +the bill paid. I will take no denial, remember that."</p> + + + + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235"></a>[235]</span> </p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXV" id="CHAPTER_XXV"></a>CHAPTER XXV.</h2> + + +<p>I returned to my hotel vexed and irritated beyond measure by my +passage at arms with Lady Henriette Standish, and hating the prospect +of any further dealings with her. I very cordially echoed her repeated +cry for Lady Claire. Matters would have been very different had her +strong-minded sister been on the spot to use her influence and help us +with her counsel. What a contrast between the two women! I was more +and more drawn to the one, and more and more heartily despised the +other.</p> + +<p>With my mind full of the beautiful creature who had made me a willing +captive to her charms, her gracious presence was recalled to me by a +message from under her own hand. As I passed the threshold of my +hotel, the hall porter gave me a telegram from Lady Claire. It had +come via London, but the office of origin was Marseilles.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236"></a>[236]</span> </p> + +<div class="blockquot">"Reached so far, yesterday," it said. "One of them turned up +this morning—have no fear—exchange not effected—shall +remain here for the present—Hotel Terminus.<br /> + +<p class="quotsig">"Claire."</p></div> + +<p>I read and re-read this passage with a delightful feeling that it +brought me into touch with my love, and I may be permitted for seeing +in it clear proof of her bright wit and intelligence. She told me just +exactly all that it was essential to know: of the pursuit, of the +absence of pressing danger, of the abortive attempt to exchange +babies, and where she was to be found. Suppose that I had not met Lady +Henriette, I was fully prepared for anything that might occur.</p> + +<p>It was now barely 10 <span class="smcap">a.m.</span>, and the time intervening before +the departure of the eastward bound express (three and a half hours) +was none too much to carry out my intentions as to Lady Henriette.</p> + +<p>I first of all ordered a covered landau to be harnessed as speedily as +possible, and to be sent to await me in a side street near the Hôtel +Modena; then I summoned l'Echelle and bade him make all ready for the +journey. I also told <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237"></a>[237]</span> him that I should be busily engaged that +forenoon; but that as I might be obliged to run it very close for the +train, he was to make all preparations, to take the tickets, and await +me on the platform. I had debated anxiously with myself how far I +should betray the presence of Lady Henriette in Aix to l'Echelle, and +decided that, although I had no particular reason to doubt him, I felt +that it would be more prudent to keep the fact to myself. For the same +reason I kept him busily engaged in my bedroom packing, lest he should +spy upon my movements. There was still the fear that Falfani might be +on the watch, but I had been assured by l'Echelle that the Blackadder +party were so satisfied by the news he gave them that they left the +business of shadowing almost entirely to him.</p> + +<p>I was pretty sure that I reached the Hôtel Modena unobserved. I came +upon the carriage by the way, and as I passed briefly desired the +driver to follow me to the Hôtel Modena. Arriving there, I sent up my +name, and followed it, a little unceremoniously, to Lady Henriette's +sitting-room.</p> + +<p>She was there, dressed in hat and jacket, and so far disposed to +comply with my wishes. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238"></a>[238]</span> Her maid, Victorine, was with her, the baby on +her knee. Her baggage, happily light enough, was there, packed and all +ready for a start.</p> + +<p>But if I thought that Lady Henriette meant to yield without another +skirmish I was sadly mistaken. I was in for much more than a skirmish; +it was to be a battle royal.</p> + +<p>"The carriage is at the door," I said as pleasantly as possible. "We +have nearly an hour's drive before us, and I am delighted to think +that you are ready and willing to go with me."</p> + +<p>"I am ready, as you see, but not willing," she answered, bridling up +with a scornful air. "Very much the reverse indeed. The more I think +over it the more outrageous and preposterous your behaviour seems. +Where are we going? I insist upon knowing. I must have a plain +categorical answer or I will not move an inch." Her dogged, determined +air was belied by her dress and the obvious preparations already made +for departure. Her present attitude I set down to the vacillation of +her character. She might make up her mind one moment and one way, and +yet be quite prepared to change it the next.</p> + +<p>"You are fully entitled to know where you <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239"></a>[239]</span> are going, and I have not +the smallest desire to keep it from you," I replied, still speaking in +a smooth, courteous voice. "I propose that you should take up your +residence for a time—the very shortest time possible—at Le Bourget, +a small place at the head of the lake. You may know it; there is a +snug little hotel in the village, the Dent du Chat. You will like it."</p> + +<p>"I shall not like it. I dislike the whole idea exceedingly. Why should +I be buried alive in such an out-of-the-way spot?"</p> + +<p>"It will be no worse than Fuentellato, a place you chose for +yourself."</p> + +<p>"I have a house of my own there—my own servants. It is perfectly +safe."</p> + +<p>"Not now, believe me, they will come upon you there; trace you easily +and quickly, and they are capable of any violence to capture and +deprive you of your treasure." I pointed to the child on the maid's +knee.</p> + +<p>"I shall be more at their mercy here in Aix."</p> + +<p>"Be guided by me. I am certain of what I say. All will be well if you +will only keep out of the way now for a few hours, perhaps at most a +couple of days. If they do not find you at <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240"></a>[240]</span> once they will never find +you. Only let me have a short start ahead and I'll lead them a pretty +dance, and take them further and further away. You may rely on it, and +I assure you they will never be able to find you or do you any harm."</p> + +<p>"I wish I could believe you," she said. "If I could only believe in +you and trust you as Claire does," she murmured pathetically, still +tortured by doubt. "Why has Claire deserted me? If she were only here, +or I knew where to find her!"</p> + +<p>I was on the point of imparting my last news, but I checked myself. +Lady Henriette had seen her last, and must be well aware of the +direction she was taking to Lyons and Marseilles. It would only +unsettle her to know that her sister was at Marseilles to-day, and +would be at Genoa to-morrow. She would be mad to join her, and it was +my most earnest wish that, for the present at least, Lady Henriette +should keep quiet in the background with her charge.</p> + +<p>"You will soon be able to communicate with her, no doubt. Of course +you arranged that at Culoz?"</p> + +<p>"We arranged nothing. It was all so hurried, and we had much to talk +about. She was <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241"></a>[241]</span> so hard on me when I declared I could not part with my +blessed boy. We had words—"</p> + +<p>"Ah!" I had heard enough to know that there had been a strong +difference of opinion, a sharp quarrel probably, and that Lady Claire +had not spared her sister at this fresh exhibition of ridiculous +weakness.</p> + +<p>"May I ask, please, whether you were to believe in me or not?" I +resumed, taking up the discussion where I had left it. "We must be +moving if we are to go at all."</p> + +<p>Her acquiescence, now tardily given, was surly and ungracious.</p> + +<p>"I suppose I cannot help myself; I am quite at your mercy. You may be +sure I shall not easily forget this, or forgive your overbearing +treatment. I will go, but under protest."</p> + +<p>She led the way herself and entered the carriage first, motioning to +Victorine to hand her the baby and take her seat inside. She made no +such sign to me, although I followed close behind. But I also got in +without invitation, only explaining that it might not be wise to show +myself on the box.</p> + +<p>The coachman had his orders, and he drove off briskly along the +Marlioz road till he reached the turning towards the head of the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242"></a>[242]</span> lake. In less than an hour we pulled up before the Hôtel Dent du +Chat, a simple, unpretending hostelry, to which I had telegraphed in +advance, stating my needs. We were received with profuse civility, the +best of everything placed at our disposal, a best at which Lady +Henriette, as I might have expected, turned up her nose, sniffing and +scornful.</p> + +<p>She uttered no complaint, she would not address a word to me; her air +was one of lofty, contemptuous reserve; she intimated plainly that we +were "dead cuts."</p> + +<p>Only at the last, just as I was driving away and lifted my hat in +farewell, she yielded to an impulse of despair, and seized my arm in +almost frenzied appeal.</p> + +<p>"You must not, you cannot desert me; I will not be left like this. No +man, no gentleman would do it. I beg and implore you to remain within +reach, somewhere near at any rate. I can never face this place alone."</p> + +<p>Her last appeal touched me to the quick. Once more I sought to explain +the dire necessity for this act that seemed so barbarous, but she was +deaf to all my arguments, and still clung to me nervously as I climbed +into the carriage.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243"></a>[243]</span> </p> + +<p>When at length I got away, and I persisted in leaving, being so fully +satisfied it was for the best, her piteous, reproachful accents still +rung in my ears, and I shall count that return drive to Aix as the +most miserable hour I have passed in my life.</p> + +<p>The whole episode had occupied much time, and it was already past one +when I reëntered the town. I drove straight to the railway station, +and was met outside it by the faithful l'Echelle.</p> + +<p>"Monsieur, monsieur, will you believe it? They have gone half an hour +ago, and not by the eastern but the western express."</p> + +<p>"You saw them?"</p> + +<p>"I spoke to them. Falfani himself told me of the change in their +plans. The latest news from their man in the south was so positive, +and has so convinced my lord, that he is hastening full speed to join +Tiler, and they are only too delighted to leave you behind."</p> + +<p>I laughed aloud with intense satisfaction.</p> + +<p>"You do not mind, monsieur? You have no reason to fear them?"</p> + +<p>"Not the least in the world, they are playing into my hands. I, too, +have changed my plans. I shall now remain in Aix for some <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244"></a>[244]</span> time +longer. I shall be glad to go on with the baths."</p> + +<p>But I was thinking really of that poor creature I had abandoned at Le +Bourget, and overjoyed to think that I might now meet her wishes, and +perchance regain something of her good-will.</p> + +<p>Once more I took the road to Le Bourget, driving over by the first +<i>fiacre</i> I could pick up on the stand, a much slower journey than the +first, and it was nearly 3 <span class="smcap">p.m.</span> when I reached the little +hotel.</p> + +<p>It was indeed a day of surprises, of strange emotions and moving +incidents.</p> + +<p>When I alighted and asked for "Mrs. Blair," I was answered abruptly +that she was gone.</p> + +<p>"Gone? When? How?" I cried, in utter amazement.</p> + +<p>"Madame went very soon after monsieur," said the <i>patronne</i>, in high +dudgeon. "She was not complimentary, she said this place was too +<i>triste</i>, that it got on her nerves. She called me up and said I was +to bring her the <i>Indicateur</i>. Then she must have a carriage as soon +as it could be prepared to drive her to Culoz, fifteen <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245"></a>[245]</span> miles away, +meaning to take the train from there."</p> + +<p>"Not to Aix?"</p> + +<p>"Assuredly not, for when I suggested that she could more easily find +the train there she told me to hold my tongue, that she knew very well +what she was about, and wanted no observations from me."</p> + +<p>To Culoz? She was bound then to follow her sister, I felt sure of it; +and I was aghast, foreshadowing the new dangers opening before her.</p> + + + + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246"></a>[246]</span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXVI"></a>CHAPTER XXVI.</h2> + +<h4>[<i>The Lady Claire Standish has her say.</i>]</h4> + +<p>It was as much as I could do to restrain myself when I saw my gallant +knight, the Colonel, rush at that despicable creature, Lord +Blackadder, and shake him. I wanted to put my head out of the window +and cry, "Well done!" But I saw the folly of it, much as I was +delighted, and checked any demonstration of joy. I had no time to +spare for anything outside our settled plan, so I jumped out on to the +platform at once, and closely followed by Philpotts joined Henriette, +and cried:</p> + +<p>"Quick, quick, dear, the train goes on in less than ten minutes. Give +me the child, we must exchange again."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?" she gasped, and looked at me dazed and bewildered. +"Why should I part with my boy, my own boy! I cannot, indeed I cannot. +Why? Why?"</p> + +<p>"Because Blackadder is over there, and in <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247"></a>[247]</span> another minute or two the +child will be taken forcibly from you. Luckily I can still save it."</p> + +<p>"Oh, but please, Claire, please explain. I do not understand, not in +the least. What am I to do? I haven't heard, I do not know."</p> + +<p>"Go on to Fuentellato with the dummy. It is the easiest thing in the +world. They will follow you, Colonel Annesley will see to that, while +I carry our darling to some secure hiding-place and keep out of sight +until we can meet. There, do not, for heaven's sake, delay. Give me +the child."</p> + +<p>"I can't, I can't. I will not part with it. My own, my precious babe. +Never. Nothing will induce me."</p> + +<p>"Upon my word, Henriette, you are too aggravating and impossible. To +think that now at the eleventh hour you should fail me and break down. +Are you going to spoil everything! Let me take little Ralph;" and I +put out my arms for the child, which Victorine held.</p> + +<p>But the mother stood between us, seized the baby convulsively, and +with a gesture of repulsion cried:</p> + +<p>"Go away, go away, you shall not have him. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248"></a>[248]</span> I don't care what happens, +I will keep him against all the world."</p> + +<p>I pleaded and stormed in turn, I tried everything but force, all +without avail. My foolish sister seemed to have taken leave of her +senses; she thought nothing of the nearly certain collapse of our +schemes, her one overmastering idea was, like any tigress, to resist +all attempts to deprive her of her cub.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the time ran on. Already the officials were crying "<i>En +voiture</i>," and I knew my train was timed to leave at five minutes past +8 <span class="smcap">a.m.</span> If I lingered I should lose it, no great matter +perhaps, seeing that the exchange, my principal object, had not been +made; but if I remained with Henriette, she with her baby and I with +mine, the whole of the artifice might at any moment be laid bare.</p> + +<p>I had to decide then and there, and all I could think of at the time +was to keep the enemy in the dark as to the doubled part of the baby. +At first I thought of sending Philpotts on alone with her charge and +remaining with Henriette. She was so helpless, so weak and vacillating +that I had small hope of her getting through to Fuentellato by +herself. That was clearly the wisest course, and I should have taken +it, but <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249"></a>[249]</span> I was sorely vexed and put out by her obstinate refusal to +play her part; and I told her so.</p> + +<p>"Once more and for the last time, Henriette, will you do what I want?" +I asked her peremptorily.</p> + +<p>She only hugged her baby the closer and whispered a soft lullaby.</p> + +<p>"Then I shall go on with the other. It may be best. They may still be +drawn after me, and leave you to your own devices. The only thing for +you to do is to take the first train the other way,—it will be here +in ten minutes,—keep low and you may get through into Italy +unobserved."</p> + +<p>"Are you really deserting me?" she cried piteously. "When shall I see +you again?"</p> + +<p>"I shall go round the long journey to Marseilles, by the South of +France, and will join you at Fuentellato. There is no reason why you +should not get there. Colonel Annesley will detain the others here, +you may be sure of that. Good-bye, now," and without another word +Philpotts and I ran round, regained the up platform, resumed our seats +by the narrowest margin and proceeded on our way to Amberieu.</p> + +<p>The reaction from this agitating scene was <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250"></a>[250]</span> little less than despair +and collapse. So soon as I could bring myself to think calmly and at +leisure, I realized that I had done a very foolish thing. Was it +possible for Henriette to get off by herself? Hardly, she had not the +nerve, I had almost said the wit, to escape alone from the toils and +snares that encompassed her. I blamed myself, I became a prey to the +bitterest self-reproach for having abandoned her, for allowing myself +to give way to temper, and treat her so cruelly. As the train rattled +on, one thought took possession of me. I must get out and go back +instantly, at least at the very first opportunity. I must retrace my +steps and return again to Culoz, where I hoped to be in time to +support and strengthen her, please God save her from the consequences +of my unkind and ill-considered action.</p> + +<p>Accordingly, at the very next station, Virieu, I alighted. It was +still no more than 8.21. In less than an hour I was in the return +train and once more at Culoz, where, sending Philpotts to hide with +her charge in the inmost recesses of the ladies' waiting-room, I +vainly explored the station for any signs of Henriette, but to my +delight she was nowhere in sight. I was fairly entitled to suppose +that she had gone on.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251"></a>[251]</span> </p> + +<p>The place was still in a turmoil, the consequences no doubt of the +affray expressly begun by Colonel Annesley to befriend me. I narrowly +escaped being seen by some of my enemies, but they were evidently too +much preoccupied by their indignation at the outrage put upon that +great personage, Lord Blackadder. I passed within an inch or two of my +gallant Colonel and was sorely tempted to speak to him, but was +deterred by the possible mischief it might entail.</p> + +<p>I was relieved when they all took seats in the eastward bound train, +going only as far as Aix-les-Bains, where, as I heard it stated by the +Culoz officials, the case was to be submitted to the Commissary of +Police. I felt sure that my gallant Colonel would hold his own, I felt +no very great concern for him. Although not fully satisfied as to +Henriette, I was so far satisfied by coming upon all the parties, +Ralph, Blackadder, and the rest, at Culoz, that she had disappeared +from the scene without interference.</p> + +<p>I had now to decide upon my own movements. I debated with myself +whether I should not follow my sister to Fuentellato, to which I made +sure she had gone, and I had every reason to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252"></a>[252]</span> hope that I could +eventually join her there. But it seemed to be throwing away that same +chance of mystification which I had always kept in view, which might +have served me so well but for her weakness, and I still clung to my +hope of drawing them after me on the wrong scent.</p> + +<p>At one time I thought of venturing boldly into their midst and +appearing openly at Aix; but this would probably end in abruptly +pricking the bubble, and nothing more was to be done. I thought of +sending Philpotts to hunt up the Colonel and convey a letter to him +detailing my situation, and was much taken with this idea, which I +presently rejected because I did not clearly see what good could come +of it. I was tortured with doubts, unable to decide for the best, and +at last, from sheer inability to choose, resolved to adhere to my +original plan of travelling south.</p> + +<p>I would at least go to Marseilles, which I could reach that very +night, and once there would be guided by circumstances, seeking only +to control them to the extent of reporting my whereabouts to Henriette +at Fuentellato, and to the Colonel via London as arranged.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253"></a>[253]</span> </p> + +<p>This as it proved was the very wisest course I could have adopted, as +will presently appear.</p> + +<p>I was doomed to a long wait at Culoz. There was no train due westward +till 12.40, and I had to put in nearly three solid hours, which I +spent in wandering into the village, where I found an unpretending +<i>auberge</i> and a rather uneatable breakfast.</p> + +<p>Everywhere I was met with wearisome delays. A slow train to Amberieu, +a still slower cross journey to Lyons, which I did not reach till +nearly 4 <span class="smcap">p.m.</span>, and learnt that another hour or more must +elapse before the departure of the next Marseilles express.</p> + +<p>The journey seemed interminable, but just as I was losing all +patience, I received a fillip that awoke me to alertness, and set all +my nerves tingling.</p> + +<p>The man Tiler, the second detective, the man whom I had already +befooled more than once, was there now on the platform, waiting like +myself to embark upon the 5.19 train south to Marseilles.</p> + +<p>He had come after me; that was perfectly clear. He, and he alone, and +I rejoiced greatly that I had to do entirely with him. I had tried my +strength with him more than once already, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254"></a>[254]</span> and felt myself his equal +in guile. Although he owed me a grudge and would certainly be upon his +guard, I thought myself strong enough to face and outwit him.</p> + + + + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255"></a>[255]</span> </p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVII" id="CHAPTER_XXVII"></a>CHAPTER XXVII.</h2> + + +<p>When I first caught sight of Mr. Ludovic Tiler he was busily engaged +in conversation with one of the guards and a couple of porters. From +his gestures, no doubt, he was describing our party, and I was +half-inclined to walk up to him and say "Behold!" But then I drew back +hesitating. I did not fear him in the least, but he would be sure to +draw the others to him, and I did not quite like the idea of having +three of them on my hands at once, and with no Colonel on my side.</p> + +<p>I could only communicate with Colonel Annesley by a roundabout +process, and it might take him some time to reach me, even if he was +not otherwise engaged by Henriette.</p> + +<p>This Tiler man would of course stick to me and follow me if he had the +faintest clue, and I let him have that by directing Philpotts to show +herself, passing quite close to him and walking on towards the train. +She was to return then to the waiting-room, where together <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256"></a>[256]</span> we made +some change in our appearance. There were other cloaks in the bundle +of rugs, which we put on over those we were wearing. I got out a thick +veil, and Philpotts replaced her neat bonnet by a soft motor cap. More +than all, we made away with the dummy child, broke up the parcel, +resolved it into its component parts, a small pillow and many wraps, +all of which we put away in the same convenient receptacle.</p> + +<p>Tiler certainly did not recognize us as we walked separately to the +train. He was looking for a party of two and a baby, and all he saw +was one woman who might remind him of me, but without her attendant or +any encumbrance. He had his suspicions, however, for as soon as we +started he walked through the long line of <i>couloir</i> carriages, +deliberately peering and prying, examining the passengers of every +compartment. He passed us at first, and was much put out, I could see, +disappointed no doubt, but he came back presently and stood for some +time at our window, while I hid my face in among the rugs, and +Philpotts cowered in a corner.</p> + +<p>He came back more than once during the journey and stared. No doubt he +would have <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257"></a>[257]</span> taken a seat in our compartment, but it was reserved for +<i>dames seules</i> or ladies alone. He was evidently in great doubt, so +much so that I began to fear he would sheer off altogether. That we +were the women he wanted was probably borne in on him, but what had +become of the baby? I could enter into the workings of his mind on +that point. What could we have done with it? Hidden it, left it +somewhere on the road in the lost property office or at a foundling +hospital? All sorts of suggestions probably presented themselves to +him, but none would satisfy him; for why, he would reason, were we +travelling to Marseilles or anywhere else without it?</p> + +<p>To tie him still to our heels, I took the opportunity of having the +compartment to ourselves to revive and reconstitute the dummy. The +baby was quickly reborn behind the drawn blinds of the carriage, and +when at last we arrived at Marseilles at 10.30 <span class="smcap">p.m.</span> we +sallied forth and marched in solemn procession to the Terminus Hotel +under the very eyes of our watchful detective. I almost laughed in his +face as we entered the lift near the outer door, and were carried up +to our rooms upon the second floor.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258"></a>[258]</span> </p> + +<p>I slept late, and when I woke, refreshed and fortified against +anything that might come, I looked out on to the little square with +its fringe of plane-trees, and saw my friend Mr. Tiler walking to and +fro like a sentry on his beat. He had the hotel under observation that +was clear, and it was little I should be able to do that day unknown +to him.</p> + +<p>It did not worry me in the least, for in the early hours of calm +reflection that followed deep, restful sleep, I had thought out the +course I should pursue. I no longer dreaded pursuit; let them all +come, the more the merrier, and I meant to fully justify Mr. Tiler in +calling them to him.</p> + +<p>I dressed slowly, lingered leisurely over my <i>luncheon-déjeuner</i>, and +then ordered a carriage, a comfortable landau and pair. I meant to +lead my follower a fine dance, starting with the innocent intention of +giving myself and my belongings an airing. It was a brilliant day, the +Southern sun struck with semi-tropical fervour, the air was soft and +sleepy in the oppressive heat. I brought out the baby undeterred, and +installed it, slumbering peacefully, on Philpotts's knees in the seat +before me, and lying <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259"></a>[259]</span> back with ostentatious indifference, drove off +in full view of the detective.</p> + +<p>I shot one glance back as I turned down the long slope leading to the +Grâce-à-Dieu Street, and was pleased to see that he had jumped into a +<i>fiacre</i> and was coming on after me. He should have his fill of +driving. I led him up and down and round and round, street after +street, all along the great Cannebière and out towards the Reserve, +where Roubion's Restaurant offers his celebrated fish stew, +<i>bouillabaise</i>, to all comers.</p> + +<p>Then when Mr. Tiler's weedy horse began to show signs of distress, for +my sturdy pair had outpaced him sorely, I relented and reëntered the +town, meaning to make a long halt at the office of Messrs. Cook and +Son, the universal friends of all travellers far and near. I had long +had an idea in my mind that the most promising, if not the only +effective method of ending our trouble would be to put the seas +between us and the myrmidons of the Courts. I had always hoped to +escape to some far-off country where the King's writ does not run, +where we could settle down under genial skies, amid pleasant +surroundings, at a distance from the worries and miseries of life.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260"></a>[260]</span> </p> + +<p>Now, with the enemy close at hand, and the real treasure in my foolish +sister's care, I could not expect to evade them, but I might surely +beguile and lead them astray. This was the plan I had been revolving +in my mind, and which took me to the tourist offices. The object I had +in view was to get a list of steamers leaving the port of Marseilles +within the next two or three days, and their destination. As everybody +knows, there is a constant moving of shipping East, West, and South, +and it ought not to be difficult to pick out something to suit me.</p> + +<p>The obliging clerk at the counter gave me abundant, almost unending, +information.</p> + +<p>"To the East? Why, surely, there are several opportunities. The P. and +O. has half a dozen steamers for the East, pointing first for Port +Said and Suez Canal, and bound to India, Ceylon, China, and the +Antipodes; the same line for Gibraltar and the West. The Messagéries +Maritime, for all Mediterranean ports, the General Navigation of Italy +for Genoa and Naples, the Transatlantique for various Algerian ports, +Tunis, Bône, Philippeville, and Algiers, other companies serving the +coast of Morocco and especially Tangier."</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261"></a>[261]</span> </p> + +<p>Truly an embarrassing choice! I took a note of all that suited, and +promised to return after I had made a round of the shipping +offices,—another jaunt for Tiler, and a pretty plain indication of +what was in my mind.</p> + +<p>After full inquiry I decided in favour of Tripoli, and for several +reasons. A steamer offered in a couple of days, Sunday, just when I +wanted it, although it was by no means my intention to go to Tripoli +myself. That it was somewhat out of the way, neither easy to reach nor +to leave, as the steamers came and went rarely, served my purpose +well. If I could only inveigle my tormentors into the trap, they might +be caught there longer than they liked.</p> + +<p>Accordingly, I secured a good cabin on board the S.S. <i>Oasis</i> of the +Transatlantique, leaving Marseilles for Tripoli at 8 <span class="smcap">a.m.</span> the +following Sunday, and paid the necessary deposit on the passage +ticket.</p> + +<p>It was a satisfaction to me to see my "shadow's" <i>fiacre</i> draw up at +the door soon after I left, and Mr. Ludovic Tiler enter the office. I +made no doubt he would contrive, very cleverly as he thought, to find +out exactly what I had been doing with regard to the <i>Oasis</i>.</p> + +<p>Later in the day, out of mere curiosity, I <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262"></a>[262]</span> walked down to the offices +to ask a trivial question about my baggage. It was easy to turn the +talk to other matters connected with the voyage and my fellow +passengers.</p> + +<p>Several other cabins had been engaged, two of them in the name of +Ludovic Tiler.</p> + +<p>There was nothing left for me but to bide my time. I telegraphed that +evening to Colonel Annesley, reporting myself, so to speak, and +counted upon hearing his whereabouts in reply next day.</p> + +<p>Tiler did not show up nor trouble me, nor did I concern myself about +him. We were really waiting for each other, and we knew enough of each +other's plans to bide in tranquil expectation of what we thought must +certainly follow. When I was at dinner in the hotel restaurant he +calmly came into the room, merely to pass his eye over me as it were, +and I took it so much as a matter of course that I looked up, and felt +half-inclined to give him a friendly nod. We were like duellists +saluting each other before we crossed swords, each relying upon his +own superior skill.</p> + +<p>[<i>We need not reproduce in detail the rest of the matters set forth by +Lady Claire Standish while she and the detective watched each other</i> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263"></a>[263]</span> <i>at Marseilles. Tiler, on the Saturday morning, made it plain, from +his arrogance and self-sufficient air as he walked through the hotel +restaurant, that all was going well, and he had indeed heard from +Falfani that he would arrive with Lord Blackadder that night.</i></p> + +<p><i>Later on that Saturday a telegram from Culoz reached Lady Claire from +Colonel Annesley giving the latest news, and bringing down Lady +Henriette's movements to the time of her departure for Marseilles. He +promised a later message from somewhere along the road with later +information, and soon after 9</i> <span class="smcap">p.m.</span> <i>Lady Claire was told +they were coming through by the night train, due at Marseilles at 4</i> +<span class="smcap">a.m.</span> <i>next morning. Thus all the parties to this imbroglio +were about to be concentrated in the same place, and it must depend +upon the skill and determination of one clever woman to turn events +her way.</i>]</p> + +<p>She goes on to say:</p> + +<p>It was a shock to me to hear that Henriette still lingered on the +fringe of danger, and I was very much disturbed at finding she might +be running into the very teeth of it. But I trusted to my good +fortune, and, better still, to good <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264"></a>[264]</span> management, to keep her out of +harm's way until the coast was clear.</p> + +<p>I was on the platform at 10 <span class="smcap">p.m.</span> watching for the Blackadder +lot when they appeared. Tiler was there to receive them and spoke a +few words to my lord, who instantly looked round, for me no doubt, and +I slipped away. I did not wish to anticipate a crisis, and he was +quite capable of making a scene, even at the hotel at that time of +night. I was relieved at seeing him pass on, and the more so that he +did not take the turn into the Terminus Hotel, my hotel, but went +towards the entrance where a carriage was waiting for him. He meant of +course to put up in the town, either at the Noailles or the Louvre.</p> + +<p>I lay down to take a short rest, but was roused in time to be again on +the platform at 4 <span class="smcap">a.m.</span> to meet my friends. It was a joyful +meeting, but we lost little time over it. Henriette was fairly worn +out, and all but broke down when she saw me. The Colonel came to the +rescue as usual, and said briefly, after we had shaken hands:</p> + +<p>"Take charge of her, Lady Claire, I will see to everything now. We can +talk later."</p> + +<p>"Can you be at the entrance to the hotel in <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265"></a>[265]</span> a couple of hours' time? +I shall want your advice, probably your assistance."</p> + +<p>"You know you have only to ask," he answered, with the prompt, +soldierlike obedience, and the honest, unflinching look in his eyes +that I knew so well and loved in him. Here was, indeed, a brave, loyal +soul, to be trusted in implicitly, and with my whole heart.</p> + +<p>I felt now that I should succeed in the difficult task I had set +myself. The plan I had conceived and hoped to work out was to send +Lord Blackadder to sea, all the way to Tripoli, with Philpotts and the +sham child.</p> + + + + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266"></a>[266]</span> </p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVIII" id="CHAPTER_XXVIII"></a>CHAPTER XXVIII.</h2> + + +<p>We drove down, Philpotts and I, to the wharf where the steamers of the +Transatlantique Company lie. The <i>Oasis</i> had her blue peter flying, +and a long gangway stretched from her side to the shore, up and down +which a crowd passed ceaselessly, passengers embarking, porters with +luggage, and dock hands with freight. At the top of the slope was the +chief steward and his men, in full dress, white shirts, white ties, +and white gloves, who welcomed us, asking the number of our stateroom, +and offering to relieve us of our light baggage.</p> + +<p>One put out his arms to take the baby from Philpotts, but she shook +her head vigorously, and I cried in French that it was too precious.</p> + +<p>Next moment a voice I recognized said:</p> + +<p>"Certainly they are there, and they have it with them. Why not seize +it at once?"</p> + +<p>"Not so fast, Lord Blackadder," I interposed, turning on him fiercely. +"No violence, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267"></a>[267]</span> if you please, or you may make the acquaintance of +another police commissary."</p> + +<p>I had heard the whole story of the affair at Aix from the Colonel, who +I may say at once I had seen shortly before, and who was at no great +distance now.</p> + +<p>"Go on, Philpotts, get down below and lock yourself in," I said +boldly. "Our cabin is thirty-seven—" checking myself abruptly as +though I had been too outspoken.</p> + +<p>"But, Lady Claire, permit me," it was Lord Blackadder behind, speaking +with quite insinuating softness. "Do be more reasonable. Surely you +perceive how this must end? Let me entreat you not to drive me to +extremities. I mean to have the child, understand that; but we ought +to be able to arrange this between us. Give it up to me of your own +accord, you shall not regret it. Ask what you choose, anything—a +pearl collar or a diamond bracelet—"</p> + +<p>"Can you really be such a base hound, such an abject and contemptible +creature, as to propose terms of that sort to me? How dare you think +so ill of me? Let me pass; I cannot stay here, it would poison me to +breathe the same air. Never speak to me again," I almost <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268"></a>[268]</span> shouted, +filled with bitter shame and immeasurable scorn, and I turned and left +him.</p> + +<p>Down-stairs I found Philpotts in the cabin, busily engaged in putting +her "doll" to bed in the third berth.</p> + +<p>"Are you at all afraid of being left with these wretches?" I asked a +little doubtfully, counting upon her devotion, but loth to lay too +great a burden on her.</p> + +<p>"Why, how can you suppose such a thing, my lady? What can they do to +me? They will be furiously angry, of course, but the laugh will be +against them. If the worst comes to the worst they will appeal to the +captain, and they will get no satisfaction from him. I can take care +of myself, never fear. You shall hear from Tripoli to the same hotel +in Marseilles."</p> + +<p>"If we go on your letter will follow us. Come back there as soon as +you possibly can and you will find further instructions. Now it must +be good-bye, there goes the bell to warn people ashore. One last word: +I advise you when well out to sea to go to my lord and offer to go +over to his side and desert me altogether. Tell him you will help him +to get the child,—that you will put it into his hands indeed,—at a +price."</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269"></a>[269]</span> </p> + +<p>"As if I would touch his dirty money, my lady!"</p> + +<p>"It will be only spoiling the Egyptians! Squeeze all you can out of +him, I say. But that is as you please. You know I shall always be your +firm friend whatever you do, and that I shall never forget what I owe +you."</p> + +<p>I should have said much more, but now the second bell was ringing, and +if I was to carry out my scheme it was time for me to go.</p> + +<p>On leaving the cabin I walked forward along the lower deck seeking +another issue, the position of which I had fixed the day before, +having visited the <i>Oasis</i> on purpose. In a minute I had emerged into +the open air, and found myself in the midst of the sailors sending +down cargo into the forehold. I should have been utterly confused, +bewildered, and terrified, but I felt a strong, firm hand close on +mine, and a quiet, steady voice in my ear.</p> + +<p>"This way, Lady Claire, only a couple of steps," said the Colonel as +he led me to the side of the steamer farthest from the shore. A ladder +was fixed here and a boat was made fast to the lowest rung. Carefully, +tenderly guided by my ever trusty henchman I made the descent, took my +seat in the stern of the small <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270"></a>[270]</span> boat, it was cast loose, and we pushed +off into the waterway. Half an hour later we were back at the Terminus +Hotel.</p> + +<p>For the first time in all that stirring and eventful week I breathed +freely. At any rate the present peril was overpast, we had eluded +pursuit, and had a clear time of perfect security to consider our +situation and look ahead.</p> + +<p>As soon as Henriette was visible, I went up to her room to talk +matters over. She was very humble and apologetic, and disarmed me if I +had intended to take her to task for all the trouble and anxiety she +had caused us. But when I magnanimously said, "I am not going to scold +you," she was in my arms at once.</p> + +<p>"Scold me! I should think not! I have been scolded quite enough these +last twenty-four hours. I never met a man I disliked so much as your +fine friend, that Colonel Annesley, the rudest, most presuming, +overbearing wretch. He talked to me and ordered me about as if I was +still in the schoolroom, he actually dared to find fault with my +actions, and dictated to me what I should do next. I—I—"</p> + +<p>"Did it, Henriette? Like a lamb, eh? That's a way he has, my dear," I +laughed.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271"></a>[271]</span> </p> + +<p>"I don't envy you one bit, Claire. You'll be a miserable woman. You +hate to give way, and he'll make you. He'll tame you, and lord it over +you, he'll be a hard, a cruel master, for all he thinks so much of you +now."</p> + +<p>"And does he?" What sweeter music in a woman's ear than to be told of +the sway she exercises over the man of her choice?</p> + +<p>"Why, of course, he thinks all the world of you. He would say nothing, +decide nothing until you had been consulted. Your word is law to him, +your name always on his lips. You know of your latest conquest, I +suppose?"</p> + +<p>"There are things one does not care to discuss, my dear, even with +one's sister," I answered, rather coldly. I was a little hurt by her +tone and manner, although what she told me gave me exquisite pleasure.</p> + +<p>"Come, come," Henriette rallied me. "Make a clean breast of it. +Confess that you are over head and ears in love with your Colonel. Why +not? You are free to choose, I was not," and her eyes filled with +tears at the sad shipwreck of her married life.</p> + +<p>I strove hard to calm her, to console her, pointing to her little +Ralph, and promising her a future of happiness with her child.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272"></a>[272]</span> </p> + +<p>"If I am allowed to keep him, yes. But how can I keep him after that +wicked decision of the Court, and with such a persistent enemy as +Ralph Blackadder? For the moment we are safe, but by and by he will +come back, he will leave no stone unturned until he finds me, and I +shall lose my darling for ever."</p> + +<p>The hopelessness of evading pursuit for any time sorely oppressed me, +too. There seemed no safety but in keeping continually on the move, in +running to and fro and changing our hiding place so soon as danger of +discovery loomed near. We were like pariahs ostracized from our +fellows, wandering Jews condemned to roam on and on, forbidden to +pause or find peace anywhere.</p> + +<p>Yet, after a pleasant <i>déjeuner</i>, the three of us held a council of +war.</p> + +<p>"The thing is perfectly simple," said my dear Colonel, in his +peremptory, but to me reassuring fashion. "I have thought it all out +and can promise you immediate escape from all your difficulties. You +must go as quickly as you can get there, to Tangier."</p> + +<p>"Tangier!" I cried, amazed.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Lady Claire, Tangier. It is the only refuge left for +criminals—forgive me, I mean <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273"></a>[273]</span> no offence," and he laughed heartily as +he went on. "You have broken the law, you are flying from the law, and +you are amenable to it all the world over, save and except in Morocco +alone. You must go to Tangier, there is no extradition, the King's +warrant does not run there. You will be perfectly safe if you elect to +stay there, safe for the rest of your days."</p> + +<p>"You seem very anxious to get rid of us and bury us at the back of +beyond," I said, nettled and unable to conceal my chagrin at the +matter-of-fact way in which he wished to dispose of us.</p> + +<p>"I venture to hope I may be permitted to accompany you, and remain +with you—"</p> + +<p>It was now Henriette's turn to laugh outright at this rather blunt +proposal, and I regret to add that I blushed a rosy red.</p> + +<p>"To remain with you and near you so long as my services may be +required," he went on, gravely, by no means the interpretation my +sister had put upon his remark; for he fixed his eyes on me with +unmistakable meaning, and held them so fixedly that I could not look +away. There could no longer be any doubt how "it stood with us;" my +heart went out to him then and there, and I nodded involuntarily, more +in <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274"></a>[274]</span> answer to his own thoughts than his suggestion. I knew from the +gladness on his frank, handsome face that he understood and rejoiced.</p> + +<p>"You see," he went on, quickly, dealing with the pressing matter in +hand, "I know all about the place. I have soldiered at Gibraltar and +often went over to Africa. It's not half bad, Tangier, decent hotels, +villas furnished if you prefer it. Sport in the season, and plenty of +galloping ground. The point is, how we should travel?"</p> + +<p>I could be of service in this; my inquiries at Cook's had qualified me +to act as a shipping clerk, and we soon settled to take a steamer of +the Bibby Line due that afternoon, which would land us at Gibraltar in +two or three days. Thence to Tangier was only like crossing a ferry. +The Colonel's man, l'Echelle, was sent to secure cabins, and we caught +the ship in due course. Three days later we were soon comfortably +settled in the Hotel Atlas, just above the wide sweep of sands that +encircle the bay. It was the season of fierce heat, but we faced the +northern breezes full of invigorating ozone.</p> + + + + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275"></a>[275]</span> </p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIX" id="CHAPTER_XXIX"></a>CHAPTER XXIX.</h2> + + +<p>Tangier, the wildest, quaintest, most savage spot on the face of the +globe, was to me the most enchanting. Our impressions take their +colour from the passing mood; we like or loathe a place according to +the temper in which we view it. I was so utterly and foolishly happy +in this most Eastern city located in the West that I have loved it +deeply ever since. After the trying and eventful episodes of the past +week I had passed into a tranquil haven filled with perfect peace. The +whole tenor of my life had changed, the feverish excitement was gone, +no deep anxiety vexed or troubled me, all my cares were transferred to +stronger shoulders than mine. I could calmly await the issue, content +to enjoy the moment and forget the past like a bad dream.</p> + +<p>It was sufficient to bask in the sunshine, revelling in the free air, +rejoicing in the sweetness of my nascent love. We were much together, +Basil and I; we walked together, exploring the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276"></a>[276]</span> recesses of the native +town, and the ancient citadel, with its memories of British dominion; +we lingered in the Soko or native market, crowded with wild creatures +from the far interior; we rode together, for his first care was to +secure horses, and scoured the country as far as the Marshan and Cape +Spartel. I sometimes reproached myself with being so happy, while my +darling Henriette still sorrowfully repined at her past, with little +hope of better days. But even she brightened as the days ran on and +brought no fresh disquiet, while her boy, sweet little Ralph, +developed in health and strength.</p> + +<p>A week passed thus, a week of unbroken quiet, flawless as the +unchanging blue of a summer sky; not a cloud in sight, not a suspicion +of coming disturbance and unrest. It could not go on like this for +ever. To imagine it was to fall asleep in a fool's paradise, lulled +into false serenity by the absence of portents so often shrouded and +unseen until they break upon us.</p> + +<p>One day a cablegram reached me from Philpotts. She had arrived at +Marseilles on her return voyage from Tripoli, and was anxious that I +should know without delay that we had not shaken off Lord Blackadder. +They had <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277"></a>[277]</span> recrossed the Mediterranean together in the same ship, the +<i>Oasis</i>.</p> + +<p>"So far all well," she said, "but am watched closely, will certainly +follow me—send instructions—better not join you at present."</p> + +<p>This message fell on us two poor women like a bolt from the blue. +Basil looked serious for a moment, but then laughed scornfully.</p> + +<p>"His lordship can do us no harm. There is not the slightest fear. He +may bluster and bully as much as he pleases, or rather, as far as he +is permitted to go. We will place ourselves under the protection of +the Moorish bashaw. I always intended that."</p> + +<p>"Not seriously?"</p> + +<p>"Indeed, yes; I have already consulted our Minister. Sir Arthur is an +old friend of mine, and he has advised me, privately, of course, and +unofficially, to be on our guard. He can do nothing for us, but he +will not act against us. If Lord Blackadder should turn up here, and +sooner or later he will, most assuredly he will not assist him. He +promises that. At the same time he can give you no protection. We must +take care of ourselves."</p> + +<p>"You believe that Lord Blackadder will find his way to Tangier?"</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278"></a>[278]</span> </p> + +<p>"Most certainly. He has Philpotts under his hand, but he would not +trust only to her. Diligent inquiry at Marseilles would be sure to +reveal our departure for Gibraltar. He will follow with his men, they +are well-trained detectives, and it will be mere child's play for them +to track us to Tangier. You may look for them here any day. We must be +ready for them at all points."</p> + +<p>"There is no saying what Ralph Blackadder may not attempt."</p> + +<p>"Indeed, yes, he is equal to anything, guile of course, treachery, +cunning, stratagem, absolute violence if the opportunity offers. It is +of the utmost importance not to play into his hands, not to give him +the smallest chance. The child must be watched continually in the +house, awake and asleep, wherever he goes and whatever he does."</p> + +<p>"Then I think Henriette must be warned not to wander about the town +and on the sands in the way she's been doing with Victorine and the +child, all of them on donkey back. I don't think it's at all safe."</p> + +<p>But when I cautioned her she was not particularly pleased. Was she to +have no fresh air, no change of scene? I grudged her the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279"></a>[279]</span> smallest +pleasure, while I was racing up and down flirting and philandering +with Basil Annesley all day and every day; she was to sit indoors, +bored to extinction and suffering torments in the unbearable heat.</p> + +<p>Basil and I agreed that it was cruel to restrict her movements even +with such a good excuse, and had she been willing to accept the +irksome conditions, which she certainly was not. We arranged a +surveillance, therefore, unknown to her. The Colonel, his man, or +myself invariably accompanied her or followed her within eyeshot; and +we hired two or three stalwart Moors, who were always to be near +enough to render help if required.