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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/35661-8.txt b/35661-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1a4c402 --- /dev/null +++ b/35661-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,14377 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Mysterious Mr. Sabin, by E. Phillips Oppenheim + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Mysterious Mr. Sabin + +Author: E. Phillips Oppenheim + +Release Date: March 23, 2011 [EBook #35661] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MYSTERIOUS MR. SABIN *** + + + + +Produced by D Alexander and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + + + + + + + + + + THE WORKS OF + E. PHILLIPS + OPPENHEIM + + MYSTERIOUS MR. SABIN + + McKINLAY, STONE & MACKENZIE + + NEW YORK + + + + + _Copyright, 1905_, + + BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY. + + _All rights reserved_ + + + + + [Illustration: "The girl's face shone like a piece of delicate + statuary" (_page 37_). + [_Frontispiece_.] + + + + +CONTENTS + + + CHAP. PAGE + + I. A SUPPER PARTY AT THE "MILAN" 7 + II. A DRAMA OF THE PAVEMENT 13 + III. THE WARNING OF FELIX 22 + IV. AT THE RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR'S 30 + V. THE DILEMMA OF WOLFENDEN 39 + VI. A COMPACT OF THREE 46 + VII. WHO IS MR. SABIN? 52 + VIII. A MEETING IN BOND STREET 61 + IX. THE SHADOWS THAT GO BEFORE 69 + X. THE SECRETARY 76 + XI. THE FRUIT THAT IS OF GOLD 83 + XII. WOLFENDEN'S LUCK 92 + XIII. A GREAT WORK 104 + XIV. THE TEMPTING OF MR. BLATHERWICK 111 + XV. THE COMING AND GOING OF MR. FRANKLIN WILMOT 118 + XVI. GENIUS OR MADNESS? 126 + XVII. THE SCHEMING OF GIANTS 132 + XVIII. "HE HAS GONE TO THE EMPEROR!" 141 + XIX. WOLFENDEN'S LOVE-MAKING 146 + XX. FROM A DIM WORLD 155 + XXI. HARCUTT'S INSPIRATION 167 + XXII. FROM THE BEGINNING 177 + XXIII. MR. SABIN EXPLAINS 186 + XXIV. THE WAY OF THE WOMAN 193 + XXV. A HANDFUL OF ASHES 199 + XXVI. MR. BLATHERWICK AS ST. ANTHONY 207 + XXVII. BY CHANCE OR DESIGN 213 + XXVIII. A MIDNIGHT VISITOR 220 + XXIX. "IT WAS MR. SABIN" 227 + XXX. THE GATHERING OF THE WAR-STORM 234 + XXXI. "I MAKE NO PROMISE" 242 + XXXII. THE SECRET OF MR. SABIN'S NIECE 253 + XXXIII. MR. SABIN TRIUMPHS 263 + XXXIV. BLANCHE MERTON'S LITTLE PLOT 269 + XXXV. A LITTLE GAME OF CARDS 276 + XXXVI. THE MODERN RICHELIEU 287 + XXXVII. FOR A GREAT STAKE 295 + XXXVIII. THE MEN WHO SAVED ENGLAND 304 + XXXIX. THE HEART OF THE PRINCESS 314 + XL. THE WAY TO PAU 319 + XLI. MR. AND MRS. WATSON OF NEW YORK 327 + XLII. A WEAK CONSPIRATOR 333 + XLIII. THE COMING OF THE "KAISER WILHELM" 341 + XLIV. THE GERMANS ARE ANNOYED 346 + XLV. MR. SABIN IN DANGER 353 + XLVI. MR. WATSON IS ASTONISHED 358 + XLVII. A CHARMED LIFE 363 + XLVIII. THE DOOMSCHEN 368 + XLIX. MR. SABIN IS SENTIMENTAL 374 + L. A HARBOUR TRAGEDY 378 + LI. THE PERSISTENCE OF FELIX 383 + LII. MRS. JAMES B. PETERSON, OF LENOX 388 + + + + +MYSTERIOUS MR. SABIN + + + + +CHAPTER I + +A SUPPER PARTY AT THE "MILAN." + + +"To all such meetings as these!" cried Densham, lifting his champagne +glass from under the soft halo of the rose-shaded electric lights. "Let +us drink to them, Wolfenden--Mr. Felix!" + +"To all such meetings!" echoed his _vis-à-vis_, also fingering the +delicate stem of his glass. "An excellent toast!" + +"To all such meetings as these!" murmured the third man, who made up the +little party. "A capital toast indeed!" + +They sat at a little round table in the brilliantly-lit supper-room of +one of London's most fashionable restaurants. Around them were the usual +throng of well dressed men, of women with bare shoulders and flashing +diamonds, of dark-visaged waiters, deft, silent, swift-footed. The +pleasant hum of conversation, louder and more unrestrained as the hour +grew towards midnight, was varied by the popping of corks and many +little trills of feminine laughter. Of discordant sounds there were +none. The waiters' feet fell noiselessly upon the thick carpet, the +clatter of plates was a thing unheard of. From the balcony outside came +the low, sweet music of a German orchestra played by master hands. + +As usual the place was filled. Several late-comers, who had neglected to +order their table beforehand, had already, after a disconsolate tour of +the room, been led to one of the smaller apartments, or had driven off +again to where the lights from the larger but less smart Altoné flashed +out upon the smooth, dark waters of the Thames. Only one table was as +yet unoccupied, and that was within a yard or two of the three young men +who were celebrating a chance meeting in Pall Mall so pleasantly. It was +laid for two only, and a magnificent bunch of white roses had, a few +minutes before, been brought in and laid in front of one of the places +by the director of the rooms himself. A man's small visiting-card was +leaning against a wineglass. The table was evidently reserved by some +one of importance, for several late-comers had pointed to it, only to be +met by a decided shake of the head on the part of the waiter to whom +they had appealed. As time went on, this empty table became the object +of some speculation to the three young men. + +"Our neighbours," remarked Wolfenden, "are running it pretty fine. Can +you see whose name is upon the card, Densham?" + +The man addressed raised an eyeglass to his left eye and leaned forward. +Then he shook his head, he was a little too far away. + +"No! It is a short name. Seems to begin with S. Probably a son of +Israel!" + +"His taste in flowers is at any rate irreproachable," Wolfenden +remarked. "I wish they would come. I am in a genial mood, and I do not +like to think of any one having to hurry over such an excellent supper." + +"The lady," Densham suggested, "is probably theatrical, and has to dress +after the show. Half-past twelve is a barbarous hour to turn us out. I +wonder----" + +"Sh-sh!" + +The slight exclamation and a meaning frown from Wolfenden checked his +speech. He broke off in the middle of his sentence, and looked round. +There was the soft swish of silk passing his chair, and the faint +suggestion of a delicate and perfectly strange perfume. At last the +table was being taken possession of. A girl, in a wonderful white +dress, was standing there, leaning over to admire the great bunch of +creamy-white blossoms, whilst a waiter respectfully held a chair for +her. A few steps behind came her companion, an elderly man who walked +with a slight limp, leaning heavily upon a stick. She turned to him and +made some remark in French, pointing to the flowers. He smiled, and +passing her, stood for a moment leaning slightly upon the back of his +chair, waiting, with a courtesy which was obviously instinctive, until +she should have seated herself. During the few seconds which elapsed +before they were settled in their places he glanced around the room with +a smile, slightly cynical, but still good-natured, parting his thin, +well-shaped lips. Wolfenden and Densham, who were looking at him with +frank curiosity, he glanced at carelessly. The third young man of the +party, Felix, was bending low over his plate, and his face was hidden. + +The buzz of conversation in their immediate vicinity had been +temporarily suspended. Every one who had seen them enter had been +interested in these late-comers, and many curious eyes had followed +them to their seats. Briefly, the girl was beautiful and the man +distinguished. When they had taken their places, however, the hum of +conversation recommenced. Densham and Wolfenden leaned over to one +another, and their questions were almost simultaneous. + +"Who are they?" + +"Who is she?" + +Alas! neither of them knew; neither of them had the least idea. Felix, +Wolfenden's guest, it seemed useless to ask. He had only just arrived in +England, and he was a complete stranger to London. Besides, he did not +seem to be interested. He was proceeding calmly with his supper, with +his back directly turned upon the new-comers. Beyond one rapid, upward +glance at their entrance he seemed almost to have avoided looking at +them. Wolfenden thought of this afterwards. + +"I see Harcutt in the corner," he said. "He will know who they are for +certain. I shall go and ask him." + +He crossed the room and chatted for a few minutes with a noisy little +party in an adjacent recess. Presently he put his question. Alas! not +one of them knew! Harcutt, a journalist of some note and a man who +prided himself upon knowing absolutely everybody, was as helpless as +the rest. To his humiliation he was obliged to confess it. + +"I never saw either of them before in my life," he said. "I cannot +imagine who they can be. They are certainly foreigners." + +"Very likely," Wolfenden agreed quietly. "In fact, I never doubted it. +An English girl of that age--she is very young by the bye--would never +be so perfectly turned out." + +"What a very horrid thing to say, Lord Wolfenden," exclaimed the woman +on whose chair his hand was resting. "Don't you know that dressing is +altogether a matter of one's maid? You may rely upon it that that girl +has found a treasure!" + +"Well, I don't know," Wolfenden said, smiling. "Young English girls +always seem to me to look so dishevelled in evening dress. Now this girl +is dressed with the art of a Frenchwoman of mature years, and yet with +the simplicity of a child." + +The woman laid down her lorgnettes and shrugged her shoulders. + +"I agree with you," she said, "that she is probably not English. If she +were she would not wear such diamonds at her age." + +"By the bye," Harcutt remarked with sudden cheerfulness, "we shall be +able to find out who the man is when we leave. The table was reserved, +so the name will be on the list at the door." + +His friends rose to leave and Harcutt, making his adieux, crossed the +room with Wolfenden. + +"We may as well have our coffee together," he said. "I ordered Turkish +and I've been waiting for it ten minutes. We got here early. Hullo! +where's your other guest?" + +Densham was sitting alone. Wolfenden looked at him inquiringly. + +"Your friend Felix has gone," he announced. "Suddenly remembered an +engagement with his chief, and begged you to excuse him. Said he'd look +you up to-morrow." + +"Well, he's an odd fellow," Wolfenden remarked, motioning Harcutt to the +vacant place. "His looks certainly belie his name." + +"He's not exactly a cheerful companion for a supper party," Densham +admitted, "but I like his face. How did you come across him, Wolfenden, +and where does he hail from?" + +"He's a junior attaché at the Russian Embassy," Wolfenden said, stirring +his coffee. "Only just been appointed. Charlie Meynell gave him a line +of introduction to me; said he was a decent sort, but mopish! I looked +him up last week, met him in Pall Mall just as you came along, and asked +you both to supper. What liqueurs, Harcutt?" + +The conversation drifted into ordinary channels and flowed on steadily. +At the same time it was maintained with a certain amount of difficulty. +The advent of these two people at the next table had produced an +extraordinary effect upon the three men. Harcutt was perhaps the least +affected. He was a young man of fortune and natural gifts, who had +embraced journalism as a career, and was really in love with his +profession. Partly on account of his social position, which was +unquestioned, and partly because his tastes tended in that direction, +he had become the recognised scribe and chronicle of smart society. His +pen was easy and fluent. He was an inimitable maker of short paragraphs. +He prided himself upon knowing everybody and all about them. He could +have told how much a year Densham, a rising young portrait painter, +was making from his profession, and exactly what Wolfenden's allowance +from his father was. A strange face was an annoyance to him; too, a +humiliation. He had been piqued that he could not answer the eager +questions of his own party as to these two people, and subsequently +Wolfenden's inquiries. The thought that very soon at any rate their name +would be known to him was, in a sense, a consolation. The rest would be +easy. Until he knew all about them he meant to conceal so far as +possible his own interest. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +A DRAMA OF THE PAVEMENT + + +The pitch of conversation had risen higher, still mingled with the +intermittent popping of corks and the striking of matches. Blue wreaths +of cigarette smoke were curling upwards--a delicate feeling of "abandon" +was making itself felt amongst the roomful of people. The music grew +softer as the babel of talk grew in volume. The whole environment became +tinged with a faint but genial voluptuousness. Densham was laughing over +the foibles of some mutual acquaintance; Wolfenden leaned back in his +chair, smoking a cigarette and sipping his Turkish coffee. His eyes +scarcely left for a moment the girl who sat only a few yards away from +him, trifling with a certain dainty indifference with the little dishes, +which one after the other had been placed before her and removed. He had +taken pains to withdraw himself from the discussion in which his friends +were interested. He wanted to be quite free to watch her. To him she was +certainly the most wonderful creature he had ever seen. In every one +of her most trifling actions she seemed possessed of an original and +curious grace, even the way she held her silver fork, toyed with her +serviette, raised her glass to her lips and set it down again--all these +little things she seemed to him to accomplish with a peculiar and +wonderful daintiness. Of conversation between her companion and herself +there was evidently very little, nor did she appear to expect it. He +was enjoying his supper with the moderation and minute care for trifles +which denote the epicure, and he only spoke to her between the courses. +She, on the other hand, appeared to be eating scarcely anything. At +last, however, the waiter set before her a dish in which she was +evidently interested. Wolfenden recognised the pink frilled paper and +smiled. She was human enough then to care for ices. She bent over it +and shrugged her shoulders--turning to the waiter who was hovering near, +she asked a question. He bowed and removed the plate. In a moment or two +he reappeared with another. This time the paper and its contents were +brown. She smiled as she helped herself--such a smile that Wolfenden +wondered that the waiter did not lose his head, and hand her pepper and +salt instead of gravely filling her glass. She took up her spoon and +deliberately tasted the contents of her plate. Then she looked across +the table, and spoke the first words in English which he had heard from +her lips-- + +"Coffee ice. So much nicer than strawberry!" + +The man nodded back. + +"Ices after supper are an abomination," he said. "They spoil the flavour +of your wine, and many other things. But after all, I suppose it is +waste of time to tell you so! A woman never understands how to eat until +she is fifty." + +She laughed, and deliberately finished the ice. Just as she laid down +the spoon, she raised her eyes quietly and encountered Wolfenden's. He +looked away at once with an indifference which he felt to be badly +assumed. Did she know, he wondered, that he had been watching her like +an owl all the time? He felt hot and uncomfortable--a veritable +schoolboy at the thought. He plunged into the conversation between +Harcutt and Densham--a conversation which they had been sustaining with +an effort. They too were still as interested in their neighbours, +although their positions at the table made it difficult for either to +observe them closely. + +When three men are each thinking intently of something else, it is not +easy to maintain an intelligent discussion. Wolfenden, to create a +diversion, called for the bill. When he had paid it, and they were ready +to depart, Densham looked up with a little burst of candour-- + +"She's wonderful!" he exclaimed softly. + +"Marvellous!" Wolfenden echoed. + +"I wonder who on earth they can possibly be," Harcutt said almost +peevishly. Already he was being robbed of some part of his contemplated +satisfaction. It was true that he would probably find the man's name on +the table-list at the door, but he had a sort of presentiment that the +girl's personality would elude him. The question of relationship between +the man and the girl puzzled him. He propounded the problem and they +discussed it with bated breath. There was no likeness at all! Was there +any relationship? It was significant that although Harcutt was a +scandalmonger and Wolfenden somewhat of a cynic, they discussed it with +the most profound respect. Relationship after all of some sort there +must be. What was it? It was Harcutt who alone suggested what to +Wolfenden seemed an abominable possibility. + +"Scarcely husband and wife, I should think," he said thoughtfully, "yet +one never can tell!" + +Involuntarily they all three glanced towards the man. He was well +preserved and his little imperial and short grey moustache were trimmed +with military precision, yet his hair was almost white, and his +age could scarcely be less than sixty. In his way he was quite as +interesting as the girl. His eyes, underneath his thick brows, were dark +and clear, and his features were strong and delicately shaped. His hands +were white and very shapely, the fingers were rather long, and he wore +two singularly handsome rings, both set with strange stones. By the +side of the table rested the stick upon which he had been leaning during +his passage through the room. It was of smooth, dark wood polished like +a malacca cane, and set at the top with a curious, green, opalescent +stone, as large as a sparrow's egg. The eyes of the three men had each +in turn been arrested by it. In the electric light which fell softly +upon the upper part of it, the stone seemed to burn and glow with a +peculiar, iridescent radiance. Evidently it was a precious possession, +for once when a waiter had offered to remove it to a stand at the other +end of the room, the man had stopped him sharply and drawn it a little +closer towards him. + +Wolfenden lit a fresh cigarette, and gazed thoughtfully into the little +cloud of blue smoke. + +"Husband and wife," he repeated slowly. "What an absurd idea! More +likely father and daughter!" + +"How about the roses?" Harcutt remarked. "A father does not as a rule +show such excellent taste in flowers!" + +They had finished supper. Suddenly the girl stretched out her left hand +and took a glove from the table. Wolfenden smiled triumphantly. + +"She has no wedding-ring," he exclaimed softly. + +Then Harcutt, for the first time, made a remark for which he was never +altogether forgiven--a remark which both the other men received in +chilling silence. + +"That may or may not be a matter for congratulation," he said, twirling +his moustache. "One never knows!" + +Wolfenden stood up, turning his back upon Harcutt and pointedly ignoring +him. + +"Let us go, Densham," he said. "We are almost the last." + +As a matter of fact his movement was made at exactly the right time. +They could scarcely have left the room at the same moment as these two +people, in whom manifestly they had been taking so great an interest. +But by the time they had sent for their coats and hats from the +cloak-room, and Harcutt had coolly scrutinised the table-list, they +found themselves all together in a little group at the head of the +stairs. + +Wolfenden, who was a few steps in front, drew back to allow them to +pass. The man, leaning upon his stick, laid his hand upon the girl's +sleeve. Then he looked up at the man, and addressed Wolfenden directly. + +"You had better precede us, sir," he said; "my progress is unfortunately +somewhat slow." + +Wolfenden drew back courteously. + +"We are in no hurry," he said. "Please go on." + +The man thanked him, and with one hand upon the girl's shoulder and +with the other on his stick commenced to descend. The girl had passed +on without even glancing towards them. She had twisted a white lace +mantilla around her head, and her features were scarcely visible--only +as she passed, Wolfenden received a general impression of rustling white +silk and lace and foaming tulle as she gathered her skirts together at +the head of the stairs. It seemed to him, too, that the somewhat close +atmosphere of the vestibule had become faintly sweet with the delicate +fragrance of the white roses which hung by a loop of satin from her +wrist. + +The three men waited until they had reached the bend of the stairs +before they began to descend. Harcutt then leaned forward. + +"His name," he whispered, "is disenchanting. It is Mr. Sabin! Whoever +heard of a Mr. Sabin? Yet he looks like a personage!" + +At the doors there was some delay. It was raining fast and the +departures were a little congested. The three young men still kept +in the background. Densham affected to be busy lighting a cigarette, +Wolfenden was slowly drawing on his gloves. His place was almost in a +line with the girl's. He could see the diamonds flashing in her fair +hair through the dainty tracery of the drooping white lace, and in a +moment, through some slight change in her position, he could get a +better view of her face than he had been able to obtain even in the +supper-room. She was beautiful! There was no doubt about that! But there +were many beautiful women in London, whom Wolfenden scarcely pretended +to admire. This girl had something better even than supreme beauty. +She was anything but a reproduction. She was a new type. She had +originality. Her hair was dazzlingly fair; her eyebrows, delicately +arched, were high and distinctly dark in colour. Her head was perfectly +shaped--the features seemed to combine a delightful piquancy with a +somewhat statuesque regularity. Wolfenden, wondering of what she in some +manner reminded him, suddenly thought of some old French miniatures, +which he had stopped to admire only a day or two before, in a little +curio shop near Bond Street. There was a distinct dash of something +foreign in her features and carriage. It might have been French, or +Austrian--it was most certainly not Anglo-Saxon! + +The crush became a little less, they all moved a step or two +forward--and Wolfenden, glancing carelessly outside, found his attention +immediately arrested. Just as he had been watching the girl, so was a +man, who stood on the pavement side by side with the commissionaire, +watching her companion. He was tall and thin; apparently dressed in +evening clothes, for though his coat was buttoned up to his chin, he +wore an opera hat. His hands were thrust into the loose pockets of his +overcoat, and his face was mostly in the shadows. Once, however, he +followed some motion of Mr. Sabin's and moved his head a little forward. +Wolfenden started and looked at him fixedly. Was it fancy, or was there +indeed something clenched in his right hand there, which gleamed +like silver--or was it steel--in the momentary flash of a passing +carriage-light? Wolfenden was puzzled. There was something, too, which +seemed to him vaguely familiar in the man's figure and person. He was +certainly waiting for somebody, and to judge from his expression his +mission was no pleasant one. Wolfenden who, through the latter part +of the evening, had felt a curious and unwonted sense of excitement +stirring his blood, now felt it go tingling through all his veins. He +had some subtle prescience that he was on the brink of an adventure. He +glanced hurriedly at his two companions; neither of them had noticed +this fresh development. + +Just then the commissionaire, who knew Wolfenden by sight, turned round +and saw him standing there. Stepping back on to the pavement, he called +up the brougham, which was waiting a little way down the street. + +"Your carriage, my lord," he said to Wolfenden, touching his cap. + +Wolfenden, with ready presence of mind, shook his head. + +"I am waiting for a friend," he said. "Tell my man to pass on a yard or +two." + +The man bowed, and the danger of leaving before these two people, in +whom his interest now was becoming positively feverish, was averted. As +if to enhance it, a singular thing now happened. The interest suddenly +became reciprocal. At the sound of Wolfenden's voice the man with the +club foot had distinctly started. He changed his position and, leaning +forward, looked eagerly at him. His eyes remained for a moment or two +fixed steadily upon him. There was no doubt about the fact, singular in +itself though it was. Wolfenden noticed it himself, so did both Densham +and Harcutt. But before any remark could pass between them a little +_coupé_ brougham had drawn up, and the man and the girl started forward. + +Wolfenden followed close behind. The feeling which prompted him to do +so was a curious one, but it seemed to him afterwards that he had even +at that time a conviction that something unusual was about to happen. +The girl stepped lightly across the carpeted way and entered the +carriage. Her companion paused in the doorway to hand some silver to the +commissionaire, then he too, leaning upon his stick, stepped across the +pavement. His foot was already upon the carriage step, when suddenly +what Wolfenden had been vaguely anticipating happened. A dark figure +sprang from out of the shadows and seized him by the throat; something +that glittered like a streak of silver in the electric light flashed +upwards. The blow would certainly have fallen but for Wolfenden. He was +the only person not wholly unprepared for something of the sort, and he +was consequently not paralysed into inaction as were the others. He was +so near, too, that a single step forward enabled him to seize the +uplifted arm in a grasp of iron. The man who had been attacked was the +next to recover himself. Raising his stick he struck at his assailant +violently. The blow missed his head, but grazed his temple and fell upon +his shoulder. The man, released from Wolfenden's grasp by his convulsive +start, went staggering back into the roadway. + +There was a rush then to secure him, but it was too late. Wolfenden, +half expecting another attack, had not moved from the carriage door, and +the commissionaire, although a powerful man, was not swift. Like a cat +the man who had made the attack sprang across the roadway, and into the +gardens which fringed the Embankment. The commissionaire and a loiterer +followed him. Just then Wolfenden felt a soft touch on his shoulder. The +girl had opened the carriage door, and was standing at his side. + +"Is any one hurt?" she asked quickly. + +"No one," he answered. "It is all over. The man has run away." + +Mr. Sabin stooped down and brushed away some grey ash from the front of +his coat. Then he took a match-box from his ticket-pocket, and re-lit +the cigarette which had been crumpled in his fingers. His hand was +perfectly steady. The whole affair had scarcely taken thirty seconds. + +"It was probably some lunatic," he remarked, motioning to the girl to +resume her place in the carriage. "I am exceedingly obliged to you, sir. +Lord Wolfenden, I believe?" he added, raising his hat. "But for your +intervention the matter might really have been serious. Permit me to +offer you my card. I trust that some day I may have a better opportunity +of expressing my thanks. At present you will excuse me if I hurry. I am +not of your nation, but I share an antipathy with them--I hate a row!" + +He stepped into the carriage with a farewell bow, and it drove off at +once. Wolfenden remained looking after it, with his hat in his hand. +From the Embankment below came the faint sound of hurrying footsteps. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE WARNING OF FELIX + + +The three friends stood upon the pavement watching the little brougham +until it disappeared round the corner in a flickering glitter of light. +It would have been in accordance with precedent if after leaving the +restaurant they had gone to some one of their clubs to smoke a cigar and +drink whisky and apollinaris, while Harcutt retailed the latest society +gossip, and Densham descanted on art, and Wolfenden contributed genial +remarks upon things in general. But to-night all three were inclined to +depart from precedent. Perhaps the surprising incident which they had +just witnessed made anything like normal routine seem unattractive; +whatever the reason may have been, the young men were of a sudden not +in sympathy with one another. Harcutt murmured some conventional lie +about having an engagement, supplemented it with some quite unconvincing +statement about pressure of work, and concluded with an obviously +disingenuous protest against the tyranny of the profession of +journalism, then he sprang with alacrity into a hansom and said goodbye +with a good deal less than his usual cordiality. Densham, too, hailed a +cab, and leaning over the apron delivered himself of a farewell speech +which sounded rather malignant. "You are a lucky beast, Wolfenden," he +growled enviously, adding, with a note of venom in his voice, "but don't +forget it takes more than the first game to win the rubber," and then +he was whirled away, nodding his head and wearing an expression of +wisdom deeply tinged with gloom. + +Wolfenden was surprised, but not exactly sorry that the first vague +expression of hostility had been made by the others. + +"Both of them must be confoundedly hard hit," he murmured to himself; +"I never knew Densham turn nasty before." And to his coachman he said +aloud, "You may go home, Dawson. I am going to walk." + +He turned on to the embankment, conscious of a curious sense of +exhilaration. He was no _blasé_ cynic; but the uniformly easy life +tends to become just a trifle monotonous, and Lord Wolfenden's somewhat +epicurean mind derived actual pleasure from the subtle luxury of a new +sensation. What he had said of his friends he could have said with equal +truth of himself: he was confoundedly hard hit. For the first time in +his life he found the mere memory of a woman thrilling; his whole nature +vibrated in response to the appeal she made to him, and he walked along +buoyantly under the stars, revelling in the delight of being alive. + +Suddenly he stopped abruptly. Huddled up in the corner of a seat was a +man with a cloth cap pulled forward screening his face: at that moment +Lord Wolfenden was in a mood to be extravagantly generous to any poor +applicant for alms, lavishly sympathetic to any tale of distress. But +it was not ordinary curiosity that arrested his progress now. He +knew almost at the first glance who it was that sat in this dejected +attitude, although the opera hat was replaced by the soft cloth cap, and +in other details the man's appearance was altered. It was indeed the Mr. +Felix who had supped with him at the "Milan" and subsequently behaved in +so astonishing a fashion. + +He knew that he was recognised, and sat up, looking steadfastly at +Wolfenden, although his lips trembled and his eyes gleamed wildly. +Across his temples a bright red mark was scored. + +Lord Wolfenden broke the silence. + +"You're a nice sort of fellow to ask out to supper! What in the name of +all that's wonderful were you trying to do?" + +"I should have thought it was sufficiently obvious," the man replied +bitterly. "I tried to kill him, and I failed. Well, why don't you call +the police? I am quite ready. I shall not run again." + +Wolfenden hesitated, and then sat down by the side of this surprising +individual. + +"The man you went for didn't seem to care, so I don't see why I should. +But why do you want to kill him?" + +"To keep a vow," the other answered; "how and why made I will not tell +you." + +"How did you escape?" Wolfenden asked abruptly. + +"Probably because I didn't care whether I escaped or not," Felix +replied, with a short, bitter laugh. "I stood behind some shrubs just +inside the garden, and watched the hunt go by. Then I came out here and +sat down." + +"It all sounds very simple," said Wolfenden, a trifle sarcastically. +"May I ask what you are going to do next?" + +Felix's face so clearly intimated that he might not ask anything of the +kind, or that if he did his curiosity would not be satisfied, that +Wolfenden felt compelled to make some apology. + +"Forgive me if I seem inquisitive, but I find the situation a little +unusual. You were my guest, you see, and had it not been for my chance +invitation you might not have met that man at all. Then again, had it +not been for my interference he would have been dead now and you would +have been in a fair way to be hanged." + +Felix evinced no sign of gratitude for Wolfenden's intervention. Instead +he said intensely, + +"Oh, you fool! you fool!" + +"Well, really," Wolfenden protested, "I don't see why----" But Felix +interrupted him. + +"Yes, you are a fool," he repeated, "because you saved his life. He is +an old man now. I wonder how many there have been in the course of his +long life who desired to kill him? But no one--not one solitary human +being--has ever befriended him or come to his rescue in time of danger +without living to be sorry for it. And so it will be with you. You will +live to be sorry for what you have done to-night; you will live to +think it would have been far better for him to fall by my hand than for +yourself to suffer at his. And you will wish passionately that you had +let him die. Before heaven, Wolfenden, I swear that that is true." + +The man was so much in earnest, his passion was so quietly intense, that +Wolfenden against his will was more than half convinced. He was silent. +He suddenly felt cold, and the buoyant elation of mind in which he had +started homewards vanished, leaving him anxious and heavy, perhaps just +a little afraid. + +"I did what any man would do for any one else," he said, almost +apologetically. "It was instinctive. As a matter of fact, that +particular man is a perfect stranger to me. I have never seen him +before and it is quite possible that I shall never see him again." + +Felix turned quickly towards him. + +"If you believe in prayer," he said, "go down on your knees where you +are and pray as you have never prayed for anything before that you may +not see him again. There has never been a man or a woman yet who has not +been the worse for knowing him. He is like the pestilence that walketh +in the darkness, poisoning every one that is in the way of his horrible +infection." + +Wolfenden pulled himself together. There was no doubt about his +companion's earnestness, but it was the earnestness of an unbalanced +mind. Language so exaggerated as his was out of keeping with the times +and the place. + +"Tell me some more about him," he suggested. "Who is he?" + +"I won't tell you," Felix answered, obstinately. + +"Well, then, who is the lady?" + +"I don't know. It is quite enough for me to know that she is his +companion for the moment." + +"You do not intend to be communicative, I can see," said Wolfenden, +after a brief pause, "but I wish I could persuade you to tell me why you +attempted his life to-night." + +"There was the opportunity," said Felix, as if that in itself were +sufficient explanation. Then he smiled enigmatically. "There are at +least three distinct and separate reasons why I should take his +life,--all of them good. Three, I mean, why I should do it. But I have +not been his only victim. There are plenty of others who have a heavy +reckoning against him, and he knows what it is to carry his life in his +hand. But he bears a charmed existence. Did you see his stick?" + +"Yes," said Wolfenden, "I did. It had a peculiar stone in the handle; in +the electric light it looked like a huge green opal." + +Felix assented moodily. + +"That is it. He struck me with a stick. He would not part with it for +anything. It was given him by some Indian fakir, and it is said that +while he carries it he is proof against attack." + +"Who says so?" Wolfenden inquired. + +"Never mind," said Felix. "It's enough that it is said." He relapsed +into silence, and when he next spoke his manner was different. His +excited vehemence had gone and there was nothing in his voice or +demeanour inconsistent with normal sanity. Yet his words were no less +charged with deep intention. "I do not know much about you, Lord +Wolfenden," he said; "but I beg you to take the advice I am offering +you. No one ever gave you better in your life. Avoid that man as you +would avoid the plague. Go away before he looks you up to thank you for +what you did. Go abroad, anywhere; the farther the better; and stay away +for ever, if that is the only means of escaping his friendship or even +his acquaintance." + +Lord Wolfenden shook his head. + +"I'm a very ordinary, matter of fact Englishman," he said, "leading +a very ordinary, matter of fact life, and you must forgive me if I +consider such a sweeping condemnation a little extravagant and +fantastic. I have no particular enemies on my conscience, I am +implicated in no conspiracy, and I am, in short, an individual of very +little importance. Consequently I have nothing to fear from anybody and +am afraid of nobody. This man cannot have anything to gain by injuring +me. I believe you said you did not know the lady?" + +"The lady?" Felix repeated. "No, I do not know her, nor anything of her +beyond the fact that she is with him for the time being. That is quite +sufficient for me." + +Wolfenden got up. + +"Thanks," he said lazily. "I only asked you for facts. As for your +suggestion--you will be well advised not to repeat it." + +"Oh!" exclaimed Felix, scornfully, "how blind and pig-headed you English +people are! I have told you something of the man's reputation. What can +hers be, do you suppose, if she will sup alone with him in a public +restaurant?" + +"Good-night," said Wolfenden. "I will not listen to another word." + +Felix rose to his feet and laid his hand upon Lord Wolfenden's arm. + +"Lord Wolfenden," he said, "you are a very decent fellow: do try to +believe that I am only speaking for your good. That girl----" + +Wolfenden shook him off. + +"If you allude to that young lady, either directly or indirectly," he +said very calmly, "I shall throw you into the river." + +Felix shrugged his shoulders. + +"At least remember that I warned you," was all he ventured to say as +Lord Wolfenden strode away. + + * * * * * + +Leaving the embankment Wolfenden walked quickly to Half Moon Street, +where his chambers were. His servant let him in and took his coat. There +was an anxious expression upon his usually passive face and he appeared +to be rather at a loss for words in which to communicate his news. At +last he got it out, accompanying the question with a nervous and +deprecating cough. + +"I beg your pardon, my lord, but were you expecting a young lady?" + +"A what, Selby?" Wolfenden exclaimed, looking at him in amazement. + +"A lady, my lord: a young lady." + +"Of course not," said Wolfenden, with a frown. "What on earth do you +mean?" + +Selby gathered courage. + +"A young lady called here about an hour ago, and asked for you. Johnson +informed her that you might be home shortly, and she said she would +wait. Johnson, perhaps imprudently, admitted her, and she is in the +study, my lord." + +"A young lady in my study at this time of night!" Wolfenden exclaimed, +incredulously. "Who is she, and what is she, and why has she come at +all? Have you gone mad, Selby?" + +"Then you were not expecting her?" the man said, anxiously. "She gave no +name, but she assured Johnson that you did." + +"You are a couple of idiots," Wolfenden said angrily. "Of course I +wasn't expecting her. Surely both you and Johnson have been in my +service long enough to know me better than that." + +"I am exceedingly sorry, my lord," the man said abjectly. "But the young +lady's appearance misled us both. If you will allow me to say so, my +lord, I am quite sure that she is a lady. No doubt there is some +mistake; but when you see her I think you will exonerate Johnson and me +from----" + +His master cut his protestations short. + +"Wait where you are until I ring," he said. "It never entered my head +that you could be such an incredible idiot." + +He strode into the study, closing the door behind him, and Selby +obediently waited for the bell. But a long time passed before the +summons came. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +AT THE RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR'S + + +The brougham containing the man who had figured in the "Milan" table +list as Mr. Sabin, and his companion, turned into the Strand and +proceeded westwards. Close behind it came Harcutt's private cab--only +a few yards away followed Densham's hansom. The procession continued +in the same order, skirting Trafalgar Square and along Pall Mall. + +Each in a different manner, the three men were perhaps equally +interested in these people. Geoffrey Densham was attracted as an artist +by the extreme and rare beauty of the girl. Wolfenden's interest was +at once more sentimental and more personal. Harcutt's arose partly out +of curiosity, partly from innate love of adventure. Both Densham and +Harcutt were exceedingly interested as to their probable destination. +From it they would be able to gather some idea as to the status and +social position of Mr. Sabin and his companion. Both were perhaps a +little surprised when the brougham, which had been making its way into +the heart of fashionable London, turned into Belgrave Square and pulled +up before a great, porticoed house, brilliantly lit, and with a crimson +drugget and covered way stretched out across the pavement. Harcutt +sprang out first, just in time to see the two pass through the opened +doorway, the man leaning heavily upon his stick, the girl, with her +daintily gloved fingers just resting upon his coat-sleeve, walking with +that uncommon and graceful self-possession which had so attracted +Densham during her passage through the supper-room at the "Milan" a +short while ago. + +Harcutt looked after them, watching them disappear with a frown upon his +forehead. + +"Rather a sell, isn't it?" said a quiet voice in his ear. + +He turned abruptly round. Densham was standing upon the pavement by his +side. + +"Great Scott!" he exclaimed testily. "What are you doing here?" + +Densham threw away his cigarette and laughed. + +"I might return the question, I suppose," he remarked. "We both followed +the young lady and her imaginary papa! We were both anxious to find out +where they lived--and we are both sold!" + +"Very badly sold," Harcutt admitted. "What do you propose to do now? We +can't wait outside here for an hour or two!" + +Densham hesitated. + +"No, we can't do that," he said. "Have you any plan?" + +Harcutt shook his head. + +"Can't say that I have." + +They were both silent for a moment. Densham was smiling softly to +himself. Watching him, Harcutt became quite assured that he had decided +what to do. + +"Let us consider the matter together," he suggested, diplomatically. "We +ought to be able to hit upon something." + +Densham shook his head doubtfully. + +"No," he said; "I don't think that we can run this thing in double +harness. You see our interests are materially opposed." + +Harcutt did not see it in the same light. + +"Pooh! We can travel together by the same road," he protested. "The +time to part company has not come yet. Wolfenden has got a bit ahead of +us to-night. After all, though, you and I may pull level, if we help one +another. You have a plan, I can see! What is it?" + +Densham was silent for a moment. + +"You know whose house this is?" he asked. + +Harcutt nodded. + +"Of course! It's the Russian Ambassador's!" + +Densham drew a square card from his pocket, and held it out under the +gas-light. From it, it appeared that the Princess Lobenski desired the +honour of his company at any time that evening between twelve and two. + +"A card for to-night, by Jove!" Harcutt exclaimed. + +Densham nodded, and replaced it in his pocket. + +"You see, Harcutt," he said, "I am bound to take an advantage over you! +I only got this card by an accident, and I certainly do not know the +Princess well enough to present you. I shall be compelled to leave you +here! All that I can promise is, that if I discover anything interesting +I will let you know about it to-morrow. Good-night!" + +Harcutt watched him disappear through the open doors, and then walked +a little way along the pavement, swearing softly to himself. His first +idea was to wait about until they came out, and then follow them again. +By that means he would at least be sure of their address. He would have +gained something for his time and trouble. He lit a cigarette, and +walked slowly to the corner of the street. Then he turned back and +retraced his steps. As he neared the crimson strip of drugget, one of +the servants drew respectfully aside, as though expecting him to enter. +The man's action was like an inspiration to him. He glanced down the +vista of covered roof. A crowd of people were making their way up the +broad staircase, and amongst them Densham. After all, why not? He +laughed softly to himself and hesitated no longer. He threw away his +cigarette and walked boldly in. He was doing a thing for which he well +knew that he deserved to be kicked. At the same time, he had made up +his mind to go through with it, and he was not the man to fail through +nervousness or want of _savoir faire_. + +At the cloak-room the multitude of men inspired him with new confidence. +There were some, a very fair sprinkling, whom he knew, and who greeted +him indifferently, without appearing in any way to regard his presence +as a thing out of the common. He walked up the staircase, one of a +little group; but as they passed through the ante-room to where in the +distance Prince and Princess Lobenski were standing to receive their +guests, Harcutt adroitly disengaged himself--he affected to pause for a +moment or two to speak to an acquaintance. When he was left alone, he +turned sharp to the right and entered the main dancing-salon. + +He was quite safe now, and his spirits began to rise. Yonder was +Densham, looking very bored, dancing with a girl in yellow. So far at +least he had gained no advantage. He looked everywhere in vain, however, +for a man with a club foot and the girl in white and diamonds. They must +be in one of the inner rooms. He began to make a little tour. + +Two of the ante-chambers he explored without result. In the third, two +men were standing near the entrance, talking. Harcutt almost held his +breath as he came to an abrupt stop within a yard or two of them. One +was the man for whom he had been looking, the other--Harcutt seemed +to find his face perfectly familiar, but for the moment he could not +identify him. He was tall, with white hair and moustaches. His coat was +covered with foreign orders, and he wore English court dress. His hands +were clasped behind his back; he was talking in a low, clear tone, +stooping a little, and with eyes steadfastly fixed upon his companion. +Mr. Sabin was leaning a little forward, with both hands resting upon +his stick. Harcutt was struck at once with the singular immobility of +his face. He did not appear either interested or amused or acquiescent. +He was simply listening. A few words from the other man came to +Harcutt's ears, as he lingered there on the other side of the curtain. + +"If it were money--a question of monetary recompense--the secret service +purse of my country opens easily, and it is well filled. If it were +anything less simple, the proposal could but be made. I am taking the +thing, you understand, at your own computation of its worth! I am taking +it for granted that it carries with it the power you claim for it. +Assuming these things, I am prepared to treat with you. I am going on +leave very shortly, and I could myself conduct the negotiations." + +Harcutt would have moved away, but he was absolutely powerless. +Naturally, and from his journalistic instincts, he was one of the most +curious of men. He had recognised the speaker. The interview was +pregnant with possibilities. Who was this Mr. Sabin, that so great a man +should talk with him so earnestly? He was looking up now, he was going +to speak. What was he going to say? Harcutt held his breath. The idea of +moving away never occurred to him now. + +"Yet," Mr. Sabin said slowly, "your country should be a low bidder. The +importance of such a thing to you must be less than to France, less than +to her great ally. Your relations here are close and friendly. Nature +and destiny seemed to have made you allies. As yet there has been no +rift--no sign of a rift." + +"You are right," the other man answered slowly; "and yet who can tell +what lies before us? In less than a dozen years the face of all Europe +may be changed. The policy of a great nation is, to all appearance, a +steadfast thing. On the face of it, it continues the same, age after +age. Yet if a change is to come, it comes from within. It develops +slowly. It grows from within, outwards, very slowly, like a secret +thing. Do you follow me?" + +"I think--perhaps I do," Mr. Sabin admitted deliberately. + +The Ambassador's voice dropped almost to a whisper, and but for its +singularly penetrating quality Harcutt would have heard no more. As it +was, he had almost to hold his breath, and all his nerves quivered with +the tension of listening. + +"Even the Press is deceived. The inspired organs purposely mislead. +Outside to all the world there seems to be nothing brewing; yet, when +the storm bursts, one sees that it has been long in gathering--that +years of careful study and thought have been given to that hidden +triumph of diplomacy. All has been locked in the breasts of a few. The +thing is full-fledged when it is hatched upon the world. It has grown +strong in darkness. You understand me?" + +"Yes; I think that I understand you," Mr. Sabin said, his piercing eyes +raised now from the ground and fixed upon the other man's face. "You +have given me food for serious thought. I shall do nothing further till +I have talked with you again." + +Harcutt suddenly and swiftly withdrew. He had stayed as long as he +dared. At any moment his presence might have been detected, and he would +have been involved in a situation which even the nerve and effrontery +acquired during the practice of his profession could not have rendered +endurable. He found a seat in an adjoining room, and sat quite still, +thinking. His brain was in a whirl. He had almost forgotten the special +object of his quest. He felt like a conspirator. The fascination of the +unknown was upon him. Their first instinct concerning these people had +been a true one. They were indeed no ordinary people. He must follow +them up--he must know more about them. Once more he thought over what he +had heard. It was mysterious, but it was interesting. It might mean +anything. The man with Mr. Sabin he had recognised the moment he spoke. +It was Baron von Knigenstein, the German Ambassador. Those were strange +words of his. He pondered them over again. The journalistic fever was +upon him. He was no longer in love. He had overheard a few words of a +discussion of tremendous import. If only he could get the key to it! +If only he could follow this thing through, then farewell to society +paragraphing and playing at journalism. His reputation would be made +for ever! + +He rose, and finding his way to the refreshment-room, drank off a glass +of champagne. Then he walked back to the main salon. Standing with his +back to the wall, and half-hidden by a tall palm tree, was Densham. He +was alone. His arms were folded, and he was looking out upon the dancers +with a gloomy frown. Harcutt stepped softly up to him. + +"Well, how are you getting on, old chap?" he whispered in his ear. + +Densham started, and looked at Harcutt in blank surprise. + +"Why, how the--excuse me, how on earth did you get in?" he exclaimed. + +Harcutt smiled in a mysterious manner. + +"Oh! we journalists are trained to overcome small difficulties," he said +airily. "It wasn't a very hard task. The _Morning_ is a pretty good +passport. Getting in was easy enough. Where is--she?" + +Densham moved his head in the direction of the broad space at the head +of the stairs, where the Ambassador and his wife had received their +guests. + +"She is under the special wing of the Princess. She is up at that end +of the room somewhere with a lot of old frumps." + +"Have you asked for an introduction?" + +Densham nodded. + +"Yes, I asked young Lobenski. It is no good. He does not know who she +is; but she does not dance, and is not allowed to make acquaintances. +That is what it comes to, anyway. It was not a personal matter at all. +Lobenski did not even mention my name to his mother. He simply said a +friend. The Princess replied that she was very sorry, but there was some +difficulty. The young lady's guardian did not wish her to make +acquaintances for the present." + +"Her guardian! He's not her father, then?" + +"No! It was either her guardian or her uncle! I am not sure which. By +Jove! There they go! They're off." + +They both hurried to the cloak-room for their coats, and reached the +street in time to see the people in whom they were so interested coming +down the stairs towards them. In the glare of the electric light, the +girl's pale, upraised face shone like a piece of delicate statuary. To +Densham, the artist, she was irresistible. He drew Harcutt right back +amongst the shadows. + +"She is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my life," he said +deliberately. "Titian never conceived anything more exquisite. She is a +woman to paint and to worship!" + +"What are you going to do now?" Harcutt asked drily. "You can rave about +her in your studio, if you like." + +"I am going to find out where she lives, if I have to follow her home on +foot! It will be something to know that." + +"Two of us," Harcutt protested. "It is too obvious." + +"I can't help that," Densham replied. "I do not sleep until I have found +out." + +Harcutt looked dubious. + +"Look here," he said, "we need not both go! I will leave it to you on +one condition." + +"Well?" + +"You must let me know to-morrow what you discover." + +Densham hesitated. + +"Agreed," he decided. "There they go! Good-night. I will call at your +rooms, or send a note, to-morrow." + +Densham jumped into his cab and drove away. Harcutt looked after them +thoughtfully. + +"The girl is very lovely," he said to himself, as he stood on the +pavement waiting for his carriage; "but I do not think that she is for +you, Densham, or for me! On the whole, I am more interested in the man!" + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE DILEMMA OF WOLFENDEN + + +Wolfenden was evidently absolutely unprepared to see the girl whom he +found occupying his own particular easy chair in his study. The light +was only a dim one, and as she did not move or turn round at his +entrance he did not recognise her until he was standing on the hearthrug +by her side. Then he started with a little exclamation. + +"Miss Merton! Why, what on earth----" + +He stopped in the middle of his question and looked intently at her. Her +head was thrown back amongst the cushions of the chair, and she was fast +asleep. Her hat was a little crushed and a little curl of fair hair had +escaped and was hanging down over her forehead. There were undoubtedly +tear stains upon her pretty face. Her plain, black jacket was half +undone, and the gloves which she had taken off lay in her lap. +Wolfenden's anger subsided at once. No wonder Selby had been perplexed. +But Selby's perplexity was nothing to his own. + +She woke up suddenly and saw him standing there, traces of his amazement +still lingering on his face. She looked at him, half-frightened, +half-wistfully. The colour came and went in her cheeks--her eyes grew +soft with tears. He felt himself a brute. Surely it was not possible +that she could be acting! He spoke to her more kindly than he had +intended. + +"What on earth has brought you up to town--and here--at this time of +night? Is anything wrong at Deringham?" + +She sat up in the chair and looked at him with quivering lips. + +"N--no, nothing particular; only I have left." + +"You have left!" + +"Yes; I have been turned away," she added, piteously. + +He looked at her blankly. + +"Turned away! Why, what for? Do you mean to say that you have left for +good?" + +She nodded, and commenced to dry her eyes with a little lace +handkerchief. + +"Yes--your mother--Lady Deringham has been very horrid--as though the +silly papers were of any use to me or any one else in the world! I have +not copied them. I am not deceitful! It is all an excuse to get rid of +me because of--of you." + +She looked up at him and suddenly dropped her eyes. Wolfenden began to +see some glimmerings of light. He was still, however, bewildered. + +"Look here," he said kindly, "why you are here I cannot for the life of +me imagine, but you had better just tell me all about it." + +She rose up suddenly and caught her gloves from the table. + +"I think I will go away," she said. "I was very stupid to come; please +forget it and---- Goodbye." + +He caught her by the wrist as she passed. + +"Nonsense," he exclaimed, "you mustn't go like this." + +She looked steadfastly away from him and tried to withdraw her arm. + +"You are angry with me for coming," she said. "I am very, very sorry; I +will go away. Please don't stop me." + +He held her wrist firmly. + +"Miss Merton!" + +"Miss Merton!" She repeated his words reproachfully, lifting her eyes +suddenly to his, that he might see the tears gathering there. Wolfenden +began to feel exceedingly uncomfortable. + +"Well, Blanche, then," he said slowly. "Is that better?" + +She answered nothing, but looked at him again. Her hand remained in his. +She suffered him to lead her back to the chair. + +"It's all nonsense your going away, you know," he said a little +awkwardly. "You can't wonder that I am surprised. Perhaps you don't know +that it is a little late--after midnight, in fact. Where should you go +to if you ran away like that? Do you know any one in London?" + +"I--don't think so," she admitted. + +"Well, do be reasonable then. First of all tell me all about it." + +She nodded, and began at once, now and then lifting her eyes to his, +mostly gazing fixedly at the gloves which she was smoothing carefully +out upon her knee. + +"I think," she said, "that Lord Deringham is not so well. What he has +been writing has become more and more incoherent, and it has been very +difficult to copy it at all. I have done my best but he has never seemed +satisfied; and he has taken to watch me in an odd sort of way, just as +though I was doing something wrong all the time. You know he fancies +that the work he is putting together is of immense importance. Of course +I don't know that it isn't. All I do know is that it sounds and reads +like absolute rubbish, and it's awfully difficult to copy. He writes +very quickly and uses all manner of abbreviations, and if I make a +single mistake in typing it he gets horribly cross." + +Wolfenden laughed softly. + +"Poor little girl! Go on." + +She smiled too, and continued with less constraint in her tone. + +"I didn't really mind that so much, as of course I have been getting +a lot of money for the work, and one can't have everything. But just +lately he seems to have got the idea that I have been making two copies +of this rubbish and keeping one back. He has kept on coming into +the room unexpectedly, and has sat for hours watching me in a most +unpleasant manner. I have not been allowed to leave the house, and +all my letters have been looked over; it has been perfectly horrid." + +"I am very sorry," Wolfenden said. "Of course you knew though that it +was going to be rather difficult to please my father, didn't you? The +doctors differ a little as to his precise mental condition, but we are +all aware that he is at any rate a trifle peculiar." + +She smiled a little bitterly. + +"Oh! I am not complaining," she said. "I should have stood it somehow +for the sake of the money; but I haven't told you everything yet. The +worst part, so far as I am concerned, is to come." + +"I am very sorry," he said; "please go on." + +"This morning your father came very early into the study and found a +sheet of carbon paper on my desk and two copies of one page of the work +I was doing. As a matter of fact I had never used it before, but I +wanted to try it for practice. There was no harm in it--I should have +destroyed the second sheet in a minute or two, and in any case it was so +badly done that it was absolutely worthless. But directly Lord Deringham +saw it he went quite white, and I thought he was going to have a fit. I +can't tell you all he said. He was brutal. The end of it was that my +boxes were all turned out and my desk and everything belonging to me +searched as though I were a house-maid suspected of theft, and all the +time I was kept locked up. When they had finished, I was told to put my +hat on and go. I--I had nowhere to go to, for Muriel--you remember I +told you about my sister--went to America last week. I hadn't the least +idea what to do--and so--I--you were the only person who had ever been +kind to me," she concluded, suddenly leaning over towards him, a little +sob in her throat, and her eyes swimming with tears. + +There are certain situations in life when an honest man is at an obvious +disadvantage. Wolfenden felt awkward and desperately ill at ease. He +evaded the embrace which her movement and eyes had palpably invited, and +compromised matters by taking her hands and holding them tightly in his. +Even then he felt far from comfortable. + +"But my mother," he exclaimed. "Lady Deringham surely took your part?" + +She shook her head vigorously. + +"Lady Deringham did nothing of the sort," she replied. "Do you remember +last time when you were down you took me for a walk once or twice and +you talked to me in the evenings, and--but perhaps you have forgotten. +Have you?" + +She was looking at him so eagerly that there was only one answer +possible for him. He hastened to make it. There was a certain lack of +enthusiasm in his avowal, however, which brought a look of reproach into +her face. She sighed and looked away into the fire. + +"Well," she continued, "Lady Deringham has never been the same since +then to me. It didn't matter while you were there, but after you left it +was very wretched. I wrote to you, but you never answered my letter." + +He was very well aware of it. He had never asked her to write, and her +note had seemed to him a trifle too ingenuous. He had never meant to +answer it. + +"I so seldom write letters," he said. "I thought, too, that it must have +been your fancy. My mother is generally considered a very good-hearted +woman." + +She laughed bitterly. + +"Oh, one does not fancy those things," she said. "Lady Deringham has +been coldly civil to me ever since, and nothing more. This morning she +seemed absolutely pleased to have an excuse for sending me away. She +knows quite well, of course, that Lord Deringham is--not himself; but +she took everything he said for gospel, and turned me out of the house. +There, now you know everything. Perhaps after all it was idiotic to come +to you. Well, I'm only a girl, and girls are idiots; I haven't a friend +in the world, and if I were alone I should die of loneliness in a week. +You won't send me away? You are not angry with me?" + +She made a movement towards him, but he held her hands tightly. For the +first time he began to see his way before him. A certain ingenuousness +in her speech and in that little half-forgotten note--an ingenuousness, +by the bye, of which he had some doubts--was his salvation. He would +accept it as absolutely genuine. She was a child who had come to him, +because he had been kind to her. + +"Of course I am not angry with you," he said, quite emphatically. "I am +very glad indeed that you came. It is only right that I should help you +when my people seem to have treated you so wretchedly. Let me think for +a moment." + +She watched him very anxiously, and moved a little closer to him. + +"Tell me," she murmured, "what are you thinking about?" + +"I have it," he answered, standing suddenly up and touching the bell. +"It is an excellent idea." + +"What is it?" she asked quickly. + +He did not appear to hear her question. Selby was standing upon the +threshold. Wolfenden spoke to him. + +"Selby, are your wife's rooms still vacant?" + +Selby believed that they were. + +"That's all right then. Put on your hat and coat at once. I want you to +take this young lady round there." + +"Very good, my lord." + +"Her luggage has been lost and may not arrive until to-morrow. Be sure +you tell Mrs. Selby to do all in her power to make things comfortable." + +The girl had gone very pale. Wolfenden, watching her closely, was +surprised at her expression. + +"I think," he said, "that you will find Mrs. Selby a very decent sort of +a person. If I may, I will come and see you to-morrow, and you shall +tell me how I can help you. I am very glad indeed that you came to me." + +She shot a single glance at him, partly of anger, partly reproach. + +"You are very, very kind," she said slowly, "and very considerate," she +added, after a moment's pause. "I shall not forget it." + +She looked him then straight in the eyes. He was more glad than he would +have liked to confess even to himself to hear Selby's knock at the door. + +"You have nothing to thank me for yet at any rate," he said, taking her +hand. "I shall be only too glad if you will let me be of service to +you." + +He led her out to the carriage and watched it drive away, with Selby on +the box seat. Her last glance, as she leaned back amongst the cushions, +was a tender one; her lips were quivering, and her little fingers more +than returned his pressure. But Wolfenden walked back to his study with +all the pleasurable feelings of a man who has extricated himself with +tact from an awkward situation. + +"The frankness," he remarked to himself, as he lit a pipe and stretched +himself out for a final smoke, "was a trifle, just a trifle, overdone. +She gave the whole show away with that last glance. I should like very +much to know what it all means." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +A COMPACT OF THREE + + +Wolfenden, for an idler, was a young man of fairly precise habits. By +ten o'clock next morning he had breakfasted, and before eleven he was +riding in the Park. Perhaps he had some faint hope of seeing there +something of the two people in whom he was now greatly interested. If +so he was certainly disappointed. He looked with a new curiosity into +the faces of the girls who galloped past him, and he was careful even +to take particular notice of the few promenaders. But he did not see +anything of Mr. Sabin or his companion. + +At twelve o'clock he returned to his rooms and exchanged his +riding-clothes for the ordinary garb of the West End. He even looked on +his hall-table as he passed out again, to see if there were any note or +card for him. + +"He could scarcely look me up just yet, at any rate," he reflected, as +he walked slowly along Piccadilly, "for he did not even ask me for my +address. He took the whole thing so coolly that perhaps he does not mean +even to call." + +Nevertheless, he looked in the rack at his club to see if there was +anything against his name, and tore into pieces the few unimportant +notes he found there, with an impatience which they scarcely deserved. +Of the few acquaintances whom he met there, he inquired casually whether +they knew anything of a man named "Sabin." No one seemed to have heard +the name before. He even consulted a directory in the hall, but without +success. At one o'clock, in a fit of restlessness, he went out, and +taking a hansom drove over to Westminster, to Harcutt's rooms. Harcutt +was in, and with him Densham. At Wolfenden's entrance the three men +looked at one another, and there was a simultaneous laugh. + +"Here comes the hero," Densham remarked. "He will be able to tell us +everything." + +"I came to gather information, not to impart it," Wolfenden answered, +selecting a cigarette, and taking an easy chair. "I know precisely as +much as I knew last night." + +"Mr. Sabin has not been to pour out his gratitude yet, then?" Densham +asked. + +Wolfenden shook his head. + +"Not yet. On the whole, I am inclined to think that he will not come at +all. He doubtless considers that he has done all that is necessary in +the way of thanks. He did not even ask for my card, and giving me his +was only a matter of form, for there was no address upon it." + +"But he knew your name," Harcutt reminded him. "I noticed that." + +"Yes. I suppose he could find me if he wished to," Wolfenden admitted. +"If he had been very keen about it, though, I should think he would have +said something more. His one idea seemed to be to get away before there +was a row." + +"I do not think," Harcutt said, "that you will find him overburdened +with gratitude. He does not seem that sort of man." + +"I do not want any gratitude from him," Wolfenden answered, +deliberately. "So far as the man himself is concerned I should rather +prefer never to see him again. By the bye, did either of you fellows +follow them home last night?" + +Harcutt and Densham exchanged quick glances. Wolfenden had asked his +question quietly, but it was evidently what he had come to know. + +"Yes," Harcutt said, "we both did. They are evidently people of some +consequence. They went first to the house of the Russian Ambassador, +Prince Lobenski." + +Wolfenden swore to himself softly. He could have been there. He made a +mental note to leave a card at the Embassy that afternoon. + +"And afterwards?" + +"Afterwards they drove to a house in Chilton Gardens, Kensington, where +they remained." + +"The presumption being, then----" Wolfenden began. + +"That they live there," Harcutt put in. "In fact, I may say that we +ascertained that definitely. The man's name is 'Sabin,' and the girl is +reputed to be his niece. Now you know as much as we do. The +relationship, however, is little more than a surmise." + +"Did either of you go to the reception?" Wolfenden asked. + +"We both did," Harcutt answered. + +Wolfenden raised his eyebrows. + +"You were there! Then why didn't you make their acquaintance?" + +Densham laughed shortly. + +"I asked for an introduction to the girl," he said, "and was politely +declined. She was under the special charge of the Princess, and was +presented to no one." + +"And Mr. Sabin?" Wolfenden asked. + +"He was talking all the time to Baron von Knigenstein, the German +Ambassador. They did not stay long." + +Wolfenden smiled. + +"It seems to me," he said, "that you had an excellent opportunity and +let it go." + +Harcutt threw his cigarette into the fire with an impatient gesture. + +"You may think so," he said. "All I can say is, that if you had been +there yourself, you could have done no more. At any rate, we have no +particular difficulty now in finding out who this mysterious Mr. Sabin +and the girl are. We may assume that there is a relationship," he added, +"or they would scarcely have been at the Embassy, where, as a rule, the +guests make up in respectability what they lack in brilliancy." + +"As to the relationship," Wolfenden said, "I am quite prepared to take +that for granted. I, for one, never doubted it." + +"That," Harcutt remarked, "is because you are young, and a little +quixotic. When you have lived as long as I have you will doubt +everything. You will take nothing for granted unless you desire to live +for ever amongst the ruins of your shattered enthusiasms. If you are +wise, you will always assume that your swans are geese until you have +proved them to be swans." + +"That is very cheap cynicism," Wolfenden remarked equably. "I am +surprised at you, Harcutt. I thought that you were more in touch with +the times. Don't you know that to-day nobody is cynical except +schoolboys and dyspeptics? Pessimism went out with sack overcoats. Your +remarks remind me of the morning odour of patchouli and stale smoke in +a cheap Quartier Latin dancing-room. To be in the fashion of to-day, +you must cultivate a gentle, almost arcadian enthusiasm, you must wear +rose-coloured spectacles and pretend that you like them. Didn't you hear +what Flaskett said last week? There is an epidemic of morality in the +air. We are all going to be very good." + +"Some of us," Densham remarked, "are going to be very uncomfortable, +then." + +"Great changes always bring small discomforts," Wolfenden rejoined. +"But after all I didn't come here to talk nonsense. I came to ask you +both something. I want to know whether you fellows are bent upon seeing +this thing through?" + +Densham and Harcutt exchanged glances. There was a moment's silence. +Densham became spokesman. + +"So far as finding out who they are and all about them," he said, "I +shall not rest until I have done it." + +"And you, Harcutt?" + +Harcutt nodded gravely. + +"I am with Densham," he said. "At the same time I may as well tell you +that I am quite as much, if not more, interested in the man than in the +girl. The girl is beautiful, and of course I admire her, as every one +must. But that is all. The man appeals to my journalistic instincts. +There is copy in him. I am convinced that he is a personage. You may, +in fact, regard me, both of you, as an ally rather than as a rival." + +"If you had your choice, then, of an hour's conversation with either of +them----" Wolfenden began. + +"I should choose the man without a second's hesitation," Harcutt +declared. "The girl is lovely enough, I admit. I do not wonder at you +fellows--Densham, who is a worshipper of beauty; you, Wolfenden, who are +an idler--being struck with her! But as regards myself it is different. +The man appeals to my professional instincts in very much the same way +as the girl appeals to the artistic sense in Densham. He is a conundrum +which I have set myself to solve." + +Wolfenden rose to his feet. + +"Look here, you fellows," he said, "I have a proposition to make. We are +all three in the same boat. Shall we pull together or separately?" + +Harcutt dropped his eyeglass and smiled quietly. + +"Quixotic as usual, Wolf, old chap," he said. "We can't, our interests +are opposed; at least yours and Densham's are. You will scarcely want +to help one another under the circumstances." + +Wolfenden drew on his gloves. + +"I have not explained myself yet," he said. "The thing must have its +limitations, of course, but for a step or two even Densham and I can +walk together. Let us form an alliance so far as direct information is +concerned. Afterwards it must be every man for himself, of course. I +suppose we each have some idea as to how and where to set about making +inquiries concerning these people. Very well. Let us each go our own way +and share up the information to-night." + +"I am quite willing," Densham said, "only let this be distinctly +understood--we are allies only so far as the collection and sharing +of information is concerned. Afterwards, and in other ways, it is each +man for himself. If one of us succeeds in establishing a definite +acquaintance with them, the thing ends. There is no need for either of +us to do anything with regard to the others, which might militate +against his own chances." + +"I am agreeable to that," Harcutt said. "From Densham's very elaborate +provisoes I think we may gather that he has a plan." + +"I agree too," Wolfenden said, "and I specially endorse Densham's limit. +It is an alliance so far as regards information only. Suppose we go and +have some lunch together now." + +"I never lunch out, and I have a better idea," said Harcutt. "Let us +meet at the 'Milan' to-night for supper at the same time. We can then +exchange information, supposing either of us has been fortunate enough +to acquire any. What do you say, Wolfenden?" + +"I am quite willing," Wolfenden said. + +"And I," echoed Densham. "At half-past eleven, then," Harcutt concluded. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +WHO IS MR. SABIN? + + +Mrs. Thorpe-Satchell was not at home to ordinary callers. Nevertheless +when a discreet servant brought her Mr. Francis Densham's card she gave +orders for his admittance without hesitation. + +That he was a privileged person it was easy to see. Mrs. Satchell +received him with the most charming of smiles. + +"My dear Francis," she exclaimed, "I do hope that you have lost that +wretched headache! You looked perfectly miserable last night. I was so +sorry for you." + +Densham drew an easy chair to her side and accepted a cup of tea. + +"I am quite well again," he said. "It was very bad indeed for a little +time, but it did not last long. Still I felt that it made me so utterly +stupid that I was half afraid you would have written me off your +visitors' list altogether as a dull person. I was immensely relieved to +be told that you were at home." + +Mrs. Thorpe-Satchell laughed gaily. She was a bright, blonde little +woman with an exquisite figure and piquante face. She had a husband whom +no one knew, and gave excellent parties to which every one went. In her +way she was something of a celebrity. She and Densham had known each +other for many years. + +"I am not sure," she said, "that you did not deserve it; but then, you +see, you are too old a friend to be so summarily dealt with." + +She raised her blue eyes to his and dropped them, smiling softly. + +Densham looked steadily away into the fire, wondering how to broach the +subject which had so suddenly taken the foremost place in his thoughts. +He had not come to make even the idlest of love this afternoon. The +time when he had been content to do so seemed very far away just now. +Somehow this dainty little woman with her Watteau-like grace and +delicate mannerisms had, for the present, at any rate, lost all her +attractiveness for him, and he was able to meet the flash of her bright +eyes and feel the touch of her soft fingers without any corresponding +thrill. + +"You are very good to me," he said, thoughtfully. "May I have some more +tea?" + +Now Densham was no strategist. He had come to ask a question, and he +was dying to ask it. He knew very well that it would not do to hurry +matters--that he must put it as casually as possible towards the close +of his visit. But at the same time, the period of probation, during +which he should have been more than usually entertaining, was scarcely a +success, and his manner was restless and constrained. Every now and then +there were long and unusual pauses, and he continuously and with obvious +effort kept bringing back the conversation to the reception last night, +in the hope that some remark from her might make the way easier for him. +But nothing of the sort happened. The reception had not interested +her in the slightest, and she had nothing to say about it, and his +pre-occupation at last became manifest. She looked at him curiously +after one of those awkward pauses to which she was quite unaccustomed, +and his thoughts were evidently far away. As a matter of fact, he was at +that moment actually framing the question which he had come to ask. + +"My dear Francis," she said, quietly, "why don't you tell me what is the +matter with you? You are not amusing. You have something on your mind. +Is it anything you wish to ask of me?" + +"Yes," he said, boldly, "I have come to ask you a favour." + +She smiled at him encouragingly. + +"Well, do ask it," she said, "and get rid of your woebegone face. You +ought to know that if it is anything within my power I shall not +hesitate." + +"I want," he said, "to paint your portrait for next year's Academy." + +This was a master stroke. To have Densham paint her picture was just at +that moment the height of Mrs. Thorpe-Satchell's ambition. A flush of +pleasure came into her cheeks, and her eyes were very bright. + +"Do you really mean it?" she exclaimed, leaning over towards him. "Are +you sure?" + +"Of course I mean it," he answered. "If only I can do you justice, I +think it ought to be the portrait of the year. I have been studying you +for a long time in an indefinite sort of way, and I think that I have +some good ideas." + +Mrs. Thorpe-Satchell laughed softly. Densham, although not a great +artist, was the most fashionable portrait painter of the minute, and he +had the knack of giving a _chic_ touch to his women--of investing them +with a certain style without the sacrifice of similitude. He refused +quite as many commissions as he accepted, and he could scarcely have +flattered Mrs. Thorpe-Satchell more than by his request. She was +delightfully amiable. + +"You are a dear old thing," she said, beaming upon him. "What shall I +wear? That yellow satin gown that you like, or say you like, so much?" + +He discussed the question with her gravely. It was not until he rose to +go that he actually broached the question which had been engrossing all +his thoughts. + +"By the bye," he said, "I wanted to ask you something. You know +Harcutt?" + +She nodded. Of course she knew Harcutt. Were her first suspicions +correct! Had he some other reason for this visit of his? + +"Well," Densham went on, "he is immensely interested in some people +who were at that stupid reception last night. He tried to get an +introduction but he couldn't find any one who knew them, and he doesn't +know the Princess well enough to ask her. He thought that he saw you +speaking to the man, so I promised that when I saw you I would ask about +them." + +"I spoke to a good many men," she said. "What is his name?" + +"Sabin--Mr. Sabin; and there is a girl, his daughter, or niece, I +suppose." + +Was it Densham's fancy or had she indeed turned a shade paler. The +little be-jewelled hand, which had been resting close to his, suddenly +buried itself in the cushions. Densham, who was watching her closely, +was conscious of a hardness about her mouth which he had never noticed +before. She was silent some time before she answered him. + +"I am sorry," she said, slowly, "but I can tell you scarcely anything +about them. I only met him once in India many years ago, and I have not +the slightest idea as to who he is or where he came from. I am quite +sure that I should not have recollected him last night but for his +deformity." + +Densham tried very hard to hide his disappointment. + +"So you met him in India," he remarked. "Do you know what he was doing +there? He was not in the service at all, I suppose." + +"I really do not know," she answered, "but I think not. I believe that +he is, or was, very wealthy. I remember hearing a few things about +him--nothing of much importance. But if Mr. Harcutt is your friend," she +added, looking at him fixedly, "you can give him some excellent advice." + +"Harcutt is a very decent fellow," Densham said, "and I know that he +will be glad of it." + +"Tell him to have nothing whatever to do with Mr. Sabin." + +Densham looked at her keenly. + +"Then you do know something about him," he exclaimed. + +She moved her chair back a little to where the light no longer played +upon her face, and she answered him without looking up. + +"Very little. It was so long ago and my memory is not what it used to +be. Never mind that. The advice is good anyhow. If," she continued, +looking steadily up at Densham, "if it were not Mr. Harcutt who was +interested in these people, if it were any one, Francis, for whose +welfare I had a greater care, who was really my friend, I would make +that advice, if I could, a thousand times stronger. I would implore him +to have nothing whatever to do with this man or any of his creatures." + +Densham laughed--not very easily. His disappointment was great, but his +interest was stimulated. + +"At any rate," he said, "the girl is harmless. She cannot have left +school a year." + +"A year with that man," she answered, bitterly, "is a liberal education +in corruption. Don't misunderstand me. I have no personal grievance +against him. We have never come together, thank God! But there were +stories--I cannot remember them now--I do not wish to remember them, but +the impression they made still remains. If a little of what people said +about him is true he is a prince of wickedness." + +"The girl herself----?" + +"I know nothing of," she admitted. + +Densham determined upon a bold stroke. + +"Look here," he said, "do me this favour--you shall never regret it. You +and the Princess are intimate, I know: order your carriage and go and +see her this afternoon. Ask her what she knows about that girl. Get her +to tell you everything. Then let me know. Don't ask me to explain just +now--simply remember that we are old friends and that I ask you to do +this thing for me." + +She rang the bell. + +"My victoria at once," she told the servant. Then she turned to Densham. +"I will do exactly what you ask," she said. "You can come with me and +wait while I see the Princess--if she is at home. You see I am doing for +you what I would do for no one else in the world. Don't trouble about +thanking me now. Do you mind waiting while I get my things on? I shall +only be a minute or two." + +Her minute or two was half an hour. Densham waited impatiently. He +scarcely knew whether to be satisfied with the result of his mission +or not. He had learnt a very little--he was probably going to learn +a little more, but he was quite aware that he had not conducted the +negotiations with any particular skill, and the bribe which he had +offered was a heavy one. He was still uncertain about it when Mrs. +Thorpe-Satchell reappeared. She had changed her indoor gown for a soft +petunia-coloured costume trimmed with sable, and she held out her hands +towards him with a delightful smile. + +"Céleste is wretchedly awkward with gloves," she said, "so I have left +them for you. Do you like my gown?" + +"You look charming," he said, bending over his task, "and you know it." + +"I always wear my smartest clothes when I am going to see my particular +friends," she declared. "They quiz one so! Besides, I do not always have +an escort! Come!" + +She talked to him gaily on the stairs, as he handed her into the +carriage, and all the way to their destination, yet he was conscious +all the time of a subtle change in her demeanour towards him. She was a +proud little woman, and she had received a shock. Densham was making use +of her--Densham, of all men, was making use of her, of all women. He had +been perfectly correct in those vague fears of his. She did not believe +that he had come to her for his friend's sake. She never doubted but +that it was he himself who was interested in this girl, and she +looked upon his visit and his request to her as something very nearly +approaching brutality. He must be interested in the girl, very deeply +interested, or he would never have resorted to such means of gaining +information about her. She was suddenly silent and turned a little pale +as the carriage turned into the square. Her errand was not a pleasant +one to her. + +Densham was left alone in the carriage for nearly an hour. He was +impatient, and yet her prolonged absence pleased him. She had found the +Princess in, she would bring him the information he desired. He sat +gazing idly into the faces of the passers-by with his thoughts very far +away. How that girl's face had taken hold of his fancy; had excited in +some strange way his whole artistic temperament! She was the exquisite +embodiment of a new type of girlhood, from which was excluded all that +was crude and unpleasing and unfinished. She seemed to him to combine +in some mysterious manner all the dainty freshness of youth with the +delicate grace and _savoir faire_ of a Frenchwoman of the best period. +He scarcely fancied himself in love with her; at any rate if it had been +suggested to him he would have denied it. Her beauty had certainly taken +a singular hold of him. His imagination was touched. He was immensely +attracted, but as to anything serious--well, he would not have admitted +it even to himself. Liberty meant so much to him, he had told himself +over and over again that, for many years at least, his art must be his +sole mistress. Besides, he was no boy to lose his heart, as certainly +Wolfenden had done, to a girl with whom he had never even spoken. It was +ridiculous, and yet---- + +A soft voice in his ear suddenly recalled him to the present. Mrs. +Thorpe-Satchell was standing upon the pavement. The slight pallor had +gone from her cheeks and the light had come back to her eyes. He looked +at her, irresistibly attracted. She had never appeared more charming. + +She stepped into the carriage, and the soft folds of her gown spread +themselves out over the cushions. She drew them on one side to make room +for him. + +"Come," she said, "let us have one turn in the Park. It is quite early, +although I am afraid that I have been a very long time." + +He stepped in at once and they drove off. Mrs. Thorpe-Satchell +laughingly repeated some story which the Princess had just told her. +Evidently she was in high spirits. The strained look had gone from her +face. Her gaiety was no longer forced. + +"You want to know the result of my mission, I suppose," she remarked, +pleasantly. "Well, I am afraid you will call it a failure. The moment +I mentioned the man's name the Princess stopped me. + +"'You mustn't talk to me about that man,' she said. 'Don't ask why, +only you must not talk about him.' + +"'I don't want to,' I assured her; 'but the girl.'" + +"What did she say about the girl?" Densham asked. + +"Well she did tell me something about her," Mrs. Thorpe-Satchell said, +slowly, "but, unfortunately, it will not help your friend. She only told +me when I had promised unconditionally and upon my honour to keep her +information a profound secret. So I am sorry, Francis, but even to +you----" + +"Of course, you must not repeat it," Densham said, hastily. "I would not +ask you for the world; but is there not a single scrap of information +about the man or the girl, who he is, what he is, of what family or +nationality the girl is--anything at all which I can take to Harcutt?" + +Mrs. Thorpe-Satchell looked straight at him with a faint smile at the +corners of her lips. + +"Yes, there is one thing which you can tell Mr. Harcutt," she said. + +Densham drew a little breath. At last, then! + +"You can tell him this," Mrs. Thorpe-Satchell said, slowly and +impressively, "that if it is the girl, as I suppose it is, in whom he +is interested, that the very best thing he can do is to forget that he +has ever seen her. I cannot tell you who she is or what, although I +know. But we are old friends, Francis, and I know that my word will be +sufficient for you. You can take this from me as the solemn truth. Your +friend had better hope for the love of the Sphinx, or fix his heart upon +the statue of Diana, as think of that girl." + +Densham was looking straight ahead along the stream of vehicles. His +eyes were set, but he saw nothing. He did not doubt her word for a +moment. He knew that she had spoken the truth. The atmosphere seemed +suddenly grey and sunless. He shivered a little--he was positively +chilled. Just for a moment he saw the girl's face, heard the swirl of +her skirts as she had passed their table and the sound of her voice as +she had bent over the great cluster of white roses whose faint perfume +reached even to where they were sitting. Then he half closed his eyes. +He had come very near making a terrible mistake. + +"Thank you," he said. "I will tell Harcutt." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +A MEETING IN BOND STREET + + +Wolfenden returned to his rooms to lunch, intending to go round to see +his last night's visitor immediately afterwards. He had scarcely taken +off his coat, however, before Selby met him in the hall, a note in his +hand. + +"From the young lady, my lord," he announced. "My wife has just sent it +round." + +Wolfenden tore the envelope open and read it. + + "_Thursday morning._ + + "DEAR LORD WOLFENDEN,--Of course I made a mistake in coming to you + last night. I am very sorry indeed--more sorry than you will ever + know. A woman does not forget these things readily, and the lesson + you have taught me it will not be difficult for me to remember all + my life. I cannot consent to remain your debtor, and I am leaving + here at once. I shall have gone long before you receive this note. + Do not try to find me. I shall not want for friends if I choose to + seek them. Apart from this, I do not want to see you again. I mean + it, and I trust to your honour to respect my wishes. I think that I + may at least ask you to grant me this for the sake of those days at + Deringham, which it is now my fervent wish to utterly forget.--I + am, yours sincerely, + + "BLANCHE MERTON." + +"The young lady, my lord," Selby remarked, "left early this morning. She +expressed herself as altogether satisfied with the attention she had +received, but she had decided to make other arrangements." + +Wolfenden nodded, and walked into his dining-room with the note crushed +up in his hand. + +"For the sake of those days at Deringham," he repeated softly to +himself. Was the girl a fool, or only an adventuress? It was true that +there had been something like a very mild flirtation between them at +Deringham, but it had been altogether harmless, and certainly more of +her seeking than his. They had met in the grounds once or twice and +walked together; he had talked to her a little after dinner, feeling a +certain sympathy for her isolation, and perhaps a little admiration for +her undoubted prettiness; yet all the time he had had a slightly uneasy +feeling with regard to her. Her ingenuousness had become a matter of +doubt to him. It was so now more than ever, yet he could not understand +her going away like this and the tone of her note. So far as he was +concerned, it was the most satisfactory thing that could have happened. +It relieved him of a responsibility which he scarcely knew how to deal +with. In the face of her dismissal from Deringham, any assistance which +she might have accepted from him would naturally have been open to +misapprehension. But that she should have gone away and have written to +him in such a strain was directly contrary to his anticipations. Unless +she was really hurt and disappointed by his reception of her, he could +not see what she had to gain by it. He was puzzled a little, but his +thoughts were too deeply engrossed elsewhere for him to take her +disappearance very seriously. By the time he had finished lunch he had +come to the conclusion that what had happened was for the best, and that +he would take her at her word. + +He left his rooms again about three o'clock, and at precisely the hour +at which Densham had rung the bell of Mrs. Thorpe-Satchell's house in +Mayfair he experienced a very great piece of good fortune. + +Coming out of Scott's, where more from habit than necessity he had +turned in to have his hat ironed, he came face to face, a few yards up +Bond Street, with the two people whom, more than any one else in the +world, he had desired to meet. They were walking together, the girl +talking, the man listening with an air of half-amused deference. +Suddenly she broke off and welcomed Wolfenden with a delightful smile +of recognition. The man looked up quickly. Wolfenden was standing +before them on the pavement, hat in hand, his pleasure at this +unexpected meeting very plainly evidenced in his face. Mr. Sabin's +greeting, if devoid of any special cordiality, was courteous and even +genial. Wolfenden never quite knew whence he got the impression, which +certainly came to him with all the strength and absoluteness of an +original inspiration, that this encounter was not altogether pleasant +to him. + +"How strange that we should meet you!" the girl said. "Do you know that +this is the first walk that I have ever had in London?" + +She spoke rather softly and rather slowly. Her voice possessed a +sibilant and musical intonation; there was perhaps the faintest +suggestion of an accent. As she stood there smiling upon him in a deep +blue gown, trimmed with a silvery fur, in the making of which no English +dressmaker had been concerned, Wolfenden's subjection was absolute and +complete. He was aware that his answer was a little flurried. He was +less at his ease than he could have wished. Afterwards he thought +of a hundred things he would have liked to have said, but the +surprise of seeing them so suddenly had cost him a little of his +usual self-possession. Mr. Sabin took up the conversation. + +"My infirmity," he said, glancing downwards, "makes walking, especially +on stone pavements, rather a painful undertaking. However, London is one +of those cities which can only be seen on foot, and my niece has all the +curiosity of her age." + +She laughed out frankly. She wore no veil, and a tinge of colour had +found its way into her cheeks, relieving that delicate but not unhealthy +pallor, which to Densham had seemed so exquisite. + +"I think shopping is delightful. Is it not?" she exclaimed. + +Wolfenden was absolutely sure of it. He was, indeed, needlessly +emphatic. Mr. Sabin smiled faintly. + +"I am glad to have met you again, Lord Wolfenden," he said, "if only to +thank you for your aid last night. I was anxious to get away before any +fuss was made, or I would have expressed my gratitude at the time in a +more seemly fashion." + +"I hope," Wolfenden said, "that you will not think it necessary to say +anything more about it. I did what any one in my place would have done +without a moment's hesitation." + +"I am not quite so sure of that," Mr. Sabin said. "But by the bye, can +you tell me what became of the fellow? Did any one go after him?" + +"There was some sort of pursuit, I believe," Wolfenden said slowly, "but +he was not caught." + +"I am glad to hear it," Mr. Sabin said. + +Wolfenden looked at him in some surprise. He could not make up his mind +whether it was his duty to disclose the name of the man who had made +this strange attempt. + +"Your assailant was, I suppose, a stranger to you?" he said slowly. + +Mr. Sabin shook his head. + +"By no means. I recognised him directly. So, I believe, did you." + +Wolfenden was honestly amazed. + +"He was your guest, I believe," Mr. Sabin continued, "until I entered +the room. I saw him leave, and I was half-prepared for something of the +sort." + +"He was my guest, it is true, but none the less, he was a stranger to +me," Wolfenden explained. "He brought a letter from my cousin, who seems +to have considered him a decent sort of fellow." + +"There is," Mr. Sabin said dryly, "nothing whatever the matter with him, +except that he is mad." + +"On the whole, I cannot say that I am surprised to hear it," Wolfenden +remarked; "but I certainly think that, considering the form his madness +takes, you ought to protect yourself in some way." + +Mr. Sabin shrugged his shoulders contemptuously. + +"He can never hurt me. I carry a talisman which is proof against any +attempt that he can make; but none the less, I must confess that your +aid last night was very welcome." + +"I was very pleased to be of any service," Wolfenden said, "especially," +he added, glancing toward Mr. Sabin's niece, "since it has given me the +pleasure of your acquaintance." + +A little thrill passed through him. Her delicately-curved lips were +quivering as though with amusement, and her eyes had fallen; she had +blushed slightly at that unwitting, ardent look of his. Mr. Sabin's +cold voice recalled him to himself. + +"I believe," he said, "that I overheard your name correctly. It is +Wolfenden, is it not?" + +Wolfenden assented. + +"I am sorry that I haven't a card," he said. "That is my name." + +Mr. Sabin looked at him curiously. + +"Wolfenden is, I believe, the family name of the Deringhams? May I +ask, are you any relation to Admiral Lord Deringham?" + +Wolfenden was suddenly grave. + +"Yes," he answered; "he is my father. Did you ever meet him?" + +Mr. Sabin shook his head. + +"No, I have heard of him abroad; also, I believe, of the Countess of +Deringham, your mother. It is many years ago. I trust that I have not +inadvertently----" + +"Not at all," Wolfenden declared. "My father is still alive, although he +is in very delicate health. I wonder, would you and your niece do me the +honour of having some tea with me? It is Ladies' Day at the 'Geranium +Club,' and I should be delighted to take you there if you would allow +me." + +Mr. Sabin shook his head. + +Wolfenden had the satisfaction of seeing the girl look disappointed. + +"We are very much obliged to you," Mr. Sabin said, "but I have an +appointment which is already overdue. You must not mind, Helène, if we +ride the rest of the way." + +He turned and hailed a passing hansom, which drew up immediately at +the kerb by their side. Mr. Sabin handed his niece in, and stood for a +moment on the pavement with Wolfenden. + +"I hope that we may meet again before long, Lord Wolfenden," he said. +"In the meantime let me assure you once more of my sincere gratitude." + +The girl leaned forward over the apron of the cab. + +"And may I not add mine too?" she said. "I almost wish that we were not +going to the 'Milan' again to-night. I am afraid that I shall be +nervous." + +She looked straight at Wolfenden. He was ridiculously happy. + +"I can promise," he said, "that no harm shall come to Mr. Sabin +to-night, at any rate. I shall be at the 'Milan' myself, and I will keep +a very close look out." + +"How reassuring!" she exclaimed, with a brilliant smile. "Lord Wolfenden +is going to be at the 'Milan' to-night," she added, turning to Mr. +Sabin. "Why don't you ask him to join us? I shall feel so much more +comfortable." + +There was a faint but distinct frown on Mr. Sabin's face--a distinct +hesitation before he spoke. But Wolfenden would notice neither. He was +looking over Mr. Sabin's shoulder, and his instructions were very clear. + +"If you will have supper with us we shall be very pleased," Mr. Sabin +said stiffly; "but no doubt you have already made your party. Supper is +an institution which one seldom contemplates alone." + +"I am quite free, and I shall be delighted," Wolfenden said without +hesitation. "About eleven, I suppose?" + +"A quarter past," Mr. Sabin said, stepping into the cab. "We may go to +the theatre." + +The hansom drove off, and Wolfenden stood on the pavement, hat in hand. +What fortune! He could scarcely believe in it. Then, just as he turned +to move on, something lying at his feet almost at the edge of the +kerbstone attracted his attention. He looked at it more closely. It was +a ribbon--a little delicate strip of deep blue ribbon. He knew quite +well whence it must have come. It had fallen from her gown as she had +stepped into the hansom. He looked up and down the street. It was full, +but he saw no one whom he knew. The thing could be done in a minute. He +stooped quickly down and picked it up crushing it in his gloved hand, +and walking on at once with heightened colour and a general sense of +having made a fool of himself. For a moment or two he was especially +careful to look neither to the right or to the left; then a sense that +some one from the other side of the road was watching him drew his +eyes in that direction. A young man was standing upon the edge of the +pavement, a peculiar smile parting his lips and a cigarette between his +fingers. For a moment Wolfenden was furiously angry; then the eyes of +the two men met across the street, and Wolfenden forgot his anger. He +recognised him at once, notwithstanding his appearance in an afternoon +toilette as carefully chosen as his own. It was Felix, Mr. Sabin's +assailant. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE SHADOWS THAT GO BEFORE + + +Wolfenden forgot his anger at once. He hesitated for a moment, then he +crossed the street and stood side by side with Felix upon the pavement. + +"I am glad to see that you are looking a sane man again," Wolfenden +said, after they had exchanged the usual greetings. "You might have been +in a much more uncomfortable place, after your last night's escapade." + +Felix shrugged his shoulders. + +"I think," he said, "that if I had succeeded a little discomfort would +only have amused me. It is not pleasant to fail." + +Wolfenden stood squarely upon his feet, and laid his hand lightly upon +the other's shoulder. + +"Look here," he said, "it won't do for you to go following a man +about London like this, watching for an opportunity to murder him. I +don't like interfering in other people's business, but willingly or +unwillingly I seem to have got mixed up in this, and I have a word or +two to say about it. Unless you give me your promise, upon your honour, +to make no further attempt upon that man's life, I shall go to the +police, tell them what I know, and have you watched." + +"You shall have," Felix said quietly, "my promise. A greater power than +the threat of your English police has tied my hands; for the present I +have abandoned my purpose." + +"I am bound to believe you," Wolfenden said, "and you look as though you +were speaking the truth; yet you must forgive my asking why, in that +case, you are following the man about? You must have a motive." + +Felix shook his head. + +"As it happened," he said, "I am here by the merest accident. It may +seem strange to you, but it is perfectly true. I have just come out of +Waldorf's, above there, and I saw you all three upon the pavement." + +"I am glad to hear it," Wolfenden said. + +"More glad," Felix said, "than I was to see you with them. Can you not +believe what I tell you? shall I give you proof? will you be convinced +then? Every moment you spend with that man is an evil one for you. You +may have thought me inclined to be melodramatic last night. Perhaps I +was! All the same the man is a fiend. Will you not be warned? I tell you +that he is a fiend." + +"Perhaps he is," Wolfenden said indifferently. "I am not interested in +him." + +"But you are interested--in his companion." + +Wolfenden frowned. + +"I think," he said, "that we will leave the lady out of the +conversation." + +Felix sighed. + +"You are a good fellow," he said; "but, forgive me, like all your +countrymen, you carry chivalry just a thought too far--even to +simplicity. You do not understand such people and their ways." + +Wolfenden was getting angry, but he held himself in check. + +"You know nothing against her," he said slowly. + +"It is true," Felix answered. "I know nothing against her. It is not +necessary. She is his creature. That is apparent. The shadow of his +wickedness is enough." + +Wolfenden checked himself in the middle of a hot reply. He was suddenly +conscious of the absurdity of losing his temper in the open street with +a man so obviously ill-balanced--possessed, too, of such strange and +wild impulses. + +"Let us talk," he said, "of something else, or say good-morning. Which +way were you going?" + +"To the Russian Embassy," Felix said, "I have some work to do this +afternoon." + +Wolfenden looked at him curiously. + +"Our ways, then, are the same for a short distance," he said. "Let us +walk together. Forgive me, but you are really, then, attached to the +Embassy?" + +Felix nodded, and glanced at his companion with a smile. + +"I am not what you call a fraud altogether," he said. "I am junior +secretary to Prince Lobenski. You, I think, are not a politician, are +you?" + +Wolfenden shook his head. + +"I take no interest in politics," he said. "I shall probably have to sit +in the House of Lords some day, but I shall be sorry indeed when the +time comes." + +Felix sighed, and was silent for a moment. + +"You are perhaps fortunate," he said. "The ways of the politician are +not exactly rose-strewn. You represent a class which in my country does +not exist. There we are all either in the army, or interested in +statecraft. Perhaps the secure position of your country does not require +such ardent service?" + +"You are--of what nationality, may I ask?" Wolfenden inquired. + +Felix hesitated. + +"Perhaps," he said, "you had better not know. The less you know of me +the better. The time may come when it will be to your benefit to be +ignorant." + +Wolfenden took no pains to hide his incredulity. + +"It is easy to see that you are a stranger in this country," he +remarked. "We are not in Russia or in South America. I can assure you +that we scarcely know the meaning of the word 'intrigue' here. We are +the most matter-of-fact and perhaps the most commonplace nation in the +world. You will find it out for yourself in time. Whilst you are with us +you must perforce fall to our level." + +"I, too, must become commonplace," Felix said, smiling. "Is that what +you mean?" + +"In a certain sense, yes," Wolfenden answered. "You will not be able to +help it. It will be the natural result of your environment. In your own +country, wherever that may be, I can imagine that you might be a person +jealously watched by the police; your comings and goings made a note +of; your intrigues--I take it for granted that you are concerned in +some--the object of the most jealous and unceasing suspicion. Here there +is nothing of that. You could not intrigue if you wanted to. There is +nothing to intrigue about." + +They were crossing a crowded thoroughfare, and Felix did not reply until +they were safe on the opposite pavement. Then he took Wolfenden's arm, +and, leaning over, almost whispered in his ear-- + +"You speak," he said, "what nine-tenths of your countrymen believe. Yet +you are wrong. Wherever there are international questions which bring +great powers such as yours into antagonism, or the reverse, with other +great countries, the soil is laid ready for intrigue, and the seed is +never long wanted. Yes; I know that, to all appearance, you are the +smuggest and most respectable nation ever evolved in this world's +history. Yet if you tell me that your's is a nation free from intrigue, +I correct you; you are wrong, you do not know--that is all! That very +man, whose life last night you so inopportunely saved, is at this moment +deeply involved in an intrigue against your country." + +"Mr. Sabin!" Wolfenden exclaimed. + +"Yes, Mr. Sabin! Mind, I know this by chance only. I am not concerned +one way or the other. My quarrel with him is a private one. I am robbed +for the present of my vengeance by a power to which I am forced to yield +implicit obedience. So, for the present, I have forgotten that he is my +enemy. He is safe from me, yet if last night I had struck home, I should +have ridded your country of a great and menacing danger. Perhaps--who +can tell--he is a man who succeeds--I might even have saved England from +conquest and ruin." + +They had reached the top of Piccadilly, and downward towards the +Park flowed the great afternoon stream of foot-people and carriages. +Wolfenden, on whom his companion's words, charged as they were with +an almost passionate earnestness, could scarcely fail to leave some +impression, was silent for a moment. + +"Do you really believe," he said, "that ours is a country which could +possibly stand in any such danger? We are outside all Continental +alliances! We are pledged to support neither the dual or the triple +alliance. How could we possibly become embroiled?" + +"I will tell you one thing which you may not readily believe," Felix +said. "There is no country in the world so hated by all the great powers +as England." + +Wolfenden shrugged his shoulders. + +"Russia," he remarked, "is perhaps jealous of our hold on Asia, but----" + +"Russia," Felix interrupted, "of all the countries in the world, except +perhaps Italy, is the most friendly disposed towards you." + +Wolfenden laughed. + +"Come," he said, "you forget Germany." + +"Germany!" Felix exclaimed scornfully. "Believe it or not as you choose, +but Germany detests you. I will tell you a thing which you can think of +when you are an old man, and there are great changes and events for you +to look back upon. A war between Germany and England is only a matter +of time--of a few short years, perhaps even months. In the Cabinet at +Berlin a war with you to-day would be more popular than a war with +France." + +"You take my breath away," Wolfenden exclaimed, laughing. + +Felix was very much in earnest. + +"In the little world of diplomacy," he said, "in the innermost councils +these things are known. The outside public knows nothing of the awful +responsibilities of those who govern. Two, at least, of your ministers +have realised the position. You read this morning in the papers of more +warships and strengthened fortifications--already there have been +whispers of the conscription. It is not against Russia or against France +that you are slowly arming yourselves, it is against Germany!" + +"Germany would be mad to fight us," Wolfenden declared. + +"Under certain conditions," Felix said slowly. "Don't be angry--Germany +must beat you." + +Wolfenden, looking across the street, saw Harcutt on the steps of his +club, and beckoned to him. + +"There is Harcutt," he exclaimed, pointing him out to Felix. "He is a +journalist, you know, and in search of a sensation. Let us hear what he +has to say about these things." + +But Felix unlinked his arm from Wolfenden's hastily. + +"You must excuse me," he said. "Harcutt would recognise me, and I do not +wish to be pointed out everywhere as a would-be assassin. Remember what +I have said, and avoid Sabin and his parasites as you would the devil." + +Felix hurried away. Wolfenden remained for a moment standing in the +middle of the pavement looking blankly along Piccadilly. Harcutt crossed +over to him. + +"You look," he remarked to Wolfenden, "like a man who needs a drink." + +Wolfenden turned with him into the club. + +"I believe that I do," he said. "I have had rather an eventful hour." + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE SECRETARY + + +Mr. Sabin, who had parted with Wolfenden with evident relief, leaned +back in the cab and looked at his watch. + +"That young man," he remarked, "has wasted ten minutes of my time. He +will probably have to pay for it some day." + +"By the bye," the girl asked, "who is he?" + +"His name is Wolfenden--Lord Wolfenden." + +"So I gathered; and who is Lord Wolfenden?" + +"The only son of Admiral the Earl of Deringham. I don't know anything +more than that about him myself." + +"Admiral Deringham," the girl repeated, thoughtfully; "the name sounds +familiar." + +Mr. Sabin nodded. + +"Very likely," he said. "He was in command of the Channel Squadron at +the time of the _Magnificent_ disaster. He was barely half a mile away +and saw the whole thing. He came in, too, rightly or wrongly, for a +share of the blame." + +"Didn't he go mad, or something?" the girl asked. + +"He had a fit," Mr. Sabin said calmly, "and left the service almost +directly afterwards. He is living in strict seclusion in Norfolk, I +believe. I should not like to say that he is mad. As a matter of fact, +I do not believe that he is." + +She looked at him curiously. There was a note of reserve in his tone. + +"You are interested in him, are you not?" she asked. + +"In a measure," he admitted. "He is supposed, mad or not, to be the +greatest living authority on the coast defences of England and the state +of her battleships. They shelved him at the Admiralty, but he wrote some +vigorous letters to the papers and there are people pretty high up who +believe in him. Others, of course, think that he is a crank." + +"But why," she asked, languidly, "are you interested in such matters?" + +Mr. Sabin knocked the ash off the cigarette he was smoking and was +silent for a moment. + +"One gets interested nowadays in--a great many things which scarcely +seem to concern us," he remarked deliberately. "You, for instance, seem +interested in this man's son. He cannot possibly be of any account to +us." + +She shrugged her shoulders. + +"Did I say that I was interested in him?" + +"You did not," Mr. Sabin answered, "but it was scarcely necessary; you +stopped to speak to him of your own accord, and you asked him to supper, +which was scarcely discreet." + +"One gets so bored sometimes," she admitted frankly. + +"You are only a woman," he said indulgently; "a year of waiting seems to +you an eternity, however vast the stake. There will come a time when you +will see things differently." + +"I wonder!" she said softly, "I wonder!" + + * * * * * + +Mr. Sabin had unconsciously spoken the truth when he had pleaded an +appointment to Lord Wolfenden. His servant drew him on one side directly +they entered the house. + +"There is a young lady here, sir, waiting for you in the study." + +"Been here long?" Mr. Sabin asked. + +"About two hours, sir. She has rung once or twice to ask about you." + +Mr. Sabin turned away and opened the study door, carefully closing it +behind him at once as he recognised his visitor. The air was blue with +tobacco smoke, and the girl, who looked up at his entrance, held a +cigarette between her fingers. Mr. Sabin was at least as surprised +as Lord Wolfenden when he recognised his visitor, but his face was +absolutely emotionless. He nodded not unkindly and stood looking at +her, leaning upon his stick. + +"Well, Blanche, what has gone wrong?" he asked. + +"Pretty well everything," she answered. "I've been turned away." + +"Detected?" he asked quickly. + +"Suspected, at any rate. I wrote you that Lord Deringham was watching me +sharply. Where he got the idea from I can't imagine, but he got it and +he got it right, anyhow. He's followed me about like a cat, and it's all +up." + +"What does he know?" + +"Nothing! He found a sheet of carbon on my desk, no more! I had to leave +in an hour." + +"And Lady Deringham?" + +"She is like the rest--she thinks him mad. She has not the faintest idea +that, mad or not, he has stumbled upon the truth. She was glad to have +me go--for other reasons; but she has not the faintest doubt but that I +have been unjustly dismissed." + +"And he? How much does he know?" + +"Exactly what I told you--nothing! His idea was just a confused one that +I thought the stuff valuable--how you can make any sense of such trash +I don't know--and that I was keeping a copy back for myself. He was +worrying for an excuse to get rid of me, and he grabbed at it." + +"Why was Lady Deringham glad to have you go?" Mr. Sabin asked. + +"Because I amused myself with her son." + +"Lord Wolfenden?" + +"Yes!" + +For the first time since he had entered the room Mr. Sabin's grim +countenance relaxed. The corners of his lips slowly twisted themselves +into a smile. + +"Good girl," he said. "Is he any use now?" + +"None," she answered with some emphasis. "None whatever. He is a fool." + +The colour in her cheeks had deepened a little. A light shot from her +eyes. Mr. Sabin's amusement deepened. He looked positively benign. + +"You've tried him?" he suggested. + +The girl nodded, and blew a little cloud of tobacco smoke from her +mouth. + +"Yes; I went there last night. He was very kind. He sent his servant out +with me and got me nice, respectable rooms." + +Mr. Sabin did what was for him an exceptional thing. He sat down and +laughed to himself softly, but with a genuine and obvious enjoyment. + +"Blanche," he said, "it was a lucky thing that I discovered you. No one +else could have appreciated you properly." + +She looked at him with a sudden hardness. + +"You should appreciate me," she said, "for what I am you made me. I am +of your handiwork: a man should appreciate the tool of his own +fashioning." + +"Nature," Mr. Sabin said smoothly, "had made the way easy for me. Mine +were but finishing touches. But we have no time for this sort of thing. +You have done well at Deringham and I shall not forget it. But your +dismissal just now is exceedingly awkward. For the moment, indeed, I +scarcely see my way. I wonder in what direction Lord Deringham will look +for your successor?" + +"Not anywhere within the sphere of your influence," she answered. "I do +not think that I shall have a successor at all just yet. There was only +a week's work to do. He will copy that himself." + +"I am very much afraid," Mr. Sabin said, "that he will; yet we must have +that copy." + +"You will be very clever," she said slowly. "He has put watches all +round the place, and the windows are barricaded. He sleeps with a +revolver by his side, and there are several horrors in the shape of +traps all round the house." + +"No wonder," Mr. Sabin said, "that people think him mad." + +The girl laughed shortly. + +"He is mad," she said. "There is no possible doubt about that; you +couldn't live with him a day and doubt it." + +"Hereditary, no doubt," Mr. Sabin suggested quietly. + +Blanche shrugged her shoulders and leaned back yawning. + +"Anyhow," she said, "I've had enough of them all. It has been very +tiresome work and I am sick of it. Give me some money. I want a spree. I +am going to have a month's holiday." + +Mr. Sabin sat down at his desk and drew out a cheque-book. + +"There will be no difficulty about the money," he said, "but I cannot +spare you for a month. Long before that I must have the rest of this +madman's figures." + +The girl's face darkened. + +"Haven't I told you," she said, "that there is not the slightest chance +of their taking me back? You might as well believe me. They wouldn't +have me, and I wouldn't go." + +"I do not expect anything of the sort," Mr. Sabin said. "There are other +directions, though, in which I shall require your aid. I shall have to +go to Deringham myself, and as I know nothing whatever about the place +you will be useful to me there. I believe that your home is somewhere +near there." + +"Well!" + +"There is no reason, I suppose," Mr. Sabin continued, "why a portion of +the vacation you were speaking of should not be spent there?" + +"None!" the girl replied, "except that it would be deadly dull, and no +holiday at all. I should want paying for it." + +Mr. Sabin looked down at the cheque-book which lay open before him. + +"I was intending," he said, "to offer you a cheque for fifty pounds. I +will make it one hundred, and you will rejoin your family circle at +Fakenham, I believe, in one week from to-day." + +The girl made a wry face. + +"The money's all right," she said; "but you ought to see my family +circle! They are all cracked on farming, from the poor old dad who loses +all his spare cash at it, down to little Letty my youngest sister, who +can tell you everything about the last turnip crop. Do ride over and see +us! You will find it so amusing!" + +"I shall be charmed," Mr. Sabin said suavely, as he commenced filling in +the body of the cheque. "Are all your sisters, may I ask, as delightful +as you?" + +She looked at him defiantly. + +"Look here," she said, "none of that! Of course you wouldn't come, but +in any case I won't have you. The girls are--well, not like me, I'm glad +to say. I won't have the responsibility of introducing a Mephistocles +into the domestic circle." + +"I can assure you," Mr. Sabin said, "that I had not the faintest idea of +coming. My visit to Norfolk will be anything but a pleasure trip, and I +shall have no time to spare. + +"I believe I have your address: 'Westacott Farm, Fakenham,' is it not? +Now do what you like in the meantime, but a week from to-day there will +be a letter from me there. Here is the cheque." + +The girl rose and shook out her skirts. + +"Aren't you going to take me anywhere?" she asked. "You might ask me to +have supper with you to-night." + +Mr. Sabin shook his head gently. + +"I am sorry," he said, "but I have a young lady living with me." + +"Oh!" + +"She is my niece, and it takes more than my spare time to entertain +her," he continued, without noticing the interjection. "You have plenty +of friends. Go and look them up and enjoy yourself--for a week. I have +no heart to go pleasure-making until my work is finished." + +She drew on her gloves and walked to the door. Mr. Sabin came with her +and opened it. + +"I wish," she said, "that I could understand what in this world you are +trying to evolve from those rubbishy papers." + +He laughed. + +"Some day," he said, "I will tell you. At present you would not +understand. Be patient a little longer." + +"It has been long enough," she exclaimed. "I have had seven months of +it." + +"And I," he answered, "seven years. Take care of yourself and remember, +I shall want you in a week." + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE FRUIT THAT IS OF GOLD + + +At precisely the hour agreed upon Harcutt and Densham met in one of the +ante-rooms leading into the "Milan" restaurant. They surrendered their +coats and hats to an attendant, and strolled about waiting for +Wolfenden. A quarter of an hour passed. The stream of people from the +theatres began to grow thinner. Still, Wolfenden did not come. Harcutt +took out his watch. + +"I propose that we do not wait any longer for Wolfenden," he said. "I +saw him this afternoon, and he answered me very oddly when I reminded +him about to-night. There is such a crowd here too, that they will not +keep our table much longer." + +"Let us go in, by all means," Densham agreed. "Wolfenden will easily +find us if he wants to!" + +Harcutt returned his watch to his pocket slowly, and without removing +his eyes from Densham's face. + +"You're not looking very fit, old chap," he remarked. "Is anything +wrong?" + +Densham shook his head and turned away. + +"I am a little tired," he said. "We've been keeping late hours the last +few nights. There's nothing the matter with me, though. Come, let us go +in!" + +Harcutt linked his arm in Densham's. The two men stood in the doorway. + +"I have not asked you yet," Harcutt said, in a low tone. "What fortune?" + +Densham laughed a little bitterly. + +"I will tell you all that I know presently," he said. + +"You have found out something, then?" + +"I have found out," Densham answered, "all that I care to know! I have +found out so much that I am leaving England within a week!" + +Harcutt looked at him curiously. + +"Poor old chap," he said softly. "I had no idea that you were so hard +hit as all that, you know." + +They passed through the crowded room to their table. Suddenly Harcutt +stopped short and laid his hand upon Densham's arm. + +"Great Scott!" he exclaimed. "Look at that! No wonder we had to wait for +Wolfenden!" + +Mr. Sabin and his niece were occupying the same table as on the previous +night, only this time they were not alone. Wolfenden was sitting there +between the two. At the moment of their entrance, he and the girl were +laughing together. Mr. Sabin, with the air of one wholly detached from +his companions, was calmly proceeding with his supper. + +"I understand now," Harcutt whispered, "what Wolfenden meant this +afternoon. When I reminded him about to-night, he laughed and said: +'Well, I shall see you, at any rate.' I thought it was odd at the time. +I wonder how he managed it?" + +Densham made no reply. The two men took their seats in silence. +Wolfenden was sitting with his back half-turned to them, and he had not +noticed their entrance. In a moment or two, however, he looked round, +and seeing them, leaned over towards the girl and apparently asked her +something. She nodded, and he immediately left his seat and joined them. + +There was a little hesitation, almost awkwardness in their greetings. No +one knew exactly what to say. + +"You fellows are rather late, aren't you?" Wolfenden remarked. + +"We were here punctually enough," Harcutt replied; "but we have been +waiting for you nearly a quarter of an hour." + +"I am sorry," Wolfenden said. "The fact is I ought to have left word +when I came in, but I quite forgot it. I took it for granted that you +would look into the room when you found that I was behind time." + +"Well, it isn't of much consequence," Harcutt declared; "we are here +now, at any rate, although it seems that after all we are not to have +supper together." + +Wolfenden glanced rapidly over his shoulder. + +"You understand the position, of course," he said. "I need not ask you +to excuse me." + +Harcutt nodded. + +"Oh, we'll excuse you, by all means; but on one condition--we want to +know all about it. Where can we see you afterwards?" + +"At my rooms," Wolfenden said, turning away and resuming his seat at the +other table. + +Densham had made no attempt whatever to join in the conversation. Once +his eyes had met Wolfenden's, and it seemed to the latter that there was +a certain expression there which needed some explanation. It was not +anger--it certainly was not envy. Wolfenden was puzzled--he was even +disturbed. Had Densham discovered anything further than he himself knew +about this man and the girl? What did he mean by looking as though the +key to this mysterious situation was in his hands, and as though he had +nothing but pity for the only one of the trio who had met with any +success? Wolfenden resumed his seat with an uncomfortable conviction +that Densham knew more than he did about these people whose guest he +had become, and that the knowledge had damped all his ardour. There was +a cloud upon his face for a moment. The exuberance of his happiness had +received a sudden check. Then the girl spoke to him, and the memory of +Densham's unspoken warning passed away. He looked at her long and +searchingly. Her face was as innocent and proud as the face of a child. +She was unconscious even of his close scrutiny. The man might be +anything; it might even be that every word that Felix had spoken was +true. But of the girl he would believe no evil, he would not doubt her +even for a moment. + +"Your friend," remarked Mr. Sabin, helping himself to an ortolan, "is a +journalist, is he not? His face seems familiar to me although I have +forgotten his name, if ever I knew it." + +"He is a journalist," Wolfenden answered. "Not one of the rank and +file--rather a _dilettante_, but still a hard worker. He is devoted to +his profession, though, and his name is Harcutt." + +"Harcutt!" Mr. Sabin repeated, although he did not appear to recollect +the name. "He is a political journalist, is he not?" + +"Not that I am aware of," Wolfenden answered. "He is generally +considered to be the great scribe of society. I believe that he is +interested in foreign politics, though." + +"Ah!" + +Mr. Sabin's interjection was significant, and Wolfenden looked up +quickly but fruitlessly. The man's face was impenetrable. + +"The other fellow," Wolfenden said, turning to the girl, "is Densham, +the painter. His picture in this year's Academy was a good deal talked +about, and he does some excellent portraits." + +She threw a glance at him over her gleaming white shoulder. + +"He looks like an artist," she said. "I liked his picture--a French +landscape, was it not? And his portrait of the Countess of Davenport was +magnificent." + +"If you would care to know him," Wolfenden said, "I should be very happy +to present him to you." + +Mr. Sabin looked up and shook his head quickly, but firmly. + +"You must excuse us," he said. "My niece and I are not in England for +very long, and we have reasons for avoiding new acquaintances as much as +possible." + +A shade passed across the girl's face. Wolfenden would have given much +to have known into what worlds those clear, soft eyes, suddenly set in a +far away gaze, were wandering--what those regrets were which had floated +up so suddenly before her. Was she too as impenetrable as the man, or +would he some day share with her what there was of sorrow or of mystery +in her young life? His heart beat with unaccustomed quickness at the +thought. Mr. Sabin's last remark, the uncertainty of his own position +with regard to these people, filled him with sudden fear; it might be +that he too was to be included in the sentence which had just been +pronounced. He looked up from the table to find Mr. Sabin's cold, steely +eyes fixed upon him, and acting upon a sudden impulse he spoke what was +nearest to his heart. + +"I hope," he said, "that the few acquaintances whom fate does bring you +are not to suffer for the same reason." + +Mr. Sabin smiled and poured himself out a glass of wine. + +"You are very good," he said. "I presume that you refer to yourself. We +shall always be glad that we met you, shall we not, Helène? But I doubt +very much if, after to-night, we shall meet again in England at all." + +To Wolfenden the light seemed suddenly to have gone out, and the soft, +low music to have become a wailing dirge. He retained some command of +his features only by a tremendous effort. Even then he felt that he had +become pale, and that his voice betrayed something of the emotion that +he felt. + +"You are going away," he said slowly--"abroad!" + +"Very soon indeed," Mr. Sabin answered. "At any rate, we leave London +during the week. You must not look upon us, Lord Wolfenden, as ordinary +pleasure-seekers. We are wanderers upon the face of the earth, not so +much by choice as by destiny. I want you to try one of these cigarettes. +They were given to me by the Khedive, and I think you will admit that he +knows more about tobacco than he does about governing." + +The girl had been gazing steadfastly at the grapes that lay untasted +upon her plate, and Wolfenden glanced towards her twice in vain; now, +however, she looked up, and a slight smile parted her lips as her eyes +met his. How pale she was, and how suddenly serious! + +"Do not take my uncle too literally, Lord Wolfenden," she said softly. +"I hope that we shall meet again some time, if not often. I should be +very sorry not to think so. We owe you so much." + +There was an added warmth in those last few words, a subtle light in her +eyes. Was she indeed a past mistress in all the arts of coquetry, or was +there not some message for him in that lowered tone and softened glance? +He sat spellbound for a moment. Her bosom was certainly rising and +falling more quickly. The pearls at her throat quivered. Then Mr. +Sabin's voice, cold and displeased, dissolved the situation. + +"I think, Helène, if you are ready, we had better go," he said. "It is +nearly half-past twelve, and we shall escape the crush if we leave at +once." + +She stood up silently, and Wolfenden, with slow fingers, raised her +cloak from the back of the chair and covered her shoulders. She thanked +him softly, and turning away, walked down the room followed by the two +men. In the ante-room Mr. Sabin stopped. + +"My watch," he remarked, "was fast. You will have time after all for a +cigarette with your friends. Good-night." + +Wolfenden had no alternative but to accept his dismissal. A little, +white hand, flashing with jewels, but shapely and delicate, stole out +from the dark fur of her cloak, and he held it within his for a second. + +"I hope," he said, "that at any rate you will allow me to call, and say +goodbye before you leave England?" + +She looked at him with a faint smile upon her lips. Yet her eyes were +very sad. + +"You have heard what my inexorable guardian has said, Lord Wolfenden," +she answered quietly. "I am afraid he is right. We are wanderers, he and +I, with no settled home." + +"I shall venture to hope," he said boldly, "that some day you will make +one--in England." + +A tinge of colour flashed into her cheeks. Her eyes danced with +amusement at his audacity--then they suddenly dropped, and she caught up +the folds of her gown. + +"Ah, well," she said demurely, "that would be too great a happiness. +Farewell! One never knows." + +She yielded at last to Mr. Sabin's cold impatience, and turning away, +followed him down the staircase. Wolfenden remained at the top until she +had passed out of sight; he lingered even for a moment or two +afterwards, inhaling the faint, subtle perfume shaken from her gown--a +perfume which reminded him of an orchard of pink and white apple +blossoms in Normandy. Then he turned back, and finding Harcutt and +Densham lingering over their coffee, sat down beside them. + +Harcutt looked at him through half-closed eyes--a little cloud of blue +tobacco smoke hung over the table. Densham had eaten little, but smoked +continually. + +"Well?" he asked laconically. + +"After all," Wolfenden said, "I have not very much to tell you fellows. +Mr. Sabin did not call upon me; I met him by chance in Bond Street, and +the girl asked me to supper, more I believe in jest than anything. +However, of course I took advantage of it, and I have spent the evening +since eleven o'clock with them. But as to gaining any definite +information as to who or what they are, I must confess I've failed +altogether. I know no more than I did yesterday." + +"At any rate," Harcutt remarked, "you will soon learn all that you care +to know. You have inserted the thin end of the wedge. You have +established a visiting acquaintance." + +Wolfenden flicked the end from his cigarette savagely. + +"Nothing of the sort," he declared. "They have not given me their +address, or asked me to call. On the contrary, I was given very clearly +to understand by Mr. Sabin that they were only travellers and desired no +acquaintances. I know them, that is all; what the next step is to be I +have not the faintest idea." + +Densham leaned over towards them. There was a strange light in his +eyes--a peculiar, almost tremulous, earnestness in his tone. + +"Why should there be any next step at all?" he said. "Let us all +drop this ridiculous business. It has gone far enough. I have a +presentiment--not altogether presentiment either, as it is based +upon a certain knowledge. It is true that these are not ordinary +people, and the girl is beautiful. But they are not of our lives! +Let them pass out. Let us forget them." + +Harcutt shook his head. + +"The man is too interesting to be forgotten or ignored," he said. "I +must know more about him, and before many days have passed." + +Densham turned to the younger man. + +"At least, Wolfenden," he said, "you will listen to reason. I tell you +as a man of honour, and I think I may add as your friend, that you are +only courting disappointment. The girl is not for you, or me, or any of +us. If I dared tell you what I know, you would be the first to admit it +yourself." + +Wolfenden returned Densham's eager gaze steadfastly. + +"I have gone," he said calmly, "too far to turn back. You fellows both +know I am not a woman's man. I've never cared for a girl in all my life, +or pretended to, seriously. Now that I do, it is not likely that I shall +give her up without any definite reason. You must speak more plainly, +Densham, or not at all." + +Densham rose from his chair. + +"I am very sorry," he said. + +Wolfenden turned upon him, frowning. + +"You need not be," he said. "You and Harcutt have both, I believe, heard +some strange stories concerning the man; but as for the girl, no one +shall dare to speak an unbecoming word of her." + +"No one desired to," Densham answered quietly. "And yet there may be +other and equally grave objections to any intercourse with her." + +Wolfenden smiled confidently. + +"Nothing in the world worth winning," he said, "is won without an +effort, or without difficulty. The fruit that is of gold does not drop +into your mouth." + +The band had ceased to play and the lights went out. Around them was all +the bustle of departure. The three men rose and left the room. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +WOLFENDEN'S LUCK + + +To leave London at all, under ordinary circumstances, was usually a +hardship for Wolfenden, but to leave London at this particular moment of +his life was little less than a calamity, yet a letter which he received +a few mornings after the supper at the "Milan" left him scarcely any +alternative. He read it over for the third time whilst his breakfast +grew cold, and each time his duty seemed to become plainer. + + "DERINGHAM HALL, NORFOLK. + + "MY DEAR WOLFENDEN,--We have been rather looking for you to come + down for a day or two, and I do hope that you will be able to + manage it directly you receive this. I am sorry to say that your + father is very far from well, and we have all been much upset + lately. He still works for eight or nine hours a day, and his + hallucinations as to the value of his papers increases with every + page he writes. His latest peculiarity is a rooted conviction that + there is some plot on hand to rob him of his manuscripts. You + remember, perhaps, Miss Merton, the young person whom we engaged as + typewriter. He sent her away the other day, without a moment's + notice, simply because he saw her with a sheet of copying paper in + her hand. I did not like the girl, but it is perfectly ridiculous + to suspect her of anything of the sort. He insisted, however, that + she should leave the house within an hour, and we were obliged to + give in to him. Since then he has seemed to become even more + fidgety. He has had cast-iron shutters fitted to the study windows, + and two of the keepers are supposed to be on duty outside night and + day, with loaded revolvers. People around here are all beginning to + talk, and I am afraid that it is only natural that they should. He + will see no one, and the library door is shut and bolted + immediately he has entered it. Altogether it is a deplorable state + of things, and what will be the end of it I cannot imagine. + Sometimes it occurs to me that you might have more influence over + him than I have. I hope that you will be able to come down, if only + for a day or two, and see what effect your presence has. The + shooting is not good this year, but Captain Willis was telling me + yesterday that the golf links were in excellent condition, and + there is the yacht, of course, if you care to use it. Your father + seems to have quite forgotten that she is still in the + neighbourhood, I am glad to say. Those inspection cruises were very + bad things for him. He used to get so excited, and he was + dreadfully angry if the photographs which I took were at all + imperfectly developed. How is everybody? Have you seen Lady Susan + lately? and is it true that Eleanor is engaged? I feel literally + buried here, but I dare not suggest a move. London, for him at + present, would be madness. I shall hope to get a wire from you + to-morrow, and will send to Cromer to meet any train.--From your + affectionate mother, + + "CONSTANCE MANVER DERINGHAM." + +There was not a word of reproach in the letter, but nevertheless +Wolfenden felt a little conscience-stricken. He ought to have gone down +to Deringham before; most certainly after the receipt of this summons he +could not delay his visit any longer. He walked up and down the room +impatiently. To leave London just now was detestable. It was true that +he could not call upon them, and he had no idea where else to look for +these people, who, for some mysterious reason, seemed to be doing all +that they could to avoid his acquaintance. Yet chance had favoured him +once--chance might stand his friend again. At any rate to feel himself +in the same city with her was some consolation. For the last three days +he had haunted Piccadilly and Bond Street. He had become a saunterer, +and the shop windows had obtained from him an attention which he had +never previously bestowed upon them. The thought that, at any turning, +at any moment, they might meet, continually thrilled him. The idea of a +journey which would place such a meeting utterly out of the question, +was more than distasteful--it was hateful. + +And yet he would have to go. He admitted that to himself as he ate his +solitary breakfast, with the letter spread out before him. Since it was +inevitable, he decided to lose no time. Better go at once and have it +over. The sooner he got there the sooner he would be able to return. He +rang the bell, and gave the necessary orders. At a quarter to twelve he +was at King's Cross. + +He took his ticket in a gloomy frame of mind, and bought the _Field_ and +a sporting novel at the bookstall. Then he turned towards the train, and +walking idly down the platform, looking for Selby and his belongings, he +experienced what was very nearly the greatest surprise of his life. So +far, coincidence was certainly doing her best to befriend him. A girl +was seated alone in the further corner of a first-class carriage. +Something familiar in the poise of her head, or the gleam of her hair +gathered up underneath an unusually smart travelling hat, attracted his +attention. He came to a sudden standstill, breathless, incredulous. She +was looking out of the opposite window, her head resting upon her +fingers, but a sudden glimpse of her profile assured him that this was +no delusion. It was Mr. Sabin's niece who sat there, a passenger by his +own train, probably, as he reflected with a sudden illuminative flash of +thought, to be removed from the risk of any more meetings with him. + +Wolfenden, with a discretion at which he afterwards wondered, did not at +once attract her attention. He hurried off to the smoking carriage +before which his servant was standing, and had his own belongings +promptly removed on to the platform. Then he paid a visit to the +refreshment-room, and provided himself with an extensive luncheon +basket, and finally, at the bookstall, he bought up every lady's paper +and magazine he could lay his hands upon. There was only a minute now +before the train was due to leave, and he walked along the platform as +though looking for a seat, followed by his perplexed servant. When he +arrived opposite to her carriage, he paused, only to find himself +confronted by a severe-looking maid dressed in black, and the guard. For +the first time he noticed the little strip, "engaged," pasted across the +window. + +"Plenty of room lower down, sir," the guard remarked. "This is an +engaged carriage." + +The maid whispered something to the guard, who nodded and locked the +door. At the sound of the key, however, the girl looked round and saw +Wolfenden. She lifted her eyebrows and smiled faintly. Then she came to +the window and let it down. + +"Whatever are you doing here?" she asked. "You----" + +He interrupted her gently. The train was on the point of departure. + +"I am going down into Norfolk," he said. "I had not the least idea of +seeing you. I do not think that I was ever so surprised." + +Then he hesitated for a moment. + +"May I come in with you?" he asked. + +She laughed at him. He had been so afraid of her possible refusal, that +his question had been positively tremulous. + +"I suppose so," she said slowly. "Is the train quite full, then?" + +He looked at her quite keenly. She was laughing at him with her eyes--an +odd little trick of hers. He was himself again at once, and answered +mendaciously, but with emphasis-- + +"Not a seat anywhere. I shall be left behind if you don't take me in." + +A word in the guard's ear was quite sufficient, but the maid looked at +Wolfenden suspiciously. She leaned into the carriage. + +"Would mademoiselle prefer that I, too, travelled with her?" she +inquired in French. + +The girl answered her in the same language. + +"Certainly not, Céleste. You had better go and take your seat at once. +We are just going!" + +The maid reluctantly withdrew, with disapproval very plainly stamped +upon her dark face. Wolfenden and his belongings were bundled in, and +the whistle blew. The train moved slowly out of the station. They were +off! + +"I believe," she said, looking with a smile at the pile of magazines and +papers littered all over the seat, "that you are an impostor. Or perhaps +you have a peculiar taste in literature!" + +She pointed towards the _Queen_ and the _Gentlewoman_. He was in high +spirits, and he made open confession. + +"I saw you ten minutes ago," he declared, "and since then I have been +endeavouring to make myself an acceptable travelling companion. But +don't begin to study the fashions yet, please. Tell me how it is that +after looking all over London for three days for you, I find you here." + +"It is the unexpected," she remarked, "which always happens. But after +all there is nothing mysterious about it. I am going down to a little +house which my uncle has taken, somewhere near Cromer. You will think it +odd, I suppose, considering his deformity, but he is devoted to golf, +and some one has been telling him that Norfolk is the proper county to +go to." + +"And you?" he asked. + +She shook her head disconsolately. + +"I am afraid I am not English enough to care much for games," she +admitted. "I like riding and archery, and I used to shoot a little, but +to go into the country at this time of the year to play any game seems +to me positively barbarous. London is quite dull enough--but the +country--and the English country, too!--well, I have been engrossed in +self-pity ever since my uncle announced his plans." + +"I do not imagine," he said smiling, "that you care very much for +England." + +"I do not imagine," she admitted promptly, "that I do. I am a +Frenchwoman, you see, and to me there is no city on earth like Paris, +and no country like my own." + +"The women of your nation," he remarked, "are always patriotic. I have +never met a Frenchwoman who cared for England." + +"We have reason to be patriotic," she said, "or rather, we had," she +added, with a curious note of sadness in her tone. "But, come, I do not +desire to talk about my country. I admitted you here to be an +entertaining companion, and you have made me speak already of the +subject which is to me the most mournful in the world. I do not wish to +talk any more about France. Will you please think of another subject?" + +"Mr. Sabin is not with you," he remarked. + +"He intended to come. Something important kept him at the last moment. +He will follow me, perhaps, by a later train to-day, if not to-morrow." + +"It is certainly a coincidence," he said, "that you should be going to +Cromer. My home is quite near there." + +"And you are going there now?" she asked. + +"I am delighted to say that I am." + +"You did not mention it the other evening," she remarked. "You talked as +though you had no intention at all of leaving London." + +"Neither had I at that time," he said. "I had a letter from home this +morning which decided me." + +She smiled softly. + +"Well, it is strange," she said. "On the whole, it is perhaps fortunate +that you did not contemplate this journey when we had supper together +the other night." + +He caught at her meaning, and laughed. + +"It is more than fortunate," he declared. "If I had known of it, and +told Mr. Sabin, you would not have been travelling by this train alone." + +"I certainly should not," she admitted demurely. + +He saw his opportunity, and swiftly availed himself of it. + +"Why does your uncle object to me so much?" he asked. + +"Object to you!" she repeated. "On the contrary, I think that he rather +approves of you. You saved his life, or something very much like it. He +should be very grateful! I think that he is!" + +"Yet," he persisted, "he does not seem to desire my acquaintance--for +you, at any rate. You have just admitted, that if he had known that +there was any chance of our being fellow passengers you would not have +been here." + +She did not answer him immediately. She was looking fixedly out of the +window. Her face seemed to him more than ordinarily grave. When she +turned her head, her eyes were thoughtful--a little sad. + +"You are quite right," she said. "My uncle does not think it well for me +to make any acquaintances in this country. We are not here for very +long. No doubt he is right. He has at least reason on his side. Only it +is a little dull for me, and it is not what I have been used to. Yet +there are sacrifices always. I cannot tell you any more. You must please +not ask me. You are here, and I am pleased that you are here! There! +will not that content you?" + +"It gives me," he answered earnestly, "more than contentment! It is +happiness!" + +"That is precisely the sort of thing," she said slowly to him, with +laughter in her eyes, "which you are not to say! Please understand +that!" + +He accepted the rebuke lightly. He was far too happy in being with her +to be troubled by vague limitations. The present was good enough for +him, and he did his best to entertain her. He noticed with pleasure that +she did not even glance at the pile of papers at her side. They talked +without intermission. She was interested, even gay. Yet he could not but +notice that every now and then, especially at any reference to the +future, her tone grew graver and a shadow passed across her face. Once +he said something which suggested the possibility of her living always +in England. She had shaken her head at once, gently but firmly. + +"No, I could never live in this country," she said, "even if my liking +for it grew. It would be impossible!" + +He was puzzled for a moment. + +"You think that you could never care for it enough," he suggested; "yet +you have scarcely had time to judge it fairly. London in the spring is +gay enough, and the life at some of our country houses is very different +to what it was a few years ago. Society is so much more tolerant and +broader." + +"It is scarcely a question," she said, "of my likes or dislikes. Next to +Paris, I prefer London in the spring to any city in Europe, and a week I +spent at Radnett was very delightful. But, nevertheless, I could never +live here. It is not my destiny!" + +The old curiosity was strong upon him. Radnett was the home of the +Duchess of Radnett and Ilchester, who had the reputation of being the +most exclusive hostess in Europe! He was bewildered. + +"I would give a great deal," he said earnestly, "to know what you +believe that destiny to be." + +"We are bordering upon the forbidden subject," she reminded him, with a +look which was almost reproachful. "You must please believe me when I +tell you, that for me things have already been arranged otherwise. Come, +I want you to tell me all about this country into which we are going. +You must remember that to me it is all new!" + +He suffered her to lead the conversation into other channels, with a +vague feeling of disquiet. The mystery which hung around the girl and +her uncle seemed only to grow denser as his desire to penetrate it grew. +At present, at any rate, he was baffled. He dared ask no more questions. + +The train glided into Peterborough station before either of them were +well aware that they had entered in earnest upon the journey. Wolfenden +looked out of the window with amazement. + +"Why, we are nearly half way there!" he exclaimed. "How wretched!" + +She smiled, and took up a magazine. Wolfenden's servant came +respectfully to the window. + +"Can I get you anything, my lord?" he inquired. + +Wolfenden shook his head, and opening the door, stepped out on to the +platform. + +"Nothing, thanks, Selby," he said. "You had better get yourself some +lunch. We don't get to Deringham until four o'clock." + +The man raised his hat and turned away. In a moment, however, he was +back again. + +"You will pardon my mentioning it, my lord," he said, "but the young +lady's maid has been travelling in my carriage, and a nice fidget she's +been in all the way. She's been muttering to herself in French, and she +seems terribly frightened about something or other. The moment the train +stopped here, she rushed off to the telegraph office." + +"She seems a little excitable," Wolfenden remarked. "All right, Selby, +you'd better hurry up and get what you want to eat." + +"Certainly, my lord; and perhaps your lordship knows that there is a +flower-stall in the corner there." + +Wolfenden nodded and hurried off. He returned to the carriage just as +the train was moving off, with a handful of fresh, wet violets, whose +perfume seemed instantly to fill the compartment. The girl held out her +hands with a little exclamation of pleasure. + +"What a delightful travelling companion you are," she declared. "I think +these English violets are the sweetest flowers in the world." + +She held them up to her lips. Wolfenden was looking at a paper bag in +her lap. + +"May I inquire what that is?" he asked. + +"Buns!" she answered. "You must not think that because I am a girl I am +never hungry. It is two o'clock, and I am positively famished. I sent my +maid for them." + +He smiled, and sweeping away the bundles of rugs and coats, produced the +luncheon basket which he had secured at King's Cross, and opening it, +spread out the contents. + +"For two!" she exclaimed, "and what a delightful looking salad! Where on +earth did that come from?" + +"Oh, I am no magician," he exclaimed. "I ordered the basket at King's +Cross, after I had seen you. Let me spread the cloth here. My +dressing-case will make a capital table!" + +They picnicked together gaily. It seemed to Wolfenden that chicken and +tongue had never tasted so well before, or claret, at three shillings +the bottle, so full and delicious. They cleared everything up, and then +sat and talked over the cigarette which she had insisted upon. But +although he tried more than once, he could not lead the conversation +into any serious channel--she would not talk of her past, she distinctly +avoided the future. Once, when he had made a deliberate effort to gain +some knowledge as to her earlier surroundings, she reproved him with a +silence so marked that he hastened to talk of something else. + +"Your maid," he said, "is greatly distressed about something. She sent a +telegram off at Peterborough. I hope that your uncle will not make +himself unpleasant because of my travelling with you." + +She smiled at him quite undisturbed. + +"Poor Céleste," she said. "Your presence here has upset her terribly. +Mr. Sabin has some rather strange notions about me, and I am quite sure +that he would rather have sent me down in a special train than have had +this happen. You need not look so serious about it." + +"It is only on your account," he assured her. + +"Then you need not look serious at all," she continued. "I am not under +my uncle's jurisdiction. In fact, I am quite an independent person." + +"I am delighted to hear it," he said heartily. "I should imagine that +Mr. Sabin would not be at all a pleasant person to be on bad terms +with." + +She smiled thoughtfully. + +"There are a good many people," she said, "who would agree with you. +There are a great many people in the world who have cause to regret +having offended him. Let us talk of something else. I believe that I +can see the sea!" + +They were indeed at Cromer. He found a carriage for her, and collected +her belongings. He was almost amused at her absolute indolence in the +midst of the bustle of arrival. She was evidently unused to doing the +slightest thing for herself. He took the address which she gave to him, +and repeated it to the driver. Then he asked the question which had been +trembling many times upon his lips. + +"May I come and see you?" + +She had evidently been considering the matter, for she answered him at +once and deliberately. + +"I should like you to," she said; "but if for any reason it did not suit +my uncle to have you come, it would not be pleasant for either of us. He +is going to play golf on the Deringham links. You will be certain to see +him there, and you must be guided by his manner towards you." + +"And if he is still--as he was in London--must this be goodbye, then?" +he asked earnestly. + +She looked at him with a faint colour in her cheeks and a softer light +in her proud, clear eyes. + +"Well," she said, "goodbye would be the last word which could be spoken +between us. But, _n'importe_, we shall see." + +She flashed a suddenly brilliant smile upon him, and leaned back amongst +the cushions. The carriage drove off, and Wolfenden, humming pleasantly +to himself, stepped into the dogcart which was waiting for him. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +A GREAT WORK + + +The Countess of Deringham might be excused for considering herself the +most unfortunate woman in England. In a single week she had passed from +the position of one of the most brilliant leaders of English society to +be the keeper of a recluse, whose sanity was at least doubtful. Her +husband, Admiral the Earl of Deringham, had been a man of iron nerve and +constitution, with a splendid reputation, and undoubtedly a fine seaman. +The horror of a single day had broken up his life. He had been the +awe-stricken witness of a great naval catastrophe, in which many of his +oldest friends and companions had gone to the bottom of the sea before +his eyes, together with nearly a thousand British seamen. The +responsibility for the disaster lay chiefly from those who had perished +in it, yet some small share of the blame was fastened upon the +onlookers, and he himself, as admiral in command, had not altogether +escaped. From the moment when they had led him down from the bridge of +his flagship, grey and fainting, he had been a changed man. He had never +recovered from the shock. He retired from active service at once, under +a singular and marvellously persistent delusion. Briefly he believed, or +professed to believe, that half the British fleet had perished, and that +the country was at the mercy of the first great Power who cared to send +her warships up the Thames. It was a question whether he was really +insane; on any ordinary topic his views were the views of a rational +man, but the task which he proceeded to set himself was so absorbing +that any other subject seemed scarcely to come within the horizon of his +comprehension. He imagined himself selected by no less a person than the +Secretary for War, to devote the rest of his life to the accomplishment +of a certain undertaking! Practically his mission was to prove by +figures, plans, and naval details (unknown to the general public), the +complete helplessness of the empire. He bought a yacht and commenced a +series of short cruises, lasting over two years, during the whole of +which time his wife was his faithful and constant companion. They +visited in turn each one of the fortified ports of the country, winding +up with a general inspection of every battleship and cruiser within +British waters. Then, with huge piles of amassed information before him, +he settled down in Norfolk to the framing of his report, still under the +impression that the whole country was anxiously awaiting it. His wife +remained with him then, listening daily to the news of his progress, and +careful never to utter a single word of discouragement or disbelief in +the startling facts which he sometimes put before her. The best room in +the house, the great library, was stripped perfectly bare and fitted up +for his study, and a typist was engaged to copy out the result of his +labours in fair form. Lately, the fatal results to England which would +follow the public disclosure of her awful helplessness had weighed +heavily upon him, and he was beginning to live in the fear of betrayal. +The room in which he worked was fitted with iron shutters, and was +guarded night and day. He saw no visitors, and was annoyed if any were +permitted to enter the house. He met his wife only at dinner time, for +which meal he dressed in great state, and at which no one else was ever +allowed to be present. He suffered, when they were alone, no word to +pass his lips, save with reference to the subject of his labours; it is +certain he looked upon himself as the discoverer of terrible secrets. +Any remark addressed to him upon other matters utterly failed to make +any impression. If he heard it he did not reply. He would simply look +puzzled, and, as speedily as possible withdraw. He was sixty years of +age, of dignified and kindly appearance; a handsome man still, save that +the fire of his blue eyes was quenched, and the firm lines of his +commanding mouth had become tremulous. Wolfenden, on his arrival, was +met in the hall by his mother, who carried him off at once to have tea +in her own room. As he took a low chair opposite to her he was conscious +at once of a distinct sense of self-reproach. Although still a handsome +woman, the Countess of Deringham was only the wreck of her former +brilliant self. Wolfenden, knowing what her life must be, under its +altered circumstances, could scarcely wonder at it. The black hair was +still only faintly streaked with grey, and her figure was as slim and +upright as ever. But there were lines on her forehead and about her +eyes, her cheeks were thinner, and even her hands were wasted. He looked +at her in silent pity, and although a man of singularly undemonstrative +habits, he took her hand in his and pressed it gently. Then he set +himself to talk as cheerfully as possible. + +"There is nothing much wrong physically with the Admiral, I hope?" he +said, calling him by the name they still always gave him. "I saw him +at the window as I came round. By the bye, what is that extraordinary +looking affair like a sentry-box doing there?" + +The Countess sighed. + +"That is part of what I have to tell you," she said. "A sentry-box is +exactly what it is, and if you had looked inside you would have seen +Dunn or Heggs there keeping guard. In health your father seems as well +as ever; mentally, I am afraid that he is worse. I fear that he is +getting very bad indeed. That is why I have sent for you, Wolf!" + +Wolfenden was seriously and genuinely concerned. Surely his mother had +had enough to bear. + +"I am very sorry," he said. "Your letter prepared me a little for this; +you must tell me all about it." + +"He has suddenly become the victim," the Countess said, "of a new and +most extraordinary delusion. How it came to pass I cannot exactly tell, +but this is what happened. He has a bed, you know, made up in an +ante-room, leading from the library, and he sleeps there generally. +Early this morning the whole house was awakened by the sound of two +revolver shots. I hurried down in my dressing-gown, and found some of +the servants already outside the library door, which was locked and +barred on the inside. When he heard my voice he let me in. The room was +in partial darkness and some disorder. He had a smoking revolver in his +hand, and he was muttering to himself so fast that I could not +understand a word he said. The chest which holds all his maps and papers +had been dragged into the middle of the room, and the iron staple had +been twisted, as though with a heavy blow. I saw that the lamp was +flickering and a current of air was in the room, and when I looked +towards the window I found that the shutters were open and one of the +sashes had been lifted. All at once he became coherent. + +"'Send for Morton and Philip Dunn!' he cried. 'Let the shrubbery and all +the Home Park be searched. Let no one pass out of either of the gates. +There have been thieves here!' + +"I gave his orders to Morton. 'Where is Richardson?' I asked. Richardson +was supposed to have been watching outside. Before he could answer +Richardson came in through the window. His forehead was bleeding, as +though from a blow. + +"'What has happened, Richardson?' I asked. The man hesitated and looked +at your father. Your father answered instead. + +"'I woke up five minutes ago,' he cried, 'and found two men here. How +they got past Richardson I don't know, but they were in the room, and +they had dragged my chest out there, and had forced a crowbar through +the lock! I was just in time; I hit one man in the arm and he fired +back. Then they bolted right past Richardson. They must have nearly +knocked you down. You must have been asleep, you idiot,' he cried, 'or +you could have stopped them!' + +"I turned to Richardson; he did not say a word, but he looked at me +meaningly. The Admiral was examining his chest, so I drew Richardson on +one side. + +"'Is this true, Richardson?' I asked. The man shook his head. + +"'No, your ladyship,' he said bluntly, 'it ain't; there's no two men +been here at all! The master dragged the chest out himself; I heard him +doing it, and I saw the light, so I left my box and stepped into the +room to see what was wrong. Directly he saw me he yelled out and let fly +at me with his revolver! It's a wonder I'm alive, for one of the bullets +grazed my temple!' + +"Then he went on to say that he would like to leave, that no wages were +good enough to be shot at, and plainly hinted that he thought your +father ought to be locked up. I talked him over, and then got the +Admiral to go back to bed. We had the place searched as a matter of +form, but of course there was no sign of anybody. He had imagined the +whole thing! It is a mercy that he did not kill Richardson!" + +"This is very serious," Wolfenden said gravely. "What about his +revolver?" + +"I managed to secure that," the Countess said. "It is locked up in my +drawer, but I am afraid that he may ask for it at any moment." + +"We can make that all right," Wolfenden said; "I know where there are +some blank cartridges in the gun-room, and I will reload the revolver +with them. By the bye, what does Blatherwick say about all this?" + +"He is almost as worried as I am, poor little man," Lady Deringham said. +"I am afraid every day that he will give it up and leave. We are paying +him five hundred a year, but it must be miserable work for him. It is +really almost amusing, though, to see how terrified he is at your +father. He positively shakes when he speaks to him." + +"What does he have to do?" Wolfenden asked. + +"Oh, draw maps and make calculations and copy all sorts of things. You +see it is wasted and purposeless work, that is what makes it so hard for +the poor man." + +"You are quite sure, I suppose," Wolfenden asked, after a moment's +hesitation, "that it is all wasted work?" + +"Absolutely," the Countess declared. "Mr. Blatherwick brings me, +sometimes in despair, sheets upon which he has been engaged for days. +They are all just a hopeless tangle of figures and wild calculations! +Nobody could possibly make anything coherent out of them." + +"I wonder," Wolfenden suggested thoughtfully, "whether it would be a +good idea to get Denvers, the secretary, to write and ask him not to go +on with the work for the present. He could easily make some excuse--say +that it was attracting attention which they desired to avoid, or +something of that sort! Denvers is a good fellow, and he and the Admiral +were great friends once, weren't they?" + +The Countess shook her head. + +"I am afraid that would not do at all," she said. "Besides, out of pure +good nature, of course, Denvers has already encouraged him. Only last +week he wrote him a friendly letter hoping that he was getting on, and +telling him how interested every one in the War Office was to hear about +his work. He has known about it all the time, you see. Then, too, if the +occupation were taken from your father, I am afraid he would break down +altogether." + +"Of course there is that to be feared," Wolfenden admitted. "I wonder +what put this new delusion into his head? Does he suspect any one in +particular?" + +The Countess shook her head. + +"I do not think so; of course it was Miss Merton who started it. He +quite believes that she took copies of all the work she did here, but he +was so pleased with himself at the idea of having found her out, that he +has troubled very little about it. He seems to think that she had not +reached the most important part of his work, and he is copying that +himself now by hand." + +"But outside the house has he no suspicions at all?" + +"Not that I know of; not any definite suspicion. He was talking last +night of Duchesne, the great spy and adventurer, in a rambling sort of +way. 'Duchesne would be the man to get hold of my work if he knew of +it,' he kept on saying. 'But none must know of it! The newspapers must +be quiet! It is a terrible danger!' He talked like that for some time. +No, I do not think that he suspects anybody. It is more a general +uneasiness." + +"Poor old chap!" Wolfenden said softly. "What does Dr. Whitlett think +of him? Has he seen him lately? I wonder if there is any chance of his +getting over it?" + +"None at all," she answered. "Dr. Whitlett is quite frank; he will never +recover what he has lost--he will probably lose more. But come, there is +the dressing bell. You will see him for yourself at dinner. Whatever you +do don't be late--he hates any one to be a minute behind time." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE TEMPTING OF MR. BLATHERWICK + + +Wolfenden was careful to reach the hall before the dinner gong had +sounded. His father greeted him warmly, and Wolfenden was surprised to +see so little outward change in him. He was carefully dressed, well +groomed in every respect, and he wore a delicate orchid in his +button-hole. + +During dinner he discussed the little round of London life and its +various social events with perfect sanity, and permitted himself his +usual good-natured grumble at Wolfenden for his dilatoriness in the +choice of a profession. + +He did not once refer to the subject of his own weakness until dessert +had been served, when he passed the claret to Wolfenden without filling +his own glass. + +"You will excuse my not joining you," he said to his son, "but I have +still three or four hours' writing to do, and such work as mine requires +a very clear head--you can understand that, I daresay." + +Wolfenden assented in silence. For the first time, perhaps, he fully +realised the ethical pity of seeing a man so distinguished the victim of +a hopeless and incurable mania. He watched him sitting at the head of +his table, courteous, gentle, dignified; noted too the air of +intellectual abstraction which followed upon his last speech, and in +which he seemed to dwell for the rest of the time during which they sat +together. Instinctively he knew what disillusionment must mean for him. +Sooner anything than that. It must never be. Never! he repeated firmly +to himself as he smoked a solitary cigar later on in the empty +smoking-room. Whatever happens he must be saved from that. There was a +knock at the door, and in response to his invitation to enter, Mr. +Blatherwick came in. Wolfenden, who was in the humour to prefer any +one's society to his own, greeted him pleasantly, and wheeled up an easy +chair opposite to his own. + +"Come to have a smoke, Blatherwick?" he said. "That's right. Try one of +these cigars; the governor's are all right, but they are in such +shocking condition." + +Mr. Blatherwick accepted one with some hesitation, and puffed slowly at +it with an air of great deliberation. He was a young man of mild +demeanour and deportment, and clerical aspirations. He wore thick +spectacles, and suffered from chronic biliousness. + +"I am much obliged to you, Lord Wolfenden," he said. "I seldom smoke +cigars--it is not good for my sight. An occasional cigarette is all I +permit myself." + +Wolfenden groaned inwardly, for his regalias were priceless and not to +be replaced; but he said nothing. + +"I have taken the liberty, Lord Wolfenden," Mr. Blatherwick continued, +"of bringing for your inspection a letter I received this morning. It +is, I presume, intended for a practical joke, and I need not say that I +intend to treat it as such. At the same time as you were in the house, I +imagined that no--er--harm would ensue if I ventured to ask for your +opinion." + +He handed an open letter to Wolfenden, who took it and read it through. +It was dated "---- London," and bore the postmark of the previous day. + + "MR. ARNOLD BLATHERWICK. + + "DEAR SIR,--The writer of this letter is prepared to offer you one + thousand pounds in return for a certain service which you are in a + position to perform. The details of that service can only be + explained to you in a personal interview, but broadly speaking it + is as follows:-- + + "You are engaged as private secretary to the Earl of Deringham, + lately an admiral in the British Navy. Your duties, it is presumed, + are to copy and revise papers and calculations having reference to + the coast defences and navy of Great Britain. The writer is himself + engaged upon a somewhat similar task, but not having had the + facilities accorded to Lord Deringham, is without one or two + important particulars. The service required of you is the supplying + of these, and for this you are offered one thousand pounds. + + "As a man of honour you may possibly hesitate to at once embrace + this offer. You need not! Lord Deringham's work is practically + useless, for it is the work of a lunatic. You yourself, from your + intimate association with him, must know that this statement is + true. He will never be able to give coherent form to the mass of + statistics and information which he has collected. Therefore you do + him no harm in supplying these few particulars to one who will be + able to make use of them. The sum you are offered is out of all + proportion to their value--a few months' delay and they could + easily be acquired by the writer without the expenditure of a + single halfpenny. That, however, is not the point. + + "I am rich and I have no time to spare. Hence this offer. I take it + that you are a man of common sense, and I take it for granted, + therefore, that you will not hesitate to accept this offer. Your + acquiescence will be assumed if you lunch at the Grand Hotel, + Cromer, between one and two, on Thursday following the receipt of + this letter. You will then be put in full possession of all the + information necessary to the carrying out of the proposals made to + you. You are well known to the writer, who will take the liberty + of joining you at your table." + +The letter ended thus somewhat abruptly. Wolfenden, who had only glanced +it through at first, now re-read it carefully. Then he handed it back to +Blatherwick. + +"It is a very curious communication," he said thoughtfully, "a very +curious communication indeed. I do not know what to think of it." + +Mr. Blatherwick laid down his cigar with an air of great relief. He +would have liked to have thrown it away, but dared not. + +"It must surely be intended for a practical joke, Lord Wolfenden," he +said. "Either that, or my correspondent has been ludicrously +misinformed." + +"You do not consider, then, that my father's work is of any value at +all?" Wolfenden asked. + +Mr. Blatherwick coughed apologetically, and watched the extinction of +the cigar by his side with obvious satisfaction. + +"You would, I am sure, prefer," he said, "that I gave you a perfectly +straightforward answer to that question. I--er--cannot conceive that the +work upon which his lordship and I are engaged can be of the slightest +interest or use to anybody. I can assure you, Lord Wolfenden, that my +brain at times reels--positively reels--from the extraordinary nature of +the manuscripts which your father has passed on to me to copy. It is not +that they are merely technical, they are absolutely and entirely +meaningless. You ask me for my opinion, Lord Wolfenden, and I conceive +it to be my duty to answer you honestly. I am quite sure that his +lordship is not in a fit state of mind to undertake any serious work." + +"The person who wrote that letter," Wolfenden remarked, "thought +otherwise." + +"The person who wrote that letter," Mr. Blatherwick retorted quickly, +"if indeed it was written in good faith, is scarcely likely to know so +much about his lordship's condition of mind as I, who have spent the +greater portion of every day for three months with him." + +"Do you consider that my father is getting worse, Mr. Blatherwick?" +Wolfenden asked. + +"A week ago," Mr. Blatherwick said, "I should have replied that his +lordship's state of mind was exactly the same as when I first came here. +But there has been a change for the worse during the last week. It +commenced with his sudden, and I am bound to say, unfounded suspicions +of Miss Merton, whom I believe to be a most estimable and worthy young +lady." + +Mr. Blatherwick paused, and appeared to be troubled with a slight cough. +The smile, which Wolfenden was not altogether able to conceal, seemed +somewhat to increase his embarrassment. + +"The extraordinary occurrence of last night, which her ladyship has +probably detailed to you," Mr. Blatherwick continued, "was the next +development of what, I fear, we can only regard as downright insanity. I +regret having to speak so plainly, but I am afraid that any milder +phrase would be inapplicable." + +"I am very sorry to hear this," Wolfenden remarked gravely. + +"Under the circumstances," Mr. Blatherwick said, picking up his cigar +which was now extinct, and immediately laying it down again, "I trust +that you and Lady Deringham will excuse my not giving the customary +notice of my desire to leave. It is of course impossible for me to +continue to draw a--er--a stipend such as I am in receipt of for +services so ludicrously inadequate." + +"Lady Deringham will be sorry to have you go," Wolfenden said. "Couldn't +you put up with it a little longer?" + +"I would much prefer to leave," Mr. Blatherwick said decidedly. "I am +not physically strong, and I must confess that his lordship's attitude +at times positively alarms me. I fear that there is no doubt that he +committed an unprovoked assault last night upon that unfortunate keeper. +There is--er--no telling whom he might select for his next victim. If +quite convenient, Lord Wolfenden, I should like to leave to-morrow by an +early train." + +"Oh! you can't go so soon as that," Wolfenden said. "How about this +letter?" + +"You can take any steps you think proper with regard to it," Mr. +Blatherwick answered nervously. "Personally, I have nothing to do with +it. I thought of going to spend a week with an aunt of mine in Cornwall, +and I should like to leave by the early train to-morrow." + +Wolfenden could scarcely keep from laughing, although he was a little +annoyed. + +"Look here, Blatherwick," he said, "you must help me a little before you +go, there's a good fellow. I don't doubt for a moment what you say about +the poor old governor's condition of mind; but at the same time it's +rather an odd thing, isn't it, that his own sudden fear of having his +work stolen is followed up by the receipt of this letter to you? There +is some one, at any rate, who places a very high value upon his +manuscripts. I must say that I should like to know whom that letter came +from." + +"I can assure you," Mr. Blatherwick said, "that I have not the faintest +idea." + +"Of course you haven't," Wolfenden assented, a little impatiently. "But +don't you see how easy it will be for us to find out? You must go to the +Grand Hotel on Thursday for lunch, and meet this mysterious person." + +"I would very much rather not," Mr. Blatherwick declared promptly. "I +should feel exceedingly uncomfortable; I should not like it at all!" + +"Look here," Wolfenden said persuasively "I must find out who wrote that +letter, and can only do so with your help. You need only be there, I +will come up directly I have marked the man who comes to your table. +Your presence is all that is required; and I shall take it as a favour +if you will allow me to make you a present of a fifty-pound note." + +Mr. Blatherwick flushed a little and hesitated. He had brothers and +sisters, whose bringing up was a terrible strain upon the slim purse of +his father, a country clergyman, and a great deal could be done with +fifty pounds. It was against his conscience as well as his inclinations +to remain in a post where his duties were a farce, but this was +different. + +He sighed. + +"You are very generous, Lord Wolfenden," he said. "I will stay until +after Thursday." + +"There's a good fellow," Wolfenden said, much relieved. "Have another +cigar?" + +Mr. Blatherwick rose hastily, and shook his head. "You must excuse me, +if you please," he said. "I will not smoke any more. I think if you will +not mind----" + +Wolfenden turned to the window and held up his hand. + +"Listen!" he said. "Is that a carriage at this time of night?" + +A carriage it certainly was, passing by the window. In a moment they +heard it draw up at the front door, and some one alighted. + +"Odd time for callers," Wolfenden remarked. + +Mr. Blatherwick did not reply. He, too, was listening. In a moment they +heard the rustling of a woman's skirts outside, and the smoking-room +door opened. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE COMING AND GOING OF MR. FRANKLIN WILMOT + + +Both men looked up as Lady Deringham entered the room, carefully closing +the door behind her. She had a card in her hand, and an open letter. + +"Wolfenden," she said. "I am so glad that you are here. It is most +fortunate! Something very singular has happened. You will be able to +tell me what to do." + +Mr. Blatherwick rose quietly and left the room. + +Wolfenden was all attention. + +"Some one has just arrived," he remarked. + +"A gentleman, a complete stranger," she assented. "This is his card. He +seemed surprised that his name was not familiar to me. He was quite sure +that you would know it." + +Wolfenden took the card between his fingers and read it out. + +"Mr. Franklin Wilmot." + +He was thoughtful for a moment. The name was familiar enough, but he +could not immediately remember in what connection. Suddenly it flashed +into his mind. + +"Of course!" he exclaimed. "He is a famous physician--a very great +swell, goes to Court and all that!" + +Lady Deringham nodded. + +"He has introduced himself as a physician. He has brought this letter +from Dr. Whitlett." + +Wolfenden took the note from her hand. It was written on half a sheet +of paper, and apparently in great haste:-- + + "DEAR LADY DERINGHAM,--My old friend, Franklin Wilmot, who has been + staying at Cromer, has just called upon me. We have been having a + chat, and he is extremely interested in Lord Deringham's case, so + much so that I had arranged to come over with him this evening to + see if you would care to have his opinion. Unfortunately, however, + I have been summoned to attend a patient nearly ten miles away--a + bad accident, I fear--and Wilmot is leaving for town to-morrow + morning. I suggested, however, that he might call on his way back + to Cromer, and if you would kindly let him see Lord Deringham, I + should be glad, as his opinion would be of material assistance to + me. Wilmot's reputation as the greatest living authority on cases + of partial mania is doubtless known to you, and as he never, under + any circumstances, visits patients outside London, it would be a + great pity to lose this opportunity. + + "In great haste and begging you to excuse this scrawl, + + "I am, dear Lady Deringham, + "Yours sincerely, + "JOHN WHITLETT. + + "P.S.--You will please not offer him any fee." + +Wolfenden folded up the letter and returned it. + +"Well, I suppose it's all right," he said. "It's an odd time, though, to +call on an errand of this sort." + +"So I thought," Lady Deringham agreed; "but Dr. Whitlett's explanation +seems perfectly feasible, does it not? I said that I would consult you. +You will come in and see him?" + +Wolfenden followed his mother into the drawing-room. A tall, dark man +was sitting in a corner, under a palm tree. In one hand he held a +magazine, the pictures of which he seemed to be studying with the aid of +an eyeglass, the other was raised to his mouth. He was in the act of +indulging in a yawn when Wolfenden and his mother entered the room. + +"This is my son, Lord Wolfenden," she said. "Dr. Franklin Wilmot." + +The two men bowed. + +"Lady Deringham has explained to you the reason of my untimely visit, I +presume?" the latter remarked at once. + +Wolfenden assented. + +"Yes! I am afraid that it will be a little difficult to get my father to +see you on such short notice." + +"I was about to explain to Lady Deringham, before I understood that you +were in the house," Dr. Wilmot said, "that although that would be an +advantage, it is not absolutely necessary at present. I should of course +have to examine your father before giving a definite opinion as to his +case, but I can give you a very fair idea as to his condition without +seeing him at all." + +Wolfenden and his mother exchanged glances. + +"You must forgive us," Wolfenden commenced hesitatingly, "but really I +can scarcely understand." + +"Of course not," their visitor interrupted brusquely. "My method is one +which is doubtless altogether strange to you, but if you read the +_Lancet_ or the _Medical Journal_, you would have heard a good deal +about it lately. I form my conclusions as to the mental condition of a +patient almost altogether from a close inspection of their letters, or +any work upon which they are, or have been, recently engaged. I do not +say that it is possible to do this from a single letter, but when a man +has a hobby, such as I understand Lord Deringham indulges in, and has +devoted a great deal of time to real or imaginary work in connection +with it, I am generally able, from a study of that work, to tell how +far the brain is weakened, if at all, and in what manner it can be +strengthened. This is only the crudest outline of my theory, but to be +brief, I can give you my opinion as to Lord Deringham's mental +condition, and my advice as to its maintenance, if you will place before +me the latest work upon which he has been engaged. I hope I have made +myself clear." + +"Perfectly," Wolfenden answered. "It sounds very reasonable and very +interesting, but I am afraid that there are a few practical difficulties +in the way. In the first place, my father does not show his work or any +portion of it to any one. On the other hand he takes the most +extraordinary precautions to maintain absolute secrecy with regard to +it." + +"That," Dr. Wilmot remarked, "is rather a bad feature of the case. It is +a difficulty which I should imagine you could get over, though. You +could easily frame some excuse to get him away from his study for a +short time and leave me there. Of course the affair is in your hands +altogether, and I am presuming that you are anxious to have an opinion +as to your father's state of health. I am not in the habit of seeking +patients," he added, a little stiffly. "I was interested in my friend +Whitlett's description of the case, and anxious to apply my theories to +it, as it happens to differ in some respects from anything I have met +with lately. Further, I may add," he continued, glancing at the clock, +"if anything is to be done it must be done quickly. I have no time to +spare." + +"You had better," Wolfenden suggested, "stay here for the night in any +case. We will send you to the station, or into Cromer, as early as you +like in the morning." + +"Absolutely impossible," Dr. Wilmot replied briefly. "I am staying with +friends in Cromer, and I have a consultation in town early to-morrow +morning. You must really make up your minds at once whether you wish +for my opinion or not." + +"I do not think," Lady Deringham said, "that we need hesitate for a +moment about that!" + +Wolfenden looked at him doubtfully. There seemed to be no possibility of +anything but advantage in accepting this offer, and yet in a sense he +was sorry that it had been made. + +"In case you should attach any special importance to your father's +manuscripts," Dr. Wilmot remarked, with a note of sarcasm in his tone, +"I might add that it is not at all necessary for me to be alone in the +study." + +Wolfenden felt a little uncomfortable under the older man's keen gaze. +Neither did he altogether like having his thoughts read so accurately. + +"I suppose," he said, turning to his mother, "you could manage to get +him away from the library for a short time?" + +"I could at least try," she answered. "Shall I?" + +"I think," he said, "that as Dr. Wilmot has been good enough to go out +of his way to call here, we must make an effort." + +Lady Deringham left the room. + +Dr. Wilmot, whose expression of absolute impassiveness had not altered +in the least during their discussion, turned towards Wolfenden. + +"Have you yourself," he said, "never seen any of your father's +manuscripts? Has he never explained the scheme of his work to you?" + +Wolfenden shook his head. + +"I know the central idea," he answered--"the weakness of our navy and +coast defences, and that is about all I know. My father, even when he +was an admiral on active service, took an absolutely pessimistic view of +both. You may perhaps remember this. The Lords of the Admiralty used to +consider him, I believe, the one great thorn in their sides." + +Dr. Wilmot shook his head. + +"I have never taken any interest in such matters," he said. "My +profession has been completely absorbing during the last ten years." + +Wolfenden nodded. + +"I know," he remarked, "that I used to read the newspapers and wonder +why on earth my father took such pains to try and frighten everybody. +But he is altogether changed now. He even avoids the subject, although I +am quite sure that it is his one engrossing thought. It is certain that +no one has ever given such time and concentrated energy to it before. If +only his work was the work of a sane man I could understand it being +very valuable." + +"Not the least doubt about it, I should say," Dr. Wilmot replied +carelessly. + +The door opened and Lady Deringham reappeared. + +"I have succeeded," she said. "He is upstairs now. I will try and keep +him there for half an hour. Wolfenden, will you take Dr. Wilmot into the +study?" + +Dr. Wilmot rose with quiet alacrity. Wolfenden led the way down the long +passage which led to the study. He himself was scarcely prepared for +such signs of unusual labours as confronted them both when they opened +the door. The round table in the centre of the room was piled with books +and a loose heap of papers. A special rack was hung with a collection of +maps and charts. There were nautical instruments upon the table, and +compasses, as well as writing materials, and a number of small models of +men-of-war. Mr. Blatherwick, who was sitting at the other side of the +room busy with some copying, looked up in amazement at the entrance of +Wolfenden and a stranger upon what was always considered forbidden +ground. + +Wolfenden stepped forward at once to the table. A sheet of paper lay +there on which the ink was scarcely yet dry. Many others were scattered +about, almost undecipherable, with marginal notes and corrections in his +father's handwriting. He pushed some of them towards his companion. + +"You can help yourself," he said. "This seems to be his most recent +work." + +Dr. Wilmot seemed scarcely to hear him. He had turned the lamp up with +quick fingers, and was leaning over those freshly written pages. +Decidedly he was interested in the case. He stood quite still reading +with breathless haste--the papers seemed almost to fly through his +fingers. Wolfenden was a little puzzled. Mr. Blatherwick, who had been +watching the proceedings with blank amazement, rose and came over +towards them. + +"You will excuse me, Lord Wolfenden," he said, "but if the admiral +should come back and find a stranger with you looking over his work, he +will----" + +"It's all right, Blatherwick," Wolfenden interrupted, the more +impatiently since he was far from comfortable himself. "This gentleman +is a physician." + +The secretary resumed his seat. Dr. Wilmot was reading with +lightning-like speed sheet after sheet, making frequent notes in a +pocket-book which he had laid on the table before him. He was so +absorbed that he did not seem to hear the sound of wheels coming up the +avenue. + +Wolfenden walked to the window, and raising the curtain, looked out. He +gave vent to a little exclamation of relief as he saw a familiar dogcart +draw up at the hall door, and Dr. Whitlett's famous mare pulled steaming +on to her haunches. + +"It is Dr. Whitlett," he exclaimed. "He has followed you up pretty +soon." + +The sheet which the physician was reading fluttered through his fingers. +There was a very curious look in his face. He walked up to the window +and looked out. + +"So it is," he remarked. "I should like to see him at once for half a +minute--then I shall have finished. I wonder whether you would mind +going yourself and asking him to step this way?" + +Wolfenden turned immediately to leave the room. At the door he turned +sharply round, attracted by a sudden noise and an exclamation from +Blatherwick. Dr. Wilmot had disappeared! Mr. Blatherwick was gazing at +the window in amazement! + +"He's gone, sir! Clean out of the window--jumped it like a cat!" + +Wolfenden sprang to the curtains. The night wind was blowing into the +room through the open casement. Fainter and fainter down the long avenue +came the sound of galloping horses. Dr. Franklin Wilmot had certainly +gone! + +Wolfenden turned from the window to find himself face to face with Dr. +Whitlett. + +"What on earth is the matter with your friend Wilmot?" he exclaimed. "He +has just gone off through the window like a madman!" + +"Wilmot!" the doctor exclaimed. "I never knew any one of that name in my +life. The fellow's a rank impostor!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +GENIUS OR MADNESS? + + +For a moment Wolfenden was speechless. Then, with a presence of mind +which afterwards he marvelled at, he asked no more questions, but +stepped up to the writing-table. + +"Blatherwick," he said hurriedly, "we seem to have made a bad mistake. +Will you try and rearrange these papers exactly as the admiral left +them, and do not let him know that any one has entered the room or seen +them." + +Mr. Blatherwick commenced his task with trembling fingers. + +"I will do my best," he said nervously. "But I am not supposed to touch +anything upon this table at all. If the admiral finds me here, he will +be very angry." + +"I will take the blame," Wolfenden said. "Do your best." + +He took the country doctor by the arm and hurried him into the +smoking-room. + +"This is a most extraordinary affair, Dr. Whitlett," he said gravely. "I +presume that this letter, then, is a forgery?" + +The doctor took the note of introduction which Wilmot had brought, and +adjusting his pince-nez, read it hastily through. + +"A forgery from the beginning to end," he declared, turning it over and +looking at it helplessly. "I have never known any one of the name in my +life!" + +"It is written on notepaper stamped with your address," Wolfenden +remarked. "It is also, I suppose, a fair imitation of your handwriting, +for Lady Deringham accepted it as such?" + +The doctor nodded. + +"I will tell you," he said, "all that I know of the affair. I started +out to pay some calls this evening about six o'clock. As I turned into +the main road I met a strange brougham and pair of horses being driven +very slowly. There was a man who looked like a gentleman's servant +sitting by the side of the coachman, and as I passed them the latter +asked a question, and I am almost certain that I heard my name +mentioned. I was naturally a little curious, and I kept looking back all +along the road to see which way they turned after passing my house. As a +matter of fact, although I pulled up and waited in the middle of the +road, I saw no more of the carriage. When at last I drove on, I knew +that one of two things must have happened. Either the carriage must have +come to a standstill and remained stationary in the road, or it must +have turned in at my gate. The hedge was down a little higher up the +road, and I could see distinctly that they had not commenced to climb +the hill. It seemed very odd to me, but I had an important call to make, +so I drove on and got through as quickly as I could. On my way home I +passed your north entrance, and, looking up the avenue, I saw the same +brougham on its way up to the house. I had half a mind to run in then--I +wish now that I had--but instead of doing so I drove quickly home. There +I found that a gentleman had called a few minutes after I had left home, +and finding me out had asked permission to leave a note. The girl had +shown him into the study, and he had remained there about ten minutes. +Afterwards he had let himself out and driven away. When I looked for the +note for me there was none, but the writing materials had been used, +and a sheet of notepaper was gone. I happened to remember that there was +only one out. The whole thing seemed to me so singular that I ordered +the dogcart out again and drove straight over here." + +"For which," Wolfenden remarked, "we ought to feel remarkably grateful. +So far the thing is plain enough! But what on earth did that man, +whoever he was, expect to find in my father's study that he should make +an elaborate attempt like this to enter it? He was no common thief!" + +Dr. Whitlett shook his head. He had no elucidation to offer. The thing +was absolutely mysterious. + +"Your father himself," he said slowly, "sets a very high value upon the +result of his researches!" + +"And on the other hand," Wolfenden retorted promptly, "you, and my +mother, Mr. Blatherwick, and even the girl who has been copying for him, +have each assured me that his work is rubbish! You four comprise all who +have seen any part of it, and I understand that you have come to the +conclusion that, if not insane, he is at least suffering from some sort +of mania. Now, how are we to reconcile this with the fact of an +attempted robbery this evening, and the further fact that a heavy bribe +has been secretly offered to Blatherwick to copy only a few pages of his +later manuscripts?" + +Dr. Whitlett started. + +"Indeed!" he exclaimed. "When did you hear of this?" + +"Only this afternoon," Wolfenden answered. "Blatherwick brought me the +letter himself. What I cannot understand is, how these documents could +ever become a marketable commodity. Yet we may look upon it now as an +absolute fact, that there are persons--and no ordinary thieves +either!--conspiring to obtain possession of them." + +"Wolfenden!" + +The two men started round. The Countess was standing in the doorway. She +was pale as death, and her eyes were full of fear. + +"Who was that man?" she cried. "What has happened?" + +"He was an impostor, I am afraid," Wolfenden answered. "The letter from +Dr. Whitlett was forged. He has bolted." + +She looked towards the doctor. + +"Thank God that you are here!" she cried. "I am frightened! There are +some papers and models missing, and the admiral has found it out! I am +afraid he is going to have a fit. Please come into the library. He must +not be left alone!" + +They both followed her down the passage and through the half-opened +door. In the centre of the room Lord Deringham was standing, his pale +cheeks scarlet with passion, his fists convulsively clenched. He turned +sharply round to face them, and his eyes flashed with anger. + +"Nothing shall make me believe that this room has not been entered, and +my papers tampered with!" he stormed out. "Where is that reptile +Blatherwick? I left my morning's work and two models on the desk there, +less than half an hour ago; both the models are gone and one of the +sheets! Either Blatherwick has stolen them, or the room has been entered +during my absence! Where is that hound?" + +"He is in his room," Lady Deringham answered. "He ran past me on the +stairs trembling all over, and he has locked himself in and piled up the +furniture against the door. You have frightened him to death!" + +"It is scarcely possible----" Dr. Whitlett began. + +"Don't lie, sir!" the admiral thundered out. "You are a pack of fools +and old women! You are as ignorant as rabbits! You know no more than the +kitchenmaids what has been growing and growing within these walls. I +tell you that my work of the last few years, placed in certain hands, +would alter the whole face of Europe--aye, of Christendom! There are men +in this country to-day whose object is to rob me, and you, my own +household, seem to be crying them welcome, bidding them come and help +themselves, as though the labour of my life was worth no more than so +many sheets of waste paper. You have let a stranger into this room +to-day, and if he had not been disturbed, God knows what he might not +have carried away with him!" + +"We have been very foolish," Lady Deringham said pleadingly. "We will +set a watch now day and night. We will run no more risks! I swear it! +You can believe me, Horace!" + +"Aye, but tell me the truth now," he cried. "Some one has been in this +room and escaped through the window. I learnt as much as that from that +blithering idiot, Blatherwick. I want to know who he was?" + +She glanced towards the doctor. He nodded his head slightly. Then she +went up to her husband and laid her hand upon his shoulders. + +"Horace, you are right," she said. "It is no use trying to keep it from +you. A man did impose upon us with a forged letter. He could not have +been here more than five minutes, though. We found him out almost at +once. It shall never happen again!" + +The wisdom of telling him was at once apparent. His face positively +shone with triumph! He became quite calm, and the fierce glare, which +had alarmed them all so much, died out of his eyes. The confession was a +triumph for him. He was gratified. + +"I knew it," he declared, with positive good humour. "I have warned you +of this all the time. Now perhaps you will believe me! Thank God that it +was not Duchesne himself. I should not be surprised, though, if it were +not one of his emissaries! If Duchesne comes," he muttered to himself, +his face growing a shade paler, "God help us!" + +"We will be more careful now," Lady Deringham said. "No one shall ever +take us by surprise again. We will have special watchmen, and bars on +all the windows." + +"From this moment," the admiral said slowly, "I shall never leave this +room until my work is ended, and handed over to Lord S----'s care. If I +am robbed England is in danger! There must be no risks. I will have a +sofa-bedstead down, and please understand that all my meals must be +served here! Heggs and Morton must take it in turns to sleep in the +room, and there must be a watchman outside. Now will you please all go +away?" he added, with a little wave of his hand. "I have to reconstruct +what has been stolen from me through your indiscretion. Send me in some +coffee at eleven o'clock, and a box of cartridges you will find in my +dressing-room." + +They went away together. Wolfenden was grave and mystified. Nothing +about his father's demeanour or language had suggested insanity. What if +they were all wrong--if the work to which the best years of his life had +gone was really of the immense importance he claimed for it? Other +people thought so! The slight childishness, which was obvious in a great +many of his actions, was a very different thing from insanity. +Blatherwick might be deceived--Blanche was just as likely to have looked +upon any technical work as rubbish. Whitlett was only a country +practitioner--even his mother might have exaggerated his undoubted +eccentricities. At any rate, one thing was certain. There were people +outside who made a bold enough bid to secure the fruit of his father's +labours. It was his duty to see that the attempt, if repeated, was still +unsuccessful. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE SCHEMING OF GIANTS + + +At very nearly the same moment as the man who had called himself Dr. +Wilmot had leaped from the library window of Deringham Hall, Mr. Sabin +sat alone in his sanctum waiting for a visitor. The room was quite a +small one on the ground floor of the house, but was furnished with taste +and evident originality in the Moorish fashion. Mr. Sabin himself was +ensconced in an easy chair drawn close up to the fire, and a thin cloud +of blue smoke was stealing up from a thick, Egyptian cigarette which was +burning away between his fingers. His head was resting upon the delicate +fingers of his left hand, his dark eyes were fixed upon the flaming +coals. He was deep in thought. + +"A single mistake now," he murmured softly, "and farewell to the labour +of years. A single false step, and goodbye to all our dreams! To-night +will decide it! In a few minutes I must say Yes or No to Knigenstein. I +think--I am almost sure I shall say Yes! Bah!" + +The frown on his forehead grew more marked. The cigarette burned on +between his fingers, and a long grey ash fell to the floor. He was +permitting himself the luxury of deep thought. All his life he had been +a schemer; a builder of mighty plans, a great power in the destinies +of great people. To-night he knew that he had reached the crisis of a +career, in many respects marvellous. To-night he would take the first of +those few final steps on to the desire of his life. It only rested with +him to cast the die. He must make the decision and abide by it. His +own life's ambition and the destinies of a mighty nation hung in the +balance. Had he made up his mind which way to turn the scale? Scarcely +even yet! There were so many things! + +He sat up with a start. There was a knock at the door. He caught up the +evening paper, and the cigarette smoke circled about his head. He +stirred a cup of coffee by his side. The hard lines in his face had all +relaxed. There was no longer any anxiety. He looked up and greeted +pleasantly--with a certain deference, too--the visitor who was being +ushered in. He had no appearance of having been engaged in anything more +than a casual study of the _St. James's Gazette_. + +"A gentleman, sir," the stolid-looking servant had announced briefly. No +name had been mentioned. Mr. Sabin, when he rose and held out his hand, +did not address his visitor directly. He was a tall, stout man, with +an iron-grey moustache and the remains of a military bearing. When the +servant had withdrawn and the two men were alone, he unbuttoned his +overcoat. Underneath he wore a foreign uniform, ablaze with orders. Mr. +Sabin glanced at them and smiled. + +"You are going to Arlington Street," he remarked. + +The other man nodded. + +"When I leave here," he said. + +Then there was a short silence. Each man seemed to be waiting for the +other to open the negotiations. Eventually it was Mr. Sabin who did so. + +"I have been carefully through the file of papers you sent me," he +remarked. + +"Yes!" + +"There is no doubt but that, to a certain extent, the anti-English +feeling of which you spoke exists! I have made other inquiries, and so +far I am convinced!" + +"So! The seed is sown! It has been sprinkled with a generous hand! +Believe me, my friend, that for this country there are in store very +great surprises. I speak as one who knows! I do know! So!" + +Mr. Sabin was thoughtful. He looked into the fire and spoke musingly. + +"Yet the ties of kindred and common origin are strong," he said. "It is +hard to imagine an open rupture between the two great Saxon nations of +the world!" + +"The ties of kindred," said Mr. Sabin's visitor, "are not worth the snap +of a finger! So!" + +He snapped his fingers with a report as sharp as a pistol-shot. Mr. +Sabin started in his chair. + +"It is the ties of kindred," he continued, "which breed irritability, +not kindliness! I tell you, my friend, that there is a great storm +gathering. It is not for nothing that the great hosts of my country are +ruled by a war lord! I tell you that we are arming to the teeth, +silently, swiftly, and with a purpose. It may seem to you a small thing, +but let me tell you this--we are a jealous nation! And we have cause for +jealousy. In whatever part of the world we put down our foot, it is +trodden on by our ubiquitous cousins! Wherever we turn to colonise, we +are too late; England has already secured the finest territory, the most +fruitful of the land. We must either take her leavings or go a-begging! +Wherever we would develope, we are held back by the commercial and +colonising genius--it amounts to that--of this wonderful nation. The +world of to-day is getting cramped. There is no room for a growing +England and a growing Germany! So! one must give way, and Germany is +beginning to mutter that it shall not always be her sons who go to the +wall. You say that France is our natural enemy. I deny it! France is our +historical enemy--nothing else! In military circles to-day a war with +England would be wildly, hysterically popular; and sooner or later a +war with England is as certain to come as the rising of the sun and the +waning of the moon! I can tell you even now where the first blow will be +struck! It is fixed! It is to come! So!" + +"Not in Europe," Mr. Sabin said. + +"Not in Europe or in Asia! The war-torch will be kindled in Africa!" + +"The Transvaal!" + +Mr. Sabin's visitor smiled. + +"It is in Africa," he said, "that English monopoly has been most galling +to my nation. We too feel the burden of over-population; we too have our +young blood making itself felt throughout the land, eager, impetuous, +thirsting for adventure and freedom. We need new countries where these +may develop, and at once ease and strengthen our fatherland. I have seen +it written in one of the great English reviews that my country has not +the instinct for colonisation. It is false! We have the instinct and the +desire, but not the opportunity. England is like a great octopus. She is +ever on the alert, thrusting out her suckers, and drawing in for herself +every new land where riches lay. No country has ever been so suitable +for us as Africa, and behold--it is as I have said. Already England has +grabbed the finest and most to be desired of the land--she has it now in +her mind to take one step further and acquire the whole. But my country +has no mind to suffer it! We have played second fiddle to a weaker Power +long enough. We want Africa, my friend, and to my mind and the mind of +my master, Africa is worth having at all costs--listen--even at the cost +of war!" + +Mr. Sabin was silent for a moment. There was a faint smile upon his +lips. It was a situation such as he loved. He began to feel indeed that +he was making history. + +"You have convinced me," he said at last. "You have taught me how to +look upon European politics with new eyes. But there remains one +important question. Supposing I break off my negotiations in other +quarters, are you willing to pay my price?" + +The Ambassador waved his hand! It was a trifle! + +"If what you give fulfils your own statements," he said, "you cannot ask +a price which my master would not pay!" + +Mr. Sabin moved a little in his chair. His eyes were bright. A faint +tinge of colour was in his olive cheeks. + +"Four years of my life," he said, "have been given to the perfecting of +one branch only of my design; the other, which is barely completed, is +the work of the only man in England competent to handle such a task. The +combined result will be infallible. When I place in your hands a simple +roll of papers and a small parcel, the future of this country is +absolutely and entirely at your mercy. That is beyond question or doubt. +To whomsoever I give my secret, I give over the destinies of England. +But the price is a mighty one!" + +"Name it," the Ambassador said quietly. "A million, two millions? Rank? +What is it?" + +"For myself," Mr. Sabin said, "nothing!" + +The other man started. "Nothing!" + +"Absolutely nothing!" + +The Ambassador raised his hand to his forehead. + +"You confuse me," he said. + +"My conditions," Mr. Sabin said, "are these. The conquest of France and +the restoration of the monarchy, in the persons of Prince Henri and his +cousin, Princess Helène of Bourbon!" + +"Ach!" + +The little interjection shot from the Ambassador's lips with sharp, +staccato emphasis! Then there was a silence--a brief, dramatic silence! +The two men sat motionless, the eyes of each fastened upon the other. +The Ambassador was breathing quickly, and his eyes sparkled with +excitement. Mr. Sabin was pale and calm, yet there were traces of +nervous exhilaration in his quivering lips and bright eyes. + +"Yes, you were right; you were right indeed," the Ambassador said +slowly. "It is a great price that you ask!" + +Mr. Sabin laughed very softly. + +"Think," he said. "Weigh the matter well! Mark first this fact. If what +I give you has not the power I claim for it, our contract is at an end. +I ask for nothing! I accept nothing. Therefore, you may assume that +before you pay my price your own triumph is assured. Think! Reflect +carefully! What will you owe to me! The humiliation of England, the +acquisition of her colonies, the destruction of her commerce, and such a +war indemnity as only the richest power on earth could pay. These things +you gain. Then you are the one supreme Power in Europe. France is at +your mercy! I will tell you why. The Royalist party have been gaining +strength year by year, month by month, minute by minute! Proclaim your +intentions boldly. The country will crumble up before you! It would be +but a half-hearted resistance. France has not the temperament of a +people who will remain for ever faithful to a democratic form of +government. At heart she is aristocratic. The old nobility have a life +in them which you cannot dream of. I know, for I have tested it. It has +been weary waiting, but the time is ripe! France is ready for the cry of +'_Vive le Roi! Vive la Monarchie!_' I who tell you these things have +proved them. I have felt the pulse of my country, and I love her too +well to mistake the symptoms!" + +The Ambassador was listening with greedy ears--he was breathing hard +through his teeth! It was easy to see that the glamour of the thing had +laid hold of him. He foresaw for himself an immortal name, for his +country a greatness beyond the wildest dreams of her most sanguine +ministers. Bismarck himself had planned nothing like this! Yet he did +not altogether lose his common sense. + +"But Russia," he objected, "she would never sanction a German invasion +of France." + +Mr. Sabin smiled scornfully. + +"You are a great politician, my dear Baron, and you say a thing like +that! You amaze me! But of course the whole affair is new to you; you +have not thought it out as I have done. Whatever happens in Europe, +Russia will maintain the isolation for which geography and temperament +have marked her out. She would not stir one finger to help France. Why +should she? What could France give her in return? What would she gain by +plunging into an exhausting war? To the core of his heart and the tips +of his finger-nails the Muscovite is selfish! Then, again, consider +this. You are not going to ruin France as you did before; you are going +to establish a new dynasty, and not waste the land or exact a mighty +tribute. Granted that sentiments of friendship exist between Russia and +France, do you not think that Russia would not sooner see France a +monarchy? Do you think that she would stretch out her little finger to +aid a tottering republic and keep back a king from the throne of France? +_Mon Dieu!_ Never!" + +Mr. Sabin's face was suddenly illuminated. A fire flashed in his dark +eyes, and a note of fervent passion quivered lifelike in his vibrating +voice. His manner had all the abandon of one pleading a great cause, +nursed by a great heart. He was a patriot or a poet, surely not only a +politician or a mere intriguing adventurer. For a moment he suffered his +enthusiasm to escape him. Then the mask was as suddenly dropped. He was +himself again, calm, convincing, impenetrable. + +As the echoes of his last interjection died away there was a silence +between the two men. It was the Ambassador at last who broke it. He was +looking curiously at his companion. + +"I must confess," he said slowly, "that you have fascinated me! You have +done more, you have made me see dreams and possibilities which, set down +upon paper, I should have mocked at. Mr. Sabin, I can no longer think of +you as a person--you are a personage! We are here alone, and I am as +secret as the grave; be so kind as to lift the veil of your incognito. I +can no longer think of you as Mr. Sabin. Who are you?" + +Mr. Sabin smiled a curious smile, and lit a cigarette from the open box +before him. + +"That," he said, pushing the box across the table, "you may know in good +time if, in commercial parlance, we deal. Until that point is decided, I +am Mr. Sabin. I do not even admit that it is an incognito." + +"And yet," the Ambassador said, with a curious lightening of his face, +as though recollection had suddenly been vouchsafed to him, "I fancy +that if I were to call you----" + +Mr. Sabin's protesting hand was stretched across the table. + +"Excuse me," he interrupted, "let it remain between us as it is now! My +incognito is a necessity for the present. Let it continue to be--Mr. +Sabin! Now answer me. All has been said that can be said between us. +What is your opinion?" + +The Ambassador rose from his seat and stood upon the hearthrug with his +back to the fire. There was a streak of colour upon his sallow cheeks, +and his eyes shone brightly underneath his heavy brows. He had removed +his spectacles and was swinging them lightly between his thumb and +forefinger. + +"I will be frank with you," he said. "My opinion is a favourable one. I +shall apply for leave of absence to-morrow. In a week all that you have +said shall be laid before my master. Such as my personal influence is, +it will be exerted on behalf of the acceptance of your scheme. The +greatest difficulty will be, of course, in persuading the Emperor of its +practicability--in plain words, that what you say you have to offer will +have the importance which you attribute to it." + +"If you fail in that," Mr. Sabin said, also rising, "send for me! But +bear this in mind, if my scheme should after all be ineffective, if it +should fail in the slightest detail to accomplish all that I claim for +it, what can you lose? The payment is conditional upon its success; the +bargain is all in your favour. I should not offer such terms unless I +held certain cards. Remember, if there are difficulties send for me!" + +"I will do so," the Ambassador said as he buttoned his overcoat. "Now +give me a limit of time for our decision." + +"Fourteen days," Mr. Sabin said. "How I shall temporise with Lobenski so +long I cannot tell. But I will give you fourteen days from to-day. It is +ample!" + +The two men exchanged farewells and parted. Mr. Sabin, with a cigarette +between his teeth, and humming now and then a few bars from one of +Verdi's operas, commenced to carefully select a bagful of golf clubs +from a little pile which stood in one corner of the room. Already they +bore signs of considerable use, and he handled them with the care of an +expert, swinging each one gently, and hesitating for some time between a +wooden or a metal putter, and longer still between the rival claims of a +bulger and a flat-headed brassey. At last the bag was full; he resumed +his seat and counted them out carefully. + +"Ten," he said to himself softly. "Too many; it looks amateurish." + +Some of the steel heads were a little dull; he took a piece of chamois +leather from the pocket of the bag and began polishing them. As they +grew brighter he whistled softly to himself. This time the opera tune +seemed to have escaped him; he was whistling the "Marseillaise!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +"HE HAS GONE TO THE EMPEROR!" + + +The Ambassador, when he left Mr. Sabin's house, stepped into a hired +hansom and drove off towards Arlington Street. A young man who had +watched him come out, from the other side of the way, walked swiftly to +the corner of the street and stepped into a private brougham which was +waiting there. + +"To the Embassy," he said. "Drive fast!" + +The carriage set him down in a few minutes at the house to which Densham +and Harcutt had followed Mr. Sabin on the night of their first meeting +with him. He walked swiftly into the hall. + +"Is his Excellency within?" he asked a tall servant in plain dress who +came forward to meet him. + +"Yes, Monsieur Felix," the man answered; "he is dining very late +to-night--in fact, he has not yet risen from the table." + +"Who is with him?" Felix asked. + +"It is a very small party. Madame la Princesse has just arrived from +Paris, and his Excellency has been waiting for her." + +He mentioned a few more names; there was no one of importance. Felix +walked into the hall-porter's office and scribbled a few words on half a +sheet of paper, which he placed in an envelope and carefully sealed. + +"Let his Excellency have this privately and at once," he said to the +man; "I will go into the waiting room." + +The man withdrew with the note, and Felix crossed the hall and entered +a small room nearly opposite. It was luxuriously furnished with easy +chairs and divans; there were cigars, and cigarettes, and decanters upon +a round table. Felix took note of none of these things, nor did he sit +down. He stood with his hands behind him, looking steadily into the +fire. His cheeks were almost livid, save for a single spot of burning +colour high up on his cheek-bone. His fingers twitched nervously, his +eyes were dry and restlessly bright. He was evidently in a state of +great excitement. In less than two minutes the door opened, and a tall, +distinguished-looking man, grey headed, but with a moustache still +almost black, came softly into the room. His breast glittered with +orders, and he was in full Court dress. He nodded kindly to the young +man, who greeted him with respect. + +"Is it anything important, Felix?" he asked; "you are looking tired." + +"Yes, your Excellency, it is important," Felix answered; "it concerns +the man Sabin." + +The Ambassador nodded. + +"Well," he said, "what of him? You have not been seeking to settle +accounts with him, I trust, after our conversation, and your promise?" + +Felix shook his head. + +"No," he said. "I gave my word and I shall keep it! Perhaps you may some +day regret that you interfered between us." + +"I think not," the Prince replied. "Your services are valuable to me, my +dear Felix; and in this country, more than any other, deeds of violence +are treated with scant ceremony, and affairs of honour are not +understood. No, I saved you from yourself for myself. It was an +excellent thing for both of us." + +"I trust," Felix repeated, "that your Excellency may always think so. +But to be brief. The report from Cartienne is to hand." + +The Ambassador nodded and listened expectantly. + +"He confirms fully," Felix continued, "the value of the documents which +are in question. How he obtained access to them he does not say, but his +report is absolute. He considers that they justify fully the man Sabin's +version of them." + +The Prince smiled. + +"My own judgment is verified," he said. "I believed in the man from the +first. It is good. By the bye, have you seen anything of Mr. Sabin +to-day?" + +"I have come straight," Felix said, "from watching his house." + +"Yes?" + +"The Baron von Knigenstein has been there alone, incognito, for more +than an hour. I watched him go in--and watched him out." + +The Prince's genial smile vanished. His face grew suddenly as dark as +thunder. The Muscovite crept out unawares. There was a fierce light in +his eyes, and his face was like the face of a wolf; yet his voice when +he spoke was low. + +"So ho!" he said softly. "Mr. Sabin is doing a little flirting, is he? +Ah!" + +"I believe," the young man answered slowly, "that he has advanced still +further than that. The Baron was there for an hour. He came out walking +like a young man. He was in a state of great excitement." + +The Prince sat down and stroked the side of his face thoughtfully. + +"The great elephant!" he muttered. "Fancy such a creature calling +himself a diplomatist! It is well, Felix," he added, "that I had +finished my dinner, otherwise you would certainly have spoilt it. If +they have met like this, there is no end to the possibilities of it. I +must see Sabin immediately. It ought to be easy to make him understand +that I am not to be trifled with. Find out where he is to-night, Felix; +I must follow him." + +Felix took up his hat. + +"I will be back," he said, "in half an hour." + +The Prince returned to his guests, and Felix drove off. When he returned +his chief was waiting for him alone. + +"Mr. Sabin," Felix announced, "left town half an hour ago." + +"For abroad!" the Prince exclaimed, with flashing eyes. "He has gone to +Germany!" + +Felix shook his head. + +"On the contrary," he said; "he has gone down into Norfolk to play +golf." + +"Into Norfolk to play golf!" the Prince repeated in a tone of scornful +wonder. "Did you believe a story like that, Felix? Rubbish!" + +Felix smiled slightly. + +"It is quite true," he said. "Labanoff makes no mistakes, and he saw him +come out of his house, take his ticket at King's Cross, and actually +leave the station." + +"Are you sure that it is not a blind?" the Prince asked incredulously. + +Felix shook his head. + +"It is quite true, your Excellency," he said. "If you knew the man as +well as I do, you would not be surprised. He is indeed a very +extraordinary person--he does these sort of things. Besides, he wants to +keep out of the way." + +The Prince's face darkened. + +"He will find my way a little hard to get out of," he said fiercely. +"Go and get some dinner, Felix, and then try and find out whether +Knigenstein has any notion of leaving England. He will not trust a +matter like this to correspondence. Stay--I know how to manage it. I +will write and ask him to dine here next week. You shall take the +invitation." + +"He will be at Arlington Street," Felix remarked. + +"Well, you can take it on to him there," the Prince directed. "Go first +to his house and ask for his whereabouts. They will tell you Arlington +Street. You will not know, of course, the contents of the letter you +carry; your instructions were simply to deliver it and get an answer. +Good! you will do that." + +The Prince, while he talked, was writing the note. + +Felix thrust it into his pocket and went out. In less than half an hour +he was back. The Baron had returned to the German Embassy unexpectedly +before going to Arlington Street, and Felix had caught him there. The +Prince tore open the answer, and read it hastily through. + + "THE GERMAN EMBASSY, + "_Wednesday evening._ + + "Alas! my dear Prince, had I been able, nothing could have given me + so much pleasure as to have joined your little party, but, + unfortunately, this wretched climate, which we both so justly + loathe, has upset my throat again, and I have too much regard for + my life to hand myself over to the English doctors. Accordingly, + all being well, I go to Berlin to-morrow night to consult our own + justly-famed Dr. Steinlaus. + + "Accept, my dear Prince, this expression of my most sincere regret, + and believe me, yours most sincerely, + + "KARL VON KNIGENSTEIN." + +"The doctor whom he has gone to consult is no man of medicine," the +Prince said thoughtfully. "He has gone to the Emperor." