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diff --git a/40432-8.txt b/40432-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 022c1ba..0000000 --- a/40432-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5290 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Miss Hildreth, Volume 2 of 3, by -Augusta de Grasse Stevens - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: Miss Hildreth, Volume 2 of 3 - A Novel - -Author: Augusta de Grasse Stevens - -Release Date: August 7, 2012 [EBook #40432] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MISS HILDRETH, VOLUME 2 OF 3 *** - - - - -Produced by Robert Cicconetti, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - - - MISS HILDRETH. - - A Novel. - - BY A. DE GRASSE STEVENS, - - AUTHOR OF "OLD BOSTON," "THE LOST DAUPHIN," - "WEIGHED IN THE BALANCE," ETC. - - - In Three Volumes. - VOL. II. - - LONDON: - WARD AND DOWNEY, - 12, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN, W.C. - 1888. - - [_All rights reserved._] - - _Copyright by_ A. de GRASSE STEVENS, 1888. - - - - -CONTENTS. - - - CHAPTER I. A FACE FROM OUT A CRIME 1 - - CHAPTER II. "IT WAS NO DELUSION" 21 - - CHAPTER III. ST. PETER AND ST. PAUL 34 - - CHAPTER IV. SUSPICIONS 52 - - CHAPTER V. MIMI'S BIRTHDAY POSY 79 - - CHAPTER VI. "'TIS A SIREN" 95 - - CHAPTER VII. THE CANKER WORM OF DOUBT 116 - - CHAPTER VIII. A SOCIETY DRAMA 139 - - CHAPTER IX. "IT IS HOPELESS" 154 - - CHAPTER X. THE SONG OF THE CIGALE 169 - - CHAPTER XI. INTROSPECTION 189 - - CHAPTER XII. PLOTTING 203 - - CHAPTER XIII. THÉ ANGLAIS 227 - - CHAPTER XIV. "FIND ME THE WOMAN" 239 - - CHAPTER XV. "THIS LITTLE HAND" 253 - - CHAPTER XVI. ARRESTED! 262 - - - - -MISS HILDRETH. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -A FACE FROM OUT A CRIME. - - -The same dazzling and brilliant sunshine, that for so many weeks had -held sway in Petersburg, was still beautifying the Tsar's great capital, -and gilding all things with an illusory sheen, which had all the -appearance of true gold, but which fled away at the approach of -darkness, leaving bare the cankerous fever spots, the dry bones and -wasting disease of the most tyrannous, but most doomed phenomenon of -autocratic power. - -During all the early hours of morning the sleeping city lay bathed in -this wonderful alchemy; the Neva resting tranquil beneath the spell, -even its cold grey waters catching reflections from the sun-god's rays. -From above its low bank rose a long grey stone wall, broken here and -there into sharp angles and protected by recurrent cannon, set at -regular intervals; beyond this a tall and slender spire shot up high -into the air, graceful and quivering with a thousand golden lights, that -seemed to break against it, and then fling the fragments broadcast with -careless prodigality; these in falling touched again the fluttering flag -on the white belfry, glanced athwart the Imperial mint, and awoke myriad -reflections in the façade of the Winter Palace. - -This tall spire, shooting upwards like a lance, is the crowning glory of -Russia's great State prison, and Russia's Imperial tomb of kings, the -grim fortress of Petropavlovsk. It is a familiar sight to Petersburg's -populace, as they pass to and fro across the Troitski Bridge, or linger -in the spacious Boulevard-park, which is never empty, and through which -the dwellers on the Petersburg side go in and out to their homes. - -Beneath its solid foundations lie the bones of Russia's greatest -sovereigns; within its granite walls languish many of Russia's truest -patriots; while without its precincts, separated only by a few rods, -lying almost within its shadow, rises the stately palace, within which -lives Russia's Tsar, conscious always of the everlasting surveillance of -Peter's prison, yet unable to cast it from him, or flee before it. - -It was very early in the day, about a month after Olga Naundorff's -interview with Ivor Tolskoi, and as yet but few people were astir in the -city's streets, save those whose avocations called them forth in the -pursuance of itinerant trade. Now and then a mounted orderly would ride -past, leading an uncaparisoned horse by a long rein, the iron hoofs -clattering over the bridge, breaking clear and distinct across the sharp -morning air; presently they would disappear under the arched entrance to -the barracks, and then, perhaps, a dark, sombre figure would come next, -passing swiftly along, with secrecy written on every line of the face -and habiliments, to be swallowed up in the frowning doorway of the -Imperial Chancellerie; while those he passed on his way drew back -instinctively, the women crossing themselves furtively, the men cursing -below their breath. For was not this an emissary of that terrible secret -police, from whom no one was safe, whose inexorable will was as iron and -blood? And who could say who would be the next in turn to feel that -cruel hand upon his throat, and know, with helpless certainty, that -Petropavlovsk was his eternal destination? - -Just as the clocks on tower and steeple struck seven, following the -single notes by the ecclesiastical melody of triumph, "How glorious is -our Lord in Sion," a young man appeared, walking quickly, and with long, -swinging steps, across the Troitski Bridge. He was tall and straight, -and though muffled in a long coat and profuse furs, the yellow tint of -his close-cut curls beneath his sable cap, his fresh complexion and -boyish gaiety of appearance, at once betrayed him to be Ivor Tolskoi. - -He was humming lightly as he walked some half-remembered refrain from -last night's ball or opera, but as he reached the middle of the bridge -he halted, and folding his arms upon the parapet looked out across the -marshy delta of the river, to where the Finnish Gulf made an indistinct -grey line. - -The gloomy fortress frowned heavily upon him, but the sun's shafts were -making merry with the Palace windows, and Ivor's thoughts had more just -then to do with hope and love, than with treachery and despair. The -opera melody died on his lips unfinished and he heeded it not; his fancy -had leapt the bounds of prosaic realism and was wandering as it listed -in the realms of conjecture. - -It was of Olga he thought as he wondered with idle curiosity which might -be her casement among those that glittered and gleamed like jewels in a -crystal setting, across the great marble front of the Winter Palace. If -he waited long enough would he see the blind raised, the silken hangings -withdrawn, and the face of his lady-love look forth to greet the day? -Then would he, standing below her, bare his fair head and veil his bold -blue eyes, and pray the passing wind to carry to her his message of -fealty and true love. - -But the windows remained hermetically sealed, the curtains undrawn, and -presently Ivor with a shrug of his shoulders, a laugh at his -sentimentality, and the fragment of song once more on his lips, passed -on his way, looking neither to the right nor the left, and vanished -within the heavy portals of the Imperial Chancellerie. - -Mounting one flight of stairs with quick step, and passing along a short -corridor, Ivor knocked at a closed door, and hearing the sharp French -"_entrez_," opened it and stepped within that inner chamber where so few -weeks ago Vladimir Mellikoff had weighed his chances, and made his -choice. - -Patouchki sat, as then, at the table writing; and without raising his -eyes from his occupation, bade the young secretary good-morning, signing -him to his place by a gesture of his left hand. - -Ivor obeyed at once, and for some time only the rapid passing to and fro -of the quill pens upon the paper were the only sounds. - -Ivor Tolskoi had removed his heavy outside wraps and thus revealed the -fact that he still wore evening-dress, and that a white rose-bud -lingered in his button-hole, its freshness somewhat tarnished, but its -perfume as sweet as ever. - -After about half an hour's silence, Patouchki pushed back his chair and -laid down his pen, passing his hand rapidly across his forehead once or -twice, and looking keenly at his young companion as he did so. In the -cruelly frank and searching morning light the face seemed to lose -something of its pristine youth; the faint lines about the eyes and -mouth became accentuated, the pallor of the temples more noticeable, the -cruelty of lips and chin more pronounced. He did not look up however, -though aware of the chief's scrutiny, until Patouchki's harsh voice and -bullet-like sentences broke the silence. - -"Burning the candle at both ends are you, Ivor? Pardon me if I remind -you that wilful waste will scarcely benefit yourself, or us. Let me also -remind you that that moderation in all things of which the apostle -speaks, has always produced far more lasting results than reckless -enthusiasm and imprudent zeal." - -The young man flushed slightly as he replied: "If you would imply, -chief, that my present dress is scarcely suited to my present -occupation, I acknowledge the reproof with all promptitude. I was late -at the Court Ball last night, and had not time to return to my -apartments before making my journey across the bridge. I could not fail -in that, since it was undertaken by your orders, consequently I must beg -your pardon for appearing in such attire." - -The words were apologetic enough, but the tone was slightly -antagonistic. Patouchki looked more closely at him; it was not usual for -his subordinates to use any but obsequious words and tones when -addressing him, and his quick ear caught the foreign ring in Ivor's -voice. He passed it by, however, without open comment, though inscribing -it on the tablets of his memory, and replied, calmly: - -"And have you brought me confirmation of the business on which I sent -you?" - -"Yes, chief," answered the young man, shortly. "I saw the man Mattalini, -who is a veritable specimen of Southern Italy intrigue and falsehood. He -would rather lie than tell the truth, I take it; but he will be faithful -enough to the Chancellerie if paid sufficiently. He had arrived only -last night from Paris, and brought news of Count Vladimir Mellikoff's -occupations and associates in gay Lutetia." - -A slight sneer curled Ivor's lips as he spoke the Count's name, which -was no more lost upon the chief than the unusual ring in his voice a -moment before. - -"Tolskoi grows restive," he mused, letting his keen black eyes rest -piercingly on the young man's face for several moments; "nor is he quite -frank with me. He keeps something back concerning Vladimir, whom I have -noticed he never mentions without a covert sneer. There is without doubt -a woman in the case. It is always so; Eve's daughters ruin our most -promising patriots, sapping their energy, their spirit, their wit, and -talent, by slow but sure degrees. And for what? A gleam of white teeth -in a dangerous smile, the pressure of a traitorous hand, the hypocrite -tears in melting eyes! Ah, bah! It's the old old story of the garden, -for ever repeating itself--'the woman tempted me and I did eat;' and -eating of the forbidden fruit, have become dead to all things save the -unsatisfied desire it creates but never satisfies." - -Aloud he said: "Did Mattalini give you no packet or papers for me?" - -"Yes, chief," replied Tolskoi, "here they are," taking from his inner -pocket a small sealed envelope, and holding it out to Patouchki. As the -latter's long fingers closed over it, Ivor continued, in a half-nervous, -half-jocular tone, and touching his fair moustache with his white -fingers: "Might one interested in the cause inquire, chief, what news -you have of Count Mellikoff and his mission? It is something of an open -secret _why_ he has gone in certain circles, and I, for one, should be -glad to know how far he has succeeded." - -"To pass on the information to those of your friends who are so keenly -interested in and solicitous for the welfare of our father, the Tsar?" -answered the chief, sharply. "Why, Ivor, I did not know you were so much -of a gossip." - -The young man bit his lip and frowned. - -"You mistake me, chief," he said, and once again his voice had a ring of -antagonism in its tone, "and you misjudge me. My question was in some -sort a warning, and put forth that you might dictate such an answer as -best suits the interests of the Tsar and Chancellerie. There are those, -chief, who do not hesitate to assert that Stevan Lallovich's murder was -but an act of justice on the part of his repudiated wife; those, too, -who have the ear of our Empress, and who are never weary of instilling -dislike and distrust of the Chancellerie in her mind, and who insinuate -that Count Mellikoff's mission has more to do with secret and -treacherous intrigues against the Tsar, than with the finding of a -fugitive woman. And when the Chancellerie is struck at, you best know -for whom the blow is intended. This was my motive for my friendly -inquiries regarding Count Mellikoff." - -He finished with a slight bow, and stood looking full into Patouchki's -face. For a moment the immobility of that sphinx-like countenance was -broken up, a wave of dull-red blood rose slowly in the sallow cheeks, -the black eyes flashed ominously, a sneer rested on the thin lips and -repeated itself in the frown that gathered on his forehead. When he -spoke his voice vibrated with greater distinctness and staccato emphasis -than ever. - -"There will always be fools, Ivor, as long as time endures; even in -eternity we shall doubtless find similar spirits to vex our hard earned -rest. If I have misjudged you, it is enough, I beg your pardon. That -there are traitors on every side who can know so well as I, who hold my -life not worth the price of a rush-light! To be accused wrongly forms -the greater part of man's experience, but to know one's own rectitude is -sufficient compensation. The Chancellerie is for the moment secure in -the integrity of its members, I believe; though in this Petersburg of -ours, who can say how long even our institution will stand, or who -shall prove the first traitor to its system? Let it be known then, Ivor, -that Count Mellikoff has at present reached America, and that he is -working under our protection and our surveillance. Even he needs to -tread warily, for not even he is free from our suspicion, or our -watchful care. No one, Ivor, no one, in all our great machinery, but has -his double, whose duty it is to report to us every action, word, or -occupation. A traitor would find short mercy, he might think himself -fortunate had he time for a _pater_ or an _ave_, or a cry to our Lady of -Kazan. I need say no more, your warning will be remembered and acted -upon." - -Ivor bowed again in silence and turned back to his desk, but before he -reached it Patouchki stopped him. - -"I shall not require you longer, Tolskoi," he said, in his usual quiet -voice, "you had better get an hour or two of rest now; at twelve I shall -desire your attendance with me upon the Emperor and Empress, who will -make at that time a private visit of inspection to Petropavlovsk. Meet -me at the private entrance of the Palace, and now S'Bogorn: not -understood." - -"I will be there, chief," replied Ivor, promptly, a little smile -creeping into his eyes and about the corners of his mouth. He drew on -his heavy furred coat and stood for a moment, holding his cap under his -arm, as he pulled on his long gloves, glancing now and then at -Patouchki, who had returned to his writing, and was apparently so -engrossed with it as to be oblivious of Ivor's presence, and forgetful -of Ivor's warning. - -"Good morning, chief," said Tolskoi, again ignoring his elder's more -solemn salutation, "and thank you." - -But Patouchki replied only by a gesture of his hand, and the next moment -the heavy door closed noiselessly on Ivor's retreating figure. As he ran -lightly down the short flight of stone stairs, and stepped out into the -brilliant sunshine, the smile deepened in his eyes and about his mouth, -and became a short gay laugh, that rang out clear and joyfully, cutting -the cold keen air like a bell, and causing an old woman creeping slowly -on her weary way, to turn and bless his youth and good looks in Our -Lady's name. - -"_Hé!_ but 'tis good to be young, monsieur, and beautiful. Saint Peter -send you a fair lady-love, and a short shrift!" - -Ivor laughed again, and tossed the old dame a small coin; but the mirth -died on his lips as he passed beneath the shadow of the great fortress, -and recalled the gruesome context of the blessing bestowed upon him. "A -fair lady-love, and a short shrift!" What a ghastly conclusion! What had -he or Olga to do with death and death's ceremonies? He made very sure of -winning his fair lady, but to take account with death, now in the full -vigour and strength of his youth, had not entered into his calculations. -A plague on all old women--evil prophets!