</p> + +<p>Then came confirmations of our worst fears. L'Echelle, who had been +unaccountably absent one morning, returned about midday with news from +the port. Lord Blackadder and his two henchmen had just landed from +the <i>José Pielago</i>, the steamer that runs regularly between Cadiz and +Algeçiras, Gibraltar, and Tangier. He had seen them in the +custom-house, fighting their way through the crowd of ragged Jew +porters, the Moorish egg merchants, and dealers in luscious fruit. +They had mounted donkeys, the only means of conveyance in a town with + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280"></a>[280]</span> no wheeled vehicles; and l'Echelle made us laugh at the sorry picture +presented by the indignant peer, with his legs dangling down on each +side of the red leather saddle. Their baggage was also piled on +donkeys, and the whole procession, familiar enough in the narrow +streets of Tangier, climbed the hill to the Soko, and made for the +Shereef Hotel, reputed one of the best in Tangier, and lying outside +the walls in the immediate neighbourhood of the British Legation.</p> + +<p>L'Echelle, who seems an honest, loyal fellow, thought he would serve +us best by marking them down, and, if possible, renewing his +acquaintance with the detectives, one or both of whom he knew. After +hanging about the outside of the hotel, he entered the garden boldly +and went up to the shady trellised verandah where they were seated +together, smoking and refreshing themselves after their journey.</p> + +<p>L'Echelle was well received. Falfani, my friend of the Calais train, +believed he had suborned him at Aix, and now hailed his appearance +with much satisfaction. L'Echelle might again be most useful; at +least, he could lead them to us, and he wisely decided to let Falfani +know where we were to be found in <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281"></a>[281]</span> Tangier. The fact would surely be +discovered without him. It was better, he thought, to appear frank, +and, by instilling confidence, learn all there was to know of their +plans and movements.</p> + +<p>My lord had gone to the Legation, Falfani told him at once, +bombastically boasting that everything would yield before him. He had +but to express his wishes, and there would be an end of the hunt. But +my lord came back in a furious rage, and, regardless of l'Echelle's—a +comparative stranger's—presence, burst forth into passionate +complaint against the Minister. He would teach Sir Arthur to show +proper respect to a peer of the realm; he would cable at once to the +Foreign Office and insist on this second-rate diplomatist's recall. +The upshot of it all was that his lordship's demand for help had been +refused pointblank, and no doubt, after what the Colonel had heard, in +rather abrupt, outspoken terms.</p> + +<p>All this and more l'Echelle brought back to us at the Atlas Hotel. He +told us at length of the outrageous language Lord Blackadder had used, +of his horrible threats, how he would leave no stone unturned to +recover his son and heir; how he would bribe the bashaw, buy the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282"></a>[282]</span> Moorish officials, a notoriously venal crew; how he would dog our +footsteps everywhere, set traps for us, fall upon us unawares; and in +the last extreme he would attack the hotel and forcibly carry off his +property. As the fitting end of his violent declamation, Ralph +Blackadder had left the hotel hurriedly, calling upon his creatures to +follow him, bent, as it seemed, to perpetrate some mad act.</p> + +<p>I confess I shuddered at the thought of this reckless, unprincipled +man loose about Tangier, vowing vengeance, and resolved to go to any +lengths to secure it. My dear Basil strove hard to console me with +brave words inspired by his sturdy, self-reliant spirit.</p> + +<p>But even he quailed at the sudden shock that fell upon us at the very +same moment. Where was Henriette?</p> + +<p>After the first excitement, we desired to pass on the news brought by +l'Echelle to her, and renew our entreaties for extreme caution in her +comings and goings; and with much misgiving we learnt that she was not +in the hotel. She had gone out with Victorine and Ralph as usual, but +unattended by any of us. One Moor, Achmet El Mansur, was with her, we +were told, but we did not trust him entirely. It had been <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283"></a>[283]</span> l'Echelle's +turn to accompany her, but he had been diverted from his duty by the +pressing necessity of following Lord Blackadder. Basil and I had +ridden out quite early on a long expedition, from which we only +returned when l'Echelle did.</p> + +<p>We dismissed our fears, hoping they were groundless, and looking to be +quite reassured presently when she came back at the luncheon hour.</p> + +<p>But one o'clock came, and two, and two-thirty, but not a sign of +Henriette, nor a word in explanation of her absence.</p> + +<p>Could she have fallen a victim to the machinations of Lord Blackadder? +Was the boy captured and she detained while he was spirited away?</p> + + + + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284"></a>[284]</span> </p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXX" id="CHAPTER_XXX"></a>CHAPTER XXX.</h2> + + +<p>It was impossible to disassociate Lord Blackadder from Lady +Henriette's mysterious disappearance, and yet we could hardly believe +that he could have so quickly accomplished his purpose. We doubted the +more when the man turned up in person at the Atlas Hotel and had the +effrontery to ask for her.</p> + +<p>Basil went out to him in the outer hall, and, as I listened from +within, I immediately heard high words. It was like a spark applied to +tinder; a fierce quarrel blazed up instantly between them.</p> + +<p>"How dare you show yourself here?" began Basil Annesley.</p> + +<p>"Who are you to prevent me? I come to demand the restoration of that +which belongs to me. Take my message to those two ladies and say I +will have my boy," replied my lord.</p> + +<p>"Do not try to impose on me, Lord Blackadder. It is the most impudent +pretence; you know perfectly well he is not here."</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285"></a>[285]</span> </p> + +<p>"I will not bandy words with you. Go in, you men, both of you, Tiler +and Falfani, and seize the child. Force your way in, push that +blackguard aside!" he roared in a perfect paroxysm of passion.</p> + +<p>I could not possibly hold aloof, but called for help from the hotel +people, and, with them at my back, rushed out to add my protest +against this intemperate conduct.</p> + +<p>A free fight had already begun. The three assailants, Ralph Blackadder +behind egging them on, had thrown themselves upon Basil, who stood +sturdily at bay with his back to the wall, daring them to come on, and +prepared to strike out at the first man who touched him.</p> + +<p>"At him! Give it him! Throw him out!" cried Ralph passionately. But +even as he spoke his voice weakened, he halted abruptly; his hands +went up into the air, his body swayed to and fro, his strength left +him completely, and he fell to the ground in sudden and complete +collapse. When they picked him up, there was froth mixed with blood +upon his lips, he breathed once or twice heavily, stertorously, and +then with one long-drawn gasp died in the arms of his two men.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286"></a>[286]</span> </p> + +<p>It was an apoplectic seizure, the doctors told us later, brought on by +excessive nervous irritation of the brain.</p> + +<p>Here was a sudden and unexpected <i>dénouement</i>, a terribly dramatic end +to our troubles if we could but clear up the horrible uncertainty +remaining.</p> + +<p>What had become of my sister and little Ralph?</p> + +<p>While the servants of the hotel attended to the stricken man, Basil +Annesley plied the detectives with eager questions. He urged them to +tell all they knew; it should be made worth their while; they no +longer owed allegiance to their late employer. He entreated them to +withhold nothing. Where and how had Lord Blackadder met Henriette? +What had he done with her? Where was she now?</p> + +<p>We could get nothing out of these men; they refused to answer our +questions from sheer mulish obstinacy, as we thought at first, but we +saw at length that they did not understand us. What were we driving +at? They assured us they had seen no lady, nor had the unfortunate +peer accosted any one, or interfered with any one on his way between +the two hotels. He had come straight from the Villa Shereef to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287"></a>[287]</span> the +Hotel Atlas, racing down at a run, pausing nowhere, addressing no one +on the road.</p> + +<p>If not Lord Blackadder, what then? What could have happened to +Henriette? Tangier was a wild place enough, but who would interfere +with an English woman in broad daylight accompanied by her servant, by +an escort, her attendant Moorish guide? Full of anxiety, Basil called +for a horse, and was about to ride off to institute a hue and cry, +when my sister appeared in person upon the scene.</p> + +<p>"Getting anxious about me?" she asked, with careless, almost childish +gaiety. "I am awfully late, but I have had such an extraordinary +adventure. Why, how serious you look! Not on my account, surely?"</p> + +<p>I took her aside, and in a few words told her of the terrible +catastrophe that had just occurred, and for a time she was silent and +seemed quite overcome.</p> + +<p>"It's too shocking, of course, to happen in this awful way. But +really, I cannot be very sorry except for one thing—that now he will +never know."</p> + +<p>"Know what, Henriette? Have you taken leave of your senses?"</p> + +<p>"Know that I have discovered the whole <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288"></a>[288]</span> plot of which I was the +victim. My dear, I have found Susan Bruel, and she has made a full +confession. They were bribed to go away, and they have been here +hiding in Tangier."</p> + +<p>"Go on, go on. Tell me, please, all about it."</p> + +<p>"You must know we went out, the three of us, on our donkeys, and the +fancy seized me to explore some of the dark, narrow streets where the +houses all but join overhead. I got quite frightened at last. I was +nearly suffocated for want of air. I could not even see the sky, and +at last desired Achmet to get me out into the open, anywhere. After +one or two sharp turns, we emerged upon a sort of plateau or terrace +high above the sea, and in full view of it.</p> + +<p>"There was a small hotel in front of it, and above the door was the +name of the proprietor, would you believe it, Domenico Bruel!</p> + +<p>"It was the name of Susan's husband, and no doubt Susan was there. I +could not quite make up my mind how I should act. I thought of sending +Achmet back for you or the Colonel, but I could not bear parting with +him. Then, while I was still hesitating, Susan herself came out and +rushed across to where I was, with her <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289"></a>[289]</span> hands outstretched and fairly +beside herself, laughing and crying by turns.</p> + +<p>"'Oh, my lady! It <i>is</i> you, then? What shall I say to you? How can I +tell you?' she began, quite hysterically. 'We behaved most +disgracefully, most wickedly, but indeed it was Domenico's doing. He +insisted they offered us such a large sum, enough to make us rich for +life, and so we consented to come away here. I have never had one +happy moment since. Can you forgive me?'</p> + +<p>"All this she poured forth, and much more of the same sort. I could +see she was truly sorry, and that it had not been entirely her fault. +Besides, I began to hope already that, how we had found her, we might +get the case reopened, and that wicked order reversed. It will be put +right now, now that Ralph can no longer oppose it."</p> + +<p>I bowed my head silently, thankful and deeply impressed with the +strange turn taken by events and the sudden light let in upon the +darkness that had surrounded us.</p> + +<p>The rest of the adventures that began in the sleeping-car between +Calais and Basle, and came abruptly to an end on the North African +shore, may soon be told. Our first act was to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290"></a>[290]</span> return to England at +the very earliest opportunity, and we embarked that evening on a +Forwood steamer direct for London, which port we reached in less than +five days.</p> + +<p>Town was empty, and we did not linger there. Nothing could be done in +the Courts, as it was the legal vacation, but Henriette's solicitors +arranged to send out a commission to take the Bruels' evidence at +Tangier, and to bring the matter before The President at the earliest +opportunity.</p> + +<p>As for ourselves, I persuaded Henriette to take a cottage at Marlow on +the Upper Thames, where Colonel Annesley was a constant guest, and +Charlie Forrester. We four passed many idle halcyon days on the quiet +river, far from the noise of trains, and content to leave Bradshaw in +the bottom of the travelling-bag, where it had been thrown at the end +of our feverish wanderings.</p> + +<p>Once again we had recourse to it, however, when we started on our +honeymoon, Basil and I. Once more we found ourselves at Calais with +Philpotts, but no encumbrances, bound on a second, a far happier, and +much less eventful journey by the Engadine express.</p> + + +<h4>THE END.</h4> + + +<hr style="width: 100%;" /> +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291"></a>[1]</span> </p> + +<h3> </h3> +<hr style='width: 50%;' /> +<h3>L.C. Page & Company's<br /> + Announcement List<br /> + of New Fiction<br /> +</h3> +<hr style='width: 50%;' /> +<p><b>Haunters of the Silences</b>, <span class="smcap">By Charles G.D. Roberts</span>, author +of "Red Fox," "The Watchers of the Trails," etc.</p> + +<p>Cloth, one volume, with many drawings by Charles Livingston Bull, <br /> + four +of which are in full color <span class="adv">$2.00</span></p> + +<p>The stories in Mr. Roberts's new collection are the strongest and best +he has ever written.</p> + +<p>He has largely taken for his subjects those animals rarely met with in +books, whose lives are spent "In the Silences," where they are the +supreme rulers. Mr. Roberts has written of them sympathetically, as +always, but with fine regard for the scientific truth.</p> + + +<p>"As a writer about animals, Mr. Roberts occupies an enviable place. He +is the most literary, as well as the most imaginative and vivid of all +the nature writers."—<i>Brooklyn Eagle.</i></p> + +<p>"His animal stories are marvels of sympathetic science and literary +exactness."—<i>New York World.</i></p> +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292"></a>[2]</span> </p> + + +<p><b>The Lady of the Blue Motor.</b> By <span class="smcap">G. Sidney Paternoster</span>, +author of "The Cruise of the Motor-Boat Conqueror," "The Motor +Pirate," etc.</p> + +<p>Cloth decorative, with a colored frontispiece by John C. Frohn <span class="adv">$1.50</span></p> + +<p>The Lady of the Blue Motor is an audacious heroine who drove her +mysterious car at breakneck speed. Her plea for assistance in an +adventure promising more than a spice of danger could not of course be +disregarded by any gallant fellow motorist. Mr. Paternoster's hero +rose promptly to the occasion. Across France they tore and across the +English Channel. There, the escapade past, he lost her.</p> + +<p>Mr. Paternoster, however, is generous, and allows the reader to follow +their separate adventures until the Lady of the Blue Motor is found +again and properly vindicated of all save womanly courage and +affection. A unique romance, one continuous exciting series of +adventure.</p> + + +<p><b>Clementina's Highwayman.</b> By <span class="smcap">Robert Neilson Stephens</span>, author +of "The Flight of Georgiana," "An Enemy to the King," etc.</p> + +<p>Cloth decorative, illustrated <span class="adv">$1.50</span></p> + +<p>Mr. Stephens has put into his new book, "Clementina's Highwayman," the +finest qualities of plot, construction, and literary finish.</p> + +<p>The story is laid in the mid-Georgian period. It is a dashing, +sparkling, vivacious comedy, with a heroine as lovely and changeable +as an April day, and a hero all ardor and daring.</p> + +<p>The exquisite quality of Mr. Stephens's literary style clothes the +story in a rich but delicate word-fabric; and never before have his +setting and atmosphere been so perfect.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293"></a>[3]</span> </p> + + +<p><b>The Sorceress of Rome.</b> By <span class="smcap">Nathan Gallizier</span>, author of +"Castel del Monte," etc.</p> + +<p>Cloth decorative, illustrated <span class="adv">$1.50</span></p> + +<p>The love-story of Otto III., the boy emperor, and Stephania, wife of +the Senator Crescentius of Rome, has already been made the basis of +various German poems and plays.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gallizier has used it for the main theme of "The Sorceress of +Rome," the second book of his trilogy of romances on the mediæval life +of Italy. In detail and finish the book is a brilliant piece of work, +describing clearly an exciting and strenuous period. It possesses the +same qualities as "Castel del Monte," of which the <i>Chicago Record +Herald</i> said: "There is color, there is sumptuous word-painting in +these pages; the action is terrific at times; vividness and life are +in every part; brilliant descriptions entertain the reader; mystic +scenes and prophecies give a singular fascination to the tale, which +is strong and forceful in its portrayal."</p> + + +<p><b>Hester of the Hills.</b> By <span class="smcap">Grover Clay</span>.</p> + +<p>Cloth decorative, illustrated <span class="adv">$1.50</span></p> + +<p>"Hester of the Hills" has a motif unusual in life, and new in fiction. +Its hero, who has only acquired his own strength and resourcefulness +by a lifelong struggle against constitutional frailty, has come to +make the question of bodily soundness his dominant thought. He +resolves to ensure strong constitutions to his children by marrying a +physically perfect woman. After long search, he finds this ideal in +Hester, the daughter of a "cracker squatter," of the Ozark Mountains +of Missouri. But,—he forgot to take into consideration that very +vital emotion, love, which played havoc with his well-laid plans.</p> + +<p>It is an ingenious combination of practical realism and imaginative +fiction worked out to a thoroughly delightful and satisfying climax.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294"></a>[4]</span> </p> + + +<p><b>Prisoners of Fortune.</b> <span class="smcap">A Tale of the Massachusetts Bay +Colony.</span> <span class="smcap">By Ruel Perley Smith</span>, author of "The Rival +Campers," etc.</p> + +<p>Cloth decorative, with a colored frontispiece by Frank T. Merrill +<span class="adv">$1.50</span></p> + +<p>The period of Mr. Smith's story is the beginning of the eighteenth +century, when the shores of the American colonies were harassed and +the seas patrolled by pirates and buccaneers. These robbed and +spoiled, and often seized and put to death, the sailors and fishers +and other humbler folk, while their leaders claimed friendship alike +with Southern planters and New England merchants,—with whom it is +said they frequently divided their spoils.</p> + +<p>The times were stern and the colonists were hardy, but they loved as +truly and tenderly as in more peaceful days. Thus, while the hero's +adventures with pirates and his search for their hidden treasure is a +record of desperate encounters and daring deeds, his love-story and +his winning of sweet Mary Vane is in delightful contrast.</p> + + +<p><b>The Rome Express.</b> <span class="smcap">By Major Arthur Griffiths</span>, author of "The +Passenger from Calais," etc.</p> + +<p>Cloth decorative, with a colored frontispiece by A.O. Scott <span class="adv">$1.25</span></p> + +<p>A mysterious murder on a flying express train, a wily Italian, a +charming woman caught in the meshes of circumstantial evidence, a +chivalrous Englishman, and a police force with a keen nose for the +wrong clue, are the ingredients from which Major Griffiths has +concocted a clever, up-to-date detective story. The book is bright and +spirited, with rapid action, and consistent development which brings +the story to a logical and dramatic ending.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295"></a>[5]</span> </p> + + +<p><b>The Morning Glory Club.</b> <span class="smcap">By George A. Kyle.</span></p> + +<p>Cloth decorative, with a colored frontispiece by A.O. Scott <span class="adv">$1.25</span></p> + +<p>The doings of the Morning Glory Club will furnish genuine amusement to +the reader. Originally formed to "elevate" the village, it quickly +develops into an exchange for town gossip. It has a saving grace, +however, in the person of motherly Mrs. Stout, the uncultured but +sweet-natured and pure-minded village philosopher, who pours the oil +of her saneness and charity on the troubled waters of discussion and +condemnation.</p> + +<p>It is a series of clear and interesting pictures of the humor of +village life.</p> + + +<p><b>The Chronicles of Martin Hewitt, Detective.</b> <span class="smcap">New Illustrated +Edition.</span> <span class="smcap">By Arthur Morrison</span>, author of "The Green +Diamond," "The Red Triangle," etc.</p> + +<p>Cloth decorative, with six full-page drawings by W. Kirkpatrick <span class="adv">$1.50</span></p> + +<p>The success of Mr. Morrison's recent books, "The Green Diamond" and +"The Red Triangle," has led to an imperative demand for the reissue of +"The Chronicles of Martin Hewitt," which has been out of print for a +number of years.</p> + +<p>It will be remembered that Martin Hewitt is the detective in "The Red +Triangle," of whom the <i>New York Tribune</i> said: "Better than Sherlock +Holmes." His adventures in the London slums were of such a nature that +the <i>Philadelphia North American</i> said: "The reader who has a grain of +fancy or imagination may be defied to lay this book down once he has +begun it until the last word is reached."</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296"></a>[6]</span> </p> + + +<p><b>Mystery Island.</b> By <span class="smcap">Edward H. Hurst.</span></p> + +<p>Cloth decorative, with a colored frontispiece <span class="adv">$1.50</span></p> + +<p>A hunting camp on a swampy island in the Florida Everglades furnishes +the background for this present-day tale.</p> + +<p>By the murder of one of their number, the secret of egress from the +island is lost, and the campers find themselves marooned.</p> + +<p>Cut off from civilization, conventional veneer soon wears away. Love, +hate, and revenge spring up, and after the sterner passions have had +their sway the man and the woman are left alone to fulfil their own +destiny.</p> + +<p>While there is much that is unusual in the plot and its development, +Mr. Hurst has handled his subject with fine delicacy, and the tale of +their love on the beautiful little island is told with deep sympathy +and feeling.</p> + + +<p><b>The Flying Cloud.</b> By <span class="smcap">Morley Roberts</span>, author of "The +Promotion of the Admiral," "Rachel Marr," "The Idlers," etc.</p> + +<p>Cloth decorative, with a colored frontispiece <span class="adv">$1.50</span></p> + +<p>Mr. Roberts's new book is much more than a ripping good sea story such +as might be expected from the author of "The Promotion of the +Admiral." In "The Flying Cloud" the waters and the winds are gods +personified. Their every mood and phase are described in words of +telling force. There is no world but the waste of waters.</p> + +<p>Mr. Roberts glories and exults in the mystery, the passion, the +strength of the elements, as did the Viking chroniclers of old. He +understands them and loves them and interprets them as no other writer +has heretofore done. The book is too big for conventional phrases. It +needs Mr. Roberts's own richness of imagery and masterly expression to +describe adequately the word-pictures in this epic of wind and waves.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297"></a>[1]</span> </p> + + + +<hr style='width: 50%;' /> + +<h3>Selections from<br /> +L.C. Page and Company's<br /> +List of Fiction<br /></h3> + + +<hr style='width: 50%;' /> + +<h3>WORKS OF<br /> +ROBERT NEILSON STEPHENS<br /></h3> + + + +<p><i>Each one vol., library 12mo, cloth decorative <span class="adv">$1.50</span></i></p> + + +<p><b>The Flight of Georgiana</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">A Romance of the Days of the Young Pretender.</span> Illustrated by +H.C. Edwards.</p> + +<p>"A love-story in the highest degree, a dashing story, and a remarkably +well finished piece of work."—<i>Chicago Record-Herald.</i></p> + + +<p><b>The Bright Face of Danger</b></p> + +<p>Being an account of some adventures of Henri de Launay, son of the +Sieur de la Tournoire. Illustrated by H.C. Edwards.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Stephens has fairly outdone himself. We thank him heartily. The +story is nothing if not spirited and entertaining, rational and +convincing."—<i>Boston Transcript.</i></p> + + +<p><b>The Mystery of Murray Davenport</b></p> + +<p>(40<sup>th</sup> thousand.)</p> + +<p>"This is easily the best thing that Mr. Stephens has yet done. Those +familiar with his other novels can best judge the measure of this +praise, which is generous."—<i>Buffalo News.</i></p> + + +<p><b>Captain Ravenshaw</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Or, The Maid of Cheapside.</span> (52<sup>d</sup> thousand.) A romance of +Elizabethan London. Illustrations by Howard Pyle and other artists.</p> + +<p>Not since the absorbing adventures of D'Artagnan have we had anything +so good in the blended vein of romance and comedy.</p> + + +<p><b>The Continental Dragoon</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">A Romance of Philipse Manor House in 1778.</span> (53<sup>d</sup> thousand.) +Illustrated by H.C. Edwards.</p> + +<p>A stirring romance of the Revolution, with its scene laid on neutral +territory.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298"></a>[2]</span> </p> + + +<p><b>Philip Winwood</b></p> + +<p>(70<sup>th</sup> thousand.) A Sketch of the Domestic History of an American +Captain in the War of Independence, embracing events that occurred +between and during the years 1763 and 1785 in New York and London. +Illustrated by E.W.D. Hamilton.</p> + + +<p><b>An Enemy to the King</b></p> + +<p>(70<sup>th</sup> thousand.) From the "Recently Discovered Memoirs of the Sieur de +la Tournoire." Illustrated by H. De M. Young.</p> + +<p>An historical romance of the sixteenth century, describing the +adventures of a young French nobleman at the court of Henry III., and +on the field with Henry IV.</p> + + +<p><b>The Road to Paris</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">A Story of Adventure.</span> (35<sup>th</sup> thousand.) Illustrated by H.C. +Edwards.</p> + +<p>An historical romance of the eighteenth century, being an account of +the life of an American gentleman adventurer of Jacobite ancestry.</p> + + +<p><b>A Gentleman Player</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">His Adventures on a Secret Mission for Queen Elizabeth.</span> (48<sup>th</sup> +thousand.) Illustrated by Frank T. Merrill.</p> + +<p>The story of a young gentleman who joins Shakespeare's company of +players, and becomes a friend and protégé of the great poet.</p> + +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> + + + + + +<h3>WORKS OF<br /> +CHARLES G.D. ROBERTS<br /></h3> + + + +<p><b>Red Fox</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Story of His Adventurous Career in the Ringwaak Wilds, and of +His Final Triumph over the Enemies of His Kind.</span> With fifty +illustrations, including frontispiece in color and cover design by +Charles Livingston Bull.</p> + +<p>Square quarto, cloth decorative <span class="adv">$2.00</span></p> + +<p>"Infinitely more wholesome reading than the average tale of sport, +since it gives a glimpse of the hunt from the point of view of the +hunted."—<i>Boston Transcript.</i></p> + +<p>"True in substance but fascinating as fiction. It will interest old +and young, city-bound and free-footed, those who know animals and +those who do not."—<i>Chicago Record-Herald.</i></p> + +<p>"A brilliant chapter in natural history."—<i>Philadelphia North + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299"></a>[3]</span> American.</i></p> + + +<p><b>The Kindred of the Wild</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">A Book of Animal Life</span>. With fifty-one full-page plates and +many decorations from drawings by Charles Livingston Bull. </p> +<p>Square + quarto, decorative cover <span class="adv">$2.00</span></p> +<p>"Is in many ways the most brilliant collection of animal stories that +has appeared; well named and well done."—<i>John Burroughs.</i></p> + + +<p><b>The Watchers of the Trails</b></p> + +<p>A companion volume to "The Kindred of the Wild." With forty-eight +full-page plates and many decorations from drawings by Charles +Livingston Bull. </p> +<p>Square quarto, decorative cover <span class="adv">$2.00</span></p> +<p>"These stories are exquisite in their refinement, and yet robust in +their appreciation of some of the rougher phases of woodcraft. Among +the many writers about animals, Mr. Roberts occupies an enviable +place.—<i>The Outlook</i>.</p> + +<p>"This is a book full of delight. An additional charm lies in Mr. +Bull's faithful and graphic illustrations, which in fashion all their +own tell the story of the wild life, illuminating and supplementing +the pen pictures of the author."—<i>Literary Digest.</i></p> + + +<p><b>The Heart That Knows</b></p> + +<p>Library 12mo, cloth, decorative cover<span class="adv">$1.50</span></p> + +<p>"A novel of singularly effective strength, luminous in literary color, +rich in its passionate, yet tender drama."—<i>New York Globe.</i></p> + + +<p><b>Earth's Enigmas</b></p> + +<p>A new edition of Mr. Roberts's first volume of fiction, published in +1892, and out of print for several years, with the addition of three +new stories, and ten illustrations by Charles Livingston Bull. </p> +<p>Library + 12mo, cloth, decorative cover <span class="adv">$1.50</span></p> +<p>"It will rank high among collections of short stories. In 'Earth's +Enigmas' is a wider range of subject than in the 'Kindred of the +Wild.'"—<i>Review from advance sheets of the illustrated edition by +Tiffany Blake in the Chicago Evening Post.</i></p> + + +<p><b>Barbara Ladd</b></p> + +<p>With four illustrations by Frank Verbeck.<br /> +Library 12mo, cloth, decorative cover <span class="adv">$1.50</span></p> + +<p>"From the opening chapter to the final page Mr. Roberts lures us on by +his rapt devotion to the changing aspects of Nature and by his keen +and sympathetic analysis of human character."—<i>Boston Transcript.</i></p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300"></a>[4]</span> </p> + + +<p><b>Cameron of Lochiel</b></p> + +<p>Translated from the French of Philippe Aubert de Gaspé, with +frontispiece in color by H.C. Edwards.</p> + +<p>Library 12mo, cloth decorative <span class="adv">$1.50</span></p> + +<p>"Professor Roberts deserves the thanks of his reader for giving a +wider audience an opportunity to enjoy this striking bit of French +Canadian literature."—<i>Brooklyn Eagle.</i></p> + +<p>"It is not often in these days of sensational and philosophical novels +that one picks up a book that so touches the heart."—<i>Boston +Transcript.</i></p> + + +<p><b>The Prisoner of Mademoiselle</b></p> + +<p>With frontispiece by Frank T. Merrill.</p> + +<p>Library 12mo, cloth decorative, gilt top <span class="adv">$1.50</span></p> + +<p>A tale of Acadia,—a land which is the author's heart's delight,—of a +valiant young lieutenant and a winsome maiden, who first captures and +then captivates.</p> + +<p>"This is the kind of a story that makes one grow younger, more +innocent, more light-hearted. Its literary quality is impeccable. It +is not every day that such a heroine blossoms into even temporary +existence, and the very name of the story bears a breath of +charm."—<i>Chicago Record-Herald.</i></p> + + +<p><b>The Heart of the Ancient Wood</b></p> + +<p>With six illustrations by James L. Weston.</p> + +<p>Library 12mo, decorative cover <span class="adv">$1.50</span></p> + +<p>"One of the most fascinating novels of recent days."—<i>Boston +Journal.</i></p> + +<p>"A classic twentieth-century romance."—<i>New York Commercial +Advertiser.</i></p> + + +<p><b>The Forge in the Forest</b></p> + +<p>Being the Narrative of the Acadian Ranger, Jean de Mer, Seigneur de +Briart, and how he crossed the Black Abbé, and of his adventures in a +strange fellowship. Illustrated by Henry Sandham, R.C.A.</p> + +<p>Library 12mo, cloth, gilt top <span class="adv">$1.50</span></p> + +<p>A story of pure love and heroic adventure.</p> + + +<p><b>By the Marshes of Minas</b></p> + +<p>Library 12mo, cloth, gilt top, illustrated <span class="adv">$1.50</span></p> + +<p>Most of these romances are in the author's lighter and more playful +vein; each is a unit of absorbing interest and exquisite workmanship.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301"></a>[5]</span> </p> + + +<p><b>A Sister to Evangeline</b></p> + +<p>Being the Story of Yvonne de Lamourie, and how she went into exile +with the villagers of Grand Pré.</p> + +<p>Library 12mo, cloth, gilt top, illustrated <span class="adv">$1.50</span></p> + +<p>Swift action, fresh atmosphere, wholesome purity, deep passion, and +searching analysis characterize this strong novel.</p> + +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> + + + + + +<h4>WORKS OF</h4> +<h3>LILIAN BELL<br /></h3> + + + +<p><b>Carolina Lee</b></p> + +<p>With a frontispiece in color from an oil painting by Dora Wheeler +Keith.</p> +<p> Library 12mo, cloth, decorative cover <span class="adv">$1.50</span></p> +<p>"A Christian Science novel, full of action, alive with incident and +brisk with pithy dialogue and humor."—<i>Boston Transcript.</i></p> + +<p>"A charming portrayal of the attractive life of the South, refreshing +as a breeze that blows through a pine forest."—<i>Albany Times-Union.</i></p> + + +<p><b>Hope Loring</b></p> + +<p>Illustrated by Frank T. Merrill.</p> + +<p>Library 12mo, cloth, decorative cover <span class="adv">$1.50</span></p> + +<p>"Tall, slender, and athletic, fragile-looking, yet with nerves and +sinews of steel under the velvet flesh, frank as a boy and tender and +beautiful as a woman, free and independent, yet not bold—such is +'Hope Loring,' by long odds the subtlest study that has yet been made +of the American girl."—<i>Dorothy Dix, in the New York American.</i></p> + + +<p><b>Abroad with the Jimmies</b></p> + +<p>With a portrait, in duogravure, of the author.</p> + +<p>Library 12mo, cloth, decorative cover <span class="adv">$1.50</span></p> + +<p>"Full of ozone, of snap, of ginger, of swing and momentum."—<i>Chicago +Evening Post.</i></p> + + +<p><b>At Home with the Jardines</b></p> + +<p>A companion volume to "Abroad with the Jimmies."</p> + +<p>Library 12mo, cloth, decorative cover <span class="adv">$1.50</span></p> + +<p>"Bits of gay humor, sunny, whimsical philosophy, and keen indubitable +insight into the less evident aspects and workings of pure human +nature, with a slender thread of a cleverly extraneous love story, +keep the interest of the reader fresh."—<i>Chicago Record-Herald.</i></p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302"></a>[6]</span> </p> + + +<p><b>The Interference of Patricia</b></p> + +<p>With a frontispiece from drawing by Frank T. Merrill.</p> + +<p>Small 12mo, cloth, decorative cover <span class="adv">$1.25</span></p> + +<p>"There is life and action and brilliancy and dash and cleverness and a +keen appreciation of business ways in this story."—<i>Grand Rapids +Herald</i>.</p> + +<p>"A story full of keen and flashing satire."—<i>Chicago Record-Herald.</i></p> + + +<p><b>A Book of Girls</b></p> + +<p>With a frontispiece.</p> + +<p>Small 12mo, cloth, decorative cover <span class="adv">$1.25</span></p> + +<p>"The stories are all eventful and have effective humor."—<i>New York +Sun.</i></p> + +<p>"Lilian Bell surely understands girls, for she depicts all the +variations of girl nature so charmingly."—<i>Chicago Journal.</i></p> + +<p><i>The above two volumes boxed in special holiday dress, per set, <span class="adv">$2.50</span></i></p> + +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> + + + + + +<h4>WORKS OF</h4> +<h3>ALICE MacGOWAN AND GRACE MacGOWAN COOKE<br /></h3> + + + +<p><b>Return</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">A Story of the Sea Islands in 1739.</span> With six illustrations by +C.D. Williams.</p> + +<p>Library 12mo, cloth <span class="adv">$1.50</span></p> + +<p>"So rich in color is this story, so crowded with figures, it seems +like a bit of old Italian wall painting, a piece of modern tapestry, +rather than a modern fabric woven deftly from the threads of fact and +fancy gathered up in this new and essentially practical country, and +therein lies its distinctive value and excellence."—<i>N.Y. Sun.</i></p> + +<p>"At once tender, thrilling, picturesque, philosophical, and dramatic. +One of the most delightful romances we have had in many a +day."—<i>Chicago Record-Herald.</i></p> + + +<p><b>The Grapple</b></p> + +<p>With frontispiece in color by Arthur W. Brown.</p> + +<p>Library 12mo, cloth decorative <span class="adv">$1.50</span></p> + +<p>"The movement of the tale is swift and dramatic. The story is so +original, so strong, and so finely told that it deserves a large and +thoughtful public. It is a book to read with both enjoyment and +enlightenment."—<i>N.Y. Times Saturday Review of Books.</i></p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303"></a>[7]</span> </p> + + +<p><b>The Last Word</b></p> + +<p>Illustrated with seven portraits of the heroine.</p> + +<p>Library 12mo, cloth, decorative cover <span class="adv">$1.50</span></p> + +<p>"When one receives full measure to overflowing of delight in a tender, +charming, and wholly fascinating new piece of fiction, the enthusiasm +is apt to come uppermost."—<i>Louisville Post.</i></p> + + +<p><b>Huldah</b></p> + +<p>With illustrations by Fanny Y. Cory.</p> + +<p>Library 12mo, cloth decorative <span class="adv">$1.50</span></p> + +<p>Here we have the great-hearted, capable woman of the Texas plains +dispensing food and genial philosophy to rough-and-ready cowboys. Her +sympathy takes the form of happy laughter, and her delightfully funny +phrases amuse the fancy and stick in one's memory.</p> + +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> + + +<h4>WORKS OF</h4> +<h3>MORLEY ROBERTS<br /></h3> + + + +<p><b>Rachel Marr</b></p> + +<p>Library 12mo, cloth decorative <span class="adv">$1.50</span></p> + +<p>"A novel of tremendous force, with a style that is sure, luxuriant, +compelling, full of color and vital force."—<i>Elia W. Peattie, in +Chicago Tribune</i>.</p> + +<p>"In atmosphere, if nothing else, the story is absolutely +perfect."—<i>Boston Transcript.</i></p> + + +<p><b>Lady Penelope</b></p> + +<p>With nine illustrations by Arthur W. Brown.</p> + +<p>Library 12mo, cloth decorative <span class="adv">$1.50</span></p> + +<p>"A fresh and original bit of comedy as amusing as it is +audacious."—<i>Boston Transcript.</i></p> + + +<p><b>The Idlers</b></p> + +<p>With frontispiece in color by John C. Frohn.</p> + +<p>Library 12mo, cloth decorative <span class="adv">$1.50</span></p> + +<p>"In 'The Idlers' Mr. Morley Roberts does for the smart set of London +what Mrs. Wharton has done in 'The House of Mirth' for the American +social class of the same name.... It is a powerful novel, a merciless +dissection of modern society similar to that which a skilled surgeon +would make of a pathological case."—<i>The London Literary World.</i></p> + +<p>"It is as absorbing as the devil. Mr. Roberts gives us the antithesis +of 'Rachel Marr' in an equally masterful and convincing work."—<i>The +New York Sun.</i></p> + +<p>"It is a work of great ethical force."—<i>Professor Charles G.D. +Roberts.</i></p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304"></a>[8]</span> </p> + + +<p><b>The Promotion of the Admiral</b></p> + +<p>By <span class="smcap">Morley Roberts</span>.</p> + +<p>Library 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated <span class="adv">$1.50</span></p> + +<p>"If any one writes better sea stories than Mr. Roberts, we don't know +who it is; and if there is a better sea story of its kind than this it +would be a joy to have the pleasure of reading it."—<i>New York Sun.</i></p> + +<p>"There is a hearty laugh in everyone of these stories."—<i>The +Reader.</i></p> + +<p>"To read these stories is a tonic for the mind; the stories are gems, +and for pith and vigor of description they are unequalled."—<i>N.Y. +Commercial Advertiser.</i></p> + +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> + + + + + +<h4>WORKS OF</h4> +<h3>STEPHEN CONRAD<br /></h3> + + + +<p><b>The Second Mrs. Jim</b></p> + +<p>By <span class="smcap">Stephen Conrad</span>. With a frontispiece by Ernest Fosbery.</p> + +<p>Large 16mo, cloth decorative <span class="adv">$1.00</span></p> + +<p>Here is a character as original and witty as "Mr. Dooley" or "the +self-made merchant." The realm of humorous fiction is now invaded by +the stepmother.</p> + +<p>"It is an exceptionally clever piece of work."—<i>Boston Transcript.</i></p> + +<p>"'The Second Mrs. Jim' is worth as many Mrs. Wiggses as could be +crowded into the Cabbage Patch. The racy humor and cheerfulness and +wisdom of the book make it wholly delightful."—<i>Philadelphia Press.</i></p> + + +<p><b>Mrs. Jim and Mrs. Jimmie</b></p> + +<p>With a frontispiece in colors by Arthur W. Brown.</p> + +<p>Library 12mo, cloth decorative <span class="adv">$1.50</span></p> + +<p>This book is in a sense a sequel to "The Second Mrs. Jim," since it +gives further glimpses of that delightful stepmother and her +philosophy.</p> + +<p>"Plenty of fun and humor in this book. Plenty of simple pathos and +quietly keen depiction of human nature afford contrast, and every +chapter is worth reading. It is a very human account of life in a +small country town, and the work should be commended for those +sterling qualities of heart and naturalness so endearing to +many."—<i>Chicago Record-Herald.</i></p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305"></a>[9]</span> </p> + + +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> + +<h4>WORKS OF</h4> +<h3>ARTHUR MORRISON<br /></h3> + + + +<p><b>The Green Diamond</b></p> + +<p>Library 12mo, cloth decorative, with six illustrations <span class="adv">$1.50</span></p> + +<p>"A detective story of unusual ingenuity and intrigue."—<i>Brooklyn +Eagle.</i></p> + + +<p><b>The Red Triangle</b></p> + +<p>Being some further chronicles of Martin Hewitt, investigator.</p> + +<p>Library 12mo, cloth decorative <span class="adv">$1.50</span></p> + +<p>"Better than Sherlock Holmes."—<i>New York Tribune.</i></p> + +<p>"The reader who has a grain of fancy or imagination may be defied to +lay this book down, once he has begun it, until the last word has been +reached."—<i>Philadelphia North American.</i></p> + +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> + + + + + +<h4>WORKS OF</h4> +<h3>G. SIDNEY PATERNOSTER<br /></h3> + + + +<p><b>The Motor Pirate</b></p> + +<p>Library 12mo, cloth decorative, with frontispiece <span class="adv">$1.50</span></p> + +<p>"Its originality, exciting adventures, into which is woven a charming +love theme, and its undercurrent of fun furnish a dashing detective +story which a motor-mad world will thoroughly enjoy reading."—<i>Boston +Herald.</i></p> + + +<p><b>The Cruise of the Motor-Boat Conqueror</b></p> + +<p>Being the Further Adventures of the Motor Pirate.</p> + +<p>Library 12mo, cloth decorative, with a frontispiece by Frank T. +Merrill <span class="adv">$1.50</span></p> + +<p>"As a land pirate Mannering was a marvel of resource, but as a +sea-going buccaneer he is almost a miracle of devilish ingenuity. His +exploits are wonderful and plausible, for he avails himself of every +modern device and applies recent inventions to the accomplishment of +all his pet schemes."—<i>Chicago Evening Post.</i></p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306"></a>[10]</span> </p> + +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> + + +<h4>WORKS OF</h4> +<h3>T. JENKINS HAINS<br /></h3> + + + +<p><b>The Black Barque</b></p> + +<p>With five illustrations by W. Herbert Dunton.</p> + +<p>Library 12mo, cloth <span class="adv">$1.50</span></p> + +<p>According to a high naval authority, whose name must be withheld, this +is one of the best sea stories ever offered to the public. "The Black +Barque" is a story of slavery and piracy upon the high seas about +1815, and is written with a thorough knowledge of deep-water sailing.</p> + + +<p><b>The Windjammers</b></p> + +<p>Library 12mo, cloth <span class="adv">$1.50</span></p> + + +<p>"A collection of short sea stories unmatched for interest."—<i>New York +Sun.</i></p> + + +<p><b>The Voyage of the Arrow</b></p> + +<p>With six illustrations by H.C. Edwards.</p> + +<p>Library 12mo, cloth <span class="adv">$1.50</span></p> + +<p>"A capital story, full of sensation and excitement, and a rollicking +sea story of the good old-fashioned sort. The reader who begins this +exciting voyage will sail on at the rate of twelve knots an hour until +it is finished."—<i>Boston Transcript.</i></p> + +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> + + + + +<h4>WORKS OF</h4> +<h3>REGINALD WRIGHT KAUFFMAN<br /></h3> + + + +<p><b>Miss Frances Baird, Detective</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">A Passage from Her Memoirs.</span></p> + +<p>Library 12mo, cloth decorative, with a frontispiece by W.F. +Kirkpatrick <span class="adv">$1.25</span></p> + +<p>"Miss Baird ravels and unravels circumstantial evidence in her search +for the murderer in a most bewildering and thoroughly feminine +fashion.... The story is brimful of excitement, and no little +ingenuity is displayed in its construction."—<i>Boston Herald.</i></p> + + +<p><b>Jarvis of Harvard</b></p> + +<p>Illustrated by Robert Edwards.</p> + +<p>Library 12mo, cloth decorative +<span class="adv">$1.50</span></p> + +<p>A strong and well written novel, dealing with the life of a young man +in a modern college. Studies, athletics, social life, and the outside +influences surrounding the youth of a college town are clearly +depicted.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Kauffman's treatment of his subject is dignified, restrained, +sincere, and in admirable good taste throughout."—<i>New York Mail and +Express.</i></p> +<hr style='width: 100%;' /> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Passenger from Calais, by Arthur Griffiths + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PASSENGER FROM CALAIS *** + +***** This file should be named 16339-h.htm or 16339-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/3/3/16339/ + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Sankar Viswanathan 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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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Passenger from Calais + +Author: Arthur Griffiths + +Release Date: July 21, 2005 [EBook #16339] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PASSENGER FROM CALAIS *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Sankar Viswanathan and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + Works of + ARTHUR GRIFFITHS + + * * * * * + + The Passenger from Calais $1.25 + The Rome Express 1.25 + + * * * * * + + L.C. PAGE & COMPANY + New England Building, Boston, Mass. + + + + + + + The Passenger + from Calais + + + By Arthur Griffiths + + Author of "The Rome Express," etc. + + + + + + Boston--L.C. Page and + Company--Publishers + + + _First Impression, January, 1906 + Second Impression, February, 1906 + Third Impression, February, 1906 + Fourth Impression, March, 1908_ + + Colonial Press + _C.H. Simonds & Co. + Boston, U.S.A._ + + + + + +FOREWORD + + +_I desire to state that the initial +fact upon which I have founded +this story is within my own experience. +I travelled from Calais to +Basle by the Engadine Express in +the latter end of July, 1902, when +my wife and myself were the only +passengers. The rest is pure fiction._ + +A.G. + + + + + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +[_Colonel Annesley's Story_] + + +The crossing from Dover to Calais had been rough; a drizzling rain +fell all the time, and most of the passengers had remained below. +Strange to say, they were few enough, as I saw on landing. It was a +Sunday in late July, and there ought to have been a strong stream +setting towards Central Europe. I hardly expected to find much room in +the train; not that it mattered, for my place was booked through in +the Lucerne sleeping-car of the Engadine express. + +Room! When I reached the siding where this train de luxe was drawn up, +I saw that I was not merely the first but the only passenger. Five +sleeping-cars and a dining-car attached, with the full staff, +attendants, chef, waiters--all lay there waiting for me, and me +alone. + +"Not very busy?" I said, with a laugh to the conductor. + +"_Parbleu_," replied the man, polyglot and cosmopolitan, like most of +his class, but a Frenchman, or, more likely from his accent, a Swiss. +"I never saw the like before." + +"I shall have a compartment to myself, then?" + +"Monsieur may have the whole carriage if he wishes--the whole five +carriages. It is but to arrange." His eyes glistened at the prospect +of something special in this obvious scarcity of coming tips. + +"The train will run, I hope? I am anxious to get on." + +"But assuredly it will run. Even without monsieur it would run. The +carriages are wanted at the other end for the return journey. Stay, +what have we here?" + +We stood talking together on the platform, and at some little distance +from the railway station, the road to which was clear and open all the +way, so that I could see a little party of four approaching us, and +distinguish them. Two ladies, an official, probably one of the guards, +and a porter laden with light luggage. + +As they came up I discreetly withdrew to my own compartment, the +window of which was open, so that I could hear and see all that +passed. + +"Can we have places for Lucerne?" It was asked in an eager, anxious, +but very sweet voice, and in excellent French. + +"Places?" echoed the conductor. "Madame can have fifty." + +"What did I tell madame?" put in the official who had escorted her. + +"I don't want fifty," she replied, pettishly, crossly, "only two. A +separate compartment for myself and maid; the child can come in with +us." + +Now for the first time I noticed that the maid was carrying a bundle +in her arms, the nature of which was unmistakable. The way in which +she swung it to and fro rhythmically was that of a nurse and child. + +"If madame prefers, the maid and infant can be accommodated apart," +suggested the obliging conductor. + +But this did not please her. "No, no, no," she answered with much +asperity. "I wish them to be with me. I have told you so already; did +you not hear?" + +"_Parfaitement_, as madame pleases. Only, as the train is not +full--very much the reverse indeed--only one other passenger, a +gentleman--no more--" + +The news affected her strangely, and in two very different ways. At +first a look of satisfaction came into her face, but it was quickly +succeeded by one of nervous apprehension, amounting to positive fear. +She turned to talk to her maid in English, while the conductor busied +himself in preparing the tickets. + +"What are we to do, Philpotts?" This was said to the maid in English. +"What if it should be--" + +"Oh, no, never! We can't turn back. You must face it out now. There is +nothing to be afraid of, not in that way. I saw him, the gentleman, as +we came up. He's quite a gentleman, a good-looking military-looking +man, not at all the other sort--you know the sort I mean." + +Now while I accepted the compliment to myself, I was greatly mystified +by the allusion to the "other sort of man." + +"You think we can go on, that it's safe, even in this empty train? It +would have been so different in a crowd. We should have passed +unobserved among a lot of people." + +"But then there would have been a lot of people to observe us; some +one, perhaps, who knew you, some one who might send word." + +"I wish I knew who this passenger is. It would make me much easier in +my mind. It might be possible perhaps to get him on our side if he is +to go with us, at least to get him to help to take care of our +treasure until I can hand it over. What a burden it is! It's terribly +on my mind. I wonder how I could have done it. The mere thought makes +me shiver. To turn thief! Me, a common thief!" + +"Stealing is common enough, and it don't matter greatly, so long as +you're not found out. And you did it so cleverly too; with such a +nerve. Not a soul could have equalled you at the business. You might +have been at it all your life," said the maid, with affectionate +familiarity, that of a humble performer paying tribute to a great +artist in crime. + +She was a decent, respectable-looking body too, this confederate whom +I concluded was masquerading as maid. The very opposite of the younger +woman (about her more directly), a neatly dressed unassuming person, +short and squat in figure, with a broad, plain, and, to the casual +observer, honest face, slow in movement and of no doubt sluggish +temperament, not likely to be moved or distressed by conscience, +neither at the doing or the memory of evil deeds. + +Now the conductor came up and civilly bowed them towards their +carriage, mine, which they entered at the other end as I left it +making for the restaurant, not a little interested in what I had +heard. + +Who and what could these two people be with whom I was so strangely +and unexpectedly thrown? The one was a lady, I could hardly be +mistaken in that; it was proved in many ways, voice, air, aspect, all +spoke of birth and breeding, however much she might have fallen away +from or forfeited her high station. + +She might have taken to devious practices, or been forced into them; +whatever the cause of her present decadence she could not have been +always the thief she now confessed herself. I had it from her own +lips, she had acknowledged it with some show of remorse. There must +surely have been some excuse for her, some overmastering temptation, +some extreme pressure exercised irresistibly through her emotions, her +affections, her fears. + +What! this fair creature a thief? This beautiful woman, so richly +endowed by nature, so outwardly worthy of admiration, a despicable +degraded character within? It was hard to credit it. As I still +hesitated, puzzled and bewildered, still anxious to give her the +benefit of the doubt, she came to the door of the buffet where I was +now seated at lunch, and allowed me to survey her more curiously and +more at leisure. + +"A daughter of the gods, divinely tall and most divinely fair." + +The height and slimness of her graceful figure enhanced by the +tight-fitting tailor-made ulster that fell straight from collar to +heel; her head well poised, a little thrown back with chin in the air, +and a proud defiant look in her undeniably handsome face. Fine eyes of +darkest blue, a well-chiseled nose with delicate, sensitive nostrils, +a small mouth with firm closely compressed lips, a wealth of glossy +chestnut hair, gathered into a knot under her tweed travelling cap. + +As she faced me, looking straight at me, she conveyed the impression +of a determined unyielding character, a woman who would do much, dare +much, who would go her own road if so resolved, undismayed and +undeterred by any difficulties that might beset her. + +Then, to my surprise, although I might have expected it, she came and +seated herself at a table close to my elbow. She had told her +companion that she wanted to know more about me, that she would like +to enlist me in her service, questionable though it might be, and here +she was evidently about to make the attempt. It was a little +barefaced, but I admit that I was amused by it, and not at all +unwilling to measure swords with her. She was presumably an +adventuress, clever, designing, desirous of turning me round her +finger, but she was also a pretty woman. + +"I beg your pardon," she began almost at once in English, when the +waiter had brought her a plate of soup, and she was toying with the +first spoonful, speaking in a low constrained, almost sullen voice, as +though it cost her much to break through the _convenances_ in thus +addressing a stranger. + +"You will think it strange of me," she went on, "but I am rather +awkwardly situated, in fact in a position of difficulty, even of +danger, and I venture to appeal to you as a countryman, an English +officer." + +"How do you know that?" I asked, quickly concluding that my light +baggage had been subjected to scrutiny, and wondering what subterfuge +she would adopt to explain it. + +"It is easy to see that. Gentlemen of your cloth are as easily +recognizable as if your names were printed on your back." + +"And as they are generally upon our travelling belongings." I looked +at her steadily with a light laugh, and a crimson flush came on her +face. However hardened a character, she had preserved the faculty of +blushing readily and deeply, the natural adjunct of a cream-like +complexion. + +"Let me introduce myself in full," I said, pitying her obvious +confusion; and I handed her my card, which she took with a shamefaced +air, rather foreign to her general demeanour. + +"Lieut.