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +WOLFENDEN'S LOVE-MAKING + + +"Lord Wolfenden?" + +He laughed at her surprise, and took off his cap. He was breathless, for +he had been scrambling up the steep side of the hill on which she was +standing, looking steadfastly out to sea. Down in the valley from which +he had come a small boy with a bag of golf clubs on his back was +standing, making imaginary swings at the ball which lay before him. + +"I saw you from below," he explained. "I couldn't help coming up. You +don't mind?" + +"No; I am glad to see you," she said simply. "You startled me, that is +all. I did not hear you coming, and I had forgotten almost where I was. +I was thinking." + +He stood by her side, his cap still in his hand, facing the strong sea +wind. Again he was conscious of that sense of extreme pleasure which had +always marked his chance meetings with her. This time he felt perhaps +that there was some definite reason for it. There was something in her +expression, when she had turned so swiftly round, which seemed to tell +him that her first words were not altogether meaningless. She was +looking a little pale, and he fancied also a little sad. There was an +inexpressible wistfulness about her soft, dark eyes; the light and +charming gaiety of her manner, so un-English and so attractive to him, +had given place to quite another mood. Whatever her thoughts might have +been when he had first seen her there, her tall, slim figure outlined +so clearly against the abrupt sky line, they were at all events scarcely +pleasant ones. He felt that his sudden appearance had not been unwelcome +to her, and he was unreasonably pleased. + +"You are still all alone," he remarked. "Has Mr. Sabin not arrived?" + +She shook her head. + +"I am all alone, and I am fearfully and miserably dull. This place does +not attract me at all: not at this time of the year. I have not heard +from my uncle. He may be here at any moment." + +There was no time like the present. He was suddenly bold. It was an +opportunity which might never be vouchsafed to him again. + +"May I come with you--a little way along the cliffs?" he asked. + +She looked at him and hesitated. More than ever he was aware of some +subtle change in her. It was as though her mental attitude towards him +had adapted itself in some way to this new seriousness of demeanour. It +was written in her features--his eyes read it eagerly. A certain +aloofness, almost hauteur, about the lines of her mouth, creeping out +even in her most careless tones, and plainly manifest in the carriage of +her head, was absent. She seemed immeasurably nearer to him. She was +softer and more womanly. Even her voice in its new and more delicate +notes betrayed the change. Perhaps it was only a mood, yet he would take +advantage of it. + +"What about your golf?" she said, motioning down into the valley where +his antagonist was waiting. + +"Oh, I can easily arrange that," he declared cheerfully. "Fortunately I +was playing the professional and he will not mind leaving off." + +He waved to his caddie, and scribbled a few lines on the back of a card. + +"Give that to McPherson," he said. "You can clean my clubs and put them +in my locker. I shall not be playing again this morning." + +The boy disappeared down the hill. They stood for a moment side by side. + +"I have spoilt your game," she said. "I am sorry." + +He laughed. + +"I think you know," he said boldly, "that I would rather spend five +minutes with you than a day at golf." + +She moved on with a smile at the corners of her lips. + +"What a downright person you are!" she said. "But honestly to-day I am +not in the mood to be alone. I am possessed with an uneasy spirit of +sadness. I am afraid of my thoughts." + +"I am only sorry," he said, "that you should have any that are not happy +ones. Don't you think perhaps that you are a little lonely? You seem to +have so few friends." + +"It is not that," she answered. "I have many and very dear friends, and +it is only for a little time that I am separated from them. It is simply +that I am not used to solitude, and I am becoming a creature of moods +and presentiments. It is very foolish that I give way to them; but +to-day I am miserable. You must stretch out that strong hand of yours, +my friend, and pull me up." + +"I will do my best," he said. "I am afraid I cannot claim that there is +anything in the shape of affinity between us; for to-day I am +particularly happy." + +She met his eyes briefly, and looked away seawards with the ghost of a +sorrowful smile upon her lips. Her words sounded like a warning. + +"Do not be sure," she said. "It may not last." + +"It will last," he said, "so long as you choose. For to-day you are the +mistress of my moods!" + +"Then I am very sorry for you," she said earnestly. + +He laughed it off, but her words brought a certain depression with +them. He went on to speak of something else. + +"I have been thinking about you this morning," he said. "If your uncle +is going to play golf here, it will be very dull for you. Would you care +for my mother to come and see you? She would be delighted, I am sure, +for it is dull for her too, and she is fond of young people. If you----" + +He stopped short She was shaking her head slowly. The old despondency +was back in her face. Her eyes were full of trouble. She laid her +delicately gloved fingers upon his arm. + +"My friend," she said, "it is very kind of you to think of it--but it is +impossible. I cannot tell you why as I would wish. But at present I do +not desire any acquaintances. I must not, in fact, think of it. It would +give me great pleasure to know your mother. Only I must not. Believe me +that it is impossible." + +Wolfenden was a little hurt--a good deal mystified. It was a very odd +thing. He was not in the least a snob, but he knew that the visit of the +Countess of Deringham, whose name was still great in the social world, +was not a thing to be refused without grave reasons by a girl in the +position of Mr. Sabin's niece. The old question came back to him with an +irresistible emphasis. Who were these people? He looked at her +furtively. He was an observant man in the small details of a woman's +toilette, and he knew that he had never met a girl better turned out +than his present companion. The cut of her tailor-made gown was +perfection, her gloves and boots could scarcely have come from anywhere +but Paris. She carried herself too with a perfect ease and indefinable +distinction which could only have come to her by descent. She was a +perfect type of the woman of breeding--unrestrained, yet aristocratic to +the tips of her finger-nails. + +He sighed as he looked away from her. + +"You are a very mysterious young woman," he said, with a forced air of +gaiety. + +"I am afraid that I am," she admitted regretfully. "I can assure you +that I am very tired of it. But--it will not last for very much longer." + +"You are really going away, then?" he asked quickly. + +"Yes. We shall not be in England much longer." + +"You are going for good?" he asked. "I mean, to remain away?" + +"When we go," she said, "it is very doubtful if ever I shall set my foot +on English soil again." + +He drew a quick breath. It was his one chance, then. Her last words must +be his excuse for such precipitation. They had scrambled down through an +opening in the cliffs, and there was no one else in sight. Some instinct +seemed to tell her what was coming. She tried to talk, but she could +not. His hand had closed upon hers, and she had not the strength to draw +it away. It was so very English this sudden wooing. No one had ever +dared to touch her fingers before without first begging permission. + +"Don't you know--Helène--that I love you? I want you to live in +England--to be my wife. Don't say that I haven't a chance. I know that I +ought not to have spoken yet, but you are going away so soon, and I am +so afraid that I might not see you again alone. Don't stop me, please. I +am not asking you now for your love. I know that it is too soon--to hope +for that--altogether! I only want you to know, and to be allowed to +hope." + +"You must not. It is impossible." + +The words were very low, and they came from her quivering with intense +pain. He released her fingers. She leaned upon a huge boulder near and, +resting her face upon her hand, gazed dreamily out to sea. + +"I am very sorry," she said. "My uncle was right after all. It was not +wise for us to meet. I ought to have no friends. It was not wise--it +was very, very foolish." + +Being a man, his first thoughts had been for himself. But at her words +he forgot everything except that she too was unhappy. + +"Do you mean," he said slowly, "that you cannot care for me, or that +there are difficulties which seem to you to make it impossible?" + +She looked up at him, and he scarcely knew her transfigured face, with +the tears glistening upon her eyelashes. + +"Do not tempt me to say what might make both of us more unhappy," she +begged. "Be content to know that I cannot marry you." + +"You have promised somebody else?" + +"I shall probably marry," she said deliberately, "somebody else." + +He ground his heel into the soft sands, and his eyes flashed. + +"You are being coerced!" he cried. + +She lifted her head proudly. + +"There is no person breathing," she said quietly, "who would dare to +attempt such a thing!" + +Then he looked out with her towards the sea, and they watched the long, +rippling waves break upon the brown sands, the faint and unexpected +gleam of wintry sunshine lying upon the bosom of the sea, and the +screaming seagulls, whose white wings shone like alabaster against the +darker clouds. For him these things were no longer beautiful, nor did he +see the sunlight, which with a sudden fitfulness had warmed the air. It +was all very cold and grey. It was not possible for him to read the +riddle yet--she had not said that she could not care for him. There was +that hope! + +"There is no one," he said slowly, "who could coerce you? You will not +marry me, but you will probably marry somebody else. Is it, then, that +you care for this other man, and not for me?" + +She shook her head. + +"Of the two," she said, with a faint attempt at her old manner, "I +prefer you. Yet I shall marry him." + +Wolfenden became aware of an unexpected sensation. He was getting angry. + +"I have a right," he said, resting his hand upon her shoulder, and +gaining courage from her evident weakness, "to know more. I have given +you my love. At least you owe me in return your confidence. Let me have +it. You shall see that even if I may not be your lover, I can at least +be your faithful friend." + +She touched his hand tenderly. It was scarcely kind of her--certainly +not wise. She had taken off her glove, and the touch of her soft, +delicate fingers thrilled him. The blood rushed through his veins like +mad music. The longing to take her into his arms was almost +uncontrollable. Her dark eyes looked upon him very kindly. + +"My friend," she said, "I know that you would be faithful. You must not +be angry with me. Nay, it is your pity I want. Some day you will know +all. Then you will understand. Perhaps even you will be sorry for me, if +I am not forgotten. I only wish that I could tell you more; only I may +not. It makes me sad to deny you, but I must." + +"I mean to know," he said doggedly--"I mean to know everything. You are +sacrificing yourself. To talk of marrying a man whom you do not love is +absurd. Who are you? If you do not tell me, I shall go to your guardian. +I shall go to Mr. Sabin." + +"Mr. Sabin is always at your service," said a suave voice almost at his +elbow. "Never more so than at the present." + +Wolfenden turned round with a start. It was indeed Mr. Sabin who stood +there--Mr. Sabin, in unaccustomed guise, clad in a tweed suit and +leaning upon an ordinary walking-stick. + +"Come," he said good-humouredly, "don't look at me as though I were +something uncanny. If you had not been so very absorbed you would have +heard me call to you from the cliffs. I wanted to save myself the climb, +but you were deaf, both of you. Am I the first man whose footsteps upon +the sands have fallen lightly? Now, what is it you want to ask me, Lord +Wolfenden?" + +Wolfenden was in no way disturbed at the man's coming. On the contrary, +he was glad of it. He answered boldly and without hesitation. + +"I want to marry your niece, Mr. Sabin," he said. + +"Very natural indeed," Mr. Sabin remarked easily. "If I were a young man +of your age and evident taste I have not the least doubt but that I +should want to marry her myself. I offer you my sincere sympathy. +Unfortunately it is impossible." + +"I want to know," Wolfenden said, "why it is impossible? I want a reason +of some sort." + +"You shall have one with pleasure," Mr. Sabin said. "My niece is already +betrothed." + +"To a man," Wolfenden exclaimed indignantly, "whom she admits that she +does not care for!" + +"Whom she has nevertheless," Mr. Sabin said firmly, and with a sudden +flash of anger in his eyes, "agreed and promised of her own free will to +marry. Look here, Lord Wolfenden, I do not desire to quarrel with you. +You saved me from a very awkward accident a few nights ago, and I remain +your debtor. Be reasonable! My niece has refused your offer. I confirm +her refusal. Your proposal does us both much honour, but it is utterly +out of the question. That is putting it plainly, is it not? Now, you +must choose for yourself--whether you will drop the subject and remain +our valued friend, or whether you compel me to ask you to leave us at +once, and consider us henceforth as strangers." + +The girl laid her hand upon his shoulder and looked at him pleadingly. + +"For my sake," she said, "choose to remain our friend, and let this be +forgotten." + +"For your sake, I consent," he said. "But I give no promise that I will +not at some future time reopen the subject." + +"You will do so," Mr. Sabin said, "exactly when you desire to close your +acquaintance with us. For the rest, you have chosen wisely. Now I am +going to take you home, Helène. Afterwards, if Lord Wolfenden will give +me a match, I shall be delighted to have a round of golf with him." + +"I shall be very pleased," Wolfenden answered. + +"I will see you at the Pavilion in half an hour," Mr. Sabin said. "In +the meantime, you will please excuse us. I have a few words to say to my +niece." + +She held out both her hands, looking at him half kindly, half wistfully. + +"Goodbye," she said. "I am so sorry!" + +But he looked straight into her eyes, and he answered her bravely. He +would not admit defeat. + +"I hope that you are not," he said. "I shall never regret it." + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +FROM A DIM WORLD + + +Wolfenden was in no particularly cheerful frame of mind when, a few +moments after the half hour was up, Mr. Sabin appeared upon the pavilion +tee, followed by a tall, dark young man carrying a bag of golf clubs. +Mr. Sabin, on the other hand, was inclined to be sardonically cheerful. + +"Your handicap," he remarked, "is two. Mine is one. Suppose we play +level. We ought to make a good match." + +Wolfenden looked at him in surprise. + +"Did you say one?" + +Mr. Sabin smiled. + +"Yes; they give me one at Pau and Cannes. My foot interferes very little +with my walking upon turf. All the same, I expect you will find me an +easy victim here. Shall I drive? Just here, Dumayne," he added, pointing +to a convenient spot upon the tee with the head of his driver. "Not too +much sand." + +"Where did you get your caddie?" Wolfenden asked. "He is not one of +ours, is he?" + +Mr. Sabin shook his head. + +"I found him on some links in the South of France," he answered. "He is +the only caddie I ever knew who could make a decent tee, so I take him +about with me. He valets me as well. That will do nicely, Dumayne." + +Mr. Sabin's expression suddenly changed. His body, as though by +instinct, fell into position. He scarcely altered his stand an inch +from the position he had first taken up. Wolfenden, who had expected a +half-swing, was amazed at the wonderfully lithe, graceful movement with +which he stooped down and the club flew round his shoulder. Clean and +true the ball flew off the tee in a perfectly direct line--a capital +drive only a little short of the two hundred yards. Master and servant +watched it critically. + +"A fairly well hit ball, I think, Dumayne," Mr. Sabin remarked. + +"You got it quite clean away, sir," the man answered. "It hasn't run +very well though; you will find it a little near the far bunker for a +comfortable second." + +"I shall carry it all right," Mr. Sabin said quietly. + +Wolfenden also drove a long ball, but with a little slice. He had to +play the odd, and caught the top of the bunker. The hole fell to Mr. +Sabin in four. + +They strolled off towards the second teeing ground. + +"Are you staying down here for long?" Mr. Sabin asked. + +Wolfenden hesitated. + +"I am not sure," he said. "I am rather oddly situated at home. At any +rate I shall probably be here as long as you." + +"I am not sure about that," Mr. Sabin said. "I think that I am going to +like these links, and if so I shall not hurry away. Forgive me if I am +inquisitive, but your reference to home affairs is, I presume, in +connection with your father's health. I was very sorry to hear that he +is looked upon now as a confirmed invalid." + +Wolfenden assented gravely. He did not wish to talk about his father to +Mr. Sabin. On the other hand, Mr. Sabin was politely persistent. + +"He does not, I presume, receive visitors," he said, as they left the +tee after the third drive. + +"Never," Wolfenden answered decisively. "He suffers a good deal in +various ways, and apart from that he is very much absorbed in the +collection of some statistics connected with a hobby of his. He does not +see even his oldest friends." + +Mr. Sabin was obviously interested. + +"Many years ago," he said, "I met your father at Alexandria. He was then +in command of the _Victoria_. He would perhaps scarcely recollect me +now, but at the time he made me promise to visit him if ever I was in +England. It must be--yes, it surely must be nearly fifteen years ago." + +"I am afraid," Wolfenden remarked, watching the flight of his ball after +a successful brassy shot, "that he would have forgotten all about it by +now. His memory has suffered a good deal." + +Mr. Sabin addressed his own ball, and from a bad lie sent it flying a +hundred and fifty yards with a peculiar, jerking shot which Wolfenden +watched with envy. + +"You must have a wonderful eye," he remarked, "to hit a ball with a full +swing lying like that. Nine men out of ten would have taken an iron." + +Mr. Sabin shrugged his shoulders. He did not wish to talk golf. + +"I was about to remark," he said, "that your father had then the +reputation of, and impressed me as being, the best informed man with +regard to English naval affairs with whom I ever conversed." + +"He was considered an authority, I believe," Wolfenden admitted. + +"What I particularly admired about him," Mr. Sabin continued, "was the +absence of that cocksureness which sometimes, I am afraid, almost blinds +the judgment of your great naval officers. I have heard him even discuss +the possibility of an invasion of England with the utmost gravity. He +admitted that it was far from improbable." + +"My father's views," Wolfenden said, "have always been pessimistic as +regards the actual strength of our navy and coast defences. I believe he +used to make himself a great nuisance at the Admiralty." + +"He has ceased now, I suppose," Mr. Sabin remarked, "to take much +interest in the matter?" + +"I can scarcely say that," Wolfenden answered. "His interest, however, +has ceased to be official. I daresay you have heard that he was in +command of the Channel Fleet at the time of the terrible disaster in the +Solent. He retired almost immediately afterwards, and we fear that his +health will never altogether recover from the shock." + +There was a short intermission in the conversation. Wolfenden had sliced +his ball badly from the sixth tee, and Mr. Sabin, having driven as usual +with almost mathematical precision, their ways for a few minutes lay +apart. They came together, however, on the putting-green, and had a +short walk to the next tee. + +"That was a very creditable half to you," Mr. Sabin remarked. + +"My approach," Wolfenden admitted, "was a lucky one." + +"It was a very fine shot," Mr. Sabin insisted. "The spin helped you, of +course, but you were justified in allowing for that, especially as you +seem to play most of your mashie shots with a cut. What were we talking +about? Oh, I remember of course. It was about your father and the Solent +catastrophe. Admiral Deringham was not concerned with the actual +disaster in any way, was he?" + +Wolfenden shook his hand. + +"Thank God, no!" he said emphatically. "But Admiral Marston was his +dearest friend, and he saw him go down with six hundred of his men. He +was so close that they even shouted farewells to one another." + +"It must have been a terrible shock," Mr. Sabin admitted. "No wonder he +has suffered from it. Now you have spoken of it, I think I remember +reading about his retirement. A sad thing for a man of action, as he +always was. Does he remain in Norfolk all the year round?" + +"He never leaves Deringham Hall," Wolfenden answered. "He used to make +short yachting cruises until last year, but that is all over now. It is +twelve months since he stepped outside his own gates." + +Mr. Sabin remained deeply interested. + +"Has he any occupation beyond this hobby of which you spoke?" he asked. +"He rides and shoots a little, I suppose, like the rest of your country +gentlemen." + +Then for the first time Wolfenden began to wonder dimly whether Mr. +Sabin had some purpose of his own in so closely pursuing the thread of +this conversation. He looked at him keenly. At the moment his attention +seemed altogether directed to the dangerous proximity of his ball and a +tall sand bunker. Throughout his interest had seemed to be fairly +divided between the game and the conversation which he had initiated. +None the less Wolfenden was puzzled. He could scarcely believe that Mr. +Sabin had any real, personal interest in his father, but on the other +hand it was not easy to understand this persistent questioning as to his +occupation and doings. The last inquiry, carelessly though it was asked, +was a direct one. It seemed scarcely worth while to evade it. + +"No; my father has special interests," he answered slowly. "He is +engaged now upon some work connected with his profession." + +"Indeed!" + +Mr. Sabin's exclamation suggested a curiosity which it was not +Wolfenden's purpose to gratify. He remained silent. The game proceeded +without remark for a quarter of an hour. Wolfenden was now three down, +and with all the stimulus of a strong opponent he set himself to +recover lost ground. The ninth hole he won with a fine, long putt, which +Mr. Sabin applauded heartily. + +They drove from the next tee and walked together after their balls, +which lay within a few yards of one another. + +"I am very much interested," Mr. Sabin remarked, "in what you have been +telling me about your father. It confirms rather a curious story about +Lord Deringham which I heard in London a few weeks ago. I was told, I +forget by whom, that your father had devoted years of his life to a +wonderfully minute study of English coast defences and her naval +strength. My informant went on to say that--forgive me, but this was +said quite openly you know--that whilst on general matters your father's +mental health was scarcely all that could be desired, his work in +connection with these two subjects was of great value. It struck me as +being a very singular and a very interesting case." + +Wolfenden shook his head dubiously. + +"Your informant was misled, I am afraid," he said. "My father takes his +hobby very seriously, and of course we humour him. But as regards the +value of his work I am afraid it is worthless." + +"Have you tested it yourself?" Mr. Sabin asked. + +"I have only seen a few pages," Wolfenden admitted, "but they were +wholly unintelligible. My chief authority is his own secretary, who is +giving up an excellent place simply because he is ashamed to take money +for assisting in work which he declares to be utterly hopeless." + +"He is a man," Mr. Sabin remarked, "whom you can trust, I suppose? His +judgment is not likely to be at fault." + +"There is not the faintest chance of it," Wolfenden declared. "He is a +very simple, good-hearted little chap and tremendously conscientious. +What your friend told you, by the bye, reminds me of rather a curious +thing which happened yesterday." + +Wolfenden paused. There did not seem, however, to be any reason for +concealment, and his companion was evidently deeply interested. + +"A man called upon us," Wolfenden continued, "with a letter purporting +to be from our local doctor here. He gave his name as Franklin Wilmot, +the celebrated physician, you know, and explained that he was interested +in a new method of treating mental complaints. He was very plausible and +he explained everything unusual about his visit most satisfactorily. He +wanted a sight of the work on which my father was engaged, and after +talking it over we introduced him into the study during my father's +absence. From it he promised to give us a general opinion upon the case +and its treatment. Whilst he was there our doctor drove up in hot haste. +The letter was a forgery, the man an impostor." + +Wolfenden, glancing towards Mr. Sabin as he finished his story, was +surprised at the latter's imperfectly concealed interest. His lips were +indrawn, his face seemed instinct with a certain passionate but finely +controlled emotion. Only the slight hiss of his breath and the gleam of +his black eyes betrayed him. + +"What happened?" he asked. "Did you secure the fellow?" + +Wolfenden played a long shot and waited whilst he watched the run of his +ball. Then he turned towards his companion and shook his head. + +"No! He was a great deal too clever for that. He sent me out to meet +Whitlett, and when we got back he had shown us a clean pair of heels. He +got away through the window." + +"Did he take away any papers with him?" Mr. Sabin asked. + +"He may have taken a loose sheet or two," Wolfenden said. "Nothing of +any consequence, I think. He had no time. I don't think that that could +have been his object altogether, or he would scarcely have suggested my +remaining with him in the study." + +Mr. Sabin drew a quick, little breath. He played an iron shot, and +played it very badly. + +"It was a most extraordinary occurrence," he remarked. "What was the man +like? Did he seem like an ordinary thief?" + +Wolfenden shook his head decidedly. + +"Not in the least," he declared. "He was well dressed and his manners +were excellent. He had all the appearance of a man of position. He +completely imposed upon both my mother and myself." + +"How long were you in the study before Dr. Whitlett arrived?" Mr. Sabin +asked. + +"Barely five minutes." + +It was odd, but Mr. Sabin seemed positively relieved. + +"And Mr. Blatherwick," he asked, "where was he all the time?" + +"Who?" Wolfenden asked in surprise. + +"Mr. Blatherwick--your father's secretary," Mr. Sabin repeated coolly; +"I understood you to say that his name was Blatherwick." + +"I don't remember mentioning his name at all," Wolfenden said, vaguely +disturbed. + +Mr. Sabin addressed his ball with care and played it deliberately on to +the green. Then he returned to the subject. + +"I think that you must have done," he said suavely, "or I should +scarcely have known it. Was he in the room?" + +"All the time," Wolfenden answered. + +Mr. Sabin drew another little breath. + +"He was there when the fellow bolted?" + +Wolfenden nodded. + +"Why did he not try to stop him?" + +Wolfenden smiled. + +"Physically," he remarked, "it would have been an impossibility. +Blatherwick is a small man and an exceedingly nervous one. He is an +honest little fellow, but I am afraid he would not have shone in an +encounter of that sort." + +Mr. Sabin was on the point of asking another question, but Wolfenden +interrupted him. He scarcely knew why, but he wanted to get away from +the subject. He was sorry that he had ever broached it. + +"Come," he said, "we are talking too much. Let us play golf. I am sure I +put you off that last stroke." + +Mr. Sabin took the hint and was silent. They were on the eleventh green, +and bordering it on the far side was an open road--the sea road, which +followed the coast for a mile or two and then turned inland to +Deringham. Wolfenden, preparing to putt, heard wheels close at hand, and +as the stroke was a critical one for him he stood back from his ball +till the vehicle had passed. Glancing carelessly up, he saw his own blue +liveries and his mother leaning back in a barouche. With a word of +apology to his opponent, he started forward to meet her. + +The coachman, who had recognised him, pulled up his horses in the middle +of the road. Wolfenden walked swiftly over to the carriage side. His +mother's appearance had alarmed him. She was looking at him, and yet +past him. Her cheeks were pale. Her eyes were set and distended. One of +her hands seemed to be convulsively clutching the side of the carriage +nearest to her. She had all the appearance of a woman who is suddenly +face to face with some terrible vision. Wolfenden looked over his +shoulder quickly. He could see nothing more alarming in the background +than the figure of his opponent, who, with his back partly turned to +them, was gazing out to sea. He stood at the edge of the green on +slightly rising ground, and his figure was outlined with almost curious +distinctness against the background of air and sky. + +"Has anything fresh happened, mother?" Wolfenden asked, with concern. "I +am afraid you are upset. Were you looking for me?" + +She shook her head. It struck him that she was endeavouring to assume a +composure which she assuredly did not possess. + +"No; there is nothing fresh. Naturally I am not well. I am hoping that +the drive will do me good. Are you enjoying your golf?" + +"Very much," Wolfenden answered. "The course has really been capitally +kept. We are having a close match." + +"Who is your opponent?" + +Wolfenden glanced behind him carelessly. Mr. Sabin had thrown several +balls upon the green, and was practising long putts. + +"Fellow named Sabin," he answered. "No one you would be likely to be +interested in. He comes down from London, and he plays a remarkably fine +game. Rather a saturnine-looking personage, isn't he?" + +"He is a most unpleasant-looking man," Lady Deringham faltered, white +now to the lips. "Where did you meet him? Here or in London?" + +"In London," Wolfenden explained. "Rather a curious meeting it was too. +A fellow attacked him coming out of a restaurant one night and I +interfered--just in time. He has taken a little house down here." + +"Is he alone?" Lady Deringham asked. + +"He has a niece living with him," Wolfenden answered. "She is a very +charming girl. I think that you would like her." + +The last words he added with something of an effort, and an indifference +which was palpably assumed. Lady Deringham, however, did not appear to +notice them at all. + +"Have no more to do with him than you can help, Wolfenden," she said, +leaning a little over to him, and speaking in a half-fearful whisper. "I +think his face is awful." + +Wolfenden laughed. + +"I am not likely to see a great deal of him," he declared. "In fact I +can't say that he seems very cordially disposed towards me, considering +that I saved him from rather a nasty accident. By the bye, he said +something about having met the Admiral at Alexandria. You have never +come across him, I suppose?" + +The sun was warm and the wind had dropped, or Wolfenden could almost +have declared that his mother's teeth were chattering. Her eyes were +fixed again in a rigid stare which passed him by and travelled beyond. +He looked over his shoulder. Mr. Sabin, apparently tired of practising, +was standing directly facing them, leaning upon his putter. He was +looking steadfastly at Lady Deringham, not in the least rudely, but with +a faint show of curiosity and a smile which in no way improved his +appearance slightly parting his lips. Meeting his gaze, Wolfenden looked +away with an odd feeling of uneasiness. + +"You are right," he said. "His face is really a handsome one in a way, +but he certainly is not prepossessing-looking!" + +Lady Deringham had recovered herself. She leaned back amongst the +cushions. + +"Didn't you ask me," she said, "whether I had ever met the man? I cannot +remember--certainly I was at Alexandria with your father, so perhaps I +did. You will be home to dinner?" + +He nodded. + +"Of course. How is the Admiral to-day?" + +"Remarkably well. He asked for you just before I came out." + +"I shall see him at dinner," Wolfenden said "Perhaps he will let me +smoke a cigar with him afterwards." + +He stood away from the carriage and lifted his cap with a smile. The +coachman touched his horses and the barouche rolled on. Wolfenden walked +slowly back to his companion. + +"You will excuse my leaving you," he said. "I was afraid that my mother +might have been looking for me." + +"By all means," Mr. Sabin answered. "I hope that you did not hurry on my +account. I am trying," he added, "to recollect if ever I met Lady +Deringham. At my time of life one's reminiscences become so chaotic." + +He looked keenly at Wolfenden, who answered him after a moment's +hesitation. + +"Lady Deringham was at Alexandria with my father, so it is just +possible," he said. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +HARCUTT'S INSPIRATION + + +Wolfenden lost his match upon the last hole; nevertheless it was a +finely contested game, and when Mr. Sabin proposed a round on the +following day, he accepted without hesitation. He did not like Mr. Sabin +any the better--in fact he was beginning to acquire a deliberate +distrust of him. Something of that fear with which other people regarded +him had already communicated itself to Wolfenden. Without having the +shadow of a definite suspicion with regard to the man or his character, +he was inclined to resent that interest in the state of affairs at +Deringham Hall which Mr. Sabin had undoubtedly manifested. At the same +time he was Helène's guardian, and so long as he occupied that position +Wolfenden was not inclined to give up his acquaintance. + +They parted in the pavilion, Wolfenden lingering for a few minutes, half +hoping that he might receive some sort of invitation to call at Mr. +Sabin's temporary abode. Perhaps, under the circumstances, it was +scarcely possible that any such invitation could be given, although had +it been Wolfenden would certainly have accepted it. For he had no idea +of at once relinquishing all hope as regards Helène. He was naturally +sanguine, and he was very much in love. There was something mysterious +about that other engagement of which he had been told. He had an idea +that, but for Mr. Sabin's unexpected appearance, Helène would have +offered him a larger share of her confidence. He was content to wait for +it. + +Wolfenden had ridden over from home, and left his horse in the hotel +stables. As he passed the hall a familiar figure standing in the open +doorway hailed him. He glanced quickly up, and stopped short. It was +Harcutt who was standing there, in a Norfolk tweed suit and thick boots. + +"Of all men in the world!" he exclaimed in blank surprise. "What, in the +name of all that's wonderful, are you doing here?" + +Harcutt answered with a certain doggedness, almost as though he resented +Wolfenden's astonishment. + +"I don't know why you should look at me as though I were a ghost," he +said. "If it comes to that, I might ask you the same question. What are +you doing here?" + +"Oh! I'm at home," Wolfenden answered promptly. "I'm down to visit my +people; it's only a mile or two from here to Deringham Hall." + +Harcutt dropped his eyeglass and laughed shortly. + +"You are wonderfully filial all of a sudden," he remarked. "Of course +you had no other reason for coming!" + +"None at all," Wolfenden answered firmly. "I came because I was sent +for. It was a complete surprise to me to meet Mr. Sabin here--at least +it would have been if I had not travelled down with his niece. Their +coming was simply a stroke of luck for me." + +Harcutt assumed a more amiable expression. + +"I am glad to hear it," he said. "I thought that you were stealing a +march on me, and there really was not any necessity, for our interests +do not clash in the least. It was different between you and poor old +Densham, but he's given it up of his own accord and he sailed for India +yesterday." + +"Poor old chap!" Wolfenden said softly. "He would not tell you, I +suppose, even at the last, what it was that he had heard about--these +people?" + +"He would not tell me," Harcutt answered; "but he sent a message to you. +He wished me to remind you that you had been friends for fifteen years, +and he was not likely to deceive you. He was leaving the country, he +said, because he had certain and definite information concerning the +girl, which made it absolutely hopeless for either you or he to think of +her. His advice to you was to do the same." + +"I do not doubt Densham," Wolfenden said slowly; "but I doubt his +information. It came from a woman who has been Densham's friend. Then, +again, what may seem an insurmountable obstacle to him, may not be so to +me. Nothing vague in the shape of warnings will deter me." + +"Well," Harcutt said, "I have given you Densham's message and my +responsibility concerning it is ended. As you know, my own interests lie +in a different direction. Now I want a few minutes' conversation with +you. The hotel rooms are a little too public. Are you in a hurry, or can +you walk up and down the drive with me once or twice?" + +"I can spare half an hour very well," Wolfenden said; "but I should +prefer to do no more walking just yet. Come and sit down here--it isn't +cold." + +They chose a seat looking over the sea. Harcutt glanced carefully all +around. There was no possibility of their being overheard, nor indeed +was there any one in sight. + +"I am developing fresh instincts," Harcutt said, as he crossed his legs +and lit a cigarette. "I am here, I should like you to understand, purely +in a professional capacity--and I want your help." + +"But my dear fellow," Wolfenden said; "I don't understand. If, when you +say professionally, you mean as a journalist, why, what on earth in this +place can there be worth the chronicling? There is scarcely a single +person known to society in the neighbourhood." + +"Mr. Sabin is here!" Harcutt remarked quietly. + +Wolfenden looked at him in surprise. + +"That might have accounted for your presence here as a private +individual," he said; "but professionally, how on earth can he interest +you?" + +"He interests me professionally very much indeed," Harcutt answered. + +Wolfenden was getting puzzled. + +"Mr. Sabin interests you professionally?" he repeated slowly. "Then you +have learnt something. Mr. Sabin has an identity other than his own." + +"I suspect him to be," Harcutt said slowly, "a most important and +interesting personage. I have learnt a little concerning him. I am here +to learn more; I am convinced that it is worth while." + +"Have you learnt anything," Wolfenden asked, "concerning his niece?" + +"Absolutely nothing," Harcutt answered decidedly. "I may as well repeat +that my interest is in the man alone. I am not a sentimental person at +all. His niece is perhaps the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in +my life, but it is with no thought of her that I have taken up this +investigation. Having assured you of that, I want to know if you will +help me?" + +"You must speak a little more plainly," Wolfenden said; "you are +altogether too vague. What help do you want, and for what purpose?" + +"Mr. Sabin," Harcutt said; "is engaged in great political schemes. He is +in constant and anxious communication with the ambassadors of two great +Powers. He affects secrecy in all his movements, and the name by which +he is known is without doubt an assumed one. This much I have learnt +for certain. My own ideas are too vague yet for me to formulate. I +cannot say any more, except that I believe him to be deep in some design +which is certainly not for the welfare of this country. It is my +assurance of this which justifies me in exercising a certain espionage +upon his movements--which justifies me also, Wolfenden, in asking for +your assistance." + +"My position," Wolfenden remarked, "becomes a little difficult. Whoever +this man Sabin may be, nothing would induce me to believe ill of his +niece. I could take no part in anything likely to do her harm. You will +understand this better, Harcutt, when I tell you that, a few hours ago, +I asked her to be my wife." + +"You asked her--what?" + +"To be my wife." + +"And she?" + +"Refused me!" + +Harcutt looked at him for a moment in blank amazement. + +"Who refused you--Mr. Sabin or his niece?" + +"Both!" + +"Did she--did Mr. Sabin know your position, did he understand that you +are the future Earl of Deringham?" + +"Without a doubt," Wolfenden answered drily; "in fact Mr. Sabin seems to +be pretty well up in my genealogy. He had met my father once, he told +me." + +Harcutt, with the natural selfishness of a man engaged upon his +favourite pursuit, quite forgot to sympathise with his friend. He +thought only of the bearing of this strange happening upon his quest. + +"This," he remarked, "disposes once and for all of the suggestion that +these people are ordinary adventurers." + +"If any one," Wolfenden said, "was ever idiotic enough to entertain the +possibility of such a thing. I may add that from the first I have had +almost to thrust my acquaintance upon them, especially so far as Mr. +Sabin is concerned. He has never asked me to call upon them here, or in +London; and this morning when he found me with his niece he was quietly +but furiously angry." + +"It is never worth while," Harcutt said, "to reject a possibility until +you have tested and proved it. What you say, however, settles this one. +They are not adventurers in any sense of the word. Now, will you answer +me a few questions? It may be just as much to your advantage as to mine +to go into this matter." + +Wolfenden nodded. + +"You can ask the questions, at any rate," he said; "I will answer them +if I can." + +"The young lady--did she refuse you from personal reasons? A man can +always tell, you know. Hadn't you the impression, from her answer, that +it was more the force of circumstances than any objection to you which +prompted her negative? I've put it bluntly, but you know what I mean." + +Wolfenden did not answer for nearly a minute. He was gazing steadily +seaward, recalling with a swift effort of his imagination every word +which had passed between them--he could even hear her voice, and see her +face with the soft, dark eyes so close to his. It was a luxury of +recollection. + +"I will admit," he said, quietly, "that what you suggest has already +occurred to me. If it had not, I should be much more unhappy than I am +at this moment. To tell you the honest truth I was not content with her +answer, or rather the manner of it. I should have had some hope of +inducing her to, at any rate, modify it, but for Mr. Sabin's unexpected +appearance. About him, at least, there was no hesitation; he said no, +and he meant it." + +"That is what I imagined might be the case," Harcutt said thoughtfully. +"I don't want to have you think that I imagine any disrespect to the +young lady, but don't you see that either she and Mr. Sabin must stand +towards one another in an equivocal position, or else they must be in +altogether a different station of life to their assumed one, when they +dismiss the subject of an alliance with you so peremptorily." + +Wolfenden flushed up to the temples, and his eyes were lit with fire. + +"You may dismiss all idea of the former possibility," he said, with +ominous quietness. "If you wish me to discuss this matter with you +further you will be particularly careful to avoid the faintest allusion +to it." + +"I have never seriously entertained it," Harcutt assented cheerfully; +"I, too, believe in the girl. She looks at once too proud and too +innocent for any association of such thoughts with her. She has the +bearing and the manners of a queen. Granted, then, that we dismiss the +first possibility." + +"Absolutely and for ever," Wolfenden said firmly. "I may add that Mr. +Sabin met me with a distinct reason for his refusal--he informed me his +niece was already betrothed." + +"That may or may not be true," Harcutt said. "It does not affect the +question which we are considering at present. We must come to the +conclusion that these are people of considerable importance. That is +what I honestly believe. Now what do you suppose brings Mr. Sabin to +such an out of the way hole as this?" + +"The golf, very likely," Wolfenden said. "He is a magnificent player." + +Harcutt frowned. + +"If I thought so," he said, "I should consider my journey here a +wasted one. But I can't. He is in the midst of delicate and important +negotiations--I know as much as that. He would not come down here at +such a time to play golf. It is an absurd idea!" + +"I really don't see how else you can explain it," Wolfenden remarked; +"the greatest men have had their hobbies, you know. I need not remind +you of Nero's fiddle, or Drake's bowls." + +"Quite unnecessary," Harcutt declared briskly. "Frankly, I don't believe +in Mr. Sabin's golf. There is somebody or something down here connected +with his schemes; the golf is a subterfuge. He plays well because he +does everything well." + +"It will tax your ingenuity," Wolfenden said, "to connect his visit here +with anything in the shape of political schemes." + +"My ingenuity accepts the task, at any rate," Harcutt said. "I am going +to find out all about it, and you must help me. It will be for both our +interests." + +"I am afraid," Wolfenden answered, "that you are on a wild goose chase. +Still I am quite willing to help you if I can." + +"Well, to begin then," Harcutt said; "you have been with him some time +to-day. Did he ask you any questions about the locality? Did he show any +curiosity in any of the residents?" + +Wolfenden shook his head. + +"Absolutely none," he answered. "The only conversation we had, in which +he showed any interest at all, was concerning my own people. By the bye, +that reminds me! I told him of an incident which occurred at Deringham +Hall last night, and he was certainly interested and curious. I chanced +to look at him at an unexpected moment, and his appearance astonished +me. I have never seen him look so keen about anything before." + +"Will you tell me the incident at once, please?" Harcutt begged eagerly. +"It may contain the very clue for which I am hunting. Anything which +interests Mr. Sabin interests me." + +"There is no secrecy about the matter," Wolfenden said. "I will tell you +all about it. You may perhaps have heard that my father has been in very +poor health ever since the great Solent disaster. It unfortunately +affected his brain to a certain extent, and he has been the victim of +delusions ever since. The most serious of these is, that he has been +commissioned by the Government to prepare, upon a gigantic scale, a plan +and description of our coast defences and navy. He has a secretary and +typist, and works ten hours a day; but from their report and my own +observations I am afraid the only result is an absolutely unintelligible +chaos. Still, of course, we have to take him seriously, and be thankful +that it is no worse. Now the incident which I told Mr. Sabin was this. +Last night a man called and introduced himself as Dr. Wilmot, the great +mind specialist. He represented that he had been staying in the +neighbourhood, and was on friendly terms with the local medico here, Dr. +Whitlett. My father's case had been mentioned between them, and he had +become much interested in it. He had a theory of his own for the +investigation of such cases which consisted, briefly of a careful +scrutiny of any work done by the patient. He brought a letter from Dr. +Whitlett and said that if we would procure him a sight of my father's +most recent manuscripts he would give us an opinion on the case. We +never had the slightest suspicion as to the truth of his statements, and +I took him with me to the Admiral's study. However, while we were there, +and he was rattling through the manuscripts, up comes Dr. Whitlett, the +local man, in hot haste. The letter was a forgery, and the man an +impostor. He escaped through the window, and got clean away. That is the +story just as I told it to Mr. Sabin. What do you make of it?" + +Harcutt stood up, and laid his hand upon the other's shoulder. + +"Well, I've got my clue, that's all," he declared; "the thing's as plain +as sunlight!" + +Wolfenden rose also to his feet. + +"I must be a fool," he said, "for I certainly can't see it." + +Harcutt lowered his tone. + +"Look here, Wolfenden," he said, "I have no doubt that you are right, +and that your father's work is of no value; but you may be very sure of +one thing--Mr. Sabin does not think so!" + +"I don't see what Mr. Sabin has got to do with it," Wolfenden said. + +Harcutt laughed. + +"Well, I will tell you one thing," he said; "it is the contents of your +father's study which has brought Mr. Sabin to Deringham!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +FROM THE BEGINNING + + +A woman stood, in the midst of a salt wilderness, gazing seaward. Around +her was a long stretch of wet sand and of seaweed-stained rocks, rising +from little pools of water left by the tide; and beyond, the flat, +marshy country was broken only by that line of low cliffs, from which +the little tufts of grass sprouted feebly. The waves which rolled almost +to her feet were barely ripples, breaking with scarcely a visible effort +upon the moist sand. Above, the sky was grey and threatening; only a few +minutes before a cloud of white mist had drifted in from the sea and +settled softly upon the land in the form of rain. The whole outlook was +typical of intense desolation. The only sound breaking the silence, +almost curiously devoid of all physical and animal noises, was the soft +washing of the sand at her feet, and every now and then the jingling of +silver harness, as the horses of her carriage, drawn up on the road +above, tossed their heads and fidgeted. The carriage itself seemed +grotesquely out of place. The coachman, with powdered hair and the dark +blue Deringham livery, sat perfectly motionless, his head bent a little +forward, and his eyes fixed upon his horses' ears. The footman, by their +side, stood with folded arms, and expression as wooden as though he were +waiting upon a Bond Street pavement. Both were weary, and both would +have liked to vary the monotony by a little conversation; but only a few +yards away the woman was standing whose curious taste had led her to +visit such a spot. + +Her arms were hanging listlessly by her side, her whole expression, +although her face was upturned towards the sky, was one of intense +dejection. Something about her attitude bespoke a keen and intimate +sympathy with the desolation of her surroundings. The woman was unhappy; +the light in her dark eyes was inimitably sad. Her cheeks were pale and +a little wan. Yet Lady Deringham was very handsome--as handsome as a +woman approaching middle age could hope to be. Her figure was still slim +and elegant, the streaks of grey in her raven black hair were few and +far between. She might have lived hand in hand with sorrow, but it had +done very little to age her. Only a few years ago, in the crowded +ball-room of a palace, a prince had declared her to be the handsomest +woman of her age, and the prince had the reputation of knowing. It was +easy to believe it. + +How long the woman might have lingered there it is hard to say, for +evidently the spot possessed a peculiar fascination for her, and she had +given herself up to a rare fit of abstraction. But some sound--was it +the low wailing of that seagull, or the more distant cry of a hawk, +motionless in mid-air and scarcely visible against the cloudy sky, which +caused her to turn her head inland? And then she saw that the solitude +was no longer unbroken. A dark object had rounded the sandy little +headland, and was coming steadily towards her. She looked at it with a +momentary interest, her skirt raised in her hand, already a few steps +back on her return to the waiting carriage. Was it a man? It was +something human, at any rate, although its progression was slow and +ungraceful, and marked with a peculiar but uniform action. She stood +perfectly still, a motionless figure against the background of wan, +cloud-shadowed sea and gathering twilight, her eyes riveted upon this +strange thing, her lips slightly parted, her cheeks as pale as death. +Gradually it came nearer and nearer. Her skirt dropped from her +nerveless fingers, her eyes, a moment before dull, with an infinite and +pitiful emptiness, were lit now with a new light. She was not alone, +nor was she unprotected, yet the woman was suffering from a spasm of +terror--one could scarcely imagine any sight revolting enough to call +up that expression of acute and trembling fear, which had suddenly +transformed her appearance. It was as though the level sands had yielded +up their dead--the shipwrecked mariners of generations, and they all, +with white, sad faces and wailing voices, were closing in around her. +Yet it was hard to account for a terror so abject. There was certainly +nothing in the figure, now close at hand, which seemed capable of +inspiring it. + +It was a man with a club foot--nothing more nor less. In fact it was +Mr. Sabin! There was nothing about his appearance, save that ungainly +movement caused by his deformity, in any way singular or threatening. He +came steadily nearer, and the woman who awaited him trembled. Perhaps +his expression was a trifle sardonic, owing chiefly to the extreme +pallor of his skin, and the black flannel clothes with invisible stripe, +which he had been wearing for golf. Yet when he lifted his soft felt hat +from his head and bowed with an ease and effect palpably acquired in +other countries, his appearance was far from unpleasant. He stood there +bare-headed in the twilight, a strangely winning smile upon his dark +face, and his head courteously bent. + +"The most delightful of unexpected meetings," he murmured. "I am afraid +that I have come upon you like an apparition, dear Lady Deringham! I +must have startled you! Yes, I can see by your face that I did; I am so +sorry. Doubtless you did not know until yesterday that I was in +England." + +Lady Deringham was slowly recovering herself. She was white still, even +to the lips, and there was a strange, sick pain at her heart. Yet she +answered him with something of her usual deliberateness, conscious +perhaps that her servants, although their heads were studiously averted, +had yet witnessed with surprise this unexpected meeting. + +"You certainly startled me," she said; "I had imagined that this was the +most desolate part of all unfrequented spots! It is here I come when I +want to feel absolutely alone. I did not dream of meeting another fellow +creature--least of all people in the world, perhaps, you!" + +"I," he answered, smiling gently, "was perhaps the better prepared. A +few minutes ago, from the cliffs yonder, I saw your carriage drawn up +here, and I saw you alight. I wanted to speak with you, so I lost no +time in scrambling down on to the sands. You have changed marvellously +little, Lady Deringham!" + +"And you," she said, "only in name. You are the Mr. Sabin with whom my +son was playing golf yesterday morning?" + +"I am Mr. Sabin," he answered. "Your son did me a good service a week or +two back. He is a very fine young fellow; I congratulate you." + +"And your niece," Lady Deringham asked; "who is she? My son spoke to me +of her last night." + +Mr. Sabin smiled faintly. + +"Ah! Madame," he said, "there have been so many people lately who have +been asking me that question, yet to you as to them I must return the +same answer. She is my niece!" + +"You call her?" + +"She shares my name at present." + +"Is she your daughter?" + +He shook his head sadly. + +"I have never been married," he said, with an indefinable mournfulness +in his flexible tones. "I have had neither wife, nor child, nor friend. +It is well for me that I have not!" + +She looked down at his deformity, and woman-like she shivered. + +"It is no better, then?" she murmured, with eyes turned seaward. + +"It is absolutely incurable," he declared. + +She changed the subject abruptly. + +"The last I heard of you," she said, "was that you were in China. You +were planning great things there. In ten years, I was told, Europe was +to be at your mercy!" + +"I left Pekin five years ago," he said. "China is a land of Cabals. She +may yet be the greatest country in the world. I, for one, believe in her +destiny, but it will be in the generations to come. I have no patience +to labour for another to reap the harvest. Then, too, a craving for just +one draught of civilisation brought me westward again. Mongolian habits +are interesting but a little trying." + +"And what," she asked, looking at him steadily, "has brought you to +Deringham, of all places upon this earth?" + +He smiled, and with his stick traced a quaint pattern in the sand. + +"I have never told you anything that was not the truth," he said; "I +will not begin now. I might have told you that I was here by chance, for +change of air, or for the golf. Neither of these things would have been +true. I am here because Deringham village is only a mile or two from +Deringham Hall." + +She drew a little closer to him. The jingling of harness, as her horses +tossed their heads impatiently, reminded her of the close proximity of +the servants. + +"What do you want of me?" she asked hoarsely. + +He looked at her in mild reproach, a good-humoured smile at the corner +of his lips; yet after all was it good humour or some curious outward +reflection of the working of his secret thoughts? When he spoke the +reproach, at any rate, was manifest. + +"Want of you! You talk as though I were a blackmailer, or something +equally obnoxious. Is that quite fair, Constance?" + +She evaded the reproach; perhaps she was not conscious of it. It was the +truth she wanted. + +"You had some end in coming here," she persisted. "What is it? I cannot +conceive anything in the world you have to gain by coming to see me. We +have left the world and society; we live buried. Whatever fresh schemes +you may be planning, there is no way in which we could help you. You are +richer, stronger, more powerful than we. I can think," she added, "of +only one thing which may have brought you." + +"And that?" he asked deliberately. + +She looked at him with a certain tremulous wistfulness in her eyes, and +with softening face. + +"It may be," she said, "that as you grow older you have grown kinder; +you may have thought of my great desire, and you were always generous, +Victor, you may have come to grant it!" + +The slightest possible change passed over his face as his Christian name +slipped from her lips. The firm lines about his mouth certainly relaxed, +his dark eyes gleamed for a moment with a kindlier light. Perhaps at +that minute for both of them came a sudden lifting of the curtain, a +lingering backward glance into the world of their youth, passionate, +beautiful, seductive. There were memories there which still seemed set +to music--memories which pierced even the armour of his equanimity. Her +eyes filled with tears as she looked at him. With a quick gesture she +laid her hand upon his. + +"Believe me, Victor," she said, "I have always thought of you kindly; +you have suffered terribly for my sake, and your silence was +magnificent. I have never forgotten it." + +His face clouded over, her impulsive words had been after all ill +chosen, she had touched a sore point! There was something in these +memories distasteful to him. They recalled the one time in his life +when he had been worsted by another man. His cynicism returned. + +"I am afraid," he said, "that the years, which have made so little +change in your appearance, have made you a sentimentalist. I can assure +you that these old memories seldom trouble me." + +Then with a lightning-like intuition, almost akin to inspiration, he +saw that he had made a mistake. His best hold upon the woman had been +through that mixture of sentiment and pity, which something in their +conversation had reawakened in her. He was destroying it ruthlessly and +of his own accord. What folly! + +"Bah! I am lying," he said softly; "why should I? Between you and me, +Constance, there should be nothing but truth. We at least should be +sincere one to the other. You are right, I have brought you something +which should have been yours long ago." + +She looked at him with wondering eyes. + +"You are going to give me the letters?" + +"I am going to give them to you," he said. "With the destruction of this +little packet falls away the last link which held us together." + +He had taken a little bundle of letters, tied with a faded ribbon, from +his pocket and held them out to her. Even in that salt-odorous air the +perfume of strange scents seemed to creep out from those closely written +sheets as they fluttered in the breeze. Lady Deringham clasped the +packet with both hands, and her eyes were very bright and very soft. + +"It is not so, Victor," she murmured. "There is a new and a stronger +link between us now, the link of my everlasting gratitude. Ah! you were +always generous, always quixotic! Someday I felt sure that you would do +this." + +"When I left Europe," he said, "you would have had them, but there was +no trusted messenger whom I could spare. Yet if I had never returned +they were so bestowed that they would have come into your hands with +perfect safety. Even now, Constance, will you think me very weak when I +say that I part with them with regret? They have been with me through +many dangers and many strange happenings." + +"You are," she whispered, "the old Victor again! Thank God that I have +had this one glimpse of you! I am ashamed to think how terrified I have +been." + +She held out her hand impulsively. He took it in his and, with a glance +at her servants, let it fall almost immediately. + +"Constance," he said, "I am going away now. I have accomplished what I +came for. But first, would you care to do me a small service? It is +only a trifle." + +A thrill of the old mistrustful fear shook her heart. Half ashamed of +herself she stifled it at once, and strove to answer him calmly. + +"If there is anything within my power which I can do for you, Victor," +she said, "it will make me very happy. You would not ask me, I know, +unless--unless----" + +"You need have no fear," he interrupted calmly; "it is a very little +thing. Do you think that Lord Deringham would know me again after so +many years?" + +"My husband?" + +"Yes!" + +She looked at him in something like amazement. Before she could ask the +question which was framing itself upon her lips, however, they were +both aware of a distant sound, rapidly drawing nearer--the thunder of +a horse's hoofs upon the soft sand. Looking up they both recognised the +rider at the same instant. + +"It is your son," Mr. Sabin said quickly; "you need not mind. Leave me +to explain. Tell me when I can find you at home alone?" + +"I am always alone," she answered. "But come to-morrow." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +MR. SABIN EXPLAINS + + +Mr. Sabin and his niece had finished their dinner, and were lingering a +little over an unusually luxurious dessert. Wolfenden had sent some +muscatel grapes and peaches from the forcing houses at Deringham +Hall--such peaches as Covent Garden could scarcely match, and certainly +not excel. Mr. Sabin looked across at Helène as they were placed upon +the table, with a significant smile. + +"An Englishman," he remarked, pouring himself out a glass of burgundy +and drawing the cigarettes towards him, "never knows when he is beaten. +As a national trait it is magnificent, in private life it is a little +awkward." + +Helène had been sitting through the meal, still and statuesque in her +black dinner gown, a little more pale than usual, and very silent. At +Mr. Sabin's remark she looked up quickly. + +"Are you alluding to Lord Wolfenden?" she asked. + +Mr. Sabin lit his cigarette, and nodded through the mist of blue smoke. + +"To no less a person," he answered, with a shade of mockery in his tone. +"I am beginning to find my guardianship no sinecure after all! Do you +know, it never occurred to me, when we concluded our little arrangement, +that I might have to exercise my authority against so ardent a suitor. +You would have found his lordship hard to get rid of this morning, I am +afraid, but for my opportune arrival." + +"By no means," she answered. "Lord Wolfenden is a gentleman, and he was +not more persistent than he had a right to be." + +"Perhaps," Mr. Sabin remarked, "you would have been better pleased if I +had not come?" + +"I am quite sure of it," she admitted; "but then it is so like you to +arrive just at a crisis! Do you know, I can't help fancying that there +is something theatrical about your comings and goings! You appear--and +one looks for a curtain and a tableau. Where could you have dropped from +this morning?" + +"From Cromer, in a donkey-cart," he answered smiling. "I got as far as +Peterborough last night, and came on here by the first train. There was +nothing very melodramatic about that, surely!" + +"It does not sound so, certainly. Your playing golf with Lord Wolfenden +afterwards was commonplace enough!" + +"I found Lord Wolfenden very interesting," Mr. Sabin said thoughtfully. +"He told me a good deal which was important for me to know. I am hoping +that to-night he will tell me more." + +"To-night! Is he coming here?" + +Mr. Sabin assented calmly. + +"Yes. I thought you would be surprised. But then you need not see him, +you know. I met him riding upon the sands this afternoon--at rather an +awkward moment, by the bye--and asked him to dine with us." + +"He refused, of course?" + +"Only the dinner; presumably he doubted our cook, for he asked to be +allowed to come down afterwards. He will be here soon." + +"Why did you ask him?" + +Mr. Sabin looked keenly across the table. There was something in the +girl's face which he scarcely understood. + +"Well, not altogether for the sake of his company, I must confess," he +replied. "He has been useful to me, and he is in the position to be a +great deal more so." + +The girl rose up. She came over and stood before him. Mr. Sabin knew at +once that something unusual was going to happen. + +"You want to make of him," she said, in a low, intense tone, "what you +make of every one--a tool! Understand that I will not have it!" + +"Helène!" + +The single word, and the glance which flashed from his eyes, was +expressive, but the girl did not falter. + +"Oh! I am weary of it," she cried, with a little passionate outburst. "I +am sick to death of it all! You will never succeed in what you are +planning. One might sooner expect a miracle. I shall go back to Vienna. +I am tired of masquerading. I have had more than enough of it." + +Mr. Sabin's expression did not alter one iota; he spoke as soothingly as +one would speak to a child. + +"I am afraid," he said quietly, "that it must be dull for you. Perhaps I +ought to have taken you more into my confidence; very well, I will do so +now. Listen: you say that I shall never succeed. On the contrary, I am +on the point of success; the waiting for both of us is nearly over." + +The prospect startled, but did not seem altogether to enrapture her. She +wanted to hear more. + +"I received this dispatch from London this morning," he said. "Baron +Knigenstein has left for Berlin to gain the Emperor's consent to an +agreement which we have already ratified. The affair is as good as +settled; it is a matter now of a few days only." + +"Germany!" she exclaimed, incredulously, "I thought it was to be +Russia." + +"So," he answered, "did I. I have to make a certain rather humiliating +confession. I, who have always considered myself keenly in touch with +the times, especially since my interest in European matters revived, +have remained wholly ignorant of one of the most extraordinary phases of +modern politics. In years to come history will show us that it was +inevitable, but I must confess that it has come upon me like a thunder +clap. I, like all the world, have looked upon Germany and England as +natural and inevitable allies. That is neither more nor less than a +colossal blunder! As a matter of fact, they are natural enemies!" + +She sank into a chair, and looked at him blankly. + +"But it is impossible," she cried. "There are all the ties of +relationship, and a common stock. They are sister countries." + +"Don't you know," he said, "that it is the like which irritates and +repels the like. It is this relationship which has been at the root of +the great jealousy, which seems to have spread all through Germany. I +need not go into all the causes of it with you now; sufficient it is to +say that all the recent successes of England have been at Germany's +expense. There has been a storm brewing for long; to-day, to-morrow, +in a week, surely within a month, it will break." + +"You may be right," she said; "but who of all the Frenchwomen I know +would care to reckon themselves the debtors of Germany?" + +"You will owe Germany nothing, for she will be paid and overpaid for +all she does. Russia has made terms with the Republic of France. +Politically, she has nothing to gain by a rupture; but with Germany it +is different. She and France are ready at this moment to fly at one +another's throats. The military popularity of such a war would be +immense. The cry to arms would ring from the Mediterranean to the +Rhine." + +"Oh! I hope that it may not be war," she said. "I had hoped always that +diplomacy, backed by a waiting army, would be sufficient. France at +heart is true, I know. But after all, it sounds like a fairy tale. You +are a wonderful man, but how can you hope to move nations? What can you +offer Germany to exact so tremendous a price?" + +"I can offer," Mr. Sabin said calmly, "what Germany desires more than +anything else in the world--the key to England. It has taken me six +years to perfect my schemes. As you know, I was in America part of the +time I was supposed to be in China. It was there, in the laboratory of +Allison, that I commenced the work. Step by step I have moved on--link +by link I have forged the chain. I may say, without falsehood or +exaggeration, that my work would be the work of another man's lifetime. +With me it has been a labour of love. Your part, my dear Helène, will be +a glorious one; think of it, and shake off your depression. This hole +and corner life is not for long--the time for which we have worked is at +hand." + +She did not look up, there was no answering fire of enthusiasm in her +dark eyes. The colour came into her cheeks and faded away. Mr. Sabin was +vaguely disturbed. + +"In what way," she said, without directly looking at him, "is Lord +Wolfenden likely to be useful to you?" + +Mr. Sabin did not reply for some time, in fact he did not reply at all. +This new phase in the situation was suddenly revealed to him. When he +spoke his tone was grave enough--grave with an undertone of contempt. + +"Is it possible, Helène," he said, "that you have allowed yourself to +think seriously of the love-making of this young man? I must confess +that such a thing in connection with you would never have occurred to me +in my wildest dreams!" + +"I am the mistress of my own affections," she said coldly. "I am not +pledged to you in any way. If I were to say that I intended to listen +seriously to Lord Wolfenden--even if I were to say that I intended to +marry him--well, there is no one who would dare to interfere! But, on +the other hand, I have refused him. That should be enough for you. I am +not going to discuss the matter at all; you would not understand it." + +"I must admit," Mr. Sabin said, "that I probably should not. Of love, as +you young people conceive it, I know nothing. But of that greater +affection--the passionate love of a man for his race and his kind and +his country--well, that has always seemed to me a thing worth living and +working and dying for! I had fancied, Helène, that some spark of that +same fire had warmed your blood, or you would not be here to-day." + +"I think," she answered more gently, "that it has. I too, believe me, +love my country and my people and my order. If I do not find these +all-engrossing, you must remember that I am a woman, and I am young; I +do not pretend to be capable only of impersonal and patriotic love." + +"Ay, you are a woman, and the blood of some of your ancestors will make +itself felt," he added, looking at her thoughtfully. "I ought to have +considered the influence of sex and heredity. By the bye, have you heard +from Henri lately?" + +She shook her head. + +"Not since he has been in France. We thought that whilst he was there it +would be better for him not to write." + +Mr. Sabin nodded. + +"Most discreet," he remarked satirically. "I wonder what Henri would say +if he knew?" + +The girl's lip curled a little. + +"If even," she said, "there was really something serious for him to +know, Henri would survive it. His is not the temperament for sorrow. For +twenty minutes he would be in a paroxysm. He would probably send out for +poison, which he would be careful not to take; and play with a pistol, +if he were sure that it was not loaded. By dinner time he would be calm, +the opera would soothe him still more, and by the time it was over he +would be quite ready to take Mademoiselle Somebody out to supper. With +the first glass of champagne his sorrow would be drowned for ever. If +any wound remained at all, it would be the wound to his vanity." + +"You have considered, then, the possibility of upsetting my schemes and +withdrawing your part?" Mr. Sabin said quietly. "You understand that +your marriage with Henri would be an absolute necessity--that without it +all would be chaos?" + +"I do not say that I have considered any such possibility," she +answered. "If I make up my mind to withdraw, I shall give you notice. +But I will admit that I like Lord Wolfenden, and I detest Henri! Ah! I +know of what you would remind me; you need not fear, I shall not forget! +It will not be to-day, nor to-morrow, that I shall decide." + +A servant entered the room and announced Lord Wolfenden. Mr. Sabin +looked up. + +"Where have you shown him?" he asked. + +"Into the library, sir," the girl answered. + +Mr. Sabin swore softly between his teeth, and sprang to his feet. + +"Excuse me, Helène," he exclaimed, "I will bring Lord Wolfenden into the +drawing-room. That girl is an idiot; she has shown him into the one room +in the house which I would not have had him enter for anything in the +world!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE WAY OF THE WOMAN + + +Wolfenden had been shown, as he supposed, into an empty room by the +servant of whom he had inquired for Mr. Sabin. But the door was scarcely +closed before a familiar sound from a distant corner warned him that he +was not alone. He stopped short and looked fixedly at the slight, +feminine figure whose white fingers were flashing over the keyboard of a +typewriter. There was something very familiar about the curve of her +neck and the waving of her brown hair; her back was to him, and she did +not turn round. + +"Do leave me some cigarettes," she said, without lifting her head. "This +is frightfully monotonous work. How much more of it is there for me to +do?" + +"I really don't know," Wolfenden answered hesitatingly. "Why, Blanche!" + +She swung round in her chair and gazed at him in blank amazement; she +was, at least, as much surprised as he was. + +"Lord Wolfenden!" she exclaimed; "why, what are you doing here?" + +"I might ask you," he said gravely, "the same question." + +She stood up. + +"You have not come to see me?" + +He shook his head. + +"I had not the least idea that you were here," he assured her. + +Her face hardened. + +"Of course not. I was an idiot to imagine that you would care enough to +come, even if you had known." + +"I do not know," he remarked, "why you should say that. On the +contrary----" + +She interrupted him. + +"Oh! I know what you are going to say. I ran away from Mrs. Selby's nice +rooms, and never thanked you for your kindness. I didn't even leave a +message for you, did I? Well, never mind; you know why, I daresay." + +Wolfenden thought that he did, but he evaded a direct answer. + +"What I cannot understand," he said, "is why you are here." + +"It is my new situation," she answered. "I was bound to look for one, +you know. There is nothing strange about it. I advertised for a +situation, and I got this one." + +He was silent. There were things in connection with this which he +scarcely understood. She watched him with a mocking smile parting her +lips. + +"It is a good deal harder to understand," she said, "why you are here. +This is the very last house in the world in which I should have thought +of seeing you." + +"Why?" he asked quickly. + +She shrugged her shoulders; her speech had been scarcely a discreet one. + +"I should not have imagined," she said, "that Mr. Sabin would have come +within the circle of your friends." + +"I do not know why he should not," Wolfenden said. "I consider him a +very interesting man." + +She smiled upon him. + +"Yes, he is interesting," she said; "only I should not have thought that +your tastes were at all identical." + +"You seem to know a good deal about him," Wolfenden remarked quietly. + +For a moment an odd light gleamed in her eyes; she was very pale. +Wolfenden moved towards her. + +"Blanche," he said, "has anything gone wrong with you? You don't look +well." + +She withdrew her hands from her face. + +"There is nothing wrong with me," she said. "Hush! he is coming." + +She swung round in her seat, and the quick clicking of the instrument +was resumed as her fingers flew over it. The door opened, and Mr. Sabin +entered. He leaned on his stick, standing on the threshold, and glanced +keenly at both of them. + +"My dear Lord Wolfenden," he said apologetically, "this is the worst of +having country servants. Fancy showing you in here. Come and join us in +the other room; we are just going to have our coffee." + +Wolfenden followed him with alacrity; they crossed the little hall and +entered the dining-room. Helène was still sitting there sipping her +coffee in an easy chair. She welcomed him with outstretched hand and a +brilliantly soft smile. Mr. Sabin, who was watching her closely, +appreciated, perhaps for the first time, her rare womanly beauty, apart +from its distinctly patrician qualities. There was a change, and he was +not the man to be blind to it or to under-rate its significance. He felt +that on the eve of victory he had another and an unexpected battle to +fight; yet he held himself like a brave man and one used to reverses, +for he showed no signs of dismay. + +"I want you to try a glass of this claret, Lord Wolfenden," he said, +"before you begin your coffee. I know that you are a judge, and I am +rather proud of it. You are not going away, Helène?" + +"I had no idea of going," she laughed. "This is really the only +habitable room in the house, and I am not going to let Lord Wolfenden +send me to shiver in what we call the drawing-room." + +"I should be very sorry if you thought of such a thing," Wolfenden +answered. + +"If you will excuse me for a moment," Mr. Sabin said, "I will unpack +some cigarettes. Helène, will you see that Lord Wolfenden has which +liqueur he prefers?" + +He limped away, and Helène watched him leave the room with some +surprise. These were tactics which she did not understand. Was he +already making up his mind that the game could be played without her? +She was puzzled--a little uneasy. + +She turned to find Wolfenden's admiring eyes fixed upon her; she looked +at him with a smile, half-sad, half-humorous. + +"Let me remember," she said, "I am to see that you have--what was it? +Oh! liqueurs. We haven't much choice; you will find Kummel and +Chartreuse on the sideboard, and Benedictine, which my uncle hates, by +the bye, at your elbow." + +"No liqueurs, thanks," he said. "I wonder, did you expect me to-night? I +don't think that I ought to have come, ought I?" + +"Well, you certainly show," she answered with a smile, "a remarkable +disregard for all precedents and conventions. You ought to be already on +your way to foreign parts with your guns and servants. It is Englishmen, +is it not, who go always to the Rocky Mountains to shoot bears when +their love affairs go wrong?" + +He was watching her closely, and he saw that she was less at her ease +than she would have had him believe. He saw, too, or fancied that he +saw, a softening in her face, a kindliness gleaming out of her lustrous +eyes which suggested new things to him. + +"The Rocky Mountains," he said slowly, "mean despair. A man does not go +so far whilst he has hope." + +She did not answer him; he gathered courage from her silence. + +"Perhaps," he said, "I might now have been on my way there but for a +somewhat sanguine disposition--a very strong determination, and," he +added more softly, "a very intense love." + +"It takes," she remarked, "a very great deal to discourage an +Englishman." + +"Speaking for myself," he answered, "I defy discouragement; I am proof +against it. I love you so dearly, Helène, that I simply decline to give +you up; I warn you that I am not a lover to be shaken off." + +His voice was very tender; his words sounded to her simple but strong. +He was so sure of himself and his love. Truly, she thought, for an +Englishman this was no indifferent wooer; his confidence thrilled her; +she felt her heart beat quickly under its sheath of drooping black lace +and roses. + +"I am giving you," she said quietly, "no hope. Remember that; but I do +not want you to go away." + +The hope which her tongue so steadfastly refused to speak he gathered +from her eyes, her face, from that indefinable softening which seems to +pervade at the moment of yielding a woman's very personality. He was +wonderfully happy, although he had the wit to keep it to himself. + +"You need not fear," he whispered, "I shall not go away." + +Outside they heard the sound of Mr. Sabin's stick. She leaned over +towards him. + +"I want you," she said, "to--kiss me." + +His heart gave a great leap, but he controlled himself. Intuitively he +knew how much was permitted to him; he seemed to have even some faint +perception of the cause for her strange request. He bent over and took +her face for a moment between his hands; her lips touched his--she had +kissed him! + +He stood away from her, breathless with the excitement of the moment. +The perfume of her hair, the soft touch of her lips, the gentle movement +with which she had thrust him away, these things were like the drinking +of strong wine to him. Her own cheeks were scarlet; outside the sound of +Mr. Sabin's stick grew more and more distinct; she smoothed her hair and +laughed softly up at him. + +"At least," she murmured, "there is that to remember always." + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +A HANDFUL OF ASHES + + +The Countess of Deringham was sitting alone in her smaller drawing-room, +gazing steadfastly at a certain spot in the blazing fire before her. A +little pile of grey ashes was all that remained of the sealed packet +which she had placed within the bars only a few seconds ago. She watched +it slowly grow shapeless--piece after piece went fluttering up the broad +chimney. A gentle yet melancholy smile was parting her lips. A chapter +of her life was floating away there with the little trembling strips +lighter than the air, already hopelessly destroyed. Their disintegration +brought with it a sense of freedom which she had lacked for many years. +Yet it was only the folly of a girl, the story of a little foolish +love-making, which those grey, ashen fragments, clinging so tenaciously +to the iron bars, could have unfolded. Lady Deringham was not a woman +who had ever for a single moment had cause to reproach herself with any +real lack of duty to the brave young Englishman whom she had married so +many years ago. It was of those days she was thinking as she sat there +waiting for the caller, whose generosity had set her free. + +At precisely four o'clock there was the sound of wheels in the drive, +the slow movement of feet in the hall, and a servant announced a +visitor. + +"Mr. Sabin." + +Lady Deringham smiled and greeted him graciously. Mr. Sabin leaned upon +his wonderful stick for a moment, and then bent low over Lady +Deringham's hand. She pointed to an easy chair close to her own, and he +sank into it with some appearance of weariness. He was looking a little +old and tired, and he carried himself without any of his usual buoyancy. + +"Only a few minutes ago," she said, "I burnt my letters. I was thinking +of those days in Paris when the man announced you! How old it makes one +feel." + +He looked at her critically. + +"I am beginning to arrive at the conclusion," he said, "that the poets +and the novelists are wrong. It is the man who suffers! Look at my grey +hairs!" + +"It is only the art of my maid," she said smiling, "which conceals mine. +Do not let us talk of the past at all; to think that we lived so long +ago is positively appalling!" + +He shook his head gently. + +"Not so appalling," he answered, "as the thought of how long we still +have to live! One regrets one's youth as a matter of course, but the +prospect of old age is more terrible still! Lucky those men and those +women who live and then die. It is that interregnum--the level, +monotonous plain of advancing old age, when one takes the waters at +Carlsbad and looks askance at the _entrées_--that is what one has to +dread. To watch our own degeneration, the dropping away of our energies, +the decline of our taste--why, the tortures of the Inquisition were +trifles to it!" + +She shuddered a little. + +"You paint old age in dreary colours," she said. + +"I paint it as it must seem to men who have kept the kernel of life +between their teeth," he answered carelessly. "To the others--well, one +cares little about them. Most men are like cows, they are contented so +long as they are fed. To that class I daresay old age may seem something +of a rest. But neither you nor I are akin to them." + +"You talk as you always talked," she said. "Mr. Sabin is very like----" + +He stopped her. + +"Mr. Sabin, if you please," he exclaimed. "I am particularly anxious to +preserve my incognito just now. Ever since we met yesterday I have been +regretting that I did not mention it to you--I do not wish it to be +known that I am in England." + +"Mr. Sabin it shall be, then," she answered; "only if I were you I would +have chosen a more musical name." + +"I wonder--have you by chance spoken of me to your son?" he asked. + +"It is only by chance that I have not," she admitted. "I have scarcely +seen him alone to-day, and he was out last evening. Do you wish to +remain Mr. Sabin to him also?" + +"To him particularly," Mr. Sabin declared; "young men are seldom +discreet." + +Lady Deringham smiled. + +"Wolfenden is not a gossip," she remarked; "in fact I believe he is +generally considered too reserved." + +"For the present, nevertheless," he said, "let me remain Mr. Sabin to +him also. I do not ask you this without a purpose." + +Lady Deringham bowed her head. This man had a right to ask her more than +such slight favours. + +"You are still," she said, "a man of mystery and incognitos. You are +still, I suppose, a plotter of great schemes. In the old days you used +to terrify me almost; are you still as daring?" + +"Alas! no," he answered. "Time is rapidly drawing me towards the great +borderland, and when my foot is once planted there I shall carry out my +theories and make my bow to the world with the best grace a man may +whose life has been one long chorus of disappointments. No! I have +retired from the great stage; mine is now only a passive occupation. One +returns always, you know, and in a mild way I have returned to the +literary ambitions of my youth. It is in connection, by the bye, with +this that I arrive at the favour which you so kindly promised to grant +me." + +"If you knew, Victor," she said, "how grateful I feel towards you, you +would not hesitate to ask me anything within my power to grant." + +Mr. Sabin toyed with his stick and gazed steadfastly into the fire. He +was pensive for several minutes; then, with the air of a man who +suddenly detaches himself from a not unpleasant train of thought, he +looked up with a smile. + +"I am not going to tax you very severely," he said. "I am writing a +critical paper on the armaments of the world for a European review. I +had letters of introduction to Mr. C., and he gave me a great deal of +valuable information. There were one or two points, however, on which he +was scarcely clear, and in the course of conversation he mentioned your +husband's name as being the greatest living authority upon those points. +He offered to give me a letter to him, but I thought it would perhaps +scarcely be wise. I fancied, too, you might be inclined, for reasons +which we need not enlarge upon, to help me." + +For a simple request Lady Deringham's manner of receiving it was +certainly strange; she was suddenly white almost to the lips. A look of +positive fear was in her eyes. The frank cordiality, the absolute +kindliness with which she had welcomed her visitor was gone. She looked +at him with new eyes; the old mistrust was born again. Once more he was +the man to be feared and dreaded above all other men; yet she would not +give way altogether. He was watching her narrowly, and she made a brave +effort to regain her composure. + +"But do you not know," she said hesitatingly, "that my husband is a +great invalid? It is a very painful subject for all of us, but we fear +that his mind is not what it used to be. He has never been the same man +since that awful night in the Solent. His work is more of a hobby with +him; it would not be at all reliable for reference." + +"Not all of it, certainly," he assented. "Mr. C. explained that to me. +What I want is an opportunity to discriminate. Some would be very useful +to me--the majority, of course, worse than useless. The particular +information which I want concerns the structural defects in some of the +new battleships. It would save an immense amount of time to get this +succinctly." + +She looked away from him, still agitated. + +"There are difficulties," she murmured; "serious ones. My husband has an +extraordinary idea as to the value of his own researches, and he is +always haunted by a fear lest some one should break in and steal his +papers. He would not suffer me to glance at them; and the room is too +closely guarded for me to take you there without his knowledge. He is +never away himself, and one of the keepers is stationed outside." + +"The wit of a woman," Mr. Sabin said softly, "is all-conquering." + +"Providing always," Lady Deringham said, "that the woman is willing. I +do not understand what it all means. Do you know this? Perhaps you do. +There have been efforts made by strangers to break into my husband's +room. Only a few days ago a stranger came here with a forged letter of +introduction, and obtained access to the Admiral's library. He did not +come to steal. He came to study my husband's work; he came, in fact, for +the very purpose which you avow. Only yesterday my son began to take the +same interest in the same thing. The whole of this morning he spent with +his father, under the pretence of helping him; really he was studying +and examining for himself. He has not told me what it is, but he has a +reason for this; he, too, has some suspicions. Now you come, and your +mission is the same. What does it all mean? I will write to Mr. C. +myself; he will come down and advise me." + +"I would not do that if I were you," Mr. Sabin said quietly. "Mr. C. +would not thank you to be dragged down here on such an idle errand." + +"Ay, but would it be an idle errand?" she said slowly. "Victor, be frank +with me. I should hate to refuse anything you asked me. Tell me what it +means. Is my husband's work of any real value, and if so to whom, and +for what purpose?" + +Mr. Sabin was gently distressed. + +"My dear Lady Deringham," he said, "I have told you the exact truth. I +want to get some statistics for my paper. Mr. C. himself recommended me +to try and get them from your husband; that is absolutely all. As for +this attempted robbery of which you were telling me, believe me when I +assure you that I know nothing whatever about it. Your son's interest +is, after all, only natural. The study of the papers on which your +husband has been engaged is the only reasonable test of his sanity. +Frankly, I cannot believe that any one in Lord Deringham's mental state +could produce any work likely to be of the slightest permanent value." + +The Countess sighed. + +"I suppose that I must believe you, Victor," she said; "yet, +notwithstanding all that you say, I do not know how to help you--my +husband scarcely ever leaves the room. He works there with a revolver by +his side. If he were to find a stranger near his work I believe that he +would shoot him without hesitation." + +"At night time----" + +"At night time he usually sleeps there in an ante-room, and outside +there is a man always watching." + +Mr. Sabin looked thoughtful. + +"It is only necessary," he said, "for me to be in the room for about ten +minutes, and I do not need to carry anything away; my memory will serve +me for all that I require. By some means or other I must have that ten +minutes." + +"You will risk your life," Lady Deringham said, "for I cannot suggest +any plan; I would help you if I could, but I am powerless." + +"I must have that ten minutes," Mr. Sabin said slowly. + +"Must!" Lady Deringham raised her eyebrows. There was a subtle change in +the tone of the man, a note of authority, perhaps even the shadow of a +threat; he noted the effect and followed it up. + +"I mean what I say, Constance," he declared. "I am not asking you a +great thing; you have your full share of woman's wit, and you can +arrange this if you like." + +"But, Victor, be reasonable," she protested; "suggest a way yourself if +you think it so easy. I tell you that he never leaves the room!" + +"He must be made to leave it." + +"By force?" + +"If necessary," Mr. Sabin answered coolly. + +Lady Deringham raised her hand to her forehead and sat thinking. The +man's growing earnestness bewildered her. What was to be done--what +could she say? After all he was not changed; the old fear of him was +creeping through her veins, yet she made her effort. + +"You want those papers for something more than a magazine article!" she +declared. "There is something behind all this! Victor, I cannot help +you; I am powerless. I will take no part in anything which I cannot +understand." + +He stood up, leaning a little upon his stick, the dull, green stone of +which flashed brightly in the firelight. + +"You will help me," he said slowly. "You will let me into that room at +night, and you will see that your husband is not there, or that he does +not interfere. And as to that magazine article, you are right! What if +it were a lie! I do not fly at small game. Now do you understand?" + +She rose to her feet and drew herself up before him proudly. She towered +above him, handsome, dignified, angry. + +"Victor," she said firmly, "I refuse; you can go away at once! I will +have no more to say or to do with you! You have given me up my letters, +it is true, yet for that you have no special claim upon my gratitude. A +man of honour would have destroyed them long ago." + +He looked up at her, and the ghost of an unholy smile flickered upon his +lips. + +"Did I tell you that I had given them all back to you?" he said. "Ah! +that was a mistake; all save one, I should have said! One I kept, in +case---- Well, your sex are proverbially ungrateful, you know. It is the +one on the yellow paper written from Mentone! You remember it? I always +liked it better than any of the others." + +Her white hands flashed out in the firelight. It seemed almost as though +she must have struck him. He had lied to her! She was not really free; +he was still the master and she his slave! She stood as though turned to +stone. + +"I think," he said, "that you will listen now to a little plan which has +just occurred to me, will you not?" + +She looked away from him with a shudder. + +"What is it?" she asked hoarsely. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +MR. BLATHERWICK AS ST. ANTHONY + + +"I am afraid," Harcutt said, "that either the letter was a hoax, or the +writer has thought better of the matter. It is half an hour past the +time, and poor Mr. Blatherwick is still alone." + +Wolfenden glanced towards the distant table where his father's secretary +was already finishing his modest meal. + +"Poor old Blatherwick!" he remarked; "I know he's awfully relieved. He's +too nervous for this sort of thing; I believe he would have lost his +head altogether if his mysterious correspondent had turned up." + +"I suppose," Harcutt said, "that we may take it for granted that he is +not in the room." + +"Every soul here," Wolfenden answered, "is known to me either personally +or by sight. The man with the dark moustache sitting by himself is a +London solicitor who built himself a bungalow here four years ago, and +comes down every other week for golf. The two men in the corner are land +speculators from Norwich; and their neighbour is Captain Stoneham, who +rides over from the barracks twice a week, also for golf." + +"It is rather a sell for us," Harcutt remarked. "On the whole I am not +sorry that I have to go back to town to-night. Great Scott! what a +pretty girl!" + +"Lean back, you idiot!" Wolfenden exclaimed softly; "don't move if you +can help it!" + +Harcutt grasped the situation and obeyed at once. The portion of the +dining-room in which they were sitting was little more than a recess, +divided off from the main apartment by heavy curtains and seldom used +except in the summer when visitors were plentiful. Mr. Blatherwick's +table was really within a few feet of theirs, but they themselves were +hidden from it by a corner of the folding doors. They had chosen the +position with care and apparently with success. + +The girl who had entered the room stood for a moment looking round as +though about to select a table. Harcutt's exclamation was not without +justification, for she was certainly pretty. She was neatly dressed in a +grey walking suit, and a velvet Tam-o-shanter hat with a smart feather. +Suddenly she saw Mr. Blatherwick and advanced towards him with +outstretched hand and a charming smile. + +"Why, my dear Mr. Blatherwick, what on earth are you doing here?" she +exclaimed. "Have you left Lord Deringham?" + +Mr. Blatherwick rose to his feet confused, and blushing to his +spectacles; he greeted the young lady, however, with evident pleasure. + +"No; that is, not yet," he answered; "I am leaving this week. I did not +know--I had no idea that you were in the vicinity! I am very pleased to +see you." + +She looked at the empty place at his table. + +"I was going to have some luncheon," she said; "I have walked so much +further than I intended and I am ravenously hungry. May I sit at your +table?" + +"With much pleasure," Mr. Blatherwick assented. "I was expecting +a--a--friend, but he is evidently not coming." + +"I will take his place then, if I may," she said, seating herself in the +chair which the waiter was holding for her, and raising her veil. "Will +you order something for me? I am too hungry to mind what it is." + +Mr. Blatherwick gave a hesitating order, and the waiter departed. Miss +Merton drew off her gloves and was perfectly at her ease. + +"Now do tell me about the friend whom you were going to meet," she said, +smiling gaily at him, "I hope--you really must not tell me, Mr. +Blatherwick, that it was a lady!" + +Mr. Blatherwick coloured to the roots of his hair at the mere +suggestion, and hastened to disclaim it. + +"My--my dear Miss Merton!" he exclaimed, "I can assure you that it was +not! I--I should not think of such a thing." + +She nodded, and began to break up her roll and eat it. + +"I am very glad to hear it, Mr. Blatherwick," she said; "I warn you that +I was prepared to be very jealous. You used to tell me, you know, that I +was the only girl with whom you cared to talk." + +"It is--quite true, quite true, Miss Merton," he answered eagerly, +dropping his voice a little and glancing uneasily over his shoulder. +"I--I have missed you very much indeed; it has been very dull." + +Mr. Blatherwick sighed; he was rewarded by a very kind glance from a +pair of very blue eyes. He fingered the wine list, and began to wonder +whether she would care for champagne. + +"Now tell me," she said, "all the news. How are they all at Deringham +Hall--the dear old Admiral and the Countess, and that remarkably silly +young man, Lord Wolfenden?" + +Wolfenden received a kick under the table, and Harcutt's face positively +beamed with delight. Mr. Blatherwick, however, had almost forgotten +their proximity. He had made up his mind to order champagne. + +"The Ad--Ad--Admiral is well in health, but worse mentally," he +answered. "I am leaving for that very reason. I do not conceive that in +fairness to myself I should continue to waste my time in work which can +bring forth no fruit. I trust, Miss Merton, that you agree with me." + +"Perfectly," she answered gravely. + +"The Countess," he continued, "is well, but much worried. There have +been strange hap--hap--happenings at the Hall since you left. Lord +Wolfenden is there. By the bye, Miss Merton," he added, dropping his +voice, "I do not--not--think that you used to consider Lord Wolfenden so +very silly when you were at Deringham." + +"It was very dull sometimes--when you were busy, Mr. Blatherwick," she +answered, beginning her lunch. "I will confess to you that I did try to +amuse myself a little with Lord Wolfenden. But he was altogether too +rustic--too stupid! I like a man with brains!" + +Harcutt produced a handkerchief and stuffed it to his mouth; his face +was slowly becoming purple with suppressed laughter. Mr. Blatherwick +ordered the champagne. + +"I--I was very jealous of him," he admitted almost in a whisper. + +The blue eyes were raised again very eloquently to his. + +"You had no cause," she said gently; "and Mr. Blatherwick, haven't you +forgotten something?" + +Mr. Blatherwick had sipped his glass of champagne, and answered without +a stutter. + +"I have not," he said, "forgotten you!" + +"You used to call me by my Christian name!" + +"I should be delighted to call you Miss--Blanche for ever," he said +boldly. "May I?" + +She laughed softly. + +"Well, I don't quite know about that," she said; "you may for this +morning, at least. It is so pleasant to see you again. How is the work +getting on?" + +He groaned. + +"Don't ask me, please; it is awful! I am truly glad that I am +leaving--for many reasons!" + +"Have you finished copying those awful details of the defective armour +plates?" she asked, suddenly dropping her voice so that it barely +reached the other side of the table. + +"Only last night," he answered; "it was very hard work, and so +ridiculous! It went into the box with the rest of the finished work this +morning." + +"Did the Admiral engage a new typewriter?" she inquired. + +He shook his head. + +"No; he says that he has nearly finished." + +"I am so glad," she said. "You have had no temptation to flirt then with +anybody else, have you?" + +"To flirt--with anybody else! Oh! Miss--I mean Blanche. Do you think +that I could do that?" + +His little round face shone with sincerity and the heat of the +unaccustomed wine. His eyes were watering a little, and his spectacles +were dull. The girl looked at him in amusement. + +"I am afraid," she said, with a sigh, "that you used to flirt with me." + +"I can assure you, B--B--Blanche," he declared earnestly, "that I never +said a word to you which I--I did not hon--hon--honestly mean. Blanche, +I should like to ask you something." + +"Not now," she interrupted hastily. "Do you know, I fancy that we must +be getting too confidential. That odious man with the eyeglass keeps +staring at us. Tell me what you are going to do when you leave here. You +can ask me--what you were going to, afterwards." + +Mr. Blatherwick grew eloquent and Blanche was sympathetic. It was quite +half an hour before they rose and prepared to depart. + +"I know you won't mind," Blanche said to him confidentially, "if I ask +you to leave the hotel first; the people I am with are a little +particular, and it would scarcely do, you see, for us to go out +together." + +"Certainly," he replied. "Would you l--like me to leave you here--would +it be better?" + +"You might walk to the door with me, please," she said. "I am afraid you +must be very disappointed that your friend did not come. Are you not?" + +Mr. Blatherwick's reply was almost incoherent in its excess of +protestation. They walked down the room together. Harcutt and Wolfenden +look at one another. + +"Well," the former exclaimed, drinking up his liqueur, "it is a sell!" + +"Yes," Wolfenden agreed thoughtfully, with his eyes fixed upon the two +departing figures, "it is a sell!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +BY CHANCE OR DESIGN + + +Wolfenden sent his phaeton to the station with Harcutt, who had been +summoned back to town upon important business. Afterwards he slipped +back to the hall to wait for its return, and came face to face with Mr. +Blatherwick, who was starting homewards. + +"I was looking for you," Wolfenden said; "your luncheon party turned out +a little differently to anything we had expected." + +"I am happy," Mr. Blatherwick said, "to be able to believe that the +letter was after all a hoax. There was no one in the room, as you would +doubtless observe, likely to be in any way concerned in the matter." + +Wolfenden knocked the ash off his cigarette without replying. + +"You seem," he remarked, "to be on fairly intimate terms with Miss +Merton." + +"We were fellow workers for several months," Mr. Blatherwick reminded +him; "naturally, we saw a good deal of one another." + +"She is," Wolfenden continued, "a very charming girl." + +"I consider her, in every way," Mr. Blatherwick said with enthusiasm, "a +most delightful young lady. I--I am very much attached to her." + +Wolfenden laid his hand on the secretary's shoulder. + +"Blatherwick," he said, "you're a good fellow, and I like you. Don't be +offended at what I am going to say. You must not trust Miss Merton; she +is not quite what she appears to you." + +Mr. Blatherwick took a step backward, and flushed red with anger. + +"I do not understand you, Lord Wolfenden," he said. "What do you know of +Miss Merton?" + +"Not very much," Wolfenden said quietly; "quite enough, though, to +justify me in warning you seriously against her. She is a very clever +young person, but I am afraid a very unscrupulous one." + +Mr. Blatherwick was grave, almost dignified. + +"Lord Wolfenden," he said, "you are the son of my employer, but I take +the liberty of telling you that you are a l--l----" + +"Steady, Blatherwick," Wolfenden interrupted; "you must not call me +names." + +"You are not speaking the truth," Mr. Blatherwick continued, curbing +himself with an effort. "I will not listen to, or--or permit in my +presence any aspersion against that young lady!" + +Wolfenden shook his head gently. + +"Mr. Blatherwick," he said, "don't be a fool! You ought to know that I +am not the sort of man to make evil remarks about a lady behind her +back, unless I knew what I was talking about. I cannot at this moment +prove it, but I am morally convinced that Miss Merton came here to-day +at the instigation of the person who wrote to you, and that she only +refrained from making you some offer because she knew quite well that we +were within hearing." + +"I will not listen to another word, Lord Wolfenden," Mr. Blatherwick +declared vigorously. "If you are honest, you are cruelly misjudging that +young lady; if not you must know yourself the proper epithet to be +applied to the person who defames an innocent girl behind her back! I +wish you good afternoon, sir. I shall leave Deringham Hall to-morrow." + +He strode away, and Wolfenden watched him with a faint, regretful smile +upon his lips. Then he turned round suddenly; a little trill of soft +musical laughter came floating out from a recess in the darkest corner +of the hall. Miss Merton was leaning back amongst the cushions of a +lounge, her eyes gleaming with amusement. She beckoned Wolfenden to her. + +"Quite melodramatic, wasn't it?" she exclaimed, moving her skirts for +him to sit by her side. "Dear little man! Do you know he wants to marry +me?" + +"What a clever girl you are," Wolfenden remarked; "really you'd make an +admirable wife for him." + +She pouted a little. + +"Thank you very much," she said. "I am not contemplating making any one +an admirable wife; matrimony does not attract me at all." + +"I don't know what pleasure you can find in making a fool of a decent +little chap like that," he said; "it's too bad of you, Blanche." + +"One must amuse oneself, and he is so odd and so very much in earnest." + +"Of course," Wolfenden continued, "I know that you had another object." + +"Had I?" + +"You came here to try and tempt the poor little fellow with a thousand +pounds!" + +"I have never," she interposed calmly, "possessed a thousand shillings +in my life." + +"Not on your own account, of course: you came on behalf of your +employer, Mr. Sabin, or some one behind him! What is this devilry, +Blanche?" + +She looked at him out of wide-open eyes, but she made no answer. + +"So far as I can see," he remarked, "I must confess that foolery seems a +better term. I cannot imagine anything in my father's work worth the +concoction of any elaborate scheme to steal. But never mind that; there +is a scheme, and you are in it. Now I will make a proposition to you. It +is a matter of money, I suppose; will you name your terms to come over +to my side?" + +A look crept into her eyes which puzzled him. + +"Over to your side," she repeated thoughtfully. "Do you mind telling me +exactly what you mean by that?" + +As though by accident the delicate white hand from which she had just +withdrawn her glove touched his, and remained there as though inviting +his clasp. She looked quickly up at him and drooped her eyes. Wolfenden +took her hand, patted it kindly, and replaced it in her lap. + +"Look here, Blanche," he said, "I won't affect to misunderstand you; but +haven't you learnt by this time that adventures are not in my way?--less +now than at any time perhaps." + +She was watching his face and read its expression with lightning-like +truth. + +"Bah!" she said, "there is no man who would be so brutal as you +unless----" + +"Unless what?" + +"He were in love with another girl!" + +"Perhaps I am, Blanche!" + +"I know that you are." + +He looked at her quickly. + +"But you do not know with whom?" + +She had not guessed, but she knew now. + +"I think so," she said; "it is with the beautiful niece of Mr. Sabin! +You have admirable taste." + +"Never mind about that," he said; "let us come to my offer. I will give +you a hundred a year for life, settle it upon you, if you will tell me +everything." + +"A hundred a year," she repeated. "Is that much money?" + +"Well, it will cost more than two thousand pound," he said; "still, I +would like you to have it, and you shall if you will be quite frank with +me." + +She hesitated. + +"I should like," she said, "to think it over till to-morrow morning; it +will be better, for supposing I decide to accept, I shall know a good +deal more of this than I know now." + +"Very well," he said, "only I should strongly advise you to accept." + +"One hundred a year," she repeated thoughtfully. "Perhaps you will have +changed your mind by to-morrow." + +"There is no fear of it," he assured her quietly. + +"Write it down," she said. "I think that I shall agree." + +"Don't you trust me, Blanche?" + +"It is a business transaction," she said coolly; "you have made it one +yourself." + +He tore a sheet from his pocket-book and scribbled a few lines upon it. + +"Will that do?" he asked her. + +She read it through and folded it carefully up. + +"It will do very nicely," she said with a quiet smile. "And now I must +go back as quickly as I can." + +They walked to the hall door; Lord Wolfenden's carriage had come back +from the station and was waiting for him. + +"How are you going?" he asked. + +She shook her head. + +"I must hire something, I suppose," she said. "What beautiful horses! Do +you see, Hector remembers me quite well; I used to take bread to him in +the stable when I was at Deringham Hall. Good old man!" + +She patted the horse's neck. Wolfenden did not like it, but he had no +alternative. + +"Won't you allow me to give you a lift?" he said, with a marked absence +of cordiality in his tone; "or if you would prefer it, I can easily +order a carriage from the hotel." + +"Oh! I would much rather go with you, if you really don't mind," she +said. "May I really?" + +"I shall be very pleased," he answered untruthfully. "I ought perhaps to +tell you that the horses are very fresh and don't go well together: they +have a nasty habit of running away down hill." + +She smiled cheerfully, and lifting her skirts placed a dainty little +foot upon the step. + +"I detest quiet horses," she said, "and I have been used to being run +away with all my life. I rather like it." + +Wolfenden resigned himself to the inevitable. He took the reins, and +they rattled off towards Deringham. About half-way there, they saw a +little black figure away on the cliff path to the right. + +"It is Mr. Blatherwick," Wolfenden said, pointing with his whip. "Poor +little chap! I wish you'd leave him alone, Blanche!" + +"On one condition," she said, smiling up at him, "I will!" + +"It is granted already," he declared. + +"That you let me drive for just a mile!" + +He handed her the reins at once, and changed seats. From the moment she +took them, he could see that she was an accomplished whip. He leaned +back and lit a cigarette. + +"Blatherwick's salvation," he remarked, "has been easily purchased." + +She smiled rather curiously, but did not reply. A hired carriage was +coming towards them, and her eyes were fixed upon it. In a moment they +swept past, and Wolfenden was conscious of a most unpleasant sensation. +It was Helène, whose dark eyes were glancing from the girl to him in +cold surprise; and Mr. Sabin, who was leaning back by her side wrapped +in a huge fur coat. Blanche looked down at him innocently. + +"Fancy meeting them," she remarked, touching Hector with the whip. "It +does not matter, does it? You look dreadfully cross!" + +Wolfenden muttered some indefinite reply and threw his cigarette +savagely into the road. After all he was not so sure that Mr. +Blatherwick's salvation had been cheaply won! + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +A MIDNIGHT VISITOR + + +"Wolf! Wolf!" + +Wolfenden, to whom sleep before the early morning hours was a thing +absolutely impossible, was lounging in his easy chair meditating on the +events of the day over a final cigarette. He had come to his room at +midnight in rather a dejected frame of mind; the day's happenings had +scarcely gone in his favour. Helène had looked upon him coldly--almost +with suspicion. In the morning he would be able to explain everything, +but in the meantime Blanche was upon the spot, and he had an uneasy +feeling that the girl was his enemy. He had begun to doubt whether that +drive, so natural a thing, as it really happened, was not carefully +planned on her part, with a full knowledge of the fact that they would +meet Mr. Sabin and his niece. It was all the more irritating because +during the last few days he had been gradually growing into the belief +that so far as his suit with Helène was concerned, the girl herself was +not altogether indifferent to him. She had refused him definitely +enough, so far as mere words went, but there were lights in her soft, +dark eyes, and something indefinable, but apparent in her manner, which +had forbidden him to abandon all hope. Yet it was hard to believe that +she was in any way subject to the will of her guardian, Mr. Sabin. In +small things she took no pains to study him; she was evidently not in +the least under his dominion. On the contrary, there was in his manner +towards her a certain deference, as though it were she whose will was +the ruling one between them. As a matter of fact, her appearance and +whole bearing seemed to indicate one accustomed to command. Her family +or connections she had never spoken of to him, yet he had not the +slightest doubt but that she was of gentle birth. Even if it should turn +out that this was not the case, Wolfenden was democratic enough to think +that it made no difference. She was good enough to be his wife. Her +appearance and manners were almost typically aristocratic--whatever +there might be in her present surroundings or in her past which savoured +of mystery, he would at least have staked his soul upon her honesty. He +realised very fully, as he sat there smoking in the early hours of the +morning, that this was no passing fancy of his; she was his first +love--for good or for evil she would be his last. Failure, he said to +himself, was a word which he would not admit in his vocabulary. She was +moving towards him already, some day she should be his! Through the +mists of blue tobacco smoke which hovered around him he seemed, with +a very slight and very pleasant effort of his imagination, to see +some faint visions of her in that more softening mood, the vaguest +recollection of which set his heart beating fast and sent the blood +moving through his veins to music. How delicately handsome she was, how +exquisite the lines of her girlish, yet graceful and queenly figure. +With her clear, creamy skin, soft as alabaster below the red gold of her +hair, the somewhat haughty poise of her small, shapely head, she brought +him vivid recollections of that old aristocracy of France, as one reads +of them now only in the pages of romance or history. She had the grand +air--even the great Queen could not have walked to the scaffold with a +more magnificent contempt of the rabble, whose victim she was. Some more +personal thought came to him; he half closed his eyes and leaned back +in his chair steeped in pleasant thoughts; and then it all came to a +swift, abrupt end, these reveries and pleasant castle-building. He was +back in the present, suddenly recalled in a most extraordinary manner, +to realisation of the hour and place. Surely he could not have been +mistaken! That was a low knocking at his locked door outside; there was +no doubt about it. There it was again! He heard his own name, softly but +unmistakably spoken in a trembling voice. He glanced at his watch, it +was between two and three o'clock; then he walked quickly to the door +and opened it without hesitation. It was his father who stood there +fully dressed, with pale face and angrily burning eyes. In his hand he +carried a revolver. Wolfenden noticed that the fingers which clasped it +were shaking, as though with cold. + +"Father," Wolfenden exclaimed, "what on earth is the matter?" + +He dropped his voice in obedience to that sudden gesture for silence. +The Admiral answered him in a hoarse whisper. + +"A great deal is the matter! I am being deceived and betrayed in my own +house! Listen!" + +They stood together on the dimly lit landing; holding his breath and +listening intently, Wolfenden was at once aware of faint, distant +sounds. They came from the ground floor almost immediately below them. +His father laid his hand heavily upon Wolfenden's shoulder. + +"Some one is in the library," he said. "I heard the door open +distinctly. When I tried to get out I found that the door of my room was +locked; there is treachery here!" + +"How did you get out?" Wolfenden asked. + +"Through the bath-room and down the back stairs; that door was locked +too, but I found a key that fitted it. Come with me. Be careful! Make no +noise!" + +They were on their way downstairs now. As they turned the angle of the +broad oak stairway, Wolfenden caught a glimpse of his father's face, and +shuddered; it was very white, and his eyes were bloodshot and wild, his +forefinger was already upon the trigger of his revolver. + +"Let me have that," Wolfenden whispered, touching it; "my hand is +steadier than yours." + +But the Admiral shook his head; he made no answer in words, but the +butt end of the revolver became almost welded into the palm of his hand. +Wolfenden began to feel that they were on the threshold of a tragedy. +They had reached the ground floor now; straight in front of them was +the library door. The sound of muffled movements within the room was +distinctly audible. The Admiral's breath came fast. + +"Tread lightly, Wolf," he muttered. "Don't let them hear us! Let us +catch them red-handed!" + +But the last dozen yards of the way was over white flags tesselated, and +polished like marble. Wolfenden's shoes creaked; the Admiral's tip-toe +walk was no light one. There was a sudden cessation of all sounds; they +had been heard! The Admiral, with a low cry of rage, leaped forwards. +Wolfenden followed close behind. + +Even as they crossed the threshold the room was plunged into sudden +darkness; they had but a momentary and partial glimpse of the interior. +Wolfenden saw a dark, slim figure bending forward with his finger still +pressed to the ball of the lamp. The table was strewn with papers, +something--somebody--was fluttering behind the screen yonder. There was +barely a second of light; then with a sharp click the lamp went out, and +the figure of the man was lost in obscurity. Almost simultaneously +there came a flash of level fire and the loud report of the Admiral's +revolver. There was no groan, so Wolfenden concluded that the man, +whoever he might be, had not been hit. The sound of the report was +followed by a few seconds' breathless silence. There was no movement +of any sort in the room; only a faint breeze stealing in through the +wide-open windows caused a gentle rustling of the papers with which the +table was strewn, and the curtains swayed gently backwards and forwards. +The Admiral, with his senses all on the alert, stood motionless, the +revolver tense in his hand, his fiercely eager eyes straining to pierce +the darkness. By his side, Wolfenden, equally agitated now, though from +a different reason, stood holding his breath, his head thrust forward, +his eyes striving to penetrate the veil of gloom which lay like a thick +barrier between him and the screen. His fear had suddenly taken to +itself a very real and terrible form. There had been a moment, before +the extinction of the lamp had plunged the room into darkness, when +he had seen, or fancied that he had seen, a woman's skirts fluttering +there. Up to the present his father's attention had been wholly riveted +upon the other end of the room; yet he was filled with a nervous dread +lest at any moment that revolver might change its direction. His ears +were strained to the uttermost to catch the slightest sign of any +movement. + +At last the silence was broken; there was a faint movement near the +window, and then again, without a second's hesitation, there was that +level line of fire and loud report from the Admiral's revolver. There +was no groan, no sign of any one having been hit. The Admiral began to +move slowly in the direction of the window; Wolfenden remained where he +was, listening intently. He was right, there was a smothered movement +from behind the screen. Some one was moving from there towards the door, +some one with light footsteps and a trailing skirt. He drew back into +the doorway; he meant to let her pass whoever it might be, but he +meant to know who it was. He could hear her hurried breathing; a faint, +familiar perfume, shaken out by the movement of her skirts, puzzled +him; it's very familiarity bewildered him. She knew that he was there; +she must know it, for she had paused. The position was terribly +critical. A few yards away the Admiral was groping about, revolver in +hand, mumbling to himself a string of terrible threats. The casting of a +shadow would call forth that death-dealing fire. Wolfenden thrust out +his hand cautiously; it fell upon a woman's arm. She did not cry out, +although her rapid breathing sank almost to a moan. For a moment he was +staggered--the room seemed to be going round with him; he had to bite +his lips to stifle the exclamation which very nearly escaped him. Then +he stood away from the door with a little shudder, and guided her +through it. He heard her footsteps die away along the corridor with a +peculiar sense of relief. Then he thrust his hand into the pocket of his +dinner coat and drew out a box of matches. + +"I am going to strike a light," he whispered in his father's ear. + +"Quick, then," was the reply, "I don't think the fellow has got away +yet; he must be hiding behind some of the furniture." + +There was the scratching of a match upon a silver box, a feeble flame +gradually developing into a sure illumination. Wolfenden carefully lit +the lamp and raised it high over his head. The room was empty! There was +no doubt about it! They two were alone. But the window was wide open and +a chair in front of it had been thrown over. The Admiral strode to the +casement and called out angrily-- + +"Heggs! are you there? Is no one on duty?" + +There was no answer; the tall sentry-box was empty. + +Wolfenden came over to his father's side and brought the lamp with him, +and together they leaned out. At first they could see nothing; then +Wolfenden threw off the shade from the lamp and the light fell in a +broad track upon a dark, motionless figure stretched out upon the turf. +Wolfenden stooped down hastily. + +"My God!" he exclaimed, "it is Heggs! Father, won't you sound the gong? +We shall have to arouse the house." + +There was no need. Already the library was half full of hastily dressed +servants, awakened by the sound of the Admiral's revolver. Pale and +terrified, but never more self-composed, Lady Deringham stepped out to +them in a long, white dressing-gown. + +"What has happened?" she cried. "Who is it, Wolfenden--has your father +shot any one?" + +But Wolfenden shook his head, as he stood for a moment upright, and +looked into his mother's face. + +"There is a man hurt," he said; "it is Heggs, I think, but he is not +shot. The evil is not of our doing!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +"IT WAS MR. SABIN" + + +It was still an hour or two before dawn. No trace whatever of the +marauders had been discovered either outside the house or within. With +difficulty the Earl had been persuaded to relinquish his smoking +revolver, and had retired to his room. The doors had all been locked, +and two of the most trustworthy servants left in charge of the library. +Wolfenden had himself accompanied his father upstairs and after a few +words with him had returned to his own apartment. With his mother he had +scarcely exchanged a single sentence. Once their eyes had met and he had +immediately looked away. Nevertheless he was not altogether unprepared +for that gentle knocking at his door which came about half an hour after +the house was once more silent. + +He rose at once from his chair--it seemed scarcely a night for +sleep--and opened it cautiously. It was Lady Deringham who stood there, +white and trembling. He held out his hand and she leaned heavily on it +during her passage into the room. + +He wheeled his own easy chair before the fire and helped her into it. +She seemed altogether incapable of speech. She was trembling violently, +and her face was perfectly bloodless. Wolfenden dropped on his knees by +her side and began chafing her hands. The touch of his fingers seemed to +revive her. She was not already judged then. She lifted her eyes and +looked at him sorrowfully. + +"What do you think of me, Wolfenden?" she asked. + +"I have not thought about it at all," he answered. "I am only wondering. +You have come to explain everything?" + +She shuddered. Explain everything! That was a task indeed. When the +heart is young and life is a full and generous thing; in the days of +romance, when adventures and love-making come as a natural heritage and +form part of the order of things, then the words which the woman had to +say would have come lightly enough from her lips, less perhaps as a +confession than as a half apologetic narration. But in the days when +youth lies far behind, when its glamour has faded away and nothing but +the bare incidents remain, unbeautified by the full colouring and +exuberance of the springtime of life, the most trifling indiscretions +then stand out like idiotic crimes. Lady Deringham had been a proud +woman--a proud woman all her life. She had borne in society the +reputation of an almost ultra-exclusiveness; in her home life she had +been something of an autocrat. Perhaps this was the most miserable +moment of her life. Her son was looking at her with cold, inquiring +eyes. She was on her defence before him. She bowed her head and spoke: + +"Tell me what you thought, Wolfenden." + +"Forgive me," he said, "I could only think that there was robbery, and +that you, for some sufficient reason, I am sure, were aiding. I could +not think anything else, could I?" + +"You thought what was true, Wolfenden," she whispered. "I was helping +another man to rob your father! It was only a very trifling theft--a +handful of notes from his work for a magazine article. But it was +theft, and I was an accomplice!" + +There was a short silence. Her eyes, seeking steadfastly to read his +face, could make nothing of it. + +"I will not ask you why," he said slowly. "You must have had very good +reasons. But I want to tell you one thing. I am beginning to have grave +doubts as to whether my father's state is really so bad as Dr. Whitlett +thinks--whether, in short, his work is not after all really of some +considerable value. There are several considerations which incline me to +take this view." + +The suggestion visibly disturbed Lady Deringham. She moved in her chair +uneasily. + +"You have heard what Mr. Blatherwick says," she objected. "I am sure +that he is absolutely trustworthy." + +"There is no doubt about Blatherwick's honesty," he admitted, "but the +Admiral himself says that he dare trust no one, and that for weeks he +has given him no paper of importance to work upon simply for that +reason. It has been growing upon me that we may have been mistaken all +along, that very likely Miss Merton was paid to steal his work, and that +it may possess for certain people, and for certain purposes, a real +technical importance. How else can we account for the deliberate efforts +which have been made to obtain possession of it?" + +"You have spent some time examining it yourself," she said in a low +tone; "what was your own opinion?" + +"I found some sheets," he answered, "and I read them very carefully; +they were connected with the various landing-places upon the Suffolk +coast. An immense amount of detail was very clearly given. The currents, +bays, and fortifications were all set out; even the roads and railways +into the interior were dealt with. I compared them afterwards with a map +of Suffolk. They were, so far as one could judge, correct. Of course +this was only a page or two at random, but I must say it made an +impression upon me." + +There was another silence, this time longer than before. Lady Deringham +was thinking. Once more, then, the man had lied to her! He was on some +secret business of his own. She shuddered slightly. She had no curiosity +as to its nature. Only she remembered what many people had told her, +that where he went disaster followed. A piece of coal fell into the +grate hissing from the fire. He stooped to pick it up, and catching a +glimpse of her face became instantly graver. He remembered that as yet +he had heard nothing of what she had come to tell him. Her presence in +the library was altogether unexplained. + +"You were very good," she said slowly; "you stayed what might have been +a tragedy. You knew that I was there, you helped me to escape; yet you +must have known that I was in league with the man who was trying to +steal those papers." + +"There was no mistake, then! You were doing that. You!" + +"It is true," she answered. "It was I who let him in, who unlocked your +father's desk. I was his accomplice!" + +"Who was the man?" + +She did not tell him at once. + +"He was once," she said, "my lover!" + +"Before----" + +"Before I met your father! We were never really engaged. But he loved +me, and I thought I cared for him. I wrote him letters--the foolish +letters of an impulsive girl. These he has kept. I treated him badly, I +know that! But I too have suffered. It has been the desire of my life to +have those letters. Last night he called here. Before my face he burnt +all but one! That he kept. The price of his returning it to me was my +help--last night." + +"For what purpose?" Wolfenden asked. "What use did he propose to make +of the Admiral's papers if he succeeded in stealing them?" + +She shook her head mournfully. + +"I cannot tell. He answered me at first that he simply needed some +statistics to complete a magazine article, and that Mr. C. himself had +sent him here. If what you tell me of their importance is true, I have +no doubt that he lied." + +"Why could he not go to the Admiral himself?" + +Lady Deringham's face was as pale as death, and she spoke with downcast +head, her eyes fixed upon her clenched hands. + +"At Cairo," she said, "not long after my marriage, we all met. I was +indiscreet, and your father was hot-headed and jealous. They quarrelled +and fought, your father wounded him; he fired in the air. You understand +now that he could not go direct to the Admiral." + +"I cannot understand," he admitted, "why you listened to his proposal." + +"Wolfenden, I wanted that letter," she said, her voice dying away in +something like a moan. "It is not that I have anything more than folly +to reproach myself with, but it was written--it was the only one--after +my marriage. Just at first I was not very happy with your father. We had +had a quarrel, I forget what about, and I sat down and wrote words which +I have many a time bitterly repented ever having put on paper. I have +never forgotten them--I never shall! I have seen them often in my +happiest moments, and they have seemed to me to be written with letters +of fire." + +"You have it back now? You have destroyed it?" + +She shook her head wearily. + +"No, I was to have had it when he had succeeded; I had not let him in +five minutes when you disturbed us." + +"Tell me the man's name." + +"Why?" + +"I will get you the letter." + +"He would not give it you. You could not make him." + +Wolfenden's eyes flashed with a sudden fire. + +"You are mistaken," he said. "The man who holds for blackmail over a +woman's head, a letter written twenty years ago, is a scoundrel! I will +get that letter from him. Tell me his name!" + +Lady Deringham shuddered. + +"Wolfenden, it would bring trouble! He is dangerous. Don't ask me. At +least I have kept my word to him. It was not my fault that we were +disturbed. He will not molest me now." + +"Mother, I will know his name!" + +"I cannot tell it you!" + +"Then I will find it out; it will not be difficult. I will put the whole +matter in the hands of the police. I shall send to Scotland Yard for a +detective. There are marks underneath the window. I picked up a man's +glove upon the library floor. A clever fellow will find enough to work +upon. I will find this blackguard for myself, and the law shall deal +with him as he deserves." + +"Wolfenden, have mercy! May I not know best? Are my wishes, my prayers, +nothing to you?" + +"A great deal, mother, yet I consider myself also a judge as to the +wisest course to pursue. The plan which I have suggested may clear up +many things. It may bring to light the real object of this man. It may +solve the mystery of that impostor, Wilmot. I am tired of all this +uncertainty. We will have some daylight. I shall telegraph to-morrow +morning to Scotland Yard." + +"Wolfenden, I beseech you!" + +"So also do I beseech you, mother, to tell me that man's name. Great +heavens!" + +Wolfenden sprang suddenly from his chair with startled face. An idea, +slow of coming, but absolutely convincing from its first conception, had +suddenly flashed home to him. How could he have been so blind? He stood +looking at his mother in fixed suspense. The light of his knowledge was +in his face, and she saw it. She had been dreading this all the while. + +"It was Mr. Sabin!--the man who calls himself Sabin!" + +A little moan of despair crept out from her lips. She covered her face +with her hands and sobbed. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +THE GATHERING OF THE WAR-STORM + + +Mr. Sabin, entering his breakfast-room as usual at ten o'clock on the +following morning, found, besides the usual pile of newspapers and +letters, a telegram, which had arrived too late for delivery on the +previous evening. He opened it in leisurely fashion whilst he sipped his +coffee. It was handed in at the Charing Cross Post Office, and was +signed simply "K.":-- + + "Just returned. When can you call and conclude arrangements? Am + anxious to see you. Read to-night's paper.--K." + +The telegram slipped from Mr. Sabin's fingers. He tore open the _St. +James's Gazette_, and a little exclamation escaped from his lips as he +saw the thick black type which headed the principal columns:-- + + "EXTRAORDINARY TELEGRAM OF THE GERMAN + EMPEROR TO MOENIG! + GERMAN SYMPATHY WITH THE REBELS! + WARSHIPS ORDERED TO DELAMERE BAY! + GREAT EXCITEMENT ON THE STOCK EXCHANGE!" + +Mr. Sabin's breakfast remained untasted. He read every word in the four +columns, and then turned to the other newspapers. They were all ablaze +with the news. England's most renowned ally had turned suddenly against +her. Without the slightest warning the fire-brand of war had been +kindled, and waved threateningly in our very faces. The occasion was +hopelessly insignificant. A handful of English adventurers, engaged in a +somewhat rash but plucky expedition in a distant part of the world, had +met with a sharp reverse. In itself the affair was nothing; yet it bade +fair to become a matter of international history. Ill-advised though +they may have been, the Englishmen carried with them a charter granted +by the British Government. There was no secret about it--the fact was +perfectly understood in every Cabinet of Europe. Yet the German Emperor +had himself written a telegram congratulating the State which had +repelled the threatened attack. It was scarcely an invasion--it was +little more than a demonstration on the part of an ill-treated section +of the population! The fact that German interests were in no way +concerned--that any outside interference was simply a piece of +gratuitous impertinence--only intensified the significance of the +incident. A deliberate insult had been offered to England; and the man +who sat there with the paper clenched in his hand, whilst his keen eyes +devoured the long columns of wonder and indignation, knew that his had +been the hand which had hastened the long-pent-up storm. He drew a +little breath when he had finished, and turned to his breakfast. + +"Is Miss Sabin up yet?" he asked the servant, who waited upon him. + +The man was not certain, but withdrew to inquire. He reappeared almost +directly. Miss Sabin had been up for more than an hour. She had just +returned from a walk, and had ordered breakfast to be served in her +room. + +"Tell her," Mr. Sabin directed, "that I should be exceedingly obliged if +she would take her coffee with me. I have some interesting news." + +The man was absent for several minutes. Before he returned Helène came +in. Mr. Sabin greeted her with his usual courtesy and even more than his +usual cordiality. + +"You are missing the best part of the morning with your Continental +habits," she exclaimed brightly. "I have been out on the cliffs since +half-past eight. The air is delightful." + +She threw off her hat, and going to the sideboard, helped herself to a +cup of coffee. There was a becoming flush upon her cheeks--her hair was +a little tossed by the wind. Mr. Sabin watched her curiously. + +"You have not, I suppose, seen a morning paper--or rather last night's +paper?" he remarked. + +She shook her head. + +"A newspaper! You know that I never look at an English one," she +answered. "You wanted to see me, Reynolds said. Is there any news?" + +"There is great news," he answered. "There is such news that by sunset +to-day war will probably be declared between England and Germany!" + +The flush died out of her cheeks. She faced him pallid to the lips. + +"It is not possible!" she exclaimed. + +"So the whole world would have declared a week ago! As a matter of fact +it is not so sudden as we imagine! The storm has been long brewing! It +is we who have been blind. A little black spot of irritation has spread +and deepened into a war-cloud." + +"This will affect us?" she asked. + +"For us," he answered, "it is a triumph. It is the end of our schemes, +the climax of our desires. When Knigenstein came to me I knew that he +was in earnest, but I never dreamed that the torch was so nearly +kindled. I see now why he was so eager to make terms with me." + +"And you," she said, "you have their bond?" + +For a moment he looked thoughtful. + +"Not yet. I have their promise--the promise of the Emperor himself. But +as yet my share of the bargain is incomplete. There must be no more +delay. It must be finished now--at once. That telegram would never have +been sent from Berlin but for their covenant with me. It would have been +better, perhaps, had they waited a little time. But one cannot tell! The +opportunity was too good to let slip." + +"How long will it be," she asked, "before your work is complete?" + +His face clouded over. In the greater triumph he had almost forgotten +the minor difficulties of the present. He was a diplomatist and a +schemer of European fame. He had planned great things, and had +accomplished them. Success had been on his side so long that he might +almost have been excused for declining to reckon failure amongst the +possibilities. The difficulty which was before him now was as trifling +as the uprooting of a hazel switch after the conquest of a forest of +oaks. But none the less for the moment he was perplexed. It was hard, in +the face of this need for urgent haste, to decide upon the next step. + +"My work," he said slowly, "must be accomplished at once. There is very +little wanted. Yet that little, I must confess, troubles me." + +"You have not succeeded, then, in obtaining what you want from Lord +Deringham?" + +"No." + +"Will he not help you at all?" + +"Never." + +"How, then, do you mean to get at these papers of his?" + +"At present," he replied, "I scarcely know. In an hour or two I may be +able to tell you. It is possible that it might take me twenty-four +hours; certainly no longer than that." + +She walked to the window, and stood there with her hands clasped behind +her back. Mr. Sabin had lit a cigarette and was smoking it thoughtfully. + +Presently she spoke to him. + +"You will get them," she said; "yes, I believe that. In the end you will +succeed, as you have succeeded in everything." + +There was a lack of enthusiasm in her tone. He looked up quietly, and +flicked the ash from the end of his cigarette. + +"You are right," he said. "I shall succeed. My only regret is that I +have made a slight miscalculation. It will take longer than I imagined. +Knigenstein will be in a fever, and I am afraid that he will worry me. +At the same time he is himself to blame. He has been needlessly +precipitate." + +She turned away from the window and stood before him. She had a look in +her face which he had seen there but once before, and the memory of +which had ever since troubled him. + +"I want you," she said, "to understand this. I will not have any direct +harm worked upon the Deringhams. If you can get what they have and what +is necessary to us by craft--well, very good. If not, it must go! I will +not have force used. You should remember that Lord Wolfenden saved your +life! I will have nothing to do with any scheme which brings harm upon +them!" + +He looked at her steadily. A small spot of colour was burning high up on +his pallid cheeks. The white, slender fingers, toying carelessly with +one of the breakfast appointments, were shaking. He was very near being +passionately angry. + +"Do you mean," he said, speaking slowly and enunciating every word with +careful distinctness, "do you mean that you would sacrifice or even +endanger the greatest cause which has ever been conceived in the heart +of the patriot, to the whole skin of a household of English people? I +wonder whether you realise the position as it stands at this moment. I +am bound in justice to you to believe that you do not. Do you realise +that Germany has closed with our offer, and will act at our behest; that +only a few trifling sheets of paper stand between us and the fullest, +the most glorious success? Is it a time, do you think, for scruples or +for maudlin sentiment? If I were to fail in my obligations towards +Knigenstein I should not only be dishonoured and disgraced, but our +cause would be lost for ever. The work of many years would crumble into +ashes. My own life would not be worth an hour's purchase. Helène, you +are mad! You are either mad, or worse!" + +She faced him quite unmoved. It was more than ever apparent that she was +not amongst those who feared him. + +"I am perfectly sane," she said, "and I am very much in earnest. Ours +shall be a strategic victory, or we will not triumph at all. I believe +that you are planning some desperate means of securing those papers. I +repeat that I will not have it!" + +He looked at her with curling lips. + +"Perhaps," he said, "it is I who have gone mad! At least I can scarcely +believe that I am not dreaming. Is it really you, Helène of Bourbon, the +descendant of kings, a daughter of the rulers of France, who falters and +turns pale at the idea of a little blood, shed for her country's sake? I +am very much afraid," he added with biting sarcasm, "that I have not +understood you. You bear the name of a great queen, but you have the +heart of a serving-maid! It is Lord Wolfenden for whom you fear!" + +She was not less firm, but her composure was affected. The rich colour +streamed into her cheeks. She remained silent. + +"For a betrothed young lady," he said slowly, "you will forgive me if I +say that your anxiety is scarcely discreet. What you require, I suppose, +is a safe conduct for your lover. I wonder how Henri would----" + +She flashed a glance and an interjection upon him which checked the +words upon his lips. The gesture was almost a royal one. He was +silenced. + +"How dare you, sir?" she exclaimed. "You are taking insufferable +liberties. I do not permit you to interfere in my private concerns. +Understand that even if your words were true, if I choose to have a +lover it is my affair, not yours. As for Henri, what has he to complain +of? Read the papers and ask yourself that! They chronicle his doings +freely enough! He is singularly discreet, is he not?--singularly +faithful!" + +She threw at him a glance of contempt and turned as though to leave the +room. Mr. Sabin, recognising the fact that the situation was becoming +dangerous, permitted himself no longer the luxury of displaying his +anger. He was quite himself again, calm, judicial, incisive. + +"Don't go away, please," he said. "I am sorry that you have read those +reports--more than sorry that you should have attached any particular +credence to them. As you know, the newspapers always exaggerate; in many +of the stories which they tell I do not believe that there is a single +word of truth. But I will admit that Henri has not been altogether +discreet. Yet he is young, and there are many excuses to be made for +him. Apart from that, the whole question of his behaviour is beside the +question. Your marriage with him was never intended to be one of +affection. He is well enough in his way, but there is not the stuff in +him to make a man worthy of your love. Your alliance with him is simply +a necessary link in the chain of our great undertaking. Between you you +will represent the two royal families of France. That is what is +necessary. You must marry him, but afterwards--well, you will be a +queen!" + +Again he had erred. She looked at him with bent brows and kindling eyes. + +"Oh! you are hideously cynical!" she exclaimed. "I may be ambitious, but +it is for my country's sake. If I reign, the Court of France shall be of +a new type; we will at least show the world that to be a Frenchwoman is +not necessarily to abjure morals." + +He shrugged his shoulders. + +"That," he said, "will be as you choose. You will make your Court what +you please. Personally, I believe that you are right. Such sentiments as +you have expressed, properly conveyed to them, would make yours abjectly +half the bourgeois of France! Be as ambitious as you please, but at +least be sensible. Do not think any more of this young Englishman, not +at any rate at present. Nothing but harm can come of it. He is not like +the men of our own country, who know how to take a lady's dismissal +gracefully." + +"He is, at least, a man!" + +"Helène, why should we discuss him? He shall come to no harm at my +hands. Be wise, and forget him. He can be nothing whatever to you. You +know that. You are pledged to greater things." + +She moved back to her place by the window. Her eyes were suddenly soft, +her face was sorrowful. She did not speak, and he feared her silence +more than her indignation. When a knock at the door came he was grateful +for the interruption--grateful, that is, until he saw who it was upon +the threshold. Then he started to his feet with a little exclamation. + +"Lord Wolfenden! You are an early visitor." + +Wolfenden smiled grimly, and advanced into the room. + +"I was anxious," he said, "to run no risk of finding you out. My mission +is not altogether a pleasant one!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +"I MAKE NO PROMISE" + + +A single glance from Mr. Sabin into Wolfenden's face was sufficient. +Under his breath he swore a small, quiet oath. Wolfenden's appearance +was unlooked for, and almost fatal, yet that did not prevent him from +greeting his visitor with his usual ineffusive but well bred courtesy. + +"I am finishing a late breakfast," he remarked. "Can I offer you +anything--a glass of claret or Benedictine?" + +Wolfenden scarcely heard him, and answered altogether at random. He had +suddenly become aware that Helène was in the room; she was coming +towards him from the window recess, with a brilliant smile upon her +lips. + +"How very kind of you to look us up so early!" she exclaimed. + +Mr. Sabin smiled grimly as he poured himself out a liqueur and lit a +cigarette. He was perfectly well aware that Wolfenden's visit was not +one of courtesy; a single glance into his face had told him all that he +cared to know. It was fortunate that Helène had been in the room. Every +moment's respite he gained was precious. + +"Have you come to ask me to go for a drive in that wonderful vehicle?" +she said lightly, pointing out of the window to where his dogcart was +waiting. "I should want a step-ladder to mount it!" + +Wolfenden answered her gravely. + +"I should feel very honoured at being allowed to take you for a drive at +any time," he said, "only I think that I would rather bring a more +comfortable carriage." + +She shrugged her shoulders, and looked at him significantly. + +"The one you were driving yesterday?" + +He bit his lip and frowned with vexation, yet on the whole, perhaps, he +did not regret her allusion. It was proof that she had not taken the +affair too seriously. + +"The one I was driving yesterday would be a great deal more +comfortable," he said; "to-day I only thought of getting here quickly. I +have a little business with Mr. Sabin." + +"Is that a hint for me to go?" she asked. "You are not agreeable this +morning! What possible business can you have with my uncle which does +not include me? I am not inclined to go away; I shall stay and listen." + +Mr. Sabin smiled faintly; the girl was showing her sense now at any +rate. Wolfenden was obviously embarrassed. Helène remained blandly +unconscious of anything serious. + +"I suppose," she said, "that you want to talk golf again! Golf! Why one +hears nothing else but golf down here. Don't you ever shoot or ride for +a change?" + +Wolfenden was suddenly assailed by an horrible suspicion. He could +scarcely believe that her unconsciousness was altogether natural. At the +bare suspicion of her being in league with this man he stiffened. He +answered without looking at her, conscious though he was that her dark +eyes were seeking his invitingly, and that her lips were curving into a +smile. + +"I am not thinking of playing golf to-day," he said. "Unfortunately I +have less pleasant things to consider. If you could give me five +minutes, Mr. Sabin," he added, "I should be very glad." + +She rose immediately with all the appearance of being genuinely +offended; there was a little flush in her cheeks and she walked straight +to the door. Wolfenden held it open for her. + +"I am exceedingly sorry to have been in the way for a moment," she said; +"pray proceed with your business at once." + +Wolfenden did not answer her. As she passed through the doorway she +glanced up at him; he was not even looking at her. His eyes were fixed +upon Mr. Sabin. The fingers which rested upon the door knob seemed +twitching with impatience to close it. She stood quite still for a +moment; the colour left her cheeks, and her eyes grew soft. She was not +angry any longer. Instinctively some idea of the truth flashed in upon +her; she passed out thoughtfully. Wolfenden closed the door and turned +to Mr. Sabin. + +"You can easily imagine the nature of my business," he said coldly. "I +have come to have an explanation with you." + +Mr. Sabin lit a fresh cigarette and smiled on Wolfenden thoughtfully. + +"Certainly," he said; "an explanation! Exactly!" + +"Well," said Wolfenden, "suppose you commence, then." + +Mr. Sabin looked puzzled. + +"Had you not better be a little more explicit?" he suggested gently. + +"I will be," Wolfenden replied, "as explicit as you choose. My mother +has given me her whole confidence. I have come to ask how you dare to +enter Deringham Hall as a common burglar attempting to commit a theft; +and to demand that you instantly return to me a letter, on which you +have attempted to levy blackmail. Is that explicit enough?" + +Mr. Sabin's face did not darken, nor did he seem in any way angry or +discomposed. He puffed at his cigarette for a moment or two, and then +looked blandly across at his visitor. + +"You are talking rubbish," he said in his usual calm, even tones, "but +you are scarcely to blame. It is altogether my own fault. It is quite +true that I was in your house last night, but it was at your mother's +invitation, and I should very much have preferred coming openly at the +usual time, to sneaking in according to her directions through a window. +It was only a very small favour I asked, but Lady Deringham persuaded me +that your father's mental health and antipathy to strangers was such +that he would never give me the information I desired, voluntarily, and +it was entirely at her suggestion that I adopted the means I did. I am +very sorry indeed that I allowed myself to be over-persuaded and placed +in an undoubtedly false position. Women are always nervous and +imaginative, and I am convinced that if I had gone openly to your father +and laid my case before him he would have helped me." + +"He would have done nothing of the sort!" Wolfenden declared. "Nothing +would induce him to show even a portion of his work to a stranger." + +Mr. Sabin shrugged his shoulders gently, and continued without heeding +the interruption. + +"As to my blackmailing Lady Deringham, you have spoken plainly to me, +and you must forgive me for answering you in the same fashion. It is a +lie! I had letters of hers, which I voluntarily destroyed in her +presence; they were only a little foolish, or I should have destroyed +them long ago. I had the misfortune to be once a favoured suitor for +your mother's hand; and I think I may venture to say--I am sure she will +not contradict me--that I was hardly treated. The only letter I ever had +from her likely to do her the least harm I destroyed fifteen years ago, +when I first embarked upon what has been to a certain extent a career +of adventure. I told her that it was not in the packet which we burnt +together yesterday. If she understood from that that it was still in my +possession, and that I was retaining it for any purpose whatever, she +was grievously mistaken in my words. That is all I have to say." + +He had said it very well indeed. Wolfenden, listening intently to every +word, with his eyes rigidly fixed upon the man's countenance, could not +detect a single false note anywhere. He was puzzled. Perhaps his mother +had been nervously excited, and had mistaken some sentence of his for a +covert threat. Yet he thought of her earnestness, her terrible +earnestness, and a sense of positive bewilderment crept over him. + +"We will leave my mother out of the question then," he said. "We will +deal with this matter between ourselves. I should like to know exactly +what part of my father's work you are so anxious to avail yourself of, +and for what purpose?" + +Mr. Sabin drew a letter from his pocket, and handed it over to +Wolfenden. It was from the office of one of the first European Reviews, +and briefly contained a request that Mr. Sabin would favour them with an +article on the comparative naval strengths of European Powers, with +particular reference to the armament and coast defences of Great +Britain. Wolfenden read it carefully and passed it back. The letter was +genuine, there was no doubt about that. + +"It seemed to me," Mr. Sabin continued, "the most natural thing in the +world to consult your father upon certain matters concerning which he +is, or has been, a celebrated authority. In fact I decided to do so at +the instigation of one of the Lords of your Admiralty, to whom he is +personally well known. I had no idea of acting except in the most open +manner, and I called at Deringham Hall yesterday afternoon, and sent in +my card in a perfectly orthodox way, as you may have heard. Your mother +took quite an unexpected view of the whole affair, owing partly to your +father's unfortunate state of health and partly to some extraordinary +attempts which, I am given to understand, have been made to rob him of +his work. She was very anxious to help me, but insisted that it must be +secretly. Last night's business was, I admit, a ghastly mistake--only +it was not my mistake! I yielded to Lady Deringham's proposals under +strong protest. As a man, I think I may say of some intelligence, I am +ashamed of the whole affair; at the same time I am guilty only of an +indiscretion which was sanctioned and instigated by your mother. I +really do not see how I can take any blame to myself in the matter." + +"You could scarcely attribute to Lady Deringham," Wolfenden remarked, +"the injury to the watchman." + +"I can take but little blame to myself," Mr. Sabin answered promptly. +"The man was drunk; he had been, I imagine, made drunk, and I merely +pushed him out of the way. He fell heavily, but the fault was not mine. +Look at my physique, and remember that I was unarmed, and ask yourself +what mischief I could possibly have done to the fellow." + +Wolfenden reflected. + +"You appear to be anxious," he said, "to convince me that your desire to +gain access to a portion of my father's papers is a harmless one. I +should like to ask you why you have in your employ a young lady who was +dismissed from Deringham Hall under circumstances of strong suspicion?" + +Mr. Sabin raised his eyebrows. + +"It is the first time I have heard of anything suspicious connected +with Miss Merton," he said. "She came into my service with excellent +testimonials, and I engaged her at Willing's bureau. The fact that she +had been employed at Deringham Hall was merely a coincidence." + +"Was it also a coincidence," Wolfenden continued, "that in reply to a +letter attempting to bribe my father's secretary, Mr. Blatherwick, it +was she, Miss Merton, who kept an appointment with him?" + +"That," Mr. Sabin answered, "I know nothing of. If you wish to question +Miss Merton you are quite at liberty to do so; I will send for her." + +Wolfenden shook his head. + +"Miss Merton was far too clever to commit herself," he said; "she knew +from the first that she was being watched, and behaved accordingly. If +she was not there as your agent, her position becomes more extraordinary +still." + +"I can assure you," Mr. Sabin said, with an air of weariness, "that I am +not the man of mystery you seem to think me. I should never dream of +employing such roundabout means for gaining possession of a few +statistics." + +Wolfenden was silent. His case was altogether one of surmises; he could +prove nothing. + +"Perhaps," he said, "I have been precipitate. It would appear so. But if +I am unduly suspicious, you have yourself only to blame! You admit that +your name is an assumed one. You refuse my suit to your niece without +any reasonable cause. You are evidently, to be frank, a person of much +more importance than you lay claim to be. Now be open with me. If there +is any reason, although I cannot conceive an honest one, for concealing +your identity, why, I will respect your confidence absolutely. You may +rely upon that. Tell me who you are, and who your niece is, and why you +are travelling about in this mysterious way." + +Mr. Sabin smiled good-humouredly. + +"Well," he said, "you must forgive me if I plead guilty to the false +identity--and preserve it. For certain reasons it would not suit me to +take even you into my confidence. Besides which, if you will forgive my +saying so, there does not seem to be the least necessity for it. We are +leaving here during the week, and shall in all probability go abroad +almost at once; so we are not likely to meet again. Let us part +pleasantly, and abandon a somewhat profitless discussion." + +For a moment Wolfenden was staggered. They were leaving England! Going +away! That meant that he would see no more of Helène. His indignation +against the man, kindled almost into passionate anger by his mother's +story, was forgotten, overshadowed by a keen thrill of personal +disappointment. If they were really leaving England, he might bid +farewell to any chance of winning her; and there were certain words of +hers, certain gestures, which had combined to fan that little flame of +hope, which nothing as yet had ever been able to extinguish. He looked +into Mr. Sabin's quiet face, and he was conscious of a sense of +helplessness. The man was too strong and too wily for him; it was an +unequal contest. + +"We will abandon the discussion then, if you will," Wolfenden said +slowly. "I will talk with Lady Deringham again. She is in an extremely +nervous state; it is possible of course that she may have misunderstood +you." + +Mr. Sabin sighed with an air of gentle relief. Ah! if the men of other +countries were only as easy to delude as these Englishmen! What a +triumphant career might yet be his! + +"I am very glad," he said, "that you do me the honour to take, what I +can assure you, is the correct view of the situation. I hope that you +will not hurry away; may I not offer you a cigarette?" + +Wolfenden sat down for the first time. + +"Are you in earnest," he asked, "when you speak of leaving England so +soon?" + +"Assuredly! You will do me the justice to admit that I have never +pretended to like your country, have I? I hope to leave it for several +years, if not for ever, within the course of a few weeks." + +"And your niece, Mr. Sabin?" + +"She accompanies me, of course; she likes this country even less than I +do. Perhaps, under the circumstances, our departure is the best thing +that could happen; it is at any rate opportune." + +"I cannot agree with you," Wolfenden said; "for me it is most +inopportune. I need scarcely say that I have not abandoned my desire to +make your niece my wife." + +"I should have thought," Mr. Sabin said, with a fine note of satire in +his tone, "that you would have put far away from you all idea of any +connection with such suspicious personages." + +"I have never had," Wolfenden said calmly, "any suspicion at all +concerning your niece." + +"She would be, I am sure, much flattered," Mr. Sabin declared. "At the +same time I can scarcely see on what grounds you continue to hope for an +impossibility. My niece's refusal seemed to me explicit enough, +especially when coupled with my own positive prohibition." + +"Your niece," Wolfenden said, "is doubtless of age. I should not trouble +about your consent if I could gain hers, and I may as well tell you at +once, that I by no means despair of doing so." + +Mr. Sabin bit his lip, and his dark eyes flashed out with a sudden fire. + +"I should be glad to know, sir," he said, "on what grounds you consider +my voice in the affair to be ineffective?" + +"Partly," Wolfenden answered, "for the reason which I have already given +you--because your niece is of age; and partly also because you persist +in giving me no definite reason for your refusal." + +"I have told you distinctly," Mr. Sabin said, "that my niece is +betrothed and will be married within six months." + +"To whom? where is he? why is he not here? Your niece wears no +engagement ring. I will answer for it, that if she is as you say +betrothed, it is not of her own free will." + +"You talk," Mr. Sabin said with dangerous calm, "like a fool. It is not +customary amongst the class to which my niece belongs to wear always an +engagement ring. As for her affections, she has had, I am glad to say, a +sufficient self-control to keep them to herself. Your presumption is +simply the result of your entire ignorance. I appeal to you for the last +time, Lord Wolfenden, to behave like a man of common sense, and abandon +hopes which can only end in disappointment." + +"I have no intention of doing anything of the sort," Wolfenden said +doggedly; "we Englishmen are a pig-headed race, as you were once polite +enough to observe. Your niece is the only woman whom I have wished to +marry, and I shall marry her, if I can." + +"I shall make it my especial concern," Mr. Sabin said firmly, "to see +that all intercourse between you ends at once." + +Wolfenden rose to his feet. + +"It is obviously useless," he said, "to continue this conversation. I +have told you my intentions. I shall pursue them to the best of my +ability. Good-morning." + +Mr. Sabin held out his hand. + +"I have just a word more to say to you," he declared. "It is about your +father." + +"I do not desire to discuss my father, or any other matter with you," +Wolfenden said quietly. "As to my father's work, I am determined to +solve the mystery connected with it once and for all. I have wired for +Mr. C. to come down, and, if necessary, take possession of the papers. +You can get what information you require from him yourself." + +Mr. Sabin rose up slowly; his long, white fingers were clasped around +the head of that curious stick of his. There was a peculiar glint in his +eyes, and his cheeks were pale with passion. + +"I am very much obliged to you for telling me that," he said; "it is +valuable information for me. I will certainly apply to Mr. C." + +He had been drawing nearer and nearer to Wolfenden. Suddenly he stopped, +and, with a swift movement, raised the stick on which he had been +leaning, over his head. It whirled round in a semi-circle. Wolfenden, +fascinated by that line of gleaming green light, hesitated for a moment, +then he sprang backwards, but he was too late. The head of the stick +came down on his head, his upraised arm did little to break the force of +the blow. He sank to the ground with a smothered groan. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +THE SECRET OF MR. SABIN'S NIECE + + +At the sound of his cry, Helène, who had been crossing the hall, threw +open the door just as Mr. Sabin's fingers were upon the key. Seeing that +he was powerless to keep from her the knowledge of what had happened, he +did not oppose her entrance. She glided into the centre of the room with +a stifled cry of terror. Together, she and Mr. Sabin bent over +Wolfenden's motionless figure. Mr. Sabin unfastened the waistcoat and +felt his heart. She did not speak until he had held his hand there for +several seconds, then she asked a question. + +"Have you killed him?" + +Mr. Sabin shook his head and smiled gently. + +"Too tough a skull by far," he said. "Can you get a basin and a towel +without any one seeing you?" + +She nodded, and fetched them from her own room. The water was fresh and +cold, and the towel was of fine linen daintily hemmed, and fragrant with +the perfume of violets. Yet neither of these things, nor the soft warmth +of her breathing upon his cheek, seemed to revive him in the least. He +lay quite still in the same heavy stupor. Mr. Sabin stood upright and +looked at him thoughtfully. His face had grown almost haggard. + +"We had better send for a doctor," she whispered fiercely. "I shall +fetch one myself if you do not!" + +Mr. Sabin gently dissented. + +"I know quite as much as any doctor," he said; "the man is not dead, or +dying, or likely to die. I wonder if we could move him on to that sofa!" + +Together they managed it somehow. Mr. Sabin, in the course of his +movements to and fro about the room, was attracted by the sight of the +dogcart still waiting outside. He frowned, and stood for a moment +looking thoughtfully at it. Then he went outside. + +"Are you waiting for Lord Wolfenden?" he asked the groom. + +The man looked up in surprise. + +"Yes, sir. I set him down here nearly an hour ago. I had no orders to go +home." + +"Lord Wolfenden has evidently forgotten all about you," Mr. Sabin said. +"He left by the back way for the golf course, and I am going to join him +there directly. He is not coming back here at all. You had better go +home, I should think." + +The man touched his hat. + +"Very good, sir." + +There was a little trampling up of the gravel, and Wolfenden's dogcart +rapidly disappeared in the distance. Mr. Sabin, with set face and a hard +glitter in his eyes went back into the morning room. Helène was still on +her knees by Wolfenden's prostrate figure when he entered. She spoke to +him without looking up. + +"He is a little better, I think; he opened his eyes just now." + +"He is not seriously hurt," Mr. Sabin said; "there may be some slight +concussion, nothing more. The question is, first, what to do with him, +and secondly, how to make the best use of the time which must elapse +before he will be well enough to go home." + +She looked at him now in horror. He was always like this, unappalled by +anything which might happen, eager only to turn every trick of fortune +to his own ends. Surely his nerves were of steel and his heart of iron. + +"I think," she said, "that I should first make sure that he is likely to +recover at all." + +Mr. Sabin answered mechanically, his thoughts seemed far away. + +"His recovery is a thing already assured," he said. "His skull was too +hard to crack; he will be laid up for an hour or two. What I have to +decide is how to use that hour or two to the best possible advantage." + +She looked away from him and shuddered. This passionate absorption of +all his energies into one channel had made a fiend of the man. Her +slowly growing purpose took to itself root and branch, as she knelt by +the side of the young Englishman, who only a few moments ago had seemed +the very embodiment of all manly vigour. + +Mr. Sabin stood up. He had arrived at a determination. + +"Helène," he said, "I am going away for an hour, perhaps two. Will you +take care of him until I return?" + +"Yes." + +"You will promise not to leave him, or to send for a doctor?" + +"I will promise, unless he seems to grow worse." + +"He will not get worse, he will be conscious in less than an hour. Keep +him with you as long as you can, he will be safer here. Remember that!" + +"I will remember," she said. + +He left the room, and soon she heard the sound of carriage wheels +rolling down the avenue. His departure was an intense relief to her. She +watched the carriage, furiously driven, disappear along the road. Then +she returned to Wolfenden's side. For nearly an hour she remained there, +bathing his head, forcing now and then a little brandy between his +teeth, and watching his breathing become more regular and the ghastly +whiteness leaving his face. And all the while she was thoughtful. Once +or twice her hands touched his hair tenderly, almost caressingly. There +was a certain wistfulness in her regard of him. She bent close over his +face; he was still apparently as unconscious as ever. She hesitated for +a moment; the red colour burned in one bright spot on her cheeks. She +stooped down and kissed him on the forehead, whispering something under +her breath. Almost before she could draw back, he opened his eyes. +She was overwhelmed with confusion, but seeing that he had no clear +knowledge of what had happened, she rapidly recovered herself. He looked +around him and then up into her face. + +"What has happened?" he asked. "Where am I?" + +"You are at the Lodge," she said quietly. "You called to see Mr. Sabin +this morning, you know, and I am afraid you must have quarrelled." + +"Ah! it was that beastly stick," he said slowly. "He struck at me +suddenly. Where is he now?" + +She did not answer him at once. It was certainly better not to say that +she had seen him driven rapidly away only a short time ago, with his +horses' heads turned to Deringham Hall. + +"He will be back soon," she said. "Do not think about him, please. I +cannot tell you how sorry I am." + +He was recovering himself rapidly. Something in her eyes was sending the +blood warmly through his veins; he felt better every instant. + +"I do not want to think about him," he murmured, "I do not want to think +about any one else but you." + +She looked down at him with a half pathetic, half humorous twitching of +her lips. + +"You must please not make love to me, or I shall have to leave you," she +said. "The idea of thinking about such a thing in your condition! You +don't want to send me away, do you?" + +"On the contrary," he answered, "I want to keep you always with me." + +"That," she said briefly, "is impossible." + +"Nothing," he declared, "is impossible, if only we make up our minds to +it. I have made up mine!" + +"You are very masterful! Are all Englishmen as confident as you?" + +"I know nothing about other men," he declared. "But I love you, Helène, +and I am not sure that you do not care a little for me." + +She drew her hand away from his tightening clasp. + +"I am going," she said; "it is your own fault--you have driven me away." + +Her draperies rustled as she moved towards the door, but she did not go +far. + +"I do not feel so well," he said quietly; "I believe that I am going to +faint." + +She was on her knees by his side again in a moment. For a fainting man, +the clasp of his fingers around hers was wonderfully strong. + +"I feel better now," he announced calmly. "I shall be all right if you +stay quietly here, and don't move about." + +She looked at him doubtfully. + +"I do not believe," she said, "that you felt ill at all; you are taking +advantage of me!" + +"I can assure you that I am not," he answered; "when you are here I feel +a different man." + +"I am quite willing to stay if you will behave yourself," she said. + +"Will you please define good behaviour?" he begged. + +"In the present instance," she laughed, "it consists in not saying silly +things." + +"A thing which is true cannot be silly," he protested. "It is true that +I am never happy without you. That is why I shall never give you up." + +She looked down at him with bright eyes, and a frown which did not come +easily. + +"If you persist in making love to me," she said, "I am going away. It is +not permitted, understand that!" + +He sighed. + +"I am afraid," he answered softly, "that I shall always be indulging in +the luxury of the forbidden. For I love you, and I shall never weary of +telling you so." + +"Then I must see," she declared, making a subtle but unsuccessful +attempt to disengage her hand, "that you have fewer opportunities." + +"If you mean that," he said, "I must certainly make the most of this +one. Helène, you could care for me, I know, and I could make you happy. +You say 'No' to me because there is some vague entanglement--I will not +call it an engagement--with some one else. You do not care for him, I am +sure. Don't marry him! It will be for your sorrow. So many women's lives +are spoilt like that. Dearest," he added, gaining courage from her +averted face, "I can make you happy, I am sure of it! I do not know who +you are or who your people are, but they shall be my people--nothing +matters, except that I love you. I don't know what to say to you, +Helène. There is something shadowy in your mind which seems to you to +come between us. I don't know what it is, or I would dispel it. Tell me, +dear, won't you give me a chance?" + +She yielded her other hand to his impatient fingers, and looked down at +him wistfully. Yet there was something in her gaze which he could not +fathom. Of one thing he was very sure, there was a little tenderness +shining out of her dark, brilliant eyes, a little regret, a little +indecision. On the whole he was hopeful. + +"Dear," she said softly, "perhaps I do care for you a little. +Perhaps--well, some time in the future--what you are thinking of might +be possible; I cannot say. Something, apart from you, has happened, +which has changed my life. You must let me go for a little while. But I +will promise you this. The entanglement of which you spoke shall be +broken off. I will have no more to do with that man!" + +He sat upright. + +"Helène," he said, "you are making me very happy, but there is one thing +which I must ask you, and which you must forgive me for asking. This +entanglement of which you speak has nothing to do with Mr. Sabin?" + +"Nothing whatever," she answered promptly. "How I should like to tell +you everything! But I have made a solemn promise, and I must keep it. My +lips are sealed. But one thing I should like you to understand, in case +you have ever had any doubt about it. Mr. Sabin is really my uncle, my +mother's brother. He is engaged in a great enterprise in which I am a +necessary figure. He has suddenly become very much afraid of you." + +"Afraid of me!" Wolfenden repeated. + +She nodded. + +"I ought to tell you, perhaps, that my marriage with some one else is +necessary to insure the full success of his plans. So you see he has set +himself to keep us apart." + +"The more you tell me, the more bewildered I get," Wolfenden declared. +"What made him attack me just now without any warning? Surely he did not +wish to kill me?" + +Her hand within his seemed to grow colder. + +"You were imprudent," she said. + +"Imprudent! In what way?" + +"You told him that you had sent for Mr. C. to come and go through your +father's papers." + +"What of it?" + +"I cannot tell you any more!" + +Wolfenden rose to his feet; he was still giddy, but he was able to +stand. + +"All that he told me here was a tissue of lies then! Helène, I will not +leave you with such a man. You cannot continue to live with him." + +"I do not intend to," she answered; "I want to get away. What has +happened to-day is more than I can pardon, even from him. Yet you must +not judge him too harshly. In his way he is a great man, and he is +planning great things which are not wholly for his advantage. But he is +unscrupulous! So long as the end is great, he believes himself justified +in stooping to any means." + +Wolfenden shuddered. + +"You must not live another day with him," he exclaimed; "you will come +to Deringham Hall. My mother will be only too glad to come and fetch +you. It is not very cheerful there just now, but anything is better than +leaving you with this man." + +She looked at him curiously. Her eyes were soft with something which +suggested pity, but resembled tears. + +"No," she said, "that would not do at all. You must not think because I +have been living with Mr. Sabin that I have no other relations or +friends. I have a very great many of both, only it was arranged that I +should leave them for a while. I can go back at any time; I am +altogether my own mistress." + +"Then go back at once," he begged her feverishly. "I could not bear to +think of you living here with this man another hour. Have your things +put together now and tell your maid. Let me take you to the station. +I want to see you leave this infernal house, and this atmosphere of +cheating and lies, when I do!" + +Her lips parted into the ghost of a smile. + +"I have not found so much to regret in my stay here," she said softly. + +He held out his arms, but she eluded him gently. + +"I hope," he said, "nay, I know that you will never regret it. Never! +Tell me what you are going to do now?" + +"I shall leave here this afternoon," she said, "and go straight to some +friends in London. Then I shall make new plans, or rather set myself +to the remaking of old ones. When I am ready, I will write to you. But +remember again--I make no promise!" + +He held out his hands. + +"But you will write to me?" + +She hesitated. + +"No, I shall not write to you. I am not going to give you my address +even; you must be patient for a little while." + +"You will not go away? You will not at least leave England without +seeing me?" + +"Not unless I am compelled," she promised, "and then, if I go, I will +come back again, or let you know where I am. You need not fear; I am not +going to slip away and be lost! You shall see me again." + +Wolfenden was dissatisfied. + +"I hate letting you go," he said. "I hate all this mystery. When one +comes to think of it, I do not even know your name! It is ridiculous! +Why cannot I take you to London, and we can be married to-morrow. Then +I should have the right to protect you against this blackguard." + +She laughed softly. Her lips were parted in dainty curves, and her eyes +were lit with merriment. + +"How delightful you are," she exclaimed. "And to think that the women of +my country call you Englishmen slow wooers!" + +"Won't you prove the contrary?" he begged. + +She shook her head. + +"It is already proved. But if you are sure you feel well enough to walk, +please go now. I want to catch the afternoon train to London." + +He held out his hands and tried once more to draw her to him. But she +stepped backwards laughing. + +"You must please be patient," she said, "and remember that to-day I am +betrothed to--somebody else! Goodbye!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +MR. SABIN TRIUMPHS + + +Wolfenden, for perhaps the first time in his life, chose the inland +road home. He was still feeling faint and giddy, and the fresh air only +partially revived him. He walked slowly, and rested more than once. It +took him almost half an hour to reach the cross roads. Here he sat on a +stile for a few minutes, until he began to feel himself again. Just as +he was preparing to resume his walk, he was aware of a carriage being +driven rapidly towards him, along the private road from Deringham Hall. + +He stood quite still and watched it. The roads were heavy after much +rain, and the mud was leaping up into the sunshine from the flying +wheels, bespattering the carriage, and reaching even the man who sat +upon the box. The horses had broken into a gallop, the driver was +leaning forward whip in hand. He knew at once whose carriage it was: it +was the little brougham which Mr. Sabin had brought down from London. He +had been up to the hall, then! Wolfenden's face grew stern. He stood +well out in the middle of the road. The horses would have to be checked +a little at the sharp turn before him. They would probably shy a little, +seeing him stand there in the centre of the road; he would be able to +bring them to a standstill. So he remained there motionless. Nearer and +nearer they came. Wolfenden set his teeth hard and forgot his +dizziness. + +They were almost upon him now. To his surprise the driver was making no +effort to check his galloping horses. It seemed impossible that they +could round that narrow corner at the pace they were going. A froth of +white foam was on their bits, and their eyes were bloodshot. They were +almost upon Wolfenden before he realised what was happening. They +made no attempt to turn the corner which he was guarding, but flashed +straight past him along the Cromer road. Wolfenden shouted and waved his +arms, but the coachman did not even glance in his direction. He caught +a glimpse of Mr. Sabin's face as he leaned back amongst the cushions, +dark, satyr-like, forbidding. The thin lips seemed to part into a +triumphant smile as he saw Wolfenden standing there. It was all over in +a moment. The carriage, with its whirling wheels, was already a speck in +the distance. + +Wolfenden looked at his watch. It was five-and-twenty minutes to one. +Mr. Sabin's purpose was obvious. He was trying to catch the one o'clock +express to London. To pursue that carriage was absolutely hopeless. +Wolfenden set his face towards Deringham Hall and ran steadily along the +road. He was filled with vague fears. The memory of Mr. Sabin's smile +haunted him. He had succeeded. By what means? Perhaps by violence! +Wolfenden forgot his own aching head. He was filled only with an intense +anxiety to reach his destination. If Mr. Sabin had so much as raised his +hand, he should pay for it. He understood now why that blow had been +given. It was to keep him out of the way. As he ran on, his teeth +clenched, and his breath coming fast, he grew hot with passionate anger. +He had been Mr. Sabin's dupe! Curse the man. + +He turned the final corner in the drive, climbed the steps and entered +the hall. The servants were standing about as usual. There was no sign +of anything having happened. They looked at him curiously, but that +might well be, owing to his dishevelled condition. + +"Where is the Admiral, Groves?" he asked breathlessly. + +"His lordship is in the billiard-room," the man answered. + +Wolfenden stopped short in his passage across the hall, and looked at +the man in amazement. + +"Where?" + +"In the billiard-room, my lord," the man repeated. "He was inquiring for +you only a moment ago." + +Wolfenden turned sharp to the left and entered the billiard-room. His +father was standing there with his coat off and a cue in his hand. +Directly he turned round Wolfenden was aware of a peculiar change in his +face and expression. The hard lines had vanished, every trace of anxiety +seemed to have left him. His eyes were soft and as clear as a child's. +He turned to Wolfenden with a bland smile, and immediately began to +chalk his cue. + +"Come and play me a game, Wolf," he cried out cheerfully. "You'll have +to give me a few, I'm so out of practice. We'll make it a hundred, and +you shall give me twenty. Which will you have, spot, or plain?" + +Wolfenden gulped down his amazement with an effort. + +"I'll take plain," he said. "It's a long time, isn't it, since we +played?" + +His father faced him for a minute and seemed perplexed. + +"Not so very long, surely. Wasn't it yesterday, or the day before?" + +Wolfenden wondered for a moment whether that blow had affected his +brain. It was years since he had seen the billiard-room at Deringham +Hall opened. + +"I don't exactly remember," he faltered. "Perhaps I was mistaken. Time +goes so quickly." + +"I wonder," the Admiral said, making a cannon and stepping briskly +round the table, "how it goes at all with you young men who do nothing. +Great mistake to have no profession, Wolf! I wish I could make you see +it." + +"I quite agree with you," Wolfenden said. "You must not look upon me as +quite an idler, though. I am a full-fledged barrister, you know, +although I do not practise, and I have serious thoughts of Parliament." + +The Admiral shook his head. + +"Poor career, my boy, poor career for a gentleman's son. Take my advice +and keep out of Parliament. I am going to pot the red. I don't like the +red ball, Wolf! It keeps looking at me like--like that man! Ah!" + +He flung his cue with a rattle upon the floor of inlaid wood, and +started back. + +"Look, Wolf!" he cried. "He's grinning at me! Come here, boy! Tell me +the truth! Have I been tricked? He told me that he was Mr. C. and I gave +him everything! Look at his face how it changes! He isn't like C. now! +He is like--who is it he is like? C.'s face is not so pale as that, and +he does not limp. I seem to remember him too! Can't you help me? Can't +you see him, boy?" + +He had been moving backwards slowly. He was leaning now against the +wall, his face blanched and perfectly bloodless, his eyes wild and his +pupils dilated. Wolfenden laid his cue down and came over to his side. + +"No, I can't see him, father," he said gently. "I think it must be +fancy; you have been working too hard." + +"You are blind, boy, blind," the Admiral muttered. "Where was it I saw +him last? There were sands--and a burning sun--his shot went wide, but I +aimed low and I hit him. He carried himself bravely. He was an +aristocrat, and he never forgot it. But why does he call himself Mr. C.? +What has he to do with my work?" + +Wolfenden choked down a lump in his throat. He began to surmise what had +happened. + +"Let us go into the other room, father," he said gently. "It is too cold +for billiards." + +The Admiral held out his arm. He seemed suddenly weak and old. His eyes +were dull and he was muttering to himself. Wolfenden led him gently from +the room and upstairs to his own apartment. There he made an excuse for +leaving him for a moment, and hurried down into the library. Mr. +Blatherwick was writing there alone. + +"Blatherwick," Wolfenden exclaimed, "what has happened this morning? Who +has been here?" + +Mr. Blatherwick blushed scarlet. + +"Miss Merton called, and a gentleman with her, from the Home Office, I +b-b-believe." + +"Who let him into the library?" Wolfenden asked sternly. + +Mr. Blatherwick fingered his collar, as though he found it too tight for +him, and appeared generally uncomfortable. + +"At Miss Merton's request, Lord Wolfenden," he said nervously, "I +allowed him to come in. I understood that he had been sent for by her +ladyship. I trust that I did not do wrong." + +"You are an ass, Blatherwick," Wolfenden exclaimed angrily. "You seem +to enjoy lending yourself to be the tool of swindlers and thieves. My +father has lost his reason entirely now, and it is your fault. You had +better leave here at once! You are altogether too credulous for this +world." + +Wolfenden strode away towards his mother's room, but a cry from upstairs +directed his steps. Lady Deringham and he met outside his father's door, +and entered the room together. They came face to face with the Admiral. + +"Out of my way!" he cried furiously. "Come with me, Wolf! We must follow +him. I must have my papers back, or kill him! I have been dreaming. He +told me that he was C. I gave him all he asked for! We must have them +back. Merciful heavens! if he publishes them, we are ruined ... where +did he come from?... They told me that he was dead.... Has he crawled +back out of hell? I shot him once! He has never forgotten it! This is +his vengeance! Oh, God!" + +He sank down into a chair. The perspiration stood out in great beads +upon his white forehead. He was shaking from head to foot. Suddenly his +head drooped in the act of further speech, the words died away upon his +lips. He was unconscious. The Countess knelt by his side and Wolfenden +stood over her. + +"Do you know anything of what has happened?" Wolfenden asked. + +"Very little," she whispered; "somehow, he--Mr. Sabin--got into the +library, and the shock sent him--like this. Here is the doctor." + +Dr. Whitlett was ushered in. They all three looked down upon the +Admiral, and the doctor asked a few rapid questions. There was certainly +a great change in his face. A strong line or two had disappeared, the +countenance was milder and younger. It was like the face of a child. +Wolfenden was afraid to see the eyes open, he seemed already in +imagination to picture to himself their vacant, unseeing light. Dr. +Whitlett shook his head sadly. + +"I am afraid," he said gravely, "that when Lord Deringham recovers he +will remember nothing! He has had a severe shock, and there is every +indication that his mind has given way." + +Wolfenden drew his teeth together savagely. This, then, was the result +of Mr. Sabin's visit. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + +BLANCHE MERTON'S LITTLE PLOT + + +At about four o'clock in the afternoon, as Helène was preparing to leave +the Lodge, a telegram was brought in to her from Mr. Sabin. + +"I have succeeded and am now _en route_ for London. You had better +follow when convenient, but do not be later than to-morrow." + +She tore it into small pieces and hummed a tune. + +"It is enough," she murmured. "I am not ambitious any longer. I am going +to London, it is true, my dear uncle, but not to Kensington! You can +play Richelieu to Henri and my cousin, if it pleases you. I wonder----" + +Her face grew softer and more thoughtful. Suddenly she laughed outright +to herself. She went and sat down on the couch, where Wolfenden had been +lying. + +"It would have been simpler," she said to herself. "How like a man to +think of such a daring thing. I wish--I almost wish--I had consented. +What a delightful sensation it would have made. Cécile will laugh when I +tell her of this. To her I have always seemed ambitious, and ambitious +only ... and now I have found out that I have a heart only to give it +away. _Hélas!_" + +There was a knock at the door. A servant entered. + +"Miss Merton would be glad to know if you could spare her a moment +before you left, Miss," the man announced. + +Helène glanced at the clock. + +"I am going very shortly," she said; "she had better come in now." + +The man withdrew, but returned almost immediately, ushering in Miss +Merton. For the first time Helène noticed how pretty the girl was. Her +trim, dainty little figure was shown off to its utmost advantage by the +neat tailor gown she was wearing, and there was a bright glow of colour +in her cheeks. Helène, who had no liking for her uncle's typewriter, and +who had scarcely yet spoken to her, remained standing, waiting to hear +what she had to say. + +"I wanted to see Mr. Sabin," she began. "Can you tell me when he will be +back?" + +"He has gone to London," Helène replied. "He will not be returning here +at all." + +The girl's surprise was evidently genuine. + +"But he said nothing about it a few hours ago," she exclaimed. "You are +in his confidence, I know. This morning he gave me something to do. I +was to get Mr. Blatherwick away from the Hall, and keep him with me as +long as I could. You do not know Mr. Blatherwick? then you cannot +sympathise with me. Since ten o'clock I have been with him. At last I +could keep him no longer. He has gone back to the Hall." + +"Mr. Sabin will probably write to you," Helène said. "This house is +taken for another fortnight, and you can of course remain here, if you +choose. You will certainly hear from him within the next day or two." + +Miss Merton shrugged her shoulders. + +"Well, I shall take a holiday," she declared. "I've finished typing all +the copy I had. Haven't you dropped something there?" + +She stooped suddenly forward, and picked up a locket from the floor. + +"Is this yours?" she asked. "Why----" + +She held the locket tightly in her hand. Her eyes seemed rivetted upon +it. It was very small and fashioned of plain gold, with a coronet and +letter on the face. Miss Merton looked at it in amazement. + +"Why, this belongs to Wolf--to Lord Wolfenden," she exclaimed. + +Helène looked at her in cold surprise. + +"It is very possible," she said. "He was here a short time ago." + +Miss Merton clenched the locket in her hand, as though she feared for +its safety. + +"Here! In this room?" + +"Certainly! He called to see Mr. Sabin and remained for some time." + +Miss Merton was a little paler. She did not look quite so pretty now. + +"Did you see him?" she asked. + +Helène raised her eyebrows. + +"I scarcely understand," she said, "what business it is of yours. Since +you ask me, however, I have no objection to telling you that I did see +Lord Wolfenden. He remained some time here with me after Mr. Sabin +left." + +"Perhaps," Miss Merton suggested, with acidity, "that was why I was sent +out of the way." + +Helène looked at her through half-closed eyes. + +"I am afraid," she said, "that you are a very impertinent young woman. +Be so good as to put that locket upon the table and leave the room." + +The girl did neither. On the contrary, she slipped the locket into the +bosom of her gown. + +"I will take care of this," she remarked. + +Helène laid her hand upon the bell. + +"I am afraid," she said, "that you must be unwell. I am going to ring +the bell. Perhaps you will be good enough to place the locket on that +table and leave the room." + +Miss Merton drew herself up angrily. + +"I have a better claim upon the locket than any one," she said. "I am +seeing Lord Wolfenden constantly. I will give it to him." + +"Thank you, you need not trouble," Helène answered. "I shall send a +servant with it to Deringham Hall. Will you be good enough to give it to +me?" + +Miss Merton drew a step backwards and shook her head. + +"I think," she said, "that I am more concerned in it than you are, for I +gave it to him." + +"You gave it to him?" + +Miss Merton nodded. + +"Yes! If you don't believe me, look here." + +She drew the locket from her bosom and, holding it out, touched a +spring. There was a small miniature inside; Helène, leaning over, +recognised it at once. It was a likeness of the girl herself. She felt +the colour leave her cheeks, but she did not flinch. + +"I was not aware," she said, "that you were on such friendly terms with +Lord Wolfenden." + +The girl smiled oddly. + +"Lord Wolfenden," she said, "has been very kind to me." + +"Perhaps," Helène continued, "I ought not to ask, but I must confess +that you have surprised me. Is Lord Wolfenden--your lover?" + +Miss Merton shut up the locket with a click and returned it to her +bosom. There was no longer any question as to her retaining it. She +looked at Helène thoughtfully. + +"Has he been making love to you?" she asked abruptly. + +Helène raised her eyes and looked at her. The other girl felt suddenly +very insignificant. + +"You must not ask me impertinent questions," she said calmly. "Of +course you need not tell me anything unless you choose. It is for you to +please yourself." + +The girl was white with anger. She had not a tithe of Helène's +self-control, and she felt that she was not making the best of her +opportunities. + +"Lord Wolfenden," she said slowly, "did promise to marry me once. I was +his father's secretary, and I was turned away on his account." + +"Indeed!" + +There was a silence between the two women. Miss Merton was watching +Helène closely, but she was disappointed. Her face was set in cold, +proud lines, but she showed no signs of trouble. + +"Under these circumstances," Helène said, "the locket certainly belongs +to you. If you will allow me, I will ring now for my maid. I am leaving +here this evening." + +"I should like," Miss Merton said, "to tell you about Lord Wolfenden and +myself." + +Helène smiled languidly. + +"You will excuse me, I am sure," she said. "It is scarcely a matter +which interests me." + +Miss Merton flushed angrily. She was at a disadvantage and she knew it. + +"I thought that you were very much interested in Lord Wolfenden," she +said spitefully. + +"I have found him much pleasanter than the majority of Englishmen." + +"But you don't care to hear about him--from me!" Miss Merton exclaimed. + +Helène smiled. + +"I have no desire to be rude," she said, "but since you put it in that +way I will admit that you are right." + +The girl bit her lip. She felt that she had only partially succeeded. +This girl was more than her match. She suddenly changed her tactics. + +"Oh! you are cruel," she exclaimed. "You want to take him from me; I +know you do! He promised--to marry me--before you came. He must marry +me! I dare not go home!" + +"I can assure you," Helène said quietly, "that I have not the faintest +desire to take Lord Wolfenden from you--or from any one else! I do not +like this conversation at all, and I do not intend to continue it. +Perhaps if you have nothing more to say you will go to your room, or if +you wish to go away I will order a carriage for you. Please make up your +mind quickly." + +Miss Merton sprang up and walked towards the door. Her pretty face was +distorted with anger. + +"I do not want your carriage," she said. "I am leaving the house, but I +will walk." + +"Just as you choose, if you only go," Helène murmured. + +She was already at the door, but she turned back. + +"I can't help it!" she exclaimed. "I've got to ask you a question. Has +Lord Wolfenden asked you to marry him?" + +Helène was disgusted, but she was not hard-hearted. The girl was +evidently distressed--it never occurred to her that she might not be in +earnest. She herself could not understand such a lack of self-respect. +A single gleam of pity mingled with her contempt. + +"I am not at liberty to answer your question," she said coldly, "as +it concerns Lord Wolfenden as well as myself. But I have no objection +to telling you this. I am the Princess Helène of Bourbon, and I am +betrothed to my cousin, Prince Henri of Ortrens! So you see that I am +not likely to marry Lord Wolfenden! Now, please, go away at once!" + +Miss Merton obeyed. She left the room literally speechless. Helène rang +the bell. + +"If that young person--Miss Merton I think her name is--attempts to see +me again before I leave, be sure that she is not admitted," she told the +servant. + +The man bowed and left the room. Helène was left alone. She sank into +an easy chair by the fire and leaned her head upon her hand. Her +self-control was easy and magnificent, but now that she was alone her +face had softened. The proud, little mouth was quivering. A feeling of +uneasiness, of utter depression stole over her. Tears stood for a moment +in her eyes but she brushed them fiercely away. + +"How could he have dared?" she murmured. "I wish that I were a man! +After all, then, it must be--ambition!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV + +A LITTLE GAME OF CARDS + + +Mr. Sabin, whose carriage had set him down at the Cromer railway station +with barely two minutes to spare, took his seat in an empty first-class +smoking carriage of the London train and deliberately lit a fine cigar. +He was filled with that sense of triumphant self-satisfaction which +falls to the lot of a man who, after much arduous labour successfully +accomplished, sees very near at hand the great desire of his life. +Two days' more quiet work, and his task was done. All that he had +pledged himself to give, he would have ready for the offering. The +finishing touches were but a matter of detail. It had been a great +undertaking--more difficult at times than he had ever reckoned for. He +told himself with some complacency that no other man breathing could +have brought it to so satisfactory a conclusion. His had been a life +of great endeavours; this one, however, was the crowning triumph of +his career. + +He watched the people take their seats in the train with idle eyes; he +was not interested in any of them. He scarcely saw their faces; they +were not of his world nor he of theirs. But suddenly he received a rude +shock. He sat upright and wiped away the moisture from the window in +order that he might see more clearly. A young man in a long ulster was +buying newspapers from a boy only a yard or two away. Something about +the figure and manner of standing seemed to Mr. Sabin vaguely familiar. +He waited until his head was turned, and the eyes of the two men +met--then the last vestige of doubt disappeared. It was Felix! Mr. Sabin +leaned back in his corner with darkening face. He had noticed to his +dismay that the encounter, surprising though it had been to him, had +been accepted by Felix as a matter of course--he was obviously prepared +for it. He had met Mr. Sabin's anxious and incredulous gaze with a +faint, peculiar smile. His probable presence in the train had evidently +been confidently reckoned upon. Felix had been watching him secretly, +and knowing what he did know of that young man, Mr. Sabin was seriously +disturbed. He did not hesitate for a moment, however, to face the +position. He determined at once upon a bold course of action. Letting +down the window he put out his head. + +"Are you going to town?" he asked Felix, as though seeing him then was +the most natural thing in the world. + +The young man nodded. + +"Yes, it's getting pretty dreary down here, isn't it? You're off back, I +see." + +Mr. Sabin assented. + +"Yes," he said, "I've had about enough of it. Besides, I'm overdue at +Pau, and I'm anxious to get there. Are you coming in here?" + +Felix hesitated. At first the suggestion had astonished him; almost +immediately it became a temptation. It would be distinctly piquant to +travel with this man. On the other hand it was distinctly unwise; it was +running an altogether unnecessary risk. Mr. Sabin read his thoughts with +the utmost ease. + +"I should rather like to have a little chat with you," he said quietly; +"you are not afraid, are you? I am quite unarmed, and as you see Nature +has not made me for a fighting man." + +Felix hesitated no longer. He motioned to the porter who was carrying +his dressing-case and golf clubs, and had them conveyed into Mr. Sabin's +carriage. He himself took the opposite seat. + +"I had no idea," Mr. Sabin remarked, "that you were in the +neighbourhood." + +Felix smiled. + +"You have been so engrossed in your--golf," he remarked. "It is a +fascinating game, is it not?" + +"Very," Mr. Sabin assented. "You yourself are a devotee, I see." + +"I am a beginner," Felix answered, "and a very clumsy beginner too. I +take my clubs with me, however, whenever I go to the coast at this time +of year; they save one from being considered a madman." + +"It is singular," Mr. Sabin remarked, "that you should have chosen to +visit Cromer just now. It is really a most interesting meeting. I do not +think that I have had the pleasure of seeing you since that evening at +the 'Milan,' when your behaviour towards me--forgive my alluding to +it--was scarcely considerate." + +Mr. Sabin was quite friendly and unembarrassed. He seemed to treat the +affair as a joke. Felix looked glumly out of the window. + +"Your luck stood you in good stead--as usual," he said. "I meant to kill +you that night. You see I don't mind confessing it! I had sworn to make +the attempt the first time we met face to face." + +"Considering that we are quite alone," Mr. Sabin remarked, looking +around the carriage, "and that from physical considerations my life +under such conditions is entirely at your mercy, I should like some +assurance that you have no intention of repeating the attempt. It would +add very materially to my comfort." + +The young man smiled without immediately answering. Then he was +suddenly grave; he appeared to be reflecting. Almost imperceptibly +Mr. Sabin's hand stole towards the window. He was making a mental +calculation as to what height above the carriage window the +communication cord might be. Felix, watching his fingers, smiled again. + +"You need have no fear," he said; "the cause of personal enmity between +you and me is dead. You have nothing more to fear from me at any time." + +Mr. Sabin's hand slid down again to his side. + +"I am charmed to hear it," he declared. "You are, I presume, in +earnest?" + +"Most certainly. It is as I say; the cause for personal enmity between +us is removed. Save for a strong personal dislike, which under the +circumstances I trust that you will pardon me"--Mr. Sabin bowed--"I have +no feeling towards you whatever!" + +Mr. Sabin drew a somewhat exaggerated sigh of relief. "I live," he said, +"with one more fear removed. But I must confess," he added, "to a +certain amount of curiosity. We have a somewhat tedious journey before +us, and several hours at our disposal; would it be asking you too +much----" + +Felix waved his hand. + +"Not at all," he said. "A few words will explain everything. I have +other matters to speak of with you, but they can wait. As you remark, we +have plenty of time before us. Three weeks ago I received a telegram +from Brussels. It was from--forgive me, if I do not utter her name in +your presence; it seems somehow like sacrilege." + +Mr. Sabin bowed; a little red spot was burning through the pallor of his +sunken cheeks. + +"I was there," Felix continued, "in a matter of twenty-four hours. She +was ill--believed herself to be dying. We spoke together of a little +event many years old; yet which I venture to think, neither you, nor +she, nor I have ever forgotten." + +Mr. Sabin pulled down the blind by his side; it was only a stray gleam +of wintry sunshine, which had stolen through the grey clouds, but it +seemed to dazzle him. + +"It had come to her knowledge that you and I were together in +London--that you were once more essaying to play a part in civilised and +great affairs. And lest our meeting should bring harm about, she told +me--something of which I have always been in ignorance." + +"Ah!" + +Mr. Sabin moved uneasily in his seat. He drew his club-foot a little +further back; Felix seemed to be looking at it absently. + +"She showed me," he continued, "a little pistol; she explained to me +that a woman's aim is a most uncertain thing. Besides, you were some +distance away, and your spring aside helped you. Then, too, so far as I +could see from the mechanism of the thing--it was an old and clumsy +affair--it carried low. At any rate the shot, which was doubtless meant +for your heart, found a haven in your foot. From her lips I learned for +the first time that she, the sweetest and most timid of her sex, had +dared to become her own avenger. Life is a sad enough thing, and +pleasure is rare, yet I tasted pleasure of the keenest and subtlest kind +when she told me that story. I feel even now some slight return of it +when I look at your--shall we call deformity, and consider how different +a person----" + +Mr. Sabin half rose to his feet; his face was white and set, save where +a single spot of colour was flaring high up near his cheek-bone. His +eyes were bloodshot; for a moment he seemed about to strike the other +man. Felix broke off in his sentence, and watched him warily. + +"Come," he said, "it is not like you to lose control of yourself in that +manner. It is a simple matter. You wronged a woman, and she avenged +herself magnificently. As for me, I can see that my interference was +quite uncalled for; I even venture to offer you my apologies for the +fright I must have given you at the 'Milan.' The account had already +been straightened by abler hands. I can assure you that I am no longer +your enemy. In fact, when I look at you"--his eyes seemed to fall almost +to the ground--"when I look at you, I permit myself some slight +sensation of pity for your unfortunate affliction. But it was +magnificent! Shall we change the subject now?" + +Mr. Sabin sat quite still in his corner; his eyes seemed fixed upon a +distant hill, bordering the flat country through which they were +passing. Felix's stinging words and mocking smile had no meaning for +him. In fact he did not see his companion any longer, nor was he +conscious of his presence. The narrow confines of the railway carriage +had fallen away. He was in a lofty room, in a chamber of a palace, a +privileged guest, the lover of the woman whose dark, passionate eyes and +soft, white arms were gleaming there before his eyes. It was but one of +many such scenes. He shuddered very slightly, as he went back further +still. He had been faithful to one god, and one god only--the god of +self! Was it a sign of coming trouble, that for the first time for many +years he had abandoned himself to the impotent morbidness of abstract +thought? He shook himself free from it with an effort; what lunacy! +To-day he was on the eve of a mighty success--his feet were planted +firmly upon the threshold! The end of all his ambitions stood fairly in +view, and the path to it was wide and easy. Only a little time, and his +must be one of the first names in Europe! The thought thrilled him, the +little flood of impersonal recollections ebbed away; he was himself +again, keen, alert, vigorous! Suddenly he met the eyes of his companion +fixed steadfastly upon him, and his face darkened. There was something +ominous about this man's appearance; his very presence seemed like a +foreboding of disaster. + +"I am much obliged to you for your little romance," he said. "There is +one point, however, which needs some explanation. If your interest is +really, as you suggest, at an end, what are you doing down here? I +presume that your appearance is not altogether a coincidence." + +"Certainly not," Felix answered. "Let me correct you, however, on one +trifling point. I said, you must remember--my personal interest." + +"I do not," Mr. Sabin remarked, "exactly see the distinction; in fact, I +do not follow you at all!" + +"I am so stupid," Felix declared apologetically. "I ought to have +explained myself more clearly. It is even possible that you, who know +everything, may yet be ignorant of my present position." + +"I certainly have no knowledge of it," Mr. Sabin admitted. + +Felix was gently astonished. + +"Really! I took it for granted, of course, that you knew. Well, I am +employed--not in any important post, of course--at the Russian Embassy. +His Excellency has been very kind to me." + +Mr. Sabin for once felt his nerve grow weak; those evil forebodings of +his had very swiftly become verified. This man was his enemy. Yet he +recovered himself almost as quickly. What had he to fear? His was still +the winning hand. + +"I am pleased to hear," he said, "that you have found such creditable +employment. I hope you will make every effort to retain it; you have +thrown away many chances." + +Felix at first smiled; then he leaned back amongst the cushions and +laughed outright. When he had ceased, he wiped the tears from his eyes. +He sat up again and looked with admiration at the still, pale figure +opposite to him. + +"You are inimitable," he said--"wonderful! If you live long enough, you +will certainly become very famous. What will it be, I wonder--Emperor, +Dictator, President of a Republic, the Minister of an Emperor? The +latter I should imagine; you were always such an aristocrat. I would not +have missed this journey for the world. I am longing to know what you +will say to Prince Lobenski at King's Cross." + +Mr. Sabin looked at him keenly. + +"So you are only a lacquey after all, then?" he remarked--"a common +spy!" + +"Very much at your service," Felix answered, with a low bow. "A spy, if +you like, engaged for the last two weeks in very closely watching your +movements, and solving the mystery of your sudden devotion to a +heathenish game!" + +"There, at any rate," Mr. Sabin said calmly, "you are quite wrong. If +you had watched my play I flatter myself that you would have realised +that my golf at any rate was no pretence." + +"I never imagined," Felix rejoined, "that you would be anything but +proficient at any game in which you cared to interest yourself; but I +never imagined either that you came to Cromer to play golf--especially +just now." + +"Modern diplomacy," Mr. Sabin said, after a brief pause, "has undergone, +as you may be aware, a remarkable transformation. Secrecy is now quite +out of date; it is the custom amongst the masters to play with the cards +upon the table." + +"There is a good deal in what you say," Felix answered thoughtfully. +"Come, we will play the game, then! It is my lead. Very well! I have +been down here watching you continually, with the object of discovering +the source of this wonderful power by means of which you are prepared to +offer up this country, bound hand and foot, to whichever Power you +decide to make terms with. Sounds like a fairy tale, doesn't it? But you +obviously believe in it yourself, and Lobenski believes in you." + +"Good!" Mr. Sabin declared. "That power of which I have spoken I now +possess! It was nearly complete a month ago; an hour's work now will +make it a living and invulnerable fact." + +"You obtained," Felix said, "your final success this afternoon, when you +robbed the mad Admiral." + +Mr. Sabin shook his head gently. + +"I have not robbed any one," he said; "I never use force." + +Felix looked at him reproachfully. + +"I have heard much that is evil about you," he said, "but I have never +heard before that you were known to--to--dear me, it is a very +unpleasant thing to say!" + +"Well, sir?" + +"To cheat at cards!" + +Mr. Sabin drew a short, little breath. + +"What I have said is true to the letter," he repeated "The Admiral gave +me the trifling information I asked for, with his own hands." + +Felix remained incredulous. + +"Then you must add the power of hypnotism," he declared, "to your other +accomplishments." + +Mr. Sabin laughed scornfully, nevertheless he did not seem to be +altogether at his ease. The little scene in the library at Deringham +Hall was not a pleasant recollection for him. + +"The matter after all," he said coldly, "is unimportant; it is merely a +detail. I will admit that you have done your spy's work well. Now, what +will buy your memory, and your departure from this train, at the next +station?" + +Felix smiled. + +"You are becoming more sensible," he said; "it is a very fair question +to ask. My price is the faithful fulfilment of your contract with my +chief." + +"I have made no contract with him." + +"You have opened negotiations; he is ready to come to terms with you. +You have only to name your price." + +"I have no price," Mr. Sabin said quietly, "that he could pay." + +"What Knigenstein can give," Felix said, "he can give double. The Secret +Service funds of Russia are the largest in the world; you can have +practically a blank cheque upon them." + +"I repeat," Mr. Sabin said, "I have no price that Prince Lobenski could +pay. You talk as though I were a blackmailer, or a common thief. You +have always misunderstood me. Come! I will remember that the cards are +upon the table; I will be wholly frank with you. It is Knigenstein with +whom I mean to treat, and not your chief. He has agreed to my +terms--Russia never could." + +Felix was silent for a moment. + +"You are holding," he said, "your trump card in your hand. Whatever in +this world Germany could give you, Russia could improve upon." + +"She could do so," Mr. Sabin said, "only at the expense of her honour. +Come! here is that trump card. I will throw it upon the table; now you +see that my hands are empty. My price is the invasion of France, and the +restoration of the Monarchy." + +Felix looked at him as a man looks upon a lunatic. + +"You are playing with me," he cried. + +"I was never more in earnest in my life," Mr. Sabin said. + +"Do you mean to tell me that you--in cold blood--are working for so +visionary, so impossible an end?" + +"It is neither visionary," Mr. Sabin said, "nor impossible. I do not +believe that any man, save myself, properly appreciates the strength of +the Royalist party in France. Every day, every minute brings it fresh +adherents. It is as certain that some day a king will reign once more at +Versailles, as that the sun will set before many hours are past. The +French people are too bourgeois at heart to love a republic. The desire +for its abolition is growing up in their hearts day by day. You +understand me now when I say that I cannot treat with your country? The +honour of Russia is bound up with her friendship to France. Germany, on +the other hand, has ready her battle cry. She and France have been +quivering on the verge of war for many a year. My whole hand is upon the +table now, Felix. Look at the cards, and tell me whether we can treat!" + +Felix was silent. He looked at his opponent with unwilling admiration; +the man after all, then, was great. For the moment he could think of +nothing whatever to say. + +"Now, listen to me," Mr. Sabin continued earnestly. "I made a great +mistake when I ever mentioned the matter to Prince Lobenski. I cannot +treat with him, but on the other hand, I do not want to be hampered by +his importunities for the next few days. You have done your duty, and +you have done it well. It is not your fault that you cannot succeed. +Leave the train at the next station--disappear for a week, and I will +give you a fortune. You are young--the world is before you. You can seek +distinction in whatever way you will. I have a cheque-book in my pocket, +and a fountain pen. I will give you an order on the Crédit Lyonnaise for +£20,000." + +Felix laughed softly; his face was full of admiration. He looked at his +watch, and began to gather together his belongings. + +"Write out the cheque," he said; "I agree. We shall be at the junction +in about ten minutes." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI + +THE MODERN RICHELIEU + + +"So I have found you at last!" + +Mr. Sabin looked up with a distinct start from the table where he sat +writing. When he saw who his visitor was, he set down his pen and rose +to receive her at once. He permitted himself to indulge in a little +gesture of relief; her noiseless entrance had filled him with a sudden +fear. + +"My dear Helène," he said, placing a chair for her, "if I had had the +least idea that you wished to see me, I would have let you know my +whereabouts. I am sorry that you should have had any difficulty; you +should have written." + +She shrugged her shoulders slightly. + +"What does it all mean?" she asked. "Why are you masquerading in cheap +lodgings, and why do they say at Kensington that you have gone abroad? +Have things gone wrong?" + +He turned and faced her directly. She saw then that pale and haggard +though he was, his was not the countenance of a man tasting the +bitterness of failure. + +"Very much the contrary," he said; "we are on the brink of success. All +that remains to be done is the fitting together of my American work with +the last of these papers. It will take me about another twenty-four +hours." + +She handed across to him a morning newspaper, which she had been +carrying in her muff. A certain paragraph was marked. + +"We regret to state that Admiral, the Earl of Deringham, was seized +yesterday morning with a fit, whilst alone in his study. Dr. Bond, of +Harley Street, was summoned at once to a consultation, but we understand +that the case is a critical one, and the gravest fears are entertained. +Lord Deringham was the greatest living authority upon the subject of our +fleet and coast defences, and we are informed that at the time of his +seizure he was completing a very important work in connection with this +subject." + +Mr. Sabin read the paragraph slowly, and then handed the paper back to +Helène. + +"Deringham was a very distinguished man," he remarked, "but he was stark +mad, and has been for years. They have been able to keep it quiet, only +because he was harmless." + +"You remember what I told you about these people," Helène said sternly; +"I told you distinctly that I would not have them harmed in any way. You +were at Deringham Hall on the morning of his seizure. You went straight +there from the Lodge." + +"That is quite true," he admitted; "but I had nothing to do with his +illness." + +"I wish I could feel quite certain of that," Helène answered. "You are a +very determined man, and you went there to get papers from him by any +means. You proved that you were altogether reckless as to how you got +them, by your treatment of Lord Wolfenden. You succeeded! No one living +knows by what means!" + +He interrupted her with an impatient gesture. + +"There is nothing in this worth discussion," he declared. "Lord +Deringham is nothing to you--you never even saw him in your life, and if +you really have any misgivings about it, I can assure you that I got +what I wanted from him without violence. It is not a matter for you to +concern yourself in, nor is it a matter worth considering at all, +especially at such a time as the present." + +She sat quite still, her head resting upon her gloved hand. He did not +altogether like her appearance. + +"I want you to understand," he continued slowly, "that success, absolute +success is ours. I have the personal pledge of the German Emperor, +signed by his own hand. To-morrow at noon the compact is concluded. In a +few weeks, at the most, the thunderbolt will have fallen. These arrogant +Islanders will be facing a great invasion, whose success is already made +absolutely sure. And then----" + +He paused: his face kindled with a passionate enthusiasm, his eyes were +lit with fire. There was something great in the man's rapt expression. + +"Then, the only true, the only sweet battle-cry in the French tongue, +will ring through the woods of Brittany, ay, even to the walls of Paris. +_Vive la France! Vive la Monarchie!_" + +"France has suffered so much," she murmured; "do not you who love her so +tremble when you think of her rivers running once more red with blood?" + +"If there be war at all," he answered, "it will be brief. Year by year +the loyalists have gained power and influence. I have notes here from +secret agents in every town, almost in every village; the great heart of +Paris is with us. Henri will only have to show himself, and the voice of +the people will shout him king! And you----" + +"For me," she interrupted, "nothing! I withdraw! I will not marry Henri, +he must stand his chance alone! His is the elder branch--he is the +direct heir to the throne!" + +Mr. Sabin drew in a long breath between his teeth. He was nerving +himself for a great effort. This fear had been the one small, black +cloud in the sky of his happiness. + +"Helène," he said, "if I believed that you meant--that you could +possibly mean--what you have this moment said, I would tear my compact +in two, throw this box amongst the flames, and make my bow to my life's +work. But you do not mean it. You will change your mind." + +"But indeed I shall not!" + +"Of necessity you must; the alliance between you and Henri is absolutely +compulsory. You unite the two great branches of our royal family. The +sound of your name, coupled with his, will recall to the ears of France +all that was most glorious in her splendid history. And apart from that, +Henri needs such a woman as you for his queen. He has many excellent +qualities, but he is weak, a trifle too easy, a trifle thoughtless." + +"He is a dissipated _roué_," she said in a low tone, with curling lip. + +Mr. Sabin, who had been walking restlessly up and down the room, came +and stood over her, leaning upon his wonderful stick. + +"Helène," he said gravely, "for your own sake, and for your country's +sake, I charge you to consider well what you are doing. What does it +matter to you if Henri is even as bad as you say, which, mark you, I +deny. He is the King of France! Personally, you can be strangers if you +please, but marry him you must. You need not be his wife, but you must +be his queen! Almost you make me ask myself whether I am talking to +Helène of Bourbon, a Princess Royal of France, or to a love-sick English +country girl, pining for a sweetheart, whose highest ambition it is to +bear children, and whose destiny is to become a drudge. May God forbid +it! May God forbid, that after all these years of darkness you should +play me false now when the dawn is already lightening the sky. Sink your +sex! Forget it! Remember that you are more than a woman--you are royal, +and your country has the first claim upon your heart. The dignity which +exalts demands also sacrifices! Think of your great ancestors, who died +with this prayer upon their lips--that one day their children's children +should win again the throne which they had lost. Their eyes may be upon +you at this moment. Give me a single reason for this change in you--one +single valid reason, and I will say no more." + +She was silent; the colour was coming and going in her cheeks. She was +deeply moved; the honest passion in his tone had thrilled her. + +"I would not dare to suggest, even in a whisper, to myself," he went on, +his dark eyes fixed upon her, and his voice lowered, "that Helène of +Bourbon, Princess of Brittany, could set a greater price upon the love +of a man--and that man an Englishman--than upon her country's salvation. +I would not even suffer so dishonouring a thought to creep into my +brain. Yet I will remember that you are a girl--a woman--that is to say, +a creature of strange moods; and I remind you that the marriage of a +queen entails only the giving of a hand, her heart remains always at her +disposal, and never yet has a queen of France been without her lover!" + +She looked up at him with burning cheeks. + +"You have spoken bitterly to me," she said, "but from your point of view +I have deserved it. Perhaps I have been weak; after all, men are not so +very different. They are all ignoble. You are right when you call us +women creatures of moods. To-day I should prefer the convent to marriage +with any man. But listen! If you can persuade me that my marriage with +Henri is necessary for his acceptance by the people of France, if I am +assured of that, I will yield." + +Mr. Sabin drew a long breath of relief, Blanche had succeeded, then. +Even in that moment he found time to realise that, without her aid, he +would have run a terrible risk of failure. He sat down and spoke +calmly, but impressively. + +"From my point of view," he said, "and I have considered the subject +exhaustively, I believe that it is absolutely necessary. You and Henri +represent the two great Houses, who might, with almost equal right, +claim the throne. The result of your union must be perfect unanimity. +Now, suppose that Henri stands alone; don't you see that your cousin, +Louis of Bourbon, is almost as near in the direct line? He is young and +impetuous, without ballast, but I believe ambitious. He would be almost +sure to assert himself. At any rate, his very existence would certainly +lead to factions, and the splitting up of nobles into parties. This is +the greatest evil we could possibly have to face. There must be no +dissensions whatever during the first generation of the re-established +monarchy. The country would not be strong enough to bear it. With you +married to Henri, the two great Houses of Bourbon and Ortrens are +allied. Against their representative there would be no one strong enough +to lift a hand. Have I made it clear?" + +"Yes," the girl answered, "you have made it very clear. Will you let me +consider for a few moments?" + +She sat there with her back half-turned to him, gazing into the fire. +He moved back in the chair and went on with his writing. She heard the +lightning rush of his pen, as he covered sheet after sheet of paper +without even glancing towards her; he had no more to say, he knew very +well that his work was done. The influence of his words were strong upon +her; in her heart they had awakened some echo of those old ambitions +which had once been very real and live things. She set herself the task +of fanning them once more with the fire of enthusiasm. For she had no +longer any doubts as to her duty. Wolfenden's words--the first spoken +words of love which had ever been addressed to her--had carried with +them at the time a peculiar and a very sweet conviction. She had lost +faith, too, in Mr. Sabin and his methods. She had begun to wonder +whether he was not after all a visionary, whether there was really the +faintest chance of the people of her country ever being stirred into a +return to their old faith and allegiance. Wolfenden's appearance had +been for him singularly opportune, and she had almost decided a few +mornings ago, that, after all, there was not any real bar between them. +She was a princess, but of a fallen House; he was a nobleman of the most +powerful country in the world. She had permitted herself to care for +him a little; she was astonished to find how swiftly that sensation had +grown into something which had promised to become very real and precious +to her--and then, this insolent girl had come to her--her photograph +was in his locket. He was like Henri, and all the others! She despised +herself for the heartache of which she was sadly conscious. Her cheeks +burned with shame, and her heart was hot with rage, when she thought of +the kiss she had given him--perhaps he had even placed her upon a level +with the typewriting girl, had dared to consider her, too, as a possible +plaything for his idle moments. She set her teeth, and her eyes flashed. + +Mr. Sabin, as his pen flew over the paper, felt a touch upon his arm. + +"I am quite convinced," she said. "When the time comes I shall be +ready." + +He looked up with a faint, but gratified smile. + +"I had no fear of you," he said. "Frankly, in Henri alone I should have +been destitute of confidence. I should not have laboured as I have done, +but for you! In your hands, largely, the destinies of your country will +remain." + +"I shall do my duty," she answered quietly. + +"I always knew it! And now," he said, looking back towards his papers, +"how about the present? I do not want you here. Your presence would +certainly excite comment, and I am virtually in hiding for the next +twenty-four hours." + +"The Duchess of Montegarde arrived in London yesterday," she replied. "I +am going to her." + +"You could not do a wiser thing," he declared. "Send your address to +Avon House; to-morrow night or Saturday night I shall come for you. All +will be settled then; we shall have plenty to do, but after the labour +of the last seven years it will not seem like work. It will be the +beginning of the harvest." + +She looked at him thoughtfully. + +"And your reward," she said, "what is that to be?" + +He smiled. + +"I will not pretend," he answered, "that I have worked for the love of +my country and my order alone. I also am ambitious, although my ambition +is more patriotic than personal. I mean to be first Minister of France!" + +"You will deserve it," she said. "You are a very wonderful man." + +She walked out into the street, and entered the cab which she had +ordered to wait for her. + +"Fourteen, Grosvenor Square," she told the man, "but call at the first +telegraph office." + +He set her down in a few minutes. She entered a small post-office and +stood for a moment before one of the compartments. Then she drew a form +towards her, and wrote out a telegram-- + + "To Lord Wolfenden, + "Deringham Hall, + "Norfolk. + + "I cannot send for you as I promised. Farewell--HELÈNE." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + +FOR A GREAT STAKE + + + "GERMANY'S INSULT TO ENGLAND! + ENGLAND'S REPLY. + MOBILISATION IMMINENT. + ARMING OF THE FLEET. + WAR ALMOST CERTAIN!" + +Wolfenden, who had bought no paper on his way up from Norfolk, gazed +with something approaching amazement at the huge placards everywhere +displayed along the Strand, thrust into his cab by adventurous newsboys, +flaunting upon every lamp-post. He alighted near Trafalgar Square, and +purchased a _Globe_. The actual facts were meagre enough, but +significant when considered in the light of a few days ago. A vacancy +had occurred upon the throne of one of England's far off dependencies. +The British nominee had been insulted in his palace by the German +consul--a rival, denounced as rebel by the authorities, had been carried +off in safety on to a German gunboat, and accorded royal honours. The +thing was trivial as it stood, but its importance had been enhanced a +thousandfold by later news. The German Emperor had sent a telegram, +approving his consul's action and forbidding him to recognise the new +sovereign. There was no possibility of misinterpreting such an action; +it was an overt and deliberate insult, the second within a week. +Wolfenden read the news upon the pavements of Pall Mall, jostled from +right to left by hurrying passers by, conscious too, all the while, of +that subtle sense of excitement which was in the air and was visibly +reflected in the faces of the crowd. He turned into his club, and here +he found even a deeper note of the prevailing fever. Men were gathered +around the tape in little clusters, listening to the click click of the +instrument, and reading aloud the little items of news as they appeared. +There was a burst of applause when the Prime Minister's dignified and +peremptory demand for an explanation eked out about four o'clock in the +afternoon--an hour later it was rumoured that the German Ambassador had +received his papers. The Stock Exchange remained firm--there was +enthusiasm, but no panic. Wolfenden began to wish that he, too, were a +soldier, as he passed from one to another of the eager groups of young +men about his own age, eagerly discussing the chances of the coming +campaign. He walked out into the streets presently, and made his way +boldly down to the house which had been pointed out to him as the town +abode of Mr. Sabin and his niece. He found it shut up and apparently +empty. The servant, who after some time answered his numerous ringings, +was, either from design or chance, more than usually stupid. He could +not tell where Mr. Sabin was or when he would return--he seemed to have +no information whatever as regards the young lady. Wolfenden turned away +in despair and walked slowly back towards Pall Mall. At the bottom of +Piccadilly he stopped for a moment to let a little stream of carriages +pass by; he was about to cross the road when a large barouche, with a +pair of restive horses, again blocked the way. Attracted by an unknown +coronet upon the panel, and the quiet magnificence of the servants' +liveries, he glanced curiously at the occupants as the carriage passed +him. It was one of the surprises of his life. The woman nearest to him +he knew well by sight; she was the Duchess de Montegarde, one of the +richest and most famous of Frenchwomen--a woman often quoted as exactly +typical of the old French nobility, and who had furthermore gained +for herself a personal reputation for delicate and aristocratic +exclusiveness, not altogether shared by her compeers in English society. +By her side--in the seat of honour--was Helène, and opposite to them +was a young man with a dark, fiercely twisted moustache and distinctly +foreign appearance. They passed slowly, and Wolfenden remained upon the +edge of the pavement with his eyes fixed upon them. + +He was conscious at once of something about her which seemed strange +to him--some new development. She leaned back in her seat, barely +pretending to listen to the young man's conversation, her lips a little +curled, her own face the very prototype of aristocratic languor! All the +lines of race were in her delicately chiselled features; the mere idea +of regarding her as the niece of the unknown Mr. Sabin seemed just then +almost ridiculous. The carriage went by without her seeing him--she +appeared to have no interest whatever in the passers-by. But Wolfenden +remained there without moving until a touch on the arm recalled him to +himself. + +He turned abruptly round, and to his amazement found himself shaking +hands vigorously with Densham! + +"Where on earth did you spring from, old chap?" he asked. "Dick said +that you had gone abroad." + +Densham smiled a little sadly. + +"I was on my way," he said, "when I heard the war rumours. There seemed +to be something in it, so I came back as fast as express trains and +steamers would bring me. I only landed in England this morning. I am +applying for the post of correspondent to the _London News_." + +Wolfenden sighed. + +"I would give the world," he said, "for some such excitement as that!" + +Densham drew his hand through Wolfenden's arm. + +"I saw whom you were watching just now," he said. "She is as beautiful +as ever!" + +Wolfenden turned suddenly round. + +"Densham," he said, "you know who she is--tell me." + +"Do you mean to say that you have not found out?" + +"I do! I know her better, but still only as Mr. Sabin's niece!" + +Densham was silent for several moments. He felt Wolfenden's fingers +gripping his arm nervously. + +"Well, I do not see that I should be betraying any confidence now," he +said. "The promise I gave was only binding for a short time, and now +that she is to be seen openly with the Duchess de Montegarde, I suppose +the embargo is removed. The young lady is the Princess Helène Frances +de Bourbon, and the young man is her betrothed husband, the Prince of +Ortrens!" + +Piccadilly became suddenly a vague and shadowy thoroughfare to +Wolfenden. He was not quite sure whether his footsteps even reached the +pavement. Densham hastened him into the club and, installing him into an +easy chair, called for brandies and soda. + +"Poor old Wolf!" he said softly. "I'm afraid you're like I was--very +hard hit. Here, drink this! I'm beastly sorry I told you, but I +certainly thought that you would have had some idea." + +"I have been a thick-headed idiot!" Wolfenden exclaimed. "There have +been heaps of things from which I might have guessed something near the +truth, at any rate. What a fool she must have thought me!" + +The two men were silent. Outside in the street there was a rush for a +special edition, and a half cheer rang in the room. A waiter entered +with a handful of copies which were instantly seized upon. Wolfenden +secured one and read the headings. + + "MOBILIZATION DECLARED. + ALL LEAVE CANCELLED. + CABINET COUNCIL STILL SITTING." + +"Densham, do you realise that we are really in for war?" + +Densham nodded. + +"I don't think there can be any doubt about it myself. What a +thunderbolt! By the bye, where is your friend, Mr. Sabin?" + +Wolfenden shook his head. + +"I do not know; I came to London partially to see him. I have an account +to settle when we do meet; at present he has disappeared. Densham!" + +"Well!" + +"If Miss Sabin has become the Princess Helène of Bourbon, who is Mr. +Sabin?" + +"I am not sure," Densham answered, "I have been looking into the +genealogy of the family, and if he is really her uncle, there is only +one man whom he can be--the Duke de Souspennier!" + +"Souspennier! Wasn't he banished from France for something or +other--intriguing for the restoration of the Monarchy, I think it was?" + +Densham nodded. + +"Yes, he disappeared at the time of the Commune, and since then he is +supposed to have been in Asia somewhere. He has quite a history, I +believe, and at different times has been involved in several European +complications. I shouldn't be at all surprised if he isn't our man. Mr. +Sabin has rather the look of a man who has travelled in the East, and he +is certainly an aristocrat." + +Wolfenden was suddenly thoughtful. + +"Harcutt would be very much interested in this," he declared. "What's up +outside?" + +There had been a crash in the street, and the sound of a horse plunging; +the two men walked to the windows. The _débris_ of a hansom was lying in +the road, with one wheel hopelessly smashed, a few yards off. A man, +covered with mud, rose slowly up from the wreck. Densham and Wolfenden +simultaneously recognised him. + +"It is Felix," Wolfenden exclaimed. "Come on!" + +They both hurried out into the street. The driver of the hansom, who +also was covered with mud, stood talking to Felix while staunching the +blood from a wound in his forehead. + +"I'm very sorry, sir," he was saying, "I hope you'll remember as it was +your orders to risk an accident, sooner than lose sight of t'other gent. +Mine's a good 'oss, but what is he against a pair and a light brougham? +and Piccadilly ain't the place for a chase of this sort! It'll cost me +three pun ten, sir, to say nothing of the wheel----" + +Felix motioned him impatiently to be silent, and thrust a note into his +hand. + +"If the damage comes to more than that," he said, "ask for me at the +Russian Embassy, and I will pay it. Here is my card." + +Felix was preparing to enter another cab, but Wolfenden laid his hand +upon his shoulder. + +"Won't you come into my club here, and have a wash?" he suggested. "I am +afraid that you have cut your cheek." + +Felix raised his handkerchief to his face, and found it covered with +blood. + +"Thank you, Lord Wolfenden," he said, "I should be glad to; you seem +destined always to play the part of the Good Samaritan to me!" + +They both went with him into the lavatory. + +"Do you know," he asked Wolfenden, when he had sponged his face, "whom I +was following?" + +Wolfenden shook his head. + +"Mr. Sabin?" he suggested. + +"Not Mr. Sabin himself," Felix answered, "but almost the same thing. It +was Foo Cha, his Chinese servant who has just arrived in England. Have +you any idea where Mr. Sabin is?" + +They both shook their heads. + +"I do not know," Wolfenden said, "but I am very anxious to find out. I +have an account to settle with him!" + +"And I," Felix murmured in a low tone, "have a very much longer one +against him. To-night, if I am not too late, there will be a balance +struck between us! I have lost Foo Cha, but others, better skilled than +I am, are in search of his master. They will succeed, too! They always +succeed. What have you against him, Lord Wolfenden?" + +Wolfenden hesitated; yet why not tell the man the truth? He had nothing +to gain by concealment. + +"He forced himself into my father's house in Norfolk and obtained, +either by force or craft, some valuable papers. My father was in +delicate health, and we fear that the shock will cost him his reason." + +"Do you want to know what they were?" Felix said. "I can tell you! Do +you want to know what he required them for? I can tell you that too! He +has concocted a marvellous scheme, and if he is left to himself for +another hour or two, he will succeed. But I have no fear; I have set +working a mightier machinery than even he can grapple with!" + +They had walked together into the smoke-room; Felix seemed somewhat +shaken and was glad to rest for a few minutes. + +"Has he outstepped the law, been guilty of any crime?" Wolfenden asked; +"he is daring enough!" + +Felix laughed shortly. He was lighting a cigarette, but his hand +trembled so that he could scarcely hold the match. + +"A further reaching arm than the law," he said, dropping his voice, +"more powerful than governments. Even by this time his whereabouts is +known. If we are only in time; that is the only fear." + +"Cannot you tell us," Wolfenden asked, "something of this wonderful +scheme of his--why was he so anxious to get those papers and drawings +from my father--to what purpose can he possibly put them?" + +Felix hesitated. + +"Well," he said, "why not? You have a right to know. Understand that I +myself have only the barest outline of it; I will tell you this, +however. Mr. Sabin is the Duc de Souspennier, a Frenchman of fabulous +wealth, who has played many strange parts in European history. Amongst +other of his accomplishments, he is a mechanical and strategical genius. +He has studied under Addison in America, one subject only, for three +years--the destruction of warships and fortifications by electrical +contrivances unknown to the general world. Then he came to England, and +collected a vast amount of information concerning your navy and coast +defences in many different ways--finally he sent a girl to play the part +of typist to your father, whom he knew to be the greatest living +authority upon all naval matters connected with your country. Every line +he wrote was copied and sent to Mr. Sabin, until by some means your +father's suspicions were aroused, and the girl was dismissed. The last +portion of your father's work consisted of a set of drawings, of no +fewer than twenty-seven of England's finest vessels, every one of which +has a large proportion of defective armour plating, which would render +the vessels utterly useless in case of war. These drawings show the +exact position of the defective plates, and it was to secure these +illustrations that Mr. Sabin paid that daring visit to your father on +Tuesday morning. Now, what he professes broadly is that he has +elaborated a scheme, by means of which, combined with the aid of his +inventions, a few torpedo boats can silence every fort in the Thames, +and leave London at the mercy of any invaders. At the same time his +plans include the absolutely safe landing of troops on the east and +south coast, at certain selected spots. This scheme, together with some +very alarming secret information affecting the great majority of your +battleships, will, he asserts with absolute confidence, place your +country at the mercy of any Power to whom he chooses to sell it. He +offered it to Russia first, and then to Germany. Germany has accepted +his terms and will declare war upon England the moment she has his whole +scheme and inventions in her possession." + +Wolfenden and Densham looked at one another, partly incredulous, partly +aghast. It was like a page from the Arabian Nights. Surely such a thing +as this was not possible. Yet even that short silence was broken by the +cry of the newsboys out in the street-- + + "GERMANY ARMING! + REPORTED DECLARATION OF WAR!