--let them look after their own -souls; as for him, a long life and a merry one stretched before him. - -Then he began to hum again the broken strain from the opera; and as he -did so, his thoughts travelled far ahead, and were on the whole -satisfactory. Vladimir Mellikoff well out of the way, suspicion raised -against him, no matter how faint, and the Italian, Mattalini, to dog his -footsteps--for Ivor knew the Italian was the one picked out to serve as -the Count's double--what might not he, Ivor Tolskoi, accomplish? Was not -the way opening clear and straight before him, with Olga--beautiful, -proud Olga--as his prize? What could be more opportune than the chief's -selection of him to act as aide during the Royal inspection of the -fortress; for well Ivor knew that Olga Naundorff would accompany the -Tsarina, and that of necessity she would fall to his escort, as they -passed from casemate to corridor of the giant prison. - -Ivor was a firm believer in propinquity, and here would be a rare -occasion for him in the relaxation of the strict Court etiquette, that -usually hedged Mdlle. Naundorff about with a thousand barriers, for on -such ex-officio occasions it was well known that the Tsar and Tsarina -appeared with only a strong guard, and one lady and gentleman of their -suite. - -The great chimes of the fortress cathedral were ringing out the mournful -cadences of the liturgy--"Have mercy, O Lord"--which in Petersburg mark -each quarter of the hour, as Ivor passed out of the Chancellerie. It was -close on eight o'clock, and already the streets and promenades were -showing signs of renewed life. The great doors of St. Isaac's stood -open, and into the vast misty building the devout of both sexes were -passing rapidly. - -Ivor paused, went up the steps, and looked within. The lights on the -altar at the far end gleamed like so many tiny stars, through the -diaphanous incense clouds, that clung always about the holy of holies. -The dull gold on the massive ornaments and in the frescoes shone out -here and there, thrown into relief by the more sombre purples and blues -of their surroundings. - -Before a statue of the Virgin and Child a woman had thrown herself in -the abandonment of grief and petition; two or three scarlet kaftans of -the Imperial Guard gave a touch of vivid colour, and contrasted -chromatically with the white alb and golden vestments of the officiating -priest. The low monotonous voices of the congregation rose and sank, -like the murmur of the ocean breaking on the sands, as they, wrapt in -private devotions, made known their petitions in low undertones, and -quite irresponsive of the priest's function; while he, standing at the -high altar, offered up the sacrifice of the mass. - -As Ivor gazed half spell-bound, and half disbelieving, the woman who -knelt before the Virgin's statue got up and moved slowly towards the -door. She had thrown back her long veil, and her face against its -blackness stood out in cameo relief. As Tolskoi's glance fell upon it, -he started violently, and put out one hand involuntarily, as though to -bar her way. But the woman dropped her veil instantly, and pushing -rudely by him, walked rapidly down the steps and across the promenade; -disappearing from view even as Ivor, recovering from his amazement, -turned to follow her. - -"Good God!" he exclaimed, standing for a moment uncertain what to do, -the look of horror still stamped upon his features, "as I am a living -man, that was the face of Adèle Lamien, the murderer of Stevan -Lallovich, and his repudiated wife!" - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -"IT WAS NO DELUSION." - - -At twelve o'clock that day, just as the great fortress cathedral chimes -rang out the hour, repeating again the melody taken from the Eastern -liturgy, "How glorious is our Lord in Sion," Ivor Tolskoi reached the -side-entrance of the Palace court-yard, and, passing between the -saluting sentinels, made his way towards a small door in one side of the -building, before which marched constantly two of the Imperial Guard, -whose business it was to watch jealously all in-going or out-coming -traffic, and who, fully armed as they were, presented a sufficiently -terrifying appearance, even to the most peaceful-minded. - -Before this door two open sleighs were standing, their magnificent black -horses handsomely decked out in gold-plated harness, and each wearing a -triangle of gold bells spanning its back, from which the slightest -movement evoked a shower of tinkling notes that fell melodiously, one -after the other, on the frost-bitten air, and were echoed back again by -the high walls of the court-yard. Sumptuous rugs and wraps of the -costliest furs were thrown across the velvet cushions, while the -coachmen and footmen were wrapped in mink-skin capes and tall, -conical-shaped hats. - -A short distance ahead of the equipages a selected division of the -Imperial body-guard sat immovable upon their splendid chargers, the -scarlet of their kaftans contrasting finely with the glossy coats of -their steeds and the dazzling snow that lay as a pall of innocence upon -the great metropolis. - -Ivor stopped only long enough to return the salute of the captain of the -guard, and to exchange a good-morning with one or two of the others, -who were all well known to him, and then, pressing quickly forward, -entered the Palace by the small door, and made his way to an -ante-chamber, where, as he expected, he found Patouchki already arrived. - -The chief's face wore a somewhat troubled expression, which did not -lessen as the young man, shutting the door securely behind him, came up -hurriedly towards him, an answering look of anxiety upon his usually -fresh, insouciant countenance. Patouchki also noticed that his face was -very pale, and his eyes wore a restless, inquiring expression, which was -enhanced by the stern set of his lips. He made no comment until standing -close by Patouchki's side, when he said, abruptly, and almost -commandingly: - -"Did you not say that Vladimir Mellikoff had gone upon this mission to -America to track and to arrest the cast-off wife of Stevan Lallovich, -for whose murder the Chancellerie holds her responsible?" - -Patouchki, for once taken off his guard, started at this unexpected -address, and turning sharply round so that he faced Tolskoi, looked at -him keenly before he answered. But Ivor never flinched nor faltered; his -cold, light-blue eyes met the chief's black ones full as boldly as they -had ever rested on Olga Naundorff's fair proud face, and something in -their hard cruel light warned Patouchki that the question was no idle -one, but that behind it lay some disturbance unknown at their morning -meeting. He replied in his most repellent manner: - -"You have forgotten, Ivor, it seems, that the Chancellerie never makes -decisive affirmations in words. Among us it is unnecessary to name names -or publish identities. Your own rather too vivid imagination has outrun -itself, Ivor, and accredited to Count Mellikoff's absence in the United -States a more sinister motive than could be found in the records of the -Chancellerie. Murder and arrest are two ugly words and have an ugly -sound to ears unaccustomed to them, especially when applied to a -woman." - -"Nevertheless, chief," answered Ivor, impatiently, the frown deepening -on his brow, "though you may choose to call Count Mellikoff's mission by -every name under heaven save the right one, you cannot disguise its true -motive. The Chancellerie may wrap itself about with all possible or -impossible plausibilities of expression, there are those who can read -between the lines, and who follow its machinations. Let me beg of you, -chief, by all the months of faithful service I have given you--and they -are many now--to be frank with me in this. Much--you cannot know how -much--depends upon your answer to my question. Can you not yet believe -in my fidelity and trust to my loyalty? Have I proved myself so poor a -Russian? Answer me this, I beg; is it to track and to find Stevan -Lallovich's forsaken wife that Vladimir Mellikoff has gone to America? I -will not press you further as to her share in the murder, or why you -suppose her to have sought refuge there, if you will give me a frank yes -or no to my question; only be quick, I entreat you, our very moments are -numbered!" - -Patouchki, who, during Tolskoi's impassioned address, had remained -immovable, his eyes downcast, the lights and shadows on his -strongly-marked face alone revealing his interest and irresolution, -looked up as Ivor's voice dropped into silence, and again fixing his -piercing black eyes on the young man's face, he replied slowly, and with -a hesitancy that sat strangely on his usually assured manner: - -"Your words are imperious, Ivor; but it is the imperiousness of youth, -not arrogance, therefore I pass them by unrebuked. As to answering your -question with a short yes or no, that is impossible. There are too many -motives and too many interests mixed up in Count Vladimir's mission for -me to give to you, or any one, so unequivocal a rejoinder. However, -since I do believe in your honesty of purpose, Ivor, and trust your -integrity of action, I will say this much, that one of Count Mellikoff's -objects--the most important if you will have it so--was to seek and to -find the woman who calls herself Count Stevan Lallovich's wife. What -then?" - -"Then he will never find her, chief," broke in Tolskoi, "and you and the -Chancellerie are being tricked by him for your pains. Vladimir Mellikoff -may have his own game to play, and his own ends to serve, but finding -and securing Stevan Lallovich's pseudo wife will not be one of them." - -He laughed slightly as he finished, and his voice grew scornful again at -the mention of Mellikoff's name. - -"What do you mean, Ivor?" exclaimed Patouchki, now thoroughly roused. - -"What I say," returned Tolskoi, doggedly, "Vladimir Mellikoff is -deceiving all of you when he pretends to be on the track of that -wretched woman, and you, chief, are blinded by his specious words." - -"Have a care, Ivor," cried Patouchki, sternly, "the Chancellerie can -hold you accountable for those words. What proof have you of what you -affirm?" - -"The proof of my own eyes," replied Ivor, hotly, "I tell you, chief, -Mellikoff is deceiving you for reasons of his own, for I, this very -morning, since I parted with you, have stood face to face with Adèle -Lamien, who calls herself Adèle Lallovich!" - -"You, Ivor, impossible!" cried Patouchki, "you have seen her, and here -in Petersburg, in broad daylight! And where?" - -"As I stood within the door of St. Isaac's this morning," answered -Tolskoi, "the mass was just begun, and she had been kneeling--prostrated -I should say--before the statue of our Lady of Kazan. Something familiar -in the lines of her figure struck me even then, and presently as the -_miserere_ bells rang the quarter, she arose and came towards me, her -veil thrown back, the whiteness of her face and the distinctness of her -features thrown out vividly against her black apparel. She passed me -rapidly, pulling down her veil impetuously, as she fled out and down the -steps before I could put out my hand to stop her, and when I reached the -pavement she had disappeared. But I tell you, chief, as I hope to be -saved at the hour of my death, it was the face of Adèle Lallovich into -which I looked for that brief interval." - -"Impossible!" again ejaculated Patouchki. "Impossible that she should be -here, in Petersburg, and the Chancellerie remain ignorant of her -arrival. She is a marked woman to all our emissaries, how could she come -and go, without disguise even, and we remain in ignorance? No, no, my -good Ivor, your eyes mislead you this time; with all her arrogant -bravery Adèle Lamien knows better than to put her head in the lion's -jaws, or herself in the power of the Chancellerie." - -"I tell you I saw her," repeated Tolskoi, obstinately, "believe me or -not, chief, I saw her, and no other." - -"But my dear Ivor," began Patouchki, persuasively, when a groom of the -chambers entered hurriedly, and bidding them make haste, as their -Majesties were even then descending the staircase, cut short the chief's -oratory, and caused both him and Tolskoi to hasten their footsteps -towards the side door, which now stood open with footmen and lacqueys on -either side, holding the fur robes, foot-muffs and wraps of the Imperial -party. - -As Ivor and Tolskoi emerged from the side corridor, the Tsarina reached -the entrance and paused a moment for her attendants to clasp the -magnificent cloak of sables about her slight figure. Very sweet and -delicate, and somewhat sad was the face that looked out from the -clinging furs, with a touch of the same melancholy that at times rests -on her English sister's brow, and with more than a similitude of her -gentleness and sympathy. As she crossed the threshold the slightest -possible shrinking or timidity caused her to hesitate for one brief -moment, then she took her place in the Royal equipage, and her face, as -she turned it towards her husband, wore a brave courageous smile. - -Poor Tsarina! though wrapped about on every side with all luxury, yet -never to realise the happiness of confidence; never to feel secure, even -in your strictest seclusion; never to know when the cruel bullet, sent -with a fatally true aim, may end your tenure of greatness, and send you -back to your magnificent palace, a heart-broken, lonely widow! - -Behind the Empress came the Tsar, dressed, as was often his pleasure, in -the scarlet kaftan of his own guard, and by which he signified his -desire to remain incognito. Following him were Olga Naundorff and the -Emperor's equerry, who, with Patouchki and Ivor, formed the Royal -suite. - -The Tsarina in passing had acknowledged Tolskoi's presence by a gracious -recognition, which sent the young man's blood running hotly through his -veins, flushing his face and brightening his eyes. Ivor was every inch -an Imperialist, and he loved his gentle Tsarina Dagmar with a real and -chivalrous devotion; the latent sadness in her eyes and the pathos of -her smile touched the most responsive chords of his cold and selfish -nature, and awoke in him the purest sentiment of his heart. - -Olga had caught the Empress's friendly bow to Ivor, and she too relaxed -somewhat the frigid demeanour she had evinced towards him, since their -conversation regarding Count Mellikoff, and flashed upon him one of her -most lovely smiles, as he put out his arm and almost lifted her to her -place in the second sleigh. The Tsar and Tsarina drove alone in the -foremost equipage, preceded and protected on either side by the guard, -while in the second were seated Olga, the equerry, Patouchki, and Ivor. - -The gates were flung wide apart, and thus, with the horses prancing, the -bells ringing, to which the clanking swords made a monotonous echo, and -the sun shining, the Royal party crossed the gay boulevard now thronged -with people, and drew up at the grim and frowning archway of Peter's -gloomy fortress. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -ST. PETER AND ST. PAUL. - - -Petropavlovsk is in itself a giant fastness, covering, as it does, -three-quarters of a square mile, and divided into so many rambling -corridors, barracks, ravelins, bastions, curtains, and store-houses, as -to be for the most part unknown even to the officials who form its -_ménage_, and who, having certain portions of the immense structure set -apart for their duties, live out their lives without exploring, or being -permitted to explore beyond their individual domains. - -The boulevard and the canal intersect the building, and separate the -citadel proper from what is known as the "crown work," which lies to -the rear. - -Dreary indeed is the outlook for the unfortunate political suspect who -is hurried by night, blindfolded and closely guarded, into this living -tomb. To him, hastened along through unfamiliar passages and by echoing -walls, conveyed hither and thither through succeeding gates and vaulted -corridors, no possible effort of memory, or mathematical calculation, -can ever aid him to determine which one of the many courts, bastions, or -redoubts is that selected for his incarceration. - -Nor, indeed, will he ever know, for when at last the _gendarmes_ halt, -and he is allowed the use of his eyes, he finds himself in a small -court-yard completely enclosed by high walls, above which only a limited -sky line is visible. And where this court-yard is situated, to what -bastion it appertains, whether it faces the river or lies back from it, -what is its relation to the door of egress, or its connection with the -other casemates of the prison, not the wildest conjecture can -establish, or the keenest intuition demonstrate. - -The part of the fortress, however, which the Tsar had selected for his -inspection, was that known as the Trubetskoi bastion, one of the largest -and most impregnable, projecting as it does well on to the river side, -in the direction of the Bourse. The shape of this bastion resembles as -much as possible a bishop's mitre, as worn by the Western Church; it is -built, in two storeys of stone and brick, around a court-yard of its -own, which extends beyond the building proper and terminates in high -thick walls, that completely shut it out and in from all communication -save that afforded by a narrow vaulted passage, always strongly guarded. -The interior consists of two tiers of casemates, opening on to narrow -corridors, two dark punishment cells, overseers' rooms, kitchen and -soldiers' quarters. In the court-yard are a bath house and one or two -stunted shrubs. - -Nothing more gloomy and horrible can be imagined than imprisonment -within one of these casemates, of which the Trubetskoi bastion boasts -seventy-two, thirty-six on each tier. As they were originally designed -for cannon they are considerably larger than an ordinary prison cell, -but size is no mitigation of their horrors. Each casemate has a window, -but it opens upon the baffling stone walls of the narrow outer -court-yard, and is moreover set nine feet above the floor, in a deep -arched recess, and guarded by heavy iron bars. The massive wooden door -is equally disappointing, giving as it does on to the stone corridor -that lies between the cells and inner court-yard; in the centre of each -is a square aperture, which can be opened or closed at the will of the -jailer, by a swinging panel, acting like a miniature portcullis, and -which, when horizontal, serves as a shelf for the prisoner's food. - -Directly above this panel is that horrible contrivance--more loathed and -detested by the incarcerated wretch than any other of the diabolical -arrangements--the "Judas" hagioscope or Squint, and which resembles a -slit for letters more than anything else, with a nicely adjusted strip -of wood that can be noiselessly raised or lowered from the outside, and -through which the eyes of the guard can spy at any moment upon the -occupant of the cell. - -Only those who have tasted of this unending inevitable surveillance can -appreciate its horrors. To be never free, never for one moment, whether -in grief, or pain, or despair, from the espionage of unsympathetic eyes. -To throw oneself upon one's knees before the image of Our Lady, with -which each cell is supplied, to pour out all the woe and misery of one's -breaking heart in the abandonment of desolation, and then, to hear the -faint click of the revolving slide, and starting back, find the argus -eyes of one's jailer peering through the detestable "Judas;" and to know -the very words of supplication and invocation will be used against one -to condemnation. - -What wonder then that many who have entered Petropavlovsk bravely and -with a good courage, believing their imprisonment to be but an affair of -days, are never seen again, never emerge alive from its terrible -dungeons; or lose mind and reason waiting for the day of deliverance -that never comes? - -No words can paint the growing horror and despair of a prisoner thus -incarcerated. Day by day his terror expands and magnifies as hope dies -in his heart, and the inexorable hand of Russia crushes out his very -life. - -Within the casemates there are, for furniture, an iron bedstead and -table bolted into the wall, an iron oven of the commonest description, a -stationary iron wash-hand basin and a statue of the Virgin, beneath -which hangs a tin cup for catching the dripping moisture that exudes -constantly from the stone walls. - -On entering his cell for the first time, the poor victim is stripped of -his clothes and given