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padding-top: 1px } + + .coverpage, .titlepage, + .contents, .foreword, .preface, .introduction, .dedication, .prologue, + .epilogue, .appendix, .glossary, .bibliography, .index, .colophon, + .footnotes, + .cleardoublepage { page-break-before: right; padding-top: 1px } + + .vfill { margin-top: 20% } + h2.title { margin-top: 20% } +} +</style> +<style type="text/css"> +.pageno { position: absolute; right: 95%; font: medium sans-serif; } +.pageno:after { color: gray; content: '[' attr(title) ']' } +.toc-pageref { float: right } +pre { font-family: monospace; font-size: 0.9em; white-space: pre-wrap } +</style> +</head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 37413 ***</div> +<div class="document" id="the-duke-decides"> +<h1 class="document-title level-1 pfirst title">THE DUKE DECIDES</h1> +</div> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<div class="container" id="pg-produced-by"> +<p class="noindent pfirst">Produced by Darleen Dove, Mary Meehan, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at <a class="reference external" href="http://www.pgdp.net">http://www.pgdp.net</a>.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em"> +</div> +<p class="noindent pnext">This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.</p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="align-center auto-scaled figure" style="margin-left: 28%; width: 44%" id="figure-6"> +<img style="display: block; width: 100%" alt="images/cover.jpg" src="images/cover.jpg" width="100%"/> +</div> +<div class="center line-block noindent outermost x-large"> +<div class="line">THE DUKE DECIDES</div> +<div class="line">By HEADON HILL</div> +</div> +<div class="center line-block noindent outermost small"> +<div class="line">Author of <em class="italics">By a Hair's-Breadth</em>, etc.</div> +</div> +<div class="align-center auto-scaled figure" style="margin-left: 43%; width: 13%"> +<img style="display: block; width: 100%" alt="images/tpdeco.jpg" src="images/tpdeco.jpg" width="100%"/> +</div> +<div class="center line-block noindent outermost small"> +<div class="line"><em class="italics">New York</em></div> +<div class="line">A. WESSELS COMPANY</div> +<div class="line">1904</div> +</div> +<div class="center line-block noindent outermost small"> +<div class="line">Copyright, 1903, by <span class="small-caps">A. Wessels Company</span></div> +</div> +<div class="center line-block noindent outermost small"> +<div class="line">Published, 1903</div> +</div> +<div class="center line-block noindent outermost small"> +<div class="line">PRESS OF</div> +<div class="line">BRAUNWORTH & CO.</div> +<div class="line">BOOKBINDERS AND PRINTERS</div> +<div class="line">BROOKLYN, N. Y.</div> +</div> +<div class="align-center auto-scaled figure" style="margin-left: 32%; width: 35%" id="figure-7"> +<span id="leonie-sherman"/><img style="display: block; width: 100%" alt="Leonie Sherman" src="images/illus1.jpg" width="100%"/> +<div class="caption italics"> +Leonie Sherman</div> +</div> +<hr class="docutils"/> +<div class="contents level-2 section" id="id1"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title">CONTENTS</h2> +<ul class="compact simple toc-list"> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><span class="first"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#chapter-ithe-man-with-the-mandate" id="id2">CHAPTER I—<em class="italics">The Man with the Mandate</em></a></span></li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><span class="first"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#chapter-iion-board-the-st-paul" id="id3">CHAPTER II—<em class="italics">On Board the</em> St. Paul</a></span></li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><span class="first"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#chapter-iiia-task-master-in-goggles" id="id4">CHAPTER III—<em class="italics">A Task-master in Goggles</em></a></span></li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><span class="first"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#chapter-ivthe-lady-in-the-landau" id="id5">CHAPTER IV—<em class="italics">The Lady in the Landau</em></a></span></li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><span class="first"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#chapter-vziegler-begins-to-move" id="id6">CHAPTER V—<em class="italics">Ziegler Begins to Move</em></a></span></li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><span class="first"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#chapter-vithe-general-is-curious" id="id7">CHAPTER VI—<em class="italics">The General is Curious</em></a></span></li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><span class="first"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#chapter-viithe-men-on-the-stairs" id="id8">CHAPTER VII—<em class="italics">The Men on the Stairs</em></a></span></li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><span class="first"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#chapter-viiithe-cut-panel" id="id9">CHAPTER VIII—<em class="italics">The Cut Panel</em></a></span></li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><span class="first"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#chapter-ixthe-strategy-of-the-general" id="id10">CHAPTER IX—<em class="italics">The Strategy of the General</em></a></span></li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><span class="first"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#chapter-xa-duty-call" id="id11">CHAPTER X—<em class="italics">A Duty Call</em></a></span></li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><span class="first"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#chapter-xion-the-terrace" id="id12">CHAPTER XI—<em class="italics">On the Terrace</em></a></span></li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><span class="first"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#chapter-xiithe-man-under-the-seat" id="id13">CHAPTER XII—<em class="italics">The Man Under the Seat</em></a></span></li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><span class="first"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#chapter-xiiiat-the-keeper-s-cottage" id="id14">CHAPTER XIII—<em class="italics">At the Keeper's Cottage</em></a></span></li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><span class="first"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#chapter-xivtoo-many-women" id="id15">CHAPTER XIV—<em class="italics">Too Many Women</em></a></span></li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><span class="first"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#chapter-xva-new-cure-for-headache" id="id16">CHAPTER XV—<em class="italics">A New Cure for Headache</em></a></span></li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><span class="first"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#chapter-xvia-delicate-mission" id="id17">CHAPTER XVI—<em class="italics">A Delicate Mission</em></a></span></li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><span class="first"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#chapter-xviiwhere-is-the-duke" id="id18">CHAPTER XVII—<em class="italics">Where is the Duke?</em></a></span></li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><span class="first"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#chapter-xviiithe-senator-and-the-securities" id="id19">CHAPTER XVIII—<em class="italics">The Senator and the Securities</em></a></span></li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><span class="first"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#chapter-xixin-the-crypt" id="id20">CHAPTER XIX—<em class="italics">In the Crypt</em></a></span></li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><span class="first"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#chapter-xxin-the-muniment-room" id="id21">CHAPTER XX—<em class="italics">In the Muniment Room</em></a></span></li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><span class="first"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#chapter-xxithe-honor-of-the-house" id="id22">CHAPTER XXI—<em class="italics">The Honor of the House</em></a></span></li> +</ul> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</p> +<blockquote><div> +<div class="line-block outermost"> +<div class="line"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#leonie-sherman">Leonie Sherman</a></div> +<div class="line"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#a-countrywoman-of-yours-i-wonder-if-you-know-her">A countrywoman of yours. I wonder if you know her?</a></div> +<div class="line"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#the-procession-of-three-led-by-the-stranger">The procession of three led by the stranger.</a></div> +<div class="line"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#i-am-very-far-from-being-indifferent-to-mrs-talmage-eglinton">I am very far from being indifferent to Mrs. Talmage Eglinton.</a></div> +</div> +</div></blockquote> +<hr class="docutils"/> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-ithe-man-with-the-mandate"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id2">CHAPTER I—<em class="italics">The Man with the Mandate</em></a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">At six o'clock on a May evening, at an +uptown corner of Broadway, in New +York City, the bowels of the earth opened and +disgorged a crowd of weary-faced men and +women who scattered in all directions. They +were the employees of a huge "dry-goods +store," leaving work for the day. It was a +stringent rule of the firm that everyone drawing +wages, from the smart managers of departments +and well-dressed salesladies down to the +counting-house drudges and check-boys, should +descend into the basement, and there file past +the timekeeper and a private detective before +passing up a narrow staircase, and so out by a +sort of stage-door into the side street.</p> +<p class="pnext">The great plate-glass portals on the main +thoroughfare were not for the working bees of +this hive of industry—only for the gay butterflies +of fashion by whom they lived.</p> +<p class="pnext">The last to come out was a young man +dressed in a threadbare suit of tweeds, that +somehow hardly seemed American, either in cut +or fabric. There might have been a far-away +reminiscence of Perthshire moors clinging to +them, or earlier memories of a famous creator +in Bond Street; but suggestion of the reach-me-down +shops from which New York clerks +clothe themselves there was none. A flush of +anger was fading on their owner's face as he +came out into the sunlight, leaving a mild annoyance +that presently gave place to a grin.</p> +<p class="pnext">The firm's detective, rendered suspicious by +a bulging pocket, had just searched him, and +had failed to apologize on finding the protuberance +to be nothing but a bundle of un-eatable +sandwiches that were being taken home +to confound the landlady of the young man's +cheap boarding-house.</p> +<p class="pnext">The indignity did not rankle long. It was +only a detail in the topsy-turvydom that in one +short year had changed a subaltern in a crack +English cavalry regiment into an ill-paid +drudge in a dry-goods store. Twelve months +before Charles Hanbury had been playing +polo and riding gymkhana races in Upper India, +but extravagance beyond his means had +brought swift ruin in its train. Tired of helping him out of scrapes, his connections had refused +further assistance; and, leaving the +Army, he had come out to "the States" with +the idea of roughing it on the Western plains. +Still misfortune had dogged his steps. A fall +down a hatchway on the voyage out had hopelessly +lamed him, and he had been compelled +to ward off starvation by obtaining his present +inglorious berth.</p> +<p class="pnext">His work—adding up columns of figures +entered from the sales-tickets—was quite irresponsible, +and he was paid accordingly. He +drew eight dollars a week, of which five went +to his boarding-house keeper.</p> +<p class="pnext">Limping up —— Street, he turned into the +Bowery, intending to take his usual homeward +route across the big bridge into Brooklyn. +Unable to afford a street-car, he walked to and +from the store daily, and it was one of his few +amusements to study the cosmopolitan life of +the teeming and sordid thoroughfare through +which his way led.</p> +<p class="pnext">He was still chuckling over the discomfiture +of the tame detective, when his eye was caught +by a label in a cheap boot-store. "Three dollars +the pair," ran the legend, which drew a +rueful sigh from one who had paid—and alas! +still owed—as many guineas for a pair of dancing-pumps.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't suppose they'd sell me half a +pair, for that's all it runs to," he muttered, +turning regretfully away from the vamped-up +frauds, and in so doing jerking the elbow +of a passer-by. The victim of his sudden +move—a stout, fair man in a light frock-coat +and a Panama straw hat—stopped, and seemed +inclined to resent the awkwardness.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I really beg your pardon," the culprit said +with easy politeness. "I was so absorbed in +my reflections that I forgot for the moment +that the Bowery requires cautious steering."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You are an Englishman?" returned the +other, with a milder countenance. "So am I. +No need to apologize. As a fellow-countryman +in foreign parts, permit me to offer you +some liquid refreshment. In other words, come +into that dive next door and have a drink."</p> +<p class="pnext">With an imperceptible shrug, Mr. Hanbury +allowed himself to be persuaded. He +would lose his supper at his boarding-house by +the irregularity, but dissipation seldom came +his way nowadays, and the prospect of whisky +at some one else's expense was tempting. Yes, +he had fallen low enough for that! The stout +Englishman somehow conveyed the impression +that he would not expect to be treated in return +by his new acquaintance, who was prepared +to take advantage of his liberality. To +do him justice, Hanbury's complacence was +not entirely due to spirituous longings, but to +a homesick instinct aroused by the Cockney +accent of the vulgar stranger.</p> +<p class="pnext">The garish underground saloon into which +they descended was almost empty at that early +hour of the evening. Drinks having been set +before them at one of the circular tables, the +host subjected his guest to a scrutiny so +searching that its object broke into a laugh.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You are sizing me up pretty closely," he +remarked, with a touch of annoyance.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Exactly; but not so as to give offence, I +hope," was the reply. "I should like to know +your name, if you have no objection."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Hanbury—Charles Hanbury. Perhaps +you will make the introduction mutual?" said +the younger man, appeased by the other's conciliatory +manner.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Call me Jevons," the stout man answered. +"Now look here, Mr. Hanbury; it's not my +game to begin our acquaintance under false +pretences. The fact is, I contrived that you +should jostle me just now, and so give me a +chance to speak. I spotted you as an Englishman +and a gentleman a fortnight ago, and +I've noticed you pass along the Bowery every +day since. I am in need of an Englishman, +who is also a gentleman, to take on a job with +a fortune—a moderate fortune—at the back +of it."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You can hardly have mistaken me for an +investor," said Hanbury, with a quizzical +glance at his threadbare seams and dilapidated +boots. "Believe me, I am a very broken-down +gentleman; but still, my gentility survives, I +suppose, and I am willing to treat it as a commercial +asset, if that is what you mean."</p> +<p class="pnext">Mr. Jevons gulped down his liquor without +comment and did not utter another word till +the glasses had been replenished. Then, hitching +his chair closer, he produced a pocket-book +from which he extracted five one-hundred-dollar +notes.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Before we leave this place I shall hand +these over to you for preliminary expenses—if +we come to terms," he said, watching the +effect of the display on his companion's face. +Satisfied with the eager glance in the tired +eyes, he proceeded more confidentially: "There +is a risk to be run, but it doesn't amount to +much; and if the scheme comes off it will set +you on your legs again. Part of this money +you will have to spend in a first-class passage +to England by the next steamer, and there'll +be plenty more for you on arrival."</p> +<p class="pnext">"My dear friend, you seem to be a sort of +Aladdin. If you only knew the existence I +have been leading here, without the courage to +terminate it, you would be assured of my +answer," replied Hanbury, wondering but not +caring much what was expected of him. To +escape from his dry-goods drudgery and +return to England with money in his pocket +and the prospect of more—why, the ex-cavalry +officer felt that he would loot the Crown Jewels +for that! And he said so in so many words.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then you're the man for us," was the verdict +of Mr. Jevons. "It's a bit on the cross—not +burglary, but a little matter of planting +some beautifully imitated paper. Is that too +steep for you?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Hanbury made a wry face, but answered +without hesitation:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Aiding a forgery isn't quite the road to +fortune I should have chosen, but beggars—you +know the maxim. Society hasn't been too +kind to me, and I don't see why I should range +myself on its side. Yes, I'll do it; and if I'm +caught, stone-breaking at Portland won't be +any worse than adding up figures in a subterranean +counting-house. Let me have the particulars, +Mr. Jevons, and I'll see it through +to the best of an ability that hasn't much to +recommend it."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You shall have the particulars," said the +other; then stopped, and laughed rather nervously. +"You must understand that I am but +a subordinate in this matter, and we have +reached the only unpleasant part of my task," +he went on. "It is not congenial to have to +use a threat—even a confidential one; yet I +am instructed to do so, before I enlighten you +further."</p> +<p class="pnext">The rascal's concern was unmistakably +genuine; and Hanbury, with the good-humored +tolerance of his class, hastened to +reassure him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Go on; I can guess what you have to disclose—the +pains and penalties for breach of +faith, eh?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Jevons nodded, and bent his shiny, perspiring +face nearer. "It is a big thing, involving +enormous outlay and the interests of an organization commanding great resources," he +whispered. "Your life wouldn't be worth five +minutes' purchase if you deserted us after you +had been entrusted with the details. Now, will +you have them on those conditions, or shall we +say 'Good-night' to each other?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Hanbury stretched out his hand impatiently +for the notes. "Pray satisfy my curiosity, and +let me have them on those conditions," he said. +"My life is of no earthly value to me. Besides, +with all my faults, I'm not one to turn back +after putting my hand to the plough. If I do, +by all means give me my quietus as mercifully +as may be."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then here goes," whispered Jevons, mouth +to ear. "The game is the planting of faked +United States Treasury Bonds on the Bank of +England to the tune of three million sterling—pounds, +not dollars, you know. You will proceed +to England by the <em class="italics">St. Paul</em>, sailing for +Southampton the day after to-morrow, and on +arrival in London you will at once call on Mr. +Clinton Ziegler, at the Hotel Cecil. He is our +chief, and will give you final instructions as to +your part in the campaign. You'll find him a +handsome paymaster."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I look forward to making Mr. Ziegler's acquaintance with interest," replied Hanbury, +pocketing the notes which the other passed to +him. "Am I to have the pleasure of your company +on the voyage?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I'm afraid not; my work is here," said +Jevons. "And—well, it's not altogether +healthy for me on the other side." The confession +was accompanied by a wink which forcibly +brought it home to the recruit that he had +joined the criminal classes. His new friend—"pal," +he supposed he ought to call him—evidently +thought him worthy of personal confidence.</p> +<p class="pnext">They had another drink together at the bar, +and parted outside the saloon, Hanbury making +his belated way towards Brooklyn. Once +or twice he turned abruptly to see if he was +being followed, but the aggressive white +Panama hat was nowhere visible, the conclusion +being obvious that the astute Mr. Jevons +had ascertained his domicile, as well as his place +of employment, before broaching his delicate +business.</p> +<p class="pnext">Tramping along the teeming Bowery and +across the footway of the mighty bridge, the +ex-hussar enjoyed to the full the exultation +of feeling money in his pocket once more. It +was not much, and it was as good as spent +already in the cost of a passage and an outfit; +but it was the earnest of more to come, and, +above all, it franked the exile home to England. +At the price of his honor, perhaps? +Well, yes; but what was honor to a dry-goods +clerk at eight dollars a week? He might have +taken a different view two years ago, when +honor stood for something in his creed; but not +now, with the world against him.</p> +<p class="pnext">Entering the sordid boarding-house, he +mounted to his top-floor bedroom, aware that +he had forfeited his supper of beef-hash, and +that it was too late to go to the dining-room in +quest thereof. His eyrie under the roof, +flanked on one side by the apartment of a German +car-driver and on the other by that of an +Irish porter, was furnished with little else than +a bed and a toilet-table.</p> +<p class="pnext">On the toilet-table lay a telegram addressed +to him—the first he had received since he had +been in America. The unwonted sight caused +his hands to tremble a little as he tore it open, +but they trembled a good deal more as he read +the fateful words:</p> +<p class="pnext">"<em class="italics">Your uncle and cousin have been killed in +a railway accident. Come to England at once. +Have cabled a thousand pounds to Morgan's +to your credit.—Pattisons.</em>"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Pattisons" were the family solicitors, and +he who a moment before had called himself +Charles Hanbury now knew that his true description +would appear in the next issue of +"Debrett" as "Charles Augustus Trevor Fitzroy +Hanbury, seventh Duke of Beaumanoir," +with a rent-roll of two hundred thousand a +year.</p> +<p class="pnext">And he stood committed, on pain of assassination, +to aid and abet in the palming off of +bogus bonds on the Bank of England!</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-iion-board-the-st-paul"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id3">CHAPTER II—<em class="italics">On Board the</em> St. Paul</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">The <em class="italics">St. Paul</em> sped eastwards across the +summer sea, and surely of all the human hopes +and fears carried by the great liner those +locked in the breast of the new Duke were the +most momentous. To gain a little breathing +time, he had booked his passage as plain +Charles Hanbury. In the brief interval before +sailing he had seen no more of Jevons, but +he guessed that that shrewd practitioner would +have watched him, or had him watched, on +board, even if there was not a spy upon him +among his fellow-passengers; and he wished +to let it be inferred that his voyage was undertaken +solely in observance of the compact +made in the Bowery dive.</p> +<p class="pnext">For as yet he was by no means certain of +his attitude towards that compact. It was true +that the cast-off wastrel of two days ago was +now one of the premier peers of England, +hastening home to take possession of his fortune +and estates. But where was the good of +being a duke if you were to be a dead duke? +he argued with a cynicism bred of his misfortunes +rather than innate. There had been a +genuine ring about the proposal of Jevons that +left no doubt as to the reality of the menace +held out; the man's reluctance in broaching +the penalty of desertion carried conviction that +it was no mere flower of speech.</p> +<p class="pnext">On the whole, the Duke was inclined to call +on the arch rogue at the Hotel Cecil before incurring +a risk that might render his dukedom +a transitory possession. Then, if the part he +was expected to play proved to be within his +powers and without much chance of detection, +he might still elect to play it, and so enjoy in +security his hereditary privileges.</p> +<p class="pnext">It will be seen that the seventh Duke of +Beaumanoir was not troubled with moral scruples, +and that the principle of <em class="italics">noblesse oblige</em> +had no place as yet in his somewhat seared +philosophy. It was enough for the moment +that he had gained something worth having +and keeping, and he meant to have it and keep +it by the most efficacious method. Whether +that method would prove to be connivance in a +gigantic crime or the denouncement of the latter +to Scotland Yard could only be decided by +a personal interview with the mysterious Ziegler. +Yes, he would pay that visit to the Hotel +Cecil, at any rate, and be guided by what +passed there as to his future course of action.</p> +<p class="pnext">"A penny for your thoughts, Mr. Hanbury," +said a gay voice at his elbow, as on the +third day of the voyage he leaned over the rail +of the promenade deck and ruminated on his +dilemma. Wheeling round he looked down +into the laughing eyes of a girl, a very dainty +and charming girl, who sat next him at the +saloon table. No formal introduction had +taken place between them, for lack of mutual +friends; but he had learned from the card +designating her place at table that she was +Miss Leonie Sherman, and it is to be presumed +that she had gathered his name in the same +way.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I will earn that penny," he said with mock +gravity. "I was debating how far one might +legitimately carry the principle of doing evil +that good might come."</p> +<p class="pnext">It was a strange answer to make to a shipboard +acquaintance of three days, and Miss +Sherman regarded him with a newly awakened +interest.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It depends," she said, "whether the good +is to accrue to yourself or to other people."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, to myself," he replied, smiling. "I am +not a philanthropist—quite the other way +about."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then, whatever it is, you oughtn't to do it," +said the girl, decidedly. "It will be horrid of +you to as much as contemplate anything of the +kind. You had much better do good lest evil +befall; and the opportunity occurs right here, +at this very moment."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I shall be most happy—without prejudice +to my intentions as to the reverse of the +medal," said Beaumanoir, lightly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then help me to avoid a lecture from my +mother by taking me for a promenade," proceeded +Leonie, indicating a portly lady who +had ascended from the lower deck and was +peering about in search. "She is the best and +dearest of mothers, but she has set her heart on +a vain thing, and it is becoming the least bit +tiresome. I can see that she is going to din it +into me again, if she catches me. Her idea +is that the sole duty of an American girl going +to England is to 'spread herself,' as they say +out West, to marry an English duke."</p> +<p class="pnext">His Grace of Beaumanoir listened with an +unmoved countenance.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes," he said, "to marry a duke might—probably +would—be an unmitigated evil. I +will help you to avoid it with pleasure. Let +us walk by all means, Miss Sherman, if you +don't mind my awkward limp."</p> +<p class="pnext">So they joined the procession of promenaders, +and there and then cemented a friendship +which ripened quickly, as friendships between +the opposite sexes do at sea. The +haughty salesladies of the dry-goods store had +not deigned to notice the counting-house +drudge, and Leonie's piquant beauty made +instant captive of one who had been deprived +of the society of women for over a year. She +had all the frank <em class="italics">camaraderie</em> of the well-bred +American, and her eager anticipations of the +good time she was to have in Europe were infectious. +In her company Beaumanoir was +able to forget the dark shadow hanging over +him, and to give himself up to the enjoyment +of the hour. He began by being deeply grateful +to her for taking him out of himself; and +gratitude to a charming girl with a ravishing +figure and a complexion of tinted ivory is like +to have its heels trod by a warmer sentiment.</p> +<p class="pnext">Leonie, in her turn, was interested in the +reserved young Englishman, who had so little +to say about his doings in America, and less +about his position and prospects in his native +land. As he paced with his slight limp at her +side or lounged with her at the rail, she tried +to draw him out; but she could get nothing +from him but that he had been in New York +on business, and that business was taking him +home. Yet, though reticent on his own affairs, +he talked freely about all that concerned herself, +and painted vivid word-pictures of the +delights that awaited her in London.</p> +<p class="pnext">The girl, having nothing to conceal, told +him freely of herself and of her plans and +projects. She and her mother were going to +stay with English friends in London till the +end of the season, when perhaps they would +run over to Paris and Rome for a month before +returning to America in the autumn. Her +father, Senator Sherman, was to have accompanied +them; but he had been detained by public +business at Washington, and was to join +them a little later in London.</p> +<p class="pnext">On the fifth day of the voyage, as the <em class="italics">St. +Paul</em> was approaching the Irish coast, Leonie +and Beaumanoir were sitting on deck after +dinner, chatting in the twilight, when she suddenly +laid her hand on his arm.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I want you to notice that man who has just +gone by—the one smoking the fag-end of a +cigar in a holder," she whispered, with a gesture +towards the stream of passengers passing +and repassing between the rows of chairs.</p> +<p class="pnext">Beaumanoir's gaze followed her indication +to an insignificant little figure in a brown +covert-coat and tweed cap.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes. What of him?" he asked. He had +not spoken to this passenger, but now that +attention was called to him he had an idea that +the fellow had loomed largely during the last +few days.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That man is watching you, Mr. Hanbury," +replied Leonie with conviction. "I wonder +you haven't observed it yourself. Whenever +you are talking he hangs about trying to listen; +when you are on deck he is on deck; if you go +below, he goes below. If you were a fugitive +from justice, and he a detective, he couldn't +shadow you more closely."</p> +<p class="pnext">The Duke winced inwardly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I am not a fugitive from justice," he said, +with the mental addition of "yet." He could +not tell this laughing maiden that the man was +probably spying on him in the interest, not of +justice, but of crime—to see that he was true to +a pledge to place forged bonds; for now that +he had been put on his guard he had no doubt +that his pretty informant was right. The +stranger occupied the cabin next to him, and +was always hovering near him in the smoking-room, +unobtrusively but persistently.</p> +<p class="pnext">Thanking the girl for her warning in a careless +tone that implied that he had no reason +to be anxious, he changed the subject. But +before he turned in that night he made it his +business to ascertain from his bedroom steward +the name of his next-door neighbor, which +proved to be Marker.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Probably Mr. Marker's functions are confined +to espionage. If that is a sample of the +sort of bravo to be employed should I kick +over the traces, I haven't much to fear," he +reflected, as he switched off the electric light +and composed himself to dream of Leonie +Sherman.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-iiia-task-master-in-goggles"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id4">CHAPTER III—<em class="italics">A Task-master in Goggles</em></a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">The next morning the <em class="italics">St. Paul</em> arrived at +Southampton, but Beaumanoir contrived to +secure a seat in the same compartment of the +boat-train, and his parting with his new friends +was therefore deferred till they reached +Waterloo.</p> +<p class="pnext">He was sorely tempted to enlist the elder +lady's favor by making known his proper style +and rank; though, to do her justice, Mrs. Sherman's +fondness for the peerage was largely a +humorous fiction on her daughter's part. The +Senator's wife was really a simple-minded +body, with an abiding admiration for the unattainable, +and the British aristocracy was naturally +included in that category.</p> +<p class="pnext">But the sight of Mr. Marker's covert-coat +hovering near them on the arrival platform +checked the Duke's intention, which the next +moment was rendered unnecessary by Mrs. +Sherman herself.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Come and see us, Mr. Hanbury," she +said, extending the tips of her fingers in farewell. +"We are to be the guests of some good +friends of ours at 140 Grosvenor Gardens, and +we know them well enough to make ourselves +at home. The Senator will be over in a week +or two, and he'll be glad to thank you for your +politeness."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I will pay my respects without fail," Beaumanoir +responded; and a minute later, after a +warmer pressure of Leonie's well-gloved hand, +he stood watching their cab with its load of +"saratogas" drive down the incline. By the +void in his heart he knew that the girl in the +coquettish toque, who had just repeated her +mother's invitation with her eyes, was all the +world to him.</p> +<p class="pnext">He turned to look after his scanty baggage +with a sigh. How different it would all have +been if he had chosen some other route to his +Brooklyn boarding-house on the eventful night +when the plausible Jevons had waylaid him! +All would have been plain sailing, and he could +have asked Leonie with a clear conscience to +share his new-found honors and wealth. As +it was he stood committed to a felonious enterprise +which would fill her with contempt and +loathing did she know of it; though, if he abandoned it, instinct told him he was a doomed +man.</p> +<p class="pnext">The sight of the insignificant spy Marker +lurking behind a pile of luggage reminded him +that his peril might commence at any moment +if he showed any sign of inconstancy to his +pledge. Not that he anticipated trouble from +the covert-coated whippersnapper himself; but +the mere fact of it having been thought worth +while to shadow him across the Atlantic spelled +danger, and suggested an organization that +would stop at nothing to safeguard itself.</p> +<p class="pnext">However, he had made up his mind to call +on the mysterious Ziegler, and by doing so at +once he might prove his fidelity and secure a +respite from this unpleasant espionage. Summoning +a hansom, he bade the driver take him +to the Hotel Cecil, and looking back he saw +Marker following in another cab.</p> +<p class="pnext">In the few minutes that elapsed before he +was driven into the courtyard of the palatial +hotel he settled a problem that had been vexing +him not a little during the voyage. Should he +introduce himself to Ziegler as the Duke of +Beaumanoir or as plain Charles Hanbury, the +name by which he had been "engaged"? If he +was for a brief space to be the consort of professional thieves, he would prefer to lead a +double life—to perform his misdeeds as a +commoner, and to keep his dukedom spotless. +So it was that he gave his name as Hanbury to +the clerk in the bureau of the hotel.</p> +<p class="pnext">While waiting the return of the bell-boy +who was sent to announce his arrival, Beaumanoir +looked about for Marker, but the spy +was nowhere visible in or from the entrance-hall. +Having shepherded him to the fold, it +was evidently no part of his duty to obtrude +himself till further orders.</p> +<p class="pnext">A minute later the neophyte in crime was +limping up the grand staircase in wake of the +bell-boy, who conducted him to one of the best +private suites on the first floor overlooking the +Embankment. It was a moment charged with +electricity as the Duke of Beaumanoir found +himself face to face with the man who had +hired him in his poverty, and now held him +fetter-bound in his good fortune.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yet could this be he—this personification of +aged helplessness lying among the cushions of +an invalid chair, who, in a thin, piping treble, +requested his visitor to come closer? Beaumanoir +had pictured all sorts of ideals of the +master in crime, but Mr. Clinton Ziegler in the +flesh resembled none of them. A snowy beard +covered the lower half of his face, drooping +over his chest, but the puffy cheeks were visible, +and their full purple hue betokened some +cutaneous affection. The eyes were shaded by +blue glasses.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You are the person sent by Jevons from +New York?" he began in his parrot-like tones. +"Good! What is your name? For the moment +I have forgotten it, and I cannot lay my +hand on the cablegram relating to you."</p> +<p class="pnext">Encouraged by the feeble senility of one +whom he had expected to find a tower of +strength—a grim, inscrutable being with an +inscrutable manner—the Duke was confirmed +in his intention to preserve the secret of his +rank.</p> +<p class="pnext">"My name is Charles Hanbury," he answered, +boldly.</p> +<p class="pnext">But an awakening, instant and complete, +was in store for him. The words were hardly +out of his mouth when Mr. Ziegler coughed +a signal, and three masked men rushed upon +him from the adjoining bedroom, pinioning +his arms and stifling his sudden cry of alarm.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What shall we do with him, sir?" asked one +of the men.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Chloroform him first; then you must dispose +of him at leisure," came the monotonous +piping treble from the invalid chair.</p> +<p class="pnext">One of the assailants made immediate +preparations for obeying the behest, but just +as he was about to saturate a handkerchief +Ziegler laughed shrilly:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Let him alone, boys. He lied to me, and +I wanted to give him a lesson—that's all."</p> +<p class="pnext">The men, at a sign from their chief, retired +into the bedroom.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Now, perhaps you will recognize that I +am not to be played with, <em class="italics">your Grace</em>," +squeaked Mr. Ziegler. "Also that my ears are +as long as my arms. I have known for some +days that the gentleman whom my good friend +Jevons was able to procure has had a sudden +change in his fortunes, and I congratulate +myself upon it. It doubles your value to us, +all the more since your early call upon me after +landing shows that you mean to abide by your +bargain. But there must be no more petty +reservations and concealments like that. If +you try them on, rest assured that they will be +detected and dealt with."</p> +<p class="pnext">The Duke straightened his rumpled collar, +and looked, as he felt, a beaten man. The +mass of infirmity in the wheel-chair held, without +doubt, a power with which he could not +cope. On the face of it the notion that a man +could be violently made away with in a crowded +London hotel might seem melodramatic and +improbable, but the experience of the last few +minutes had shown him how readily it could be +done by a chief as well served as Ziegler appeared +to be. And if he was at the man's +mercy in a crowded hostelry like the Cecil, +where would he be safe? Yes, if he was to +enjoy his dukedom, he would have to go +through with his task.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, give me my instructions. What am +I to do?" he said, stiffly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You have made a very good beginning already," +replied Ziegler, watching him narrowly +through the tinted glasses. "A gentleman, +acting on behalf of the United States +Government, will shortly bring to this country +the three million pounds' worth of Treasury +bonds which we mean to have. It will be +your task to relieve him of the paper, substituting +bonds of our own make, which will be +deposited at the Bank of England as security +against a shipment of gold."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I see," the Duke murmured, mechanically. +"But," he added with more animation, "how +have I made a beginning already?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"By making yourself agreeable to Miss +Leonie Sherman. It is her father, Senator +Sherman, who is bringing the real bonds," was +the answer, which struck a chill to the Duke's +heart and kept him speechless with amazement. +This old scoundrel seemed to know +everything, to have arranged everything, irrespective +of time and space.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You ought to be grateful for my foresight +in smoothing the way for you," Ziegler +croaked, in evident enjoyment of his perplexity. +"It was my agent who, by securing the +good offices of a steward, had you placed next +Miss Sherman at the saloon table on the <em class="italics">St. +Paul</em>, with the result that he was able to report +to me this morning from Southampton by telegraph +that you had made use of your opportunity."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I see," was all the Duke could feebly repeat.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You have been invited to call on the Shermans +in London? You know where they are +staying, 140 Grosvenor Gardens?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes," said Beaumanoir.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Good! Then your Grace will go on as you +have begun. Gain the girl's confidence, and +that of her mother—the latter will be easy +under the auspices of your new dignity—and +come here again at twelve o'clock on Saturday +morning, three days hence. I may then have +further instructions for you."</p> +<p class="pnext">And Mr. Clinton Ziegler waved a white, +well-formed hand in dismissal.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-ivthe-lady-in-the-landau"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id5">CHAPTER IV—<em class="italics">The Lady in the Landau</em></a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">Beaumanoir passed into the corridor with +unsteady steps, dazed by the enormity of his +entanglement. He had been caught so easily, +yet he was held so firmly. His first impulse +was to rush off to Scotland Yard, expose the +white-bearded wire-puller in the invalid chair, +and claim protection. But that course would +entail confession of his engagement as a criminal +instrument, to the everlasting disgrace of +the great family of which he was now the head. +The alternatives were foul treachery to the girl +of his heart or almost certain death at the +hands of Ziegler's disciplined ruffians.</p> +<p class="pnext">He had reached the top of the broad staircase +when a step, almost inaudible on the thick +pile carpet, sounded behind him and a hand +fell on his shoulder.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Charley, old boy! Or is it 'your Grace' I +should be calling you? What the dickens are +you doing here?" said the young man who had +overtaken him.</p> +<p class="pnext">Beaumanoir's harassed brows cleared as he +met Alec Forsyth's honest gaze and he felt the +grip of his honest hand. Their ways had lain +apart for the last few years, but a very real +friendship, begun in the Eton playing fields, +had survived separation. Of all his acquaintances, +Alec had been the only one to go down +to Liverpool twelve months before to bid +scapegrace Charles Hanbury farewell.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I had a call to make, before going to Pattisons' +in Lincoln's Inn," said the Duke. And +then with quick apprehension he added, pointing +to the door he had just left: "Have you +come from there? Have you business with +Ziegler too?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ziegler? Who's Ziegler?" asked Forsyth, +looking puzzled by his sudden confusion. +"No, I haven't been to those rooms, but to the +suite beyond. A duty call on a certain Mrs. +Talmage Eglinton, but, thank goodness, she +wasn't at home. Now about yourself, Charley. +Fortune smiles again, eh?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"It's only a sickly grin at present," Beaumanoir +replied, dejectedly. "See here, Alec; +I've got my bag on a cab outside. I landed +at Southampton too early for lunch. Come +and talk to me while I get a snack before +going to the lawyers."</p> +<p class="pnext">A few minutes later they were seated in a +Strand restaurant, and the young Scotsman +heard all about his friend's struggles with the +demon of poverty in New York, but never a +word of the trouble that was brooding. In +his turn Forsyth was able to fill in the blanks +of the family solicitor's cablegram, and enlightened +Beaumanoir as to the manner of his +succession to the title. The late Duke was +traveling to Newmarket in a racing "special," +accompanied by his nephew and heir, George +Hanbury, when they had both met their deaths +in a collision.</p> +<p class="pnext">The double funeral had taken place at +Prior's Tarrant, the ancestral seat of the +Dukes of Beaumanoir in Hertfordshire, three +days before, the arrangements having been +made by the solicitors, in the absence of the +next successor. The last Duke having been a +childless widower, and both his brothers, the +fathers respectively of George and Charles +Hanbury, having predeceased him, there had +been no near relatives to follow the late head +of the house to his last resting-place.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Let me see, my cousin George had a sister, +Sybil, who used to live with my uncle," Beaumanoir +mused aloud. "I wonder what has +become of her."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I believe that she is still at your town house +in Piccadilly," replied Forsyth with a constraint +which the other did not notice in his +self-absorption. But the next moment it +struck Beaumanoir as odd that the information +should have been so readily forthcoming, +for he had been unaware that his friend knew +his relatives.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You have made Sybil Hanbury's acquaintance, +then?" he asked.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, since your departure for America," +was the reply. "I had the pleasure of meeting +her first at my uncle's in Grosvenor Gardens—General +Sadgrove's, you know. I dare say +you remember him?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, yes; I remember the General well—a +shrewd old party with eyes like gimlets," said +Beaumanoir. "But what's this about Grosvenor +Gardens?" he added quickly. "The +Sadgroves used to live in Bruton Street."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Quite so; but they moved to 140 Grosvenor +Gardens, last Christmas."</p> +<p class="pnext">"140!" exclaimed the Duke. "Why, that's +where the Shermans are going to stay. Some +friends of mine who—who came over in the +same ship," he went on to explain rather +lamely.</p> +<p class="pnext">Forsyth shot an amused glance at his old +crony. "Yes, I know that Uncle Jem was expecting +some Americans to put up with him, +and he has been raving about the charms of +the young lady of the party for the last fortnight. +You are excited, Charley. Your manner +has struck me as strange since we met at +the hotel. Is it permitted to inquire if my +uncle is entertaining unawares—a future +Duchess?"</p> +<p class="pnext">To the young Scotsman's surprise, the Duke +showed signs for a moment of taking the light-spoken +banter amiss. Beaumanoir flushed, +and muttered something inarticulate, but +pulled himself together and diverted their talk +into a fresh channel, clumsily enough.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Don't gas about me, old chap," he said. +"Tell me of yourself. Is the world using you +better than formerly?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"About the same," Forsyth replied with a +shrug. "They gave me a twenty-pound rise +last year, so my pay as a third-grade clerk in +the Foreign Office is now the princely sum of +£230 per annum. Not a brilliant prospect. +When I'm a worn-out old buffer of sixty I +shall be able to retire on a pension about equal +to my present pay."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then look here, Alec; chuck the public service +and come to me," said the Duke, eagerly. +"I'll give you eight hundred a year to begin +with, and rises up to two thousand; and you +can have the dower-house at Prior's Tarrant +to live in. Call yourself private secretary, +bailiff, anything you please—only come. The +fact is—well, I've been a bit shaken by—by +what I've gone through. I want someone near +me who's more than a mere hireling."