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII + +THE MEN WHO SAVED ENGLAND + + +Mr. Sabin leaned back in his chair with a long, deep sigh of content. +The labour of years was concluded at last. With that final little sketch +his work was done. A pile of manuscripts and charts lay before him; +everything was in order. He took a bill of lading from his letter-case, +and pinned it carefully to the rest. Then he glanced at his watch, and, +taking a cigarette-case from his pocket, began to smoke. + +There was a knock at the door, and Mr. Sabin, who had recognised the +approaching footsteps, glanced up carelessly. + +"What is it, Foo Cha? I told you that I would ring when I wanted you." + +The Chinaman glided to his side. + +"Master," he said softly, "I have fears. There is something not good in +the air." + +Mr. Sabin turned sharply around. + +"What do you mean?" he asked. + +Foo Cha was apologetic but serious. + +"Master, I was followed from the house of the German by a man, who drove +fast after me in a two-wheeled cab. He lost me on the way, but there are +others. I have been into the street, and I am sure of it. The house is +being watched on all sides." + +Mr. Sabin drew a quiet, little breath. For a moment his haggard face +seemed almost ghastly. He recovered himself, however, with an effort. + +"We are not in China, Foo Cha," he said. "I have done nothing against +the law of this country; no man can enter here if we resist. If we are +really being watched, it must be by persons in the pay of the Russian. +But they can do nothing; it is too late; Knigenstein will be here in +half an hour. The thing will be settled then, once and for ever." + +Foo Cha was troubled still. + +"Me afraid," he admitted frankly. "Strange men this end and that end of +street. Me no like it. Ah!" + +The front door bell rang softly; it was a timid, hesitating ring, as +though some one had but feebly touched the knob. Foo Cha and his master +looked at one another in silence. There was something almost ominous in +that gentle peal. + +"You must see who it is, Foo Cha," Mr. Sabin said. "It may be +Knigenstein come early; if so, show him in at once. To everybody else +the house is empty." + +Foo Cha bowed silently and withdrew. He struck a match in the dark +passage, and lit the hanging gas-lamp. Then he opened the door +cautiously. + +One man alone was standing there. Foo Cha looked at him in despair; it +was certainly not Knigenstein, nor was there any sign of his carriage in +the street. The stranger was a man of middle height, squarely built and +stout. He wore a long black overcoat, and he stood with his hands in his +pockets. + +"What you want?" Foo Cha asked. "What you want with me?" + +The man did not answer at once, but he stepped inside into the passage. +Foo Cha tried to shut the door in his face, but it was like pushing +against a mountain. + +"Where is your master?" he asked. + +"Master? He not here," Foo Cha answered, with glib and untruthful +earnestness. "Indeed he is not here--quite true. He come to-morrow; I +preparing house for him. What do you want? Go away, or me call +policeman." + +The intruder smiled indulgently into the Chinaman's earnest, upturned +face. + +"Foo Cha," he said, "that is enough. Take this card to your master, Mr. +Sabin." + +Foo Cha was ready to begin another torrent of expostulations, but in the +gas-light he met the new-comer's steadfast gaze, and he was silent. The +stranger was dressed in the garb of a superior working man, but his +speech and manner indicated a very different station. Foo Cha took the +card and left him in the passage. He made his way softly into the +sitting-room, and as he entered he turned the key in the lock behind +him; there, at any rate, was a moment or two of respite. + +"Master," he said, "there is a man there whom we cannot stop. When me +tell him you no here, he laugh at me. He will see you; he no go way. He +laugh again when I try shut the door. He give me card; I no understand +what on it." + +Mr. Sabin stretched out his hand and took the card from the Chinaman's +fingers. There seemed to be one or two words upon it, traced in a +delicate, sloping handwriting. Mr. Sabin had snatched at the little +piece of pasteboard with some impatience, but the moment he had read +those few words a remarkable change came over him. He started as though +he had received an electric shock; the pupils of his eyes seemed +hideously dilated; the usual pallor of his face was merged in a ghastly +whiteness. And then, after the first shock, came a look of deep and +utter despair; his hand fell to his side, a half-muttered imprecation +escaped from his trembling lips, yet he laid the card gently, even with +reverence, upon the desk before him. + +"You can show him in, Foo Cha," he directed, in a low tone; "show him in +at once." + +Foo Cha glided out disappointed. Something had gone terribly wrong, he +was sure of that. He went slowly downstairs, his eyes fixed upon the +dark figure standing motionless in the dimly-lit hall. He drew a sharp +breath, which sounded through his yellow, protuberant teeth like a hiss. +A single stroke of that long knife--it would be so easy. Then he +remembered the respect with which Mr. Sabin had treated that card, and +he sighed. Perhaps it would be a mistake; it might make evil worse. He +beckoned to the stranger, and conducted him upstairs. + +Mr. Sabin received his visitor standing. He was still very pale, but his +face had resumed its wonted impassiveness. In the dim lamp-lit room he +could see very little of his visitor, only a thick-set man with dark +eyes and a closely-cropped black beard. He was roughly dressed, yet held +himself well. The two men eyed one another steadily for several moments, +before any speech passed between them. + +"You are surprised," the stranger said; "I do not wonder at it. +Perhaps--you have been much engrossed, it is said--you had even +forgotten." + +Mr. Sabin's lips curled in a bitter smile. + +"One does not forget those things," he said. "To business. Let me know +what is required of me." + +"It has been reported," the stranger said, "that you have conceived and +brought to great perfection a comprehensive and infallible scheme for +the conquest of this country. Further, that you are on the point of +handing it over to the Emperor of Germany, for the use of that country. +I think I may conclude that the report is correct?" he added, with a +glance at the table. "We are not often misinformed." + +"The report," Mr. Sabin assented, "is perfectly correct." + +"We have taken counsel upon the matter," the stranger continued, "and I +am here to acquaint you with our decision. The papers are to be burnt, +and the appliances to be destroyed forthwith. No portion of them is to +be shown to the German Government or any person representing that +country, nor to any other Power. Further, you are to leave England +within two months." + +Mr. Sabin stood quite still, his hands resting lightly upon the desk in +front of him. His eyes, fixed on vacancy, were looking far out of that +shabby little room, back along the avenues of time, thronged with the +fragments of his broken dreams. He realised once more the full glory of +his daring and ambitious scheme. He saw his country revelling again in +her old splendour, stretching out her limbs and taking once more the +foremost place among her sister nations. He saw the pageantry and rich +colouring of Imperialism, firing the imagination of her children, +drawing all hearts back to their allegiance, breaking through the hard +crust of materialism which had spread like an evil dream through the +land. He saw himself great and revered, the patriot, the Richelieu of +his days, the adored of the people, the friend and restorer of his king. +Once more he was a figure in European history, the consort of Emperors, +the man whose slightest word could shake the money markets of the world. +He saw all these things, as though for the last time, with strange, +unreal vividness; once more their full glory warmed his blood and +dazzled his eyes. Then a flash of memory, an effort of realisation +chilled him; his feet were upon the earth again, his head was heavy. +That thick-set, motionless figure before him seemed like the incarnation +of his despair. + +"I shall appeal," he said hoarsely; "England is no friend of ours." + +The man shrugged his shoulders. + +"England is tolerant at least," he said; "and she has sheltered us." + +"I shall appeal," Mr. Sabin repeated. + +The man shook his head. + +"It is the order of the High Council," he said; "there is no appeal." + +"It is my life's work," Mr. Sabin faltered. + +"Your life's work," the man said slowly, "should be with us." + +"God knows why I ever----" + +The man stretched out a white hand, which gleamed through the +semi-darkness. Mr. Sabin stopped short. + +"You very nearly," he said solemnly, "pronounced your own +death-sentence. If you had finished what you were about to say, I could +never have saved you. Be wise, friend. This is a disappointment to you; +well, is not our life one long torturing disappointment? What of us, +indeed? We are like the waves which beat ceaselessly against the +sea-shore, what we gain one day we lose the next. It is fate, it is +life! Once more, friend, remember! Farewell!" + + * * * * * + +Mr. Sabin was left alone, a martyr to his thoughts. Already it was past +the hour for Knigenstein's visit. Should he remain and brave the storm, +or should he catch the boat-train from Charing Cross and hasten to hide +himself in one of the most remote quarters of the civilised world? In +any case it was a dreary outlook for him. Not only had this dearly +cherished scheme of his come crashing about his head, but he had very +seriously compromised himself with a great country. The Emperor's +gracious letter was in his pocket--he smiled grimly to himself as +he thought for a moment of the consternation of Berlin, and of +Knigenstein's disgrace. And then the luxury of choice was suddenly +denied him; he was brought back to the present, and a sense of its +paramount embarrassments by a pealing ring at the bell, and the +trampling of horse's feet in the street. He had no time to rescind his +previous instructions to Foo Cha before Knigenstein himself, wrapped +in a great sealskin coat, and muffled up to the chin with a silk +handkerchief, was shown into the room. + +The Ambassador's usually phlegmatic face bore traces of some anxiety. +Behind his spectacles his eyes glittered nervously; he grasped Mr. +Sabin's hand with unwonted cordiality, and was evidently much relieved +to have found him. + +"My dear Souspennier," he said, "this is a great occasion. I am a little +late, but, as you can imagine, I am overwhelmed with work of the utmost +importance. You have finished now, I hope. You are ready for me?" + +"I am as ready for you," Mr. Sabin said grimly, "as I ever shall be!" + +"What do you mean?" Knigenstein asked sharply. "Don't tell me that +anything has gone amiss! I am a ruined man, unless you carry out your +covenant to the letter. I have pledged my word upon your honour." + +"Then I am afraid," Mr. Sabin said, "that we are both of us in a very +tight place! I am bound hand and foot. There," he cried, pointing to +the grate, half choked with a pile of quivering grey ashes, "lies the +work of seven years of my life--seven years of intrigue, of calculation, +of unceasing toil. By this time all my American inventions, which +would have paralysed Europe, are blown sky high! That is the position, +Knigenstein; we are undone!" + +Knigenstein was shaking like a child; he laid his hand upon Mr. Sabin's +arm, and gripped it fiercely. + +"Souspennier," he said, "if you are speaking the truth I am ruined, and +disgraced for ever. The Emperor will never forgive me! I shall be +dismissed and banished. I have pledged my word for yours; you cannot +mean to play me false like this. If there is any personal favour or +reward, which the Emperor can grant, it is yours--I will answer for it. +I will answer for it, too, that war shall be declared against France +within six months of the conclusion of peace with England. Come, say +that you have been jesting. Good God! man, you are torturing me. Why, +have you seen the papers to-night? The Emperor has been hasty, I own, +but he has already struck the first blow. War is as good as declared. I +am waiting for my papers every hour!" + +"I cannot help it," Mr. Sabin said doggedly. "The thing is at an end. +To give up all the fruits of my work--the labour of the best years +of my life--is as bitter to me as your dilemma is to you! But it is +inevitable! Be a man, Knigenstein, put the best face on it you can." + +The utter impotence of all that he could say was suddenly revealed to +Knigenstein in Mr. Sabin's set face and hopeless words. His tone of +entreaty changed to one of anger; the veins on his forehead stood out +like knotted string, his mouth twitched as he spoke, he could not +control himself. + +"You have made up your mind," he cried. "Very well! Russia has bought +you, very well! If Lobenski has bribed you with all the gold in +Christendom you shall never enjoy it! You shall not live a year! I swear +it! You have insulted and wronged our country, our fatherland! Listen! A +word shall be breathed in the ears of a handful of our officers. Where +you go, they shall go; if you leave England you will be struck on the +cheek in the first public place at which you show yourself. If one +falls, there are others--hundreds, thousands, an army! Oh! you shall not +escape, my friend. But if ever you dared to set foot in Germany----" + +"I can assure you," Mr. Sabin interrupted, "that I shall take particular +care never to visit your delightful country. Elsewhere, I think I can +take care of myself. But listen, Knigenstein, all your talk about Russia +and playing you false is absurd. If I had wished to deal with Lobenski, +I could have done so, instead of with you. I have not even seen him. A +greater hand than his has stopped me, a greater even than the hand of +your Emperor!" + +Knigenstein looked at him as one looks at a madman. + +"There is no greater hand on earth," he said, "than the hand of his +Imperial Majesty, the Emperor of Germany." + +Mr. Sabin smiled. + +"You are a German," he said, "and you know little of these things, yet +you call yourself a diplomatist, and I suppose you have some knowledge +of what this means." + +He lifted the lamp from the table and walked to the wall opposite +to the door. Knigenstein followed him closely. Before them, high +up as the fingers of a man could reach, was a small, irregular red +patch--something between a cross and a star. Mr. Sabin held the lamp +high over his head and pointed to the mark. + +"Do you know what that means?" he asked. + +The man by his side groaned. + +"Yes," he answered, with a gesture of abject despair, "I know!" + +Mr. Sabin walked back to the table and set down the lamp. + +"You know now," he said coolly, "who has intervened." + +"If I had had any idea," Knigenstein said, "that you were one of them I +should not have treated with you." + +"It was many years ago," Mr. Sabin said with a sigh. "My father was half +a Russian, you know. It served my purpose whilst I was envoy at Teheran; +since then I had lost sight of them; I thought that they too had lost +sight of me. I was mistaken--only an hour ago I was visited by a chief +official. They knew everything, they forbade everything. As a matter of +fact they have saved England!" + +"And ruined us," Knigenstein groaned. "I must go and telegraph. But +Souspennier, one word." + +Mr. Sabin looked up. + +"You are a brave man and a patriot; you want to see your country free. +Well, why not free it still? You and I are philosophers, we know that +life after all is an uncertain thing. Hold to your bargain with us. It +will be to your death, I do not deny that. But I will pledge the honour +of my country, I will give you the holy word of the Emperor, that we +will faithfully carry out our part of the contract, and the whole glory +shall be yours. You will be immortalised; you will win fame that shall +be deathless. Your name will be enshrined in the heart of your country's +history." + +Mr. Sabin shook his head slowly. + +"My dear Knigenstein," he said "pray don't misunderstand me. I do not +cast the slightest reflection upon your Emperor or your honour. But if +ever there was a country which required watching, it is yours. I could +not carry your pledges with me into oblivion, and there is no one to +whom I could leave the legacy. That being the case, I think that I +prefer to live." + +Knigenstein buttoned up his coat and sighed. + +"I am a ruined man, Souspennier," he said, "but I bear you no malice. +Let me leave you a little word of warning, though. The Nihilists are not +the only people in the world who have the courage and the wit to avenge +themselves. Farewell!" + +Mr. Sabin broke into a queer little laugh as he listened to his guest's +departing footsteps. Then he lit a cigarette, and called to Foo Cha for +some coffee. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX + +THE HEART OF THE PRINCESS + + +When Wolfenden opened his paper on Saturday morning, London had already +drawn a great breath, partly of relief partly of surprise, for the black +head-lines which topped the columns of the papers, the placards in the +streets, and the cry of the newsboys, all declared a most remarkable +change in the political situation. + + "THE GERMAN EMPEROR EXPLAINS! + THERE WILL BE NO WAR! + GERMAN CONSUL ORDERED HOME! + NO RUPTURE!" + +Wolfenden, in common with most of his fellow-countrymen, could scarcely +believe his eyes; yet there it was in plain black and white. The dogs of +war had been called back. Germany was climbing down--not with dignity; +she had gone too far for that--but with a scuffle. Wolfenden read the +paper through before he even thought of his letters Then he began to +open them slowly. The first was from his mother. The Admiral was +distinctly better; the doctors were more hopeful. He turned to the next +one; it was in a delicate, foreign handwriting, and exhaled a faint +perfume which seemed vaguely familiar to him. He opened it and his heart +stood still. + + "14, GROSVENOR SQUARE, + "LONDON, W + + "Will you come and see me to-day about four o'clock?--HELÈNE." + +He looked at his watch--four o'clock seemed a very long way off. He +decided that he would go out and find Felix; but almost immediately the +door was opened and that very person was shown in. + +Felix was radiant; he appeared to have grown years younger. He was +immaculately dressed, and he wore an exquisite orchid in his +button-hole. + +Wolfenden greeted him warmly. + +"Have you seen the paper?" he asked. "Do you know the news?" + +Felix laughed. + +"Of course! You may not believe it, but it is true that I am the person +who has saved your country! And I am quits at last with Herbert de la +Meux, Duc de Souspennier!" + +"Meaning, I suppose, the person whom we have been accustomed to +call--Mr. Sabin?" Wolfenden remarked. + +"Exactly!" + +Wolfenden pushed an easy chair towards his visitor and produced some +cigarettes. + +"I must say," he continued, "that I should exceedingly like to know how +the thing was done." + +Felix smiled. + +"That, my dear friend," he said, "you will never know. No one will ever +know the cause of Germany's suddenly belligerent attitude, and her +equally speedy climb-down! There are many pages of diplomatic history +which the world will never read, and this is one of them. Come and +lunch with me, Lord Wolfenden. My vow is paid and without bloodshed. I +am a free man, and my promotion is assured. To-day is the happiest of my +life!" + +Wolfenden smiled and looked at the letter on the table before him; might +it not also be the happiest day of his own life! + + * * * * * + +And it was! Punctually at four o'clock he presented himself at Grosvenor +Square and was ushered into one of the smaller reception rooms. Helène +came to him at once, a smile half-shy, half-apologetic upon her lips. +He was conscious from the moment of her entrance of a change in her +deportment towards him. She held in her hand a small locket. + +"I wanted to ask you, Lord Wolfenden," she said, drawing her fingers +slowly away from his lingering clasp, "does this locket belong to you?" + +He glanced at it and shook his head at once. + +"I never saw it before in my life," he declared. "I do not wear a watch +chain, and I don't possess anything of that sort." + +She threw it contemptuously away from her into the grate. + +"A woman lied to me about it," she said slowly. "I am ashamed of myself +that I should have listened to her, even for a second. I chanced to look +at it last night, and it suddenly occurred to me where I had seen it. It +was on a man's watch-chain, but not on yours." + +"Surely," he said, "it belongs to Mr. Sabin?" + +She nodded and held out both her hands. + +"Will you forgive me?" she begged softly, "and--and--I think--I promised +to send for you!" + + * * * * * + +They had been together for nearly an hour when the door opened +abruptly, and the young man whom Wolfenden had seen with Helène in +the barouche entered the room. He stared in amazement at her, and +rudely at Wolfenden. Helène rose and turned to him with a smile. + +"Henri," she said, "let me present to you the English gentleman whom I +am going to marry. Prince Henri of Ortrens--Lord Wolfenden." + +The young man barely returned Wolfenden's salute. He turned with +flashing eyes to Helène and muttered a few hasty words in French-- + +"A kingdom and my betrothed in one day! It is too much! We will see!" + +He left the room hurriedly. Helène laughed. + +"He has gone to find the Duchess," she said, "and there will be a scene! +Let us go out in the Park." + +They walked about under the trees; suddenly they came face to face with +Mr. Sabin. He was looking a little worn, but he was as carefully dressed +as usual, and he welcomed them with a smile and an utter absence of any +embarrassment. + +"So soon!" he remarked pleasantly. "You Englishmen are as prompt in love +as you are in war, Lord Wolfenden! It is an admirable trait." + +Helène laid her hand upon his arm. Yes, it was no fancy; his hair was +greyer, and heavy lines furrowed his brow. + +"Uncle," she said, "believe me that I am sorry for you, though for +myself--I am glad!" + +He looked at her kindly, yet with a faint contempt. + +"The Bourbon blood runs very slowly in your veins, child," he said. +"After all I begin to doubt whether you would have made a queen! As for +myself--well, I am resigned. I am going to Pau, to play golf!" + +"For how long, I wonder," she said smiling, "will you be able to content +yourself there?" + +"For a month or two," he answered; "until I have lost the taste of +defeat. Then I have plans--but never mind; I will tell you later on. You +will all hear of me again! So far as you two are concerned at any rate," +he added, "I have no need to reproach myself. My failure seems to have +brought you happiness." + +He passed on, and they both watched his slim figure lost in the throng +of passers-by. + +"He is a great man," she murmured. "He knows how to bear defeat." + +"He is a great man," Wolfenden answered; "but none the less I am not +sorry to see the last of Mr. Sabin!" + + + + +CHAPTER XL + +THE WAY TO PAU + + +The way to Pau which Mr. Sabin chose may possibly have been the most +circuitous, but it was certainly the safest. Although not a muscle of +his face had moved, although he had not by any physical movement or +speech betrayed his knowledge of the fact, he was perfectly well aware +that his little statement as to his future movements was overheard and +carefully noted by the tall, immaculately dressed young man who by some +strange chance seemed to have been at his elbow since he had left his +rooms an hour ago. "Into the lion's mouth, indeed," he muttered to +himself grimly as he hailed a hansom at the corner and was driven +homewards. The limes of Berlin were very beautiful, but it was not with +any immediate idea of sauntering beneath them that a few hours later +he was driven to Euston and stepped into an engaged carriage on the +Liverpool express. There, with a travelling cap drawn down to his eyes +and a rug pulled up to his throat, he sat in the far corner of his +compartment apparently enjoying an evening paper--as a matter of fact +anxiously watching the platform. He had taken care to allow himself only +a slender margin of time. In two minutes the train glided out of the +station. + +He drew a little sigh of relief--he, who very seldom permitted himself +the luxury of even the slightest revelation of his feelings. At least +he had a start. Then he unlocked a travelling case, and, drawing out an +atlas, sat with it upon his knee for some time. When he closed it there +was a frown upon his face. + +"America," he exclaimed softly to himself. "What a lack of imagination +even the sound of the place seems to denote! It is the most ignominious +retreat I have ever made." + +"You made the common mistake," a quiet voice at his elbow remarked, "of +many of the world's greatest diplomatists. You underrated your +adversaries." + +Mr. Sabin distinctly started, and clutching at his rug, leaned back in +his corner. A young man in a tweed travelling suit was standing by the +opposite window. Behind him Mr. Sabin noticed for the first time a +narrow mahogany door. Mr. Sabin drew a short breath, and was himself +again. Underneath the rug his fingers stole into his overcoat pocket and +clasped something cold and firm. + +"One at least," he said grimly, "I perceive that I have held too +lightly. Will you pardon a novice at necromancy if he asks you how you +found your way here?" + +Felix smiled. + +"A little forethought," he remarked, "a little luck and a sovereign tip +to an accommodating inspector. The carriage in which you are travelling +is, as you will doubtless perceive before you reach your journey's end, +a species of saloon. This little door"--touching the one through which +he had issued--"leads on to a lavatory, and on the other side is a +non-smoking carriage. I found that you had engaged a carriage on +this train, by posing as your servant. I selected this one as being +particularly suited to an old gentleman of nervous disposition, and +arranged also that the non-smoking portion should be reserved for me." + +Mr. Sabin nodded. "And how," he asked, "did you know that I meant to go +to America?" + +Felix shrugged his shoulders and took a seat. + +"Well," he said, "I concluded that you would be looking for a change of +air somewhere, and I really could not see what part of the world you had +left open to yourself. America is the only country strong enough to keep +you! Besides, I reckoned a little upon that curiosity with regard to +undeveloped countries which I have observed to be one of your traits. So +far as I am aware, you have never resided long in America." + +"Neither have I even visited Kamtchatka or Greenland," Mr. Sabin +remarked. + +"I understand you," Felix remarked, nodding his head. "America is +certainly one of the last places one would have dreamed of looking for +you. You will find it, I am afraid, politically unborn; your own little +methods, at any rate, would scarcely achieve popularity there. Further, +its sympathies, of course, are with democratic France. I can imagine +that you and the President of the United States would represent opposite +poles of thought. Yet there were two considerations which weighed with +me." + +"This is very interesting," Mr. Sabin remarked. "May I know what they +were? To be permitted a glimpse into the inward workings of a brain like +yours is indeed a privilege!" + +Felix bowed with a gratified smile upon his lips. The satire of Mr. +Sabin's dry tone was apparently lost upon him. + +"You are most perfectly welcome," he declared. "In the first place +I said to myself that Kamtchatka and Greenland, although equally +interesting to you, would be quite unable to afford themselves the +luxury of offering you an asylum. You must seek the shelter of a great +and powerful country, and one which you had never offended, and save +America, there is none such in the world. Secondly, you are a Sybarite, +and you do not without very serious reasons place yourself outside the +pale of civilisation. Thirdly, America is the only country save those +which are barred to you where you could play golf!" + +"You are really a remarkable young man," Sabin declared, softly stroking +his little grey imperial. "You have read me like a book! I am humiliated +that the course of my reasoning should have been so transparent. To +prove the correctness of your conclusions, see the little volume which +I had brought to read on my way to Liverpool." + +He handed it out to Felix. It was entitled, "The Golf Courses of the +World," and a leaf was turned down at the chapter headed, "United +States." + +"I wish," he remarked, "that you were a golfer! I should like to have +asked your opinion about that plan of the Myopia golf links. To me it +seems cramped, and the bunkers are artificial." + +Felix looked at him admiringly. + +"You are a wonderful man," he said. "You do not bear me any ill-will +then?" + +"None in the least," Mr. Sabin said quietly. "I never bear personal +grudges. So far as I am concerned, I never have a personal enemy. It is +fate itself which vanquished me. You were simply an instrument. You do +not figure in my thoughts as a person against whom I bear any ill-will. +I am glad, though, that you did not cash my cheque for £20,000!" + +Felix smiled. "You went to see, then?" he asked. + +"I took the liberty," Mr. Sabin answered, "of stopping payment of it." + +"It will never be presented," Felix said "I tore it into pieces directly +I left you." + +Mr. Sabin nodded. + +"Quixotic," he murmured. + +The express was rushing on through the night. Mr. Sabin thrust his hand +into his bag and took out a handful of cigars. He offered one to Felix, +who accepted, and lit it with the air of a man enjoying the reasonable +civility of a chance fellow passenger. + +"You had, I presume," Mr. Sabin remarked, "some object in coming to see +the last of me? I do not wish to seem unduly inquisitive, but I feel a +little natural interest, or shall we say curiosity as to the reason for +this courtesy on your part?" + +"You are quite correct," Felix answered. "I am here with a purpose. I am +the bearer of a message to you." + +"May I ask, a friendly message, or otherwise?" + +His fingers were tightening upon the little hard substance in his +pocket, but he was already beginning to doubt whether after all Felix +had come as an enemy. + +"Friendly," was the prompt answer. "I bring you an offer." + +"From Lobenski?" + +"From his august master! The Czar himself has plans for you!" + +"His serene Majesty," Mr. Sabin murmured, "has always been most kind." + +"Since you left the country of the Shah," Felix continued, "Russian +influence in Central Asia has been gradually upon the wane. All manner +of means have been employed to conceal this, but the unfortunate fact +remains. You were the only man who ever thoroughly grasped the situation +and attained any real influence over the master of western Asia! Your +removal from Teheran was the result of an intrigue on the part of the +English. It was the greatest misfortune which ever befel Russia!" + +"And your offer?" Mr. Sabin asked. + +"Is that you return to Teheran not as the secret agent, but as the +accredited ambassador of Russia, with an absolutely free hand and +unlimited powers." + +"Such an offer," Mr. Sabin remarked, "ten years ago would have made +Russia mistress of all Asia." + +"The Czar," Felix said, "is beginning to appreciate that. But what was +possible then is possible now!" + +Mr. Sabin shook his head. "I am ten years older," he said, "and the Shah +who was my friend is dead." + +"The new Shah," Felix said, "has a passion for intrigue, and the sands +around Teheran are magnificent for golf." + +Mr. Sabin shook his head. + +"Too hard," he said, "and too monotonous. I am peculiar perhaps in that +respect, but I detest artificial bunkers. Now there is a little valley," +he continued thoughtfully, "about seven miles north of Teheran, where +something might be done! I wonder----" + +"You accept," Felix asked quietly. + +Mr. Sabin shook his head. + +"No, I decline." + +It was a shock to Felix, but he hid his disappointment. + +"Absolutely?" + +"And finally." + +"Why?" + +"I am ten years too old!" + +"That is resentment!" + +Mr. Sabin denied it. + +"No! Why should I not be frank with you, my friend? What I would have +done for Russia ten years ago, I would not do to-day! She has made +friends with the French Republic. She has done more than recognise the +existence of that iniquitous institution--she has pressed her friendship +upon the president--she has spoken the word of alliance. Henceforth +my feeling for Russia has changed. I have no object to gain in her +development. I am richer than the richest of her nobles, and there is no +title in Europe for which I would exchange my own. You see Russia has +absolutely nothing to offer me. On the other hand, what would benefit +Russia in Asia would ruin England, and England has given me and many +of my kind a shelter, and has even held aloof from France. Of the two +countries I would much prefer to aid England. If I had been the means of +destroying her Asiatic empire ten years ago it would have been to me +to-day a source of lasting regret. There, my friend, I have paid you the +compliment of perfect frankness." + +"If," Felix said slowly, "the price of your success at Teheran should be +the breach of our covenants with France--what then? Remember that it is +the country whose friendship is pleasing to us, not the government. You +cannot seriously doubt but that an autocrat, such as the Czar, would +prefer to extend his hand to an Emperor of France than to soil his +fingers with the clasp of a tradesman!" + +Mr. Sabin shook his head softly. "I have told you why I decline," he +said, "but in my heart there are many other reasons. For one, I am no +longer a young man. This last failure of mine has aged me. I have no +heart for fresh adventures." + +Felix sighed. + +"My mission to you comes," he said, "at an unfortunate time. For the +present, then, I accept defeat." + +"The fault," Mr. Sabin murmured, "is in no way with you. My refusal was +a thing predestined. The Czar himself could not move me." + +The train was slowing a little. Felix looked out of the window. + +"We are nearing Crewe," he said. "I shall alight then and return to +London. You are for America, then?" + +"Beyond doubt," Mr. Sabin declared. + +Felix drew from his pocket a letter. + +"If you will deliver this for me," he said, "you will do me a kindness, +and you will make a pleasant acquaintance." + +Mr. Sabin glanced at the imprescription. It was addressed to-- + + "Mrs. J. B. Peterson, + "Lenox, + "Mass., U.S.A." + +"I will do so with pleasure," he remarked, slipping it into his +dressing-case. + +"And remember this," Felix remarked, glancing out at the platform along +which they were gliding. "You are a marked man. Disguise is useless for +you. Be ever on your guard. You and I have been enemies, but after all +you are too great a man to fall by the hand of a German assassin. +Farewell!" + +"I will thank you for your caution and remember it," Mr. Sabin answered. +"Farewell!" + +Felix raised his hat, and Mr. Sabin returned the salute. The whistle +sounded. Felix stepped out on to the platform. + +"You will not forget the letter?" he asked + +"I will deliver it in person without fail," Mr. Sabin answered. + + + + +CHAPTER XLI + +MR. AND MRS. WATSON OF NEW YORK + + +It was their third day out, and Mr. Sabin was enjoying the voyage very +much indeed. The _Calipha_ was a small boat sailing to Boston instead of +New York, and contemptuously termed by the ocean-going public an old +tub. She carried, consequently, only seven passengers besides Mr. Sabin, +and it had taken him but a very short time to decide that of those seven +passengers not one was interested in him or his affairs. He had got +clear away, for the present at any rate, from all the complications and +dangers which had followed upon the failure of his great scheme. Of +course by this time the news of his departure and destination was known +to every one whom his movements concerned. That was almost a matter of +course, and realising even the impossibility of successful concealment, +Mr. Sabin had made no attempt at any. He had given the name of Sabin to +the steward, and had secured the deck's cabin for his own use. He +chatted every day with the captain, who treated him with respect, and in +reply to a question from one of the stewards who was a Frenchman, he +admitted that he was the Duc de Souspennier, and that he was travelling +incognito only as a whim. He was distinctly popular with every one of +the seven passengers, who were a little doubtful how to address him, +but whom he succeeded always in putting entirely at their ease. He +entered, too, freely into the little routine of steamer life. He played +shuffleboard for an hour or more every morning, and was absolutely +invincible at the game; he brought his golf clubs on deck one evening +after dinner, and explained the manner of their use to an admiring +little circle of the seven passengers, the captain, and doctor. He +rigorously supported the pool each day, and he even took a hand at a +mild game of poker one wet afternoon, when timidly invited to do so +by Mr. Hiram Shedge, an oil merchant of Boston. He had in no way the +deportment or manner of a man who had just passed through a great +crisis, nor would any one have gathered from his conversation or +demeanour that he was the head of one of the greatest houses in Europe +and a millionaire. The first time a shadow crossed his face was late one +afternoon, when, coming on deck a little behind the others after lunch, +he found them all leaning over the starboard bow, gazing intently at +some object a little distance off, and at the same time became aware +that the engines had been put to half-speed. + +He was strolling towards the little group, when the captain, seeing him, +beckoned him on to the bridge. + +"Here's something that will interest you, Mr. Sabin," he called out. +"Won't you step this way?" + +Mr. Sabin mounted the iron steps carefully but with his eyes turned +seawards; a large yacht of elegant shape and painted white from stern +to bows was lying-to about half a mile off flying signals. + +Mr. Sabin reached the bridge and stood by the captain's side. + +"A pleasure yacht," he remarked. "What does she want?" + +"I shall know in a moment," the captain answered with his glass to his +eye. "She flew a distress signal at first for us to stand by, so I +suppose she's in trouble. Ah! there it goes. 'Mainshaft broken,' she +says." + +"She doesn't lie like it," Mr. Sabin remarked quietly. + +The captain looked at him with a smile. + +"You know a bit about yachting too," he said, "and, to tell you the +truth, that's just what I was thinking." + +"Holmes." + +"Yes, sir." + +"Ask her what she wants us to do." + +The signalman touched his hat, and the little row of flags ran +fluttering up in the breeze. + +"She signals herself the _Mayflower_, private yacht, owner Mr. James +Watson of New York," he remarked. "She's a beautiful boat." + +Mr. Sabin, who had brought his own glasses, looked at her long and +steadily. + +"She's not an American built boat, at any rate," he remarked. + +An answering signal came fluttering back. The captain opened his book +and read it. + +"She's going on under canvas," he said, "but she wants us to take her +owner and his wife on board." + +"Are you compelled to do so?" Mr. Sabin asked. + +The captain laughed. + +"Not exactly! I'm not expected to pick up passengers in mid ocean." + +"Then I shouldn't do it," Mr. Sabin said. "If they are in a hurry the +_Alaska_ is due up to-day, isn't she? and she'll be in New York in three +days, and the _Baltimore_ must be close behind her. I should let them +know that." + +"Well," the captain answered, "I don't want fresh passengers bothering +just now." + +The flags were run up, and the replies came back as promptly. The +captain shut up his glass with a bang. + +"No getting out of them," he remarked to Mr. Sabin. "They reply that the +lady is nervous and will not wait; they are coming on board at once--for +fear I should go on, I suppose. They add that Mr. Watson is the largest +American holder of Cunard stock and a director of the American Board, so +have them we must--that's pretty certain. I must see the purser." + +He descended, and Mr. Sabin, following him, joined the little group of +passengers. They all stood together watching the long rowing boat which +was coming swiftly towards them through the smooth sea. Mr. Sabin +explained to them the messages which had passed, and together they +admired the disabled yacht. + +Mr. Sabin touched the first mate on the arm as he passed. + +"Did you ever see a vessel like that, Johnson?" he remarked. + +The man shook his head. + +"Their engineer is a fool, sir!" he declared scornfully. "Nothing but my +own eyes would make me believe there's anything serious the matter with +her shaft." + +"I agree with you," Mr. Sabin said quietly. + +The boat was now within hailing distance. Mr. Sabin leaned down over the +side and scanned its occupants closely. There was nothing in the least +suspicious about them. The man who sat in the stern steering was a +typical American, with thin sallow face and bright eyes. The woman +wore a thick veil, but she was evidently young, and when she stood up +displayed a figure and clothes distinctly Parisian. The two came up the +ladder as though perfectly used to boarding a vessel in mid ocean, and +the lady's nervousness was at least not apparent. The captain advanced +to meet them, and gallantly assisted the lady on to the deck. + +"This is Captain Ackinson, I presume," the man remarked with extended +hand. "We are exceedingly obliged to you, sir, for taking us off. This +is my wife, Mrs. James B. Watson." + +Mrs. Watson raised her veil, and disclosed a dark, piquant face with +wonderfully bright eyes. + +"It's real nice of you, Captain," she said frankly. "You don't know how +good it is to feel the deck of a real ocean-going steamer beneath your +feet after that little sailing boat of my husband's. This is the very +last time I attempt to cross the Atlantic except on one of your +steamers." + +"We are very glad to be of any assistance," the captain answered, more +heartily than a few minutes before he would have believed possible. +"Full speed ahead, John!" + +There was a churning of water and dull throb of machinery restarting. +The little rowing boat, already well away on its return journey, rocked +on the long waves. Mr. Watson turned to shout some final instructions. +Then the captain beckoned to the purser. + +"Mr. Wilson will show you your state rooms," he remarked. "Fortunately +we have plenty of room. Steward, take the baggage down." + +The lady went below, but Mr. Watson remained on deck talking to the +captain. Mr. Sabin strolled up to them. + +"Your yacht rides remarkably well, if her shaft is really broken," he +remarked. + +Mr. Watson nodded. + +"She's a beautifully built boat," he remarked with enthusiasm. "If the +weather is favourable her canvas will bring her into Boston Harbour two +days after us." + +"I suppose," the captain asked, looking at her through his glass, "you +satisfied yourself that her shaft was really broken?" + +"I did not, sir," Mr. Watson answered. "My engineer reported it so, and, +as I know nothing of machinery myself, I was content to take his word. +He holds very fine diplomas, and I presume he knows what he is talking +about. But anyway Mrs. Watson would never have stayed upon that boat one +moment longer than she was compelled. She's a wonderfully nervous woman +is Mrs. Watson." + +"That's a somewhat unusual trait for your countrywoman, is it not?" Mr. +Sabin asked. + +Mr. J. B. Watson looked steadily at his questioner. + +"My wife, sir," he said, "has lived for many years on the Continent. She +would scarcely consider herself an American." + +"I beg your pardon," Mr. Sabin remarked courteously. "One can see at +least that she has acquired the polish of the only habitable country +in the world. But if I had taken the liberty of guessing at her +nationality, I should have taken her to be a German." + +Mr. Watson raised his eyebrows, and somehow managed to drop the match he +was raising to his cigar. + +"You astonish me very much, sir," he remarked. "I always looked upon the +fair, rotund woman as the typical German face." + +Mr. Sabin shook his head gently. + +"There are many types," he said "and nationality, you know, does not +always go by complexion or size. For instance, you are very like many +American gentlemen whom I have had the pleasure of meeting, but at the +same time I should not have taken you for an American." + +The captain laughed. + +"I can't agree with you, Mr. Sabin," he said. "Mr. Watson appears to +me to be, if he will pardon my saying so, the very type of the modern +American man." + +"I'm much obliged to you, Captain," Mr. Watson said cheerfully. "I'm a +Boston man, that's sure, and I believe, sir, I'm proud of it. I want to +know for what nationality you would have taken me if you had not been +informed?" + +"I should have looked for you also," Mr. Sabin said deliberately, "in +the streets of Berlin." + + + + +CHAPTER XLII + +A WEAK CONSPIRATOR + + +At dinner-time Mrs. Watson appeared in a very dainty toilette of black +and white, and was installed at the captain's right hand. She was +introduced at once to Mr. Sabin, and proceeded to make herself a very +agreeable companion. + +"Why, I call this perfectly delightful!" was almost her first +exclamation, after a swift glance at Mr. Sabin's quiet but +irreproachable dinner attire. "You can't imagine how pleased I +am to find myself once more in civilised society. I was never so +dull in my life as on that poky little yacht." + +"Poky little yacht, indeed!" Mr. Watson interrupted, with a note of +annoyance in his tone. "The _Mayflower_ anyway cost me pretty well two +hundred thousand dollars, and she's nearly the largest pleasure yacht +afloat." + +"I don't care if she cost you a million dollars," Mrs. Watson answered +pettishly. "I never want to sail on her again. I prefer this +infinitely." + +She laughed at Captain Ackinson, and her husband continued his dinner +in silence. Mr. Sabin made a mental note of two things--first, that Mr. +Watson did not treat his wife with that consideration which is supposed +to be distinctive of American husbands, and secondly, that he drank a +good deal of wine without becoming even a shade more amiable. His wife +somewhat pointedly drank water, and turning her right shoulder upon her +husband, devoted herself to the entertainment of her two companions. At +the conclusion of the meal the captain was her abject slave, and Mr. +Sabin was quite willing to admit that Mrs. J. B. Watson, whatever her +nationality might be, was a very charming woman. + +After dinner Mr. Sabin went to his lower state room for an overcoat, and +whilst feeling for some cigars, heard voices in the adjoining room, +which had been empty up to now. + +"Won't you come and walk with me, James?" he heard Mrs. Watson say. "It +is such a nice evening, and I want to go on deck." + +"You can go without me, then," was the gruff answer. "I'm going to have +a cigar in the smoke-room." + +"You can smoke," she reminded him, "on deck." + +"Thanks," he replied, "but I don't care to give my Laranagas to the +winds. You would come here, and you must do the best you can. You can't +expect to have me dangling after you all the time." + +There was a silence, and then the sound of Mr. Watson's heavy tread, +as he left the state room, followed in a moment or two by the light +footsteps and soft rustle of silk skirts, which indicated the departure +also of his wife. + +Mr. Sabin carefully enveloped himself in an ulster, and stood for a +moment or two wondering whether that conversation was meant to be +overheard or not. He rang the bell for the steward. + +The man appeared almost immediately. Mr. Sabin had known how to ensure +prompt service. + +"Was it my fancy, John? or did I hear voices in the state room +opposite?" Mr. Sabin asked. + +"Mr. and Mrs. Watson have taken it, sir," the man answered. + +Mr. Sabin appeared annoyed. + +"You know that some of my clothes are hung up there," he remarked, "and +I have been using it as a dressing-room. There are heaps of state-rooms +vacant. Surely you could have found them another?" + +"I did my best, sir," the man answered, "but they seemed to take a +particular fancy to that one. I couldn't get them off it nohow." + +"Did they know," Mr. Sabin asked carelessly, "that the room opposite was +occupied?" + +"Yes, sir," the man answered. "I told them that you were in number +twelve, and that you used this as a dressing-room, but they wouldn't +shift. It was very foolish of them, too, for they wanted two, one each; +and they could just as well have had them together." + +"Just as well," Mr. Sabin remarked quietly. "Thank you, John. Don't let +them know I have spoken to you about it." + +"Certainly not, sir." + +Mr. Sabin walked upon deck. As he passed the smoke-room he saw Mr. +Watson stretched upon a sofa with a cigar in his mouth. Mr. Sabin smiled +to himself, and passed on. + +The evening promenade on deck after dinner was quite a social event on +board the _Calipha_. As a rule the captain and Mr. Sabin strolled +together, none of the other passengers, notwithstanding Mr. Sabin's +courtesy towards them, having yet attempted in any way to thrust their +society upon him. But to-night, as he had half expected, the captain had +already a companion. Mrs. Watson, with a very becoming wrap around her +head, and a cigarette in her mouth, was walking by his side, chatting +gaily most of the time, but listening also with an air of absorbed +interest to the personal experiences which her questions provoked. Every +now and then, as they passed Mr. Sabin, sometimes walking, sometimes +gazing with an absorbed air at the distant chaos of sea and sky, she +flashed a glance of invitation upon him, which he as often ignored. Once +she half stopped and asked him some slight question, but he answered it +briefly standing on one side, and the captain hurried her on. It was a +stroke of ill-fortune, he thought to himself, the coming of these two +people. He had had a clear start and a fair field; now he was suddenly +face to face with a danger, the full extent of which it was hard to +estimate. For he could scarcely doubt but that their coming was on his +account. They had played their parts well, but they were secret agents +of the German police. He smoked his cigar leisurely, the object every +few minutes of many side glances and covert smiles from the delicately +attired little lady, whose silken skirts, daintily raised from the +ground, brushed against him every few minutes as she and her companion +passed and repassed. What was their plan of action? he wondered. If it +was simply to be assassination, why so elaborate an artifice? and what +worse place in the world could there be for anything of the sort +than the narrow confines of a small steamer? No, there was evidently +something more complex on hand. Was the woman brought as a decoy? he +wondered; did they really imagine him capable of being dazzled or +fascinated by any woman on the earth? He smiled softly at the thought, +and the sight of that smile lingering upon his lips brought her to a +standstill. He heard suddenly the swish of her skirt, and her soft voice +in his ear. Lower down the deck the captain's broad shoulders were +disappearing, as he passed on the way to the engineers' room for his +nightly visit of inspection. + +"You have not made a single effort to rescue me," she said +reproachfully; "you are most unkind." + +Mr. Sabin lifted his cap, and removed the cigar from his teeth. + +"My dear lady," he said, "I have been suffering the pangs of the +neglected, but how dared I break in upon so confidential a +_tête-à-tête_?" + +"You have little of the courage of your nation, then," she answered +laughing, "for I gave you many opportunities. But you have been +engrossed with your thoughts, and they succeeded at least where I +failed--you were distinctly smiling when I came upon you." + +"It was a premonition," he began, but she raised a little white hand, +flashing with rings, to his lips, and he was silent. + +"Please don't think it necessary to talk nonsense to me all the time," +she begged. "Come! I am tired--I want to sit down. Don't you want to +take my chair down by the side of the boat there? I like to watch the +lights on the water, and you may talk to me--if you like." + +"Your husband," he remarked a moment or two later, as he arranged her +cushions, "does not care for the evening air?" + +"It is sufficient for him," she answered quietly, "that I prefer it. He +will not leave the smoking-room until the lights are put out." + +"In an ordinary way," he remarked, "that must be dull for you." + +"In an ordinary way, and every way," she answered in a low tone, "I am +always dull. But, after all, I must not weary a stranger with my woes. +Tell me about yourself, Mr. Sabin. Are you going to America on pleasure, +or have you business there?" + +A faint smile flickered across Mr. Sabin's face. He watched the white +ash trembling upon his cigar for a moment before he spoke. + +"I can scarcely be said to be going to America on pleasure," he +answered, "nor have I any business there. Let us agree that I am going +because it is the one country in the world of any importance which I +have never visited." + +"You have been a great traveller, then," she murmured, looking up at him +with innocent, wide-open eyes. "You look as though you have been +everywhere. Won't you tell me about some of the odd places you have +visited?" + +"With pleasure," he answered; "but first won't you gratify a natural and +very specific curiosity of mine? I am going to a country which I have +never visited before. Tell me a little about it. Let us talk about +America." + +She stole a sudden, swift glance at her questioner. No, he did not +appear to be watching her. His eyes were fixed idly upon the sheet of +phosphorescent light which glittered in the steamer's track. +Nevertheless, she was a little uneasy. + +"America," she said, after a moment's pause, "is the one country I +detest. We are only there very seldom--when Mr. Watson's business +demands it. You could not seek for information from any one worse +informed than I am." + +"How strange!" he said softly. "You are the first unpatriotic American I +have ever met." + +"You should be thankful," she remarked, "that I am an exception. Isn't +it pleasant to meet people who are different from other people?" + +"In the present case it is delightful!" + +"I wonder," she said reflectively, "in which school you studied my sex, +and from what particular woman you learned the art of making those +little speeches?" + +"I can assure you that I am a novice," he declared. + +"Then you have a wonderful future before you. You will make a courtier, +Mr. Sabin." + +"I shall be happy to be the humblest of attendants in the court where +you are queen." + +"Such proficiency," she murmured, "is the hall mark of insincerity. You +are not a man to be trusted, Mr. Sabin." + +"Try me," he begged. + +"I will! I will tell you a secret." + +"I will lock it in the furthest chamber of my inner consciousness." + +"I am going to America for a purpose." + +"Wonderful woman," he murmured, "to have a purpose." + +"I am going to get a divorce!" + +Mr. Sabin was suddenly thoughtful. + +"I have always understood," he said, "that the marriage laws of America +are convenient." + +"They are humane. They make me thankful that I am an American." + +Mr. Sabin inclined his head slightly towards the smoking-room. + +"Does your unfortunate husband know?" + +"He does; and he acquiesces. He has no alternative. But is that quite +nice of you, Mr. Sabin, to call my husband an unfortunate man?" + +"I cannot conceive," he said slowly, "greater misery than to have +possessed and lost you." + +She laughed gaily. Mr. Sabin permitted himself to admire that laugh. It +was like the tinkling of a silver bell, and her teeth were perfect. + +"You are incorrigible," she said. "I believe that if I would let you, +you would make love to me." + +"If I thought," he answered, "that you would never allow me to make love +to you, I should feel like following this cigar." He threw it into the +sea. + +She sighed, and tapped her little French heel upon the deck. + +"What a pity that you are like all other men." + +"I will say nothing so unkind of you," he remarked. "You are unlike any +other woman whom I ever met." + +They listened together to the bells sounding from the quarter deck. It +was eleven o'clock. The deck behind them was deserted, and a fine +drizzling rain was beginning to fall. Mrs. Watson removed the rug from +her knees regretfully. + +"I must go," she said; "do you hear how late it is?" + +"You will tell me all about America," he said, rising and drawing back +her chair, "to-morrow?" + +"If we can find nothing more interesting to talk about," she said, +looking up at him with a sparkle in her dark eyes. "Good-night." + +Her hand, very small and white, and very soft, lingered in his. At that +moment an unpleasant voice sounded in their ears. + +"Do you know the time, Violet? The lights are out all over the ship. I +don't understand what you are doing on deck." + +Mr. Watson was not pleasant to look upon. His eyes were puffy, and +swollen, and he was not quite steady upon his feet. His wife looked at +him in cold displeasure. + +"The lights are out in the smoke-room, I suppose," she said, "or we +should not have the pleasure of seeing you. Good-night, Mr. Sabin! Thank +you so much for looking after me!" + +Mr. Sabin bowed and walked slowly away, lighting a fresh cigarette. If +it was acting, it was very admirably done. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIII + +THE COMING OF THE "KAISER WILHELM" + + +The habit of early rising was one which Mr. Sabin had never cultivated, +and breakfast was a meal which he abhorred. It was not until nearly +midday on the following morning that he appeared on deck, and he had +scarcely exchanged his customary greeting with the captain, before he +was joined by Mr. Watson, who had obviously been on the look-out for +him. + +"I want, sir," the latter commenced, "to apologise to you for my conduct +last night." + +Mr. Sabin looked at him keenly. + +"There is no necessity for anything of the sort," he said. "If any +apology is owing at all, it is, I think, to your wife." + +Mr. Watson shook his head vigorously. + +"No, sir," he declared, "I am ashamed to say that I am not very clear as +to the actual expressions I made, but Mrs. Watson has assured me that my +behaviour to you was discourteous in the extreme." + +"I hope you will think no more of it. I had already," Mr. Sabin said, +"forgotten the circumstance. It is not of the slightest consequence." + +"You are very good," Mr. Watson said softly. + +"I had the pleasure," Mr. Sabin remarked, "of an interesting +conversation with your wife last night. You are a very fortunate man." + +"I think so indeed, sir," Mr. Watson replied modestly. + +"American women," Mr. Sabin continued, looking meditatively out to sea, +"are very fascinating." + +"I have always found them so," Mr. Watson agreed. + +"Mrs. Watson," Mr. Sabin said, "told me so much that was interesting +about your wonderful country that I am looking forward to my visit more +than ever." + +Mr. Watson darted a keen glance at his companion. He was suddenly on his +guard. For the first time he realised something of the resources of this +man with whom he had to deal. + +"My wife," he said, "knows really very little of her native country; she +has lived nearly all her life abroad." + +"So I perceived," Mr. Sabin answered. "Shall we sit down a moment, Mr. +Watson? One wearies so of this incessant promenading, and there is a +little matter which I fancy that you and I might discuss with +advantage." + +Mr. Watson obeyed in silence. This was a wonderful man with whom he had +to deal. Already he felt that all the elaborate precautions of his +coming had been wasted. He might be Mr. James B. Watson, the New York +yacht owner and millionaire, to the captain and his seven passengers, +but he was nothing of the sort to Mr. Sabin. He shrugged his shoulders, +and followed him to a seat. After all silence was a safe card. + +"I'm going," Mr. Sabin said, "to be very frank with you. I know, of +course, who you are." + +Mr. Watson shrugged his shoulders. + +"Do you?" he remarked dryly. + +Mr. Sabin bowed, with a faint smile at the corner of his lips. + +"Certainly," he answered, "you are Mr. James B. Watson of New York, and +the lady with you is your wife. Now I want to tell you a little about +myself." + +"Most interested, I'm sure," Mr. Watson murmured. + +"My real name," Mr. Sabin said, turning a little as though to face his +companion, "is Victor Duc de Souspennier. It suits me at present to +travel under the name by which I was known in England and by which you +are in the habit of addressing me. Mr. Watson, I'm leaving England +because a certain scheme of mine, which, if successful, would have +revolutionised the whole face of Europe, has by a most unfortunate +chance become a failure. I have incurred thereby the resentment, perhaps +I should say the just resentment, of a great nation. I am on my way to +the country where I concluded I should be safest against those means of, +shall I say, retribution, or vengeance, which will assuredly be used +against me. Now what I want to say to you, Mr. Watson, is this--I am a +rich man, and I value my life at a great deal of money. I wonder if by +any chance you understand me." + +Mr. Watson smiled. + +"I'm curious to know," he said softly, "at what price you value +yourself." + +"My account in New York," Mr. Sabin said quietly, "is, I believe, +something like ten thousand pounds." + +"Fifty thousand dollars," Mr. Watson remarked, "is a nice little sum for +one, but an awkward amount to divide." + +Mr. Sabin lit a cigarette and breathed more freely. He began to see his +way. + +"I forgot the lady," he murmured. "The expense of cabling is not great. +For the sake of argument, let us say twenty thousand." + +Mr. Watson rose. + +"So far as I'm concerned," he said, "it is a satisfactory sum. Forgive +me if I leave you for a few minutes, I must have a little talk with Mrs. +Watson." + +Mr. Sabin nodded. + +"We will have a cigar together after lunch," he said. "I must have my +morning game of shuffleboard with the captain." + +Mr. Watson went below, and Mr. Sabin played shuffleboard with his usual +deadly skill. + +A slight mist had settled around them by the time the game was over, +and the fog-horn was blowing, the captain went on the bridge, and the +engines were checked to half speed. + +Mr. Sabin leaned over the side of the vessel, and gazed thoughtfully +into the dense white vapour. + +"I think," he said softly to himself, "that after all I'm safe." + +There was perfect silence on the ship. Even the luncheon gong had not +sounded, the passengers having been summoned in a whisper by the deck +steward. The fog seemed to be getting denser and the sea was like glass. +Suddenly there was a little commotion aft, and the captain leaning +forward shouted some brief orders. The fog-horn emitted a series of +spasmodic and hideous shrills, and beyond a slight drifting the steamer +was almost motionless. + +Mr. Sabin understood at once that somewhere, it might be close at hand, +or it might be a mile away, the presence of another steamer had been +detected. + +The same almost ghostlike stillness continued, orders were passed +backward and forward in whispers. The men walked backward and forward on +tip-toe. And then suddenly, without any warning, they passed out into +the clear air, the mist rolled away, the sun shone down upon them again, +and the decks dried as though by magic. Cheerful voices broke in upon +the chill and unnatural silence. The machinery recommenced to throb, and +the passengers who had finished lunch went upon deck. Every one was +attracted at once by the sight of a large white steamer about a mile on +the starboard side. + +Mr. Watson joined the captain, who was examining her through his glass. + +"Man-of-war, isn't she?" he inquired. + +The captain nodded. + +"Not much doubt about that," he answered; "look at her guns. The odd +part of it is, too, she is flying no flag. We shall know who she is +in a minute or two, though." + +Mr. Sabin descended the steps on his way to a late luncheon. As he +turned the corner he came face to face with Mr. Watson, whose eyes were +fixed upon the coming steamer with a very curious expression. + +"Man-of-war," Mr. Sabin remarked. "You look as though you had seen her +before." + +Mr. Watson laughed harshly. + +"I should like to see her," he remarked, "at the bottom of the sea." + +Mr. Sabin looked at him in surprise. + +"You know her, then?" he remarked. + +"I know her," Mr. Watson answered, "too well. She is the _Kaiser +Wilhelm_, and she is going to rob me of twenty thousand pounds." + + + + +CHAPTER XLIV + +THE GERMANS ARE ANNOYED + + +Mr. Sabin ate his luncheon with unimpaired appetite and with his usual +care that everything of which he partook should be so far as possible of +the best. The close presence of the German man-of-war did not greatly +alarm him. He had some knowledge of the laws and courtesies of maritime +life, and he could not conceive by what means short of actual force he +could be inveigled on board of her. Mr. Watson's last words had been +a little disquieting, but he probably held an exaggerated opinion as +to the powers possessed by his employers. Mr. Sabin had been in many +tighter places than this, and he had sufficient belief in the country +of his recent adoption to congratulate himself that it was an English +boat on which he was a passenger. He proceeded to make himself agreeable +to Mrs. Watson, who, in a charming costume of blue and white, and a +fascinating little hat, had just come on to luncheon. + +"I have been talking," he remarked, after a brief pause in their +conversation, "to your husband this morning." + +She looked up at him with a meaning smile upon her face. + +"So he has been telling me." + +"I hope," Mr. Sabin continued gently, "that your advice to him--I take +it for granted that he comes to you for advice--was in my favour." + +"It was very much in your favour," she answered, leaning across towards +him. "I think that you knew it would be." + +"I hoped at least----" + +Mr. Sabin broke off suddenly in the midst of his sentence, and turning +round looked out of the open port-hole. Mrs. Watson had dropped her +knife and fork and was holding her hands to her ears. The saloon itself +seemed to be shaken by the booming of a gun fired at close quarters. + +"What is it?" she exclaimed, looking across at him with frightened eyes. +"What can have happened! England is not at war with anybody, is she?" + +Mr. Sabin looked up with a quiet smile from the salad which he was +mixing. + +"It is simply a signal from another ship," he answered. "She wants us to +stop." + +"What ship? Do you know anything about it? Do you know what they want?" + +"Not exactly," Mr. Sabin said. "At the same time I have some idea. The +ship who fired that signal is a German man-of-war, and you see we are +stopping." + +Of the two Mrs. Watson was certainly the most nervous. Her fingers shook +so that the wine in her glass was spilt. She set her glass down and +looked across at her companion. + +"They will take you away," she murmured. + +"I think not," Mr. Sabin answered. "I am inclined to think that I am +perfectly safe. Will you try some of my salad?" + +A look of admiration flashed for a moment across her face, + +"You are a wonderful man," she said softly. "No salad, thanks! I am too +nervous to eat. Let us go on deck!" + +Mr. Sabin rose, and carefully selected a cigarette. + +"I can assure you," he said, "that they are powerless to do anything +except attempt to frighten Captain Ackinson. Of course they might +succeed in that, but I don't think it is likely. Let us go and hear what +he has to say." + +Captain Ackinson was standing alone on the deck, watching the +man-of-war's boat which was being rapidly pulled towards the _Calipha_. +He was obviously in a bad temper. There was a black frown upon his +forehead which did not altogether disappear when he turned his head and +saw them approaching. + +"Are we arrested, Captain?" Mr. Sabin asked. "Why couldn't they signal +what they wanted?" + +"Because they're blistering idiots," Captain Ackinson answered. "They +blither me to stop, and I signalled back to ask their reason, and I'm +dashed if they didn't put a shot across my bows. As if I hadn't lost +enough time already without fooling." + +"Thanks to us, I am afraid, Captain," Mrs. Watson put in. + +"Well, I'm not regretting that, Mrs. Watson," the captain answered +gallantly. "We got something for stopping there, but we shall get +nothing decent from these confounded Germans, I am very sure. By the +bye, can you speak their lingo, Mr. Sabin?" + +"Yes," Mr. Sabin answered, "I can speak German. Can I be of any +assistance to you?" + +"You might stay with me if you will," Captain Ackinson answered, "in +case they don't speak English." + +Mr. Sabin remained by the captain's side, standing with his hands behind +him. Mrs. Watson leaned over the rail close at hand, watching the +approaching boat, and exchanging remarks with the doctor. In a few +minutes the boat was alongside, and an officer in the uniform of the +German Navy rose and made a stiff salute. + +"Are you the captain?" he inquired, in stiff but correct English. + +The captain returned his salute. + +"I am Captain Ackinson, Cunard ss. _Calipha_," he answered. "What do you +want with me?" + +"I am Captain Von Dronestein, in command of the _Kaiser Wilhelm_, +German Navy," was the reply. "I want a word or two with you in private, +Captain Ackinson. Can I come on board?" + +Captain Ackinson's reply was not gushing. He gave the necessary orders, +however, and in a few moments Captain Von Dronestein, and a thin, dark +man in the dress of a civilian, clambered to the deck. They looked at +Mr. Sabin, standing by the captain's side, and exchanged glances of +intelligence. + +"If you will kindly permit us, Captain," the newcomer said, "we should +like to speak with you in private. The matter is one of great +importance." + +Mr. Sabin discreetly retired. The captain turned on his heel and led the +way to his cabin. He pointed briefly to the lounge against the wall and +remained himself standing. + +"Now, gentlemen, if you please," he said briskly, "to business. You have +stopped a mail steamer in mid ocean by force, so I presume you have +something of importance to say. Please say it and let me go on. I am +behind time now." + +The German held up his hands. "We have stopped you," he said, "it is +true, but not by force. No! No!" + +"I don't know what else you call it when you show me a bounding thirty +guns and put a shot across my bows." + +"It was a blank charge," the German began, but Captain Ackinson +interrupted him. + +"It was nothing of the sort!" he declared bluntly. "I was on deck and I +saw the charge strike the water." + +"It was then contrary to my orders," Captain Dronestein declared, "and +in any case it was not intended for intimidation." + +"Never mind what it was intended for. I have my own opinion about that," +Captain Ackinson remarked impatiently. "Proceed if you please!" + +"In the first place permit me to introduce the Baron Von Graisheim, who +is attached to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs at Berlin." + +Captain Ackinson's acknowledgment of the introduction was barely civil. +The German continued-- + +"I am afraid you will not consider my errand here a particularly +pleasant one, Herr Captain. I have a warrant here for the arrest of one +of your passengers, whom I have to ask you to hand over to me." + +"A what!" Captain Ackinson exclaimed, with a spot of deep colour +stealing through the tan of his cheeks. + +"A warrant," Dronestein continued, drawing an imposing looking document +from his breast pocket. "If you will examine it you will perceive that +it is in perfect order. It bears, in fact," he continued, pointing with +reverential forefinger to a signature near the bottom of the document, +"the seal of his most august Majesty, the Emperor of Germany." + +Captain Ackinson glanced at the document with imperturbable face. + +"What is the name of the gentleman to whom all this refers?" he +inquired. + +"The Duc de Souspennier!" + +"The name," Captain Ackinson remarked, "is not upon my passengers' +list." + +"He is travelling under the alias of 'Mr. Sabin,'" Baron Von Graisheim +interjected. + +"And do you expect me," Captain Ackinson remarked, "to hand over the +person in question to you on the authority of that document?" + +"Certainly!" the two men exclaimed with one voice. + +"Then I am very sorry indeed," Captain Ackinson declared, "that you +should have had the temerity to stop my ship, and detain me here on such +a fool's errand. We are on the high seas and under the English flag. The +document you have just shown me impeaching the Duc de Souspennier for +'lèse majestie' and high treason, and all the rest of it, is not worth +the paper it is written on here, nor, I should think in America. I must +ask you to leave my ship at once, gentlemen, and I can promise you that +my employers, the Cunard ss. Company, will bring a claim against your +Government for this unwarrantable detention." + +"You must, if you please, be reasonable," Captain Dronestein said. "We +have force behind us, and we are determined to rescue this man at all +costs." + +Captain Ackinson laughed scornfully. + +"I shall be interested to see what measures of force you will employ," +he remarked. "You may have a tidy bill to pay as it is, for that shot +you put across my bows. If you try another it may cost you the _Kaiser +Wilhelm_ and the whole of the German Navy. Now, if you please, I've no +more time to waste." + +Captain Ackinson moved towards the door. Dronestein laid his hand upon +his arm. + +"Captain Ackinson," he said, "do not be rash. If I have seemed too +peremptory in this matter, remember that Germany as my fatherland +is as dear to me as England to you, and this man whose arrest I am +commissioned to effect has earned for himself the deep enmity of all +patriots. Listen to me, I beg. You run not one shadow of risk in +delivering this man up to my custody. He has no country with whom you +might become embroiled. He is a French Royalist, who has cast himself +adrift altogether from his country, and is indeed her enemy. Apart from +that, his detention, trial and sentence, would be before a secret court. +He would simply disappear. As for you, you need not fear but that +your services will be amply recognised. Make your claims now for this +detention of your steamer; fix it if you will at five or even ten +thousand pounds, and I will satisfy it on the spot by a draft on the +Imperial Exchequer. The man can be nothing to you. Make a great country +your debtor. You will never regret it." + +Captain Ackinson shook his arm free from the other's grasp, and strode +out on to the deck. + +"_Kaiser Wilhelm_ boat alongside," he shouted, blowing his whistle. +"Smith, have these gentlemen lowered at once, and pass the word to the +engineer's room, full speed ahead." + +He turned to the two men, who had followed him out. + +"You had better get off my ship before I lose my temper," he said +bluntly. "But rest assured that I shall report this attempt at +intimidation and bribery to my employers, and they will without doubt +lay the matter before the Government." + +"But Captain Ackinson----" + +"Not another word, sir." + +"My dear----" + +Captain Ackinson turned his back upon the two men, and with a stiff, +military salute turned towards the bridge. Already the machinery was +commencing to throb. Mr. Watson, who was hovering near, came up and +helped them to descend. A few apparently casual remarks passed between +the three men. From a little lower down Mr. Sabin and Mrs. Watson leaned +over the rail and watched the visitors lowered into their boat. + +"That was rather a foolish attempt," he remarked lightly; "nevertheless +they seem disappointed." + +She looked after them pensively. + +"I wish I knew what they said to--my husband," she murmured. + +"Orders for my assassination, very likely," he remarked lightly. "Did +you see your husband's face when he passed us?" + +She nodded, and looked behind. Mr. Watson had entered the smoke-room. +She drew a little nearer to Mr. Sabin and dropped her voice almost to a +whisper. + +"What you have said in jest is most likely the truth. Be very careful!" + + + + +CHAPTER XLV + +MR. SABIN IN DANGER + + +Mr. Sabin found the captain by no means inclined to talk about the visit +which they had just received. He was still hurt and ruffled at the +propositions which had been made to him, and annoyed at the various +delays which seemed conspiring to prevent him from making a decent +passage. + +"I have been most confoundedly insulted by those d---- Germans," he said +to Mr. Sabin, meeting him a little later in the gangway. "I don't know +exactly what your position may be, but you will have to be on your +guard. They have gone on to New York, and I suppose they will try and +get their warrant endorsed there before we land." + +"They have a warrant, then?" Mr. Sabin remarked. + +"They showed me something of the sort," the captain answered scornfully. +"And it is signed by the Kaiser. But, of course, here it isn't worth the +paper it is written on, and America would never give you up without a +special extradition treaty." + +Mr. Sabin smiled. He had calculated all the chances nicely, and a volume +of international law was lying at that moment in his state-room face +downwards. + +"I think," he said, "that I am quite safe from arrest, but at the same +time, Captain, I am very sorry to be such a troublesome passenger to +you." + +The captain shrugged his shoulders. "Oh, it is not your fault," he said; +"but I have made up my mind about one thing. I am not going to stop my +ship this side of Boston Harbour for anything afloat. We have lost half +a day already." + +"If the Cunard Company will send me the extra coal bill," Mr. Sabin +said, "I will pay it cheerfully, for I am afraid that both stoppages +have been on my account." + +"Bosh!" The Captain, who was moving away, stopped short. "You had +nothing to do with these New Yorkers and their broken-down yacht." + +Mr. Sabin finished lighting a cigarette which he had taken from his +case, and, passing his arm through the captain's, drew him a little +further away from the gangway. + +"I'm afraid I had," he said. "As a matter of fact they are not New +Yorkers, and they are not husband and wife. They are simply agents in +the pay of the German secret police." + +"What, spies!" the captain exclaimed. + +Mr. Sabin nodded. + +"Exactly!" + +The captain was still incredulous. "Do you mean to tell me," he +exclaimed, "that charming little woman is not an American at all?--that +she is a fraud?" + +"There isn't a shadow of a doubt about it," Mr. Sabin replied. "They +have both tacitly admitted it. As a matter of fact I am in treaty now to +buy them over. They were on the point of accepting my terms when these +fellows boarded us. Whether they will do so now I cannot tell. I saw +that fellow Graisheim talking to the man just before they left the +vessel." + +"You are safe while you are on my ship, Mr. Sabin," the captain said +firmly. "I shall watch that fellow Watson closely, and if he gives me +the least chance, I will have him put in irons. Confound the man and his +plausible----" + +They were interrupted by the deck steward, who came with a message from +Mrs. Watson. She was making tea on deck--might she have the loan of the +captain's table, and would they come? + +The captain gave the necessary assent, but was on the point of declining +the invitation. "I don't want to go near the people," he said. + +"On the other hand," Mr. Sabin objected, "I do not want them to think, +at present at any rate, that I have told you who they are. You had +better come." + +They crossed the deck to a sunny little corner behind one of the boats, +where Mrs. Watson had just completed her preparation for tea. + +She greeted them gaily and chatted to them while they waited for the +kettle to boil, but to Mr. Sabin's observant eyes there was a remarkable +change in her. Her laughter was forced and she was very pale. + +Several times Mr. Sabin caught her watching him in an odd way as though +she desired to attract his attention, but Mr. Watson, who for once had +seemed to desert the smoking-room, remained by her side like a shadow. +Mr. Sabin felt that his presence was ominous. The tea was made and +handed round. + +Mr. Watson sent away the deck steward, who was preparing to wait upon +them, and did the honours himself. He passed the sugar to the captain +and stood before Mr. Sabin with the sugar-tongs in his hand. + +"Sugar?" he inquired, holding out a lump. + +Mr. Sabin took sugar, and was on the point of holding out his cup. Just +then he chanced to glance across to Mrs. Watson. Her eyes were dilated +and she seemed to be on the point of springing from her chair. Meeting +his glance she shook her head, and then bent over her hot water +apparatus. + +"No sugar, thanks," Mr. Sabin answered. "This tea looks too good to +spoil by any additions. One of the best things I learned in Asia was +to take my tea properly. Help yourself, Mr. Watson." + +Mr. Watson rather clumsily dropped the piece of sugar which he had been +holding out to Mr. Sabin, and the ship giving a slight lurch just at +that moment, it rolled down the deck and apparently into the sea. With +a little remark as to his clumsiness he resumed his seat. + +Mr. Sabin looked into his tea and across to Mrs. Watson. The slightest +of nods was sufficient for him. He drank it off and asked for some more. + +The tea party on the whole was scarcely a success. The Captain was +altogether upset and quite indisposed to be amiable towards people who +had made a dupe of him. Mrs. Watson seemed to be suffering from a state +of nervous excitement, and her husband was glum and silent. Mr. Sabin +alone appeared to be in good spirits, and he talked continually with his +customary ease and polish. + +The Captain did not stay very long, and upon his departure Mr. Sabin +also rose. + +"Am I to have the pleasure of taking you for a little walk, Mrs. +Watson?" he asked. + +She looked doubtfully at the tall, glum figure by her side, and her face +was almost haggard. + +"I'm afraid--I think--I think--Mr. Watson has just asked me to walk with +him," she said, lamely; "we must have our stroll later on." + +"I shall be ready and delighted at any time," Mr. Sabin answered with a +bow. + +"We are going to have a moon to-night; perhaps you may be tempted to +walk after dinner." + +He ignored the evident restraint of both the man and the woman and +strolled away. Having nothing in particular to do he went into his deck +cabin to dress a little earlier than usual, and when he had emerged the +dinner gong had not yet sounded. + +The deck was quite deserted, and lighting a _cigarette d'appetit_, he +strolled past the scene of their tea-party. A dark object under the boat +attracted his attention. He stooped down and looked at it. Thomas, the +ship's cat, was lying there stiff and stark, and by the side of his +outstretched tongue a lump of sugar. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVI + +MR. WATSON IS ASTONISHED + + +At dinner-time Mr. Sabin was the most silent of the little quartette who +occupied the head of the table. The captain, who had discovered that +notwithstanding their stoppage they had made a very fair day's run, and +had just noticed a favourable change in the wind, was in a better +humour, and on the whole was disposed to feel satisfied with himself for +the way he had repulsed the captain of the _Kaiser Wilhelm_. He departed +from his usual custom so far as to drink a glass of Mr. Sabin's +champagne, having first satisfied himself as to the absence of any +probability of fog. Mr. Watson, too, was making an effort to appear +amiable, and his wife, though her colour seemed a trifle hectic and her +laughter not altogether natural, contributed her share to the +conversation. Mr. Sabin alone was curiously silent and distant. Many +times he had escaped death by what seemed almost a fluke; more often +than most men he had been at least in danger of losing it. But this last +adventure had made a distinct and deep impression upon him. He had not +seriously believed that the man Watson was prepared to go to such +lengths; he recognised for the first time his extreme danger. Then as +regards the woman he was genuinely puzzled. He owed her his life, he +could not doubt it. She had given him the warning by which he had +profited, and she had given it him behind his companion's back. He was +strongly inclined to believe in her. Still, she was doubtless in fear of +the man. Her whole appearance denoted it. She was still, without doubt, +his tool, willing or unwilling. + +They lingered longer than usual over their dessert. It was noticeable +that throughout their conversation all mention of the events of the day +was excluded. A casual remark of Mr. Watson's the captain had ignored. +There was an obvious inclination to avoid the subject. The captain was +on the _qui vive_ all the time, and he promptly quashed any embarrassing +remark. So far as Mrs. Watson was concerned there was certainly no fear +of her exhibiting any curiosity. It was hard to believe that she was the +same woman who had virtually taken the conversation into her own hands +on the previous evening, and had talked to them so well and so brightly. +She sat there, white and cowed, looking a great deal at Mr. Sabin with +sad, far-away eyes, and seldom originating a remark. Mr. Watson, on the +contrary, talked incessantly, in marked contrast to his previous +silence; he drank no wine, but seemed in the best of spirits. Only once +did he appear at a loss, and that was when the captain, helping himself +to some nuts, turned towards Mr. Sabin and asked a question-- + +"I wonder, Mr. Sabin, whether you ever heard of an Indian nut called, I +believe, the Fakella? They say that an oil distilled from its kernel is +the most deadly poison in the world." + +"I have both heard of it and seen it," Mr. Sabin answered. "In fact, I +may say, that I have tasted it--on the tip of my finger." + +"And yet," the captain remarked, laughing, "you are alive." + +"And yet I am alive," Mr. Sabin echoed. "But there is nothing very +wonderful in that. I am poison-proof." + +Mr. Watson was in the act of raising a hastily filled glass to his lips +when his eyes met Mr. Sabin's. He set it down hurriedly, white to the +lips. He knew, then! Surely there must be something supernatural about +the man. A conviction of his own absolute impotence suddenly laid hold +of him. He was completely shaken. Of what use were the ordinary weapons +of his kind against an antagonist such as this? He knew nothing of the +silent evidence against him on deck. He could only attribute Mr. Sabin's +foreknowledge of what had been planned against him to the miraculous. He +stumbled to his feet, and muttering something about some cigars, left +his place. Mrs. Watson rose almost immediately afterwards. As she turned +to walk down the saloon she dropped her handkerchief. Mr. Sabin, who had +risen while she passed out, stooped down and picked it up. She took it +with a smile of thanks and whispered in his ear-- + +"Come on deck with me quickly; I want to speak to you." + +He obeyed, turning round and making some mute sign to the captain. She +walked swiftly up the stairs after a frightened glance down the corridor +to their state-rooms. A fresh breeze blew in their faces as they stepped +out on deck, and Mr. Sabin glanced at her bare neck and arms. + +"You will be cold," he said. "Let me fetch you a wrap." + +"Don't leave me," she exclaimed quickly. "Walk to the side of the +steamer. Don't look behind." + +Mr. Sabin obeyed. Directly she was sure that they were really beyond +earshot of any one she laid her hand upon his arm. + +"I am going to ask you a strange question," she said. "Don't stop to +think what it means, but answer me at once. Where are you going to sleep +to-night--in your state-room or in the deck cabin?" + +He started a little, but answered without hesitation-- + +"In my deck cabin." + +"Then don't," she exclaimed quickly. "Say that you are going to if you +are asked, mind that. Sit up on deck, out of sight, all night, stay with +the captain--anything--but don't sleep there, and whatever you may see +don't be surprised, and please don't think too badly of me." + +He was surprised to see that her cheeks were burning and her eyes were +wet. He laid his hand tenderly upon her arm. + +"I will promise that at any rate," he said. + +"And you will remember what I have told you?" + +"Most certainly," he promised. "Your warnings are not things to be +disregarded." + +She drew a quick little breath and looked nervously over her shoulders. + +"I am afraid," he said kindly, "that you are not well to-day. Has that +fellow been frightening or ill-using you?" + +Her face was very close to his, and he fancied that he could hear her +teeth chattering. She was obviously terrified. + +"We must not be talking too seriously," she murmured. "He may be here at +any moment. I want you to remember that there is a price set upon you +and he means to earn it. He would have killed you before, but he wants +to avoid detection. You had better tell the captain everything. +Remember, you must be on the watch always." + +"I can protect myself now that I am warned," he said, reassuringly. "I +have carried my life in my hands many a time before. But you?" + +She shivered. + +"They tell me," she whispered, "that from Boston you can take a train +right across the Continent, thousands of miles. I am going to take the +very first one that starts when I land, and I am going to hide somewhere +in the furthest corner of the world I can get to. To live in such fear +would drive me mad, and I am not a coward. Let us walk; he will not +think so much of our being together then." + +"I am going to send for a wrap," he said, looking down at her thin +dinner dress; "it is much too cold for you here bare-headed. We will +send the steward for something." + +They turned round to find a tall form at their elbows. Mr. Watson's +voice, thin and satirical, broke the momentary silence. + +"You are in a great hurry for fresh air, Violet. I have brought your +cape; allow me to put it on." + +He stooped down and threw the wrap over her shoulders. Then he drew her +reluctant fingers through his arm. + +"You were desiring to walk," he said. "Very well, we will walk +together." + +Mr. Sabin watched them disappear and, lighting a cigar, strolled off +towards the captain's room. Many miles away now he could still see the +green light of the German man-of-war. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVII + +A CHARMED LIFE + + +The night was still enough, but piled-up masses of black clouds obscured +a weakly moon, and there were only now and then uncertain gleams of +glimmering light. There was no fog, nor any sign of any. The captain +slept in his room, and on deck the steamer was utterly deserted. Only +through the black darkness she still bounded on, her furnaces roaring, +and the black trail of smoke leaving a long clear track behind her. It +seemed as though every one were sleeping on board the steamer except +those who fed her fires below and the grim, silent figure who stood in +the wheelhouse. + +Mr. Sabin, who, muffled up with rugs, was reclining in a deck chair, +drawn up in the shadow of the long boat, was already beginning to regret +that he had attached any importance at all to Mrs. Watson's warning. It +wanted only an hour or so of dawn. All night long he had sat there in +view of the door of his deck cabin and shivered. To sleep had been +impossible, his dozing was only fitful and unrestful. His hands were +thrust deep down into the pockets of his overcoat--the revolver had long +ago slipped from his cold fingers. More than once he had made up his +mind to abandon his watch, to enter his room, and chance what might +happen. And then suddenly there came what he had been waiting for all +this while--a soft footfall along the deck: some one was making their +way now from the gangway to the door of his cabin. + +The frown on his forehead deepened; he leaned stealthily forward +watching and listening intently. Surely that was the rustling of a +silken gown, that gleam of white behind the funnel was the fluttering of +a woman's skirt. Suddenly he saw her distinctly. She was wearing a long +white dressing-gown, and noiseless slippers of some kind. Her face was +very pale and her eyes seemed fixed and dilated. Once, twice she looked +nervously behind her, then she paused before the door of his cabin, +hesitated for a moment, and finally passed over the threshold. Mr. +Sabin, who had been about to spring forward, paused. After all perhaps +he was safer where he was. + +There was a full minute during which nothing happened. Mr. Sabin, who +had now thoroughly regained his composure, lingered in the shadow of the +boat prepared to wait upon the course of events, but a man's footstep +this time fell softly upon the deck. Some one had emerged from the +gangway and was crossing towards his room. Mr. Sabin peered cautiously +through the twilight. It was Mr. Watson, of New York, partially dressed, +with a revolver flashing in his hand. Then Mr. Sabin perceived the full +wisdom of having remained where he was. + +Under the shadow of the boat he drew a little nearer to the door of the +cabin. There was absolute silence within. What they were doing he could +not imagine, but the place was in absolute darkness. Thoroughly awake +now he crouched within a few feet of the door listening intently. Once +he fancied that he could hear a voice, it seemed to him that a hand was +groping along the wall for the knob of the electric light. Then the door +was softly opened and the woman came out. She stood for a moment leaning +a little forward, listening intently ready to make her retreat +immediately she was assured that the coast was clear! She was a little +pale, but in a stray gleam of moonlight Mr. Sabin fancied that he caught +a glimpse of a smile upon her parted lips. There was a whisper from +behind her shoulder; she answered in a German monosyllable. Then, +apparently satisfied that she was unobserved, she stepped out, and, +flitting round the funnel, disappeared down the gangway. Mr. Sabin made +no attempt to stop her or to disclose his presence. His fingers had +closed now upon his revolver--he was waiting for the man. The minutes +crept on--nothing happened. Then a hand softly closed the window looking +out upon the deck, immediately afterwards the door was pushed open and +Mr. Watson, with a handkerchief to his mouth, stepped out. + +He stood perfectly still listening for a moment. Then he was on the +point of stealing away, when a hand fell suddenly upon his shoulder. He +was face to face with Mr. Sabin. + +He started back with a slight but vehement guttural interjection. His +hand stole down towards his pocket, but the shining argument in Mr. +Sabin's hand was irresistible. + +"Step back into that room, Mr. Watson; I want to speak to you." + +He hesitated. Mr. Sabin reaching across him opened the door of the +cabin. Immediately they were assailed with the fumes of a strange, +sickly odour! Mr. Sabin laughed softly, but a little bitterly. + +"A very old-fashioned device," he murmured. "I gave you credit for more +ingenuity, my friend. Come, I have opened the window and the door you +see! Let us step inside. There will be sufficient fresh air." + +Mr. Watson was evidently disinclined to make the effort. He glanced +covertly up the deck, and seemed to be preparing himself for a rush. +Again that little argument of steel and the grim look on Mr. Sabin's +face prevailed. They both crossed the threshold. The odour, though +powerful, was almost nullified by the rushing of the salt wind through +the open window and door which Mr. Sabin had fixed open with a catch. +Reaching out his hand he pulled down a little brass hook--the room was +immediately lit with the soft glare of the electric light. + +Mr. Sabin, having assured himself that his companion's revolver was +safely bestowed in his hip pocket and could not be reached without +warning, glanced carefully around his cabin. + +He looked first towards the bed and smiled. His little device, then, had +succeeded. The rug which he had rolled up under the sheets into the +shape of a human form was undisturbed. In the absence of a light Mr. +Watson had evidently taken for granted that the man whom he had sought +to destroy was really in the room. The two men suddenly exchanged +glances, and Mr. Sabin smiled at the other's look of dismay. + +"It was not like you," he said gently; "it was really very clumsy indeed +to take for granted my presence here. I have great faith in you and your +methods, my friend, but do you think that it would have been altogether +wise for me to have slept here alone with unfastened door--under the +circumstances?" + +Mr. Watson admitted his error with a gleam in his dark eyes, which Mr. +Sabin accepted as an additional warning. + +"Your little device," he continued, raising an unstopped flask from the +table by the side of the bed, "is otherwise excellent, and I feel that +I owe you many thanks for arranging a death that should be painless. +You might have made other plans which would have been not only more +clumsy, but which might have caused me a considerable amount of personal +inconvenience and discomfort. Your arrangements, I see, were altogether +excellent. You arranged for my--er--extermination asleep or awake. If +awake the little visit which your charming wife had just paid here +was to have provided you at once with a motive for the crime and a +distinctly mitigating circumstance. That was very ingenious. Pardon my +lighting a cigarette, these fumes are a little powerful. Then if I was +asleep and had not been awakened by the time you arrived--well, it was +to be a drug! Supposing, my dear Mr. Watson, you do me the favour of +emptying this little flask into the sea." + +Mr. Watson obeyed promptly. There were several points in his favour to +be gained by the destruction of this evidence of his unsuccessful +attempt. As he crossed the deck holding the little bottle at arm's +length from him a delicate white vapour could be distinctly seen rising +from the bottle and vanishing into the air. There was a little hiss like +the hiss of a snake as it touched the water, and a spot of white froth +marked the place where it sank. + +"Much too strong," Mr. Sabin murmured. "A sad waste of a very valuable +drug, my friend. Now will you please come inside with me. We must have a +little chat. But first kindly stand quite still for one moment. There is +no particular reason why I should run any risk. I am going to take that +revolver from your pocket and throw it overboard." + +Mr Watson's first instinct was evidently one of resistance. Then +suddenly he felt the cold muzzle of a revolver upon his forehead. + +"If you move," Mr. Sabin said quietly, "you are a dead man. My best +policy would be to kill you; I am foolish not to do it. But I hate +violence. You are safe if you do as I tell you." + +Mr. Watson recognised the fact that his companion was in earnest. He +stood quite still and watched his revolver describe a semi-circle in the +darkness and a fall with a little splash in the water. Then he followed +Mr. Sabin into his cabin. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVIII + +THE DOOMSCHEN + + +"I suppose," Mr. Sabin began, closing the door of the cabin behind him, +"that I may take it--this episode--as an indication of your refusal to +accept the proposals I made to you?" + +Mr. Watson did not immediately reply. He had seated himself on the +corner of a lounge and was leaning forward, his head resting moodily +upon his hands. His sallow face was paler even than usual, and his +expression was sullen. He looked, as he undoubtedly was, in an evil +humour with himself and all things. + +"It was not a matter of choice with me," he muttered. "Look out of your +window there and you will see that even here upon the ocean I am under +surveillance." + +Mr. Sabin's eyes followed the man's forefinger. Far away across the +ocean he could see a dim green light almost upon the horizon. It was the +German man-of-war. + +"That is quite true," Mr. Sabin said. "I admit that there are +difficulties, but it seems to me that you have overlooked the crux of +the whole matter. I have offered you enough to live on for the rest of +your days, without ever returning to Europe. You know very well that you +can step off this ship arm-in-arm with me when we reach Boston, even +though your man-of-war be alongside the dock. They could not touch +you--you could leave your--pardon me--not too honourable occupation once +and for ever. America is not the country in which one would choose to +live, but it has its resources--it can give you big game and charming +women. I have lived there and I know. It is not Europe, but it is the +next best thing. Come, you had better accept my terms!" + +The man had listened without moving a muscle of his face. There was +something almost pitiable in its white, sullen despair. Then his lips +parted. + +"Would to God I could!" he moaned. "Would to God I had the power to +listen to you!" + +Mr. Sabin flicked the ash off his cigarette and looked thoughtful. He +stroked his grey imperial and kept his eyes on his companion. + +"The extradition laws," the other interrupted savagely. + +Mr. Sabin shrugged his shoulders. "By all means," he murmured. +"Personally I have no interest in them; but if you would talk like a +reasonable man and tell me where your difficulty lies I might be able to +help you." + +The man who had called himself Watson raised his head slowly. His +expression remained altogether hopeless. He had the appearance of a man +given wholly over to despair. + +"Have you ever heard of the Doomschen?" he asked slowly. + +Mr. Sabin shuddered. He became suddenly very grave. "You are not one of +them?" he exclaimed. + +The man bowed his head. + +"I am one of those devils," he admitted. + +Mr. Sabin rose to his feet and walked up and down the little room. + +"Of course," he remarked, "that complicates matters, but there ought to +be a way out of it. Let me think for a moment." + +The man on the lounge sat still with unchanging face. In his heart he +knew that there was no way out of it. The chains which bound him were +such as the hand of man had no power to destroy. The arm of his master +was long. It had reached him here--it would reach him to the farthermost +corner of the world. Nor could Mr. Sabin for the moment see any light. +The man was under perpetual sentence of death. There was no country in +the world which would not give him up, if called upon to do so. + +"What you have told me," Mr. Sabin said, "explains, of course to a +certain extent, your present indifference to my offers. But when I first +approached you in this way you certainly led me to think----" + +"That was before that cursed _Kaiser Wilhelm_ came up," Watson +interrupted. "I had a plan--I might have made a rush for liberty at any +rate!" + +"But surely you would have been marked down at Boston," Mr. Sabin said. + +"The only friend I have in the world," the other said slowly, "is the +manager of the Government's Secret Cable Office at Berlin. He was on my +side. It would have given me a chance, but now"--he looked out of the +window--"it is hopeless!" + +Mr. Sabin resumed his chair and lit a fresh cigarette. He had thought +the matter out and began to see light. + +"It is rather an awkward fix," he said, "but 'hopeless' is a word which +I do not understand. As regards our present dilemma I think that I see +an excellent way out of it." + +A momentary ray of hope flashed across the man's face. Then he shook his +head. + +"It is not possible," he murmured. + +Mr. Sabin smiled quietly. + +"My friend," he said, "I perceive that you are a pessimist! You will +find yourself in a very short time a free man with the best of your life +before you. Take my advice. Whatever career you embark in do so in a +more sanguine spirit. Difficulties to the man who faces them boldly lose +half their strength. But to proceed. You are one of those who are called +'Doomschen.' That means, I believe, that you have committed a crime +punishable by death,--that you are on parole only so long as you remain +in the service of the Secret Police of your country. That is so, is it +not?" + +The man assented grimly. Mr. Sabin continued-- + +"If you were to abandon your present task and fail to offer satisfactory +explanations--if you were to attempt to settle down in America, your +extradition, I presume, would at once be applied for. You would be given +no second chance." + +"I should be shot without a moment's hesitation," Watson admitted +grimly. + +"Exactly; and there is, I believe, another contingency. If you should +succeed in your present enterprise, which, I presume, is my +extermination, you would obtain your freedom." + +The man on the lounge nodded. A species of despair was upon him. This +man was his master in all ways. He would be his master to the end. + +"That brings us," Mr. Sabin continued, "to my proposition. I must admit +that the details I have not fully thought out yet, but that is a matter +of only half an hour or so. I propose that you should kill me in Boston +Harbour and escape to your man-of-war. They will, of course, refuse to +give you up, and on your return to Germany you will receive your +freedom." + +"But--but you," Watson exclaimed, bewildered, "you don't want to be +killed, surely?" + +"I do not intend to be--actually," Mr. Sabin explained. "Exactly how I +am going to manage it I can't tell you just now, but it will be quite +easy. I shall be dead to the belief of everybody on board here except +the captain, and he will be our accomplice. I shall remain hidden until +your _Kaiser Wilhelm_ has left, and when I do land in America--it shall +not be as Mr. Sabin." + +Watson rose to his feet He was a transformed man. A sudden hope had +brightened his face. His eyes were on fire. + +"It is a wonderful scheme!" he exclaimed. "But the captain--surely he +will never consent to help?" + +"On the contrary," Mr. Sabin answered, "he will do it for the asking. +There is not a single difficulty which we cannot easily surmount." + +"There is my companion," Watson remarked; "she will have to be reckoned +with." + +"Leave her," Mr. Sabin said, "to me. I will undertake that she shall be +on our side before many hours are passed. You had better go down to your +room now. It is getting light and I want to rest." + +Watson paused upon the threshold. He pointed in some embarrassment to +the table by the side of the bed. + +"Is it any use," he murmured in a low tone, "saying that I am sorry for +this?" + +"You only did--what--in a sense was your duty," Mr. Sabin answered. "I +bear no malice--especially since I escaped." + +Watson closed the door and Mr. Sabin glanced at the bed. For a moment or +two he hesitated, although the desire for sleep had gone by. Then he +stepped out on to the deck and leaned thoughtfully over the white +railing. Far away eastwards there were signs already of the coming day. +A soft grey twilight rested upon the sea; darker and blacker the waters +seemed just then by contrast with the lightening skies. A fresh breeze +was blowing. There was no living thing within sight save that faint +green light where the rolling sea touched the clouds. Mr. Sabin's eyes +grew fixed. A curious depression came over him in that half hour before +the dawn when all emotion is quickened by that intense brooding +stillness. He was passing, he felt, into perpetual exile. He who had +been so intimately in touch with the large things of the world had come +to that point when after all he was bound to write his life down a +failure. For its great desire was no nearer consummation. He had made +his grand effort and he had failed. He had been very near success. He +had seen closely into the Promised Land. Perhaps it was such thoughts as +these which made his non-success the more bitter, and then, with the +instincts of a philosopher, he asked himself now, surrounded in fancy by +the fragments of his broken dreams, whether it had been worth while. +That love of the beautiful and picturesque side of his country which had +been his first inspiration, which had been at the root of his passionate +patriotism, seemed just then in the grey moments of his despair so weak +a thing. He had sacrificed so much to it--his whole life had been +moulded and shaped to that one end. There had been other ways in which +he might have found happiness. Was he growing morbid, he wondered, +bitterly but unresistingly, that her face should suddenly float before +his eyes. In fancy he could see her coming towards him there across the +still waters, the old brilliant smile upon her lips, the lovelight in +her eyes, that calm disdain of all other men written so plainly on the +face which should surely have been a queen's. + +Mr. Sabin thought of those things which had passed, and he thought of +what was to come, and a moment of bitterness crept into his life which +he knew must leave its mark for ever. His head drooped into his hands +and remained buried there. Thus he stood until the first ray of sunlight +travelling across the water fell upon him, and he knew that morning had +come. He crossed the deck, and entering his cabin closed the door. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIX + +MR. SABIN IS SENTIMENTAL + + +Mr. Sabin found it a harder matter than he had anticipated to induce the +captain to consent to the scheme he had formulated. Nevertheless, he +succeeded in the end, and by lunch time the following day the whole +affair was settled. There was a certain amount of risk in the affair, +but, on the other hand, if successfully carried out, it set free once +and for ever the two men mainly concerned in it. Mr. Sabin, who was in +rather a curious mood, came out of the captain's room a little after one +o'clock feeling altogether indisposed for conversation of any sort, +ordered his luncheon from the deck steward, and moved his chair apart +from the others into a sunny, secluded corner of the boat. + +It was here that Mrs. Watson found him an hour later. He heard the +rustle of silken draperies across the deck, a faint but familiar perfume +suddenly floated into the salt, sunlit air. He looked around to find her +bending over him, a miracle of white--cool, dainty, and elegant. + +"And why this seclusion, Sir Misanthrope?" + +He laughed and dragged her chair alongside of his. + +"Come and sit down," he said. "I want to talk to you. I want," he added, +lowering his voice, "to thank you for your warning." + +They were close together now and alone, cut off from the other chairs +by one of the lifeboats. She looked up at him from amongst the cushions +with which her chair was hung. + +"You understood," she murmured. + +"Perfectly." + +"You are safe now," she said. "From him at any rate. You have won him +over." + +"I have found a way of safety," Mr. Sabin said, "for both of us." + +She leaned her head upon her delicate white fingers, and looked at him +curiously. + +"Your plans," she said, "are admirable; but what of me?" + +Mr. Sabin regarded her with some faint indication of surprise. He was +not sure what she meant. Did she expect a reward for her warning, he +wondered. Her words would seem to indicate something of the sort, and +yet he was not sure. + +"I am afraid," he said kindly, "we have not considered you very much +yet. You will go on to Boston, of course. Then I suppose you will return +to Germany." + +"Never," she exclaimed, with suppressed passion. "I have broken my vows. +I shall never set foot in Germany again. I broke them for your sake." + +Mr. Sabin looked at her thoughtfully. + +"I am glad to hear you say that," he declared. "Believe me, my dear +young lady, I have seen a great deal of such matters, and I can assure +you that the sooner you break away from all association with this man +Watson and his employers the better." + +"It is all over," she murmured. "I am a free woman." + +Mr. Sabin was delighted to hear it. Yet he felt that there was a certain +awkwardness between them. He was this woman's debtor, and he had made no +effort to discharge his debt. What did she expect from him? He looked at +her through half-closed eyes, and wondered. + +"If I can be of any use to you," he suggested softly, "in any fresh +start you may make in life, you have only to command me." + +She kept her face averted from him. There was land in sight, and she +seemed much interested in it. + +"What are you going to do in America?" + +Mr. Sabin looked out across the sea, and he repeated her question to +himself. What was he going to do in this great, strange land, whose ways +were not his ways, and whose sympathies lay so far apart from his? + +"I cannot tell," he murmured. "I have come here for safety. I have no +country nor any friends. This is the land of my exile." + +A soft, white hand touched his for a moment. He looked into her face, +and saw there an emotion which surprised him. + +"It is my exile too," she said. "I shall never dare to return. I have no +wish to return." + +"But your friends?" Mr. Sabin commenced. "Your family?" + +"I have no family." + +Mr. Sabin was thoughtful for several moments, then he took out his case +and lit a cigarette. He watched the blue smoke floating away over the +ship's side, and looked no more at the woman at his elbow. + +"If you decide," he said quietly, "to settle in America, you must not +allow yourself to forget that I am very much your debtor. I----" + +"Your friendship," she interrupted, "I shall be very glad to have. We +may perhaps help one another to feel less lonely." + +Mr. Sabin gently shook his head. + +"I had a friend of your sex once," he said. "I shall--forgive me--never +have another." + +"Is she dead?" + +"If she is dead, it is I who have killed her. I sacrificed her to my +ambition. We parted, and for months--for years--I scarcely thought of +her, and now the day of retribution has come. I think of her, but it is +in vain. Great barriers have rolled between us since those days, but she +was my first friend, and she will be my only one." + +There was a long silence. Mr. Sabin's eyes were fixed steadily seawards. +A flood of recollections had suddenly taken possession of him. When at +last he looked round, the chair by his side was vacant. + + + + +CHAPTER L + +A HARBOUR TRAGEDY + + +The voyage of the _Calipha_ came to its usual termination about ten +o'clock on the following morning, when she passed Boston lights and +steamed slowly down the smooth waters of the harbour. The seven +passengers were all upon deck in wonderfully transformed guise. Already +the steamer chairs were being tied up and piled away; the stewards, +officiously anxious to render some last service, were hovering around. +Mrs. Watson, in a plain tailor gown and quiet felt hat, was sitting +heavily veiled apart and alone. There were no signs of either Mr. Watson +or Mr. Sabin. The captain was on the bridge talking to the pilot. +Scarcely a hundred yards away lay the _Kaiser Wilhelm_, white and +stately, with her brass work shining like gold in the sunlight, and her +decks as white as snow. + +The _Calipha_ was almost at a standstill, awaiting the doctor's brig, +which was coming up to her on the port side. Every one was leaning over +the railing watching her. Mr. Watson and Mr. Sabin, who had just come up +the gangway together, turned away towards the deserted side of the boat, +engaged apparently in serious conversation. Suddenly every one on deck +started. A revolver shot, followed by two heavy splashes in the water, +rang out clear and crisp above the clanking of chains and slighter +noises. There was a moment's startled silence--every one looked at one +another--then a rush for the starboard side of the steamer. Above the +little torrent of minor exclamations, the captain's voice sang out like +thunder. + +"Lower the number one boat. Quartermaster, man a crew." + +The seven passengers, two stewards, and a stray seaman arrived on the +starboard side of the gangway at about the same moment. There was at +first very little to be seen. A faint cloud of blue smoke was curling +upwards, and there was a strong odour of gunpowder in the air. On the +deck were lying a small, recently-discharged revolver and a man's white +linen cap, which, from its somewhat peculiar shape, every one recognised +at once as belonging to Mr. Sabin. At first sight, there was absolutely +nothing else to be seen. Then, suddenly, some one pointed to a man's +head about fifty yards away in the water. Every one crowded to the side +to look at it. It was hard at that distance to distinguish the features, +but a little murmur arose, doubtful at first, but gaining confidence. It +was the head of Mr. Watson. The murmur rather grew than increased when +it was seen that he was swimming, not towards the steamer, but away from +it, and that he was alone. Where was Mr. Sabin? + +A slight cry from behind diverted attention for a moment from the +bobbing head. Mrs. Watson, who had heard the murmurs, was lying in a +dead faint across a chair. One of the women moved to her side. The +others resumed their watch upon events. + +A boat was already lowered. Acting upon instructions from the captain, +the crew combined a search for the missing man with a leisurely pursuit +of the fugitive one. The first lieutenant stood up in the gunwale with a +hook in his hand, looking from right to left, and the men pulled with +slow, even strokes. But nowhere was there any sign of Mr. Sabin. + +The man who was swimming was now almost out of sight, and the first +lieutenant, who was in command of the little search party, reluctantly +gave orders for the quickening of his men's stroke. But almost as the +men bent to their work, a curious thing happened. The fugitive, who had +been swimming at a great pace, suddenly threw up his arms and +disappeared. + +"He's done, by Jove!" exclaimed the lieutenant. "Row hard, you chaps. We +must catch him when he rises." + +But to all appearance, Mr. J. B. Watson, of New York, never rose again. +The boat was rowed time after time around the spot where he had sunk, +but not a trace was to be found of him. The only vessel anywhere near +was the _Kaiser Wilhelm_. They rowed slowly up and hailed her. + +An officer came to the railing and answered their inquiries in execrable +English. No, they had not seen any one in the water. They had not picked +any one up. Yes, if Herr Lieutenant pleased, he could come on board, but +to make a search--no, without authority. No, it was impossible that any +one could have been taken on board without his knowledge. He pointed +down the steep sides of the steamship and shrugged his shoulders. It was +indeed an impossible feat. The lieutenant of the _Calipha_ saluted and +gave the order to his men to backwater. Once more they went over the +ground carefully. There was no sign of either of the men. After about +three-quarters of an hour's absence, they reluctantly gave up the search +and returned to the _Calipha_. + +The first lieutenant was compelled to report both men drowned. The +captain was in earnest conversation with an official in plain dark +livery. The boat of the harbour police was already waiting below. The +whole particulars of the affair were scanty enough. Mr. Sabin and Mr. +Watson were seen to emerge from the gangway together, engaged in +animated conversation. They had at first turned to the left, but seeing +the main body of the passengers assembled there, had stepped back again +and emerged on the starboard side which was quite deserted. After then, +no one except the captain had even a momentary glimpse of them, and his +was so brief that it could scarcely be called more than an impression. +He had been attracted by a slight cry, he believed from Mr. Sabin, and +had seen both men struggling together in the act of disappearing in the +water. He had seen none of the details of the fight; he could not even +say whether Mr. Sabin or Mr. Watson had been the aggressor, although on +that subject there was only one opinion. Mrs. Watson was absolutely +overcome, and unable to answer any questions, but as regards the final +quarrel and struggle between the two men, it was impossible for her to +have seen anything of it, as she was sitting in a steamer chair on the +opposite side of the boat. There was at present absolutely no further +light to be thrown upon the affair. The sergeant of police signalled for +his boat and went off to make his report. The _Calipha_ at half-speed +steamed slowly for the dock. + +Arrived there her passengers, crew and officers became the natural and +recognised prey of the American press-man. The captain sternly refused +to answer a single question, and in peremptory fashion ordered every +stranger off his ship. But nevertheless his edict was avoided in the +confusion of landing, and the Customs House effectually barred flight on +the part of their victims. Somehow or other, no one exactly knew how or +from what source they came, strange rumours began to float about. Who +was Mr. J. B. Watson of New York, yacht owner and millionaire? No one +had ever heard of him, and he did not answer in the least to the +description of any known Watson. The closely veiled features of his +widow were eagerly scanned--one by one the newspaper men confessed +themselves baffled. No one had ever seen her before. One man, the most +daring of them, ventured upon a timid question as she stepped down the +gangway. She passed him by with a swift look of contempt. None of the +others ventured anything of the sort--but, nevertheless, they watched +her, and they made note of two things. The first was that there was no +one to meet her--the second that instead of driving to a railway depôt, +or wiring to any friends, she went straight to an hotel and engaged a +room for the night. + +The press-men took counsel together, and agreed that it was very odd. +They thought it odder still when one of their number, calling at the +hotel later in the day, was informed that Mrs. Watson, after engaging a +room for the week, had suddenly changed her mind, and had left Boston +without giving any one any idea as to her destination. They took counsel +together, and they found fresh food for sensation in her flight. She was +the only person who could throw any light upon the relations between the +two men, and she had thought fit to virtually efface herself. They made +the most of her disappearance in the thick black head-lines which headed +every column in the Boston evening papers. + + + + +CHAPTER LI + +THE PERSISTENCE OF FELIX + + +Of all unhappy men he is assuredly the most unhappy who, ambitious, +patient, and doggedly persevering, has chosen the moment to make his +supreme venture and having made it has reaped failure instead of +success. The gambler while he lives may play again; the miser, robbed, +embark once more upon his furtive task of hoarding money; even the +rejected lover need not despair of some day, somewhere finding +happiness, since no one heart has a monopoly of love. But to him who +aspires to shape the destiny of nations, to control the varying +interests of great powers and play upon the emotions of whole peoples, +there is never vouchsafed more than one opportunity. And failure then +does more than bring upon the schemer the execration of the world he +would have controlled: it clears eyes into which he had thrown dust, +awakens passions he had lulled to sleep, provokes hostility where he had +made false peace, and renders for ever impossible the recombination of +conditions under which alone he could, if at all, succeed. For such an +one life has lost all its savour. Existence may perhaps be permitted to +him, but no more. He stakes his all upon one single venture, and, win or +lose, he has no second throw. Failure is absolute, and spells despair. + +In such unhappy state was Mr. Sabin. More than ten days had passed since +the tragedy in Boston Harbour, and now he sat alone in a private room in +a small but exclusive hotel in New York. He had affected no small +change in his appearance by shaving off his imperial and moustache, but +a far more serviceable disguise was provided for him by the extreme +pallor of his face and the listlessness of his every movement. He had +made the supreme effort of his life and had failed; and failure had so +changed his whole demeanour that had any of his recent companions on the +_Calipha_ been unexpectedly confronted with him it is doubtful if they +would have recognised him. + +For a brief space he had enjoyed some of the old zest of life in +scheming for the freedom of his would-be murderer, in outwitting the +police and press-men, and in achieving his own escape; but with all this +secured, and in the safe seclusion of his room, he had leisure to look +within himself and found himself the most miserable of men, utterly +lonely, with failure to look back upon and nothing for which to hope. + +He had dreamed of being a minister to France; he was an exile in an +unsympathetic land. He had dreamed of restoring dynasties and +readjusting the balance of power; he was an alien refugee in a republic +where visionaries are not wanted and where opulence gives control. +America held nothing for him; Europe had no place; there was not a +capital in the whole continent where he could show himself and live. And +his mind dwelt upon the contrast between what might have been and what +was, he tasted for the first time the full bitterness of isolation and +despair. To his present plight any alternative would be preferable--even +death. He took the little revolver which lay near him on the table and +thoughtfully turned it over and over in his hand. It was as it were a +key with which he could unlock the portal to another world, where +weariness was unknown, and where every desire was satisfied, or unfelt: +and even if there were no other existence beyond this, extinction was +not an idea that repelled him now. It would be an "accident"; so easy +to come by; so little painful to endure. Should he? Should he not? +Should he? + +He was so engrossed in his own thoughts that he did not hear the soft +knock at the door nor the servant murmuring the name of a visitor; but +becoming conscious of the presence of some one in the room, he looked up +suddenly to see a lady by his side. + +"Is there not some mistake?" he said, rising to his feet. "I do not +think I have the pleasure----" + +She laughed and raised her veil. + +"Does it make so much difference?" she asked lightly. "Yet, really, Mr. +Sabin, you are more changed than I." + +"I must apologize," he said; "golden hair is--most becoming. But sit +down and tell me how you found me out and why." + +She sank into the chair he brought for her and looked at him +thoughtfully. + +"It does not matter how I found you, since I did. Why I came is easily +explained. I have had a cablegram from Mr. Watson." + +"Good news, I hope," he said politely. + +"I suppose it is," she answered indifferently. "At least your conspiracy +seems to have been successful. It is generally believed that you are +dead, and Mr. Watson has been pardoned and reinstated in all that once +was his. And now he has sent me this cablegram asking me to join him in +Germany and marry him." + +Dejected as Mr. Sabin was he had not yet lost all his sense of humour. +He found the idea excessively amusing. + +"Let me be the first to congratulate you," he said, his twinkling eyes +belying the grave courtesy of his voice. "It is the conventional happy +end to a charming romance." + +"Are you never serious?" she protested. + +"Indeed, yes," he answered. "Forgive me for seeming to be flippant +about so serious a matter as a proposal of marriage. I presume you will +accept it." + +"Am I to do so?" she asked gravely. "It was to ask your advice that I +came here to-day." + +"I have no hesitation in giving it," he declared. "Accept the proposal +at once. It means emancipation for you--emancipation from a career of +espionage which has nothing to recommend it. There cannot be two +opinions on such a point: give up this unwholesome business and make +this man, and yourself too, happy. You will never regret it." + +"I wish I could be as sure of that," she said wistfully. + +Mr. Sabin, with his training and natural power of seeing through the +words to the heart of the speaker, could not misunderstand her, and he +spoke with a gentle earnestness very moving. + +"Believe me, my dear lady, when I say that to every one once at least in +his life there comes a chance of happiness, although every one is not +wise enough to take it. I had my chance, and I threw it away: there has +never been an hour in my life since then that I have not regretted it. +Let me help you to be wiser than I was. I am an old man now; I have +played for high stakes and have had my share of winning; I have been +involved in great affairs, I have played my part in the making of +history. And I speak from experience; security lies in middle ways, and +happiness belongs to the simple life. To what has my interest in things +of high import brought me? I am an exile from my country, doomed to pass +the small remainder of my days among a people whom I know not and with +whom I have nothing in common. + +"I have a heart and now I am paying the penalty for having treated badly +the one woman who had power to touch it; so bitter a penalty that I +would I could save you from the experiencing the like. You come to me +for advice; then be advised by me. Leave meddling with affairs that are +too high for you. Walk in those middle ways where safety is, and lead +the simple life where alone happiness is. And let me part from you +knowing that to one human being at least I have helped to give what +alone is worth the having. Need I say any more?" + +She took his hands and pressed them. + +"Goodbye," she said. "I shall start for Germany to-morrow." + + * * * * * + +So Mr. Sabin was left free to return to his former melancholy mood; but +it was not long before fresh interruption came. A servant brought a +cablegram. + +"Be sure you deliver my letter to Lenox," it ran, and the signature was +"Felix." + +He rolled the paper into a little ball and threw it on one side, and +presently went into his dressing-room to change for dinner. As he came +into the hall another servant brought him another cablegram. He opened +it and read-- + +"Deliver my letter at once.--FELIX." + +He tore the paper carefully into little pieces, and went into the +dining-room for dinner. He dined leisurely and well, and lingered over +his coffee, lost in meditation. He was still sitting so when a third +servant brought him yet another cablegram-- + +"Remember your promise.--FELIX." + +Then Mr. Sabin rose. + +"Will you please see that my bag is packed," he said to the waiting man, +"and let my account be prepared and brought to me upstairs. I shall +leave by the night train." + + + + +CHAPTER LII + +MRS. JAMES B. PETERSON, OF LENOX. + + +Mr. Sabin found himself late on the afternoon of the following day alone +on the platform of a little wooden station, watching the train which had +dropped him there a few minutes ago snorting away round a distant curve. +Outside, the servant whom he had hired that morning in New York was busy +endeavouring to arrange for a conveyance of some sort in which they +might complete their journey. Mr. Sabin himself was well content to +remain where he was. The primitiveness of the place itself and the +magnificence of his surroundings had made a distinct and favourable +impression upon him. Facing him was a chain of lofty hills whose +foliage, luxuriant and brilliantly tinted, seemed almost like a long +wave of rich deep colour, the country close at hand was black with pine +trees, through which indeed a winding way for the railroad seemed to +have been hewn. It was only a little clearing which had been made for +the depôt; a few yards down, the line seemed to vanish into a tunnel of +black foliage, from amongst which the red barked tree trunks stood out +with the regularity of a regiment of soldiers. The clear air was +fragrant with a peculiar and aromatic perfume, so sweet and wholesome +that Mr. Sabin held the cigarette which he had lighted at arm's length, +that he might inhale this, the most fascinating odour in the world. He +was at all times sensitive to the influence of scenery and natural +perfumes, and the possibility of spending the rest of his days in this +country had never seemed so little obnoxious as during those few +moments. Then his eyes suddenly fell upon a large white house, +magnificent, but evidently newly finished, gleaming forth from an +opening in the woods, and his brows contracted. His former moodiness +returned. + +"It is not the country," he muttered to himself, "it is the people." + +His servant came back presently, with explanations for his prolonged +absence. + +"I am sorry, sir," he said, "but I made a mistake in taking the +tickets." + +Mr. Sabin merely nodded. A little time ago a mistake on the part of a +servant was a thing which he would not have tolerated. But those were +days which seemed to him to lie very far back in the past. + +"You ought to have alighted at the last station, sir," the man +continued. "Stockbridge is eleven miles from here." + +"What are we going to do?" Mr. Sabin asked. + +"We must drive, sir. I have hired a conveyance, but the luggage will +have to come later in the day by the cars. There will only be room for +your dressing-bag in the buggy." + +Mr. Sabin rose to his feet. + +"The drive will be pleasant," he said, "especially if it is through such +country as this. I am not sure that I regret your mistake, Harrison. You +will remain and bring the baggage on, I suppose?" + +"It will be best, sir," the man agreed. "There is a train in about an +hour." + +They walked out on to the road where a one-horse buggy was waiting. The +driver took no more notice of them than to terminate, in a leisurely +way, his conversation with a railway porter, and unhitch the horse. + +Mr. Sabin took the seat by his side, and they drove off. + +It was a very beautiful road, and Mr. Sabin was quite content to lean +back in his not uncomfortable seat and admire the scenery. For the most +part it was of a luxuriant and broken character. There were very few +signs of agriculture, save in the immediate vicinity of the large +newly-built houses which they passed every now and then. At times they +skirted the side of a mountain, and far below them in the valley the +river Leine wound its way along like a broad silver band. Here and there +the road passed through a thick forest of closely-growing pines, and Mr. +Sabin, holding his cigarette away from him, leaned back and took long +draughts of the rosinous, piney odour. It was soon after emerging from +the last of these that they suddenly came upon a house which moved Mr. +Sabin almost to enthusiasm. It lay not far back from the road, a very +long two-storied white building, free from the over-ornamentation which +disfigured most of the surrounding mansions. White pillars in front, +after the colonial fashion, supported a long sloping veranda roof, and +the smooth trimly-kept lawns stretched almost to the terrace which +bordered the piazza. There were sun blinds of striped holland to the +southern windows, and about the whole place there was an air of simple +and elegant refinement, which Mr. Sabin found curiously attractive. He +broke for the first time the silence which had reigned between him and +the driver. + +"Do you know," he inquired, "whose house that is?" + +The man flipped his horse's ears with the whip. + +"I guess so," he answered. "That is the old Peterson House. Mrs. James +B. Peterson lives there now." + +Mr. Sabin felt in his breast pocket, and extracted therefrom a letter. +It was a coincidence undoubtedly, but the fact was indisputable. The +address scrawled thereon in Felix's sprawling hand was:-- + + "MRS. JAMES B. PETERSON, + "Lenox. + + "By favour of Mr. Sabin." + +"I will make a call there," Mr. Sabin said to the man. "Drive me up to +the house." + +The man pulled up his horse. + +"What, do you know her?" he asked. + +Mr. Sabin affected to be deeply interested in a distant point of the +landscape. The man muttered something to himself and turned up the +drive. + +"You have met her abroad, maybe?" he suggested. + +Mr. Sabin took absolutely no notice of the question. The man's +impertinence was too small a thing to annoy him, but it prevented his +asking several questions which he would like to have had answered. The +man muttered something about a civil answer to a civil question not +being much to expect, and pulled up his horse in front of the great +entrance porch. + +Mr. Sabin, calmly ignoring him, descended and stepped through the wide +open door into a beautiful square hall in the centre of which was a +billiard table. A servant attired in unmistakably English livery, +stepped forward to meet him. + +"Is Mrs. Peterson at home?" Mr. Sabin inquired. + +"We expect her in a very few minutes," the man answered. "She is out +riding at present. May I inquire if you are Mr. Sabin, sir?" + +Mr. Sabin admitted the fact with some surprise. + +The man received the intimation with respect. + +"Will you kindly walk this way, your Grace," he said. + +Mr. Sabin followed him into a large and delightfully furnished library. +Then he looked keenly at the servant. + +"You know me," he remarked. + +"Monsieur Le Duc Souspennier," the man answered with a bow. "I am an +Englishman, but I was in the service of the Marquis de la Merle in Paris +for ten years." + +"Your face," Mr. Sabin said, "was familiar to me. You look like a man to +be trusted. Will you be so good as to remember that the Duc is +unfortunately dead, and I am Mr. Sabin." + +"Most certainly, sir," the man answered. "Is there anything which I can +bring you?" + +"Nothing, thank you," Mr. Sabin answered. + +The man withdrew with a low bow, and Mr. Sabin stood for a few minutes +turning over magazines and journals which covered a large round table, +and represented the ephemeral literature of nearly every country in +Europe. + +"Mrs. Peterson," he remarked to himself, "must be a woman of Catholic +tastes. Here is the _Le Petit Journal_ inside the pages of the English +_Contemporary Review_." + +He was turning the magazines over with interest, when he chanced to +glance through the great south window a few feet away from him. +Something he saw barely a hundred yards from the little iron fence which +bordered the lawns, attracted his attention. He rubbed his eyes and +looked at it again. He was puzzled, and was on the point of ringing the +bell when the man who had admitted him entered, bearing a tray with +liqueurs and cigarettes. Mr. Sabin beckoned him over to the window. + +"What is that little flag?" he asked. + +"It is connected, I believe, in some way," the man answered, "with a +game of which Mrs. Peterson is very fond. I believe that it indicates +the locality of a small hole." + +"Golf?" Mr. Sabin exclaimed. + +"That is the name of the game, sir," the man answered. "I had forgotten +it for the moment." + +Mr. Sabin tried the window. + +"I want to get out," he said. + +The man opened it. + +"If you are going down there, sir," he said, "I will send James Green to +meet you. Mrs. Peterson is so fond of the game that she keeps a +Scotchman here to look after the links and instruct her." + +"This," Mr. Sabin murmured, "is the most extraordinary thing in the +world." + +"If you would like to see your room, sir, before you go out," the man +suggested, "it is quite ready. If you will give me your keys I will have +your clothes laid out." + +Mr. Sabin turned about in amazement. + +"What do you mean?" he exclaimed. "I have not come here to stay." + +"I understood so, sir," the man answered. "Your room has been ready for +three weeks." + +Mr. Sabin was bewildered. Then he remembered the stories which he had +heard of American hospitality, and concluded that this must be an +instance of it. + +"I had not the slightest intention of stopping here," he said to the +man. + +"Mrs. Peterson expected you to do so, sir, and we have sent your +conveyance away. If it is inconvenient for you to remain now, it will be +easy to send you anywhere you desire later." + +"For the immediate present," Mr. Sabin said, "Mrs. Peterson not having +arrived, I want to see that golf course." + +"If you will permit me, sir," the man said, "I will show you the way." + +They followed a winding footpath which brought them suddenly out on +the border of a magnificent stretch of park-like country. Mr. Sabin, +whose enthusiasms were rare, failed wholly to restrain a little +exclamation of admiration. A few yards away was one of the largest and +most magnificently kept putting-greens that he had ever seen in his +life. By his side was a raised teeing-ground, well and solidly built. +Far away down in the valley he could see the flag of the first hole +just on the other side of a broad stream. + +"The gentleman's a golf-player, maybe?" remarked a voice by his side, in +familiar dialect. Mr. Sabin turned around to find himself confronted by +a long, thin Scotchman, who had strolled out of a little shed close at +hand. + +"I am very fond of the game," Mr. Sabin admitted. "You appear to me to +have a magnificent course here." + +"It's none so bad," Mr. James Green admitted. "Maybe the gentleman would +like a round." + +"There is nothing in this wide world," Mr. Sabin answered truthfully, +"that I should like so well. But I have no clubs or any shoes." + +"Come this way, sir, come this way," was the prompt reply. "There's +clubs here of all sorts such as none but Jimmy Green can make, ay, and +shoes too. Mr. Wilson, will you be sending me two boys down from the +house?" + +In less than ten minutes Mr. Sabin was standing upon the first tee, a +freshly lit cigarette in his mouth, and a new gleam of enthusiasm in his +eyes. He modestly declined the honour, and Mr. Green forthwith drove a +ball which he watched approvingly. + +"That's no such a bad ball," he remarked. + +Mr. Sabin watched the construction of his tee, and swung his club +lightly. "Just a little sliced, wasn't it?" he said. "That will do, +thanks." He addressed his ball with a confidence which savoured almost +of carelessness, swung easily back and drove a clean, hard hit ball full +seventy yards further than the professional. The man for a moment was +speechless with surprise, and he gave a little gasp. + +"Aye, mon," he exclaimed. "That was a fine drive. Might you be having a +handicap, sir?" + +"I am scratch at three clubs," Mr. Sabin answered quietly, "and plus +four at one." + +A gleam of delight mingled with respect at his opponent, shone in the +Scotchman's face. + +"Aye, but we will be having a fine game," he exclaimed. "Though I'm +thinking you will down me. But it is grand good playing with a mon +again." + + * * * * * + +The match was now at the fifteenth hole. Mr. Sabin, with a long and +deadly putt--became four up and three to play. As the ball trickled into +the hole the Scotchman drew a long breath. + +"It's a fine match," he said, "and I'm properly downed. What's more, +you're holding the record of the links up to this present. Fifteen holes +for sixty-four is verra good--verra good indeed. There's no man in +America to-day to beat it." + +And then Mr. Sabin, who was on the point of making a genial reply, felt +a sudden and very rare emotion stir his heart and blood, for almost in +his ears there had sounded a very sweet and familiar voice, perhaps the +voice above all others which he had least expected to hear again in this +world. + +"You have not then forgotten your golf, Mr. Sabin? What do you think of +my little course?" + +He turned slowly round and faced her. She was standing on the rising +ground just above the putting-green, the skirt of her riding habit +gathered up in her hand, her lithe, supple figure unchanged by time, the +old bewitching smile still playing about her lips. She was still the +most beautiful woman he had ever seen. + +Mr. Sabin, with his cap in his hand, moved slowly to her side, and +bowed low over the hand which she extended to him. + +"This is a happiness," he murmured, "for which I had never dared to +hope. Are you, too, an alien?" + +She shook her head. + +"This," she said, "is the land of my adoption. Perhaps you did not know +that I am Mrs. Peterson?" + +"I did not know it," he answered, gravely, "for I never heard of your +marriage." + +They turned together toward the house. Mr. Sabin was amazed to find that +the possibilities of emotion were still so great with him. + +"I married," she said softly, "an American, six years ago. He was the +son of the minister at Vienna. I have lived here mostly ever since." + +"Do you know who it was that sent me to you?" + +She assented quietly. + +"It was Felix." + +They drew nearer the house. Mr. Sabin looked around him. "It is very +beautiful here," he said. + +"It is very beautiful indeed," she said, "but it is very lonely." + +"Your husband?" he inquired. + +"He has been dead four years." + +Mr. Sabin felt a ridiculous return of that emotion which had agitated +him so much on her first appearance. He only steadied his voice with an +effort. + +"We are both aliens," he said quietly. "Perhaps you have heard that +all things have gone ill with me. I am an exile and a failure. I have +come here to end my days." + +She flashed a sudden brilliant smile upon him. How little she had +changed. + +"Did you say here?" she murmured softly. + +He looked at her incredulously. Her eyes were bent upon the ground. +There was something in her face which made Mr. Sabin forget the great +failure of his life, his broken dreams, his everlasting exile. He +whispered her name, and his voice trembled with a passion which for once +was his master. + +"Lucile," he cried. "It is true that you--forgive me?" + +And she gave him her hand. "It is true," she whispered. + + THE END. + + + + +TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: + +Minor changes have been made to correct typesetters' errors; otherwise, +every effort has been made to remain true to the author's words and +intent. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Mysterious Mr. Sabin, by E. Phillips Oppenheim + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MYSTERIOUS MR. 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Phillips Oppenheim + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Mysterious Mr. Sabin + +Author: E. Phillips Oppenheim + +Release Date: March 23, 2011 [EBook #35661] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MYSTERIOUS MR. SABIN *** + + + + +Produced by D Alexander and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="centerbox bbox"> + +<p class="tinygap"> </p> + +<h3>THE WORKS OF</h3> + +<h1>E. PHILLIPS<br /> +OPPENHEIM</h1> + +<p class="smallgap"> </p> + +<h2>MYSTERIOUS MR. SABIN</h2> + +<p class="gap"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 86px;"> +<img src="images/i001.jpg" width="86" height="80" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p class="gap"> </p> + +<h3><span class="smcap">McKinlay, Stone & Mackenzie</span><br /> +NEW YORK</h3></div> + +<hr class="large" /> + +<p class="center"><i>Copyright, 1905</i>,<br /> +<span class="smcap">By Little, Brown, and Company</span>.</p> + +<hr class="tiny" /> + +<p class="center"><small><i>All rights reserved</i></small></p> + +<hr class="large" /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 321px;"> +<img src="images/i003.jpg" width="321" height="500" alt="“The girl’s face shone like a piece of delicate statuary”" title="" /> +<span class="caption">“The girl’s face shone like a piece of delicate statuary” (page <a href="#Page_37">37</a>). +              [Frontispiece.</span> +</div> + +<hr class="large" /> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="80%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="1" summary="Contents"> + +<tr><td align="right"><small>CHAP.</small></td> +<td> </td> +<td align="right"><small>PAGE</small></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">I.</td> +<td>A SUPPER PARTY AT THE “MILAN”</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_7">7</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">II.</td> +<td>A DRAMA OF THE PAVEMENT</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_13">13</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">III.</td> +<td>THE WARNING OF FELIX</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_22">22</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">IV.</td> +<td>AT THE RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR’S</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_30">30</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">V.</td> +<td>THE DILEMMA OF WOLFENDEN</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_39">39</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">VI.</td> +<td>VI. A COMPACT OF THREE</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_46">46</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">VII.</td> +<td>WHO IS MR. SABIN?</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_52">52</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">VIII.</td> +<td>A MEETING IN BOND STREET</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_61">61</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">IX.</td> +<td>THE SHADOWS THAT GO BEFORE</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_69">69</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">X.</td> +<td>THE SECRETARY</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_76">76</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XI.</td> +<td>THE FRUIT THAT IS OF GOLD</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_83">83</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XII.</td> +<td>WOLFENDEN’S LUCK</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_92">92</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XIII.</td> +<td>A GREAT WORK</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_104">104</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XIV.</td> +<td>THE TEMPTING OF MR. BLATHERWICK</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_111">111</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XV.</td> +<td>THE COMING AND GOING OF MR. FRANKLIN WILMOT</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_118">118</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XVI.</td> +<td>GENIUS OR MADNESS?</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_126">126</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XVII.</td> +<td>THE SCHEMING OF GIANTS</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_132">132</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XVIII.</td> +<td>“HE HAS GONE TO THE EMPEROR!”</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_141">141</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XIX.</td> +<td>WOLFENDEN’S LOVE-MAKING</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_146">146</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XX.</td> +<td>FROM A DIM WORLD</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_155">155</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XXI.</td> +<td>HARCUTT’S INSPIRATION</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_167">167</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XXII.</td> +<td>FROM THE BEGINNING</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_177">177</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XXIII.</td> +<td>MR. SABIN EXPLAINS</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_186">186</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XXIV.</td> +<td>THE WAY OF THE WOMAN</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_193">193</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XXV.</td> +<td>A HANDFUL OF ASHES</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_199">199</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XXVI.</td> +<td>MR. BLATHERWICK AS ST. ANTHONY</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_207">207</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XXVII.</td> +<td>BY CHANCE OR DESIGN</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_213">213</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XXVIII.</td> +<td>A MIDNIGHT VISITOR</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_220">220</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XXIX.</td> +<td>“IT WAS MR. SABIN”</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_227">227</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XXX.</td> +<td>THE GATHERING OF THE WAR-STORM</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_234">234</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XXXI.</td> +<td>“I MAKE NO PROMISE”</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_242">242</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XXXII.</td> +<td>THE SECRET OF MR. SABIN’S NIECE</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_253">253</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XXXIII.</td> +<td>MR. SABIN TRIUMPHS</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_263">263</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XXXIV.</td> +<td>BLANCHE MERTON’S LITTLE PLOT</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_269">269</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XXXV.</td> +<td>A LITTLE GAME OF CARDS</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_276">276</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XXXVI.</td> +<td>THE MODERN RICHELIEU</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_287">287</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XXXVII.</td> +<td>FOR A GREAT STAKE</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_295">295</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XXXVIII.</td> +<td>THE MEN WHO SAVED ENGLAND</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_304">304</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XXXIX.</td> +<td>THE HEART OF THE PRINCESS</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_314">314</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XL.</td> +<td>THE WAY TO PAU</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_319">319</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XLI.</td> +<td>MR. AND MRS. WATSON OF NEW YORK</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_327">327</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XLII.</td> +<td>A WEAK CONSPIRATOR</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_333">333</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XLIII.</td> +<td>THE COMING OF THE “KAISER WILHELM”</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_341">341</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XLIV.</td> +<td>THE GERMANS ARE ANNOYED</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_346">346</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XLV.</td> +<td>MR. SABIN IN DANGER</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_353">353</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XLVI.</td> +<td>MR. WATSON IS ASTONISHED</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_358">358</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XLVII.</td> +<td>A CHARMED LIFE</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_363">363</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XLVIII.</td> +<td>THE DOOMSCHEN</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_368">368</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">XLIX.</td> +<td>MR. SABIN IS SENTIMENTAL</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_374">374</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">L.</td> +<td>A HARBOUR TRAGEDY</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_378">378</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">LI.</td> +<td>THE PERSISTENCE OF FELIX</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_383">383</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">LII.</td> +<td>MRS. JAMES B. PETERSON, OF LENOX</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_388">388</a></td></tr> + +</table></div> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span></p> +<h1><a name="MYSTERIOUS_MR_SABIN" id="MYSTERIOUS_MR_SABIN"></a>MYSTERIOUS MR. SABIN</h1> + +<p class="center">——◆——</p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<h3>A SUPPER PARTY AT THE “MILAN.”</h3> + +<p>“To all such meetings as these!” cried Densham, lifting his champagne +glass from under the soft halo of the rose-shaded electric lights. “Let +us drink to them, Wolfenden—Mr. Felix!”</p> + +<p>“To all such meetings!” echoed his <i>vis-à-vis</i>, also fingering the +delicate stem of his glass. “An excellent toast!”</p> + +<p>“To all such meetings as these!” murmured the third man, who made up the +little party. “A capital toast indeed!”</p> + +<p>They sat at a little round table in the brilliantly-lit supper-room of +one of London’s most fashionable restaurants. Around them were the usual +throng of well dressed men, of women with bare shoulders and flashing +diamonds, of dark-visaged waiters, deft, silent, swift-footed. The +pleasant hum of conversation, louder and more unrestrained as the hour +grew towards midnight, was varied by the popping of corks and many +little trills of feminine laughter. Of discordant sounds there were +none. The waiters’ feet fell noiselessly upon the thick carpet, the +clatter of plates was a thing unheard of. From the balcony outside came +the low, sweet music of a German orchestra played by master hands.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span></p><p>As usual the place was filled. Several late-comers, who had neglected to +order their table beforehand, had already, after a disconsolate tour of +the room, been led to one of the smaller apartments, or had driven off +again to where the lights from the larger but less smart Altoné flashed +out upon the smooth, dark waters of the Thames. Only one table was as +yet unoccupied, and that was within a yard or two of the three young men +who were celebrating a chance meeting in Pall Mall so pleasantly. It was +laid for two only, and a magnificent bunch of white roses had, a few +minutes before, been brought in and laid in front of one of the places +by the director of the rooms himself. A man’s small visiting-card was +leaning against a wineglass. The table was evidently reserved by some +one of importance, for several late-comers had pointed to it, only to be +met by a decided shake of the head on the part of the waiter to whom +they had appealed. As time went on, this empty table became the object +of some speculation to the three young men.</p> + +<p>“Our neighbours,” remarked Wolfenden, “are running it pretty fine. Can +you see whose name is upon the card, Densham?”</p> + +<p>The man addressed raised an eyeglass to his left eye and leaned forward. +Then he shook his head, he was a little too far away.</p> + +<p>“No! It is a short name. Seems to begin with S. Probably a son of +Israel!”</p> + +<p>“His taste in flowers is at any rate irreproachable,” Wolfenden +remarked. “I wish they would come. I am in a genial mood, and I do not +like to think of any one having to hurry over such an excellent supper.”</p> + +<p>“The lady,” Densham suggested, “is probably theatrical, and has to dress +after the show. Half-past twelve is a barbarous hour to turn us out. I +wonder——”</p> + +<p>“Sh-sh!”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span></p><p>The slight exclamation and a meaning frown from Wolfenden checked his +speech. He broke off in the middle of his sentence, and looked round. +There was the soft swish of silk passing his chair, and the faint +suggestion of a delicate and perfectly strange perfume. At last the +table was being taken possession of. A girl, in a wonderful white dress, +was standing there, leaning over to admire the great bunch of +creamy-white blossoms, whilst a waiter respectfully held a chair for +her. A few steps behind came her companion, an elderly man who walked +with a slight limp, leaning heavily upon a stick. She turned to him and +made some remark in French, pointing to the flowers. He smiled, and +passing her, stood for a moment leaning slightly upon the back of his +chair, waiting, with a courtesy which was obviously instinctive, until +she should have seated herself. During the few seconds which elapsed +before they were settled in their places he glanced around the room with +a smile, slightly cynical, but still good-natured, parting his thin, +well-shaped lips. Wolfenden and Densham, who were looking at him with +frank curiosity, he glanced at carelessly. The third young man of the +party, Felix, was bending low over his plate, and his face was hidden.</p> + +<p>The buzz of conversation in their immediate vicinity had been +temporarily suspended. Every one who had seen them enter had been +interested in these late-comers, and many curious eyes had followed them +to their seats. Briefly, the girl was beautiful and the man +distinguished. When they had taken their places, however, the hum of +conversation recommenced. Densham and Wolfenden leaned over to one +another, and their questions were almost simultaneous.</p> + +<p>“Who are they?”</p> + +<p>“Who is she?”</p> + +<p>Alas! neither of them knew; neither of them had the least idea. Felix, +Wolfenden’s guest, it seemed useless to ask. He had only just arrived in +England, and he was a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span>complete stranger to London. Besides, he did not +seem to be interested. He was proceeding calmly with his supper, with +his back directly turned upon the new-comers. Beyond one rapid, upward +glance at their entrance he seemed almost to have avoided looking at +them. Wolfenden thought of this afterwards.</p> + +<p>“I see Harcutt in the corner,” he said. “He will know who they are for +certain. I shall go and ask him.”</p> + +<p>He crossed the room and chatted for a few minutes with a noisy little +party in an adjacent recess. Presently he put his question. Alas! not +one of them knew! Harcutt, a journalist of some note and a man who +prided himself upon knowing absolutely everybody, was as helpless as the +rest. To his humiliation he was obliged to confess it.</p> + +<p>“I never saw either of them before in my life,” he said. “I cannot +imagine who they can be. They are certainly foreigners.”</p> + +<p>“Very likely,” Wolfenden agreed quietly. “In fact, I never doubted it. +An English girl of that age—she is very young by the bye—would never +be so perfectly turned out.”</p> + +<p>“What a very horrid thing to say, Lord Wolfenden,” exclaimed the woman +on whose chair his hand was resting. “Don’t you know that dressing is +altogether a matter of one’s maid? You may rely upon it that that girl +has found a treasure!”</p> + +<p>“Well, I don’t know,” Wolfenden said, smiling. “Young English girls +always seem to me to look so dishevelled in evening dress. Now this girl +is dressed with the art of a Frenchwoman of mature years, and yet with +the simplicity of a child.”</p> + +<p>The woman laid down her lorgnettes and shrugged her shoulders.</p> + +<p>“I agree with you,” she said, “that she is probably not English. If she +were she would not wear such diamonds at her age.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span></p><p>“By the bye,” Harcutt remarked with sudden cheerfulness, “we shall be +able to find out who the man is when we leave. The table was reserved, +so the name will be on the list at the door.”</p> + +<p>His friends rose to leave and Harcutt, making his adieux, crossed the +room with Wolfenden.</p> + +<p>“We may as well have our coffee together,” he said. “I ordered Turkish +and I’ve been waiting for it ten minutes. We got here early. Hullo! +where’s your other guest?”</p> + +<p>Densham was sitting alone. Wolfenden looked at him inquiringly.</p> + +<p>“Your friend Felix has gone,” he announced. “Suddenly remembered an +engagement with his chief, and begged you to excuse him. Said he’d look +you up to-morrow.”</p> + +<p>“Well, he’s an odd fellow,” Wolfenden remarked, motioning Harcutt to the +vacant place. “His looks certainly belie his name.”</p> + +<p>“He’s not exactly a cheerful companion for a supper party,” Densham +admitted, “but I like his face. How did you come across him, Wolfenden, +and where does he hail from?”</p> + +<p>“He’s a junior attaché at the Russian Embassy,” Wolfenden said, stirring +his coffee. “Only just been appointed. Charlie Meynell gave him a line +of introduction to me; said he was a decent sort, but mopish! I looked +him up last week, met him in Pall Mall just as you came along, and asked +you both to supper. What liqueurs, Harcutt?”</p> + +<p>The conversation drifted into ordinary channels and flowed on steadily. +At the same time it was maintained with a certain amount of difficulty. +The advent of these two people at the next table had produced an +extraordinary effect upon the three men. Harcutt was perhaps the least +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span>affected. He was a young man of fortune and natural gifts, who had +embraced journalism as a career, and was really in love with his +profession. Partly on account of his social position, which was +unquestioned, and partly because his tastes tended in that direction, he +had become the recognised scribe and chronicle of smart society. His pen +was easy and fluent. He was an inimitable maker of short paragraphs. He +prided himself upon knowing everybody and all about them. He could have +told how much a year Densham, a rising young portrait painter, was +making from his profession, and exactly what Wolfenden’s allowance from +his father was. A strange face was an annoyance to him; too, a +humiliation. He had been piqued that he could not answer the eager +questions of his own party as to these two people, and subsequently +Wolfenden’s inquiries. The thought that very soon at any rate their name +would be known to him was, in a sense, a consolation. The rest would be +easy. Until he knew all about them he meant to conceal so far as +possible his own interest.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<h3>A DRAMA OF THE PAVEMENT</h3> + +<p>The pitch of conversation had risen higher, still mingled with the +intermittent popping of corks and the striking of matches. Blue wreaths +of cigarette smoke were curling upwards—a delicate feeling of “abandon” +was making itself felt amongst the roomful of people. The music grew +softer as the babel of talk grew in volume. The whole environment became +tinged with a faint but genial voluptuousness. Densham was laughing over +the foibles of some mutual acquaintance; Wolfenden leaned back in his +chair, smoking a cigarette and sipping his Turkish coffee. His eyes +scarcely left for a moment the girl who sat only a few yards away from +him, trifling with a certain dainty indifference with the little dishes, +which one after the other had been placed before her and removed. He had +taken pains to withdraw himself from the discussion in which his friends +were interested. He wanted to be quite free to watch her. To him she was +certainly the most wonderful creature he had ever seen. In every one of +her most trifling actions she seemed possessed of an original and +curious grace, even the way she held her silver fork, toyed with her +serviette, raised her glass to her lips and set it down again—all these +little things she seemed to him to accomplish with a peculiar and +wonderful daintiness. Of conversation between her companion and herself +there was evidently very little, nor did she appear to expect it. He was +enjoying <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>his supper with the moderation and minute care for trifles +which denote the epicure, and he only spoke to her between the courses. +She, on the other hand, appeared to be eating scarcely anything. At +last, however, the waiter set before her a dish in which she was +evidently interested. Wolfenden recognised the pink frilled paper and +smiled. She was human enough then to care for ices. She bent over it and +shrugged her shoulders—turning to the waiter who was hovering near, she +asked a question. He bowed and removed the plate. In a moment or two he +reappeared with another. This time the paper and its contents were +brown. She smiled as she helped herself—such a smile that Wolfenden +wondered that the waiter did not lose his head, and hand her pepper and +salt instead of gravely filling her glass. She took up her spoon and +deliberately tasted the contents of her plate. Then she looked across +the table, and spoke the first words in English which he had heard from +her lips—</p> + +<p>“Coffee ice. So much nicer than strawberry!”</p> + +<p>The man nodded back.</p> + +<p>“Ices after supper are an abomination,” he said. “They spoil the flavour +of your wine, and many other things. But after all, I suppose it is +waste of time to tell you so! A woman never understands how to eat until +she is fifty.”</p> + +<p>She laughed, and deliberately finished the ice. Just as she laid down +the spoon, she raised her eyes quietly and encountered Wolfenden’s. He +looked away at once with an indifference which he felt to be badly +assumed. Did she know, he wondered, that he had been watching her like +an owl all the time? He felt hot and uncomfortable—a veritable +schoolboy at the thought. He plunged into the conversation between +Harcutt and Densham—a conversation which they had been sustaining with +an effort. They too were still as interested in their neighbours, +although <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>their positions at the table made it difficult for either to +observe them closely.</p> + +<p>When three men are each thinking intently of something else, it is not +easy to maintain an intelligent discussion. Wolfenden, to create a +diversion, called for the bill. When he had paid it, and they were ready +to depart, Densham looked up with a little burst of candour—</p> + +<p>“She’s wonderful!” he exclaimed softly.</p> + +<p>“Marvellous!” Wolfenden echoed.</p> + +<p>“I wonder who on earth they can possibly be,” Harcutt said almost +peevishly. Already he was being robbed of some part of his contemplated +satisfaction. It was true that he would probably find the man’s name on +the table-list at the door, but he had a sort of presentiment that the +girl’s personality would elude him. The question of relationship between +the man and the girl puzzled him. He propounded the problem and they +discussed it with bated breath. There was no likeness at all! Was there +any relationship? It was significant that although Harcutt was a +scandalmonger and Wolfenden somewhat of a cynic, they discussed it with +the most profound respect. Relationship after all of some sort there +must be. What was it? It was Harcutt who alone suggested what to +Wolfenden seemed an abominable possibility.</p> + +<p>“Scarcely husband and wife, I should think,” he said thoughtfully, “yet +one never can tell!”</p> + +<p>Involuntarily they all three glanced towards the man. He was well +preserved and his little imperial and short grey moustache were trimmed +with military precision, yet his hair was almost white, and his age +could scarcely be less than sixty. In his way he was quite as +interesting as the girl. His eyes, underneath his thick brows, were dark +and clear, and his features were strong and delicately shaped. His hands +were white and very shapely, the fingers were rather long, and he wore +two singularly handsome rings, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span>both set with strange stones. By the +side of the table rested the stick upon which he had been leaning during +his passage through the room. It was of smooth, dark wood polished like +a malacca cane, and set at the top with a curious, green, opalescent +stone, as large as a sparrow’s egg. The eyes of the three men had each +in turn been arrested by it. In the electric light which fell softly +upon the upper part of it, the stone seemed to burn and glow with a +peculiar, iridescent radiance. Evidently it was a precious possession, +for once when a waiter had offered to remove it to a stand at the other +end of the room, the man had stopped him sharply and drawn it a little +closer towards him.</p> + +<p>Wolfenden lit a fresh cigarette, and gazed thoughtfully into the little +cloud of blue smoke.</p> + +<p>“Husband and wife,” he repeated slowly. “What an absurd idea! More +likely father and daughter!”</p> + +<p>“How about the roses?” Harcutt remarked. “A father does not as a rule +show such excellent taste in flowers!”</p> + +<p>They had finished supper. Suddenly the girl stretched out her left hand +and took a glove from the table. Wolfenden smiled triumphantly.</p> + +<p>“She has no wedding-ring,” he exclaimed softly.</p> + +<p>Then Harcutt, for the first time, made a remark for which he was never +altogether forgiven—a remark which both the other men received in +chilling silence.</p> + +<p>“That may or may not be a matter for congratulation,” he said, twirling +his moustache. “One never knows!”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden stood up, turning his back upon Harcutt and pointedly ignoring +him.</p> + +<p>“Let us go, Densham,” he said. “We are almost the last.”</p> + +<p>As a matter of fact his movement was made at exactly the right time. +They could scarcely have left the room at the same moment as these two +people, in whom manifestly <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>they had been taking so great an interest. +But by the time they had sent for their coats and hats from the +cloak-room, and Harcutt had coolly scrutinised the table-list, they +found themselves all together in a little group at the head of the +stairs.</p> + +<p>Wolfenden, who was a few steps in front, drew back to allow them to +pass. The man, leaning upon his stick, laid his hand upon the girl’s +sleeve. Then he looked up at the man, and addressed Wolfenden directly.</p> + +<p>“You had better precede us, sir,” he said; “my progress is unfortunately +somewhat slow.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden drew back courteously.</p> + +<p>“We are in no hurry,” he said. “Please go on.”</p> + +<p>The man thanked him, and with one hand upon the girl’s shoulder and with +the other on his stick commenced to descend. The girl had passed on +without even glancing towards them. She had twisted a white lace +mantilla around her head, and her features were scarcely visible—only +as she passed, Wolfenden received a general impression of rustling white +silk and lace and foaming tulle as she gathered her skirts together at +the head of the stairs. It seemed to him, too, that the somewhat close +atmosphere of the vestibule had become faintly sweet with the delicate +fragrance of the white roses which hung by a loop of satin from her +wrist.</p> + +<p>The three men waited until they had reached the bend of the stairs +before they began to descend. Harcutt then leaned forward.</p> + +<p>“His name,” he whispered, “is disenchanting. It is Mr. Sabin! Whoever +heard of a Mr. Sabin? Yet he looks like a personage!”</p> + +<p>At the doors there was some delay. It was raining fast and the +departures were a little congested. The three young men still kept in +the background. Densham affected to be busy lighting a cigarette, +Wolfenden was slowly drawing <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span>on his gloves. His place was almost in a +line with the girl’s. He could see the diamonds flashing in her fair +hair through the dainty tracery of the drooping white lace, and in a +moment, through some slight change in her position, he could get a +better view of her face than he had been able to obtain even in the +supper-room. She was beautiful! There was no doubt about that! But there +were many beautiful women in London, whom Wolfenden scarcely pretended +to admire. This girl had something better even than supreme beauty. She +was anything but a reproduction. She was a new type. She had +originality. Her hair was dazzlingly fair; her eyebrows, delicately +arched, were high and distinctly dark in colour. Her head was perfectly +shaped—the features seemed to combine a delightful piquancy with a +somewhat statuesque regularity. Wolfenden, wondering of what she in some +manner reminded him, suddenly thought of some old French miniatures, +which he had stopped to admire only a day or two before, in a little +curio shop near Bond Street. There was a distinct dash of something +foreign in her features and carriage. It might have been French, or +Austrian—it was most certainly not Anglo-Saxon!</p> + +<p>The crush became a little less, they all moved a step or two +forward—and Wolfenden, glancing carelessly outside, found his attention +immediately arrested. Just as he had been watching the girl, so was a +man, who stood on the pavement side by side with the commissionaire, +watching her companion. He was tall and thin; apparently dressed in +evening clothes, for though his coat was buttoned up to his chin, he +wore an opera hat. His hands were thrust into the loose pockets of his +overcoat, and his face was mostly in the shadows. Once, however, he +followed some motion of Mr. Sabin’s and moved his head a little forward. +Wolfenden started and looked at him fixedly. Was it fancy, or was there +indeed something clenched in his right <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>hand there, which gleamed like +silver—or was it steel—in the momentary flash of a passing +carriage-light? Wolfenden was puzzled. There was something, too, which +seemed to him vaguely familiar in the man’s figure and person. He was +certainly waiting for somebody, and to judge from his expression his +mission was no pleasant one. Wolfenden who, through the latter part of +the evening, had felt a curious and unwonted sense of excitement +stirring his blood, now felt it go tingling through all his veins. He +had some subtle prescience that he was on the brink of an adventure. He +glanced hurriedly at his two companions; neither of them had noticed +this fresh development.</p> + +<p>Just then the commissionaire, who knew Wolfenden by sight, turned round +and saw him standing there. Stepping back on to the pavement, he called +up the brougham, which was waiting a little way down the street.</p> + +<p>“Your carriage, my lord,” he said to Wolfenden, touching his cap.</p> + +<p>Wolfenden, with ready presence of mind, shook his head.</p> + +<p>“I am waiting for a friend,” he said. “Tell my man to pass on a yard or +two.”</p> + +<p>The man bowed, and the danger of leaving before these two people, in +whom his interest now was becoming positively feverish, was averted. As +if to enhance it, a singular thing now happened. The interest suddenly +became reciprocal. At the sound of Wolfenden’s voice the man with the +club foot had distinctly started. He changed his position and, leaning +forward, looked eagerly at him. His eyes remained for a moment or two +fixed steadily upon him. There was no doubt about the fact, singular in +itself though it was. Wolfenden noticed it himself, so did both Densham +and Harcutt. But before any remark could pass between them a little +<i>coupé</i> brougham had drawn up, and the man and the girl started forward.</p> + +<p>Wolfenden followed close behind. The feeling which <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>prompted him to do +so was a curious one, but it seemed to him afterwards that he had even +at that time a conviction that something unusual was about to happen. +The girl stepped lightly across the carpeted way and entered the +carriage. Her companion paused in the doorway to hand some silver to the +commissionaire, then he too, leaning upon his stick, stepped across the +pavement. His foot was already upon the carriage step, when suddenly +what Wolfenden had been vaguely anticipating happened. A dark figure +sprang from out of the shadows and seized him by the throat; something +that glittered like a streak of silver in the electric light flashed +upwards. The blow would certainly have fallen but for Wolfenden. He was +the only person not wholly unprepared for something of the sort, and he +was consequently not paralysed into inaction as were the others. He was +so near, too, that a single step forward enabled him to seize the +uplifted arm in a grasp of iron. The man who had been attacked was the +next to recover himself. Raising his stick he struck at his assailant +violently. The blow missed his head, but grazed his temple and fell upon +his shoulder. The man, released from Wolfenden’s grasp by his convulsive +start, went staggering back into the roadway.</p> + +<p>There was a rush then to secure him, but it was too late. Wolfenden, +half expecting another attack, had not moved from the carriage door, and +the commissionaire, although a powerful man, was not swift. Like a cat +the man who had made the attack sprang across the roadway, and into the +gardens which fringed the Embankment. The commissionaire and a loiterer +followed him. Just then Wolfenden felt a soft touch on his shoulder. The +girl had opened the carriage door, and was standing at his side.</p> + +<p>“Is any one hurt?” she asked quickly.</p> + +<p>“No one,” he answered. “It is all over. The man has run away.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span></p><p>Mr. Sabin stooped down and brushed away some grey ash from the front of +his coat. Then he took a match-box from his ticket-pocket, and re-lit +the cigarette which had been crumpled in his fingers. His hand was +perfectly steady. The whole affair had scarcely taken thirty seconds.</p> + +<p>“It was probably some lunatic,” he remarked, motioning to the girl to +resume her place in the carriage. “I am exceedingly obliged to you, sir. +Lord Wolfenden, I believe?” he added, raising his hat. “But for your +intervention the matter might really have been serious. Permit me to +offer you my card. I trust that some day I may have a better opportunity +of expressing my thanks. At present you will excuse me if I hurry. I am +not of your nation, but I share an antipathy with them—I hate a row!”</p> + +<p>He stepped into the carriage with a farewell bow, and it drove off at +once. Wolfenden remained looking after it, with his hat in his hand. +From the Embankment below came the faint sound of hurrying footsteps.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<h3>THE WARNING OF FELIX</h3> + +<p>The three friends stood upon the pavement watching the little brougham +until it disappeared round the corner in a flickering glitter of light. +It would have been in accordance with precedent if after leaving the +restaurant they had gone to some one of their clubs to smoke a cigar and +drink whisky and apollinaris, while Harcutt retailed the latest society +gossip, and Densham descanted on art, and Wolfenden contributed genial +remarks upon things in general. But to-night all three were inclined to +depart from precedent. Perhaps the surprising incident which they had +just witnessed made anything like normal routine seem unattractive; +whatever the reason may have been, the young men were of a sudden not in +sympathy with one another. Harcutt murmured some conventional lie about +having an engagement, supplemented it with some quite unconvincing +statement about pressure of work, and concluded with an obviously +disingenuous protest against the tyranny of the profession of +journalism, then he sprang with alacrity into a hansom and said goodbye +with a good deal less than his usual cordiality. Densham, too, hailed a +cab, and leaning over the apron delivered himself of a farewell speech +which sounded rather malignant. “You are a lucky beast, Wolfenden,” he +growled enviously, adding, with a note of venom in his voice, “but don’t +forget it takes more than the first game to win the rubber,” and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>then +he was whirled away, nodding his head and wearing an expression of +wisdom deeply tinged with gloom.</p> + +<p>Wolfenden was surprised, but not exactly sorry that the first vague +expression of hostility had been made by the others.</p> + +<p>“Both of them must be confoundedly hard hit,” he murmured to himself; “I +never knew Densham turn nasty before.” And to his coachman he said +aloud, “You may go home, Dawson. I am going to walk.”</p> + +<p>He turned on to the embankment, conscious of a curious sense of +exhilaration. He was no <i>blasé</i> cynic; but the uniformly easy life tends +to become just a trifle monotonous, and Lord Wolfenden’s somewhat +epicurean mind derived actual pleasure from the subtle luxury of a new +sensation. What he had said of his friends he could have said with equal +truth of himself: he was confoundedly hard hit. For the first time in +his life he found the mere memory of a woman thrilling; his whole nature +vibrated in response to the appeal she made to him, and he walked along +buoyantly under the stars, revelling in the delight of being alive.</p> + +<p>Suddenly he stopped abruptly. Huddled up in the corner of a seat was a +man with a cloth cap pulled forward screening his face: at that moment +Lord Wolfenden was in a mood to be extravagantly generous to any poor +applicant for alms, lavishly sympathetic to any tale of distress. But it +was not ordinary curiosity that arrested his progress now. He knew +almost at the first glance who it was that sat in this dejected +attitude, although the opera hat was replaced by the soft cloth cap, and +in other details the man’s appearance was altered. It was indeed the Mr. +Felix who had supped with him at the “Milan” and subsequently behaved in +so astonishing a fashion.</p> + +<p>He knew that he was recognised, and sat up, looking steadfastly at +Wolfenden, although his lips trembled and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>his eyes gleamed wildly. +Across his temples a bright red mark was scored.</p> + +<p>Lord Wolfenden broke the silence.</p> + +<p>“You’re a nice sort of fellow to ask out to supper! What in the name of +all that’s wonderful were you trying to do?”</p> + +<p>“I should have thought it was sufficiently obvious,” the man replied +bitterly. “I tried to kill him, and I failed. Well, why don’t you call +the police? I am quite ready. I shall not run again.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden hesitated, and then sat down by the side of this surprising +individual.</p> + +<p>“The man you went for didn’t seem to care, so I don’t see why I should. +But why do you want to kill him?”</p> + +<p>“To keep a vow,” the other answered; “how and why made I will not tell +you.”</p> + +<p>“How did you escape?” Wolfenden asked abruptly.</p> + +<p>“Probably because I didn’t care whether I escaped or not,” Felix +replied, with a short, bitter laugh. “I stood behind some shrubs just +inside the garden, and watched the hunt go by. Then I came out here and +sat down.”</p> + +<p>“It all sounds very simple,” said Wolfenden, a trifle sarcastically. +“May I ask what you are going to do next?”</p> + +<p>Felix’s face so clearly intimated that he might not ask anything of the +kind, or that if he did his curiosity would not be satisfied, that +Wolfenden felt compelled to make some apology.</p> + +<p>“Forgive me if I seem inquisitive, but I find the situation a little +unusual. You were my guest, you see, and had it not been for my chance +invitation you might not have met that man at all. Then again, had it +not been for my interference he would have been dead now and you would +have been in a fair way to be hanged.”</p> + +<p>Felix evinced no sign of gratitude for Wolfenden’s intervention. Instead +he said intensely,</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span></p><p>“Oh, you fool! you fool!”</p> + +<p>“Well, really,” Wolfenden protested, “I don’t see why——” But Felix +interrupted him.</p> + +<p>“Yes, you are a fool,” he repeated, “because you saved his life. He is +an old man now. I wonder how many there have been in the course of his +long life who desired to kill him? But no one—not one solitary human +being—has ever befriended him or come to his rescue in time of danger +without living to be sorry for it. And so it will be with you. You will +live to be sorry for what you have done to-night; you will live to think +it would have been far better for him to fall by my hand than for +yourself to suffer at his. And you will wish passionately that you had +let him die. Before heaven, Wolfenden, I swear that that is true.”</p> + +<p>The man was so much in earnest, his passion was so quietly intense, that +Wolfenden against his will was more than half convinced. He was silent. +He suddenly felt cold, and the buoyant elation of mind in which he had +started homewards vanished, leaving him anxious and heavy, perhaps just +a little afraid.</p> + +<p>“I did what any man would do for any one else,” he said, almost +apologetically. “It was instinctive. As a matter of fact, that +particular man is a perfect stranger to me. I have never seen him before +and it is quite possible that I shall never see him again.”</p> + +<p>Felix turned quickly towards him.</p> + +<p>“If you believe in prayer,” he said, “go down on your knees where you +are and pray as you have never prayed for anything before that you may +not see him again. There has never been a man or a woman yet who has not +been the worse for knowing him. He is like the pestilence that walketh +in the darkness, poisoning every one that is in the way of his horrible +infection.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden pulled himself together. There was no doubt <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>about his +companion’s earnestness, but it was the earnestness of an unbalanced +mind. Language so exaggerated as his was out of keeping with the times +and the place.</p> + +<p>“Tell me some more about him,” he suggested. “Who is he?”</p> + +<p>“I won’t tell you,” Felix answered, obstinately.</p> + +<p>“Well, then, who is the lady?”</p> + +<p>“I don’t know. It is quite enough for me to know that she is his +companion for the moment.”</p> + +<p>“You do not intend to be communicative, I can see,” said Wolfenden, +after a brief pause, “but I wish I could persuade you to tell me why you +attempted his life to-night.”</p> + +<p>“There was the opportunity,” said Felix, as if that in itself were +sufficient explanation. Then he smiled enigmatically. “There are at +least three distinct and separate reasons why I should take his +life,—all of them good. Three, I mean, why I should do it. But I have +not been his only victim. There are plenty of others who have a heavy +reckoning against him, and he knows what it is to carry his life in his +hand. But he bears a charmed existence. Did you see his stick?”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Wolfenden, “I did. It had a peculiar stone in the handle; in +the electric light it looked like a huge green opal.”</p> + +<p>Felix assented moodily.</p> + +<p>“That is it. He struck me with a stick. He would not part with it for +anything. It was given him by some Indian fakir, and it is said that +while he carries it he is proof against attack.”</p> + +<p>“Who says so?” Wolfenden inquired.</p> + +<p>“Never mind,” said Felix. “It’s enough that it is said.” He relapsed +into silence, and when he next spoke his manner was different. His +excited vehemence had gone and there was nothing in his voice or +demeanour inconsistent <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>with normal sanity. Yet his words were no less +charged with deep intention. “I do not know much about you, Lord +Wolfenden,” he said; “but I beg you to take the advice I am offering +you. No one ever gave you better in your life. Avoid that man as you +would avoid the plague. Go away before he looks you up to thank you for +what you did. Go abroad, anywhere; the farther the better; and stay away +for ever, if that is the only means of escaping his friendship or even +his acquaintance.”</p> + +<p>Lord Wolfenden shook his head.</p> + +<p>“I’m a very ordinary, matter of fact Englishman,” he said, “leading a +very ordinary, matter of fact life, and you must forgive me if I +consider such a sweeping condemnation a little extravagant and +fantastic. I have no particular enemies on my conscience, I am +implicated in no conspiracy, and I am, in short, an individual of very +little importance. Consequently I have nothing to fear from anybody and +am afraid of nobody. This man cannot have anything to gain by injuring +me. I believe you said you did not know the lady?”</p> + +<p>“The lady?” Felix repeated. “No, I do not know her, nor anything of her +beyond the fact that she is with him for the time being. That is quite +sufficient for me.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden got up.</p> + +<p>“Thanks,” he said lazily. “I only asked you for facts. As for your +suggestion—you will be well advised not to repeat it.”</p> + +<p>“Oh!” exclaimed Felix, scornfully, “how blind and pig-headed you English +people are! I have told you something of the man’s reputation. What can +hers be, do you suppose, if she will sup alone with him in a public +restaurant?”</p> + +<p>“Good-night,” said Wolfenden. “I will not listen to another word.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span></p><p>Felix rose to his feet and laid his hand upon Lord Wolfenden’s arm.</p> + +<p>“Lord Wolfenden,” he said, “you are a very decent fellow: do try to +believe that I am only speaking for your good. That girl——”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden shook him off.</p> + +<p>“If you allude to that young lady, either directly or indirectly,” he +said very calmly, “I shall throw you into the river.”</p> + +<p>Felix shrugged his shoulders.</p> + +<p>“At least remember that I warned you,” was all he ventured to say as +Lord Wolfenden strode away.</p> + +<hr class="medium" /> + +<p>Leaving the embankment Wolfenden walked quickly to Half Moon Street, +where his chambers were. His servant let him in and took his coat. There +was an anxious expression upon his usually passive face and he appeared +to be rather at a loss for words in which to communicate his news. At +last he got it out, accompanying the question with a nervous and +deprecating cough.</p> + +<p>“I beg your pardon, my lord, but were you expecting a young lady?”</p> + +<p>“A what, Selby?” Wolfenden exclaimed, looking at him in amazement.</p> + +<p>“A lady, my lord: a young lady.”</p> + +<p>“Of course not,” said Wolfenden, with a frown. “What on earth do you +mean?”</p> + +<p>Selby gathered courage.</p> + +<p>“A young lady called here about an hour ago, and asked for you. Johnson +informed her that you might be home shortly, and she said she would +wait. Johnson, perhaps imprudently, admitted her, and she is in the +study, my lord.”</p> + +<p>“A young lady in my study at this time of night!” Wolfenden exclaimed, +incredulously. “Who is she, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>what is she, and why has she come at +all? Have you gone mad, Selby?”</p> + +<p>“Then you were not expecting her?” the man said, anxiously. “She gave no +name, but she assured Johnson that you did.”</p> + +<p>“You are a couple of idiots,” Wolfenden said angrily. “Of course I +wasn’t expecting her. Surely both you and Johnson have been in my +service long enough to know me better than that.”</p> + +<p>“I am exceedingly sorry, my lord,” the man said abjectly. “But the young +lady’s appearance misled us both. If you will allow me to say so, my +lord, I am quite sure that she is a lady. No doubt there is some +mistake; but when you see her I think you will exonerate Johnson and me +<span style="white-space: nowrap;">from——”</span></p> + +<p>His master cut his protestations short.</p> + +<p>“Wait where you are until I ring,” he said. “It never entered my head +that you could be such an incredible idiot.”</p> + +<p>He strode into the study, closing the door behind him, and Selby +obediently waited for the bell. But a long time passed before the +summons came.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<h3>AT THE RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR’S</h3> + +<p>The brougham containing the man who had figured in the “Milan” table +list as Mr. Sabin, and his companion, turned into the Strand and +proceeded westwards. Close behind it came Harcutt’s private cab—only a +few yards away followed Densham’s hansom. The procession continued in +the same order, skirting Trafalgar Square and along Pall Mall.</p> + +<p>Each in a different manner, the three men were perhaps equally +interested in these people. Geoffrey Densham was attracted as an artist +by the extreme and rare beauty of the girl. Wolfenden’s interest was at +once more sentimental and more personal. Harcutt’s arose partly out of +curiosity, partly from innate love of adventure. Both Densham and +Harcutt were exceedingly interested as to their probable destination. +From it they would be able to gather some idea as to the status and +social position of Mr. Sabin and his companion. Both were perhaps a +little surprised when the brougham, which had been making its way into +the heart of fashionable London, turned into Belgrave Square and pulled +up before a great, porticoed house, brilliantly lit, and with a crimson +drugget and covered way stretched out across the pavement. Harcutt +sprang out first, just in time to see the two pass through the opened +doorway, the man leaning heavily upon his stick, the girl, with her +daintily gloved fingers just resting upon his coat-sleeve, walking with +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>that uncommon and graceful self-possession which had so attracted +Densham during her passage through the supper-room at the “Milan” a +short while ago.</p> + +<p>Harcutt looked after them, watching them disappear with a frown upon his +forehead.</p> + +<p>“Rather a sell, isn’t it?” said a quiet voice in his ear.</p> + +<p>He turned abruptly round. Densham was standing upon the pavement by his +side.</p> + +<p>“Great Scott!” he exclaimed testily. “What are you doing here?”</p> + +<p>Densham threw away his cigarette and laughed.</p> + +<p>“I might return the question, I suppose,” he remarked. “We both followed +the young lady and her imaginary papa! We were both anxious to find out +where they lived—and we are both sold!”</p> + +<p>“Very badly sold,” Harcutt admitted. “What do you propose to do now? We +can’t wait outside here for an hour or two!”</p> + +<p>Densham hesitated.</p> + +<p>“No, we can’t do that,” he said. “Have you any plan?”</p> + +<p>Harcutt shook his head.</p> + +<p>“Can’t say that I have.”</p> + +<p>They were both silent for a moment. Densham was smiling softly to +himself. Watching him, Harcutt became quite assured that he had decided +what to do.</p> + +<p>“Let us consider the matter together,” he suggested, diplomatically. “We +ought to be able to hit upon something.”</p> + +<p>Densham shook his head doubtfully.</p> + +<p>“No,” he said; “I don’t think that we can run this thing in double +harness. You see our interests are materially opposed.”</p> + +<p>Harcutt did not see it in the same light.</p> + +<p>“Pooh! We can travel together by the same road,” he <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>protested. “The +time to part company has not come yet. Wolfenden has got a bit ahead of +us to-night. After all, though, you and I may pull level, if we help one +another. You have a plan, I can see! What is it?”</p> + +<p>Densham was silent for a moment.</p> + +<p>“You know whose house this is?” he asked.</p> + +<p>Harcutt nodded.</p> + +<p>“Of course! It’s the Russian Ambassador’s!”</p> + +<p>Densham drew a square card from his pocket, and held it out under the +gas-light. From it, it appeared that the Princess Lobenski desired the +honour of his company at any time that evening between twelve and two.</p> + +<p>“A card for to-night, by Jove!” Harcutt exclaimed.</p> + +<p>Densham nodded, and replaced it in his pocket.</p> + +<p>“You see, Harcutt,” he said, “I am bound to take an advantage over you! +I only got this card by an accident, and I certainly do not know the +Princess well enough to present you. I shall be compelled to leave you +here! All that I can promise is, that if I discover anything interesting +I will let you know about it to-morrow. Good-night!”</p> + +<p>Harcutt watched him disappear through the open doors, and then walked a +little way along the pavement, swearing softly to himself. His first +idea was to wait about until they came out, and then follow them again. +By that means he would at least be sure of their address. He would have +gained something for his time and trouble. He lit a cigarette, and +walked slowly to the corner of the street. Then he turned back and +retraced his steps. As he neared the crimson strip of drugget, one of +the servants drew respectfully aside, as though expecting him to enter. +The man’s action was like an inspiration to him. He glanced down the +vista of covered roof. A crowd of people were making their way up the +broad staircase, and amongst them Densham. After all, why not? He +laughed softly to himself and hesitated no longer. He threw away <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>his +cigarette and walked boldly in. He was doing a thing for which he well +knew that he deserved to be kicked. At the same time, he had made up his +mind to go through with it, and he was not the man to fail through +nervousness or want of <i>savoir faire</i>.</p> + +<p>At the cloak-room the multitude of men inspired him with new confidence. +There were some, a very fair sprinkling, whom he knew, and who greeted +him indifferently, without appearing in any way to regard his presence +as a thing out of the common. He walked up the staircase, one of a +little group; but as they passed through the ante-room to where in the +distance Prince and Princess Lobenski were standing to receive their +guests, Harcutt adroitly disengaged himself—he affected to pause for a +moment or two to speak to an acquaintance. When he was left alone, he +turned sharp to the right and entered the main dancing-salon.</p> + +<p>He was quite safe now, and his spirits began to rise. Yonder was +Densham, looking very bored, dancing with a girl in yellow. So far at +least he had gained no advantage. He looked everywhere in vain, however, +for a man with a club foot and the girl in white and diamonds. They must +be in one of the inner rooms. He began to make a little tour.</p> + +<p>Two of the ante-chambers he explored without result. In the third, two +men were standing near the entrance, talking. Harcutt almost held his +breath as he came to an abrupt stop within a yard or two of them. One +was the man for whom he had been looking, the other—Harcutt seemed to +find his face perfectly familiar, but for the moment he could not +identify him. He was tall, with white hair and moustaches. His coat was +covered with foreign orders, and he wore English court dress. His hands +were clasped behind his back; he was talking in a low, clear tone, +stooping a little, and with eyes steadfastly fixed upon his companion. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>Mr. Sabin was leaning a little forward, with both hands resting upon +his stick. Harcutt was struck at once with the singular immobility of +his face. He did not appear either interested or amused or acquiescent. +He was simply listening. A few words from the other man came to +Harcutt’s ears, as he lingered there on the other side of the curtain.</p> + +<p>“If it were money—a question of monetary recompense—the secret service +purse of my country opens easily, and it is well filled. If it were +anything less simple, the proposal could but be made. I am taking the +thing, you understand, at your own computation of its worth! I am taking +it for granted that it carries with it the power you claim for it. +Assuming these things, I am prepared to treat with you. I am going on +leave very shortly, and I could myself conduct the negotiations.”</p> + +<p>Harcutt would have moved away, but he was absolutely powerless. +Naturally, and from his journalistic instincts, he was one of the most +curious of men. He had recognised the speaker. The interview was +pregnant with possibilities. Who was this Mr. Sabin, that so great a man +should talk with him so earnestly? He was looking up now, he was going +to speak. What was he going to say? Harcutt held his breath. The idea of +moving away never occurred to him now.</p> + +<p>“Yet,” Mr. Sabin said slowly, “your country should be a low bidder. The +importance of such a thing to you must be less than to France, less than +to her great ally. Your relations here are close and friendly. Nature +and destiny seemed to have made you allies. As yet there has been no +rift—no sign of a rift.”</p> + +<p>“You are right,” the other man answered slowly; “and yet who can tell +what lies before us? In less than a dozen years the face of all Europe +may be changed. The policy of a great nation is, to all appearance, a +steadfast thing. On <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>the face of it, it continues the same, age after +age. Yet if a change is to come, it comes from within. It develops +slowly. It grows from within, outwards, very slowly, like a secret +thing. Do you follow me?”</p> + +<p>“I think—perhaps I do,” Mr. Sabin admitted deliberately.</p> + +<p>The Ambassador’s voice dropped almost to a whisper, and but for its +singularly penetrating quality Harcutt would have heard no more. As it +was, he had almost to hold his breath, and all his nerves quivered with +the tension of listening.</p> + +<p>“Even the Press is deceived. The inspired organs purposely mislead. +Outside to all the world there seems to be nothing brewing; yet, when +the storm bursts, one sees that it has been long in gathering—that +years of careful study and thought have been given to that hidden +triumph of diplomacy. All has been locked in the breasts of a few. The +thing is full-fledged when it is hatched upon the world. It has grown +strong in darkness. You understand me?”</p> + +<p>“Yes; I think that I understand you,” Mr. Sabin said, his piercing eyes +raised now from the ground and fixed upon the other man’s face. “You +have given me food for serious thought. I shall do nothing further till +I have talked with you again.”</p> + +<p>Harcutt suddenly and swiftly withdrew. He had stayed as long as he +dared. At any moment his presence might have been detected, and he would +have been involved in a situation which even the nerve and effrontery +acquired during the practice of his profession could not have rendered +endurable. He found a seat in an adjoining room, and sat quite still, +thinking. His brain was in a whirl. He had almost forgotten the special +object of his quest. He felt like a conspirator. The fascination of the +unknown was upon him. Their first instinct concerning these people had +been a true one. They were indeed no ordinary people. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>He must follow +them up—he must know more about them. Once more he thought over what he +had heard. It was mysterious, but it was interesting. It might mean +anything. The man with Mr. Sabin he had recognised the moment he spoke. +It was Baron von Knigenstein, the German Ambassador. Those were strange +words of his. He pondered them over again. The journalistic fever was +upon him. He was no longer in love. He had overheard a few words of a +discussion of tremendous import. If only he could get the key to it! If +only he could follow this thing through, then farewell to society +paragraphing and playing at journalism. His reputation would be made for +ever!</p> + +<p>He rose, and finding his way to the refreshment-room, drank off a glass +of champagne. Then he walked back to the main salon. Standing with his +back to the wall, and half-hidden by a tall palm tree, was Densham. He +was alone. His arms were folded, and he was looking out upon the dancers +with a gloomy frown. Harcutt stepped softly up to him.</p> + +<p>“Well, how are you getting on, old chap?” he whispered in his ear.</p> + +<p>Densham started, and looked at Harcutt in blank surprise.</p> + +<p>“Why, how the—excuse me, how on earth did you get in?” he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>Harcutt smiled in a mysterious manner.</p> + +<p>“Oh! we journalists are trained to overcome small difficulties,” he said +airily. “It wasn’t a very hard task. The <i>Morning</i> is a pretty good +passport. Getting in was easy enough. Where is—she?”</p> + +<p>Densham moved his head in the direction of the broad space at the head +of the stairs, where the Ambassador and his wife had received their +guests.</p> + +<p>“She is under the special wing of the Princess. She is <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span>up at that end +of the room somewhere with a lot of old frumps.”</p> + +<p>“Have you asked for an introduction?”</p> + +<p>Densham nodded.</p> + +<p>“Yes, I asked young Lobenski. It is no good. He does not know who she +is; but she does not dance, and is not allowed to make acquaintances. +That is what it comes to, anyway. It was not a personal matter at all. +Lobenski did not even mention my name to his mother. He simply said a +friend. The Princess replied that she was very sorry, but there was some +difficulty. The young lady’s guardian did not wish her to make +acquaintances for the present.”</p> + +<p>“Her guardian! He’s not her father, then?”</p> + +<p>“No! It was either her guardian or her uncle! I am not sure which. By +Jove! There they go! They’re off.”</p> + +<p>They both hurried to the cloak-room for their coats, and reached the +street in time to see the people in whom they were so interested coming +down the stairs towards them. In the glare of the electric light, the +girl’s pale, upraised face shone like a piece of delicate statuary. To +Densham, the artist, she was irresistible. He drew Harcutt right back +amongst the shadows.</p> + +<p>“She is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my life,” he said +deliberately. “Titian never conceived anything more exquisite. She is a +woman to paint and to worship!”</p> + +<p>“What are you going to do now?” Harcutt asked drily. “You can rave about +her in your studio, if you like.”</p> + +<p>“I am going to find out where she lives, if I have to follow her home on +foot! It will be something to know that.”</p> + +<p>“Two of us,” Harcutt protested. “It is too obvious.”</p> + +<p>“I can’t help that,” Densham replied. “I do not sleep until I have found +out.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span></p><p>Harcutt looked dubious.</p> + +<p>“Look here,” he said, “we need not both go! I will leave it to you on +one condition.”</p> + +<p>“Well?”</p> + +<p>“You must let me know to-morrow what you discover.”</p> + +<p>Densham hesitated.</p> + +<p>“Agreed,” he decided. “There they go! Good-night. I will call at your +rooms, or send a note, to-morrow.”</p> + +<p>Densham jumped into his cab and drove away. Harcutt looked after them +thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>“The girl is very lovely,” he said to himself, as he stood on the +pavement waiting for his carriage; “but I do not think that she is for +you, Densham, or for me! On the whole, I am more interested in the man!”</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<h3>THE DILEMMA OF WOLFENDEN</h3> + +<p>Wolfenden was evidently absolutely unprepared to see the girl whom he +found occupying his own particular easy chair in his study. The light +was only a dim one, and as she did not move or turn round at his +entrance he did not recognise her until he was standing on the hearthrug +by her side. Then he started with a little exclamation.</p> + +<p>“Miss Merton! Why, what on earth——”</p> + +<p>He stopped in the middle of his question and looked intently at her. Her +head was thrown back amongst the cushions of the chair, and she was fast +asleep. Her hat was a little crushed and a little curl of fair hair had +escaped and was hanging down over her forehead. There were undoubtedly +tear stains upon her pretty face. Her plain, black jacket was half +undone, and the gloves which she had taken off lay in her lap. +Wolfenden’s anger subsided at once. No wonder Selby had been perplexed. +But Selby’s perplexity was nothing to his own.</p> + +<p>She woke up suddenly and saw him standing there, traces of his amazement +still lingering on his face. She looked at him, half-frightened, +half-wistfully. The colour came and went in her cheeks—her eyes grew +soft with tears. He felt himself a brute. Surely it was not possible +that she could be acting! He spoke to her more kindly than he had +intended.</p> + +<p>“What on earth has brought you up to town—and here—at <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>this time of +night? Is anything wrong at Deringham?”</p> + +<p>She sat up in the chair and looked at him with quivering lips.</p> + +<p>“N—no, nothing particular; only I have left.”</p> + +<p>“You have left!”</p> + +<p>“Yes; I have been turned away,” she added, piteously.</p> + +<p>He looked at her blankly.</p> + +<p>“Turned away! Why, what for? Do you mean to say that you have left for +good?”</p> + +<p>She nodded, and commenced to dry her eyes with a little lace +handkerchief.</p> + +<p>“Yes—your mother—Lady Deringham has been very horrid—as though the +silly papers were of any use to me or any one else in the world! I have +not copied them. I am not deceitful! It is all an excuse to get rid of +me because of—of you.”</p> + +<p>She looked up at him and suddenly dropped her eyes. Wolfenden began to +see some glimmerings of light. He was still, however, bewildered.</p> + +<p>“Look here,” he said kindly, “why you are here I cannot for the life of +me imagine, but you had better just tell me all about it.”</p> + +<p>She rose up suddenly and caught her gloves from the table.</p> + +<p>“I think I will go away,” she said. “I was very stupid to come; please +forget it and—— Goodbye.”</p> + +<p>He caught her by the wrist as she passed.</p> + +<p>“Nonsense,” he exclaimed, “you mustn’t go like this.”</p> + +<p>She looked steadfastly away from him and tried to withdraw her arm.</p> + +<p>“You are angry with me for coming,” she said. “I am very, very sorry; I +will go away. Please don’t stop me.”</p> + +<p>He held her wrist firmly.</p> + +<p>“Miss Merton!”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span></p><p>“Miss Merton!” She repeated his words reproachfully, lifting her eyes +suddenly to his, that he might see the tears gathering there. Wolfenden +began to feel exceedingly uncomfortable.</p> + +<p>“Well, Blanche, then,” he said slowly. “Is that better?”</p> + +<p>She answered nothing, but looked at him again. Her hand remained in his. +She suffered him to lead her back to the chair.</p> + +<p>“It’s all nonsense your going away, you know,” he said a little +awkwardly. “You can’t wonder that I am surprised. Perhaps you don’t know +that it is a little late—after midnight, in fact. Where should you go +to if you ran away like that? Do you know any one in London?”</p> + +<p>“I—don’t think so,” she admitted.</p> + +<p>“Well, do be reasonable then. First of all tell me all about it.”</p> + +<p>She nodded, and began at once, now and then lifting her eyes to his, +mostly gazing fixedly at the gloves which she was smoothing carefully +out upon her knee.</p> + +<p>“I think,” she said, “that Lord Deringham is not so well. What he has +been writing has become more and more incoherent, and it has been very +difficult to copy it at all. I have done my best but he has never seemed +satisfied; and he has taken to watch me in an odd sort of way, just as +though I was doing something wrong all the time. You know he fancies +that the work he is putting together is of immense importance. Of course +I don’t know that it isn’t. All I do know is that it sounds and reads +like absolute rubbish, and it’s awfully difficult to copy. He writes +very quickly and uses all manner of abbreviations, and if I make a +single mistake in typing it he gets horribly cross.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden laughed softly.</p> + +<p>“Poor little girl! Go on.”</p> + +<p>She smiled too, and continued with less constraint in her tone.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span></p><p>“I didn’t really mind that so much, as of course I have been getting a +lot of money for the work, and one can’t have everything. But just +lately he seems to have got the idea that I have been making two copies +of this rubbish and keeping one back. He has kept on coming into the +room unexpectedly, and has sat for hours watching me in a most +unpleasant manner. I have not been allowed to leave the house, and all +my letters have been looked over; it has been perfectly horrid.”</p> + +<p>“I am very sorry,” Wolfenden said. “Of course you knew though that it +was going to be rather difficult to please my father, didn’t you? The +doctors differ a little as to his precise mental condition, but we are +all aware that he is at any rate a trifle peculiar.”</p> + +<p>She smiled a little bitterly.</p> + +<p>“Oh! I am not complaining,” she said. “I should have stood it somehow +for the sake of the money; but I haven’t told you everything yet. The +worst part, so far as I am concerned, is to come.”</p> + +<p>“I am very sorry,” he said; “please go on.”</p> + +<p>“This morning your father came very early into the study and found a +sheet of carbon paper on my desk and two copies of one page of the work +I was doing. As a matter of fact I had never used it before, but I +wanted to try it for practice. There was no harm in it—I should have +destroyed the second sheet in a minute or two, and in any case it was so +badly done that it was absolutely worthless. But directly Lord Deringham +saw it he went quite white, and I thought he was going to have a fit. I +can’t tell you all he said. He was brutal. The end of it was that my +boxes were all turned out and my desk and everything belonging to me +searched as though I were a house-maid suspected of theft, and all the +time I was kept locked up. When they had finished, I was told to put my +hat on and go. I—I had nowhere to go to, for Muriel—you <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>remember I +told you about my sister—went to America last week. I hadn’t the least +idea what to do—and so—I—you were the only person who had ever been +kind to me,” she concluded, suddenly leaning over towards him, a little +sob in her throat, and her eyes swimming with tears.</p> + +<p>There are certain situations in life when an honest man is at an obvious +disadvantage. Wolfenden felt awkward and desperately ill at ease. He +evaded the embrace which her movement and eyes had palpably invited, and +compromised matters by taking her hands and holding them tightly in his. +Even then he felt far from comfortable.</p> + +<p>“But my mother,” he exclaimed. “Lady Deringham surely took your part?”</p> + +<p>She shook her head vigorously.</p> + +<p>“Lady Deringham did nothing of the sort,” she replied. “Do you remember +last time when you were down you took me for a walk once or twice and +you talked to me in the evenings, and—but perhaps you have forgotten. +Have you?”</p> + +<p>She was looking at him so eagerly that there was only one answer +possible for him. He hastened to make it. There was a certain lack of +enthusiasm in his avowal, however, which brought a look of reproach into +her face. She sighed and looked away into the fire.</p> + +<p>“Well,” she continued, “Lady Deringham has never been the same since +then to me. It didn’t matter while you were there, but after you left it +was very wretched. I wrote to you, but you never answered my letter.”</p> + +<p>He was very well aware of it. He had never asked her to write, and her +note had seemed to him a trifle too ingenuous. He had never meant to +answer it.</p> + +<p>“I so seldom write letters,” he said. “I thought, too, that it must have +been your fancy. My mother is generally considered a very good-hearted +woman.”</p> + +<p>She laughed bitterly.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span></p><p>“Oh, one does not fancy those things,” she said. “Lady Deringham has +been coldly civil to me ever since, and nothing more. This morning she +seemed absolutely pleased to have an excuse for sending me away. She +knows quite well, of course, that Lord Deringham is—not himself; but +she took everything he said for gospel, and turned me out of the house. +There, now you know everything. Perhaps after all it was idiotic to come +to you. Well, I’m only a girl, and girls are idiots; I haven’t a friend +in the world, and if I were alone I should die of loneliness in a week. +You won’t send me away? You are not angry with me?”</p> + +<p>She made a movement towards him, but he held her hands tightly. For the +first time he began to see his way before him. A certain ingenuousness +in her speech and in that little half-forgotten note—an ingenuousness, +by the bye, of which he had some doubts—was his salvation. He would +accept it as absolutely genuine. She was a child who had come to him, +because he had been kind to her.</p> + +<p>“Of course I am not angry with you,” he said, quite emphatically. “I am +very glad indeed that you came. It is only right that I should help you +when my people seem to have treated you so wretchedly. Let me think for +a moment.”</p> + +<p>She watched him very anxiously, and moved a little closer to him.</p> + +<p>“Tell me,” she murmured, “what are you thinking about?”</p> + +<p>“I have it,” he answered, standing suddenly up and touching the bell. +“It is an excellent idea.”</p> + +<p>“What is it?” she asked quickly.</p> + +<p>He did not appear to hear her question. Selby was standing upon the +threshold. Wolfenden spoke to him.</p> + +<p>“Selby, are your wife’s rooms still vacant?”</p> + +<p>Selby believed that they were.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span></p><p>“That’s all right then. Put on your hat and coat at once. I want you to +take this young lady round there.”</p> + +<p>“Very good, my lord.”</p> + +<p>“Her luggage has been lost and may not arrive until to-morrow. Be sure +you tell Mrs. Selby to do all in her power to make things comfortable.”</p> + +<p>The girl had gone very pale. Wolfenden, watching her closely, was +surprised at her expression.</p> + +<p>“I think,” he said, “that you will find Mrs. Selby a very decent sort of +a person. If I may, I will come and see you to-morrow, and you shall +tell me how I can help you. I am very glad indeed that you came to me.”</p> + +<p>She shot a single glance at him, partly of anger, partly reproach.</p> + +<p>“You are very, very kind,” she said slowly, “and very considerate,” she +added, after a moment’s pause. “I shall not forget it.”</p> + +<p>She looked him then straight in the eyes. He was more glad than he would +have liked to confess even to himself to hear Selby’s knock at the door.</p> + +<p>“You have nothing to thank me for yet at any rate,” he said, taking her +hand. “I shall be only too glad if you will let me be of service to +you.”</p> + +<p>He led her out to the carriage and watched it drive away, with Selby on +the box seat. Her last glance, as she leaned back amongst the cushions, +was a tender one; her lips were quivering, and her little fingers more +than returned his pressure. But Wolfenden walked back to his study with +all the pleasurable feelings of a man who has extricated himself with +tact from an awkward situation.</p> + +<p>“The frankness,” he remarked to himself, as he lit a pipe and stretched +himself out for a final smoke, “was a trifle, just a trifle, overdone. +She gave the whole show away with that last glance. I should like very +much to know what it all means.”</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<h3>A COMPACT OF THREE</h3> + +<p>Wolfenden, for an idler, was a young man of fairly precise habits. By +ten o’clock next morning he had breakfasted, and before eleven he was +riding in the Park. Perhaps he had some faint hope of seeing there +something of the two people in whom he was now greatly interested. If so +he was certainly disappointed. He looked with a new curiosity into the +faces of the girls who galloped past him, and he was careful even to +take particular notice of the few promenaders. But he did not see +anything of Mr. Sabin or his companion.</p> + +<p>At twelve o’clock he returned to his rooms and exchanged his +riding-clothes for the ordinary garb of the West End. He even looked on +his hall-table as he passed out again, to see if there were any note or +card for him.</p> + +<p>“He could scarcely look me up just yet, at any rate,” he reflected, as +he walked slowly along Piccadilly, “for he did not even ask me for my +address. He took the whole thing so coolly that perhaps he does not mean +even to call.”</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, he looked in the rack at his club to see if there was +anything against his name, and tore into pieces the few unimportant +notes he found there, with an impatience which they scarcely deserved. +Of the few acquaintances whom he met there, he inquired casually whether +they knew anything of a man named “Sabin.” No one <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>seemed to have heard +the name before. He even consulted a directory in the hall, but without +success. At one o’clock, in a fit of restlessness, he went out, and +taking a hansom drove over to Westminster, to Harcutt’s rooms. Harcutt +was in, and with him Densham. At Wolfenden’s entrance the three men +looked at one another, and there was a simultaneous laugh.</p> + +<p>“Here comes the hero,” Densham remarked. “He will be able to tell us +everything.”</p> + +<p>“I came to gather information, not to impart it,” Wolfenden answered, +selecting a cigarette, and taking an easy chair. “I know precisely as +much as I knew last night.”</p> + +<p>“Mr. Sabin has not been to pour out his gratitude yet, then?” Densham +asked.</p> + +<p>Wolfenden shook his head.</p> + +<p>“Not yet. On the whole, I am inclined to think that he will not come at +all. He doubtless considers that he has done all that is necessary in +the way of thanks. He did not even ask for my card, and giving me his +was only a matter of form, for there was no address upon it.”</p> + +<p>“But he knew your name,” Harcutt reminded him. “I noticed that.”</p> + +<p>“Yes. I suppose he could find me if he wished to,” Wolfenden admitted. +“If he had been very keen about it, though, I should think he would have +said something more. His one idea seemed to be to get away before there +was a row.”</p> + +<p>“I do not think,” Harcutt said, “that you will find him overburdened +with gratitude. He does not seem that sort of man.”</p> + +<p>“I do not want any gratitude from him,” Wolfenden answered, +deliberately. “So far as the man himself is concerned I should rather +prefer never to see him again. By the bye, did either of you fellows +follow them home last night?”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span></p><p>Harcutt and Densham exchanged quick glances. Wolfenden had asked his +question quietly, but it was evidently what he had come to know.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” Harcutt said, “we both did. They are evidently people of some +consequence. They went first to the house of the Russian Ambassador, +Prince Lobenski.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden swore to himself softly. He could have been there. He made a +mental note to leave a card at the Embassy that afternoon.</p> + +<p>“And afterwards?”</p> + +<p>“Afterwards they drove to a house in Chilton Gardens, Kensington, where +they remained.”</p> + +<p>“The presumption being, then——” Wolfenden began.</p> + +<p>“That they live there,” Harcutt put in. “In fact, I may say that we +ascertained that definitely. The man’s name is ‘Sabin,’ and the girl is +reputed to be his niece. Now you know as much as we do. The +relationship, however, is little more than a surmise.”</p> + +<p>“Did either of you go to the reception?” Wolfenden asked.</p> + +<p>“We both did,” Harcutt answered.</p> + +<p>Wolfenden raised his eyebrows.</p> + +<p>“You were there! Then why didn’t you make their acquaintance?”</p> + +<p>Densham laughed shortly.</p> + +<p>“I asked for an introduction to the girl,” he said, “and was politely +declined. She was under the special charge of the Princess, and was +presented to no one.”</p> + +<p>“And Mr. Sabin?” Wolfenden asked.</p> + +<p>“He was talking all the time to Baron von Knigenstein, the German +Ambassador. They did not stay long.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden smiled.</p> + +<p>“It seems to me,” he said, “that you had an excellent opportunity and +let it go.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span></p><p>Harcutt threw his cigarette into the fire with an impatient gesture.</p> + +<p>“You may think so,” he said. “All I can say is, that if you had been +there yourself, you could have done no more. At any rate, we have no +particular difficulty now in finding out who this mysterious Mr. Sabin +and the girl are. We may assume that there is a relationship,” he added, +“or they would scarcely have been at the Embassy, where, as a rule, the +guests make up in respectability what they lack in brilliancy.”</p> + +<p>“As to the relationship,” Wolfenden said, “I am quite prepared to take +that for granted. I, for one, never doubted it.”</p> + +<p>“That,” Harcutt remarked, “is because you are young, and a little +quixotic. When you have lived as long as I have you will doubt +everything. You will take nothing for granted unless you desire to live +for ever amongst the ruins of your shattered enthusiasms. If you are +wise, you will always assume that your swans are geese until you have +proved them to be swans.”</p> + +<p>“That is very cheap cynicism,” Wolfenden remarked equably. “I am +surprised at you, Harcutt. I thought that you were more in touch with +the times. Don’t you know that to-day nobody is cynical except +schoolboys and dyspeptics? Pessimism went out with sack overcoats. Your +remarks remind me of the morning odour of patchouli and stale smoke in a +cheap Quartier Latin dancing-room. To be in the fashion of to-day, you +must cultivate a gentle, almost arcadian enthusiasm, you must wear +rose-coloured spectacles and pretend that you like them. Didn’t you hear +what Flaskett said last week? There is an epidemic of morality in the +air. We are all going to be very good.”</p> + +<p>“Some of us,” Densham remarked, “are going to be very uncomfortable, +then.”</p> + +<p>“Great changes always bring small discomforts,” Wolfenden <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>rejoined. +“But after all I didn’t come here to talk nonsense. I came to ask you +both something. I want to know whether you fellows are bent upon seeing +this thing through?”</p> + +<p>Densham and Harcutt exchanged glances. There was a moment’s silence. +Densham became spokesman.</p> + +<p>“So far as finding out who they are and all about them,” he said, “I +shall not rest until I have done it.”</p> + +<p>“And you, Harcutt?”</p> + +<p>Harcutt nodded gravely.</p> + +<p>“I am with Densham,” he said. “At the same time I may as well tell you +that I am quite as much, if not more, interested in the man than in the +girl. The girl is beautiful, and of course I admire her, as every one +must. But that is all. The man appeals to my journalistic instincts. +There is copy in him. I am convinced that he is a personage. You may, in +fact, regard me, both of you, as an ally rather than as a rival.”</p> + +<p>“If you had your choice, then, of an hour’s conversation with either of +them——” Wolfenden began.</p> + +<p>“I should choose the man without a second’s hesitation,” Harcutt +declared. “The girl is lovely enough, I admit. I do not wonder at you +fellows—Densham, who is a worshipper of beauty; you, Wolfenden, who are +an idler—being struck with her! But as regards myself it is different. +The man appeals to my professional instincts in very much the same way +as the girl appeals to the artistic sense in Densham. He is a conundrum +which I have set myself to solve.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden rose to his feet.</p> + +<p>“Look here, you fellows,” he said, “I have a proposition to make. We are +all three in the same boat. Shall we pull together or separately?”</p> + +<p>Harcutt dropped his eyeglass and smiled quietly.</p> + +<p>“Quixotic as usual, Wolf, old chap,” he said. “We <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>can’t, our interests +are opposed; at least yours and Densham’s are. You will scarcely want to +help one another under the circumstances.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden drew on his gloves.</p> + +<p>“I have not explained myself yet,” he said. “The thing must have its +limitations, of course, but for a step or two even Densham and I can +walk together. Let us form an alliance so far as direct information is +concerned. Afterwards it must be every man for himself, of course. I +suppose we each have some idea as to how and where to set about making +inquiries concerning these people. Very well. Let us each go our own way +and share up the information to-night.”</p> + +<p>“I am quite willing,” Densham said, “only let this be distinctly +understood—we are allies only so far as the collection and sharing of +information is concerned. Afterwards, and in other ways, it is each man +for himself. If one of us succeeds in establishing a definite +acquaintance with them, the thing ends. There is no need for either of +us to do anything with regard to the others, which might militate +against his own chances.”</p> + +<p>“I am agreeable to that,” Harcutt said. “From Densham’s very elaborate +provisoes I think we may gather that he has a plan.”</p> + +<p>“I agree too,” Wolfenden said, “and I specially endorse Densham’s limit. +It is an alliance so far as regards information only. Suppose we go and +have some lunch together now.”</p> + +<p>“I never lunch out, and I have a better idea,” said Harcutt. “Let us +meet at the ‘Milan’ to-night for supper at the same time. We can then +exchange information, supposing either of us has been fortunate enough +to acquire any. What do you say, Wolfenden?”</p> + +<p>“I am quite willing,” Wolfenden said.</p> + +<p>“And I,” echoed Densham. “At half-past eleven, then,” Harcutt concluded.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<h3>WHO IS MR. SABIN?</h3> + +<p>Mrs. Thorpe-Satchell was not at home to ordinary callers. Nevertheless +when a discreet servant brought her Mr. Francis Densham’s card she gave +orders for his admittance without hesitation.</p> + +<p>That he was a privileged person it was easy to see. Mrs. Satchell +received him with the most charming of smiles.</p> + +<p>“My dear Francis,” she exclaimed, “I do hope that you have lost that +wretched headache! You looked perfectly miserable last night. I was so +sorry for you.”</p> + +<p>Densham drew an easy chair to her side and accepted a cup of tea.</p> + +<p>“I am quite well again,” he said. “It was very bad indeed for a little +time, but it did not last long. Still I felt that it made me so utterly +stupid that I was half afraid you would have written me off your +visitors’ list altogether as a dull person. I was immensely relieved to +be told that you were at home.”</p> + +<p>Mrs. Thorpe-Satchell laughed gaily. She was a bright, blonde little +woman with an exquisite figure and piquante face. She had a husband whom +no one knew, and gave excellent parties to which every one went. In her +way she was something of a celebrity. She and Densham had known each +other for many years.</p> + +<p>“I am not sure,” she said, “that you did not deserve it; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>but then, you +see, you are too old a friend to be so summarily dealt with.”</p> + +<p>She raised her blue eyes to his and dropped them, smiling softly.</p> + +<p>Densham looked steadily away into the fire, wondering how to broach the +subject which had so suddenly taken the foremost place in his thoughts. +He had not come to make even the idlest of love this afternoon. The time +when he had been content to do so seemed very far away just now. Somehow +this dainty little woman with her Watteau-like grace and delicate +mannerisms had, for the present, at any rate, lost all her +attractiveness for him, and he was able to meet the flash of her bright +eyes and feel the touch of her soft fingers without any corresponding +thrill.</p> + +<p>“You are very good to me,” he said, thoughtfully. “May I have some more +tea?”</p> + +<p>Now Densham was no strategist. He had come to ask a question, and he was +dying to ask it. He knew very well that it would not do to hurry +matters—that he must put it as casually as possible towards the close +of his visit. But at the same time, the period of probation, during +which he should have been more than usually entertaining, was scarcely a +success, and his manner was restless and constrained. Every now and then +there were long and unusual pauses, and he continuously and with obvious +effort kept bringing back the conversation to the reception last night, +in the hope that some remark from her might make the way easier for him. +But nothing of the sort happened. The reception had not interested her +in the slightest, and she had nothing to say about it, and his +pre-occupation at last became manifest. She looked at him curiously +after one of those awkward pauses to which she was quite unaccustomed, +and his thoughts were evidently far away. As a matter of fact, he was at +that moment actually framing the question which he had come to ask.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span></p><p>“My dear Francis,” she said, quietly, “why don’t you tell me what is the +matter with you? You are not amusing. You have something on your mind. +Is it anything you wish to ask of me?”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” he said, boldly, “I have come to ask you a favour.”</p> + +<p>She smiled at him encouragingly.</p> + +<p>“Well, do ask it,” she said, “and get rid of your woebegone face. You +ought to know that if it is anything within my power I shall not +hesitate.”</p> + +<p>“I want,” he said, “to paint your portrait for next year’s Academy.”</p> + +<p>This was a master stroke. To have Densham paint her picture was just at +that moment the height of Mrs. Thorpe-Satchell’s ambition. A flush of +pleasure came into her cheeks, and her eyes were very bright.</p> + +<p>“Do you really mean it?” she exclaimed, leaning over towards him. “Are +you sure?”</p> + +<p>“Of course I mean it,” he answered. “If only I can do you justice, I +think it ought to be the portrait of the year. I have been studying you +for a long time in an indefinite sort of way, and I think that I have +some good ideas.”</p> + +<p>Mrs. Thorpe-Satchell laughed softly. Densham, although not a great +artist, was the most fashionable portrait painter of the minute, and he +had the knack of giving a <i>chic</i> touch to his women—of investing them +with a certain style without the sacrifice of similitude. He refused +quite as many commissions as he accepted, and he could scarcely have +flattered Mrs. Thorpe-Satchell more than by his request. She was +delightfully amiable.</p> + +<p>“You are a dear old thing,” she said, beaming upon him. “What shall I +wear? That yellow satin gown that you like, or say you like, so much?”</p> + +<p>He discussed the question with her gravely. It was not <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>until he rose to +go that he actually broached the question which had been engrossing all +his thoughts.</p> + +<p>“By the bye,” he said, “I wanted to ask you something. You know +Harcutt?”</p> + +<p>She nodded. Of course she knew Harcutt. Were her first suspicions +correct! Had he some other reason for this visit of his?</p> + +<p>“Well,” Densham went on, “he is immensely interested in some people who +were at that stupid reception last night. He tried to get an +introduction but he couldn’t find any one who knew them, and he doesn’t +know the Princess well enough to ask her. He thought that he saw you +speaking to the man, so I promised that when I saw you I would ask about +them.”</p> + +<p>“I spoke to a good many men,” she said. “What is his name?”</p> + +<p>“Sabin—Mr. Sabin; and there is a girl, his daughter, or niece, I +suppose.”</p> + +<p>Was it Densham’s fancy or had she indeed turned a shade paler. The +little be-jewelled hand, which had been resting close to his, suddenly +buried itself in the cushions. Densham, who was watching her closely, +was conscious of a hardness about her mouth which he had never noticed +before. She was silent some time before she answered him.</p> + +<p>“I am sorry,” she said, slowly, “but I can tell you scarcely anything +about them. I only met him once in India many years ago, and I have not +the slightest idea as to who he is or where he came from. I am quite +sure that I should not have recollected him last night but for his +deformity.”</p> + +<p>Densham tried very hard to hide his disappointment.</p> + +<p>“So you met him in India,” he remarked. “Do you know what he was doing +there? He was not in the service at all, I suppose.”</p> + +<p>“I really do not know,” she answered, “but I think not. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>I believe that +he is, or was, very wealthy. I remember hearing a few things about +him—nothing of much importance. But if Mr. Harcutt is your friend,” she +added, looking at him fixedly, “you can give him some excellent advice.”</p> + +<p>“Harcutt is a very decent fellow,” Densham said, “and I know that he +will be glad of it.”</p> + +<p>“Tell him to have nothing whatever to do with Mr. Sabin.”</p> + +<p>Densham looked at her keenly.</p> + +<p>“Then you do know something about him,” he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>She moved her chair back a little to where the light no longer played +upon her face, and she answered him without looking up.</p> + +<p>“Very little. It was so long ago and my memory is not what it used to +be. Never mind that. The advice is good anyhow. If,” she continued, +looking steadily up at Densham, “if it were not Mr. Harcutt who was +interested in these people, if it were any one, Francis, for whose +welfare I had a greater care, who was really my friend, I would make +that advice, if I could, a thousand times stronger. I would implore him +to have nothing whatever to do with this man or any of his creatures.”</p> + +<p>Densham laughed—not very easily. His disappointment was great, but his +interest was stimulated.</p> + +<p>“At any rate,” he said, “the girl is harmless. She cannot have left +school a year.”</p> + +<p>“A year with that man,” she answered, bitterly, “is a liberal education +in corruption. Don’t misunderstand me. I have no personal grievance +against him. We have never come together, thank God! But there were +stories—I cannot remember them now—I do not wish to remember them, but +the impression they made still remains. If a little of what people said +about him is true he is a prince of wickedness.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span></p><p>“The girl herself——?”</p> + +<p>“I know nothing of,” she admitted.</p> + +<p>Densham determined upon a bold stroke.</p> + +<p>“Look here,” he said, “do me this favour—you shall never regret it. You +and the Princess are intimate, I know: order your carriage and go and +see her this afternoon. Ask her what she knows about that girl. Get her +to tell you everything. Then let me know. Don’t ask me to explain just +now—simply remember that we are old friends and that I ask you to do +this thing for me.”</p> + +<p>She rang the bell.</p> + +<p>“My victoria at once,” she told the servant. Then she turned to Densham. +“I will do exactly what you ask,” she said. “You can come with me and +wait while I see the Princess—if she is at home. You see I am doing for +you what I would do for no one else in the world. Don’t trouble about +thanking me now. Do you mind waiting while I get my things on? I shall +only be a minute or two.”</p> + +<p>Her minute or two was half an hour. Densham waited impatiently. He +scarcely knew whether to be satisfied with the result of his mission or +not. He had learnt a very little—he was probably going to learn a +little more, but he was quite aware that he had not conducted the +negotiations with any particular skill, and the bribe which he had +offered was a heavy one. He was still uncertain about it when Mrs. +Thorpe-Satchell reappeared. She had changed her indoor gown for a soft +petunia-coloured costume trimmed with sable, and she held out her hands +towards him with a delightful smile.</p> + +<p>“Céleste is wretchedly awkward with gloves,” she said, “so I have left +them for you. Do you like my gown?”</p> + +<p>“You look charming,” he said, bending over his task, “and you know it.”</p> + +<p>“I always wear my smartest clothes when I am going to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>see my particular +friends,” she declared. “They quiz one so! Besides, I do not always have +an escort! Come!”</p> + +<p>She talked to him gaily on the stairs, as he handed her into the +carriage, and all the way to their destination, yet he was conscious all +the time of a subtle change in her demeanour towards him. She was a +proud little woman, and she had received a shock. Densham was making use +of her—Densham, of all men, was making use of her, of all women. He had +been perfectly correct in those vague fears of his. She did not believe +that he had come to her for his friend’s sake. She never doubted but +that it was he himself who was interested in this girl, and she looked +upon his visit and his request to her as something very nearly +approaching brutality. He must be interested in the girl, very deeply +interested, or he would never have resorted to such means of gaining +information about her. She was suddenly silent and turned a little pale +as the carriage turned into the square. Her errand was not a pleasant +one to her.</p> + +<p>Densham was left alone in the carriage for nearly an hour. He was +impatient, and yet her prolonged absence pleased him. She had found the +Princess in, she would bring him the information he desired. He sat +gazing idly into the faces of the passers-by with his thoughts very far +away. How that girl’s face had taken hold of his fancy; had excited in +some strange way his whole artistic temperament! She was the exquisite +embodiment of a new type of girlhood, from which was excluded all that +was crude and unpleasing and unfinished. She seemed to him to combine in +some mysterious manner all the dainty freshness of youth with the +delicate grace and <i>savoir faire</i> of a Frenchwoman of the best period. +He scarcely fancied himself in love with her; at any rate if it had been +suggested to him he would have denied it. Her beauty had certainly taken +a singular hold of him. His imagination was touched. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>He was immensely +attracted, but as to anything serious—well, he would not have admitted +it even to himself. Liberty meant so much to him, he had told himself +over and over again that, for many years at least, his art must be his +sole mistress. Besides, he was no boy to lose his heart, as certainly +Wolfenden had done, to a girl with whom he had never even spoken. It was +ridiculous, and <span style="white-space: nowrap;">yet——</span></p> + +<p>A soft voice in his ear suddenly recalled him to the present. Mrs. +Thorpe-Satchell was standing upon the pavement. The slight pallor had +gone from her cheeks and the light had come back to her eyes. He looked +at her, irresistibly attracted. She had never appeared more charming.</p> + +<p>She stepped into the carriage, and the soft folds of her gown spread +themselves out over the cushions. She drew them on one side to make room +for him.</p> + +<p>“Come,” she said, “let us have one turn in the Park. It is quite early, +although I am afraid that I have been a very long time.”</p> + +<p>He stepped in at once and they drove off. Mrs. Thorpe-Satchell +laughingly repeated some story which the Princess had just told her. +Evidently she was in high spirits. The strained look had gone from her +face. Her gaiety was no longer forced.</p> + +<p>“You want to know the result of my mission, I suppose,” she remarked, +pleasantly. “Well, I am afraid you will call it a failure. The moment I +mentioned the man’s name the Princess stopped me.</p> + +<p>“‘You mustn’t talk to me about that man,’ she said. ‘Don’t ask why, +only you must not talk about him.’</p> + +<p>“‘I don’t want to,’ I assured her; ‘but the girl.’”</p> + +<p>“What did she say about the girl?” Densham asked.</p> + +<p>“Well she did tell me something about her,” Mrs. Thorpe-Satchell said, +slowly, “but, unfortunately, it will not help your friend. She only told +me when I had promised unconditionally <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>and upon my honour to keep her +information a profound secret. So I am sorry, Francis, but even to +<span style="white-space: nowrap;">you——”</span></p> + +<p>“Of course, you must not repeat it,” Densham said, hastily. “I would not +ask you for the world; but is there not a single scrap of information +about the man or the girl, who he is, what he is, of what family or +nationality the girl is—anything at all which I can take to Harcutt?”</p> + +<p>Mrs. Thorpe-Satchell looked straight at him with a faint smile at the +corners of her lips.</p> + +<p>“Yes, there is one thing which you can tell Mr. Harcutt,” she said.</p> + +<p>Densham drew a little breath. At last, then!