in exchange a loose blue linen dressing-gown, grey -linen trousers and shirt, and a pair of soft noiseless list slippers. -The guard, after making a minute personal examination, in search of some -possible criminal matter, withdraws; the heavy door swings to with a -dull echo, the bolts slip into the padlock, and the prisoner is left -alone, in the midst of a stillness and silence like that of death. - -Gloomy, forbidding, sombre, the walls and vaulted ceiling rise about and -above him, the air is heavy and lifeless, the silence is profound; not -even an echoing footstep in the corridor makes a welcome noise, for the -guards creep about in felt slippers as noiseless and as muffled as his -own. And thus the purgatory of his sentence begins; and who, save -Almighty God, can say when it shall end! While hour by hour the chimes -of the fortress-cathedral ring out their triumphant notes--a mockery of -the poor soul in torment--or toll the _miserere_, that sounds a knell to -all his hopes. - -It was at the entrance to the Trubetskoi bastion that the Imperial party -alighted. Extraordinary reports as to the violence and cruelty practised -within the walls of Petropavlovsk had lately become so widely -disseminated throughout Petersburg, mingled with such threats of summary -justice to be shortly meted out to the officials by the hands of the -enraged populace, and such sinister warnings of personal vengeance, that -the press of all parties called upon the Tsar to prove himself Emperor -in his own domains, by investigating and abolishing the scandals. - -It was a time of grave anxiety; but he, listening to the counsels of -those who had in past difficulties proved their loyalty and -disinterestedness, yielded at last to their persuasions, and resolved to -adopt the extreme measure of a personal inspection of the maligned -fortress. The Empress, on hearing this decision, and who, despite her -gentle looks and quiet manner, owned the courage and high spirit of her -Danish ancestors, at once determined to accompany her husband. - -The populace should see that their Tsar and Tsarina neither feared to -trust themselves to the people, nor shrank from redressing wrong when -brought before their notice, though indeed none knew better than she how -purely perfunctory and ceremonious would be the inspection and its -results. - -The governor of Petropavlovsk and the lieutenant of the Trubetskoi -bastion received the distinguished guests, and welcomed them with -apparent relief and pleasure, throwing open the doors of the casemates -one by one, and standing back deferentially, with more of sorrow than of -anger on their official countenances; for was not theirs a sad example -of unrequited and misjudged zeal, since even they could be regarded -with suspicion and doubted in their humanity? - -Most of the casemates were found to be unoccupied, and Patouchki, who -walked beside the Emperor, never failed on each such occasion to draw -his Imperial Highness's attention to the fact. - -"I believe, sir," he said, as they entered the last of the lower range -of cells, and found it like its predecessors, empty, swept, and -garnished, "that one of the most formidable counts in the public -indictment against Petropavlovsk, is the over-crowding of its cells, and -their uncleanly condition. Your Majesty has now visited thirty-five of -these casemates, the greater number of which have been found unoccupied, -and all of them in perfect sanitary order. I think, sir, this answers -that complaint." - -The Tsar sighed, but made no reply. Perhaps he, like Patouchki, wished -to make the best of everything and see only the brightest side; but -even he could not still the premonitions of evil that arose thick and -fast in his mind, as he comprehended the immensity and power of this -Imperial prison house of Russia. - -Of the few victims found in the cells none recognised the Royal party. -They were for the most part political offenders from the interior -provinces, who had never before been in Petersburg, and to whom the face -of their new Tsar was not as yet sufficiently familiar to make -recognition possible, especially as his dress differed in no respect -from that of the officers accompanying him. Little did the poor victims -imagine, as they were hurriedly changed, early that morning, from one -part of the fortress to another, that it was to avoid any accidental -recognition on the part of those, who, being the last to enter the -prison, still retained memories of the outer world, and sentiments of -Imperial justice--believing that their Tsar, once convinced of their -innocent incarceration, would order their instant release--that this -transfer was made. Any possible outbreak was to be avoided at all -hazards, since any such _émeute_ could not but end awkwardly for the -Imperial inspectors, and disastrously for the officials. - -Had these poor wretches but suspected that the tall, soldierly man, -wearing a scarlet kaftan, without ribbon or order, and who looked gloomy -and thoughtful beneath the military helmet, was their Tsar--their little -father, the great Emperor of all the Russias--how they would have fallen -at his feet, praying his interference; protesting their loyalty, and -maintaining their innocence! Or had the faintest doubt crossed their -minds, that the slight upright woman, clad in those closely-clinging, -sombre robes, whose eyes looked so pitifully forth, and whose face was -so wan and pale, might perchance be their Tsarina, what tears and sobs, -what pleadings and supplications would have rent the air, as they kissed -her hands, or grasped wildly at her garments! - -But fate was against them; their opportunity came to them unsought, and -they passed it by unknowing. How should they know, poor souls, to whom -even a word of ordinary greeting from their jailers was denied, and to -whom no echo of news ever penetrated, how should they know, that at the -very moment, as they were praying passionately for some means of -communication with their Emperor, he himself stood before them, and that -had they but put out their hands they could have touched him? - -It was the cruel irony of fate; the bitter obligation of destiny. - -As the guards threw open the massive casemate doors in silence, most of -the inmates did not so much as raise their heads or change their -attitudes. Why should they? It was only another of those many -interruptions in their day's vacuity, in which the jailer played the -part of inspector with maddening sameness. What call had they to look -more often on his hated face than was needful? - -Scarce a word passed between the Tsar and Tsarina, or their suite; the -pall of absolute silence which enfolds great Petropavlovsk in the dark -mantle of submission, had descended also upon them, and so held them -captive as to kill any outward expression of inward emotion. Sometimes -it was the "Judas" only that was lifted, and then the Tsarina would turn -away her eyes and refuse to look, standing apart with anxiety and -sadness written on her pale face; and when this happened, Olga would -separate herself from Ivor, and waiting silently by her Royal mistress, -watch her every motion with the sympathy of comprehension. - -And so the weary task dragged on its heavy chain; there remained but one -more cell, and then this horrible nightmare of duty, this travesty of -inspection, would be over, and they might hurry away from out this gloom -and depression, and seek once more the brilliant sunshine, the -gaily-thronged streets, where at least the grim spectres of despair and -desperation, if they stalked among the careless mummers, were -out-balanced by the laughter and jesting of the merry-makers. - -At length they reached the last casemate of all, and as the door was -unbolted and thrown open, the Emperor and Patouchki stepped across the -threshold. Seated on the iron pallet, his arms thrown out across the -table, was an old man, whose head was white with the snows of many -winters. He neither moved nor spoke as those without came towards him; -his hands were waxen in colour, nerveless, and attenuated; the blue -dressing-gown hung loosely upon his emaciated form; his face was hidden -on his arm. Something in the intense stillness and rigidity of the -attitude, in the absolute rest that had fallen upon him, startled the -beholders with a vague sense of fear. - -At a word from the Tsar, Patouchki crossed the cell and laid his hand -upon the bowed shoulders. A shudder passed over the form, followed by a -long and weary sigh, and then the head was lifted, and two feverish, -bright eyes gazed out of the hollow sockets. For a moment he looked at -them bewildered, and then, with a sudden, thrilling cry, he flung -himself forward and fell at the feet of the Tsar, exclaiming in broken, -feeble tones: - -"Blessed be God in Sion; He has heard my prayer! Blessed be our Lady of -Kazan! It is the face of my Tsarawich I see once more; it is the face of -my little father--my Tsar! Oh, my Emperor, I am Alexis--Alexis of -Battenkoff. I am an old man of over four-score, who, for fifty long -years, served your father--my Tsar Alexander--and who, after all that -time of faithful love and devotion, have been left to rot in this -terrible pest-house for two long weary years. Pardon me, little father, -pardon me! I have done no wrong, believe me. I have never plotted -against my sovereigns; I have loved them always, and served them to the -extent of my poor abilities. I had no hand in that bloody murder; I was -innocent of all participation in it. I would have given my life's blood -to save my Emperor. Why should I seek his death! Pardon me, my little -father, as your sire, whose soul sees me now, would have pardoned me!" - -As the last words passed from his lips the old man sank back, his hands -twitched convulsively, and he fell on the floor in a swoon. So sudden -had been his movement forward and so rapid his utterance, neither the -officials nor Patouchki had time to interpose, but the latter now -stepped quickly forward, as the Tsar, with a gesture, motioned to him to -approach, and after giving him some directions, speaking earnestly and -decisively, turned abruptly and left the cell. Neither the Tsarina nor -Olga Naundorff had entered this casemate, the Empress's tender heart had -therefore been spared the harrowing scene. - -As the Imperial party drove away from the terrible fortress, and the -brilliant sunshine caught at the glittering harness and bright -trappings of the guard, a cry arose on the boulevard: "It is the Tsar, -and our Tsarina! Long live the little father! Long live the Tsar!" But -neither God's sunshine, nor the loyal shouts of his people could bring -back the colour to the Emperor's face, or banish the look of care and -anxiety that rested so heavily upon it. - -The next morning an Imperial pardon was sent to Petropavlovsk for Alexis -Battenkoff, but it came too late. The weary spirit and sorely wounded -heart were at rest in eternity; the old man's soul had passed beyond all -earthly pardon, into the Almighty hands of justice and recompense. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -SUSPICIONS. - - -For many days the Petersburg Imperial press rang the changes unceasingly -on this last benignant and forgiving act of the Tsar's. - -It called upon all malcontents and revolutionists to say, if in this -pardon were not displayed the utmost leniency and mercy. For was it not -well known that Alexis Battenkoff was taken almost red-handed at the -assassination of the late Tsar? And, indeed, who but one familiar, -through long habit and confidence, with the movements of the Emperor, -could have supplied the knowledge which assured the grim success of the -dastardly attack? Was not Alexis always to be found, under suspicious -circumstances, consorting with the most pronounced of the Nihilist -faction; and could he be there save for one purpose only? Could one -touch pitch and not be defiled? - -Where then, in modern history, could another such act of condonation be -pointed out, as this by which the Tsar had pardoned a participator in -his father's murder? Was not that answer sufficient to all the -treacherous suggestions, the menacing innuendoes, that had been ripe and -bursting for so long in Petersburg? Perhaps now the organs of the -opposition would cease their importunate blating, since the Tsar's -inspection of Petropavlovsk had resulted in such a redress of imaginary -wrongs, as not even their wildest dreams could have supposed possible. -And was not the hand of Almighty justice made plainly visible, in that -Alexis of Battenkoff was not permitted to taste again of liberty, but -was stricken by death before the news of the Tsar's generosity could -reach him? Let those who would, read well the lesson thus openly -delivered to them. - -Paul Patouchki read the enthusiastic laudations and pious thanksgivings -in the silence of his apartments in the Chancellerie, and, as he did so, -a slow, inscrutable smile crept over his face and lingered there. - -It was not often that the chief recognised any direct interposition of -Divine Providence in the political turmoils of Russia; indeed, in his -own heart, he scoffed at all such superstitions, and acknowledged -frankly that the Imperial Government neither desired, nor would -appreciate, any such interference with its autocratic despotism. - -But certainly, for once, he saw in the Battenkoff incident and death a -most opportune intervention, whether Divine or otherwise, since by it -the hands of the Imperial party could be strengthened, and for a time, -at least, their policy be freed from too suspicious and too true -aspersions. To his mind, like the last of the Stuart Pretenders, -nothing in life so well became poor Alexis of Battenkoff as his leaving -it, how and when he did. It was the one touch needful to stamp the -Imperial inspection of Petropavlovsk with triumphant success, and to -prove a satisfying sop even to so hydra-mouthed a Cerberus as the -disaffected party; and therefore he was thankful, though none knew -better than he that no actual improvement had been effected, no evils -redressed, no reforms instituted in the governmental department of -Petropavlovsk. The giant fortress closed its jaws just as tyrannically -upon its victims, and abated not one jot or tittle of its iron-handed -authority. - -Patouchki, however, had too many anxieties pressing upon him to spend -over much time in complaisant reading of political trumpet notes; he -laid aside the _Petersburg Messenger_ and turned toward his desk, on -which lay a heavy correspondence not yet disposed of. As he sat down in -his familiar place, the grim smile faded from his lips, to be replaced -by a dark frown that knit together the black eyebrows, and accentuated -the strong lines about the eyes and mouth. In truth, the chief was more -concerned than he liked to admit, even to himself, at Ivor Tolskoi's -news; and though at the time he endeavoured to treat it with cavalier -disbelief, he nevertheless had an inner consciousness, of its truth, and -a presentiment of complications to follow in consequence. - -That Adèle Lamien should be in Petersburg, and the Chancellerie have -neither warning of her intentions, nor knowledge of her presence, -seemed, as he had said to Tolskoi, impossible; and yet, even as the word -fell from his lips, he knew himself to be wrong, and Ivor to be right. -The great spy system had failed for once, imperceptibly almost, and so -far without damaging results, but it had, nevertheless, proved itself -vulnerable, and had found its match in the quick wits and ready -ingenuity of a woman. Even all the elaborate machinery of the -Chancellerie had not been sufficient, when pitted against the devices of -one weak, fugitive woman. - -Yes, that was where the shoe pinched; to be duped by the very criminal -they were pursuing, and to hear her laugh in their ears, as she slipped -out of their fingers! And then, what a bad precedent was even this -slight dereliction on the part of the Chancellerie; and how could the -discipline of fear be kept up in the minds of the younger members of the -great body, if such a defection became known? And the woman, Adèle -Lamien, was brazen enough and clever enough, smarting as she was under -her own wrongs, to circulate their blindness and failure, just where it -would most redound to their discredit. - -"It is impossible!" again muttered Patouchki, as his fingers rested idly -on his desk, and his eyes wandered over the familiar trifles of his -daily avocations. "It is impossible; and yet I know it is true. Some -one of our emissaries has been asleep at his post, some one has connived -at this woman's plotting, or been blind to her schemes, and deaf to her -plans; some one, as at Balaklava, has blundered, and it remains for me -to find the culprit, and to administer chastisement. A winter in -Siberia, or in the Nartchinsk mines, will teach that some one the price -of treachery, and the weight of the Chancellerie's wrath. Meantime the -woman must be found and watched; the time is not ripe yet for her -arrest, I must wait Vladimir Mellikoff's next report first; and by -heaven, should he prove false, as Tolskoi would insinuate, he shall work -out his retribution, side by side with the wretched victim of Count -Stevan's licentiousness. But first of all, the woman must be found." - -He drew a deep sigh, and with almost an expression of weariness took up -one of the many despatches before him, and broke the seal. - -Meantime, Ivor Tolskoi had prospered but slowly in his suit. Despite all -his anticipations of numerous opportunities occurring during the -inspection of the fortress, in which he should be able to command Olga's -attention, and by deftly-turned compliment, or ingenious flattery, urge -his pretensions, even as with subtle innuendo and covert sneer he -touched upon Count Mellikoff's absence, and the character of his -mission. - -But Olga was more than indifferent, she was impatient with him; the -influence of the time and place oppressed her peculiarly impressionable -nature, as the sight of the pale sorrow on her Tsarina's face set -vibrating the chords of her quick and passionate sympathy. She accorded -Ivor but a half-hearted attention, scarcely hearing his soft pleadings, -and while retaining unconsciously a memory of his insinuations against -Vladimir, it was not until the Royal _cortège_ turned down the gay -boulevard that a full realisation of his meaning came to her. She -turned then sharply to him, as he sat beside her, and, with her -favourite imperious upward movement of her head, said abruptly, though -in a low voice, inaudible to the other occupants of the sleigh: - -"What is it, Ivor, you have been hinting to me all this morning, -concerning my