</p> +<p class="pnext">It was Forsyth's turn to flush now, but with +pleasure at the offer made to him. He accepted +it in a few simple words, and the Duke +rose and paid his score.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Come with me to Pattisons'," he said. +"Then we'll go on to Piccadilly and take possession."</p> +<p class="pnext">The business at the lawyers', which consisted +of little more than arranging future meetings, +was soon finished, and the Duke and his new +secretary took a fresh cab to the West End. +As they bowled along Beaumanoir inquired +further about his cousin Sybil, whom, owing +to his absence in India and more latterly to +his estrangement from his relations, he had +never met. Forsyth imparted the information +that for the last six months, since she "came +out," she had virtually ruled the late Duke's +household.</p> +<p class="pnext">"But she can be little more than a child," +Beaumanoir protested. "Anyhow, I can't +keep a cousin of eighteen on as <em class="italics">my</em> housekeeper +without setting Mrs. Grundy's tongue +wagging. The question arises what to do with +her. Old Pattison tells me she is well provided +for, but I don't like telling her to clear +out if it does not occur to her to go. What +sort is she, Alec?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"That's rather a stiff question to put to +<em class="italics">me</em>," Forsyth replied, as though to himself. +"I had better make my confession first as +last," he went on hurriedly. "You are her +nearest relative now, and the head of her family. +Ever since I first saw Sybil Hanbury the +dearest wish of my heart has been to make her +my wife, but without prospects of any kind +I couldn't very well ask her. There you have +it, my noble patron, in a nutshell."</p> +<p class="pnext">Beaumanoir patted his friend's knee affectionately.</p> +<p class="pnext">"My dear fellow, go in and win, so far as +I am concerned," he said. "While I am above +ground your prospects need stand in your way +no longer. But you haven't answered my +question, which I'll put in another way. How +is she likely to take my appearance on the +scene?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I'm afraid she's rather prejudiced. Her +brother George didn't love you much, you +know, and she is greatly cut up by his loss," +Forsyth replied, with the dogged manner of +the honest man who has to say a disagreeable +thing. "I don't think that you need be under +any apprehension about her staying on at +Beaumanoir House when you show up. To +be candid, I saw her yesterday, and she said +she should begin packing as soon as she was +sure that you hadn't been drowned on the voyage +home."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Good girl!" ejaculated the Duke. "The +unexpressed hope did her much honor, only +it's a pity it didn't come off. Now, Alec, if +you'll see her first—she needn't see me at all +if she doesn't wish to—and tell her from me +that she's not to hurry out of the house, because +I'm going to oscillate between Prior's Tarrant +and a hotel for the present, I shall be immensely +obliged to you."</p> +<p class="pnext">"But you said just now that you were going +to take possession."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I have changed my mind. There are reasons +which I cannot explain to you why my +immediate neighborhood is likely to be dangerous +for the present. I should be sorry to subject +my fair cousin to any unpleasantness. +Though not a word of this to her or anyone +else, please."</p> +<p class="pnext">The cab was drawing up before the ducal +mansion, and Forsyth forbore to put into +words the astonishment which he looked. As +the two men were about to ascend the steps +to the entrance, a landau, which was being +driven slowly by, drew to the curb, and a lady +who, besides the servants, was the sole occupant, +called out:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Surely you're not going to cut me, Mr. +Forsyth. Too proud to know poor little me, +eh, now that you've taken to calling on dukes?"</p> +<p class="pnext">A murmur of annoyance escaped Forsyth, +but perforce he went to the carriage and shook +the daintily gloved hand held out to him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"How do you do, Mrs. Talmage Eglinton?" +he said, adding the reproving whisper, +"That <em class="italics">is</em> the Duke."</p> +<p class="pnext">The lady in the landau raised her lorgnettes +and calmly surveyed the waiting nobleman.</p> +<p class="pnext">"How very interesting!" she purred, adding +aloud so that the subject of her request could +not fail to hear, "Why don't you introduce +him, instead of keeping him standing there? +We Americans are death on dukes, you know."</p> +<p class="pnext">At a gesture from Forsyth, who tried to +convey his disgust by a look, Beaumanoir +limped forward, smiling. His misfortunes +had made him something of a democrat, and +he had always been ready to see the comic side +of things till tragedy that morning had +claimed him for its own. In meeting the advances +of the agent Jevons in the Bowery +saloon he had been largely influenced by the +humor of the situation—of the scion of a ducal +house consenting to "get a bit" by passing +forged bonds.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mrs. Talmage Eglinton, a handsome blonde +with an elegant figure and a childish voice, received +the Duke with effusion.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I stopped my carriage to ask Mr. Forsyth +to tea on Saturday," she prattled. "I do hope +your Grace will come too. I am staying at +the Cecil, and shall be delighted to see you."</p> +<p class="pnext">The unblushing effrontery of the invitation +failed to strike Beaumanoir in his sudden horror +at the associations called up by it. This +frivolous butterfly of a woman occupied the +next suite of rooms to those in which Ziegler +was spinning his villainous web—in which that +terrible old man had unfolded to him the details +of his treacherous task. Strange, too, that +he should be bidden to the mild dissipation of +an afternoon tea-table in that hotel, of all +others, on the very day when he was due to +go there on business so different, for Saturday +was the day appointed by Ziegler for his call +for "further instructions."</p> +<p class="pnext">Conscious that the mocking eyes of the lady +in the landau were watching him with a curious +inquiry, he mastered his emotion, and at the +same time came to a decision on the vital issue +before him. Probably he would have arrived +at the same one without the incentive of avoiding +an unpalatable engagement, but Mrs. Talmage +Eglinton's invitation to tea was undoubtedly +the final influence in setting him on +the straight path.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I am very sorry," he replied, and there was +a new dignity in his tone, "but I must ask you +to excuse me. I am going down to-morrow to +Prior's Tarrant, my place in Hertfordshire, +and I shall not be in town on Saturday."</p> +<p class="pnext">For the fraction of a second the rebuffed +hostess seemed taken aback by the refusal. +She flushed slightly under her powder, and the +taper fingers twitched on the handle of her +sunshade. But without any appreciable pause +she answered gaily:</p> +<p class="pnext">"That's most unkind of you. Well, what +must be must be. Good-bye, your Grace. +Good-bye, Mr. Forsyth; I shall expect you, +anyhow. Drive on, Bennett."</p> +<p class="pnext">The carriage rolled away.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I am glad you snubbed her," Forsyth exclaimed. +"She has been made a good deal of +in certain circles during the last month or two, +and presumes a lot on the strength of it."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Did I snub her?" said the Duke carelessly. +"I am sure I didn't mean to, for she deserves +better things of me. You'd hardly believe it, +Alec, but that little episode has jerked me into +deciding a crucial point—no less than whether +to be a man or a cur. At the same time it has +put me quite outside the pale as a resident +under the same roof as my cousin. On second +thoughts, I will not go in at all, but I shall be +obliged if you will see her and convey the message I gave you—that Beaumanoir House is +at her disposal till she can quite conveniently +leave it."</p> +<p class="pnext">"But what are you going to do yourself?" +said Forsyth in sheer bewilderment.</p> +<p class="pnext">"First I shall go to Bond Street, to gladden +the hearts of some of my old creditors; then by +an evening train to Prior's Tarrant," was the +reply. "And, Alec," proceeded the Duke +earnestly, "if you can get leave from the Foreign +Office, pending retirement, and join me +there as soon as possible, you will place me +under a very deep obligation."</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-vziegler-begins-to-move"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id6">CHAPTER V—<em class="italics">Ziegler Begins to Move</em></a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">On the following Sunday morning the Duke +of Beaumanoir stood at one of the windows of +the long library at Prior's Tarrant, idly beating +a tattoo on the glass. The June sunshine +flooded the bosky leafage of the glorious expanse +of park, and nearer still the parterres of +the old Dutch garden were gay with summer +bloom; but the beauties of the landscape were +lost upon the watcher at the window.</p> +<p class="pnext">Nearly four and twenty hours had elapsed +since he had failed to keep his appointment +with Mr. Ziegler, and he was wondering how +and when that autocrat of high-grade crime +would signalize his displeasure at the mutiny. +That sooner or later an edict would issue +against him from the invalid chair in the first-floor +suite he had not the slightest doubt. He +knew that he had to deal with men playing a +great game for a great stake in deadly earnest.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Dukes of Beaumanoir had never been +famous for their virtues, any more than they +had been cowards, and it was rather a dawning +sense of responsibility than fear, either for his +reputation or his person, that filled him with +apprehension. If "anything happened" to +him, such a lot would happen to so many other +people. For instance, it had only occurred to +him since he came down to the country that if +Ziegler killed him his death would mean ruin +to Alec Forsyth, who had thrown up a sure +position to serve him. The next heir was an +elderly cousin with a large family to provide +for, and he would certainly not retain Forsyth +in his employment.</p> +<p class="pnext">Then, again, Beaumanoir reflected with a +sigh, his new and sweet friendship with Leonie +Sherman—a friendship to which no blot on his +escutcheon need now put limits—would be +rudely snapped. The King of Terrors would +take away what his saved honor had restored, +and perhaps it was the bitterest drop in his +cup to feel that he might be giving his life to +lose what in another sense he would have given +his life to win. To ask Leonie to link her fate +to his, with that dark shadow hanging over +him, was out of the question.</p> +<p class="pnext">Once he had taken up his pen to denounce +Ziegler to the police authorities anonymously, +but he had despondingly laid it down again. +That crafty practitioner had doubtless safeguarded +himself against such an obvious +course by being prepared with an unimpeachable +record which it would be impossible to +shake unless he came forward and avowed complicity. +There, again, dishonor waited for +him, and he had already made his choice that +a short shrift was preferable to that.</p> +<p class="pnext">The gloom of his mood was enhanced by his +intense loneliness in the huge feudal monastery +that now called him master, for Forsyth had +been unable to join him, owing to difficulties in +obtaining release from his present duties.</p> +<p class="pnext">Beaumanoir took out and read for the fifth +time a letter which had arrived that morning +from his friend and secretary:</p> +<blockquote><div> +<p class="pfirst">"My dear Duke (I mustn't use the irreverent +'Charley' any more),—I am still having +trouble with the F.O. people about my departure, +but I think I may safely promise to get +away to you on Tuesday. In fact, I shall +make a point of doing so, even if I have to +leave the public service in disgrace, for you +must forgive my saying that I am rather uneasy about you. The other day you seemed +like a man with a millstone round his neck, +and I take it that one of the duties of a private +secretary is to remove millstones from the person +of his employer. I only wish you would +confide fully in me, and command me in any +way—but that is, of course, your affair.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I dined with my uncle, General Sadgrove, +last night, and had the pleasure of meeting +Mrs. and Miss Sherman there. The latter is +indeed a charming girl. She was rather shy +in talking about you, having heard from my +uncle that the Mr. Hanbury she met on shipboard +was probably the Duke of Beaumanoir +on his way to enter into his kingdom. Mrs. +Sherman waxed enthusiastic on your 'old-world +courtesy' and the General, who chaffs +the old lady, remarked that she had been +equally laudatory before she discovered your +rank.</p> +<p class="pnext">"They were all very kind and congratulatory +on my announcing my engagement to +Sybil, which, as I wrote you yesterday, was +ratified within ten minutes of your leaving me +at the door of Beaumanoir House.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You may be interested to hear that I did +<em class="italics">not</em> go to tea with Mrs. Talmage Eglinton to-day.—Yours,</p> +<p class="pnext">"<span class="small-caps">Alec Forsyth</span>."</p> +</div></blockquote> +<p class="pfirst">The Duke crushed the letter back into his +pocket, and came to a resolution.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I'll run up to town to-morrow and call on +the Shermans," he said to himself. "And now +I'll do the proper thing, and go to church. +I'm not going to crouch in corners because of +that patriarchal old fiend at the Cecil."</p> +<p class="pnext">The church at which generations of Hanburys +had worshiped was in the center of +Tarrant village, a mile from the lodge gates, +but there was a short cut to it across the park. +This was the route taken by the Duke, who +first crossed the greensward and then passed +out by a private wicket into the road after +traversing the belt of copse that fringed the +demesne. The villagers, who had waited for +his coming, standing bare-headed in the +churchyard, were a little disappointed that he +had not driven up in full state. But the solitary +gentleman limping up the path atoned +for the lack of ceremony and won their hearts +by his friendly smile; and a handshake to one +or two of the older inhabitants, whom he remembered +as a boy, clinched the matter. +The verdict went round that the new Duke +would "do."</p> +<p class="pnext">The service that morning was, it is to be +feared, more ducal than devotional. From the +white-robed choir, ranged among the tombs +of dead-and-gone Hanburys in the chancel, to +the hard-breathing rustics on the back benches +every eye was turned and steadily kept on the +lonely figure in the family pew. While grateful +for the homage paid him, the Duke was +not sorry when the ordeal was over and he was +free to make his way homeward.</p> +<p class="pnext">But he was not to get off so easily. As he +was about to let himself through the private +gate into the park, intending to go back, as he +had come, through the copse, footsteps sounded +behind him, and Mr. Bristow, the vicar, overtook +him. They had already met on the previous +day.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Your Grace is alone still?" panted the +clergyman. "Ah, I thought your secretary +wouldn't find it so easy to cast his shackles. +I am commissioned by Mrs. Bristow to say—I +hope you won't think us presuming—that +we shall be delighted if you will give us your +company at our homely lunch."</p> +<p class="pnext">A sudden impulse prompted Beaumanoir to +accept the invitation. He had taken a liking +for the hale, vigorous old vicar, who had the +archives of his family by rote, and an hour or +two in his society would take him out of himself. +So he turned back and accompanied his +host to the vicarage, where he made a good +impression on Mrs. Bristow by his cordial +praise of her training of the choir and by appreciation +of her strawberries and cream.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was past four when he returned to Prior's +Tarrant, to be met in the entrance-hall by the +butler with a face eloquent of "something +wrong."</p> +<p class="pnext">"What is it, Manson?" he asked. "Mr. +Bristow sent a boy, did he not, to say that I +was lunching at the vicarage?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, your Grace. It isn't that," was the +agitated reply. "I have to report an outrage +that's been committed on one of the under-servants. +Jennings, the third gardener, was +coming back from church through the copse +in the park, when he was lassoed, your Grace, +same as they do buffalo, I've been told, in foreign +parts. A rope shot out of the bushes over +his shoulders, and then a man ran up as he +was struggling on the ground; but let him go, +saying it was a joke. Jennings hasn't got any +enemies that he knows of, and it was a wicked +thing to do, because he's a bit of a cripple and +walks lame. It's shook him a good deal."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I am not surprised at that," said the Duke. +"Possibly it was only intended as a practical +joke, but you had better inform the constable +in the village, and instruct him to inquire into +the matter."</p> +<p class="pnext">The butler retired, and the Duke smiled +grimly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ziegler has begun to put in some of his +fine work," he muttered. "The initial blunder +of his agents in mistaking a servant's limp for +mine won't stop him long. I shall begin to like +the excitement soon, I expect."</p> +<p class="pnext">But as the day wore to evening, and the +evening to night, the sensation of being <em class="italics">hunted</em> +vexed his nerves. He found himself prolonging +his solitary dinner for the sake of the company +of the butler and footman who waited +upon him, and afterwards he abstained from +the moonlit stroll on the terrace to which he +felt tempted. It was not till the mansion had +been barred and bolted for the night that he +ceased to fumble frequently for the revolver +which he had carried all day.</p> +<p class="pnext">Before retiring he inquired of Manson if +the constable had traced the maltreaters of +Jennings, and he was not surprised to learn +that there had been no discoveries. Mr. Clinton +Ziegler was not the man to employ agents +incapable of baffling a village policeman.</p> +<p class="pnext">The room which Beaumanoir occupied was +the great state bed-chamber that had been used +by his predecessors from time immemorial—a +gaunt apartment with a cavernous fireplace +and heavily curtained mullioned windows. He +did not like the room, but had consented to +sleep there on seeing that the old retainers +would be scandalized by his sleeping anywhere +but in the "Duke's Room."</p> +<p class="pnext">After locking the door and seeing to the +window fastenings, he took the additional precaution +of examining the chimney. Bending +his head clear of the massive mantelpiece, he +looked up and saw that at the end of the broad +shaft quite a large circle of star-lit sky was +visible, while a cold blast struck downwards of +sufficient volume to purify the air of the room.</p> +<p class="pnext">He lay awake for some time, but he must +have been slumbering fitfully for over an hour +when he felt himself gradually awakening—not +from any sudden start, but from a growing +sense of strange oppression in his lungs. As +his senses returned the choking sensation increased, +and finally he lay wide awake, wondering +what was the matter. Every minute +it became harder to breathe the stifling air, and +at last he flung the bedclothes off in the hope +of relief, and in doing so saw something so +unaccountable that his reeling senses were +stricken with amazement rather than fear.</p> +<p class="pnext">There was a fire in the grate. Glowing +steadily in the recess of the ancient fireplace a +great red ball burned, without flicker and without +flame, but lurid with the unwavering light +that comes from fuel fused to intense heat.</p> +<p class="pnext">Even without the terrible oppression at his +chest there would have been a weird horror in +this mysterious fire introduced into his room at +dead of night—into a room with locked door +and fastened windows. But what did this +ghastly struggle for breath portend?</p> +<p class="pnext">"Charcoal! Ziegler!" were the two words +that buzzed in response through his fast-clouding +brain.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-vithe-general-is-curious"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id7">CHAPTER VI—<em class="italics">The General is Curious</em></a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">On the following afternoon at tea-time four +ladies were seated in the pleasant drawing-room +of 140 Grosvenor Gardens, the residence +of General Sadgrove, late of the Indian Staff +Corps. Mrs. Sadgrove, a fair, plump, elderly +dame, needs no special description, and two of +the other tea-drinkers—Mrs. Senator Sherman, +as she preferred to be called, and her +daughter Leonie—we have met before.</p> +<p class="pnext">The fourth occupant of the room—a girl +dressed in deep mourning—was Sybil Hanbury, +who had come to discuss her engagement +to Alec Forsyth with her motherly old friend, +Alec's aunt by marriage, Mrs. Sadgrove. +Owing to the recent deaths in her family the +engagement was not to be publicly announced +at present; but Sybil had no secrets from the +Sadgroves, who had known her from a baby, +long before she had been taken up, on the death +of her parents, by her grandfather, the late +Duke of Beaumanoir.</p> +<p class="pnext">Miss Hanbury owed her attractiveness to +her essentially English type, not of beauty—she +would have disdained to lay claim to that—but +of fresh, healthy coloring, a suspicion of +tomboyishness, and a lithe, supple figure that +stood her in good stead in the hunting and +hockey fields. A trifle slangy on occasion, she +was a good hater and a staunch friend, with a +temper—as she had warned Alec already—that +would need a lot of humoring if they were +not to have "ructions."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I've got the makings of a termagant, my +dear boy, but it will be all right if you rule me +with a velvet glove," she had remarked within +five minutes of their first kiss.</p> +<p class="pnext">In fact, Miss Sybil Hanbury was a bit of a +hoyden; but a very capable little hoyden for +all that, and absolutely fearless.</p> +<p class="pnext">The two girls had naturally paired off together, +and the subject of their talk was, +equally naturally, the new Duke—Alec's +friend, Sybil's cousin, and Leonie's chance acquaintance +on the <em class="italics">St. Paul</em>.</p> +<div class="align-center auto-scaled figure" style="margin-left: 28%; width: 43%" id="figure-8"> +<span id="a-countrywoman-of-yours-i-wonder-if-you-know-her"/><img style="display: block; width: 100%" alt="A countrywoman of yours. I wonder if you know her?" src="images/illus2.jpg" width="100%"/> +<div class="caption italics"> +"A countrywoman of yours. I wonder if you know her?"</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">Sybil, after listening to Leonie's rather halting +description of the fellow passenger whom +she had known as "Mr. Hanbury," owned +frankly that she had never heard any good of +her cousin, but she hastened to add:</p> +<p class="pnext">"He's given my prejudice a nasty knock, +though, in behaving so well to my young man. +Gave him a billet as private sec. that enabled +Alec to—you know. A man can't be much +of a wrong 'un who'll stick to old pals when +they have no claim on him."</p> +<p class="pnext">Leonie tried not to show surprise at the vernacular.</p> +<p class="pnext">"He seemed very kind and considerate. I +don't think he can ever have done anything +dishonorable," she replied.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Nobody ever accused him of that," Sybil +assented. "It was only that he was extravagant, +and that my grandfather got tired of +paying his debts. You see, he wasn't the next +heir, and—well, perhaps they were a little hard +on him. I'm quite prepared to like him now."</p> +<p class="pnext">The conversation was interrupted by the entrance +of a servant, who announced:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mrs. Talmage Eglinton."</p> +<p class="pnext">"A fellow countrywoman of yours. I wonder +if you know her?" Sybil whispered, as a +radiant vision in pale pink under a large "picture" +hat sailed in, and was greeted with +somewhat frigid politeness by Mrs. Sadgrove.</p> +<p class="pnext">"No; I am not acquainted with either +the name or the lady," Leonie replied, struck +with a strange antipathy to the bold eyes that +seemed to be mastering every detail in the +room, herself included. Indeed, Mrs. Talmage +Eglinton stared so markedly both at +Leonie and her mother that Mrs. Sadgrove +thought they must have met, and promptly +introduced them as American friends staying +in the house. The introduction was not a success, +for the Shermans knew everyone worth +knowing in American society, and the fact +that they had never so much as heard of Mrs. +Talmage Eglinton argued her outside the +pale.</p> +<p class="pnext">The elegant vision received her snubbing +with cool unconcern, and after a few generalities +turned again to her hostess and engaged +in the trifling chatter of a "duty" call, making +one or two unsuccessful attempts to include +Sybil, to whom she had not been introduced, +in the conversation.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That woman is a brute," Sybil said to +Leonie under her breath. "I'll tell you about +her when she's gone."</p> +<p class="pnext">The door opened, and there entered an iron-gray +man of sixty, whose coming might almost +have been the cause of expediting the departure +of Mrs. Talmage Eglinton, so quickly did +she rise and begin her good-byes.</p> +<p class="pnext">"No, really I can't stay, dear Mrs. Sadgrove, +even to have the pleasure of a chat with +the General," she prattled. "I have half a +dozen other calls to pay, and you have beguiled +me into staying too long already. Good-bye. +Good-bye, General. Pray don't trouble to +come down." And with a half-impudent bow +of exaggerated respect to the Shermans, she +swept out, with the master of the house in attendance.</p> +<p class="pnext">General Sadgrove returned at once to the +drawing-room after escorting the visitor to +her carriage. He was a man who bore his years +easily; singularly slow and scant of speech, but +alert of eye and almost jaunty in the erectness +of his bearing. He had gained his C.B. for +prominent services in the suppression of +Thuggee and Dacoity, and his name is still +held in wholesome dread by the criminals of +India whose method is violence. It had once +been said of him by a high official: "Jem Sadgrove +doesn't have to worry about <em class="italics">finding</em> +clues. He makes them for himself, and they +always yield a true scent. He's got the nose +of a fox-terrier, and the patience and speed of +a greyhound."</p> +<p class="pnext">But that was long ago, and it might be supposed +that in such pleasant duties of retirement +as the ushering out of dainty visitors +from his wife's tea-table his faculties had become +blunted. Nor in the law-abiding precincts +of Belgravia could there be scope for +the old-time energy. Yet Mrs. Sadgrove, who +knew the signs and portents of her husband's +face, looked twice at him with just a shade of +anxiety as she asked whether he would take +some tea.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Thanks," he said, and taking his cup he +went and stood on the rug before the empty +hearth. He stirred his tea slowly, with his eyes +wandering from one to the other of the four +women in the room.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You good people seem singularly calm, +considering that you must just have been +listening to a very exciting story," he remarked.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Indeed, no," replied Sybil, taking upon +herself to answer. "The lady to whom you +have just been doing the polite bored us intensely. +Leonie says, for all the dash she's +cutting in London, she's an <em class="italics">incognita</em> so far as +America is concerned."</p> +<p class="pnext">The General continued to stir his tea impassively.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Did she not inform you in the course of her +small talk," he inquired presently, "that on her +way here her carriage had knocked a man +down and gone near to killing him?"</p> +<p class="pnext">The question evoked a chorus of interested +negatives.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Neither did she say anything to me about +it," said the General gravely.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then how did you become aware of the accident?" +Mrs. Sadgrove ventured to ask.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Saw it," returned the General. "It happened +in Buckingham Palace Road. I was +passing at the time, on my way home from the +club. Her coachman drove right over the fellow +as he was crossing the roadway at the corner. +He was knocked down, and it was the +merest shave that he wasn't trampled by the +horses and crushed by the wheels. As it was, +he escaped with a bit of a shaking and a dusty +coat. At any rate, he got up and walked into +the nearest barber's—for a wash and brush-up, +I suppose."</p> +<p class="pnext">Further questioned, the General in his jerky +way informed his fair audience that he was +sure that it was Mrs. Talmage Eglinton's +jobbed landau that had wrought the mischief, +and that she herself was in it at the time. It +was the same vehicle which he had found at +his own door on reaching home ten minutes +ago, and to which he had just conducted her.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Funny that she should be so secretive about +it," said Mrs. Sadgrove, reflectively. "It's the +sort of thing that most women, coming fresh +from the scene, would have been full of—especially +as it must have been the coachman's +fault, and not her own."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Exactly," was the General's curt comment.</p> +<p class="pnext">"She's a—a <em class="italics">creature</em>," Sybil Hanbury exclaimed, +viciously. "Thank goodness, I don't +know her; but I've heard all about her from +Alec. The poor boy can't abide her; she makes +eyes at him so unblushingly."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then we can appreciate your sentiments +about her," remarked the General with the +flicker of a smile. "How did we come to know +this lady?" he added to his wife.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mrs. Sadgrove explained that she had been +asked as a favor to call on Mrs. Talmage Eglinton +by a mutual acquaintance, a certain +Lady Roseville, but had regretted it ever since. +Their intercourse had, however, been of the +slightest, being confined to the interchange of +a couple of formal visits, and to an invitation +by Mrs. Sadgrove to a musical "at home," at +which Mrs. Talmage Eglinton had endeavored +to embark on a flirtation with Alec Forsyth.</p> +<p class="pnext">"She's a rich widow, I believe; and I don't +think she would ever have been heard of if the +Rosevilles hadn't taken her up," Mrs. Sadgrove +concluded.</p> +<p class="pnext">The series of grunts with which the General +received this information had hardly ceased +when again the footman appeared in the doorway +and announced, with all due importance:</p> +<p class="pnext">"His Grace the Duke of Beaumanoir."</p> +<p class="pnext">The occupants of the drawing-room were all +accustomed to the "usages of polite society," +either in Britannic or Transatlantic form; but +it was impossible for them to repress a flutter +of excitement as the visitor entered, his original +"cavalry swing" marred but not wholly +obliterated by his limp. Leonie tried hard not +to blush, and failed. Mrs. Sherman interlaced +her fingers nervously. Sybil Hanbury stared +hard at the cousin whose stately town house +she was occupying, and who had waved a +magic wand over her lover's prospects. Mrs. +Sadgrove was the graceful and interested hostess, +and the General—well, the General was +surprised for once into a start which was only +invisible because nobody was looking at him.</p> +<p class="pnext">Beaumanoir's manner was perfectly easy +and self-possessed, but there was a harassed +look in his eyes which did not entirely fade +as he responded to his welcome. But it was +not that which had caused the General to start.</p> +<p class="pnext"><em class="italics">The Duke was the man whom he had seen +knocked down by Mrs. Talmage Eglinton's +carriage, to the imminent peril of his life.</em></p> +<p class="pnext">The "wash and brush-up" had been effectual +as regards the ducal garments, but they could +not hide the black silk sling in which he carried +his left arm. It was General Sadgrove's way +to allow events to shape themselves, and saying +nothing of the scene he had witnessed as +he welcomed the distinguished visitor, he +waited for the Duke to refer to his mishap +himself.</p> +<p class="pnext">But no. The victim of the accident was +apparently as much inclined to reticence as +had been the fair cause of it. It was Mrs. +Sherman who unconsciously provoked the +mendacious statement which stimulated the +General's curiosity.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I'm afraid that your Grace has hurt your +hand," said the Senator's wife, pointing to a +broad strip of diachylon plaster that ran from +the Duke's wrist to the ball of his thumb.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, I—I grazed it rather badly against +the wheel in getting out of a cab," Beaumanoir +replied with a momentary loss of his self-possession. +The discomposure passed at once, +and only the observer on the hearth-rug noticed +it. The same shrewd observer presently +perceived that the visitor was definitely leading +the conversation to the subject of the arrival in +England of Senator Sherman; and, more than +that, that he was waxing a shade more inquisitive +than good-breeding allowed as to the nature +of the senatorial journey.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ah! he's coming on political business, I +think you told me?" the Duke remarked in a +half-tone of interrogation on Leonie saying +that her father, according to advices received +that morning, was to sail in two days' time on +the <em class="italics">Campania</em>, and would be due at Liverpool +early in the following week.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, it's political business in a way," Mrs. +Sherman struck in. "My husband is coming +over in charge of a large amount of Government +securities, which are to be deposited at +the Bank of England against a shipment of +English gold to the United States."</p> +<p class="pnext">"He's got the opening he wanted. Now, +what on earth is he going to do with it?" said +the General to himself as he watched keenly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Rather a dangerous mission, I should say," +was the Duke's comment on the information +imparted to him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Dangerous! How can that be?" Leonie +exclaimed, wondering. "United States Treasury +bonds are not explosive."</p> +<p class="pnext">"No, but the world is full of sharps, Miss +Sherman, and some of them might fancy having +a shy for such a haul," said Beaumanoir +with a trace more of earnestness than the occasion +seemed to require. "If I had a relative +starting on such an errand, I should be inclined +to cable him to—ah—to look out for +himself," he added in direct appeal to Mrs. +Sherman.</p> +<p class="pnext">But the good lady laughed the suggestion to +scorn, alleging playfully that "it would be as +much as her place was worth" to tackle the +Senator that way. It would be a hint that he +wasn't able to take care of himself or of his +charge, and would be resented accordingly.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Duke abandoned the subject, but the +General noted the disappointment in the tired +eyes.</p> +<p class="pnext">"His Grace knows something. Let's see—he +was on his beam-ends when he was unearthed +in New York," the old hunter of +Thugs and Dacoits muttered under his gray +mustache.</p> +<p class="pnext">Beaumanoir made no long stay after his +ineffectual effort to sound a warning note. +There had been no opportunity for individual +talk; but in saying his adieus he had two words +with Sybil, who had been observing her cousin +quite as intently as, and a good deal more +openly than, the General.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I'm going to look Alec up now, at his diggings +in John Street," he said. "Probably I +shall ask him to put me up to-night."</p> +<p class="pnext">"It's a shame that you should have to do +so," Sybil blurted in her boyish fashion. +"You've been awfully good to us. I ought +to have cleared out of Beaumanoir House at +once, and I'll 'git' as soon as ever I can make +other arrangements."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I beg you'll do nothing of the kind," Beaumanoir +made genial answer. "Alec is about +the only friend I have, and—and I need a +friend, Cousin Sybil. It has been a pleasure +to serve him and you—if it can be called serving +you," he added with a thoughtful gravity +that puzzled the girl.</p> +<p class="pnext">She shook hands with a warmth that bespoke +the death of old prejudices, and General Sadgrove, +who had hardly exchanged two words +with his visitor, accompanied him to the hall-door.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Are you walking, Duke? Or shall I +whistle a cab?" he asked.</p> +<p class="pnext">Beaumanoir looked up the street and down +the street, and gave a queer little shrug.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It won't make any difference whether I +walk or drive," he said. "Good-bye, General."</p> +<p class="pnext">Having gazed the limping figure out of +sight, the General went back into the house and +made for his private den—a cozy apartment +crammed with Eastern spoils. There he leisurely +selected a cigar and seated himself in a +big saddle-bag chair.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There is something brewing," he growled +gently. "I perceive a vibration in the moral +atmosphere which quite recalls old days. I +wonder what it means?"</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-viithe-men-on-the-stairs"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id8">CHAPTER VII—<em class="italics">The Men on the Stairs</em></a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">The rooms—two in number—occupied by +Alec Forsyth in John Street, Adelphi, were +in a house let off in bachelor chambers, with +the exception of the ground floor, which was +used as an office by a firm of wholesale wine-merchants. +The young Scotsman's limited +income had precluded a more aristocratic locality; +and, at any rate, John Street offered +the advantage of being within a few minutes' +walk of his daily work in Downing Street.</p> +<p class="pnext">In the daytime, when the tenants were out +at their various avocations, the upper part of +the dingy old building was deserted, save by +the housekeeper in the attics; while the counting-house +abutting on the street was all life +and bustle. At night the conditions were reversed, +the wine-merchant's premises being +locked up and silent, and the rooms above occupied.</p> +<p class="pnext">On the evening of that Monday on which +the Duke of Beaumanoir called on the Shermans at the residence of General Sadgrove, +Alec was busy in his sitting-room, tearing up +papers and preparing generally for his departure +to Prior's Tarrant on the morrow. It +was past eight, and he had just lit the gas, +when the door suddenly opened and Beaumanoir +came in.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, Charley—hang it! Duke, I mean—I +thought you were in the country!" Alec +exclaimed, more astonished by his friend's actions +than by his appearance there.</p> +<p class="pnext">For, after slipping quietly in, Beaumanoir +had turned sharp round and loosed the catch +of the spring-lock. Not satisfied with that, he +also shot home the two old-fashioned bolts with +which the door was fitted, top and bottom, and +then flung himself into an easy chair, mopping +his brow with his handkerchief.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't think I was spotted, but it's best +to be on the safe side," he muttered. Then +aloud: "I came to ask you to give me a shake-down +to-night, old chap, on a sofa or anything; +only I don't know if it's fair to you; my +proximity carries a pretty considerable risk. +But I've been—rather worried, and I seem to +want company."</p> +<p class="pnext">Forsyth rose, and laid an affectionate hand +on the Duke's shoulder.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Now, look here," he said, firmly. "I'm +going to forget that you're my employer at a +generous salary, and remember only that I'm +your friend. What does all this mean? +You've been hurt somehow, too. Just make a +clean breast of it, and let's see what can be +done."</p> +<p class="pnext">Beaumanoir shook his head sadly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I can't make a clean breast of it," he began; +then pulled up short and went on. "At +least, I can't tell you causes, but I'll tell you +effects. My life has been attempted twice certainly, +possibly three times, since noon yesterday."</p> +<p class="pnext">"How?" said Alec with Scotch brevity.</p> +<p class="pnext">"A lame gardener was set upon at Prior's +Tarrant, and released on his assailants finding +that they had mistaken him for me. And at +night they got on the roof and tried to suffocate +me by letting a brazier of charcoal down +into the grate and plugging the chimney. +Luckily I awoke, and managed to crawl out of +the room in time."</p> +<p class="pnext">"But surely you raised an alarm and caught +the fellows? They couldn't get off the roof +and escape so quickly as that," exclaimed Alec, +half incredulous.</p> +<p class="pnext">Again the Duke shook his head.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I raised no alarm, and they did get away, +after pulling up the brazier and leaving no +trace," he replied. "There are reasons, Alec, +why I could not have appeared against them +had they been caught—the same reasons why +I can't confide more fully in you."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You must have done something very bad—murder +at least," said Forsyth, gravely.</p> +<p class="pnext">"On the contrary, I have done nothing at +all," Beaumanoir retorted. "It is for not +doing something that I am being persecuted."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, what about the third attempt?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"It happened this afternoon, as I was on +my way to your uncle's. A carriage knocked +me down and very nearly crumpled me. But +that may have been an accident."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Did you take stock of the driver and the +people in the carriage?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Beaumanoir was obliged to admit that he +had not. In his disheveled state he had been +only anxious to be cleaned down and have his +wrist attended to, and it was not till after the +carriage had driven rapidly away that he had +connected the incident with the other attempts.</p> +<p class="pnext">Forsyth said nothing for the moment, but +fetched some cigarettes from the mantelpiece; +and it was not until they had smoked in silence +for awhile that he blurted out suddenly:</p> +<p class="pnext">"This can't be allowed to go on. It makes +everything impossible. Have you any reason +to think that the people who are pursuing you +will do so indefinitely—until they have settled +you?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Beaumanoir considered before replying, as +though the point had not occurred to him before.</p> +<p class="pnext">"No," he said, with a nervous laugh. +"Things have crowded so in the last few hours +that I haven't thought much about any sort of +future. I cannot be sure, but I believe if I +could pull through till the end of next week—say, +for another fortnight—that the danger +would pass."</p> +<p class="pnext">Forsyth sat and ruminated, blowing blue +smoke-rings; and then, after two or three +minutes of silence, a faint noise sounded in the +room. The Duke, whose nerves were tuned to +concert pitch, heard it first, and turned a pair +of wide-open eyes on the door. Forsyth's gaze +followed, and they both saw the handle of the +door move. The door itself, being locked and +double bolted, of course refused to yield to the +gentle pressure from without.</p> +<p class="pnext">Forsyth laid his finger to his lips for silence, +and motioned Beaumanoir to retire into the +bedroom, which communicated by means of +folding doors with the sitting-room. When +the Duke had noiselessly disappeared, Forsyth +stole to the outer door, and having first quietly +drawn the bolts he quickly unlocked it and +flung it open, to be confronted by an under-sized +little man, who shrank back from his +threatening attitude.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Who the deuce are you—and what do you +want, disturbing me at this time of night?" +Forsyth demanded fiercely.</p> +<p class="pnext">"These are Mr. Crofton's chambers, ain't +they, sir?" bleated the intruder.</p> +<p class="pnext">"No; they are not. There's no one of that +name in the house that I know of," replied +Forsyth, partially mollified by his mild manner, +and wholly so when the little man proceeded +to apologize for his mistake, explaining +that he was from a chemist's in the Strand with +some medicine for the gentleman, but that he +must have come to the wrong house.</p> +<p class="pnext">Holding up a bottle as evidence of his <em class="italics">bona +fides</em>, he retreated downstairs, excusing himself +to the last; but before going he had managed +to snatch a comprehensive glance round the +room. Forsyth waited on the landing until his +steps had died away, and then went back into +his room, barring the door as before.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It's all right," he said, going to the folding +doors. "Only some chap who had mistaken +the address."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Not much mistake there," replied the +Duke, outwardly calm, but gone very white. +"I caught a peep of him. He's a johnny who +shadowed me over from America, and never +left me till just before I met you at the Cecil. +He called himself Marker, and—and he's in +this business, Alec."</p> +<p class="pnext">"He didn't look very formidable. Why, +you could lick the thread-paper little skimp +with one hand," said Forsyth, beginning to +wonder if his friend's mind were unhinged. +It was not like the once gay hussar Charley +Hanbury—intrepid horseman, champion boxer, +and good all-round athlete—to funk a miserable +wisp such as that!</p> +<p class="pnext">"He is only the spy, I expect—sent to find +out if I was here," replied Beaumanoir, passing +a weary hand over his eyes.</p> +<p class="pnext">Moved by a sudden impulse, Forsyth went +into the bedroom, shutting the door behind him +so as to be in the dark. The window commanded +a view of the street, and the blind had +not been drawn. Looking down, he saw a man +sauntering on the opposite pavement, who +presently coming under the rays of a street-lamp +was revealed as Marker. Forsyth waited +until the spy turned and slowly retraced his +steps, and then went back into the sitting-room.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You have convinced me that there is something +in all this," he said. "That fellow is +mouching about outside."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I'll go. I can't subject you to this sort of +thing," said Beaumanoir, reaching for the new +hat which he had purchased after his "accident."</p> +<p class="pnext">But Forsyth pushed him back into his chair.</p> +<p class="pnext">"A duke isn't necessarily a fool," he said, +roughly. "What you want most is a good +sleep, and you shall have it—here in these +rooms. Mr. Marker can't <em class="italics">know</em> that you are +here, or he wouldn't have come to the door with +that bogus yarn. Also, he is evidently not satisfied +that you are <em class="italics">not</em> here, or he would have +gone away. It remains to throw dust in his +eyes and fool him a bit. Lord! how I wish my +uncle, General Sadgrove, was with us!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"He seemed to me a trifle dull," remarked +the Duke, inconsequently.</p> +<p class="pnext">Forsyth made allowances, and did not answer.</p> +<p class="pnext">"See here," he said, after a minute's reflection. +"This is the plan to throw the spy off +the scent. It's nine o'clock—just the hour +when it would be quite natural for a bachelor +to go to his club. I will stroll round to Northumberland +Avenue, and drop into the Constitutional +for an hour. In the meanwhile, do +you stay here and lie low behind locked doors, +and with gas turned down. That rascal will +almost certainly retire to his employers baffled, +for he would not think that I should go out and +leave you alone."</p> +<p class="pnext">"That sounds promising," Beaumanoir assented. +"But don't stay a moment longer +than the hour, Alec. I don't think I could +stand it."