</p> + +<p>“You can tell him this,” Mrs. Thorpe-Satchell said, slowly and +impressively, “that if it is the girl, as I suppose it is, in whom he is +interested, that the very best thing he can do is to forget that he has +ever seen her. I cannot tell you who she is or what, although I know. +But we are old friends, Francis, and I know that my word will be +sufficient for you. You can take this from me as the solemn truth. Your +friend had better hope for the love of the Sphinx, or fix his heart upon +the statue of Diana, as think of that girl.”</p> + +<p>Densham was looking straight ahead along the stream of vehicles. His +eyes were set, but he saw nothing. He did not doubt her word for a +moment. He knew that she had spoken the truth. The atmosphere seemed +suddenly grey and sunless. He shivered a little—he was positively +chilled. Just for a moment he saw the girl’s face, heard the swirl of +her skirts as she had passed their table and the sound of her voice as +she had bent over the great cluster of white roses whose faint perfume +reached even to where they were sitting. Then he half closed his eyes. +He had come very near making a terrible mistake.</p> + +<p>“Thank you,” he said. “I will tell Harcutt.”</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<h3>A MEETING IN BOND STREET</h3> + +<p>Wolfenden returned to his rooms to lunch, intending to go round to see +his last night’s visitor immediately afterwards. He had scarcely taken +off his coat, however, before Selby met him in the hall, a note in his +hand.</p> + +<p>“From the young lady, my lord,” he announced. “My wife has just sent it +round.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden tore the envelope open and read it.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="right"><span style="margin-right: 1em;">“<i>Thursday morning.</i></span></p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Dear Lord Wolfenden</span>,—Of course I made a mistake in coming to you +last night. I am very sorry indeed—more sorry than you will ever +know. A woman does not forget these things readily, and the lesson +you have taught me it will not be difficult for me to remember all +my life. I cannot consent to remain your debtor, and I am leaving +here at once. I shall have gone long before you receive this note. +Do not try to find me. I shall not want for friends if I choose to +seek them. Apart from this, I do not want to see you again. I mean +it, and I trust to your honour to respect my wishes. I think that I +may at least ask you to grant me this for the sake of those days at +Deringham, which it is now my fervent wish to utterly forget.—I +am, yours sincerely,</p> + +<p class="right"><span style="margin-right: 1em;">“<span class="smcap">Blanche Merton.</span>”</span></p></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span></p><p>“The young lady, my lord,” Selby remarked, “left early this morning. She +expressed herself as altogether satisfied with the attention she had +received, but she had decided to make other arrangements.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden nodded, and walked into his dining-room with the note crushed +up in his hand.</p> + +<p>“For the sake of those days at Deringham,” he repeated softly to +himself. Was the girl a fool, or only an adventuress? It was true that +there had been something like a very mild flirtation between them at +Deringham, but it had been altogether harmless, and certainly more of +her seeking than his. They had met in the grounds once or twice and +walked together; he had talked to her a little after dinner, feeling a +certain sympathy for her isolation, and perhaps a little admiration for +her undoubted prettiness; yet all the time he had had a slightly uneasy +feeling with regard to her. Her ingenuousness had become a matter of +doubt to him. It was so now more than ever, yet he could not understand +her going away like this and the tone of her note. So far as he was +concerned, it was the most satisfactory thing that could have happened. +It relieved him of a responsibility which he scarcely knew how to deal +with. In the face of her dismissal from Deringham, any assistance which +she might have accepted from him would naturally have been open to +misapprehension. But that she should have gone away and have written to +him in such a strain was directly contrary to his anticipations. Unless +she was really hurt and disappointed by his reception of her, he could +not see what she had to gain by it. He was puzzled a little, but his +thoughts were too deeply engrossed elsewhere for him to take her +disappearance very seriously. By the time he had finished lunch he had +come to the conclusion that what had happened was for the best, and that +he would take her at her word.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span></p><p>He left his rooms again about three o’clock, and at precisely the hour +at which Densham had rung the bell of Mrs. Thorpe-Satchell’s house in +Mayfair he experienced a very great piece of good fortune.</p> + +<p>Coming out of Scott’s, where more from habit than necessity he had +turned in to have his hat ironed, he came face to face, a few yards up +Bond Street, with the two people whom, more than any one else in the +world, he had desired to meet. They were walking together, the girl +talking, the man listening with an air of half-amused deference. +Suddenly she broke off and welcomed Wolfenden with a delightful smile of +recognition. The man looked up quickly. Wolfenden was standing before +them on the pavement, hat in hand, his pleasure at this unexpected +meeting very plainly evidenced in his face. Mr. Sabin’s greeting, if +devoid of any special cordiality, was courteous and even genial. +Wolfenden never quite knew whence he got the impression, which certainly +came to him with all the strength and absoluteness of an original +inspiration, that this encounter was not altogether pleasant to him.</p> + +<p>“How strange that we should meet you!” the girl said. “Do you know that +this is the first walk that I have ever had in London?”</p> + +<p>She spoke rather softly and rather slowly. Her voice possessed a +sibilant and musical intonation; there was perhaps the faintest +suggestion of an accent. As she stood there smiling upon him in a deep +blue gown, trimmed with a silvery fur, in the making of which no English +dressmaker had been concerned, Wolfenden’s subjection was absolute and +complete. He was aware that his answer was a little flurried. He was +less at his ease than he could have wished. Afterwards he thought of a +hundred things he would have liked to have said, but the surprise of +seeing them so suddenly had cost him a little of his usual +self-possession. Mr. Sabin took up the conversation.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span></p><p>“My infirmity,” he said, glancing downwards, “makes walking, especially +on stone pavements, rather a painful undertaking. However, London is one +of those cities which can only be seen on foot, and my niece has all the +curiosity of her age.”</p> + +<p>She laughed out frankly. She wore no veil, and a tinge of colour had +found its way into her cheeks, relieving that delicate but not unhealthy +pallor, which to Densham had seemed so exquisite.</p> + +<p>“I think shopping is delightful. Is it not?” she exclaimed.</p> + +<p>Wolfenden was absolutely sure of it. He was, indeed, needlessly +emphatic. Mr. Sabin smiled faintly.</p> + +<p>“I am glad to have met you again, Lord Wolfenden,” he said, “if only to +thank you for your aid last night. I was anxious to get away before any +fuss was made, or I would have expressed my gratitude at the time in a +more seemly fashion.”</p> + +<p>“I hope,” Wolfenden said, “that you will not think it necessary to say +anything more about it. I did what any one in my place would have done +without a moment’s hesitation.”</p> + +<p>“I am not quite so sure of that,” Mr. Sabin said. “But by the bye, can +you tell me what became of the fellow? Did any one go after him?”</p> + +<p>“There was some sort of pursuit, I believe,” Wolfenden said slowly, “but +he was not caught.”</p> + +<p>“I am glad to hear it,” Mr. Sabin said.</p> + +<p>Wolfenden looked at him in some surprise. He could not make up his mind +whether it was his duty to disclose the name of the man who had made +this strange attempt.</p> + +<p>“Your assailant was, I suppose, a stranger to you?” he said slowly.</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin shook his head.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span></p><p>“By no means. I recognised him directly. So, I believe, did you.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden was honestly amazed.</p> + +<p>“He was your guest, I believe,” Mr. Sabin continued, “until I entered +the room. I saw him leave, and I was half-prepared for something of the +sort.”</p> + +<p>“He was my guest, it is true, but none the less, he was a stranger to +me,” Wolfenden explained. “He brought a letter from my cousin, who seems +to have considered him a decent sort of fellow.”</p> + +<p>“There is,” Mr. Sabin said dryly, “nothing whatever the matter with him, +except that he is mad.”</p> + +<p>“On the whole, I cannot say that I am surprised to hear it,” Wolfenden +remarked; “but I certainly think that, considering the form his madness +takes, you ought to protect yourself in some way.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin shrugged his shoulders contemptuously.</p> + +<p>“He can never hurt me. I carry a talisman which is proof against any +attempt that he can make; but none the less, I must confess that your +aid last night was very welcome.”</p> + +<p>“I was very pleased to be of any service,” Wolfenden said, “especially,” +he added, glancing toward Mr. Sabin’s niece, “since it has given me the +pleasure of your acquaintance.”</p> + +<p>A little thrill passed through him. Her delicately-curved lips were +quivering as though with amusement, and her eyes had fallen; she had +blushed slightly at that unwitting, ardent look of his. Mr. Sabin’s cold +voice recalled him to himself.</p> + +<p>“I believe,” he said, “that I overheard your name correctly. It is +Wolfenden, is it not?”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden assented.</p> + +<p>“I am sorry that I haven’t a card,” he said. “That is my name.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span></p><p>Mr. Sabin looked at him curiously.</p> + +<p>“Wolfenden is, I believe, the family name of the Deringhams? May I ask, +are you any relation to Admiral Lord Deringham?”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden was suddenly grave.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” he answered; “he is my father. Did you ever meet him?”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin shook his head.</p> + +<p>“No, I have heard of him abroad; also, I believe, of the Countess of +Deringham, your mother. It is many years ago. I trust that I have not +<span style="white-space: nowrap;">inadvertently——”</span></p> + +<p>“Not at all,” Wolfenden declared. “My father is still alive, although he +is in very delicate health. I wonder, would you and your niece do me the +honour of having some tea with me? It is Ladies’ Day at the ‘Geranium +Club,’ and I should be delighted to take you there if you would allow +me.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin shook his head.</p> + +<p>Wolfenden had the satisfaction of seeing the girl look disappointed.</p> + +<p>“We are very much obliged to you,” Mr. Sabin said, “but I have an +appointment which is already overdue. You must not mind, Helène, if we +ride the rest of the way.”</p> + +<p>He turned and hailed a passing hansom, which drew up immediately at the +kerb by their side. Mr. Sabin handed his niece in, and stood for a +moment on the pavement with Wolfenden.</p> + +<p>“I hope that we may meet again before long, Lord Wolfenden,” he said. +“In the meantime let me assure you once more of my sincere gratitude.”</p> + +<p>The girl leaned forward over the apron of the cab.</p> + +<p>“And may I not add mine too?” she said. “I almost wish that we were not +going to the ‘Milan’ again to-night. I am afraid that I shall be +nervous.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span></p><p>She looked straight at Wolfenden. He was ridiculously happy.</p> + +<p>“I can promise,” he said, “that no harm shall come to Mr. Sabin +to-night, at any rate. I shall be at the ‘Milan’ myself, and I will keep +a very close look out.”</p> + +<p>“How reassuring!” she exclaimed, with a brilliant smile. “Lord Wolfenden +is going to be at the ‘Milan’ to-night,” she added, turning to Mr. +Sabin. “Why don’t you ask him to join us? I shall feel so much more +comfortable.”</p> + +<p>There was a faint but distinct frown on Mr. Sabin’s face—a distinct +hesitation before he spoke. But Wolfenden would notice neither. He was +looking over Mr. Sabin’s shoulder, and his instructions were very clear.</p> + +<p>“If you will have supper with us we shall be very pleased,” Mr. Sabin +said stiffly; “but no doubt you have already made your party. Supper is +an institution which one seldom contemplates alone.”</p> + +<p>“I am quite free, and I shall be delighted,” Wolfenden said without +hesitation. “About eleven, I suppose?”</p> + +<p>“A quarter past,” Mr. Sabin said, stepping into the cab. “We may go to +the theatre.”</p> + +<p>The hansom drove off, and Wolfenden stood on the pavement, hat in hand. +What fortune! He could scarcely believe in it. Then, just as he turned +to move on, something lying at his feet almost at the edge of the +kerbstone attracted his attention. He looked at it more closely. It was +a ribbon—a little delicate strip of deep blue ribbon. He knew quite +well whence it must have come. It had fallen from her gown as she had +stepped into the hansom. He looked up and down the street. It was full, +but he saw no one whom he knew. The thing could be done in a minute. He +stooped quickly down and picked it up crushing it in his gloved hand, +and walking on at once with heightened colour and a general sense of +having made a fool of himself. For a moment or two he was especially +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>careful to look neither to the right or to the left; then a sense that +some one from the other side of the road was watching him drew his eyes +in that direction. A young man was standing upon the edge of the +pavement, a peculiar smile parting his lips and a cigarette between his +fingers. For a moment Wolfenden was furiously angry; then the eyes of +the two men met across the street, and Wolfenden forgot his anger. He +recognised him at once, notwithstanding his appearance in an afternoon +toilette as carefully chosen as his own. It was Felix, Mr. Sabin’s +assailant.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<h3>THE SHADOWS THAT GO BEFORE</h3> + +<p>Wolfenden forgot his anger at once. He hesitated for a moment, then he +crossed the street and stood side by side with Felix upon the pavement.</p> + +<p>“I am glad to see that you are looking a sane man again,” Wolfenden +said, after they had exchanged the usual greetings. “You might have been +in a much more uncomfortable place, after your last night’s escapade.”</p> + +<p>Felix shrugged his shoulders.</p> + +<p>“I think,” he said, “that if I had succeeded a little discomfort would +only have amused me. It is not pleasant to fail.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden stood squarely upon his feet, and laid his hand lightly upon +the other’s shoulder.</p> + +<p>“Look here,” he said, “it won’t do for you to go following a man about +London like this, watching for an opportunity to murder him. I don’t +like interfering in other people’s business, but willingly or +unwillingly I seem to have got mixed up in this, and I have a word or +two to say about it. Unless you give me your promise, upon your honour, +to make no further attempt upon that man’s life, I shall go to the +police, tell them what I know, and have you watched.”</p> + +<p>“You shall have,” Felix said quietly, “my promise. A greater power than +the threat of your English police has tied my hands; for the present I +have abandoned my purpose.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span></p><p>“I am bound to believe you,” Wolfenden said, “and you look as though you +were speaking the truth; yet you must forgive my asking why, in that +case, you are following the man about? You must have a motive.”</p> + +<p>Felix shook his head.</p> + +<p>“As it happened,” he said, “I am here by the merest accident. It may +seem strange to you, but it is perfectly true. I have just come out of +Waldorf’s, above there, and I saw you all three upon the pavement.”</p> + +<p>“I am glad to hear it,” Wolfenden said.</p> + +<p>“More glad,” Felix said, “than I was to see you with them. Can you not +believe what I tell you? shall I give you proof? will you be convinced +then? Every moment you spend with that man is an evil one for you. You +may have thought me inclined to be melodramatic last night. Perhaps I +was! All the same the man is a fiend. Will you not be warned? I tell you +that he is a fiend.”</p> + +<p>“Perhaps he is,” Wolfenden said indifferently. “I am not interested in +him.”</p> + +<p>“But you are interested—in his companion.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden frowned.</p> + +<p>“I think,” he said, “that we will leave the lady out of the +conversation.”</p> + +<p>Felix sighed.</p> + +<p>“You are a good fellow,” he said; “but, forgive me, like all your +countrymen, you carry chivalry just a thought too far—even to +simplicity. You do not understand such people and their ways.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden was getting angry, but he held himself in check.</p> + +<p>“You know nothing against her,” he said slowly.</p> + +<p>“It is true,” Felix answered. “I know nothing against her. It is not +necessary. She is his creature. That is apparent. The shadow of his +wickedness is enough.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden checked himself in the middle of a hot reply. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>He was suddenly +conscious of the absurdity of losing his temper in the open street with +a man so obviously ill-balanced—possessed, too, of such strange and +wild impulses.</p> + +<p>“Let us talk,” he said, “of something else, or say good-morning. Which +way were you going?”</p> + +<p>“To the Russian Embassy,” Felix said, “I have some work to do this +afternoon.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden looked at him curiously.</p> + +<p>“Our ways, then, are the same for a short distance,” he said. “Let us +walk together. Forgive me, but you are really, then, attached to the +Embassy?”</p> + +<p>Felix nodded, and glanced at his companion with a smile.</p> + +<p>“I am not what you call a fraud altogether,” he said. “I am junior +secretary to Prince Lobenski. You, I think, are not a politician, are +you?”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden shook his head.</p> + +<p>“I take no interest in politics,” he said. “I shall probably have to sit +in the House of Lords some day, but I shall be sorry indeed when the +time comes.”</p> + +<p>Felix sighed, and was silent for a moment.</p> + +<p>“You are perhaps fortunate,” he said. “The ways of the politician are +not exactly rose-strewn. You represent a class which in my country does +not exist. There we are all either in the army, or interested in +statecraft. Perhaps the secure position of your country does not require +such ardent service?”</p> + +<p>“You are—of what nationality, may I ask?” Wolfenden inquired.</p> + +<p>Felix hesitated.</p> + +<p>“Perhaps,” he said, “you had better not know. The less you know of me +the better. The time may come when it will be to your benefit to be +ignorant.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden took no pains to hide his incredulity.</p> + +<p>“It is easy to see that you are a stranger in this country,” <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>he +remarked. “We are not in Russia or in South America. I can assure you +that we scarcely know the meaning of the word ‘intrigue’ here. We are +the most matter-of-fact and perhaps the most commonplace nation in the +world. You will find it out for yourself in time. Whilst you are with us +you must perforce fall to our level.”</p> + +<p>“I, too, must become commonplace,” Felix said, smiling. “Is that what +you mean?”</p> + +<p>“In a certain sense, yes,” Wolfenden answered. “You will not be able to +help it. It will be the natural result of your environment. In your own +country, wherever that may be, I can imagine that you might be a person +jealously watched by the police; your comings and goings made a note of; +your intrigues—I take it for granted that you are concerned in +some—the object of the most jealous and unceasing suspicion. Here there +is nothing of that. You could not intrigue if you wanted to. There is +nothing to intrigue about.”</p> + +<p>They were crossing a crowded thoroughfare, and Felix did not reply until +they were safe on the opposite pavement. Then he took Wolfenden’s arm, +and, leaning over, almost whispered in his ear—</p> + +<p>“You speak,” he said, “what nine-tenths of your countrymen believe. Yet +you are wrong. Wherever there are international questions which bring +great powers such as yours into antagonism, or the reverse, with other +great countries, the soil is laid ready for intrigue, and the seed is +never long wanted. Yes; I know that, to all appearance, you are the +smuggest and most respectable nation ever evolved in this world’s +history. Yet if you tell me that your’s is a nation free from intrigue, +I correct you; you are wrong, you do not know—that is all! That very +man, whose life last night you so inopportunely saved, is at this moment +deeply involved in an intrigue against your country.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span></p><p>“Mr. Sabin!” Wolfenden exclaimed.</p> + +<p>“Yes, Mr. Sabin! Mind, I know this by chance only. I am not concerned +one way or the other. My quarrel with him is a private one. I am robbed +for the present of my vengeance by a power to which I am forced to yield +implicit obedience. So, for the present, I have forgotten that he is my +enemy. He is safe from me, yet if last night I had struck home, I should +have ridded your country of a great and menacing danger. Perhaps—who +can tell—he is a man who succeeds—I might even have saved England from +conquest and ruin.”</p> + +<p>They had reached the top of Piccadilly, and downward towards the Park +flowed the great afternoon stream of foot-people and carriages. +Wolfenden, on whom his companion’s words, charged as they were with an +almost passionate earnestness, could scarcely fail to leave some +impression, was silent for a moment.</p> + +<p>“Do you really believe,” he said, “that ours is a country which could +possibly stand in any such danger? We are outside all Continental +alliances! We are pledged to support neither the dual or the triple +alliance. How could we possibly become embroiled?”</p> + +<p>“I will tell you one thing which you may not readily believe,” Felix +said. “There is no country in the world so hated by all the great powers +as England.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden shrugged his shoulders.</p> + +<p>“Russia,” he remarked, “is perhaps jealous of our hold on Asia, but——”</p> + +<p>“Russia,” Felix interrupted, “of all the countries in the world, except +perhaps Italy, is the most friendly disposed towards you.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden laughed.</p> + +<p>“Come,” he said, “you forget Germany.”</p> + +<p>“Germany!” Felix exclaimed scornfully. “Believe it or not as you choose, +but Germany detests you. I will <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>tell you a thing which you can think of +when you are an old man, and there are great changes and events for you +to look back upon. A war between Germany and England is only a matter of +time—of a few short years, perhaps even months. In the Cabinet at +Berlin a war with you to-day would be more popular than a war with +France.”</p> + +<p>“You take my breath away,” Wolfenden exclaimed, laughing.</p> + +<p>Felix was very much in earnest.</p> + +<p>“In the little world of diplomacy,” he said, “in the innermost councils +these things are known. The outside public knows nothing of the awful +responsibilities of those who govern. Two, at least, of your ministers +have realised the position. You read this morning in the papers of more +warships and strengthened fortifications—already there have been +whispers of the conscription. It is not against Russia or against France +that you are slowly arming yourselves, it is against Germany!”</p> + +<p>“Germany would be mad to fight us,” Wolfenden declared.</p> + +<p>“Under certain conditions,” Felix said slowly. “Don’t be angry—Germany +must beat you.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden, looking across the street, saw Harcutt on the steps of his +club, and beckoned to him.</p> + +<p>“There is Harcutt,” he exclaimed, pointing him out to Felix. “He is a +journalist, you know, and in search of a sensation. Let us hear what he +has to say about these things.”</p> + +<p>But Felix unlinked his arm from Wolfenden’s hastily.</p> + +<p>“You must excuse me,” he said. “Harcutt would recognise me, and I do not +wish to be pointed out everywhere as a would-be assassin. Remember what +I have said, and avoid Sabin and his parasites as you would the devil.”</p> + +<p>Felix hurried away. Wolfenden remained for a moment <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>standing in the +middle of the pavement looking blankly along Piccadilly. Harcutt crossed +over to him.</p> + +<p>“You look,” he remarked to Wolfenden, “like a man who needs a drink.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden turned with him into the club.</p> + +<p>“I believe that I do,” he said. “I have had rather an eventful hour.”</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<h3>THE SECRETARY</h3> + +<p>Mr. Sabin, who had parted with Wolfenden with evident relief, leaned +back in the cab and looked at his watch.</p> + +<p>“That young man,” he remarked, “has wasted ten minutes of my time. He +will probably have to pay for it some day.”</p> + +<p>“By the bye,” the girl asked, “who is he?”</p> + +<p>“His name is Wolfenden—Lord Wolfenden.”</p> + +<p>“So I gathered; and who is Lord Wolfenden?”</p> + +<p>“The only son of Admiral the Earl of Deringham. I don’t know anything +more than that about him myself.”</p> + +<p>“Admiral Deringham,” the girl repeated, thoughtfully; “the name sounds +familiar.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin nodded.</p> + +<p>“Very likely,” he said. “He was in command of the Channel Squadron at +the time of the <i>Magnificent</i> disaster. He was barely half a mile away +and saw the whole thing. He came in, too, rightly or wrongly, for a +share of the blame.”</p> + +<p>“Didn’t he go mad, or something?” the girl asked.</p> + +<p>“He had a fit,” Mr. Sabin said calmly, “and left the service almost +directly afterwards. He is living in strict seclusion in Norfolk, I +believe. I should not like to say that he is mad. As a matter of fact, I +do not believe that he is.”</p> + +<p>She looked at him curiously. There was a note of reserve in his tone.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span></p><p>“You are interested in him, are you not?” she asked.</p> + +<p>“In a measure,” he admitted. “He is supposed, mad or not, to be the +greatest living authority on the coast defences of England and the state +of her battleships. They shelved him at the Admiralty, but he wrote some +vigorous letters to the papers and there are people pretty high up who +believe in him. Others, of course, think that he is a crank.”</p> + +<p>“But why,” she asked, languidly, “are you interested in such matters?”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin knocked the ash off the cigarette he was smoking and was +silent for a moment.</p> + +<p>“One gets interested nowadays in—a great many things which scarcely +seem to concern us,” he remarked deliberately. “You, for instance, seem +interested in this man’s son. He cannot possibly be of any account to +us.”</p> + +<p>She shrugged her shoulders.</p> + +<p>“Did I say that I was interested in him?”</p> + +<p>“You did not,” Mr. Sabin answered, “but it was scarcely necessary; you +stopped to speak to him of your own accord, and you asked him to supper, +which was scarcely discreet.”</p> + +<p>“One gets so bored sometimes,” she admitted frankly.</p> + +<p>“You are only a woman,” he said indulgently; “a year of waiting seems to +you an eternity, however vast the stake. There will come a time when you +will see things differently.”</p> + +<p>“I wonder!” she said softly, “I wonder!”</p> + +<hr class="medium" /> + +<p>Mr. Sabin had unconsciously spoken the truth when he had pleaded an +appointment to Lord Wolfenden. His servant drew him on one side directly +they entered the house.</p> + +<p>“There is a young lady here, sir, waiting for you in the study.”</p> + +<p>“Been here long?” Mr. Sabin asked.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span></p><p>“About two hours, sir. She has rung once or twice to ask about you.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin turned away and opened the study door, carefully closing it +behind him at once as he recognised his visitor. The air was blue with +tobacco smoke, and the girl, who looked up at his entrance, held a +cigarette between her fingers. Mr. Sabin was at least as surprised as +Lord Wolfenden when he recognised his visitor, but his face was +absolutely emotionless. He nodded not unkindly and stood looking at her, +leaning upon his stick.</p> + +<p>“Well, Blanche, what has gone wrong?” he asked.</p> + +<p>“Pretty well everything,” she answered. “I’ve been turned away.”</p> + +<p>“Detected?” he asked quickly.</p> + +<p>“Suspected, at any rate. I wrote you that Lord Deringham was watching me +sharply. Where he got the idea from I can’t imagine, but he got it and +he got it right, anyhow. He’s followed me about like a cat, and it’s all +up.”</p> + +<p>“What does he know?”</p> + +<p>“Nothing! He found a sheet of carbon on my desk, no more! I had to leave +in an hour.”</p> + +<p>“And Lady Deringham?”</p> + +<p>“She is like the rest—she thinks him mad. She has not the faintest idea +that, mad or not, he has stumbled upon the truth. She was glad to have +me go—for other reasons; but she has not the faintest doubt but that I +have been unjustly dismissed.”</p> + +<p>“And he? How much does he know?”</p> + +<p>“Exactly what I told you—nothing! His idea was just a confused one that +I thought the stuff valuable—how you can make any sense of such trash I +don’t know—and that I was keeping a copy back for myself. He was +worrying for an excuse to get rid of me, and he grabbed at it.”</p> + +<p>“Why was Lady Deringham glad to have you go?” Mr. Sabin asked.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span></p><p>“Because I amused myself with her son.”</p> + +<p>“Lord Wolfenden?”</p> + +<p>“Yes!”</p> + +<p>For the first time since he had entered the room Mr. Sabin’s grim +countenance relaxed. The corners of his lips slowly twisted themselves +into a smile.</p> + +<p>“Good girl,” he said. “Is he any use now?”</p> + +<p>“None,” she answered with some emphasis. “None whatever. He is a fool.”</p> + +<p>The colour in her cheeks had deepened a little. A light shot from her +eyes. Mr. Sabin’s amusement deepened. He looked positively benign.</p> + +<p>“You’ve tried him?” he suggested.</p> + +<p>The girl nodded, and blew a little cloud of tobacco smoke from her +mouth.</p> + +<p>“Yes; I went there last night. He was very kind. He sent his servant out +with me and got me nice, respectable rooms.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin did what was for him an exceptional thing. He sat down and +laughed to himself softly, but with a genuine and obvious enjoyment.</p> + +<p>“Blanche,” he said, “it was a lucky thing that I discovered you. No one +else could have appreciated you properly.”</p> + +<p>She looked at him with a sudden hardness.</p> + +<p>“You should appreciate me,” she said, “for what I am you made me. I am +of your handiwork: a man should appreciate the tool of his own +fashioning.”</p> + +<p>“Nature,” Mr. Sabin said smoothly, “had made the way easy for me. Mine +were but finishing touches. But we have no time for this sort of thing. +You have done well at Deringham and I shall not forget it. But your +dismissal just now is exceedingly awkward. For the moment, indeed, I +scarcely see my way. I wonder in what direction Lord Deringham will look +for your successor?”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span></p><p>“Not anywhere within the sphere of your influence,” she answered. “I do +not think that I shall have a successor at all just yet. There was only +a week’s work to do. He will copy that himself.”</p> + +<p>“I am very much afraid,” Mr. Sabin said, “that he will; yet we must have +that copy.”</p> + +<p>“You will be very clever,” she said slowly. “He has put watches all +round the place, and the windows are barricaded. He sleeps with a +revolver by his side, and there are several horrors in the shape of +traps all round the house.”</p> + +<p>“No wonder,” Mr. Sabin said, “that people think him mad.”</p> + +<p>The girl laughed shortly.</p> + +<p>“He is mad,” she said. “There is no possible doubt about that; you +couldn’t live with him a day and doubt it.”</p> + +<p>“Hereditary, no doubt,” Mr. Sabin suggested quietly.</p> + +<p>Blanche shrugged her shoulders and leaned back yawning.</p> + +<p>“Anyhow,” she said, “I’ve had enough of them all. It has been very +tiresome work and I am sick of it. Give me some money. I want a spree. I +am going to have a month’s holiday.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin sat down at his desk and drew out a cheque-book.</p> + +<p>“There will be no difficulty about the money,” he said, “but I cannot +spare you for a month. Long before that I must have the rest of this +madman’s figures.”</p> + +<p>The girl’s face darkened.</p> + +<p>“Haven’t I told you,” she said, “that there is not the slightest chance +of their taking me back? You might as well believe me. They wouldn’t +have me, and I wouldn’t go.”</p> + +<p>“I do not expect anything of the sort,” Mr. Sabin said. “There are other +directions, though, in which I shall require your aid. I shall have to +go to Deringham myself, and as <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>I know nothing whatever about the place +you will be useful to me there. I believe that your home is somewhere +near there.”</p> + +<p>“Well!”</p> + +<p>“There is no reason, I suppose,” Mr. Sabin continued, “why a portion of +the vacation you were speaking of should not be spent there?”</p> + +<p>“None!” the girl replied, “except that it would be deadly dull, and no +holiday at all. I should want paying for it.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin looked down at the cheque-book which lay open before him.</p> + +<p>“I was intending,” he said, “to offer you a cheque for fifty pounds. I +will make it one hundred, and you will rejoin your family circle at +Fakenham, I believe, in one week from to-day.”</p> + +<p>The girl made a wry face.</p> + +<p>“The money’s all right,” she said; “but you ought to see my family +circle! They are all cracked on farming, from the poor old dad who loses +all his spare cash at it, down to little Letty my youngest sister, who +can tell you everything about the last turnip crop. Do ride over and see +us! You will find it so amusing!”</p> + +<p>“I shall be charmed,” Mr. Sabin said suavely, as he commenced filling in +the body of the cheque. “Are all your sisters, may I ask, as delightful +as you?”</p> + +<p>She looked at him defiantly.</p> + +<p>“Look here,” she said, “none of that! Of course you wouldn’t come, but +in any case I won’t have you. The girls are—well, not like me, I’m glad +to say. I won’t have the responsibility of introducing a Mephistocles +into the domestic circle.”</p> + +<p>“I can assure you,” Mr. Sabin said, “that I had not the faintest idea of +coming. My visit to Norfolk will be anything but a pleasure trip, and I +shall have no time to spare.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span></p><p>“I believe I have your address: ‘Westacott Farm, Fakenham,’ is it not? +Now do what you like in the meantime, but a week from to-day there will +be a letter from me there. Here is the cheque.”</p> + +<p>The girl rose and shook out her skirts.</p> + +<p>“Aren’t you going to take me anywhere?” she asked. “You might ask me to +have supper with you to-night.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin shook his head gently.</p> + +<p>“I am sorry,” he said, “but I have a young lady living with me.”</p> + +<p>“Oh!”</p> + +<p>“She is my niece, and it takes more than my spare time to entertain +her,” he continued, without noticing the interjection. “You have plenty +of friends. Go and look them up and enjoy yourself—for a week. I have +no heart to go pleasure-making until my work is finished.”</p> + +<p>She drew on her gloves and walked to the door. Mr. Sabin came with her +and opened it.</p> + +<p>“I wish,” she said, “that I could understand what in this world you are +trying to evolve from those rubbishy papers.”</p> + +<p>He laughed.</p> + +<p>“Some day,” he said, “I will tell you. At present you would not +understand. Be patient a little longer.”</p> + +<p>“It has been long enough,” she exclaimed. “I have had seven months of +it.”</p> + +<p>“And I,” he answered, “seven years. Take care of yourself and remember, +I shall want you in a week.”</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<h3>THE FRUIT THAT IS OF GOLD</h3> + +<p>At precisely the hour agreed upon Harcutt and Densham met in one of the +ante-rooms leading into the “Milan” restaurant. They surrendered their +coats and hats to an attendant, and strolled about waiting for +Wolfenden. A quarter of an hour passed. The stream of people from the +theatres began to grow thinner. Still, Wolfenden did not come. Harcutt +took out his watch.</p> + +<p>“I propose that we do not wait any longer for Wolfenden,” he said. “I +saw him this afternoon, and he answered me very oddly when I reminded +him about to-night. There is such a crowd here too, that they will not +keep our table much longer.”</p> + +<p>“Let us go in, by all means,” Densham agreed. “Wolfenden will easily +find us if he wants to!”</p> + +<p>Harcutt returned his watch to his pocket slowly, and without removing +his eyes from Densham’s face.</p> + +<p>“You’re not looking very fit, old chap,” he remarked. “Is anything +wrong?”</p> + +<p>Densham shook his head and turned away.</p> + +<p>“I am a little tired,” he said. “We’ve been keeping late hours the last +few nights. There’s nothing the matter with me, though. Come, let us go +in!”</p> + +<p>Harcutt linked his arm in Densham’s. The two men stood in the doorway.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span></p><p>“I have not asked you yet,” Harcutt said, in a low tone. “What fortune?”</p> + +<p>Densham laughed a little bitterly.</p> + +<p>“I will tell you all that I know presently,” he said.</p> + +<p>“You have found out something, then?”</p> + +<p>“I have found out,” Densham answered, “all that I care to know! I have +found out so much that I am leaving England within a week!”</p> + +<p>Harcutt looked at him curiously.</p> + +<p>“Poor old chap,” he said softly. “I had no idea that you were so hard +hit as all that, you know.”</p> + +<p>They passed through the crowded room to their table. Suddenly Harcutt +stopped short and laid his hand upon Densham’s arm.</p> + +<p>“Great Scott!” he exclaimed. “Look at that! No wonder we had to wait for +Wolfenden!”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin and his niece were occupying the same table as on the previous +night, only this time they were not alone. Wolfenden was sitting there +between the two. At the moment of their entrance, he and the girl were +laughing together. Mr. Sabin, with the air of one wholly detached from +his companions, was calmly proceeding with his supper.</p> + +<p>“I understand now,” Harcutt whispered, “what Wolfenden meant this +afternoon. When I reminded him about to-night, he laughed and said: +‘Well, I shall see you, at any rate.’ I thought it was odd at the time. +I wonder how he managed it?”</p> + +<p>Densham made no reply. The two men took their seats in silence. +Wolfenden was sitting with his back half-turned to them, and he had not +noticed their entrance. In a moment or two, however, he looked round, +and seeing them, leaned over towards the girl and apparently asked her +something. She nodded, and he immediately left his seat and joined them.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span></p><p>There was a little hesitation, almost awkwardness in their greetings. No +one knew exactly what to say.</p> + +<p>“You fellows are rather late, aren’t you?” Wolfenden remarked.</p> + +<p>“We were here punctually enough,” Harcutt replied; “but we have been +waiting for you nearly a quarter of an hour.”</p> + +<p>“I am sorry,” Wolfenden said. “The fact is I ought to have left word +when I came in, but I quite forgot it. I took it for granted that you +would look into the room when you found that I was behind time.”</p> + +<p>“Well, it isn’t of much consequence,” Harcutt declared; “we are here +now, at any rate, although it seems that after all we are not to have +supper together.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden glanced rapidly over his shoulder.</p> + +<p>“You understand the position, of course,” he said. “I need not ask you +to excuse me.”</p> + +<p>Harcutt nodded.</p> + +<p>“Oh, we’ll excuse you, by all means; but on one condition—we want to +know all about it. Where can we see you afterwards?”</p> + +<p>“At my rooms,” Wolfenden said, turning away and resuming his seat at the +other table.</p> + +<p>Densham had made no attempt whatever to join in the conversation. Once +his eyes had met Wolfenden’s, and it seemed to the latter that there was +a certain expression there which needed some explanation. It was not +anger—it certainly was not envy. Wolfenden was puzzled—he was even +disturbed. Had Densham discovered anything further than he himself knew +about this man and the girl? What did he mean by looking as though the +key to this mysterious situation was in his hands, and as though he had +nothing but pity for the only one of the trio who had met with any +success? Wolfenden resumed his seat with an uncomfortable conviction +that Densham knew more than <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>he did about these people whose guest he +had become, and that the knowledge had damped all his ardour. There was +a cloud upon his face for a moment. The exuberance of his happiness had +received a sudden check. Then the girl spoke to him, and the memory of +Densham’s unspoken warning passed away. He looked at her long and +searchingly. Her face was as innocent and proud as the face of a child. +She was unconscious even of his close scrutiny. The man might be +anything; it might even be that every word that Felix had spoken was +true. But of the girl he would believe no evil, he would not doubt her +even for a moment.</p> + +<p>“Your friend,” remarked Mr. Sabin, helping himself to an ortolan, “is a +journalist, is he not? His face seems familiar to me although I have +forgotten his name, if ever I knew it.”</p> + +<p>“He is a journalist,” Wolfenden answered. “Not one of the rank and +file—rather a <i>dilettante</i>, but still a hard worker. He is devoted to +his profession, though, and his name is Harcutt.”</p> + +<p>“Harcutt!” Mr. Sabin repeated, although he did not appear to recollect +the name. “He is a political journalist, is he not?”</p> + +<p>“Not that I am aware of,” Wolfenden answered. “He is generally +considered to be the great scribe of society. I believe that he is +interested in foreign politics, though.”</p> + +<p>“Ah!”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin’s interjection was significant, and Wolfenden looked up +quickly but fruitlessly. The man’s face was impenetrable.</p> + +<p>“The other fellow,” Wolfenden said, turning to the girl, “is Densham, +the painter. His picture in this year’s Academy was a good deal talked +about, and he does some excellent portraits.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span></p><p>She threw a glance at him over her gleaming white shoulder.</p> + +<p>“He looks like an artist,” she said. “I liked his picture—a French +landscape, was it not? And his portrait of the Countess of Davenport was +magnificent.”</p> + +<p>“If you would care to know him,” Wolfenden said, “I should be very happy +to present him to you.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin looked up and shook his head quickly, but firmly.</p> + +<p>“You must excuse us,” he said. “My niece and I are not in England for +very long, and we have reasons for avoiding new acquaintances as much as +possible.”</p> + +<p>A shade passed across the girl’s face. Wolfenden would have given much +to have known into what worlds those clear, soft eyes, suddenly set in a +far away gaze, were wandering—what those regrets were which had floated +up so suddenly before her. Was she too as impenetrable as the man, or +would he some day share with her what there was of sorrow or of mystery +in her young life? His heart beat with unaccustomed quickness at the +thought. Mr. Sabin’s last remark, the uncertainty of his own position +with regard to these people, filled him with sudden fear; it might be +that he too was to be included in the sentence which had just been +pronounced. He looked up from the table to find Mr. Sabin’s cold, steely +eyes fixed upon him, and acting upon a sudden impulse he spoke what was +nearest to his heart.</p> + +<p>“I hope,” he said, “that the few acquaintances whom fate does bring you +are not to suffer for the same reason.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin smiled and poured himself out a glass of wine.</p> + +<p>“You are very good,” he said. “I presume that you refer to yourself. We +shall always be glad that we met you, shall we not, Helène? But I doubt +very much if, after to-night, we shall meet again in England at all.”</p> + +<p>To Wolfenden the light seemed suddenly to have gone <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>out, and the soft, +low music to have become a wailing dirge. He retained some command of +his features only by a tremendous effort. Even then he felt that he had +become pale, and that his voice betrayed something of the emotion that +he felt.</p> + +<p>“You are going away,” he said slowly—“abroad!”</p> + +<p>“Very soon indeed,” Mr. Sabin answered. “At any rate, we leave London +during the week. You must not look upon us, Lord Wolfenden, as ordinary +pleasure-seekers. We are wanderers upon the face of the earth, not so +much by choice as by destiny. I want you to try one of these cigarettes. +They were given to me by the Khedive, and I think you will admit that he +knows more about tobacco than he does about governing.”</p> + +<p>The girl had been gazing steadfastly at the grapes that lay untasted +upon her plate, and Wolfenden glanced towards her twice in vain; now, +however, she looked up, and a slight smile parted her lips as her eyes +met his. How pale she was, and how suddenly serious!</p> + +<p>“Do not take my uncle too literally, Lord Wolfenden,” she said softly. +“I hope that we shall meet again some time, if not often. I should be +very sorry not to think so. We owe you so much.”</p> + +<p>There was an added warmth in those last few words, a subtle light in her +eyes. Was she indeed a past mistress in all the arts of coquetry, or was +there not some message for him in that lowered tone and softened glance? +He sat spellbound for a moment. Her bosom was certainly rising and +falling more quickly. The pearls at her throat quivered. Then Mr. +Sabin’s voice, cold and displeased, dissolved the situation.</p> + +<p>“I think, Helène, if you are ready, we had better go,” he said. “It is +nearly half-past twelve, and we shall escape the crush if we leave at +once.”</p> + +<p>She stood up silently, and Wolfenden, with slow fingers, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>raised her +cloak from the back of the chair and covered her shoulders. She thanked +him softly, and turning away, walked down the room followed by the two +men. In the ante-room Mr. Sabin stopped.</p> + +<p>“My watch,” he remarked, “was fast. You will have time after all for a +cigarette with your friends. Good-night.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden had no alternative but to accept his dismissal. A little, +white hand, flashing with jewels, but shapely and delicate, stole out +from the dark fur of her cloak, and he held it within his for a second.</p> + +<p>“I hope,” he said, “that at any rate you will allow me to call, and say +goodbye before you leave England?”</p> + +<p>She looked at him with a faint smile upon her lips. Yet her eyes were +very sad.</p> + +<p>“You have heard what my inexorable guardian has said, Lord Wolfenden,” +she answered quietly. “I am afraid he is right. We are wanderers, he and +I, with no settled home.”</p> + +<p>“I shall venture to hope,” he said boldly, “that some day you will make +one—in England.”</p> + +<p>A tinge of colour flashed into her cheeks. Her eyes danced with +amusement at his audacity—then they suddenly dropped, and she caught up +the folds of her gown.</p> + +<p>“Ah, well,” she said demurely, “that would be too great a happiness. +Farewell! One never knows.”</p> + +<p>She yielded at last to Mr. Sabin’s cold impatience, and turning away, +followed him down the staircase. Wolfenden remained at the top until she +had passed out of sight; he lingered even for a moment or two +afterwards, inhaling the faint, subtle perfume shaken from her gown—a +perfume which reminded him of an orchard of pink and white apple +blossoms in Normandy. Then he turned back, and finding Harcutt and +Densham lingering over their coffee, sat down beside them.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span></p><p>Harcutt looked at him through half-closed eyes—a little cloud of blue +tobacco smoke hung over the table. Densham had eaten little, but smoked +continually.</p> + +<p>“Well?” he asked laconically.</p> + +<p>“After all,” Wolfenden said, “I have not very much to tell you fellows. +Mr. Sabin did not call upon me; I met him by chance in Bond Street, and +the girl asked me to supper, more I believe in jest than anything. +However, of course I took advantage of it, and I have spent the evening +since eleven o’clock with them. But as to gaining any definite +information as to who or what they are, I must confess I’ve failed +altogether. I know no more than I did yesterday.”</p> + +<p>“At any rate,” Harcutt remarked, “you will soon learn all that you care +to know. You have inserted the thin end of the wedge. You have +established a visiting acquaintance.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden flicked the end from his cigarette savagely.</p> + +<p>“Nothing of the sort,” he declared. “They have not given me their +address, or asked me to call. On the contrary, I was given very clearly +to understand by Mr. Sabin that they were only travellers and desired no +acquaintances. I know them, that is all; what the next step is to be I +have not the faintest idea.”</p> + +<p>Densham leaned over towards them. There was a strange light in his +eyes—a peculiar, almost tremulous, earnestness in his tone.</p> + +<p>“Why should there be any next step at all?” he said. “Let us all drop +this ridiculous business. It has gone far enough. I have a +presentiment—not altogether presentiment either, as it is based upon a +certain knowledge. It is true that these are not ordinary people, and +the girl is beautiful. But they are not of our lives! Let them pass out. +Let us forget them.”</p> + +<p>Harcutt shook his head.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span></p><p>“The man is too interesting to be forgotten or ignored,” he said. “I +must know more about him, and before many days have passed.”</p> + +<p>Densham turned to the younger man.</p> + +<p>“At least, Wolfenden,” he said, “you will listen to reason. I tell you +as a man of honour, and I think I may add as your friend, that you are +only courting disappointment. The girl is not for you, or me, or any of +us. If I dared tell you what I know, you would be the first to admit it +yourself.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden returned Densham’s eager gaze steadfastly.</p> + +<p>“I have gone,” he said calmly, “too far to turn back. You fellows both +know I am not a woman’s man. I’ve never cared for a girl in all my life, +or pretended to, seriously. Now that I do, it is not likely that I shall +give her up without any definite reason. You must speak more plainly, +Densham, or not at all.”</p> + +<p>Densham rose from his chair.</p> + +<p>“I am very sorry,” he said.</p> + +<p>Wolfenden turned upon him, frowning.</p> + +<p>“You need not be,” he said. “You and Harcutt have both, I believe, heard +some strange stories concerning the man; but as for the girl, no one +shall dare to speak an unbecoming word of her.”</p> + +<p>“No one desired to,” Densham answered quietly. “And yet there may be +other and equally grave objections to any intercourse with her.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden smiled confidently.</p> + +<p>“Nothing in the world worth winning,” he said, “is won without an +effort, or without difficulty. The fruit that is of gold does not drop +into your mouth.”</p> + +<p>The band had ceased to play and the lights went out. Around them was all +the bustle of departure. The three men rose and left the room.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<h3>WOLFENDEN’S LUCK</h3> + +<p>To leave London at all, under ordinary circumstances, was usually a +hardship for Wolfenden, but to leave London at this particular moment of +his life was little less than a calamity, yet a letter which he received +a few mornings after the supper at the “Milan” left him scarcely any +alternative. He read it over for the third time whilst his breakfast +grew cold, and each time his duty seemed to become plainer.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="right"><span style="margin-right: 1em;">“<span class="smcap">Deringham Hall, Norfolk.</span></span></p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">My dear Wolfenden</span>,—We have been rather looking for you to come +down for a day or two, and I do hope that you will be able to +manage it directly you receive this. I am sorry to say that your +father is very far from well, and we have all been much upset +lately. He still works for eight or nine hours a day, and his +hallucinations as to the value of his papers increases with every +page he writes. His latest peculiarity is a rooted conviction that +there is some plot on hand to rob him of his manuscripts. You +remember, perhaps, Miss Merton, the young person whom we engaged as +typewriter. He sent her away the other day, without a moment’s +notice, simply because he saw her with a sheet of copying paper in +her hand. I did not like the girl, but it is perfectly ridiculous +to suspect her of anything of the sort. He insisted, however, that +she should <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>leave the house within an hour, and we were obliged to +give in to him. Since then he has seemed to become even more +fidgety. He has had cast-iron shutters fitted to the study windows, +and two of the keepers are supposed to be on duty outside night and +day, with loaded revolvers. People around here are all beginning to +talk, and I am afraid that it is only natural that they should. He +will see no one, and the library door is shut and bolted +immediately he has entered it. Altogether it is a deplorable state +of things, and what will be the end of it I cannot imagine. +Sometimes it occurs to me that you might have more influence over +him than I have. I hope that you will be able to come down, if only +for a day or two, and see what effect your presence has. The +shooting is not good this year, but Captain Willis was telling me +yesterday that the golf links were in excellent condition, and +there is the yacht, of course, if you care to use it. Your father +seems to have quite forgotten that she is still in the +neighbourhood, I am glad to say. Those inspection cruises were very +bad things for him. He used to get so excited, and he was +dreadfully angry if the photographs which I took were at all +imperfectly developed. How is everybody? Have you seen Lady Susan +lately? and is it true that Eleanor is engaged? I feel literally +buried here, but I dare not suggest a move. London, for him at +present, would be madness. I shall hope to get a wire from you +to-morrow, and will send to Cromer to meet any train.—From your +affectionate mother,</p> + +<p class="right"><span style="margin-right: 1em;">“<span class="smcap">Constance Manver Deringham.</span>”</span></p></div> + +<p>There was not a word of reproach in the letter, but nevertheless +Wolfenden felt a little conscience-stricken. He ought to have gone down +to Deringham before; most certainly after the receipt of this summons he +could not delay his visit any longer. He walked up and down the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>room +impatiently. To leave London just now was detestable. It was true that +he could not call upon them, and he had no idea where else to look for +these people, who, for some mysterious reason, seemed to be doing all +that they could to avoid his acquaintance. Yet chance had favoured him +once—chance might stand his friend again. At any rate to feel himself +in the same city with her was some consolation. For the last three days +he had haunted Piccadilly and Bond Street. He had become a saunterer, +and the shop windows had obtained from him an attention which he had +never previously bestowed upon them. The thought that, at any turning, +at any moment, they might meet, continually thrilled him. The idea of a +journey which would place such a meeting utterly out of the question, +was more than distasteful—it was hateful.</p> + +<p>And yet he would have to go. He admitted that to himself as he ate his +solitary breakfast, with the letter spread out before him. Since it was +inevitable, he decided to lose no time. Better go at once and have it +over. The sooner he got there the sooner he would be able to return. He +rang the bell, and gave the necessary orders. At a quarter to twelve he +was at King’s Cross.</p> + +<p>He took his ticket in a gloomy frame of mind, and bought the <i>Field</i> and +a sporting novel at the bookstall. Then he turned towards the train, and +walking idly down the platform, looking for Selby and his belongings, he +experienced what was very nearly the greatest surprise of his life. So +far, coincidence was certainly doing her best to befriend him. A girl +was seated alone in the further corner of a first-class carriage. +Something familiar in the poise of her head, or the gleam of her hair +gathered up underneath an unusually smart travelling hat, attracted his +attention. He came to a sudden standstill, breathless, incredulous. She +was looking out of the opposite window, her head resting upon her +fingers, but a sudden glimpse of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>her profile assured him that this was +no delusion. It was Mr. Sabin’s niece who sat there, a passenger by his +own train, probably, as he reflected with a sudden illuminative flash of +thought, to be removed from the risk of any more meetings with him.</p> + +<p>Wolfenden, with a discretion at which he afterwards wondered, did not at +once attract her attention. He hurried off to the smoking carriage +before which his servant was standing, and had his own belongings +promptly removed on to the platform. Then he paid a visit to the +refreshment-room, and provided himself with an extensive luncheon +basket, and finally, at the bookstall, he bought up every lady’s paper +and magazine he could lay his hands upon. There was only a minute now +before the train was due to leave, and he walked along the platform as +though looking for a seat, followed by his perplexed servant. When he +arrived opposite to her carriage, he paused, only to find himself +confronted by a severe-looking maid dressed in black, and the guard. For +the first time he noticed the little strip, “engaged,” pasted across the +window.</p> + +<p>“Plenty of room lower down, sir,” the guard remarked. “This is an +engaged carriage.”</p> + +<p>The maid whispered something to the guard, who nodded and locked the +door. At the sound of the key, however, the girl looked round and saw +Wolfenden. She lifted her eyebrows and smiled faintly. Then she came to +the window and let it down.</p> + +<p>“Whatever are you doing here?” she asked. “You——”</p> + +<p>He interrupted her gently. The train was on the point of departure.</p> + +<p>“I am going down into Norfolk,” he said. “I had not the least idea of +seeing you. I do not think that I was ever so surprised.”</p> + +<p>Then he hesitated for a moment.</p> + +<p>“May I come in with you?” he asked.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span></p><p>She laughed at him. He had been so afraid of her possible refusal, that +his question had been positively tremulous.</p> + +<p>“I suppose so,” she said slowly. “Is the train quite full, then?”</p> + +<p>He looked at her quite keenly. She was laughing at him with her eyes—an +odd little trick of hers. He was himself again at once, and answered +mendaciously, but with emphasis—</p> + +<p>“Not a seat anywhere. I shall be left behind if you don’t take me in.”</p> + +<p>A word in the guard’s ear was quite sufficient, but the maid looked at +Wolfenden suspiciously. She leaned into the carriage.</p> + +<p>“Would mademoiselle prefer that I, too, travelled with her?” she +inquired in French.</p> + +<p>The girl answered her in the same language.</p> + +<p>“Certainly not, Céleste. You had better go and take your seat at once. +We are just going!”</p> + +<p>The maid reluctantly withdrew, with disapproval very plainly stamped +upon her dark face. Wolfenden and his belongings were bundled in, and +the whistle blew. The train moved slowly out of the station. They were +off!</p> + +<p>“I believe,” she said, looking with a smile at the pile of magazines and +papers littered all over the seat, “that you are an impostor. Or perhaps +you have a peculiar taste in literature!”</p> + +<p>She pointed towards the <i>Queen</i> and the <i>Gentlewoman</i>. He was in high +spirits, and he made open confession.</p> + +<p>“I saw you ten minutes ago,” he declared, “and since then I have been +endeavouring to make myself an acceptable travelling companion. But +don’t begin to study the fashions yet, please. Tell me how it is that +after looking all over London for three days for you, I find you here.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span></p><p>“It is the unexpected,” she remarked, “which always happens. But after +all there is nothing mysterious about it. I am going down to a little +house which my uncle has taken, somewhere near Cromer. You will think it +odd, I suppose, considering his deformity, but he is devoted to golf, +and some one has been telling him that Norfolk is the proper county to +go to.”</p> + +<p>“And you?” he asked.</p> + +<p>She shook her head disconsolately.</p> + +<p>“I am afraid I am not English enough to care much for games,” she +admitted. “I like riding and archery, and I used to shoot a little, but +to go into the country at this time of the year to play any game seems +to me positively barbarous. London is quite dull enough—but the +country—and the English country, too!—well, I have been engrossed in +self-pity ever since my uncle announced his plans.”</p> + +<p>“I do not imagine,” he said smiling, “that you care very much for +England.”</p> + +<p>“I do not imagine,” she admitted promptly, “that I do. I am a +Frenchwoman, you see, and to me there is no city on earth like Paris, +and no country like my own.”</p> + +<p>“The women of your nation,” he remarked, “are always patriotic. I have +never met a Frenchwoman who cared for England.”</p> + +<p>“We have reason to be patriotic,” she said, “or rather, we had,” she +added, with a curious note of sadness in her tone. “But, come, I do not +desire to talk about my country. I admitted you here to be an +entertaining companion, and you have made me speak already of the +subject which is to me the most mournful in the world. I do not wish to +talk any more about France. Will you please think of another subject?”</p> + +<p>“Mr. Sabin is not with you,” he remarked.</p> + +<p>“He intended to come. Something important kept him <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span>at the last moment. +He will follow me, perhaps, by a later train to-day, if not to-morrow.”</p> + +<p>“It is certainly a coincidence,” he said, “that you should be going to +Cromer. My home is quite near there.”</p> + +<p>“And you are going there now?” she asked.</p> + +<p>“I am delighted to say that I am.”</p> + +<p>“You did not mention it the other evening,” she remarked. “You talked as +though you had no intention at all of leaving London.”</p> + +<p>“Neither had I at that time,” he said. “I had a letter from home this +morning which decided me.”</p> + +<p>She smiled softly.</p> + +<p>“Well, it is strange,” she said. “On the whole, it is perhaps fortunate +that you did not contemplate this journey when we had supper together +the other night.”</p> + +<p>He caught at her meaning, and laughed.</p> + +<p>“It is more than fortunate,” he declared. “If I had known of it, and +told Mr. Sabin, you would not have been travelling by this train alone.”</p> + +<p>“I certainly should not,” she admitted demurely.</p> + +<p>He saw his opportunity, and swiftly availed himself of it.</p> + +<p>“Why does your uncle object to me so much?” he asked.</p> + +<p>“Object to you!” she repeated. “On the contrary, I think that he rather +approves of you. You saved his life, or something very much like it. He +should be very grateful! I think that he is!”</p> + +<p>“Yet,” he persisted, “he does not seem to desire my acquaintance—for +you, at any rate. You have just admitted, that if he had known that +there was any chance of our being fellow passengers you would not have +been here.”</p> + +<p>She did not answer him immediately. She was looking fixedly out of the +window. Her face seemed to him more than ordinarily grave. When she +turned her head, her eyes were thoughtful—a little sad.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span></p><p>“You are quite right,” she said. “My uncle does not think it well for me +to make any acquaintances in this country. We are not here for very +long. No doubt he is right. He has at least reason on his side. Only it +is a little dull for me, and it is not what I have been used to. Yet +there are sacrifices always. I cannot tell you any more. You must please +not ask me. You are here, and I am pleased that you are here! There! +will not that content you?”</p> + +<p>“It gives me,” he answered earnestly, “more than contentment! It is +happiness!”</p> + +<p>“That is precisely the sort of thing,” she said slowly to him, with +laughter in her eyes, “which you are not to say! Please understand +that!”</p> + +<p>He accepted the rebuke lightly. He was far too happy in being with her +to be troubled by vague limitations. The present was good enough for +him, and he did his best to entertain her. He noticed with pleasure that +she did not even glance at the pile of papers at her side. They talked +without intermission. She was interested, even gay. Yet he could not but +notice that every now and then, especially at any reference to the +future, her tone grew graver and a shadow passed across her face. Once +he said something which suggested the possibility of her living always +in England. She had shaken her head at once, gently but firmly.</p> + +<p>“No, I could never live in this country,” she said, “even if my liking +for it grew. It would be impossible!”</p> + +<p>He was puzzled for a moment.</p> + +<p>“You think that you could never care for it enough,” he suggested; “yet +you have scarcely had time to judge it fairly. London in the spring is +gay enough, and the life at some of our country houses is very different +to what it was a few years ago. Society is so much more tolerant and +broader.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span></p><p>“It is scarcely a question,” she said, “of my likes or dislikes. Next to +Paris, I prefer London in the spring to any city in Europe, and a week I +spent at Radnett was very delightful. But, nevertheless, I could never +live here. It is not my destiny!”</p> + +<p>The old curiosity was strong upon him. Radnett was the home of the +Duchess of Radnett and Ilchester, who had the reputation of being the +most exclusive hostess in Europe! He was bewildered.</p> + +<p>“I would give a great deal,” he said earnestly, “to know what you +believe that destiny to be.”</p> + +<p>“We are bordering upon the forbidden subject,” she reminded him, with a +look which was almost reproachful. “You must please believe me when I +tell you, that for me things have already been arranged otherwise. Come, +I want you to tell me all about this country into which we are going. +You must remember that to me it is all new!”</p> + +<p>He suffered her to lead the conversation into other channels, with a +vague feeling of disquiet. The mystery which hung around the girl and +her uncle seemed only to grow denser as his desire to penetrate it grew. +At present, at any rate, he was baffled. He dared ask no more questions.</p> + +<p>The train glided into Peterborough station before either of them were +well aware that they had entered in earnest upon the journey. Wolfenden +looked out of the window with amazement.</p> + +<p>“Why, we are nearly half way there!” he exclaimed. “How wretched!”</p> + +<p>She smiled, and took up a magazine. Wolfenden’s servant came +respectfully to the window.</p> + +<p>“Can I get you anything, my lord?” he inquired.</p> + +<p>Wolfenden shook his head, and opening the door, stepped out on to the +platform.</p> + +<p>“Nothing, thanks, Selby,” he said. “You had better <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>get yourself some +lunch. We don’t get to Deringham until four o’clock.”</p> + +<p>The man raised his hat and turned away. In a moment, however, he was +back again.</p> + +<p>“You will pardon my mentioning it, my lord,” he said, “but the young +lady’s maid has been travelling in my carriage, and a nice fidget she’s +been in all the way. She’s been muttering to herself in French, and she +seems terribly frightened about something or other. The moment the train +stopped here, she rushed off to the telegraph office.”</p> + +<p>“She seems a little excitable,” Wolfenden remarked. “All right, Selby, +you’d better hurry up and get what you want to eat.”</p> + +<p>“Certainly, my lord; and perhaps your lordship knows that there is a +flower-stall in the corner there.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden nodded and hurried off. He returned to the carriage just as +the train was moving off, with a handful of fresh, wet violets, whose +perfume seemed instantly to fill the compartment. The girl held out her +hands with a little exclamation of pleasure.</p> + +<p>“What a delightful travelling companion you are,” she declared. “I think +these English violets are the sweetest flowers in the world.”</p> + +<p>She held them up to her lips. Wolfenden was looking at a paper bag in +her lap.</p> + +<p>“May I inquire what that is?” he asked.</p> + +<p>“Buns!” she answered. “You must not think that because I am a girl I am +never hungry. It is two o’clock, and I am positively famished. I sent my +maid for them.”</p> + +<p>He smiled, and sweeping away the bundles of rugs and coats, produced the +luncheon basket which he had secured at King’s Cross, and opening it, +spread out the contents.</p> + +<p>“For two!” she exclaimed, “and what a delightful looking salad! Where on +earth did that come from?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, I am no magician,” he exclaimed. “I ordered <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>the basket at King’s +Cross, after I had seen you. Let me spread the cloth here. My +dressing-case will make a capital table!”</p> + +<p>They picnicked together gaily. It seemed to Wolfenden that chicken and +tongue had never tasted so well before, or claret, at three shillings +the bottle, so full and delicious. They cleared everything up, and then +sat and talked over the cigarette which she had insisted upon. But +although he tried more than once, he could not lead the conversation +into any serious channel—she would not talk of her past, she distinctly +avoided the future. Once, when he had made a deliberate effort to gain +some knowledge as to her earlier surroundings, she reproved him with a +silence so marked that he hastened to talk of something else.</p> + +<p>“Your maid,” he said, “is greatly distressed about something. She sent a +telegram off at Peterborough. I hope that your uncle will not make +himself unpleasant because of my travelling with you.”</p> + +<p>She smiled at him quite undisturbed.</p> + +<p>“Poor Céleste,” she said. “Your presence here has upset her terribly. +Mr. Sabin has some rather strange notions about me, and I am quite sure +that he would rather have sent me down in a special train than have had +this happen. You need not look so serious about it.”</p> + +<p>“It is only on your account,” he assured her.</p> + +<p>“Then you need not look serious at all,” she continued. “I am not under +my uncle’s jurisdiction. In fact, I am quite an independent person.”</p> + +<p>“I am delighted to hear it,” he said heartily. “I should imagine that +Mr. Sabin would not be at all a pleasant person to be on bad terms +with.”</p> + +<p>She smiled thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>“There are a good many people,” she said, “who would agree with you. +There are a great many people in the world who have cause to regret +having offended him. Let <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>us talk of something else. I believe that I +can see the sea!”</p> + +<p>They were indeed at Cromer. He found a carriage for her, and collected +her belongings. He was almost amused at her absolute indolence in the +midst of the bustle of arrival. She was evidently unused to doing the +slightest thing for herself. He took the address which she gave to him, +and repeated it to the driver. Then he asked the question which had been +trembling many times upon his lips.</p> + +<p>“May I come and see you?”</p> + +<p>She had evidently been considering the matter, for she answered him at +once and deliberately.</p> + +<p>“I should like you to,” she said; “but if for any reason it did not suit +my uncle to have you come, it would not be pleasant for either of us. He +is going to play golf on the Deringham links. You will be certain to see +him there, and you must be guided by his manner towards you.”</p> + +<p>“And if he is still—as he was in London—must this be goodbye, then?” +he asked earnestly.</p> + +<p>She looked at him with a faint colour in her cheeks and a softer light +in her proud, clear eyes.</p> + +<p>“Well,” she said, “goodbye would be the last word which could be spoken +between us. But, <i>n’importe</i>, we shall see.”</p> + +<p>She flashed a suddenly brilliant smile upon him, and leaned back amongst +the cushions. The carriage drove off, and Wolfenden, humming pleasantly +to himself, stepped into the dogcart which was waiting for him.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII</h2> + +<h3>A GREAT WORK</h3> + +<p>The Countess of Deringham might be excused for considering herself the +most unfortunate woman in England. In a single week she had passed from +the position of one of the most brilliant leaders of English society to +be the keeper of a recluse, whose sanity was at least doubtful. Her +husband, Admiral the Earl of Deringham, had been a man of iron nerve and +constitution, with a splendid reputation, and undoubtedly a fine seaman. +The horror of a single day had broken up his life. He had been the +awe-stricken witness of a great naval catastrophe, in which many of his +oldest friends and companions had gone to the bottom of the sea before +his eyes, together with nearly a thousand British seamen. The +responsibility for the disaster lay chiefly from those who had perished +in it, yet some small share of the blame was fastened upon the +onlookers, and he himself, as admiral in command, had not altogether +escaped. From the moment when they had led him down from the bridge of +his flagship, grey and fainting, he had been a changed man. He had never +recovered from the shock. He retired from active service at once, under +a singular and marvellously persistent delusion. Briefly he believed, or +professed to believe, that half the British fleet had perished, and that +the country was at the mercy of the first great Power who cared to send +her warships up the Thames. It was a question whether he was really +insane; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>on any ordinary topic his views were the views of a rational +man, but the task which he proceeded to set himself was so absorbing +that any other subject seemed scarcely to come within the horizon of his +comprehension. He imagined himself selected by no less a person than the +Secretary for War, to devote the rest of his life to the accomplishment +of a certain undertaking! Practically his mission was to prove by +figures, plans, and naval details (unknown to the general public), the +complete helplessness of the empire. He bought a yacht and commenced a +series of short cruises, lasting over two years, during the whole of +which time his wife was his faithful and constant companion. They +visited in turn each one of the fortified ports of the country, winding +up with a general inspection of every battleship and cruiser within +British waters. Then, with huge piles of amassed information before him, +he settled down in Norfolk to the framing of his report, still under the +impression that the whole country was anxiously awaiting it. His wife +remained with him then, listening daily to the news of his progress, and +careful never to utter a single word of discouragement or disbelief in +the startling facts which he sometimes put before her. The best room in +the house, the great library, was stripped perfectly bare and fitted up +for his study, and a typist was engaged to copy out the result of his +labours in fair form. Lately, the fatal results to England which would +follow the public disclosure of her awful helplessness had weighed +heavily upon him, and he was beginning to live in the fear of betrayal. +The room in which he worked was fitted with iron shutters, and was +guarded night and day. He saw no visitors, and was annoyed if any were +permitted to enter the house. He met his wife only at dinner time, for +which meal he dressed in great state, and at which no one else was ever +allowed to be present. He suffered, when they were alone, no word to +pass his lips, save with reference to the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>subject of his labours; it is +certain he looked upon himself as the discoverer of terrible secrets. +Any remark addressed to him upon other matters utterly failed to make +any impression. If he heard it he did not reply. He would simply look +puzzled, and, as speedily as possible withdraw. He was sixty years of +age, of dignified and kindly appearance; a handsome man still, save that +the fire of his blue eyes was quenched, and the firm lines of his +commanding mouth had become tremulous. Wolfenden, on his arrival, was +met in the hall by his mother, who carried him off at once to have tea +in her own room. As he took a low chair opposite to her he was conscious +at once of a distinct sense of self-reproach. Although still a handsome +woman, the Countess of Deringham was only the wreck of her former +brilliant self. Wolfenden, knowing what her life must be, under its +altered circumstances, could scarcely wonder at it. The black hair was +still only faintly streaked with grey, and her figure was as slim and +upright as ever. But there were lines on her forehead and about her +eyes, her cheeks were thinner, and even her hands were wasted. He looked +at her in silent pity, and although a man of singularly undemonstrative +habits, he took her hand in his and pressed it gently. Then he set +himself to talk as cheerfully as possible.</p> + +<p>“There is nothing much wrong physically with the Admiral, I hope?” he +said, calling him by the name they still always gave him. “I saw him at +the window as I came round. By the bye, what is that extraordinary +looking affair like a sentry-box doing there?”</p> + +<p>The Countess sighed.</p> + +<p>“That is part of what I have to tell you,” she said. “A sentry-box is +exactly what it is, and if you had looked inside you would have seen +Dunn or Heggs there keeping guard. In health your father seems as well +as ever; mentally, I am afraid that he is worse. I fear that he is +getting <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>very bad indeed. That is why I have sent for you, Wolf!”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden was seriously and genuinely concerned. Surely his mother had +had enough to bear.</p> + +<p>“I am very sorry,” he said. “Your letter prepared me a little for this; +you must tell me all about it.”</p> + +<p>“He has suddenly become the victim,” the Countess said, “of a new and +most extraordinary delusion. How it came to pass I cannot exactly tell, +but this is what happened. He has a bed, you know, made up in an +ante-room, leading from the library, and he sleeps there generally. +Early this morning the whole house was awakened by the sound of two +revolver shots. I hurried down in my dressing-gown, and found some of +the servants already outside the library door, which was locked and +barred on the inside. When he heard my voice he let me in. The room was +in partial darkness and some disorder. He had a smoking revolver in his +hand, and he was muttering to himself so fast that I could not +understand a word he said. The chest which holds all his maps and papers +had been dragged into the middle of the room, and the iron staple had +been twisted, as though with a heavy blow. I saw that the lamp was +flickering and a current of air was in the room, and when I looked +towards the window I found that the shutters were open and one of the +sashes had been lifted. All at once he became coherent.</p> + +<p>“‘Send for Morton and Philip Dunn!’ he cried. ‘Let the shrubbery and all +the Home Park be searched. Let no one pass out of either of the gates. +There have been thieves here!’</p> + +<p>“I gave his orders to Morton. ‘Where is Richardson?’ I asked. Richardson +was supposed to have been watching outside. Before he could answer +Richardson came in through the window. His forehead was bleeding, as +though from a blow.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span></p><p>“‘What has happened, Richardson?’ I asked. The man hesitated and looked +at your father. Your father answered instead.</p> + +<p>“‘I woke up five minutes ago,’ he cried, ‘and found two men here. How +they got past Richardson I don’t know, but they were in the room, and +they had dragged my chest out there, and had forced a crowbar through +the lock! I was just in time; I hit one man in the arm and he fired +back. Then they bolted right past Richardson. They must have nearly +knocked you down. You must have been asleep, you idiot,’ he cried, ‘or +you could have stopped them!’</p> + +<p>“I turned to Richardson; he did not say a word, but he looked at me +meaningly. The Admiral was examining his chest, so I drew Richardson on +one side.</p> + +<p>“‘Is this true, Richardson?’ I asked. The man shook his head.</p> + +<p>“‘No, your ladyship,’ he said bluntly, ‘it ain’t; there’s no two men +been here at all! The master dragged the chest out himself; I heard him +doing it, and I saw the light, so I left my box and stepped into the +room to see what was wrong. Directly he saw me he yelled out and let fly +at me with his revolver! It’s a wonder I’m alive, for one of the bullets +grazed my temple!’</p> + +<p>“Then he went on to say that he would like to leave, that no wages were +good enough to be shot at, and plainly hinted that he thought your +father ought to be locked up. I talked him over, and then got the +Admiral to go back to bed. We had the place searched as a matter of +form, but of course there was no sign of anybody. He had imagined the +whole thing! It is a mercy that he did not kill Richardson!”</p> + +<p>“This is very serious,” Wolfenden said gravely. “What about his +revolver?”</p> + +<p>“I managed to secure that,” the Countess said. “It is <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span>locked up in my +drawer, but I am afraid that he may ask for it at any moment.”</p> + +<p>“We can make that all right,” Wolfenden said; “I know where there are +some blank cartridges in the gun-room, and I will reload the revolver +with them. By the bye, what does Blatherwick say about all this?”</p> + +<p>“He is almost as worried as I am, poor little man,” Lady Deringham said. +“I am afraid every day that he will give it up and leave. We are paying +him five hundred a year, but it must be miserable work for him. It is +really almost amusing, though, to see how terrified he is at your +father. He positively shakes when he speaks to him.”</p> + +<p>“What does he have to do?” Wolfenden asked.</p> + +<p>“Oh, draw maps and make calculations and copy all sorts of things. You +see it is wasted and purposeless work, that is what makes it so hard for +the poor man.”</p> + +<p>“You are quite sure, I suppose,” Wolfenden asked, after a moment’s +hesitation, “that it is all wasted work?”</p> + +<p>“Absolutely,” the Countess declared. “Mr. Blatherwick brings me, +sometimes in despair, sheets upon which he has been engaged for days. +They are all just a hopeless tangle of figures and wild calculations! +Nobody could possibly make anything coherent out of them.”</p> + +<p>“I wonder,” Wolfenden suggested thoughtfully, “whether it would be a +good idea to get Denvers, the secretary, to write and ask him not to go +on with the work for the present. He could easily make some excuse—say +that it was attracting attention which they desired to avoid, or +something of that sort! Denvers is a good fellow, and he and the Admiral +were great friends once, weren’t they?”</p> + +<p>The Countess shook her head.</p> + +<p>“I am afraid that would not do at all,” she said. “Besides, out of pure +good nature, of course, Denvers has already encouraged him. Only last +week he wrote him a friendly <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>letter hoping that he was getting on, and +telling him how interested every one in the War Office was to hear about +his work. He has known about it all the time, you see. Then, too, if the +occupation were taken from your father, I am afraid he would break down +altogether.”</p> + +<p>“Of course there is that to be feared,” Wolfenden admitted. “I wonder +what put this new delusion into his head? Does he suspect any one in +particular?”</p> + +<p>The Countess shook her head.</p> + +<p>“I do not think so; of course it was Miss Merton who started it. He +quite believes that she took copies of all the work she did here, but he +was so pleased with himself at the idea of having found her out, that he +has troubled very little about it. He seems to think that she had not +reached the most important part of his work, and he is copying that +himself now by hand.”</p> + +<p>“But outside the house has he no suspicions at all?”</p> + +<p>“Not that I know of; not any definite suspicion. He was talking last +night of Duchesne, the great spy and adventurer, in a rambling sort of +way. ‘Duchesne would be the man to get hold of my work if he knew of +it,’ he kept on saying. ‘But none must know of it! The newspapers must be +quiet! It is a terrible danger!’ He talked like that for some time. No, +I do not think that he suspects anybody. It is more a general +uneasiness.”</p> + +<p>“Poor old chap!” Wolfenden said softly. “What does Dr. Whitlett think of +him? Has he seen him lately? I wonder if there is any chance of his +getting over it?”</p> + +<p>“None at all,” she answered. “Dr. Whitlett is quite frank; he will never +recover what he has lost—he will probably lose more. But come, there is +the dressing bell. You will see him for yourself at dinner. Whatever you +do don’t be late—he hates any one to be a minute behind time.”</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV</h2> + +<h3>THE TEMPTING OF MR. BLATHERWICK</h3> + +<p>Wolfenden was careful to reach the hall before the dinner gong had +sounded. His father greeted him warmly, and Wolfenden was surprised to +see so little outward change in him. He was carefully dressed, well +groomed in every respect, and he wore a delicate orchid in his +button-hole.</p> + +<p>During dinner he discussed the little round of London life and its +various social events with perfect sanity, and permitted himself his +usual good-natured grumble at Wolfenden for his dilatoriness in the +choice of a profession.</p> + +<p>He did not once refer to the subject of his own weakness until dessert +had been served, when he passed the claret to Wolfenden without filling +his own glass.</p> + +<p>“You will excuse my not joining you,” he said to his son, “but I have +still three or four hours’ writing to do, and such work as mine requires +a very clear head—you can understand that, I daresay.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden assented in silence. For the first time, perhaps, he fully +realised the ethical pity of seeing a man so distinguished the victim of +a hopeless and incurable mania. He watched him sitting at the head of +his table, courteous, gentle, dignified; noted too the air of +intellectual abstraction which followed upon his last speech, and in +which he seemed to dwell for the rest of the time during which they sat +together. Instinctively he knew what disillusionment must mean for him. +Sooner anything than that. It must <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span>never be. Never! he repeated firmly +to himself as he smoked a solitary cigar later on in the empty +smoking-room. Whatever happens he must be saved from that. There was a +knock at the door, and in response to his invitation to enter, Mr. +Blatherwick came in. Wolfenden, who was in the humour to prefer any +one’s society to his own, greeted him pleasantly, and wheeled up an easy +chair opposite to his own.</p> + +<p>“Come to have a smoke, Blatherwick?” he said. “That’s right. Try one of +these cigars; the governor’s are all right, but they are in such +shocking condition.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Blatherwick accepted one with some hesitation, and puffed slowly at +it with an air of great deliberation. He was a young man of mild +demeanour and deportment, and clerical aspirations. He wore thick +spectacles, and suffered from chronic biliousness.</p> + +<p>“I am much obliged to you, Lord Wolfenden,” he said. “I seldom smoke +cigars—it is not good for my sight. An occasional cigarette is all I +permit myself.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden groaned inwardly, for his regalias were priceless and not to +be replaced; but he said nothing.</p> + +<p>“I have taken the liberty, Lord Wolfenden,” Mr. Blatherwick continued, +“of bringing for your inspection a letter I received this morning. It +is, I presume, intended for a practical joke, and I need not say that I +intend to treat it as such. At the same time as you were in the house, I +imagined that no—er—harm would ensue if I ventured to ask for your +opinion.”</p> + +<p>He handed an open letter to Wolfenden, who took it and read it through. +It was dated “—— London,” and bore the postmark of the previous day.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>“<span class="smcap">Mr. Arnold Blatherwick.</span></p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Dear Sir</span>,—The writer of this letter is prepared to offer you one +thousand pounds in return for a certain <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>service which you are in a +position to perform. The details of that service can only be +explained to you in a personal interview, but broadly speaking it +is as follows:—</p> + +<p>“You are engaged as private secretary to the Earl of Deringham, +lately an admiral in the British Navy. Your duties, it is presumed, +are to copy and revise papers and calculations having reference to +the coast defences and navy of Great Britain. The writer is himself +engaged upon a somewhat similar task, but not having had the +facilities accorded to Lord Deringham, is without one or two +important particulars. The service required of you is the supplying +of these, and for this you are offered one thousand pounds.</p> + +<p>“As a man of honour you may possibly hesitate to at once embrace +this offer. You need not! Lord Deringham’s work is practically +useless, for it is the work of a lunatic. You yourself, from your +intimate association with him, must know that this statement is +true. He will never be able to give coherent form to the mass of +statistics and information which he has collected. Therefore you do +him no harm in supplying these few particulars to one who will be +able to make use of them. The sum you are offered is out of all +proportion to their value—a few months’ delay and they could +easily be acquired by the writer without the expenditure of a +single halfpenny. That, however, is not the point.</p> + +<p>“I am rich and I have no time to spare. Hence this offer. I take it +that you are a man of common sense, and I take it for granted, +therefore, that you will not hesitate to accept this offer. Your +acquiescence will be assumed if you lunch at the Grand Hotel, +Cromer, between one and two, on Thursday following the receipt of +this letter. You will then be put in full possession of all the +information necessary to the carrying out of the proposals made to +you. You <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>are well known to the writer, who will take the liberty +of joining you at your table.”</p></div> + +<p>The letter ended thus somewhat abruptly. Wolfenden, who had only glanced +it through at first, now re-read it carefully. Then he handed it back to +Blatherwick.</p> + +<p>“It is a very curious communication,” he said thoughtfully, “a very +curious communication indeed. I do not know what to think of it.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Blatherwick laid down his cigar with an air of great relief. He +would have liked to have thrown it away, but dared not.</p> + +<p>“It must surely be intended for a practical joke, Lord Wolfenden,” he +said. “Either that, or my correspondent has been ludicrously +misinformed.”</p> + +<p>“You do not consider, then, that my father’s work is of any value at +all?” Wolfenden asked.</p> + +<p>Mr. Blatherwick coughed apologetically, and watched the extinction of +the cigar by his side with obvious satisfaction.</p> + +<p>“You would, I am sure, prefer,” he said, “that I gave you a perfectly +straightforward answer to that question. I—er—cannot conceive that the +work upon which his lordship and I are engaged can be of the slightest +interest or use to anybody. I can assure you, Lord Wolfenden, that my +brain at times reels—positively reels—from the extraordinary nature of +the manuscripts which your father has passed on to me to copy. It is not +that they are merely technical, they are absolutely and entirely +meaningless. You ask me for my opinion, Lord Wolfenden, and I conceive +it to be my duty to answer you honestly. I am quite sure that his +lordship is not in a fit state of mind to undertake any serious work.”</p> + +<p>“The person who wrote that letter,” Wolfenden remarked, “thought +otherwise.”</p> + +<p>“The person who wrote that letter,” Mr. Blatherwick <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>retorted quickly, +“if indeed it was written in good faith, is scarcely likely to know so +much about his lordship’s condition of mind as I, who have spent the +greater portion of every day for three months with him.”</p> + +<p>“Do you consider that my father is getting worse, Mr. Blatherwick?” +Wolfenden asked.</p> + +<p>“A week ago,” Mr. Blatherwick said, “I should have replied that his +lordship’s state of mind was exactly the same as when I first came here. +But there has been a change for the worse during the last week. It +commenced with his sudden, and I am bound to say, unfounded suspicions +of Miss Merton, whom I believe to be a most estimable and worthy young +lady.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Blatherwick paused, and appeared to be troubled with a slight cough. +The smile, which Wolfenden was not altogether able to conceal, seemed +somewhat to increase his embarrassment.</p> + +<p>“The extraordinary occurrence of last night, which her ladyship has +probably detailed to you,” Mr. Blatherwick continued, “was the next +development of what, I fear, we can only regard as downright insanity. I +regret having to speak so plainly, but I am afraid that any milder +phrase would be inapplicable.”</p> + +<p>“I am very sorry to hear this,” Wolfenden remarked gravely.</p> + +<p>“Under the circumstances,” Mr. Blatherwick said, picking up his cigar +which was now extinct, and immediately laying it down again, “I trust +that you and Lady Deringham will excuse my not giving the customary +notice of my desire to leave. It is of course impossible for me to +continue to draw a—er—a stipend such as I am in receipt of for +services so ludicrously inadequate.”</p> + +<p>“Lady Deringham will be sorry to have you go,” Wolfenden said. “Couldn’t +you put up with it a little longer?”</p> + +<p>“I would much prefer to leave,” Mr. Blatherwick said <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span>decidedly. “I am +not physically strong, and I must confess that his lordship’s attitude +at times positively alarms me. I fear that there is no doubt that he +committed an unprovoked assault last night upon that unfortunate keeper. +There is—er—no telling whom he might select for his next victim. If +quite convenient, Lord Wolfenden, I should like to leave to-morrow by an +early train.”</p> + +<p>“Oh! you can’t go so soon as that,” Wolfenden said. “How about this +letter?”</p> + +<p>“You can take any steps you think proper with regard to it,” Mr. +Blatherwick answered nervously. “Personally, I have nothing to do with +it. I thought of going to spend a week with an aunt of mine in Cornwall, +and I should like to leave by the early train to-morrow.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden could scarcely keep from laughing, although he was a little +annoyed.</p> + +<p>“Look here, Blatherwick,” he said, “you must help me a little before you +go, there’s a good fellow. I don’t doubt for a moment what you say about +the poor old governor’s condition of mind; but at the same time it’s +rather an odd thing, isn’t it, that his own sudden fear of having his +work stolen is followed up by the receipt of this letter to you? There +is some one, at any rate, who places a very high value upon his +manuscripts. I must say that I should like to know whom that letter came +from.”</p> + +<p>“I can assure you,” Mr. Blatherwick said, “that I have not the faintest +idea.”</p> + +<p>“Of course you haven’t,” Wolfenden assented, a little impatiently. “But +don’t you see how easy it will be for us to find out? You must go to the +Grand Hotel on Thursday for lunch, and meet this mysterious person.”</p> + +<p>“I would very much rather not,” Mr. Blatherwick declared promptly. “I +should feel exceedingly uncomfortable; I should not like it at all!”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span></p><p>“Look here,” Wolfenden said persuasively “I must find out who wrote that +letter, and can only do so with your help. You need only be there, I +will come up directly I have marked the man who comes to your table. +Your presence is all that is required; and I shall take it as a favour +if you will allow me to make you a present of a fifty-pound note.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Blatherwick flushed a little and hesitated. He had brothers and +sisters, whose bringing up was a terrible strain upon the slim purse of +his father, a country clergyman, and a great deal could be done with +fifty pounds. It was against his conscience as well as his inclinations +to remain in a post where his duties were a farce, but this was +different.</p> + +<p>He sighed.</p> + +<p>“You are very generous, Lord Wolfenden,” he said. “I will stay until +after Thursday.”</p> + +<p>“There’s a good fellow,” Wolfenden said, much relieved. “Have another +cigar?”</p> + +<p>Mr. Blatherwick rose hastily, and shook his head. “You must excuse me, +if you please,” he said. “I will not smoke any more. I think if you will +not <span style="white-space: nowrap;">mind——”</span></p> + +<p>Wolfenden turned to the window and held up his hand.</p> + +<p>“Listen!” he said. “Is that a carriage at this time of night?”</p> + +<p>A carriage it certainly was, passing by the window. In a moment they +heard it draw up at the front door, and some one alighted.</p> + +<p>“Odd time for callers,” Wolfenden remarked.</p> + +<p>Mr. Blatherwick did not reply. He, too, was listening. In a moment they +heard the rustling of a woman’s skirts outside, and the smoking-room +door opened.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV</h2> + +<h3>THE COMING AND GOING OF MR. FRANKLIN WILMOT</h3> + +<p>Both men looked up as Lady Deringham entered the room, carefully closing +the door behind her. She had a card in her hand, and an open letter.</p> + +<p>“Wolfenden,” she said. “I am so glad that you are here. It is most +fortunate! Something very singular has happened. You will be able to +tell me what to do.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Blatherwick rose quietly and left the room.</p> + +<p>Wolfenden was all attention.</p> + +<p>“Some one has just arrived,” he remarked.</p> + +<p>“A gentleman, a complete stranger,” she assented. “This is his card. He +seemed surprised that his name was not familiar to me. He was quite sure +that you would know it.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden took the card between his fingers and read it out.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Franklin Wilmot.”</p> + +<p>He was thoughtful for a moment. The name was familiar enough, but he +could not immediately remember in what connection. Suddenly it flashed +into his mind.</p> + +<p>“Of course!” he exclaimed. “He is a famous physician—a very great +swell, goes to Court and all that!”</p> + +<p>Lady Deringham nodded.</p> + +<p>“He has introduced himself as a physician. He has brought this letter +from Dr. Whitlett.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden took the note from her hand. It was written <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>on half a sheet +of paper, and apparently in great haste:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>“<span class="smcap">Dear Lady Deringham</span>,—My old friend, Franklin Wilmot, who has been +staying at Cromer, has just called upon me. We have been having a +chat, and he is extremely interested in Lord Deringham’s case, so +much so that I had arranged to come over with him this evening to +see if you would care to have his opinion. Unfortunately, however, +I have been summoned to attend a patient nearly ten miles away—a +bad accident, I fear—and Wilmot is leaving for town to-morrow +morning. I suggested, however, that he might call on his way back +to Cromer, and if you would kindly let him see Lord Deringham, I +should be glad, as his opinion would be of material assistance to +me. Wilmot’s reputation as the greatest living authority on cases +of partial mania is doubtless known to you, and as he never, under +any circumstances, visits patients outside London, it would be a +great pity to lose this opportunity.</p> + +<p>“In great haste and begging you to excuse this scrawl,</p> + +<p class="right"><span style="margin-right: 5em;">“I am, dear Lady Deringham,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-right: 3em;">“Yours sincerely,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-right: 1em;">“<span class="smcap">John Whitlett.</span></span></p> + +<p>“P.S.—You will please not offer him any fee.”</p></div> + +<p>Wolfenden folded up the letter and returned it.</p> + +<p>“Well, I suppose it’s all right,” he said. “It’s an odd time, though, to +call on an errand of this sort.”</p> + +<p>“So I thought,” Lady Deringham agreed; “but Dr. Whitlett’s explanation +seems perfectly feasible, does it not? I said that I would consult you. +You will come in and see him?”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden followed his mother into the drawing-room. A tall, dark man +was sitting in a corner, under a palm tree. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>In one hand he held a +magazine, the pictures of which he seemed to be studying with the aid of +an eyeglass, the other was raised to his mouth. He was in the act of +indulging in a yawn when Wolfenden and his mother entered the room.</p> + +<p>“This is my son, Lord Wolfenden,” she said. “Dr. Franklin Wilmot.”</p> + +<p>The two men bowed.</p> + +<p>“Lady Deringham has explained to you the reason of my untimely visit, I +presume?” the latter remarked at once.</p> + +<p>Wolfenden assented.</p> + +<p>“Yes! I am afraid that it will be a little difficult to get my father to +see you on such short notice.”</p> + +<p>“I was about to explain to Lady Deringham, before I understood that you +were in the house,” Dr. Wilmot said, “that although that would be an +advantage, it is not absolutely necessary at present. I should of course +have to examine your father before giving a definite opinion as to his +case, but I can give you a very fair idea as to his condition without +seeing him at all.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden and his mother exchanged glances.</p> + +<p>“You must forgive us,” Wolfenden commenced hesitatingly, “but really I +can scarcely understand.”</p> + +<p>“Of course not,” their visitor interrupted brusquely. “My method is one +which is doubtless altogether strange to you, but if you read the +<i>Lancet</i> or the <i>Medical Journal</i>, you would have heard a good deal +about it lately. I form my conclusions as to the mental condition of a +patient almost altogether from a close inspection of their letters, or +any work upon which they are, or have been, recently engaged. I do not +say that it is possible to do this from a single letter, but when a man +has a hobby, such as I understand Lord Deringham indulges in, and has +devoted a great deal of time to real or imaginary work in connection +with it, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>I am generally able, from a study of that work, to tell how +far the brain is weakened, if at all, and in what manner it can be +strengthened. This is only the crudest outline of my theory, but to be +brief, I can give you my opinion as to Lord Deringham’s mental +condition, and my advice as to its maintenance, if you will place before +me the latest work upon which he has been engaged. I hope I have made +myself clear.”</p> + +<p>“Perfectly,” Wolfenden answered. “It sounds very reasonable and very +interesting, but I am afraid that there are a few practical difficulties +in the way. In the first place, my father does not show his work or any +portion of it to any one. On the other hand he takes the most +extraordinary precautions to maintain absolute secrecy with regard to +it.”</p> + +<p>“That,” Dr. Wilmot remarked, “is rather a bad feature of the case. It is +a difficulty which I should imagine you could get over, though. You +could easily frame some excuse to get him away from his study for a +short time and leave me there. Of course the affair is in your hands +altogether, and I am presuming that you are anxious to have an opinion +as to your father’s state of health. I am not in the habit of seeking +patients,” he added, a little stiffly. “I was interested in my friend +Whitlett’s description of the case, and anxious to apply my theories to +it, as it happens to differ in some respects from anything I have met +with lately. Further, I may add,” he continued, glancing at the clock, +“if anything is to be done it must be done quickly. I have no time to +spare.”</p> + +<p>“You had better,” Wolfenden suggested, “stay here for the night in any +case. We will send you to the station, or into Cromer, as early as you +like in the morning.”</p> + +<p>“Absolutely impossible,” Dr. Wilmot replied briefly. “I am staying with +friends in Cromer, and I have a consultation in town early to-morrow +morning. You must <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span>really make up your minds at once whether you wish +for my opinion or not.”</p> + +<p>“I do not think,” Lady Deringham said, “that we need hesitate for a +moment about that!”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden looked at him doubtfully. There seemed to be no possibility of +anything but advantage in accepting this offer, and yet in a sense he +was sorry that it had been made.</p> + +<p>“In case you should attach any special importance to your father’s +manuscripts,” Dr. Wilmot remarked, with a note of sarcasm in his tone, +“I might add that it is not at all necessary for me to be alone in the +study.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden felt a little uncomfortable under the older man’s keen gaze. +Neither did he altogether like having his thoughts read so accurately.</p> + +<p>“I suppose,” he said, turning to his mother, “you could manage to get +him away from the library for a short time?”</p> + +<p>“I could at least try,” she answered. “Shall I?”</p> + +<p>“I think,” he said, “that as Dr. Wilmot has been good enough to go out +of his way to call here, we must make an effort.”</p> + +<p>Lady Deringham left the room.</p> + +<p>Dr. Wilmot, whose expression of absolute impassiveness had not altered +in the least during their discussion, turned towards Wolfenden.</p> + +<p>“Have you yourself,” he said, “never seen any of your father’s +manuscripts? Has he never explained the scheme of his work to you?”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden shook his head.</p> + +<p>“I know the central idea,” he answered—“the weakness of our navy and +coast defences, and that is about all I know. My father, even when he +was an admiral on active service, took an absolutely pessimistic view of +both. You may perhaps remember this. The Lords of the Admiralty <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>used to +consider him, I believe, the one great thorn in their sides.”</p> + +<p>Dr. Wilmot shook his head.</p> + +<p>“I have never taken any interest in such matters,” he said. “My +profession has been completely absorbing during the last ten years.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden nodded.</p> + +<p>“I know,” he remarked, “that I used to read the newspapers and wonder +why on earth my father took such pains to try and frighten everybody. +But he is altogether changed now. He even avoids the subject, although I +am quite sure that it is his one engrossing thought. It is certain that +no one has ever given such time and concentrated energy to it before. If +only his work was the work of a sane man I could understand it being +very valuable.”</p> + +<p>“Not the least doubt about it, I should say,” Dr. Wilmot replied +carelessly.</p> + +<p>The door opened and Lady Deringham reappeared.</p> + +<p>“I have succeeded,” she said. “He is upstairs now. I will try and keep +him there for half an hour. Wolfenden, will you take Dr. Wilmot into the +study?”</p> + +<p>Dr. Wilmot rose with quiet alacrity. Wolfenden led the way down the long +passage which led to the study. He himself was scarcely prepared for +such signs of unusual labours as confronted them both when they opened +the door. The round table in the centre of the room was piled with books +and a loose heap of papers. A special rack was hung with a collection of +maps and charts. There were nautical instruments upon the table, and +compasses, as well as writing materials, and a number of small models of +men-of-war. Mr. Blatherwick, who was sitting at the other side of the +room busy with some copying, looked up in amazement at the entrance of +Wolfenden and a stranger upon what was always considered forbidden +ground.</p> + +<p>Wolfenden stepped forward at once to the table. A sheet <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>of paper lay +there on which the ink was scarcely yet dry. Many others were scattered +about, almost undecipherable, with marginal notes and corrections in his +father’s handwriting. He pushed some of them towards his companion.</p> + +<p>“You can help yourself,” he said. “This seems to be his most recent +work.”</p> + +<p>Dr. Wilmot seemed scarcely to hear him. He had turned the lamp up with +quick fingers, and was leaning over those freshly written pages. +Decidedly he was interested in the case. He stood quite still reading +with breathless haste—the papers seemed almost to fly through his +fingers. Wolfenden was a little puzzled. Mr. Blatherwick, who had been +watching the proceedings with blank amazement, rose and came over +towards them.</p> + +<p>“You will excuse me, Lord Wolfenden,” he said, “but if the admiral +should come back and find a stranger with you looking over his work, he +<span style="white-space: nowrap;">will——”</span></p> + +<p>“It’s all right, Blatherwick,” Wolfenden interrupted, the more +impatiently since he was far from comfortable himself. “This gentleman +is a physician.”</p> + +<p>The secretary resumed his seat. Dr. Wilmot was reading with +lightning-like speed sheet after sheet, making frequent notes in a +pocket-book which he had laid on the table before him. He was so +absorbed that he did not seem to hear the sound of wheels coming up the +avenue.</p> + +<p>Wolfenden walked to the window, and raising the curtain, looked out. He +gave vent to a little exclamation of relief as he saw a familiar dogcart +draw up at the hall door, and Dr. Whitlett’s famous mare pulled steaming +on to her haunches.</p> + +<p>“It is Dr. Whitlett,” he exclaimed. “He has followed you up pretty +soon.”</p> + +<p>The sheet which the physician was reading fluttered through his fingers. +There was a very curious look in his face. He walked up to the window +and looked out.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span></p><p>“So it is,” he remarked. “I should like to see him at once for half a +minute—then I shall have finished. I wonder whether you would mind +going yourself and asking him to step this way?”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden turned immediately to leave the room. At the door he turned +sharply round, attracted by a sudden noise and an exclamation from +Blatherwick. Dr. Wilmot had disappeared! Mr. Blatherwick was gazing at +the window in amazement!</p> + +<p>“He’s gone, sir! Clean out of the window—jumped it like a cat!”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden sprang to the curtains. The night wind was blowing into the +room through the open casement. Fainter and fainter down the long avenue +came the sound of galloping horses. Dr. Franklin Wilmot had certainly +gone!</p> + +<p>Wolfenden turned from the window to find himself face to face with Dr. +Whitlett.</p> + +<p>“What on earth is the matter with your friend Wilmot?” he exclaimed. “He +has just gone off through the window like a madman!”</p> + +<p>“Wilmot!” the doctor exclaimed. “I never knew any one of that name in my +life. The fellow’s a rank impostor!”</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI</h2> + +<h3>GENIUS OR MADNESS?</h3> + +<p>For a moment Wolfenden was speechless. Then, with a presence of mind +which afterwards he marvelled at, he asked no more questions, but +stepped up to the writing-table.</p> + +<p>“Blatherwick,” he said hurriedly, “we seem to have made a bad mistake. +Will you try and rearrange these papers exactly as the admiral left +them, and do not let him know that any one has entered the room or seen +them.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Blatherwick commenced his task with trembling fingers.</p> + +<p>“I will do my best,” he said nervously. “But I am not supposed to touch +anything upon this table at all. If the admiral finds me here, he will +be very angry.”</p> + +<p>“I will take the blame,” Wolfenden said. “Do your best.”</p> + +<p>He took the country doctor by the arm and hurried him into the +smoking-room.</p> + +<p>“This is a most extraordinary affair, Dr. Whitlett,” he said gravely. “I +presume that this letter, then, is a forgery?”</p> + +<p>The doctor took the note of introduction which Wilmot had brought, and +adjusting his pince-nez, read it hastily through.</p> + +<p>“A forgery from the beginning to end,” he declared, turning it over and +looking at it helplessly. “I have never known any one of the name in my +life!”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span></p><p>“It is written on notepaper stamped with your address,” Wolfenden +remarked. “It is also, I suppose, a fair imitation of your handwriting, +for Lady Deringham accepted it as such?”</p> + +<p>The doctor nodded.</p> + +<p>“I will tell you,” he said, “all that I know of the affair. I started +out to pay some calls this evening about six o’clock. As I turned into +the main road I met a strange brougham and pair of horses being driven +very slowly. There was a man who looked like a gentleman’s servant +sitting by the side of the coachman, and as I passed them the latter +asked a question, and I am almost certain that I heard my name +mentioned. I was naturally a little curious, and I kept looking back all +along the road to see which way they turned after passing my house. As a +matter of fact, although I pulled up and waited in the middle of the +road, I saw no more of the carriage. When at last I drove on, I knew +that one of two things must have happened. Either the carriage must have +come to a standstill and remained stationary in the road, or it must +have turned in at my gate. The hedge was down a little higher up the +road, and I could see distinctly that they had not commenced to climb +the hill. It seemed very odd to me, but I had an important call to make, +so I drove on and got through as quickly as I could. On my way home I +passed your north entrance, and, looking up the avenue, I saw the same +brougham on its way up to the house. I had half a mind to run in then—I +wish now that I had—but instead of doing so I drove quickly home. There +I found that a gentleman had called a few minutes after I had left home, +and finding me out had asked permission to leave a note. The girl had +shown him into the study, and he had remained there about ten minutes. +Afterwards he had let himself out and driven away. When I looked for the +note for me there was none, but the writing materials had been <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>used, +and a sheet of notepaper was gone. I happened to remember that there was +only one out. The whole thing seemed to me so singular that I ordered +the dogcart out again and drove straight over here.”</p> + +<p>“For which,” Wolfenden remarked, “we ought to feel remarkably grateful. +So far the thing is plain enough! But what on earth did that man, +whoever he was, expect to find in my father’s study that he should make +an elaborate attempt like this to enter it? He was no common thief!”</p> + +<p>Dr. Whitlett shook his head. He had no elucidation to offer. The thing +was absolutely mysterious.</p> + +<p>“Your father himself,” he said slowly, “sets a very high value upon the +result of his researches!”</p> + +<p>“And on the other hand,” Wolfenden retorted promptly, “you, and my +mother, Mr. Blatherwick, and even the girl who has been copying for him, +have each assured me that his work is rubbish! You four comprise all who +have seen any part of it, and I understand that you have come to the +conclusion that, if not insane, he is at least suffering from some sort +of mania. Now, how are we to reconcile this with the fact of an +attempted robbery this evening, and the further fact that a heavy bribe +has been secretly offered to Blatherwick to copy only a few pages of his +later manuscripts?”</p> + +<p>Dr. Whitlett started.</p> + +<p>“Indeed!” he exclaimed. “When did you hear of this?”</p> + +<p>“Only this afternoon,” Wolfenden answered. “Blatherwick brought me the +letter himself. What I cannot understand is, how these documents could +ever become a marketable commodity. Yet we may look upon it now as an +absolute fact, that there are persons—and no ordinary thieves +either!—conspiring to obtain possession of them.”</p> + +<p>“Wolfenden!”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span></p><p>The two men started round. The Countess was standing in the doorway. She +was pale as death, and her eyes were full of fear.</p> + +<p>“Who was that man?” she cried. “What has happened?”</p> + +<p>“He was an impostor, I am afraid,” Wolfenden answered. “The letter from +Dr. Whitlett was forged. He has bolted.”</p> + +<p>She looked towards the doctor.</p> + +<p>“Thank God that you are here!” she cried. “I am frightened! There are +some papers and models missing, and the admiral has found it out! I am +afraid he is going to have a fit. Please come into the library. He must +not be left alone!”</p> + +<p>They both followed her down the passage and through the half-opened +door. In the centre of the room Lord Deringham was standing, his pale +cheeks scarlet with passion, his fists convulsively clenched. He turned +sharply round to face them, and his eyes flashed with anger.</p> + +<p>“Nothing shall make me believe that this room has not been entered, and +my papers tampered with!” he stormed out. “Where is that reptile +Blatherwick? I left my morning’s work and two models on the desk there, +less than half an hour ago; both the models are gone and one of the +sheets! Either Blatherwick has stolen them, or the room has been entered +during my absence! Where is that hound?”</p> + +<p>“He is in his room,” Lady Deringham answered. “He ran past me on the +stairs trembling all over, and he has locked himself in and piled up the +furniture against the door. You have frightened him to death!”</p> + +<p>“It is scarcely possible——” Dr. Whitlett began.</p> + +<p>“Don’t lie, sir!” the admiral thundered out. “You are a pack of fools +and old women! You are as ignorant as rabbits! You know no more than the +kitchenmaids what <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>has been growing and growing within these walls. I +tell you that my work of the last few years, placed in certain hands, +would alter the whole face of Europe—aye, of Christendom! There are men +in this country to-day whose object is to rob me, and you, my own +household, seem to be crying them welcome, bidding them come and help +themselves, as though the labour of my life was worth no more than so +many sheets of waste paper. You have let a stranger into this room +to-day, and if he had not been disturbed, God knows what he might not +have carried away with him!”</p> + +<p>“We have been very foolish,” Lady Deringham said pleadingly. “We will +set a watch now day and night. We will run no more risks! I swear it! +You can believe me, Horace!”</p> + +<p>“Aye, but tell me the truth now,” he cried. “Some one has been in this +room and escaped through the window. I learnt as much as that from that +blithering idiot, Blatherwick. I want to know who he was?”</p> + +<p>She glanced towards the doctor. He nodded his head slightly. Then she +went up to her husband and laid her hand upon his shoulders.</p> + +<p>“Horace, you are right,” she said. “It is no use trying to keep it from +you. A man did impose upon us with a forged letter. He could not have +been here more than five minutes, though. We found him out almost at +once. It shall never happen again!”</p> + +<p>The wisdom of telling him was at once apparent. His face positively +shone with triumph! He became quite calm, and the fierce glare, which +had alarmed them all so much, died out of his eyes. The confession was a +triumph for him. He was gratified.</p> + +<p>“I knew it,” he declared, with positive good humour. “I have warned you +of this all the time. Now perhaps you will believe me! Thank God that it +was not Duchesne <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>himself. I should not be surprised, though, if it were +not one of his emissaries! If Duchesne comes,” he muttered to himself, +his face growing a shade paler, “God help us!”</p> + +<p>“We will be more careful now,” Lady Deringham said. “No one shall ever +take us by surprise again. We will have special watchmen, and bars on +all the windows.”</p> + +<p>“From this moment,” the admiral said slowly, “I shall never leave this +room until my work is ended, and handed over to Lord S——’s care. If I +am robbed England is in danger! There must be no risks. I will have a +sofa-bedstead down, and please understand that all my meals must be +served here! Heggs and Morton must take it in turns to sleep in the +room, and there must be a watchman outside. Now will you please all go +away?” he added, with a little wave of his hand. “I have to reconstruct +what has been stolen from me through your indiscretion. Send me in some +coffee at eleven o’clock, and a box of cartridges you will find in my +dressing-room.”</p> + +<p>They went away together. Wolfenden was grave and mystified. Nothing +about his father’s demeanour or language had suggested insanity. What if +they were all wrong—if the work to which the best years of his life had +gone was really of the immense importance he claimed for it? Other +people thought so! The slight childishness, which was obvious in a great +many of his actions, was a very different thing from insanity. +Blatherwick might be deceived—Blanche was just as likely to have looked +upon any technical work as rubbish. Whitlett was only a country +practitioner—even his mother might have exaggerated his undoubted +eccentricities. At any rate, one thing was certain. There were people +outside who made a bold enough bid to secure the fruit of his father’s +labours. It was his duty to see that the attempt, if repeated, was still +unsuccessful.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII</h2> + +<h3>THE SCHEMING OF GIANTS</h3> + +<p>At very nearly the same moment as the man who had called himself Dr. +Wilmot had leaped from the library window of Deringham Hall, Mr. Sabin +sat alone in his sanctum waiting for a visitor. The room was quite a +small one on the ground floor of the house, but was furnished with taste +and evident originality in the Moorish fashion. Mr. Sabin himself was +ensconced in an easy chair drawn close up to the fire, and a thin cloud +of blue smoke was stealing up from a thick, Egyptian cigarette which was +burning away between his fingers. His head was resting upon the delicate +fingers of his left hand, his dark eyes were fixed upon the flaming +coals. He was deep in thought.</p> + +<p>“A single mistake now,” he murmured softly, “and farewell to the labour +of years. A single false step, and goodbye to all our dreams! To-night +will decide it! In a few minutes I must say Yes or No to Knigenstein. I +think—I am almost sure I shall say Yes! Bah!”</p> + +<p>The frown on his forehead grew more marked. The cigarette burned on +between his fingers, and a long grey ash fell to the floor. He was +permitting himself the luxury of deep thought. All his life he had been +a schemer; a builder of mighty plans, a great power in the destinies of +great people. To-night he knew that he had reached the crisis of a +career, in many respects marvellous. To-night he would take the first of +those few final steps on to the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>desire of his life. It only rested with +him to cast the die. He must make the decision and abide by it. His own +life’s ambition and the destinies of a mighty nation hung in the +balance. Had he made up his mind which way to turn the scale? Scarcely +even yet! There were so many things!</p> + +<p>He sat up with a start. There was a knock at the door. He caught up the +evening paper, and the cigarette smoke circled about his head. He +stirred a cup of coffee by his side. The hard lines in his face had all +relaxed. There was no longer any anxiety. He looked up and greeted +pleasantly—with a certain deference, too—the visitor who was being +ushered in. He had no appearance of having been engaged in anything more +than a casual study of the <i>St. James’s Gazette</i>.</p> + +<p>“A gentleman, sir,” the stolid-looking servant had announced briefly. No +name had been mentioned. Mr. Sabin, when he rose and held out his hand, +did not address his visitor directly. He was a tall, stout man, with an +iron-grey moustache and the remains of a military bearing. When the +servant had withdrawn and the two men were alone, he unbuttoned his +overcoat. Underneath he wore a foreign uniform, ablaze with orders. Mr. +Sabin glanced at them and smiled.</p> + +<p>“You are going to Arlington Street,” he remarked.</p> + +<p>The other man nodded.</p> + +<p>“When I leave here,” he said.</p> + +<p>Then there was a short silence. Each man seemed to be waiting for the +other to open the negotiations. Eventually it was Mr. Sabin who did so.</p> + +<p>“I have been carefully through the file of papers you sent me,” he +remarked.</p> + +<p>“Yes!”</p> + +<p>“There is no doubt but that, to a certain extent, the anti-English +feeling of which you spoke exists! I have made other inquiries, and so +far I am convinced!”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span></p><p>“So! The seed is sown! It has been sprinkled with a generous hand! +Believe me, my friend, that for this country there are in store very +great surprises. I speak as one who knows! I do know! So!”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin was thoughtful. He looked into the fire and spoke musingly.</p> + +<p>“Yet the ties of kindred and common origin are strong,” he said. “It is +hard to imagine an open rupture between the two great Saxon nations of +the world!”</p> + +<p>“The ties of kindred,” said Mr. Sabin’s visitor, “are not worth the snap +of a finger! So!”</p> + +<p>He snapped his fingers with a report as sharp as a pistol-shot. Mr. +Sabin started in his chair.</p> + +<p>“It is the ties of kindred,” he continued, “which breed irritability, +not kindliness! I tell you, my friend, that there is a great storm +gathering. It is not for nothing that the great hosts of my country are +ruled by a war lord! I tell you that we are arming to the teeth, +silently, swiftly, and with a purpose. It may seem to you a small thing, +but let me tell you this—we are a jealous nation! And we have cause for +jealousy. In whatever part of the world we put down our foot, it is +trodden on by our ubiquitous cousins! Wherever we turn to colonise, we +are too late; England has already secured the finest territory, the most +fruitful of the land. We must either take her leavings or go a-begging! +Wherever we would develope, we are held back by the commercial and +colonising genius—it amounts to that—of this wonderful nation. The +world of to-day is getting cramped. There is no room for a growing +England and a growing Germany! So! one must give way, and Germany is +beginning to mutter that it shall not always be her sons who go to the +wall. You say that France is our natural enemy. I deny it! France is our +historical enemy—nothing else! In military circles to-day a war with +England would be wildly, hysterically popular; and sooner or <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span>later a +war with England is as certain to come as the rising of the sun and the +waning of the moon! I can tell you even now where the first blow will be +struck! It is fixed! It is to come! So!”</p> + +<p>“Not in Europe,” Mr. Sabin said.</p> + +<p>“Not in Europe or in Asia! The war-torch will be kindled in Africa!”</p> + +<p>“The Transvaal!”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin’s visitor smiled.</p> + +<p>“It is in Africa,” he said, “that English monopoly has been most galling +to my nation. We too feel the burden of over-population; we too have our +young blood making itself felt throughout the land, eager, impetuous, +thirsting for adventure and freedom. We need new countries where these +may develop, and at once ease and strengthen our fatherland. I have seen +it written in one of the great English reviews that my country has not +the instinct for colonisation. It is false! We have the instinct and the +desire, but not the opportunity. England is like a great octopus. She is +ever on the alert, thrusting out her suckers, and drawing in for herself +every new land where riches lay. No country has ever been so suitable +for us as Africa, and behold—it is as I have said. Already England has +grabbed the finest and most to be desired of the land—she has it now in +her mind to take one step further and acquire the whole. But my country +has no mind to suffer it! We have played second fiddle to a weaker Power +long enough. We want Africa, my friend, and to my mind and the mind of +my master, Africa is worth having at all costs—listen—even at the cost +of war!”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin was silent for a moment. There was a faint smile upon his +lips. It was a situation such as he loved. He began to feel indeed that +he was making history.</p> + +<p>“You have convinced me,” he said at last. “You have taught me how to +look upon European politics with new <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>eyes. But there remains one +important question. Supposing I break off my negotiations in other +quarters, are you willing to pay my price?”</p> + +<p>The Ambassador waved his hand! It was a trifle!</p> + +<p>“If what you give fulfils your own statements,” he said, “you cannot ask +a price which my master would not pay!”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin moved a little in his chair. His eyes were bright. A faint +tinge of colour was in his olive cheeks.</p> + +<p>“Four years of my life,” he said, “have been given to the perfecting of +one branch only of my design; the other, which is barely completed, is +the work of the only man in England competent to handle such a task. The +combined result will be infallible. When I place in your hands a simple +roll of papers and a small parcel, the future of this country is +absolutely and entirely at your mercy. That is beyond question or doubt. +To whomsoever I give my secret, I give over the destinies of England. +But the price is a mighty one!”</p> + +<p>“Name it,” the Ambassador said quietly. “A million, two millions? Rank? +What is it?”</p> + +<p>“For myself,” Mr. Sabin said, “nothing!”</p> + +<p>The other man started. “Nothing!”</p> + +<p>“Absolutely nothing!”</p> + +<p>The Ambassador raised his hand to his forehead.</p> + +<p>“You confuse me,” he said.</p> + +<p>“My conditions,” Mr. Sabin said, “are these. The conquest of France and +the restoration of the monarchy, in the persons of Prince Henri and his +cousin, Princess Helène of Bourbon!”</p> + +<p>“Ach!”</p> + +<p>The little interjection shot from the Ambassador’s lips with sharp, +staccato emphasis! Then there was a silence—a brief, dramatic silence! +The two men sat motionless, the eyes of each fastened upon the other. +The Ambassador <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>was breathing quickly, and his eyes sparkled with +excitement. Mr. Sabin was pale and calm, yet there were traces of +nervous exhilaration in his quivering lips and bright eyes.</p> + +<p>“Yes, you were right; you were right indeed,” the Ambassador said +slowly. “It is a great price that you ask!”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin laughed very softly.</p> + +<p>“Think,” he said. “Weigh the matter well! Mark first this fact. If what +I give you has not the power I claim for it, our contract is at an end. +I ask for nothing! I accept nothing. Therefore, you may assume that +before you pay my price your own triumph is assured. Think! Reflect +carefully! What will you owe to me! The humiliation of England, the +acquisition of her colonies, the destruction of her commerce, and such a +war indemnity as only the richest power on earth could pay. These things +you gain. Then you are the one supreme Power in Europe. France is at +your mercy! I will tell you why. The Royalist party have been gaining +strength year by year, month by month, minute by minute! Proclaim your +intentions boldly. The country will crumble up before you! It would be +but a half-hearted resistance. France has not the temperament of a +people who will remain for ever faithful to a democratic form of +government. At heart she is aristocratic. The old nobility have a life +in them which you cannot dream of. I know, for I have tested it. It has +been weary waiting, but the time is ripe! France is ready for the cry of +‘<i>Vive le Roi! Vive la Monarchie!</i>’ I who tell you these things have +proved them. I have felt the pulse of my country, and I love her too +well to mistake the symptoms!”</p> + +<p>The Ambassador was listening with greedy ears—he was breathing hard +through his teeth! It was easy to see that the glamour of the thing had +laid hold of him. He foresaw for himself an immortal name, for his +country a greatness <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>beyond the wildest dreams of her most sanguine +ministers. Bismarck himself had planned nothing like this! Yet he did +not altogether lose his common sense.</p> + +<p>“But Russia,” he objected, “she would never sanction a German invasion +of France.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin smiled scornfully.</p> + +<p>“You are a great politician, my dear Baron, and you say a thing like +that! You amaze me! But of course the whole affair is new to you; you +have not thought it out as I have done. Whatever happens in Europe, +Russia will maintain the isolation for which geography and temperament +have marked her out. She would not stir one finger to help France. Why +should she? What could France give her in return? What would she gain by +plunging into an exhausting war? To the core of his heart and the tips +of his finger-nails the Muscovite is selfish! Then, again, consider +this. You are not going to ruin France as you did before; you are going +to establish a new dynasty, and not waste the land or exact a mighty +tribute. Granted that sentiments of friendship exist between Russia and +France, do you not think that Russia would not sooner see France a +monarchy? Do you think that she would stretch out her little finger to +aid a tottering republic and keep back a king from the throne of France? +<i>Mon Dieu!</i> Never!”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin’s face was suddenly illuminated. A fire flashed in his dark +eyes, and a note of fervent passion quivered lifelike in his vibrating +voice. His manner had all the abandon of one pleading a great cause, +nursed by a great heart. He was a patriot or a poet, surely not only a +politician or a mere intriguing adventurer. For a moment he suffered his +enthusiasm to escape him. Then the mask was as suddenly dropped. He was +himself again, calm, convincing, impenetrable.</p> + +<p>As the echoes of his last interjection died away there was a silence +between the two men. It was the Ambassador <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>at last who broke it. He was +looking curiously at his companion.</p> + +<p>“I must confess,” he said slowly, “that you have fascinated me! You have +done more, you have made me see dreams and possibilities which, set down +upon paper, I should have mocked at. Mr. Sabin, I can no longer think of +you as a person—you are a personage! We are here alone, and I am as +secret as the grave; be so kind as to lift the veil of your incognito. I +can no longer think of you as Mr. Sabin. Who are you?”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin smiled a curious smile, and lit a cigarette from the open box +before him.</p> + +<p>“That,” he said, pushing the box across the table, “you may know in good +time if, in commercial parlance, we deal. Until that point is decided, I +am Mr. Sabin. I do not even admit that it is an incognito.”</p> + +<p>“And yet,” the Ambassador said, with a curious lightening of his face, +as though recollection had suddenly been vouchsafed to him, “I fancy +that if I were to call <span style="white-space: nowrap;">you——”</span></p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin’s protesting hand was stretched across the table.</p> + +<p>“Excuse me,” he interrupted, “let it remain between us as it is now! My +incognito is a necessity for the present. Let it continue to be—Mr. +Sabin! Now answer me. All has been said that can be said between us. +What is your opinion?”</p> + +<p>The Ambassador rose from his seat and stood upon the hearthrug with his +back to the fire. There was a streak of colour upon his sallow cheeks, +and his eyes shone brightly underneath his heavy brows. He had removed +his spectacles and was swinging them lightly between his thumb and +forefinger.</p> + +<p>“I will be frank with you,” he said. “My opinion is a favourable one. I +shall apply for leave of absence to-morrow. In a week all that you have +said shall be laid before my master. Such as my personal influence is, +it will <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>be exerted on behalf of the acceptance of your scheme. The +greatest difficulty will be, of course, in persuading the Emperor of its +practicability—in plain words, that what you say you have to offer will +have the importance which you attribute to it.”</p> + +<p>“If you fail in that,” Mr. Sabin said, also rising, “send for me! But +bear this in mind, if my scheme should after all be ineffective, if it +should fail in the slightest detail to accomplish all that I claim for +it, what can you lose? The payment is conditional upon its success; the +bargain is all in your favour. I should not offer such terms unless I +held certain cards. Remember, if there are difficulties send for me!”</p> + +<p>“I will do so,” the Ambassador said as he buttoned his overcoat. “Now +give me a limit of time for our decision.”</p> + +<p>“Fourteen days,” Mr. Sabin said. “How I shall temporise with Lobenski so +long I cannot tell. But I will give you fourteen days from to-day. It is +ample!”</p> + +<p>The two men exchanged farewells and parted. Mr. Sabin, with a cigarette +between his teeth, and humming now and then a few bars from one of +Verdi’s operas, commenced to carefully select a bagful of golf clubs +from a little pile which stood in one corner of the room. Already they +bore signs of considerable use, and he handled them with the care of an +expert, swinging each one gently, and hesitating for some time between a +wooden or a metal putter, and longer still between the rival claims of a +bulger and a flat-headed brassey. At last the bag was full; he resumed +his seat and counted them out carefully.</p> + +<p>“Ten,” he said to himself softly. “Too many; it looks amateurish.”</p> + +<p>Some of the steel heads were a little dull; he took a piece of chamois +leather from the pocket of the bag and began polishing them. As they +grew brighter he whistled softly to himself. This time the opera tune +seemed to have escaped him; he was whistling the “Marseillaise!”</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII</h2> + +<h3>“HE HAS GONE TO THE EMPEROR!”</h3> + +<p>The Ambassador, when he left Mr. Sabin’s house, stepped into a hired +hansom and drove off towards Arlington Street. A young man who had +watched him come out, from the other side of the way, walked swiftly to +the corner of the street and stepped into a private brougham which was +waiting there.</p> + +<p>“To the Embassy,” he said. “Drive fast!”</p> + +<p>The carriage set him down in a few minutes at the house to which Densham +and Harcutt had followed Mr. Sabin on the night of their first meeting +with him. He walked swiftly into the hall.</p> + +<p>“Is his Excellency within?” he asked a tall servant in plain dress who +came forward to meet him.</p> + +<p>“Yes, Monsieur Felix,” the man answered; “he is dining very late +to-night—in fact, he has not yet risen from the table.”</p> + +<p>“Who is with him?” Felix asked.</p> + +<p>“It is a very small party. Madame la Princesse has just arrived from +Paris, and his Excellency has been waiting for her.”</p> + +<p>He mentioned a few more names; there was no one of importance. Felix +walked into the hall-porter’s office and scribbled a few words on half a +sheet of paper, which he placed in an envelope and carefully sealed.</p> + +<p>“Let his Excellency have this privately and at once,” he said to the +man; “I will go into the waiting room.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span></p><p>The man withdrew with the note, and Felix crossed the hall and entered a +small room nearly opposite. It was luxuriously furnished with easy +chairs and divans; there were cigars, and cigarettes, and decanters upon +a round table. Felix took note of none of these things, nor did he sit +down. He stood with his hands behind him, looking steadily into the +fire. His cheeks were almost livid, save for a single spot of burning +colour high up on his cheek-bone. His fingers twitched nervously, his +eyes were dry and restlessly bright. He was evidently in a state of +great excitement. In less than two minutes the door opened, and a tall, +distinguished-looking man, grey headed, but with a moustache still +almost black, came softly into the room. His breast glittered with +orders, and he was in full Court dress. He nodded kindly to the young +man, who greeted him with respect.</p> + +<p>“Is it anything important, Felix?” he asked; “you are looking tired.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, your Excellency, it is important,” Felix answered; “it concerns +the man Sabin.”</p> + +<p>The Ambassador nodded.</p> + +<p>“Well,” he said, “what of him? You have not been seeking to settle +accounts with him, I trust, after our conversation, and your promise?”</p> + +<p>Felix shook his head.</p> + +<p>“No,” he said. “I gave my word and I shall keep it! Perhaps you may some +day regret that you interfered between us.”</p> + +<p>“I think not,” the Prince replied. “Your services are valuable to me, my +dear Felix; and in this country, more than any other, deeds of violence +are treated with scant ceremony, and affairs of honour are not +understood. No, I saved you from yourself for myself. It was an +excellent thing for both of us.”</p> + +<p>“I trust,” Felix repeated, “that your Excellency may <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span>always think so. +But to be brief. The report from Cartienne is to hand.”</p> + +<p>The Ambassador nodded and listened expectantly.</p> + +<p>“He confirms fully,” Felix continued, “the value of the documents which +are in question. How he obtained access to them he does not say, but his +report is absolute. He considers that they justify fully the man Sabin’s +version of them.”</p> + +<p>The Prince smiled.</p> + +<p>“My own judgment is verified,” he said. “I believed in the man from the +first. It is good. By the bye, have you seen anything of Mr. Sabin +to-day?”</p> + +<p>“I have come straight,” Felix said, “from watching his house.”</p> + +<p>“Yes?”</p> + +<p>“The Baron von Knigenstein has been there alone, incognito, for more +than an hour. I watched him go in—and watched him out.”</p> + +<p>The Prince’s genial smile vanished. His face grew suddenly as dark as +thunder. The Muscovite crept out unawares. There was a fierce light in +his eyes, and his face was like the face of a wolf; yet his voice when +he spoke was low.</p> + +<p>“So ho!” he said softly. “Mr. Sabin is doing a little flirting, is he? +Ah!”</p> + +<p>“I believe,” the young man answered slowly, “that he has advanced still +further than that. The Baron was there for an hour. He came out walking +like a young man. He was in a state of great excitement.”</p> + +<p>The Prince sat down and stroked the side of his face thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>“The great elephant!” he muttered. “Fancy such a creature calling +himself a diplomatist! It is well, Felix,” he added, “that I had +finished my dinner, otherwise you would certainly have spoilt it. If +they have met like <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span>this, there is no end to the possibilities of it. I +must see Sabin immediately. It ought to be easy to make him understand +that I am not to be trifled with. Find out where he is to-night, Felix; +I must follow him.”</p> + +<p>Felix took up his hat.</p> + +<p>“I will be back,” he said, “in half an hour.”</p> + +<p>The Prince returned to his guests, and Felix drove off. When he returned +his chief was waiting for him alone.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Sabin,” Felix announced, “left town half an hour ago.”</p> + +<p>“For abroad!” the Prince exclaimed, with flashing eyes. “He has gone to +Germany!”</p> + +<p>Felix shook his head.</p> + +<p>“On the contrary,” he said; “he has gone down into Norfolk to play +golf.”</p> + +<p>“Into Norfolk to play golf!” the Prince repeated in a tone of scornful +wonder. “Did you believe a story like that, Felix? Rubbish!”</p> + +<p>Felix smiled slightly.</p> + +<p>“It is quite true,” he said. “Labanoff makes no mistakes, and he saw him +come out of his house, take his ticket at King’s Cross, and actually +leave the station.”</p> + +<p>“Are you sure that it is not a blind?” the Prince asked incredulously.</p> + +<p>Felix shook his head.</p> + +<p>“It is quite true, your Excellency,” he said. “If you knew the man as +well as I do, you would not be surprised. He is indeed a very +extraordinary person—he does these sort of things. Besides, he wants to +keep out of the way.”</p> + +<p>The Prince’s face darkened.</p> + +<p>“He will find my way a little hard to get out of,” he said fiercely. “Go +and get some dinner, Felix, and then try and find out whether +Knigenstein has any notion of leaving England. He will not trust a +matter like this to correspondence. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>Stay—I know how to manage it. I +will write and ask him to dine here next week. You shall take the +invitation.”</p> + +<p>“He will be at Arlington Street,” Felix remarked.</p> + +<p>“Well, you can take it on to him there,” the Prince directed. “Go first +to his house and ask for his whereabouts. They will tell you Arlington +Street. You will not know, of course, the contents of the letter you +carry; your instructions were simply to deliver it and get an answer. +Good! you will do that.”</p> + +<p>The Prince, while he talked, was writing the note.</p> + +<p>Felix thrust it into his pocket and went out. In less than half an hour +he was back. The Baron had returned to the German Embassy unexpectedly +before going to Arlington Street, and Felix had caught him there. The +Prince tore open the answer, and read it hastily through.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="right"><span style="margin-right: 3em;">“<span class="smcap">The German Embassy</span>,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-right: 1em;">“<i>Wednesday evening.</i></span></p> + +<p>“Alas! my dear Prince, had I been able, nothing could have given me +so much pleasure as to have joined your little party, but, +unfortunately, this wretched climate, which we both so justly +loathe, has upset my throat again, and I have too much regard for +my life to hand myself over to the English doctors. Accordingly, +all being well, I go to Berlin to-morrow night to consult our own +justly-famed Dr. Steinlaus.</p> + +<p>“Accept, my dear Prince, this expression of my most sincere regret, +and believe me, yours most sincerely,</p> + +<p class="right"><span style="margin-right: 1em;">”<span class="smcap">Karl von Knigenstein.</span>”</span></p></div> + +<p>“The doctor whom he has gone to consult is no man of medicine,” the +Prince said thoughtfully. “He has gone to the Emperor.”</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX</h2> + +<h3>WOLFENDEN’S LOVE-MAKING</h3> + +<p>“Lord Wolfenden?”</p> + +<p>He laughed at her surprise, and took off his cap. He was breathless, for +he had been scrambling up the steep side of the hill on which she was +standing, looking steadfastly out to sea. Down in the valley from which +he had come a small boy with a bag of golf clubs on his back was +standing, making imaginary swings at the ball which lay before him.</p> + +<p>“I saw you from below,” he explained. “I couldn’t help coming up. You +don’t mind?”</p> + +<p>“No; I am glad to see you,” she said simply. “You startled me, that is +all. I did not hear you coming, and I had forgotten almost where I was. +I was thinking.”</p> + +<p>He stood by her side, his cap still in his hand, facing the strong sea +wind. Again he was conscious of that sense of extreme pleasure which had +always marked his chance meetings with her. This time he felt perhaps +that there was some definite reason for it. There was something in her +expression, when she had turned so swiftly round, which seemed to tell +him that her first words were not altogether meaningless. She was +looking a little pale, and he fancied also a little sad. There was an +inexpressible wistfulness about her soft, dark eyes; the light and +charming gaiety of her manner, so un-English and so attractive to him, +had given place to quite another mood. Whatever her thoughts might have +been when he had first seen her there, her tall, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span>slim figure outlined +so clearly against the abrupt sky line, they were at all events scarcely +pleasant ones. He felt that his sudden appearance had not been unwelcome +to her, and he was unreasonably pleased.</p> + +<p>“You are still all alone,” he remarked. “Has Mr. Sabin not arrived?”</p> + +<p>She shook her head.</p> + +<p>“I am all alone, and I am fearfully and miserably dull. This place does +not attract me at all: not at this time of the year. I have not heard +from my uncle. He may be here at any moment.”</p> + +<p>There was no time like the present. He was suddenly bold. It was an +opportunity which might never be vouchsafed to him again.</p> + +<p>“May I come with you—a little way along the cliffs?” he asked.</p> + +<p>She looked at him and hesitated. More than ever he was aware of some +subtle change in her. It was as though her mental attitude towards him +had adapted itself in some way to this new seriousness of demeanour. It +was written in her features—his eyes read it eagerly. A certain +aloofness, almost hauteur, about the lines of her mouth, creeping out +even in her most careless tones, and plainly manifest in the carriage of +her head, was absent. She seemed immeasurably nearer to him. She was +softer and more womanly. Even her voice in its new and more delicate +notes betrayed the change. Perhaps it was only a mood, yet he would take +advantage of it.</p> + +<p>“What about your golf?” she said, motioning down into the valley where +his antagonist was waiting.</p> + +<p>“Oh, I can easily arrange that,” he declared cheerfully. “Fortunately I +was playing the professional and he will not mind leaving off.”</p> + +<p>He waved to his caddie, and scribbled a few lines on the back of a card.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span></p><p>“Give that to McPherson,” he said. “You can clean my clubs and put them +in my locker. I shall not be playing again this morning.”</p> + +<p>The boy disappeared down the hill. They stood for a moment side by side.</p> + +<p>“I have spoilt your game,” she said. “I am sorry.”</p> + +<p>He laughed.</p> + +<p>“I think you know,” he said boldly, “that I would rather spend five +minutes with you than a day at golf.”</p> + +<p>She moved on with a smile at the corners of her lips.</p> + +<p>“What a downright person you are!” she said. “But honestly to-day I am +not in the mood to be alone. I am possessed with an uneasy spirit of +sadness. I am afraid of my thoughts.”</p> + +<p>“I am only sorry,” he said, “that you should have any that are not happy +ones. Don’t you think perhaps that you are a little lonely? You seem to +have so few friends.”</p> + +<p>“It is not that,” she answered. “I have many and very dear friends, and +it is only for a little time that I am separated from them. It is simply +that I am not used to solitude, and I am becoming a creature of moods +and presentiments. It is very foolish that I give way to them; but +to-day I am miserable. You must stretch out that strong hand of yours, +my friend, and pull me up.”</p> + +<p>“I will do my best,” he said. “I am afraid I cannot claim that there is +anything in the shape of affinity between us; for to-day I am +particularly happy.”</p> + +<p>She met his eyes briefly, and looked away seawards with the ghost of a +sorrowful smile upon her lips. Her words sounded like a warning.</p> + +<p>“Do not be sure,” she said. “It may not last.”</p> + +<p>“It will last,” he said, “so long as you choose. For to-day you are the +mistress of my moods!”</p> + +<p>“Then I am very sorry for you,” she said earnestly.</p> + +<p>He laughed it off, but her words brought a certain <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>depression with +them. He went on to speak of something else.</p> + +<p>“I have been thinking about you this morning,” he said. “If your uncle +is going to play golf here, it will be very dull for you. Would you care +for my mother to come and see you? She would be delighted, I am sure, +for it is dull for her too, and she is fond of young people. If <span style="white-space: nowrap;">you——”</span></p> + +<p>He stopped short She was shaking her head slowly. The old despondency +was back in her face. Her eyes were full of trouble. She laid her +delicately gloved fingers upon his arm.</p> + +<p>“My friend,” she said, “it is very kind of you to think of it—but it is +impossible. I cannot tell you why as I would wish. But at present I do +not desire any acquaintances. I must not, in fact, think of it. It would +give me great pleasure to know your mother. Only I must not. Believe me +that it is impossible.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden was a little hurt—a good deal mystified. It was a very odd +thing. He was not in the least a snob, but he knew that the visit of the +Countess of Deringham, whose name was still great in the social world, +was not a thing to be refused without grave reasons by a girl in the +position of Mr. Sabin’s niece. The old question came back to him with an +irresistible emphasis. Who were these people? He looked at her +furtively. He was an observant man in the small details of a woman’s +toilette, and he knew that he had never met a girl better turned out +than his present companion. The cut of her tailor-made gown was +perfection, her gloves and boots could scarcely have come from anywhere +but Paris. She carried herself too with a perfect ease and indefinable +distinction which could only have come to her by descent. She was a +perfect type of the woman of breeding—unrestrained, yet aristocratic to +the tips of her finger-nails.</p> + +<p>He sighed as he looked away from her.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span></p><p>“You are a very mysterious young woman,” he said, with a forced air of +gaiety.</p> + +<p>“I am afraid that I am,” she admitted regretfully. “I can assure you +that I am very tired of it. But—it will not last for very much longer.”</p> + +<p>“You are really going away, then?” he asked quickly.</p> + +<p>“Yes. We shall not be in England much longer.”</p> + +<p>“You are going for good?” he asked. “I mean, to remain away?”</p> + +<p>“When we go,” she said, “it is very doubtful if ever I shall set my foot +on English soil again.”</p> + +<p>He drew a quick breath. It was his one chance, then. Her last words must +be his excuse for such precipitation. They had scrambled down through an +opening in the cliffs, and there was no one else in sight. Some instinct +seemed to tell her what was coming. She tried to talk, but she could +not. His hand had closed upon hers, and she had not the strength to draw +it away. It was so very English this sudden wooing. No one had ever +dared to touch her fingers before without first begging permission.</p> + +<p>“Don’t you know—Helène—that I love you? I want you to live in +England—to be my wife. Don’t say that I haven’t a chance. I know that I +ought not to have spoken yet, but you are going away so soon, and I am +so afraid that I might not see you again alone. Don’t stop me, please. I +am not asking you now for your love. I know that it is too soon—to hope +for that—altogether! I only want you to know, and to be allowed to +hope.”</p> + +<p>“You must not. It is impossible.”</p> + +<p>The words were very low, and they came from her quivering with intense +pain. He released her fingers. She leaned upon a huge boulder near and, +resting her face upon her hand, gazed dreamily out to sea.</p> + +<p>“I am very sorry,” she said. “My uncle was right after all. It was not +wise for us to meet. I ought to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>have no friends. It was not wise—it +was very, very foolish.”</p> + +<p>Being a man, his first thoughts had been for himself. But at her words +he forgot everything except that she too was unhappy.</p> + +<p>“Do you mean,” he said slowly, “that you cannot care for me, or that +there are difficulties which seem to you to make it impossible?”</p> + +<p>She looked up at him, and he scarcely knew her transfigured face, with +the tears glistening upon her eyelashes.</p> + +<p>“Do not tempt me to say what might make both of us more unhappy,” she +begged. “Be content to know that I cannot marry you.”</p> + +<p>“You have promised somebody else?”</p> + +<p>“I shall probably marry,” she said deliberately, “somebody else.”</p> + +<p>He ground his heel into the soft sands, and his eyes flashed.</p> + +<p>“You are being coerced!” he cried.</p> + +<p>She lifted her head proudly.</p> + +<p>“There is no person breathing,” she said quietly, “who would dare to +attempt such a thing!”</p> + +<p>Then he looked out with her towards the sea, and they watched the long, +rippling waves break upon the brown sands, the faint and unexpected +gleam of wintry sunshine lying upon the bosom of the sea, and the +screaming seagulls, whose white wings shone like alabaster against the +darker clouds. For him these things were no longer beautiful, nor did he +see the sunlight, which with a sudden fitfulness had warmed the air. It +was all very cold and grey. It was not possible for him to read the +riddle yet—she had not said that she could not care for him. There was +that hope!</p> + +<p>“There is no one,” he said slowly, “who could coerce you? You will not +marry me, but you will probably marry <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span>somebody else. Is it, then, that +you care for this other man, and not for me?”</p> + +<p>She shook her head.</p> + +<p>“Of the two,” she said, with a faint attempt at her old manner, “I +prefer you. Yet I shall marry him.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden became aware of an unexpected sensation. He was getting angry.</p> + +<p>“I have a right,” he said, resting his hand upon her shoulder, and +gaining courage from her evident weakness, “to know more. I have given +you my love. At least you owe me in return your confidence. Let me have +it. You shall see that even if I may not be your lover, I can at least +be your faithful friend.”</p> + +<p>She touched his hand tenderly. It was scarcely kind of her—certainly +not wise. She had taken off her glove, and the touch of her soft, +delicate fingers thrilled him. The blood rushed through his veins like +mad music. The longing to take her into his arms was almost +uncontrollable. Her dark eyes looked upon him very kindly.</p> + +<p>“My friend,” she said, “I know that you would be faithful. You must not +be angry with me. Nay, it is your pity I want. Some day you will know +all. Then you will understand. Perhaps even you will be sorry for me, if +I am not forgotten. I only wish that I could tell you more; only I may +not. It makes me sad to deny you, but I must.”</p> + +<p>“I mean to know,” he said doggedly—“I mean to know everything. You are +sacrificing yourself. To talk of marrying a man whom you do not love is +absurd. Who are you? If you do not tell me, I shall go to your guardian. +I shall go to Mr. Sabin.”</p> + +<p>“Mr. Sabin is always at your service,” said a suave voice almost at his +elbow. “Never more so than at the present.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden turned round with a start. It was indeed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span>Mr. Sabin who stood +there—Mr. Sabin, in unaccustomed guise, clad in a tweed suit and +leaning upon an ordinary walking-stick.</p> + +<p>“Come,” he said good-humouredly, “don’t look at me as though I were +something uncanny. If you had not been so very absorbed you would have +heard me call to you from the cliffs. I wanted to save myself the climb, +but you were deaf, both of you. Am I the first man whose footsteps upon +the sands have fallen lightly? Now, what is it you want to ask me, Lord +Wolfenden?”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden was in no way disturbed at the man’s coming. On the contrary, +he was glad of it. He answered boldly and without hesitation.</p> + +<p>“I want to marry your niece, Mr. Sabin,” he said.</p> + +<p>“Very natural indeed,” Mr. Sabin remarked easily. “If I were a young man +of your age and evident taste I have not the least doubt but that I +should want to marry her myself. I offer you my sincere sympathy. +Unfortunately it is impossible.”</p> + +<p>“I want to know,” Wolfenden said, “why it is impossible? I want a reason +of some sort.”</p> + +<p>“You shall have one with pleasure,” Mr. Sabin said. “My niece is already +betrothed.”</p> + +<p>“To a man,” Wolfenden exclaimed indignantly, “whom she admits that she +does not care for!”</p> + +<p>“Whom she has nevertheless,” Mr. Sabin said firmly, and with a sudden +flash of anger in his eyes, “agreed and promised of her own free will to +marry. Look here, Lord Wolfenden, I do not desire to quarrel with you. +You saved me from a very awkward accident a few nights ago, and I remain +your debtor. Be reasonable! My niece has refused your offer. I confirm +her refusal. Your proposal does us both much honour, but it is utterly +out of the question. That is putting it plainly, is it not? Now, you +must choose for yourself—whether you will drop the subject <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span>and remain +our valued friend, or whether you compel me to ask you to leave us at +once, and consider us henceforth as strangers.”</p> + +<p>The girl laid her hand upon his shoulder and looked at him pleadingly.</p> + +<p>“For my sake,” she said, “choose to remain our friend, and let this be +forgotten.”</p> + +<p>“For your sake, I consent,” he said. “But I give no promise that I will +not at some future time reopen the subject.”</p> + +<p>“You will do so,” Mr. Sabin said, “exactly when you desire to close your +acquaintance with us. For the rest, you have chosen wisely. Now I am +going to take you home, Helène. Afterwards, if Lord Wolfenden will give +me a match, I shall be delighted to have a round of golf with him.”</p> + +<p>“I shall be very pleased,” Wolfenden answered.</p> + +<p>“I will see you at the Pavilion in half an hour,” Mr. Sabin said. “In +the meantime, you will please excuse us. I have a few words to say to my +niece.”</p> + +<p>She held out both her hands, looking at him half kindly, half wistfully.</p> + +<p>“Goodbye,” she said. “I am so sorry!”</p> + +<p>But he looked straight into her eyes, and he answered her bravely. He +would not admit defeat.</p> + +<p>“I hope that you are not,” he said. “I shall never regret it.”</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX</h2> + +<h3>FROM A DIM WORLD</h3> + +<p>Wolfenden was in no particularly cheerful frame of mind when, a few +moments after the half hour was up, Mr. Sabin appeared upon the pavilion +tee, followed by a tall, dark young man carrying a bag of golf clubs. +Mr. Sabin, on the other hand, was inclined to be sardonically cheerful.</p> + +<p>“Your handicap,” he remarked, “is two. Mine is one. Suppose we play +level. We ought to make a good match.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden looked at him in surprise.</p> + +<p>“Did you say one?”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin smiled.</p> + +<p>“Yes; they give me one at Pau and Cannes. My foot interferes very little +with my walking upon turf. All the same, I expect you will find me an +easy victim here. Shall I drive? Just here, Dumayne,” he added, pointing +to a convenient spot upon the tee with the head of his driver. “Not too +much sand.”</p> + +<p>“Where did you get your caddie?” Wolfenden asked. “He is not one of +ours, is he?”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin shook his head.</p> + +<p>“I found him on some links in the South of France,” he answered. “He is +the only caddie I ever knew who could make a decent tee, so I take him +about with me. He valets me as well. That will do nicely, Dumayne.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin’s expression suddenly changed. His body, as though by +instinct, fell into position. He scarcely altered <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span>his stand an inch +from the position he had first taken up. Wolfenden, who had expected a +half-swing, was amazed at the wonderfully lithe, graceful movement with +which he stooped down and the club flew round his shoulder. Clean and +true the ball flew off the tee in a perfectly direct line—a capital +drive only a little short of the two hundred yards. Master and servant +watched it critically.</p> + +<p>“A fairly well hit ball, I think, Dumayne,” Mr. Sabin remarked.</p> + +<p>“You got it quite clean away, sir,” the man answered. “It hasn’t run +very well though; you will find it a little near the far bunker for a +comfortable second.”</p> + +<p>“I shall carry it all right,” Mr. Sabin said quietly.</p> + +<p>Wolfenden also drove a long ball, but with a little slice. He had to +play the odd, and caught the top of the bunker. The hole fell to Mr. +Sabin in four.</p> + +<p>They strolled off towards the second teeing ground.</p> + +<p>“Are you staying down here for long?” Mr. Sabin asked.</p> + +<p>Wolfenden hesitated.</p> + +<p>“I am not sure,” he said. “I am rather oddly situated at home. At any +rate I shall probably be here as long as you.”</p> + +<p>“I am not sure about that,” Mr. Sabin said. “I think that I am going to +like these links, and if so I shall not hurry away. Forgive me if I am +inquisitive, but your reference to home affairs is, I presume, in +connection with your father’s health. I was very sorry to hear that he +is looked upon now as a confirmed invalid.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden assented gravely. He did not wish to talk about his father to +Mr. Sabin. On the other hand, Mr. Sabin was politely persistent.</p> + +<p>“He does not, I presume, receive visitors,” he said, as they left the +tee after the third drive.</p> + +<p>“Never,” Wolfenden answered decisively. “He suffers <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span>a good deal in +various ways, and apart from that he is very much absorbed in the +collection of some statistics connected with a hobby of his. He does not +see even his oldest friends.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin was obviously interested.</p> + +<p>“Many years ago,” he said, “I met your father at Alexandria. He was then +in command of the <i>Victoria</i>. He would perhaps scarcely recollect me +now, but at the time he made me promise to visit him if ever I was in +England. It must be—yes, it surely must be nearly fifteen years ago.”</p> + +<p>“I am afraid,” Wolfenden remarked, watching the flight of his ball after +a successful brassy shot, “that he would have forgotten all about it by +now. His memory has suffered a good deal.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin addressed his own ball, and from a bad lie sent it flying a +hundred and fifty yards with a peculiar, jerking shot which Wolfenden +watched with envy.</p> + +<p>“You must have a wonderful eye,” he remarked, “to hit a ball with a full +swing lying like that. Nine men out of ten would have taken an iron.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin shrugged his shoulders. He did not wish to talk golf.</p> + +<p>“I was about to remark,” he said, “that your father had then the +reputation of, and impressed me as being, the best informed man with +regard to English naval affairs with whom I ever conversed.”</p> + +<p>“He was considered an authority, I believe,” Wolfenden admitted.</p> + +<p>“What I particularly admired about him,” Mr. Sabin continued, “was the +absence of that cocksureness which sometimes, I am afraid, almost blinds +the judgment of your great naval officers. I have heard him even discuss +the possibility of an invasion of England with the utmost gravity. He +admitted that it was far from improbable.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span></p><p>“My father’s views,” Wolfenden said, “have always been pessimistic as +regards the actual strength of our navy and coast defences. I believe he +used to make himself a great nuisance at the Admiralty.”</p> + +<p>“He has ceased now, I suppose,” Mr. Sabin remarked, “to take much +interest in the matter?”</p> + +<p>“I can scarcely say that,” Wolfenden answered. “His interest, however, +has ceased to be official. I daresay you have heard that he was in +command of the Channel Fleet at the time of the terrible disaster in the +Solent. He retired almost immediately afterwards, and we fear that his +health will never altogether recover from the shock.”</p> + +<p>There was a short intermission in the conversation. Wolfenden had sliced +his ball badly from the sixth tee, and Mr. Sabin, having driven as usual +with almost mathematical precision, their ways for a few minutes lay +apart. They came together, however, on the putting-green, and had a +short walk to the next tee.</p> + +<p>“That was a very creditable half to you,” Mr. Sabin remarked.</p> + +<p>“My approach,” Wolfenden admitted, “was a lucky one.”</p> + +<p>“It was a very fine shot,” Mr. Sabin insisted. “The spin helped you, of +course, but you were justified in allowing for that, especially as you +seem to play most of your mashie shots with a cut. What were we talking +about? Oh, I remember of course. It was about your father and the Solent +catastrophe. Admiral Deringham was not concerned with the actual +disaster in any way, was he?”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden shook his hand.</p> + +<p>“Thank God, no!” he said emphatically. “But Admiral Marston was his +dearest friend, and he saw him go down with six hundred of his men. He +was so close that they even shouted farewells to one another.”</p> + +<p>“It must have been a terrible shock,” Mr. Sabin <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span>admitted. “No wonder he +has suffered from it. Now you have spoken of it, I think I remember +reading about his retirement. A sad thing for a man of action, as he +always was. Does he remain in Norfolk all the year round?”</p> + +<p>“He never leaves Deringham Hall,” Wolfenden answered. “He used to make +short yachting cruises until last year, but that is all over now. It is +twelve months since he stepped outside his own gates.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin remained deeply interested.</p> + +<p>“Has he any occupation beyond this hobby of which you spoke?” he asked. +“He rides and shoots a little, I suppose, like the rest of your country +gentlemen.”</p> + +<p>Then for the first time Wolfenden began to wonder dimly whether Mr. +Sabin had some purpose of his own in so closely pursuing the thread of +this conversation. He looked at him keenly. At the moment his attention +seemed altogether directed to the dangerous proximity of his ball and a +tall sand bunker. Throughout his interest had seemed to be fairly +divided between the game and the conversation which he had initiated. +None the less Wolfenden was puzzled. He could scarcely believe that Mr. +Sabin had any real, personal interest in his father, but on the other +hand it was not easy to understand this persistent questioning as to his +occupation and doings. The last inquiry, carelessly though it was asked, +was a direct one. It seemed scarcely worth while to evade it.</p> + +<p>“No; my father has special interests,” he answered slowly. “He is +engaged now upon some work connected with his profession.”</p> + +<p>“Indeed!”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin’s exclamation suggested a curiosity which it was not +Wolfenden’s purpose to gratify. He remained silent. The game proceeded +without remark for a quarter of an hour. Wolfenden was now three down, +and with all <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span>the stimulus of a strong opponent he set himself to +recover lost ground. The ninth hole he won with a fine, long putt, which +Mr. Sabin applauded heartily.</p> + +<p>They drove from the next tee and walked together after their balls, +which lay within a few yards of one another.</p> + +<p>“I am very much interested,” Mr. Sabin remarked, “in what you have been +telling me about your father. It confirms rather a curious story about +Lord Deringham which I heard in London a few weeks ago. I was told, I +forget by whom, that your father had devoted years of his life to a +wonderfully minute study of English coast defences and her naval +strength. My informant went on to say that—forgive me, but this was +said quite openly you know—that whilst on general matters your father’s +mental health was scarcely all that could be desired, his work in +connection with these two subjects was of great value. It struck me as +being a very singular and a very interesting case.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden shook his head dubiously.</p> + +<p>“Your informant was misled, I am afraid,” he said. “My father takes his +hobby very seriously, and of course we humour him. But as regards the +value of his work I am afraid it is worthless.”</p> + +<p>“Have you tested it yourself?” Mr. Sabin asked.</p> + +<p>“I have only seen a few pages,” Wolfenden admitted, “but they were +wholly unintelligible. My chief authority is his own secretary, who is +giving up an excellent place simply because he is ashamed to take money +for assisting in work which he declares to be utterly hopeless.”</p> + +<p>“He is a man,” Mr. Sabin remarked, “whom you can trust, I suppose? His +judgment is not likely to be at fault.”</p> + +<p>“There is not the faintest chance of it,” Wolfenden declared. “He is a +very simple, good-hearted little chap and tremendously conscientious. +What your friend told you, by the bye, reminds me of rather a curious +thing which happened yesterday.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span></p><p>Wolfenden paused. There did not seem, however, to be any reason for +concealment, and his companion was evidently deeply interested.</p> + +<p>“A man called upon us,” Wolfenden continued, “with a letter purporting +to be from our local doctor here. He gave his name as Franklin Wilmot, +the celebrated physician, you know, and explained that he was interested +in a new method of treating mental complaints. He was very plausible and +he explained everything unusual about his visit most satisfactorily. He +wanted a sight of the work on which my father was engaged, and after +talking it over we introduced him into the study during my father’s +absence. From it he promised to give us a general opinion upon the case +and its treatment. Whilst he was there our doctor drove up in hot haste. +The letter was a forgery, the man an impostor.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden, glancing towards Mr. Sabin as he finished his story, was +surprised at the latter’s imperfectly concealed interest. His lips were +indrawn, his face seemed instinct with a certain passionate but finely +controlled emotion. Only the slight hiss of his breath and the gleam of +his black eyes betrayed him.</p> + +<p>“What happened?” he asked. “Did you secure the fellow?”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden played a long shot and waited whilst he watched the run of his +ball. Then he turned towards his companion and shook his head.</p> + +<p>“No! He was a great deal too clever for that. He sent me out to meet +Whitlett, and when we got back he had shown us a clean pair of heels. He +got away through the window.”</p> + +<p>“Did he take away any papers with him?” Mr. Sabin asked.</p> + +<p>“He may have taken a loose sheet or two,” Wolfenden said. “Nothing of +any consequence, I think. He had no <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span>time. I don’t think that that could +have been his object altogether, or he would scarcely have suggested my +remaining with him in the study.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin drew a quick, little breath. He played an iron shot, and +played it very badly.</p> + +<p>“It was a most extraordinary occurrence,” he remarked. “What was the man +like? Did he seem like an ordinary thief?”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden shook his head decidedly.</p> + +<p>“Not in the least,” he declared. “He was well dressed and his manners +were excellent. He had all the appearance of a man of position. He +completely imposed upon both my mother and myself.”</p> + +<p>“How long were you in the study before Dr. Whitlett arrived?” Mr. Sabin +asked.</p> + +<p>“Barely five minutes.”</p> + +<p>It was odd, but Mr. Sabin seemed positively relieved.</p> + +<p>“And Mr. Blatherwick,” he asked, “where was he all the time?”</p> + +<p>“Who?” Wolfenden asked in surprise.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Blatherwick—your father’s secretary,” Mr. Sabin repeated coolly; +“I understood you to say that his name was Blatherwick.”</p> + +<p>“I don’t remember mentioning his name at all,” Wolfenden said, vaguely +disturbed.</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin addressed his ball with care and played it deliberately on to +the green. Then he returned to the subject.</p> + +<p>“I think that you must have done,” he said suavely, “or I should +scarcely have known it. Was he in the room?”</p> + +<p>“All the time,” Wolfenden answered.</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin drew another little breath.</p> + +<p>“He was there when the fellow bolted?”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden nodded.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span></p><p>“Why did he not try to stop him?”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden smiled.</p> + +<p>“Physically,” he remarked, “it would have been an impossibility. +Blatherwick is a small man and an exceedingly nervous one. He is an +honest little fellow, but I am afraid he would not have shone in an +encounter of that sort.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin was on the point of asking another question, but Wolfenden +interrupted him. He scarcely knew why, but he wanted to get away from +the subject. He was sorry that he had ever broached it.</p> + +<p>“Come,” he said, “we are talking too much. Let us play golf. I am sure I +put you off that last stroke.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin took the hint and was silent. They were on the eleventh green, +and bordering it on the far side was an open road—the sea road, which +followed the coast for a mile or two and then turned inland to +Deringham. Wolfenden, preparing to putt, heard wheels close at hand, and +as the stroke was a critical one for him he stood back from his ball +till the vehicle had passed. Glancing carelessly up, he saw his own blue +liveries and his mother leaning back in a barouche. With a word of +apology to his opponent, he started forward to meet her.</p> + +<p>The coachman, who had recognised him, pulled up his horses in the middle +of the road. Wolfenden walked swiftly over to the carriage side. His +mother’s appearance had alarmed him. She was looking at him, and yet +past him. Her cheeks were pale. Her eyes were set and distended. One of +her hands seemed to be convulsively clutching the side of the carriage +nearest to her. She had all the appearance of a woman who is suddenly +face to face with some terrible vision. Wolfenden looked over his +shoulder quickly. He could see nothing more alarming in the background +than the figure of his opponent, who, with his back partly turned to +them, was gazing out to sea. He stood at the edge of the green on +slightly rising ground, and his figure was outlined <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span>with almost curious +distinctness against the background of air and sky.</p> + +<p>“Has anything fresh happened, mother?” Wolfenden asked, with concern. “I +am afraid you are upset. Were you looking for me?”</p> + +<p>She shook her head. It struck him that she was endeavouring to assume a +composure which she assuredly did not possess.</p> + +<p>“No; there is nothing fresh. Naturally I am not well. I am hoping that +the drive will do me good. Are you enjoying your golf?”</p> + +<p>“Very much,” Wolfenden answered. “The course has really been capitally +kept. We are having a close match.”</p> + +<p>“Who is your opponent?”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden glanced behind him carelessly. Mr. Sabin had thrown several +balls upon the green, and was practising long putts.</p> + +<p>“Fellow named Sabin,” he answered. “No one you would be likely to be +interested in. He comes down from London, and he plays a remarkably fine +game. Rather a saturnine-looking personage, isn’t he?”</p> + +<p>“He is a most unpleasant-looking man,” Lady Deringham faltered, white +now to the lips. “Where did you meet him? Here or in London?”</p> + +<p>“In London,” Wolfenden explained. “Rather a curious meeting it was too. +A fellow attacked him coming out of a restaurant one night and I +interfered—just in time. He has taken a little house down here.”</p> + +<p>“Is he alone?” Lady Deringham asked.</p> + +<p>“He has a niece living with him,” Wolfenden answered. “She is a very +charming girl. I think that you would like her.”</p> + +<p>The last words he added with something of an effort, and an indifference +which was palpably assumed. Lady Deringham, however, did not appear to +notice them at all.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span></p><p>“Have no more to do with him than you can help, Wolfenden,” she said, +leaning a little over to him, and speaking in a half-fearful whisper. “I +think his face is awful.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden laughed.</p> + +<p>“I am not likely to see a great deal of him,” he declared. “In fact I +can’t say that he seems very cordially disposed towards me, considering +that I saved him from rather a nasty accident. By the bye, he said +something about having met the Admiral at Alexandria. You have never +come across him, I suppose?”</p> + +<p>The sun was warm and the wind had dropped, or Wolfenden could almost +have declared that his mother’s teeth were chattering. Her eyes were +fixed again in a rigid stare which passed him by and travelled beyond. +He looked over his shoulder. Mr. Sabin, apparently tired of practising, +was standing directly facing them, leaning upon his putter. He was +looking steadfastly at Lady Deringham, not in the least rudely, but with +a faint show of curiosity and a smile which in no way improved his +appearance slightly parting his lips. Meeting his gaze, Wolfenden looked +away with an odd feeling of uneasiness.</p> + +<p>“You are right,” he said. “His face is really a handsome one in a way, +but he certainly is not prepossessing-looking!”</p> + +<p>Lady Deringham had recovered herself. She leaned back amongst the +cushions.</p> + +<p>“Didn’t you ask me,” she said, “whether I had ever met the man? I cannot +remember—certainly I was at Alexandria with your father, so perhaps I +did. You will be home to dinner?”</p> + +<p>He nodded.</p> + +<p>“Of course. How is the Admiral to-day?”</p> + +<p>“Remarkably well. He asked for you just before I came out.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span></p><p>“I shall see him at dinner,” Wolfenden said “Perhaps he will let me +smoke a cigar with him afterwards.”</p> + +<p>He stood away from the carriage and lifted his cap with a smile. The +coachman touched his horses and the barouche rolled on. Wolfenden walked +slowly back to his companion.</p> + +<p>“You will excuse my leaving you,” he said. “I was afraid that my mother +might have been looking for me.”</p> + +<p>“By all means,” Mr. Sabin answered. “I hope that you did not hurry on my +account. I am trying,” he added, “to recollect if ever I met Lady +Deringham. At my time of life one’s reminiscences become so chaotic.”</p> + +<p>He looked keenly at Wolfenden, who answered him after a moment’s +hesitation.</p> + +<p>“Lady Deringham was at Alexandria with my father, so it is just +possible,” he said.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI</h2> + +<h3>HARCUTT’S INSPIRATION</h3> + +<p>Wolfenden lost his match upon the last hole; nevertheless it was a +finely contested game, and when Mr. Sabin proposed a round on the +following day, he accepted without hesitation. He did not like Mr. Sabin +any the better—in fact he was beginning to acquire a deliberate +distrust of him. Something of that fear with which other people regarded +him had already communicated itself to Wolfenden. Without having the +shadow of a definite suspicion with regard to the man or his character, +he was inclined to resent that interest in the state of affairs at +Deringham Hall which Mr. Sabin had undoubtedly manifested. At the same +time he was Helène’s guardian, and so long as he occupied that position +Wolfenden was not inclined to give up his acquaintance.</p> + +<p>They parted in the pavilion, Wolfenden lingering for a few minutes, half +hoping that he might receive some sort of invitation to call at Mr. +Sabin’s temporary abode. Perhaps, under the circumstances, it was +scarcely possible that any such invitation could be given, although had +it been Wolfenden would certainly have accepted it. For he had no idea +of at once relinquishing all hope as regards Helène. He was naturally +sanguine, and he was very much in love. There was something mysterious +about that other engagement of which he had been told. He had an idea +that, but for Mr. Sabin’s unexpected appearance, Helène would <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span>have +offered him a larger share of her confidence. He was content to wait for +it.</p> + +<p>Wolfenden had ridden over from home, and left his horse in the hotel +stables. As he passed the hall a familiar figure standing in the open +doorway hailed him. He glanced quickly up, and stopped short. It was +Harcutt who was standing there, in a Norfolk tweed suit and thick boots.</p> + +<p>“Of all men in the world!” he exclaimed in blank surprise. “What, in the +name of all that’s wonderful, are you doing here?”</p> + +<p>Harcutt answered with a certain doggedness, almost as though he resented +Wolfenden’s astonishment.</p> + +<p>“I don’t know why you should look at me as though I were a ghost,” he +said. “If it comes to that, I might ask you the same question. What are +you doing here?”</p> + +<p>“Oh! I’m at home,” Wolfenden answered promptly. “I’m down to visit my +people; it’s only a mile or two from here to Deringham Hall.”</p> + +<p>Harcutt dropped his eyeglass and laughed shortly.</p> + +<p>“You are wonderfully filial all of a sudden,” he remarked. “Of course +you had no other reason for coming!”</p> + +<p>“None at all,” Wolfenden answered firmly. “I came because I was sent +for. It was a complete surprise to me to meet Mr. Sabin here—at least +it would have been if I had not travelled down with his niece. Their +coming was simply a stroke of luck for me.”</p> + +<p>Harcutt assumed a more amiable expression.</p> + +<p>“I am glad to hear it,” he said. “I thought that you were stealing a +march on me, and there really was not any necessity, for our interests +do not clash in the least. It was different between you and poor old +Densham, but he’s given it up of his own accord and he sailed for India +yesterday.”</p> + +<p>“Poor old chap!” Wolfenden said softly. “He would <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span>not tell you, I +suppose, even at the last, what it was that he had heard about—these +people?”</p> + +<p>“He would not tell me,” Harcutt answered; “but he sent a message to you. +He wished me to remind you that you had been friends for fifteen years, +and he was not likely to deceive you. He was leaving the country, he +said, because he had certain and definite information concerning the +girl, which made it absolutely hopeless for either you or he to think of +her. His advice to you was to do the same.”</p> + +<p>“I do not doubt Densham,” Wolfenden said slowly; “but I doubt his +information. It came from a woman who has been Densham’s friend. Then, +again, what may seem an insurmountable obstacle to him, may not be so to +me. Nothing vague in the shape of warnings will deter me.”</p> + +<p>“Well,” Harcutt said, “I have given you Densham’s message and my +responsibility concerning it is ended. As you know, my own interests lie +in a different direction. Now I want a few minutes’ conversation with +you. The hotel rooms are a little too public. Are you in a hurry, or can +you walk up and down the drive with me once or twice?”</p> + +<p>“I can spare half an hour very well,” Wolfenden said; “but I should +prefer to do no more walking just yet. Come and sit down here—it isn’t +cold.”</p> + +<p>They chose a seat looking over the sea. Harcutt glanced carefully all +around. There was no possibility of their being overheard, nor indeed +was there any one in sight.</p> + +<p>“I am developing fresh instincts,” Harcutt said, as he crossed his legs +and lit a cigarette. “I am here, I should like you to understand, purely +in a professional capacity—and I want your help.”</p> + +<p>“But my dear fellow,” Wolfenden said; “I don’t understand. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span>If, when you +say professionally, you mean as a journalist, why, what on earth in this +place can there be worth the chronicling? There is scarcely a single +person known to society in the neighbourhood.”</p> + +<p>“Mr. Sabin is here!” Harcutt remarked quietly.</p> + +<p>Wolfenden looked at him in surprise.</p> + +<p>“That might have accounted for your presence here as a private +individual,” he said; “but professionally, how on earth can he interest +you?”</p> + +<p>“He interests me professionally very much indeed,” Harcutt answered.</p> + +<p>Wolfenden was getting puzzled.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Sabin interests you professionally?” he repeated slowly. “Then you +have learnt something. Mr. Sabin has an identity other than his own.”</p> + +<p>“I suspect him to be,” Harcutt said slowly, “a most important and +interesting personage. I have learnt a little concerning him. I am here +to learn more; I am convinced that it is worth while.”</p> + +<p>“Have you learnt anything,” Wolfenden asked, “concerning his niece?”</p> + +<p>“Absolutely nothing,” Harcutt answered decidedly. “I may as well repeat +that my interest is in the man alone. I am not a sentimental person at +all. His niece is perhaps the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in +my life, but it is with no thought of her that I have taken up this +investigation. Having assured you of that, I want to know if you will +help me?”</p> + +<p>“You must speak a little more plainly,” Wolfenden said; “you are +altogether too vague. What help do you want, and for what purpose?”</p> + +<p>“Mr. Sabin,” Harcutt said; “is engaged in great political schemes. He is +in constant and anxious communication with the ambassadors of two great +Powers. He affects secrecy in all his movements, and the name by which +he is <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span>known is without doubt an assumed one. This much I have learnt +for certain. My own ideas are too vague yet for me to formulate. I +cannot say any more, except that I believe him to be deep in some design +which is certainly not for the welfare of this country. It is my +assurance of this which justifies me in exercising a certain espionage +upon his movements—which justifies me also, Wolfenden, in asking for +your assistance.”</p> + +<p>“My position,” Wolfenden remarked, “becomes a little difficult. Whoever +this man Sabin may be, nothing would induce me to believe ill of his +niece. I could take no part in anything likely to do her harm. You will +understand this better, Harcutt, when I tell you that, a few hours ago, +I asked her to be my wife.”</p> + +<p>“You asked her—what?”</p> + +<p>“To be my wife.”</p> + +<p>“And she?”</p> + +<p>“Refused me!”</p> + +<p>Harcutt looked at him for a moment in blank amazement.</p> + +<p>“Who refused you—Mr. Sabin or his niece?”</p> + +<p>“Both!”</p> + +<p>“Did she—did Mr. Sabin know your position, did he understand that you +are the future Earl of Deringham?”</p> + +<p>“Without a doubt,” Wolfenden answered drily; “in fact Mr. Sabin seems to +be pretty well up in my genealogy. He had met my father once, he told +me.”</p> + +<p>Harcutt, with the natural selfishness of a man engaged upon his +favourite pursuit, quite forgot to sympathise with his friend. He +thought only of the bearing of this strange happening upon his quest.</p> + +<p>“This,” he remarked, “disposes once and for all of the suggestion that +these people are ordinary adventurers.”</p> + +<p>“If any one,” Wolfenden said, “was ever idiotic enough to entertain the +possibility of such a thing. I may add that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span>from the first I have had +almost to thrust my acquaintance upon them, especially so far as Mr. +Sabin is concerned. He has never asked me to call upon them here, or in +London; and this morning when he found me with his niece he was quietly +but furiously angry.”</p> + +<p>“It is never worth while,” Harcutt said, “to reject a possibility until +you have tested and proved it. What you say, however, settles this one. +They are not adventurers in any sense of the word. Now, will you answer +me a few questions? It may be just as much to your advantage as to mine +to go into this matter.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden nodded.</p> + +<p>“You can ask the questions, at any rate,” he said; “I will answer them +if I can.”</p> + +<p>“The young lady—did she refuse you from personal reasons? A man can +always tell, you know. Hadn’t you the impression, from her answer, that +it was more the force of circumstances than any objection to you which +prompted her negative? I’ve put it bluntly, but you know what I mean.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden did not answer for nearly a minute. He was gazing steadily +seaward, recalling with a swift effort of his imagination every word +which had passed between them—he could even hear her voice, and see her +face with the soft, dark eyes so close to his. It was a luxury of +recollection.</p> + +<p>“I will admit,” he said, quietly, “that what you suggest has already +occurred to me. If it had not, I should be much more unhappy than I am +at this moment. To tell you the honest truth I was not content with her +answer, or rather the manner of it. I should have had some hope of +inducing her to, at any rate, modify it, but for Mr. Sabin’s unexpected +appearance. About him, at least, there was no hesitation; he said no, +and he meant it.”</p> + +<p>“That is what I imagined might be the case,” Harcutt <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span>said thoughtfully. +“I don’t want to have you think that I imagine any disrespect to the +young lady, but don’t you see that either she and Mr. Sabin must stand +towards one another in an equivocal position, or else they must be in +altogether a different station of life to their assumed one, when they +dismiss the subject of an alliance with you so peremptorily.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden flushed up to the temples, and his eyes were lit with fire.</p> + +<p>“You may dismiss all idea of the former possibility,” he said, with +ominous quietness. “If you wish me to discuss this matter with you +further you will be particularly careful to avoid the faintest allusion +to it.”</p> + +<p>“I have never seriously entertained it,” Harcutt assented cheerfully; +“I, too, believe in the girl. She looks at once too proud and too +innocent for any association of such thoughts with her. She has the +bearing and the manners of a queen. Granted, then, that we dismiss the +first possibility.”</p> + +<p>“Absolutely and for ever,” Wolfenden said firmly. “I may add that Mr. +Sabin met me with a distinct reason for his refusal—he informed me his +niece was already betrothed.”</p> + +<p>“That may or may not be true,” Harcutt said. “It does not affect the +question which we are considering at present. We must come to the +conclusion that these are people of considerable importance. That is +what I honestly believe. Now what do you suppose brings Mr. Sabin to +such an out of the way hole as this?”</p> + +<p>“The golf, very likely,” Wolfenden said. “He is a magnificent player.”</p> + +<p>Harcutt frowned.</p> + +<p>“If I thought so,” he said, “I should consider my journey here a wasted +one. But I can’t. He is in the midst of delicate and important +negotiations—I know as <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span>much as that. He would not come down here at +such a time to play golf. It is an absurd idea!”</p> + +<p>“I really don’t see how else you can explain it,” Wolfenden remarked; +“the greatest men have had their hobbies, you know. I need not remind +you of Nero’s fiddle, or Drake’s bowls.”</p> + +<p>“Quite unnecessary,” Harcutt declared briskly. “Frankly, I don’t believe +in Mr. Sabin’s golf. There is somebody or something down here connected +with his schemes; the golf is a subterfuge. He plays well because he +does everything well.”</p> + +<p>“It will tax your ingenuity,” Wolfenden said, “to connect his visit here +with anything in the shape of political schemes.”</p> + +<p>“My ingenuity accepts the task, at any rate,” Harcutt said. “I am going +to find out all about it, and you must help me. It will be for both our +interests.”</p> + +<p>“I am afraid,” Wolfenden answered, “that you are on a wild goose chase. +Still I am quite willing to help you if I can.”</p> + +<p>“Well, to begin then,” Harcutt said; “you have been with him some time +to-day. Did he ask you any questions about the locality? Did he show any +curiosity in any of the residents?”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden shook his head.</p> + +<p>“Absolutely none,” he answered. “The only conversation we had, in which +he showed any interest at all, was concerning my own people. By the bye, +that reminds me! I told him of an incident which occurred at Deringham +Hall last night, and he was certainly interested and curious. I chanced +to look at him at an unexpected moment, and his appearance astonished +me. I have never seen him look so keen about anything before.”</p> + +<p>“Will you tell me the incident at once, please?” Harcutt begged eagerly. +“It may contain the very clue for which <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span>I am hunting. Anything which +interests Mr. Sabin interests me.”</p> + +<p>“There is no secrecy about the matter,” Wolfenden said. “I will tell you +all about it. You may perhaps have heard that my father has been in very +poor health ever since the great Solent disaster. It unfortunately +affected his brain to a certain extent, and he has been the victim of +delusions ever since. The most serious of these is, that he has been +commissioned by the Government to prepare, upon a gigantic scale, a plan +and description of our coast defences and navy. He has a secretary and +typist, and works ten hours a day; but from their report and my own +observations I am afraid the only result is an absolutely unintelligible +chaos. Still, of course, we have to take him seriously, and be thankful +that it is no worse. Now the incident which I told Mr. Sabin was this. +Last night a man called and introduced himself as Dr. Wilmot, the great +mind specialist. He represented that he had been staying in the +neighbourhood, and was on friendly terms with the local medico here, Dr. +Whitlett. My father’s case had been mentioned between them, and he had +become much interested in it. He had a theory of his own for the +investigation of such cases which consisted, briefly of a careful +scrutiny of any work done by the patient. He brought a letter from Dr. +Whitlett and said that if we would procure him a sight of my father’s +most recent manuscripts he would give us an opinion on the case. We +never had the slightest suspicion as to the truth of his statements, and +I took him with me to the Admiral’s study. However, while we were there, +and he was rattling through the manuscripts, up comes Dr. Whitlett, the +local man, in hot haste. The letter was a forgery, and the man an +impostor. He escaped through the window, and got clean away. That is the +story just as I told it to Mr. Sabin. What do you make of it?”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span></p><p>Harcutt stood up, and laid his hand upon the other’s shoulder.</p> + +<p>“Well, I’ve got my clue, that’s all,” he declared; “the thing’s as plain +as sunlight!”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden rose also to his feet.</p> + +<p>“I must be a fool,” he said, “for I certainly can’t see it.”</p> + +<p>Harcutt lowered his tone.</p> + +<p>“Look here, Wolfenden,” he said, “I have no doubt that you are right, +and that your father’s work is of no value; but you may be very sure of +one thing—Mr. Sabin does not think so!”</p> + +<p>“I don’t see what Mr. Sabin has got to do with it,” Wolfenden said.</p> + +<p>Harcutt laughed.</p> + +<p>“Well, I will tell you one thing,” he said; “it is the contents of your +father’s study which has brought Mr. Sabin to Deringham!”</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a>CHAPTER XXII</h2> + +<h3>FROM THE BEGINNING</h3> + +<p>A woman stood, in the midst of a salt wilderness, gazing seaward. Around +her was a long stretch of wet sand and of seaweed-stained rocks, rising +from little pools of water left by the tide; and beyond, the flat, +marshy country was broken only by that line of low cliffs, from which +the little tufts of grass sprouted feebly. The waves which rolled almost +to her feet were barely ripples, breaking with scarcely a visible effort +upon the moist sand. Above, the sky was grey and threatening; only a few +minutes before a cloud of white mist had drifted in from the sea and +settled softly upon the land in the form of rain. The whole outlook was +typical of intense desolation. The only sound breaking the silence, +almost curiously devoid of all physical and animal noises, was the soft +washing of the sand at her feet, and every now and then the jingling of +silver harness, as the horses of her carriage, drawn up on the road +above, tossed their heads and fidgeted. The carriage itself seemed +grotesquely out of place. The coachman, with powdered hair and the dark +blue Deringham livery, sat perfectly motionless, his head bent a little +forward, and his eyes fixed upon his horses’ ears. The footman, by their +side, stood with folded arms, and expression as wooden as though he were +waiting upon a Bond Street pavement. Both were weary, and both would +have liked to vary the monotony by a little conversation; but only a few +yards <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span>away the woman was standing whose curious taste had led her to +visit such a spot.</p> + +<p>Her arms were hanging listlessly by her side, her whole expression, +although her face was upturned towards the sky, was one of intense +dejection. Something about her attitude bespoke a keen and intimate +sympathy with the desolation of her surroundings. The woman was unhappy; +the light in her dark eyes was inimitably sad. Her cheeks were pale and +a little wan. Yet Lady Deringham was very handsome—as handsome as a +woman approaching middle age could hope to be. Her figure was still slim +and elegant, the streaks of grey in her raven black hair were few and +far between. She might have lived hand in hand with sorrow, but it had +done very little to age her. Only a few years ago, in the crowded +ball-room of a palace, a prince had declared her to be the handsomest +woman of her age, and the prince had the reputation of knowing. It was +easy to believe it.</p> + +<p>How long the woman might have lingered there it is hard to say, for +evidently the spot possessed a peculiar fascination for her, and she had +given herself up to a rare fit of abstraction. But some sound—was it +the low wailing of that seagull, or the more distant cry of a hawk, +motionless in mid-air and scarcely visible against the cloudy sky, which +caused her to turn her head inland? And then she saw that the solitude +was no longer unbroken. A dark object had rounded the sandy little +headland, and was coming steadily towards her. She looked at it with a +momentary interest, her skirt raised in her hand, already a few steps +back on her return to the waiting carriage. Was it a man? It was +something human, at any rate, although its progression was slow and +ungraceful, and marked with a peculiar but uniform action. She stood +perfectly still, a motionless figure against the background of wan, +cloud-shadowed sea and gathering twilight, her eyes riveted upon this +strange <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span>thing, her lips slightly parted, her cheeks as pale as death. +Gradually it came nearer and nearer. Her skirt dropped from her +nerveless fingers, her eyes, a moment before dull, with an infinite and +pitiful emptiness, were lit now with a new light. She was not alone, nor +was she unprotected, yet the woman was suffering from a spasm of +terror—one could scarcely imagine any sight revolting enough to call up +that expression of acute and trembling fear, which had suddenly +transformed her appearance. It was as though the level sands had yielded +up their dead—the shipwrecked mariners of generations, and they all, +with white, sad faces and wailing voices, were closing in around her. +Yet it was hard to account for a terror so abject. There was certainly +nothing in the figure, now close at hand, which seemed capable of +inspiring it.</p> + +<p>It was a man with a club foot—nothing more nor less. In fact it was Mr. +Sabin! There was nothing about his appearance, save that ungainly +movement caused by his deformity, in any way singular or threatening. He +came steadily nearer, and the woman who awaited him trembled. Perhaps +his expression was a trifle sardonic, owing chiefly to the extreme +pallor of his skin, and the black flannel clothes with invisible stripe, +which he had been wearing for golf. Yet when he lifted his soft felt hat +from his head and bowed with an ease and effect palpably acquired in +other countries, his appearance was far from unpleasant. He stood there +bare-headed in the twilight, a strangely winning smile upon his dark +face, and his head courteously bent.</p> + +<p>“The most delightful of unexpected meetings,” he murmured. “I am afraid +that I have come upon you like an apparition, dear Lady Deringham! I +must have startled you! Yes, I can see by your face that I did; I am so +sorry. Doubtless you did not know until yesterday that I was in +England.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span></p><p>Lady Deringham was slowly recovering herself. She was white still, even +to the lips, and there was a strange, sick pain at her heart. Yet she +answered him with something of her usual deliberateness, conscious +perhaps that her servants, although their heads were studiously averted, +had yet witnessed with surprise this unexpected meeting.</p> + +<p>“You certainly startled me,” she said; “I had imagined that this was the +most desolate part of all unfrequented spots! It is here I come when I +want to feel absolutely alone. I did not dream of meeting another fellow +creature—least of all people in the world, perhaps, you!”</p> + +<p>“I,” he answered, smiling gently, “was perhaps the better prepared. A +few minutes ago, from the cliffs yonder, I saw your carriage drawn up +here, and I saw you alight. I wanted to speak with you, so I lost no +time in scrambling down on to the sands. You have changed marvellously +little, Lady Deringham!”</p> + +<p>“And you,” she said, “only in name. You are the Mr. Sabin with whom my +son was playing golf yesterday morning?”</p> + +<p>“I am Mr. Sabin,” he answered. “Your son did me a good service a week or +two back. He is a very fine young fellow; I congratulate you.”</p> + +<p>“And your niece,” Lady Deringham asked; “who is she? My son spoke to me +of her last night.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin smiled faintly.</p> + +<p>“Ah! Madame,” he said, “there have been so many people lately who have +been asking me that question, yet to you as to them I must return the +same answer. She is my niece!”</p> + +<p>“You call her?”</p> + +<p>“She shares my name at present.”</p> + +<p>“Is she your daughter?”</p> + +<p>He shook his head sadly.</p> + +<p>“I have never been married,” he said, with an indefinable <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span>mournfulness +in his flexible tones. “I have had neither wife, nor child, nor friend. +It is well for me that I have not!”</p> + +<p>She looked down at his deformity, and woman-like she shivered.</p> + +<p>“It is no better, then?” she murmured, with eyes turned seaward.</p> + +<p>“It is absolutely incurable,” he declared.</p> + +<p>She changed the subject abruptly.</p> + +<p>“The last I heard of you,” she said, “was that you were in China. You +were planning great things there. In ten years, I was told, Europe was +to be at your mercy!”</p> + +<p>“I left Pekin five years ago,” he said. “China is a land of Cabals. She +may yet be the greatest country in the world. I, for one, believe in her +destiny, but it will be in the generations to come. I have no patience +to labour for another to reap the harvest. Then, too, a craving for just +one draught of civilisation brought me westward again. Mongolian habits +are interesting but a little trying.”</p> + +<p>“And what,” she asked, looking at him steadily, “has brought you to +Deringham, of all places upon this earth?”</p> + +<p>He smiled, and with his stick traced a quaint pattern in the sand.</p> + +<p>“I have never told you anything that was not the truth,” he said; “I +will not begin now. I might have told you that I was here by chance, for +change of air, or for the golf. Neither of these things would have been +true. I am here because Deringham village is only a mile or two from +Deringham Hall.”</p> + +<p>She drew a little closer to him. The jingling of harness, as her horses +tossed their heads impatiently, reminded her of the close proximity of +the servants.</p> + +<p>“What do you want of me?” she asked hoarsely.</p> + +<p>He looked at her in mild reproach, a good-humoured smile at the corner +of his lips; yet after all was it good <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span>humour or some curious outward +reflection of the working of his secret thoughts? When he spoke the +reproach, at any rate, was manifest.</p> + +<p>“Want of you! You talk as though I were a blackmailer, or something +equally obnoxious. Is that quite fair, Constance?”</p> + +<p>She evaded the reproach; perhaps she was not conscious of it. It was the +truth she wanted.</p> + +<p>“You had some end in coming here,” she persisted. “What is it? I cannot +conceive anything in the world you have to gain by coming to see me. We +have left the world and society; we live buried. Whatever fresh schemes +you may be planning, there is no way in which we could help you. You are +richer, stronger, more powerful than we. I can think,” she added, “of +only one thing which may have brought you.”</p> + +<p>“And that?” he asked deliberately.</p> + +<p>She looked at him with a certain tremulous wistfulness in her eyes, and +with softening face.</p> + +<p>“It may be,” she said, “that as you grow older you have grown kinder; +you may have thought of my great desire, and you were always generous, +Victor, you may have come to grant it!”</p> + +<p>The slightest possible change passed over his face as his Christian name +slipped from her lips. The firm lines about his mouth certainly relaxed, +his dark eyes gleamed for a moment with a kindlier light. Perhaps at that +minute for both of them came a sudden lifting of the curtain, a +lingering backward glance into the world of their youth, passionate, +beautiful, seductive. There were memories there which still seemed set +to music—memories which pierced even the armour of his equanimity. Her +eyes filled with tears as she looked at him. With a quick gesture she +laid her hand upon his.</p> + +<p>“Believe me, Victor,” she said, “I have always thought <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>of you kindly; +you have suffered terribly for my sake, and your silence was +magnificent. I have never forgotten it.”</p> + +<p>His face clouded over, her impulsive words had been after all ill +chosen, she had touched a sore point! There was something in these +memories distasteful to him. They recalled the one time in his life when +he had been worsted by another man. His cynicism returned.</p> + +<p>“I am afraid,” he said, “that the years, which have made so little +change in your appearance, have made you a sentimentalist. I can assure +you that these old memories seldom trouble me.”</p> + +<p>Then with a lightning-like intuition, almost akin to inspiration, he saw +that he had made a mistake. His best hold upon the woman had been +through that mixture of sentiment and pity, which something in their +conversation had reawakened in her. He was destroying it ruthlessly and +of his own accord. What folly!</p> + +<p>“Bah! I am lying,” he said softly; “why should I? Between you and me, +Constance, there should be nothing but truth. We at least should be +sincere one to the other. You are right, I have brought you something +which should have been yours long ago.”</p> + +<p>She looked at him with wondering eyes.</p> + +<p>“You are going to give me the letters?”</p> + +<p>“I am going to give them to you,” he said. “With the destruction of this +little packet falls away the last link which held us together.”</p> + +<p>He had taken a little bundle of letters, tied with a faded ribbon, from +his pocket and held them out to her. Even in that salt-odorous air the +perfume of strange scents seemed to creep out from those closely written +sheets as they fluttered in the breeze. Lady Deringham clasped the +packet with both hands, and her eyes were very bright and very soft.</p> + +<p>“It is not so, Victor,” she murmured. “There is a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span>new and a stronger +link between us now, the link of my everlasting gratitude. Ah! you were +always generous, always quixotic! Someday I felt sure that you would do +this.”</p> + +<p>“When I left Europe,” he said, “you would have had them, but there was +no trusted messenger whom I could spare. Yet if I had never returned +they were so bestowed that they would have come into your hands with +perfect safety. Even now, Constance, will you think me very weak when I +say that I part with them with regret? They have been with me through +many dangers and many strange happenings.”</p> + +<p>“You are,” she whispered, “the old Victor again! Thank God that I have +had this one glimpse of you! I am ashamed to think how terrified I have +been.”</p> + +<p>She held out her hand impulsively. He took it in his and, with a glance +at her servants, let it fall almost immediately.</p> + +<p>“Constance,” he said, “I am going away now. I have accomplished what I +came for. But first, would you care to do me a small service? It is only +a trifle.”</p> + +<p>A thrill of the old mistrustful fear shook her heart. Half ashamed of +herself she stifled it at once, and strove to answer him calmly.</p> + +<p>“If there is anything within my power which I can do for you, Victor,” +she said, “it will make me very happy. You would not ask me, I know, +unless—<span style="white-space: nowrap;">unless——”</span></p> + +<p>“You need have no fear,” he interrupted calmly; “it is a very little +thing. Do you think that Lord Deringham would know me again after so +many years?”</p> + +<p>“My husband?”</p> + +<p>“Yes!”</p> + +<p>She looked at him in something like amazement. Before she could ask the +question which was framing itself upon her lips, however, they were both +aware of a distant sound, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span>rapidly drawing nearer—the thunder of a +horse’s hoofs upon the soft sand. Looking up they both recognised the +rider at the same instant.</p> + +<p>“It is your son,” Mr. Sabin said quickly; “you need not mind. Leave me +to explain. Tell me when I can find you at home alone?”</p> + +<p>“I am always alone,” she answered. “But come to-morrow.”</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXIII</h2> + +<h3>MR. SABIN EXPLAINS</h3> + +<p>Mr. Sabin and his niece had finished their dinner, and were lingering a +little over an unusually luxurious dessert. Wolfenden had sent some +muscatel grapes and peaches from the forcing houses at Deringham +Hall—such peaches as Covent Garden could scarcely match, and certainly +not excel. Mr. Sabin looked across at Helène as they were placed upon +the table, with a significant smile.</p> + +<p>“An Englishman,” he remarked, pouring himself out a glass of burgundy +and drawing the cigarettes towards him, “never knows when he is beaten. +As a national trait it is magnificent, in private life it is a little +awkward.”</p> + +<p>Helène had been sitting through the meal, still and statuesque in her +black dinner gown, a little more pale than usual, and very silent. At +Mr. Sabin’s remark she looked up quickly.</p> + +<p>“Are you alluding to Lord Wolfenden?” she asked.</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin lit his cigarette, and nodded through the mist of blue smoke.</p> + +<p>“To no less a person,” he answered, with a shade of mockery in his tone. +“I am beginning to find my guardianship no sinecure after all! Do you +know, it never occurred to me, when we concluded our little arrangement, +that I might have to exercise my authority against so ardent a suitor. +You would have found his lordship hard <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span>to get rid of this morning, I am +afraid, but for my opportune arrival.”</p> + +<p>“By no means,” she answered. “Lord Wolfenden is a gentleman, and he was +not more persistent than he had a right to be.”</p> + +<p>“Perhaps,” Mr. Sabin remarked, “you would have been better pleased if I +had not come?”</p> + +<p>“I am quite sure of it,” she admitted; “but then it is so like you to +arrive just at a crisis! Do you know, I can’t help fancying that there +is something theatrical about your comings and goings! You appear—and +one looks for a curtain and a tableau. Where could you have dropped from +this morning?”</p> + +<p>“From Cromer, in a donkey-cart,” he answered smiling. “I got as far as +Peterborough last night, and came on here by the first train. There was +nothing very melodramatic about that, surely!”</p> + +<p>“It does not sound so, certainly. Your playing golf with Lord Wolfenden +afterwards was commonplace enough!”</p> + +<p>“I found Lord Wolfenden very interesting,” Mr. Sabin said thoughtfully. +“He told me a good deal which was important for me to know. I am hoping +that to-night he will tell me more.”</p> + +<p>“To-night! Is he coming here?”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin assented calmly.</p> + +<p>“Yes. I thought you would be surprised. But then you need not see him, +you know. I met him riding upon the sands this afternoon—at rather an +awkward moment, by the bye—and asked him to dine with us.”</p> + +<p>“He refused, of course?”</p> + +<p>“Only the dinner; presumably he doubted our cook, for he asked to be +allowed to come down afterwards. He will be here soon.”</p> + +<p>“Why did you ask him?”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin looked keenly across the table. There <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span>was something in the +girl’s face which he scarcely understood.</p> + +<p>“Well, not altogether for the sake of his company, I must confess,” he +replied. “He has been useful to me, and he is in the position to be a +great deal more so.”</p> + +<p>The girl rose up. She came over and stood before him. Mr. Sabin knew at +once that something unusual was going to happen.</p> + +<p>“You want to make of him,” she said, in a low, intense tone, “what you +make of every one—a tool! Understand that I will not have it!”</p> + +<p>“Helène!”</p> + +<p>The single word, and the glance which flashed from his eyes, was +expressive, but the girl did not falter.</p> + +<p>“Oh! I am weary of it,” she cried, with a little passionate outburst. “I +am sick to death of it all! You will never succeed in what you are +planning. One might sooner expect a miracle. I shall go back to Vienna. +I am tired of masquerading. I have had more than enough of it.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin’s expression did not alter one iota; he spoke as soothingly as +one would speak to a child.</p> + +<p>“I am afraid,” he said quietly, “that it must be dull for you. Perhaps I +ought to have taken you more into my confidence; very well, I will do so +now. Listen: you say that I shall never succeed. On the contrary, I am +on the point of success; the waiting for both of us is nearly over.”</p> + +<p>The prospect startled, but did not seem altogether to enrapture her. She +wanted to hear more.</p> + +<p>“I received this dispatch from London this morning,” he said. “Baron +Knigenstein has left for Berlin to gain the Emperor’s consent to an +agreement which we have already ratified. The affair is as good as +settled; it is a matter now of a few days only.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span></p><p>“Germany!” she exclaimed, incredulously, “I thought it was to be +Russia.”</p> + +<p>“So,” he answered, “did I. I have to make a certain rather humiliating +confession. I, who have always considered myself keenly in touch with +the times, especially since my interest in European matters revived, +have remained wholly ignorant of one of the most extraordinary phases of +modern politics. In years to come history will show us that it was +inevitable, but I must confess that it has come upon me like a thunder +clap. I, like all the world, have looked upon Germany and England as +natural and inevitable allies. That is neither more nor less than a +colossal blunder! As a matter of fact, they are natural enemies!”</p> + +<p>She sank into a chair, and looked at him blankly.</p> + +<p>“But it is impossible,” she cried. “There are all the ties of +relationship, and a common stock. They are sister countries.”</p> + +<p>“Don’t you know,” he said, “that it is the like which irritates and +repels the like. It is this relationship which has been at the root of +the great jealousy, which seems to have spread all through Germany. I +need not go into all the causes of it with you now; sufficient it is to +say that all the recent successes of England have been at Germany’s +expense. There has been a storm brewing for long; to-day, to-morrow, in +a week, surely within a month, it will break.”</p> + +<p>“You may be right,” she said; “but who of all the Frenchwomen I know +would care to reckon themselves the debtors of Germany?”</p> + +<p>“You will owe Germany nothing, for she will be paid and overpaid for all +she does. Russia has made terms with the Republic of France. +Politically, she has nothing to gain by a rupture; but with Germany it +is different. She and France are ready at this moment to fly at one +another’s <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span>throats. The military popularity of such a war would be +immense. The cry to arms would ring from the Mediterranean to the +Rhine.”</p> + +<p>“Oh! I hope that it may not be war,” she said. “I had hoped always that +diplomacy, backed by a waiting army, would be sufficient. France at +heart is true, I know. But after all, it sounds like a fairy tale. You +are a wonderful man, but how can you hope to move nations? What can you +offer Germany to exact so tremendous a price?”</p> + +<p>“I can offer,” Mr. Sabin said calmly, “what Germany desires more than +anything else in the world—the key to England. It has taken me six +years to perfect my schemes. As you know, I was in America part of the +time I was supposed to be in China. It was there, in the laboratory of +Allison, that I commenced the work. Step by step I have moved on—link +by link I have forged the chain. I may say, without falsehood or +exaggeration, that my work would be the work of another man’s lifetime. +With me it has been a labour of love. Your part, my dear Helène, will be +a glorious one; think of it, and shake off your depression. This hole +and corner life is not for long—the time for which we have worked is at +hand.”</p> + +<p>She did not look up, there was no answering fire of enthusiasm in her +dark eyes. The colour came into her cheeks and faded away. Mr. Sabin was +vaguely disturbed.</p> + +<p>“In what way,” she said, without directly looking at him, “is Lord +Wolfenden likely to be useful to you?”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin did not reply for some time, in fact he did not reply at all. +This new phase in the situation was suddenly revealed to him. When he +spoke his tone was grave enough—grave with an undertone of contempt.</p> + +<p>“Is it possible, Helène,” he said, “that you have allowed yourself to +think seriously of the love-making of this young man? I must confess +that such a thing in connection with you would never have occurred to me +in my wildest dreams!”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span></p><p>“I am the mistress of my own affections,” she said coldly. “I am not +pledged to you in any way. If I were to say that I intended to listen +seriously to Lord Wolfenden—even if I were to say that I intended to +marry him—well, there is no one who would dare to interfere! But, on +the other hand, I have refused him. That should be enough for you. I am +not going to discuss the matter at all; you would not understand it.”</p> + +<p>“I must admit,” Mr. Sabin said, “that I probably should not. Of love, as +you young people conceive it, I know nothing. But of that greater +affection—the passionate love of a man for his race and his kind and +his country—well, that has always seemed to me a thing worth living and +working and dying for! I had fancied, Helène, that some spark of that +same fire had warmed your blood, or you would not be here to-day.”</p> + +<p>“I think,” she answered more gently, “that it has. I too, believe me, +love my country and my people and my order. If I do not find these +all-engrossing, you must remember that I am a woman, and I am young; I +do not pretend to be capable only of impersonal and patriotic love.”</p> + +<p>“Ay, you are a woman, and the blood of some of your ancestors will make +itself felt,” he added, looking at her thoughtfully. “I ought to have +considered the influence of sex and heredity. By the bye, have you heard +from Henri lately?”</p> + +<p>She shook her head.</p> + +<p>“Not since he has been in France. We thought that whilst he was there it +would be better for him not to write.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin nodded.</p> + +<p>“Most discreet,” he remarked satirically. “I wonder what Henri would say +if he knew?”</p> + +<p>The girl’s lip curled a little.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span></p><p>“If even,” she said, “there was really something serious for him to +know, Henri would survive it. His is not the temperament for sorrow. For +twenty minutes he would be in a paroxysm. He would probably send out for +poison, which he would be careful not to take; and play with a pistol, +if he were sure that it was not loaded. By dinner time he would be calm, +the opera would soothe him still more, and by the time it was over he +would be quite ready to take Mademoiselle Somebody out to supper. With +the first glass of champagne his sorrow would be drowned for ever. If +any wound remained at all, it would be the wound to his vanity.”</p> + +<p>“You have considered, then, the possibility of upsetting my schemes and +withdrawing your part?” Mr. Sabin said quietly. “You understand that +your marriage with Henri would be an absolute necessity—that without it +all would be chaos?”</p> + +<p>“I do not say that I have considered any such possibility,” she +answered. “If I make up my mind to withdraw, I shall give you notice. +But I will admit that I like Lord Wolfenden, and I detest Henri! Ah! I +know of what you would remind me; you need not fear, I shall not forget! +It will not be to-day, nor to-morrow, that I shall decide.”</p> + +<p>A servant entered the room and announced Lord Wolfenden. Mr. Sabin +looked up.</p> + +<p>“Where have you shown him?” he asked.</p> + +<p>“Into the library, sir,” the girl answered.</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin swore softly between his teeth, and sprang to his feet.</p> + +<p>“Excuse me, Helène,” he exclaimed, “I will bring Lord Wolfenden into the +drawing-room. That girl is an idiot; she has shown him into the one room +in the house which I would not have had him enter for anything in the +world!”</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXIV</h2> + +<h3>THE WAY OF THE WOMAN</h3> + +<p>Wolfenden had been shown, as he supposed, into an empty room by the +servant of whom he had inquired for Mr. Sabin. But the door was scarcely +closed before a familiar sound from a distant corner warned him that he +was not alone. He stopped short and looked fixedly at the slight, +feminine figure whose white fingers were flashing over the keyboard of a +typewriter. There was something very familiar about the curve of her +neck and the waving of her brown hair; her back was to him, and she did +not turn round.</p> + +<p>“Do leave me some cigarettes,” she said, without lifting her head. “This +is frightfully monotonous work. How much more of it is there for me to +do?”</p> + +<p>“I really don’t know,” Wolfenden answered hesitatingly. “Why, Blanche!”</p> + +<p>She swung round in her chair and gazed at him in blank amazement; she +was, at least, as much surprised as he was.</p> + +<p>“Lord Wolfenden!” she exclaimed; “why, what are you doing here?”</p> + +<p>“I might ask you,” he said gravely, “the same question.”</p> + +<p>She stood up.</p> + +<p>“You have not come to see me?”</p> + +<p>He shook his head.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span></p><p>“I had not the least idea that you were here,” he assured her.</p> + +<p>Her face hardened.</p> + +<p>“Of course not. I was an idiot to imagine that you would care enough to +come, even if you had known.”</p> + +<p>“I do not know,” he remarked, “why you should say that. On the +contrary——”</p> + +<p>She interrupted him.</p> + +<p>“Oh! I know what you are going to say. I ran away from Mrs. Selby’s nice +rooms, and never thanked you for your kindness. I didn’t even leave a +message for you, did I? Well, never mind; you know why, I daresay.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden thought that he did, but he evaded a direct answer.</p> + +<p>“What I cannot understand,” he said, “is why you are here.”</p> + +<p>“It is my new situation,” she answered. “I was bound to look for one, +you know. There is nothing strange about it. I advertised for a +situation, and I got this one.”</p> + +<p>He was silent. There were things in connection with this which he +scarcely understood. She watched him with a mocking smile parting her +lips.</p> + +<p>“It is a good deal harder to understand,” she said, “why you are here. +This is the very last house in the world in which I should have thought +of seeing you.”</p> + +<p>“Why?” he asked quickly.</p> + +<p>She shrugged her shoulders; her speech had been scarcely a discreet one.</p> + +<p>“I should not have imagined,” she said, “that Mr. Sabin would have come +within the circle of your friends.”</p> + +<p>“I do not know why he should not,” Wolfenden said. “I consider him a +very interesting man.”</p> + +<p>She smiled upon him.</p> + +<p>“Yes, he is interesting,” she said; “only I should not have thought that +your tastes were at all identical.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span></p><p>“You seem to know a good deal about him,” Wolfenden remarked quietly.</p> + +<p>For a moment an odd light gleamed in her eyes; she was very pale. +Wolfenden moved towards her.</p> + +<p>“Blanche,” he said, “has anything gone wrong with you? You don’t look +well.”</p> + +<p>She withdrew her hands from her face.</p> + +<p>“There is nothing wrong with me,” she said. “Hush! he is coming.”</p> + +<p>She swung round in her seat, and the quick clicking of the instrument +was resumed as her fingers flew over it. The door opened, and Mr. Sabin +entered. He leaned on his stick, standing on the threshold, and glanced +keenly at both of them.</p> + +<p>“My dear Lord Wolfenden,” he said apologetically, “this is the worst of +having country servants. Fancy showing you in here. Come and join us in +the other room; we are just going to have our coffee.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden followed him with alacrity; they crossed the little hall and +entered the dining-room. Helène was still sitting there sipping her +coffee in an easy chair. She welcomed him with outstretched hand and a +brilliantly soft smile. Mr. Sabin, who was watching her closely, +appreciated, perhaps for the first time, her rare womanly beauty, apart +from its distinctly patrician qualities. There was a change, and he was +not the man to be blind to it or to under-rate its significance. He felt +that on the eve of victory he had another and an unexpected battle to +fight; yet he held himself like a brave man and one used to reverses, +for he showed no signs of dismay.</p> + +<p>“I want you to try a glass of this claret, Lord Wolfenden,” he said, +“before you begin your coffee. I know that you are a judge, and I am +rather proud of it. You are not going away, Helène?”</p> + +<p>“I had no idea of going,” she laughed. “This is really <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span>the only +habitable room in the house, and I am not going to let Lord Wolfenden +send me to shiver in what we call the drawing-room.”</p> + +<p>“I should be very sorry if you thought of such a thing,” Wolfenden +answered.</p> + +<p>“If you will excuse me for a moment,” Mr. Sabin said, “I will unpack +some cigarettes. Helène, will you see that Lord Wolfenden has which +liqueur he prefers?”</p> + +<p>He limped away, and Helène watched him leave the room with some +surprise. These were tactics which she did not understand. Was he +already making up his mind that the game could be played without her? +She was puzzled—a little uneasy.</p> + +<p>She turned to find Wolfenden’s admiring eyes fixed upon her; she looked +at him with a smile, half-sad, half-humorous.</p> + +<p>“Let me remember,” she said, “I am to see that you have—what was it? +Oh! liqueurs. We haven’t much choice; you will find Kummel and +Chartreuse on the sideboard, and Benedictine, which my uncle hates, by +the bye, at your elbow.”</p> + +<p>“No liqueurs, thanks,” he said. “I wonder, did you expect me to-night? I +don’t think that I ought to have come, ought I?”</p> + +<p>“Well, you certainly show,” she answered with a smile, “a remarkable +disregard for all precedents and conventions. You ought to be already on +your way to foreign parts with your guns and servants. It is Englishmen, +is it not, who go always to the Rocky Mountains to shoot bears when +their love affairs go wrong?”</p> + +<p>He was watching her closely, and he saw that she was less at her ease +than she would have had him believe. He saw, too, or fancied that he +saw, a softening in her face, a kindliness gleaming out of her lustrous +eyes which suggested new things to him.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span></p><p>“The Rocky Mountains,” he said slowly, “mean despair. A man does not go +so far whilst he has hope.”</p> + +<p>She did not answer him; he gathered courage from her silence.</p> + +<p>“Perhaps,” he said, “I might now have been on my way there but for a +somewhat sanguine disposition—a very strong determination, and,” he +added more softly, “a very intense love.”</p> + +<p>“It takes,” she remarked, “a very great deal to discourage an +Englishman.”</p> + +<p>“Speaking for myself,” he answered, “I defy discouragement; I am proof +against it. I love you so dearly, Helène, that I simply decline to give +you up; I warn you that I am not a lover to be shaken off.”</p> + +<p>His voice was very tender; his words sounded to her simple but strong. +He was so sure of himself and his love. Truly, she thought, for an +Englishman this was no indifferent wooer; his confidence thrilled her; +she felt her heart beat quickly under its sheath of drooping black lace +and roses.</p> + +<p>“I am giving you,” she said quietly, “no hope. Remember that; but I do +not want you to go away.”</p> + +<p>The hope which her tongue so steadfastly refused to speak he gathered +from her eyes, her face, from that indefinable softening which seems to +pervade at the moment of yielding a woman’s very personality. He was +wonderfully happy, although he had the wit to keep it to himself.</p> + +<p>“You need not fear,” he whispered, “I shall not go away.”</p> + +<p>Outside they heard the sound of Mr. Sabin’s stick. She leaned over +towards him.</p> + +<p>“I want you,” she said, “to—kiss me.”</p> + +<p>His heart gave a great leap, but he controlled himself. Intuitively he +knew how much was permitted to him; he <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span>seemed to have even some faint +perception of the cause for her strange request. He bent over and took +her face for a moment between his hands; her lips touched his—she had +kissed him!</p> + +<p>He stood away from her, breathless with the excitement of the moment. +The perfume of her hair, the soft touch of her lips, the gentle movement +with which she had thrust him away, these things were like the drinking +of strong wine to him. Her own cheeks were scarlet; outside the sound of +Mr. Sabin’s stick grew more and more distinct; she smoothed her hair and +laughed softly up at him.