cousin Mellikoff? If you have news of him, why not give it -me without so much useless circumambulation? I do not like mysteries." - -"Mdlle. Naundorff has surely mistaken my meaning," answered Tolskoi, -coolly, looking straight at her, and smiling a little. "I had no -intention of insinuating anything detrimental of Count Vladimir; my -remarks were but general, though to be sure any one is welcome to wear -the cap, if it fits him." - -"_Les absents ont toujours tort_," replied Olga, still impatient; "my -cousin Mellikoff but shares the fate of all who have achieved even a -limited greatness; jealousy and envy go hand in hand with those who, not -so fortunate, only stand and look on." - -Her words were sharp, and her manner pointed. Ivor knew both were -intended to sting, and though he could not control the sudden wave of -hot blood that dyed his face crimson, he could control his temper and -his voice; he answered her, therefore, with another cold little laugh, -as he said: - -"Surely it is grace enough to be so defended by Mdlle. Naundorff? Even -Count Vladimir could scarcely ask a greater favour, accustomed as he is -to all devotion--where women are concerned." - -"What do you mean?" exclaimed Olga, imperiously. "I insist, Ivor, on -your explaining your very equivocal suggestions." - -Tolskoi shrugged his shoulders, and replied under apparent protest: - -"It is, I think, well known how successful Count Mellikoff has always -been in any _affaire du coeur_, though such details are better suited -for men's ears than for yours, mademoiselle. It can, however, be no -detriment to him, even in your estimation, to acknowledge that his past -is not written upon an absolutely white page, since you are the only one -who has definitely subdued him, and bid fair to turn the brave Lothario -into a Benedict. I have yet to meet the woman to whom the reputation of -a certain kind of success in a man proves anything but a -recommendation." - -As Ivor finished, a silence of several moments fell between them. Olga -turned her fair face from him and looked out, with unseeing eyes, upon -the gay, moving pageant about her. Tolskoi watched her intently but -furtively, and saw with inward satisfaction that his barb had gone home -and was rankling, and would rankle for days to come, in her heart. - -Well he knew Olga Naundorff's character, with its complex mingling of -cruelty and softness; its nicely balanced elements of revenge and -generosity; its preponderance of pride, its insatiable demand of -absolute submission to her will, and its imperious arrogation of -supremacy, not only over the present and future of her suitors, but over -their past as well. Like her great ancestress, the Empress Catherine, -her favours were tyrannies; and woe unto the luckless recipient of them -should she find him faithless in the smallest degree! Even his past must -be forgotten and forsworn; his existence could only begin with the -bestowal of her first smile. - -Without knowing it, a true and absolute belief in her cousin Vladimir -Mellikoff's integrity had gradually grown up within her; she had come to -regard him as the one faithfully sincere lover out of all her admirers, -whose very sternness and power of repression spoke more eloquently to -her than all the more emotional pleadings of her other suitors. She had -believed herself to be the first and only woman on whom he had expended -even the smallest measure of love; and to be the object of so unique and -chivalrous a devotion, had not been the least among her reasons for -yielding to his solicitations. - -Ivor's insinuations, therefore, coming as they did, disturbed her more -than she cared to realise, and awoke at once that latent suspicion and -distrust that forms so pronounced a factor in the Russian character, and -caused her to accept his words as positive and final evidence of -Vladimir's perfidy and deceit. She never stopped to weigh his actions -against Ivor's words; hers was not a nature of sufficiently generous -tendencies to turn instinctively from ignominious slander; rather it -leapt to conclusions, and from its own attributes pronounced its -condemnatory sentence. - -In her eyes Vladimir Mellikoff had been tried and sentenced, with Ivor -Tolskoi as judge and jury. She could never trust him again, and she -would endeavour by every means in her power to unravel his past; holding -the threads of it in her slender hand until the hour should come when -she could wound deepest, and play with most sinister effect the part of -Atropos. What though she stabbed her own heart as well with the sharp -scissors of fate? She must bear that, and hers would be the satisfaction -of beholding her victim's misery first. - -Meantime the Imperial procession flew swiftly along the boulevard, -saluted on every side by the shouts of the populace, and the cries of -the people: "Long live the Tsar! Long live our little father! Long live -the Tsarina!" And the bells rang, and the sun shone, and all was gaiety, -and mirth, and mocking optimism. - -The crimson blush that had dyed Olga's cheeks so deeply, as the meaning -of Ivor's last words became clear to her, had faded and left them -colourless when she again turned to him, and her voice had an additional -ring of hardness when she next spoke. - -"My dear Ivor, we have, I think, always been sufficiently good friends -for us not to doubt each other's sincerity of motive, even when we feel -forced to speak upon subjects whose very nature precludes any -possibility of agreeableness. I do not forget my very singular position -in the world; alone as I am, though apparently protected by Imperial -power, I owe obedience to no one in matters that concern myself alone. -And it is because of this peculiar position that I am about to appeal to -your friendship, or whatever sentiment does duty for that obsolete -emotion, and beg you to be quite frank with me, and tell me all you can -of Count Vladimir Mellikoff's past. Since, as rumour asserts, I am to -become his wife, it certainly befits me to inform myself of his -antecedents, in order that I may be a true and sustaining helpmate to -him. Tell me, then, my dear Ivor, all you know, or all you will reveal -concerning my cousin." - -There was something so finely bitter and yet so commanding in her voice, -and she had subdued her countenance to such an expression of simple -friendliness, Tolskoi looked at her with genuine admiration during the -half-moment that elapsed before he answered her. When he did reply, it -was scarcely in the way she anticipated. - -"Mdlle. Naundorff," he said, his cold, hard blue eyes studying her face -intently, "you may remember that some weeks ago, when we spoke on this -subject one evening at the Palace, you asked me a question, to which I -gave you no answer. You asked me then what was my opinion as to the -share of a certain woman--known as Count Stevan Lallovich's cast-off -wife--in the murder of that same Count Stevan? I told you then I had no -opinion upon the matter, and from that the conversation wandered to more -personal matters. Mademoiselle, what I said then was not true. I had, -and have, a very strong opinion as to the culprit, or culprits; but we -will let that rest for the time being. Shall I continue? Are you -interested sufficiently in this wretched woman's story to wish to hear -more?" - -She replied by a quick and decisive gesture of her hand, and an almost -inaudible, "Yes." - -Ivor smiled again, and drew the fur robe more closely about her, -glancing keenly across towards Patouchki, who, however, was absorbed in -conversation with the equerry and paid no attention to his companions; -seeing which, Tolskoi continued: - -"Mademoiselle, that woman is now in Petersburg, and I have seen her. -This is probably not such a matter of surprise to you as it is to--some -other people; but when I tell you that Count Mellikoff's hurried journey -to America was undertaken ostensibly to track, to find, and to arrest -that woman, and that his continuing there is for the same reason, you -will understand why my meeting with her here is pregnant with such grave -complications." - -Olga was gazing at him earnestly, following his every word and gesture -with her eyes; the violet iris had grown black and enlarged from -suppressed excitement. - -"I will not go into the details, mademoiselle," Ivor went on, "of that -unfortunate woman's wrongs, or the succession of cruel circumstances -that led up to the murder of Count Stevan. Doubtless, she had a share -and part in that murder; but hers was not the only brain that conceived -the crime, or the only hand that struck the blow. There was a stronger -and more important power behind; one who knew the terrible risk that was -run in slaying a member of the Imperial blood, no matter how slight the -consanguinity, and who had private ends to serve in seeing Count Stevan -removed for ever from Imperial favour; one who, though hesitating to -become a murderer in deed, did not hesitate to use this half frenzied -woman as his accomplice and tool. Hers, indeed, should be the hand to -hold the knife and strike the blow, but guided by a far more powerful -coadjutor." - -Ivor stopped again, and again Olga motioned to him to continue, by the -same quick movement of her hand. - -"There was but one man in Petersburg, mademoiselle, who could boast of -any apparent intimacy with Count Stevan Lallovich, and who, if any one -at any time, might have been his confidant. That man was Vladimir -Mellikoff." - -Again he stopped, and Olga, without taking her eyes from his face, felt, -as she gazed on its youthful freshness, a great and terrible wave of -doubt and uncertainty rush up and over her, wrapping her round and -round, and sweeping away all lesser sensations in this awful one of -impending calamity; but such calamity as should break not only upon her, -but on one whom she dared not name, and out of which she could see no -lift of light or hope. Tolskoi's words had been too well chosen not to -carry with them the significance he intended, and she felt their full -force even as she realised their full meaning. She drew her tongue -across her lips, and tried to smile in answer to the cold light in -Ivor's blue eyes, but the effort was feeble and abortive. - -"Have you any more to tell me?" she asked at last, in a voice that was -almost a whisper; "if so, continue, I beg. I find the story very -interesting, and--instructive." - -Ivor replied by one of his coldest little laughs, and then resumed his -narrative. - -"You, mademoiselle, were not in Petersburg when the murder was -committed, the Court being then at Gatschina, consequently you could not -know how great was the excitement here, or how freely Count Mellikoff -mingled his regrets and desires for summary justice to be meted out to -the criminal, with the public expressions heard on every side. No one -had known Count Stevan better than he; and no one had a better right to -mourn his untimely fate. Unfortunately, Count Vladimir had not been in -Petersburg during the night of the murder, nor indeed for a day or two -before; consequently, he could throw no light upon Stevan Lallovich's -movements at that time, and his regrets could only take the more passive -form of words. You will see therefore, mademoiselle, why, when the -Government discovered that Count Stevan's repudiated wife had fled the -country--aided and abetted by some powerful political friends--and was -heard of in America, it took prompt and decisive measures for her -capture. And who could have been better chosen for this work than Count -Mellikoff, since he had been Stevan Lallovich's best friend? I must -remind you here, mademoiselle, that my confidences must be held secret -between you and me; I am, as it is, overstepping my boundaries in -speaking thus frankly of the Government's share in this business; but I -do so deliberately, and am willing to bear the consequences." - -"I shall be silent," replied Olga, simply, and Tolskoi continued: - -"You know, mademoiselle, how and when Count Mellikoff started on this -mission, though at the time of his departure you little suspected it -was in the interests of a woman that he undertook so long a journey. You -knew only that there was work to be done on behalf of the Government, -and that he had been selected for that work. It is now two months since -he left Russia; granting him all necessary time for easy travelling and -stoppages, he must have reached the United States close on to a month -ago, which would leave him this last month to lay his train, if not to -find the woman. I have said, mademoiselle, that this woman calling -herself Adèle Lallovich, was assisted through Russia, and over the -frontier, by the influence of some strong political agent, one whose -word and whose name carried the weight of coercion. Very well, this -happened early in December; in January Count Vladimir leaves Petersburg, -and reaches America early in February. A month goes by, and within the -first week of March I meet Adèle Lallovich face to face here. Ah, I see -you have followed my reasoning. The same powerful influence that got her -out of Russia, when danger menaced her here, has now sent her back to -Petersburg, where she is for the time being more secure from arrest than -in the States. And the brain and the hand that have twice protected and -saved her--a fugitive from justice--are the same brain and hand that -planned and executed Count Stevan's murder, and that used _her_ as their -instrument. I think, mademoiselle, that Count Mellikoff will somewhat -disappoint the expectations and shake the confidence of his Government, -when he returns without any definite intelligence or any important -information regarding the movements and condition of Adèle Lallovich." - -Olga heard him throughout without word or sign, though not one detail of -the terrible suspicion he so boldly advanced was lost upon her. Slowly -but surely she followed his every gesture, his every sentence, never -taking her eyes that had grown so strangely dark from his face. Every -vestige of colour ebbed from her cheeks and lips, leaving her face white -as alabaster beneath the dark furs of her close cap; a waving ripple of -golden-lighted hair seemed the only sentient thing about her. She spoke -at last, and her voice had a faint far-away echo in its whisper. - -"What you would suggest, Ivor, is horrible, unnatural. What could be the -motive for such a crime, and such a shielding of the criminal? If, as -you say, it were possible for one brain to plot and plan it all, and -another to fulfil it, still where would be the object, what would be the -motive? I know whom it is you suspect, but his motive, Ivor, his -motive?" - -She bent forward eagerly, clasping her hands and looking into the very -depths of his eyes. Ivor Tolskoi saw his advantage, and pressed it home. -His opportunity had come, he was not one to lose it for lack of courage -to deal one more swift sure blow. Meeting Olga's strained violet eyes -with his, in which the steel-blue light flamed out, he said slowly and -with distinct emphasis: - -"Adèle Lamien, or Lallovich, is a rarely beautiful woman, Olga, and -beauty such as hers is a dangerous attribute. Count Mellikoff is a -worshipper of woman's loveliness, and the story goes that when Adèle -Lamien became the wife of Stevan Lallovich, she cast off a former lover -whose chains had begun to gall. Who that lover was, Olga, I leave to -your imagination. But when Stevan Lallovich repudiated and threw aside -the woman, and an Imperial ukase released him from his obligations, is -it unlikely that she sought her former friend and protector, or that he, -maddened by her beauty and her wrongs, determined to avenge them? - -"That is the story, mademoiselle, and you now know why I swore to you -that sooner than see you Vladimir Mellikoff's wife I would kill him with -my own hand." - -But Olga made no reply. Silent, impassive, stricken through and through, -she sat with blanched face and tightly clasped hands; and the sun shone, -and the bells rang, and the populace shouted: "Long live the Tsar! Long -live our little father!" but she neither saw nor heard any of it. All -her heart and soul were in revolt and turmoil; all she had trusted to -had gone down before her eyes, she was shipwrecked upon an ocean of -deception and despair. - -Presently the shouts and cries grew fainter, and the horses slackened -speed as they turned into the Palace gates and were drawn up sharply at -the side entrance, out of which she had passed so long ago--was it -months or years, or alas! only hours? Should she ever again know what it -was to feel light-hearted and joyous? Would this terrible burden of -knowledge ever be lifted from her heart? - -Ivor Tolskoi sprang down even as the threshold was reached and put out -his arm to help her; she barely touched it with her gloved hand, and -passed by him with but one burning look from her haunted eyes. For days -after, the light pressure of her fingers rested there like iron, and the -misery of her glance accompanied him as that of a lost spirit. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -MIMI'S BIRTHDAY POSY. - - -George Newbold's birthday fell within the first week of May, and -certainly no more ideal spring morning could have dawned than that which -Esther had set apart to be especially celebrated in honour of her -spouse. - -Mr. Newbold should, indeed, for the fitness of things, have been a young -and blooming maiden--rather than a man verging towards middle age, and -more or less disillusionised--to correspond with the rare loveliness and -freshness of creation, that sprang afresh to life as Aurora, with -blushing finger-tips, drew back the curtains of the night, and ushered -in the roseate dawn. Even as the surroundings belonged more to that -"garden of fair delights," consecrated by the Egyptians to Daphne, into -which naught but harmony and sensuous peace and pleasure was allowed to -enter, rather than to - - "This live, throbbing age, - That brawls, cheats, maddens, calculates, aspires, - And spends more passion, more heroic heat, - Between the mirrors of its drawing-rooms - Than Roland with his knights at Roncevalles." - -But Nature is ever prodigal and unreasoning; she stops not to consider -on whom to spend her largesse, she has no calculation in her giving, and -she seeks no return, since, with her keen perceptiveness, she knows we -mortals possess nothing of our own, no gift of jewel or of price, of -intellect or of beauty, that can compare with the least of those -benefits she pours with such lavish hand upon us. - -Does not all creation join with the angelic choirs to hymn her praises? -What song of mortal measure, sung by mortal tongue, can equal in -strength and melody that heavenly canticle? Nay, let us stand rather -with bowed head and reverent mien, lifting our hearts in silent ecstasy, -thankful if we may so much as catch a distant echo of those "divine -praises," borne to us maybe on the wings of the far west wind; or a -reflection of the golden glory of that paradise, ensnared in the -luminous fragility of a sunset cloud. - -It is all we can hope for on this lower earth, and who of us dare count -on ever realising the terrible sublimity, the awful purity, of "the -beatific vision"? - -It was very early in the morning when little Marianne came running down -the broad terrace steps, and stood alone amidst the varied riches of -Esther's flower garden. Her sunny hair was all unbound, and lay upon her -shoulders and about her forehead, still damp from the morning's bath, -glistening like threads of gold washed in a wavelet of sunshine. Her -white frock glanced in and out against the tender background of early -green foliage, as she ran from flower to flower, plucking here a -blossom, and there a bud, studying each attentively before adding them -to the bouquet in her hand, with the gravity of childhood, which invests -every action with a separate importance. - -And as she flew about rejoicing, as only children and animals can -rejoice, in the mere pleasure of being, she sang from time to time the -rhyming measure of a nursery song, which fell unheeded from her lips, -and that had no sense or meaning, but sprang as spontaneously from her -heart as did the song of the little brown thrush, who was pouring out -his weight of thanksgiving, with such overwhelming rapture as to shake -his very soul, and cause the quivering cat-kin on which he perched to -bend and sway beneath its vibrations. - -The windows of the Folly were still closed and curtained. Its inmates -were as yet scarce turning on their couches of down, or realising that -another day had begun for them, another day opened out full of sublime -opportunities for good or evil. With the passing of another hour they -would perforce be roused from their dreams by the inevitable early cup -of tea, without which species of dram-drinking no woman of fashion can -support the fatigues of her toilette, or the embarrassments of the -morning post. But that is sixty minutes off yet--sixty long -minutes--three thousand, six hundred seconds--and in the meantime, -before the inevitable overtakes us, let us follow the preacher's advice -and make the most of it. "Yet a little more sleep, and a little more -slumber, a little more folding of the hands to sleep." - -Time enough to take up the burden of living when that burden is -ruthlessly thrust upon us, and we bow our shoulders with accustomed -habit to receive its weight. - -But little Marianne entertained no such pessimistic views; to her the -joy of life was simply in the act of living, and its triumph in escaping -from the tyranny of Sarah, and being absolutely free to tear her frock -or rumple her golden hair without the visible personality of that -Nemesis. Presently Trim, her beloved Skye terrier, came leaping out to -her as fast as his very short legs and corpulent body would allow him to -travel; and then began a series of romps in which it was difficult to -say which took the most satisfaction--the dog or the child. Trim, -however, was the first to give up and retire on his laurels, selecting a -particularly green spot of turf beneath a lilac-tree in full bloom, and -after solemnly turning round and round in an unsuccessful race with his -own tail, settled himself comfortably thereon, and with the tip of his -red tongue showing between his teeth, watched the child with a benign -and patronising expression. Marianne, thus deserted, returned to her -flower-gathering, apostrophising Trim as she did so. - -"You are a lazy dog, Trim. I'm 'shamed of you! It's perfectly redic'lous -your pretending to be tired; you can't be; it's only putting on shapes, -just as Miss Dick says, and shapes isn't very nice manners in such a wee -little doggie as you!" - -Trim snapped at an intruding fly, and yawned for answer, then settled -his nose on his paws and went to sleep, and Marianne, thus left -companionless, grew a little weary of solitude. - -"I guess I've got enough flowers now for Popsey's buffday," she said, -regarding critically the glowing mass of blossoms held very tightly in -her hot little hand. "I guess I'll go in and put 'em on his -dressing-table, and cry 'boo' very loud in his ear. Then he'll have to -get up!" - -And fired with this most laudable device, Mimi trotted away very fast, -without so much as a backward look at the recreant Trim. Little recked -George Newbold of the awful fate in store for him at the hands, or -rather in the shrill voice of his small daughter! But surely, could he -have foreseen her advent in the character of a red Indian, he would -have devoutly thanked chance for his timely delivery. - -As Marianne tripped along, a dark shadow fell suddenly across her path -and stopped her further advance. Pushing back the fringe of golden hair, -that fell almost into her sapphire blue eyes, the child halted and -looked up a little bewildered. - -It was Vladimir Mellikoff who stood before her, looking very tall and -dark against the brilliant green of the sun-swept lawn behind him. The -child gazed up at him gravely and without speaking. This was not a -familiar figure in her little world; she would have greeted Jack Howard, -or Freddy Wylde, or even old Sir Piers Tracey with her accustomed quaint -mingling of condescension and intimacy; but this tall, dark stranger, -with his sombre face and deep black eyes, was unknown to her, and -because unknown was not to be put on the same footing with her old -companions. - -However, Esther Newbold's small daughter was sufficiently a little -worldling in training to recognise in this stranger one of "papa's men," -as she called them, classifying all unknown masculine visitors under one -head; she did not, therefore, run away, but stood quietly silent, her -eyes raised frankly to his, and the sunlight turning to living gold each -tendril of her fair hair. - -Vladimir Mellikoff could be very gentle and winning to children; they -touched that inner chord of tenderness that vibrated so passionately to -Olga Naundorff's lightest word, and something in the fair child's face, -with its deep blue eyes, recalled to him that other proud Russian face, -with the violet eyes and scornful, curved lips. He bent down and spoke -to Mimi in his softest voice. - -"You are little Marianne, are you not?" he said. - -"I am Marianne Newbold," replied the child, with grave directness. - -"I wonder if you could say my name," continued Mellikoff, persuasively. -"It is not so pretty as yours, but then I am a man, you see." - -"Men's is never so pitty," remarked the child, didactically. "What is -your name?" - -"Vladimir," replied Count Mellikoff, gravely, and repeating each -syllable distinctly: "Vla--di--mir. Do you think you can say it? Try." - -But Marianne shook her golden mane in positive negation. - -"I couldn't," she said, "not possibly. But I'll call you Mr. Val, if you -like; it's pittier than your real name." - -"Very well, then, Mr. Val it shall be," answered the Count, smiling -broadly at the very English sobriquet bestowed upon him. "Who have you -been gathering all those flowers for?" - -"They's for my Popsey; it's his buffday. Do you know how old he is, Mr. -Val? I guess he must be most a hundred." - -To which Mr. Val replied with a laugh; but Marianne was no whit -abashed. - -"I think so," she went on, seating herself on a low garden bench that -stood under a spreading ash-tree, and beginning to sort out the flowers -as they lay upon her lap. "I think so, 'cause he's got so many grey -hairs, more than I can count. When I was a _little_ girl"--with great -disdain--"I used to pull 'em out, till Sarah said ten new ones came to -each old one's funeral. Then I asked Lammy the other day if she thought -Popsey was nearly a hundred; but she only laughed. Does you know Lammy, -Mr. Val?" she queried, abruptly. - -"Oh, but that isn't a real name, you know," protested Vladimir, -diplomatically; "that might be any creature's name--a dog's, or a -cat's." - -"Oh, no, it couldn't," cried the child, eagerly, "'cause it's a -person's--a grown up's, you see. It isn't her very own, own name; but -that's too long, so I just calls her Lammy." - -"And what is her very own own name?" asked Mellikoff, idly, taking up a -large white marguerite from Mimi's store, and carelessly stripping off -its petals, his mind unconsciously repeating the old formula, "she loves -me--she loves me not." The child's voice fell with startling -distinctness across the morning stillness, and shattered Vladimir's -sentiment with a straight, keen blow. - -"Her very own name," said Marianne, slowly, and taking great pains with -her syllables, "is Mademoiselle Lamien--Mademoiselle Adèle Lamien." - -The stripped daisy-head fell from Count Mellikoff's fingers, and lay at -his feet amidst its snow-flake petals unheeded. He started violently at -this positive answer to his negligent question, and the blood rushed for -one moment to his face. He, who was never known to show emotion even -when confronting death, trembled now before the unconscious words of a -little child. His dark eyes seemed to grow larger in their hollow -settings, the fine veins about his temples throbbed visibly. - -Mimi, however, was ignorant of the agitation she had awakened; her -golden head was bent over her flowers, while with one little foot she -kept off the repentant Trim, who, having awakened from his slumbers, was -endeavouring with slavish abjection to reinstate himself in his little -mistress's favour. - -When Count Mellikoff next spoke, any one save a child would have noticed -the forced lightness of his voice; as it was, even Mimi looked up -surprised by the change in it. - -"And is it, then, Mademoiselle Lamien--Adèle Lamien--that you call by -the _petit-nom_ of Lammy?" he asked. - -"Yes," replied the child, a little startled and impressed by his manner. -"Mumsey calls her Mam'zelle Lamien; but I don't--not always--I call her -Lammy. Is you sorry? Why does your eyes look so black?" - -"Do they look black, Marianne?" Mellikoff asked, stupidly; then -recovering himself with a laugh, and returning to his old manner: "No, -I am not sorry. Why should I be? I've never seen your Mademoiselle -Lamien." - -"She's gone away," answered the child, quickly. "She had to; she said -she must, 'cause she and Miss Hildreth couldn't possibly be here -together.' But when I asked Mumsey about it, she only said: 'Nonsense, -and don't bother.'" - -"And has she been a long time with you?" asked Vladimir, putting the -question indifferently. - -Mimi shook all her golden curls. "Not _very_ long; she came on Sarah's -buffday, and that isn't very long ago." - -"But _how_ long?" queried Mellikoff. "A month, a year, a week? Try and -think, Mimi; was it one Sunday ago, or two, or three? You know when -Sunday comes, don't you?" - -"Yes," replied the child, "it's the day after Saturday, and I always -have my best pudding for dinner. What's your best pudding, Mr. Val?" - -But Mr. Val was spared answering this embarrassing question by the -advent of Sarah, who bore down upon them, her cap-strings flying, and -whisked Marianne off, in a whirlwind of yellow hair and white -petticoats, before he could even protest. She waved one little hand to -him as she tripped away, holding on to her flowers with the other, and -Trim barking at her heels; then the terrace door closed upon them, and -Vladimir was left alone. - -Mechanically he stooped and picked up one of the stray blossoms that had -fallen from Mimi's lap; he turned it idly in his fingers, looking at it -with unseeing eyes, while his busy brain went on thinking, planning, -scheming. - -Was he wrong after all? Had she escaped him; nay, had she ever been here -at all? Why had she gone away? When would she come back? How could he -piece out his welcome a little longer at the Folly? Was he altogether -wrong in his suspicions? Had the woman tricked him again; fighting him -with his own weapons, had she out-matched him and escaped? - -And thus, as he stood lost in his self-questionings--a sombre, dark -figure in the glowing beauty and sunlight of the fair May morning, -twisting the drooping flower round and round in his fingers, and the -song of the birds echoing ceaselessly in his ears--a sudden light broke -over the gloom of his countenance, a half-formed exclamation rose to his -lips; he dropped the flower suddenly, and took a step forward. - -"No, I am not wrong," he said, in answer to himself. "Let Adèle Lamien -beware, or I may turn her own arms against her." Then he turned abruptly -and walked towards the house; and only the sunshine, and the birds, and -Mimi's faded blossoms remained. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -"'TIS A SIREN." - - -And so the long golden morning hours rolled on, and the garden remained -untenanted. The sweet spring flowers--than which none are more beautiful -and fragrant, because so redolent of promise--wasted their perfume on -the gentle breezes that swayed their yielding blossoms; the birds' song -grew hushed and lapsed into silence as the repose of noontide settled -down upon them. - -The sun fell in straight, level rays that were warm with a foretaste of -tropical heat; far away in the distance a faint silver line marked the -sea's limits, across which now and then a white sail flashed and was -gone. All nature lay hushed and stilled in that strange peace that -comes at the day's meridian, when the only sounds are those of the -under-world, the drowsy humming of an early humble-bee, the impatient -buzzing of a giant-fly, the bu-bu of multitudinous insects, the -chip-chip of the grasshopper, broken sharply across by the monotonous -hammer of the woodpecker. - -Within the Folly all the lower rooms were alike deserted, not a ripple -of laughter or an echo of voices was to be heard; even the billiard hall -was void, the men, in the absence of the feminine element, having taken -themselves off to the stables, or down to the club-house, where lay the -yachts moored in harbour, curtsying gracefully to each succeeding -wavelet as it broke against the sharp outline of stem or stern. - -But up in Mrs. Newbold's boudoir however, there were life and action -enough and to spare, for here were gathered Esther and her women guests, -while each pair of feminine lips were eager to contribute their share -to the general conversation. - -Patricia Hildreth lay full length upon a couch pulled close to the -hearth, on which a fire of fragrant hemlock burned, in mockery of the -open window and in defiance of the dancing sunbeams. Miss Hildreth was -in all things luxurious, and revelled with almost barbaric delight in -warmth of atmosphere and colour. - -Her slight but perfect figure was wrapped in a long loose cashmere robe -of softest azure, about which the dark bands of Russian sables swept in -classic lines, nestling closely about the firm white throat with -caressing touch, and falling back from the white arms and rounded -wrists. In her hand she held a dainty vellum-bound book, a collection of -sonnets much in vogue, and from which she read aloud at intervals some -special _jeu d'esprit_. - -At her feet, on a low, luxurious pile of cushions, sat Dick Darling, -doing nothing, her hands clasped around her knees, her eyes feasting, -in true hero-worship, on the face of her divinity. - -Before a large Psyche-glass stood Baby Leonard, absorbed in a row of -suggestive little porcelain pots, and breathlessly engaged in the -exciting process of "making up" in daylight, _à propos_ of the evening's -requirements. - -Esther was resting in a lounging-chair with Mimi on her lap, the golden -curls falling about the pretty face bent down over a new picture-book; -and at the open window, on a low ottoman, sat Miss James, her hands -clasped idly upon her lap, her thin face pale and tired, her dark, -restless eyes fixed intently upon Miss Hildreth. Something in the -attitude bespoke mental depression and dread, that even the alert -watching of eyes and mouth could not disguise. - -Dick's glib tongue had been running on aimlessly from topic to topic, -taking in a wide range of subjects, from the races at Jerome Park, to -the coming international yacht contest for the America Cup; and though -the remarks of her auditors were few and far between, Dick was perfectly -contented and asked nothing better than to listen to the sound of her -own voice. - -She was interrupted before long, however, by Miss James's sharp and -rather high voice addressing no one in particular: - -"Dick is certainly a living personation of Tennyson's 'Brook,' isn't -she? 'for men may come, and men may go, but she goes on for ever!'" - -To which Dick, arrested in mid-career, retorted sharply: "I can't say -that I see any men about anywhere, either coming or going. The wish must -be first cousin to Rosalie's thought. Good gracious, Baby! how much more -rouge do you mean to annex? You're blushing like a peony now, and one -eyebrow is half a mile longer than the other. You make me think of Jack -Howard's story of Miss Grantham, the American beauty of London, you -know." - -"No, we _don't_ know," broke in Esther, languidly; "perhaps you'll be so -good as to enlighten us." - -"_Town Optics_ cribbed it from him," continued Dick, once more in her -element, "and positively quoted it as true. It appears some magnificent -masher asked Cecilia Grantham if she didn't find her abnormally long -eye-lashes rather inconvenient at times? To which Cis replied, smiling -sweetly, 'Why, certainly; I am always obliged to have them borne in -front of me when I go upstairs, for fear I shall trip upon them!' And -will you believe me," went on Miss Darling, when the laugh evoked had -died out, "that brainless masher has gone about ever since getting it -off as a double extra specimen of American repartee, and all the time it -never took place at all except in Jack Howard's budding intellect. I -think _Town Optics_ owes him one for that." - -"I can cap your story by a better, Dick," retorted Esther, rousing -herself and sitting up very straight, "and mine is absolutely true, for -it happened to George's sister, when she was in London, oh, ever so long -ago, before the war." - -"Ancient history!" groaned Miss Darling, resignedly. "Drive ahead, -Esther, only you are awfully behind the age." - -"A story's a story, no matter when it happened," replied Mrs. Newbold, a -little confused in her grammar, "and you are not obliged to listen, -Dick." - -"Oh, yes, but I shall," remarked that young person--"listen and -remember, and get it off with effect as first-hand, at my next big -spread. Go on, Esther, do, like a daisy." - -"Well, you must know, my dears, that George's sister was a very pretty -girl----" - -"Oh!" interpolated Miss Darling, making tragic efforts to control her -astonishment. - -"Yes, very pretty," went on Esther, severely, "and when she was in -London she was presented at Court, and went out a great deal, and that's -when old Sir Piers first saw her and wanted to make her Lady Tracey." - -"For her sins! I am sure there could be no other reason for such a -punishment," again interjected Miss Darling, piously. - -"Ah, but Sir Piers was a gay young baronet in those days," said Esther, -with decision. "_Any_ girl might have hesitated before she gave him his -_congé_. However, that's neither here nor there. Margaret Newbold was a -very great favourite; and one evening, at a big dinner party at a -tremendously swell house, she was given a proportionately great grandee -as a cavalier. This very high-bred personage began by staring at her, up -and down and round and about, through his eye-glasses and over them; and -when he found this was not in the least discomposing to the young woman, -but that she talked on glibly to her left-hand neighbour, he gave a -loud 'ahem!' and said, so that all the company might hear: -'Ah--miss--ah--I perceive, though you are an American, you speak English -quite fluently--ah----' Margaret eyed him for a moment over the rim of -her wine-glass, and then replied, with calm distinctness and an air of -inward satisfaction: 'Well--yes--ah--Mr.