</p> +<p class="pnext">Forsyth reassured him, and having slipped +into evening clothes and donned a light overcoat, +he issued his final instructions. It was +beginning to be natural to him now to take the +lead, after that glimpse of the lurking figure +in the light of the street-lamp. Beaumanoir +was to lock and bolt himself in, and only open +on hearing the password "<em class="italics">Rat</em>."</p> +<p class="pnext">These matters arranged, Forsyth departed, +and, after waiting until he heard the bolts shot, +went down into the street, where the spy was +still in evidence, prowling on the other side. +He made no attempt to follow Forsyth, who, +affecting not to notice him, walked rapidly the +short distance to his club. There he remained +in the smoking-room with what patience he +could muster for the full hour, determined not +to return till time enough had elapsed for Marker +to come to the desired conclusion and act +upon it.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was half-past ten when Forsyth set out +to retrace his steps to John Street, and almost +as soon as he entered that deserted thoroughfare +he saw that the watcher was no longer at +his post. Eager to relieve Beaumanoir from +his solitary state of siege, he made all haste to +the house, and was passing quickly through the +entry when he heard footsteps on the landing +above. A gas-jet was kept burning over the +closed door of the wine-merchant's office, for +the benefit of the resident tenants on the upper +floors, so that he had a clear view of the +straight stone stairs. Before he reached the +latter two men came into view, hurriedly descending, +and talking together in muffled +undertones—one a gaunt, hungry-looking +individual in the garb of a clergyman; the +other, burly and bull-necked, dressed in shabby +tweeds and bowler hat.</p> +<p class="pnext">Forsyth stood aside at the stair-foot for +them to pass, and then, moved by the furtive +glances they turned back at him, he ran upstairs +two steps at a time. He knew all his +fellow-lodgers by sight; but these men were +strangers, and he did not like the looks of the +curiously assorted pair. On coming to the +door of his rooms, he rapped and spoke the +agreed signal, but something prompted him +not to wait, and simultaneously he turned the +handle. The door swung open at once, without +any unbarring from within.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Where have you got to?" cried Forsyth, +peering round the room, in which the gas +burned low, just as he had left it.</p> +<p class="pnext">There was no response; and with a sinking +heart he turned on a full light and dashed into +the bedroom, only to find that also vacant. The +Duke of Beaumanoir had vanished from his +refuge.</p> +<p class="pnext">There was no doubt that he was in neither +of the rooms. A hasty search put that beyond +question. Instinctively Forsyth ran to the +outer door and at once made the discovery—for +which he was already prepared—that his +chambers had been forcibly entered during his +absence. The door had been wrenched open +with a jemmy, and had simply been pulled to +on the departure of the intruders. The shattered +woodwork round the spring-lock told its +own tale, though the mystery was increased by +the fact that the old-fashioned bolts had been +withdrawn.</p> +<p class="pnext">But what of Beaumanoir?</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-viiithe-cut-panel"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id9">CHAPTER VIII—<em class="italics">The Cut Panel</em></a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">In the famous white drawing-room at Beaumanoir +House Sybil Hanbury was preparing +to end a solitary evening by the simple process +of going to bed. The butler, a martyr to punctilio, +had insisted on lighting every jet in the +chandeliers and in the sconces on the walls, +with the result that the vast apartment scintillated +like a ball-room, accentuating the loneliness +of the black-clad little figure of its sole +occupant.</p> +<p class="pnext">Sybil laid aside her book, and surveyed the +splendid emptiness of the room with a smile of +amusement for her monopoly of so much gorgeously +upholstered space. But as she realized +that her monopoly of the white drawing-room +was only a detail in the much larger incongruity +of her monopoly of the Piccadilly mansion, +her face took a graver look.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I trust that the Vincents will be ready to +take me in next week," she mused with a touch +of impatience. "The idea of a score of servants and an acre of ducal palace being run +for a simple body like me is too ridiculous, +especially with the rightful owner ready to +take possession."</p> +<p class="pnext">She had been both puzzled and attracted by +her cousin at General Sadgrove's that afternoon. +As a child she had heard so much contemptuous +obloquy poured on the absent ne'er-do-well +that, in spite of his generosity to Alec +Forsyth and his consideration for herself, she +had been prepared to cling to the old prejudice. +It had, however, at once broken down +under the pathetic plea for friendship which +she had discerned in the Duke's troubled eyes, +for her womanly insight told her that the new +head of the family was under the influence of +a mental strain almost amounting to physical +distress.</p> +<p class="pnext">"He looks like a man sitting on an infernal +machine, listening to the tick-tack of the clock-work," +she reflected. "Yet I don't think he's +wicked, or the sort of person with a past likely +to fly up and hit him in the face. I wish I +knew what he is grizzling about, so that Alec +and I could do him a good turn in exchange +for his benevolence."</p> +<p class="pnext">She had risen with the intention of retiring +to her own room, when the butler entered hurriedly, +and with traces of well-disciplined agitation +on his episcopal countenance. Mr. +Prince had grown gray in the ducal service; +but, beyond a slight fatherliness of manner, he +did not presume on the fact towards the orphan +scion of the great house.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I really don't know, Miss, if I ought to disturb +you so late on such a matter," he said. +"Two men have called to see his Grace, and, +failing him, insisted on my ascertaining if you +would receive them."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I know nothing of the Duke's affairs, and +I am just going up to bed," Sybil replied, +wondering at the usually correct retainer's excitement. +"Besides, Prince, 'insist' is rather a +curious word to use here," she added with a +trace of asperity.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I should not have ventured to repeat such +an objectionable phrase, Miss, if it had not +been used with a sort of authority," the butler +hastened to put himself right. "I ought to +have mentioned that they are Scotland Yard +detectives, which accounts for my being a bit +flurried."</p> +<p class="pnext">Sybil promptly sat down again and bade +Prince show the visitors in. She had no desire +to pry into her cousin's business, nor did her +reception of the police-officers imply any such +intention. But at that moment her preconceived +notion that the Duke was the center of +a mystery took definite shape, and she was +above all things loyal to the house. She decided +that in her cousin's interest it would be +wiser to see these men, and, if possible, fore-arm +herself with a knowledge of their designs.</p> +<p class="pnext">But when Prince returned it was to usher in +not two men, but only one—a cadaverous, +middle-aged person in the garb of a clergyman, +who waited obsequiously near the door +while his card was presented by the butler.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I found when I got back into the hall that +he'd sent the other man away, Miss—said there +was no need for two of them to intrude upon +you," explained Prince in an undertone.</p> +<p class="pnext">Sybil nodded, but the furtive glances of the +clerically dressed visitor caused her to call +Prince back as he was retiring.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I trust you didn't leave them alone in the +hall?" she whispered.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, dear, no, Miss; William, the second +footman, was on duty in the hall while I came +to you," was the reply, uttered in a slightly +injured tone.</p> +<p class="pnext">Prince having taken a dignified departure, +Sybil beckoned forward the individual whom +his card proclaimed to be "Inspector Chantrey, +Criminal Investigation Department." He +advanced with a shambling walk and with +deprecating gestures in keeping with his disguise; +but Sybil formed the opinion that all +his nervousness was not simulated. It struck +her that he was listening intently as he +threaded his way through the priceless Louis +Seize garniture of the white drawing-room.</p> +<p class="pnext">He stood before her at last, for all the world +like a half-famished wolf in the presence of a +very wide-awake and dainty lamb that had not +the least intention of being devoured. He +spoke hurriedly—almost perfunctorily, as +though he set no great store by his questions +or the answers to them; and all the time that +listening attitude was noticeable.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I called in the hope of finding his Grace at +home," he began, with a half-note of interrogation.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, the butler will have told you that he +is not at home," said Sybil sharply.</p> +<p class="pnext">"True; but servants are not always reliable, +and I thought I had better see one of the +family. Might I ask if the Duke is expected +here to-night?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"No, he isn't. What do you want him for?" +snapped Sybil.</p> +<p class="pnext">The <em class="italics">aplomb</em> of the question seemed to take +the inquisitor back. He glanced curiously at +the girl in the high-backed arm-chair, first +scanning her tenacious little face, but quickly +dropping his shifty eyes to the carelessly +crossed shoes.</p> +<p class="pnext">He began to "hem" and "ha."</p> +<p class="pnext">"The fact of the matter is, we have had a +communication from the county police at +Prior's Tarrant, in respect of an assault on +one of the servants in the park yesterday. The +local people think the attack may have been +intended for the Duke, and they have wired us +to make inquiries."</p> +<p class="pnext">The reason alleged for his visit sounded +plausible, and in some degree might account +for the hunted look she had surprised in the +Duke's eyes. Yet she was not altogether satisfied. +It was conceivable that the police should +want to question the Duke, but the excuse for +intruding on her at such an hour hardly seemed +adequate.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I am still at a loss to see how I can be of +service to you in a matter of which I know +nothing," she said, not attempting to keep the +suspicion out of her voice.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I only desired to make sure, madam, that +the Duke was not at home. Having obtained +that assurance from the fountain-head, pray +permit me to withdraw," was the nervously +spoken reply, punctuated by an awkward bow +and the commencement of a hurried retreat. +But the visitor had only taken three steps +down the long vista of the room when the door +was flung open, and Prince announced, with +the air of one who springs a surprise:</p> +<p class="pnext">"His Grace the Duke!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Beaumanoir was very pale, but he advanced +without hesitation, meeting Sibyl's interrogator +half-way up the room. Startled as she +was by her cousin's unexpected appearance, +the girl intuitively rose and went forward, +vaguely conscious of a desire to hear if the +man repeated the same tale.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, sir?" said the Duke, curtly.</p> +<p class="pnext">Sybil hardly knew whether or no she was +relieved when, word for word, the man repeated +the reason he had just given her for his +call. Watching her cousin's face, she saw the +pallor yield to a flush of evident annoyance.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, yes; something of the kind occurred in +the park at Prior's Tarrant," he angrily replied. +"But all this about the man being mistaken +for me is officious nonsense—too trivial +to warrant your pushing your way into this +young lady's presence at eleven o'clock at +night. I shall complain to your superiors of +this most impertinent intrusion."</p> +<p class="pnext">"What could it mean?" Sybil asked herself. +The man's nervous air—his attitude of +listening—had disappeared. His sly face +grew sleekly impudent under Beaumanoir's +rebuke and it was quite jauntily that he answered:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then I'll bid your Grace good-night. Very +possibly you'll reconsider the advisability of +raising the question at Scotland Yard."</p> +<p class="pnext">The clerical coat-tails went flapping down +the room, the Duke following them to the door, +where he handed their owner over to Prince, +who was hovering in the hall. Having given +a sharp order to "show the gentleman out," +Beaumanoir returned to Sybil, humbly apologetic, +but with signs of haste in his manner.</p> +<p class="pnext">"My dear cousin, I am more than annoyed +at Prince's laxity in admitting that fellow," +he said, taking her hand. "It is fortunate that +I chanced to look in in the hope of finding you +up, and so was able to rid you of him. I came +to leave a message for Alec in case he calls +presently."</p> +<p class="pnext">"But Alec is the pink of propriety," exclaimed +Sibyl, laughing in spite of herself. +"He doesn't call on an unprotected damsel, +even if he is engaged to her, at eleven o'clock +at night."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Nevertheless, I believe that he will call here +very shortly; and I should like him to be told +that I am all right, and, in fact, that I am +going out of town for a few days to the sea-side. +I will communicate with him when I +want him to enter on his secretarial duties. +That is all, I think. I must really be off now."</p> +<p class="pnext">But Sybil would not at once take his proffered +hand. She remembered that he had +mentioned that he was to spend the night at +Alec's chambers, and this sudden derangement +of plans, coupled with the lurking suggestion +in his message, was, to say the least of it, mysterious. +Looking into the tired eyes, she found +again that expression of sleepless worry that +had puzzled her. Why should it be necessary +for this young man, newly come to great +wealth and station, to notify his friend so +feverishly that he was "all right," and in the +same breath announce his retreat from London +to some vague destination—not to his own +country-seat?</p> +<p class="pnext">"As you expect Alec here, wouldn't it be +better to wait for him?" she urged; adding +naïvely, "I could even offer you a bed, if you +would condescend to make yourself at home in +your own house."</p> +<p class="pnext">But Beaumanoir was in no mood to perceive +the humor of the situation. He was clearly +fidgeting to be gone, and Sybil could only conclude +that he wanted to be gone before Alec +arrived. With a girl's faith in her lover's +power to surmount most difficulties, she decided +to try and detain her cousin as long as +possible; but her diplomacy was not called into +play. Prince, now wearing an air of mild +protest at all these excursions and alarums, +appeared in the doorway to announce:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mr. Forsyth."</p> +<p class="pnext">Beaumanoir was evidently disconcerted at +not having made his exit in time; and Sybil, +recognizing that there was something between +the two men not for her ears, tactfully withdrew +to the other end of the room, after smiling +a greeting to her lover. She thought none +the worse of him because he was too preoccupied +to return it. She was beginning to discern +an undercurrent of serious import beneath the +happenings of the past half-hour.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What made you break cover, old chap? +You've given me a pretty scare," said Forsyth +to the Duke. "When I found you'd gone, I +came on here on the off-chance."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I didn't think it fair to subject you to the +sort of night you might have had with me as +an inmate, so I cleared out," Beaumanoir replied, +wearily. "I guessed you'd inquire here, +so I called in to leave word that I was all right—up +to date."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You were not molested before quitting my +chambers?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"No. Why do you ask?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Because the place has been visited; it must +have been after you left," said Forsyth, +gravely. And he went on to relate how he had +found the door broken open, and how he had +met two suspicious-looking men on the stairs, +one dressed as a clergyman and the other in +shabby tweeds.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Dressed as a clergyman?" cried Beaumanoir, +startled into forgetfulness of Sybil's +presence in the room. "Then, Alec, I have +stood face to face with death in this house not +ten minutes ago. I found your sham parson +here, professing to be an official detective; but +I doubted him from the first."</p> +<p class="pnext">His raised tones reached Sybil, who realized +that the house of Beaumanoir was confronted +by no ordinary emergency. What the peril +could be that threatened her noble relative she +had no means of knowing, or any wish to +know; but the Duke's description of himself +as standing "face to face with death" amid the +seeming security of his own white drawing-room +touched her with the icy hand of unknown +dread, and, moreever, filled her with a +sense of responsibility. The man who was not +safe under the dazzling lights of that splendid +apartment, with a host of servants within call, +was going forth into all the insecurity of the +London streets at midnight because, her instinct +told her, he would not expose her to the +same danger.</p> +<p class="pnext">Her cousin's chivalry appealed not only to +her loyalty to the house, but to that protective +impulse which springs readily in every woman's +heart.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I couldn't help overhearing you," she said, +coming forward. "I, too, doubted that man—very strongly. I am sure he meant no good. +But what I want to say, Cousin Charles, is +that you must remain here to-night. If you +go out of the house, I shall go also."</p> +<p class="pnext">Forsyth shot a grateful look at her.</p> +<p class="pnext">"The best possible plan," he said, quickly. +"Now, don't be obstinate, Duke. The man has +left the premises, I presume? Good! That +being so, we shall be a poor lot if we can't +prevent his getting in again, which he is hardly +likely to attempt. There is nothing to hinder +you from spending a quiet night here, without +the slightest risk of unpleasantness either to +Sybil or to yourself, and in the morning you +and I can talk over your future movements at +leisure."</p> +<p class="pnext">"And I quite meant what I said," Sybil +added, firmly. "If you won't stay here, you +will put me to the inconvenience of turning out +and going to an hotel at twelve o'clock at +night. I have no intention of being forced into +the horrid feeling that I am keeping you from +the shelter of your own roof."</p> +<p class="pnext">Under the pleading of the two pairs of +kindly eyes turned on him Beaumanoir wavered. +The chance of sleep and rest was +tempting. He stepped to the door, and found +Prince in the great entrance-hall.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That man who called himself a detective +has gone?" he inquired. "You are sure there +is no mistake about it? You showed him to the +door yourself, and saw him out?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"And secured the door immediately afterwards, +your Grace. Mr. Forsyth will bear me +out in that; I had to withdraw the bolts to +admit him."</p> +<p class="pnext">Beaumanoir returned to the drawing-room.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You are both very good, and I will stay +for to-night only," he assented. "I wish I +could make the explanation I owe you, but—well, +I am the victim of circumstances."</p> +<p class="pnext">"The explanation will keep," said Forsyth, +bluntly. "May I stay too?"</p> +<p class="pnext">The permission was, of course, accorded, +and Sybil bade them good-night and retired +to her room, giving orders on the way for two +adjoining bedrooms to be prepared for them. +The two men went into the smoking-room for +a whisky and cigarette while the rooms were +being got ready; but each with tacit consent +avoided the topic of the moment. The one +idea in Alec's mind was to let Beaumanoir +have a good sleep, and persuade him into a +serious discussion in the morning.</p> +<p class="pnext">They parted at the door of their bedrooms +on the first floor, where the late Duke's valet, +who was still in the house, had done everything +possible to cope with the sudden emergency. +Pajamas had been routed out, and toilet requisites +provided. The windows of both rooms +looked out over the ceaseless traffic of Piccadilly, +so that no danger could be apprehended +from that quarter; yet Forsyth sat for a long +time before turning in to bed. In his ignorance +of what was the source of the Duke's +danger, he had been loath to excite remark +among the servants by fussing about the +proper locking up of the mansion; but the +stately tread of Prince going his rounds reassured +him on that point, and eventually he +slept.</p> +<p class="pnext">In the meanwhile, Sybil, in her room at the +other end of the same corridor, was finding a +still greater difficulty in composing herself to +rest. The events of the evening, in such startling +contrast with the normal calm of the dignified +establishment that had been her home, +had unsettled—not to say alarmed—her, and +she felt no inclination to the lace-edged pillow +that usually wooed her to willing slumbers. +She was a sound, healthy girl, untroubled by +nerves; but she felt a singular need for alertness, +unreasonable perhaps, but imperative.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Duke's anxiety to make sure that the +clerically dressed individual had really left the +house had impressed her; and now, too late for +inquiry, she remembered that she had omitted +to mention that <em class="italics">two</em> men had called, one of +them not having been shown into her presence. +The latter, Prince had said, had been dismissed +by his colleague; but his departure had only +been witnessed by William, the second footman—a +dreamy servant at the best of times, +and unreliable by reason of a hopeless attachment +to the senior housemaid. The thought +thrilled Sybil that the other man, having hoodwinked +the footman, might still be in the +house, concealed in one of the many unused +rooms.</p> +<p class="pnext">The idea of a lurking prowler, biding his +time in the stillness of the sleeping household, +kept her wakeful. Once or twice she looked +out into the corridor; but the flicker of her +candle only showed two rows of closed doors, +without a sign of life, and each time she went +back and tried to fix her attention on a book. +So the night dragged into the small hours; and +about three o'clock, after a longer interval +than before, she determined to take one more +peep and then get into bed.</p> +<p class="pnext">She had already grasped the door-handle, +when she withdrew her hand as though it had +been stung by an adder. A faint scrooping +sound told her that someone was doing something +in the corridor, and half a minute's +strained listening told her that, whatever that +something was, it was persistent and continuous. +It went on and on, like the drone of a +bee in a bottle.</p> +<p class="pnext">Silently crossing the room, she turned down +her gas to a pin-point and blew out the candle +with which she had intended to investigate. +Then she returned to the door, and, opening it +noiselessly, tiptoed into the outer darkness. +Here the sound, though still faint, was more +distinctly audible, and she was able to locate it +at the door of the room occupied by the Duke. +The discovery left her no time for fear, or even +for conjecture. There was only one thing to +be done—to rouse Alec and the Duke, but +without, till that supreme moment, alarming +the unseen manipulator at her cousin's door. +Thus would she narrow the time at the disposal +of that mysterious person for revising his +plans and effecting his escape.</p> +<p class="pnext">The thick pile carpet made for silence, and +she stole quietly along the broad passage, +touching and counting the doors till she +reached that of Forsyth's room—only a few +feet from the gentle buz-buz that had attracted +her attention, and only a few feet from someone +stealthily at work in the dark. A steady +snore from the interior of the Duke's chamber +explained his complacence under that uncanny +tampering with his approaches.</p> +<p class="pnext">Again giving herself no time for fear, Sybil +beat a rat-tat on Forsyth's door, calling him +by name. The sound at the next door immediately +ceased, an instant of intense silence following, +and then almost simultaneously two +things happened. An iron grip settled on the +girl's wrist, just as Forsyth flung open the +door of his room, in which he had wisely turned +the gas full on as he leaped out of bed. The +light streamed into the corridor and shone +upon a man in shabby tweeds and bowler hat, +who was holding Sybil, but not so hampered +that he was prevented from drawing a revolver +and aiming straight at Forsyth's head.</p> +<div class="align-center auto-scaled figure" style="margin-left: 29%; width: 41%" id="figure-9"> +<span id="the-procession-of-three-led-by-the-stranger"/><img style="display: block; width: 100%" alt="The procession of three led by the stranger." src="images/illus3.jpg" width="100%"/> +<div class="caption italics"> +"The procession of three led by the stranger."</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">Whether he intended to fire or offer an ultimatum was not demonstrated, for before he +could do either he was taken in the rear and +found himself a target. There stood the Duke +in his pajamas, with a handy little Smith and +Wesson not a foot from the intruder's temples, +and with his left hand significantly extended.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Give me that pistol," he said, sternly.</p> +<p class="pnext">Beaumanoir was dealing with a tangible foe +at last, and with a thrill of racial pride Sybil +noted the light of battle in her relative's eye. +It was, therefore, more than a shock to her +when the Duke, having relieved the tweed-coated +lurker of his weapon, calmly added:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Now, sir, if you will be good enough to +march in front of me down to the front door, +I will let you out. You two," he continued, +addressing Sybil and Forsyth in the same +quiet tones, "will greatly oblige me by not raising +any alarm or disturbing the servants while +I am gone."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I am coming downstairs with you," said +Forsyth, drily.</p> +<p class="pnext">When the procession of three, led by the +stranger with a brace of pistols at his head, +had filed off to the grand staircase, Sybil ran +back to her room and fetched her candle. An +inspection of the Duke's door showed that a +panel had been partially cut out with a watch-spring +saw, which was still sticking in the +almost invisible fissure.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-ixthe-strategy-of-the-general"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id10">CHAPTER IX—<em class="italics">The Strategy of the General</em></a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">Some five hours later General Sadgrove, at +his house in Grosvenor Gardens, was taking +his morning tub, when a servant tapped at the +door of the bathroom and informed him that +Mr. Alec Forsyth wanted to see him very +urgently. The General as speedily as possible +donned his dressing-gown and descended to +his sanctum. His keen eyes just glanced at +the troubled face of the young man standing +on the hearth-rug; then, in his laconic way, he +asked:</p> +<p class="pnext">"What's wrong, laddie? Your chum Beaumanoir +been in the wars?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Forsyth favored him with a startled stare, +and then broke into an uneasy laugh.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You seem to have been exercising your +faculty of second-sight already, Uncle Jem," +he said.</p> +<p class="pnext">"The man was being <em class="italics">stalked</em>," said the General. +"Has anyone caught him?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Very nearly," replied Forsyth; and he proceeded to narrate the events of the night, and +also what Beaumanoir had told him of the previous +attempts on his life. At mention of the +Duke's absolute refusal to disclose the cause +of the vendetta and to invoke the protection +of the police, General Sadgrove drew a long +breath. On hearing that he had in the small +hours of that morning, thanks to the vigilance +of Sybil Hanbury, held one of his would-be +assassins at his mercy, but had quietly escorted +him to the door and let him go, the whilom +hunter of Dacoits uttered inarticulate grunts.</p> +<p class="pnext">"And now, Uncle Jem, I have come to you +for help," Forsyth proceeded earnestly. "I +have persuaded the Duke to permit me to tell +you in strictest confidence as much as he has +told me, and I think if you can make any suggestions +for baffling these unknown malefactors +that he will adopt them—always provided +your advice does not entail going to the police. +He has given me his word of honor to remain +at Beaumanoir House until I return; but the +odds are they'll have another shy at him +directly he pokes his nose outside."</p> +<p class="pnext">The General had been absently toying with +a tray of Indian curios, but he now looked +sharply up at his nephew.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You are not exactly blind, Alec, and can +read between the lines," he said. "Reluctance +on the part of a man threatened with murder +to communicate with the authorities must +mean that he has got an ugly sort of secret +himself."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You know his record, sir. Charles Hanbury +was never anyone's enemy but his own, +and I expect the Duke of Beaumanoir is much +the same," replied Forsyth with a warmth +which left the General quite unmoved. The +old warrior reverted to his curios and spent a +couple of minutes in balancing an Afghan +dagger on his finger, till, apparently inspired +by the performance, he laid the venomous +blade aside.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I agree with you in one aspect of the case," +he said. "An insurance company, knowing +what we know, would be ill-advised to take a +risk on his Grace's life. The chances are in +favor of his being a dead man within twenty-four +hours of his quitting his present shelter. +I presume that precautions have been taken +against any more bogus detectives, or bogus +anything else, gaining access to him during +your absence?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Forsyth replied that the Duke had promised +to remain in his own room till he returned, and +that the butler had been instructed to admit no +one into the house on any pretence whatever. +Moreover, he added, with a proud note in his +voice, Sybil was co-operating, and was thoroughly +alive to the emergency.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then," said the General, briskly, "I will +finish dressing, and when we have had a mouthful +of breakfast I will go back with you to +Beaumanoir House. We must get your Duke +into the interior of a safer zariba than a Piccadilly +mansion before we can open parallel +trenches against such a persistent enemy."</p> +<p class="pnext">General Sadgrove and Alec breakfasted +alone together, the former, indeed, hurrying +the meal purposely so as to get away before +the ladies appeared. He had seen enough the +previous day, when the Duke was calling on +the Shermans, to make him shy of explaining +to his guests that he was bound for Beaumanoir +House at nine o'clock in the morning, +both Mrs. Sherman and Leonie being aware +that his acquaintance with the Duke only dated +from yesterday. He shrewdly suspected that +the young people who had been fellow-passengers +on the <em class="italics">St. Paul</em> took more than a platonic +interest in each other, and he did not want to +stimulate that interest into anxiety until he was +better informed.</p> +<p class="pnext">He pursued the subject apologetically as +soon as he was in the cab with his nephew.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Sorry I made you bolt your food," he said. +"I hate lying to women if it can be avoided. +The Shermans, who are staying with me, know +Beaumanoir—traveled in the same ship with +him. It would have excited remark to mention +our destination."</p> +<p class="pnext">Forsyth, who had experience of his uncle's +methods, perceived that he was being pumped, +and he had no objection. Having summoned +this wily man-hunter to his assistance, he was +not foolish enough to expect results without +full disclosure.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I understand your reluctance to disturb the +Shermans," he replied. "Beaumanoir has +spoken several times about them—in fact, he +seemed rather unduly excited when he first +heard from me that they were at your house. +I have thought that he might be <em class="italics">épris</em> of +Leonie, though, as I have not seen them together, +I can form no opinion whether the +attraction is mutual."</p> +<p class="pnext">The General, having acquired his information, +relapsed into silence, which was only +broken by Forsyth as the cab turned into Piccadilly. +The short drive was nearly over, but +before the cab stopped he contrived to describe +briefly his chance meeting with the Duke, on +the day of the latter's arrival in England, at +the Hotel Cecil, and with an effort of memory +he recalled the name of the man—Clinton Ziegler—whom +the Duke had been to see.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I dare say it's not important, but it just +occurred to me that I had better mention it +while there was an opportunity," he concluded, +stealing a sidelong glance at his uncle's face, +which, as usual, was illegible. But a movement +of the General's well-gloved right hand +in the direction of his left shirt-cuff, coupled +with the gleam of a gold pencil-case, suggested +that the name of Mr. Clinton Ziegler had been +deemed worthy of record.</p> +<p class="pnext">They were admitted to the ducal residence +by Prince, whose dignity barely enabled him +to stifle the inward curiosity with which he was +devoured. In common with the other servants, +he had not been told of the midnight alarm, +and his orders to put the house practically into +a state of siege had naturally mystified him. +The damage to the bedroom door was not visible +except under close examination, and Sybil +having swept up the sawdust, none of the +household had yet discovered it.</p> +<p class="pnext">"No one has called, sir, except one or two +of the usuals to the tradesmen's entrance, and +they were kept outside," the butler remarked +as he relieved the two gentlemen of their hats +and canes.</p> +<p class="pnext">At Forsyth's request they were shown into +the smoking-room—a cozy den, with only one +window overlooking Piccadilly, to which the +General immediately walked. His gaze roved +over the crowded thoroughfare, comprehending +pedestrians and passing vehicles in one +swift scrutiny, and, apparently satisfied, he +turned away just as Sybil entered, looking as +fresh and sprightly as though she had slept the +clock round. The General greeted her in the +curt manner he affected to all women impartially, +but an extra pressure of her hand may +have had reference to her vigilant gallantry.</p> +<p class="pnext">"His Grace is sulking," she said, with a +smile. "At least, he refuses to leave his room +until he has seen you, General Sadgrove. I +tapped at his door and told him you were here, +but he said that if you want to see him you had +better go upstairs. Very rude of him, isn't +it?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Very sensible," replied the General. "I +would prefer to see him alone, if you will be so +good as to escort me, Miss Hanbury. Alec," +he added, "while I am gone just sit on this ottoman +behind the window-curtain and keep +your eye on that apple-woman under the railings +of the Green Park. When I come back, +be prepared to tell me exactly what she has +done and how many customers she has had."</p> +<p class="pnext">Forsyth nodded, and the General went +away with Sybil, who conducted him up the +grand staircase and left him at the door of the +Duke's room. It was characteristic of the +man that, having heard all there was to hear +of her proceedings from his nephew, he forbore +to waste words on what had occurred, but +dismissed her with an injunction.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Now run away and help Alec, but don't let +the apple-woman know that those sharp eyes +are observing her," he said, unbending so far +as to give her a playful push.</p> +<p class="pnext">His knock and mention of his name was followed +by the sound of footsteps as the occupant +of the room remembered that he had +turned the key and hastened to admit the visitor. +Beaumanoir was fully dressed, and had +just finished breakfast.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Don't think me a coward for locking the +door, General," he said, as he shook hands. +"This is a pretty bad gang that I am dodging."</p> +<p class="pnext">The General's comment was to turn and re-lock +the door himself, after a critical glance at +the sawn panel. "I have spent my life in +breaking up bad gangs," he said, when he had +taken the chair indicated. "I am a bit rusty +with disuse, but I should very much like to try +conclusions with this one. From what I hear, +they must be worthy of anyone's steel."</p> +<p class="pnext">Beaumanoir indulged in a careworn smile.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Three attempts in forty-eight hours speaks +to their zeal, at any rate," he replied. "But +seriously, General, you start badly handicapped," +he went on. "I don't even know +that I want them broken up, as you call it, for +there must be no publicity. I can give you +no clues nor answer any questions. All I ask +of your great experience is how to thwart a +determined hankering after my poor life—a +hankering which may possibly cease if I survive +for another week."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You positively decline to give me any assistance?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Positively; the honor of my house forbids +it."</p> +<p class="pnext">The General tried to look pensive—a difficult +matter to a gentleman of iron visage and +bushy eyebrows.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I am not going to ask questions," he said +almost plaintively, without mentioning that +there were some he had no need to ask and +others which he fully intended to answer himself. +"I am here to give advice, and it is to +get out of London into the open, so that your +friends can look after you. Professors of +crime find their art more difficult in the country, +where every gossiping woman in the village +street is a possible witness. I want your +Grace to go down to Prior's Tarrant, and +allow me the honor of accompanying you as a +guest."</p> +<p class="pnext">The suggestion was met by a blank negative, +and caused the Duke to rise and pace the +room in more agitation than he had yet shown.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, the very place is hateful to me since +last Sunday night," he exclaimed. "You +would realize that yourself, General, if you +had been introduced to those silent fumes stealing +down the chimney. I was thinking of +going to some hotel by the sea when Forsyth +and Sibyl induced me to remain here for the +night, with such lively consequences. Come +with me as my guest anywhere else, but not to +Prior's Tarrant."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Nevertheless, I should feel surer of your +safety there than anywhere, and I do not speak +without reason," replied the General, with a +metallic snap in his voice. "I should wish at +least to be accorded the privilege of finishing +my proposition."</p> +<p class="pnext">Beaumanoir promptly apologized very +gracefully for his discourteous interruption, +excusing it on the score of the strain on his +nerves. He would be delighted to listen to +any proposals, but nothing would shake his determination +not to go back to Prior's Tarrant.</p> +<p class="pnext">"My dear sir, the tangled woodland of the +park there is the ideal spot for a lurking assassin. +Mediæval architecture provided the house +with nooks and corners which it would tax +even your foresight to patrol," he insisted.</p> +<p class="pnext">"But," said the General, "there is safety in +numbers; and I was going to propose—rather +coolly, perhaps—that you should have a house-party +there. If I might bring Mrs. Sadgrove, +and Alec and Sybil Hanbury would also give +us their company, it would lend color to my +own presence. The last two-named, as you +have occasion to know, form a valuable body-guard."</p> +<p class="pnext">The Duke stared at his visitor with something +like horrified amazement.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You forget, General, in your kind eagerness +to serve me, that you have guests staying +in your own house whom you cannot desert," +he said, wondering how even an old man with +his years behind him could suffer such lapse of +memory when Leonie Sherman was one of the +guests. He was almost angry that his visitor, +being thus reminded, did not instantly abase +himself.</p> +<p class="pnext">But instead of shame General Sadgrove +had only justification to offer—not profuse, +because that was not his way—but complete.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I had not forgotten the Shermans," he replied, +in a tone of oddly contrasted reproof +and apology. "I had it in my mind that if +you entertained my view you would stretch a +point, and make matters easy for me by inviting +my guests as well." And the shrewd old +diplomatist succeeded in looking as though the +barefaced bait he was dangling was a piece of +effrontery he only dared moot under stress of +the emergency.</p> +<p class="pnext">Beaumanoir, flushing scarlet, stopped short +in his restless pacing and swallowed the hook.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I never thought of that," he said, looking +down at the General with more interest than +he had yet shown. "And," he added, with unaffected +modesty, "I very much doubt if they +would come."</p> +<p class="pnext">This was virtual surrender, and the General +had an easy task to brush away objections obviously +raised in the hopes of their demolition. +Short notice? Well, perhaps; but Americans +were used to a less formal hospitality than +ours, and would take it as a compliment. +Brief shipboard acquaintance? Nonsense. +Five days' association on a "liner" was equivalent +to a friendship of years. The chance of +the Shermans being involved in a tragedy in +which they had no concern? The General +pledged his word that, whatever happened at +Prior's Tarrant, no harm should befall the +Senator's wife and daughter or breath of scandal +assail them.</p> +<p class="pnext">Before he left the room the General had arranged +to return later in the day, possibly +bringing with him his Pathan servant, Azimoolah Khan, whose aid he meant to enlist in +securing the Duke's safety at his country-seat. +In the meanwhile, he would go home and prepare +the ladies for joining the party on the +morrow, Beaumanoir's formal invitations following +by post.</p> +<p class="pnext">On his way down the broad staircase General +Sadgrove chuckled audibly to himself: "I +thought the prospect of entertaining Leonie +in his ancestral halls would fetch him. +Mustn't have her falling in love with him, +though, till he can show a clean sheet." A +little lower down he stopped and stared at a +huge canvas of the third Duke, but without +heeding the bewigged and lace-ruffled counterfeit +of the Georgian courtier. "Concentration!" +he muttered. "The first axiom in a +crime-problem is to concentrate the items. I +shall have two of 'em now, by George, right +under the same blanket—and with luck I'll +have three."</p> +<p class="pnext">In the hall Prince was hovering fatuously, +assisted by a brace of tall flunkeys who fell +under the General's critical gaze. One of +them was the absent-minded William, all unconscious +that he had allowed "Inspector +Chantrey's" understudy to slip upstairs the +night before. Him Sadgrove severely rejected, +selecting his colleague.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There's an apple-woman under the rails +opposite," he said, producing a sovereign. +"Run across and offer this for her basket and +its contents. If she refuses, the chances are +that she will almost immediately move away. +In that case, if you can follow her a little distance, +without letting her observe you, bring +me back word directly she stops and speaks to +anyone."</p> +<p class="pnext">The well-trained servant, with scarcely the +blink of an eyelash for his extraordinary mission, +started to fulfil it, and the General hastened +on to the smoking-room, where Forsyth +and Sybil were still on guard at the window.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Has the woman been doing any business?" +he asked as he entered.</p> +<p class="pnext">"She has only had one customer, who got +off a Hammersmith 'bus and walked on," replied +Sybil, without removing her gaze. "And +now—why, it's one of our liveries—Steptoe, +the first footman, is going up to her. Oh, but +this is interesting. He is offering her a coin, +and she is shaking her head."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Go on," said the General.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Steptoe is recrossing the road towards the +house without buying anything, and—yes, the +woman has taken up her basket and is leaving +her pitch, don't you call it? She too is crossing +to this side of the road, but higher up. Steptoe +has turned and is looking after her, and—now +I can't see any more without putting my +head out of window."</p> +<p class="pnext">Sybil stopped, breathless; and, without comment +on the episode she had just witnessed, the +General informed her and Forsyth of the proposed +move to Prior's Tarrant. As was to be +expected, neither of the engaged couple had +any objection to an arrangement which would +bring them together under the same roof, +Sybil remarking naïvely that it was one thing +to be allowed solitary house-room as a poor +relation, and quite another to stay with the +Duke as a guest. She promised to hold herself +in readiness to join Mrs. Sadgrove and +the Shermans on the morrow and go down +with them, while Forsyth was to wait for his +orders until the General returned in the afternoon.</p> +<p class="pnext">"We may have a ticklish job in getting our +noble convoy from one laager to the other, and +I shall want you as an aide-de-camp, Alec, as +well as Azimoolah Khan for the more serious +work," the General explained.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Azimoolah!" Forsyth exclaimed, remembering +certain blood-curdling stories of his +uncle's old orderly, who had exchanged the +fierce joys of Thug-hunting for the milder enjoyment +of valeting his beloved Sahib in Belgravia. +"Surely his methods smack too much +of the jungle and the nullah for this country."</p> +<p class="pnext">"That's why I want to cart the whole bag +of tricks into the jungle," said the General, +grimly. "Well?" he added, as Steptoe entered +and tendered the sovereign on a salver.</p> +<p class="pnext">"The woman wouldn't take it, sir," was the +reply. "She got up and went round the corner +into Air Street, where she was met by the +person who called here last night dressed as a +clergyman, only he was dressed as a working-man +to-day. They went away together in a +four-wheeler."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Thank you—that simplifies things considerably," +said the General, and, announcing his +intention of returning later, he bade the footman +call a cab and followed him out of the +room.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I wonder what he has got up his sleeve," +Forsyth mused aloud, as he and Sibyl watched +the wiry figure into the cab. "The spirit of +the chase has gripped him tight, and he's in +full cry already."</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xa-duty-call"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id11">CHAPTER X—<em class="italics">A Duty Call</em></a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">General Sadgrove was not the man to +embark on an undertaking without clearing +the ground of doubtful points, and he drove +home by way of New Scotland Yard, where, +firmly refusing his reasons for wanting to +know, he extracted the information that there +was no such officer as "Inspector Chantrey" +on the police roster. On arrival at Grosvenor +Gardens he first sought and obtained a private +interview with his wife, and astonished her by +imparting the projected visit to Prior's Tarrant.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You are at the old work, Jem; I can see it +in your eye," she said after one glance at her +husband's stern, introspective face. "Is there +danger?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"To me possibly; to another certainly," the +General responded. "In fact, Madge, it is +touch and go whether I can save a man's life. +I do not know yet if he is a good man, but his +life is an important one."