</p> + +<p>“At least,” she murmured, “there is that to remember always.”</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXV" id="CHAPTER_XXV"></a>CHAPTER XXV</h2> + +<h3>A HANDFUL OF ASHES</h3> + +<p>The Countess of Deringham was sitting alone in her smaller drawing-room, +gazing steadfastly at a certain spot in the blazing fire before her. A +little pile of grey ashes was all that remained of the sealed packet +which she had placed within the bars only a few seconds ago. She watched +it slowly grow shapeless—piece after piece went fluttering up the broad +chimney. A gentle yet melancholy smile was parting her lips. A chapter +of her life was floating away there with the little trembling strips +lighter than the air, already hopelessly destroyed. Their disintegration +brought with it a sense of freedom which she had lacked for many years. +Yet it was only the folly of a girl, the story of a little foolish +love-making, which those grey, ashen fragments, clinging so tenaciously +to the iron bars, could have unfolded. Lady Deringham was not a woman +who had ever for a single moment had cause to reproach herself with any +real lack of duty to the brave young Englishman whom she had married so +many years ago. It was of those days she was thinking as she sat there +waiting for the caller, whose generosity had set her free.</p> + +<p>At precisely four o’clock there was the sound of wheels in the drive, +the slow movement of feet in the hall, and a servant announced a +visitor.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Sabin.”</p> + +<p>Lady Deringham smiled and greeted him graciously. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span>Mr. Sabin leaned upon +his wonderful stick for a moment, and then bent low over Lady +Deringham’s hand. She pointed to an easy chair close to her own, and he +sank into it with some appearance of weariness. He was looking a little +old and tired, and he carried himself without any of his usual buoyancy.</p> + +<p>“Only a few minutes ago,” she said, “I burnt my letters. I was thinking +of those days in Paris when the man announced you! How old it makes one +feel.”</p> + +<p>He looked at her critically.</p> + +<p>“I am beginning to arrive at the conclusion,” he said, “that the poets +and the novelists are wrong. It is the man who suffers! Look at my grey +hairs!”</p> + +<p>“It is only the art of my maid,” she said smiling, “which conceals mine. +Do not let us talk of the past at all; to think that we lived so long +ago is positively appalling!”</p> + +<p>He shook his head gently.</p> + +<p>“Not so appalling,” he answered, “as the thought of how long we still +have to live! One regrets one’s youth as a matter of course, but the +prospect of old age is more terrible still! Lucky those men and those +women who live and then die. It is that interregnum—the level, +monotonous plain of advancing old age, when one takes the waters at +Carlsbad and looks askance at the <i>entrées</i>—that is what one has to +dread. To watch our own degeneration, the dropping away of our energies, +the decline of our taste—why, the tortures of the Inquisition were +trifles to it!”</p> + +<p>She shuddered a little.</p> + +<p>“You paint old age in dreary colours,” she said.</p> + +<p>“I paint it as it must seem to men who have kept the kernel of life +between their teeth,” he answered carelessly. “To the others—well, one +cares little about them. Most men are like cows, they are contented so +long as they are fed. To that class I daresay old age may seem something +of a rest. But neither you nor I are akin to them.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span></p><p>“You talk as you always talked,” she said. “Mr. Sabin is very like——”</p> + +<p>He stopped her.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Sabin, if you please,” he exclaimed. “I am particularly anxious to +preserve my incognito just now. Ever since we met yesterday I have been +regretting that I did not mention it to you—I do not wish it to be +known that I am in England.”</p> + +<p>“Mr. Sabin it shall be, then,” she answered; “only if I were you I would +have chosen a more musical name.”</p> + +<p>“I wonder—have you by chance spoken of me to your son?” he asked.</p> + +<p>“It is only by chance that I have not,” she admitted. “I have scarcely +seen him alone to-day, and he was out last evening. Do you wish to +remain Mr. Sabin to him also?”</p> + +<p>“To him particularly,” Mr. Sabin declared; “young men are seldom +discreet.”</p> + +<p>Lady Deringham smiled.</p> + +<p>“Wolfenden is not a gossip,” she remarked; “in fact I believe he is +generally considered too reserved.”</p> + +<p>“For the present, nevertheless,” he said, “let me remain Mr. Sabin to +him also. I do not ask you this without a purpose.”</p> + +<p>Lady Deringham bowed her head. This man had a right to ask her more than +such slight favours.</p> + +<p>“You are still,” she said, “a man of mystery and incognitos. You are +still, I suppose, a plotter of great schemes. In the old days you used +to terrify me almost; are you still as daring?”</p> + +<p>“Alas! no,” he answered. “Time is rapidly drawing me towards the great +borderland, and when my foot is once planted there I shall carry out my +theories and make my bow to the world with the best grace a man may +whose life has been one long chorus of disappointments. No! I <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span>have +retired from the great stage; mine is now only a passive occupation. One +returns always, you know, and in a mild way I have returned to the +literary ambitions of my youth. It is in connection, by the bye, with +this that I arrive at the favour which you so kindly promised to grant +me.”</p> + +<p>“If you knew, Victor,” she said, “how grateful I feel towards you, you +would not hesitate to ask me anything within my power to grant.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin toyed with his stick and gazed steadfastly into the fire. He +was pensive for several minutes; then, with the air of a man who +suddenly detaches himself from a not unpleasant train of thought, he +looked up with a smile.</p> + +<p>“I am not going to tax you very severely,” he said. “I am writing a +critical paper on the armaments of the world for a European review. I +had letters of introduction to Mr. C., and he gave me a great deal of +valuable information. There were one or two points, however, on which he +was scarcely clear, and in the course of conversation he mentioned your +husband’s name as being the greatest living authority upon those points. +He offered to give me a letter to him, but I thought it would perhaps +scarcely be wise. I fancied, too, you might be inclined, for reasons +which we need not enlarge upon, to help me.”</p> + +<p>For a simple request Lady Deringham’s manner of receiving it was +certainly strange; she was suddenly white almost to the lips. A look of +positive fear was in her eyes. The frank cordiality, the absolute +kindliness with which she had welcomed her visitor was gone. She looked +at him with new eyes; the old mistrust was born again. Once more he was +the man to be feared and dreaded above all other men; yet she would not +give way altogether. He was watching her narrowly, and she made a brave +effort to regain her composure.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span></p><p>“But do you not know,” she said hesitatingly, “that my husband is a +great invalid? It is a very painful subject for all of us, but we fear +that his mind is not what it used to be. He has never been the same man +since that awful night in the Solent. His work is more of a hobby with +him; it would not be at all reliable for reference.”</p> + +<p>“Not all of it, certainly,” he assented. “Mr. C. explained that to me. +What I want is an opportunity to discriminate. Some would be very useful +to me—the majority, of course, worse than useless. The particular +information which I want concerns the structural defects in some of the +new battleships. It would save an immense amount of time to get this +succinctly.”</p> + +<p>She looked away from him, still agitated.</p> + +<p>“There are difficulties,” she murmured; “serious ones. My husband has an +extraordinary idea as to the value of his own researches, and he is +always haunted by a fear lest some one should break in and steal his +papers. He would not suffer me to glance at them; and the room is too +closely guarded for me to take you there without his knowledge. He is +never away himself, and one of the keepers is stationed outside.”</p> + +<p>“The wit of a woman,” Mr. Sabin said softly, “is all-conquering.”</p> + +<p>“Providing always,” Lady Deringham said, “that the woman is willing. I +do not understand what it all means. Do you know this? Perhaps you do. +There have been efforts made by strangers to break into my husband’s +room. Only a few days ago a stranger came here with a forged letter of +introduction, and obtained access to the Admiral’s library. He did not +come to steal. He came to study my husband’s work; he came, in fact, for +the very purpose which you avow. Only yesterday my son began to take the +same interest in the same thing. The whole of this morning he spent with +his father, under the pretence of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span>helping him; really he was studying +and examining for himself. He has not told me what it is, but he has a +reason for this; he, too, has some suspicions. Now you come, and your +mission is the same. What does it all mean? I will write to Mr. C. +myself; he will come down and advise me.”</p> + +<p>“I would not do that if I were you,” Mr. Sabin said quietly. “Mr. C. +would not thank you to be dragged down here on such an idle errand.”</p> + +<p>“Ay, but would it be an idle errand?” she said slowly. “Victor, be frank +with me. I should hate to refuse anything you asked me. Tell me what it +means. Is my husband’s work of any real value, and if so to whom, and +for what purpose?”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin was gently distressed.</p> + +<p>“My dear Lady Deringham,” he said, “I have told you the exact truth. I +want to get some statistics for my paper. Mr. C. himself recommended me +to try and get them from your husband; that is absolutely all. As for +this attempted robbery of which you were telling me, believe me when I +assure you that I know nothing whatever about it. Your son’s interest +is, after all, only natural. The study of the papers on which your +husband has been engaged is the only reasonable test of his sanity. +Frankly, I cannot believe that any one in Lord Deringham’s mental state +could produce any work likely to be of the slightest permanent value.”</p> + +<p>The Countess sighed.</p> + +<p>“I suppose that I must believe you, Victor,” she said; “yet, +notwithstanding all that you say, I do not know how to help you—my +husband scarcely ever leaves the room. He works there with a revolver by +his side. If he were to find a stranger near his work I believe that he +would shoot him without hesitation.”</p> + +<p>“At night time——”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span></p><p>“At night time he usually sleeps there in an ante-room, and outside +there is a man always watching.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin looked thoughtful.</p> + +<p>“It is only necessary,” he said, “for me to be in the room for about ten +minutes, and I do not need to carry anything away; my memory will serve +me for all that I require. By some means or other I must have that ten +minutes.”</p> + +<p>“You will risk your life,” Lady Deringham said, “for I cannot suggest +any plan; I would help you if I could, but I am powerless.”</p> + +<p>“I must have that ten minutes,” Mr. Sabin said slowly.</p> + +<p>“Must!” Lady Deringham raised her eyebrows. There was a subtle change in +the tone of the man, a note of authority, perhaps even the shadow of a +threat; he noted the effect and followed it up.</p> + +<p>“I mean what I say, Constance,” he declared. “I am not asking you a +great thing; you have your full share of woman’s wit, and you can +arrange this if you like.”</p> + +<p>“But, Victor, be reasonable,” she protested; “suggest a way yourself if +you think it so easy. I tell you that he never leaves the room!”</p> + +<p>“He must be made to leave it.”</p> + +<p>“By force?”</p> + +<p>“If necessary,” Mr. Sabin answered coolly.</p> + +<p>Lady Deringham raised her hand to her forehead and sat thinking. The +man’s growing earnestness bewildered her. What was to be done—what +could she say? After all he was not changed; the old fear of him was +creeping through her veins, yet she made her effort.</p> + +<p>“You want those papers for something more than a magazine article!” she +declared. “There is something behind all this! Victor, I cannot help +you; I am powerless. I will take no part in anything which I cannot +understand.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span></p><p>He stood up, leaning a little upon his stick, the dull, green stone of +which flashed brightly in the firelight.</p> + +<p>“You will help me,” he said slowly. “You will let me into that room at +night, and you will see that your husband is not there, or that he does +not interfere. And as to that magazine article, you are right! What if +it were a lie! I do not fly at small game. Now do you understand?”</p> + +<p>She rose to her feet and drew herself up before him proudly. She towered +above him, handsome, dignified, angry.</p> + +<p>“Victor,” she said firmly, “I refuse; you can go away at once! I will +have no more to say or to do with you! You have given me up my letters, +it is true, yet for that you have no special claim upon my gratitude. A +man of honour would have destroyed them long ago.”</p> + +<p>He looked up at her, and the ghost of an unholy smile flickered upon his +lips.</p> + +<p>“Did I tell you that I had given them all back to you?” he said. “Ah! +that was a mistake; all save one, I should have said! One I kept, in +case—— Well, your sex are proverbially ungrateful, you know. It is the +one on the yellow paper written from Mentone! You remember it? I always +liked it better than any of the others.”</p> + +<p>Her white hands flashed out in the firelight. It seemed almost as though +she must have struck him. He had lied to her! She was not really free; +he was still the master and she his slave! She stood as though turned to +stone.</p> + +<p>“I think,” he said, “that you will listen now to a little plan which has +just occurred to me, will you not?”</p> + +<p>She looked away from him with a shudder.</p> + +<p>“What is it?” she asked hoarsely.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXVI"></a>CHAPTER XXVI</h2> + +<h3>MR. BLATHERWICK AS ST. ANTHONY</h3> + +<p>“I am afraid,” Harcutt said, “that either the letter was a hoax, or the +writer has thought better of the matter. It is half an hour past the +time, and poor Mr. Blatherwick is still alone.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden glanced towards the distant table where his father’s secretary +was already finishing his modest meal.</p> + +<p>“Poor old Blatherwick!” he remarked; “I know he’s awfully relieved. He’s +too nervous for this sort of thing; I believe he would have lost his +head altogether if his mysterious correspondent had turned up.”</p> + +<p>“I suppose,” Harcutt said, “that we may take it for granted that he is +not in the room.”</p> + +<p>“Every soul here,” Wolfenden answered, “is known to me either personally +or by sight. The man with the dark moustache sitting by himself is a +London solicitor who built himself a bungalow here four years ago, and +comes down every other week for golf. The two men in the corner are land +speculators from Norwich; and their neighbour is Captain Stoneham, who +rides over from the barracks twice a week, also for golf.”</p> + +<p>“It is rather a sell for us,” Harcutt remarked. “On the whole I am not +sorry that I have to go back to town to-night. Great Scott! what a +pretty girl!”</p> + +<p>“Lean back, you idiot!” Wolfenden exclaimed softly; “don’t move if you +can help it!”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span></p><p>Harcutt grasped the situation and obeyed at once. The portion of the +dining-room in which they were sitting was little more than a recess, +divided off from the main apartment by heavy curtains and seldom used +except in the summer when visitors were plentiful. Mr. Blatherwick’s +table was really within a few feet of theirs, but they themselves were +hidden from it by a corner of the folding doors. They had chosen the +position with care and apparently with success.</p> + +<p>The girl who had entered the room stood for a moment looking round as +though about to select a table. Harcutt’s exclamation was not without +justification, for she was certainly pretty. She was neatly dressed in a +grey walking suit, and a velvet Tam-o-shanter hat with a smart feather. +Suddenly she saw Mr. Blatherwick and advanced towards him with +outstretched hand and a charming smile.</p> + +<p>“Why, my dear Mr. Blatherwick, what on earth are you doing here?” she +exclaimed. “Have you left Lord Deringham?”</p> + +<p>Mr. Blatherwick rose to his feet confused, and blushing to his +spectacles; he greeted the young lady, however, with evident pleasure.</p> + +<p>“No; that is, not yet,” he answered; “I am leaving this week. I did not +know—I had no idea that you were in the vicinity! I am very pleased to +see you.”</p> + +<p>She looked at the empty place at his table.</p> + +<p>“I was going to have some luncheon,” she said; “I have walked so much +further than I intended and I am ravenously hungry. May I sit at your +table?”</p> + +<p>“With much pleasure,” Mr. Blatherwick assented. “I was expecting +a—a—friend, but he is evidently not coming.”</p> + +<p>“I will take his place then, if I may,” she said, seating herself in the +chair which the waiter was holding for her, and raising her veil. “Will +you order something for me? I am too hungry to mind what it is.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span></p><p>Mr. Blatherwick gave a hesitating order, and the waiter departed. Miss +Merton drew off her gloves and was perfectly at her ease.</p> + +<p>“Now do tell me about the friend whom you were going to meet,” she said, +smiling gaily at him, “I hope—you really must not tell me, Mr. +Blatherwick, that it was a lady!”</p> + +<p>Mr. Blatherwick coloured to the roots of his hair at the mere +suggestion, and hastened to disclaim it.</p> + +<p>“My—my dear Miss Merton!” he exclaimed, “I can assure you that it was +not! I—I should not think of such a thing.”</p> + +<p>She nodded, and began to break up her roll and eat it.</p> + +<p>“I am very glad to hear it, Mr. Blatherwick,” she said; “I warn you that +I was prepared to be very jealous. You used to tell me, you know, that I +was the only girl with whom you cared to talk.”</p> + +<p>“It is—quite true, quite true, Miss Merton,” he answered eagerly, +dropping his voice a little and glancing uneasily over his shoulder. +“I—I have missed you very much indeed; it has been very dull.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Blatherwick sighed; he was rewarded by a very kind glance from a +pair of very blue eyes. He fingered the wine list, and began to wonder +whether she would care for champagne.</p> + +<p>“Now tell me,” she said, “all the news. How are they all at Deringham +Hall—the dear old Admiral and the Countess, and that remarkably silly +young man, Lord Wolfenden?”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden received a kick under the table, and Harcutt’s face positively +beamed with delight. Mr. Blatherwick, however, had almost forgotten +their proximity. He had made up his mind to order champagne.</p> + +<p>“The Ad—Ad—Admiral is well in health, but worse mentally,” he +answered. “I am leaving for that very <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span>reason. I do not conceive that in +fairness to myself I should continue to waste my time in work which can +bring forth no fruit. I trust, Miss Merton, that you agree with me.”</p> + +<p>“Perfectly,” she answered gravely.</p> + +<p>“The Countess,” he continued, “is well, but much worried. There have +been strange hap—hap—happenings at the Hall since you left. Lord +Wolfenden is there. By the bye, Miss Merton,” he added, dropping his +voice, “I do not—not—think that you used to consider Lord Wolfenden so +very silly when you were at Deringham.”</p> + +<p>“It was very dull sometimes—when you were busy, Mr. Blatherwick,” she +answered, beginning her lunch. “I will confess to you that I did try to +amuse myself a little with Lord Wolfenden. But he was altogether too +rustic—too stupid! I like a man with brains!”</p> + +<p>Harcutt produced a handkerchief and stuffed it to his mouth; his face +was slowly becoming purple with suppressed laughter. Mr. Blatherwick +ordered the champagne.</p> + +<p>“I—I was very jealous of him,” he admitted almost in a whisper.</p> + +<p>The blue eyes were raised again very eloquently to his.</p> + +<p>“You had no cause,” she said gently; “and Mr. Blatherwick, haven’t you +forgotten something?”</p> + +<p>Mr. Blatherwick had sipped his glass of champagne, and answered without +a stutter.</p> + +<p>“I have not,” he said, “forgotten you!”</p> + +<p>“You used to call me by my Christian name!”</p> + +<p>“I should be delighted to call you Miss—Blanche for ever,” he said +boldly. “May I?”</p> + +<p>She laughed softly.</p> + +<p>“Well, I don’t quite know about that,” she said; “you may for this +morning, at least. It is so pleasant to see you again. How is the work +getting on?”</p> + +<p>He groaned.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span></p><p>“Don’t ask me, please; it is awful! I am truly glad that I am +leaving—for many reasons!”</p> + +<p>“Have you finished copying those awful details of the defective armour +plates?” she asked, suddenly dropping her voice so that it barely +reached the other side of the table.</p> + +<p>“Only last night,” he answered; “it was very hard work, and so +ridiculous! It went into the box with the rest of the finished work this +morning.”</p> + +<p>“Did the Admiral engage a new typewriter?” she inquired.</p> + +<p>He shook his head.</p> + +<p>“No; he says that he has nearly finished.”</p> + +<p>“I am so glad,” she said. “You have had no temptation to flirt then with +anybody else, have you?”</p> + +<p>“To flirt—with anybody else! Oh! Miss—I mean Blanche. Do you think +that I could do that?”</p> + +<p>His little round face shone with sincerity and the heat of the +unaccustomed wine. His eyes were watering a little, and his spectacles +were dull. The girl looked at him in amusement.</p> + +<p>“I am afraid,” she said, with a sigh, “that you used to flirt with me.”</p> + +<p>“I can assure you, B—B—Blanche,” he declared earnestly, “that I never +said a word to you which I—I did not hon—hon—honestly mean. Blanche, +I should like to ask you something.”</p> + +<p>“Not now,” she interrupted hastily. “Do you know, I fancy that we must +be getting too confidential. That odious man with the eyeglass keeps +staring at us. Tell me what you are going to do when you leave here. You +can ask me—what you were going to, afterwards.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Blatherwick grew eloquent and Blanche was sympathetic. It was quite +half an hour before they rose and prepared to depart.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span></p><p>“I know you won’t mind,” Blanche said to him confidentially, “if I ask +you to leave the hotel first; the people I am with are a little +particular, and it would scarcely do, you see, for us to go out +together.”</p> + +<p>“Certainly,” he replied. “Would you l—like me to leave you here—would +it be better?”</p> + +<p>“You might walk to the door with me, please,” she said. “I am afraid you +must be very disappointed that your friend did not come. Are you not?”</p> + +<p>Mr. Blatherwick’s reply was almost incoherent in its excess of +protestation. They walked down the room together. Harcutt and Wolfenden +look at one another.</p> + +<p>“Well,” the former exclaimed, drinking up his liqueur, “it is a sell!”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” Wolfenden agreed thoughtfully, with his eyes fixed upon the two +departing figures, “it is a sell!”</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVII" id="CHAPTER_XXVII"></a>CHAPTER XXVII</h2> + +<h3>BY CHANCE OR DESIGN</h3> + +<p>Wolfenden sent his phaeton to the station with Harcutt, who had been +summoned back to town upon important business. Afterwards he slipped +back to the hall to wait for its return, and came face to face with Mr. +Blatherwick, who was starting homewards.</p> + +<p>“I was looking for you,” Wolfenden said; “your luncheon party turned out +a little differently to anything we had expected.”</p> + +<p>“I am happy,” Mr. Blatherwick said, “to be able to believe that the +letter was after all a hoax. There was no one in the room, as you would +doubtless observe, likely to be in any way concerned in the matter.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden knocked the ash off his cigarette without replying.</p> + +<p>“You seem,” he remarked, “to be on fairly intimate terms with Miss +Merton.”</p> + +<p>“We were fellow workers for several months,” Mr. Blatherwick reminded +him; “naturally, we saw a good deal of one another.”</p> + +<p>“She is,” Wolfenden continued, “a very charming girl.”</p> + +<p>“I consider her, in every way,” Mr. Blatherwick said with enthusiasm, “a +most delightful young lady. I—I am very much attached to her.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden laid his hand on the secretary’s shoulder.</p> + +<p>“Blatherwick,” he said, “you’re a good fellow, and I like <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span>you. Don’t be +offended at what I am going to say. You must not trust Miss Merton; she +is not quite what she appears to you.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Blatherwick took a step backward, and flushed red with anger.</p> + +<p>“I do not understand you, Lord Wolfenden,” he said. “What do you know of +Miss Merton?”</p> + +<p>“Not very much,” Wolfenden said quietly; “quite enough, though, to +justify me in warning you seriously against her. She is a very clever +young person, but I am afraid a very unscrupulous one.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Blatherwick was grave, almost dignified.</p> + +<p>“Lord Wolfenden,” he said, “you are the son of my employer, but I take +the liberty of telling you that you are a <span style="white-space: nowrap;">l—l——”</span></p> + +<p>“Steady, Blatherwick,” Wolfenden interrupted; “you must not call me +names.”</p> + +<p>“You are not speaking the truth,” Mr. Blatherwick continued, curbing +himself with an effort. “I will not listen to, or—or permit in my +presence any aspersion against that young lady!”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden shook his head gently.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Blatherwick,” he said, “don’t be a fool! You ought to know that I +am not the sort of man to make evil remarks about a lady behind her +back, unless I knew what I was talking about. I cannot at this moment +prove it, but I am morally convinced that Miss Merton came here to-day +at the instigation of the person who wrote to you, and that she only +refrained from making you some offer because she knew quite well that we +were within hearing.”</p> + +<p>“I will not listen to another word, Lord Wolfenden,” Mr. Blatherwick +declared vigorously. “If you are honest, you are cruelly misjudging that +young lady; if not you must know yourself the proper epithet to be +applied to the person who defames an innocent girl behind her <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span>back! I +wish you good afternoon, sir. I shall leave Deringham Hall to-morrow.”</p> + +<p>He strode away, and Wolfenden watched him with a faint, regretful smile +upon his lips. Then he turned round suddenly; a little trill of soft +musical laughter came floating out from a recess in the darkest corner +of the hall. Miss Merton was leaning back amongst the cushions of a +lounge, her eyes gleaming with amusement. She beckoned Wolfenden to her.</p> + +<p>“Quite melodramatic, wasn’t it?” she exclaimed, moving her skirts for +him to sit by her side. “Dear little man! Do you know he wants to marry +me?”</p> + +<p>“What a clever girl you are,” Wolfenden remarked; “really you’d make an +admirable wife for him.”</p> + +<p>She pouted a little.</p> + +<p>“Thank you very much,” she said. “I am not contemplating making any one +an admirable wife; matrimony does not attract me at all.”</p> + +<p>“I don’t know what pleasure you can find in making a fool of a decent +little chap like that,” he said; “it’s too bad of you, Blanche.”</p> + +<p>“One must amuse oneself, and he is so odd and so very much in earnest.”</p> + +<p>“Of course,” Wolfenden continued, “I know that you had another object.”</p> + +<p>“Had I?”</p> + +<p>“You came here to try and tempt the poor little fellow with a thousand +pounds!”</p> + +<p>“I have never,” she interposed calmly, “possessed a thousand shillings +in my life.”</p> + +<p>“Not on your own account, of course: you came on behalf of your +employer, Mr. Sabin, or some one behind him! What is this devilry, +Blanche?”</p> + +<p>She looked at him out of wide-open eyes, but she made no answer.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span></p><p>“So far as I can see,” he remarked, “I must confess that foolery seems a +better term. I cannot imagine anything in my father’s work worth the +concoction of any elaborate scheme to steal. But never mind that; there +is a scheme, and you are in it. Now I will make a proposition to you. It +is a matter of money, I suppose; will you name your terms to come over +to my side?”</p> + +<p>A look crept into her eyes which puzzled him.</p> + +<p>“Over to your side,” she repeated thoughtfully. “Do you mind telling me +exactly what you mean by that?”</p> + +<p>As though by accident the delicate white hand from which she had just +withdrawn her glove touched his, and remained there as though inviting +his clasp. She looked quickly up at him and drooped her eyes. Wolfenden +took her hand, patted it kindly, and replaced it in her lap.</p> + +<p>“Look here, Blanche,” he said, “I won’t affect to misunderstand you; but +haven’t you learnt by this time that adventures are not in my way?—less +now than at any time perhaps.”</p> + +<p>She was watching his face and read its expression with lightning-like +truth.</p> + +<p>“Bah!” she said, “there is no man who would be so brutal as you +unless——”</p> + +<p>“Unless what?”</p> + +<p>“He were in love with another girl!”</p> + +<p>“Perhaps I am, Blanche!”</p> + +<p>“I know that you are.”</p> + +<p>He looked at her quickly.</p> + +<p>“But you do not know with whom?”</p> + +<p>She had not guessed, but she knew now.</p> + +<p>“I think so,” she said; “it is with the beautiful niece of Mr. Sabin! +You have admirable taste.”</p> + +<p>“Never mind about that,” he said; “let us come to my offer. I will give +you a hundred a year for life, settle it upon you, if you will tell me +everything.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span></p><p>“A hundred a year,” she repeated. “Is that much money?”</p> + +<p>“Well, it will cost more than two thousand pound,” he said; “still, I +would like you to have it, and you shall if you will be quite frank with +me.”</p> + +<p>She hesitated.</p> + +<p>“I should like,” she said, “to think it over till to-morrow morning; it +will be better, for supposing I decide to accept, I shall know a good +deal more of this than I know now.”</p> + +<p>“Very well,” he said, “only I should strongly advise you to accept.”</p> + +<p>“One hundred a year,” she repeated thoughtfully. “Perhaps you will have +changed your mind by to-morrow.”</p> + +<p>“There is no fear of it,” he assured her quietly.</p> + +<p>“Write it down,” she said. “I think that I shall agree.”</p> + +<p>“Don’t you trust me, Blanche?”</p> + +<p>“It is a business transaction,” she said coolly; “you have made it one +yourself.”</p> + +<p>He tore a sheet from his pocket-book and scribbled a few lines upon it.</p> + +<p>“Will that do?” he asked her.</p> + +<p>She read it through and folded it carefully up.</p> + +<p>“It will do very nicely,” she said with a quiet smile. “And now I must +go back as quickly as I can.”</p> + +<p>They walked to the hall door; Lord Wolfenden’s carriage had come back +from the station and was waiting for him.</p> + +<p>“How are you going?” he asked.</p> + +<p>She shook her head.</p> + +<p>“I must hire something, I suppose,” she said. “What beautiful horses! Do +you see, Hector remembers me quite well; I used to take bread to him in +the stable when I was at Deringham Hall. Good old man!”</p> + +<p>She patted the horse’s neck. Wolfenden did not like it, but he had no +alternative.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span></p><p>“Won’t you allow me to give you a lift?” he said, with a marked absence +of cordiality in his tone; “or if you would prefer it, I can easily +order a carriage from the hotel.”</p> + +<p>“Oh! I would much rather go with you, if you really don’t mind,” she +said. “May I really?”</p> + +<p>“I shall be very pleased,” he answered untruthfully. “I ought perhaps to +tell you that the horses are very fresh and don’t go well together: they +have a nasty habit of running away down hill.”</p> + +<p>She smiled cheerfully, and lifting her skirts placed a dainty little +foot upon the step.</p> + +<p>“I detest quiet horses,” she said, “and I have been used to being run +away with all my life. I rather like it.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden resigned himself to the inevitable. He took the reins, and +they rattled off towards Deringham. About half-way there, they saw a +little black figure away on the cliff path to the right.</p> + +<p>“It is Mr. Blatherwick,” Wolfenden said, pointing with his whip. “Poor +little chap! I wish you’d leave him alone, Blanche!”</p> + +<p>“On one condition,” she said, smiling up at him, “I will!”</p> + +<p>“It is granted already,” he declared.</p> + +<p>“That you let me drive for just a mile!”</p> + +<p>He handed her the reins at once, and changed seats. From the moment she +took them, he could see that she was an accomplished whip. He leaned +back and lit a cigarette.</p> + +<p>“Blatherwick’s salvation,” he remarked, “has been easily purchased.”</p> + +<p>She smiled rather curiously, but did not reply. A hired carriage was +coming towards them, and her eyes were fixed upon it. In a moment they +swept past, and Wolfenden was conscious of a most unpleasant sensation. +It was Helène, whose dark eyes were glancing from the girl to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span>him in +cold surprise; and Mr. Sabin, who was leaning back by her side wrapped +in a huge fur coat. Blanche looked down at him innocently.</p> + +<p>“Fancy meeting them,” she remarked, touching Hector with the whip. “It +does not matter, does it? You look dreadfully cross!”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden muttered some indefinite reply and threw his cigarette +savagely into the road. After all he was not so sure that Mr. +Blatherwick’s salvation had been cheaply won!</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVIII" id="CHAPTER_XXVIII"></a>CHAPTER XXVIII</h2> + +<h3>A MIDNIGHT VISITOR</h3> + +<p>“Wolf! Wolf!”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden, to whom sleep before the early morning hours was a thing +absolutely impossible, was lounging in his easy chair meditating on the +events of the day over a final cigarette. He had come to his room at +midnight in rather a dejected frame of mind; the day’s happenings had +scarcely gone in his favour. Helène had looked upon him coldly—almost +with suspicion. In the morning he would be able to explain everything, +but in the meantime Blanche was upon the spot, and he had an uneasy +feeling that the girl was his enemy. He had begun to doubt whether that +drive, so natural a thing, as it really happened, was not carefully +planned on her part, with a full knowledge of the fact that they would +meet Mr. Sabin and his niece. It was all the more irritating because +during the last few days he had been gradually growing into the belief +that so far as his suit with Helène was concerned, the girl herself was +not altogether indifferent to him. She had refused him definitely +enough, so far as mere words went, but there were lights in her soft, +dark eyes, and something indefinable, but apparent in her manner, which +had forbidden him to abandon all hope. Yet it was hard to believe that +she was in any way subject to the will of her guardian, Mr. Sabin. In +small things she took no pains to study him; she was evidently not in +the least under his dominion. On the contrary, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span>there was in his manner +towards her a certain deference, as though it were she whose will was +the ruling one between them. As a matter of fact, her appearance and +whole bearing seemed to indicate one accustomed to command. Her family +or connections she had never spoken of to him, yet he had not the +slightest doubt but that she was of gentle birth. Even if it should turn +out that this was not the case, Wolfenden was democratic enough to think +that it made no difference. She was good enough to be his wife. Her +appearance and manners were almost typically aristocratic—whatever +there might be in her present surroundings or in her past which savoured +of mystery, he would at least have staked his soul upon her honesty. He +realised very fully, as he sat there smoking in the early hours of the +morning, that this was no passing fancy of his; she was his first +love—for good or for evil she would be his last. Failure, he said to +himself, was a word which he would not admit in his vocabulary. She was +moving towards him already, some day she should be his! Through the +mists of blue tobacco smoke which hovered around him he seemed, with a +very slight and very pleasant effort of his imagination, to see some +faint visions of her in that more softening mood, the vaguest +recollection of which set his heart beating fast and sent the blood +moving through his veins to music. How delicately handsome she was, how +exquisite the lines of her girlish, yet graceful and queenly figure. +With her clear, creamy skin, soft as alabaster below the red gold of her +hair, the somewhat haughty poise of her small, shapely head, she brought +him vivid recollections of that old aristocracy of France, as one reads +of them now only in the pages of romance or history. She had the grand +air—even the great Queen could not have walked to the scaffold with a +more magnificent contempt of the rabble, whose victim she was. Some more +personal thought came to him; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span>he half closed his eyes and leaned back +in his chair steeped in pleasant thoughts; and then it all came to a +swift, abrupt end, these reveries and pleasant castle-building. He was +back in the present, suddenly recalled in a most extraordinary manner, +to realisation of the hour and place. Surely he could not have been +mistaken! That was a low knocking at his locked door outside; there was +no doubt about it. There it was again! He heard his own name, softly but +unmistakably spoken in a trembling voice. He glanced at his watch, it +was between two and three o’clock; then he walked quickly to the door +and opened it without hesitation. It was his father who stood there +fully dressed, with pale face and angrily burning eyes. In his hand he +carried a revolver. Wolfenden noticed that the fingers which clasped it +were shaking, as though with cold.</p> + +<p>“Father,” Wolfenden exclaimed, “what on earth is the matter?”</p> + +<p>He dropped his voice in obedience to that sudden gesture for silence. +The Admiral answered him in a hoarse whisper.</p> + +<p>“A great deal is the matter! I am being deceived and betrayed in my own +house! Listen!”</p> + +<p>They stood together on the dimly lit landing; holding his breath and +listening intently, Wolfenden was at once aware of faint, distant +sounds. They came from the ground floor almost immediately below them. +His father laid his hand heavily upon Wolfenden’s shoulder.</p> + +<p>“Some one is in the library,” he said. “I heard the door open +distinctly. When I tried to get out I found that the door of my room was +locked; there is treachery here!”</p> + +<p>“How did you get out?” Wolfenden asked.</p> + +<p>“Through the bath-room and down the back stairs; that door was locked +too, but I found a key that fitted it. Come with me. Be careful! Make no +noise!”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span></p><p>They were on their way downstairs now. As they turned the angle of the +broad oak stairway, Wolfenden caught a glimpse of his father’s face, and +shuddered; it was very white, and his eyes were bloodshot and wild, his +forefinger was already upon the trigger of his revolver.</p> + +<p>“Let me have that,” Wolfenden whispered, touching it; “my hand is +steadier than yours.”</p> + +<p>But the Admiral shook his head; he made no answer in words, but the butt +end of the revolver became almost welded into the palm of his hand. +Wolfenden began to feel that they were on the threshold of a tragedy. +They had reached the ground floor now; straight in front of them was the +library door. The sound of muffled movements within the room was +distinctly audible. The Admiral’s breath came fast.</p> + +<p>“Tread lightly, Wolf,” he muttered. “Don’t let them hear us! Let us +catch them red-handed!”</p> + +<p>But the last dozen yards of the way was over white flags tesselated, and +polished like marble. Wolfenden’s shoes creaked; the Admiral’s tip-toe +walk was no light one. There was a sudden cessation of all sounds; they +had been heard! The Admiral, with a low cry of rage, leaped forwards. +Wolfenden followed close behind.</p> + +<p>Even as they crossed the threshold the room was plunged into sudden +darkness; they had but a momentary and partial glimpse of the interior. +Wolfenden saw a dark, slim figure bending forward with his finger still +pressed to the ball of the lamp. The table was strewn with papers, +something—somebody—was fluttering behind the screen yonder. There was +barely a second of light; then with a sharp click the lamp went out, and +the figure of the man was lost in obscurity. Almost simultaneously there +came a flash of level fire and the loud report of the Admiral’s +revolver. There was no groan, so Wolfenden concluded that the man, +whoever he might be, had not been hit. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span>The sound of the report was +followed by a few seconds’ breathless silence. There was no movement of +any sort in the room; only a faint breeze stealing in through the +wide-open windows caused a gentle rustling of the papers with which the +table was strewn, and the curtains swayed gently backwards and forwards. +The Admiral, with his senses all on the alert, stood motionless, the +revolver tense in his hand, his fiercely eager eyes straining to pierce +the darkness. By his side, Wolfenden, equally agitated now, though from +a different reason, stood holding his breath, his head thrust forward, +his eyes striving to penetrate the veil of gloom which lay like a thick +barrier between him and the screen. His fear had suddenly taken to +itself a very real and terrible form. There had been a moment, before +the extinction of the lamp had plunged the room into darkness, when he +had seen, or fancied that he had seen, a woman’s skirts fluttering +there. Up to the present his father’s attention had been wholly riveted +upon the other end of the room; yet he was filled with a nervous dread +lest at any moment that revolver might change its direction. His ears +were strained to the uttermost to catch the slightest sign of any +movement.</p> + +<p>At last the silence was broken; there was a faint movement near the +window, and then again, without a second’s hesitation, there was that +level line of fire and loud report from the Admiral’s revolver. There +was no groan, no sign of any one having been hit. The Admiral began to +move slowly in the direction of the window; Wolfenden remained where he +was, listening intently. He was right, there was a smothered movement +from behind the screen. Some one was moving from there towards the door, +some one with light footsteps and a trailing skirt. He drew back into +the doorway; he meant to let her pass whoever it might be, but he meant +to know who it was. He could hear her hurried breathing; a faint, +familiar perfume, shaken out by the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span>movement of her skirts, puzzled +him; it’s very familiarity bewildered him. She knew that he was there; +she must know it, for she had paused. The position was terribly +critical. A few yards away the Admiral was groping about, revolver in +hand, mumbling to himself a string of terrible threats. The casting of a +shadow would call forth that death-dealing fire. Wolfenden thrust out +his hand cautiously; it fell upon a woman’s arm. She did not cry out, +although her rapid breathing sank almost to a moan. For a moment he was +staggered—the room seemed to be going round with him; he had to bite +his lips to stifle the exclamation which very nearly escaped him. Then +he stood away from the door with a little shudder, and guided her +through it. He heard her footsteps die away along the corridor with a +peculiar sense of relief. Then he thrust his hand into the pocket of his +dinner coat and drew out a box of matches.</p> + +<p>“I am going to strike a light,” he whispered in his father’s ear.</p> + +<p>“Quick, then,” was the reply, “I don’t think the fellow has got away +yet; he must be hiding behind some of the furniture.”</p> + +<p>There was the scratching of a match upon a silver box, a feeble flame +gradually developing into a sure illumination. Wolfenden carefully lit +the lamp and raised it high over his head. The room was empty! There was +no doubt about it! They two were alone. But the window was wide open and +a chair in front of it had been thrown over. The Admiral strode to the +casement and called out angrily—</p> + +<p>“Heggs! are you there? Is no one on duty?”</p> + +<p>There was no answer; the tall sentry-box was empty.</p> + +<p>Wolfenden came over to his father’s side and brought the lamp with him, +and together they leaned out. At first they could see nothing; then +Wolfenden threw off the shade from the lamp and the light fell in a +broad track upon <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span>a dark, motionless figure stretched out upon the turf. +Wolfenden stooped down hastily.</p> + +<p>“My God!” he exclaimed, “it is Heggs! Father, won’t you sound the gong? +We shall have to arouse the house.”</p> + +<p>There was no need. Already the library was half full of hastily dressed +servants, awakened by the sound of the Admiral’s revolver. Pale and +terrified, but never more self-composed, Lady Deringham stepped out to +them in a long, white dressing-gown.</p> + +<p>“What has happened?” she cried. “Who is it, Wolfenden—has your father +shot any one?”</p> + +<p>But Wolfenden shook his head, as he stood for a moment upright, and +looked into his mother’s face.</p> + +<p>“There is a man hurt,” he said; “it is Heggs, I think, but he is not +shot. The evil is not of our doing!”</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIX" id="CHAPTER_XXIX"></a>CHAPTER XXIX</h2> + +<h3>“IT WAS MR. SABIN”</h3> + +<p>It was still an hour or two before dawn. No trace whatever of the +marauders had been discovered either outside the house or within. With +difficulty the Earl had been persuaded to relinquish his smoking +revolver, and had retired to his room. The doors had all been locked, +and two of the most trustworthy servants left in charge of the library. +Wolfenden had himself accompanied his father upstairs and after a few +words with him had returned to his own apartment. With his mother he had +scarcely exchanged a single sentence. Once their eyes had met and he had +immediately looked away. Nevertheless he was not altogether unprepared +for that gentle knocking at his door which came about half an hour after +the house was once more silent.</p> + +<p>He rose at once from his chair—it seemed scarcely a night for +sleep—and opened it cautiously. It was Lady Deringham who stood there, +white and trembling. He held out his hand and she leaned heavily on it +during her passage into the room.</p> + +<p>He wheeled his own easy chair before the fire and helped her into it. +She seemed altogether incapable of speech. She was trembling violently, +and her face was perfectly <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span>bloodless. Wolfenden dropped on his knees by +her side and began chafing her hands. The touch of his fingers seemed to +revive her. She was not already judged then. She lifted her eyes and +looked at him sorrowfully.</p> + +<p>“What do you think of me, Wolfenden?” she asked.</p> + +<p>“I have not thought about it at all,” he answered. “I am only wondering. +You have come to explain everything?”</p> + +<p>She shuddered. Explain everything! That was a task indeed. When the +heart is young and life is a full and generous thing; in the days of +romance, when adventures and love-making come as a natural heritage and +form part of the order of things, then the words which the woman had to +say would have come lightly enough from her lips, less perhaps as a +confession than as a half apologetic narration. But in the days when +youth lies far behind, when its glamour has faded away and nothing but +the bare incidents remain, unbeautified by the full colouring and +exuberance of the springtime of life, the most trifling indiscretions +then stand out like idiotic crimes. Lady Deringham had been a proud +woman—a proud woman all her life. She had borne in society the +reputation of an almost ultra-exclusiveness; in her home life she had +been something of an autocrat. Perhaps this was the most miserable +moment of her life. Her son was looking at her with cold, inquiring +eyes. She was on her defence before him. She bowed her head and spoke:</p> + +<p>“Tell me what you thought, Wolfenden.”</p> + +<p>“Forgive me,” he said, “I could only think that there was robbery, and +that you, for some sufficient reason, I am sure, were aiding. I could +not think anything else, could I?”</p> + +<p>“You thought what was true, Wolfenden,” she whispered. “I was helping +another man to rob your father! It was only a very trifling theft—a +handful of notes from his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span>work for a magazine article. But it was +theft, and I was an accomplice!”</p> + +<p>There was a short silence. Her eyes, seeking steadfastly to read his +face, could make nothing of it.</p> + +<p>“I will not ask you why,” he said slowly. “You must have had very good +reasons. But I want to tell you one thing. I am beginning to have grave +doubts as to whether my father’s state is really so bad as Dr. Whitlett +thinks—whether, in short, his work is not after all really of some +considerable value. There are several considerations which incline me to +take this view.”</p> + +<p>The suggestion visibly disturbed Lady Deringham. She moved in her chair +uneasily.</p> + +<p>“You have heard what Mr. Blatherwick says,” she objected. “I am sure +that he is absolutely trustworthy.”</p> + +<p>“There is no doubt about Blatherwick’s honesty,” he admitted, “but the +Admiral himself says that he dare trust no one, and that for weeks he +has given him no paper of importance to work upon simply for that +reason. It has been growing upon me that we may have been mistaken all +along, that very likely Miss Merton was paid to steal his work, and that +it may possess for certain people, and for certain purposes, a real +technical importance. How else can we account for the deliberate efforts +which have been made to obtain possession of it?”</p> + +<p>“You have spent some time examining it yourself,” she said in a low +tone; “what was your own opinion?”</p> + +<p>“I found some sheets,” he answered, “and I read them very carefully; +they were connected with the various landing-places upon the Suffolk +coast. An immense amount of detail was very clearly given. The currents, +bays, and fortifications were all set out; even the roads and railways +into the interior were dealt with. I compared them afterwards with a map +of Suffolk. They were, so far as one could judge, correct. Of course +this was only a page or <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span>two at random, but I must say it made an +impression upon me.”</p> + +<p>There was another silence, this time longer than before. Lady Deringham +was thinking. Once more, then, the man had lied to her! He was on some +secret business of his own. She shuddered slightly. She had no curiosity +as to its nature. Only she remembered what many people had told her, +that where he went disaster followed. A piece of coal fell into the +grate hissing from the fire. He stooped to pick it up, and catching a +glimpse of her face became instantly graver. He remembered that as yet +he had heard nothing of what she had come to tell him. Her presence in +the library was altogether unexplained.</p> + +<p>“You were very good,” she said slowly; “you stayed what might have been +a tragedy. You knew that I was there, you helped me to escape; yet you +must have known that I was in league with the man who was trying to +steal those papers.”</p> + +<p>“There was no mistake, then! You were doing that. You!”</p> + +<p>“It is true,” she answered. “It was I who let him in, who unlocked your +father’s desk. I was his accomplice!”</p> + +<p>“Who was the man?”</p> + +<p>She did not tell him at once.</p> + +<p>“He was once,” she said, “my lover!”</p> + +<p>“Before——”</p> + +<p>“Before I met your father! We were never really engaged. But he loved +me, and I thought I cared for him. I wrote him letters—the foolish +letters of an impulsive girl. These he has kept. I treated him badly, I +know that! But I too have suffered. It has been the desire of my life to +have those letters. Last night he called here. Before my face he burnt +all but one! That he kept. The price of his returning it to me was my +help—last night.”</p> + +<p>“For what purpose?” Wolfenden asked. “What use did <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span>he propose to make +of the Admiral’s papers if he succeeded in stealing them?”</p> + +<p>She shook her head mournfully.</p> + +<p>“I cannot tell. He answered me at first that he simply needed some +statistics to complete a magazine article, and that Mr. C. himself had +sent him here. If what you tell me of their importance is true, I have +no doubt that he lied.”</p> + +<p>“Why could he not go to the Admiral himself?”</p> + +<p>Lady Deringham’s face was as pale as death, and she spoke with downcast +head, her eyes fixed upon her clenched hands.</p> + +<p>“At Cairo,” she said, “not long after my marriage, we all met. I was +indiscreet, and your father was hot-headed and jealous. They quarrelled +and fought, your father wounded him; he fired in the air. You understand +now that he could not go direct to the Admiral.”</p> + +<p>“I cannot understand,” he admitted, “why you listened to his proposal.”</p> + +<p>“Wolfenden, I wanted that letter,” she said, her voice dying away in +something like a moan. “It is not that I have anything more than folly +to reproach myself with, but it was written—it was the only one—after +my marriage. Just at first I was not very happy with your father. We had +had a quarrel, I forget what about, and I sat down and wrote words which +I have many a time bitterly repented ever having put on paper. I have +never forgotten them—I never shall! I have seen them often in my +happiest moments, and they have seemed to me to be written with letters +of fire.”</p> + +<p>“You have it back now? You have destroyed it?”</p> + +<p>She shook her head wearily.</p> + +<p>“No, I was to have had it when he had succeeded; I had not let him in +five minutes when you disturbed us.”</p> + +<p>“Tell me the man’s name.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span></p><p>“Why?”</p> + +<p>“I will get you the letter.”</p> + +<p>“He would not give it you. You could not make him.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden’s eyes flashed with a sudden fire.</p> + +<p>“You are mistaken,” he said. “The man who holds for blackmail over a +woman’s head, a letter written twenty years ago, is a scoundrel! I will +get that letter from him. Tell me his name!”</p> + +<p>Lady Deringham shuddered.</p> + +<p>“Wolfenden, it would bring trouble! He is dangerous. Don’t ask me. At +least I have kept my word to him. It was not my fault that we were +disturbed. He will not molest me now.”</p> + +<p>“Mother, I will know his name!”</p> + +<p>“I cannot tell it you!”</p> + +<p>“Then I will find it out; it will not be difficult. I will put the whole +matter in the hands of the police. I shall send to Scotland Yard for a +detective. There are marks underneath the window. I picked up a man’s +glove upon the library floor. A clever fellow will find enough to work +upon. I will find this blackguard for myself, and the law shall deal +with him as he deserves.”</p> + +<p>“Wolfenden, have mercy! May I not know best? Are my wishes, my prayers, +nothing to you?”</p> + +<p>“A great deal, mother, yet I consider myself also a judge as to the +wisest course to pursue. The plan which I have suggested may clear up +many things. It may bring to light the real object of this man. It may +solve the mystery of that impostor, Wilmot. I am tired of all this +uncertainty. We will have some daylight. I shall telegraph to-morrow +morning to Scotland Yard.”</p> + +<p>“Wolfenden, I beseech you!”</p> + +<p>“So also do I beseech you, mother, to tell me that man’s name. Great +heavens!”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden sprang suddenly from his chair with startled <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span>face. An idea, +slow of coming, but absolutely convincing from its first conception, had +suddenly flashed home to him. How could he have been so blind? He stood +looking at his mother in fixed suspense. The light of his knowledge was +in his face, and she saw it. She had been dreading this all the while.</p> + +<p>“It was Mr. Sabin!—the man who calls himself Sabin!”</p> + +<p>A little moan of despair crept out from her lips. She covered her face +with her hands and sobbed.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXX" id="CHAPTER_XXX"></a>CHAPTER XXX</h2> + +<h3>THE GATHERING OF THE WAR-STORM</h3> + +<p>Mr. Sabin, entering his breakfast-room as usual at ten o’clock on the +following morning, found, besides the usual pile of newspapers and +letters, a telegram, which had arrived too late for delivery on the +previous evening. He opened it in leisurely fashion whilst he sipped his +coffee. It was handed in at the Charing Cross Post Office, and was +signed simply “K.”:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>“Just returned. When can you call and conclude arrangements? Am +anxious to see you. Read to-night’s paper.—K.”</p></div> + +<p>The telegram slipped from Mr. Sabin’s fingers. He tore open the <i>St. +James’s Gazette</i>, and a little exclamation escaped from his lips as he +saw the thick black type which headed the principal columns:—</p> + +<h3>“EXTRAORDINARY TELEGRAM OF THE GERMAN<br /> +EMPEROR TO MOENIG!<br /> +<br /> +GERMAN SYMPATHY WITH THE REBELS!</h3> + +<h4><span class="smcap">Warships Ordered to Delamere Bay!</span><br /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Great Excitement on the Stock Exchange!</span>”</h4> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span></p><p>Mr. Sabin’s breakfast remained untasted. He read every word in the four +columns, and then turned to the other newspapers. They were all ablaze +with the news. England’s most renowned ally had turned suddenly against +her. Without the slightest warning the fire-brand of war had been +kindled, and waved threateningly in our very faces. The occasion was +hopelessly insignificant. A handful of English adventurers, engaged in a +somewhat rash but plucky expedition in a distant part of the world, had +met with a sharp reverse. In itself the affair was nothing; yet it bade +fair to become a matter of international history. Ill-advised though +they may have been, the Englishmen carried with them a charter granted +by the British Government. There was no secret about it—the fact was +perfectly understood in every Cabinet of Europe. Yet the German Emperor +had himself written a telegram congratulating the State which had +repelled the threatened attack. It was scarcely an invasion—it was +little more than a demonstration on the part of an ill-treated section +of the population! The fact that German interests were in no way +concerned—that any outside interference was simply a piece of +gratuitous impertinence—only intensified the significance of the +incident. A deliberate insult had been offered to England; and the man +who sat there with the paper clenched in his hand, whilst his keen eyes +devoured the long columns of wonder and indignation, knew that his had +been the hand which had hastened the long-pent-up storm. He drew a +little breath when he had finished, and turned to his breakfast.</p> + +<p>“Is Miss Sabin up yet?” he asked the servant, who waited upon him.</p> + +<p>The man was not certain, but withdrew to inquire. He reappeared almost +directly. Miss Sabin had been up for more than an hour. She had just +returned from a walk, and had ordered breakfast to be served in her +room.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span></p><p>“Tell her,” Mr. Sabin directed, “that I should be exceedingly obliged if +she would take her coffee with me. I have some interesting news.”</p> + +<p>The man was absent for several minutes. Before he returned Helène came +in. Mr. Sabin greeted her with his usual courtesy and even more than his +usual cordiality.</p> + +<p>“You are missing the best part of the morning with your Continental +habits,” she exclaimed brightly. “I have been out on the cliffs since +half-past eight. The air is delightful.”</p> + +<p>She threw off her hat, and going to the sideboard, helped herself to a +cup of coffee. There was a becoming flush upon her cheeks—her hair was +a little tossed by the wind. Mr. Sabin watched her curiously.</p> + +<p>“You have not, I suppose, seen a morning paper—or rather last night’s +paper?” he remarked.</p> + +<p>She shook her head.</p> + +<p>“A newspaper! You know that I never look at an English one,” she +answered. “You wanted to see me, Reynolds said. Is there any news?”</p> + +<p>“There is great news,” he answered. “There is such news that by sunset +to-day war will probably be declared between England and Germany!”</p> + +<p>The flush died out of her cheeks. She faced him pallid to the lips.</p> + +<p>“It is not possible!” she exclaimed.</p> + +<p>“So the whole world would have declared a week ago! As a matter of fact +it is not so sudden as we imagine! The storm has been long brewing! It +is we who have been blind. A little black spot of irritation has spread +and deepened into a war-cloud.”</p> + +<p>“This will affect us?” she asked.</p> + +<p>“For us,” he answered, “it is a triumph. It is the end of our schemes, +the climax of our desires. When Knigenstein came to me I knew that he +was in earnest, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span>but I never dreamed that the torch was so nearly +kindled. I see now why he was so eager to make terms with me.”</p> + +<p>“And you,” she said, “you have their bond?”</p> + +<p>For a moment he looked thoughtful.</p> + +<p>“Not yet. I have their promise—the promise of the Emperor himself. But +as yet my share of the bargain is incomplete. There must be no more +delay. It must be finished now—at once. That telegram would never have +been sent from Berlin but for their covenant with me. It would have been +better, perhaps, had they waited a little time. But one cannot tell! The +opportunity was too good to let slip.”</p> + +<p>“How long will it be,” she asked, “before your work is complete?”</p> + +<p>His face clouded over. In the greater triumph he had almost forgotten +the minor difficulties of the present. He was a diplomatist and a +schemer of European fame. He had planned great things, and had +accomplished them. Success had been on his side so long that he might +almost have been excused for declining to reckon failure amongst the +possibilities. The difficulty which was before him now was as trifling +as the uprooting of a hazel switch after the conquest of a forest of +oaks. But none the less for the moment he was perplexed. It was hard, in +the face of this need for urgent haste, to decide upon the next step.</p> + +<p>“My work,” he said slowly, “must be accomplished at once. There is very +little wanted. Yet that little, I must confess, troubles me.”</p> + +<p>“You have not succeeded, then, in obtaining what you want from Lord +Deringham?”</p> + +<p>“No.”</p> + +<p>“Will he not help you at all?”</p> + +<p>“Never.”</p> + +<p>“How, then, do you mean to get at these papers of his?”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span></p><p>“At present,” he replied, “I scarcely know. In an hour or two I may be +able to tell you. It is possible that it might take me twenty-four +hours; certainly no longer than that.”</p> + +<p>She walked to the window, and stood there with her hands clasped behind +her back. Mr. Sabin had lit a cigarette and was smoking it thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>Presently she spoke to him.</p> + +<p>“You will get them,” she said; “yes, I believe that. In the end you will +succeed, as you have succeeded in everything.”</p> + +<p>There was a lack of enthusiasm in her tone. He looked up quietly, and +flicked the ash from the end of his cigarette.</p> + +<p>“You are right,” he said. “I shall succeed. My only regret is that I +have made a slight miscalculation. It will take longer than I imagined. +Knigenstein will be in a fever, and I am afraid that he will worry me. +At the same time he is himself to blame. He has been needlessly +precipitate.”</p> + +<p>She turned away from the window and stood before him. She had a look in +her face which he had seen there but once before, and the memory of +which had ever since troubled him.</p> + +<p>“I want you,” she said, “to understand this. I will not have any direct +harm worked upon the Deringhams. If you can get what they have and what +is necessary to us by craft—well, very good. If not, it must go! I will +not have force used. You should remember that Lord Wolfenden saved your +life! I will have nothing to do with any scheme which brings harm upon +them!”</p> + +<p>He looked at her steadily. A small spot of colour was burning high up on +his pallid cheeks. The white, slender fingers, toying carelessly with +one of the breakfast appointments, were shaking. He was very near being +passionately angry.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span></p><p>“Do you mean,” he said, speaking slowly and enunciating every word with +careful distinctness, “do you mean that you would sacrifice or even +endanger the greatest cause which has ever been conceived in the heart +of the patriot, to the whole skin of a household of English people? I +wonder whether you realise the position as it stands at this moment. I +am bound in justice to you to believe that you do not. Do you realise +that Germany has closed with our offer, and will act at our behest; that +only a few trifling sheets of paper stand between us and the fullest, +the most glorious success? Is it a time, do you think, for scruples or +for maudlin sentiment? If I were to fail in my obligations towards +Knigenstein I should not only be dishonoured and disgraced, but our +cause would be lost for ever. The work of many years would crumble into +ashes. My own life would not be worth an hour’s purchase. Helène, you +are mad! You are either mad, or worse!”</p> + +<p>She faced him quite unmoved. It was more than ever apparent that she was +not amongst those who feared him.</p> + +<p>“I am perfectly sane,” she said, “and I am very much in earnest. Ours +shall be a strategic victory, or we will not triumph at all. I believe +that you are planning some desperate means of securing those papers. I +repeat that I will not have it!”</p> + +<p>He looked at her with curling lips.</p> + +<p>“Perhaps,” he said, “it is I who have gone mad! At least I can scarcely +believe that I am not dreaming. Is it really you, Helène of Bourbon, the +descendant of kings, a daughter of the rulers of France, who falters and +turns pale at the idea of a little blood, shed for her country’s sake? I +am very much afraid,” he added with biting sarcasm, “that I have not +understood you. You bear the name of a great queen, but you have the +heart of a serving-maid! It is Lord Wolfenden for whom you fear!”</p> + +<p>She was not less firm, but her composure was affected. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span>The rich colour +streamed into her cheeks. She remained silent.</p> + +<p>“For a betrothed young lady,” he said slowly, “you will forgive me if I +say that your anxiety is scarcely discreet. What you require, I suppose, +is a safe conduct for your lover. I wonder how Henri <span style="white-space: nowrap;">would——”</span></p> + +<p>She flashed a glance and an interjection upon him which checked the +words upon his lips. The gesture was almost a royal one. He was +silenced.</p> + +<p>“How dare you, sir?” she exclaimed. “You are taking insufferable +liberties. I do not permit you to interfere in my private concerns. +Understand that even if your words were true, if I choose to have a +lover it is my affair, not yours. As for Henri, what has he to complain +of? Read the papers and ask yourself that! They chronicle his doings +freely enough! He is singularly discreet, is he not?—singularly +faithful!”</p> + +<p>She threw at him a glance of contempt and turned as though to leave the +room. Mr. Sabin, recognising the fact that the situation was becoming +dangerous, permitted himself no longer the luxury of displaying his +anger. He was quite himself again, calm, judicial, incisive.</p> + +<p>“Don’t go away, please,” he said. “I am sorry that you have read those +reports—more than sorry that you should have attached any particular +credence to them. As you know, the newspapers always exaggerate; in many +of the stories which they tell I do not believe that there is a single +word of truth. But I will admit that Henri has not been altogether +discreet. Yet he is young, and there are many excuses to be made for +him. Apart from that, the whole question of his behaviour is beside the +question. Your marriage with him was never intended to be one of +affection. He is well enough in his way, but there is not the stuff in +him to make a man worthy of your love. Your alliance with him is simply +a necessary link in the chain of our great undertaking. Between you you +will represent the two royal <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span>families of France. That is what is +necessary. You must marry him, but afterwards—well, you will be a +queen!”</p> + +<p>Again he had erred. She looked at him with bent brows and kindling eyes.</p> + +<p>“Oh! you are hideously cynical!” she exclaimed. “I may be ambitious, but +it is for my country’s sake. If I reign, the Court of France shall be of +a new type; we will at least show the world that to be a Frenchwoman is +not necessarily to abjure morals.”</p> + +<p>He shrugged his shoulders.</p> + +<p>“That,” he said, “will be as you choose. You will make your Court what +you please. Personally, I believe that you are right. Such sentiments as +you have expressed, properly conveyed to them, would make yours abjectly +half the bourgeois of France! Be as ambitious as you please, but at +least be sensible. Do not think any more of this young Englishman, not +at any rate at present. Nothing but harm can come of it. He is not like +the men of our own country, who know how to take a lady’s dismissal +gracefully.”</p> + +<p>“He is, at least, a man!”</p> + +<p>“Helène, why should we discuss him? He shall come to no harm at my +hands. Be wise, and forget him. He can be nothing whatever to you. You +know that. You are pledged to greater things.”</p> + +<p>She moved back to her place by the window. Her eyes were suddenly soft, +her face was sorrowful. She did not speak, and he feared her silence +more than her indignation. When a knock at the door came he was grateful +for the interruption—grateful, that is, until he saw who it was upon +the threshold. Then he started to his feet with a little exclamation.</p> + +<p>“Lord Wolfenden! You are an early visitor.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden smiled grimly, and advanced into the room.</p> + +<p>“I was anxious,” he said, “to run no risk of finding you out. My mission +is not altogether a pleasant one!”</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXI" id="CHAPTER_XXXI"></a>CHAPTER XXXI</h2> + +<h3>“I MAKE NO PROMISE”</h3> + +<p>A single glance from Mr. Sabin into Wolfenden’s face was sufficient. +Under his breath he swore a small, quiet oath. Wolfenden’s appearance +was unlooked for, and almost fatal, yet that did not prevent him from +greeting his visitor with his usual ineffusive but well bred courtesy.</p> + +<p>“I am finishing a late breakfast,” he remarked. “Can I offer you +anything—a glass of claret or Benedictine?”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden scarcely heard him, and answered altogether at random. He had +suddenly become aware that Helène was in the room; she was coming +towards him from the window recess, with a brilliant smile upon her +lips.</p> + +<p>“How very kind of you to look us up so early!” she exclaimed.</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin smiled grimly as he poured himself out a liqueur and lit a +cigarette. He was perfectly well aware that Wolfenden’s visit was not +one of courtesy; a single glance into his face had told him all that he +cared to know. It was fortunate that Helène had been in the room. Every +moment’s respite he gained was precious.</p> + +<p>“Have you come to ask me to go for a drive in that wonderful vehicle?” +she said lightly, pointing out of the window to where his dogcart was +waiting. “I should want a step-ladder to mount it!”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden answered her gravely.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span></p><p>“I should feel very honoured at being allowed to take you for a drive at +any time,” he said, “only I think that I would rather bring a more +comfortable carriage.”</p> + +<p>She shrugged her shoulders, and looked at him significantly.</p> + +<p>“The one you were driving yesterday?”</p> + +<p>He bit his lip and frowned with vexation, yet on the whole, perhaps, he +did not regret her allusion. It was proof that she had not taken the +affair too seriously.</p> + +<p>“The one I was driving yesterday would be a great deal more +comfortable,” he said; “to-day I only thought of getting here quickly. I +have a little business with Mr. Sabin.”</p> + +<p>“Is that a hint for me to go?” she asked. “You are not agreeable this +morning! What possible business can you have with my uncle which does +not include me? I am not inclined to go away; I shall stay and listen.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin smiled faintly; the girl was showing her sense now at any +rate. Wolfenden was obviously embarrassed. Helène remained blandly +unconscious of anything serious.</p> + +<p>“I suppose,” she said, “that you want to talk golf again! Golf! Why one +hears nothing else but golf down here. Don’t you ever shoot or ride for +a change?”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden was suddenly assailed by an horrible suspicion. He could +scarcely believe that her unconsciousness was altogether natural. At the +bare suspicion of her being in league with this man he stiffened. He +answered without looking at her, conscious though he was that her dark +eyes were seeking his invitingly, and that her lips were curving into a +smile.</p> + +<p>“I am not thinking of playing golf to-day,” he said. “Unfortunately I +have less pleasant things to consider. If you could give me five +minutes, Mr. Sabin,” he added, “I should be very glad.”</p> + +<p>She rose immediately with all the appearance of being <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span>genuinely +offended; there was a little flush in her cheeks and she walked straight +to the door. Wolfenden held it open for her.</p> + +<p>“I am exceedingly sorry to have been in the way for a moment,” she said; +“pray proceed with your business at once.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden did not answer her. As she passed through the doorway she +glanced up at him; he was not even looking at her. His eyes were fixed +upon Mr. Sabin. The fingers which rested upon the door knob seemed +twitching with impatience to close it. She stood quite still for a +moment; the colour left her cheeks, and her eyes grew soft. She was not +angry any longer. Instinctively some idea of the truth flashed in upon +her; she passed out thoughtfully. Wolfenden closed the door and turned +to Mr. Sabin.</p> + +<p>“You can easily imagine the nature of my business,” he said coldly. “I +have come to have an explanation with you.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin lit a fresh cigarette and smiled on Wolfenden thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>“Certainly,” he said; “an explanation! Exactly!”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Wolfenden, “suppose you commence, then.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin looked puzzled.</p> + +<p>“Had you not better be a little more explicit?” he suggested gently.</p> + +<p>“I will be,” Wolfenden replied, “as explicit as you choose. My mother +has given me her whole confidence. I have come to ask how you dare to +enter Deringham Hall as a common burglar attempting to commit a theft; +and to demand that you instantly return to me a letter, on which you +have attempted to levy blackmail. Is that explicit enough?”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin’s face did not darken, nor did he seem in any way angry or +discomposed. He puffed at his cigarette for <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span>a moment or two, and then +looked blandly across at his visitor.</p> + +<p>“You are talking rubbish,” he said in his usual calm, even tones, “but +you are scarcely to blame. It is altogether my own fault. It is quite +true that I was in your house last night, but it was at your mother’s +invitation, and I should very much have preferred coming openly at the +usual time, to sneaking in according to her directions through a window. +It was only a very small favour I asked, but Lady Deringham persuaded me +that your father’s mental health and antipathy to strangers was such +that he would never give me the information I desired, voluntarily, and +it was entirely at her suggestion that I adopted the means I did. I am +very sorry indeed that I allowed myself to be over-persuaded and placed +in an undoubtedly false position. Women are always nervous and +imaginative, and I am convinced that if I had gone openly to your father +and laid my case before him he would have helped me.”</p> + +<p>“He would have done nothing of the sort!” Wolfenden declared. “Nothing +would induce him to show even a portion of his work to a stranger.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin shrugged his shoulders gently, and continued without heeding +the interruption.</p> + +<p>“As to my blackmailing Lady Deringham, you have spoken plainly to me, +and you must forgive me for answering you in the same fashion. It is a +lie! I had letters of hers, which I voluntarily destroyed in her +presence; they were only a little foolish, or I should have destroyed +them long ago. I had the misfortune to be once a favoured suitor for +your mother’s hand; and I think I may venture to say—I am sure she will +not contradict me—that I was hardly treated. The only letter I ever had +from her likely to do her the least harm I destroyed fifteen years ago, +when I first embarked upon what has been to a certain <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span>extent a career +of adventure. I told her that it was not in the packet which we burnt +together yesterday. If she understood from that that it was still in my +possession, and that I was retaining it for any purpose whatever, she +was grievously mistaken in my words. That is all I have to say.”</p> + +<p>He had said it very well indeed. Wolfenden, listening intently to every +word, with his eyes rigidly fixed upon the man’s countenance, could not +detect a single false note anywhere. He was puzzled. Perhaps his mother +had been nervously excited, and had mistaken some sentence of his for a +covert threat. Yet he thought of her earnestness, her terrible +earnestness, and a sense of positive bewilderment crept over him.</p> + +<p>“We will leave my mother out of the question then,” he said. “We will +deal with this matter between ourselves. I should like to know exactly +what part of my father’s work you are so anxious to avail yourself of, +and for what purpose?”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin drew a letter from his pocket, and handed it over to +Wolfenden. It was from the office of one of the first European Reviews, +and briefly contained a request that Mr. Sabin would favour them with an +article on the comparative naval strengths of European Powers, with +particular reference to the armament and coast defences of Great +Britain. Wolfenden read it carefully and passed it back. The letter was +genuine, there was no doubt about that.</p> + +<p>“It seemed to me,” Mr. Sabin continued, “the most natural thing in the +world to consult your father upon certain matters concerning which he +is, or has been, a celebrated authority. In fact I decided to do so at +the instigation of one of the Lords of your Admiralty, to whom he is +personally well known. I had no idea of acting except in the most open +manner, and I called at Deringham Hall yesterday afternoon, and sent in +my card in a perfectly orthodox way, as you may have heard. Your mother +took <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span>quite an unexpected view of the whole affair, owing partly to your +father’s unfortunate state of health and partly to some extraordinary +attempts which, I am given to understand, have been made to rob him of +his work. She was very anxious to help me, but insisted that it must be +secretly. Last night’s business was, I admit, a ghastly mistake—only it +was not my mistake! I yielded to Lady Deringham’s proposals under strong +protest. As a man, I think I may say of some intelligence, I am ashamed +of the whole affair; at the same time I am guilty only of an +indiscretion which was sanctioned and instigated by your mother. I +really do not see how I can take any blame to myself in the matter.”</p> + +<p>“You could scarcely attribute to Lady Deringham,” Wolfenden remarked, +“the injury to the watchman.”</p> + +<p>“I can take but little blame to myself,” Mr. Sabin answered promptly. +“The man was drunk; he had been, I imagine, made drunk, and I merely +pushed him out of the way. He fell heavily, but the fault was not mine. +Look at my physique, and remember that I was unarmed, and ask yourself +what mischief I could possibly have done to the fellow.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden reflected.</p> + +<p>“You appear to be anxious,” he said, “to convince me that your desire to +gain access to a portion of my father’s papers is a harmless one. I +should like to ask you why you have in your employ a young lady who was +dismissed from Deringham Hall under circumstances of strong suspicion?”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin raised his eyebrows.</p> + +<p>“It is the first time I have heard of anything suspicious connected with +Miss Merton,” he said. “She came into my service with excellent +testimonials, and I engaged her at Willing’s bureau. The fact that she +had been employed at Deringham Hall was merely a coincidence.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span></p><p>“Was it also a coincidence,” Wolfenden continued, “that in reply to a +letter attempting to bribe my father’s secretary, Mr. Blatherwick, it +was she, Miss Merton, who kept an appointment with him?”</p> + +<p>“That,” Mr. Sabin answered, “I know nothing of. If you wish to question +Miss Merton you are quite at liberty to do so; I will send for her.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden shook his head.</p> + +<p>“Miss Merton was far too clever to commit herself,” he said; “she knew +from the first that she was being watched, and behaved accordingly. If +she was not there as your agent, her position becomes more extraordinary +still.”</p> + +<p>“I can assure you,” Mr. Sabin said, with an air of weariness, “that I am +not the man of mystery you seem to think me. I should never dream of +employing such roundabout means for gaining possession of a few +statistics.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden was silent. His case was altogether one of surmises; he could +prove nothing.</p> + +<p>“Perhaps,” he said, “I have been precipitate. It would appear so. But if +I am unduly suspicious, you have yourself only to blame! You admit that +your name is an assumed one. You refuse my suit to your niece without +any reasonable cause. You are evidently, to be frank, a person of much +more importance than you lay claim to be. Now be open with me. If there +is any reason, although I cannot conceive an honest one, for concealing +your identity, why, I will respect your confidence absolutely. You may +rely upon that. Tell me who you are, and who your niece is, and why you +are travelling about in this mysterious way.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin smiled good-humouredly.</p> + +<p>“Well,” he said, “you must forgive me if I plead guilty to the false +identity—and preserve it. For certain reasons it would not suit me to +take even you into my confidence. Besides which, if you will forgive my +saying so, there does <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span>not seem to be the least necessity for it. We are +leaving here during the week, and shall in all probability go abroad +almost at once; so we are not likely to meet again. Let us part +pleasantly, and abandon a somewhat profitless discussion.”</p> + +<p>For a moment Wolfenden was staggered. They were leaving England! Going +away! That meant that he would see no more of Helène. His indignation +against the man, kindled almost into passionate anger by his mother’s +story, was forgotten, overshadowed by a keen thrill of personal +disappointment. If they were really leaving England, he might bid +farewell to any chance of winning her; and there were certain words of +hers, certain gestures, which had combined to fan that little flame of +hope, which nothing as yet had ever been able to extinguish. He looked +into Mr. Sabin’s quiet face, and he was conscious of a sense of +helplessness. The man was too strong and too wily for him; it was an +unequal contest.</p> + +<p>“We will abandon the discussion then, if you will,” Wolfenden said +slowly. “I will talk with Lady Deringham again. She is in an extremely +nervous state; it is possible of course that she may have misunderstood +you.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin sighed with an air of gentle relief. Ah! if the men of other +countries were only as easy to delude as these Englishmen! What a +triumphant career might yet be his!</p> + +<p>“I am very glad,” he said, “that you do me the honour to take, what I +can assure you, is the correct view of the situation. I hope that you +will not hurry away; may I not offer you a cigarette?”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden sat down for the first time.</p> + +<p>“Are you in earnest,” he asked, “when you speak of leaving England so +soon?”</p> + +<p>“Assuredly! You will do me the justice to admit that I have never +pretended to like your country, have I? I hope <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span>to leave it for several +years, if not for ever, within the course of a few weeks.”</p> + +<p>“And your niece, Mr. Sabin?”</p> + +<p>“She accompanies me, of course; she likes this country even less than I +do. Perhaps, under the circumstances, our departure is the best thing +that could happen; it is at any rate opportune.”</p> + +<p>“I cannot agree with you,” Wolfenden said; “for me it is most +inopportune. I need scarcely say that I have not abandoned my desire to +make your niece my wife.”</p> + +<p>“I should have thought,” Mr. Sabin said, with a fine note of satire in +his tone, “that you would have put far away from you all idea of any +connection with such suspicious personages.”</p> + +<p>“I have never had,” Wolfenden said calmly, “any suspicion at all +concerning your niece.”</p> + +<p>“She would be, I am sure, much flattered,” Mr. Sabin declared. “At the +same time I can scarcely see on what grounds you continue to hope for an +impossibility. My niece’s refusal seemed to me explicit enough, +especially when coupled with my own positive prohibition.”</p> + +<p>“Your niece,” Wolfenden said, “is doubtless of age. I should not trouble +about your consent if I could gain hers, and I may as well tell you at +once, that I by no means despair of doing so.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin bit his lip, and his dark eyes flashed out with a sudden fire.</p> + +<p>“I should be glad to know, sir,” he said, “on what grounds you consider +my voice in the affair to be ineffective?”</p> + +<p>“Partly,” Wolfenden answered, “for the reason which I have already given +you—because your niece is of age; and partly also because you persist +in giving me no definite reason for your refusal.”</p> + +<p>“I have told you distinctly,” Mr. Sabin said, “that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span>my niece is +betrothed and will be married within six months.”</p> + +<p>“To whom? where is he? why is he not here? Your niece wears no +engagement ring. I will answer for it, that if she is as you say +betrothed, it is not of her own free will.”</p> + +<p>“You talk,” Mr. Sabin said with dangerous calm, “like a fool. It is not +customary amongst the class to which my niece belongs to wear always an +engagement ring. As for her affections, she has had, I am glad to say, a +sufficient self-control to keep them to herself. Your presumption is +simply the result of your entire ignorance. I appeal to you for the last +time, Lord Wolfenden, to behave like a man of common sense, and abandon +hopes which can only end in disappointment.”</p> + +<p>“I have no intention of doing anything of the sort,” Wolfenden said +doggedly; “we Englishmen are a pig-headed race, as you were once polite +enough to observe. Your niece is the only woman whom I have wished to +marry, and I shall marry her, if I can.”</p> + +<p>“I shall make it my especial concern,” Mr. Sabin said firmly, “to see +that all intercourse between you ends at once.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden rose to his feet.</p> + +<p>“It is obviously useless,” he said, “to continue this conversation. I +have told you my intentions. I shall pursue them to the best of my +ability. Good-morning.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin held out his hand.</p> + +<p>“I have just a word more to say to you,” he declared. “It is about your +father.”</p> + +<p>“I do not desire to discuss my father, or any other matter with you,” +Wolfenden said quietly. “As to my father’s work, I am determined to +solve the mystery connected with it once and for all. I have wired for +Mr. C. to come down, and, if necessary, take possession of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span>the papers. +You can get what information you require from him yourself.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin rose up slowly; his long, white fingers were clasped around +the head of that curious stick of his. There was a peculiar glint in his +eyes, and his cheeks were pale with passion.</p> + +<p>“I am very much obliged to you for telling me that,” he said; “it is +valuable information for me. I will certainly apply to Mr. C.”</p> + +<p>He had been drawing nearer and nearer to Wolfenden. Suddenly he stopped, +and, with a swift movement, raised the stick on which he had been +leaning, over his head. It whirled round in a semi-circle. Wolfenden, +fascinated by that line of gleaming green light, hesitated for a moment, +then he sprang backwards, but he was too late. The head of the stick +came down on his head, his upraised arm did little to break the force of +the blow. He sank to the ground with a smothered groan.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXII" id="CHAPTER_XXXII"></a>CHAPTER XXXII</h2> + +<h3>THE SECRET OF MR. SABIN’S NIECE</h3> + +<p>At the sound of his cry, Helène, who had been crossing the hall, threw +open the door just as Mr. Sabin’s fingers were upon the key. Seeing that +he was powerless to keep from her the knowledge of what had happened, he +did not oppose her entrance. She glided into the centre of the room with +a stifled cry of terror. Together, she and Mr. Sabin bent over +Wolfenden’s motionless figure. Mr. Sabin unfastened the waistcoat and +felt his heart. She did not speak until he had held his hand there for +several seconds, then she asked a question.</p> + +<p>“Have you killed him?”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin shook his head and smiled gently.</p> + +<p>“Too tough a skull by far,” he said. “Can you get a basin and a towel +without any one seeing you?”</p> + +<p>She nodded, and fetched them from her own room. The water was fresh and +cold, and the towel was of fine linen daintily hemmed, and fragrant with +the perfume of violets. Yet neither of these things, nor the soft warmth +of her breathing upon his cheek, seemed to revive him in the least. He +lay quite still in the same heavy stupor. Mr. Sabin stood upright and +looked at him thoughtfully. His face had grown almost haggard.</p> + +<p>“We had better send for a doctor,” she whispered fiercely. “I shall +fetch one myself if you do not!”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span></p><p>Mr. Sabin gently dissented.</p> + +<p>“I know quite as much as any doctor,” he said; “the man is not dead, or +dying, or likely to die. I wonder if we could move him on to that sofa!”</p> + +<p>Together they managed it somehow. Mr. Sabin, in the course of his +movements to and fro about the room, was attracted by the sight of the +dogcart still waiting outside. He frowned, and stood for a moment +looking thoughtfully at it. Then he went outside.</p> + +<p>“Are you waiting for Lord Wolfenden?” he asked the groom.</p> + +<p>The man looked up in surprise.</p> + +<p>“Yes, sir. I set him down here nearly an hour ago. I had no orders to go +home.”</p> + +<p>“Lord Wolfenden has evidently forgotten all about you,” Mr. Sabin said. +“He left by the back way for the golf course, and I am going to join him +there directly. He is not coming back here at all. You had better go +home, I should think.”</p> + +<p>The man touched his hat.</p> + +<p>“Very good, sir.”</p> + +<p>There was a little trampling up of the gravel, and Wolfenden’s dogcart +rapidly disappeared in the distance. Mr. Sabin, with set face and a hard +glitter in his eyes went back into the morning room. Helène was still on +her knees by Wolfenden’s prostrate figure when he entered. She spoke to +him without looking up.</p> + +<p>“He is a little better, I think; he opened his eyes just now.”</p> + +<p>“He is not seriously hurt,” Mr. Sabin said; “there may be some slight +concussion, nothing more. The question is, first, what to do with him, +and secondly, how to make the best use of the time which must elapse +before he will be well enough to go home.”</p> + +<p>She looked at him now in horror. He was always like <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span>this, unappalled by +anything which might happen, eager only to turn every trick of fortune +to his own ends. Surely his nerves were of steel and his heart of iron.</p> + +<p>“I think,” she said, “that I should first make sure that he is likely to +recover at all.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin answered mechanically, his thoughts seemed far away.</p> + +<p>“His recovery is a thing already assured,” he said. “His skull was too +hard to crack; he will be laid up for an hour or two. What I have to +decide is how to use that hour or two to the best possible advantage.”</p> + +<p>She looked away from him and shuddered. This passionate absorption of +all his energies into one channel had made a fiend of the man. Her +slowly growing purpose took to itself root and branch, as she knelt by +the side of the young Englishman, who only a few moments ago had seemed +the very embodiment of all manly vigour.</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin stood up. He had arrived at a determination.</p> + +<p>“Helène,” he said, “I am going away for an hour, perhaps two. Will you +take care of him until I return?”</p> + +<p>“Yes.”</p> + +<p>“You will promise not to leave him, or to send for a doctor?”</p> + +<p>“I will promise, unless he seems to grow worse.”</p> + +<p>“He will not get worse, he will be conscious in less than an hour. Keep +him with you as long as you can, he will be safer here. Remember that!”</p> + +<p>“I will remember,” she said.</p> + +<p>He left the room, and soon she heard the sound of carriage wheels +rolling down the avenue. His departure was an intense relief to her. She +watched the carriage, furiously driven, disappear along the road. Then +she returned to Wolfenden’s side. For nearly an hour she remained there, +bathing his head, forcing now and then <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span>a little brandy between his +teeth, and watching his breathing become more regular and the ghastly +whiteness leaving his face. And all the while she was thoughtful. Once +or twice her hands touched his hair tenderly, almost caressingly. There +was a certain wistfulness in her regard of him. She bent close over his +face; he was still apparently as unconscious as ever. She hesitated for +a moment; the red colour burned in one bright spot on her cheeks. She +stooped down and kissed him on the forehead, whispering something under +her breath. Almost before she could draw back, he opened his eyes. She +was overwhelmed with confusion, but seeing that he had no clear +knowledge of what had happened, she rapidly recovered herself. He looked +around him and then up into her face.</p> + +<p>“What has happened?” he asked. “Where am I?”</p> + +<p>“You are at the Lodge,” she said quietly. “You called to see Mr. Sabin +this morning, you know, and I am afraid you must have quarrelled.”</p> + +<p>“Ah! it was that beastly stick,” he said slowly. “He struck at me +suddenly. Where is he now?”</p> + +<p>She did not answer him at once. It was certainly better not to say that +she had seen him driven rapidly away only a short time ago, with his +horses’ heads turned to Deringham Hall.</p> + +<p>“He will be back soon,” she said. “Do not think about him, please. I +cannot tell you how sorry I am.”</p> + +<p>He was recovering himself rapidly. Something in her eyes was sending the +blood warmly through his veins; he felt better every instant.</p> + +<p>“I do not want to think about him,” he murmured, “I do not want to think +about any one else but you.”</p> + +<p>She looked down at him with a half pathetic, half humorous twitching of +her lips.</p> + +<p>“You must please not make love to me, or I shall have to leave you,” she +said. “The idea of thinking about such <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span>a thing in your condition! You +don’t want to send me away, do you?”</p> + +<p>“On the contrary,” he answered, “I want to keep you always with me.”</p> + +<p>“That,” she said briefly, “is impossible.”</p> + +<p>“Nothing,” he declared, “is impossible, if only we make up our minds to +it. I have made up mine!”</p> + +<p>“You are very masterful! Are all Englishmen as confident as you?”</p> + +<p>“I know nothing about other men,” he declared. “But I love you, Helène, +and I am not sure that you do not care a little for me.”</p> + +<p>She drew her hand away from his tightening clasp.</p> + +<p>“I am going,” she said; “it is your own fault—you have driven me away.”</p> + +<p>Her draperies rustled as she moved towards the door, but she did not go +far.</p> + +<p>“I do not feel so well,” he said quietly; “I believe that I am going to +faint.”</p> + +<p>She was on her knees by his side again in a moment. For a fainting man, +the clasp of his fingers around hers was wonderfully strong.</p> + +<p>“I feel better now,” he announced calmly. “I shall be all right if you +stay quietly here, and don’t move about.”</p> + +<p>She looked at him doubtfully.</p> + +<p>“I do not believe,” she said, “that you felt ill at all; you are taking +advantage of me!”</p> + +<p>“I can assure you that I am not,” he answered; “when you are here I feel +a different man.”</p> + +<p>“I am quite willing to stay if you will behave yourself,” she said.</p> + +<p>“Will you please define good behaviour?” he begged.</p> + +<p>“In the present instance,” she laughed, “it consists in not saying silly +things.”</p> + +<p>“A thing which is true cannot be silly,” he protested. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span>“It is true that +I am never happy without you. That is why I shall never give you up.”</p> + +<p>She looked down at him with bright eyes, and a frown which did not come +easily.</p> + +<p>“If you persist in making love to me,” she said, “I am going away. It is +not permitted, understand that!”</p> + +<p>He sighed.</p> + +<p>“I am afraid,” he answered softly, “that I shall always be indulging in +the luxury of the forbidden. For I love you, and I shall never weary of +telling you so.”</p> + +<p>“Then I must see,” she declared, making a subtle but unsuccessful +attempt to disengage her hand, “that you have fewer opportunities.”</p> + +<p>“If you mean that,” he said, “I must certainly make the most of this +one. Helène, you could care for me, I know, and I could make you happy. +You say ‘No’ to me because there is some vague entanglement—I will not +call it an engagement—with some one else. You do not care for him, I am +sure. Don’t marry him! It will be for your sorrow. So many women’s lives +are spoilt like that. Dearest,” he added, gaining courage from her +averted face, “I can make you happy, I am sure of it! I do not know who +you are or who your people are, but they shall be my people—nothing +matters, except that I love you. I don’t know what to say to you, +Helène. There is something shadowy in your mind which seems to you to +come between us. I don’t know what it is, or I would dispel it. Tell me, +dear, won’t you give me a chance?”</p> + +<p>She yielded her other hand to his impatient fingers, and looked down at +him wistfully. Yet there was something in her gaze which he could not +fathom. Of one thing he was very sure, there was a little tenderness +shining out of her dark, brilliant eyes, a little regret, a little +indecision. On the whole he was hopeful.</p> + +<p>“Dear,” she said softly, “perhaps I do care for you <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span>a little. +Perhaps—well, some time in the future—what you are thinking of might +be possible; I cannot say. Something, apart from you, has happened, +which has changed my life. You must let me go for a little while. But I +will promise you this. The entanglement of which you spoke shall be +broken off. I will have no more to do with that man!”</p> + +<p>He sat upright.</p> + +<p>“Helène,” he said, “you are making me very happy, but there is one thing +which I must ask you, and which you must forgive me for asking. This +entanglement of which you speak has nothing to do with Mr. Sabin?”</p> + +<p>“Nothing whatever,” she answered promptly. “How I should like to tell +you everything! But I have made a solemn promise, and I must keep it. My +lips are sealed. But one thing I should like you to understand, in case +you have ever had any doubt about it. Mr. Sabin is really my uncle, my +mother’s brother. He is engaged in a great enterprise in which I am a +necessary figure. He has suddenly become very much afraid of you.”</p> + +<p>“Afraid of me!” Wolfenden repeated.</p> + +<p>She nodded.</p> + +<p>“I ought to tell you, perhaps, that my marriage with some one else is +necessary to insure the full success of his plans. So you see he has set +himself to keep us apart.”</p> + +<p>“The more you tell me, the more bewildered I get,” Wolfenden declared. +“What made him attack me just now without any warning? Surely he did not +wish to kill me?”</p> + +<p>Her hand within his seemed to grow colder.</p> + +<p>“You were imprudent,” she said.</p> + +<p>“Imprudent! In what way?”</p> + +<p>“You told him that you had sent for Mr. C. to come and go through your +father’s papers.”</p> + +<p>“What of it?”</p> + +<p>“I cannot tell you any more!”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span></p><p>Wolfenden rose to his feet; he was still giddy, but he was able to +stand.</p> + +<p>“All that he told me here was a tissue of lies then! Helène, I will not +leave you with such a man. You cannot continue to live with him.”</p> + +<p>“I do not intend to,” she answered; “I want to get away. What has +happened to-day is more than I can pardon, even from him. Yet you must +not judge him too harshly. In his way he is a great man, and he is +planning great things which are not wholly for his advantage. But he is +unscrupulous! So long as the end is great, he believes himself justified +in stooping to any means.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden shuddered.</p> + +<p>“You must not live another day with him,” he exclaimed; “you will come +to Deringham Hall. My mother will be only too glad to come and fetch +you. It is not very cheerful there just now, but anything is better than +leaving you with this man.”</p> + +<p>She looked at him curiously. Her eyes were soft with something which +suggested pity, but resembled tears.</p> + +<p>“No,” she said, “that would not do at all. You must not think because I +have been living with Mr. Sabin that I have no other relations or +friends. I have a very great many of both, only it was arranged that I +should leave them for a while. I can go back at any time; I am +altogether my own mistress.”</p> + +<p>“Then go back at once,” he begged her feverishly. “I could not bear to +think of you living here with this man another hour. Have your things +put together now and tell your maid. Let me take you to the station. I +want to see you leave this infernal house, and this atmosphere of +cheating and lies, when I do!”</p> + +<p>Her lips parted into the ghost of a smile.</p> + +<p>“I have not found so much to regret in my stay here,” she said softly.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span></p><p>He held out his arms, but she eluded him gently.</p> + +<p>“I hope,” he said, “nay, I know that you will never regret it. Never! +Tell me what you are going to do now?”</p> + +<p>“I shall leave here this afternoon,” she said, “and go straight to some +friends in London. Then I shall make new plans, or rather set myself to +the remaking of old ones. When I am ready, I will write to you. But +remember again—I make no promise!”</p> + +<p>He held out his hands.</p> + +<p>“But you will write to me?”</p> + +<p>She hesitated.</p> + +<p>“No, I shall not write to you. I am not going to give you my address +even; you must be patient for a little while.”</p> + +<p>“You will not go away? You will not at least leave England without +seeing me?”</p> + +<p>“Not unless I am compelled,” she promised, “and then, if I go, I will +come back again, or let you know where I am. You need not fear; I am not +going to slip away and be lost! You shall see me again.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden was dissatisfied.</p> + +<p>“I hate letting you go,” he said. “I hate all this mystery. When one +comes to think of it, I do not even know your name! It is ridiculous! +Why cannot I take you to London, and we can be married to-morrow. Then I +should have the right to protect you against this blackguard.”</p> + +<p>She laughed softly. Her lips were parted in dainty curves, and her eyes +were lit with merriment.</p> + +<p>“How delightful you are,” she exclaimed. “And to think that the women of +my country call you Englishmen slow wooers!”</p> + +<p>“Won’t you prove the contrary?” he begged.</p> + +<p>She shook her head.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span></p><p>“It is already proved. But if you are sure you feel well enough to walk, +please go now. I want to catch the afternoon train to London.”</p> + +<p>He held out his hands and tried once more to draw her to him. But she +stepped backwards laughing.</p> + +<p>“You must please be patient,” she said, “and remember that to-day I am +betrothed to—somebody else! Goodbye!”</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXXIII</h2> + +<h3>MR. SABIN TRIUMPHS</h3> + +<p>Wolfenden, for perhaps the first time in his life, chose the inland road +home. He was still feeling faint and giddy, and the fresh air only +partially revived him. He walked slowly, and rested more than once. It +took him almost half an hour to reach the cross roads. Here he sat on a +stile for a few minutes, until he began to feel himself again. Just as +he was preparing to resume his walk, he was aware of a carriage being +driven rapidly towards him, along the private road from Deringham Hall.</p> + +<p>He stood quite still and watched it. The roads were heavy after much +rain, and the mud was leaping up into the sunshine from the flying +wheels, bespattering the carriage, and reaching even the man who sat +upon the box. The horses had broken into a gallop, the driver was +leaning forward whip in hand. He knew at once whose carriage it was: it +was the little brougham which Mr. Sabin had brought down from London. He +had been up to the hall, then! Wolfenden’s face grew stern. He stood +well out in the middle of the road. The horses would have to be checked +a little at the sharp turn before him. They would probably shy a little, +seeing him stand there in the centre of the road; he would be able to +bring them to a standstill. So he remained there motionless. Nearer and +nearer they <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span>came. Wolfenden set his teeth hard and forgot his +dizziness.</p> + +<p>They were almost upon him now. To his surprise the driver was making no +effort to check his galloping horses. It seemed impossible that they +could round that narrow corner at the pace they were going. A froth of +white foam was on their bits, and their eyes were bloodshot. They were +almost upon Wolfenden before he realised what was happening. They made +no attempt to turn the corner which he was guarding, but flashed +straight past him along the Cromer road. Wolfenden shouted and waved his +arms, but the coachman did not even glance in his direction. He caught a +glimpse of Mr. Sabin’s face as he leaned back amongst the cushions, +dark, satyr-like, forbidding. The thin lips seemed to part into a +triumphant smile as he saw Wolfenden standing there. It was all over in +a moment. The carriage, with its whirling wheels, was already a speck in +the distance.</p> + +<p>Wolfenden looked at his watch. It was five-and-twenty minutes to one. +Mr. Sabin’s purpose was obvious. He was trying to catch the one o’clock +express to London. To pursue that carriage was absolutely hopeless. +Wolfenden set his face towards Deringham Hall and ran steadily along the +road. He was filled with vague fears. The memory of Mr. Sabin’s smile +haunted him. He had succeeded. By what means? Perhaps by violence! +Wolfenden forgot his own aching head. He was filled only with an intense +anxiety to reach his destination. If Mr. Sabin had so much as raised his +hand, he should pay for it. He understood now why that blow had been +given. It was to keep him out of the way. As he ran on, his teeth +clenched, and his breath coming fast, he grew hot with passionate anger. +He had been Mr. Sabin’s dupe! Curse the man.</p> + +<p>He turned the final corner in the drive, climbed the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span>steps and entered +the hall. The servants were standing about as usual. There was no sign +of anything having happened. They looked at him curiously, but that +might well be, owing to his dishevelled condition.</p> + +<p>“Where is the Admiral, Groves?” he asked breathlessly.</p> + +<p>“His lordship is in the billiard-room,” the man answered.</p> + +<p>Wolfenden stopped short in his passage across the hall, and looked at +the man in amazement.</p> + +<p>“Where?”</p> + +<p>“In the billiard-room, my lord,” the man repeated. “He was inquiring for +you only a moment ago.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden turned sharp to the left and entered the billiard-room. His +father was standing there with his coat off and a cue in his hand. +Directly he turned round Wolfenden was aware of a peculiar change in his +face and expression. The hard lines had vanished, every trace of anxiety +seemed to have left him. His eyes were soft and as clear as a child’s. +He turned to Wolfenden with a bland smile, and immediately began to +chalk his cue.</p> + +<p>“Come and play me a game, Wolf,” he cried out cheerfully. “You’ll have +to give me a few, I’m so out of practice. We’ll make it a hundred, and +you shall give me twenty. Which will you have, spot, or plain?”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden gulped down his amazement with an effort.</p> + +<p>“I’ll take plain,” he said. “It’s a long time, isn’t it, since we +played?”</p> + +<p>His father faced him for a minute and seemed perplexed.</p> + +<p>“Not so very long, surely. Wasn’t it yesterday, or the day before?”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden wondered for a moment whether that blow had affected his +brain. It was years since he had seen the billiard-room at Deringham +Hall opened.</p> + +<p>“I don’t exactly remember,” he faltered. “Perhaps I was mistaken. Time +goes so quickly.”</p> + +<p>“I wonder,” the Admiral said, making a cannon and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span>stepping briskly +round the table, “how it goes at all with you young men who do nothing. +Great mistake to have no profession, Wolf! I wish I could make you see +it.”</p> + +<p>“I quite agree with you,” Wolfenden said. “You must not look upon me as +quite an idler, though. I am a full-fledged barrister, you know, +although I do not practise, and I have serious thoughts of Parliament.”</p> + +<p>The Admiral shook his head.</p> + +<p>“Poor career, my boy, poor career for a gentleman’s son. Take my advice +and keep out of Parliament. I am going to pot the red. I don’t like the +red ball, Wolf! It keeps looking at me like—like that man! Ah!”</p> + +<p>He flung his cue with a rattle upon the floor of inlaid wood, and +started back.</p> + +<p>“Look, Wolf!” he cried. “He’s grinning at me! Come here, boy! Tell me +the truth! Have I been tricked? He told me that he was Mr. C. and I gave +him everything! Look at his face how it changes! He isn’t like C. now! +He is like—who is it he is like? C.’s face is not so pale as that, and +he does not limp. I seem to remember him too! Can’t you help me? Can’t +you see him, boy?”</p> + +<p>He had been moving backwards slowly. He was leaning now against the +wall, his face blanched and perfectly bloodless, his eyes wild and his +pupils dilated. Wolfenden laid his cue down and came over to his side.</p> + +<p>“No, I can’t see him, father,” he said gently. “I think it must be +fancy; you have been working too hard.”</p> + +<p>“You are blind, boy, blind,” the Admiral muttered. “Where was it I saw +him last? There were sands—and a burning sun—his shot went wide, but I +aimed low and I hit him. He carried himself bravely. He was an +aristocrat, and he never forgot it. But why does he call himself Mr. C.? +What has he to do with my work?”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden choked down a lump in his throat. He began to surmise what had +happened.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span></p><p>“Let us go into the other room, father,” he said gently. “It is too cold +for billiards.”</p> + +<p>The Admiral held out his arm. He seemed suddenly weak and old. His eyes +were dull and he was muttering to himself. Wolfenden led him gently from +the room and upstairs to his own apartment. There he made an excuse for +leaving him for a moment, and hurried down into the library. Mr. +Blatherwick was writing there alone.</p> + +<p>“Blatherwick,” Wolfenden exclaimed, “what has happened this morning? Who +has been here?”</p> + +<p>Mr. Blatherwick blushed scarlet.</p> + +<p>“Miss Merton called, and a gentleman with her, from the Home Office, I +b-b-believe.”</p> + +<p>“Who let him into the library?” Wolfenden asked sternly.</p> + +<p>Mr. Blatherwick fingered his collar, as though he found it too tight for +him, and appeared generally uncomfortable.</p> + +<p>“At Miss Merton’s request, Lord Wolfenden,” he said nervously, “I +allowed him to come in. I understood that he had been sent for by her +ladyship. I trust that I did not do wrong.”</p> + +<p>“You are an ass, Blatherwick,” Wolfenden exclaimed angrily. “You seem to +enjoy lending yourself to be the tool of swindlers and thieves. My +father has lost his reason entirely now, and it is your fault. You had +better leave here at once! You are altogether too credulous for this +world.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden strode away towards his mother’s room, but a cry from upstairs +directed his steps. Lady Deringham and he met outside his father’s door, +and entered the room together. They came face to face with the Admiral.</p> + +<p>“Out of my way!” he cried furiously. “Come with me, Wolf! We must follow +him. I must have my papers back, or kill him! I have been dreaming. He +told me that he was C. I gave him all he asked for! We <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span>must have them +back. Merciful heavens! if he publishes them, we are ruined ... where +did he come from?... They told me that he was dead.... Has he crawled +back out of hell? I shot him once! He has never forgotten it! This is +his vengeance! Oh, God!”</p> + +<p>He sank down into a chair. The perspiration stood out in great beads +upon his white forehead. He was shaking from head to foot. Suddenly his +head drooped in the act of further speech, the words died away upon his +lips. He was unconscious. The Countess knelt by his side and Wolfenden +stood over her.</p> + +<p>“Do you know anything of what has happened?” Wolfenden asked.</p> + +<p>“Very little,” she whispered; “somehow, he—Mr. Sabin—got into the +library, and the shock sent him—like this. Here is the doctor.”</p> + +<p>Dr. Whitlett was ushered in. They all three looked down upon the +Admiral, and the doctor asked a few rapid questions. There was certainly +a great change in his face. A strong line or two had disappeared, the +countenance was milder and younger. It was like the face of a child. +Wolfenden was afraid to see the eyes open, he seemed already in +imagination to picture to himself their vacant, unseeing light. Dr. +Whitlett shook his head sadly.</p> + +<p>“I am afraid,” he said gravely, “that when Lord Deringham recovers he +will remember nothing! He has had a severe shock, and there is every +indication that his mind has given way.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden drew his teeth together savagely. This, then, was the result +of Mr. Sabin’s visit.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXXIV</h2> + +<h3>BLANCHE MERTON’S LITTLE PLOT</h3> + +<p>At about four o’clock in the afternoon, as Helène was preparing to leave +the Lodge, a telegram was brought in to her from Mr. Sabin.</p> + +<p>“I have succeeded and am now <i>en route</i> for London. You had better +follow when convenient, but do not be later than to-morrow.”</p> + +<p>She tore it into small pieces and hummed a tune.</p> + +<p>“It is enough,” she murmured. “I am not ambitious any longer. I am going +to London, it is true, my dear uncle, but not to Kensington! You can +play Richelieu to Henri and my cousin, if it pleases you. I <span style="white-space: nowrap;">wonder——”</span></p> + +<p>Her face grew softer and more thoughtful. Suddenly she laughed outright +to herself. She went and sat down on the couch, where Wolfenden had been +lying.</p> + +<p>“It would have been simpler,” she said to herself. “How like a man to +think of such a daring thing. I wish—I almost wish—I had consented. +What a delightful sensation it would have made. Cécile will laugh when I +tell her of this. To her I have always seemed ambitious, and ambitious +only ... and now I have found out that I have a heart only to give it +away. <i>Hélas!</i>”</p> + +<p>There was a knock at the door. A servant entered.</p> + +<p>“Miss Merton would be glad to know if you could spare her a moment +before you left, Miss,” the man announced.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span></p><p>Helène glanced at the clock.</p> + +<p>“I am going very shortly,” she said; “she had better come in now.”</p> + +<p>The man withdrew, but returned almost immediately, ushering in Miss +Merton. For the first time Helène noticed how pretty the girl was. Her +trim, dainty little figure was shown off to its utmost advantage by the +neat tailor gown she was wearing, and there was a bright glow of colour +in her cheeks. Helène, who had no liking for her uncle’s typewriter, and +who had scarcely yet spoken to her, remained standing, waiting to hear +what she had to say.</p> + +<p>“I wanted to see Mr. Sabin,” she began. “Can you tell me when he will be +back?”</p> + +<p>“He has gone to London,” Helène replied. “He will not be returning here +at all.”</p> + +<p>The girl’s surprise was evidently genuine.</p> + +<p>“But he said nothing about it a few hours ago,” she exclaimed. “You are +in his confidence, I know. This morning he gave me something to do. I +was to get Mr. Blatherwick away from the Hall, and keep him with me as +long as I could. You do not know Mr. Blatherwick? then you cannot +sympathise with me. Since ten o’clock I have been with him. At last I +could keep him no longer. He has gone back to the Hall.”</p> + +<p>“Mr. Sabin will probably write to you,” Helène said. “This house is +taken for another fortnight, and you can of course remain here, if you +choose. You will certainly hear from him within the next day or two.”</p> + +<p>Miss Merton shrugged her shoulders.</p> + +<p>“Well, I shall take a holiday,” she declared. “I’ve finished typing all +the copy I had. Haven’t you dropped something there?”</p> + +<p>She stooped suddenly forward, and picked up a locket from the floor.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span></p><p>“Is this yours?” she asked. “Why——”</p> + +<p>She held the locket tightly in her hand. Her eyes seemed rivetted upon +it. It was very small and fashioned of plain gold, with a coronet and +letter on the face. Miss Merton looked at it in amazement.</p> + +<p>“Why, this belongs to Wolf—to Lord Wolfenden,” she exclaimed.</p> + +<p>Helène looked at her in cold surprise.</p> + +<p>“It is very possible,” she said. “He was here a short time ago.”</p> + +<p>Miss Merton clenched the locket in her hand, as though she feared for +its safety.</p> + +<p>“Here! In this room?”</p> + +<p>“Certainly! He called to see Mr. Sabin and remained for some time.”</p> + +<p>Miss Merton was a little paler. She did not look quite so pretty now.</p> + +<p>“Did you see him?” she asked.</p> + +<p>Helène raised her eyebrows.</p> + +<p>“I scarcely understand,” she said, “what business it is of yours. Since +you ask me, however, I have no objection to telling you that I did see +Lord Wolfenden. He remained some time here with me after Mr. Sabin +left.”</p> + +<p>“Perhaps,” Miss Merton suggested, with acidity, “that was why I was sent +out of the way.”</p> + +<p>Helène looked at her through half-closed eyes.</p> + +<p>“I am afraid,” she said, “that you are a very impertinent young woman. +Be so good as to put that locket upon the table and leave the room.”</p> + +<p>The girl did neither. On the contrary, she slipped the locket into the +bosom of her gown.</p> + +<p>“I will take care of this,” she remarked.</p> + +<p>Helène laid her hand upon the bell.</p> + +<p>“I am afraid,” she said, “that you must be unwell. I am going to ring +the bell. Perhaps you will be good <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span>enough to place the locket on that +table and leave the room.”</p> + +<p>Miss Merton drew herself up angrily.</p> + +<p>“I have a better claim upon the locket than any one,” she said. “I am +seeing Lord Wolfenden constantly. I will give it to him.”</p> + +<p>“Thank you, you need not trouble,” Helène answered. “I shall send a +servant with it to Deringham Hall. Will you be good enough to give it to +me?”</p> + +<p>Miss Merton drew a step backwards and shook her head.</p> + +<p>“I think,” she said, “that I am more concerned in it than you are, for I +gave it to him.”</p> + +<p>“You gave it to him?”</p> + +<p>Miss Merton nodded.</p> + +<p>“Yes! If you don’t believe me, look here.”</p> + +<p>She drew the locket from her bosom and, holding it out, touched a +spring. There was a small miniature inside; Helène, leaning over, +recognised it at once. It was a likeness of the girl herself. She felt +the colour leave her cheeks, but she did not flinch.</p> + +<p>“I was not aware,” she said, “that you were on such friendly terms with +Lord Wolfenden.”</p> + +<p>The girl smiled oddly.</p> + +<p>“Lord Wolfenden,” she said, “has been very kind to me.”</p> + +<p>“Perhaps,” Helène continued, “I ought not to ask, but I must confess +that you have surprised me. Is Lord Wolfenden—your lover?”</p> + +<p>Miss Merton shut up the locket with a click and returned it to her +bosom. There was no longer any question as to her retaining it. She +looked at Helène thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>“Has he been making love to you?” she asked abruptly.</p> + +<p>Helène raised her eyes and looked at her. The other girl felt suddenly +very insignificant.</p> + +<p>“You must not ask me impertinent questions,” she said <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span>calmly. “Of +course you need not tell me anything unless you choose. It is for you to +please yourself.”</p> + +<p>The girl was white with anger. She had not a tithe of Helène’s +self-control, and she felt that she was not making the best of her +opportunities.</p> + +<p>“Lord Wolfenden,” she said slowly, “did promise to marry me once. I was +his father’s secretary, and I was turned away on his account.”</p> + +<p>“Indeed!”</p> + +<p>There was a silence between the two women. Miss Merton was watching +Helène closely, but she was disappointed. Her face was set in cold, +proud lines, but she showed no signs of trouble.</p> + +<p>“Under these circumstances,” Helène said, “the locket certainly belongs +to you. If you will allow me, I will ring now for my maid. I am leaving +here this evening.”</p> + +<p>“I should like,” Miss Merton said, “to tell you about Lord Wolfenden and +myself.”</p> + +<p>Helène smiled languidly.</p> + +<p>“You will excuse me, I am sure,” she said. “It is scarcely a matter +which interests me.”</p> + +<p>Miss Merton flushed angrily. She was at a disadvantage and she knew it.</p> + +<p>“I thought that you were very much interested in Lord Wolfenden,” she +said spitefully.</p> + +<p>“I have found him much pleasanter than the majority of Englishmen.”</p> + +<p>“But you don’t care to hear about him—from me!” Miss Merton exclaimed.</p> + +<p>Helène smiled.</p> + +<p>“I have no desire to be rude,” she said, “but since you put it in that +way I will admit that you are right.”</p> + +<p>The girl bit her lip. She felt that she had only partially succeeded. +This girl was more than her match. She suddenly changed her tactics.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span></p><p>“Oh! you are cruel,” she exclaimed. “You want to take him from me; I +know you do! He promised—to marry me—before you came. He must marry +me! I dare not go home!”</p> + +<p>“I can assure you,” Helène said quietly, “that I have not the faintest +desire to take Lord Wolfenden from you—or from any one else! I do not +like this conversation at all, and I do not intend to continue it. +Perhaps if you have nothing more to say you will go to your room, or if +you wish to go away I will order a carriage for you. Please make up your +mind quickly.”</p> + +<p>Miss Merton sprang up and walked towards the door. Her pretty face was +distorted with anger.</p> + +<p>“I do not want your carriage,” she said. “I am leaving the house, but I +will walk.”</p> + +<p>“Just as you choose, if you only go,” Helène murmured.</p> + +<p>She was already at the door, but she turned back.</p> + +<p>“I can’t help it!” she exclaimed. “I’ve got to ask you a question. Has +Lord Wolfenden asked you to marry him?”</p> + +<p>Helène was disgusted, but she was not hard-hearted. The girl was +evidently distressed—it never occurred to her that she might not be in +earnest. She herself could not understand such a lack of self-respect. A +single gleam of pity mingled with her contempt.</p> + +<p>“I am not at liberty to answer your question,” she said coldly, “as it +concerns Lord Wolfenden as well as myself. But I have no objection to +telling you this. I am the Princess Helène of Bourbon, and I am +betrothed to my cousin, Prince Henri of Ortrens! So you see that I am +not likely to marry Lord Wolfenden! Now, please, go away at once!”</p> + +<p>Miss Merton obeyed. She left the room literally speechless. Helène rang +the bell.</p> + +<p>“If that young person—Miss Merton I think her name <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span>is—attempts to see +me again before I leave, be sure that she is not admitted,” she told the +servant.</p> + +<p>The man bowed and left the room. Helène was left alone. She sank into an +easy chair by the fire and leaned her head upon her hand. Her +self-control was easy and magnificent, but now that she was alone her +face had softened. The proud, little mouth was quivering. A feeling of +uneasiness, of utter depression stole over her. Tears stood for a moment +in her eyes but she brushed them fiercely away.</p> + +<p>“How could he have dared?” she murmured. “I wish that I were a man! +After all, then, it must be—ambition!”</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXV" id="CHAPTER_XXXV"></a>CHAPTER XXXV</h2> + +<h3>A LITTLE GAME OF CARDS</h3> + +<p>Mr. Sabin, whose carriage had set him down at the Cromer railway station +with barely two minutes to spare, took his seat in an empty first-class +smoking carriage of the London train and deliberately lit a fine cigar. +He was filled with that sense of triumphant self-satisfaction which +falls to the lot of a man who, after much arduous labour successfully +accomplished, sees very near at hand the great desire of his life. Two +days’ more quiet work, and his task was done. All that he had pledged +himself to give, he would have ready for the offering. The finishing +touches were but a matter of detail. It had been a great +undertaking—more difficult at times than he had ever reckoned for. He +told himself with some complacency that no other man breathing could +have brought it to so satisfactory a conclusion. His had been a life of +great endeavours; this one, however, was the crowning triumph of his +career.</p> + +<p>He watched the people take their seats in the train with idle eyes; he +was not interested in any of them. He scarcely saw their faces; they +were not of his world nor he of theirs. But suddenly he received a rude +shock. He sat upright and wiped away the moisture from the window in +order that he might see more clearly. A young man in a long ulster was +buying newspapers from a boy only a yard or two away. Something about +the figure and manner <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span>of standing seemed to Mr. Sabin vaguely familiar. +He waited until his head was turned, and the eyes of the two men +met—then the last vestige of doubt disappeared. It was Felix! Mr. Sabin +leaned back in his corner with darkening face. He had noticed to his +dismay that the encounter, surprising though it had been to him, had +been accepted by Felix as a matter of course—he was obviously prepared +for it. He had met Mr. Sabin’s anxious and incredulous gaze with a +faint, peculiar smile. His probable presence in the train had evidently +been confidently reckoned upon. Felix had been watching him secretly, +and knowing what he did know of that young man, Mr. Sabin was seriously +disturbed. He did not hesitate for a moment, however, to face the +position. He determined at once upon a bold course of action. Letting +down the window he put out his head.</p> + +<p>“Are you going to town?” he asked Felix, as though seeing him then was +the most natural thing in the world.</p> + +<p>The young man nodded.</p> + +<p>“Yes, it’s getting pretty dreary down here, isn’t it? You’re off back, I +see.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin assented.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” he said, “I’ve had about enough of it. Besides, I’m overdue at +Pau, and I’m anxious to get there. Are you coming in here?”</p> + +<p>Felix hesitated. At first the suggestion had astonished him; almost +immediately it became a temptation. It would be distinctly piquant to +travel with this man. On the other hand it was distinctly unwise; it was +running an altogether unnecessary risk. Mr. Sabin read his thoughts with +the utmost ease.</p> + +<p>“I should rather like to have a little chat with you,” he said quietly; +“you are not afraid, are you? I am quite unarmed, and as you see Nature +has not made me for a fighting man.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span></p><p>Felix hesitated no longer. He motioned to the porter who was carrying +his dressing-case and golf clubs, and had them conveyed into Mr. Sabin’s +carriage. He himself took the opposite seat.</p> + +<p>“I had no idea,” Mr. Sabin remarked, “that you were in the +neighbourhood.”</p> + +<p>Felix smiled.</p> + +<p>“You have been so engrossed in your—golf,” he remarked. “It is a +fascinating game, is it not?”</p> + +<p>“Very,” Mr. Sabin assented. “You yourself are a devotee, I see.”</p> + +<p>“I am a beginner,” Felix answered, “and a very clumsy beginner too. I +take my clubs with me, however, whenever I go to the coast at this time +of year; they save one from being considered a madman.”</p> + +<p>“It is singular,” Mr. Sabin remarked, “that you should have chosen to +visit Cromer just now. It is really a most interesting meeting. I do not +think that I have had the pleasure of seeing you since that evening at +the ‘Milan,’ when your behaviour towards me—forgive my alluding to +it—was scarcely considerate.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin was quite friendly and unembarrassed. He seemed to treat the +affair as a joke. Felix looked glumly out of the window.</p> + +<p>“Your luck stood you in good stead—as usual,” he said. “I meant to kill +you that night. You see I don’t mind confessing it! I had sworn to make +the attempt the first time we met face to face.”</p> + +<p>“Considering that we are quite alone,” Mr. Sabin remarked, looking +around the carriage, “and that from physical considerations my life +under such conditions is entirely at your mercy, I should like some +assurance that you have no intention of repeating the attempt. It would +add very materially to my comfort.”</p> + +<p>The young man smiled without immediately answering. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span>Then he was +suddenly grave; he appeared to be reflecting. Almost imperceptibly Mr. +Sabin’s hand stole towards the window. He was making a mental +calculation as to what height above the carriage window the +communication cord might be. Felix, watching his fingers, smiled again.</p> + +<p>“You need have no fear,” he said; “the cause of personal enmity between +you and me is dead. You have nothing more to fear from me at any time.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin’s hand slid down again to his side.</p> + +<p>“I am charmed to hear it,” he declared. “You are, I presume, in +earnest?”</p> + +<p>“Most certainly. It is as I say; the cause for personal enmity between +us is removed. Save for a strong personal dislike, which under the +circumstances I trust that you will pardon me”—Mr. Sabin bowed—“I have +no feeling towards you whatever!”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin drew a somewhat exaggerated sigh of relief. “I live,” he said, +“with one more fear removed. But I must confess,” he added, “to a +certain amount of curiosity. We have a somewhat tedious journey before +us, and several hours at our disposal; would it be asking you too +<span style="white-space: nowrap;">much——”</span></p> + +<p>Felix waved his hand.</p> + +<p>“Not at all,” he said. “A few words will explain everything. I have +other matters to speak of with you, but they can wait. As you remark, we +have plenty of time before us. Three weeks ago I received a telegram +from Brussels. It was from—forgive me, if I do not utter her name in +your presence; it seems somehow like sacrilege.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin bowed; a little red spot was burning through the pallor of his +sunken cheeks.</p> + +<p>“I was there,” Felix continued, “in a matter of twenty-four hours. She +was ill—believed herself to be dying. We spoke together of a little +event many years old; yet which <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span>I venture to think, neither you, nor +she, nor I have ever forgotten.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin pulled down the blind by his side; it was only a stray gleam +of wintry sunshine, which had stolen through the grey clouds, but it +seemed to dazzle him.</p> + +<p>“It had come to her knowledge that you and I were together in +London—that you were once more essaying to play a part in civilised and +great affairs. And lest our meeting should bring harm about, she told +me—something of which I have always been in ignorance.”</p> + +<p>“Ah!”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin moved uneasily in his seat. He drew his club-foot a little +further back; Felix seemed to be looking at it absently.</p> + +<p>“She showed me,” he continued, “a little pistol; she explained to me +that a woman’s aim is a most uncertain thing. Besides, you were some +distance away, and your spring aside helped you. Then, too, so far as I +could see from the mechanism of the thing—it was an old and clumsy +affair—it carried low. At any rate the shot, which was doubtless meant +for your heart, found a haven in your foot. From her lips I learned for +the first time that she, the sweetest and most timid of her sex, had +dared to become her own avenger. Life is a sad enough thing, and +pleasure is rare, yet I tasted pleasure of the keenest and subtlest kind +when she told me that story. I feel even now some slight return of it +when I look at your—shall we call deformity, and consider how different +a <span style="white-space: nowrap;">person——”</span></p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin half rose to his feet; his face was white and set, save where +a single spot of colour was flaring high up near his cheek-bone. His +eyes were bloodshot; for a moment he seemed about to strike the other +man. Felix broke off in his sentence, and watched him warily.</p> + +<p>“Come,” he said, “it is not like you to lose control of yourself in that +manner. It is a simple matter. You <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span>wronged a woman, and she avenged +herself magnificently. As for me, I can see that my interference was +quite uncalled for; I even venture to offer you my apologies for the +fright I must have given you at the ‘Milan.’ The account had already +been straightened by abler hands. I can assure you that I am no longer +your enemy. In fact, when I look at you”—his eyes seemed to fall almost +to the ground—“when I look at you, I permit myself some slight +sensation of pity for your unfortunate affliction. But it was +magnificent! Shall we change the subject now?”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin sat quite still in his corner; his eyes seemed fixed upon a +distant hill, bordering the flat country through which they were +passing. Felix’s stinging words and mocking smile had no meaning for +him. In fact he did not see his companion any longer, nor was he +conscious of his presence. The narrow confines of the railway carriage +had fallen away. He was in a lofty room, in a chamber of a palace, a +privileged guest, the lover of the woman whose dark, passionate eyes and +soft, white arms were gleaming there before his eyes. It was but one of +many such scenes. He shuddered very slightly, as he went back further +still. He had been faithful to one god, and one god only—the god of +self! Was it a sign of coming trouble, that for the first time for many +years he had abandoned himself to the impotent morbidness of abstract +thought? He shook himself free from it with an effort; what lunacy! +To-day he was on the eve of a mighty success—his feet were planted +firmly upon the threshold! The end of all his ambitions stood fairly in +view, and the path to it was wide and easy. Only a little time, and his +must be one of the first names in Europe! The thought thrilled him, the +little flood of impersonal recollections ebbed away; he was himself +again, keen, alert, vigorous! Suddenly he met the eyes of his companion +fixed steadfastly upon him, and his face darkened. There was something +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span>ominous about this man’s appearance; his very presence seemed like a +foreboding of disaster.</p> + +<p>“I am much obliged to you for your little romance,” he said. “There is +one point, however, which needs some explanation. If your interest is +really, as you suggest, at an end, what are you doing down here? I +presume that your appearance is not altogether a coincidence.”</p> + +<p>“Certainly not,” Felix answered. “Let me correct you, however, on one +trifling point. I said, you must remember—my personal interest.”</p> + +<p>“I do not,” Mr. Sabin remarked, “exactly see the distinction; in fact, I +do not follow you at all!”</p> + +<p>“I am so stupid,” Felix declared apologetically. “I ought to have +explained myself more clearly. It is even possible that you, who know +everything, may yet be ignorant of my present position.”</p> + +<p>“I certainly have no knowledge of it,” Mr. Sabin admitted.</p> + +<p>Felix was gently astonished.</p> + +<p>“Really! I took it for granted, of course, that you knew. Well, I am +employed—not in any important post, of course—at the Russian Embassy. +His Excellency has been very kind to me.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin for once felt his nerve grow weak; those evil forebodings of +his had very swiftly become verified. This man was his enemy. Yet he +recovered himself almost as quickly. What had he to fear? His was still +the winning hand.</p> + +<p>“I am pleased to hear,” he said, “that you have found such creditable +employment. I hope you will make every effort to retain it; you have +thrown away many chances.”</p> + +<p>Felix at first smiled; then he leaned back amongst the cushions and +laughed outright. When he had ceased, he wiped the tears from his eyes. +He sat up again and looked with admiration at the still, pale figure +opposite to him.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span></p><p>“You are inimitable,” he said—“wonderful! If you live long enough, you +will certainly become very famous. What will it be, I wonder—Emperor, +Dictator, President of a Republic, the Minister of an Emperor? The +latter I should imagine; you were always such an aristocrat. I would not +have missed this journey for the world. I am longing to know what you +will say to Prince Lobenski at King’s Cross.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin looked at him keenly.</p> + +<p>“So you are only a lacquey after all, then?” he remarked—“a common +spy!”</p> + +<p>“Very much at your service,” Felix answered, with a low bow. “A spy, if +you like, engaged for the last two weeks in very closely watching your +movements, and solving the mystery of your sudden devotion to a +heathenish game!”</p> + +<p>“There, at any rate,” Mr. Sabin said calmly, “you are quite wrong. If +you had watched my play I flatter myself that you would have realised +that my golf at any rate was no pretence.”</p> + +<p>“I never imagined,” Felix rejoined, “that you would be anything but +proficient at any game in which you cared to interest yourself; but I +never imagined either that you came to Cromer to play golf—especially +just now.”</p> + +<p>“Modern diplomacy,” Mr. Sabin said, after a brief pause, “has undergone, +as you may be aware, a remarkable transformation. Secrecy is now quite +out of date; it is the custom amongst the masters to play with the cards +upon the table.”</p> + +<p>“There is a good deal in what you say,” Felix answered thoughtfully. +“Come, we will play the game, then! It is my lead. Very well! I have +been down here watching you continually, with the object of discovering +the source of this wonderful power by means of which you are prepared to +offer up this country, bound hand and foot, to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span>whichever Power you +decide to make terms with. Sounds like a fairy tale, doesn’t it? But you +obviously believe in it yourself, and Lobenski believes in you.”</p> + +<p>“Good!” Mr. Sabin declared. “That power of which I have spoken I now +possess! It was nearly complete a month ago; an hour’s work now will +make it a living and invulnerable fact.”</p> + +<p>“You obtained,” Felix said, “your final success this afternoon, when you +robbed the mad Admiral.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin shook his head gently.</p> + +<p>“I have not robbed any one,” he said; “I never use force.”</p> + +<p>Felix looked at him reproachfully.</p> + +<p>“I have heard much that is evil about you,” he said, “but I have never +heard before that you were known to—to—dear me, it is a very +unpleasant thing to say!”</p> + +<p>“Well, sir?”</p> + +<p>“To cheat at cards!”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin drew a short, little breath.</p> + +<p>“What I have said is true to the letter,” he repeated “The Admiral gave +me the trifling information I asked for, with his own hands.”</p> + +<p>Felix remained incredulous.</p> + +<p>“Then you must add the power of hypnotism,” he declared, “to your other +accomplishments.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin laughed scornfully, nevertheless he did not seem to be +altogether at his ease. The little scene in the library at Deringham +Hall was not a pleasant recollection for him.</p> + +<p>“The matter after all,” he said coldly, “is unimportant; it is merely a +detail. I will admit that you have done your spy’s work well. Now, what +will buy your memory, and your departure from this train, at the next +station?”</p> + +<p>Felix smiled.</p> + +<p>“You are becoming more sensible,” he said; “very <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span>fair question +to ask. My price is the faithful fulfilment of your contract with my +chief.”</p> + +<p>“I have made no contract with him.”</p> + +<p>“You have opened negotiations; he is ready to come to terms with you. +You have only to name your price.”</p> + +<p>“I have no price,” Mr. Sabin said quietly, “that he could pay.”</p> + +<p>“What Knigenstein can give,” Felix said, “he can give double. The Secret +Service funds of Russia are the largest in the world; you can have +practically a blank cheque upon them.”</p> + +<p>“I repeat,” Mr. Sabin said, “I have no price that Prince Lobenski could +pay. You talk as though I were a blackmailer, or a common thief. You +have always misunderstood me. Come! I will remember that the cards are +upon the table; I will be wholly frank with you. It is Knigenstein with +whom I mean to treat, and not your chief. He has agreed to my +terms—Russia never could.”</p> + +<p>Felix was silent for a moment.</p> + +<p>“You are holding,” he said, “your trump card in your hand. Whatever in +this world Germany could give you, Russia could improve upon.”</p> + +<p>“She could do so,” Mr. Sabin said, “only at the expense of her honour. +Come! here is that trump card. I will throw it upon the table; now you +see that my hands are empty. My price is the invasion of France, and the +restoration of the Monarchy.”</p> + +<p>Felix looked at him as a man looks upon a lunatic.</p> + +<p>“You are playing with me,” he cried.</p> + +<p>“I was never more in earnest in my life,” Mr. Sabin said.</p> + +<p>“Do you mean to tell me that you—in cold blood—are working for so +visionary, so impossible an end?”</p> + +<p>“It is neither visionary,” Mr. Sabin said, “nor impossible. I do not +believe that any man, save myself, properly <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span>appreciates the strength of +the Royalist party in France. Every day, every minute brings it fresh +adherents. It is as certain that some day a king will reign once more at +Versailles, as that the sun will set before many hours are past. The +French people are too bourgeois at heart to love a republic. The desire +for its abolition is growing up in their hearts day by day. You +understand me now when I say that I cannot treat with your country? The +honour of Russia is bound up with her friendship to France. Germany, on +the other hand, has ready her battle cry. She and France have been +quivering on the verge of war for many a year. My whole hand is upon the +table now, Felix. Look at the cards, and tell me whether we can treat!”</p> + +<p>Felix was silent. He looked at his opponent with unwilling admiration; +the man after all, then, was great. For the moment he could think of +nothing whatever to say.</p> + +<p>“Now, listen to me,” Mr. Sabin continued earnestly. “I made a great +mistake when I ever mentioned the matter to Prince Lobenski. I cannot +treat with him, but on the other hand, I do not want to be hampered by +his importunities for the next few days. You have done your duty, and +you have done it well. It is not your fault that you cannot succeed. +Leave the train at the next station—disappear for a week, and I will +give you a fortune. You are young—the world is before you. You can seek +distinction in whatever way you will. I have a cheque-book in my pocket, +and a fountain pen. I will give you an order on the Crédit Lyonnaise for +£20,000.”</p> + +<p>Felix laughed softly; his face was full of admiration. He looked at his +watch, and began to gather together his belongings.</p> + +<p>“Write out the cheque,” he said; “I agree. We shall be at the junction +in about ten minutes.”</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXXVI"></a>CHAPTER XXXVI</h2> + +<h3>THE MODERN RICHELIEU</h3> + +<p>“So I have found you at last!”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin looked up with a distinct start from the table where he sat +writing. When he saw who his visitor was, he set down his pen and rose +to receive her at once. He permitted himself to indulge in a little +gesture of relief; her noiseless entrance had filled him with a sudden +fear.</p> + +<p>“My dear Helène,” he said, placing a chair for her, “if I had had the +least idea that you wished to see me, I would have let you know my +whereabouts. I am sorry that you should have had any difficulty; you +should have written.”</p> + +<p>She shrugged her shoulders slightly.</p> + +<p>“What does it all mean?” she asked. “Why are you masquerading in cheap +lodgings, and why do they say at Kensington that you have gone abroad? +Have things gone wrong?”</p> + +<p>He turned and faced her directly. She saw then that pale and haggard +though he was, his was not the countenance of a man tasting the +bitterness of failure.</p> + +<p>“Very much the contrary,” he said; “we are on the brink of success. All +that remains to be done is the fitting together of my American work with +the last of these papers. It will take me about another twenty-four +hours.”</p> + +<p>She handed across to him a morning newspaper, which <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span>she had been +carrying in her muff. A certain paragraph was marked.</p> + +<p>“We regret to state that Admiral, the Earl of Deringham, was seized +yesterday morning with a fit, whilst alone in his study. Dr. Bond, of +Harley Street, was summoned at once to a consultation, but we understand +that the case is a critical one, and the gravest fears are entertained. +Lord Deringham was the greatest living authority upon the subject of our +fleet and coast defences, and we are informed that at the time of his +seizure he was completing a very important work in connection with this +subject.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin read the paragraph slowly, and then handed the paper back to +Helène.</p> + +<p>“Deringham was a very distinguished man,” he remarked, “but he was stark +mad, and has been for years. They have been able to keep it quiet, only +because he was harmless.”</p> + +<p>“You remember what I told you about these people,” Helène said sternly; +“I told you distinctly that I would not have them harmed in any way. You +were at Deringham Hall on the morning of his seizure. You went straight +there from the Lodge.”</p> + +<p>“That is quite true,” he admitted; “but I had nothing to do with his +illness.”</p> + +<p>“I wish I could feel quite certain of that,” Helène answered. “You are a +very determined man, and you went there to get papers from him by any +means. You proved that you were altogether reckless as to how you got +them, by your treatment of Lord Wolfenden. You succeeded! No one living +knows by what means!”</p> + +<p>He interrupted her with an impatient gesture.</p> + +<p>“There is nothing in this worth discussion,” he declared. “Lord +Deringham is nothing to you—you never even saw him in your life, and if +you really have any misgivings about it, I can assure you that I got +what I wanted from <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span>him without violence. It is not a matter for you to +concern yourself in, nor is it a matter worth considering at all, +especially at such a time as the present.”</p> + +<p>She sat quite still, her head resting upon her gloved hand. He did not +altogether like her appearance.</p> + +<p>“I want you to understand,” he continued slowly, “that success, absolute +success is ours. I have the personal pledge of the German Emperor, +signed by his own hand. To-morrow at noon the compact is concluded. In a +few weeks, at the most, the thunderbolt will have fallen. These arrogant +Islanders will be facing a great invasion, whose success is already made +absolutely sure. And <span style="white-space: nowrap;">then——”</span></p> + +<p>He paused: his face kindled with a passionate enthusiasm, his eyes were +lit with fire. There was something great in the man’s rapt expression.</p> + +<p>“Then, the only true, the only sweet battle-cry in the French tongue, +will ring through the woods of Brittany, ay, even to the walls of Paris. +<i>Vive la France! Vive la Monarchie!</i>”</p> + +<p>“France has suffered so much,” she murmured; “do not you who love her so +tremble when you think of her rivers running once more red with blood?”</p> + +<p>“If there be war at all,” he answered, “it will be brief. Year by year +the loyalists have gained power and influence. I have notes here from +secret agents in every town, almost in every village; the great heart of +Paris is with us. Henri will only have to show himself, and the voice of +the people will shout him king! And <span style="white-space: nowrap;">you——”</span></p> + +<p>“For me,” she interrupted, “nothing! I withdraw! I will not marry Henri, +he must stand his chance alone! His is the elder branch—he is the +direct heir to the throne!”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin drew in a long breath between his teeth. He was nerving +himself for a great effort. This fear had been the one small, black +cloud in the sky of his happiness.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span></p><p>“Helène,” he said, “if I believed that you meant—that you could +possibly mean—what you have this moment said, I would tear my compact +in two, throw this box amongst the flames, and make my bow to my life’s +work. But you do not mean it. You will change your mind.”</p> + +<p>“But indeed I shall not!”</p> + +<p>“Of necessity you must; the alliance between you and Henri is absolutely +compulsory. You unite the two great branches of our royal family. The +sound of your name, coupled with his, will recall to the ears of France +all that was most glorious in her splendid history. And apart from that, +Henri needs such a woman as you for his queen. He has many excellent +qualities, but he is weak, a trifle too easy, a trifle thoughtless.”</p> + +<p>“He is a dissipated <i>roué</i>,” she said in a low tone, with curling lip.</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin, who had been walking restlessly up and down the room, came +and stood over her, leaning upon his wonderful stick.</p> + +<p>“Helène,” he said gravely, “for your own sake, and for your country’s +sake, I charge you to consider well what you are doing. What does it +matter to you if Henri is even as bad as you say, which, mark you, I +deny. He is the King of France! Personally, you can be strangers if you +please, but marry him you must. You need not be his wife, but you must +be his queen! Almost you make me ask myself whether I am talking to +Helène of Bourbon, a Princess Royal of France, or to a love-sick English +country girl, pining for a sweetheart, whose highest ambition it is to +bear children, and whose destiny is to become a drudge. May God forbid +it! May God forbid, that after all these years of darkness you should +play me false now when the dawn is already lightening the sky. Sink your +sex! Forget it! Remember that you are more than a woman—you are royal, +and your country has the first claim upon your heart. The <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span>dignity which +exalts demands also sacrifices! Think of your great ancestors, who died +with this prayer upon their lips—that one day their children’s children +should win again the throne which they had lost. Their eyes may be upon +you at this moment. Give me a single reason for this change in you—one +single valid reason, and I will say no more.”</p> + +<p>She was silent; the colour was coming and going in her cheeks. She was +deeply moved; the honest passion in his tone had thrilled her.</p> + +<p>“I would not dare to suggest, even in a whisper, to myself,” he went on, +his dark eyes fixed upon her, and his voice lowered, “that Helène of +Bourbon, Princess of Brittany, could set a greater price upon the love +of a man—and that man an Englishman—than upon her country’s salvation. +I would not even suffer so dishonouring a thought to creep into my +brain. Yet I will remember that you are a girl—a woman—that is to say, +a creature of strange moods; and I remind you that the marriage of a +queen entails only the giving of a hand, her heart remains always at her +disposal, and never yet has a queen of France been without her lover!”</p> + +<p>She looked up at him with burning cheeks.</p> + +<p>“You have spoken bitterly to me,” she said, “but from your point of view +I have deserved it. Perhaps I have been weak; after all, men are not so +very different. They are all ignoble. You are right when you call us +women creatures of moods. To-day I should prefer the convent to marriage +with any man. But listen! If you can persuade me that my marriage with +Henri is necessary for his acceptance by the people of France, if I am +assured of that, I will yield.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin drew a long breath of relief, Blanche had succeeded, then. +Even in that moment he found time to realise that, without her aid, he +would have run a terrible <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span>risk of failure. He sat down and spoke +calmly, but impressively.</p> + +<p>“From my point of view,” he said, “and I have considered the subject +exhaustively, I believe that it is absolutely necessary. You and Henri +represent the two great Houses, who might, with almost equal right, +claim the throne. The result of your union must be perfect unanimity. +Now, suppose that Henri stands alone; don’t you see that your cousin, +Louis of Bourbon, is almost as near in the direct line? He is young and +impetuous, without ballast, but I believe ambitious. He would be almost +sure to assert himself. At any rate, his very existence would certainly +lead to factions, and the splitting up of nobles into parties. This is +the greatest evil we could possibly have to face. There must be no +dissensions whatever during the first generation of the re-established +monarchy. The country would not be strong enough to bear it. With you +married to Henri, the two great Houses of Bourbon and Ortrens are +allied. Against their representative there would be no one strong enough +to lift a hand. Have I made it clear?”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” the girl answered, “you have made it very clear. Will you let me +consider for a few moments?”</p> + +<p>She sat there with her back half-turned to him, gazing into the fire. He +moved back in the chair and went on with his writing. She heard the +lightning rush of his pen, as he covered sheet after sheet of paper +without even glancing towards her; he had no more to say, he knew very +well that his work was done. The influence of his words were strong upon +her; in her heart they had awakened some echo of those old ambitions +which had once been very real and live things. She set herself the task +of fanning them once more with the fire of enthusiasm. For she had no +longer any doubts as to her duty. Wolfenden’s words—the first spoken +words of love which <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span>had ever been addressed to her—had carried with +them at the time a peculiar and a very sweet conviction. She had lost +faith, too, in Mr. Sabin and his methods. She had begun to wonder +whether he was not after all a visionary, whether there was really the +faintest chance of the people of her country ever being stirred into a +return to their old faith and allegiance. Wolfenden’s appearance had +been for him singularly opportune, and she had almost decided a few +mornings ago, that, after all, there was not any real bar between them. +She was a princess, but of a fallen House; he was a nobleman of the most +powerful country in the world. She had permitted herself to care for him +a little; she was astonished to find how swiftly that sensation had +grown into something which had promised to become very real and precious +to her—and then, this insolent girl had come to her—her photograph was +in his locket. He was like Henri, and all the others! She despised +herself for the heartache of which she was sadly conscious. Her cheeks +burned with shame, and her heart was hot with rage, when she thought of +the kiss she had given him—perhaps he had even placed her upon a level +with the typewriting girl, had dared to consider her, too, as a possible +plaything for his idle moments. She set her teeth, and her eyes flashed.</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin, as his pen flew over the paper, felt a touch upon his arm.</p> + +<p>“I am quite convinced,” she said. “When the time comes I shall be +ready.”</p> + +<p>He looked up with a faint, but gratified smile.</p> + +<p>“I had no fear of you,” he said. “Frankly, in Henri alone I should have +been destitute of confidence. I should not have laboured as I have done, +but for you! In your hands, largely, the destinies of your country will +remain.”</p> + +<p>“I shall do my duty,” she answered quietly.</p> + +<p>“I always knew it! And now,” he said, looking back <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span>towards his papers, +“how about the present? I do not want you here. Your presence would +certainly excite comment, and I am virtually in hiding for the next +twenty-four hours.”</p> + +<p>“The Duchess of Montegarde arrived in London yesterday,” she replied. “I +am going to her.”</p> + +<p>“You could not do a wiser thing,” he declared. “Send your address to +Avon House; to-morrow night or Saturday night I shall come for you. All +will be settled then; we shall have plenty to do, but after the labour +of the last seven years it will not seem like work. It will be the +beginning of the harvest.”</p> + +<p>She looked at him thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>“And your reward,” she said, “what is that to be?”</p> + +<p>He smiled.</p> + +<p>“I will not pretend,” he answered, “that I have worked for the love of +my country and my order alone. I also am ambitious, although my ambition +is more patriotic than personal. I mean to be first Minister of France!”</p> + +<p>“You will deserve it,” she said. “You are a very wonderful man.”</p> + +<p>She walked out into the street, and entered the cab which she had +ordered to wait for her.</p> + +<p>“Fourteen, Grosvenor Square,” she told the man, “but call at the first +telegraph office.”</p> + +<p>He set her down in a few minutes. She entered a small post-office and +stood for a moment before one of the compartments. Then she drew a form +towards her, and wrote out a telegram—</p> + +<div class="blockquot2"><p class="right"><span style="margin-right: 8em;">“To Lord Wolfenden,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-right: 7em;">“Deringham Hall,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-right: 6em;">“Norfolk.</span></p> + +<p>“I cannot send for you as I promised. Farewell—<span class="smcap">Helène.</span>”</p></div> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXVII" id="CHAPTER_XXXVII"></a>CHAPTER XXXVII</h2> + +<h3>FOR A GREAT STAKE</h3> + +<h3>“GERMANY’S INSULT TO ENGLAND!<br /> +<br /> +ENGLAND’S REPLY.</h3> + +<h4><span class="smcap">Mobilisation Imminent.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Arming of the Fleet.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">War almost Certain!</span>”</h4> + +<p>Wolfenden, who had bought no paper on his way up from Norfolk, gazed +with something approaching amazement at the huge placards everywhere +displayed along the Strand, thrust into his cab by adventurous newsboys, +flaunting upon every lamp-post. He alighted near Trafalgar Square, and +purchased a <i>Globe</i>. The actual facts were meagre enough, but +significant when considered in the light of a few days ago. A vacancy +had occurred upon the throne of one of England’s far off dependencies. +The British nominee had been insulted in his palace by the German +consul—a rival, denounced as rebel by the authorities, had been carried +off in safety on to a German gunboat, and accorded royal honours. The +thing was trivial as it stood, but its importance had been enhanced a +thousandfold by later news. The German Emperor had sent a telegram, +approving his consul’s action and forbidding <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span>him to recognise the new +sovereign. There was no possibility of misinterpreting such an action; +it was an overt and deliberate insult, the second within a week. +Wolfenden read the news upon the pavements of Pall Mall, jostled from +right to left by hurrying passers by, conscious too, all the while, of +that subtle sense of excitement which was in the air and was visibly +reflected in the faces of the crowd. He turned into his club, and here +he found even a deeper note of the prevailing fever. Men were gathered +around the tape in little clusters, listening to the click click of the +instrument, and reading aloud the little items of news as they appeared. +There was a burst of applause when the Prime Minister’s dignified and +peremptory demand for an explanation eked out about four o’clock in the +afternoon—an hour later it was rumoured that the German Ambassador had +received his papers. The Stock Exchange remained firm—there was +enthusiasm, but no panic. Wolfenden began to wish that he, too, were a +soldier, as he passed from one to another of the eager groups of young +men about his own age, eagerly discussing the chances of the coming +campaign. He walked out into the streets presently, and made his way +boldly down to the house which had been pointed out to him as the town +abode of Mr. Sabin and his niece. He found it shut up and apparently +empty. The servant, who after some time answered his numerous ringings, +was, either from design or chance, more than usually stupid. He could +not tell where Mr. Sabin was or when he would return—he seemed to have +no information whatever as regards the young lady. Wolfenden turned away +in despair and walked slowly back towards Pall Mall. At the bottom of +Piccadilly he stopped for a moment to let a little stream of carriages +pass by; he was about to cross the road when a large barouche, with a +pair of restive horses, again blocked the way. Attracted by an unknown +coronet upon the panel, and the quiet <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span>magnificence of the servants’ +liveries, he glanced curiously at the occupants as the carriage passed +him. It was one of the surprises of his life. The woman nearest to him +he knew well by sight; she was the Duchess de Montegarde, one of the +richest and most famous of Frenchwomen—a woman often quoted as exactly +typical of the old French nobility, and who had furthermore gained for +herself a personal reputation for delicate and aristocratic +exclusiveness, not altogether shared by her compeers in English society. +By her side—in the seat of honour—was Helène, and opposite to them was +a young man with a dark, fiercely twisted moustache and distinctly +foreign appearance. They passed slowly, and Wolfenden remained upon the +edge of the pavement with his eyes fixed upon them.</p> + +<p>He was conscious at once of something about her which seemed strange to +him—some new development. She leaned back in her seat, barely +pretending to listen to the young man’s conversation, her lips a little +curled, her own face the very prototype of aristocratic languor! All the +lines of race were in her delicately chiselled features; the mere idea +of regarding her as the niece of the unknown Mr. Sabin seemed just then +almost ridiculous. The carriage went by without her seeing him—she +appeared to have no interest whatever in the passers-by. But Wolfenden +remained there without moving until a touch on the arm recalled him to +himself.</p> + +<p>He turned abruptly round, and to his amazement found himself shaking +hands vigorously with Densham!</p> + +<p>“Where on earth did you spring from, old chap?” he asked. “Dick said +that you had gone abroad.”</p> + +<p>Densham smiled a little sadly.</p> + +<p>“I was on my way,” he said, “when I heard the war rumours. There seemed +to be something in it, so I came back as fast as express trains and +steamers would bring me. I only landed in England this morning. I am +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span>applying for the post of correspondent to the <i>London News</i>.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden sighed.</p> + +<p>“I would give the world,” he said, “for some such excitement as that!”</p> + +<p>Densham drew his hand through Wolfenden’s arm.</p> + +<p>“I saw whom you were watching just now,” he said. “She is as beautiful +as ever!”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden turned suddenly round.</p> + +<p>“Densham,” he said, “you know who she is—tell me.”</p> + +<p>“Do you mean to say that you have not found out?”</p> + +<p>“I do! I know her better, but still only as Mr. Sabin’s niece!”</p> + +<p>Densham was silent for several moments. He felt Wolfenden’s fingers +gripping his arm nervously.</p> + +<p>“Well, I do not see that I should be betraying any confidence now,” he +said. “The promise I gave was only binding for a short time, and now +that she is to be seen openly with the Duchess de Montegarde, I suppose +the embargo is removed. The young lady is the Princess Helène Frances de +Bourbon, and the young man is her betrothed husband, the Prince of +Ortrens!”</p> + +<p>Piccadilly became suddenly a vague and shadowy thoroughfare to +Wolfenden. He was not quite sure whether his footsteps even reached the +pavement. Densham hastened him into the club and, installing him into an +easy chair, called for brandies and soda.</p> + +<p>“Poor old Wolf!” he said softly. “I’m afraid you’re like I was—very +hard hit. Here, drink this! I’m beastly sorry I told you, but I +certainly thought that you would have had some idea.”</p> + +<p>“I have been a thick-headed idiot!” Wolfenden exclaimed. “There have +been heaps of things from which I might have guessed something near the +truth, at any rate. What a fool she must have thought me!”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span></p><p>The two men were silent. Outside in the street there was a rush for a +special edition, and a half cheer rang in the room. A waiter entered +with a handful of copies which were instantly seized upon. Wolfenden +secured one and read the headings.</p> + +<h3>“MOBILIZATION DECLARED.</h3> +<h4><span class="smcap">All Leave Cancelled.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Cabinet Council Still Sitting.</span>”</h4> + +<p>“Densham, do you realise that we are really in for war?”</p> + +<p>Densham nodded.</p> + +<p>“I don’t think there can be any doubt about it myself. What a +thunderbolt! By the bye, where is your friend, Mr. Sabin?”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden shook his head.</p> + +<p>“I do not know; I came to London partially to see him. I have an account +to settle when we do meet; at present he has disappeared. Densham!”</p> + +<p>“Well!”</p> + +<p>“If Miss Sabin has become the Princess Helène of Bourbon, who is Mr. +Sabin?”</p> + +<p>“I am not sure,” Densham answered, “I have been looking into the +genealogy of the family, and if he is really her uncle, there is only +one man whom he can be—the Duke de Souspennier!”</p> + +<p>“Souspennier! Wasn’t he banished from France for something or +other—intriguing for the restoration of the Monarchy, I think it was?”</p> + +<p>Densham nodded.</p> + +<p>“Yes, he disappeared at the time of the Commune, and since then he is +supposed to have been in Asia somewhere. He has quite a history, I +believe, and at different times has <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span>been involved in several European +complications. I shouldn’t be at all surprised if he isn’t our man. Mr. +Sabin has rather the look of a man who has travelled in the East, and he +is certainly an aristocrat.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden was suddenly thoughtful.</p> + +<p>“Harcutt would be very much interested in this,” he declared. “What’s up +outside?”</p> + +<p>There had been a crash in the street, and the sound of a horse plunging; +the two men walked to the windows. The <i>débris</i> of a hansom was lying in +the road, with one wheel hopelessly smashed, a few yards off. A man, +covered with mud, rose slowly up from the wreck. Densham and Wolfenden +simultaneously recognised him.</p> + +<p>“It is Felix,” Wolfenden exclaimed. “Come on!”</p> + +<p>They both hurried out into the street. The driver of the hansom, who +also was covered with mud, stood talking to Felix while staunching the +blood from a wound in his forehead.</p> + +<p>“I’m very sorry, sir,” he was saying, “I hope you’ll remember as it was +your orders to risk an accident, sooner than lose sight of t’other gent. +Mine’s a good ’oss, but what is he against a pair and a light brougham? +and Piccadilly ain’t the place for a chase of this sort! It’ll cost me +three pun ten, sir, to say nothing of the <span style="white-space: nowrap;">wheel——”</span></p> + +<p>Felix motioned him impatiently to be silent, and thrust a note into his +hand.</p> + +<p>“If the damage comes to more than that,” he said, “ask for me at the +Russian Embassy, and I will pay it. Here is my card.”</p> + +<p>Felix was preparing to enter another cab, but Wolfenden laid his hand +upon his shoulder.</p> + +<p>“Won’t you come into my club here, and have a wash?” he suggested. “I am +afraid that you have cut your cheek.”</p> + +<p>Felix raised his handkerchief to his face, and found it covered with +blood.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span></p><p>“Thank you, Lord Wolfenden,” he said, “I should be glad to; you seem +destined always to play the part of the Good Samaritan to me!”</p> + +<p>They both went with him into the lavatory.</p> + +<p>“Do you know,” he asked Wolfenden, when he had sponged his face, “whom I +was following?”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden shook his head.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Sabin?” he suggested.</p> + +<p>“Not Mr. Sabin himself,” Felix answered, “but almost the same thing. It +was Foo Cha, his Chinese servant who has just arrived in England. Have +you any idea where Mr. Sabin is?”</p> + +<p>They both shook their heads.</p> + +<p>“I do not know,” Wolfenden said, “but I am very anxious to find out. I +have an account to settle with him!”</p> + +<p>“And I,” Felix murmured in a low tone, “have a very much longer one +against him. To-night, if I am not too late, there will be a balance +struck between us! I have lost Foo Cha, but others, better skilled than +I am, are in search of his master. They will succeed, too! They always +succeed. What have you against him, Lord Wolfenden?”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden hesitated; yet why not tell the man the truth? He had nothing +to gain by concealment.</p> + +<p>“He forced himself into my father’s house in Norfolk and obtained, +either by force or craft, some valuable papers. My father was in +delicate health, and we fear that the shock will cost him his reason.”</p> + +<p>“Do you want to know what they were?” Felix said. “I can tell you! Do +you want to know what he required them for? I can tell you that too! He +has concocted a marvellous scheme, and if he is left to himself for +another hour or two, he will succeed. But I have no fear; I have set +working a mightier machinery than even he can grapple with!”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span></p><p>They had walked together into the smoke-room; Felix seemed somewhat +shaken and was glad to rest for a few minutes.</p> + +<p>“Has he outstepped the law, been guilty of any crime?” Wolfenden asked; +“he is daring enough!”</p> + +<p>Felix laughed shortly. He was lighting a cigarette, but his hand +trembled so that he could scarcely hold the match.</p> + +<p>“A further reaching arm than the law,” he said, dropping his voice, +“more powerful than governments. Even by this time his whereabouts is +known. If we are only in time; that is the only fear.”</p> + +<p>“Cannot you tell us,” Wolfenden asked, “something of this wonderful +scheme of his—why was he so anxious to get those papers and drawings +from my father—to what purpose can he possibly put them?”</p> + +<p>Felix hesitated.</p> + +<p>“Well,” he said, “why not? You have a right to know. Understand that I +myself have only the barest outline of it; I will tell you this, +however. Mr. Sabin is the Duc de Souspennier, a Frenchman of fabulous +wealth, who has played many strange parts in European history. Amongst +other of his accomplishments, he is a mechanical and strategical genius. +He has studied under Addison in America, one subject only, for three +years—the destruction of warships and fortifications by electrical +contrivances unknown to the general world. Then he came to England, and +collected a vast amount of information concerning your navy and coast +defences in many different ways—finally he sent a girl to play the part +of typist to your father, whom he knew to be the greatest living +authority upon all naval matters connected with your country. Every line +he wrote was copied and sent to Mr. Sabin, until by some means your +father’s suspicions were aroused, and the girl was dismissed. The last +portion of your father’s work consisted <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span>of a set of drawings, of no +fewer than twenty-seven of England’s finest vessels, every one of which +has a large proportion of defective armour plating, which would render +the vessels utterly useless in case of war. These drawings show the +exact position of the defective plates, and it was to secure these +illustrations that Mr. Sabin paid that daring visit to your father on +Tuesday morning. Now, what he professes broadly is that he has +elaborated a scheme, by means of which, combined with the aid of his +inventions, a few torpedo boats can silence every fort in the Thames, +and leave London at the mercy of any invaders. At the same time his +plans include the absolutely safe landing of troops on the east and +south coast, at certain selected spots. This scheme, together with some +very alarming secret information affecting the great majority of your +battleships, will, he asserts with absolute confidence, place your +country at the mercy of any Power to whom he chooses to sell it. He +offered it to Russia first, and then to Germany. Germany has accepted +his terms and will declare war upon England the moment she has his whole +scheme and inventions in her possession.”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden and Densham looked at one another, partly incredulous, partly +aghast. It was like a page from the Arabian Nights. Surely such a thing +as this was not possible. Yet even that short silence was broken by the +cry of the newsboys out in the street—</p> + +<h3>“GERMANY ARMING!<br /><br /> +REPORTED DECLARATION OF WAR!”</h3> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXVIII" id="CHAPTER_XXXVIII"></a>CHAPTER XXXVIII</h2> + +<h3>THE MEN WHO SAVED ENGLAND</h3> + +<p>Mr. Sabin leaned back in his chair with a long, deep sigh of content. +The labour of years was concluded at last. With that final little sketch +his work was done. A pile of manuscripts and charts lay before him; +everything was in order. He took a bill of lading from his letter-case, +and pinned it carefully to the rest. Then he glanced at his watch, and, +taking a cigarette-case from his pocket, began to smoke.</p> + +<p>There was a knock at the door, and Mr. Sabin, who had recognised the +approaching footsteps, glanced up carelessly.</p> + +<p>“What is it, Foo Cha? I told you that I would ring when I wanted you.”</p> + +<p>The Chinaman glided to his side.</p> + +<p>“Master,” he said softly, “I have fears. There is something not good in +the air.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin turned sharply around.</p> + +<p>“What do you mean?” he asked.</p> + +<p>Foo Cha was apologetic but serious.</p> + +<p>“Master, I was followed from the house of the German by a man, who drove +fast after me in a two-wheeled cab. He lost me on the way, but there are +others. I have been into the street, and I am sure of it. The house is +being watched on all sides.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span></p><p>Mr. Sabin drew a quiet, little breath. For a moment his haggard face +seemed almost ghastly. He recovered himself, however, with an effort.</p> + +<p>“We are not in China, Foo Cha,” he said. “I have done nothing against +the law of this country; no man can enter here if we resist. If we are +really being watched, it must be by persons in the pay of the Russian. +But they can do nothing; it is too late; Knigenstein will be here in +half an hour. The thing will be settled then, once and for ever.”</p> + +<p>Foo Cha was troubled still.</p> + +<p>“Me afraid,” he admitted frankly. “Strange men this end and that end of +street. Me no like it. Ah!”</p> + +<p>The front door bell rang softly; it was a timid, hesitating ring, as +though some one had but feebly touched the knob. Foo Cha and his master +looked at one another in silence. There was something almost ominous in +that gentle peal.</p> + +<p>“You must see who it is, Foo Cha,” Mr. Sabin said. “It may be +Knigenstein come early; if so, show him in at once. To everybody else +the house is empty.”</p> + +<p>Foo Cha bowed silently and withdrew. He struck a match in the dark +passage, and lit the hanging gas-lamp. Then he opened the door +cautiously.</p> + +<p>One man alone was standing there. Foo Cha looked at him in despair; it +was certainly not Knigenstein, nor was there any sign of his carriage in +the street. The stranger was a man of middle height, squarely built and +stout. He wore a long black overcoat, and he stood with his hands in his +pockets.</p> + +<p>“What you want?” Foo Cha asked. “What you want with me?”</p> + +<p>The man did not answer at once, but he stepped inside into the passage. +Foo Cha tried to shut the door in his face, but it was like pushing +against a mountain.</p> + +<p>“Where is your master?” he asked.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span></p><p>“Master? He not here,” Foo Cha answered, with glib and untruthful +earnestness. “Indeed he is not here—quite true. He come to-morrow; I +preparing house for him. What do you want? Go away, or me call +policeman.”</p> + +<p>The intruder smiled indulgently into the Chinaman’s earnest, upturned +face.</p> + +<p>“Foo Cha,” he said, “that is enough. Take this card to your master, Mr. +Sabin.”</p> + +<p>Foo Cha was ready to begin another torrent of expostulations, but in the +gas-light he met the new-comer’s steadfast gaze, and he was silent. The +stranger was dressed in the garb of a superior working man, but his +speech and manner indicated a very different station. Foo Cha took the +card and left him in the passage. He made his way softly into the +sitting-room, and as he entered he turned the key in the lock behind +him; there, at any rate, was a moment or two of respite.</p> + +<p>“Master,” he said, “there is a man there whom we cannot stop. When me +tell him you no here, he laugh at me. He will see you; he no go way. He +laugh again when I try shut the door. He give me card; I no understand +what on it.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin stretched out his hand and took the card from the Chinaman’s +fingers. There seemed to be one or two words upon it, traced in a +delicate, sloping handwriting. Mr. Sabin had snatched at the little +piece of pasteboard with some impatience, but the moment he had read +those few words a remarkable change came over him. He started as though +he had received an electric shock; the pupils of his eyes seemed +hideously dilated; the usual pallor of his face was merged in a ghastly +whiteness. And then, after the first shock, came a look of deep and +utter despair; his hand fell to his side, a half-muttered imprecation +escaped from his trembling lips, yet he laid the card gently, even with +reverence, upon the desk before him.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span></p><p>“You can show him in, Foo Cha,” he directed, in a low tone; “show him in +at once.”</p> + +<p>Foo Cha glided out disappointed. Something had gone terribly wrong, he +was sure of that. He went slowly downstairs, his eyes fixed upon the +dark figure standing motionless in the dimly-lit hall. He drew a sharp +breath, which sounded through his yellow, protuberant teeth like a hiss. +A single stroke of that long knife—it would be so easy. Then he +remembered the respect with which Mr. Sabin had treated that card, and +he sighed. Perhaps it would be a mistake; it might make evil worse. He +beckoned to the stranger, and conducted him upstairs.</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin received his visitor standing. He was still very pale, but his +face had resumed its wonted impassiveness. In the dim lamp-lit room he +could see very little of his visitor, only a thick-set man with dark +eyes and a closely-cropped black beard. He was roughly dressed, yet held +himself well. The two men eyed one another steadily for several moments, +before any speech passed between them.</p> + +<p>“You are surprised,” the stranger said; “I do not wonder at it. +Perhaps—you have been much engrossed, it is said—you had even +forgotten.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin’s lips curled in a bitter smile.</p> + +<p>“One does not forget those things,” he said. “To business. Let me know +what is required of me.”</p> + +<p>“It has been reported,” the stranger said, “that you have conceived and +brought to great perfection a comprehensive and infallible scheme for +the conquest of this country. Further, that you are on the point of +handing it over to the Emperor of Germany, for the use of that country. +I think I may conclude that the report is correct?” he added, with a +glance at the table. “We are not often misinformed.”</p> + +<p>“The report,” Mr. Sabin assented, “is perfectly correct.”</p> + +<p>“We have taken counsel upon the matter,” the stranger continued, “and I +am here to acquaint you with our decision. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span>The papers are to be burnt, +and the appliances to be destroyed forthwith. No portion of them is to +be shown to the German Government or any person representing that +country, nor to any other Power. Further, you are to leave England +within two months.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin stood quite still, his hands resting lightly upon the desk in +front of him. His eyes, fixed on vacancy, were looking far out of that +shabby little room, back along the avenues of time, thronged with the +fragments of his broken dreams. He realised once more the full glory of +his daring and ambitious scheme. He saw his country revelling again in +her old splendour, stretching out her limbs and taking once more the +foremost place among her sister nations. He saw the pageantry and rich +colouring of Imperialism, firing the imagination of her children, +drawing all hearts back to their allegiance, breaking through the hard +crust of materialism which had spread like an evil dream through the +land. He saw himself great and revered, the patriot, the Richelieu of +his days, the adored of the people, the friend and restorer of his king. +Once more he was a figure in European history, the consort of Emperors, +the man whose slightest word could shake the money markets of the world. +He saw all these things, as though for the last time, with strange, +unreal vividness; once more their full glory warmed his blood and +dazzled his eyes. Then a flash of memory, an effort of realisation +chilled him; his feet were upon the earth again, his head was heavy. +That thick-set, motionless figure before him seemed like the incarnation +of his despair.</p> + +<p>“I shall appeal,” he said hoarsely; “England is no friend of ours.”</p> + +<p>The man shrugged his shoulders.</p> + +<p>“England is tolerant at least,” he said; “and she has sheltered us.”</p> + +<p>“I shall appeal,” Mr. Sabin repeated.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span></p><p>The man shook his head.</p> + +<p>“It is the order of the High Council,” he said; “there is no appeal.”</p> + +<p>“It is my life’s work,” Mr. Sabin faltered.</p> + +<p>“Your life’s work,” the man said slowly, “should be with us.”</p> + +<p>“God knows why I ever——”</p> + +<p>The man stretched out a white hand, which gleamed through the +semi-darkness. Mr. Sabin stopped short.</p> + +<p>“You very nearly,” he said solemnly, “pronounced your own +death-sentence. If you had finished what you were about to say, I could +never have saved you. Be wise, friend. This is a disappointment to you; +well, is not our life one long torturing disappointment? What of us, +indeed? We are like the waves which beat ceaselessly against the +sea-shore, what we gain one day we lose the next. It is fate, it is +life! Once more, friend, remember! Farewell!”</p> + +<hr class="medium" /> + +<p>Mr. Sabin was left alone, a martyr to his thoughts. Already it was past +the hour for Knigenstein’s visit. Should he remain and brave the storm, +or should he catch the boat-train from Charing Cross and hasten to hide +himself in one of the most remote quarters of the civilised world? In +any case it was a dreary outlook for him. Not only had this dearly +cherished scheme of his come crashing about his head, but he had very +seriously compromised himself with a great country. The Emperor’s +gracious letter was in his pocket—he smiled grimly to himself as he +thought for a moment of the consternation of Berlin, and of +Knigenstein’s disgrace. And then the luxury of choice was suddenly +denied him; he was brought back to the present, and a sense of its +paramount embarrassments by a pealing ring at the bell, and the +trampling of horse’s feet in the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span>street. He had no time to rescind his +previous instructions to Foo Cha before Knigenstein himself, wrapped in +a great sealskin coat, and muffled up to the chin with a silk +handkerchief, was shown into the room.</p> + +<p>The Ambassador’s usually phlegmatic face bore traces of some anxiety. +Behind his spectacles his eyes glittered nervously; he grasped Mr. +Sabin’s hand with unwonted cordiality, and was evidently much relieved +to have found him.</p> + +<p>“My dear Souspennier,” he said, “this is a great occasion. I am a little +late, but, as you can imagine, I am overwhelmed with work of the utmost +importance. You have finished now, I hope. You are ready for me?”</p> + +<p>“I am as ready for you,” Mr. Sabin said grimly, “as I ever shall be!”</p> + +<p>“What do you mean?” Knigenstein asked sharply. “Don’t tell me that +anything has gone amiss! I am a ruined man, unless you carry out your +covenant to the letter. I have pledged my word upon your honour.”</p> + +<p>“Then I am afraid,” Mr. Sabin said, “that we are both of us in a very +tight place! I am bound hand and foot. There,” he cried, pointing to the +grate, half choked with a pile of quivering grey ashes, “lies the work +of seven years of my life—seven years of intrigue, of calculation, of +unceasing toil. By this time all my American inventions, which would +have paralysed Europe, are blown sky high! That is the position, +Knigenstein; we are undone!”</p> + +<p>Knigenstein was shaking like a child; he laid his hand upon Mr. Sabin’s +arm, and gripped it fiercely.</p> + +<p>“Souspennier,” he said, “if you are speaking the truth I am ruined, and +disgraced for ever. The Emperor will never forgive me! I shall be +dismissed and banished. I have pledged my word for yours; you cannot +mean to play me false like this. If there is any personal favour or +reward, which the Emperor can grant, it is yours—I will <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span>answer for it. +I will answer for it, too, that war shall be declared against France +within six months of the conclusion of peace with England. Come, say +that you have been jesting. Good God! man, you are torturing me. Why, +have you seen the papers to-night? The Emperor has been hasty, I own, +but he has already struck the first blow. War is as good as declared. I +am waiting for my papers every hour!”</p> + +<p>“I cannot help it,” Mr. Sabin said doggedly. “The thing is at an end. To +give up all the fruits of my work—the labour of the best years of my +life—is as bitter to me as your dilemma is to you! But it is +inevitable! Be a man, Knigenstein, put the best face on it you can.”</p> + +<p>The utter impotence of all that he could say was suddenly revealed to +Knigenstein in Mr. Sabin’s set face and hopeless words. His tone of +entreaty changed to one of anger; the veins on his forehead stood out +like knotted string, his mouth twitched as he spoke, he could not +control himself.</p> + +<p>“You have made up your mind,” he cried. “Very well! Russia has bought +you, very well! If Lobenski has bribed you with all the gold in +Christendom you shall never enjoy it! You shall not live a year! I swear +it! You have insulted and wronged our country, our fatherland! Listen! A +word shall be breathed in the ears of a handful of our officers. Where +you go, they shall go; if you leave England you will be struck on the +cheek in the first public place at which you show yourself. If one +falls, there are others—hundreds, thousands, an army! Oh! you shall not +escape, my friend. But if ever you dared to set foot in <span style="white-space: nowrap;">Germany——”</span></p> + +<p>“I can assure you,” Mr. Sabin interrupted, “that I shall take particular +care never to visit your delightful country. Elsewhere, I think I can +take care of myself. But listen, Knigenstein, all your talk about Russia +and playing you <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span>false is absurd. If I had wished to deal with Lobenski, +I could have done so, instead of with you. I have not even seen him. A +greater hand than his has stopped me, a greater even than the hand of +your Emperor!”</p> + +<p>Knigenstein looked at him as one looks at a madman.</p> + +<p>“There is no greater hand on earth,” he said, “than the hand of his +Imperial Majesty, the Emperor of Germany.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin smiled.</p> + +<p>“You are a German,” he said, “and you know little of these things, yet +you call yourself a diplomatist, and I suppose you have some knowledge +of what this means.”</p> + +<p>He lifted the lamp from the table and walked to the wall opposite to the +door. Knigenstein followed him closely. Before them, high up as the +fingers of a man could reach, was a small, irregular red +patch—something between a cross and a star. Mr. Sabin held the lamp +high over his head and pointed to the mark.</p> + +<p>“Do you know what that means?” he asked.</p> + +<p>The man by his side groaned.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” he answered, with a gesture of abject despair, “I know!”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin walked back to the table and set down the lamp.</p> + +<p>“You know now,” he said coolly, “who has intervened.”</p> + +<p>“If I had had any idea,” Knigenstein said, “that you were one of them I +should not have treated with you.”</p> + +<p>“It was many years ago,” Mr. Sabin said with a sigh. “My father was half +a Russian, you know. It served my purpose whilst I was envoy at Teheran; +since then I had lost sight of them; I thought that they too had lost +sight of me. I was mistaken—only an hour ago I was visited by a chief +official. They knew everything, they forbade everything. As a matter of +fact they have saved England!”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span></p><p>“And ruined us,” Knigenstein groaned. “I must go and telegraph. But +Souspennier, one word.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin looked up.</p> + +<p>“You are a brave man and a patriot; you want to see your country free. +Well, why not free it still? You and I are philosophers, we know that +life after all is an uncertain thing. Hold to your bargain with us. It +will be to your death, I do not deny that. But I will pledge the honour +of my country, I will give you the holy word of the Emperor, that we +will faithfully carry out our part of the contract, and the whole glory +shall be yours. You will be immortalised; you will win fame that shall +be deathless. Your name will be enshrined in the heart of your country’s +history.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin shook his head slowly.</p> + +<p>“My dear Knigenstein,” he said “pray don’t misunderstand me. I do not +cast the slightest reflection upon your Emperor or your honour. But if +ever there was a country which required watching, it is yours. I could +not carry your pledges with me into oblivion, and there is no one to +whom I could leave the legacy. That being the case, I think that I +prefer to live.”</p> + +<p>Knigenstein buttoned up his coat and sighed.</p> + +<p>“I am a ruined man, Souspennier,” he said, “but I bear you no malice. +Let me leave you a little word of warning, though. The Nihilists are not +the only people in the world who have the courage and the wit to avenge +themselves. Farewell!”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin broke into a queer little laugh as he listened to his guest’s +departing footsteps. Then he lit a cigarette, and called to Foo Cha for +some coffee.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXIX" id="CHAPTER_XXXIX"></a>CHAPTER XXXIX</h2> + +<h3>THE HEART OF THE PRINCESS</h3> + +<p>When Wolfenden opened his paper on Saturday morning, London had already +drawn a great breath, partly of relief partly of surprise, for the black +head-lines which topped the columns of the papers, the placards in the +streets, and the cry of the newsboys, all declared a most remarkable +change in the political situation.</p> + +<h3>“THE GERMAN EMPEROR EXPLAINS!<br /> +<br /> +THERE WILL BE NO WAR!</h3> + +<h4><span class="smcap">German Consul ordered Home!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">No Rupture!</span>”</h4> + +<p>Wolfenden, in common with most of his fellow-countrymen, could scarcely +believe his eyes; yet there it was in plain black and white. The dogs of +war had been called back. Germany was climbing down—not with dignity; +she had gone too far for that—but with a scuffle. Wolfenden read the +paper through before he even thought of his letters Then he began to +open them slowly. The first was from his mother. The Admiral was +distinctly better; the doctors were more hopeful. He turned to the next +one; it was in a delicate, foreign handwriting, and exhaled a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span>faint +perfume which seemed vaguely familiar to him. He opened it and his heart +stood still.</p> + +<div class="blockquot2"><p class="right"><span style="margin-right: 7em;">“14, <span class="smcap">Grosvenor Square</span>,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-right: 6em;">“<span class="smcap">London</span>, W</span></p> + +<p>“Will you come and see me to-day about four o’clock? —<span class="smcap">Helène.</span>”</p></div> + +<p>He looked at his watch—four o’clock seemed a very long way off. He +decided that he would go out and find Felix; but almost immediately the +door was opened and that very person was shown in.</p> + +<p>Felix was radiant; he appeared to have grown years younger. He was +immaculately dressed, and he wore an exquisite orchid in his +button-hole.</p> + +<p>Wolfenden greeted him warmly.</p> + +<p>“Have you seen the paper?” he asked. “Do you know the news?”</p> + +<p>Felix laughed.</p> + +<p>“Of course! You may not believe it, but it is true that I am the person +who has saved your country! And I am quits at last with Herbert de la +Meux, Duc de Souspennier!”</p> + +<p>“Meaning, I suppose, the person whom we have been accustomed to +call—Mr. Sabin?” Wolfenden remarked.</p> + +<p>“Exactly!”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden pushed an easy chair towards his visitor and produced some +cigarettes.</p> + +<p>“I must say,” he continued, “that I should exceedingly like to know how +the thing was done.”</p> + +<p>Felix smiled.</p> + +<p>“That, my dear friend,” he said, “you will never know. No one will ever +know the cause of Germany’s suddenly belligerent attitude, and her +equally speedy climb-down! There are many pages of diplomatic history +which the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span>world will never read, and this is one of them. Come and +lunch with me, Lord Wolfenden. My vow is paid and without bloodshed. I +am a free man, and my promotion is assured. To-day is the happiest of my +life!”</p> + +<p>Wolfenden smiled and looked at the letter on the table before him; might +it not also be the happiest day of his own life!</p> + +<hr class="medium" /> + +<p>And it was! Punctually at four o’clock he presented himself at Grosvenor +Square and was ushered into one of the smaller reception rooms. Helène +came to him at once, a smile half-shy, half-apologetic upon her lips. He +was conscious from the moment of her entrance of a change in her +deportment towards him. She held in her hand a small locket.</p> + +<p>“I wanted to ask you, Lord Wolfenden,” she said, drawing her fingers +slowly away from his lingering clasp, “does this locket belong to you?”</p> + +<p>He glanced at it and shook his head at once.</p> + +<p>“I never saw it before in my life,” he declared. “I do not wear a watch +chain, and I don’t possess anything of that sort.”</p> + +<p>She threw it contemptuously away from her into the grate.</p> + +<p>“A woman lied to me about it,” she said slowly. “I am ashamed of myself +that I should have listened to her, even for a second. I chanced to look +at it last night, and it suddenly occurred to me where I had seen it. It +was on a man’s watch-chain, but not on yours.”</p> + +<p>“Surely,” he said, “it belongs to Mr. Sabin?”</p> + +<p>She nodded and held out both her hands.</p> + +<p>“Will you forgive me?” she begged softly, “and—and—I think—I promised +to send for you!”</p> + +<hr class="medium" /> + +<p>They had been together for nearly an hour when the door opened abruptly, +and the young man whom Wolfenden <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span>had seen with Helène in the barouche +entered the room. He stared in amazement at her, and rudely at +Wolfenden. Helène rose and turned to him with a smile.</p> + +<p>“Henri,” she said, “let me present to you the English gentleman whom I +am going to marry. Prince Henri of Ortrens—Lord Wolfenden.”</p> + +<p>The young man barely returned Wolfenden’s salute. He turned with +flashing eyes to Helène and muttered a few hasty words in French—</p> + +<p>“A kingdom and my betrothed in one day! It is too much! We will see!”</p> + +<p>He left the room hurriedly. Helène laughed.</p> + +<p>“He has gone to find the Duchess,” she said, “and there will be a scene! +Let us go out in the Park.”</p> + +<p>They walked about under the trees; suddenly they came face to face with +Mr. Sabin. He was looking a little worn, but he was as carefully dressed +as usual, and he welcomed them with a smile and an utter absence of any +embarrassment.</p> + +<p>“So soon!” he remarked pleasantly. “You Englishmen are as prompt in love +as you are in war, Lord Wolfenden! It is an admirable trait.”</p> + +<p>Helène laid her hand upon his arm. Yes, it was no fancy; his hair was +greyer, and heavy lines furrowed his brow.</p> + +<p>“Uncle,” she said, “believe me that I am sorry for you, though for +myself—I am glad!”</p> + +<p>He looked at her kindly, yet with a faint contempt.</p> + +<p>“The Bourbon blood runs very slowly in your veins, child,” he said. +“After all I begin to doubt whether you would have made a queen! As for +myself—well, I am resigned. I am going to Pau, to play golf!”</p> + +<p>“For how long, I wonder,” she said smiling, “will you be able to content +yourself there?”</p> + +<p>“For a month or two,” he answered; “until I have lost <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span>the taste of +defeat. Then I have plans—but never mind; I will tell you later on. You +will all hear of me again! So far as you two are concerned at any rate,” +he added, “I have no need to reproach myself. My failure seems to have +brought you happiness.”</p> + +<p>He passed on, and they both watched his slim figure lost in the throng +of passers-by.</p> + +<p>“He is a great man,” she murmured. “He knows how to bear defeat.”</p> + +<p>“He is a great man,” Wolfenden answered; “but none the less I am not +sorry to see the last of Mr. Sabin!”</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XL" id="CHAPTER_XL"></a>CHAPTER XL</h2> + +<h3>THE WAY TO PAU</h3> + +<p>The way to Pau which Mr. Sabin chose may possibly have been the most +circuitous, but it was certainly the safest. Although not a muscle of +his face had moved, although he had not by any physical movement or +speech betrayed his knowledge of the fact, he was perfectly well aware +that his little statement as to his future movements was overheard and +carefully noted by the tall, immaculately dressed young man who by some +strange chance seemed to have been at his elbow since he had left his +rooms an hour ago. “Into the lion’s mouth, indeed,” he muttered to +himself grimly as he hailed a hansom at the corner and was driven +homewards. The limes of Berlin were very beautiful, but it was not with +any immediate idea of sauntering beneath them that a few hours later he +was driven to Euston and stepped into an engaged carriage on the +Liverpool express. There, with a travelling cap drawn down to his eyes +and a rug pulled up to his throat, he sat in the far corner of his +compartment apparently enjoying an evening paper—as a matter of fact +anxiously watching the platform. He had taken care to allow himself only +a slender margin of time. In two minutes the train glided out of the +station.</p> + +<p>He drew a little sigh of relief—he, who very seldom permitted himself +the luxury of even the slightest revelation of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span>his feelings. At least +he had a start. Then he unlocked a travelling case, and, drawing out an +atlas, sat with it upon his knee for some time. When he closed it there +was a frown upon his face.</p> + +<p>“America,” he exclaimed softly to himself. “What a lack of imagination +even the sound of the place seems to denote! It is the most ignominious +retreat I have ever made.”</p> + +<p>“You made the common mistake,” a quiet voice at his elbow remarked, “of +many of the world’s greatest diplomatists. You underrated your +adversaries.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin distinctly started, and clutching at his rug, leaned back in +his corner. A young man in a tweed travelling suit was standing by the +opposite window. Behind him Mr. Sabin noticed for the first time a +narrow mahogany door. Mr. Sabin drew a short breath, and was himself +again. Underneath the rug his fingers stole into his overcoat pocket and +clasped something cold and firm.</p> + +<p>“One at least,” he said grimly, “I perceive that I have held too +lightly. Will you pardon a novice at necromancy if he asks you how you +found your way here?”</p> + +<p>Felix smiled.</p> + +<p>“A little forethought,” he remarked, “a little luck and a sovereign tip +to an accommodating inspector. The carriage in which you are travelling +is, as you will doubtless perceive before you reach your journey’s end, +a species of saloon. This little door”—touching the one through which +he had issued—“leads on to a lavatory, and on the other side is a +non-smoking carriage. I found that you had engaged a carriage on this +train, by posing as your servant. I selected this one as being +particularly suited to an old gentleman of nervous disposition, and +arranged also that the non-smoking portion should be reserved for me.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin nodded. “And how,” he asked, “did you know that I meant to go +to America?”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span></p><p>Felix shrugged his shoulders and took a seat.</p> + +<p>“Well,” he said, “I concluded that you would be looking for a change of +air somewhere, and I really could not see what part of the world you had +left open to yourself. America is the only country strong enough to keep +you! Besides, I reckoned a little upon that curiosity with regard to +undeveloped countries which I have observed to be one of your traits. So +far as I am aware, you have never resided long in America.”</p> + +<p>“Neither have I even visited Kamtchatka or Greenland,” Mr. Sabin +remarked.</p> + +<p>“I understand you,” Felix remarked, nodding his head. “America is +certainly one of the last places one would have dreamed of looking for +you. You will find it, I am afraid, politically unborn; your own little +methods, at any rate, would scarcely achieve popularity there. Further, +its sympathies, of course, are with democratic France. I can imagine +that you and the President of the United States would represent opposite +poles of thought. Yet there were two considerations which weighed with +me.”</p> + +<p>“This is very interesting,” Mr. Sabin remarked. “May I know what they +were? To be permitted a glimpse into the inward workings of a brain like +yours is indeed a privilege!”</p> + +<p>Felix bowed with a gratified smile upon his lips. The satire of Mr. +Sabin’s dry tone was apparently lost upon him.</p> + +<p>“You are most perfectly welcome,” he declared. “In the first place I +said to myself that Kamtchatka and Greenland, although equally +interesting to you, would be quite unable to afford themselves the +luxury of offering you an asylum. You must seek the shelter of a great +and powerful country, and one which you had never offended, and save +America, there is none such in the world. Secondly, you are a Sybarite, +and you do not without <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span>very serious reasons place yourself outside the +pale of civilisation. Thirdly, America is the only country save those +which are barred to you where you could play golf!”</p> + +<p>“You are really a remarkable young man,” Sabin declared, softly stroking +his little grey imperial. “You have read me like a book! I am humiliated +that the course of my reasoning should have been so transparent. To +prove the correctness of your conclusions, see the little volume which I +had brought to read on my way to Liverpool.”</p> + +<p>He handed it out to Felix. It was entitled, “The Golf Courses of the +World,” and a leaf was turned down at the chapter headed, “United +States.”</p> + +<p>“I wish,” he remarked, “that you were a golfer! I should like to have +asked your opinion about that plan of the Myopia golf links. To me it +seems cramped, and the bunkers are artificial.”</p> + +<p>Felix looked at him admiringly.</p> + +<p>“You are a wonderful man,” he said. “You do not bear me any ill-will +then?”</p> + +<p>“None in the least,” Mr. Sabin said quietly. “I never bear personal +grudges. So far as I am concerned, I never have a personal enemy. It is +fate itself which vanquished me. You were simply an instrument. You do +not figure in my thoughts as a person against whom I bear any ill-will. +I am glad, though, that you did not cash my cheque for £20,000!”</p> + +<p>Felix smiled. “You went to see, then?” he asked.</p> + +<p>“I took the liberty,” Mr. Sabin answered, “of stopping payment of it.”</p> + +<p>“It will never be presented,” Felix said “I tore it into pieces directly +I left you.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin nodded.</p> + +<p>“Quixotic,” he murmured.</p> + +<p>The express was rushing on through the night. Mr. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span>Sabin thrust his hand +into his bag and took out a handful of cigars. He offered one to Felix, +who accepted, and lit it with the air of a man enjoying the reasonable +civility of a chance fellow passenger.</p> + +<p>“You had, I presume,” Mr. Sabin remarked, “some object in coming to see +the last of me? I do not wish to seem unduly inquisitive, but I feel a +little natural interest, or shall we say curiosity as to the reason for +this courtesy on your part?”</p> + +<p>“You are quite correct,” Felix answered. “I am here with a purpose. I am +the bearer of a message to you.”</p> + +<p>“May I ask, a friendly message, or otherwise?”</p> + +<p>His fingers were tightening upon the little hard substance in his +pocket, but he was already beginning to doubt whether after all Felix +had come as an enemy.</p> + +<p>“Friendly,” was the prompt answer. “I bring you an offer.”</p> + +<p>“From Lobenski?”</p> + +<p>“From his august master! The Czar himself has plans for you!”</p> + +<p>“His serene Majesty,” Mr. Sabin murmured, “has always been most kind.”</p> + +<p>“Since you left the country of the Shah,” Felix continued, “Russian +influence in Central Asia has been gradually upon the wane. All manner +of means have been employed to conceal this, but the unfortunate fact +remains. You were the only man who ever thoroughly grasped the situation +and attained any real influence over the master of western Asia! Your +removal from Teheran was the result of an intrigue on the part of the +English. It was the greatest misfortune which ever befel Russia!”</p> + +<p>“And your offer?” Mr. Sabin asked.</p> + +<p>“Is that you return to Teheran not as the secret agent, but as the +accredited ambassador of Russia, with an absolutely free hand and +unlimited powers.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span></p><p>“Such an offer,” Mr. Sabin remarked, “ten years ago would have made +Russia mistress of all Asia.”</p> + +<p>“The Czar,” Felix said, “is beginning to appreciate that. But what was +possible then is possible now!”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin shook his head. “I am ten years older,” he said, “and the Shah +who was my friend is dead.”</p> + +<p>“The new Shah,” Felix said, “has a passion for intrigue, and the sands +around Teheran are magnificent for golf.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin shook his head.</p> + +<p>“Too hard,” he said, “and too monotonous. I am peculiar perhaps in that +respect, but I detest artificial bunkers. Now there is a little valley,” +he continued thoughtfully, “about seven miles north of Teheran, where +something might be done! I <span style="white-space: nowrap;">wonder——”</span></p> + +<p>“You accept,” Felix asked quietly.</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin shook his head.</p> + +<p>“No, I decline.”</p> + +<p>It was a shock to Felix, but he hid his disappointment.</p> + +<p>“Absolutely?”</p> + +<p>“And finally.”</p> + +<p>“Why?”</p> + +<p>“I am ten years too old!”</p> + +<p>“That is resentment!”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin denied it.</p> + +<p>“No! Why should I not be frank with you, my friend? What I would have +done for Russia ten years ago, I would not do to-day! She has made +friends with the French Republic. She has done more than recognise the +existence of that iniquitous institution—she has pressed her friendship +upon the president—she has spoken the word of alliance. Henceforth my +feeling for Russia has changed. I have no object to gain in her +development. I am richer than the richest of her nobles, and there is no +title in Europe for which I would exchange my own. You see Russia has +absolutely nothing to offer me. On the other <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span>hand, what would benefit +Russia in Asia would ruin England, and England has given me and many of +my kind a shelter, and has even held aloof from France. Of the two +countries I would much prefer to aid England. If I had been the means of +destroying her Asiatic empire ten years ago it would have been to me +to-day a source of lasting regret. There, my friend, I have paid you the +compliment of perfect frankness.”</p> + +<p>“If,” Felix said slowly, “the price of your success at Teheran should be +the breach of our covenants with France—what then? Remember that it is +the country whose friendship is pleasing to us, not the government. You +cannot seriously doubt but that an autocrat, such as the Czar, would +prefer to extend his hand to an Emperor of France than to soil his +fingers with the clasp of a tradesman!”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin shook his head softly. “I have told you why I decline,” he +said, “but in my heart there are many other reasons. For one, I am no +longer a young man. This last failure of mine has aged me. I have no +heart for fresh adventures.”</p> + +<p>Felix sighed.</p> + +<p>“My mission to you comes,” he said, “at an unfortunate time. For the +present, then, I accept defeat.”</p> + +<p>“The fault,” Mr. Sabin murmured, “is in no way with you. My refusal was +a thing predestined. The Czar himself could not move me.”</p> + +<p>The train was slowing a little. Felix looked out of the window.</p> + +<p>“We are nearing Crewe,” he said. “I shall alight then and return to +London. You are for America, then?”</p> + +<p>“Beyond doubt,” Mr. Sabin declared.</p> + +<p>Felix drew from his pocket a letter.</p> + +<p>“If you will deliver this for me,” he said, “you will do me a kindness, +and you will make a pleasant acquaintance.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span></p><p>Mr. Sabin glanced at the imprescription. It was addressed to—</p> + +<div class="centerbox2 bbox2"><p class="right"><span style="margin-right: 3.75em;">“Mrs. J. B. Peterson,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-right: 5em;">“Lenox,</span><br /> +“Mass., U.S.A.”</p></div> + +<p>“I will do so with pleasure,” he remarked, slipping it into his +dressing-case.</p> + +<p>“And remember this,” Felix remarked, glancing out at the platform along +which they were gliding. “You are a marked man. Disguise is useless for +you. Be ever on your guard. You and I have been enemies, but after all +you are too great a man to fall by the hand of a German assassin. +Farewell!”</p> + +<p>“I will thank you for your caution and remember it,” Mr. Sabin answered. +“Farewell!”</p> + +<p>Felix raised his hat, and Mr. Sabin returned the salute. The whistle +sounded. Felix stepped out on to the platform.</p> + +<p>“You will not forget the letter?” he asked</p> + +<p>“I will deliver it in person without fail,” Mr. Sabin answered.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XLI" id="CHAPTER_XLI"></a>CHAPTER XLI</h2> + +<h3>MR. AND MRS. WATSON OF NEW YORK</h3> + +<p>It was their third day out, and Mr. Sabin was enjoying the voyage very +much indeed. The <i>Calipha</i> was a small boat sailing to Boston instead of +New York, and contemptuously termed by the ocean-going public an old +tub. She carried, consequently, only seven passengers besides Mr. Sabin, +and it had taken him but a very short time to decide that of those seven +passengers not one was interested in him or his affairs. He had got +clear away, for the present at any rate, from all the complications and +dangers which had followed upon the failure of his great scheme. Of +course by this time the news of his departure and destination was known +to every one whom his movements concerned. That was almost a matter of +course, and realising even the impossibility of successful concealment, +Mr. Sabin had made no attempt at any. He had given the name of Sabin to +the steward, and had secured the deck’s cabin for his own use. He +chatted every day with the captain, who treated him with respect, and in +reply to a question from one of the stewards who was a Frenchman, he +admitted that he was the Duc de Souspennier, and that he was travelling +incognito only as a whim. He was distinctly popular with every one of +the seven passengers, who were a little doubtful how to address him, but +whom he succeeded <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span>always in putting entirely at their ease. He entered, +too, freely into the little routine of steamer life. He played +shuffleboard for an hour or more every morning, and was absolutely +invincible at the game; he brought his golf clubs on deck one evening +after dinner, and explained the manner of their use to an admiring +little circle of the seven passengers, the captain, and doctor. He +rigorously supported the pool each day, and he even took a hand at a +mild game of poker one wet afternoon, when timidly invited to do so by +Mr. Hiram Shedge, an oil merchant of Boston. He had in no way the +deportment or manner of a man who had just passed through a great +crisis, nor would any one have gathered from his conversation or +demeanour that he was the head of one of the greatest houses in Europe +and a millionaire. The first time a shadow crossed his face was late one +afternoon, when, coming on deck a little behind the others after lunch, +he found them all leaning over the starboard bow, gazing intently at +some object a little distance off, and at the same time became aware +that the engines had been put to half-speed.</p> + +<p>He was strolling towards the little group, when the captain, seeing him, +beckoned him on to the bridge.</p> + +<p>“Here’s something that will interest you, Mr. Sabin,” he called out. +“Won’t you step this way?”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin mounted the iron steps carefully but with his eyes turned +seawards; a large yacht of elegant shape and painted white from stern to +bows was lying-to about half a mile off flying signals.</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin reached the bridge and stood by the captain’s side.</p> + +<p>“A pleasure yacht,” he remarked. “What does she want?”</p> + +<p>“I shall know in a moment,” the captain answered with his glass to his +eye. “She flew a distress signal at first for us to stand by, so I +suppose she’s in trouble. Ah! there it goes. ‘Mainshaft broken,’ she +says.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span></p><p>“She doesn’t lie like it,” Mr. Sabin remarked quietly.</p> + +<p>The captain looked at him with a smile.</p> + +<p>“You know a bit about yachting too,” he said, “and, to tell you the +truth, that’s just what I was thinking.”</p> + +<p>“Holmes.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, sir.”</p> + +<p>“Ask her what she wants us to do.”</p> + +<p>The signalman touched his hat, and the little row of flags ran +fluttering up in the breeze.</p> + +<p>“She signals herself the <i>Mayflower</i>, private yacht, owner Mr. James +Watson of New York,” he remarked. “She’s a beautiful boat.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin, who had brought his own glasses, looked at her long and +steadily.</p> + +<p>“She’s not an American built boat, at any rate,” he remarked.</p> + +<p>An answering signal came fluttering back. The captain opened his book +and read it.</p> + +<p>“She’s going on under canvas,” he said, “but she wants us to take her +owner and his wife on board.”</p> + +<p>“Are you compelled to do so?” Mr. Sabin asked.</p> + +<p>The captain laughed.</p> + +<p>“Not exactly! I’m not expected to pick up passengers in mid ocean.”</p> + +<p>“Then I shouldn’t do it,” Mr. Sabin said. “If they are in a hurry the +<i>Alaska</i> is due up to-day, isn’t she? and she’ll be in New York in three +days, and the <i>Baltimore</i> must be close behind her. I should let them +know that.”</p> + +<p>“Well,” the captain answered, “I don’t want fresh passengers bothering +just now.”</p> + +<p>The flags were run up, and the replies came back as promptly. The +captain shut up his glass with a bang.</p> + +<p>“No getting out of them,” he remarked to Mr. Sabin. “They reply that the +lady is nervous and will not wait; they are coming on board at once—for +fear I should go <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span>on, I suppose. They add that Mr. Watson is the largest +American holder of Cunard stock and a director of the American Board, so +have them we must—that’s pretty certain. I must see the purser.”</p> + +<p>He descended, and Mr. Sabin, following him, joined the little group of +passengers. They all stood together watching the long rowing boat which +was coming swiftly towards them through the smooth sea. Mr. Sabin +explained to them the messages which had passed, and together they +admired the disabled yacht.</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin touched the first mate on the arm as he passed.</p> + +<p>“Did you ever see a vessel like that, Johnson?” he remarked.</p> + +<p>The man shook his head.</p> + +<p>“Their engineer is a fool, sir!” he declared scornfully. “Nothing but my +own eyes would make me believe there’s anything serious the matter with +her shaft.”</p> + +<p>“I agree with you,” Mr. Sabin said quietly.</p> + +<p>The boat was now within hailing distance. Mr. Sabin leaned down over the +side and scanned its occupants closely. There was nothing in the least +suspicious about them. The man who sat in the stern steering was a +typical American, with thin sallow face and bright eyes. The woman wore +a thick veil, but she was evidently young, and when she stood up +displayed a figure and clothes distinctly Parisian. The two came up the +ladder as though perfectly used to boarding a vessel in mid ocean, and +the lady’s nervousness was at least not apparent. The captain advanced +to meet them, and gallantly assisted the lady on to the deck.</p> + +<p>“This is Captain Ackinson, I presume,” the man remarked with extended +hand. “We are exceedingly obliged to you, sir, for taking us off. This +is my wife, Mrs. James B. Watson.”</p> + +<p>Mrs. Watson raised her veil, and disclosed a dark, piquant face with +wonderfully bright eyes.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span></p><p>“It’s real nice of you, Captain,” she said frankly. “You don’t know how +good it is to feel the deck of a real ocean-going steamer beneath your +feet after that little sailing boat of my husband’s. This is the very +last time I attempt to cross the Atlantic except on one of your +steamers.”</p> + +<p>“We are very glad to be of any assistance,” the captain answered, more +heartily than a few minutes before he would have believed possible. +“Full speed ahead, John!”</p> + +<p>There was a churning of water and dull throb of machinery restarting. +The little rowing boat, already well away on its return journey, rocked +on the long waves. Mr. Watson turned to shout some final instructions. +Then the captain beckoned to the purser.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Wilson will show you your state rooms,” he remarked. “Fortunately +we have plenty of room. Steward, take the baggage down.”</p> + +<p>The lady went below, but Mr. Watson remained on deck talking to the +captain. Mr. Sabin strolled up to them.</p> + +<p>“Your yacht rides remarkably well, if her shaft is really broken,” he +remarked.</p> + +<p>Mr. Watson nodded.</p> + +<p>“She’s a beautifully built boat,” he remarked with enthusiasm. “If the +weather is favourable her canvas will bring her into Boston Harbour two +days after us.”</p> + +<p>“I suppose,” the captain asked, looking at her through his glass, “you +satisfied yourself that her shaft was really broken?”</p> + +<p>“I did not, sir,” Mr. Watson answered. “My engineer reported it so, and, +as I know nothing of machinery myself, I was content to take his word. +He holds very fine diplomas, and I presume he knows what he is talking +about. But anyway Mrs. Watson would never have stayed upon that boat one +moment longer than she was compelled. She’s a wonderfully nervous woman +is Mrs. Watson.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span></p><p>“That’s a somewhat unusual trait for your countrywoman, is it not?” Mr. +Sabin asked.</p> + +<p>Mr. J. B. Watson looked steadily at his questioner.</p> + +<p>“My wife, sir,” he said, “has lived for many years on the Continent. She +would scarcely consider herself an American.”</p> + +<p>“I beg your pardon,” Mr. Sabin remarked courteously. “One can see at +least that she has acquired the polish of the only habitable country in +the world. But if I had taken the liberty of guessing at her +nationality, I should have taken her to be a German.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Watson raised his eyebrows, and somehow managed to drop the match he +was raising to his cigar.</p> + +<p>“You astonish me very much, sir,” he remarked. “I always looked upon the +fair, rotund woman as the typical German face.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin shook his head gently.</p> + +<p>“There are many types,” he said “and nationality, you know, does not +always go by complexion or size. For instance, you are very like many +American gentlemen whom I have had the pleasure of meeting, but at the +same time I should not have taken you for an American.”</p> + +<p>The captain laughed.</p> + +<p>“I can’t agree with you, Mr. Sabin,” he said. “Mr. Watson appears to me +to be, if he will pardon my saying so, the very type of the modern +American man.”</p> + +<p>“I’m much obliged to you, Captain,” Mr. Watson said cheerfully. “I’m a +Boston man, that’s sure, and I believe, sir, I’m proud of it. I want to +know for what nationality you would have taken me if you had not been +informed?”</p> + +<p>“I should have looked for you also,” Mr. Sabin said deliberately, “in +the streets of Berlin.”</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XLII" id="CHAPTER_XLII"></a>CHAPTER XLII</h2> + +<h3>A WEAK CONSPIRATOR</h3> + +<p>At dinner-time Mrs. Watson appeared in a very dainty toilette of black +and white, and was installed at the captain’s right hand. She was +introduced at once to Mr. Sabin, and proceeded to make herself a very +agreeable companion.</p> + +<p>“Why, I call this perfectly delightful!” was almost her first +exclamation, after a swift glance at Mr. Sabin’s quiet but +irreproachable dinner attire. “You can’t imagine how pleased I am to +find myself once more in civilised society. I was never so dull in my +life as on that poky little yacht.”</p> + +<p>“Poky little yacht, indeed!” Mr. Watson interrupted, with a note of +annoyance in his tone. “The <i>Mayflower</i> anyway cost me pretty well two +hundred thousand dollars, and she’s nearly the largest pleasure yacht +afloat.”</p> + +<p>“I don’t care if she cost you a million dollars,” Mrs. Watson answered +pettishly. “I never want to sail on her again. I prefer this +infinitely.”</p> + +<p>She laughed at Captain Ackinson, and her husband continued his dinner in +silence. Mr. Sabin made a mental note of two things—first, that Mr. +Watson did not treat his wife with that consideration which is supposed +to be distinctive of American husbands, and secondly, that he drank <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</a></span>a +good deal of wine without becoming even a shade more amiable. His wife +somewhat pointedly drank water, and turning her right shoulder upon her +husband, devoted herself to the entertainment of her two companions. At +the conclusion of the meal the captain was her abject slave, and Mr. +Sabin was quite willing to admit that Mrs. J. B. Watson, whatever her +nationality might be, was a very charming woman.</p> + +<p>After dinner Mr. Sabin went to his lower state room for an overcoat, and +whilst feeling for some cigars, heard voices in the adjoining room, +which had been empty up to now.</p> + +<p>“Won’t you come and walk with me, James?” he heard Mrs. Watson say. “It +is such a nice evening, and I want to go on deck.”</p> + +<p>“You can go without me, then,” was the gruff answer. “I’m going to have +a cigar in the smoke-room.”</p> + +<p>“You can smoke,” she reminded him, “on deck.”</p> + +<p>“Thanks,” he replied, “but I don’t care to give my Laranagas to the +winds. You would come here, and you must do the best you can. You can’t +expect to have me dangling after you all the time.”</p> + +<p>There was a silence, and then the sound of Mr. Watson’s heavy tread, as +he left the state room, followed in a moment or two by the light +footsteps and soft rustle of silk skirts, which indicated the departure +also of his wife.</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin carefully enveloped himself in an ulster, and stood for a +moment or two wondering whether that conversation was meant to be +overheard or not. He rang the bell for the steward.</p> + +<p>The man appeared almost immediately. Mr. Sabin had known how to ensure +prompt service.</p> + +<p>“Was it my fancy, John? or did I hear voices in the state room +opposite?” Mr. Sabin asked.</p> + +<p>“Mr. and Mrs. Watson have taken it, sir,” the man answered.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</a></span></p><p>Mr. Sabin appeared annoyed.</p> + +<p>“You know that some of my clothes are hung up there,” he remarked, “and +I have been using it as a dressing-room. There are heaps of state-rooms +vacant. Surely you could have found them another?”</p> + +<p>“I did my best, sir,” the man answered, “but they seemed to take a +particular fancy to that one. I couldn’t get them off it nohow.”</p> + +<p>“Did they know,” Mr. Sabin asked carelessly, “that the room opposite was +occupied?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, sir,” the man answered. “I told them that you were in number +twelve, and that you used this as a dressing-room, but they wouldn’t +shift. It was very foolish of them, too, for they wanted two, one each; +and they could just as well have had them together.”</p> + +<p>“Just as well,” Mr. Sabin remarked quietly. “Thank you, John. Don’t let +them know I have spoken to you about it.”</p> + +<p>“Certainly not, sir.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin walked upon deck. As he passed the smoke-room he saw Mr. +Watson stretched upon a sofa with a cigar in his mouth. Mr. Sabin smiled +to himself, and passed on.</p> + +<p>The evening promenade on deck after dinner was quite a social event on +board the <i>Calipha</i>. As a rule the captain and Mr. Sabin strolled +together, none of the other passengers, notwithstanding Mr. Sabin’s +courtesy towards them, having yet attempted in any way to thrust their +society upon him. But to-night, as he had half expected, the captain had +already a companion. Mrs. Watson, with a very becoming wrap around her +head, and a cigarette in her mouth, was walking by his side, chatting +gaily most of the time, but listening also with an air of absorbed +interest to the personal experiences which her questions provoked. Every +now and then, as they <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</a></span>passed Mr. Sabin, sometimes walking, sometimes +gazing with an absorbed air at the distant chaos of sea and sky, she +flashed a glance of invitation upon him, which he as often ignored. Once +she half stopped and asked him some slight question, but he answered it +briefly standing on one side, and the captain hurried her on. It was a +stroke of ill-fortune, he thought to himself, the coming of these two +people. He had had a clear start and a fair field; now he was suddenly +face to face with a danger, the full extent of which it was hard to +estimate. For he could scarcely doubt but that their coming was on his +account. They had played their parts well, but they were secret agents +of the German police. He smoked his cigar leisurely, the object every +few minutes of many side glances and covert smiles from the delicately +attired little lady, whose silken skirts, daintily raised from the +ground, brushed against him every few minutes as she and her companion +passed and repassed. What was their plan of action? he wondered. If it +was simply to be assassination, why so elaborate an artifice? and what +worse place in the world could there be for anything of the sort than +the narrow confines of a small steamer? No, there was evidently +something more complex on hand. Was the woman brought as a decoy? he +wondered; did they really imagine him capable of being dazzled or +fascinated by any woman on the earth? He smiled softly at the thought, +and the sight of that smile lingering upon his lips brought her to a +standstill. He heard suddenly the swish of her skirt, and her soft voice +in his ear. Lower down the deck the captain’s broad shoulders were +disappearing, as he passed on the way to the engineers’ room for his +nightly visit of inspection.</p> + +<p>“You have not made a single effort to rescue me,” she said +reproachfully; “you are most unkind.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin lifted his cap, and removed the cigar from his teeth.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</a></span></p><p>“My dear lady,” he said, “I have been suffering the pangs of the +neglected, but how dared I break in upon so confidential a +<i>tête-à-tête</i>?”</p> + +<p>“You have little of the courage of your nation, then,” she answered +laughing, “for I gave you many opportunities. But you have been +engrossed with your thoughts, and they succeeded at least where I +failed—you were distinctly smiling when I came upon you.”</p> + +<p>“It was a premonition,” he began, but she raised a little white hand, +flashing with rings, to his lips, and he was silent.</p> + +<p>“Please don’t think it necessary to talk nonsense to me all the time,” +she begged. “Come! I am tired—I want to sit down. Don’t you want to +take my chair down by the side of the boat there? I like to watch the +lights on the water, and you may talk to me—if you like.”</p> + +<p>“Your husband,” he remarked a moment or two later, as he arranged her +cushions, “does not care for the evening air?”</p> + +<p>“It is sufficient for him,” she answered quietly, “that I prefer it. He +will not leave the smoking-room until the lights are put out.”</p> + +<p>“In an ordinary way,” he remarked, “that must be dull for you.”</p> + +<p>“In an ordinary way, and every way,” she answered in a low tone, “I am +always dull. But, after all, I must not weary a stranger with my woes. +Tell me about yourself, Mr. Sabin. Are you going to America on pleasure, +or have you business there?”</p> + +<p>A faint smile flickered across Mr. Sabin’s face. He watched the white +ash trembling upon his cigar for a moment before he spoke.</p> + +<p>“I can scarcely be said to be going to America on pleasure,” he +answered, “nor have I any business there. Let us agree that I am going +because it is the one country <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</a></span>in the world of any importance which I +have never visited.”</p> + +<p>“You have been a great traveller, then,” she murmured, looking up at him +with innocent, wide-open eyes. “You look as though you have been +everywhere. Won’t you tell me about some of the odd places you have +visited?”</p> + +<p>“With pleasure,” he answered; “but first won’t you gratify a natural and +very specific curiosity of mine? I am going to a country which I have +never visited before. Tell me a little about it. Let us talk about +America.”</p> + +<p>She stole a sudden, swift glance at her questioner. No, he did not +appear to be watching her. His eyes were fixed idly upon the sheet of +phosphorescent light which glittered in the steamer’s track. +Nevertheless, she was a little uneasy.</p> + +<p>“America,” she said, after a moment’s pause, “is the one country I +detest. We are only there very seldom—when Mr. Watson’s business +demands it. You could not seek for information from any one worse +informed than I am.”</p> + +<p>“How strange!” he said softly. “You are the first unpatriotic American I +have ever met.”</p> + +<p>“You should be thankful,” she remarked, “that I am an exception. Isn’t +it pleasant to meet people who are different from other people?”</p> + +<p>“In the present case it is delightful!”</p> + +<p>“I wonder,” she said reflectively, “in which school you studied my sex, +and from what particular woman you learned the art of making those +little speeches?”</p> + +<p>“I can assure you that I am a novice,” he declared.