-Colonel Basil Annesley, Mars and Neptune Club," she read +aloud. "What was your regiment?" + +"The Princess Ulrica Rifles, but I left it on promotion. I am +unattached for the moment, and waiting for reemployment." + +"Your own master then?" + +"Practically, until I am called upon to serve. I hope to get a staff +appointment. Meanwhile I am loafing about Europe." + +"Do you go beyond Lucerne?" + +"Across the St. Gothard certainly, and as far as Como, perhaps beyond. +And you? Am I right in supposing we are to be fellow travellers by the +Engadine express?" I went on by way of saying something. "To Lucerne +or further?" + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +"Probably." The answer was given with great hesitation. "If I go by +this train at all, that is to say." + +"Have you any doubts?" + +"Why, yes. To tell you the truth, I dread the journey. I have been +doing so ever since--since I felt it must be made. Now I find it ever +so much worse than I expected." + +"Why is that, if I may ask?" + +"You see, I am travelling alone, practically alone that is to say, +with only my maid." + +"And your child," I added rather casually, with no second thought, and +I was puzzled to understand why the chance phrase evoked another vivid +blush. + +"The child! Oh, yes, the child," and I was struck that she did not say +"my" child, but laid rather a marked stress on the definite article. + +"That of course increases your responsibility," I hazarded, and she +seized the suggestion. + +"Quite so. You see how I am placed. The idea of going all that way in +an empty train quite terrifies me." + +"I don't see why it should." + +"But just think. There will be no one in it, no one but ourselves. We +two lone women and you, single-handed. Suppose the five attendants and +the others were to combine against us? They might rob and murder us." + +"Oh, come, come. You must not let foolish fears get the better of your +common sense. Why should they want to make us their victims? I believe +they are decent, respectable men, the employes of a great company, +carefully selected. At any rate, I am not worth robbing, are you? Have +you any special reason for fearing thieves? Ladies are perhaps a +little too reckless in carrying their valuables about with them. Your +jewel-case may be exceptionally well lined." + +"Oh, but it is not; quite the contrary," she cried with almost +hysterical alacrity. "I have nothing to tempt them. And yet something +dreadful might happen; I feel we are quite at their mercy." + +"I don't. I tell you frankly that I think you are grossly exaggerating +the situation. But if you feel like that, why not wait? Wait over for +another train, I mean?" + +I am free to confess that, although my curiosity had been aroused, I +would much rather have washed my hands of her, and left her and her +belongings, especially the more compromising part, the mysterious +treasure, behind at Calais. + +"Is there another train soon?" she inquired nervously. + +"Assuredly--by Boulogne. It connects with the train from Victoria at +2.20 and the boat from Folkestone. You need only run as far as +Boulogne with this Engadine train, and wait there till it starts. I +think about 6 P.M." + +"Will that not lose time?" + +"Undoubtedly you will be two hours later at Basle, and you may lose +the connection with Lucerne and the St. Gothard if you want to get on +without delay. To Naples I think you said?" + +"I did not say Naples. You said you were going to Naples," she replied +stiffly. "I did not mention my ultimate destination." + +"Perhaps not. I have dreamt it. But I do not presume to inquire where +you are going, and I myself am certainly not bound for Naples. But if +I can be of no further use to you I will make my bow. It is time for +me to get back to the train, and for my part I don't in the least want +to lose the Engadine express." + +She got up too, and walked out of the buffet by my side. + +"I shall go on, at any rate as far as Boulogne," she volunteered, +without my asking the question; and we got into our car together, she +entering her compartment and I mine. I heard her door bang, but I kept +mine still open. + +I smoked many cigarettes pondering over the curious episode and my new +acquaintance. How was I to class her? A young man would have sworn she +was perfectly straight, that there could be no guile in this +sweet-faced, gentle, well-mannered woman; and I, with my greater +experience of life and the sex, was much tempted to do the same. It +was against the grain to condemn her as all bad, a depredator, a woman +with perverted moral sense who broke the law and did evil things. + +But what else could I conclude from the words I had heard drop from +her own lips, strengthened and confirmed as they were by the +incriminating language of her companion? + +"Bother the woman and her dark blue eyes. I wish I'd never come across +her. A fine thing, truly, to fall in love with a thief. I hope to +heaven she will really leave the train at Boulogne; we ought to be +getting near there by now." + +I had travelled the road often enough to know it by heart, and I +recognized our near approach only to realize that the train did not +mean to stop. I turned over the leaves of Bradshaw and saw I had been +mistaken; the train skirted Boulogne and never entered the station. + +"Well, that settles it for the present, anyhow. If she still wants to +leave the train she must wait now until Amiens. That ought to suit her +just as well." + +But it would not; at least, she lost no time in expressing her +disappointment at not being able to alight at Boulogne. + +We had hardly passed the place when her maid's (or companion's) square +figure filled the open doorway of my compartment, and in her strong +deep voice she addressed a brief summons to me brusquely and +peremptorily: + +"My lady wishes to speak to you." + +"And pray what does 'my lady' want with me?" I replied carelessly, +using the expression as a title of rank. + +"She is not 'my lady,' but 'my' lady, my mistress, and simply Mrs. +Blair." The correction and information were vouchsafed with cold +self-possession. "Are you coming?" + +"I don't really see why I should," I said, not too civilly. "Why +should I be at her beck and call? If she had been in any trouble, any +serious trouble, such as she anticipated when talking to me at the +buffet, and a prey to imaginary alarms since become real, I should +have been ready to serve her or any woman in distress, but nothing of +this could have happened in the short hour's run so far." + +"I thought you were a gentleman," was the scornful rejoinder. "A nice +sort of gentleman, indeed, to sit there like a stock or a stone when a +lady sends for you!" + +"A lady!" There was enough sarcasm in my tone to bring a flush upon +her impassive face, a fierce gleam of anger in her stolid eyes; and +when I added, "A fine sort of lady!" I thought she would have struck +me. But she did no more than hiss an insolent gibe. + +"You call yourself an officer, a colonel? I call you a bounder, a +common cad." + +"Be off!" I was goaded into crying, angrily. "Get away with you; I +want to have nothing more to say to you or your mistress. I know what +you are and what you have been doing, and I prefer to wash my hands of +you both. You're not the kind of people I like to deal with or wish to +know." + +She stared at me open-mouthed, her hands clenched, her eyes half out +of her head. Her face had gone deadly white, and I thought she would +have fallen there where she stood, a prey to impotent rage. + +Now came a sudden change of scene. The lady, Mrs. Blair, as I had just +heard her called, appeared behind, her taller figure towering above +the maid's, her face in full view, vexed with varying acute emotions, +rage, grief, and terror combined. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +"What's all this?" she cried in great agitation. "Wait, do not speak, +Philpotts, leave him to me.... Do you go back to our place this +instant; we cannot be away together, you know that; _it_ must not be +left alone, one of us must be on guard over it. Hurry, hurry, I never +feel that _it_ is safe out of our sight. + +"Now, sir," Mrs. Blair turned on me fiercely, "will you be so good as +to explain how I find you quarrelling with my maid, permitting +yourself to cast aspersions, to make imputations upon two unprotected +women?" + +"How much have you overheard?" I asked, feeling very small already. My +self-reproach was aroused even before I quailed under the withering +contempt of her tone. + +"Enough to expect ample apology. How dare you, how dare you say such +things? What you may imagine, what unworthy idea you may have formed, +is beyond me to guess, but you can know nothing. You can have no real +reason for condemning me." + +"Let me admit that, and leave the matter there," I pleaded. I could +not bring myself to tell her that she was self-condemned, that she was +the principal witness against herself. It would have been too cruel, +ungenerous, to take an unfair advantage. Why should I constitute +myself her judge? + +She looked at me very keenly, her eyes piercing me through and +through. I felt that she was penetrating my inmost thoughts and +turning me inside out. + +"I will not leave it at that. I insist upon your speaking plainly. I +must know what is in your mind." + +"And if I refuse, distinctly, positively, categorically; if I deny +your contention, and protest that I have nothing to tell you?" + +"I shall not believe you. Come, please, let there be no more evasion. +I must have it out. I shall stay here until you tell me what you think +of me, and why." + +She seated herself by my side in the narrow velvet seat of the small +compartment, so close that the folds of her tweed skirt (she had +removed her ulster) touched and rubbed against me. I was invaded by +the sweet savour of her gracious presence (she used some delightful +scent, _violette ideale_, I believe), by putting forth my hand a few +inches I might have taken hers in mine. She fixed her eyes on me with +an intent unvarying gaze that under other conditions would have been +intoxicating, but was now no more than disquieting and embarrassing. + +As I was still tongue-tied, she returned to her point with resolute +insistence. + +"Come, Colonel Annesley, how long is this to go on? I want and will +have an explanation. Why have you formed such a bad opinion of me?" + +"How do you know I have done so?" I tried to fence and fight with her, +but in vain. + +"I cannot be mistaken. I myself heard you tell my maid that you wished +to have nothing to say to us, that we were not your sort. Well! why is +that? How do I differ from the rest of--your world, let us call it?" + +"You do not, as far as I can see. At least you ought to hold your own +anywhere, in any society, the very best." + +"And yet I'm not 'your sort.' Am I a humbug, an impostor, an +adventuress, a puppet and play-actress? Or is it that I have +forfeited my right, my rank of gentlewoman, my position in the world, +your world?" + +I was silent, moodily, obstinately silent. She had hit the blot, and +could put but one interpretation upon it. I saw she guessed I knew +something. Not how much, perhaps, but something to her discredit. She +still was not satisfied; she would penetrate my reserve, overcome my +reticence, have it out of me willy nilly, whether I would or no. + +"You cannot surely refuse me? I have my reasons for desiring to know +the very worst." + +"Why drive me to that?" I schooled myself to seem hard and +uncompromising. I felt I was weakening under the subtle charm of her +presence, and the pretty pleading of her violet eyes; but I was still +resolute not to give way. + +"If you will only tell me why you think such evil I may be able to +justify myself, or at least explain away appearances that are against +me." + +"You admit there are such appearances? Remember, I never said so." + +"Then on what do you condemn me? You do condemn me, I am certain of +it," she insisted, seeing my gesture of negation. "Are you treating +me fairly, chivalrously, as a gentleman and a man of honour should? +How can you reconcile it to your conscience?" + +"Some people talk very lightly of conscience, or use it when it is an +empty meaningless word," I said severely. + +"You imply that I have no conscience, or that I should feel the +qualms, the prickings of conscience?" + +"After what you've done, yes," I blurted out. + +"What have I done? What do you know of it, or what led me to do it? +How dare you judge me without knowing the facts, without a shadow of +proof?" She sprang to her feet and passed to the door, where she +turned, as it were, at bay. + +"I have the very best proof, from your own lips. I heard you and your +maid talking together at Calais." + +"A listener, Colonel Annesley? Faugh!" + +"It was forced on me. You stood under my window there." I defended +myself indignantly. "I wish to heaven I had never heard. I did not +want to know; your secrets are your own affair." + +"And my actions, I presume?" she put in with superb indifference. + +"And their consequences, madam," but the shot failed rather of effect. +She merely smiled and shook her head recklessly, contemptuously. Was +she so old a hand, so hardened in crime, that the fears of detection, +arrest, reprisals, the law and its penalties had no effect upon her? +Undoubtedly at Calais she was afraid; some misgiving, some haunting +terror possessed her. Now, when standing before me fully confessed for +what she was, and practically at my mercy, she could laugh with cool +and unabashed levity and make little of the whole affair. + +If I had hoped that I had done with her now, when the murder was out, +I was very much mistaken. She had some further designs on me, I was +sure. She wanted to make use of me, how or in what way I could not +imagine; but I soon perceived that she was anxious to be friends. The +woman was in the ascendant, and, as I thought, the eternal feminine +ever agog to attract and subjugate the male, she would conquer my +admiration even if she could not secure my esteem. + +Suddenly, and quite without my invitation or encouragement, she +reseated herself by my side. + +"See, Colonel Annesley, let us come to an understanding." She said it +quite gaily and with no shadow of apprehension left in her, not a sign +of shame or remorse in her voice. Her mood had entirely changed. She +was _debonnaire_, frolicsome, overflowing with fun. + +"What do you mean to do? Give me into custody? Call in the gendarmes +at the next station? Have me taken red-handed with the--stolen +property--the 'swag,' you know the word, perhaps, in my possession?" + +"I am not a police officer; it's not my business," I answered gruffly. +I thought this flippancy very much misplaced. + +"Or you might telegraph back to England, to London, to Scotland Yard: +'The woman Blair in the Engadine express. Wire along the line to +authorities, French and Swiss, to look out for her and arrest +preparatory to extradition.'" + +"I would much rather not continue this conversation, Mrs. Blair." + +"I am not 'Mrs. Blair,'" she cried, laughing merrily as at a +tremendous joke. "It is only one of my aliases. I am better known as +Slippery Sue, and the Countess of Plantagenet, and the Sly American, +and dashing Mrs. Mortimer, and--" + +"Oh, please, please spare me. It does not matter, not a row of pins, +what you are called. I would rather not have the whole list," I +interrupted her, but could not check her restless tongue. + +"You shall hear, you must know all about me and my famous exploits. I +was the heroine of that robbery at Buckingham Palace. I was at the +State Ball, and made a fine harvest of jewels. I have swept a dozen +country-houses clean; I have picked pockets and lifted old lace from +the shop counters, and embezzled and forged--" + +"And turned pirate, and held up trains, and robbed the Bank of +England," I added, falling into her humour and laughing as she rose to +her full height; and again her mood changed, dominating me with +imperious air, her voice icily cold in manner, grave and repellent. + +"Why not? I am a thief; you believe me to be a common thief." + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +I was too much taken aback to do better than stammer out helplessly, +hopelessly, almost unintelligibly, a few words striving to remind her +of her own admission. Nothing, indeed, could take the sting out of +this, and yet it was all but impossible to accuse her, to blame her +even for what she had done. + +She read that in my eyes, in my abashed face, my hands held out +deprecating her wrath, and her next words had a note of conciliation +in them. + +"There are degrees of wrong-doing, shades of guilt," she said. +"Crimes, offences, misdeeds, call them as you please, are not +absolutely unpardonable; in some respects they are excusable, if not +justifiable. Do you believe that?" + +"I should like to do so in your case," I replied gently. "You know I +am still quite in the dark." + +"And you must remain so, for the present at any rate," she said +firmly and sharply. "I can tell you nothing, I am not called upon to +do it indeed. We are absolute strangers, I owe you no explanation, and +I would give you none, even if you asked." + +"I have not asked and shall not ask anything." + +"Then you are willing to take it so, to put the best construction on +what you have heard, to forget my words, to surrender your +suspicions?" + +"If you will tell me only this: that I may have confidence in you, +that I may trust you, some day, to enlighten me and explain what seems +so incomprehensible to-day." + +"I am sorely tempted to do so now," she paused, lost for a time in +deep and anxious thought; and then, after subjecting me to a long and +intent scrutiny, she shook her head. "No, it cannot be, not yet. You +must earn the right to my confidence, you must prove to me that you +will not misuse it. There are others concerned; I am not speaking for +myself alone. You must have faith in me, believe in me or let it be." + +She had beaten me, conquered me. I was ready to be her slave with +blind, unquestioning obedience. + +"As you think best. I will abide by your decision. Tell me all or +nothing. If the first I will help you, if the latter I will also help +you as far as lies in my power." + +"Without conditions?" And when I nodded assent such a smile lit up her +face that more than repaid me, and stifled the doubts and qualms that +still oppressed me. But, bewitched by the sorcery of her bright eyes, +I said bravely: + +"I accept service--I am yours to command. Do with me what you please." + +"Will you give me your hand on it?" She held out hers, gloveless, +white and warm, and it lay in mine just a second while I pressed it to +my lips in token of fealty and submission. + +"You shall be my knight and champion, and I say it seriously. I may +call you to fight for me, at least to defend and protect me in my +present undertaking. The way is by no means clear. I cannot foresee +what may happen on this journey. There are risks, dangers before me. I +may ask you to share them. Do you repent already?" + +She had been watching me closely for any sign of wavering, but I +showed none, whatever I might feel in my inmost heart. + +"I shall not disappoint you," was what I said, and, in a firm assured +voice, added, "You have resolved then to travel forward in this +train?" + +"I must, I have no choice. I dare not tarry by the way. But I no +longer feel quite alone and unprotected. If trouble arises, I tell you +candidly I shall try to throw it on you." + +"From what quarter do you anticipate it?" I asked innocently enough. +"You expect to be pursued, I presume?" + +She held up a warning finger. + +"That is not in the compact. You are not to be inquisitive. Ask me no +questions, please, but wait on events. For the present you must be +satisfied so, and there is nothing more to be said." + +"I shall see you again, I trust," I pleaded, as she rose to leave me. + +"If you wish, by all means. Why should we not dine together in the +dining-car by and by?" she proposed with charming frankness, in the +lighter mood that sat so well upon her. "The waiters will be there to +play propriety, and no Mrs. Grundy within miles." + +"Or your maid might be chaperon at an adjoining table." + +"Philpotts? Impossible! She cannot leave--she must remain on duty; one +of us must be in charge always. Who knows what might happen when our +backs were turned? We might lose it--it might be abstracted. Horrible +thought after all it has cost us." + +"'It' has evidently an extraordinary value in your eyes. If only I +might be allowed to--" know more, I would have said, but she chose to +put other words into my mouth. + +"To join us in the watching? Take your turn of 'sentry go'--isn't that +your military term? Become one of us, belong to a gang of thieves, +liable like the rest of us to the law? Ah, that would be trying you +too far. I see your face fall." + +"I am ready to do much to serve you. I would gladly help you, see you +through any difficulty by the way, but I'm afraid I must draw the line +at active partnership," I answered a little lamely under her mocking +eyes. Once more, as suddenly as before, she veered round. + +"There is a limit, then, to your devotion?" She was coldly sarcastic +now, and I realized painfully that I had receded in her favour. "I +must not expect unhesitating self-sacrifice? So be it; it is well to +know how far I may go. I sincerely hope I may have no need of you at +all. How thankful I am that I never let you into my secrets! Good +afternoon," and with a contemptuous whisk of her skirts and a laugh, +she was gone. + +"I'll have nothing more to say to her," I cried in great heat, vexed +and irritated beyond measure at her capricious temper. I should only +be dragged into some pitfall, some snare, some dire unpleasantness. +But what did I know of her real character? What of my first doubts and +suspicions? She had by no means dispelled them. She had only +bamboozled me by her insinuating ways, had drawn me on by her guileful +cleverness to pity and promises to befriend her. I had accorded her an +active sympathy which in my more sober moments I felt she did not, +could not, deserve; if I were not careful she would yet involve me in +some inextricable mess. + +So for half an hour I abused her fiercely; I swore at myself hotly as +an ass, a hopeless and unmitigated ass, ever ready to be betrayed and +beguiled by woman's wiles, the too easy victim of the first pretty +face I saw. The fit lasted for quite half an hour, and then came the +reaction. I heard her rich deep voice singing in my ears, I felt the +haunting glamour of her eyes, remembered her gracious presence, and my +heart went out to her. I was so sorry for her: how could I cast her +off? How could I withhold my countenance if she were in real distress? +She was a woman--a weak, helpless woman; I could not desert and +abandon her. However reprehensible her conduct might have been, she +had a claim to my protection from ill-usage, and I knew in my heart +that she might count upon a good deal more. I knew, of course, that I +ought not to stand between her and the inevitable Nemesis that awaits +upon misdeeds, but what if I helped her to avoid or escape it? + +The opportunity was nearer at hand than I thought. My kindly +intentions, bred of my latest sentiments towards Mrs. Blair, were soon +to be put to the test. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +The train reached Amiens punctually at 5 P.M., and a stoppage +of five minutes was announced. I got out to stretch my legs on the +platform. No one took much notice of us; it must have been known that +the train was empty, for there were no waiters from the buffet with +_cafe au lait_ or fruit, or _brioches_--no porters about, or other +officials. + +I had not expected to see any passengers come on board the train, a +through express, made up of sleeping-cars and a supplementary charge +on the tickets. But on running into the station (ours was the first +carriage) I had noticed a man standing with a valise in his hand, and +I saw him following the train down the platform when we stopped. He +addressed himself to a little group of conductors who had already +alighted, and were gossiping idly among themselves, having nothing +else to do. One of them indicated our particular attendant, to whom +he spoke, and who brought him directly to our carriage. + +Evidently the newcomer was bound for Lucerne _via_ Basle. Here was one +more occupant of our neglected train, another companion and fellow +traveller in our nearly empty sleeping-car. Curiosity and something +more led me to examine this man closely; it was a strange, undefined, +inexplicable sense of foreboding, of fateful forecast, that he and I +were destined to be thrown together unpleasantly, to be much mixed up +with one another, and to the comfort and satisfaction of neither. + +Who and what was he? His position in life, his business, trade or +calling were not to be easily fixed; a commercial man, an agent or +"traveller" on his own account, well-to-do and prosperous, was the +notion borne out by his dress, his white waistcoat and coloured shirt +of amazing pattern (a hint of his Italian origin), his rings and the +showy diamond pin in his smart necktie. + +I added to this, my first impression, by further observation, for +which I soon had abundant opportunity. When the train moved on, he +came and took his seat on the flap seat (or _strapontin_) just +opposite my compartment. I could not tell why, until presently he +made overtures of sociability and began a desultory talk across the +corridor. My cabin or compartment, it will be remembered, was the last +but one; the newcomer had been given the one behind mine, and here +from his seat he commanded the whole length of the carriage forward, +which included the compartment occupied by Mrs. Blair and her party. + +I cannot say that I liked his looks or was greatly attracted by him. +He was not prepossessing. Fair, with a flaccid unwholesome complexion, +foxy haired, his beard cut to a point, small moustaches curled upward +showing thin pale lips, and giving his mouth a disagreeable curve also +upwards, a sort of set smile that was really a sardonic sneer, +conveying distrust and disbelief in all around. His eyes were so deep +set as to be almost lost in their recesses behind his sandy eyelashes, +and he kept them screwed up close, with the intent watchful gaze of an +animal about to make a spring. His whole aspect, his shifty, restless +manner, his furtive looks, all were antipathetic and to his great +advantage. I did not take to him at all, and plainly showed him that +I had no desire for his talk or his company. + +It was not easy to shake him off, however. He would take no offence; I +was cold to positive rudeness, I snubbed him unmercifully; I did not +answer his remarks or his questions, which were incessant and +shamelessly inquisitorial. Nothing disconcerted him. I had all but +shut the door of my compartment in his face, but it suddenly occurred +to me that he was capable of wandering on, and when he found the +ladies inflicting his greasy attentions upon them. + +I felt that I had better submit to his unpalatable society than let +him bore Mrs. Blair with his colossal impudence. + +How right I was in this became at once apparent. He had taken out a +cigar-case and pressed one upon me with such pertinacious, offensive +familiarity that I could see no way out of it than by saying +peremptorily: + +"You cannot smoke here. There are ladies in that compartment yonder." + +"Ladies indeed! You surprise me," but I saw a look on his face that +convinced me he perfectly well knew they were there. "Ladies, aha! How +many, may I ask?" + +"One at least, with her maid and a child," I replied gruffly. + +"And a child," he repeated, as if by rote. "Does monsieur, tell me +quickly, I--I--beg--know them! Can he describe them to me?" + +"I shall tell you nothing about them. What the mischief do you mean by +asking me questions? Find out what you want for yourself." I was hot +and indignant with the brute. + +"By George, you're right. I'll go and ask for leave to smoke. I shall +find out then," and he jumped up, the spring seat closing with a bang +from under him. + +The noise concealed the sound of the electric bell which I had pressed +to summon the attendant, as I rushed out and caught the other man by +the arm. + +"You'll do nothing of the kind," I cried with very vigorous emphasis, +backed by all my strength. "I'll shake you to a jelly if you dare to +move another inch." + +"Here, I say, drop it. Who the deuce are you? None of your bally +nonsense. Hands off, or I'll make you." + +But he was too soft and flabby to avail much, and I dragged him back +helplessly with tightened grip, only too delighted to try conclusions +with him. + +At this moment the conductor appeared upon the scene, and began to +expostulate loudly. + +"Here, I say, what's all this? It can't be allowed. No fighting and +quarrelling are permitted." + +"Well, then, people must behave themselves," I retorted. "Don't let +this chap annoy your passengers." + +"I have done nothing to annoy them," stammered the other. "You shall +answer for this. I've done no harm." + +"I'll see you don't. Get in there and stay there;" and with that I +forced him, almost flung him, into his compartment, where he fell +panting upon the velvet sofa. + +"You'd better keep an eye on him," I said to the conductor, who was +inclined to be disagreeable, and was barely pacified by a couple of +five-franc pieces. "Fellows of this sort are apt to be a nuisance, and +we must take care of the ladies." + +As I said this I saw Mrs. Blair's face peering out beyond her door a +little nervously, but she ventured to come right out and along the +passage towards me. + +"What has happened? I heard some noise, high words, a scuffle." + +"Some ruffian who got in at Amiens, and who has had to be taught +manners. I told him not to smoke here, and he wanted to intrude +himself upon you, which I prevented, a little forcibly." + +"Where is he? In here?" and she followed the indication of my thumb as +I jerked it back, and looked over my shoulder into the compartment. + +"Ah!" The ejaculation was involuntary, and one of acute painful +surprise, the gesture that accompanied it spontaneous and full of +terror. + +"That man! that man!" she gasped. "He must not see me; let me go, let +me go!" + +But her strength failed her, and but for my supporting arm she would +have fallen to the ground. Half-fainting, I led her back to her own +compartment, where her maid received her tenderly and with comforting +words. There was clearly a strong bond of affection between these two, +possibly companions and confederates in wrong-doing; the delicate and +refined woman, tormented by the inner qualms of outraged conscience, +relied and leant upon the stronger and more resolute nature. + +"What's come to you, ma'am? There, there, don't give way," said the +maid, softly coaxing her and stroking her hands. + +"Oh, Philpotts, fancy! He is there! Falfani, the--the--you know--" + +Of course I saw it all now. Stupid ass! I might have guessed it all +along. I had puzzled my brains vainly trying to place him, to fix his +quality and condition in life, neglecting the one simple obvious +solution to which so many plain indications pointed. The man, of +course, was a detective, an officer or private agent, and his dirty +business--you see, I was already shaken in my honesty, and now with +increasing demoralization under seductive influences I was already +inclined to cross over to the other side of the frontier of crime--his +dirty business was the persecution of my sweet friend. + +"What are we to do now?" asked Mrs. Blair, her nervous trepidation +increasing. "I begin to think we shall fail, we cannot carry it +through, we shall lose our treasure. It will be taken from us." + +"You cannot, you must not, shall not turn back now," said the maid +with great determination. "We must devise something, some way, of +outwitting this Falfani. We did it before, we must do it again. After +all he has no power over us; we are in France and shall be in +Switzerland by daylight." + +"We ought to go on, you think? Wouldn't it be better to slip out of +the train at the first station and run away?" + +"He would do the same. He does not intend to let us out of his sight. +And how much the better should we be? It would be far worse; we should +be much more at his mercy if we left the train. The journey would +still have to be made; we must get to the end, the very end, or we'd +better not have started." + +"He will know then, if he sticks to us. We cannot hide it from him, +nor where we have taken it; we shall never be able to keep it, they +will come and claim it and recover it;" and she cried hysterically: "I +cannot see my way; it's all dark, black as night. I wish--I wish--" + +"That you had never done it?" quickly asked the maid; and I noticed a +slight sarcasm in her tone that was not without its effect in bracing +up and strengthening her companion's shattered nerves. + +"No, no, no; I do not regret it, and I never shall. I did it +deliberately, counting the cost fully, and it shall be paid, however +heavy it may be. It is not regret that tortures me, but the fear of +failure when so near success." + +"We will succeed yet. Do not be cast down, my sweet dear." The maid +patted her on the cheek with great affection. "We shall find a way. +This gentleman, the colonel here, will help us, perhaps." + +"Will you?" Who could resist her pleading voice and shining eyes? If I +had had any scruples left I would have thrown them to the winds. + +"Whatever lies in my power to do shall be done without stint or +hesitation," I said solemnly, careless of all consequences, content to +hold her hand and earn her heartfelt thanks. What though I were +pawning my honour? + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +[_The Statement of Domenico Falfani, confidential agent, +made to his employers, Messrs. Becke and Co., of the Private +Inquiry Offices, 279 St. Martin's Lane, W.C._] + + +I propose, gentlemen, to set down here at length the story of my +mission, and the events which befell me from the time I first received +my instructions. You desired me to pursue and call to strict account a +certain lady of title, who had fallen away from her high estate and +committed an act of rank felony. The circumstances which led up to her +disappearance and the partners of her flight are already well known to +you. + +The only indication given me, as you are aware, was that I might take +it for granted that she would go abroad and probably by the most +direct route to the South, to Switzerland and across the Alps into +Italy. My orders having only reached me in the early morning, the +theft having presumably been committed during the night previous to +Sunday, September 21, I was unable to ascertain through the tourist +agencies whether any and what tickets had been booked in the +directions indicated. + +My most urgent duty then was to watch the outgoing Continental trains, +the first of which left Charing Cross for Dover and Calais at 9 +A.M. I closely watched it therefore, and its passengers, and +travelled with it to Cannon Street, where I continued my search, but +without result. I was greatly helped in my quest by the not unusual +fact noticeable on Sundays, that travellers abroad are few in number. + +I had no difficulty in satisfying myself that the lady and her party +were not in this train, and I returned at once to Charing Cross in +time for the second Continental train, the 10 A.M. + +I had resolved to book myself by that as far as Amiens, for I knew +that, once there, I should have reached a central point or junction, a +sort of throat through which every train moving southward to Paris or +Switzerland must pass. + +There remained, of course, the route via Dover by Ostend and through +Brussels; but I had been informed by you that Ludovic Tiler, my +colleague and coworker, was to undertake the inquiry on that line. + +It is part of my business to be thoroughly familiar with the +Continental Bradshaw, and I soon ticked off the different trains that +interested me. + +There was first the 11 A.M. from Victoria by Dover and +Calais, where it connected with the Paris express and the sleeping-car +Engadine express, both of which run through Amiens, where, however, +the latter branches off to Basle and beyond, with special cars for +Lucerne, Zurich and Coire. + +Then came the 2.20 P.M. from Charing Cross to Folkestone, and +so to Boulogne, Amiens and the rest, travelling the same road as the +Engadine express. This was the last of the day service, as it gave +most time, allowing people to start at the very latest moment, and I +felt it quite probable that my lady would prefer to take it. + +I reached Amiens a little before 5 P.M., and I had a wait of +half an hour for the first express from Calais. I was greatly +disappointed when at last it appeared issuing from the tunnel, and +passed me where I stood at the commencement of the platform, taking +stock of each carriage as it passed. The train seemed to be quite +empty; there were no passengers, so the officials, the conductors, +informed me when I talked to them, sad and unhappy at the certain loss +of tips. Only one of them had any luck, Jules l'Echelle, of the +Lucerne sleeping-car, who had one or two people on board. + +I questioned him not very hopefully, but was agreeably surprised when +he told me that his clients consisted of two ladies with a child, and +one gentleman. English? Yes, all English. The lady, quite a lady, a +_grande dame belle personne_, tall, fine figure, well dressed; her +companion no doubt her servant; the child, well, an ordinary child, an +infant in arms. What would you? + +I had them, I felt sure. There could be no mistaking this description. +I held them in the hollow of my hand. Here they were in this car, and +it would be all my own fault if they escaped me. It would be necessary +only to verify my conclusions, to identify the lady according to the +description and photograph given me. For the rest I knew what to do. + +But now a quite unexpected difficulty turned up. + +As I have said, there was one other passenger, a gentleman, in the +car, and I felt it would be prudent to make his acquaintance. No doubt +I could tell at the first glance whether or not he was an ordinary +traveller, or whether he was a friend and accomplice of the lady under +observation. + +I regret to say that he met me in a very hostile spirit. I was at +great pains to be affable, to treat him with all the courtly +consideration I have at command, and I flatter myself that in the +matter of tact and good-breeding I do not yield to princes of the +blood royal. But my civility was quite thrown away. The man was an +absolute brute, abrupt, overbearing, rude. Nothing would conciliate +him. I offered him a cigar (a Borneo of the best brand, at 10s. the +hundred), and he not only refused it, but positively forbade me to +smoke. There were ladies in the carriage, he said (this was the first +reference made to them), and, when declining to be ordered about, I +proposed to refer the question to themselves, he threw himself +violently upon me and assaulted me brutally. + +Fortunately the attendant came to my rescue or I should have been +seriously injured. He lifted me into my compartment very kindly, and +acted like an old friend, as indeed he was, for I remembered him as +the Jules l'Echelle with whom I served some time back as an assistant +at the Baths of Bormio. + +It was, of course, clear to my mind that my assailant was associated +in some way with the lady, and probably a confederate. I saw that I +must know more about him, with the least possible delay, and as soon +as Jules had left me, promising to return later and talk of old times, +and the changes that had come over us since then, I ventured to look +out and get a glimpse of the other man, I will not call him gentleman +after his conduct. + +He was nowhere in sight, but I could hear his voice, several voices, +talking together at the far end. No doubt he had joined his friends in +their compartment, and the moment seemed opportune to visit his. It +was next to mine, and the door stood invitingly open. A few minutes, +seconds even, would be enough to tell me something of his identity, +perhaps all I wanted to. + +At least he made no pretence at mystery; his light baggage lay about, +a dressing bag, a roll of rugs, a couple of sticks and an umbrella +strapped together, all very neat and precise and respectable, and all +alike furnished with a parchment tag or label bearing in plain +language all that I wanted to know. + +His name was printed "Lieut.-Col. Basil Annesley," and his club, the +Mars and Neptune, that famous military house in Piccadilly. +Underneath, on all, his destination was written, "Hotel Bellevue, +Bellagio, Como." There could never be the least difficulty in finding +this person if I wanted him, as I thought likely. He was a blustering, +swashbuckling army officer, who could always be brought to account if +he misconducted himself, or mixed himself up in shady transactions. + +In my great contentment at the discovery I had been wanting in +caution, and I lingered too long on forbidden ground. + +"You infernal scoundrel," cried some one from the door, and once more +I felt an angry hand on my shoulder. "How come you here? Explain +yourself." + +"It's all a mistake," I began, trying to make the best of it, +struggling to get free. But he still held me in a grip of iron, and it +was not until my friend Jules appeared that I got out of the enemy's +clutches. + +"Here, I say!" shouted Jules vaguely. "This won't do, you know. I +shall have to lodge a complaint against you for brawling." + +"Complaint, by George!" he replied, shaking his fist at me. "The boot +is on the other leg, I take it. How is it that I find this chap in my +compartment? Foraging about, I believe." + +"Indeed no, Colonel Annesley," I protested, forgetting myself; and he +caught at it directly. + +"Oho, so you know my name! That proves what I say. You've been messing +about and overhauling my things. I won't stand it. The man's a thief. +He will have to be locked up." + +"I'm not the only thief in the car, then," I cried, for I was now mad +with him and his threats. + +"I don't know what you're driving at, or whom you think to accuse; but +I tell you this, my friend, that I shall call in the police at the +next station and hand you over." + +I looked at the conductor Jules, appealing for protection. I saw at +once that it would be terrible for me to have any trouble with the +police. They could do me no harm, but I might be delayed, obliged to +leave the train, and I should lose sight of the lady, possibly fail +altogether. + +Jules responded at once. "Come, come," he said. "You're talking big. +You might own the whole train. Who might you be?" + +"None of your confounded impudence," shouted the Colonel, as he +pointed to one of the luggage labels. "That's who I am. It's good +enough to get you discharged before you're a much older man. And now I +call upon you to do your duty. I have caught this man under suspicious +circumstances in the very act of rifling my effects. I insist upon his +being taken into custody." + +"There isn't enough for that," Jules answered, still my friend, but +weakening a little before this masterly army officer, and I felt that +I must speak for myself. + +"And if you stop me I will have the law of you for false imprisonment, +and bring heavy damages. You will be doing me a great injury in my +business." + +"Precisely what I should like to do, my fine fellow. I can guess what +your business is. Nothing reputable, I feel sure." + +"I'm not ashamed of it, and I have powerful friends behind me. I am +acting for--" + +"Yes?" he asked me mockingly, for I had checked my tongue, fearing to +say too much. + +"It is my affair. Enough that you will feel the weight of their hands +if you interfere with me in carrying out their instructions." + +"Well, anyhow, tell me who you are. I've a right to know that in +exchange. You chose to help yourself to my name; now I insist upon +knowing yours." + +I told him, not very readily, as may be supposed. + +"Domenico Falfani? Is that your own or a 'purser's' name? Come, you +know what I mean. It's part of your stock in trade to understand all +languages, including slang. Is that the name he has given you?"--this +to the conductor. "Show me your way-bill, your _feuille de route_." + +Jules at a nod from me produced it, and no doubt understood my reason +when in my turn I claimed to see it. + +"I have a clear right," I insisted, overruling all objections raised +by the Colonel; and taking it into my hands I read the names aloud, +"Colonel Annesley, Mrs. Blair, maid and child." I pronounced the name +with great contempt. + +"You talk of purser's names," I said sneeringly. "What do you think of +this? Blair, indeed! No more the woman's name than Smith or Jones, or +what you please." + +"Speak more respectfully of a lady," cried the Colonel, catching me +tightly by the arm. + +"Lady? Oho! Don't, Colonel, drop it. At any rate, she is not Mrs. +Blair; you may take that from me," I said as impressively as a judge +on the bench. "And what's more, Colonel, I wouldn't press charges you +can't substantiate against me, or I may hit back with another not so +easy to meet. Try to stop me at the next station, and I'll stop your +pal--ah, don't"--he had a cruelly strong hand--"your Mrs. Blair, and +she'll find herself in a particularly tight place." + +"We'll see about that," said the Colonel, who kept a stiff face, but +was, I think, rather crestfallen. "I shall act as I think best. +Anyhow, get out of this, both of you. This is my private berth, and +you are trespassing." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +Whatever may have been the Colonel's intentions when he caught me in +his compartment, something, and I think my last words, led him to +modify them. He felt, probably, that if he attacked me I might +retaliate unpleasantly. I ought to be able to hold my own with him, +although in truth I was not over happy at the course events had taken, +and I could not compliment myself on my good management. + +I had not been overprudent; I had pressed my attentions on him rather +abruptly, although I had the excuse that I usually found them well +received, thanks to my affable address; again I had behaved most +incautiously in penetrating his identity. + +And, worse than all, I had still no certainty. I could only surmise +that the lady was the one I was in search of, for I had not as yet +clapt eyes on her, and I had been to some extent driven to show my +hand before I had made my ground good. So the first thing I did on +regaining my own compartment was to ring for Jules, the conductor, and +put before him the photograph with which I was provided, and ask him +if he recognized it. + +"But perfectly. It is the lady yonder," he said promptly. "Is it your +own, or did you find it or annex it from next door? Ah, your own; and +what have you to do with her?" + +"I may tell you some day, Jules. For the present you must know that I +am after her; I have to watch her, stick to her like her shadow until +it is time to act." + +"An adventuress, eh?" + +"She is in possession of what does not belong to her; something she +abstracted from--from--Never mind where, and it must be recovered from +her here, or after she leaves the car." + +"Afterwards, please. We can't have any scandal on board here." + +"Five hundred francs wouldn't tempt you to let me have a free hand for +just half an hour? I could do it, say somewhere short of Basle, and on +reaching there make off. No one should be any the wiser, and they, the +women, wouldn't dare to make a fuss." + +"It's I who do not dare--not for twice five hundred francs. My place +is worth more than that; and if it is a dog's life, it is better than +lying on the straw. Besides, there's her friend the Colonel, he'll be +on the alert, you may depend." + +"So must I be, and I must find some way to circumvent him. I'll be +even with him. He sha'n't beat me, the overbearing, hectoring brute. +It's between him and me, and I think I'm a match for him." + +I spoke this confidently to my friend, who engaged for his part to do +all in his power to assist, or at least to do nothing against me, and +I was content to bide my time. Pride goes before a fall. I was not as +clever as I thought, and shall have to tell you how seriously I had +underrated his worth in the coming trial of strength. + +As the train sped on and the night began to close in on us, I remained +quietly in my berth, pondering over my position, and in considering +the course I should adopt under various contingencies. The first and +most serious danger was that the lady should succeed in leaving the +train at any of the intermediate stations at Basle, and so give me +the slip. There were Laon, Rheims, Chaumont, and the rest. + +It must be my business to keep close watch against any evasion of this +kind, and Jules had promised to help. I did not look for any such +attempt until far into the night, when the stations were empty and +half-dark, and I agreed with Jules to divide the hours till daylight, +he taking the first, I the last. We were due at Basle at 5 A.M., and I +expected to join forces then with Tiler, my colleague, coming from the +side of Ostend, via Brussels and Strasburg. + +Meanwhile I kept quiet and made no sign beyond showing that I was +there and on the spot ready to act if it should be necessary. Thus, +when the train slackened speed on approaching a station, I was always +on the move and the first to descend and patrol the platform. The +Colonel always got out too, but he never accosted me; indeed, he +seemed disposed to despise me, to ignore my existence, or dare me to +the worst I could do. + +I suppose the lady must have been of the same mind, for when +dinner-time arrived, she came boldly out of her compartment, and I met +her face to face for the first time, on her way to the restaurant. I +was standing at the door of my compartment. + +"Dinner is ready," the Colonel said to me significantly, but I did not +choose to understand, and shook my head, holding my ground. + +"You are coming to dinner, I think," he repeated in a sharp commanding +way, as if he were talking to his soldiers. + +"I shall please myself about that," I replied gruffly. + +"Not a bit of it. One moment," he whispered to the lady, who walked +on, and turned again to me: "Now see here, my friend, I do not mean to +leave you behind. You will come to the dining-car with us, and no two +ways about it, even if I have to carry you." + +"I won't dine with you," I cried. + +"I never asked you to dine with me, but you shall dine when I do. I +will pay for your dinner, but I wouldn't sit at table with you for +worlds," he shouted with scornful laughter. "You're going to dine +under my eye, that's all, even though the sight of you is enough to +make one sick. So come along, sharp's the word, see? Walk first; let +him pass you, Mrs. Blair." + +I felt I had no choice. He was capable of again assaulting me. There +was something in his manner that cowed me, and I was obliged in spite +of myself to give way. + +There were only three of us in the dining-car, and we were not a very +merry company. Our tables were laid almost adjoining, and there was no +conversation between us, except when the Colonel asked me with +contemptuous civility what wine I preferred. He did not talk to the +lady, or the merest commonplaces, for I was within earshot. But I made +an excellent dinner, I must confess. I had eaten nothing since Amiens. +Then I got back to my berth, where the bed was made. I threw myself on +to it, rejoiced at the prospect of getting a few hours' sleep while +Jules remained on the watch. + +He was to call me a little before reaching Basle, and, like an ass +that I was, I fully relied on his doing so, believing him to be my +friend. Such friendship as his did not bear any great strain, as I +learnt presently to my great chagrin. + +I slept heavily, but in fitful snatches, as a man does when constantly +disturbed by the whirr and whizzing of the train, the rattle and +jangle of wheels passing over ill-jointed points. After one of the +longest periods of unconsciousness I awoke, aroused by the complete +absence of noise. The train was at a standstill in some station and +making a very protracted halt. + +Something moved me to lift the blind and look out, and I saw, not +without uneasiness, that we were at Basle. I thought I recognized the +station, but I soon made out for certain the name "Basilea" (Basle), +and saw the clock with the fingers at five-thirty. People were already +on the move, work-people, the thrifty, industrious Swiss, forestalling +time, travellers in twos and threes arriving and departing by the +early train through this great junction on the frontier of +Switzerland. + +Stay! What? Who are those crossing the platform hurriedly. Great +powers! Right under my eyes, a little party of four, two females, two +men accompanying them, escorting them, carrying rugs and parcels. +There could not be a shadow of doubt. + +It was the lady, the so-called Mrs. Blair, in full flight, with all +her belongings, and under the care and guidance not only of the +Colonel, that of course, but also of the perfidious Jules l'Echelle. +He had sold me! All doubt of his treachery disappeared when on rushing +to the door I found I had been locked into my compartment. + +I rang the electric bell frantically, again and again. I got no +answer; I threw up the window and thrust my head out, shouting for +help, but got none, only one or two sluggish porters came up and asked +what was amiss, answering stolidly, when they heard, that it was none +of their business. "They had no key, it must be a mistake. The +conductor would explain, I must wait till he came." + +Presently Jules arrived, walking very leisurely from the direction of +the restaurant, and he stood right under my window with a grin on his +face and mockery in his voice. + +"What's wrong? Locked in? Can't be possible? Who could have done it? I +will inquire," he said slowly and imperturbably. + +"No, no; let me out first. You can do it if you choose. I believe it +was your trickery from the first. I must get out, I tell you, or they +will escape me," I cried. + +"Not unlikely. I may say it is pretty certain they will. That was the +Colonel's idea; you'd better talk to him about it next time you see +him." + +"And that will be never, I expect. He's not going to show up here +again." + +"There you're wrong; he will be back before the train starts, you may +rely on that, and you'll be able to talk to him. We'll let you out +then," he was laughing at me, traitor that he was. "Here he comes. +We're just going on." + +Now I saw my last chance of successfully performing my mission +disappearing beyond recall. I renewed my shouts and protests, but was +only laughed at for my pains. The railway officials at Basle might +have interfered, but Jules answered for me, declaring with a +significant gesture that I was in drink and that he would see to me. + +I quite despaired. Already the train was moving out of the station, +when, to my intense joy, I caught sight of Ludovic Tiler, who came +down the platform running alongside us, and crying, "Falfani, +Falfani," as he recognized me. + +"Don't mind me," I shouted to him. "I must go on, I can't help myself. +It's for you to take it up now. She's in the restaurant. You'll easily +know her, in a long ulster, with her maid and the child. You can't +miss her. By the Lord, she is standing at the door! Get away with +you, don't let her see you talking with me. She must not know we are +acting in common, and I do hope she hasn't noticed. Be off, I tell +you, only let me hear of you; wire to Lucerne what you're doing. +Address telegraph-office. Send me a second message at Goeschenen. I +shall get one or both. Say where I may answer and where I can join +you." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +The timely appearance of my colleague, Ludovic Tiler, consoled me a +little for the loss of the lady and her lot. I had failed, myself, but +I hoped that with my lead he would get on to the scent and keep to it. +Ere long, on the first intimation from him I might come into the game +again. I should be guided by his wire if I got it. + +For the moment I was most concerned to find out whether Tiler's +intervention and my short talk with him had been noticed by the other +side. If the Colonel knew that another man was on his friend's track, +he would surely have left the train at once so as to go to her +assistance. But he was still in the train, I could hear him plainly, +speaking to Jules in the next compartment. Again, as we sped on, I +reasoned favourably from their leaving me as I was, still under lock +and key. No one came near me until after we had passed Olten station, +the first stopping-place after Basle, where I could alight and retrace +my steps. By holding on to me I guessed that I was still thought to +be the chief danger, and that they had no suspicion of Tiler's +existence. + +I laughed in my sleeve, but not the less did I rage and storm when +Jules l'Echelle came with the Colonel to release me. + +"You shall pay for this," I cried hotly. + +"As for you, l'Echelle, it shall cost you your place, and I'll take +the law of you, Colonel Annesley; I'll get damages and you shall +answer for your illegal action." + +"Pfui!" retorted the Colonel. "The mischief you can do is nothing to +what you might have done. We can stand the racket. I've bested you for +the present--that's the chief thing, anyway. You can't persecute the +poor lady any more." + +"Poor lady! Do you know who she is or was, anyway?" + +"Of course I do," he answered bold as brass. + +"Did she let on? Told you, herself? My word! She's got a nerve. I +wonder she'd own to it after all she's done." + +"Silence!" he shouted, in a great taking. "If you dare to utter a +single word against that lady, I'll break every bone in your body." + +"I'm saying nothing--it's not me, it's all the world. It was in the +papers, you must have read them, the most awful story, such--such +depravity there never was--such treachery, such gross misconduct." + +He caught me by the arm so violently and looked so fierce that for a +moment I was quite alarmed. + +"Drop it, I tell you. Leave the lady alone, both by word and deed. +You'll never find her again, I've seen to that. She has escaped you." + +"Aha! You think so? Don't be too cocksure. We understand our +business better than that, we don't go into it single-handed. You've +collared me for a bit, but I'm not the only one in the show." + +"The only one that counts," he said sneering. + +"Am I?" I answered in the same tone. "What if I had a pal waiting for +me at Basle, who received my instructions there--just when you thought +you had me safe--and has now taken up the running?" + +He was perfectly staggered at this, I could see plainly. I thought at +first he would have struck me, he was so much upset. + +"You infernal villain," he shouted, "I believe the whole thing is a +confounded lie! Explain." + +"I owe you no explanations," I replied stiffly, "my duty is to my +employers. I only account to them for my conduct. I am a confidential +agent." + +He seemed impressed by this, for when he spoke again it was more +quietly. But he looked me very straight in the eyes. I felt that he +was still likely to give trouble. + +"Well, I suppose I cannot expect you to tell me things. You must go +your own way and I shall go mine." + +"I should advise you to leave it, Colonel," I said, civilly enough. +"I'm always anxious to conciliate and avoid unpleasantness. Give up +the whole business; you will only burn your fingers." + +"Ah! How so?" + +"The law is altogether against you. It is a nasty job; better not be +mixed up in it. Have you any idea what that woman--that lady," I +corrected myself, for his eyes flashed, "has done?" + +"Nothing really wrong," he was warming up into a new burst of passion. + +"Tell that to the Courts and to the Judge when you are prosecuted for +contempt and charged as an accessory after the fact. How will you like +that? It will take the starch out of you." + +"Rot! The law can't do us much harm. The only person who might make it +disagreeable is Lord Blackadder, and I snap my fingers at him." + +"The Earl of Blackadder? Are you mad? He is a great personage, a rich +and powerful nobleman. You cannot afford to fight him; he will be too +strong for you. He has been made the victim of an abominable outrage, +and will spare no effort, no means, no money to recover his own." + +"Lord Blackadder is a cad--a cruel, cowardly ruffian. I know all about +him and what has happened. It would give me the greatest pleasure to +kick him down the street. Failing that, I shall do my best to upset +and spoil his schemes, and so you know." + +I smiled contemptuously. "A mere Colonel against an Earl! What sort of +a chance have you? It's too absurd." + +"We shall see. Those laugh longest who laugh last." + +By this time our talk was done, for we were approaching Lucerne, and +I began to think over my next plans. All must depend on what I heard +there--upon what news, if any, came from Ludovic Tiler. + +So on my arrival I made my way straight to the telegraph-office in the +corner of the great station, and on showing my card an envelope was +handed to me. It was from Tiler at Basle, and ran as follows: + +"They have booked through by 7.30 A.M., via Brienne, Lausanne +to Brieg, and I suppose the Simplon. I shall accompany. Can you join +me at either end--Brieg or Domo Dossola? The sooner the better. Wire +me from all places along the route, giving your movements. Address me +in my train No. 70." + +The news pointed pretty clearly to the passage of the Alps and descent +into Italy by another route than the St. Gothard. I had my Bradshaw in +my bag, and proceeded at once to verify the itinerary by the +time-table, while I drank my early coffee in the restaurant upon the +station platform. I was most anxious to join hands with Tiler, and +quickly turned over the leaves of my railway guide to see if it was +possible, and how it might best be managed. + +My first idea was to retrace my steps to Basle and follow him by the +same road. But I soon found that the trains would not fit in the very +least. He would be travelling by the one fast train in the day, which +was due at Brieg at four o'clock in the afternoon. My first chance, if +I caught the very next train back from Lucerne, would only get me to +Brieg by the eleven o'clock the following morning. + +It was not good enough, and I dismissed the idea forthwith. Then I +remembered that by getting off the St. Gothard railway at Goeschenen I +should strike the old Furka diligence route by the Devil's Bridge, +Hospenthal, and the Rhone Glacier, a drive of fifty miles, more or +less, but at least it would get me to Brieg that same night by 10 or +11 o'clock. + +Before adopting this line I had to consider that there was a risk of +missing Tiler and his quarry; that is to say, of being too late for +them; for the lady might decide to push on directly she reached Brieg, +taking a special carriage extra post as far as the Simplon at least, +even into Domo Dossola. She was presumably in such a hurry that the +night journey would hardly deter her from driving over the pass. Tiler +would certainly follow. By the time I reached Brieg they would be +halfway across the Alps, and I must take the same road, making a stern +chase, proverbially the longest. + +I turned my attention, therefore, to the Italian end of the carriage +road, and to seeing how and when I could reach Domo Dossola, the +alternative suggestion made by Tiler. There would be no difficulty as +to that, and I found I could be there in good time the same evening. I +worked it out on the tables and it looked easy enough. + +Leave Lucerne by the St. Gothard railway, pass Goeschenen, and go +through the tunnel down the Italian side as far as Bellizona. Thence a +branch line would take me to Locarno and into touch with the steamboat +service on Lake Maggiore. There was a fixed connection according to +the tables, and I should land at Pallanza within a short hour's drive +of the line to Domo Dossola. I could be established there by nightfall +and would command the situation. Every carriage that came down the +Simplon must come under my eye. + +There could be no doubt that the Bellizona-Locarno Lake line was the +preferable one, and I finally decided in favour of it. I closed my +Bradshaw with a bang, replaced it in my bag, drank up my coffee, and +started for the telegraph office. I meant to advise Tiler of my plans, +and at the same time arrange with him to look out for me just outside +the terminus station at Domo Dossola, or to communicate with me there +at the Hotel de la Poste. + +On coming out I ran up against the last person I wished to see. It was +the Colonel, who greeted me with a loud laugh, and gave me a slap on +the back. + +"Halloa, my wily detective," he said mockingly; "settled it all quite +to your satisfaction? Done with Bradshaw--sent off your wires? Well, +what's the next move?" + +"I decline to hold any conversation with you," I began severely. "I +beg you will not intrude upon my privacy. I do not desire your +acquaintance." + +"Hoity toity!" he cried. "On your high horse, eh? Aren't you afraid +you may fall off or get knocked off?" and he raised his hand with an +ugly gesture. + +"We are not alone now in a railway carriage. There are police about, +and the Swiss police do not approve of brawling," I replied, with all +the dignity I could assume. + +"Come, Falfani, tell me what you mean to do now," he went on in the +same tone. + +"Your questions are an impertinence. I do not know you. I do not +choose to know you, and I beg you will leave me alone." + +"Don't think of it, my fine fellow. I'm not going to leave you alone. +You may make up your mind to that. Where you go, I go; what you do, I +shall do. We are inseparables, you and I, as much united as the +Siamese twins. So I tell you." + +"But it's monstrous, it's not to be tolerated. I shall appeal for +protection to the authorities." + +"Do so, my friend, do so. See which will get the best of that. I don't +want to swagger, but at any rate all the world knows pretty well who I +am; but what shall you call yourself, Mr. Falfani?" + +"I have my credentials from my employers; I have letters, +testimonials, recommendations from the best people." + +"Including the Earl of Blackadder, I presume? I admit your great +advantages. Well, try it. You may get the best of it in the long run, +but you'll lose a good deal of time. I'm not in a hurry," he said with +emphasis, and promptly recalled me to my senses, for I realized that +I could not fight him that way. It must be by stratagem or evasion. I +must throw dust in his eyes, put him off the scent, mislead, befool, +elude him somehow. + +How was I to shake him off now I saw that he was determined to stick +to me? He had said it in so many words. He would not let me out of his +sight; wherever I went he was coming too. + +The time was drawing on for the departure of the St. Gothard express +at 9.8 A.M., and as yet I had no ticket. I had booked at +Amiens as far as Lucerne only, leaving further plans as events might +fall out. Now I desired to go on, but did not see how I was to take a +fresh ticket without his learning my destination. He would be certain +to be within earshot when I went up to the window. + +I was beginning to despair when I saw Cook's man, who was, as usual, +hovering about to assist travellers in trouble, and I beckoned him to +approach. + +"See that gentleman," I nodded towards the Colonel. "He wants you; do +your best for him." And when the tourist agent proceeded on his +mission to be accosted, I fear rather unceremoniously, I slipped off +and hid out of sight. + +I felt sure I was unobserved as I took my place in the crowd at the +ticket-window, but when I had asked and paid for my place to Locarno I +heard, to my disgust, some one else applying for a ticket to exactly +the same place, and in a voice that was strangely familiar. + +On looking round I saw Jules l'Echelle, the sleeping-car conductor, +but out of uniform, and with an amused grin on his face. + +"It seems that we are still to be fellow travellers," he observed +casually. + +"What is taking you to Lake Maggiore? How about your service on the +car?" I asked suspiciously. + +"I have business at Locarno, and have got a few days' leave to attend +to it." + +I felt he was lying to me. He had been bought, I was sure. His +business was the Colonel's, who had set him to assist in watching me. +I had two enemies then to encounter, and I realized with some +misgiving that the Colonel was not a man to be despised. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +I secured a place with difficulty; there was rather a rush for the St. +Gothard express when it ran in. It was composed as usual of corridor +carriages, all classes _en suite_, and I knew that it would be +impossible to conceal the fact that I was on board the train. Within +five minutes Jules had verified the fact and taken seats in the +immediate neighbourhood, to which he and the Colonel presently came. + +"Quite a pleasant little party!" he said in a bantering tone. "All +bound for Locarno, eh? Ever been to Locarno before, Mr. Falfani? +Delightful lake, Maggiore. Many excursions, especially by steamer; the +Borromean islands well worth seeing, and Baveno and Stresa and the +road to the Simplon." + +I refused to be drawn, and only muttered that I hated excursions and +steamers and lakes, and wished to be left in peace. + +"A little out of sorts, I'm afraid, Mr. Falfani. Sad that. Too many +emotions, want of sleep, perhaps. You _would_ do _too_ much last +night." He still kept up his hateful babble, and Jules maddened me by +his sniggering enjoyment of my discomfiture. + +More than ever did I set my brain to puzzle out some way of escaping +this horrible infliction. Was it not possible to give them the slip, +somehow, somewhere? I took the Colonel's hint, and pretended to take +refuge in sleep, and at last, I believe, I dozed off. It must have +been in my dreams that an idea came to me, a simple idea, easy of +execution with luck and determination. + +It was suggested to me by the short tunnels that succeed so frequently +in the ascent of the St. Gothard Alps. They are, as most people know, +a chief feature in the mountain railway, and a marvel of engineering +skill, being cut in circles to give the necessary length and gain the +height with a moderate gradient. Speed is so far slackened that it +would be quite possible to drop off the train without injury whenever +inclined. My only difficulty would be to alight without interference +from my persecutors. + +I nursed my project with eyes shut, still feigning sleep; and my +extreme quiescence had, as I hoped, the effect of throwing them off +their guard. Jules, like all in the same employment, was always ready +for forty winks, and I saw that he was sound and snoring just as we +entered the last tunnel before reaching the entrance of the final +great tunnel at Goeschenen. I could not be quite sure of the Colonel, +but his attitude was that of a man resting, and who had very nearly +lost himself, if he had not quite gone off. + +Now was my time. If it was to be done at all it must be quickly, +instantaneously almost. Fortunately we sat at the extreme end of a +coach, in the last places, and besides we three there was only one +other occupant in the compartment of six. The fourth passenger was +awake, but I made a bid for his good-will by touching my lips with a +finger, and the next minute I was gone. + +I expected to hear the alarm given at my disappearance, but none +reached my ears, as the train rattled past me with its twinkling +lights and noisy road. I held myself close against the side of the +tunnel in perfect safety, although the hot wind of the passing cars +fanned my cheek and rather terrified me. The moment the train was well +gone I faced the glimmering light that showed the entrance to the +tunnel at the further end from the station, and ran to it with all +speed. + +I knew that my jump from the train could not pass unnoticed, and I +counted on being followed. I expected that the tunnel would be +explored by people from Goeschenen so soon as the train ran in and +reported. My first object, therefore, was to quit the line, and I did +so directly I was clear of the tunnel. I climbed the fence, dropped +into a road, left that again to ascend the slope and take shelter +among the rocks and trees. + +The pursuit, if any, was not very keen or long maintained. When all +was quiet, an hour later I made for the highroad, the famous old road +that leads through the Devil's Pass to Andermatt, three miles above. I +altogether avoided the Goeschenen station, fearing any inconvenient +inquiries, and abandoned all idea of getting the telegram from Tiler +that might be possibly awaiting me. It did not much matter. I should +be obliged now to send him fresh news, news of the changed plans that +took me direct into Brieg; and on entering Andermatt I came upon the +post-office, just where I wanted it, both to send my message and order +an extra post carriage from Brieg. + +It was with a sense of intense relief that I sank back into the +cushions and felt that at last I was free. My satisfaction was +abruptly destroyed. Long before I reached Hospenthal, a mile or so +from Andermatt, I was disturbed by strange cries to the accompaniment +of harness bells. + +"Yo-icks, Yo-icks, G-o-ne away!" was borne after me with all the force +of stentorian lungs, and looking round I saw to my horror a second +carriage coming on at top speed, and beyond all question aiming to +overtake us. Soon they drew nearer, near enough for speech, and the +accursed Colonel hailed me. + +"Why, you cunning fox, so you broke cover and got away all in a +moment! Lucky you were seen leaving the train, or we might have +overrun the scent and gone on." + +I did not answer. + +"Nice morning for a drive, Mr. Falfani, and a long drive," he went on, +laughing boisterously. "Going all the way to Brieg by road, I believe? +So are we. Pity we did not join forces. One carriage would have done +for all three of us." + +Still I did not speak. + +"A bit ugly, eh? Don't fuss, man. It's all in the day's work." + +With that I desired my driver to pull up, and waved my hand to the +others, motioning to them that the road was theirs. + +But when I stopped they stopped, and the Colonel jeered. When I drove +on they came along too, laughing. We did this several times; and when +at the two roads just through Hospenthal, one by the St. Gothard, the +other leading to the Furka, I took the first for a short distance, +then turned back, just to try my pursuers. They still stuck to me. My +heart sank within me. I was in this accursed soldier's claws. He had +collared me, he was on my back, and I felt that I must throw up the +sponge. + +"I gave you fair notice that you would not get rid of me, and by +heaven you shall not," he cried fiercely, putting off all at once the +lighter mockery of his tone. "I know what is taking you to Brieg. You +think to find your confederate there, and you hope that, combined, the +two of you will get the better of that lady. You sha'n't, not if I can +prevent you by any means in my power; understand that, and look out +for squalls if you try." + +I confess he cowed me; he was so strong, so masterful, and, as I +began to fear, so unscrupulous, that I felt I could not make head +against him. Certainly not alone. I must have Tiler's help, his +counsel, countenance, active support. I must get in touch with him at +the earliest possible moment and my nearest way to him, situated as I +was now, must be at or through Brieg. + +So I resigned myself to my fate, and suffered myself to be driven on +with my pertinacious escort hanging on to me mile after mile of my +wearing and interminable journey. We pulled up for luncheon and a +short rest at the Furka; again in the afternoon at the Rhone Glacier. +Then we pursued our way all along the valley, with the great snow peak +of the Matterhorn in front of us, through village and hamlet, in the +fast fading light, and so on under the dark but luminous sky into +Munster, Fiesch, and Morel, till at length we rolled into Brieg about +11 P.M. + +I drove straight to the Hotel de la Poste, careless that my tormentors +were accompanying me; they could do me no more harm, and Tiler was at +hand to help in vindicating our position. + +There was no Tiler at the Hotel de la Poste; no Tiler in Brieg. Only +a brief telegram from him conveying unwelcome and astounding +intelligence. It had been despatched from Vevey about 2 P.M., +and it said: + + "Lost her somewhere between this and Lausanne. Am trying back. Shall + wire you again to Brieg. Wait there or leave address." + +My face must have betrayed my abject despair. I was so completely +knocked over that I offered no opposition when the Colonel impudently +took the telegram out of my hand and read it coolly. + +"Drawn blank!" he cried, unable to contain himself for joy. "By the +Lord Harry, that's good." + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +[_The Statement of the Second Detective_, _Ludovic Tiler_.] + + +I travelled via Ostend, Brussels and Strasburg, and was due at Basle +from that side at 4.35 A.M. My instructions were to look out +for Falfani there, and thought I might do so if our train was fairly +punctual, as it was. We were "on time," and the answer to my first +question was that the Lucerne express was still at the platform, but +on the point of departure. + +I got one glimpse of Falfani and one word with him. He was in trouble +himself; they had nipped him, caught him tight, and thrown him off the +scent. I was now to take up the running. + +"You've got your chance now, Ludovic," he said hurriedly, as he leaned +out of the carriage window. "I'm not jealous, as you often are, but +it's deuced hard on me. Anyhow, stick to her like wax, and keep your +eyes skinned. She's got the wiles of the devil, and will sell you like +a dog if you don't mind. Hurry now; you'll pick her up in the +waiting-room or restaurant, and can't miss her." + +He gave me the description, and I left him, promising him a wire at +the telegraph office, Lucerne. He was right, there was no mistaking +her. Few people were about at that time in the morning, and there was +not a soul among the plain-headed, commonplace Swiss folk to compare +with her, an English lady with her belongings. + +She was quite a beauty, tall, straight, lissom, in her tight-fitting +ulster; her piquante-looking heather cap perched on chestnut curls, +and setting off as handsome a face as I have ever seen. And I have +seen and admired many, for I don't deny that I've a strong penchant +for pretty women, and this was the pick of the basket. It was rather a +bore to be put on to her in the way of business; but why should I not +get a little pleasure out of it if I could? I need not be +disagreeable; it might help matters and pass the time pleasantly, even +if in the end I might have to show my teeth. + +I saw her looking me over as I walked into the waiting-room, +curiously, critically, and for a moment I fancied she guessed who I +was. Had she seen me talking to Falfani? + +If so--if she thought me one of her persecutors--she would hardly look +upon me without repugnance, yet I almost believed it was all the other +way. I had an idea that she did not altogether dislike me, that she +was pleased with my personal appearance. Why not? I had had my +successes in my time, and may say, although it sounds conceited, that +I had won the approval of other ladies quite as high-toned. By and by +it might be my unpleasant duty to be disagreeable. In the meantime it +would be amusing, enjoyable, to make friends. + +So far I had still to ascertain the direction in which she was bound. +She had taken her ticket. That might be safely inferred, for she was +in the waiting-room with her porter and her bags, ready to pass out +upon the platform as soon as the doors were opened. (Everyone knows +that the idiotic and uncomfortable practice still prevails in +Switzerland of shutting passengers off from the train till the very +last moment.) + +This waiting-room served for many lines, and I could only wait +patiently to enter the particular train for which she would be +summoned. When at length an official unlocked the door and announced +the train for Biel, Neuchatel, Lausanne, and Brieg, she got up to take +her seat, and I had no longer any doubt as to the direction of her +journey. So as I saw her go, I slipped back to the ticket-office and +took my place all the way to Brieg, the furthest point on the line. +This was obviously my best and safest plan, as I should then be ready +for anything that happened. I could get out anywhere, wherever she +did, in fact. After getting my ticket I found time to telegraph to +Falfani at Lucerne, giving him my latest news, and then proceeded to +the train. + +I found the lady easily enough, and got into the same carriage with +her. It was one of those on the Swiss plan, with many compartments +opening into one another _en suite_. Although the seat I chose was at +a discreet distance, I was able to keep her in view. + +I was wondering whether it would be possible for me to break the ice +and make her acquaintance, when luck served me better than I dared to +hope. One of the Swiss guards of the train, a surly, overbearing +brute, like so many others of his class, accosted her rudely, and from +his gestures was evidently taking her to task as to the number and +size of her parcels in the net above. He began to shift them, and, +despite her indignant protests in imperfect German, threw some of them +on the floor. + +This was my opportunity. I hurried to the rescue, and, being fluent in +German as in several other languages--it is part of my stock in +trade--I sharply reproved the guard and called him an unmannerly boor +for his cowardly treatment of an unprotected lady. My reward was a +sweet smile, and I felt encouraged to hazard a few words in reply to +her cordial thanks. She responded quickly, readily, and I thought I +might improve the occasion by politely inquiring if I could be of any +further service to her. + +"Perhaps you can tell me, you see I am strange on this line," she +answered with a perfectly innocent air, "do you happen to know at what +time we are due at Lausanne?" + +"Not to the minute," I replied. "I have a railway guide in my bag, +shall I fetch it?" + +"No, no, I should not like to give you so much trouble." + +"But it will be no trouble. Let me fetch my bag." + +I went off in perfect good faith, anxious to oblige so charming a +lady. I had not the slightest suspicion that she was playing with me. +Silly ass that I was, I failed to detect the warning that dropped from +her own lips. + +When I got back with the Bradshaw I came upon them for just one moment +unawares. The maid must have been making some remarks displeasing to +my lady, who was answering her with much asperity. + +"I know what I am doing, Philpotts. Be so good as to leave it to me. +It is the only way." + +Then she caught sight of me as I stood before her, and her manner +instantly changed. She addressed me very sweetly and with the utmost +composure. "Oh, how very good of you, I feel quite ashamed of myself." + +"Why should you? It is delightful to be of use to you. Lausanne I +think you said?" I asked casually as I turned over the pages of the +guide. "You are going to Lausanne?" + +"No, Vevey to Montreux. I only wanted to know whether there would be +time for _dejeuner_ at Lausanne. I think there is no dining-car on +this train?" + +"No, it is on the next, which is extraordinarily bad mismanagement. +It is a slow train the next, and we are a special express. But you +will have a clear half-hour to spare at Lausanne. That will be enough, +I presume? Lausanne at 12 noon, and we go on at half-past." + +"You, too, are going beyond Lausanne?" + +"Possibly, I am not quite sure. It depends upon my meeting friends +somewhere on the lake, either there or further on. If they come on +board we shall run on to Brieg so as to drop over the Alps to Lake +Maggiore by the Simplon route." + +I threw this out carelessly but with deliberate intention, and the +shot told. A crimson flush came over her face and her hands trembled +violently. I had not the smallest doubt that this was her plan also. +She was bound to cross over into Italy, that we knew, or our employers +firmly believed it, and as she had been driven off the St. Gothard by +Falfani she had now doubled back by Switzerland to make the journey to +Brieg and across the mountains by road. + +I had scored as I thought, but I forgot that in gaining the knowledge +I had betrayed my own intentions, and put her upon her guard. I was to +pay for this. + +"Oh, really," she said quietly and with polite interest, having +entirely recovered her composure. "I dare say a very pleasant drive. +How long does it take, have you any idea, and how do you travel?" + +"It is about nine hours by diligence," I said, consulting the +Bradshaw, "and the fare is forty francs, but by private carriage or +extra post a good deal more." + +"May I look?" and I handed her the book, "although I never could +understand Bradshaw," she added pleasantly. + +"I shall be very pleased to explain if you are in doubt," I suggested; +but she declined laughingly, saying it would amuse her to puzzle out +things, so I left her the book and composed myself into a corner while +the train rattled on. I mused and dozed and dreamily watched her +pretty face admiringly, as she pored over the pages of the Guide, +little thinking she was perfecting a plan for my undoing. + +The first stop was at Biel or Bienne, its French name, and there was a +halt of ten minutes or more. I made my way to the telegraph office in +the station, where to my great satisfaction I found a message from +Falfani, informing me that he should make the best of his way to +Brieg, unless I could suggest something better. + +The answer I despatched at once to Goeschenen was worded as follows: +"Declares she is going to Montreux only. Believe untrue. Still think +her destination Brieg. Come on there anyhow and await further from me. +May be necessary to join forces." We were in accord, Falfani and I, +and in communication. + +I was well satisfied with what we were doing, and on receiving the +second and third telegrams at Neuchatel and Yverdun I was all the more +pleased. At last we were nearing Lausanne, and I looked across to my +lady to prepare her for getting out. I had no need to attract her +attention, for I caught her eyes fixed on me and believe she was +watching me furtively. The smile that came upon her lips was so +pleasant and sweet that it might have overjoyed a more conceited man +than myself. + +"Are we near then? Delightful! I never was so hungry in my life," and +the smile expanded into a gay laugh as she rose to her feet and was +ready to leave the carriage. + +"I'm afraid you will have to wait, Philpotts, we cannot leave that," +she pointed to the child nestling sound asleep by her side. "But I +will send or bring you something. This gentleman will perhaps escort +me to the refreshment-room." + +I agreed, of course, and saying, "Only too charmed," I led the way--a +long way, for the restaurant is at the far end of the platform. At +last we sat down _tete-a-tete_ and prepared to do full justice to the +meal. Strange to say, despite her anticipations, she proved to have +very little appetite. + +"I must have waited too long," she said, as she trifled with a cutlet. +"I shall perhaps like something else better," and she went carefully +through the whole _menu_, so that the time slipped away, and we were +within five minutes of departure. + +"And poor dear Philpotts, I had quite forgotten her. Come and help me +choose," and in duty bound I gallantly carried the food back to the +train. + +I walked ahead briskly, and making my way to the places where we had +left the maid and child, jumped in. + +They were gone, the two of them. Everything was gone, rugs, bags, +belongings, people. The seats were empty, and as the compartment was +quite empty, too, no one could tell me when they had left or where +they had gone. + +I turned quickly round to my companion, who was, I thought, following +close at my heels, and found to my utter amazement that she also had +disappeared. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +For the moment I was dazed and dumfounded, but I took a pull on myself +quickly. It was a clever plant. Had they sold me completely? That was +still to be seen. My one chance was in prompt action; I must hunt them +up, recover trace of them with all possible despatch, follow them, and +find them wherever they might be. + +There was just the chance that they had only moved into another +carriage, thinking that when I missed them I should get out and hunt +for them in the station. To counter that I ran up and down the train, +in and out of the carriages, questing like a hound, searching +everywhere. So eager was I that I neglected the ordinary warnings that +the train was about to start; the guard's _fertig_ ("ready"), the +sounding horn, the answering engine whistle, I overlooked them all, +and we moved on before I could descend. I made as though to jump off +hastily, but was prevented. + +"_Was ist das? Nein, nein, verboten._" A hand caught me roughly by the +collar and dragged me back. It was the enemy I had made in championing +my lady, the guard of the train, who gladly seized the chance of being +disagreeable to me. + +I fought hard to be free, but by the time I had shaken him off the +speed had so increased that it would have been unsafe to leave the +train. I had no choice but to go on, harking back as soon as I could. +Fortunately our first stop was within five and twenty minutes, at +Vevey; and there in ten minutes more I found a train back to Lausanne, +so that I had lost less than an hour and a half in all. + +But much may happen in that brief space of time. It was more than +enough for my fugitives to clear out of the Lausanne station and make +some new move, to hide away in an out-of-the-way spot, go to ground in +fact, or travel in another direction. + +My first business was to inquire in and about the station for a person +or persons answering to the parties I missed. Had they separated, +these two women, for good and all? That was most unlikely. If the maid +had gone off first, I had to consider whether they would not again +join forces as soon as I was well out of the way. They would surely +feel safer, happier, together, and this encouraged me to ask first for +two people, two females, a lady and her servant, one of them, the +latter, carrying a child. + +There were many officials about in uniform, and all alike supercilious +and indifferent, after the manner of their class, to the travelling +public, and I could get none to take the smallest interest in my +affairs. One shrugged his shoulders, another stared at me in insolent +silence, a third answered me abruptly that he was too occupied to +bother himself, and a fourth peremptorily ordered me not to hang any +longer about the station. + +Foiled thus by the railway staff--and I desire to place on record here +my deliberate opinion after many years' experience in many lands, that +for rudeness and overbearing manners the Swiss functionary has no +equal in the whole world--I went outside the station and sought +information among the cabmen and touts who hang about waiting to take +up travellers. I accosted all the drivers patiently one by one, but +could gather nothing definite from any of them. Most had been on the +stand at the arrival of the midday train, many had been engaged to +convey passengers and baggage up into the town of Lausanne, and had +deposited their fares at various hotels and private residences, but no +one had driven any party answering to those of whom I was in search. + +This practically decided the point that my lady had not left the +station in a carriage or openly, if she had walked. But that she had +not been observed did not dispose of the question. They were dull, +stupid men, these, only intent on their own business, who would pay +little attention to humble persons on foot showing no desire to hire a +cab. I would not be baffled thus soon in my quest. A confidential +agent who will not take infinite pains in his researches had better +seek some other line of business. As I stood there in front of the +great station belonging to the Jura-Simplon, I saw facing me a small +facade of the Gare Sainte Luce, one of the intermediate stations on +the _Ficelle_ or cable railway that connects Ouchy on the lake with +Lausanne above. + +It was not a hundred yards distant; it could be easily and quickly +reached, and without much observation, if a person waited till the +immediate neighbourhood had been cleared by the general exodus after +the arrival of the chief express of the day. There were any number of +trains by this _funiculaire_--at every half-hour indeed--and any one +taking this route could reach either Lausanne or Ouchy after a very +few minutes' journey up or down. To extend my investigation on that +side was of obvious and pressing importance. I was only too conscious +of my great loss of time, now at the outset, which might efface all +tracks and cut me off hopelessly from any clue. + +I was soon across and inside the Sainte Luce station, but still +undecided which direction I should choose, when the little car arrived +going upward, and I ran over to that platform and jumped in. I must +begin one way or the other, and I proceeded at once to question the +conductor, when he nicked my ticket, only to draw perfectly blank. + +"Have I seen two ladies and a child this morning? But, _grand Dieu_, I +have seen two thousand. It is _idiote_ to ask such questions, +monsieur, of a busy man." + +"I can pay for what I want," I whispered gently, as I slipped a +five-franc piece into his hand, ever mindful of the true saying, +_Point d'argent, point de Suisse_; and the bribe entirely changed his +tone. + +"A lady, handsome, tall, distinguished, _comme il faut_, with a +companion, a servant, a nurse carrying a child?" He repeated my +description, adding, "_Parfaitement_, I saw her. She was not one to +forget quickly." + +"And she was going to Lausanne?" + +"_Ma foi_, yes, I believe so; or was it to Ouchy?" He seemed +overwhelmed with sudden doubt. "Lausanne or Ouchy? Up or down? Twenty +thousand thunders, but I cannot remember, not--" he dropped his +voice--"not for five francs." + +I doubled the dose, and hoped I had now sufficiently stimulated his +memory or unloosed his tongue. But the rascal was still hesitating +when we reached the top, and I could get nothing more than that it was +certainly Lausanne, "if," he added cunningly, "it was not Ouchy." But +he had seen her, that was sure--seen her that very day upon the line, +not more than an hour or two before. He had especially admired her; +_dame_! he had an eye for the _beau sexe_; and yet more he noticed +that she talked English, of which he knew some words, to her maid. But +whether she was bound to Lausanne or Ouchy, "_diable_, who could +say?" + +I had got little in return for my ten francs expended on this +ambiguous news, but now that I found myself actually in Lausanne I +felt that it behoved me to scour the city for traces of my quarry. She +might not have come here at all, yet there was an even chance the +other way, and I should be mad not to follow the threads I held in my +hand. I resolved to inquire at all the hotels forthwith. It would take +time and trouble, but it was essential. I must run her to ground if +possible, fix her once more, or I should never again dare to look my +employers in the face. I was ashamed to confess to Falfani that I had +been outwitted and befooled. I would send him no more telegrams until +I had something more satisfactory to say. + +I was now upon the great bridge that spans the valley of the Flon and +joins the old with the new quarter of Lausanne. The best hotels, the +Gibbon, Richemont, Falcon, Grand Pont, and several more, stood within +easy reach, and I soon exhausted this branch of the inquiry. I found a +_valet de place_ hanging about the Gibbon, whose services I secured, +and instructed him to complete the investigation, extending it to all +the minor hotels and pensions, some half-dozen more, reserving to +myself the terminus by the great station, which I had overlooked when +leaving for the _Ficelle_ or cable railway. I meant to wait for him +there to hear his report, but at the same time I took his +address--Eugene Falloon, Rue Pre Fleuri--where I could give him an +appointment in case I missed him at the terminus. He was a long, lean, +hungry-looking fellow, clumsily made, with an enormous head and +misshapen hands and feet; but he was no fool this Falloon, and his +local knowledge proved exceedingly useful. + +On entering the car for the journey down I came upon the conductor who +had been of so little use to me, and I was about to upbraid him when +he disarmed me by volunteering fresh news. + +"Ah, but, monsieur, I know much better now. I recollect exactly. The +lady with her people certainly went down, for I have seen a porter who +helped her with her effects from the line to the steamboat pier at +Ouchy." + +"And on board the steamer? Going in which direction?" I asked eagerly. + +"He shall tell you himself if I can find him when we reach the +terminus. It may not be easy, but I could do it if--" + +Another and a third five-franc piece solved his doubts, and I +abandoned my visit to the terminus hotel to seize this more tangible +clue, and proceeded at once to the lake shore. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +On reaching the steamboat pier I was introduced to the porter, a +shock-headed, stupid-looking creature, whom I forthwith questioned +eagerly; but elicited only vague and, I felt sure, misleading replies. +The conductor assisted at my interview, stimulating and encouraging +the man to speak, and overdid it, as I thought. I strongly suspected +that this new evidence had been produced in order to bleed me further. +Had he really seen this English lady? Would he describe her appearance +to me, and that of her companion? Was she tall or short? Well dressed, +handsome, or the reverse? What was her companion like? Tall or short? +How dressed, and did he suppose her condition to be that of a lady +like the other, equal in rank, or an inferior? + +The answers I got were not encouraging. Ladies? Of course they were +ladies, both of them. Dressed? In the very latest fashion. They were +very distinguished people. + +"Were they carrying anything, either of them?" I inquired. + +"Yes, when I saw them first they had much baggage. It was for that +they summoned me. Handbags, _sacs de nuit_, rugs, wrappers, +bonnet-boxes, many things, like all travellers." + +"And you noticed nothing big, no parcel for which they were +particularly concerned?" + +"They were anxious about everything, and worried me about everything, +but about no one thing especially that I can remember." + +This did not tally with my own observation and the extreme care taken +of the child in the woman's arms. I began to believe that my friend +was a humbug and could tell me nothing of his own knowledge. + +"What time was it?" I went on. + +"Some hours ago. I did not look at the clock." + +"But you know by the steamers that arrive. You men must know which are +due, and when they pass through." + +"Come, come, Antoine," broke in the conductor, determined to give him +a lead, "you must know that; there are not so many. It would be about +2 P.M., wouldn't it, when the express boat comes from Vevey and +Bouveret?" + +"Yes, I make no doubt of that," said the man, with a gleam of +intelligence upon his stolid face. + +"And the ladies went on board it, you say? Yes? You are sure?" + +"It must have been so; I certainly carried their traps on board." + +"Now, are you quite positive it was the two o'clock going that way, +and not the quarter past two returning from Geneva?" I had my Bradshaw +handy, and was following the time-table with my fingers. + +"The 2.15?" The gleam of light went out entirely from his stolid face. +"I have an idea you are right, sir. You see the two boats come in so +near each other and lie at the same pier. I could easily make a +mistake between them." + +"It is my firm belief," I said, utterly disgusted with the fellow, "my +firm belief that you have made a mistake all through. You never saw +the ladies at all, either of you." I turned upon the conductor with a +fierce scowl. "You are a rank humbug; you have taken my money under +false pretences. I've a precious good mind to report you to your +superiors, and insist upon your refunding the money. You've swindled +me out of it, thief and liar that you are." + +"Come, come, don't speak so freely. My superiors will always listen +first to one of their own employes, and it will be awkward if I charge +you with obstructing an official and making false charges against +him." + +Mine is a hasty temper; I am constrained to confess to a fault which +often stood in my way especially in my particular business. The +conductor's insolence irritated me beyond measure, and coming as it +did on the top of bitter disappointment I was driven into a deplorable +access of rage, which I shall always regret. Without another word I +rushed at him, caught him by the throat, and shook him violently, +throwing him to the ground and beating his head upon it savagely. + +Help must have come to him very speedily and to good purpose, for I +soon found myself in custody, two colossal gendarmes holding me tight +on each side. I was quickly removed like any malefactor to the lock-up +in the town above, and was thus for the moment effectively precluded +from continuing my pursuit. + +Law and order are not to be lightly trifled with in Switzerland, least +of all in the Canton de Vaud. I had been taken in the very act of +committing a savage assault upon an official in the execution of his +duty, which is true to the extent that every Swiss official conceives +it to be his duty to outrage the feelings and tyrannize over +inoffensive strangers. + +The police of Lausanne showed me little consideration. I was not +permitted to answer the charge against me, but was at once consigned +to a cell, having been first searched and despoiled of all my +possessions. Among them was my knife and a pocket revolver I generally +carried, also my purse, my wallet with all my private papers, and my +handbag. Both wallet and handbag were locked; they demanded the keys, +thinking I had them hidden on my person, but I said they could find +them for themselves, the truth being the locks were on a patent plan +and could be opened with the fingers by any one who knew. This secret +I chose to retain. + +When alone in my gloomy prison, with leisure to reflect more calmly on +my painful position, I realized what an ass I had been, and I vented +my wrath chiefly on myself. But it was idle to repine. My object now +was to go free again at the earliest possible moment, and I cast about +to see how I might best compass it. + +At first I was very humble, very apologetic. I acknowledged my error, +and promised to do anything in my power to indemnify my victim. I +offered him any money in reason, I would pay any sum they might fix, +pay down on the nail and give my bond for the rest. + +My gaolers scouted the proposal indignantly. Did I think justice was +to be bought in Switzerland? It was the law I had outraged, not an +individual merely. Besides--money is all powerful in this venal +country--how could I pay, a poor devil like me, the necessary price? +what could I produce in cash on the nail? My bond would not be worth +the paper it was written on. + +No, no, there was no chance for me; nothing could save me. I must go +before the correctional police and pay in person for my offence. I +might expect to be punished summarily, to be sent to gaol, to be laid +by the heels for a month or two, perhaps more. Such a brutal assault +as mine would be avenged handsomely. + +Now I changed my tactics. I began to bluster. I was a British subject +and claimed to be treated with proper respect. I appealed to the +British Consul; I insisted upon seeing him. When they laughed at me, +saying that he would not interfere with the course of justice on +behalf of such an unknown vagabond, I told them roundly that I was +travelling under the special protection of the British Minister for +Foreign Affairs, the illustrious Marquis of Lansdowne. Let them bring +me my wallet. I would show them my passport bearing the Royal Arms and +the signature of one of H.M. Secretaries of State. All of us in the +employ of Messrs. Becke invariably carried Foreign Office passports as +the best credentials we could produce if we were caught in any tight +place. + +The greeting of so great a personage to his trusty and well beloved +Ludovic Tiler had a very marked effect upon my captors. It was +enhanced by the sight of a parcel of crisp Bank of England notes lying +snugly in the pocket of the wallet, which I had opened, but without +betraying the secret of the spring. When I extracted a couple of +fivers and handed them to the chief gaoler, begging him to do the best +for my comfort, the situation changed considerably, but no hopes were +held out for my immediate release. I was promised dinner from a +restaurant hard by, and was permitted to send a brief telegram to +Falfani, to the effect that I was detained at Lausanne by unforeseen +circumstances, but no more. Then bedding was brought in, on which, +after a night in the train, I managed to sleep soundly enough until +quite late next morning. + +I had summoned Eugene Falloon to my assistance, and he was permitted +to visit me quite early, soon after the prison had opened. He was +prompt and practical, and proceeded to perform the commissions I gave +him with all despatch. I charged him first to telegraph to England, to +our office, briefly stating my quandary, begging them to commend me to +some one in Lausanne or Geneva, for Becke's have friends and +correspondents in every city of the world. He was then to call upon +the British Consul, producing my passport in proof of my claim upon +him as a British subject in distress, and if necessary secure me legal +advice. I had been warned that I might expect to be examined that very +day, but that several were likely to elapse before the final disposal +of my case. + +All that forenoon, and quite late into the next day, I was left +brooding and chafing at my misfortune, self-inflicted I will confess, +but not the less irksome to bear. I had almost persuaded myself that I +should be left to languish here quite friendless and forgotten, when +the luck turned suddenly, and daylight broke in to disperse my gloomy +forebodings. Several visitors came, claiming to see me, and were +presently admitted in turn. First came the Consul, and with him an +intelligent Swiss advocate, who declared he would soon put matters +right. It would only be a question of a fine, and binding me over to +good behaviour on bail. Could I find bail? That was the only question. +And while we still discussed it we found amongst the callers a +respectable and well-to-do watchmaker from Geneva, who had been +entreated (no doubt from Becke's) to do all that was needful on my +behalf. I might be of good cheer; there was no reasonable doubt but +that I should be released, but hardly before next day. + +A second night in durance was not much to my taste, but I bore it with +as much resignation as I could command; and when next morning I +appeared before the Court, I paid my fine of one hundred francs with +hearty good-will. I assured my bail, the friendly watchmaker, that he +need not have the smallest fear I should again commit myself. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +My spirits rose with my release, but there was still more than freedom +to encourage my light-heartedness. I heard now and definitely of my +fugitive lady. Falloon had come upon undoubted evidence that she had +never left the great Jura-Simplon station, but had remained quietly +out of sight in the "ladies' waiting-room" until the next train left +for Geneva. This was at 1.35 P.M., and she must have slipped away +right under my eyes into the very train which had brought me back from +Vevey. So near are the chances encountered in such a profession as +ours. + +Falloon had only ascertained this positively on the second day of my +detention, but with it the information that only two first-class +tickets, both for Geneva, had been issued by that train. To make it +all sure he had taken the precaution to ask at all the stations along +the line at which the train had stopped, seven in number, and had +learned that no persons answering to my ladies had alighted at any of +them. So my search was carried now to Geneva, and it might be possible +to come upon my people there, although I was not oversanguine. I knew +something of the place. I had been there more than once, had stayed +some time, and I knew too well that it is a city with many issues, +many facilities for travelling, and, as they had so much reason for +moving on rapidly, the chances were that they would have already +escaped me. + +However, with Falloon I proceeded to Geneva without delay, and began a +systematic search. We made exhaustive inquiries at the Cornavin +station, where we arrived from Lausanne, and heard something. + +The party had certainly been seen at this very station. Two ladies, +one tall, the other short, with a baby. They had gone no further then; +they had not returned to the station since. So far good. But there was +a second station, the Gare des Vollondes, at the opposite end of the +city, from which ran the short line to Bouveret on the south shore of +the lake, and I sent Falloon there to inquire, giving him a rendezvous +an hour later at the Cafe de la Couronne on the Quai du Lac. Meanwhile +I meant to take all the hotels in regular order, and began with those +of the first class on the right bank, the Beau Rivage, the Russie, de +la Paix, National, Des Bergues, and the rest. As I drew blank +everywhere I proceeded to try the hotels on the left bank, and made +for the Pont de Mont Blanc to cross the Rhone, pointing for the +Metropole. + +Now my luck again greatly favoured me. Just as I put my foot upon the +bridge I saw a figure approaching me, coming from the opposite +direction. + +I recognized it instantly. It was the lady herself. + +She must have seen me at the very same moment, for she halted dead +with the abruptness of one faced with a sudden danger, an opened +precipice, or a venomous snake under foot. She looked hurriedly to +right and left, as if seeking some loophole of escape. + +At that moment one of the many electric trams that overspread Geneva +with a network of lines came swinging down the Rue de Mont Blanc from +the Cornavin station, and slackened speed at the end of the bridge. My +lady made up her mind then and there, and as it paused she boarded it +with one quick, agile spring. + +With no less prompt decision I followed her, and we entered the car +almost simultaneously. + +There were only two seats vacant and, curiously enough, face to face. +I took my place, not ill pleased, for she had already seen me, and I +was anxious to know how my sudden reappearance would affect her. It +was clear she did not relish it, or she would not have turned tail at +our unexpected meeting. + +I had not long to wait. She chose her line at once, and without +hesitation addressed me, smiling and unabashed. Her self-possession, I +had almost said her effrontery, took me quite aback. + +"Surely I am not mistaken?" she began quite coolly. "Have I not to +thank you for your courtesy in the train a couple of days ago?" + +I stammered a halting affirmative. + +"I am afraid you must have thought me very rude. I ran off without a +word, didn't I? The truth was my child had been suddenly taken ill and +the nurse had to leave the train hurriedly. She had only just time to +catch me and prevent me from going on. I am sorry. I should have liked +to say good-bye." + +"Make no apologies, I beg," I hastened to say courteously. But in my +heart I trembled. What could this mean? Some fresh trick? She was so +desperately full of guile! + +"But I thought you were bound for the other end of the lake," she +continued. "Do you make a long stay at Geneva?" + +"No. Do you?" I retorted. + +"Probably. I begin to like the place, and I have found very +comfortable quarters at the Hotel Cornavin, near the station. You may +know it." + +Could this be really so? Her perfect frankness amazed me. I could not +credit it, much less understand it. There was surely some pitfall, +some trap concealed for my abounding credulity. + +"I also propose to stay some days, but am not yet established." I made +so bold as to suggest that I had a great mind to try her Hotel +Cornavin. + +"Why not?" she replied heartily. "The accommodation is good, nice +rooms, civil people, decent _cuisine_. It might suit you." + +She could not possibly have been more civil and gracious. Too civil by +half, a more cautious man might have told himself. + +The tram-car by this time had run through the Place Molard, the +Allemand Marche, and was turning into the Rue de la Corraterie, +pointing upward for the theatre and the Promenade des Bastions. Where +was my involuntary companion bound? + +She settled the question by getting out at the Place Neuve with a few +parting words. + +"I have a call to make near here. I had forgotten it. Perhaps I may +hope to see you again. Do try the Cornavin. If so, _sans adieu_." + +Was it good enough? I could not allow her to slip through my fingers +like this. What if her whole story was untrue, what if there was no +Hotel Cornavin, and no such guests there? I could not afford to let +her out of my sight, and with one spring I also left the car and, +catching a last glimpse of her retreating skirts, gave chase. + +I cannot say whether she realized that I was following, but she led me +a pretty dance. In and out, and round and round, by narrow streets and +dark passages, backwards and forwards, as adroitly as any practised +thief eluding the hot pursuit of the police. At last she paused and +looked back, and thinking she had shaken me off (for knowing the game +well I had hastily effaced myself in a doorway) plunged into the +entrance of a small unpretending hotel in a quiet, retired square--the +Hotel Pierre Fatio, certainly not the Cornavin. + +The door in which I had taken shelter was that of a dark third-rate +cafe well suited to my purpose, and well placed, for I was in full +view of the Hotel Pierre Fatio, which I was resolved to watch at least +until my lady came out again. As I slowly absorbed an absinthe, +revolving events past and to come, I thought it would be well to draw +Falloon to me. It was past the hour for our meeting. + +I scribbled three lines of a note and despatched it to the Cafe de la +Couronne by a messenger to whom I fully described my colleague's +appearance, desiring him to show the addressed envelope before +delivery, but having no doubt that it would reach its destination. + +Presently Falloon joined me, and as my lady had as yet made no sign, I +bade him continue the watch, while I left the cafe openly and +ostentatiously, so that it might be seen by any one curious to know +that I had given up the game. + +Far from it. I designed only to try the Hotel Cornavin to ascertain +the real facts; and if, as I shrewdly suspected, I had been fooled, +to return forthwith and rejoin Falloon at the true point of interest, +taking such further steps as might seem desirable. I was chiefly +anxious to regain touch and combine forces with Falfani. + +There was no mistake, however, at the Cornavin Hotel. I had not been +fooled. I was told directly I asked at the bureau that a Mrs. Blair, +accompanied by her maid and child, was staying in the house. Could I +see her? If monsieur would send up his card, it should be given her on +her return. She was not at home for the moment. (I knew that.) Would +monsieur call again? + +I was slow to congratulate myself on what seemed a point gained, for I +had still my misgivings, but I would make the most of the chances that +offered to my hand. I secured a room at the Cornavin Hotel, and +bespoke another for Falfani, whom I should now summon at once. With +this idea I took the earliest opportunity of telegraphing to him as +follows: + + "Detained by unfortunate _contretemps_ at Lausanne, happily + surmounted, clue lost and regained. Desire your + cooeperation. Come instantly, Hotel Cornavin. She is here. + + "LUDOVIC." + +I noted the time of despatch, 4.17 P.M. It would surely reach +Falfani before the last train left Brieg coming my way, and I hardly +trusted myself to anticipate the comfort and relief his appearance +would bring me. Combined we could tie ourselves to our quarry, and +never let her out of sight until our principals could take over and +settle the business. + +Then hailing a cab, I drove to a point close by where I had left +Falloon, and found the situation entirely unchanged. No one had come +out of the Hotel Pierre Fatio. Mrs. Blair was paying a very long call, +and I could not understand it. All the time I was haunted with a vague +and ever present idea that she meant to sell me. The more I tortured +my brain to consider how, the less I was able to fathom her +intentions. + +The time ran on, and I thought it would be prudent to return to my own +hotel. Mrs. Blair might have given us the slip, might have left by +some other issue, and I felt that my place was at the Cornavin, where +at least I knew she was staying. Falloon should stand his ground +where he was, but I fully impressed upon him the importance of the +duty entrusted to him. + +I blessed my stars that I so decided. Mrs. Blair had not returned when +the _table d'hote_ bell rang at the Cornavin, but I had hardly +swallowed the first spoonful of soup when Falloon appeared, hot and +flurried, with very startling news. + +"_Elle se sauve._ She is saving herself; she is running away," he +cried. "Already her carriage enters the station--without doubt she +seeks the train for somewhere." + +I jumped up, rushed from the room, caught up my hat, and hurried +across the Square of Place Cornavin into the station. It was a clear +case of bolt. There she was ahead of me, quite unmistakable, walking +quickly, with her fine upright figure clad in the same pearl gray +ulster she had worn in the tram-car. She passed through the open doors +of the waiting-room on to the platform where the train was waiting +with engine attached. + +"The 7.35 for Culoz and beyond by Amberieu to Paris," I was informed +on inquiry. + +"A double back," I concluded on the spot. She had had enough of it, +and was going home again. In another minute or two she would have +eluded me once more. + +My only chance now lay in prompt action. I, too, must travel by this +train. To secure a ticket and board it was soon done. I chose a +carriage at no great distance from that she had entered; a through +carriage to Macon, and which I was resolved to watch closely, but yet +I did not mean to show myself to its occupants if it could be helped. + +As we were on the point of starting, I scribbled a few lines on a leaf +torn from my pocket-book to inform Falfani of my hasty departure and +the reason for it. This I folded carefully and addressed to him, +entrusting it to Falloon, who was to seek out my colleague at the +Hotel Cornavin after the arrival of the late train from Brieg, and +deliver it. At the same time I handed Falloon a substantial fee, but +desired him to offer his services to Falfani. + +I saw no more of the lady. She did not show at Bellegarde when the +French Customs' examination took place, nor yet at Culoz, and I +believed she was now committed to the journey northward. But as I was +dozing in my place and the train slowed on entering Amberieu, the +guard whom I had suborned came to me with a hurried call. + +"Monsieur, monsieur, you must be quick. Madame has descended and is +just leaving the station. No doubt for the Hotel de France, just +opposite." + +There she was indeed with all her belongings. (How well I knew them by +this time!) The maid with her child in arms, the porter with the light +baggage. + +I quickened my pace and entered the hotel almost simultaneously with +her. Ranging up alongside I said, not without exultation: + +"Geneva was not so much to your taste, then? You have left rather +abruptly." + +"To whom are you speaking, sir?" she replied in a stiff, strange +voice, assumed, I felt sure, for the occasion. She was so closely +veiled that I could not see her face, but it was the same figure, the +same costume, the same air. Lady Blackadder that was, Mrs. Blair as +she now chose to call herself, I could have sworn to her among a +thousand. + +"It won't do, madame," I insisted. "I'm not to be put off. I know all +about it, and I've got you tight, and I'm not going to leave go again. +No fear." I meant to spend the night on guard, watching and waiting +till I was relieved by the arrival of the others, to whom I +telegraphed without delay. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +[_Colonel Annesley resumes._] + + +I left my narrative at the moment when I had promised my help to the +lady I found in such distress in the Engadine express. I promised it +unconditionally, and although there were circumstances in her case to +engender suspicion, I resolutely ignored them. It was her secret, and +I was bound to respect it, content to await the explanation I felt +sure she could make when so minded. + +It was at dinner in the dining-car, under the eyes of her persecutor, +that we arranged to give him the slip at Basle. It was cleverly +accomplished, I think. + +[_Here the Colonel gives an account of all that happened between Basle +and Brieg; and as the incidents have been already described by Falfani +it is unnecessary to retell them, except to note that Annesley had +quickly discovered the detective's escape outside Goeschenen and lost +no time in giving chase._] + +As may be supposed I rejoiced greatly on reaching Brieg to find that +Falfani had been bitterly disappointed. It was plain from the telegram +that was handed to him on arrival, and which so upset him that he +suffered me to take it out of his hand and to read it for myself, that +a friend, his colleague, no doubt, had been checked summarily at +Lausanne. He said he had lost "her," the lady of course. + +I was not altogether happy in my mind about her, for when we had +parted at Brieg it had been settled that she should take the Simplon +route through this very place Brieg, at which I now found myself so +unexpectedly, and I ought to have come upon her or had news of her +somewhere had her plans been carried out. She certainly had not +reached Brieg, for with my ally l'Echelle we searched the town for +news of her that night and again next morning. + +The situation was embarrassing. I could decide upon no clear course +but that of holding on to Falfani and clinging to him with the very +skin of my teeth; any light must come from or through him, or at least +by keeping him in full view I might prevent him from doing any more +mischief. + +One of us, l'Echelle or myself, continually watched him all that day, +the third of this curious imbroglio into which I was plunged. At night +I took the strong and unjustifiable measure of locking him into his +room. + +When he discovered it next morning he was furious, and came straight +at me open-mouthed. + +"I'll appeal to the law, I'll denounce you to the authorities, I'll +charge you with persecution and with false imprisonment. You shall be +arrested. I'll be rid of you somehow, you shall not stay here, you +shall leave Brieg." + +"With all my heart--when you do. Have I not told you that already? +Where you go I go, where you stay I stay." + +"But it is most monstrous and abominable. I will not submit to it. You +have no sort of right to act in this way. Why is it?" + +"You can guess my reasons, surely. Only it is not for your _beaux +yeux_; not because I like you. I loathe and detest you. You are a low, +slimy spy, who richly deserves to be thrashed for bullying a lady." + +"I'll have you to know, sir, that I am fully entitled to act as I am +doing," he said with a consequential air. "I am the representative of +a court of law; I have great people at my back, people who will soon +bring you to book. Wait a little, we shall see. You'll sing a very +poor song when you have to do with a nobleman. The Right Honourable +the Earl of Blackadder will arrive shortly. I hope this very +afternoon. You can settle it with him, ah! How do you like that, eh?" + +I laughed him to scorn. + +"Psha, man, you're an ass. I've told you before now what I think of +Lord Blackadder, and if it be necessary I'll tell him to his face when +he gets here." + +This conversation took place just before the _table-d'hote_ luncheon, +and immediately afterwards Falfani went out in the direction of the +railway station. I followed, keeping him in sight on the platform, +where, by and by, I saw him, hat in hand, bowing obsequiously before a +passenger who alighted from the incoming train. It would have been +enough for me had I not already known Lord Blackadder by sight. They +walked back together to the hotel, and so, at a certain distance, did +I. + +I was lounging about outside the house, wondering what would happen +next, when a waiter came out to me bearing a card, which he tendered, +bowing low, more in deference to the card, as I thought, than to me. + +"Earl of Blackadder" was the name engraved, and written just below in +pencil were the words, "would like to speak to Colonel Annesley at +once." + +"Well, I've no objection," I began, stiffly. I thought the summons a +trifle too peremptory. "Where is he?" + +The waiter pointed back to the hotel, and I saw a white, evil face +glowering at me from a window on the ground floor of the hotel. The +very look on it stirred my bile. It was an assumption of superiority, +of concentrated pride and exaggerated authority, as though everyone +must yield to his lightest wish and humble himself in the dust before +him. I resented this, and slipping the card carelessly in my pocket, I +nodded to the waiter, who still stood awaiting my reply. + +"Will monsieur come?" he asked. + +"No. Tell his lordship he will find me here if he wants me. That will +do," and I waved him off. + +Soon afterwards Lord Blackadder came out. Mahomet came to the +mountain. I liked his face less than ever. It wore an angry scowl +now; his dark eyes glittered balefully under the close-knit eyebrows, +his lips were drawn down, and the curved nose was like the aggressive +beak of a bird of prey. + +"Colonel Annesley, I understand," he said coldly, contemptuously, just +lifting one finger towards the brim of his hat. + +"That is my name," I responded, without returning the salute. + +"I am Lord Blackadder; you will have had my card. I desired to address +you somewhat more privately than this." He looked round the open yard +in front of the hotel. "May I hope you will accompany me to my rooms? +I have to speak to you on a matter that concerns you very closely." + +"That I cannot admit. There can be nothing between you and me, Lord +Blackadder, that concerns me very closely; nothing that the whole +world may not hear." + +"What I have to say might prove very unpleasant to you in the telling, +Colonel Annesley. You would be well advised in agreeing that our +interview should be private." + +"I can't see it, and I must tell you plainly that I do not care one +jot. Say what you please, my lord, and, if you like, as loud as you +please, only be quick about it." + +"With all my heart, then, if you will have it so. I wish to tell you, +Colonel Annesley, that you have taken a most unwarrantable liberty in +mixing yourself up with my affairs." + +"I am not aware that I have done so." + +"You shall not trifle with me, sir. Your conduct is inexcusable, +ungentlemanlike." + +"Take care, my lord," I broke in hotly. + +"People who forget themselves so far as you have done must accept the +responsibility of their own actions; and I tell you, here and now, +that I shall call you to strict account for yours." + +The man was trying me hard, but still I strove to keep my temper. + +"I don't care that for your opinion, and I do not allow that you are a +judge of what is gentlemanlike. No one would do so who had read the +public prints lately." + +"How dare you, sir, refer to my conduct, or presume to criticize or +question it?" he burst out. + +"Ta, ta, ta! It is a real pleasure to me to tell you what I think of +you, Lord Blackadder; and as I am ready to give you every +satisfaction, I shall not stint myself." + +"I insist upon satisfaction." + +"By all means. It can be easily arranged. We are within a short step +of either France or Italy, and in both countries the old-fashioned +plan of settling affairs of honour is still in force. We shall find +friendly seconds in the nearest garrison town, and I shall be glad to +cross the frontier with you whenever you please." + +"You talk like the hectoring, swashbuckling bully that you are," he +cried angrily, but looking rather uncomfortable.... "I will swear the +peace against you." + +"Do so by all means. It would be like you. A man who would descend to +espionage, who could so cruelly misuse a lady, is capable of anything; +of making assertions he cannot substantiate, of threatening things he +dare not do." + +"I have the clearest proof of what I say. You have chosen to come into +my life--" + +"I should be extremely sorry to do so." + +"Will you deny that you have sided with my enemies, that you have +joined and abetted them in a base plot to defraud and rob me of +my--my--property, of that which I most highly value and cherish of +all my possessions?" + +"I don't know what you are talking about, Lord Blackadder, but +whatever your grievance I tell you candidly that I do not like your +tone or your manner, and I shall hold no further converse with you." + +I turned my back on him and walked away. + +"Stay, stay. You must and shall hear me out. I've not done with you." +He came hurrying after me, following close and raising his voice +higher and higher. "Your very presence here is an offence. You have no +right to be here at all." + +"Do you think that you own all Switzerland, my noble earl?" I answered +over my shoulder as I walked on. "It is not your ground to warn me +off." + +"I tell you you shall not remain here to annoy me and work against me. +I forbid it, and I will put a stop to it. I give you plain warning." + +"You know you are talking nonsense. I shall go my own road, and I defy +you to do your worst." + +Here, when I was on the threshold of the hotel, I met Falfani full, +as he came running out excitedly, holding in his hand the telltale +blue envelope, which, with his elated air, indicated clearly that he +had just received important news. + +I paused for a moment, hoping he might commit himself, and was +rewarded by hearing him say aloud: + +"It is from Geneva, my lord, from Ludovic Tiler," he began +indiscreetly, and was angrily silenced by my lord, who called him "a +triple-dyed idiot," and with a significant gesture towards me bade him +walk away to some distance from the hotel. + +The mischief was done, however, for I had of course heard enough to +know that the other detective had given signs of life at last, and +that the report, to judge by Falfani's glee, must be satisfactory. The +more pleased the other side, the more reason to fear that matters were +adverse on ours. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + +It might be thought that I was too hard on my Lord Blackadder, but +only those few indeed who were unacquainted with the circumstances of +his divorce would find fault with me. The scandal was quite recent, +and the Blackadder case had been in everybody's mouth. The papers had +been full of it, and the proceedings were not altogether to his +lordship's credit. They had been instituted by him, however, on +grounds that induced the jury to give him a verdict, and the judge had +pronounced a decree nisi on the evidence as it stood. + +Yet the public sympathies were generally with the respondent, the +Countess of Blackadder. It had been an unhappy marriage, an +ill-assorted match, mercenary, of mere convenience, forced upon an +innocent and rather weak girl by careless and callous guardians, eager +to rid themselves of responsibility for the two twin sisters, Ladies +Claire and Henriette Standish, orphans, and with no near relations. + +Lord Blackadder was immensely rich, but a man of indifferent moral +character, a _roue_ and a voluptuary, with a debilitated constitution +and an unattractive person, possessing none of the gifts that take a +maiden's fancy. + +Estrangement soon followed the birth of the son and heir to his title +and great estates. My lord was a great deal older than his beautiful +young wife, and desperately jealous of her. Distrust grew into strong +suspicion, and presently consumed him when an old flame of Lady +Henriette's, Charlie Forrester, of the Dark Horse, turned up from +foreign service, and their names came to be bracketed together by the +senseless gossiping busybodies ever ready to tear a pretty woman's +reputation to tatters. It was so much put about, so constantly dinned +into Lord Blackadder's ears, that he was goaded into a perfect fury, +and was at length determined, by hook or by crook, to put away his +wife, leaving it to certain astute and well-practised solicitors to +manufacture a clear, solid case against her. + +Lady Blackadder, who hated and despised her lord, foolishly played +into his hands. She never really went wrong, so her friends stoutly +averred, especially her sister Claire, a staunch and loyal soul, but +she gave a handle to innuendo, and more than once allowed appearances +to go against her. + +There was one very awkward story that could not be disproved as it was +told, and in the upshot convicted her. It was clearly shown in +evidence that she had made up her mind to leave Lord Blackadder; more, +that she meant to elope with Major Forrester. It was said, but not so +positively, that she had met him at Victoria Station; they were seen +there together, had travelled by the same train, and there was a +strong presumption that they had arrived together at Brighton; one or +two railway officials deposed to the fact. + +Lady Blackadder denied this entirely, and gave a very different +complexion to the story. She had gone to Brighton; yes, but quite +alone. Major Forrester had seen her off, no doubt, but they had parted +at the carriage door. Her visit to Brighton had been for the purpose +of seeing and staying with an old servant, once a very confidential +maid for whom she had a great liking, and had often taken refuge with +when worried and in trouble. She thought, perhaps, to make this the +first stage in the rupture with my lord. + +This maid had earnestly adjured her not to break with her husband, and +to return to Grosvenor Square. + +This flight was the head and corner-stone of Lady Blackadder's +offending. It was interpreted into guilt of the most heinous kind; the +evidence in support of it seemed overwhelming. Witnesses swore +positively to the companionship of Major Forrester, both at Victoria +and Brighton, and it was to be fairly assumed that they were at the +latter place together. + +No rebutting evidence was forthcoming. The maid, a woman married to an +ex-French or Swiss courier, by name Bruel, could not be produced, +simply because she could not be found in Brighton. They were supposed +to be settled there as lodging-house keepers, but they had not resided +long enough to be in the Directory, and their address was not known. +Lord Blackadder's case was that they were pure myths, they had never +had any tangible existence, but were only imported into the case to +support an ingenious but untenable defence. + +It was more than hinted that they had been spirited away, and they +were not the first material witnesses, it was hinted, in an intricate +case, conducted by Messrs. Gadecker and Gobye, who had mysteriously +disappeared. So the plausible, nay, completely satisfactory +explanation of Lady Blackadder's visit to Brighton could not be put +forward, much less established, and there was no sort of hope for her. +She lost her case in the absence of the Bruels, man and wife. The +verdict was for Lord Blackadder, and he was adjudged to have the care +and custody of the child, the infant Viscount Aspdale. + +I had not the smallest doubt when I realized with whom I had to do +that the unhappy mother had made a desperate effort to redress her +wrongs, as she thought them, and had somehow contrived to carry off +her baby before she could be deprived of it. + +I had met her in full flight upon the Engadine express. + +What next? Was she to be overtaken and despoiled, legally, of course, +but still cruelly, separated from her own flesh and blood? The Court +might order such an unnatural proceeding, but I was moved by every +chivalrous impulse to give her my unstinting and unhesitating support +to counteract it. + +I was full of these thoughts, and still firmly resolved to help Lady +Blackadder, when l'Echelle, the conductor whose services I still +retained, sought me out hurriedly, and told me that he believed the +others were on the point of leaving Brieg. + +"I saw Falfani and milord poring over the pages of the _Indicateur_, +and heard the word Geneva dropped in a whisper. I think they mean to +take the next train along the lake shore." + +"Not a doubt of it," I assented; "so will we. They must not be allowed +to go beyond our reach." + +When the 6.57 P.M. for Geneva was due out from Brieg, we, +l'Echelle and I, appeared on the platform, and our intention to travel +by it was made plain to Lord Blackadder. The effect upon him was +painfully manifest at once. He chafed, he raged up and down, grimacing +and apostrophizing Falfani; once or twice he approached me with +clenched fists, and I really thought would have struck me at last. +Seeing me enter the same carriage with him, with the obvious intention +of keeping him under my eye, he threw himself back among the cushions +and yielded himself with the worst grace to the inevitable. + +The railway journey was horribly slow, and it must have been past 11 +P.M. before we reached Geneva. We alighted in the Cornavin +station, and as they moved at once towards the exit I followed. I +expected them to take a carriage and drive off, and was prepared to +give chase, when I found they started on foot, evidently to some +destination close at hand. It proved to be the Cornavin Hotel, not a +stone's-throw from the station. + +They entered, and went straight to the bureau, where the night clerk +was at his desk. I heard them ask for a person named Tiler, and +without consulting his books the clerk replied angrily: + +"Tiler! Tiler! _Ma foi_, he is of no account, your Tiler. He has gone +off from the dinner-table and without paying his bill." + +"That shall be made all right," replied Lord Blackadder loftily, as he +detailed his name and quality, before which the employe bowed low. +"And might I ask," his lordship went on, "whether a certain Mrs. +Blair, a lady with her child and its nurse, is staying in the hotel?" + +"But certainly, milord. They have been here some days. Salon and suite +No. 17." + +"At any rate, that's well, Falfani," said Lord Blackadder, with a sigh +of satisfaction. "But what of your friend Tiler? Thick-headed dolt, +unable to keep awake, I suppose." + +At that moment a shabbily dressed person approached Falfani, touched +his hat, and offered him a note, saying: + +"This must be for you, monsieur. I heard your name--" + +"From Tiler, my lord, aha! This explains." And he passed the scrap of +paper on to his employer. + +"I'll be hanged if I see it! He says the parties have gone, and that +he is in close attendance; yet this fellow here," pointing to the +clerk, "assures us she is in this very house. I don't understand it, +by Gad!" + +"There is some fresh trick, my lord, you may be sure. The devil +himself isn't half so clever as this fine lady. But we'll get at the +bottom of it. We shall hear more from Tiler, and we've got the lady +here, under our hand." + +"Ah! but have we? This chap's as likely as not to be mistaken. How do +you know, sir," to the clerk, "that Mrs. Blair is still in the hotel? +When did you come on duty? What if she left without your knowing it?" + +"It could not be, milord. See, it is marked in the register. No. 17 is +occupied. I could not let it. Mrs. Blair holds it still." + +"But she may not be in it, all the same. Can't you see? She may retain +it, but not use it." + +"Look, my lord, look, there's one of her party, anyway," interposed +Falfani, and he called his attention to a female figure standing a +little aloof in the shadow of the staircase, and which I had already +recognized. + +It was Philpotts, "Mrs. Blair's" maid, and she was trying to attract +my attention. Lord Blackadder had not seen her, and now his eye, for +the first time, fell upon me. He turned on me furiously. + +"You! You! Still at my heels? This is perfectly monstrous. It amounts +to persecution. You still dare to intrude yourself. Can I have no +privacy? Take yourself off, or I will not answer for the +consequences." + +I confess I only laughed and still held my ground, although my lord's +outcry had attracted much attention. Several people ran up, and they +might have sided against me, when I heard a voice whisper into my ear: + +"Come, sir, come. Slip away. My lady is dying to see you. She is +terribly upset." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + +I was received with great warmth and cordiality by my friend, and it +was made clear to me that my opportune appearance brought her great +comfort and support. + +"I never hoped for such good fortune as this," she began heartily. "I +had no idea you were within miles, and was repining bitterly that I +had let you get so far out of the way. Now you appear in the very nick +of time, just when I was almost in despair. But wait. Can I still +count upon your help?" + +"Why, most certainly, Lady Blackadder." + +"Lady Black--" She was looking at me very keenly, and, as I thought, +was much startled and surprised. Then with a conscious blush she went +on. "Of course, I might have guessed you would penetrate my disguise, +but you must not call me Lady Blackadder. I can lay no claim to the +title." + +"May I be forgiven if I trench on such a delicate subject, and assure +you of my most sincere sympathy? Everybody felt for you deeply. I +hope you will believe that I am, and ever shall be, at your orders and +devoted to your service." + +"Yes, yes, I am sure of it; I know I can depend upon you fully, and I +mean to do so now at once. You know, you have heard, that Lord +Blackadder is here, and actually in this hotel?" + +"I came with him. I was watching that fellow, the detective Falfani, +when his lordship came upon the scene. We had words, a quarrel, almost +a fight." + +"Pfu! He would not fight! I only wish you had thrashed him as he +deserves. But that won't help matters now. How am I to escape him?" + +"With the child?" + +"To be sure. Of course, I do not fear him in the least for myself." + +"You want to keep the child?" + +"Naturally, as I carried it off." + +"And still more because you had the best right to it, whatever the +Court might direct. You are its mother." + +Again she blushed and smiled, rather comically. "I certainly shall not +surrender it to Lord Blackadder, not without a struggle. Yet he is +very near getting it now." + +"In there?" I nodded towards the next room. "It is a close thing. How +are you to manage it?" + +"There would not have been the slightest difficulty; it was all but +done, and then some one, something, failed me. I expected too much +perhaps, but I have been bitterly disappointed, and the danger has +revived." + +"Come, come, Lady Blackadder, keep up your courage. Let us take +counsel together. We can surely devise some fresh plan. Don't give way +now; you have been so plucky all through. Be brave still." + +"Thank you, Colonel Annesley, I will." She put out her hand with +enchanting frankness, her fine eyes shining gratefully. A man would +have dared much, endured much, to win such gracious approval. + +"It is getting late, but you must hear all I have to tell before we +can decide upon the next step. Will you listen to me? I shall not bore +you. It is a long story. First let me clear the ground a little. I +must disabuse your mind on one point. I am not Lady Blackadder--no, +no, do not misunderstand me--not on account of the divorce, but I +never was Lady Blackadder. She was Henriette Standish. I am Claire, +her sister Claire." + +"What a fool I've been!" I cried. "I might have guessed." + +"How should you? But let me go on. I shall never forget that +detestable trial, those awful days in the Divorce Court, when the +lawyers fought and wrangled over my darling sister, like dogs over a +bone, tearing and snarling at each other, while the judge sat above +like a solemn old owl, never moving or making a sign. + +"Henriette positively refused to appear in the case, although she was +pressed and entreated by her legal advisers. She could have thrown so +much light on the worst and darkest part. She could have repudiated +the cowardly charges made, and cast back the lies drawn round her to +ruin her. If the jury had but seen her pretty, pathetic face, and +heard from her own sweet lips all she had endured, they would have +come to a very different verdict. + +"But she would not come forward on her own behalf. She would not +defend the action; she did not want to win it, but waited till it was +all over, hiding herself away in a far-off corner of the Apennines, +where I was to join her with the child, little Ralph. + +"There had been no question of that; the possibility of her losing it +had never been raised, or she would have nerved herself to fight +sooner than give up what she valued more than her very life. + +"It fell upon me with crushing effect, although towards the end of the +trial I had had my forebodings. Lord Blackadder was to have the +custody of his heir, and my dear sweet Henriette was to be robbed for +ever of her chiefest joy and treasure. The infant child was to be +abandoned to strangers, paid by its unnatural and unfeeling father. + +"I had braced myself to listen to all that came out in court, a whole +tissue of lies told by perjured wretches whose evidence was accepted +as gospel--one of them was the same Falfani whom you know, and who had +acted the loathsome part of spy on several occasions. + +"Directly the judge had issued his cruel fiat, I slipped out, hurried +down-stairs into the Strand, jumped into a hansom, and was driven at +top speed to Hamilton Terrace, bent upon giving instant effect to a +scheme I had long since devised. + +"I found my faithful Philpotts awaiting me with everything prepared as +I had arranged. The dear baby was dressed quickly--he was as good as +gold--the baggage, enough for my hurried journey to Fuentellato, had +been packed for days past, and we took the road. + +"I knew that pursuit would not tarry, but I was satisfied that I had +made a good start, and I hoped to make my way through to Italy without +interference. When I first saw you at Calais I was seized with a +terrible fear, which was soon allayed; you did not look much like a +detective, and you were already my good friend when the real ruffian, +Falfani, came on board the train at Amiens." + +[_Lady Claire Standish passed on next to describe her journey from +Basle to Lausanne, and the clever way in which she eluded the second +detective--matters on which the reader has been already informed._] + +"On reaching Geneva I at once opened communications with Henriette. I +felt satisfied, now that I had come so far, it would be well that she +should join me, and that we should concert together as to our next +proceedings. Our first and principal aim was to retain the child at +all costs and against all comers. I had no precise knowledge as to +where we should be beyond the jurisdiction of the English law, but I +could not believe that the Divorce Court and its emissaries could +interfere with us in a remote Italian village. My real fear was of +Lord Blackadder. He was so bold and unscrupulous that, if the law +would not help him, he would try stratagem, or even force. We should +be really safe nowhere if we once came within his reach, and, the best +plan to keep out of his clutches was to hide our whereabouts from him. + +"Fuentellato would not do, for although I do not believe he knew the +exact spot in which Henriette had taken refuge, he must have guessed +something from the direction of my journey, and that I was on my way +to join her. If he failed to intercept me _en route_, he would make +his way straight there. I had resolved he should not find us, but +where else should we go? Farther afield, if necessary to the very end +of the world. Lord Blackadder, we might be sure, would hunt high and +low to recover his lost heir, sparing no expense, neglecting no means. + +"It was, however, essential to elude his agents, who were so near at +hand and likely to press me close. That was another reason for drawing +my sister to me. I had hit upon a cunning device, as I thought it, to +confuse and deceive my pursuers, to throw them on to a false scent, +lead them to follow a red herring, while the fox, free of the hunt, +took another line." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + +"There should be two Richmonds in the field! That was my grand idea. +Two sets, two parties, each of them consisting of one lady, one maid, +and one baby, exactly similar and indistinguishable. When the time was +ripe we should separate, and each would travel in opposite directions, +and I hoped to show sufficient guile to induce my persecutors to give +chase to the wrong quarry. Run it to the death, while the party got +clear away. + +"I had made a nice calculation. Fuentellato was at no great distance +from Parma, on the main line of railway. If she started at once, via +Piacenza to Turin, she could catch the Mont Cenis express through to +Modane and Culoz, where she could change for Geneva, so as to reach me +some time on Tuesday. + +"This was exactly what happened. My sister carried out my instructions +to the letter, and I met her here on arrival. I had taken up my +quarters in this hotel because it was so near the station, but I +thought it prudent that Henriette should lodge somewhere else, the +farther the better, and she went to a small place, the Hotel Pierre +Fatio, at the other end of the town. + +"It is a long story, Colonel Annesley, but there is not much more, and +yet the most interesting part is to come. + +"We now devoted ourselves to the practical carrying out of the scheme, +just we four women; our maids, both clever dressmakers, were of +immense help. It was soon done. You can buy anything in Geneva. There +are plenty of good shops and skilful workers, and we soon provided +ourselves with the clothes, all the disguises really that we +required--the long gray dust cloaks and soft hats and all the rest, so +much alike that we might have been soldiers in the same regiment. +Philpotts and Victorine, my sister's maid, were also made up on a +similar pattern, and a second baby was built up as a dummy that would +have deceived any one. + +"Everything was completed by this morning, and I had settled that my +sister, with her dear little Ralph, should get away, but by quite a +new route, while I held my ground against the detectives. I felt sure +they would soon hear of me and run me down. I hoped they would attach +themselves to me, and meant to lead them a fine dance as a blind for +Henriette, who, meanwhile, would have crossed to Lyons and gone south +to Marseilles. The Riviera is a longer and more roundabout road to +Turin, but it was open, and I hoped unimpeded. What do you think of my +diplomacy?" + +"Admirable!" I cried, with enthusiasm. "Your cleverness, Lady Claire, +is colossal. Go on, I beg of you. Surely you have succeeded?" + +"Alas! no. Everything was cut and dried and this evening we scored the +first point in the game. Henriette went on this evening to Amberieu, +the junction for Lyons. She went straight from her hotel, alone, for +of course I was obliged to keep close, or the trick would have been +discovered, and it was in part. + +"For I must tell you that to-day one of the detectives appeared in +Geneva, not the first man, but a second, who attached himself to me at +Basle. I met him plump on the Mont Blanc Bridge and turned tail, but +he came after me. I jumped into a passing tram, so did he, and to +throw him off his guard I talked to him, and made friends with him, +and advised him to come and stay at this hotel. Then I got out and +left him, making my way to the Pierre Fatio Hotel by a circuitous +route, dodging in and out among the narrow streets till I nearly lost +myself. + +"I thought I had eluded him, and he certainly was nowhere near when I +went into the hotel. But I suppose he followed me, he must have, and +found out something, for I know now that he went to Amberieu after +Henriette--" + +"You are perfectly sure?" + +"She has telegraphed to me from Amberieu; I got it not an hour ago. +The man accosted her, taking her for me. He would have it she was Mrs. +Blair, and told her to her face that he did not mean to lose sight of +her again. So you see--" + +"If she goes round by Lyons to Marseilles, then, he would be at her +heels, and the scheme breaks down in that respect?" + +"Not only that, I don't see that he could interfere with her, or do +her much harm, and at Marseilles she might change her plans entirely. +There are ever so many ways of escape from a seaport. She might take +ship and embark on board the first steamer bound to the East, for +India or Ceylon, the Antipodes or far Cathay." + +"Well, why not?" + +"Henriette, my sister, has given way. Her courage has failed her at +this, the most critical moment, when she is within a hair's breadth of +success. She is afraid to go on alone with little Ralph, and is +running back to me by the first train to-morrow morning, at five or +six o'clock." + +"Coming here? Into the very mouths of all the others!" + +"Just so, and all my great scheme will be ruined. They cannot but find +out, and there is no knowing what they may do. Lord Blackadder, I +know, is capable of anything. I assure you, Colonel Annesley, I am in +despair. What _can_ I do?" + +She looked at me in piteous appeal, the tears brimming over, her hands +stretched towards me with a gesture at once pathetic and enchanting. + +"Say, rather, what can _we_ do, Lady Claire," I corrected her. "This +is my business, too, if you will allow me to say so, and I offer you +my advice for what it is worth." + +"Yes, I will take it thankfully, I promise you." + +"The only safe course now is the boldest. You must make another +exchange with your sister, Lady Blackadder--" + +"Call her Lady Henriette Standish. She has dropped the other +entirely." + +"By all means. Lady Henriette then has determined to take the first +train from Amberieu at--Have you a Bradshaw? Thank you--at 5.52 +A.M., which will get her to Culoz at 6.48. You must, if +possible, exchange babies, and at the same time exchange _roles_. I +feel sure that you, at any rate, are not afraid of going to Marseilles +with the real baby." + +"Hardly!" she laughed scornfully. "But Henriette--what is to become of +her?" + +"That shall be my affair. It is secondary, really. The first and +all-important is for you to secure the little Ralph and escape with +him. It will have to be done under the very eyes of the enemy, for +there is every reason to fear they will be going on, too. The other +detective, this Tiler--I have heard them call him by that name--will +have told them of her ladyship's movements, and will have summoned +them, Falfani at least, to his side." + +"If I go on by that early train they will, no doubt, do the same. I +must not be seen by them. They would fathom the trick of the two +parties and the exchange." + +"Yet you must go on by that train. It's the only way." + +"Of course I might change my appearance a little, but not enough to +deceive them. Cannot I go across to the station before them and hide +in some compartment specially reserved for us?" + +"It might be managed. We might secure the whole of the seats." + +"Money is no object." + +"It will do most things, especially in Switzerland. Leave it to me, +Lady Claire. All you have to do is to be ready to-morrow morning, very +early, remember. Before 5 A.M." + +"If necessary I'll sit up all night." + +"Well, then, that's settled. I'll knock at your door and see you get +some coffee." + +"Philpotts shall make it; no one in the hotel must know. There will be +the bill." + +"I will see to that. I'll come back after you're ensconced, with the +blinds drawn. Sick lady on the way, via Culoz to Aix-les-Bains, must +not be disturbed. It won't matter my being seen on the road, all the +better really if my lord is there, for I have a little plan of my own, +Lady Claire--no, please don't ask me yet--but it will help matters, I +think." + +"You are, indeed, my true and faithful friend," she said, as she put +out her hand and wished me good night. She left it in mine for just a +second, and I flattered myself that its warm pressure was meant to +assure me that I had established a substantial claim to her regard. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + +On leaving Salon No. 17 I descended to the ground floor, seeking the +smoking-room and a little stimulant to assist me in deciding the best +course of action for the following day. + +As I passed along the corridor I caught sight of l'Echelle, whom I +considered my man, in close confabulation with Falfani in a quiet +corner. They could hardly have seen me, at least l'Echelle made no +reference to the fact when he came to me presently and asked if I had +any orders for the morning. I answered him sternly: + +"What was Falfani saying to you just now? The truth, please, or you +get nothing more from me." + +"He is a _vaurien_ and _faineant_, and thinks others as bad as +himself; said my lord would give me five hundred francs to know what +you were doing, and find out whether the lady who travelled with us to +Basle last Sunday is here in this house." + +"I've no objection to your taking his money if you will tell me +something. How long does my lord mean to stay here? Have you any +idea?" + +"They all go on by the early train to Culoz or farther. A pressing +telegram has come from their man at Amberieu." + +"Ah! Indeed. Then you may say that I am also going by that early +train. They're not going to shake me off very easily. Tell them that, +and that if they want the lady they'd better look for her. She isn't +here." + +I lied in a good cause, for a lady, as a gentleman is bound to do. I +shall be forgiven, I think, under the circumstances. + +The free use of coin had the desired effect at the railway station. +Soon after 5 A.M. I was met at a private door and escorted, +with my precious party, by a circuitous route to where the 5.48 was +shunted, waiting the moment to run back to the departure platform. +There was a coupe ready for Lady Claire, and she took her place +quietly, observed by no one but the obsequious official who had +managed it all. + +As for me, I walked boldly to the hotel and hung about the hall till +the Blackadder party appeared and had left for the station. Then I +asked the hotel clerk for Lady Claire's bill, paid it, with my own, +and went over to the train, selecting a compartment close to the +coupe. As I passed it I knocked lightly on the window pane, giving a +signal previously arranged between us. + +I do not think that Lord Blackadder saw me then, at the start. But at +Bellegarde, the Swiss frontier, where there was a wait of half an hour +for the Customs examination, an irritating performance always, but +carried out here with the most maddening and overbearing +particularity, everyone was obliged to alight from the train, and for +the moment I trembled for Lady Claire. But the appeal addressed to the +French brigadier, "_un galant homme_," of an invalid lady, too ill to +be disturbed, was effectual, especially when backed by two five-franc +pieces. + +Lord Blackadder was on the platform with the rest, and directly he saw +me he came up with the same arrogant air, curiously blended with +aggrieved helplessness. + +"This will end badly, Colonel Annesley. I give you fair warning. I +shall appeal to the authorities. We shall be on French soil directly, +and I know something of French law. It affords protection to all who +claim it against such people as you." + +"If you talk like that I'll give you some reason to seek the +protection of the gendarmes or police," I cried, but checked myself at +once. + +I had made up my mind how to deal with him, but the time was not yet. + +"Your insolence, sir, outsteps all bounds, and you shall answer for +it, I tell you." + +But now the cry was raised "_En voiture! en voiture!_" and we were +peremptorily hustled back to our seats. Lord Blackadder hurried to his +compartment at the end of the train some way from mine and the coupe. +As I passed the latter, seeing the road clear, I gave the signal, and, +taking out my railway carriage key, quickly slipped in. + +She received me with her rare sweet smile, that was the richest +payment a man could ask. + +"The critical moment is at hand, Lady Claire," I said, speaking +mysteriously. "It is essential that we should have a few last words +together. Naturally we must now be guided very much by the way things +happen, but so far as possible we must prepare for them. We have +managed capitally so far. I don't believe Lord Blackadder has any idea +you are in the train, and I much doubt that he expects to find Lady +Henriette at Culoz. You think she will really be there?" + +"I feel sure of it. It is just what she would do." + +"Then everything will depend on you. You must be alert and prompt, on +the _qui vive_ to seize your opportunity. It will be your business to +make your way to her with the dummy the instant the train stops." + +"I shall have to find her." + +"That is the first and chief thing on your part. You _must_ find her +at once. There are very few minutes for the whole job. Find her, +exchange burthens, send her to the train for Aix-les-Bains. It will be +waiting there. You hurry back to this coupe, lie low, and, if all goes +well, you will be travelling on toward Amberieu before the enemy has +the least notion what has occurred." + +"But one word, please. What will the enemy have been doing at Culoz? +Say they catch sight of Henriette as soon as we do?" + +"I hope and trust they may. I count upon that as part of my +programme." + +"But they will catch her, stop her, deprive her of our dear little +Ralph." + +"Wait, wait. You will see. It will be settled in a moment now. But +before it is too late let us arrange how you may communicate with me. +We shall both be moving about, and the best address I can give will be +in London. Telegraph to me there to my club, the Mars and Neptune, +Piccadilly. I will send instructions there to have all telegrams +opened and retelegraphed to me at once. They shall be kept informed of +my whereabouts daily. But now, here we are, close to Culoz and already +slowing down. Look out, please." + +It could not have suited me better. There, standing under the shadow +of the dwarf plane-trees, but with not the slightest suggestion of +concealment, was the exact counterpart of Lady Claire, her twin +sister, Lady Henriette Standish, till lately Lady Blackadder. She was +staring intently at our train as it ran in, deeply anxious, no doubt, +to note the arrival of her sister. + +"Give me a short start," I said to Lady Claire as I jumped out of the +coupe. "You will see why." + +Even as I spoke I was satisfied that the pursuing party had recognized +the object of their journey. They had all alighted and were coming up +the platform in great haste to where she stood. Had any doubt +remained, it would have been removed by the appearance of a man who +ran out from some back part of the station and waved them forward with +much gesticulation. + +Here I interposed, and, rushing forward with all the ardour of a +football player entering a scrimmage, I took Lord Blackadder by the +throat and shook him. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +[_Falfani again._] + + +When that audacious and intemperate English Colonel so far forgot +himself as to assault my lord the Right Honourable the Earl of +Blackadder at Culoz Station in the open light of day before us all, I +greatly rejoiced; for, although horror-stricken at his ruffianly +conduct, I knew that he would get his deserts at last. The French +authorities would certainly not tolerate brawling in the precincts of +the railway station, and justice must promptly overtake the sole +offender. The blackguard Colonel, the cause and origin of the +disturbance, would, of course, be at once arrested and removed. + +The fracas had naturally attracted general attention. One or two +porters ran up and endeavoured, with Tiler and myself, to rescue my +lord from his cowardly assailant. A crowd quickly gathered around us, +many passengers and a number of idlers, who drop from nowhere, as it +might be, all drawn to the spot by overmastering curiosity. Everybody +talked at the same time, asking questions, volunteering answers, some +laughing shamelessly at my lord's discomfiture, a few expressing +indignation, and declaring that such a scandal should not be +permitted, and the guilty parties held strictly to account. + +The gendarmes on duty--a couple of them are always at hand in a French +railway station--soon appeared, and, taking in the situation at the +first glance, imposed silence peremptorily. + +"Let some one, one person only, speak and explain." The brigadier, or +sergeant, addressed himself to me, no doubt seeing that I had assumed +a prominent place in the forefront, and seemed a person of importance. + +"Monsieur here," I said, pointing to the Colonel, who, in spite of all +we could do, still held my lord tight, "was the aggressor, as you can +see for yourselves. Oblige him, I pray you, to desist. He will do my +lord some serious injury." + +"Is one an English milord, _hein_? Who, then, is the other?" + +"An abominable _vaurien_," I answered with great heat. "A rank +villain; one who outrages all decency, breaks every law, respects no +rank--" + +"_Bus, bus_," cried the Colonel, in some language of his own, as he +put me aside so roughly that I still feel the pain in my shoulder. +"That'll do, my fine fellow. Let me speak for myself, if you please. +Pardon, M. le brigadier," he went on, saluting him politely. "Here is +my card. I am, as you will perceive, an officer of the English army, +and I appeal to you as a comrade, for I see by your decorations, no +doubt richly deserved, that you are an _ancien militaire_. I appeal to +you for justice and protection." + +"Protection, forsooth!" I broke in, contemptuously. "Such as the wolf +and the tiger and the snake expect from their victim." + +It made me sick to hear him currying favour with the gendarme, and +still worse that it was affecting the old trooper, who looked on all +as _pekins_, mere civilians, far inferior to military men. + +"Protection you shall have, _mon Colonel_, if you have a right to it, +_bien entendu_," said the sergeant, civilly but cautiously. + +"I ask it because these people have made a dead set at me. They have +tried to hustle me and, I fear, to rob me, and I have been obliged to +act in my own defence." + +Before I could protest against this shameless misrepresentation of the +fact, my lord interposed. He was now free, and, gradually recovering, +was burning to avenge the insults put upon him. + +"It is not true," he shouted. "It is an absolute lie. He knows it is +not true; he is perfectly well aware who I am, Lord Blackadder; and +that he has no sort of grievance against me nor any of my people. His +attack upon me was altogether unprovoked and unjustifiable." + +"Let the authorities judge between us," calmly said the Colonel. "Take +us before the station-master, or send for the Commissary from the +town. I haven't the slightest objection." + +"Yes, yes, the _Commissaire de police_, the judge, the peace officer. +Let us go before the highest authorities; nothing less than arrest, +imprisonment, the heaviest penalties, will satisfy me," went on my +lord. + +"With all my heart," cried the Colonel. "We'll refer it to any one you +please. Lead on, _mon brave_, only you must take all or none. I +insist upon that. It is my right; let us all go before the +Commissary." + +"There is no Commissary here in Culoz. You must travel to +Aix-les-Bains to find him. Fifteen miles from here." + +"Well, why not? I'm quite ready," assented the Colonel, with an +alacrity I did not understand. I began to think he had some game of +his own. + +"So am I ready," cried his lordship. "I desire most strongly to haul +this hectoring bully before the law, and let his flagrant misconduct +be dealt with in a most exemplary fashion." + +I caught a curious shadow flitting across my comrade Tiler's face at +this speech. He evidently did not approve of my lord's attitude. Why? + +I met his eye as soon as I could, and, in answer to my inquiring +glance, he came over to me and whispered: + +"Don't you see? He," jerking his finger toward the Colonel, "wants us +to waste as much time as possible, while my lady slips through our +fingers and gets farther and farther on her road." + +"Where is she?" + +"Ah, where? No longer here, anyway." + +The train by which we had come from Geneva was not now in the station. +It had gone on, quite unobserved by any of us during the fracas, and +it flashed upon me at once that the incident had been planned for this +very purpose of occupying our attention while she stole off. + +"But, one moment, Ludovic, that train was going to Macon and Paris. My +lady was travelling the other way--this way. You came with her +yourself. Why should she run back again?" + +"Ah! Why does a woman do anything, and particularly this one? Still +there was a reason, a good one. She must have caught sight of my lord, +and knew that she was caught." + +"That's plausible enough, but I don't understand it. She started for +Italy; what turned her back when you followed her, and why did she +come this way again?" + +"She only came because I'd tracked her to Amberieu, and thought to +give me the slip," said Tiler. + +"May be. But it don't seem to fit. Anyway, we've got to find her once +more. It ought not to be difficult. She's not the sort to hide +herself easily, with all her belongings, the nurse and the baby and +all the rest. But hold on, my lord is speaking." + +"Find out, one of you," he said briefly, "when the next train goes to +Aix. I mean to push this through to the bitter end. You will be +careful, sergeant, to bring your prisoner along with you." + +"_Merci bien!_ I do not want you or any one else to teach me my duty," +replied the gendarme, very stiffly. It was clear that his sympathies +were all with the other side. + +"A prisoner, am I?" cried the Colonel, gaily. "Not much. But I shall +make no difficulties. I am willing enough to go with you. When is it +to be?" + +"Nine fifty-one; due at Aix at 10.22," Tiler reported, and we +proceeded to pass the time, some twenty minutes, each in his own way. +Lord Blackadder paced the platform with feverish footsteps, his rage +and disappointment still burning fiercely within him. The Colonel +invited the two gendarmes to the _buvette_, and l'Echelle followed +him. I was a little doubtful of that slippery gentleman; although I +had bought him, as I thought, the night before, I never felt sure of +him. He had joined our party, had travelled with us, and seemed on our +side in the recent scuffle, here he was putting himself at the beck +and call of his own employer. My lord had paid him five hundred +francs. Was the money thrown away, and his intention now to go back on +his bargain? + +Meanwhile Tiler and I thought it our pressing duty to utilize these +few moments in seeking news of our lady and her party. Had she been +seen? Oh, yes, many people, officials, and hangers-on about the +station had seen her. Too much seen indeed, for the stories told were +confusing and conflicting. One _facteur_ assured us he had helped her +into the train going Amberieu way, but I thought his description very +vague, although Tiler swallowed the statement quite greedily. Another +man told me quite a different story; he had seen her, and had not the +slightest doubt of it, in the down train, that for Aix-les-Bains, the +express via Chambery, Modane, and the Mont Cenis tunnel for Italy. +This was the true version, I felt sure. Italy had been her original +destination, and naturally she would continue her journey that way. + +Why, then, Tiler asked, had she gone to Amberieu, running back as she +had done with him at her heels? To deceive him, of course, I retorted. +Was it not clear that her real point was Italy? Why else had she +returned to Culoz by the early train directly she thought she had +eluded Tiler? The reasoning was correct, but Ludovic was always a +desperately obstinate creature, jealous and conceited, tenacious of +his opinions, and holding them far superior to those who were cleverer +and more intelligent than himself. + +Then we heard the whistle of the approaching train, and we all +collected on the platform. L'Echelle, as he came from the direction of +the _buvette_, was a little in the rear of the Colonel and the +gendarmes. I caught a look on his face not easy to interpret. He was +grinning all over it and pointing toward the Colonel with his finger, +derisively. I was not inclined to trust him very greatly, but he +evidently wished us to believe that he thought very little of the +Colonel, and that we might count upon his support against him. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + +There were seven of us passengers, more than enough to fill one +compartment, so we did not travel together. My lord very liberally +provided first-class tickets for the whole of the party, but the +Colonel took his own and paid for the gendarmes. He refused to travel +in the same carriage with the noble Earl, saying openly and impudently +that he preferred the society of honest old soldiers to such a crew as +ours. L'Echelle, still sitting on the hedge, as I fancied, got in with +the Colonel and his escort. + +On reaching Aix-les-Bains, we found the omnibus that did the _service +de la ville_, but the Colonel refused to enter it, and declared he +would walk; he cared nothing for the degradation of appearing in the +public streets as a prisoner marching between a couple of gendarmes. +He gloried in it, he said; his desire was clearly to turn the whole +thing into ridicule, and the passers-by laughed aloud at this +well-dressed gentleman, as he strutted along with his hat cocked, one +hand on his hip, the other placed familiarly on the sergeant's arm. + +He met some friends, too,--one was a person rather like himself, with +the same swaggering high-handed air, who accosted him as we were +passing the corner of the square just by the Hotel d'Aix. + +"What ho! Basil my boy!" cried the stranger. "In chokey? Took up by +the police? What've you done? Robbed a church?" + +"Come on with us and you'll soon know. No, really, come along, I may +want you. I'm going before the beak and may want a witness as to +character." + +"Right oh! There are some more of us here from the old shop--Jack +Tyrrell, Bobus Smith--all Mars and Neptune men. They'll speak for a +pal at a pinch. Where shall we come?" + +"To the town hall, the _mairie_," replied the Colonel, after a brief +reference to his escort. "I've got a particular appointment there with +Monsieur le Commissaire, and the Right Honourable the Earl of +Blackadder." + +"Oh! that noble sportsman? What's wrong with him? What's he been +doing to you or you to him?" + +"I punched his head, that's all." + +"No doubt he deserved it; anyhow, Charlie Forrester will be pleased. +By-by, you'll see me again, and all the chaps I can pick up at the +Cercle and the hotels near." + +Then our procession passed on, the Colonel and gendarmes leading, +Tiler and I with l'Echelle close behind. + +We found my lord awaiting us. He had driven on ahead in a _fiacre_ and +was standing alone at the entrance to the police office, which is +situated on the ground floor of the Hotel de Ville, a pretty +old-fashioned building of gray stone just facing the Etablissement +Thermale, the home of the far-famed baths from which _Aix-les-Bains_ +takes its name. + +"In here?" asked my lord; and with a brief wave of his hand he would +have passed in first, but the officers of the law put him rather +rudely aside and claimed precedence for their prisoner. + +But when M. le Commissaire, who was there, seated at a table opposite +his _greffier_, rose and bowed stiffly, inquiring our business, my +lord pushed forward into the front and began very warmly, in passable +French: + +"I am an aggrieved person seeking justice on a wrong-doer. I--demand +justice of you--" + +"_Pardon, monsieur, je vous prie._ We must proceed in order, and first +allow me to assure you that justice is always done in France. No one +need claim it in the tone you have assumed." + +The Commissary was a solemn person, full of the stiff formality +exhibited by members of the French magistracy, the juniors especially. +He was dressed in discreet black, his clean-shaven, imperturbable face +showed over a stiff collar, and he wore the conventional white tie of +the French official. + +"Allow me to ask--" he went on coldly. + +"I will explain in a few words," began my lord, replying hurriedly. + +"Stay, monsieur, it is not from you that I seek explanation. It is the +duty of the officers of the law now present, and prepared, I presume, +to make their report. Proceed, sergeant." + +"But you must hear me, M. le Commissary; I call upon and require you +to do so. I have been shamefully ill-used by that man there." He +shook his finger at the Colonel. "He has violently assaulted me. I am +Lord Blackadder, an English peer. I am entitled to your best +consideration." + +"Every individual, the poorest, meanest, is entitled to that in +republican France. You shall have it, sir, but only as I see fit to +accord it. I must first hear the story from my own people. Go on, +sergeant." + +"I protest," persisted my lord. "You must attend to me--you shall +listen to me. I shall complain to your superiors--I shall bring the +matter before the British ambassador. Do you realize who and what I +am?" + +"You appear to be a gentleman with an uncontrollable temper, whose +conduct is most improper. I must ask you to behave yourself, to +respect the _convenances_, or I shall be compelled to show you the +door." + +"I will not be put down in this way, I will speak; I--I--" + +"Silence, monsieur. I call upon you, explicitly, to moderate your tone +and pay proper deference to my authority." With this the commissary +pulled out a drawer, extracted a tricolour sash and slowly buckled it +round his waist, then once more turned interrogatively to the +sergeant: + +"It is nothing very serious, M. le Commissaire," said the treacherous +gendarme. "A simple brawl--a blow struck, possibly returned--a mere +_rixe_." + +"Between gentlemen? _Fi donc!_ Why the commonest _voyous_, the +_rodeurs_ of the _barriere_, could not do worse. It is not our French +way. Men of honour settle their disputes differently; they do not come +to the _police correctionnelle_." + +"Pray do not think it is my desire," broke in the Colonel, with his +customary fierceness. "I have offered Lord Blackadder satisfaction as +a gentleman, and am ready to meet him when and how he pleases." + +"I cannot listen to you, sir. Duels are in contravention of the Code. +But I recommend you to take your quarrels elsewhere, and not to waste +my time." + +"This is quite unheard of," cried my lord, now thoroughly aroused. +"You are shamefully neglecting your duty, M. le Commissaire, and it +cannot be tolerated." + +"I am not responsible to you, sir, and will account for my action _a +qui de droit_, to those who have the right to question me. The case +is dismissed. Gendarmes, release your prisoner, and let everyone +withdraw." + +We all trooped out into the square, where a number of persons had +assembled, evidently the Colonel's friends, for they greeted him +uproariously. + +"The prisoner has left the court without a stain upon his character," +the Colonel shouted in answer to their noisy inquiries. + +"But what was it? Why did they run you in?" they still asked. + +"I refer you to this gentleman, Lord Blackadder. Perhaps some of you +know him. At any rate you've heard of him. We had a difference of +opinion, and I was compelled to administer chastisement." A lot of +impudent chaff followed. + +"Oh! really, pray introduce me to his lordship," said one. "Does your +lordship propose to make a long stay in Aix? Can we be of any use to +you?" "You mustn't mind Basil Annesley; he's always full of his +games." "Hope he didn't hurt you. He didn't mean it really;" and I +could see that the Earl could hardly contain himself in his rage. + +Then, suddenly muttering something about "bounders" and "cads," he +forced his way through and hurried off, shouting his parting +instructions to us to join him as soon as possible at the Hotel +Hautecombe on the hill. + +We followed quickly, and were ushered at once into his private +apartment. It was essential to confer and decide upon some plan of +action; but when I asked him what he proposed to do next, he received +my harmless request with a storm of invective and reproach. + +"You miserable and incompetent fools! Don't expect me to tell you your +business. Why do I pay you? Why indeed? Nothing you have done has been +of the very slightest use; on the contrary, through your beastly +mismanagement I have been dragged into this degrading position, held +up to ridicule and contempt before all the world. And with it all, the +whole thing has failed. I sent you out to recover my child, and what +have you done? What has become of that abominable woman who stole it +from under your very noses? Blackguards! Bunglers! Idiots! Fat-headed +asses!" + +"Nay, my lord," pleaded Tiler humbly, for I confess I was so much +annoyed by this undeserved reprimand I could not bring myself to +speak civilly. "I think I can assure your lordship that matters will +soon mend. The situation is not hopeless, believe me. You may rely on +us to regain touch with the fugitives without delay. I have a clue, +and with your lordship's permission will follow it at once." + +I saw clearly that he was set upon the absurd notion he had conceived +that the lady had gone westward, and I felt it my duty to warn the +Earl not to be misled by Tiler. + +"There is nothing in his clue, my lord. It is pure assumption, without +any good evidence to support it." + +"Let me hear this precious clue," said his lordship. "I will decide +what it is worth." + +Then Tiler propounded his theory. + +"It might be good enough," I interjected, "if I did not know the exact +contrary. The lady with her party was seen going in exactly the +opposite direction. I know it for a fact." + +"And I am equally positive of what I saw," said Tiler. + +His lordship looked from one to the other, plainly perplexed and with +increasing anger. + +"By the Lord Harry, it's pleasant to be served by a couple of such +useless creatures who differ so entirely in their views that they +cannot agree upon a common plan of action. How can I decide as to the +best course if you give me no help?" + +"Perhaps your lordship will allow me to make a suggestion?" I said +gravely, and I flatter myself with some dignity, for I wished to show +I was not pleased with the way he treated us. + +"Whether the lady has gone north or south, east or west, may be +uncertain; and although I am satisfied in my own mind as to the +direction she took, I am willing to await further developments before +embarking on any further chase. To my mind the best clue, the real, +the only clue, lies here, in our very hands. If we have only a little +patience, this Colonel Annesley will act as a sign-post." + +"You think that some communication will reach him from the fugitives?" + +"Most decidedly I do. I firmly believe that the lady relies upon him +greatly, and will in all probability call him to her, or if not that +she will wish to let him know how she has got on." + +For the first time in this unpleasant interview his lordship looked +at me approvingly. He quite changed his tone and dropped his +aggressive manner. + +"I believe you are entirely right, Falfani, and cordially agree with +your suggestion," he said with great heartiness. "Let it be adopted at +once. Take immediate steps, if you please, to set a close watch on +this pestilent villain Annesley; keep him continually under your eye." + +"We've got to find him first," objected Tiler gruffly and +despondently. + +"It ought not to be difficult, seeing that he was here half an hour +ago, and we can hunt up l'Echelle, who will surely know, and who I +have reason to hope is on our side." + +"Do it one way or another. I look to you for that, and let me know the +result without loss of time. Then we will confer again and arrange +further. Leave me now." + +I accepted my dismissal and moved towards the door, but Tiler hung +behind, and I heard him say timidly: + +"May I crave your lordship's pardon--and I trust you rely on my entire +devotion to your lordship's service--but there is one thing I most +earnestly desire to do." + +"Go on." + +"And that is to follow my own clue, at least for a time. It is the +right one I firmly believe, and I am satisfied it would be wrong, +criminal even to neglect it. Will you allow me to absent myself if +only for a few days? That should suffice to settle the point. If I +fail I will return with all speed. If, as I hope and believe, I strike +the scent, assuredly you will not regret it." + +"There's something in what you say. At any rate that line ought to be +looked up," said his lordship. "I am willing to wait a day or two +until you return or report, or unless something more definite turns up +in the other direction. I suppose he can be spared, Falfani?" + +"He will be no manner of use here, it will be better to let him go; +let him run after his red herring, he'll precious soon find out his +mistake." + +"We shall see," said Tiler, elated and cocksure, and I freely confess +we did see that he was not quite the fool I thought him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + + +On leaving his lordship I descended to the grand entrance to the hotel +with the intention of beating up the Colonel's quarters in Aix. +Although the hotels were certain to be crowded at this, the height of +the season, the town is not really large, the visitors' lists are well +posted with new arrivals, and there are one or two public places where +people always turn up at some time or other in the day. The _cercle_ +or _casino_ and its _succursale_ the Villa des Fleurs, with their many +spacious rooms, reading-room, concert-room, baccarat-room, their +restaurants, their beautiful gardens, are thronged at all hours of the +day with the smart folk of all nationalities. + +I stood on the top of the steps waiting for the private omnibus that +plies between the hotel and the town below, when I heard my name +called from behind, and turning, was confronted by Jules l'Echelle. + +"Hullo!" I cried, eying him suspiciously. "What brings you up here?" + +"The Colonel, my master--for I have taken service with him, you must +know--sent me here to inquire whether we could have rooms." + +"Why does he choose this hotel of all others?" I asked in a +dissatisfied tone, although in my secret heart I was overjoyed. + +"It's the best, isn't it? Haven't you come here?" + +"My Lord Blackadder has, but that's another pair of shoes. There's +some difference between him and a beggarly half-pay Colonel who will +very likely have to black the boots to work out his bill. They know +how to charge here." + +"The Colonel, I take it, can pay his way as well as most people. +Anyhow, he's coming to stop here." + +"For any time?" + +"Likely enough. He said something about going through the course, +taking the baths, and among the rest asked me to find out the best +doctor." + +"That'll mean a lengthened stay; three weeks at least." + +"Well, why shouldn't he? He's his own master." + +"Then he's finished with that foolish business about the lady; had +enough of it, I suppose; burnt his fingers and done no earthly good." + +"How do I know? It's not my business; but I fancy I have fallen into a +snug berth, a soft job, better than making beds in a sleeping-car and +being shaken to death in express trains." + +"Good wages, if it's a fair question?" + +"Fifty francs a week, _pour tout potage_." + +I looked at him hard, revolving in my mind how best to approach him. +L'Echelle was a Swiss, and with most of his sort it is only a question +of price. How much would it take to buy him? + +"Well, how have you fared? Have you succeeded in getting your rooms? +Will your Colonel move up?" + +"What would his lordship say? Wouldn't like it much, I expect. Shall I +prevent it? It will be easy to say there are no rooms. I'll do just as +you please." + +"You're very obliging." + +"I'm willing enough to oblige, as I've always told you--at a price." + +"Put a name to it; but don't forget you've had something on account. +Last night I gave you five hundred francs." + +"Bah! I want a lot more than that, a thousand francs down and fifty +francs a day so long as I serve you. Do you agree to my terms?" + +"My lord won't. He looks both sides of his money, and pays no fancy +prices for a pig in a poke." + +"Then I'll take my pigs to another market. Suppose I let the Colonel +know what you've been at, trying to tamper with me. This hotel +wouldn't be big enough to hold him and your patron together." + +"Well,"--I hesitated, not willing to appear too anxious,--"let's say, +just for argument's sake, that you got what you ask, or something near +it. I'm not in a position to promise it, no, not the half of it. But +we'll agree what you'd do for us in return?" + +"Anything you chose to ask." + +"Would you come over to us, belong to us body and soul? Think first of +my lord, put his interests before the Colonel's; tell us what the +Colonel's doing, his game from day to day, read his letters, and tell +us their contents; spy on his actions, watch him at every turn, his +comings and his goings; the houses he calls at, the people he meets, +every move he makes or has in view?" + +"If I promise to do all that will you promise not to give me away? +You'll keep your own counsel and protect me from the Colonel? If he +got a whisper I was selling him I'd lose my place and he'd half kill +me into the bargain." + +"Not a soul shall know but my lord and myself. I must consult him, or +you won't get the money." + +"But there is that other chap, the one who joined us at Culoz, and who +was with you at the Commissariat, a new face to me. One of your own +party, wasn't he?" + +"To be sure, Tiler; he's on the job, too, came out when I did from +London. But he's gone, left us half an hour ago." + +"For good and all? Sacked, dropped out, or what?" + +"Gone to follow up a game of his own. He thinks he knows better than +any one else; believes the lady has harked back, and is following her +to Amberieu, Macon, Paris, England perhaps. God knows where. It's a +wild goose chase, of course; but my lord leans to it, and so it is to +be tried." + +"You don't agree?" + +"How can I when I'm satisfied he's wrong? She was seen in the express +for Modane, making for the Mont Cenis tunnel. Of course that's the +true direction. She was aiming for Italy from the first; the other +sister, the divorced lady, is there; we've always known that. Go back +to England! Bah! absolute rot. I'd stick to my opinion against fifty +fools like Tiler." + +"It's a bargain, then; I can count upon the cash? How soon shall you +know? I'd like to begin at once; there's something I would tell you +here, and now, that would interest you very much. But money down is my +rule." + +"Let me run up and ask his lordship. I won't keep you five minutes." + +My lord gave his consent a little grudgingly, but was presently +persuaded that it was to his own advantage to have a spy in the heart +of the enemy's camp. That was soon seen when l'Echelle had pocketed +his notes and gave us the news in exchange. + +"Now that I'm my lord's man I don't mind telling you that the Colonel +does not mean to stay long in Aix, not one minute longer than till the +call comes." + +"He expects a call?" + +"Assuredly. He wants you to think he's a fixture here, but he means to +cut and run after my lady whenever she sends to him. He'll be off then +faster than that," he snapped his fingers, "and you won't find it easy +to catch him." + +"That's good. You'll be well worth your money, I can see. Only be +diligent, watch closely, and keep us fully informed. We shall trust +very greatly to you." + +"Your trust shall not be misplaced. When I take an employer's pay I +serve him faithfully and to the best of my power," he said with an +engaging frankness that won me completely. + +Lord! Lord! what liars men are and what fools! I might have guessed +how much reliance was to be placed upon a man who, to my certain +knowledge, was serving two masters. + +Why should he be more faithful to my lord than to the Colonel? + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + + +The rest of the first day at Aix passed without any important +incident. I was a trifle surprised that the Colonel did not put in an +appearance; but it was explained by l'Echelle, whom I met by +appointment later in the day. I understood from him that the Colonel +had decided to remain down in the town, where he had many friends, and +where he was more in the thick of the fun. For Aix-les-Bains, as every +one knows, is a lively little place in the season, and the heart and +centre of it all is the Casino. The Colonel had established himself in +a hotel almost next door, and ran up against me continually that +afternoon and evening, as I wandered about now under the trees +listening to the band, now at the baccarat table, where I occasionally +staked a few _jetons_ of the smaller values. + +He never failed to meet my eye when it rested on him; he seemed to +know intuitively when I watched him, and he always looked back and +laughed. If any one was with him, as was generally the case--smart +ladies and men of his own stamp, with all of whom he seemed on very +familiar terms--he invariably drew their attention to me, and they, +too, laughed aloud after a prolonged stare. It was a little +embarrassing; he had so evidently disclosed my business, in scornful +terms no doubt, and held me up to ridicule, describing in his own way +and much to my discredit all that had happened between us. Once he had +the effrontery to accost me as I stood facing the green board on which +the telegrams are exposed. + +"Where have we met?" he began, with a mocking laugh. "I seem to know +your face. Ah, of course, my old friend Falfani, the private detective +who appeared in the Blackadder case. And I think I have come across +you more recently." + +"I beg you will not address yourself to me. I don't know you, I don't +wish to know you," I replied, with all the dignity I could assume. "I +decline to hold any conversation with you," and I moved away. + +But several of his rowdy friends closed around me and held me there, +compelled to listen to his gibes as he rattled on. + +"How is his lordship? Well, I hope. None the worse for that little +_contretemps_ this morning. May I ask you to convey to him my deep +regrets for what occurred, and my sincere wishes for his recovery? If +there is anything I can do for his lordship, any information I can +give him, he knows, I trust, that he can command me. Does he propose +to make a lengthened stay here?" + +"His lordship--" I tried vainly to interrupt him. + +"Let me urge him most strongly to go through the course. The warm +baths are truly delightful and most efficacious in calming the temper +and restoring the nerve-power. He should take the Aix treatment, he +should indeed. I am doing so, tell him; it may encourage him." + +"Colonel, this is quite insufferable," I cried, goaded almost to +madness. "I shall stand no more of it. Leave me in peace, I'll have no +more truck with you." + +"And yet it would be wiser. I am the only person who can be of any use +to you. You will have to come to me yet. Better make friends." + +"We can do without you, thank you," I said stiffly. "His lordship +would not be beholden to you, I feel sure. He can choose his own +agents." + +"And in his own sneaking, underhand way," the Colonel answered +quickly, and with such a meaning look that I was half-afraid he +suspected that we were tampering with his man. "But two can play at +that game, as you may find some day." + +When I met l'Echelle that same evening as arranged, at the Cafe Amadeo +in the Place Carnot, I questioned him closely as to whether his master +had any suspicion of him, but he answered me stoutly it was quite +impossible. + +"He knows I see you, that of course, but he firmly believes it is in +his own service. He is just as anxious to know what you are doing as +you are to observe him. By the way, have you heard anything of your +other man?" + +"Why should I tell you?" + +"Oh, don't trouble; only if I could pass him on a bit of news either +way it might lead him to show his hand. If Tiler is getting 'hot'--you +know the old game--he might like to go after him. If Tiler is thrown +out the Colonel will want to give help in the other direction." + +"That's sound sense, I admit. But all I can tell you is we had a +telegram from him an hour or two ago which doesn't look as if he was +doing much good. It was sent from Lyons, a roundabout way of getting +to Paris from here, and now he's going south! Of all the born idiots!" + +"Poor devil! That's how he's made. It's not everyone who's a born +detective, friend Falfani. It's lucky my lord has you at his elbow." + +We parted excellent friends. The more I saw of l'Echelle the more I +liked him. It was a pleasure to work with a man of such acute +perceptions, and I told him so. + +Nothing fresh occurred that night or the next day. I was never very +far off my Colonel, and watched him continually but unobtrusively. I +hope I know my business well enough for that. + +I was rather struck by a change in his demeanour. It was very subtle, +and everyone might have noticed it. He wore an air of preoccupation +that spoke to me of an uneasy mind. He was unhappy about something; +some doubt, some secret dread oppressed him, and more than once I +thought he wished to keep out of sight and avoid my searching +interrogative eyes. + +"You're right," said l'Echelle. "He's down on his luck, and he don't +want you to see it. He's dying for news that don't seem in a hurry to +come. Half a dozen times to-day he's asked me to inquire if there's a +telegram for him, and he haunts the hall porter's box continually in +the hope of getting one. Have you heard any more from Tiler?" + +"Yes, another mad telegram, this time from Marseilles. Fancy that! It +will be Constantinople next or Grand Cairo or Timbuctoo. The folly of +it!" + +"What does my lord say?" + +"Plenty, and it's not pleasant to bear. He's getting fairly wild, and +cart ropes won't hold him. He wants to go racing after Tiler now, and +if he does he'll give away the whole show. I hope to heaven your boss +will show his hand soon." + +"It's not for me to make him, you must admit that. But cheer up, +_copain_, things may mend." + +They did, as often happens when they seem to be at their worst. + +I have always been an early riser, and was specially so at Aix, now +when the heat was intense, and the pleasantest hours of the day were +before the sun had risen high. I was putting the finishing touches to +my toilette about 7 A.M. when I heard a knock at my door, and +without waiting permission l'Echelle rushed in. + +"Already dressed? What luck! There is not a moment to lose. Come +along. I've a _fiacre_ at the door below." + +He gave the _etablissement_ as the address, and we were soon tearing +down the hill. As we drove along l'Echelle told me the news. + +"It's come, that satanic telegram, and just what he wanted, I'm +prepared to swear. He simply jumped for joy when he read it." + +"But what was the message? Go on, go on, out with it!" I shouted +almost mad with excitement. + +"I can't tell you that, for I haven't seen it yet." + +"Are you making a fool of me?" + +"How could I see it? He put it straight into his pocket. But I mean +to see it pretty soon, and so shall you." + +"You mean to abstract it somehow--pick his pocket, or what?" + +"Simplest thing in the world. You see he's gone to have his bath, he +likes to be early, and he's undergoing the douche at this very moment, +which means naturally that he's taken off his clothes, and they are +waiting in the dressing-room for me to take home. I shall have a good +quarter of an hour and more to spare before they carry him back to the +hotel in his blankets and get him to bed." + +"Ha!" I said, "that's a brilliant idea. How do you mean to work it +out?" + +"Take the telegram out of his waistcoat pocket, read it, or bring it +to you." + +"Bring it; that will be best," I interrupted, feeling a tinge of +suspicion. + +"But I must put it straight back," continued l'Echelle, "for he is +sure to ask for it directly he returns to the hotel." + +Within a few minutes he had gone in and out again, carrying now one of +the black linen bags used by _valets de chambres_ to carry their +masters' clothes in. He winked at me as he passed, and we walked +together to a shady, retired spot in the little square where the +cab-stand is, and sat in the newspaper kiosk on a couple of +straw-bottomed chairs of the Central _cafe_. + +"Read that," he said triumphantly, as he handed me the familiar scrap +of blue paper. + +"Have got safely so far with nurse and baby--entreat you to follow +with all possible speed--dying to get on.--CLAIRE, Hotel +Cavour, Milan." + +"Excellent!" I cried, slapping my thigh. "This settles all doubts. So +much for that fool Tiler. My lord will be very grateful to you," and I +handed him back the telegram, having first copied it word for word in +my note-book. + +"It means, I suppose," suggested l'Echelle, "that you will make for +Milan, too?" + +"No fear--by the first train. You'll be clever if you get the start of +us, for I presume you will be moving." + +"I haven't the smallest doubt of that; we shall be quite a merry +party. It will be quite like old times." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +[_Colonel Annesley again._] + + +I had no reason to complain of the course of events culminating in the +affair at Culoz. I defended to myself the assault upon Lord Blackadder +as in a measure provoked and justifiable under the circumstances, +although I was really sorry for him and at the poor figure he cut +before the police magistrate and gendarmes. But I could not forget the +part he had played throughout, nor was I at all disposed to turn aside +from my set purpose to help the ladies in their distress. Every man of +proper feeling would be moved thereto, and I knew in my secret heart +that very tender motives impelled me to the unstinting championship of +Lady Claire. + +I was still without definite news of what had happened between the two +sisters while I was covering their movements at Culoz. I could not +know for certain whether or not the exchange had actually been +effected, and I did not dare inquire about the station, for it might +betray facts and endanger results. I had no hope of a message from +Lady Henriette, for she would hardly know where to address me. Lady +Claire would almost certainly telegraph to me via London at the very +earliest opportunity, and I was careful to wire from Culoz to the hall +porter of my club, begging him to send on everything without a +moment's delay. + +Then, while still in the dark, I set myself like a prudent general to +discover what the enemy was doing. He was here in Aix in the persons +of Lord Blackadder and his two devoted henchmen, Falfani and Tiler. I +had heard the appointment he had given them at the Hotel Hautecombe, +and I cast about me to consider how I might gain some inkling of their +intentions. Luckily I had desired l'Echelle, the sleeping-car +conductor, to stick to me on leaving the police office, and I put it +to him whether or not he was willing to enter my service. + +"I will take you on entirely," I promised, "if you choose to leave +your present employment. You shall be my own man, my valet and +personal attendant. It is likely that I may wander about the +Continent for some time, and it may suit you to come with me." + +He seemed pleased at the idea, and we quickly agreed as to terms. + +"Now, l'Echelle," I went on, "after last night I think I may trust you +to do what I want, and I promise you I won't forget it. Find out what +the other side is at, and contrive somehow to become acquainted with +Lord Blackadder's plans." + +"How far may I go?" he asked me plump. "They are pretty sure to try +and win me over, they've done so already. Shall I accept their bid? It +would be the easiest way to know all you want." + +"It's devilish underhand," I protested. + +"You'll be paying them back in their own coin," he returned. "_A +corsaire fieffe corsaire et demi._ It will be to my advantage, and you +won't lose." + +"Upon my soul, I don't quite like it." I still hung back, but his +arguments seemed so plausible that they overcame my scruples, and I +was not sorry for it in the long run. + +[_The reader has already been told how Falfani craftily approached +l'Echelle, and found him, as he thought, an easy prey. We know how +the communication was kept up between the two camps, how Falfani was +fooled into believing that he kept close watch over Colonel Annesley +through l'Echelle, how the latter told his real master the true news +of the progress made by Tiler. When there could be little doubt that +the chase was growing warm and had gone as far as Lyons, the Colonel +felt that there was danger and that he must take more active steps to +divert the pursuit and mislead the pursuers. The Colonel shall +continue in his own words._] + +I was much disturbed when I learnt that Tiler had wired from Lyons. I +saw clearly what it meant. The next message would disclose the +whereabouts of the Lady Claire, at that time the only lady, as they +thought, in the case, and the lady with the real child. It would soon +be impossible for me to make use of the second with the sham child to +draw the pursuers after her. In this it must be understood that, +although I had no certainty of it, I took it for granted that the +little Lord Aspdale was with his aunt and not with his mother, who, as +I sincerely believed, had already reached Fuentellato. + +It was essential now to persuade my Lord Blackadder and his people +that this was the case, and induce them to embark upon a hasty +expedition into Italy. + +I therefore concocted a cunning plan with l'Echelle for leading them +astray. It was easy enough to arrange for the despatch of a telegram +from Milan to me at Aix, a despatch to be handed in at the former +place by a friend of l'Echelle's, but purporting to come from Lady +Claire. My man had any number of acquaintances in the railway service, +one or more passed daily through Aix with the express trains going +east or west; and with the payment of a substantial douceur the trick +was done. + +The spurious message reached me in Aix early on the third morning, and +the second act in the fraud was that l'Echelle should allow Falfani to +see the telegram. He carried out the deception with consummate skill, +pretending to pick my pocket of the telegram, which he then put under +Falfani's eyes. The third act was to be my immediate exit from Aix. I +made no secret of this, very much the reverse. Notice was given at the +hotel bureau to prepare my bill, and insert my name on the list of +departures by the afternoon express, the 1.41 P.M. for Modane and +Italy. It was quite certain that I should not be allowed to go off +alone. + +And suddenly, like a bolt from the blue, came a complete change in the +situation. Not long after I had consumed my morning _cafe au lait_ and +rolls, the conventional _petit dejeuner_ of French custom, a letter +was brought to my bedside, where, again according to rule, I was +resting after my bath. + +I expected no letters, no one except the porter of my London club knew +my present address, and the interval was too short since my telegram +to him to allow of letters reaching me in the ordinary course of the +post. + +I turned over the strange missive, the address in a lady's hand quite +unknown to me, examining it closely, as one does when mystified, +guessing vainly at a solution instead of settling it by instantly +breaking the seal. + +When at last I opened it my eye went first to the signature. To my +utter amazement I read the name, "Henriette Standish." It was dated +from the Hotel de Modena, Aix-les-Bains, a small private hotel quite +in the suburbs in the direction of the Grand Port, and it ran as +follows: + +"DEAR COLONEL ANNESLEY:--I have only just seen in the +_Gazette des Etrangers_ that you are staying in Aix. I also am here, +having been unable to proceed on my journey as I intended after +meeting my sister at Culoz. I thought of remaining here a few days +longer, but I have also read Lord Blackadder's name in the list. + +"What is to be done? I am horribly frightened, and greatly vexed with +myself for having put myself in this painful and most embarrassing +position. + +"May I venture to ask your counsel and help? I beg and entreat you +will come to me as soon as possible after receipt of this. Ask for +Mrs. Blair. Although I have never had the pleasure of meeting you, +your extreme kindness to Claire emboldens me to make this appeal to +you. I shall be at home all the morning. Indeed, I have hardly left +the house yet, and certainly shall not do so now that I know _he_ is +here. + +"Always very gratefully and sincerely yours, + +"HENRIETTE STANDISH." + +Here was a pretty kettle of fish! Lady Blackadder in Aix! Was there +ever such a broken reed of a woman? Already she had spoilt her +sister's nice combinations by turning back from Amberieu when the road +to safety with her darling child lay open to her. Now for the second +time she was putting our plans in jeopardy. How could I hope to lure +her pursuers away to a distance when she was here actually on the +spot, and might be run into at any moment? For the present all my +movements were in abeyance. I had reason to fear--how much reason I +did not even then realize--they would be interfered with, and that a +terrible collapse threatened us. + +I dressed hurriedly and walked down to the Hotel Modena, where I was +instantly received. "Mrs. Blair" had given orders that I should be +admitted the moment I appeared. I had had one glimpse of this tall, +graceful creature, who so exactly reproduced the beautiful traits of +her twin sister that she might indeed at a distance be taken for her +double. There was the same proud carriage of her head, the same lithe +figure, even her musical voice when she greeted me with shy cordiality +might have been the voice of Lady Claire. + +But the moment I looked into her face I saw a very distinct +difference, not in outward feature, but in the inward character that +is revealed by the eyes, the lines of the mouth, the shape of the +lower jaw. In Lady Claire the first were steady and spoke of high +courage, of firm, fixed purpose; the mouth, as perfectly curved as +Cupid's bow, was resolute and determined, the well-shaped, rounded +chin was held erect, and might easily become defiant, even aggressive. + +Lady Henriette was evidently cast in another mould. Her eyes, of the +same violet blue, were pretty, pleading, soft in expression, but often +downcast and deprecating; the mouth and chin were weak and irresolute. +It was the same lovely face as Lady Claire's, and to some might seem +the sweeter, indicating the tender, clinging, yielding nature that +commonly appeals to the stronger sex; but to me she lost in every +respect by comparison with her more energetic, self-reliant sister. + +I heard the explanation, such as it was, without the smallest +surprise; it was very much what I expected now when I was permitted to +know and appreciate her better. + +"What shall I say, Colonel Annesley, and what will you think of me?" +she began plaintively, almost piteously. "But the moment I found I +had to part with my child my courage broke down. I became incapable of +doing anything. I seemed quite paralyzed. I am not brave, you know, +like my dearest Claire, or strong-minded, and I quite collapsed." + +"But I hope and trust you have made the exchange. Lady Claire has +little Lord Aspdale and has left you the dummy? Tell me, I beg." + +"Oh, yes, yes, we made the exchange," she replied, in such a +faltering, undecided voice that I doubted, and yet could not bring +myself to believe that she was not telling the truth. + +"So much depends upon it, you see. Everything indeed. It would be a +very serious matter if--if--" + +"The contrary was the case," I wanted to say, yet how could I? I +should be charging her directly with wilfully misleading me, and +deceiving me in this moment of extreme peril. + +"But what will happen now?" she said, her voice faltering, her eyes +filling, and seemingly on the very verge of hysterics. "What if +Blackadder should find that I am here, and--and--" + +"He can do nothing to you unless he has a right to act, unless," I +answered unhesitatingly and a little cruelly perhaps, regardless of +the scared look in her face, "you have good reason to dread his +interference. Lady Henriette, you have not been quite straight with +me, I fear. Where is little Lord Aspdale?" + +"In there!" she pointed to an inner room, and burst into +uncontrollable tears. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + + +To say that I was aghast at the discovery of Lady Blackadder, or, as +she preferred to call herself, Lady Henriette Standish, in Aix, and +with the precious child, would but imperfectly express my feelings. +For the moment I was so utterly taken aback that I could decide upon +no new plan of action. I sat there helplessly staring at the poor +creature, so full of grief and remorse that I was quite unable to rise +to the occasion. I had counted so securely upon tricking Lord +Blackadder into a barren pursuit that my disappointment was +overwhelming and paralyzed my inventiveness. + +Only by slow degrees did I evolve certain definite facts and +conclusions. The most essential thing was to get Lord Blackadder away +from Aix. So long as he remained he was an ever present danger; our +game was up directly he awoke to the true state of affairs. He could +appeal now to the police with better result than when claiming my +condign punishment. How was he to be got away? By drawing him after +me. Clearly I must go, and that not alone, but take them with me, +following me under the positive impression that I was leading them +straight to their goal. Not one hint, not the slightest suspicion must +be permitted to reach them that their quarry was here, just under +their feet. Undoubtedly I must adhere to my first plan. When I had +gone on with the others at my heels, the coast would be clear for Lady +Henriette, and she must double back once more and go into safe hiding +somewhere, while the hunt overshot its quarry and rolled on. + +So soon as Lady Blackadder recovered from her agitation, I essayed to +win her approval of my plans. But the idea of parting from me now that +she had laid hold of me was so repugnant to her that she yielded once +more to her nerves. + +"I beg and implore you, Colonel Annesley, not to leave me again. I +cannot possibly stay here alone. Let me go with you, please, please. +I'll do what you like, disguise myself, go third class, anything; but +for goodness' sake don't desert me, or I don't know what will +happen." + +"There is simply no help for it, Lady Henriette. You simply must. It +is imperative that you should remain here at least for a day or two +while the others clear out of your way. It would be quite fatal if +they saw you or you came across them." + +"Oh, you're too cruel, it is perfectly inhuman. I shall tell Claire, I +am sure she will take my part. Oh, why isn't she here, why did I let +her leave me? I think I am the most wretched and ill-used woman +alive." + +These lamentations and indirect reproaches rather hardened my heart. +The woman was so unreasonable, so little mindful of what was being +done for her, that I lost my patience, and said very stiffly: + +"Lady Henriette, let us quite understand one another. Do you want to +keep your child? I tell you candidly there is only one way to save +it." + +"My darling Aspdale! Of course I want to keep him. How can you suggest +such a horrid idea? It is not a bit what I expected from you. Claire +told me--never mind what; but please understand that I will never give +my baby up." + +I was nettled by her perverseness, and although I tried hard to +school myself to patience, it was exceedingly difficult. + +"Indeed, Lady Henriette, I have no desire to separate you from your +child, nor would I counsel you under any circumstances to give it up. +But quite certainly while you are here in Aix you are in imminent +danger of losing it. You ought never to have kept it--it was madness +to come here and run straight into the jaws of danger." + +"How was I to know?" she retorted, now quite angrily. "I really think +it is too bad of you to reproach me. You are most unkind." + +"Dear, dear," I said fretfully, "this is all beside the question. What +is most urgent is to shield and save you now when the peril is most +pressing." + +"And yet you propose to leave me to fight it out alone? Is that +reasonable? Is it generous, chivalrous, to desert a poor woman in her +extremity?" + +"I protest, you must not put it like that. I have explained the +necessity. Surely you must see that it would be madness, quite fatal +for us, to be seen together, or for you to be seen at all. I must +still hoodwink them by going off this afternoon." + +"And leave me without protection, with all I have at stake? If only +Claire was here." + +"It wouldn't mend matters much, except that Lady Claire would side +with me." + +"Oh, yes, you say that, you believe she thinks so much of you and your +opinion that she would agree to anything you suggest." + +"Mine is the safest and the only course," I replied, I am afraid with +some heat. "You must, you shall take it." + +"Upon my word, Colonel Annesley, you speak to me as if I were a +private soldier. Be good enough to remember that I am not under your +orders. I claim to decide for myself how I shall act." + +She was no longer piteous or beseeching; her tears had dried, a flush +of colour had risen to her cheeks, and it was evident that her despair +had given place to very distinct temper. + +I was in a rage myself, and sprang to my feet with a sharp exclamation +of disgust. + +"Really, Lady Henriette, you will drive me to wash my hands of the +whole business. But I came into it to oblige your sister, and I owe it +to her to do my best without reference to you. I have marked out a +line for myself, and I shall follow it. Unless you are disposed to +change your views, I shall stick to mine; and I do not see the use of +prolonging this interview. I will bid you good day." + +I moved towards the door, still keeping an eye on her, believing her +to be quite set in her fatuous refusal to hear reason. She still held +herself erect and defiant, and there seemed to be small hope of doing +anything with her. Then suddenly I saw symptoms of giving way. Signals +of distress were hung out in her quivering lip and the nervous +twitching of her hands. All at once she broke down and cried +passionately: + +"No, no, no; you must not leave me--not like that. I cannot bear it; I +am too miserable, too agitated, too terrified. I have no one to lean +on but you. What shall I do? What shall I do?" And she collapsed into +a chair, weeping as if her heart would break. + +The situation was awkward, embarrassing. At another time I might have +been puzzled how to deal with it, but this was a moment of supreme +emergency. A great crisis was imminent, the ruin of our scheme and the +downfall of our hopes were certainly at hand if I gave way to her. +Everything depended upon my action, and I knew that the only chance +of safety lay in the execution of my design. + +This being so, her tears made no great impression on me. I may be +called a hard-hearted brute, but I really had no great sympathy with +her in her lamentations. It was not an occasion for tears, I felt; and +I must be firm and unwavering, whatever she might think of me. I +counted, at any rate, and with some assurance, on the approval of Lady +Claire if the details of this painful scene should ever come to her +ears. + +Nor could I wait till she chose to regain her composure. Time was too +precious to be wasted in any attempts to win her back to common sense, +and without waiting for permission I crossed the room, rang the bell, +and begged the waiter to summon the lady's maid. She was a strongly +built, matter-of-fact French woman, probably not easily disturbed; but +she glanced apprehensively at her mistress, and turned a suspicious +look on me. + +"You had better see to your lady," I said sharply. "She has an attack +of nerves. I've no doubt it will soon pass, but I'm afraid I have +imparted some distressing news. Be good enough to tell her when she +recovers that I shall come back in half an hour, when I trust she +will be ready to accompany me." + +"What is this?" broke in Lady Henriette, suddenly interposing and +evidently roused to deep interest in my words. "Accompany you? Where, +I should like to know?" + +"Is that of much consequence? You have entreated me not to leave you. +Well, we shall not part; I propose to take you away with me. Do you +object? It was your own wish." + +"I retract that. I will not go with you; certainly not in the dark. +You must tell me first where you think of going, what you mean to do. +Is it likely that I should trust myself alone with an almost complete +stranger--a man who has shown me so little consideration, who has been +so unkind, so cruel, and who now wants to carry me off goodness knows +where, because he is so _obstinately determined_ that his is the right +way to proceed." + +"Lady Henriette," I said civilly but very coldly, and putting the drag +on myself, for I confess she was trying me very hard, "let there be no +misunderstanding between us. Either you consent to my proposals +absolutely and unhesitatingly, or I shall withdraw altogether from +your service. I have felt that I had a duty to Lady Claire, and I +have been honestly anxious to discharge it, but by your present +attitude I feel myself absolved from that duty. I am not unwilling to +accept responsibility, but only if I am allowed to act as I please." + +"Oh, how like a man! Of course you must have your own way, and every +one else must give in to you," she cried with aggravating emphasis, +giving me no credit for trying to choose the wisest course. + +"I know I'm right," I urged, a little feebly perhaps, for I was nearly +worn out by her prejudice and utterly illogical refusal to see how the +land lay. But I quickly recovered myself, and said quite peremptorily, +"You shall have half an hour to make up your mind, not a minute more, +Lady Henriette. You shall give me my answer when I return. I warn you +that I shall bring a carriage in half an hour, and I strongly advise +you to be ready to start with me. Have everything packed, please, and +the bill paid. I will take no denial, remember that." + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + + +I returned to my hotel vexed and irritated beyond measure by my +passage at arms with Lady Henriette Standish, and hating the prospect +of any further dealings with her. I very cordially echoed her repeated +cry for Lady Claire. Matters would have been very different had her +strong-minded sister been on the spot to use her influence and help us +with her counsel. What a contrast between the two women! I was more +and more drawn to the one, and more and more heartily despised the +other. + +With my mind full of the beautiful creature who had made me a willing +captive to her charms, her gracious presence was recalled to me by a +message from under her own hand. As I passed the threshold of my +hotel, the hall porter gave me a telegram from Lady Claire. It had +come via London, but the office of origin was Marseilles. + + "Reached so far, yesterday," it said. "One of them turned up + this morning--have no fear--exchange not effected--shall + remain here for the present--Hotel Terminus. + + "CLAIRE." + +I read and re-read this passage with a delightful feeling that it +brought me into touch with my love, and I may be permitted for seeing +in it clear proof of her bright wit and intelligence. She told me just +exactly all that it was essential to know: of the pursuit, of the +absence of pressing danger, of the abortive attempt to exchange +babies, and where she was to be found. Suppose that I had not met Lady +Henriette, I was fully prepared for anything that might occur. + +It was now barely 10 A.M., and the time intervening before +the departure of the eastward bound express (three and a half hours) +was none too much to carry out my intentions as to Lady Henriette. + +I first of all ordered a covered landau to be harnessed as speedily as +possible, and to be sent to await me in a side street near the Hotel +Modena; then I summoned l'Echelle and bade him make all ready for the +journey. I also told him that I should be busily engaged that +forenoon; but that as I might be obliged to run it very close for the +train, he was to make all preparations, to take the tickets, and await +me on the platform. I had debated anxiously with myself how far I +should betray the presence of Lady Henriette in Aix to l'Echelle, and +decided that, although I had no particular reason to doubt him, I felt +that it would be more prudent to keep the fact to myself. For the same +reason I kept him busily engaged in my bedroom packing, lest he should +spy upon my movements. There was still the fear that Falfani might be +on the watch, but I had been assured by l'Echelle that the Blackadder +party were so satisfied by the news he gave them that they left the +business of shadowing almost entirely to him. + +I was pretty sure that I reached the Hotel Modena unobserved. I came +upon the carriage by the way, and as I passed briefly desired the +driver to follow me to the Hotel Modena. Arriving there, I sent up my +name, and followed it, a little unceremoniously, to Lady Henriette's +sitting-room. + +She was there, dressed in hat and jacket, and so far disposed to +comply with my wishes. Her maid, Victorine, was with her, the baby on +her knee. Her baggage, happily light enough, was there, packed and all +ready for a start. + +But if I thought that Lady Henriette meant to yield without another +skirmish I was sadly mistaken. I was in for much more than a skirmish; +it was to be a battle royal. + +"The carriage is at the door," I said as pleasantly as possible. "We +have nearly an hour's drive before us, and I am delighted to think +that you are ready and willing to go with me." + +"I am ready, as you see, but not willing," she answered, bridling up +with a scornful air. "Very much the reverse indeed. The more I think +over it the more outrageous and preposterous your behaviour seems. +Where are we going? I insist upon knowing. I must have a plain +categorical answer or I will not move an inch." Her dogged, determined +air was belied by her dress and the obvious preparations already made +for departure. Her present attitude I set down to the vacillation of +her character. She might make up her mind one moment and one way, and +yet be quite prepared to change it the next. + +"You are fully entitled to know where you are going, and I have not +the smallest desire to keep it from you," I replied, still speaking in +a smooth, courteous voice. "I propose that you should take up your +residence for a time--the very shortest time possible--at Le Bourget, +a small place at the head of the lake. You may know it; there is a +snug little hotel in the village, the Dent du Chat. You will like it." + +"I shall not like it. I dislike the whole idea exceedingly. Why should +I be buried alive in such an out-of-the-way spot?" + +"It will be no worse than Fuentellato, a place you chose for +yourself." + +"I have a house of my own there--my own servants. It is perfectly +safe." + +"Not now, believe me, they will come upon you there; trace you easily +and quickly, and they are capable of any violence to capture and +deprive you of your treasure." I pointed to the child on the maid's +knee. + +"I shall be more at their mercy here in Aix." + +"Be guided by me. I am certain of what I say. All will be well if you +will only keep out of the way now for a few hours, perhaps at most a +couple of days. If they do not find you at once they will never find +you. Only let me have a short start ahead and I'll lead them a pretty +dance, and take them further and further away. You may rely on it, and +I assure you they will never be able to find you or do you any harm." + +"I wish I could believe you," she said. "If I could only believe in +you and trust you as Claire does," she murmured pathetically, still +tortured by doubt. "Why has Claire deserted me? If she were only here, +or I knew where to find her!" + +I was on the point of imparting my last news, but I checked myself. +Lady Henriette had seen her last, and must be well aware of the +direction she was taking to Lyons and Marseilles. It would only +unsettle her to know that her sister was at Marseilles to-day, and +would be at Genoa to-morrow. She would be mad to join her, and it was +my most earnest wish that, for the present at least, Lady Henriette +should keep quiet in the background with her charge. + +"You will soon be able to communicate with her, no doubt. Of course +you arranged that at Culoz?" + +"We arranged nothing. It was all so hurried, and we had much to talk +about. She was so hard on me when I declared I could not part with my +blessed boy. We had words--" + +"Ah!" I had heard enough to know that there had been a strong +difference of opinion, a sharp quarrel probably, and that Lady Claire +had not spared her sister at this fresh exhibition of ridiculous +weakness. + +"May I ask, please, whether you were to believe in me or not?" I +resumed, taking up the discussion where I had left it. "We must be +moving if we are to go at all." + +Her acquiescence, now tardily given, was surly and ungracious. + +"I suppose I cannot help myself; I am quite at your mercy. You may be +sure I shall not easily forget this, or forgive your overbearing +treatment. I will go, but under protest." + +She led the way herself and entered the carriage first, motioning to +Victorine to hand her the baby and take her seat inside. She made no +such sign to me, although I followed close behind. But I also got in +without invitation, only explaining that it might not be wise to show +myself on the box. + +The coachman had his orders, and he drove off briskly along the +Marlioz road till he reached the turning towards the head of the +lake. In less than an hour we pulled up before the Hotel Dent du +Chat, a simple, unpretending hostelry, to which I had telegraphed in +advance, stating my needs. We were received with profuse civility, the +best of everything placed at our disposal, a best at which Lady +Henriette, as I might have expected, turned up her nose, sniffing and +scornful. + +She uttered no complaint, she would not address a word to me; her air +was one of lofty, contemptuous reserve; she intimated plainly that we +were "dead cuts." + +Only at the last, just as I was driving away and lifted my hat in +farewell, she yielded to an impulse of despair, and seized my arm in +almost frenzied appeal. + +"You must not, you cannot desert me; I will not be left like this. No +man, no gentleman would do it. I beg and implore you to remain within +reach, somewhere near at any rate. I can never face this place alone." + +Her last appeal touched me to the quick. Once more I sought to explain +the dire necessity for this act that seemed so barbarous, but she was +deaf to all my arguments, and still clung to me nervously as I climbed +into the carriage. + +When at length I got away, and I persisted in leaving, being so fully +satisfied it was for the best, her piteous, reproachful accents still +rung in my ears, and I shall count that return drive to Aix as the +most miserable hour I have passed in my life. + +The whole episode had occupied much time, and it was already past one +when I reentered the town. I drove straight to the railway station, +and was met outside it by the faithful l'Echelle. + +"Monsieur, monsieur, will you believe it? They have gone half an hour +ago, and not by the eastern but the western express." + +"You saw them?" + +"I spoke to them. Falfani himself told me of the change in their +plans. The latest news from their man in the south was so positive, +and has so convinced my lord, that he is hastening full speed to join +Tiler, and they are only too delighted to leave you behind." + +I laughed aloud with intense satisfaction. + +"You do not mind, monsieur? You have no reason to fear them?" + +"Not the least in the world, they are playing into my hands. I, too, +have changed my plans. I shall now remain in Aix for some time +longer. I shall be glad to go on with the baths." + +But I was thinking really of that poor creature I had abandoned at Le +Bourget, and overjoyed to think that I might now meet her wishes, and +perchance regain something of her good-will. + +Once more I took the road to Le Bourget, driving over by the first +_fiacre_ I could pick up on the stand, a much slower journey than the +first, and it was nearly 3 P.M. when I reached the little +hotel. + +It was indeed a day of surprises, of strange emotions and moving +incidents. + +When I alighted and asked for "Mrs. Blair," I was answered abruptly +that she was gone. + +"Gone? When? How?" I cried, in utter amazement. + +"Madame went very soon after monsieur," said the _patronne_, in high +dudgeon. "She was not complimentary, she said this place was too +_triste_, that it got on her nerves. She called me up and said I was +to bring her the _Indicateur_. Then she must have a carriage as soon +as it could be prepared to drive her to Culoz, fifteen miles away, +meaning to take the train from there." + +"Not to Aix?" + +"Assuredly not, for when I suggested that she could more easily find +the train there she told me to hold my tongue, that she knew very well +what she was about, and wanted no observations from me." + +To Culoz? She was bound then to follow her sister, I felt sure of it; +and I was aghast, foreshadowing the new dangers opening before her. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +[_The Lady Claire Standish has her say._] + + +It was as much as I could do to restrain myself when I saw my gallant +knight, the Colonel, rush at that despicable creature, Lord +Blackadder, and shake him. I wanted to put my head out of the window +and cry, "Well done!" But I saw the folly of it, much as I was +delighted, and checked any demonstration of joy. I had no time to +spare for anything outside our settled plan, so I jumped out on to the +platform at once, and closely followed by Philpotts joined Henriette, +and cried: + +"Quick, quick, dear, the train goes on in less than ten minutes. Give +me the child, we must exchange again." + +"What do you mean?" she gasped, and looked at me dazed and bewildered. +"Why should I part with my boy, my own boy! I cannot, indeed I cannot. +Why? Why?" + +"Because Blackadder is over there, and in another minute or two the +child will be taken forcibly from you. Luckily I can still save it." + +"Oh, but please, Claire, please explain. I do not understand, not in +the least. What am I to do? I haven't heard, I do not know." + +"Go on to Fuentellato with the dummy. It is the easiest thing in the +world. They will follow you, Colonel Annesley will see to that, while +I carry our darling to some secure hiding-place and keep out of sight +until we can meet. There, do not, for heaven's sake, delay. Give me +the child." + +"I can't, I can't. I will not part with it. My own, my precious babe. +Never. Nothing will induce me." + +"Upon my word, Henriette, you are too aggravating and impossible. To +think that now at the eleventh hour you should fail me and break down. +Are you going to spoil everything! Let me take little Ralph;" and I +put out my arms for the child, which Victorine held. + +But the mother stood between us, seized the baby convulsively, and +with a gesture of repulsion cried: + +"Go away, go away, you shall not have him. I don't care what happens, +I will keep him against all the world." + +I pleaded and stormed in turn, I tried everything but force, all +without avail. My foolish sister seemed to have taken leave of her +senses; she thought nothing of the nearly certain collapse of our +schemes, her one overmastering idea was, like any tigress, to resist +all attempts to deprive her of her cub. + +Meanwhile the time ran on. Already the officials were crying "_En +voiture_," and I knew my train was timed to leave at five minutes past +8 A.M. If I lingered I should lose it, no great matter perhaps, seeing +that the exchange, my principal object, had not been made; but if I +remained with Henriette, she with her baby and I with mine, the whole +of the artifice might at any moment be laid bare. + +I had to decide then and there, and all I could think of at the time +was to keep the enemy in the dark as to the doubled part of the baby. +At first I thought of sending Philpotts on alone with her charge and +remaining with Henriette. She was so helpless, so weak and vacillating +that I had small hope of her getting through to Fuentellato by +herself. That was clearly the wisest course, and I should have taken +it, but I was sorely vexed and put out by her obstinate refusal to +play her part; and I told her so. + +"Once more and for the last time, Henriette, will you do what I want?" +I asked her peremptorily. + +She only hugged her baby the closer and whispered a soft lullaby. + +"Then I shall go on with the other. It may be best. They may still be +drawn after me, and leave you to your own devices. The only thing for +you to do is to take the first train the other way,--it will be here +in ten minutes,--keep low and you may get through into Italy +unobserved." + +"Are you really deserting me?" she cried piteously. "When shall I see +you again?" + +"I shall go round the long journey to Marseilles, by the South of +France, and will join you at Fuentellato. There is no reason why you +should not get there. Colonel Annesley will detain the others here, +you may be sure of that. Good-bye, now," and without another word +Philpotts and I ran round, regained the up platform, resumed our seats +by the narrowest margin and proceeded on our way to Amberieu. + +The reaction from this agitating scene was little less than despair +and collapse. So soon as I could bring myself to think calmly and at +leisure, I realized that I had done a very foolish thing. Was it +possible for Henriette to get off by herself? Hardly, she had not the +nerve, I had almost said the wit, to escape alone from the toils and +snares that encompassed her. I blamed myself, I became a prey to the +bitterest self-reproach for having abandoned her, for allowing myself +to give way to temper, and treat her so cruelly. As the train rattled +on, one thought took possession of me. I must get out and go back +instantly, at least at the very first opportunity. I must retrace my +steps and return again to Culoz, where I hoped to be in time to +support and strengthen her, please God save her from the consequences +of my unkind and ill-considered action. + +Accordingly, at the very next station, Virieu, I alighted. It was +still no more than 8.21. In less than an hour I was in the return +train and once more at Culoz, where, sending Philpotts to hide with +her charge in the inmost recesses of the ladies' waiting-room, I +vainly explored the station for any signs of Henriette, but to my +delight she was nowhere in sight. I was fairly entitled to suppose +that she had gone on. + +The place was still in a turmoil, the consequences no doubt of the +affray expressly begun by Colonel Annesley to befriend me. I narrowly +escaped being seen by some of my enemies, but they were evidently too +much preoccupied by their indignation at the outrage put upon that +great personage, Lord Blackadder. I passed within an inch or two of my +gallant Colonel and was sorely tempted to speak to him, but was +deterred by the possible mischief it might entail. + +I was relieved when they all took seats in the eastward bound train, +going only as far as Aix-les-Bains, where, as I heard it stated by the +Culoz officials, the case was to be submitted to the Commissary of +Police. I felt sure that my gallant Colonel would hold his own, I felt +no very great concern for him. Although not fully satisfied as to +Henriette, I was so far satisfied by coming upon all the parties, +Ralph, Blackadder, and the rest, at Culoz, that she had disappeared +from the scene without interference. + +I had now to decide upon my own movements. I debated with myself +whether I should not follow my sister to Fuentellato, to which I made +sure she had gone, and I had every reason to hope that I could +eventually join her there. But it seemed to be throwing away that same +chance of mystification which I had always kept in view, which might +have served me so well but for her weakness, and I still clung to my +hope of drawing them after me on the wrong scent. + +At one time I thought of venturing boldly into their midst and +appearing openly at Aix; but this would probably end in abruptly +pricking the bubble, and nothing more was to be done. I thought of +sending Philpotts to hunt up the Colonel and convey a letter to him +detailing my situation, and was much taken with this idea, which I +presently rejected because I did not clearly see what good could come +of it. I was tortured with doubts, unable to decide for the best, and +at last, from sheer inability to choose, resolved to adhere to my +original plan of travelling south. + +I would at least go to Marseilles, which I could reach that very +night, and once there would be guided by circumstances, seeking only +to control them to the extent of reporting my whereabouts to Henriette +at Fuentellato, and to the Colonel via London as arranged. + +This as it proved was the very wisest course I could have adopted, as +will presently appear. + +I was doomed to a long wait at Culoz. There was no train due westward +till 12.40, and I had to put in nearly three solid hours, which I +spent in wandering into the village, where I found an unpretending +_auberge_ and a rather uneatable breakfast. + +Everywhere I was met with wearisome delays. A slow train to Amberieu, +a still slower cross journey to Lyons, which I did not reach till +nearly 4 P.M., and learnt that another hour or more must +elapse before the departure of the next Marseilles express. + +The journey seemed interminable, but just as I was losing all +patience, I received a fillip that awoke me to alertness, and set all +my nerves tingling. + +The man Tiler, the second detective, the man whom I had already +befooled more than once, was there now on the platform, waiting like +myself to embark upon the 5.19 train south to Marseilles. + +He had come after me; that was perfectly clear. He, and he alone, and +I rejoiced greatly that I had to do entirely with him. I had tried my +strength with him more than once already, and felt myself his equal +in guile. Although he owed me a grudge and would certainly be upon his +guard, I thought myself strong enough to face and outwit him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + + +When I first caught sight of Mr. Ludovic Tiler he was busily engaged +in conversation with one of the guards and a couple of porters. From +his gestures, no doubt, he was describing our party, and I was +half-inclined to walk up to him and say "Behold!" But then I drew back +hesitating. I did not fear him in the least, but he would be sure to +draw the others to him, and I did not quite like the idea of having +three of them on my hands at once, and with no Colonel on my side. + +I could only communicate with Colonel Annesley by a roundabout +process, and it might take him some time to reach me, even if he was +not otherwise engaged by Henriette. + +This Tiler man would of course stick to me and follow me if he had the +faintest clue, and I let him have that by directing Philpotts to show +herself, passing quite close to him and walking on towards the train. +She was to return then to the waiting-room, where together we made +some change in our appearance. There were other cloaks in the bundle +of rugs, which we put on over those we were wearing. I got out a thick +veil, and Philpotts replaced her neat bonnet by a soft motor cap. More +than all, we made away with the dummy child, broke up the parcel, +resolved it into its component parts, a small pillow and many wraps, +all of which we put away in the same convenient receptacle. + +Tiler certainly did not recognize us as we walked separately to the +train. He was looking for a party of two and a baby, and all he saw +was one woman who might remind him of me, but without her attendant or +any encumbrance. He had his suspicions, however, for as soon as we +started he walked through the long line of _couloir_ carriages, +deliberately peering and prying, examining the passengers of every +compartment. He passed us at first, and was much put out, I could see, +disappointed no doubt, but he came back presently and stood for some +time at our window, while I hid my face in among the rugs, and +Philpotts cowered in a corner. + +He came back more than once during the journey and stared. No doubt he +would have taken a seat in our compartment, but it was reserved for +_dames seules_ or ladies alone. He was evidently in great doubt, so +much so that I began to fear he would sheer off altogether. That we +were the women he wanted was probably borne in on him, but what had +become of the baby? I could enter into the workings of his mind on +that point. What could we have done with it? Hidden it, left it +somewhere on the road in the lost property office or at a foundling +hospital? All sorts of suggestions probably presented themselves to +him, but none would satisfy him; for why, he would reason, were we +travelling to Marseilles or anywhere else without it? + +To tie him still to our heels, I took the opportunity of having the +compartment to ourselves to revive and reconstitute the dummy. The +baby was quickly reborn behind the drawn blinds of the carriage, and +when at last we arrived at Marseilles at 10.30 P.M. we sallied forth +and marched in solemn procession to the Terminus Hotel under the very +eyes of our watchful detective. I almost laughed in his face as we +entered the lift near the outer door, and were carried up to our rooms +upon the second floor. + +I slept late, and when I woke, refreshed and fortified against +anything that might come, I looked out on to the little square with +its fringe of plane-trees, and saw my friend Mr. Tiler walking to and +fro like a sentry on his beat. He had the hotel under observation that +was clear, and it was little I should be able to do that day unknown +to him. + +It did not worry me in the least, for in the early hours of calm +reflection that followed deep, restful sleep, I had thought out the +course I should pursue. I no longer dreaded pursuit; let them all +come, the more the merrier, and I meant to fully justify Mr. Tiler in +calling them to him. + +I dressed slowly, lingered leisurely over my _luncheon-dejeuner_, and +then ordered a carriage, a comfortable landau and pair. I meant to +lead my follower a fine dance, starting with the innocent intention of +giving myself and my belongings an airing. It was a brilliant day, the +Southern sun struck with semi-tropical fervour, the air was soft and +sleepy in the oppressive heat. I brought out the baby undeterred, and +installed it, slumbering peacefully, on Philpotts's knees in the seat +before me, and lying back with ostentatious indifference, drove off +in full view of the detective. + +I shot one glance back as I turned down the long slope leading to the +Grace-a-Dieu Street, and was pleased to see that he had jumped into a +_fiacre_ and was coming on after me. He should have his fill of +driving. I led him up and down and round and round, street after +street, all along the great Cannebiere and out towards the Reserve, +where Roubion's Restaurant offers his celebrated fish stew, +_bouillabaise_, to all comers. + +Then when Mr. Tiler's weedy horse began to show signs of distress, for +my sturdy pair had outpaced him sorely, I relented and reentered the +town, meaning to make a long halt at the office of Messrs. Cook and +Son, the universal friends of all travellers far and near. I had long +had an idea in my mind that the most promising, if not the only +effective method of ending our trouble would be to put the seas +between us and the myrmidons of the Courts. I had always hoped to +escape to some far-off country where the King's writ does not run, +where we could settle down under genial skies, amid pleasant +surroundings, at a distance from the worries and miseries of life. + +Now, with the enemy close at hand, and the real treasure in my foolish +sister's care, I could not expect to evade them, but I might surely +beguile and lead them astray. This was the plan I had been revolving +in my mind, and which took me to the tourist offices. The object I had +in view was to get a list of steamers leaving the port of Marseilles +within the next two or three days, and their destination. As everybody +knows, there is a constant moving of shipping East, West, and South, +and it ought not to be difficult to pick out something to suit me. + +The obliging clerk at the counter gave me abundant, almost unending, +information. + +"To the East? Why, surely, there are several opportunities. The P. and +O. has half a dozen steamers for the East, pointing first for Port +Said and Suez Canal, and bound to India, Ceylon, China, and the +Antipodes; the same line for Gibraltar and the West. The Messageries +Maritime, for all Mediterranean ports, the General Navigation of Italy +for Genoa and Naples, the Transatlantique for various Algerian ports, +Tunis, Bone, Philippeville, and Algiers, other companies serving the +coast of Morocco and especially Tangier." + +Truly an embarrassing choice! I took a note of all that suited, and +promised to return after I had made a round of the shipping +offices,--another jaunt for Tiler, and a pretty plain indication of +what was in my mind. + +After full inquiry I decided in favour of Tripoli, and for several +reasons. A steamer offered in a couple of days, Sunday, just when I +wanted it, although it was by no means my intention to go to Tripoli +myself. That it was somewhat out of the way, neither easy to reach nor +to leave, as the steamers came and went rarely, served my purpose +well. If I could only inveigle my tormentors into the trap, they might +be caught there longer than they liked. + +Accordingly, I secured a good cabin on board the S.S. _Oasis_ of the +Transatlantique, leaving Marseilles for Tripoli at 8 A.M. the +following Sunday, and paid the necessary deposit on the passage +ticket. + +It was a satisfaction to me to see my "shadow's" _fiacre_ draw up at +the door soon after I left, and Mr. Ludovic Tiler enter the office. I +made no doubt he would contrive, very cleverly as he thought, to find +out exactly what I had been doing with regard to the _Oasis_. + +Later in the day, out of mere curiosity, I walked down to the offices +to ask a trivial question about my baggage. It was easy to turn the +talk to other matters connected with the voyage and my fellow +passengers. + +Several other cabins had been engaged, two of them in the name of +Ludovic Tiler. + +There was nothing left for me but to bide my time. I telegraphed that +evening to Colonel Annesley, reporting myself, so to speak, and +counted upon hearing his whereabouts in reply next day. + +Tiler did not show up nor trouble me, nor did I concern myself about +him. We were really waiting for each other, and we knew enough of each +other's plans to bide in tranquil expectation of what we thought must +certainly follow. When I was at dinner in the hotel restaurant he +calmly came into the room, merely to pass his eye over me as it were, +and I took it so much as a matter of course that I looked up, and felt +half-inclined to give him a friendly nod. We were like duellists +saluting each other before we crossed swords, each relying upon his +own superior skill. + +[_We need not reproduce in detail the rest of the matters set forth by +Lady Claire Standish while she and the detective watched each other +at Marseilles. Tiler, on the Saturday morning, made it plain, from +his arrogance and self-sufficient air as he walked through the hotel +restaurant, that all was going well, and he had indeed heard from +Falfani that he would arrive with Lord Blackadder that night._ + +_Later on that Saturday a telegram from Culoz reached Lady Claire from +Colonel Annesley giving the latest news, and bringing down Lady +Henriette's movements to the time of her departure for Marseilles. He +promised a later message from somewhere along the road with later +information, and soon after 9 P.M. Lady Claire was told they were +coming through by the night train, due at Marseilles at 4 A.M. next +morning. Thus all the parties to this imbroglio were about to be +concentrated in the same place, and it must depend upon the skill and +determination of one clever woman to turn events her way._] + +She goes on to say: + +It was a shock to me to hear that Henriette still lingered on the +fringe of danger, and I was very much disturbed at finding she might +be running into the very teeth of it. But I trusted to my good +fortune, and, better still, to good management, to keep her out of +harm's way until the coast was clear. + +I was on the platform at 10 P.M. watching for the Blackadder +lot when they appeared. Tiler was there to receive them and spoke a +few words to my lord, who instantly looked round, for me no doubt, and +I slipped away. I did not wish to anticipate a crisis, and he was +quite capable of making a scene, even at the hotel at that time of +night. I was relieved at seeing him pass on, and the more so that he +did not take the turn into the Terminus Hotel, my hotel, but went +towards the entrance where a carriage was waiting for him. He meant of +course to put up in the town, either at the Noailles or the Louvre. + +I lay down to take a short rest, but was roused in time to be again on +the platform at 4 A.M. to meet my friends. It was a joyful +meeting, but we lost little time over it. Henriette was fairly worn +out, and all but broke down when she saw me. The Colonel came to the +rescue as usual, and said briefly, after we had shaken hands: + +"Take charge of her, Lady Claire, I will see to everything now. We can +talk later." + +"Can you be at the entrance to the hotel in a couple of hours' time? +I shall want your advice, probably your assistance." + +"You know you have only to ask," he answered, with the prompt, +soldierlike obedience, and the honest, unflinching look in his eyes +that I knew so well and loved in him. Here was, indeed, a brave, loyal +soul, to be trusted in implicitly, and with my whole heart. + +I felt now that I should succeed in the difficult task I had set +myself. The plan I had conceived and hoped to work out was to send +Lord Blackadder to sea, all the way to Tripoli, with Philpotts and the +sham child. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + + +We drove down, Philpotts and I, to the wharf where the steamers of the +Transatlantique Company lie. The _Oasis_ had her blue peter flying, +and a long gangway stretched from her side to the shore, up and down +which a crowd passed ceaselessly, passengers embarking, porters with +luggage, and dock hands with freight. At the top of the slope was the +chief steward and his men, in full dress, white shirts, white ties, +and white gloves, who welcomed us, asking the number of our stateroom, +and offering to relieve us of our light baggage. + +One put out his arms to take the baby from Philpotts, but she shook +her head vigorously, and I cried in French that it was too precious. + +Next moment a voice I recognized said: + +"Certainly they are there, and they have it with them. Why not seize +it at once?" + +"Not so fast, Lord Blackadder," I interposed, turning on him fiercely. +"No violence, if you please, or you may make the acquaintance of +another police commissary." + +I had heard the whole story of the affair at Aix from the Colonel, who +I may say at once I had seen shortly before, and who was at no great +distance now. + +"Go on, Philpotts, get down below and lock yourself in," I said +boldly. "Our cabin is thirty-seven--" checking myself abruptly as +though I had been too outspoken. + +"But, Lady Claire, permit me," it was Lord Blackadder behind, speaking +with quite insinuating softness. "Do be more reasonable. Surely you +perceive how this must end? Let me entreat you not to drive me to +extremities. I mean to have the child, understand that; but we ought +to be able to arrange this between us. Give it up to me of your own +accord, you shall not regret it. Ask what you choose, anything--a +pearl collar or a diamond bracelet--" + +"Can you really be such a base hound, such an abject and contemptible +creature, as to propose terms of that sort to me? How dare you think +so ill of me? Let me pass; I cannot stay here, it would poison me to +breathe the same air. Never speak to me again," I almost shouted, +filled with bitter shame and immeasurable scorn, and I turned and left +him. + +Down-stairs I found Philpotts in the cabin, busily engaged in putting +her "doll" to bed in the third berth. + +"Are you at all afraid of being left with these wretches?" I asked a +little doubtfully, counting upon her devotion, but loth to lay too +great a burden on her. + +"Why, how can you suppose such a thing, my lady? What can they do to +me? They will be furiously angry, of course, but the laugh will be +against them. If the worst comes to the worst they will appeal to the +captain, and they will get no satisfaction from him. I can take care +of myself, never fear. You shall hear from Tripoli to the same hotel +in Marseilles." + +"If we go on your letter will follow us. Come back there as soon as +you possibly can and you will find further instructions. Now it must +be good-bye, there goes the bell to warn people ashore. One last word: +I advise you when well out to sea to go to my lord and offer to go +over to his side and desert me altogether. Tell him you will help him +to get the child,--that you will put it into his hands indeed,--at a +price." + +"As if I would touch his dirty money, my lady!" + +"It will be only spoiling the Egyptians! Squeeze all you can out of +him, I say. But that is as you please. You know I shall always be your +firm friend whatever you do, and that I shall never forget what I owe +you." + +I should have said much more, but now the second bell was ringing, and +if I was to carry out my scheme it was time for me to go. + +On leaving the cabin I walked forward along the lower deck seeking +another issue, the position of which I had fixed the day before, +having visited the _Oasis_ on purpose. In a minute I had emerged into +the open air, and found myself in the midst of the sailors sending +down cargo into the forehold. I should have been utterly confused, +bewildered, and terrified, but I felt a strong, firm hand close on +mine, and a quiet, steady voice in my ear. + +"This way, Lady Claire, only a couple of steps," said the Colonel as +he led me to the side of the steamer farthest from the shore. A ladder +was fixed here and a boat was made fast to the lowest rung. Carefully, +tenderly guided by my ever trusty henchman I made the descent, took my +seat in the stern of the small boat, it was cast loose, and we pushed +off into the waterway. Half an hour later we were back at the Terminus +Hotel. + +For the first time in all that stirring and eventful week I breathed +freely. At any rate the present peril was overpast, we had eluded +pursuit, and had a clear time of perfect security to consider our +situation and look ahead. + +As soon as Henriette was visible, I went up to her room to talk +matters over. She was very humble and apologetic, and disarmed me if I +had intended to take her to task for all the trouble and anxiety she +had caused us. But when I magnanimously said, "I am not going to scold +you," she was in my arms at once. + +"Scold me! I should think not! I have been scolded quite enough these +last twenty-four hours. I never met a man I disliked so much as your +fine friend, that Colonel Annesley, the rudest, most presuming, +overbearing wretch. He talked to me and ordered me about as if I was +still in the schoolroom, he actually dared to find fault with my +actions, and dictated to me what I should do next. I--I--" + +"Did it, Henriette? Like a lamb, eh? That's a way he has, my dear," I +laughed. + +"I don't envy you one bit, Claire. You'll be a miserable woman. You +hate to give way, and he'll make you. He'll tame you, and lord it over +you, he'll be a hard, a cruel master, for all he thinks so much of you +now." + +"And does he?" What sweeter music in a woman's ear than to be told of +the sway she exercises over the man of her choice? + +"Why, of course, he thinks all the world of you. He would say nothing, +decide nothing until you had been consulted. Your word is law to him, +your name always on his lips. You know of your latest conquest, I +suppose?" + +"There are things one does not care to discuss, my dear, even with +one's sister," I answered, rather coldly. I was a little hurt by her +tone and manner, although what she told me gave me exquisite pleasure. + +"Come, come," Henriette rallied me. "Make a clean breast of it. +Confess that you are over head and ears in love with your Colonel. Why +not? You are free to choose, I was not," and her eyes filled with +tears at the sad shipwreck of her married life. + +I strove hard to calm her, to console her, pointing to her little +Ralph, and promising her a future of happiness with her child. + +"If I am allowed to keep him, yes. But how can I keep him after that +wicked decision of the Court, and with such a persistent enemy as +Ralph Blackadder? For the moment we are safe, but by and by he will +come back, he will leave no stone unturned until he finds me, and I +shall lose my darling for ever." + +The hopelessness of evading pursuit for any time sorely oppressed me, +too. There seemed no safety but in keeping continually on the move, in +running to and fro and changing our hiding place so soon as danger of +discovery loomed near. We were like pariahs ostracized from our +fellows, wandering Jews condemned to roam on and on, forbidden to +pause or find peace anywhere. + +Yet, after a pleasant _dejeuner_, the three of us held a council of +war. + +"The thing is perfectly simple," said my dear Colonel, in his +peremptory, but to me reassuring fashion. "I have thought it all out +and can promise you immediate escape from all your difficulties. You +must go as quickly as you can get there, to Tangier." + +"Tangier!" I cried, amazed. + +"Yes, Lady Claire, Tangier. It is the only refuge left for +criminals--forgive me, I mean no offence," and he laughed heartily as +he went on. "You have broken the law, you are flying from the law, and +you are amenable to it all the world over, save and except in Morocco +alone. You must go to Tangier, there is no extradition, the King's +warrant does not run there. You will be perfectly safe if you elect to +stay there, safe for the rest of your days." + +"You seem very anxious to get rid of us and bury us at the back of +beyond," I said, nettled and unable to conceal my chagrin at the +matter-of-fact way in which he wished to dispose of us. + +"I venture to hope I may be permitted to accompany you, and remain +with you--" + +It was now Henriette's turn to laugh outright at this rather blunt +proposal, and I regret to add that I blushed a rosy red. + +"To remain with you and near you so long as my services may be +required," he went on, gravely, by no means the interpretation my +sister had put upon his remark; for he fixed his eyes on me with +unmistakable meaning, and held them so fixedly that I could not look +away. There could no longer be any doubt how "it stood with us;" my +heart went out to him then and there, and I nodded involuntarily, more +in answer to his own thoughts than his suggestion. I knew from the +gladness on his frank, handsome face that he understood and rejoiced. + +"You see," he went on, quickly, dealing with the pressing matter in +hand, "I know all about the place. I have soldiered at Gibraltar and +often went over to Africa. It's not half bad, Tangier, decent hotels, +villas furnished if you prefer it. Sport in the season, and plenty of +galloping ground. The point is, how we should travel?" + +I could be of service in this; my inquiries at Cook's had qualified me +to act as a shipping clerk, and we soon settled to take a steamer of +the Bibby Line due that afternoon, which would land us at Gibraltar in +two or three days. Thence to Tangier was only like crossing a ferry. +The Colonel's man, l'Echelle, was sent to secure cabins, and we caught +the ship in due course. Three days later we were soon comfortably +settled in the Hotel Atlas, just above the wide sweep of sands that +encircle the bay. It was the season of fierce heat, but we faced the +northern breezes full of invigorating ozone. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + + +Tangier, the wildest, quaintest, most savage spot on the face of the +globe, was to me the most enchanting. Our impressions take their +colour from the passing mood; we like or loathe a place according to +the temper in which we view it. I was so utterly and foolishly happy +in this most Eastern city located in the West that I have loved it +deeply ever since. After the trying and eventful episodes of the past +week I had passed into a tranquil haven filled with perfect peace. The +whole tenor of my life had changed, the feverish excitement was gone, +no deep anxiety vexed or troubled me, all my cares were transferred to +stronger shoulders than mine. I could calmly await the issue, content +to enjoy the moment and forget the past like a bad dream. + +It was sufficient to bask in the sunshine, revelling in the free air, +rejoicing in the sweetness of my nascent love. We were much together, +Basil and I; we walked together, exploring the recesses of the native +town, and the ancient citadel, with its memories of British dominion; +we lingered in the Soko or native market, crowded with wild creatures +from the far interior; we rode together, for his first care was to +secure horses, and scoured the country as far as the Marshan and Cape +Spartel. I sometimes reproached myself with being so happy, while my +darling Henriette still sorrowfully repined at her past, with little +hope of better days. But even she brightened as the days ran on and +brought no fresh disquiet, while her boy, sweet little Ralph, +developed in health and strength. + +A week passed thus, a week of unbroken quiet, flawless as the +unchanging blue of a summer sky; not a cloud in sight, not a suspicion +of coming disturbance and unrest. It could not go on like this for +ever. To imagine it was to fall asleep in a fool's paradise, lulled +into false serenity by the absence of portents so often shrouded and +unseen until they break upon us. + +One day a cablegram reached me from Philpotts. She had arrived at +Marseilles on her return voyage from Tripoli, and was anxious that I +should know without delay that we had not shaken off Lord Blackadder. +They had recrossed the Mediterranean together in the same ship, the +_Oasis_. + +"So far all well," she said, "but am watched closely, will certainly +follow me--send instructions--better not join you at present." + +This message fell on us two poor women like a bolt from the blue. +Basil looked serious for a moment, but then laughed scornfully. + +"His lordship can do us no harm. There is not the slightest fear. He +may bluster and bully as much as he pleases, or rather, as far as he +is permitted to go. We will place ourselves under the protection of +the Moorish bashaw. I always intended that." + +"Not seriously?" + +"Indeed, yes; I have already consulted our Minister. Sir Arthur is an +old friend of mine, and he has advised me, privately, of course, and +unofficially, to be on our guard. He can do nothing for us, but he +will not act against us. If Lord Blackadder should turn up here, and +sooner or later he will, most assuredly he will not assist him. He +promises that. At the same time he can give you no protection. We must +take care of ourselves." + +"You believe that Lord Blackadder will find his way to Tangier?" + +"Most certainly. He has Philpotts under his hand, but he would not +trust only to her. Diligent inquiry at Marseilles would be sure to +reveal our departure for Gibraltar. He will follow with his men, they +are well-trained detectives, and it will be mere child's play for them +to track us to Tangier. You may look for them here any day. We must be +ready for them at all points." + +"There is no saying what Ralph Blackadder may not attempt." + +"Indeed, yes, he is equal to anything, guile of course, treachery, +cunning, stratagem, absolute violence if the opportunity offers. It is +of the utmost importance not to play into his hands, not to give him +the smallest chance. The child must be watched continually in the +house, awake and asleep, wherever he goes and whatever he does." + +"Then I think Henriette must be warned not to wander about the town +and on the sands in the way she's been doing with Victorine and the +child, all of them on donkey back. I don't think it's at all safe." + +But when I cautioned her she was not particularly pleased. Was she to +have no fresh air, no change of scene? I grudged her the smallest +pleasure, while I was racing up and down flirting and philandering +with Basil Annesley all day and every day; she was to sit indoors, +bored to extinction and suffering torments in the unbearable heat. + +Basil and I agreed that it was cruel to restrict her movements even +with such a good excuse, and had she been willing to accept the +irksome conditions, which she certainly was not. We arranged a +surveillance, therefore, unknown to her. The Colonel, his man, or +myself invariably accompanied her or followed her within eyeshot; and +we hired two or three stalwart Moors, who were always to be near +enough to render help if required. + +Then came confirmations of our worst fears. L'Echelle, who had been +unaccountably absent one morning, returned about midday with news from +the port. Lord Blackadder and his two henchmen had just landed from +the _Jose Pielago_, the steamer that runs regularly between Cadiz and +Algeciras, Gibraltar, and Tangier. He had seen them in the +custom-house, fighting their way through the crowd of ragged Jew +porters, the Moorish egg merchants, and dealers in luscious fruit. +They had mounted donkeys, the only means of conveyance in a town with +no wheeled vehicles; and l'Echelle made us laugh at the sorry picture +presented by the indignant peer, with his legs dangling down on each +side of the red leather saddle. Their baggage was also piled on +donkeys, and the whole procession, familiar enough in the narrow +streets of Tangier, climbed the hill to the Soko, and made for the +Shereef Hotel, reputed one of the best in Tangier, and lying outside +the walls in the immediate neighbourhood of the British Legation. + +L'Echelle, who seems an honest, loyal fellow, thought he would serve +us best by marking them down, and, if possible, renewing his +acquaintance with the detectives, one or both of whom he knew. After +hanging about the outside of the hotel, he entered the garden boldly +and went up to the shady trellised verandah where they were seated +together, smoking and refreshing themselves after their journey. + +L'Echelle was well received. Falfani, my friend of the Calais train, +believed he had suborned him at Aix, and now hailed his appearance +with much satisfaction. L'Echelle might again be most useful; at +least, he could lead them to us, and he wisely decided to let Falfani +know where we were to be found in Tangier. The fact would surely be +discovered without him. It was better, he thought, to appear frank, +and, by instilling confidence, learn all there was to know of their +plans and movements. + +My lord had gone to the Legation, Falfani told him at once, +bombastically boasting that everything would yield before him. He had +but to express his wishes, and there would be an end of the hunt. But +my lord came back in a furious rage, and, regardless of l'Echelle's--a +comparative stranger's--presence, burst forth into passionate +complaint against the Minister. He would teach Sir Arthur to show +proper respect to a peer of the realm; he would cable at once to the +Foreign Office and insist on this second-rate diplomatist's recall. +The upshot of it all was that his lordship's demand for help had been +refused pointblank, and no doubt, after what the Colonel had heard, in +rather abrupt, outspoken terms. + +All this and more l'Echelle brought back to us at the Atlas Hotel. He +told us at length of the outrageous language Lord Blackadder had used, +of his horrible threats, how he would leave no stone unturned to +recover his son and heir; how he would bribe the bashaw, buy the +Moorish officials, a notoriously venal crew; how he would dog our +footsteps everywhere, set traps for us, fall upon us unawares; and in +the last extreme he would attack the hotel and forcibly carry off his +property. As the fitting end of his violent declamation, Ralph +Blackadder had left the hotel hurriedly, calling upon his creatures to +follow him, bent, as it seemed, to perpetrate some mad act. + +I confess I shuddered at the thought of this reckless, unprincipled +man loose about Tangier, vowing vengeance, and resolved to go to any +lengths to secure it. My dear Basil strove hard to console me with +brave words inspired by his sturdy, self-reliant spirit. + +But even he quailed at the sudden shock that fell upon us at the very +same moment. Where was Henriette? + +After the first excitement, we desired to pass on the news brought by +l'Echelle to her, and renew our entreaties for extreme caution in her +comings and goings; and with much misgiving we learnt that she was not +in the hotel. She had gone out with Victorine and Ralph as usual, but +unattended by any of us. One Moor, Achmet El Mansur, was with her, we +were told, but we did not trust him entirely. It had been l'Echelle's +turn to accompany her, but he had been diverted from his duty by the +pressing necessity of following Lord Blackadder. Basil and I had +ridden out quite early on a long expedition, from which we only +returned when l'Echelle did. + +We dismissed our fears, hoping they were groundless, and looking to be +quite reassured presently when she came back at the luncheon hour. + +But one o'clock came, and two, and two-thirty, but not a sign of +Henriette, nor a word in explanation of her absence. + +Could she have fallen a victim to the machinations of Lord Blackadder? +Was the boy captured and she detained while he was spirited away? + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + + +It was impossible to disassociate Lord Blackadder from Lady +Henriette's mysterious disappearance, and yet we could hardly believe +that he could have so quickly accomplished his purpose. We doubted the +more when the man turned up in person at the Atlas Hotel and had the +effrontery to ask for her. + +Basil went out to him in the outer hall, and, as I listened from +within, I immediately heard high words. It was like a spark applied to +tinder; a fierce quarrel blazed up instantly between them. + +"How dare you show yourself here?" began Basil Annesley. + +"Who are you to prevent me? I come to demand the restoration of that +which belongs to me. Take my message to those two ladies and say I +will have my boy," replied my lord. + +"Do not try to impose on me, Lord Blackadder. It is the most impudent +pretence; you know perfectly well he is not here." + +"I will not bandy words with you. Go in, you men, both of you, Tiler +and Falfani, and seize the child. Force your way in, push that +blackguard aside!" he roared in a perfect paroxysm of passion. + +I could not possibly hold aloof, but called for help from the hotel +people, and, with them at my back, rushed out to add my protest +against this intemperate conduct. + +A free fight had already begun. The three assailants, Ralph Blackadder +behind egging them on, had thrown themselves upon Basil, who stood +sturdily at bay with his back to the wall, daring them to come on, and +prepared to strike out at the first man who touched him. + +"At him! Give it him! Throw him out!" cried Ralph passionately. But +even as he spoke his voice weakened, he halted abruptly; his hands +went up into the air, his body swayed to and fro, his strength left +him completely, and he fell to the ground in sudden and complete +collapse. When they picked him up, there was froth mixed with blood +upon his lips, he breathed once or twice heavily, stertorously, and +then with one long-drawn gasp died in the arms of his two men. + +It was an apoplectic seizure, the doctors told us later, brought on by +excessive nervous irritation of the brain. + +Here was a sudden and unexpected _denouement_, a terribly dramatic end +to our troubles if we could but clear up the horrible uncertainty +remaining. + +What had become of my sister and little Ralph? + +While the servants of the hotel attended to the stricken man, Basil +Annesley plied the detectives with eager questions. He urged them to +tell all they knew; it should be made worth their while; they no +longer owed allegiance to their late employer. He entreated them to +withhold nothing. Where and how had Lord Blackadder met Henriette? +What had he done with her? Where was she now? + +We could get nothing out of these men; they refused to answer our +questions from sheer mulish obstinacy, as we thought at first, but we +saw at length that they did not understand us. What were we driving +at? They assured us they had seen no lady, nor had the unfortunate +peer accosted any one, or interfered with any one on his way between +the two hotels. He had come straight from the Villa Shereef to the +Hotel Atlas, racing down at a run, pausing nowhere, addressing no one +on the road. + +If not Lord Blackadder, what then? What could have happened to +Henriette? Tangier was a wild place enough, but who would interfere +with an English woman in broad daylight accompanied by her servant, by +an escort, her attendant Moorish guide? Full of anxiety, Basil called +for a horse, and was about to ride off to institute a hue and cry, +when my sister appeared in person upon the scene. + +"Getting anxious about me?" she asked, with careless, almost childish +gaiety. "I am awfully late, but I have had such an extraordinary +adventure. Why, how serious you look! Not on my account, surely?" + +I took her aside, and in a few words told her of the terrible +catastrophe that had just occurred, and for a time she was silent and +seemed quite overcome. + +"It's too shocking, of course, to happen in this awful way. But +really, I cannot be very sorry except for one thing--that now he will +never know." + +"Know what, Henriette? Have you taken leave of your senses?" + +"Know that I have discovered the whole plot of which I was the +victim. My dear, I have found Susan Bruel, and she has made a full +confession. They were bribed to go away, and they have been here +hiding in Tangier." + +"Go on, go on. Tell me, please, all about it." + +"You must know we went out, the three of us, on our donkeys, and the +fancy seized me to explore some of the dark, narrow streets where the +houses all but join overhead. I got quite frightened at last. I was +nearly suffocated for want of air. I could not even see the sky, and +at last desired Achmet to get me out into the open, anywhere. After +one or two sharp turns, we emerged upon a sort of plateau or terrace +high above the sea, and in full view of it. + +"There was a small hotel in front of it, and above the door was the +name of the proprietor, would you believe it, Domenico Bruel! + +"It was the name of Susan's husband, and no doubt Susan was there. I +could not quite make up my mind how I should act. I thought of sending +Achmet back for you or the Colonel, but I could not bear parting with +him. Then, while I was still hesitating, Susan herself came out and +rushed across to where I was, with her hands outstretched and fairly +beside herself, laughing and crying by turns. + +"'Oh, my lady! It _is_ you, then? What shall I say to you? How can I +tell you?' she began, quite hysterically. 'We behaved most +disgracefully, most wickedly, but indeed it was Domenico's doing. He +insisted they offered us such a large sum, enough to make us rich for +life, and so we consented to come away here. I have never had one +happy moment since. Can you forgive me?' + +"All this she poured forth, and much more of the same sort. I could +see she was truly sorry, and that it had not been entirely her fault. +Besides, I began to hope already that, how we had found her, we might +get the case reopened, and that wicked order reversed. It will be put +right now, now that Ralph can no longer oppose it." + +I bowed my head silently, thankful and deeply impressed with the +strange turn taken by events and the sudden light let in upon the +darkness that had surrounded us. + +The rest of the adventures that began in the sleeping-car between +Calais and Basle, and came abruptly to an end on the North African +shore, may soon be told. Our first act was to return to England at +the very earliest opportunity, and we embarked that evening on a +Forwood steamer direct for London, which port we reached in less than +five days. + +Town was empty, and we did not linger there. Nothing could be done in +the Courts, as it was the legal vacation, but Henriette's solicitors +arranged to send out a commission to take the Bruels' evidence at +Tangier, and to bring the matter before The President at the earliest +opportunity. + +As for ourselves, I persuaded Henriette to take a cottage at Marlow on +the Upper Thames, where Colonel Annesley was a constant guest, and +Charlie Forrester. We four passed many idle halcyon days on the quiet +river, far from the noise of trains, and content to leave Bradshaw in +the bottom of the travelling-bag, where it had been thrown at the end +of our feverish wanderings. + +Once again we had recourse to it, however, when we started on our +honeymoon, Basil and I. Once more we found ourselves at Calais with +Philpotts, but no encumbrances, bound on a second, a far happier, and +much less eventful journey by the Engadine express. + + +THE END. + + + + +L.C. Page & Company's +Announcement List +of New Fiction + + +Haunters of the Silences, BY CHARLES G.D. ROBERTS, author +of "Red Fox," "The Watchers of the Trails," etc. + +Cloth, one volume, with many drawings by Charles Livingston Bull, four +of which are in full color $2.00 + +The stories in Mr. Roberts's new collection are the strongest and best +he has ever written. + +He has largely taken for his subjects those animals rarely met with in +books, whose lives are spent "In the Silences," where they are the +supreme rulers. Mr. Roberts has written of them sympathetically, as +always, but with fine regard for the scientific truth. + +"As a writer about animals, Mr. Roberts occupies an enviable place. He +is the most literary, as well as the most imaginative and vivid of all +the nature writers."--_Brooklyn Eagle._ + +"His animal stories are marvels of sympathetic science and literary +exactness."--_New York World._ + + +The Lady of the Blue Motor. By G. SIDNEY PATERNOSTER, +author of "The Cruise of the Motor-Boat Conqueror," "The Motor +Pirate," etc. + +Cloth decorative, with a colored frontispiece +by John C. Frohn $1.50 + +The Lady of the Blue Motor is an audacious heroine who drove her +mysterious car at breakneck speed. Her plea for assistance in an +adventure promising more than a spice of danger could not of course be +disregarded by any gallant fellow motorist. Mr. Paternoster's hero +rose promptly to the occasion. Across France they tore and across the +English Channel. There, the escapade past, he lost her. + +Mr. Paternoster, however, is generous, and allows the reader to follow +their separate adventures until the Lady of the Blue Motor is found +again and properly vindicated of all save womanly courage and +affection. A unique romance, one continuous exciting series of +adventure. + + +Clementina's Highwayman. ROBERT NEILSON STEPHENS, author +of "The Flight of Georgiana," "An Enemy to the King," etc. + +Cloth decorative, illustrated $1.50 + +Mr. Stephens has put into his new book, "Clementina's Highwayman," the +finest qualities of plot, construction, and literary finish. + +The story is laid in the mid-Georgian period. It is a dashing, +sparkling, vivacious comedy, with a heroine as lovely and changeable +as an April day, and a hero all ardor and daring. + +The exquisite quality of Mr. Stephens's literary style clothes the +story in a rich but delicate word-fabric; and never before have his +setting and atmosphere been so perfect. + + +The Sorceress of Rome. By NATHAN GALLIZIER, author of +"Castel del Monte," etc. + +Cloth decorative, illustrated $1.50 + +The love-story of Otto III., the boy emperor, and Stephania, wife of +the Senator Crescentius of Rome, has already been made the basis of +various German poems and plays. + +Mr. Gallizier has used it for the main theme of "The Sorceress of +Rome," the second book of his trilogy of romances on the mediaeval life +of Italy. In detail and finish the book is a brilliant piece of work, +describing clearly an exciting and strenuous period. It possesses the +same qualities as "Castel del Monte," of which the _Chicago Record +Herald_ said: "There is color, there is sumptuous word-painting in +these pages; the action is terrific at times; vividness and life are +in every part; brilliant descriptions entertain the reader; mystic +scenes and prophecies give a singular fascination to the tale, which +is strong and forceful in its portrayal." + + +Hester of the Hills. By GROVER CLAY. + +Cloth decorative, illustrated $1.50 + +"Hester of the Hills" has a motif unusual in life, and new in fiction. +Its hero, who has only acquired his own strength and resourcefulness +by a lifelong struggle against constitutional frailty, has come to +make the question of bodily soundness his dominant thought. He +resolves to ensure strong constitutions to his children by marrying a +physically perfect woman. After long search, he finds this ideal in +Hester, the daughter of a "cracker squatter," of the Ozark Mountains +of Missouri. But,--he forgot to take into consideration that very +vital emotion, love, which played havoc with his well-laid plans. + +It is an ingenious combination of practical realism and imaginative +fiction worked out to a thoroughly delightful and satisfying climax. + + +Prisoners of Fortune. A TALE OF THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY +COLONY. BY RUEL PERLEY SMITH, author of "The Rival +Campers," etc. + +Cloth decorative, with a colored frontispiece +by Frank T. Merrill $1.50 + +The period of Mr. Smith's story is the beginning of the eighteenth +century, when the shores of the American colonies were harassed and +the seas patrolled by pirates and buccaneers. These robbed and +spoiled, and often seized and put to death, the sailors and fishers +and other humbler folk, while their leaders claimed friendship alike +with Southern planters and New England merchants,--with whom it is +said they frequently divided their spoils. + +The times were stern and the colonists were hardy, but they loved as +truly and tenderly as in more peaceful days. Thus, while the hero's +adventures with pirates and his search for their hidden treasure is a +record of desperate encounters and daring deeds, his love-story and +his winning of sweet Mary Vane is in delightful contrast. + + +The Rome Express. BY MAJOR ARTHUR GRIFFITHS, author of "The +Passenger from Calais," etc. + +Cloth decorative, with a colored frontispiece +by A.O. Scott $1.25 + +A mysterious murder on a flying express train, a wily Italian, a +charming woman caught in the meshes of circumstantial evidence, a +chivalrous Englishman, and a police force with a keen nose for the +wrong clue, are the ingredients from which Major Griffiths has +concocted a clever, up-to-date detective story. The book is bright and +spirited, with rapid action, and consistent development which brings +the story to a logical and dramatic ending. + + +The Morning Glory Club. BY GEORGE A. KYLE. + +Cloth decorative, with a colored frontispiece +by A.O. Scott $1.25 + +The doings of the Morning Glory Club will furnish genuine amusement to +the reader. Originally formed to "elevate" the village, it quickly +develops into an exchange for town gossip. It has a saving grace, +however, in the person of motherly Mrs. Stout, the uncultured but +sweet-natured and pure-minded village philosopher, who pours the oil +of her saneness and charity on the troubled waters of discussion and +condemnation. + +It is a series of clear and interesting pictures of the humor of +village life. + + +The Chronicles of Martin Hewitt, Detective. NEW ILLUSTRATED EDITION. +BY ARTHUR MORRISON, author of "The Green Diamond," "The Red Triangle," +etc. + +Cloth decorative, with six full-page drawings +by W. Kirkpatrick $1.50 + +The success of Mr. Morrison's recent books, "The Green Diamond" and +"The Red Triangle," has led to an imperative demand for the reissue of +"The Chronicles of Martin Hewitt," which has been out of print for a +number of years. + +It will be remembered that Martin Hewitt is the detective in "The Red +Triangle," of whom the _New York Tribune_ said: "Better than Sherlock +Holmes." His adventures in the London slums were of such a nature that +the _Philadelphia North American_ said: "The reader who has a grain of +fancy or imagination may be defied to lay this book down once he has +begun it until the last word is reached." + + +Mystery Island. By EDWARD H. HURST. + +Cloth decorative, with a colored frontispiece $1.50 + +A hunting camp on a swampy island in the Florida Everglades furnishes +the background for this present-day tale. + +By the murder of one of their number, the secret of egress from the +island is lost, and the campers find themselves marooned. + +Cut off from civilization, conventional veneer soon wears away. Love, +hate, and revenge spring up, and after the sterner passions have had +their sway the man and the woman are left alone to fulfil their own +destiny. + +While there is much that is unusual in the plot and its development, +Mr. Hurst has handled his subject with fine delicacy, and the tale of +their love on the beautiful little island is told with deep sympathy +and feeling. + + +The Flying Cloud. By MORLEY ROBERTS, author of "The +Promotion of the Admiral," "Rachel Marr," "The Idlers," etc. + +Cloth decorative, with a colored frontispiece $1.50 + +Mr. Roberts's new book is much more than a ripping good sea story such +as might be expected from the author of "The Promotion of the +Admiral." In "The Flying Cloud" the waters and the winds are gods +personified. Their every mood and phase are described in words of +telling force. There is no world but the waste of waters. + +Mr. Roberts glories and exults in the mystery, the passion, the +strength of the elements, as did the Viking chroniclers of old. He +understands them and loves them and interprets them as no other writer +has heretofore done. The book is too big for conventional phrases. It +needs Mr. Roberts's own richness of imagery and masterly expression to +describe adequately the word-pictures in this epic of wind and waves. + + + + +Selections from +L.C. Page and Company's +List of Fiction + +WORKS OF +ROBERT NEILSON STEPHENS + +_Each one vol., library 12mo, cloth decorative $1.50_ + + +The Flight of Georgiana + +A ROMANCE OF THE DAYS OF THE YOUNG PRETENDER. Illustrated by +H.C. Edwards. + +"A love-story in the highest degree, a dashing story, and a remarkably +well finished piece of work."--_Chicago Record-Herald._ + + +The Bright Face of Danger + +Being an account of some adventures of Henri de Launay, son of the +Sieur de la Tournoire. Illustrated by H.C. Edwards. + +"Mr. Stephens has fairly outdone himself. We thank him heartily. The +story is nothing if not spirited and entertaining, rational and +convincing."--_Boston Transcript._ + + +The Mystery of Murray Davenport (40th thousand.) + +"This is easily the best thing that Mr. Stephens has yet done. Those +familiar with his other novels can best judge the measure of this +praise, which is generous."--_Buffalo News._ + + +Captain Ravenshaw + +OR, THE MAID OF CHEAPSIDE. (52d thousand.) A romance of Elizabethan +London. Illustrations by Howard Pyle and other artists. + +Not since the absorbing adventures of D'Artagnan have we had anything +so good in the blended vein of romance and comedy. + + +The Continental Dragoon + +A ROMANCE OF PHILIPSE MANOR HOUSE IN 1778. (53d thousand.) +Illustrated by H.C. Edwards. + +A stirring romance of the Revolution, with its scene laid on neutral +territory. + + +Philip Winwood (70th thousand.) + +A Sketch of the Domestic History of an American Captain in the War +of Independence, embracing events that occurred between and during +the years 1763 and 1785 in New York and London. Illustrated by +E.W.D. Hamilton. + + +An Enemy to the King (70th thousand.) + +From the "Recently Discovered Memoirs of the Sieur de +la Tournoire." Illustrated by H. De M. Young. + +An historical romance of the sixteenth century, describing the +adventures of a young French nobleman at the court of Henry III., and +on the field with Henry IV. + + +The Road to Paris + +A STORY OF ADVENTURE. (35th thousand.) +Illustrated by H.C. Edwards. + +An historical romance of the eighteenth century, being an account of +the life of an American gentleman adventurer of Jacobite ancestry. + + +A Gentleman Player + +HIS ADVENTURES ON A SECRET MISSION FOR QUEEN ELIZABETH. (48th +thousand.) +Illustrated by Frank T. Merrill. + +The story of a young gentleman who joins Shakespeare's company of +players, and becomes a friend and protege of the great poet. + + * * * * * + + + + +WORKS OF +CHARLES G.D. ROBERTS + + +Red Fox + +THE STORY OF HIS ADVENTUROUS CAREER IN THE RINGWAAK WILDS, AND OF +HIS FINAL TRIUMPH OVER THE ENEMIES OF HIS KIND. With fifty +illustrations, including frontispiece in color and cover design by +Charles Livingston Bull. + +Square quarto, cloth decorative $2.00 + +"Infinitely more wholesome reading than the average tale of sport, +since it gives a glimpse of the hunt from the point of view of the +hunted."--_Boston Transcript._ + +"True in substance but fascinating as fiction. It will interest old +and young, city-bound and free-footed, those who know animals and +those who do not."--_Chicago Record-Herald._ + +"A brilliant chapter in natural history."--_Philadelphia North +American._ + + +The Kindred of the Wild + +A BOOK OF ANIMAL LIFE. With fifty-one full-page plates and +many decorations from drawings by Charles Livingston Bull. + +Square quarto, decorative cover $2.00 + +"Is in many ways the most brilliant collection of animal stories that +has appeared; well named and well done."--_John Burroughs._ + + +The Watchers of the Trails + +A companion volume to "The Kindred of the Wild." With forty-eight +full-page plates and many decorations from drawings by Charles +Livingston Bull. + +Square quarto, decorative cover $2.00 + +"These stories are exquisite in their refinement, and yet robust in +their appreciation of some of the rougher phases of woodcraft. Among +the many writers about animals, Mr. Roberts occupies an enviable +place.--_The Outlook_. + +"This is a book full of delight. An additional charm lies in Mr. +Bull's faithful and graphic illustrations, which in fashion all their +own tell the story of the wild life, illuminating and supplementing +the pen pictures of the author."--_Literary Digest._ + + +The Heart That Knows + +Library 12mo, cloth, decorative cover $1.50 + +"A novel of singularly effective strength, luminous in literary color, +rich in its passionate, yet tender drama."--_New York Globe._ + + +Earth's Enigmas + +A new edition of Mr. Roberts's first volume of fiction, published in +1892, and out of print for several years, with the addition of three +new stories, and ten illustrations by Charles Livingston Bull. Library +12mo, cloth, decorative cover $1.50 + +"It will rank high among collections of short stories. In 'Earth's +Enigmas' is a wider range of subject than in the 'Kindred of the +Wild.'"--_Review from advance sheets of the illustrated edition by +Tiffany Blake in the Chicago Evening Post._ + + +Barbara Ladd + +With four illustrations by Frank Verbeck. +Library 12mo, cloth, decorative cover $1.50 + +"From the opening chapter to the final page Mr. Roberts lures us on by +his rapt devotion to the changing aspects of Nature and by his keen +and sympathetic analysis of human character."--_Boston Transcript._ + + +Cameron of Lochiel + +Translated from the French of Philippe Aubert de Gaspe, with +frontispiece in color by H.C. Edwards. + +Library 12mo, cloth decorative $1.50 + +"Professor Roberts deserves the thanks of his reader for giving a +wider audience an opportunity to enjoy this striking bit of French +Canadian literature."--_Brooklyn Eagle._ + +"It is not often in these days of sensational and philosophical novels +that one picks up a book that so touches the heart."--_Boston +Transcript._ + + +The Prisoner of Mademoiselle +With frontispiece by Frank T. Merrill. + +Library 12mo, cloth decorative, gilt top $1.50 + +A tale of Acadia,--a land which is the author's heart's delight,--of a +valiant young lieutenant and a winsome maiden, who first captures and +then captivates. + +"This is the kind of a story that makes one grow younger, more +innocent, more light-hearted. Its literary quality is impeccable. It +is not every day that such a heroine blossoms into even temporary +existence, and the very name of the story bears a breath of +charm."--_Chicago Record-Herald._ + + +The Heart of the Ancient Wood +With six illustrations by James L. Weston. + +Library 12mo, decorative cover $1.50 + +"One of the most fascinating novels of recent days."--_Boston +Journal._ + +"A classic twentieth-century romance."--_New York Commercial +Advertiser._ + + +The Forge in the Forest + +Being the Narrative of the Acadian Ranger, Jean de Mer, Seigneur de +Briart, and how he crossed the Black Abbe, and of his adventures in a +strange fellowship. Illustrated by Henry Sandham, R.C.A. + +Library 12mo, cloth, gilt top $1.50 + +A story of pure love and heroic adventure. + + +By the Marshes of Minas + +Library 12mo, cloth, gilt top, illustrated $1.50 + +Most of these romances are in the author's lighter and more playful +vein; each is a unit of absorbing interest and exquisite workmanship. + + +A Sister to Evangeline + +Being the Story of Yvonne de Lamourie, and how she went into exile +with the villagers of Grand Pre. + +Library 12mo, cloth, gilt top, illustrated $1.50 + +Swift action, fresh atmosphere, wholesome purity, deep passion, and +searching analysis characterize this strong novel. + + * * * * * + + + + +WORKS OF +LILIAN BELL + + +Carolina Lee +With a frontispiece in color from an oil painting by Dora Wheeler +Keith. + +Library 12mo, cloth, decorative cover $1.50 + +"A Christian Science novel, full of action, alive with incident and +brisk with pithy dialogue and humor."--_Boston Transcript._ + +"A charming portrayal of the attractive life of the South, refreshing +as a breeze that blows through a pine forest."--_Albany Times-Union._ + + +Hope Loring +Illustrated by Frank T. Merrill. + +Library 12mo, cloth, decorative cover $1.50 + +"Tall, slender, and athletic, fragile-looking, yet with nerves and +sinews of steel under the velvet flesh, frank as a boy and tender and +beautiful as a woman, free and independent, yet not bold--such is +'Hope Loring,' by long odds the subtlest study that has yet been made +of the American girl."--_Dorothy Dix, in the New York American._ + + +Abroad with the Jimmies +With a portrait, in duogravure, of the author. + +Library 12mo, cloth, decorative cover $1.50 + +"Full of ozone, of snap, of ginger, of swing and momentum."--_Chicago +Evening Post._ + + +At Home with the Jardines +A companion volume to "Abroad with the Jimmies." + +Library 12mo, cloth, decorative cover $1.50 + +"Bits of gay humor, sunny, whimsical philosophy, and keen indubitable +insight into the less evident aspects and workings of pure human +nature, with a slender thread of a cleverly extraneous love story, +keep the interest of the reader fresh."--_Chicago Record-Herald._ + + +The Interference of Patricia +With a frontispiece from drawing by Frank T. Merrill. + +Small 12mo, cloth, decorative cover $1.25 + +"There is life and action and brilliancy and dash and cleverness and a +keen appreciation of business ways in this story."--_Grand Rapids +Herald_. + +"A story full of keen and flashing satire."--_Chicago Record-Herald._ + + +A Book of Girls +With a frontispiece. + +Small 12mo, cloth, decorative cover $1.25 + +"The stories are all eventful and have effective humor."--_New York +Sun._ + +"Lilian Bell surely understands girls, for she depicts all the +variations of girl nature so charmingly."--_Chicago Journal._ + +_The above two volumes boxed in special holiday dress, + per set, $2.50_ + + * * * * * + + + + +WORKS OF +ALICE MacGOWAN AND GRACE MacGOWAN COOKE + + +Return + +A STORY OF THE SEA ISLANDS IN 1739. With six illustrations by +C.D. Williams. + +Library 12mo, cloth $1.50 + +"So rich in color is this story, so crowded with figures, it seems +like a bit of old Italian wall painting, a piece of modern tapestry, +rather than a modern fabric woven deftly from the threads of fact and +fancy gathered up in this new and essentially practical country, and +therein lies its distinctive value and excellence."--_N.Y. Sun._ + +"At once tender, thrilling, picturesque, philosophical, and dramatic. +One of the most delightful romances we have had in many a +day."--_Chicago Record-Herald._ + + +The Grapple +With frontispiece in color by Arthur W. Brown. + +Library 12mo, cloth decorative $1.50 + +"The movement of the tale is swift and dramatic. The story is so +original, so strong, and so finely told that it deserves a large and +thoughtful public. It is a book to read with both enjoyment and +enlightenment."--_N.Y. Times Saturday Review of Books._ + + +The Last Word +Illustrated with seven portraits of the heroine. + +Library 12mo, cloth, decorative cover $1.50 + +"When one receives full measure to overflowing of delight in a tender, +charming, and wholly fascinating new piece of fiction, the enthusiasm +is apt to come uppermost."--_Louisville Post._ + + +Huldah +With illustrations by Fanny Y. Cory. + +Library 12mo, cloth decorative $1.50 + +Here we have the great-hearted, capable woman of the Texas plains +dispensing food and genial philosophy to rough-and-ready cowboys. Her +sympathy takes the form of happy laughter, and her delightfully funny +phrases amuse the fancy and stick in one's memory. + + + + +WORKS OF +MORLEY ROBERTS + + +Rachel Marr + +Library 12mo, cloth decorative $1.50 + +"A novel of tremendous force, with a style that is sure, luxuriant, +compelling, full of color and vital force."--_Elia W. Peattie, in +Chicago Tribune._ + +"In atmosphere, if nothing else, the story is absolutely +perfect."--_Boston Transcript._ + + +Lady Penelope +With nine illustrations by Arthur W. Brown. + +Library 12mo, cloth decorative $1.50 + +"A fresh and original bit of comedy as amusing as it is +audacious."--_Boston Transcript._ + + +The Idlers +With frontispiece in color by John C. Frohn. + +Library 12mo, cloth decorative $1.50 + +"In 'The Idlers' Mr. Morley Roberts does for the smart set of London +what Mrs. Wharton has done in 'The House of Mirth' for the American +social class of the same name.... It is a powerful novel, a merciless +dissection of modern society similar to that which a skilled surgeon +would make of a pathological case."--_The London Literary World._ + +"It is as absorbing as the devil. Mr. Roberts gives us the antithesis +of 'Rachel Marr' in an equally masterful and convincing work."--_The +New York Sun._ + +"It is a work of great ethical force."--_Professor Charles G.D. +Roberts._ + + +The Promotion of the Admiral + +By MORLEY ROBERTS. + +Library 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated $1.50 + +"If any one writes better sea stories than Mr. Roberts, we don't know +who it is; and if there is a better sea story of its kind than this it +would be a joy to have the pleasure of reading it."--_New York Sun._ + +"There is a hearty laugh in everyone of these stories."--_The +Reader._ + +"To read these stories is a tonic for the mind; the stories are gems, +and for pith and vigor of description they are unequalled."--_N.Y. +Commercial Advertiser._ + + * * * * * + + + + +WORKS OF +STEPHEN CONRAD + + +The Second Mrs. Jim + +By STEPHEN CONRAD. With a frontispiece by Ernest Fosbery. + +Large 16mo, cloth decorative $1.00 + +Here is a character as original and witty as "Mr. Dooley" or "the +self-made merchant." The realm of humorous fiction is now invaded by +the stepmother. + +"It is an exceptionally clever piece of work."--_Boston Transcript._ + +"'The Second Mrs. Jim' is worth as many Mrs. Wiggses as could be +crowded into the Cabbage Patch. The racy humor and cheerfulness and +wisdom of the book make it wholly delightful."--_Philadelphia Press._ + + +Mrs. Jim and Mrs. Jimmie +With a frontispiece in colors by Arthur W. Brown. + +Library 12mo, cloth decorative $1.50 + +This book is in a sense a sequel to "The Second Mrs. Jim," since it +gives further glimpses of that delightful stepmother and her +philosophy. + +"Plenty of fun and humor in this book. Plenty of simple pathos and +quietly keen depiction of human nature afford contrast, and every +chapter is worth reading. It is a very human account of life in a +small country town, and the work should be commended for those +sterling qualities of heart and naturalness so endearing to +many."--_Chicago Record-Herald._ + + + + +WORKS OF +ARTHUR MORRISON + + +The Green Diamond + +Library 12mo, cloth decorative, with six illustrations $1.50 + +"A detective story of unusual ingenuity and intrigue."--_Brooklyn +Eagle._ + + +The Red Triangle + +Being some further chronicles of Martin Hewitt, investigator. + +Library 12mo, cloth decorative $1.50 + +"Better than Sherlock Holmes."--_New York Tribune._ + +"The reader who has a grain of fancy or imagination may be defied to +lay this book down, once he has begun it, until the last word has been +reached."--_Philadelphia North American._ + + * * * * * + + + + +WORKS OF +G. SIDNEY PATERNOSTER + + +The Motor Pirate + +Library 12mo, cloth decorative, with frontispiece $1.50 + +"Its originality, exciting adventures, into which is woven a charming +love theme, and its undercurrent of fun furnish a dashing detective +story which a motor-mad world will thoroughly enjoy reading."--_Boston +Herald._ + + +The Cruise of the Motor-Boat Conqueror + +Being the Further Adventures of the Motor Pirate. + +Library 12mo, cloth decorative, with a frontispiece +by Frank T. Merrill $1.50 + +"As a land pirate Mannering was a marvel of resource, but as a +sea-going buccaneer he is almost a miracle of devilish ingenuity. His +exploits are wonderful and plausible, for he avails himself of every +modern device and applies recent inventions to the accomplishment of +all his pet schemes."--_Chicago Evening Post._ + + + + +WORKS OF +T. JENKINS HAINS + + +The Black Barque +With five illustrations by W. Herbert Dunton. + +Library 12mo, cloth $1.50 + +According to a high naval authority, whose name must be withheld, this +is one of the best sea stories ever offered to the public. "The Black +Barque" is a story of slavery and piracy upon the high seas about +1815, and is written with a thorough knowledge of deep-water sailing. + + +The Windjammers + +Library 12mo, cloth $1.50 + +"A collection of short sea stories unmatched for interest."--_New York +Sun._ + + +The Voyage of the Arrow +With six illustrations by H.C. Edwards. + +Library 12mo, cloth $1.50 + +"A capital story, full of sensation and excitement, and a rollicking +sea story of the good old-fashioned sort. The reader who begins this +exciting voyage will sail on at the rate of twelve knots an hour until +it is finished."--_Boston Transcript._ + + * * * * * + + + + +WORKS OF +REGINALD WRIGHT KAUFFMAN + + +Miss Frances Baird, Detective + +A PASSAGE FROM HER MEMOIRS. + +Library 12mo, cloth decorative, with a frontispiece +by W.F. Kirkpatrick $1.25 + +"Miss Baird ravels and unravels circumstantial evidence in her search +for the murderer in a most bewildering and thoroughly feminine +fashion.... The story is brimful of excitement, and no little +ingenuity is displayed in its construction."--_Boston Herald._ + + +Jarvis of Harvard +Illustrated by Robert Edwards. + +Library 12mo, cloth decorative $1.50 + +A strong and well written novel, dealing with the life of a young man +in a modern college. Studies, athletics, social life, and the outside +influences surrounding the youth of a college town are clearly +depicted. + +"Mr. Kauffman's treatment of his subject is dignified, restrained, +sincere, and in admirable good taste throughout."--_New York Mail and +Express._ + + * * * * * + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Passenger from Calais, by Arthur Griffiths + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PASSENGER FROM CALAIS *** + +***** This file should be named 16339.txt or 16339.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/3/3/16339/ + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Sankar Viswanathan 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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