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then of course I will go with you," said +Mrs. Sadgrove, guessing whose that life was +from Alec Forsyth's early call. "The Shermans, +dear people, will be delighted to stay in +a duke's historic mansion, even if the invitation +is a little irregular, for are they not Americans? +I will go to the morning-room and +break it to them."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Without a hint of what is brewing, mind," +said the General, and vanished into his own +den. He sat for a while in thought, and presently +rang the bell. It was answered by a tall +Oriental in native costume and turban, who +made low obeisance, but listlessly, as though +bored to death. As he straightened himself, +however, his coal-black eyes, raised deferentially +to his master's, blazed into sudden fire.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Allah be praised! The black tribe walks +again!" he cried in his vernacular, reading the +sign as easily as Mrs. Sadgrove had done.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, Azimoolah, the black tribe walks. +We go to pit cunning against cunning and +right against wrong, you and I, as in the days +when we rode the jungle-paths under the Indian +moon," the General replied in the same +tongue. "Art glib of speech and handy with +those iron arms of thine, as in the old times +when we earned our pensions beyond the black +water?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Try me, sahib—only try me," came the +quick answer. "I have feared that I was +growing fat and soft in this city of laziness, +where the tame <em class="italics">polis</em> use not the ways known +to you and me, O leader of midnight pursuits. +But that look in your eye brings back the old +heart-hunger. I want a quarry, sahib, fleet +of foot and strong of arm and wily of tongue, +to match with all those of thine and mine. +Show me such an one, sahib."</p> +<p class="pnext">"So will I, Azimoolah—not one, but twenty +quarries, maybe, whom it will tax all our ancient +skill to defeat," said the General, with a +frosty smile for his follower's eagerness. +"Take heed while I give orders."</p> +<p class="pnext">The conclave that ensued lasted until +luncheon, at which it was noticed, though not +remarked upon, by Mrs. Sadgrove that Azimoolah +Khan did not as usual station himself +behind his master's chair. The General, too, +made no reference to his retainer's absence, +but plunged at once into a totally unfounded +explanation of the wholesale invitation to +Prior's Tarrant. The Duke of Beaumanoir, +he averred, wished to be kind to his young +kinswoman, Sybil Hanbury, by asking her +down while Alec Forsyth was there, and as +that was impossible without a chaperon, he, +the General, had suggested a small house-party +with Mrs. Sadgrove and Mrs. Sherman +to play propriety.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mrs. Sherman evinced unfeigned delight at +the prospect, her only anxiety being as to the +length of the visit. Her husband, the Senator, +with his precious charge of Treasury +Bonds, was due in a week, and she would wish +to be in London to receive him on arrival. +Leonie, too, who did not seem to share her +mother's enthusiasm for accepting the ducal +hospitality, pressed the point with some pertinacity. +The General, however, was equal to +the occasion.</p> +<p class="pnext">"No dates were mentioned," he said, looking +his guests guilelessly in the face. "But as his +Grace alluded to the pleasure with which he +anticipated making the Senator's acquaintance, +I presume he takes it for granted that +your husband will go straight to Prior's Tarrant +from Liverpool."</p> +<p class="pnext">Mrs. Sherman and Leonie exchanged +glances, as though to say that that settled the +matter, as indeed, from their point of view, +it did. Senator Leonidas Sherman was the +kindest of husbands and the most indulgent of +fathers; but if he had landed in England and +found that he had been deprived of the chance +of staying with a duke, he would have made +things hum for all concerned.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Beaumanoir, having lived in your country, +has a warm corner in his heart for all Americans," +said the General. "And talking of +Americans, my dear," he proceeded, addressing +his wife, "I shouldn't like to be uncivil to +Mrs. Talmage Eglinton. As we are all going +out of town, what do you say to returning her +call this afternoon? If you are not otherwise +engaged, I will order the carriage for four +o'clock."</p> +<p class="pnext">When the General—who never in his life +had paid a duty call without grumbling—spoke +like that Mrs. Sadgrove knew what was +expected of her, and did it. She had not the +faintest inkling of his reasons for sudden politeness +to a pushing woman whom they all +disliked. In the old days, when she had gone +out into camp with her husband, and had sat +silent in the tent amid the coming and going +of troopers and mysterious spies, she had +always divined when a great <em class="italics">coup</em>, resulting +in the death or capture of some notorious malefactor, +was vexing his brain. She had watched +the spreading of the net without troubling him +with questions about the meshes. So now, +though inwardly disquieted by this recrudescence +of the professional instinct, she abstained +from worrying him, confident that the veteran +would achieve his purpose as ruthlessly as the +zealous young captain of thirty years ago.</p> +<p class="pnext">Without demur the ordering of the carriage +was agreed to, and when it came round at the +appointed hour the Sadgroves were reinforced +by Mrs. Sherman and Leonie, who, at a hint +from the General, had been induced to accompany +them. During the drive the General +fidgeted a good deal about the pace at which +his fine pair of bays was being driven, and +once or twice checked the coachman; but his +wife, who had learned to notice trifles, observed +also that he frequently consulted his watch, +and concluded that his anxiety was not entirely +on the score of his cattle. Of this she was +assured when, as the equipage turned into the +courtyard of the hotel, he replaced his watch +with a scarcely audible sigh of relief. What +was it for which they were neither too late nor +too early, she wondered.</p> +<p class="pnext">At the bureau they were informed that Mrs. +Talmage Eglinton was at home, and the +party, having been handed over to a bell-boy, +passed on—with the exception of the General, +who lagged behind for a moment.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You have a gentleman staying in the hotel +of the name of Ziegler, have you not—Clinton +Ziegler?" he inquired of the clerk. "Ah, thank +you—I was not mistaken then. Do you happen +to know if he is in his rooms at present?"</p> +<p class="pnext">The answer was that Mr. Ziegler was certain +to be in, as he was an invalid and never +went out. Oh yes; he saw people—a good +many, but always in his own apartments, and +he never frequented the public rooms. His +suite was in the same corridor as that of Mrs. +Talmage Eglinton—next to it, in fact. No; +the gentleman and lady were not friends, or +even acquainted, the clerk believed. At any +rate, they had arrived at different times, and +he had never heard of any connection between +them.</p> +<p class="pnext">Thanking his informant, the General hurried +after the others and caught them up in +time to be ushered with them into Mrs. Talmage +Eglinton's luxurious reception-room. +The handsome widow, beautifully gowned, +and already apprised by speaking-tube that +visitors were coming up, received them with +effusion, and made no effort to conceal her +surprise when the General appeared in the +wake of the ladies. She rallied him on his +new-found politeness, and openly avowed that +he must have some secret object in seeking her +good-will.</p> +<p class="pnext">The General, disclaiming anything unusual +in his conduct, bore the flow of badinage +meekly, but under his gray mustache he muttered:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Confound the woman! She is clever, or +else Jem Sadgrove has blundered."</p> +<p class="pnext">The conversation drifted into the usual +channels of small talk, and by the time the +General joined in he had assimilated one important +fact in connection with his surroundings. +The suite of apartments in which he +was doing the penance of a duty call was a +split suite. There was a door at the end of the +room, across which a fairly heavy writing-table +was placed, denoting that the door was not in +use, as naturally it would have been if the room +beyond had been one of those rented by Mrs. +Talmage Eglinton. The discovery and his +own deduction caused an odd little crease at +the corner of the General's mouth, and he +seized the earliest opportunity to put in his +word.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I've got some news for you, Mrs. Talmage +Eglinton. You are about to be the recipient +of a very high honor."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Really! But this is extremely interesting," +was the reply, accompanied by a flash of +scrutiny, quickly changed to a charming smile. +"Pray don't keep me in suspense, General. +Am I to go for a cruise in the royal yacht, or +dine with the Lord Mayor?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"The Duke of Beaumanoir is going to ask +you down to his country-place at Prior's Tarrant," +said the General, imperturbably ignoring +her persiflage. "I was with him this morning, +and I gathered that you'll have your +invitation in the course of the day. We're all +going down. The Duke is Alec's new boss, +don't you know, and he has taken a liking to +the lot of us."</p> +<p class="pnext">He carefully avoided his wife's eyes and +those of his guests as he burst this amazing +bombshell, thereby depriving himself of the +sight of a toss of Leonie's pretty head and of +the raising of two pairs of elderly eyebrows. +His hostess had his sole attention, and she repaid it fully. For the first time in his experience +of her Mrs. Talmage Eglinton changed +color and seemed at a loss for words. He +helped her out, and himself too, with the same +old lie, and his manner was perfect—just that +of the simple old soldier:</p> +<p class="pnext">"The Duke dotes on Americans, don't you +know. Says he was introduced to you by my +nephew outside Beaumanoir House the day he +landed, and when it came out in conversation +that we knew you, he insisted on your being +asked. Thought it would please Alec, don't +you know."</p> +<p class="pnext">The last sentence was spoken carelessly, as +though it was an afterthought, but it had an +effect that all the skill at Mrs. Talmage Eglinton's +disposal could not hide—an effect transient +only, but so marked that the three other +women in the room, coldly hostile as they were, +did not fail to note it. The flush which had +tinged her cheek on hearing of the invitation +deepened, and a softer light gleamed for a +moment in her fine eyes.</p> +<p class="pnext">But whether the General's explanation was +deemed adequate, or whether she intended to +accept the invitation, there was no present +means of knowing. For the sedate calm of +the afternoon call was suddenly interrupted +by a tremendous uproar beyond the closed +door that was blocked by the writing-table—a +babel of confused voices and the shuffling of +feet. The ladies looked at one another in +alarm, Mrs. Talmage Eglinton fully sharing +the agitation of her visitors. Indeed, she rose +and glided swiftly towards the closed door, +and then, as though recollecting that it was not +available, made for the principal entrance of +her suite.</p> +<p class="pnext">The General rose and followed her into the +corridor, the commotion being so great as to +excuse his doing so. In fact, the sounds from +the next room were so appalling as to suggest +that his protection might be necessary against +some broken-out lunatic, and out in the corridor +it was evident that some such idea prevailed +among the hotel attendants. A cluster +of them had already collected at the door of +the adjoining apartments, and more were arriving.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What is all this disturbance?" Mrs. Talmage +Eglinton inquired of one of them, and +the General, close behind, discerned a tremulous +note in her indignation.</p> +<p class="pnext">The man she accosted did not know, but +another, who had been inside the suite, at that +moment pushed his way out and overheard the +question.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It's nothing really serious, madam," he +said. "An Indian Prince who had applied for +rooms was being shown round, when he took a +fancy to enter that suite—occupied by Mr. +Clinton Ziegler. The Prince is in there now, +and nothing will induce him to leave peaceably, +as he can't be made to understand that +the rooms are engaged. He doesn't appear to +know much English, but I am going for one +of the curry cooks, who will doubtless be able +to interpret for us."</p> +<p class="pnext">"No need to waste time in fetching the +cook," interposed the General. "I speak most +of the Indian dialects, and I dare say I can +get him to quit."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You'd better be careful, then, sir," said the +attendant. "He pretty nearly strangled Mr. +Ziegler's secretary when he tried to put him +out."</p> +<p class="pnext">Disdaining the warning and accepting the +implied permission, the General elbowed his +way into the invaded territory, from which, +after a couple of minutes, he emerged with a +tall Asiatic who was wreathed in apologetic +smiles, and talking volubly in an unknown +tongue. The intruder was dressed in a gorgeously +embroidered purple vestment, and in +his snowy turban blazed a diamond the size +of a pigeon's egg. From the doorway of the +invaded suite a couple of pale, fierce faces +glared for an instant, and then the door was +shut.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It's all right," the General announced to +the assembled spectators, who by this time included +Mrs. Sadgrove and the Shermans. +"This is his Highness the Thakore of Bhurtnagur, +and he didn't mean to be rude. Just +a little misunderstanding of his legal rights +outside his own jurisdiction. He says he'll +look for rooms at some other hotel, as he can't +have those he wants here."</p> +<p class="pnext">A murmur of relief went up from the embarrassed +attendants, who with great deference +proceeded to escort the swarthy potentate +to the carriage which it was understood was +waiting for him. At the same time Mrs. Sadgrove +held out her hand to Mrs. Talmage +Eglinton, and, declining that lady's not too +pressing offer of tea, sailed away to the stair-head, +accompanied by Leonie and her mother. +The General was the last to make his adieus, +and he made them, oddly enough, much more +cordially than the women-folk.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Pleasant thing, a short parting," he ejaculated, +as he bent over the fair American's +jeweled hand. "We shall meet in a day or two +at Prior's Tarrant, eh?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Mrs. Talmage Eglinton smiled sweetly up +at the rugged face of the veteran man-hunter.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Come, General, you can't expect me to give +myself away like that," she said. "I shan't +make up my mind until I get the invitation. +You might be a bad, bold dissembler, you +know, just taking a rise out of me; and then +what a fool I should look if I had said that I +was going to stay with the Duke."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I might be a dissembler, but you couldn't +look a fool—under any circumstances," replied +the General gallantly, as he turned away.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mrs. Talmage Eglinton stood watching the +erect figure march down the corridor, and suddenly +called after him:</p> +<p class="pnext">"When does the Duke himself go into the +country, General?"</p> +<p class="pnext">The erect figure wheeled as on a pivot, and +the answer came back without a second's pause.</p> +<p class="pnext">"To-night, by the 8.45 from St. Pancras. +Alec Forsyth goes down with him."</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xion-the-terrace"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id12">CHAPTER XI—<em class="italics">On the Terrace</em></a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">The home park at Prior's Tarrant lay +bathed in the gentle glow of a waning moon, +but the hoary façade of the mansion itself, and +the terrace that skirted it, were in shadow. Up +and down in front of the long row of windows +a red spark passed and repassed with monotonous +regularity—the light of General Sadgrove's +cigar as he waited in growing impatience +for the coming of the Duke.</p> +<p class="pnext">After his social duties of the afternoon he +had paid a hurried visit to Beaumanoir House +to arrange for the Duke's departure in company +with his new secretary, and then, armed +with credentials from the Duke and heralded +by a preparatory telegram, he had proceeded +to the Hertfordshire seat by an earlier train. +He had good reasons for traveling separately. +And now the carriage which he had sent to the +little wayside station of Tarrant Road two +miles off was overdue, and the General was +beginning to chafe.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I hope I haven't been too cocksure," he +muttered, under his close-trimmed gray mustache. +"I pinned my faith to Alec's company +securing the fellow's safety on the journey at +least."</p> +<p class="pnext">He took another turn, and then, striking a +vesta, looked at his watch. It was twenty +minutes to eleven, whereas if those he expected +had caught the 8.45 from St. Pancras, the carriage +should have been back half an hour ago. +He had hardly finished this calculation when +from behind a gigantic vase on the plinth of +the steps leading to the lower level of the gardens +there sounded the hiss of a cobra, thrice +repeated.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Azimoolah?" said the General, softly.</p> +<p class="pnext">His faithful servitor glided forward, almost +invisible in the shabby blue tunic which had +replaced the spotless white garments of Grosvenor +Gardens.</p> +<p class="pnext">"A queer orderly-room, sahib, but not more +so than some we wot of in the by-ways of the +Deccan," he whispered, glancing up at the +loom of the great mansion. "Well, I have +done thy bidding, and have secured a lodging +in the village as a poor vendor of Oriental +trifles. Furthermore, I have already done +some good police work."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You have discovered that there are +strangers dwelling in the place?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Not so, sahib; but they have been <em class="italics">seen</em> in +the village," was the reply. "The woman with +whom I have hired shelter says that two men, +professing to be painters, were in the park all +day painting the trees and the deer, for which +purpose they had obtained permission of the +steward. Whence the men came the woman +did not know, but they drove in in a dog-cart +on the St. Albans road."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Your informant could not tell you if the +picture was finished—whether the men were +coming again?" the General asked quickly.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was too dark to see the Pathan's face, but +a ring in his carefully managed undertone told +of pride in the answer:</p> +<p class="pnext">"<em class="italics">She</em> could not tell <em class="italics">me</em>, sahib, but <em class="italics">I</em> can tell +<em class="italics">you</em>. The picture makes the trees look like +cauliflowers and the deer like unto swine. +Moreover, it is not finished, and the men are +coming again—to-morrow, perchance."</p> +<p class="pnext">General Sadgrove congratulated himself +on his foresight. He would have preferred +having Azimoolah in the house with him, but +he had detached him from personal service, +and had sent him down separately to pick up +unconsidered trifles in the character of a traveling +huckster. And the old sleuth-hound +had done well, after only a couple of hours in +the place, in bringing this news of painters +who could not paint, yet were returning on the +morrow. The General had such absolute +trust in his henchman's methods that he did +not trouble to inquire how the news had been +acquired, thereby sparing Azimoolah the +needless narrative of a deal with the landlady +of the "Hanbury Arms," where the strangers +had put up their cart and lunched.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Very good, old jungle-wolf," was all the +comment he vouchsafed, and, making a mental +note to see that the park was barred in future +to the limners of "deer like unto swine," he was +passing on to further instructions when the +sound of wheels was heard far away down the +avenue, and a moment later carriage-lamps +twinkled into view round a corner in the drive.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Here they come," he said. "Better make +yourself scarce now, but stay within call in +case I want you."</p> +<p class="pnext">Azimoolah vanished in the darkness, and the +General strolled on to the end of the terrace, +where the descent of a flight of steps brought +him to the main entrance of the mansion. +Stationing himself under the portico, he waited +the arrival of the brougham, which presently +swung to a standstill, while the big hall door +was opened wide by ready hands, and shed a +blaze of light on—an empty carriage.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What's this mean, Perrett?" asked the +General, outwardly calm for all the big lump +in his throat, and cool enough to remember the +name of the gray-haired coachman, learned on +his own drive from the station. "Has not his +Grace arrived?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"No, sir," replied the old servant, leaning +from the box. "There has been an accident +to the 8.45. No one hurt, sir. No need for +alarm, for his Grace can't have been in the +train."</p> +<p class="pnext">"How do you get at that?" the General +asked, doubtfully.</p> +<p class="pnext">"The train was derailed between St. Albans +and Harpenden, sir. Some of the passengers +were shaken, but none badly injured; so the +fast train that followed was run on to the up +metals and brought them on, stopping at every +station. But none got out at Tarrant Road. +James here," indicating the footman, "ran +along the train and looked into every carriage, +but he could not see the Duke."</p> +<p class="pnext">And Perrett won golden opinions from the +General by adding that, not satisfied with that, +he got the station-master to wire up the line +to the point of the accident, and received in +reply the positive assurance that no injured +persons had been left behind. All had been +forwarded to their destinations by the succeeding +fast train, which had been made "slow" +for the purpose.</p> +<p class="pnext">The General had already mastered the time-table, +and knew that only one more train from +London would stop at Tarrant Road that +night—the last, due at a quarter past midnight. +The coachman therefore received, as +he had expected, orders to return to the station +in time to meet that train, and the General, +lighting a fresh cigar, strolled back to the terrace, +where, in response to his low whistle, +Azimoolah glided to his side.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There is work afoot," he said, briefly. +"Canst, as of yore, do without sleep at a +pinch?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ay, and without food if it is so willed by +Allah and the sahib."</p> +<p class="pnext">Whereupon the General gave him the best +directions he could to the scene of the railway +accident fifteen miles away, and bade him hie +thither with all speed and glean particulars on +the spot, especially with regard to the life they +were pledged to defend and the nature of the +accident, which might be no accident at all, +but a move of their mysterious antagonists. +It needed but few words to make Azimoolah +understand, and he was gone—even before his +hand, raised in unconscious salute, had +dropped to his side.</p> +<p class="pnext">The General fell to pacing to and fro again, +striving to penetrate the new situation that +had arisen, and, as was his wont when matters +went wrong, not sparing himself much scathing +criticism. For what had seemed to him +good reason, he had put all his eggs in one +basket—"gone nap"—as he reflected, on the +Duke and Forsyth catching the 8.45, and now +disaster had overtaken that very train. If the +village post-office had been open, he would +have wired to know if the Duke was still at +Beaumanoir House, for everything hinged on +whether he had started, and Sadgrove felt an +ominous presentiment that he had. The people +he was playing against were not the sort to +wreck a train without prospect of adequate +result.</p> +<p class="pnext">Presently the twin lamps went twinkling +down the avenue again, and the General tried +to comfort himself with the hope that when +they reappeared Beaumanoir would be in the +carriage. After all, Alec Forsyth was with +him. What had befallen the one should have +befallen the other, and he had the greatest +confidence in his nephew's readiness and resource. +It might even be, the General told +himself, that Alec had suspected foul play to +the 8.45, and had purposely delayed departure—although, +in conflict with this theory, arose +the conjecture that in that case the railway +people would have been warned, and there +would have been no "accident" at all.</p> +<p class="pnext">But what was the use of following threads +which, in the absence of a substantial starting-point, +led nowhere? The worried veteran gave +up the futile task in favor of more practical +work, and occupied himself in learning the +route by which the miscreants who had tried to +suffocate the Duke had reached the chimney-stack +over his chamber. He found that a decayed +buttress had given them access to the +top of the ancient refectory, whence an easy +climb along a slanting gutter-pipe formed a +royal road to the roof of the main building.</p> +<p class="pnext">The discovery, interesting in itself, was +doubly so from the deduction to be made therefrom. +The men who had climbed the roof +would have been caught like rats in a trap if +the Duke had raised the alarm, and they must +either have had complete confidence in their +ability to kill him by the charcoal fumes, or, +in the event of a hitch, in the Duke's unwillingness +to rouse the household.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Egad! but they must have a nasty grip on +him, to trust to his not squealing under such +provocation," the General murmured, as the +sound of wheels drew him at last from the age-worn +buttress back to the portico. "If he's +turned up all right I'll try and persuade him +to confide the secret before we go to bed."</p> +<p class="pnext">But when the brougham stopped, it disgorged +no Duke, but only Alec Forsyth, pale +of face, and for once in his life half afraid of +meeting his uncle's expectant eye. But he +kept his presence of mind sufficiently to control +his voice as he informed the General—the +information being really for the servants who +had appeared at the hall door—that his Grace +had not arrived. In silence the General led +the way to the dining-room, and it was not +until he had dismissed the butler with the assurance +that they would need nothing more +that night that he found speech in the curt +monosyllable, "Well?"</p> +<p class="pnext">For answer Alec handed him a telegraph +form conveying the message:</p> +<blockquote><div> +<p class="pfirst">"<em class="italics">To A. Forsyth, passenger by 8.45, St. +Pancras terminus.</em></p> +<p class="pnext">"<em class="italics">Come back at once, urgent. Am in great +distress. Persons threatening Duke detained +here. He will be quite safe if he goes on, +though not if he returns with you—Sybil +Hanbury, Beaumanoir House.</em>"</p> +</div></blockquote> +<p class="pfirst">The General glanced through it and +gripped the position.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Beaumanoir was in the 8.45?" he snapped. +"That telegram is a forgery, and you show it +to me to explain your separation from him?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Forsyth bowed his head in grieved assent to +both questions.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I am, of course, to blame for trusting that +infernal thing," he said. "But I had better +put you in possession of the facts at once, for +until I reached Tarrant Road station and +learned of Beaumanoir's non-arrival from the +coachman I had hoped that he had come +through all right. I ascertained at Harpenden, +where I first heard of the smash, that no +one had suffered serious injury."</p> +<p class="pnext">The facts as related by Forsyth were very +simple in themselves, though greatly enhancing +the perplexity of the Duke's disappearance. +The two friends had left Beaumanoir +House in a hansom, giving themselves, as had +been arranged, barely time enough to catch +the train at St. Pancras. They had already +taken their seats in an empty compartment on +which the guard had, at their request, placed +an "engaged" label, when a telegraph-boy +came along the line of carriages, inquiring for +Forsyth by name. On reading the message he +had acted on the impulse of the moment, and +asking the Duke to excuse him on the score of +urgent private business, had left the train and +driven back to Beaumanoir House, to find the +telegram repudiated by Sybil as not emanating +from her and its contents quite unfounded.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I expect she let you have it," the General +remarked grimly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"She was a little cross," admitted Forsyth, +flushing at the reminiscence. "I do not see, +though, that I could have ignored what purported +to be an appeal for assistance from a +woman in distress—leaving aside my personal +relations with her."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Don't kick, laddie. I'm to blame for leaving +our precious vanishing nobleman in the +hands of a man in love. What next?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I hurried back to St. Pancras, and, just +missing the fast train which afterwards picked +up the 8.45 passengers at the scene of the accident, +had to kick my heels until the last train +started. But it was no accident, Uncle Jem. +A big baulk of timber had been placed across +the rails, they told me at Harpenden."</p> +<p class="pnext">The General knitted his brows and pondered +the problem, presently suggesting tentatively +that there was no proof that the Duke +had after all gone in the 8.45. He might, on +finding himself suddenly deprived of his companion, +have got out before it started. But +this theory was at once knocked on the head +by Forsyth's assertion that the train had begun +to move before he left the platform, and that +Beaumanoir, still seated in the "engaged" +compartment, had waved him farewell. If +the Duke had not got out at an intermediate +station, he must have disappeared at the place +of derailment, the latter contingency being the +more probable. Also the most alarming, because +the stranded passengers had had to wait +for three-quarters of an hour at the side of the +line in the dark, at a remote spot surrounded +by woods.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Humph! It looks very much as if they'd +got him this time," was the General's final +comment. And he straightway walked over +to the sideboard and poured himself out a glass +of wine, motioning his nephew to join him. +The action was significant of conclusiveness, +and seemed to say that, doom having overtaken +the Duke, there was nothing more to be +done. The old gentleman drank his wine +slowly, then turned to Forsyth with the fierce +exclamation:</p> +<p class="pnext">"First time Jem Sadgrove was ever beaten +by a woman. Mrs. Talmage Eglinton, or +whatever she may choose to call herself, has +scored a record."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mrs. Talmage Eglinton! What on earth +has she got to do with it?" was Forsyth's astounded +rejoinder.</p> +<p class="pnext">A good deal, it appeared, according to the +view which the General had contrived to piece +together, and which, leaning against the sideboard, he proceeded to propound in spasmodic +jerks. Beginning with a description of how +he had witnessed Beaumanoir's narrow escape +of being run down by Mrs. Talmage Eglinton's +landau, he hinted at the dawn of suspicion +in his own mind on finding her immediately +afterwards calling at his house, yet +strangely silent on having nearly killed a man +in the streets. Then, when Forsyth had consulted +him after the midnight episode at Beaumanoir +House, and had told him of the Duke's +visit on the day of his arrival from New York +to someone occupying the next suite at the +hotel to that of Mrs. Eglinton, he had been +fairly certain of his clue. Having satisfied +himself by personal observation that the ducal +mansion in Piccadilly was closely watched, he +had set himself the task of establishing a connection +between the <em class="italics">soi-disant</em> widow and her +neighbor at the hotel—a task which had been +successful so far as convincing himself went.</p> +<p class="pnext">Forsyth recognized that, for all the mischance +of the evening, his uncle had put in +some good detective work, and said so. "You +must have been quick, too," he added. "Is it +permitted to ask how you managed it?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"It was very simple," the General replied, +with a relish for the remembrance. "I carted +all the women off to call on the lady, and while +we were there Azimoolah, in the character of +an Indian rajah, blundered into Mr. Clinton +Ziegler's rooms, which I had in the meanwhile +ascertained communicated with Mrs. Talmage +Eglinton's. When the prearranged hubbub +commenced she gave herself away by an unconscious +movement to the communicating +door, showing that she was in the habit of using +it, unknown to the hotel people, who believe +that they have divided one big suite into two +smaller ones let separately. She's clever, and +pulled herself together at once, but I had got +what I wanted—the fact that she was anxious +about the rumpus my good old Khan, tricked +out in a suit from Nathan's and a stage diamond, +was raising next door."</p> +<p class="pnext">"That seems convincing, certainly," said +Forsyth.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Azimoolah's experiences were even more +so. Mr. Clinton Ziegler has some associates +with a very pretty way with them when Asiatic +princes stumble by chance into his rooms. Of +course, it was Azimoolah's cue to be a bit boisterous +and persistent, but they needn't have +roused the tiger in him by giving him the congenial task of disarming them of two uncommonly +murderous knives. Funny thing is, +that when I went in as an interpreting peace-maker, +I saw no sign of Ziegler, who, I gathered +at the hotel bureau, is an invalid and +never goes out. The two men in the room +were able-bodied fellows, fashionably dressed, +but with that in their faces which there is no +mistaking. The 'crime-look' is an open sign +to those who know."</p> +<p class="pnext">The General paused and looked at his +nephew curiously. "Then I made a false +move," he went on—"a false move which may +have wiped the seventh Duke of Beaumanoir +out of the peerage. I told Mrs. Talmage +Eglinton that the Duke was going down to +Prior's Tarrant by the 8.45. Yes, you may +well stare, but I had an object. I also told +her that you were going down with him, believing +that that would secure you both a +peaceful journey; for, vulgarly speaking, the +woman is glaringly sweet upon you, laddie. +I ought to have given such a combination as +she works with credit for the cunning which +drew you from your post."</p> +<p class="pnext">Forsyth flushed with annoyance. It was not +pleasant to hear that his friend's life might +have been sacrificed through his uncle's perception +of a feminine weakness which had +irked him throughout the London season—in +fact, ever since Mrs. Talmage Eglinton had +made her mysterious appearance on the fringe +of society. The card, however, on which the +General had staked and apparently lost had +been distinctly "the game" if he, Forsyth, had +only played up to it himself by sticking like +wax to poor hunted Beaumanoir.</p> +<p class="pnext">But <em class="italics">why</em> was Beaumanoir being hunted? +That easy-mannered unfortunate, who had +exchanged a life of reckless irresponsibility +for sordid penury, and the latter for the headship +of a historic house, had performed all +these <em class="italics">demivoltes</em> without making a visible +enemy save himself. Why should he have incurred +a remorseless hatred which aimed at +nothing less than his life?</p> +<p class="pnext">"The Star-spangled Banner looms largely +on the horizon of all this," the young man +mused aloud. "Can you explain that phase +of the mystery, Uncle Jem?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"The hub of the wheel, I take it, is my old +friend Leonidas Sherman, or, rather, the three +millions sterling which he is on his way to this +country with," said the General briskly. "Big +American robbery, worked by a disciplined +gang, and somehow your pal Beaumanoir is +entangled. The day he was at our house he +tried vaguely to warn Leonie. Hinted that +Sherman should be warned to be careful."</p> +<p class="pnext">Forsyth heard the amazing theory with an +inward qualm lest his shrewd old relative +should have hit on the solution of the puzzle, +and it filled him with greater apprehension +than even the physical peril of the Duke had +instilled. "Entanglement" in Beaumanoir's +case could only mean complicity, for if his +knowledge of the scheme was not a guilty +knowledge, if he had become possessed of the +secret accidentally, why did he not invoke the +aid of the police and expose the conspirators? +Forsyth saw that the General read what was +passing in his mind, and he clutched at the +only visible straw in defence of his friend.</p> +<p class="pnext">"If Beaumanoir was culpably implicated +these scoundrels wouldn't want to kill him, any +more than he would want to queer their game +by having Senator Sherman warned," he said.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There you put your finger on the <em class="italics">crux</em>," +replied the General, who disliked the raising +of questions which he could not answer.</p> +<p class="pnext">"And," proceeded Forsyth, pursuing his +slight advantage, "you would never have got +Beaumanoir to assent to Mrs. Talmage Eglinton +being asked here if he had known her to +be a professional criminal. The 'honor of the +house,' as he calls it, is undoubtedly the motive +of his inexplicable silence. He would hardly +compromise that august sentiment, for which +he is apparently willing to die, by desecrating +Prior's Tarrant with the presence of a woman +likely to figure in the police-courts—a woman, +too, who, if your theory is correct, has designs +against the father of the girl for whom I veritably +believe he has more than a passing +regard."</p> +<p class="pnext">The General, secretly in danger of losing +his temper—a thing he never really did—concealed +his emotion by affecting to ruminate. +The thought of his invitation to the dashing +American, afterwards carelessly endorsed by +the Duke, restored his equanimity.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That was a neat touch," he remarked meditatively +as he selected a cigar from his case. +"If his Grace is not cold meat, I'd give a good +deal to be living under the same roof with him +and Mrs. Talmage Eglinton for a few days, +with the prospect of Senator Sherman's arrival +at the end of them."</p> +<p class="pnext">He held the cigar he had chosen poised between +finger and thumb, and suddenly gazed +round with a comical expression at the rich +appurtenances of the majestic dining-room. +The maze of this latter-day pursuit had led +him into unfamiliar paths. His ancient triumphs +had been won under the free sky, where +he could unravel a knotty point with the aid +of tobacco at will; but now he wanted to +smoke, and was confronted by sternly repressive +ducal splendor.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mustn't light up here, I suppose," he +grunted. "Let's get into the open and have +a whiff. Yes, I know it's two o'clock, but +we can't go to bed."</p> +<p class="pnext">He moved to one of the French windows, +and, parting the heavy curtains, unfastened the +bolts and stepped out on to the terrace where +he had spent the earlier hours of the evening. +Instantly both he and Forsyth, who followed +close behind, became conscious of the sound of +heavy breathing. As the shaft of light shot +from the opened window they saw that at the +apex of the shaft, half way to the balustrade +of the terrace, two men were locked together +on the ground in a ferocious struggle, while +twenty paces off, in the shadow of the gray +pile, the dim shapes of two other men paused +irresolute, as if their advance had been checked +by the sudden opening of the window.</p> +<p class="pnext">For two seconds General Sadgrove's eyes +blazed along the line of light; then with a +spring that would have done credit to one of +half his age, he hurled himself upon the combatants, +and selecting the topmost for his onslaught, +dragged him from the prone figure +below.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Get back to the window! Watch those +other fellows!" he called to his nephew, who +was hurrying to his assistance. And Forsyth +did as he was bid, though he had hardly run +back and put himself on guard when the two +distant prowlers vanished into the deeper +shadows of the refectory wall.</p> +<p class="pnext">With no gentle hand the General hauled his +struggling captive towards the window. Half +Forsyth's attention was diverted to the other +party to the fray, who was slowly rising from +the ground, and the other half to the dark end +of the terrace, where the remaining pair had +disappeared; and it was therefore not until the +General had arrived, hanging like a terrier to +his prisoner, that the obedient sentinel had eyes +for them. But at last he had to stand aside to +allow the veteran firebrand to drag the fighting, +kicking figure into the room, and then +only did he notice details.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You've got the wrong one!" he exclaimed. +"Don't you see—that's your own man, Azimoolah?"</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xiithe-man-under-the-seat"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id13">CHAPTER XII—<em class="italics">The Man Under the Seat</em></a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">When the Duke of Beaumanoir found himself +alone in the railway carriage after Alec +Forsyth's departure he sank back in his corner +with a certain sense of relief. The events of +the last twenty-four hours had filled him with +a very sincere regard for his cousin Sybil, and +he had not much faith in the assurance given +him by General Sadgrove that his journey +down to Prior's Tarrant would be free from +danger. His past experiences led him to expect +that the terrible Ziegler and his myrmidons +would be more than a match for the +shrewd but somewhat out-of-date Indian +officer, and if there was to be an "episode" on +the railway he would be glad to think that it +could not now plunge his plucky young cousin +into mourning for her lover.</p> +<p class="pnext">"She is a girl in a thousand," he murmured, +as he lit a cigarette; "I should never forgive +myself if I were the means of making her a +widow before she is a wife. If, as I half suspect, Alec's detachment was effected by a ruse +on the part of the graybeard at the Cecil—well, +I take off my hat to that gentleman for +his consideration."</p> +<p class="pnext">As the train gathered speed, rushing +through the twinkling suburban lights, the +Duke put his feet on the opposite cushions +and reviewed the situation—calmly, but +always with but slender faith in being able "to +worry through" with his life. That had really +become quite a secondary object with him, so +far as his personal safety was concerned; yet +his present attitude was to escape the attentions +of Ziegler long enough to convey a warning +to Senator Sherman of the plot against +him. Whether his nerves would be proof +against the strain till the Senator's arrival at +Liverpool was a phase of the case which he did +not care to contemplate too closely.</p> +<p class="pnext">Ziegler, he felt sure, would have grasped +the position to a nicety, and would use every +device in his apparently limitless <em class="italics">repertoire</em> to +give him his quietus before Leonie's father +set foot on shore. It might well be that another +attempt would be made on him before +he reached the sheltering zone of Prior's Tarrant, wherein General Sadgrove had promised +him safety.</p> +<p class="pnext">His reflections were cut short by the slowing +down of the train for the stoppage at Kentish +Town, and the Duke's sensations at that moment +hardly presaged a comfortable journey +for him, brief though it would be. The compartment +was labeled "reserved," it was true, +and the guard had been tipped to see that the +legend was respected, but that stood for little +when people of the Ziegler type were on the +move, and he looked forward with dread to the +future stoppages if his heart was to thump +like this.</p> +<p class="pnext">Which is a study in the quality of <em class="italics">fear</em>, for +Beaumanoir was of the kind that leads cavalry +charges to visible and certain death with gay +recklessness.</p> +<p class="pnext">The present trouble passed, however, for +the guard hovered round the carriage and gave +no chance to invaders, who in any case would +have had some difficulty in effecting an entrance, +as the door was locked. The train sped +on again, out into the country now, through +the balmy summer night, and Beaumanoir +breathed more freely. One of the dreaded +stoppages was notched off the list.</p> +<p class="pnext">So, too, were Hendon and Mill Hill safely +negotiated, and Beaumanoir was able to contemplate +the slackened speed for Elstree with +greater equanimity. As before, the guard's +portly form loomed large outside the compartment +the moment the train stopped, and so +doubtless would have remained had not a loud, +imperious voice on the platform summoned +him to a divided duty.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Here, guard! What are you about there? +Hurry up now, and open this door!" came the +choleric command.</p> +<p class="pnext">With a deprecatory glance at the Duke's +carriage the guard perforce hurried off, and +Beaumanoir peered out of the window after +him. The official had gone to the assistance of +a tall, well-groomed gentleman, who, with an +air of irritable importance, was fumbling with +the door-handle of a first-class compartment +some way along the train. The traveler was +of the type that secures the immediate respect +of railway servants—dressed in brand new +creaseless clothes, every immaculate pocket of +which suggested the jingle of half-sovereigns. +A man carrying a yellow hatbox and a rug +lurked deferentially behind the magnate and +cast reproachful glances at the guard, who was +now thoroughly alive to his opportunities and +opened the door with a flourish. The tall man, +whom Beaumanoir took for a brother duke, or +at least a director of the line, stepped with dignity +into the compartment; the menial handed +in the hatbox and rugs, and sought a second-class +carriage; the guard waved his lamp, and +the train moved on.</p> +<p class="pnext">Beaumanoir withdrew his head and sank +back in his corner, catching just a glimpse of +the guard preparing to spring into his van as +it neared him. The station lights flashed past, +and the long line of carriages swung into the +outer darkness, the little diversion of the important +passenger leaving Beaumanoir amused +and comforted. To the man who had tramped +his weary way along the Bowery to his five-dollar +boarding-house within the month this +exhibition of class privileges and distinctions +was breezily refreshing, seeing that he was +now in a position to claim them himself.</p> +<p class="pnext">Immunity from danger through four suburban +stations had brought a delicious sense of +calm, and as he leaned back he thought how +nice it would be to live the life of an English +nobleman, free from all sordid cares and humiliations. +And if he could wake up at the +end of a week and find that his entanglement +was all a nightmare, or, at any rate, that Ziegler's +bark was worse than his bite, and that +Senator Sherman had safely deposited the +bonds at the Bank—well, in that improved +state of things what was to prevent his asking +Leonie to share his new-found privileges?</p> +<p class="pnext">Then, suddenly, the icy finger touched his +heart again. As the blue wreaths of cigarette +smoke in which he had conjured up this alluring +vision rolled away he became conscious +that his gaze, hitherto absorbed and preoccupied +with day-dreams, was in reality riveted on +a material object under the opposite seat. A +very material object indeed—no less than the +heel of a man's boot.</p> +<p class="pnext">At sight of this disturbing element Beaumanoir's +sensations were of a mixed order. +First of all, he could see so little of the boot +that he could not be sure that there was a man +attached to it, though the presumption was in +favor of that supposition, for he was quite certain +that it had not been there long, or he +would have noticed it before. He guessed, so +alert had his mind become under stress of +emergencies, that the wearer of the boot had +got into the compartment on the off side while +he himself had been looking out of the window +in Elstree station.