</p> + +<p>“Then you have a wonderful future before you. You will make a courtier, +Mr. Sabin.”</p> + +<p>“I shall be happy to be the humblest of attendants in the court where +you are queen.”</p> + +<p>“Such proficiency,” she murmured, “is the hall mark <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</a></span>of insincerity. You +are not a man to be trusted, Mr. Sabin.”</p> + +<p>“Try me,” he begged.</p> + +<p>“I will! I will tell you a secret.”</p> + +<p>“I will lock it in the furthest chamber of my inner consciousness.”</p> + +<p>“I am going to America for a purpose.”</p> + +<p>“Wonderful woman,” he murmured, “to have a purpose.”</p> + +<p>“I am going to get a divorce!”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin was suddenly thoughtful.</p> + +<p>“I have always understood,” he said, “that the marriage laws of America +are convenient.”</p> + +<p>“They are humane. They make me thankful that I am an American.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin inclined his head slightly towards the smoking-room.</p> + +<p>“Does your unfortunate husband know?”</p> + +<p>“He does; and he acquiesces. He has no alternative. But is that quite +nice of you, Mr. Sabin, to call my husband an unfortunate man?”</p> + +<p>“I cannot conceive,” he said slowly, “greater misery than to have +possessed and lost you.”</p> + +<p>She laughed gaily. Mr. Sabin permitted himself to admire that laugh. It +was like the tinkling of a silver bell, and her teeth were perfect.</p> + +<p>“You are incorrigible,” she said. “I believe that if I would let you, +you would make love to me.”</p> + +<p>“If I thought,” he answered, “that you would never allow me to make love +to you, I should feel like following this cigar.” He threw it into the +sea.</p> + +<p>She sighed, and tapped her little French heel upon the deck.</p> + +<p>“What a pity that you are like all other men.”</p> + +<p>“I will say nothing so unkind of you,” he remarked. “You are unlike any +other woman whom I ever met.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</a></span></p><p>They listened together to the bells sounding from the quarter deck. It +was eleven o’clock. The deck behind them was deserted, and a fine +drizzling rain was beginning to fall. Mrs. Watson removed the rug from +her knees regretfully.</p> + +<p>“I must go,” she said; “do you hear how late it is?”</p> + +<p>“You will tell me all about America,” he said, rising and drawing back +her chair, “to-morrow?”</p> + +<p>“If we can find nothing more interesting to talk about,” she said, +looking up at him with a sparkle in her dark eyes. “Good-night.”</p> + +<p>Her hand, very small and white, and very soft, lingered in his. At that +moment an unpleasant voice sounded in their ears.</p> + +<p>“Do you know the time, Violet? The lights are out all over the ship. I +don’t understand what you are doing on deck.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Watson was not pleasant to look upon. His eyes were puffy, and +swollen, and he was not quite steady upon his feet. His wife looked at +him in cold displeasure.</p> + +<p>“The lights are out in the smoke-room, I suppose,” she said, “or we +should not have the pleasure of seeing you. Good-night, Mr. Sabin! Thank +you so much for looking after me!”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin bowed and walked slowly away, lighting a fresh cigarette. If +it was acting, it was very admirably done.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XLIII" id="CHAPTER_XLIII"></a>CHAPTER XLIII</h2> + +<h3>THE COMING OF THE “KAISER WILHELM”</h3> + +<p>The habit of early rising was one which Mr. Sabin had never cultivated, +and breakfast was a meal which he abhorred. It was not until nearly +midday on the following morning that he appeared on deck, and he had +scarcely exchanged his customary greeting with the captain, before he +was joined by Mr. Watson, who had obviously been on the look-out for +him.</p> + +<p>“I want, sir,” the latter commenced, “to apologise to you for my conduct +last night.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin looked at him keenly.</p> + +<p>“There is no necessity for anything of the sort,” he said. “If any +apology is owing at all, it is, I think, to your wife.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Watson shook his head vigorously.</p> + +<p>“No, sir,” he declared, “I am ashamed to say that I am not very clear as +to the actual expressions I made, but Mrs. Watson has assured me that my +behaviour to you was discourteous in the extreme.”</p> + +<p>“I hope you will think no more of it. I had already,” Mr. Sabin said, +“forgotten the circumstance. It is not of the slightest consequence.”</p> + +<p>“You are very good,” Mr. Watson said softly.</p> + +<p>“I had the pleasure,” Mr. Sabin remarked, “of an interesting +conversation with your wife last night. You are a very fortunate man.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</a></span></p><p>“I think so indeed, sir,” Mr. Watson replied modestly.</p> + +<p>“American women,” Mr. Sabin continued, looking meditatively out to sea, +“are very fascinating.”</p> + +<p>“I have always found them so,” Mr. Watson agreed.</p> + +<p>“Mrs. Watson,” Mr. Sabin said, “told me so much that was interesting +about your wonderful country that I am looking forward to my visit more +than ever.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Watson darted a keen glance at his companion. He was suddenly on his +guard. For the first time he realised something of the resources of this +man with whom he had to deal.</p> + +<p>“My wife,” he said, “knows really very little of her native country; she +has lived nearly all her life abroad.”</p> + +<p>“So I perceived,” Mr. Sabin answered. “Shall we sit down a moment, Mr. +Watson? One wearies so of this incessant promenading, and there is a +little matter which I fancy that you and I might discuss with +advantage.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Watson obeyed in silence. This was a wonderful man with whom he had +to deal. Already he felt that all the elaborate precautions of his +coming had been wasted. He might be Mr. James B. Watson, the New York +yacht owner and millionaire, to the captain and his seven passengers, +but he was nothing of the sort to Mr. Sabin. He shrugged his shoulders, +and followed him to a seat. After all silence was a safe card.</p> + +<p>“I’m going,” Mr. Sabin said, “to be very frank with you. I know, of +course, who you are.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Watson shrugged his shoulders.</p> + +<p>“Do you?” he remarked dryly.</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin bowed, with a faint smile at the corner of his lips.</p> + +<p>“Certainly,” he answered, “you are Mr. James B. Watson of New York, and +the lady with you is your wife. Now I want to tell you a little about +myself.”</p> + +<p>“Most interested, I’m sure,” Mr. Watson murmured.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</a></span></p><p>“My real name,” Mr. Sabin said, turning a little as though to face his +companion, “is Victor Duc de Souspennier. It suits me at present to +travel under the name by which I was known in England and by which you +are in the habit of addressing me. Mr. Watson, I’m leaving England +because a certain scheme of mine, which, if successful, would have +revolutionised the whole face of Europe, has by a most unfortunate +chance become a failure. I have incurred thereby the resentment, perhaps +I should say the just resentment, of a great nation. I am on my way to +the country where I concluded I should be safest against those means of, +shall I say, retribution, or vengeance, which will assuredly be used +against me. Now what I want to say to you, Mr. Watson, is this—I am a +rich man, and I value my life at a great deal of money. I wonder if by +any chance you understand me.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Watson smiled.</p> + +<p>“I’m curious to know,” he said softly, “at what price you value +yourself.”</p> + +<p>“My account in New York,” Mr. Sabin said quietly, “is, I believe, +something like ten thousand pounds.”</p> + +<p>“Fifty thousand dollars,” Mr. Watson remarked, “is a nice little sum for +one, but an awkward amount to divide.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin lit a cigarette and breathed more freely. He began to see his +way.</p> + +<p>“I forgot the lady,” he murmured. “The expense of cabling is not great. +For the sake of argument, let us say twenty thousand.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Watson rose.</p> + +<p>“So far as I’m concerned,” he said, “it is a satisfactory sum. Forgive +me if I leave you for a few minutes, I must have a little talk with Mrs. +Watson.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin nodded.</p> + +<p>“We will have a cigar together after lunch,” he said. “I <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</a></span>must have my +morning game of shuffleboard with the captain.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Watson went below, and Mr. Sabin played shuffleboard with his usual +deadly skill.</p> + +<p>A slight mist had settled around them by the time the game was over, and +the fog-horn was blowing, the captain went on the bridge, and the +engines were checked to half speed.</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin leaned over the side of the vessel, and gazed thoughtfully +into the dense white vapour.</p> + +<p>“I think,” he said softly to himself, “that after all I’m safe.”</p> + +<p>There was perfect silence on the ship. Even the luncheon gong had not +sounded, the passengers having been summoned in a whisper by the deck +steward. The fog seemed to be getting denser and the sea was like glass. +Suddenly there was a little commotion aft, and the captain leaning +forward shouted some brief orders. The fog-horn emitted a series of +spasmodic and hideous shrills, and beyond a slight drifting the steamer +was almost motionless.</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin understood at once that somewhere, it might be close at hand, +or it might be a mile away, the presence of another steamer had been +detected.</p> + +<p>The same almost ghostlike stillness continued, orders were passed +backward and forward in whispers. The men walked backward and forward on +tip-toe. And then suddenly, without any warning, they passed out into +the clear air, the mist rolled away, the sun shone down upon them again, +and the decks dried as though by magic. Cheerful voices broke in upon +the chill and unnatural silence. The machinery recommenced to throb, and +the passengers who had finished lunch went upon deck. Every one was +attracted at once by the sight of a large white steamer about a mile on +the starboard side.</p> + +<p>Mr. Watson joined the captain, who was examining her through his glass.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[Pg 345]</a></span></p><p>“Man-of-war, isn’t she?” he inquired.</p> + +<p>The captain nodded.</p> + +<p>“Not much doubt about that,” he answered; “look at her guns. The odd +part of it is, too, she is flying no flag. We shall know who she is in a +minute or two, though.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin descended the steps on his way to a late luncheon. As he +turned the corner he came face to face with Mr. Watson, whose eyes were +fixed upon the coming steamer with a very curious expression.</p> + +<p>“Man-of-war,” Mr. Sabin remarked. “You look as though you had seen her +before.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Watson laughed harshly.</p> + +<p>“I should like to see her,” he remarked, “at the bottom of the sea.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin looked at him in surprise.</p> + +<p>“You know her, then?” he remarked.</p> + +<p>“I know her,” Mr. Watson answered, “too well. She is the <i>Kaiser +Wilhelm</i>, and she is going to rob me of twenty thousand pounds.”</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[Pg 346]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XLIV" id="CHAPTER_XLIV"></a>CHAPTER XLIV</h2> + +<h3>THE GERMANS ARE ANNOYED</h3> + +<p>Mr. Sabin ate his luncheon with unimpaired appetite and with his usual +care that everything of which he partook should be so far as possible of +the best. The close presence of the German man-of-war did not greatly +alarm him. He had some knowledge of the laws and courtesies of maritime +life, and he could not conceive by what means short of actual force he +could be inveigled on board of her. Mr. Watson’s last words had been a +little disquieting, but he probably held an exaggerated opinion as to +the powers possessed by his employers. Mr. Sabin had been in many +tighter places than this, and he had sufficient belief in the country of +his recent adoption to congratulate himself that it was an English boat +on which he was a passenger. He proceeded to make himself agreeable to +Mrs. Watson, who, in a charming costume of blue and white, and a +fascinating little hat, had just come on to luncheon.</p> + +<p>“I have been talking,” he remarked, after a brief pause in their +conversation, “to your husband this morning.”</p> + +<p>She looked up at him with a meaning smile upon her face.</p> + +<p>“So he has been telling me.”</p> + +<p>“I hope,” Mr. Sabin continued gently, “that your advice to him—I take +it for granted that he comes to you for advice—was in my favour.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[Pg 347]</a></span></p><p>“It was very much in your favour,” she answered, leaning across towards +him. “I think that you knew it would be.”</p> + +<p>“I hoped at least——”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin broke off suddenly in the midst of his sentence, and turning +round looked out of the open port-hole. Mrs. Watson had dropped her +knife and fork and was holding her hands to her ears. The saloon itself +seemed to be shaken by the booming of a gun fired at close quarters.</p> + +<p>“What is it?” she exclaimed, looking across at him with frightened eyes. +“What can have happened! England is not at war with anybody, is she?”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin looked up with a quiet smile from the salad which he was +mixing.</p> + +<p>“It is simply a signal from another ship,” he answered. “She wants us to +stop.”</p> + +<p>“What ship? Do you know anything about it? Do you know what they want?”</p> + +<p>“Not exactly,” Mr. Sabin said. “At the same time I have some idea. The +ship who fired that signal is a German man-of-war, and you see we are +stopping.”</p> + +<p>Of the two Mrs. Watson was certainly the most nervous. Her fingers shook +so that the wine in her glass was spilt. She set her glass down and +looked across at her companion.</p> + +<p>“They will take you away,” she murmured.</p> + +<p>“I think not,” Mr. Sabin answered. “I am inclined to think that I am +perfectly safe. Will you try some of my salad?”</p> + +<p>A look of admiration flashed for a moment across her face,</p> + +<p>“You are a wonderful man,” she said softly. “No salad, thanks! I am too +nervous to eat. Let us go on deck!”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin rose, and carefully selected a cigarette.</p> + +<p>“I can assure you,” he said, “that they are powerless to do anything +except attempt to frighten Captain Ackinson. Of course they might +succeed in that, but I don’t think it is likely. Let us go and hear what +he has to say.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[Pg 348]</a></span></p><p>Captain Ackinson was standing alone on the deck, watching the +man-of-war’s boat which was being rapidly pulled towards the <i>Calipha</i>. +He was obviously in a bad temper. There was a black frown upon his +forehead which did not altogether disappear when he turned his head and +saw them approaching.</p> + +<p>“Are we arrested, Captain?” Mr. Sabin asked. “Why couldn’t they signal +what they wanted?”</p> + +<p>“Because they’re blistering idiots,” Captain Ackinson answered. “They +blither me to stop, and I signalled back to ask their reason, and I’m +dashed if they didn’t put a shot across my bows. As if I hadn’t lost +enough time already without fooling.”</p> + +<p>“Thanks to us, I am afraid, Captain,” Mrs. Watson put in.</p> + +<p>“Well, I’m not regretting that, Mrs. Watson,” the captain answered +gallantly. “We got something for stopping there, but we shall get +nothing decent from these confounded Germans, I am very sure. By the +bye, can you speak their lingo, Mr. Sabin?”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” Mr. Sabin answered, “I can speak German. Can I be of any +assistance to you?”</p> + +<p>“You might stay with me if you will,” Captain Ackinson answered, “in +case they don’t speak English.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin remained by the captain’s side, standing with his hands behind +him. Mrs. Watson leaned over the rail close at hand, watching the +approaching boat, and exchanging remarks with the doctor. In a few +minutes the boat was alongside, and an officer in the uniform of the +German Navy rose and made a stiff salute.</p> + +<p>“Are you the captain?” he inquired, in stiff but correct English.</p> + +<p>The captain returned his salute.</p> + +<p>“I am Captain Ackinson, Cunard ss. <i>Calipha</i>,” he answered. “What do you +want with me?”</p> + +<p>“I am Captain Von Dronestein, in command of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[Pg 349]</a></span><i>Kaiser Wilhelm</i>, +German Navy,” was the reply. “I want a word or two with you in private, +Captain Ackinson. Can I come on board?”</p> + +<p>Captain Ackinson’s reply was not gushing. He gave the necessary orders, +however, and in a few moments Captain Von Dronestein, and a thin, dark +man in the dress of a civilian, clambered to the deck. They looked at +Mr. Sabin, standing by the captain’s side, and exchanged glances of +intelligence.</p> + +<p>“If you will kindly permit us, Captain,” the newcomer said, “we should +like to speak with you in private. The matter is one of great +importance.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin discreetly retired. The captain turned on his heel and led the +way to his cabin. He pointed briefly to the lounge against the wall and +remained himself standing.</p> + +<p>“Now, gentlemen, if you please,” he said briskly, “to business. You have +stopped a mail steamer in mid ocean by force, so I presume you have +something of importance to say. Please say it and let me go on. I am +behind time now.”</p> + +<p>The German held up his hands. “We have stopped you,” he said, “it is +true, but not by force. No! No!”</p> + +<p>“I don’t know what else you call it when you show me a bounding thirty +guns and put a shot across my bows.”</p> + +<p>“It was a blank charge,” the German began, but Captain Ackinson +interrupted him.</p> + +<p>“It was nothing of the sort!” he declared bluntly. “I was on deck and I +saw the charge strike the water.”</p> + +<p>“It was then contrary to my orders,” Captain Dronestein declared, “and +in any case it was not intended for intimidation.”</p> + +<p>“Never mind what it was intended for. I have my own opinion about that,” +Captain Ackinson remarked impatiently. “Proceed if you please!”</p> + +<p>“In the first place permit me to introduce the Baron Von <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[Pg 350]</a></span>Graisheim, who +is attached to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs at Berlin.”</p> + +<p>Captain Ackinson’s acknowledgment of the introduction was barely civil. +The German continued—</p> + +<p>“I am afraid you will not consider my errand here a particularly +pleasant one, Herr Captain. I have a warrant here for the arrest of one +of your passengers, whom I have to ask you to hand over to me.”</p> + +<p>“A what!” Captain Ackinson exclaimed, with a spot of deep colour +stealing through the tan of his cheeks.</p> + +<p>“A warrant,” Dronestein continued, drawing an imposing looking document +from his breast pocket. “If you will examine it you will perceive that +it is in perfect order. It bears, in fact,” he continued, pointing with +reverential forefinger to a signature near the bottom of the document, +“the seal of his most august Majesty, the Emperor of Germany.”</p> + +<p>Captain Ackinson glanced at the document with imperturbable face.</p> + +<p>“What is the name of the gentleman to whom all this refers?” he +inquired.</p> + +<p>“The Duc de Souspennier!”</p> + +<p>“The name,” Captain Ackinson remarked, “is not upon my passengers’ +list.”</p> + +<p>“He is travelling under the alias of ‘Mr. Sabin,’” Baron Von Graisheim +interjected.</p> + +<p>“And do you expect me,” Captain Ackinson remarked, “to hand over the +person in question to you on the authority of that document?”</p> + +<p>“Certainly!” the two men exclaimed with one voice.</p> + +<p>“Then I am very sorry indeed,” Captain Ackinson declared, “that you +should have had the temerity to stop my ship, and detain me here on such +a fool’s errand. We are on the high seas and under the English flag. The +document you have just shown me impeaching the Duc de Souspennier for +‘lèse majestie’ and high treason, and all the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[Pg 351]</a></span>rest of it, is not worth +the paper it is written on here, nor, I should think in America. I must +ask you to leave my ship at once, gentlemen, and I can promise you that +my employers, the Cunard ss. Company, will bring a claim against your +Government for this unwarrantable detention.”</p> + +<p>“You must, if you please, be reasonable,” Captain Dronestein said. “We +have force behind us, and we are determined to rescue this man at all +costs.”</p> + +<p>Captain Ackinson laughed scornfully.</p> + +<p>“I shall be interested to see what measures of force you will employ,” +he remarked. “You may have a tidy bill to pay as it is, for that shot +you put across my bows. If you try another it may cost you the <i>Kaiser +Wilhelm</i> and the whole of the German Navy. Now, if you please, I’ve no +more time to waste.”</p> + +<p>Captain Ackinson moved towards the door. Dronestein laid his hand upon +his arm.</p> + +<p>“Captain Ackinson,” he said, “do not be rash. If I have seemed too +peremptory in this matter, remember that Germany as my fatherland is as +dear to me as England to you, and this man whose arrest I am +commissioned to effect has earned for himself the deep enmity of all +patriots. Listen to me, I beg. You run not one shadow of risk in +delivering this man up to my custody. He has no country with whom you +might become embroiled. He is a French Royalist, who has cast himself +adrift altogether from his country, and is indeed her enemy. Apart from +that, his detention, trial and sentence, would be before a secret court. +He would simply disappear. As for you, you need not fear but that your +services will be amply recognised. Make your claims now for this +detention of your steamer; fix it if you will at five or even ten +thousand pounds, and I will satisfy it on the spot by a draft on the +Imperial Exchequer. The man can be nothing to you. Make a great country +your debtor. You will never regret it.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[Pg 352]</a></span></p><p>Captain Ackinson shook his arm free from the other’s grasp, and strode +out on to the deck.</p> + +<p>“<i>Kaiser Wilhelm</i> boat alongside,” he shouted, blowing his whistle. +“Smith, have these gentlemen lowered at once, and pass the word to the +engineer’s room, full speed ahead.”</p> + +<p>He turned to the two men, who had followed him out.</p> + +<p>“You had better get off my ship before I lose my temper,” he said +bluntly. “But rest assured that I shall report this attempt at +intimidation and bribery to my employers, and they will without doubt +lay the matter before the Government.”</p> + +<p>“But Captain Ackinson——”</p> + +<p>“Not another word, sir.”</p> + +<p>“My dear——”</p> + +<p>Captain Ackinson turned his back upon the two men, and with a stiff, +military salute turned towards the bridge. Already the machinery was +commencing to throb. Mr. Watson, who was hovering near, came up and +helped them to descend. A few apparently casual remarks passed between +the three men. From a little lower down Mr. Sabin and Mrs. Watson leaned +over the rail and watched the visitors lowered into their boat.</p> + +<p>“That was rather a foolish attempt,” he remarked lightly; “nevertheless +they seem disappointed.”</p> + +<p>She looked after them pensively.</p> + +<p>“I wish I knew what they said to—my husband,” she murmured.</p> + +<p>“Orders for my assassination, very likely,” he remarked lightly. “Did +you see your husband’s face when he passed us?”</p> + +<p>She nodded, and looked behind. Mr. Watson had entered the smoke-room. +She drew a little nearer to Mr. Sabin and dropped her voice almost to a +whisper.</p> + +<p>“What you have said in jest is most likely the truth. Be very careful!”</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[Pg 353]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XLV" id="CHAPTER_XLV"></a>CHAPTER XLV</h2> + +<h3>MR. SABIN IN DANGER</h3> + +<p>Mr. Sabin found the captain by no means inclined to talk about the visit +which they had just received. He was still hurt and ruffled at the +propositions which had been made to him, and annoyed at the various +delays which seemed conspiring to prevent him from making a decent +passage.</p> + +<p>“I have been most confoundedly insulted by those d—— Germans,” he said +to Mr. Sabin, meeting him a little later in the gangway. “I don’t know +exactly what your position may be, but you will have to be on your +guard. They have gone on to New York, and I suppose they will try and +get their warrant endorsed there before we land.”</p> + +<p>“They have a warrant, then?” Mr. Sabin remarked.</p> + +<p>“They showed me something of the sort,” the captain answered scornfully. +“And it is signed by the Kaiser. But, of course, here it isn’t worth the +paper it is written on, and America would never give you up without a +special extradition treaty.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin smiled. He had calculated all the chances nicely, and a volume +of international law was lying at that moment in his state-room face +downwards.</p> + +<p>“I think,” he said, “that I am quite safe from arrest, but at the same +time, Captain, I am very sorry to be such a troublesome passenger to +you.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[Pg 354]</a></span></p><p>The captain shrugged his shoulders. “Oh, it is not your fault,” he said; +“but I have made up my mind about one thing. I am not going to stop my +ship this side of Boston Harbour for anything afloat. We have lost half +a day already.”</p> + +<p>“If the Cunard Company will send me the extra coal bill,” Mr. Sabin +said, “I will pay it cheerfully, for I am afraid that both stoppages +have been on my account.”</p> + +<p>“Bosh!” The Captain, who was moving away, stopped short. “You had +nothing to do with these New Yorkers and their broken-down yacht.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin finished lighting a cigarette which he had taken from his +case, and, passing his arm through the captain’s, drew him a little +further away from the gangway.</p> + +<p>“I’m afraid I had,” he said. “As a matter of fact they are not New +Yorkers, and they are not husband and wife. They are simply agents in +the pay of the German secret police.”</p> + +<p>“What, spies!” the captain exclaimed.</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin nodded.</p> + +<p>“Exactly!”</p> + +<p>The captain was still incredulous. “Do you mean to tell me,” he +exclaimed, “that charming little woman is not an American at all?—that +she is a fraud?”</p> + +<p>“There isn’t a shadow of a doubt about it,” Mr. Sabin replied. “They +have both tacitly admitted it. As a matter of fact I am in treaty now to +buy them over. They were on the point of accepting my terms when these +fellows boarded us. Whether they will do so now I cannot tell. I saw +that fellow Graisheim talking to the man just before they left the +vessel.”</p> + +<p>“You are safe while you are on my ship, Mr. Sabin,” the captain said +firmly. “I shall watch that fellow <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[Pg 355]</a></span>Watson closely, and if he gives me +the least chance, I will have him put in irons. Confound the man and his +<span style="white-space: nowrap;">plausible——”</span></p> + +<p>They were interrupted by the deck steward, who came with a message from +Mrs. Watson. She was making tea on deck—might she have the loan of the +captain’s table, and would they come?</p> + +<p>The captain gave the necessary assent, but was on the point of declining +the invitation. “I don’t want to go near the people,” he said.</p> + +<p>“On the other hand,” Mr. Sabin objected, “I do not want them to think, +at present at any rate, that I have told you who they are. You had +better come.”</p> + +<p>They crossed the deck to a sunny little corner behind one of the boats, +where Mrs. Watson had just completed her preparation for tea.</p> + +<p>She greeted them gaily and chatted to them while they waited for the +kettle to boil, but to Mr. Sabin’s observant eyes there was a remarkable +change in her. Her laughter was forced and she was very pale.</p> + +<p>Several times Mr. Sabin caught her watching him in an odd way as though +she desired to attract his attention, but Mr. Watson, who for once had +seemed to desert the smoking-room, remained by her side like a shadow. +Mr. Sabin felt that his presence was ominous. The tea was made and +handed round.</p> + +<p>Mr. Watson sent away the deck steward, who was preparing to wait upon +them, and did the honours himself. He passed the sugar to the captain +and stood before Mr. Sabin with the sugar-tongs in his hand.</p> + +<p>“Sugar?” he inquired, holding out a lump.</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin took sugar, and was on the point of holding out his cup. Just +then he chanced to glance across to Mrs. Watson. Her eyes were dilated +and she seemed to be on the point of springing from her chair. Meeting +his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[Pg 356]</a></span>glance she shook her head, and then bent over her hot water +apparatus.</p> + +<p>“No sugar, thanks,” Mr. Sabin answered. “This tea looks too good to +spoil by any additions. One of the best things I learned in Asia was to +take my tea properly. Help yourself, Mr. Watson.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Watson rather clumsily dropped the piece of sugar which he had been +holding out to Mr. Sabin, and the ship giving a slight lurch just at +that moment, it rolled down the deck and apparently into the sea. With a +little remark as to his clumsiness he resumed his seat.</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin looked into his tea and across to Mrs. Watson. The slightest +of nods was sufficient for him. He drank it off and asked for some more.</p> + +<p>The tea party on the whole was scarcely a success. The Captain was +altogether upset and quite indisposed to be amiable towards people who +had made a dupe of him. Mrs. Watson seemed to be suffering from a state +of nervous excitement, and her husband was glum and silent. Mr. Sabin +alone appeared to be in good spirits, and he talked continually with his +customary ease and polish.</p> + +<p>The Captain did not stay very long, and upon his departure Mr. Sabin +also rose.</p> + +<p>“Am I to have the pleasure of taking you for a little walk, Mrs. +Watson?” he asked.</p> + +<p>She looked doubtfully at the tall, glum figure by her side, and her face +was almost haggard.</p> + +<p>“I’m afraid—I think—I think—Mr. Watson has just asked me to walk with +him,” she said, lamely; “we must have our stroll later on.”</p> + +<p>“I shall be ready and delighted at any time,” Mr. Sabin answered with a +bow.</p> + +<p>“We are going to have a moon to-night; perhaps you may be tempted to +walk after dinner.”</p> + +<p>He ignored the evident restraint of both the man and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[Pg 357]</a></span>the woman and +strolled away. Having nothing in particular to do he went into his deck +cabin to dress a little earlier than usual, and when he had emerged the +dinner gong had not yet sounded.</p> + +<p>The deck was quite deserted, and lighting a <i>cigarette d’appetit</i>, he +strolled past the scene of their tea-party. A dark object under the boat +attracted his attention. He stooped down and looked at it. Thomas, the +ship’s cat, was lying there stiff and stark, and by the side of his +outstretched tongue a lump of sugar.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[Pg 358]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XLVI" id="CHAPTER_XLVI"></a>CHAPTER XLVI</h2> + +<h3>MR. WATSON IS ASTONISHED</h3> + +<p>At dinner-time Mr. Sabin was the most silent of the little quartette who +occupied the head of the table. The captain, who had discovered that +notwithstanding their stoppage they had made a very fair day’s run, and +had just noticed a favourable change in the wind, was in a better +humour, and on the whole was disposed to feel satisfied with himself for +the way he had repulsed the captain of the <i>Kaiser Wilhelm</i>. He departed +from his usual custom so far as to drink a glass of Mr. Sabin’s +champagne, having first satisfied himself as to the absence of any +probability of fog. Mr. Watson, too, was making an effort to appear +amiable, and his wife, though her colour seemed a trifle hectic and her +laughter not altogether natural, contributed her share to the +conversation. Mr. Sabin alone was curiously silent and distant. Many +times he had escaped death by what seemed almost a fluke; more often +than most men he had been at least in danger of losing it. But this last +adventure had made a distinct and deep impression upon him. He had not +seriously believed that the man Watson was prepared to go to such +lengths; he recognised for the first time his extreme danger. Then as +regards the woman he was genuinely puzzled. He owed her his life, he +could not doubt it. She had given him the warning by which he had +profited, and she had given it him behind <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[Pg 359]</a></span>his companion’s back. He was +strongly inclined to believe in her. Still, she was doubtless in fear of +the man. Her whole appearance denoted it. She was still, without doubt, +his tool, willing or unwilling.</p> + +<p>They lingered longer than usual over their dessert. It was noticeable +that throughout their conversation all mention of the events of the day +was excluded. A casual remark of Mr. Watson’s the captain had ignored. +There was an obvious inclination to avoid the subject. The captain was +on the <i>qui vive</i> all the time, and he promptly quashed any embarrassing +remark. So far as Mrs. Watson was concerned there was certainly no fear +of her exhibiting any curiosity. It was hard to believe that she was the +same woman who had virtually taken the conversation into her own hands +on the previous evening, and had talked to them so well and so brightly. +She sat there, white and cowed, looking a great deal at Mr. Sabin with +sad, far-away eyes, and seldom originating a remark. Mr. Watson, on the +contrary, talked incessantly, in marked contrast to his previous +silence; he drank no wine, but seemed in the best of spirits. Only once +did he appear at a loss, and that was when the captain, helping himself +to some nuts, turned towards Mr. Sabin and asked a question—</p> + +<p>“I wonder, Mr. Sabin, whether you ever heard of an Indian nut called, I +believe, the Fakella? They say that an oil distilled from its kernel is +the most deadly poison in the world.”</p> + +<p>“I have both heard of it and seen it,” Mr. Sabin answered. “In fact, I +may say, that I have tasted it—on the tip of my finger.”</p> + +<p>“And yet,” the captain remarked, laughing, “you are alive.”</p> + +<p>“And yet I am alive,” Mr. Sabin echoed. “But there is nothing very +wonderful in that. I am poison-proof.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Watson was in the act of raising a hastily filled glass <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[Pg 360]</a></span>to his lips +when his eyes met Mr. Sabin’s. He set it down hurriedly, white to the +lips. He knew, then! Surely there must be something supernatural about +the man. A conviction of his own absolute impotence suddenly laid hold +of him. He was completely shaken. Of what use were the ordinary weapons +of his kind against an antagonist such as this? He knew nothing of the +silent evidence against him on deck. He could only attribute Mr. Sabin’s +foreknowledge of what had been planned against him to the miraculous. He +stumbled to his feet, and muttering something about some cigars, left +his place. Mrs. Watson rose almost immediately afterwards. As she turned +to walk down the saloon she dropped her handkerchief. Mr. Sabin, who had +risen while she passed out, stooped down and picked it up. She took it +with a smile of thanks and whispered in his ear—</p> + +<p>“Come on deck with me quickly; I want to speak to you.”</p> + +<p>He obeyed, turning round and making some mute sign to the captain. She +walked swiftly up the stairs after a frightened glance down the corridor +to their state-rooms. A fresh breeze blew in their faces as they stepped +out on deck, and Mr. Sabin glanced at her bare neck and arms.</p> + +<p>“You will be cold,” he said. “Let me fetch you a wrap.”</p> + +<p>“Don’t leave me,” she exclaimed quickly. “Walk to the side of the +steamer. Don’t look behind.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin obeyed. Directly she was sure that they were really beyond +earshot of any one she laid her hand upon his arm.</p> + +<p>“I am going to ask you a strange question,” she said. “Don’t stop to +think what it means, but answer me at once. Where are you going to sleep +to-night—in your state-room or in the deck cabin?”</p> + +<p>He started a little, but answered without hesitation—</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[Pg 361]</a></span></p><p>“In my deck cabin.”</p> + +<p>“Then don’t,” she exclaimed quickly. “Say that you are going to if you +are asked, mind that. Sit up on deck, out of sight, all night, stay with +the captain—anything—but don’t sleep there, and whatever you may see +don’t be surprised, and please don’t think too badly of me.”</p> + +<p>He was surprised to see that her cheeks were burning and her eyes were +wet. He laid his hand tenderly upon her arm.</p> + +<p>“I will promise that at any rate,” he said.</p> + +<p>“And you will remember what I have told you?”</p> + +<p>“Most certainly,” he promised. “Your warnings are not things to be +disregarded.”</p> + +<p>She drew a quick little breath and looked nervously over her shoulders.</p> + +<p>“I am afraid,” he said kindly, “that you are not well to-day. Has that +fellow been frightening or ill-using you?”</p> + +<p>Her face was very close to his, and he fancied that he could hear her +teeth chattering. She was obviously terrified.</p> + +<p>“We must not be talking too seriously,” she murmured. “He may be here at +any moment. I want you to remember that there is a price set upon you +and he means to earn it. He would have killed you before, but he wants +to avoid detection. You had better tell the captain everything. +Remember, you must be on the watch always.”</p> + +<p>“I can protect myself now that I am warned,” he said, reassuringly. “I +have carried my life in my hands many a time before. But you?”</p> + +<p>She shivered.</p> + +<p>“They tell me,” she whispered, “that from Boston you can take a train +right across the Continent, thousands of miles. I am going to take the +very first one that starts when I land, and I am going to hide somewhere +in the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[Pg 362]</a></span>furthest corner of the world I can get to. To live in such fear +would drive me mad, and I am not a coward. Let us walk; he will not +think so much of our being together then.”</p> + +<p>“I am going to send for a wrap,” he said, looking down at her thin +dinner dress; “it is much too cold for you here bare-headed. We will +send the steward for something.”</p> + +<p>They turned round to find a tall form at their elbows. Mr. Watson’s +voice, thin and satirical, broke the momentary silence.</p> + +<p>“You are in a great hurry for fresh air, Violet. I have brought your +cape; allow me to put it on.”</p> + +<p>He stooped down and threw the wrap over her shoulders. Then he drew her +reluctant fingers through his arm.</p> + +<p>“You were desiring to walk,” he said. “Very well, we will walk +together.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin watched them disappear and, lighting a cigar, strolled off +towards the captain’s room. Many miles away now he could still see the +green light of the German man-of-war.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[Pg 363]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XLVII" id="CHAPTER_XLVII"></a>CHAPTER XLVII</h2> + +<h3>A CHARMED LIFE</h3> + +<p>The night was still enough, but piled-up masses of black clouds obscured +a weakly moon, and there were only now and then uncertain gleams of +glimmering light. There was no fog, nor any sign of any. The captain +slept in his room, and on deck the steamer was utterly deserted. Only +through the black darkness she still bounded on, her furnaces roaring, +and the black trail of smoke leaving a long clear track behind her. It +seemed as though every one were sleeping on board the steamer except +those who fed her fires below and the grim, silent figure who stood in +the wheelhouse.</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin, who, muffled up with rugs, was reclining in a deck chair, +drawn up in the shadow of the long boat, was already beginning to regret +that he had attached any importance at all to Mrs. Watson’s warning. It +wanted only an hour or so of dawn. All night long he had sat there in +view of the door of his deck cabin and shivered. To sleep had been +impossible, his dozing was only fitful and unrestful. His hands were +thrust deep down into the pockets of his overcoat—the revolver had long +ago slipped from his cold fingers. More than once he had made up his +mind to abandon his watch, to enter his room, and chance what might +happen. And then suddenly there <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[Pg 364]</a></span>came what he had been waiting for all +this while—a soft footfall along the deck: some one was making their +way now from the gangway to the door of his cabin.</p> + +<p>The frown on his forehead deepened; he leaned stealthily forward +watching and listening intently. Surely that was the rustling of a +silken gown, that gleam of white behind the funnel was the fluttering of +a woman’s skirt. Suddenly he saw her distinctly. She was wearing a long +white dressing-gown, and noiseless slippers of some kind. Her face was +very pale and her eyes seemed fixed and dilated. Once, twice she looked +nervously behind her, then she paused before the door of his cabin, +hesitated for a moment, and finally passed over the threshold. Mr. +Sabin, who had been about to spring forward, paused. After all perhaps +he was safer where he was.</p> + +<p>There was a full minute during which nothing happened. Mr. Sabin, who +had now thoroughly regained his composure, lingered in the shadow of the +boat prepared to wait upon the course of events, but a man’s footstep +this time fell softly upon the deck. Some one had emerged from the +gangway and was crossing towards his room. Mr. Sabin peered cautiously +through the twilight. It was Mr. Watson, of New York, partially dressed, +with a revolver flashing in his hand. Then Mr. Sabin perceived the full +wisdom of having remained where he was.</p> + +<p>Under the shadow of the boat he drew a little nearer to the door of the +cabin. There was absolute silence within. What they were doing he could +not imagine, but the place was in absolute darkness. Thoroughly awake +now he crouched within a few feet of the door listening intently. Once +he fancied that he could hear a voice, it seemed to him that a hand was +groping along the wall for the knob of the electric light. Then the door +was softly opened and the woman came out. She stood for a moment leaning +a little forward, listening intently ready to make her retreat +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[Pg 365]</a></span>immediately she was assured that the coast was clear! She was a little +pale, but in a stray gleam of moonlight Mr. Sabin fancied that he caught +a glimpse of a smile upon her parted lips. There was a whisper from +behind her shoulder; she answered in a German monosyllable. Then, +apparently satisfied that she was unobserved, she stepped out, and, +flitting round the funnel, disappeared down the gangway. Mr. Sabin made +no attempt to stop her or to disclose his presence. His fingers had +closed now upon his revolver—he was waiting for the man. The minutes +crept on—nothing happened. Then a hand softly closed the window looking +out upon the deck, immediately afterwards the door was pushed open and +Mr. Watson, with a handkerchief to his mouth, stepped out.</p> + +<p>He stood perfectly still listening for a moment. Then he was on the +point of stealing away, when a hand fell suddenly upon his shoulder. He +was face to face with Mr. Sabin.</p> + +<p>He started back with a slight but vehement guttural interjection. His +hand stole down towards his pocket, but the shining argument in Mr. +Sabin’s hand was irresistible.</p> + +<p>“Step back into that room, Mr. Watson; I want to speak to you.”</p> + +<p>He hesitated. Mr. Sabin reaching across him opened the door of the +cabin. Immediately they were assailed with the fumes of a strange, +sickly odour! Mr. Sabin laughed softly, but a little bitterly.</p> + +<p>“A very old-fashioned device,” he murmured. “I gave you credit for more +ingenuity, my friend. Come, I have opened the window and the door you +see! Let us step inside. There will be sufficient fresh air.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Watson was evidently disinclined to make the effort. He glanced +covertly up the deck, and seemed to be preparing himself for a rush. +Again that little argument of steel and the grim look on Mr. Sabin’s +face prevailed. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[Pg 366]</a></span>They both crossed the threshold. The odour, though +powerful, was almost nullified by the rushing of the salt wind through +the open window and door which Mr. Sabin had fixed open with a catch. +Reaching out his hand he pulled down a little brass hook—the room was +immediately lit with the soft glare of the electric light.</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin, having assured himself that his companion’s revolver was +safely bestowed in his hip pocket and could not be reached without +warning, glanced carefully around his cabin.</p> + +<p>He looked first towards the bed and smiled. His little device, then, had +succeeded. The rug which he had rolled up under the sheets into the +shape of a human form was undisturbed. In the absence of a light Mr. +Watson had evidently taken for granted that the man whom he had sought +to destroy was really in the room. The two men suddenly exchanged +glances, and Mr. Sabin smiled at the other’s look of dismay.</p> + +<p>“It was not like you,” he said gently; “it was really very clumsy indeed +to take for granted my presence here. I have great faith in you and your +methods, my friend, but do you think that it would have been altogether +wise for me to have slept here alone with unfastened door—under the +circumstances?”</p> + +<p>Mr. Watson admitted his error with a gleam in his dark eyes, which Mr. +Sabin accepted as an additional warning.</p> + +<p>“Your little device,” he continued, raising an unstopped flask from the +table by the side of the bed, “is otherwise excellent, and I feel that I +owe you many thanks for arranging a death that should be painless. You +might have made other plans which would have been not only more clumsy, +but which might have caused me a considerable amount of personal +inconvenience and discomfort. Your arrangements, I see, were altogether +excellent. You arranged for my—er—extermination asleep or awake. If +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[Pg 367]</a></span>awake the little visit which your charming wife had just paid here was +to have provided you at once with a motive for the crime and a +distinctly mitigating circumstance. That was very ingenious. Pardon my +lighting a cigarette, these fumes are a little powerful. Then if I was +asleep and had not been awakened by the time you arrived—well, it was +to be a drug! Supposing, my dear Mr. Watson, you do me the favour of +emptying this little flask into the sea.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Watson obeyed promptly. There were several points in his favour to +be gained by the destruction of this evidence of his unsuccessful +attempt. As he crossed the deck holding the little bottle at arm’s +length from him a delicate white vapour could be distinctly seen rising +from the bottle and vanishing into the air. There was a little hiss like +the hiss of a snake as it touched the water, and a spot of white froth +marked the place where it sank.</p> + +<p>“Much too strong,” Mr. Sabin murmured. “A sad waste of a very valuable +drug, my friend. Now will you please come inside with me. We must have a +little chat. But first kindly stand quite still for one moment. There is +no particular reason why I should run any risk. I am going to take that +revolver from your pocket and throw it overboard.”</p> + +<p>Mr Watson’s first instinct was evidently one of resistance. Then +suddenly he felt the cold muzzle of a revolver upon his forehead.</p> + +<p>“If you move,” Mr. Sabin said quietly, “you are a dead man. My best +policy would be to kill you; I am foolish not to do it. But I hate +violence. You are safe if you do as I tell you.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Watson recognised the fact that his companion was in earnest. He +stood quite still and watched his revolver describe a semi-circle in the +darkness and a fall with a little splash in the water. Then he followed +Mr. Sabin into his cabin.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[Pg 368]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XLVIII" id="CHAPTER_XLVIII"></a>CHAPTER XLVIII</h2> + +<h3>THE DOOMSCHEN</h3> + +<p>“I suppose,” Mr. Sabin began, closing the door of the cabin behind him, +“that I may take it—this episode—as an indication of your refusal to +accept the proposals I made to you?”</p> + +<p>Mr. Watson did not immediately reply. He had seated himself on the +corner of a lounge and was leaning forward, his head resting moodily +upon his hands. His sallow face was paler even than usual, and his +expression was sullen. He looked, as he undoubtedly was, in an evil +humour with himself and all things.</p> + +<p>“It was not a matter of choice with me,” he muttered. “Look out of your +window there and you will see that even here upon the ocean I am under +surveillance.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin’s eyes followed the man’s forefinger. Far away across the +ocean he could see a dim green light almost upon the horizon. It was the +German man-of-war.</p> + +<p>“That is quite true,” Mr. Sabin said. “I admit that there are +difficulties, but it seems to me that you have overlooked the crux of +the whole matter. I have offered you enough to live on for the rest of +your days, without ever returning to Europe. You know very well that you +can step off this ship arm-in-arm with me when we reach Boston, even +though your man-of-war be alongside the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[Pg 369]</a></span>dock. They could not touch +you—you could leave your—pardon me—not too honourable occupation once +and for ever. America is not the country in which one would choose to +live, but it has its resources—it can give you big game and charming +women. I have lived there and I know. It is not Europe, but it is the +next best thing. Come, you had better accept my terms!”</p> + +<p>The man had listened without moving a muscle of his face. There was +something almost pitiable in its white, sullen despair. Then his lips +parted.</p> + +<p>“Would to God I could!” he moaned. “Would to God I had the power to +listen to you!”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin flicked the ash off his cigarette and looked thoughtful. He +stroked his grey imperial and kept his eyes on his companion.</p> + +<p>“The extradition laws,” the other interrupted savagely.</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin shrugged his shoulders. “By all means,” he murmured. +“Personally I have no interest in them; but if you would talk like a +reasonable man and tell me where your difficulty lies I might be able to +help you.”</p> + +<p>The man who had called himself Watson raised his head slowly. His +expression remained altogether hopeless. He had the appearance of a man +given wholly over to despair.</p> + +<p>“Have you ever heard of the Doomschen?” he asked slowly.</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin shuddered. He became suddenly very grave. “You are not one of +them?” he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>The man bowed his head.</p> + +<p>“I am one of those devils,” he admitted.</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin rose to his feet and walked up and down the little room.</p> + +<p>“Of course,” he remarked, “that complicates matters, but there ought to +be a way out of it. Let me think for a moment.”</p> + +<p>The man on the lounge sat still with unchanging face. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[Pg 370]</a></span>In his heart he +knew that there was no way out of it. The chains which bound him were +such as the hand of man had no power to destroy. The arm of his master +was long. It had reached him here—it would reach him to the farthermost +corner of the world. Nor could Mr. Sabin for the moment see any light. +The man was under perpetual sentence of death. There was no country in +the world which would not give him up, if called upon to do so.</p> + +<p>“What you have told me,” Mr. Sabin said, “explains, of course to a +certain extent, your present indifference to my offers. But when I first +approached you in this way you certainly led me to <span style="white-space: nowrap;">think——”</span></p> + +<p>“That was before that cursed <i>Kaiser Wilhelm</i> came up,” Watson +interrupted. “I had a plan—I might have made a rush for liberty at any +rate!”</p> + +<p>“But surely you would have been marked down at Boston,” Mr. Sabin said.</p> + +<p>“The only friend I have in the world,” the other said slowly, “is the +manager of the Government’s Secret Cable Office at Berlin. He was on my +side. It would have given me a chance, but now”—he looked out of the +window—“it is hopeless!”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin resumed his chair and lit a fresh cigarette. He had thought +the matter out and began to see light.</p> + +<p>“It is rather an awkward fix,” he said, “but ‘hopeless’ is a word which +I do not understand. As regards our present dilemma I think that I see +an excellent way out of it.”</p> + +<p>A momentary ray of hope flashed across the man’s face. Then he shook his +head.</p> + +<p>“It is not possible,” he murmured.</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin smiled quietly.</p> + +<p>“My friend,” he said, “I perceive that you are a pessimist! You will +find yourself in a very short time a free man with the best of your life +before you. Take my <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">[Pg 371]</a></span>advice. Whatever career you embark in do so in a +more sanguine spirit. Difficulties to the man who faces them boldly lose +half their strength. But to proceed. You are one of those who are called +‘Doomschen.’ That means, I believe, that you have committed a crime +punishable by death,—that you are on parole only so long as you remain +in the service of the Secret Police of your country. That is so, is it +not?”</p> + +<p>The man assented grimly. Mr. Sabin continued—</p> + +<p>“If you were to abandon your present task and fail to offer satisfactory +explanations—if you were to attempt to settle down in America, your +extradition, I presume, would at once be applied for. You would be given +no second chance.”</p> + +<p>“I should be shot without a moment’s hesitation,” Watson admitted +grimly.</p> + +<p>“Exactly; and there is, I believe, another contingency. If you should +succeed in your present enterprise, which, I presume, is my +extermination, you would obtain your freedom.”</p> + +<p>The man on the lounge nodded. A species of despair was upon him. This +man was his master in all ways. He would be his master to the end.</p> + +<p>“That brings us,” Mr. Sabin continued, “to my proposition. I must admit +that the details I have not fully thought out yet, but that is a matter +of only half an hour or so. I propose that you should kill me in Boston +Harbour and escape to your man-of-war. They will, of course, refuse to +give you up, and on your return to Germany you will receive your +freedom.”</p> + +<p>“But—but you,” Watson exclaimed, bewildered, “you don’t want to be +killed, surely?”</p> + +<p>“I do not intend to be—actually,” Mr. Sabin explained. “Exactly how I +am going to manage it I can’t tell you just now, but it will be quite +easy. I shall be dead to the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">[Pg 372]</a></span>belief of everybody on board here except +the captain, and he will be our accomplice. I shall remain hidden until +your <i>Kaiser Wilhelm</i> has left, and when I do land in America—it shall +not be as Mr. Sabin.”</p> + +<p>Watson rose to his feet He was a transformed man. A sudden hope had +brightened his face. His eyes were on fire.</p> + +<p>“It is a wonderful scheme!” he exclaimed. “But the captain—surely he +will never consent to help?”</p> + +<p>“On the contrary,” Mr. Sabin answered, “he will do it for the asking. +There is not a single difficulty which we cannot easily surmount.”</p> + +<p>“There is my companion,” Watson remarked; “she will have to be reckoned +with.”</p> + +<p>“Leave her,” Mr. Sabin said, “to me. I will undertake that she shall be +on our side before many hours are passed. You had better go down to your +room now. It is getting light and I want to rest.”</p> + +<p>Watson paused upon the threshold. He pointed in some embarrassment to +the table by the side of the bed.</p> + +<p>“Is it any use,” he murmured in a low tone, “saying that I am sorry for +this?”</p> + +<p>“You only did—what—in a sense was your duty,” Mr. Sabin answered. “I +bear no malice—especially since I escaped.”</p> + +<p>Watson closed the door and Mr. Sabin glanced at the bed. For a moment or +two he hesitated, although the desire for sleep had gone by. Then he +stepped out on to the deck and leaned thoughtfully over the white +railing. Far away eastwards there were signs already of the coming day. +A soft grey twilight rested upon the sea; darker and blacker the waters +seemed just then by contrast with the lightening skies. A fresh breeze +was blowing. There was no living thing within sight save that faint +green light where the rolling sea touched the clouds. Mr. Sabin’s eyes +grew <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">[Pg 373]</a></span>fixed. A curious depression came over him in that half hour before +the dawn when all emotion is quickened by that intense brooding +stillness. He was passing, he felt, into perpetual exile. He who had +been so intimately in touch with the large things of the world had come +to that point when after all he was bound to write his life down a +failure. For its great desire was no nearer consummation. He had made +his grand effort and he had failed. He had been very near success. He +had seen closely into the Promised Land. Perhaps it was such thoughts as +these which made his non-success the more bitter, and then, with the +instincts of a philosopher, he asked himself now, surrounded in fancy by +the fragments of his broken dreams, whether it had been worth while. +That love of the beautiful and picturesque side of his country which had +been his first inspiration, which had been at the root of his passionate +patriotism, seemed just then in the grey moments of his despair so weak +a thing. He had sacrificed so much to it—his whole life had been +moulded and shaped to that one end. There had been other ways in which +he might have found happiness. Was he growing morbid, he wondered, +bitterly but unresistingly, that her face should suddenly float before +his eyes. In fancy he could see her coming towards him there across the +still waters, the old brilliant smile upon her lips, the lovelight in +her eyes, that calm disdain of all other men written so plainly on the +face which should surely have been a queen’s.</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin thought of those things which had passed, and he thought of +what was to come, and a moment of bitterness crept into his life which +he knew must leave its mark for ever. His head drooped into his hands +and remained buried there. Thus he stood until the first ray of sunlight +travelling across the water fell upon him, and he knew that morning had +come. He crossed the deck, and entering his cabin closed the door.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">[Pg 374]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XLIX" id="CHAPTER_XLIX"></a>CHAPTER XLIX</h2> + +<h3>MR. SABIN IS SENTIMENTAL</h3> + +<p>Mr. Sabin found it a harder matter than he had anticipated to induce the +captain to consent to the scheme he had formulated. Nevertheless, he +succeeded in the end, and by lunch time the following day the whole +affair was settled. There was a certain amount of risk in the affair, +but, on the other hand, if successfully carried out, it set free once +and for ever the two men mainly concerned in it. Mr. Sabin, who was in +rather a curious mood, came out of the captain’s room a little after one +o’clock feeling altogether indisposed for conversation of any sort, +ordered his luncheon from the deck steward, and moved his chair apart +from the others into a sunny, secluded corner of the boat.</p> + +<p>It was here that Mrs. Watson found him an hour later. He heard the +rustle of silken draperies across the deck, a faint but familiar perfume +suddenly floated into the salt, sunlit air. He looked around to find her +bending over him, a miracle of white—cool, dainty, and elegant.</p> + +<p>“And why this seclusion, Sir Misanthrope?”</p> + +<p>He laughed and dragged her chair alongside of his.</p> + +<p>“Come and sit down,” he said. “I want to talk to you. I want,” he added, +lowering his voice, “to thank you for your warning.”</p> + +<p>They were close together now and alone, cut off from the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">[Pg 375]</a></span>other chairs +by one of the lifeboats. She looked up at him from amongst the cushions +with which her chair was hung.</p> + +<p>“You understood,” she murmured.</p> + +<p>“Perfectly.”</p> + +<p>“You are safe now,” she said. “From him at any rate. You have won him +over.”</p> + +<p>“I have found a way of safety,” Mr. Sabin said, “for both of us.”</p> + +<p>She leaned her head upon her delicate white fingers, and looked at him +curiously.</p> + +<p>“Your plans,” she said, “are admirable; but what of me?”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin regarded her with some faint indication of surprise. He was +not sure what she meant. Did she expect a reward for her warning, he +wondered. Her words would seem to indicate something of the sort, and +yet he was not sure.</p> + +<p>“I am afraid,” he said kindly, “we have not considered you very much +yet. You will go on to Boston, of course. Then I suppose you will return +to Germany.”</p> + +<p>“Never,” she exclaimed, with suppressed passion. “I have broken my vows. +I shall never set foot in Germany again. I broke them for your sake.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin looked at her thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>“I am glad to hear you say that,” he declared. “Believe me, my dear +young lady, I have seen a great deal of such matters, and I can assure +you that the sooner you break away from all association with this man +Watson and his employers the better.”</p> + +<p>“It is all over,” she murmured. “I am a free woman.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin was delighted to hear it. Yet he felt that there was a certain +awkwardness between them. He was this woman’s debtor, and he had made no +effort to discharge his debt. What did she expect from him? He looked at +her through half-closed eyes, and wondered.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">[Pg 376]</a></span></p><p>“If I can be of any use to you,” he suggested softly, “in any fresh +start you may make in life, you have only to command me.”</p> + +<p>She kept her face averted from him. There was land in sight, and she +seemed much interested in it.</p> + +<p>“What are you going to do in America?”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin looked out across the sea, and he repeated her question to +himself. What was he going to do in this great, strange land, whose ways +were not his ways, and whose sympathies lay so far apart from his?</p> + +<p>“I cannot tell,” he murmured. “I have come here for safety. I have no +country nor any friends. This is the land of my exile.”</p> + +<p>A soft, white hand touched his for a moment. He looked into her face, +and saw there an emotion which surprised him.</p> + +<p>“It is my exile too,” she said. “I shall never dare to return. I have no +wish to return.”</p> + +<p>“But your friends?” Mr. Sabin commenced. “Your family?”</p> + +<p>“I have no family.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin was thoughtful for several moments, then he took out his case +and lit a cigarette. He watched the blue smoke floating away over the +ship’s side, and looked no more at the woman at his elbow.</p> + +<p>“If you decide,” he said quietly, “to settle in America, you must not +allow yourself to forget that I am very much your debtor. <span style="white-space: nowrap;">I——”</span></p> + +<p>“Your friendship,” she interrupted, “I shall be very glad to have. We +may perhaps help one another to feel less lonely.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin gently shook his head.</p> + +<p>“I had a friend of your sex once,” he said. “I shall—forgive me—never +have another.”</p> + +<p>“Is she dead?”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">[Pg 377]</a></span></p><p>“If she is dead, it is I who have killed her. I sacrificed her to my +ambition. We parted, and for months—for years—I scarcely thought of +her, and now the day of retribution has come. I think of her, but it is +in vain. Great barriers have rolled between us since those days, but she +was my first friend, and she will be my only one.”</p> + +<p>There was a long silence. Mr. Sabin’s eyes were fixed steadily seawards. +A flood of recollections had suddenly taken possession of him. When at +last he looked round, the chair by his side was vacant.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">[Pg 378]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_L" id="CHAPTER_L"></a>CHAPTER L</h2> + +<h3>A HARBOUR TRAGEDY</h3> + +<p>The voyage of the <i>Calipha</i> came to its usual termination about ten +o’clock on the following morning, when she passed Boston lights and +steamed slowly down the smooth waters of the harbour. The seven +passengers were all upon deck in wonderfully transformed guise. Already +the steamer chairs were being tied up and piled away; the stewards, +officiously anxious to render some last service, were hovering around. +Mrs. Watson, in a plain tailor gown and quiet felt hat, was sitting +heavily veiled apart and alone. There were no signs of either Mr. Watson +or Mr. Sabin. The captain was on the bridge talking to the pilot. +Scarcely a hundred yards away lay the <i>Kaiser Wilhelm</i>, white and +stately, with her brass work shining like gold in the sunlight, and her +decks as white as snow.</p> + +<p>The <i>Calipha</i> was almost at a standstill, awaiting the doctor’s brig, +which was coming up to her on the port side. Every one was leaning over +the railing watching her. Mr. Watson and Mr. Sabin, who had just come up +the gangway together, turned away towards the deserted side of the boat, +engaged apparently in serious conversation. Suddenly every one on deck +started. A revolver shot, followed by two heavy splashes in the water, +rang out <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379">[Pg 379]</a></span>clear and crisp above the clanking of chains and slighter +noises. There was a moment’s startled silence—every one looked at one +another—then a rush for the starboard side of the steamer. Above the +little torrent of minor exclamations, the captain’s voice sang out like +thunder.</p> + +<p>“Lower the number one boat. Quartermaster, man a crew.”</p> + +<p>The seven passengers, two stewards, and a stray seaman arrived on the +starboard side of the gangway at about the same moment. There was at +first very little to be seen. A faint cloud of blue smoke was curling +upwards, and there was a strong odour of gunpowder in the air. On the +deck were lying a small, recently-discharged revolver and a man’s white +linen cap, which, from its somewhat peculiar shape, every one recognised +at once as belonging to Mr. Sabin. At first sight, there was absolutely +nothing else to be seen. Then, suddenly, some one pointed to a man’s +head about fifty yards away in the water. Every one crowded to the side +to look at it. It was hard at that distance to distinguish the features, +but a little murmur arose, doubtful at first, but gaining confidence. It +was the head of Mr. Watson. The murmur rather grew than increased when +it was seen that he was swimming, not towards the steamer, but away from +it, and that he was alone. Where was Mr. Sabin?</p> + +<p>A slight cry from behind diverted attention for a moment from the +bobbing head. Mrs. Watson, who had heard the murmurs, was lying in a +dead faint across a chair. One of the women moved to her side. The +others resumed their watch upon events.</p> + +<p>A boat was already lowered. Acting upon instructions from the captain, +the crew combined a search for the missing man with a leisurely pursuit +of the fugitive one. The first lieutenant stood up in the gunwale with a +hook in his hand, looking from right to left, and the men pulled <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380">[Pg 380]</a></span>with +slow, even strokes. But nowhere was there any sign of Mr. Sabin.</p> + +<p>The man who was swimming was now almost out of sight, and the first +lieutenant, who was in command of the little search party, reluctantly +gave orders for the quickening of his men’s stroke. But almost as the +men bent to their work, a curious thing happened. The fugitive, who had +been swimming at a great pace, suddenly threw up his arms and +disappeared.</p> + +<p>“He’s done, by Jove!” exclaimed the lieutenant. “Row hard, you chaps. We +must catch him when he rises.”</p> + +<p>But to all appearance, Mr. J. B. Watson, of New York, never rose again. +The boat was rowed time after time around the spot where he had sunk, +but not a trace was to be found of him. The only vessel anywhere near +was the <i>Kaiser Wilhelm</i>. They rowed slowly up and hailed her.</p> + +<p>An officer came to the railing and answered their inquiries in execrable +English. No, they had not seen any one in the water. They had not picked +any one up. Yes, if Herr Lieutenant pleased, he could come on board, but +to make a search—no, without authority. No, it was impossible that any +one could have been taken on board without his knowledge. He pointed +down the steep sides of the steamship and shrugged his shoulders. It was +indeed an impossible feat. The lieutenant of the <i>Calipha</i> saluted and +gave the order to his men to backwater. Once more they went over the +ground carefully. There was no sign of either of the men. After about +three-quarters of an hour’s absence, they reluctantly gave up the search +and returned to the <i>Calipha</i>.</p> + +<p>The first lieutenant was compelled to report both men drowned. The +captain was in earnest conversation with an official in plain dark +livery. The boat of the harbour police was already waiting below. The +whole particulars of the affair were scanty enough. Mr. Sabin and Mr. +Watson <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381">[Pg 381]</a></span>were seen to emerge from the gangway together, engaged in +animated conversation. They had at first turned to the left, but seeing +the main body of the passengers assembled there, had stepped back again +and emerged on the starboard side which was quite deserted. After then, +no one except the captain had even a momentary glimpse of them, and his +was so brief that it could scarcely be called more than an impression. +He had been attracted by a slight cry, he believed from Mr. Sabin, and +had seen both men struggling together in the act of disappearing in the +water. He had seen none of the details of the fight; he could not even +say whether Mr. Sabin or Mr. Watson had been the aggressor, although on +that subject there was only one opinion. Mrs. Watson was absolutely +overcome, and unable to answer any questions, but as regards the final +quarrel and struggle between the two men, it was impossible for her to +have seen anything of it, as she was sitting in a steamer chair on the +opposite side of the boat. There was at present absolutely no further +light to be thrown upon the affair. The sergeant of police signalled for +his boat and went off to make his report. The <i>Calipha</i> at half-speed +steamed slowly for the dock.</p> + +<p>Arrived there her passengers, crew and officers became the natural and +recognised prey of the American press-man. The captain sternly refused +to answer a single question, and in peremptory fashion ordered every +stranger off his ship. But nevertheless his edict was avoided in the +confusion of landing, and the Customs House effectually barred flight on +the part of their victims. Somehow or other, no one exactly knew how or +from what source they came, strange rumours began to float about. Who +was Mr. J. B. Watson of New York, yacht owner and millionaire? No one +had ever heard of him, and he did not answer in the least to the +description of any known Watson. The closely veiled features of his +widow were eagerly <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_382" id="Page_382">[Pg 382]</a></span>scanned—one by one the newspaper men confessed +themselves baffled. No one had ever seen her before. One man, the most +daring of them, ventured upon a timid question as she stepped down the +gangway. She passed him by with a swift look of contempt. None of the +others ventured anything of the sort—but, nevertheless, they watched +her, and they made note of two things. The first was that there was no +one to meet her—the second that instead of driving to a railway depôt, +or wiring to any friends, she went straight to an hotel and engaged a +room for the night.</p> + +<p>The press-men took counsel together, and agreed that it was very odd. +They thought it odder still when one of their number, calling at the +hotel later in the day, was informed that Mrs. Watson, after engaging a +room for the week, had suddenly changed her mind, and had left Boston +without giving any one any idea as to her destination. They took counsel +together, and they found fresh food for sensation in her flight. She was +the only person who could throw any light upon the relations between the +two men, and she had thought fit to virtually efface herself. They made +the most of her disappearance in the thick black head-lines which headed +every column in the Boston evening papers.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_383" id="Page_383">[Pg 383]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LI" id="CHAPTER_LI"></a>CHAPTER LI</h2> + +<h3>THE PERSISTENCE OF FELIX</h3> + +<p>Of all unhappy men he is assuredly the most unhappy who, ambitious, +patient, and doggedly persevering, has chosen the moment to make his +supreme venture and having made it has reaped failure instead of +success. The gambler while he lives may play again; the miser, robbed, +embark once more upon his furtive task of hoarding money; even the +rejected lover need not despair of some day, somewhere finding +happiness, since no one heart has a monopoly of love. But to him who +aspires to shape the destiny of nations, to control the varying +interests of great powers and play upon the emotions of whole peoples, +there is never vouchsafed more than one opportunity. And failure then +does more than bring upon the schemer the execration of the world he +would have controlled: it clears eyes into which he had thrown dust, +awakens passions he had lulled to sleep, provokes hostility where he had +made false peace, and renders for ever impossible the recombination of +conditions under which alone he could, if at all, succeed. For such an +one life has lost all its savour. Existence may perhaps be permitted to +him, but no more. He stakes his all upon one single venture, and, win or +lose, he has no second throw. Failure is absolute, and spells despair.</p> + +<p>In such unhappy state was Mr. Sabin. More than ten days had passed since +the tragedy in Boston Harbour, and now he sat alone in a private room in +a small but exclusive <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_384" id="Page_384">[Pg 384]</a></span>hotel in New York. He had affected no small +change in his appearance by shaving off his imperial and moustache, but +a far more serviceable disguise was provided for him by the extreme +pallor of his face and the listlessness of his every movement. He had +made the supreme effort of his life and had failed; and failure had so +changed his whole demeanour that had any of his recent companions on the +<i>Calipha</i> been unexpectedly confronted with him it is doubtful if they +would have recognised him.</p> + +<p>For a brief space he had enjoyed some of the old zest of life in +scheming for the freedom of his would-be murderer, in outwitting the +police and press-men, and in achieving his own escape; but with all this +secured, and in the safe seclusion of his room, he had leisure to look +within himself and found himself the most miserable of men, utterly +lonely, with failure to look back upon and nothing for which to hope.</p> + +<p>He had dreamed of being a minister to France; he was an exile in an +unsympathetic land. He had dreamed of restoring dynasties and +readjusting the balance of power; he was an alien refugee in a republic +where visionaries are not wanted and where opulence gives control. +America held nothing for him; Europe had no place; there was not a +capital in the whole continent where he could show himself and live. And +his mind dwelt upon the contrast between what might have been and what +was, he tasted for the first time the full bitterness of isolation and +despair. To his present plight any alternative would be preferable—even +death. He took the little revolver which lay near him on the table and +thoughtfully turned it over and over in his hand. It was as it were a +key with which he could unlock the portal to another world, where +weariness was unknown, and where every desire was satisfied, or unfelt: +and even if there were no other existence beyond this, extinction was +not an idea that repelled him now. It would be an “accident”; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_385" id="Page_385">[Pg 385]</a></span>so easy +to come by; so little painful to endure. Should he? Should he not? +Should he?</p> + +<p>He was so engrossed in his own thoughts that he did not hear the soft +knock at the door nor the servant murmuring the name of a visitor; but +becoming conscious of the presence of some one in the room, he looked up +suddenly to see a lady by his side.</p> + +<p>“Is there not some mistake?” he said, rising to his feet. “I do not +think I have the pleasure——”</p> + +<p>She laughed and raised her veil.</p> + +<p>“Does it make so much difference?” she asked lightly. “Yet, really, Mr. +Sabin, you are more changed than I.”</p> + +<p>“I must apologize,” he said; “golden hair is—most becoming. But sit +down and tell me how you found me out and why.”</p> + +<p>She sank into the chair he brought for her and looked at him +thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>“It does not matter how I found you, since I did. Why I came is easily +explained. I have had a cablegram from Mr. Watson.”</p> + +<p>“Good news, I hope,” he said politely.</p> + +<p>“I suppose it is,” she answered indifferently. “At least your conspiracy +seems to have been successful. It is generally believed that you are +dead, and Mr. Watson has been pardoned and reinstated in all that once +was his. And now he has sent me this cablegram asking me to join him in +Germany and marry him.”</p> + +<p>Dejected as Mr. Sabin was he had not yet lost all his sense of humour. +He found the idea excessively amusing.</p> + +<p>“Let me be the first to congratulate you,” he said, his twinkling eyes +belying the grave courtesy of his voice. “It is the conventional happy +end to a charming romance.”</p> + +<p>“Are you never serious?” she protested.</p> + +<p>“Indeed, yes,” he answered. “Forgive me for seeming <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_386" id="Page_386">[Pg 386]</a></span>to be flippant +about so serious a matter as a proposal of marriage. I presume you will +accept it.”</p> + +<p>“Am I to do so?” she asked gravely. “It was to ask your advice that I +came here to-day.”</p> + +<p>“I have no hesitation in giving it,” he declared. “Accept the proposal +at once. It means emancipation for you—emancipation from a career of +espionage which has nothing to recommend it. There cannot be two +opinions on such a point: give up this unwholesome business and make +this man, and yourself too, happy. You will never regret it.”</p> + +<p>“I wish I could be as sure of that,” she said wistfully.</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin, with his training and natural power of seeing through the +words to the heart of the speaker, could not misunderstand her, and he +spoke with a gentle earnestness very moving.</p> + +<p>“Believe me, my dear lady, when I say that to every one once at least in +his life there comes a chance of happiness, although every one is not +wise enough to take it. I had my chance, and I threw it away: there has +never been an hour in my life since then that I have not regretted it. +Let me help you to be wiser than I was. I am an old man now; I have +played for high stakes and have had my share of winning; I have been +involved in great affairs, I have played my part in the making of +history. And I speak from experience; security lies in middle ways, and +happiness belongs to the simple life. To what has my interest in things +of high import brought me? I am an exile from my country, doomed to pass +the small remainder of my days among a people whom I know not and with +whom I have nothing in common.</p> + +<p>“I have a heart and now I am paying the penalty for having treated badly +the one woman who had power to touch it; so bitter a penalty that I +would I could save you from the experiencing the like. You come to me +for <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_387" id="Page_387">[Pg 387]</a></span>advice; then be advised by me. Leave meddling with affairs that are +too high for you. Walk in those middle ways where safety is, and lead +the simple life where alone happiness is. And let me part from you +knowing that to one human being at least I have helped to give what +alone is worth the having. Need I say any more?”</p> + +<p>She took his hands and pressed them.</p> + +<p>“Goodbye,” she said. “I shall start for Germany to-morrow.”</p> + +<hr class="medium" /> + +<p>So Mr. Sabin was left free to return to his former melancholy mood; but +it was not long before fresh interruption came. A servant brought a +cablegram.</p> + +<p>“Be sure you deliver my letter to Lenox,” it ran, and the signature was +“Felix.”</p> + +<p>He rolled the paper into a little ball and threw it on one side, and +presently went into his dressing-room to change for dinner. As he came +into the hall another servant brought him another cablegram. He opened +it and read—</p> + +<p class="center">“Deliver my letter at once.—<span class="smcap">Felix.</span>”</p> + +<p>He tore the paper carefully into little pieces, and went into the +dining-room for dinner. He dined leisurely and well, and lingered over +his coffee, lost in meditation. He was still sitting so when a third +servant brought him yet another cablegram—</p> + +<p class="center">“Remember your promise.—<span class="smcap">Felix.</span>”</p> + +<p>Then Mr. Sabin rose.</p> + +<p>“Will you please see that my bag is packed,” he said to the waiting man, +“and let my account be prepared and brought to me upstairs. I shall +leave by the night train.”</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_388" id="Page_388">[Pg 388]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LII" id="CHAPTER_LII"></a>CHAPTER LII</h2> + +<h3>MRS. JAMES B. PETERSON, OF LENOX.</h3> + +<p>Mr. Sabin found himself late on the afternoon of the following day alone +on the platform of a little wooden station, watching the train which had +dropped him there a few minutes ago snorting away round a distant curve. +Outside, the servant whom he had hired that morning in New York was busy +endeavouring to arrange for a conveyance of some sort in which they +might complete their journey. Mr. Sabin himself was well content to +remain where he was. The primitiveness of the place itself and the +magnificence of his surroundings had made a distinct and favourable +impression upon him. Facing him was a chain of lofty hills whose +foliage, luxuriant and brilliantly tinted, seemed almost like a long +wave of rich deep colour, the country close at hand was black with pine +trees, through which indeed a winding way for the railroad seemed to +have been hewn. It was only a little clearing which had been made for +the depôt; a few yards down, the line seemed to vanish into a tunnel of +black foliage, from amongst which the red barked tree trunks stood out +with the regularity of a regiment of soldiers. The clear air was +fragrant with a peculiar and aromatic perfume, so sweet and wholesome +that Mr. Sabin held the cigarette which he had lighted at arm’s length, +that he might inhale this, the most <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_389" id="Page_389">[Pg 389]</a></span>fascinating odour in the world. He +was at all times sensitive to the influence of scenery and natural +perfumes, and the possibility of spending the rest of his days in this +country had never seemed so little obnoxious as during those few +moments. Then his eyes suddenly fell upon a large white house, +magnificent, but evidently newly finished, gleaming forth from an +opening in the woods, and his brows contracted. His former moodiness +returned.</p> + +<p>“It is not the country,” he muttered to himself, “it is the people.”</p> + +<p>His servant came back presently, with explanations for his prolonged +absence.</p> + +<p>“I am sorry, sir,” he said, “but I made a mistake in taking the +tickets.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin merely nodded. A little time ago a mistake on the part of a +servant was a thing which he would not have tolerated. But those were +days which seemed to him to lie very far back in the past.</p> + +<p>“You ought to have alighted at the last station, sir,” the man +continued. “Stockbridge is eleven miles from here.”</p> + +<p>“What are we going to do?” Mr. Sabin asked.</p> + +<p>“We must drive, sir. I have hired a conveyance, but the luggage will +have to come later in the day by the cars. There will only be room for +your dressing-bag in the buggy.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin rose to his feet.</p> + +<p>“The drive will be pleasant,” he said, “especially if it is through such +country as this. I am not sure that I regret your mistake, Harrison. You +will remain and bring the baggage on, I suppose?”</p> + +<p>“It will be best, sir,” the man agreed. “There is a train in about an +hour.”</p> + +<p>They walked out on to the road where a one-horse buggy was waiting. The +driver took no more notice of them than <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_390" id="Page_390">[Pg 390]</a></span>to terminate, in a leisurely +way, his conversation with a railway porter, and unhitch the horse.</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin took the seat by his side, and they drove off.</p> + +<p>It was a very beautiful road, and Mr. Sabin was quite content to lean +back in his not uncomfortable seat and admire the scenery. For the most +part it was of a luxuriant and broken character. There were very few +signs of agriculture, save in the immediate vicinity of the large +newly-built houses which they passed every now and then. At times they +skirted the side of a mountain, and far below them in the valley the +river Leine wound its way along like a broad silver band. Here and there +the road passed through a thick forest of closely-growing pines, and Mr. +Sabin, holding his cigarette away from him, leaned back and took long +draughts of the rosinous, piney odour. It was soon after emerging from +the last of these that they suddenly came upon a house which moved Mr. +Sabin almost to enthusiasm. It lay not far back from the road, a very +long two-storied white building, free from the over-ornamentation which +disfigured most of the surrounding mansions. White pillars in front, +after the colonial fashion, supported a long sloping veranda roof, and +the smooth trimly-kept lawns stretched almost to the terrace which +bordered the piazza. There were sun blinds of striped holland to the +southern windows, and about the whole place there was an air of simple +and elegant refinement, which Mr. Sabin found curiously attractive. He +broke for the first time the silence which had reigned between him and +the driver.</p> + +<p>“Do you know,” he inquired, “whose house that is?”</p> + +<p>The man flipped his horse’s ears with the whip.</p> + +<p>“I guess so,” he answered. “That is the old Peterson House. Mrs. James +B. Peterson lives there now.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin felt in his breast pocket, and extracted therefrom a letter. +It was a coincidence undoubtedly, but the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_391" id="Page_391">[Pg 391]</a></span>fact was indisputable. The +address scrawled thereon in Felix’s sprawling hand was:—</p> + +<div class="centerbox3 bbox2"><p class="right"><span style="margin-right: 3em;">“<span class="smcap">Mrs. James. B. Peterson,</span></span><br /> +<span style="margin-right: 5em;">“Lenox,</span></p> +<p>“By favour of Mr. Sabin.”</p></div> + +<p>“I will make a call there,” Mr. Sabin said to the man. “Drive me up to +the house.”</p> + +<p>The man pulled up his horse.</p> + +<p>“What, do you know her?” he asked.</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin affected to be deeply interested in a distant point of the +landscape. The man muttered something to himself and turned up the +drive.</p> + +<p>“You have met her abroad, maybe?” he suggested.</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin took absolutely no notice of the question. The man’s +impertinence was too small a thing to annoy him, but it prevented his +asking several questions which he would like to have had answered. The +man muttered something about a civil answer to a civil question not +being much to expect, and pulled up his horse in front of the great +entrance porch.</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin, calmly ignoring him, descended and stepped through the wide +open door into a beautiful square hall in the centre of which was a +billiard table. A servant attired in unmistakably English livery, +stepped forward to meet him.</p> + +<p>“Is Mrs. Peterson at home?” Mr. Sabin inquired.</p> + +<p>“We expect her in a very few minutes,” the man answered. “She is out +riding at present. May I inquire if you are Mr. Sabin, sir?”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin admitted the fact with some surprise.</p> + +<p>The man received the intimation with respect.</p> + +<p>“Will you kindly walk this way, your Grace,” he said.</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin followed him into a large and delightfully furnished library. +Then he looked keenly at the servant.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_392" id="Page_392">[Pg 392]</a></span></p><p>“You know me,” he remarked.</p> + +<p>“Monsieur Le Duc Souspennier,” the man answered with a bow. “I am an +Englishman, but I was in the service of the Marquis de la Merle in Paris +for ten years.”</p> + +<p>“Your face,” Mr. Sabin said, “was familiar to me. You look like a man to +be trusted. Will you be so good as to remember that the Duc is +unfortunately dead, and I am Mr. Sabin.”</p> + +<p>“Most certainly, sir,” the man answered. “Is there anything which I can +bring you?”</p> + +<p>“Nothing, thank you,” Mr. Sabin answered.</p> + +<p>The man withdrew with a low bow, and Mr. Sabin stood for a few minutes +turning over magazines and journals which covered a large round table, +and represented the ephemeral literature of nearly every country in +Europe.</p> + +<p>“Mrs. Peterson,” he remarked to himself, “must be a woman of Catholic +tastes. Here is the <i>Le Petit Journal</i> inside the pages of the English +<i>Contemporary Review</i>.”</p> + +<p>He was turning the magazines over with interest, when he chanced to +glance through the great south window a few feet away from him. +Something he saw barely a hundred yards from the little iron fence which +bordered the lawns, attracted his attention. He rubbed his eyes and +looked at it again. He was puzzled, and was on the point of ringing the +bell when the man who had admitted him entered, bearing a tray with +liqueurs and cigarettes. Mr. Sabin beckoned him over to the window.</p> + +<p>“What is that little flag?” he asked.</p> + +<p>“It is connected, I believe, in some way,” the man answered, “with a +game of which Mrs. Peterson is very fond. I believe that it indicates +the locality of a small hole.”</p> + +<p>“Golf?” Mr. Sabin exclaimed.</p> + +<p>“That is the name of the game, sir,” the man answered. “I had forgotten +it for the moment.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_393" id="Page_393">[Pg 393]</a></span></p><p>Mr. Sabin tried the window.</p> + +<p>“I want to get out,” he said.</p> + +<p>The man opened it.</p> + +<p>“If you are going down there, sir,” he said, “I will send James Green to +meet you. Mrs. Peterson is so fond of the game that she keeps a +Scotchman here to look after the links and instruct her.”</p> + +<p>“This,” Mr. Sabin murmured, “is the most extraordinary thing in the +world.”</p> + +<p>“If you would like to see your room, sir, before you go out,” the man +suggested, “it is quite ready. If you will give me your keys I will have +your clothes laid out.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin turned about in amazement.</p> + +<p>“What do you mean?” he exclaimed. “I have not come here to stay.”</p> + +<p>“I understood so, sir,” the man answered. “Your room has been ready for +three weeks.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin was bewildered. Then he remembered the stories which he had +heard of American hospitality, and concluded that this must be an +instance of it.</p> + +<p>“I had not the slightest intention of stopping here,” he said to the +man.</p> + +<p>“Mrs. Peterson expected you to do so, sir, and we have sent your +conveyance away. If it is inconvenient for you to remain now, it will be +easy to send you anywhere you desire later.”</p> + +<p>“For the immediate present,” Mr. Sabin said, “Mrs. Peterson not having +arrived, I want to see that golf course.”</p> + +<p>“If you will permit me, sir,” the man said, “I will show you the way.”</p> + +<p>They followed a winding footpath which brought them suddenly out on the +border of a magnificent stretch of park-like country. Mr. Sabin, whose +enthusiasms were rare, failed wholly to restrain a little exclamation of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_394" id="Page_394">[Pg 394]</a></span>admiration. A few yards away was one of the largest and most +magnificently kept putting-greens that he had ever seen in his life. By +his side was a raised teeing-ground, well and solidly built. Far away +down in the valley he could see the flag of the first hole just on the +other side of a broad stream.</p> + +<p>“The gentleman’s a golf-player, maybe?” remarked a voice by his side, in +familiar dialect. Mr. Sabin turned around to find himself confronted by +a long, thin Scotchman, who had strolled out of a little shed close at +hand.</p> + +<p>“I am very fond of the game,” Mr. Sabin admitted. “You appear to me to +have a magnificent course here.”</p> + +<p>“It’s none so bad,” Mr. James Green admitted. “Maybe the gentleman would +like a round.”</p> + +<p>“There is nothing in this wide world,” Mr. Sabin answered truthfully, +“that I should like so well. But I have no clubs or any shoes.”</p> + +<p>“Come this way, sir, come this way,” was the prompt reply. “There’s +clubs here of all sorts such as none but Jimmy Green can make, ay, and +shoes too. Mr. Wilson, will you be sending me two boys down from the +house?”</p> + +<p>In less than ten minutes Mr. Sabin was standing upon the first tee, a +freshly lit cigarette in his mouth, and a new gleam of enthusiasm in his +eyes. He modestly declined the honour, and Mr. Green forthwith drove a +ball which he watched approvingly.</p> + +<p>“That’s no such a bad ball,” he remarked.</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin watched the construction of his tee, and swung his club +lightly. “Just a little sliced, wasn’t it?” he said. “That will do, +thanks.” He addressed his ball with a confidence which savoured almost +of carelessness, swung easily back and drove a clean, hard hit ball full +seventy yards further than the professional. The man for a moment was +speechless with surprise, and he gave a little gasp.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_395" id="Page_395">[Pg 395]</a></span></p><p>“Aye, mon,” he exclaimed. “That was a fine drive. Might you be having a +handicap, sir?”</p> + +<p>“I am scratch at three clubs,” Mr. Sabin answered quietly, “and plus +four at one.”</p> + +<p>A gleam of delight mingled with respect at his opponent, shone in the +Scotchman’s face.</p> + +<p>“Aye, but we will be having a fine game,” he exclaimed. “Though I’m +thinking you will down me. But it is grand good playing with a mon +again.”</p> + +<hr class="medium" /> + +<p>The match was now at the fifteenth hole. Mr. Sabin, with a long and +deadly putt—became four up and three to play. As the ball trickled into +the hole the Scotchman drew a long breath.</p> + +<p>“It’s a fine match,” he said, “and I’m properly downed. What’s more, +you’re holding the record of the links up to this present. Fifteen holes +for sixty-four is verra good—verra good indeed. There’s no man in +America to-day to beat it.”</p> + +<p>And then Mr. Sabin, who was on the point of making a genial reply, felt +a sudden and very rare emotion stir his heart and blood, for almost in +his ears there had sounded a very sweet and familiar voice, perhaps the +voice above all others which he had least expected to hear again in this +world.</p> + +<p>“You have not then forgotten your golf, Mr. Sabin? What do you think of +my little course?”</p> + +<p>He turned slowly round and faced her. She was standing on the rising +ground just above the putting-green, the skirt of her riding habit +gathered up in her hand, her lithe, supple figure unchanged by time, the +old bewitching smile still playing about her lips. She was still the +most beautiful woman he had ever seen.</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin, with his cap in his hand, moved slowly to her <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_396" id="Page_396">[Pg 396]</a></span>side, and +bowed low over the hand which she extended to him.</p> + +<p>“This is a happiness,” he murmured, “for which I had never dared to +hope. Are you, too, an alien?”</p> + +<p>She shook her head.</p> + +<p>“This,” she said, “is the land of my adoption. Perhaps you did not know +that I am Mrs. Peterson?”</p> + +<p>“I did not know it,” he answered, gravely, “for I never heard of your +marriage.”</p> + +<p>They turned together toward the house. Mr. Sabin was amazed to find that +the possibilities of emotion were still so great with him.</p> + +<p>“I married,” she said softly, “an American, six years ago. He was the +son of the minister at Vienna. I have lived here mostly ever since.”</p> + +<p>“Do you know who it was that sent me to you?”</p> + +<p>She assented quietly.</p> + +<p>“It was Felix.”</p> + +<p>They drew nearer the house. Mr. Sabin looked around him. “It is very +beautiful here,” he said.</p> + +<p>“It is very beautiful indeed,” she said, “but it is very lonely.”</p> + +<p>“Your husband?” he inquired.</p> + +<p>“He has been dead four years.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sabin felt a ridiculous return of that emotion which had agitated +him so much on her first appearance. He only steadied his voice with an +effort.</p> + +<p>“We are both aliens,” he said quietly. “Perhaps you have heard that +all things have gone ill with me. I am an exile and a failure. I have +come here to end my days.”</p> + +<p>She flashed a sudden brilliant smile upon him. How little she had +changed.</p> + +<p>“Did you say here?” she murmured softly.</p> + +<p>He looked at her incredulously. Her eyes were bent upon the ground. +There was something in her face which <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_397" id="Page_397">[Pg 397]</a></span>made Mr. Sabin forget the great +failure of his life, his broken dreams, his everlasting exile. He +whispered her name, and his voice trembled with a passion which for once +was his master.</p> + +<p>“Lucile,” he cried. “It is true that you—forgive me?”</p> + +<p>And she gave him her hand. “It is true,” she whispered.</p> + +<h3>THE END.</h3> + +<hr class="large" /> +<h3><span class="smcap">Transcriber’s Note:</span></h3> + +<p>Minor changes have been made to correct typesetters’ errors; otherwise, +every effort has been made to remain true to the author’s words and +intent.</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Mysterious Mr. Sabin, by E. Phillips Oppenheim + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MYSTERIOUS MR. 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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/35661-h/images/i001.jpg b/35661-h/images/i001.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..111db2f --- /dev/null +++ b/35661-h/images/i001.jpg diff --git a/35661-h/images/i003.jpg b/35661-h/images/i003.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..27fdba0 --- /dev/null +++ b/35661-h/images/i003.jpg diff --git a/35661.txt b/35661.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0b3bd6f --- /dev/null +++ b/35661.txt @@ -0,0 +1,14377 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Mysterious Mr. Sabin, by E. Phillips Oppenheim + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Mysterious Mr. Sabin + +Author: E. Phillips Oppenheim + +Release Date: March 23, 2011 [EBook #35661] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MYSTERIOUS MR. SABIN *** + + + + +Produced by D Alexander and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + + + + + + + + + + THE WORKS OF + E. PHILLIPS + OPPENHEIM + + MYSTERIOUS MR. SABIN + + McKINLAY, STONE & MACKENZIE + + NEW YORK + + + + + _Copyright, 1905_, + + BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY. + + _All rights reserved_ + + + + + [Illustration: "The girl's face shone like a piece of delicate + statuary" (_page 37_). + [_Frontispiece_.] + + + + +CONTENTS + + + CHAP. PAGE + + I. A SUPPER PARTY AT THE "MILAN" 7 + II. A DRAMA OF THE PAVEMENT 13 + III. THE WARNING OF FELIX 22 + IV. AT THE RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR'S 30 + V. THE DILEMMA OF WOLFENDEN 39 + VI. A COMPACT OF THREE 46 + VII. WHO IS MR. SABIN? 52 + VIII. A MEETING IN BOND STREET 61 + IX. THE SHADOWS THAT GO BEFORE 69 + X. THE SECRETARY 76 + XI. THE FRUIT THAT IS OF GOLD 83 + XII. WOLFENDEN'S LUCK 92 + XIII. A GREAT WORK 104 + XIV. THE TEMPTING OF MR. BLATHERWICK 111 + XV. THE COMING AND GOING OF MR. FRANKLIN WILMOT 118 + XVI. GENIUS OR MADNESS? 126 + XVII. THE SCHEMING OF GIANTS 132 + XVIII. "HE HAS GONE TO THE EMPEROR!" 141 + XIX. WOLFENDEN'S LOVE-MAKING 146 + XX. FROM A DIM WORLD 155 + XXI. HARCUTT'S INSPIRATION 167 + XXII. FROM THE BEGINNING 177 + XXIII. MR. SABIN EXPLAINS 186 + XXIV. THE WAY OF THE WOMAN 193 + XXV. A HANDFUL OF ASHES 199 + XXVI. MR. BLATHERWICK AS ST. ANTHONY 207 + XXVII. BY CHANCE OR DESIGN 213 + XXVIII. A MIDNIGHT VISITOR 220 + XXIX. "IT WAS MR. SABIN" 227 + XXX. THE GATHERING OF THE WAR-STORM 234 + XXXI. "I MAKE NO PROMISE" 242 + XXXII. THE SECRET OF MR. SABIN'S NIECE 253 + XXXIII. MR. SABIN TRIUMPHS 263 + XXXIV. BLANCHE MERTON'S LITTLE PLOT 269 + XXXV. A LITTLE GAME OF CARDS 276 + XXXVI. THE MODERN RICHELIEU 287 + XXXVII. FOR A GREAT STAKE 295 + XXXVIII. THE MEN WHO SAVED ENGLAND 304 + XXXIX. THE HEART OF THE PRINCESS 314 + XL. THE WAY TO PAU 319 + XLI. MR. AND MRS. WATSON OF NEW YORK 327 + XLII. A WEAK CONSPIRATOR 333 + XLIII. THE COMING OF THE "KAISER WILHELM" 341 + XLIV. THE GERMANS ARE ANNOYED 346 + XLV. MR. SABIN IN DANGER 353 + XLVI. MR. WATSON IS ASTONISHED 358 + XLVII. A CHARMED LIFE 363 + XLVIII. THE DOOMSCHEN 368 + XLIX. MR. SABIN IS SENTIMENTAL 374 + L. A HARBOUR TRAGEDY 378 + LI. THE PERSISTENCE OF FELIX 383 + LII. MRS. JAMES B. PETERSON, OF LENOX 388 + + + + +MYSTERIOUS MR. SABIN + + + + +CHAPTER I + +A SUPPER PARTY AT THE "MILAN." + + +"To all such meetings as these!" cried Densham, lifting his champagne +glass from under the soft halo of the rose-shaded electric lights. "Let +us drink to them, Wolfenden--Mr. Felix!" + +"To all such meetings!" echoed his _vis-a-vis_, also fingering the +delicate stem of his glass. "An excellent toast!" + +"To all such meetings as these!" murmured the third man, who made up the +little party. "A capital toast indeed!" + +They sat at a little round table in the brilliantly-lit supper-room of +one of London's most fashionable restaurants. Around them were the usual +throng of well dressed men, of women with bare shoulders and flashing +diamonds, of dark-visaged waiters, deft, silent, swift-footed. The +pleasant hum of conversation, louder and more unrestrained as the hour +grew towards midnight, was varied by the popping of corks and many +little trills of feminine laughter. Of discordant sounds there were +none. The waiters' feet fell noiselessly upon the thick carpet, the +clatter of plates was a thing unheard of. From the balcony outside came +the low, sweet music of a German orchestra played by master hands. + +As usual the place was filled. Several late-comers, who had neglected to +order their table beforehand, had already, after a disconsolate tour of +the room, been led to one of the smaller apartments, or had driven off +again to where the lights from the larger but less smart Altone flashed +out upon the smooth, dark waters of the Thames. Only one table was as +yet unoccupied, and that was within a yard or two of the three young men +who were celebrating a chance meeting in Pall Mall so pleasantly. It was +laid for two only, and a magnificent bunch of white roses had, a few +minutes before, been brought in and laid in front of one of the places +by the director of the rooms himself. A man's small visiting-card was +leaning against a wineglass. The table was evidently reserved by some +one of importance, for several late-comers had pointed to it, only to be +met by a decided shake of the head on the part of the waiter to whom +they had appealed. As time went on, this empty table became the object +of some speculation to the three young men. + +"Our neighbours," remarked Wolfenden, "are running it pretty fine. Can +you see whose name is upon the card, Densham?" + +The man addressed raised an eyeglass to his left eye and leaned forward. +Then he shook his head, he was a little too far away. + +"No! It is a short name. Seems to begin with S. Probably a son of +Israel!" + +"His taste in flowers is at any rate irreproachable," Wolfenden +remarked. "I wish they would come. I am in a genial mood, and I do not +like to think of any one having to hurry over such an excellent supper." + +"The lady," Densham suggested, "is probably theatrical, and has to dress +after the show. Half-past twelve is a barbarous hour to turn us out. I +wonder----" + +"Sh-sh!" + +The slight exclamation and a meaning frown from Wolfenden checked his +speech. He broke off in the middle of his sentence, and looked round. +There was the soft swish of silk passing his chair, and the faint +suggestion of a delicate and perfectly strange perfume. At last the +table was being taken possession of. A girl, in a wonderful white +dress, was standing there, leaning over to admire the great bunch of +creamy-white blossoms, whilst a waiter respectfully held a chair for +her. A few steps behind came her companion, an elderly man who walked +with a slight limp, leaning heavily upon a stick. She turned to him and +made some remark in French, pointing to the flowers. He smiled, and +passing her, stood for a moment leaning slightly upon the back of his +chair, waiting, with a courtesy which was obviously instinctive, until +she should have seated herself. During the few seconds which elapsed +before they were settled in their places he glanced around the room with +a smile, slightly cynical, but still good-natured, parting his thin, +well-shaped lips. Wolfenden and Densham, who were looking at him with +frank curiosity, he glanced at carelessly. The third young man of the +party, Felix, was bending low over his plate, and his face was hidden. + +The buzz of conversation in their immediate vicinity had been +temporarily suspended. Every one who had seen them enter had been +interested in these late-comers, and many curious eyes had followed +them to their seats. Briefly, the girl was beautiful and the man +distinguished. When they had taken their places, however, the hum of +conversation recommenced. Densham and Wolfenden leaned over to one +another, and their questions were almost simultaneous. + +"Who are they?" + +"Who is she?" + +Alas! neither of them knew; neither of them had the least idea. Felix, +Wolfenden's guest, it seemed useless to ask. He had only just arrived in +England, and he was a complete stranger to London. Besides, he did not +seem to be interested. He was proceeding calmly with his supper, with +his back directly turned upon the new-comers. Beyond one rapid, upward +glance at their entrance he seemed almost to have avoided looking at +them. Wolfenden thought of this afterwards. + +"I see Harcutt in the corner," he said. "He will know who they are for +certain. I shall go and ask him." + +He crossed the room and chatted for a few minutes with a noisy little +party in an adjacent recess. Presently he put his question. Alas! not +one of them knew! Harcutt, a journalist of some note and a man who +prided himself upon knowing absolutely everybody, was as helpless as +the rest. To his humiliation he was obliged to confess it. + +"I never saw either of them before in my life," he said. "I cannot +imagine who they can be. They are certainly foreigners." + +"Very likely," Wolfenden agreed quietly. "In fact, I never doubted it. +An English girl of that age--she is very young by the bye--would never +be so perfectly turned out." + +"What a very horrid thing to say, Lord Wolfenden," exclaimed the woman +on whose chair his hand was resting. "Don't you know that dressing is +altogether a matter of one's maid? You may rely upon it that that girl +has found a treasure!" + +"Well, I don't know," Wolfenden said, smiling. "Young English girls +always seem to me to look so dishevelled in evening dress. Now this girl +is dressed with the art of a Frenchwoman of mature years, and yet with +the simplicity of a child." + +The woman laid down her lorgnettes and shrugged her shoulders. + +"I agree with you," she said, "that she is probably not English. If she +were she would not wear such diamonds at her age." + +"By the bye," Harcutt remarked with sudden cheerfulness, "we shall be +able to find out who the man is when we leave. The table was reserved, +so the name will be on the list at the door." + +His friends rose to leave and Harcutt, making his adieux, crossed the +room with Wolfenden. + +"We may as well have our coffee together," he said. "I ordered Turkish +and I've been waiting for it ten minutes. We got here early. Hullo! +where's your other guest?" + +Densham was sitting alone. Wolfenden looked at him inquiringly. + +"Your friend Felix has gone," he announced. "Suddenly remembered an +engagement with his chief, and begged you to excuse him. Said he'd look +you up to-morrow." + +"Well, he's an odd fellow," Wolfenden remarked, motioning Harcutt to the +vacant place. "His looks certainly belie his name." + +"He's not exactly a cheerful companion for a supper party," Densham +admitted, "but I like his face. How did you come across him, Wolfenden, +and where does he hail from?" + +"He's a junior attache at the Russian Embassy," Wolfenden said, stirring +his coffee. "Only just been appointed. Charlie Meynell gave him a line +of introduction to me; said he was a decent sort, but mopish! I looked +him up last week, met him in Pall Mall just as you came along, and asked +you both to supper. What liqueurs, Harcutt?" + +The conversation drifted into ordinary channels and flowed on steadily. +At the same time it was maintained with a certain amount of difficulty. +The advent of these two people at the next table had produced an +extraordinary effect upon the three men. Harcutt was perhaps the least +affected. He was a young man of fortune and natural gifts, who had +embraced journalism as a career, and was really in love with his +profession. Partly on account of his social position, which was +unquestioned, and partly because his tastes tended in that direction, +he had become the recognised scribe and chronicle of smart society. His +pen was easy and fluent. He was an inimitable maker of short paragraphs. +He prided himself upon knowing everybody and all about them. He could +have told how much a year Densham, a rising young portrait painter, +was making from his profession, and exactly what Wolfenden's allowance +from his father was. A strange face was an annoyance to him; too, a +humiliation. He had been piqued that he could not answer the eager +questions of his own party as to these two people, and subsequently +Wolfenden's inquiries. The thought that very soon at any rate their name +would be known to him was, in a sense, a consolation. The rest would be +easy. Until he knew all about them he meant to conceal so far as +possible his own interest. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +A DRAMA OF THE PAVEMENT + + +The pitch of conversation had risen higher, still mingled with the +intermittent popping of corks and the striking of matches. Blue wreaths +of cigarette smoke were curling upwards--a delicate feeling of "abandon" +was making itself felt amongst the roomful of people. The music grew +softer as the babel of talk grew in volume. The whole environment became +tinged with a faint but genial voluptuousness. Densham was laughing over +the foibles of some mutual acquaintance; Wolfenden leaned back in his +chair, smoking a cigarette and sipping his Turkish coffee. His eyes +scarcely left for a moment the girl who sat only a few yards away from +him, trifling with a certain dainty indifference with the little dishes, +which one after the other had been placed before her and removed. He had +taken pains to withdraw himself from the discussion in which his friends +were interested. He wanted to be quite free to watch her. To him she was +certainly the most wonderful creature he had ever seen. In every one +of her most trifling actions she seemed possessed of an original and +curious grace, even the way she held her silver fork, toyed with her +serviette, raised her glass to her lips and set it down again--all these +little things she seemed to him to accomplish with a peculiar and +wonderful daintiness. Of conversation between her companion and herself +there was evidently very little, nor did she appear to expect it. He +was enjoying his supper with the moderation and minute care for trifles +which denote the epicure, and he only spoke to her between the courses. +She, on the other hand, appeared to be eating scarcely anything. At +last, however, the waiter set before her a dish in which she was +evidently interested. Wolfenden recognised the pink frilled paper and +smiled. She was human enough then to care for ices. She bent over it +and shrugged her shoulders--turning to the waiter who was hovering near, +she asked a question. He bowed and removed the plate. In a moment or two +he reappeared with another. This time the paper and its contents were +brown. She smiled as she helped herself--such a smile that Wolfenden +wondered that the waiter did not lose his head, and hand her pepper and +salt instead of gravely filling her glass. She took up her spoon and +deliberately tasted the contents of her plate. Then she looked across +the table, and spoke the first words in English which he had heard from +her lips-- + +"Coffee ice. So much nicer than strawberry!" + +The man nodded back. + +"Ices after supper are an abomination," he said. "They spoil the flavour +of your wine, and many other things. But after all, I suppose it is +waste of time to tell you so! A woman never understands how to eat until +she is fifty." + +She laughed, and deliberately finished the ice. Just as she laid down +the spoon, she raised her eyes quietly and encountered Wolfenden's. He +looked away at once with an indifference which he felt to be badly +assumed. Did she know, he wondered, that he had been watching her like +an owl all the time? He felt hot and uncomfortable--a veritable +schoolboy at the thought. He plunged into the conversation between +Harcutt and Densham--a conversation which they had been sustaining with +an effort. They too were still as interested in their neighbours, +although their positions at the table made it difficult for either to +observe them closely. + +When three men are each thinking intently of something else, it is not +easy to maintain an intelligent discussion. Wolfenden, to create a +diversion, called for the bill. When he had paid it, and they were ready +to depart, Densham looked up with a little burst of candour-- + +"She's wonderful!" he exclaimed softly. + +"Marvellous!" Wolfenden echoed. + +"I wonder who on earth they can possibly be," Harcutt said almost +peevishly. Already he was being robbed of some part of his contemplated +satisfaction. It was true that he would probably find the man's name on +the table-list at the door, but he had a sort of presentiment that the +girl's personality would elude him. The question of relationship between +the man and the girl puzzled him. He propounded the problem and they +discussed it with bated breath. There was no likeness at all! Was there +any relationship? It was significant that although Harcutt was a +scandalmonger and Wolfenden somewhat of a cynic, they discussed it with +the most profound respect. Relationship after all of some sort there +must be. What was it? It was Harcutt who alone suggested what to +Wolfenden seemed an abominable possibility. + +"Scarcely husband and wife, I should think," he said thoughtfully, "yet +one never can tell!" + +Involuntarily they all three glanced towards the man. He was well +preserved and his little imperial and short grey moustache were trimmed +with military precision, yet his hair was almost white, and his +age could scarcely be less than sixty. In his way he was quite as +interesting as the girl. His eyes, underneath his thick brows, were dark +and clear, and his features were strong and delicately shaped. His hands +were white and very shapely, the fingers were rather long, and he wore +two singularly handsome rings, both set with strange stones. By the +side of the table rested the stick upon which he had been leaning during +his passage through the room. It was of smooth, dark wood polished like +a malacca cane, and set at the top with a curious, green, opalescent +stone, as large as a sparrow's egg. The eyes of the three men had each +in turn been arrested by it. In the electric light which fell softly +upon the upper part of it, the stone seemed to burn and glow with a +peculiar, iridescent radiance. Evidently it was a precious possession, +for once when a waiter had offered to remove it to a stand at the other +end of the room, the man had stopped him sharply and drawn it a little +closer towards him. + +Wolfenden lit a fresh cigarette, and gazed thoughtfully into the little +cloud of blue smoke. + +"Husband and wife," he repeated slowly. "What an absurd idea! More +likely father and daughter!" + +"How about the roses?" Harcutt remarked. "A father does not as a rule +show such excellent taste in flowers!" + +They had finished supper. Suddenly the girl stretched out her left hand +and took a glove from the table. Wolfenden smiled triumphantly. + +"She has no wedding-ring," he exclaimed softly. + +Then Harcutt, for the first time, made a remark for which he was never +altogether forgiven--a remark which both the other men received in +chilling silence. + +"That may or may not be a matter for congratulation," he said, twirling +his moustache. "One never knows!" + +Wolfenden stood up, turning his back upon Harcutt and pointedly ignoring +him. + +"Let us go, Densham," he said. "We are almost the last." + +As a matter of fact his movement was made at exactly the right time. +They could scarcely have left the room at the same moment as these two +people, in whom manifestly they had been taking so great an interest. +But by the time they had sent for their coats and hats from the +cloak-room, and Harcutt had coolly scrutinised the table-list, they +found themselves all together in a little group at the head of the +stairs. + +Wolfenden, who was a few steps in front, drew back to allow them to +pass. The man, leaning upon his stick, laid his hand upon the girl's +sleeve. Then he looked up at the man, and addressed Wolfenden directly. + +"You had better precede us, sir," he said; "my progress is unfortunately +somewhat slow." + +Wolfenden drew back courteously. + +"We are in no hurry," he said. "Please go on." + +The man thanked him, and with one hand upon the girl's shoulder and +with the other on his stick commenced to descend. The girl had passed +on without even glancing towards them. She had twisted a white lace +mantilla around her head, and her features were scarcely visible--only +as she passed, Wolfenden received a general impression of rustling white +silk and lace and foaming tulle as she gathered her skirts together at +the head of the stairs. It seemed to him, too, that the somewhat close +atmosphere of the vestibule had become faintly sweet with the delicate +fragrance of the white roses which hung by a loop of satin from her +wrist. + +The three men waited until they had reached the bend of the stairs +before they began to descend. Harcutt then leaned forward. + +"His name," he whispered, "is disenchanting. It is Mr. Sabin! Whoever +heard of a Mr. Sabin? Yet he looks like a personage!" + +At the doors there was some delay. It was raining fast and the +departures were a little congested. The three young men still kept +in the background. Densham affected to be busy lighting a cigarette, +Wolfenden was slowly drawing on his gloves. His place was almost in a +line with the girl's. He could see the diamonds flashing in her fair +hair through the dainty tracery of the drooping white lace, and in a +moment, through some slight change in her position, he could get a +better view of her face than he had been able to obtain even in the +supper-room. She was beautiful! There was no doubt about that! But there +were many beautiful women in London, whom Wolfenden scarcely pretended +to admire. This girl had something better even than supreme beauty. +She was anything but a reproduction. She was a new type. She had +originality. Her hair was dazzlingly fair; her eyebrows, delicately +arched, were high and distinctly dark in colour. Her head was perfectly +shaped--the features seemed to combine a delightful piquancy with a +somewhat statuesque regularity. Wolfenden, wondering of what she in some +manner reminded him, suddenly thought of some old French miniatures, +which he had stopped to admire only a day or two before, in a little +curio shop near Bond Street. There was a distinct dash of something +foreign in her features and carriage. It might have been French, or +Austrian--it was most certainly not Anglo-Saxon! + +The crush became a little less, they all moved a step or two +forward--and Wolfenden, glancing carelessly outside, found his attention +immediately arrested. Just as he had been watching the girl, so was a +man, who stood on the pavement side by side with the commissionaire, +watching her companion. He was tall and thin; apparently dressed in +evening clothes, for though his coat was buttoned up to his chin, he +wore an opera hat. His hands were thrust into the loose pockets of his +overcoat, and his face was mostly in the shadows. Once, however, he +followed some motion of Mr. Sabin's and moved his head a little forward. +Wolfenden started and looked at him fixedly. Was it fancy, or was there +indeed something clenched in his right hand there, which gleamed +like silver--or was it steel--in the momentary flash of a passing +carriage-light? Wolfenden was puzzled. There was something, too, which +seemed to him vaguely familiar in the man's figure and person. He was +certainly waiting for somebody, and to judge from his expression his +mission was no pleasant one. Wolfenden who, through the latter part +of the evening, had felt a curious and unwonted sense of excitement +stirring his blood, now felt it go tingling through all his veins. He +had some subtle prescience that he was on the brink of an adventure. He +glanced hurriedly at his two companions; neither of them had noticed +this fresh development. + +Just then the commissionaire, who knew Wolfenden by sight, turned round +and saw him standing there. Stepping back on to the pavement, he called +up the brougham, which was waiting a little way down the street. + +"Your carriage, my lord," he said to Wolfenden, touching his cap. + +Wolfenden, with ready presence of mind, shook his head. + +"I am waiting for a friend," he said. "Tell my man to pass on a yard or +two." + +The man bowed, and the danger of leaving before these two people, in +whom his interest now was becoming positively feverish, was averted. As +if to enhance it, a singular thing now happened. The interest suddenly +became reciprocal. At the sound of Wolfenden's voice the man with the +club foot had distinctly started. He changed his position and, leaning +forward, looked eagerly at him. His eyes remained for a moment or two +fixed steadily upon him. There was no doubt about the fact, singular in +itself though it was. Wolfenden noticed it himself, so did both Densham +and Harcutt. But before any remark could pass between them a little +_coupe_ brougham had drawn up, and the man and the girl started forward. + +Wolfenden followed close behind. The feeling which prompted him to do +so was a curious one, but it seemed to him afterwards that he had even +at that time a conviction that something unusual was about to happen. +The girl stepped lightly across the carpeted way and entered the +carriage. Her companion paused in the doorway to hand some silver to the +commissionaire, then he too, leaning upon his stick, stepped across the +pavement. His foot was already upon the carriage step, when suddenly +what Wolfenden had been vaguely anticipating happened. A dark figure +sprang from out of the shadows and seized him by the throat; something +that glittered like a streak of silver in the electric light flashed +upwards. The blow would certainly have fallen but for Wolfenden. He was +the only person not wholly unprepared for something of the sort, and he +was consequently not paralysed into inaction as were the others. He was +so near, too, that a single step forward enabled him to seize the +uplifted arm in a grasp of iron. The man who had been attacked was the +next to recover himself. Raising his stick he struck at his assailant +violently. The blow missed his head, but grazed his temple and fell upon +his shoulder. The man, released from Wolfenden's grasp by his convulsive +start, went staggering back into the roadway. + +There was a rush then to secure him, but it was too late. Wolfenden, +half expecting another attack, had not moved from the carriage door, and +the commissionaire, although a powerful man, was not swift. Like a cat +the man who had made the attack sprang across the roadway, and into the +gardens which fringed the Embankment. The commissionaire and a loiterer +followed him. Just then Wolfenden felt a soft touch on his shoulder. The +girl had opened the carriage door, and was standing at his side. + +"Is any one hurt?" she asked quickly. + +"No one," he answered. "It is all over. The man has run away." + +Mr. Sabin stooped down and brushed away some grey ash from the front of +his coat. Then he took a match-box from his ticket-pocket, and re-lit +the cigarette which had been crumpled in his fingers. His hand was +perfectly steady. The whole affair had scarcely taken thirty seconds. + +"It was probably some lunatic," he remarked, motioning to the girl to +resume her place in the carriage. "I am exceedingly obliged to you, sir. +Lord Wolfenden, I believe?" he added, raising his hat. "But for your +intervention the matter might really have been serious. Permit me to +offer you my card. I trust that some day I may have a better opportunity +of expressing my thanks. At present you will excuse me if I hurry. I am +not of your nation, but I share an antipathy with them--I hate a row!" + +He stepped into the carriage with a farewell bow, and it drove off at +once. Wolfenden remained looking after it, with his hat in his hand. +From the Embankment below came the faint sound of hurrying footsteps. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE WARNING OF FELIX + + +The three friends stood upon the pavement watching the little brougham +until it disappeared round the corner in a flickering glitter of light. +It would have been in accordance with precedent if after leaving the +restaurant they had gone to some one of their clubs to smoke a cigar and +drink whisky and apollinaris, while Harcutt retailed the latest society +gossip, and Densham descanted on art, and Wolfenden contributed genial +remarks upon things in general. But to-night all three were inclined to +depart from precedent. Perhaps the surprising incident which they had +just witnessed made anything like normal routine seem unattractive; +whatever the reason may have been, the young men were of a sudden not +in sympathy with one another. Harcutt murmured some conventional lie +about having an engagement, supplemented it with some quite unconvincing +statement about pressure of work, and concluded with an obviously +disingenuous protest against the tyranny of the profession of +journalism, then he sprang with alacrity into a hansom and said goodbye +with a good deal less than his usual cordiality. Densham, too, hailed a +cab, and leaning over the apron delivered himself of a farewell speech +which sounded rather malignant. "You are a lucky beast, Wolfenden," he +growled enviously, adding, with a note of venom in his voice, "but don't +forget it takes more than the first game to win the rubber," and then +he was whirled away, nodding his head and wearing an expression of +wisdom deeply tinged with gloom. + +Wolfenden was surprised, but not exactly sorry that the first vague +expression of hostility had been made by the others. + +"Both of them must be confoundedly hard hit," he murmured to himself; +"I never knew Densham turn nasty before." And to his coachman he said +aloud, "You may go home, Dawson. I am going to walk." + +He turned on to the embankment, conscious of a curious sense of +exhilaration. He was no _blase_ cynic; but the uniformly easy life +tends to become just a trifle monotonous, and Lord Wolfenden's somewhat +epicurean mind derived actual pleasure from the subtle luxury of a new +sensation. What he had said of his friends he could have said with equal +truth of himself: he was confoundedly hard hit. For the first time in +his life he found the mere memory of a woman thrilling; his whole nature +vibrated in response to the appeal she made to him, and he walked along +buoyantly under the stars, revelling in the delight of being alive. + +Suddenly he stopped abruptly. Huddled up in the corner of a seat was a +man with a cloth cap pulled forward screening his face: at that moment +Lord Wolfenden was in a mood to be extravagantly generous to any poor +applicant for alms, lavishly sympathetic to any tale of distress. But +it was not ordinary curiosity that arrested his progress now. He +knew almost at the first glance who it was that sat in this dejected +attitude, although the opera hat was replaced by the soft cloth cap, and +in other details the man's appearance was altered. It was indeed the Mr. +Felix who had supped with him at the "Milan" and subsequently behaved in +so astonishing a fashion. + +He knew that he was recognised, and sat up, looking steadfastly at +Wolfenden, although his lips trembled and his eyes gleamed wildly. +Across his temples a bright red mark was scored. + +Lord Wolfenden broke the silence. + +"You're a nice sort of fellow to ask out to supper! What in the name of +all that's wonderful were you trying to do?" + +"I should have thought it was sufficiently obvious," the man replied +bitterly. "I tried to kill him, and I failed. Well, why don't you call +the police? I am quite ready. I shall not run again." + +Wolfenden hesitated, and then sat down by the side of this surprising +individual. + +"The man you went for didn't seem to care, so I don't see why I should. +But why do you want to kill him?" + +"To keep a vow," the other answered; "how and why made I will not tell +you." + +"How did you escape?" Wolfenden asked abruptly. + +"Probably because I didn't care whether I escaped or not," Felix +replied, with a short, bitter laugh. "I stood behind some shrubs just +inside the garden, and watched the hunt go by. Then I came out here and +sat down." + +"It all sounds very simple," said Wolfenden, a trifle sarcastically. +"May I ask what you are going to do next?" + +Felix's face so clearly intimated that he might not ask anything of the +kind, or that if he did his curiosity would not be satisfied, that +Wolfenden felt compelled to make some apology. + +"Forgive me if I seem inquisitive, but I find the situation a little +unusual. You were my guest, you see, and had it not been for my chance +invitation you might not have met that man at all. Then again, had it +not been for my interference he would have been dead now and you would +have been in a fair way to be hanged." + +Felix evinced no sign of gratitude for Wolfenden's intervention. Instead +he said intensely, + +"Oh, you fool! you fool!" + +"Well, really," Wolfenden protested, "I don't see why----" But Felix +interrupted him. + +"Yes, you are a fool," he repeated, "because you saved his life. He is +an old man now. I wonder how many there have been in the course of his +long life who desired to kill him? But no one--not one solitary human +being--has ever befriended him or come to his rescue in time of danger +without living to be sorry for it. And so it will be with you. You will +live to be sorry for what you have done to-night; you will live to +think it would have been far better for him to fall by my hand than for +yourself to suffer at his. And you will wish passionately that you had +let him die. Before heaven, Wolfenden, I swear that that is true." + +The man was so much in earnest, his passion was so quietly intense, that +Wolfenden against his will was more than half convinced. He was silent. +He suddenly felt cold, and the buoyant elation of mind in which he had +started homewards vanished, leaving him anxious and heavy, perhaps just +a little afraid. + +"I did what any man would do for any one else," he said, almost +apologetically. "It was instinctive. As a matter of fact, that +particular man is a perfect stranger to me. I have never seen him +before and it is quite possible that I shall never see him again." + +Felix turned quickly towards him. + +"If you believe in prayer," he said, "go down on your knees where you +are and pray as you have never prayed for anything before that you may +not see him again. There has never been a man or a woman yet who has not +been the worse for knowing him. He is like the pestilence that walketh +in the darkness, poisoning every one that is in the way of his horrible +infection." + +Wolfenden pulled himself together. There was no doubt about his +companion's earnestness, but it was the earnestness of an unbalanced +mind. Language so exaggerated as his was out of keeping with the times +and the place. + +"Tell me some more about him," he suggested. "Who is he?" + +"I won't tell you," Felix answered, obstinately. + +"Well, then, who is the lady?" + +"I don't know. It is quite enough for me to know that she is his +companion for the moment." + +"You do not intend to be communicative, I can see," said Wolfenden, +after a brief pause, "but I wish I could persuade you to tell me why you +attempted his life to-night." + +"There was the opportunity," said Felix, as if that in itself were +sufficient explanation. Then he smiled enigmatically. "There are at +least three distinct and separate reasons why I should take his +life,--all of them good. Three, I mean, why I should do it. But I have +not been his only victim. There are plenty of others who have a heavy +reckoning against him, and he knows what it is to carry his life in his +hand. But he bears a charmed existence. Did you see his stick?" + +"Yes," said Wolfenden, "I did. It had a peculiar stone in the handle; in +the electric light it looked like a huge green opal." + +Felix assented moodily. + +"That is it. He struck me with a stick. He would not part with it for +anything. It was given him by some Indian fakir, and it is said that +while he carries it he is proof against attack." + +"Who says so?" Wolfenden inquired. + +"Never mind," said Felix. "It's enough that it is said." He relapsed +into silence, and when he next spoke his manner was different. His +excited vehemence had gone and there was nothing in his voice or +demeanour inconsistent with normal sanity. Yet his words were no less +charged with deep intention. "I do not know much about you, Lord +Wolfenden," he said; "but I beg you to take the advice I am offering +you. No one ever gave you better in your life. Avoid that man as you +would avoid the plague. Go away before he looks you up to thank you for +what you did. Go abroad, anywhere; the farther the better; and stay away +for ever, if that is the only means of escaping his friendship or even +his acquaintance." + +Lord Wolfenden shook his head. + +"I'm a very ordinary, matter of fact Englishman," he said, "leading +a very ordinary, matter of fact life, and you must forgive me if I +consider such a sweeping condemnation a little extravagant and +fantastic. I have no particular enemies on my conscience, I am +implicated in no conspiracy, and I am, in short, an individual of very +little importance. Consequently I have nothing to fear from anybody and +am afraid of nobody. This man cannot have anything to gain by injuring +me. I believe you said you did not know the lady?" + +"The lady?" Felix repeated. "No, I do not know her, nor anything of her +beyond the fact that she is with him for the time being. That is quite +sufficient for me." + +Wolfenden got up. + +"Thanks," he said lazily. "I only asked you for facts. As for your +suggestion--you will be well advised not to repeat it." + +"Oh!" exclaimed Felix, scornfully, "how blind and pig-headed you English +people are! I have told you something of the man's reputation. What can +hers be, do you suppose, if she will sup alone with him in a public +restaurant?" + +"Good-night," said Wolfenden. "I will not listen to another word." + +Felix rose to his feet and laid his hand upon Lord Wolfenden's arm. + +"Lord Wolfenden," he said, "you are a very decent fellow: do try to +believe that I am only speaking for your good. That girl----" + +Wolfenden shook him off. + +"If you allude to that young lady, either directly or indirectly," he +said very calmly, "I shall throw you into the river." + +Felix shrugged his shoulders. + +"At least remember that I warned you," was all he ventured to say as +Lord Wolfenden strode away. + + * * * * * + +Leaving the embankment Wolfenden walked quickly to Half Moon Street, +where his chambers were. His servant let him in and took his coat. There +was an anxious expression upon his usually passive face and he appeared +to be rather at a loss for words in which to communicate his news. At +last he got it out, accompanying the question with a nervous and +deprecating cough. + +"I beg your pardon, my lord, but were you expecting a young lady?" + +"A what, Selby?" Wolfenden exclaimed, looking at him in amazement. + +"A lady, my lord: a young lady." + +"Of course not," said Wolfenden, with a frown. "What on earth do you +mean?" + +Selby gathered courage. + +"A young lady called here about an hour ago, and asked for you. Johnson +informed her that you might be home shortly, and she said she would +wait. Johnson, perhaps imprudently, admitted her, and she is in the +study, my lord." + +"A young lady in my study at this time of night!" Wolfenden exclaimed, +incredulously. "Who is she, and what is she, and why has she come at +all? Have you gone mad, Selby?" + +"Then you were not expecting her?" the man said, anxiously. "She gave no +name, but she assured Johnson that you did." + +"You are a couple of idiots," Wolfenden said angrily. "Of course I +wasn't expecting her. Surely both you and Johnson have been in my +service long enough to know me better than that." + +"I am exceedingly sorry, my lord," the man said abjectly. "But the young +lady's appearance misled us both. If you will allow me to say so, my +lord, I am quite sure that she is a lady. No doubt there is some +mistake; but when you see her I think you will exonerate Johnson and me +from----" + +His master cut his protestations short. + +"Wait where you are until I ring," he said. "It never entered my head +that you could be such an incredible idiot." + +He strode into the study, closing the door behind him, and Selby +obediently waited for the bell. But a long time passed before the +summons came. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +AT THE RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR'S + + +The brougham containing the man who had figured in the "Milan" table +list as Mr. Sabin, and his companion, turned into the Strand and +proceeded westwards. Close behind it came Harcutt's private cab--only +a few yards away followed Densham's hansom. The procession continued +in the same order, skirting Trafalgar Square and along Pall Mall. + +Each in a different manner, the three men were perhaps equally +interested in these people. Geoffrey Densham was attracted as an artist +by the extreme and rare beauty of the girl. Wolfenden's interest was +at once more sentimental and more personal. Harcutt's arose partly out +of curiosity, partly from innate love of adventure. Both Densham and +Harcutt were exceedingly interested as to their probable destination. +From it they would be able to gather some idea as to the status and +social position of Mr. Sabin and his companion. Both were perhaps a +little surprised when the brougham, which had been making its way into +the heart of fashionable London, turned into Belgrave Square and pulled +up before a great, porticoed house, brilliantly lit, and with a crimson +drugget and covered way stretched out across the pavement. Harcutt +sprang out first, just in time to see the two pass through the opened +doorway, the man leaning heavily upon his stick, the girl, with her +daintily gloved fingers just resting upon his coat-sleeve, walking with +that uncommon and graceful self-possession which had so attracted +Densham during her passage through the supper-room at the "Milan" a +short while ago. + +Harcutt looked after them, watching them disappear with a frown upon his +forehead. + +"Rather a sell, isn't it?" said a quiet voice in his ear. + +He turned abruptly round. Densham was standing upon the pavement by his +side. + +"Great Scott!" he exclaimed testily. "What are you doing here?" + +Densham threw away his cigarette and laughed. + +"I might return the question, I suppose," he remarked. "We both followed +the young lady and her imaginary papa! We were both anxious to find out +where they lived--and we are both sold!" + +"Very badly sold," Harcutt admitted. "What do you propose to do now? We +can't wait outside here for an hour or two!" + +Densham hesitated. + +"No, we can't do that," he said. "Have you any plan?" + +Harcutt shook his head. + +"Can't say that I have." + +They were both silent for a moment. Densham was smiling softly to +himself. Watching him, Harcutt became quite assured that he had decided +what to do. + +"Let us consider the matter together," he suggested, diplomatically. "We +ought to be able to hit upon something." + +Densham shook his head doubtfully. + +"No," he said; "I don't think that we can run this thing in double +harness. You see our interests are materially opposed." + +Harcutt did not see it in the same light. + +"Pooh! We can travel together by the same road," he protested. "The +time to part company has not come yet. Wolfenden has got a bit ahead of +us to-night. After all, though, you and I may pull level, if we help one +another. You have a plan, I can see! What is it?" + +Densham was silent for a moment. + +"You know whose house this is?" he asked. + +Harcutt nodded. + +"Of course! It's the Russian Ambassador's!" + +Densham drew a square card from his pocket, and held it out under the +gas-light. From it, it appeared that the Princess Lobenski desired the +honour of his company at any time that evening between twelve and two. + +"A card for to-night, by Jove!" Harcutt exclaimed. + +Densham nodded, and replaced it in his pocket. + +"You see, Harcutt," he said, "I am bound to take an advantage over you! +I only got this card by an accident, and I certainly do not know the +Princess well enough to present you. I shall be compelled to leave you +here! All that I can promise is, that if I discover anything interesting +I will let you know about it to-morrow. Good-night!" + +Harcutt watched him disappear through the open doors, and then walked +a little way along the pavement, swearing softly to himself. His first +idea was to wait about until they came out, and then follow them again. +By that means he would at least be sure of their address. He would have +gained something for his time and trouble. He lit a cigarette, and +walked slowly to the corner of the street. Then he turned back and +retraced his steps. As he neared the crimson strip of drugget, one of +the servants drew respectfully aside, as though expecting him to enter. +The man's action was like an inspiration to him. He glanced down the +vista of covered roof. A crowd of people were making their way up the +broad staircase, and amongst them Densham. After all, why not? He +laughed softly to himself and hesitated no longer. He threw away his +cigarette and walked boldly in. He was doing a thing for which he well +knew that he deserved to be kicked. At the same time, he had made up +his mind to go through with it, and he was not the man to fail through +nervousness or want of _savoir faire_. + +At the cloak-room the multitude of men inspired him with new confidence. +There were some, a very fair sprinkling, whom he knew, and who greeted +him indifferently, without appearing in any way to regard his presence +as a thing out of the common. He walked up the staircase, one of a +little group; but as they passed through the ante-room to where in the +distance Prince and Princess Lobenski were standing to receive their +guests, Harcutt adroitly disengaged himself--he affected to pause for a +moment or two to speak to an acquaintance. When he was left alone, he +turned sharp to the right and entered the main dancing-salon. + +He was quite safe now, and his spirits began to rise. Yonder was +Densham, looking very bored, dancing with a girl in yellow. So far at +least he had gained no advantage. He looked everywhere in vain, however, +for a man with a club foot and the girl in white and diamonds. They must +be in one of the inner rooms. He began to make a little tour. + +Two of the ante-chambers he explored without result. In the third, two +men were standing near the entrance, talking. Harcutt almost held his +breath as he came to an abrupt stop within a yard or two of them. One +was the man for whom he had been looking, the other--Harcutt seemed +to find his face perfectly familiar, but for the moment he could not +identify him. He was tall, with white hair and moustaches. His coat was +covered with foreign orders, and he wore English court dress. His hands +were clasped behind his back; he was talking in a low, clear tone, +stooping a little, and with eyes steadfastly fixed upon his companion. +Mr. Sabin was leaning a little forward, with both hands resting upon +his stick. Harcutt was struck at once with the singular immobility of +his face. He did not appear either interested or amused or acquiescent. +He was simply listening. A few words from the other man came to +Harcutt's ears, as he lingered there on the other side of the curtain. + +"If it were money--a question of monetary recompense--the secret service +purse of my country opens easily, and it is well filled. If it were +anything less simple, the proposal could but be made. I am taking the +thing, you understand, at your own computation of its worth! I am taking +it for granted that it carries with it the power you claim for it. +Assuming these things, I am prepared to treat with you. I am going on +leave very shortly, and I could myself conduct the negotiations." + +Harcutt would have moved away, but he was absolutely powerless. +Naturally, and from his journalistic instincts, he was one of the most +curious of men. He had recognised the speaker. The interview was +pregnant with possibilities. Who was this Mr. Sabin, that so great a man +should talk with him so earnestly? He was looking up now, he was going +to speak. What was he going to say? Harcutt held his breath. The idea of +moving away never occurred to him now. + +"Yet," Mr. Sabin said slowly, "your country should be a low bidder. The +importance of such a thing to you must be less than to France, less than +to her great ally. Your relations here are close and friendly. Nature +and destiny seemed to have made you allies. As yet there has been no +rift--no sign of a rift." + +"You are right," the other man answered slowly; "and yet who can tell +what lies before us? In less than a dozen years the face of all Europe +may be changed. The policy of a great nation is, to all appearance, a +steadfast thing. On the face of it, it continues the same, age after +age. Yet if a change is to come, it comes from within. It develops +slowly. It grows from within, outwards, very slowly, like a secret +thing. Do you follow me?" + +"I think--perhaps I do," Mr. Sabin admitted deliberately. + +The Ambassador's voice dropped almost to a whisper, and but for its +singularly penetrating quality Harcutt would have heard no more. As it +was, he had almost to hold his breath, and all his nerves quivered with +the tension of listening. + +"Even the Press is deceived. The inspired organs purposely mislead. +Outside to all the world there seems to be nothing brewing; yet, when +the storm bursts, one sees that it has been long in gathering--that +years of careful study and thought have been given to that hidden +triumph of diplomacy. All has been locked in the breasts of a few. The +thing is full-fledged when it is hatched upon the world. It has grown +strong in darkness. You understand me?" + +"Yes; I think that I understand you," Mr. Sabin said, his piercing eyes +raised now from the ground and fixed upon the other man's face. "You +have given me food for serious thought. I shall do nothing further till +I have talked with you again." + +Harcutt suddenly and swiftly withdrew. He had stayed as long as he +dared. At any moment his presence might have been detected, and he would +have been involved in a situation which even the nerve and effrontery +acquired during the practice of his profession could not have rendered +endurable. He found a seat in an adjoining room, and sat quite still, +thinking. His brain was in a whirl. He had almost forgotten the special +object of his quest. He felt like a conspirator. The fascination of the +unknown was upon him. Their first instinct concerning these people had +been a true one. They were indeed no ordinary people. He must follow +them up--he must know more about them. Once more he thought over what he +had heard. It was mysterious, but it was interesting. It might mean +anything. The man with Mr. Sabin he had recognised the moment he spoke. +It was Baron von Knigenstein, the German Ambassador. Those were strange +words of his. He pondered them over again. The journalistic fever was +upon him. He was no longer in love. He had overheard a few words of a +discussion of tremendous import. If only he could get the key to it! +If only he could follow this thing through, then farewell to society +paragraphing and playing at journalism. His reputation would be made +for ever! + +He rose, and finding his way to the refreshment-room, drank off a glass +of champagne. Then he walked back to the main salon. Standing with his +back to the wall, and half-hidden by a tall palm tree, was Densham. He +was alone. His arms were folded, and he was looking out upon the dancers +with a gloomy frown. Harcutt stepped softly up to him. + +"Well, how are you getting on, old chap?" he whispered in his ear. + +Densham started, and looked at Harcutt in blank surprise. + +"Why, how the--excuse me, how on earth did you get in?" he exclaimed. + +Harcutt smiled in a mysterious manner. + +"Oh! we journalists are trained to overcome small difficulties," he said +airily. "It wasn't a very hard task. The _Morning_ is a pretty good +passport. Getting in was easy enough. Where is--she?" + +Densham moved his head in the direction of the broad space at the head +of the stairs, where the Ambassador and his wife had received their +guests. + +"She is under the special wing of the Princess. She is up at that end +of the room somewhere with a lot of old frumps." + +"Have you asked for an introduction?" + +Densham nodded. + +"Yes, I asked young Lobenski. It is no good. He does not know who she +is; but she does not dance, and is not allowed to make acquaintances. +That is what it comes to, anyway. It was not a personal matter at all. +Lobenski did not even mention my name to his mother. He simply said a +friend. The Princess replied that she was very sorry, but there was some +difficulty. The young lady's guardian did not wish her to make +acquaintances for the present." + +"Her guardian! He's not her father, then?" + +"No! It was either her guardian or her uncle! I am not sure which. By +Jove! There they go! They're off." + +They both hurried to the cloak-room for their coats, and reached the +street in time to see the people in whom they were so interested coming +down the stairs towards them. In the glare of the electric light, the +girl's pale, upraised face shone like a piece of delicate statuary. To +Densham, the artist, she was irresistible. He drew Harcutt right back +amongst the shadows. + +"She is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my life," he said +deliberately. "Titian never conceived anything more exquisite. She is a +woman to paint and to worship!" + +"What are you going to do now?" Harcutt asked drily. "You can rave about +her in your studio, if you like." + +"I am going to find out where she lives, if I have to follow her home on +foot! It will be something to know that." + +"Two of us," Harcutt protested. "It is too obvious." + +"I can't help that," Densham replied. "I do not sleep until I have found +out." + +Harcutt looked dubious. + +"Look here," he said, "we need not both go! I will leave it to you on +one condition." + +"Well?" + +"You must let me know to-morrow what you discover." + +Densham hesitated. + +"Agreed," he decided. "There they go! Good-night. I will call at your +rooms, or send a note, to-morrow." + +Densham jumped into his cab and drove away. Harcutt looked after them +thoughtfully. + +"The girl is very lovely," he said to himself, as he stood on the +pavement waiting for his carriage; "but I do not think that she is for +you, Densham, or for me! On the whole, I am more interested in the man!" + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE DILEMMA OF WOLFENDEN + + +Wolfenden was evidently absolutely unprepared to see the girl whom he +found occupying his own particular easy chair in his study. The light +was only a dim one, and as she did not move or turn round at his +entrance he did not recognise her until he was standing on the hearthrug +by her side. Then he started with a little exclamation. + +"Miss Merton! Why, what on earth----" + +He stopped in the middle of his question and looked intently at her. Her +head was thrown back amongst the cushions of the chair, and she was fast +asleep. Her hat was a little crushed and a little curl of fair hair had +escaped and was hanging down over her forehead. There were undoubtedly +tear stains upon her pretty face. Her plain, black jacket was half +undone, and the gloves which she had taken off lay in her lap. +Wolfenden's anger subsided at once. No wonder Selby had been perplexed. +But Selby's perplexity was nothing to his own. + +She woke up suddenly and saw him standing there, traces of his amazement +still lingering on his face. She looked at him, half-frightened, +half-wistfully. The colour came and went in her cheeks--her eyes grew +soft with tears. He felt himself a brute. Surely it was not possible +that she could be acting! He spoke to her more kindly than he had +intended. + +"What on earth has brought you up to town--and here--at this time of +night? Is anything wrong at Deringham?" + +She sat up in the chair and looked at him with quivering lips. + +"N--no, nothing particular; only I have left." + +"You have left!" + +"Yes; I have been turned away," she added, piteously. + +He looked at her blankly. + +"Turned away! Why, what for? Do you mean to say that you have left for +good?" + +She nodded, and commenced to dry her eyes with a little lace +handkerchief. + +"Yes--your mother--Lady Deringham has been very horrid--as though the +silly papers were of any use to me or any one else in the world! I have +not copied them. I am not deceitful! It is all an excuse to get rid of +me because of--of you." + +She looked up at him and suddenly dropped her eyes. Wolfenden began to +see some glimmerings of light. He was still, however, bewildered. + +"Look here," he said kindly, "why you are here I cannot for the life of +me imagine, but you had better just tell me all about it." + +She rose up suddenly and caught her gloves from the table. + +"I think I will go away," she said. "I was very stupid to come; please +forget it and---- Goodbye." + +He caught her by the wrist as she passed. + +"Nonsense," he exclaimed, "you mustn't go like this." + +She looked steadfastly away from him and tried to withdraw her arm. + +"You are angry with me for coming," she said. "I am very, very sorry; I +will go away. Please don't stop me." + +He held her wrist firmly. + +"Miss Merton!" + +"Miss Merton!" She repeated his words reproachfully, lifting her eyes +suddenly to his, that he might see the tears gathering there. Wolfenden +began to feel exceedingly uncomfortable. + +"Well, Blanche, then," he said slowly. "Is that better?" + +She answered nothing, but looked at him again. Her hand remained in his. +She suffered him to lead her back to the chair. + +"It's all nonsense your going away, you know," he said a little +awkwardly. "You can't wonder that I am surprised. Perhaps you don't know +that it is a little late--after midnight, in fact. Where should you go +to if you ran away like that? Do you know any one in London?" + +"I--don't think so," she admitted. + +"Well, do be reasonable then. First of all tell me all about it." + +She nodded, and began at once, now and then lifting her eyes to his, +mostly gazing fixedly at the gloves which she was smoothing carefully +out upon her knee. + +"I think," she said, "that Lord Deringham is not so well. What he has +been writing has become more and more incoherent, and it has been very +difficult to copy it at all. I have done my best but he has never seemed +satisfied; and he has taken to watch me in an odd sort of way, just as +though I was doing something wrong all the time. You know he fancies +that the work he is putting together is of immense importance. Of course +I don't know that it isn't. All I do know is that it sounds and reads +like absolute rubbish, and it's awfully difficult to copy. He writes +very quickly and uses all manner of abbreviations, and if I make a +single mistake in typing it he gets horribly cross." + +Wolfenden laughed softly. + +"Poor little girl! Go on." + +She smiled too, and continued with less constraint in her tone. + +"I didn't really mind that so much, as of course I have been getting +a lot of money for the work, and one can't have everything. But just +lately he seems to have got the idea that I have been making two copies +of this rubbish and keeping one back. He has kept on coming into +the room unexpectedly, and has sat for hours watching me in a most +unpleasant manner. I have not been allowed to leave the house, and +all my letters have been looked over; it has been perfectly horrid." + +"I am very sorry," Wolfenden said. "Of course you knew though that it +was going to be rather difficult to please my father, didn't you? The +doctors differ a little as to his precise mental condition, but we are +all aware that he is at any rate a trifle peculiar." + +She smiled a little bitterly. + +"Oh! I am not complaining," she said. "I should have stood it somehow +for the sake of the money; but I haven't told you everything yet. The +worst part, so far as I am concerned, is to come." + +"I am very sorry," he said; "please go on." + +"This morning your father came very early into the study and found a +sheet of carbon paper on my desk and two copies of one page of the work +I was doing. As a matter of fact I had never used it before, but I +wanted to try it for practice. There was no harm in it--I should have +destroyed the second sheet in a minute or two, and in any case it was so +badly done that it was absolutely worthless. But directly Lord Deringham +saw it he went quite white, and I thought he was going to have a fit. I +can't tell you all he said. He was brutal. The end of it was that my +boxes were all turned out and my desk and everything belonging to me +searched as though I were a house-maid suspected of theft, and all the +time I was kept locked up. When they had finished, I was told to put my +hat on and go. I--I had nowhere to go to, for Muriel--you remember I +told you about my sister--went to America last week. I hadn't the least +idea what to do--and so--I--you were the only person who had ever been +kind to me," she concluded, suddenly leaning over towards him, a little +sob in her throat, and her eyes swimming with tears. + +There are certain situations in life when an honest man is at an obvious +disadvantage. Wolfenden felt awkward and desperately ill at ease. He +evaded the embrace which her movement and eyes had palpably invited, and +compromised matters by taking her hands and holding them tightly in his. +Even then he felt far from comfortable. + +"But my mother," he exclaimed. "Lady Deringham surely took your part?" + +She shook her head vigorously. + +"Lady Deringham did nothing of the sort," she replied. "Do you remember +last time when you were down you took me for a walk once or twice and +you talked to me in the evenings, and--but perhaps you have forgotten. +Have you?" + +She was looking at him so eagerly that there was only one answer +possible for him. He hastened to make it. There was a certain lack of +enthusiasm in his avowal, however, which brought a look of reproach into +her face. She sighed and looked away into the fire. + +"Well," she continued, "Lady Deringham has never been the same since +then to me. It didn't matter while you were there, but after you left it +was very wretched. I wrote to you, but you never answered my letter." + +He was very well aware of it. He had never asked her to write, and her +note had seemed to him a trifle too ingenuous. He had never meant to +answer it. + +"I so seldom write letters," he said. "I thought, too, that it must have +been your fancy. My mother is generally considered a very good-hearted +woman." + +She laughed bitterly. + +"Oh, one does not fancy those things," she said. "Lady Deringham has +been coldly civil to me ever since, and nothing more. This morning she +seemed absolutely pleased to have an excuse for sending me away. She +knows quite well, of course, that Lord Deringham is--not himself; but +she took everything he said for gospel, and turned me out of the house. +There, now you know everything. Perhaps after all it was idiotic to come +to you. Well, I'm only a girl, and girls are idiots; I haven't a friend +in the world, and if I were alone I should die of loneliness in a week. +You won't send me away? You are not angry with me?" + +She made a movement towards him, but he held her hands tightly. For the +first time he began to see his way before him. A certain ingenuousness +in her speech and in that little half-forgotten note--an ingenuousness, +by the bye, of which he had some doubts--was his salvation. He would +accept it as absolutely genuine. She was a child who had come to him, +because he had been kind to her. + +"Of course I am not angry with you," he said, quite emphatically. "I am +very glad indeed that you came. It is only right that I should help you +when my people seem to have treated you so wretchedly. Let me think for +a moment." + +She watched him very anxiously, and moved a little closer to him. + +"Tell me," she murmured, "what are you thinking about?" + +"I have it," he answered, standing suddenly up and touching the bell. +"It is an excellent idea." + +"What is it?" she asked quickly. + +He did not appear to hear her question. Selby was standing upon the +threshold. Wolfenden spoke to him. + +"Selby, are your wife's rooms still vacant?" + +Selby believed that they were. + +"That's all right then. Put on your hat and coat at once. I want you to +take this young lady round there." + +"Very good, my lord." + +"Her luggage has been lost and may not arrive until to-morrow. Be sure +you tell Mrs. Selby to do all in her power to make things comfortable." + +The girl had gone very pale. Wolfenden, watching her closely, was +surprised at her expression. + +"I think," he said, "that you will find Mrs. Selby a very decent sort of +a person. If I may, I will come and see you to-morrow, and you shall +tell me how I can help you. I am very glad indeed that you came to me." + +She shot a single glance at him, partly of anger, partly reproach. + +"You are very, very kind," she said slowly, "and very considerate," she +added, after a moment's pause. "I shall not forget it." + +She looked him then straight in the eyes. He was more glad than he would +have liked to confess even to himself to hear Selby's knock at the door. + +"You have nothing to thank me for yet at any rate," he said, taking her +hand. "I shall be only too glad if you will let me be of service to +you." + +He led her out to the carriage and watched it drive away, with Selby on +the box seat. Her last glance, as she leaned back amongst the cushions, +was a tender one; her lips were quivering, and her little fingers more +than returned his pressure. But Wolfenden walked back to his study with +all the pleasurable feelings of a man who has extricated himself with +tact from an awkward situation. + +"The frankness," he remarked to himself, as he lit a pipe and stretched +himself out for a final smoke, "was a trifle, just a trifle, overdone. +She gave the whole show away with that last glance. I should like very +much to know what it all means." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +A COMPACT OF THREE + + +Wolfenden, for an idler, was a young man of fairly precise habits. By +ten o'clock next morning he had breakfasted, and before eleven he was +riding in the Park. Perhaps he had some faint hope of seeing there +something of the two people in whom he was now greatly interested. If +so he was certainly disappointed. He looked with a new curiosity into +the faces of the girls who galloped past him, and he was careful even +to take particular notice of the few promenaders. But he did not see +anything of Mr. Sabin or his companion. + +At twelve o'clock he returned to his rooms and exchanged his +riding-clothes for the ordinary garb of the West End. He even looked on +his hall-table as he passed out again, to see if there were any note or +card for him. + +"He could scarcely look me up just yet, at any rate," he reflected, as +he walked slowly along Piccadilly, "for he did not even ask me for my +address. He took the whole thing so coolly that perhaps he does not mean +even to call." + +Nevertheless, he looked in the rack at his club to see if there was +anything against his name, and tore into pieces the few unimportant +notes he found there, with an impatience which they scarcely deserved. +Of the few acquaintances whom he met there, he inquired casually whether +they knew anything of a man named "Sabin." No one seemed to have heard +the name before. He even consulted a directory in the hall, but without +success. At one o'clock, in a fit of restlessness, he went out, and +taking a hansom drove over to Westminster, to Harcutt's rooms. Harcutt +was in, and with him Densham. At Wolfenden's entrance the three men +looked at one another, and there was a simultaneous laugh. + +"Here comes the hero," Densham remarked. "He will be able to tell us +everything." + +"I came to gather information, not to impart it," Wolfenden answered, +selecting a cigarette, and taking an easy chair. "I know precisely as +much as I knew last night." + +"Mr. Sabin has not been to pour out his gratitude yet, then?" Densham +asked. + +Wolfenden shook his head. + +"Not yet. On the whole, I am inclined to think that he will not come at +all. He doubtless considers that he has done all that is necessary in +the way of thanks. He did not even ask for my card, and giving me his +was only a matter of form, for there was no address upon it." + +"But he knew your name," Harcutt reminded him. "I noticed that." + +"Yes. I suppose he could find me if he wished to," Wolfenden admitted. +"If he had been very keen about it, though, I should think he would have +said something more. His one idea seemed to be to get away before there +was a row." + +"I do not think," Harcutt said, "that you will find him overburdened +with gratitude. He does not seem that sort of man." + +"I do not want any gratitude from him," Wolfenden answered, +deliberately. "So far as the man himself is concerned I should rather +prefer never to see him again. By the bye, did either of you fellows +follow them home last night?" + +Harcutt and Densham exchanged quick glances. Wolfenden had asked his +question quietly, but it was evidently what he had come to know. + +"Yes," Harcutt said, "we both did. They are evidently people of some +consequence. They went first to the house of the Russian Ambassador, +Prince Lobenski." + +Wolfenden swore to himself softly. He could have been there. He made a +mental note to leave a card at the Embassy that afternoon. + +"And afterwards?" + +"Afterwards they drove to a house in Chilton Gardens, Kensington, where +they remained." + +"The presumption being, then----" Wolfenden began. + +"That they live there," Harcutt put in. "In fact, I may say that we +ascertained that definitely. The man's name is 'Sabin,' and the girl is +reputed to be his niece. Now you know as much as we do. The +relationship, however, is little more than a surmise." + +"Did either of you go to the reception?" Wolfenden asked. + +"We both did," Harcutt answered. + +Wolfenden raised his eyebrows. + +"You were there! Then why didn't you make their acquaintance?" + +Densham laughed shortly. + +"I asked for an introduction to the girl," he said, "and was politely +declined. She was under the special charge of the Princess, and was +presented to no one." + +"And Mr. Sabin?" Wolfenden asked. + +"He was talking all the time to Baron von Knigenstein, the German +Ambassador. They did not stay long." + +Wolfenden smiled. + +"It seems to me," he said, "that you had an excellent opportunity and +let it go." + +Harcutt threw his cigarette into the fire with an impatient gesture. + +"You may think so," he said. "All I can say is, that if you had been +there yourself, you could have done no more. At any rate, we have no +particular difficulty now in finding out who this mysterious Mr. Sabin +and the girl are. We may assume that there is a relationship," he added, +"or they would scarcely have been at the Embassy, where, as a rule, the +guests make up in respectability what they lack in brilliancy." + +"As to the relationship," Wolfenden said, "I am quite prepared to take +that for granted. I, for one, never doubted it." + +"That," Harcutt remarked, "is because you are young, and a little +quixotic. When you have lived as long as I have you will doubt +everything. You will take nothing for granted unless you desire to live +for ever amongst the ruins of your shattered enthusiasms. If you are +wise, you will always assume that your swans are geese until you have +proved them to be swans." + +"That is very cheap cynicism," Wolfenden remarked equably. "I am +surprised at you, Harcutt. I thought that you were more in touch with +the times. Don't you know that to-day nobody is cynical except +schoolboys and dyspeptics? Pessimism went out with sack overcoats. Your +remarks remind me of the morning odour of patchouli and stale smoke in +a cheap Quartier Latin dancing-room. To be in the fashion of to-day, +you must cultivate a gentle, almost arcadian enthusiasm, you must wear +rose-coloured spectacles and pretend that you like them. Didn't you hear +what Flaskett said last week? There is an epidemic of morality in the +air. We are all going to be very good." + +"Some of us," Densham remarked, "are going to be very uncomfortable, +then." + +"Great changes always bring small discomforts," Wolfenden rejoined. +"But after all I didn't come here to talk nonsense. I came to ask you +both something. I want to know whether you fellows are bent upon seeing +this thing through?" + +Densham and Harcutt exchanged glances. There was a moment's silence. +Densham became spokesman. + +"So far as finding out who they are and all about them," he said, "I +shall not rest until I have done it." + +"And you, Harcutt?" + +Harcutt nodded gravely. + +"I am with Densham," he said. "At the same time I may as well tell you +that I am quite as much, if not more, interested in the man than in the +girl. The girl is beautiful, and of course I admire her, as every one +must. But that is all. The man appeals to my journalistic instincts. +There is copy in him. I am convinced that he is a personage. You may, +in fact, regard me, both of you, as an ally rather than as a rival." + +"If you had your choice, then, of an hour's conversation with either of +them----" Wolfenden began. + +"I should choose the man without a second's hesitation," Harcutt +declared. "The girl is lovely enough, I admit. I do not wonder at you +fellows--Densham, who is a worshipper of beauty; you, Wolfenden, who are +an idler--being struck with her! But as regards myself it is different. +The man appeals to my professional instincts in very much the same way +as the girl appeals to the artistic sense in Densham. He is a conundrum +which I have set myself to solve." + +Wolfenden rose to his feet. + +"Look here, you fellows," he said, "I have a proposition to make. We are +all three in the same boat. Shall we pull together or separately?" + +Harcutt dropped his eyeglass and smiled quietly. + +"Quixotic as usual, Wolf, old chap," he said. "We can't, our interests +are opposed; at least yours and Densham's are. You will scarcely want +to help one another under the circumstances." + +Wolfenden drew on his gloves. + +"I have not explained myself yet," he said. "The thing must have its +limitations, of course, but for a step or two even Densham and I can +walk together. Let us form an alliance so far as direct information is +concerned. Afterwards it must be every man for himself, of course. I +suppose we each have some idea as to how and where to set about making +inquiries concerning these people. Very well. Let us each go our own way +and share up the information to-night." + +"I am quite willing," Densham said, "only let this be distinctly +understood--we are allies only so far as the collection and sharing +of information is concerned. Afterwards, and in other ways, it is each +man for himself. If one of us succeeds in establishing a definite +acquaintance with them, the thing ends. There is no need for either of +us to do anything with regard to the others, which might militate +against his own chances." + +"I am agreeable to that," Harcutt said. "From Densham's very elaborate +provisoes I think we may gather that he has a plan." + +"I agree too," Wolfenden said, "and I specially endorse Densham's limit. +It is an alliance so far as regards information only. Suppose we go and +have some lunch together now." + +"I never lunch out, and I have a better idea," said Harcutt. "Let us +meet at the 'Milan' to-night for supper at the same time. We can then +exchange information, supposing either of us has been fortunate enough +to acquire any. What do you say, Wolfenden?" + +"I am quite willing," Wolfenden said. + +"And I," echoed Densham. "At half-past eleven, then," Harcutt concluded. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +WHO IS MR. SABIN? + + +Mrs. Thorpe-Satchell was not at home to ordinary callers. Nevertheless +when a discreet servant brought her Mr. Francis Densham's card she gave +orders for his admittance without hesitation. + +That he was a privileged person it was easy to see. Mrs. Satchell +received him with the most charming of smiles. + +"My dear Francis," she exclaimed, "I do hope that you have lost that +wretched headache! You looked perfectly miserable last night. I was so +sorry for you." + +Densham drew an easy chair to her side and accepted a cup of tea. + +"I am quite well again," he said. "It was very bad indeed for a little +time, but it did not last long. Still I felt that it made me so utterly +stupid that I was half afraid you would have written me off your +visitors' list altogether as a dull person. I was immensely relieved to +be told that you were at home." + +Mrs. Thorpe-Satchell laughed gaily. She was a bright, blonde little +woman with an exquisite figure and piquante face. She had a husband whom +no one knew, and gave excellent parties to which every one went. In her +way she was something of a celebrity. She and Densham had known each +other for many years. + +"I am not sure," she said, "that you did not deserve it; but then, you +see, you are too old a friend to be so summarily dealt with." + +She raised her blue eyes to his and dropped them, smiling softly. + +Densham looked steadily away into the fire, wondering how to broach the +subject which had so suddenly taken the foremost place in his thoughts. +He had not come to make even the idlest of love this afternoon. The +time when he had been content to do so seemed very far away just now. +Somehow this dainty little woman with her Watteau-like grace and +delicate mannerisms had, for the present, at any rate, lost all her +attractiveness for him, and he was able to meet the flash of her bright +eyes and feel the touch of her soft fingers without any corresponding +thrill. + +"You are very good to me," he said, thoughtfully. "May I have some more +tea?" + +Now Densham was no strategist. He had come to ask a question, and he +was dying to ask it. He knew very well that it would not do to hurry +matters--that he must put it as casually as possible towards the close +of his visit. But at the same time, the period of probation, during +which he should have been more than usually entertaining, was scarcely a +success, and his manner was restless and constrained. Every now and then +there were long and unusual pauses, and he continuously and with obvious +effort kept bringing back the conversation to the reception last night, +in the hope that some remark from her might make the way easier for him. +But nothing of the sort happened. The reception had not interested +her in the slightest, and she had nothing to say about it, and his +pre-occupation at last became manifest. She looked at him curiously +after one of those awkward pauses to which she was quite unaccustomed, +and his thoughts were evidently far away. As a matter of fact, he was at +that moment actually framing the question which he had come to ask. + +"My dear Francis," she said, quietly, "why don't you tell me what is the +matter with you? You are not amusing. You have something on your mind. +Is it anything you wish to ask of me?" + +"Yes," he said, boldly, "I have come to ask you a favour." + +She smiled at him encouragingly. + +"Well, do ask it," she said, "and get rid of your woebegone face. You +ought to know that if it is anything within my power I shall not +hesitate." + +"I want," he said, "to paint your portrait for next year's Academy." + +This was a master stroke. To have Densham paint her picture was just at +that moment the height of Mrs. Thorpe-Satchell's ambition. A flush of +pleasure came into her cheeks, and her eyes were very bright. + +"Do you really mean it?" she exclaimed, leaning over towards him. "Are +you sure?" + +"Of course I mean it," he answered. "If only I can do you justice, I +think it ought to be the portrait of the year. I have been studying you +for a long time in an indefinite sort of way, and I think that I have +some good ideas." + +Mrs. Thorpe-Satchell laughed softly. Densham, although not a great +artist, was the most fashionable portrait painter of the minute, and he +had the knack of giving a _chic_ touch to his women--of investing them +with a certain style without the sacrifice of similitude. He refused +quite as many commissions as he accepted, and he could scarcely have +flattered Mrs. Thorpe-Satchell more than by his request. She was +delightfully amiable. + +"You are a dear old thing," she said, beaming upon him. "What shall I +wear? That yellow satin gown that you like, or say you like, so much?" + +He discussed the question with her gravely. It was not until he rose to +go that he actually broached the question which had been engrossing all +his thoughts. + +"By the bye," he said, "I wanted to ask you something. You know +Harcutt?" + +She nodded. Of course she knew Harcutt. Were her first suspicions +correct! Had he some other reason for this visit of his? + +"Well," Densham went on, "he is immensely interested in some people +who were at that stupid reception last night. He tried to get an +introduction but he couldn't find any one who knew them, and he doesn't +know the Princess well enough to ask her. He thought that he saw you +speaking to the man, so I promised that when I saw you I would ask about +them." + +"I spoke to a good many men," she said. "What is his name?" + +"Sabin--Mr. Sabin; and there is a girl, his daughter, or niece, I +suppose." + +Was it Densham's fancy or had she indeed turned a shade paler. The +little be-jewelled hand, which had been resting close to his, suddenly +buried itself in the cushions. Densham, who was watching her closely, +was conscious of a hardness about her mouth which he had never noticed +before. She was silent some time before she answered him. + +"I am sorry," she said, slowly, "but I can tell you scarcely anything +about them. I only met him once in India many years ago, and I have not +the slightest idea as to who he is or where he came from. I am quite +sure that I should not have recollected him last night but for his +deformity." + +Densham tried very hard to hide his disappointment. + +"So you met him in India," he remarked. "Do you know what he was doing +there? He was not in the service at all, I suppose." + +"I really do not know," she answered, "but I think not. I believe that +he is, or was, very wealthy. I remember hearing a few things about +him--nothing of much importance. But if Mr. Harcutt is your friend," she +added, looking at him fixedly, "you can give him some excellent advice." + +"Harcutt is a very decent fellow," Densham said, "and I know that he +will be glad of it." + +"Tell him to have nothing whatever to do with Mr. Sabin." + +Densham looked at her keenly. + +"Then you do know something about him," he exclaimed. + +She moved her chair back a little to where the light no longer played +upon her face, and she answered him without looking up. + +"Very little. It was so long ago and my memory is not what it used to +be. Never mind that. The advice is good anyhow. If," she continued, +looking steadily up at Densham, "if it were not Mr. Harcutt who was +interested in these people, if it were any one, Francis, for whose +welfare I had a greater care, who was really my friend, I would make +that advice, if I could, a thousand times stronger. I would implore him +to have nothing whatever to do with this man or any of his creatures." + +Densham laughed--not very easily. His disappointment was great, but his +interest was stimulated. + +"At any rate," he said, "the girl is harmless. She cannot have left +school a year." + +"A year with that man," she answered, bitterly, "is a liberal education +in corruption. Don't misunderstand me. I have no personal grievance +against him. We have never come together, thank God! But there were +stories--I cannot remember them now--I do not wish to remember them, but +the impression they made still remains. If a little of what people said +about him is true he is a prince of wickedness." + +"The girl herself----?" + +"I know nothing of," she admitted. + +Densham determined upon a bold stroke. + +"Look here," he said, "do me this favour--you shall never regret it. You +and the Princess are intimate, I know: order your carriage and go and +see her this afternoon. Ask her what she knows about that girl. Get her +to tell you everything. Then let me know. Don't ask me to explain just +now--simply remember that we are old friends and that I ask you to do +this thing for me." + +She rang the bell. + +"My victoria at once," she told the servant. Then she turned to Densham. +"I will do exactly what you ask," she said. "You can come with me and +wait while I see the Princess--if she is at home. You see I am doing for +you what I would do for no one else in the world. Don't trouble about +thanking me now. Do you mind waiting while I get my things on? I shall +only be a minute or two." + +Her minute or two was half an hour. Densham waited impatiently. He +scarcely knew whether to be satisfied with the result of his mission +or not. He had learnt a very little--he was probably going to learn +a little more, but he was quite aware that he had not conducted the +negotiations with any particular skill, and the bribe which he had +offered was a heavy one. He was still uncertain about it when Mrs. +Thorpe-Satchell reappeared. She had changed her indoor gown for a soft +petunia-coloured costume trimmed with sable, and she held out her hands +towards him with a delightful smile. + +"Celeste is wretchedly awkward with gloves," she said, "so I have left +them for you. Do you like my gown?" + +"You look charming," he said, bending over his task, "and you know it." + +"I always wear my smartest clothes when I am going to see my particular +friends," she declared. "They quiz one so! Besides, I do not always have +an escort! Come!" + +She talked to him gaily on the stairs, as he handed her into the +carriage, and all the way to their destination, yet he was conscious +all the time of a subtle change in her demeanour towards him. She was a +proud little woman, and she had received a shock. Densham was making use +of her--Densham, of all men, was making use of her, of all women. He had +been perfectly correct in those vague fears of his. She did not believe +that he had come to her for his friend's sake. She never doubted but +that it was he himself who was interested in this girl, and she +looked upon his visit and his request to her as something very nearly +approaching brutality. He must be interested in the girl, very deeply +interested, or he would never have resorted to such means of gaining +information about her. She was suddenly silent and turned a little pale +as the carriage turned into the square. Her errand was not a pleasant +one to her. + +Densham was left alone in the carriage for nearly an hour. He was +impatient, and yet her prolonged absence pleased him. She had found the +Princess in, she would bring him the information he desired. He sat +gazing idly into the faces of the passers-by with his thoughts very far +away. How that girl's face had taken hold of his fancy; had excited in +some strange way his whole artistic temperament! She was the exquisite +embodiment of a new type of girlhood, from which was excluded all that +was crude and unpleasing and unfinished. She seemed to him to combine +in some mysterious manner all the dainty freshness of youth with the +delicate grace and _savoir faire_ of a Frenchwoman of the best period. +He scarcely fancied himself in love with her; at any rate if it had been +suggested to him he would have denied it. Her beauty had certainly taken +a singular hold of him. His imagination was touched. He was immensely +attracted, but as to anything serious--well, he would not have admitted +it even to himself. Liberty meant so much to him, he had told himself +over and over again that, for many years at least, his art must be his +sole mistress. Besides, he was no boy to lose his heart, as certainly +Wolfenden had done, to a girl with whom he had never even spoken. It was +ridiculous, and yet---- + +A soft voice in his ear suddenly recalled him to the present. Mrs. +Thorpe-Satchell was standing upon the pavement. The slight pallor had +gone from her cheeks and the light had come back to her eyes. He looked +at her, irresistibly attracted. She had never appeared more charming. + +She stepped into the carriage, and the soft folds of her gown spread +themselves out over the cushions. She drew them on one side to make room +for him. + +"Come," she said, "let us have one turn in the Park. It is quite early, +although I am afraid that I have been a very long time." + +He stepped in at once and they drove off. Mrs. Thorpe-Satchell +laughingly repeated some story which the Princess had just told her. +Evidently she was in high spirits. The strained look had gone from her +face. Her gaiety was no longer forced. + +"You want to know the result of my mission, I suppose," she remarked, +pleasantly. "Well, I am afraid you will call it a failure. The moment +I mentioned the man's name the Princess stopped me. + +"'You mustn't talk to me about that man,' she said. 'Don't ask why, +only you must not talk about him.' + +"'I don't want to,' I assured her; 'but the girl.'" + +"What did she say about the girl?" Densham asked. + +"Well she did tell me something about her," Mrs. Thorpe-Satchell said, +slowly, "but, unfortunately, it will not help your friend. She only told +me when I had promised unconditionally and upon my honour to keep her +information a profound secret. So I am sorry, Francis, but even to +you----" + +"Of course, you must not repeat it," Densham said, hastily. "I would not +ask you for the world; but is there not a single scrap of information +about the man or the girl, who he is, what he is, of what family or +nationality the girl is--anything at all which I can take to Harcutt?" + +Mrs. Thorpe-Satchell looked straight at him with a faint smile at the +corners of her lips. + +"Yes, there is one thing which you can tell Mr. Harcutt," she said. + +Densham drew a little breath. At last, then! + +"You can tell him this," Mrs. Thorpe-Satchell said, slowly and +impressively, "that if it is the girl, as I suppose it is, in whom he +is interested, that the very best thing he can do is to forget that he +has ever seen her. I cannot tell you who she is or what, although I +know. But we are old friends, Francis, and I know that my word will be +sufficient for you. You can take this from me as the solemn truth. Your +friend had better hope for the love of the Sphinx, or fix his heart upon +the statue of Diana, as think of that girl." + +Densham was looking straight ahead along the stream of vehicles. His +eyes were set, but he saw nothing. He did not doubt her word for a +moment. He knew that she had spoken the truth. The atmosphere seemed +suddenly grey and sunless. He shivered a little--he was positively +chilled. Just for a moment he saw the girl's face, heard the swirl of +her skirts as she had passed their table and the sound of her voice as +she had bent over the great cluster of white roses whose faint perfume +reached even to where they were sitting. Then he half closed his eyes. +He had come very near making a terrible mistake. + +"Thank you," he said. "I will tell Harcutt." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +A MEETING IN BOND STREET + + +Wolfenden returned to his rooms to lunch, intending to go round to see +his last night's visitor immediately afterwards. He had scarcely taken +off his coat, however, before Selby met him in the hall, a note in his +hand. + +"From the young lady, my lord," he announced. "My wife has just sent it +round." + +Wolfenden tore the envelope open and read it. + + "_Thursday morning._ + + "DEAR LORD WOLFENDEN,--Of course I made a mistake in coming to you + last night. I am very sorry indeed--more sorry than you will ever + know. A woman does not forget these things readily, and the lesson + you have taught me it will not be difficult for me to remember all + my life. I cannot consent to remain your debtor, and I am leaving + here at once. I shall have gone long before you receive this note. + Do not try to find me. I shall not want for friends if I choose to + seek them. Apart from this, I do not want to see you again. I mean + it, and I trust to your honour to respect my wishes. I think that I + may at least ask you to grant me this for the sake of those days at + Deringham, which it is now my fervent wish to utterly forget.--I + am, yours sincerely, + + "BLANCHE MERTON." + +"The young lady, my lord," Selby remarked, "left early this morning. She +expressed herself as altogether satisfied with the attention she had +received, but she had decided to make other arrangements." + +Wolfenden nodded, and walked into his dining-room with the note crushed +up in his hand. + +"For the sake of those days at Deringham," he repeated softly to +himself. Was the girl a fool, or only an adventuress? It was true that +there had been something like a very mild flirtation between them at +Deringham, but it had been altogether harmless, and certainly more of +her seeking than his. They had met in the grounds once or twice and +walked together; he had talked to her a little after dinner, feeling a +certain sympathy for her isolation, and perhaps a little admiration for +her undoubted prettiness; yet all the time he had had a slightly uneasy +feeling with regard to her. Her ingenuousness had become a matter of +doubt to him. It was so now more than ever, yet he could not understand +her going away like this and the tone of her note. So far as he was +concerned, it was the most satisfactory thing that could have happened. +It relieved him of a responsibility which he scarcely knew how to deal +with. In the face of her dismissal from Deringham, any assistance which +she might have accepted from him would naturally have been open to +misapprehension. But that she should have gone away and have written to +him in such a strain was directly contrary to his anticipations. Unless +she was really hurt and disappointed by his reception of her, he could +not see what she had to gain by it. He was puzzled a little, but his +thoughts were too deeply engrossed elsewhere for him to take her +disappearance very seriously. By the time he had finished lunch he had +come to the conclusion that what had happened was for the best, and that +he would take her at her word. + +He left his rooms again about three o'clock, and at precisely the hour +at which Densham had rung the bell of Mrs. Thorpe-Satchell's house in +Mayfair he experienced a very great piece of good fortune. + +Coming out of Scott's, where more from habit than necessity he had +turned in to have his hat ironed, he came face to face, a few yards up +Bond Street, with the two people whom, more than any one else in the +world, he had desired to meet. They were walking together, the girl +talking, the man listening with an air of half-amused deference. +Suddenly she broke off and welcomed Wolfenden with a delightful smile +of recognition. The man looked up quickly. Wolfenden was standing +before them on the pavement, hat in hand, his pleasure at this +unexpected meeting very plainly evidenced in his face. Mr. Sabin's +greeting, if devoid of any special cordiality, was courteous and even +genial. Wolfenden never quite knew whence he got the impression, which +certainly came to him with all the strength and absoluteness of an +original inspiration, that this encounter was not altogether pleasant +to him. + +"How strange that we should meet you!" the girl said. "Do you know that +this is the first walk that I have ever had in London?" + +She spoke rather softly and rather slowly. Her voice possessed a +sibilant and musical intonation; there was perhaps the faintest +suggestion of an accent. As she stood there smiling upon him in a deep +blue gown, trimmed with a silvery fur, in the making of which no English +dressmaker had been concerned, Wolfenden's subjection was absolute and +complete. He was aware that his answer was a little flurried. He was +less at his ease than he could have wished. Afterwards he thought +of a hundred things he would have liked to have said, but the +surprise of seeing them so suddenly had cost him a little of his +usual self-possession. Mr. Sabin took up the conversation. + +"My infirmity," he said, glancing downwards, "makes walking, especially +on stone pavements, rather a painful undertaking. However, London is one +of those cities which can only be seen on foot, and my niece has all the +curiosity of her age." + +She laughed out frankly. She wore no veil, and a tinge of colour had +found its way into her cheeks, relieving that delicate but not unhealthy +pallor, which to Densham had seemed so exquisite. + +"I think shopping is delightful. Is it not?" she exclaimed. + +Wolfenden was absolutely sure of it. He was, indeed, needlessly +emphatic. Mr. Sabin smiled faintly. + +"I am glad to have met you again, Lord Wolfenden," he said, "if only to +thank you for your aid last night. I was anxious to get away before any +fuss was made, or I would have expressed my gratitude at the time in a +more seemly fashion." + +"I hope," Wolfenden said, "that you will not think it necessary to say +anything more about it. I did what any one in my place would have done +without a moment's hesitation." + +"I am not quite so sure of that," Mr. Sabin said. "But by the bye, can +you tell me what became of the fellow? Did any one go after him?" + +"There was some sort of pursuit, I believe," Wolfenden said slowly, "but +he was not caught." + +"I am glad to hear it," Mr. Sabin said. + +Wolfenden looked at him in some surprise. He could not make up his mind +whether it was his duty to disclose the name of the man who had made +this strange attempt. + +"Your assailant was, I suppose, a stranger to you?" he said slowly. + +Mr. Sabin shook his head. + +"By no means. I recognised him directly. So, I believe, did you." + +Wolfenden was honestly amazed. + +"He was your guest, I believe," Mr. Sabin continued, "until I entered +the room. I saw him leave, and I was half-prepared for something of the +sort." + +"He was my guest, it is true, but none the less, he was a stranger to +me," Wolfenden explained. "He brought a letter from my cousin, who seems +to have considered him a decent sort of fellow." + +"There is," Mr. Sabin said dryly, "nothing whatever the matter with him, +except that he is mad." + +"On the whole, I cannot say that I am surprised to hear it," Wolfenden +remarked; "but I certainly think that, considering the form his madness +takes, you ought to protect yourself in some way." + +Mr. Sabin shrugged his shoulders contemptuously. + +"He can never hurt me. I carry a talisman which is proof against any +attempt that he can make; but none the less, I must confess that your +aid last night was very welcome." + +"I was very pleased to be of any service," Wolfenden said, "especially," +he added, glancing toward Mr. Sabin's niece, "since it has given me the +pleasure of your acquaintance." + +A little thrill passed through him. Her delicately-curved lips were +quivering as though with amusement, and her eyes had fallen; she had +blushed slightly at that unwitting, ardent look of his. Mr. Sabin's +cold voice recalled him to himself. + +"I believe," he said, "that I overheard your name correctly. It is +Wolfenden, is it not?" + +Wolfenden assented. + +"I am sorry that I haven't a card," he said. "That is my name." + +Mr. Sabin looked at him curiously. + +"Wolfenden is, I believe, the family name of the Deringhams? May I +ask, are you any relation to Admiral Lord Deringham?" + +Wolfenden was suddenly grave. + +"Yes," he answered; "he is my father. Did you ever meet him?" + +Mr. Sabin shook his head. + +"No, I have heard of him abroad; also, I believe, of the Countess of +Deringham, your mother. It is many years ago. I trust that I have not +inadvertently----" + +"Not at all," Wolfenden declared. "My father is still alive, although he +is in very delicate health. I wonder, would you and your niece do me the +honour of having some tea with me? It is Ladies' Day at the 'Geranium +Club,' and I should be delighted to take you there if you would allow +me." + +Mr. Sabin shook his head. + +Wolfenden had the satisfaction of seeing the girl look disappointed. + +"We are very much obliged to you," Mr. Sabin said, "but I have an +appointment which is already overdue. You must not mind, Helene, if we +ride the rest of the way." + +He turned and hailed a passing hansom, which drew up immediately at +the kerb by their side. Mr. Sabin handed his niece in, and stood for a +moment on the pavement with Wolfenden. + +"I hope that we may meet again before long, Lord Wolfenden," he said. +"In the meantime let me assure you once more of my sincere gratitude." + +The girl leaned forward over the apron of the cab. + +"And may I not add mine too?" she said. "I almost wish that we were not +going to the 'Milan' again to-night. I am afraid that I shall be +nervous." + +She looked straight at Wolfenden. He was ridiculously happy. + +"I can promise," he said, "that no harm shall come to Mr. Sabin +to-night, at any rate. I shall be at the 'Milan' myself, and I will keep +a very close look out." + +"How reassuring!" she exclaimed, with a brilliant smile. "Lord Wolfenden +is going to be at the 'Milan' to-night," she added, turning to Mr. +Sabin. "Why don't you ask him to join us? I shall feel so much more +comfortable." + +There was a faint but distinct frown on Mr. Sabin's face--a distinct +hesitation before he spoke. But Wolfenden would notice neither. He was +looking over Mr. Sabin's shoulder, and his instructions were very clear. + +"If you will have supper with us we shall be very pleased," Mr. Sabin +said stiffly; "but no doubt you have already made your party. Supper is +an institution which one seldom contemplates alone." + +"I am quite free, and I shall be delighted," Wolfenden said without +hesitation. "About eleven, I suppose?" + +"A quarter past," Mr. Sabin said, stepping into the cab. "We may go to +the theatre." + +The hansom drove off, and Wolfenden stood on the pavement, hat in hand. +What fortune! He could scarcely believe in it. Then, just as he turned +to move on, something lying at his feet almost at the edge of the +kerbstone attracted his attention. He looked at it more closely. It was +a ribbon--a little delicate strip of deep blue ribbon. He knew quite +well whence it must have come. It had fallen from her gown as she had +stepped into the hansom. He looked up and down the street. It was full, +but he saw no one whom he knew. The thing could be done in a minute. He +stooped quickly down and picked it up crushing it in his gloved hand, +and walking on at once with heightened colour and a general sense of +having made a fool of himself. For a moment or two he was especially +careful to look neither to the right or to the left; then a sense that +some one from the other side of the road was watching him drew his +eyes in that direction. A young man was standing upon the edge of the +pavement, a peculiar smile parting his lips and a cigarette between his +fingers. For a moment Wolfenden was furiously angry; then the eyes of +the two men met across the street, and Wolfenden forgot his anger. He +recognised him at once, notwithstanding his appearance in an afternoon +toilette as carefully chosen as his own. It was Felix, Mr. Sabin's +assailant. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE SHADOWS THAT GO BEFORE + + +Wolfenden forgot his anger at once. He hesitated for a moment, then he +crossed the street and stood side by side with Felix upon the pavement. + +"I am glad to see that you are looking a sane man again," Wolfenden +said, after they had exchanged the usual greetings. "You might have been +in a much more uncomfortable place, after your last night's escapade." + +Felix shrugged his shoulders. + +"I think," he said, "that if I had succeeded a little discomfort would +only have amused me. It is not pleasant to fail." + +Wolfenden stood squarely upon his feet, and laid his hand lightly upon +the other's shoulder. + +"Look here," he said, "it won't do for you to go following a man +about London like this, watching for an opportunity to murder him. I +don't like interfering in other people's business, but willingly or +unwillingly I seem to have got mixed up in this, and I have a word or +two to say about it. Unless you give me your promise, upon your honour, +to make no further attempt upon that man's life, I shall go to the +police, tell them what I know, and have you watched." + +"You shall have," Felix said quietly, "my promise. A greater power than +the threat of your English police has tied my hands; for the present I +have abandoned my purpose." + +"I am bound to believe you," Wolfenden said, "and you look as though you +were speaking the truth; yet you must forgive my asking why, in that +case, you are following the man about? You must have a motive." + +Felix shook his head. + +"As it happened," he said, "I am here by the merest accident. It may +seem strange to you, but it is perfectly true. I have just come out of +Waldorf's, above there, and I saw you all three upon the pavement." + +"I am glad to hear it," Wolfenden said. + +"More glad," Felix said, "than I was to see you with them. Can you not +believe what I tell you? shall I give you proof? will you be convinced +then? Every moment you spend with that man is an evil one for you. You +may have thought me inclined to be melodramatic last night. Perhaps I +was! All the same the man is a fiend. Will you not be warned? I tell you +that he is a fiend." + +"Perhaps he is," Wolfenden said indifferently. "I am not interested in +him." + +"But you are interested--in his companion." + +Wolfenden frowned. + +"I think," he said, "that we will leave the lady out of the +conversation." + +Felix sighed. + +"You are a good fellow," he said; "but, forgive me, like all your +countrymen, you carry chivalry just a thought too far--even to +simplicity. You do not understand such people and their ways." + +Wolfenden was getting angry, but he held himself in check. + +"You know nothing against her," he said slowly. + +"It is true," Felix answered. "I know nothing against her. It is not +necessary. She is his creature. That is apparent. The shadow of his +wickedness is enough." + +Wolfenden checked himself in the middle of a hot reply. He was suddenly +conscious of the absurdity of losing his temper in the open street with +a man so obviously ill-balanced--possessed, too, of such strange and +wild impulses. + +"Let us talk," he said, "of something else, or say good-morning. Which +way were you going?" + +"To the Russian Embassy," Felix said, "I have some work to do this +afternoon." + +Wolfenden looked at him curiously. + +"Our ways, then, are the same for a short distance," he said. "Let us +walk together. Forgive me, but you are really, then, attached to the +Embassy?" + +Felix nodded, and glanced at his companion with a smile. + +"I am not what you call a fraud altogether," he said. "I am junior +secretary to Prince Lobenski. You, I think, are not a politician, are +you?" + +Wolfenden shook his head. + +"I take no interest in politics," he said. "I shall probably have to sit +in the House of Lords some day, but I shall be sorry indeed when the +time comes." + +Felix sighed, and was silent for a moment. + +"You are perhaps fortunate," he said. "The ways of the politician are +not exactly rose-strewn. You represent a class which in my country does +not exist. There we are all either in the army, or interested in +statecraft. Perhaps the secure position of your country does not require +such ardent service?" + +"You are--of what nationality, may I ask?" Wolfenden inquired. + +Felix hesitated. + +"Perhaps," he said, "you had better not know. The less you know of me +the better. The time may come when it will be to your benefit to be +ignorant." + +Wolfenden took no pains to hide his incredulity. + +"It is easy to see that you are a stranger in this country," he +remarked. "We are not in Russia or in South America. I can assure you +that we scarcely know the meaning of the word 'intrigue' here. We are +the most matter-of-fact and perhaps the most commonplace nation in the +world. You will find it out for yourself in time. Whilst you are with us +you must perforce fall to our level." + +"I, too, must become commonplace," Felix said, smiling. "Is that what +you mean?" + +"In a certain sense, yes," Wolfenden answered. "You will not be able to +help it. It will be the natural result of your environment. In your own +country, wherever that may be, I can imagine that you might be a person +jealously watched by the police; your comings and goings made a note +of; your intrigues--I take it for granted that you are concerned in +some--the object of the most jealous and unceasing suspicion. Here there +is nothing of that. You could not intrigue if you wanted to. There is +nothing to intrigue about." + +They were crossing a crowded thoroughfare, and Felix did not reply until +they were safe on the opposite pavement. Then he took Wolfenden's arm, +and, leaning over, almost whispered in his ear-- + +"You speak," he said, "what nine-tenths of your countrymen believe. Yet +you are wrong. Wherever there are international questions which bring +great powers such as yours into antagonism, or the reverse, with other +great countries, the soil is laid ready for intrigue, and the seed is +never long wanted. Yes; I know that, to all appearance, you are the +smuggest and most respectable nation ever evolved in this world's +history. Yet if you tell me that your's is a nation free from intrigue, +I correct you; you are wrong, you do not know--that is all! That very +man, whose life last night you so inopportunely saved, is at this moment +deeply involved in an intrigue against your country." + +"Mr. Sabin!" Wolfenden exclaimed. + +"Yes, Mr. Sabin! Mind, I know this by chance only. I am not concerned +one way or the other. My quarrel with him is a private one. I am robbed +for the present of my vengeance by a power to which I am forced to yield +implicit obedience. So, for the present, I have forgotten that he is my +enemy. He is safe from me, yet if last night I had struck home, I should +have ridded your country of a great and menacing danger. Perhaps--who +can tell--he is a man who succeeds--I might even have saved England from +conquest and ruin." + +They had reached the top of Piccadilly, and downward towards the +Park flowed the great afternoon stream of foot-people and carriages. +Wolfenden, on whom his companion's words, charged as they were with +an almost passionate earnestness, could scarcely fail to leave some +impression, was silent for a moment. + +"Do you really believe," he said, "that ours is a country which could +possibly stand in any such danger? We are outside all Continental +alliances! We are pledged to support neither the dual or the triple +alliance. How could we possibly become embroiled?" + +"I will tell you one thing which you may not readily believe," Felix +said. "There is no country in the world so hated by all the great powers +as England." + +Wolfenden shrugged his shoulders. + +"Russia," he remarked, "is perhaps jealous of our hold on Asia, but----" + +"Russia," Felix interrupted, "of all the countries in the world, except +perhaps Italy, is the most friendly disposed towards you." + +Wolfenden laughed. + +"Come," he said, "you forget Germany." + +"Germany!" Felix exclaimed scornfully. "Believe it or not as you choose, +but Germany detests you. I will tell you a thing which you can think of +when you are an old man, and there are great changes and events for you +to look back upon. A war between Germany and England is only a matter +of time--of a few short years, perhaps even months. In the Cabinet at +Berlin a war with you to-day would be more popular than a war with +France." + +"You take my breath away," Wolfenden exclaimed, laughing. + +Felix was very much in earnest. + +"In the little world of diplomacy," he said, "in the innermost councils +these things are known. The outside public knows nothing of the awful +responsibilities of those who govern. Two, at least, of your ministers +have realised the position. You read this morning in the papers of more +warships and strengthened fortifications--already there have been +whispers of the conscription. It is not against Russia or against France +that you are slowly arming yourselves, it is against Germany!" + +"Germany would be mad to fight us," Wolfenden declared. + +"Under certain conditions," Felix said slowly. "Don't be angry--Germany +must beat you." + +Wolfenden, looking across the street, saw Harcutt on the steps of his +club, and beckoned to him. + +"There is Harcutt," he exclaimed, pointing him out to Felix. "He is a +journalist, you know, and in search of a sensation. Let us hear what he +has to say about these things." + +But Felix unlinked his arm from Wolfenden's hastily. + +"You must excuse me," he said. "Harcutt would recognise me, and I do not +wish to be pointed out everywhere as a would-be assassin. Remember what +I have said, and avoid Sabin and his parasites as you would the devil." + +Felix hurried away. Wolfenden remained for a moment standing in the +middle of the pavement looking blankly along Piccadilly. Harcutt crossed +over to him. + +"You look," he remarked to Wolfenden, "like a man who needs a drink." + +Wolfenden turned with him into the club. + +"I believe that I do," he said. "I have had rather an eventful hour." + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE SECRETARY + + +Mr. Sabin, who had parted with Wolfenden with evident relief, leaned +back in the cab and looked at his watch. + +"That young man," he remarked, "has wasted ten minutes of my time. He +will probably have to pay for it some day." + +"By the bye," the girl asked, "who is he?" + +"His name is Wolfenden--Lord Wolfenden." + +"So I gathered; and who is Lord Wolfenden?" + +"The only son of Admiral the Earl of Deringham. I don't know anything +more than that about him myself." + +"Admiral Deringham," the girl repeated, thoughtfully; "the name sounds +familiar." + +Mr. Sabin nodded. + +"Very likely," he said. "He was in command of the Channel Squadron at +the time of the _Magnificent_ disaster. He was barely half a mile away +and saw the whole thing. He came in, too, rightly or wrongly, for a +share of the blame." + +"Didn't he go mad, or something?" the girl asked. + +"He had a fit," Mr. Sabin said calmly, "and left the service almost +directly afterwards. He is living in strict seclusion in Norfolk, I +believe. I should not like to say that he is mad. As a matter of fact, +I do not believe that he is." + +She looked at him curiously. There was a note of reserve in his tone. + +"You are interested in him, are you not?" she asked. + +"In a measure," he admitted. "He is supposed, mad or not, to be the +greatest living authority on the coast defences of England and the state +of her battleships. They shelved him at the Admiralty, but he wrote some +vigorous letters to the papers and there are people pretty high up who +believe in him. Others, of course, think that he is a crank." + +"But why," she asked, languidly, "are you interested in such matters?" + +Mr. Sabin knocked the ash off the cigarette he was smoking and was +silent for a moment. + +"One gets interested nowadays in--a great many things which scarcely +seem to concern us," he remarked deliberately. "You, for instance, seem +interested in this man's son. He cannot possibly be of any account to +us." + +She shrugged her shoulders. + +"Did I say that I was interested in him?" + +"You did not," Mr. Sabin answered, "but it was scarcely necessary; you +stopped to speak to him of your own accord, and you asked him to supper, +which was scarcely discreet." + +"One gets so bored sometimes," she admitted frankly. + +"You are only a woman," he said indulgently; "a year of waiting seems to +you an eternity, however vast the stake. There will come a time when you +will see things differently." + +"I wonder!" she said softly, "I wonder!" + + * * * * * + +Mr. Sabin had unconsciously spoken the truth when he had pleaded an +appointment to Lord Wolfenden. His servant drew him on one side directly +they entered the house. + +"There is a young lady here, sir, waiting for you in the study." + +"Been here long?" Mr. Sabin asked. + +"About two hours, sir. She has rung once or twice to ask about you." + +Mr. Sabin turned away and opened the study door, carefully closing it +behind him at once as he recognised his visitor. The air was blue with +tobacco smoke, and the girl, who looked up at his entrance, held a +cigarette between her fingers. Mr. Sabin was at least as surprised +as Lord Wolfenden when he recognised his visitor, but his face was +absolutely emotionless. He nodded not unkindly and stood looking at +her, leaning upon his stick. + +"Well, Blanche, what has gone wrong?" he asked. + +"Pretty well everything," she answered. "I've been turned away." + +"Detected?" he asked quickly. + +"Suspected, at any rate. I wrote you that Lord Deringham was watching me +sharply. Where he got the idea from I can't imagine, but he got it and +he got it right, anyhow. He's followed me about like a cat, and it's all +up." + +"What does he know?" + +"Nothing! He found a sheet of carbon on my desk, no more! I had to leave +in an hour." + +"And Lady Deringham?" + +"She is like the rest--she thinks him mad. She has not the faintest idea +that, mad or not, he has stumbled upon the truth. She was glad to have +me go--for other reasons; but she has not the faintest doubt but that I +have been unjustly dismissed." + +"And he? How much does he know?" + +"Exactly what I told you--nothing! His idea was just a confused one that +I thought the stuff valuable--how you can make any sense of such trash +I don't know--and that I was keeping a copy back for myself. He was +worrying for an excuse to get rid of me, and he grabbed at it." + +"Why was Lady Deringham glad to have you go?" Mr. Sabin asked. + +"Because I amused myself with her son." + +"Lord Wolfenden?" + +"Yes!" + +For the first time since he had entered the room Mr. Sabin's grim +countenance relaxed. The corners of his lips slowly twisted themselves +into a smile. + +"Good girl," he said. "Is he any use now?" + +"None," she answered with some emphasis. "None whatever. He is a fool." + +The colour in her cheeks had deepened a little. A light shot from her +eyes. Mr. Sabin's amusement deepened. He looked positively benign. + +"You've tried him?" he suggested. + +The girl nodded, and blew a little cloud of tobacco smoke from her +mouth. + +"Yes; I went there last night. He was very kind. He sent his servant out +with me and got me nice, respectable rooms." + +Mr. Sabin did what was for him an exceptional thing. He sat down and +laughed to himself softly, but with a genuine and obvious enjoyment. + +"Blanche," he said, "it was a lucky thing that I discovered you. No one +else could have appreciated you properly." + +She looked at him with a sudden hardness. + +"You should appreciate me," she said, "for what I am you made me. I am +of your handiwork: a man should appreciate the tool of his own +fashioning." + +"Nature," Mr. Sabin said smoothly, "had made the way easy for me. Mine +were but finishing touches. But we have no time for this sort of thing. +You have done well at Deringham and I shall not forget it. But your +dismissal just now is exceedingly awkward. For the moment, indeed, I +scarcely see my way. I wonder in what direction Lord Deringham will look +for your successor?" + +"Not anywhere within the sphere of your influence," she answered. "I do +not think that I shall have a successor at all just yet. There was only +a week's work to do. He will copy that himself." + +"I am very much afraid," Mr. Sabin said, "that he will; yet we must have +that copy." + +"You will be very clever," she said slowly. "He has put watches all +round the place, and the windows are barricaded. He sleeps with a +revolver by his side, and there are several horrors in the shape of +traps all round the house." + +"No wonder," Mr. Sabin said, "that people think him mad." + +The girl laughed shortly. + +"He is mad," she said. "There is no possible doubt about that; you +couldn't live with him a day and doubt it." + +"Hereditary, no doubt," Mr. Sabin suggested quietly. + +Blanche shrugged her shoulders and leaned back yawning. + +"Anyhow," she said, "I've had enough of them all. It has been very +tiresome work and I am sick of it. Give me some money. I want a spree. I +am going to have a month's holiday." + +Mr. Sabin sat down at his desk and drew out a cheque-book. + +"There will be no difficulty about the money," he said, "but I cannot +spare you for a month. Long before that I must have the rest of this +madman's figures." + +The girl's face darkened. + +"Haven't I told you," she said, "that there is not the slightest chance +of their taking me back? You might as well believe me. They wouldn't +have me, and I wouldn't go." + +"I do not expect anything of the sort," Mr. Sabin said. "There are other +directions, though, in which I shall require your aid. I shall have to +go to Deringham myself, and as I know nothing whatever about the place +you will be useful to me there. I believe that your home is somewhere +near there." + +"Well!" + +"There is no reason, I suppose," Mr. Sabin continued, "why a portion of +the vacation you were speaking of should not be spent there?" + +"None!" the girl replied, "except that it would be deadly dull, and no +holiday at all. I should want paying for it." + +Mr. Sabin looked down at the cheque-book which lay open before him. + +"I was intending," he said, "to offer you a cheque for fifty pounds. I +will make it one hundred, and you will rejoin your family circle at +Fakenham, I believe, in one week from to-day." + +The girl made a wry face. + +"The money's all right," she said; "but you ought to see my family +circle! They are all cracked on farming, from the poor old dad who loses +all his spare cash at it, down to little Letty my youngest sister, who +can tell you everything about the last turnip crop. Do ride over and see +us! You will find it so amusing!" + +"I shall be charmed," Mr. Sabin said suavely, as he commenced filling in +the body of the cheque. "Are all your sisters, may I ask, as delightful +as you?" + +She looked at him defiantly. + +"Look here," she said, "none of that! Of course you wouldn't come, but +in any case I won't have you. The girls are--well, not like me, I'm glad +to say. I won't have the responsibility of introducing a Mephistocles +into the domestic circle." + +"I can assure you," Mr. Sabin said, "that I had not the faintest idea of +coming. My visit to Norfolk will be anything but a pleasure trip, and I +shall have no time to spare. + +"I believe I have your address: 'Westacott Farm, Fakenham,' is it not? +Now do what you like in the meantime, but a week from to-day there will +be a letter from me there. Here is the cheque." + +The girl rose and shook out her skirts. + +"Aren't you going to take me anywhere?" she asked. "You might ask me to +have supper with you to-night." + +Mr. Sabin shook his head gently. + +"I am sorry," he said, "but I have a young lady living with me." + +"Oh!" + +"She is my niece, and it takes more than my spare time to entertain +her," he continued, without noticing the interjection. "You have plenty +of friends. Go and look them up and enjoy yourself--for a week. I have +no heart to go pleasure-making until my work is finished." + +She drew on her gloves and walked to the door. Mr. Sabin came with her +and opened it. + +"I wish," she said, "that I could understand what in this world you are +trying to evolve from those rubbishy papers." + +He laughed. + +"Some day," he said, "I will tell you. At present you would not +understand. Be patient a little longer." + +"It has been long enough," she exclaimed. "I have had seven months of +it." + +"And I," he answered, "seven years. Take care of yourself and remember, +I shall want you in a week." + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE FRUIT THAT IS OF GOLD + + +At precisely the hour agreed upon Harcutt and Densham met in one of the +ante-rooms leading into the "Milan" restaurant. They surrendered their +coats and hats to an attendant, and strolled about waiting for +Wolfenden. A quarter of an hour passed. The stream of people from the +theatres began to grow thinner. Still, Wolfenden did not come. Harcutt +took out his watch. + +"I propose that we do not wait any longer for Wolfenden," he said. "I +saw him this afternoon, and he answered me very oddly when I reminded +him about to-night. There is such a crowd here too, that they will not +keep our table much longer." + +"Let us go in, by all means," Densham agreed. "Wolfenden will easily +find us if he wants to!" + +Harcutt returned his watch to his pocket slowly, and without removing +his eyes from Densham's face. + +"You're not looking very fit, old chap," he remarked. "Is anything +wrong?" + +Densham shook his head and turned away. + +"I am a little tired," he said. "We've been keeping late hours the last +few nights. There's nothing the matter with me, though. Come, let us go +in!" + +Harcutt linked his arm in Densham's. The two men stood in the doorway. + +"I have not asked you yet," Harcutt said, in a low tone. "What fortune?" + +Densham laughed a little bitterly. + +"I will tell you all that I know presently," he said. + +"You have found out something, then?" + +"I have found out," Densham answered, "all that I care to know! I have +found out so much that I am leaving England within a week!" + +Harcutt looked at him curiously. + +"Poor old chap," he said softly. "I had no idea that you were so hard +hit as all that, you know." + +They passed through the crowded room to their table. Suddenly Harcutt +stopped short and laid his hand upon Densham's arm. + +"Great Scott!" he exclaimed. "Look at that! No wonder we had to wait for +Wolfenden!" + +Mr. Sabin and his niece were occupying the same table as on the previous +night, only this time they were not alone. Wolfenden was sitting there +between the two. At the moment of their entrance, he and the girl were +laughing together. Mr. Sabin, with the air of one wholly detached from +his companions, was calmly proceeding with his supper. + +"I understand now," Harcutt whispered, "what Wolfenden meant this +afternoon. When I reminded him about to-night, he laughed and said: +'Well, I shall see you, at any rate.' I thought it was odd at the time. +I wonder how he managed it?" + +Densham made no reply. The two men took their seats in silence. +Wolfenden was sitting with his back half-turned to them, and he had not +noticed their entrance. In a moment or two, however, he looked round, +and seeing them, leaned over towards the girl and apparently asked her +something. She nodded, and he immediately left his seat and joined them. + +There was a little hesitation, almost awkwardness in their greetings. No +one knew exactly what to say. + +"You fellows are rather late, aren't you?" Wolfenden remarked. + +"We were here punctually enough," Harcutt replied; "but we have been +waiting for you nearly a quarter of an hour." + +"I am sorry," Wolfenden said. "The fact is I ought to have left word +when I came in, but I quite forgot it. I took it for granted that you +would look into the room when you found that I was behind time." + +"Well, it isn't of much consequence," Harcutt declared; "we are here +now, at any rate, although it seems that after all we are not to have +supper together." + +Wolfenden glanced rapidly over his shoulder. + +"You understand the position, of course," he said. "I need not ask you +to excuse me." + +Harcutt nodded. + +"Oh, we'll excuse you, by all means; but on one condition--we want to +know all about it. Where can we see you afterwards?" + +"At my rooms," Wolfenden said, turning away and resuming his seat at the +other table. + +Densham had made no attempt whatever to join in the conversation. Once +his eyes had met Wolfenden's, and it seemed to the latter that there was +a certain expression there which needed some explanation. It was not +anger--it certainly was not envy. Wolfenden was puzzled--he was even +disturbed. Had Densham discovered anything further than he himself knew +about this man and the girl? What did he mean by looking as though the +key to this mysterious situation was in his hands, and as though he had +nothing but pity for the only one of the trio who had met with any +success? Wolfenden resumed his seat with an uncomfortable conviction +that Densham knew more than he did about these people whose guest he +had become, and that the knowledge had damped all his ardour. There was +a cloud upon his face for a moment. The exuberance of his happiness had +received a sudden check. Then the girl spoke to him, and the memory of +Densham's unspoken warning passed away. He looked at her long and +searchingly. Her face was as innocent and proud as the face of a child. +She was unconscious even of his close scrutiny. The man might be +anything; it might even be that every word that Felix had spoken was +true. But of the girl he would believe no evil, he would not doubt her +even for a moment. + +"Your friend," remarked Mr. Sabin, helping himself to an ortolan, "is a +journalist, is he not? His face seems familiar to me although I have +forgotten his name, if ever I knew it." + +"He is a journalist," Wolfenden answered. "Not one of the rank and +file--rather a _dilettante_, but still a hard worker. He is devoted to +his profession, though, and his name is Harcutt." + +"Harcutt!" Mr. Sabin repeated, although he did not appear to recollect +the name. "He is a political journalist, is he not?" + +"Not that I am aware of," Wolfenden answered. "He is generally +considered to be the great scribe of society. I believe that he is +interested in foreign politics, though." + +"Ah!" + +Mr. Sabin's interjection was significant, and Wolfenden looked up +quickly but fruitlessly. The man's face was impenetrable. + +"The other fellow," Wolfenden said, turning to the girl, "is Densham, +the painter. His picture in this year's Academy was a good deal talked +about, and he does some excellent portraits." + +She threw a glance at him over her gleaming white shoulder. + +"He looks like an artist," she said. "I liked his picture--a French +landscape, was it not? And his portrait of the Countess of Davenport was +magnificent." + +"If you would care to know him," Wolfenden said, "I should be very happy +to present him to you." + +Mr. Sabin looked up and shook his head quickly, but firmly. + +"You must excuse us," he said. "My niece and I are not in England for +very long, and we have reasons for avoiding new acquaintances as much as +possible." + +A shade passed across the girl's face. Wolfenden would have given much +to have known into what worlds those clear, soft eyes, suddenly set in a +far away gaze, were wandering--what those regrets were which had floated +up so suddenly before her. Was she too as impenetrable as the man, or +would he some day share with her what there was of sorrow or of mystery +in her young life? His heart beat with unaccustomed quickness at the +thought. Mr. Sabin's last remark, the uncertainty of his own position +with regard to these people, filled him with sudden fear; it might be +that he too was to be included in the sentence which had just been +pronounced. He looked up from the table to find Mr. Sabin's cold, steely +eyes fixed upon him, and acting upon a sudden impulse he spoke what was +nearest to his heart. + +"I hope," he said, "that the few acquaintances whom fate does bring you +are not to suffer for the same reason." + +Mr. Sabin smiled and poured himself out a glass of wine. + +"You are very good," he said. "I presume that you refer to yourself. We +shall always be glad that we met you, shall we not, Helene? But I doubt +very much if, after to-night, we shall meet again in England at all." + +To Wolfenden the light seemed suddenly to have gone out, and the soft, +low music to have become a wailing dirge. He retained some command of +his features only by a tremendous effort. Even then he felt that he had +become pale, and that his voice betrayed something of the emotion that +he felt. + +"You are going away," he said slowly--"abroad!" + +"Very soon indeed," Mr. Sabin answered. "At any rate, we leave London +during the week. You must not look upon us, Lord Wolfenden, as ordinary +pleasure-seekers. We are wanderers upon the face of the earth, not so +much by choice as by destiny. I want you to try one of these cigarettes. +They were given to me by the Khedive, and I think you will admit that he +knows more about tobacco than he does about governing." + +The girl had been gazing steadfastly at the grapes that lay untasted +upon her plate, and Wolfenden glanced towards her twice in vain; now, +however, she looked up, and a slight smile parted her lips as her eyes +met his. How pale she was, and how suddenly serious! + +"Do not take my uncle too literally, Lord Wolfenden," she said softly. +"I hope that we shall meet again some time, if not often. I should be +very sorry not to think so. We owe you so much." + +There was an added warmth in those last few words, a subtle light in her +eyes. Was she indeed a past mistress in all the arts of coquetry, or was +there not some message for him in that lowered tone and softened glance? +He sat spellbound for a moment. Her bosom was certainly rising and +falling more quickly. The pearls at her throat quivered. Then Mr. +Sabin's voice, cold and displeased, dissolved the situation. + +"I think, Helene, if you are ready, we had better go," he said. "It is +nearly half-past twelve, and we shall escape the crush if we leave at +once." + +She stood up silently, and Wolfenden, with slow fingers, raised her +cloak from the back of the chair and covered her shoulders. She thanked +him softly, and turning away, walked down the room followed by the two +men. In the ante-room Mr. Sabin stopped. + +"My watch," he remarked, "was fast. You will have time after all for a +cigarette with your friends. Good-night." + +Wolfenden had no alternative but to accept his dismissal. A little, +white hand, flashing with jewels, but shapely and delicate, stole out +from the dark fur of her cloak, and he held it within his for a second. + +"I hope," he said, "that at any rate you will allow me to call, and say +goodbye before you leave England?" + +She looked at him with a faint smile upon her lips. Yet her eyes were +very sad. + +"You have heard what my inexorable guardian has said, Lord Wolfenden," +she answered quietly. "I am afraid he is right. We are wanderers, he and +I, with no settled home." + +"I shall venture to hope," he said boldly, "that some day you will make +one--in England." + +A tinge of colour flashed into her cheeks. Her eyes danced with +amusement at his audacity--then they suddenly dropped, and she caught up +the folds of her gown. + +"Ah, well," she said demurely, "that would be too great a happiness. +Farewell! One never knows." + +She yielded at last to Mr. Sabin's cold impatience, and turning away, +followed him down the staircase. Wolfenden remained at the top until she +had passed out of sight; he lingered even for a moment or two +afterwards, inhaling the faint, subtle perfume shaken from her gown--a +perfume which reminded him of an orchard of pink and white apple +blossoms in Normandy. Then he turned back, and finding Harcutt and +Densham lingering over their coffee, sat down beside them. + +Harcutt looked at him through half-closed eyes--a little cloud of blue +tobacco smoke hung over the table. Densham had eaten little, but smoked +continually. + +"Well?" he asked laconically. + +"After all," Wolfenden said, "I have not very much to tell you fellows. +Mr. Sabin did not call upon me; I met him by chance in Bond Street, and +the girl asked me to supper, more I believe in jest than anything. +However, of course I took advantage of it, and I have spent the evening +since eleven o'clock with them. But as to gaining any definite +information as to who or what they are, I must confess I've failed +altogether. I know no more than I did yesterday." + +"At any rate," Harcutt remarked, "you will soon learn all that you care +to know. You have inserted the thin end of the wedge. You have +established a visiting acquaintance." + +Wolfenden flicked the end from his cigarette savagely. + +"Nothing of the sort," he declared. "They have not given me their +address, or asked me to call. On the contrary, I was given very clearly +to understand by Mr. Sabin that they were only travellers and desired no +acquaintances. I know them, that is all; what the next step is to be I +have not the faintest idea." + +Densham leaned over towards them. There was a strange light in his +eyes--a peculiar, almost tremulous, earnestness in his tone. + +"Why should there be any next step at all?" he said. "Let us all +drop this ridiculous business. It has gone far enough. I have a +presentiment--not altogether presentiment either, as it is based +upon a certain knowledge. It is true that these are not ordinary +people, and the girl is beautiful. But they are not of our lives! +Let them pass out. Let us forget them." + +Harcutt shook his head. + +"The man is too interesting to be forgotten or ignored," he said. "I +must know more about him, and before many days have passed." + +Densham turned to the younger man. + +"At least, Wolfenden," he said, "you will listen to reason. I tell you +as a man of honour, and I think I may add as your friend, that you are +only courting disappointment. The girl is not for you, or me, or any of +us. If I dared tell you what I know, you would be the first to admit it +yourself." + +Wolfenden returned Densham's eager gaze steadfastly. + +"I have gone," he said calmly, "too far to turn back. You fellows both +know I am not a woman's man. I've never cared for a girl in all my life, +or pretended to, seriously. Now that I do, it is not likely that I shall +give her up without any definite reason. You must speak more plainly, +Densham, or not at all." + +Densham rose from his chair. + +"I am very sorry," he said. + +Wolfenden turned upon him, frowning. + +"You need not be," he said. "You and Harcutt have both, I believe, heard +some strange stories concerning the man; but as for the girl, no one +shall dare to speak an unbecoming word of her." + +"No one desired to," Densham answered quietly. "And yet there may be +other and equally grave objections to any intercourse with her." + +Wolfenden smiled confidently. + +"Nothing in the world worth winning," he said, "is won without an +effort, or without difficulty. The fruit that is of gold does not drop +into your mouth." + +The band had ceased to play and the lights went out. Around them was all +the bustle of departure. The three men rose and left the room. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +WOLFENDEN'S LUCK + + +To leave London at all, under ordinary circumstances, was usually a +hardship for Wolfenden, but to leave London at this particular moment of +his life was little less than a calamity, yet a letter which he received +a few mornings after the supper at the "Milan" left him scarcely any +alternative. He read it over for the third time whilst his breakfast +grew cold, and each time his duty seemed to become plainer. + + "DERINGHAM HALL, NORFOLK. + + "MY DEAR WOLFENDEN,--We have been rather looking for you to come + down for a day or two, and I do hope that you will be able to + manage it directly you receive this. I am sorry to say that your + father is very far from well, and we have all been much upset + lately. He still works for eight or nine hours a day, and his + hallucinations as to the value of his papers increases with every + page he writes. His latest peculiarity is a rooted conviction that + there is some plot on hand to rob him of his manuscripts. You + remember, perhaps, Miss Merton, the young person whom we engaged as + typewriter. He sent her away the other day, without a moment's + notice, simply because he saw her with a sheet of copying paper in + her hand. I did not like the girl, but it is perfectly ridiculous + to suspect her of anything of the sort. He insisted, however, that + she should leave the house within an hour, and we were obliged to + give in to him. Since then he has seemed to become even more + fidgety. He has had cast-iron shutters fitted to the study windows, + and two of the keepers are supposed to be on duty outside night and + day, with loaded revolvers. People around here are all beginning to + talk, and I am afraid that it is only natural that they should. He + will see no one, and the library door is shut and bolted + immediately he has entered it. Altogether it is a deplorable state + of things, and what will be the end of it I cannot imagine. + Sometimes it occurs to me that you might have more influence over + him than I have. I hope that you will be able to come down, if only + for a day or two, and see what effect your presence has. The + shooting is not good this year, but Captain Willis was telling me + yesterday that the golf links were in excellent condition, and + there is the yacht, of course, if you care to use it. Your father + seems to have quite forgotten that she is still in the + neighbourhood, I am glad to say. Those inspection cruises were very + bad things for him. He used to get so excited, and he was + dreadfully angry if the photographs which I took were at all + imperfectly developed. How is everybody? Have you seen Lady Susan + lately? and is it true that Eleanor is engaged? I feel literally + buried here, but I dare not suggest a move. London, for him at + present, would be madness. I shall hope to get a wire from you + to-morrow, and will send to Cromer to meet any train.--From your + affectionate mother, + + "CONSTANCE MANVER DERINGHAM." + +There was not a word of reproach in the letter, but nevertheless +Wolfenden felt a little conscience-stricken. He ought to have gone down +to Deringham before; most certainly after the receipt of this summons he +could not delay his visit any longer. He walked up and down the room +impatiently. To leave London just now was detestable. It was true that +he could not call upon them, and he had no idea where else to look for +these people, who, for some mysterious reason, seemed to be doing all +that they could to avoid his acquaintance. Yet chance had favoured him +once--chance might stand his friend again. At any rate to feel himself +in the same city with her was some consolation. For the last three days +he had haunted Piccadilly and Bond Street. He had become a saunterer, +and the shop windows had obtained from him an attention which he had +never previously bestowed upon them. The thought that, at any turning, +at any moment, they might meet, continually thrilled him. The idea of a +journey which would place such a meeting utterly out of the question, +was more than distasteful--it was hateful. + +And yet he would have to go. He admitted that to himself as he ate his +solitary breakfast, with the letter spread out before him. Since it was +inevitable, he decided to lose no time. Better go at once and have it +over. The sooner he got there the sooner he would be able to return. He +rang the bell, and gave the necessary orders. At a quarter to twelve he +was at King's Cross. + +He took his ticket in a gloomy frame of mind, and bought the _Field_ and +a sporting novel at the bookstall. Then he turned towards the train, and +walking idly down the platform, looking for Selby and his belongings, he +experienced what was very nearly the greatest surprise of his life. So +far, coincidence was certainly doing her best to befriend him. A girl +was seated alone in the further corner of a first-class carriage. +Something familiar in the poise of her head, or the gleam of her hair +gathered up underneath an unusually smart travelling hat, attracted his +attention. He came to a sudden standstill, breathless, incredulous. She +was looking out of the opposite window, her head resting upon her +fingers, but a sudden glimpse of her profile assured him that this was +no delusion. It was Mr. Sabin's niece who sat there, a passenger by his +own train, probably, as he reflected with a sudden illuminative flash of +thought, to be removed from the risk of any more meetings with him. + +Wolfenden, with a discretion at which he afterwards wondered, did not at +once attract her attention. He hurried off to the smoking carriage +before which his servant was standing, and had his own belongings +promptly removed on to the platform. Then he paid a visit to the +refreshment-room, and provided himself with an extensive luncheon +basket, and finally, at the bookstall, he bought up every lady's paper +and magazine he could lay his hands upon. There was only a minute now +before the train was due to leave, and he walked along the platform as +though looking for a seat, followed by his perplexed servant. When he +arrived opposite to her carriage, he paused, only to find himself +confronted by a severe-looking maid dressed in black, and the guard. For +the first time he noticed the little strip, "engaged," pasted across the +window. + +"Plenty of room lower down, sir," the guard remarked. "This is an +engaged carriage." + +The maid whispered something to the guard, who nodded and locked the +door. At the sound of the key, however, the girl looked round and saw +Wolfenden. She lifted her eyebrows and smiled faintly. Then she came to +the window and let it down. + +"Whatever are you doing here?" she asked. "You----" + +He interrupted her gently. The train was on the point of departure. + +"I am going down into Norfolk," he said. "I had not the least idea of +seeing you. I do not think that I was ever so surprised." + +Then he hesitated for a moment. + +"May I come in with you?" he asked. + +She laughed at him. He had been so afraid of her possible refusal, that +his question had been positively tremulous. + +"I suppose so," she said slowly. "Is the train quite full, then?" + +He looked at her quite keenly. She was laughing at him with her eyes--an +odd little trick of hers. He was himself again at once, and answered +mendaciously, but with emphasis-- + +"Not a seat anywhere. I shall be left behind if you don't take me in." + +A word in the guard's ear was quite sufficient, but the maid looked at +Wolfenden suspiciously. She leaned into the carriage. + +"Would mademoiselle prefer that I, too, travelled with her?" she +inquired in French. + +The girl answered her in the same language. + +"Certainly not, Celeste. You had better go and take your seat at once. +We are just going!" + +The maid reluctantly withdrew, with disapproval very plainly stamped +upon her dark face. Wolfenden and his belongings were bundled in, and +the whistle blew. The train moved slowly out of the station. They were +off! + +"I believe," she said, looking with a smile at the pile of magazines and +papers littered all over the seat, "that you are an impostor. Or perhaps +you have a peculiar taste in literature!" + +She pointed towards the _Queen_ and the _Gentlewoman_. He was in high +spirits, and he made open confession. + +"I saw you ten minutes ago," he declared, "and since then I have been +endeavouring to make myself an acceptable travelling companion. But +don't begin to study the fashions yet, please. Tell me how it is that +after looking all over London for three days for you, I find you here." + +"It is the unexpected," she remarked, "which always happens. But after +all there is nothing mysterious about it. I am going down to a little +house which my uncle has taken, somewhere near Cromer. You will think it +odd, I suppose, considering his deformity, but he is devoted to golf, +and some one has been telling him that Norfolk is the proper county to +go to." + +"And you?" he asked. + +She shook her head disconsolately. + +"I am afraid I am not English enough to care much for games," she +admitted. "I like riding and archery, and I used to shoot a little, but +to go into the country at this time of the year to play any game seems +to me positively barbarous. London is quite dull enough--but the +country--and the English country, too!--well, I have been engrossed in +self-pity ever since my uncle announced his plans." + +"I do not imagine," he said smiling, "that you care very much for +England." + +"I do not imagine," she admitted promptly, "that I do. I am a +Frenchwoman, you see, and to me there is no city on earth like Paris, +and no country like my own." + +"The women of your nation," he remarked, "are always patriotic. I have +never met a Frenchwoman who cared for England." + +"We have reason to be patriotic," she said, "or rather, we had," she +added, with a curious note of sadness in her tone. "But, come, I do not +desire to talk about my country. I admitted you here to be an +entertaining companion, and you have made me speak already of the +subject which is to me the most mournful in the world. I do not wish to +talk any more about France. Will you please think of another subject?" + +"Mr. Sabin is not with you," he remarked. + +"He intended to come. Something important kept him at the last moment. +He will follow me, perhaps, by a later train to-day, if not to-morrow." + +"It is certainly a coincidence," he said, "that you should be going to +Cromer. My home is quite near there." + +"And you are going there now?" she asked. + +"I am delighted to say that I am." + +"You did not mention it the other evening," she remarked. "You talked as +though you had no intention at all of leaving London." + +"Neither had I at that time," he said. "I had a letter from home this +morning which decided me." + +She smiled softly. + +"Well, it is strange," she said. "On the whole, it is perhaps fortunate +that you did not contemplate this journey when we had supper together +the other night." + +He caught at her meaning, and laughed. + +"It is more than fortunate," he declared. "If I had known of it, and +told Mr. Sabin, you would not have been travelling by this train alone." + +"I certainly should not," she admitted demurely. + +He saw his opportunity, and swiftly availed himself of it. + +"Why does your uncle object to me so much?" he asked. + +"Object to you!" she repeated. "On the contrary, I think that he rather +approves of you. You saved his life, or something very much like it. He +should be very grateful! I think that he is!" + +"Yet," he persisted, "he does not seem to desire my acquaintance--for +you, at any rate. You have just admitted, that if he had known that +there was any chance of our being fellow passengers you would not have +been here." + +She did not answer him immediately. She was looking fixedly out of the +window. Her face seemed to him more than ordinarily grave. When she +turned her head, her eyes were thoughtful--a little sad. + +"You are quite right," she said. "My uncle does not think it well for me +to make any acquaintances in this country. We are not here for very +long. No doubt he is right. He has at least reason on his side. Only it +is a little dull for me, and it is not what I have been used to. Yet +there are sacrifices always. I cannot tell you any more. You must please +not ask me. You are here, and I am pleased that you are here! There! +will not that content you?" + +"It gives me," he answered earnestly, "more than contentment! It is +happiness!" + +"That is precisely the sort of thing," she said slowly to him, with +laughter in her eyes, "which you are not to say! Please understand +that!" + +He accepted the rebuke lightly. He was far too happy in being with her +to be troubled by vague limitations. The present was good enough for +him, and he did his best to entertain her. He noticed with pleasure that +she did not even glance at the pile of papers at her side. They talked +without intermission. She was interested, even gay. Yet he could not but +notice that every now and then, especially at any reference to the +future, her tone grew graver and a shadow passed across her face. Once +he said something which suggested the possibility of her living always +in England. She had shaken her head at once, gently but firmly. + +"No, I could never live in this country," she said, "even if my liking +for it grew. It would be impossible!" + +He was puzzled for a moment. + +"You think that you could never care for it enough," he suggested; "yet +you have scarcely had time to judge it fairly. London in the spring is +gay enough, and the life at some of our country houses is very different +to what it was a few years ago. Society is so much more tolerant and +broader." + +"It is scarcely a question," she said, "of my likes or dislikes. Next to +Paris, I prefer London in the spring to any city in Europe, and a week I +spent at Radnett was very delightful. But, nevertheless, I could never +live here. It is not my destiny!" + +The old curiosity was strong upon him. Radnett was the home of the +Duchess of Radnett and Ilchester, who had the reputation of being the +most exclusive hostess in Europe! He was bewildered. + +"I would give a great deal," he said earnestly, "to know what you +believe that destiny to be." + +"We are bordering upon the forbidden subject," she reminded him, with a +look which was almost reproachful. "You must please believe me when I +tell you, that for me things have already been arranged otherwise. Come, +I want you to tell me all about this country into which we are going. +You must remember that to me it is all new!" + +He suffered her to lead the conversation into other channels, with a +vague feeling of disquiet. The mystery which hung around the girl and +her uncle seemed only to grow denser as his desire to penetrate it grew. +At present, at any rate, he was baffled. He dared ask no more questions. + +The train glided into Peterborough station before either of them were +well aware that they had entered in earnest upon the journey. Wolfenden +looked out of the window with amazement. + +"Why, we are nearly half way there!" he exclaimed. "How wretched!" + +She smiled, and took up a magazine. Wolfenden's servant came +respectfully to the window. + +"Can I get you anything, my lord?" he inquired. + +Wolfenden shook his head, and opening the door, stepped out on to the +platform. + +"Nothing, thanks, Selby," he said. "You had better get yourself some +lunch. We don't get to Deringham until four o'clock." + +The man raised his hat and turned away. In a moment, however, he was +back again. + +"You will pardon my mentioning it, my lord," he said, "but the young +lady's maid has been travelling in my carriage, and a nice fidget she's +been in all the way. She's been muttering to herself in French, and she +seems terribly frightened about something or other. The moment the train +stopped here, she rushed off to the telegraph office." + +"She seems a little excitable," Wolfenden remarked. "All right, Selby, +you'd better hurry up and get what you want to eat." + +"Certainly, my lord; and perhaps your lordship knows that there is a +flower-stall in the corner there." + +Wolfenden nodded and hurried off. He returned to the carriage just as +the train was moving off, with a handful of fresh, wet violets, whose +perfume seemed instantly to fill the compartment. The girl held out her +hands with a little exclamation of pleasure. + +"What a delightful travelling companion you are," she declared. "I think +these English violets are the sweetest flowers in the world." + +She held them up to her lips. Wolfenden was looking at a paper bag in +her lap. + +"May I inquire what that is?" he asked. + +"Buns!" she answered. "You must not think that because I am a girl I am +never hungry. It is two o'clock, and I am positively famished. I sent my +maid for them." + +He smiled, and sweeping away the bundles of rugs and coats, produced the +luncheon basket which he had secured at King's Cross, and opening it, +spread out the contents. + +"For two!" she exclaimed, "and what a delightful looking salad! Where on +earth did that come from?" + +"Oh, I am no magician," he exclaimed. "I ordered the basket at King's +Cross, after I had seen you. Let me spread the cloth here. My +dressing-case will make a capital table!" + +They picnicked together gaily. It seemed to Wolfenden that chicken and +tongue had never tasted so well before, or claret, at three shillings +the bottle, so full and delicious. They cleared everything up, and then +sat and talked over the cigarette which she had insisted upon. But +although he tried more than once, he could not lead the conversation +into any serious channel--she would not talk of her past, she distinctly +avoided the future. Once, when he had made a deliberate effort to gain +some knowledge as to her earlier surroundings, she reproved him with a +silence so marked that he hastened to talk of something else. + +"Your maid," he said, "is greatly distressed about something. She sent a +telegram off at Peterborough. I hope that your uncle will not make +himself unpleasant because of my travelling with you." + +She smiled at him quite undisturbed. + +"Poor Celeste," she said. "Your presence here has upset her terribly. +Mr. Sabin has some rather strange notions about me, and I am quite sure +that he would rather have sent me down in a special train than have had +this happen. You need not look so serious about it." + +"It is only on your account," he assured her. + +"Then you need not look serious at all," she continued. "I am not under +my uncle's jurisdiction. In fact, I am quite an independent person." + +"I am delighted to hear it," he said heartily. "I should imagine that +Mr. Sabin would not be at all a pleasant person to be on bad terms +with." + +She smiled thoughtfully. + +"There are a good many people," she said, "who would agree with you. +There are a great many people in the world who have cause to regret +having offended him. Let us talk of something else. I believe that I +can see the sea!" + +They were indeed at Cromer. He found a carriage for her, and collected +her belongings. He was almost amused at her absolute indolence in the +midst of the bustle of arrival. She was evidently unused to doing the +slightest thing for herself. He took the address which she gave to him, +and repeated it to the driver. Then he asked the question which had been +trembling many times upon his lips. + +"May I come and see you?" + +She had evidently been considering the matter, for she answered him at +once and deliberately. + +"I should like you to," she said; "but if for any reason it did not suit +my uncle to have you come, it would not be pleasant for either of us. He +is going to play golf on the Deringham links. You will be certain to see +him there, and you must be guided by his manner towards you." + +"And if he is still--as he was in London--must this be goodbye, then?" +he asked earnestly. + +She looked at him with a faint colour in her cheeks and a softer light +in her proud, clear eyes. + +"Well," she said, "goodbye would be the last word which could be spoken +between us. But, _n'importe_, we shall see." + +She flashed a suddenly brilliant smile upon him, and leaned back amongst +the cushions. The carriage drove off, and Wolfenden, humming pleasantly +to himself, stepped into the dogcart which was waiting for him. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +A GREAT WORK + + +The Countess of Deringham might be excused for considering herself the +most unfortunate woman in England. In a single week she had passed from +the position of one of the most brilliant leaders of English society to +be the keeper of a recluse, whose sanity was at least doubtful. Her +husband, Admiral the Earl of Deringham, had been a man of iron nerve and +constitution, with a splendid reputation, and undoubtedly a fine seaman. +The horror of a single day had broken up his life. He had been the +awe-stricken witness of a great naval catastrophe, in which many of his +oldest friends and companions had gone to the bottom of the sea before +his eyes, together with nearly a thousand British seamen. The +responsibility for the disaster lay chiefly from those who had perished +in it, yet some small share of the blame was fastened upon the +onlookers, and he himself, as admiral in command, had not altogether +escaped. From the moment when they had led him down from the bridge of +his flagship, grey and fainting, he had been a changed man. He had never +recovered from the shock. He retired from active service at once, under +a singular and marvellously persistent delusion. Briefly he believed, or +professed to believe, that half the British fleet had perished, and that +the country was at the mercy of the first great Power who cared to send +her warships up the Thames. It was a question whether he was really +insane; on any ordinary topic his views were the views of a rational +man, but the task which he proceeded to set himself was so absorbing +that any other subject seemed scarcely to come within the horizon of his +comprehension. He imagined himself selected by no less a person than the +Secretary for War, to devote the rest of his life to the accomplishment +of a certain undertaking! Practically his mission was to prove by +figures, plans, and naval details (unknown to the general public), the +complete helplessness of the empire. He bought a yacht and commenced a +series of short cruises, lasting over two years, during the whole of +which time his wife was his faithful and constant companion. They +visited in turn each one of the fortified ports of the country, winding +up with a general inspection of every battleship and cruiser within +British waters. Then, with huge piles of amassed information before him, +he settled down in Norfolk to the framing of his report, still under the +impression that the whole country was anxiously awaiting it. His wife +remained with him then, listening daily to the news of his progress, and +careful never to utter a single word of discouragement or disbelief in +the startling facts which he sometimes put before her. The best room in +the house, the great library, was stripped perfectly bare and fitted up +for his study, and a typist was engaged to copy out the result of his +labours in fair form. Lately, the fatal results to England which would +follow the public disclosure of her awful helplessness had weighed +heavily upon him, and he was beginning to live in the fear of betrayal. +The room in which he worked was fitted with iron shutters, and was +guarded night and day. He saw no visitors, and was annoyed if any were +permitted to enter the house. He met his wife only at dinner time, for +which meal he dressed in great state, and at which no one else was ever +allowed to be present. He suffered, when they were alone, no word to +pass his lips, save with reference to the subject of his labours; it is +certain he looked upon himself as the discoverer of terrible secrets. +Any remark addressed to him upon other matters utterly failed to make +any impression. If he heard it he did not reply. He would simply look +puzzled, and, as speedily as possible withdraw. He was sixty years of +age, of dignified and kindly appearance; a handsome man still, save that +the fire of his blue eyes was quenched, and the firm lines of his +commanding mouth had become tremulous. Wolfenden, on his arrival, was +met in the hall by his mother, who carried him off at once to have tea +in her own room. As he took a low chair opposite to her he was conscious +at once of a distinct sense of self-reproach. Although still a handsome +woman, the Countess of Deringham was only the wreck of her former +brilliant self. Wolfenden, knowing what her life must be, under its +altered circumstances, could scarcely wonder at it. The black hair was +still only faintly streaked with grey, and her figure was as slim and +upright as ever. But there were lines on her forehead and about her +eyes, her cheeks were thinner, and even her hands were wasted. He looked +at her in silent pity, and although a man of singularly undemonstrative +habits, he took her hand in his and pressed it gently. Then he set +himself to talk as cheerfully as possible. + +"There is nothing much wrong physically with the Admiral, I hope?" he +said, calling him by the name they still always gave him. "I saw him +at the window as I came round. By the bye, what is that extraordinary +looking affair like a sentry-box doing there?" + +The Countess sighed. + +"That is part of what I have to tell you," she said. "A sentry-box is +exactly what it is, and if you had looked inside you would have seen +Dunn or Heggs there keeping guard. In health your father seems as well +as ever; mentally, I am afraid that he is worse. I fear that he is +getting very bad indeed. That is why I have sent for you, Wolf!" + +Wolfenden was seriously and genuinely concerned. Surely his mother had +had enough to bear. + +"I am very sorry," he said. "Your letter prepared me a little for this; +you must tell me all about it." + +"He has suddenly become the victim," the Countess said, "of a new and +most extraordinary delusion. How it came to pass I cannot exactly tell, +but this is what happened. He has a bed, you know, made up in an +ante-room, leading from the library, and he sleeps there generally. +Early this morning the whole house was awakened by the sound of two +revolver shots. I hurried down in my dressing-gown, and found some of +the servants already outside the library door, which was locked and +barred on the inside. When he heard my voice he let me in. The room was +in partial darkness and some disorder. He had a smoking revolver in his +hand, and he was muttering to himself so fast that I could not +understand a word he said. The chest which holds all his maps and papers +had been dragged into the middle of the room, and the iron staple had +been twisted, as though with a heavy blow. I saw that the lamp was +flickering and a current of air was in the room, and when I looked +towards the window I found that the shutters were open and one of the +sashes had been lifted. All at once he became coherent. + +"'Send for Morton and Philip Dunn!' he cried. 'Let the shrubbery and all +the Home Park be searched. Let no one pass out of either of the gates. +There have been thieves here!' + +"I gave his orders to Morton. 'Where is Richardson?' I asked. Richardson +was supposed to have been watching outside. Before he could answer +Richardson came in through the window. His forehead was bleeding, as +though from a blow. + +"'What has happened, Richardson?' I asked. The man hesitated and looked +at your father. Your father answered instead. + +"'I woke up five minutes ago,' he cried, 'and found two men here. How +they got past Richardson I don't know, but they were in the room, and +they had dragged my chest out there, and had forced a crowbar through +the lock! I was just in time; I hit one man in the arm and he fired +back. Then they bolted right past Richardson. They must have nearly +knocked you down. You must have been asleep, you idiot,' he cried, 'or +you could have stopped them!' + +"I turned to Richardson; he did not say a word, but he looked at me +meaningly. The Admiral was examining his chest, so I drew Richardson on +one side. + +"'Is this true, Richardson?' I asked. The man shook his head. + +"'No, your ladyship,' he said bluntly, 'it ain't; there's no two men +been here at all! The master dragged the chest out himself; I heard him +doing it, and I saw the light, so I left my box and stepped into the +room to see what was wrong. Directly he saw me he yelled out and let fly +at me with his revolver! It's a wonder I'm alive, for one of the bullets +grazed my temple!' + +"Then he went on to say that he would like to leave, that no wages were +good enough to be shot at, and plainly hinted that he thought your +father ought to be locked up. I talked him over, and then got the +Admiral to go back to bed. We had the place searched as a matter of +form, but of course there was no sign of anybody. He had imagined the +whole thing! It is a mercy that he did not kill Richardson!" + +"This is very serious," Wolfenden said gravely. "What about his +revolver?" + +"I managed to secure that," the Countess said. "It is locked up in my +drawer, but I am afraid that he may ask for it at any moment." + +"We can make that all right," Wolfenden said; "I know where there are +some blank cartridges in the gun-room, and I will reload the revolver +with them. By the bye, what does Blatherwick say about all this?" + +"He is almost as worried as I am, poor little man," Lady Deringham said. +"I am afraid every day that he will give it up and leave. We are paying +him five hundred a year, but it must be miserable work for him. It is +really almost amusing, though, to see how terrified he is at your +father. He positively shakes when he speaks to him." + +"What does he have to do?" Wolfenden asked. + +"Oh, draw maps and make calculations and copy all sorts of things. You +see it is wasted and purposeless work, that is what makes it so hard for +the poor man." + +"You are quite sure, I suppose," Wolfenden asked, after a moment's +hesitation, "that it is all wasted work?" + +"Absolutely," the Countess declared. "Mr. Blatherwick brings me, +sometimes in despair, sheets upon which he has been engaged for days. +They are all just a hopeless tangle of figures and wild calculations! +Nobody could possibly make anything coherent out of them." + +"I wonder," Wolfenden suggested thoughtfully, "whether it would be a +good idea to get Denvers, the secretary, to write and ask him not to go +on with the work for the present. He could easily make some excuse--say +that it was attracting attention which they desired to avoid, or +something of that sort! Denvers is a good fellow, and he and the Admiral +were great friends once, weren't they?" + +The Countess shook her head. + +"I am afraid that would not do at all," she said. "Besides, out of pure +good nature, of course, Denvers has already encouraged him. Only last +week he wrote him a friendly letter hoping that he was getting on, and +telling him how interested every one in the War Office was to hear about +his work. He has known about it all the time, you see. Then, too, if the +occupation were taken from your father, I am afraid he would break down +altogether." + +"Of course there is that to be feared," Wolfenden admitted. "I wonder +what put this new delusion into his head? Does he suspect any one in +particular?" + +The Countess shook her head. + +"I do not think so; of course it was Miss Merton who started it. He +quite believes that she took copies of all the work she did here, but he +was so pleased with himself at the idea of having found her out, that he +has troubled very little about it. He seems to think that she had not +reached the most important part of his work, and he is copying that +himself now by hand." + +"But outside the house has he no suspicions at all?" + +"Not that I know of; not any definite suspicion. He was talking last +night of Duchesne, the great spy and adventurer, in a rambling sort of +way. 'Duchesne would be the man to get hold of my work if he knew of +it,' he kept on saying. 'But none must know of it! The newspapers must +be quiet! It is a terrible danger!' He talked like that for some time. +No, I do not think that he suspects anybody. It is more a general +uneasiness." + +"Poor old chap!" Wolfenden said softly. "What does Dr. Whitlett think +of him? Has he seen him lately? I wonder if there is any chance of his +getting over it?" + +"None at all," she answered. "Dr. Whitlett is quite frank; he will never +recover what he has lost--he will probably lose more. But come, there is +the dressing bell. You will see him for yourself at dinner. Whatever you +do don't be late--he hates any one to be a minute behind time." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE TEMPTING OF MR. BLATHERWICK + + +Wolfenden was careful to reach the hall before the dinner gong had +sounded. His father greeted him warmly, and Wolfenden was surprised to +see so little outward change in him. He was carefully dressed, well +groomed in every respect, and he wore a delicate orchid in his +button-hole. + +During dinner he discussed the little round of London life and its +various social events with perfect sanity, and permitted himself his +usual good-natured grumble at Wolfenden for his dilatoriness in the +choice of a profession. + +He did not once refer to the subject of his own weakness until dessert +had been served, when he passed the claret to Wolfenden without filling +his own glass. + +"You will excuse my not joining you," he said to his son, "but I have +still three or four hours' writing to do, and such work as mine requires +a very clear head--you can understand that, I daresay." + +Wolfenden assented in silence. For the first time, perhaps, he fully +realised the ethical pity of seeing a man so distinguished the victim of +a hopeless and incurable mania. He watched him sitting at the head of +his table, courteous, gentle, dignified; noted too the air of +intellectual abstraction which followed upon his last speech, and in +which he seemed to dwell for the rest of the time during which they sat +together. Instinctively he knew what disillusionment must mean for him. +Sooner anything than that. It must never be. Never! he repeated firmly +to himself as he smoked a solitary cigar later on in the empty +smoking-room. Whatever happens he must be saved from that. There was a +knock at the door, and in response to his invitation to enter, Mr. +Blatherwick came in. Wolfenden, who was in the humour to prefer any +one's society to his own, greeted him pleasantly, and wheeled up an easy +chair opposite to his own. + +"Come to have a smoke, Blatherwick?" he said. "That's right. Try one of +these cigars; the governor's are all right, but they are in such +shocking condition." + +Mr. Blatherwick accepted one with some hesitation, and puffed slowly at +it with an air of great deliberation. He was a young man of mild +demeanour and deportment, and clerical aspirations. He wore thick +spectacles, and suffered from chronic biliousness. + +"I am much obliged to you, Lord Wolfenden," he said. "I seldom smoke +cigars--it is not good for my sight. An occasional cigarette is all I +permit myself." + +Wolfenden groaned inwardly, for his regalias were priceless and not to +be replaced; but he said nothing. + +"I have taken the liberty, Lord Wolfenden," Mr. Blatherwick continued, +"of bringing for your inspection a letter I received this morning. It +is, I presume, intended for a practical joke, and I need not say that I +intend to treat it as such. At the same time as you were in the house, I +imagined that no--er--harm would ensue if I ventured to ask for your +opinion." + +He handed an open letter to Wolfenden, who took it and read it through. +It was dated "---- London," and bore the postmark of the previous day. + + "MR. ARNOLD BLATHERWICK. + + "DEAR SIR,--The writer of this letter is prepared to offer you one + thousand pounds in return for a certain service which you are in a + position to perform. The details of that service can only be + explained to you in a personal interview, but broadly speaking it + is as follows:-- + + "You are engaged as private secretary to the Earl of Deringham, + lately an admiral in the British Navy. Your duties, it is presumed, + are to copy and revise papers and calculations having reference to + the coast defences and navy of Great Britain. The writer is himself + engaged upon a somewhat similar task, but not having had the + facilities accorded to Lord Deringham, is without one or two + important particulars. The service required of you is the supplying + of these, and for this you are offered one thousand pounds. + + "As a man of honour you may possibly hesitate to at once embrace + this offer. You need not! Lord Deringham's work is practically + useless, for it is the work of a lunatic. You yourself, from your + intimate association with him, must know that this statement is + true. He will never be able to give coherent form to the mass of + statistics and information which he has collected. Therefore you do + him no harm in supplying these few particulars to one who will be + able to make use of them. The sum you are offered is out of all + proportion to their value--a few months' delay and they could + easily be acquired by the writer without the expenditure of a + single halfpenny. That, however, is not the point. + + "I am rich and I have no time to spare. Hence this offer. I take it + that you are a man of common sense, and I take it for granted, + therefore, that you will not hesitate to accept this offer. Your + acquiescence will be assumed if you lunch at the Grand Hotel, + Cromer, between one and two, on Thursday following the receipt of + this letter. You will then be put in full possession of all the + information necessary to the carrying out of the proposals made to + you. You are well known to the writer, who will take the liberty + of joining you at your table." + +The letter ended thus somewhat abruptly. Wolfenden, who had only glanced +it through at first, now re-read it carefully. Then he handed it back to +Blatherwick. + +"It is a very curious communication," he said thoughtfully, "a very +curious communication indeed. I do not know what to think of it." + +Mr. Blatherwick laid down his cigar with an air of great relief. He +would have liked to have thrown it away, but dared not. + +"It must surely be intended for a practical joke, Lord Wolfenden," he +said. "Either that, or my correspondent has been ludicrously +misinformed." + +"You do not consider, then, that my father's work is of any value at +all?" Wolfenden asked. + +Mr. Blatherwick coughed apologetically, and watched the extinction of +the cigar by his side with obvious satisfaction. + +"You would, I am sure, prefer," he said, "that I gave you a perfectly +straightforward answer to that question. I--er--cannot conceive that the +work upon which his lordship and I are engaged can be of the slightest +interest or use to anybody. I can assure you, Lord Wolfenden, that my +brain at times reels--positively reels--from the extraordinary nature of +the manuscripts which your father has passed on to me to copy. It is not +that they are merely technical, they are absolutely and entirely +meaningless. You ask me for my opinion, Lord Wolfenden, and I conceive +it to be my duty to answer you honestly. I am quite sure that his +lordship is not in a fit state of mind to undertake any serious work." + +"The person who wrote that letter," Wolfenden remarked, "thought +otherwise." + +"The person who wrote that letter," Mr. Blatherwick retorted quickly, +"if indeed it was written in good faith, is scarcely likely to know so +much about his lordship's condition of mind as I, who have spent the +greater portion of every day for three months with him." + +"Do you consider that my father is getting worse, Mr. Blatherwick?" +Wolfenden asked. + +"A week ago," Mr. Blatherwick said, "I should have replied that his +lordship's state of mind was exactly the same as when I first came here. +But there has been a change for the worse during the last week. It +commenced with his sudden, and I am bound to say, unfounded suspicions +of Miss Merton, whom I believe to be a most estimable and worthy young +lady." + +Mr. Blatherwick paused, and appeared to be troubled with a slight cough. +The smile, which Wolfenden was not altogether able to conceal, seemed +somewhat to increase his embarrassment. + +"The extraordinary occurrence of last night, which her ladyship has +probably detailed to you," Mr. Blatherwick continued, "was the next +development of what, I fear, we can only regard as downright insanity. I +regret having to speak so plainly, but I am afraid that any milder +phrase would be inapplicable." + +"I am very sorry to hear this," Wolfenden remarked gravely. + +"Under the circumstances," Mr. Blatherwick said, picking up his cigar +which was now extinct, and immediately laying it down again, "I trust +that you and Lady Deringham will excuse my not giving the customary +notice of my desire to leave. It is of course impossible for me to +continue to draw a--er--a stipend such as I am in receipt of for +services so ludicrously inadequate." + +"Lady Deringham will be sorry to have you go," Wolfenden said. "Couldn't +you put up with it a little longer?" + +"I would much prefer to leave," Mr. Blatherwick said decidedly. "I am +not physically strong, and I must confess that his lordship's attitude +at times positively alarms me. I fear that there is no doubt that he +committed an unprovoked assault last night upon that unfortunate keeper. +There is--er--no telling whom he might select for his next victim. If +quite convenient, Lord Wolfenden, I should like to leave to-morrow by an +early train." + +"Oh! you can't go so soon as that," Wolfenden said. "How about this +letter?" + +"You can take any steps you think proper with regard to it," Mr. +Blatherwick answered nervously. "Personally, I have nothing to do with +it. I thought of going to spend a week with an aunt of mine in Cornwall, +and I should like to leave by the early train to-morrow." + +Wolfenden could scarcely keep from laughing, although he was a little +annoyed. + +"Look here, Blatherwick," he said, "you must help me a little before you +go, there's a good fellow. I don't doubt for a moment what you say about +the poor old governor's condition of mind; but at the same time it's +rather an odd thing, isn't it, that his own sudden fear of having his +work stolen is followed up by the receipt of this letter to you? There +is some one, at any rate, who places a very high value upon his +manuscripts. I must say that I should like to know whom that letter came +from." + +"I can assure you," Mr. Blatherwick said, "that I have not the faintest +idea." + +"Of course you haven't," Wolfenden assented, a little impatiently. "But +don't you see how easy it will be for us to find out? You must go to the +Grand Hotel on Thursday for lunch, and meet this mysterious person." + +"I would very much rather not," Mr. Blatherwick declared promptly. "I +should feel exceedingly uncomfortable; I should not like it at all!" + +"Look here," Wolfenden said persuasively "I must find out who wrote that +letter, and can only do so with your help. You need only be there, I +will come up directly I have marked the man who comes to your table. +Your presence is all that is required; and I shall take it as a favour +if you will allow me to make you a present of a fifty-pound note." + +Mr. Blatherwick flushed a little and hesitated. He had brothers and +sisters, whose bringing up was a terrible strain upon the slim purse of +his father, a country clergyman, and a great deal could be done with +fifty pounds. It was against his conscience as well as his inclinations +to remain in a post where his duties were a farce, but this was +different. + +He sighed. + +"You are very generous, Lord Wolfenden," he said. "I will stay until +after Thursday." + +"There's a good fellow," Wolfenden said, much relieved. "Have another +cigar?" + +Mr. Blatherwick rose hastily, and shook his head. "You must excuse me, +if you please," he said. "I will not smoke any more. I think if you will +not mind----" + +Wolfenden turned to the window and held up his hand. + +"Listen!" he said. "Is that a carriage at this time of night?" + +A carriage it certainly was, passing by the window. In a moment they +heard it draw up at the front door, and some one alighted. + +"Odd time for callers," Wolfenden remarked. + +Mr. Blatherwick did not reply. He, too, was listening. In a moment they +heard the rustling of a woman's skirts outside, and the smoking-room +door opened. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE COMING AND GOING OF MR. FRANKLIN WILMOT + + +Both men looked up as Lady Deringham entered the room, carefully closing +the door behind her. She had a card in her hand, and an open letter. + +"Wolfenden," she said. "I am so glad that you are here. It is most +fortunate! Something very singular has happened. You will be able to +tell me what to do." + +Mr. Blatherwick rose quietly and left the room. + +Wolfenden was all attention. + +"Some one has just arrived," he remarked. + +"A gentleman, a complete stranger," she assented. "This is his card. He +seemed surprised that his name was not familiar to me. He was quite sure +that you would know it." + +Wolfenden took the card between his fingers and read it out. + +"Mr. Franklin Wilmot." + +He was thoughtful for a moment. The name was familiar enough, but he +could not immediately remember in what connection. Suddenly it flashed +into his mind. + +"Of course!" he exclaimed. "He is a famous physician--a very great +swell, goes to Court and all that!" + +Lady Deringham nodded. + +"He has introduced himself as a physician. He has brought this letter +from Dr. Whitlett." + +Wolfenden took the note from her hand. It was written on half a sheet +of paper, and apparently in great haste:-- + + "DEAR LADY DERINGHAM,--My old friend, Franklin Wilmot, who has been + staying at Cromer, has just called upon me. We have been having a + chat, and he is extremely interested in Lord Deringham's case, so + much so that I had arranged to come over with him this evening to + see if you would care to have his opinion. Unfortunately, however, + I have been summoned to attend a patient nearly ten miles away--a + bad accident, I fear--and Wilmot is leaving for town to-morrow + morning. I suggested, however, that he might call on his way back + to Cromer, and if you would kindly let him see Lord Deringham, I + should be glad, as his opinion would be of material assistance to + me. Wilmot's reputation as the greatest living authority on cases + of partial mania is doubtless known to you, and as he never, under + any circumstances, visits patients outside London, it would be a + great pity to lose this opportunity. + + "In great haste and begging you to excuse this scrawl, + + "I am, dear Lady Deringham, + "Yours sincerely, + "JOHN WHITLETT. + + "P.S.--You will please not offer him any fee." + +Wolfenden folded up the letter and returned it. + +"Well, I suppose it's all right," he said. "It's an odd time, though, to +call on an errand of this sort." + +"So I thought," Lady Deringham agreed; "but Dr. Whitlett's explanation +seems perfectly feasible, does it not? I said that I would consult you. +You will come in and see him?" + +Wolfenden followed his mother into the drawing-room. A tall, dark man +was sitting in a corner, under a palm tree. In one hand he held a +magazine, the pictures of which he seemed to be studying with the aid of +an eyeglass, the other was raised to his mouth. He was in the act of +indulging in a yawn when Wolfenden and his mother entered the room. + +"This is my son, Lord Wolfenden," she said. "Dr. Franklin Wilmot." + +The two men bowed. + +"Lady Deringham has explained to you the reason of my untimely visit, I +presume?" the latter remarked at once. + +Wolfenden assented. + +"Yes! I am afraid that it will be a little difficult to get my father to +see you on such short notice." + +"I was about to explain to Lady Deringham, before I understood that you +were in the house," Dr. Wilmot said, "that although that would be an +advantage, it is not absolutely necessary at present. I should of course +have to examine your father before giving a definite opinion as to his +case, but I can give you a very fair idea as to his condition without +seeing him at all." + +Wolfenden and his mother exchanged glances. + +"You must forgive us," Wolfenden commenced hesitatingly, "but really I +can scarcely understand." + +"Of course not," their visitor interrupted brusquely. "My method is one +which is doubtless altogether strange to you, but if you read the +_Lancet_ or the _Medical Journal_, you would have heard a good deal +about it lately. I form my conclusions as to the mental condition of a +patient almost altogether from a close inspection of their letters, or +any work upon which they are, or have been, recently engaged. I do not +say that it is possible to do this from a single letter, but when a man +has a hobby, such as I understand Lord Deringham indulges in, and has +devoted a great deal of time to real or imaginary work in connection +with it, I am generally able, from a study of that work, to tell how +far the brain is weakened, if at all, and in what manner it can be +strengthened. This is only the crudest outline of my theory, but to be +brief, I can give you my opinion as to Lord Deringham's mental +condition, and my advice as to its maintenance, if you will place before +me the latest work upon which he has been engaged. I hope I have made +myself clear." + +"Perfectly," Wolfenden answered. "It sounds very reasonable and very +interesting, but I am afraid that there are a few practical difficulties +in the way. In the first place, my father does not show his work or any +portion of it to any one. On the other hand he takes the most +extraordinary precautions to maintain absolute secrecy with regard to +it." + +"That," Dr. Wilmot remarked, "is rather a bad feature of the case. It is +a difficulty which I should imagine you could get over, though. You +could easily frame some excuse to get him away from his study for a +short time and leave me there. Of course the affair is in your hands +altogether, and I am presuming that you are anxious to have an opinion +as to your father's state of health. I am not in the habit of seeking +patients," he added, a little stiffly. "I was interested in my friend +Whitlett's description of the case, and anxious to apply my theories to +it, as it happens to differ in some respects from anything I have met +with lately. Further, I may add," he continued, glancing at the clock, +"if anything is to be done it must be done quickly. I have no time to +spare." + +"You had better," Wolfenden suggested, "stay here for the night in any +case. We will send you to the station, or into Cromer, as early as you +like in the morning." + +"Absolutely impossible," Dr. Wilmot replied briefly. "I am staying with +friends in Cromer, and I have a consultation in town early to-morrow +morning. You must really make up your minds at once whether you wish +for my opinion or not." + +"I do not think," Lady Deringham said, "that we need hesitate for a +moment about that!" + +Wolfenden looked at him doubtfully. There seemed to be no possibility of +anything but advantage in accepting this offer, and yet in a sense he +was sorry that it had been made. + +"In case you should attach any special importance to your father's +manuscripts," Dr. Wilmot remarked, with a note of sarcasm in his tone, +"I might add that it is not at all necessary for me to be alone in the +study." + +Wolfenden felt a little uncomfortable under the older man's keen gaze. +Neither did he altogether like having his thoughts read so accurately. + +"I suppose," he said, turning to his mother, "you could manage to get +him away from the library for a short time?" + +"I could at least try," she answered. "Shall I?" + +"I think," he said, "that as Dr. Wilmot has been good enough to go out +of his way to call here, we must make an effort." + +Lady Deringham left the room. + +Dr. Wilmot, whose expression of absolute impassiveness had not altered +in the least during their discussion, turned towards Wolfenden. + +"Have you yourself," he said, "never seen any of your father's +manuscripts? Has he never explained the scheme of his work to you?" + +Wolfenden shook his head. + +"I know the central idea," he answered--"the weakness of our navy and +coast defences, and that is about all I know. My father, even when he +was an admiral on active service, took an absolutely pessimistic view of +both. You may perhaps remember this. The Lords of the Admiralty used to +consider him, I believe, the one great thorn in their sides." + +Dr. Wilmot shook his head. + +"I have never taken any interest in such matters," he said. "My +profession has been completely absorbing during the last ten years." + +Wolfenden nodded. + +"I know," he remarked, "that I used to read the newspapers and wonder +why on earth my father took such pains to try and frighten everybody. +But he is altogether changed now. He even avoids the subject, although I +am quite sure that it is his one engrossing thought. It is certain that +no one has ever given such time and concentrated energy to it before. If +only his work was the work of a sane man I could understand it being +very valuable." + +"Not the least doubt about it, I should say," Dr. Wilmot replied +carelessly. + +The door opened and Lady Deringham reappeared. + +"I have succeeded," she said. "He is upstairs now. I will try and keep +him there for half an hour. Wolfenden, will you take Dr. Wilmot into the +study?" + +Dr. Wilmot rose with quiet alacrity. Wolfenden led the way down the long +passage which led to the study. He himself was scarcely prepared for +such signs of unusual labours as confronted them both when they opened +the door. The round table in the centre of the room was piled with books +and a loose heap of papers. A special rack was hung with a collection of +maps and charts. There were nautical instruments upon the table, and +compasses, as well as writing materials, and a number of small models of +men-of-war. Mr. Blatherwick, who was sitting at the other side of the +room busy with some copying, looked up in amazement at the entrance of +Wolfenden and a stranger upon what was always considered forbidden +ground. + +Wolfenden stepped forward at once to the table. A sheet of paper lay +there on which the ink was scarcely yet dry. Many others were scattered +about, almost undecipherable, with marginal notes and corrections in his +father's handwriting. He pushed some of them towards his companion. + +"You can help yourself," he said. "This seems to be his most recent +work." + +Dr. Wilmot seemed scarcely to hear him. He had turned the lamp up with +quick fingers, and was leaning over those freshly written pages. +Decidedly he was interested in the case. He stood quite still reading +with breathless haste--the papers seemed almost to fly through his +fingers. Wolfenden was a little puzzled. Mr. Blatherwick, who had been +watching the proceedings with blank amazement, rose and came over +towards them. + +"You will excuse me, Lord Wolfenden," he said, "but if the admiral +should come back and find a stranger with you looking over his work, he +will----" + +"It's all right, Blatherwick," Wolfenden interrupted, the more +impatiently since he was far from comfortable himself. "This gentleman +is a physician." + +The secretary resumed his seat. Dr. Wilmot was reading with +lightning-like speed sheet after sheet, making frequent notes in a +pocket-book which he had laid on the table before him. He was so +absorbed that he did not seem to hear the sound of wheels coming up the +avenue. + +Wolfenden walked to the window, and raising the curtain, looked out. He +gave vent to a little exclamation of relief as he saw a familiar dogcart +draw up at the hall door, and Dr. Whitlett's famous mare pulled steaming +on to her haunches. + +"It is Dr. Whitlett," he exclaimed. "He has followed you up pretty +soon." + +The sheet which the physician was reading fluttered through his fingers. +There was a very curious look in his face. He walked up to the window +and looked out. + +"So it is," he remarked. "I should like to see him at once for half a +minute--then I shall have finished. I wonder whether you would mind +going yourself and asking him to step this way?" + +Wolfenden turned immediately to leave the room. At the door he turned +sharply round, attracted by a sudden noise and an exclamation from +Blatherwick. Dr. Wilmot had disappeared! Mr. Blatherwick was gazing at +the window in amazement! + +"He's gone, sir! Clean out of the window--jumped it like a cat!" + +Wolfenden sprang to the curtains. The night wind was blowing into the +room through the open casement. Fainter and fainter down the long avenue +came the sound of galloping horses. Dr. Franklin Wilmot had certainly +gone! + +Wolfenden turned from the window to find himself face to face with Dr. +Whitlett. + +"What on earth is the matter with your friend Wilmot?" he exclaimed. "He +has just gone off through the window like a madman!" + +"Wilmot!" the doctor exclaimed. "I never knew any one of that name in my +life. The fellow's a rank impostor!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +GENIUS OR MADNESS? + + +For a moment Wolfenden was speechless. Then, with a presence of mind +which afterwards he marvelled at, he asked no more questions, but +stepped up to the writing-table. + +"Blatherwick," he said hurriedly, "we seem to have made a bad mistake. +Will you try and rearrange these papers exactly as the admiral left +them, and do not let him know that any one has entered the room or seen +them." + +Mr. Blatherwick commenced his task with trembling fingers. + +"I will do my best," he said nervously. "But I am not supposed to touch +anything upon this table at all. If the admiral finds me here, he will +be very angry." + +"I will take the blame," Wolfenden said. "Do your best." + +He took the country doctor by the arm and hurried him into the +smoking-room. + +"This is a most extraordinary affair, Dr. Whitlett," he said gravely. "I +presume that this letter, then, is a forgery?" + +The doctor took the note of introduction which Wilmot had brought, and +adjusting his pince-nez, read it hastily through. + +"A forgery from the beginning to end," he declared, turning it over and +looking at it helplessly. "I have never known any one of the name in my +life!" + +"It is written on notepaper stamped with your address," Wolfenden +remarked. "It is also, I suppose, a fair imitation of your handwriting, +for Lady Deringham accepted it as such?" + +The doctor nodded. + +"I will tell you," he said, "all that I know of the affair. I started +out to pay some calls this evening about six o'clock. As I turned into +the main road I met a strange brougham and pair of horses being driven +very slowly. There was a man who looked like a gentleman's servant +sitting by the side of the coachman, and as I passed them the latter +asked a question, and I am almost certain that I heard my name +mentioned. I was naturally a little curious, and I kept looking back all +along the road to see which way they turned after passing my house. As a +matter of fact, although I pulled up and waited in the middle of the +road, I saw no more of the carriage. When at last I drove on, I knew +that one of two things must have happened. Either the carriage must have +come to a standstill and remained stationary in the road, or it must +have turned in at my gate. The hedge was down a little higher up the +road, and I could see distinctly that they had not commenced to climb +the hill. It seemed very odd to me, but I had an important call to make, +so I drove on and got through as quickly as I could. On my way home I +passed your north entrance, and, looking up the avenue, I saw the same +brougham on its way up to the house. I had half a mind to run in then--I +wish now that I had--but instead of doing so I drove quickly home. There +I found that a gentleman had called a few minutes after I had left home, +and finding me out had asked permission to leave a note. The girl had +shown him into the study, and he had remained there about ten minutes. +Afterwards he had let himself out and driven away. When I looked for the +note for me there was none, but the writing materials had been used, +and a sheet of notepaper was gone. I happened to remember that there was +only one out. The whole thing seemed to me so singular that I ordered +the dogcart out again and drove straight over here." + +"For which," Wolfenden remarked, "we ought to feel remarkably grateful. +So far the thing is plain enough! But what on earth did that man, +whoever he was, expect to find in my father's study that he should make +an elaborate attempt like this to enter it? He was no common thief!" + +Dr. Whitlett shook his head. He had no elucidation to offer. The thing +was absolutely mysterious. + +"Your father himself," he said slowly, "sets a very high value upon the +result of his researches!" + +"And on the other hand," Wolfenden retorted promptly, "you, and my +mother, Mr. Blatherwick, and even the girl who has been copying for him, +have each assured me that his work is rubbish! You four comprise all who +have seen any part of it, and I understand that you have come to the +conclusion that, if not insane, he is at least suffering from some sort +of mania. Now, how are we to reconcile this with the fact of an +attempted robbery this evening, and the further fact that a heavy bribe +has been secretly offered to Blatherwick to copy only a few pages of his +later manuscripts?" + +Dr. Whitlett started. + +"Indeed!" he exclaimed. "When did you hear of this?" + +"Only this afternoon," Wolfenden answered. "Blatherwick brought me the +letter himself. What I cannot understand is, how these documents could +ever become a marketable commodity. Yet we may look upon it now as an +absolute fact, that there are persons--and no ordinary thieves +either!--conspiring to obtain possession of them." + +"Wolfenden!" + +The two men started round. The Countess was standing in the doorway. She +was pale as death, and her eyes were full of fear. + +"Who was that man?" she cried. "What has happened?" + +"He was an impostor, I am afraid," Wolfenden answered. "The letter from +Dr. Whitlett was forged. He has bolted." + +She looked towards the doctor. + +"Thank God that you are here!" she cried. "I am frightened! There are +some papers and models missing, and the admiral has found it out! I am +afraid he is going to have a fit. Please come into the library. He must +not be left alone!" + +They both followed her down the passage and through the half-opened +door. In the centre of the room Lord Deringham was standing, his pale +cheeks scarlet with passion, his fists convulsively clenched. He turned +sharply round to face them, and his eyes flashed with anger. + +"Nothing shall make me believe that this room has not been entered, and +my papers tampered with!" he stormed out. "Where is that reptile +Blatherwick? I left my morning's work and two models on the desk there, +less than half an hour ago; both the models are gone and one of the +sheets! Either Blatherwick has stolen them, or the room has been entered +during my absence! Where is that hound?" + +"He is in his room," Lady Deringham answered. "He ran past me on the +stairs trembling all over, and he has locked himself in and piled up the +furniture against the door. You have frightened him to death!" + +"It is scarcely possible----" Dr. Whitlett began. + +"Don't lie, sir!" the admiral thundered out. "You are a pack of fools +and old women! You are as ignorant as rabbits! You know no more than the +kitchenmaids what has been growing and growing within these walls. I +tell you that my work of the last few years, placed in certain hands, +would alter the whole face of Europe--aye, of Christendom! There are men +in this country to-day whose object is to rob me, and you, my own +household, seem to be crying them welcome, bidding them come and help +themselves, as though the labour of my life was worth no more than so +many sheets of waste paper. You have let a stranger into this room +to-day, and if he had not been disturbed, God knows what he might not +have carried away with him!" + +"We have been very foolish," Lady Deringham said pleadingly. "We will +set a watch now day and night. We will run no more risks! I swear it! +You can believe me, Horace!" + +"Aye, but tell me the truth now," he cried. "Some one has been in this +room and escaped through the window. I learnt as much as that from that +blithering idiot, Blatherwick. I want to know who he was?" + +She glanced towards the doctor. He nodded his head slightly. Then she +went up to her husband and laid her hand upon his shoulders. + +"Horace, you are right," she said. "It is no use trying to keep it from +you. A man did impose upon us with a forged letter. He could not have +been here more than five minutes, though. We found him out almost at +once. It shall never happen again!" + +The wisdom of telling him was at once apparent. His face positively +shone with triumph! He became quite calm, and the fierce glare, which +had alarmed them all so much, died out of his eyes. The confession was a +triumph for him. He was gratified. + +"I knew it," he declared, with positive good humour. "I have warned you +of this all the time. Now perhaps you will believe me! Thank God that it +was not Duchesne himself. I should not be surprised, though, if it were +not one of his emissaries! If Duchesne comes," he muttered to himself, +his face growing a shade paler, "God help us!" + +"We will be more careful now," Lady Deringham said. "No one shall ever +take us by surprise again. We will have special watchmen, and bars on +all the windows." + +"From this moment," the admiral said slowly, "I shall never leave this +room until my work is ended, and handed over to Lord S----'s care. If I +am robbed England is in danger! There must be no risks. I will have a +sofa-bedstead down, and please understand that all my meals must be +served here! Heggs and Morton must take it in turns to sleep in the +room, and there must be a watchman outside. Now will you please all go +away?" he added, with a little wave of his hand. "I have to reconstruct +what has been stolen from me through your indiscretion. Send me in some +coffee at eleven o'clock, and a box of cartridges you will find in my +dressing-room." + +They went away together. Wolfenden was grave and mystified. Nothing +about his father's demeanour or language had suggested insanity. What if +they were all wrong--if the work to which the best years of his life had +gone was really of the immense importance he claimed for it? Other +people thought so! The slight childishness, which was obvious in a great +many of his actions, was a very different thing from insanity. +Blatherwick might be deceived--Blanche was just as likely to have looked +upon any technical work as rubbish. Whitlett was only a country +practitioner--even his mother might have exaggerated his undoubted +eccentricities. At any rate, one thing was certain. There were people +outside who made a bold enough bid to secure the fruit of his father's +labours. It was his duty to see that the attempt, if repeated, was still +unsuccessful. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE SCHEMING OF GIANTS + + +At very nearly the same moment as the man who had called himself Dr. +Wilmot had leaped from the library window of Deringham Hall, Mr. Sabin +sat alone in his sanctum waiting for a visitor. The room was quite a +small one on the ground floor of the house, but was furnished with taste +and evident originality in the Moorish fashion. Mr. Sabin himself was +ensconced in an easy chair drawn close up to the fire, and a thin cloud +of blue smoke was stealing up from a thick, Egyptian cigarette which was +burning away between his fingers. His head was resting upon the delicate +fingers of his left hand, his dark eyes were fixed upon the flaming +coals. He was deep in thought. + +"A single mistake now," he murmured softly, "and farewell to the labour +of years. A single false step, and goodbye to all our dreams! To-night +will decide it! In a few minutes I must say Yes or No to Knigenstein. I +think--I am almost sure I shall say Yes! Bah!" + +The frown on his forehead grew more marked. The cigarette burned on +between his fingers, and a long grey ash fell to the floor. He was +permitting himself the luxury of deep thought. All his life he had been +a schemer; a builder of mighty plans, a great power in the destinies +of great people. To-night he knew that he had reached the crisis of a +career, in many respects marvellous. To-night he would take the first of +those few final steps on to the desire of his life. It only rested with +him to cast the die. He must make the decision and abide by it. His +own life's ambition and the destinies of a mighty nation hung in the +balance. Had he made up his mind which way to turn the scale? Scarcely +even yet! There were so many things! + +He sat up with a start. There was a knock at the door. He caught up the +evening paper, and the cigarette smoke circled about his head. He +stirred a cup of coffee by his side. The hard lines in his face had all +relaxed. There was no longer any anxiety. He looked up and greeted +pleasantly--with a certain deference, too--the visitor who was being +ushered in. He had no appearance of having been engaged in anything more +than a casual study of the _St. James's Gazette_. + +"A gentleman, sir," the stolid-looking servant had announced briefly. No +name had been mentioned. Mr. Sabin, when he rose and held out his hand, +did not address his visitor directly. He was a tall, stout man, with +an iron-grey moustache and the remains of a military bearing. When the +servant had withdrawn and the two men were alone, he unbuttoned his +overcoat. Underneath he wore a foreign uniform, ablaze with orders. Mr. +Sabin glanced at them and smiled. + +"You are going to Arlington Street," he remarked. + +The other man nodded. + +"When I leave here," he said. + +Then there was a short silence. Each man seemed to be waiting for the +other to open the negotiations. Eventually it was Mr. Sabin who did so. + +"I have been carefully through the file of papers you sent me," he +remarked. + +"Yes!" + +"There is no doubt but that, to a certain extent, the anti-English +feeling of which you spoke exists! I have made other inquiries, and so +far I am convinced!" + +"So! The seed is sown! It has been sprinkled with a generous hand! +Believe me, my friend, that for this country there are in store very +great surprises. I speak as one who knows! I do know! So!" + +Mr. Sabin was thoughtful. He looked into the fire and spoke musingly. + +"Yet the ties of kindred and common origin are strong," he said. "It is +hard to imagine an open rupture between the two great Saxon nations of +the world!" + +"The ties of kindred," said Mr. Sabin's visitor, "are not worth the snap +of a finger! So!" + +He snapped his fingers with a report as sharp as a pistol-shot. Mr. +Sabin started in his chair. + +"It is the ties of kindred," he continued, "which breed irritability, +not kindliness! I tell you, my friend, that there is a great storm +gathering. It is not for nothing that the great hosts of my country are +ruled by a war lord! I tell you that we are arming to the teeth, +silently, swiftly, and with a purpose. It may seem to you a small thing, +but let me tell you this--we are a jealous nation! And we have cause for +jealousy. In whatever part of the world we put down our foot, it is +trodden on by our ubiquitous cousins! Wherever we turn to colonise, we +are too late; England has already secured the finest territory, the most +fruitful of the land. We must either take her leavings or go a-begging! +Wherever we would develope, we are held back by the commercial and +colonising genius--it amounts to that--of this wonderful nation. The +world of to-day is getting cramped. There is no room for a growing +England and a growing Germany! So! one must give way, and Germany is +beginning to mutter that it shall not always be her sons who go to the +wall. You say that France is our natural enemy. I deny it! France is our +historical enemy--nothing else! In military circles to-day a war with +England would be wildly, hysterically popular; and sooner or later a +war with England is as certain to come as the rising of the sun and the +waning of the moon! I can tell you even now where the first blow will be +struck! It is fixed! It is to come! So!" + +"Not in Europe," Mr. Sabin said. + +"Not in Europe or in Asia! The war-torch will be kindled in Africa!" + +"The Transvaal!" + +Mr. Sabin's visitor smiled. + +"It is in Africa," he said, "that English monopoly has been most galling +to my nation. We too feel the burden of over-population; we too have our +young blood making itself felt throughout the land, eager, impetuous, +thirsting for adventure and freedom. We need new countries where these +may develop, and at once ease and strengthen our fatherland. I have seen +it written in one of the great English reviews that my country has not +the instinct for colonisation. It is false! We have the instinct and the +desire, but not the opportunity. England is like a great octopus. She is +ever on the alert, thrusting out her suckers, and drawing in for herself +every new land where riches lay. No country has ever been so suitable +for us as Africa, and behold--it is as I have said. Already England has +grabbed the finest and most to be desired of the land--she has it now in +her mind to take one step further and acquire the whole. But my country +has no mind to suffer it! We have played second fiddle to a weaker Power +long enough. We want Africa, my friend, and to my mind and the mind of +my master, Africa is worth having at all costs--listen--even at the cost +of war!" + +Mr. Sabin was silent for a moment. There was a faint smile upon his +lips. It was a situation such as he loved. He began to feel indeed that +he was making history. + +"You have convinced me," he said at last. "You have taught me how to +look upon European politics with new eyes. But there remains one +important question. Supposing I break off my negotiations in other +quarters, are you willing to pay my price?" + +The Ambassador waved his hand! It was a trifle! + +"If what you give fulfils your own statements," he said, "you cannot ask +a price which my master would not pay!" + +Mr. Sabin moved a little in his chair. His eyes were bright. A faint +tinge of colour was in his olive cheeks. + +"Four years of my life," he said, "have been given to the perfecting of +one branch only of my design; the other, which is barely completed, is +the work of the only man in England competent to handle such a task. The +combined result will be infallible. When I place in your hands a simple +roll of papers and a small parcel, the future of this country is +absolutely and entirely at your mercy. That is beyond question or doubt. +To whomsoever I give my secret, I give over the destinies of England. +But the price is a mighty one!" + +"Name it," the Ambassador said quietly. "A million, two millions? Rank? +What is it?" + +"For myself," Mr. Sabin said, "nothing!" + +The other man started. "Nothing!" + +"Absolutely nothing!" + +The Ambassador raised his hand to his forehead. + +"You confuse me," he said. + +"My conditions," Mr. Sabin said, "are these. The conquest of France and +the restoration of the monarchy, in the persons of Prince Henri and his +cousin, Princess Helene of Bourbon!" + +"Ach!" + +The little interjection shot from the Ambassador's lips with sharp, +staccato emphasis! Then there was a silence--a brief, dramatic silence! +The two men sat motionless, the eyes of each fastened upon the other. +The Ambassador was breathing quickly, and his eyes sparkled with +excitement. Mr. Sabin was pale and calm, yet there were traces of +nervous exhilaration in his quivering lips and bright eyes. + +"Yes, you were right; you were right indeed," the Ambassador said +slowly. "It is a great price that you ask!" + +Mr. Sabin laughed very softly. + +"Think," he said. "Weigh the matter well! Mark first this fact. If what +I give you has not the power I claim for it, our contract is at an end. +I ask for nothing! I accept nothing. Therefore, you may assume that +before you pay my price your own triumph is assured. Think! Reflect +carefully! What will you owe to me! The humiliation of England, the +acquisition of her colonies, the destruction of her commerce, and such a +war indemnity as only the richest power on earth could pay. These things +you gain. Then you are the one supreme Power in Europe. France is at +your mercy! I will tell you why. The Royalist party have been gaining +strength year by year, month by month, minute by minute! Proclaim your +intentions boldly. The country will crumble up before you! It would be +but a half-hearted resistance. France has not the temperament of a +people who will remain for ever faithful to a democratic form of +government. At heart she is aristocratic. The old nobility have a life +in them which you cannot dream of. I know, for I have tested it. It has +been weary waiting, but the time is ripe! France is ready for the cry of +'_Vive le Roi! Vive la Monarchie!_' I who tell you these things have +proved them. I have felt the pulse of my country, and I love her too +well to mistake the symptoms!" + +The Ambassador was listening with greedy ears--he was breathing hard +through his teeth! It was easy to see that the glamour of the thing had +laid hold of him. He foresaw for himself an immortal name, for his +country a greatness beyond the wildest dreams of her most sanguine +ministers. Bismarck himself had planned nothing like this! Yet he did +not altogether lose his common sense. + +"But Russia," he objected, "she would never sanction a German invasion +of France." + +Mr. Sabin smiled scornfully. + +"You are a great politician, my dear Baron, and you say a thing like +that! You amaze me! But of course the whole affair is new to you; you +have not thought it out as I have done. Whatever happens in Europe, +Russia will maintain the isolation for which geography and temperament +have marked her out. She would not stir one finger to help France. Why +should she? What could France give her in return? What would she gain by +plunging into an exhausting war? To the core of his heart and the tips +of his finger-nails the Muscovite is selfish! Then, again, consider +this. You are not going to ruin France as you did before; you are going +to establish a new dynasty, and not waste the land or exact a mighty +tribute. Granted that sentiments of friendship exist between Russia and +France, do you not think that Russia would not sooner see France a +monarchy? Do you think that she would stretch out her little finger to +aid a tottering republic and keep back a king from the throne of France? +_Mon Dieu!_ Never!" + +Mr. Sabin's face was suddenly illuminated. A fire flashed in his dark +eyes, and a note of fervent passion quivered lifelike in his vibrating +voice. His manner had all the abandon of one pleading a great cause, +nursed by a great heart. He was a patriot or a poet, surely not only a +politician or a mere intriguing adventurer. For a moment he suffered his +enthusiasm to escape him. Then the mask was as suddenly dropped. He was +himself again, calm, convincing, impenetrable. + +As the echoes of his last interjection died away there was a silence +between the two men. It was the Ambassador at last who broke it. He was +looking curiously at his companion. + +"I must confess," he said slowly, "that you have fascinated me! You have +done more, you have made me see dreams and possibilities which, set down +upon paper, I should have mocked at. Mr. Sabin, I can no longer think of +you as a person--you are a personage! We are here alone, and I am as +secret as the grave; be so kind as to lift the veil of your incognito. I +can no longer think of you as Mr. Sabin. Who are you?" + +Mr. Sabin smiled a curious smile, and lit a cigarette from the open box +before him. + +"That," he said, pushing the box across the table, "you may know in good +time if, in commercial parlance, we deal. Until that point is decided, I +am Mr. Sabin. I do not even admit that it is an incognito." + +"And yet," the Ambassador said, with a curious lightening of his face, +as though recollection had suddenly been vouchsafed to him, "I fancy +that if I were to call you----" + +Mr. Sabin's protesting hand was stretched across the table. + +"Excuse me," he interrupted, "let it remain between us as it is now! My +incognito is a necessity for the present. Let it continue to be--Mr. +Sabin! Now answer me. All has been said that can be said between us. +What is your opinion?" + +The Ambassador rose from his seat and stood upon the hearthrug with his +back to the fire. There was a streak of colour upon his sallow cheeks, +and his eyes shone brightly underneath his heavy brows. He had removed +his spectacles and was swinging them lightly between his thumb and +forefinger. + +"I will be frank with you," he said. "My opinion is a favourable one. I +shall apply for leave of absence to-morrow. In a week all that you have +said shall be laid before my master. Such as my personal influence is, +it will be exerted on behalf of the acceptance of your scheme. The +greatest difficulty will be, of course, in persuading the Emperor of its +practicability--in plain words, that what you say you have to offer will +have the importance which you attribute to it." + +"If you fail in that," Mr. Sabin said, also rising, "send for me! But +bear this in mind, if my scheme should after all be ineffective, if it +should fail in the slightest detail to accomplish all that I claim for +it, what can you lose? The payment is conditional upon its success; the +bargain is all in your favour. I should not offer such terms unless I +held certain cards. Remember, if there are difficulties send for me!" + +"I will do so," the Ambassador said as he buttoned his overcoat. "Now +give me a limit of time for our decision." + +"Fourteen days," Mr. Sabin said. "How I shall temporise with Lobenski so +long I cannot tell. But I will give you fourteen days from to-day. It is +ample!" + +The two men exchanged farewells and parted. Mr. Sabin, with a cigarette +between his teeth, and humming now and then a few bars from one of +Verdi's operas, commenced to carefully select a bagful of golf clubs +from a little pile which stood in one corner of the room. Already they +bore signs of considerable use, and he handled them with the care of an +expert, swinging each one gently, and hesitating for some time between a +wooden or a metal putter, and longer still between the rival claims of a +bulger and a flat-headed brassey. At last the bag was full; he resumed +his seat and counted them out carefully. + +"Ten," he said to himself softly. "Too many; it looks amateurish." + +Some of the steel heads were a little dull; he took a piece of chamois +leather from the pocket of the bag and began polishing them. As they +grew brighter he whistled softly to himself. This time the opera tune +seemed to have escaped him; he was whistling the "Marseillaise!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +"HE HAS GONE TO THE EMPEROR!" + + +The Ambassador, when he left Mr. Sabin's house, stepped into a hired +hansom and drove off towards Arlington Street. A young man who had +watched him come out, from the other side of the way, walked swiftly to +the corner of the street and stepped into a private brougham which was +waiting there. + +"To the Embassy," he said. "Drive fast!" + +The carriage set him down in a few minutes at the house to which Densham +and Harcutt had followed Mr. Sabin on the night of their first meeting +with him. He walked swiftly into the hall. + +"Is his Excellency within?" he asked a tall servant in plain dress who +came forward to meet him. + +"Yes, Monsieur Felix," the man answered; "he is dining very late +to-night--in fact, he has not yet risen from the table." + +"Who is with him?" Felix asked. + +"It is a very small party. Madame la Princesse has just arrived from +Paris, and his Excellency has been waiting for her." + +He mentioned a few more names; there was no one of importance. Felix +walked into the hall-porter's office and scribbled a few words on half a +sheet of paper, which he placed in an envelope and carefully sealed. + +"Let his Excellency have this privately and at once," he said to the +man; "I will go into the waiting room." + +The man withdrew with the note, and Felix crossed the hall and entered +a small room nearly opposite. It was luxuriously furnished with easy +chairs and divans; there were cigars, and cigarettes, and decanters upon +a round table. Felix took note of none of these things, nor did he sit +down. He stood with his hands behind him, looking steadily into the +fire. His cheeks were almost livid, save for a single spot of burning +colour high up on his cheek-bone. His fingers twitched nervously, his +eyes were dry and restlessly bright. He was evidently in a state of +great excitement. In less than two minutes the door opened, and a tall, +distinguished-looking man, grey headed, but with a moustache still +almost black, came softly into the room. His breast glittered with +orders, and he was in full Court dress. He nodded kindly to the young +man, who greeted him with respect. + +"Is it anything important, Felix?" he asked; "you are looking tired." + +"Yes, your Excellency, it is important," Felix answered; "it concerns +the man Sabin." + +The Ambassador nodded. + +"Well," he said, "what of him? You have not been seeking to settle +accounts with him, I trust, after our conversation, and your promise?" + +Felix shook his head. + +"No," he said. "I gave my word and I shall keep it! Perhaps you may some +day regret that you interfered between us." + +"I think not," the Prince replied. "Your services are valuable to me, my +dear Felix; and in this country, more than any other, deeds of violence +are treated with scant ceremony, and affairs of honour are not +understood. No, I saved you from yourself for myself. It was an +excellent thing for both of us." + +"I trust," Felix repeated, "that your Excellency may always think so. +But to be brief. The report from Cartienne is to hand." + +The Ambassador nodded and listened expectantly. + +"He confirms fully," Felix continued, "the value of the documents which +are in question. How he obtained access to them he does not say, but his +report is absolute. He considers that they justify fully the man Sabin's +version of them." + +The Prince smiled. + +"My own judgment is verified," he said. "I believed in the man from the +first. It is good. By the bye, have you seen anything of Mr. Sabin +to-day?" + +"I have come straight," Felix said, "from watching his house." + +"Yes?" + +"The Baron von Knigenstein has been there alone, incognito, for more +than an hour. I watched him go in--and watched him out." + +The Prince's genial smile vanished. His face grew suddenly as dark as +thunder. The Muscovite crept out unawares. There was a fierce light in +his eyes, and his face was like the face of a wolf; yet his voice when +he spoke was low. + +"So ho!" he said softly. "Mr. Sabin is doing a little flirting, is he? +Ah!" + +"I believe," the young man answered slowly, "that he has advanced still +further than that. The Baron was there for an hour. He came out walking +like a young man. He was in a state of great excitement." + +The Prince sat down and stroked the side of his face thoughtfully. + +"The great elephant!" he muttered. "Fancy such a creature calling +himself a diplomatist! It is well, Felix," he added, "that I had +finished my dinner, otherwise you would certainly have spoilt it. If +they have met like this, there is no end to the possibilities of it. I +must see Sabin immediately. It ought to be easy to make him understand +that I am not to be trifled with. Find out where he is to-night, Felix; +I must follow him." + +Felix took up his hat. + +"I will be back," he said, "in half an hour." + +The Prince returned to his guests, and Felix drove off. When he returned +his chief was waiting for him alone. + +"Mr. Sabin," Felix announced, "left town half an hour ago." + +"For abroad!" the Prince exclaimed, with flashing eyes. "He has gone to +Germany!" + +Felix shook his head. + +"On the contrary," he said; "he has gone down into Norfolk to play +golf." + +"Into Norfolk to play golf!" the Prince repeated in a tone of scornful +wonder. "Did you believe a story like that, Felix? Rubbish!" + +Felix smiled slightly. + +"It is quite true," he said. "Labanoff makes no mistakes, and he saw him +come out of his house, take his ticket at King's Cross, and actually +leave the station." + +"Are you sure that it is not a blind?" the Prince asked incredulously. + +Felix shook his head. + +"It is quite true, your Excellency," he said. "If you knew the man as +well as I do, you would not be surprised. He is indeed a very +extraordinary person--he does these sort of things. Besides, he wants to +keep out of the way." + +The Prince's face darkened. + +"He will find my way a little hard to get out of," he said fiercely. +"Go and get some dinner, Felix, and then try and find out whether +Knigenstein has any notion of leaving England. He will not trust a +matter like this to correspondence. Stay--I know how to manage it. I +will write and ask him to dine here next week. You shall take the +invitation." + +"He will be at Arlington Street," Felix remarked. + +"Well, you can take it on to him there," the Prince directed. "Go first +to his house and ask for his whereabouts. They will tell you Arlington +Street. You will not know, of course, the contents of the letter you +carry; your instructions were simply to deliver it and get an answer. +Good! you will do that." + +The Prince, while he talked, was writing the note. + +Felix thrust it into his pocket and went out. In less than half an hour +he was back. The Baron had returned to the German Embassy unexpectedly +before going to Arlington Street, and Felix had caught him there. The +Prince tore open the answer, and read it hastily through. + + "THE GERMAN EMBASSY, + "_Wednesday evening._ + + "Alas! my dear Prince, had I been able, nothing could have given me + so much pleasure as to have joined your little party, but, + unfortunately, this wretched climate, which we both so justly + loathe, has upset my throat again, and I have too much regard for + my life to hand myself over to the English doctors. Accordingly, + all being well, I go to Berlin to-morrow night to consult our own + justly-famed Dr. Steinlaus. + + "Accept, my dear Prince, this expression of my most sincere regret, + and believe me, yours most sincerely, + + "KARL VON KNIGENSTEIN." + +"The doctor whom he has gone to consult is no man of medicine," the +Prince said thoughtfully. "He has gone to the Emperor." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +WOLFENDEN'S LOVE-MAKING + + +"Lord Wolfenden?" + +He laughed at her surprise, and took off his cap. He was breathless, for +he had been scrambling up the steep side of the hill on which she was +standing, looking steadfastly out to sea. Down in the valley from which +he had come a small boy with a bag of golf clubs on his back was +standing, making imaginary swings at the ball which lay before him. + +"I saw you from below," he explained. "I couldn't help coming up. You +don't mind?" + +"No; I am glad to see you," she said simply. "You startled me, that is +all. I did not hear you coming, and I had forgotten almost where I was. +I was thinking." + +He stood by her side, his cap still in his hand, facing the strong sea +wind. Again he was conscious of that sense of extreme pleasure which had +always marked his chance meetings with her. This time he felt perhaps +that there was some definite reason for it. There was something in her +expression, when she had turned so swiftly round, which seemed to tell +him that her first words were not altogether meaningless. She was +looking a little pale, and he fancied also a little sad. There was an +inexpressible wistfulness about her soft, dark eyes; the light and +charming gaiety of her manner, so un-English and so attractive to him, +had given place to quite another mood. Whatever her thoughts might have +been when he had first seen her there, her tall, slim figure outlined +so clearly against the abrupt sky line, they were at all events scarcely +pleasant ones. He felt that his sudden appearance had not been unwelcome +to her, and he was unreasonably pleased. + +"You are still all alone," he remarked. "Has Mr. Sabin not arrived?" + +She shook her head. + +"I am all alone, and I am fearfully and miserably dull. This place does +not attract me at all: not at this time of the year. I have not heard +from my uncle. He may be here at any moment." + +There was no time like the present. He was suddenly bold. It was an +opportunity which might never be vouchsafed to him again. + +"May I come with you--a little way along the cliffs?" he asked. + +She looked at him and hesitated. More than ever he was aware of some +subtle change in her. It was as though her mental attitude towards him +had adapted itself in some way to this new seriousness of demeanour. It +was written in her features--his eyes read it eagerly. A certain +aloofness, almost hauteur, about the lines of her mouth, creeping out +even in her most careless tones, and plainly manifest in the carriage of +her head, was absent. She seemed immeasurably nearer to him. She was +softer and more womanly. Even her voice in its new and more delicate +notes betrayed the change. Perhaps it was only a mood, yet he would take +advantage of it. + +"What about your golf?" she said, motioning down into the valley where +his antagonist was waiting. + +"Oh, I can easily arrange that," he declared cheerfully. "Fortunately I +was playing the professional and he will not mind leaving off." + +He waved to his caddie, and scribbled a few lines on the back of a card. + +"Give that to McPherson," he said. "You can clean my clubs and put them +in my locker. I shall not be playing again this morning." + +The boy disappeared down the hill. They stood for a moment side by side. + +"I have spoilt your game," she said. "I am sorry." + +He laughed. + +"I think you know," he said boldly, "that I would rather spend five +minutes with you than a day at golf." + +She moved on with a smile at the corners of her lips. + +"What a downright person you are!" she said. "But honestly to-day I am +not in the mood to be alone. I am possessed with an uneasy spirit of +sadness. I am afraid of my thoughts." + +"I am only sorry," he said, "that you should have any that are not happy +ones. Don't you think perhaps that you are a little lonely? You seem to +have so few friends." + +"It is not that," she answered. "I have many and very dear friends, and +it is only for a little time that I am separated from them. It is simply +that I am not used to solitude, and I am becoming a creature of moods +and presentiments. It is very foolish that I give way to them; but +to-day I am miserable. You must stretch out that strong hand of yours, +my friend, and pull me up." + +"I will do my best," he said. "I am afraid I cannot claim that there is +anything in the shape of affinity between us; for to-day I am +particularly happy." + +She met his eyes briefly, and looked away seawards with the ghost of a +sorrowful smile upon her lips. Her words sounded like a warning. + +"Do not be sure," she said. "It may not last." + +"It will last," he said, "so long as you choose. For to-day you are the +mistress of my moods!" + +"Then I am very sorry for you," she said earnestly. + +He laughed it off, but her words brought a certain depression with +them. He went on to speak of something else. + +"I have been thinking about you this morning," he said. "If your uncle +is going to play golf here, it will be very dull for you. Would you care +for my mother to come and see you? She would be delighted, I am sure, +for it is dull for her too, and she is fond of young people. If you----" + +He stopped short She was shaking her head slowly. The old despondency +was back in her face. Her eyes were full of trouble. She laid her +delicately gloved fingers upon his arm. + +"My friend," she said, "it is very kind of you to think of it--but it is +impossible. I cannot tell you why as I would wish. But at present I do +not desire any acquaintances. I must not, in fact, think of it. It would +give me great pleasure to know your mother. Only I must not. Believe me +that it is impossible." + +Wolfenden was a little hurt--a good deal mystified. It was a very odd +thing. He was not in the least a snob, but he knew that the visit of the +Countess of Deringham, whose name was still great in the social world, +was not a thing to be refused without grave reasons by a girl in the +position of Mr. Sabin's niece. The old question came back to him with an +irresistible emphasis. Who were these people? He looked at her +furtively. He was an observant man in the small details of a woman's +toilette, and he knew that he had never met a girl better turned out +than his present companion. The cut of her tailor-made gown was +perfection, her gloves and boots could scarcely have come from anywhere +but Paris. She carried herself too with a perfect ease and indefinable +distinction which could only have come to her by descent. She was a +perfect type of the woman of breeding--unrestrained, yet aristocratic to +the tips of her finger-nails. + +He sighed as he looked away from her. + +"You are a very mysterious young woman," he said, with a forced air of +gaiety. + +"I am afraid that I am," she admitted regretfully. "I can assure you +that I am very tired of it. But--it will not last for very much longer." + +"You are really going away, then?" he asked quickly. + +"Yes. We shall not be in England much longer." + +"You are going for good?" he asked. "I mean, to remain away?" + +"When we go," she said, "it is very doubtful if ever I shall set my foot +on English soil again." + +He drew a quick breath. It was his one chance, then. Her last words must +be his excuse for such precipitation. They had scrambled down through an +opening in the cliffs, and there was no one else in sight. Some instinct +seemed to tell her what was coming. She tried to talk, but she could +not. His hand had closed upon hers, and she had not the strength to draw +it away. It was so very English this sudden wooing. No one had ever +dared to touch her fingers before without first begging permission. + +"Don't you know--Helene--that I love you? I want you to live in +England--to be my wife. Don't say that I haven't a chance. I know that I +ought not to have spoken yet, but you are going away so soon, and I am +so afraid that I might not see you again alone. Don't stop me, please. I +am not asking you now for your love. I know that it is too soon--to hope +for that--altogether! I only want you to know, and to be allowed to +hope." + +"You must not. It is impossible." + +The words were very low, and they came from her quivering with intense +pain. He released her fingers. She leaned upon a huge boulder near and, +resting her face upon her hand, gazed dreamily out to sea. + +"I am very sorry," she said. "My uncle was right after all. It was not +wise for us to meet. I ought to have no friends. It was not wise--it +was very, very foolish." + +Being a man, his first thoughts had been for himself. But at her words +he forgot everything except that she too was unhappy. + +"Do you mean," he said slowly, "that you cannot care for me, or that +there are difficulties which seem to you to make it impossible?" + +She looked up at him, and he scarcely knew her transfigured face, with +the tears glistening upon her eyelashes. + +"Do not tempt me to say what might make both of us more unhappy," she +begged. "Be content to know that I cannot marry you." + +"You have promised somebody else?" + +"I shall probably marry," she said deliberately, "somebody else." + +He ground his heel into the soft sands, and his eyes flashed. + +"You are being coerced!" he cried. + +She lifted her head proudly. + +"There is no person breathing," she said quietly, "who would dare to +attempt such a thing!" + +Then he looked out with her towards the sea, and they watched the long, +rippling waves break upon the brown sands, the faint and unexpected +gleam of wintry sunshine lying upon the bosom of the sea, and the +screaming seagulls, whose white wings shone like alabaster against the +darker clouds. For him these things were no longer beautiful, nor did he +see the sunlight, which with a sudden fitfulness had warmed the air. It +was all very cold and grey. It was not possible for him to read the +riddle yet--she had not said that she could not care for him. There was +that hope! + +"There is no one," he said slowly, "who could coerce you? You will not +marry me, but you will probably marry somebody else. Is it, then, that +you care for this other man, and not for me?" + +She shook her head. + +"Of the two," she said, with a faint attempt at her old manner, "I +prefer you. Yet I shall marry him." + +Wolfenden became aware of an unexpected sensation. He was getting angry. + +"I have a right," he said, resting his hand upon her shoulder, and +gaining courage from her evident weakness, "to know more. I have given +you my love. At least you owe me in return your confidence. Let me have +it. You shall see that even if I may not be your lover, I can at least +be your faithful friend." + +She touched his hand tenderly. It was scarcely kind of her--certainly +not wise. She had taken off her glove, and the touch of her soft, +delicate fingers thrilled him. The blood rushed through his veins like +mad music. The longing to take her into his arms was almost +uncontrollable. Her dark eyes looked upon him very kindly. + +"My friend," she said, "I know that you would be faithful. You must not +be angry with me. Nay, it is your pity I want. Some day you will know +all. Then you will understand. Perhaps even you will be sorry for me, if +I am not forgotten. I only wish that I could tell you more; only I may +not. It makes me sad to deny you, but I must." + +"I mean to know," he said doggedly--"I mean to know everything. You are +sacrificing yourself. To talk of marrying a man whom you do not love is +absurd. Who are you? If you do not tell me, I shall go to your guardian. +I shall go to Mr. Sabin." + +"Mr. Sabin is always at your service," said a suave voice almost at his +elbow. "Never more so than at the present." + +Wolfenden turned round with a start. It was indeed Mr. Sabin who stood +there--Mr. Sabin, in unaccustomed guise, clad in a tweed suit and +leaning upon an ordinary walking-stick. + +"Come," he said good-humouredly, "don't look at me as though I were +something uncanny. If you had not been so very absorbed you would have +heard me call to you from the cliffs. I wanted to save myself the climb, +but you were deaf, both of you. Am I the first man whose footsteps upon +the sands have fallen lightly? Now, what is it you want to ask me, Lord +Wolfenden?" + +Wolfenden was in no way disturbed at the man's coming. On the contrary, +he was glad of it. He answered boldly and without hesitation. + +"I want to marry your niece, Mr. Sabin," he said. + +"Very natural indeed," Mr. Sabin remarked easily. "If I were a young man +of your age and evident taste I have not the least doubt but that I +should want to marry her myself. I offer you my sincere sympathy. +Unfortunately it is impossible." + +"I want to know," Wolfenden said, "why it is impossible? I want a reason +of some sort." + +"You shall have one with pleasure," Mr. Sabin said. "My niece is already +betrothed." + +"To a man," Wolfenden exclaimed indignantly, "whom she admits that she +does not care for!" + +"Whom she has nevertheless," Mr. Sabin said firmly, and with a sudden +flash of anger in his eyes, "agreed and promised of her own free will to +marry. Look here, Lord Wolfenden, I do not desire to quarrel with you. +You saved me from a very awkward accident a few nights ago, and I remain +your debtor. Be reasonable! My niece has refused your offer. I confirm +her refusal. Your proposal does us both much honour, but it is utterly +out of the question. That is putting it plainly, is it not? Now, you +must choose for yourself--whether you will drop the subject and remain +our valued friend, or whether you compel me to ask you to leave us at +once, and consider us henceforth as strangers." + +The girl laid her hand upon his shoulder and looked at him pleadingly. + +"For my sake," she said, "choose to remain our friend, and let this be +forgotten." + +"For your sake, I consent," he said. "But I give no promise that I will +not at some future time reopen the subject." + +"You will do so," Mr. Sabin said, "exactly when you desire to close your +acquaintance with us. For the rest, you have chosen wisely. Now I am +going to take you home, Helene. Afterwards, if Lord Wolfenden will give +me a match, I shall be delighted to have a round of golf with him." + +"I shall be very pleased," Wolfenden answered. + +"I will see you at the Pavilion in half an hour," Mr. Sabin said. "In +the meantime, you will please excuse us. I have a few words to say to my +niece." + +She held out both her hands, looking at him half kindly, half wistfully. + +"Goodbye," she said. "I am so sorry!" + +But he looked straight into her eyes, and he answered her bravely. He +would not admit defeat. + +"I hope that you are not," he said. "I shall never regret it." + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +FROM A DIM WORLD + + +Wolfenden was in no particularly cheerful frame of mind when, a few +moments after the half hour was up, Mr. Sabin appeared upon the pavilion +tee, followed by a tall, dark young man carrying a bag of golf clubs. +Mr. Sabin, on the other hand, was inclined to be sardonically cheerful. + +"Your handicap," he remarked, "is two. Mine is one. Suppose we play +level. We ought to make a good match." + +Wolfenden looked at him in surprise. + +"Did you say one?" + +Mr. Sabin smiled. + +"Yes; they give me one at Pau and Cannes. My foot interferes very little +with my walking upon turf. All the same, I expect you will find me an +easy victim here. Shall I drive? Just here, Dumayne," he added, pointing +to a convenient spot upon the tee with the head of his driver. "Not too +much sand." + +"Where did you get your caddie?" Wolfenden asked. "He is not one of +ours, is he?" + +Mr. Sabin shook his head. + +"I found him on some links in the South of France," he answered. "He is +the only caddie I ever knew who could make a decent tee, so I take him +about with me. He valets me as well. That will do nicely, Dumayne." + +Mr. Sabin's expression suddenly changed. His body, as though by +instinct, fell into position. He scarcely altered his stand an inch +from the position he had first taken up. Wolfenden, who had expected a +half-swing, was amazed at the wonderfully lithe, graceful movement with +which he stooped down and the club flew round his shoulder. Clean and +true the ball flew off the tee in a perfectly direct line--a capital +drive only a little short of the two hundred yards. Master and servant +watched it critically. + +"A fairly well hit ball, I think, Dumayne," Mr. Sabin remarked. + +"You got it quite clean away, sir," the man answered. "It hasn't run +very well though; you will find it a little near the far bunker for a +comfortable second." + +"I shall carry it all right," Mr. Sabin said quietly. + +Wolfenden also drove a long ball, but with a little slice. He had to +play the odd, and caught the top of the bunker. The hole fell to Mr. +Sabin in four. + +They strolled off towards the second teeing ground. + +"Are you staying down here for long?" Mr. Sabin asked. + +Wolfenden hesitated. + +"I am not sure," he said. "I am rather oddly situated at home. At any +rate I shall probably be here as long as you." + +"I am not sure about that," Mr. Sabin said. "I think that I am going to +like these links, and if so I shall not hurry away. Forgive me if I am +inquisitive, but your reference to home affairs is, I presume, in +connection with your father's health. I was very sorry to hear that he +is looked upon now as a confirmed invalid." + +Wolfenden assented gravely. He did not wish to talk about his father to +Mr. Sabin. On the other hand, Mr. Sabin was politely persistent. + +"He does not, I presume, receive visitors," he said, as they left the +tee after the third drive. + +"Never," Wolfenden answered decisively. "He suffers a good deal in +various ways, and apart from that he is very much absorbed in the +collection of some statistics connected with a hobby of his. He does not +see even his oldest friends." + +Mr. Sabin was obviously interested. + +"Many years ago," he said, "I met your father at Alexandria. He was then +in command of the _Victoria_. He would perhaps scarcely recollect me +now, but at the time he made me promise to visit him if ever I was in +England. It must be--yes, it surely must be nearly fifteen years ago." + +"I am afraid," Wolfenden remarked, watching the flight of his ball after +a successful brassy shot, "that he would have forgotten all about it by +now. His memory has suffered a good deal." + +Mr. Sabin addressed his own ball, and from a bad lie sent it flying a +hundred and fifty yards with a peculiar, jerking shot which Wolfenden +watched with envy. + +"You must have a wonderful eye," he remarked, "to hit a ball with a full +swing lying like that. Nine men out of ten would have taken an iron." + +Mr. Sabin shrugged his shoulders. He did not wish to talk golf. + +"I was about to remark," he said, "that your father had then the +reputation of, and impressed me as being, the best informed man with +regard to English naval affairs with whom I ever conversed." + +"He was considered an authority, I believe," Wolfenden admitted. + +"What I particularly admired about him," Mr. Sabin continued, "was the +absence of that cocksureness which sometimes, I am afraid, almost blinds +the judgment of your great naval officers. I have heard him even discuss +the possibility of an invasion of England with the utmost gravity. He +admitted that it was far from improbable." + +"My father's views," Wolfenden said, "have always been pessimistic as +regards the actual strength of our navy and coast defences. I believe he +used to make himself a great nuisance at the Admiralty." + +"He has ceased now, I suppose," Mr. Sabin remarked, "to take much +interest in the matter?" + +"I can scarcely say that," Wolfenden answered. "His interest, however, +has ceased to be official. I daresay you have heard that he was in +command of the Channel Fleet at the time of the terrible disaster in the +Solent. He retired almost immediately afterwards, and we fear that his +health will never altogether recover from the shock." + +There was a short intermission in the conversation. Wolfenden had sliced +his ball badly from the sixth tee, and Mr. Sabin, having driven as usual +with almost mathematical precision, their ways for a few minutes lay +apart. They came together, however, on the putting-green, and had a +short walk to the next tee. + +"That was a very creditable half to you," Mr. Sabin remarked. + +"My approach," Wolfenden admitted, "was a lucky one." + +"It was a very fine shot," Mr. Sabin insisted. "The spin helped you, of +course, but you were justified in allowing for that, especially as you +seem to play most of your mashie shots with a cut. What were we talking +about? Oh, I remember of course. It was about your father and the Solent +catastrophe. Admiral Deringham was not concerned with the actual +disaster in any way, was he?" + +Wolfenden shook his hand. + +"Thank God, no!" he said emphatically. "But Admiral Marston was his +dearest friend, and he saw him go down with six hundred of his men. He +was so close that they even shouted farewells to one another." + +"It must have been a terrible shock," Mr. Sabin admitted. "No wonder he +has suffered from it. Now you have spoken of it, I think I remember +reading about his retirement. A sad thing for a man of action, as he +always was. Does he remain in Norfolk all the year round?" + +"He never leaves Deringham Hall," Wolfenden answered. "He used to make +short yachting cruises until last year, but that is all over now. It is +twelve months since he stepped outside his own gates." + +Mr. Sabin remained deeply interested. + +"Has he any occupation beyond this hobby of which you spoke?" he asked. +"He rides and shoots a little, I suppose, like the rest of your country +gentlemen." + +Then for the first time Wolfenden began to wonder dimly whether Mr. +Sabin had some purpose of his own in so closely pursuing the thread of +this conversation. He looked at him keenly. At the moment his attention +seemed altogether directed to the dangerous proximity of his ball and a +tall sand bunker. Throughout his interest had seemed to be fairly +divided between the game and the conversation which he had initiated. +None the less Wolfenden was puzzled. He could scarcely believe that Mr. +Sabin had any real, personal interest in his father, but on the other +hand it was not easy to understand this persistent questioning as to his +occupation and doings. The last inquiry, carelessly though it was asked, +was a direct one. It seemed scarcely worth while to evade it. + +"No; my father has special interests," he answered slowly. "He is +engaged now upon some work connected with his profession." + +"Indeed!" + +Mr. Sabin's exclamation suggested a curiosity which it was not +Wolfenden's purpose to gratify. He remained silent. The game proceeded +without remark for a quarter of an hour. Wolfenden was now three down, +and with all the stimulus of a strong opponent he set himself to +recover lost ground. The ninth hole he won with a fine, long putt, which +Mr. Sabin applauded heartily. + +They drove from the next tee and walked together after their balls, +which lay within a few yards of one another. + +"I am very much interested," Mr. Sabin remarked, "in what you have been +telling me about your father. It confirms rather a curious story about +Lord Deringham which I heard in London a few weeks ago. I was told, I +forget by whom, that your father had devoted years of his life to a +wonderfully minute study of English coast defences and her naval +strength. My informant went on to say that--forgive me, but this was +said quite openly you know--that whilst on general matters your father's +mental health was scarcely all that could be desired, his work in +connection with these two subjects was of great value. It struck me as +being a very singular and a very interesting case." + +Wolfenden shook his head dubiously. + +"Your informant was misled, I am afraid," he said. "My father takes his +hobby very seriously, and of course we humour him. But as regards the +value of his work I am afraid it is worthless." + +"Have you tested it yourself?" Mr. Sabin asked. + +"I have only seen a few pages," Wolfenden admitted, "but they were +wholly unintelligible. My chief authority is his own secretary, who is +giving up an excellent place simply because he is ashamed to take money +for assisting in work which he declares to be utterly hopeless." + +"He is a man," Mr. Sabin remarked, "whom you can trust, I suppose? His +judgment is not likely to be at fault." + +"There is not the faintest chance of it," Wolfenden declared. "He is a +very simple, good-hearted little chap and tremendously conscientious. +What your friend told you, by the bye, reminds me of rather a curious +thing which happened yesterday." + +Wolfenden paused. There did not seem, however, to be any reason for +concealment, and his companion was evidently deeply interested. + +"A man called upon us," Wolfenden continued, "with a letter purporting +to be from our local doctor here. He gave his name as Franklin Wilmot, +the celebrated physician, you know, and explained that he was interested +in a new method of treating mental complaints. He was very plausible and +he explained everything unusual about his visit most satisfactorily. He +wanted a sight of the work on which my father was engaged, and after +talking it over we introduced him into the study during my father's +absence. From it he promised to give us a general opinion upon the case +and its treatment. Whilst he was there our doctor drove up in hot haste. +The letter was a forgery, the man an impostor." + +Wolfenden, glancing towards Mr. Sabin as he finished his story, was +surprised at the latter's imperfectly concealed interest. His lips were +indrawn, his face seemed instinct with a certain passionate but finely +controlled emotion. Only the slight hiss of his breath and the gleam of +his black eyes betrayed him. + +"What happened?" he asked. "Did you secure the fellow?" + +Wolfenden played a long shot and waited whilst he watched the run of his +ball. Then he turned towards his companion and shook his head. + +"No! He was a great deal too clever for that. He sent me out to meet +Whitlett, and when we got back he had shown us a clean pair of heels. He +got away through the window." + +"Did he take away any papers with him?" Mr. Sabin asked. + +"He may have taken a loose sheet or two," Wolfenden said. "Nothing of +any consequence, I think. He had no time. I don't think that that could +have been his object altogether, or he would scarcely have suggested my +remaining with him in the study." + +Mr. Sabin drew a quick, little breath. He played an iron shot, and +played it very badly. + +"It was a most extraordinary occurrence," he remarked. "What was the man +like? Did he seem like an ordinary thief?" + +Wolfenden shook his head decidedly. + +"Not in the least," he declared. "He was well dressed and his manners +were excellent. He had all the appearance of a man of position. He +completely imposed upon both my mother and myself." + +"How long were you in the study before Dr. Whitlett arrived?" Mr. Sabin +asked. + +"Barely five minutes." + +It was odd, but Mr. Sabin seemed positively relieved. + +"And Mr. Blatherwick," he asked, "where was he all the time?" + +"Who?" Wolfenden asked in surprise. + +"Mr. Blatherwick--your father's secretary," Mr. Sabin repeated coolly; +"I understood you to say that his name was Blatherwick." + +"I don't remember mentioning his name at all," Wolfenden said, vaguely +disturbed. + +Mr. Sabin addressed his ball with care and played it deliberately on to +the green. Then he returned to the subject. + +"I think that you must have done," he said suavely, "or I should +scarcely have known it. Was he in the room?" + +"All the time," Wolfenden answered. + +Mr. Sabin drew another little breath. + +"He was there when the fellow bolted?" + +Wolfenden nodded. + +"Why did he not try to stop him?" + +Wolfenden smiled. + +"Physically," he remarked, "it would have been an impossibility. +Blatherwick is a small man and an exceedingly nervous one. He is an +honest little fellow, but I am afraid he would not have shone in an +encounter of that sort." + +Mr. Sabin was on the point of asking another question, but Wolfenden +interrupted him. He scarcely knew why, but he wanted to get away from +the subject. He was sorry that he had ever broached it. + +"Come," he said, "we are talking too much. Let us play golf. I am sure I +put you off that last stroke." + +Mr. Sabin took the hint and was silent. They were on the eleventh green, +and bordering it on the far side was an open road--the sea road, which +followed the coast for a mile or two and then turned inland to +Deringham. Wolfenden, preparing to putt, heard wheels close at hand, and +as the stroke was a critical one for him he stood back from his ball +till the vehicle had passed. Glancing carelessly up, he saw his own blue +liveries and his mother leaning back in a barouche. With a word of +apology to his opponent, he started forward to meet her. + +The coachman, who had recognised him, pulled up his horses in the middle +of the road. Wolfenden walked swiftly over to the carriage side. His +mother's appearance had alarmed him. She was looking at him, and yet +past him. Her cheeks were pale. Her eyes were set and distended. One of +her hands seemed to be convulsively clutching the side of the carriage +nearest to her. She had all the appearance of a woman who is suddenly +face to face with some terrible vision. Wolfenden looked over his +shoulder quickly. He could see nothing more alarming in the background +than the figure of his opponent, who, with his back partly turned to +them, was gazing out to sea. He stood at the edge of the green on +slightly rising ground, and his figure was outlined with almost curious +distinctness against the background of air and sky. + +"Has anything fresh happened, mother?" Wolfenden asked, with concern. "I +am afraid you are upset. Were you looking for me?" + +She shook her head. It struck him that she was endeavouring to assume a +composure which she assuredly did not possess. + +"No; there is nothing fresh. Naturally I am not well. I am hoping that +the drive will do me good. Are you enjoying your golf?" + +"Very much," Wolfenden answered. "The course has really been capitally +kept. We are having a close match." + +"Who is your opponent?" + +Wolfenden glanced behind him carelessly. Mr. Sabin had thrown several +balls upon the green, and was practising long putts. + +"Fellow named Sabin," he answered. "No one you would be likely to be +interested in. He comes down from London, and he plays a remarkably fine +game. Rather a saturnine-looking personage, isn't he?" + +"He is a most unpleasant-looking man," Lady Deringham faltered, white +now to the lips. "Where did you meet him? Here or in London?" + +"In London," Wolfenden explained. "Rather a curious meeting it was too. +A fellow attacked him coming out of a restaurant one night and I +interfered--just in time. He has taken a little house down here." + +"Is he alone?" Lady Deringham asked. + +"He has a niece living with him," Wolfenden answered. "She is a very +charming girl. I think that you would like her." + +The last words he added with something of an effort, and an indifference +which was palpably assumed. Lady Deringham, however, did not appear to +notice them at all. + +"Have no more to do with him than you can help, Wolfenden," she said, +leaning a little over to him, and speaking in a half-fearful whisper. "I +think his face is awful." + +Wolfenden laughed. + +"I am not likely to see a great deal of him," he declared. "In fact I +can't say that he seems very cordially disposed towards me, considering +that I saved him from rather a nasty accident. By the bye, he said +something about having met the Admiral at Alexandria. You have never +come across him, I suppose?" + +The sun was warm and the wind had dropped, or Wolfenden could almost +have declared that his mother's teeth were chattering. Her eyes were +fixed again in a rigid stare which passed him by and travelled beyond. +He looked over his shoulder. Mr. Sabin, apparently tired of practising, +was standing directly facing them, leaning upon his putter. He was +looking steadfastly at Lady Deringham, not in the least rudely, but with +a faint show of curiosity and a smile which in no way improved his +appearance slightly parting his lips. Meeting his gaze, Wolfenden looked +away with an odd feeling of uneasiness. + +"You are right," he said. "His face is really a handsome one in a way, +but he certainly is not prepossessing-looking!" + +Lady Deringham had recovered herself. She leaned back amongst the +cushions. + +"Didn't you ask me," she said, "whether I had ever met the man? I cannot +remember--certainly I was at Alexandria with your father, so perhaps I +did. You will be home to dinner?" + +He nodded. + +"Of course. How is the Admiral to-day?" + +"Remarkably well. He asked for you just before I came out." + +"I shall see him at dinner," Wolfenden said "Perhaps he will let me +smoke a cigar with him afterwards." + +He stood away from the carriage and lifted his cap with a smile. The +coachman touched his horses and the barouche rolled on. Wolfenden walked +slowly back to his companion. + +"You will excuse my leaving you," he said. "I was afraid that my mother +might have been looking for me." + +"By all means," Mr. Sabin answered. "I hope that you did not hurry on my +account. I am trying," he added, "to recollect if ever I met Lady +Deringham. At my time of life one's reminiscences become so chaotic." + +He looked keenly at Wolfenden, who answered him after a moment's +hesitation. + +"Lady Deringham was at Alexandria with my father, so it is just +possible," he said. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +HARCUTT'S INSPIRATION + + +Wolfenden lost his match upon the last hole; nevertheless it was a +finely contested game, and when Mr. Sabin proposed a round on the +following day, he accepted without hesitation. He did not like Mr. Sabin +any the better--in fact he was beginning to acquire a deliberate +distrust of him. Something of that fear with which other people regarded +him had already communicated itself to Wolfenden. Without having the +shadow of a definite suspicion with regard to the man or his character, +he was inclined to resent that interest in the state of affairs at +Deringham Hall which Mr. Sabin had undoubtedly manifested. At the same +time he was Helene's guardian, and so long as he occupied that position +Wolfenden was not inclined to give up his acquaintance. + +They parted in the pavilion, Wolfenden lingering for a few minutes, half +hoping that he might receive some sort of invitation to call at Mr. +Sabin's temporary abode. Perhaps, under the circumstances, it was +scarcely possible that any such invitation could be given, although had +it been Wolfenden would certainly have accepted it. For he had no idea +of at once relinquishing all hope as regards Helene. He was naturally +sanguine, and he was very much in love. There was something mysterious +about that other engagement of which he had been told. He had an idea +that, but for Mr. Sabin's unexpected appearance, Helene would have +offered him a larger share of her confidence. He was content to wait for +it. + +Wolfenden had ridden over from home, and left his horse in the hotel +stables. As he passed the hall a familiar figure standing in the open +doorway hailed him. He glanced quickly up, and stopped short. It was +Harcutt who was standing there, in a Norfolk tweed suit and thick boots. + +"Of all men in the world!" he exclaimed in blank surprise. "What, in the +name of all that's wonderful, are you doing here?" + +Harcutt answered with a certain doggedness, almost as though he resented +Wolfenden's astonishment. + +"I don't know why you should look at me as though I were a ghost," he +said. "If it comes to that, I might ask you the same question. What are +you doing here?" + +"Oh! I'm at home," Wolfenden answered promptly. "I'm down to visit my +people; it's only a mile or two from here to Deringham Hall." + +Harcutt dropped his eyeglass and laughed shortly. + +"You are wonderfully filial all of a sudden," he remarked. "Of course +you had no other reason for coming!" + +"None at all," Wolfenden answered firmly. "I came because I was sent +for. It was a complete surprise to me to meet Mr. Sabin here--at least +it would have been if I had not travelled down with his niece. Their +coming was simply a stroke of luck for me." + +Harcutt assumed a more amiable expression. + +"I am glad to hear it," he said. "I thought that you were stealing a +march on me, and there really was not any necessity, for our interests +do not clash in the least. It was different between you and poor old +Densham, but he's given it up of his own accord and he sailed for India +yesterday." + +"Poor old chap!" Wolfenden said softly. "He would not tell you, I +suppose, even at the last, what it was that he had heard about--these +people?" + +"He would not tell me," Harcutt answered; "but he sent a message to you. +He wished me to remind you that you had been friends for fifteen years, +and he was not likely to deceive you. He was leaving the country, he +said, because he had certain and definite information concerning the +girl, which made it absolutely hopeless for either you or he to think of +her. His advice to you was to do the same." + +"I do not doubt Densham," Wolfenden said slowly; "but I doubt his +information. It came from a woman who has been Densham's friend. Then, +again, what may seem an insurmountable obstacle to him, may not be so to +me. Nothing vague in the shape of warnings will deter me." + +"Well," Harcutt said, "I have given you Densham's message and my +responsibility concerning it is ended. As you know, my own interests lie +in a different direction. Now I want a few minutes' conversation with +you. The hotel rooms are a little too public. Are you in a hurry, or can +you walk up and down the drive with me once or twice?" + +"I can spare half an hour very well," Wolfenden said; "but I should +prefer to do no more walking just yet. Come and sit down here--it isn't +cold." + +They chose a seat looking over the sea. Harcutt glanced carefully all +around. There was no possibility of their being overheard, nor indeed +was there any one in sight. + +"I am developing fresh instincts," Harcutt said, as he crossed his legs +and lit a cigarette. "I am here, I should like you to understand, purely +in a professional capacity--and I want your help." + +"But my dear fellow," Wolfenden said; "I don't understand. If, when you +say professionally, you mean as a journalist, why, what on earth in this +place can there be worth the chronicling? There is scarcely a single +person known to society in the neighbourhood." + +"Mr. Sabin is here!" Harcutt remarked quietly. + +Wolfenden looked at him in surprise. + +"That might have accounted for your presence here as a private +individual," he said; "but professionally, how on earth can he interest +you?" + +"He interests me professionally very much indeed," Harcutt answered. + +Wolfenden was getting puzzled. + +"Mr. Sabin interests you professionally?" he repeated slowly. "Then you +have learnt something. Mr. Sabin has an identity other than his own." + +"I suspect him to be," Harcutt said slowly, "a most important and +interesting personage. I have learnt a little concerning him. I am here +to learn more; I am convinced that it is worth while." + +"Have you learnt anything," Wolfenden asked, "concerning his niece?" + +"Absolutely nothing," Harcutt answered decidedly. "I may as well repeat +that my interest is in the man alone. I am not a sentimental person at +all. His niece is perhaps the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in +my life, but it is with no thought of her that I have taken up this +investigation. Having assured you of that, I want to know if you will +help me?" + +"You must speak a little more plainly," Wolfenden said; "you are +altogether too vague. What help do you want, and for what purpose?" + +"Mr. Sabin," Harcutt said; "is engaged in great political schemes. He is +in constant and anxious communication with the ambassadors of two great +Powers. He affects secrecy in all his movements, and the name by which +he is known is without doubt an assumed one. This much I have learnt +for certain. My own ideas are too vague yet for me to formulate. I +cannot say any more, except that I believe him to be deep in some design +which is certainly not for the welfare of this country. It is my +assurance of this which justifies me in exercising a certain espionage +upon his movements--which justifies me also, Wolfenden, in asking for +your assistance." + +"My position," Wolfenden remarked, "becomes a little difficult. Whoever +this man Sabin may be, nothing would induce me to believe ill of his +niece. I could take no part in anything likely to do her harm. You will +understand this better, Harcutt, when I tell you that, a few hours ago, +I asked her to be my wife." + +"You asked her--what?" + +"To be my wife." + +"And she?" + +"Refused me!" + +Harcutt looked at him for a moment in blank amazement. + +"Who refused you--Mr. Sabin or his niece?" + +"Both!" + +"Did she--did Mr. Sabin know your position, did he understand that you +are the future Earl of Deringham?" + +"Without a doubt," Wolfenden answered drily; "in fact Mr. Sabin seems to +be pretty well up in my genealogy. He had met my father once, he told +me." + +Harcutt, with the natural selfishness of a man engaged upon his +favourite pursuit, quite forgot to sympathise with his friend. He +thought only of the bearing of this strange happening upon his quest. + +"This," he remarked, "disposes once and for all of the suggestion that +these people are ordinary adventurers." + +"If any one," Wolfenden said, "was ever idiotic enough to entertain the +possibility of such a thing. I may add that from the first I have had +almost to thrust my acquaintance upon them, especially so far as Mr. +Sabin is concerned. He has never asked me to call upon them here, or in +London; and this morning when he found me with his niece he was quietly +but furiously angry." + +"It is never worth while," Harcutt said, "to reject a possibility until +you have tested and proved it. What you say, however, settles this one. +They are not adventurers in any sense of the word. Now, will you answer +me a few questions? It may be just as much to your advantage as to mine +to go into this matter." + +Wolfenden nodded. + +"You can ask the questions, at any rate," he said; "I will answer them +if I can." + +"The young lady--did she refuse you from personal reasons? A man can +always tell, you know. Hadn't you the impression, from her answer, that +it was more the force of circumstances than any objection to you which +prompted her negative? I've put it bluntly, but you know what I mean." + +Wolfenden did not answer for nearly a minute. He was gazing steadily +seaward, recalling with a swift effort of his imagination every word +which had passed between them--he could even hear her voice, and see her +face with the soft, dark eyes so close to his. It was a luxury of +recollection. + +"I will admit," he said, quietly, "that what you suggest has already +occurred to me. If it had not, I should be much more unhappy than I am +at this moment. To tell you the honest truth I was not content with her +answer, or rather the manner of it. I should have had some hope of +inducing her to, at any rate, modify it, but for Mr. Sabin's unexpected +appearance. About him, at least, there was no hesitation; he said no, +and he meant it." + +"That is what I imagined might be the case," Harcutt said thoughtfully. +"I don't want to have you think that I imagine any disrespect to the +young lady, but don't you see that either she and Mr. Sabin must stand +towards one another in an equivocal position, or else they must be in +altogether a different station of life to their assumed one, when they +dismiss the subject of an alliance with you so peremptorily." + +Wolfenden flushed up to the temples, and his eyes were lit with fire. + +"You may dismiss all idea of the former possibility," he said, with +ominous quietness. "If you wish me to discuss this matter with you +further you will be particularly careful to avoid the faintest allusion +to it." + +"I have never seriously entertained it," Harcutt assented cheerfully; +"I, too, believe in the girl. She looks at once too proud and too +innocent for any association of such thoughts with her. She has the +bearing and the manners of a queen. Granted, then, that we dismiss the +first possibility." + +"Absolutely and for ever," Wolfenden said firmly. "I may add that Mr. +Sabin met me with a distinct reason for his refusal--he informed me his +niece was already betrothed." + +"That may or may not be true," Harcutt said. "It does not affect the +question which we are considering at present. We must come to the +conclusion that these are people of considerable importance. That is +what I honestly believe. Now what do you suppose brings Mr. Sabin to +such an out of the way hole as this?" + +"The golf, very likely," Wolfenden said. "He is a magnificent player." + +Harcutt frowned. + +"If I thought so," he said, "I should consider my journey here a +wasted one. But I can't. He is in the midst of delicate and important +negotiations--I know as much as that. He would not come down here at +such a time to play golf. It is an absurd idea!" + +"I really don't see how else you can explain it," Wolfenden remarked; +"the greatest men have had their hobbies, you know. I need not remind +you of Nero's fiddle, or Drake's bowls." + +"Quite unnecessary," Harcutt declared briskly. "Frankly, I don't believe +in Mr. Sabin's golf. There is somebody or something down here connected +with his schemes; the golf is a subterfuge. He plays well because he +does everything well." + +"It will tax your ingenuity," Wolfenden said, "to connect his visit here +with anything in the shape of political schemes." + +"My ingenuity accepts the task, at any rate," Harcutt said. "I am going +to find out all about it, and you must help me. It will be for both our +interests." + +"I am afraid," Wolfenden answered, "that you are on a wild goose chase. +Still I am quite willing to help you if I can." + +"Well, to begin then," Harcutt said; "you have been with him some time +to-day. Did he ask you any questions about the locality? Did he show any +curiosity in any of the residents?" + +Wolfenden shook his head. + +"Absolutely none," he answered. "The only conversation we had, in which +he showed any interest at all, was concerning my own people. By the bye, +that reminds me! I told him of an incident which occurred at Deringham +Hall last night, and he was certainly interested and curious. I chanced +to look at him at an unexpected moment, and his appearance astonished +me. I have never seen him look so keen about anything before." + +"Will you tell me the incident at once, please?" Harcutt begged eagerly. +"It may contain the very clue for which I am hunting. Anything which +interests Mr. Sabin interests me." + +"There is no secrecy about the matter," Wolfenden said. "I will tell you +all about it. You may perhaps have heard that my father has been in very +poor health ever since the great Solent disaster. It unfortunately +affected his brain to a certain extent, and he has been the victim of +delusions ever since. The most serious of these is, that he has been +commissioned by the Government to prepare, upon a gigantic scale, a plan +and description of our coast defences and navy. He has a secretary and +typist, and works ten hours a day; but from their report and my own +observations I am afraid the only result is an absolutely unintelligible +chaos. Still, of course, we have to take him seriously, and be thankful +that it is no worse. Now the incident which I told Mr. Sabin was this. +Last night a man called and introduced himself as Dr. Wilmot, the great +mind specialist. He represented that he had been staying in the +neighbourhood, and was on friendly terms with the local medico here, Dr. +Whitlett. My father's case had been mentioned between them, and he had +become much interested in it. He had a theory of his own for the +investigation of such cases which consisted, briefly of a careful +scrutiny of any work done by the patient. He brought a letter from Dr. +Whitlett and said that if we would procure him a sight of my father's +most recent manuscripts he would give us an opinion on the case. We +never had the slightest suspicion as to the truth of his statements, and +I took him with me to the Admiral's study. However, while we were there, +and he was rattling through the manuscripts, up comes Dr. Whitlett, the +local man, in hot haste. The letter was a forgery, and the man an +impostor. He escaped through the window, and got clean away. That is the +story just as I told it to Mr. Sabin. What do you make of it?" + +Harcutt stood up, and laid his hand upon the other's shoulder. + +"Well, I've got my clue, that's all," he declared; "the thing's as plain +as sunlight!" + +Wolfenden rose also to his feet. + +"I must be a fool," he said, "for I certainly can't see it." + +Harcutt lowered his tone. + +"Look here, Wolfenden," he said, "I have no doubt that you are right, +and that your father's work is of no value; but you may be very sure of +one thing--Mr. Sabin does not think so!" + +"I don't see what Mr. Sabin has got to do with it," Wolfenden said. + +Harcutt laughed. + +"Well, I will tell you one thing," he said; "it is the contents of your +father's study which has brought Mr. Sabin to Deringham!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +FROM THE BEGINNING + + +A woman stood, in the midst of a salt wilderness, gazing seaward. Around +her was a long stretch of wet sand and of seaweed-stained rocks, rising +from little pools of water left by the tide; and beyond, the flat, +marshy country was broken only by that line of low cliffs, from which +the little tufts of grass sprouted feebly. The waves which rolled almost +to her feet were barely ripples, breaking with scarcely a visible effort +upon the moist sand. Above, the sky was grey and threatening; only a few +minutes before a cloud of white mist had drifted in from the sea and +settled softly upon the land in the form of rain. The whole outlook was +typical of intense desolation. The only sound breaking the silence, +almost curiously devoid of all physical and animal noises, was the soft +washing of the sand at her feet, and every now and then the jingling of +silver harness, as the horses of her carriage, drawn up on the road +above, tossed their heads and fidgeted. The carriage itself seemed +grotesquely out of place. The coachman, with powdered hair and the dark +blue Deringham livery, sat perfectly motionless, his head bent a little +forward, and his eyes fixed upon his horses' ears. The footman, by their +side, stood with folded arms, and expression as wooden as though he were +waiting upon a Bond Street pavement. Both were weary, and both would +have liked to vary the monotony by a little conversation; but only a few +yards away the woman was standing whose curious taste had led her to +visit such a spot. + +Her arms were hanging listlessly by her side, her whole expression, +although her face was upturned towards the sky, was one of intense +dejection. Something about her attitude bespoke a keen and intimate +sympathy with the desolation of her surroundings. The woman was unhappy; +the light in her dark eyes was inimitably sad. Her cheeks were pale and +a little wan. Yet Lady Deringham was very handsome--as handsome as a +woman approaching middle age could hope to be. Her figure was still slim +and elegant, the streaks of grey in her raven black hair were few and +far between. She might have lived hand in hand with sorrow, but it had +done very little to age her. Only a few years ago, in the crowded +ball-room of a palace, a prince had declared her to be the handsomest +woman of her age, and the prince had the reputation of knowing. It was +easy to believe it. + +How long the woman might have lingered there it is hard to say, for +evidently the spot possessed a peculiar fascination for her, and she had +given herself up to a rare fit of abstraction. But some sound--was it +the low wailing of that seagull, or the more distant cry of a hawk, +motionless in mid-air and scarcely visible against the cloudy sky, which +caused her to turn her head inland? And then she saw that the solitude +was no longer unbroken. A dark object had rounded the sandy little +headland, and was coming steadily towards her. She looked at it with a +momentary interest, her skirt raised in her hand, already a few steps +back on her return to the waiting carriage. Was it a man? It was +something human, at any rate, although its progression was slow and +ungraceful, and marked with a peculiar but uniform action. She stood +perfectly still, a motionless figure against the background of wan, +cloud-shadowed sea and gathering twilight, her eyes riveted upon this +strange thing, her lips slightly parted, her cheeks as pale as death. +Gradually it came nearer and nearer. Her skirt dropped from her +nerveless fingers, her eyes, a moment before dull, with an infinite and +pitiful emptiness, were lit now with a new light. She was not alone, +nor was she unprotected, yet the woman was suffering from a spasm of +terror--one could scarcely imagine any sight revolting enough to call +up that expression of acute and trembling fear, which had suddenly +transformed her appearance. It was as though the level sands had yielded +up their dead--the shipwrecked mariners of generations, and they all, +with white, sad faces and wailing voices, were closing in around her. +Yet it was hard to account for a terror so abject. There was certainly +nothing in the figure, now close at hand, which seemed capable of +inspiring it. + +It was a man with a club foot--nothing more nor less. In fact it was +Mr. Sabin! There was nothing about his appearance, save that ungainly +movement caused by his deformity, in any way singular or threatening. He +came steadily nearer, and the woman who awaited him trembled. Perhaps +his expression was a trifle sardonic, owing chiefly to the extreme +pallor of his skin, and the black flannel clothes with invisible stripe, +which he had been wearing for golf. Yet when he lifted his soft felt hat +from his head and bowed with an ease and effect palpably acquired in +other countries, his appearance was far from unpleasant. He stood there +bare-headed in the twilight, a strangely winning smile upon his dark +face, and his head courteously bent. + +"The most delightful of unexpected meetings," he murmured. "I am afraid +that I have come upon you like an apparition, dear Lady Deringham! I +must have startled you! Yes, I can see by your face that I did; I am so +sorry. Doubtless you did not know until yesterday that I was in +England." + +Lady Deringham was slowly recovering herself. She was white still, even +to the lips, and there was a strange, sick pain at her heart. Yet she +answered him with something of her usual deliberateness, conscious +perhaps that her servants, although their heads were studiously averted, +had yet witnessed with surprise this unexpected meeting. + +"You certainly startled me," she said; "I had imagined that this was the +most desolate part of all unfrequented spots! It is here I come when I +want to feel absolutely alone. I did not dream of meeting another fellow +creature--least of all people in the world, perhaps, you!" + +"I," he answered, smiling gently, "was perhaps the better prepared. A +few minutes ago, from the cliffs yonder, I saw your carriage drawn up +here, and I saw you alight. I wanted to speak with you, so I lost no +time in scrambling down on to the sands. You have changed marvellously +little, Lady Deringham!" + +"And you," she said, "only in name. You are the Mr. Sabin with whom my +son was playing golf yesterday morning?" + +"I am Mr. Sabin," he answered. "Your son did me a good service a week or +two back. He is a very fine young fellow; I congratulate you." + +"And your niece," Lady Deringham asked; "who is she? My son spoke to me +of her last night." + +Mr. Sabin smiled faintly. + +"Ah! Madame," he said, "there have been so many people lately who have +been asking me that question, yet to you as to them I must return the +same answer. She is my niece!" + +"You call her?" + +"She shares my name at present." + +"Is she your daughter?" + +He shook his head sadly. + +"I have never been married," he said, with an indefinable mournfulness +in his flexible tones. "I have had neither wife, nor child, nor friend. +It is well for me that I have not!" + +She looked down at his deformity, and woman-like she shivered. + +"It is no better, then?" she murmured, with eyes turned seaward. + +"It is absolutely incurable," he declared. + +She changed the subject abruptly. + +"The last I heard of you," she said, "was that you were in China. You +were planning great things there. In ten years, I was told, Europe was +to be at your mercy!" + +"I left Pekin five years ago," he said. "China is a land of Cabals. She +may yet be the greatest country in the world. I, for one, believe in her +destiny, but it will be in the generations to come. I have no patience +to labour for another to reap the harvest. Then, too, a craving for just +one draught of civilisation brought me westward again. Mongolian habits +are interesting but a little trying." + +"And what," she asked, looking at him steadily, "has brought you to +Deringham, of all places upon this earth?" + +He smiled, and with his stick traced a quaint pattern in the sand. + +"I have never told you anything that was not the truth," he said; "I +will not begin now. I might have told you that I was here by chance, for +change of air, or for the golf. Neither of these things would have been +true. I am here because Deringham village is only a mile or two from +Deringham Hall." + +She drew a little closer to him. The jingling of harness, as her horses +tossed their heads impatiently, reminded her of the close proximity of +the servants. + +"What do you want of me?" she asked hoarsely. + +He looked at her in mild reproach, a good-humoured smile at the corner +of his lips; yet after all was it good humour or some curious outward +reflection of the working of his secret thoughts? When he spoke the +reproach, at any rate, was manifest. + +"Want of you! You talk as though I were a blackmailer, or something +equally obnoxious. Is that quite fair, Constance?" + +She evaded the reproach; perhaps she was not conscious of it. It was the +truth she wanted. + +"You had some end in coming here," she persisted. "What is it? I cannot +conceive anything in the world you have to gain by coming to see me. We +have left the world and society; we live buried. Whatever fresh schemes +you may be planning, there is no way in which we could help you. You are +richer, stronger, more powerful than we. I can think," she added, "of +only one thing which may have brought you." + +"And that?" he asked deliberately. + +She looked at him with a certain tremulous wistfulness in her eyes, and +with softening face. + +"It may be," she said, "that as you grow older you have grown kinder; +you may have thought of my great desire, and you were always generous, +Victor, you may have come to grant it!" + +The slightest possible change passed over his face as his Christian name +slipped from her lips. The firm lines about his mouth certainly relaxed, +his dark eyes gleamed for a moment with a kindlier light. Perhaps at +that minute for both of them came a sudden lifting of the curtain, a +lingering backward glance into the world of their youth, passionate, +beautiful, seductive. There were memories there which still seemed set +to music--memories which pierced even the armour of his equanimity. Her +eyes filled with tears as she looked at him. With a quick gesture she +laid her hand upon his. + +"Believe me, Victor," she said, "I have always thought of you kindly; +you have suffered terribly for my sake, and your silence was +magnificent. I have never forgotten it." + +His face clouded over, her impulsive words had been after all ill +chosen, she had touched a sore point! There was something in these +memories distasteful to him. They recalled the one time in his life +when he had been worsted by another man. His cynicism returned. + +"I am afraid," he said, "that the years, which have made so little +change in your appearance, have made you a sentimentalist. I can assure +you that these old memories seldom trouble me." + +Then with a lightning-like intuition, almost akin to inspiration, he +saw that he had made a mistake. His best hold upon the woman had been +through that mixture of sentiment and pity, which something in their +conversation had reawakened in her. He was destroying it ruthlessly and +of his own accord. What folly! + +"Bah! I am lying," he said softly; "why should I? Between you and me, +Constance, there should be nothing but truth. We at least should be +sincere one to the other. You are right, I have brought you something +which should have been yours long ago." + +She looked at him with wondering eyes. + +"You are going to give me the letters?" + +"I am going to give them to you," he said. "With the destruction of this +little packet falls away the last link which held us together." + +He had taken a little bundle of letters, tied with a faded ribbon, from +his pocket and held them out to her. Even in that salt-odorous air the +perfume of strange scents seemed to creep out from those closely written +sheets as they fluttered in the breeze. Lady Deringham clasped the +packet with both hands, and her eyes were very bright and very soft. + +"It is not so, Victor," she murmured. "There is a new and a stronger +link between us now, the link of my everlasting gratitude. Ah! you were +always generous, always quixotic! Someday I felt sure that you would do +this." + +"When I left Europe," he said, "you would have had them, but there was +no trusted messenger whom I could spare. Yet if I had never returned +they were so bestowed that they would have come into your hands with +perfect safety. Even now, Constance, will you think me very weak when I +say that I part with them with regret? They have been with me through +many dangers and many strange happenings." + +"You are," she whispered, "the old Victor again! Thank God that I have +had this one glimpse of you! I am ashamed to think how terrified I have +been." + +She held out her hand impulsively. He took it in his and, with a glance +at her servants, let it fall almost immediately. + +"Constance," he said, "I am going away now. I have accomplished what I +came for. But first, would you care to do me a small service? It is +only a trifle." + +A thrill of the old mistrustful fear shook her heart. Half ashamed of +herself she stifled it at once, and strove to answer him calmly. + +"If there is anything within my power which I can do for you, Victor," +she said, "it will make me very happy. You would not ask me, I know, +unless--unless----" + +"You need have no fear," he interrupted calmly; "it is a very little +thing. Do you think that Lord Deringham would know me again after so +many years?" + +"My husband?" + +"Yes!" + +She looked at him in something like amazement. Before she could ask the +question which was framing itself upon her lips, however, they were +both aware of a distant sound, rapidly drawing nearer--the thunder of +a horse's hoofs upon the soft sand. Looking up they both recognised the +rider at the same instant. + +"It is your son," Mr. Sabin said quickly; "you need not mind. Leave me +to explain. Tell me when I can find you at home alone?" + +"I am always alone," she answered. "But come to-morrow." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +MR. SABIN EXPLAINS + + +Mr. Sabin and his niece had finished their dinner, and were lingering a +little over an unusually luxurious dessert. Wolfenden had sent some +muscatel grapes and peaches from the forcing houses at Deringham +Hall--such peaches as Covent Garden could scarcely match, and certainly +not excel. Mr. Sabin looked across at Helene as they were placed upon +the table, with a significant smile. + +"An Englishman," he remarked, pouring himself out a glass of burgundy +and drawing the cigarettes towards him, "never knows when he is beaten. +As a national trait it is magnificent, in private life it is a little +awkward." + +Helene had been sitting through the meal, still and statuesque in her +black dinner gown, a little more pale than usual, and very silent. At +Mr. Sabin's remark she looked up quickly. + +"Are you alluding to Lord Wolfenden?" she asked. + +Mr. Sabin lit his cigarette, and nodded through the mist of blue smoke. + +"To no less a person," he answered, with a shade of mockery in his tone. +"I am beginning to find my guardianship no sinecure after all! Do you +know, it never occurred to me, when we concluded our little arrangement, +that I might have to exercise my authority against so ardent a suitor. +You would have found his lordship hard to get rid of this morning, I am +afraid, but for my opportune arrival." + +"By no means," she answered. "Lord Wolfenden is a gentleman, and he was +not more persistent than he had a right to be." + +"Perhaps," Mr. Sabin remarked, "you would have been better pleased if I +had not come?" + +"I am quite sure of it," she admitted; "but then it is so like you to +arrive just at a crisis! Do you know, I can't help fancying that there +is something theatrical about your comings and goings! You appear--and +one looks for a curtain and a tableau. Where could you have dropped from +this morning?" + +"From Cromer, in a donkey-cart," he answered smiling. "I got as far as +Peterborough last night, and came on here by the first train. There was +nothing very melodramatic about that, surely!" + +"It does not sound so, certainly. Your playing golf with Lord Wolfenden +afterwards was commonplace enough!" + +"I found Lord Wolfenden very interesting," Mr. Sabin said thoughtfully. +"He told me a good deal which was important for me to know. I am hoping +that to-night he will tell me more." + +"To-night! Is he coming here?" + +Mr. Sabin assented calmly. + +"Yes. I thought you would be surprised. But then you need not see him, +you know. I met him riding upon the sands this afternoon--at rather an +awkward moment, by the bye--and asked him to dine with us." + +"He refused, of course?" + +"Only the dinner; presumably he doubted our cook, for he asked to be +allowed to come down afterwards. He will be here soon." + +"Why did you ask him?" + +Mr. Sabin looked keenly across the table. There was something in the +girl's face which he scarcely understood. + +"Well, not altogether for the sake of his company, I must confess," he +replied. "He has been useful to me, and he is in the position to be a +great deal more so." + +The girl rose up. She came over and stood before him. Mr. Sabin knew at +once that something unusual was going to happen. + +"You want to make of him," she said, in a low, intense tone, "what you +make of every one--a tool! Understand that I will not have it!" + +"Helene!" + +The single word, and the glance which flashed from his eyes, was +expressive, but the girl did not falter. + +"Oh! I am weary of it," she cried, with a little passionate outburst. "I +am sick to death of it all! You will never succeed in what you are +planning. One might sooner expect a miracle. I shall go back to Vienna. +I am tired of masquerading. I have had more than enough of it." + +Mr. Sabin's expression did not alter one iota; he spoke as soothingly as +one would speak to a child. + +"I am afraid," he said quietly, "that it must be dull for you. Perhaps I +ought to have taken you more into my confidence; very well, I will do so +now. Listen: you say that I shall never succeed. On the contrary, I am +on the point of success; the waiting for both of us is nearly over." + +The prospect startled, but did not seem altogether to enrapture her. She +wanted to hear more. + +"I received this dispatch from London this morning," he said. "Baron +Knigenstein has left for Berlin to gain the Emperor's consent to an +agreement which we have already ratified. The affair is as good as +settled; it is a matter now of a few days only." + +"Germany!" she exclaimed, incredulously, "I thought it was to be +Russia." + +"So," he answered, "did I. I have to make a certain rather humiliating +confession. I, who have always considered myself keenly in touch with +the times, especially since my interest in European matters revived, +have remained wholly ignorant of one of the most extraordinary phases of +modern politics. In years to come history will show us that it was +inevitable, but I must confess that it has come upon me like a thunder +clap. I, like all the world, have looked upon Germany and England as +natural and inevitable allies. That is neither more nor less than a +colossal blunder! As a matter of fact, they are natural enemies!" + +She sank into a chair, and looked at him blankly. + +"But it is impossible," she cried. "There are all the ties of +relationship, and a common stock. They are sister countries." + +"Don't you know," he said, "that it is the like which irritates and +repels the like. It is this relationship which has been at the root of +the great jealousy, which seems to have spread all through Germany. I +need not go into all the causes of it with you now; sufficient it is to +say that all the recent successes of England have been at Germany's +expense. There has been a storm brewing for long; to-day, to-morrow, +in a week, surely within a month, it will break." + +"You may be right," she said; "but who of all the Frenchwomen I know +would care to reckon themselves the debtors of Germany?" + +"You will owe Germany nothing, for she will be paid and overpaid for +all she does. Russia has made terms with the Republic of France. +Politically, she has nothing to gain by a rupture; but with Germany it +is different. She and France are ready at this moment to fly at one +another's throats. The military popularity of such a war would be +immense. The cry to arms would ring from the Mediterranean to the +Rhine." + +"Oh! I hope that it may not be war," she said. "I had hoped always that +diplomacy, backed by a waiting army, would be sufficient. France at +heart is true, I know. But after all, it sounds like a fairy tale. You +are a wonderful man, but how can you hope to move nations? What can you +offer Germany to exact so tremendous a price?" + +"I can offer," Mr. Sabin said calmly, "what Germany desires more than +anything else in the world--the key to England. It has taken me six +years to perfect my schemes. As you know, I was in America part of the +time I was supposed to be in China. It was there, in the laboratory of +Allison, that I commenced the work. Step by step I have moved on--link +by link I have forged the chain. I may say, without falsehood or +exaggeration, that my work would be the work of another man's lifetime. +With me it has been a labour of love. Your part, my dear Helene, will be +a glorious one; think of it, and shake off your depression. This hole +and corner life is not for long--the time for which we have worked is at +hand." + +She did not look up, there was no answering fire of enthusiasm in her +dark eyes. The colour came into her cheeks and faded away. Mr. Sabin was +vaguely disturbed. + +"In what way," she said, without directly looking at him, "is Lord +Wolfenden likely to be useful to you?" + +Mr. Sabin did not reply for some time, in fact he did not reply at all. +This new phase in the situation was suddenly revealed to him. When he +spoke his tone was grave enough--grave with an undertone of contempt. + +"Is it possible, Helene," he said, "that you have allowed yourself to +think seriously of the love-making of this young man? I must confess +that such a thing in connection with you would never have occurred to me +in my wildest dreams!" + +"I am the mistress of my own affections," she said coldly. "I am not +pledged to you in any way. If I were to say that I intended to listen +seriously to Lord Wolfenden--even if I were to say that I intended to +marry him--well, there is no one who would dare to interfere! But, on +the other hand, I have refused him. That should be enough for you. I am +not going to discuss the matter at all; you would not understand it." + +"I must admit," Mr. Sabin said, "that I probably should not. Of love, as +you young people conceive it, I know nothing. But of that greater +affection--the passionate love of a man for his race and his kind and +his country--well, that has always seemed to me a thing worth living and +working and dying for! I had fancied, Helene, that some spark of that +same fire had warmed your blood, or you would not be here to-day." + +"I think," she answered more gently, "that it has. I too, believe me, +love my country and my people and my order. If I do not find these +all-engrossing, you must remember that I am a woman, and I am young; I +do not pretend to be capable only of impersonal and patriotic love." + +"Ay, you are a woman, and the blood of some of your ancestors will make +itself felt," he added, looking at her thoughtfully. "I ought to have +considered the influence of sex and heredity. By the bye, have you heard +from Henri lately?" + +She shook her head. + +"Not since he has been in France. We thought that whilst he was there it +would be better for him not to write." + +Mr. Sabin nodded. + +"Most discreet," he remarked satirically. "I wonder what Henri would say +if he knew?" + +The girl's lip curled a little. + +"If even," she said, "there was really something serious for him to +know, Henri would survive it. His is not the temperament for sorrow. For +twenty minutes he would be in a paroxysm. He would probably send out for +poison, which he would be careful not to take; and play with a pistol, +if he were sure that it was not loaded. By dinner time he would be calm, +the opera would soothe him still more, and by the time it was over he +would be quite ready to take Mademoiselle Somebody out to supper. With +the first glass of champagne his sorrow would be drowned for ever. If +any wound remained at all, it would be the wound to his vanity." + +"You have considered, then, the possibility of upsetting my schemes and +withdrawing your part?" Mr. Sabin said quietly. "You understand that +your marriage with Henri would be an absolute necessity--that without it +all would be chaos?" + +"I do not say that I have considered any such possibility," she +answered. "If I make up my mind to withdraw, I shall give you notice. +But I will admit that I like Lord Wolfenden, and I detest Henri! Ah! I +know of what you would remind me; you need not fear, I shall not forget! +It will not be to-day, nor to-morrow, that I shall decide." + +A servant entered the room and announced Lord Wolfenden. Mr. Sabin +looked up. + +"Where have you shown him?" he asked. + +"Into the library, sir," the girl answered. + +Mr. Sabin swore softly between his teeth, and sprang to his feet. + +"Excuse me, Helene," he exclaimed, "I will bring Lord Wolfenden into the +drawing-room. That girl is an idiot; she has shown him into the one room +in the house which I would not have had him enter for anything in the +world!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE WAY OF THE WOMAN + + +Wolfenden had been shown, as he supposed, into an empty room by the +servant of whom he had inquired for Mr. Sabin. But the door was scarcely +closed before a familiar sound from a distant corner warned him that he +was not alone. He stopped short and looked fixedly at the slight, +feminine figure whose white fingers were flashing over the keyboard of a +typewriter. There was something very familiar about the curve of her +neck and the waving of her brown hair; her back was to him, and she did +not turn round. + +"Do leave me some cigarettes," she said, without lifting her head. "This +is frightfully monotonous work. How much more of it is there for me to +do?" + +"I really don't know," Wolfenden answered hesitatingly. "Why, Blanche!" + +She swung round in her chair and gazed at him in blank amazement; she +was, at least, as much surprised as he was. + +"Lord Wolfenden!" she exclaimed; "why, what are you doing here?" + +"I might ask you," he said gravely, "the same question." + +She stood up. + +"You have not come to see me?" + +He shook his head. + +"I had not the least idea that you were here," he assured her. + +Her face hardened. + +"Of course not. I was an idiot to imagine that you would care enough to +come, even if you had known." + +"I do not know," he remarked, "why you should say that. On the +contrary----" + +She interrupted him. + +"Oh! I know what you are going to say. I ran away from Mrs. Selby's nice +rooms, and never thanked you for your kindness. I didn't even leave a +message for you, did I? Well, never mind; you know why, I daresay." + +Wolfenden thought that he did, but he evaded a direct answer. + +"What I cannot understand," he said, "is why you are here." + +"It is my new situation," she answered. "I was bound to look for one, +you know. There is nothing strange about it. I advertised for a +situation, and I got this one." + +He was silent. There were things in connection with this which he +scarcely understood. She watched him with a mocking smile parting her +lips. + +"It is a good deal harder to understand," she said, "why you are here. +This is the very last house in the world in which I should have thought +of seeing you." + +"Why?" he asked quickly. + +She shrugged her shoulders; her speech had been scarcely a discreet one. + +"I should not have imagined," she said, "that Mr. Sabin would have come +within the circle of your friends." + +"I do not know why he should not," Wolfenden said. "I consider him a +very interesting man." + +She smiled upon him. + +"Yes, he is interesting," she said; "only I should not have thought that +your tastes were at all identical." + +"You seem to know a good deal about him," Wolfenden remarked quietly. + +For a moment an odd light gleamed in her eyes; she was very pale. +Wolfenden moved towards her. + +"Blanche," he said, "has anything gone wrong with you? You don't look +well." + +She withdrew her hands from her face. + +"There is nothing wrong with me," she said. "Hush! he is coming." + +She swung round in her seat, and the quick clicking of the instrument +was resumed as her fingers flew over it. The door opened, and Mr. Sabin +entered. He leaned on his stick, standing on the threshold, and glanced +keenly at both of them. + +"My dear Lord Wolfenden," he said apologetically, "this is the worst of +having country servants. Fancy showing you in here. Come and join us in +the other room; we are just going to have our coffee." + +Wolfenden followed him with alacrity; they crossed the little hall and +entered the dining-room. Helene was still sitting there sipping her +coffee in an easy chair. She welcomed him with outstretched hand and a +brilliantly soft smile. Mr. Sabin, who was watching her closely, +appreciated, perhaps for the first time, her rare womanly beauty, apart +from its distinctly patrician qualities. There was a change, and he was +not the man to be blind to it or to under-rate its significance. He felt +that on the eve of victory he had another and an unexpected battle to +fight; yet he held himself like a brave man and one used to reverses, +for he showed no signs of dismay. + +"I want you to try a glass of this claret, Lord Wolfenden," he said, +"before you begin your coffee. I know that you are a judge, and I am +rather proud of it. You are not going away, Helene?" + +"I had no idea of going," she laughed. "This is really the only +habitable room in the house, and I am not going to let Lord Wolfenden +send me to shiver in what we call the drawing-room." + +"I should be very sorry if you thought of such a thing," Wolfenden +answered. + +"If you will excuse me for a moment," Mr. Sabin said, "I will unpack +some cigarettes. Helene, will you see that Lord Wolfenden has which +liqueur he prefers?" + +He limped away, and Helene watched him leave the room with some +surprise. These were tactics which she did not understand. Was he +already making up his mind that the game could be played without her? +She was puzzled--a little uneasy. + +She turned to find Wolfenden's admiring eyes fixed upon her; she looked +at him with a smile, half-sad, half-humorous. + +"Let me remember," she said, "I am to see that you have--what was it? +Oh! liqueurs. We haven't much choice; you will find Kummel and +Chartreuse on the sideboard, and Benedictine, which my uncle hates, by +the bye, at your elbow." + +"No liqueurs, thanks," he said. "I wonder, did you expect me to-night? I +don't think that I ought to have come, ought I?" + +"Well, you certainly show," she answered with a smile, "a remarkable +disregard for all precedents and conventions. You ought to be already on +your way to foreign parts with your guns and servants. It is Englishmen, +is it not, who go always to the Rocky Mountains to shoot bears when +their love affairs go wrong?" + +He was watching her closely, and he saw that she was less at her ease +than she would have had him believe. He saw, too, or fancied that he +saw, a softening in her face, a kindliness gleaming out of her lustrous +eyes which suggested new things to him. + +"The Rocky Mountains," he said slowly, "mean despair. A man does not go +so far whilst he has hope." + +She did not answer him; he gathered courage from her silence. + +"Perhaps," he said, "I might now have been on my way there but for a +somewhat sanguine disposition--a very strong determination, and," he +added more softly, "a very intense love." + +"It takes," she remarked, "a very great deal to discourage an +Englishman." + +"Speaking for myself," he answered, "I defy discouragement; I am proof +against it. I love you so dearly, Helene, that I simply decline to give +you up; I warn you that I am not a lover to be shaken off." + +His voice was very tender; his words sounded to her simple but strong. +He was so sure of himself and his love. Truly, she thought, for an +Englishman this was no indifferent wooer; his confidence thrilled her; +she felt her heart beat quickly under its sheath of drooping black lace +and roses. + +"I am giving you," she said quietly, "no hope. Remember that; but I do +not want you to go away." + +The hope which her tongue so steadfastly refused to speak he gathered +from her eyes, her face, from that indefinable softening which seems to +pervade at the moment of yielding a woman's very personality. He was +wonderfully happy, although he had the wit to keep it to himself. + +"You need not fear," he whispered, "I shall not go away." + +Outside they heard the sound of Mr. Sabin's stick. She leaned over +towards him. + +"I want you," she said, "to--kiss me." + +His heart gave a great leap, but he controlled himself. Intuitively he +knew how much was permitted to him; he seemed to have even some faint +perception of the cause for her strange request. He bent over and took +her face for a moment between his hands; her lips touched his--she had +kissed him! + +He stood away from her, breathless with the excitement of the moment. +The perfume of her hair, the soft touch of her lips, the gentle movement +with which she had thrust him away, these things were like the drinking +of strong wine to him. Her own cheeks were scarlet; outside the sound of +Mr. Sabin's stick grew more and more distinct; she smoothed her hair and +laughed softly up at him. + +"At least," she murmured, "there is that to remember always." + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +A HANDFUL OF ASHES + + +The Countess of Deringham was sitting alone in her smaller drawing-room, +gazing steadfastly at a certain spot in the blazing fire before her. A +little pile of grey ashes was all that remained of the sealed packet +which she had placed within the bars only a few seconds ago. She watched +it slowly grow shapeless--piece after piece went fluttering up the broad +chimney. A gentle yet melancholy smile was parting her lips. A chapter +of her life was floating away there with the little trembling strips +lighter than the air, already hopelessly destroyed. Their disintegration +brought with it a sense of freedom which she had lacked for many years. +Yet it was only the folly of a girl, the story of a little foolish +love-making, which those grey, ashen fragments, clinging so tenaciously +to the iron bars, could have unfolded. Lady Deringham was not a woman +who had ever for a single moment had cause to reproach herself with any +real lack of duty to the brave young Englishman whom she had married so +many years ago. It was of those days she was thinking as she sat there +waiting for the caller, whose generosity had set her free. + +At precisely four o'clock there was the sound of wheels in the drive, +the slow movement of feet in the hall, and a servant announced a +visitor. + +"Mr. Sabin." + +Lady Deringham smiled and greeted him graciously. Mr. Sabin leaned upon +his wonderful stick for a moment, and then bent low over Lady +Deringham's hand. She pointed to an easy chair close to her own, and he +sank into it with some appearance of weariness. He was looking a little +old and tired, and he carried himself without any of his usual buoyancy. + +"Only a few minutes ago," she said, "I burnt my letters. I was thinking +of those days in Paris when the man announced you! How old it makes one +feel." + +He looked at her critically. + +"I am beginning to arrive at the conclusion," he said, "that the poets +and the novelists are wrong. It is the man who suffers! Look at my grey +hairs!" + +"It is only the art of my maid," she said smiling, "which conceals mine. +Do not let us talk of the past at all; to think that we lived so long +ago is positively appalling!" + +He shook his head gently. + +"Not so appalling," he answered, "as the thought of how long we still +have to live! One regrets one's youth as a matter of course, but the +prospect of old age is more terrible still! Lucky those men and those +women who live and then die. It is that interregnum--the level, +monotonous plain of advancing old age, when one takes the waters at +Carlsbad and looks askance at the _entrees_--that is what one has to +dread. To watch our own degeneration, the dropping away of our energies, +the decline of our taste--why, the tortures of the Inquisition were +trifles to it!" + +She shuddered a little. + +"You paint old age in dreary colours," she said. + +"I paint it as it must seem to men who have kept the kernel of life +between their teeth," he answered carelessly. "To the others--well, one +cares little about them. Most men are like cows, they are contented so +long as they are fed. To that class I daresay old age may seem something +of a rest. But neither you nor I are akin to them." + +"You talk as you always talked," she said. "Mr. Sabin is very like----" + +He stopped her. + +"Mr. Sabin, if you please," he exclaimed. "I am particularly anxious to +preserve my incognito just now. Ever since we met yesterday I have been +regretting that I did not mention it to you--I do not wish it to be +known that I am in England." + +"Mr. Sabin it shall be, then," she answered; "only if I were you I would +have chosen a more musical name." + +"I wonder--have you by chance spoken of me to your son?" he asked. + +"It is only by chance that I have not," she admitted. "I have scarcely +seen him alone to-day, and he was out last evening. Do you wish to +remain Mr. Sabin to him also?" + +"To him particularly," Mr. Sabin declared; "young men are seldom +discreet." + +Lady Deringham smiled. + +"Wolfenden is not a gossip," she remarked; "in fact I believe he is +generally considered too reserved." + +"For the present, nevertheless," he said, "let me remain Mr. Sabin to +him also. I do not ask you this without a purpose." + +Lady Deringham bowed her head. This man had a right to ask her more than +such slight favours. + +"You are still," she said, "a man of mystery and incognitos. You are +still, I suppose, a plotter of great schemes. In the old days you used +to terrify me almost; are you still as daring?" + +"Alas! no," he answered. "Time is rapidly drawing me towards the great +borderland, and when my foot is once planted there I shall carry out my +theories and make my bow to the world with the best grace a man may +whose life has been one long chorus of disappointments. No! I have +retired from the great stage; mine is now only a passive occupation. One +returns always, you know, and in a mild way I have returned to the +literary ambitions of my youth. It is in connection, by the bye, with +this that I arrive at the favour which you so kindly promised to grant +me." + +"If you knew, Victor," she said, "how grateful I feel towards you, you +would not hesitate to ask me anything within my power to grant." + +Mr. Sabin toyed with his stick and gazed steadfastly into the fire. He +was pensive for several minutes; then, with the air of a man who +suddenly detaches himself from a not unpleasant train of thought, he +looked up with a smile. + +"I am not going to tax you very severely," he said. "I am writing a +critical paper on the armaments of the world for a European review. I +had letters of introduction to Mr. C., and he gave me a great deal of +valuable information. There were one or two points, however, on which he +was scarcely clear, and in the course of conversation he mentioned your +husband's name as being the greatest living authority upon those points. +He offered to give me a letter to him, but I thought it would perhaps +scarcely be wise. I fancied, too, you might be inclined, for reasons +which we need not enlarge upon, to help me." + +For a simple request Lady Deringham's manner of receiving it was +certainly strange; she was suddenly white almost to the lips. A look of +positive fear was in her eyes. The frank cordiality, the absolute +kindliness with which she had welcomed her visitor was gone. She looked +at him with new eyes; the old mistrust was born again. Once more he was +the man to be feared and dreaded above all other men; yet she would not +give way altogether. He was watching her narrowly, and she made a brave +effort to regain her composure. + +"But do you not know," she said hesitatingly, "that my husband is a +great invalid? It is a very painful subject for all of us, but we fear +that his mind is not what it used to be. He has never been the same man +since that awful night in the Solent. His work is more of a hobby with +him; it would not be at all reliable for reference." + +"Not all of it, certainly," he assented. "Mr. C. explained that to me. +What I want is an opportunity to discriminate. Some would be very useful +to me--the majority, of course, worse than useless. The particular +information which I want concerns the structural defects in some of the +new battleships. It would save an immense amount of time to get this +succinctly." + +She looked away from him, still agitated. + +"There are difficulties," she murmured; "serious ones. My husband has an +extraordinary idea as to the value of his own researches, and he is +always haunted by a fear lest some one should break in and steal his +papers. He would not suffer me to glance at them; and the room is too +closely guarded for me to take you there without his knowledge. He is +never away himself, and one of the keepers is stationed outside." + +"The wit of a woman," Mr. Sabin said softly, "is all-conquering." + +"Providing always," Lady Deringham said, "that the woman is willing. I +do not understand what it all means. Do you know this? Perhaps you do. +There have been efforts made by strangers to break into my husband's +room. Only a few days ago a stranger came here with a forged letter of +introduction, and obtained access to the Admiral's library. He did not +come to steal. He came to study my husband's work; he came, in fact, for +the very purpose which you avow. Only yesterday my son began to take the +same interest in the same thing. The whole of this morning he spent with +his father, under the pretence of helping him; really he was studying +and examining for himself. He has not told me what it is, but he has a +reason for this; he, too, has some suspicions. Now you come, and your +mission is the same. What does it all mean? I will write to Mr. C. +myself; he will come down and advise me." + +"I would not do that if I were you," Mr. Sabin said quietly. "Mr. C. +would not thank you to be dragged down here on such an idle errand." + +"Ay, but would it be an idle errand?" she said slowly. "Victor, be frank +with me. I should hate to refuse anything you asked me. Tell me what it +means. Is my husband's work of any real value, and if so to whom, and +for what purpose?" + +Mr. Sabin was gently distressed. + +"My dear Lady Deringham," he said, "I have told you the exact truth. I +want to get some statistics for my paper. Mr. C. himself recommended me +to try and get them from your husband; that is absolutely all. As for +this attempted robbery of which you were telling me, believe me when I +assure you that I know nothing whatever about it. Your son's interest +is, after all, only natural. The study of the papers on which your +husband has been engaged is the only reasonable test of his sanity. +Frankly, I cannot believe that any one in Lord Deringham's mental state +could produce any work likely to be of the slightest permanent value." + +The Countess sighed. + +"I suppose that I must believe you, Victor," she said; "yet, +notwithstanding all that you say, I do not know how to help you--my +husband scarcely ever leaves the room. He works there with a revolver by +his side. If he were to find a stranger near his work I believe that he +would shoot him without hesitation." + +"At night time----" + +"At night time he usually sleeps there in an ante-room, and outside +there is a man always watching." + +Mr. Sabin looked thoughtful. + +"It is only necessary," he said, "for me to be in the room for about ten +minutes, and I do not need to carry anything away; my memory will serve +me for all that I require. By some means or other I must have that ten +minutes." + +"You will risk your life," Lady Deringham said, "for I cannot suggest +any plan; I would help you if I could, but I am powerless." + +"I must have that ten minutes," Mr. Sabin said slowly. + +"Must!" Lady Deringham raised her eyebrows. There was a subtle change in +the tone of the man, a note of authority, perhaps even the shadow of a +threat; he noted the effect and followed it up. + +"I mean what I say, Constance," he declared. "I am not asking you a +great thing; you have your full share of woman's wit, and you can +arrange this if you like." + +"But, Victor, be reasonable," she protested; "suggest a way yourself if +you think it so easy. I tell you that he never leaves the room!" + +"He must be made to leave it." + +"By force?" + +"If necessary," Mr. Sabin answered coolly. + +Lady Deringham raised her hand to her forehead and sat thinking. The +man's growing earnestness bewildered her. What was to be done--what +could she say? After all he was not changed; the old fear of him was +creeping through her veins, yet she made her effort. + +"You want those papers for something more than a magazine article!" she +declared. "There is something behind all this! Victor, I cannot help +you; I am powerless. I will take no part in anything which I cannot +understand." + +He stood up, leaning a little upon his stick, the dull, green stone of +which flashed brightly in the firelight. + +"You will help me," he said slowly. "You will let me into that room at +night, and you will see that your husband is not there, or that he does +not interfere. And as to that magazine article, you are right! What if +it were a lie! I do not fly at small game. Now do you understand?" + +She rose to her feet and drew herself up before him proudly. She towered +above him, handsome, dignified, angry. + +"Victor," she said firmly, "I refuse; you can go away at once! I will +have no more to say or to do with you! You have given me up my letters, +it is true, yet for that you have no special claim upon my gratitude. A +man of honour would have destroyed them long ago." + +He looked up at her, and the ghost of an unholy smile flickered upon his +lips. + +"Did I tell you that I had given them all back to you?" he said. "Ah! +that was a mistake; all save one, I should have said! One I kept, in +case---- Well, your sex are proverbially ungrateful, you know. It is the +one on the yellow paper written from Mentone! You remember it? I always +liked it better than any of the others." + +Her white hands flashed out in the firelight. It seemed almost as though +she must have struck him. He had lied to her! She was not really free; +he was still the master and she his slave! She stood as though turned to +stone. + +"I think," he said, "that you will listen now to a little plan which has +just occurred to me, will you not?" + +She looked away from him with a shudder. + +"What is it?" she asked hoarsely. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +MR. BLATHERWICK AS ST. ANTHONY + + +"I am afraid," Harcutt said, "that either the letter was a hoax, or the +writer has thought better of the matter. It is half an hour past the +time, and poor Mr. Blatherwick is still alone." + +Wolfenden glanced towards the distant table where his father's secretary +was already finishing his modest meal. + +"Poor old Blatherwick!" he remarked; "I know he's awfully relieved. He's +too nervous for this sort of thing; I believe he would have lost his +head altogether if his mysterious correspondent had turned up." + +"I suppose," Harcutt said, "that we may take it for granted that he is +not in the room." + +"Every soul here," Wolfenden answered, "is known to me either personally +or by sight. The man with the dark moustache sitting by himself is a +London solicitor who built himself a bungalow here four years ago, and +comes down every other week for golf. The two men in the corner are land +speculators from Norwich; and their neighbour is Captain Stoneham, who +rides over from the barracks twice a week, also for golf." + +"It is rather a sell for us," Harcutt remarked. "On the whole I am not +sorry that I have to go back to town to-night. Great Scott! what a +pretty girl!" + +"Lean back, you idiot!" Wolfenden exclaimed softly; "don't move if you +can help it!" + +Harcutt grasped the situation and obeyed at once. The portion of the +dining-room in which they were sitting was little more than a recess, +divided off from the main apartment by heavy curtains and seldom used +except in the summer when visitors were plentiful. Mr. Blatherwick's +table was really within a few feet of theirs, but they themselves were +hidden from it by a corner of the folding doors. They had chosen the +position with care and apparently with success. + +The girl who had entered the room stood for a moment looking round as +though about to select a table. Harcutt's exclamation was not without +justification, for she was certainly pretty. She was neatly dressed in a +grey walking suit, and a velvet Tam-o-shanter hat with a smart feather. +Suddenly she saw Mr. Blatherwick and advanced towards him with +outstretched hand and a charming smile. + +"Why, my dear Mr. Blatherwick, what on earth are you doing here?" she +exclaimed. "Have you left Lord Deringham?" + +Mr. Blatherwick rose to his feet confused, and blushing to his +spectacles; he greeted the young lady, however, with evident pleasure. + +"No; that is, not yet," he answered; "I am leaving this week. I did not +know--I had no idea that you were in the vicinity! I am very pleased to +see you." + +She looked at the empty place at his table. + +"I was going to have some luncheon," she said; "I have walked so much +further than I intended and I am ravenously hungry. May I sit at your +table?" + +"With much pleasure," Mr. Blatherwick assented. "I was expecting +a--a--friend, but he is evidently not coming." + +"I will take his place then, if I may," she said, seating herself in the +chair which the waiter was holding for her, and raising her veil. "Will +you order something for me? I am too hungry to mind what it is." + +Mr. Blatherwick gave a hesitating order, and the waiter departed. Miss +Merton drew off her gloves and was perfectly at her ease. + +"Now do tell me about the friend whom you were going to meet," she said, +smiling gaily at him, "I hope--you really must not tell me, Mr. +Blatherwick, that it was a lady!" + +Mr. Blatherwick coloured to the roots of his hair at the mere +suggestion, and hastened to disclaim it. + +"My--my dear Miss Merton!" he exclaimed, "I can assure you that it was +not! I--I should not think of such a thing." + +She nodded, and began to break up her roll and eat it. + +"I am very glad to hear it, Mr. Blatherwick," she said; "I warn you that +I was prepared to be very jealous. You used to tell me, you know, that I +was the only girl with whom you cared to talk." + +"It is--quite true, quite true, Miss Merton," he answered eagerly, +dropping his voice a little and glancing uneasily over his shoulder. +"I--I have missed you very much indeed; it has been very dull." + +Mr. Blatherwick sighed; he was rewarded by a very kind glance from a +pair of very blue eyes. He fingered the wine list, and began to wonder +whether she would care for champagne. + +"Now tell me," she said, "all the news. How are they all at Deringham +Hall--the dear old Admiral and the Countess, and that remarkably silly +young man, Lord Wolfenden?" + +Wolfenden received a kick under the table, and Harcutt's face positively +beamed with delight. Mr. Blatherwick, however, had almost forgotten +their proximity. He had made up his mind to order champagne. + +"The Ad--Ad--Admiral is well in health, but worse mentally," he +answered. "I am leaving for that very reason. I do not conceive that in +fairness to myself I should continue to waste my time in work which can +bring forth no fruit. I trust, Miss Merton, that you agree with me." + +"Perfectly," she answered gravely. + +"The Countess," he continued, "is well, but much worried. There have +been strange hap--hap--happenings at the Hall since you left. Lord +Wolfenden is there. By the bye, Miss Merton," he added, dropping his +voice, "I do not--not--think that you used to consider Lord Wolfenden so +very silly when you were at Deringham." + +"It was very dull sometimes--when you were busy, Mr. Blatherwick," she +answered, beginning her lunch. "I will confess to you that I did try to +amuse myself a little with Lord Wolfenden. But he was altogether too +rustic--too stupid! I like a man with brains!" + +Harcutt produced a handkerchief and stuffed it to his mouth; his face +was slowly becoming purple with suppressed laughter. Mr. Blatherwick +ordered the champagne. + +"I--I was very jealous of him," he admitted almost in a whisper. + +The blue eyes were raised again very eloquently to his. + +"You had no cause," she said gently; "and Mr. Blatherwick, haven't you +forgotten something?" + +Mr. Blatherwick had sipped his glass of champagne, and answered without +a stutter. + +"I have not," he said, "forgotten you!" + +"You used to call me by my Christian name!" + +"I should be delighted to call you Miss--Blanche for ever," he said +boldly. "May I?" + +She laughed softly. + +"Well, I don't quite know about that," she said; "you may for this +morning, at least. It is so pleasant to see you again. How is the work +getting on?" + +He groaned. + +"Don't ask me, please; it is awful! I am truly glad that I am +leaving--for many reasons!" + +"Have you finished copying those awful details of the defective armour +plates?" she asked, suddenly dropping her voice so that it barely +reached the other side of the table. + +"Only last night," he answered; "it was very hard work, and so +ridiculous! It went into the box with the rest of the finished work this +morning." + +"Did the Admiral engage a new typewriter?" she inquired. + +He shook his head. + +"No; he says that he has nearly finished." + +"I am so glad," she said. "You have had no temptation to flirt then with +anybody else, have you?" + +"To flirt--with anybody else! Oh! Miss--I mean Blanche. Do you think +that I could do that?" + +His little round face shone with sincerity and the heat of the +unaccustomed wine. His eyes were watering a little, and his spectacles +were dull. The girl looked at him in amusement. + +"I am afraid," she said, with a sigh, "that you used to flirt with me." + +"I can assure you, B--B--Blanche," he declared earnestly, "that I never +said a word to you which I--I did not hon--hon--honestly mean. Blanche, +I should like to ask you something." + +"Not now," she interrupted hastily. "Do you know, I fancy that we must +be getting too confidential. That odious man with the eyeglass keeps +staring at us. Tell me what you are going to do when you leave here. You +can ask me--what you were going to, afterwards." + +Mr. Blatherwick grew eloquent and Blanche was sympathetic. It was quite +half an hour before they rose and prepared to depart. + +"I know you won't mind," Blanche said to him confidentially, "if I ask +you to leave the hotel first; the people I am with are a little +particular, and it would scarcely do, you see, for us to go out +together." + +"Certainly," he replied. "Would you l--like me to leave you here--would +it be better?" + +"You might walk to the door with me, please," she said. "I am afraid you +must be very disappointed that your friend did not come. Are you not?" + +Mr. Blatherwick's reply was almost incoherent in its excess of +protestation. They walked down the room together. Harcutt and Wolfenden +look at one another. + +"Well," the former exclaimed, drinking up his liqueur, "it is a sell!" + +"Yes," Wolfenden agreed thoughtfully, with his eyes fixed upon the two +departing figures, "it is a sell!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +BY CHANCE OR DESIGN + + +Wolfenden sent his phaeton to the station with Harcutt, who had been +summoned back to town upon important business. Afterwards he slipped +back to the hall to wait for its return, and came face to face with Mr. +Blatherwick, who was starting homewards. + +"I was looking for you," Wolfenden said; "your luncheon party turned out +a little differently to anything we had expected." + +"I am happy," Mr. Blatherwick said, "to be able to believe that the +letter was after all a hoax. There was no one in the room, as you would +doubtless observe, likely to be in any way concerned in the matter." + +Wolfenden knocked the ash off his cigarette without replying. + +"You seem," he remarked, "to be on fairly intimate terms with Miss +Merton." + +"We were fellow workers for several months," Mr. Blatherwick reminded +him; "naturally, we saw a good deal of one another." + +"She is," Wolfenden continued, "a very charming girl." + +"I consider her, in every way," Mr. Blatherwick said with enthusiasm, "a +most delightful young lady. I--I am very much attached to her." + +Wolfenden laid his hand on the secretary's shoulder. + +"Blatherwick," he said, "you're a good fellow, and I like you. Don't be +offended at what I am going to say. You must not trust Miss Merton; she +is not quite what she appears to you." + +Mr. Blatherwick took a step backward, and flushed red with anger. + +"I do not understand you, Lord Wolfenden," he said. "What do you know of +Miss Merton?" + +"Not very much," Wolfenden said quietly; "quite enough, though, to +justify me in warning you seriously against her. She is a very clever +young person, but I am afraid a very unscrupulous one." + +Mr. Blatherwick was grave, almost dignified. + +"Lord Wolfenden," he said, "you are the son of my employer, but I take +the liberty of telling you that you are a l--l----" + +"Steady, Blatherwick," Wolfenden interrupted; "you must not call me +names." + +"You are not speaking the truth," Mr. Blatherwick continued, curbing +himself with an effort. "I will not listen to, or--or permit in my +presence any aspersion against that young lady!" + +Wolfenden shook his head gently. + +"Mr. Blatherwick," he said, "don't be a fool! You ought to know that I +am not the sort of man to make evil remarks about a lady behind her +back, unless I knew what I was talking about. I cannot at this moment +prove it, but I am morally convinced that Miss Merton came here to-day +at the instigation of the person who wrote to you, and that she only +refrained from making you some offer because she knew quite well that we +were within hearing." + +"I will not listen to another word, Lord Wolfenden," Mr. Blatherwick +declared vigorously. "If you are honest, you are cruelly misjudging that +young lady; if not you must know yourself the proper epithet to be +applied to the person who defames an innocent girl behind her back! I +wish you good afternoon, sir. I shall leave Deringham Hall to-morrow." + +He strode away, and Wolfenden watched him with a faint, regretful smile +upon his lips. Then he turned round suddenly; a little trill of soft +musical laughter came floating out from a recess in the darkest corner +of the hall. Miss Merton was leaning back amongst the cushions of a +lounge, her eyes gleaming with amusement. She beckoned Wolfenden to her. + +"Quite melodramatic, wasn't it?" she exclaimed, moving her skirts for +him to sit by her side. "Dear little man! Do you know he wants to marry +me?" + +"What a clever girl you are," Wolfenden remarked; "really you'd make an +admirable wife for him." + +She pouted a little. + +"Thank you very much," she said. "I am not contemplating making any one +an admirable wife; matrimony does not attract me at all." + +"I don't know what pleasure you can find in making a fool of a decent +little chap like that," he said; "it's too bad of you, Blanche." + +"One must amuse oneself, and he is so odd and so very much in earnest." + +"Of course," Wolfenden continued, "I know that you had another object." + +"Had I?" + +"You came here to try and tempt the poor little fellow with a thousand +pounds!" + +"I have never," she interposed calmly, "possessed a thousand shillings +in my life." + +"Not on your own account, of course: you came on behalf of your +employer, Mr. Sabin, or some one behind him! What is this devilry, +Blanche?" + +She looked at him out of wide-open eyes, but she made no answer. + +"So far as I can see," he remarked, "I must confess that foolery seems a +better term. I cannot imagine anything in my father's work worth the +concoction of any elaborate scheme to steal. But never mind that; there +is a scheme, and you are in it. Now I will make a proposition to you. It +is a matter of money, I suppose; will you name your terms to come over +to my side?" + +A look crept into her eyes which puzzled him. + +"Over to your side," she repeated thoughtfully. "Do you mind telling me +exactly what you mean by that?" + +As though by accident the delicate white hand from which she had just +withdrawn her glove touched his, and remained there as though inviting +his clasp. She looked quickly up at him and drooped her eyes. Wolfenden +took her hand, patted it kindly, and replaced it in her lap. + +"Look here, Blanche," he said, "I won't affect to misunderstand you; but +haven't you learnt by this time that adventures are not in my way?--less +now than at any time perhaps." + +She was watching his face and read its expression with lightning-like +truth. + +"Bah!" she said, "there is no man who would be so brutal as you +unless----" + +"Unless what?" + +"He were in love with another girl!" + +"Perhaps I am, Blanche!" + +"I know that you are." + +He looked at her quickly. + +"But you do not know with whom?" + +She had not guessed, but she knew now. + +"I think so," she said; "it is with the beautiful niece of Mr. Sabin! +You have admirable taste." + +"Never mind about that," he said; "let us come to my offer. I will give +you a hundred a year for life, settle it upon you, if you will tell me +everything." + +"A hundred a year," she repeated. "Is that much money?" + +"Well, it will cost more than two thousand pound," he said; "still, I +would like you to have it, and you shall if you will be quite frank with +me." + +She hesitated. + +"I should like," she said, "to think it over till to-morrow morning; it +will be better, for supposing I decide to accept, I shall know a good +deal more of this than I know now." + +"Very well," he said, "only I should strongly advise you to accept." + +"One hundred a year," she repeated thoughtfully. "Perhaps you will have +changed your mind by to-morrow." + +"There is no fear of it," he assured her quietly. + +"Write it down," she said. "I think that I shall agree." + +"Don't you trust me, Blanche?" + +"It is a business transaction," she said coolly; "you have made it one +yourself." + +He tore a sheet from his pocket-book and scribbled a few lines upon it. + +"Will that do?" he asked her. + +She read it through and folded it carefully up. + +"It will do very nicely," she said with a quiet smile. "And now I must +go back as quickly as I can." + +They walked to the hall door; Lord Wolfenden's carriage had come back +from the station and was waiting for him. + +"How are you going?" he asked. + +She shook her head. + +"I must hire something, I suppose," she said. "What beautiful horses! Do +you see, Hector remembers me quite well; I used to take bread to him in +the stable when I was at Deringham Hall. Good old man!" + +She patted the horse's neck. Wolfenden did not like it, but he had no +alternative. + +"Won't you allow me to give you a lift?" he said, with a marked absence +of cordiality in his tone; "or if you would prefer it, I can easily +order a carriage from the hotel." + +"Oh! I would much rather go with you, if you really don't mind," she +said. "May I really?" + +"I shall be very pleased," he answered untruthfully. "I ought perhaps to +tell you that the horses are very fresh and don't go well together: they +have a nasty habit of running away down hill." + +She smiled cheerfully, and lifting her skirts placed a dainty little +foot upon the step. + +"I detest quiet horses," she said, "and I have been used to being run +away with all my life. I rather like it." + +Wolfenden resigned himself to the inevitable. He took the reins, and +they rattled off towards Deringham. About half-way there, they saw a +little black figure away on the cliff path to the right. + +"It is Mr. Blatherwick," Wolfenden said, pointing with his whip. "Poor +little chap! I wish you'd leave him alone, Blanche!" + +"On one condition," she said, smiling up at him, "I will!" + +"It is granted already," he declared. + +"That you let me drive for just a mile!" + +He handed her the reins at once, and changed seats. From the moment she +took them, he could see that she was an accomplished whip. He leaned +back and lit a cigarette. + +"Blatherwick's salvation," he remarked, "has been easily purchased." + +She smiled rather curiously, but did not reply. A hired carriage was +coming towards them, and her eyes were fixed upon it. In a moment they +swept past, and Wolfenden was conscious of a most unpleasant sensation. +It was Helene, whose dark eyes were glancing from the girl to him in +cold surprise; and Mr. Sabin, who was leaning back by her side wrapped +in a huge fur coat. Blanche looked down at him innocently. + +"Fancy meeting them," she remarked, touching Hector with the whip. "It +does not matter, does it? You look dreadfully cross!" + +Wolfenden muttered some indefinite reply and threw his cigarette +savagely into the road. After all he was not so sure that Mr. +Blatherwick's salvation had been cheaply won! + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +A MIDNIGHT VISITOR + + +"Wolf! Wolf!" + +Wolfenden, to whom sleep before the early morning hours was a thing +absolutely impossible, was lounging in his easy chair meditating on the +events of the day over a final cigarette. He had come to his room at +midnight in rather a dejected frame of mind; the day's happenings had +scarcely gone in his favour. Helene had looked upon him coldly--almost +with suspicion. In the morning he would be able to explain everything, +but in the meantime Blanche was upon the spot, and he had an uneasy +feeling that the girl was his enemy. He had begun to doubt whether that +drive, so natural a thing, as it really happened, was not carefully +planned on her part, with a full knowledge of the fact that they would +meet Mr. Sabin and his niece. It was all the more irritating because +during the last few days he had been gradually growing into the belief +that so far as his suit with Helene was concerned, the girl herself was +not altogether indifferent to him. She had refused him definitely +enough, so far as mere words went, but there were lights in her soft, +dark eyes, and something indefinable, but apparent in her manner, which +had forbidden him to abandon all hope. Yet it was hard to believe that +she was in any way subject to the will of her guardian, Mr. Sabin. In +small things she took no pains to study him; she was evidently not in +the least under his dominion. On the contrary, there was in his manner +towards her a certain deference, as though it were she whose will was +the ruling one between them. As a matter of fact, her appearance and +whole bearing seemed to indicate one accustomed to command. Her family +or connections she had never spoken of to him, yet he had not the +slightest doubt but that she was of gentle birth. Even if it should turn +out that this was not the case, Wolfenden was democratic enough to think +that it made no difference. She was good enough to be his wife. Her +appearance and manners were almost typically aristocratic--whatever +there might be in her present surroundings or in her past which savoured +of mystery, he would at least have staked his soul upon her honesty. He +realised very fully, as he sat there smoking in the early hours of the +morning, that this was no passing fancy of his; she was his first +love--for good or for evil she would be his last. Failure, he said to +himself, was a word which he would not admit in his vocabulary. She was +moving towards him already, some day she should be his! Through the +mists of blue tobacco smoke which hovered around him he seemed, with +a very slight and very pleasant effort of his imagination, to see +some faint visions of her in that more softening mood, the vaguest +recollection of which set his heart beating fast and sent the blood +moving through his veins to music. How delicately handsome she was, how +exquisite the lines of her girlish, yet graceful and queenly figure. +With her clear, creamy skin, soft as alabaster below the red gold of her +hair, the somewhat haughty poise of her small, shapely head, she brought +him vivid recollections of that old aristocracy of France, as one reads +of them now only in the pages of romance or history. She had the grand +air--even the great Queen could not have walked to the scaffold with a +more magnificent contempt of the rabble, whose victim she was. Some more +personal thought came to him; he half closed his eyes and leaned back +in his chair steeped in pleasant thoughts; and then it all came to a +swift, abrupt end, these reveries and pleasant castle-building. He was +back in the present, suddenly recalled in a most extraordinary manner, +to realisation of the hour and place. Surely he could not have been +mistaken! That was a low knocking at his locked door outside; there was +no doubt about it. There it was again! He heard his own name, softly but +unmistakably spoken in a trembling voice. He glanced at his watch, it +was between two and three o'clock; then he walked quickly to the door +and opened it without hesitation. It was his father who stood there +fully dressed, with pale face and angrily burning eyes. In his hand he +carried a revolver. Wolfenden noticed that the fingers which clasped it +were shaking, as though with cold. + +"Father," Wolfenden exclaimed, "what on earth is the matter?" + +He dropped his voice in obedience to that sudden gesture for silence. +The Admiral answered him in a hoarse whisper. + +"A great deal is the matter! I am being deceived and betrayed in my own +house! Listen!" + +They stood together on the dimly lit landing; holding his breath and +listening intently, Wolfenden was at once aware of faint, distant +sounds. They came from the ground floor almost immediately below them. +His father laid his hand heavily upon Wolfenden's shoulder. + +"Some one is in the library," he said. "I heard the door open +distinctly. When I tried to get out I found that the door of my room was +locked; there is treachery here!" + +"How did you get out?" Wolfenden asked. + +"Through the bath-room and down the back stairs; that door was locked +too, but I found a key that fitted it. Come with me. Be careful! Make no +noise!" + +They were on their way downstairs now. As they turned the angle of the +broad oak stairway, Wolfenden caught a glimpse of his father's face, and +shuddered; it was very white, and his eyes were bloodshot and wild, his +forefinger was already upon the trigger of his revolver. + +"Let me have that," Wolfenden whispered, touching it; "my hand is +steadier than yours." + +But the Admiral shook his head; he made no answer in words, but the +butt end of the revolver became almost welded into the palm of his hand. +Wolfenden began to feel that they were on the threshold of a tragedy. +They had reached the ground floor now; straight in front of them was +the library door. The sound of muffled movements within the room was +distinctly audible. The Admiral's breath came fast. + +"Tread lightly, Wolf," he muttered. "Don't let them hear us! Let us +catch them red-handed!" + +But the last dozen yards of the way was over white flags tesselated, and +polished like marble. Wolfenden's shoes creaked; the Admiral's tip-toe +walk was no light one. There was a sudden cessation of all sounds; they +had been heard! The Admiral, with a low cry of rage, leaped forwards. +Wolfenden followed close behind. + +Even as they crossed the threshold the room was plunged into sudden +darkness; they had but a momentary and partial glimpse of the interior. +Wolfenden saw a dark, slim figure bending forward with his finger still +pressed to the ball of the lamp. The table was strewn with papers, +something--somebody--was fluttering behind the screen yonder. There was +barely a second of light; then with a sharp click the lamp went out, and +the figure of the man was lost in obscurity. Almost simultaneously +there came a flash of level fire and the loud report of the Admiral's +revolver. There was no groan, so Wolfenden concluded that the man, +whoever he might be, had not been hit. The sound of the report was +followed by a few seconds' breathless silence. There was no movement +of any sort in the room; only a faint breeze stealing in through the +wide-open windows caused a gentle rustling of the papers with which the +table was strewn, and the curtains swayed gently backwards and forwards. +The Admiral, with his senses all on the alert, stood motionless, the +revolver tense in his hand, his fiercely eager eyes straining to pierce +the darkness. By his side, Wolfenden, equally agitated now, though from +a different reason, stood holding his breath, his head thrust forward, +his eyes striving to penetrate the veil of gloom which lay like a thick +barrier between him and the screen. His fear had suddenly taken to +itself a very real and terrible form. There had been a moment, before +the extinction of the lamp had plunged the room into darkness, when +he had seen, or fancied that he had seen, a woman's skirts fluttering +there. Up to the present his father's attention had been wholly riveted +upon the other end of the room; yet he was filled with a nervous dread +lest at any moment that revolver might change its direction. His ears +were strained to the uttermost to catch the slightest sign of any +movement. + +At last the silence was broken; there was a faint movement near the +window, and then again, without a second's hesitation, there was that +level line of fire and loud report from the Admiral's revolver. There +was no groan, no sign of any one having been hit. The Admiral began to +move slowly in the direction of the window; Wolfenden remained where he +was, listening intently. He was right, there was a smothered movement +from behind the screen. Some one was moving from there towards the door, +some one with light footsteps and a trailing skirt. He drew back into +the doorway; he meant to let her pass whoever it might be, but he +meant to know who it was. He could hear her hurried breathing; a faint, +familiar perfume, shaken out by the movement of her skirts, puzzled +him; it's very familiarity bewildered him. She knew that he was there; +she must know it, for she had paused. The position was terribly +critical. A few yards away the Admiral was groping about, revolver in +hand, mumbling to himself a string of terrible threats. The casting of a +shadow would call forth that death-dealing fire. Wolfenden thrust out +his hand cautiously; it fell upon a woman's arm. She did not cry out, +although her rapid breathing sank almost to a moan. For a moment he was +staggered--the room seemed to be going round with him; he had to bite +his lips to stifle the exclamation which very nearly escaped him. Then +he stood away from the door with a little shudder, and guided her +through it. He heard her footsteps die away along the corridor with a +peculiar sense of relief. Then he thrust his hand into the pocket of his +dinner coat and drew out a box of matches. + +"I am going to strike a light," he whispered in his father's ear. + +"Quick, then," was the reply, "I don't think the fellow has got away +yet; he must be hiding behind some of the furniture." + +There was the scratching of a match upon a silver box, a feeble flame +gradually developing into a sure illumination. Wolfenden carefully lit +the lamp and raised it high over his head. The room was empty! There was +no doubt about it! They two were alone. But the window was wide open and +a chair in front of it had been thrown over. The Admiral strode to the +casement and called out angrily-- + +"Heggs! are you there? Is no one on duty?" + +There was no answer; the tall sentry-box was empty. + +Wolfenden came over to his father's side and brought the lamp with him, +and together they leaned out. At first they could see nothing; then +Wolfenden threw off the shade from the lamp and the light fell in a +broad track upon a dark, motionless figure stretched out upon the turf. +Wolfenden stooped down hastily. + +"My God!" he exclaimed, "it is Heggs! Father, won't you sound the gong? +We shall have to arouse the house." + +There was no need. Already the library was half full of hastily dressed +servants, awakened by the sound of the Admiral's revolver. Pale and +terrified, but never more self-composed, Lady Deringham stepped out to +them in a long, white dressing-gown. + +"What has happened?" she cried. "Who is it, Wolfenden--has your father +shot any one?" + +But Wolfenden shook his head, as he stood for a moment upright, and +looked into his mother's face. + +"There is a man hurt," he said; "it is Heggs, I think, but he is not +shot. The evil is not of our doing!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +"IT WAS MR. SABIN" + + +It was still an hour or two before dawn. No trace whatever of the +marauders had been discovered either outside the house or within. With +difficulty the Earl had been persuaded to relinquish his smoking +revolver, and had retired to his room. The doors had all been locked, +and two of the most trustworthy servants left in charge of the library. +Wolfenden had himself accompanied his father upstairs and after a few +words with him had returned to his own apartment. With his mother he had +scarcely exchanged a single sentence. Once their eyes had met and he had +immediately looked away. Nevertheless he was not altogether unprepared +for that gentle knocking at his door which came about half an hour after +the house was once more silent. + +He rose at once from his chair--it seemed scarcely a night for +sleep--and opened it cautiously. It was Lady Deringham who stood there, +white and trembling. He held out his hand and she leaned heavily on it +during her passage into the room. + +He wheeled his own easy chair before the fire and helped her into it. +She seemed altogether incapable of speech. She was trembling violently, +and her face was perfectly bloodless. Wolfenden dropped on his knees by +her side and began chafing her hands. The touch of his fingers seemed to +revive her. She was not already judged then. She lifted her eyes and +looked at him sorrowfully. + +"What do you think of me, Wolfenden?" she asked. + +"I have not thought about it at all," he answered. "I am only wondering. +You have come to explain everything?" + +She shuddered. Explain everything! That was a task indeed. When the +heart is young and life is a full and generous thing; in the days of +romance, when adventures and love-making come as a natural heritage and +form part of the order of things, then the words which the woman had to +say would have come lightly enough from her lips, less perhaps as a +confession than as a half apologetic narration. But in the days when +youth lies far behind, when its glamour has faded away and nothing but +the bare incidents remain, unbeautified by the full colouring and +exuberance of the springtime of life, the most trifling indiscretions +then stand out like idiotic crimes. Lady Deringham had been a proud +woman--a proud woman all her life. She had borne in society the +reputation of an almost ultra-exclusiveness; in her home life she had +been something of an autocrat. Perhaps this was the most miserable +moment of her life. Her son was looking at her with cold, inquiring +eyes. She was on her defence before him. She bowed her head and spoke: + +"Tell me what you thought, Wolfenden." + +"Forgive me," he said, "I could only think that there was robbery, and +that you, for some sufficient reason, I am sure, were aiding. I could +not think anything else, could I?" + +"You thought what was true, Wolfenden," she whispered. "I was helping +another man to rob your father! It was only a very trifling theft--a +handful of notes from his work for a magazine article. But it was +theft, and I was an accomplice!" + +There was a short silence. Her eyes, seeking steadfastly to read his +face, could make nothing of it. + +"I will not ask you why," he said slowly. "You must have had very good +reasons. But I want to tell you one thing. I am beginning to have grave +doubts as to whether my father's state is really so bad as Dr. Whitlett +thinks--whether, in short, his work is not after all really of some +considerable value. There are several considerations which incline me to +take this view." + +The suggestion visibly disturbed Lady Deringham. She moved in her chair +uneasily. + +"You have heard what Mr. Blatherwick says," she objected. "I am sure +that he is absolutely trustworthy." + +"There is no doubt about Blatherwick's honesty," he admitted, "but the +Admiral himself says that he dare trust no one, and that for weeks he +has given him no paper of importance to work upon simply for that +reason. It has been growing upon me that we may have been mistaken all +along, that very likely Miss Merton was paid to steal his work, and that +it may possess for certain people, and for certain purposes, a real +technical importance. How else can we account for the deliberate efforts +which have been made to obtain possession of it?" + +"You have spent some time examining it yourself," she said in a low +tone; "what was your own opinion?" + +"I found some sheets," he answered, "and I read them very carefully; +they were connected with the various landing-places upon the Suffolk +coast. An immense amount of detail was very clearly given. The currents, +bays, and fortifications were all set out; even the roads and railways +into the interior were dealt with. I compared them afterwards with a map +of Suffolk. They were, so far as one could judge, correct. Of course +this was only a page or two at random, but I must say it made an +impression upon me." + +There was another silence, this time longer than before. Lady Deringham +was thinking. Once more, then, the man had lied to her! He was on some +secret business of his own. She shuddered slightly. She had no curiosity +as to its nature. Only she remembered what many people had told her, +that where he went disaster followed. A piece of coal fell into the +grate hissing from the fire. He stooped to pick it up, and catching a +glimpse of her face became instantly graver. He remembered that as yet +he had heard nothing of what she had come to tell him. Her presence in +the library was altogether unexplained. + +"You were very good," she said slowly; "you stayed what might have been +a tragedy. You knew that I was there, you helped me to escape; yet you +must have known that I was in league with the man who was trying to +steal those papers." + +"There was no mistake, then! You were doing that. You!" + +"It is true," she answered. "It was I who let him in, who unlocked your +father's desk. I was his accomplice!" + +"Who was the man?" + +She did not tell him at once. + +"He was once," she said, "my lover!" + +"Before----" + +"Before I met your father! We were never really engaged. But he loved +me, and I thought I cared for him. I wrote him letters--the foolish +letters of an impulsive girl. These he has kept. I treated him badly, I +know that! But I too have suffered. It has been the desire of my life to +have those letters. Last night he called here. Before my face he burnt +all but one! That he kept. The price of his returning it to me was my +help--last night." + +"For what purpose?" Wolfenden asked. "What use did he propose to make +of the Admiral's papers if he succeeded in stealing them?" + +She shook her head mournfully. + +"I cannot tell. He answered me at first that he simply needed some +statistics to complete a magazine article, and that Mr. C. himself had +sent him here. If what you tell me of their importance is true, I have +no doubt that he lied." + +"Why could he not go to the Admiral himself?" + +Lady Deringham's face was as pale as death, and she spoke with downcast +head, her eyes fixed upon her clenched hands. + +"At Cairo," she said, "not long after my marriage, we all met. I was +indiscreet, and your father was hot-headed and jealous. They quarrelled +and fought, your father wounded him; he fired in the air. You understand +now that he could not go direct to the Admiral." + +"I cannot understand," he admitted, "why you listened to his proposal." + +"Wolfenden, I wanted that letter," she said, her voice dying away in +something like a moan. "It is not that I have anything more than folly +to reproach myself with, but it was written--it was the only one--after +my marriage. Just at first I was not very happy with your father. We had +had a quarrel, I forget what about, and I sat down and wrote words which +I have many a time bitterly repented ever having put on paper. I have +never forgotten them--I never shall! I have seen them often in my +happiest moments, and they have seemed to me to be written with letters +of fire." + +"You have it back now? You have destroyed it?" + +She shook her head wearily. + +"No, I was to have had it when he had succeeded; I had not let him in +five minutes when you disturbed us." + +"Tell me the man's name." + +"Why?" + +"I will get you the letter." + +"He would not give it you. You could not make him." + +Wolfenden's eyes flashed with a sudden fire. + +"You are mistaken," he said. "The man who holds for blackmail over a +woman's head, a letter written twenty years ago, is a scoundrel! I will +get that letter from him. Tell me his name!" + +Lady Deringham shuddered. + +"Wolfenden, it would bring trouble! He is dangerous. Don't ask me. At +least I have kept my word to him. It was not my fault that we were +disturbed. He will not molest me now." + +"Mother, I will know his name!" + +"I cannot tell it you!" + +"Then I will find it out; it will not be difficult. I will put the whole +matter in the hands of the police. I shall send to Scotland Yard for a +detective. There are marks underneath the window. I picked up a man's +glove upon the library floor. A clever fellow will find enough to work +upon. I will find this blackguard for myself, and the law shall deal +with him as he deserves." + +"Wolfenden, have mercy! May I not know best? Are my wishes, my prayers, +nothing to you?" + +"A great deal, mother, yet I consider myself also a judge as to the +wisest course to pursue. The plan which I have suggested may clear up +many things. It may bring to light the real object of this man. It may +solve the mystery of that impostor, Wilmot. I am tired of all this +uncertainty. We will have some daylight. I shall telegraph to-morrow +morning to Scotland Yard." + +"Wolfenden, I beseech you!" + +"So also do I beseech you, mother, to tell me that man's name. Great +heavens!" + +Wolfenden sprang suddenly from his chair with startled face. An idea, +slow of coming, but absolutely convincing from its first conception, had +suddenly flashed home to him. How could he have been so blind? He stood +looking at his mother in fixed suspense. The light of his knowledge was +in his face, and she saw it. She had been dreading this all the while. + +"It was Mr. Sabin!--the man who calls himself Sabin!" + +A little moan of despair crept out from her lips. She covered her face +with her hands and sobbed. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +THE GATHERING OF THE WAR-STORM + + +Mr. Sabin, entering his breakfast-room as usual at ten o'clock on the +following morning, found, besides the usual pile of newspapers and +letters, a telegram, which had arrived too late for delivery on the +previous evening. He opened it in leisurely fashion whilst he sipped his +coffee. It was handed in at the Charing Cross Post Office, and was +signed simply "K.":-- + + "Just returned. When can you call and conclude arrangements? Am + anxious to see you. Read to-night's paper.--K." + +The telegram slipped from Mr. Sabin's fingers. He tore open the _St. +James's Gazette_, and a little exclamation escaped from his lips as he +saw the thick black type which headed the principal columns:-- + + "EXTRAORDINARY TELEGRAM OF THE GERMAN + EMPEROR TO MOENIG! + GERMAN SYMPATHY WITH THE REBELS! + WARSHIPS ORDERED TO DELAMERE BAY! + GREAT EXCITEMENT ON THE STOCK EXCHANGE!" + +Mr. Sabin's breakfast remained untasted. He read every word in the four +columns, and then turned to the other newspapers. They were all ablaze +with the news. England's most renowned ally had turned suddenly against +her. Without the slightest warning the fire-brand of war had been +kindled, and waved threateningly in our very faces. The occasion was +hopelessly insignificant. A handful of English adventurers, engaged in a +somewhat rash but plucky expedition in a distant part of the world, had +met with a sharp reverse. In itself the affair was nothing; yet it bade +fair to become a matter of international history. Ill-advised though +they may have been, the Englishmen carried with them a charter granted +by the British Government. There was no secret about it--the fact was +perfectly understood in every Cabinet of Europe. Yet the German Emperor +had himself written a telegram congratulating the State which had +repelled the threatened attack. It was scarcely an invasion--it was +little more than a demonstration on the part of an ill-treated section +of the population! The fact that German interests were in no way +concerned--that any outside interference was simply a piece of +gratuitous impertinence--only intensified the significance of the +incident. A deliberate insult had been offered to England; and the man +who sat there with the paper clenched in his hand, whilst his keen eyes +devoured the long columns of wonder and indignation, knew that his had +been the hand which had hastened the long-pent-up storm. He drew a +little breath when he had finished, and turned to his breakfast. + +"Is Miss Sabin up yet?" he asked the servant, who waited upon him. + +The man was not certain, but withdrew to inquire. He reappeared almost +directly. Miss Sabin had been up for more than an hour. She had just +returned from a walk, and had ordered breakfast to be served in her +room. + +"Tell her," Mr. Sabin directed, "that I should be exceedingly obliged if +she would take her coffee with me. I have some interesting news." + +The man was absent for several minutes. Before he returned Helene came +in. Mr. Sabin greeted her with his usual courtesy and even more than his +usual cordiality. + +"You are missing the best part of the morning with your Continental +habits," she exclaimed brightly. "I have been out on the cliffs since +half-past eight. The air is delightful." + +She threw off her hat, and going to the sideboard, helped herself to a +cup of coffee. There was a becoming flush upon her cheeks--her hair was +a little tossed by the wind. Mr. Sabin watched her curiously. + +"You have not, I suppose, seen a morning paper--or rather last night's +paper?" he remarked. + +She shook her head. + +"A newspaper! You know that I never look at an English one," she +answered. "You wanted to see me, Reynolds said. Is there any news?" + +"There is great news," he answered. "There is such news that by sunset +to-day war will probably be declared between England and Germany!" + +The flush died out of her cheeks. She faced him pallid to the lips. + +"It is not possible!" she exclaimed. + +"So the whole world would have declared a week ago! As a matter of fact +it is not so sudden as we imagine! The storm has been long brewing! It +is we who have been blind. A little black spot of irritation has spread +and deepened into a war-cloud." + +"This will affect us?" she asked. + +"For us," he answered, "it is a triumph. It is the end of our schemes, +the climax of our desires. When Knigenstein came to me I knew that he +was in earnest, but I never dreamed that the torch was so nearly +kindled. I see now why he was so eager to make terms with me." + +"And you," she said, "you have their bond?" + +For a moment he looked thoughtful. + +"Not yet. I have their promise--the promise of the Emperor himself. But +as yet my share of the bargain is incomplete. There must be no more +delay. It must be finished now--at once. That telegram would never have +been sent from Berlin but for their covenant with me. It would have been +better, perhaps, had they waited a little time. But one cannot tell! The +opportunity was too good to let slip." + +"How long will it be," she asked, "before your work is complete?" + +His face clouded over. In the greater triumph he had almost forgotten +the minor difficulties of the present. He was a diplomatist and a +schemer of European fame. He had planned great things, and had +accomplished them. Success had been on his side so long that he might +almost have been excused for declining to reckon failure amongst the +possibilities. The difficulty which was before him now was as trifling +as the uprooting of a hazel switch after the conquest of a forest of +oaks. But none the less for the moment he was perplexed. It was hard, in +the face of this need for urgent haste, to decide upon the next step. + +"My work," he said slowly, "must be accomplished at once. There is very +little wanted. Yet that little, I must confess, troubles me." + +"You have not succeeded, then, in obtaining what you want from Lord +Deringham?" + +"No." + +"Will he not help you at all?" + +"Never." + +"How, then, do you mean to get at these papers of his?" + +"At present," he replied, "I scarcely know. In an hour or two I may be +able to tell you. It is possible that it might take me twenty-four +hours; certainly no longer than that." + +She walked to the window, and stood there with her hands clasped behind +her back. Mr. Sabin had lit a cigarette and was smoking it thoughtfully. + +Presently she spoke to him. + +"You will get them," she said; "yes, I believe that. In the end you will +succeed, as you have succeeded in everything." + +There was a lack of enthusiasm in her tone. He looked up quietly, and +flicked the ash from the end of his cigarette. + +"You are right," he said. "I shall succeed. My only regret is that I +have made a slight miscalculation. It will take longer than I imagined. +Knigenstein will be in a fever, and I am afraid that he will worry me. +At the same time he is himself to blame. He has been needlessly +precipitate." + +She turned away from the window and stood before him. She had a look in +her face which he had seen there but once before, and the memory of +which had ever since troubled him. + +"I want you," she said, "to understand this. I will not have any direct +harm worked upon the Deringhams. If you can get what they have and what +is necessary to us by craft--well, very good. If not, it must go! I will +not have force used. You should remember that Lord Wolfenden saved your +life! I will have nothing to do with any scheme which brings harm upon +them!" + +He looked at her steadily. A small spot of colour was burning high up on +his pallid cheeks. The white, slender fingers, toying carelessly with +one of the breakfast appointments, were shaking. He was very near being +passionately angry. + +"Do you mean," he said, speaking slowly and enunciating every word with +careful distinctness, "do you mean that you would sacrifice or even +endanger the greatest cause which has ever been conceived in the heart +of the patriot, to the whole skin of a household of English people? I +wonder whether you realise the position as it stands at this moment. I +am bound in justice to you to believe that you do not. Do you realise +that Germany has closed with our offer, and will act at our behest; that +only a few trifling sheets of paper stand between us and the fullest, +the most glorious success? Is it a time, do you think, for scruples or +for maudlin sentiment? If I were to fail in my obligations towards +Knigenstein I should not only be dishonoured and disgraced, but our +cause would be lost for ever. The work of many years would crumble into +ashes. My own life would not be worth an hour's purchase. Helene, you +are mad! You are either mad, or worse!" + +She faced him quite unmoved. It was more than ever apparent that she was +not amongst those who feared him. + +"I am perfectly sane," she said, "and I am very much in earnest. Ours +shall be a strategic victory, or we will not triumph at all. I believe +that you are planning some desperate means of securing those papers. I +repeat that I will not have it!" + +He looked at her with curling lips. + +"Perhaps," he said, "it is I who have gone mad! At least I can scarcely +believe that I am not dreaming. Is it really you, Helene of Bourbon, the +descendant of kings, a daughter of the rulers of France, who falters and +turns pale at the idea of a little blood, shed for her country's sake? I +am very much afraid," he added with biting sarcasm, "that I have not +understood you. You bear the name of a great queen, but you have the +heart of a serving-maid! It is Lord Wolfenden for whom you fear!" + +She was not less firm, but her composure was affected. The rich colour +streamed into her cheeks. She remained silent. + +"For a betrothed young lady," he said slowly, "you will forgive me if I +say that your anxiety is scarcely discreet. What you require, I suppose, +is a safe conduct for your lover. I wonder how Henri would----" + +She flashed a glance and an interjection upon him which checked the +words upon his lips. The gesture was almost a royal one. He was +silenced. + +"How dare you, sir?" she exclaimed. "You are taking insufferable +liberties. I do not permit you to interfere in my private concerns. +Understand that even if your words were true, if I choose to have a +lover it is my affair, not yours. As for Henri, what has he to complain +of? Read the papers and ask yourself that! They chronicle his doings +freely enough! He is singularly discreet, is he not?--singularly +faithful!" + +She threw at him a glance of contempt and turned as though to leave the +room. Mr. Sabin, recognising the fact that the situation was becoming +dangerous, permitted himself no longer the luxury of displaying his +anger. He was quite himself again, calm, judicial, incisive. + +"Don't go away, please," he said. "I am sorry that you have read those +reports--more than sorry that you should have attached any particular +credence to them. As you know, the newspapers always exaggerate; in many +of the stories which they tell I do not believe that there is a single +word of truth. But I will admit that Henri has not been altogether +discreet. Yet he is young, and there are many excuses to be made for +him. Apart from that, the whole question of his behaviour is beside the +question. Your marriage with him was never intended to be one of +affection. He is well enough in his way, but there is not the stuff in +him to make a man worthy of your love. Your alliance with him is simply +a necessary link in the chain of our great undertaking. Between you you +will represent the two royal families of France. That is what is +necessary. You must marry him, but afterwards--well, you will be a +queen!" + +Again he had erred. She looked at him with bent brows and kindling eyes. + +"Oh! you are hideously cynical!" she exclaimed. "I may be ambitious, but +it is for my country's sake. If I reign, the Court of France shall be of +a new type; we will at least show the world that to be a Frenchwoman is +not necessarily to abjure morals." + +He shrugged his shoulders. + +"That," he said, "will be as you choose. You will make your Court what +you please. Personally, I believe that you are right. Such sentiments as +you have expressed, properly conveyed to them, would make yours abjectly +half the bourgeois of France! Be as ambitious as you please, but at +least be sensible. Do not think any more of this young Englishman, not +at any rate at present. Nothing but harm can come of it. He is not like +the men of our own country, who know how to take a lady's dismissal +gracefully." + +"He is, at least, a man!" + +"Helene, why should we discuss him? He shall come to no harm at my +hands. Be wise, and forget him. He can be nothing whatever to you. You +know that. You are pledged to greater things." + +She moved back to her place by the window. Her eyes were suddenly soft, +her face was sorrowful. She did not speak, and he feared her silence +more than her indignation. When a knock at the door came he was grateful +for the interruption--grateful, that is, until he saw who it was upon +the threshold. Then he started to his feet with a little exclamation. + +"Lord Wolfenden! You are an early visitor." + +Wolfenden smiled grimly, and advanced into the room. + +"I was anxious," he said, "to run no risk of finding you out. My mission +is not altogether a pleasant one!