--I do. You see, the missionary -who converted our tribe was an Englishman, and he taught us the -language.' Then she went on eating her fish, quite undisturbed by the -shouts of laughter that went up at the expense of her unfortunate -questioner." - -"Served him right, too," cried Miss Darling, indignantly. "I never heard -of anything so caddish. We might just as well ask, in an off-hand, -jovial kind of a way, if it's because they have so many H's lying round -loose, that they forget to pick 'em up and use 'em in the right places! -And one might suppose so, you know, with reason, judging from some of -the specimens we get over here." - -"It's very trying," broke in Baby Leonard, plaintively; "I _can't_ get -both sides of my face to look alike, and this _crème impératrice_ is so -sticky! What shall I do?" - -"Leave it all alone," cried Miss Darling, brusquely. "You can't improve -on nature, Baby--it's no use! 'Bad's the best,' as my old mammy-nurse -used to say. You won't make your eyes any the larger or prettier by -painting them a distinct violet, and your mouth's a far better shape -left to its own lines; you can't make a Cupid's bow out of it, try as -you may." - -"Only listen to Dick the virtuous!" laughed Esther. "She positively -waxes eloquent on the shams of the hour, and is developing a soul above -frivolities! We shall have her quoting Carlyle next; or, stay, I know -what it will be. What's that sentimental couplet, Dick, tucked carefully -away beneath your pot of 'cherry-lip,' in your new silver-mounted -_toilette des ongles_? Is this the way it runs: - - 'Why send me to this little girl? - Sure such a gift were silly! - Can I add lustre to the pearl, - Or paint the gilded lily?'" - -"Oh, Esther, you're a brute!" cried poor Dick, the tears actually in her -eyes, her cheeks very red. "How could you? It's only--only some stupid -little lines about a still more stupid joke. They don't mean _me_ at -all." - -"And then, fancy Dick being compared to a pearl, and a lily--a painted -lily!" exclaimed Miss James, in her most disagreeable voice, and with a -slow smile creeping over her face. - -"Oh, Esther, how could you!" cried poor Dick again; but Mrs. Newbold -only laughed. - -"Don't be cynical and fault-finding, then, my dear Dick," she said, -quietly, drawing one of Mimi's golden curls through her fingers; "it -doesn't suit you, my dear, nor your little round, brown, winsome face." - -"Since poetry seems to be the order of the day, listen to this," broke -in Miss Hildreth, in her clear musical voice, and lifting her eyes from -the tiny vellum book she held: - - "'Near my bed, there, hangs the picture jewels would not buy from me. - 'Tis a siren, a brown siren, - Playing on a lute of amber by the margin of a sea. - - "In the hushes of the midnight, when the heliotropes grow strong - With the dampness, I hear music--hear a quiet, plaintive song-- - A most sad, melodious utterance, as of some immortal wrong. - - "Like the pleading, oft repeated, of a soul that pleads in vain, - Of a damnèd soul repentant, that would fain be pure again! - And I lie awake and listen to the music of her pain. - - "And whence comes this mournful music? Whence, unless it chance to be - From the siren, the brown siren, - Playing on her lute of amber by the margin of a sea?'" - -Silence fell upon the little group as Patricia's voice died away. For a -moment all were held by the spell of the poet's words, with their deep -undernote of passionate protest. The present faded out of the line of -mental vision, replaced by the past, within whose mystery of silence, -somewhere a great wrong lay hidden, and unappeased. - -Had the poet known of it, in all its details, and kept inviolate this -secret of another's existence, or had he only guessed at its outlines, -fearing to fill in the lights and shadows, lest imagination should fall -short of reality? - -So vivid, indeed, was the impression produced, it seemed only a -continuation of the tragedy when Miss Hildreth spoke again, slowly and -without any apparent reason, save inward impulse. - -"I have known one such woman once, to whom all life and all time was but -the cry of 'a damnèd soul,' crying out ceaselessly against 'an immortal -wrong.' Did our poet know her story, I wonder, when he wrote of his -'brown siren'? But no; this poor soul has had no one to sing out her -wrongs, or open up the story of the treachery that blasted her life. -Alone she has had to bear her burden, and alone she must bear it to the -very end." - -As Miss Hildreth spoke, Dick Darling crept close to her side, and knelt -there, listening eagerly, with quick-coming breath, to the disjointed -sentences. In the deep interest of the moment no one looked towards the -window where sat Rosalie James, or noticed the intense nervous restraint -she was exercising. Her face was absolutely colourless; her hands -pressed so hard one upon the other that they left blue marks upon the -soft flesh; her eyes were strained and feverish; she bent forward in an -alert, expectant attitude, as of one awaiting, yet not certain of, some -preconceived revelation. At the Psyche-mirror sat Baby Leonard, still -placidly trying one artistic preparation after another, and totally -oblivious to the tense atmosphere of suppressed excitement about her. - -"And who was she? Is she alive?" asked Dick, her whisper catching up -Miss Hildreth's falling inflection, and sustaining the interest of the -moment. "Who was she? Is she alive? Where did you know her?" - -"Yes, she is alive; oh, yes, indeed, she is alive," answered Patricia, -still in a retrospective tone; "and I knew her in Petersburg when I was -last there--such a little time ago, as it seems now." - -"Was she beautiful?" Again it was Dick's voice that asked, and -Patricia's that replied. - -"She was very beautiful--so beautiful that no one could withstand her -loveliness. And her beauty became her curse; ah, what a curse, since it -attracted the attention of one so high above her that his lightest -regard was an insult! What but bitter wrong and crime could be the -outcome of a love proffered by a scion of the Imperial house to a woman -of the people? Beauty is a grand leveller, it is true, but it cannot -level the iron hand and cruel laws of Russia. It was the old story--the -old, old, pitiful story--that comes to every woman once in her -lifetime, and that each woman translates as best suits her desires--the -story that makes a heaven upon earth, a paradise within our hearts." - -Again the musical tones died away in a sigh of regret, and again Dick -cried out in her quick, absorbed whisper: - -"Is there any more to tell? What happened? What was the end?" - -"What any woman might have looked for, save a woman blinded by love, and -a man absorbed by passion. They lived in a fool's paradise for an all -too brief space, and then, before the golden sheen had fallen from their -vision, while the woman still played with fate and the man toyed with -destiny, the blow fell--sudden, sharp, omnipotent, as is the nature of -Russia's potency. Taken away from his very arms, her marriage annulled -by Imperial ukase, her life ruined, her soul lost in a whirlwind of -injustice and despair, what wonder that her woman's nature revolted, and -that throwing aside the narrower swathing bands of law and -conventionality, she stood forth, bold and free and savage, and struck -down her craven lover in the very zenith of his manhood, with a hand -that never faltered, as it drove home the steel to his very heart?" - -Miss Hildreth had grown strangely excited as she told the tragic story; -she rose up now and stood at her full height, the clinging cashmeres -marking every line and curve of her beautiful form; her face was pale as -death, and beneath her dark brows her eyes gleamed with their old -dangerous fire; she lifted her hands and brought them together before -her, throwing them out palm upwards in passionate protest; her voice was -low and concentrated, vibrating with intolerance. - -"And I who tell you this," she continued, "I speak as only one can who -has looked upon such suffering as hers; who has beheld the soul drink to -the very dregs of the cup of renunciation, despair, desertion; seen it -touch the very heights and depths of mental anguish, and wandered with -it so far in the paths of darkness that even crime seemed but justice, -if it would in any way balance the debt of honour." - -She faltered suddenly, and turning with quick impetuosity, sank back -upon the couch, her light mocking laugh ringing out discordantly as she -concluded. - -"Was I not right, Dick? The poet must have known this story to write so -tellingly of an 'immortal wrong, and of a soul repentant longing to be -pure again.'" - -Miss Darling had started back when Patricia had arisen, and though she -remained kneeling, her eyes never left the other's face. Across the -room, in the full warm glow of the noontide sun, Miss James sat -shivering, but watching ever and always with the same look of -expectancy, and yet of certainty, on her face. - -As Miss Hildreth's little laugh struck so harshly across the compressed -emotion of the moment, and made, as it were, a half-bar of discord in -the tragic score, Dick Darling shuddered, and put out her hand, as -though to ward off some impending danger. - -"Don't," she cried, her brown face paling and flushing alternatively, -"don't laugh in that dreadful way; oh, Miss Hildreth, it hurts me!" She -crept a little nearer to her and laid one hand on the pale blue -draperies. "That is not all, not all of the story, it cannot be all. -Tell me the rest of it. Tell me her name!" - -Dick's whisper was imperative, imperious, and Miss Hildreth, fingering -nervously the vellum-covered volume, felt the force of the girl's candid -eyes, and honest, earnest gaze. - -"Her name"--she said, slowly and hesitatingly--"her name----" - -But before she could complete her sentence Esther started up, putting -Marianne hastily down, and came towards her. - -"You have said quite enough," she exclaimed, excitedly. "Patty, Patty, -let me beg you to be careful." - -As she spoke, the door behind the swinging _portières_ opened slightly, -unperceived by any one except Miss James, over whose face the same -sneering smile crept out again. Miss Hildreth looked up at Mrs. Newbold -with defiance in her eyes and on her lips. - -"My dear Esther, surely you are a little too dramatic. Why should not I -gratify Miss Dick's romantic inquisitiveness? Her name--the name of this -woman--was--is--well, let us call it Adèle Lallovich." - -As she uttered the words clearly and distinctly, the _portières_ were -pushed hastily aside, and George Newbold's voice preceded himself in -person, exclaiming: - -"May we come in, my dear? We are bored to the verge of insanity." - -And crossing the threshold he held back the curtains, and Vladimir -Mellikoff stepped into their midst. As he did so a sudden quick sigh -broke from Miss James, she got up hastily and passing down the room met -his cool impenetrable glance with the slightest possible recognition, -and upward gesture of her hand. He stepped forward to open the door for -her, and when it closed upon her and he returned to the little group, a -keen observer might have noticed a slight increase in the brilliancy of -his eyes, a touch of triumph in the smile with which he bent over Miss -Hildreth's hand, held out in greeting to him. - -Patricia's face, however, looked cold and hard; and the line of dark fur -lay about her white throat like the shadow of a coming calamity. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -THE CANKER WORM OF DOUBT. - - -Mr. Tremain did not again see Miss Hildreth after she left him standing -by the fountain in the little wood, until they met in the green-room an -hour before the play. - -She had gone from him then with scorn and anger in her words, and with -scorn and defiance in her heart; she met him now with cold and -indifferent hauteur, amounting almost to insolence. - -Philip had stood for a long time alone beside the marble boy Narcissus, -revolving moodily the sharp home truths she had thrust upon him. He did -not forget one curl of her lip, one flash of her eyes, one inflection -of her clear voice, as she flung back the love he offered; flung it back -with bitter disdain and contempt. And yet, curiously enough, he was not -angry with her; there was no such positive element in his feelings as -that; he seemed to himself to hold, as it were, an outsider's position, -and to look on and judge her from an outsider's point of view. - -Was it her own complete indifferentism, her absolute disbelief in the -ordinary delusions of life, her cynical acceptance of the contradictions -of destiny, together with her sudden outburst of passionate derision, -that had produced in him this state of cool analysis and judicial -judgment? - -He had pleaded his love fervently enough under the glamour of the -moonlight and her loveliness, and he had meant what he said then; he -would gladly have taken her in his arms, and given his answer to her -letter in a fond and foolish lover's way; but--and here lay the -difficulty--she must return to him as she had gone from him, the same -yielding, loving, believing, if wilful Patty; he could accept no other; -no new Patricia, no woman whose eyes spoke of the fires of conflict, -whose face had that written upon it which tells of the lower depths of -mental pain and struggle. - -For Philip, as we know, was above all things, masterful, and his idea of -dual happiness was autocratic rather than constitutional; he would share -no divided throne and sceptre, even with the woman of his heart; he must -reign, and he alone, and she must be the empire over which he ruled -unquestioningly. - -All this had been in his heart, though unspoken, when he pleaded with -her to return to their old relations, and, unconsciously, perhaps, there -was an echo of his despotism even in his tenderest words. However that -may have been, Patricia would have none of it. She was not to be won by -pity when passion had failed. - -And so it was that as she stood tall and beautiful before him, with her -rich white draperies clinging about her in sensuous lines and curves, -her face pale with suppressed emotion, her eyes dark with endurance, she -tossed back his proffered gift, his reawakened love--a love that would -share no rights and no prerogatives--and, with the fine irony of a woman -who sees her advantage and presses it, thrust back and away from her all -appeal from out the past, touched though it was with the pure gold of -that time when love and youth, belief and trust, went hand in hand -together. - -Even yet, then, after ten long years of experience and knowledge, Philip -could not read her heart aright. And she, should she forgive him? Give -up the unequal game, lay down her arms, acknowledge herself vanquished, -and creep timidly back into his embrace, repentant and abject, meek and -thankful? - -Then she looked at Philip's face, calm and quiet and victorious, with -just a touch of wearied assurance in its smile, and her heart leapt up -again in sudden protest and passion. No, she would not yield, she would -never yield until she saw him suffering, through a woman, some portion -of the pain and humiliation he had inflicted upon her. Then, when -expiation brought forth the fruit of atonement, why then--ah, then Miss -Hildreth would reconsider. - -It was Miss Rosalie James who first introduced the canker of doubt in -Philip's mind concerning Patricia, of suspicion regarding her past. - -It had never occurred to him to speculate upon the possible experiences -and circumstances which must have made up the ten years of their -separation. - -Miss Hildreth had passed the greater part of that time abroad, and his -news of her had not only been meagre but nil, for after the first few -weeks of her absence, during which her name had been on every one's -lips, coupled with her broken engagement, and her inherited fortune, it -was rarely mentioned, and never in Philip's presence. - -The most perfectly controlled human heart cannot so entirely root up -envy and malice as not to cavil somewhat at the perversity of -Providence, in showering benefits with both hands upon a fellow mortal, -who certainly cannot so thoroughly deserve them as oneself. However, if -destiny will be so blindly prejudiced, why let us become as indifferent -to it as possible, and in perfecting ourselves in this fine-art forget -both the name and existence of our once bosom friend. - -This was society's philosophy regarding Patricia Hildreth, and thus for -ten long years her place had been vacant in the circles of the great -world, and she herself forgotten as completely as the snows of last -year. "Mais où sont les neiges d'antan?" may be asked of more things -than Musset dreamed of, when he wrote his sad and bitter reproach. - -Miss James had met Philip late in the afternoon of George Newbold's -_festa_, as he was strolling idly about the garden-paths, the inevitable -cigarette between his lips, and his hands, as was his fashion, clasped -loosely behind him. He caught sight of the small dark figure coming -towards him down the terrace steps, and though at first impatient of the -interruption, something in the thin outline of face and form, the -lassitude of step and bearing, touched a chord of compassion in his kind -heart. - -He had not indeed been altogether insensible to the nature of Miss -James's feeling towards him; no man is quite so dull and hard as not to -be touched by the unasked devotion of a woman; it is wonderful when that -devotion is directed to one's self how unselfish and pure, though -hopeless, it appears! Philip's heart might be in the position of being -captured in the rebound, but Miss James was not the one to do it; -nevertheless her attraction to him, to call it by no warmer name, was -harmless, if ineffectual, and not unpleasant. - -Thus argued Mr. Tremain, though in justice to him let it be said the -argument was not carried on in words, scarcely in sensations; it was -negative rather than positive. He met her therefore with that deference -and attention which made his slightest service a distinction, lifting -his hat and throwing aside his half-smoked cigarette as he did so. Miss -James looked at him steadily for a moment, watching him as he tossed -away the end of burning paper. - -"Oh, I am sorry you should do that," she said, in her rather hard voice. -"I don't in the least object to cigarettes; in fact, I like them." - -But Philip only smiled and shook his head. - -"Oh, I've had quite enough of it, Miss James, I assure you. I was only -smoking as a distraction and to make the time go." - -"Has it been such a long day?" she asked, a trifle sharply. She knew Mr. -Tremain and Patricia had not met that day, and shrewdly suspected the -reason of his restlessness, and though she acknowledged to herself the -hopelessness of her own hopes, she could not endure to have it brought -home to her by him. - -"Very long," replied Philip, candidly; "it's a way time has of never -weighing his goods. The hours that _be_ go by on lagging steps, the -hours to come rush and tumble one on top of the other, and are never in -the future but always in the past." - -"I should think that rather depended upon one's occupation," responded -Miss James, tritely. "If one's copybook was to be trusted, time never -halted or stood still. 