</p> +<p class="pnext">But if so, and the man had invaded his privacy +with sinister design, why should he have +plunged at once into a position of utter impotence? +No one flattened out under the low +seat of a first-class railway carriage is capable +of active violence without a preliminary struggle +to free himself, during which he would be +at the mercy of his intended victim. The only +design that Beaumanoir could attribute to him +was that he would presently wriggle to the +front and use a pistol.</p> +<p class="pnext">He sat and eyed the motionless boot, and +then an impulse, swift and irresistible, seized +him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Come out of that, you beggar!" he cried; +and, stooping down, he gripped the boot, wondering +whether he was to be rewarded with a +haul or whether he would have to laugh at +himself for grabbing someone's discarded +footgear. But the first touch told him that +here was no empty boot, and, his fingers closing +on it like a vise, he put forth all his +strength and dragged its wearer, snarling and +spluttering, out on to the open floor. There +was no sign of a pistol, but as a measure of +precaution Beaumanoir pulled out his own +Smith and Wesson.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Get up and sit in that corner," he said +sternly, eyeing the puny form of the invader +with curiosity. Open violence at any rate was +not to be apprehended from the stunted little +figure of a man who coweringly obeyed his +order.</p> +<p class="pnext">But as his captive turned round and showed +his sullen face the Duke knew that this was no +mere impecunious vagabond, sneaking a cheap +railway journey. His fellow passenger was +part and parcel of the peril that menaced him—had, +in fact, been a fellow-passenger of his +before. For the wizened, mean-looking face +was the face of the spy Marker, who had been +pointed out to him by Leonie on board the <em class="italics">St. +Paul</em>, and who had afterwards shadowed him +to the Hotel Cecil on landing.</p> +<p class="pnext">"So we meet again, Mr. Marker," said the +Duke with pleasant irony. "I should have +thought that your friend Mr. Ziegler could +have provided you with a railway fare rather +than let you travel like a broken racing sharp—under +the seat."</p> +<p class="pnext">The fellow blinked his ferret eyes viciously, +but began a futile attempt at prevarication. +"My name, I guess, ain't Marker, and I never +heard of anyone called Ziegler," he whined.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Very possibly your name may not be +Marker, though you booked under it on the +<em class="italics">St. Paul</em>; but you are undoubtedly acquainted +with the old rascal at the Cecil who calls himself +Ziegler," Beaumanoir retorted.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You seem to know a powerful sight more +about me than I know myself," was the sullen +reply.</p> +<p class="pnext">Beaumanoir made a long scrutiny of the +weak but cunning countenance of the spy, and +he came to the conclusion that this was one of +the underlings of the combination, to be +trusted only with minor tasks in the great +game. His presence there under the seat of +the compartment was the more unaccountable, +since he was not the sort of creature with either +nerve or physique to murder anything stronger +than a fly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Look here, my good chap," said Beaumanoir +with tolerant contempt, after, as he +thought, gauging Mr. Marker's caliber. +"You've got a bit out of your depth with the +people you're trying to swim with. Why not +chuck Ziegler and Co. and come over to me? +I'll make it worth your while."</p> +<p class="pnext">But the only response was a dull shake of +the insignificant head and the sulky rejoinder: +"I don't know what you're getting at, Mister. +I'll chuck anybody you like and come over +to you with pleasure if you will stand the price +of a ticket to St. Albans."</p> +<p class="pnext">The persistent denial was as absurd as the +suggested reason for his presence under the +seat, and Beaumanoir began to lose patience. +"I suppose," he said, "that you will maintain +that you did not go to Mr. Forsyth's chambers +in John Street last night under the pretence of +being a chemist's messenger?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Never been in John Street in my life," +came back the pat and obvious lie.</p> +<p class="pnext">It seemed useless to argue further, and +Beaumanoir preserved silence till the train ran +into Radlett Station, when he put into practice +the course he had decided upon. At least he +would force the creature to disclosure and put +him to some inconvenience, as it was possible +that thereby he might disconcert his plans, +whatever they might be. Lowering the window, +he called to the guard, and informed the +astonished official that he had found a man +traveling under the seat without a ticket.</p> +<p class="pnext">Then uprose the righteous wrath of the +guard, who had Mr. Marker by the collar in a +trice and twisted him out on to the platform +with the sharp demand:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Now, young man, your name and address, +and quick about it."</p> +<p class="pnext">"What for?" inquired Marker, openly insolent.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Defrauding the Company by traveling +without previously paying the fare, contrary +to By-law 18."</p> +<p class="pnext">The spy broke into a jeering cackle. +"You've only got <em class="italics">his</em> word for it that I haven't +got a ticket," he replied. "I nipped under the +seat because I thought he was a lunatic, and +a gent can travel that way, I reckon, if he's +paid his shot. Here's the ticket, Mister. I'll +make tracks to another carriage."</p> +<p class="pnext">With which he produced a first-class ticket +all in order and walked off along the platform, +leaving the Duke and the guard looking +after him, the former with a curious smile, the +latter with dismayed perplexity.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, of all the funny games!" exclaimed +the official. "He must have got in at Elstree +while I was attending to that there toff, and +blessed if he ain't scooting into the same compartment +with him now. Your Grace will +understand that I couldn't interfere with him, +seeing that he had a ticket and you didn't +prefer no charge?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"All right, guard," replied Beaumanoir, +with his weary smile. "It really doesn't matter. +He seems to have taken me for a madman, +while I took him for a dead-head, that's +all. These little misunderstandings will arise, +you know. We're behind time, eh?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Taking the hint, the guard retired and +started the train, Beaumanoir resuming his +seat in a frame of mind only to be described +as mixed. He stared out into the gloom of +night, wondering what was to come next. His +little stratagem had succeeded, in so far as it +had revealed Marker as the possessor of a +ticket, and therefore as presumably charged +with some design against himself, though it +had shed no light on the nature of that design. +But the adroitness with which the wretched +spy had extricated himself made him gnash his +teeth because of the impudent reliance on his +inability to assign a reason to the guard for +fearing an intruder. That in itself was clear +evidence that Mr. Marker was under the seat +with a very real purpose.</p> +<p class="pnext">Had that purpose been entirely thwarted by +his discovery? was the question which buzzed +through the Duke's brain to the tune of the +rolling wheels. There had been an air of insolent +confidence in the fellow as he showed his +ticket and walked away which hardly tallied +with total discomfiture. And then, mused +Beaumanoir, was there not ground for further +apprehension in his selection of a fresh compartment +and a fresh traveling companion? +Could it be that "the toff" who had entered +the train at Elstree was an accomplice, and +that Mr. Marker had gone to report to him +and concert new measures? It might well be +so, for, whether wittingly or no, the swaggering +passenger had certainly caused the diversion +which had enabled Marker to open the +door on the off side and creep under the seat.</p> +<p class="pnext">The reflection that the spy might have confederates +on the train did not add to Beaumanoir's +equanimity, and at the next stop he let +down the window again and peered along the +line of carriages. Sure enough, he caught a +glimpse of a head protruding from the compartment +into which Marker had disappeared—not +the head of Marker himself, but of the +imperious person who had played the magnate +and distracted the guard. The head was instantly withdrawn, but it had done a useful +work in convincing Beaumanoir that he was +really an object of interest in that quarter, and +not to Marker alone.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I wish they would <em class="italics">do</em> something and end +this beastly suspense," the hunted man muttered +to himself as the train moved on once +more; "though, for the matter of that, they +can't do anything till I get out at Tarrant +Road—unless they openly come to the door +and shoot me at one of the few remaining stoppages."</p> +<p class="pnext">But he was soon to learn that stations were +not to be the only stopping-places for the 8.45 +that night. It had come to a steep gradient, +up which it was plodding laboriously, when +suddenly there was a bumping thud that +hurled Beaumanoir on to the opposite seat; the +wheels screeched on the metals as if in agony; +a tremor as of impending dissolution quivered +through the framework of the carriage, and +the train jerked to a standstill.</p> +<p class="pnext">Beaumanoir had the door open instantly +with his own private key, and clambering down +on to the side of the line nearly fell into the +arms of the guard, hurrying from the rear van +towards the engine.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Run into an obstruction, I expect, your +Grace—nothing very serious, I hope," panted +the guard as he went scrunching over the ballast +to the center of disaster.</p> +<p class="pnext">People were swarming out of the carriages, +all of them evidently more frightened than +hurt, and Beaumanoir strained his eyes +through the leaping, scuffling figures to the +compartment occupied by his enemies. Yes, +there they were, and apparently the thing was +to be done in character to the last. The tall, +well-dressed man opened the door, called +"Guard!" in the same old tone of importance, +and, getting no response, began to leisurely +descend on to the permanent way, followed by +Marker, who feigned to hold no converse with +him. At the same time there hastened up the +man who had handed in the hatbox and rug, +and then the three were swallowed up in the +shadows beyond the radius of light from the +carriage windows.</p> +<p class="pnext">For the night had fallen inky dark, and outside +that narrow band of artificial light all was +as black as the nether pit. Shrieking women +and agitated men appeared for a moment on +the footboards and disappeared, directly they +had traversed the short zone of light, into the +outer gloom of the waste ground at the side of +the railway.</p> +<p class="pnext">Casting a comprehensive glance at his surroundings, +the Duke saw that the accident had +occurred at a lonely spot where the line was +hemmed in on either hand by dense woods running +right up to the rail-fence that bounded +the track. Instinct prompted him to quit the +dangerous proximity of his own compartment, +and at the same time he desired to ascertain +how long the delay was likely to last. This +he could only do by proceeding to the front of +the train, but to reach the engine would entail +passing the place where the mysterious three +lurked in the shadows. In order to avoid +them, therefore, he darted across the zone +of light, hoping to escape observation, dived +under the train, and made his way forward on +the other side of the line, shielded from his +foes by the carriages.</p> +<p class="pnext">One glance at the derailed engine sufficed +to show him the nature of the accident, and to +inform him of the reason for it. A barrier +composed of baulks of timber, supplemented +by heaped-up ballast, had been built across the +six-foot way, and from the excited remarks +of driver, stoker, and guard Beaumanoir +gathered that the locomotive was so damaged +that even when the obstruction was removed +it would be unable to proceed under its own +steam. The passengers would have to wait +till a relief train came along, unless they +elected to trudge three miles to the next or the +last station.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was all too plain to Beaumanoir that here +was no accident at all, but an outrage designed +to strand him in that lonely place, where amid +the darkness and the confusion murder would +come easy. The choice of the locality, half-way +up a steep gradient where the speed +would be reduced to a minimum, pointed to no +desire to injure the passengers generally; indeed, +there would have been an obvious intention +to avoid a really perilous collision, seeing +that some of the conspirators were on board. +He could pretty accurately gauge Marker's +functions now. The spy was to have kept +close to him after the "accident," so as to signal +his whereabouts in the darkness to the more +active members of the gang.</p> +<p class="pnext">The emissaries of Ziegler would have to dispense +with that aid now, but still Beaumanoir +could not shut his eyes to his imminent peril. +The three who had traveled in the train were +on the other side of the line, but the contingent—there +would be at least two of them—who +had wrecked the engine were probably +lurking somewhere near. He could have no +assurance that they were not at his very elbow, +stealing on him through the dense undergrowth +that fringed the fence.</p> +<p class="pnext">A shout from the guard to the passengers +congregated behind the train told him that at +least half an hour must elapse before they +could be picked up and carried on, and he at +once decided that to stay at the spot would be +intolerable. He should go mad if he remained +at the mercy of invisible adversaries +whom he could not <em class="italics">hit back</em>. If they would +only come out into the open, in a body if they +liked, so that he could empty the six chambers +of his revolver into them before he went down, +he would take his risks gladly; but to stand +still in the dark, not knowing how soon a stab +in the back would be his fate, was the thing too +much. There and then he ended the situation +by climbing the fence and plunging into the +wood.</p> +<p class="pnext">He had not taken six steps through the +brambles when from the pitch darkness ahead +a low, flute-like whistle sounded, to be instantly answered by the cracking of a twig a +little to the right of him. His present intention +to quit the scene and make his way to +Prior's Tarrant on foot across country had +evidently been foreseen and provided for. +Those bushes were <em class="italics">occupied</em>, and his retreat at +that point was cut off. He clambered back +on to the railway, and, running as hard as his +lameness would allow, close to the fence, he +again essayed the wood two hundred yards +ahead of the engine. This time he won free +into the tangle of the copse without any sign +of pursuit, and presently came to an open +"ride" where progress was easier.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xiiiat-the-keeper-s-cottage"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id14">CHAPTER XIII—<em class="italics">At the Keeper's Cottage</em></a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">The Duke followed the ride for some distance, +the clamor of voices around the wrecked +train growing every moment less distinct till +they died away altogether, and he guessed that +he was in the heart of the wood, half a mile +from the scene of the disaster. Whether or +no he was pursued he had no means of knowing, +with such diabolical cunning pitted +against him; but, at any rate, no sound of +pursuit reached his straining ears, and he began +to hope that his break-away had been undetected.</p> +<p class="pnext">Suddenly the ride turned abruptly to the +right, and at the end of a glade, some hundred +yards further on, he saw the lights of a dwelling. +Across the intervening years came a +flash of remembrance. These must be the +celebrated coverts of his neighbor, Sir Claude +Asprey, and the house ahead must be the +keeper's cottage where, when an Eton boy +spending the holidays with his uncle at Prior's +Tarrant, he had lunched as a member of Sir +Claude's shooting-party ten years ago. The +place was graven on his memory, because the +day was a red-letter one by reason of his having +shot his first pheasant thereon.</p> +<p class="pnext">Without any definite plan in his head, but +actuated by a longing for human companionship, +however brief, he went up to the door of +the cottage and knocked, his arrival being also +heralded by the barking of dogs at the side of +the house. The door was almost immediately +thrown open by a stalwart, ruddy-faced man +of sixty, who carried a candle and stared in +open-mouthed wonder at a well-dressed visitor +at such an hour and place. Beaumanoir +looked at him closely, and smiled his first smile +of pleasure since Forsyth's hand had gripped +his on the day he landed.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I can see you've forgotten me, Mayne," +he said, "though I should have known you +anywhere—time has touched you so slightly. +Don't you recollect young Charley Hanbury, +who came over with the Duke of Beaumanoir +to a big shoot with Sir Claude in '91?"</p> +<p class="pnext">A gleam shone in the honest keeper's keen +eyes. "Of course I remember, sir," he replied, +adding quickly: "Begging your Grace's +pardon, for you'll be the Duke yourself now?'</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, I am the Duke, Mayne, and a +very unfortunate one," Beaumanoir laughed. +"There has been a mild sort of smash-up on +the railway yonder, and I started to walk to +Prior's Tarrant rather than hang about for a +relief train. I was a bit hazy about my direction, +so I thought I'd inquire, and at the same +time reassure you that it wasn't a poacher who +was abroad in the woods. May I come in +while you give me my bearings?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Come in, your Grace, and welcome; but it +isn't in my house that I shall direct you. It's +not likely that I'm going to let you wander +about my woods on a dark night when I can +guide you out of them myself and think it an +honor," was the keeper's cordially respectful +reply.</p> +<p class="pnext">Beaumanoir was conscious that standing in +a lighted doorway was hardly the place for +him just then, and he followed into a roomy +kitchen, professionally eloquent with its array +of guns and sporting prints. Mayne explained +that his wife had just gone up to bed, +and that all the youngsters, whom perhaps it +might please his Grace to remember, were out +in the world.</p> +<p class="pnext">Beaumanoir dropped into a chair, and to +gratify his kindly host accepted a horn tankard +of home-brewed ale, which he sipped +while he satisfied Mayne's curiosity about the +"accident." He would have given much to +take the keeper into his confidence about the +personal element in the outrage, but that luxury +could not be indulged in without impossible +disclosures. Considering that he had +eliminated the most pertinent part of his narrative, +he was unable to account for the growing +gravity with which it was received till +Mayne disburdened himself.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I wonder your Grace can take your narrow +escape so lightly," said the keeper. +"Providence must have been in two minds +about you to-night."</p> +<p class="pnext">"How so?" asked the Duke, starting. +Surely General Sadgrove had not been +spreading indiscreet reports in the county already. +There had not been time.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It isn't a fortnight since his Grace your +uncle and your cousin were killed on the railway," +replied the keeper.</p> +<p class="pnext">The coincidence had not occurred to Beaumanoir, +nor if it had would it have troubled +him; but he was relieved to find that Mayne's +solemnity was due to the traditional superstition +of a gamekeeper. To have his terrible +secret, or so much as a hint of it, suspected by +this cheery old associate of the happiest day +of his boyhood would have been a blow indeed.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes," he admitted, though in a different +sense; "I have certainly had a narrow escape, +and it has shaken me a little, Mayne. On +second thoughts, if you would let me lie down +for a few hours on that very comfortable settle, +I would defer my departure for Prior's +Tarrant till the morning. I really don't feel +quite equal to trudging so far to-night."</p> +<p class="pnext">This was true enough, for though he +was physically fit he dreaded leaving this +haven of rest and apparent security for the +darkling wood, in which his remorseless foes +were probably searching for him. The promised +escort of the unsuspecting keeper would +be of little value, for, unwarned of any peril, +the man would be simply an encumbrance, +equally liable with himself to swift death at +any moment at the hands of the enormous odds +against them. Apart from other considerations, +he could not subject the good fellow to +such a risk, though he would have preferred, +had it been possible to proceed alone, to have +got to Prior's Tarrant that night and so have +ended the suspense under which Forsyth and +the General must be laboring.</p> +<p class="pnext">Of course the proposal was hailed with delight, +Mayne only insisting that he should +wake his wife and get her to prepare the spare +bedroom. Of this, however, Beaumanoir +would not hear, and he was trying to persuade +his host to retire for the night when a dog +barked furiously at the back of the house.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That's old Tear'em; there'll be someone +moving," said Mayne, going out into the passage +and listening intently.</p> +<p class="pnext">Beaumanoir remained in the kitchen, but +for all that it was he, with his highly strung +nerves, who was the first to catch the sound of +a footstep without—a stealthy footstep, not +approaching the cottage door boldly, but +creeping close to the window. The next instant, +however, before he could communicate +with Mayne, another and a brisker step, without +any attempt at secrecy, crunched on the +pebble path, and there came a tap at the cottage +door. Mayne immediately opened it.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Sorry to disturb you, but there has been a +railway accident," a man said in tones that +struck Beaumanoir as vaguely familiar. "I'm +tired of waiting about at the side of the line. +Can you give me shelter for the night?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"If you'll please to walk in, sir, I'll see what +can be done," came the reply of the hospitable +keeper. "I've got one of the passengers in +here already."</p> +<p class="pnext">The next moment there appeared in the +doorway of the kitchen the tall man who had +hectored the guard at Elstree station and who +had afterwards been joined by the spy, +Marker, at Radlett. Whatever his purpose, +he was plainly not disposed to lay aside his air +of self-importance as yet. He glanced superciliously +at Beaumanoir, and promptly appropriated +the chair which the latter had risen +from at the first alarm. Loyal to his own +county, this was more than Mayne could +stand; he hastened to effect a one-sided introduction.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Beg pardon, sir, but you've taken the +Duke's chair," he said. "This gentleman is +his Grace the Duke of Beaumanoir."</p> +<p class="pnext">The newcomer rose with alacrity. "Sorry, +I'm sure," he said, taking another seat. "We +are companions in misfortune, Duke, if, as +I understand, you were traveling in that +wretched 8.45 from St. Pancras."</p> +<p class="pnext">Beaumanoir's sense of humor, ever present, +but of late repressed by stress of circumstances, +broke out at the efforts of this man, +who spoke with a pronounced American accent, +and who, he was persuaded, was there +with murderous intent, to sustain the <em class="italics">rôle</em> of +an English gentleman. He had not forgotten +that other and more furtive footstep under +the window, but he could not resist the sport +of leading this rascal on. The mood had seized +him to avoid being killed if he could; but, if +that were not possible, to extract all available +fun out of the process. And it might serve +either of these contingencies to lead his adversary +into the belief that he was not being imposed +on by all this specious posing.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, I was in the 8.45," he replied, looking +the other squarely in the face. "You joined +it at Elstree, I think. I noticed you because a +man who was found under the seat of my compartment +got into yours at Radlett, and I saw +you leaving the train with him after the accident."</p> +<p class="pnext">For the fraction of a second the man failed +to control the answering defiance of his eyes, +but he got a grip of himself soon enough to +prevent a premature explosion. "Really?" he +said, with affected carelessness. "He was under +the seat, eh? Funny sort of person to be +traveling first-class; but, of course, you will +understand that I am not acquainted with +him."</p> +<p class="pnext">Beaumanoir made no comment. He had +got what he wanted. That sudden tell-tale +gleam of menace had discounted the subsequent +disclaimer, and he knew that this man +had been no chance fellow-passenger with +Marker, the spy. What was more, the man +knew that he knew it, and Beaumanoir +shrewdly guessed that the effort of control +was intended to deceive not him but the keeper. +The rascal was biding his time till he had +learned what dispositions were to be made for +the night, when doubtless he would shape his +actions accordingly; and, in the meanwhile, it +was necessary to his purpose that Sir Claude +Asprey's honest old retainer should regard +him as an innocent guest.</p> +<p class="pnext">Again that persistent reliance on the Duke's +impotence to speak up and boldly claim protection. +All through the hot pursuit that +leaguered him so closely this was the bitterest +drop in Beaumanoir's cup, for it was he himself +who had placed the gag in his own mouth, he +himself who had forged the fetters that kept +him from running to Scotland Yard with an +exposure of the whole conspiracy. And it is +galling to be hampered by a past lapse from +virtue when you have abandoned evil courses +and are like to lose your life for doing so.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Now that this gentleman has come in your +Grace will <em class="italics">have</em> to have the spare bedroom," +said Mayne triumphantly, moving towards the +door. "The wife will have it ready for you in +a brace of shakes."</p> +<p class="pnext">Beaumanoir detained him with a hasty gesture. +"One minute," he said, "I'm not at all +sure that I care about having the bedroom. I +had arranged to sleep downstairs on the settle, +you know. Why shouldn't we adhere to +that plan, and let this gentleman have the +room?"</p> +<p class="pnext">He was moved to discover which of the two +sleeping-places his enemies would prefer him +to occupy, and also by the imperative need of +gaining time to gauge the altered circumstances. +Moreover, if Mayne went upstairs +to consult his wife he would be left alone with +this great strapping potential assassin, who as +like as not would promptly admit half a dozen +other assassins from outside. Strangely +enough, it was the potential assassin himself +who solved his dilemma—by tossing a visiting-card +on to the table.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I shouldn't dream of sleeping in the bedroom +while you are roughing it down here, +your Grace," he said. "I shall certainly insist +on occupying the settle."</p> +<p class="pnext">Beaumanoir picked up the card and read:</p> +<pre class="literal-block"> +Colonel Anstruther Walcot, + 14th Dragoon Guards. +</pre> +<p class="pfirst">The sight of that card, for all his imminent +danger, cheered him, as showing that his opponents +were not infallible. Not only had +they made the initial blunder of furnishing +this obvious Yankee with the outward semblance +and name of an English officer commanding +a distinguished regiment, relying on +the fact that the real owner of the name was +in India, but they had chanced to select the +name of the colonel of Beaumanoir's old regiment.</p> +<p class="pnext">The impostor's card inspired him with an +idea. He would accept him at his own valuation.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Very well," he said, rising from his chair. +"As I am the first comer, perhaps it is right +that I should be first served. I'll take the bedroom, Mayne; but there's no need to disturb +your wife. If you'll show me up we'll soon +put the room to rights. Good-night, sir, and +thank you for your courtesy."</p> +<p class="pnext">With which he signed to the keeper to lead +the way and followed him out, casting a glance +at the American to see how he took the arrangement. +Diagnosis of the man's face was, +however, impossible, for he had already turned +to the window and was drawing aside the curtain—to +signal to his fellows, Beaumanoir had +no doubt.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mayne mounted the steep cottage staircase, +Beaumanoir limping awkwardly in his wake +into one of two rooms on the tiny landing. +The moment they had crossed the threshold he +perceived that the chamber was little better +than a trap. The man downstairs would simply +have him at his mercy, after admitting his +companions and probably screwing up the +door of the keeper's sleeping apartment. +Locks and bolts to the primitive doors there +were none. He recognized all too late that it +would have been better to have insisted on the +Yankee occupying this room and on remaining +downstairs himself, when he would at least +have formed a wedge between the traitor in +the camp and his colleagues outside.</p> +<p class="pnext">To stay the night in the room was out of the +question, and he determined to put in practice +the inspiration derived from "Colonel Walcot's" +card.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mayne," he said, laying his hand on the +astonished keeper's shoulder, "I must get out +of this at once, without the gentleman below +being aware of it, and you must help me."</p> +<p class="pnext">"But, your Grace——" began Mayne.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Don't withstand me," Beaumanoir cut +short the protest. "I cannot go into a long +explanation, but it's like this. That man is +the colonel of my former regiment—an old +brother officer, you understand. My name was +Hanbury then, and he either does not, or pretends +not to, recognize me. It is not a nice +thing to have to confess, but I borrowed money +in those days from Colonel Walcot, which +never till now have I had it in my power to +repay. It would distress me greatly to have +that money mentioned before I have repaid it, +as I shall do to-morrow, so if you can contrive +to let me out without his knowledge I'll make +for Prior's Tarrant and never forget your +assistance."</p> +<p class="pnext">Mayne scratched his grizzled head in pained +perplexity. To his slow brain the incident of +a wealthy nobleman fleeing in the dead of +night from a creditor presented a startling incongruity, +but gradually it recurred to him +that he had heard that the new Duke had been +"a bit wild" when in the army; and, after all, +his reluctance to be recognized by the Colonel +till he had had time to liquidate the debt +seemed but natural.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, it can be done, your Grace," replied +the keeper, softly opening the lattice casement. +"The lean-to roof of the woodshed reaches +right up here, and there's a pile of faggots +against the shed. You can get down easy +enough, and as it's the back of the house, if +you are careful, he won't know anything about +it. But I'll come, too, and show your Grace +the way out of the wood."</p> +<p class="pnext">"On no account, Mayne," said Beaumanoir +quickly. "You'll be much more useful here. +I'll find my way out of the wood all right, but +you must go back to the kitchen and tell +Colonel Walcot that I am going to bed. It's +only a white lie, and here's a five-pound note +on account of it. Stay with him as long as you +can—half an hour at least—and then go to +bed yourself."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Very well, your Grace; I don't like it, but +I'll do it."</p> +<p class="pnext">"And see here, Mayne: there's one thing +more. In the morning, or whenever Colonel +Walcot discovers that I have gone away, tell +him from me why I went, and that I intend +to repay him all I owe him. <em class="italics">All I owe him</em>, +don't forget that."</p> +<p class="pnext">Directly he was alone Beaumanoir left himself +no time for weighing the chances, but took +the risk. Squeezing through the window, he +climbed down the sloping roof of the woodshed +and thence by way of the faggot-pile to +the ground. He was well aware that every +step, as he groped his way across the clearing +into the thicket, might be his last, for doubtless +he had been traced to the cottage and the +whole pack were somewhere about. His only +hope lay in the probability that they were in +front of the house, where they could hold themselves +ready to obey signals from the kitchen +window or a summons from the door.</p> +<p class="pnext">It might have been that this was the case, +for Beaumanoir reached the trees without interference, +and at once shaped a course for the +edge of the wood. His progress was difficult +by reason of the darkness and the density of +the undergrowth, but fortune favored him in +so far that he presently hit upon a public foot-path, +and so came eventually to a stile giving +on a high road. At the next cross-ways was +a sign-post, which he read by the light of a +wax match, and thence onward limped steadily +forward for Prior's Tarrant, with growing +confidence that he had eluded pursuit.</p> +<p class="pnext">Great, then, was his dismay when, on turning +into his own park, he became conscious +that he was being shadowed by someone whose +stealthy pid-pad sounded resolutely behind +him. As he mounted the terrace steps it grew +louder; the man who was following him was +close behind and gaining quickly. Something +in the Duke's tired brain seemed to snap, and +with just a glance at the lighted window of +the dining-room where General Sadgrove was +in the act of drawing up the blind, he turned +at the top of the steps and flung himself, half +mad with rage and terror, on the faithful Azimoolah, +who had picked him up near the sign-post +and shepherded him safely for the rest of +the journey.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xivtoo-many-women"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id15">CHAPTER XIV—<em class="italics">Too Many Women</em></a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">General Sadgrove relaxed his grip on +Azimoolah's lean neck, not as a consequence +of Alec Forsyth's exclamation, but because he +and his captive had crossed the threshold of +the French window—gone "off," in fact, from +the stage on which he had been playing a little +comedy for the benefit of an invisible audience. +Forsyth guessed at once that the pulley-hauley +business on the terrace had only been a sham, +from the half-playful push with which his +uncle released the now passive Indian, and +also from the more than half-contemptuous +glance flung at himself.</p> +<p class="pnext">The next moment the other party to the +tussle on the terrace elucidated the matter by +walking up to the window instead of running +away. It was the Duke himself, outwardly +calm, but somewhat disheveled by the fray, +and looking very sleepy. Entering the room +he gave Forsyth's hand an affectionate +squeeze, and turned to secure the window.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It's all right," he said, in the listless tone +that he always used nowadays. "When the +train got stuck up I smelt rats, and cleared out +from the locality—thought it better to cut +across country on foot than to stay about a +spot where I was probably being looked for. +But this beggar," pointing to Azimoolah, +standing at "attention," proudly erect, "must +have shadowed me, and caught me up just as +I was coming to tap at the window. You will +confer a great favor on me by letting him go."</p> +<p class="pnext">This dogged determination to take no prisoners +strengthened the General's suspicions of +his host, and there was a harsh ring in the +laugh with which he explained that Azimoolah +was his own emissary, who, on returning from +the scene of the accident, had mistaken the +Duke for one of their unknown adversaries. +He did not mention that there were two genuine +prowlers outside who, but for Azimoolah's +intervention, would have fallen on their prey, +and who were probably intensely puzzled by +finding someone else playing the same game +as themselves.</p> +<p class="pnext">"And now, if your Grace will go to bed, I +will guarantee you a good night's rest," added +the General. "You must not forget that you +will have ladies to entertain to-morrow."</p> +<p class="pnext">Beaumanoir gave a tired shrug.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Even without that inducement I'd take +your prescription, General," he replied. "This +hide-and-seek is rather wearing; but if you two +good fellows can keep me in the land of the +living for the next few days, I shan't worry +you further."</p> +<p class="pnext">He left the room, dragging his lame foot +painfully, and the General, stricken with a +sudden sympathy, whispered Forsyth to accompany +him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"The poor beggar is troubled," he said. +"Sleep on the sofa in his room, and don't be +afraid to close your eyes—as soon as <em class="italics">he</em> is +asleep. Azimoolah and I will see there's no +bother. But your friend mustn't be left alone. +Danger from his own pistol—see?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Forsyth nodded with grieved comprehension, +and followed the Duke. On his departure +the General turned to Azimoolah, who had +stood like a statue since his release, and the +twain exchanged a twinkle of mutual congratulation.</p> +<p class="pnext">"We managed that quite in the old style, O +taker of many thieves," said the General in +Hindustani. "'Twas well that you heard and +quickly obeyed my whisper to offer resistance, +for so we have deceived the malefactors who +beheld us into the belief that you also are an +enemy of the house."</p> +<p class="pnext">"The sahib's praise is sweet as the honey of +Kashmir," responded Azimoolah, gravely. +"Is it the Heaven-born's will that I should go +out and slay these dealers in iniquity?"</p> +<p class="pnext">The commission entrusted to him, however, +held promise of no such luxury. On the contrary, +Azimoolah received strict injunction to +avoid violence except in the last extremity—in +self-defence or to prevent entry into the +house. The duty laid down for him was to +patrol the grounds, and instantly apprise the +General of any action on the part of the two +trespassers that pointed to a renewal of aggressiveness +that night.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I shall remain in this room till daybreak; +if anything occurs, make the signal outside," +were the General's final instructions as he +loosed his human watch-dog on to the terrace, +after putting out the lights to conceal the +opening of the window. Then, having carefully +closed it, he sat himself down in the dark, +and presently slumbered, secure in the knowledge that none could approach the mansion +while Azimoolah was on guard. Also, he was +pretty sure that the siege would not be raised +till the two prowlers should have reported to +their superiors the doings and, as they would +believe, the capture of the strange rival who +had forestalled them.</p> +<p class="pnext">The General's confidence was justified, for +the night passed without further alarms, and +the three gentlemen met at the breakfast-table +under ordinary country-house conditions. The +servants being in the room, no reference was +made to the abnormal circumstances that had +brought them together, though Beaumanoir, +in the course of reading letters that had come +by post, held up a gorgeously monogrammed +note, and remarked that Mrs. Talmage Eglinton +had accepted his invitation and would be +with them on the morrow.</p> +<p class="pnext">"She writes rather flippantly for a stranger," +he added, eyeing the scented missive +doubtfully, but not offering to show it. "I +hope it's all right for her to meet my cousin +Sybil, and—er—the other ladies. She's coming +on your recommendation, you know, General, +so you must vouch for her good behavior."</p> +<p class="pnext">Sadgrove growled unintelligibly, and was +at pains to conceal a sudden upheaval of his +facial muscles. For the Duke's reference to +Mrs. Talmage Eglinton in her relations to the +other guests had all at once opened up to his +mind a contingency which he had overlooked—a +terrible contingency, which demanded instant +consideration before the American +widow was admitted to the house. He made +an early excuse for quitting the table, and, +exacting a promise that Beaumanoir and Forsyth +would for the present remain indoors, he +went out into the park to face the position +alone, and thresh it out to a conclusion.</p> +<p class="pnext">Walking under the trees in the historic elm +avenue, it was not till he had smoked a whole +cigar and lit another that he was able to +approach the problem with anything like +calmness. For he was suffering from the +humiliation of having to admit that he had +committed the grievous error of imperiling +the life of a woman—one, too, whom he held +in affectionate regard only second to his wife. +If his suspicion of Mrs. Talmage Eglinton +was as well founded as instinct told him, she +ought never to have been asked to stay under +the same roof as Sybil Hanbury, her victorious +rival in the affections of a man who had repulsed her advances by stolidly ignoring them.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Gad! but I'd cut my hand off rather than +harm should come to that girl, let alone never +being able to look Alec in the face again," he +muttered, as he gnawed his white mustache in +perplexity.</p> +<p class="pnext">The situation was indeed serious from the +point of view that Mrs. Talmage Eglinton +was head of a gang of international criminals, +and that she was, moreover, as he put it in his +simple soldier phrase, "sweet upon" his nephew +Alec. If, for her as yet unexplained ends, she +would not stick at assassinating the Duke of +Beaumanoir, she would be capable of wreaking +a deadly vengeance on the girl who had +won the heart she hungered for. Once installed +as a guest in the mansion, she would +have plenty of facilities of which she might +make venomous use. The General had engineered +her invitation with the laudable purpose +of keeping her under constant observation +and of making communication with her confederates +difficult; but in his zeal for check-mating +her predatory designs he had forgotten +her amatory ones.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was true that Sybil's engagement had +not yet been published to the world, but the +Shermans, who were also to be the Duke's +guests, knew of it, and to enter into explanations +with Mrs. Sherman, the voluble and +unsophisticated, would be going far towards +defeating his cherished hope of protecting that +lady's husband from the gang without implicating +the Duke. As it was, the invitation of +Mrs. Talmage Eglinton, of which he was +suspected of being the cause, had excited more +than curiosity among his American visitors, +who had nearly upset his arrangements by +canceling their own visit on learning that their +mysterious fellow countrywoman was to be of +the party. One crumb of comfort he derived +from the fact that in all things he could rely +on his wife's discretion. Though they had exchanged +no word on the subject, he knew that, +without penetrating or wishing to penetrate +his motive in trafficking with Mrs. Talmage +Eglinton, his wife guessed that he had one; +he knew that he could depend upon her unquestioning +aid if he asked for it.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I guess I've bitten off more than I can +chew, as Sherman himself would put it," he +mused, with a sigh for the old days of jingling +bridle-chains and night rides, when he had +merrily run down his Thugs and Dacoits without female influence upsetting his calculations. +The female influence had been there, doubtless, +with all its jealousies and consequent treacheries; +but all that had been Azimoolah's department. +It had fallen to the silent-footed, +black-bearded Pathan to explore the under-currents +of social life in the native villages, +and he had not worried his chief with details +till the patient sapping of traitorous brains +was done, and all that remained was to sally +forth and hunt the faithless lover or erring +husband who was also a breaker of laws. Azimoolah's +knowledge in India of the eternal +feminine had been extensive and peculiar; but +the General felt that he could not with propriety +set him poking into love affairs which +included Sybil Hanbury in its scope.</p> +<p class="pnext">Another point which harassed the General's +soul was the new light shed on the Duke's +attitude towards Mrs. Talmage Eglinton by +his mild displeasure at the style of her note. +The General was assured that the remark at +the breakfast-table had been the genuine expression +of an honest doubt as to the fitness +of the sparkling widow to mix with gentle-women; +whereas the Duke could have had no +doubt whatever if he had had relations with +the gang of whom he, the General, believed +this woman to be the moving spirit. It certainly +seemed that the Duke was ignorant that +she was a dangerous adventuress, for, though +he might have suspected her of designs +against himself and yet have consented to her +presence at Prior's Tarrant, he would never +have subjected Sybil to the peril of daily intercourse +with a potential murderess. All +along Beaumanoir had shown a chivalrous disposition +to protect his cousin from even minor +annoyances.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Perhaps there are two distinct crowds +after Sherman's gold bonds, and Beaumanoir +is in with the Ziegler lot, and Mrs. Talmage +Eglinton is playing against them," the General +mused as he turned his steps back to the +house. "To think that the fellow holds the +key of it all, and won't speak, is what riles +me."</p> +<p class="pnext">The immediate dilemma confronted him +whether or no to impart to his nephew the +cause for alarm that had arisen about Sybil. +He had been surprised at first that a man of +Alec Forsyth's shrewdness had not seen for +himself a danger threatening the girl he loved; +but closer examination disclosed a reason. +Forsyth was too modest, too little of a coxcomb, +for it to occur to him that violence could +result from a misplaced passion for himself. +On the whole, the General decided that, as +Mrs. Talmage Eglinton was not due till the +next day, he would say nothing to Alec at +present.</p> +<p class="pnext">"If I can make Beaumanoir disgorge his +secret, the trouble may not arise," he comforted +himself. Though the veteran's faith in +himself was shaken, and he wished he had resisted +the temptation to meddle with crime +outside his old Eastern sphere, he was not the +man to take his hand from the plough. He +would devote all his diplomacy to penetrating +the cause of the Duke's obstinate silence.</p> +<p class="pnext">As he had anticipated, there was a lull that +day in the activity of the enemy—at any rate +of overt attempts. No communication reached +him from Azimoolah, who would certainly +have been heard from if suspicious characters +had been on the move in the neighborhood of +the mansion; for, though unseen, that tireless +tracker might be trusted to be at his post, +which was anywhere and everywhere within +the radius of a mile. The denser thickets of +the park possibly concealed him, or it might be +that he hovered in the nearer precincts of the +gardens, unseen but ready. His presence relieved +the General from disturbing the routine +of the household by special instructions to the +servants, who were still fluttered by the lassooing +of the lame gardener on the previous Sunday. +So far, all the precaution that the +General had delegated to others than himself +and Forsyth was to give the bailiff a quiet +hint, as a message from the Duke, not to admit +the "artists" to the park, should they present +themselves again. But up to the hour of +luncheon the painters of "deer like unto swine" +had not renewed their application or put in an +appearance.</p> +<p class="pnext">In the afternoon Beaumanoir, shaking off +some of his weary apathy, went down to the +portico with his male guests to receive the four +ladies, who arrived in time for tea, which, with +the General's acquiescence, was to be taken on +the terrace. No sooner were the first greetings +over than Mrs. Sadgrove caught her husband's +eye and telegraphed the information that she +had something for his private ear at the earliest +opportunity. He therefore contrived to lag +behind with her while Beaumanoir did the +honors to Leonie and her mother, and Forsyth +paired off with Sybil, as the party mounted +the marble steps to the terrace.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Jem," said Mrs. Sadgrove, scanning the +rugged face of her spouse with a sidelong +scrutiny, "I received an anonymous letter this +morning. Let them get ahead a bit, and I'll +show it to you."</p> +<p class="pnext">The screed which she put into his hand contained +but five words:</p> +<p class="pnext">"<em class="italics">There is danger from Ziegler.