diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 28935-8.txt | 4672 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 28935-8.zip | bin | 0 -> 82863 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 28935-h.zip | bin | 0 -> 84843 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 28935-h/28935-h.htm | 6822 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 28935.txt | 4672 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 28935.zip | bin | 0 -> 82834 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 |
9 files changed, 16182 insertions, 0 deletions
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/28935-8.txt b/28935-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7b950e3 --- /dev/null +++ b/28935-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4672 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Captain Dieppe, by Anthony Hope + +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: Captain Dieppe + +Author: Anthony Hope + +Release Date: May 23, 2009 [EBook #28935] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CAPTAIN DIEPPE *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + + + + + +Captain Dieppe + + +By + +Anthony Hope + + +Author of "The Prisoner of Zenda," "Rupert of Hentzau," etc., etc. + + + + +Doubleday, Page & Co. + +New York + +1906 + + + + +Copyright, 1899, by ANTHONY HOPE HAWKINS. + +Copyright, 1899, by CURTIS PUBLISHING CO. + +Copyright, 1900, by ANTHONY HOPE HAWKINS. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER + + I. THE HOUSE ON THE BLUFF + II. THE MAN BY THE STREAM + III. THE LADY IN THE GARDEN + IV. THE INN IN THE VILLAGE + V. THE RENDEZVOUS BY THE CROSS + VI. THE HUT IN THE HOLLOW + VII. THE FLOOD ON THE RIVER + VIII. THE CARRIAGE AT THE FORD + IX. THE STRAW IN THE CORNER + X. THE JOURNEY TO ROME + XI. THE LUCK OF THE CAPTAIN + + + + +Captain Dieppe + + +CHAPTER I + +THE HOUSE ON THE BLUFF + +To the eye of an onlooker Captain Dieppe's circumstances afforded high +spirits no opportunity, and made ordinary cheerfulness a virtue which a +stoic would not have disdained to own. Fresh from the failure of +important plans; if not exactly a fugitive, still a man to whom +recognition would be inconvenient and perhaps dangerous; with fifty +francs in his pocket, and his spare wardrobe in a knapsack on his back; +without immediate prospect of future employment or a replenishment of +his purse; yet by no means in his first youth or of an age when men +love to begin the world utterly afresh; in few words, with none of +those inner comforts of the mind which make external hardships no more +than a pleasurable contrast, he marched up a long steep hill in the +growing dusk of a stormy evening, his best hope to find, before he was +soaked to the skin, some poor inn or poorer cottage where he might get +food and beg shelter from the severity of the wind and rain that swept +across the high ground and swooped down on the deep valleys, seeming to +assail with a peculiar, conscious malice the human figure which faced +them with unflinching front and the buoyant step of strength and +confidence. + +But the Captain was an alchemist, and the dross of outer events turned +to gold in the marvellous crucible of his mind. Fortune should have +known this and abandoned the vain attempt to torment him. He had +failed, but no other man could have come so near success. He was +alone, therefore free: poor, therefore independent; desirous of hiding, +therefore of importance: in a foreign land, therefore well placed for +novel and pleasing accidents. The rain was a drop and the wind a puff: +if he were wet, it would be delightful to get dry; since he was hungry, +no inn could be too humble and no fare too rough. Fortune should +indeed have set him on high, and turned her wasted malice on folk more +penetrable by its stings. + +The Captain whistled and sang. What a fright he had given the +Ministers, how nearly he had brought back the Prince, what an uncommon +and intimate satisfaction of soul came from carrying, under his wet +coat, lists of names, letters, and what not--all capable of causing +tremors in high quarters, and of revealing in spheres of activity +hitherto unsuspected gentlemen--aye, and ladies--of the loftiest +position; all of whom (the Captain was piling up his causes of +self-congratulation) owed their present safety, and directed their +present anxieties, to him, Jean Dieppe, and to nobody else in the +world. He broke off his whistling to observe aloud: + +"Mark this, it is to very few that there comes a life so interesting as +mine"; and his tune began again with an almost rollicking vigour. + +What he said was perhaps true enough, if interest consists (as many +hold) in uncertainty; in his case uncertainty both of life and of all +that life gives, except that one best thing which he had +pursued--activity. Of fame he had gained little, peace he had never +tasted; of wealth he had never thought, of love--ah, of love now? His +smile and the roguish shake of his head and pull at his long black +moustache betrayed no dissatisfaction on that score. And as a fact (a +thing which must at the very beginning be distinguished from an +impression of the Captain's), people were in the habit of loving him: +he never expected exactly this, although he had much self-confidence. +Admiration was what he readily enough conceived himself to inspire; +love was a greater thing. On the whole, a fine life--why, yes, a very +fine life indeed; and plenty of it left, for he was but thirty-nine. + +"It really rains," he remarked at last, with an air of amiable +surprise. "I am actually getting wet. I should be pleased to come to +a village." + +Fortune may be imagined as petulantly flinging this trifling favour at +his head, in the hope, maybe, of making him realise the general +undesirability of his lot. At any rate, on rounding the next corner of +the ascending road, he saw a small village lying beneath him in the +valley. Immediately below him, at the foot of what was almost a +precipice, approached only by a rough zigzag path, lay a little river; +the village was directly opposite across the stream, but the road, +despairing of such a dip, swerved sharp off to his left, and, +descending gradually, circled one end of the valley till it came to a +bridge and thence made its way round to the cluster of houses. There +were no more than a dozen cottages, a tiny church, and an +inn--certainly an inn, thought Dieppe, as he prepared to follow the +road and pictured his supper already on the fire. But before he set +out, he turned to his right; and there he stood looking at a scene of +some beauty and of undeniable interest. A moment later he began to +walk slowly up-hill in the opposite direction to that which the road +pursued; he was minded to see a little more of the big house perched so +boldly on that bluff above the stream, looking down so scornfully at +the humble village on the other bank. + +But habitations are made for men, and to Captain Dieppe beauties of +position or architecture were subordinate to any indications he might +discover or imagine of the characters of the folk who dwelt in a house +and of their manner of living. Thus, not so much the position of the +Castle (it could and did claim that title), or its handsome front, or +the high wall that enclosed it and its demesne on every side save where +it faced the river, caught his attention as the apparently trifling +fact that, whereas one half of the facade was brilliant with lights in +every window, the other half was entirely dark and, to all seeming, +uninhabited. "They are poor, they live in half the rooms only," he +said to himself. But somehow this explanation sounded inadequate. He +drew nearer, till he was close under the wall of the gardens. Then he +noticed a small gate in the wall, sheltered by a little projecting +porch. The Captain edged under the porch, took out a cigar, contrived +to light it, and stood there puffing pensively. He was protected from +the rain, which now fell very heavily, and he was asking himself again +why only half the house was lighted up. This was the kind of trivial, +yet whimsical, puzzle on which he enjoyed trying his wits. + +He had stood where he was for a few minutes when he heard steps on the +other side of the wall; a moment later a key turned in the lock and the +gate opened. Dieppe turned to find himself confronted by a young man +of tall stature; the dim light showed only the vague outline of a +rather long and melancholy, but certainly handsome, face; the +stranger's air was eminently distinguished. Dieppe raised his hat and +bowed. + +"You 'll excuse the liberty," he said, smiling. "I 'm on my way to the +village yonder to find quarters for the night. Your porch offered me a +short rest and shelter from the rain while I smoked a cigar. I presume +that I have the honour of addressing the owner of this fine house?" + +"You 're right, sir. I am the Count of Fieramondi," said the young +man, "and this is my house. Do me the favour to enter it and refresh +yourself." + +"Oh, but you entertain company, and look at me!" With a smile Dieppe +indicated his humble and travel-worn appearance. + +"Company? None, I assure you." + +"But the lights?" suggested the Captain, with a wave of his hand. + +"You will find me quite alone," the Count assured him, as he turned +into the garden and motioned his guest to follow. + +Crossing a path and a stretch of grass, they entered a room opening +immediately on the garden; it was large and high. + +Situated at the corner of the house, it had two windows facing on the +garden and two towards the river. It was richly and soberly furnished, +and hung with family portraits. A blazing fire revealed these features +to Dieppe, and at the same time imparted a welcome glow to his body. +The next minute a man-servant entered with a pair of candlesticks, +which he set on the table. + +"I am about to dine," said the Count. "Will you honour me with your +company?" + +"Your kindness to a complete stranger--" Dieppe began. + +"The kindness will be yours. Company is a favour to one who lives +alone." + +And the Count proceeded to give the necessary orders to his servant. +Then, turning again to Dieppe, he said, "In return, pray let me know +the name of the gentleman who honours my house." + +"I can refuse nothing to my host--to anybody else my name is the only +thing I should refuse. I am called Captain Dieppe." + +"Of the French service? Though you speak Italian excellently." + +"Ah, that accent of mine! No, not of the French service--in fact, not +of any service. I have been in many services, but I can show you no +commission as captain." + +For the first time the Count smiled. + +"It is, perhaps, a sobriquet?" he asked, but with no offensive air or +insinuation. + +"The spontaneous tribute of my comrades all over the world," answered +Dieppe, proudly--"is it for me to refuse it?" + +"By no means," agreed his host, smiling still; "I don't doubt that you +have amply earned it." + +Dieppe's bow confirmed the supposition while it acknowledged the +compliment. + +Civilities such as these, when aided by dinner and a few glasses of red +wine, soon passed into confidences--on the Captain's side at least. +Accustomed to keep other people's secrets, he burdened himself with few +of his own. + +"I have always had something of a passion for politics," he confessed, +after giving his host an account of some stirring events in South +America in which he had borne a part. + +"You surprise me," was the Count's comment. + +"Perhaps I should say," Dieppe explained, "for handling those forces +which lie behind politics. That has been my profession." The Count +looked up. + +"Oh, I 'm no sentimentalist," Dieppe went on. "I ask for my pay--I +receive it--and sometimes I contrive to keep it." + +"You interest me," said his host, in whose manner Dieppe recognised an +attractive simplicity. + +"But in my last enterprise--well, there are accidents in every trade." +His shrug was very good-natured. + +"The enterprise failed?" asked the Count, sympathetically. + +"Certainly, or I should not be enjoying your hospitality. Moreover I +failed too, for I had to skip out of the country in such haste that I +left behind me fifty thousand francs, and the police have laid hands on +it. It was my--what shall I call it? My little _pourboire_." He +sighed lightly, and then smiled again. "So I am a homeless wanderer, +content if I can escape the traps of police agents." + +"You anticipate being annoyed in that way?" + +"They are on my track, depend upon it." He touched the outside of his +breast pocket. "I carry--but no matter. The pursuit only adds a spice +to my walks, and so long as I don't need to sell my revolver for +bread--." He checked himself abruptly, a frown of shame or vexation on +his face. "I beg your pardon," he went on, "I beg your pardon. But +you won't take me for a beggar?" + +"I regret what you have said only because you said it before I had +begged a favour of you--a favour I had resolved to venture on asking. +But come, though I don't think you a beggar, you shall be sure that I +am one." He rose and laid his hand on Dieppe's shoulder. "Stay with +me for to-night at least--and for as much longer as you will. Nobody +will trouble you. I live in solitude, and your society will lighten +it. Let me ring and give orders for your entertainment?" + +Dieppe looked up at him; the next moment he caught his hand, crying, +"With all my heart, dear host! Your only difficulty shall be to get +rid of me." + +The Count rang, and directed his servant to prepare the Cardinal's +Room. Dieppe noticed that the order was received with a glance of +surprise, but the master of the house repeated it, and, as the servant +withdrew, added, "It is called after an old member of our family, but I +can answer for its comfort myself, for I have occupied it until--" + +"I 'm turning you out?" exclaimed Dieppe. + +"I left it yesterday." The Count frowned as he sipped his wine. "I +left it owing to--er--circumstances," he murmured, with some appearance +of embarrassment in his manner. + +"His Eminence is restless?" asked the Captain, laughing. + +"I beg pardon?" + +"I mean--a ghost?" + +"No, a cat," was the Count's quiet but somewhat surprising answer. + +"I don't mind cats, I am very fond of them," Dieppe declared with the +readiness of good breeding, but he glanced at his host with a curiosity +that would not be stifled. The Count lived in solitude. Half his +house--and that the other half--was brilliantly lighted, and he left +his bedroom because of a cat. Here were circumstances that might set +the least inquisitive of men thinking. It crossed Dieppe's mind that +his host was (he used a mild word) eccentric, but the Count's manner +gave little warrant for the supposition; and Dieppe could not believe +that so courteous a gentleman would amuse himself by making fun of a +guest. He listened eagerly when the Count, after a long silence, went +on to say: + +"The reason I put forward must, no doubt, sound ludicrous, but the fact +is that the animal, in itself a harmless beast, became the occasion, or +was made the means, of forcing on me encounters with a person whom I +particularly wish to avoid. You, however, will not be annoyed in that +way." + +There he stopped, and turned the conversation to general topics. Never +had Dieppe's politeness been subjected to such a strain. + +No relief was granted to him. The Count talked freely and well on a +variety of questions till eleven o'clock, and then proposed to show his +guest to his bedroom. Dieppe accepted the offer in despair, but he +would have sat up all night had there seemed any chance of the Count's +becoming more explicit. + +The Cardinal's Room was a large apartment situated on the upper floor +(there were but two), about the middle of the house; its windows looked +across the river, which rippled pleasantly in the quiet of the night +when Dieppe flung up the sash and put his head out. He turned first to +the left. Save his own room, all was dark: the Count, no doubt, slept +at the back. Then, craning his neck, he tried to survey the right +wing. The illumination was quenched; light showed in one window only, +a window on the same level with his and distant from it perhaps forty +feet. With a deep sigh the Captain drew his head back and shut out the +chilly air. + +Ah, there was an inner door on the right hand side of the room; that +the Captain had not noticed before. Walking up to it, he perceived +that it was bolted at top and bottom; but the key was in the lock. He +stood and looked at this door; it seemed that it must lead, either +directly or by way of another apartment between, to the room whose +lights he had just seen. He pulled his moustache thoughtfully; and he +remembered that there was a person whom the Count particularly wished +to avoid and, owing (in some way) to a cat, could not rely on being +able to avoid if he slept in the Cardinal's Room. + +"Well, then--" began Dieppe with a thoughtful frown. "Oh, I can't +stand it much longer!" he ended, with a smile and a shrug. + +And then there came--the Captain was really not surprised, he had been +almost expecting it--a mew, a peevish, plaintive mew. "I won't open +that door," said the Captain. The complaint was repeated. "Poor +beast!" murmured the Captain. "Shut up in that--in that--deuce take +it, in that what?" His hand shot up to the top bolt and pressed it +softly back. "No, no," said he. Another mew defeated his struggling +conscience. Pushing back the lower bolt in its turn, he softly +unlocked the door and opened it cautiously. There in the passage--for +a narrow passage some twelve or fifteen feet long was revealed--near +his door, visible in the light from his room, was a large, sleek, +yellow cat from whose mouth was proceeding energetic lamentation. But +on sight of Dieppe the creature ceased its cries, and in apparent alarm +ran half-way along the passage and sat down beside a small hole in the +wall. From this position it regarded the intruder with solemn, +apprehensive eyes. Dieppe, holding his door wide open, returned the +animal's stare. This must be the cat which had ejected the Count. But +why--? + +In a moment the half-formed question found its answer, though the +answer seemed rather to ask a new riddle than to answer the old one. A +door at the other end of the passage opened a little way, and a +melodious voice called softly, "Papa, papa!" The cat ran towards the +speaker, the door was opened wide, and for an instant Dieppe had the +vision of a beautiful young woman, clad in a white dressing-gown and +with hair about her shoulders. As he saw her she saw him, and gave a +startled shriek. The cat, apparently bewildered, raced back to the +aperture in the wall and disappeared with an agitated whisk of its +tail. The lady's door and the Captain's closed with a double +simultaneous reverberating bang, and the Captain drove his bolts home +with guilty haste. + +His first act was to smoke a cigarette. That done, he began to undress +slowly and almost unconsciously. During the process he repeated to +himself more than once the Count's measured but emphatic words: "A +person whom I particularly wish to avoid." The words died away as +Dieppe climbed into the big four-poster with a wrinkle of annoyance on +his brow. + +For the lady at the other end of the passage did not, to the Captain's +mind, look the sort of person whom a handsome and lonely young man +would particularly wish to avoid. In spite of the shortness of his +vision, in spite of her obvious alarm and confusion, she had, in fact, +seemed, to him very much indeed the opposite. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE MAN BY THE STREAM + +Apart from personal hopes or designs, the presence, or even the +proximity, of a beautiful woman is a cheerful thing: it gives a man the +sense of happiness, like sunshine or sparkling water; these are not his +either, but he can look at and enjoy them; he smiles back at the world +in thanks for its bountiful favours. Never had life seemed better to +Dieppe than when he awoke the next morning; yet there was guilt on his +conscience--he ought not to have opened that door. But the guilt +became parent to a new pleasure and gave him the one thing needful to +perfection of existence--a pretty little secret of his own, and this +time one that he was minded to keep. + +"To think," he exclaimed, pointing a scornful finger at the village +across the river, "that but for my luck I might be at the inn! Heaven +above us, I might even have been leaving this enchanting spot!" He +looked down at the stream. A man was fishing there, a tall, well-made +fellow in knickerbockers and a soft felt hat of the sort sometimes +called Tyrolean. "Good luck to you, my boy!" nodded the happy and +therefore charitable Captain. + +Going down to the Count's pleasant room at the corner of the left wing, +he found his host taking his coffee. Compliments passed, and soon +Dieppe was promising to spend a week at least with his new friend. + +"I am a student," observed the Count, "and you must amuse yourself. +There are fine walks, a little rough shooting perhaps--" + +"Fishing?" asked Dieppe, thinking of the man in the soft hat. + +"The fishing is worth nothing at all," answered the Count, decisively. +He paused for a moment and then went on: "There is, however, one +request that I am obliged to make to you." + +"Any wish of yours is a command to me, my dear host." + +"It is that during your visit you will hold no communication whatever +with the right wing of the house." The Count was now lighting a cigar; +he completed the operation carefully, and then added: + +"The Countess's establishment and mine are entirely separate--entirely." + +"The Countess!" exclaimed Dieppe, not unnaturally surprised. + +"I regret to trouble you with family matters. My wife and I are not in +agreement; we have n't met for three months. She lives in the right +wing with two servants; I live in the left with three. We hold no +communication, and our servants are forbidden to hold any among +themselves; obedience is easier to insure as we have kept only those we +can trust, and, since entertaining is out of the question, have +dismissed the rest." + +"You have--er--had a difference?" the Captain ventured to suggest, for +the Count seemed rather embarrassed. + +"A final and insuperable difference, a final and permanent separation." +The Count's tone was sad but very firm. + +"I am truly grieved. But--forgive me--does n't the arrangement you +indicate entail some inconvenience?" + +"Endless inconvenience," assented the Count. + +"To live under the same roof, and yet--" + +"My dear sir, during the negotiations which followed on the Countess's +refusal to--to well, to meet my wishes, I represented that to her with +all the emphasis at my command. I am bound to add that she represented +it no less urgently to me." + +"On the other hand, of course, the scandal--" Dieppe began. + +"We Fieramondi do not much mind scandal. That was n't the difficulty. +The fact is that I thought it the Countess's plain duty to relieve me +of her presence. She took what I may call the exactly converse view. +You follow me?" + +"Perfectly," said Dieppe, repressing an inclination to smile. + +"And declared that nothing--nothing on earth--should induce her to quit +the Castle even for a day; she would regard such an act as a surrender. +I said I should regard my own departure in the same light. So we stay +here under the extremely inconvenient arrangement I have referred to. +To make sure of my noticing her presence, my wife indulges in something +approaching to an illumination every night." + +The Count rose and began to walk up and down as he went on with a +marked access of warmth. "But even the understanding we arrived at," +he pursued, "I regret to say that my wife did n't see fit to adhere to +in good faith. She treated it with what I must call levity." He faced +round on his guest suddenly. "I mentioned a cat to you," he said. + +"You did," Dieppe admitted, eyeing him rather apprehensively. + +"I don't know," pursued the Count, "whether you noticed a door in your +room?" Dieppe nodded. "It was bolted?" Dieppe nodded again. "If you +had opened that door--pardon the supposition--you would have seen a +passage. At the other end is another door, leading to the Countess's +apartments. See, I will show you. This fork is the door from your +room, this knife is--" + +"I follow your description perfectly," interposed Dieppe, assailed now +with a keener sense of guilt. + +"The Countess possesses a cat--a thing to which in itself I have no +objection. To give this creature, which she likes to have with her +constantly, the opportunity of exercise, she has caused an opening to +be made from the passage on to the roof. This piece of bread will +represent--" + +"I understand, I assure you," murmured Dieppe. + +"Every evening she lets the cat into the passage, whence it escapes on +to the roof. On its return it would naturally betake itself to her +room again." + +"Naturally," assented the Captain. Are not cats most reasonable +animals? + +"But," said the Count, beginning to walk about again, "she shuts her +door: the animal mews at it; my wife ignores the appeal. What then? +The cat, in despair, turns to my door. I take no heed. It mews +persistently. At last, wearied of the noise, I open my door. +Always--by design, as I believe--at that very moment my wife flings her +door open. You see the position?" + +"I can imagine it," said Dieppe, discreetly. + +"We are face to face! Nothing between us except the passage--and the +cat! And then the Countess, with what I am compelled to term a +singular offensiveness, not to say insolence, of manner, slams the door +in my face, leaving me to deal with the cat as I best can! My friend, +it became intolerable. I sent a message begging the Countess to do me +the favour of changing her apartment. + +"She declined point-blank. I determined then to change mine, and sent +word of my intention to the Countess." He flung himself into a chair. +"Her reply was to send back to me her marriage contract and her +wedding-ring, and to beg to be informed whether my present stay at the +Castle was likely to be prolonged." + +"And you replied--?" + +"I made no reply," answered the Count, crossing his legs. + +A combination of feelings prevented Dieppe from disclosing the incident +of the previous night. He loved a touch of mystery and a possibility +of romance. Again, it is not the right thing for a guest to open +bolted doors. A man does not readily confess to such a breach of +etiquette, and his inclination to make a clean breast of it is not +increased when it turns out that the door in question leads to the +apartments of his host's wife. + +Finally, the moment for candour had slipped by: you cannot allow a man +to explain a locality by means of forks and knives and pieces of bread +and then inform him that you were all the while acquainted with its +features. Dieppe was silent, and the Count, who was obviously upset by +the recital of his grievances, presently withdrew to his study, a room +on the upper floor which looked out on the gardens at the back of the +house. + +"What did they quarrel about?" Dieppe asked himself; the Count had +thrown no light on that. "I 'll be hanged if I 'd quarrel with her," +smiled the Captain, remembering the face he had seen at the other end +of the passage. "But," he declared to himself, virtuously, "the cat +may mew till it's hoarse--I won't open that door again." With this +resolve strong in his heart, he took his hat and strolled out into the +garden. + +He had no sooner reached the front of the house than he gave an +exclamation of surprise. The expanse of rather rough grass sprinkled +with flower-beds, which stretched from the Castle to the point where +the ground dipped steeply towards the river, was divided across by a +remarkable structure--a tall, new, bare wooden fence, constituting a +very substantial barrier. It stood a few paces to the right of the +window which the Captain identified as his own, and ran some yards down +the hill. Here was plain and strong evidence of the state of war which +existed between the two wings. Neither the Count nor the Countess +would risk so much as a sight of the other while they took their +respective promenades. The Captain approached the obstacle and +examined it with a humorous interest; then he glanced up at the wall +above, drawing a couple of feet back to get a better view. "Ah," said +he, "just half-way between my window and--hers! They are very +punctilious, these combatants!" + +Natural curiosity must, so far as it can, excuse Captain Dieppe for +spending the rest of the morning in what he termed a reconnaissance of +the premises, or that part of them which was open to his inspection. +He found little. There was no sign of anybody entering or leaving the +other wing, although (as he discovered on strolling round by the road) +a gate in the wall on the right of the gardens, and a carriage-drive +running up to it, gave independent egress from that side of the Castle. +Breakfast with the Count was no more fruitful of information; the Count +discussed (apropos of a book at which he had been glancing) the +question of the Temporal Power of the Papacy with learning and some +heat: he was, it appeared, strongly opposed to these ecclesiastical +claims, and spoke of them with marked bitterness. Dieppe, very little +interested, escaped for a walk early in the afternoon. It was five +o'clock when he regained the garden and stood for a few moments looking +down towards the river. It was just growing dusk, and the lights of +the inn were visible in the village across the valley. + +Fishermen are a persevering race, the young man in the soft hat was +still at his post. But no, he was not fishing! He was walking up and +down in a moody, purposeless way, and it seemed to the Captain that he +turned his head very often towards the Castle. The Captain sat down on +a garden-seat close under the barricade and watched; an idea was +stirring in his brain--an idea that made him pat his breast-pocket, +twirl his moustache, and smile contentedly. "Not much of a fisherman, +I think," he murmured. "Ah, my friend, I know the cut of your jib, I +fancy. After poor old Jean Dieppe, are n't you, my boy? A police-spy; +I could tell him among a thousand!" + +Equally pleased with the discovery and with his own acuteness in making +it, the Captain laughed aloud; then in an instant he sat bolt upright, +stiff and still, listening intently. For through the barricade had +come two sounds--a sweet, low, startled voice, that cried half in a +whisper, "Heavens, he 's there!" and then the rustle of skirts in hasty +flight. Without an instant's thought--without remembering his promise +to the Count--Dieppe sprang up, ran down the hill, turned the corner of +the barricade, and found himself in the Countess's territory. + +He was too late. The lady had made good her escape. There was nobody +to be seen except the large yellow cat: it sat on the path and blinked +gravely at the chagrined Captain. + +"Animal, you annoy me!" he said with a stamp of his foot. The cat +rose, turned, and walked away with its tail in the air. "I 'm making a +fool of myself," muttered Dieppe. "Or," he amended with a dawning +smile, "she 's making a fool of me." His smile broadened a little. +"Why not?" he asked. Then he drew himself up and slowly returned to +his own side of the barricade, shaking his head and murmuring, "No, no, +Jean, my boy, no, no! He 's your host--your host, Jean," as he again +seated himself on the bench under the barricade. + +Evening was now falling fast; the fisherman was no longer to be seen; +perfect peace reigned over the landscape. Dieppe yawned; perfect peace +was with him a synonym for intolerable dulness. + +"Permit me, my dear friend," said a voice behind him, "to read you a +little poem which I have beguiled my leisure by composing." + +He turned to find the Count behind him, holding a sheet of paper. + +Probably the poet had his composition by heart, for the light seemed +now too dim to read by. However this may be, a rich and tender voice +recited to Dieppe's sympathetic ears as pretty a little appeal (so the +Captain thought) as had ever been addressed by lover to an obdurate or +capricious lady. The Captain's eyes filled with tears as he +listened--tears for the charm of the verse, for the sad beauty of the +sentiment, also, alas, for the unhappy gentleman from whose heart came +verse and sentiment. + +"My friend, you love!" cried the Captain, holding out his hand as the +Count ended his poem and folded up the paper. + +"And you are unhappy," he added. + +The Count smiled in a sad but friendly fashion. + +"Is n't it the same thing?" he asked. "And at any rate as to me you +are right." + +Dieppe wrung his hand. The Count, apparently much moved, turned and +walked slowly away, leaving Dieppe to his meditations. + +"He loves her." That was the form they took. Whatever the meaning of +the quarrel, the Count loved his wife; it was to her the poem was +written, hers was the heart which it sought to soften. Yet she had not +looked hard-hearted. No, she had looked adorable, frankly adorable; a +lady for whose sake any man, even so wise and experienced a man as +Captain Dieppe, might well commit many a folly, and have many a +heartache; a lady for whom-- + +"Rascal that I am!" cried the Captain, interrupting himself and +springing up. He raised his hand in the air and declared aloud with +emphasis: "On my honour, I will think no more of her. I will think, I +say, no more of her." + +On the last word came a low laugh from the other side of the barricade. +The Captain started, looked round, listened, smiled, frowned, pulled +his moustache. Then, with extraordinary suddenness, resolution, and +fierceness, he turned and walked quickly away. "Honour, honour!" he +was saying to himself; and the path of honour seemed to lie in flight. +Unhappily, though, the Captain was more accustomed to advance. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE LADY IN THE GARDEN + +It is possible that Captain Dieppe, full of contentment with the +quarters to which fortune had guided him, under-rated the merits and +attractions of the inn in the village across the river. Fare and +accommodation indeed were plain and rough at the Aquila Nera, but the +company round its fireside would have raised his interest. On one side +of the hearth sat the young fisherman, he in whom Dieppe had discovered +a police-spy on the track of the secrets in that breast-pocket of the +Captain's. Oh, these discoveries of the Captain's! For M. Paul de +Roustache was not a police-spy, and, moreover, had never seen the +gallant Captain in his life, and took no interest in him--a state of +things most unlikely to occur to the Captain's mind. Had Paul, then, +fished for fishing's sake? It by no means followed, if only the +Captain could have remembered that there were other people in the world +besides himself--and one or two others even in the Count of +Fieramondi's house. "I 'll get at her if I can; but if she 's +obstinate, I 'll go to the Count--in the last resort I 'll go to the +Count, for I mean to have the money." Reflections such as these (and +they were M. de Roustache's at this moment) would have shown even +Captain Dieppe--not, perhaps, that he had done the fisherman an +injustice, for the police may be very respectable--but at least that he +had mistaken his errand and his character. + +But however much it might be abashed momentarily, the Captain's acumen +would not have been without a refuge. Who was the elderly man with +stooping shoulders and small keen eyes, who sat on the other side of +the fire, and had been engaged in persuading Paul that he too was a +fisherman, that he too loved beautiful scenery, that he too travelled +for pleasure, and, finally, that his true, rightful, and only name was +Monsieur Guillaume? To which Paul had responded in kind, save that he +had not volunteered his name. And now each was wondering what the +other wanted, and each was wishing very much that the other would seek +his bed, so that the inn might be sunk in quiet and a gentleman be at +liberty to go about his private business unobserved. + +The landlord came in, bringing a couple of candles, and remarking that +it was hard on ten o'clock; but let not the gentlemen hurry themselves. +The guests sat a little while longer, exchanged a remark or two on the +prospects of the weather, and then, each despairing of outstaying the +other, went their respective ways to bed. + +Almost at the same moment, up at the Castle, Dieppe was saying to his +host, "Good night, my friend, good night. I 'm not for bed yet. The +night is fine, and I 'll take a stroll in the garden." A keen observer +might have noticed that the Captain did not meet his friend's eye as he +spoke. There was a touch of guilt in his air, which the Count's +abstraction did not allow him to notice. Conscience was having a hard +battle of it; would the Captain keep on the proper side of the +barricade? + +Monsieur Guillaume, owing to his profession or his temperament, was a +man who, if the paradox may be allowed, was not surprised at surprises. +Accordingly when he himself emerged from the bedroom to which he had +retired, took the path across the meadow from the inn towards the +river, and directed his course to the stepping-stones which he had +marked as he strolled about before dinner, he was merely interested and +in no way astonished to perceive his companion of the fireside in front +of him, the moon, nearly full, revealed Paul's Tyrolean headpiece +mounting the hill on the far side of the stream. Guillaume followed +it, crossed the river at the cost of wet boots, ascended the slope, and +crouched down behind a bush a few yards from the top. He had gained on +Paul, and arrived at his hiding-place in time to hear the exclamation +wrung from his precursor by the sudden sight of the barricade: from the +valley below the erection had been so hidden by bushes as to escape +notice. + +"What the devil's that for?" exclaimed Paul de Roustache in a low +voice. He was not left without an answer. The watcher had cause for +the smile that spread over his face, as, peeping out, he saw a man's +figure rise from a seat and come forward. The next moment Paul was +addressed in smooth and suave tones, and in his native language, which +he had hurriedly employed in his surprised ejaculation. + +"That, sir," said Dieppe, waving his hand towards the barricade, "is +erected in order to prevent intrusion. But it does n't seem to be very +successful." + +"Who are you?" demanded Paul, angrily. + +"I should, I think, be the one to ask that question," Dieppe answered +with a smile. "It is not, I believe, your garden?" His emphasis on +"your" came very near to an assertion of proprietorship in himself. +"Pray, sir, to what am I indebted for the honour of this meeting?" The +Captain was enjoying this unexpected encounter with his supposed +pursuer. Apparently the pursuer did not know him. Very well; he would +take advantage of that bit of stupidity on the part of the pursuer's +superior officers. It was like them to send a man who did n't know +him! "You wish to see some one in the house?" he asked, looking at +Paul's angry and puzzled face. + +But Paul began to recover his coolness. + +"I am indeed to blame for my intrusion," he said. "I 'm passing the +night at the inn, and tempted by the mildness of the air--" + +"It is certainly very mild," agreed Dieppe. + +"I strolled across the stepping-stones and up the hill. I admire the +appearance of a river by night." + +"Certainly, certainly. But, sir, the river does not run in this +garden." + +"Of course not, M. le Comte," said Paul, forcing a smile. "At least I +presume that I address--?" + +Dieppe took off his hat, bowed, and replaced it. He had, however, much +ado not to chuckle. + +"But I was led on by the sight of this remarkable structure." He +indicated the barricade again. + +"There was nothing else you wished to see?" + +"On my honour, nothing. And I must offer you my apologies." + +"As for the structure--" added Dieppe, shrugging his shoulders. + +"Yes?" cried Paul, with renewed interest. + +"Its purpose is to divide the garden into two portions. No more and no +less, I assure you." + +Paul's face took on an ugly expression. + +"I am at such a disadvantage," he observed, "that I cannot complain of +M. le Comte's making me the subject of pleasantry. Under other +circumstances I might raise different emotions in him. Perhaps I shall +have my opportunity." + +"When you find me, sir, prowling about other people's gardens by +night--" + +"Prowling!" interrupted Paul, fiercely. + +"Well, then," said Dieppe, with an air of courteous apology, "shall we +say skulking?" + +"You shall pay for that!" + +"With pleasure, if you convince me that it is a gentleman who asks +satisfaction." + +Paul de Roustache smiled. "At my convenience," he said, "I will give +you a reference which shall satisfy you most abundantly." He drew +back, lifted his hat, and bowed. + +"I shall await it with interest," said Dieppe, returning the +salutation, and then folding his arms and watching Paul's retreat down +the hill. "The fellow brazened it out well," he reflected; "but I +shall hear no more of him, I fancy. After all, police-agents don't +fight duels with--why, with Counts, you know!" And his laugh rang out +in hearty enjoyment through the night air. "Ha, ha--it 's not so easy +to put salt on old Dieppe's tail!" With a sigh of satisfaction he +turned round, as though to go back to the house. But his eye was +caught by a light in the window next to his own; and the window was +open. The Captain stood and looked up, and Monsieur Guillaume, who had +overheard his little soliloquy and discovered from it a fact of great +interest to himself, seized the opportunity of rising from behind his +bush and stealing off down the hill after Paul de Roustache. + +"Ah," thought the Captain, as he gazed at the window, "if there were no +such thing as honour or loyalty, as friendship--" + +"Sir," said a timid voice at his elbow. + +Dieppe shot round, and then and there lost his heart. One sight of her +a man might endure and be heart-whole, not two. There, looking up at +him with the most bewitching mouth, the most destructive eyes, was the +lady whom he had seen at the end of the passage. Certainly she was the +most irresistible creature he had ever met; so he declared to himself, +not, indeed, for the first time in his life, but none the less with +unimpeachable sincerity. For a man could do nothing but look at her, +and the man who looked at her had to smile at her; then if she smiled, +the man had to laugh; and what happened afterwards would depend on the +inclinations of the lady: at least it would not be very safe to rely on +the principles of the gentleman. + +But now she was not laughing. Genuine and deep distress was visible on +her face. + +"Madame la Comtesse--" stammered the dazzled Captain. + +For an instant she looked at him, seeming, he thought, to ask if she +could trust him. Then she said impatiently: "Yes, yes; but never mind +that. Who are you? Oh, why did you tell him you were the Count? Oh, +you 've ruined everything!" + +"Ruined--?" + +"Yes, yes; because now he 'll write to the Count. Oh, I heard your +quarrel. I listened from the window. Oh, I did n't think anybody +could be as stupid as you!" + +"Madame!" pleaded the unhappy Captain. "I thought the fellow was a +police-agent on my track, and--" + +"On your track? Oh, who are you?" + +"My name is Dieppe, madame--Captain Dieppe, at your service." It was +small wonder that a little stiffness had crept into the Captain's +tones. This was not, so far, just the sort of interview which had +filled his dreams. For the first time the glimmer of a smile appeared +on the lady's lips, the ghost of a sparkle in her eyes. + +"What a funny name!" she observed reflectively. + +"I fail to see the drollery of it." + +"Oh, don't be silly and starchy. You 've got us into terrible trouble." + +"You?" + +"Yes; all of us. Because now--" She broke off abruptly. "How do you +come to be here?" she asked in a rather imperious tone. + +Dieppe gave a brief account of himself, concluding with the hope that +his presence did not annoy the Countess. The lady shook her head and +glanced at him with a curious air of inquiry or examination. In spite +of the severity, or even rudeness, of her reproaches, Dieppe fell more +and more in love with her every moment. At last he could not resist a +sly reference to their previous encounter. She raised innocent eyes to +his. + +"I saw the door was open, but I did n't notice anybody there," she said +with irreproachable demureness. + +The Captain looked at her for a moment, then he began to laugh. + +"I myself saw nothing but a cat," said he. + +The lady began to laugh. + +"You must let me atone for my stupidity," cried Dieppe, catching her +hand. + +"I wonder if you could!" + +"I will, or die in the attempt. Tell me how!" And the Captain kissed +the hand that he had captured. + +"There are conditions." + +"Not too hard?" + +"First, you must n't breathe a word to the Count of having seen me +or--or anybody else." + +"I should n't have done that, anyhow," remarked Dieppe, with a sudden +twinge of conscience. + +"Secondly, you must never try to see me, except when I give you leave." + +"I won't try, I will only long," said the Captain. + +"Thirdly, you must ask no questions." + +"It is too soon to ask the only one which I would n't pledge myself at +your bidding never to ask." + +"To whom," inquired the lady, "do you conceive yourself to be speaking, +Captain Dieppe?" But the look that accompanied the rebuke was not very +severe. + +"Tell me what I must do," implored the Captain. + +She looked at him very kindly, partly because he was a handsome fellow, +partly because it was her way; and she said with the prettiest, +simplest air, as though she were making the most ordinary request and +never thought of a refusal: + +"Will you give me fifty thousand francs?" + +"I would give you a million thousand--but I have only fifty." + +"It would be your all, then! Oh, I should n't like to--" + +"You misunderstand me, madame. I have fifty francs, not fifty +thousand." + +"Oh!" said she, frowning. Then she laughed a little; then, to Dieppe's +indescribable agony, her eyes filled with tears and her lips quivered. +She put her hand up to her eyes; Dieppe heard a sob. + +"For God's sake--" he whispered. + +"Oh, I can't help it," she said, and she sobbed again; but now she did +not try to hide her face. She looked up in the Captain's, conquering +her sobs, but unable to restrain her tears. "It's not my fault, and it +is so hard on me," she wailed. Then she suddenly jumped back, crying, +"Oh, what were you going to do?" and regarding the Captain with +reproachful alarm. + +"I don't know," said Dieppe in some confusion, as he straightened +himself again. "I could n't help it; you aroused my sympathy," he +explained--for what the explanation might be worth. + +"You won't be able to help me," she murmured, "unless--unless--" + +"What?" + +"Well, unless you 're able to help it, you know." + +"I will think," promised Dieppe, "of my friend the Count." + +"Of the--? Oh yes, of course." There never was such a face for +changes--she was smiling now. "Yes, think of your friend the Count, +that will be capital. Oh, but we 're wasting time!" + +"On the contrary, madame," the Captain assured her with overwhelming +sincerity. + +"Yes, we are. And we 're not safe here. Suppose the Count saw us!" + +"Why, yes, that would be--" + +"That would be fatal," said she decisively, and the Captain did not +feel himself in a position to contradict her. He contented himself +with taking her hand again and pressing it softly. Certainly she made +a man feel very sympathetic. + +"But I must see you again--" + +"Indeed I trust so, madame." + +"On business." + +"Call it what you will, so that--" + +"Not here. Do you know the village? No? Well, listen. If you go +through the village, past the inn and up the hill, you will come to a +Cross by the roadside. Strike off from that across the grass, again +uphill. When you reach the top you will find a hollow, and in it a +shepherd's hut--deserted. Meet me there at dusk to-morrow, about six, +and I will tell you how to help me." + +"I will be there," said the Captain. + +The lady held out both her hands--small, white, ungloved, and unringed. +The Captain's eyes rested a moment on the finger that should have worn +the golden band which united her to his friend the Count. It was not +there; she had sent it back--with the marriage contract. With a sigh, +strangely blended of pain and pleasure, he bent and kissed her hands. +She drew them away quickly, gave a nervous little laugh, and ran off. +The Captain watched her till she disappeared round the corner of the +barricade, and then with another deep sigh betook himself to his own +quarters. + +The cat did not mew in the passage that night. None the less Captain +Dieppe's slumbers were broken and disturbed. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE INN IN THE VILLAGE + +While confessing that her want of insight into Paul de Roustache's true +character was inconceivably stupid, the Countess of Fieramondi +maintained that her other mistakes (that was the word she +chose--indiscretions she rejected as too severe) were extremely venial, +and indeed, under all the circumstances, quite natural. It was true +that she had promised to hold no communication with Paul after that +affair of the Baroness von Englebaden's diamond necklace, in which his +part was certainly peculiar, though hardly so damnatory as Andrea chose +to assume. It was true that, when one is supposed to be at Mentone for +one's health one should not leave one's courier there (in order to +receive letters) and reside instead with one's maid at Monte Carlo; +true, further, that it is unwise to gamble heavily, to lose largely, to +confide the misfortune to a man of Paul's equivocal position and +reputation, to borrow twenty thousand francs of him, to lose or spend +all, save what served to return home with, and finally to acknowledge +the transaction and the obligation both very cordially by word of mouth +and (much worse) in letters which were--well, rather effusively +grateful. There was nothing absolutely criminal in all this, unless +the broken promise must be stigmatised as such; and of that Andrea had +heard: he was aware that she had renewed acquaintance with M. de +Roustache. The rest of the circumstances were so fatal in that they +made it impossible for her to atone for this first lapse. In fine, +Count Andrea, not content now to rely on her dishonoured honour, but +willing to trust to her strong religious feelings, had demanded of her +an oath that she would hold no further communication of any sort, kind, +or nature with Paul de Roustache. The oath was a terrible oath--to be +sworn on a relic which had belonged to the Cardinal and was most sacred +in the eyes of the Fieramondi. And with Paul in possession of those +letters and not in possession of his twenty thousand francs, the +Countess felt herself hardly a free agent. For if she did not +communicate with Paul, to a certainty Paul would communicate with +Andrea. If that happened she would die; while if she broke the oath +she would never dare to die. In this dilemma the Countess could do +nothing but declare--first, that she had met Paul accidentally (which +so far as the first meeting went was true enough), secondly, that she +would not live with a man who did not trust her; and, thirdly, that to +ask an oath of her was a cruel and wicked mockery from a man whose +views on the question of the Temporal Power proclaimed him to be +little, it at all, better than an infidel. The Count was very icy and +very polite. The Countess withdrew to the right wing; receiving the +Count's assurance that the erection of the barricade would not be +disagreeable to him, she had it built--and sat down behind it (so to +speak) awaiting in sorrow, dread, and loneliness the terrible moment of +Paul de Roustache's summons. And (to make one more confession on her +behalf) her secret and real reason for ordering that nightly +illumination, which annoyed the Count so sorely, lay in the hope of +making the same gentleman think, when he did arrive, that she +entertained a houseful of guests, and was therefore well protected by +her friends. Otherwise he would try to force an interview under cover +of night. + +These briefly indicated facts of the case, so appalling to the unhappy +Countess, were on the other hand eminently satisfactory to M. Paul de +Roustache. To be plain, they meant money, either from the Countess or +from the Count. To Paul's mind they seemed to mean--well, say, fifty +thousand francs--that twenty of his returned, and thirty as a solatium +for the trifling with his affections of which he proposed to maintain +that the Countess had been guilty. The Baroness von Englebaden's +diamonds had gone the way and served the purposes to which family +diamonds seem at some time or other to be predestined: and Paul was +very hard up. The Countess must be very frightened, the Count was very +proud. The situation was certainly worth fifty thousand francs to Paul +de Roustache. Sitting outside the inn, smoking his cigar, on the +morning after his encounter in the garden, he thought over all this; +and he was glad that he had not let his anger at the Count's insolence +run away with his discretion, the insolence would make his revenge all +the sweeter when he put his hand, either directly or indirectly, into +the Count's pocket and exacted compensation to the tune of fifty +thousand francs. + +Buried in these thoughts--in the course of which it is interesting to +observe that he did not realise his own iniquity--he failed to notice +that Monsieur Guillaume had sat down beside him and, like himself, was +gazing across the valley towards the Castle. He started to find the +old fellow at his elbow; he started still more when he was addressed by +his name. "You know my name?" he exclaimed, with more perturbation +than a stranger's knowledge of that fact about him should excite in an +honest man. + +"It's my business to know people." + +"I don't know you." + +"That also is my business," smiled M. Guillaume. "But in this case we +will not be too business-like. I will waive my advantage, M. de +Roustache." + +"You called yourself Guillaume," said Paul with a suspicious glance. + +"I was inviting you to intimacy. My name is Guillaume--Guillaume +Sévier, at your service." + +"Sévier? The--?" + +"Precisely. Don't be uneasy. My business is not with you." He +touched his arm. "Your reasons for a midnight walk are nothing to me; +young men take these fancies, and--well, the innkeeper says the +Countess is handsome. But I am bound to admit that his description of +the Count by no means tallies with the appearance of the gentleman who +talked with you last night." + +"Who talked with me! You were--?" + +"I was there--behind a bush a little way down the hill." + +"Upon my word, sir--" + +"Oh, I had my business too. But for the moment listen to something +that concerns you. The Count is not yet thirty, his eyes are large and +dreamy, his hair long, he wears no moustache, his manner is melancholy, +there is no air of bravado about him. Do I occasion you surprise?" + +Paul de Roustache swore heartily. + +"Then," he ended, "all I can say is that I should like ten minutes +alone with the fellow who made a fool of me last night, whoever he is." + +Again Guillaume--as he wished to be called--touched his companion's arm. + +"I too have a matter to discuss with that gentleman," he said. Paul +looked surprised. "M. de Roustache," Guillaume continued with an +insinuating smile, "is not ignorant of recent events; he moves in the +world of affairs. I think we might help one another. And there is no +harm in being popular with the--with--er--my department, instead of +being--well, rather unpopular, eh, my dear M. de Roustache?" + +Paul did not contest this insinuation nor show any indignation at it; +the wink which accompanied it he had the self-respect to ignore. + +"What do you want from him?" he asked, discerning Guillaume's point, +and making straight for it. + +"Merely some papers he has." + +"What do you want the papers for?" + +"To enable us to know whom we ought to watch." + +"Is the affair political or--?" + +"Oh, political--not in your line." Paul frowned. "Forgive my little +joke," apologised M. Guillaume. + +"And he 's got them?" + +"Oh, yes--at least, we have very little doubt of it." + +"Perhaps he 's destroyed them." + +Guillaume laughed softly. "Ah, my dear sir," said he, "he would n't do +that. While he keeps them he is safe, he is important, he might +become--well, richer than he is." + +Paul shot a quick glance at his companion. + +"How do you mean to get the papers?" + +"I 'm instructed to buy. But if he 's honest, he won't sell. Still I +must have them." + +"Tell me his name." + +"Oh, by all means--Captain Dieppe." + +"Ah, I 've heard of him. He was in Brazil, was n't he?" + +"Yes, and in Bulgaria." + +"Spain too, I fancy?" + +"Dear me, I was n't aware of that," said Guillaume, with some vexation. +"But it's neither here nor there. Can I count on your assistance?" + +"But what the devil does he pretend to be the Count for?" + +"Forgive the supposition, but perhaps he imagined that your business +was what mine is. Then he would like to throw you off the scent by +concealing his identity." + +"By heaven, and I nearly--!" + +"Nearly did what, dear M. de Roustache?" said old Guillaume very +softly. "Nearly dragged in the name of Madame la Comtesse, were you +going to say?" + +"How do you know anything--?" began Paul. + +"A guess--on my honour a guess! You affect the ladies, eh? Oh, we 're +not such strangers as you think." He spoke in a more imperious tone: +it was almost threatening. "I think you must help me, Monsieur Paul," +said he. + +His familiarity, which was certainly no accident, pointed more +precisely the vague menace of his demand. + +But Paul was not too easily frightened. + +"All right," said he, "but I must get something out of it, you know." + +"On the day I get the papers--by whatever means--you shall receive ten +thousand francs. And I will not interfere with your business. Come, +my proposal is handsome, you must allow." + +"Well, tell me what to do." + +"You shall write a note, addressed to the Count, telling him you must +see him on a matter which deeply touches his interest and his honour." + +"How much do you know?" Paul broke in suspiciously. + +"I knew nothing till last night; now I am beginning to know. But +listen. The innkeeper is my friend; he will manage that this note +shall be delivered--not to the Count, but to Dieppe; if any question +arises, he 'll say you described the gentleman beyond mistake, and in +the note you will refer to last night's interview. He won't suspect +that I have undeceived you. Well then, in the note you will make a +rendezvous with him. He will come, either for fun or because he thinks +he can serve his friend--the Count or the Countess, whichever it may +be. If I don't offend your susceptibilities, I should say it was the +Countess. Oh, I am judging only by general probability." + +"Supposing he comes--what then?" + +"Why, when he comes, I shall be there--visible. And you will be there +invisible--unless cause arises for you also to become visible. But the +details can be settled later. Come, will you write the letter?" + +Paul de Roustache thought a moment, nodded, rose, and was about to +follow Guillaume into the inn. But he stopped again and laid a hand on +his new friend's shoulder. + +"If your innkeeper is so intelligent and so faithful--" + +"The first comes from heaven," shrugged Guillaume. "The second is, all +the world over, a matter of money, my friend." + +"Of course. Well then, he might take another note." + +"To the other Count?" + +"Why, no." + +"Not yet, eh?" + +Paul forced a rather wry smile. "You have experience, Monsieur +Guillaume," he confessed. + +"To the Countess, is n't it? I see no harm in that. I ask you to help +in my business; I observe my promise not to interfere with yours. He +is intelligent; we will make him faithful: he shall take two notes by +all means, my friend." + +With the advice and assistance of Guillaume the two notes were soon +written: the first was couched much in the terms suggested by that +ingenious old schemer, the second was more characteristic of Paul +himself and of the trade which Paul had joined. "It would grieve me +profoundly," the precious missive ran, "to do anything to distress you. +But I have suffered very seriously, and not in my purse only. Unless +you will act fairly by me, I must act for myself. If I do not receive +fifty thousand francs in twenty-four hours, I turn to the only other +quarter open to me. I am to be found at the inn. There is no need of +a signature; you will remember your--Friend." + +Guillaume put on his spectacles and read it through twice. + +"Excellent, Monsieur Paul!" said he. + +"It is easy to detect a practised hand." And when Paul swore at him, +he laughed the more, finding much entertainment in mocking the rascal +whom he used. + +Yet in this conduct there was a rashness little befitting Guillaume's +age and Guillaume's profession. Paul was not a safe man to laugh at. +If from time to time, in the way of business, he was obliged to throw a +light brighter than he would have preferred on his own character, he +did not therefore choose to be made the subject of raillery. And if it +was not safe to mock him, neither was it very safe to talk of money to +him. The thought of money--of thousands of francs, easily convertible +into pounds, marks, dollars, florins, or whatever chanced to be the +denomination of the country to which free and golden-winged steps might +lead him--had a very inflaming effect on M. Paul de Roustache's +imagination. The Baron von Englebaden had started the whole of that +troublesome affair by boasting of the number of thousands of marks +which had gone to the making of the Baroness's necklace. And now M. +Guillaume--rash M. Guillaume--talked of bribing Captain Dieppe. +Bribery means money; if the object is important it means a large amount +of money: and presumably the object is important and the scale of +expenditure correspondingly liberal, when such a comfortable little +_douceur_ as ten thousand francs is readily promised as the reward of +incidental assistance. Following this train of thought, Paul's mind +fixed itself with some persistency on two points. The first was +modest, reasonable, definite; he would see the colour of Guillaume's +money before the affair went further; he would have his ten thousand +francs, or at least a half of them, before he lent any further aid by +word or deed. But the second idea was larger; it was also vaguer, and, +although it hardly seemed less reasonable or natural to the brain which +conceived it, it could scarcely be said to be as justifiable; at any +rate it did not admit of being avowed as frankly to Guillaume himself. +In fact Paul was wondering how much money Guillaume proposed to pay for +Captain Dieppe's honour (in case that article proved to be in the +market), and, further, where and in what material form that money was. +Would it be gold? Why, hardly; when it comes to thousands of anything, +the coins are not handy to carry about. Would it be a draft? That is +a safe mode of conveying large sums, but it has its disadvantages in +affairs where secrecy is desired and ready money indispensable. Would +it be notes? There were risks here--but also conveniences. And +Guillaume seemed bold as well as wary. Moreover Guillaume's coat was +remarkably shabby, his air very unassuming, and his manner of life at +the hotel frugality itself; such a playing of the _vacuus viator_ might +be meant to deceive not only the landlord of the Aquila Nera, but also +any other predatory persons whom Guillaume should encounter in the +course of his travels. Yes, some of it would be in notes. Paul de +Roustache bade the serving-maid bring him a bottle of wine, and passed +an hour in consuming it very thoughtfully. + +Guillaume returned from his conversation with the innkeeper just as the +last glass was poured out. To Paul's annoyance he snatched it up and +drained it--an act of familiarity that reached insolence. + +"To the success of our enterprise!" said he, grinning at his +discomfited companion. "All goes well. The innkeeper knows the +Countess's maid, and the note will reach the Countess by midday; I have +described Dieppe to him most accurately, and he will hang about till he +gets a chance of delivering the second note to him, or seeing it +delivered." + +"And what are we to do?" asked Paul, still sour and still thoughtful. + +"As regards the Countess, nothing. If the money comes, good for you. +If not, I presume you will, at your own time, open communications with +the Count?" + +"It is possible," Paul admitted. + +"Very," said M. Guillaume dryly. "And as regards Dieppe our course is +very plain. I am at the rendezvous, waiting for him, by half-past six. +You will also be at, or near, the rendezvous. We will settle more +particularly how it is best to conduct matters when we see the lie of +the ground. No general can arrange his tactics without inspecting the +battlefield, eh? And moreover we can't tell what the enemy's +dispositions--or disposition--may turn out to be." + +"And meanwhile there is nothing to do?" + +"Nothing? On the contrary--breakfast, a smoke, and a nap," corrected +Guillaume in a contented tone. "Then, my friend, we shall be ready for +anything that may occur--for anything in the world we shall be ready." + +"I wonder if you will," thought Paul de Roustache, resentfully eyeing +the glass which M. Guillaume had emptied. + +It remains to add only that, on the advice and information of the +innkeeper, the Cross on the roadside up the hill behind the village had +been suggested as the rendezvous, and that seven in the evening had +seemed a convenient hour to propose for the meeting. For Guillaume had +no reason to suppose that a prior engagement would take the Captain to +the same neighbourhood at six. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE RENDEZVOUS BY THE CROSS + +Beneath the reserved and somewhat melancholy front which he generally +presented to the world, the Count of Fieramondi was of an ardent and +affectionate disposition. Rather lacking, perhaps, in resolution and +strength of character, he was the more dependent on the regard and help +of others, and his fortitude was often unequal to the sacrifices which +his dignity and his pride demanded. Yet the very pride which led him +into positions that he could not endure made it well-nigh impossible +for him to retreat. This disposition, an honourable but not altogether +a happy one, serves to explain both the uncompromising attitude which +he had assumed in his dispute with his wife, and the misery of heart +which had betrayed itself in the poem he read to Captain Dieppe, with +its indirect but touching appeal to his friend's sympathy. + +Now his resolve was growing weaker as the state of hostilities, his +loneliness, the sight of that detestable barricade, became more and +more odious to him. He began to make excuses for the Countess--not +indeed for all that she had done (for her graver offences were unknown +to him), but for what he knew of, for the broken promise and the +renewal of acquaintance with Paul de Roustache. He imputed to her a +picturesque penitence and imagined her, on her side of the barricade, +longing for a pardon she dared not ask and a reconciliation for which +she could hardly venture to hope; he went so far as to embody these +supposed feelings of hers in a graceful little poem addressed to +himself and entitled, "To My Cruel Andrea." In fine the Count was +ready to go on his knees if he received proper encouragement. Here his +pride had its turn: this encouragement he must have; he would not risk +an interview, a second rebuff, a repetition of that insolence of manner +with which he had felt himself obliged to charge the Countess or +another slamming of the door in his face, such as had offended him so +justly and so grievously in those involuntary interviews which had +caused him to change his apartments. But now--the thought came to him +as the happiest of inspirations--he need expose himself to none of +these humiliations. Fortune had provided a better way. Shunning +direct approaches with all their dangers, he would use an intermediary. +By Heaven's kindness the ideal ambassador was ready to his hand--a man +of affairs, accustomed to delicate negotiations, yet (the Count added) +honourable, true, faithful, and tender-hearted. "My friend Dieppe will +rejoice to serve me," he said to himself with more cheerfulness than he +had felt since first the barricade had reared its hated front. He sent +his servant to beg the favour of Dieppe's company. + +At the moment--which, to be precise, was four o'clock in the +afternoon--no invitation could have been more unwelcome to Captain +Dieppe. He had received his note from the hands of a ragged urchin as +he strolled by the river an hour before: its purport rather excited +than alarmed him; but the rendezvous mentioned was so ill-chosen, from +his point of view, that it caused him dismay. And he had in vain tried +to catch sight of the Countess or find means of communicating with her +without arousing suspicion. He had other motives too for shrinking +from such expressions of friendliness as he had reason to anticipate +from his host. But he did not expect anything so disconcerting as the +proposal which the Count actually laid before him when he unwillingly +entered his presence. + +"Go to her--go to her on your behalf?" he exclaimed in a consternation +which luckily passed for a modest distrust of his qualifications for +the task. "But, my dear friend, what am I to say?" + +"Say that I love her," said the Count in his low, musical tones. "Say +that beneath all differences, all estrangements, lies my deep, abiding, +unchanging love." + +Statements of this sort the Captain preferred to make, when occasion +arose, on his own behalf. + +"Say that I know I have been hard to her, that I recede from my demand, +that I will be content with her simple word that she will not, without +my knowledge, hold any communication with the person she knows of." + +The Captain now guessed--or at least very shrewdly suspected--the +position of affairs. But he showed no signs of understanding. + +"Tell her," pursued the Count, laying his hand on Dieppe's shoulder and +speaking almost as ardently as though he were addressing his wife +herself, "that I never suspected her of more than a little levity, and +that I never will or could." + +Dieppe found himself speculating how much the Count's love and trust +might induce him to include in the phrase "a little levity." + +"That she should listen--I will not say to love-making--but even to +gallantry, to a hint of admiration, to the least attempt at flirtation, +has never entered my head about my Emilia." + +The Captain, amid all his distress, marked the name. + +"I trust her--I trust her!" cried the Count, raising his hands in an +obvious stress of emotion, "as I trust myself, as I would trust my +brother, my bosom friend. Yes, my dear friend, as I now trust you +yourself. Go to her and say, 'I am Andrea's friend, his trusted +friend. I am the messenger of love. Give me your love--'" + +"What?" cried the Captain. The words sounded wonderfully attractive. + +"'Give me your love to carry back to him.'" + +"Oh, exactly," murmured the Captain, relapsing into altruistic gloom. + +"Then all will be forgiven between us. Only our love will be +remembered. And you, my friend, will have the happiness of seeing us +reunited, and of knowing that two grateful hearts thank you. I can +imagine no greater joy." + +"It would certainly be--er--intensely gratifying," murmured Dieppe. + +"You would remember it all your life. It is not a thing a man gets the +chance of doing often." + +"No," agreed the Captain; but he thought to himself, "Deuce take it, he +talks as if he were doing me a favour!" + +"My friend, you look sad; you don't seem--" + +"Oh, yes, I do--yes, I am," interrupted the Captain, hastily assuming, +or trying to assume, a cheerful expression. "But--" + +"I understand--I understand. You doubt yourself?" + +"That's it," assented the Captain very truthfully. + +"Your tact, your discretion, your knowledge of women?" (Dieppe had +never in his life doubted any of these things; but he let the +accusation pass.) "Don't be afraid. Emilia will like you. I know +that Emilia will like you. And you will like her. I know it." + +"You think so?" No intonation could have expressed greater doubt. + +"I am certain of it; and when two people like one another, all goes +easily." + +"Well, not always," said the Captain, whose position made him less +optimistic. + +The Count felt in his waistcoat-pocket. Dieppe sat looking down +towards the floor with a frown on his face. He raised his eyes to find +the Count holding out his hand towards him; in the open palm of it lay +a wedding-ring. + +"Take it back to her," said the Count. + +"Really had n't you better do that yourself?" expostulated the Captain, +who felt himself hard driven by fate. + +"No," said the Count, firmly. "I leave it all to you. Put it on her +finger and say, 'This is the pledge of love--of love renewed--of +Andrea's undying love for you.'" He thrust the symbol of bliss into +Captain Dieppe's most reluctant hand. The Captain sat and looked at it +in a horrified fascination. + +"You will do it for me?" urged the Count. "You can't refuse! Ah, my +friend, if my sorrow does n't move you, think of hers. She is alone +there in that wing of the house--even her cousin, who was with her, was +obliged to leave her three days ago. There she sits, thinking of her +faults, poor child, in solitude! Alas, it is only too likely in tears! +I can't bear to think of her in tears." + +The Captain quite understood that feeling; he had seen her in them. + +"You will help us? Your noble nature will force you to it!" + +After a moment's hesitation, pardonable surely in weak humanity, Dieppe +put the Countess's wedding-ring in his pocket, rose to his feet, and +with a firm unfaltering face held out his hand to his friend and host. + +"I can refuse you nothing," he said, in most genuine emotion. "I will +do what you ask. May it bring happiness to--to--to all of us!" He +wrung the Count's hand with a grip that spoke of settled purpose. "You +shall hear how I fare very soon," he said, as he made for the door. + +The Count nodded hopefully, and, when he was left alone, set to work on +a little lyric of joy, with which to welcome the return of his forgiven +and forgiving spouse. + +But it was hard on Captain Dieppe; the strictest moralist may admit +that without endangering his principles. Say the Captain had been +blameworthy; still his punishment was heavy--heavy and most woefully +prompt. His better nature, his finer feelings, his instincts of honour +and loyalty, might indeed respond to the demand made on them by the +mission with which his friend entrusted him. But the demand was heavy, +the call grievous. Where he had pictured joy, there remained now only +renunciation; he had dreamed of conquest; there could be none, save the +hardest and least grateful, the conquest of himself. Firm the Captain +might be, but sad he must be. He could still serve the Countess (was +not Paul de Roustache still dangerous?), but he could look for no +reward. Small wonder that the meeting, whose risks and difficulty had +made it seem before only the sweeter, now lost all its delight, and +became the hardest of ordeals, the most severe and grim of duties. + +If this was the Captain's mood, that of the lady whom he was to meet +could be hardly more cheerful. If conscience seemed to trouble her +less, and unhappy love not to occupy her mind as it governed his, the +external difficulties of her position occasioned her greater distress +and brought her near despair. Paul de Roustache's letter had been +handed to her by her servant, with a smile half reproachful, half +mocking, she had seized it, torn it open, and read it. She understood +its meaning; she saw that the dreaded crisis had indeed come; and she +was powerless to deal with it, or to avert the catastrophe it +threatened. She sat before it now, very near to doing just what Count +Andrea hated to think of and Captain Dieppe could not endure to see; +and as she read and re-read the hateful thing she moaned softly to +herself: + +"Oh, how could I be so silly! How could I put myself in such a +position? How could I consent to anything of the sort? I don't know +what 'll happen. I have n't got fifty thousand francs! Oh, Emilia, +how could you do it? I don't know what to do! And I 'm all +alone--alone to face this fearful trouble!" Indeed the Count, led no +doubt by the penetrating sympathy of love, seemed to have divined her +feelings with a wonderful accuracy. + +She glanced up at the clock, it was nearly five. The smile that came +on her face was sad and timid; yet it was a smile of hope. "Perhaps he +'ll be able to help me," she thought. "He has no money, no--only fifty +francs, poor man! But he seems to be brave--oh, yes, he 's brave. And +I think he's clever. I 'll go to the meeting-place and take the note. +He 's the only chance." She rose and walked to a mirror. She +certainly looked a little less woe-begone now, and she examined her +appearance with an earnest criticism. The smile grew more hopeful, a +little more assured, as she murmured to herself, "I think he 'll help +me, if he can, you know; because--well, because--" For an instant she +even laughed. "And I rather like him too, you know," she ended by +confiding to the mirror. These latter actions and words were not in +such complete harmony with Count Andrea's mental picture of the lady on +the other side of the barricade. + +Betaking herself to the room from which she had first beheld Captain +Dieppe's face--not, as the Count would have supposed, as a consequence +of any design, but by the purest and most unexpected chance--she +arrayed herself in a short skirt and thick boots, and wrapped a cloak +round her, for a close, misty rain was already falling, and the moaning +of the wind in the trees promised a stormy evening. Then she stole out +and made for the gate in the right wall of the gardens. The same old +servant who had brought the note was there to let her out. + +"You will be gone long, Contessa?" she asked. + +"No, Maria, not long. If I am asked for, say I am lying down." + +"Who should ask for you? The Count?" + +"Not very likely," she replied with a laugh, in which the servant +joined. "But if he does, I am absolutely not to be seen, Maria." And +with another little laugh she began to skirt the back of the gardens so +as to reach the main road, and thus make her way by the village to the +Cross on the hill, and the little hut in the hollow behind it. + +Almost at the same moment Captain Dieppe, cursing his fortune, his +folly, and the weather, with the collar of his coat turned up, his hat +crashed hard on his head, and (just in case of accidents) his revolver +in his pocket, came out into the garden and began to descend the hill +towards where the stepping-stones gave him passage across the river. +Thus he also would reach the village, pass through it, and mount the +hill to the Cross. His way was shorter and his pace quicker. To be +there before the lady would be only polite; it would also give him a +few minutes in which to arrange his thoughts and settle what might be +the best way to open to her the new--the very new--things that he had +to say. In the preoccupation of these he thought little of his later +appointment at seven o'clock--although it was in view of this that he +had slipped the revolver into his pocket. + +Finally, just about the same time also, Guillaume was rehearsing to +Paul de Roustache exactly what they were to do and where their +respective parts began and terminated. Paul was listening with deep +attention, with a curious smile on his face, and with the inner +reflection that things in the end might turn out quite differently from +what his astute companion supposed would be the case. Moreover--also +just in case of accidents--both of these gentlemen, it may be +mentioned, had slipped revolvers into their pockets. Such things may +be useful when one carries large sums of money to a rendezvous, equally +so in case one hopes to carry them back from it. The former was M. +Guillaume's condition, the latter that of Paul de Roustache. On the +whole there seemed a possibility of interesting incidents occurring by +or in the neighbourhood of the Cross on the hillside above the village. + +What recked the Count of Fieramondi of that? He was busy composing his +lyric in honour of the return of his forgiven and forgiving Countess. +Of what was happening he had no thought. + +And not less ignorant of these possible incidents was a lady who this +same evening stood in the courtyard of the only inn of the little town +of Sasellano, where the railway ended, and whence the traveller to the +Count of Fieramondi's Castle must take a carriage and post-horses. + +The lady demanded horses, protested, raged; most urgent business called +her to pursue her journey, she said. But the landlord hesitated and +shook his head. + +"It 's good twelve miles and against collar almost all the way," he +urged. + +"I will pay what you like," she cried. + +"But see, the rain falls--it has fallen for two hours. The water will +be down from the hills, and the stream will be in flood before you +reach the ford. Your Excellency had best sleep here to-night. Indeed +your Excellency must." + +"I won't," said her Excellency flatly. + +And at that point--which may be called the direct issue--the dispute +must now be left. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE HUT IN THE HOLLOW + +Geography, in itself a tiresome thing, concerned with such soulless +matters as lengths, depths, heights, breadths, and the like, gains +interest so soon as it establishes a connection with the history of +kingdoms, and the ambitions, passions, or fortunes of mankind; so that +men may pore over a map with more eagerness than the greatest of +romances can excite, or scan a countryside with a keenness that the +beauty of no picture could evoke. To Captain Dieppe, a soldier, even +so much apology was not necessary for the careful scrutiny of +topographical features which was his first act on reaching the Cross on +the hillside. His examination, hindered by increasing darkness and +mist, yet yielded him a general impression correct enough. + +Standing with his back to the Cross, he had on his right hand the slope +down to the village which he had just ascended; on his left the road +fell still more precipitately in zigzag curves. He could not see it +where it reached the valley and came to the river; had he been able, he +would have perceived that it ran down to and crossed the ford to which +the landlord of the inn at Sasellano had referred. But immediately +facing him he could discern the river in its bottom, and could look +down over the steep grassy declivity which descended to it from the +point at which he stood; there was no more than room for the road, and +on the road hardly room for a vehicle to pass another, or itself to +turn. On all three sides the ground fell, and he would have seemed to +stand on a watch-tower had it not been that behind him, at the back of +the cross, the upward slope of grass showed that the road did not +surmount the hill, but hung on to and skirted its side some fifty paces +from the top. Yet even where he was he found himself exposed to the +full stress of the weather, which had now increased to a storm of wind +and rain. The time of his earlier appointment was not quite due; but +the lady knew her way. With a shiver the Captain turned and began to +scramble up towards the summit. The sooner he found the shepherd's hut +the better: if it were open, he would enter; it not, he could at least +get some shelter under the lee of it. But he trusted that the Countess +would keep her tryst punctually: she must be come and gone before seven +o'clock, or she would risk an encounter with her enemy, Paul de +Roustache. "However I could probably smuggle her away; and at least he +should n't speak to her," he reflected, and was somewhat comforted. + +At the top of the hill the formation was rather peculiar. The crown +once reached, the ground dipped very suddenly from all sides, forming a +round depression in shape like a basin and at the lowest point some +twenty feet beneath the top of its enclosing walls. In this circular +hollow--not in the centre, but no more than six feet from the base of +the slope by which the Captain approached--stood the shepherd's hut. +Its door was open, swinging to and fro as the gusts of wind rose and +tell. The Captain ran down and entered. There was nothing inside but +a rough stool, a big and heavy block, something like those one may see +in butcher's shops (probably it had served the shepherds for seat or +table, as need arose), and five or six large trusses of dry maize-straw +flung down in a corner. The place was small, rude, and comfortless +enough, but if the hanging door, past which the rain drove in fiercely, +could be closed, the four walls of sawn logs would afford decent +shelter from the storm during the brief period of the conference which +the Captain awaited. + +Dieppe looked at his watch; he could just see the figures--it was ten +minutes to six. Mounting again to the summit, he looked round. Yes, +there she was, making her way up the hill, painfully struggling with +refractory cloak and skirt. A moment later she joined him and gave him +her hand, panting out: + +"Oh, I 'm so glad you 're here! There 's the most fearful trouble." + +There was, of more than one kind; none knew it better than Dieppe. + +"One need not, all the same, get any wetter," he remarked. "Come into +the hut, madame." + +She paid no heed to his words, but stood there looking forlornly round. +But the next instant the Captain enforced his invitation by catching +hold of her arm and dragging her a pace or two down the hill, while he +threw himself on the ground, his head just over the top of the +eminence. "Hush," he whispered. His keen ear had caught a footstep on +the road, although darkness and mist prevented him from seeing who +approached. It was barely six. Was Paul de Roustache an hour too +early? + +"What is it?" she asked in a low, anxious voice. "Is anybody coming? +Oh, if it should be Andrea!" + +"It's not the Count, but-- Come down into the hut, madame. You must +n't be seen." + +Now she obeyed his request. Dieppe stood in the doorway a moment, +listening. Then he pushed the door shut--it opened inwards--and with +some effort set the wooden block against it. + +"That will keep out the rain," said he, "and--and anything else, you +know." + +They were in dense darkness. The Captain took a candle and a cardboard +box of matches from an inner pocket. Striking a match after one or two +efforts (for matches and box were both damp), he melted the end of the +candle and pressed it on the block till it adhered. Then he lit the +wick. The lady watched him admiringly. + +"You seem ready for anything," she said. But the Captain shook his +head sorrowfully, as he laid his match-box down on a dry spot on the +block. + +"We have no time to lose--" he began. + +"No," she agreed, and opening her cloak she searched for something. +Finding the object she sought, she held it out to him. "I got that +this afternoon. Read it," she said. "It's from the man you met last +night--Paul de Roustache. The 'Other quarter' means Andrea. And that +means ruin." + +Captain Dieppe gently waved the letter aside. + +"No, you must read it," she urged. + +He took it, and bending down to the candle read it. "Just what it +would be," he said. + +"I can't explain anything, you know," she added hastily, with a smile +half rueful, half amused. + +"To me, at least, there 's no need you should." He paused a moment in +hesitation or emotion. Then he put his hand in his waistcoat-pocket, +drew forth a small object, and held it out towards his companion +between his finger and thumb. In the dim light she did not perceive +its nature. + +"This," said the Captain, conscientiously and even textually delivering +the message with which he was charged, "is the pledge of love." + +"Captain Dieppe!" she cried, leaping back and blushing vividly. +"Really I--! At such a time--under the circ-- And what is it! I +can't see." + +"The pledge of love renewed"--the Captain went on in a loyal hastiness, +but not without the sharpest pang--"of Andrea's undying love for you." + +"Of Andrea's--!" She stopped, presumably from excess of emotion. Her +lips were parted in a wondering smile, her eyes danced merrily even +while they questioned. "What in the world is it?" she asked again. + +"Your wedding-ring," said the Captain with sad and impressive +solemnity, and, on the pretext of snuffing the candle which flickered +and guttered in the draught, he turned away. Thus he did not perceive +the uncontrollable bewilderment which appeared on his companion's face. + +"Wedding-ring!" she murmured. + +"He sends it back again to you," explained the Captain, still busy with +the candle. + +A long-drawn "O--oh!" came from her lips, its lengthened intonation +seeming to express the dawning of comprehension. "Yes, of course," she +added very hastily. + +"He loves you," said the Captain, facing her--and his task--again. "He +can't bear his own sorrow, nor to think of yours. He withdraws his +demand; your mere word to hold no communication with the person you +know of, without his knowledge, contents him. I am his messenger. +Give me your love to--to carry back to him." + +"Did he tell you to say all that?" she asked. + +"Ah, madame, should I say it otherwise? Should I who--" With a mighty +effort he checked himself, and resumed in constrained tones. "My dear +friend the Count bade me put this ring on your finger, madame, in token +of your--your reunion with him." + +Her expression now was decidedly puzzling; certainly she was struggling +with some emotion, but it was not quite clear with what. + +"Pray do it then," she said, and, drawing off the stout little gauntlet +she wore, she presented her hand to the Captain. Bowing low, he took +it lightly, and placed the holy symbol on the appropriate finger. But +he could not make up his mind to part from the hand without one +lingering look; and he observed with some surprise that the ring was +considerably too large for the finger. "It 's very loose," he +murmured, taking perhaps a sad, whimsical pleasure in the conceit of +seeing something symbolical in the fact to which he called attention; +in truth the ring fitted so ill as to be in great danger of dropping +off. + +"Yes--or--it is rather loose. I--I hate tight rings, don't you?" She +smiled with vigour (if the expression be allowable) and added, "I 've +grown thinner too, I suppose." + +"From grief?" asked he, and he could not keep a touch of bitterness out +of his voice. + +"Well, anxiety," she amended. "I think I 'd better carry the ring in +my pocket. It would be a pity to lose it." She took off the symbol +and dropped it, somewhat carelessly it must be confessed, into a +side-pocket of her coat. Then she seated herself on the stool, and +looked up at the Captain. Her smile became rather mocking, as she +observed to Captain Dieppe: + +"Andrea has charged you with this commission since--since last night, I +suppose?" + +The words acted--whether by the intention of their utterer or not--as a +spark to the Captain's ardour. Loyal he would be to his friend and to +his embassy, but that she should suspect him of insincerity, that she +should not know his love, was more than he could bear. + +"Ah," he said, seizing her ungloved hand again, "since last night +indeed! Last night it was my dream--my mad dream-- Ah, don't be +angry! Don't draw your hand away." + +The lady's conduct indicated that she proposed to assent to both these +requests; she smiled still and she did not withdraw her hand from +Dieppe's eager grasp. + +"My honour is pledged," he went on, "but suffer me once to kiss this +hand now that it wears no ring, to dream that it need wear none, that +you are free. Ah, Countess, ah, Emilia--for once let me call you +Emilia!" + +"For once, if you like. Don't get into the habit of it," she advised. + +"No, I 'll only think of you by that name." + +"I should n't even do as much as that. It would be a-- I mean you +might forget and call me it, you know." + +"Never was man so unhappy as I am," he cried in a low but intense +voice. "But I am wrong. I must remember my trust. And you--you love +the Count?" + +"I am very fond of Andrea," said she, almost in a whisper. She seemed +to suffer sorely from embarrassment, for she added hastily, +"Don't--don't press me about that any more." Yet she was smiling. + +The Captain knelt on one knee and kissed her hand very respectfully. +The mockery passed out of her smile, and she said in a voice that for a +moment was grave and tender: + +"Thank you. I shall like to remember that. Because I think you 're a +brave man and a true friend, Captain Dieppe." + +"I thank God for helping me to remain a gentleman," said he; and, +although his manner was (according to his custom) a little pronounced +and theatrical, he spoke with a very genuine feeling. She pressed her +hand on his before she drew it away. + +"You 'll be my friend?" he asked. + +She paused before she replied, looking at him intently; then she +answered in a low voice, speaking slowly and deliberately: + +"I will be all to you that I can and that you ask me to be." + +"I have your word, dear friend?" + +"You have my word. If you ask me, I will redeem it." She looked at +him still as though she had said a great thing--as though a pledge had +passed between them, and a solemn promise from her to him. + +What seemed her feeling found an answer in Dieppe. He pressed her for +no more promises, he urged her to no more demonstration of affection +towards him. But their eyes met, their glances conquered the dimness +of the candle's light and spoke to one another. Rain beat and wind +howled outside. Dieppe heard nothing but an outspoken confession that +left honour safe and inviolate, and yet told him the sweetest thing +that he could hear--a thing so sweet that for the instant its sadness +was forgotten. He had triumphed, though he could have no reward of +victory. He was loved, though he might hear no words of love. But he +could serve her still--serve her and save her from the danger and +humiliation which, notwithstanding Count Andrea's softened mood, still +threatened her. That he even owed her; for he did not doubt that the +danger, and the solitude in which, but for him, it had to be faced, had +done much to ripen and to quicken her regard for him. As for himself, +with such a woman as the Countess in the case, he was not prepared to +own the need of any external or accidental stimulus. Yet beauty +distressed is beauty doubled; that is true all the world over, and, no +doubt, it held good even for Captain Dieppe. He had been loyal--under +the circumstances wonderfully loyal--to the Count; but he felt quite +justified, if he proved equal to the task, in robbing his friend of the +privilege of forgiveness--aye, and of the pleasure of paying fifty +thousand francs. He resolved that the Count of Fieramondi should never +know of Paul de Roustache's threats against the Countess or of his +demand for that exorbitant sum of money. + +With most people in moments of exaltation to resolve that a result is +desirable is but a preliminary to undertaking its realisation. Dieppe +had more than his share of this temper. He bent down towards his new +and dear friend, and said confidently: + +"Don't distress yourself about this fellow--I 'll manage the whole +affair without trouble or publicity." Yet he had no notion how his +words were to be made good. + +"You will?" she asked, with a confidence in the Captain apparently as +great as his own. + +"Certainly," said he, with a twirl of his moustache. + +"Then I 'd better leave it to you and go home at once." + +The inference was not quite what the Captain had desired. But he +accepted it with a tolerably good grace. When a man has once resisted +temptation there is little to be gained, and something perhaps to be +risked, by prolonging the interview. + +"I suppose so," said he. "I 'll escort you as far as the village. But +what's the time?" + +He took out his watch and held it down to the flame of the candle; the +lady rose and looked, not over his shoulder, but just round his elbow. + +"Ah, that's curious," observed the Captain, regarding the hands of his +watch. "How quickly the time has gone!" + +"Very. But why is it curious?" she asked. + +He glanced down at her face, mischievously turned up to his. + +"Well, it's not curious," he admitted, "but it is awkward." + +"It's only just seven." + +"Precisely the hour of my appointment with Paul de Roustache." + +"With Paul de Roustache?" + +"Don't trouble yourself. All will be well." + +"What appointment? Where are you to meet him?" + +"By the Cross, on the road outside there." + +"Heavens! If I were to meet him! He must n't see me!" + +"Certainly not," agreed the Captain with cheerful confidence. + +"But how are we to avoid--?" + +"Ah, you put no real trust in me," murmured he in gentle reproach, and, +it must be added, purely for the sake of gaining a moment's reflection. + +"Could n't we walk boldly by him?" she suggested. + +"He would recognise you to a certainty, even if he didn't me." + +"Recognise me? Oh, I don't know. He does n't know me very well." + +"What?" said the Captain, really a little astonished this time. + +"And there 's the rain and--and the night and--and all that," she +murmured in some confusion. + +"No man who has ever seen you--" began the Captain. + +"Hush! What's that?" whispered she, grasping his arm nervously. The +Captain, recalled to the needs of the situation, abandoned his +compliment, or argument, whichever it was, and listened intently. + +There were voices outside the hut, some little way off, seeming to come +from above, as though the speakers were on the crest of the hill. They +were audible intermittently, but connectedly enough, as though their +owners waited from time to time for a lull in the gusty wind before +they spoke. + +"Hold the lantern here. Why, it's past seven! He ought to be here by +now." + +"We 've searched every inch of the ground." + +"That's Paul de Roustache," whispered the Captain. + +"Perhaps he 's lying down out of the storm somewhere. Shall we shout?" + +"Oh, if you like--but you risk being overheard. I 'm tired of the job." + +"The ground dips here. Come, we must search the hollow. You must earn +your reward, M. de Roustache." + +The lady pressed Dieppe's arm. "I can't go now," she whispered. + +"I 'm willing to earn it, but I 'd like to see it." + +"What's that down there?" + +"You don't attend to my suggestion, M. Sévier." + +"Sévier!" muttered the Captain, and a smile spread over his face. + +"Call me Guillaume," came sharply from the voice he had first heard. + +"Exactly," murmured Dieppe. "Call him anything except his name. Oh, +exactly!" + +"It looks like--like a building--a shed or something. Come, he may be +in there." + +"Oh!" murmured the lady. "You won't let them in?" + +"They sha'n't see you," Dieppe reassured her. "But listen, my dear +friend, listen." + +"Who 's the other? Sévier?" + +"A gentleman who takes an interest in me. But silence, pray, silence, +if you--if you 'll be guided by me." + +"Let's go down and try the door. If he 's not there, anyhow we can +shelter ourselves till he turns up." + +There was a pause. Feet could be heard climbing and slithering down +the slippery grass slope. + +"What if you find it locked?" + +"Then I shall think some one is inside, and some one who has discovered +reasons for not wishing to be met." + +"And what will you do?" The voices were very near now, and Paul's +discontented sneer made the Captain smile; but his hand sought the +pocket where his revolver lay. + +"I shall break it open--with your help, my friend." + +"I give no more help, friend Sévier--or Guillaume, or what you +like--till I see my money. Deuce take it, the fellow may be armed!" + +"I did n't engage you for a picnic, Monsieur Paul." + +"It's the pay, not the work, that's in dispute, my friend. Come, you +have the money, I suppose? Out with it!" + +"Not a sou till I have the papers!" + +The Captain nodded his head. "I was right, as usual," he was thinking +to himself, as he felt his breast-pocket caressingly. + +The wind rose to a gust and howled. + +The voices became inaudible. The Captain bent down and whispered. + +"If they force the door open," he said, "or if I have to open it and go +out, you 'd do well to get behind that straw there till you see what +happens. They expect nobody but me, and when they 've seen me they +won't search any more." + +He saw, with approval and admiration, that she was calm and cool. + +"Is there danger?" she asked. + +"No," said he. "But one of them wants some papers I have, and has +apparently engaged the other to assist him. M. de Roustache feels +equal to two jobs, it seems. I wonder if he knows whom he's after, +though." + +"Would they take the papers by force?" Her voice was very anxious, but +still not terrified. + +"Very likely--if I won't part with them. Don't be uneasy. I sha'n't +forget your affair." + +She pressed his arm gratefully, and drew back till she stood close to +the trusses of straw, ready to seek a hiding-place in case of need. +She was not much too soon. A man hurled himself violently against the +door. The upper part gave and gaped an inch or two; the lower stood +firm, thanks to the block of wood that barred its opening. Even as the +assault was delivered against the door, Dieppe had blown out the +candle. In darkness he and she stood waiting and listening. + +"Lend a hand. We shall do it together," cried the voice of M. +Guillaume. + +"I 'll be hanged it I move without five thousand francs!" + +Dieppe put up both hands and leant with all his weight against the +upper part of the door. He smiled at his prescience when Guillaume +flung himself against it once more. Now there was no yielding, no +opening--not a chink. Guillaume was convinced. + +"Curse you, you shall have the money," they heard him say. "Come, hold +the lantern here." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE FLOOD ON THE RIVER + +That Paul de Roustache came to the rendezvous, where he had agreed to +meet the Count, in the company and apparently in the service of M. +Guillaume, who was not at all concerned with the Count but very much +interested in the man who had borrowed his name, afforded tolerably +conclusive evidence that Paul had been undeceived, and that if either +party had been duped in regard to the meeting it was Captain Dieppe. +Never very ready to adopt such a conclusion as this, Dieppe was none +the less forced to it by the pressure of facts. Moreover he did not +perceive any safe, far less any glorious, issue from the situation +either for his companion or for himself. His honour was doubly +involved; the Countess's reputation and the contents of his +breast-pocket alike were in his sole care; and just outside the hut +were two rascals, plainly resolute, no less plainly unscrupulous, the +one threatening the lady, the other with nefarious designs against the +breast-pocket. They had joined hands, and now delivered a united +attack against both of the Captain's treasured trusts. "In point of +fact," he reflected with some chagrin, "I have for this once failed to +control events." He brightened up almost immediately. "Never mind," +he thought, "it may still be possible to take advantage of them." And +he waited, all on the alert for his chance. His companion observed, +with a little vexation, with more admiration, that he seemed to have +become unconscious of her presence, or, at best, to consider her only +as a responsibility. + +The besiegers spoke no more in tones audible within the hut. Putting +eye and ear alternately to the crevice between door and door-post, +Dieppe saw the lantern's light and heard the crackle of paper. Then he +just caught, or seemed to catch, the one word, said in a tone of +finality, "Five!" Then came more crackling. Next a strange, sudden +circle of light revolved before the Captain's eye; and then there was +light no more. The lantern had been lifted, swung round in the air, +and flung away. Swift to draw the only inference, Dieppe turned his +head. As he did so there rang out a loud oath in Guillaume's voice; it +was followed by an odd, dull thud. + +"Quick, behind the trusses!" whispered Dieppe. "I 'm going out." + +Without a word she obeyed him, and in a moment was well hidden. For an +instant more Dieppe listened. Then he hurled the wooden block away, +its weight, so great before, seemed nothing to him now in his +excitement. The crack of a shot came from outside. Pulling the door +violently back, Dieppe rushed out. Two or three paces up the slope +stood Guillaume, his back to the hut, his arm still levelled at a +figure which had just topped the summit of the eminence, and an instant +later disappeared. Hearing Dieppe's rush, Guillaume turned, crying in +uncontrollable agitation, "He 's robbed me, robbed me, robbed me!" +Then he suddenly put both his hands up to his brow, clutching it tight +as though he were in great pain, and, reeling and stumbling, at last +fell and rolled down to the bottom of the hollow. For an instant the +Captain hesitated. But Guillaume lay very still; and Guillaume had no +quarrel with the Countess. His indecision soon ended, Dieppe ran, as +if for his life, up the slope to the top of the hill. He disappeared; +all was left dark and quiet at the hut; Guillaume did not stir, the +lady did not stir; only the door, released from its confinement, began +to flap idly to and fro again. + +The Captain gained the summit, hardly conscious that one of those +sudden changes of weather so common in hilly countries had passed over +the landscape. The mist was gone, rain fell no more, a sharp, clean +breeze blew, the stars began to shine, and the moon rose bright. It +was as though a curtain had been lifted. Dieppe's topographical +observations stood him in good stead now and saved him some moments' +consideration. The fugitive had choice of two routes. But he would +not return to the village: he might have to answer awkward questions +about M. Guillaume, his late companion, there. He would make in +another direction--presumably towards the nearest inhabited spot, where +he could look to get more rapid means of escape than his own legs +afforded. He would follow the road to the left then, down the zigzags +that must lead to the river, and to some means of crossing it. But he +had gained a good start and had the figure of an active fellow. Dieppe +risked a short cut, darted past the Cross and straight over the road, +heading down towards the river, but taking a diagonal course to the +left. His intent was to hit the road where the road hit the river, and +thus to cut off the man he pursued. His way would be shorter, but it +would be rougher too; success or failure depended on whether the +advantage or disadvantage proved the greater. As he ran, he felt for +his revolver; but he did not take it out nor did he mean to use it save +in the last resort. Captain Dieppe did not take life or maim limb +without the utmost need; though a man of war, he did not suffer from +blood fever. Besides he was a stranger in the country, with none to +answer for him; and the credentials in his breast-pocket were not of +the sort that he desired to produce for the satisfaction and +information of the local custodians of the peace. + +The grassy slope was both uneven and slippery. Moreover Dieppe had not +allowed enough for the courage of the natives in the matter of +gradients. The road, in fact, belied its cautious appearance. After +three or four plausible zig-zags, it turned to rash courses and ran +headlong down to the ford--true, it had excuse in the necessity of +striking this spot--on a slope hardly less steep than that down which +the Captain himself was painfully leaping with heels stuck deep in and +body thrown well back. In the result Paul de Roustache comfortably +maintained his lead, and when he came into his pursuer's view was no +more than twenty yards from the river, the Captain being still a good +fifty from the point at which he had hoped to be stationed before Paul +came up. + +"I 'm done," panted the Captain, referring both to his chances of +success and to his physical condition; and he saw with despair that +across the ford the road rose as boldly and as steeply as it had +descended on the near side of the stream. + +Paul ran on and came to the edge of the ford. Negotiations might be +feasible since conquest was out of the question: Dieppe raised his +voice and shouted. Paul turned and looked. "I 'm a pretty long shot," +thought the Captain, and he thought it prudent to slacken his pace till +he saw in what spirit his overtures were met. Their reception was not +encouraging. Paul took his revolver from his pocket--the Captain saw +the glint of the barrel--and waved it menacingly. Then he replaced it, +lifted his hat jauntily in a mocking farewell, and turned to the ford +again. + +"Shall I go on?" asked the Captain, "or shall I give it up?" The +desperate thought at last occurred: "Shall I get as near as I can and +try to wing him?" He stood still for an instant, engaged in these +considerations. Suddenly a sound struck his ear and caught his +attention. It was the heavy, swishing noise of a deep body of water in +rapid movement. His eyes flew down to the river. + +"By God!" he muttered under his breath; and from the river his glance +darted to Paul de Roustache. The landlord of the inn at Sasellano had +not spoken without warrant. The stream ran high in flood, and Paul de +Roustache stood motionless in fear and doubt on the threshold of the +ford. + +"I 've got him," remarked the Captain simply, and he began to pace +leisurely and warily down the hill. He was ready for a shot now--ready +to give one too, if necessary. But his luck was again in the +ascendant; he smiled and twirled his moustache as he walked along. + +If it be pardonable--or even praise-worthy, as some moralists +assert--to pity the criminal, while righteously hating the crime, a +trifle of compassion may be spared for Paul de Roustache. In fact that +gentleman had a few hours before arrived at a resolution which must be +considered (for as a man hath, so shall it be demanded of him, in +talents and presumably in virtues also) distinctly commendable. He had +made up his mind to molest the Countess of Fieramondi no more--provided +he got the fifty thousand francs from M. Guillaume. Up to this moment +fortune--or, in recognition of the morality of the idea, may we not say +heaven?--had favoured his design. Obliged, in view of Paul's urgently +expressed preference for a payment on account, to disburse five +thousand francs, Guillaume had taken from his pocket a leather case of +venerable age and opulent appearance. Paul was no more averse than +Dieppe from taking a good chance. The production of the portfolio was +the signal for a rapid series of decisive actions; for was not Dieppe +inside the hut, and might not Dieppe share or even engross the contents +of the portfolio? With the promptness of a man who has thoroughly +thought out his plans, Paul had flung away the lantern, hit Guillaume +on the forehead with the butt of his revolver, snatched the portfolio +from his hand, and bolted up the slope that led from the hut to the +summit; thence he ran down the road, not enjoying leisure to examine +his prize, but sure that it contained more than the bare ten thousand +francs for which he had modestly bargained. A humane man, he +reflected, would stay by Guillaume, bathe his brow, and nurse him back +to health; for with a humane man life is more than property; and +meanwhile the property, with Paul as its protector, would be far away. +But now--well, in the first place, Dieppe was evidently not a humane +man, and in the second, here was this pestilent river flooded to the +edge of its banks, and presenting the most doubtful passage which had +ever by the mockery of language been misnamed a ford. He was indeed +between the devil and the deep sea--that devil of a Dieppe and the deep +sea of the ford on the road from Sasellano. What was to be done? + +The days of chivalry are gone; and the days of hanging or beheading for +unnecessary or unjustified homicide are with us, to the great detriment +of romance. Paul, like the Captain, did not desire a duel, although, +like the Captain, he proposed to keep his revolver handy. And, after +all, what was called a ford must be at least comparatively shallow. +Give it a foot of depth in ordinary times. Let it be three or four +now. Still he could get across. With one last look at the Captain, +who advanced steadily, although very slowly, Paul de Roustache essayed +the passage. The precious portfolio was in an inner pocket, the hardly +less precious revolver he grasped in one hand; and both his hands he +held half outstretched on either side of him. The Captain watched his +progress with the keenest interest and a generous admiration, and +quickened his own pace so as to be in a position to follow the daring +pioneer as rapidly as possible. + +As far as depth was concerned, Paul's calculation was not far out. He +travelled a third of his way and felt the ground level under him. He +had reached the bottom of the river-bed, and the water was not up to +his armpits. He took out the portfolio and thrust it in between his +neck and his collar: it gave him a confined and choky feeling, but it +was well out of water; and his right hand held the revolver well out of +water too. Thus prepared, yet hoping that the worst was over, he took +another forward step. Breaking into a run, the Captain was by the edge +of the stream the next moment, whipped out his revolver, pointed it at +Paul, and cried, "Stop!" For although one does not mean to fire, it is +often useful to create the impression that one does. + +The action had its effect now, although not exactly as Dieppe had +anticipated. Flurried by his double difficulty, Paul stopped again and +glanced over his shoulder. He saw the barrel aimed at him; he could +not risk disregarding the command, but he might forestall his pursuer's +apparent intention. He tried to turn round, and effected half the +revolution; thus he faced down-stream, and had his back to the full +force of the current. Although no deeper than he had feared, the river +was stronger; and in this attitude he offered a less firm resistance. +In an instant he was swept off his feet, and carried headlong +down-stream, dropping his revolver and struggling to swim to the +opposite bank. + +"I can't afford to have this happen!" cried Dieppe, and, seeing how the +current bore his enemy away, he ran swiftly some fifty yards down the +bank, got ahead of Paul, and plunged in, again with the idea of cutting +him off, but by water this time, since his plan had failed on land. + +Here it is likely enough that the two gentlemen's difficulties and +activities alike would have ended. Paul went under and came up again, +a tangled, helpless heap of legs and arms; the Captain kept his head +above water for the time, but could do nothing save follow the current +which carried him straight down-stream. But by good luck the river +took a sharp bend a hundred yards below the ford, and Dieppe perceived +that by drifting he would come very near to the projecting curve of the +bank. Paul was past noticing this chance or trying to avail himself of +it. The Captain was swept down; at the right instant he made the one +effort for which he had husbanded his strength. He gathered his legs +up under him, and he stood. The water was only half-way up his thigh, +and he stood. "Now for you, my friend!" he cried. Paul came by, quite +inanimate now to all appearance, floating broadside to the current. +Leaning forward, the Captain caught him by the leg, throwing his own +body back in an intense strain of exertion. He lost his footing and +fell. "I must let him go," he thought, "or we shall both be done for." +But the next moment he felt himself flung on the bank, and the tension +on his arms relaxed. The current had thrown the two on the bank and +pursued its own race round the promontory, bereft of its playthings. +Drenched, huddled, hatless, they lay there. + +"A very near thing indeed," said the Captain, panting hard and +regarding Paul's motionless body with a grave and critical air of +inquiry. The next moment he fell on his knees by his companion. +"Perhaps he carries a flask--I 've none," he thought, and began to +search Paul's pockets. He found what he sought and proceeded to +unscrew the top. + +Paul gasped and grunted. "He 's all right then," said the Captain. +Paul's hand groped its way up to his collar, and made convulsive +clutches. "I 'd better give him a little more room," mused Dieppe, and +laid the flask down for a minute. "Ah, this is a queer cravat! No +wonder he feels like choking. A portfolio! Ah, ah!" He took it out +and pocketed it. Then he forced some brandy down Paul's throat, and +undid his collar and his waistcoat. "A pocket inside the waistcoat! +Very useful, very useful--and more papers, yes! Take a drop, my +friend, it will do you good." Thus alternately ministering to Paul's +bodily comfort and rifling his person of what valuables he carried, +Dieppe offered to the philosophic mind a singular resemblance to a +Finance Minister who takes a farthing off the duty on beer and puts a +penny on the income tax. + +The moon was high, but not bright enough to read a small and delicate +handwriting by. The Captain found himself in a tantalising position. +He gave Paul some more brandy, laid down the packet of letters, and +turned to the portfolio. It was large and official in appearance, and +it had an ingenious clasp which baffled Dieppe. With a sigh he cut the +leather top and bottom, and examined the prize. + +"Ah, my dear Banque de France, even in this light I can recognise your +charming, allegorical figures," he said with a smile. There were +thirty notes--he counted them twice, for they were moist and very +sticky. There was another paper. "This must be--" He rose to his +feet and held the paper up towards the moon. "I can't read the +writing," he murmured, "but I can see the figures--30,000. Ah, and +that is 'Genoa'! Now to whom is it payable, I wonder!" + +"What the devil are you doing?" growled Paul, sitting up with a shiver. + +"My friend, I have saved your life," observed the Captain, impressively. + +"That's no reason for robbing me," was Paul's ungrateful but logically +sound reply. + +The Captain stooped and picked up the bundle of letters. Separating +them one from another, he tore them into small fragments and scattered +them over the stream. Paul watched him, sullen but without resistance. +Dieppe turned to him. + +"You have no possible claim against the Countess," he remarked; "no +possible hold on her, Monsieur de Roustache." + +Paul finished the flask for himself this time, shivered again, and +swore pitifully. He was half-crying and cowed. "Curse the whole +business!" he said. "But she had twenty thousand francs of my money." + +The Captain addressed to him a question somewhat odd under the +circumstances. + +"On your honour as a gentleman, is that true?" he asked. + +"Yes, it's true," said Paul, with a glare of suspicion. He was not in +the mood to appreciate satire or banter; but the Captain appeared quite +grave and his manner was courteous. + +"It's beastly cold," Paul continued with a groan. + +"In a moment you shall take a run," the Captain promised. And he +pursued, "The Countess must not be in your debt. Permit me to +discharge the obligation." He counted twenty of the thirty notes and +held them out to Paul. After another stare Paul laughed feebly. + +"I am doing our friend M. Guillaume no wrong," the Captain explained. +"His employers have in their possession fifty thousand francs of mine. +I avail myself of this opportunity to reduce the balance to their +debit. As between M. Guillaume and me, that is all. As between you +and me, sir, I act for the Countess. I pay your claim at your own +figures, and since I discharge the claim I have made free to destroy +the evidence. I have thrown the letters into the river. I do not wish +to threaten, but if you 're not out of sight in ten minutes, I 'll +throw you after them." + +"If I told you all the story--" began Paul with a sneer. + +"I 'm not accustomed to listen to stories against ladies, sir," +thundered the Captain. + +"She 's had my money for a year--" + +"The Countess would wish to be most liberal, but she did not understand +that you regarded the transaction as a commercial one." He counted +five more notes and handed them to Paul with an air of careless +liberality. + +Paul broke into a grudging laugh. + +"What are you going to tell old Guillaume?" he asked. + +"I'm going to tell him that my claim against his employers is reduced +by the amount that I have had the honour to hand you, M. de Roustache. +Pardon me, but you seem to forget the remark I permitted myself to make +just now." And the Captain pointed to the river. + +Paul rose and stamped his feet on the ground; he looked at his +companion, and his surprise burst out in the question, "You really mean +to let me go with five and twenty thousand francs!" + +"I act as I am sure the lady whose name has been unavoidably mentioned +would wish to act." + +Paul stared again, then sniggered again, and pocketed his spoil. + +"Only you must understand that--that the mine is worked out, my friend. +I think your way lies there." He pointed towards the road that led up +from the ford to Sasellano. + +Still Paul lingered, seeming to wish to say something that he found +difficult to phrase. + +"I was devilish hard up," he muttered at last. + +"That is always a temptation," said the Captain, gravely. + +"A fellow does things that--that look queer. I say, would n't that odd +five thousand come in handy for yourself?" + +The Captain looked at him; almost he refused the unexpected offer +scornfully; but something in Paul's manner made him cry, quite +suddenly, almost unconsciously, "Why, my dear fellow, if you put it +that way--yes! As a loan from you to me, eh?" + +"A loan? No--I--I--" + +"Be at ease. Loan is the term we use between gentlemen--eh?" The +Captain tried to curl his moist, uncurlable moustache. + +And Paul de Roustache handed him back five thousand francs. + +"My dear fellow!" murmured the Captain, as he stowed the notes in +safety. He held out his hand; Paul de Roustache shook it and turned +away. Dieppe stood watching him as he went, making not direct for the +Sasellano road, but shaping a course straight up the hill, walking as +though he hardly knew where he was going. So he passed out of the +Captain's sight--and out of the list of the Countess of Fieramondi's +creditors. + +A little smile dwelt for a moment on Dieppe's face. + +"I myself am very nearly a rascal sometimes," said he. + +Crack! crack! The sound of a whip rang clear; the clatter of hoofs and +the grind of a wheel on the skid followed. A carriage dashed down the +hill from Sasellano. Paul de Roustache had seen it, and stooped low +for a moment in instinctive fear of being seen. Captain Dieppe, on the +other hand, cried "Bravo!" and began to walk briskly towards the ford. +"How very lucky!" he reflected. "I will beg a passage; I have no fancy +for another bath to-night." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE CARRIAGE AT THE FORD + +The direct issue between her Excellency and the innkeeper at Sasellano +had ended as all such differences (save, of course, on points of +morality) should--in a compromise. The lady would not resign herself +to staying at Sasellano; the landlord would not engage to risk +passenger, carriage, and horses in the flood. But he found and she +accepted the services of a robust, stout-built fellow who engaged with +the lady to drive her as far as the river and across it if possible, +and promised the landlord to bring her and the equipage back in case +the crossing were too dangerous. Neither party was pleased, but both +consented, hoping to retrieve a temporary concession by ultimate +victory. Moreover the lady paid the whole fare beforehand--not, the +landlord precisely stipulated, to be returned in any event. So off her +Excellency rattled in the wind and rain; and great was her triumph when +the rain ceased, the wind fell, and the night cleared. She put her +head out of the rackety old landau, whose dilapidated hood had formed a +shelter by no means water-tight, and cried, "Who was right, driver?" +But the driver turned his black cigar between his teeth, answering, +"The mischief is done already. Well, we shall see!" + +They covered eight miles in good time. They passed Paul de Roustache, +who had no thought but to avoid them, and, once they were passed, took +to the road and made off straight for Sasellano; they reached the +descent and trotted gaily down it; they came within ten yards of the +ford, and drew up sharply. The lady put her head out; the driver +dismounted and took a look at the river. + +Shaking his head, he came to the window. + +"Your Excellency can't cross to-night," said he. + +"I will," cried the lady, no less resolute now than she had been at the +inn. + +The direct issue again! And if the driver were as obstinate as he +looked, the chances of that ultimate victory inclined to the +innkeeper's side. + +"The water would be inside the carriage," he urged. + +"I 'll ride on the box by you," she rejoined. + +"It 'll be up to the horses' shoulders." + +"The horses don't mind getting wet, I suppose." + +"They 'd be carried off their feet." + +"Nonsense," said she, sharply, denying the fact since she could no +longer pooh-pooh its significance. "Are you a coward?" she exclaimed +indignantly. + +"I 've got some sense in my head," said he with a grin. + +At this moment Captain Dieppe, wishing that he were dry, that he had a +hat, that his moustache would curl, yet rising victorious over all +disadvantages by virtue of his temperament and breeding, concealing +also any personal interest that he had in the settlement of the +question, approached the carriage, bowed to its occupant, and inquired, +with the utmost courtesy, whether he could be of any service. + +"It 's of great importance to me to cross," said she, returning his +salutation. + +"It's impossible to cross," interposed the driver. + +"Nonsense; I have crossed myself," remarked Captain Dieppe. + +Both of them looked at him; he anticipated their questions or +objections. + +"Crossing on foot one naturally gets a little wet," said he, smiling. + +"I won't let my horses cross," declared the driver. The Captain eyed +him with a slightly threatening expression, but he did not like to +quarrel before a lady. + +"You 're afraid for your own skin," he said contemptuously. "Stay this +side. I 'll bring the carriage back to you." He felt in his pocket +and discovered two louis and two five-franc pieces. He handed the +former coins to the driver. "I take all the responsibility to your +master," he ended, and opening the carriage door he invited the lady to +alight. + +She was dark, tall, handsome, a woman of presence and of dignity. She +took his hand and descended with much grace. + +"I am greatly in your debt, sir," she said. + +"Ladies, madame," he replied with a tentative advance of his hand +toward his moustache, checked in time by a remembrance of the +circumstances, "confer obligations often, but can contract none." + +"I wish everybody thought as you do," said she with a deep sigh. + +"Shall I mount the box?" + +"If you please." He mounted after her, and took the reins. Cracking +the whip, he urged on the horses. + +"Body of the saints," cried the driver, stirred to emulation, "I 'll +come with you!" and he leaped up on to the top of a travelling-trunk +that was strapped behind the carriage. + +"There is more good in human nature than one is apt to think," observed +the Captain. + +"If only one knows how to appeal to it," added the lady, sighing again +very pathetically. + +Somehow, the Captain received the idea that she was in trouble. He +felt drawn to her, and not only by the sympathy which her courage and +her apparent distress excited; he was conscious of some appeal, +something in her which seemed to touch him directly and with a sort of +familiarity, although he had certainly never seen her in his life +before. He was pondering on this when one of the horses, frightened by +the noise and rush of the water, reared up, while the other made a +violent effort to turn itself, its comrade, and the carriage round, and +head back again for Sasellano. The Captain sprang up, shouted, plied +the whip; the driver stood on the trunk and yelled yet more vigorously; +her Excellency clutched the rail with her hand. And in they went. + +"The peculiarity of this stream," began the Captain, "lies not so much +in its depth as in--" + +"The strength of the current," interposed his companion, nodding. + +"You know it?" he cried. + +"Very well," she answered, and she might have said more had not the +horses at this moment chosen to follow the easiest route, and headed +directly downstream. A shriek from the driver awoke Dieppe to the +peril of the position. He plied his whip again, and did his best to +turn the animals' heads towards the opposite bank. The driver showed +his opinion of the situation by climbing on to the top of the landau. + +This step was perhaps a natural, but it was not a wise one. The roof +was not adapted to carrying heavy weights. It gave way on one side, +and in an instant the driver rolled over to the right and fell with a +mighty splash into the water just above the carriage. At the same +moment Dieppe contrived to turn the horses in the direction he aimed +at, and the carriage moved a few paces. + +"Ah, we move!" he exclaimed triumphantly. + +"The driver 's fallen off!" cried the lady in alarm. + +"I thought we seemed lighter, somehow," said Dieppe, paying no heed to +the driver's terrified shouts, but still urging on his horses. He +showed at this moment something of a soldier's recognition that, if +necessary, life must be sacrificed for victory: he had taken the same +view when he left M. Guillaume in order to pursue Paul de Roustache. + +The driver, finding cries useless, saw that he must shift for himself. +The wheel helped him to rise to his feet; he found he could stand. In +a quick turn of feeling, he called, "Courage!" Dieppe looked over at +him with a rather contemptuous smile. + +"What, have you found some down at the bottom of the river? Like truth +in the well?" he asked. "Catch hold of one of the horses, then!" He +turned to the lady. "You drive, madame?" + +"Yes." + +"Then do me the favour." He gave her the reins, with a gesture of +apology stepped in front of her, and lowered himself into the water on +the left-hand side. "Now, my friend, one of us at each of their heads, +and we do it! The whip, madame with all your might, the whip!" + +The horses made a bound; the driver dashed forward and caught one by +the bridle; the lady lashed. On his side Dieppe, clinging to a trace, +made his way forward. Both he and the driver now shouted furiously, +their voices echoing in the hills that rose from the river on either +side, and rising at last in a shout of triumph as the wheels turned, +the horses gained firm footing, and with a last spring forward landed +the carriage in safety. + +The driver swore softly and crossed himself devoutly before he fell to +a rueful study of the roof of the landau. + +"Monsieur, I am eternally indebted to you," cried the lady to Dieppe. + +"It is a reciprocal service, madame," said he. "To tell the truth, I +also had special reasons for wishing to gain this side of the river." + +She appeared a trifle embarrassed, but civility, or rather gratitude, +impelled her to the suggestion. "You are travelling my way?" she asked. + +"A thousand thanks, but I have some business to transact first." + +She seemed relieved, but she was puzzled, too. "Business? Here?" she +murmured. + +Dieppe nodded. "It will not keep me long," he added gravely. + +The driver had succeeded in restoring the top of the landau to a +precarious stability. Dieppe handed the lady down from the box-seat +and into the interior. The driver mounted his perch; the lady leant +out of the window to take farewell of her ally. + +"Every hour was of value to me," she said, with a plain touch of +emotion in her voice, "and but for you I should have been taken back to +Sasellano. We shall meet again, I hope." + +"I shall live in the hope," said he, with a somewhat excessive +gallantry--a trick of which he could not cure himself. + +The driver whipped up--he did not intend that either he or his horses, +having escaped drowning, should die of cold. The equipage lumbered up +the hill, its inmate still leaning out and waving her hand. Dieppe +watched until the party reached the zigzags and was hidden from view, +though he still heard the crack of the whip. + +"Very interesting, very interesting!" he murmured to himself. "But now +to business! Now for friend Guillaume and the Countess!" His face +fell as he spoke. With the disappearance of excitement, and the +cessation of exertion, he realised again the great sorrow that faced +him and admitted of no evasion. He sighed deeply and sought his +cigarette-case. Vain hope of comfort! His cigarettes were no more +than a distasteful pulp. He felt forlorn, very cold, very hungry, +also; for it was now between nine and ten o'clock. His heart was heavy +as he prepared to mount the hill and finish his evening's work. He +must see Guillaume; he must see the Countess; and then-- + +"Ah!" he cried, and stooped suddenly to the ground. A bright object +lay plain and conspicuous on the road which had grown white again as it +dried in the sharp wind. It was an oval locket of gold, dropped there, +a few yards from the ford. It lay open--no doubt the jar of the fall +accounted for that--face downwards. The Captain picked it up and +examined it. He said nothing; his usual habit of soliloquy failed him +for the moment; he looked at it, then round at the landscape. For the +moonlight showed him a picture in the locket, and enabled him to make +out a written inscription under it. + +"What?" breathed he at last. "Oh, I can't believe it!" He looked +again. "Oh, if that 's the lie of the land, my friend!" He smiled; +then, in an apparent revulsion of feeling, he frowned angrily, and even +shook his fist downstream, perhaps intending the gesture for some one +in the village. Lastly, he shook his head sadly, and set off up the +hill in the wake of the now vanished carriage; as he went, he whistled +in a soft and meditative way. But before he started, he had assured +himself that he in his turn had not dropped anything, and that M. +Guillaume's partially depleted portfolio was still safe in his pocket, +side by side with his own precious papers. And he deposited the locket +he had found with these other valued possessions. + +A few minutes' walking brought him to the Cross. The exercise had +warmed him, the threatened stiffness of cold had passed; he ran lightly +up the hill and down into the basin. There was no sign of M. +Guillaume. The Captain, rather vexed, for he had business with that +gentleman,--an explanation of a matter which touched his own honour to +make, and an account which intimately concerned M. Guillaume to +adjust,--entered the hut. In an instant his hand was grasped in an +appealing grip, and the voice he loved best in the world (there was no +blinking the fact, whatever might be thought of the propriety), cried, +"Ah, you 're safe?" + +"How touching that is!" thought the Captain. "She has a hundred causes +for anxiety, but her first question is, 'You're safe?'" This was she +whom he renounced, and this was she whom the Count of Fieramondi +deceived. What were her trifling indiscretions beside her husband's +infamy--the infamy betrayed and proved by the picture and inscription +in the locket? + +"I am safe, and you are safe," said he, returning the pressure of her +hand. "And where is our friend outside?" + +"I don't know--I lay hidden till I heard him go. I don't know where he +went. What do you mean by saying I'm safe?" + +"I have got rid of Paul de Roustache. He 'll trouble you no more." + +"What?" Wonder and admiration sparkled in her eyes. Because he was +enabled to see them, Dieppe was grateful to her for having replaced and +relighted his candle. "Yes, I was afraid in the dark," she said, +noticing his glance at it. "But it 's almost burnt out. We must be +quick. Is the trouble with M. de Roustache really over?" + +"Absolutely." + +"And we owe it to you? But you--why, you 're wet!" + +"It's not surprising," said he, smiling. "There 's a flood in the +river, and I have crossed it twice." + +"What did you cross the river for?" + +"I had to escort M. de Roustache across, and he 's a bad swimmer. He +jumped in, and--" + +"You saved his life?" + +"Don't reproach me, my friend. It is an instinct; and--er--he carried +the pocket-book of our friend outside; and the pocket-book had my money +in it, you know." + +"Your money? I thought you had only fifty francs?" + +"The money due to me, I should say. Fifty thousand francs." The +Captain unconsciously assumed an air of some importance as he mentioned +this sum. "So I was bound to pursue friend Paul," he ended. + +"It was dangerous?" + +"Oh, no, no," he murmured. "Coming back, though, was rather +difficult," he continued. "The carriage was very heavy, and we had +some ado to--" + +"The carriage! What carriage?" she cried with eagerness. + +"Oddly enough, I found a lady travelling--from Sasellano, I understood; +and I had the privilege of aiding her to cross the ford." Dieppe spoke +with a calculated lightness. + +"A lady--a lady from Sasellano? What sort of a lady? What was she +like?" + +The Captain was watching her closely. Her agitation was unmistakable. +Did she know, did she suspect, anything? + +"She was tall, dark, and dignified in appearance. She spoke slowly, +with a slight drawl--" + +"Yes, yes!" + +"And she was very eager to pursue her journey. She must have come by +here. Did n't you hear the wheels?" + +"No--I--I--was n't thinking." But she was thinking now. The next +instant she cried, "I must go, I must go at once." + +"But where?" + +"Why, back home, of course! Where else should I go? Oh, I may be too +late!" + +Unquestionably she knew something--how much the Captain could not tell. +His feelings may be imagined. His voice was low, and very +compassionate as he asked: + +"You 'll go home? When she 's there? At least, if I conclude +rightly--" + +"Yes, I must go. I must get there before she sees Andrea, otherwise, +all will be lost." + +For the instant her agitation seemed to make her forget Dieppe's +presence, or what he might think of her manner. Now she recovered +herself. "I mean--I mean--I want to speak to her. I must tell her--" + +"Tell her nothing. Confront her with that." And the Captain produced +the gold locket with an air of much solemnity. + +His action did not miss its effect. She gazed at the locket in +apparent bewilderment. + +"No, don't open it," he added hastily. + +"Where did you get it?" + +"She dropped it by the river. It was open when I picked it up." + +"Why, it 's the locket-- How does it open?" She was busy looking for +the spring. + +"I implore you not to open it!" he cried, catching her hand and +restraining her. + +"Why?" she asked, pausing and looking up at him. + +The question and the look that accompanied it proved too great a strain +for Dieppe's self-control. Now he caught both her hands in his as he +said: + +"Because I can't bear that you should suffer. Because I love you too +much." + +Without a doubt it was delight that lit up her, eyes now, but she +whispered reprovingly, "Oh, you! You the ambassador." + +"I had n't seen that locket when I became his ambassador." + +"Let go my hands." + +"Indeed I can't," urged the Captain. But she drew them away with a +sharp motion that he could not resist, and before he could say or do +more to stop her she had opened the locket. + +"As I thought," she cried, hurriedly reclasping it and turning to him +in eager excitement; "I must go, indeed I must go at once!" + +"Alone?" asked Captain Dieppe, with a simple, but effective eloquence. + +At least it appeared very effective. She came nearer to him and, of +her own accord now, laid her hands in his. Shyness and pleasure +struggled in her eyes as she fixed them on his face. + +"I shall see you again," she murmured. + +"How?" he asked. + +"Why, you 're coming back--back to the Castle?" she cried eagerly. The +doubt of his returning thither seemed to fill her with dismay. + +The Captain's scruples gave way. Perhaps it was the locket that +undermined them, perhaps that look to her eyes, and the touch of her +hands as they rested in his. + +"I will do anything you bid me," he whispered. + +"Then come once again." She paused. "Because I--I don't want to say +good-bye just now." + +"If I come, will it be to say good-bye?" + +"That shall be as you wish," she said. + +It seemed to Dieppe that no confession could have been more ample, yet +none more delicately reserved in the manner of its utterance. His +answer was to clasp her in his arms and kiss her lips. But in an +instant he released her, in obedience to the faint, yet sufficient, +protest of her hands pressing him away. + +"Come in an hour," she whispered, and, turning, left him and passed +from the hut. + +For a moment or two he stood where he was, devoured by many conflicting +feelings. But his love, once obedient to the dictates of friendship +and the unyielding limits of honour, would not be denied now. How had +the Count of Fieramondi now any right to invoke his honour, or to +appeal to his friendship? Gladly, as a man will, the Captain seized on +another's fault to excuse his own. + +"I will go again--in an hour--and I will not say good-bye," he +declared, as he flung himself down on one of the trusses of straw and +prepared to wait till it should be time for him to set out. + +The evening had been so full of surprises, so prolific of turns of +fortune good and evil, so bountiful of emotions and changeful feelings, +that he had little store of surprise left wherewith to meet any new +revolution of the wheel. Nevertheless it was with something of a start +that he raised his head again from the straw on which he had for a +moment reclined, and listened intently. There had been a rustle in the +straw; he turned his head sharply to the left. But he had misjudged +the position whence the noise came. From behind the truss of straw to +his right there rose the figure of a man. Monsieur Guillaume stood +beside him, his head tied round with a handkerchief, but his revolver +in his hand. The Captain's hand flew towards his breast-pocket. + +"You 'll particularly oblige me by not moving," said Monsieur +Guillaume, with a smile. + +Of a certainty a man should not mingle love and business, especially, +perhaps, when neither the love nor the business can be said properly to +belong to him. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE STRAW IN THE CORNER + +There was nothing odd in M. Guillaume's presence, however little the +lady or the Captain had suspected it. The surprise he gave was a +reprisal for that which he had suffered when, after the Captain's exit, +he had recovered his full faculties and heard a furtive movement within +the hut. It was the inspiration and the work of a moment to raise +himself with an exaggerated effort and a purposed noise, and to take +his departure with a tread heavy enough to force itself on the ears of +the unknown person inside. But he did not go far. To what purpose +should he, since it was vain to hope to overtake the Captain or Paul de +Roustache? Some one was left behind; then, successful or unsuccessful, +the Captain would return--unless Paul murdered him, a catastrophe which +would be irremediable, but was exceedingly unlikely. Guillaume mounted +to the top of the eminence and flung himself down in the grass; thence +he crawled round the summit, descended again with a stealthiness in +striking contrast to his obtrusive ascent, and lay down in the dark +shadow of the hut itself. In about twenty minutes his patience was +rewarded: the lady came out,--she had forgotten to mention this little +excursion to the Captain,--mounted the rise, looked round, and walked +down towards the Cross. Presumably she was looking for a sight of +Dieppe. In a few minutes she returned. Guillaume was no longer lying +by the hut, but was safe inside it under the straw. She found Dieppe's +matches, relighted the candle, and sat down in the doorway with her +back to the straw. Thus each had kept a silent vigil until the Captain +returned to the rendezvous. Guillaume felt that he had turned a rather +unpromising situation to very good account. He was greatly and +naturally angered with Paul de Roustache: the loss of his portfolio was +grievous. But the Captain was his real quarry; the Captain's papers +would more than console him for his money; and he had a very pretty +plan for dealing with the Captain. + +Nothing was to be gained by sitting upright. In a moment Dieppe +realised this, and sank back on his truss of straw. He glanced at +Guillaume's menacing weapon, and thence at Guillaume himself. "Your +play, my friend," he seemed to say. He knew the game too well not to +recognise and accept its chances. But Guillaume was silent. + +"The hurt to your head is not serious or painful, I hope?" Dieppe +inquired politely. Still Guillaume maintained a grim and ominous +silence. The Captain tried again. "I trust, my dear friend," said he +persuasively, "that your weapon is intended for strictly defensive +purposes?" The candle had burnt almost down to the block on which it +rested (the fact did not escape Dieppe), but it served to show +Guillaume's acid smile. "What quarrel have we?" pursued the Captain, +in a conciliatory tone. "I 've actually been engaged on your business, +and got confoundedly wet over it too." + +"You 've been across the river then?" asked Guillaume, breaking his +silence. + +"It 's not my fault--the river was in my way," Dieppe answered a little +impatiently. "As for you, why do you listen to my conversation?" + +"With the Countess of Fieramondi? Ah, you soldiers! You were a little +indiscreet there, my good Captain. But that's not my business." + +"Your remark is very just," agreed Dieppe. "I 'll give that candle +just a quarter of an hour," he was thinking. + +"Except so far as I may be able to turn it to my purposes. Come, we +know one another, Captain Dieppe." + +"We have certainly met in the course of business," the Captain conceded +with a touch of hauteur, as he shifted the truss a little further under +his right shoulder. + +"I want something that you have," said Guillaume, fixing his eyes on +his companion. Dieppe's were on the candle. "Listen to me," commanded +Guillaume, imperiously. + +"I have really no alternative," shrugged the Captain. "But don't make +impossible propositions. And be brief. It 's late; I 'm hungry, cold, +and wet." + +Guillaume smiled contemptuously at this useless bravado, for such it +seemed to him. It did not occur to his mind that Dieppe had anything +to gain--or even a bare chance of gaining anything--by protracting the +conversation. But in fact the Captain was making observations--first +of the candle, secondly of the number and position of the trusses of +straw. + +"Are you in a position to call any proposition impossible?" Guillaume +asked. + +"It's quite true that I can't make use of my revolver," agreed the +Captain. "But on the other hand you don't, I presume, intend to murder +me? Would n't that be exceeding your instructions!" + +"I don't know as to that--I might be forgiven. But of course I +entertain no such desire. Captain, I 've an idea that you 're in +possession of my portfolio." + +"What puts that into your head?" inquired the Captain in a rather +satirical tone. + +"From what you said to the Countess I--" + +"Ah, I find it so hard to realise that you actually committed that +breach of etiquette," murmured Dieppe, reproachfully. + +"And that perhaps--I say only perhaps--you have made free with the +contents. For it seems you 've got rid of Paul de Roustache. Well, I +will not complain--" + +"Ah?" said the Captain with a movement of interest. + +"But if I lose my money, I must have my money's worth." + +"That 's certainly what one prefers when it's possible," smiled the +Captain, indulgently. + +"To put it briefly--" + +"As briefly as you can, pray," cried Dieppe; but the candle burnt +steadily still, and brevity was the last thing that he desired. + +"Give me your papers and you may keep the portfolio." + +The Captain's indignation at this proposal was extreme; indeed, it led +him to sit upright again, to fix his eyes on the candle, and to talk +right on end for hard on five minutes--in fact as long as he could find +words--on the subject of his honour as a gentleman, as a soldier, as a +Frenchman, as a friend, as a confidential agent, and as a loyal +servant. Guillaume did not interrupt him, but listened with a smile of +genuine amusement. + +"Excellent!" he observed, as the Captain sank back exhausted. "A most +excellent preamble for your explanation of the loss, my dear Captain. +And you will add at the end that, seeing all this, it cannot be doubted +that you surrendered these papers only under absolute compulsion, and +not the least in the world for reasons connected with my portfolio." + +"My words were meant to appeal to your own better feelings," sighed the +Captain in a tone of despairing reproach. + +"You betray the Count of Fieramondi, your friend; why not betray your +employers also?" + +For a moment there was a look in the Captain's eye which seemed to +indicate annoyance, but the next instant he smiled. + +"As if there were any parallel!" said he. "Matters of love are +absolutely different, my good friend." Then he went on very +carelessly, "The candle 's low. Why don't you light your lantern?" + +"That rascal Paul threw it away, and I had n't time to get it." No +expression, save a mild concern, appeared on Captain Dieppe's face, +although he had discovered a fact of peculiar interest to him. "The +candle will last as long as we shall want it," pursued Guillaume. + +"Very probably," agreed the Captain, with a languid yawn; again he +shifted his straw till the bulk of it was under his right shoulder, and +he lay on an incline that sloped down to the left. "And you 'll kill +me and take my papers, eh?" he inquired, turning and looking up at +Guillaume. He could barely see his enemy's face now, for the candle +guttered and sputtered, while the moon, high in heaven, threw light on +the dip of the hill outside, but did little or nothing to relieve the +darkness within the hut. + +"No, I shall not murder you. You 'll give them to me, I 'm sure." + +"And if I refuse, dear M. Guillaume?" + +"I shall invite you to accompany me to the village--or, more strictly, +to precede me." + +"What should we do together in the village?" cried Dieppe. + +"I shall beg of you to walk a few paces in front of me,--just a +few,--to go at just the pace I go, and to remember that I carry a +revolver in my hand." + +"My memory would be excellent on such a point," the Captain assured +him. "But, again, why to the village?" + +"We should go together to the office of the police. I am on good terms +with the police." + +"Doubtless. But what have they to do with me? Come, come, my matter +is purely political, they would n't mix themselves up in it." + +"I should charge you with the unlawful possession of my portfolio. You +would admit it, or you would deny it. In either case your person would +be searched, the papers would be found, and I, who am on such friendly +terms with the police, should certainly enjoy an excellent opportunity +of inspecting them. You perceive, my dear Captain, that I have thought +it out." + +"It's neat, certainly," agreed the Captain, who was not a little +dismayed at this plan of Guillaume's. "But I should not submit to the +search." + +"Ah! Now how would you prevent it?" + +"I should send for my friend the Count. He has influence; he would +answer for me." + +"What, when he hears my account of your interview with his wife?" Old +Guillaume played this card with a smile of triumph. "I told you that +the little affair might perhaps be turned to my purposes," he reminded +Dieppe, maliciously. + +The Captain reflected, taking as long as he decently could over the +task. Indeed he was in trouble. Guillaume's scheme was sagacious, +Guillaume's position very strong. And at last Guillaume grew +impatient. But still the persistent candle burnt. + +"I give you one minute to make up your mind," said Guillaume, dropping +his tone of sarcastic pleasantry, and speaking in a hard, sharp voice. +"After that, either you give me the papers, or you get up and march +before me to the village." + +"If I refuse to do either?" + +"You can't refuse," said Guillaume. + +"You mean--?" + +"I should order you to hold your hands behind your back while I took +the papers. If you moved--" + +"Thank you. I see," said the Captain, with a nod of understanding. +"Awkward for you, though, if it came to that." + +"Oh, I think not very, in view of your dealings with my portfolio." + +"I 'm in a devil of a hole," admitted the Captain, candidly. + +"Time's up," announced M. Guillaume, slowly raising the barrel of his +revolver, and taking aim at the Captain. For the candle still burnt, +although dimly and fitfully, and still there was light to guide the +bullet on its way. + +"It's all up!" said the Captain. "But, deuce take it, it's hardly the +way to treat a gentleman!" Even as he spoke the light of the candle +towered for a second in a last shoot of flame, and then went out. + +At the same moment the Captain rolled down the incline of straw on +which he had been resting, rose on his knees an instant, seized the +truss and flung it at Guillaume, rolled under the next truss, seized +that in like manner and propelled it against the enemy, and darted +again to shelter. "Stop, or I fire," cried Guillaume; he was as good +as his word the next minute, but the third truss caught him just as he +aimed, and his bullet flew against and was buried in the planking of +the roof. By now, the Captain was escaping from under the fourth +truss, and making for the fifth. Guillaume, dimly seeing the fourth +truss not thrown, but left in its place, discharged another shot at it. +The fifth truss caught him in the side and drove him against the wooden +block. He turned swiftly in the direction whence the missile came, and +fired again. He was half dazed, his eyes and ears seemed full of the +dust of the straw. He fired once again at random, swearing savagely; +and before he could recover aim his arm was seized from behind, his +neck was caught in a vigorous garotte, and he fell on the floor of the +hut with Captain Dieppe on the top of him--Dieppe, dusty, dirty, +panting, bleeding freely from a bullet graze on the top of the left +ear, and with one leg of his trousers slit from ankle to knee by a +rusty nail, that had also ploughed a nasty furrow up his leg. But now +he seized Guillaume's revolver, and dragged the old fellow out of the +hut. Then he sat down on his chest, pinning his arms together on the +ground above his head. + +"You enjoyed playing your mouse just a trifle too long, old cat," said +he. + +Guillaume lay very still, exhausted, beaten, and defenceless. Dieppe +released his hands, and, rising, stood looking down at him. A smile +came on his face. + +"We are now in a better position to adjust our accounts fairly," he +observed, as he took from his pocket M. Guillaume's portfolio. +"Listen," he commanded; and Guillaume turned weary but spiteful eyes to +him. "Here is your portfolio. Take it. Look at it." + +Guillaume sat up and obeyed the command. + +"Well?" asked Dieppe, when the examination was ended. + +"You have robbed me of twenty-five thousand francs." + +The Captain looked at him for a moment with a frown. But the next +instant he smiled. + +"I must make allowances for the state of your temper," he remarked. +"But I wish you would carry all your money in notes. That draft, now, +is no use to me. Hence"--he shrugged his shoulders regretfully--"I am +obliged to leave your Government still no less than twenty-five +thousand francs in debt to me." + +"What!" cried Guillaume, with a savage stare. + +"Oh, yes, you know that well. They have fifty thousand which certainly +don't belong to them, and certainly do to me." + +"That money 's forfeited," growled Guillaume. + +"If you like, then, I forfeit twenty-five thousand of theirs. But I +allow it in account with them. The debt now stands reduced by half." + +"I 'll get it back from you somehow," threatened Guillaume, who was +helpless, but not cowed. + +"That will be difficult. I gave it to Paul de Roustache to discharge a +claim he had on me." + +"To Paul de Roustache?" + +"Yes. It 's true he lent me five thousand again; but that 's purely +between him and me. And I shall have spent it long before you can even +begin to take steps to recover it." He paused a moment and then added, +"If you still hanker after your notes, I should recommend you to find +your friend and accomplice, M. Paul." + +"Where is he?" + +"Who can tell? I saw him last on the road across the river--it leads +to Sasellano, I believe." Dieppe kept his eye on his vanquished +opponent, but Guillaume threatened no movement. The Captain dropped +the revolver into his pocket, stooped to pull up a tuft of grass with +moist earth adhering to it, and, with the help of his handkerchief, +made a primitive plaster to stanch the bleeding of his ear. As he was +so engaged, the sound of wheels slowly climbing the hill became audible +from the direction of the village. + +"You see," he went on, "you can't return to the village--you are on too +good terms with the police. Let me advise you to go to Sasellano; the +flood will be falling by now, and I should n't wonder if we could find +you a means of conveyance." He jerked his thumb over his shoulder +towards the road behind him. + +"I can't go back to the village?" demanded Guillaume, sullenly. + +"In my turn I must beg you to remember that I now carry a revolver. +Come, M. Guillaume, we 've played a close hand, but the odd trick 's +mine. Go back and tell your employers not to waste their time on me. +No, nor their money. They have won the big stake; let them be content. +And again let me remind you that Paul de Roustache has your twenty +thousand francs. I don't think you 'll get them from him, but you +might. From me you 'll get nothing; and if you try the law--oh, think, +my friend, how very silly you and your Government will look!" + +As he spoke he went up to Guillaume and took him by the arm, exerting a +friendly and persuasive pressure, under which Guillaume presently found +himself mounting the eminence. The wheels sounded nearer now, and +Dieppe's ears were awake to their movements. The pair began to walk +down the other side of the slope towards the Cross, and the carriage +came into their view. It was easy of identification: its broken-down, +lopsided top marked it beyond mistake. + +An instant later Dieppe recognised the burly figure of the driver, who +was walking by his horses' heads. + +"Wonderfully convenient!" he exclaimed. "This fellow will carry you to +Sasellano without delay." + +Guillaume did not--indeed could not--refuse to obey the prompting of +the Captain's arm, but he grumbled as he went. + +"I made sure of getting your papers," he said. + +"Unlooked-for difficulties will arise, my dear M. Guillaume." + +"I thought the reward was as good as in my pocket." + +"The reward?" The Captain stopped and looked in his companion's face +with some amusement and a decided air of gratification. "There was a +reward? Oh, I am important, it seems!" + +"Five thousand francs," said Guillaume, sullenly. + +"They rate me rather cheap," exclaimed the Captain, his face falling. +"I should have hoped for five-and-twenty." + +"Would you? If it had been that, I should have brought three men with +me." + +"Hum!" said the Captain. "And you gave me a stiff job by yourself, +eh?" He turned and signalled to the driver, who had now reached the +Cross: + +"Wait a moment there, my friend." Then he turned back again to +Guillaume. "Get into the carriage--go to Sasellano; catch Paul if you +can, but leave me in peace," he said, and, diving into his pocket, he +produced the five notes of a thousand francs which Paul de Roustache, +in some strange impulse of repentance, or gratitude, had handed to him. +"What you tell your employers," he added, "I don't care. This is a +gift from me to you. The deuce, I reward effort as well as success--I +am more liberal than your Government." The gesture with which he held +out the notes was magnificent. + +Guillaume stared at him in amazement, but his hand went out towards the +notes. + +"I am free to do what I can at Sasellano?" + +"Yes, free to do anything except bother me. But I think your bird will +have flown." + +Guillaume took the notes and hid them in his pocket; then he walked +straight up to the driver, crying, "How much to take me with you to +Sasellano?" + +The driver looked at him, at Dieppe, and then down towards the river. + +"Come, the flood will be less by now; the river will be falling," said +Dieppe. + +"Fifty francs," said the driver, and Guillaume got in. + +"Good!" said the Captain to himself. "A pretty device! And that +scoundrel's money did n't lie comfortably in the pocket of a +gentleman." He waved his hand to Guillaume and was about to turn away, +when the driver came up to him and spoke in a cautious whisper, first +looking over his shoulder to see whether his new fare were listening; +but Guillaume was sucking at a flask. + +"I have a message for you," he said. + +"From the lady you carried--?" + +"To the Count of Fieramondi's." + +"Ah, you took her there?" The Captain frowned heavily. + +"Yes, and left her there. But it's not from her; it's from another +lady whom I had n't seen before. She met me just as I was returning +from the Count's, and bade me look out for you by the Cross--" + +"Yes, yes?" cried Dieppe, eagerly. "Give me the message." For his +thoughts flew back to the Countess at the first summons. + +The driver produced a scrap of paper, carelessly folded, and gave it to +him. + +Dieppe ran to the carriage and read the message by the light of its dim +and smoky lamp: + +"I think I am in time. Come; I wait for you. Whatever you see, keep +Andrea in the dark. If you are discreet, all will be well, and I--I +shall be very grateful." + +The driver mounted the box, the carriage rolled off down the hill, +Dieppe was left by the Cross, with the message in his hand. He did not +understand the situation. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE JOURNEY TO ROME + +It was about ten o'clock--or, it may be, nearer half-past ten--the same +night when two inhabitants of the village received very genuine, yet +far from unpleasant, shocks of surprise. + +The first was the parish priest. He was returning from a visit to the +bedside of a sick peasant and making his way along the straggling +street towards his own modest dwelling, which stood near the inn, when +he met a tall stranger of most dilapidated appearance, whose clothes +were creased and dirty, and whose head was encircled by a stained and +grimy handkerchief. He wore no hat; his face was disfigured with +blotches of an ugly colour and, maybe, an uglier significance; his +trousers were most atrociously rent and tattered; he walked with a +limp, and shivered in the cold night air. This unpromising-looking +person approached the priest and addressed him with an elaborate +courtesy oddly out of keeping with his scarecrow-like appearance, but +with words appropriate enough to the figure that he cut. + +"Reverend father," said he, "pardon the liberty I take, but may I beg +of your Reverence's great kindness--" + +"It 's no use begging of me," interrupted the priest hurriedly, for he +was rather alarmed. "In the first place, I have nothing; in the +second, mendicancy is forbidden by the regulations of the commune." + +The wayfarer stared at the priest, looked down at his own apparel, and +then burst into a laugh. + +"Begging forbidden, eh?" he exclaimed. "Then the poor must need +voluntary aid!" He thrust his hand into his pocket and brought out two +French five-franc pieces. "For the poor, father," he said, pressing +them into the priest's hand. "For myself, I was merely about to ask +you the time of night." And before the astonished priest could make +any movement the stranger passed on his way, humming a soft, and +sentimental tune. + +"He was certainly mad, but he undoubtedly gave me ten francs," said the +priest to his friend the innkeeper, the next day. + +"I wish," growled the innkeeper, "that somebody would give me some +money to pay for what those two runaway rogues who lodged here had of +me, their baggage is worth no more than half what they 've cost me, and +I 'll lay odds I never clap eyes on them again." + +And in this suspicion the innkeeper proved, in the issue, to be +absolutely right, about the value of the luggage there is, however, +more room for doubt. + +The second person who suffered a surprise was no less a man than the +Count of Fieramondi himself. But how this came about needs a little +more explanation. + +In that very room through whose doorway Captain Dieppe had first beheld +the lady whom he now worshipped with a devotion as ardent as it was +unhappy, there were now two ladies engaged in conversation. One sat in +an arm-chair, nursing the yellow cat of which mention has been made +earlier in this history; the other walked up and down with every +appearance of weariness, trouble, and distress on her handsome face. + +"Oh, the Bishop was just as bad as the banker," she cried fretfully, +"and the banker was just as silly as the Bishop. The Bishop said that, +although he might have considered the question of giving me absolution +from a vow which I had been practically compelled to take, he could +hold out no prospect of my getting it beforehand for taking a vow which +I took with no other intention than that of breaking it." + +"I told you he 'd say that before you went," observed the lady in the +arm-chair, who seemed to be treating the situation with a coolness in +strong contrast to her companion's agitation. + +"And the banker said that although, if I had actually spent fifty +thousand lire more than I possessed, he would have done his best to see +how he could extricate me from the trouble, he certainly would not help +me to get fifty thousand for the express purpose of throwing them away." + +"I thought the banker would say that," remarked the other lady, +caressing the cat. + +"And they both advised me to take my husband's opinion on the matter. +My husband's opinion!" Her tone was bitter and tragic indeed. "I +suppose they 're right," she said, flinging herself dejectedly into a +chair. "I must tell Andrea everything. Oh, and he 'll forgive me!" + +"Well, I should think it's rather nice being forgiven." + +"Oh, no, not by Andrea!" The faintest smile flitted for an instant +across her face. "Oh, no, Andrea does n't forgive like that. His +forgiveness is very--well, horribly biblical, you know. Oh, I 'd +better not have gone to Rome at all!" + +"I never saw any good in your going to Rome, you know." + +"Yes, I must tell him everything. Because Paul de Roustache is sure to +come and--" + +"He 's come already," observed the second lady, calmly. + +"What? Come?" + +The other lady set down the cat, rose to her feet, took out of her +pocket a gold ring and a gold locket, walked over to her companion, and +held them out to her. "These are yours, are n't they?" she inquired, +and broke into a merry laugh. The sight brought nothing but an +astonished stare and a breathless ejaculation-- + +"Lucia!" + +The two ladies drew their chairs close together, and a long +conversation ensued, Lucia being the chief narrator, while her +companion, whom she addressed from time to time as Emilia, did little +more than listen and throw in exclamations of wonder, surprise, or +delight. + +"How splendidly you kept the secret!" she cried once. And again, "How +lucky that he should be here!" And again, "I thought he looked quite +charming." And once again, "But, goodness, what a state the poor man +must be in! How could you help telling him, Lucia?" + +"I had promised," said Lucia, solemnly, "and I keep my promises, +Emilia." + +"And that man has positively gone?" sighed Emilia, taking no notice of +a rather challenging emphasis which Lucia had laid on her last remark. + +"Yes, gone for good--I 'm sure of it. And you need n't tell Andrea +anything. Just take all the vows he asks you to! But he won't now; +you see he wants a reconciliation as much as you do." + +"I shall insist on taking at least one vow," said Emilia, with a +virtuous air. She stopped and started. "But what in the world am I to +say about you, my dear?" she asked. + +"Say I 've just come back from Rome, of course," responded Lucia. + +"If he should find out--" + +"It 's very unlikely, and at the worst you must take another vow, +Emilia. But Andrea 'll never suspect the truth unless--" + +"Unless what?" + +"Unless Captain Dieppe lets it out, you know." + +"It would be better if Captain Dieppe did n't come back, I think," +observed Emilia, thoughtfully. + +"Well, of all the ungrateful women!" cried Lucia, indignantly. But +Emilia sprang up and kissed her, and began pressing her with all sorts +of questions, or rather with all sorts of ways of putting one question, +which made her blush very much, and to which she seemed unable, or +unwilling, to give any definite reply. At last Emilia abandoned the +attempt to extract an admission, and observed with a sigh of +satisfaction: + +"I think I 'd better see Andrea and forgive him." + +"You 'll change your frock first, won't you, dear?" cried Lucia. It +was certainly not desirable that Emilia should present herself to the +Count in the garments she was then wearing. + +"Yes, of course. Will you come with me to Andrea?" + +"No. Send for me, presently--as soon as it occurs to you that I 've +just come back from Rome, you know, and should be so happy to hear of +your reconciliation." + +Half an hour later,--for the change of costume had to be radical, since +there is all the difference in the world between a travelling-dress and +an easy, negligent, yet elegant, toilette suggestive of home and the +fireside, and certainly not of wanderings,--the Count of Fieramondi got +his shock of surprise in the shape of an inquiry whether he were at +leisure to receive a visit from the Countess. + +Yet his surprise, great as it was at a result at once so prosperous and +so speedy, did not prevent him from drawing the obvious inference. His +thoughts had already been occupied with Captain Dieppe. It was now +half-past ten; he had waited an hour for dinner, and then eaten it +alone in some disquietude; as time went on he became seriously uneasy, +and had considered the despatch of a search expedition. If his friend +did not return in half an hour, he had declared, he himself would go +and look for him; and he had requested that he should be informed the +moment the Captain put in an appearance. But, alas! what is +friendship--even friendship reinforced by gratitude--beside love? As +the poets have often remarked, in language not here to be attained, its +power is insignificant, and its claims go to the wall. On fire with +the emotions excited by the Countess's message, the Count forgot both +Dieppe and all that he owed to Dieppe's intercession; the matter went +clean out of his head for the moment. He leapt up, pushed away the +poem on which he had been trying to concentrate his mind, and cried +eagerly: + +"I 'm at the Countess's disposal. I 'll wait on her at once." + +"The Countess is already on her way here," was the servant's answer. + +The first transports of joy are perhaps better left in a sacred +privacy. Indeed the Count was not for much explanation, or for many +words. What need was there? The Countess acquiesced in his view with +remarkable alacrity; the fewer words there were, and especially, +perhaps, the fewer explanations, the easier and more gracious was her +part. She had thought the matter over, there in the solitude to which +her Andrea's cruelty had condemned her: and, yes, she would take the +oath--in fact any number of oaths--to hold no further communication +whatever with Paul de Roustache. + +"Ah, your very offer is a reproach to me," said the Count, softly. "I +told you that now I ask no oath, that your promise was enough, that--" + +"You told me?" exclaimed the Countess, with some appearance of surprise. + +"Why, yes. At least I begged Dieppe to tell you in my name. Did n't +he?" + +For a moment the Countess paused, engaged in rapid calculations, then +she said sweetly: + +"Oh, yes, of course! But it's not the same as hearing it from your own +lips, Andrea." + +"Where did you see him?" asked the Count. "Did he pass the barricade? +Ah, we 'll soon have that down, won't we?" + +"Oh, yes, Andrea; do let 's have it down, because--" + +"But where did you and Dieppe have your talk?" + +"Oh--oh--down by the river, Andrea." + +"He found you there?" + +"Yes, he found me there, and--and talked to me." + +"And gave you back the ring?" inquired the Count, tenderly. + +The Countess took it from her pocket and handed it to her husband. "I +'d rather you 'd put it on yourself," she said. + +The Count took her hand in his and placed the ring on her finger. It +fitted very well, indeed. There could be no doubt that it was made for +the hand on which it now rested. The Count kissed it as he set it +there. + +At last, however, he found time to remember the obligations he was +under to his friend. + +"But where can our dear Dieppe be?" he cried. "We owe so much to him." + +"Yes, we do owe a lot to him," murmured the Countess. "But, Andrea--" + +"Indeed, my darling, we must n't forget him. I must--" + +"No, we must n't forget him. Oh, no, we won't. But, Andrea, I--I 've +got another piece of news for you." The Countess spoke with a little +timidity, as if she were trying delicate ground, and were not quite +sure of her footing. + +"More news? What an eventful night!" + +He took his wife's hand. Away went all thoughts of poor Dieppe again. + +"Yes, it's so lucky, happening just to-night. Lucia has come back! An +hour ago!" + +"Lucia come back!" exclaimed the Count, gladly. "That's good news, +indeed." + +"It 'll delight her so much to find us--to find us like this again, +Andrea." + +"Yes, yes, we must send for her. Is she in her room? And where has +she come from?" + +"Rome," answered the Countess, again in a rather nervous way. + +"Rome!" cried the Count in surprise. "What took her to Rome?" + +"She does n't like to be asked much about it," began the Countess, with +a prudent air. + +"I 'm sure I don't want to pry into her affairs, but--" + +"No, I knew you would n't want to do that, Andrea." + +"Still, my dear, it 's really a little odd. She left only four days +ago. Now she 's back, and--" + +The Count broke off, looking rather distressed. Such proceedings, +accompanied by such mystery, were not, to his mind, quite the proper +thing for a young and unmarried lady. + +"I won't ask her any questions," he went on, "but I suppose she 's told +you, Emilia?" + +"Oh, yes, she 's told me," said the Countess, hastily. + +"And am I to be excluded from your confidence?" + +The Countess put her arms round his neck. + +"Well, you know, Andrea," said she, "you do sometimes scoff at +religion--well, I mean you talk rather lightly sometimes, you know." + +"Oh, she went on a religious errand, did she?" + +"Yes," the Countess answered in a more confident tone. "She +particularly wanted to consult the Bishop of Mesopotamia. She believes +in him very much. Oh, so do I. I do believe, Andrea, that if you knew +the Bishop of--" + +"My dear, I don't want to know the Bishop of Mesopotamia; but Lucia is +perfectly at liberty to consult him as much as she pleases. I don't +see any need for mystery." + +"No, neither do I," murmured the Countess. "But dear Lucia is--is so +sensitive, you know." + +"I remember seeing him about Rome very well. I must ask Lucia whether +he still wears that--" + +"Really, the less you question Lucia about her journey the better, dear +Andrea," said the Countess, in a tone which was very affectionate, but +also marked by much decision. And there can be no doubt she spoke the +truth, from her own point of view, at least. "Would n't it be kind to +send for her now?" she added. In fact the Countess found this +interview, so gratifying and delightful in its main aspect, rather +difficult in certain minor ways, and Lucia would be a convenient ally. +It was much better, too, that they should talk about one another in one +another's presence. That is always more straightforward; and, in this +case, it would minimise the chances of a misunderstanding in the +future. For instance, if Lucia showed ignorance about the Bishop of +Mesopotamia--! "Do let's send for Lucia," the Countess said again, +coaxingly; and the Count, after a playful show of unwillingness to end +their tête-à-tête, at last consented. + +But here was another difficulty--Lucia could not be found. The right +wing was searched without result; she was nowhere. On the chance, +unlikely indeed but possible, that she had taken advantage of the new +state of things, they searched the left wing too--with an equal absence +of result. Lucia was nowhere in the house; so it was reported. The +Count was very much surprised. + +"Can she have gone out at this time of night?" he cried. + +The Countess was not much surprised. She well understood how Lucia +might have gone out a little way--far enough, say, to look for Captain +Dieppe, and make him aware of how matters stood. But she did not +suggest this explanation to her husband; explanations are to be avoided +when they themselves require too much explaining. + +"It's very fine now," said she, looking out of the window. "Perhaps +she's just gone for a turn on the road." + +"What for?" asked the Count, spreading out his hands in some +bewilderment. + +The Countess, in an extremity, once more invoked the aid of the Bishop +of Mesopotamia. + +"Perhaps, dear," she said gently, "to think it over--to reflect in +quiet on what she has learnt and been advised." And she added, as an +artistic touch, "To think it over under the stars, dear Andrea." + +The Count, betraying a trifle of impatience, turned to the servant. + +"Run down the road," he commanded, "and see if the Countess Lucia is +anywhere about." He returned to his wife's side. "One good thing +about it is that we can have our talk out," said he. + +"Yes, but let 's leave the horrid past and talk about the future," +urged the Countess, with affection--and no doubt with wisdom also. + +The servant, who in obedience to the Count's order ran down the road +towards the village, did not see the Countess Lucia. That lady, +mistrusting the explicitness of her hurried note, had stolen out into +the garden, and was now standing hidden in the shadow of the barricade, +straining her eyes down the hill towards the river and the +stepping-stones. There lay the shortest way for the Captain to +return--and of course, she had reasoned, he would come the shortest +way. She did not, however, allow for the Captain's pardonable +reluctance to get wet a third time that night. He did not know the +habits of the river, and he distrusted the stepping-stones. After his +experience he was all for a bridge. Moreover he did not hurry back to +the Castle; he had much to think over, and no inviting prospect lured +him home on the wings of hope. What hope was there? What hope of +happiness either for himself or for the lady whom he loved? If he +yielded to his love, he wronged her--her and his own honour. If he +resisted, he must renounce her--aye, and leave her, not to a loving +husband, but to one who deceived her most grossly and most cruelly, in +a way which made her own venial errors seem as nothing in the Captain's +partial, pitying eyes. In the distress of these thoughts he forgot his +victories: how he had disposed of Paul de Roustache, how he had +defeated M. Guillaume, how his precious papers were safe, and even how +the Countess was freed from all her fears. It was her misery he +thought of now, not her fears. For she loved him. And in his inmost +heart he knew that he must leave her. + +Yes; in the recesses of his heart he knew what true love for her and a +true regard for his own honour alike demanded. But he did not mean +that, because he saw this and was resolved to act on it, the Count +should escape castigation. Before he went, before he left behind him +what was dearest in life, and again took his way alone, unfriended, +solitary (penniless too, if he had happened to remember this), he would +speak his mind to the Count, first in stinging reproaches, later in the +appeal that friendship may make to honour; and at the last he would +demand from the Count, as the recompense for his own services, an utter +renunciation and abandonment of the lady who had dropped the locket by +the ford, of her whom the driver had carried to the door of the house +which the Countess of Fieramondi honoured with her gracious presence. +In drawing a contrast between the Countess and this shameless woman the +last remembrance of the Countess's peccadilloes faded from his +indignant mind. He quickened his pace a little, as a man does when he +has reached a final decision. He crossed the bridge, ascended the hill +on which the Castle stood, and came opposite to the little gate which +the Count himself had opened to him on that first happy--or +unhappy--night on which he had become an inmate of the house. + +Even as he came to it, it opened, and the Count's servant ran out. In +a moment he saw Dieppe and called to him loudly and gladly. + +"Sir, sir, my master is most anxious about you. He feared for your +safety." + +"I 'm safe enough," answered Dieppe, in a gloomy tone. + +"He begs your immediate presence, sir. He is in the dining-room." + +Dieppe braced himself to the task before him. + +"I will follow you," he said; and passing the gate he allowed the +servant to precede him into the house. "Now for what I must say!" he +thought, as he was conducted towards the dining-room. + +The servant had been ordered to let the Count know the moment that +Captain Dieppe returned. How obey these orders more to the letter than +by ushering the Captain himself directly into the Count's presence? He +threw open the door, announcing-- + +"Captain Dieppe!" and then withdrawing with dexterous quickness. + +Captain Dieppe had expected nothing good. The reality was worse than +his imagining The Count sat on a sofa, and by him, with her arms round +his neck, was the lady whom Dieppe had escorted across the ford on the +road from Sasellano. The Captain stood still just within the doorway, +frowning heavily. Sadly he remembered the Countess's letter. Alas, it +was plain enough that she had not come in time! + +Just at this moment the servant, having seen nothing of Countess Lucia +on the road, decided, as a last resort, to search the garden for her +Ladyship. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE LUCK OF THE CAPTAIN + +It is easy to say that the Captain should not have been so shocked, and +that it would have been becoming in him to remember his own +transgression committed in the little hut in the hollow of the hill. +But human nature is not, as a rule at least, so constituted that the +immediate or chief effect of the sight of another's wrong-doing is to +recall our own. The scene before him outraged all the Captain's ideas +of how his neighbours ought to conduct themselves, and (perhaps a more +serious thing) swept away all memory of the caution contained in the +Countess's letter. + +The Count rose with a smile, still holding the Countess by the hand. + +"My dear friend," he cried, "we 're delighted to see you. But what? +You 've been in the wars!" + +Dieppe made no answer. His stare attracted his host's attention. + +"Ah," he pursued, with a laugh, "you wonder to see us like this? We +are treating you too much _en famille_! But indeed you ought to be +glad to see it. We owe it almost all to you. No, she would n't be +here but for you, my friend. Would you, dear?" + +"No, I--I don't suppose I should." + +Did they refer to Dieppe's assisting her across the ford? If he had +but known-- + +"Come," urged the Count, "give me your hand, and let my wife and me--" + +"What?" cried the Captain, loudly, in unmistakable surprise. + +The Count looked from him to the Countess. The Countess began to +laugh. Her husband seemed as bewildered as Dieppe. + +"Oh, dear," laughed the Countess, "I believe Captain Dieppe did n't +know me!"' + +"Did n't know you?" + +"He 's only seen me once, and then in the dark, you know. Oh, what did +you suspect? But you recognise me now? You will believe that I really +am Andrea's wife?" + +The Captain could not catch the cue. It meant to him so complete a +reversal of what he had so unhesitatingly believed, such an utter +upsetting of all his notions. For if this were in truth the Countess +of Fieramondi, why, who was the other lady? His want of quickness +threatened at last to ruin the scheme which he had, although +unconsciously, done so much to help; for the Count was growing puzzled. + +"I--I--Of course I know the Countess of Fieramondi," stammered Dieppe. + +The Countess held out her hand gracefully. There could, at least, be +little harm in kissing it. Dieppe walked across the room and paid his +homage. As he rose from this social observance he heard a voice from +the doorway saying: + +"Are n't you glad to see me, Andrea?" + +The Captain shot round in time to see the Count paying the courtesy +which he had himself just paid--and paying it to a lady whom he did +know very well. The next instant the Count turned to him, saying: + +"Captain, let me present you to my wife's cousin, the Countess Lucia +Bonavia d'Orano. She has arrived to-night from Rome. How did you +leave the Bishop of Mesopotamia, Lucia?" + +But the Countess interposed very quickly. + +"Now, Andrea, you promised me not to bother Lucia about her journey, +and especially not about the Bishop. You don't want to talk about it, +do you, Lucia?" + +"Not at all," said Lucia, and the Count laughed rather mockingly. "And +you need n't introduce me to Captain Dieppe, either," she went on. "We +'ve met before." + +"Met before?" The Count turned to Dieppe. "Why, where was that?" + +"At the ford over the river." It was Lucia now who interposed. "He +helped me across. Oh, I 'll tell you all about it." + +She began her narrative, which she related with particular fulness. +For a while Dieppe watched her. Then he happened to glance towards the +Countess. He found that lady's eyes set on him with an intentness full +of meaning. The Count's attention was engrossed by Lucia. Emilia gave +a slight but emphatic nod. A slow smile dawned on Captain Dieppe's +face. + +"Indeed," ended Lucia, "I 'm not at all sure that I don't owe my life +to Captain Dieppe." And she bestowed on the Captain a very kindly +glance. The Count turned to speak to his wife. Lucia nodded sharply +at the Captain. + +"You were--er--returning from Rome?" he asked. + +"From visiting the Bishop of Mesopotamia," called the Countess. + +"Yes," said Lucia. "I should never have got across but for you." + +"But tell me about yourself, Dieppe," said the Count. "You 're really +in a sad state, my dear fellow." + +The Captain felt that the telling of his story was ticklish work. The +Count sat down on the sofa; the two ladies stood behind it, their eyes +were fixed on the Captain in warning glances. + +"Well, I got a message from a fellow to-night to meet him on the hill +outside the village--by the Cross there, you know. I fancied I knew +what he wanted, so I went." + +"That was after you parted from me, I suppose?" asked Emilia. + +"Yes," said the Captain, boldly. "It was as I supposed. He was after +my papers. There was another fellow with him. I--I don't know who--" + +"Well, I daresay he did n't mention his name," suggested Lucia. + +"No, no, he did n't," agreed the Captain, hastily. "I knew only +Guillaume--and that name 's an alias of a certain M. Sévier, a police +spy, who had his reasons for being interested in me. Well, my dear +friend, Guillaume tried to bribe me. Then with the aid of--" Just in +time the Captain checked himself--"of the other rascal he--er--attacked +me--" + +"All this was before you met me, I suppose?" inquired Lucia. + +"Certainly, certainly," assented the Captain. "I had been pursuing the +second fellow. I chased him across the river--" + +"You caught him!" cried the Count. + +"No. He escaped me and made off in the direction of Sasellano." + +"And the first one--this Guillaume?" + +"When I got back he was gone," said the Captain. "But I bear marks of +a scratch which he gave me, you perceive." + +He looked at the Count. The Count appeared excellently well satisfied +with the story. He looked at the ladies; they were smiling and nodding +approval. + +"Deuce take it," thought the Captain, "I seem to have hit on the right +lies by chance!" + +"All ends most happily," cried the Count. "Happily for you, my dear +friend, and most happily for me. And here is Lucia with us again too! +In truth it 's a most auspicious evening. I propose that we allow +Lucia time to change her travelling-dress, and Dieppe a few moments to +wash off the stains of battle, and then we 'll celebrate the joyous +occasion with a little supper." + +The Count's proposal met with no opposition--least of all from Dieppe, +who suddenly remembered that he was famished. + +The next morning, the garden of the Castle presented a pleasing sight. +Workmen were busily engaged in pulling down the barricade, while the +Count and Countess sat on a seat hard by. Sometimes they watched the +operations, sometimes the Count read in a confidential and tender voice +from a little sheaf of papers which he held in his hand. When he +ceased reading, the Countess would murmur, "Beautiful!" and the Count +shake his head in a poet's affectation of dissatisfaction with his +verse. Then they would fall to watching the work of demolition again. +At last the Count remarked: + +"But where are Lucia and our friend Dieppe?" + +"Walking together down there by the stream," answered the Countess. +And, after a pause, she turned to him, and, in a very demure fashion, +hazarded a suggestion. "Do you know, Andrea, I think Lucia and Captain +Dieppe are inclined to take to one another very much?" + +"It 's an uncommonly sudden attachment," laughed the Count. + +"Yes," agreed his wife, biting her lip. "It 's certainly sudden. But +consider in what an interesting way their acquaintance began! Do you +know anything about him?" + +"I know he 's a gentleman, and a clever fellow," returned the Count. +"And from time to time he makes some money, I believe." + +"Lucia's got some money," mused the Countess. + +Down by the stream they walked, side by side, showing indeed (as the +Countess remarked) every sign of taking to one another very much. + +"You really think we shall hear no more of Paul de Roustache?" asked +Lucia. + +"I 'm sure of it; and I think M. Guillaume will let me alone too. +Indeed there remains only one question." + +"What's that?" asked Lucia. + +"How you are going to treat me," said the Captain. "Think what I have +suffered already!" + +"I could n't help that," she cried. "My word was absolutely pledged to +Emilia. 'Whatever happens,' I said to her, 'I promise I won't tell +anybody that I 'm not the Countess.' If I had n't promised that, she +could n't have gone to Rome at all, you know. She 'd have died sooner +than let Andrea think she had left the Castle." + +"You remember what you said to her. Do you remember what you said to +me?" + +"When?" + +"When we talked in the hut in the hollow of the hill. You said you +would be all that you could be to me." + +"Did I say as much as that? And when I was Countess of Fieramondi! +Oh!" + +"Yes, and you let me do something--even when you were Countess of +Fieramondi, too!" + +"That was not playing the part well." + +The Captain looked just a little doubtful, and Lucia laughed. + +"Anyhow," said he, "you 're not Countess of Fieramondi now." + +She looked up at him. + +"You 're a very devout young lady," he continued, "who goes all the way +to Rome to consult the Bishop of Mesopotamia. Now, that"--the Captain +took both her hands in his--"is exactly the sort of wife for me." + +"Monsieur le Capitaine, I have always thought you a courageous man, and +now I am sure of it. You have seen--and aided--all my deceit; and now +you want to marry me!" + +"A man can't know his wife too well," observed the Captain. "Come, let +me go and communicate my wishes to Count Andrea." + +"What? Why, you only met me for the first time last night!" + +"Oh, but I can explain--" + +"That you had previously fallen in love with the Countess of +Fieramondi? For your own sake and ours too--" + +"That's very true," admitted the Captain. "I must wait a little, I +suppose." + +"You must wait to tell Andrea that you love me, but--" + +"Precisely!" cried the Captain. "There is no reason in the world why +I should wait to tell you." + +And then and there he told her again in happiness the story which had +seemed so tragic when it was wrung from him in the shepherd's hut. + +"Undoubtedly, I am a very fortunate fellow," he cried, with his arm +round Lucia's waist. "I come to this village by chance. By chance I +am welcomed here instead of having to go to the inn. By chance I am +the means of rescuing a charming lady from a sad embarrassment. I am +enabled to send a rascal to the right-about. I succeed in preserving +my papers. I inflict a most complete and ludicrous defeat on that +crafty old fellow, Guillaume Sévier! And, by heaven! when I do what +seems the unluckiest thing of all, when, against my will, I fall in +love with my dear friend's wife, when my honour is opposed to my +happiness, when I am reduced to the saddest plight--why, I say, by +heaven, she turns out not to be his wife at all! Lucia, am I not born +under a lucky star?" + +"I think I should be very foolish not to--to do my best to share your +luck," said she. + +"I am the happiest fellow in the world," he declared. "And that," he +added, as though it were a rare and precious coincidence, "with my +conscience quite at peace." + +Perhaps it is rare, and perhaps the Captain's conscience had no right +to be quite at peace. For certainly he had not told all the truth to +his dear friend, the Count of Fieramondi. Yet since no more was heard +of Paul de Roustache, and the Countess's journey remained an unbroken +secret, these questions of casuistry need not be raised. After all, is +it for a man to ruin the tranquillity of a home for the selfish +pleasure of a conscience quite at peace? + +But as to the consciences of those two very ingenious young ladies, the +Countess of Fieramondi, and her cousin, Countess Lucia, the problem is +more difficult. The Countess never confessed, and Lucia never +betrayed, the secret. Yet they were both devout! Indeed, the problem +seems insoluble. + +Stay, though! Perhaps the counsel and aid of the Bishop of Mesopotamia +(_in partibus_) were invoked again. His lordship's position, that you +must commit your sin before you can be absolved from the guilt of it, +not only appears most logical in itself, but was, in the circumstances +of the case, not discouraging. + + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Captain Dieppe, by Anthony Hope + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CAPTAIN DIEPPE *** + +***** This file should be named 28935-8.txt or 28935-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/9/3/28935/ + +Produced by Al Haines + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +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 + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/28935-8.zip b/28935-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ec46bff --- /dev/null +++ b/28935-8.zip diff --git a/28935-h.zip b/28935-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a51f76e --- /dev/null +++ b/28935-h.zip diff --git a/28935-h/28935-h.htm b/28935-h/28935-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..12eff29 --- /dev/null +++ b/28935-h/28935-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,6822 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<HTML> +<HEAD> + +<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> + +<TITLE> +The Project Gutenberg E-text of Captain Dieppe, by Anthony Hope +</TITLE> + +<STYLE TYPE="text/css"> +BODY { color: Black; + background: White; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + text-align: justify } + +P {text-indent: 4% } + +P.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +P.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: small } + +P.letter {text-indent: 0%; + font-size: small ; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.salutation {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.closing {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.footnote {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.transnote {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.index {font-size: small ; + text-indent: -5% ; + margin-left: 5% ; + margin-top: 0% ; + margin-bottom: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.intro {font-size: medium ; + text-indent: -5% ; + margin-left: 5% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.dedication {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 15%; + text-align: justify } + +P.published {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 15% } + +P.quote {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 4% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.report {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 4% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.report2 {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 4% ; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.finis { font-size: larger ; + text-align: center ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +</STYLE> + +</HEAD> + +<BODY> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Captain Dieppe, by Anthony Hope + +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: Captain Dieppe + +Author: Anthony Hope + +Release Date: May 23, 2009 [EBook #28935] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CAPTAIN DIEPPE *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + +</pre> + + +<BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +Captain Dieppe +</H1> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +By +</H3> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +Anthony Hope +</H2> + +<BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +Author of "The Prisoner of Zenda,"<BR>"Rupert of Hentzau," etc., etc. +</H4> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Doubleday, Page & Co. +<BR> +New York +<BR> +1906 +</H3> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H5 ALIGN="center"> +Copyright, 1899, by ANTHONY HOPE HAWKINS. +<BR> +Copyright, 1899, by CURTIS PUBLISHING CO. +<BR> +Copyright, 1900, by ANTHONY HOPE HAWKINS. +</H5> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CONTENTS +</H2> + +<TABLE ALIGN="center" WIDTH="80%"> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">CHAPTER</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> </TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">I. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap01">THE HOUSE ON THE BLUFF</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">II. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap02">THE MAN BY THE STREAM</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">III. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap03">THE LADY IN THE GARDEN</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap04">THE INN IN THE VILLAGE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">V. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap05">THE RENDEZVOUS BY THE CROSS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap06">THE HUT IN THE HOLLOW</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap07">THE FLOOD ON THE RIVER</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap08">THE CARRIAGE AT THE FORD</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap09">THE STRAW IN THE CORNER</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">X. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap10">THE JOURNEY TO ROME</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap11">THE LUCK OF THE CAPTAIN</A></TD> +</TR> + +</TABLE> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap01"></A> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +Captain Dieppe +</H1> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER I +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE HOUSE ON THE BLUFF +</H4> + +<P> +To the eye of an onlooker Captain Dieppe's circumstances afforded high +spirits no opportunity, and made ordinary cheerfulness a virtue which a +stoic would not have disdained to own. Fresh from the failure of +important plans; if not exactly a fugitive, still a man to whom +recognition would be inconvenient and perhaps dangerous; with fifty +francs in his pocket, and his spare wardrobe in a knapsack on his back; +without immediate prospect of future employment or a replenishment of +his purse; yet by no means in his first youth or of an age when men +love to begin the world utterly afresh; in few words, with none of +those inner comforts of the mind which make external hardships no more +than a pleasurable contrast, he marched up a long steep hill in the +growing dusk of a stormy evening, his best hope to find, before he was +soaked to the skin, some poor inn or poorer cottage where he might get +food and beg shelter from the severity of the wind and rain that swept +across the high ground and swooped down on the deep valleys, seeming to +assail with a peculiar, conscious malice the human figure which faced +them with unflinching front and the buoyant step of strength and +confidence. +</P> + +<P> +But the Captain was an alchemist, and the dross of outer events turned +to gold in the marvellous crucible of his mind. Fortune should have +known this and abandoned the vain attempt to torment him. He had +failed, but no other man could have come so near success. He was +alone, therefore free: poor, therefore independent; desirous of hiding, +therefore of importance: in a foreign land, therefore well placed for +novel and pleasing accidents. The rain was a drop and the wind a puff: +if he were wet, it would be delightful to get dry; since he was hungry, +no inn could be too humble and no fare too rough. Fortune should +indeed have set him on high, and turned her wasted malice on folk more +penetrable by its stings. +</P> + +<P> +The Captain whistled and sang. What a fright he had given the +Ministers, how nearly he had brought back the Prince, what an uncommon +and intimate satisfaction of soul came from carrying, under his wet +coat, lists of names, letters, and what not—all capable of causing +tremors in high quarters, and of revealing in spheres of activity +hitherto unsuspected gentlemen—aye, and ladies—of the loftiest +position; all of whom (the Captain was piling up his causes of +self-congratulation) owed their present safety, and directed their +present anxieties, to him, Jean Dieppe, and to nobody else in the +world. He broke off his whistling to observe aloud: +</P> + +<P> +"Mark this, it is to very few that there comes a life so interesting as +mine"; and his tune began again with an almost rollicking vigour. +</P> + +<P> +What he said was perhaps true enough, if interest consists (as many +hold) in uncertainty; in his case uncertainty both of life and of all +that life gives, except that one best thing which he had +pursued—activity. Of fame he had gained little, peace he had never +tasted; of wealth he had never thought, of love—ah, of love now? His +smile and the roguish shake of his head and pull at his long black +moustache betrayed no dissatisfaction on that score. And as a fact (a +thing which must at the very beginning be distinguished from an +impression of the Captain's), people were in the habit of loving him: +he never expected exactly this, although he had much self-confidence. +Admiration was what he readily enough conceived himself to inspire; +love was a greater thing. On the whole, a fine life—why, yes, a very +fine life indeed; and plenty of it left, for he was but thirty-nine. +</P> + +<P> +"It really rains," he remarked at last, with an air of amiable +surprise. "I am actually getting wet. I should be pleased to come to +a village." +</P> + +<P> +Fortune may be imagined as petulantly flinging this trifling favour at +his head, in the hope, maybe, of making him realise the general +undesirability of his lot. At any rate, on rounding the next corner of +the ascending road, he saw a small village lying beneath him in the +valley. Immediately below him, at the foot of what was almost a +precipice, approached only by a rough zigzag path, lay a little river; +the village was directly opposite across the stream, but the road, +despairing of such a dip, swerved sharp off to his left, and, +descending gradually, circled one end of the valley till it came to a +bridge and thence made its way round to the cluster of houses. There +were no more than a dozen cottages, a tiny church, and an +inn—certainly an inn, thought Dieppe, as he prepared to follow the +road and pictured his supper already on the fire. But before he set +out, he turned to his right; and there he stood looking at a scene of +some beauty and of undeniable interest. A moment later he began to +walk slowly up-hill in the opposite direction to that which the road +pursued; he was minded to see a little more of the big house perched so +boldly on that bluff above the stream, looking down so scornfully at +the humble village on the other bank. +</P> + +<P> +But habitations are made for men, and to Captain Dieppe beauties of +position or architecture were subordinate to any indications he might +discover or imagine of the characters of the folk who dwelt in a house +and of their manner of living. Thus, not so much the position of the +Castle (it could and did claim that title), or its handsome front, or +the high wall that enclosed it and its demesne on every side save where +it faced the river, caught his attention as the apparently trifling +fact that, whereas one half of the facade was brilliant with lights in +every window, the other half was entirely dark and, to all seeming, +uninhabited. "They are poor, they live in half the rooms only," he +said to himself. But somehow this explanation sounded inadequate. He +drew nearer, till he was close under the wall of the gardens. Then he +noticed a small gate in the wall, sheltered by a little projecting +porch. The Captain edged under the porch, took out a cigar, contrived +to light it, and stood there puffing pensively. He was protected from +the rain, which now fell very heavily, and he was asking himself again +why only half the house was lighted up. This was the kind of trivial, +yet whimsical, puzzle on which he enjoyed trying his wits. +</P> + +<P> +He had stood where he was for a few minutes when he heard steps on the +other side of the wall; a moment later a key turned in the lock and the +gate opened. Dieppe turned to find himself confronted by a young man +of tall stature; the dim light showed only the vague outline of a +rather long and melancholy, but certainly handsome, face; the +stranger's air was eminently distinguished. Dieppe raised his hat and +bowed. +</P> + +<P> +"You 'll excuse the liberty," he said, smiling. "I 'm on my way to the +village yonder to find quarters for the night. Your porch offered me a +short rest and shelter from the rain while I smoked a cigar. I presume +that I have the honour of addressing the owner of this fine house?" +</P> + +<P> +"You 're right, sir. I am the Count of Fieramondi," said the young +man, "and this is my house. Do me the favour to enter it and refresh +yourself." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, but you entertain company, and look at me!" With a smile Dieppe +indicated his humble and travel-worn appearance. +</P> + +<P> +"Company? None, I assure you." +</P> + +<P> +"But the lights?" suggested the Captain, with a wave of his hand. +</P> + +<P> +"You will find me quite alone," the Count assured him, as he turned +into the garden and motioned his guest to follow. +</P> + +<P> +Crossing a path and a stretch of grass, they entered a room opening +immediately on the garden; it was large and high. +</P> + +<P> +Situated at the corner of the house, it had two windows facing on the +garden and two towards the river. It was richly and soberly furnished, +and hung with family portraits. A blazing fire revealed these features +to Dieppe, and at the same time imparted a welcome glow to his body. +The next minute a man-servant entered with a pair of candlesticks, +which he set on the table. +</P> + +<P> +"I am about to dine," said the Count. "Will you honour me with your +company?" +</P> + +<P> +"Your kindness to a complete stranger—" Dieppe began. +</P> + +<P> +"The kindness will be yours. Company is a favour to one who lives +alone." +</P> + +<P> +And the Count proceeded to give the necessary orders to his servant. +Then, turning again to Dieppe, he said, "In return, pray let me know +the name of the gentleman who honours my house." +</P> + +<P> +"I can refuse nothing to my host—to anybody else my name is the only +thing I should refuse. I am called Captain Dieppe." +</P> + +<P> +"Of the French service? Though you speak Italian excellently." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, that accent of mine! No, not of the French service—in fact, not +of any service. I have been in many services, but I can show you no +commission as captain." +</P> + +<P> +For the first time the Count smiled. +</P> + +<P> +"It is, perhaps, a sobriquet?" he asked, but with no offensive air or +insinuation. +</P> + +<P> +"The spontaneous tribute of my comrades all over the world," answered +Dieppe, proudly—"is it for me to refuse it?" +</P> + +<P> +"By no means," agreed his host, smiling still; "I don't doubt that you +have amply earned it." +</P> + +<P> +Dieppe's bow confirmed the supposition while it acknowledged the +compliment. +</P> + +<P> +Civilities such as these, when aided by dinner and a few glasses of red +wine, soon passed into confidences—on the Captain's side at least. +Accustomed to keep other people's secrets, he burdened himself with few +of his own. +</P> + +<P> +"I have always had something of a passion for politics," he confessed, +after giving his host an account of some stirring events in South +America in which he had borne a part. +</P> + +<P> +"You surprise me," was the Count's comment. +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps I should say," Dieppe explained, "for handling those forces +which lie behind politics. That has been my profession." The Count +looked up. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I 'm no sentimentalist," Dieppe went on. "I ask for my pay—I +receive it—and sometimes I contrive to keep it." +</P> + +<P> +"You interest me," said his host, in whose manner Dieppe recognised an +attractive simplicity. +</P> + +<P> +"But in my last enterprise—well, there are accidents in every trade." +His shrug was very good-natured. +</P> + +<P> +"The enterprise failed?" asked the Count, sympathetically. +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly, or I should not be enjoying your hospitality. Moreover I +failed too, for I had to skip out of the country in such haste that I +left behind me fifty thousand francs, and the police have laid hands on +it. It was my—what shall I call it? My little <I>pourboire</I>." He +sighed lightly, and then smiled again. "So I am a homeless wanderer, +content if I can escape the traps of police agents." +</P> + +<P> +"You anticipate being annoyed in that way?" +</P> + +<P> +"They are on my track, depend upon it." He touched the outside of his +breast pocket. "I carry—but no matter. The pursuit only adds a spice +to my walks, and so long as I don't need to sell my revolver for +bread—." He checked himself abruptly, a frown of shame or vexation on +his face. "I beg your pardon," he went on, "I beg your pardon. But +you won't take me for a beggar?" +</P> + +<P> +"I regret what you have said only because you said it before I had +begged a favour of you—a favour I had resolved to venture on asking. +But come, though I don't think you a beggar, you shall be sure that I +am one." He rose and laid his hand on Dieppe's shoulder. "Stay with +me for to-night at least—and for as much longer as you will. Nobody +will trouble you. I live in solitude, and your society will lighten +it. Let me ring and give orders for your entertainment?" +</P> + +<P> +Dieppe looked up at him; the next moment he caught his hand, crying, +"With all my heart, dear host! Your only difficulty shall be to get +rid of me." +</P> + +<P> +The Count rang, and directed his servant to prepare the Cardinal's +Room. Dieppe noticed that the order was received with a glance of +surprise, but the master of the house repeated it, and, as the servant +withdrew, added, "It is called after an old member of our family, but I +can answer for its comfort myself, for I have occupied it until—" +</P> + +<P> +"I 'm turning you out?" exclaimed Dieppe. +</P> + +<P> +"I left it yesterday." The Count frowned as he sipped his wine. "I +left it owing to—er—circumstances," he murmured, with some appearance +of embarrassment in his manner. +</P> + +<P> +"His Eminence is restless?" asked the Captain, laughing. +</P> + +<P> +"I beg pardon?" +</P> + +<P> +"I mean—a ghost?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, a cat," was the Count's quiet but somewhat surprising answer. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't mind cats, I am very fond of them," Dieppe declared with the +readiness of good breeding, but he glanced at his host with a curiosity +that would not be stifled. The Count lived in solitude. Half his +house—and that the other half—was brilliantly lighted, and he left +his bedroom because of a cat. Here were circumstances that might set +the least inquisitive of men thinking. It crossed Dieppe's mind that +his host was (he used a mild word) eccentric, but the Count's manner +gave little warrant for the supposition; and Dieppe could not believe +that so courteous a gentleman would amuse himself by making fun of a +guest. He listened eagerly when the Count, after a long silence, went +on to say: +</P> + +<P> +"The reason I put forward must, no doubt, sound ludicrous, but the fact +is that the animal, in itself a harmless beast, became the occasion, or +was made the means, of forcing on me encounters with a person whom I +particularly wish to avoid. You, however, will not be annoyed in that +way." +</P> + +<P> +There he stopped, and turned the conversation to general topics. Never +had Dieppe's politeness been subjected to such a strain. +</P> + +<P> +No relief was granted to him. The Count talked freely and well on a +variety of questions till eleven o'clock, and then proposed to show his +guest to his bedroom. Dieppe accepted the offer in despair, but he +would have sat up all night had there seemed any chance of the Count's +becoming more explicit. +</P> + +<P> +The Cardinal's Room was a large apartment situated on the upper floor +(there were but two), about the middle of the house; its windows looked +across the river, which rippled pleasantly in the quiet of the night +when Dieppe flung up the sash and put his head out. He turned first to +the left. Save his own room, all was dark: the Count, no doubt, slept +at the back. Then, craning his neck, he tried to survey the right +wing. The illumination was quenched; light showed in one window only, +a window on the same level with his and distant from it perhaps forty +feet. With a deep sigh the Captain drew his head back and shut out the +chilly air. +</P> + +<P> +Ah, there was an inner door on the right hand side of the room; that +the Captain had not noticed before. Walking up to it, he perceived +that it was bolted at top and bottom; but the key was in the lock. He +stood and looked at this door; it seemed that it must lead, either +directly or by way of another apartment between, to the room whose +lights he had just seen. He pulled his moustache thoughtfully; and he +remembered that there was a person whom the Count particularly wished +to avoid and, owing (in some way) to a cat, could not rely on being +able to avoid if he slept in the Cardinal's Room. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, then—" began Dieppe with a thoughtful frown. "Oh, I can't +stand it much longer!" he ended, with a smile and a shrug. +</P> + +<P> +And then there came—the Captain was really not surprised, he had been +almost expecting it—a mew, a peevish, plaintive mew. "I won't open +that door," said the Captain. The complaint was repeated. "Poor +beast!" murmured the Captain. "Shut up in that—in that—deuce take +it, in that what?" His hand shot up to the top bolt and pressed it +softly back. "No, no," said he. Another mew defeated his struggling +conscience. Pushing back the lower bolt in its turn, he softly +unlocked the door and opened it cautiously. There in the passage—for +a narrow passage some twelve or fifteen feet long was revealed—near +his door, visible in the light from his room, was a large, sleek, +yellow cat from whose mouth was proceeding energetic lamentation. But +on sight of Dieppe the creature ceased its cries, and in apparent alarm +ran half-way along the passage and sat down beside a small hole in the +wall. From this position it regarded the intruder with solemn, +apprehensive eyes. Dieppe, holding his door wide open, returned the +animal's stare. This must be the cat which had ejected the Count. But +why—? +</P> + +<P> +In a moment the half-formed question found its answer, though the +answer seemed rather to ask a new riddle than to answer the old one. A +door at the other end of the passage opened a little way, and a +melodious voice called softly, "Papa, papa!" The cat ran towards the +speaker, the door was opened wide, and for an instant Dieppe had the +vision of a beautiful young woman, clad in a white dressing-gown and +with hair about her shoulders. As he saw her she saw him, and gave a +startled shriek. The cat, apparently bewildered, raced back to the +aperture in the wall and disappeared with an agitated whisk of its +tail. The lady's door and the Captain's closed with a double +simultaneous reverberating bang, and the Captain drove his bolts home +with guilty haste. +</P> + +<P> +His first act was to smoke a cigarette. That done, he began to undress +slowly and almost unconsciously. During the process he repeated to +himself more than once the Count's measured but emphatic words: "A +person whom I particularly wish to avoid." The words died away as +Dieppe climbed into the big four-poster with a wrinkle of annoyance on +his brow. +</P> + +<P> +For the lady at the other end of the passage did not, to the Captain's +mind, look the sort of person whom a handsome and lonely young man +would particularly wish to avoid. In spite of the shortness of his +vision, in spite of her obvious alarm and confusion, she had, in fact, +seemed, to him very much indeed the opposite. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER II +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE MAN BY THE STREAM +</H4> + +<P> +Apart from personal hopes or designs, the presence, or even the +proximity, of a beautiful woman is a cheerful thing: it gives a man the +sense of happiness, like sunshine or sparkling water; these are not his +either, but he can look at and enjoy them; he smiles back at the world +in thanks for its bountiful favours. Never had life seemed better to +Dieppe than when he awoke the next morning; yet there was guilt on his +conscience—he ought not to have opened that door. But the guilt +became parent to a new pleasure and gave him the one thing needful to +perfection of existence—a pretty little secret of his own, and this +time one that he was minded to keep. +</P> + +<P> +"To think," he exclaimed, pointing a scornful finger at the village +across the river, "that but for my luck I might be at the inn! Heaven +above us, I might even have been leaving this enchanting spot!" He +looked down at the stream. A man was fishing there, a tall, well-made +fellow in knickerbockers and a soft felt hat of the sort sometimes +called Tyrolean. "Good luck to you, my boy!" nodded the happy and +therefore charitable Captain. +</P> + +<P> +Going down to the Count's pleasant room at the corner of the left wing, +he found his host taking his coffee. Compliments passed, and soon +Dieppe was promising to spend a week at least with his new friend. +</P> + +<P> +"I am a student," observed the Count, "and you must amuse yourself. +There are fine walks, a little rough shooting perhaps—" +</P> + +<P> +"Fishing?" asked Dieppe, thinking of the man in the soft hat. +</P> + +<P> +"The fishing is worth nothing at all," answered the Count, decisively. +He paused for a moment and then went on: "There is, however, one +request that I am obliged to make to you." +</P> + +<P> +"Any wish of yours is a command to me, my dear host." +</P> + +<P> +"It is that during your visit you will hold no communication whatever +with the right wing of the house." The Count was now lighting a cigar; +he completed the operation carefully, and then added: +</P> + +<P> +"The Countess's establishment and mine are entirely separate—entirely." +</P> + +<P> +"The Countess!" exclaimed Dieppe, not unnaturally surprised. +</P> + +<P> +"I regret to trouble you with family matters. My wife and I are not in +agreement; we have n't met for three months. She lives in the right +wing with two servants; I live in the left with three. We hold no +communication, and our servants are forbidden to hold any among +themselves; obedience is easier to insure as we have kept only those we +can trust, and, since entertaining is out of the question, have +dismissed the rest." +</P> + +<P> +"You have—er—had a difference?" the Captain ventured to suggest, for +the Count seemed rather embarrassed. +</P> + +<P> +"A final and insuperable difference, a final and permanent separation." +The Count's tone was sad but very firm. +</P> + +<P> +"I am truly grieved. But—forgive me—does n't the arrangement you +indicate entail some inconvenience?" +</P> + +<P> +"Endless inconvenience," assented the Count. +</P> + +<P> +"To live under the same roof, and yet—" +</P> + +<P> +"My dear sir, during the negotiations which followed on the Countess's +refusal to—to well, to meet my wishes, I represented that to her with +all the emphasis at my command. I am bound to add that she represented +it no less urgently to me." +</P> + +<P> +"On the other hand, of course, the scandal—" Dieppe began. +</P> + +<P> +"We Fieramondi do not much mind scandal. That was n't the difficulty. +The fact is that I thought it the Countess's plain duty to relieve me +of her presence. She took what I may call the exactly converse view. +You follow me?" +</P> + +<P> +"Perfectly," said Dieppe, repressing an inclination to smile. +</P> + +<P> +"And declared that nothing—nothing on earth—should induce her to quit +the Castle even for a day; she would regard such an act as a surrender. +I said I should regard my own departure in the same light. So we stay +here under the extremely inconvenient arrangement I have referred to. +To make sure of my noticing her presence, my wife indulges in something +approaching to an illumination every night." +</P> + +<P> +The Count rose and began to walk up and down as he went on with a +marked access of warmth. "But even the understanding we arrived at," +he pursued, "I regret to say that my wife did n't see fit to adhere to +in good faith. She treated it with what I must call levity." He faced +round on his guest suddenly. "I mentioned a cat to you," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"You did," Dieppe admitted, eyeing him rather apprehensively. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know," pursued the Count, "whether you noticed a door in your +room?" Dieppe nodded. "It was bolted?" Dieppe nodded again. "If you +had opened that door—pardon the supposition—you would have seen a +passage. At the other end is another door, leading to the Countess's +apartments. See, I will show you. This fork is the door from your +room, this knife is—" +</P> + +<P> +"I follow your description perfectly," interposed Dieppe, assailed now +with a keener sense of guilt. +</P> + +<P> +"The Countess possesses a cat—a thing to which in itself I have no +objection. To give this creature, which she likes to have with her +constantly, the opportunity of exercise, she has caused an opening to +be made from the passage on to the roof. This piece of bread will +represent—" +</P> + +<P> +"I understand, I assure you," murmured Dieppe. +</P> + +<P> +"Every evening she lets the cat into the passage, whence it escapes on +to the roof. On its return it would naturally betake itself to her +room again." +</P> + +<P> +"Naturally," assented the Captain. Are not cats most reasonable +animals? +</P> + +<P> +"But," said the Count, beginning to walk about again, "she shuts her +door: the animal mews at it; my wife ignores the appeal. What then? +The cat, in despair, turns to my door. I take no heed. It mews +persistently. At last, wearied of the noise, I open my door. +Always—by design, as I believe—at that very moment my wife flings her +door open. You see the position?" +</P> + +<P> +"I can imagine it," said Dieppe, discreetly. +</P> + +<P> +"We are face to face! Nothing between us except the passage—and the +cat! And then the Countess, with what I am compelled to term a +singular offensiveness, not to say insolence, of manner, slams the door +in my face, leaving me to deal with the cat as I best can! My friend, +it became intolerable. I sent a message begging the Countess to do me +the favour of changing her apartment. +</P> + +<P> +"She declined point-blank. I determined then to change mine, and sent +word of my intention to the Countess." He flung himself into a chair. +"Her reply was to send back to me her marriage contract and her +wedding-ring, and to beg to be informed whether my present stay at the +Castle was likely to be prolonged." +</P> + +<P> +"And you replied—?" +</P> + +<P> +"I made no reply," answered the Count, crossing his legs. +</P> + +<P> +A combination of feelings prevented Dieppe from disclosing the incident +of the previous night. He loved a touch of mystery and a possibility +of romance. Again, it is not the right thing for a guest to open +bolted doors. A man does not readily confess to such a breach of +etiquette, and his inclination to make a clean breast of it is not +increased when it turns out that the door in question leads to the +apartments of his host's wife. +</P> + +<P> +Finally, the moment for candour had slipped by: you cannot allow a man +to explain a locality by means of forks and knives and pieces of bread +and then inform him that you were all the while acquainted with its +features. Dieppe was silent, and the Count, who was obviously upset by +the recital of his grievances, presently withdrew to his study, a room +on the upper floor which looked out on the gardens at the back of the +house. +</P> + +<P> +"What did they quarrel about?" Dieppe asked himself; the Count had +thrown no light on that. "I 'll be hanged if I 'd quarrel with her," +smiled the Captain, remembering the face he had seen at the other end +of the passage. "But," he declared to himself, virtuously, "the cat +may mew till it's hoarse—I won't open that door again." With this +resolve strong in his heart, he took his hat and strolled out into the +garden. +</P> + +<P> +He had no sooner reached the front of the house than he gave an +exclamation of surprise. The expanse of rather rough grass sprinkled +with flower-beds, which stretched from the Castle to the point where +the ground dipped steeply towards the river, was divided across by a +remarkable structure—a tall, new, bare wooden fence, constituting a +very substantial barrier. It stood a few paces to the right of the +window which the Captain identified as his own, and ran some yards down +the hill. Here was plain and strong evidence of the state of war which +existed between the two wings. Neither the Count nor the Countess +would risk so much as a sight of the other while they took their +respective promenades. The Captain approached the obstacle and +examined it with a humorous interest; then he glanced up at the wall +above, drawing a couple of feet back to get a better view. "Ah," said +he, "just half-way between my window and—hers! They are very +punctilious, these combatants!" +</P> + +<P> +Natural curiosity must, so far as it can, excuse Captain Dieppe for +spending the rest of the morning in what he termed a reconnaissance of +the premises, or that part of them which was open to his inspection. +He found little. There was no sign of anybody entering or leaving the +other wing, although (as he discovered on strolling round by the road) +a gate in the wall on the right of the gardens, and a carriage-drive +running up to it, gave independent egress from that side of the Castle. +Breakfast with the Count was no more fruitful of information; the Count +discussed (apropos of a book at which he had been glancing) the +question of the Temporal Power of the Papacy with learning and some +heat: he was, it appeared, strongly opposed to these ecclesiastical +claims, and spoke of them with marked bitterness. Dieppe, very little +interested, escaped for a walk early in the afternoon. It was five +o'clock when he regained the garden and stood for a few moments looking +down towards the river. It was just growing dusk, and the lights of +the inn were visible in the village across the valley. +</P> + +<P> +Fishermen are a persevering race, the young man in the soft hat was +still at his post. But no, he was not fishing! He was walking up and +down in a moody, purposeless way, and it seemed to the Captain that he +turned his head very often towards the Castle. The Captain sat down on +a garden-seat close under the barricade and watched; an idea was +stirring in his brain—an idea that made him pat his breast-pocket, +twirl his moustache, and smile contentedly. "Not much of a fisherman, +I think," he murmured. "Ah, my friend, I know the cut of your jib, I +fancy. After poor old Jean Dieppe, are n't you, my boy? A police-spy; +I could tell him among a thousand!" +</P> + +<P> +Equally pleased with the discovery and with his own acuteness in making +it, the Captain laughed aloud; then in an instant he sat bolt upright, +stiff and still, listening intently. For through the barricade had +come two sounds—a sweet, low, startled voice, that cried half in a +whisper, "Heavens, he 's there!" and then the rustle of skirts in hasty +flight. Without an instant's thought—without remembering his promise +to the Count—Dieppe sprang up, ran down the hill, turned the corner of +the barricade, and found himself in the Countess's territory. +</P> + +<P> +He was too late. The lady had made good her escape. There was nobody +to be seen except the large yellow cat: it sat on the path and blinked +gravely at the chagrined Captain. +</P> + +<P> +"Animal, you annoy me!" he said with a stamp of his foot. The cat +rose, turned, and walked away with its tail in the air. "I 'm making a +fool of myself," muttered Dieppe. "Or," he amended with a dawning +smile, "she 's making a fool of me." His smile broadened a little. +"Why not?" he asked. Then he drew himself up and slowly returned to +his own side of the barricade, shaking his head and murmuring, "No, no, +Jean, my boy, no, no! He 's your host—your host, Jean," as he again +seated himself on the bench under the barricade. +</P> + +<P> +Evening was now falling fast; the fisherman was no longer to be seen; +perfect peace reigned over the landscape. Dieppe yawned; perfect peace +was with him a synonym for intolerable dulness. +</P> + +<P> +"Permit me, my dear friend," said a voice behind him, "to read you a +little poem which I have beguiled my leisure by composing." +</P> + +<P> +He turned to find the Count behind him, holding a sheet of paper. +</P> + +<P> +Probably the poet had his composition by heart, for the light seemed +now too dim to read by. However this may be, a rich and tender voice +recited to Dieppe's sympathetic ears as pretty a little appeal (so the +Captain thought) as had ever been addressed by lover to an obdurate or +capricious lady. The Captain's eyes filled with tears as he +listened—tears for the charm of the verse, for the sad beauty of the +sentiment, also, alas, for the unhappy gentleman from whose heart came +verse and sentiment. +</P> + +<P> +"My friend, you love!" cried the Captain, holding out his hand as the +Count ended his poem and folded up the paper. +</P> + +<P> +"And you are unhappy," he added. +</P> + +<P> +The Count smiled in a sad but friendly fashion. +</P> + +<P> +"Is n't it the same thing?" he asked. "And at any rate as to me you +are right." +</P> + +<P> +Dieppe wrung his hand. The Count, apparently much moved, turned and +walked slowly away, leaving Dieppe to his meditations. +</P> + +<P> +"He loves her." That was the form they took. Whatever the meaning of +the quarrel, the Count loved his wife; it was to her the poem was +written, hers was the heart which it sought to soften. Yet she had not +looked hard-hearted. No, she had looked adorable, frankly adorable; a +lady for whose sake any man, even so wise and experienced a man as +Captain Dieppe, might well commit many a folly, and have many a +heartache; a lady for whom— +</P> + +<P> +"Rascal that I am!" cried the Captain, interrupting himself and +springing up. He raised his hand in the air and declared aloud with +emphasis: "On my honour, I will think no more of her. I will think, I +say, no more of her." +</P> + +<P> +On the last word came a low laugh from the other side of the barricade. +The Captain started, looked round, listened, smiled, frowned, pulled +his moustache. Then, with extraordinary suddenness, resolution, and +fierceness, he turned and walked quickly away. "Honour, honour!" he +was saying to himself; and the path of honour seemed to lie in flight. +Unhappily, though, the Captain was more accustomed to advance. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap03"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER III +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE LADY IN THE GARDEN +</H4> + +<P> +It is possible that Captain Dieppe, full of contentment with the +quarters to which fortune had guided him, under-rated the merits and +attractions of the inn in the village across the river. Fare and +accommodation indeed were plain and rough at the Aquila Nera, but the +company round its fireside would have raised his interest. On one side +of the hearth sat the young fisherman, he in whom Dieppe had discovered +a police-spy on the track of the secrets in that breast-pocket of the +Captain's. Oh, these discoveries of the Captain's! For M. Paul de +Roustache was not a police-spy, and, moreover, had never seen the +gallant Captain in his life, and took no interest in him—a state of +things most unlikely to occur to the Captain's mind. Had Paul, then, +fished for fishing's sake? It by no means followed, if only the +Captain could have remembered that there were other people in the world +besides himself—and one or two others even in the Count of +Fieramondi's house. "I 'll get at her if I can; but if she 's +obstinate, I 'll go to the Count—in the last resort I 'll go to the +Count, for I mean to have the money." Reflections such as these (and +they were M. de Roustache's at this moment) would have shown even +Captain Dieppe—not, perhaps, that he had done the fisherman an +injustice, for the police may be very respectable—but at least that he +had mistaken his errand and his character. +</P> + +<P> +But however much it might be abashed momentarily, the Captain's acumen +would not have been without a refuge. Who was the elderly man with +stooping shoulders and small keen eyes, who sat on the other side of +the fire, and had been engaged in persuading Paul that he too was a +fisherman, that he too loved beautiful scenery, that he too travelled +for pleasure, and, finally, that his true, rightful, and only name was +Monsieur Guillaume? To which Paul had responded in kind, save that he +had not volunteered his name. And now each was wondering what the +other wanted, and each was wishing very much that the other would seek +his bed, so that the inn might be sunk in quiet and a gentleman be at +liberty to go about his private business unobserved. +</P> + +<P> +The landlord came in, bringing a couple of candles, and remarking that +it was hard on ten o'clock; but let not the gentlemen hurry themselves. +The guests sat a little while longer, exchanged a remark or two on the +prospects of the weather, and then, each despairing of outstaying the +other, went their respective ways to bed. +</P> + +<P> +Almost at the same moment, up at the Castle, Dieppe was saying to his +host, "Good night, my friend, good night. I 'm not for bed yet. The +night is fine, and I 'll take a stroll in the garden." A keen observer +might have noticed that the Captain did not meet his friend's eye as he +spoke. There was a touch of guilt in his air, which the Count's +abstraction did not allow him to notice. Conscience was having a hard +battle of it; would the Captain keep on the proper side of the +barricade? +</P> + +<P> +Monsieur Guillaume, owing to his profession or his temperament, was a +man who, if the paradox may be allowed, was not surprised at surprises. +Accordingly when he himself emerged from the bedroom to which he had +retired, took the path across the meadow from the inn towards the +river, and directed his course to the stepping-stones which he had +marked as he strolled about before dinner, he was merely interested and +in no way astonished to perceive his companion of the fireside in front +of him, the moon, nearly full, revealed Paul's Tyrolean headpiece +mounting the hill on the far side of the stream. Guillaume followed +it, crossed the river at the cost of wet boots, ascended the slope, and +crouched down behind a bush a few yards from the top. He had gained on +Paul, and arrived at his hiding-place in time to hear the exclamation +wrung from his precursor by the sudden sight of the barricade: from the +valley below the erection had been so hidden by bushes as to escape +notice. +</P> + +<P> +"What the devil's that for?" exclaimed Paul de Roustache in a low +voice. He was not left without an answer. The watcher had cause for +the smile that spread over his face, as, peeping out, he saw a man's +figure rise from a seat and come forward. The next moment Paul was +addressed in smooth and suave tones, and in his native language, which +he had hurriedly employed in his surprised ejaculation. +</P> + +<P> +"That, sir," said Dieppe, waving his hand towards the barricade, "is +erected in order to prevent intrusion. But it does n't seem to be very +successful." +</P> + +<P> +"Who are you?" demanded Paul, angrily. +</P> + +<P> +"I should, I think, be the one to ask that question," Dieppe answered +with a smile. "It is not, I believe, your garden?" His emphasis on +"your" came very near to an assertion of proprietorship in himself. +"Pray, sir, to what am I indebted for the honour of this meeting?" The +Captain was enjoying this unexpected encounter with his supposed +pursuer. Apparently the pursuer did not know him. Very well; he would +take advantage of that bit of stupidity on the part of the pursuer's +superior officers. It was like them to send a man who did n't know +him! "You wish to see some one in the house?" he asked, looking at +Paul's angry and puzzled face. +</P> + +<P> +But Paul began to recover his coolness. +</P> + +<P> +"I am indeed to blame for my intrusion," he said. "I 'm passing the +night at the inn, and tempted by the mildness of the air—" +</P> + +<P> +"It is certainly very mild," agreed Dieppe. +</P> + +<P> +"I strolled across the stepping-stones and up the hill. I admire the +appearance of a river by night." +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly, certainly. But, sir, the river does not run in this +garden." +</P> + +<P> +"Of course not, M. le Comte," said Paul, forcing a smile. "At least I +presume that I address—?" +</P> + +<P> +Dieppe took off his hat, bowed, and replaced it. He had, however, much +ado not to chuckle. +</P> + +<P> +"But I was led on by the sight of this remarkable structure." He +indicated the barricade again. +</P> + +<P> +"There was nothing else you wished to see?" +</P> + +<P> +"On my honour, nothing. And I must offer you my apologies." +</P> + +<P> +"As for the structure—" added Dieppe, shrugging his shoulders. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes?" cried Paul, with renewed interest. +</P> + +<P> +"Its purpose is to divide the garden into two portions. No more and no +less, I assure you." +</P> + +<P> +Paul's face took on an ugly expression. +</P> + +<P> +"I am at such a disadvantage," he observed, "that I cannot complain of +M. le Comte's making me the subject of pleasantry. Under other +circumstances I might raise different emotions in him. Perhaps I shall +have my opportunity." +</P> + +<P> +"When you find me, sir, prowling about other people's gardens by +night—" +</P> + +<P> +"Prowling!" interrupted Paul, fiercely. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, then," said Dieppe, with an air of courteous apology, "shall we +say skulking?" +</P> + +<P> +"You shall pay for that!" +</P> + +<P> +"With pleasure, if you convince me that it is a gentleman who asks +satisfaction." +</P> + +<P> +Paul de Roustache smiled. "At my convenience," he said, "I will give +you a reference which shall satisfy you most abundantly." He drew +back, lifted his hat, and bowed. +</P> + +<P> +"I shall await it with interest," said Dieppe, returning the +salutation, and then folding his arms and watching Paul's retreat down +the hill. "The fellow brazened it out well," he reflected; "but I +shall hear no more of him, I fancy. After all, police-agents don't +fight duels with—why, with Counts, you know!" And his laugh rang out +in hearty enjoyment through the night air. "Ha, ha—it 's not so easy +to put salt on old Dieppe's tail!" With a sigh of satisfaction he +turned round, as though to go back to the house. But his eye was +caught by a light in the window next to his own; and the window was +open. The Captain stood and looked up, and Monsieur Guillaume, who had +overheard his little soliloquy and discovered from it a fact of great +interest to himself, seized the opportunity of rising from behind his +bush and stealing off down the hill after Paul de Roustache. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah," thought the Captain, as he gazed at the window, "if there were no +such thing as honour or loyalty, as friendship—" +</P> + +<P> +"Sir," said a timid voice at his elbow. +</P> + +<P> +Dieppe shot round, and then and there lost his heart. One sight of her +a man might endure and be heart-whole, not two. There, looking up at +him with the most bewitching mouth, the most destructive eyes, was the +lady whom he had seen at the end of the passage. Certainly she was the +most irresistible creature he had ever met; so he declared to himself, +not, indeed, for the first time in his life, but none the less with +unimpeachable sincerity. For a man could do nothing but look at her, +and the man who looked at her had to smile at her; then if she smiled, +the man had to laugh; and what happened afterwards would depend on the +inclinations of the lady: at least it would not be very safe to rely on +the principles of the gentleman. +</P> + +<P> +But now she was not laughing. Genuine and deep distress was visible on +her face. +</P> + +<P> +"Madame la Comtesse—" stammered the dazzled Captain. +</P> + +<P> +For an instant she looked at him, seeming, he thought, to ask if she +could trust him. Then she said impatiently: "Yes, yes; but never mind +that. Who are you? Oh, why did you tell him you were the Count? Oh, +you 've ruined everything!" +</P> + +<P> +"Ruined—?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, yes; because now he 'll write to the Count. Oh, I heard your +quarrel. I listened from the window. Oh, I did n't think anybody +could be as stupid as you!" +</P> + +<P> +"Madame!" pleaded the unhappy Captain. "I thought the fellow was a +police-agent on my track, and—" +</P> + +<P> +"On your track? Oh, who are you?" +</P> + +<P> +"My name is Dieppe, madame—Captain Dieppe, at your service." It was +small wonder that a little stiffness had crept into the Captain's +tones. This was not, so far, just the sort of interview which had +filled his dreams. For the first time the glimmer of a smile appeared +on the lady's lips, the ghost of a sparkle in her eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"What a funny name!" she observed reflectively. +</P> + +<P> +"I fail to see the drollery of it." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, don't be silly and starchy. You 've got us into terrible trouble." +</P> + +<P> +"You?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; all of us. Because now—" She broke off abruptly. "How do you +come to be here?" she asked in a rather imperious tone. +</P> + +<P> +Dieppe gave a brief account of himself, concluding with the hope that +his presence did not annoy the Countess. The lady shook her head and +glanced at him with a curious air of inquiry or examination. In spite +of the severity, or even rudeness, of her reproaches, Dieppe fell more +and more in love with her every moment. At last he could not resist a +sly reference to their previous encounter. She raised innocent eyes to +his. +</P> + +<P> +"I saw the door was open, but I did n't notice anybody there," she said +with irreproachable demureness. +</P> + +<P> +The Captain looked at her for a moment, then he began to laugh. +</P> + +<P> +"I myself saw nothing but a cat," said he. +</P> + +<P> +The lady began to laugh. +</P> + +<P> +"You must let me atone for my stupidity," cried Dieppe, catching her +hand. +</P> + +<P> +"I wonder if you could!" +</P> + +<P> +"I will, or die in the attempt. Tell me how!" And the Captain kissed +the hand that he had captured. +</P> + +<P> +"There are conditions." +</P> + +<P> +"Not too hard?" +</P> + +<P> +"First, you must n't breathe a word to the Count of having seen me +or—or anybody else." +</P> + +<P> +"I should n't have done that, anyhow," remarked Dieppe, with a sudden +twinge of conscience. +</P> + +<P> +"Secondly, you must never try to see me, except when I give you leave." +</P> + +<P> +"I won't try, I will only long," said the Captain. +</P> + +<P> +"Thirdly, you must ask no questions." +</P> + +<P> +"It is too soon to ask the only one which I would n't pledge myself at +your bidding never to ask." +</P> + +<P> +"To whom," inquired the lady, "do you conceive yourself to be speaking, +Captain Dieppe?" But the look that accompanied the rebuke was not very +severe. +</P> + +<P> +"Tell me what I must do," implored the Captain. +</P> + +<P> +She looked at him very kindly, partly because he was a handsome fellow, +partly because it was her way; and she said with the prettiest, +simplest air, as though she were making the most ordinary request and +never thought of a refusal: +</P> + +<P> +"Will you give me fifty thousand francs?" +</P> + +<P> +"I would give you a million thousand—but I have only fifty." +</P> + +<P> +"It would be your all, then! Oh, I should n't like to—" +</P> + +<P> +"You misunderstand me, madame. I have fifty francs, not fifty +thousand." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh!" said she, frowning. Then she laughed a little; then, to Dieppe's +indescribable agony, her eyes filled with tears and her lips quivered. +She put her hand up to her eyes; Dieppe heard a sob. +</P> + +<P> +"For God's sake—" he whispered. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I can't help it," she said, and she sobbed again; but now she did +not try to hide her face. She looked up in the Captain's, conquering +her sobs, but unable to restrain her tears. "It's not my fault, and it +is so hard on me," she wailed. Then she suddenly jumped back, crying, +"Oh, what were you going to do?" and regarding the Captain with +reproachful alarm. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know," said Dieppe in some confusion, as he straightened +himself again. "I could n't help it; you aroused my sympathy," he +explained—for what the explanation might be worth. +</P> + +<P> +"You won't be able to help me," she murmured, "unless—unless—" +</P> + +<P> +"What?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, unless you 're able to help it, you know." +</P> + +<P> +"I will think," promised Dieppe, "of my friend the Count." +</P> + +<P> +"Of the—? Oh yes, of course." There never was such a face for +changes—she was smiling now. "Yes, think of your friend the Count, +that will be capital. Oh, but we 're wasting time!" +</P> + +<P> +"On the contrary, madame," the Captain assured her with overwhelming +sincerity. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, we are. And we 're not safe here. Suppose the Count saw us!" +</P> + +<P> +"Why, yes, that would be—" +</P> + +<P> +"That would be fatal," said she decisively, and the Captain did not +feel himself in a position to contradict her. He contented himself +with taking her hand again and pressing it softly. Certainly she made +a man feel very sympathetic. +</P> + +<P> +"But I must see you again—" +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed I trust so, madame." +</P> + +<P> +"On business." +</P> + +<P> +"Call it what you will, so that—" +</P> + +<P> +"Not here. Do you know the village? No? Well, listen. If you go +through the village, past the inn and up the hill, you will come to a +Cross by the roadside. Strike off from that across the grass, again +uphill. When you reach the top you will find a hollow, and in it a +shepherd's hut—deserted. Meet me there at dusk to-morrow, about six, +and I will tell you how to help me." +</P> + +<P> +"I will be there," said the Captain. +</P> + +<P> +The lady held out both her hands—small, white, ungloved, and unringed. +The Captain's eyes rested a moment on the finger that should have worn +the golden band which united her to his friend the Count. It was not +there; she had sent it back—with the marriage contract. With a sigh, +strangely blended of pain and pleasure, he bent and kissed her hands. +She drew them away quickly, gave a nervous little laugh, and ran off. +The Captain watched her till she disappeared round the corner of the +barricade, and then with another deep sigh betook himself to his own +quarters. +</P> + +<P> +The cat did not mew in the passage that night. None the less Captain +Dieppe's slumbers were broken and disturbed. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap04"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IV +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE INN IN THE VILLAGE +</H4> + +<P> +While confessing that her want of insight into Paul de Roustache's true +character was inconceivably stupid, the Countess of Fieramondi +maintained that her other mistakes (that was the word she +chose—indiscretions she rejected as too severe) were extremely venial, +and indeed, under all the circumstances, quite natural. It was true +that she had promised to hold no communication with Paul after that +affair of the Baroness von Englebaden's diamond necklace, in which his +part was certainly peculiar, though hardly so damnatory as Andrea chose +to assume. It was true that, when one is supposed to be at Mentone for +one's health one should not leave one's courier there (in order to +receive letters) and reside instead with one's maid at Monte Carlo; +true, further, that it is unwise to gamble heavily, to lose largely, to +confide the misfortune to a man of Paul's equivocal position and +reputation, to borrow twenty thousand francs of him, to lose or spend +all, save what served to return home with, and finally to acknowledge +the transaction and the obligation both very cordially by word of mouth +and (much worse) in letters which were—well, rather effusively +grateful. There was nothing absolutely criminal in all this, unless +the broken promise must be stigmatised as such; and of that Andrea had +heard: he was aware that she had renewed acquaintance with M. de +Roustache. The rest of the circumstances were so fatal in that they +made it impossible for her to atone for this first lapse. In fine, +Count Andrea, not content now to rely on her dishonoured honour, but +willing to trust to her strong religious feelings, had demanded of her +an oath that she would hold no further communication of any sort, kind, +or nature with Paul de Roustache. The oath was a terrible oath—to be +sworn on a relic which had belonged to the Cardinal and was most sacred +in the eyes of the Fieramondi. And with Paul in possession of those +letters and not in possession of his twenty thousand francs, the +Countess felt herself hardly a free agent. For if she did not +communicate with Paul, to a certainty Paul would communicate with +Andrea. If that happened she would die; while if she broke the oath +she would never dare to die. In this dilemma the Countess could do +nothing but declare—first, that she had met Paul accidentally (which +so far as the first meeting went was true enough), secondly, that she +would not live with a man who did not trust her; and, thirdly, that to +ask an oath of her was a cruel and wicked mockery from a man whose +views on the question of the Temporal Power proclaimed him to be +little, it at all, better than an infidel. The Count was very icy and +very polite. The Countess withdrew to the right wing; receiving the +Count's assurance that the erection of the barricade would not be +disagreeable to him, she had it built—and sat down behind it (so to +speak) awaiting in sorrow, dread, and loneliness the terrible moment of +Paul de Roustache's summons. And (to make one more confession on her +behalf) her secret and real reason for ordering that nightly +illumination, which annoyed the Count so sorely, lay in the hope of +making the same gentleman think, when he did arrive, that she +entertained a houseful of guests, and was therefore well protected by +her friends. Otherwise he would try to force an interview under cover +of night. +</P> + +<P> +These briefly indicated facts of the case, so appalling to the unhappy +Countess, were on the other hand eminently satisfactory to M. Paul de +Roustache. To be plain, they meant money, either from the Countess or +from the Count. To Paul's mind they seemed to mean—well, say, fifty +thousand francs—that twenty of his returned, and thirty as a solatium +for the trifling with his affections of which he proposed to maintain +that the Countess had been guilty. The Baroness von Englebaden's +diamonds had gone the way and served the purposes to which family +diamonds seem at some time or other to be predestined: and Paul was +very hard up. The Countess must be very frightened, the Count was very +proud. The situation was certainly worth fifty thousand francs to Paul +de Roustache. Sitting outside the inn, smoking his cigar, on the +morning after his encounter in the garden, he thought over all this; +and he was glad that he had not let his anger at the Count's insolence +run away with his discretion, the insolence would make his revenge all +the sweeter when he put his hand, either directly or indirectly, into +the Count's pocket and exacted compensation to the tune of fifty +thousand francs. +</P> + +<P> +Buried in these thoughts—in the course of which it is interesting to +observe that he did not realise his own iniquity—he failed to notice +that Monsieur Guillaume had sat down beside him and, like himself, was +gazing across the valley towards the Castle. He started to find the +old fellow at his elbow; he started still more when he was addressed by +his name. "You know my name?" he exclaimed, with more perturbation +than a stranger's knowledge of that fact about him should excite in an +honest man. +</P> + +<P> +"It's my business to know people." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know you." +</P> + +<P> +"That also is my business," smiled M. Guillaume. "But in this case we +will not be too business-like. I will waive my advantage, M. de +Roustache." +</P> + +<P> +"You called yourself Guillaume," said Paul with a suspicious glance. +</P> + +<P> +"I was inviting you to intimacy. My name is Guillaume—Guillaume +Sévier, at your service." +</P> + +<P> +"Sévier? The—?" +</P> + +<P> +"Precisely. Don't be uneasy. My business is not with you." He +touched his arm. "Your reasons for a midnight walk are nothing to me; +young men take these fancies, and—well, the innkeeper says the +Countess is handsome. But I am bound to admit that his description of +the Count by no means tallies with the appearance of the gentleman who +talked with you last night." +</P> + +<P> +"Who talked with me! You were—?" +</P> + +<P> +"I was there—behind a bush a little way down the hill." +</P> + +<P> +"Upon my word, sir—" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I had my business too. But for the moment listen to something +that concerns you. The Count is not yet thirty, his eyes are large and +dreamy, his hair long, he wears no moustache, his manner is melancholy, +there is no air of bravado about him. Do I occasion you surprise?" +</P> + +<P> +Paul de Roustache swore heartily. +</P> + +<P> +"Then," he ended, "all I can say is that I should like ten minutes +alone with the fellow who made a fool of me last night, whoever he is." +</P> + +<P> +Again Guillaume—as he wished to be called—touched his companion's arm. +</P> + +<P> +"I too have a matter to discuss with that gentleman," he said. Paul +looked surprised. "M. de Roustache," Guillaume continued with an +insinuating smile, "is not ignorant of recent events; he moves in the +world of affairs. I think we might help one another. And there is no +harm in being popular with the—with—er—my department, instead of +being—well, rather unpopular, eh, my dear M. de Roustache?" +</P> + +<P> +Paul did not contest this insinuation nor show any indignation at it; +the wink which accompanied it he had the self-respect to ignore. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you want from him?" he asked, discerning Guillaume's point, +and making straight for it. +</P> + +<P> +"Merely some papers he has." +</P> + +<P> +"What do you want the papers for?" +</P> + +<P> +"To enable us to know whom we ought to watch." +</P> + +<P> +"Is the affair political or—?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, political—not in your line." Paul frowned. "Forgive my little +joke," apologised M. Guillaume. +</P> + +<P> +"And he 's got them?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes—at least, we have very little doubt of it." +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps he 's destroyed them." +</P> + +<P> +Guillaume laughed softly. "Ah, my dear sir," said he, "he would n't do +that. While he keeps them he is safe, he is important, he might +become—well, richer than he is." +</P> + +<P> +Paul shot a quick glance at his companion. +</P> + +<P> +"How do you mean to get the papers?" +</P> + +<P> +"I 'm instructed to buy. But if he 's honest, he won't sell. Still I +must have them." +</P> + +<P> +"Tell me his name." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, by all means—Captain Dieppe." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, I 've heard of him. He was in Brazil, was n't he?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, and in Bulgaria." +</P> + +<P> +"Spain too, I fancy?" +</P> + +<P> +"Dear me, I was n't aware of that," said Guillaume, with some vexation. +"But it's neither here nor there. Can I count on your assistance?" +</P> + +<P> +"But what the devil does he pretend to be the Count for?" +</P> + +<P> +"Forgive the supposition, but perhaps he imagined that your business +was what mine is. Then he would like to throw you off the scent by +concealing his identity." +</P> + +<P> +"By heaven, and I nearly—!" +</P> + +<P> +"Nearly did what, dear M. de Roustache?" said old Guillaume very +softly. "Nearly dragged in the name of Madame la Comtesse, were you +going to say?" +</P> + +<P> +"How do you know anything—?" began Paul. +</P> + +<P> +"A guess—on my honour a guess! You affect the ladies, eh? Oh, we 're +not such strangers as you think." He spoke in a more imperious tone: +it was almost threatening. "I think you must help me, Monsieur Paul," +said he. +</P> + +<P> +His familiarity, which was certainly no accident, pointed more +precisely the vague menace of his demand. +</P> + +<P> +But Paul was not too easily frightened. +</P> + +<P> +"All right," said he, "but I must get something out of it, you know." +</P> + +<P> +"On the day I get the papers—by whatever means—you shall receive ten +thousand francs. And I will not interfere with your business. Come, +my proposal is handsome, you must allow." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, tell me what to do." +</P> + +<P> +"You shall write a note, addressed to the Count, telling him you must +see him on a matter which deeply touches his interest and his honour." +</P> + +<P> +"How much do you know?" Paul broke in suspiciously. +</P> + +<P> +"I knew nothing till last night; now I am beginning to know. But +listen. The innkeeper is my friend; he will manage that this note +shall be delivered—not to the Count, but to Dieppe; if any question +arises, he 'll say you described the gentleman beyond mistake, and in +the note you will refer to last night's interview. He won't suspect +that I have undeceived you. Well then, in the note you will make a +rendezvous with him. He will come, either for fun or because he thinks +he can serve his friend—the Count or the Countess, whichever it may +be. If I don't offend your susceptibilities, I should say it was the +Countess. Oh, I am judging only by general probability." +</P> + +<P> +"Supposing he comes—what then?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why, when he comes, I shall be there—visible. And you will be there +invisible—unless cause arises for you also to become visible. But the +details can be settled later. Come, will you write the letter?" +</P> + +<P> +Paul de Roustache thought a moment, nodded, rose, and was about to +follow Guillaume into the inn. But he stopped again and laid a hand on +his new friend's shoulder. +</P> + +<P> +"If your innkeeper is so intelligent and so faithful—" +</P> + +<P> +"The first comes from heaven," shrugged Guillaume. "The second is, all +the world over, a matter of money, my friend." +</P> + +<P> +"Of course. Well then, he might take another note." +</P> + +<P> +"To the other Count?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why, no." +</P> + +<P> +"Not yet, eh?" +</P> + +<P> +Paul forced a rather wry smile. "You have experience, Monsieur +Guillaume," he confessed. +</P> + +<P> +"To the Countess, is n't it? I see no harm in that. I ask you to help +in my business; I observe my promise not to interfere with yours. He +is intelligent; we will make him faithful: he shall take two notes by +all means, my friend." +</P> + +<P> +With the advice and assistance of Guillaume the two notes were soon +written: the first was couched much in the terms suggested by that +ingenious old schemer, the second was more characteristic of Paul +himself and of the trade which Paul had joined. "It would grieve me +profoundly," the precious missive ran, "to do anything to distress you. +But I have suffered very seriously, and not in my purse only. Unless +you will act fairly by me, I must act for myself. If I do not receive +fifty thousand francs in twenty-four hours, I turn to the only other +quarter open to me. I am to be found at the inn. There is no need of +a signature; you will remember your—Friend." +</P> + +<P> +Guillaume put on his spectacles and read it through twice. +</P> + +<P> +"Excellent, Monsieur Paul!" said he. +</P> + +<P> +"It is easy to detect a practised hand." And when Paul swore at him, +he laughed the more, finding much entertainment in mocking the rascal +whom he used. +</P> + +<P> +Yet in this conduct there was a rashness little befitting Guillaume's +age and Guillaume's profession. Paul was not a safe man to laugh at. +If from time to time, in the way of business, he was obliged to throw a +light brighter than he would have preferred on his own character, he +did not therefore choose to be made the subject of raillery. And if it +was not safe to mock him, neither was it very safe to talk of money to +him. The thought of money—of thousands of francs, easily convertible +into pounds, marks, dollars, florins, or whatever chanced to be the +denomination of the country to which free and golden-winged steps might +lead him—had a very inflaming effect on M. Paul de Roustache's +imagination. The Baron von Englebaden had started the whole of that +troublesome affair by boasting of the number of thousands of marks +which had gone to the making of the Baroness's necklace. And now M. +Guillaume—rash M. Guillaume—talked of bribing Captain Dieppe. +Bribery means money; if the object is important it means a large amount +of money: and presumably the object is important and the scale of +expenditure correspondingly liberal, when such a comfortable little +<I>douceur</I> as ten thousand francs is readily promised as the reward of +incidental assistance. Following this train of thought, Paul's mind +fixed itself with some persistency on two points. The first was +modest, reasonable, definite; he would see the colour of Guillaume's +money before the affair went further; he would have his ten thousand +francs, or at least a half of them, before he lent any further aid by +word or deed. But the second idea was larger; it was also vaguer, and, +although it hardly seemed less reasonable or natural to the brain which +conceived it, it could scarcely be said to be as justifiable; at any +rate it did not admit of being avowed as frankly to Guillaume himself. +In fact Paul was wondering how much money Guillaume proposed to pay for +Captain Dieppe's honour (in case that article proved to be in the +market), and, further, where and in what material form that money was. +Would it be gold? Why, hardly; when it comes to thousands of anything, +the coins are not handy to carry about. Would it be a draft? That is +a safe mode of conveying large sums, but it has its disadvantages in +affairs where secrecy is desired and ready money indispensable. Would +it be notes? There were risks here—but also conveniences. And +Guillaume seemed bold as well as wary. Moreover Guillaume's coat was +remarkably shabby, his air very unassuming, and his manner of life at +the hotel frugality itself; such a playing of the <I>vacuus viator</I> might +be meant to deceive not only the landlord of the Aquila Nera, but also +any other predatory persons whom Guillaume should encounter in the +course of his travels. Yes, some of it would be in notes. Paul de +Roustache bade the serving-maid bring him a bottle of wine, and passed +an hour in consuming it very thoughtfully. +</P> + +<P> +Guillaume returned from his conversation with the innkeeper just as the +last glass was poured out. To Paul's annoyance he snatched it up and +drained it—an act of familiarity that reached insolence. +</P> + +<P> +"To the success of our enterprise!" said he, grinning at his +discomfited companion. "All goes well. The innkeeper knows the +Countess's maid, and the note will reach the Countess by midday; I have +described Dieppe to him most accurately, and he will hang about till he +gets a chance of delivering the second note to him, or seeing it +delivered." +</P> + +<P> +"And what are we to do?" asked Paul, still sour and still thoughtful. +</P> + +<P> +"As regards the Countess, nothing. If the money comes, good for you. +If not, I presume you will, at your own time, open communications with +the Count?" +</P> + +<P> +"It is possible," Paul admitted. +</P> + +<P> +"Very," said M. Guillaume dryly. "And as regards Dieppe our course is +very plain. I am at the rendezvous, waiting for him, by half-past six. +You will also be at, or near, the rendezvous. We will settle more +particularly how it is best to conduct matters when we see the lie of +the ground. No general can arrange his tactics without inspecting the +battlefield, eh? And moreover we can't tell what the enemy's +dispositions—or disposition—may turn out to be." +</P> + +<P> +"And meanwhile there is nothing to do?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing? On the contrary—breakfast, a smoke, and a nap," corrected +Guillaume in a contented tone. "Then, my friend, we shall be ready for +anything that may occur—for anything in the world we shall be ready." +</P> + +<P> +"I wonder if you will," thought Paul de Roustache, resentfully eyeing +the glass which M. Guillaume had emptied. +</P> + +<P> +It remains to add only that, on the advice and information of the +innkeeper, the Cross on the roadside up the hill behind the village had +been suggested as the rendezvous, and that seven in the evening had +seemed a convenient hour to propose for the meeting. For Guillaume had +no reason to suppose that a prior engagement would take the Captain to +the same neighbourhood at six. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap05"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER V +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE RENDEZVOUS BY THE CROSS +</H4> + +<P> +Beneath the reserved and somewhat melancholy front which he generally +presented to the world, the Count of Fieramondi was of an ardent and +affectionate disposition. Rather lacking, perhaps, in resolution and +strength of character, he was the more dependent on the regard and help +of others, and his fortitude was often unequal to the sacrifices which +his dignity and his pride demanded. Yet the very pride which led him +into positions that he could not endure made it well-nigh impossible +for him to retreat. This disposition, an honourable but not altogether +a happy one, serves to explain both the uncompromising attitude which +he had assumed in his dispute with his wife, and the misery of heart +which had betrayed itself in the poem he read to Captain Dieppe, with +its indirect but touching appeal to his friend's sympathy. +</P> + +<P> +Now his resolve was growing weaker as the state of hostilities, his +loneliness, the sight of that detestable barricade, became more and +more odious to him. He began to make excuses for the Countess—not +indeed for all that she had done (for her graver offences were unknown +to him), but for what he knew of, for the broken promise and the +renewal of acquaintance with Paul de Roustache. He imputed to her a +picturesque penitence and imagined her, on her side of the barricade, +longing for a pardon she dared not ask and a reconciliation for which +she could hardly venture to hope; he went so far as to embody these +supposed feelings of hers in a graceful little poem addressed to +himself and entitled, "To My Cruel Andrea." In fine the Count was +ready to go on his knees if he received proper encouragement. Here his +pride had its turn: this encouragement he must have; he would not risk +an interview, a second rebuff, a repetition of that insolence of manner +with which he had felt himself obliged to charge the Countess or +another slamming of the door in his face, such as had offended him so +justly and so grievously in those involuntary interviews which had +caused him to change his apartments. But now—the thought came to him +as the happiest of inspirations—he need expose himself to none of +these humiliations. Fortune had provided a better way. Shunning +direct approaches with all their dangers, he would use an intermediary. +By Heaven's kindness the ideal ambassador was ready to his hand—a man +of affairs, accustomed to delicate negotiations, yet (the Count added) +honourable, true, faithful, and tender-hearted. "My friend Dieppe will +rejoice to serve me," he said to himself with more cheerfulness than he +had felt since first the barricade had reared its hated front. He sent +his servant to beg the favour of Dieppe's company. +</P> + +<P> +At the moment—which, to be precise, was four o'clock in the +afternoon—no invitation could have been more unwelcome to Captain +Dieppe. He had received his note from the hands of a ragged urchin as +he strolled by the river an hour before: its purport rather excited +than alarmed him; but the rendezvous mentioned was so ill-chosen, from +his point of view, that it caused him dismay. And he had in vain tried +to catch sight of the Countess or find means of communicating with her +without arousing suspicion. He had other motives too for shrinking +from such expressions of friendliness as he had reason to anticipate +from his host. But he did not expect anything so disconcerting as the +proposal which the Count actually laid before him when he unwillingly +entered his presence. +</P> + +<P> +"Go to her—go to her on your behalf?" he exclaimed in a consternation +which luckily passed for a modest distrust of his qualifications for +the task. "But, my dear friend, what am I to say?" +</P> + +<P> +"Say that I love her," said the Count in his low, musical tones. "Say +that beneath all differences, all estrangements, lies my deep, abiding, +unchanging love." +</P> + +<P> +Statements of this sort the Captain preferred to make, when occasion +arose, on his own behalf. +</P> + +<P> +"Say that I know I have been hard to her, that I recede from my demand, +that I will be content with her simple word that she will not, without +my knowledge, hold any communication with the person she knows of." +</P> + +<P> +The Captain now guessed—or at least very shrewdly suspected—the +position of affairs. But he showed no signs of understanding. +</P> + +<P> +"Tell her," pursued the Count, laying his hand on Dieppe's shoulder and +speaking almost as ardently as though he were addressing his wife +herself, "that I never suspected her of more than a little levity, and +that I never will or could." +</P> + +<P> +Dieppe found himself speculating how much the Count's love and trust +might induce him to include in the phrase "a little levity." +</P> + +<P> +"That she should listen—I will not say to love-making—but even to +gallantry, to a hint of admiration, to the least attempt at flirtation, +has never entered my head about my Emilia." +</P> + +<P> +The Captain, amid all his distress, marked the name. +</P> + +<P> +"I trust her—I trust her!" cried the Count, raising his hands in an +obvious stress of emotion, "as I trust myself, as I would trust my +brother, my bosom friend. Yes, my dear friend, as I now trust you +yourself. Go to her and say, 'I am Andrea's friend, his trusted +friend. I am the messenger of love. Give me your love—'" +</P> + +<P> +"What?" cried the Captain. The words sounded wonderfully attractive. +</P> + +<P> +"'Give me your love to carry back to him.'" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, exactly," murmured the Captain, relapsing into altruistic gloom. +</P> + +<P> +"Then all will be forgiven between us. Only our love will be +remembered. And you, my friend, will have the happiness of seeing us +reunited, and of knowing that two grateful hearts thank you. I can +imagine no greater joy." +</P> + +<P> +"It would certainly be—er—intensely gratifying," murmured Dieppe. +</P> + +<P> +"You would remember it all your life. It is not a thing a man gets the +chance of doing often." +</P> + +<P> +"No," agreed the Captain; but he thought to himself, "Deuce take it, he +talks as if he were doing me a favour!" +</P> + +<P> +"My friend, you look sad; you don't seem—" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes, I do—yes, I am," interrupted the Captain, hastily assuming, +or trying to assume, a cheerful expression. "But—" +</P> + +<P> +"I understand—I understand. You doubt yourself?" +</P> + +<P> +"That's it," assented the Captain very truthfully. +</P> + +<P> +"Your tact, your discretion, your knowledge of women?" (Dieppe had +never in his life doubted any of these things; but he let the +accusation pass.) "Don't be afraid. Emilia will like you. I know +that Emilia will like you. And you will like her. I know it." +</P> + +<P> +"You think so?" No intonation could have expressed greater doubt. +</P> + +<P> +"I am certain of it; and when two people like one another, all goes +easily." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, not always," said the Captain, whose position made him less +optimistic. +</P> + +<P> +The Count felt in his waistcoat-pocket. Dieppe sat looking down +towards the floor with a frown on his face. He raised his eyes to find +the Count holding out his hand towards him; in the open palm of it lay +a wedding-ring. +</P> + +<P> +"Take it back to her," said the Count. +</P> + +<P> +"Really had n't you better do that yourself?" expostulated the Captain, +who felt himself hard driven by fate. +</P> + +<P> +"No," said the Count, firmly. "I leave it all to you. Put it on her +finger and say, 'This is the pledge of love—of love renewed—of +Andrea's undying love for you.'" He thrust the symbol of bliss into +Captain Dieppe's most reluctant hand. The Captain sat and looked at it +in a horrified fascination. +</P> + +<P> +"You will do it for me?" urged the Count. "You can't refuse! Ah, my +friend, if my sorrow does n't move you, think of hers. She is alone +there in that wing of the house—even her cousin, who was with her, was +obliged to leave her three days ago. There she sits, thinking of her +faults, poor child, in solitude! Alas, it is only too likely in tears! +I can't bear to think of her in tears." +</P> + +<P> +The Captain quite understood that feeling; he had seen her in them. +</P> + +<P> +"You will help us? Your noble nature will force you to it!" +</P> + +<P> +After a moment's hesitation, pardonable surely in weak humanity, Dieppe +put the Countess's wedding-ring in his pocket, rose to his feet, and +with a firm unfaltering face held out his hand to his friend and host. +</P> + +<P> +"I can refuse you nothing," he said, in most genuine emotion. "I will +do what you ask. May it bring happiness to—to—to all of us!" He +wrung the Count's hand with a grip that spoke of settled purpose. "You +shall hear how I fare very soon," he said, as he made for the door. +</P> + +<P> +The Count nodded hopefully, and, when he was left alone, set to work on +a little lyric of joy, with which to welcome the return of his forgiven +and forgiving spouse. +</P> + +<P> +But it was hard on Captain Dieppe; the strictest moralist may admit +that without endangering his principles. Say the Captain had been +blameworthy; still his punishment was heavy—heavy and most woefully +prompt. His better nature, his finer feelings, his instincts of honour +and loyalty, might indeed respond to the demand made on them by the +mission with which his friend entrusted him. But the demand was heavy, +the call grievous. Where he had pictured joy, there remained now only +renunciation; he had dreamed of conquest; there could be none, save the +hardest and least grateful, the conquest of himself. Firm the Captain +might be, but sad he must be. He could still serve the Countess (was +not Paul de Roustache still dangerous?), but he could look for no +reward. Small wonder that the meeting, whose risks and difficulty had +made it seem before only the sweeter, now lost all its delight, and +became the hardest of ordeals, the most severe and grim of duties. +</P> + +<P> +If this was the Captain's mood, that of the lady whom he was to meet +could be hardly more cheerful. If conscience seemed to trouble her +less, and unhappy love not to occupy her mind as it governed his, the +external difficulties of her position occasioned her greater distress +and brought her near despair. Paul de Roustache's letter had been +handed to her by her servant, with a smile half reproachful, half +mocking, she had seized it, torn it open, and read it. She understood +its meaning; she saw that the dreaded crisis had indeed come; and she +was powerless to deal with it, or to avert the catastrophe it +threatened. She sat before it now, very near to doing just what Count +Andrea hated to think of and Captain Dieppe could not endure to see; +and as she read and re-read the hateful thing she moaned softly to +herself: +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, how could I be so silly! How could I put myself in such a +position? How could I consent to anything of the sort? I don't know +what 'll happen. I have n't got fifty thousand francs! Oh, Emilia, +how could you do it? I don't know what to do! And I 'm all +alone—alone to face this fearful trouble!" Indeed the Count, led no +doubt by the penetrating sympathy of love, seemed to have divined her +feelings with a wonderful accuracy. +</P> + +<P> +She glanced up at the clock, it was nearly five. The smile that came +on her face was sad and timid; yet it was a smile of hope. "Perhaps he +'ll be able to help me," she thought. "He has no money, no—only fifty +francs, poor man! But he seems to be brave—oh, yes, he 's brave. And +I think he's clever. I 'll go to the meeting-place and take the note. +He 's the only chance." She rose and walked to a mirror. She +certainly looked a little less woe-begone now, and she examined her +appearance with an earnest criticism. The smile grew more hopeful, a +little more assured, as she murmured to herself, "I think he 'll help +me, if he can, you know; because—well, because—" For an instant she +even laughed. "And I rather like him too, you know," she ended by +confiding to the mirror. These latter actions and words were not in +such complete harmony with Count Andrea's mental picture of the lady on +the other side of the barricade. +</P> + +<P> +Betaking herself to the room from which she had first beheld Captain +Dieppe's face—not, as the Count would have supposed, as a consequence +of any design, but by the purest and most unexpected chance—she +arrayed herself in a short skirt and thick boots, and wrapped a cloak +round her, for a close, misty rain was already falling, and the moaning +of the wind in the trees promised a stormy evening. Then she stole out +and made for the gate in the right wall of the gardens. The same old +servant who had brought the note was there to let her out. +</P> + +<P> +"You will be gone long, Contessa?" she asked. +</P> + +<P> +"No, Maria, not long. If I am asked for, say I am lying down." +</P> + +<P> +"Who should ask for you? The Count?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not very likely," she replied with a laugh, in which the servant +joined. "But if he does, I am absolutely not to be seen, Maria." And +with another little laugh she began to skirt the back of the gardens so +as to reach the main road, and thus make her way by the village to the +Cross on the hill, and the little hut in the hollow behind it. +</P> + +<P> +Almost at the same moment Captain Dieppe, cursing his fortune, his +folly, and the weather, with the collar of his coat turned up, his hat +crashed hard on his head, and (just in case of accidents) his revolver +in his pocket, came out into the garden and began to descend the hill +towards where the stepping-stones gave him passage across the river. +Thus he also would reach the village, pass through it, and mount the +hill to the Cross. His way was shorter and his pace quicker. To be +there before the lady would be only polite; it would also give him a +few minutes in which to arrange his thoughts and settle what might be +the best way to open to her the new—the very new—things that he had +to say. In the preoccupation of these he thought little of his later +appointment at seven o'clock—although it was in view of this that he +had slipped the revolver into his pocket. +</P> + +<P> +Finally, just about the same time also, Guillaume was rehearsing to +Paul de Roustache exactly what they were to do and where their +respective parts began and terminated. Paul was listening with deep +attention, with a curious smile on his face, and with the inner +reflection that things in the end might turn out quite differently from +what his astute companion supposed would be the case. Moreover—also +just in case of accidents—both of these gentlemen, it may be +mentioned, had slipped revolvers into their pockets. Such things may +be useful when one carries large sums of money to a rendezvous, equally +so in case one hopes to carry them back from it. The former was M. +Guillaume's condition, the latter that of Paul de Roustache. On the +whole there seemed a possibility of interesting incidents occurring by +or in the neighbourhood of the Cross on the hillside above the village. +</P> + +<P> +What recked the Count of Fieramondi of that? He was busy composing his +lyric in honour of the return of his forgiven and forgiving Countess. +Of what was happening he had no thought. +</P> + +<P> +And not less ignorant of these possible incidents was a lady who this +same evening stood in the courtyard of the only inn of the little town +of Sasellano, where the railway ended, and whence the traveller to the +Count of Fieramondi's Castle must take a carriage and post-horses. +</P> + +<P> +The lady demanded horses, protested, raged; most urgent business called +her to pursue her journey, she said. But the landlord hesitated and +shook his head. +</P> + +<P> +"It 's good twelve miles and against collar almost all the way," he +urged. +</P> + +<P> +"I will pay what you like," she cried. +</P> + +<P> +"But see, the rain falls—it has fallen for two hours. The water will +be down from the hills, and the stream will be in flood before you +reach the ford. Your Excellency had best sleep here to-night. Indeed +your Excellency must." +</P> + +<P> +"I won't," said her Excellency flatly. +</P> + +<P> +And at that point—which may be called the direct issue—the dispute +must now be left. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap06"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VI +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE HUT IN THE HOLLOW +</H4> + +<P> +Geography, in itself a tiresome thing, concerned with such soulless +matters as lengths, depths, heights, breadths, and the like, gains +interest so soon as it establishes a connection with the history of +kingdoms, and the ambitions, passions, or fortunes of mankind; so that +men may pore over a map with more eagerness than the greatest of +romances can excite, or scan a countryside with a keenness that the +beauty of no picture could evoke. To Captain Dieppe, a soldier, even +so much apology was not necessary for the careful scrutiny of +topographical features which was his first act on reaching the Cross on +the hillside. His examination, hindered by increasing darkness and +mist, yet yielded him a general impression correct enough. +</P> + +<P> +Standing with his back to the Cross, he had on his right hand the slope +down to the village which he had just ascended; on his left the road +fell still more precipitately in zigzag curves. He could not see it +where it reached the valley and came to the river; had he been able, he +would have perceived that it ran down to and crossed the ford to which +the landlord of the inn at Sasellano had referred. But immediately +facing him he could discern the river in its bottom, and could look +down over the steep grassy declivity which descended to it from the +point at which he stood; there was no more than room for the road, and +on the road hardly room for a vehicle to pass another, or itself to +turn. On all three sides the ground fell, and he would have seemed to +stand on a watch-tower had it not been that behind him, at the back of +the cross, the upward slope of grass showed that the road did not +surmount the hill, but hung on to and skirted its side some fifty paces +from the top. Yet even where he was he found himself exposed to the +full stress of the weather, which had now increased to a storm of wind +and rain. The time of his earlier appointment was not quite due; but +the lady knew her way. With a shiver the Captain turned and began to +scramble up towards the summit. The sooner he found the shepherd's hut +the better: if it were open, he would enter; it not, he could at least +get some shelter under the lee of it. But he trusted that the Countess +would keep her tryst punctually: she must be come and gone before seven +o'clock, or she would risk an encounter with her enemy, Paul de +Roustache. "However I could probably smuggle her away; and at least he +should n't speak to her," he reflected, and was somewhat comforted. +</P> + +<P> +At the top of the hill the formation was rather peculiar. The crown +once reached, the ground dipped very suddenly from all sides, forming a +round depression in shape like a basin and at the lowest point some +twenty feet beneath the top of its enclosing walls. In this circular +hollow—not in the centre, but no more than six feet from the base of +the slope by which the Captain approached—stood the shepherd's hut. +Its door was open, swinging to and fro as the gusts of wind rose and +tell. The Captain ran down and entered. There was nothing inside but +a rough stool, a big and heavy block, something like those one may see +in butcher's shops (probably it had served the shepherds for seat or +table, as need arose), and five or six large trusses of dry maize-straw +flung down in a corner. The place was small, rude, and comfortless +enough, but if the hanging door, past which the rain drove in fiercely, +could be closed, the four walls of sawn logs would afford decent +shelter from the storm during the brief period of the conference which +the Captain awaited. +</P> + +<P> +Dieppe looked at his watch; he could just see the figures—it was ten +minutes to six. Mounting again to the summit, he looked round. Yes, +there she was, making her way up the hill, painfully struggling with +refractory cloak and skirt. A moment later she joined him and gave him +her hand, panting out: +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I 'm so glad you 're here! There 's the most fearful trouble." +</P> + +<P> +There was, of more than one kind; none knew it better than Dieppe. +</P> + +<P> +"One need not, all the same, get any wetter," he remarked. "Come into +the hut, madame." +</P> + +<P> +She paid no heed to his words, but stood there looking forlornly round. +But the next instant the Captain enforced his invitation by catching +hold of her arm and dragging her a pace or two down the hill, while he +threw himself on the ground, his head just over the top of the +eminence. "Hush," he whispered. His keen ear had caught a footstep on +the road, although darkness and mist prevented him from seeing who +approached. It was barely six. Was Paul de Roustache an hour too +early? +</P> + +<P> +"What is it?" she asked in a low, anxious voice. "Is anybody coming? +Oh, if it should be Andrea!" +</P> + +<P> +"It's not the Count, but— Come down into the hut, madame. You must +n't be seen." +</P> + +<P> +Now she obeyed his request. Dieppe stood in the doorway a moment, +listening. Then he pushed the door shut—it opened inwards—and with +some effort set the wooden block against it. +</P> + +<P> +"That will keep out the rain," said he, "and—and anything else, you +know." +</P> + +<P> +They were in dense darkness. The Captain took a candle and a cardboard +box of matches from an inner pocket. Striking a match after one or two +efforts (for matches and box were both damp), he melted the end of the +candle and pressed it on the block till it adhered. Then he lit the +wick. The lady watched him admiringly. +</P> + +<P> +"You seem ready for anything," she said. But the Captain shook his +head sorrowfully, as he laid his match-box down on a dry spot on the +block. +</P> + +<P> +"We have no time to lose—" he began. +</P> + +<P> +"No," she agreed, and opening her cloak she searched for something. +Finding the object she sought, she held it out to him. "I got that +this afternoon. Read it," she said. "It's from the man you met last +night—Paul de Roustache. The 'Other quarter' means Andrea. And that +means ruin." +</P> + +<P> +Captain Dieppe gently waved the letter aside. +</P> + +<P> +"No, you must read it," she urged. +</P> + +<P> +He took it, and bending down to the candle read it. "Just what it +would be," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"I can't explain anything, you know," she added hastily, with a smile +half rueful, half amused. +</P> + +<P> +"To me, at least, there 's no need you should." He paused a moment in +hesitation or emotion. Then he put his hand in his waistcoat-pocket, +drew forth a small object, and held it out towards his companion +between his finger and thumb. In the dim light she did not perceive +its nature. +</P> + +<P> +"This," said the Captain, conscientiously and even textually delivering +the message with which he was charged, "is the pledge of love." +</P> + +<P> +"Captain Dieppe!" she cried, leaping back and blushing vividly. +"Really I—! At such a time—under the circ— And what is it! I +can't see." +</P> + +<P> +"The pledge of love renewed"—the Captain went on in a loyal hastiness, +but not without the sharpest pang—"of Andrea's undying love for you." +</P> + +<P> +"Of Andrea's—!" She stopped, presumably from excess of emotion. Her +lips were parted in a wondering smile, her eyes danced merrily even +while they questioned. "What in the world is it?" she asked again. +</P> + +<P> +"Your wedding-ring," said the Captain with sad and impressive +solemnity, and, on the pretext of snuffing the candle which flickered +and guttered in the draught, he turned away. Thus he did not perceive +the uncontrollable bewilderment which appeared on his companion's face. +</P> + +<P> +"Wedding-ring!" she murmured. +</P> + +<P> +"He sends it back again to you," explained the Captain, still busy with +the candle. +</P> + +<P> +A long-drawn "O—oh!" came from her lips, its lengthened intonation +seeming to express the dawning of comprehension. "Yes, of course," she +added very hastily. +</P> + +<P> +"He loves you," said the Captain, facing her—and his task—again. "He +can't bear his own sorrow, nor to think of yours. He withdraws his +demand; your mere word to hold no communication with the person you +know of, without his knowledge, contents him. I am his messenger. +Give me your love to—to carry back to him." +</P> + +<P> +"Did he tell you to say all that?" she asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, madame, should I say it otherwise? Should I who—" With a mighty +effort he checked himself, and resumed in constrained tones. "My dear +friend the Count bade me put this ring on your finger, madame, in token +of your—your reunion with him." +</P> + +<P> +Her expression now was decidedly puzzling; certainly she was struggling +with some emotion, but it was not quite clear with what. +</P> + +<P> +"Pray do it then," she said, and, drawing off the stout little gauntlet +she wore, she presented her hand to the Captain. Bowing low, he took +it lightly, and placed the holy symbol on the appropriate finger. But +he could not make up his mind to part from the hand without one +lingering look; and he observed with some surprise that the ring was +considerably too large for the finger. "It 's very loose," he +murmured, taking perhaps a sad, whimsical pleasure in the conceit of +seeing something symbolical in the fact to which he called attention; +in truth the ring fitted so ill as to be in great danger of dropping +off. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes—or—it is rather loose. I—I hate tight rings, don't you?" She +smiled with vigour (if the expression be allowable) and added, "I 've +grown thinner too, I suppose." +</P> + +<P> +"From grief?" asked he, and he could not keep a touch of bitterness out +of his voice. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, anxiety," she amended. "I think I 'd better carry the ring in +my pocket. It would be a pity to lose it." She took off the symbol +and dropped it, somewhat carelessly it must be confessed, into a +side-pocket of her coat. Then she seated herself on the stool, and +looked up at the Captain. Her smile became rather mocking, as she +observed to Captain Dieppe: +</P> + +<P> +"Andrea has charged you with this commission since—since last night, I +suppose?" +</P> + +<P> +The words acted—whether by the intention of their utterer or not—as a +spark to the Captain's ardour. Loyal he would be to his friend and to +his embassy, but that she should suspect him of insincerity, that she +should not know his love, was more than he could bear. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah," he said, seizing her ungloved hand again, "since last night +indeed! Last night it was my dream—my mad dream— Ah, don't be +angry! Don't draw your hand away." +</P> + +<P> +The lady's conduct indicated that she proposed to assent to both these +requests; she smiled still and she did not withdraw her hand from +Dieppe's eager grasp. +</P> + +<P> +"My honour is pledged," he went on, "but suffer me once to kiss this +hand now that it wears no ring, to dream that it need wear none, that +you are free. Ah, Countess, ah, Emilia—for once let me call you +Emilia!" +</P> + +<P> +"For once, if you like. Don't get into the habit of it," she advised. +</P> + +<P> +"No, I 'll only think of you by that name." +</P> + +<P> +"I should n't even do as much as that. It would be a— I mean you +might forget and call me it, you know." +</P> + +<P> +"Never was man so unhappy as I am," he cried in a low but intense +voice. "But I am wrong. I must remember my trust. And you—you love +the Count?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am very fond of Andrea," said she, almost in a whisper. She seemed +to suffer sorely from embarrassment, for she added hastily, +"Don't—don't press me about that any more." Yet she was smiling. +</P> + +<P> +The Captain knelt on one knee and kissed her hand very respectfully. +The mockery passed out of her smile, and she said in a voice that for a +moment was grave and tender: +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you. I shall like to remember that. Because I think you 're a +brave man and a true friend, Captain Dieppe." +</P> + +<P> +"I thank God for helping me to remain a gentleman," said he; and, +although his manner was (according to his custom) a little pronounced +and theatrical, he spoke with a very genuine feeling. She pressed her +hand on his before she drew it away. +</P> + +<P> +"You 'll be my friend?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +She paused before she replied, looking at him intently; then she +answered in a low voice, speaking slowly and deliberately: +</P> + +<P> +"I will be all to you that I can and that you ask me to be." +</P> + +<P> +"I have your word, dear friend?" +</P> + +<P> +"You have my word. If you ask me, I will redeem it." She looked at +him still as though she had said a great thing—as though a pledge had +passed between them, and a solemn promise from her to him. +</P> + +<P> +What seemed her feeling found an answer in Dieppe. He pressed her for +no more promises, he urged her to no more demonstration of affection +towards him. But their eyes met, their glances conquered the dimness +of the candle's light and spoke to one another. Rain beat and wind +howled outside. Dieppe heard nothing but an outspoken confession that +left honour safe and inviolate, and yet told him the sweetest thing +that he could hear—a thing so sweet that for the instant its sadness +was forgotten. He had triumphed, though he could have no reward of +victory. He was loved, though he might hear no words of love. But he +could serve her still—serve her and save her from the danger and +humiliation which, notwithstanding Count Andrea's softened mood, still +threatened her. That he even owed her; for he did not doubt that the +danger, and the solitude in which, but for him, it had to be faced, had +done much to ripen and to quicken her regard for him. As for himself, +with such a woman as the Countess in the case, he was not prepared to +own the need of any external or accidental stimulus. Yet beauty +distressed is beauty doubled; that is true all the world over, and, no +doubt, it held good even for Captain Dieppe. He had been loyal—under +the circumstances wonderfully loyal—to the Count; but he felt quite +justified, if he proved equal to the task, in robbing his friend of the +privilege of forgiveness—aye, and of the pleasure of paying fifty +thousand francs. He resolved that the Count of Fieramondi should never +know of Paul de Roustache's threats against the Countess or of his +demand for that exorbitant sum of money. +</P> + +<P> +With most people in moments of exaltation to resolve that a result is +desirable is but a preliminary to undertaking its realisation. Dieppe +had more than his share of this temper. He bent down towards his new +and dear friend, and said confidently: +</P> + +<P> +"Don't distress yourself about this fellow—I 'll manage the whole +affair without trouble or publicity." Yet he had no notion how his +words were to be made good. +</P> + +<P> +"You will?" she asked, with a confidence in the Captain apparently as +great as his own. +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly," said he, with a twirl of his moustache. +</P> + +<P> +"Then I 'd better leave it to you and go home at once." +</P> + +<P> +The inference was not quite what the Captain had desired. But he +accepted it with a tolerably good grace. When a man has once resisted +temptation there is little to be gained, and something perhaps to be +risked, by prolonging the interview. +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose so," said he. "I 'll escort you as far as the village. But +what's the time?" +</P> + +<P> +He took out his watch and held it down to the flame of the candle; the +lady rose and looked, not over his shoulder, but just round his elbow. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, that's curious," observed the Captain, regarding the hands of his +watch. "How quickly the time has gone!" +</P> + +<P> +"Very. But why is it curious?" she asked. +</P> + +<P> +He glanced down at her face, mischievously turned up to his. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, it's not curious," he admitted, "but it is awkward." +</P> + +<P> +"It's only just seven." +</P> + +<P> +"Precisely the hour of my appointment with Paul de Roustache." +</P> + +<P> +"With Paul de Roustache?" +</P> + +<P> +"Don't trouble yourself. All will be well." +</P> + +<P> +"What appointment? Where are you to meet him?" +</P> + +<P> +"By the Cross, on the road outside there." +</P> + +<P> +"Heavens! If I were to meet him! He must n't see me!" +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly not," agreed the Captain with cheerful confidence. +</P> + +<P> +"But how are we to avoid—?