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +"I MAKE NO PROMISE" + + +A single glance from Mr. Sabin into Wolfenden's face was sufficient. +Under his breath he swore a small, quiet oath. Wolfenden's appearance +was unlooked for, and almost fatal, yet that did not prevent him from +greeting his visitor with his usual ineffusive but well bred courtesy. + +"I am finishing a late breakfast," he remarked. "Can I offer you +anything--a glass of claret or Benedictine?" + +Wolfenden scarcely heard him, and answered altogether at random. He had +suddenly become aware that Helene was in the room; she was coming +towards him from the window recess, with a brilliant smile upon her +lips. + +"How very kind of you to look us up so early!" she exclaimed. + +Mr. Sabin smiled grimly as he poured himself out a liqueur and lit a +cigarette. He was perfectly well aware that Wolfenden's visit was not +one of courtesy; a single glance into his face had told him all that he +cared to know. It was fortunate that Helene had been in the room. Every +moment's respite he gained was precious. + +"Have you come to ask me to go for a drive in that wonderful vehicle?" +she said lightly, pointing out of the window to where his dogcart was +waiting. "I should want a step-ladder to mount it!" + +Wolfenden answered her gravely. + +"I should feel very honoured at being allowed to take you for a drive at +any time," he said, "only I think that I would rather bring a more +comfortable carriage." + +She shrugged her shoulders, and looked at him significantly. + +"The one you were driving yesterday?" + +He bit his lip and frowned with vexation, yet on the whole, perhaps, he +did not regret her allusion. It was proof that she had not taken the +affair too seriously. + +"The one I was driving yesterday would be a great deal more +comfortable," he said; "to-day I only thought of getting here quickly. I +have a little business with Mr. Sabin." + +"Is that a hint for me to go?" she asked. "You are not agreeable this +morning! What possible business can you have with my uncle which does +not include me? I am not inclined to go away; I shall stay and listen." + +Mr. Sabin smiled faintly; the girl was showing her sense now at any +rate. Wolfenden was obviously embarrassed. Helene remained blandly +unconscious of anything serious. + +"I suppose," she said, "that you want to talk golf again! Golf! Why one +hears nothing else but golf down here. Don't you ever shoot or ride for +a change?" + +Wolfenden was suddenly assailed by an horrible suspicion. He could +scarcely believe that her unconsciousness was altogether natural. At the +bare suspicion of her being in league with this man he stiffened. He +answered without looking at her, conscious though he was that her dark +eyes were seeking his invitingly, and that her lips were curving into a +smile. + +"I am not thinking of playing golf to-day," he said. "Unfortunately I +have less pleasant things to consider. If you could give me five +minutes, Mr. Sabin," he added, "I should be very glad." + +She rose immediately with all the appearance of being genuinely +offended; there was a little flush in her cheeks and she walked straight +to the door. Wolfenden held it open for her. + +"I am exceedingly sorry to have been in the way for a moment," she said; +"pray proceed with your business at once." + +Wolfenden did not answer her. As she passed through the doorway she +glanced up at him; he was not even looking at her. His eyes were fixed +upon Mr. Sabin. The fingers which rested upon the door knob seemed +twitching with impatience to close it. She stood quite still for a +moment; the colour left her cheeks, and her eyes grew soft. She was not +angry any longer. Instinctively some idea of the truth flashed in upon +her; she passed out thoughtfully. Wolfenden closed the door and turned +to Mr. Sabin. + +"You can easily imagine the nature of my business," he said coldly. "I +have come to have an explanation with you." + +Mr. Sabin lit a fresh cigarette and smiled on Wolfenden thoughtfully. + +"Certainly," he said; "an explanation! Exactly!" + +"Well," said Wolfenden, "suppose you commence, then." + +Mr. Sabin looked puzzled. + +"Had you not better be a little more explicit?" he suggested gently. + +"I will be," Wolfenden replied, "as explicit as you choose. My mother +has given me her whole confidence. I have come to ask how you dare to +enter Deringham Hall as a common burglar attempting to commit a theft; +and to demand that you instantly return to me a letter, on which you +have attempted to levy blackmail. Is that explicit enough?" + +Mr. Sabin's face did not darken, nor did he seem in any way angry or +discomposed. He puffed at his cigarette for a moment or two, and then +looked blandly across at his visitor. + +"You are talking rubbish," he said in his usual calm, even tones, "but +you are scarcely to blame. It is altogether my own fault. It is quite +true that I was in your house last night, but it was at your mother's +invitation, and I should very much have preferred coming openly at the +usual time, to sneaking in according to her directions through a window. +It was only a very small favour I asked, but Lady Deringham persuaded me +that your father's mental health and antipathy to strangers was such +that he would never give me the information I desired, voluntarily, and +it was entirely at her suggestion that I adopted the means I did. I am +very sorry indeed that I allowed myself to be over-persuaded and placed +in an undoubtedly false position. Women are always nervous and +imaginative, and I am convinced that if I had gone openly to your father +and laid my case before him he would have helped me." + +"He would have done nothing of the sort!" Wolfenden declared. "Nothing +would induce him to show even a portion of his work to a stranger." + +Mr. Sabin shrugged his shoulders gently, and continued without heeding +the interruption. + +"As to my blackmailing Lady Deringham, you have spoken plainly to me, +and you must forgive me for answering you in the same fashion. It is a +lie! I had letters of hers, which I voluntarily destroyed in her +presence; they were only a little foolish, or I should have destroyed +them long ago. I had the misfortune to be once a favoured suitor for +your mother's hand; and I think I may venture to say--I am sure she will +not contradict me--that I was hardly treated. The only letter I ever had +from her likely to do her the least harm I destroyed fifteen years ago, +when I first embarked upon what has been to a certain extent a career +of adventure. I told her that it was not in the packet which we burnt +together yesterday. If she understood from that that it was still in my +possession, and that I was retaining it for any purpose whatever, she +was grievously mistaken in my words. That is all I have to say." + +He had said it very well indeed. Wolfenden, listening intently to every +word, with his eyes rigidly fixed upon the man's countenance, could not +detect a single false note anywhere. He was puzzled. Perhaps his mother +had been nervously excited, and had mistaken some sentence of his for a +covert threat. Yet he thought of her earnestness, her terrible +earnestness, and a sense of positive bewilderment crept over him. + +"We will leave my mother out of the question then," he said. "We will +deal with this matter between ourselves. I should like to know exactly +what part of my father's work you are so anxious to avail yourself of, +and for what purpose?" + +Mr. Sabin drew a letter from his pocket, and handed it over to +Wolfenden. It was from the office of one of the first European Reviews, +and briefly contained a request that Mr. Sabin would favour them with an +article on the comparative naval strengths of European Powers, with +particular reference to the armament and coast defences of Great +Britain. Wolfenden read it carefully and passed it back. The letter was +genuine, there was no doubt about that. + +"It seemed to me," Mr. Sabin continued, "the most natural thing in the +world to consult your father upon certain matters concerning which he +is, or has been, a celebrated authority. In fact I decided to do so at +the instigation of one of the Lords of your Admiralty, to whom he is +personally well known. I had no idea of acting except in the most open +manner, and I called at Deringham Hall yesterday afternoon, and sent in +my card in a perfectly orthodox way, as you may have heard. Your mother +took quite an unexpected view of the whole affair, owing partly to your +father's unfortunate state of health and partly to some extraordinary +attempts which, I am given to understand, have been made to rob him of +his work. She was very anxious to help me, but insisted that it must be +secretly. Last night's business was, I admit, a ghastly mistake--only +it was not my mistake! I yielded to Lady Deringham's proposals under +strong protest. As a man, I think I may say of some intelligence, I am +ashamed of the whole affair; at the same time I am guilty only of an +indiscretion which was sanctioned and instigated by your mother. I +really do not see how I can take any blame to myself in the matter." + +"You could scarcely attribute to Lady Deringham," Wolfenden remarked, +"the injury to the watchman." + +"I can take but little blame to myself," Mr. Sabin answered promptly. +"The man was drunk; he had been, I imagine, made drunk, and I merely +pushed him out of the way. He fell heavily, but the fault was not mine. +Look at my physique, and remember that I was unarmed, and ask yourself +what mischief I could possibly have done to the fellow." + +Wolfenden reflected. + +"You appear to be anxious," he said, "to convince me that your desire to +gain access to a portion of my father's papers is a harmless one. I +should like to ask you why you have in your employ a young lady who was +dismissed from Deringham Hall under circumstances of strong suspicion?" + +Mr. Sabin raised his eyebrows. + +"It is the first time I have heard of anything suspicious connected +with Miss Merton," he said. "She came into my service with excellent +testimonials, and I engaged her at Willing's bureau. The fact that she +had been employed at Deringham Hall was merely a coincidence." + +"Was it also a coincidence," Wolfenden continued, "that in reply to a +letter attempting to bribe my father's secretary, Mr. Blatherwick, it +was she, Miss Merton, who kept an appointment with him?" + +"That," Mr. Sabin answered, "I know nothing of. If you wish to question +Miss Merton you are quite at liberty to do so; I will send for her." + +Wolfenden shook his head. + +"Miss Merton was far too clever to commit herself," he said; "she knew +from the first that she was being watched, and behaved accordingly. If +she was not there as your agent, her position becomes more extraordinary +still." + +"I can assure you," Mr. Sabin said, with an air of weariness, "that I am +not the man of mystery you seem to think me. I should never dream of +employing such roundabout means for gaining possession of a few +statistics." + +Wolfenden was silent. His case was altogether one of surmises; he could +prove nothing. + +"Perhaps," he said, "I have been precipitate. It would appear so. But if +I am unduly suspicious, you have yourself only to blame! You admit that +your name is an assumed one. You refuse my suit to your niece without +any reasonable cause. You are evidently, to be frank, a person of much +more importance than you lay claim to be. Now be open with me. If there +is any reason, although I cannot conceive an honest one, for concealing +your identity, why, I will respect your confidence absolutely. You may +rely upon that. Tell me who you are, and who your niece is, and why you +are travelling about in this mysterious way." + +Mr. Sabin smiled good-humouredly. + +"Well," he said, "you must forgive me if I plead guilty to the false +identity--and preserve it. For certain reasons it would not suit me to +take even you into my confidence. Besides which, if you will forgive my +saying so, there does not seem to be the least necessity for it. We are +leaving here during the week, and shall in all probability go abroad +almost at once; so we are not likely to meet again. Let us part +pleasantly, and abandon a somewhat profitless discussion." + +For a moment Wolfenden was staggered. They were leaving England! Going +away! That meant that he would see no more of Helene. His indignation +against the man, kindled almost into passionate anger by his mother's +story, was forgotten, overshadowed by a keen thrill of personal +disappointment. If they were really leaving England, he might bid +farewell to any chance of winning her; and there were certain words of +hers, certain gestures, which had combined to fan that little flame of +hope, which nothing as yet had ever been able to extinguish. He looked +into Mr. Sabin's quiet face, and he was conscious of a sense of +helplessness. The man was too strong and too wily for him; it was an +unequal contest. + +"We will abandon the discussion then, if you will," Wolfenden said +slowly. "I will talk with Lady Deringham again. She is in an extremely +nervous state; it is possible of course that she may have misunderstood +you." + +Mr. Sabin sighed with an air of gentle relief. Ah! if the men of other +countries were only as easy to delude as these Englishmen! What a +triumphant career might yet be his! + +"I am very glad," he said, "that you do me the honour to take, what I +can assure you, is the correct view of the situation. I hope that you +will not hurry away; may I not offer you a cigarette?" + +Wolfenden sat down for the first time. + +"Are you in earnest," he asked, "when you speak of leaving England so +soon?" + +"Assuredly! You will do me the justice to admit that I have never +pretended to like your country, have I? I hope to leave it for several +years, if not for ever, within the course of a few weeks." + +"And your niece, Mr. Sabin?" + +"She accompanies me, of course; she likes this country even less than I +do. Perhaps, under the circumstances, our departure is the best thing +that could happen; it is at any rate opportune." + +"I cannot agree with you," Wolfenden said; "for me it is most +inopportune. I need scarcely say that I have not abandoned my desire to +make your niece my wife." + +"I should have thought," Mr. Sabin said, with a fine note of satire in +his tone, "that you would have put far away from you all idea of any +connection with such suspicious personages." + +"I have never had," Wolfenden said calmly, "any suspicion at all +concerning your niece." + +"She would be, I am sure, much flattered," Mr. Sabin declared. "At the +same time I can scarcely see on what grounds you continue to hope for an +impossibility. My niece's refusal seemed to me explicit enough, +especially when coupled with my own positive prohibition." + +"Your niece," Wolfenden said, "is doubtless of age. I should not trouble +about your consent if I could gain hers, and I may as well tell you at +once, that I by no means despair of doing so." + +Mr. Sabin bit his lip, and his dark eyes flashed out with a sudden fire. + +"I should be glad to know, sir," he said, "on what grounds you consider +my voice in the affair to be ineffective?" + +"Partly," Wolfenden answered, "for the reason which I have already given +you--because your niece is of age; and partly also because you persist +in giving me no definite reason for your refusal." + +"I have told you distinctly," Mr. Sabin said, "that my niece is +betrothed and will be married within six months." + +"To whom? where is he? why is he not here? Your niece wears no +engagement ring. I will answer for it, that if she is as you say +betrothed, it is not of her own free will." + +"You talk," Mr. Sabin said with dangerous calm, "like a fool. It is not +customary amongst the class to which my niece belongs to wear always an +engagement ring. As for her affections, she has had, I am glad to say, a +sufficient self-control to keep them to herself. Your presumption is +simply the result of your entire ignorance. I appeal to you for the last +time, Lord Wolfenden, to behave like a man of common sense, and abandon +hopes which can only end in disappointment." + +"I have no intention of doing anything of the sort," Wolfenden said +doggedly; "we Englishmen are a pig-headed race, as you were once polite +enough to observe. Your niece is the only woman whom I have wished to +marry, and I shall marry her, if I can." + +"I shall make it my especial concern," Mr. Sabin said firmly, "to see +that all intercourse between you ends at once." + +Wolfenden rose to his feet. + +"It is obviously useless," he said, "to continue this conversation. I +have told you my intentions. I shall pursue them to the best of my +ability. Good-morning." + +Mr. Sabin held out his hand. + +"I have just a word more to say to you," he declared. "It is about your +father." + +"I do not desire to discuss my father, or any other matter with you," +Wolfenden said quietly. "As to my father's work, I am determined to +solve the mystery connected with it once and for all. I have wired for +Mr. C. to come down, and, if necessary, take possession of the papers. +You can get what information you require from him yourself." + +Mr. Sabin rose up slowly; his long, white fingers were clasped around +the head of that curious stick of his. There was a peculiar glint in his +eyes, and his cheeks were pale with passion. + +"I am very much obliged to you for telling me that," he said; "it is +valuable information for me. I will certainly apply to Mr. C." + +He had been drawing nearer and nearer to Wolfenden. Suddenly he stopped, +and, with a swift movement, raised the stick on which he had been +leaning, over his head. It whirled round in a semi-circle. Wolfenden, +fascinated by that line of gleaming green light, hesitated for a moment, +then he sprang backwards, but he was too late. The head of the stick +came down on his head, his upraised arm did little to break the force of +the blow. He sank to the ground with a smothered groan. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +THE SECRET OF MR. SABIN'S NIECE + + +At the sound of his cry, Helene, who had been crossing the hall, threw +open the door just as Mr. Sabin's fingers were upon the key. Seeing that +he was powerless to keep from her the knowledge of what had happened, he +did not oppose her entrance. She glided into the centre of the room with +a stifled cry of terror. Together, she and Mr. Sabin bent over +Wolfenden's motionless figure. Mr. Sabin unfastened the waistcoat and +felt his heart. She did not speak until he had held his hand there for +several seconds, then she asked a question. + +"Have you killed him?" + +Mr. Sabin shook his head and smiled gently. + +"Too tough a skull by far," he said. "Can you get a basin and a towel +without any one seeing you?" + +She nodded, and fetched them from her own room. The water was fresh and +cold, and the towel was of fine linen daintily hemmed, and fragrant with +the perfume of violets. Yet neither of these things, nor the soft warmth +of her breathing upon his cheek, seemed to revive him in the least. He +lay quite still in the same heavy stupor. Mr. Sabin stood upright and +looked at him thoughtfully. His face had grown almost haggard. + +"We had better send for a doctor," she whispered fiercely. "I shall +fetch one myself if you do not!" + +Mr. Sabin gently dissented. + +"I know quite as much as any doctor," he said; "the man is not dead, or +dying, or likely to die. I wonder if we could move him on to that sofa!" + +Together they managed it somehow. Mr. Sabin, in the course of his +movements to and fro about the room, was attracted by the sight of the +dogcart still waiting outside. He frowned, and stood for a moment +looking thoughtfully at it. Then he went outside. + +"Are you waiting for Lord Wolfenden?" he asked the groom. + +The man looked up in surprise. + +"Yes, sir. I set him down here nearly an hour ago. I had no orders to go +home." + +"Lord Wolfenden has evidently forgotten all about you," Mr. Sabin said. +"He left by the back way for the golf course, and I am going to join him +there directly. He is not coming back here at all. You had better go +home, I should think." + +The man touched his hat. + +"Very good, sir." + +There was a little trampling up of the gravel, and Wolfenden's dogcart +rapidly disappeared in the distance. Mr. Sabin, with set face and a hard +glitter in his eyes went back into the morning room. Helene was still on +her knees by Wolfenden's prostrate figure when he entered. She spoke to +him without looking up. + +"He is a little better, I think; he opened his eyes just now." + +"He is not seriously hurt," Mr. Sabin said; "there may be some slight +concussion, nothing more. The question is, first, what to do with him, +and secondly, how to make the best use of the time which must elapse +before he will be well enough to go home." + +She looked at him now in horror. He was always like this, unappalled by +anything which might happen, eager only to turn every trick of fortune +to his own ends. Surely his nerves were of steel and his heart of iron. + +"I think," she said, "that I should first make sure that he is likely to +recover at all." + +Mr. Sabin answered mechanically, his thoughts seemed far away. + +"His recovery is a thing already assured," he said. "His skull was too +hard to crack; he will be laid up for an hour or two. What I have to +decide is how to use that hour or two to the best possible advantage." + +She looked away from him and shuddered. This passionate absorption of +all his energies into one channel had made a fiend of the man. Her +slowly growing purpose took to itself root and branch, as she knelt by +the side of the young Englishman, who only a few moments ago had seemed +the very embodiment of all manly vigour. + +Mr. Sabin stood up. He had arrived at a determination. + +"Helene," he said, "I am going away for an hour, perhaps two. Will you +take care of him until I return?" + +"Yes." + +"You will promise not to leave him, or to send for a doctor?" + +"I will promise, unless he seems to grow worse." + +"He will not get worse, he will be conscious in less than an hour. Keep +him with you as long as you can, he will be safer here. Remember that!" + +"I will remember," she said. + +He left the room, and soon she heard the sound of carriage wheels +rolling down the avenue. His departure was an intense relief to her. She +watched the carriage, furiously driven, disappear along the road. Then +she returned to Wolfenden's side. For nearly an hour she remained there, +bathing his head, forcing now and then a little brandy between his +teeth, and watching his breathing become more regular and the ghastly +whiteness leaving his face. And all the while she was thoughtful. Once +or twice her hands touched his hair tenderly, almost caressingly. There +was a certain wistfulness in her regard of him. She bent close over his +face; he was still apparently as unconscious as ever. She hesitated for +a moment; the red colour burned in one bright spot on her cheeks. She +stooped down and kissed him on the forehead, whispering something under +her breath. Almost before she could draw back, he opened his eyes. +She was overwhelmed with confusion, but seeing that he had no clear +knowledge of what had happened, she rapidly recovered herself. He looked +around him and then up into her face. + +"What has happened?" he asked. "Where am I?" + +"You are at the Lodge," she said quietly. "You called to see Mr. Sabin +this morning, you know, and I am afraid you must have quarrelled." + +"Ah! it was that beastly stick," he said slowly. "He struck at me +suddenly. Where is he now?" + +She did not answer him at once. It was certainly better not to say that +she had seen him driven rapidly away only a short time ago, with his +horses' heads turned to Deringham Hall. + +"He will be back soon," she said. "Do not think about him, please. I +cannot tell you how sorry I am." + +He was recovering himself rapidly. Something in her eyes was sending the +blood warmly through his veins; he felt better every instant. + +"I do not want to think about him," he murmured, "I do not want to think +about any one else but you." + +She looked down at him with a half pathetic, half humorous twitching of +her lips. + +"You must please not make love to me, or I shall have to leave you," she +said. "The idea of thinking about such a thing in your condition! You +don't want to send me away, do you?" + +"On the contrary," he answered, "I want to keep you always with me." + +"That," she said briefly, "is impossible." + +"Nothing," he declared, "is impossible, if only we make up our minds to +it. I have made up mine!" + +"You are very masterful! Are all Englishmen as confident as you?" + +"I know nothing about other men," he declared. "But I love you, Helene, +and I am not sure that you do not care a little for me." + +She drew her hand away from his tightening clasp. + +"I am going," she said; "it is your own fault--you have driven me away." + +Her draperies rustled as she moved towards the door, but she did not go +far. + +"I do not feel so well," he said quietly; "I believe that I am going to +faint." + +She was on her knees by his side again in a moment. For a fainting man, +the clasp of his fingers around hers was wonderfully strong. + +"I feel better now," he announced calmly. "I shall be all right if you +stay quietly here, and don't move about." + +She looked at him doubtfully. + +"I do not believe," she said, "that you felt ill at all; you are taking +advantage of me!" + +"I can assure you that I am not," he answered; "when you are here I feel +a different man." + +"I am quite willing to stay if you will behave yourself," she said. + +"Will you please define good behaviour?" he begged. + +"In the present instance," she laughed, "it consists in not saying silly +things." + +"A thing which is true cannot be silly," he protested. "It is true that +I am never happy without you. That is why I shall never give you up." + +She looked down at him with bright eyes, and a frown which did not come +easily. + +"If you persist in making love to me," she said, "I am going away. It is +not permitted, understand that!" + +He sighed. + +"I am afraid," he answered softly, "that I shall always be indulging in +the luxury of the forbidden. For I love you, and I shall never weary of +telling you so." + +"Then I must see," she declared, making a subtle but unsuccessful +attempt to disengage her hand, "that you have fewer opportunities." + +"If you mean that," he said, "I must certainly make the most of this +one. Helene, you could care for me, I know, and I could make you happy. +You say 'No' to me because there is some vague entanglement--I will not +call it an engagement--with some one else. You do not care for him, I am +sure. Don't marry him! It will be for your sorrow. So many women's lives +are spoilt like that. Dearest," he added, gaining courage from her +averted face, "I can make you happy, I am sure of it! I do not know who +you are or who your people are, but they shall be my people--nothing +matters, except that I love you. I don't know what to say to you, +Helene. There is something shadowy in your mind which seems to you to +come between us. I don't know what it is, or I would dispel it. Tell me, +dear, won't you give me a chance?" + +She yielded her other hand to his impatient fingers, and looked down at +him wistfully. Yet there was something in her gaze which he could not +fathom. Of one thing he was very sure, there was a little tenderness +shining out of her dark, brilliant eyes, a little regret, a little +indecision. On the whole he was hopeful. + +"Dear," she said softly, "perhaps I do care for you a little. +Perhaps--well, some time in the future--what you are thinking of might +be possible; I cannot say. Something, apart from you, has happened, +which has changed my life. You must let me go for a little while. But I +will promise you this. The entanglement of which you spoke shall be +broken off. I will have no more to do with that man!" + +He sat upright. + +"Helene," he said, "you are making me very happy, but there is one thing +which I must ask you, and which you must forgive me for asking. This +entanglement of which you speak has nothing to do with Mr. Sabin?" + +"Nothing whatever," she answered promptly. "How I should like to tell +you everything! But I have made a solemn promise, and I must keep it. My +lips are sealed. But one thing I should like you to understand, in case +you have ever had any doubt about it. Mr. Sabin is really my uncle, my +mother's brother. He is engaged in a great enterprise in which I am a +necessary figure. He has suddenly become very much afraid of you." + +"Afraid of me!" Wolfenden repeated. + +She nodded. + +"I ought to tell you, perhaps, that my marriage with some one else is +necessary to insure the full success of his plans. So you see he has set +himself to keep us apart." + +"The more you tell me, the more bewildered I get," Wolfenden declared. +"What made him attack me just now without any warning? Surely he did not +wish to kill me?" + +Her hand within his seemed to grow colder. + +"You were imprudent," she said. + +"Imprudent! In what way?" + +"You told him that you had sent for Mr. C. to come and go through your +father's papers." + +"What of it?" + +"I cannot tell you any more!" + +Wolfenden rose to his feet; he was still giddy, but he was able to +stand. + +"All that he told me here was a tissue of lies then! Helene, I will not +leave you with such a man. You cannot continue to live with him." + +"I do not intend to," she answered; "I want to get away. What has +happened to-day is more than I can pardon, even from him. Yet you must +not judge him too harshly. In his way he is a great man, and he is +planning great things which are not wholly for his advantage. But he is +unscrupulous! So long as the end is great, he believes himself justified +in stooping to any means." + +Wolfenden shuddered. + +"You must not live another day with him," he exclaimed; "you will come +to Deringham Hall. My mother will be only too glad to come and fetch +you. It is not very cheerful there just now, but anything is better than +leaving you with this man." + +She looked at him curiously. Her eyes were soft with something which +suggested pity, but resembled tears. + +"No," she said, "that would not do at all. You must not think because I +have been living with Mr. Sabin that I have no other relations or +friends. I have a very great many of both, only it was arranged that I +should leave them for a while. I can go back at any time; I am +altogether my own mistress." + +"Then go back at once," he begged her feverishly. "I could not bear to +think of you living here with this man another hour. Have your things +put together now and tell your maid. Let me take you to the station. +I want to see you leave this infernal house, and this atmosphere of +cheating and lies, when I do!" + +Her lips parted into the ghost of a smile. + +"I have not found so much to regret in my stay here," she said softly. + +He held out his arms, but she eluded him gently. + +"I hope," he said, "nay, I know that you will never regret it. Never! +Tell me what you are going to do now?" + +"I shall leave here this afternoon," she said, "and go straight to some +friends in London. Then I shall make new plans, or rather set myself +to the remaking of old ones. When I am ready, I will write to you. But +remember again--I make no promise!" + +He held out his hands. + +"But you will write to me?" + +She hesitated. + +"No, I shall not write to you. I am not going to give you my address +even; you must be patient for a little while." + +"You will not go away? You will not at least leave England without +seeing me?" + +"Not unless I am compelled," she promised, "and then, if I go, I will +come back again, or let you know where I am. You need not fear; I am not +going to slip away and be lost! You shall see me again." + +Wolfenden was dissatisfied. + +"I hate letting you go," he said. "I hate all this mystery. When one +comes to think of it, I do not even know your name! It is ridiculous! +Why cannot I take you to London, and we can be married to-morrow. Then +I should have the right to protect you against this blackguard." + +She laughed softly. Her lips were parted in dainty curves, and her eyes +were lit with merriment. + +"How delightful you are," she exclaimed. "And to think that the women of +my country call you Englishmen slow wooers!" + +"Won't you prove the contrary?" he begged. + +She shook her head. + +"It is already proved. But if you are sure you feel well enough to walk, +please go now. I want to catch the afternoon train to London." + +He held out his hands and tried once more to draw her to him. But she +stepped backwards laughing. + +"You must please be patient," she said, "and remember that to-day I am +betrothed to--somebody else! Goodbye!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +MR. SABIN TRIUMPHS + + +Wolfenden, for perhaps the first time in his life, chose the inland +road home. He was still feeling faint and giddy, and the fresh air only +partially revived him. He walked slowly, and rested more than once. It +took him almost half an hour to reach the cross roads. Here he sat on a +stile for a few minutes, until he began to feel himself again. Just as +he was preparing to resume his walk, he was aware of a carriage being +driven rapidly towards him, along the private road from Deringham Hall. + +He stood quite still and watched it. The roads were heavy after much +rain, and the mud was leaping up into the sunshine from the flying +wheels, bespattering the carriage, and reaching even the man who sat +upon the box. The horses had broken into a gallop, the driver was +leaning forward whip in hand. He knew at once whose carriage it was: it +was the little brougham which Mr. Sabin had brought down from London. He +had been up to the hall, then! Wolfenden's face grew stern. He stood +well out in the middle of the road. The horses would have to be checked +a little at the sharp turn before him. They would probably shy a little, +seeing him stand there in the centre of the road; he would be able to +bring them to a standstill. So he remained there motionless. Nearer and +nearer they came. Wolfenden set his teeth hard and forgot his +dizziness. + +They were almost upon him now. To his surprise the driver was making no +effort to check his galloping horses. It seemed impossible that they +could round that narrow corner at the pace they were going. A froth of +white foam was on their bits, and their eyes were bloodshot. They were +almost upon Wolfenden before he realised what was happening. They +made no attempt to turn the corner which he was guarding, but flashed +straight past him along the Cromer road. Wolfenden shouted and waved his +arms, but the coachman did not even glance in his direction. He caught +a glimpse of Mr. Sabin's face as he leaned back amongst the cushions, +dark, satyr-like, forbidding. The thin lips seemed to part into a +triumphant smile as he saw Wolfenden standing there. It was all over in +a moment. The carriage, with its whirling wheels, was already a speck in +the distance. + +Wolfenden looked at his watch. It was five-and-twenty minutes to one. +Mr. Sabin's purpose was obvious. He was trying to catch the one o'clock +express to London. To pursue that carriage was absolutely hopeless. +Wolfenden set his face towards Deringham Hall and ran steadily along the +road. He was filled with vague fears. The memory of Mr. Sabin's smile +haunted him. He had succeeded. By what means? Perhaps by violence! +Wolfenden forgot his own aching head. He was filled only with an intense +anxiety to reach his destination. If Mr. Sabin had so much as raised his +hand, he should pay for it. He understood now why that blow had been +given. It was to keep him out of the way. As he ran on, his teeth +clenched, and his breath coming fast, he grew hot with passionate anger. +He had been Mr. Sabin's dupe! Curse the man. + +He turned the final corner in the drive, climbed the steps and entered +the hall. The servants were standing about as usual. There was no sign +of anything having happened. They looked at him curiously, but that +might well be, owing to his dishevelled condition. + +"Where is the Admiral, Groves?" he asked breathlessly. + +"His lordship is in the billiard-room," the man answered. + +Wolfenden stopped short in his passage across the hall, and looked at +the man in amazement. + +"Where?" + +"In the billiard-room, my lord," the man repeated. "He was inquiring for +you only a moment ago." + +Wolfenden turned sharp to the left and entered the billiard-room. His +father was standing there with his coat off and a cue in his hand. +Directly he turned round Wolfenden was aware of a peculiar change in his +face and expression. The hard lines had vanished, every trace of anxiety +seemed to have left him. His eyes were soft and as clear as a child's. +He turned to Wolfenden with a bland smile, and immediately began to +chalk his cue. + +"Come and play me a game, Wolf," he cried out cheerfully. "You'll have +to give me a few, I'm so out of practice. We'll make it a hundred, and +you shall give me twenty. Which will you have, spot, or plain?" + +Wolfenden gulped down his amazement with an effort. + +"I'll take plain," he said. "It's a long time, isn't it, since we +played?" + +His father faced him for a minute and seemed perplexed. + +"Not so very long, surely. Wasn't it yesterday, or the day before?" + +Wolfenden wondered for a moment whether that blow had affected his +brain. It was years since he had seen the billiard-room at Deringham +Hall opened. + +"I don't exactly remember," he faltered. "Perhaps I was mistaken. Time +goes so quickly." + +"I wonder," the Admiral said, making a cannon and stepping briskly +round the table, "how it goes at all with you young men who do nothing. +Great mistake to have no profession, Wolf! I wish I could make you see +it." + +"I quite agree with you," Wolfenden said. "You must not look upon me as +quite an idler, though. I am a full-fledged barrister, you know, +although I do not practise, and I have serious thoughts of Parliament." + +The Admiral shook his head. + +"Poor career, my boy, poor career for a gentleman's son. Take my advice +and keep out of Parliament. I am going to pot the red. I don't like the +red ball, Wolf! It keeps looking at me like--like that man! Ah!" + +He flung his cue with a rattle upon the floor of inlaid wood, and +started back. + +"Look, Wolf!" he cried. "He's grinning at me! Come here, boy! Tell me +the truth! Have I been tricked? He told me that he was Mr. C. and I gave +him everything! Look at his face how it changes! He isn't like C. now! +He is like--who is it he is like? C.'s face is not so pale as that, and +he does not limp. I seem to remember him too! Can't you help me? Can't +you see him, boy?" + +He had been moving backwards slowly. He was leaning now against the +wall, his face blanched and perfectly bloodless, his eyes wild and his +pupils dilated. Wolfenden laid his cue down and came over to his side. + +"No, I can't see him, father," he said gently. "I think it must be +fancy; you have been working too hard." + +"You are blind, boy, blind," the Admiral muttered. "Where was it I saw +him last? There were sands--and a burning sun--his shot went wide, but I +aimed low and I hit him. He carried himself bravely. He was an +aristocrat, and he never forgot it. But why does he call himself Mr. C.? +What has he to do with my work?" + +Wolfenden choked down a lump in his throat. He began to surmise what had +happened. + +"Let us go into the other room, father," he said gently. "It is too cold +for billiards." + +The Admiral held out his arm. He seemed suddenly weak and old. His eyes +were dull and he was muttering to himself. Wolfenden led him gently from +the room and upstairs to his own apartment. There he made an excuse for +leaving him for a moment, and hurried down into the library. Mr. +Blatherwick was writing there alone. + +"Blatherwick," Wolfenden exclaimed, "what has happened this morning? Who +has been here?" + +Mr. Blatherwick blushed scarlet. + +"Miss Merton called, and a gentleman with her, from the Home Office, I +b-b-believe." + +"Who let him into the library?" Wolfenden asked sternly. + +Mr. Blatherwick fingered his collar, as though he found it too tight for +him, and appeared generally uncomfortable. + +"At Miss Merton's request, Lord Wolfenden," he said nervously, "I +allowed him to come in. I understood that he had been sent for by her +ladyship. I trust that I did not do wrong." + +"You are an ass, Blatherwick," Wolfenden exclaimed angrily. "You seem +to enjoy lending yourself to be the tool of swindlers and thieves. My +father has lost his reason entirely now, and it is your fault. You had +better leave here at once! You are altogether too credulous for this +world." + +Wolfenden strode away towards his mother's room, but a cry from upstairs +directed his steps. Lady Deringham and he met outside his father's door, +and entered the room together. They came face to face with the Admiral. + +"Out of my way!" he cried furiously. "Come with me, Wolf! We must follow +him. I must have my papers back, or kill him! I have been dreaming. He +told me that he was C. I gave him all he asked for! We must have them +back. Merciful heavens! if he publishes them, we are ruined ... where +did he come from?... They told me that he was dead.... Has he crawled +back out of hell? I shot him once! He has never forgotten it! This is +his vengeance! Oh, God!" + +He sank down into a chair. The perspiration stood out in great beads +upon his white forehead. He was shaking from head to foot. Suddenly his +head drooped in the act of further speech, the words died away upon his +lips. He was unconscious. The Countess knelt by his side and Wolfenden +stood over her. + +"Do you know anything of what has happened?" Wolfenden asked. + +"Very little," she whispered; "somehow, he--Mr. Sabin--got into the +library, and the shock sent him--like this. Here is the doctor." + +Dr. Whitlett was ushered in. They all three looked down upon the +Admiral, and the doctor asked a few rapid questions. There was certainly +a great change in his face. A strong line or two had disappeared, the +countenance was milder and younger. It was like the face of a child. +Wolfenden was afraid to see the eyes open, he seemed already in +imagination to picture to himself their vacant, unseeing light. Dr. +Whitlett shook his head sadly. + +"I am afraid," he said gravely, "that when Lord Deringham recovers he +will remember nothing! He has had a severe shock, and there is every +indication that his mind has given way." + +Wolfenden drew his teeth together savagely. This, then, was the result +of Mr. Sabin's visit. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + +BLANCHE MERTON'S LITTLE PLOT + + +At about four o'clock in the afternoon, as Helene was preparing to leave +the Lodge, a telegram was brought in to her from Mr. Sabin. + +"I have succeeded and am now _en route_ for London. You had better +follow when convenient, but do not be later than to-morrow." + +She tore it into small pieces and hummed a tune. + +"It is enough," she murmured. "I am not ambitious any longer. I am going +to London, it is true, my dear uncle, but not to Kensington! You can +play Richelieu to Henri and my cousin, if it pleases you. I wonder----" + +Her face grew softer and more thoughtful. Suddenly she laughed outright +to herself. She went and sat down on the couch, where Wolfenden had been +lying. + +"It would have been simpler," she said to herself. "How like a man to +think of such a daring thing. I wish--I almost wish--I had consented. +What a delightful sensation it would have made. Cecile will laugh when I +tell her of this. To her I have always seemed ambitious, and ambitious +only ... and now I have found out that I have a heart only to give it +away. _Helas!_" + +There was a knock at the door. A servant entered. + +"Miss Merton would be glad to know if you could spare her a moment +before you left, Miss," the man announced. + +Helene glanced at the clock. + +"I am going very shortly," she said; "she had better come in now." + +The man withdrew, but returned almost immediately, ushering in Miss +Merton. For the first time Helene noticed how pretty the girl was. Her +trim, dainty little figure was shown off to its utmost advantage by the +neat tailor gown she was wearing, and there was a bright glow of colour +in her cheeks. Helene, who had no liking for her uncle's typewriter, and +who had scarcely yet spoken to her, remained standing, waiting to hear +what she had to say. + +"I wanted to see Mr. Sabin," she began. "Can you tell me when he will be +back?" + +"He has gone to London," Helene replied. "He will not be returning here +at all." + +The girl's surprise was evidently genuine. + +"But he said nothing about it a few hours ago," she exclaimed. "You are +in his confidence, I know. This morning he gave me something to do. I +was to get Mr. Blatherwick away from the Hall, and keep him with me as +long as I could. You do not know Mr. Blatherwick? then you cannot +sympathise with me. Since ten o'clock I have been with him. At last I +could keep him no longer. He has gone back to the Hall." + +"Mr. Sabin will probably write to you," Helene said. "This house is +taken for another fortnight, and you can of course remain here, if you +choose. You will certainly hear from him within the next day or two." + +Miss Merton shrugged her shoulders. + +"Well, I shall take a holiday," she declared. "I've finished typing all +the copy I had. Haven't you dropped something there?" + +She stooped suddenly forward, and picked up a locket from the floor. + +"Is this yours?" she asked. "Why----" + +She held the locket tightly in her hand. Her eyes seemed rivetted upon +it. It was very small and fashioned of plain gold, with a coronet and +letter on the face. Miss Merton looked at it in amazement. + +"Why, this belongs to Wolf--to Lord Wolfenden," she exclaimed. + +Helene looked at her in cold surprise. + +"It is very possible," she said. "He was here a short time ago." + +Miss Merton clenched the locket in her hand, as though she feared for +its safety. + +"Here! In this room?" + +"Certainly! He called to see Mr. Sabin and remained for some time." + +Miss Merton was a little paler. She did not look quite so pretty now. + +"Did you see him?" she asked. + +Helene raised her eyebrows. + +"I scarcely understand," she said, "what business it is of yours. Since +you ask me, however, I have no objection to telling you that I did see +Lord Wolfenden. He remained some time here with me after Mr. Sabin +left." + +"Perhaps," Miss Merton suggested, with acidity, "that was why I was sent +out of the way." + +Helene looked at her through half-closed eyes. + +"I am afraid," she said, "that you are a very impertinent young woman. +Be so good as to put that locket upon the table and leave the room." + +The girl did neither. On the contrary, she slipped the locket into the +bosom of her gown. + +"I will take care of this," she remarked. + +Helene laid her hand upon the bell. + +"I am afraid," she said, "that you must be unwell. I am going to ring +the bell. Perhaps you will be good enough to place the locket on that +table and leave the room." + +Miss Merton drew herself up angrily. + +"I have a better claim upon the locket than any one," she said. "I am +seeing Lord Wolfenden constantly. I will give it to him." + +"Thank you, you need not trouble," Helene answered. "I shall send a +servant with it to Deringham Hall. Will you be good enough to give it to +me?" + +Miss Merton drew a step backwards and shook her head. + +"I think," she said, "that I am more concerned in it than you are, for I +gave it to him." + +"You gave it to him?" + +Miss Merton nodded. + +"Yes! If you don't believe me, look here." + +She drew the locket from her bosom and, holding it out, touched a +spring. There was a small miniature inside; Helene, leaning over, +recognised it at once. It was a likeness of the girl herself. She felt +the colour leave her cheeks, but she did not flinch. + +"I was not aware," she said, "that you were on such friendly terms with +Lord Wolfenden." + +The girl smiled oddly. + +"Lord Wolfenden," she said, "has been very kind to me." + +"Perhaps," Helene continued, "I ought not to ask, but I must confess +that you have surprised me. Is Lord Wolfenden--your lover?" + +Miss Merton shut up the locket with a click and returned it to her +bosom. There was no longer any question as to her retaining it. She +looked at Helene thoughtfully. + +"Has he been making love to you?" she asked abruptly. + +Helene raised her eyes and looked at her. The other girl felt suddenly +very insignificant. + +"You must not ask me impertinent questions," she said calmly. "Of +course you need not tell me anything unless you choose. It is for you to +please yourself." + +The girl was white with anger. She had not a tithe of Helene's +self-control, and she felt that she was not making the best of her +opportunities. + +"Lord Wolfenden," she said slowly, "did promise to marry me once. I was +his father's secretary, and I was turned away on his account." + +"Indeed!" + +There was a silence between the two women. Miss Merton was watching +Helene closely, but she was disappointed. Her face was set in cold, +proud lines, but she showed no signs of trouble. + +"Under these circumstances," Helene said, "the locket certainly belongs +to you. If you will allow me, I will ring now for my maid. I am leaving +here this evening." + +"I should like," Miss Merton said, "to tell you about Lord Wolfenden and +myself." + +Helene smiled languidly. + +"You will excuse me, I am sure," she said. "It is scarcely a matter +which interests me." + +Miss Merton flushed angrily. She was at a disadvantage and she knew it. + +"I thought that you were very much interested in Lord Wolfenden," she +said spitefully. + +"I have found him much pleasanter than the majority of Englishmen." + +"But you don't care to hear about him--from me!" Miss Merton exclaimed. + +Helene smiled. + +"I have no desire to be rude," she said, "but since you put it in that +way I will admit that you are right." + +The girl bit her lip. She felt that she had only partially succeeded. +This girl was more than her match. She suddenly changed her tactics. + +"Oh! you are cruel," she exclaimed. "You want to take him from me; I +know you do! He promised--to marry me--before you came. He must marry +me! I dare not go home!" + +"I can assure you," Helene said quietly, "that I have not the faintest +desire to take Lord Wolfenden from you--or from any one else! I do not +like this conversation at all, and I do not intend to continue it. +Perhaps if you have nothing more to say you will go to your room, or if +you wish to go away I will order a carriage for you. Please make up your +mind quickly." + +Miss Merton sprang up and walked towards the door. Her pretty face was +distorted with anger. + +"I do not want your carriage," she said. "I am leaving the house, but I +will walk." + +"Just as you choose, if you only go," Helene murmured. + +She was already at the door, but she turned back. + +"I can't help it!" she exclaimed. "I've got to ask you a question. Has +Lord Wolfenden asked you to marry him?" + +Helene was disgusted, but she was not hard-hearted. The girl was +evidently distressed--it never occurred to her that she might not be in +earnest. She herself could not understand such a lack of self-respect. +A single gleam of pity mingled with her contempt. + +"I am not at liberty to answer your question," she said coldly, "as +it concerns Lord Wolfenden as well as myself. But I have no objection +to telling you this. I am the Princess Helene of Bourbon, and I am +betrothed to my cousin, Prince Henri of Ortrens! So you see that I am +not likely to marry Lord Wolfenden! Now, please, go away at once!" + +Miss Merton obeyed. She left the room literally speechless. Helene rang +the bell. + +"If that young person--Miss Merton I think her name is--attempts to see +me again before I leave, be sure that she is not admitted," she told the +servant. + +The man bowed and left the room. Helene was left alone. She sank into +an easy chair by the fire and leaned her head upon her hand. Her +self-control was easy and magnificent, but now that she was alone her +face had softened. The proud, little mouth was quivering. A feeling of +uneasiness, of utter depression stole over her. Tears stood for a moment +in her eyes but she brushed them fiercely away. + +"How could he have dared?" she murmured. "I wish that I were a man! +After all, then, it must be--ambition!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV + +A LITTLE GAME OF CARDS + + +Mr. Sabin, whose carriage had set him down at the Cromer railway station +with barely two minutes to spare, took his seat in an empty first-class +smoking carriage of the London train and deliberately lit a fine cigar. +He was filled with that sense of triumphant self-satisfaction which +falls to the lot of a man who, after much arduous labour successfully +accomplished, sees very near at hand the great desire of his life. +Two days' more quiet work, and his task was done. All that he had +pledged himself to give, he would have ready for the offering. The +finishing touches were but a matter of detail. It had been a great +undertaking--more difficult at times than he had ever reckoned for. He +told himself with some complacency that no other man breathing could +have brought it to so satisfactory a conclusion. His had been a life +of great endeavours; this one, however, was the crowning triumph of +his career. + +He watched the people take their seats in the train with idle eyes; he +was not interested in any of them. He scarcely saw their faces; they +were not of his world nor he of theirs. But suddenly he received a rude +shock. He sat upright and wiped away the moisture from the window in +order that he might see more clearly. A young man in a long ulster was +buying newspapers from a boy only a yard or two away. Something about +the figure and manner of standing seemed to Mr. Sabin vaguely familiar. +He waited until his head was turned, and the eyes of the two men +met--then the last vestige of doubt disappeared. It was Felix! Mr. Sabin +leaned back in his corner with darkening face. He had noticed to his +dismay that the encounter, surprising though it had been to him, had +been accepted by Felix as a matter of course--he was obviously prepared +for it. He had met Mr. Sabin's anxious and incredulous gaze with a +faint, peculiar smile. His probable presence in the train had evidently +been confidently reckoned upon. Felix had been watching him secretly, +and knowing what he did know of that young man, Mr. Sabin was seriously +disturbed. He did not hesitate for a moment, however, to face the +position. He determined at once upon a bold course of action. Letting +down the window he put out his head. + +"Are you going to town?" he asked Felix, as though seeing him then was +the most natural thing in the world. + +The young man nodded. + +"Yes, it's getting pretty dreary down here, isn't it? You're off back, I +see." + +Mr. Sabin assented. + +"Yes," he said, "I've had about enough of it. Besides, I'm overdue at +Pau, and I'm anxious to get there. Are you coming in here?" + +Felix hesitated. At first the suggestion had astonished him; almost +immediately it became a temptation. It would be distinctly piquant to +travel with this man. On the other hand it was distinctly unwise; it was +running an altogether unnecessary risk. Mr. Sabin read his thoughts with +the utmost ease. + +"I should rather like to have a little chat with you," he said quietly; +"you are not afraid, are you? I am quite unarmed, and as you see Nature +has not made me for a fighting man." + +Felix hesitated no longer. He motioned to the porter who was carrying +his dressing-case and golf clubs, and had them conveyed into Mr. Sabin's +carriage. He himself took the opposite seat. + +"I had no idea," Mr. Sabin remarked, "that you were in the +neighbourhood." + +Felix smiled. + +"You have been so engrossed in your--golf," he remarked. "It is a +fascinating game, is it not?" + +"Very," Mr. Sabin assented. "You yourself are a devotee, I see." + +"I am a beginner," Felix answered, "and a very clumsy beginner too. I +take my clubs with me, however, whenever I go to the coast at this time +of year; they save one from being considered a madman." + +"It is singular," Mr. Sabin remarked, "that you should have chosen to +visit Cromer just now. It is really a most interesting meeting. I do not +think that I have had the pleasure of seeing you since that evening at +the 'Milan,' when your behaviour towards me--forgive my alluding to +it--was scarcely considerate." + +Mr. Sabin was quite friendly and unembarrassed. He seemed to treat the +affair as a joke. Felix looked glumly out of the window. + +"Your luck stood you in good stead--as usual," he said. "I meant to kill +you that night. You see I don't mind confessing it! I had sworn to make +the attempt the first time we met face to face." + +"Considering that we are quite alone," Mr. Sabin remarked, looking +around the carriage, "and that from physical considerations my life +under such conditions is entirely at your mercy, I should like some +assurance that you have no intention of repeating the attempt. It would +add very materially to my comfort." + +The young man smiled without immediately answering. Then he was +suddenly grave; he appeared to be reflecting. Almost imperceptibly +Mr. Sabin's hand stole towards the window. He was making a mental +calculation as to what height above the carriage window the +communication cord might be. Felix, watching his fingers, smiled again. + +"You need have no fear," he said; "the cause of personal enmity between +you and me is dead. You have nothing more to fear from me at any time." + +Mr. Sabin's hand slid down again to his side. + +"I am charmed to hear it," he declared. "You are, I presume, in +earnest?" + +"Most certainly. It is as I say; the cause for personal enmity between +us is removed. Save for a strong personal dislike, which under the +circumstances I trust that you will pardon me"--Mr. Sabin bowed--"I have +no feeling towards you whatever!" + +Mr. Sabin drew a somewhat exaggerated sigh of relief. "I live," he said, +"with one more fear removed. But I must confess," he added, "to a +certain amount of curiosity. We have a somewhat tedious journey before +us, and several hours at our disposal; would it be asking you too +much----" + +Felix waved his hand. + +"Not at all," he said. "A few words will explain everything. I have +other matters to speak of with you, but they can wait. As you remark, we +have plenty of time before us. Three weeks ago I received a telegram +from Brussels. It was from--forgive me, if I do not utter her name in +your presence; it seems somehow like sacrilege." + +Mr. Sabin bowed; a little red spot was burning through the pallor of his +sunken cheeks. + +"I was there," Felix continued, "in a matter of twenty-four hours. She +was ill--believed herself to be dying. We spoke together of a little +event many years old; yet which I venture to think, neither you, nor +she, nor I have ever forgotten." + +Mr. Sabin pulled down the blind by his side; it was only a stray gleam +of wintry sunshine, which had stolen through the grey clouds, but it +seemed to dazzle him. + +"It had come to her knowledge that you and I were together in +London--that you were once more essaying to play a part in civilised and +great affairs. And lest our meeting should bring harm about, she told +me--something of which I have always been in ignorance." + +"Ah!" + +Mr. Sabin moved uneasily in his seat. He drew his club-foot a little +further back; Felix seemed to be looking at it absently. + +"She showed me," he continued, "a little pistol; she explained to me +that a woman's aim is a most uncertain thing. Besides, you were some +distance away, and your spring aside helped you. Then, too, so far as I +could see from the mechanism of the thing--it was an old and clumsy +affair--it carried low. At any rate the shot, which was doubtless meant +for your heart, found a haven in your foot. From her lips I learned for +the first time that she, the sweetest and most timid of her sex, had +dared to become her own avenger. Life is a sad enough thing, and +pleasure is rare, yet I tasted pleasure of the keenest and subtlest kind +when she told me that story. I feel even now some slight return of it +when I look at your--shall we call deformity, and consider how different +a person----" + +Mr. Sabin half rose to his feet; his face was white and set, save where +a single spot of colour was flaring high up near his cheek-bone. His +eyes were bloodshot; for a moment he seemed about to strike the other +man. Felix broke off in his sentence, and watched him warily. + +"Come," he said, "it is not like you to lose control of yourself in that +manner. It is a simple matter. You wronged a woman, and she avenged +herself magnificently. As for me, I can see that my interference was +quite uncalled for; I even venture to offer you my apologies for the +fright I must have given you at the 'Milan.' The account had already +been straightened by abler hands. I can assure you that I am no longer +your enemy. In fact, when I look at you"--his eyes seemed to fall almost +to the ground--"when I look at you, I permit myself some slight +sensation of pity for your unfortunate affliction. But it was +magnificent! Shall we change the subject now?" + +Mr. Sabin sat quite still in his corner; his eyes seemed fixed upon a +distant hill, bordering the flat country through which they were +passing. Felix's stinging words and mocking smile had no meaning for +him. In fact he did not see his companion any longer, nor was he +conscious of his presence. The narrow confines of the railway carriage +had fallen away. He was in a lofty room, in a chamber of a palace, a +privileged guest, the lover of the woman whose dark, passionate eyes and +soft, white arms were gleaming there before his eyes. It was but one of +many such scenes. He shuddered very slightly, as he went back further +still. He had been faithful to one god, and one god only--the god of +self! Was it a sign of coming trouble, that for the first time for many +years he had abandoned himself to the impotent morbidness of abstract +thought? He shook himself free from it with an effort; what lunacy! +To-day he was on the eve of a mighty success--his feet were planted +firmly upon the threshold! The end of all his ambitions stood fairly in +view, and the path to it was wide and easy. Only a little time, and his +must be one of the first names in Europe! The thought thrilled him, the +little flood of impersonal recollections ebbed away; he was himself +again, keen, alert, vigorous! Suddenly he met the eyes of his companion +fixed steadfastly upon him, and his face darkened. There was something +ominous about this man's appearance; his very presence seemed like a +foreboding of disaster. + +"I am much obliged to you for your little romance," he said. "There is +one point, however, which needs some explanation. If your interest is +really, as you suggest, at an end, what are you doing down here? I +presume that your appearance is not altogether a coincidence." + +"Certainly not," Felix answered. "Let me correct you, however, on one +trifling point. I said, you must remember--my personal interest." + +"I do not," Mr. Sabin remarked, "exactly see the distinction; in fact, I +do not follow you at all!" + +"I am so stupid," Felix declared apologetically. "I ought to have +explained myself more clearly. It is even possible that you, who know +everything, may yet be ignorant of my present position." + +"I certainly have no knowledge of it," Mr. Sabin admitted. + +Felix was gently astonished. + +"Really! I took it for granted, of course, that you knew. Well, I am +employed--not in any important post, of course--at the Russian Embassy. +His Excellency has been very kind to me." + +Mr. Sabin for once felt his nerve grow weak; those evil forebodings of +his had very swiftly become verified. This man was his enemy. Yet he +recovered himself almost as quickly. What had he to fear? His was still +the winning hand. + +"I am pleased to hear," he said, "that you have found such creditable +employment. I hope you will make every effort to retain it; you have +thrown away many chances." + +Felix at first smiled; then he leaned back amongst the cushions and +laughed outright. When he had ceased, he wiped the tears from his eyes. +He sat up again and looked with admiration at the still, pale figure +opposite to him. + +"You are inimitable," he said--"wonderful! If you live long enough, you +will certainly become very famous. What will it be, I wonder--Emperor, +Dictator, President of a Republic, the Minister of an Emperor? The +latter I should imagine; you were always such an aristocrat. I would not +have missed this journey for the world. I am longing to know what you +will say to Prince Lobenski at King's Cross." + +Mr. Sabin looked at him keenly. + +"So you are only a lacquey after all, then?" he remarked--"a common +spy!" + +"Very much at your service," Felix answered, with a low bow. "A spy, if +you like, engaged for the last two weeks in very closely watching your +movements, and solving the mystery of your sudden devotion to a +heathenish game!" + +"There, at any rate," Mr. Sabin said calmly, "you are quite wrong. If +you had watched my play I flatter myself that you would have realised +that my golf at any rate was no pretence." + +"I never imagined," Felix rejoined, "that you would be anything but +proficient at any game in which you cared to interest yourself; but I +never imagined either that you came to Cromer to play golf--especially +just now." + +"Modern diplomacy," Mr. Sabin said, after a brief pause, "has undergone, +as you may be aware, a remarkable transformation. Secrecy is now quite +out of date; it is the custom amongst the masters to play with the cards +upon the table." + +"There is a good deal in what you say," Felix answered thoughtfully. +"Come, we will play the game, then! It is my lead. Very well! I have +been down here watching you continually, with the object of discovering +the source of this wonderful power by means of which you are prepared to +offer up this country, bound hand and foot, to whichever Power you +decide to make terms with. Sounds like a fairy tale, doesn't it? But you +obviously believe in it yourself, and Lobenski believes in you." + +"Good!" Mr. Sabin declared. "That power of which I have spoken I now +possess! It was nearly complete a month ago; an hour's work now will +make it a living and invulnerable fact." + +"You obtained," Felix said, "your final success this afternoon, when you +robbed the mad Admiral." + +Mr. Sabin shook his head gently. + +"I have not robbed any one," he said; "I never use force." + +Felix looked at him reproachfully. + +"I have heard much that is evil about you," he said, "but I have never +heard before that you were known to--to--dear me, it is a very +unpleasant thing to say!" + +"Well, sir?" + +"To cheat at cards!" + +Mr. Sabin drew a short, little breath. + +"What I have said is true to the letter," he repeated "The Admiral gave +me the trifling information I asked for, with his own hands." + +Felix remained incredulous. + +"Then you must add the power of hypnotism," he declared, "to your other +accomplishments." + +Mr. Sabin laughed scornfully, nevertheless he did not seem to be +altogether at his ease. The little scene in the library at Deringham +Hall was not a pleasant recollection for him. + +"The matter after all," he said coldly, "is unimportant; it is merely a +detail. I will admit that you have done your spy's work well. Now, what +will buy your memory, and your departure from this train, at the next +station?" + +Felix smiled. + +"You are becoming more sensible," he said; "it is a very fair question +to ask. My price is the faithful fulfilment of your contract with my +chief." + +"I have made no contract with him." + +"You have opened negotiations; he is ready to come to terms with you. +You have only to name your price." + +"I have no price," Mr. Sabin said quietly, "that he could pay." + +"What Knigenstein can give," Felix said, "he can give double. The Secret +Service funds of Russia are the largest in the world; you can have +practically a blank cheque upon them." + +"I repeat," Mr. Sabin said, "I have no price that Prince Lobenski could +pay. You talk as though I were a blackmailer, or a common thief. You +have always misunderstood me. Come! I will remember that the cards are +upon the table; I will be wholly frank with you. It is Knigenstein with +whom I mean to treat, and not your chief. He has agreed to my +terms--Russia never could." + +Felix was silent for a moment. + +"You are holding," he said, "your trump card in your hand. Whatever in +this world Germany could give you, Russia could improve upon." + +"She could do so," Mr. Sabin said, "only at the expense of her honour. +Come! here is that trump card. I will throw it upon the table; now you +see that my hands are empty. My price is the invasion of France, and the +restoration of the Monarchy." + +Felix looked at him as a man looks upon a lunatic. + +"You are playing with me," he cried. + +"I was never more in earnest in my life," Mr. Sabin said. + +"Do you mean to tell me that you--in cold blood--are working for so +visionary, so impossible an end?" + +"It is neither visionary," Mr. Sabin said, "nor impossible. I do not +believe that any man, save myself, properly appreciates the strength of +the Royalist party in France. Every day, every minute brings it fresh +adherents. It is as certain that some day a king will reign once more at +Versailles, as that the sun will set before many hours are past. The +French people are too bourgeois at heart to love a republic. The desire +for its abolition is growing up in their hearts day by day. You +understand me now when I say that I cannot treat with your country? The +honour of Russia is bound up with her friendship to France. Germany, on +the other hand, has ready her battle cry. She and France have been +quivering on the verge of war for many a year. My whole hand is upon the +table now, Felix. Look at the cards, and tell me whether we can treat!" + +Felix was silent. He looked at his opponent with unwilling admiration; +the man after all, then, was great. For the moment he could think of +nothing whatever to say. + +"Now, listen to me," Mr. Sabin continued earnestly. "I made a great +mistake when I ever mentioned the matter to Prince Lobenski. I cannot +treat with him, but on the other hand, I do not want to be hampered by +his importunities for the next few days. You have done your duty, and +you have done it well. It is not your fault that you cannot succeed. +Leave the train at the next station--disappear for a week, and I will +give you a fortune. You are young--the world is before you. You can seek +distinction in whatever way you will. I have a cheque-book in my pocket, +and a fountain pen. I will give you an order on the Credit Lyonnaise for +L20,000." + +Felix laughed softly; his face was full of admiration. He looked at his +watch, and began to gather together his belongings. + +"Write out the cheque," he said; "I agree. We shall be at the junction +in about ten minutes." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI + +THE MODERN RICHELIEU + + +"So I have found you at last!" + +Mr. Sabin looked up with a distinct start from the table where he sat +writing. When he saw who his visitor was, he set down his pen and rose +to receive her at once. He permitted himself to indulge in a little +gesture of relief; her noiseless entrance had filled him with a sudden +fear. + +"My dear Helene," he said, placing a chair for her, "if I had had the +least idea that you wished to see me, I would have let you know my +whereabouts. I am sorry that you should have had any difficulty; you +should have written." + +She shrugged her shoulders slightly. + +"What does it all mean?" she asked. "Why are you masquerading in cheap +lodgings, and why do they say at Kensington that you have gone abroad? +Have things gone wrong?" + +He turned and faced her directly. She saw then that pale and haggard +though he was, his was not the countenance of a man tasting the +bitterness of failure. + +"Very much the contrary," he said; "we are on the brink of success. All +that remains to be done is the fitting together of my American work with +the last of these papers. It will take me about another twenty-four +hours." + +She handed across to him a morning newspaper, which she had been +carrying in her muff. A certain paragraph was marked. + +"We regret to state that Admiral, the Earl of Deringham, was seized +yesterday morning with a fit, whilst alone in his study. Dr. Bond, of +Harley Street, was summoned at once to a consultation, but we understand +that the case is a critical one, and the gravest fears are entertained. +Lord Deringham was the greatest living authority upon the subject of our +fleet and coast defences, and we are informed that at the time of his +seizure he was completing a very important work in connection with this +subject." + +Mr. Sabin read the paragraph slowly, and then handed the paper back to +Helene. + +"Deringham was a very distinguished man," he remarked, "but he was stark +mad, and has been for years. They have been able to keep it quiet, only +because he was harmless." + +"You remember what I told you about these people," Helene said sternly; +"I told you distinctly that I would not have them harmed in any way. You +were at Deringham Hall on the morning of his seizure. You went straight +there from the Lodge." + +"That is quite true," he admitted; "but I had nothing to do with his +illness." + +"I wish I could feel quite certain of that," Helene answered. "You are a +very determined man, and you went there to get papers from him by any +means. You proved that you were altogether reckless as to how you got +them, by your treatment of Lord Wolfenden. You succeeded! No one living +knows by what means!" + +He interrupted her with an impatient gesture. + +"There is nothing in this worth discussion," he declared. "Lord +Deringham is nothing to you--you never even saw him in your life, and if +you really have any misgivings about it, I can assure you that I got +what I wanted from him without violence. It is not a matter for you to +concern yourself in, nor is it a matter worth considering at all, +especially at such a time as the present." + +She sat quite still, her head resting upon her gloved hand. He did not +altogether like her appearance. + +"I want you to understand," he continued slowly, "that success, absolute +success is ours. I have the personal pledge of the German Emperor, +signed by his own hand. To-morrow at noon the compact is concluded. In a +few weeks, at the most, the thunderbolt will have fallen. These arrogant +Islanders will be facing a great invasion, whose success is already made +absolutely sure. And then----" + +He paused: his face kindled with a passionate enthusiasm, his eyes were +lit with fire. There was something great in the man's rapt expression. + +"Then, the only true, the only sweet battle-cry in the French tongue, +will ring through the woods of Brittany, ay, even to the walls of Paris. +_Vive la France! Vive la Monarchie!_" + +"France has suffered so much," she murmured; "do not you who love her so +tremble when you think of her rivers running once more red with blood?" + +"If there be war at all," he answered, "it will be brief. Year by year +the loyalists have gained power and influence. I have notes here from +secret agents in every town, almost in every village; the great heart of +Paris is with us. Henri will only have to show himself, and the voice of +the people will shout him king! And you----" + +"For me," she interrupted, "nothing! I withdraw! I will not marry Henri, +he must stand his chance alone! His is the elder branch--he is the +direct heir to the throne!" + +Mr. Sabin drew in a long breath between his teeth. He was nerving +himself for a great effort. This fear had been the one small, black +cloud in the sky of his happiness. + +"Helene," he said, "if I believed that you meant--that you could +possibly mean--what you have this moment said, I would tear my compact +in two, throw this box amongst the flames, and make my bow to my life's +work. But you do not mean it. You will change your mind." + +"But indeed I shall not!" + +"Of necessity you must; the alliance between you and Henri is absolutely +compulsory. You unite the two great branches of our royal family. The +sound of your name, coupled with his, will recall to the ears of France +all that was most glorious in her splendid history. And apart from that, +Henri needs such a woman as you for his queen. He has many excellent +qualities, but he is weak, a trifle too easy, a trifle thoughtless." + +"He is a dissipated _roue_," she said in a low tone, with curling lip. + +Mr. Sabin, who had been walking restlessly up and down the room, came +and stood over her, leaning upon his wonderful stick. + +"Helene," he said gravely, "for your own sake, and for your country's +sake, I charge you to consider well what you are doing. What does it +matter to you if Henri is even as bad as you say, which, mark you, I +deny. He is the King of France! Personally, you can be strangers if you +please, but marry him you must. You need not be his wife, but you must +be his queen! Almost you make me ask myself whether I am talking to +Helene of Bourbon, a Princess Royal of France, or to a love-sick English +country girl, pining for a sweetheart, whose highest ambition it is to +bear children, and whose destiny is to become a drudge. May God forbid +it! May God forbid, that after all these years of darkness you should +play me false now when the dawn is already lightening the sky. Sink your +sex! Forget it! Remember that you are more than a woman--you are royal, +and your country has the first claim upon your heart. The dignity which +exalts demands also sacrifices! Think of your great ancestors, who died +with this prayer upon their lips--that one day their children's children +should win again the throne which they had lost. Their eyes may be upon +you at this moment. Give me a single reason for this change in you--one +single valid reason, and I will say no more." + +She was silent; the colour was coming and going in her cheeks. She was +deeply moved; the honest passion in his tone had thrilled her. + +"I would not dare to suggest, even in a whisper, to myself," he went on, +his dark eyes fixed upon her, and his voice lowered, "that Helene of +Bourbon, Princess of Brittany, could set a greater price upon the love +of a man--and that man an Englishman--than upon her country's salvation. +I would not even suffer so dishonouring a thought to creep into my +brain. Yet I will remember that you are a girl--a woman--that is to say, +a creature of strange moods; and I remind you that the marriage of a +queen entails only the giving of a hand, her heart remains always at her +disposal, and never yet has a queen of France been without her lover!" + +She looked up at him with burning cheeks. + +"You have spoken bitterly to me," she said, "but from your point of view +I have deserved it. Perhaps I have been weak; after all, men are not so +very different. They are all ignoble. You are right when you call us +women creatures of moods. To-day I should prefer the convent to marriage +with any man. But listen! If you can persuade me that my marriage with +Henri is necessary for his acceptance by the people of France, if I am +assured of that, I will yield." + +Mr. Sabin drew a long breath of relief, Blanche had succeeded, then. +Even in that moment he found time to realise that, without her aid, he +would have run a terrible risk of failure. He sat down and spoke +calmly, but impressively. + +"From my point of view," he said, "and I have considered the subject +exhaustively, I believe that it is absolutely necessary. You and Henri +represent the two great Houses, who might, with almost equal right, +claim the throne. The result of your union must be perfect unanimity. +Now, suppose that Henri stands alone; don't you see that your cousin, +Louis of Bourbon, is almost as near in the direct line? He is young and +impetuous, without ballast, but I believe ambitious. He would be almost +sure to assert himself. At any rate, his very existence would certainly +lead to factions, and the splitting up of nobles into parties. This is +the greatest evil we could possibly have to face. There must be no +dissensions whatever during the first generation of the re-established +monarchy. The country would not be strong enough to bear it. With you +married to Henri, the two great Houses of Bourbon and Ortrens are +allied. Against their representative there would be no one strong enough +to lift a hand. Have I made it clear?" + +"Yes," the girl answered, "you have made it very clear. Will you let me +consider for a few moments?" + +She sat there with her back half-turned to him, gazing into the fire. +He moved back in the chair and went on with his writing. She heard the +lightning rush of his pen, as he covered sheet after sheet of paper +without even glancing towards her; he had no more to say, he knew very +well that his work was done. The influence of his words were strong upon +her; in her heart they had awakened some echo of those old ambitions +which had once been very real and live things. She set herself the task +of fanning them once more with the fire of enthusiasm. For she had no +longer any doubts as to her duty. Wolfenden's words--the first spoken +words of love which had ever been addressed to her--had carried with +them at the time a peculiar and a very sweet conviction. She had lost +faith, too, in Mr. Sabin and his methods. She had begun to wonder +whether he was not after all a visionary, whether there was really the +faintest chance of the people of her country ever being stirred into a +return to their old faith and allegiance. Wolfenden's appearance had +been for him singularly opportune, and she had almost decided a few +mornings ago, that, after all, there was not any real bar between them. +She was a princess, but of a fallen House; he was a nobleman of the most +powerful country in the world. She had permitted herself to care for +him a little; she was astonished to find how swiftly that sensation had +grown into something which had promised to become very real and precious +to her--and then, this insolent girl had come to her--her photograph +was in his locket. He was like Henri, and all the others! She despised +herself for the heartache of which she was sadly conscious. Her cheeks +burned with shame, and her heart was hot with rage, when she thought of +the kiss she had given him--perhaps he had even placed her upon a level +with the typewriting girl, had dared to consider her, too, as a possible +plaything for his idle moments. She set her teeth, and her eyes flashed. + +Mr. Sabin, as his pen flew over the paper, felt a touch upon his arm. + +"I am quite convinced," she said. "When the time comes I shall be +ready." + +He looked up with a faint, but gratified smile. + +"I had no fear of you," he said. "Frankly, in Henri alone I should have +been destitute of confidence. I should not have laboured as I have done, +but for you! In your hands, largely, the destinies of your country will +remain." + +"I shall do my duty," she answered quietly. + +"I always knew it! And now," he said, looking back towards his papers, +"how about the present? I do not want you here. Your presence would +certainly excite comment, and I am virtually in hiding for the next +twenty-four hours." + +"The Duchess of Montegarde arrived in London yesterday," she replied. "I +am going to her." + +"You could not do a wiser thing," he declared. "Send your address to +Avon House; to-morrow night or Saturday night I shall come for you. All +will be settled then; we shall have plenty to do, but after the labour +of the last seven years it will not seem like work. It will be the +beginning of the harvest." + +She looked at him thoughtfully. + +"And your reward," she said, "what is that to be?" + +He smiled. + +"I will not pretend," he answered, "that I have worked for the love of +my country and my order alone. I also am ambitious, although my ambition +is more patriotic than personal. I mean to be first Minister of France!" + +"You will deserve it," she said. "You are a very wonderful man." + +She walked out into the street, and entered the cab which she had +ordered to wait for her. + +"Fourteen, Grosvenor Square," she told the man, "but call at the first +telegraph office." + +He set her down in a few minutes. She entered a small post-office and +stood for a moment before one of the compartments. Then she drew a form +towards her, and wrote out a telegram-- + + "To Lord Wolfenden, + "Deringham Hall, + "Norfolk. + + "I cannot send for you as I promised. Farewell--HELENE." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + +FOR A GREAT STAKE + + + "GERMANY'S INSULT TO ENGLAND! + ENGLAND'S REPLY. + MOBILISATION IMMINENT. + ARMING OF THE FLEET. + WAR ALMOST CERTAIN!" + +Wolfenden, who had bought no paper on his way up from Norfolk, gazed +with something approaching amazement at the huge placards everywhere +displayed along the Strand, thrust into his cab by adventurous newsboys, +flaunting upon every lamp-post. He alighted near Trafalgar Square, and +purchased a _Globe_. The actual facts were meagre enough, but +significant when considered in the light of a few days ago. A vacancy +had occurred upon the throne of one of England's far off dependencies. +The British nominee had been insulted in his palace by the German +consul--a rival, denounced as rebel by the authorities, had been carried +off in safety on to a German gunboat, and accorded royal honours. The +thing was trivial as it stood, but its importance had been enhanced a +thousandfold by later news. The German Emperor had sent a telegram, +approving his consul's action and forbidding him to recognise the new +sovereign. There was no possibility of misinterpreting such an action; +it was an overt and deliberate insult, the second within a week. +Wolfenden read the news upon the pavements of Pall Mall, jostled from +right to left by hurrying passers by, conscious too, all the while, of +that subtle sense of excitement which was in the air and was visibly +reflected in the faces of the crowd. He turned into his club, and here +he found even a deeper note of the prevailing fever. Men were gathered +around the tape in little clusters, listening to the click click of the +instrument, and reading aloud the little items of news as they appeared. +There was a burst of applause when the Prime Minister's dignified and +peremptory demand for an explanation eked out about four o'clock in the +afternoon--an hour later it was rumoured that the German Ambassador had +received his papers. The Stock Exchange remained firm--there was +enthusiasm, but no panic. Wolfenden began to wish that he, too, were a +soldier, as he passed from one to another of the eager groups of young +men about his own age, eagerly discussing the chances of the coming +campaign. He walked out into the streets presently, and made his way +boldly down to the house which had been pointed out to him as the town +abode of Mr. Sabin and his niece. He found it shut up and apparently +empty. The servant, who after some time answered his numerous ringings, +was, either from design or chance, more than usually stupid. He could +not tell where Mr. Sabin was or when he would return--he seemed to have +no information whatever as regards the young lady. Wolfenden turned away +in despair and walked slowly back towards Pall Mall. At the bottom of +Piccadilly he stopped for a moment to let a little stream of carriages +pass by; he was about to cross the road when a large barouche, with a +pair of restive horses, again blocked the way. Attracted by an unknown +coronet upon the panel, and the quiet magnificence of the servants' +liveries, he glanced curiously at the occupants as the carriage passed +him. It was one of the surprises of his life. The woman nearest to him +he knew well by sight; she was the Duchess de Montegarde, one of the +richest and most famous of Frenchwomen--a woman often quoted as exactly +typical of the old French nobility, and who had furthermore gained +for herself a personal reputation for delicate and aristocratic +exclusiveness, not altogether shared by her compeers in English society. +By her side--in the seat of honour--was Helene, and opposite to them +was a young man with a dark, fiercely twisted moustache and distinctly +foreign appearance. They passed slowly, and Wolfenden remained upon the +edge of the pavement with his eyes fixed upon them. + +He was conscious at once of something about her which seemed strange +to him--some new development. She leaned back in her seat, barely +pretending to listen to the young man's conversation, her lips a little +curled, her own face the very prototype of aristocratic languor! All the +lines of race were in her delicately chiselled features; the mere idea +of regarding her as the niece of the unknown Mr. Sabin seemed just then +almost ridiculous. The carriage went by without her seeing him--she +appeared to have no interest whatever in the passers-by. But Wolfenden +remained there without moving until a touch on the arm recalled him to +himself. + +He turned abruptly round, and to his amazement found himself shaking +hands vigorously with Densham! + +"Where on earth did you spring from, old chap?" he asked. "Dick said +that you had gone abroad." + +Densham smiled a little sadly. + +"I was on my way," he said, "when I heard the war rumours. There seemed +to be something in it, so I came back as fast as express trains and +steamers would bring me. I only landed in England this morning. I am +applying for the post of correspondent to the _London News_." + +Wolfenden sighed. + +"I would give the world," he said, "for some such excitement as that!" + +Densham drew his hand through Wolfenden's arm. + +"I saw whom you were watching just now," he said. "She is as beautiful +as ever!" + +Wolfenden turned suddenly round. + +"Densham," he said, "you know who she is--tell me." + +"Do you mean to say that you have not found out?" + +"I do! I know her better, but still only as Mr. Sabin's niece!" + +Densham was silent for several moments. He felt Wolfenden's fingers +gripping his arm nervously. + +"Well, I do not see that I should be betraying any confidence now," he +said. "The promise I gave was only binding for a short time, and now +that she is to be seen openly with the Duchess de Montegarde, I suppose +the embargo is removed. The young lady is the Princess Helene Frances +de Bourbon, and the young man is her betrothed husband, the Prince of +Ortrens!" + +Piccadilly became suddenly a vague and shadowy thoroughfare to +Wolfenden. He was not quite sure whether his footsteps even reached the +pavement. Densham hastened him into the club and, installing him into an +easy chair, called for brandies and soda. + +"Poor old Wolf!" he said softly. "I'm afraid you're like I was--very +hard hit. Here, drink this! I'm beastly sorry I told you, but I +certainly thought that you would have had some idea." + +"I have been a thick-headed idiot!" Wolfenden exclaimed. "There have +been heaps of things from which I might have guessed something near the +truth, at any rate. What a fool she must have thought me!" + +The two men were silent. Outside in the street there was a rush for a +special edition, and a half cheer rang in the room. A waiter entered +with a handful of copies which were instantly seized upon. Wolfenden +secured one and read the headings. + + "MOBILIZATION DECLARED. + ALL LEAVE CANCELLED. + CABINET COUNCIL STILL SITTING." + +"Densham, do you realise that we are really in for war?" + +Densham nodded. + +"I don't think there can be any doubt about it myself. What a +thunderbolt! By the bye, where is your friend, Mr. Sabin?" + +Wolfenden shook his head. + +"I do not know; I came to London partially to see him. I have an account +to settle when we do meet; at present he has disappeared. Densham!" + +"Well!" + +"If Miss Sabin has become the Princess Helene of Bourbon, who is Mr. +Sabin?" + +"I am not sure," Densham answered, "I have been looking into the +genealogy of the family, and if he is really her uncle, there is only +one man whom he can be--the Duke de Souspennier!" + +"Souspennier! Wasn't he banished from France for something or +other--intriguing for the restoration of the Monarchy, I think it was?" + +Densham nodded. + +"Yes, he disappeared at the time of the Commune, and since then he is +supposed to have been in Asia somewhere. He has quite a history, I +believe, and at different times has been involved in several European +complications. I shouldn't be at all surprised if he isn't our man. Mr. +Sabin has rather the look of a man who has travelled in the East, and he +is certainly an aristocrat." + +Wolfenden was suddenly thoughtful. + +"Harcutt would be very much interested in this," he declared. "What's up +outside?" + +There had been a crash in the street, and the sound of a horse plunging; +the two men walked to the windows. The _debris_ of a hansom was lying in +the road, with one wheel hopelessly smashed, a few yards off. A man, +covered with mud, rose slowly up from the wreck. Densham and Wolfenden +simultaneously recognised him. + +"It is Felix," Wolfenden exclaimed. "Come on!" + +They both hurried out into the street. The driver of the hansom, who +also was covered with mud, stood talking to Felix while staunching the +blood from a wound in his forehead. + +"I'm very sorry, sir," he was saying, "I hope you'll remember as it was +your orders to risk an accident, sooner than lose sight of t'other gent. +Mine's a good 'oss, but what is he against a pair and a light brougham? +and Piccadilly ain't the place for a chase of this sort! It'll cost me +three pun ten, sir, to say nothing of the wheel----" + +Felix motioned him impatiently to be silent, and thrust a note into his +hand. + +"If the damage comes to more than that," he said, "ask for me at the +Russian Embassy, and I will pay it. Here is my card." + +Felix was preparing to enter another cab, but Wolfenden laid his hand +upon his shoulder. + +"Won't you come into my club here, and have a wash?" he suggested. "I am +afraid that you have cut your cheek." + +Felix raised his handkerchief to his face, and found it covered with +blood. + +"Thank you, Lord Wolfenden," he said, "I should be glad to; you seem +destined always to play the part of the Good Samaritan to me!" + +They both went with him into the lavatory. + +"Do you know," he asked Wolfenden, when he had sponged his face, "whom I +was following?" + +Wolfenden shook his head. + +"Mr. Sabin?" he suggested. + +"Not Mr. Sabin himself," Felix answered, "but almost the same thing. It +was Foo Cha, his Chinese servant who has just arrived in England. Have +you any idea where Mr. Sabin is?" + +They both shook their heads. + +"I do not know," Wolfenden said, "but I am very anxious to find out. I +have an account to settle with him!" + +"And I," Felix murmured in a low tone, "have a very much longer one +against him. To-night, if I am not too late, there will be a balance +struck between us! I have lost Foo Cha, but others, better skilled than +I am, are in search of his master. They will succeed, too! They always +succeed. What have you against him, Lord Wolfenden?" + +Wolfenden hesitated; yet why not tell the man the truth? He had nothing +to gain by concealment. + +"He forced himself into my father's house in Norfolk and obtained, +either by force or craft, some valuable papers. My father was in +delicate health, and we fear that the shock will cost him his reason." + +"Do you want to know what they were?" Felix said. "I can tell you! Do +you want to know what he required them for? I can tell you that too! He +has concocted a marvellous scheme, and if he is left to himself for +another hour or two, he will succeed. But I have no fear; I have set +working a mightier machinery than even he can grapple with!" + +They had walked together into the smoke-room; Felix seemed somewhat +shaken and was glad to rest for a few minutes. + +"Has he outstepped the law, been guilty of any crime?" Wolfenden asked; +"he is daring enough!" + +Felix laughed shortly. He was lighting a cigarette, but his hand +trembled so that he could scarcely hold the match. + +"A further reaching arm than the law," he said, dropping his voice, +"more powerful than governments. Even by this time his whereabouts is +known. If we are only in time; that is the only fear." + +"Cannot you tell us," Wolfenden asked, "something of this wonderful +scheme of his--why was he so anxious to get those papers and drawings +from my father--to what purpose can he possibly put them?" + +Felix hesitated. + +"Well," he said, "why not? You have a right to know. Understand that I +myself have only the barest outline of it; I will tell you this, +however. Mr. Sabin is the Duc de Souspennier, a Frenchman of fabulous +wealth, who has played many strange parts in European history. Amongst +other of his accomplishments, he is a mechanical and strategical genius. +He has studied under Addison in America, one subject only, for three +years--the destruction of warships and fortifications by electrical +contrivances unknown to the general world. Then he came to England, and +collected a vast amount of information concerning your navy and coast +defences in many different ways--finally he sent a girl to play the part +of typist to your father, whom he knew to be the greatest living +authority upon all naval matters connected with your country. Every line +he wrote was copied and sent to Mr. Sabin, until by some means your +father's suspicions were aroused, and the girl was dismissed. The last +portion of your father's work consisted of a set of drawings, of no +fewer than twenty-seven of England's finest vessels, every one of which +has a large proportion of defective armour plating, which would render +the vessels utterly useless in case of war. These drawings show the +exact position of the defective plates, and it was to secure these +illustrations that Mr. Sabin paid that daring visit to your father on +Tuesday morning. Now, what he professes broadly is that he has +elaborated a scheme, by means of which, combined with the aid of his +inventions, a few torpedo boats can silence every fort in the Thames, +and leave London at the mercy of any invaders. At the same time his +plans include the absolutely safe landing of troops on the east and +south coast, at certain selected spots. This scheme, together with some +very alarming secret information affecting the great majority of your +battleships, will, he asserts with absolute confidence, place your +country at the mercy of any Power to whom he chooses to sell it. He +offered it to Russia first, and then to Germany. Germany has accepted +his terms and will declare war upon England the moment she has his whole +scheme and inventions in her possession." + +Wolfenden and Densham looked at one another, partly incredulous, partly +aghast. It was like a page from the Arabian Nights. Surely such a thing +as this was not possible. Yet even that short silence was broken by the +cry of the newsboys out in the street-- + + "GERMANY ARMING! + REPORTED DECLARATION OF WAR!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII + +THE MEN WHO SAVED ENGLAND + + +Mr. Sabin leaned back in his chair with a long, deep sigh of content. +The labour of years was concluded at last. With that final little sketch +his work was done. A pile of manuscripts and charts lay before him; +everything was in order. He took a bill of lading from his letter-case, +and pinned it carefully to the rest. Then he glanced at his watch, and, +taking a cigarette-case from his pocket, began to smoke. + +There was a knock at the door, and Mr. Sabin, who had recognised the +approaching footsteps, glanced up carelessly. + +"What is it, Foo Cha? I told you that I would ring when I wanted you." + +The Chinaman glided to his side. + +"Master," he said softly, "I have fears. There is something not good in +the air." + +Mr. Sabin turned sharply around. + +"What do you mean?" he asked. + +Foo Cha was apologetic but serious. + +"Master, I was followed from the house of the German by a man, who drove +fast after me in a two-wheeled cab. He lost me on the way, but there are +others. I have been into the street, and I am sure of it. The house is +being watched on all sides." + +Mr. Sabin drew a quiet, little breath. For a moment his haggard face +seemed almost ghastly. He recovered himself, however, with an effort. + +"We are not in China, Foo Cha," he said. "I have done nothing against +the law of this country; no man can enter here if we resist. If we are +really being watched, it must be by persons in the pay of the Russian. +But they can do nothing; it is too late; Knigenstein will be here in +half an hour. The thing will be settled then, once and for ever." + +Foo Cha was troubled still. + +"Me afraid," he admitted frankly. "Strange men this end and that end of +street. Me no like it. Ah!" + +The front door bell rang softly; it was a timid, hesitating ring, as +though some one had but feebly touched the knob. Foo Cha and his master +looked at one another in silence. There was something almost ominous in +that gentle peal. + +"You must see who it is, Foo Cha," Mr. Sabin said. "It may be +Knigenstein come early; if so, show him in at once. To everybody else +the house is empty." + +Foo Cha bowed silently and withdrew. He struck a match in the dark +passage, and lit the hanging gas-lamp. Then he opened the door +cautiously. + +One man alone was standing there. Foo Cha looked at him in despair; it +was certainly not Knigenstein, nor was there any sign of his carriage in +the street. The stranger was a man of middle height, squarely built and +stout. He wore a long black overcoat, and he stood with his hands in his +pockets. + +"What you want?" Foo Cha asked. "What you want with me?" + +The man did not answer at once, but he stepped inside into the passage. +Foo Cha tried to shut the door in his face, but it was like pushing +against a mountain. + +"Where is your master?" he asked. + +"Master? He not here," Foo Cha answered, with glib and untruthful +earnestness. "Indeed he is not here--quite true. He come to-morrow; I +preparing house for him. What do you want? Go away, or me call +policeman." + +The intruder smiled indulgently into the Chinaman's earnest, upturned +face. + +"Foo Cha," he said, "that is enough. Take this card to your master, Mr. +Sabin." + +Foo Cha was ready to begin another torrent of expostulations, but in the +gas-light he met the new-comer's steadfast gaze, and he was silent. The +stranger was dressed in the garb of a superior working man, but his +speech and manner indicated a very different station. Foo Cha took the +card and left him in the passage. He made his way softly into the +sitting-room, and as he entered he turned the key in the lock behind +him; there, at any rate, was a moment or two of respite. + +"Master," he said, "there is a man there whom we cannot stop. When me +tell him you no here, he laugh at me. He will see you; he no go way. He +laugh again when I try shut the door. He give me card; I no understand +what on it." + +Mr. Sabin stretched out his hand and took the card from the Chinaman's +fingers. There seemed to be one or two words upon it, traced in a +delicate, sloping handwriting. Mr. Sabin had snatched at the little +piece of pasteboard with some impatience, but the moment he had read +those few words a remarkable change came over him. He started as though +he had received an electric shock; the pupils of his eyes seemed +hideously dilated; the usual pallor of his face was merged in a ghastly +whiteness. And then, after the first shock, came a look of deep and +utter despair; his hand fell to his side, a half-muttered imprecation +escaped from his trembling lips, yet he laid the card gently, even with +reverence, upon the desk before him. + +"You can show him in, Foo Cha," he directed, in a low tone; "show him in +at once." + +Foo Cha glided out disappointed. Something had gone terribly wrong, he +was sure of that. He went slowly downstairs, his eyes fixed upon the +dark figure standing motionless in the dimly-lit hall. He drew a sharp +breath, which sounded through his yellow, protuberant teeth like a hiss. +A single stroke of that long knife--it would be so easy. Then he +remembered the respect with which Mr. Sabin had treated that card, and +he sighed. Perhaps it would be a mistake; it might make evil worse. He +beckoned to the stranger, and conducted him upstairs. + +Mr. Sabin received his visitor standing. He was still very pale, but his +face had resumed its wonted impassiveness. In the dim lamp-lit room he +could see very little of his visitor, only a thick-set man with dark +eyes and a closely-cropped black beard. He was roughly dressed, yet held +himself well. The two men eyed one another steadily for several moments, +before any speech passed between them. + +"You are surprised," the stranger said; "I do not wonder at it. +Perhaps--you have been much engrossed, it is said--you had even +forgotten." + +Mr. Sabin's lips curled in a bitter smile. + +"One does not forget those things," he said. "To business. Let me know +what is required of me." + +"It has been reported," the stranger said, "that you have conceived and +brought to great perfection a comprehensive and infallible scheme for +the conquest of this country. Further, that you are on the point of +handing it over to the Emperor of Germany, for the use of that country. +I think I may conclude that the report is correct?" he added, with a +glance at the table. "We are not often misinformed." + +"The report," Mr. Sabin assented, "is perfectly correct." + +"We have taken counsel upon the matter," the stranger continued, "and I +am here to acquaint you with our decision. The papers are to be burnt, +and the appliances to be destroyed forthwith. No portion of them is to +be shown to the German Government or any person representing that +country, nor to any other Power. Further, you are to leave England +within two months." + +Mr. Sabin stood quite still, his hands resting lightly upon the desk in +front of him. His eyes, fixed on vacancy, were looking far out of that +shabby little room, back along the avenues of time, thronged with the +fragments of his broken dreams. He realised once more the full glory of +his daring and ambitious scheme. He saw his country revelling again in +her old splendour, stretching out her limbs and taking once more the +foremost place among her sister nations. He saw the pageantry and rich +colouring of Imperialism, firing the imagination of her children, +drawing all hearts back to their allegiance, breaking through the hard +crust of materialism which had spread like an evil dream through the +land. He saw himself great and revered, the patriot, the Richelieu of +his days, the adored of the people, the friend and restorer of his king. +Once more he was a figure in European history, the consort of Emperors, +the man whose slightest word could shake the money markets of the world. +He saw all these things, as though for the last time, with strange, +unreal vividness; once more their full glory warmed his blood and +dazzled his eyes. Then a flash of memory, an effort of realisation +chilled him; his feet were upon the earth again, his head was heavy. +That thick-set, motionless figure before him seemed like the incarnation +of his despair. + +"I shall appeal," he said hoarsely; "England is no friend of ours." + +The man shrugged his shoulders. + +"England is tolerant at least," he said; "and she has sheltered us." + +"I shall appeal," Mr. Sabin repeated. + +The man shook his head. + +"It is the order of the High Council," he said; "there is no appeal." + +"It is my life's work," Mr. Sabin faltered. + +"Your life's work," the man said slowly, "should be with us." + +"God knows why I ever----" + +The man stretched out a white hand, which gleamed through the +semi-darkness. Mr. Sabin stopped short. + +"You very nearly," he said solemnly, "pronounced your own +death-sentence. If you had finished what you were about to say, I could +never have saved you. Be wise, friend. This is a disappointment to you; +well, is not our life one long torturing disappointment? What of us, +indeed? We are like the waves which beat ceaselessly against the +sea-shore, what we gain one day we lose the next. It is fate, it is +life! Once more, friend, remember! Farewell!" + + * * * * * + +Mr. Sabin was left alone, a martyr to his thoughts. Already it was past +the hour for Knigenstein's visit. Should he remain and brave the storm, +or should he catch the boat-train from Charing Cross and hasten to hide +himself in one of the most remote quarters of the civilised world? In +any case it was a dreary outlook for him. Not only had this dearly +cherished scheme of his come crashing about his head, but he had very +seriously compromised himself with a great country. The Emperor's +gracious letter was in his pocket--he smiled grimly to himself as +he thought for a moment of the consternation of Berlin, and of +Knigenstein's disgrace. And then the luxury of choice was suddenly +denied him; he was brought back to the present, and a sense of its +paramount embarrassments by a pealing ring at the bell, and the +trampling of horse's feet in the street. He had no time to rescind his +previous instructions to Foo Cha before Knigenstein himself, wrapped +in a great sealskin coat, and muffled up to the chin with a silk +handkerchief, was shown into the room. + +The Ambassador's usually phlegmatic face bore traces of some anxiety. +Behind his spectacles his eyes glittered nervously; he grasped Mr. +Sabin's hand with unwonted cordiality, and was evidently much relieved +to have found him. + +"My dear Souspennier," he said, "this is a great occasion. I am a little +late, but, as you can imagine, I am overwhelmed with work of the utmost +importance. You have finished now, I hope. You are ready for me?" + +"I am as ready for you," Mr. Sabin said grimly, "as I ever shall be!" + +"What do you mean?" Knigenstein asked sharply. "Don't tell me that +anything has gone amiss! I am a ruined man, unless you carry out your +covenant to the letter. I have pledged my word upon your honour." + +"Then I am afraid," Mr. Sabin said, "that we are both of us in a very +tight place! I am bound hand and foot. There," he cried, pointing to +the grate, half choked with a pile of quivering grey ashes, "lies the +work of seven years of my life--seven years of intrigue, of calculation, +of unceasing toil. By this time all my American inventions, which +would have paralysed Europe, are blown sky high! That is the position, +Knigenstein; we are undone!" + +Knigenstein was shaking like a child; he laid his hand upon Mr. Sabin's +arm, and gripped it fiercely. + +"Souspennier," he said, "if you are speaking the truth I am ruined, and +disgraced for ever. The Emperor will never forgive me! I shall be +dismissed and banished. I have pledged my word for yours; you cannot +mean to play me false like this. If there is any personal favour or +reward, which the Emperor can grant, it is yours--I will answer for it. +I will answer for it, too, that war shall be declared against France +within six months of the conclusion of peace with England. Come, say +that you have been jesting. Good God! man, you are torturing me. Why, +have you seen the papers to-night? The Emperor has been hasty, I own, +but he has already struck the first blow. War is as good as declared. I +am waiting for my papers every hour!" + +"I cannot help it," Mr. Sabin said doggedly. "The thing is at an end. +To give up all the fruits of my work--the labour of the best years +of my life--is as bitter to me as your dilemma is to you! But it is +inevitable! Be a man, Knigenstein, put the best face on it you can." + +The utter impotence of all that he could say was suddenly revealed to +Knigenstein in Mr. Sabin's set face and hopeless words. His tone of +entreaty changed to one of anger; the veins on his forehead stood out +like knotted string, his mouth twitched as he spoke, he could not +control himself. + +"You have made up your mind," he cried. "Very well! Russia has bought +you, very well! If Lobenski has bribed you with all the gold in +Christendom you shall never enjoy it! You shall not live a year! I swear +it! You have insulted and wronged our country, our fatherland! Listen! A +word shall be breathed in the ears of a handful of our officers. Where +you go, they shall go; if you leave England you will be struck on the +cheek in the first public place at which you show yourself. If one +falls, there are others--hundreds, thousands, an army! Oh! you shall not +escape, my friend. But if ever you dared to set foot in Germany----" + +"I can assure you," Mr. Sabin interrupted, "that I shall take particular +care never to visit your delightful country. Elsewhere, I think I can +take care of myself. But listen, Knigenstein, all your talk about Russia +and playing you false is absurd. If I had wished to deal with Lobenski, +I could have done so, instead of with you. I have not even seen him. A +greater hand than his has stopped me, a greater even than the hand of +your Emperor!" + +Knigenstein looked at him as one looks at a madman. + +"There is no greater hand on earth," he said, "than the hand of his +Imperial Majesty, the Emperor of Germany." + +Mr. Sabin smiled. + +"You are a German," he said, "and you know little of these things, yet +you call yourself a diplomatist, and I suppose you have some knowledge +of what this means." + +He lifted the lamp from the table and walked to the wall opposite +to the door. Knigenstein followed him closely. Before them, high +up as the fingers of a man could reach, was a small, irregular red +patch--something between a cross and a star. Mr. Sabin held the lamp +high over his head and pointed to the mark. + +"Do you know what that means?" he asked. + +The man by his side groaned. + +"Yes," he answered, with a gesture of abject despair, "I know!" + +Mr. Sabin walked back to the table and set down the lamp. + +"You know now," he said coolly, "who has intervened." + +"If I had had any idea," Knigenstein said, "that you were one of them I +should not have treated with you." + +"It was many years ago," Mr. Sabin said with a sigh. "My father was half +a Russian, you know. It served my purpose whilst I was envoy at Teheran; +since then I had lost sight of them; I thought that they too had lost +sight of me. I was mistaken--only an hour ago I was visited by a chief +official. They knew everything, they forbade everything. As a matter of +fact they have saved England!" + +"And ruined us," Knigenstein groaned. "I must go and telegraph. But +Souspennier, one word." + +Mr. Sabin looked up. + +"You are a brave man and a patriot; you want to see your country free. +Well, why not free it still? You and I are philosophers, we know that +life after all is an uncertain thing. Hold to your bargain with us. It +will be to your death, I do not deny that. But I will pledge the honour +of my country, I will give you the holy word of the Emperor, that we +will faithfully carry out our part of the contract, and the whole glory +shall be yours. You will be immortalised; you will win fame that shall +be deathless. Your name will be enshrined in the heart of your country's +history." + +Mr. Sabin shook his head slowly. + +"My dear Knigenstein," he said "pray don't misunderstand me. I do not +cast the slightest reflection upon your Emperor or your honour. But if +ever there was a country which required watching, it is yours. I could +not carry your pledges with me into oblivion, and there is no one to +whom I could leave the legacy. That being the case, I think that I +prefer to live." + +Knigenstein buttoned up his coat and sighed. + +"I am a ruined man, Souspennier," he said, "but I bear you no malice. +Let me leave you a little word of warning, though. The Nihilists are not +the only people in the world who have the courage and the wit to avenge +themselves. Farewell!" + +Mr. Sabin broke into a queer little laugh as he listened to his guest's +departing footsteps. Then he lit a cigarette, and called to Foo Cha for +some coffee. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX + +THE HEART OF THE PRINCESS + + +When Wolfenden opened his paper on Saturday morning, London had already +drawn a great breath, partly of relief partly of surprise, for the black +head-lines which topped the columns of the papers, the placards in the +streets, and the cry of the newsboys, all declared a most remarkable +change in the political situation. + + "THE GERMAN EMPEROR EXPLAINS! + THERE WILL BE NO WAR! + GERMAN CONSUL ORDERED HOME! + NO RUPTURE!" + +Wolfenden, in common with most of his fellow-countrymen, could scarcely +believe his eyes; yet there it was in plain black and white. The dogs of +war had been called back. Germany was climbing down--not with dignity; +she had gone too far for that--but with a scuffle. Wolfenden read the +paper through before he even thought of his letters Then he began to +open them slowly. The first was from his mother. The Admiral was +distinctly better; the doctors were more hopeful. He turned to the next +one; it was in a delicate, foreign handwriting, and exhaled a faint +perfume which seemed vaguely familiar to him. He opened it and his heart +stood still. + + "14, GROSVENOR SQUARE, + "LONDON, W + + "Will you come and see me to-day about four o'clock?--HELENE." + +He looked at his watch--four o'clock seemed a very long way off. He +decided that he would go out and find Felix; but almost immediately the +door was opened and that very person was shown in. + +Felix was radiant; he appeared to have grown years younger. He was +immaculately dressed, and he wore an exquisite orchid in his +button-hole. + +Wolfenden greeted him warmly. + +"Have you seen the paper?" he asked. "Do you know the news?" + +Felix laughed. + +"Of course! You may not believe it, but it is true that I am the person +who has saved your country! And I am quits at last with Herbert de la +Meux, Duc de Souspennier!" + +"Meaning, I suppose, the person whom we have been accustomed to +call--Mr. Sabin?" Wolfenden remarked. + +"Exactly!" + +Wolfenden pushed an easy chair towards his visitor and produced some +cigarettes. + +"I must say," he continued, "that I should exceedingly like to know how +the thing was done." + +Felix smiled. + +"That, my dear friend," he said, "you will never know. No one will ever +know the cause of Germany's suddenly belligerent attitude, and her +equally speedy climb-down! There are many pages of diplomatic history +which the world will never read, and this is one of them. Come and +lunch with me, Lord Wolfenden. My vow is paid and without bloodshed. I +am a free man, and my promotion is assured. To-day is the happiest of my +life!" + +Wolfenden smiled and looked at the letter on the table before him; might +it not also be the happiest day of his own life! + + * * * * * + +And it was! Punctually at four o'clock he presented himself at Grosvenor +Square and was ushered into one of the smaller reception rooms. Helene +came to him at once, a smile half-shy, half-apologetic upon her lips. +He was conscious from the moment of her entrance of a change in her +deportment towards him. She held in her hand a small locket. + +"I wanted to ask you, Lord Wolfenden," she said, drawing her fingers +slowly away from his lingering clasp, "does this locket belong to you?" + +He glanced at it and shook his head at once. + +"I never saw it before in my life," he declared. "I do not wear a watch +chain, and I don't possess anything of that sort." + +She threw it contemptuously away from her into the grate. + +"A woman lied to me about it," she said slowly. "I am ashamed of myself +that I should have listened to her, even for a second. I chanced to look +at it last night, and it suddenly occurred to me where I had seen it. It +was on a man's watch-chain, but not on yours." + +"Surely," he said, "it belongs to Mr. Sabin?" + +She nodded and held out both her hands. + +"Will you forgive me?" she begged softly, "and--and--I think--I promised +to send for you!" + + * * * * * + +They had been together for nearly an hour when the door opened +abruptly, and the young man whom Wolfenden had seen with Helene in +the barouche entered the room. He stared in amazement at her, and +rudely at Wolfenden. Helene rose and turned to him with a smile. + +"Henri," she said, "let me present to you the English gentleman whom I +am going to marry. Prince Henri of Ortrens--Lord Wolfenden." + +The young man barely returned Wolfenden's salute. He turned with +flashing eyes to Helene and muttered a few hasty words in French-- + +"A kingdom and my betrothed in one day! It is too much! We will see!" + +He left the room hurriedly. Helene laughed. + +"He has gone to find the Duchess," she said, "and there will be a scene! +Let us go out in the Park." + +They walked about under the trees; suddenly they came face to face with +Mr. Sabin. He was looking a little worn, but he was as carefully dressed +as usual, and he welcomed them with a smile and an utter absence of any +embarrassment. + +"So soon!" he remarked pleasantly. "You Englishmen are as prompt in love +as you are in war, Lord Wolfenden! It is an admirable trait." + +Helene laid her hand upon his arm. Yes, it was no fancy; his hair was +greyer, and heavy lines furrowed his brow. + +"Uncle," she said, "believe me that I am sorry for you, though for +myself--I am glad!" + +He looked at her kindly, yet with a faint contempt. + +"The Bourbon blood runs very slowly in your veins, child," he said. +"After all I begin to doubt whether you would have made a queen! As for +myself--well, I am resigned. I am going to Pau, to play golf!" + +"For how long, I wonder," she said smiling, "will you be able to content +yourself there?" + +"For a month or two," he answered; "until I have lost the taste of +defeat. Then I have plans--but never mind; I will tell you later on. You +will all hear of me again! So far as you two are concerned at any rate," +he added, "I have no need to reproach myself. My failure seems to have +brought you happiness." + +He passed on, and they both watched his slim figure lost in the throng +of passers-by. + +"He is a great man," she murmured. "He knows how to bear defeat." + +"He is a great man," Wolfenden answered; "but none the less I am not +sorry to see the last of Mr. Sabin!" + + + + +CHAPTER XL + +THE WAY TO PAU + + +The way to Pau which Mr. Sabin chose may possibly have been the most +circuitous, but it was certainly the safest. Although not a muscle of +his face had moved, although he had not by any physical movement or +speech betrayed his knowledge of the fact, he was perfectly well aware +that his little statement as to his future movements was overheard and +carefully noted by the tall, immaculately dressed young man who by some +strange chance seemed to have been at his elbow since he had left his +rooms an hour ago. "Into the lion's mouth, indeed," he muttered to +himself grimly as he hailed a hansom at the corner and was driven +homewards. The limes of Berlin were very beautiful, but it was not with +any immediate idea of sauntering beneath them that a few hours later +he was driven to Euston and stepped into an engaged carriage on the +Liverpool express. There, with a travelling cap drawn down to his eyes +and a rug pulled up to his throat, he sat in the far corner of his +compartment apparently enjoying an evening paper--as a matter of fact +anxiously watching the platform. He had taken care to allow himself only +a slender margin of time. In two minutes the train glided out of the +station. + +He drew a little sigh of relief--he, who very seldom permitted himself +the luxury of even the slightest revelation of his feelings. At least +he had a start. Then he unlocked a travelling case, and, drawing out an +atlas, sat with it upon his knee for some time. When he closed it there +was a frown upon his face. + +"America," he exclaimed softly to himself. "What a lack of imagination +even the sound of the place seems to denote! It is the most ignominious +retreat I have ever made." + +"You made the common mistake," a quiet voice at his elbow remarked, "of +many of the world's greatest diplomatists. You underrated your +adversaries." + +Mr. Sabin distinctly started, and clutching at his rug, leaned back in +his corner. A young man in a tweed travelling suit was standing by the +opposite window. Behind him Mr. Sabin noticed for the first time a +narrow mahogany door. Mr. Sabin drew a short breath, and was himself +again. Underneath the rug his fingers stole into his overcoat pocket and +clasped something cold and firm. + +"One at least," he said grimly, "I perceive that I have held too +lightly. Will you pardon a novice at necromancy if he asks you how you +found your way here?" + +Felix smiled. + +"A little forethought," he remarked, "a little luck and a sovereign tip +to an accommodating inspector. The carriage in which you are travelling +is, as you will doubtless perceive before you reach your journey's end, +a species of saloon. This little door"--touching the one through which +he had issued--"leads on to a lavatory, and on the other side is a +non-smoking carriage. I found that you had engaged a carriage on +this train, by posing as your servant. I selected this one as being +particularly suited to an old gentleman of nervous disposition, and +arranged also that the non-smoking portion should be reserved for me." + +Mr. Sabin nodded. "And how," he asked, "did you know that I meant to go +to America?" + +Felix shrugged his shoulders and took a seat. + +"Well," he said, "I concluded that you would be looking for a change of +air somewhere, and I really could not see what part of the world you had +left open to yourself. America is the only country strong enough to keep +you! Besides, I reckoned a little upon that curiosity with regard to +undeveloped countries which I have observed to be one of your traits. So +far as I am aware, you have never resided long in America." + +"Neither have I even visited Kamtchatka or Greenland," Mr. Sabin +remarked. + +"I understand you," Felix remarked, nodding his head. "America is +certainly one of the last places one would have dreamed of looking for +you. You will find it, I am afraid, politically unborn; your own little +methods, at any rate, would scarcely achieve popularity there. Further, +its sympathies, of course, are with democratic France. I can imagine +that you and the President of the United States would represent opposite +poles of thought. Yet there were two considerations which weighed with +me." + +"This is very interesting," Mr. Sabin remarked. "May I know what they +were? To be permitted a glimpse into the inward workings of a brain like +yours is indeed a privilege!" + +Felix bowed with a gratified smile upon his lips. The satire of Mr. +Sabin's dry tone was apparently lost upon him. + +"You are most perfectly welcome," he declared. "In the first place +I said to myself that Kamtchatka and Greenland, although equally +interesting to you, would be quite unable to afford themselves the +luxury of offering you an asylum. You must seek the shelter of a great +and powerful country, and one which you had never offended, and save +America, there is none such in the world. Secondly, you are a Sybarite, +and you do not without very serious reasons place yourself outside the +pale of civilisation. Thirdly, America is the only country save those +which are barred to you where you could play golf!" + +"You are really a remarkable young man," Sabin declared, softly stroking +his little grey imperial. "You have read me like a book! I am humiliated +that the course of my reasoning should have been so transparent. To +prove the correctness of your conclusions, see the little volume which +I had brought to read on my way to Liverpool." + +He handed it out to Felix. It was entitled, "The Golf Courses of the +World," and a leaf was turned down at the chapter headed, "United +States." + +"I wish," he remarked, "that you were a golfer! I should like to have +asked your opinion about that plan of the Myopia golf links. To me it +seems cramped, and the bunkers are artificial." + +Felix looked at him admiringly. + +"You are a wonderful man," he said. "You do not bear me any ill-will +then?" + +"None in the least," Mr. Sabin said quietly. "I never bear personal +grudges. So far as I am concerned, I never have a personal enemy. It is +fate itself which vanquished me. You were simply an instrument. You do +not figure in my thoughts as a person against whom I bear any ill-will. +I am glad, though, that you did not cash my cheque for L20,000!" + +Felix smiled. "You went to see, then?" he asked. + +"I took the liberty," Mr. Sabin answered, "of stopping payment of it." + +"It will never be presented," Felix said "I tore it into pieces directly +I left you." + +Mr. Sabin nodded. + +"Quixotic," he murmured. + +The express was rushing on through the night. Mr. Sabin thrust his hand +into his bag and took out a handful of cigars. He offered one to Felix, +who accepted, and lit it with the air of a man enjoying the reasonable +civility of a chance fellow passenger. + +"You had, I presume," Mr. Sabin remarked, "some object in coming to see +the last of me? I do not wish to seem unduly inquisitive, but I feel a +little natural interest, or shall we say curiosity as to the reason for +this courtesy on your part?" + +"You are quite correct," Felix answered. "I am here with a purpose. I am +the bearer of a message to you." + +"May I ask, a friendly message, or otherwise?" + +His fingers were tightening upon the little hard substance in his +pocket, but he was already beginning to doubt whether after all Felix +had come as an enemy. + +"Friendly," was the prompt answer. "I bring you an offer." + +"From Lobenski?" + +"From his august master! The Czar himself has plans for you!" + +"His serene Majesty," Mr. Sabin murmured, "has always been most kind." + +"Since you left the country of the Shah," Felix continued, "Russian +influence in Central Asia has been gradually upon the wane. All manner +of means have been employed to conceal this, but the unfortunate fact +remains. You were the only man who ever thoroughly grasped the situation +and attained any real influence over the master of western Asia! Your +removal from Teheran was the result of an intrigue on the part of the +English. It was the greatest misfortune which ever befel Russia!" + +"And your offer?" Mr. Sabin asked. + +"Is that you return to Teheran not as the secret agent, but as the +accredited ambassador of Russia, with an absolutely free hand and +unlimited powers." + +"Such an offer," Mr. Sabin remarked, "ten years ago would have made +Russia mistress of all Asia." + +"The Czar," Felix said, "is beginning to appreciate that. But what was +possible then is possible now!" + +Mr. Sabin shook his head. "I am ten years older," he said, "and the Shah +who was my friend is dead." + +"The new Shah," Felix said, "has a passion for intrigue, and the sands +around Teheran are magnificent for golf." + +Mr. Sabin shook his head. + +"Too hard," he said, "and too monotonous. I am peculiar perhaps in that +respect, but I detest artificial bunkers. Now there is a little valley," +he continued thoughtfully, "about seven miles north of Teheran, where +something might be done! I wonder----" + +"You accept," Felix asked quietly. + +Mr. Sabin shook his head. + +"No, I decline." + +It was a shock to Felix, but he hid his disappointment. + +"Absolutely?" + +"And finally." + +"Why?" + +"I am ten years too old!" + +"That is resentment!" + +Mr. Sabin denied it. + +"No! Why should I not be frank with you, my friend? What I would have +done for Russia ten years ago, I would not do to-day! She has made +friends with the French Republic. She has done more than recognise the +existence of that iniquitous institution--she has pressed her friendship +upon the president--she has spoken the word of alliance. Henceforth +my feeling for Russia has changed. I have no object to gain in her +development. I am richer than the richest of her nobles, and there is no +title in Europe for which I would exchange my own. You see Russia has +absolutely nothing to offer me. On the other hand, what would benefit +Russia in Asia would ruin England, and England has given me and many +of my kind a shelter, and has even held aloof from France. Of the two +countries I would much prefer to aid England. If I had been the means of +destroying her Asiatic empire ten years ago it would have been to me +to-day a source of lasting regret. There, my friend, I have paid you the +compliment of perfect frankness." + +"If," Felix said slowly, "the price of your success at Teheran should be +the breach of our covenants with France--what then? Remember that it is +the country whose friendship is pleasing to us, not the government. You +cannot seriously doubt but that an autocrat, such as the Czar, would +prefer to extend his hand to an Emperor of France than to soil his +fingers with the clasp of a tradesman!" + +Mr. Sabin shook his head softly. "I have told you why I decline," he +said, "but in my heart there are many other reasons. For one, I am no +longer a young man. This last failure of mine has aged me. I have no +heart for fresh adventures." + +Felix sighed. + +"My mission to you comes," he said, "at an unfortunate time. For the +present, then, I accept defeat." + +"The fault," Mr. Sabin murmured, "is in no way with you. My refusal was +a thing predestined. The Czar himself could not move me." + +The train was slowing a little. Felix looked out of the window. + +"We are nearing Crewe," he said. "I shall alight then and return to +London. You are for America, then?" + +"Beyond doubt," Mr. Sabin declared. + +Felix drew from his pocket a letter. + +"If you will deliver this for me," he said, "you will do me a kindness, +and you will make a pleasant acquaintance." + +Mr. Sabin glanced at the imprescription. It was addressed to-- + + "Mrs. J. B. Peterson, + "Lenox, + "Mass., U.S.A." + +"I will do so with pleasure," he remarked, slipping it into his +dressing-case. + +"And remember this," Felix remarked, glancing out at the platform along +which they were gliding. "You are a marked man. Disguise is useless for +you. Be ever on your guard. You and I have been enemies, but after all +you are too great a man to fall by the hand of a German assassin. +Farewell!" + +"I will thank you for your caution and remember it," Mr. Sabin answered. +"Farewell!" + +Felix raised his hat, and Mr. Sabin returned the salute. The whistle +sounded. Felix stepped out on to the platform. + +"You will not forget the letter?" he asked + +"I will deliver it in person without fail," Mr. Sabin answered. + + + + +CHAPTER XLI + +MR. AND MRS. WATSON OF NEW YORK + + +It was their third day out, and Mr. Sabin was enjoying the voyage very +much indeed. The _Calipha_ was a small boat sailing to Boston instead of +New York, and contemptuously termed by the ocean-going public an old +tub. She carried, consequently, only seven passengers besides Mr. Sabin, +and it had taken him but a very short time to decide that of those seven +passengers not one was interested in him or his affairs. He had got +clear away, for the present at any rate, from all the complications and +dangers which had followed upon the failure of his great scheme. Of +course by this time the news of his departure and destination was known +to every one whom his movements concerned. That was almost a matter of +course, and realising even the impossibility of successful concealment, +Mr. Sabin had made no attempt at any. He had given the name of Sabin to +the steward, and had secured the deck's cabin for his own use. He +chatted every day with the captain, who treated him with respect, and in +reply to a question from one of the stewards who was a Frenchman, he +admitted that he was the Duc de Souspennier, and that he was travelling +incognito only as a whim. He was distinctly popular with every one of +the seven passengers, who were a little doubtful how to address him, +but whom he succeeded always in putting entirely at their ease. He +entered, too, freely into the little routine of steamer life. He played +shuffleboard for an hour or more every morning, and was absolutely +invincible at the game; he brought his golf clubs on deck one evening +after dinner, and explained the manner of their use to an admiring +little circle of the seven passengers, the captain, and doctor. He +rigorously supported the pool each day, and he even took a hand at a +mild game of poker one wet afternoon, when timidly invited to do so +by Mr. Hiram Shedge, an oil merchant of Boston. He had in no way the +deportment or manner of a man who had just passed through a great +crisis, nor would any one have gathered from his conversation or +demeanour that he was the head of one of the greatest houses in Europe +and a millionaire. The first time a shadow crossed his face was late one +afternoon, when, coming on deck a little behind the others after lunch, +he found them all leaning over the starboard bow, gazing intently at +some object a little distance off, and at the same time became aware +that the engines had been put to half-speed. + +He was strolling towards the little group, when the captain, seeing him, +beckoned him on to the bridge. + +"Here's something that will interest you, Mr. Sabin," he called out. +"Won't you step this way?" + +Mr. Sabin mounted the iron steps carefully but with his eyes turned +seawards; a large yacht of elegant shape and painted white from stern +to bows was lying-to about half a mile off flying signals. + +Mr. Sabin reached the bridge and stood by the captain's side. + +"A pleasure yacht," he remarked. "What does she want?" + +"I shall know in a moment," the captain answered with his glass to his +eye. "She flew a distress signal at first for us to stand by, so I +suppose she's in trouble. Ah! there it goes. 'Mainshaft broken,' she +says." + +"She doesn't lie like it," Mr. Sabin remarked quietly. + +The captain looked at him with a smile. + +"You know a bit about yachting too," he said, "and, to tell you the +truth, that's just what I was thinking." + +"Holmes." + +"Yes, sir." + +"Ask her what she wants us to do." + +The signalman touched his hat, and the little row of flags ran +fluttering up in the breeze. + +"She signals herself the _Mayflower_, private yacht, owner Mr. James +Watson of New York," he remarked. "She's a beautiful boat." + +Mr. Sabin, who had brought his own glasses, looked at her long and +steadily. + +"She's not an American built boat, at any rate," he remarked. + +An answering signal came fluttering back. The captain opened his book +and read it. + +"She's going on under canvas," he said, "but she wants us to take her +owner and his wife on board." + +"Are you compelled to do so?" Mr. Sabin asked. + +The captain laughed. + +"Not exactly! I'm not expected to pick up passengers in mid ocean." + +"Then I shouldn't do it," Mr. Sabin said. "If they are in a hurry the +_Alaska_ is due up to-day, isn't she? and she'll be in New York in three +days, and the _Baltimore_ must be close behind her. I should let them +know that." + +"Well," the captain answered, "I don't want fresh passengers bothering +just now." + +The flags were run up, and the replies came back as promptly. The +captain shut up his glass with a bang. + +"No getting out of them," he remarked to Mr. Sabin. "They reply that the +lady is nervous and will not wait; they are coming on board at once--for +fear I should go on, I suppose. They add that Mr. Watson is the largest +American holder of Cunard stock and a director of the American Board, so +have them we must--that's pretty certain. I must see the purser." + +He descended, and Mr. Sabin, following him, joined the little group of +passengers. They all stood together watching the long rowing boat which +was coming swiftly towards them through the smooth sea. Mr. Sabin +explained to them the messages which had passed, and together they +admired the disabled yacht. + +Mr. Sabin touched the first mate on the arm as he passed. + +"Did you ever see a vessel like that, Johnson?" he remarked. + +The man shook his head. + +"Their engineer is a fool, sir!" he declared scornfully. "Nothing but my +own eyes would make me believe there's anything serious the matter with +her shaft." + +"I agree with you," Mr. Sabin said quietly. + +The boat was now within hailing distance. Mr. Sabin leaned down over the +side and scanned its occupants closely. There was nothing in the least +suspicious about them. The man who sat in the stern steering was a +typical American, with thin sallow face and bright eyes. The woman +wore a thick veil, but she was evidently young, and when she stood up +displayed a figure and clothes distinctly Parisian. The two came up the +ladder as though perfectly used to boarding a vessel in mid ocean, and +the lady's nervousness was at least not apparent. The captain advanced +to meet them, and gallantly assisted the lady on to the deck. + +"This is Captain Ackinson, I presume," the man remarked with extended +hand. "We are exceedingly obliged to you, sir, for taking us off. This +is my wife, Mrs. James B. Watson." + +Mrs. Watson raised her veil, and disclosed a dark, piquant face with +wonderfully bright eyes. + +"It's real nice of you, Captain," she said frankly. "You don't know how +good it is to feel the deck of a real ocean-going steamer beneath your +feet after that little sailing boat of my husband's. This is the very +last time I attempt to cross the Atlantic except on one of your +steamers." + +"We are very glad to be of any assistance," the captain answered, more +heartily than a few minutes before he would have believed possible. +"Full speed ahead, John!" + +There was a churning of water and dull throb of machinery restarting. +The little rowing boat, already well away on its return journey, rocked +on the long waves. Mr. Watson turned to shout some final instructions. +Then the captain beckoned to the purser. + +"Mr. Wilson will show you your state rooms," he remarked. "Fortunately +we have plenty of room. Steward, take the baggage down." + +The lady went below, but Mr. Watson remained on deck talking to the +captain. Mr. Sabin strolled up to them. + +"Your yacht rides remarkably well, if her shaft is really broken," he +remarked. + +Mr. Watson nodded. + +"She's a beautifully built boat," he remarked with enthusiasm. "If the +weather is favourable her canvas will bring her into Boston Harbour two +days after us." + +"I suppose," the captain asked, looking at her through his glass, "you +satisfied yourself that her shaft was really broken?" + +"I did not, sir," Mr. Watson answered. "My engineer reported it so, and, +as I know nothing of machinery myself, I was content to take his word. +He holds very fine diplomas, and I presume he knows what he is talking +about. But anyway Mrs. Watson would never have stayed upon that boat one +moment longer than she was compelled. She's a wonderfully nervous woman +is Mrs. Watson." + +"That's a somewhat unusual trait for your countrywoman, is it not?" Mr. +Sabin asked. + +Mr. J. B. Watson looked steadily at his questioner. + +"My wife, sir," he said, "has lived for many years on the Continent. She +would scarcely consider herself an American." + +"I beg your pardon," Mr. Sabin remarked courteously. "One can see at +least that she has acquired the polish of the only habitable country +in the world. But if I had taken the liberty of guessing at her +nationality, I should have taken her to be a German." + +Mr. Watson raised his eyebrows, and somehow managed to drop the match he +was raising to his cigar. + +"You astonish me very much, sir," he remarked. "I always looked upon the +fair, rotund woman as the typical German face." + +Mr. Sabin shook his head gently. + +"There are many types," he said "and nationality, you know, does not +always go by complexion or size. For instance, you are very like many +American gentlemen whom I have had the pleasure of meeting, but at the +same time I should not have taken you for an American." + +The captain laughed. + +"I can't agree with you, Mr. Sabin," he said. "Mr. Watson appears to +me to be, if he will pardon my saying so, the very type of the modern +American man." + +"I'm much obliged to you, Captain," Mr. Watson said cheerfully. "I'm a +Boston man, that's sure, and I believe, sir, I'm proud of it. I want to +know for what nationality you would have taken me if you had not been +informed?" + +"I should have looked for you also," Mr. Sabin said deliberately, "in +the streets of Berlin." + + + + +CHAPTER XLII + +A WEAK CONSPIRATOR + + +At dinner-time Mrs. Watson appeared in a very dainty toilette of black +and white, and was installed at the captain's right hand. She was +introduced at once to Mr. Sabin, and proceeded to make herself a very +agreeable companion. + +"Why, I call this perfectly delightful!" was almost her first +exclamation, after a swift glance at Mr. Sabin's quiet but +irreproachable dinner attire. "You can't imagine how pleased I +am to find myself once more in civilised society. I was never so +dull in my life as on that poky little yacht." + +"Poky little yacht, indeed!" Mr. Watson interrupted, with a note of +annoyance in his tone. "The _Mayflower_ anyway cost me pretty well two +hundred thousand dollars, and she's nearly the largest pleasure yacht +afloat." + +"I don't care if she cost you a million dollars," Mrs. Watson answered +pettishly. "I never want to sail on her again. I prefer this +infinitely." + +She laughed at Captain Ackinson, and her husband continued his dinner +in silence. Mr. Sabin made a mental note of two things--first, that Mr. +Watson did not treat his wife with that consideration which is supposed +to be distinctive of American husbands, and secondly, that he drank a +good deal of wine without becoming even a shade more amiable. His wife +somewhat pointedly drank water, and turning her right shoulder upon her +husband, devoted herself to the entertainment of her two companions. At +the conclusion of the meal the captain was her abject slave, and Mr. +Sabin was quite willing to admit that Mrs. J. B. Watson, whatever her +nationality might be, was a very charming woman. + +After dinner Mr. Sabin went to his lower state room for an overcoat, and +whilst feeling for some cigars, heard voices in the adjoining room, +which had been empty up to now. + +"Won't you come and walk with me, James?" he heard Mrs. Watson say. "It +is such a nice evening, and I want to go on deck." + +"You can go without me, then," was the gruff answer. "I'm going to have +a cigar in the smoke-room." + +"You can smoke," she reminded him, "on deck." + +"Thanks," he replied, "but I don't care to give my Laranagas to the +winds. You would come here, and you must do the best you can. You can't +expect to have me dangling after you all the time." + +There was a silence, and then the sound of Mr. Watson's heavy tread, +as he left the state room, followed in a moment or two by the light +footsteps and soft rustle of silk skirts, which indicated the departure +also of his wife. + +Mr. Sabin carefully enveloped himself in an ulster, and stood for a +moment or two wondering whether that conversation was meant to be +overheard or not. He rang the bell for the steward. + +The man appeared almost immediately. Mr. Sabin had known how to ensure +prompt service. + +"Was it my fancy, John? or did I hear voices in the state room +opposite?" Mr. Sabin asked. + +"Mr. and Mrs. Watson have taken it, sir," the man answered. + +Mr. Sabin appeared annoyed. + +"You know that some of my clothes are hung up there," he remarked, "and +I have been using it as a dressing-room. There are heaps of state-rooms +vacant. Surely you could have found them another?" + +"I did my best, sir," the man answered, "but they seemed to take a +particular fancy to that one. I couldn't get them off it nohow." + +"Did they know," Mr. Sabin asked carelessly, "that the room opposite was +occupied?" + +"Yes, sir," the man answered. "I told them that you were in number +twelve, and that you used this as a dressing-room, but they wouldn't +shift. It was very foolish of them, too, for they wanted two, one each; +and they could just as well have had them together." + +"Just as well," Mr. Sabin remarked quietly. "Thank you, John. Don't let +them know I have spoken to you about it." + +"Certainly not, sir." + +Mr. Sabin walked upon deck. As he passed the smoke-room he saw Mr. +Watson stretched upon a sofa with a cigar in his mouth. Mr. Sabin smiled +to himself, and passed on. + +The evening promenade on deck after dinner was quite a social event on +board the _Calipha_. As a rule the captain and Mr. Sabin strolled +together, none of the other passengers, notwithstanding Mr. Sabin's +courtesy towards them, having yet attempted in any way to thrust their +society upon him. But to-night, as he had half expected, the captain had +already a companion. Mrs. Watson, with a very becoming wrap around her +head, and a cigarette in her mouth, was walking by his side, chatting +gaily most of the time, but listening also with an air of absorbed +interest to the personal experiences which her questions provoked. Every +now and then, as they passed Mr. Sabin, sometimes walking, sometimes +gazing with an absorbed air at the distant chaos of sea and sky, she +flashed a glance of invitation upon him, which he as often ignored. Once +she half stopped and asked him some slight question, but he answered it +briefly standing on one side, and the captain hurried her on. It was a +stroke of ill-fortune, he thought to himself, the coming of these two +people. He had had a clear start and a fair field; now he was suddenly +face to face with a danger, the full extent of which it was hard to +estimate. For he could scarcely doubt but that their coming was on his +account. They had played their parts well, but they were secret agents +of the German police. He smoked his cigar leisurely, the object every +few minutes of many side glances and covert smiles from the delicately +attired little lady, whose silken skirts, daintily raised from the +ground, brushed against him every few minutes as she and her companion +passed and repassed. What was their plan of action? he wondered. If it +was simply to be assassination, why so elaborate an artifice? and what +worse place in the world could there be for anything of the sort +than the narrow confines of a small steamer? No, there was evidently +something more complex on hand. Was the woman brought as a decoy? he +wondered; did they really imagine him capable of being dazzled or +fascinated by any woman on the earth? He smiled softly at the thought, +and the sight of that smile lingering upon his lips brought her to a +standstill. He heard suddenly the swish of her skirt, and her soft voice +in his ear. Lower down the deck the captain's broad shoulders were +disappearing, as he passed on the way to the engineers' room for his +nightly visit of inspection. + +"You have not made a single effort to rescue me," she said +reproachfully; "you are most unkind." + +Mr. Sabin lifted his cap, and removed the cigar from his teeth. + +"My dear lady," he said, "I have been suffering the pangs of the +neglected, but how dared I break in upon so confidential a +_tete-a-tete_?" + +"You have little of the courage of your nation, then," she answered +laughing, "for I gave you many opportunities. But you have been +engrossed with your thoughts, and they succeeded at least where I +failed--you were distinctly smiling when I came upon you." + +"It was a premonition," he began, but she raised a little white hand, +flashing with rings, to his lips, and he was silent. + +"Please don't think it necessary to talk nonsense to me all the time," +she begged. "Come! I am tired--I want to sit down. Don't you want to +take my chair down by the side of the boat there? I like to watch the +lights on the water, and you may talk to me--if you like." + +"Your husband," he remarked a moment or two later, as he arranged her +cushions, "does not care for the evening air?" + +"It is sufficient for him," she answered quietly, "that I prefer it. He +will not leave the smoking-room until the lights are put out." + +"In an ordinary way," he remarked, "that must be dull for you." + +"In an ordinary way, and every way," she answered in a low tone, "I am +always dull. But, after all, I must not weary a stranger with my woes. +Tell me about yourself, Mr. Sabin. Are you going to America on pleasure, +or have you business there?" + +A faint smile flickered across Mr. Sabin's face. He watched the white +ash trembling upon his cigar for a moment before he spoke. + +"I can scarcely be said to be going to America on pleasure," he +answered, "nor have I any business there. Let us agree that I am going +because it is the one country in the world of any importance which I +have never visited." + +"You have been a great traveller, then," she murmured, looking up at him +with innocent, wide-open eyes. "You look as though you have been +everywhere. Won't you tell me about some of the odd places you have +visited?" + +"With pleasure," he answered; "but first won't you gratify a natural and +very specific curiosity of mine? I am going to a country which I have +never visited before. Tell me a little about it. Let us talk about +America." + +She stole a sudden, swift glance at her questioner. No, he did not +appear to be watching her. His eyes were fixed idly upon the sheet of +phosphorescent light which glittered in the steamer's track. +Nevertheless, she was a little uneasy. + +"America," she said, after a moment's pause, "is the one country I +detest. We are only there very seldom--when Mr. Watson's business +demands it. You could not seek for information from any one worse +informed than I am." + +"How strange!" he said softly. "You are the first unpatriotic American I +have ever met." + +"You should be thankful," she remarked, "that I am an exception. Isn't +it pleasant to meet people who are different from other people?" + +"In the present case it is delightful!" + +"I wonder," she said reflectively, "in which school you studied my sex, +and from what particular woman you learned the art of making those +little speeches?" + +"I can assure you that I am a novice," he declared. + +"Then you have a wonderful future before you. You will make a courtier, +Mr. Sabin." + +"I shall be happy to be the humblest of attendants in the court where +you are queen." + +"Such proficiency," she murmured, "is the hall mark of insincerity. You +are not a man to be trusted, Mr. Sabin." + +"Try me," he begged. + +"I will! I will tell you a secret." + +"I will lock it in the furthest chamber of my inner consciousness." + +"I am going to America for a purpose." + +"Wonderful woman," he murmured, "to have a purpose." + +"I am going to get a divorce!" + +Mr. Sabin was suddenly thoughtful. + +"I have always understood," he said, "that the marriage laws of America +are convenient." + +"They are humane. They make me thankful that I am an American." + +Mr. Sabin inclined his head slightly towards the smoking-room. + +"Does your unfortunate husband know?" + +"He does; and he acquiesces. He has no alternative. But is that quite +nice of you, Mr. Sabin, to call my husband an unfortunate man?" + +"I cannot conceive," he said slowly, "greater misery than to have +possessed and lost you." + +She laughed gaily. Mr. Sabin permitted himself to admire that laugh. It +was like the tinkling of a silver bell, and her teeth were perfect. + +"You are incorrigible," she said. "I believe that if I would let you, +you would make love to me." + +"If I thought," he answered, "that you would never allow me to make love +to you, I should feel like following this cigar." He threw it into the +sea. + +She sighed, and tapped her little French heel upon the deck. + +"What a pity that you are like all other men." + +"I will say nothing so unkind of you," he remarked. "You are unlike any +other woman whom I ever met." + +They listened together to the bells sounding from the quarter deck. It +was eleven o'clock. The deck behind them was deserted, and a fine +drizzling rain was beginning to fall. Mrs. Watson removed the rug from +her knees regretfully. + +"I must go," she said; "do you hear how late it is?" + +"You will tell me all about America," he said, rising and drawing back +her chair, "to-morrow?" + +"If we can find nothing more interesting to talk about," she said, +looking up at him with a sparkle in her dark eyes. "Good-night." + +Her hand, very small and white, and very soft, lingered in his. At that +moment an unpleasant voice sounded in their ears. + +"Do you know the time, Violet? The lights are out all over the ship. I +don't understand what you are doing on deck." + +Mr. Watson was not pleasant to look upon. His eyes were puffy, and +swollen, and he was not quite steady upon his feet. His wife looked at +him in cold displeasure. + +"The lights are out in the smoke-room, I suppose," she said, "or we +should not have the pleasure of seeing you. Good-night, Mr. Sabin! Thank +you so much for looking after me!" + +Mr. Sabin bowed and walked slowly away, lighting a fresh cigarette. If +it was acting, it was very admirably done. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIII + +THE COMING OF THE "KAISER WILHELM" + + +The habit of early rising was one which Mr. Sabin had never cultivated, +and breakfast was a meal which he abhorred. It was not until nearly +midday on the following morning that he appeared on deck, and he had +scarcely exchanged his customary greeting with the captain, before he +was joined by Mr. Watson, who had obviously been on the look-out for +him. + +"I want, sir," the latter commenced, "to apologise to you for my conduct +last night." + +Mr. Sabin looked at him keenly. + +"There is no necessity for anything of the sort," he said. "If any +apology is owing at all, it is, I think, to your wife." + +Mr. Watson shook his head vigorously. + +"No, sir," he declared, "I am ashamed to say that I am not very clear as +to the actual expressions I made, but Mrs. Watson has assured me that my +behaviour to you was discourteous in the extreme." + +"I hope you will think no more of it. I had already," Mr. Sabin said, +"forgotten the circumstance. It is not of the slightest consequence." + +"You are very good," Mr. Watson said softly. + +"I had the pleasure," Mr. Sabin remarked, "of an interesting +conversation with your wife last night. You are a very fortunate man." + +"I think so indeed, sir," Mr. Watson replied modestly. + +"American women," Mr. Sabin continued, looking meditatively out to sea, +"are very fascinating." + +"I have always found them so," Mr. Watson agreed. + +"Mrs. Watson," Mr. Sabin said, "told me so much that was interesting +about your wonderful country that I am looking forward to my visit more +than ever." + +Mr. Watson darted a keen glance at his companion. He was suddenly on his +guard. For the first time he realised something of the resources of this +man with whom he had to deal. + +"My wife," he said, "knows really very little of her native country; she +has lived nearly all her life abroad." + +"So I perceived," Mr. Sabin answered. "Shall we sit down a moment, Mr. +Watson? One wearies so of this incessant promenading, and there is a +little matter which I fancy that you and I might discuss with +advantage." + +Mr. Watson obeyed in silence. This was a wonderful man with whom he had +to deal. Already he felt that all the elaborate precautions of his +coming had been wasted. He might be Mr. James B. Watson, the New York +yacht owner and millionaire, to the captain and his seven passengers, +but he was nothing of the sort to Mr. Sabin. He shrugged his shoulders, +and followed him to a seat. After all silence was a safe card. + +"I'm going," Mr. Sabin said, "to be very frank with you. I know, of +course, who you are." + +Mr. Watson shrugged his shoulders. + +"Do you?" he remarked dryly. + +Mr. Sabin bowed, with a faint smile at the corner of his lips. + +"Certainly," he answered, "you are Mr. James B. Watson of New York, and +the lady with you is your wife. Now I want to tell you a little about +myself." + +"Most interested, I'm sure," Mr. Watson murmured. + +"My real name," Mr. Sabin said, turning a little as though to face his +companion, "is Victor Duc de Souspennier. It suits me at present to +travel under the name by which I was known in England and by which you +are in the habit of addressing me. Mr. Watson, I'm leaving England +because a certain scheme of mine, which, if successful, would have +revolutionised the whole face of Europe, has by a most unfortunate +chance become a failure. I have incurred thereby the resentment, perhaps +I should say the just resentment, of a great nation. I am on my way to +the country where I concluded I should be safest against those means of, +shall I say, retribution, or vengeance, which will assuredly be used +against me. Now what I want to say to you, Mr. Watson, is this--I am a +rich man, and I value my life at a great deal of money. I wonder if by +any chance you understand me." + +Mr. Watson smiled. + +"I'm curious to know," he said softly, "at what price you value +yourself." + +"My account in New York," Mr. Sabin said quietly, "is, I believe, +something like ten thousand pounds." + +"Fifty thousand dollars," Mr. Watson remarked, "is a nice little sum for +one, but an awkward amount to divide." + +Mr. Sabin lit a cigarette and breathed more freely. He began to see his +way. + +"I forgot the lady," he murmured. "The expense of cabling is not great. +For the sake of argument, let us say twenty thousand." + +Mr. Watson rose. + +"So far as I'm concerned," he said, "it is a satisfactory sum. Forgive +me if I leave you for a few minutes, I must have a little talk with Mrs. +Watson." + +Mr. Sabin nodded. + +"We will have a cigar together after lunch," he said. "I must have my +morning game of shuffleboard with the captain." + +Mr. Watson went below, and Mr. Sabin played shuffleboard with his usual +deadly skill. + +A slight mist had settled around them by the time the game was over, +and the fog-horn was blowing, the captain went on the bridge, and the +engines were checked to half speed. + +Mr. Sabin leaned over the side of the vessel, and gazed thoughtfully +into the dense white vapour. + +"I think," he said softly to himself, "that after all I'm safe." + +There was perfect silence on the ship. Even the luncheon gong had not +sounded, the passengers having been summoned in a whisper by the deck +steward. The fog seemed to be getting denser and the sea was like glass. +Suddenly there was a little commotion aft, and the captain leaning +forward shouted some brief orders. The fog-horn emitted a series of +spasmodic and hideous shrills, and beyond a slight drifting the steamer +was almost motionless. + +Mr. Sabin understood at once that somewhere, it might be close at hand, +or it might be a mile away, the presence of another steamer had been +detected. + +The same almost ghostlike stillness continued, orders were passed +backward and forward in whispers. The men walked backward and forward on +tip-toe. And then suddenly, without any warning, they passed out into +the clear air, the mist rolled away, the sun shone down upon them again, +and the decks dried as though by magic. Cheerful voices broke in upon +the chill and unnatural silence. The machinery recommenced to throb, and +the passengers who had finished lunch went upon deck. Every one was +attracted at once by the sight of a large white steamer about a mile on +the starboard side. + +Mr. Watson joined the captain, who was examining her through his glass. + +"Man-of-war, isn't she?" he inquired. + +The captain nodded. + +"Not much doubt about that," he answered; "look at her guns. The odd +part of it is, too, she is flying no flag. We shall know who she is +in a minute or two, though." + +Mr. Sabin descended the steps on his way to a late luncheon. As he +turned the corner he came face to face with Mr. Watson, whose eyes were +fixed upon the coming steamer with a very curious expression. + +"Man-of-war," Mr. Sabin remarked. "You look as though you had seen her +before." + +Mr. Watson laughed harshly. + +"I should like to see her," he remarked, "at the bottom of the sea." + +Mr. Sabin looked at him in surprise. + +"You know her, then?" he remarked. + +"I know her," Mr. Watson answered, "too well. She is the _Kaiser +Wilhelm_, and she is going to rob me of twenty thousand pounds." + + + + +CHAPTER XLIV + +THE GERMANS ARE ANNOYED + + +Mr. Sabin ate his luncheon with unimpaired appetite and with his usual +care that everything of which he partook should be so far as possible of +the best. The close presence of the German man-of-war did not greatly +alarm him. He had some knowledge of the laws and courtesies of maritime +life, and he could not conceive by what means short of actual force he +could be inveigled on board of her. Mr. Watson's last words had been +a little disquieting, but he probably held an exaggerated opinion as +to the powers possessed by his employers. Mr. Sabin had been in many +tighter places than this, and he had sufficient belief in the country +of his recent adoption to congratulate himself that it was an English +boat on which he was a passenger. He proceeded to make himself agreeable +to Mrs. Watson, who, in a charming costume of blue and white, and a +fascinating little hat, had just come on to luncheon. + +"I have been talking," he remarked, after a brief pause in their +conversation, "to your husband this morning." + +She looked up at him with a meaning smile upon her face. + +"So he has been telling me." + +"I hope," Mr. Sabin continued gently, "that your advice to him--I take +it for granted that he comes to you for advice--was in my favour." + +"It was very much in your favour," she answered, leaning across towards +him. "I think that you knew it would be." + +"I hoped at least----" + +Mr. Sabin broke off suddenly in the midst of his sentence, and turning +round looked out of the open port-hole. Mrs. Watson had dropped her +knife and fork and was holding her hands to her ears. The saloon itself +seemed to be shaken by the booming of a gun fired at close quarters. + +"What is it?" she exclaimed, looking across at him with frightened eyes. +"What can have happened! England is not at war with anybody, is she?" + +Mr. Sabin looked up with a quiet smile from the salad which he was +mixing. + +"It is simply a signal from another ship," he answered. "She wants us to +stop." + +"What ship? Do you know anything about it? Do you know what they want?" + +"Not exactly," Mr. Sabin said. "At the same time I have some idea. The +ship who fired that signal is a German man-of-war, and you see we are +stopping." + +Of the two Mrs. Watson was certainly the most nervous. Her fingers shook +so that the wine in her glass was spilt. She set her glass down and +looked across at her companion. + +"They will take you away," she murmured. + +"I think not," Mr. Sabin answered. "I am inclined to think that I am +perfectly safe. Will you try some of my salad?" + +A look of admiration flashed for a moment across her face, + +"You are a wonderful man," she said softly. "No salad, thanks! I am too +nervous to eat. Let us go on deck!" + +Mr. Sabin rose, and carefully selected a cigarette. + +"I can assure you," he said, "that they are powerless to do anything +except attempt to frighten Captain Ackinson. Of course they might +succeed in that, but I don't think it is likely. Let us go and hear what +he has to say." + +Captain Ackinson was standing alone on the deck, watching the +man-of-war's boat which was being rapidly pulled towards the _Calipha_. +He was obviously in a bad temper. There was a black frown upon his +forehead which did not altogether disappear when he turned his head and +saw them approaching. + +"Are we arrested, Captain?" Mr. Sabin asked. "Why couldn't they signal +what they wanted?" + +"Because they're blistering idiots," Captain Ackinson answered. "They +blither me to stop, and I signalled back to ask their reason, and I'm +dashed if they didn't put a shot across my bows. As if I hadn't lost +enough time already without fooling." + +"Thanks to us, I am afraid, Captain," Mrs. Watson put in. + +"Well, I'm not regretting that, Mrs. Watson," the captain answered +gallantly. "We got something for stopping there, but we shall get +nothing decent from these confounded Germans, I am very sure. By the +bye, can you speak their lingo, Mr. Sabin?" + +"Yes," Mr. Sabin answered, "I can speak German. Can I be of any +assistance to you?" + +"You might stay with me if you will," Captain Ackinson answered, "in +case they don't speak English." + +Mr. Sabin remained by the captain's side, standing with his hands behind +him. Mrs. Watson leaned over the rail close at hand, watching the +approaching boat, and exchanging remarks with the doctor. In a few +minutes the boat was alongside, and an officer in the uniform of the +German Navy rose and made a stiff salute. + +"Are you the captain?" he inquired, in stiff but correct English. + +The captain returned his salute. + +"I am Captain Ackinson, Cunard ss. _Calipha_," he answered. "What do you +want with me?" + +"I am Captain Von Dronestein, in command of the _Kaiser Wilhelm_, +German Navy," was the reply. "I want a word or two with you in private, +Captain Ackinson. Can I come on board?" + +Captain Ackinson's reply was not gushing. He gave the necessary orders, +however, and in a few moments Captain Von Dronestein, and a thin, dark +man in the dress of a civilian, clambered to the deck. They looked at +Mr. Sabin, standing by the captain's side, and exchanged glances of +intelligence. + +"If you will kindly permit us, Captain," the newcomer said, "we should +like to speak with you in private. The matter is one of great +importance." + +Mr. Sabin discreetly retired. The captain turned on his heel and led the +way to his cabin. He pointed briefly to the lounge against the wall and +remained himself standing. + +"Now, gentlemen, if you please," he said briskly, "to business. You have +stopped a mail steamer in mid ocean by force, so I presume you have +something of importance to say. Please say it and let me go on. I am +behind time now." + +The German held up his hands. "We have stopped you," he said, "it is +true, but not by force. No! No!" + +"I don't know what else you call it when you show me a bounding thirty +guns and put a shot across my bows." + +"It was a blank charge," the German began, but Captain Ackinson +interrupted him. + +"It was nothing of the sort!" he declared bluntly. "I was on deck and I +saw the charge strike the water." + +"It was then contrary to my orders," Captain Dronestein declared, "and +in any case it was not intended for intimidation." + +"Never mind what it was intended for. I have my own opinion about that," +Captain Ackinson remarked impatiently. "Proceed if you please!" + +"In the first place permit me to introduce the Baron Von Graisheim, who +is attached to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs at Berlin." + +Captain Ackinson's acknowledgment of the introduction was barely civil. +The German continued-- + +"I am afraid you will not consider my errand here a particularly +pleasant one, Herr Captain. I have a warrant here for the arrest of one +of your passengers, whom I have to ask you to hand over to me." + +"A what!" Captain Ackinson exclaimed, with a spot of deep colour +stealing through the tan of his cheeks. + +"A warrant," Dronestein continued, drawing an imposing looking document +from his breast pocket. "If you will examine it you will perceive that +it is in perfect order. It bears, in fact," he continued, pointing with +reverential forefinger to a signature near the bottom of the document, +"the seal of his most august Majesty, the Emperor of Germany." + +Captain Ackinson glanced at the document with imperturbable face. + +"What is the name of the gentleman to whom all this refers?" he +inquired. + +"The Duc de Souspennier!" + +"The name," Captain Ackinson remarked, "is not upon my passengers' +list." + +"He is travelling under the alias of 'Mr. Sabin,'" Baron Von Graisheim +interjected. + +"And do you expect me," Captain Ackinson remarked, "to hand over the +person in question to you on the authority of that document?" + +"Certainly!" the two men exclaimed with one voice. + +"Then I am very sorry indeed," Captain Ackinson declared, "that you +should have had the temerity to stop my ship, and detain me here on such +a fool's errand. We are on the high seas and under the English flag. The +document you have just shown me impeaching the Duc de Souspennier for +'lese majestie' and high treason, and all the rest of it, is not worth +the paper it is written on here, nor, I should think in America. I must +ask you to leave my ship at once, gentlemen, and I can promise you that +my employers, the Cunard ss. Company, will bring a claim against your +Government for this unwarrantable detention." + +"You must, if you please, be reasonable," Captain Dronestein said. "We +have force behind us, and we are determined to rescue this man at all +costs." + +Captain Ackinson laughed scornfully. + +"I shall be interested to see what measures of force you will employ," +he remarked. "You may have a tidy bill to pay as it is, for that shot +you put across my bows. If you try another it may cost you the _Kaiser +Wilhelm_ and the whole of the German Navy. Now, if you please, I've no +more time to waste." + +Captain Ackinson moved towards the door. Dronestein laid his hand upon +his arm. + +"Captain Ackinson," he said, "do not be rash. If I have seemed too +peremptory in this matter, remember that Germany as my fatherland +is as dear to me as England to you, and this man whose arrest I am +commissioned to effect has earned for himself the deep enmity of all +patriots. Listen to me, I beg. You run not one shadow of risk in +delivering this man up to my custody. He has no country with whom you +might become embroiled. He is a French Royalist, who has cast himself +adrift altogether from his country, and is indeed her enemy. Apart from +that, his detention, trial and sentence, would be before a secret court. +He would simply disappear. As for you, you need not fear but that +your services will be amply recognised. Make your claims now for this +detention of your steamer; fix it if you will at five or even ten +thousand pounds, and I will satisfy it on the spot by a draft on the +Imperial Exchequer. The man can be nothing to you. Make a great country +your debtor. You will never regret it." + +Captain Ackinson shook his arm free from the other's grasp, and strode +out on to the deck. + +"_Kaiser Wilhelm_ boat alongside," he shouted, blowing his whistle. +"Smith, have these gentlemen lowered at once, and pass the word to the +engineer's room, full speed ahead." + +He turned to the two men, who had followed him out. + +"You had better get off my ship before I lose my temper," he said +bluntly. "But rest assured that I shall report this attempt at +intimidation and bribery to my employers, and they will without doubt +lay the matter before the Government." + +"But Captain Ackinson----" + +"Not another word, sir." + +"My dear----" + +Captain Ackinson turned his back upon the two men, and with a stiff, +military salute turned towards the bridge. Already the machinery was +commencing to throb. Mr. Watson, who was hovering near, came up and +helped them to descend. A few apparently casual remarks passed between +the three men. From a little lower down Mr. Sabin and Mrs. Watson leaned +over the rail and watched the visitors lowered into their boat. + +"That was rather a foolish attempt," he remarked lightly; "nevertheless +they seem disappointed." + +She looked after them pensively. + +"I wish I knew what they said to--my husband," she murmured. + +"Orders for my assassination, very likely," he remarked lightly. "Did +you see your husband's face when he passed us?" + +She nodded, and looked behind. Mr. Watson had entered the smoke-room. +She drew a little nearer to Mr. Sabin and dropped her voice almost to a +whisper. + +"What you have said in jest is most likely the truth. Be very careful!" + + + + +CHAPTER XLV + +MR. SABIN IN DANGER + + +Mr. Sabin found the captain by no means inclined to talk about the visit +which they had just received. He was still hurt and ruffled at the +propositions which had been made to him, and annoyed at the various +delays which seemed conspiring to prevent him from making a decent +passage. + +"I have been most confoundedly insulted by those d---- Germans," he said +to Mr. Sabin, meeting him a little later in the gangway. "I don't know +exactly what your position may be, but you will have to be on your +guard. They have gone on to New York, and I suppose they will try and +get their warrant endorsed there before we land." + +"They have a warrant, then?" Mr. Sabin remarked. + +"They showed me something of the sort," the captain answered scornfully. +"And it is signed by the Kaiser. But, of course, here it isn't worth the +paper it is written on, and America would never give you up without a +special extradition treaty." + +Mr. Sabin smiled. He had calculated all the chances nicely, and a volume +of international law was lying at that moment in his state-room face +downwards. + +"I think," he said, "that I am quite safe from arrest, but at the same +time, Captain, I am very sorry to be such a troublesome passenger to +you." + +The captain shrugged his shoulders. "Oh, it is not your fault," he said; +"but I have made up my mind about one thing. I am not going to stop my +ship this side of Boston Harbour for anything afloat. We have lost half +a day already." + +"If the Cunard Company will send me the extra coal bill," Mr. Sabin +said, "I will pay it cheerfully, for I am afraid that both stoppages +have been on my account." + +"Bosh!" The Captain, who was moving away, stopped short. "You had +nothing to do with these New Yorkers and their broken-down yacht." + +Mr. Sabin finished lighting a cigarette which he had taken from his +case, and, passing his arm through the captain's, drew him a little +further away from the gangway. + +"I'm afraid I had," he said. "As a matter of fact they are not New +Yorkers, and they are not husband and wife. They are simply agents in +the pay of the German secret police." + +"What, spies!" the captain exclaimed. + +Mr. Sabin nodded. + +"Exactly!" + +The captain was still incredulous. "Do you mean to tell me," he +exclaimed, "that charming little woman is not an American at all?--that +she is a fraud?" + +"There isn't a shadow of a doubt about it," Mr. Sabin replied. "They +have both tacitly admitted it. As a matter of fact I am in treaty now to +buy them over. They were on the point of accepting my terms when these +fellows boarded us. Whether they will do so now I cannot tell. I saw +that fellow Graisheim talking to the man just before they left the +vessel." + +"You are safe while you are on my ship, Mr. Sabin," the captain said +firmly. "I shall watch that fellow Watson closely, and if he gives me +the least chance, I will have him put in irons. Confound the man and his +plausible----" + +They were interrupted by the deck steward, who came with a message from +Mrs. Watson. She was making tea on deck--might she have the loan of the +captain's table, and would they come? + +The captain gave the necessary assent, but was on the point of declining +the invitation. "I don't want to go near the people," he said. + +"On the other hand," Mr. Sabin objected, "I do not want them to think, +at present at any rate, that I have told you who they are. You had +better come." + +They crossed the deck to a sunny little corner behind one of the boats, +where Mrs. Watson had just completed her preparation for tea. + +She greeted them gaily and chatted to them while they waited for the +kettle to boil, but to Mr. Sabin's observant eyes there was a remarkable +change in her. Her laughter was forced and she was very pale. + +Several times Mr. Sabin caught her watching him in an odd way as though +she desired to attract his attention, but Mr. Watson, who for once had +seemed to desert the smoking-room, remained by her side like a shadow. +Mr. Sabin felt that his presence was ominous. The tea was made and +handed round. + +Mr. Watson sent away the deck steward, who was preparing to wait upon +them, and did the honours himself. He passed the sugar to the captain +and stood before Mr. Sabin with the sugar-tongs in his hand. + +"Sugar?" he inquired, holding out a lump. + +Mr. Sabin took sugar, and was on the point of holding out his cup. Just +then he chanced to glance across to Mrs. Watson. Her eyes were dilated +and she seemed to be on the point of springing from her chair. Meeting +his glance she shook her head, and then bent over her hot water +apparatus. + +"No sugar, thanks," Mr. Sabin answered. "This tea looks too good to +spoil by any additions. One of the best things I learned in Asia was +to take my tea properly. Help yourself, Mr. Watson." + +Mr. Watson rather clumsily dropped the piece of sugar which he had been +holding out to Mr. Sabin, and the ship giving a slight lurch just at +that moment, it rolled down the deck and apparently into the sea. With +a little remark as to his clumsiness he resumed his seat. + +Mr. Sabin looked into his tea and across to Mrs. Watson. The slightest +of nods was sufficient for him. He drank it off and asked for some more. + +The tea party on the whole was scarcely a success. The Captain was +altogether upset and quite indisposed to be amiable towards people who +had made a dupe of him. Mrs. Watson seemed to be suffering from a state +of nervous excitement, and her husband was glum and silent. Mr. Sabin +alone appeared to be in good spirits, and he talked continually with his +customary ease and polish. + +The Captain did not stay very long, and upon his departure Mr. Sabin +also rose. + +"Am I to have the pleasure of taking you for a little walk, Mrs. +Watson?" he asked. + +She looked doubtfully at the tall, glum figure by her side, and her face +was almost haggard. + +"I'm afraid--I think--I think--Mr. Watson has just asked me to walk with +him," she said, lamely; "we must have our stroll later on." + +"I shall be ready and delighted at any time," Mr. Sabin answered with a +bow. + +"We are going to have a moon to-night; perhaps you may be tempted to +walk after dinner." + +He ignored the evident restraint of both the man and the woman and +strolled away. Having nothing in particular to do he went into his deck +cabin to dress a little earlier than usual, and when he had emerged the +dinner gong had not yet sounded. + +The deck was quite deserted, and lighting a _cigarette d'appetit_, he +strolled past the scene of their tea-party. A dark object under the boat +attracted his attention. He stooped down and looked at it. Thomas, the +ship's cat, was lying there stiff and stark, and by the side of his +outstretched tongue a lump of sugar. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVI + +MR. WATSON IS ASTONISHED + + +At dinner-time Mr. Sabin was the most silent of the little quartette who +occupied the head of the table. The captain, who had discovered that +notwithstanding their stoppage they had made a very fair day's run, and +had just noticed a favourable change in the wind, was in a better +humour, and on the whole was disposed to feel satisfied with himself for +the way he had repulsed the captain of the _Kaiser Wilhelm_. He departed +from his usual custom so far as to drink a glass of Mr. Sabin's +champagne, having first satisfied himself as to the absence of any +probability of fog. Mr. Watson, too, was making an effort to appear +amiable, and his wife, though her colour seemed a trifle hectic and her +laughter not altogether natural, contributed her share to the +conversation. Mr. Sabin alone was curiously silent and distant. Many +times he had escaped death by what seemed almost a fluke; more often +than most men he had been at least in danger of losing it. But this last +adventure had made a distinct and deep impression upon him. He had not +seriously believed that the man Watson was prepared to go to such +lengths; he recognised for the first time his extreme danger. Then as +regards the woman he was genuinely puzzled. He owed her his life, he +could not doubt it. She had given him the warning by which he had +profited, and she had given it him behind his companion's back. He was +strongly inclined to believe in her. Still, she was doubtless in fear of +the man. Her whole appearance denoted it. She was still, without doubt, +his tool, willing or unwilling. + +They lingered longer than usual over their dessert. It was noticeable +that throughout their conversation all mention of the events of the day +was excluded. A casual remark of Mr. Watson's the captain had ignored. +There was an obvious inclination to avoid the subject. The captain was +on the _qui vive_ all the time, and he promptly quashed any embarrassing +remark. So far as Mrs. Watson was concerned there was certainly no fear +of her exhibiting any curiosity. It was hard to believe that she was the +same woman who had virtually taken the conversation into her own hands +on the previous evening, and had talked to them so well and so brightly. +She sat there, white and cowed, looking a great deal at Mr. Sabin with +sad, far-away eyes, and seldom originating a remark. Mr. Watson, on the +contrary, talked incessantly, in marked contrast to his previous +silence; he drank no wine, but seemed in the best of spirits. Only once +did he appear at a loss, and that was when the captain, helping himself +to some nuts, turned towards Mr. Sabin and asked a question-- + +"I wonder, Mr. Sabin, whether you ever heard of an Indian nut called, I +believe, the Fakella? They say that an oil distilled from its kernel is +the most deadly poison in the world." + +"I have both heard of it and seen it," Mr. Sabin answered. "In fact, I +may say, that I have tasted it--on the tip of my finger." + +"And yet," the captain remarked, laughing, "you are alive." + +"And yet I am alive," Mr. Sabin echoed. "But there is nothing very +wonderful in that. I am poison-proof." + +Mr. Watson was in the act of raising a hastily filled glass to his lips +when his eyes met Mr. Sabin's. He set it down hurriedly, white to the +lips. He knew, then! Surely there must be something supernatural about +the man. A conviction of his own absolute impotence suddenly laid hold +of him. He was completely shaken. Of what use were the ordinary weapons +of his kind against an antagonist such as this? He knew nothing of the +silent evidence against him on deck. He could only attribute Mr. Sabin's +foreknowledge of what had been planned against him to the miraculous. He +stumbled to his feet, and muttering something about some cigars, left +his place. Mrs. Watson rose almost immediately afterwards. As she turned +to walk down the saloon she dropped her handkerchief. Mr. Sabin, who had +risen while she passed out, stooped down and picked it up. She took it +with a smile of thanks and whispered in his ear-- + +"Come on deck with me quickly; I want to speak to you." + +He obeyed, turning round and making some mute sign to the captain. She +walked swiftly up the stairs after a frightened glance down the corridor +to their state-rooms. A fresh breeze blew in their faces as they stepped +out on deck, and Mr. Sabin glanced at her bare neck and arms. + +"You will be cold," he said. "Let me fetch you a wrap." + +"Don't leave me," she exclaimed quickly. "Walk to the side of the +steamer. Don't look behind." + +Mr. Sabin obeyed. Directly she was sure that they were really beyond +earshot of any one she laid her hand upon his arm. + +"I am going to ask you a strange question," she said. "Don't stop to +think what it means, but answer me at once. Where are you going to sleep +to-night--in your state-room or in the deck cabin?" + +He started a little, but answered without hesitation-- + +"In my deck cabin." + +"Then don't," she exclaimed quickly. "Say that you are going to if you +are asked, mind that. Sit up on deck, out of sight, all night, stay with +the captain--anything--but don't sleep there, and whatever you may see +don't be surprised, and please don't think too badly of me." + +He was surprised to see that her cheeks were burning and her eyes were +wet. He laid his hand tenderly upon her arm. + +"I will promise that at any rate," he said. + +"And you will remember what I have told you?" + +"Most certainly," he promised. "Your warnings are not things to be +disregarded." + +She drew a quick little breath and looked nervously over her shoulders. + +"I am afraid," he said kindly, "that you are not well to-day. Has that +fellow been frightening or ill-using you?" + +Her face was very close to his, and he fancied that he could hear her +teeth chattering. She was obviously terrified. + +"We must not be talking too seriously," she murmured. "He may be here at +any moment. I want you to remember that there is a price set upon you +and he means to earn it. He would have killed you before, but he wants +to avoid detection. You had better tell the captain everything. +Remember, you must be on the watch always." + +"I can protect myself now that I am warned," he said, reassuringly. "I +have carried my life in my hands many a time before. But you?" + +She shivered. + +"They tell me," she whispered, "that from Boston you can take a train +right across the Continent, thousands of miles. I am going to take the +very first one that starts when I land, and I am going to hide somewhere +in the furthest corner of the world I can get to. To live in such fear +would drive me mad, and I am not a coward. Let us walk; he will not +think so much of our being together then." + +"I am going to send for a wrap," he said, looking down at her thin +dinner dress; "it is much too cold for you here bare-headed. We will +send the steward for something." + +They turned round to find a tall form at their elbows. Mr. Watson's +voice, thin and satirical, broke the momentary silence. + +"You are in a great hurry for fresh air, Violet. I have brought your +cape; allow me to put it on." + +He stooped down and threw the wrap over her shoulders. Then he drew her +reluctant fingers through his arm. + +"You were desiring to walk," he said. "Very well, we will walk +together." + +Mr. Sabin watched them disappear and, lighting a cigar, strolled off +towards the captain's room. Many miles away now he could still see the +green light of the German man-of-war. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVII + +A CHARMED LIFE + + +The night was still enough, but piled-up masses of black clouds obscured +a weakly moon, and there were only now and then uncertain gleams of +glimmering light. There was no fog, nor any sign of any. The captain +slept in his room, and on deck the steamer was utterly deserted. Only +through the black darkness she still bounded on, her furnaces roaring, +and the black trail of smoke leaving a long clear track behind her. It +seemed as though every one were sleeping on board the steamer except +those who fed her fires below and the grim, silent figure who stood in +the wheelhouse. + +Mr. Sabin, who, muffled up with rugs, was reclining in a deck chair, +drawn up in the shadow of the long boat, was already beginning to regret +that he had attached any importance at all to Mrs. Watson's warning. It +wanted only an hour or so of dawn. All night long he had sat there in +view of the door of his deck cabin and shivered. To sleep had been +impossible, his dozing was only fitful and unrestful. His hands were +thrust deep down into the pockets of his overcoat--the revolver had long +ago slipped from his cold fingers. More than once he had made up his +mind to abandon his watch, to enter his room, and chance what might +happen. And then suddenly there came what he had been waiting for all +this while--a soft footfall along the deck: some one was making their +way now from the gangway to the door of his cabin. + +The frown on his forehead deepened; he leaned stealthily forward +watching and listening intently. Surely that was the rustling of a +silken gown, that gleam of white behind the funnel was the fluttering of +a woman's skirt. Suddenly he saw her distinctly. She was wearing a long +white dressing-gown, and noiseless slippers of some kind. Her face was +very pale and her eyes seemed fixed and dilated. Once, twice she looked +nervously behind her, then she paused before the door of his cabin, +hesitated for a moment, and finally passed over the threshold. Mr. +Sabin, who had been about to spring forward, paused. After all perhaps +he was safer where he was. + +There was a full minute during which nothing happened. Mr. Sabin, who +had now thoroughly regained his composure, lingered in the shadow of the +boat prepared to wait upon the course of events, but a man's footstep +this time fell softly upon the deck. Some one had emerged from the +gangway and was crossing towards his room. Mr. Sabin peered cautiously +through the twilight. It was Mr. Watson, of New York, partially dressed, +with a revolver flashing in his hand. Then Mr. Sabin perceived the full +wisdom of having remained where he was. + +Under the shadow of the boat he drew a little nearer to the door of the +cabin. There was absolute silence within. What they were doing he could +not imagine, but the place was in absolute darkness. Thoroughly awake +now he crouched within a few feet of the door listening intently. Once +he fancied that he could hear a voice, it seemed to him that a hand was +groping along the wall for the knob of the electric light. Then the door +was softly opened and the woman came out. She stood for a moment leaning +a little forward, listening intently ready to make her retreat +immediately she was assured that the coast was clear! She was a little +pale, but in a stray gleam of moonlight Mr. Sabin fancied that he caught +a glimpse of a smile upon her parted lips. There was a whisper from +behind her shoulder; she answered in a German monosyllable. Then, +apparently satisfied that she was unobserved, she stepped out, and, +flitting round the funnel, disappeared down the gangway. Mr. Sabin made +no attempt to stop her or to disclose his presence. His fingers had +closed now upon his revolver--he was waiting for the man. The minutes +crept on--nothing happened. Then a hand softly closed the window looking +out upon the deck, immediately afterwards the door was pushed open and +Mr. Watson, with a handkerchief to his mouth, stepped out. + +He stood perfectly still listening for a moment. Then he was on the +point of stealing away, when a hand fell suddenly upon his shoulder. He +was face to face with Mr. Sabin. + +He started back with a slight but vehement guttural interjection. His +hand stole down towards his pocket, but the shining argument in Mr. +Sabin's hand was irresistible. + +"Step back into that room, Mr. Watson; I want to speak to you." + +He hesitated. Mr. Sabin reaching across him opened the door of the +cabin. Immediately they were assailed with the fumes of a strange, +sickly odour! Mr. Sabin laughed softly, but a little bitterly. + +"A very old-fashioned device," he murmured. "I gave you credit for more +ingenuity, my friend. Come, I have opened the window and the door you +see! Let us step inside. There will be sufficient fresh air." + +Mr. Watson was evidently disinclined to make the effort. He glanced +covertly up the deck, and seemed to be preparing himself for a rush. +Again that little argument of steel and the grim look on Mr. Sabin's +face prevailed. They both crossed the threshold. The odour, though +powerful, was almost nullified by the rushing of the salt wind through +the open window and door which Mr. Sabin had fixed open with a catch. +Reaching out his hand he pulled down a little brass hook--the room was +immediately lit with the soft glare of the electric light. + +Mr. Sabin, having assured himself that his companion's revolver was +safely bestowed in his hip pocket and could not be reached without +warning, glanced carefully around his cabin. + +He looked first towards the bed and smiled. His little device, then, had +succeeded. The rug which he had rolled up under the sheets into the +shape of a human form was undisturbed. In the absence of a light Mr. +Watson had evidently taken for granted that the man whom he had sought +to destroy was really in the room. The two men suddenly exchanged +glances, and Mr. Sabin smiled at the other's look of dismay. + +"It was not like you," he said gently; "it was really very clumsy indeed +to take for granted my presence here. I have great faith in you and your +methods, my friend, but do you think that it would have been altogether +wise for me to have slept here alone with unfastened door--under the +circumstances?" + +Mr. Watson admitted his error with a gleam in his dark eyes, which Mr. +Sabin accepted as an additional warning. + +"Your little device," he continued, raising an unstopped flask from the +table by the side of the bed, "is otherwise excellent, and I feel that +I owe you many thanks for arranging a death that should be painless. +You might have made other plans which would have been not only more +clumsy, but which might have caused me a considerable amount of personal +inconvenience and discomfort. Your arrangements, I see, were altogether +excellent. You arranged for my--er--extermination asleep or awake. If +awake the little visit which your charming wife had just paid here +was to have provided you at once with a motive for the crime and a +distinctly mitigating circumstance. That was very ingenious. Pardon my +lighting a cigarette, these fumes are a little powerful. Then if I was +asleep and had not been awakened by the time you arrived--well, it was +to be a drug! Supposing, my dear Mr. Watson, you do me the favour of +emptying this little flask into the sea." + +Mr. Watson obeyed promptly. There were several points in his favour to +be gained by the destruction of this evidence of his unsuccessful +attempt. As he crossed the deck holding the little bottle at arm's +length from him a delicate white vapour could be distinctly seen rising +from the bottle and vanishing into the air. There was a little hiss like +the hiss of a snake as it touched the water, and a spot of white froth +marked the place where it sank. + +"Much too strong," Mr. Sabin murmured. "A sad waste of a very valuable +drug, my friend. Now will you please come inside with me. We must have a +little chat. But first kindly stand quite still for one moment. There is +no particular reason why I should run any risk. I am going to take that +revolver from your pocket and throw it overboard." + +Mr Watson's first instinct was evidently one of resistance. Then +suddenly he felt the cold muzzle of a revolver upon his forehead. + +"If you move," Mr. Sabin said quietly, "you are a dead man. My best +policy would be to kill you; I am foolish not to do it. But I hate +violence. You are safe if you do as I tell you." + +Mr. Watson recognised the fact that his companion was in earnest. He +stood quite still and watched his revolver describe a semi-circle in the +darkness and a fall with a little splash in the water. Then he followed +Mr. Sabin into his cabin. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVIII + +THE DOOMSCHEN + + +"I suppose," Mr. Sabin began, closing the door of the cabin behind him, +"that I may take it--this episode--as an indication of your refusal to +accept the proposals I made to you?" + +Mr. Watson did not immediately reply. He had seated himself on the +corner of a lounge and was leaning forward, his head resting moodily +upon his hands. His sallow face was paler even than usual, and his +expression was sullen. He looked, as he undoubtedly was, in an evil +humour with himself and all things. + +"It was not a matter of choice with me," he muttered. "Look out of your +window there and you will see that even here upon the ocean I am under +surveillance." + +Mr. Sabin's eyes followed the man's forefinger. Far away across the +ocean he could see a dim green light almost upon the horizon. It was the +German man-of-war. + +"That is quite true," Mr. Sabin said. "I admit that there are +difficulties, but it seems to me that you have overlooked the crux of +the whole matter. I have offered you enough to live on for the rest of +your days, without ever returning to Europe. You know very well that you +can step off this ship arm-in-arm with me when we reach Boston, even +though your man-of-war be alongside the dock. They could not touch +you--you could leave your--pardon me--not too honourable occupation once +and for ever. America is not the country in which one would choose to +live, but it has its resources--it can give you big game and charming +women. I have lived there and I know. It is not Europe, but it is the +next best thing. Come, you had better accept my terms!" + +The man had listened without moving a muscle of his face. There was +something almost pitiable in its white, sullen despair. Then his lips +parted. + +"Would to God I could!" he moaned. "Would to God I had the power to +listen to you!" + +Mr. Sabin flicked the ash off his cigarette and looked thoughtful. He +stroked his grey imperial and kept his eyes on his companion. + +"The extradition laws," the other interrupted savagely. + +Mr. Sabin shrugged his shoulders. "By all means," he murmured. +"Personally I have no interest in them; but if you would talk like a +reasonable man and tell me where your difficulty lies I might be able to +help you." + +The man who had called himself Watson raised his head slowly. His +expression remained altogether hopeless. He had the appearance of a man +given wholly over to despair. + +"Have you ever heard of the Doomschen?" he asked slowly. + +Mr. Sabin shuddered. He became suddenly very grave. "You are not one of +them?" he exclaimed. + +The man bowed his head. + +"I am one of those devils," he admitted. + +Mr. Sabin rose to his feet and walked up and down the little room. + +"Of course," he remarked, "that complicates matters, but there ought to +be a way out of it. Let me think for a moment." + +The man on the lounge sat still with unchanging face. In his heart he +knew that there was no way out of it. The chains which bound him were +such as the hand of man had no power to destroy. The arm of his master +was long. It had reached him here--it would reach him to the farthermost +corner of the world. Nor could Mr. Sabin for the moment see any light. +The man was under perpetual sentence of death. There was no country in +the world which would not give him up, if called upon to do so. + +"What you have told me," Mr. Sabin said, "explains, of course to a +certain extent, your present indifference to my offers. But when I first +approached you in this way you certainly led me to think----" + +"That was before that cursed _Kaiser Wilhelm_ came up," Watson +interrupted. "I had a plan--I might have made a rush for liberty at any +rate!" + +"But surely you would have been marked down at Boston," Mr. Sabin said. + +"The only friend I have in the world," the other said slowly, "is the +manager of the Government's Secret Cable Office at Berlin. He was on my +side. It would have given me a chance, but now"--he looked out of the +window--"it is hopeless!" + +Mr. Sabin resumed his chair and lit a fresh cigarette. He had thought +the matter out and began to see light. + +"It is rather an awkward fix," he said, "but 'hopeless' is a word which +I do not understand. As regards our present dilemma I think that I see +an excellent way out of it." + +A momentary ray of hope flashed across the man's face. Then he shook his +head. + +"It is not possible," he murmured. + +Mr. Sabin smiled quietly. + +"My friend," he said, "I perceive that you are a pessimist! You will +find yourself in a very short time a free man with the best of your life +before you. Take my advice. Whatever career you embark in do so in a +more sanguine spirit. Difficulties to the man who faces them boldly lose +half their strength. But to proceed. You are one of those who are called +'Doomschen.' That means, I believe, that you have committed a crime +punishable by death,--that you are on parole only so long as you remain +in the service of the Secret Police of your country. That is so, is it +not?" + +The man assented grimly. Mr. Sabin continued-- + +"If you were to abandon your present task and fail to offer satisfactory +explanations--if you were to attempt to settle down in America, your +extradition, I presume, would at once be applied for. You would be given +no second chance." + +"I should be shot without a moment's hesitation," Watson admitted +grimly. + +"Exactly; and there is, I believe, another contingency. If you should +succeed in your present enterprise, which, I presume, is my +extermination, you would obtain your freedom." + +The man on the lounge nodded. A species of despair was upon him. This +man was his master in all ways. He would be his master to the end. + +"That brings us," Mr. Sabin continued, "to my proposition. I must admit +that the details I have not fully thought out yet, but that is a matter +of only half an hour or so. I propose that you should kill me in Boston +Harbour and escape to your man-of-war. They will, of course, refuse to +give you up, and on your return to Germany you will receive your +freedom." + +"But--but you," Watson exclaimed, bewildered, "you don't want to be +killed, surely?" + +"I do not intend to be--actually," Mr. Sabin explained. "Exactly how I +am going to manage it I can't tell you just now, but it will be quite +easy. I shall be dead to the belief of everybody on board here except +the captain, and he will be our accomplice. I shall remain hidden until +your _Kaiser Wilhelm_ has left, and when I do land in America--it shall +not be as Mr. Sabin." + +Watson rose to his feet He was a transformed man. A sudden hope had +brightened his face. His eyes were on fire. + +"It is a wonderful scheme!" he exclaimed. "But the captain--surely he +will never consent to help?" + +"On the contrary," Mr. Sabin answered, "he will do it for the asking. +There is not a single difficulty which we cannot easily surmount." + +"There is my companion," Watson remarked; "she will have to be reckoned +with." + +"Leave her," Mr. Sabin said, "to me. I will undertake that she shall be +on our side before many hours are passed. You had better go down to your +room now. It is getting light and I want to rest." + +Watson paused upon the threshold. He pointed in some embarrassment to +the table by the side of the bed. + +"Is it any use," he murmured in a low tone, "saying that I am sorry for +this?" + +"You only did--what--in a sense was your duty," Mr. Sabin answered. "I +bear no malice--especially since I escaped." + +Watson closed the door and Mr. Sabin glanced at the bed. For a moment or +two he hesitated, although the desire for sleep had gone by. Then he +stepped out on to the deck and leaned thoughtfully over the white +railing. Far away eastwards there were signs already of the coming day. +A soft grey twilight rested upon the sea; darker and blacker the waters +seemed just then by contrast with the lightening skies. A fresh breeze +was blowing. There was no living thing within sight save that faint +green light where the rolling sea touched the clouds. Mr. Sabin's eyes +grew fixed. A curious depression came over him in that half hour before +the dawn when all emotion is quickened by that intense brooding +stillness. He was passing, he felt, into perpetual exile. He who had +been so intimately in touch with the large things of the world had come +to that point when after all he was bound to write his life down a +failure. For its great desire was no nearer consummation. He had made +his grand effort and he had failed. He had been very near success. He +had seen closely into the Promised Land. Perhaps it was such thoughts as +these which made his non-success the more bitter, and then, with the +instincts of a philosopher, he asked himself now, surrounded in fancy by +the fragments of his broken dreams, whether it had been worth while. +That love of the beautiful and picturesque side of his country which had +been his first inspiration, which had been at the root of his passionate +patriotism, seemed just then in the grey moments of his despair so weak +a thing. He had sacrificed so much to it--his whole life had been +moulded and shaped to that one end. There had been other ways in which +he might have found happiness. Was he growing morbid, he wondered, +bitterly but unresistingly, that her face should suddenly float before +his eyes. In fancy he could see her coming towards him there across the +still waters, the old brilliant smile upon her lips, the lovelight in +her eyes, that calm disdain of all other men written so plainly on the +face which should surely have been a queen's. + +Mr. Sabin thought of those things which had passed, and he thought of +what was to come, and a moment of bitterness crept into his life which +he knew must leave its mark for ever. His head drooped into his hands +and remained buried there. Thus he stood until the first ray of sunlight +travelling across the water fell upon him, and he knew that morning had +come. He crossed the deck, and entering his cabin closed the door. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIX + +MR. SABIN IS SENTIMENTAL + + +Mr. Sabin found it a harder matter than he had anticipated to induce the +captain to consent to the scheme he had formulated. Nevertheless, he +succeeded in the end, and by lunch time the following day the whole +affair was settled. There was a certain amount of risk in the affair, +but, on the other hand, if successfully carried out, it set free once +and for ever the two men mainly concerned in it. Mr. Sabin, who was in +rather a curious mood, came out of the captain's room a little after one +o'clock feeling altogether indisposed for conversation of any sort, +ordered his luncheon from the deck steward, and moved his chair apart +from the others into a sunny, secluded corner of the boat. + +It was here that Mrs. Watson found him an hour later. He heard the +rustle of silken draperies across the deck, a faint but familiar perfume +suddenly floated into the salt, sunlit air. He looked around to find her +bending over him, a miracle of white--cool, dainty, and elegant. + +"And why this seclusion, Sir Misanthrope?" + +He laughed and dragged her chair alongside of his. + +"Come and sit down," he said. "I want to talk to you. I want," he added, +lowering his voice, "to thank you for your warning." + +They were close together now and alone, cut off from the other chairs +by one of the lifeboats. She looked up at him from amongst the cushions +with which her chair was hung. + +"You understood," she murmured. + +"Perfectly." + +"You are safe now," she said. "From him at any rate. You have won him +over." + +"I have found a way of safety," Mr. Sabin said, "for both of us." + +She leaned her head upon her delicate white fingers, and looked at him +curiously. + +"Your plans," she said, "are admirable; but what of me?" + +Mr. Sabin regarded her with some faint indication of surprise. He was +not sure what she meant. Did she expect a reward for her warning, he +wondered. Her words would seem to indicate something of the sort, and +yet he was not sure. + +"I am afraid," he said kindly, "we have not considered you very much +yet. You will go on to Boston, of course. Then I suppose you will return +to Germany." + +"Never," she exclaimed, with suppressed passion. "I have broken my vows. +I shall never set foot in Germany again. I broke them for your sake." + +Mr. Sabin looked at her thoughtfully. + +"I am glad to hear you say that," he declared. "Believe me, my dear +young lady, I have seen a great deal of such matters, and I can assure +you that the sooner you break away from all association with this man +Watson and his employers the better." + +"It is all over," she murmured. "I am a free woman." + +Mr. Sabin was delighted to hear it. Yet he felt that there was a certain +awkwardness between them. He was this woman's debtor, and he had made no +effort to discharge his debt. What did she expect from him? He looked at +her through half-closed eyes, and wondered. + +"If I can be of any use to you," he suggested softly, "in any fresh +start you may make in life, you have only to command me." + +She kept her face averted from him. There was land in sight, and she +seemed much interested in it. + +"What are you going to do in America?" + +Mr. Sabin looked out across the sea, and he repeated her question to +himself. What was he going to do in this great, strange land, whose ways +were not his ways, and whose sympathies lay so far apart from his? + +"I cannot tell," he murmured. "I have come here for safety. I have no +country nor any friends. This is the land of my exile." + +A soft, white hand touched his for a moment. He looked into her face, +and saw there an emotion which surprised him. + +"It is my exile too," she said. "I shall never dare to return. I have no +wish to return." + +"But your friends?" Mr. Sabin commenced. "Your family?" + +"I have no family." + +Mr. Sabin was thoughtful for several moments, then he took out his case +and lit a cigarette. He watched the blue smoke floating away over the +ship's side, and looked no more at the woman at his elbow. + +"If you decide," he said quietly, "to settle in America, you must not +allow yourself to forget that I am very much your debtor. I----" + +"Your friendship," she interrupted, "I shall be very glad to have. We +may perhaps help one another to feel less lonely." + +Mr. Sabin gently shook his head. + +"I had a friend of your sex once," he said. "I shall--forgive me--never +have another." + +"Is she dead?" + +"If she is dead, it is I who have killed her. I sacrificed her to my +ambition. We parted, and for months--for years--I scarcely thought of +her, and now the day of retribution has come. I think of her, but it is +in vain. Great barriers have rolled between us since those days, but she +was my first friend, and she will be my only one." + +There was a long silence. Mr. Sabin's eyes were fixed steadily seawards. +A flood of recollections had suddenly taken possession of him. When at +last he looked round, the chair by his side was vacant. + + + + +CHAPTER L + +A HARBOUR TRAGEDY + + +The voyage of the _Calipha_ came to its usual termination about ten +o'clock on the following morning, when she passed Boston lights and +steamed slowly down the smooth waters of the harbour. The seven +passengers were all upon deck in wonderfully transformed guise. Already +the steamer chairs were being tied up and piled away; the stewards, +officiously anxious to render some last service, were hovering around. +Mrs. Watson, in a plain tailor gown and quiet felt hat, was sitting +heavily veiled apart and alone. There were no signs of either Mr. Watson +or Mr. Sabin. The captain was on the bridge talking to the pilot. +Scarcely a hundred yards away lay the _Kaiser Wilhelm_, white and +stately, with her brass work shining like gold in the sunlight, and her +decks as white as snow. + +The _Calipha_ was almost at a standstill, awaiting the doctor's brig, +which was coming up to her on the port side. Every one was leaning over +the railing watching her. Mr. Watson and Mr. Sabin, who had just come up +the gangway together, turned away towards the deserted side of the boat, +engaged apparently in serious conversation. Suddenly every one on deck +started. A revolver shot, followed by two heavy splashes in the water, +rang out clear and crisp above the clanking of chains and slighter +noises. There was a moment's startled silence--every one looked at one +another--then a rush for the starboard side of the steamer. Above the +little torrent of minor exclamations, the captain's voice sang out like +thunder. + +"Lower the number one boat. Quartermaster, man a crew." + +The seven passengers, two stewards, and a stray seaman arrived on the +starboard side of the gangway at about the same moment. There was at +first very little to be seen. A faint cloud of blue smoke was curling +upwards, and there was a strong odour of gunpowder in the air. On the +deck were lying a small, recently-discharged revolver and a man's white +linen cap, which, from its somewhat peculiar shape, every one recognised +at once as belonging to Mr. Sabin. At first sight, there was absolutely +nothing else to be seen. Then, suddenly, some one pointed to a man's +head about fifty yards away in the water. Every one crowded to the side +to look at it. It was hard at that distance to distinguish the features, +but a little murmur arose, doubtful at first, but gaining confidence. It +was the head of Mr. Watson. The murmur rather grew than increased when +it was seen that he was swimming, not towards the steamer, but away from +it, and that he was alone. Where was Mr. Sabin? + +A slight cry from behind diverted attention for a moment from the +bobbing head. Mrs. Watson, who had heard the murmurs, was lying in a +dead faint across a chair. One of the women moved to her side. The +others resumed their watch upon events. + +A boat was already lowered. Acting upon instructions from the captain, +the crew combined a search for the missing man with a leisurely pursuit +of the fugitive one. The first lieutenant stood up in the gunwale with a +hook in his hand, looking from right to left, and the men pulled with +slow, even strokes. But nowhere was there any sign of Mr. Sabin. + +The man who was swimming was now almost out of sight, and the first +lieutenant, who was in command of the little search party, reluctantly +gave orders for the quickening of his men's stroke. But almost as the +men bent to their work, a curious thing happened. The fugitive, who had +been swimming at a great pace, suddenly threw up his arms and +disappeared. + +"He's done, by Jove!" exclaimed the lieutenant. "Row hard, you chaps. We +must catch him when he rises." + +But to all appearance, Mr. J. B. Watson, of New York, never rose again. +The boat was rowed time after time around the spot where he had sunk, +but not a trace was to be found of him. The only vessel anywhere near +was the _Kaiser Wilhelm_. They rowed slowly up and hailed her. + +An officer came to the railing and answered their inquiries in execrable +English. No, they had not seen any one in the water. They had not picked +any one up. Yes, if Herr Lieutenant pleased, he could come on board, but +to make a search--no, without authority. No, it was impossible that any +one could have been taken on board without his knowledge. He pointed +down the steep sides of the steamship and shrugged his shoulders. It was +indeed an impossible feat. The lieutenant of the _Calipha_ saluted and +gave the order to his men to backwater. Once more they went over the +ground carefully. There was no sign of either of the men. After about +three-quarters of an hour's absence, they reluctantly gave up the search +and returned to the _Calipha_. + +The first lieutenant was compelled to report both men drowned. The +captain was in earnest conversation with an official in plain dark +livery. The boat of the harbour police was already waiting below. The +whole particulars of the affair were scanty enough. Mr. Sabin and Mr. +Watson were seen to emerge from the gangway together, engaged in +animated conversation. They had at first turned to the left, but seeing +the main body of the passengers assembled there, had stepped back again +and emerged on the starboard side which was quite deserted. After then, +no one except the captain had even a momentary glimpse of them, and his +was so brief that it could scarcely be called more than an impression. +He had been attracted by a slight cry, he believed from Mr. Sabin, and +had seen both men struggling together in the act of disappearing in the +water. He had seen none of the details of the fight; he could not even +say whether Mr. Sabin or Mr. Watson had been the aggressor, although on +that subject there was only one opinion. Mrs. Watson was absolutely +overcome, and unable to answer any questions, but as regards the final +quarrel and struggle between the two men, it was impossible for her to +have seen anything of it, as she was sitting in a steamer chair on the +opposite side of the boat. There was at present absolutely no further +light to be thrown upon the affair. The sergeant of police signalled for +his boat and went off to make his report. The _Calipha_ at half-speed +steamed slowly for the dock. + +Arrived there her passengers, crew and officers became the natural and +recognised prey of the American press-man. The captain sternly refused +to answer a single question, and in peremptory fashion ordered every +stranger off his ship. But nevertheless his edict was avoided in the +confusion of landing, and the Customs House effectually barred flight on +the part of their victims. Somehow or other, no one exactly knew how or +from what source they came, strange rumours began to float about. Who +was Mr. J. B. Watson of New York, yacht owner and millionaire? No one +had ever heard of him, and he did not answer in the least to the +description of any known Watson. The closely veiled features of his +widow were eagerly scanned--one by one the newspaper men confessed +themselves baffled. No one had ever seen her before. One man, the most +daring of them, ventured upon a timid question as she stepped down the +gangway. She passed him by with a swift look of contempt. None of the +others ventured anything of the sort--but, nevertheless, they watched +her, and they made note of two things. The first was that there was no +one to meet her--the second that instead of driving to a railway depot, +or wiring to any friends, she went straight to an hotel and engaged a +room for the night. + +The press-men took counsel together, and agreed that it was very odd. +They thought it odder still when one of their number, calling at the +hotel later in the day, was informed that Mrs. Watson, after engaging a +room for the week, had suddenly changed her mind, and had left Boston +without giving any one any idea as to her destination. They took counsel +together, and they found fresh food for sensation in her flight. She was +the only person who could throw any light upon the relations between the +two men, and she had thought fit to virtually efface herself. They made +the most of her disappearance in the thick black head-lines which headed +every column in the Boston evening papers. + + + + +CHAPTER LI + +THE PERSISTENCE OF FELIX + + +Of all unhappy men he is assuredly the most unhappy who, ambitious, +patient, and doggedly persevering, has chosen the moment to make his +supreme venture and having made it has reaped failure instead of +success. The gambler while he lives may play again; the miser, robbed, +embark once more upon his furtive task of hoarding money; even the +rejected lover need not despair of some day, somewhere finding +happiness, since no one heart has a monopoly of love. But to him who +aspires to shape the destiny of nations, to control the varying +interests of great powers and play upon the emotions of whole peoples, +there is never vouchsafed more than one opportunity. And failure then +does more than bring upon the schemer the execration of the world he +would have controlled: it clears eyes into which he had thrown dust, +awakens passions he had lulled to sleep, provokes hostility where he had +made false peace, and renders for ever impossible the recombination of +conditions under which alone he could, if at all, succeed. For such an +one life has lost all its savour. Existence may perhaps be permitted to +him, but no more. He stakes his all upon one single venture, and, win or +lose, he has no second throw. Failure is absolute, and spells despair. + +In such unhappy state was Mr. Sabin. More than ten days had passed since +the tragedy in Boston Harbour, and now he sat alone in a private room in +a small but exclusive hotel in New York. He had affected no small +change in his appearance by shaving off his imperial and moustache, but +a far more serviceable disguise was provided for him by the extreme +pallor of his face and the listlessness of his every movement. He had +made the supreme effort of his life and had failed; and failure had so +changed his whole demeanour that had any of his recent companions on the +_Calipha_ been unexpectedly confronted with him it is doubtful if they +would have recognised him. + +For a brief space he had enjoyed some of the old zest of life in +scheming for the freedom of his would-be murderer, in outwitting the +police and press-men, and in achieving his own escape; but with all this +secured, and in the safe seclusion of his room, he had leisure to look +within himself and found himself the most miserable of men, utterly +lonely, with failure to look back upon and nothing for which to hope. + +He had dreamed of being a minister to France; he was an exile in an +unsympathetic land. He had dreamed of restoring dynasties and +readjusting the balance of power; he was an alien refugee in a republic +where visionaries are not wanted and where opulence gives control. +America held nothing for him; Europe had no place; there was not a +capital in the whole continent where he could show himself and live. And +his mind dwelt upon the contrast between what might have been and what +was, he tasted for the first time the full bitterness of isolation and +despair. To his present plight any alternative would be preferable--even +death. He took the little revolver which lay near him on the table and +thoughtfully turned it over and over in his hand. It was as it were a +key with which he could unlock the portal to another world, where +weariness was unknown, and where every desire was satisfied, or unfelt: +and even if there were no other existence beyond this, extinction was +not an idea that repelled him now. It would be an "accident"; so easy +to come by; so little painful to endure. Should he? Should he not? +Should he? + +He was so engrossed in his own thoughts that he did not hear the soft +knock at the door nor the servant murmuring the name of a visitor; but +becoming conscious of the presence of some one in the room, he looked up +suddenly to see a lady by his side. + +"Is there not some mistake?" he said, rising to his feet. "I do not +think I have the pleasure----" + +She laughed and raised her veil. + +"Does it make so much difference?" she asked lightly. "Yet, really, Mr. +Sabin, you are more changed than I." + +"I must apologize," he said; "golden hair is--most becoming. But sit +down and tell me how you found me out and why." + +She sank into the chair he brought for her and looked at him +thoughtfully. + +"It does not matter how I found you, since I did. Why I came is easily +explained. I have had a cablegram from Mr. Watson." + +"Good news, I hope," he said politely. + +"I suppose it is," she answered indifferently. "At least your conspiracy +seems to have been successful. It is generally believed that you are +dead, and Mr. Watson has been pardoned and reinstated in all that once +was his. And now he has sent me this cablegram asking me to join him in +Germany and marry him." + +Dejected as Mr. Sabin was he had not yet lost all his sense of humour. +He found the idea excessively amusing. + +"Let me be the first to congratulate you," he said, his twinkling eyes +belying the grave courtesy of his voice. "It is the conventional happy +end to a charming romance." + +"Are you never serious?" she protested. + +"Indeed, yes," he answered. "Forgive me for seeming to be flippant +about so serious a matter as a proposal of marriage. I presume you will +accept it." + +"Am I to do so?" she asked gravely. "It was to ask your advice that I +came here to-day." + +"I have no hesitation in giving it," he declared. "Accept the proposal +at once. It means emancipation for you--emancipation from a career of +espionage which has nothing to recommend it. There cannot be two +opinions on such a point: give up this unwholesome business and make +this man, and yourself too, happy. You will never regret it." + +"I wish I could be as sure of that," she said wistfully. + +Mr. Sabin, with his training and natural power of seeing through the +words to the heart of the speaker, could not misunderstand her, and he +spoke with a gentle earnestness very moving. + +"Believe me, my dear lady, when I say that to every one once at least in +his life there comes a chance of happiness, although every one is not +wise enough to take it. I had my chance, and I threw it away: there has +never been an hour in my life since then that I have not regretted it. +Let me help you to be wiser than I was. I am an old man now; I have +played for high stakes and have had my share of winning; I have been +involved in great affairs, I have played my part in the making of +history. And I speak from experience; security lies in middle ways, and +happiness belongs to the simple life. To what has my interest in things +of high import brought me? I am an exile from my country, doomed to pass +the small remainder of my days among a people whom I know not and with +whom I have nothing in common. + +"I have a heart and now I am paying the penalty for having treated badly +the one woman who had power to touch it; so bitter a penalty that I +would I could save you from the experiencing the like. You come to me +for advice; then be advised by me. Leave meddling with affairs that are +too high for you. Walk in those middle ways where safety is, and lead +the simple life where alone happiness is. And let me part from you +knowing that to one human being at least I have helped to give what +alone is worth the having. Need I say any more?" + +She took his hands and pressed them. + +"Goodbye," she said. "I shall start for Germany to-morrow." + + * * * * * + +So Mr. Sabin was left free to return to his former melancholy mood; but +it was not long before fresh interruption came. A servant brought a +cablegram. + +"Be sure you deliver my letter to Lenox," it ran, and the signature was +"Felix." + +He rolled the paper into a little ball and threw it on one side, and +presently went into his dressing-room to change for dinner. As he came +into the hall another servant brought him another cablegram. He opened +it and read-- + +"Deliver my letter at once.--FELIX." + +He tore the paper carefully into little pieces, and went into the +dining-room for dinner. He dined leisurely and well, and lingered over +his coffee, lost in meditation. He was still sitting so when a third +servant brought him yet another cablegram-- + +"Remember your promise.--FELIX." + +Then Mr. Sabin rose. + +"Will you please see that my bag is packed," he said to the waiting man, +"and let my account be prepared and brought to me upstairs. I shall +leave by the night train." + + + + +CHAPTER LII + +MRS. JAMES B. PETERSON, OF LENOX. + + +Mr. Sabin found himself late on the afternoon of the following day alone +on the platform of a little wooden station, watching the train which had +dropped him there a few minutes ago snorting away round a distant curve. +Outside, the servant whom he had hired that morning in New York was busy +endeavouring to arrange for a conveyance of some sort in which they +might complete their journey. Mr. Sabin himself was well content to +remain where he was. The primitiveness of the place itself and the +magnificence of his surroundings had made a distinct and favourable +impression upon him. Facing him was a chain of lofty hills whose +foliage, luxuriant and brilliantly tinted, seemed almost like a long +wave of rich deep colour, the country close at hand was black with pine +trees, through which indeed a winding way for the railroad seemed to +have been hewn. It was only a little clearing which had been made for +the depot; a few yards down, the line seemed to vanish into a tunnel of +black foliage, from amongst which the red barked tree trunks stood out +with the regularity of a regiment of soldiers. The clear air was +fragrant with a peculiar and aromatic perfume, so sweet and wholesome +that Mr. Sabin held the cigarette which he had lighted at arm's length, +that he might inhale this, the most fascinating odour in the world. He +was at all times sensitive to the influence of scenery and natural +perfumes, and the possibility of spending the rest of his days in this +country had never seemed so little obnoxious as during those few +moments. Then his eyes suddenly fell upon a large white house, +magnificent, but evidently newly finished, gleaming forth from an +opening in the woods, and his brows contracted. His former moodiness +returned. + +"It is not the country," he muttered to himself, "it is the people." + +His servant came back presently, with explanations for his prolonged +absence. + +"I am sorry, sir," he said, "but I made a mistake in taking the +tickets." + +Mr. Sabin merely nodded. A little time ago a mistake on the part of a +servant was a thing which he would not have tolerated. But those were +days which seemed to him to lie very far back in the past. + +"You ought to have alighted at the last station, sir," the man +continued. "Stockbridge is eleven miles from here." + +"What are we going to do?" Mr. Sabin asked. + +"We must drive, sir. I have hired a conveyance, but the luggage will +have to come later in the day by the cars. There will only be room for +your dressing-bag in the buggy." + +Mr. Sabin rose to his feet. + +"The drive will be pleasant," he said, "especially if it is through such +country as this. I am not sure that I regret your mistake, Harrison. You +will remain and bring the baggage on, I suppose?" + +"It will be best, sir," the man agreed. "There is a train in about an +hour." + +They walked out on to the road where a one-horse buggy was waiting. The +driver took no more notice of them than to terminate, in a leisurely +way, his conversation with a railway porter, and unhitch the horse. + +Mr. Sabin took the seat by his side, and they drove off. + +It was a very beautiful road, and Mr. Sabin was quite content to lean +back in his not uncomfortable seat and admire the scenery. For the most +part it was of a luxuriant and broken character. There were very few +signs of agriculture, save in the immediate vicinity of the large +newly-built houses which they passed every now and then. At times they +skirted the side of a mountain, and far below them in the valley the +river Leine wound its way along like a broad silver band. Here and there +the road passed through a thick forest of closely-growing pines, and Mr. +Sabin, holding his cigarette away from him, leaned back and took long +draughts of the rosinous, piney odour. It was soon after emerging from +the last of these that they suddenly came upon a house which moved Mr. +Sabin almost to enthusiasm. It lay not far back from the road, a very +long two-storied white building, free from the over-ornamentation which +disfigured most of the surrounding mansions. White pillars in front, +after the colonial fashion, supported a long sloping veranda roof, and +the smooth trimly-kept lawns stretched almost to the terrace which +bordered the piazza. There were sun blinds of striped holland to the +southern windows, and about the whole place there was an air of simple +and elegant refinement, which Mr. Sabin found curiously attractive. He +broke for the first time the silence which had reigned between him and +the driver. + +"Do you know," he inquired, "whose house that is?" + +The man flipped his horse's ears with the whip. + +"I guess so," he answered. "That is the old Peterson House. Mrs. James +B. Peterson lives there now." + +Mr. Sabin felt in his breast pocket, and extracted therefrom a letter. +It was a coincidence undoubtedly, but the fact was indisputable. The +address scrawled thereon in Felix's sprawling hand was:-- + + "MRS. JAMES B. PETERSON, + "Lenox. + + "By favour of Mr. Sabin." + +"I will make a call there," Mr. Sabin said to the man. "Drive me up to +the house." + +The man pulled up his horse. + +"What, do you know her?" he asked. + +Mr. Sabin affected to be deeply interested in a distant point of the +landscape. The man muttered something to himself and turned up the +drive. + +"You have met her abroad, maybe?" he suggested. + +Mr. Sabin took absolutely no notice of the question. The man's +impertinence was too small a thing to annoy him, but it prevented his +asking several questions which he would like to have had answered. The +man muttered something about a civil answer to a civil question not +being much to expect, and pulled up his horse in front of the great +entrance porch. + +Mr. Sabin, calmly ignoring him, descended and stepped through the wide +open door into a beautiful square hall in the centre of which was a +billiard table. A servant attired in unmistakably English livery, +stepped forward to meet him. + +"Is Mrs. Peterson at home?" Mr. Sabin inquired. + +"We expect her in a very few minutes," the man answered. "She is out +riding at present. May I inquire if you are Mr. Sabin, sir?" + +Mr. Sabin admitted the fact with some surprise. + +The man received the intimation with respect. + +"Will you kindly walk this way, your Grace," he said. + +Mr. Sabin followed him into a large and delightfully furnished library. +Then he looked keenly at the servant. + +"You know me," he remarked. + +"Monsieur Le Duc Souspennier," the man answered with a bow. "I am an +Englishman, but I was in the service of the Marquis de la Merle in Paris +for ten years." + +"Your face," Mr. Sabin said, "was familiar to me. You look like a man to +be trusted. Will you be so good as to remember that the Duc is +unfortunately dead, and I am Mr. Sabin." + +"Most certainly, sir," the man answered. "Is there anything which I can +bring you?" + +"Nothing, thank you," Mr. Sabin answered. + +The man withdrew with a low bow, and Mr. Sabin stood for a few minutes +turning over magazines and journals which covered a large round table, +and represented the ephemeral literature of nearly every country in +Europe. + +"Mrs. Peterson," he remarked to himself, "must be a woman of Catholic +tastes. Here is the _Le Petit Journal_ inside the pages of the English +_Contemporary Review_." + +He was turning the magazines over with interest, when he chanced to +glance through the great south window a few feet away from him. +Something he saw barely a hundred yards from the little iron fence which +bordered the lawns, attracted his attention. He rubbed his eyes and +looked at it again. He was puzzled, and was on the point of ringing the +bell when the man who had admitted him entered, bearing a tray with +liqueurs and cigarettes. Mr. Sabin beckoned him over to the window. + +"What is that little flag?" he asked. + +"It is connected, I believe, in some way," the man answered, "with a +game of which Mrs. Peterson is very fond. I believe that it indicates +the locality of a small hole." + +"Golf?" Mr. Sabin exclaimed. + +"That is the name of the game, sir," the man answered. "I had forgotten +it for the moment." + +Mr. Sabin tried the window. + +"I want to get out," he said. + +The man opened it. + +"If you are going down there, sir," he said, "I will send James Green to +meet you. Mrs. Peterson is so fond of the game that she keeps a +Scotchman here to look after the links and instruct her." + +"This," Mr. Sabin murmured, "is the most extraordinary thing in the +world." + +"If you would like to see your room, sir, before you go out," the man +suggested, "it is quite ready. If you will give me your keys I will have +your clothes laid out." + +Mr. Sabin turned about in amazement. + +"What do you mean?" he exclaimed. "I have not come here to stay." + +"I understood so, sir," the man answered. "Your room has been ready for +three weeks." + +Mr. Sabin was bewildered. Then he remembered the stories which he had +heard of American hospitality, and concluded that this must be an +instance of it. + +"I had not the slightest intention of stopping here," he said to the +man. + +"Mrs. Peterson expected you to do so, sir, and we have sent your +conveyance away. If it is inconvenient for you to remain now, it will be +easy to send you anywhere you desire later." + +"For the immediate present," Mr. Sabin said, "Mrs. Peterson not having +arrived, I want to see that golf course." + +"If you will permit me, sir," the man said, "I will show you the way." + +They followed a winding footpath which brought them suddenly out on +the border of a magnificent stretch of park-like country. Mr. Sabin, +whose enthusiasms were rare, failed wholly to restrain a little +exclamation of admiration. A few yards away was one of the largest and +most magnificently kept putting-greens that he had ever seen in his +life. By his side was a raised teeing-ground, well and solidly built. +Far away down in the valley he could see the flag of the first hole +just on the other side of a broad stream. + +"The gentleman's a golf-player, maybe?" remarked a voice by his side, in +familiar dialect. Mr. Sabin turned around to find himself confronted by +a long, thin Scotchman, who had strolled out of a little shed close at +hand. + +"I am very fond of the game," Mr. Sabin admitted. "You appear to me to +have a magnificent course here." + +"It's none so bad," Mr. James Green admitted. "Maybe the gentleman would +like a round." + +"There is nothing in this wide world," Mr. Sabin answered truthfully, +"that I should like so well. But I have no clubs or any shoes." + +"Come this way, sir, come this way," was the prompt reply. "There's +clubs here of all sorts such as none but Jimmy Green can make, ay, and +shoes too. Mr. Wilson, will you be sending me two boys down from the +house?" + +In less than ten minutes Mr. Sabin was standing upon the first tee, a +freshly lit cigarette in his mouth, and a new gleam of enthusiasm in his +eyes. He modestly declined the honour, and Mr. Green forthwith drove a +ball which he watched approvingly. + +"That's no such a bad ball," he remarked. + +Mr. Sabin watched the construction of his tee, and swung his club +lightly. "Just a little sliced, wasn't it?" he said. "That will do, +thanks." He addressed his ball with a confidence which savoured almost +of carelessness, swung easily back and drove a clean, hard hit ball full +seventy yards further than the professional. The man for a moment was +speechless with surprise, and he gave a little gasp. + +"Aye, mon," he exclaimed. "That was a fine drive. Might you be having a +handicap, sir?" + +"I am scratch at three clubs," Mr. Sabin answered quietly, "and plus +four at one." + +A gleam of delight mingled with respect at his opponent, shone in the +Scotchman's face. + +"Aye, but we will be having a fine game," he exclaimed. "Though I'm +thinking you will down me. But it is grand good playing with a mon +again." + + * * * * * + +The match was now at the fifteenth hole. Mr. Sabin, with a long and +deadly putt--became four up and three to play. As the ball trickled into +the hole the Scotchman drew a long breath. + +"It's a fine match," he said, "and I'm properly downed. What's more, +you're holding the record of the links up to this present. Fifteen holes +for sixty-four is verra good--verra good indeed. There's no man in +America to-day to beat it." + +And then Mr. Sabin, who was on the point of making a genial reply, felt +a sudden and very rare emotion stir his heart and blood, for almost in +his ears there had sounded a very sweet and familiar voice, perhaps the +voice above all others which he had least expected to hear again in this +world. + +"You have not then forgotten your golf, Mr. Sabin? What do you think of +my little course?" + +He turned slowly round and faced her. She was standing on the rising +ground just above the putting-green, the skirt of her riding habit +gathered up in her hand, her lithe, supple figure unchanged by time, the +old bewitching smile still playing about her lips. She was still the +most beautiful woman he had ever seen. + +Mr. Sabin, with his cap in his hand, moved slowly to her side, and +bowed low over the hand which she extended to him. + +"This is a happiness," he murmured, "for which I had never dared to +hope. Are you, too, an alien?" + +She shook her head. + +"This," she said, "is the land of my adoption. Perhaps you did not know +that I am Mrs. Peterson?" + +"I did not know it," he answered, gravely, "for I never heard of your +marriage." + +They turned together toward the house. Mr. Sabin was amazed to find that +the possibilities of emotion were still so great with him. + +"I married," she said softly, "an American, six years ago. He was the +son of the minister at Vienna. I have lived here mostly ever since." + +"Do you know who it was that sent me to you?" + +She assented quietly. + +"It was Felix." + +They drew nearer the house. Mr. Sabin looked around him. "It is very +beautiful here," he said. + +"It is very beautiful indeed," she said, "but it is very lonely." + +"Your husband?" he inquired. + +"He has been dead four years." + +Mr. Sabin felt a ridiculous return of that emotion which had agitated +him so much on her first appearance. He only steadied his voice with an +effort. + +"We are both aliens," he said quietly. "Perhaps you have heard that +all things have gone ill with me. I am an exile and a failure. I have +come here to end my days." + +She flashed a sudden brilliant smile upon him. How little she had +changed. + +"Did you say here?" she murmured softly. + +He looked at her incredulously. Her eyes were bent upon the ground. +There was something in her face which made Mr. Sabin forget the great +failure of his life, his broken dreams, his everlasting exile. He +whispered her name, and his voice trembled with a passion which for once +was his master. + +"Lucile," he cried. "It is true that you--forgive me?" + +And she gave him her hand. "It is true," she whispered. + + THE END. + + + + +TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: + +Minor changes have been made to correct typesetters' errors; otherwise, +every effort has been made to remain true to the author's words and +intent. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Mysterious Mr. Sabin, by E. Phillips Oppenheim + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MYSTERIOUS MR. 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