</em>"</p> +<p class="pnext">General Sadgrove's Eastern experiences +had not educated him into an expert in calligraphy, +but it needed no particular insight to +perceive that this was a lady's handwriting, +clumsily disguised. He transferred his attention +to the paper, half a sheet of "note"; +and here he was rewarded with a startling discovery. +He had noticed that the letter of acceptance +from Mrs. Talmage Eglinton, which +the Duke had received at breakfast, had been +heavily charged with a peculiar perfume, and +this unsigned missive was simply reeking of +the same pungent fragrance. He had sat +next the Duke, and knew that there was no +mistake.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You have no idea who sent this?" he asked.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I seem to recognize the scent as having +come to me before in notes—proper, signed +notes," Mrs. Sadgrove replied, evasively. And +then she added, with gentle significance, not +from curiosity, but from a desire to help him +in case he did not know: "I heard the name +of Ziegler when we were calling at the Cecil +yesterday. It was mentioned, I think, by one +of the attendants as that of the gentleman +occupying the rooms where the disturbance +was."</p> +<p class="pnext">The General looked hard at her, and saw +that his little drama had not deceived the companion +of his Indian days.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes," he said, shortly. "Do not trouble +about this, Madge. It's all in the day's work."</p> +<p class="pnext">But he himself was greatly troubled, inasmuch +as if that anonymous warning came +from Mrs. Talmage Eglinton all his "case" +was demolished, and a perfect maze of new +problems was presented. A warning from +her would be presumptive evidence that she +was an ally, and—sad blow to his <em class="italics">amour +propre</em>—would stultify all the theories he had +based on what he had fondly hoped was an +unerring intuition. He would have to begin +all over again, solacing himself—and it was +no small solace—with the reflection that he +had raised an unnecessary bogey in anticipating +danger to Sybil Hanbury from Mrs. Talmage +Eglinton's visit.</p> +<p class="pnext">Yet by the time he reached the top of the +terrace steps reaction had set in, and he began +to think that his brain could not have lost all +its cunning. For, unless in the very improbable +event of Mrs. Talmage Eglinton having +found out something about the mysterious +Ziegler through occupying the next suite to +him since yesterday, she must still be the heart +and core of the evil influence he had to combat. +Without knowledge she would not have been +in a position to warn; and, like the Duke, how +could she have obtained knowledge without +complicity? Why, too, should she also be +unwilling to use her knowledge openly? No, +he came back to the opinion that there must +originally have been one gigantic plot against +Senator Sherman's precious charge, and that +there must have been a split in the camp; but +from which section, or whether by both sections, +the Duke was threatened was an irritating +conundrum. Anyhow, Sybil Hanbury's +peril assumed ugly shape again in the General's +mind.</p> +<p class="pnext">"The woman must have sent it to mislead—to throw dust in my eyes," he murmured, not +knowing that he spoke aloud. And following +up that train of reasoning he found it grow +into conviction. The letter was not really +anonymous. That is to say, the writer had +been at particular pains to disclose her identity +by means of the scent if General Sadgrove +deemed the communication sent to his wife of +sufficient importance to investigate. The letter +had been despatched, he now felt assured, +with the express purpose of whitewashing the +sender in the event of any further "accident" +happening to the Duke. In short, he was of +opinion that Mrs. Talmage Eglinton had suspected +his manoeuvre at the hotel, and had +devised this method of hoodwinking him, and +of diverting his vigilance from herself during +her forthcoming visit if her suspicions were +correct. The craftiness of the idea was obvious, +and the General was beginning to be +delighted with his perspicacity when, lo and +behold, the whole fabric crumbled again, from +a flaw at the very base of the structure. It +was inconceivable that Mrs. Talmage Eglinton, +if she was guilty of criminal intent, should +have directed his thoughts to Ziegler, who, if +not a confederate, was certainly part and +parcel of the mystery.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Too many women in it," he growled, testily, +unaware, in the brown study into which +he had fallen, that he had seated himself in +one of the cane chairs round about the tea-table +at which Sybil Hanbury was already +presiding. He was also unconscious that he +had expressed himself audibly—at least, so +far as concerned Sybil, who at that moment +happened to be handing him his cup. Indeed, +he repeated the phrase, the sentiment of it +growing in vigor from the sight of Leonie +Sherman listening to Beaumanoir's description +of his ancestral home, and of Mrs. Sherman +and Mrs. Sadgrove talking to Alec +Forsyth.</p> +<p class="pnext">Sybil gave the old man a queer look, more +affectionate than reproachful; and when she +had finished pouring out tea came and took a +vacant seat beside him. For a while she drank +her tea in silence, stealing a half-amused +glance now and then at the puckered face of +the checked hunter of men. The General was +gazing moodily across the green expanse of +park, wishing with all his heart that Azimoolah, +on guard out there in the leafy solitudes, was a fitting oracle to consult in a +matter touching the private feelings of <em class="italics">memsahibs</em>.</p> +<p class="pnext">"No," he growled regretfully, and again +aloud; "this must be a white man's war."</p> +<p class="pnext">Sybil leaned over and tapped his knee with +her gold tea-spoon. The General started, +smiled fatuously at the celebrated Beaumanoir +heirloom, as though he were expected to admire +it, and then suddenly came down from the +clouds, realizing that the young woman with +the bright eyes searching his face was something +more than a source of anxiety to him. +She was a factor to be reckoned with, and if +he was a judge of the human countenance she +was about to enforce that view.</p> +<p class="pnext">"A white man's war with too many women +in it, General?" she asked, archly. "Isn't that +rather an anomaly?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"It's gospel truth," the General replied, +with sturdy insistence. "Sign of senile decay, +though, thinking aloud."</p> +<p class="pnext">"<em class="italics">You</em> are not decayed. You might as well +accuse <em class="italics">me</em> of being in my first childhood, and +I have really passed that," Sybil smiled back +at him. "But," she added, "I am childish +enough to be a little hurt that you don't appear +to think so."</p> +<p class="pnext">"My dear girl, what have I done? 'Pon +honor, I don't know that I have done anything," +the General protested piteously.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That's just it. It's because you have done +nothing, or next to nothing, that your contemptuous +reference to 'too many women' +seems to me a trifle unkind," replied Sybil, +pretending to misunderstand him. "What +would have happened to my cousin, when the +panel was cut the other night at Beaumanoir +House, if it hadn't been for a woman?"</p> +<p class="pnext">The General accepted the reproof in +thoughtful silence, forced to admit to himself +that it was not uncalled for. If it had not +been for Sybil Hanbury's nerve and courage +on the occasion when the bogus detective officer +had secreted himself in the Duke's town house, +the answer to her question might have had to +be written in blood. Her quick apprehension +of subtle danger, her determination to sit up +and watch, and her cool presence of mind in +face of the emergency when it arose, had saved +the situation and stamped her as of sterling +metal.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I apologize," he jerked out presently. "I +still think there are too many women in the +business, but you ain't one of 'em."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Thank you," Sybil returned, drily. "And, +that being so, wouldn't it be a good plan to ask +a woman to help you, on the principle of setting +a thief to catch a thief, you know?"</p> +<p class="pnext">The General shot a rather shamefaced +glance at the firm mouth and steadfast eyes +of this plucky young enthusiast, and thereupon +he decided to enlist her as an adviser in +the more intricate questions that vexed him. +There was the chance that woman's wit would +fathom woman's guile, and tell him why Mrs. +Talmage Eglinton should want to point the +index of suspicion at Ziegler, who was probably +her <em class="italics">confrère</em> in crime. Woman's wit +might even tell him why his Grace the Duke +of Beaumanoir, engaged in such a simple +ducal pastime as making sheep's-eyes at a +pretty American girl, should yet recoil abashed +whenever Leonie turned her frankly responsive +but puzzled gaze on him. Above all, +the course proposed would enable this brave +English girl to do what he was beginning to +fear he could not do for her—to take care of +herself.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes," he said, putting down his cup with +a grim smile, "I'll take you on, soon as you've +finished your tea. And," he added, fumbling +for his cigar-case, "I'll try and not frighten +you."</p> +<p class="pnext">Sybil rose at once, and together they strolled +along the terrace to a distance from the chatter +round the tea-table, which had drowned their +incipient confidences. When they were quite +out of earshot Sybil turned and confronted the +General, and the lighter tone with which she +had "played" him was lacking now.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Tell me," she said gravely, "why Mrs. +Talmage Eglinton is so anxious to kill my +poor cousin and spoil that charming idyll."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mrs. Talmage Eglinton!" stammered the +General. "How on earth did you know that?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"How did I know!" his new coadjutor repeated +with scorn. "In the same way that she +must know herself that <em class="italics">you</em> know, you dear +silly old man. Because of the absolutely absurd +invitation to her to come and stay here at +Prior's Tarrant without rhyme or reason."</p> +<p class="pnext">And then, when General Sadgrove had recovered +from the shock of finding that he was +not quite inscrutable, they talked, very seriously, +for upwards of half an hour.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xva-new-cure-for-headache"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id16">CHAPTER XV—<em class="italics">A New Cure for Headache</em></a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">"I wonder if General Sadgrove and Mr. +Forsyth are lunatics?" Sybil Hanbury purred +softly, after joining in the chorus of thanks +which greeted a superb rendering of Strelezki's +"Arlequin" on the long disused grand +piano in the tapestry-room. This apartment +was more cozy and homelike than the vast +white drawing-room at Beaumanoir House, but +it was quite large enough for isolated conversations.</p> +<p class="pnext">The uncomplimentary confidence was made +into the shell-like ear of Mrs. Talmage Eglinton, +who, faultlessly gowned by Worth, was +sitting apart with her nominal hostess in the +embrasure of an oriel window. The Duke was +hovering near the piano, and Forsyth was talking +to Mrs. Sadgrove and Mrs. Sherman. The +General was not present, having excused himself +from coming straight from the dining-room +on the plea of having a letter to write.</p> +<p class="pnext">Sybil's disjointed remark—for it followed +a discussion on French cookery—caused a +sudden twist of the ivory shoulders towards +her, the swift eagerness of the movement being +discounted by the languorous stare of slowly +interested surprise. There was a hint of resentment, +perhaps also a trace of alarm, in the +wheeling of the décolletée shoulders; in the +stare these emotions were corrected into a mild +desire to hear more of such a sweeping surmise.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Lunatics—those two!" Mrs. Talmage Eglinton +exclaimed, in well-modulated astonishment. +"That's what you English call rather +a large order, isn't it? What makes you say +so?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Hush! My cousin is trying to persuade +Miss Sherman to sing," replied Sybil. "Wait +till she has begun, and I'll tell you. It's too +funny to keep to one's self."</p> +<p class="pnext">For two days now the house-party at Prior's +Tarrant had been increased by the elegant +addition of Mrs. Talmage Eglinton, and on +the surface matters were pursuing their normal +course. The Duke had received his latest +guest with a democratic courtesy none the less +cordial because of her floridly expressed note, +which in the stress of other preoccupations he +had forgotten altogether. He had a vague +idea that the General had wished the vivacious +American to be included because she was a +fellow countrywoman of the Shermans, and +that was quite enough to ensure his good-will +towards her.</p> +<p class="pnext">This view was so far from being the right +one that Mrs. Sherman and Leonie had only +succeeded in being coldly polite to the latest +arrival. Mrs. Sadgrove, with an inkling that +the beautifully dressed but too effusive American +was an important factor in her husband's +schemes, was more outwardly complacent, but +it was reserved for Sybil to shower upon Mrs. +Talmage Eglinton special civilities which had +ended, after two days only, in their becoming +constant companions, if not bosom friends. +If the handsome visitor wanted to walk in the +park or to be shown some object of interest in +the gardens, Sybil was always at hand to accompany +her; and if it rained, as it had done +all this day, she spent hours in entertaining her +in her own rooms.</p> +<p class="pnext">As for Forsyth, Sybil deserted him entirely; +and as the other ladies abstained from discussing +personal topics before the unpopular +guest, there had been no making known beyond +the small circle who knew it already of +the new secretary's engagement to his employer's +cousin. Singularly enough, this was +one of the very few subjects which the girl did +not touch upon in her confidences to her new +friend.</p> +<p class="pnext">Presently the importunities of the Duke, +backed by a general murmur of request, prevailed, +and Leonie began a quaint old melody +in a clear contralto that at any other time +would have held Sybil an enthralled listener. +As it was, she took instant advantage of the +rippling flood of sound that filled the room to +resume her talk, though for the moment the +continuity was not apparent.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Beaumanoir House was burgled the other +night, and we caught a man trying to get into +my cousin's bedroom," she whispered.</p> +<p class="pnext">"No. Really? I—I saw nothing in the +papers," replied Mrs. Talmage Eglinton in +even tones, but with another turn of the white +shoulders and a sudden shading of her eyes +the better to watch the fair narrator's face.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That was because the Duke let the man go—didn't +want any fuss just after coming into +the title; and quite reasonable, I call it," Sybil +proceeded. "And that's where the fun comes +in. Mr. Forsyth insists that my cousin is the +proposed victim of some diabolical plot, anarchist +or otherwise, and he took General Sadgrove +into his confidence. The old gentleman, +as you may not be aware, was a sort of policeman +in India, and is cracked on finding out +things. Naturally, to one of that temperament, +the mystery Mr. Forsyth chose to make +out of a vulgar attempt at robbery was like a +spark on tinder, and the General caught on at +once. They're both fairly on the job—as +amateur detectives, you know—and they think +they've got a clue."</p> +<p class="pnext">"How truly interesting! And the clue?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Of the most remote kind—not even arrived +at, <em class="italics">à la</em> Sherlock Holmes, by inspecting cigarette +ashes. It seems that Mr. Forsyth—who, +by the way, had been to leave a card on you—met +the Duke at the Cecil, coming away +from the suite of a Mr. Ziegler. He chose +to think that my cousin was looking agitated, +whereas he was only tired after his voyage. +Mr. Ziegler, therefore, if you please, has fallen +under the ban of suspicion from these wiseacres, +and is supposed to be murderously inclined +towards the poor Duke. Even the mischief +of some wretched boy in playing tricks +with the train he traveled by the other night +is attributed to this probably harmless Mr. +Ziegler."</p> +<p class="pnext">"And his Grace—does he also attribute +these things to the same quarter?" asked Mrs. +Talmage Eglinton, scarcely with the breathless +interest due to such tremendous doings. +She had a way of opening her eyes wide when +putting a question—a mannerism which had +the effect of creating doubt whether she was +intensely eager or only bored.</p> +<p class="pnext">"He thinks it all nonsense—same as I do," +Sybil made answer. "He has told these over-clever +gentlemen to leave the thing alone, and +I expect if he finds out what the General is +up to that he'll turn them both out of the +house and give Mr. Forsyth his dismissal. Of +course, you won't say anything—will you?—because +I'm only a poor relation, and I can't +afford to offend people."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I am discretion itself. What is General +Sadgrove up to, dear?" was the reply.</p> +<p class="pnext">Sybil's pretty mouth bent close to confide +the startling fact that the General was going +to London in the morning with the intention +of bearding Mr. Ziegler in his den—otherwise, +in his rooms at the Cecil. If he should be refused +permission to see Ziegler, or, seeing +him, should be unable to satisfy himself of his +respectability, he was going straight on to +Scotland Yard to impart his suspicions to the +authorities. Sybil sketched the carrying out +of this amazing programme and its probable +consequences with much animation and ridicule, +but her hearer's interest tailed off into undisguised +indifference, ending in a deliberate +yawn.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What a very stupid affair!" Mrs. Talmage +Eglinton murmured. "Do you know, it has +made me quite sleepy, and—and I think I'll +go to bed. I have started a real, clawing, +hammering headache. Shouldn't wonder if I +am not laid up to-morrow."</p> +<p class="pnext">Nodding a good-night to the others, she rose +and swept from the room, followed by Sybil, +who, profusely sympathetic, insisted on accompanying +her to her own apartments. At the +door of the latter a dark-eyed, slender woman, +in a black dress with broad white collar and +cuffs, was standing. This was Rosa, the +French maid, on whose services Mrs. Talmage +Eglinton professed herself entirely dependent.</p> +<p class="pnext">"One of my headaches, Rosa. The pink +draught—quickly!" cried the incipient invalid, +and pausing on the threshold she bade an affectionate good-night to her girlish admirer. +"I am not really ill—only a little run down," +she assured her. "I do <em class="italics">hope</em> I shan't have to +keep my room to-morrow."</p> +<p class="pnext">The brilliant vision of Parisian elegance +having vanished into the room, Sybil made her +way downstairs, and in the hall encountered +General Sadgrove, who wore a light overcoat +over his evening things and a gray felt hat. +He was engaged in wiping the wet from his +patent-leather shoes with his handkerchief, but +looked up on Sybil's approach, and, removing +his hat, went on with his occupation.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Still raining?" said Sybil, carelessly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Like the very—I mean, like it used to in +the monsoon," the General checked himself.</p> +<p class="pnext">No more passed, except a slight raising of +the old soldier's eyebrows and a corresponding +droop of one of the lady's eyelids. The General +having restored the gloss to his footgear +and doffed his overcoat, they went on with +linked arms to the tapestry-room, where, however, +the party shortly broke up, the ladies to +retire for the night, and the men to go to the +smoking-room. The Duke remained but a +short time, leaving the General and Forsyth +with the playful remark that he was growing +quite bold after two days' immunity, and +hoped they would not sit up all night—which +was exactly what one or other of them had +been doing ever since they came to Prior's +Tarrant, and, moreover, what they intended +to do for the present.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Sybil has done her part," said the General, +as soon as he was alone with his nephew. +"And I have prepared Azimoolah to be on the +lookout for results. He tells me that the men +in the dog-cart were outside the park wall +again last night, and that there was the same +exhibition of a red lamp in that infernal +French maid's window."</p> +<p class="pnext">"An abortive attempt at communication?" +asked Forsyth.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That or something worse," replied the General. +"It may only be that the woman inside +wants to confer with her confederates without; +or it may be that the red lamp is a signal to +them not to approach any nearer or try to get +into the house. I incline to the latter being +the explanation, as on each occasion the men in +the cart have driven off immediately on seeing +the red lamp, and there has been no attempt at +short or long flashes, or any sort of code talk, +Azimoolah tells me. In either case, it points +to those beauties upstairs being aware that you +and I are on guard, and that any attempt on +their part to give admission to outsiders would +be frustrated."</p> +<p class="pnext">"But if she knows that a watch is being +kept, surely madam will not dare to leave the +house?" suggested Forsyth, in the tentative +tone that was necessary to preserve his uncle's +good humor.</p> +<p class="pnext">"If she does, it will show that she's cornered, +and that Sybil's guess has hit the bull's eye," +said the General, adding, with a significant +grimace, "a preparatory headache has been +started already. You had better go to bed +and leave me to see to the commencement of +the cure."</p> +<p class="pnext">Two hours later Azimoolah Khan, lying +flattened out like a huge lizard on the parapet +of the terrace, and thanking Allah that the +rain had ceased, suddenly pricked up his ears +and thanked Allah again that the time for relieving +his cramped limbs had come. At first +his ears were the only part of his body affected +by the slight sound he had heard, but some +thirty seconds later, keeping the rest of him +motionless, he goggled his eyes round to one +of the ground-floor windows and saw—seeing +in the dark was one of his accomplishments—a +female figure turn from it and flit along the +terrace towards the steps leading down to the +park. Waiting till the figure had gained the +lower level, he slid from the parapet and gave +noiseless chase.</p> +<p class="pnext">The woman in front spared no precaution +to guard against pursuit. She stopped many +times and listened; she doubled on her tracks; +and as soon as she reached the woodland belt +she proved to be an expert in the art of taking +cover. But she had to do with probably the +most wily exponent of woodcraft at that moment +in England, and her pursuer was never +at fault. Dark as the night was, Azimoolah +never lost her for an instant. With sinuous +movements that never caused a twig to crack, +the lithe Pathan was always creeping, gliding, +dodging close behind, till he stopped within +ten paces of the park wall, and from the shelter +of an oak trunk watched his quarry nimbly +climb the obstacle. No sooner had she disappeared +than he swung himself to the top of +the wall, and peered over just as a horse broke +into a trot on the other side.</p> +<p class="pnext">Piercing the gloom, his keen sight distinguished +the shape of a fast-receding rubber-tired dog-cart, in which three figures were +seated; and, having fulfilled his mission, he +dropped back to the ground. In a few minutes +he was on the terrace again, hissing like +a cobra outside the smoking-room. General +Sadgrove opened the French casement.</p> +<p class="pnext">"The daughter of Sheitan came from the +fifth window, and has gone away, even as the +sahib predicted, in the cart with two men," +Azimoolah reported.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Which road did they take?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"To the left—the Senalban road, sahib."</p> +<p class="pnext">"St. Albans, eh? Then she's going to +catch the 3.15 up night mail," muttered the +General. "Well, good-night, old <em class="italics">jungle-wallah</em>. +You've got your orders," he added, closing +and bolting the window.</p> +<p class="pnext">The next morning there were two absentees +from the breakfast-table—General Sadgrove, +who by overnight arrangement had breakfasted +by himself, so as to be driven to Tarrant +Road in time for the nine o'clock train to +town, and Mrs. Talmage Eglinton, who was +confined to her bed by a bad headache. The +news of the indisposition was imparted to +Sybil by the maid Rosa at her mistress's door, +and was accompanied by a regretful but firm +refusal of admission to the patient.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Madame is so <em class="italics">désolée</em> not to receive you, +ma'amselle, but she 'ave ze malady too +strr-rong for speak even with her dearest +friend," was the ultimatum which sent Miss +Hanbury from the door with a doleful face, +which somehow took quite a different expression +when she had turned the corner.</p> +<p class="pnext">For some mysterious reason her aloofness +from her lover vanished that morning, and she +and Forsyth were on the best of terms. They +spent two hours together wandering in the +park, where in one of the more remote glades +Azimoolah flitted up to them from the bushes, +and, regarding Sybil with awe-struck veneration, +made a deep salaam and was gone. The +Duke, who had given his word of honor to the +General not to go beyond the park gates, +passed the time partly with his bailiff and +partly strolling with Leonie in the gardens +and glass-houses. The friendship between +Beaumanoir and his beautiful guest, so promisingly +begun on board the <em class="italics">St. Paul</em>, seemed +to have lost ground. Though he was much in +her society, he avoided intimate topics, and +often puzzled her with a hastily averted look +of wistful tenderness in strange contrast to his +assiduous but commonplace hospitality.</p> +<p class="pnext">Half an hour before luncheon General Sadgrove, +returning on foot from the station and +looking five years older for his run up to London, +met the two young couples, who had now +joined forces, as they were entering the mansion. +Forsyth gave his uncle an anxious +glance of inquiry, but the old man passed him +by unheeding, and addressed the Duke in a +tone of icy formality.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I shall be obliged if your Grace will give +me five minutes in the library on a very urgent +matter," he said, adding, with significant emphasis, +"<em class="italics">I have been with Mr. Ziegler this +morning.</em>"</p> +<p class="pnext">Beaumanoir, gone all pale and tremulous, +made a palpable effort at self-control as he +replied:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Come into the library by all means, General. +But I am afraid you will find me quite +as reticent as I am sure Ziegler was."</p> +<p class="pnext">The interview lasted till long after the +luncheon gong had sounded, and when at +length the Duke and the General entered the +dining-room two pairs of watchful eyes observed +that their relative attitudes had been +reversed. The General's usually impassive +face was working so painfully that Mrs. Sadgrove +half rose from her chair at sight of her +husband, checking herself with difficulty; +while the Duke bore himself almost jauntily, +and began chaffing Sybil about her devotion +to Mrs. Talmage Eglinton, who was still, by +latest bulletin from Rosa, "suffering ze grand +torments" and unable to leave her room.</p> +<p class="pnext">The afternoon passed without external signs +that the house-party was living on the verge +of an active volcano. But as it was growing +dusk Forsyth, at the risk of being late for dinner, +took a solitary walk in the direction of a +certain stile, by which the Prior's Tarrant pastures +were approached by a short cut across +fields from Tarrant Road railway station. +He arrived at the stile in the nick of time to +give a helping hand to Mrs. Talmage Eglinton, +who had just reached the spot from the +opposite direction. The hour was the one +when the guests at the house might be expected +to be dressing for dinner, and it also tallied +with the arrival of a London train at the station; +but neither alluded to these incidentals +of such an obviously chance meeting.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I trust that your headache is better," said +Forsyth, politely.</p> +<p class="pnext">But the headache, he was assured, was rather +worse than better. The sufferer averred that +she had slipped out an hour before, to go for +a quiet walk in the meadows in the hope of obtaining +relief; but the remedy had been of no +avail, and all that remained was to go back to +bed.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Won't you walk back with me?" Mrs. +Talmage Eglinton added, devouring the +young Scotsman's healthy, good-looking face +with eyes of invitation. "I don't seem ever to +get you alone nowadays."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I am very sorry, but I have to go a little +further," replied Forsyth, and, raising his hat, +he passed on. But it was a very little way +further that he had to go, for at the end of the +first meadow he turned and followed in the +lady's wake back to the mansion, catching, as +he did so, a glimpse of Azimoolah moving +stealthily in the bushes at the side of the path.</p> +<p class="pnext">That night the post-bag which one of the +Prior's Tarrant grooms conveyed to the office +in the village contained a letter addressed to +"Clinton Ziegler, Esqre.," at the Hotel Cecil, +couched thus:</p> +<blockquote><div> +<p class="pfirst">"<em class="italics">The gentleman interviewed in the Bowery, +New York, by Mr. Jevons on your behalf has +reconsidered the matter, and is now prepared +to carry out his commitment. He is so shaken +by recent occurrences that he does not feel up +to coming himself till he has received assurances, +but his secretary will call at the hotel on +Monday for instructions, which please hand to +the secretary in writing and carefully sealed.</em>"</p> +</div></blockquote> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xvia-delicate-mission"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id17">CHAPTER XVI—<em class="italics">A Delicate Mission</em></a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">It was on Sunday evening that Mrs. Talmage +Eglinton, after a pious pilgrimage to +the village church in company with her assiduous +friend Sybil Hanbury, sought the +Duke and asked if she might have a carriage +to take her to the station for the up-train on +the following morning. She would return in +the evening, she said, but imperative business +with her milliner and tailor demanded her +presence in London for a few hours.</p> +<p class="pnext">Beaumanoir, in courteously promising that +her request should be attended to, regarded her +with a wan smile. "You will have a companion—that +is, if you do not mind Mr. Forsyth +sharing the station brougham with you," he +added. "Alec has to go to London to-morrow +on my business—leases at the solicitors', +isn't it?"</p> +<p class="pnext">He turned for confirmation to Forsyth, +who, with General Sadgrove, had been strolling +with him on the terrace.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, leases at the solicitors'," replied the +private secretary, flushing slightly. The +General looked indifferent.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Really?" said the lady. "There must be a +lot of that sort of thing to see to just now, I +suppose. Of course, I shall be delighted to +have Mr. Forsyth's escort, provided he drops +me at Bond Street. I cannot have a critical +male person following me across my tailor's +sacred threshold."</p> +<p class="pnext">She shook a gay finger at the party and disappeared +into one of the French windows—a +vision of dainty <em class="italics">chiffons</em> and rustling silks.</p> +<p class="pnext">"She's gone to put her prayer-book away," +laughed Forsyth, in the nervous manner of +one wishing to cover an awkward situation.</p> +<p class="pnext">"She needs one," muttered the General under +his mustache, shooting a furtive glance at +his nephew.</p> +<p class="pnext">Beaumanoir said nothing, and the three +paced on, hardly speaking, till it was time to +dress for dinner. Since the General's return +from town on the day of Mrs. Talmage Eglinton's +headache, not exactly a coolness, but a +constraint, had sprung up between them. A +suspicion of cross-purposes was in the air, +which kept them silent when all together, but +communicative enough when any two of them +were alone in solitary places.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was so now, for the General waited till +the Duke had left them to go up to his dressing-room +before he remarked in a tone of grim +humor:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I told you that you would have her for a +traveling companion."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't anticipate much pleasure from the +journey," Forsyth replied, gloomily, and reddening +under the searching gaze with which +his uncle raked him.</p> +<p class="pnext">But with the exception of the short drive to +the station, during which Mrs. Talmage Eglinton +was unusually preoccupied, he was spared +the uncongenial <em class="italics">tête-à-tête</em> he had expected. +When the train came in the fair American said +chaffingly that she knew he was dying to +smoke—that, anyhow, she was in a mood for +meditation herself, and intended to indulge it +in the seclusion of a "ladies' compartment." +Forsyth responded with the barest protest demanded +by courtesy, and went away to a +smoking-carriage, much relieved.</p> +<p class="pnext">He saw her again at St. Pancras; indeed, +he contrived to be near enough to overhear +the direction to an address in Bond Street +which she gave to her cabman, but he noticed +the not unexpected fact that here in London +she had no desire for his society. She had +hurried into the vehicle without looking round +for him, and was driven away at a pace that +betokened special instructions to the driver.</p> +<p class="pnext">Forsyth took another cab and bade his man +keep the first cab in sight. Before long he +perceived that the lady was in truth going to +Bond Street, and presently he had the satisfaction +of seeing her discharge her cab and +skip lightly into the shop of a fashionable +<em class="italics">modiste</em> in that thoroughfare. His complacence +was a little marred by uncertainty +whether she had observed him or not, but from +the quick turn of her head as she crossed the +pavement he was rather inclined to think that +she had.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It doesn't matter, really," he reflected. +"She knows that we suspect her complicity, or +she wouldn't have tried to blind her trail to the +hotel by driving here first. Strange, though, +that, suspecting that, she should have taken so +much trouble."</p> +<p class="pnext">He ordered his driver to take him to the +Hotel Cecil, and at the same time to keep a +lookout to see whether they in turn were being +followed by the lady whom they had just run +to ground. But when he was set down at the +main entrance of the great twelve-storied palace +he received the assurance that nothing of +the sort had occurred.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Not so keen after you, sir, as you was after +her," ejaculated the smart cabman as he +whipped up and wheeled round, dissatisfied, +after the manner of his kind, with the extra +half-crown he had received for his "shadowing +job."</p> +<p class="pnext">Forsyth shuddered. "<em class="italics">Keen</em>, by George!" +he murmured ruefully. "If only my devotion +to poor old Charley could have led me into +paths untrodden by Mrs. Talmage Eglinton +my task would have been a lighter one."</p> +<p class="pnext">He went into the bureau and inquired if +Mr. Clinton Ziegler was in, receiving the +stereotyped reply that Mr. Ziegler was <em class="italics">always</em> +in, being an invalid. Whereupon he sent up +his card, first penciling thereon the words, +"Private Secretary to the Duke of Beaumanoir."</p> +<p class="pnext">The bell-boy who took up the card reappeared +almost immediately, flying down the +grand staircase three steps at a time.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Please to come up at <em class="italics">once</em>, sir, the gentleman +said," was the boy's urgent appeal.</p> +<p class="pnext">Forsyth, with a feeling of having "burned +his ships," obeyed with equal alacrity, and was +shown into the suite made memorable by the +raid of his Highness the Thakore of Bhurtnagur, +otherwise General Sadgrove's faithful +orderly, Azimoolah Khan. He noticed in +passing in that the door of the next suite—that +of Mrs. Talmage Eglinton—was slightly +ajar, but his attention was immediately +claimed by the welcome he received in Mr. +Ziegler's apartments. Just inside the door +he was met by a tall, bold-eyed man whom, +from Beaumanoir's description, he had no difficulty +in recognizing as the sham "Colonel +Anstruther Walcot," but who introduced himself +as Leopold Benzon, Mr. Ziegler's private +secretary.</p> +<p class="pnext">The idea of a professional criminal being +served with such specious pomp tickled Forsyth's +sense of humor; but, restraining an impulse +to laugh in the fellow's face, he responded +gravely to the salutation and stated +his business. He had come, he said, after +mentioning his name, on behalf of the Duke +of Beaumanoir, to see Mr. Ziegler by appointment +on a matter of private business.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mr. Ziegler is expecting you," Benzon replied, +scrutinizing the visitor's face narrowly. +"Unfortunately he is not so well as usual this +morning, and is not yet dressed. I must ask +you to wait a little till he is ready to receive +you."</p> +<p class="pnext">Forsyth bowed and took the chair offered +him, not without an inward chuckle at the discrepancy +between the haste of the bell-boy's +summons to the suite and the delay in receiving +him. To his mind the position was clear. +Mrs. Talmage Eglinton desired to keep up the +polite fiction of her innocence to the end, yet +Ziegler was apparently not prepared to go +forward with the business without an opportunity +of consulting her. She had come up to +town for the express purpose of advising, +perhaps supervising, her colleagues at an important +crisis, and was doubtless on her way +to the hotel after the diversion he had created, +so that it was necessary to get him out of the +entrance-hall before she passed up to her suite.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I shouldn't wonder if she isn't the boss of +the show, with Ziegler, who is probably her +husband, as figure-head," Forsyth told himself.</p> +<p class="pnext">Benzon, with a polite excuse, had retired +into an inner room; but his place had immediately +been taken by a well-dressed but +cadaverous individual whom Forsyth recognized +as the man in clerical attire whom he had +seen descending the stairs in John Street after +the forcible entry into his chambers, the miscreant +who later on the same eventful night +had called at Beaumanoir House in the character +of a disguised police-officer.</p> +<p class="pnext">There was evidently no disposition to leave +him alone in the ante-room, and so give him a +chance to open the outer door and witness +Mrs. Talmage Eglinton's arrival in the next +suite. So twenty minutes passed, and Forsyth +was speculating as to how communication +would be carried on with the female partner +during the forthcoming interview, when Benzon +returned and announced that Mr. Ziegler +was awaiting him. He could not help observing +how much better suited was this bowing +and smirking American swindler to the <em class="italics">rôle</em> of +a superior flunkey than to that of a British +cavalry officer.</p> +<p class="pnext">The next moment he found himself in the +principal reception-room of the suite, face to +face with a frail old man of unpleasant appearance, +who, Forsyth noticed with quick intuition, +was reclining on a couch that had been +drawn across a closed door. There was another—open—door +leading into the bedroom, +but the closed one must be the same which +from the other side of it had confirmed the +General's suspicions of the occupant of the adjoining +suite. Forsyth could picture to himself +Mrs. Talmage Eglinton's shell-like ear +glued to that door, its fair owner prepared to +tap gentle signals by the Morse code on the +panels if things did not go to her liking in the +audience-chamber.</p> +<p class="pnext">His conjectures were brought down to the +bed-rock of fact by the croaking voice of the +invalid on the couch. Mr. Ziegler's repulsive +aspect, his purple cheeks, and green-shaded +eyes suggested some horrible cutaneous affection, +though Forsyth was not so ingenuous as +to accept the disfigurements as genuine.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I am sorry to have detained you, sir," +Ziegler began, and then paused abruptly. +Forsyth wondered if he had been brought up +with a round turn by a tap on the door close to +his ear. There seemed something tentative, as +though the speaker were trying his ground, in +that first disjointed utterance.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It does not matter," Forsyth replied, and +then in his turn came to a sudden stop. His +diplomatic training at the Foreign Office had +taught him the advantage of allowing the +other side to open the proceedings. He who +has the first word is seldom the one to have the +last.</p> +<p class="pnext">But it appeared that Mr. Ziegler was also +alive to the value of reserving his fire. "I presume +that the Duke of Beaumanoir instructed +you on the nature of the business you were to +transact with me?" he said, and there was a +firmer ring in the curious metallic voice than +when he made his first brief apology.</p> +<p class="pnext">"On the contrary, he left me quite in the +dark about it," Forsyth made answer. "All +I understood was that I was to fetch something +which you would hand me in person."</p> +<p class="pnext">Ziegler took a leisurely survey of the young +Scotsman through his green glasses. "Then +you did not come here expecting to have to use +your own discretion in any way—to traffic +with me, in fact?" he presently asked.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Certainly not," Forsyth replied. "I gathered +that the part I was to play was solely that +of a trusted messenger who could be relied on +to say nothing about his errand afterwards."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Not even to General Sadgrove?" flashed +back the answering question so swiftly that +for an instant Forsyth was taken aback.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I am not one to betray my employer's secrets—even +to my uncle, General Sadgrove," +he said, recovering himself quickly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Very good!" was the croaking comment. +"I deemed it necessary to sound you because +we are aware of the foolish meddling—I might +also say muddling—of that mischievous old +man. We know also that you have aided and +abetted him in an attempt to swim against a +tide that is far too strong for both of you."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I quite admit that," responded Forsyth, +boldly. "My uncle has been doing his best to +protect the Duke's life, and as in duty bound I +have used my efforts to assist him—up to a +certain point."</p> +<p class="pnext">"What do you mean—up to a certain +point?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I mean that as the Duke seems now to +have taken matters actively into his own hands +by opening up communication with you, I am +naturally rather at the disposition of my employer +than of anyone else."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Truly a faithful servant," said Ziegler, +with a strong suspicion of a sneer. "And +now, Mr. Forsyth, I have a question to ask +which you are at liberty to answer or not as +you please, but on which the future security of +his Grace will probably depend. I shall draw +my own deductions from a refusal to answer, +and take it as an affirmative. Has the Duke +disclosed to either you or General Sadgrove, +or, as far as you are aware, to anyone else, the +reason of his recent differences with us?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Forsyth rejoiced that he was able to reply +in the negative. "No," he said promptly and +with evident truth; "he has always steadily refused +to enlighten my uncle and myself as to +the cause of his being so persecuted. We have +been kept absolutely in the dark."</p> +<p class="pnext">He did not feel called upon to add, as he +might have done, that a good deal of that darkness +had been penetrated by General Sadgrove's +acumen, and that the design on Senator +Sherman's gold bonds was an open book +to them.</p> +<p class="pnext">Ziegler, however, was satisfied with the reply. +Signing to the pretentious Benzon, who +throughout the interview had hovered close to +his master's couch, he conferred with him in a +whisper, and then addressed Forsyth again +with a request that he would wait for a few +minutes in the ante-room, when a letter for the +Duke would be handed to him and he would +be free to depart.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Good-day to you, sir," added the arch-plotter. +"I regret that my infirmities preclude +me from offering you hospitality. +These little encounters become, I find, more +fatiguing with advancing years."</p> +<p class="pnext">Bidding him a curt good-morning, Forsyth +returned to the ante-room, accompanied by the +cadaverous individual, who had also been +present at the interview. Benzon remained +behind, softly shutting the door on them, and +there was a distinct click of the key being +turned in the lock. His companion making +no overture for conversation, Forsyth sat +down and affected to read a newspaper, +though he was really straining his ears to +catch what passed in the inner room. Already +perplexed by having seen no signs of communication +between Ziegler and the next suite, +he was trying to ascertain if a conference was +now proceeding with the fair tenant next door. +No sound reached him, however, till after the +lapse of some twenty minutes Benzon came +swiftly out of the inner room with a heavily +sealed letter in his hand.</p> +<p class="pnext">"This," said Ziegler's aide-de-camp, "is the +packet which my chief wishes you to deliver to +the Duke of Beaumanoir. You are alive to +the importance of seeing that it reaches its destination +without being lost or tampered with?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"My dear sir, I should not, I imagine, have +been entrusted with this very uncongenial errand +unless I had been thought capable of carrying +it out," replied Forsyth, in a tone of +annoyance.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Take it, then," Benzon proceeded. "And +you are, please, to inform his Grace that Mr. +Ziegler, though he would have preferred to +see him in person, is satisfied with the discretion +of his emissary."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Thanks, but I don't think I need a testimonial +from Mr. Ziegler to recommend me to +the Duke," replied Forsyth, coolly, as he buttoned +the letter into the breast-pocket of his +frock coat and with a bow took his departure.</p> +<p class="pnext">Out in the corridor he breathed more freely. +"I don't think that I overdid my exhibition of +temper," he told himself. "A little touchiness +was to be expected under the circumstances."</p> +<p class="pnext">He had begun to descend the stairs into the +entrance-hall, when he saw—with something +of a shock—coming up, and therefore about +to meet him, the lady whom he believed to be +in the next suite to Ziegler's, advising her +partners through the communicating door. +He had got it firmly into his head that during +the twenty minutes he had been kept waiting +that door had been opened, and the terms of +the letter settled between the two principals; +and here was Mrs. Talmage Eglinton not in +her rooms at all, but apparently only just arrived.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ah, Mr. Forsyth!" she cried, coquettishly. +"You have been up to my suite to look for me, +with a view to standing me a luncheon somewhere. +Now don't deny that you were disappointed +when you found that I had not +reached the hotel and that the suite was locked +up."</p> +<p class="pnext">Could he have been mistaken? Forsyth +asked himself. If so, the mistake was not +really his, but General Sadgrove's, and the entire +bottom was knocked out of the veteran's +theory as to this woman's complicity.</p> +<p class="pnext">"But I have not been up to your rooms," +was all he could reply on the spur of the moment. "I had business with the gentleman +who occupies the adjoining suite."</p> +<p class="pnext">If it was not genuine, the look of disappointment +that stole into her face was a consummate +piece of acting. "Oh, was that all," +she said, with a queer little laugh. "Well, +that doesn't absolve you from asking me to +lunch now that you have the chance."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I shall be delighted," was the only answer +he could make without showing open hostility.