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, you put no real trust in me," murmured he in gentle reproach, and, +it must be added, purely for the sake of gaining a moment's reflection. +</P> + +<P> +"Could n't we walk boldly by him?" she suggested. +</P> + +<P> +"He would recognise you to a certainty, even if he didn't me." +</P> + +<P> +"Recognise me? Oh, I don't know. He does n't know me very well." +</P> + +<P> +"What?" said the Captain, really a little astonished this time. +</P> + +<P> +"And there 's the rain and—and the night and—and all that," she +murmured in some confusion. +</P> + +<P> +"No man who has ever seen you—" began the Captain. +</P> + +<P> +"Hush! What's that?" whispered she, grasping his arm nervously. The +Captain, recalled to the needs of the situation, abandoned his +compliment, or argument, whichever it was, and listened intently. +</P> + +<P> +There were voices outside the hut, some little way off, seeming to come +from above, as though the speakers were on the crest of the hill. They +were audible intermittently, but connectedly enough, as though their +owners waited from time to time for a lull in the gusty wind before +they spoke. +</P> + +<P> +"Hold the lantern here. Why, it's past seven! He ought to be here by +now." +</P> + +<P> +"We 've searched every inch of the ground." +</P> + +<P> +"That's Paul de Roustache," whispered the Captain. +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps he 's lying down out of the storm somewhere. Shall we shout?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, if you like—but you risk being overheard. I 'm tired of the job." +</P> + +<P> +"The ground dips here. Come, we must search the hollow. You must earn +your reward, M. de Roustache." +</P> + +<P> +The lady pressed Dieppe's arm. "I can't go now," she whispered. +</P> + +<P> +"I 'm willing to earn it, but I 'd like to see it." +</P> + +<P> +"What's that down there?" +</P> + +<P> +"You don't attend to my suggestion, M. Sévier." +</P> + +<P> +"Sévier!" muttered the Captain, and a smile spread over his face. +</P> + +<P> +"Call me Guillaume," came sharply from the voice he had first heard. +</P> + +<P> +"Exactly," murmured Dieppe. "Call him anything except his name. Oh, +exactly!" +</P> + +<P> +"It looks like—like a building—a shed or something. Come, he may be +in there." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh!" murmured the lady. "You won't let them in?" +</P> + +<P> +"They sha'n't see you," Dieppe reassured her. "But listen, my dear +friend, listen." +</P> + +<P> +"Who 's the other? Sévier?" +</P> + +<P> +"A gentleman who takes an interest in me. But silence, pray, silence, +if you—if you 'll be guided by me." +</P> + +<P> +"Let's go down and try the door. If he 's not there, anyhow we can +shelter ourselves till he turns up." +</P> + +<P> +There was a pause. Feet could be heard climbing and slithering down +the slippery grass slope. +</P> + +<P> +"What if you find it locked?" +</P> + +<P> +"Then I shall think some one is inside, and some one who has discovered +reasons for not wishing to be met." +</P> + +<P> +"And what will you do?" The voices were very near now, and Paul's +discontented sneer made the Captain smile; but his hand sought the +pocket where his revolver lay. +</P> + +<P> +"I shall break it open—with your help, my friend." +</P> + +<P> +"I give no more help, friend Sévier—or Guillaume, or what you +like—till I see my money. Deuce take it, the fellow may be armed!" +</P> + +<P> +"I did n't engage you for a picnic, Monsieur Paul." +</P> + +<P> +"It's the pay, not the work, that's in dispute, my friend. Come, you +have the money, I suppose? Out with it!" +</P> + +<P> +"Not a sou till I have the papers!" +</P> + +<P> +The Captain nodded his head. "I was right, as usual," he was thinking +to himself, as he felt his breast-pocket caressingly. +</P> + +<P> +The wind rose to a gust and howled. +</P> + +<P> +The voices became inaudible. The Captain bent down and whispered. +</P> + +<P> +"If they force the door open," he said, "or if I have to open it and go +out, you 'd do well to get behind that straw there till you see what +happens. They expect nobody but me, and when they 've seen me they +won't search any more." +</P> + +<P> +He saw, with approval and admiration, that she was calm and cool. +</P> + +<P> +"Is there danger?" she asked. +</P> + +<P> +"No," said he. "But one of them wants some papers I have, and has +apparently engaged the other to assist him. M. de Roustache feels +equal to two jobs, it seems. I wonder if he knows whom he's after, +though." +</P> + +<P> +"Would they take the papers by force?" Her voice was very anxious, but +still not terrified. +</P> + +<P> +"Very likely—if I won't part with them. Don't be uneasy. I sha'n't +forget your affair." +</P> + +<P> +She pressed his arm gratefully, and drew back till she stood close to +the trusses of straw, ready to seek a hiding-place in case of need. +She was not much too soon. A man hurled himself violently against the +door. The upper part gave and gaped an inch or two; the lower stood +firm, thanks to the block of wood that barred its opening. Even as the +assault was delivered against the door, Dieppe had blown out the +candle. In darkness he and she stood waiting and listening. +</P> + +<P> +"Lend a hand. We shall do it together," cried the voice of M. +Guillaume. +</P> + +<P> +"I 'll be hanged it I move without five thousand francs!" +</P> + +<P> +Dieppe put up both hands and leant with all his weight against the +upper part of the door. He smiled at his prescience when Guillaume +flung himself against it once more. Now there was no yielding, no +opening—not a chink. Guillaume was convinced. +</P> + +<P> +"Curse you, you shall have the money," they heard him say. "Come, hold +the lantern here." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap07"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE FLOOD ON THE RIVER +</H4> + +<P> +That Paul de Roustache came to the rendezvous, where he had agreed to +meet the Count, in the company and apparently in the service of M. +Guillaume, who was not at all concerned with the Count but very much +interested in the man who had borrowed his name, afforded tolerably +conclusive evidence that Paul had been undeceived, and that if either +party had been duped in regard to the meeting it was Captain Dieppe. +Never very ready to adopt such a conclusion as this, Dieppe was none +the less forced to it by the pressure of facts. Moreover he did not +perceive any safe, far less any glorious, issue from the situation +either for his companion or for himself. His honour was doubly +involved; the Countess's reputation and the contents of his +breast-pocket alike were in his sole care; and just outside the hut +were two rascals, plainly resolute, no less plainly unscrupulous, the +one threatening the lady, the other with nefarious designs against the +breast-pocket. They had joined hands, and now delivered a united +attack against both of the Captain's treasured trusts. "In point of +fact," he reflected with some chagrin, "I have for this once failed to +control events." He brightened up almost immediately. "Never mind," +he thought, "it may still be possible to take advantage of them." And +he waited, all on the alert for his chance. His companion observed, +with a little vexation, with more admiration, that he seemed to have +become unconscious of her presence, or, at best, to consider her only +as a responsibility. +</P> + +<P> +The besiegers spoke no more in tones audible within the hut. Putting +eye and ear alternately to the crevice between door and door-post, +Dieppe saw the lantern's light and heard the crackle of paper. Then he +just caught, or seemed to catch, the one word, said in a tone of +finality, "Five!" Then came more crackling. Next a strange, sudden +circle of light revolved before the Captain's eye; and then there was +light no more. The lantern had been lifted, swung round in the air, +and flung away. Swift to draw the only inference, Dieppe turned his +head. As he did so there rang out a loud oath in Guillaume's voice; it +was followed by an odd, dull thud. +</P> + +<P> +"Quick, behind the trusses!" whispered Dieppe. "I 'm going out." +</P> + +<P> +Without a word she obeyed him, and in a moment was well hidden. For an +instant more Dieppe listened. Then he hurled the wooden block away, +its weight, so great before, seemed nothing to him now in his +excitement. The crack of a shot came from outside. Pulling the door +violently back, Dieppe rushed out. Two or three paces up the slope +stood Guillaume, his back to the hut, his arm still levelled at a +figure which had just topped the summit of the eminence, and an instant +later disappeared. Hearing Dieppe's rush, Guillaume turned, crying in +uncontrollable agitation, "He 's robbed me, robbed me, robbed me!" +Then he suddenly put both his hands up to his brow, clutching it tight +as though he were in great pain, and, reeling and stumbling, at last +fell and rolled down to the bottom of the hollow. For an instant the +Captain hesitated. But Guillaume lay very still; and Guillaume had no +quarrel with the Countess. His indecision soon ended, Dieppe ran, as +if for his life, up the slope to the top of the hill. He disappeared; +all was left dark and quiet at the hut; Guillaume did not stir, the +lady did not stir; only the door, released from its confinement, began +to flap idly to and fro again. +</P> + +<P> +The Captain gained the summit, hardly conscious that one of those +sudden changes of weather so common in hilly countries had passed over +the landscape. The mist was gone, rain fell no more, a sharp, clean +breeze blew, the stars began to shine, and the moon rose bright. It +was as though a curtain had been lifted. Dieppe's topographical +observations stood him in good stead now and saved him some moments' +consideration. The fugitive had choice of two routes. But he would +not return to the village: he might have to answer awkward questions +about M. Guillaume, his late companion, there. He would make in +another direction—presumably towards the nearest inhabited spot, where +he could look to get more rapid means of escape than his own legs +afforded. He would follow the road to the left then, down the zigzags +that must lead to the river, and to some means of crossing it. But he +had gained a good start and had the figure of an active fellow. Dieppe +risked a short cut, darted past the Cross and straight over the road, +heading down towards the river, but taking a diagonal course to the +left. His intent was to hit the road where the road hit the river, and +thus to cut off the man he pursued. His way would be shorter, but it +would be rougher too; success or failure depended on whether the +advantage or disadvantage proved the greater. As he ran, he felt for +his revolver; but he did not take it out nor did he mean to use it save +in the last resort. Captain Dieppe did not take life or maim limb +without the utmost need; though a man of war, he did not suffer from +blood fever. Besides he was a stranger in the country, with none to +answer for him; and the credentials in his breast-pocket were not of +the sort that he desired to produce for the satisfaction and +information of the local custodians of the peace. +</P> + +<P> +The grassy slope was both uneven and slippery. Moreover Dieppe had not +allowed enough for the courage of the natives in the matter of +gradients. The road, in fact, belied its cautious appearance. After +three or four plausible zig-zags, it turned to rash courses and ran +headlong down to the ford—true, it had excuse in the necessity of +striking this spot—on a slope hardly less steep than that down which +the Captain himself was painfully leaping with heels stuck deep in and +body thrown well back. In the result Paul de Roustache comfortably +maintained his lead, and when he came into his pursuer's view was no +more than twenty yards from the river, the Captain being still a good +fifty from the point at which he had hoped to be stationed before Paul +came up. +</P> + +<P> +"I 'm done," panted the Captain, referring both to his chances of +success and to his physical condition; and he saw with despair that +across the ford the road rose as boldly and as steeply as it had +descended on the near side of the stream. +</P> + +<P> +Paul ran on and came to the edge of the ford. Negotiations might be +feasible since conquest was out of the question: Dieppe raised his +voice and shouted. Paul turned and looked. "I 'm a pretty long shot," +thought the Captain, and he thought it prudent to slacken his pace till +he saw in what spirit his overtures were met. Their reception was not +encouraging. Paul took his revolver from his pocket—the Captain saw +the glint of the barrel—and waved it menacingly. Then he replaced it, +lifted his hat jauntily in a mocking farewell, and turned to the ford +again. +</P> + +<P> +"Shall I go on?" asked the Captain, "or shall I give it up?" The +desperate thought at last occurred: "Shall I get as near as I can and +try to wing him?" He stood still for an instant, engaged in these +considerations. Suddenly a sound struck his ear and caught his +attention. It was the heavy, swishing noise of a deep body of water in +rapid movement. His eyes flew down to the river. +</P> + +<P> +"By God!" he muttered under his breath; and from the river his glance +darted to Paul de Roustache. The landlord of the inn at Sasellano had +not spoken without warrant. The stream ran high in flood, and Paul de +Roustache stood motionless in fear and doubt on the threshold of the +ford. +</P> + +<P> +"I 've got him," remarked the Captain simply, and he began to pace +leisurely and warily down the hill. He was ready for a shot now—ready +to give one too, if necessary. But his luck was again in the +ascendant; he smiled and twirled his moustache as he walked along. +</P> + +<P> +If it be pardonable—or even praise-worthy, as some moralists +assert—to pity the criminal, while righteously hating the crime, a +trifle of compassion may be spared for Paul de Roustache. In fact that +gentleman had a few hours before arrived at a resolution which must be +considered (for as a man hath, so shall it be demanded of him, in +talents and presumably in virtues also) distinctly commendable. He had +made up his mind to molest the Countess of Fieramondi no more—provided +he got the fifty thousand francs from M. Guillaume. Up to this moment +fortune—or, in recognition of the morality of the idea, may we not say +heaven?—had favoured his design. Obliged, in view of Paul's urgently +expressed preference for a payment on account, to disburse five +thousand francs, Guillaume had taken from his pocket a leather case of +venerable age and opulent appearance. Paul was no more averse than +Dieppe from taking a good chance. The production of the portfolio was +the signal for a rapid series of decisive actions; for was not Dieppe +inside the hut, and might not Dieppe share or even engross the contents +of the portfolio? With the promptness of a man who has thoroughly +thought out his plans, Paul had flung away the lantern, hit Guillaume +on the forehead with the butt of his revolver, snatched the portfolio +from his hand, and bolted up the slope that led from the hut to the +summit; thence he ran down the road, not enjoying leisure to examine +his prize, but sure that it contained more than the bare ten thousand +francs for which he had modestly bargained. A humane man, he +reflected, would stay by Guillaume, bathe his brow, and nurse him back +to health; for with a humane man life is more than property; and +meanwhile the property, with Paul as its protector, would be far away. +But now—well, in the first place, Dieppe was evidently not a humane +man, and in the second, here was this pestilent river flooded to the +edge of its banks, and presenting the most doubtful passage which had +ever by the mockery of language been misnamed a ford. He was indeed +between the devil and the deep sea—that devil of a Dieppe and the deep +sea of the ford on the road from Sasellano. What was to be done? +</P> + +<P> +The days of chivalry are gone; and the days of hanging or beheading for +unnecessary or unjustified homicide are with us, to the great detriment +of romance. Paul, like the Captain, did not desire a duel, although, +like the Captain, he proposed to keep his revolver handy. And, after +all, what was called a ford must be at least comparatively shallow. +Give it a foot of depth in ordinary times. Let it be three or four +now. Still he could get across. With one last look at the Captain, +who advanced steadily, although very slowly, Paul de Roustache essayed +the passage. The precious portfolio was in an inner pocket, the hardly +less precious revolver he grasped in one hand; and both his hands he +held half outstretched on either side of him. The Captain watched his +progress with the keenest interest and a generous admiration, and +quickened his own pace so as to be in a position to follow the daring +pioneer as rapidly as possible. +</P> + +<P> +As far as depth was concerned, Paul's calculation was not far out. He +travelled a third of his way and felt the ground level under him. He +had reached the bottom of the river-bed, and the water was not up to +his armpits. He took out the portfolio and thrust it in between his +neck and his collar: it gave him a confined and choky feeling, but it +was well out of water; and his right hand held the revolver well out of +water too. Thus prepared, yet hoping that the worst was over, he took +another forward step. Breaking into a run, the Captain was by the edge +of the stream the next moment, whipped out his revolver, pointed it at +Paul, and cried, "Stop!" For although one does not mean to fire, it is +often useful to create the impression that one does. +</P> + +<P> +The action had its effect now, although not exactly as Dieppe had +anticipated. Flurried by his double difficulty, Paul stopped again and +glanced over his shoulder. He saw the barrel aimed at him; he could +not risk disregarding the command, but he might forestall his pursuer's +apparent intention. He tried to turn round, and effected half the +revolution; thus he faced down-stream, and had his back to the full +force of the current. Although no deeper than he had feared, the river +was stronger; and in this attitude he offered a less firm resistance. +In an instant he was swept off his feet, and carried headlong +down-stream, dropping his revolver and struggling to swim to the +opposite bank. +</P> + +<P> +"I can't afford to have this happen!" cried Dieppe, and, seeing how the +current bore his enemy away, he ran swiftly some fifty yards down the +bank, got ahead of Paul, and plunged in, again with the idea of cutting +him off, but by water this time, since his plan had failed on land. +</P> + +<P> +Here it is likely enough that the two gentlemen's difficulties and +activities alike would have ended. Paul went under and came up again, +a tangled, helpless heap of legs and arms; the Captain kept his head +above water for the time, but could do nothing save follow the current +which carried him straight down-stream. But by good luck the river +took a sharp bend a hundred yards below the ford, and Dieppe perceived +that by drifting he would come very near to the projecting curve of the +bank. Paul was past noticing this chance or trying to avail himself of +it. The Captain was swept down; at the right instant he made the one +effort for which he had husbanded his strength. He gathered his legs +up under him, and he stood. The water was only half-way up his thigh, +and he stood. "Now for you, my friend!" he cried. Paul came by, quite +inanimate now to all appearance, floating broadside to the current. +Leaning forward, the Captain caught him by the leg, throwing his own +body back in an intense strain of exertion. He lost his footing and +fell. "I must let him go," he thought, "or we shall both be done for." +But the next moment he felt himself flung on the bank, and the tension +on his arms relaxed. The current had thrown the two on the bank and +pursued its own race round the promontory, bereft of its playthings. +Drenched, huddled, hatless, they lay there. +</P> + +<P> +"A very near thing indeed," said the Captain, panting hard and +regarding Paul's motionless body with a grave and critical air of +inquiry. The next moment he fell on his knees by his companion. +"Perhaps he carries a flask—I 've none," he thought, and began to +search Paul's pockets. He found what he sought and proceeded to +unscrew the top. +</P> + +<P> +Paul gasped and grunted. "He 's all right then," said the Captain. +Paul's hand groped its way up to his collar, and made convulsive +clutches. "I 'd better give him a little more room," mused Dieppe, and +laid the flask down for a minute. "Ah, this is a queer cravat! No +wonder he feels like choking. A portfolio! Ah, ah!" He took it out +and pocketed it. Then he forced some brandy down Paul's throat, and +undid his collar and his waistcoat. "A pocket inside the waistcoat! +Very useful, very useful—and more papers, yes! Take a drop, my +friend, it will do you good." Thus alternately ministering to Paul's +bodily comfort and rifling his person of what valuables he carried, +Dieppe offered to the philosophic mind a singular resemblance to a +Finance Minister who takes a farthing off the duty on beer and puts a +penny on the income tax. +</P> + +<P> +The moon was high, but not bright enough to read a small and delicate +handwriting by. The Captain found himself in a tantalising position. +He gave Paul some more brandy, laid down the packet of letters, and +turned to the portfolio. It was large and official in appearance, and +it had an ingenious clasp which baffled Dieppe. With a sigh he cut the +leather top and bottom, and examined the prize. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, my dear Banque de France, even in this light I can recognise your +charming, allegorical figures," he said with a smile. There were +thirty notes—he counted them twice, for they were moist and very +sticky. There was another paper. "This must be—" He rose to his +feet and held the paper up towards the moon. "I can't read the +writing," he murmured, "but I can see the figures—30,000. Ah, and +that is 'Genoa'! Now to whom is it payable, I wonder!" +</P> + +<P> +"What the devil are you doing?" growled Paul, sitting up with a shiver. +</P> + +<P> +"My friend, I have saved your life," observed the Captain, impressively. +</P> + +<P> +"That's no reason for robbing me," was Paul's ungrateful but logically +sound reply. +</P> + +<P> +The Captain stooped and picked up the bundle of letters. Separating +them one from another, he tore them into small fragments and scattered +them over the stream. Paul watched him, sullen but without resistance. +Dieppe turned to him. +</P> + +<P> +"You have no possible claim against the Countess," he remarked; "no +possible hold on her, Monsieur de Roustache." +</P> + +<P> +Paul finished the flask for himself this time, shivered again, and +swore pitifully. He was half-crying and cowed. "Curse the whole +business!" he said. "But she had twenty thousand francs of my money." +</P> + +<P> +The Captain addressed to him a question somewhat odd under the +circumstances. +</P> + +<P> +"On your honour as a gentleman, is that true?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, it's true," said Paul, with a glare of suspicion. He was not in +the mood to appreciate satire or banter; but the Captain appeared quite +grave and his manner was courteous. +</P> + +<P> +"It's beastly cold," Paul continued with a groan. +</P> + +<P> +"In a moment you shall take a run," the Captain promised. And he +pursued, "The Countess must not be in your debt. Permit me to +discharge the obligation." He counted twenty of the thirty notes and +held them out to Paul. After another stare Paul laughed feebly. +</P> + +<P> +"I am doing our friend M. Guillaume no wrong," the Captain explained. +"His employers have in their possession fifty thousand francs of mine. +I avail myself of this opportunity to reduce the balance to their +debit. As between M. Guillaume and me, that is all. As between you +and me, sir, I act for the Countess. I pay your claim at your own +figures, and since I discharge the claim I have made free to destroy +the evidence. I have thrown the letters into the river. I do not wish +to threaten, but if you 're not out of sight in ten minutes, I 'll +throw you after them." +</P> + +<P> +"If I told you all the story—" began Paul with a sneer. +</P> + +<P> +"I 'm not accustomed to listen to stories against ladies, sir," +thundered the Captain. +</P> + +<P> +"She 's had my money for a year—" +</P> + +<P> +"The Countess would wish to be most liberal, but she did not understand +that you regarded the transaction as a commercial one." He counted +five more notes and handed them to Paul with an air of careless +liberality. +</P> + +<P> +Paul broke into a grudging laugh. +</P> + +<P> +"What are you going to tell old Guillaume?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm going to tell him that my claim against his employers is reduced +by the amount that I have had the honour to hand you, M. de Roustache. +Pardon me, but you seem to forget the remark I permitted myself to make +just now." And the Captain pointed to the river. +</P> + +<P> +Paul rose and stamped his feet on the ground; he looked at his +companion, and his surprise burst out in the question, "You really mean +to let me go with five and twenty thousand francs!" +</P> + +<P> +"I act as I am sure the lady whose name has been unavoidably mentioned +would wish to act." +</P> + +<P> +Paul stared again, then sniggered again, and pocketed his spoil. +</P> + +<P> +"Only you must understand that—that the mine is worked out, my friend. +I think your way lies there." He pointed towards the road that led up +from the ford to Sasellano. +</P> + +<P> +Still Paul lingered, seeming to wish to say something that he found +difficult to phrase. +</P> + +<P> +"I was devilish hard up," he muttered at last. +</P> + +<P> +"That is always a temptation," said the Captain, gravely. +</P> + +<P> +"A fellow does things that—that look queer. I say, would n't that odd +five thousand come in handy for yourself?" +</P> + +<P> +The Captain looked at him; almost he refused the unexpected offer +scornfully; but something in Paul's manner made him cry, quite +suddenly, almost unconsciously, "Why, my dear fellow, if you put it +that way—yes! As a loan from you to me, eh?" +</P> + +<P> +"A loan? No—I—I—" +</P> + +<P> +"Be at ease. Loan is the term we use between gentlemen—eh?" The +Captain tried to curl his moist, uncurlable moustache. +</P> + +<P> +And Paul de Roustache handed him back five thousand francs. +</P> + +<P> +"My dear fellow!" murmured the Captain, as he stowed the notes in +safety. He held out his hand; Paul de Roustache shook it and turned +away. Dieppe stood watching him as he went, making not direct for the +Sasellano road, but shaping a course straight up the hill, walking as +though he hardly knew where he was going. So he passed out of the +Captain's sight—and out of the list of the Countess of Fieramondi's +creditors. +</P> + +<P> +A little smile dwelt for a moment on Dieppe's face. +</P> + +<P> +"I myself am very nearly a rascal sometimes," said he. +</P> + +<P> +Crack! crack! The sound of a whip rang clear; the clatter of hoofs and +the grind of a wheel on the skid followed. A carriage dashed down the +hill from Sasellano. Paul de Roustache had seen it, and stooped low +for a moment in instinctive fear of being seen. Captain Dieppe, on the +other hand, cried "Bravo!" and began to walk briskly towards the ford. +"How very lucky!" he reflected. "I will beg a passage; I have no fancy +for another bath to-night." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap08"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VIII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE CARRIAGE AT THE FORD +</H4> + +<P> +The direct issue between her Excellency and the innkeeper at Sasellano +had ended as all such differences (save, of course, on points of +morality) should—in a compromise. The lady would not resign herself +to staying at Sasellano; the landlord would not engage to risk +passenger, carriage, and horses in the flood. But he found and she +accepted the services of a robust, stout-built fellow who engaged with +the lady to drive her as far as the river and across it if possible, +and promised the landlord to bring her and the equipage back in case +the crossing were too dangerous. Neither party was pleased, but both +consented, hoping to retrieve a temporary concession by ultimate +victory. Moreover the lady paid the whole fare beforehand—not, the +landlord precisely stipulated, to be returned in any event. So off her +Excellency rattled in the wind and rain; and great was her triumph when +the rain ceased, the wind fell, and the night cleared. She put her +head out of the rackety old landau, whose dilapidated hood had formed a +shelter by no means water-tight, and cried, "Who was right, driver?" +But the driver turned his black cigar between his teeth, answering, +"The mischief is done already. Well, we shall see!" +</P> + +<P> +They covered eight miles in good time. They passed Paul de Roustache, +who had no thought but to avoid them, and, once they were passed, took +to the road and made off straight for Sasellano; they reached the +descent and trotted gaily down it; they came within ten yards of the +ford, and drew up sharply. The lady put her head out; the driver +dismounted and took a look at the river. +</P> + +<P> +Shaking his head, he came to the window. +</P> + +<P> +"Your Excellency can't cross to-night," said he. +</P> + +<P> +"I will," cried the lady, no less resolute now than she had been at the +inn. +</P> + +<P> +The direct issue again! And if the driver were as obstinate as he +looked, the chances of that ultimate victory inclined to the +innkeeper's side. +</P> + +<P> +"The water would be inside the carriage," he urged. +</P> + +<P> +"I 'll ride on the box by you," she rejoined. +</P> + +<P> +"It 'll be up to the horses' shoulders." +</P> + +<P> +"The horses don't mind getting wet, I suppose." +</P> + +<P> +"They 'd be carried off their feet." +</P> + +<P> +"Nonsense," said she, sharply, denying the fact since she could no +longer pooh-pooh its significance. "Are you a coward?" she exclaimed +indignantly. +</P> + +<P> +"I 've got some sense in my head," said he with a grin. +</P> + +<P> +At this moment Captain Dieppe, wishing that he were dry, that he had a +hat, that his moustache would curl, yet rising victorious over all +disadvantages by virtue of his temperament and breeding, concealing +also any personal interest that he had in the settlement of the +question, approached the carriage, bowed to its occupant, and inquired, +with the utmost courtesy, whether he could be of any service. +</P> + +<P> +"It 's of great importance to me to cross," said she, returning his +salutation. +</P> + +<P> +"It's impossible to cross," interposed the driver. +</P> + +<P> +"Nonsense; I have crossed myself," remarked Captain Dieppe. +</P> + +<P> +Both of them looked at him; he anticipated their questions or +objections. +</P> + +<P> +"Crossing on foot one naturally gets a little wet," said he, smiling. +</P> + +<P> +"I won't let my horses cross," declared the driver. The Captain eyed +him with a slightly threatening expression, but he did not like to +quarrel before a lady. +</P> + +<P> +"You 're afraid for your own skin," he said contemptuously. "Stay this +side. I 'll bring the carriage back to you." He felt in his pocket +and discovered two louis and two five-franc pieces. He handed the +former coins to the driver. "I take all the responsibility to your +master," he ended, and opening the carriage door he invited the lady to +alight. +</P> + +<P> +She was dark, tall, handsome, a woman of presence and of dignity. She +took his hand and descended with much grace. +</P> + +<P> +"I am greatly in your debt, sir," she said. +</P> + +<P> +"Ladies, madame," he replied with a tentative advance of his hand +toward his moustache, checked in time by a remembrance of the +circumstances, "confer obligations often, but can contract none." +</P> + +<P> +"I wish everybody thought as you do," said she with a deep sigh. +</P> + +<P> +"Shall I mount the box?" +</P> + +<P> +"If you please." He mounted after her, and took the reins. Cracking +the whip, he urged on the horses. +</P> + +<P> +"Body of the saints," cried the driver, stirred to emulation, "I 'll +come with you!" and he leaped up on to the top of a travelling-trunk +that was strapped behind the carriage. +</P> + +<P> +"There is more good in human nature than one is apt to think," observed +the Captain. +</P> + +<P> +"If only one knows how to appeal to it," added the lady, sighing again +very pathetically. +</P> + +<P> +Somehow, the Captain received the idea that she was in trouble. He +felt drawn to her, and not only by the sympathy which her courage and +her apparent distress excited; he was conscious of some appeal, +something in her which seemed to touch him directly and with a sort of +familiarity, although he had certainly never seen her in his life +before. He was pondering on this when one of the horses, frightened by +the noise and rush of the water, reared up, while the other made a +violent effort to turn itself, its comrade, and the carriage round, and +head back again for Sasellano. The Captain sprang up, shouted, plied +the whip; the driver stood on the trunk and yelled yet more vigorously; +her Excellency clutched the rail with her hand. And in they went. +</P> + +<P> +"The peculiarity of this stream," began the Captain, "lies not so much +in its depth as in—" +</P> + +<P> +"The strength of the current," interposed his companion, nodding. +</P> + +<P> +"You know it?" he cried. +</P> + +<P> +"Very well," she answered, and she might have said more had not the +horses at this moment chosen to follow the easiest route, and headed +directly downstream. A shriek from the driver awoke Dieppe to the +peril of the position. He plied his whip again, and did his best to +turn the animals' heads towards the opposite bank. The driver showed +his opinion of the situation by climbing on to the top of the landau. +</P> + +<P> +This step was perhaps a natural, but it was not a wise one. The roof +was not adapted to carrying heavy weights. It gave way on one side, +and in an instant the driver rolled over to the right and fell with a +mighty splash into the water just above the carriage. At the same +moment Dieppe contrived to turn the horses in the direction he aimed +at, and the carriage moved a few paces. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, we move!" he exclaimed triumphantly. +</P> + +<P> +"The driver 's fallen off!" cried the lady in alarm. +</P> + +<P> +"I thought we seemed lighter, somehow," said Dieppe, paying no heed to +the driver's terrified shouts, but still urging on his horses. He +showed at this moment something of a soldier's recognition that, if +necessary, life must be sacrificed for victory: he had taken the same +view when he left M. Guillaume in order to pursue Paul de Roustache. +</P> + +<P> +The driver, finding cries useless, saw that he must shift for himself. +The wheel helped him to rise to his feet; he found he could stand. In +a quick turn of feeling, he called, "Courage!" Dieppe looked over at +him with a rather contemptuous smile. +</P> + +<P> +"What, have you found some down at the bottom of the river? Like truth +in the well?" he asked. "Catch hold of one of the horses, then!" He +turned to the lady. "You drive, madame?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"Then do me the favour." He gave her the reins, with a gesture of +apology stepped in front of her, and lowered himself into the water on +the left-hand side. "Now, my friend, one of us at each of their heads, +and we do it! The whip, madame with all your might, the whip!" +</P> + +<P> +The horses made a bound; the driver dashed forward and caught one by +the bridle; the lady lashed. On his side Dieppe, clinging to a trace, +made his way forward. Both he and the driver now shouted furiously, +their voices echoing in the hills that rose from the river on either +side, and rising at last in a shout of triumph as the wheels turned, +the horses gained firm footing, and with a last spring forward landed +the carriage in safety. +</P> + +<P> +The driver swore softly and crossed himself devoutly before he fell to +a rueful study of the roof of the landau. +</P> + +<P> +"Monsieur, I am eternally indebted to you," cried the lady to Dieppe. +</P> + +<P> +"It is a reciprocal service, madame," said he. "To tell the truth, I +also had special reasons for wishing to gain this side of the river." +</P> + +<P> +She appeared a trifle embarrassed, but civility, or rather gratitude, +impelled her to the suggestion. "You are travelling my way?" she asked. +</P> + +<P> +"A thousand thanks, but I have some business to transact first." +</P> + +<P> +She seemed relieved, but she was puzzled, too. "Business? Here?" she +murmured. +</P> + +<P> +Dieppe nodded. "It will not keep me long," he added gravely. +</P> + +<P> +The driver had succeeded in restoring the top of the landau to a +precarious stability. Dieppe handed the lady down from the box-seat +and into the interior. The driver mounted his perch; the lady leant +out of the window to take farewell of her ally. +</P> + +<P> +"Every hour was of value to me," she said, with a plain touch of +emotion in her voice, "and but for you I should have been taken back to +Sasellano. We shall meet again, I hope." +</P> + +<P> +"I shall live in the hope," said he, with a somewhat excessive +gallantry—a trick of which he could not cure himself. +</P> + +<P> +The driver whipped up—he did not intend that either he or his horses, +having escaped drowning, should die of cold. The equipage lumbered up +the hill, its inmate still leaning out and waving her hand. Dieppe +watched until the party reached the zigzags and was hidden from view, +though he still heard the crack of the whip. +</P> + +<P> +"Very interesting, very interesting!" he murmured to himself. "But now +to business! Now for friend Guillaume and the Countess!" His face +fell as he spoke. With the disappearance of excitement, and the +cessation of exertion, he realised again the great sorrow that faced +him and admitted of no evasion. He sighed deeply and sought his +cigarette-case. Vain hope of comfort! His cigarettes were no more +than a distasteful pulp. He felt forlorn, very cold, very hungry, +also; for it was now between nine and ten o'clock. His heart was heavy +as he prepared to mount the hill and finish his evening's work. He +must see Guillaume; he must see the Countess; and then— +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" he cried, and stooped suddenly to the ground. A bright object +lay plain and conspicuous on the road which had grown white again as it +dried in the sharp wind. It was an oval locket of gold, dropped there, +a few yards from the ford. It lay open—no doubt the jar of the fall +accounted for that—face downwards. The Captain picked it up and +examined it. He said nothing; his usual habit of soliloquy failed him +for the moment; he looked at it, then round at the landscape. For the +moonlight showed him a picture in the locket, and enabled him to make +out a written inscription under it. +</P> + +<P> +"What?" breathed he at last. "Oh, I can't believe it!" He looked +again. "Oh, if that 's the lie of the land, my friend!" He smiled; +then, in an apparent revulsion of feeling, he frowned angrily, and even +shook his fist downstream, perhaps intending the gesture for some one +in the village. Lastly, he shook his head sadly, and set off up the +hill in the wake of the now vanished carriage; as he went, he whistled +in a soft and meditative way. But before he started, he had assured +himself that he in his turn had not dropped anything, and that M. +Guillaume's partially depleted portfolio was still safe in his pocket, +side by side with his own precious papers. And he deposited the locket +he had found with these other valued possessions. +</P> + +<P> +A few minutes' walking brought him to the Cross. The exercise had +warmed him, the threatened stiffness of cold had passed; he ran lightly +up the hill and down into the basin. There was no sign of M. +Guillaume. The Captain, rather vexed, for he had business with that +gentleman,—an explanation of a matter which touched his own honour to +make, and an account which intimately concerned M. Guillaume to +adjust,—entered the hut. In an instant his hand was grasped in an +appealing grip, and the voice he loved best in the world (there was no +blinking the fact, whatever might be thought of the propriety), cried, +"Ah, you 're safe?" +</P> + +<P> +"How touching that is!" thought the Captain. "She has a hundred causes +for anxiety, but her first question is, 'You're safe?'" This was she +whom he renounced, and this was she whom the Count of Fieramondi +deceived. What were her trifling indiscretions beside her husband's +infamy—the infamy betrayed and proved by the picture and inscription +in the locket? +</P> + +<P> +"I am safe, and you are safe," said he, returning the pressure of her +hand. "And where is our friend outside?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know—I lay hidden till I heard him go. I don't know where he +went. What do you mean by saying I'm safe?" +</P> + +<P> +"I have got rid of Paul de Roustache. He 'll trouble you no more." +</P> + +<P> +"What?" Wonder and admiration sparkled in her eyes. Because he was +enabled to see them, Dieppe was grateful to her for having replaced and +relighted his candle. "Yes, I was afraid in the dark," she said, +noticing his glance at it. "But it 's almost burnt out. We must be +quick. Is the trouble with M. de Roustache really over?" +</P> + +<P> +"Absolutely." +</P> + +<P> +"And we owe it to you? But you—why, you 're wet!" +</P> + +<P> +"It's not surprising," said he, smiling. "There 's a flood in the +river, and I have crossed it twice." +</P> + +<P> +"What did you cross the river for?" +</P> + +<P> +"I had to escort M. de Roustache across, and he 's a bad swimmer. He +jumped in, and—" +</P> + +<P> +"You saved his life?" +</P> + +<P> +"Don't reproach me, my friend. It is an instinct; and—er—he carried +the pocket-book of our friend outside; and the pocket-book had my money +in it, you know." +</P> + +<P> +"Your money? I thought you had only fifty francs?" +</P> + +<P> +"The money due to me, I should say. Fifty thousand francs." The +Captain unconsciously assumed an air of some importance as he mentioned +this sum. "So I was bound to pursue friend Paul," he ended. +</P> + +<P> +"It was dangerous?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, no, no," he murmured. "Coming back, though, was rather +difficult," he continued. "The carriage was very heavy, and we had +some ado to—" +</P> + +<P> +"The carriage! What carriage?" she cried with eagerness. +</P> + +<P> +"Oddly enough, I found a lady travelling—from Sasellano, I understood; +and I had the privilege of aiding her to cross the ford." Dieppe spoke +with a calculated lightness. +</P> + +<P> +"A lady—a lady from Sasellano? What sort of a lady? What was she +like?" +</P> + +<P> +The Captain was watching her closely. Her agitation was unmistakable. +Did she know, did she suspect, anything? +</P> + +<P> +"She was tall, dark, and dignified in appearance. She spoke slowly, +with a slight drawl—" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, yes!" +</P> + +<P> +"And she was very eager to pursue her journey. She must have come by +here. Did n't you hear the wheels?" +</P> + +<P> +"No—I—I—was n't thinking." But she was thinking now. The next +instant she cried, "I must go, I must go at once." +</P> + +<P> +"But where?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why, back home, of course! Where else should I go? Oh, I may be too +late!" +</P> + +<P> +Unquestionably she knew something—how much the Captain could not tell. +His feelings may be imagined. His voice was low, and very +compassionate as he asked: +</P> + +<P> +"You 'll go home? When she 's there? At least, if I conclude +rightly—" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I must go. I must get there before she sees Andrea, otherwise, +all will be lost." +</P> + +<P> +For the instant her agitation seemed to make her forget Dieppe's +presence, or what he might think of her manner. Now she recovered +herself. "I mean—I mean—I want to speak to her. I must tell her—" +</P> + +<P> +"Tell her nothing. Confront her with that." And the Captain produced +the gold locket with an air of much solemnity. +</P> + +<P> +His action did not miss its effect. She gazed at the locket in +apparent bewilderment. +</P> + +<P> +"No, don't open it," he added hastily. +</P> + +<P> +"Where did you get it?" +</P> + +<P> +"She dropped it by the river. It was open when I picked it up." +</P> + +<P> +"Why, it 's the locket— How does it open?" She was busy looking for +the spring. +</P> + +<P> +"I implore you not to open it!" he cried, catching her hand and +restraining her. +</P> + +<P> +"Why?" she asked, pausing and looking up at him. +</P> + +<P> +The question and the look that accompanied it proved too great a strain +for Dieppe's self-control. Now he caught both her hands in his as he +said: +</P> + +<P> +"Because I can't bear that you should suffer. Because I love you too +much." +</P> + +<P> +Without a doubt it was delight that lit up her, eyes now, but she +whispered reprovingly, "Oh, you! You the ambassador." +</P> + +<P> +"I had n't seen that locket when I became his ambassador." +</P> + +<P> +"Let go my hands." +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed I can't," urged the Captain. But she drew them away with a +sharp motion that he could not resist, and before he could say or do +more to stop her she had opened the locket. +</P> + +<P> +"As I thought," she cried, hurriedly reclasping it and turning to him +in eager excitement; "I must go, indeed I must go at once!" +</P> + +<P> +"Alone?" asked Captain Dieppe, with a simple, but effective eloquence. +</P> + +<P> +At least it appeared very effective. She came nearer to him and, of +her own accord now, laid her hands in his. Shyness and pleasure +struggled in her eyes as she fixed them on his face. +</P> + +<P> +"I shall see you again," she murmured. +</P> + +<P> +"How?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, you 're coming back—back to the Castle?" she cried eagerly. The +doubt of his returning thither seemed to fill her with dismay. +</P> + +<P> +The Captain's scruples gave way. Perhaps it was the locket that +undermined them, perhaps that look to her eyes, and the touch of her +hands as they rested in his. +</P> + +<P> +"I will do anything you bid me," he whispered. +</P> + +<P> +"Then come once again." She paused. "Because I—I don't want to say +good-bye just now." +</P> + +<P> +"If I come, will it be to say good-bye?" +</P> + +<P> +"That shall be as you wish," she said. +</P> + +<P> +It seemed to Dieppe that no confession could have been more ample, yet +none more delicately reserved in the manner of its utterance. His +answer was to clasp her in his arms and kiss her lips. But in an +instant he released her, in obedience to the faint, yet sufficient, +protest of her hands pressing him away. +</P> + +<P> +"Come in an hour," she whispered, and, turning, left him and passed +from the hut. +</P> + +<P> +For a moment or two he stood where he was, devoured by many conflicting +feelings. But his love, once obedient to the dictates of friendship +and the unyielding limits of honour, would not be denied now. How had +the Count of Fieramondi now any right to invoke his honour, or to +appeal to his friendship? Gladly, as a man will, the Captain seized on +another's fault to excuse his own. +</P> + +<P> +"I will go again—in an hour—and I will not say good-bye," he +declared, as he flung himself down on one of the trusses of straw and +prepared to wait till it should be time for him to set out. +</P> + +<P> +The evening had been so full of surprises, so prolific of turns of +fortune good and evil, so bountiful of emotions and changeful feelings, +that he had little store of surprise left wherewith to meet any new +revolution of the wheel. Nevertheless it was with something of a start +that he raised his head again from the straw on which he had for a +moment reclined, and listened intently. There had been a rustle in the +straw; he turned his head sharply to the left. But he had misjudged +the position whence the noise came. From behind the truss of straw to +his right there rose the figure of a man. Monsieur Guillaume stood +beside him, his head tied round with a handkerchief, but his revolver +in his hand. The Captain's hand flew towards his breast-pocket. +</P> + +<P> +"You 'll particularly oblige me by not moving," said Monsieur +Guillaume, with a smile. +</P> + +<P> +Of a certainty a man should not mingle love and business, especially, +perhaps, when neither the love nor the business can be said properly to +belong to him. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap09"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IX +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE STRAW IN THE CORNER +</H4> + +<P> +There was nothing odd in M. Guillaume's presence, however little the +lady or the Captain had suspected it. The surprise he gave was a +reprisal for that which he had suffered when, after the Captain's exit, +he had recovered his full faculties and heard a furtive movement within +the hut. It was the inspiration and the work of a moment to raise +himself with an exaggerated effort and a purposed noise, and to take +his departure with a tread heavy enough to force itself on the ears of +the unknown person inside. But he did not go far. To what purpose +should he, since it was vain to hope to overtake the Captain or Paul de +Roustache? Some one was left behind; then, successful or unsuccessful, +the Captain would return—unless Paul murdered him, a catastrophe which +would be irremediable, but was exceedingly unlikely. Guillaume mounted +to the top of the eminence and flung himself down in the grass; thence +he crawled round the summit, descended again with a stealthiness in +striking contrast to his obtrusive ascent, and lay down in the dark +shadow of the hut itself. In about twenty minutes his patience was +rewarded: the lady came out,—she had forgotten to mention this little +excursion to the Captain,—mounted the rise, looked round, and walked +down towards the Cross. Presumably she was looking for a sight of +Dieppe. In a few minutes she returned. Guillaume was no longer lying +by the hut, but was safe inside it under the straw. She found Dieppe's +matches, relighted the candle, and sat down in the doorway with her +back to the straw. Thus each had kept a silent vigil until the Captain +returned to the rendezvous. Guillaume felt that he had turned a rather +unpromising situation to very good account. He was greatly and +naturally angered with Paul de Roustache: the loss of his portfolio was +grievous. But the Captain was his real quarry; the Captain's papers +would more than console him for his money; and he had a very pretty +plan for dealing with the Captain. +</P> + +<P> +Nothing was to be gained by sitting upright. In a moment Dieppe +realised this, and sank back on his truss of straw. He glanced at +Guillaume's menacing weapon, and thence at Guillaume himself. "Your +play, my friend," he seemed to say. He knew the game too well not to +recognise and accept its chances. But Guillaume was silent. +</P> + +<P> +"The hurt to your head is not serious or painful, I hope?" Dieppe +inquired politely. Still Guillaume maintained a grim and ominous +silence. The Captain tried again. "I trust, my dear friend," said he +persuasively, "that your weapon is intended for strictly defensive +purposes?" The candle had burnt almost down to the block on which it +rested (the fact did not escape Dieppe), but it served to show +Guillaume's acid smile. "What quarrel have we?" pursued the Captain, +in a conciliatory tone. "I 've actually been engaged on your business, +and got confoundedly wet over it too." +</P> + +<P> +"You 've been across the river then?" asked Guillaume, breaking his +silence. +</P> + +<P> +"It 's not my fault—the river was in my way," Dieppe answered a little +impatiently. "As for you, why do you listen to my conversation?" +</P> + +<P> +"With the Countess of Fieramondi? Ah, you soldiers! You were a little +indiscreet there, my good Captain. But that's not my business." +</P> + +<P> +"Your remark is very just," agreed Dieppe. "I 'll give that candle +just a quarter of an hour," he was thinking. +</P> + +<P> +"Except so far as I may be able to turn it to my purposes. Come, we +know one another, Captain Dieppe." +</P> + +<P> +"We have certainly met in the course of business," the Captain conceded +with a touch of hauteur, as he shifted the truss a little further under +his right shoulder. +</P> + +<P> +"I want something that you have," said Guillaume, fixing his eyes on +his companion. Dieppe's were on the candle. "Listen to me," commanded +Guillaume, imperiously. +</P> + +<P> +"I have really no alternative," shrugged the Captain. "But don't make +impossible propositions. And be brief. It 's late; I 'm hungry, cold, +and wet." +</P> + +<P> +Guillaume smiled contemptuously at this useless bravado, for such it +seemed to him. It did not occur to his mind that Dieppe had anything +to gain—or even a bare chance of gaining anything—by protracting the +conversation. But in fact the Captain was making observations—first +of the candle, secondly of the number and position of the trusses of +straw. +</P> + +<P> +"Are you in a position to call any proposition impossible?" Guillaume +asked. +</P> + +<P> +"It's quite true that I can't make use of my revolver," agreed the +Captain. "But on the other hand you don't, I presume, intend to murder +me? Would n't that be exceeding your instructions!" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know as to that—I might be forgiven. But of course I +entertain no such desire. Captain, I 've an idea that you 're in +possession of my portfolio." +</P> + +<P> +"What puts that into your head?" inquired the Captain in a rather +satirical tone. +</P> + +<P> +"From what you said to the Countess I—" +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, I find it so hard to realise that you actually committed that +breach of etiquette," murmured Dieppe, reproachfully. +</P> + +<P> +"And that perhaps—I say only perhaps—you have made free with the +contents. For it seems you 've got rid of Paul de Roustache. Well, I +will not complain—" +</P> + +<P> +"Ah?" said the Captain with a movement of interest. +</P> + +<P> +"But if I lose my money, I must have my money's worth." +</P> + +<P> +"That 's certainly what one prefers when it's possible," smiled the +Captain, indulgently. +</P> + +<P> +"To put it briefly—" +</P> + +<P> +"As briefly as you can, pray," cried Dieppe; but the candle burnt +steadily still, and brevity was the last thing that he desired. +</P> + +<P> +"Give me your papers and you may keep the portfolio." +</P> + +<P> +The Captain's indignation at this proposal was extreme; indeed, it led +him to sit upright again, to fix his eyes on the candle, and to talk +right on end for hard on five minutes—in fact as long as he could find +words—on the subject of his honour as a gentleman, as a soldier, as a +Frenchman, as a friend, as a confidential agent, and as a loyal +servant. Guillaume did not interrupt him, but listened with a smile of +genuine amusement. +</P> + +<P> +"Excellent!" he observed, as the Captain sank back exhausted. "A most +excellent preamble for your explanation of the loss, my dear Captain. +And you will add at the end that, seeing all this, it cannot be doubted +that you surrendered these papers only under absolute compulsion, and +not the least in the world for reasons connected with my portfolio." +</P> + +<P> +"My words were meant to appeal to your own better feelings," sighed the +Captain in a tone of despairing reproach. +</P> + +<P> +"You betray the Count of Fieramondi, your friend; why not betray your +employers also?" +</P> + +<P> +For a moment there was a look in the Captain's eye which seemed to +indicate annoyance, but the next instant he smiled. +</P> + +<P> +"As if there were any parallel!" said he. "Matters of love are +absolutely different, my good friend." Then he went on very +carelessly, "The candle 's low. Why don't you light your lantern?" +</P> + +<P> +"That rascal Paul threw it away, and I had n't time to get it." No +expression, save a mild concern, appeared on Captain Dieppe's face, +although he had discovered a fact of peculiar interest to him. "The +candle will last as long as we shall want it," pursued Guillaume. +</P> + +<P> +"Very probably," agreed the Captain, with a languid yawn; again he +shifted his straw till the bulk of it was under his right shoulder, and +he lay on an incline that sloped down to the left. "And you 'll kill +me and take my papers, eh?" he inquired, turning and looking up at +Guillaume. He could barely see his enemy's face now, for the candle +guttered and sputtered, while the moon, high in heaven, threw light on +the dip of the hill outside, but did little or nothing to relieve the +darkness within the hut. +</P> + +<P> +"No, I shall not murder you. You 'll give them to me, I 'm sure." +</P> + +<P> +"And if I refuse, dear M. Guillaume?" +</P> + +<P> +"I shall invite you to accompany me to the village—or, more strictly, +to precede me." +</P> + +<P> +"What should we do together in the village?" cried Dieppe. +</P> + +<P> +"I shall beg of you to walk a few paces in front of me,—just a +few,—to go at just the pace I go, and to remember that I carry a +revolver in my hand." +</P> + +<P> +"My memory would be excellent on such a point," the Captain assured +him. "But, again, why to the village?" +</P> + +<P> +"We should go together to the office of the police. I am on good terms +with the police." +</P> + +<P> +"Doubtless. But what have they to do with me? Come, come, my matter +is purely political, they would n't mix themselves up in it." +</P> + +<P> +"I should charge you with the unlawful possession of my portfolio. You +would admit it, or you would deny it. In either case your person would +be searched, the papers would be found, and I, who am on such friendly +terms with the police, should certainly enjoy an excellent opportunity +of inspecting them. You perceive, my dear Captain, that I have thought +it out." +</P> + +<P> +"It's neat, certainly," agreed the Captain, who was not a little +dismayed at this plan of Guillaume's. "But I should not submit to the +search." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah! Now how would you prevent it?" +</P> + +<P> +"I should send for my friend the Count. He has influence; he would +answer for me." +</P> + +<P> +"What, when he hears my account of your interview with his wife?" Old +Guillaume played this card with a smile of triumph. "I told you that +the little affair might perhaps be turned to my purposes," he reminded +Dieppe, maliciously. +</P> + +<P> +The Captain reflected, taking as long as he decently could over the +task. Indeed he was in trouble. Guillaume's scheme was sagacious, +Guillaume's position very strong. And at last Guillaume grew +impatient. But still the persistent candle burnt. +</P> + +<P> +"I give you one minute to make up your mind," said Guillaume, dropping +his tone of sarcastic pleasantry, and speaking in a hard, sharp voice. +"After that, either you give me the papers, or you get up and march +before me to the village." +</P> + +<P> +"If I refuse to do either?" +</P> + +<P> +"You can't refuse," said Guillaume. +</P> + +<P> +"You mean—?" +</P> + +<P> +"I should order you to hold your hands behind your back while I took +the papers. If you moved—" +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you. I see," said the Captain, with a nod of understanding. +"Awkward for you, though, if it came to that." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I think not very, in view of your dealings with my portfolio." +</P> + +<P> +"I 'm in a devil of a hole," admitted the Captain, candidly. +</P> + +<P> +"Time's up," announced M. Guillaume, slowly raising the barrel of his +revolver, and taking aim at the Captain. For the candle still burnt, +although dimly and fitfully, and still there was light to guide the +bullet on its way. +</P> + +<P> +"It's all up!" said the Captain. "But, deuce take it, it's hardly the +way to treat a gentleman!" Even as he spoke the light of the candle +towered for a second in a last shoot of flame, and then went out. +</P> + +<P> +At the same moment the Captain rolled down the incline of straw on +which he had been resting, rose on his knees an instant, seized the +truss and flung it at Guillaume, rolled under the next truss, seized +that in like manner and propelled it against the enemy, and darted +again to shelter. "Stop, or I fire," cried Guillaume; he was as good +as his word the next minute, but the third truss caught him just as he +aimed, and his bullet flew against and was buried in the planking of +the roof. By now, the Captain was escaping from under the fourth +truss, and making for the fifth. Guillaume, dimly seeing the fourth +truss not thrown, but left in its place, discharged another shot at it. +The fifth truss caught him in the side and drove him against the wooden +block. He turned swiftly in the direction whence the missile came, and +fired again. He was half dazed, his eyes and ears seemed full of the +dust of the straw. He fired once again at random, swearing savagely; +and before he could recover aim his arm was seized from behind, his +neck was caught in a vigorous garotte, and he fell on the floor of the +hut with Captain Dieppe on the top of him—Dieppe, dusty, dirty, +panting, bleeding freely from a bullet graze on the top of the left +ear, and with one leg of his trousers slit from ankle to knee by a +rusty nail, that had also ploughed a nasty furrow up his leg. But now +he seized Guillaume's revolver, and dragged the old fellow out of the +hut. Then he sat down on his chest, pinning his arms together on the +ground above his head. +</P> + +<P> +"You enjoyed playing your mouse just a trifle too long, old cat," said +he. +</P> + +<P> +Guillaume lay very still, exhausted, beaten, and defenceless. Dieppe +released his hands, and, rising, stood looking down at him. A smile +came on his face. +</P> + +<P> +"We are now in a better position to adjust our accounts fairly," he +observed, as he took from his pocket M. Guillaume's portfolio. +"Listen," he commanded; and Guillaume turned weary but spiteful eyes to +him. "Here is your portfolio. Take it. Look at it." +</P> + +<P> +Guillaume sat up and obeyed the command. +</P> + +<P> +"Well?" asked Dieppe, when the examination was ended. +</P> + +<P> +"You have robbed me of twenty-five thousand francs." +</P> + +<P> +The Captain looked at him for a moment with a frown. But the next +instant he smiled. +</P> + +<P> +"I must make allowances for the state of your temper," he remarked. +"But I wish you would carry all your money in notes. That draft, now, +is no use to me. Hence"—he shrugged his shoulders regretfully—"I am +obliged to leave your Government still no less than twenty-five +thousand francs in debt to me." +</P> + +<P> +"What!" cried Guillaume, with a savage stare. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes, you know that well. They have fifty thousand which certainly +don't belong to them, and certainly do to me." +</P> + +<P> +"That money 's forfeited," growled Guillaume. +</P> + +<P> +"If you like, then, I forfeit twenty-five thousand of theirs. But I +allow it in account with them. The debt now stands reduced by half." +</P> + +<P> +"I 'll get it back from you somehow," threatened Guillaume, who was +helpless, but not cowed. +</P> + +<P> +"That will be difficult. I gave it to Paul de Roustache to discharge a +claim he had on me." +</P> + +<P> +"To Paul de Roustache?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. It 's true he lent me five thousand again; but that 's purely +between him and me. And I shall have spent it long before you can even +begin to take steps to recover it." He paused a moment and then added, +"If you still hanker after your notes, I should recommend you to find +your friend and accomplice, M. Paul." +</P> + +<P> +"Where is he?" +</P> + +<P> +"Who can tell? I saw him last on the road across the river—it leads +to Sasellano, I believe." Dieppe kept his eye on his vanquished +opponent, but Guillaume threatened no movement. The Captain dropped +the revolver into his pocket, stooped to pull up a tuft of grass with +moist earth adhering to it, and, with the help of his handkerchief, +made a primitive plaster to stanch the bleeding of his ear. As he was +so engaged, the sound of wheels slowly climbing the hill became audible +from the direction of the village. +</P> + +<P> +"You see," he went on, "you can't return to the village—you are on too +good terms with the police. Let me advise you to go to Sasellano; the +flood will be falling by now, and I should n't wonder if we could find +you a means of conveyance." He jerked his thumb over his shoulder +towards the road behind him. +</P> + +<P> +"I can't go back to the village?" demanded Guillaume, sullenly. +</P> + +<P> +"In my turn I must beg you to remember that I now carry a revolver. +Come, M. Guillaume, we 've played a close hand, but the odd trick 's +mine. Go back and tell your employers not to waste their time on me. +No, nor their money. They have won the big stake; let them be content. +And again let me remind you that Paul de Roustache has your twenty +thousand francs. I don't think you 'll get them from him, but you +might. From me you 'll get nothing; and if you try the law—oh, think, +my friend, how very silly you and your Government will look!" +</P> + +<P> +As he spoke he went up to Guillaume and took him by the arm, exerting a +friendly and persuasive pressure, under which Guillaume presently found +himself mounting the eminence. The wheels sounded nearer now, and +Dieppe's ears were awake to their movements. The pair began to walk +down the other side of the slope towards the Cross, and the carriage +came into their view. It was easy of identification: its broken-down, +lopsided top marked it beyond mistake. +</P> + +<P> +An instant later Dieppe recognised the burly figure of the driver, who +was walking by his horses' heads. +</P> + +<P> +"Wonderfully convenient!" he exclaimed. "This fellow will carry you to +Sasellano without delay." +</P> + +<P> +Guillaume did not—indeed could not—refuse to obey the prompting of +the Captain's arm, but he grumbled as he went. +</P> + +<P> +"I made sure of getting your papers," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"Unlooked-for difficulties will arise, my dear M. Guillaume." +</P> + +<P> +"I thought the reward was as good as in my pocket." +</P> + +<P> +"The reward?" The Captain stopped and looked in his companion's face +with some amusement and a decided air of gratification. "There was a +reward? Oh, I am important, it seems!" +</P> + +<P> +"Five thousand francs," said Guillaume, sullenly. +</P> + +<P> +"They rate me rather cheap," exclaimed the Captain, his face falling. +"I should have hoped for five-and-twenty." +</P> + +<P> +"Would you? If it had been that, I should have brought three men with +me." +</P> + +<P> +"Hum!" said the Captain. "And you gave me a stiff job by yourself, +eh?" He turned and signalled to the driver, who had now reached the +Cross: +</P> + +<P> +"Wait a moment there, my friend." Then he turned back again to +Guillaume. "Get into the carriage—go to Sasellano; catch Paul if you +can, but leave me in peace," he said, and, diving into his pocket, he +produced the five notes of a thousand francs which Paul de Roustache, +in some strange impulse of repentance, or gratitude, had handed to him. +"What you tell your employers," he added, "I don't care. This is a +gift from me to you. The deuce, I reward effort as well as success—I +am more liberal than your Government." The gesture with which he held +out the notes was magnificent. +</P> + +<P> +Guillaume stared at him in amazement, but his hand went out towards the +notes. +</P> + +<P> +"I am free to do what I can at Sasellano?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, free to do anything except bother me. But I think your bird will +have flown." +</P> + +<P> +Guillaume took the notes and hid them in his pocket; then he walked +straight up to the driver, crying, "How much to take me with you to +Sasellano?" +</P> + +<P> +The driver looked at him, at Dieppe, and then down towards the river. +</P> + +<P> +"Come, the flood will be less by now; the river will be falling," said +Dieppe. +</P> + +<P> +"Fifty francs," said the driver, and Guillaume got in. +</P> + +<P> +"Good!" said the Captain to himself. "A pretty device! And that +scoundrel's money did n't lie comfortably in the pocket of a +gentleman." He waved his hand to Guillaume and was about to turn away, +when the driver came up to him and spoke in a cautious whisper, first +looking over his shoulder to see whether his new fare were listening; +but Guillaume was sucking at a flask. +</P> + +<P> +"I have a message for you," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"From the lady you carried—?" +</P> + +<P> +"To the Count of Fieramondi's." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, you took her there?" The Captain frowned heavily. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, and left her there. But it's not from her; it's from another +lady whom I had n't seen before. She met me just as I was returning +from the Count's, and bade me look out for you by the Cross—" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, yes?" cried Dieppe, eagerly. "Give me the message." For his +thoughts flew back to the Countess at the first summons. +</P> + +<P> +The driver produced a scrap of paper, carelessly folded, and gave it to +him. +</P> + +<P> +Dieppe ran to the carriage and read the message by the light of its dim +and smoky lamp: +</P> + +<P> +"I think I am in time. Come; I wait for you. Whatever you see, keep +Andrea in the dark. If you are discreet, all will be well, and I—I +shall be very grateful." +</P> + +<P> +The driver mounted the box, the carriage rolled off down the hill, +Dieppe was left by the Cross, with the message in his hand. He did not +understand the situation. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap10"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER X +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE JOURNEY TO ROME +</H4> + +<P> +It was about ten o'clock—or, it may be, nearer half-past ten—the same +night when two inhabitants of the village received very genuine, yet +far from unpleasant, shocks of surprise. +</P> + +<P> +The first was the parish priest. He was returning from a visit to the +bedside of a sick peasant and making his way along the straggling +street towards his own modest dwelling, which stood near the inn, when +he met a tall stranger of most dilapidated appearance, whose clothes +were creased and dirty, and whose head was encircled by a stained and +grimy handkerchief. He wore no hat; his face was disfigured with +blotches of an ugly colour and, maybe, an uglier significance; his +trousers were most atrociously rent and tattered; he walked with a +limp, and shivered in the cold night air. This unpromising-looking +person approached the priest and addressed him with an elaborate +courtesy oddly out of keeping with his scarecrow-like appearance, but +with words appropriate enough to the figure that he cut. +</P> + +<P> +"Reverend father," said he, "pardon the liberty I take, but may I beg +of your Reverence's great kindness—" +</P> + +<P> +"It 's no use begging of me," interrupted the priest hurriedly, for he +was rather alarmed. "In the first place, I have nothing; in the +second, mendicancy is forbidden by the regulations of the commune." +</P> + +<P> +The wayfarer stared at the priest, looked down at his own apparel, and +then burst into a laugh. +</P> + +<P> +"Begging forbidden, eh?" he exclaimed. "Then the poor must need +voluntary aid!" He thrust his hand into his pocket and brought out two +French five-franc pieces. "For the poor, father," he said, pressing +them into the priest's hand. "For myself, I was merely about to ask +you the time of night." And before the astonished priest could make +any movement the stranger passed on his way, humming a soft, and +sentimental tune. +</P> + +<P> +"He was certainly mad, but he undoubtedly gave me ten francs," said the +priest to his friend the innkeeper, the next day. +</P> + +<P> +"I wish," growled the innkeeper, "that somebody would give me some +money to pay for what those two runaway rogues who lodged here had of +me, their baggage is worth no more than half what they 've cost me, and +I 'll lay odds I never clap eyes on them again." +</P> + +<P> +And in this suspicion the innkeeper proved, in the issue, to be +absolutely right, about the value of the luggage there is, however, +more room for doubt. +</P> + +<P> +The second person who suffered a surprise was no less a man than the +Count of Fieramondi himself. But how this came about needs a little +more explanation. +</P> + +<P> +In that very room through whose doorway Captain Dieppe had first beheld +the lady whom he now worshipped with a devotion as ardent as it was +unhappy, there were now two ladies engaged in conversation. One sat in +an arm-chair, nursing the yellow cat of which mention has been made +earlier in this history; the other walked up and down with every +appearance of weariness, trouble, and distress on her handsome face. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, the Bishop was just as bad as the banker," she cried fretfully, +"and the banker was just as silly as the Bishop. The Bishop said that, +although he might have considered the question of giving me absolution +from a vow which I had been practically compelled to take, he could +hold out no prospect of my getting it beforehand for taking a vow which +I took with no other intention than that of breaking it." +</P> + +<P> +"I told you he 'd say that before you went," observed the lady in the +arm-chair, who seemed to be treating the situation with a coolness in +strong contrast to her companion's agitation. +</P> + +<P> +"And the banker said that although, if I had actually spent fifty +thousand lire more than I possessed, he would have done his best to see +how he could extricate me from the trouble, he certainly would not help +me to get fifty thousand for the express purpose of throwing them away." +</P> + +<P> +"I thought the banker would say that," remarked the other lady, +caressing the cat. +</P> + +<P> +"And they both advised me to take my husband's opinion on the matter. +My husband's opinion!" Her tone was bitter and tragic indeed. "I +suppose they 're right," she said, flinging herself dejectedly into a +chair. "I must tell Andrea everything. Oh, and he 'll forgive me!" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I should think it's rather nice being forgiven." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, no, not by Andrea!" The faintest smile flitted for an instant +across her face. "Oh, no, Andrea does n't forgive like that. His +forgiveness is very—well, horribly biblical, you know. Oh, I 'd +better not have gone to Rome at all!" +</P> + +<P> +"I never saw any good in your going to Rome, you know." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I must tell him everything. Because Paul de Roustache is sure to +come and—" +</P> + +<P> +"He 's come already," observed the second lady, calmly. +</P> + +<P> +"What? Come?" +</P> + +<P> +The other lady set down the cat, rose to her feet, took out of her +pocket a gold ring and a gold locket, walked over to her companion, and +held them out to her. "These are yours, are n't they?" she inquired, +and broke into a merry laugh. The sight brought nothing but an +astonished stare and a breathless ejaculation— +</P> + +<P> +"Lucia!" +</P> + +<P> +The two ladies drew their chairs close together, and a long +conversation ensued, Lucia being the chief narrator, while her +companion, whom she addressed from time to time as Emilia, did little +more than listen and throw in exclamations of wonder, surprise, or +delight. +</P> + +<P> +"How splendidly you kept the secret!" she cried once. And again, "How +lucky that he should be here!" And again, "I thought he looked quite +charming." And once again, "But, goodness, what a state the poor man +must be in! How could you help telling him, Lucia?" +</P> + +<P> +"I had promised," said Lucia, solemnly, "and I keep my promises, +Emilia." +</P> + +<P> +"And that man has positively gone?" sighed Emilia, taking no notice of +a rather challenging emphasis which Lucia had laid on her last remark. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, gone for good—I 'm sure of it. And you need n't tell Andrea +anything. Just take all the vows he asks you to! But he won't now; +you see he wants a reconciliation as much as you do." +</P> + +<P> +"I shall insist on taking at least one vow," said Emilia, with a +virtuous air. She stopped and started. "But what in the world am I to +say about you, my dear?" she asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Say I 've just come back from Rome, of course," responded Lucia. +</P> + +<P> +"If he should find out—" +</P> + +<P> +"It 's very unlikely, and at the worst you must take another vow, +Emilia. But Andrea 'll never suspect the truth unless—" +</P> + +<P> +"Unless what?" +</P> + +<P> +"Unless Captain Dieppe lets it out, you know." +</P> + +<P> +"It would be better if Captain Dieppe did n't come back, I think," +observed Emilia, thoughtfully. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, of all the ungrateful women!" cried Lucia, indignantly. But +Emilia sprang up and kissed her, and began pressing her with all sorts +of questions, or rather with all sorts of ways of putting one question, +which made her blush very much, and to which she seemed unable, or +unwilling, to give any definite reply. At last Emilia abandoned the +attempt to extract an admission, and observed with a sigh of +satisfaction: +</P> + +<P> +"I think I 'd better see Andrea and forgive him." +</P> + +<P> +"You 'll change your frock first, won't you, dear?" cried Lucia. It +was certainly not desirable that Emilia should present herself to the +Count in the garments she was then wearing. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, of course. Will you come with me to Andrea?" +</P> + +<P> +"No. Send for me, presently—as soon as it occurs to you that I 've +just come back from Rome, you know, and should be so happy to hear of +your reconciliation." +</P> + +<P> +Half an hour later,—for the change of costume had to be radical, since +there is all the difference in the world between a travelling-dress and +an easy, negligent, yet elegant, toilette suggestive of home and the +fireside, and certainly not of wanderings,—the Count of Fieramondi got +his shock of surprise in the shape of an inquiry whether he were at +leisure to receive a visit from the Countess. +</P> + +<P> +Yet his surprise, great as it was at a result at once so prosperous and +so speedy, did not prevent him from drawing the obvious inference. His +thoughts had already been occupied with Captain Dieppe. It was now +half-past ten; he had waited an hour for dinner, and then eaten it +alone in some disquietude; as time went on he became seriously uneasy, +and had considered the despatch of a search expedition. If his friend +did not return in half an hour, he had declared, he himself would go +and look for him; and he had requested that he should be informed the +moment the Captain put in an appearance. But, alas! what is +friendship—even friendship reinforced by gratitude—beside love? As +the poets have often remarked, in language not here to be attained, its +power is insignificant, and its claims go to the wall. On fire with +the emotions excited by the Countess's message, the Count forgot both +Dieppe and all that he owed to Dieppe's intercession; the matter went +clean out of his head for the moment. He leapt up, pushed away the +poem on which he had been trying to concentrate his mind, and cried +eagerly: +</P> + +<P> +"I 'm at the Countess's disposal. I 'll wait on her at once." +</P> + +<P> +"The Countess is already on her way here," was the servant's answer. +</P> + +<P> +The first transports of joy are perhaps better left in a sacred +privacy. Indeed the Count was not for much explanation, or for many +words. What need was there? The Countess acquiesced in his view with +remarkable alacrity; the fewer words there were, and especially, +perhaps, the fewer explanations, the easier and more gracious was her +part. She had thought the matter over, there in the solitude to which +her Andrea's cruelty had condemned her: and, yes, she would take the +oath—in fact any number of oaths—to hold no further communication +whatever with Paul de Roustache. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, your very offer is a reproach to me," said the Count, softly. "I +told you that now I ask no oath, that your promise was enough, that—" +</P> + +<P> +"You told me?" exclaimed the Countess, with some appearance of surprise. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, yes. At least I begged Dieppe to tell you in my name. Did n't +he?" +</P> + +<P> +For a moment the Countess paused, engaged in rapid calculations, then +she said sweetly: +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes, of course! But it's not the same as hearing it from your own +lips, Andrea." +</P> + +<P> +"Where did you see him?" asked the Count. "Did he pass the barricade? +Ah, we 'll soon have that down, won't we?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes, Andrea; do let 's have it down, because—" +</P> + +<P> +"But where did you and Dieppe have your talk?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh—oh—down by the river, Andrea." +</P> + +<P> +"He found you there?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, he found me there, and—and talked to me." +</P> + +<P> +"And gave you back the ring?" inquired the Count, tenderly. +</P> + +<P> +The Countess took it from her pocket and handed it to her husband. "I +'d rather you 'd put it on yourself," she said. +</P> + +<P> +The Count took her hand in his and placed the ring on her finger. It +fitted very well, indeed. There could be no doubt that it was made for +the hand on which it now rested. The Count kissed it as he set it +there. +</P> + +<P> +At last, however, he found time to remember the obligations he was +under to his friend. +</P> + +<P> +"But where can our dear Dieppe be?" he cried. "We owe so much to him." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, we do owe a lot to him," murmured the Countess. "But, Andrea—" +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed, my darling, we must n't forget him. I must—" +</P> + +<P> +"No, we must n't forget him. Oh, no, we won't. But, Andrea, I—I 've +got another piece of news for you." The Countess spoke with a little +timidity, as if she were trying delicate ground, and were not quite +sure of her footing. +</P> + +<P> +"More news? What an eventful night!" +</P> + +<P> +He took his wife's hand. Away went all thoughts of poor Dieppe again. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, it's so lucky, happening just to-night. Lucia has come back! An +hour ago!" +</P> + +<P> +"Lucia come back!" exclaimed the Count, gladly. "That's good news, +indeed." +</P> + +<P> +"It 'll delight her so much to find us—to find us like this again, +Andrea." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, yes, we must send for her. Is she in her room? And where has +she come from?" +</P> + +<P> +"Rome," answered the Countess, again in a rather nervous way. +</P> + +<P> +"Rome!" cried the Count in surprise. "What took her to Rome?" +</P> + +<P> +"She does n't like to be asked much about it," began the Countess, with +a prudent air. +</P> + +<P> +"I 'm sure I don't want to pry into her affairs, but—" +</P> + +<P> +"No, I knew you would n't want to do that, Andrea." +</P> + +<P> +"Still, my dear, it 's really a little odd. She left only four days +ago. Now she 's back, and—" +</P> + +<P> +The Count broke off, looking rather distressed. Such proceedings, +accompanied by such mystery, were not, to his mind, quite the proper +thing for a young and unmarried lady. +</P> + +<P> +"I won't ask her any questions," he went on, "but I suppose she 's told +you, Emilia?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes, she 's told me," said the Countess, hastily. +</P> + +<P> +"And am I to be excluded from your confidence?" +</P> + +<P> +The Countess put her arms round his neck. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, you know, Andrea," said she, "you do sometimes scoff at +religion—well, I mean you talk rather lightly sometimes, you know." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, she went on a religious errand, did she?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," the Countess answered in a more confident tone. "She +particularly wanted to consult the Bishop of Mesopotamia. She believes +in him very much. Oh, so do I. I do believe, Andrea, that if you knew +the Bishop of—" +</P> + +<P> +"My dear, I don't want to know the Bishop of Mesopotamia; but Lucia is +perfectly at liberty to consult him as much as she pleases. I don't +see any need for mystery." +</P> + +<P> +"No, neither do I," murmured the Countess. "But dear Lucia is—is so +sensitive, you know." +</P> + +<P> +"I remember seeing him about Rome very well. I must ask Lucia whether +he still wears that—" +</P> + +<P> +"Really, the less you question Lucia about her journey the better, dear +Andrea," said the Countess, in a tone which was very affectionate, but +also marked by much decision. And there can be no doubt she spoke the +truth, from her own point of view, at least. "Would n't it be kind to +send for her now?" she added. In fact the Countess found this +interview, so gratifying and delightful in its main aspect, rather +difficult in certain minor ways, and Lucia would be a convenient ally. +It was much better, too, that they should talk about one another in one +another's presence. That is always more straightforward; and, in this +case, it would minimise the chances of a misunderstanding in the +future. For instance, if Lucia showed ignorance about the Bishop of +Mesopotamia—! "Do let's send for Lucia," the Countess said again, +coaxingly; and the Count, after a playful show of unwillingness to end +their tête-à-tête, at last consented. +</P> + +<P> +But here was another difficulty—Lucia could not be found. The right +wing was searched without result; she was nowhere. On the chance, +unlikely indeed but possible, that she had taken advantage of the new +state of things, they searched the left wing too—with an equal absence +of result. Lucia was nowhere in the house; so it was reported. The +Count was very much surprised. +</P> + +<P> +"Can she have gone out at this time of night?" he cried. +</P> + +<P> +The Countess was not much surprised. She well understood how Lucia +might have gone out a little way—far enough, say, to look for Captain +Dieppe, and make him aware of how matters stood. But she did not +suggest this explanation to her husband; explanations are to be avoided +when they themselves require too much explaining. +</P> + +<P> +"It's very fine now," said she, looking out of the window. "Perhaps +she's just gone for a turn on the road." +</P> + +<P> +"What for?" asked the Count, spreading out his hands in some +bewilderment. +</P> + +<P> +The Countess, in an extremity, once more invoked the aid of the Bishop +of Mesopotamia. +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps, dear," she said gently, "to think it over—to reflect in +quiet on what she has learnt and been advised." And she added, as an +artistic touch, "To think it over under the stars, dear Andrea." +</P> + +<P> +The Count, betraying a trifle of impatience, turned to the servant. +</P> + +<P> +"Run down the road," he commanded, "and see if the Countess Lucia is +anywhere about." He returned to his wife's side. "One good thing +about it is that we can have our talk out," said he. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, but let 's leave the horrid past and talk about the future," +urged the Countess, with affection—and no doubt with wisdom also. +</P> + +<P> +The servant, who in obedience to the Count's order ran down the road +towards the village, did not see the Countess Lucia. That lady, +mistrusting the explicitness of her hurried note, had stolen out into +the garden, and was now standing hidden in the shadow of the barricade, +straining her eyes down the hill towards the river and the +stepping-stones. There lay the shortest way for the Captain to +return—and of course, she had reasoned, he would come the shortest +way. She did not, however, allow for the Captain's pardonable +reluctance to get wet a third time that night. He did not know the +habits of the river, and he distrusted the stepping-stones. After his +experience he was all for a bridge. Moreover he did not hurry back to +the Castle; he had much to think over, and no inviting prospect lured +him home on the wings of hope. What hope was there? What hope of +happiness either for himself or for the lady whom he loved? If he +yielded to his love, he wronged her—her and his own honour. If he +resisted, he must renounce her—aye, and leave her, not to a loving +husband, but to one who deceived her most grossly and most cruelly, in +a way which made her own venial errors seem as nothing in the Captain's +partial, pitying eyes. In the distress of these thoughts he forgot his +victories: how he had disposed of Paul de Roustache, how he had +defeated M. Guillaume, how his precious papers were safe, and even how +the Countess was freed from all her fears. It was her misery he +thought of now, not her fears. For she loved him. And in his inmost +heart he knew that he must leave her. +</P> + +<P> +Yes; in the recesses of his heart he knew what true love for her and a +true regard for his own honour alike demanded. But he did not mean +that, because he saw this and was resolved to act on it, the Count +should escape castigation. Before he went, before he left behind him +what was dearest in life, and again took his way alone, unfriended, +solitary (penniless too, if he had happened to remember this), he would +speak his mind to the Count, first in stinging reproaches, later in the +appeal that friendship may make to honour; and at the last he would +demand from the Count, as the recompense for his own services, an utter +renunciation and abandonment of the lady who had dropped the locket by +the ford, of her whom the driver had carried to the door of the house +which the Countess of Fieramondi honoured with her gracious presence. +In drawing a contrast between the Countess and this shameless woman the +last remembrance of the Countess's peccadilloes faded from his +indignant mind. He quickened his pace a little, as a man does when he +has reached a final decision. He crossed the bridge, ascended the hill +on which the Castle stood, and came opposite to the little gate which +the Count himself had opened to him on that first happy—or +unhappy—night on which he had become an inmate of the house. +</P> + +<P> +Even as he came to it, it opened, and the Count's servant ran out. In +a moment he saw Dieppe and called to him loudly and gladly. +</P> + +<P> +"Sir, sir, my master is most anxious about you. He feared for your +safety." +</P> + +<P> +"I 'm safe enough," answered Dieppe, in a gloomy tone. +</P> + +<P> +"He begs your immediate presence, sir. He is in the dining-room." +</P> + +<P> +Dieppe braced himself to the task before him. +</P> + +<P> +"I will follow you," he said; and passing the gate he allowed the +servant to precede him into the house. "Now for what I must say!" he +thought, as he was conducted towards the dining-room. +</P> + +<P> +The servant had been ordered to let the Count know the moment that +Captain Dieppe returned. How obey these orders more to the letter than +by ushering the Captain himself directly into the Count's presence? He +threw open the door, announcing— +</P> + +<P> +"Captain Dieppe!" and then withdrawing with dexterous quickness. +</P> + +<P> +Captain Dieppe had expected nothing good. The reality was worse than +his imagining The Count sat on a sofa, and by him, with her arms round +his neck, was the lady whom Dieppe had escorted across the ford on the +road from Sasellano. The Captain stood still just within the doorway, +frowning heavily. Sadly he remembered the Countess's letter. Alas, it +was plain enough that she had not come in time! +</P> + +<P> +Just at this moment the servant, having seen nothing of Countess Lucia +on the road, decided, as a last resort, to search the garden for her +Ladyship. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap11"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XI +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE LUCK OF THE CAPTAIN +</H4> + +<P> +It is easy to say that the Captain should not have been so shocked, and +that it would have been becoming in him to remember his own +transgression committed in the little hut in the hollow of the hill. +But human nature is not, as a rule at least, so constituted that the +immediate or chief effect of the sight of another's wrong-doing is to +recall our own. The scene before him outraged all the Captain's ideas +of how his neighbours ought to conduct themselves, and (perhaps a more +serious thing) swept away all memory of the caution contained in the +Countess's letter. +</P> + +<P> +The Count rose with a smile, still holding the Countess by the hand. +</P> + +<P> +"My dear friend," he cried, "we 're delighted to see you. But what? +You 've been in the wars!" +</P> + +<P> +Dieppe made no answer. His stare attracted his host's attention. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah," he pursued, with a laugh, "you wonder to see us like this? We +are treating you too much <I>en famille</I>! But indeed you ought to be +glad to see it. We owe it almost all to you. No, she would n't be +here but for you, my friend. Would you, dear?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, I—I don't suppose I should." +</P> + +<P> +Did they refer to Dieppe's assisting her across the ford? If he had +but known— +</P> + +<P> +"Come," urged the Count, "give me your hand, and let my wife and me—" +</P> + +<P> +"What?" cried the Captain, loudly, in unmistakable surprise. +</P> + +<P> +The Count looked from him to the Countess. The Countess began to +laugh. Her husband seemed as bewildered as Dieppe. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, dear," laughed the Countess, "I believe Captain Dieppe did n't +know me!"' +</P> + +<P> +"Did n't know you?" +</P> + +<P> +"He 's only seen me once, and then in the dark, you know. Oh, what did +you suspect? But you recognise me now? You will believe that I really +am Andrea's wife?" +</P> + +<P> +The Captain could not catch the cue. It meant to him so complete a +reversal of what he had so unhesitatingly believed, such an utter +upsetting of all his notions. For if this were in truth the Countess +of Fieramondi, why, who was the other lady? His want of quickness +threatened at last to ruin the scheme which he had, although +unconsciously, done so much to help; for the Count was growing puzzled. +</P> + +<P> +"I—I—Of course I know the Countess of Fieramondi," stammered Dieppe. +</P> + +<P> +The Countess held out her hand gracefully. There could, at least, be +little harm in kissing it. Dieppe walked across the room and paid his +homage. As he rose from this social observance he heard a voice from +the doorway saying: +</P> + +<P> +"Are n't you glad to see me, Andrea?" +</P> + +<P> +The Captain shot round in time to see the Count paying the courtesy +which he had himself just paid—and paying it to a lady whom he did +know very well. The next instant the Count turned to him, saying: +</P> + +<P> +"Captain, let me present you to my wife's cousin, the Countess Lucia +Bonavia d'Orano. She has arrived to-night from Rome. How did you +leave the Bishop of Mesopotamia, Lucia?" +</P> + +<P> +But the Countess interposed very quickly. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, Andrea, you promised me not to bother Lucia about her journey, +and especially not about the Bishop. You don't want to talk about it, +do you, Lucia?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not at all," said Lucia, and the Count laughed rather mockingly. "And +you need n't introduce me to Captain Dieppe, either," she went on. "We +'ve met before." +</P> + +<P> +"Met before?" The Count turned to Dieppe. "Why, where was that?" +</P> + +<P> +"At the ford over the river." It was Lucia now who interposed. "He +helped me across. Oh, I 'll tell you all about it." +</P> + +<P> +She began her narrative, which she related with particular fulness. +For a while Dieppe watched her. Then he happened to glance towards the +Countess. He found that lady's eyes set on him with an intentness full +of meaning. The Count's attention was engrossed by Lucia. Emilia gave +a slight but emphatic nod. A slow smile dawned on Captain Dieppe's +face. +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed," ended Lucia, "I 'm not at all sure that I don't owe my life +to Captain Dieppe." And she bestowed on the Captain a very kindly +glance. The Count turned to speak to his wife. Lucia nodded sharply +at the Captain. +</P> + +<P> +"You were—er—returning from Rome?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"From visiting the Bishop of Mesopotamia," called the Countess. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said Lucia. "I should never have got across but for you." +</P> + +<P> +"But tell me about yourself, Dieppe," said the Count. "You 're really +in a sad state, my dear fellow." +</P> + +<P> +The Captain felt that the telling of his story was ticklish work. The +Count sat down on the sofa; the two ladies stood behind it, their eyes +were fixed on the Captain in warning glances. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I got a message from a fellow to-night to meet him on the hill +outside the village—by the Cross there, you know. I fancied I knew +what he wanted, so I went." +</P> + +<P> +"That was after you parted from me, I suppose?" asked Emilia. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said the Captain, boldly. "It was as I supposed. He was after +my papers. There was another fellow with him. I—I don't know who—" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I daresay he did n't mention his name," suggested Lucia. +</P> + +<P> +"No, no, he did n't," agreed the Captain, hastily. "I knew only +Guillaume—and that name 's an alias of a certain M. Sévier, a police +spy, who had his reasons for being interested in me. Well, my dear +friend, Guillaume tried to bribe me. Then with the aid of—" Just in +time the Captain checked himself—"of the other rascal he—er—attacked +me—" +</P> + +<P> +"All this was before you met me, I suppose?" inquired Lucia. +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly, certainly," assented the Captain. "I had been pursuing the +second fellow. I chased him across the river—" +</P> + +<P> +"You caught him!" cried the Count. +</P> + +<P> +"No. He escaped me and made off in the direction of Sasellano." +</P> + +<P> +"And the first one—this Guillaume?" +</P> + +<P> +"When I got back he was gone," said the Captain. "But I bear marks of +a scratch which he gave me, you perceive." +</P> + +<P> +He looked at the Count. The Count appeared excellently well satisfied +with the story. He looked at the ladies; they were smiling and nodding +approval. +</P> + +<P> +"Deuce take it," thought the Captain, "I seem to have hit on the right +lies by chance!" +</P> + +<P> +"All ends most happily," cried the Count. "Happily for you, my dear +friend, and most happily for me. And here is Lucia with us again too! +In truth it 's a most auspicious evening. I propose that we allow +Lucia time to change her travelling-dress, and Dieppe a few moments to +wash off the stains of battle, and then we 'll celebrate the joyous +occasion with a little supper." +</P> + +<P> +The Count's proposal met with no opposition—least of all from Dieppe, +who suddenly remembered that he was famished. +</P> + +<P> +The next morning, the garden of the Castle presented a pleasing sight. +Workmen were busily engaged in pulling down the barricade, while the +Count and Countess sat on a seat hard by. Sometimes they watched the +operations, sometimes the Count read in a confidential and tender voice +from a little sheaf of papers which he held in his hand. When he +ceased reading, the Countess would murmur, "Beautiful!" and the Count +shake his head in a poet's affectation of dissatisfaction with his +verse. Then they would fall to watching the work of demolition again. +At last the Count remarked: +</P> + +<P> +"But where are Lucia and our friend Dieppe?" +</P> + +<P> +"Walking together down there by the stream," answered the Countess. +And, after a pause, she turned to him, and, in a very demure fashion, +hazarded a suggestion. "Do you know, Andrea, I think Lucia and Captain +Dieppe are inclined to take to one another very much?" +</P> + +<P> +"It 's an uncommonly sudden attachment," laughed the Count. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," agreed his wife, biting her lip. "It 's certainly sudden. But +consider in what an interesting way their acquaintance began! Do you +know anything about him?" +</P> + +<P> +"I know he 's a gentleman, and a clever fellow," returned the Count. +"And from time to time he makes some money, I believe." +</P> + +<P> +"Lucia's got some money," mused the Countess. +</P> + +<P> +Down by the stream they walked, side by side, showing indeed (as the +Countess remarked) every sign of taking to one another very much. +</P> + +<P> +"You really think we shall hear no more of Paul de Roustache?" asked +Lucia. +</P> + +<P> +"I 'm sure of it; and I think M. Guillaume will let me alone too. +Indeed there remains only one question." +</P> + +<P> +"What's that?" asked Lucia. +</P> + +<P> +"How you are going to treat me," said the Captain. "Think what I have +suffered already!" +</P> + +<P> +"I could n't help that," she cried. "My word was absolutely pledged to +Emilia. 'Whatever happens,' I said to her, 'I promise I won't tell +anybody that I 'm not the Countess.' If I had n't promised that, she +could n't have gone to Rome at all, you know. She 'd have died sooner +than let Andrea think she had left the Castle." +</P> + +<P> +"You remember what you said to her. Do you remember what you said to +me?" +</P> + +<P> +"When?" +</P> + +<P> +"When we talked in the hut in the hollow of the hill. You said you +would be all that you could be to me." +</P> + +<P> +"Did I say as much as that? And when I was Countess of Fieramondi! +Oh!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, and you let me do something—even when you were Countess of +Fieramondi, too!" +</P> + +<P> +"That was not playing the part well." +</P> + +<P> +The Captain looked just a little doubtful, and Lucia laughed. +</P> + +<P> +"Anyhow," said he, "you 're not Countess of Fieramondi now." +</P> + +<P> +She looked up at him. +</P> + +<P> +"You 're a very devout young lady," he continued, "who goes all the way +to Rome to consult the Bishop of Mesopotamia. Now, that"—the Captain +took both her hands in his—"is exactly the sort of wife for me." +</P> + +<P> +"Monsieur le Capitaine, I have always thought you a courageous man, and +now I am sure of it. You have seen—and aided—all my deceit; and now +you want to marry me!" +</P> + +<P> +"A man can't know his wife too well," observed the Captain. "Come, let +me go and communicate my wishes to Count Andrea." +</P> + +<P> +"What? Why, you only met me for the first time last night!" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, but I can explain—" +</P> + +<P> +"That you had previously fallen in love with the Countess of +Fieramondi? For your own sake and ours too—" +</P> + +<P> +"That's very true," admitted the Captain. "I must wait a little, I +suppose." +</P> + +<P> +"You must wait to tell Andrea that you love me, but—" +</P> + +<P> +"Precisely!" cried the Captain. "There is no reason in the world why +I should wait to tell you." +</P> + +<P> +And then and there he told her again in happiness the story which had +seemed so tragic when it was wrung from him in the shepherd's hut. +</P> + +<P> +"Undoubtedly, I am a very fortunate fellow," he cried, with his arm +round Lucia's waist. "I come to this village by chance. By chance I +am welcomed here instead of having to go to the inn. By chance I am +the means of rescuing a charming lady from a sad embarrassment. I am +enabled to send a rascal to the right-about. I succeed in preserving +my papers. I inflict a most complete and ludicrous defeat on that +crafty old fellow, Guillaume Sévier! And, by heaven! when I do what +seems the unluckiest thing of all, when, against my will, I fall in +love with my dear friend's wife, when my honour is opposed to my +happiness, when I am reduced to the saddest plight—why, I say, by +heaven, she turns out not to be his wife at all! Lucia, am I not born +under a lucky star?" +</P> + +<P> +"I think I should be very foolish not to—to do my best to share your +luck," said she. +</P> + +<P> +"I am the happiest fellow in the world," he declared. "And that," he +added, as though it were a rare and precious coincidence, "with my +conscience quite at peace." +</P> + +<P> +Perhaps it is rare, and perhaps the Captain's conscience had no right +to be quite at peace. For certainly he had not told all the truth to +his dear friend, the Count of Fieramondi. Yet since no more was heard +of Paul de Roustache, and the Countess's journey remained an unbroken +secret, these questions of casuistry need not be raised. After all, is +it for a man to ruin the tranquillity of a home for the selfish +pleasure of a conscience quite at peace? +</P> + +<P> +But as to the consciences of those two very ingenious young ladies, the +Countess of Fieramondi, and her cousin, Countess Lucia, the problem is +more difficult. The Countess never confessed, and Lucia never +betrayed, the secret. Yet they were both devout! Indeed, the problem +seems insoluble. +</P> + +<P> +Stay, though! Perhaps the counsel and aid of the Bishop of Mesopotamia +(<I>in partibus</I>) were invoked again. His lordship's position, that you +must commit your sin before you can be absolved from the guilt of it, +not only appears most logical in itself, but was, in the circumstances +of the case, not discouraging. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Captain Dieppe, by Anthony Hope + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CAPTAIN DIEPPE *** + +***** This file should be named 28935-h.htm or 28935-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/9/3/28935/ + +Produced by Al Haines + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +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 + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + + +</pre> + +</BODY> + +</HTML> + diff --git a/28935.txt b/28935.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..779862f --- /dev/null +++ b/28935.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4672 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Captain Dieppe, by Anthony Hope + +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: Captain Dieppe + +Author: Anthony Hope + +Release Date: May 23, 2009 [EBook #28935] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CAPTAIN DIEPPE *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + + + + + +Captain Dieppe + + +By + +Anthony Hope + + +Author of "The Prisoner of Zenda," "Rupert of Hentzau," etc., etc. + + + + +Doubleday, Page & Co. + +New York + +1906 + + + + +Copyright, 1899, by ANTHONY HOPE HAWKINS. + +Copyright, 1899, by CURTIS PUBLISHING CO. + +Copyright, 1900, by ANTHONY HOPE HAWKINS. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER + + I. THE HOUSE ON THE BLUFF + II. THE MAN BY THE STREAM + III. THE LADY IN THE GARDEN + IV. THE INN IN THE VILLAGE + V. THE RENDEZVOUS BY THE CROSS + VI. THE HUT IN THE HOLLOW + VII. THE FLOOD ON THE RIVER + VIII. THE CARRIAGE AT THE FORD + IX. THE STRAW IN THE CORNER + X. THE JOURNEY TO ROME + XI. THE LUCK OF THE CAPTAIN + + + + +Captain Dieppe + + +CHAPTER I + +THE HOUSE ON THE BLUFF + +To the eye of an onlooker Captain Dieppe's circumstances afforded high +spirits no opportunity, and made ordinary cheerfulness a virtue which a +stoic would not have disdained to own. Fresh from the failure of +important plans; if not exactly a fugitive, still a man to whom +recognition would be inconvenient and perhaps dangerous; with fifty +francs in his pocket, and his spare wardrobe in a knapsack on his back; +without immediate prospect of future employment or a replenishment of +his purse; yet by no means in his first youth or of an age when men +love to begin the world utterly afresh; in few words, with none of +those inner comforts of the mind which make external hardships no more +than a pleasurable contrast, he marched up a long steep hill in the +growing dusk of a stormy evening, his best hope to find, before he was +soaked to the skin, some poor inn or poorer cottage where he might get +food and beg shelter from the severity of the wind and rain that swept +across the high ground and swooped down on the deep valleys, seeming to +assail with a peculiar, conscious malice the human figure which faced +them with unflinching front and the buoyant step of strength and +confidence. + +But the Captain was an alchemist, and the dross of outer events turned +to gold in the marvellous crucible of his mind. Fortune should have +known this and abandoned the vain attempt to torment him. He had +failed, but no other man could have come so near success. He was +alone, therefore free: poor, therefore independent; desirous of hiding, +therefore of importance: in a foreign land, therefore well placed for +novel and pleasing accidents. The rain was a drop and the wind a puff: +if he were wet, it would be delightful to get dry; since he was hungry, +no inn could be too humble and no fare too rough. Fortune should +indeed have set him on high, and turned her wasted malice on folk more +penetrable by its stings. + +The Captain whistled and sang. What a fright he had given the +Ministers, how nearly he had brought back the Prince, what an uncommon +and intimate satisfaction of soul came from carrying, under his wet +coat, lists of names, letters, and what not--all capable of causing +tremors in high quarters, and of revealing in spheres of activity +hitherto unsuspected gentlemen--aye, and ladies--of the loftiest +position; all of whom (the Captain was piling up his causes of +self-congratulation) owed their present safety, and directed their +present anxieties, to him, Jean Dieppe, and to nobody else in the +world. He broke off his whistling to observe aloud: + +"Mark this, it is to very few that there comes a life so interesting as +mine"; and his tune began again with an almost rollicking vigour. + +What he said was perhaps true enough, if interest consists (as many +hold) in uncertainty; in his case uncertainty both of life and of all +that life gives, except that one best thing which he had +pursued--activity. Of fame he had gained little, peace he had never +tasted; of wealth he had never thought, of love--ah, of love now? His +smile and the roguish shake of his head and pull at his long black +moustache betrayed no dissatisfaction on that score. And as a fact (a +thing which must at the very beginning be distinguished from an +impression of the Captain's), people were in the habit of loving him: +he never expected exactly this, although he had much self-confidence. +Admiration was what he readily enough conceived himself to inspire; +love was a greater thing. On the whole, a fine life--why, yes, a very +fine life indeed; and plenty of it left, for he was but thirty-nine. + +"It really rains," he remarked at last, with an air of amiable +surprise. "I am actually getting wet. I should be pleased to come to +a village." + +Fortune may be imagined as petulantly flinging this trifling favour at +his head, in the hope, maybe, of making him realise the general +undesirability of his lot. At any rate, on rounding the next corner of +the ascending road, he saw a small village lying beneath him in the +valley. Immediately below him, at the foot of what was almost a +precipice, approached only by a rough zigzag path, lay a little river; +the village was directly opposite across the stream, but the road, +despairing of such a dip, swerved sharp off to his left, and, +descending gradually, circled one end of the valley till it came to a +bridge and thence made its way round to the cluster of houses. There +were no more than a dozen cottages, a tiny church, and an +inn--certainly an inn, thought Dieppe, as he prepared to follow the +road and pictured his supper already on the fire. But before he set +out, he turned to his right; and there he stood looking at a scene of +some beauty and of undeniable interest. A moment later he began to +walk slowly up-hill in the opposite direction to that which the road +pursued; he was minded to see a little more of the big house perched so +boldly on that bluff above the stream, looking down so scornfully at +the humble village on the other bank. + +But habitations are made for men, and to Captain Dieppe beauties of +position or architecture were subordinate to any indications he might +discover or imagine of the characters of the folk who dwelt in a house +and of their manner of living. Thus, not so much the position of the +Castle (it could and did claim that title), or its handsome front, or +the high wall that enclosed it and its demesne on every side save where +it faced the river, caught his attention as the apparently trifling +fact that, whereas one half of the facade was brilliant with lights in +every window, the other half was entirely dark and, to all seeming, +uninhabited. "They are poor, they live in half the rooms only," he +said to himself. But somehow this explanation sounded inadequate. He +drew nearer, till he was close under the wall of the gardens. Then he +noticed a small gate in the wall, sheltered by a little projecting +porch. The Captain edged under the porch, took out a cigar, contrived +to light it, and stood there puffing pensively. He was protected from +the rain, which now fell very heavily, and he was asking himself again +why only half the house was lighted up. This was the kind of trivial, +yet whimsical, puzzle on which he enjoyed trying his wits. + +He had stood where he was for a few minutes when he heard steps on the +other side of the wall; a moment later a key turned in the lock and the +gate opened. Dieppe turned to find himself confronted by a young man +of tall stature; the dim light showed only the vague outline of a +rather long and melancholy, but certainly handsome, face; the +stranger's air was eminently distinguished. Dieppe raised his hat and +bowed. + +"You 'll excuse the liberty," he said, smiling. "I 'm on my way to the +village yonder to find quarters for the night. Your porch offered me a +short rest and shelter from the rain while I smoked a cigar. I presume +that I have the honour of addressing the owner of this fine house?" + +"You 're right, sir. I am the Count of Fieramondi," said the young +man, "and this is my house. Do me the favour to enter it and refresh +yourself." + +"Oh, but you entertain company, and look at me!" With a smile Dieppe +indicated his humble and travel-worn appearance. + +"Company? None, I assure you." + +"But the lights?" suggested the Captain, with a wave of his hand. + +"You will find me quite alone," the Count assured him, as he turned +into the garden and motioned his guest to follow. + +Crossing a path and a stretch of grass, they entered a room opening +immediately on the garden; it was large and high. + +Situated at the corner of the house, it had two windows facing on the +garden and two towards the river. It was richly and soberly furnished, +and hung with family portraits. A blazing fire revealed these features +to Dieppe, and at the same time imparted a welcome glow to his body. +The next minute a man-servant entered with a pair of candlesticks, +which he set on the table. + +"I am about to dine," said the Count. "Will you honour me with your +company?" + +"Your kindness to a complete stranger--" Dieppe began. + +"The kindness will be yours. Company is a favour to one who lives +alone." + +And the Count proceeded to give the necessary orders to his servant. +Then, turning again to Dieppe, he said, "In return, pray let me know +the name of the gentleman who honours my house." + +"I can refuse nothing to my host--to anybody else my name is the only +thing I should refuse. I am called Captain Dieppe." + +"Of the French service? Though you speak Italian excellently." + +"Ah, that accent of mine! No, not of the French service--in fact, not +of any service. I have been in many services, but I can show you no +commission as captain." + +For the first time the Count smiled. + +"It is, perhaps, a sobriquet?" he asked, but with no offensive air or +insinuation. + +"The spontaneous tribute of my comrades all over the world," answered +Dieppe, proudly--"is it for me to refuse it?" + +"By no means," agreed his host, smiling still; "I don't doubt that you +have amply earned it." + +Dieppe's bow confirmed the supposition while it acknowledged the +compliment. + +Civilities such as these, when aided by dinner and a few glasses of red +wine, soon passed into confidences--on the Captain's side at least. +Accustomed to keep other people's secrets, he burdened himself with few +of his own. + +"I have always had something of a passion for politics," he confessed, +after giving his host an account of some stirring events in South +America in which he had borne a part. + +"You surprise me," was the Count's comment. + +"Perhaps I should say," Dieppe explained, "for handling those forces +which lie behind politics. That has been my profession." The Count +looked up. + +"Oh, I 'm no sentimentalist," Dieppe went on. "I ask for my pay--I +receive it--and sometimes I contrive to keep it." + +"You interest me," said his host, in whose manner Dieppe recognised an +attractive simplicity. + +"But in my last enterprise--well, there are accidents in every trade." +His shrug was very good-natured. + +"The enterprise failed?" asked the Count, sympathetically. + +"Certainly, or I should not be enjoying your hospitality. Moreover I +failed too, for I had to skip out of the country in such haste that I +left behind me fifty thousand francs, and the police have laid hands on +it. It was my--what shall I call it? My little _pourboire_." He +sighed lightly, and then smiled again. "So I am a homeless wanderer, +content if I can escape the traps of police agents." + +"You anticipate being annoyed in that way?" + +"They are on my track, depend upon it." He touched the outside of his +breast pocket. "I carry--but no matter. The pursuit only adds a spice +to my walks, and so long as I don't need to sell my revolver for +bread--." He checked himself abruptly, a frown of shame or vexation on +his face. "I beg your pardon," he went on, "I beg your pardon. But +you won't take me for a beggar?" + +"I regret what you have said only because you said it before I had +begged a favour of you--a favour I had resolved to venture on asking. +But come, though I don't think you a beggar, you shall be sure that I +am one." He rose and laid his hand on Dieppe's shoulder. "Stay with +me for to-night at least--and for as much longer as you will. Nobody +will trouble you. I live in solitude, and your society will lighten +it. Let me ring and give orders for your entertainment?" + +Dieppe looked up at him; the next moment he caught his hand, crying, +"With all my heart, dear host! Your only difficulty shall be to get +rid of me." + +The Count rang, and directed his servant to prepare the Cardinal's +Room. Dieppe noticed that the order was received with a glance of +surprise, but the master of the house repeated it, and, as the servant +withdrew, added, "It is called after an old member of our family, but I +can answer for its comfort myself, for I have occupied it until--" + +"I 'm turning you out?" exclaimed Dieppe. + +"I left it yesterday." The Count frowned as he sipped his wine. "I +left it owing to--er--circumstances," he murmured, with some appearance +of embarrassment in his manner. + +"His Eminence is restless?" asked the Captain, laughing. + +"I beg pardon?" + +"I mean--a ghost?" + +"No, a cat," was the Count's quiet but somewhat surprising answer. + +"I don't mind cats, I am very fond of them," Dieppe declared with the +readiness of good breeding, but he glanced at his host with a curiosity +that would not be stifled. The Count lived in solitude. Half his +house--and that the other half--was brilliantly lighted, and he left +his bedroom because of a cat. Here were circumstances that might set +the least inquisitive of men thinking. It crossed Dieppe's mind that +his host was (he used a mild word) eccentric, but the Count's manner +gave little warrant for the supposition; and Dieppe could not believe +that so courteous a gentleman would amuse himself by making fun of a +guest. He listened eagerly when the Count, after a long silence, went +on to say: + +"The reason I put forward must, no doubt, sound ludicrous, but the fact +is that the animal, in itself a harmless beast, became the occasion, or +was made the means, of forcing on me encounters with a person whom I +particularly wish to avoid. You, however, will not be annoyed in that +way." + +There he stopped, and turned the conversation to general topics. Never +had Dieppe's politeness been subjected to such a strain. + +No relief was granted to him. The Count talked freely and well on a +variety of questions till eleven o'clock, and then proposed to show his +guest to his bedroom. Dieppe accepted the offer in despair, but he +would have sat up all night had there seemed any chance of the Count's +becoming more explicit. + +The Cardinal's Room was a large apartment situated on the upper floor +(there were but two), about the middle of the house; its windows looked +across the river, which rippled pleasantly in the quiet of the night +when Dieppe flung up the sash and put his head out. He turned first to +the left. Save his own room, all was dark: the Count, no doubt, slept +at the back. Then, craning his neck, he tried to survey the right +wing. The illumination was quenched; light showed in one window only, +a window on the same level with his and distant from it perhaps forty +feet. With a deep sigh the Captain drew his head back and shut out the +chilly air. + +Ah, there was an inner door on the right hand side of the room; that +the Captain had not noticed before. Walking up to it, he perceived +that it was bolted at top and bottom; but the key was in the lock. He +stood and looked at this door; it seemed that it must lead, either +directly or by way of another apartment between, to the room whose +lights he had just seen. He pulled his moustache thoughtfully; and he +remembered that there was a person whom the Count particularly wished +to avoid and, owing (in some way) to a cat, could not rely on being +able to avoid if he slept in the Cardinal's Room. + +"Well, then--" began Dieppe with a thoughtful frown. "Oh, I can't +stand it much longer!" he ended, with a smile and a shrug. + +And then there came--the Captain was really not surprised, he had been +almost expecting it--a mew, a peevish, plaintive mew. "I won't open +that door," said the Captain. The complaint was repeated. "Poor +beast!" murmured the Captain. "Shut up in that--in that--deuce take +it, in that what?" His hand shot up to the top bolt and pressed it +softly back. "No, no," said he. Another mew defeated his struggling +conscience. Pushing back the lower bolt in its turn, he softly +unlocked the door and opened it cautiously. There in the passage--for +a narrow passage some twelve or fifteen feet long was revealed--near +his door, visible in the light from his room, was a large, sleek, +yellow cat from whose mouth was proceeding energetic lamentation. But +on sight of Dieppe the creature ceased its cries, and in apparent alarm +ran half-way along the passage and sat down beside a small hole in the +wall. From this position it regarded the intruder with solemn, +apprehensive eyes. Dieppe, holding his door wide open, returned the +animal's stare. This must be the cat which had ejected the Count. But +why--? + +In a moment the half-formed question found its answer, though the +answer seemed rather to ask a new riddle than to answer the old one. A +door at the other end of the passage opened a little way, and a +melodious voice called softly, "Papa, papa!" The cat ran towards the +speaker, the door was opened wide, and for an instant Dieppe had the +vision of a beautiful young woman, clad in a white dressing-gown and +with hair about her shoulders. As he saw her she saw him, and gave a +startled shriek. The cat, apparently bewildered, raced back to the +aperture in the wall and disappeared with an agitated whisk of its +tail. The lady's door and the Captain's closed with a double +simultaneous reverberating bang, and the Captain drove his bolts home +with guilty haste. + +His first act was to smoke a cigarette. That done, he began to undress +slowly and almost unconsciously. During the process he repeated to +himself more than once the Count's measured but emphatic words: "A +person whom I particularly wish to avoid." The words died away as +Dieppe climbed into the big four-poster with a wrinkle of annoyance on +his brow. + +For the lady at the other end of the passage did not, to the Captain's +mind, look the sort of person whom a handsome and lonely young man +would particularly wish to avoid. In spite of the shortness of his +vision, in spite of her obvious alarm and confusion, she had, in fact, +seemed, to him very much indeed the opposite. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE MAN BY THE STREAM + +Apart from personal hopes or designs, the presence, or even the +proximity, of a beautiful woman is a cheerful thing: it gives a man the +sense of happiness, like sunshine or sparkling water; these are not his +either, but he can look at and enjoy them; he smiles back at the world +in thanks for its bountiful favours. Never had life seemed better to +Dieppe than when he awoke the next morning; yet there was guilt on his +conscience--he ought not to have opened that door. But the guilt +became parent to a new pleasure and gave him the one thing needful to +perfection of existence--a pretty little secret of his own, and this +time one that he was minded to keep. + +"To think," he exclaimed, pointing a scornful finger at the village +across the river, "that but for my luck I might be at the inn! Heaven +above us, I might even have been leaving this enchanting spot!" He +looked down at the stream. A man was fishing there, a tall, well-made +fellow in knickerbockers and a soft felt hat of the sort sometimes +called Tyrolean. "Good luck to you, my boy!" nodded the happy and +therefore charitable Captain. + +Going down to the Count's pleasant room at the corner of the left wing, +he found his host taking his coffee. Compliments passed, and soon +Dieppe was promising to spend a week at least with his new friend. + +"I am a student," observed the Count, "and you must amuse yourself. +There are fine walks, a little rough shooting perhaps--" + +"Fishing?" asked Dieppe, thinking of the man in the soft hat. + +"The fishing is worth nothing at all," answered the Count, decisively. +He paused for a moment and then went on: "There is, however, one +request that I am obliged to make to you." + +"Any wish of yours is a command to me, my dear host." + +"It is that during your visit you will hold no communication whatever +with the right wing of the house." The Count was now lighting a cigar; +he completed the operation carefully, and then added: + +"The Countess's establishment and mine are entirely separate--entirely." + +"The Countess!" exclaimed Dieppe, not unnaturally surprised. + +"I regret to trouble you with family matters. My wife and I are not in +agreement; we have n't met for three months. She lives in the right +wing with two servants; I live in the left with three. We hold no +communication, and our servants are forbidden to hold any among +themselves; obedience is easier to insure as we have kept only those we +can trust, and, since entertaining is out of the question, have +dismissed the rest." + +"You have--er--had a difference?" the Captain ventured to suggest, for +the Count seemed rather embarrassed. + +"A final and insuperable difference, a final and permanent separation." +The Count's tone was sad but very firm. + +"I am truly grieved. But--forgive me--does n't the arrangement you +indicate entail some inconvenience?" + +"Endless inconvenience," assented the Count. + +"To live under the same roof, and yet--" + +"My dear sir, during the negotiations which followed on the Countess's +refusal to--to well, to meet my wishes, I represented that to her with +all the emphasis at my command. I am bound to add that she represented +it no less urgently to me." + +"On the other hand, of course, the scandal--" Dieppe began. + +"We Fieramondi do not much mind scandal. That was n't the difficulty. +The fact is that I thought it the Countess's plain duty to relieve me +of her presence. She took what I may call the exactly converse view. +You follow me?" + +"Perfectly," said Dieppe, repressing an inclination to smile. + +"And declared that nothing--nothing on earth--should induce her to quit +the Castle even for a day; she would regard such an act as a surrender. +I said I should regard my own departure in the same light. So we stay +here under the extremely inconvenient arrangement I have referred to. +To make sure of my noticing her presence, my wife indulges in something +approaching to an illumination every night." + +The Count rose and began to walk up and down as he went on with a +marked access of warmth. "But even the understanding we arrived at," +he pursued, "I regret to say that my wife did n't see fit to adhere to +in good faith. She treated it with what I must call levity." He faced +round on his guest suddenly. "I mentioned a cat to you," he said. + +"You did," Dieppe admitted, eyeing him rather apprehensively. + +"I don't know," pursued the Count, "whether you noticed a door in your +room?" Dieppe nodded. "It was bolted?" Dieppe nodded again. "If you +had opened that door--pardon the supposition--you would have seen a +passage. At the other end is another door, leading to the Countess's +apartments. See, I will show you. This fork is the door from your +room, this knife is--" + +"I follow your description perfectly," interposed Dieppe, assailed now +with a keener sense of guilt. + +"The Countess possesses a cat--a thing to which in itself I have no +objection. To give this creature, which she likes to have with her +constantly, the opportunity of exercise, she has caused an opening to +be made from the passage on to the roof. This piece of bread will +represent--" + +"I understand, I assure you," murmured Dieppe. + +"Every evening she lets the cat into the passage, whence it escapes on +to the roof. On its return it would naturally betake itself to her +room again." + +"Naturally," assented the Captain. Are not cats most reasonable +animals? + +"But," said the Count, beginning to walk about again, "she shuts her +door: the animal mews at it; my wife ignores the appeal. What then? +The cat, in despair, turns to my door. I take no heed. It mews +persistently. At last, wearied of the noise, I open my door. +Always--by design, as I believe--at that very moment my wife flings her +door open. You see the position?" + +"I can imagine it," said Dieppe, discreetly. + +"We are face to face! Nothing between us except the passage--and the +cat! And then the Countess, with what I am compelled to term a +singular offensiveness, not to say insolence, of manner, slams the door +in my face, leaving me to deal with the cat as I best can! My friend, +it became intolerable. I sent a message begging the Countess to do me +the favour of changing her apartment. + +"She declined point-blank. I determined then to change mine, and sent +word of my intention to the Countess." He flung himself into a chair. +"Her reply was to send back to me her marriage contract and her +wedding-ring, and to beg to be informed whether my present stay at the +Castle was likely to be prolonged." + +"And you replied--?" + +"I made no reply," answered the Count, crossing his legs. + +A combination of feelings prevented Dieppe from disclosing the incident +of the previous night. He loved a touch of mystery and a possibility +of romance. Again, it is not the right thing for a guest to open +bolted doors. A man does not readily confess to such a breach of +etiquette, and his inclination to make a clean breast of it is not +increased when it turns out that the door in question leads to the +apartments of his host's wife. + +Finally, the moment for candour had slipped by: you cannot allow a man +to explain a locality by means of forks and knives and pieces of bread +and then inform him that you were all the while acquainted with its +features. Dieppe was silent, and the Count, who was obviously upset by +the recital of his grievances, presently withdrew to his study, a room +on the upper floor which looked out on the gardens at the back of the +house. + +"What did they quarrel about?" Dieppe asked himself; the Count had +thrown no light on that. "I 'll be hanged if I 'd quarrel with her," +smiled the Captain, remembering the face he had seen at the other end +of the passage. "But," he declared to himself, virtuously, "the cat +may mew till it's hoarse--I won't open that door again." With this +resolve strong in his heart, he took his hat and strolled out into the +garden. + +He had no sooner reached the front of the house than he gave an +exclamation of surprise. The expanse of rather rough grass sprinkled +with flower-beds, which stretched from the Castle to the point where +the ground dipped steeply towards the river, was divided across by a +remarkable structure--a tall, new, bare wooden fence, constituting a +very substantial barrier. It stood a few paces to the right of the +window which the Captain identified as his own, and ran some yards down +the hill. Here was plain and strong evidence of the state of war which +existed between the two wings. Neither the Count nor the Countess +would risk so much as a sight of the other while they took their +respective promenades. The Captain approached the obstacle and +examined it with a humorous interest; then he glanced up at the wall +above, drawing a couple of feet back to get a better view. "Ah," said +he, "just half-way between my window and--hers! They are very +punctilious, these combatants!" + +Natural curiosity must, so far as it can, excuse Captain Dieppe for +spending the rest of the morning in what he termed a reconnaissance of +the premises, or that part of them which was open to his inspection. +He found little. There was no sign of anybody entering or leaving the +other wing, although (as he discovered on strolling round by the road) +a gate in the wall on the right of the gardens, and a carriage-drive +running up to it, gave independent egress from that side of the Castle. +Breakfast with the Count was no more fruitful of information; the Count +discussed (apropos of a book at which he had been glancing) the +question of the Temporal Power of the Papacy with learning and some +heat: he was, it appeared, strongly opposed to these ecclesiastical +claims, and spoke of them with marked bitterness. Dieppe, very little +interested, escaped for a walk early in the afternoon. It was five +o'clock when he regained the garden and stood for a few moments looking +down towards the river. It was just growing dusk, and the lights of +the inn were visible in the village across the valley. + +Fishermen are a persevering race, the young man in the soft hat was +still at his post. But no, he was not fishing! He was walking up and +down in a moody, purposeless way, and it seemed to the Captain that he +turned his head very often towards the Castle. The Captain sat down on +a garden-seat close under the barricade and watched; an idea was +stirring in his brain--an idea that made him pat his breast-pocket, +twirl his moustache, and smile contentedly. "Not much of a fisherman, +I think," he murmured. "Ah, my friend, I know the cut of your jib, I +fancy. After poor old Jean Dieppe, are n't you, my boy? A police-spy; +I could tell him among a thousand!" + +Equally pleased with the discovery and with his own acuteness in making +it, the Captain laughed aloud; then in an instant he sat bolt upright, +stiff and still, listening intently. For through the barricade had +come two sounds--a sweet, low, startled voice, that cried half in a +whisper, "Heavens, he 's there!" and then the rustle of skirts in hasty +flight. Without an instant's thought--without remembering his promise +to the Count--Dieppe sprang up, ran down the hill, turned the corner of +the barricade, and found himself in the Countess's territory. + +He was too late. The lady had made good her escape. There was nobody +to be seen except the large yellow cat: it sat on the path and blinked +gravely at the chagrined Captain. + +"Animal, you annoy me!" he said with a stamp of his foot. The cat +rose, turned, and walked away with its tail in the air. "I 'm making a +fool of myself," muttered Dieppe. "Or," he amended with a dawning +smile, "she 's making a fool of me." His smile broadened a little. +"Why not?" he asked. Then he drew himself up and slowly returned to +his own side of the barricade, shaking his head and murmuring, "No, no, +Jean, my boy, no, no! He 's your host--your host, Jean," as he again +seated himself on the bench under the barricade. + +Evening was now falling fast; the fisherman was no longer to be seen; +perfect peace reigned over the landscape. Dieppe yawned; perfect peace +was with him a synonym for intolerable dulness. + +"Permit me, my dear friend," said a voice behind him, "to read you a +little poem which I have beguiled my leisure by composing." + +He turned to find the Count behind him, holding a sheet of paper. + +Probably the poet had his composition by heart, for the light seemed +now too dim to read by. However this may be, a rich and tender voice +recited to Dieppe's sympathetic ears as pretty a little appeal (so the +Captain thought) as had ever been addressed by lover to an obdurate or +capricious lady. The Captain's eyes filled with tears as he +listened--tears for the charm of the verse, for the sad beauty of the +sentiment, also, alas, for the unhappy gentleman from whose heart came +verse and sentiment. + +"My friend, you love!" cried the Captain, holding out his hand as the +Count ended his poem and folded up the paper. + +"And you are unhappy," he added. + +The Count smiled in a sad but friendly fashion. + +"Is n't it the same thing?" he asked. "And at any rate as to me you +are right." + +Dieppe wrung his hand. The Count, apparently much moved, turned and +walked slowly away, leaving Dieppe to his meditations. + +"He loves her." That was the form they took. Whatever the meaning of +the quarrel, the Count loved his wife; it was to her the poem was +written, hers was the heart which it sought to soften. Yet she had not +looked hard-hearted. No, she had looked adorable, frankly adorable; a +lady for whose sake any man, even so wise and experienced a man as +Captain Dieppe, might well commit many a folly, and have many a +heartache; a lady for whom-- + +"Rascal that I am!" cried the Captain, interrupting himself and +springing up. He raised his hand in the air and declared aloud with +emphasis: "On my honour, I will think no more of her. I will think, I +say, no more of her." + +On the last word came a low laugh from the other side of the barricade. +The Captain started, looked round, listened, smiled, frowned, pulled +his moustache. Then, with extraordinary suddenness, resolution, and +fierceness, he turned and walked quickly away. "Honour, honour!" he +was saying to himself; and the path of honour seemed to lie in flight. +Unhappily, though, the Captain was more accustomed to advance. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE LADY IN THE GARDEN + +It is possible that Captain Dieppe, full of contentment with the +quarters to which fortune had guided him, under-rated the merits and +attractions of the inn in the village across the river. Fare and +accommodation indeed were plain and rough at the Aquila Nera, but the +company round its fireside would have raised his interest. On one side +of the hearth sat the young fisherman, he in whom Dieppe had discovered +a police-spy on the track of the secrets in that breast-pocket of the +Captain's. Oh, these discoveries of the Captain's! For M. Paul de +Roustache was not a police-spy, and, moreover, had never seen the +gallant Captain in his life, and took no interest in him--a state of +things most unlikely to occur to the Captain's mind. Had Paul, then, +fished for fishing's sake? It by no means followed, if only the +Captain could have remembered that there were other people in the world +besides himself--and one or two others even in the Count of +Fieramondi's house. "I 'll get at her if I can; but if she 's +obstinate, I 'll go to the Count--in the last resort I 'll go to the +Count, for I mean to have the money." Reflections such as these (and +they were M. de Roustache's at this moment) would have shown even +Captain Dieppe--not, perhaps, that he had done the fisherman an +injustice, for the police may be very respectable--but at least that he +had mistaken his errand and his character. + +But however much it might be abashed momentarily, the Captain's acumen +would not have been without a refuge. Who was the elderly man with +stooping shoulders and small keen eyes, who sat on the other side of +the fire, and had been engaged in persuading Paul that he too was a +fisherman, that he too loved beautiful scenery, that he too travelled +for pleasure, and, finally, that his true, rightful, and only name was +Monsieur Guillaume? To which Paul had responded in kind, save that he +had not volunteered his name. And now each was wondering what the +other wanted, and each was wishing very much that the other would seek +his bed, so that the inn might be sunk in quiet and a gentleman be at +liberty to go about his private business unobserved. + +The landlord came in, bringing a couple of candles, and remarking that +it was hard on ten o'clock; but let not the gentlemen hurry themselves. +The guests sat a little while longer, exchanged a remark or two on the +prospects of the weather, and then, each despairing of outstaying the +other, went their respective ways to bed. + +Almost at the same moment, up at the Castle, Dieppe was saying to his +host, "Good night, my friend, good night. I 'm not for bed yet. The +night is fine, and I 'll take a stroll in the garden." A keen observer +might have noticed that the Captain did not meet his friend's eye as he +spoke. There was a touch of guilt in his air, which the Count's +abstraction did not allow him to notice. Conscience was having a hard +battle of it; would the Captain keep on the proper side of the +barricade? + +Monsieur Guillaume, owing to his profession or his temperament, was a +man who, if the paradox may be allowed, was not surprised at surprises. +Accordingly when he himself emerged from the bedroom to which he had +retired, took the path across the meadow from the inn towards the +river, and directed his course to the stepping-stones which he had +marked as he strolled about before dinner, he was merely interested and +in no way astonished to perceive his companion of the fireside in front +of him, the moon, nearly full, revealed Paul's Tyrolean headpiece +mounting the hill on the far side of the stream. Guillaume followed +it, crossed the river at the cost of wet boots, ascended the slope, and +crouched down behind a bush a few yards from the top. He had gained on +Paul, and arrived at his hiding-place in time to hear the exclamation +wrung from his precursor by the sudden sight of the barricade: from the +valley below the erection had been so hidden by bushes as to escape +notice. + +"What the devil's that for?" exclaimed Paul de Roustache in a low +voice. He was not left without an answer. The watcher had cause for +the smile that spread over his face, as, peeping out, he saw a man's +figure rise from a seat and come forward. The next moment Paul was +addressed in smooth and suave tones, and in his native language, which +he had hurriedly employed in his surprised ejaculation. + +"That, sir," said Dieppe, waving his hand towards the barricade, "is +erected in order to prevent intrusion. But it does n't seem to be very +successful." + +"Who are you?" demanded Paul, angrily. + +"I should, I think, be the one to ask that question," Dieppe answered +with a smile. "It is not, I believe, your garden?" His emphasis on +"your" came very near to an assertion of proprietorship in himself. +"Pray, sir, to what am I indebted for the honour of this meeting?" The +Captain was enjoying this unexpected encounter with his supposed +pursuer. Apparently the pursuer did not know him. Very well; he would +take advantage of that bit of stupidity on the part of the pursuer's +superior officers. It was like them to send a man who did n't know +him! "You wish to see some one in the house?" he asked, looking at +Paul's angry and puzzled face. + +But Paul began to recover his coolness. + +"I am indeed to blame for my intrusion," he said. "I 'm passing the +night at the inn, and tempted by the mildness of the air--" + +"It is certainly very mild," agreed Dieppe. + +"I strolled across the stepping-stones and up the hill. I admire the +appearance of a river by night." + +"Certainly, certainly. But, sir, the river does not run in this +garden." + +"Of course not, M. le Comte," said Paul, forcing a smile. "At least I +presume that I address--?" + +Dieppe took off his hat, bowed, and replaced it. He had, however, much +ado not to chuckle. + +"But I was led on by the sight of this remarkable structure." He +indicated the barricade again. + +"There was nothing else you wished to see?" + +"On my honour, nothing. And I must offer you my apologies." + +"As for the structure--" added Dieppe, shrugging his shoulders. + +"Yes?" cried Paul, with renewed interest. + +"Its purpose is to divide the garden into two portions. No more and no +less, I assure you." + +Paul's face took on an ugly expression. + +"I am at such a disadvantage," he observed, "that I cannot complain of +M. le Comte's making me the subject of pleasantry. Under other +circumstances I might raise different emotions in him. Perhaps I shall +have my opportunity." + +"When you find me, sir, prowling about other people's gardens by +night--" + +"Prowling!" interrupted Paul, fiercely. + +"Well, then," said Dieppe, with an air of courteous apology, "shall we +say skulking?" + +"You shall pay for that!" + +"With pleasure, if you convince me that it is a gentleman who asks +satisfaction." + +Paul de Roustache smiled. "At my convenience," he said, "I will give +you a reference which shall satisfy you most abundantly." He drew +back, lifted his hat, and bowed. + +"I shall await it with interest," said Dieppe, returning the +salutation, and then folding his arms and watching Paul's retreat down +the hill. "The fellow brazened it out well," he reflected; "but I +shall hear no more of him, I fancy. After all, police-agents don't +fight duels with--why, with Counts, you know!" And his laugh rang out +in hearty enjoyment through the night air. "Ha, ha--it 's not so easy +to put salt on old Dieppe's tail!" With a sigh of satisfaction he +turned round, as though to go back to the house. But his eye was +caught by a light in the window next to his own; and the window was +open. The Captain stood and looked up, and Monsieur Guillaume, who had +overheard his little soliloquy and discovered from it a fact of great +interest to himself, seized the opportunity of rising from behind his +bush and stealing off down the hill after Paul de Roustache. + +"Ah," thought the Captain, as he gazed at the window, "if there were no +such thing as honour or loyalty, as friendship--" + +"Sir," said a timid voice at his elbow. + +Dieppe shot round, and then and there lost his heart. One sight of her +a man might endure and be heart-whole, not two. There, looking up at +him with the most bewitching mouth, the most destructive eyes, was the +lady whom he had seen at the end of the passage. Certainly she was the +most irresistible creature he had ever met; so he declared to himself, +not, indeed, for the first time in his life, but none the less with +unimpeachable sincerity. For a man could do nothing but look at her, +and the man who looked at her had to smile at her; then if she smiled, +the man had to laugh; and what happened afterwards would depend on the +inclinations of the lady: at least it would not be very safe to rely on +the principles of the gentleman. + +But now she was not laughing. Genuine and deep distress was visible on +her face. + +"Madame la Comtesse--" stammered the dazzled Captain. + +For an instant she looked at him, seeming, he thought, to ask if she +could trust him. Then she said impatiently: "Yes, yes; but never mind +that. Who are you? Oh, why did you tell him you were the Count? Oh, +you 've ruined everything!" + +"Ruined--?" + +"Yes, yes; because now he 'll write to the Count. Oh, I heard your +quarrel. I listened from the window. Oh, I did n't think anybody +could be as stupid as you!" + +"Madame!" pleaded the unhappy Captain. "I thought the fellow was a +police-agent on my track, and--" + +"On your track? Oh, who are you?" + +"My name is Dieppe, madame--Captain Dieppe, at your service." It was +small wonder that a little stiffness had crept into the Captain's +tones. This was not, so far, just the sort of interview which had +filled his dreams. For the first time the glimmer of a smile appeared +on the lady's lips, the ghost of a sparkle in her eyes. + +"What a funny name!" she observed reflectively. + +"I fail to see the drollery of it." + +"Oh, don't be silly and starchy. You 've got us into terrible trouble." + +"You?" + +"Yes; all of us. Because now--" She broke off abruptly. "How do you +come to be here?" she asked in a rather imperious tone. + +Dieppe gave a brief account of himself, concluding with the hope that +his presence did not annoy the Countess. The lady shook her head and +glanced at him with a curious air of inquiry or examination. In spite +of the severity, or even rudeness, of her reproaches, Dieppe fell more +and more in love with her every moment. At last he could not resist a +sly reference to their previous encounter. She raised innocent eyes to +his. + +"I saw the door was open, but I did n't notice anybody there," she said +with irreproachable demureness. + +The Captain looked at her for a moment, then he began to laugh. + +"I myself saw nothing but a cat," said he. + +The lady began to laugh. + +"You must let me atone for my stupidity," cried Dieppe, catching her +hand. + +"I wonder if you could!" + +"I will, or die in the attempt. Tell me how!" And the Captain kissed +the hand that he had captured. + +"There are conditions." + +"Not too hard?" + +"First, you must n't breathe a word to the Count of having seen me +or--or anybody else." + +"I should n't have done that, anyhow," remarked Dieppe, with a sudden +twinge of conscience. + +"Secondly, you must never try to see me, except when I give you leave." + +"I won't try, I will only long," said the Captain. + +"Thirdly, you must ask no questions." + +"It is too soon to ask the only one which I would n't pledge myself at +your bidding never to ask." + +"To whom," inquired the lady, "do you conceive yourself to be speaking, +Captain Dieppe?" But the look that accompanied the rebuke was not very +severe. + +"Tell me what I must do," implored the Captain. + +She looked at him very kindly, partly because he was a handsome fellow, +partly because it was her way; and she said with the prettiest, +simplest air, as though she were making the most ordinary request and +never thought of a refusal: + +"Will you give me fifty thousand francs?" + +"I would give you a million thousand--but I have only fifty." + +"It would be your all, then! Oh, I should n't like to--" + +"You misunderstand me, madame. I have fifty francs, not fifty +thousand." + +"Oh!" said she, frowning. Then she laughed a little; then, to Dieppe's +indescribable agony, her eyes filled with tears and her lips quivered. +She put her hand up to her eyes; Dieppe heard a sob. + +"For God's sake--" he whispered. + +"Oh, I can't help it," she said, and she sobbed again; but now she did +not try to hide her face. She looked up in the Captain's, conquering +her sobs, but unable to restrain her tears. "It's not my fault, and it +is so hard on me," she wailed. Then she suddenly jumped back, crying, +"Oh, what were you going to do?" and regarding the Captain with +reproachful alarm. + +"I don't know," said Dieppe in some confusion, as he straightened +himself again. "I could n't help it; you aroused my sympathy," he +explained--for what the explanation might be worth. + +"You won't be able to help me," she murmured, "unless--unless--" + +"What?" + +"Well, unless you 're able to help it, you know." + +"I will think," promised Dieppe, "of my friend the Count." + +"Of the--? Oh yes, of course." There never was such a face for +changes--she was smiling now. "Yes, think of your friend the Count, +that will be capital. Oh, but we 're wasting time!" + +"On the contrary, madame," the Captain assured her with overwhelming +sincerity. + +"Yes, we are. And we 're not safe here. Suppose the Count saw us!" + +"Why, yes, that would be--" + +"That would be fatal," said she decisively, and the Captain did not +feel himself in a position to contradict her. He contented himself +with taking her hand again and pressing it softly. Certainly she made +a man feel very sympathetic. + +"But I must see you again--" + +"Indeed I trust so, madame." + +"On business." + +"Call it what you will, so that--" + +"Not here. Do you know the village? No? Well, listen. If you go +through the village, past the inn and up the hill, you will come to a +Cross by the roadside. Strike off from that across the grass, again +uphill. When you reach the top you will find a hollow, and in it a +shepherd's hut--deserted. Meet me there at dusk to-morrow, about six, +and I will tell you how to help me." + +"I will be there," said the Captain. + +The lady held out both her hands--small, white, ungloved, and unringed. +The Captain's eyes rested a moment on the finger that should have worn +the golden band which united her to his friend the Count. It was not +there; she had sent it back--with the marriage contract. With a sigh, +strangely blended of pain and pleasure, he bent and kissed her hands. +She drew them away quickly, gave a nervous little laugh, and ran off. +The Captain watched her till she disappeared round the corner of the +barricade, and then with another deep sigh betook himself to his own +quarters. + +The cat did not mew in the passage that night. None the less Captain +Dieppe's slumbers were broken and disturbed. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE INN IN THE VILLAGE + +While confessing that her want of insight into Paul de Roustache's true +character was inconceivably stupid, the Countess of Fieramondi +maintained that her other mistakes (that was the word she +chose--indiscretions she rejected as too severe) were extremely venial, +and indeed, under all the circumstances, quite natural. It was true +that she had promised to hold no communication with Paul after that +affair of the Baroness von Englebaden's diamond necklace, in which his +part was certainly peculiar, though hardly so damnatory as Andrea chose +to assume. It was true that, when one is supposed to be at Mentone for +one's health one should not leave one's courier there (in order to +receive letters) and reside instead with one's maid at Monte Carlo; +true, further, that it is unwise to gamble heavily, to lose largely, to +confide the misfortune to a man of Paul's equivocal position and +reputation, to borrow twenty thousand francs of him, to lose or spend +all, save what served to return home with, and finally to acknowledge +the transaction and the obligation both very cordially by word of mouth +and (much worse) in letters which were--well, rather effusively +grateful. There was nothing absolutely criminal in all this, unless +the broken promise must be stigmatised as such; and of that Andrea had +heard: he was aware that she had renewed acquaintance with M. de +Roustache. The rest of the circumstances were so fatal in that they +made it impossible for her to atone for this first lapse. In fine, +Count Andrea, not content now to rely on her dishonoured honour, but +willing to trust to her strong religious feelings, had demanded of her +an oath that she would hold no further communication of any sort, kind, +or nature with Paul de Roustache. The oath was a terrible oath--to be +sworn on a relic which had belonged to the Cardinal and was most sacred +in the eyes of the Fieramondi. And with Paul in possession of those +letters and not in possession of his twenty thousand francs, the +Countess felt herself hardly a free agent. For if she did not +communicate with Paul, to a certainty Paul would communicate with +Andrea. If that happened she would die; while if she broke the oath +she would never dare to die. In this dilemma the Countess could do +nothing but declare--first, that she had met Paul accidentally (which +so far as the first meeting went was true enough), secondly, that she +would not live with a man who did not trust her; and, thirdly, that to +ask an oath of her was a cruel and wicked mockery from a man whose +views on the question of the Temporal Power proclaimed him to be +little, it at all, better than an infidel. The Count was very icy and +very polite. The Countess withdrew to the right wing; receiving the +Count's assurance that the erection of the barricade would not be +disagreeable to him, she had it built--and sat down behind it (so to +speak) awaiting in sorrow, dread, and loneliness the terrible moment of +Paul de Roustache's summons. And (to make one more confession on her +behalf) her secret and real reason for ordering that nightly +illumination, which annoyed the Count so sorely, lay in the hope of +making the same gentleman think, when he did arrive, that she +entertained a houseful of guests, and was therefore well protected by +her friends. Otherwise he would try to force an interview under cover +of night. + +These briefly indicated facts of the case, so appalling to the unhappy +Countess, were on the other hand eminently satisfactory to M. Paul de +Roustache. To be plain, they meant money, either from the Countess or +from the Count. To Paul's mind they seemed to mean--well, say, fifty +thousand francs--that twenty of his returned, and thirty as a solatium +for the trifling with his affections of which he proposed to maintain +that the Countess had been guilty. The Baroness von Englebaden's +diamonds had gone the way and served the purposes to which family +diamonds seem at some time or other to be predestined: and Paul was +very hard up. The Countess must be very frightened, the Count was very +proud. The situation was certainly worth fifty thousand francs to Paul +de Roustache. Sitting outside the inn, smoking his cigar, on the +morning after his encounter in the garden, he thought over all this; +and he was glad that he had not let his anger at the Count's insolence +run away with his discretion, the insolence would make his revenge all +the sweeter when he put his hand, either directly or indirectly, into +the Count's pocket and exacted compensation to the tune of fifty +thousand francs. + +Buried in these thoughts--in the course of which it is interesting to +observe that he did not realise his own iniquity--he failed to notice +that Monsieur Guillaume had sat down beside him and, like himself, was +gazing across the valley towards the Castle. He started to find the +old fellow at his elbow; he started still more when he was addressed by +his name. "You know my name?" he exclaimed, with more perturbation +than a stranger's knowledge of that fact about him should excite in an +honest man. + +"It's my business to know people." + +"I don't know you." + +"That also is my business," smiled M. Guillaume. "But in this case we +will not be too business-like. I will waive my advantage, M. de +Roustache." + +"You called yourself Guillaume," said Paul with a suspicious glance. + +"I was inviting you to intimacy. My name is Guillaume--Guillaume +Sevier, at your service." + +"Sevier? The--?" + +"Precisely. Don't be uneasy. My business is not with you." He +touched his arm. "Your reasons for a midnight walk are nothing to me; +young men take these fancies, and--well, the innkeeper says the +Countess is handsome. But I am bound to admit that his description of +the Count by no means tallies with the appearance of the gentleman who +talked with you last night." + +"Who talked with me! You were--?" + +"I was there--behind a bush a little way down the hill." + +"Upon my word, sir--" + +"Oh, I had my business too. But for the moment listen to something +that concerns you. The Count is not yet thirty, his eyes are large and +dreamy, his hair long, he wears no moustache, his manner is melancholy, +there is no air of bravado about him. Do I occasion you surprise?" + +Paul de Roustache swore heartily. + +"Then," he ended, "all I can say is that I should like ten minutes +alone with the fellow who made a fool of me last night, whoever he is." + +Again Guillaume--as he wished to be called--touched his companion's arm. + +"I too have a matter to discuss with that gentleman," he said. Paul +looked surprised. "M. de Roustache," Guillaume continued with an +insinuating smile, "is not ignorant of recent events; he moves in the +world of affairs. I think we might help one another. And there is no +harm in being popular with the--with--er--my department, instead of +being--well, rather unpopular, eh, my dear M. de Roustache?" + +Paul did not contest this insinuation nor show any indignation at it; +the wink which accompanied it he had the self-respect to ignore. + +"What do you want from him?" he asked, discerning Guillaume's point, +and making straight for it. + +"Merely some papers he has." + +"What do you want the papers for?" + +"To enable us to know whom we ought to watch." + +"Is the affair political or--?" + +"Oh, political--not in your line." Paul frowned. "Forgive my little +joke," apologised M. Guillaume. + +"And he 's got them?" + +"Oh, yes--at least, we have very little doubt of it." + +"Perhaps he 's destroyed them." + +Guillaume laughed softly. "Ah, my dear sir," said he, "he would n't do +that. While he keeps them he is safe, he is important, he might +become--well, richer than he is." + +Paul shot a quick glance at his companion. + +"How do you mean to get the papers?" + +"I 'm instructed to buy. But if he 's honest, he won't sell. Still I +must have them." + +"Tell me his name." + +"Oh, by all means--Captain Dieppe." + +"Ah, I 've heard of him. He was in Brazil, was n't he?" + +"Yes, and in Bulgaria." + +"Spain too, I fancy?" + +"Dear me, I was n't aware of that," said Guillaume, with some vexation. +"But it's neither here nor there. Can I count on your assistance?" + +"But what the devil does he pretend to be the Count for?" + +"Forgive the supposition, but perhaps he imagined that your business +was what mine is. Then he would like to throw you off the scent by +concealing his identity." + +"By heaven, and I nearly--!" + +"Nearly did what, dear M. de Roustache?" said old Guillaume very +softly. "Nearly dragged in the name of Madame la Comtesse, were you +going to say?" + +"How do you know anything--?" began Paul. + +"A guess--on my honour a guess! You affect the ladies, eh? Oh, we 're +not such strangers as you think." He spoke in a more imperious tone: +it was almost threatening. "I think you must help me, Monsieur Paul," +said he. + +His familiarity, which was certainly no accident, pointed more +precisely the vague menace of his demand. + +But Paul was not too easily frightened. + +"All right," said he, "but I must get something out of it, you know." + +"On the day I get the papers--by whatever means--you shall receive ten +thousand francs. And I will not interfere with your business. Come, +my proposal is handsome, you must allow." + +"Well, tell me what to do." + +"You shall write a note, addressed to the Count, telling him you must +see him on a matter which deeply touches his interest and his honour." + +"How much do you know?" Paul broke in suspiciously. + +"I knew nothing till last night; now I am beginning to know. But +listen. The innkeeper is my friend; he will manage that this note +shall be delivered--not to the Count, but to Dieppe; if any question +arises, he 'll say you described the gentleman beyond mistake, and in +the note you will refer to last night's interview. He won't suspect +that I have undeceived you. Well then, in the note you will make a +rendezvous with him. He will come, either for fun or because he thinks +he can serve his friend--the Count or the Countess, whichever it may +be. If I don't offend your susceptibilities, I should say it was the +Countess. Oh, I am judging only by general probability." + +"Supposing he comes--what then?" + +"Why, when he comes, I shall be there--visible. And you will be there +invisible--unless cause arises for you also to become visible. But the +details can be settled later. Come, will you write the letter?" + +Paul de Roustache thought a moment, nodded, rose, and was about to +follow Guillaume into the inn. But he stopped again and laid a hand on +his new friend's shoulder. + +"If your innkeeper is so intelligent and so faithful--" + +"The first comes from heaven," shrugged Guillaume. "The second is, all +the world over, a matter of money, my friend." + +"Of course. Well then, he might take another note." + +"To the other Count?" + +"Why, no." + +"Not yet, eh?" + +Paul forced a rather wry smile. "You have experience, Monsieur +Guillaume," he confessed. + +"To the Countess, is n't it? I see no harm in that. I ask you to help +in my business; I observe my promise not to interfere with yours. He +is intelligent; we will make him faithful: he shall take two notes by +all means, my friend." + +With the advice and assistance of Guillaume the two notes were soon +written: the first was couched much in the terms suggested by that +ingenious old schemer, the second was more characteristic of Paul +himself and of the trade which Paul had joined. "It would grieve me +profoundly," the precious missive ran, "to do anything to distress you. +But I have suffered very seriously, and not in my purse only. Unless +you will act fairly by me, I must act for myself. If I do not receive +fifty thousand francs in twenty-four hours, I turn to the only other +quarter open to me. I am to be found at the inn. There is no need of +a signature; you will remember your--Friend." + +Guillaume put on his spectacles and read it through twice. + +"Excellent, Monsieur Paul!" said he. + +"It is easy to detect a practised hand." And when Paul swore at him, +he laughed the more, finding much entertainment in mocking the rascal +whom he used. + +Yet in this conduct there was a rashness little befitting Guillaume's +age and Guillaume's profession. Paul was not a safe man to laugh at. +If from time to time, in the way of business, he was obliged to throw a +light brighter than he would have preferred on his own character, he +did not therefore choose to be made the subject of raillery. And if it +was not safe to mock him, neither was it very safe to talk of money to +him. The thought of money--of thousands of francs, easily convertible +into pounds, marks, dollars, florins, or whatever chanced to be the +denomination of the country to which free and golden-winged steps might +lead him--had a very inflaming effect on M. Paul de Roustache's +imagination. The Baron von Englebaden had started the whole of that +troublesome affair by boasting of the number of thousands of marks +which had gone to the making of the Baroness's necklace. And now M. +Guillaume--rash M. Guillaume--talked of bribing Captain Dieppe. +Bribery means money; if the object is important it means a large amount +of money: and presumably the object is important and the scale of +expenditure correspondingly liberal, when such a comfortable little +_douceur_ as ten thousand francs is readily promised as the reward of +incidental assistance. Following this train of thought, Paul's mind +fixed itself with some persistency on two points. The first was +modest, reasonable, definite; he would see the colour of Guillaume's +money before the affair went further; he would have his ten thousand +francs, or at least a half of them, before he lent any further aid by +word or deed. But the second idea was larger; it was also vaguer, and, +although it hardly seemed less reasonable or natural to the brain which +conceived it, it could scarcely be said to be as justifiable; at any +rate it did not admit of being avowed as frankly to Guillaume himself. +In fact Paul was wondering how much money Guillaume proposed to pay for +Captain Dieppe's honour (in case that article proved to be in the +market), and, further, where and in what material form that money was. +Would it be gold? Why, hardly; when it comes to thousands of anything, +the coins are not handy to carry about. Would it be a draft? That is +a safe mode of conveying large sums, but it has its disadvantages in +affairs where secrecy is desired and ready money indispensable. Would +it be notes? There were risks here--but also conveniences. And +Guillaume seemed bold as well as wary. Moreover Guillaume's coat was +remarkably shabby, his air very unassuming, and his manner of life at +the hotel frugality itself; such a playing of the _vacuus viator_ might +be meant to deceive not only the landlord of the Aquila Nera, but also +any other predatory persons whom Guillaume should encounter in the +course of his travels. Yes, some of it would be in notes. Paul de +Roustache bade the serving-maid bring him a bottle of wine, and passed +an hour in consuming it very thoughtfully. + +Guillaume returned from his conversation with the innkeeper just as the +last glass was poured out. To Paul's annoyance he snatched it up and +drained it--an act of familiarity that reached insolence. + +"To the success of our enterprise!" said he, grinning at his +discomfited companion. "All goes well. The innkeeper knows the +Countess's maid, and the note will reach the Countess by midday; I have +described Dieppe to him most accurately, and he will hang about till he +gets a chance of delivering the second note to him, or seeing it +delivered." + +"And what are we to do?" asked Paul, still sour and still thoughtful. + +"As regards the Countess, nothing. If the money comes, good for you. +If not, I presume you will, at your own time, open communications with +the Count?" + +"It is possible," Paul admitted. + +"Very," said M. Guillaume dryly. "And as regards Dieppe our course is +very plain. I am at the rendezvous, waiting for him, by half-past six. +You will also be at, or near, the rendezvous. We will settle more +particularly how it is best to conduct matters when we see the lie of +the ground. No general can arrange his tactics without inspecting the +battlefield, eh? And moreover we can't tell what the enemy's +dispositions--or disposition--may turn out to be." + +"And meanwhile there is nothing to do?" + +"Nothing? On the contrary--breakfast, a smoke, and a nap," corrected +Guillaume in a contented tone. "Then, my friend, we shall be ready for +anything that may occur--for anything in the world we shall be ready." + +"I wonder if you will," thought Paul de Roustache, resentfully eyeing +the glass which M. Guillaume had emptied. + +It remains to add only that, on the advice and information of the +innkeeper, the Cross on the roadside up the hill behind the village had +been suggested as the rendezvous, and that seven in the evening had +seemed a convenient hour to propose for the meeting. For Guillaume had +no reason to suppose that a prior engagement would take the Captain to +the same neighbourhood at six. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE RENDEZVOUS BY THE CROSS + +Beneath the reserved and somewhat melancholy front which he generally +presented to the world, the Count of Fieramondi was of an ardent and +affectionate disposition. Rather lacking, perhaps, in resolution and +strength of character, he was the more dependent on the regard and help +of others, and his fortitude was often unequal to the sacrifices which +his dignity and his pride demanded. Yet the very pride which led him +into positions that he could not endure made it well-nigh impossible +for him to retreat. This disposition, an honourable but not altogether +a happy one, serves to explain both the uncompromising attitude which +he had assumed in his dispute with his wife, and the misery of heart +which had betrayed itself in the poem he read to Captain Dieppe, with +its indirect but touching appeal to his friend's sympathy. + +Now his resolve was growing weaker as the state of hostilities, his +loneliness, the sight of that detestable barricade, became more and +more odious to him. He began to make excuses for the Countess--not +indeed for all that she had done (for her graver offences were unknown +to him), but for what he knew of, for the broken promise and the +renewal of acquaintance with Paul de Roustache. He imputed to her a +picturesque penitence and imagined her, on her side of the barricade, +longing for a pardon she dared not ask and a reconciliation for which +she could hardly venture to hope; he went so far as to embody these +supposed feelings of hers in a graceful little poem addressed to +himself and entitled, "To My Cruel Andrea." In fine the Count was +ready to go on his knees if he received proper encouragement. Here his +pride had its turn: this encouragement he must have; he would not risk +an interview, a second rebuff, a repetition of that insolence of manner +with which he had felt himself obliged to charge the Countess or +another slamming of the door in his face, such as had offended him so +justly and so grievously in those involuntary interviews which had +caused him to change his apartments. But now--the thought came to him +as the happiest of inspirations--he need expose himself to none of +these humiliations. Fortune had provided a better way. Shunning +direct approaches with all their dangers, he would use an intermediary. +By Heaven's kindness the ideal ambassador was ready to his hand--a man +of affairs, accustomed to delicate negotiations, yet (the Count added) +honourable, true, faithful, and tender-hearted. "My friend Dieppe will +rejoice to serve me," he said to himself with more cheerfulness than he +had felt since first the barricade had reared its hated front. He sent +his servant to beg the favour of Dieppe's company. + +At the moment--which, to be precise, was four o'clock in the +afternoon--no invitation could have been more unwelcome to Captain +Dieppe. He had received his note from the hands of a ragged urchin as +he strolled by the river an hour before: its purport rather excited +than alarmed him; but the rendezvous mentioned was so ill-chosen, from +his point of view, that it caused him dismay. And he had in vain tried +to catch sight of the Countess or find means of communicating with her +without arousing suspicion. He had other motives too for shrinking +from such expressions of friendliness as he had reason to anticipate +from his host. But he did not expect anything so disconcerting as the +proposal which the Count actually laid before him when he unwillingly +entered his presence. + +"Go to her--go to her on your behalf?" he exclaimed in a consternation +which luckily passed for a modest distrust of his qualifications for +the task. "But, my dear friend, what am I to say?" + +"Say that I love her," said the Count in his low, musical tones. "Say +that beneath all differences, all estrangements, lies my deep, abiding, +unchanging love." + +Statements of this sort the Captain preferred to make, when occasion +arose, on his own behalf. + +"Say that I know I have been hard to her, that I recede from my demand, +that I will be content with her simple word that she will not, without +my knowledge, hold any communication with the person she knows of." + +The Captain now guessed--or at least very shrewdly suspected--the +position of affairs. But he showed no signs of understanding. + +"Tell her," pursued the Count, laying his hand on Dieppe's shoulder and +speaking almost as ardently as though he were addressing his wife +herself, "that I never suspected her of more than a little levity, and +that I never will or could." + +Dieppe found himself speculating how much the Count's love and trust +might induce him to include in the phrase "a little levity." + +"That she should listen--I will not say to love-making--but even to +gallantry, to a hint of admiration, to the least attempt at flirtation, +has never entered my head about my Emilia." + +The Captain, amid all his distress, marked the name. + +"I trust her--I trust her!" cried the Count, raising his hands in an +obvious stress of emotion, "as I trust myself, as I would trust my +brother, my bosom friend. Yes, my dear friend, as I now trust you +yourself. Go to her and say, 'I am Andrea's friend, his trusted +friend. I am the messenger of love. Give me your love--'" + +"What?" cried the Captain. The words sounded wonderfully attractive. + +"'Give me your love to carry back to him.'" + +"Oh, exactly," murmured the Captain, relapsing into altruistic gloom. + +"Then all will be forgiven between us. Only our love will be +remembered. And you, my friend, will have the happiness of seeing us +reunited, and of knowing that two grateful hearts thank you. I can +imagine no greater joy." + +"It would certainly be--er--intensely gratifying," murmured Dieppe. + +"You would remember it all your life. It is not a thing a man gets the +chance of doing often." + +"No," agreed the Captain; but he thought to himself, "Deuce take it, he +talks as if he were doing me a favour!" + +"My friend, you look sad; you don't seem--" + +"Oh, yes, I do--yes, I am," interrupted the Captain, hastily assuming, +or trying to assume, a cheerful expression. "But--" + +"I understand--I understand. You doubt yourself?" + +"That's it," assented the Captain very truthfully. + +"Your tact, your discretion, your knowledge of women?" (Dieppe had +never in his life doubted any of these things; but he let the +accusation pass.) "Don't be afraid. Emilia will like you. I know +that Emilia will like you. And you will like her. I know it." + +"You think so?" No intonation could have expressed greater doubt. + +"I am certain of it; and when two people like one another, all goes +easily." + +"Well, not always," said the Captain, whose position made him less +optimistic. + +The Count felt in his waistcoat-pocket. Dieppe sat looking down +towards the floor with a frown on his face. He raised his eyes to find +the Count holding out his hand towards him; in the open palm of it lay +a wedding-ring. + +"Take it back to her," said the Count. + +"Really had n't you better do that yourself?" expostulated the Captain, +who felt himself hard driven by fate. + +"No," said the Count, firmly. "I leave it all to you. Put it on her +finger and say, 'This is the pledge of love--of love renewed--of +Andrea's undying love for you.'" He thrust the symbol of bliss into +Captain Dieppe's most reluctant hand. The Captain sat and looked at it +in a horrified fascination. + +"You will do it for me?" urged the Count. "You can't refuse! Ah, my +friend, if my sorrow does n't move you, think of hers. She is alone +there in that wing of the house--even her cousin, who was with her, was +obliged to leave her three days ago. There she sits, thinking of her +faults, poor child, in solitude! Alas, it is only too likely in tears! +I can't bear to think of her in tears." + +The Captain quite understood that feeling; he had seen her in them. + +"You will help us? Your noble nature will force you to it!" + +After a moment's hesitation, pardonable surely in weak humanity, Dieppe +put the Countess's wedding-ring in his pocket, rose to his feet, and +with a firm unfaltering face held out his hand to his friend and host. + +"I can refuse you nothing," he said, in most genuine emotion. "I will +do what you ask. May it bring happiness to--to--to all of us!" He +wrung the Count's hand with a grip that spoke of settled purpose. "You +shall hear how I fare very soon," he said, as he made for the door. + +The Count nodded hopefully, and, when he was left alone, set to work on +a little lyric of joy, with which to welcome the return of his forgiven +and forgiving spouse. + +But it was hard on Captain Dieppe; the strictest moralist may admit +that without endangering his principles. Say the Captain had been +blameworthy; still his punishment was heavy--heavy and most woefully +prompt. His better nature, his finer feelings, his instincts of honour +and loyalty, might indeed respond to the demand made on them by the +mission with which his friend entrusted him. But the demand was heavy, +the call grievous. Where he had pictured joy, there remained now only +renunciation; he had dreamed of conquest; there could be none, save the +hardest and least grateful, the conquest of himself. Firm the Captain +might be, but sad he must be. He could still serve the Countess (was +not Paul de Roustache still dangerous?), but he could look for no +reward. Small wonder that the meeting, whose risks and difficulty had +made it seem before only the sweeter, now lost all its delight, and +became the hardest of ordeals, the most severe and grim of duties. + +If this was the Captain's mood, that of the lady whom he was to meet +could be hardly more cheerful. If conscience seemed to trouble her +less, and unhappy love not to occupy her mind as it governed his, the +external difficulties of her position occasioned her greater distress +and brought her near despair. Paul de Roustache's letter had been +handed to her by her servant, with a smile half reproachful, half +mocking, she had seized it, torn it open, and read it. She understood +its meaning; she saw that the dreaded crisis had indeed come; and she +was powerless to deal with it, or to avert the catastrophe it +threatened. She sat before it now, very near to doing just what Count +Andrea hated to think of and Captain Dieppe could not endure to see; +and as she read and re-read the hateful thing she moaned softly to +herself: + +"Oh, how could I be so silly! How could I put myself in such a +position? How could I consent to anything of the sort? I don't know +what 'll happen. I have n't got fifty thousand francs! Oh, Emilia, +how could you do it? I don't know what to do! And I 'm all +alone--alone to face this fearful trouble!" Indeed the Count, led no +doubt by the penetrating sympathy of love, seemed to have divined her +feelings with a wonderful accuracy. + +She glanced up at the clock, it was nearly five. The smile that came +on her face was sad and timid; yet it was a smile of hope. "Perhaps he +'ll be able to help me," she thought. "He has no money, no--only fifty +francs, poor man! But he seems to be brave--oh, yes, he 's brave. And +I think he's clever. I 'll go to the meeting-place and take the note. +He 's the only chance." She rose and walked to a mirror. She +certainly looked a little less woe-begone now, and she examined her +appearance with an earnest criticism. The smile grew more hopeful, a +little more assured, as she murmured to herself, "I think he 'll help +me, if he can, you know; because--well, because--" For an instant she +even laughed. "And I rather like him too, you know," she ended by +confiding to the mirror. These latter actions and words were not in +such complete harmony with Count Andrea's mental picture of the lady on +the other side of the barricade. + +Betaking herself to the room from which she had first beheld Captain +Dieppe's face--not, as the Count would have supposed, as a consequence +of any design, but by the purest and most unexpected chance--she +arrayed herself in a short skirt and thick boots, and wrapped a cloak +round her, for a close, misty rain was already falling, and the moaning +of the wind in the trees promised a stormy evening. Then she stole out +and made for the gate in the right wall of the gardens. The same old +servant who had brought the note was there to let her out. + +"You will be gone long, Contessa?" she asked. + +"No, Maria, not long. If I am asked for, say I am lying down." + +"Who should ask for you? The Count?" + +"Not very likely," she replied with a laugh, in which the servant +joined. "But if he does, I am absolutely not to be seen, Maria." And +with another little laugh she began to skirt the back of the gardens so +as to reach the main road, and thus make her way by the village to the +Cross on the hill, and the little hut in the hollow behind it. + +Almost at the same moment Captain Dieppe, cursing his fortune, his +folly, and the weather, with the collar of his coat turned up, his hat +crashed hard on his head, and (just in case of accidents) his revolver +in his pocket, came out into the garden and began to descend the hill +towards where the stepping-stones gave him passage across the river. +Thus he also would reach the village, pass through it, and mount the +hill to the Cross. His way was shorter and his pace quicker. To be +there before the lady would be only polite; it would also give him a +few minutes in which to arrange his thoughts and settle what might be +the best way to open to her the new--the very new--things that he had +to say. In the preoccupation of these he thought little of his later +appointment at seven o'clock--although it was in view of this that he +had slipped the revolver into his pocket. + +Finally, just about the same time also, Guillaume was rehearsing to +Paul de Roustache exactly what they were to do and where their +respective parts began and terminated. Paul was listening with deep +attention, with a curious smile on his face, and with the inner +reflection that things in the end might turn out quite differently from +what his astute companion supposed would be the case. Moreover--also +just in case of accidents--both of these gentlemen, it may be +mentioned, had slipped revolvers into their pockets. Such things may +be useful when one carries large sums of money to a rendezvous, equally +so in case one hopes to carry them back from it. The former was M. +Guillaume's condition, the latter that of Paul de Roustache. On the +whole there seemed a possibility of interesting incidents occurring by +or in the neighbourhood of the Cross on the hillside above the village. + +What recked the Count of Fieramondi of that? He was busy composing his +lyric in honour of the return of his forgiven and forgiving Countess. +Of what was happening he had no thought. + +And not less ignorant of these possible incidents was a lady who this +same evening stood in the courtyard of the only inn of the little town +of Sasellano, where the railway ended, and whence the traveller to the +Count of Fieramondi's Castle must take a carriage and post-horses. + +The lady demanded horses, protested, raged; most urgent business called +her to pursue her journey, she said. But the landlord hesitated and +shook his head. + +"It 's good twelve miles and against collar almost all the way," he +urged. + +"I will pay what you like," she cried. + +"But see, the rain falls--it has fallen for two hours. The water will +be down from the hills, and the stream will be in flood before you +reach the ford. Your Excellency had best sleep here to-night. Indeed +your Excellency must." + +"I won't," said her Excellency flatly. + +And at that point--which may be called the direct issue--the dispute +must now be left. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE HUT IN THE HOLLOW + +Geography, in itself a tiresome thing, concerned with such soulless +matters as lengths, depths, heights, breadths, and the like, gains +interest so soon as it establishes a connection with the history of +kingdoms, and the ambitions, passions, or fortunes of mankind; so that +men may pore over a map with more eagerness than the greatest of +romances can excite, or scan a countryside with a keenness that the +beauty of no picture could evoke. To Captain Dieppe, a soldier, even +so much apology was not necessary for the careful scrutiny of +topographical features which was his first act on reaching the Cross on +the hillside. His examination, hindered by increasing darkness and +mist, yet yielded him a general impression correct enough. + +Standing with his back to the Cross, he had on his right hand the slope +down to the village which he had just ascended; on his left the road +fell still more precipitately in zigzag curves. He could not see it +where it reached the valley and came to the river; had he been able, he +would have perceived that it ran down to and crossed the ford to which +the landlord of the inn at Sasellano had referred. But immediately +facing him he could discern the river in its bottom, and could look +down over the steep grassy declivity which descended to it from the +point at which he stood; there was no more than room for the road, and +on the road hardly room for a vehicle to pass another, or itself to +turn. On all three sides the ground fell, and he would have seemed to +stand on a watch-tower had it not been that behind him, at the back of +the cross, the upward slope of grass showed that the road did not +surmount the hill, but hung on to and skirted its side some fifty paces +from the top. Yet even where he was he found himself exposed to the +full stress of the weather, which had now increased to a storm of wind +and rain. The time of his earlier appointment was not quite due; but +the lady knew her way. With a shiver the Captain turned and began to +scramble up towards the summit. The sooner he found the shepherd's hut +the better: if it were open, he would enter; it not, he could at least +get some shelter under the lee of it. But he trusted that the Countess +would keep her tryst punctually: she must be come and gone before seven +o'clock, or she would risk an encounter with her enemy, Paul de +Roustache. "However I could probably smuggle her away; and at least he +should n't speak to her," he reflected, and was somewhat comforted. + +At the top of the hill the formation was rather peculiar. The crown +once reached, the ground dipped very suddenly from all sides, forming a +round depression in shape like a basin and at the lowest point some +twenty feet beneath the top of its enclosing walls. In this circular +hollow--not in the centre, but no more than six feet from the base of +the slope by which the Captain approached--stood the shepherd's hut. +Its door was open, swinging to and fro as the gusts of wind rose and +tell. The Captain ran down and entered. There was nothing inside but +a rough stool, a big and heavy block, something like those one may see +in butcher's shops (probably it had served the shepherds for seat or +table, as need arose), and five or six large trusses of dry maize-straw +flung down in a corner. The place was small, rude, and comfortless +enough, but if the hanging door, past which the rain drove in fiercely, +could be closed, the four walls of sawn logs would afford decent +shelter from the storm during the brief period of the conference which +the Captain awaited. + +Dieppe looked at his watch; he could just see the figures--it was ten +minutes to six. Mounting again to the summit, he looked round. Yes, +there she was, making her way up the hill, painfully struggling with +refractory cloak and skirt. A moment later she joined him and gave him +her hand, panting out: + +"Oh, I 'm so glad you 're here! There 's the most fearful trouble." + +There was, of more than one kind; none knew it better than Dieppe. + +"One need not, all the same, get any wetter," he remarked. "Come into +the hut, madame." + +She paid no heed to his words, but stood there looking forlornly round. +But the next instant the Captain enforced his invitation by catching +hold of her arm and dragging her a pace or two down the hill, while he +threw himself on the ground, his head just over the top of the +eminence. "Hush," he whispered. His keen ear had caught a footstep on +the road, although darkness and mist prevented him from seeing who +approached. It was barely six. Was Paul de Roustache an hour too +early? + +"What is it?" she asked in a low, anxious voice. "Is anybody coming? +Oh, if it should be Andrea!" + +"It's not the Count, but-- Come down into the hut, madame. You must +n't be seen." + +Now she obeyed his request. Dieppe stood in the doorway a moment, +listening. Then he pushed the door shut--it opened inwards--and with +some effort set the wooden block against it. + +"That will keep out the rain," said he, "and--and anything else, you +know." + +They were in dense darkness. The Captain took a candle and a cardboard +box of matches from an inner pocket. Striking a match after one or two +efforts (for matches and box were both damp), he melted the end of the +candle and pressed it on the block till it adhered. Then he lit the +wick. The lady watched him admiringly. + +"You seem ready for anything," she said. But the Captain shook his +head sorrowfully, as he laid his match-box down on a dry spot on the +block. + +"We have no time to lose--" he began. + +"No," she agreed, and opening her cloak she searched for something. +Finding the object she sought, she held it out to him. "I got that +this afternoon. Read it," she said. "It's from the man you met last +night--Paul de Roustache. The 'Other quarter' means Andrea. And that +means ruin." + +Captain Dieppe gently waved the letter aside. + +"No, you must read it," she urged. + +He took it, and bending down to the candle read it. "Just what it +would be," he said. + +"I can't explain anything, you know," she added hastily, with a smile +half rueful, half amused. + +"To me, at least, there 's no need you should." He paused a moment in +hesitation or emotion. Then he put his hand in his waistcoat-pocket, +drew forth a small object, and held it out towards his companion +between his finger and thumb. In the dim light she did not perceive +its nature. + +"This," said the Captain, conscientiously and even textually delivering +the message with which he was charged, "is the pledge of love." + +"Captain Dieppe!" she cried, leaping back and blushing vividly. +"Really I--! At such a time--under the circ-- And what is it! I +can't see." + +"The pledge of love renewed"--the Captain went on in a loyal hastiness, +but not without the sharpest pang--"of Andrea's undying love for you." + +"Of Andrea's--!" She stopped, presumably from excess of emotion. Her +lips were parted in a wondering smile, her eyes danced merrily even +while they questioned. "What in the world is it?" she asked again. + +"Your wedding-ring," said the Captain with sad and impressive +solemnity, and, on the pretext of snuffing the candle which flickered +and guttered in the draught, he turned away. Thus he did not perceive +the uncontrollable bewilderment which appeared on his companion's face. + +"Wedding-ring!" she murmured. + +"He sends it back again to you," explained the Captain, still busy with +the candle. + +A long-drawn "O--oh!" came from her lips, its lengthened intonation +seeming to express the dawning of comprehension. "Yes, of course," she +added very hastily. + +"He loves you," said the Captain, facing her--and his task--again. "He +can't bear his own sorrow, nor to think of yours. He withdraws his +demand; your mere word to hold no communication with the person you +know of, without his knowledge, contents him. I am his messenger. +Give me your love to--to carry back to him." + +"Did he tell you to say all that?" she asked. + +"Ah, madame, should I say it otherwise? Should I who--" With a mighty +effort he checked himself, and resumed in constrained tones. "My dear +friend the Count bade me put this ring on your finger, madame, in token +of your--your reunion with him." + +Her expression now was decidedly puzzling; certainly she was struggling +with some emotion, but it was not quite clear with what. + +"Pray do it then," she said, and, drawing off the stout little gauntlet +she wore, she presented her hand to the Captain. Bowing low, he took +it lightly, and placed the holy symbol on the appropriate finger. But +he could not make up his mind to part from the hand without one +lingering look; and he observed with some surprise that the ring was +considerably too large for the finger. "It 's very loose," he +murmured, taking perhaps a sad, whimsical pleasure in the conceit of +seeing something symbolical in the fact to which he called attention; +in truth the ring fitted so ill as to be in great danger of dropping +off. + +"Yes--or--it is rather loose. I--I hate tight rings, don't you?" She +smiled with vigour (if the expression be allowable) and added, "I 've +grown thinner too, I suppose." + +"From grief?" asked he, and he could not keep a touch of bitterness out +of his voice. + +"Well, anxiety," she amended. "I think I 'd better carry the ring in +my pocket. It would be a pity to lose it." She took off the symbol +and dropped it, somewhat carelessly it must be confessed, into a +side-pocket of her coat. Then she seated herself on the stool, and +looked up at the Captain. Her smile became rather mocking, as she +observed to Captain Dieppe: + +"Andrea has charged you with this commission since--since last night, I +suppose?" + +The words acted--whether by the intention of their utterer or not--as a +spark to the Captain's ardour. Loyal he would be to his friend and to +his embassy, but that she should suspect him of insincerity, that she +should not know his love, was more than he could bear. + +"Ah," he said, seizing her ungloved hand again, "since last night +indeed! Last night it was my dream--my mad dream-- Ah, don't be +angry! Don't draw your hand away." + +The lady's conduct indicated that she proposed to assent to both these +requests; she smiled still and she did not withdraw her hand from +Dieppe's eager grasp. + +"My honour is pledged," he went on, "but suffer me once to kiss this +hand now that it wears no ring, to dream that it need wear none, that +you are free. Ah, Countess, ah, Emilia--for once let me call you +Emilia!" + +"For once, if you like. Don't get into the habit of it," she advised. + +"No, I 'll only think of you by that name." + +"I should n't even do as much as that. It would be a-- I mean you +might forget and call me it, you know." + +"Never was man so unhappy as I am," he cried in a low but intense +voice. "But I am wrong. I must remember my trust. And you--you love +the Count?" + +"I am very fond of Andrea," said she, almost in a whisper. She seemed +to suffer sorely from embarrassment, for she added hastily, +"Don't--don't press me about that any more." Yet she was smiling. + +The Captain knelt on one knee and kissed her hand very respectfully. +The mockery passed out of her smile, and she said in a voice that for a +moment was grave and tender: + +"Thank you. I shall like to remember that. Because I think you 're a +brave man and a true friend, Captain Dieppe." + +"I thank God for helping me to remain a gentleman," said he; and, +although his manner was (according to his custom) a little pronounced +and theatrical, he spoke with a very genuine feeling. She pressed her +hand on his before she drew it away. + +"You 'll be my friend?" he asked. + +She paused before she replied, looking at him intently; then she +answered in a low voice, speaking slowly and deliberately: + +"I will be all to you that I can and that you ask me to be." + +"I have your word, dear friend?" + +"You have my word. If you ask me, I will redeem it." She looked at +him still as though she had said a great thing--as though a pledge had +passed between them, and a solemn promise from her to him. + +What seemed her feeling found an answer in Dieppe. He pressed her for +no more promises, he urged her to no more demonstration of affection +towards him. But their eyes met, their glances conquered the dimness +of the candle's light and spoke to one another. Rain beat and wind +howled outside. Dieppe heard nothing but an outspoken confession that +left honour safe and inviolate, and yet told him the sweetest thing +that he could hear--a thing so sweet that for the instant its sadness +was forgotten. He had triumphed, though he could have no reward of +victory. He was loved, though he might hear no words of love. But he +could serve her still--serve her and save her from the danger and +humiliation which, notwithstanding Count Andrea's softened mood, still +threatened her. That he even owed her; for he did not doubt that the +danger, and the solitude in which, but for him, it had to be faced, had +done much to ripen and to quicken her regard for him. As for himself, +with such a woman as the Countess in the case, he was not prepared to +own the need of any external or accidental stimulus. Yet beauty +distressed is beauty doubled; that is true all the world over, and, no +doubt, it held good even for Captain Dieppe. He had been loyal--under +the circumstances wonderfully loyal--to the Count; but he felt quite +justified, if he proved equal to the task, in robbing his friend of the +privilege of forgiveness--aye, and of the pleasure of paying fifty +thousand francs. He resolved that the Count of Fieramondi should never +know of Paul de Roustache's threats against the Countess or of his +demand for that exorbitant sum of money. + +With most people in moments of exaltation to resolve that a result is +desirable is but a preliminary to undertaking its realisation. Dieppe +had more than his share of this temper. He bent down towards his new +and dear friend, and said confidently: + +"Don't distress yourself about this fellow--I 'll manage the whole +affair without trouble or publicity." Yet he had no notion how his +words were to be made good. + +"You will?" she asked, with a confidence in the Captain apparently as +great as his own. + +"Certainly," said he, with a twirl of his moustache. + +"Then I 'd better leave it to you and go home at once." + +The inference was not quite what the Captain had desired. But he +accepted it with a tolerably good grace. When a man has once resisted +temptation there is little to be gained, and something perhaps to be +risked, by prolonging the interview. + +"I suppose so," said he. "I 'll escort you as far as the village. But +what's the time?" + +He took out his watch and held it down to the flame of the candle; the +lady rose and looked, not over his shoulder, but just round his elbow. + +"Ah, that's curious," observed the Captain, regarding the hands of his +watch. "How quickly the time has gone!" + +"Very. But why is it curious?" she asked. + +He glanced down at her face, mischievously turned up to his. + +"Well, it's not curious," he admitted, "but it is awkward." + +"It's only just seven." + +"Precisely the hour of my appointment with Paul de Roustache." + +"With Paul de Roustache?" + +"Don't trouble yourself. All will be well." + +"What appointment? Where are you to meet him?" + +"By the Cross, on the road outside there." + +"Heavens! If I were to meet him! He must n't see me!" + +"Certainly not," agreed the Captain with cheerful confidence. + +"But how are we to avoid--?" + +"Ah, you put no real trust in me," murmured he in gentle reproach, and, +it must be added, purely for the sake of gaining a moment's reflection. + +"Could n't we walk boldly by him?" she suggested. + +"He would recognise you to a certainty, even if he didn't me." + +"Recognise me? Oh, I don't know. He does n't know me very well." + +"What?" said the Captain, really a little astonished this time. + +"And there 's the rain and--and the night and--and all that," she +murmured in some confusion. + +"No man who has ever seen you--" began the Captain. + +"Hush! What's that?" whispered she, grasping his arm nervously. The +Captain, recalled to the needs of the situation, abandoned his +compliment, or argument, whichever it was, and listened intently. + +There were voices outside the hut, some little way off, seeming to come +from above, as though the speakers were on the crest of the hill. They +were audible intermittently, but connectedly enough, as though their +owners waited from time to time for a lull in the gusty wind before +they spoke. + +"Hold the lantern here. Why, it's past seven! He ought to be here by +now." + +"We 've searched every inch of the ground." + +"That's Paul de Roustache," whispered the Captain. + +"Perhaps he 's lying down out of the storm somewhere. Shall we shout?" + +"Oh, if you like--but you risk being overheard. I 'm tired of the job." + +"The ground dips here. Come, we must search the hollow. You must earn +your reward, M. de Roustache." + +The lady pressed Dieppe's arm. "I can't go now," she whispered. + +"I 'm willing to earn it, but I 'd like to see it." + +"What's that down there?" + +"You don't attend to my suggestion, M. Sevier." + +"Sevier!" muttered the Captain, and a smile spread over his face. + +"Call me Guillaume," came sharply from the voice he had first heard. + +"Exactly," murmured Dieppe. "Call him anything except his name. Oh, +exactly!" + +"It looks like--like a building--a shed or something. Come, he may be +in there." + +"Oh!" murmured the lady. "You won't let them in?" + +"They sha'n't see you," Dieppe reassured her. "But listen, my dear +friend, listen." + +"Who 's the other? Sevier?" + +"A gentleman who takes an interest in me. But silence, pray, silence, +if you--if you 'll be guided by me." + +"Let's go down and try the door. If he 's not there, anyhow we can +shelter ourselves till he turns up." + +There was a pause. Feet could be heard climbing and slithering down +the slippery grass slope. + +"What if you find it locked?" + +"Then I shall think some one is inside, and some one who has discovered +reasons for not wishing to be met." + +"And what will you do?" The voices were very near now, and Paul's +discontented sneer made the Captain smile; but his hand sought the +pocket where his revolver lay. + +"I shall break it open--with your help, my friend." + +"I give no more help, friend Sevier--or Guillaume, or what you +like--till I see my money. Deuce take it, the fellow may be armed!" + +"I did n't engage you for a picnic, Monsieur Paul." + +"It's the pay, not the work, that's in dispute, my friend. Come, you +have the money, I suppose? Out with it!" + +"Not a sou till I have the papers!" + +The Captain nodded his head. "I was right, as usual," he was thinking +to himself, as he felt his breast-pocket caressingly. + +The wind rose to a gust and howled. + +The voices became inaudible. The Captain bent down and whispered. + +"If they force the door open," he said, "or if I have to open it and go +out, you 'd do well to get behind that straw there till you see what +happens. They expect nobody but me, and when they 've seen me they +won't search any more." + +He saw, with approval and admiration, that she was calm and cool. + +"Is there danger?" she asked. + +"No," said he. "But one of them wants some papers I have, and has +apparently engaged the other to assist him. M. de Roustache feels +equal to two jobs, it seems. I wonder if he knows whom he's after, +though." + +"Would they take the papers by force?" Her voice was very anxious, but +still not terrified. + +"Very likely--if I won't part with them. Don't be uneasy. I sha'n't +forget your affair." + +She pressed his arm gratefully, and drew back till she stood close to +the trusses of straw, ready to seek a hiding-place in case of need. +She was not much too soon. A man hurled himself violently against the +door. The upper part gave and gaped an inch or two; the lower stood +firm, thanks to the block of wood that barred its opening. Even as the +assault was delivered against the door, Dieppe had blown out the +candle. In darkness he and she stood waiting and listening. + +"Lend a hand. We shall do it together," cried the voice of M. +Guillaume. + +"I 'll be hanged it I move without five thousand francs!" + +Dieppe put up both hands and leant with all his weight against the +upper part of the door. He smiled at his prescience when Guillaume +flung himself against it once more. Now there was no yielding, no +opening--not a chink. Guillaume was convinced. + +"Curse you, you shall have the money," they heard him say. "Come, hold +the lantern here." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE FLOOD ON THE RIVER + +That Paul de Roustache came to the rendezvous, where he had agreed to +meet the Count, in the company and apparently in the service of M. +Guillaume, who was not at all concerned with the Count but very much +interested in the man who had borrowed his name, afforded tolerably +conclusive evidence that Paul had been undeceived, and that if either +party had been duped in regard to the meeting it was Captain Dieppe. +Never very ready to adopt such a conclusion as this, Dieppe was none +the less forced to it by the pressure of facts. Moreover he did not +perceive any safe, far less any glorious, issue from the situation +either for his companion or for himself. His honour was doubly +involved; the Countess's reputation and the contents of his +breast-pocket alike were in his sole care; and just outside the hut +were two rascals, plainly resolute, no less plainly unscrupulous, the +one threatening the lady, the other with nefarious designs against the +breast-pocket. They had joined hands, and now delivered a united +attack against both of the Captain's treasured trusts. "In point of +fact," he reflected with some chagrin, "I have for this once failed to +control events." He brightened up almost immediately. "Never mind," +he thought, "it may still be possible to take advantage of them." And +he waited, all on the alert for his chance. His companion observed, +with a little vexation, with more admiration, that he seemed to have +become unconscious of her presence, or, at best, to consider her only +as a responsibility. + +The besiegers spoke no more in tones audible within the hut. Putting +eye and ear alternately to the crevice between door and door-post, +Dieppe saw the lantern's light and heard the crackle of paper. Then he +just caught, or seemed to catch, the one word, said in a tone of +finality, "Five!" Then came more crackling. Next a strange, sudden +circle of light revolved before the Captain's eye; and then there was +light no more. The lantern had been lifted, swung round in the air, +and flung away. Swift to draw the only inference, Dieppe turned his +head. As he did so there rang out a loud oath in Guillaume's voice; it +was followed by an odd, dull thud. + +"Quick, behind the trusses!" whispered Dieppe. "I 'm going out." + +Without a word she obeyed him, and in a moment was well hidden. For an +instant more Dieppe listened. Then he hurled the wooden block away, +its weight, so great before, seemed nothing to him now in his +excitement. The crack of a shot came from outside. Pulling the door +violently back, Dieppe rushed out. Two or three paces up the slope +stood Guillaume, his back to the hut, his arm still levelled at a +figure which had just topped the summit of the eminence, and an instant +later disappeared. Hearing Dieppe's rush, Guillaume turned, crying in +uncontrollable agitation, "He 's robbed me, robbed me, robbed me!" +Then he suddenly put both his hands up to his brow, clutching it tight +as though he were in great pain, and, reeling and stumbling, at last +fell and rolled down to the bottom of the hollow. For an instant the +Captain hesitated. But Guillaume lay very still; and Guillaume had no +quarrel with the Countess. His indecision soon ended, Dieppe ran, as +if for his life, up the slope to the top of the hill. He disappeared; +all was left dark and quiet at the hut; Guillaume did not stir, the +lady did not stir; only the door, released from its confinement, began +to flap idly to and fro again. + +The Captain gained the summit, hardly conscious that one of those +sudden changes of weather so common in hilly countries had passed over +the landscape. The mist was gone, rain fell no more, a sharp, clean +breeze blew, the stars began to shine, and the moon rose bright. It +was as though a curtain had been lifted. Dieppe's topographical +observations stood him in good stead now and saved him some moments' +consideration. The fugitive had choice of two routes. But he would +not return to the village: he might have to answer awkward questions +about M. Guillaume, his late companion, there. He would make in +another direction--presumably towards the nearest inhabited spot, where +he could look to get more rapid means of escape than his own legs +afforded. He would follow the road to the left then, down the zigzags +that must lead to the river, and to some means of crossing it. But he +had gained a good start and had the figure of an active fellow. Dieppe +risked a short cut, darted past the Cross and straight over the road, +heading down towards the river, but taking a diagonal course to the +left. His intent was to hit the road where the road hit the river, and +thus to cut off the man he pursued. His way would be shorter, but it +would be rougher too; success or failure depended on whether the +advantage or disadvantage proved the greater. As he ran, he felt for +his revolver; but he did not take it out nor did he mean to use it save +in the last resort. Captain Dieppe did not take life or maim limb +without the utmost need; though a man of war, he did not suffer from +blood fever. Besides he was a stranger in the country, with none to +answer for him; and the credentials in his breast-pocket were not of +the sort that he desired to produce for the satisfaction and +information of the local custodians of the peace. + +The grassy slope was both uneven and slippery. Moreover Dieppe had not +allowed enough for the courage of the natives in the matter of +gradients. The road, in fact, belied its cautious appearance. After +three or four plausible zig-zags, it turned to rash courses and ran +headlong down to the ford--true, it had excuse in the necessity of +striking this spot--on a slope hardly less steep than that down which +the Captain himself was painfully leaping with heels stuck deep in and +body thrown well back. In the result Paul de Roustache comfortably +maintained his lead, and when he came into his pursuer's view was no +more than twenty yards from the river, the Captain being still a good +fifty from the point at which he had hoped to be stationed before Paul +came up. + +"I 'm done," panted the Captain, referring both to his chances of +success and to his physical condition; and he saw with despair that +across the ford the road rose as boldly and as steeply as it had +descended on the near side of the stream. + +Paul ran on and came to the edge of the ford. Negotiations might be +feasible since conquest was out of the question: Dieppe raised his +voice and shouted. Paul turned and looked. "I 'm a pretty long shot," +thought the Captain, and he thought it prudent to slacken his pace till +he saw in what spirit his overtures were met. Their reception was not +encouraging. Paul took his revolver from his pocket--the Captain saw +the glint of the barrel--and waved it menacingly. Then he replaced it, +lifted his hat jauntily in a mocking farewell, and turned to the ford +again. + +"Shall I go on?" asked the Captain, "or shall I give it up?" The +desperate thought at last occurred: "Shall I get as near as I can and +try to wing him?" He stood still for an instant, engaged in these +considerations. Suddenly a sound struck his ear and caught his +attention. It was the heavy, swishing noise of a deep body of water in +rapid movement. His eyes flew down to the river. + +"By God!" he muttered under his breath; and from the river his glance +darted to Paul de Roustache. The landlord of the inn at Sasellano had +not spoken without warrant. The stream ran high in flood, and Paul de +Roustache stood motionless in fear and doubt on the threshold of the +ford. + +"I 've got him," remarked the Captain simply, and he began to pace +leisurely and warily down the hill. He was ready for a shot now--ready +to give one too, if necessary. But his luck was again in the +ascendant; he smiled and twirled his moustache as he walked along. + +If it be pardonable--or even praise-worthy, as some moralists +assert--to pity the criminal, while righteously hating the crime, a +trifle of compassion may be spared for Paul de Roustache. In fact that +gentleman had a few hours before arrived at a resolution which must be +considered (for as a man hath, so shall it be demanded of him, in +talents and presumably in virtues also) distinctly commendable. He had +made up his mind to molest the Countess of Fieramondi no more--provided +he got the fifty thousand francs from M. Guillaume. Up to this moment +fortune--or, in recognition of the morality of the idea, may we not say +heaven?--had favoured his design. Obliged, in view of Paul's urgently +expressed preference for a payment on account, to disburse five +thousand francs, Guillaume had taken from his pocket a leather case of +venerable age and opulent appearance. Paul was no more averse than +Dieppe from taking a good chance. The production of the portfolio was +the signal for a rapid series of decisive actions; for was not Dieppe +inside the hut, and might not Dieppe share or even engross the contents +of the portfolio? With the promptness of a man who has thoroughly +thought out his plans, Paul had flung away the lantern, hit Guillaume +on the forehead with the butt of his revolver, snatched the portfolio +from his hand, and bolted up the slope that led from the hut to the +summit; thence he ran down the road, not enjoying leisure to examine +his prize, but sure that it contained more than the bare ten thousand +francs for which he had modestly bargained. A humane man, he +reflected, would stay by Guillaume, bathe his brow, and nurse him back +to health; for with a humane man life is more than property; and +meanwhile the property, with Paul as its protector, would be far away. +But now--well, in the first place, Dieppe was evidently not a humane +man, and in the second, here was this pestilent river flooded to the +edge of its banks, and presenting the most doubtful passage which had +ever by the mockery of language been misnamed a ford. He was indeed +between the devil and the deep sea--that devil of a Dieppe and the deep +sea of the ford on the road from Sasellano. What was to be done? + +The days of chivalry are gone; and the days of hanging or beheading for +unnecessary or unjustified homicide are with us, to the great detriment +of romance. Paul, like the Captain, did not desire a duel, although, +like the Captain, he proposed to keep his revolver handy. And, after +all, what was called a ford must be at least comparatively shallow. +Give it a foot of depth in ordinary times. Let it be three or four +now. Still he could get across. With one last look at the Captain, +who advanced steadily, although very slowly, Paul de Roustache essayed +the passage. The precious portfolio was in an inner pocket, the hardly +less precious revolver he grasped in one hand; and both his hands he +held half outstretched on either side of him. The Captain watched his +progress with the keenest interest and a generous admiration, and +quickened his own pace so as to be in a position to follow the daring +pioneer as rapidly as possible. + +As far as depth was concerned, Paul's calculation was not far out. He +travelled a third of his way and felt the ground level under him. He +had reached the bottom of the river-bed, and the water was not up to +his armpits. He took out the portfolio and thrust it in between his +neck and his collar: it gave him a confined and choky feeling, but it +was well out of water; and his right hand held the revolver well out of +water too. Thus prepared, yet hoping that the worst was over, he took +another forward step. Breaking into a run, the Captain was by the edge +of the stream the next moment, whipped out his revolver, pointed it at +Paul, and cried, "Stop!" For although one does not mean to fire, it is +often useful to create the impression that one does. + +The action had its effect now, although not exactly as Dieppe had +anticipated. Flurried by his double difficulty, Paul stopped again and +glanced over his shoulder. He saw the barrel aimed at him; he could +not risk disregarding the command, but he might forestall his pursuer's +apparent intention. He tried to turn round, and effected half the +revolution; thus he faced down-stream, and had his back to the full +force of the current. Although no deeper than he had feared, the river +was stronger; and in this attitude he offered a less firm resistance. +In an instant he was swept off his feet, and carried headlong +down-stream, dropping his revolver and struggling to swim to the +opposite bank. + +"I can't afford to have this happen!" cried Dieppe, and, seeing how the +current bore his enemy away, he ran swiftly some fifty yards down the +bank, got ahead of Paul, and plunged in, again with the idea of cutting +him off, but by water this time, since his plan had failed on land. + +Here it is likely enough that the two gentlemen's difficulties and +activities alike would have ended. Paul went under and came up again, +a tangled, helpless heap of legs and arms; the Captain kept his head +above water for the time, but could do nothing save follow the current +which carried him straight down-stream. But by good luck the river +took a sharp bend a hundred yards below the ford, and Dieppe perceived +that by drifting he would come very near to the projecting curve of the +bank. Paul was past noticing this chance or trying to avail himself of +it. The Captain was swept down; at the right instant he made the one +effort for which he had husbanded his strength. He gathered his legs +up under him, and he stood. The water was only half-way up his thigh, +and he stood. "Now for you, my friend!" he cried. Paul came by, quite +inanimate now to all appearance, floating broadside to the current. +Leaning forward, the Captain caught him by the leg, throwing his own +body back in an intense strain of exertion. He lost his footing and +fell. "I must let him go," he thought, "or we shall both be done for." +But the next moment he felt himself flung on the bank, and the tension +on his arms relaxed. The current had thrown the two on the bank and +pursued its own race round the promontory, bereft of its playthings. +Drenched, huddled, hatless, they lay there. + +"A very near thing indeed," said the Captain, panting hard and +regarding Paul's motionless body with a grave and critical air of +inquiry. The next moment he fell on his knees by his companion. +"Perhaps he carries a flask--I 've none," he thought, and began to +search Paul's pockets. He found what he sought and proceeded to +unscrew the top. + +Paul gasped and grunted. "He 's all right then," said the Captain. +Paul's hand groped its way up to his collar, and made convulsive +clutches. "I 'd better give him a little more room," mused Dieppe, and +laid the flask down for a minute. "Ah, this is a queer cravat! No +wonder he feels like choking. A portfolio! Ah, ah!" He took it out +and pocketed it. Then he forced some brandy down Paul's throat, and +undid his collar and his waistcoat. "A pocket inside the waistcoat! +Very useful, very useful--and more papers, yes! Take a drop, my +friend, it will do you good." Thus alternately ministering to Paul's +bodily comfort and rifling his person of what valuables he carried, +Dieppe offered to the philosophic mind a singular resemblance to a +Finance Minister who takes a farthing off the duty on beer and puts a +penny on the income tax. + +The moon was high, but not bright enough to read a small and delicate +handwriting by. The Captain found himself in a tantalising position. +He gave Paul some more brandy, laid down the packet of letters, and +turned to the portfolio. It was large and official in appearance, and +it had an ingenious clasp which baffled Dieppe. With a sigh he cut the +leather top and bottom, and examined the prize. + +"Ah, my dear Banque de France, even in this light I can recognise your +charming, allegorical figures," he said with a smile. There were +thirty notes--he counted them twice, for they were moist and very +sticky. There was another paper. "This must be--" He rose to his +feet and held the paper up towards the moon. "I can't read the +writing," he murmured, "but I can see the figures--30,000. Ah, and +that is 'Genoa'! Now to whom is it payable, I wonder!" + +"What the devil are you doing?" growled Paul, sitting up with a shiver. + +"My friend, I have saved your life," observed the Captain, impressively. + +"That's no reason for robbing me," was Paul's ungrateful but logically +sound reply. + +The Captain stooped and picked up the bundle of letters. Separating +them one from another, he tore them into small fragments and scattered +them over the stream. Paul watched him, sullen but without resistance. +Dieppe turned to him. + +"You have no possible claim against the Countess," he remarked; "no +possible hold on her, Monsieur de Roustache." + +Paul finished the flask for himself this time, shivered again, and +swore pitifully. He was half-crying and cowed. "Curse the whole +business!" he said. "But she had twenty thousand francs of my money." + +The Captain addressed to him a question somewhat odd under the +circumstances. + +"On your honour as a gentleman, is that true?" he asked. + +"Yes, it's true," said Paul, with a glare of suspicion. He was not in +the mood to appreciate satire or banter; but the Captain appeared quite +grave and his manner was courteous. + +"It's beastly cold," Paul continued with a groan. + +"In a moment you shall take a run," the Captain promised. And he +pursued, "The Countess must not be in your debt. Permit me to +discharge the obligation." He counted twenty of the thirty notes and +held them out to Paul. After another stare Paul laughed feebly. + +"I am doing our friend M. Guillaume no wrong," the Captain explained. +"His employers have in their possession fifty thousand francs of mine. +I avail myself of this opportunity to reduce the balance to their +debit. As between M. Guillaume and me, that is all. As between you +and me, sir, I act for the Countess. I pay your claim at your own +figures, and since I discharge the claim I have made free to destroy +the evidence. I have thrown the letters into the river. I do not wish +to threaten, but if you 're not out of sight in ten minutes, I 'll +throw you after them." + +"If I told you all the story--" began Paul with a sneer. + +"I 'm not accustomed to listen to stories against ladies, sir," +thundered the Captain. + +"She 's had my money for a year--" + +"The Countess would wish to be most liberal, but she did not understand +that you regarded the transaction as a commercial one." He counted +five more notes and handed them to Paul with an air of careless +liberality. + +Paul broke into a grudging laugh. + +"What are you going to tell old Guillaume?" he asked. + +"I'm going to tell him that my claim against his employers is reduced +by the amount that I have had the honour to hand you, M. de Roustache. +Pardon me, but you seem to forget the remark I permitted myself to make +just now." And the Captain pointed to the river. + +Paul rose and stamped his feet on the ground; he looked at his +companion, and his surprise burst out in the question, "You really mean +to let me go with five and twenty thousand francs!" + +"I act as I am sure the lady whose name has been unavoidably mentioned +would wish to act." + +Paul stared again, then sniggered again, and pocketed his spoil. + +"Only you must understand that--that the mine is worked out, my friend. +I think your way lies there." He pointed towards the road that led up +from the ford to Sasellano. + +Still Paul lingered, seeming to wish to say something that he found +difficult to phrase. + +"I was devilish hard up," he muttered at last. + +"That is always a temptation," said the Captain, gravely. + +"A fellow does things that--that look queer. I say, would n't that odd +five thousand come in handy for yourself?" + +The Captain looked at him; almost he refused the unexpected offer +scornfully; but something in Paul's manner made him cry, quite +suddenly, almost unconsciously, "Why, my dear fellow, if you put it +that way--yes! As a loan from you to me, eh?" + +"A loan? No--I--I--" + +"Be at ease. Loan is the term we use between gentlemen--eh?" The +Captain tried to curl his moist, uncurlable moustache. + +And Paul de Roustache handed him back five thousand francs. + +"My dear fellow!" murmured the Captain, as he stowed the notes in +safety. He held out his hand; Paul de Roustache shook it and turned +away. Dieppe stood watching him as he went, making not direct for the +Sasellano road, but shaping a course straight up the hill, walking as +though he hardly knew where he was going. So he passed out of the +Captain's sight--and out of the list of the Countess of Fieramondi's +creditors. + +A little smile dwelt for a moment on Dieppe's face. + +"I myself am very nearly a rascal sometimes," said he. + +Crack! crack! The sound of a whip rang clear; the clatter of hoofs and +the grind of a wheel on the skid followed. A carriage dashed down the +hill from Sasellano. Paul de Roustache had seen it, and stooped low +for a moment in instinctive fear of being seen. Captain Dieppe, on the +other hand, cried "Bravo!" and began to walk briskly towards the ford. +"How very lucky!" he reflected. "I will beg a passage; I have no fancy +for another bath to-night." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE CARRIAGE AT THE FORD + +The direct issue between her Excellency and the innkeeper at Sasellano +had ended as all such differences (save, of course, on points of +morality) should--in a compromise. The lady would not resign herself +to staying at Sasellano; the landlord would not engage to risk +passenger, carriage, and horses in the flood. But he found and she +accepted the services of a robust, stout-built fellow who engaged with +the lady to drive her as far as the river and across it if possible, +and promised the landlord to bring her and the equipage back in case +the crossing were too dangerous. Neither party was pleased, but both +consented, hoping to retrieve a temporary concession by ultimate +victory. Moreover the lady paid the whole fare beforehand--not, the +landlord precisely stipulated, to be returned in any event. So off her +Excellency rattled in the wind and rain; and great was her triumph when +the rain ceased, the wind fell, and the night cleared. She put her +head out of the rackety old landau, whose dilapidated hood had formed a +shelter by no means water-tight, and cried, "Who was right, driver?" +But the driver turned his black cigar between his teeth, answering, +"The mischief is done already. Well, we shall see!" + +They covered eight miles in good time. They passed Paul de Roustache, +who had no thought but to avoid them, and, once they were passed, took +to the road and made off straight for Sasellano; they reached the +descent and trotted gaily down it; they came within ten yards of the +ford, and drew up sharply. The lady put her head out; the driver +dismounted and took a look at the river. + +Shaking his head, he came to the window. + +"Your Excellency can't cross to-night," said he. + +"I will," cried the lady, no less resolute now than she had been at the +inn. + +The direct issue again! And if the driver were as obstinate as he +looked, the chances of that ultimate victory inclined to the +innkeeper's side. + +"The water would be inside the carriage," he urged. + +"I 'll ride on the box by you," she rejoined. + +"It 'll be up to the horses' shoulders." + +"The horses don't mind getting wet, I suppose." + +"They 'd be carried off their feet." + +"Nonsense," said she, sharply, denying the fact since she could no +longer pooh-pooh its significance. "Are you a coward?" she exclaimed +indignantly. + +"I 've got some sense in my head," said he with a grin. + +At this moment Captain Dieppe, wishing that he were dry, that he had a +hat, that his moustache would curl, yet rising victorious over all +disadvantages by virtue of his temperament and breeding, concealing +also any personal interest that he had in the settlement of the +question, approached the carriage, bowed to its occupant, and inquired, +with the utmost courtesy, whether he could be of any service. + +"It 's of great importance to me to cross," said she, returning his +salutation. + +"It's impossible to cross," interposed the driver. + +"Nonsense; I have crossed myself," remarked Captain Dieppe. + +Both of them looked at him; he anticipated their questions or +objections. + +"Crossing on foot one naturally gets a little wet," said he, smiling. + +"I won't let my horses cross," declared the driver. The Captain eyed +him with a slightly threatening expression, but he did not like to +quarrel before a lady. + +"You 're afraid for your own skin," he said contemptuously. "Stay this +side. I 'll bring the carriage back to you." He felt in his pocket +and discovered two louis and two five-franc pieces. He handed the +former coins to the driver. "I take all the responsibility to your +master," he ended, and opening the carriage door he invited the lady to +alight. + +She was dark, tall, handsome, a woman of presence and of dignity. She +took his hand and descended with much grace. + +"I am greatly in your debt, sir," she said. + +"Ladies, madame," he replied with a tentative advance of his hand +toward his moustache, checked in time by a remembrance of the +circumstances, "confer obligations often, but can contract none." + +"I wish everybody thought as you do," said she with a deep sigh. + +"Shall I mount the box?" + +"If you please." He mounted after her, and took the reins. Cracking +the whip, he urged on the horses. + +"Body of the saints," cried the driver, stirred to emulation, "I 'll +come with you!" and he leaped up on to the top of a travelling-trunk +that was strapped behind the carriage. + +"There is more good in human nature than one is apt to think," observed +the Captain. + +"If only one knows how to appeal to it," added the lady, sighing again +very pathetically. + +Somehow, the Captain received the idea that she was in trouble. He +felt drawn to her, and not only by the sympathy which her courage and +her apparent distress excited; he was conscious of some appeal, +something in her which seemed to touch him directly and with a sort of +familiarity, although he had certainly never seen her in his life +before. He was pondering on this when one of the horses, frightened by +the noise and rush of the water, reared up, while the other made a +violent effort to turn itself, its comrade, and the carriage round, and +head back again for Sasellano. The Captain sprang up, shouted, plied +the whip; the driver stood on the trunk and yelled yet more vigorously; +her Excellency clutched the rail with her hand. And in they went. + +"The peculiarity of this stream," began the Captain, "lies not so much +in its depth as in--" + +"The strength of the current," interposed his companion, nodding. + +"You know it?" he cried. + +"Very well," she answered, and she might have said more had not the +horses at this moment chosen to follow the easiest route, and headed +directly downstream. A shriek from the driver awoke Dieppe to the +peril of the position. He plied his whip again, and did his best to +turn the animals' heads towards the opposite bank. The driver showed +his opinion of the situation by climbing on to the top of the landau. + +This step was perhaps a natural, but it was not a wise one. The roof +was not adapted to carrying heavy weights. It gave way on one side, +and in an instant the driver rolled over to the right and fell with a +mighty splash into the water just above the carriage. At the same +moment Dieppe contrived to turn the horses in the direction he aimed +at, and the carriage moved a few paces. + +"Ah, we move!" he exclaimed triumphantly. + +"The driver 's fallen off!" cried the lady in alarm. + +"I thought we seemed lighter, somehow," said Dieppe, paying no heed to +the driver's terrified shouts, but still urging on his horses. He +showed at this moment something of a soldier's recognition that, if +necessary, life must be sacrificed for victory: he had taken the same +view when he left M. Guillaume in order to pursue Paul de Roustache. + +The driver, finding cries useless, saw that he must shift for himself. +The wheel helped him to rise to his feet; he found he could stand. In +a quick turn of feeling, he called, "Courage!" Dieppe looked over at +him with a rather contemptuous smile. + +"What, have you found some down at the bottom of the river? Like truth +in the well?" he asked. "Catch hold of one of the horses, then!" He +turned to the lady. "You drive, madame?" + +"Yes." + +"Then do me the favour." He gave her the reins, with a gesture of +apology stepped in front of her, and lowered himself into the water on +the left-hand side. "Now, my friend, one of us at each of their heads, +and we do it! The whip, madame with all your might, the whip!" + +The horses made a bound; the driver dashed forward and caught one by +the bridle; the lady lashed. On his side Dieppe, clinging to a trace, +made his way forward. Both he and the driver now shouted furiously, +their voices echoing in the hills that rose from the river on either +side, and rising at last in a shout of triumph as the wheels turned, +the horses gained firm footing, and with a last spring forward landed +the carriage in safety. + +The driver swore softly and crossed himself devoutly before he fell to +a rueful study of the roof of the landau. + +"Monsieur, I am eternally indebted to you," cried the lady to Dieppe. + +"It is a reciprocal service, madame," said he. "To tell the truth, I +also had special reasons for wishing to gain this side of the river." + +She appeared a trifle embarrassed, but civility, or rather gratitude, +impelled her to the suggestion. "You are travelling my way?" she asked. + +"A thousand thanks, but I have some business to transact first." + +She seemed relieved, but she was puzzled, too. "Business? Here?" she +murmured. + +Dieppe nodded. "It will not keep me long," he added gravely. + +The driver had succeeded in restoring the top of the landau to a +precarious stability. Dieppe handed the lady down from the box-seat +and into the interior. The driver mounted his perch; the lady leant +out of the window to take farewell of her ally. + +"Every hour was of value to me," she said, with a plain touch of +emotion in her voice, "and but for you I should have been taken back to +Sasellano. We shall meet again, I hope." + +"I shall live in the hope," said he, with a somewhat excessive +gallantry--a trick of which he could not cure himself. + +The driver whipped up--he did not intend that either he or his horses, +having escaped drowning, should die of cold. The equipage lumbered up +the hill, its inmate still leaning out and waving her hand. Dieppe +watched until the party reached the zigzags and was hidden from view, +though he still heard the crack of the whip. + +"Very interesting, very interesting!" he murmured to himself. "But now +to business! Now for friend Guillaume and the Countess!" His face +fell as he spoke. With the disappearance of excitement, and the +cessation of exertion, he realised again the great sorrow that faced +him and admitted of no evasion. He sighed deeply and sought his +cigarette-case. Vain hope of comfort! His cigarettes were no more +than a distasteful pulp. He felt forlorn, very cold, very hungry, +also; for it was now between nine and ten o'clock. His heart was heavy +as he prepared to mount the hill and finish his evening's work. He +must see Guillaume; he must see the Countess; and then-- + +"Ah!" he cried, and stooped suddenly to the ground. A bright object +lay plain and conspicuous on the road which had grown white again as it +dried in the sharp wind. It was an oval locket of gold, dropped there, +a few yards from the ford. It lay open--no doubt the jar of the fall +accounted for that--face downwards. The Captain picked it up and +examined it. He said nothing; his usual habit of soliloquy failed him +for the moment; he looked at it, then round at the landscape. For the +moonlight showed him a picture in the locket, and enabled him to make +out a written inscription under it. + +"What?" breathed he at last. "Oh, I can't believe it!" He looked +again. "Oh, if that 's the lie of the land, my friend!" He smiled; +then, in an apparent revulsion of feeling, he frowned angrily, and even +shook his fist downstream, perhaps intending the gesture for some one +in the village. Lastly, he shook his head sadly, and set off up the +hill in the wake of the now vanished carriage; as he went, he whistled +in a soft and meditative way. But before he started, he had assured +himself that he in his turn had not dropped anything, and that M. +Guillaume's partially depleted portfolio was still safe in his pocket, +side by side with his own precious papers. And he deposited the locket +he had found with these other valued possessions. + +A few minutes' walking brought him to the Cross. The exercise had +warmed him, the threatened stiffness of cold had passed; he ran lightly +up the hill and down into the basin. There was no sign of M. +Guillaume. The Captain, rather vexed, for he had business with that +gentleman,--an explanation of a matter which touched his own honour to +make, and an account which intimately concerned M. Guillaume to +adjust,--entered the hut. In an instant his hand was grasped in an +appealing grip, and the voice he loved best in the world (there was no +blinking the fact, whatever might be thought of the propriety), cried, +"Ah, you 're safe?" + +"How touching that is!" thought the Captain. "She has a hundred causes +for anxiety, but her first question is, 'You're safe?'" This was she +whom he renounced, and this was she whom the Count of Fieramondi +deceived. What were her trifling indiscretions beside her husband's +infamy--the infamy betrayed and proved by the picture and inscription +in the locket? + +"I am safe, and you are safe," said he, returning the pressure of her +hand. "And where is our friend outside?" + +"I don't know--I lay hidden till I heard him go. I don't know where he +went. What do you mean by saying I'm safe?" + +"I have got rid of Paul de Roustache. He 'll trouble you no more." + +"What?" Wonder and admiration sparkled in her eyes. Because he was +enabled to see them, Dieppe was grateful to her for having replaced and +relighted his candle. "Yes, I was afraid in the dark," she said, +noticing his glance at it. "But it 's almost burnt out. We must be +quick. Is the trouble with M. de Roustache really over?" + +"Absolutely." + +"And we owe it to you? But you--why, you 're wet!" + +"It's not surprising," said he, smiling. "There 's a flood in the +river, and I have crossed it twice." + +"What did you cross the river for?" + +"I had to escort M. de Roustache across, and he 's a bad swimmer. He +jumped in, and--" + +"You saved his life?" + +"Don't reproach me, my friend. It is an instinct; and--er--he carried +the pocket-book of our friend outside; and the pocket-book had my money +in it, you know." + +"Your money? I thought you had only fifty francs?" + +"The money due to me, I should say. Fifty thousand francs." The +Captain unconsciously assumed an air of some importance as he mentioned +this sum. "So I was bound to pursue friend Paul," he ended. + +"It was dangerous?" + +"Oh, no, no," he murmured. "Coming back, though, was rather +difficult," he continued. "The carriage was very heavy, and we had +some ado to--" + +"The carriage! What carriage?" she cried with eagerness. + +"Oddly enough, I found a lady travelling--from Sasellano, I understood; +and I had the privilege of aiding her to cross the ford." Dieppe spoke +with a calculated lightness. + +"A lady--a lady from Sasellano? What sort of a lady? What was she +like?" + +The Captain was watching her closely. Her agitation was unmistakable. +Did she know, did she suspect, anything? + +"She was tall, dark, and dignified in appearance. She spoke slowly, +with a slight drawl--" + +"Yes, yes!" + +"And she was very eager to pursue her journey. She must have come by +here. Did n't you hear the wheels?" + +"No--I--I--was n't thinking." But she was thinking now. The next +instant she cried, "I must go, I must go at once." + +"But where?" + +"Why, back home, of course! Where else should I go? Oh, I may be too +late!" + +Unquestionably she knew something--how much the Captain could not tell. +His feelings may be imagined. His voice was low, and very +compassionate as he asked: + +"You 'll go home? When she 's there? At least, if I conclude +rightly--" + +"Yes, I must go. I must get there before she sees Andrea, otherwise, +all will be lost." + +For the instant her agitation seemed to make her forget Dieppe's +presence, or what he might think of her manner. Now she recovered +herself. "I mean--I mean--I want to speak to her. I must tell her--" + +"Tell her nothing. Confront her with that." And the Captain produced +the gold locket with an air of much solemnity. + +His action did not miss its effect. She gazed at the locket in +apparent bewilderment. + +"No, don't open it," he added hastily. + +"Where did you get it?" + +"She dropped it by the river. It was open when I picked it up." + +"Why, it 's the locket-- How does it open?" She was busy looking for +the spring. + +"I implore you not to open it!" he cried, catching her hand and +restraining her. + +"Why?" she asked, pausing and looking up at him. + +The question and the look that accompanied it proved too great a strain +for Dieppe's self-control. Now he caught both her hands in his as he +said: + +"Because I can't bear that you should suffer. Because I love you too +much." + +Without a doubt it was delight that lit up her, eyes now, but she +whispered reprovingly, "Oh, you! You the ambassador." + +"I had n't seen that locket when I became his ambassador." + +"Let go my hands." + +"Indeed I can't," urged the Captain. But she drew them away with a +sharp motion that he could not resist, and before he could say or do +more to stop her she had opened the locket. + +"As I thought," she cried, hurriedly reclasping it and turning to him +in eager excitement; "I must go, indeed I must go at once!" + +"Alone?" asked Captain Dieppe, with a simple, but effective eloquence. + +At least it appeared very effective. She came nearer to him and, of +her own accord now, laid her hands in his. Shyness and pleasure +struggled in her eyes as she fixed them on his face. + +"I shall see you again," she murmured. + +"How?" he asked. + +"Why, you 're coming back--back to the Castle?" she cried eagerly. The +doubt of his returning thither seemed to fill her with dismay. + +The Captain's scruples gave way. Perhaps it was the locket that +undermined them, perhaps that look to her eyes, and the touch of her +hands as they rested in his. + +"I will do anything you bid me," he whispered. + +"Then come once again." She paused. "Because I--I don't want to say +good-bye just now." + +"If I come, will it be to say good-bye?" + +"That shall be as you wish," she said. + +It seemed to Dieppe that no confession could have been more ample, yet +none more delicately reserved in the manner of its utterance. His +answer was to clasp her in his arms and kiss her lips. But in an +instant he released her, in obedience to the faint, yet sufficient, +protest of her hands pressing him away. + +"Come in an hour," she whispered, and, turning, left him and passed +from the hut. + +For a moment or two he stood where he was, devoured by many conflicting +feelings. But his love, once obedient to the dictates of friendship +and the unyielding limits of honour, would not be denied now. How had +the Count of Fieramondi now any right to invoke his honour, or to +appeal to his friendship? Gladly, as a man will, the Captain seized on +another's fault to excuse his own. + +"I will go again--in an hour--and I will not say good-bye," he +declared, as he flung himself down on one of the trusses of straw and +prepared to wait till it should be time for him to set out. + +The evening had been so full of surprises, so prolific of turns of +fortune good and evil, so bountiful of emotions and changeful feelings, +that he had little store of surprise left wherewith to meet any new +revolution of the wheel. Nevertheless it was with something of a start +that he raised his head again from the straw on which he had for a +moment reclined, and listened intently. There had been a rustle in the +straw; he turned his head sharply to the left. But he had misjudged +the position whence the noise came. From behind the truss of straw to +his right there rose the figure of a man. Monsieur Guillaume stood +beside him, his head tied round with a handkerchief, but his revolver +in his hand. The Captain's hand flew towards his breast-pocket. + +"You 'll particularly oblige me by not moving," said Monsieur +Guillaume, with a smile. + +Of a certainty a man should not mingle love and business, especially, +perhaps, when neither the love nor the business can be said properly to +belong to him. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE STRAW IN THE CORNER + +There was nothing odd in M. Guillaume's presence, however little the +lady or the Captain had suspected it. The surprise he gave was a +reprisal for that which he had suffered when, after the Captain's exit, +he had recovered his full faculties and heard a furtive movement within +the hut. It was the inspiration and the work of a moment to raise +himself with an exaggerated effort and a purposed noise, and to take +his departure with a tread heavy enough to force itself on the ears of +the unknown person inside. But he did not go far. To what purpose +should he, since it was vain to hope to overtake the Captain or Paul de +Roustache? Some one was left behind; then, successful or unsuccessful, +the Captain would return--unless Paul murdered him, a catastrophe which +would be irremediable, but was exceedingly unlikely. Guillaume mounted +to the top of the eminence and flung himself down in the grass; thence +he crawled round the summit, descended again with a stealthiness in +striking contrast to his obtrusive ascent, and lay down in the dark +shadow of the hut itself. In about twenty minutes his patience was +rewarded: the lady came out,--she had forgotten to mention this little +excursion to the Captain,--mounted the rise, looked round, and walked +down towards the Cross. Presumably she was looking for a sight of +Dieppe. In a few minutes she returned. Guillaume was no longer lying +by the hut, but was safe inside it under the straw. She found Dieppe's +matches, relighted the candle, and sat down in the doorway with her +back to the straw. Thus each had kept a silent vigil until the Captain +returned to the rendezvous. Guillaume felt that he had turned a rather +unpromising situation to very good account. He was greatly and +naturally angered with Paul de Roustache: the loss of his portfolio was +grievous. But the Captain was his real quarry; the Captain's papers +would more than console him for his money; and he had a very pretty +plan for dealing with the Captain. + +Nothing was to be gained by sitting upright. In a moment Dieppe +realised this, and sank back on his truss of straw. He glanced at +Guillaume's menacing weapon, and thence at Guillaume himself. "Your +play, my friend," he seemed to say. He knew the game too well not to +recognise and accept its chances. But Guillaume was silent. + +"The hurt to your head is not serious or painful, I hope?" Dieppe +inquired politely. Still Guillaume maintained a grim and ominous +silence. The Captain tried again. "I trust, my dear friend," said he +persuasively, "that your weapon is intended for strictly defensive +purposes?" The candle had burnt almost down to the block on which it +rested (the fact did not escape Dieppe), but it served to show +Guillaume's acid smile. "What quarrel have we?" pursued the Captain, +in a conciliatory tone. "I 've actually been engaged on your business, +and got confoundedly wet over it too." + +"You 've been across the river then?" asked Guillaume, breaking his +silence. + +"It 's not my fault--the river was in my way," Dieppe answered a little +impatiently. "As for you, why do you listen to my conversation?" + +"With the Countess of Fieramondi? Ah, you soldiers! You were a little +indiscreet there, my good Captain. But that's not my business." + +"Your remark is very just," agreed Dieppe. "I 'll give that candle +just a quarter of an hour," he was thinking. + +"Except so far as I may be able to turn it to my purposes. Come, we +know one another, Captain Dieppe." + +"We have certainly met in the course of business," the Captain conceded +with a touch of hauteur, as he shifted the truss a little further under +his right shoulder. + +"I want something that you have," said Guillaume, fixing his eyes on +his companion. Dieppe's were on the candle. "Listen to me," commanded +Guillaume, imperiously. + +"I have really no alternative," shrugged the Captain. "But don't make +impossible propositions. And be brief. It 's late; I 'm hungry, cold, +and wet." + +Guillaume smiled contemptuously at this useless bravado, for such it +seemed to him. It did not occur to his mind that Dieppe had anything +to gain--or even a bare chance of gaining anything--by protracting the +conversation. But in fact the Captain was making observations--first +of the candle, secondly of the number and position of the trusses of +straw. + +"Are you in a position to call any proposition impossible?" Guillaume +asked. + +"It's quite true that I can't make use of my revolver," agreed the +Captain. "But on the other hand you don't, I presume, intend to murder +me? Would n't that be exceeding your instructions!" + +"I don't know as to that--I might be forgiven. But of course I +entertain no such desire. Captain, I 've an idea that you 're in +possession of my portfolio." + +"What puts that into your head?" inquired the Captain in a rather +satirical tone. + +"From what you said to the Countess I--" + +"Ah, I find it so hard to realise that you actually committed that +breach of etiquette," murmured Dieppe, reproachfully. + +"And that perhaps--I say only perhaps--you have made free with the +contents. For it seems you 've got rid of Paul de Roustache. Well, I +will not complain--" + +"Ah?" said the Captain with a movement of interest. + +"But if I lose my money, I must have my money's worth." + +"That 's certainly what one prefers when it's possible," smiled the +Captain, indulgently. + +"To put it briefly--" + +"As briefly as you can, pray," cried Dieppe; but the candle burnt +steadily still, and brevity was the last thing that he desired. + +"Give me your papers and you may keep the portfolio." + +The Captain's indignation at this proposal was extreme; indeed, it led +him to sit upright again, to fix his eyes on the candle, and to talk +right on end for hard on five minutes--in fact as long as he could find +words--on the subject of his honour as a gentleman, as a soldier, as a +Frenchman, as a friend, as a confidential agent, and as a loyal +servant. Guillaume did not interrupt him, but listened with a smile of +genuine amusement. + +"Excellent!" he observed, as the Captain sank back exhausted. "A most +excellent preamble for your explanation of the loss, my dear Captain. +And you will add at the end that, seeing all this, it cannot be doubted +that you surrendered these papers only under absolute compulsion, and +not the least in the world for reasons connected with my portfolio." + +"My words were meant to appeal to your own better feelings," sighed the +Captain in a tone of despairing reproach. + +"You betray the Count of Fieramondi, your friend; why not betray your +employers also?" + +For a moment there was a look in the Captain's eye which seemed to +indicate annoyance, but the next instant he smiled. + +"As if there were any parallel!" said he. "Matters of love are +absolutely different, my good friend." Then he went on very +carelessly, "The candle 's low. Why don't you light your lantern?" + +"That rascal Paul threw it away, and I had n't time to get it." No +expression, save a mild concern, appeared on Captain Dieppe's face, +although he had discovered a fact of peculiar interest to him. "The +candle will last as long as we shall want it," pursued Guillaume. + +"Very probably," agreed the Captain, with a languid yawn; again he +shifted his straw till the bulk of it was under his right shoulder, and +he lay on an incline that sloped down to the left. "And you 'll kill +me and take my papers, eh?" he inquired, turning and looking up at +Guillaume. He could barely see his enemy's face now, for the candle +guttered and sputtered, while the moon, high in heaven, threw light on +the dip of the hill outside, but did little or nothing to relieve the +darkness within the hut. + +"No, I shall not murder you. You 'll give them to me, I 'm sure." + +"And if I refuse, dear M. Guillaume?" + +"I shall invite you to accompany me to the village--or, more strictly, +to precede me." + +"What should we do together in the village?" cried Dieppe. + +"I shall beg of you to walk a few paces in front of me,--just a +few,--to go at just the pace I go, and to remember that I carry a +revolver in my hand." + +"My memory would be excellent on such a point," the Captain assured +him. "But, again, why to the village?" + +"We should go together to the office of the police. I am on good terms +with the police." + +"Doubtless. But what have they to do with me? Come, come, my matter +is purely political, they would n't mix themselves up in it." + +"I should charge you with the unlawful possession of my portfolio. You +would admit it, or you would deny it. In either case your person would +be searched, the papers would be found, and I, who am on such friendly +terms with the police, should certainly enjoy an excellent opportunity +of inspecting them. You perceive, my dear Captain, that I have thought +it out." + +"It's neat, certainly," agreed the Captain, who was not a little +dismayed at this plan of Guillaume's. "But I should not submit to the +search." + +"Ah! Now how would you prevent it?" + +"I should send for my friend the Count. He has influence; he would +answer for me." + +"What, when he hears my account of your interview with his wife?" Old +Guillaume played this card with a smile of triumph. "I told you that +the little affair might perhaps be turned to my purposes," he reminded +Dieppe, maliciously. + +The Captain reflected, taking as long as he decently could over the +task. Indeed he was in trouble. Guillaume's scheme was sagacious, +Guillaume's position very strong. And at last Guillaume grew +impatient. But still the persistent candle burnt. + +"I give you one minute to make up your mind," said Guillaume, dropping +his tone of sarcastic pleasantry, and speaking in a hard, sharp voice. +"After that, either you give me the papers, or you get up and march +before me to the village." + +"If I refuse to do either?" + +"You can't refuse," said Guillaume. + +"You mean--?" + +"I should order you to hold your hands behind your back while I took +the papers. If you moved--" + +"Thank you. I see," said the Captain, with a nod of understanding. +"Awkward for you, though, if it came to that." + +"Oh, I think not very, in view of your dealings with my portfolio." + +"I 'm in a devil of a hole," admitted the Captain, candidly. + +"Time's up," announced M. Guillaume, slowly raising the barrel of his +revolver, and taking aim at the Captain. For the candle still burnt, +although dimly and fitfully, and still there was light to guide the +bullet on its way. + +"It's all up!" said the Captain. "But, deuce take it, it's hardly the +way to treat a gentleman!" Even as he spoke the light of the candle +towered for a second in a last shoot of flame, and then went out. + +At the same moment the Captain rolled down the incline of straw on +which he had been resting, rose on his knees an instant, seized the +truss and flung it at Guillaume, rolled under the next truss, seized +that in like manner and propelled it against the enemy, and darted +again to shelter. "Stop, or I fire," cried Guillaume; he was as good +as his word the next minute, but the third truss caught him just as he +aimed, and his bullet flew against and was buried in the planking of +the roof. By now, the Captain was escaping from under the fourth +truss, and making for the fifth. Guillaume, dimly seeing the fourth +truss not thrown, but left in its place, discharged another shot at it. +The fifth truss caught him in the side and drove him against the wooden +block. He turned swiftly in the direction whence the missile came, and +fired again. He was half dazed, his eyes and ears seemed full of the +dust of the straw. He fired once again at random, swearing savagely; +and before he could recover aim his arm was seized from behind, his +neck was caught in a vigorous garotte, and he fell on the floor of the +hut with Captain Dieppe on the top of him--Dieppe, dusty, dirty, +panting, bleeding freely from a bullet graze on the top of the left +ear, and with one leg of his trousers slit from ankle to knee by a +rusty nail, that had also ploughed a nasty furrow up his leg. But now +he seized Guillaume's revolver, and dragged the old fellow out of the +hut. Then he sat down on his chest, pinning his arms together on the +ground above his head. + +"You enjoyed playing your mouse just a trifle too long, old cat," said +he. + +Guillaume lay very still, exhausted, beaten, and defenceless. Dieppe +released his hands, and, rising, stood looking down at him. A smile +came on his face. + +"We are now in a better position to adjust our accounts fairly," he +observed, as he took from his pocket M. Guillaume's portfolio. +"Listen," he commanded; and Guillaume turned weary but spiteful eyes to +him. "Here is your portfolio. Take it. Look at it." + +Guillaume sat up and obeyed the command. + +"Well?" asked Dieppe, when the examination was ended. + +"You have robbed me of twenty-five thousand francs." + +The Captain looked at him for a moment with a frown. But the next +instant he smiled. + +"I must make allowances for the state of your temper," he remarked. +"But I wish you would carry all your money in notes. That draft, now, +is no use to me. Hence"--he shrugged his shoulders regretfully--"I am +obliged to leave your Government still no less than twenty-five +thousand francs in debt to me." + +"What!" cried Guillaume, with a savage stare. + +"Oh, yes, you know that well. They have fifty thousand which certainly +don't belong to them, and certainly do to me." + +"That money 's forfeited," growled Guillaume. + +"If you like, then, I forfeit twenty-five thousand of theirs. But I +allow it in account with them. The debt now stands reduced by half." + +"I 'll get it back from you somehow," threatened Guillaume, who was +helpless, but not cowed. + +"That will be difficult. I gave it to Paul de Roustache to discharge a +claim he had on me." + +"To Paul de Roustache?" + +"Yes. It 's true he lent me five thousand again; but that 's purely +between him and me. And I shall have spent it long before you can even +begin to take steps to recover it." He paused a moment and then added, +"If you still hanker after your notes, I should recommend you to find +your friend and accomplice, M. Paul." + +"Where is he?" + +"Who can tell? I saw him last on the road across the river--it leads +to Sasellano, I believe." Dieppe kept his eye on his vanquished +opponent, but Guillaume threatened no movement. The Captain dropped +the revolver into his pocket, stooped to pull up a tuft of grass with +moist earth adhering to it, and, with the help of his handkerchief, +made a primitive plaster to stanch the bleeding of his ear. As he was +so engaged, the sound of wheels slowly climbing the hill became audible +from the direction of the village. + +"You see," he went on, "you can't return to the village--you are on too +good terms with the police. Let me advise you to go to Sasellano; the +flood will be falling by now, and I should n't wonder if we could find +you a means of conveyance." He jerked his thumb over his shoulder +towards the road behind him. + +"I can't go back to the village?" demanded Guillaume, sullenly. + +"In my turn I must beg you to remember that I now carry a revolver. +Come, M. Guillaume, we 've played a close hand, but the odd trick 's +mine. Go back and tell your employers not to waste their time on me. +No, nor their money. They have won the big stake; let them be content. +And again let me remind you that Paul de Roustache has your twenty +thousand francs. I don't think you 'll get them from him, but you +might. From me you 'll get nothing; and if you try the law--oh, think, +my friend, how very silly you and your Government will look!" + +As he spoke he went up to Guillaume and took him by the arm, exerting a +friendly and persuasive pressure, under which Guillaume presently found +himself mounting the eminence. The wheels sounded nearer now, and +Dieppe's ears were awake to their movements. The pair began to walk +down the other side of the slope towards the Cross, and the carriage +came into their view. It was easy of identification: its broken-down, +lopsided top marked it beyond mistake. + +An instant later Dieppe recognised the burly figure of the driver, who +was walking by his horses' heads. + +"Wonderfully convenient!" he exclaimed. "This fellow will carry you to +Sasellano without delay." + +Guillaume did not--indeed could not--refuse to obey the prompting of +the Captain's arm, but he grumbled as he went. + +"I made sure of getting your papers," he said. + +"Unlooked-for difficulties will arise, my dear M. Guillaume." + +"I thought the reward was as good as in my pocket." + +"The reward?" The Captain stopped and looked in his companion's face +with some amusement and a decided air of gratification. "There was a +reward? Oh, I am important, it seems!" + +"Five thousand francs," said Guillaume, sullenly. + +"They rate me rather cheap," exclaimed the Captain, his face falling. +"I should have hoped for five-and-twenty." + +"Would you? If it had been that, I should have brought three men with +me." + +"Hum!" said the Captain. "And you gave me a stiff job by yourself, +eh?" He turned and signalled to the driver, who had now reached the +Cross: + +"Wait a moment there, my friend." Then he turned back again to +Guillaume. "Get into the carriage--go to Sasellano; catch Paul if you +can, but leave me in peace," he said, and, diving into his pocket, he +produced the five notes of a thousand francs which Paul de Roustache, +in some strange impulse of repentance, or gratitude, had handed to him. +"What you tell your employers," he added, "I don't care. This is a +gift from me to you. The deuce, I reward effort as well as success--I +am more liberal than your Government." The gesture with which he held +out the notes was magnificent. + +Guillaume stared at him in amazement, but his hand went out towards the +notes. + +"I am free to do what I can at Sasellano?" + +"Yes, free to do anything except bother me. But I think your bird will +have flown." + +Guillaume took the notes and hid them in his pocket; then he walked +straight up to the driver, crying, "How much to take me with you to +Sasellano?" + +The driver looked at him, at Dieppe, and then down towards the river. + +"Come, the flood will be less by now; the river will be falling," said +Dieppe. + +"Fifty francs," said the driver, and Guillaume got in. + +"Good!" said the Captain to himself. "A pretty device! And that +scoundrel's money did n't lie comfortably in the pocket of a +gentleman." He waved his hand to Guillaume and was about to turn away, +when the driver came up to him and spoke in a cautious whisper, first +looking over his shoulder to see whether his new fare were listening; +but Guillaume was sucking at a flask. + +"I have a message for you," he said. + +"From the lady you carried--?" + +"To the Count of Fieramondi's." + +"Ah, you took her there?" The Captain frowned heavily. + +"Yes, and left her there. But it's not from her; it's from another +lady whom I had n't seen before. She met me just as I was returning +from the Count's, and bade me look out for you by the Cross--" + +"Yes, yes?" cried Dieppe, eagerly. "Give me the message." For his +thoughts flew back to the Countess at the first summons. + +The driver produced a scrap of paper, carelessly folded, and gave it to +him. + +Dieppe ran to the carriage and read the message by the light of its dim +and smoky lamp: + +"I think I am in time. Come; I wait for you. Whatever you see, keep +Andrea in the dark. If you are discreet, all will be well, and I--I +shall be very grateful." + +The driver mounted the box, the carriage rolled off down the hill, +Dieppe was left by the Cross, with the message in his hand. He did not +understand the situation. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE JOURNEY TO ROME + +It was about ten o'clock--or, it may be, nearer half-past ten--the same +night when two inhabitants of the village received very genuine, yet +far from unpleasant, shocks of surprise. + +The first was the parish priest. He was returning from a visit to the +bedside of a sick peasant and making his way along the straggling +street towards his own modest dwelling, which stood near the inn, when +he met a tall stranger of most dilapidated appearance, whose clothes +were creased and dirty, and whose head was encircled by a stained and +grimy handkerchief. He wore no hat; his face was disfigured with +blotches of an ugly colour and, maybe, an uglier significance; his +trousers were most atrociously rent and tattered; he walked with a +limp, and shivered in the cold night air. This unpromising-looking +person approached the priest and addressed him with an elaborate +courtesy oddly out of keeping with his scarecrow-like appearance, but +with words appropriate enough to the figure that he cut. + +"Reverend father," said he, "pardon the liberty I take, but may I beg +of your Reverence's great kindness--" + +"It 's no use begging of me," interrupted the priest hurriedly, for he +was rather alarmed. "In the first place, I have nothing; in the +second, mendicancy is forbidden by the regulations of the commune." + +The wayfarer stared at the priest, looked down at his own apparel, and +then burst into a laugh. + +"Begging forbidden, eh?" he exclaimed. "Then the poor must need +voluntary aid!" He thrust his hand into his pocket and brought out two +French five-franc pieces. "For the poor, father," he said, pressing +them into the priest's hand. "For myself, I was merely about to ask +you the time of night." And before the astonished priest could make +any movement the stranger passed on his way, humming a soft, and +sentimental tune. + +"He was certainly mad, but he undoubtedly gave me ten francs," said the +priest to his friend the innkeeper, the next day. + +"I wish," growled the innkeeper, "that somebody would give me some +money to pay for what those two runaway rogues who lodged here had of +me, their baggage is worth no more than half what they 've cost me, and +I 'll lay odds I never clap eyes on them again." + +And in this suspicion the innkeeper proved, in the issue, to be +absolutely right, about the value of the luggage there is, however, +more room for doubt. + +The second person who suffered a surprise was no less a man than the +Count of Fieramondi himself. But how this came about needs a little +more explanation. + +In that very room through whose doorway Captain Dieppe had first beheld +the lady whom he now worshipped with a devotion as ardent as it was +unhappy, there were now two ladies engaged in conversation. One sat in +an arm-chair, nursing the yellow cat of which mention has been made +earlier in this history; the other walked up and down with every +appearance of weariness, trouble, and distress on her handsome face. + +"Oh, the Bishop was just as bad as the banker," she cried fretfully, +"and the banker was just as silly as the Bishop. The Bishop said that, +although he might have considered the question of giving me absolution +from a vow which I had been practically compelled to take, he could +hold out no prospect of my getting it beforehand for taking a vow which +I took with no other intention than that of breaking it." + +"I told you he 'd say that before you went," observed the lady in the +arm-chair, who seemed to be treating the situation with a coolness in +strong contrast to her companion's agitation. + +"And the banker said that although, if I had actually spent fifty +thousand lire more than I possessed, he would have done his best to see +how he could extricate me from the trouble, he certainly would not help +me to get fifty thousand for the express purpose of throwing them away." + +"I thought the banker would say that," remarked the other lady, +caressing the cat. + +"And they both advised me to take my husband's opinion on the matter. +My husband's opinion!" Her tone was bitter and tragic indeed. "I +suppose they 're right," she said, flinging herself dejectedly into a +chair. "I must tell Andrea everything. Oh, and he 'll forgive me!" + +"Well, I should think it's rather nice being forgiven." + +"Oh, no, not by Andrea!" The faintest smile flitted for an instant +across her face. "Oh, no, Andrea does n't forgive like that. His +forgiveness is very--well, horribly biblical, you know. Oh, I 'd +better not have gone to Rome at all!" + +"I never saw any good in your going to Rome, you know." + +"Yes, I must tell him everything. Because Paul de Roustache is sure to +come and--" + +"He 's come already," observed the second lady, calmly. + +"What? Come?" + +The other lady set down the cat, rose to her feet, took out of her +pocket a gold ring and a gold locket, walked over to her companion, and +held them out to her. "These are yours, are n't they?" she inquired, +and broke into a merry laugh. The sight brought nothing but an +astonished stare and a breathless ejaculation-- + +"Lucia!" + +The two ladies drew their chairs close together, and a long +conversation ensued, Lucia being the chief narrator, while her +companion, whom she addressed from time to time as Emilia, did little +more than listen and throw in exclamations of wonder, surprise, or +delight. + +"How splendidly you kept the secret!" she cried once. And again, "How +lucky that he should be here!" And again, "I thought he looked quite +charming." And once again, "But, goodness, what a state the poor man +must be in! How could you help telling him, Lucia?" + +"I had promised," said Lucia, solemnly, "and I keep my promises, +Emilia." + +"And that man has positively gone?" sighed Emilia, taking no notice of +a rather challenging emphasis which Lucia had laid on her last remark. + +"Yes, gone for good--I 'm sure of it. And you need n't tell Andrea +anything. Just take all the vows he asks you to! But he won't now; +you see he wants a reconciliation as much as you do." + +"I shall insist on taking at least one vow," said Emilia, with a +virtuous air. She stopped and started. "But what in the world am I to +say about you, my dear?" she asked. + +"Say I 've just come back from Rome, of course," responded Lucia. + +"If he should find out--" + +"It 's very unlikely, and at the worst you must take another vow, +Emilia. But Andrea 'll never suspect the truth unless--" + +"Unless what?" + +"Unless Captain Dieppe lets it out, you know." + +"It would be better if Captain Dieppe did n't come back, I think," +observed Emilia, thoughtfully. + +"Well, of all the ungrateful women!" cried Lucia, indignantly. But +Emilia sprang up and kissed her, and began pressing her with all sorts +of questions, or rather with all sorts of ways of putting one question, +which made her blush very much, and to which she seemed unable, or +unwilling, to give any definite reply. At last Emilia abandoned the +attempt to extract an admission, and observed with a sigh of +satisfaction: + +"I think I 'd better see Andrea and forgive him." + +"You 'll change your frock first, won't you, dear?" cried Lucia. It +was certainly not desirable that Emilia should present herself to the +Count in the garments she was then wearing. + +"Yes, of course. Will you come with me to Andrea?" + +"No. Send for me, presently--as soon as it occurs to you that I 've +just come back from Rome, you know, and should be so happy to hear of +your reconciliation." + +Half an hour later,--for the change of costume had to be radical, since +there is all the difference in the world between a travelling-dress and +an easy, negligent, yet elegant, toilette suggestive of home and the +fireside, and certainly not of wanderings,--the Count of Fieramondi got +his shock of surprise in the shape of an inquiry whether he were at +leisure to receive a visit from the Countess. + +Yet his surprise, great as it was at a result at once so prosperous and +so speedy, did not prevent him from drawing the obvious inference. His +thoughts had already been occupied with Captain Dieppe. It was now +half-past ten; he had waited an hour for dinner, and then eaten it +alone in some disquietude; as time went on he became seriously uneasy, +and had considered the despatch of a search expedition. If his friend +did not return in half an hour, he had declared, he himself would go +and look for him; and he had requested that he should be informed the +moment the Captain put in an appearance. But, alas! what is +friendship--even friendship reinforced by gratitude--beside love? As +the poets have often remarked, in language not here to be attained, its +power is insignificant, and its claims go to the wall. On fire with +the emotions excited by the Countess's message, the Count forgot both +Dieppe and all that he owed to Dieppe's intercession; the matter went +clean out of his head for the moment. He leapt up, pushed away the +poem on which he had been trying to concentrate his mind, and cried +eagerly: + +"I 'm at the Countess's disposal. I 'll wait on her at once." + +"The Countess is already on her way here," was the servant's answer. + +The first transports of joy are perhaps better left in a sacred +privacy. Indeed the Count was not for much explanation, or for many +words. What need was there? The Countess acquiesced in his view with +remarkable alacrity; the fewer words there were, and especially, +perhaps, the fewer explanations, the easier and more gracious was her +part. She had thought the matter over, there in the solitude to which +her Andrea's cruelty had condemned her: and, yes, she would take the +oath--in fact any number of oaths--to hold no further communication +whatever with Paul de Roustache. + +"Ah, your very offer is a reproach to me," said the Count, softly. "I +told you that now I ask no oath, that your promise was enough, that--" + +"You told me?" exclaimed the Countess, with some appearance of surprise. + +"Why, yes. At least I begged Dieppe to tell you in my name. Did n't +he?" + +For a moment the Countess paused, engaged in rapid calculations, then +she said sweetly: + +"Oh, yes, of course! But it's not the same as hearing it from your own +lips, Andrea." + +"Where did you see him?" asked the Count. "Did he pass the barricade? +Ah, we 'll soon have that down, won't we?" + +"Oh, yes, Andrea; do let 's have it down, because--" + +"But where did you and Dieppe have your talk?" + +"Oh--oh--down by the river, Andrea." + +"He found you there?" + +"Yes, he found me there, and--and talked to me." + +"And gave you back the ring?" inquired the Count, tenderly. + +The Countess took it from her pocket and handed it to her husband. "I +'d rather you 'd put it on yourself," she said. + +The Count took her hand in his and placed the ring on her finger. It +fitted very well, indeed. There could be no doubt that it was made for +the hand on which it now rested. The Count kissed it as he set it +there. + +At last, however, he found time to remember the obligations he was +under to his friend. + +"But where can our dear Dieppe be?" he cried. "We owe so much to him." + +"Yes, we do owe a lot to him," murmured the Countess. "But, Andrea--" + +"Indeed, my darling, we must n't forget him. I must--" + +"No, we must n't forget him. Oh, no, we won't. But, Andrea, I--I 've +got another piece of news for you." The Countess spoke with a little +timidity, as if she were trying delicate ground, and were not quite +sure of her footing. + +"More news? What an eventful night!" + +He took his wife's hand. Away went all thoughts of poor Dieppe again. + +"Yes, it's so lucky, happening just to-night. Lucia has come back! An +hour ago!" + +"Lucia come back!" exclaimed the Count, gladly. "That's good news, +indeed." + +"It 'll delight her so much to find us--to find us like this again, +Andrea." + +"Yes, yes, we must send for her. Is she in her room? And where has +she come from?" + +"Rome," answered the Countess, again in a rather nervous way. + +"Rome!" cried the Count in surprise. "What took her to Rome?" + +"She does n't like to be asked much about it," began the Countess, with +a prudent air. + +"I 'm sure I don't want to pry into her affairs, but--" + +"No, I knew you would n't want to do that, Andrea." + +"Still, my dear, it 's really a little odd. She left only four days +ago. Now she 's back, and--" + +The Count broke off, looking rather distressed. Such proceedings, +accompanied by such mystery, were not, to his mind, quite the proper +thing for a young and unmarried lady. + +"I won't ask her any questions," he went on, "but I suppose she 's told +you, Emilia?" + +"Oh, yes, she 's told me," said the Countess, hastily. + +"And am I to be excluded from your confidence?" + +The Countess put her arms round his neck. + +"Well, you know, Andrea," said she, "you do sometimes scoff at +religion--well, I mean you talk rather lightly sometimes, you know." + +"Oh, she went on a religious errand, did she?" + +"Yes," the Countess answered in a more confident tone. "She +particularly wanted to consult the Bishop of Mesopotamia. She believes +in him very much. Oh, so do I. I do believe, Andrea, that if you knew +the Bishop of--" + +"My dear, I don't want to know the Bishop of Mesopotamia; but Lucia is +perfectly at liberty to consult him as much as she pleases. I don't +see any need for mystery." + +"No, neither do I," murmured the Countess. "But dear Lucia is--is so +sensitive, you know." + +"I remember seeing him about Rome very well. I must ask Lucia whether +he still wears that--" + +"Really, the less you question Lucia about her journey the better, dear +Andrea," said the Countess, in a tone which was very affectionate, but +also marked by much decision. And there can be no doubt she spoke the +truth, from her own point of view, at least. "Would n't it be kind to +send for her now?" she added. In fact the Countess found this +interview, so gratifying and delightful in its main aspect, rather +difficult in certain minor ways, and Lucia would be a convenient ally. +It was much better, too, that they should talk about one another in one +another's presence. That is always more straightforward; and, in this +case, it would minimise the chances of a misunderstanding in the +future. For instance, if Lucia showed ignorance about the Bishop of +Mesopotamia--! "Do let's send for Lucia," the Countess said again, +coaxingly; and the Count, after a playful show of unwillingness to end +their tete-a-tete, at last consented. + +But here was another difficulty--Lucia could not be found. The right +wing was searched without result; she was nowhere. On the chance, +unlikely indeed but possible, that she had taken advantage of the new +state of things, they searched the left wing too--with an equal absence +of result. Lucia was nowhere in the house; so it was reported. The +Count was very much surprised. + +"Can she have gone out at this time of night?" he cried. + +The Countess was not much surprised. She well understood how Lucia +might have gone out a little way--far enough, say, to look for Captain +Dieppe, and make him aware of how matters stood. But she did not +suggest this explanation to her husband; explanations are to be avoided +when they themselves require too much explaining. + +"It's very fine now," said she, looking out of the window. "Perhaps +she's just gone for a turn on the road." + +"What for?" asked the Count, spreading out his hands in some +bewilderment. + +The Countess, in an extremity, once more invoked the aid of the Bishop +of Mesopotamia. + +"Perhaps, dear," she said gently, "to think it over--to reflect in +quiet on what she has learnt and been advised." And she added, as an +artistic touch, "To think it over under the stars, dear Andrea." + +The Count, betraying a trifle of impatience, turned to the servant. + +"Run down the road," he commanded, "and see if the Countess Lucia is +anywhere about." He returned to his wife's side. "One good thing +about it is that we can have our talk out," said he. + +"Yes, but let 's leave the horrid past and talk about the future," +urged the Countess, with affection--and no doubt with wisdom also. + +The servant, who in obedience to the Count's order ran down the road +towards the village, did not see the Countess Lucia. That lady, +mistrusting the explicitness of her hurried note, had stolen out into +the garden, and was now standing hidden in the shadow of the barricade, +straining her eyes down the hill towards the river and the +stepping-stones. There lay the shortest way for the Captain to +return--and of course, she had reasoned, he would come the shortest +way. She did not, however, allow for the Captain's pardonable +reluctance to get wet a third time that night. He did not know the +habits of the river, and he distrusted the stepping-stones. After his +experience he was all for a bridge. Moreover he did not hurry back to +the Castle; he had much to think over, and no inviting prospect lured +him home on the wings of hope. What hope was there? What hope of +happiness either for himself or for the lady whom he loved? If he +yielded to his love, he wronged her--her and his own honour. If he +resisted, he must renounce her--aye, and leave her, not to a loving +husband, but to one who deceived her most grossly and most cruelly, in +a way which made her own venial errors seem as nothing in the Captain's +partial, pitying eyes. In the distress of these thoughts he forgot his +victories: how he had disposed of Paul de Roustache, how he had +defeated M. Guillaume, how his precious papers were safe, and even how +the Countess was freed from all her fears. It was her misery he +thought of now, not her fears. For she loved him. And in his inmost +heart he knew that he must leave her. + +Yes; in the recesses of his heart he knew what true love for her and a +true regard for his own honour alike demanded. But he did not mean +that, because he saw this and was resolved to act on it, the Count +should escape castigation. Before he went, before he left behind him +what was dearest in life, and again took his way alone, unfriended, +solitary (penniless too, if he had happened to remember this), he would +speak his mind to the Count, first in stinging reproaches, later in the +appeal that friendship may make to honour; and at the last he would +demand from the Count, as the recompense for his own services, an utter +renunciation and abandonment of the lady who had dropped the locket by +the ford, of her whom the driver had carried to the door of the house +which the Countess of Fieramondi honoured with her gracious presence. +In drawing a contrast between the Countess and this shameless woman the +last remembrance of the Countess's peccadilloes faded from his +indignant mind. He quickened his pace a little, as a man does when he +has reached a final decision. He crossed the bridge, ascended the hill +on which the Castle stood, and came opposite to the little gate which +the Count himself had opened to him on that first happy--or +unhappy--night on which he had become an inmate of the house. + +Even as he came to it, it opened, and the Count's servant ran out. In +a moment he saw Dieppe and called to him loudly and gladly. + +"Sir, sir, my master is most anxious about you. He feared for your +safety." + +"I 'm safe enough," answered Dieppe, in a gloomy tone. + +"He begs your immediate presence, sir. He is in the dining-room." + +Dieppe braced himself to the task before him. + +"I will follow you," he said; and passing the gate he allowed the +servant to precede him into the house. "Now for what I must say!" he +thought, as he was conducted towards the dining-room. + +The servant had been ordered to let the Count know the moment that +Captain Dieppe returned. How obey these orders more to the letter than +by ushering the Captain himself directly into the Count's presence? He +threw open the door, announcing-- + +"Captain Dieppe!" and then withdrawing with dexterous quickness. + +Captain Dieppe had expected nothing good. The reality was worse than +his imagining The Count sat on a sofa, and by him, with her arms round +his neck, was the lady whom Dieppe had escorted across the ford on the +road from Sasellano. The Captain stood still just within the doorway, +frowning heavily. Sadly he remembered the Countess's letter. Alas, it +was plain enough that she had not come in time! + +Just at this moment the servant, having seen nothing of Countess Lucia +on the road, decided, as a last resort, to search the garden for her +Ladyship. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE LUCK OF THE CAPTAIN + +It is easy to say that the Captain should not have been so shocked, and +that it would have been becoming in him to remember his own +transgression committed in the little hut in the hollow of the hill. +But human nature is not, as a rule at least, so constituted that the +immediate or chief effect of the sight of another's wrong-doing is to +recall our own. The scene before him outraged all the Captain's ideas +of how his neighbours ought to conduct themselves, and (perhaps a more +serious thing) swept away all memory of the caution contained in the +Countess's letter. + +The Count rose with a smile, still holding the Countess by the hand. + +"My dear friend," he cried, "we 're delighted to see you. But what? +You 've been in the wars!" + +Dieppe made no answer. His stare attracted his host's attention. + +"Ah," he pursued, with a laugh, "you wonder to see us like this? We +are treating you too much _en famille_! But indeed you ought to be +glad to see it. We owe it almost all to you. No, she would n't be +here but for you, my friend. Would you, dear?" + +"No, I--I don't suppose I should." + +Did they refer to Dieppe's assisting her across the ford? If he had +but known-- + +"Come," urged the Count, "give me your hand, and let my wife and me--" + +"What?" cried the Captain, loudly, in unmistakable surprise. + +The Count looked from him to the Countess. The Countess began to +laugh. Her husband seemed as bewildered as Dieppe. + +"Oh, dear," laughed the Countess, "I believe Captain Dieppe did n't +know me!"' + +"Did n't know you?" + +"He 's only seen me once, and then in the dark, you know. Oh, what did +you suspect? But you recognise me now? You will believe that I really +am Andrea's wife?" + +The Captain could not catch the cue. It meant to him so complete a +reversal of what he had so unhesitatingly believed, such an utter +upsetting of all his notions. For if this were in truth the Countess +of Fieramondi, why, who was the other lady? His want of quickness +threatened at last to ruin the scheme which he had, although +unconsciously, done so much to help; for the Count was growing puzzled. + +"I--I--Of course I know the Countess of Fieramondi," stammered Dieppe. + +The Countess held out her hand gracefully. There could, at least, be +little harm in kissing it. Dieppe walked across the room and paid his +homage. As he rose from this social observance he heard a voice from +the doorway saying: + +"Are n't you glad to see me, Andrea?" + +The Captain shot round in time to see the Count paying the courtesy +which he had himself just paid--and paying it to a lady whom he did +know very well. The next instant the Count turned to him, saying: + +"Captain, let me present you to my wife's cousin, the Countess Lucia +Bonavia d'Orano. She has arrived to-night from Rome. How did you +leave the Bishop of Mesopotamia, Lucia?" + +But the Countess interposed very quickly. + +"Now, Andrea, you promised me not to bother Lucia about her journey, +and especially not about the Bishop. You don't want to talk about it, +do you, Lucia?" + +"Not at all," said Lucia, and the Count laughed rather mockingly. "And +you need n't introduce me to Captain Dieppe, either," she went on. "We +'ve met before." + +"Met before?" The Count turned to Dieppe. "Why, where was that?" + +"At the ford over the river." It was Lucia now who interposed. "He +helped me across. Oh, I 'll tell you all about it." + +She began her narrative, which she related with particular fulness. +For a while Dieppe watched her. Then he happened to glance towards the +Countess. He found that lady's eyes set on him with an intentness full +of meaning. The Count's attention was engrossed by Lucia. Emilia gave +a slight but emphatic nod. A slow smile dawned on Captain Dieppe's +face. + +"Indeed," ended Lucia, "I 'm not at all sure that I don't owe my life +to Captain Dieppe." And she bestowed on the Captain a very kindly +glance. The Count turned to speak to his wife. Lucia nodded sharply +at the Captain. + +"You were--er--returning from Rome?" he asked. + +"From visiting the Bishop of Mesopotamia," called the Countess. + +"Yes," said Lucia. "I should never have got across but for you." + +"But tell me about yourself, Dieppe," said the Count. "You 're really +in a sad state, my dear fellow." + +The Captain felt that the telling of his story was ticklish work. The +Count sat down on the sofa; the two ladies stood behind it, their eyes +were fixed on the Captain in warning glances. + +"Well, I got a message from a fellow to-night to meet him on the hill +outside the village--by the Cross there, you know. I fancied I knew +what he wanted, so I went." + +"That was after you parted from me, I suppose?" asked Emilia. + +"Yes," said the Captain, boldly. "It was as I supposed. He was after +my papers. There was another fellow with him. I--I don't know who--" + +"Well, I daresay he did n't mention his name," suggested Lucia. + +"No, no, he did n't," agreed the Captain, hastily. "I knew only +Guillaume--and that name 's an alias of a certain M. Sevier, a police +spy, who had his reasons for being interested in me. Well, my dear +friend, Guillaume tried to bribe me. Then with the aid of--" Just in +time the Captain checked himself--"of the other rascal he--er--attacked +me--" + +"All this was before you met me, I suppose?" inquired Lucia. + +"Certainly, certainly," assented the Captain. "I had been pursuing the +second fellow. I chased him across the river--" + +"You caught him!" cried the Count. + +"No. He escaped me and made off in the direction of Sasellano." + +"And the first one--this Guillaume?" + +"When I got back he was gone," said the Captain. "But I bear marks of +a scratch which he gave me, you perceive." + +He looked at the Count. The Count appeared excellently well satisfied +with the story. He looked at the ladies; they were smiling and nodding +approval. + +"Deuce take it," thought the Captain, "I seem to have hit on the right +lies by chance!" + +"All ends most happily," cried the Count. "Happily for you, my dear +friend, and most happily for me. And here is Lucia with us again too! +In truth it 's a most auspicious evening. I propose that we allow +Lucia time to change her travelling-dress, and Dieppe a few moments to +wash off the stains of battle, and then we 'll celebrate the joyous +occasion with a little supper." + +The Count's proposal met with no opposition--least of all from Dieppe, +who suddenly remembered that he was famished. + +The next morning, the garden of the Castle presented a pleasing sight. +Workmen were busily engaged in pulling down the barricade, while the +Count and Countess sat on a seat hard by. Sometimes they watched the +operations, sometimes the Count read in a confidential and tender voice +from a little sheaf of papers which he held in his hand. When he +ceased reading, the Countess would murmur, "Beautiful!" and the Count +shake his head in a poet's affectation of dissatisfaction with his +verse. Then they would fall to watching the work of demolition again. +At last the Count remarked: + +"But where are Lucia and our friend Dieppe?" + +"Walking together down there by the stream," answered the Countess. +And, after a pause, she turned to him, and, in a very demure fashion, +hazarded a suggestion. "Do you know, Andrea, I think Lucia and Captain +Dieppe are inclined to take to one another very much?" + +"It 's an uncommonly sudden attachment," laughed the Count. + +"Yes," agreed his wife, biting her lip. "It 's certainly sudden. But +consider in what an interesting way their acquaintance began! Do you +know anything about him?" + +"I know he 's a gentleman, and a clever fellow," returned the Count. +"And from time to time he makes some money, I believe." + +"Lucia's got some money," mused the Countess. + +Down by the stream they walked, side by side, showing indeed (as the +Countess remarked) every sign of taking to one another very much. + +"You really think we shall hear no more of Paul de Roustache?" asked +Lucia. + +"I 'm sure of it; and I think M. Guillaume will let me alone too. +Indeed there remains only one question." + +"What's that?" asked Lucia. + +"How you are going to treat me," said the Captain. "Think what I have +suffered already!" + +"I could n't help that," she cried. "My word was absolutely pledged to +Emilia. 'Whatever happens,' I said to her, 'I promise I won't tell +anybody that I 'm not the Countess.' If I had n't promised that, she +could n't have gone to Rome at all, you know. She 'd have died sooner +than let Andrea think she had left the Castle." + +"You remember what you said to her. Do you remember what you said to +me?" + +"When?" + +"When we talked in the hut in the hollow of the hill. You said you +would be all that you could be to me." + +"Did I say as much as that? And when I was Countess of Fieramondi! +Oh!" + +"Yes, and you let me do something--even when you were Countess of +Fieramondi, too!" + +"That was not playing the part well." + +The Captain looked just a little doubtful, and Lucia laughed. + +"Anyhow," said he, "you 're not Countess of Fieramondi now." + +She looked up at him. + +"You 're a very devout young lady," he continued, "who goes all the way +to Rome to consult the Bishop of Mesopotamia. Now, that"--the Captain +took both her hands in his--"is exactly the sort of wife for me." + +"Monsieur le Capitaine, I have always thought you a courageous man, and +now I am sure of it. You have seen--and aided--all my deceit; and now +you want to marry me!" + +"A man can't know his wife too well," observed the Captain. "Come, let +me go and communicate my wishes to Count Andrea." + +"What? Why, you only met me for the first time last night!" + +"Oh, but I can explain--" + +"That you had previously fallen in love with the Countess of +Fieramondi? For your own sake and ours too--" + +"That's very true," admitted the Captain. "I must wait a little, I +suppose." + +"You must wait to tell Andrea that you love me, but--" + +"Precisely!" cried the Captain. "There is no reason in the world why +I should wait to tell you." + +And then and there he told her again in happiness the story which had +seemed so tragic when it was wrung from him in the shepherd's hut. + +"Undoubtedly, I am a very fortunate fellow," he cried, with his arm +round Lucia's waist. "I come to this village by chance. By chance I +am welcomed here instead of having to go to the inn. By chance I am +the means of rescuing a charming lady from a sad embarrassment. I am +enabled to send a rascal to the right-about. I succeed in preserving +my papers. I inflict a most complete and ludicrous defeat on that +crafty old fellow, Guillaume Sevier! And, by heaven! when I do what +seems the unluckiest thing of all, when, against my will, I fall in +love with my dear friend's wife, when my honour is opposed to my +happiness, when I am reduced to the saddest plight--why, I say, by +heaven, she turns out not to be his wife at all! Lucia, am I not born +under a lucky star?" + +"I think I should be very foolish not to--to do my best to share your +luck," said she. + +"I am the happiest fellow in the world," he declared. "And that," he +added, as though it were a rare and precious coincidence, "with my +conscience quite at peace." + +Perhaps it is rare, and perhaps the Captain's conscience had no right +to be quite at peace. For certainly he had not told all the truth to +his dear friend, the Count of Fieramondi. Yet since no more was heard +of Paul de Roustache, and the Countess's journey remained an unbroken +secret, these questions of casuistry need not be raised. After all, is +it for a man to ruin the tranquillity of a home for the selfish +pleasure of a conscience quite at peace? + +But as to the consciences of those two very ingenious young ladies, the +Countess of Fieramondi, and her cousin, Countess Lucia, the problem is +more difficult. The Countess never confessed, and Lucia never +betrayed, the secret. Yet they were both devout! Indeed, the problem +seems insoluble. + +Stay, though! Perhaps the counsel and aid of the Bishop of Mesopotamia +(_in partibus_) were invoked again. His lordship's position, that you +must commit your sin before you can be absolved from the guilt of it, +not only appears most logical in itself, but was, in the circumstances +of the case, not discouraging. + + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Captain Dieppe, by Anthony Hope + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CAPTAIN DIEPPE *** + +***** This file should be named 28935.txt or 28935.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/9/3/28935/ + +Produced by Al Haines + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +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 + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/28935.zip b/28935.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c380f2a --- /dev/null +++ b/28935.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1d04a4a --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #28935 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/28935) |