'Time Flies,' with a very large T and F is among -my earliest recollections." - -Mr. Tremain laughed a little as he replied: - -"You shame me, Miss James, into an open confession of laziness. To be -lazy is to find time out of joint, and in consequence out of touch with -one. One can only be legitimately lazy on board a yacht, or fishing; -under such circumstances action becomes criminal. By the way, let me -congratulate you on your distinct success as Mrs. Bouncer, last -evening. I asked for you after rehearsal, but did not see you." - -"No," replied Miss James, slowly, "I did not come back to the theatre." - -As she spoke a dull flush rose to her cheeks, for she remembered how and -where she passed those two hours, when all the world were absorbed in -the miniature playhouse. With one of those strange sudden waves of -perception she saw again a broken feather-fan and golden-hued rose lying -together on the velvet carpet, and Vladimir Mellikoff, tall and dark and -smiling, holding back the heavy _portières_, through which she escaped -trembling and doomed. - -She caught her breath and went on a little nervously: - -"I am very flattered to be praised by you, Mr. Tremain. I can't bear -Mrs. Bouncer myself; she is quite antipathetic to me." - -"Then surely you deserve all the more praise," said Mr. Tremain, -courteously. "If to be out of accord with one's rôle results so -favourably I shall devoutly pray that Henri de Flavigneul and I may be -at daggers drawn this evening." - -"But what would Miss Hildreth say to that?" asked the girl, sharply, and -looking up so quickly as to catch the sudden frown of annoyance that -spread over Mr. Tremain's face at the mention of Patricia's name. - -"Ah, Miss Hildreth," he replied, with assumed carelessness. "I had not -taken her into consideration." - -"And yet Miss Hildreth is not one to be left unconsidered?" said Miss -James, questioningly. "She is not one to be easily passed over." Then, -with a sudden change of manner, she added: "You have known Miss Hildreth -a long time, have you not, Mr. Tremain?" - -Philip looked down at her a little startled and surprised. Was she -laughing at him--this pale, quiet, almost insignificant girl--or mocking -him? Surely the subject of his and Patricia's broken engagement had -been public property too long to have escaped her knowledge. Was it -impertinence or ignorance that dictated the question? But Miss James's -face was placid and mildly interested as she looked up at him with a -little smile, and waited for him to speak. - -"Oh, yes, I have known Miss Hildreth for some years," he replied, -shortly; and then with an abrupt laugh: "but I have not seen her for -almost as long as I have known her." - -"Ah," said Miss James, meditatively, "she has been abroad for ten years, -and ten years makes such a difference in one's knowledge of another. -Only think what might not happen in ten years!" - -"Apparently Miss Hildreth's experiences have been more or less narrow," -answered Philip, annoyed that the conversation should have turned upon -Patricia, and yet unable to keep from discussing her. - -"Oh, do you think so?" asked Miss James, with quite a look of surprised -inquiry in her eyes. "To be sure you ought to know; but do you think -she--any woman--could come back quite unchanged after ten years abroad?" - -There was so much of veiled controversy in her tones that Philip at once -found himself looking at the matter from her point of view, and debating -his own question with a decided negative bias. - -"What do you mean?" he said at last, after a moment's delay. "What do -you think are some of the experiences that may have come in Miss -Hildreth's way--or any woman's--during ten years' absence abroad?" - -"That would depend so much as to where one went, what countries, or -towns, or cities; whom one associated with; and how one lived. Each -country has its own peculiar influences, dangers, casualties, but some -countries have the two former more developed. Russia, for example; in -Russia one instinctively looks for dangers, intrigues, conspiracies. Has -Miss Hildreth ever been to Russia, Mr. Tremain?" - -Miss James was treating the subject with so much gravity and -impressiveness that Philip felt himself carried along with her, and -inclined to look at Patricia's past career and its attendant -trivialities in a serious and grave light. - -"I really cannot answer you in detail, Miss James," he said, "but -collectively I should say that nothing was more probable than Miss -Hildreth's being perfectly familiar with Russia, and Russian society, in -all its phases." - -"Yes, I should say so too," answered Miss James, nodding her head in -confirmation of her words. "In fact I am sure of it. Mr. Tremain, do you -think Miss Hildreth has ever before met and known Count Mellikoff?" - -They had been walking up and down a garden-path, but she stopped when -she put this question and faced him. Philip of course, also stopped, and -for a moment there was silence between them. - -"That is an extraordinary question," he said at last; "have you any -reason for asking it, Miss James?" - -"But you have not answered me yet," she protested; "when you do so I -will reply to you. Do you think Miss Hildreth has ever before seen and -known Count Mellikoff; say in Paris, or St. Petersburg?" - -"To the best of my belief Count Mellikoff is a stranger to America, Miss -James." - -"But is Count Mellikoff a stranger to Miss Hildreth, Mr. Tremain?" - -"That is beyond me to answer," replied Philip, with an unconscious -inflection of curiosity in his tone. - -"Then I will answer for you," said Rosalie, her thin sharp voice growing -rounder and fuller, "but you must bear in mind I have no reality to go -upon, only surmise and observation. Very well, then, I say Miss Hildreth -has not only met and known Count Mellikoff before, but she has known him -well, and she is afraid of him. That surprises you, Mr. Tremain, and yet -I don't know why it should. You must remember you have seen nothing of -Miss Hildreth for ten years, and you know nothing--positively -nothing--of her life during that time. Why shouldn't she have known -Count Mellikoff, and why shouldn't she have reason to fear him? Ten -years is a very long time; long enough to drink deep of experience; long -enough to plant, and sow, and reap. Long enough to lose more than one -friend, make more than one enemy; long enough to sink oneself to the -neck in intrigue, and to bury oneself in crime. May not Miss Hildreth -have eaten of the tree of knowledge, and found the evil overweigh the -good? May not Count Mellikoff have been her friend, and become her -enemy? Is it not possible that each is striving to outwit the other, and -each is afraid of the other? I see you think me rather mad, Mr. Tremain, -and credit me with a morbid love of melodrama, or a desire to make -mountains out of mole-hills. Ah, very well, let us say no more about it: -only when next you see Miss Hildreth and Count Mellikoff together, -watch his manner towards her, and see for yourself if he carries himself -as a stranger to her. Ten years is a long time for a woman to wander -about the world alone." - -She finished abruptly, and turned away from him, leaving him without -another word. - -Philip's meditations, if unpleasant before, were now distinctly -disagreeable. He disliked mystery, and above all things and most of all -he disliked it in connection with a woman. In his eyes all women should -be, like Cæsar's wife, above suspicion, and it hurt and galled him that -even a shadow of aspersion should rest on Patricia's fair fame. - -And yet, as Miss James had said, ten years was a long time, and Miss -Hildreth gave no explanation, beyond a vague and general one, as to how -she had spent that time. Might there not be some secret bound up in -those years; some secret between herself and Vladimir Mellikoff, which -it was wisest to leave so buried? Was it possible of belief that in all -that time Patricia had never consoled herself for the lost love of her -youth? - -Hers was an impetuous nature, open to sudden convictions, quick to act, -ardent, impressionable; with such a temperament in the hands of Vladimir -Mellikoff, what imprudence might not have taken place? Even a secret -marriage, and a subsequent purgatory of disenchantment, were not -impossible consequences. Indeed, the range of possibilities was so -varied and so unsatisfactory, Mr. Tremain felt himself unable either to -seize or exorcise them. - -At the tea hour that same day, Miss James asked suddenly, in a lull of -conversation, bending forward and addressing Patricia in her highest -voice: - -"Oh, Miss Hildreth, by the way, Mr. Tremain and I have been discussing -your long absence from your native land, and your possible and probable -experiences. Will you tell me, for it was rather a question of -difference between us, have you ever been to Russia; do you know St. -Petersburg?" - -Something in Rosalie's sharp, hard tones commanded attention, and when -she finished all eyes were turned upon Patricia, as she sat in a -high-backed chair; her tea-gown of marvellous old lace and fluttering -ribbons seeming but a fitting setting to her delicate beauty. Vladimir -Mellikoff put down his cup of untasted tea, and drew near the central -group. - -Miss Hildreth looked up a little surprised at Rosalie's earnestness. She -raised the tiny apostle spoon in her fingers, and studied it attentively -as she answered: - -"Oh, yes, indeed, Miss James, I have done the whole grand tour. I know -my London, my Paris, and my Petersburg thoroughly, and like a loyal -American place the Peerage and the Almanach de Gotha next to my Bible." -Her voice was clear and mocking, and a trifle artificial. - -"And may I also be permitted to ask a question, mademoiselle?" said -Count Mellikoff, advancing towards her and bowing slightly. - -Patricia raised her delicate eyebrows in cool superciliousness. "Oh, -certainly, Count Mellikoff; in what way can I add to your knowledge?" - -She put out her hand with the empty tea-cup, and Dick Darling flew to -take it from her; the outstretched hand trembled ever so little, and the -spoon fell to the floor. - -"Since you know my home, mademoiselle, Petersburg, I do not make a -blunder when I suppose you to have known it socially as well as----" - -"According to Baedeker," broke in Miss Hildreth, with a little laugh. -"Make your mind easy, Count Mellikoff; your Court and your _grand monde_ -showed me nothing but civilities." - -"That goes without the saying, mademoiselle," replied Vladimir, still -more gravely. "And, pardon me, it is pleasant to speak on home subjects -to one who understands them so well; did you, then, when at Court, or in -society, did you ever meet the most brilliant man of his time, the most -fascinating, handsome, rich young noble of all Russia? You will recall -him at once when I name him. Mademoiselle, did you ever know Count -Stevan Lallovich?" - -There was silence for a moment as Vladimir Mellikoff asked his question, -and for a moment after, during which all eyes were again turned towards -Patricia. She had started forward a little, and half rose up from her -chair; her face had grown suddenly pale, and her eyes, beneath their -dark pencilled brows, flashed strangely. - -It was but a moment, a second of time, a heart-throb, then she -controlled herself, and, with one of her lightest, most mocking laughs, -sank back upon her chair, sweeping her laces about her royally. - -"Count Stevan Lallovich," she said, very distinctly; "you ask me if I -knew Stevan Lallovich? My dear Count Mellikoff, your very question is -superfluous. Could any woman who knew Petersburg, fail to know Stevan -Lallovich? The handsomest man of his day, as you have said, and the most -unscrupulous." Then she turned to Miss Darling: "My dear Dick, will you -beg Esther for another cup of tea, and boiling, my dear, positively -boiling. You see, Count, among other Russian peculiarities, I cling to -my Russian tea." - -"I see, mademoiselle," replied Mellikoff, gravely. "May you always prove -as loyal to all things Russian." - -Mr. Tremain had not been present during this little passage at arms, but -Miss James, as she sat before her mirror that evening "making-up" her -small sallow face into a hard-visaged, calculating Mrs. Bouncer, -congratulated herself upon her strategy. - -"My shot told," she was thinking, as she painted in another wrinkle, -"it almost took Miss Hildreth off her guard. She is not likely to forget -herself again; but I have seen her once without her mask, and that is -enough. Oh yes, 'it moves, it moves.'" - -Then, with Galileo's immortal words on her lips, she added a final touch -to her eyebrows, and glided quickly away, appearing a few moments later -in the flies, and calling forth Mr. Robinson's encomiums upon her as a -model of punctuality. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -A SOCIETY DRAMA. - - -In another half-hour the little playhouse was full to overflowing. Not a -seat was vacant, and scarcely an inch of space was left for the men of -the party to plant their feet upon. Gay and musical were the tones of -women's voices and laughter that rose and fell upon the scented air, -sustained and strengthened by the more manly bassos. - -The theatre itself glowed in the soft effulgence of electric light, each -filament incased in a hanging crystal vase, subdued to a warm -palpitating softness by silk shades of roseate hue. Flowers bloomed -everywhere, piled in glowing masses along the walls and across the -miniature orchestra screen. The rose-houses had been stripped of their -loveliest exotics, and these rifled blossoms hung their gorgeous heads -amidst a quivering background of clinging green smilax. - -On each rose-silk _fauteuil_ lay a bouquet of the golden-hued Maréchal -Niels, tied with long ribbons of palest amber, and a tiny satin -programme on which, amidst quaint device of scroll work, were inscribed -the characters and scenes of the coming drama. - -The _lever de rideau_ was a masterpiece from the hand of an English -Academician, whose foreign name was better known in the two great -English-speaking countries than others boasting a more national ring. -The heavy folds of richest white silk bore testimony to the versatility -of his brain and brush, since here swept garlands of trailing roses -across a wonderful marble terrace, upon which were grouped in classic -attitudes the sisters of histrionic art, Melpomene, Thalia, and -Terpsichore. - -The scene was one of luxury that had become a fine art, every detail -being in itself so faultless, it required but the completing touch of -contiguity to render it a rounded whole of perfection. The onlooker -might well pause and ask himself if the developments of wealth, -refinement, and culture, could reach a higher degree than was displayed -that evening within the walls of this miniature La Scala. - -The curtain rose on the perennially new and refreshing _Box and Cox_, in -which Miss James again distinguished herself and scored her final points -to rounds of ringing laughter and spontaneous applause, which savoured -more of the "Surrey side," than of a languid _nil admirari_ audience of -this critical century. Between the farce and the serious work of the -evening music held sway, and La Diva's glorious voice captivated all -hearts and brains in Owen Meredith's "Aux Italiens," its final appealing -line rounding each verse with the pathetic cry, - - "Non ti scorda di me, non ti scorda di me!" - -It was during this interval that Mr. Tremain, making his appearance in -the Greenroom, found Miss Hildreth already there awaiting her first -call. She was alone for the moment, and was standing with bent head and -clasped hands, leaning against the tall carved chimney-screen that -shielded the low burning logs on the hearth. - -The long folds of her first costume, a _négligée_ of Wörth's conception, -fell about her in a clinging amber sheen, across which the flots and -draperies of _duchesse_ lace fell in filmy cascades. Philip stopped -involuntarily for a moment, and looked at her. Her marvellous loveliness -struck him afresh, as, indeed, it had a habit of doing whenever he came -upon her unawares. This attribute was indeed one of Miss Hildreth's -chief charms; you forgot her actual loveliness when away from her, and -were apt to criticise not only it, but her. It was a criticism, however, -that fell to pieces at the first contact with her, and which left you -only conscious of her beauty and her fascination. You could not analyse -her when she smiled, or when her deep, tender, dark