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Wait in the hall, then," said Mrs. Talmage +Eglinton. "I am only going up to see if some +jewelry I left locked up when I went down to +Prior's Tarrant is safe."</p> +<p class="pnext">She hurried up the remaining stairs, and +Forsyth continued his way down to the hall, a +prey to conflicting emotions. Disgust at having +to lunch with a woman he abhorred was +the least of them. What worried him most at +that moment was the doubt, restored by this +meeting, whether Mrs. Talmage Eglinton was +not, after all, the victim of a chain of coincidences.</p> +<p class="pnext">And then, suddenly, a flicker of light broke +on the situation through—of all places in the +world—a tiny flaw in the lady's defensive +armor. She had spoken of her suite as locked +up, but he remembered now that the outer door +of it had been slightly ajar when he went in +to his interview with Ziegler. He went up to +the big uniformed porter on duty at the swing +doors, and asked him if he knew Mrs. Talmage +Eglinton by sight.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh yes, sir," the man replied. "You'll +catch her if you run up to her rooms sharp. +She's just going out."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Going out?" exclaimed Forsyth, with well +simulated surprise. "I thought I caught a +glimpse of her going upstairs a moment ago. +She seemed to have only just arrived."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh no, sir; she came in an hour ago, and +was on her way out just now when she found +she'd forgotten something."</p> +<p class="pnext">Forsyth left the proximity of the porter +quickly, and went and waited at the foot of +the staircase. The horizon had cleared again, +and he smiled at the very thin trick which had +so nearly deceived him—would have deceived +him, in fact, if one of the gang, eagerly expecting +her, had not chanced to be at her door +when he went up. After concluding her business +with her accomplices she had contrived +the meeting on the stairs to throw dust in his +eyes, going, in her desire for realism, to the +length of explaining to the hall-porter why she +had gone upstairs again after coming down +into the hall. Well, he would hold her to the +lunch invitation; let her think that she had +hoodwinked him; and endeavor to ascertain +whether she was courting his society as a mere +bluff to lend color to her deception, or with +some other object as yet undefined.</p> +<p class="pnext">He had not long to wait for her. Tripping +lightly down the stairs, she joined him with a +charming assumption that he would be interested +to hear that her jewels were "quite safe," +and she supplemented the information with the +request that they should not lunch in the hotel.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I am known here, and people stare so," she +said. "Take me somewhere where we can be +quiet. I have got something to say."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Very well," he replied. "Come over to +Kettner's. There won't be much of a crowd +there at this time of day." And he strove hard +to be polite as he steered her across the Strand, +though he could have wished himself back at +the Foreign Office, with no prospects and no +Duke to serve, if Sybil's brave young face had +not been in his mind's eye.</p> +<p class="pnext">At the restaurant Mrs. Talmage Eglinton +chose a table in a remote corner of the dining-room and devoted herself to a careful study +of the <em class="italics">menu</em>. It was not till she had selected +her dishes and quizzed the appearance of the +other customers that she developed her plan of +attack.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You don't seem at all interested in the fact +that I have something to say to you," she +began, leaning back and scanning him critically. +Her voluptuous style of beauty had +never had any attraction for him; to-day it +positively repelled.</p> +<p class="pnext">"My worst enemies have never accused me +of being curious," he answered lightly. "Nay, +I am not discourteous," he protested, seeing +the angry gleam in the fine eyes. "I only +mean that I cannot work myself into a fever +about a communication the subject of which +I am ignorant of."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Tell me," she said abruptly, "what reason +you had for following me from St. Pancras +to Bond Street this morning?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Whatever her motive she was pushing him +hard, and Forsyth's presence of mind failed +him. He flushed and began to stammer.</p> +<div class="align-center auto-scaled figure" style="margin-left: 27%; width: 45%" id="figure-10"> +<span id="i-am-very-far-from-being-indifferent-to-mrs-talmage-eglinton"/><img style="display: block; width: 100%" alt="I am very far from being indifferent to Mrs. Talmage Eglinton." src="images/illus4.jpg" width="100%"/> +<div class="caption italics"> +"I am very far from being indifferent to Mrs. Talmage Eglinton."</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">"It is useless to deny it," she cut him short. +"I saw you in the cab quite plainly as I entered +the shop, and my cabby had previously +told me that I was being shadowed. Now, +Mr. Forsyth, when a gentleman follows a lady +about the streets he either does it because he +means her some harm, or because—well, because +he is not quite indifferent to her. +Which was it in your case?"</p> +<p class="pnext">This was a poser, and it had to be faced with +instant decision. Rapidly reflecting that unless +he was then and there prepared to accuse +his fair <em class="italics">vis-à-vis</em> with complicity with Ziegler +there was only one course open to him, he took +it promptly. He little thought that within +the next forty-eight hours his fate—to live or +to die—would depend on the demeanor he then +adopted.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I certainly did not follow you with a bad +motive, and—there, a straight question deserves +a straight answer—I am very far from +being indifferent to you, Mrs. Talmage +Eglinton," he said.</p> +<p class="pnext">After that the amenities flowed in the most +friendly channel, though Forsyth suffered +agonies, and it required all his skill as an amateur +actor of repute to sustain the part of a +diffident lover hovering on the brink of a +declaration.</p> +<p class="pnext">In the afternoon they returned to Prior's +Tarrant together, outwardly on the best of +terms; but, needless to say, Forsyth was still +"hovering."</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xviiwhere-is-the-duke"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id18">CHAPTER XVII—<em class="italics">Where is the Duke?</em></a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">The next day was that set for the arrival +of Senator Sherman, though it would be quite +late in the afternoon before he could reach +Prior's Tarrant from Liverpool. Mrs. Sherman +had addressed a letter to him on board the +<em class="italics">Campania</em>, explaining matters and passing on +a cordial invitation from Beaumanoir that he +would join the party on landing.</p> +<p class="pnext">Latterly there had been an entire absence +of the excursions and alarums which had +marked the earlier days of the house-party. +General Sadgrove and Alec Forsyth had relaxed +none of their vigilance, and Azimoolah +still ranged the glades of the park, but no more +unauthorized artists had put in an appearance, +nor had any member of the party suffered +from headache, entailing the strange cure of a +midnight journey.</p> +<p class="pnext">On this eventful morning it so happened +that the ladies were all assembled in the +breakfast-room before any of the gentlemen +were down. Sybil, presiding at the tea and +coffee equipage, was evincing deep interest in +Mrs. Talmage Eglinton's narrative of her +purchases in London the day before; Mrs. +Sherman was wondering to Mrs. Sadgrove +whether "Leonidas" would come straight to +Prior's Tarrant, or insist on depositing the +bonds in the Bank of England first; and +Leonie was looking dreamily through the open +windows across the park—she was often +dreaming nowadays; so was the Duke.</p> +<p class="pnext">Presently General Sadgrove strode in and +took his seat, making no apology, because +breakfast was a come-as-you-please meal, and +no one was expected to be punctual. But +when he had said good-morning all round he +glanced uneasily at the vacant places of Beaumanoir +and Forsyth. The two young men +were usually up and about before anyone.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mrs. Talmage Eglinton had broken off in +the middle of describing a new and ravishing +hat to Sybil in order to smile a welcome to the +grim old warrior. She was now following the +direction of his glance, and commented on it +in sprightly fashion.</p> +<p class="pnext">"The naughty Duke and the naughty Mr. +Forsyth!" she purred. "I believe you men +keep most frightfully late hours in this house, +General. What is it that you do—play cards +or gamble with dominoes?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"No, it's chess," jerked out the General, regarding +her impassively. "Mate to the King +and the Black Queen to move. All that sort +of thing, don't you know."</p> +<p class="pnext">The American widow trilled out a silvery +laugh, and the veteran attacked his breakfast. +But, looking singularly old this morning, he +seemed to have but little appetite, and ate +slowly, frowning at the two empty places; and +when Alec Forsyth came in alone, and white +as a sheet, he was on his legs in a moment.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Where is the Duke?" the General flung at +his nephew.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't know; he's not in his room, and I +can't find him anywhere in the nearer gardens," +was the reply. "I should like to speak +to you for a moment," Forsyth added, with a +significant glance at the ladies, who had so far +failed to grasp that there was anything serious +in a Duke being late for breakfast in his own +house.</p> +<p class="pnext">It needed no second request to bring the +General out into the hall. "Now tell me +shortly," said the old man as soon as they were +alone together.</p> +<p class="pnext">What Forsyth had to tell did not amount to +much. As was his custom, he had gone to +Beaumanoir's room as soon as he was dressed, +and had found it vacant. As, however, the +bed had been slept in, he apprehended nothing +wrong, thinking merely that the Duke was +smoking an early cigarette on the terrace. +Seeing no sign of him there, he extended his +search in the grounds, but again with no result. +The next step was to question the servants, +none of whom had seen their master +since the previous day.</p> +<p class="pnext">The General stroked his chin thoughtfully. +"I don't believe that woman knows anything," +he said at length. "I was watching her when +you came in. She seemed to be surprised, and +even disconcerted, by your news."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Perhaps one of her colleagues has acted independently, +or there may be divided counsels +in the camp," Forsyth suggested. "In that +case——"</p> +<p class="pnext">"In <em class="italics">any</em> case, what we have to do is to find +Beaumanoir, dead or alive," the General interrupted. +"See here, Alec, you must get a grip +on yourself and go in and eat your breakfast +calmly—just to prevent a premature panic +among the women. I'll go and hunt up Azimoolah. +If there has been any stir during the +night he is sure to know of it."</p> +<p class="pnext">But as the General descended the terrace +steps he was smitten with inward misgivings +on that point. Had his faithful henchman +detected anything unusual during the hours of +darkness he would, long ere this, have been up +to the house to report; besides which, if he had +come across any lurking miscreants he would +have seen to it that no harm befell the Duke. +And here was the Duke missing. The hypothesis +was that Azimoolah had either been +eluded or had himself fallen a victim to foul +play.</p> +<p class="pnext">Influenced by this fear, the General quickened +his pace, and as soon as he reached the +wooded portion of the park uttered at frequent +intervals his signal for the Pathan to appear. +But glade after glade he traversed, scaring +the rabbits with his cobra-like hiss, yet the lithe +form of Azimoolah nowhere broke through the +bushes. The General did not desist till he had +thoroughly drawn the coverts, abandoning +after a while his strange noises for a systematic +scrutiny of the ground. He knew that +had Azimoolah been in the park as a live man +he would have answered the well-known call +by now; whereas if he was lying cold and stark +somewhere in the thicket, by patient search +alone could he be found.</p> +<p class="pnext">At the end of a fruitless hour the General +went back to the house, realizing that not only +the Duke, but the Duke's most capable protector, +was missing. The blow was a severe +one, for, apart from the ominous mystery of +this dual disappearance, a certain scheme that +had come to very near maturity was rendered +null and void—a scheme that before another +day dawned was to have cut the claws of Ziegler +and Co. for ever.</p> +<p class="pnext">There was the bare chance that Beaumanoir +might have turned up during his absence, and +General Sadgrove covered the ground at his +best pace; but he was destined to find no such +pleasant surprise in store for him. Forsyth +met him, as he mounted the terrace steps, with +the significant inquiry whether he had discovered +anything.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Nothing, and Azimoolah has gone too," +was the reply. "Where are the women?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"In the morning-room; they are not alarmed +as yet, only a little uneasy—especially Leonie."</p> +<p class="pnext">"She would be, but we needn't mind her," +the General rejoined, brusquely. "What do +you make of Ziegler's understudy?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I cannot make much of her," replied Forsyth. +"I am inclined to agree with you that +she is as much in a fog as the rest of us."</p> +<p class="pnext">The General grunted, and proposed that +they should at once go up and rummage Beaumanoir's +room for clues, a course which they +instantly adopted. Since the charcoal episode +their host had resolutely refused to occupy +"the Duke's room," preferring to that grim +state apartment a smaller chamber in the corridor +where most of the guests were accommodated. +Access was gained to it by two +different doors, one leading to it through a +dressing-room, the other directly opening into +it. They chose the latter as being the nearest, +and as they entered distinctly heard the swish +of a silk skirt in the dressing-room, followed +by the soft closing of the dressing-room door.</p> +<p class="pnext">Alert and bristling like an angry terrier, the +General stepped quickly back into the corridor—just +in time to see another door gently shut +a little farther on.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You were right, laddie," he said, rejoining +Forsyth. "She has been here before us on the +same errand. Mrs. Talmage Eglinton is as +much bewildered as we are by the turn of +events, and she has been trying to arrive at +conclusions from an inspection of the Duke's +room."</p> +<p class="pnext">They began their "rummage," which was +made easier for them by the fact that the +housemaids had not yet paid their morning +visit to the room. The bed had certainly been +slept in, and there were also indications that +the occupant had made a perfunctory sort of +toilet afterwards. There was fresh lather on +a shaving-paper, and soapy water in the wash-basin, +to show that Beaumanoir had been able +to attend to his person.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Whatever has happened to him didn't happen +here," said the General with decision. "He +left this room a free agent, at all events. The +question then arises, When and why did he +leave it, and has he left the confines of the +park?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"He must have made a cold toilet," said +Forsyth. "See, here is the hot water which +was brought up for him at eight o'clock this +morning, and also the water for his tub."</p> +<p class="pnext">He stepped outside into the corridor and +pointed to a small and a large can that had +been placed close outside the door of the dressing-room. +By the General's advice the Duke +had been in the habit of keeping both doors +locked at night, and the cans were never +brought in by the servant who called him. A +valet had not yet been engaged.</p> +<p class="pnext">"And there by the wash-stand is the empty +can he used overnight," said the General. +"Yes, there is the dirty water, in which he +washed his hands before going to bed, in the +waste-pail. We fix him, then, to having slept +for some hours, and to having got up early and +left the house in the small hours before anyone +was about."</p> +<p class="pnext">"It looks as if he were playing a lone hand +at some game of his own," said Forsyth, +doubtfully.</p> +<p class="pnext">But the General would have no vague conjectures. +Having settled within approximate +limits the time when Beaumanoir quitted his +room, he desired to learn how he had left the +house. He himself had been sitting up from +two, at which hour he relieved Forsyth, till five +o'clock, and he would stake his reputation that +no one had been moving during the period of +his vigilance. The Duke must have left the +house between five and six, at which latter hour +the servants began to be moving.</p> +<p class="pnext">This view was strengthened by inquiry from +the butler, who reported that on going his +rounds to open up the house he had discovered +one of the windows of the smoking-room unbolted, +though he had himself seen to the +fastenings the night before. He had not +thought anything of it, supposing that one of +the gentlemen had gone out for an early stroll.</p> +<p class="pnext">The General led Forsyth aside. "Whatever +has happened to Beaumanoir, he has courted +his own fate by going outside unattended," he +said. "It almost looks as if he had been lured +out by some trick of his enemies, in which case +Azimoolah has probably been done to death +while endeavoring to protect him. Come and +help me search the park once more, and then +if we find nothing we must call in the police."</p> +<p class="pnext">Making a detour by the stable-yard, so as +to avoid meeting and being questioned by the +ladies, they struck out for the leafy recesses of +the broad belt of woodland that fringed the +park. Allotting one section to Forsyth and +taking the other himself, the General repeated +the process of the morning, peering into the +bushes, turning over heaps of leaves and probing the bracken with his stick, but all to no +purpose. No gruesome corpse, either of English +nobleman or of dark-skinned Asiatic, met +their straining eyes.</p> +<p class="pnext">"We must give it up," said the General at +last. "Now that we are down here we had +better go out through the wicket-gate into the +village and tell the constable to send for his +superiors. We have reached the limit, and +poor Beaumanoir's secrets can belong to him +no longer, I fear."</p> +<p class="pnext">Forsyth assented that it would be no longer +advisable, even if it were possible, to keep the +Duke's affairs out of the hands of the police, +and the two made their way toward the private +gate in the park wall through which Beaumanoir +had gone to church on his first memorable +Sunday at Prior's Tarrant. They were approaching +the gate, not by the path, but skirting +the wall through the undergrowth, when +a lissome body appeared suddenly at the top +of the wall, poised there for a moment, and +then dropped almost at their feet. It was +Azimoolah Khan, dusty and out of breath, but +very far from being a dead man.</p> +<p class="pnext">"How is this, thou son of Sheitan?" exclaimed +the General, affecting sternness to +hide his pleasure. "It was not your wont in +the jungle days to desert your post in times +of danger. In your absence some evil thing +has befallen him whom we are pledged to +guard."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Nay, Sahib, but hear me. It is not thy +servant who has deserted his post, but his post +which has deserted him," protested the Pathan, +with dignified reproof. "The great Lord +Duke ran away—oh so far and so fast—and +thy servant ran after in his tracks to see that +no harm befell him."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, where is the Duke now, man?" the +General blurted out in great excitement. +"Surely you haven't come back to tell me that +you have lost him?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"The Duke is in the fire-carriage, Sahib; +and thy servant having no sufficient money or +orders from the Sahib, was not able to follow +further than the station," Azimoolah replied.</p> +<p class="pnext">Pressed to be more explicit, this was the +story he had to impart. He had been patrolling +the park, ever with a watchful eye for the +house, when between five and six he had seen +the Duke come from one of the ground-floor +windows and make at great speed for the coppices. +Keeping himself concealed, Azimoolah +had quickly perceived that it was the Duke's +intention to leave the park by the wicket gate, +and, considering it his duty not to lose sight of +him, he had climbed the wall and followed. +Avoiding the village street, Beaumanoir had +struck into a series of lanes which presently +brought him back into the main road beyond +the farthest habitation. Thenceforward, with +Azimoolah shadowing him, he had commenced +a tramp which lasted between two and three +hours, and finally ended at a railway station +in a fair-sized country town.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You ascertained the name of the town?" +asked the General.</p> +<p class="pnext">Yes, after the train had steamed away Azimoolah +had not omitted to inquire the name +of the town. It was Tring. He had also inquired +at the booking-office where the Duke +had taken a ticket for, but the clerk had refused +the information with a rude remark +about the color of his skin—a remark which, +east of Suez, might have brought him a taste +of cold steel.</p> +<p class="pnext">"And then, Sahib," concluded the narrator, +"without bite or sup I started to run back +again, being sore afraid lest thy heart should +be troubled by these things."</p> +<p class="pnext">The General patted his orderly's lean shoulder. +"You have done right, old sheep-dog," +he said. "And as the lamb has broken loose +from the fold you can go and get food and +take a few hours' rest. Come, Alec! Let us +get back and see what Bradshaw has to tell +us."</p> +<p class="pnext">Azimoolah having vanished over the boundary +wall for his lodging in the village, they +returned to the house and repaired to the library. +Forsyth found a Northwestern time-table +and turned up Tring.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Beaumanoir must have caught the 7.30 +down," he said, running his finger down the +page. "It's a slow train, stopping at every +station, and doesn't go beyond Bletchley."</p> +<p class="pnext">The General was growing querulous. +"Bletchley!" he snorted. "What the deuce +does he want at Bletchley? It's a little one-horse +town in North Bucks, isn't it?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Hold on, it's more than that," said Forsyth, +still with his finger on the column. "It's +a junction where fast trains stop, and—yes!—he +could change there into the North of England +express, which calls there at 8.10."</p> +<p class="pnext">The two men looked at each other in silence +and with something of consternation.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Liverpool is in the north of England," said +the General after a pause, "and Sherman is +due to arrive there to-day."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I cannot and will not believe that Beaumanoir +has gone wrong after all," Forsyth angrily +replied to his uncle's significant remark. +He spoke with such heat that neither of them +noticed that the library door had been opened +and that Mrs. Talmage Eglinton stood there, +smiling at them.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Who has gone wrong?" she purred sweetly. +"For goodness' sake, don't tell me that the +Duke has run away with a housemaid!"</p> +<p class="pnext">She was looking at Forsyth with eyes that +bored like gimlets, and he thought of the letter +from Ziegler, addressed to the Duke, entrusted +to him the day before. Was it something +in that letter that made her stare so +steadfastly and yet with something of mockery +in her gaze? Having good reason to be aware +of the contents of that letter, he thought it +likely. Only in that case calculations had been +all at sea, and Beaumanoir—alas, poor Beaumanoir!</p> +<p class="pnext">It was the General who answered the lady's +banter, and that without any visible discomfiture. +"No, it isn't the Duke who has gone +wrong," he said calmly. "We were talking of +someone not nearly so exalted. Our host is all +right—gone away for a few hours by an early +train on business. We have found out all +about his movements, and I shall be obliged, +Mrs. Talmage Eglinton, if you will kindly +reassure the other ladies that Beaumanoir's +absence is satisfactorily accounted for."</p> +<p class="pnext">"How delighted Miss Sherman will be. I +will go and tell them all, at once," cried the +American gaily. And she swept out of the +room with an exuberant triumph not lost on +those who remained behind.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Wherever the Duke has gone, and with +whatever motive, Mrs. Talmage Eglinton is +pleased," the General mused aloud.</p> +<p class="pnext">"She will find herself mistaken if she thinks +he has gone to play her game," said Alec Forsyth, +staunch as ever to his friend.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xviiithe-senator-and-the-securities"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id19">CHAPTER XVIII—<em class="italics">The Senator and the Securities</em></a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">On the hurricane-deck of the <em class="italics">Campania</em>, as +the leviathan liner thrust her huge bulk towards +the landing-stage through the lesser fry of the +teeming Mersey traffic, a big man, wearing a +light-gray frock-coat and a broad-brimmed +soft white hat, stood talking to the purser. +Senator Leonidas Sherman was accounted the +handsomest man at Washington, and in his +broad, well-chiseled, clean-shaven face was reflected +that honesty and shrewd alertness which +had caused his selection for his present trust.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't want the box out before the last +moment, Mr. Seaton, and if you can conveniently +keep the bullion-room locked till you +hand it over I should be obliged," the Senator +was saying.</p> +<p class="pnext">The brass-buttoned official gave a ready assent +to the distinguished passenger's request.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I'd rather you had your job than me, sir," +he added, seriously. "The equivalent of three +million sterling in a little leather thing like +that, and to have to cart it up to London all +by your lone self—why, it's enough to make +one shudder."</p> +<p class="pnext">"It doesn't me," the Senator replied simply, +with an unconscious gesture to his hip-pocket. +"I have a bit of a reputation to live up to, you +know. If it's to be shooting, my early training +has taught me to draw first; and if it's to be +confidence-men—well, it's some years since I +was born."</p> +<p class="pnext">The purser nodded and went about his duties +while Sherman leaned over the forward +rail and watched the shore, looming larger now +every moment. The Senator was no back-woods +"hayseed." A man of culture and much +travel, he possessed far more than a guide-book +knowledge of every European capital, +and did not make the mistake of under-estimating +London as a hatching-ground for +crime. Till his precious charge was deposited +in the Bank of England and he had fingered +the receipt he was prepared for emergencies. +The gold shipment which his Government had +negotiated against the bonds he was bringing +had been buzzed about in Wall Street for two +months and more—ample time for the maturing +of predatory schemes.</p> +<p class="pnext">Aided by the company's tug, the great +steamer sidled up to the landing-stage, and as +soon as the gangways were opened the usual +stream of passengers' friends began to push +their way on board. The hurricane-deck +towered high above the level of the quay, and +Senator Sherman, not expecting anyone to +meet him, retained his post of vantage at the +rail, looking down with amused interest at the +embracings and hand-shakings. He had no +need to hurry, for it was too late to catch a +train to London in time to reach the Bank before +it closed for the day, and he preferred to +let the ship clear before he claimed the box of +bonds from the purser.</p> +<p class="pnext">Suddenly he heard his name spoken inquiringly +at his elbow, and wheeling smartly round +he found himself looking into the harassed eyes +of a well-dressed man whom he had seen, a few +minutes before, pass on board from the +landing-stage. He had specially noticed him +from a limp which impeded his progress across +the crowded gangway.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, my name is Sherman, but I haven't +the pleasure of knowing yours," said the Senator +shortly. There was a diffident air about +this tired-looking individual—a something +that might be shyness or might be guile—that +put him on his guard. Could it be that one +of the "confidence-men," about whom he had +just spoken so lightly, was going to practise +on him ere even the securities were out of the +purser's custody? He wondered what tale +would be unfolded for his entrapment.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I am the Duke of Beaumanoir," the +stranger replied, after a nervous glance round. +"I don't suppose you ever heard of me. There +wouldn't have been time for a letter from your +people to reach you from this side before you +sailed."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You know my wife and daughter?" the +Senator asked, sharply. The "tale" was developing +on the grand scale, he told himself.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I have the privilege of knowing Mrs. and +Miss Sherman," replied the Duke, flushing +under the keen scrutiny to which he was being +subjected. "I have also the honor of being +their host. They are staying, together with +their friends the Sadgroves, at my place in +Hertfordshire. I—I came down to meet you +in the hope of inducing you to join them +there."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Very good of you. May I ask how you +came to make their acquaintance?" asked the +Senator, in an arid tone.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I traveled in the same ship with them from +New York, and General Sadgrove, with whom +they stayed on arrival, happened to be the uncle +of my friend and secretary, Alec Forsyth," +Beaumanoir made answer.</p> +<p class="pnext">An amused twinkle flashed into the Senator's +clear eyes. He was quite certain now that +the man was an impostor with designs on the +three millions. The only spice of truth in the +fellow's story, he told himself, probably was +that he had sailed in the <em class="italics">St. Paul</em>, which would +have given him the opportunity of gathering +from his wife or Leonie the particulars he was +now working on. The Senator had no doubt +that if he accompanied this rather poor specimen +of a criminal decoy an attempt would be +made to relieve him of the bonds—possibly +to murder him. It was all a little too thin—especially +the dangling of an exalted title as a +bait to catch an American. This part of the +scheme really annoyed him, as casting on a +foible of his fellow-countrymen a reflection +which he felt to be not wholly undeserved. The +Senator became dangerous.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Very well, your Grace; if my family is +under your roof, it is the right place for me," +he said more affably. "I accept your invitation +in the spirit in which it is given. I have +a matter of three million sterling in securities +to get from the bullion-room, and then I'm +your man. Kindly wait here."</p> +<p class="pnext">A grim smile played round the Senator's +firm lips when, after going through the needful +formalities with the purser, he quitted the +steamer's stronghold, carrying the leather +despatch-box. He would lead the rascal on, +making his mouth water, gently titillate his +expectations, and then, having got him fairly +on the hooks, hand him over to the police. Delighted +with the prospect of thwarting a rogue, +he sought his state-room to collect his personal +baggage and have it conveyed ashore. The +first thing that met his eye on entering the +state-room was a letter in his wife's handwriting +that had just been delivered.</p> +<p class="pnext">It bore date of the previous day, and informed +him that the writer and Leonie were +staying as the guests of the Duke of Beaumanoir +at his country seat, Prior's Tarrant. Mrs. +Sherman went on to explain the circumstances, +so far as she was aware of them, of the invitation, +and she wound up with the hope that the +Senator would join them immediately on landing. +The Duke, who was the embodiment of +affability, had cordially expressed that wish, +she wrote; without, however, mentioning the +Duke's intention of going to Liverpool to meet +the <em class="italics">Campania</em>.</p> +<p class="pnext">Senator Sherman read the letter twice, assured +himself of the authenticity of the handwriting, +examined the postmark, and—made +a wry face. It looked as if he had been too +hasty in jumping to a conclusion about the +young man waiting for him on the hurricane-deck, +and he began to regret the curt demeanor +he had assumed. He was not quite convinced, +however, owing to the absence of any allusion +to the Duke meeting him—in itself an extraordinary +proceeding. Good republican as he +was, the Senator fully appreciated the cleavage +of English class distinctions, and he was aware +that great nobles do not, as a rule, wait at seaport +towns to welcome perfect strangers. It +was possible that the depressed individual on +deck might, after all, be a criminal who had +discovered Mrs. Sherman's visit to the Duke +of Beaumanoir and was turning his knowledge +to evil account. Still, though caution was +called for, his wife's letter invested the man's +story with a credibility which it had wholly +lacked, and when he rejoined him the Senator's +manner was altered accordingly. The Duke +having telegraphed for the carriage to meet +them at Tarrant Road, they took a cab together +to Lime Street station, and were fortunate +enough to find a train on the point of starting. +It was a corridor express, made up entirely of +vestibule cars, and the fact caused the Duke +an annoyance which partially revived the Senator's +suspicions.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't like this," Beaumanoir said, glancing +with what looked very like dismay up and +down the well-filled car as they took their seats. +"I should have preferred an ordinary first-class +compartment that we could have had reserved."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ah! I suppose a duke is bound to be a bit +exclusive," said the Senator, guardedly.</p> +<p class="pnext">Beaumanoir, who a month before had regarded +a ride in a Bowery street-car as an unattainable +luxury, was betrayed into disclaiming +any such snobbery.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It isn't that——" he was beginning hotly, +when he pulled up short and feebly subsided, +without explaining why he should have desired +a <em class="italics">tête-à-tête</em> journey.</p> +<p class="pnext">With the starting of the train a sustained +and confidential conversation became impracticable, +nor did either of the fellow travelers +seem inclined for one; but as they sped southward +the Senator found plenty of food for reflection +in his companion's behavior. To the +experienced American eye the outline of a pistol +was plainly apparent in the breast-pocket +of the Duke, whose fingers never strayed far +from that receptacle—an attitude which was +always more distinctly marked during the infrequent +stoppages. Except when it was distracted +into a swift and nervous glance round +by a movement of one of the other passengers, +the Duke's gaze was always focused on the +precious box which the Senator carried on his +lap.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Either he means to rob me himself, or he +is scared lest someone else will," was the Senator's +conclusion.</p> +<p class="pnext">But the journey came to an end without +either of these consummations being arrived at +or even attempted, and the sight of the coroneted +carriage and the ducal liveries at Tarrant +Road station removed the Senator's last lingering +doubt as to the Duke's identity. And, +twenty minutes later, when, still hugging his +despatch-box, he found his wife and daughter +waiting to welcome him under the portico at +Prior's Tarrant, he was ready to laugh at himself; +and what the Senator was ready to do +he usually did promptly—as now.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ah, Jem!" he cried, as General Sadgrove +came forward to greet him. "You'll never believe +what an ass I've been making of myself. +Something in the British soil, I guess. It's +only this minute that I've been able to clear +my silly brain of a lurking suspicion that his +Grace's kindness in coming to meet me covered +a design on this little box. Took him for a sort +of bunco-steerer."</p> +<p class="pnext">The General passed over the remark as a +careless jest without pursuing it, but shook +hands with his old friend warmly. The veteran +was looking careworn and aged, the Senator +thought, and he wondered, too, at the +queer searching glance which the General cast +upon their mutual host as the latter limped +from the brougham into the hall. The Duke +was engaged in making light of the thanks and +reproaches showered upon him for going to +Liverpool, wherefrom the Senator guessed +that that singular proceeding had been unknown +beforehand to the house-party.</p> +<p class="pnext">They all went into the tapestry-room, where +Mrs. Talmage Eglinton, now happily recovered +from her headache of three days ago, +was chatting to Sybil Hanbury and Alec Forsyth. +The necessary introductions were effected +by Beaumanoir, whose spirits had wonderfully +revived with his entry into the house—to +such an extent, indeed, that Leonie put +it down to a few hours in the company of her +breezy father, little thinking that they had +traveled two hundred miles together without +exchanging half as many words. Yet if there +was nothing forced about the Duke's sudden +gaiety it certainly suggested unnatural excitement, +and everyone present was impressed by +his changed demeanor. Mrs. Talmage Eglinton +was so affected by it that in narrowly +observing her host she failed to notice that for +some minutes after the introduction she herself +was the object of observation, not to say a +pretty sharp scrutiny, on the part of Senator +Sherman.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Say, your Grace," exclaimed the Senator, +recovering from his abstraction and turning +with some abruptness to the Duke, "I can't +enjoy your hospitality with a whole heart till +I've got this treasure under lock and key. +Have you got any place where I can deposit +the box with tolerable confidence of finding it +when I want to take it to the Bank of England +to-morrow? It's a just retribution, I +guess, to have to make you its custodian after +suspecting you of wanting to lift it."</p> +<p class="pnext">Beaumanoir, it seemed, was quite equal to +the occasion.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I can guarantee the impregnability of the +fire-proof safe in my muniment room," he replied +with alacrity. "If you will come with +me, we will lock it up at once."</p> +<p class="pnext">Sturdily disregarding the badinage of his +wife and Leonie for thinking robbery possible +at Prior's Tarrant, the Senator followed the +Duke, and was conducted by him along many +corridors to a stone-floored chamber lined with +shelves full of dusty archives, and furnished +only with a carved oak table and a few worm-eaten +chairs. But, what was more to the purpose, +a brand-new safe, resplendent in green +and gold, the very latest patent of the most +eminent manufacturers, occupied an imposing +position at the far end. Producing a key, the +Duke unlocked the safe, with no result till a +touch on a hidden spring caused the heavy steel +door to roll slowly outwards. The interior was +nearly filled with parchment-bound volumes +exactly like those on the shelves, but there was +plenty of room for the box.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Senator promptly placed his precious +charge in the vacant space, and heaved a sigh +of relief.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It ought to be all right there," he said.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It ought to be," Beaumanoir echoed, as he +set the mechanism in motion. And when the +heavy door had slid noiselessly back into position, +he turned the key and pocketed it with an +air of achievement. "Come, Mr. Sherman," he +said lightly, "let us go and rejoin the ladies. +Now that we have got that safely housed we +shall both feel much—er—more comfortable, +shan't we?"</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xixin-the-crypt"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id20">CHAPTER XIX—<em class="italics">In the Crypt</em></a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">Late on the evening of Senator Sherman's +arrival at Prior's Tarrant he was alone with +General Sadgrove in the smoking-room, the +Duke of Beaumanoir and Forsyth having +avowedly gone up to bed. Under the influence +of the genial American, and with the Duke +himself in a more expansive mood, dinner and +the subsequent reunion in the tapestry-room +had been prolonged later than recently, and +the chiming clock on the mantelpiece tinkled +out the hour of midnight as the Senator put +the question:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Who the dickens is that Talmage Eglinton +woman, Jem?"</p> +<p class="pnext">The General started, but affected a carelessness +which he was far from feeling in the trite +reply that "Goodness only knew." He proceeded, +however, to temper the crudity of the +remark with the information that the lady in +question was staying in London for the season, +professed to hail from Chicago, and was reputed +wealthy.</p> +<p class="pnext">"She is hardly the type of American one +expects to meet in such a house as this—or +wants to meet anywhere," said the Senator. +"And," he added, poising the match with which +he was about to light another of his own green +Havanas, "she is the cause of prejudice in +a usually unbiased mind. She has the misfortune +to be fashioned in the likeness of one Cora +Lestrade, a person of note in my country, +whom I once saw in my capacity of Visiting +Prison Commissioner. That was three years +ago, but of course it can't be the same woman."</p> +<p class="pnext">"It would be a curious coincidence," was all +the General would admit. "She was taken up +by Lord and Lady Roseville, impecunious folk +who would take up anyone for value received. +What was this Cora Lestrade's particular line +of business?"</p> +<p class="pnext">The Senator reflected for a moment.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't think she specialized herself," he +said. "Her forte was organization, and I heard +that at the time she was taken she bossed a +complete outfit, comprising forgers, confidence-men, +train-robbers, and high-grade +criminals of all sorts, who operated over the +entire universe. They used to regard her as a +queen. It was hinted at her trial that they +were all fascinated by the spell of her charms, +though she would never favor any of the crew +in that way. Probably that was the secret of +her power over them."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You don't happen to know when her sentence +expired?" the General asked, after a +pause.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It didn't expire; she broke jail—an easy +matter for one as well served as she was by a +clever crowd with unlimited financial resources."</p> +<p class="pnext">The two old cronies relapsed into a thoughtful +silence, neither of them showing a disposition +to retire for the night, though the intense +stillness prevailing in the great house implied +that everyone else was asleep. Yet it was not +so, for Alec Forsyth was at that moment uncommonly +busy before the looking-glass in his +bedroom. On the toilet-table there lay open a +theatrical "make-up" box, from which he was +putting the finishing touches to a very creditable +transformation of himself into a semblance +of the Duke. His deft usage of the +various pigments revealed him as no tyro at the +task, for which, indeed, his proficiency as an +amateur actor had inspired the idea.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That will do, I think," he said to himself +after a final survey. "It is a good thing that +the scene is to be played without limelight effects; +but it is my voice that will give me away +if anything does."</p> +<p class="pnext">He rose and crossed the room once or twice, +copying Beaumanoir's slight limp to the life. +Then, having consulted his watch, he took +from his pocket-book a letter, addressed to +the man he was about to personate, and refreshed +his memory.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I congratulate you on this return to your +senses," the writer began. "My agents inform +me that the gentleman in whom we are interested +is expected to stay at Prior's Tarrant as +your guest on arrival, being due on Tuesday. +On Tuesday night you will leave unfastened +the door leading into the crypt from the Dutch +garden, so that I and my assistants may obtain +access secretly. You will come down into the +crypt an hour after midnight, when I will hand +you the documents for substitution. Do not +fail to make your arrangements so that the exchange +may be effected without a hitch, and +as rapidly as possible. As host you should +have no difficulty in inspiring the necessary +confidence to put the business through, and +you will then be troubled no further by us.—C. +Z."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Poor old Beau! He's played up as well as +if we had told him all about our plan," Forsyth +muttered as he replaced the letter and took another +look at himself in the glass. "I trust +they won't call me 'your Grace,' and make +me laugh."</p> +<p class="pnext">But it was in no laughing mood that he +switched off the electric light, listened at the +door for fully a minute, and then softly opened +it. His room, as it had been in the London +house, was next to that of the Duke, and, satisfied +that there was no one in the corridor, he +slid out softly and shut the door behind him. +A few natural steps having brought him opposite +the Duke's room, he fell at once into +Beaumanoir's limp, and so continued his way +to the head of a secondary staircase that led +down to the service rooms on the ground floor.</p> +<p class="pnext">At the foot of the stairs, never forgetting +his limp, he traversed several passages in which +at long intervals only had a light been left +burning, and at length he came to a massive +oak door. Opening this, he found himself at +the top of a flight of straight stone steps, running +down into the blackness of the great subterranean +chamber, which had been used as a +crypt in the old monastic days. The shutting +of the door cut off the last ray of light, and +there being no rails to the steps he struck a +wax match in order to make the descent in +safety. But the feeble flame had hardly flickered +out when it was rendered useless by a +dazzling beam of white effulgence that suddenly +sprang into being and shone upon him +from below.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Hang it all, I didn't allow for this!" he +thought uneasily. "They have brought one of +those wretched portable electric lamps, and I +doubt if the disguise will stand. However, +here goes."</p> +<p class="pnext">Nerving himself for the ordeal, he went +slowly down the steps, and so limped across the +stone floor towards a spot in the very center of +the crypt where five figures were grouped under +the groined roof. He had only time to observe +that one figure—that of an old man with snow-white +beard and puffed, purple cheeks—stood +slightly in advance of the rest, when on his +near approach an order was given in a queer, +parrot-like squeak to switch out the lamp. The +crypt was windowless, but it was conceivable +that a light in the interior might be seen from +outside under the door leading into the gardens. +Hence, doubtless, the precaution.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You have made all preparations above, +Duke?" was queried in the same piping voice.</p> +<p class="pnext">"The bonds are in my own safe, and I obtained +the key of the Senator's despatch-box +by a trick—picked his pocket, in fact—after +dinner," Forsyth replied, in a perfect imitation +of Beaumanoir's tone. He was beginning +to feel more confident in being able to sustain +his part; he would not, he thought, have lived +to reach this parley if his disguise had been +penetrated.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then," the unseen spokesman proceeded, +"all you have to do is to take this bundle of +papers and place them in the box, extracting +the originals, and returning here at once with +them. It will then give me pleasure to absolve +you from further service."</p> +<p class="pnext">Forsyth felt a large packet pressed into his +grasp, and he instantly turned with it to go +towards the steps, expecting that the lamp +would be switched on to guide him. This +proved to be the case, and he was glad that +those five scoundrels only had a back view of +him as he limped across the floor and laboriously +climbed the steps. Nor when he had +passed through the door out of their sight was +there any quickening of his halting gait to +show that he was exulting in that he had so far +successfully risked his life for his friend. And +it was well that he kept up his part, for as he +crossed under the well of the staircase to the +servants' bedrooms he caught a glimpse of +Rosa, Mrs. Talmage Eglinton's French maid, +watching him over the banisters.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mounting to his own room he locked the +bundle of papers he had received away in one +of his trunks, from which he first took a packet +of similar dimensions, formidably sealed. +Without wasting a moment he placed this +packet under his arm, and, falling once more +into Beaumanoir's limp, retraced his steps to +the crypt, where, as soon as he had passed +through the door, a beam from the portable +lamp shed a glare on his descent to the level of +the floor. The five figures, with the white-bearded +old man in advance, awaited him as +before.</p> +<p class="pnext">As Forsyth approached he hoped every moment +to hear those parrot-like tones order the +light to be cut off, but this time no such welcome sound fell upon his ears. He had to +advance quite close with the full radiance of +the lamp shining on him. The light, he soon +perceived, had been retained for the purpose of +examining the packet, which Ziegler snatched +from him with impatient vehemence; and suddenly +Forsyth was confronted with a situation +not wholly unforeseen, but which he had hoped +to avoid in the haste of the gang to make off +with their plunder. Not content with a scrutiny +of the carefully taped and sealed dummy +package, Ziegler was about to undo the fastenings +and look at the contents, which consisted +of nothing more valuable than tissue paper.</p> +<p class="pnext">It seemed an age while the lithe white fingers +broke the seals and disarranged the tape, and +Forsyth steadied himself for the inevitable discovery. +He was not prepared to lose his life +at the hands of this murderous crew without a +fight for it, five to one though they were; and +it occurred to him that at the first sign of +violence his best plan would be to smash the +electric lamp with a well-directed kick, and +then try and elude them in the dark. Ziegler's +face was in shadow, the miscreant holding the +lamp being behind him; but Forsyth saw at +last, by the swift upward jerk of the arch-robber's head, that the worthlessness of the bundle +was known to him. It was probable, too, from +the prolonged silent stare with which he gazed +and gazed at the Duke's counterfeit, that the +latter's identity was no longer a secret.</p> +<p class="pnext">With quite a natural movement Forsyth +edged a little nearer to the man with the lamp, +and the movement seemed to break the spell +which held Ziegler speechless. The chief +turned abruptly to his followers.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I must have a word with this gentleman—with +the Duke—alone," he squeaked. "Go out +into the garden and await close outside—within +call. Here, I will keep the lamp." Forsyth +noticed that the well-shaped hand with which +he grasped the contrivance was shaking violently—so +violently, that the ray with which +he guided his four subordinates through the +groined arches to the door wavered like a will-o'-the-wisp. +He waited till the last one had +filed out before he turned again to the man +who had baffled him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, Mr. Forsyth?" he piped, and the +high-pitched note quivered and trembled as the +lamp-ray had done.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, sir?" Forsyth repeated, in blank +amazement at the sparing of his life, for unless +some hidden treachery beyond his fathoming +was afoot, he could not doubt that it was +spared. He was more than a physical match +for the aged evil-doer in front of him, and before +the others could be recalled he could make +good his retreat into the house by the way he +had come. The quiet acceptance of defeat by +the bloodthirsty old schemer was a puzzle beyond +solution, if it was not a veil for some +further villainy.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You have beaten me, Mr. Forsyth—you +and General Sadgrove," Ziegler went on. "I +don't suppose it's of any use my offering you +a bribe to bring me back the package you have +obtained so smartly? I would make it a very +large one."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Not the slightest use," Forsyth answered, +almost laughing, yet more than ever puzzled +by the <em class="italics">naïveté</em> of the question. "I have been +at considerable pains to deprive you of your +bogus bonds, and it is hardly likely, Mr. Ziegler, +that I am going to restore your power +over the Duke of Beaumanoir. He is a brave +man, and doesn't fear death. You can't hurt +him that way; but with these forgeries in your +possession you might make some sort of a story +good against him. Without them, anything +you could say would be an idle tale."</p> +<p class="pnext">"That is not the point, believe me, Mr. Forsyth," +the shrill voice quavered almost pleadingly. +"The contents of that package took +three of my most skilled colleagues months to +prepare. They are proud of their work—love +those forged bonds as if they were their children. +To their pride in their work I should +owe my life, if you would give them back to +me."</p> +<p class="pnext">Forsyth could hardly believe his ears. Could +this tremulous dotard be the redoubtable master +of crime whom he and his uncle had been +fighting throughout the last crowded week? +"I really don't see how your not particularly +valuable life can depend on your possession of +a lot of bogus bonds," he said, with genuine +curiosity. The appeal to his pity filled him +with vague uneasiness, the alleged reason for +it being so utterly absurd. Yet Ziegler was +ready with an explanation, more or less plausible.</p> +<p class="pnext">"My associates will kill me for being duped +out of their handiwork," he answered, glancing +fearfully to the garden entrance. "They would +perhaps pardon the miscarriage of the main +scheme, but to have parted with material which +might yet have been turned to account will seal +my doom—that, and having allowed you to +survive your triumph over us."</p> +<p class="pnext">Forsyth saw now—or thought he saw—why +the murderous crew had been ordered off in +ignorance of the miscarriage. It was to enable +Ziegler to make this desperate appeal for the +restitution of the bogus bonds, so that he might +"save his face" with his comrades. It would +be ample excuse in their eyes—flatter their +vanity, as their tottering chief had hinted—if +he had himself been deceived by the fabricated +securities. But they had seen him examine the +parcel; they would know that he had made the +discovery on the spot, and yet had not decreed +instant death to their successful opponent. One +flaw in this chain of reasoning Forsyth, himself +no casuist, overlooked. It did not occur to him +that the old practitioner with the white beard +and the squeaky voice could have put himself +right with his companions if he had hounded +them on to him the moment he knew he was +fingering tissue-paper and not United States +Treasury bonds, good, bad, or indifferent.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, Mr. Clinton Ziegler," said Forsyth, +eager now to have done with the matter in the +only possible way, "your appeal is dismissed +with costs—on the higher scale. What does it +matter to me what happens to you? If you +had had your way you would have earned a +legal hanging four times in the last week. If +your friends save the common hangman the +trouble, so much the better for all concerned, +especially as they would thereby get themselves +hanged also."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Nothing will move you?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Absolutely nothing; and now I'll trouble +you to clear off the premises if you and your +gentlemen outside don't want to be treated as +ordinary burglars."</p> +<p class="pnext">"What if I call them back and have you +strangled?"</p> +<p class="pnext">With the way of escape open behind him +Forsyth laughed at the futile threat, and to +the group outside in the Dutch garden it must +have sounded like a friendly laugh of mutual +satisfaction and farewell, for he gently pushed +the old man before him to the garden door and +shut it on him. Then, having carefully shot +the heavy bolts, he groped his way back to the +stone steps leading up into the house, triumphant, +yet not wholly convinced. The ignominious +collapse of Mr. Clinton Ziegler was +almost too good to be true, and he was painfully +conscious that such an astute antagonist +was not likely to have thrown all his cards on +to the table.</p> +<p class="pnext">The fact, however, remained that the +schemers had been deprived of their spurious +bonds, without which their carefully planned +design to obtain possession of the genuine ones +fell to the ground.</p> +<p class="pnext">"And their blood-feud against the poor chap +will surely cease, now that there is no crime, +past or contemplated, for which he can denounce +them," Forsyth comforted himself as +he stepped from the door at the head of the +stone stairs and hastened along the dimly lit +corridor, limping no longer. His destination +was the smoking-room, where he guessed that +the General would be eagerly awaiting news.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xxin-the-muniment-room"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id21">CHAPTER XX—<em class="italics">In the Muniment Room</em></a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">While Alec Forsyth was engaged in showing +Ziegler out of the crypt, the Duke of +Beaumanoir, in happy ignorance of the perilous +effort his friend was making for him, sat +in the dark muniment room, still as a cat, with +his eyes on the door. He had drawn one of +the oak chairs close to the safe in which Senator +Sherman's genuine bonds reposed. He +had established himself on guard, in case, +trickery having failed, violent methods should +be adopted at the last moment to obtain the +huge plunder.</p> +<p class="pnext">He thought it improbable that, with General +Sadgrove in the house and Azimoolah +somewhere loose around it, any of the gang +would break in unseen, still less that they +would reach the muniment room. He sincerely +hoped that the vigilance of those trained watch-dogs +would prevail, for, though he was prepared +to atone for his folly by defending the +safe at the cost of his life, if need be, he did +not see how that could be done without opening +up the scandal he had gone through so +much to avoid. He had bought the safe, had +met the Senator at Liverpool, and now, unknown +to anyone, was keeping his lonely vigil +in the firm determination that, at all hazards, +the bonds should reach the Bank of England +in safety; but there was a dread in his heart +lest the tell-tale emergency he was providing +against should arise.</p> +<p class="pnext">For here it becomes necessary to say that the +letter sent to Ziegler in London five days before, +and purporting to convey the Duke's submission +and request for instructions, which +were called for by Alec Forsyth, was not written +by the Duke at all, or even with his cognizance. +It had been the joint production of +General Sadgrove and Forsyth, with an eye +to immediate immunity for the Duke from +further murderous attacks, and to the enactment +of some such dangerous comedy as had +just been played in the crypt. Though when +that deceptive missive was penned, its authors +expected, in varying degrees, as will presently +be seen, tragedy rather than comedy. And he +who by right of youth and friendship necessarily +took the greater risk was the one who, +not being fully informed by his uncle, had +most cause for apprehension from the masquerade.</p> +<p class="pnext">But Beaumanoir, sitting in the dark with +his Smith and Wesson at full cock amid the +archives of the house he was concerned to preserve +stainless, was aware of none of these tortuous +dealings. Had his zeal allowed him to +indulge in the luxury of a light, he might have +whiled away the time by perusing some of the +musty chronicles around him, and have so +drawn comfort from the knowledge that if his +misdeed was published with the usual trimmings +in every paper in the kingdom, he would +still compare favorably with some of his race +who had gone before. So far he had never +stolen poor men's land under the protection of +the Commons Enclosure Act, or appropriated +tenants' improvements to his own enrichment.</p> +<p class="pnext">True, it was a dirty trick he had put his +hand to—a dirty trick in dirty company—and +he hated himself for it to the full. But he had +been a denizen of another world when Ziegler's +emissary had annexed him, body and soul, as +plain Charles Hanbury, in the Bowery saloon. +He remembered that world now with a horror +and a loathing greater, if possible, than when +he had endured it—the sordid life in the five-dollar +boarding-house, the lunch of tough sandwiches +of Texas beef which had bulged his +pockets on the way to his duties in the big dry +goods store, the insolence of his Irish-American +and German fellow-workers because of his +English speech. And the haughty salesladies +who had drawn their skirts from him as they +squeezed past the tame detective at the time-keeper's +box—sitting there in the dark muniment +room, even his present trouble could not +check a smile at thinking what those damsels +would have done if told that he had been about +to become a duke within the month.</p> +<p class="pnext">Yes, it had been a dirty trick that he had +undertaken to escape all this, but somehow +the thing had not seemed so bad when he was +unacquainted with the persons interested. +Just as old-time smugglers persuaded themselves +that there was no dishonesty in defrauding +the state, so in the same light he had regarded +the spoliation of a big corporation like +the Bank of England or the United States +Treasury, whichever would have been the ultimate +loser when the lawyers had settled the +matter. He would never have gone into the +business, even in his despairing exile, if he had +not looked upon it as a breach of honesty +which no single individual would be an appreciable +loser. He made no excuses for himself +on this score, but merely analyzed his state of +mind philosophically, by no means salving his +conscience because he had dropped the affair +the moment individualities had become involved, +or laying claim to any merit for a +repentance sustained at such imminent peril.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Whatever is the upshot of it all I can never +be too thankful that I came over in the same +ship with the Shermans," he muttered, "and +for being brought up with a round turn by +the knowledge that the one to bear the brunt +of my iniquity would have been Leonie's +father. Why, the excellent Senator might +have been suspected of having stolen the bonds +himself. Funny that that view didn't occur to +me till I knew the people."</p> +<p class="pnext">The same gratitude had filled his simple soul +twenty times during the last week, even when +his enemies had pressed him most sorely; but +it recurred with redoubled force now that he +was within sight of the end. By noon on the +morrow the Senator would have safely housed +the securities at the Bank, and then his own +responsibility would cease. Ziegler could kill +him then, and welcome, if he still thought it +worth while, though the chief of the organization +was not, he imagined, the sort of person +to waste time and energy on a purely sentimental +revenge. If Ziegler carried on the +feud after the bonds were safe from him it +would be, as before, to secure silence about the +attempt, and he could fling no stigma on the +family name without divulging details that +would incriminate his gang. And the family +name was all that mattered.</p> +<p class="pnext">Beaumanoir had just rounded off his forecast +in this satisfactory manner when he was +suddenly startled back into the present by a +faint sound far down the corridor on which +the muniment room abutted. He knew perfectly +well what the sound was—the "scroop" +of the spring-driven swivel-roller that automatically +closed a baize door shutting off the +servants' premises. He had half risen from +his chair when another sound—the tinkle of a +pebble cast against the window from outside—distracted +his attention; but disregarding it in +favor of the more pressing emergency, he +made haste towards the door of the room.</p> +<p class="pnext">The room was at the extreme end of the +corridor, looking along it lengthwise, and it +was not therefore necessary for the Duke to +disclose himself at the door, which he had purposely +left partially open, in order to reconnoiter. +Standing in the darkness a few feet +from the door, he was able to see who was +coming, and the sight sent a thrill of despair +to his heart. All his pleasant anticipations of +oblivion for his transgression were rudely shattered, +for the old man who, white-bearded and +with cat-like tread, came along the passage was +Ziegler himself. Another figure was dimly +discerned close behind, but of that the Duke +took no heed. His eyes were riveted on the +one in front—on the evil man who had the +power to change his destiny. There was something +curiously fantastic, something unreal, in +the aged miscreant gliding towards him, +framed in the gaping darkness of the doorway.</p> +<p class="pnext">The opening into a branch passage, leading +to another part of the mansion, lay between +Ziegler and the muniment room, and there was +a bare chance that he might turn in that direction. +In reality he had to advance but a few +steps before the point could be settled, but it +seemed a whole æon to the Duke, and, to add +to the tension of his nerves, another pebble +struck the window. All hope of being able to +preserve his secret had fled now, and Beaumanoir +strove to concentrate his reeling brain on +how best to summon assistance and ward off +an attack on the safe. If only he knew who +that was throwing up stones from outside—whether +friend or foe—he could decide +whether to run to the window and open it or +leave it alone. He dared not act in ignorance, +possibly to admit a third adversary. The +window was ten feet from the ground, but the +wall was covered with gnarled ivy stems up +which an active man could readily climb.</p> +<p class="pnext">While he was hesitating the matter was arranged +for him. There was no time to reach +the window, for Ziegler passed the branch +corridor without as much as looking at it, and +was coming straight on to the muniment room. +Beaumanoir raised his revolver, but lowered it +again, incapable of shooting a fellow-creature +in cold blood, and also fascinated by a horrible +curiosity to learn the intruder's intention. He +could not as yet be absolutely certain that Ziegler +knew that the bonds were in the safe. He +would wait till it was attacked before he made +a counter-move.</p> +<p class="pnext">In this mind he slipped behind a huge oak +press laden with expired leases, and had hardly +ensconced himself when Ziegler entered the +room, followed, to Beaumanoir's surprise, by +a woman, whom he did not recognize, in the +faint light diffused from the corridor, as Rosa, +Mrs. Talmage Eglinton's French maid. The +shadowy figures—that of the frail old man +and of the trim soubrette—stood motionless +and silent just within the doorway, evidently +mastering the landmarks of the room. Then, +at a whisper from Ziegler, the maid glided +with a nod of comprehension to the nearest +window, and was busy with the hasp when the +rattle of still another pebble on the glass accelerated +her movements. She swung the casement +outwards, and in a muffled voice called +down:</p> +<p class="pnext">"'Tis ze right room. You are to come oop."</p> +<p class="pnext">A rustling noise, as of foliage shaken, rising +from below warned the Duke that if he waited +longer he might be beset by a horde of assailants. +It spurred him to instant action. Set in +the wall close to his place of concealment was +the switch of the electric light, and stretching +out his left hand he turned it on, at the same +time stepping forward and covering Ziegler +with his pistol. The old man blinked at him in +the sudden glow, and then, quietly turning, +shut the door. His object must have been to +prevent his voice penetrating into the house, +for he croaked out to the Frenchwoman by the +window the petulant order:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Tell Benzon to hurry."</p> +<p class="pnext">The maid, relaxing the venomous glare with +which she was regarding Beaumanoir, put out +her head and obeyed. A renewal of the rustling +and the sound of heavy breathing told her +that her request had been heard, and drew a +harsh laugh from Ziegler. Fixing the Duke +with a cruel gaze, he remarked calmly, in his +thin falsetto:</p> +<p class="pnext">"The champion safe-cracksman of America +will be here in a moment. Your Grace will +have the opportunity of seeing a very pretty +piece of work if you care to remain till I have +exchanged this package for the one inside. +You are not going to be fool enough to use +that pistol and give yourself away at this stage, +and if you were, my friend Benzon would be +equal to the occasion." And holding up the +parcel of tissue paper which he had received +from Forsyth in the crypt, he shook it mockingly +at the Duke.</p> +<p class="pnext">But in so doing he reckoned literally without +his host. With a spring that wrenched his +lame foot painfully Beaumanoir leaped upon +him, and, crushing the white beard to a throat +that somehow seemed less scraggy than might +have been expected, dragged him to the door +and contrived to get it open with his left hand. +So struggling, the pair stumbled into the corridor, +and Beaumanoir was about to shout +lustily for help, when his voice dwindled into +a panting:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Thank God you've come! I've got this +one, but there is a woman in there, and—and +others are coming in through the window."</p> +<p class="pnext">For in the corridor, hurrying towards him, +were General Sadgrove, Senator Sherman, and +Alec Forsyth, each with revolvers in their +hands, while Sybil Hanbury brought up the +rear, looking as if she resented that position. +In the presence of this formidable phalanx +Beaumanoir felt his captive wilt in his grasp, +and indeed he himself was swept back by it, still +holding on, into the muniment room, where +the woman Rosa was in the act of retreating +from the window. The General took command +quite naturally, bidding Forsyth guard +the door, while he himself advanced to the +window, very stern and upright, and muttering +as he went:</p> +<p class="pnext">"What can Azimoolah have been about? He +must be past his work."</p> +<p class="pnext">But the words were hardly spoken when the +subject of his censure leaped in through the +window, drawing his breath quickly, but not +otherwise inconvenienced by a limp bundle of +humanity which he carried over his shoulder, +and now proceeded to dump like a sack on the +floor. After securing the window, the Pathan +turned and gravely saluted the General.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There were three others, sahib, but they are +gone," he said simply. "At sight of thy servant +fear seemed to fall upon them, so that +they fled across the <em class="italics">maidan</em> like deer flushed by +a cheetah. But this one was already climbed +nigh to the window, so I followed, and choking +him a little, brought him in." And with his +foot he slightly spurned the motionless form +of his prisoner, whom the Duke and Forsyth +recognized as the hero of the watch-spring saw +who had been surprised cutting out the panel +at Beaumanoir House a week before.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Choked him a little!" said the General with +a grim chuckle. "You don't seem to have left +much life in him, but it was no case for standing +on ceremony. And now, madam," continued +the veteran, facing round to where +Beaumanoir stood with his grip on Ziegler's +collar, "your disguise need hamper you no +longer—that is, if you prefer to finish this +business in your own person. Get the pull of +your sex, you know."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, I guess that wig doesn't do justice to +Cora Lestrade," interjected Senator Sherman, +and with a dexterous twirl of his wrist he +jerked off the elaborate head-gear which had +effectually transformed the dashing lady +known as Mrs. Talmage Eglinton into a repulsive +old man. But it was only when feminine +instinct had prompted her with a swift +application of her handkerchief to remove the +purple stain that had added the semblance of +disease to old age that the Duke recognized his +guest.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I do not understand," he murmured, +feebly.</p> +<p class="pnext">And it seemed that Alec Forsyth, in spite of +the part entrusted to him in the comedy of +the crypt, had been ignorant of the identity +of his antagonist, for a cry of astonishment +escaped him. On the other hand, the demure +smile that played round Sybil Hanbury's +pretty mouth betokened a closer intimacy with +the foregoings of this wonderful development. +Forsyth's sharp exclamation had the effect of +rousing Azimoolah's captive from his swoon. +The man raised himself on his elbow, and, +grasping the situation, remained quietly +watchful.</p> +<p class="pnext">"And now, your Grace, before another word +is said, let me shake you by the hand right here, +and thank you for all the patient courage you +have shown and all the danger you have incurred +to baffle as waspish a gang as ever +hailed from my side of the ditch," said the +Senator, suiting the action to the word, greatly +to the embarrassment of the Duke, and provoking +a scornful laugh from the fantastic +figure in male attire.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, he was one of us," she sneered. "It +was only when he found he had something to +lose that he backed out."</p> +<p class="pnext">The Senator looked her up and down with a +fine contempt.</p> +<p class="pnext">"So much for a great reputation," he said. +"My good Lestrade, the warders who told me +you were the cleverest woman in Sing-Sing +must have made a grievous error, for a really +clever criminal would never have been cornered +by a brave man pretending to join the confederacy. +The Duke has not tripped once all +through the affair, except that he has been a +little too reckless in exposing his valuable life +to peril. The result of his heroic conduct is +that you are outwitted all along the line, and +that the three millions are secure in that safe."</p> +<p class="pnext">This misdescription of the case, so adroitly +near the mark and yet differing from the +truth in the all-important word "<em class="italics">pretending</em>," +made the Duke catch his breath. Somehow +the matter which he had believed himself to be +working single-handed seemed to have been +taken out of his shaky grasp, and, shamed by +the unmerited praise, he waited for the rejoinder +of the adventuress. It came crisp and +sharp.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then what you have to do is to call in the +police and hand us over to justice," she said +defiantly. "The authorities will be puzzled to +find a reason for all you worthy amateurs bottling +up your knowledge of a crime that would +have shaken two continents. I think I shall +be able to instruct my counsel so that by the +time he has done with him his Grace won't be +much of a hero."</p> +<p class="pnext">The Senator smiled superior.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ah!" he retorted, pleasantly; "you might +have tried that if you had had the chance. But +then, you see, you won't have it. I'm only a +visitor here—like yourself, his Grace's guest—but +I believe the intention is that you and your +friend, who really need not scowl so, are not to +face a judge this time. General Sadgrove has +charge of what we may call the liberation department, +and he will enlighten you."</p> +<p class="pnext">The man Benzon, lying propped on his elbow, +with Azimoolah standing over him +statuesquely menacing, shot a sly glance of +triumph at his confederate, but it met with +only a sickly smile for a response. Lestrade's +eyes turned with shrinking expectancy to the +General, her insolent demeanor having vanished, +strangely enough, at the hint that she +would not be detained.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, there will be no prosecution," the General +said, sternly. "The Duke took the onus +of defeating your aims upon him before he was +called to his present high station, and his +friends are unanimous that he ought not to +pursue the matter now. You, Madame Lestrade, +will be allowed to depart early to-morrow +morning in the name you have chosen to assume; +and you, sir, can go at once by the way +you came—through the window."</p> +<p class="pnext">The man Benzon rose to his feet with alacrity, trying vainly to catch the eye of his +accomplice, and shooting furtive glances at +the package which she still carried. There was +evidently something that he did not understand, +and wanted to before he availed himself +of the unexpected permission. There came a +curious gleam into the General's eyes as he +noticed this perplexity, and when he took up +his parable again there was a ring in his voice +that chained his hearers' attention. Sybil, too, +leaned forward, watching the two bond-robbers +alternately, as though expecting a surprise for +them.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Before you go I will explain what is puzzling +you," the General went on, addressing +himself to Benzon, and pointing to the dummy +package in Cora Lestrade's hand. "You are +under the impression that those are the bonds, +and you are half inclined to think that we are +letting you go in ignorance of what you believe +to be the case—that the genuine bonds were +handed to that lady in the crypt by the Duke. +Know, then, that the Duke wasn't in the crypt +at all, nor were any bonds handed over. His +Grace's place was taken by Mr. Forsyth there, +who succeeded in getting from her the spurious +bonds and handed her in return a lot of blank +paper. See—examine it for yourself."</p> +<p class="pnext">And quickly possessing himself of the parcel, +he held it for inspection. A spasm crossed +Benzon's sinister face, and there escaped him +the involuntary cry:</p> +<p class="pnext">"But you looked at the things, Cora, and +pronounced them correct. You said we were +only coming here for the heirlooms in the safe; +yet you must have known."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Quite so," the General proceeded, disregarding +a smothered remark from the female +culprit. "She knew that she had been hoodwinked, +because she recognized my nephew +under his disguise, and so at once examined the +parcel. Thereupon she deceived you and her +other associates for a private reason that had +nothing to do with the interests of your +precious combination. Like to hear what that +reason was?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Benzon flung a reproachful, half-imploring +look at his strangely garbed chief, as though +seeking for a denial from her, but failing to +catch her downcast eye, he gave a sullen assent +to the question.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Very well," the General went on, inexorably. +"She withheld her confidence from her +colleagues because she desired to save the life +of Mr. Forsyth from the murderous vengeance +of you gentlemen who are so handy with charcoal +braziers and railway accidents. So she +made a last desperate effort to obtain the bonds +by persuading you to break into the safe under +a false pretext—used you as tools, do you +understand?—to repair her own breach of faith +to you without having to confess it. Her idea +was doomed to failure, anyway, for, apart +from his Grace's vigilance, she was effectually +watched by Miss Hanbury from the moment +of her readmission into the house by that +Frenchwoman. When 'Mrs. Talmage Eglinton',"—with +a fine scorn on the name—"crept +out dressed like that, we wanted to see whether +she would go straight to her room when she +came back, don't you know."</p> +<p class="pnext">He paused, but not with an air of finality. +No one had ever suspected Jem Sadgrove in +the old days of an eye for dramatic effect. He +must have been coached by somebody into leading +up to the question now to be put with fierce +insistence by the saturnine Benzon, and, to +judge by the eager interest in Sybil's dilated +eyes, that young lady had been the coach.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why should Cora Lestrade want to spare +Mr. Forsyth?" asked the man, taking a step +forward, to be instantly reminded of his position +by the lean brown hand of Azimoolah falling +like a vise on his shoulder. The Pathan +evidently cherished a lingering hope that there +might yet arise a pretext for treating "the black +tribe" in the old way.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Because, sir, a woman can't help herself in +matters of the heart, and even the worst of 'em +is capable of an unselfish attachment," the +General replied, with slow emphasis. But he +hastened to add, as if eager to disavow responsibility +for the introduction of sentiment: "At +least, so I was advised. The little scheme for +obtaining the sham securities was based on the +supposition that this woman had a liking for +Mr. Forsyth, and would do him no hurt if she +recognized him. That forecast has turned out +to be well founded."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Uncle Jem!" Forsyth protested, flushing +hotly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, laddie, I know you would not have +taken the job on if I had informed you who +Ziegler was," said the General. "There would +have been less to fear, but there would have +been a dash of the underhand about it that +wouldn't have suited you. But I should never +have allowed you to walk into such a death-trap +as that crypt would have been without the safeguard +we—that is, I—trusted to. It wasn't a +case for being too nice. There's no such thing +as taking a mean advantage of people threatening +life and property, they told me when I was +taught my trade."</p> +<p class="pnext">The man Benzon, who had kept his gaze +fixed on the face of Cora Lestrade, removed +it now, and, with a cool politeness that struck +an unaccountable chill to most of his hearers, +thanked the General for enlightening him on +"a point of considerable importance," and +begged permission to depart if he was really +not to be detained. At a sign from his master +Azimoolah stood aside, and the man swung +himself out of the window, gained a foothold +on the ivy stems, and was gone. When they +had all turned away from the darkling face +framed for a moment among the creepers, it +was seen that she who had loomed so largely in +their lives of late as "Mr. Clinton Ziegler" and +"Mrs. Talmage Eglinton" was swaying and +about to fall.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Thank you," she said, recovering herself +with a painful effort as Senator Sherman, who +happened to be nearest, came to her assistance. +"It was only a passing weakness, but I shall +be glad if I may go to my room."</p> +<p class="pnext">And with a flicker of the old impudence she +mimicked General Sadgrove:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Even the worst of 'em is capable of feeling +shaken on hearing sentence of death pronounced," +adding, with a swift change of manner, +"and that is what I have heard in this room +to-night."</p> +<p class="pnext">But in the morning, when, with the Frenchwoman +Rosa, she took her departure by a train +leaving so early that none of the house-party +were visible, it was observed by the servants +that Mrs. Talmage Eglinton was in the highest +spirits, and, if possible, more stylishly appareled +than usual. And Mr. Manson, the +butler, looking regretfully after the station +brougham as it drove away, murmured benedictions, +having palmed the largest tip that had +come his way in a quarter of a century.</p> +<p class="pnext">"A thorough lady," he sighed, as he closed +the hall door and went in to preside at the +breakfast sideboard. "Pity she was called +away unexpected."</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xxithe-honor-of-the-house"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id22">CHAPTER XXI—<em class="italics">The Honor of the House</em></a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">The Treasury bonds had reached their goal +in the vaults of the Bank of England, and +Senator Sherman, having duly discharged his +duty to his Republic, was speeding back to his +wife and daughter at Prior's Tarrant, with, as +he quaintly phrased it, "a considerable load off +his chest." In the reserved compartment with +him were the Duke of Beaumanoir and General +Sadgrove, who had insisted on forming an +escort.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Duke, who had been buoyed up with +excitement till the bonds were safe in the bank, +had fallen into dejection on the return journey. +His two companions persisted in treating him +as a hero, whereas he guessed that they were +both aware of the true state of the case. He +knew that one of them was, for he had himself, +under threat of information being given to the +police, confessed everything to the General +after the latter's visit to the hotel on the day +of "Mrs. Talmage Eglinton's" supposed confinement to her room; and, at any rate, the Senator +must have heard something of the truth, +or he would not have been prepared the night +before to confound Cora Lestrade's correct accusation +with a generous but entirely erroneous +construction of his complicity.</p> +<p class="pnext">All this made Beaumanoir miserable and +ill at ease, the more so that he had three times +attempted, without success, to terminate his +false position. The two gentlemen had evidently +entered into a friendly conspiracy to +maintain their own reading of his conduct; and +whenever he began to make penitential allusions +to it, one or other of them would, so to +speak, jump down his throat with an encomium +on the motive they chose to attribute to him for +originally allying himself to the Lestrade +combination. Nor did it add to his comfort on +the last of these occasions to catch the Senator +deliberately winking at the General.</p> +<p class="pnext">Now this was exasperating in the present +and intolerable for the future, for Beaumanoir +had set his heart on that to which, conscience +told him, a clear understanding with Senator +Sherman was essential. But at last he abandoned +direct efforts and sank back in his corner, hoping to obtain an opening by more +diplomatic methods presently.</p> +<p class="pnext">In the meanwhile, the General was satisfying +the curiosity of the Senator, and incidentally +that of the Duke, as to the identification +of the self-styled Mrs. Talmage Eglinton +with the mysterious Clinton Ziegler. He described +the tangle of doubt and surmise he had +got into when he had convinced himself that +the occupants of the neighboring suites at the +hotel were both concerned in the plot against +the bonds, without being able to carry the matter +further. And especially did he lay stress +on the deadlock that had been reached when +"Mrs. Talmage Eglinton's" artfully concocted +anonymous warning against "Ziegler" had +caused him to waver in his suspicions of her +guilt.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It took a woman to nose that out," said the +General, with a whimsical grimace. "Miss +Sybil heard me grumbling—unfortunate habit, +talking to one's self—and put me right in a +brace of shakes. 'Why,' she snaps out, after +she'd pumped me about my difficulty, 'they +must be one and the same person. Mrs. Talmage +Eglinton <em class="italics">is</em> Ziegler, and her intention is +that after they've finished the business the Eglinton part of her will remain and the Ziegler +part will vanish—with the odium of anything +that may happen, don't you see. I didn't see +it at once, but consented to lay a trap, and +blessed if the girl wasn't right. Soon as the +Eglinton was posted up by Sybil that I was +going up next day to call on Ziegler at the +hotel, and that I was going to raise Cain if I +wasn't admitted, she shammed sick and +sneaked out of the house, with old Azimoolah +at her heels, to keep the appointment."</p> +<p class="pnext">He went on to tell how his call on "Ziegler," +followed by "Mrs. Talmage Eglinton's" clandestine +return to the house as witnessed by +Alec Forsyth, had brushed all doubts aside and +cleared the way for the final <em class="italics">coup</em> in the crypt, +again suggested by Sybil, for obtaining the +bogus bonds and so drawing the sting of the +enemy.</p> +<p class="pnext">"The girl has got grit," was the Senator's +admiring comment. "The right sort of grit, +because she trusted to her man having it too. +And, thunder, but it was plucky of him to +face that crew in ignorance of the saving clause +in his favor."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, the boy behaved well," the General +admitted. "But I think the Duke beat him for +courage in going to meet you at Liverpool in +ignorance that we had drawn off the cut-throats +who he had reason to believe would dog +him directly he left the house. Alec had to +make up for a bad lapse. We never allowed +laxity in our service, and Alec was lax, very +lax, in giving them that chance on the railway."</p> +<p class="pnext">Beaumanoir sat up at this, and, leaning forward, +tapped the General on the knee.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oblige me by not drawing comparisons," +he said—for him—quite fiercely. "If I have +come out of the ordeal of the last few days +unscathed, and with the honor of my house +untarnished, it is in great part due to Alec's +loyalty to a poor weak coward. Had I done +my duty I should have gone to the police the +moment Lestrade unfolded her plot, instead of +embarking on a course of secrecy and moral +cowardice which kept alive the danger to Senator +Sherman and his charge. I did not see +it at the time, but the gang would assuredly +have matured some other plan for trying for +the plunder, using some other wretched tool, +perhaps, if they hadn't been gammoned into +believing that I had caved in. It was gross +moral cowardice of me to give them the +chance."</p> +<p class="pnext">The torrent of words flowed so quickly that +neither of his hearers was able to check it, and +it was so evidently the outcome of deep emotion +that it was equally impossible to ignore it. +The Senator, with a twinkle in his shrewd gray +eyes, laid a warning hand on the General's +shoulder and took it upon himself to answer—with +a question which had the instant effect +of soothing Beaumanoir, for it implied a concession +of the position he desired to take up.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What should you have done in the same circumstances, +but with this difference—that you +had landed in England a simple commoner instead +of the representative of an ancient and +noble family?" the Senator inquired.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Informed the authorities, of course," the +Duke replied without hesitation.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Good! Then assuming for the sake of argument +your charge against yourself to be +correct, you incurred a mortal peril voluntarily, +not from personal considerations affecting +yourself, but for fear of involving other people—most +of them dead, by the way—in disgrace. +I don't see how you can make moral cowardice +out of that."</p> +<p class="pnext">"<em class="italics">I</em> do," said Beaumanoir, bluntly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"But," proceeded the Senator, with bland +insistence, "you might have avoided the peril +to your own life and the besmirching of the +family name by the simple expedient of carrying +out the behests of Ziegler and Company. +You had every facility for pulling the job off +without a breath of suspicion ever touching +you."</p> +<p class="pnext">The diplomatic opening, the psychological +moment, for which poor, blundering Beaumanoir +had been hoping, had arrived. It would +be uncharitable to suggest that it was proffered +to him, as a card is "forced," by an American +gentleman with a taste for strawberry leaves; +but be it as it may, Beaumanoir was not too +dull to seize his chance.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I might have done that—I was tempted +to," he blurted out. "In fact, I believe I +should have done it if—if I hadn't come over +in the same ship with your—with Mrs. and +Miss Sherman."</p> +<p class="pnext">The General, sitting up stiffly with his chin +on the knob of his malacca cane, turned his +head sharply to hear his old friend's judgment +on this amazing confession. It was pronounced +with Trans-Atlantic briskness.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then, sir, by token of that frankness, your +Grace is a straight man," the Senator said, +decidedly, and with an air that invested his +words with greater weight than was perhaps +due to their moral perspective. "And," he +added in a lighter vein, "somehow, the honor +of your house seems to have got inextricably +mixed with that of mine."</p> +<p class="pnext">"That's exactly the way I hoped you'd look +at it," responded the Duke, earnestly. "I +think you take my meaning. May I speak to +Leonie?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"It's what I should do in your place," was +the Senator's reply—a reply which had the +effect of relaxing General Sadgrove's ramrod-like +attitude, and of causing that grim +man-hunter to subside into his corner, with a +not unkindly chuckle.</p> +<hr class="docutils"/> +<p class="pfirst">On a winter afternoon, six months afterwards, +Alec Forsyth entered the firelit dining-room +of the Prior's Tarrant dower-house, +which, as agent of the ducal estates, he had +occupied since his marriage in September. +The Duke and Duchess were away in Egypt +on their honeymoon, and Forsyth had been +doing the honors of a big shoot in the home +coverts to a party of neighboring country gentlemen. +Sybil, who had been sitting in a low +chair by the hearth, rose and drew him to the +blaze, first relieving him of his gun.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I won't light the lamp yet, dear," she said. +"I am forced to refer to the forbidden subject, +and you may want to blush."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Forbidden subject?" said Forsyth, not for +the moment comprehending.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, of course you haven't taken to forbidding +me anything yet; perhaps 'tacitly +avoided' would be a better phrase," the young +wife replied, perching herself on the arm of +her husband's chair. "I refer to that poor +creature whose one redeeming point was, as the +dear General put it on that eventful night, an +unselfish attachment to your noble self."</p> +<p class="pnext">Forsyth had never been able to bring himself +to talk of the reason of his uncle's confidence +in his safety in the crypt that night, when +he had lent himself to a ruse which he had believed +meant death if he was recognized. He +had loathed "Mrs. Talmage Eglinton's" obtrusive +admiration long before he had entered +the lists against her, and it was from a knowledge +of his feelings that the General had +abstained from informing him beforehand of +the terrible Ziegler's identity, guessing that his +natural delicacy would have prevented him +from turning to account a sentimental weakness +so necessary to a successful issue, yet so +revolting to his modesty.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Must you really refer to that wretched +woman?" he asked, as soon as he saw Sybil's +meaning.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Only to tell you that she is dead," was the +reply. "It is in the <em class="italics">Standard</em>, which came +after you had left for the coverts. There, I +must light the lamp, after all, so that you may +read it yourself."</p> +<p class="pnext">When the lamp shone out on the pleasant, +homelike room, this was the paragraph which +Forsyth read:</p> +<p class="pnext">"On the arrival at Vienna of the through +mail train from Budapest on Thursday night +a fashionably dressed female was found alone +in a first-class compartment, stabbed to the +heart. The police inquiries have established +her identity as Cora Lestrade, a notorious +American ex-convict, who is believed to have +practised on the credulity of highly placed +personages in nearly every European capital. +At the time of her death she was traveling as +the Countess Poniatowski. A man who was in +another compartment of the train, dressed as +a Roman priest, but who is supposed to be one +of the band of professional criminals ruled by +this extraordinary woman, has been arrested in +connection with the occurrence."</p> +<p class="pnext">Forsyth laid the paper down—Sybil told +him a month later that it was "with a sigh of +relief"—and said:</p> +<p class="pnext">"She seemed to expect something of the sort +when she spoke about her death sentence and +showed such fear of the man Benzon. But +isn't Uncle Jem's intuition marvelous? He +has always held that the confederacy would +come to loggerheads and be no longer dangerous +after our victorious tussle with them."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, dear," Sybil assented, dutifully. +"Your uncle is a very remarkable man, with +very remarkable gifts." But she did not add, as +she might have added had she so chosen, that it +had required a woman's knowledge of woman's +heart to inspire in the General the insight +which had steered the Duke's storm-tossed +bark to harbor.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 5em"> +</div> +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 37413 ***</div> +</body> +</html> |