blue eyes looked -full into your own. - -Miss Hildreth had not heard Philip's entrance; and he thus had an -opportunity of watching her undisturbed and unconscious. Despite the -make-up of rouge and bismuth, put on so delicately as to be almost -imperceptible, the face was at that moment a sad one. All the fire, and -life, and spirit, had gone out of it, and in their places an expression -of weariness and despondency had crept about the mouth and eyes, which -was strangely pathetic because so at variance with Miss Hildreth's usual -bearing. Even the attitude, half-listless, half-weary, bespoke a state -of mental depression and dejection. - -Philip, as he watched her, recalled Miss James's unequivocal -suggestions, and almost against his will found himself speculating as to -which episode out of those ten unknown years of her life she was -lamenting at that moment. He had not been present at the tea hour, and -therefore had missed Rosalie's well-turned opportunity; but even without -that, Miss James had contrived to sow the seeds of distrust and -suspicion in his mind. - -He could not look upon Patricia now without the record of those long ten -years arising between him and her; across whose closed pages what -experiences might not be written! Even her beauty became a source of -like animadversion; could any woman possessing such a face and form -count thirty years off life's score and not have drunk deep, even to -satiety, of the wine of passion, that turns even as one's lips touch the -cup's brim into the waters of Lethe? Miss James was right; those ten -years wherein Patricia had grown from girlhood to womanhood must hold -some hidden memories, into which for his peace of mind it were best he -did not look, and from whose influence, as from her personality, it were -wisest for him to detach himself at once. - -He would end his visit at the Folly in a day or so, and when he left it -so would he leave behind all recollection and all knowledge of Patricia. -He desired to know nothing of her immediate past, he would refuse to be -interested in her present or her future. Only, before he bid a long -good-bye to the Folly and its inmates, he must once more see Adèle -Lamien; there was something to be said to her, and he must say it. - -He moved slightly forward, and as he did so Patricia turned and looked -up. In an instant the softer and sadder shadows passed from her face, -her eyes regained their fire and light, the smile came back to her lips -and chased away the dimples in cheek and chin, the soft evanescent bloom -stole upward and renewed her youth and freshness as colour and contrast -can alone do. - -Mr. Tremain came towards her grave and unsmiling, and with something of -the old dark anger on his face, that ten years ago had frightened her -and deterred her from uttering the few words of reconciliation hovering -on her lips; this anger was all the more pronounced because of his -character costume of light livery. One does not naturally associate -buckskin tops and a striped waistcoat with a countenance of gloomy -disapproval. - -Miss Hildreth took in the situation at a glance, and laughed out at him, -one of her cold light mocking laughs, that angered Philip with its ring -of insincerity. - -"Well, my Knight of the Rueful Countenance," she exclaimed, "you look -not only bored, but in a rage! Ah, my dear Philip, when will you learn -how foolish and _banale_ a thing it is to expend your reserve emotions -on trifles? We Americans are accused of being a race incapable of -experiencing any grand passion, either in conception or realisation. -Perhaps it is because after cultivating our sensibilities to the highest -pitch we are content to expend them on trivialities. I remember a clever -Englishman once telling me that we as a nation have no measurable idea -of passion save in the abstract; we appreciate wit and humour, subtle -argument, keen incisive reasoning, but as to the heights and depths of -one terrible all-mastering, all-absorbing emotion, it is as a dead -letter to us. Our highest expression of nervous force results in an -exaggerated friendship, or a marriage of convenience; we are simply -incapable of what the French call _une grande passion_." - -She stopped with another little laugh, but Mr. Tremain made no reply, so -with the slightest possible shrug of her shoulders she continued: - -"For example--and pardon my using you as a peg upon which to hang my -argument--to look at you at this moment one would declare that nothing -less than a complete collapse of the entire social system could account -for such an expression of abject wretchedness. How can one be supposed -to know that it is the result of nothing more tragic than an -ill-starched necktie, or a poor-fitting coat?" - -Again she laughed, and Philip felt the blood surge up to his face at her -taunting raillery. - -"I should feel honoured at being considered worthy your mockery," he -said, quickly, "only that this time I cannot plead guilty to the -impeachment; my costume, even to its insignificant details, is, I beg to -state, beyond reproach. I cannot complain even of a rumpled tie, or an -uncomfortable coat." - -She shrugged her shoulders indifferently. "You are fortunate and to be -congratulated. Does not Madame de Rémusat tell us of the annoyance -caused the great Napoleon by too tight arm-holes, and of Josephine's -tears over the loss of one Cashmere, out of her two or three score? You -see, my dear Philip, even the heroes of our immediate past were not -above acknowledging their little weaknesses. Such items are the crumpled -rose-leaves and parched peas of greatness. Dare we of a lesser mould -scoff at them?" - -She turned away from him as she spoke, leaving him with a decided -feeling of having been taken at a disadvantage. His call followed almost -immediately, so he had no time to reply; but the remembrance of her -mockery remained with him, and added a touch of bitterness and reality -to the situations of the play, in which he and she bore reversed -relations to those of real life. - -The drama selected by Esther Newbold, _The Ladies' Battle_, is too -well-known and too great a favourite to require description. Perhaps of -all drawing-room comedies it is the most pleasing and the most -comprehensive. Those who have seen the foremost actresses of our day -personate the young and beautiful Countess d'Autreval--who is not -ashamed, though fully conscious, of her love for Henri de Flavigneul, -and who bravely relinquishes it in favour of her girlish niece, Léonie -de Villegontier--will remember what scope can be shown in the -development of that character, whose fundamental attributes seem at -first sight to be those of impulse and self-gratification. - -The scenes moved on with magic smoothness and completeness, and -gradually, as the interest grew and deepened, the audience began to -realise that it was upon Miss Hildreth as the Countess, and Mr. Tremain -as Henri, that the chief influence and importance of the play -culminated. The undercurrent of suppressed antagonism that existed -between them communicated itself to the onlookers with a subtle, yet -potent power; while to those who could read the writing between the -lines, the situations assumed a potential gravity and significance. - -From the moment of the Countess's soliloquy, "Now to be more than -woman," when, recognising her growing love for the young soldier, she -consults her looking-glass as the oracle which is to encourage or -dissuade her from entering the lists against Léonie, and then lays it -down with the significant line, "Ah, it has deceived so many!" to her -final act of renunciation, Patricia carried the house with her, and -left no loophole for any anti-interest or climax. - -Baby Leonard made a charming Léonie. Her innocent face and -unsophisticated manner were a capital study and a clever following of -nature; but it was on Patricia Hildreth that the sympathy and sentiment -centred, and there arose almost a cry of disappointment when the curtain -dropped finally upon Léonie's happiness, at the price of the nobler -nature's self-sacrifice. Even her fellow actors felt her potency, and -Philip most of all. - -He caught her hand in his as she left the flies, and detained her one -moment. - -"Patty," he cried, "Patty, once more let me plead with you. Is it true, -dear--are your words something more than allegory: - - 'Beneath the wreath and robe, the heart unseen - Oft throbs with anguish.' - -Are they true of _your_ heart, Patty, Patty?" - -But she checked him with her old impatient gesture, drawing away her -hand from his close clasp, and laughing lightly, ironically. - -"My dear Philip, too much simulating of passion has overturned your -habitual self-control. Fancy quoting a couplet out of a modern drama by -way of asking a question! But let me follow your lead and answer you -from the epilogue: - - 'Men conquer all, but women conquer men.'" - -Then she passed by him still laughing, and the echo of her laughter came -back to him long after the last gleam of her silks and laces had -disappeared from sight. - -A grand ball completed the celebration of George Newbold's birthday, and -those who were perforce the wall-flowers of the occasion noticed, not -without comment, that Mr. Tremain kept sedulously away from Miss -Hildreth, and that Patricia danced more often with the dark Russian -stranger than with any other of Mrs. Newbold's black-coated contingent. -Or, as the men put it afterwards in the smoking-room, that conceited, -distinguished, red-ribboned foreigner devoted himself exclusively to the -most beautiful woman of the evening, with occasional relapses to the -plainest girl. - -It was thus that Miss Hildreth and Rosalie James divided the honours, if -such they could be called, of Count Vladimir Mellikoff's attentions. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -"IT IS HOPELESS." - - -True to his resolution, made more absolute than ever by Miss Hildreth's -last openly displayed indifference, Mr. Tremain determined to leave the -Folly on the first possible excuse. His visit had already prolonged -itself far beyond its original limits, and in the departure of his -friend Mainwaring, he saw a happy opportunity of effacing himself -naturally and without too violent a wrench. - -John Mainwaring had come down only for the theatricals, and nothing -could be more _à propos_ than for Philip to make his _adieux_ with him. -As for Patricia, he entertained no softer sentiment towards her than -that of distinct disapprobation. He felt it would be a relief to get -himself away from her influence and from the spell of her beauty. Twice -now she had repudiated him and the love he pleaded; what better proof of -her thorough deterioration could any man ask for than this? Could any -words have been more sharp than hers, or speak more openly of defiance -and glad rejection? Apparently she retained not one tender recollection -of the past, or the smallest desire to recur to it. She met him always -with cool raillery, mocking aphorisms, or taunting satire; she was hard, -brilliant, unresponsive as the diamonds she wore so regally, and to -throw oneself upon her sympathies was to wilfully grasp at the -glittering sheen of unreality, and be wounded because the substance -slipped from one's hold. - -Away from her and once more absorbed in the work of his profession, Mr. -Tremain felt he could forget her and the past few days of unrest and -disquietude. The calm monotony of his personal self-centred routine -became a haven of rest in his eyes, to which he looked forward with -impatience; forgetting that it is one's inner state of being that makes -or mars the tranquillity of one's existence. - -Accordingly Mr. Tremain ordered the packing of his portmanteaux, and -made known his coming departure the next morning at the very late -breakfast hour, at which feast Esther and a few of her guests appeared -languid and fatigued, and instant in their demands for the strongest -black coffee. - -Philip observed with relief that Miss Hildreth was not among the number. -Little Marianne was there, sitting by her mother's side, her fair -child-face looking all the sweeter and fresher by contrast with the -jaded _borné_ appearance of her elders. Vladimir Mellikoff was also -among the missing; but Miss James was at her place, seemingly none the -worse for her exertions of the evening before, her sallow countenance -and dark eyes being untouched either by fatigue or inertia. - -Mrs. Newbold received Philip's announcement with voluble expressions of -protest. - -"Oh, but indeed you must not go," she said, "we really cannot spare you; -do reconsider." And she looked at him with an almost exaggerated -expression of entreaty in her blue eyes. - -"You are very flattering and very kind," replied Philip, avoiding her -glance, and answering in conventional tones and words, "but really I -must go, it is impossible I should stay longer. Mainwaring has brought -me news of an important case, which has been advanced on the calendar, -in which I am involved, and even if this were not the case, I could not, -my dear Esther, desire to wear out so warm a welcome as yours." - -But Mrs. Newbold did not rally to the implied compliment. She shook her -head dubiously as she said: - -"That is only a _façon de parler_. I did not suppose, Philip, that you -would ever descend to subterfuge." - -At which Mr. Tremain laughed, and Miss James lifted her eyebrows in -scarcely concealed superciliousness. - -"One could almost be discourteous to Mr. Mainwaring, in thought, at -least," continued Esther, regarding that dark-visaged young man with an -expression that belied her smile. - -To which he replied, with a half-shrug of his shoulders, that he -considered himself fortunate in attracting any portion of Mrs. Newbold's -attention. It was a satisfaction to be regarded actively by her, even -though that activity took the form of animosity. - -Esther bit her lip and was silenced; but George Newbold laughed, and -remarked aside to Dick Darling that _that_ was a hit straight out from -the shoulder. - -Presently Marianne, who had been feeding the long-suffering Trim on -deviled kidney scraps, and enjoying, with all the cruelty of childhood, -his tears and squerms, lifted her golden head and innocent eyes, and -startled the entire company by exclaiming, in her clear shrill treble: - -"Mumsey, why does Mr. Val ask so many questions about my Lammy, and when -is my Lammy coming back again?" - -Esther, decidedly taken by surprise, turned quickly, and spoke with -unaccustomed sharpness. - -"Who are you talking about, Mimi? Who is Mr. Val? It really is -extraordinary the amount of gossip you manage to imbibe from unknown -sources." - -"Mr. Val," replied little Mimi, with unabashed frankness, "Mr. Val is -Mr. Val. I can't say all his name 'cause it's too long, so he said I was -to call him Mr. Val. He came out in the garden when I was getting -Popsey's buffday flowers, and he talked to me all about Lammy; and when -I told him Lammy's very own name, his eyes got so black, and he said, -'When is she coming back?' and, of course, I didn't know. Miss James, -she knows Mr. Val; she's always talkin' to him." - -At which lucid and candid explanation Miss James felt the blood rush -hotly to her cheeks, and Mr. Tremain, with kindly thought, turned -attention from her by saying, quickly: - -"It must be the Count, Mimi designates by that innocent abbreviation. -With the frank socialism of childhood, she is no respecter of persons. -'Mr. Val' sounds just as important in her ears as Count Vladimir does in -ours." - -"She's a ridiculous little monkey," replied Esther, impatiently; and -then the subject dropped, much to Philip's chagrin, as he desired to -glean some further particulars concerning Mdlle. Lamien's probable -return. Conversation languished after this, however, and one by one the -women stole away to their bedrooms, there to sleep off the excitement -and fatigue of the previous night. - -It was arranged that Mr. Tremain and his friend should take the six -o'clock evening boat, which would, as Freddy Slade remarked, land them -in New York in ample time for a "refresher" prior to dinner at the club, -at that magic hour when each small round table is daintily set out in -fine linen and glittering silver, and surrounded by the best-known -convives of clubdom. - -"The pleasantest hour, by Jove, of the whole twenty-four," said Freddy, -enthusiastically. "Upon my word, I quite envy you fellows the sensation -you'll produce when you walk into the 'Union.' You will actually smell -of the country, 'pastures green,' you know, and all that sort of thing." - -For the better part of the day the house remained silent and deserted as -far as the lower rooms were concerned, and luncheon, which was at all -times a movable feast, became on this occasion a translated one, to be -partaken of by the fairer sex within the privacy of their own -apartments, and in the luxury of _déshabilles_. - -Late in the afternoon Mr. Tremain made his way to Esther Newbold's -boudoir, and knocking with assured familiarity, opened the door almost -before the customary words of invitation. He found Mrs. Newbold alone, -lounging far back in a "sleepy hollow" of a chair, with a tiny -tea-service on a low, Japanese stool beside her. She welcomed him -cordially and with a charming smile. - -"Ah," she exclaimed, "is it you, Philip? I hope you have repented of -your morning decision and have come to tell me so, and beg my -forgiveness." - -"For what?" asked he, wilfully dense. - -"For saying you were going away, of course. Haven't you come to tell me -you will not go after all?" - -"No," said Philip, without any answering smile. "I have come, on the -contrary, to bid you good-bye." - -"You are unkind," exclaimed Mrs. Newbold, impetuously, "and--you are -unwise. What, Philip, are you going to lay down your arms so tamely, -and acknowledge yourself beaten by a woman?" - -"It would seem so, my dear Esther, if flight means that I am vanquished. -Will you give me some of your tea as a stirrup-cup?" - -She answered him by pouring out the fragrant Pekoe and handing it to him -in silence; the tears stood in her eyes and her mouth quivered a little. -She sat still as Philip drank the tea, and then, when he had put down -the empty cup and come back to his place beside her, she turned and -spoke quickly, and with almost nervous impetuosity. - -"Oh, Philip, I am sorry, grieved, inexpressibly grieved that you should -go in this way. I had hoped so much for you--for her--yes, more for -her--from the propinquity of these few days. And it has all come to -nothing, and you are going away, and how can it be possible for you ever -to come together, if you persistently let slip each opportunity of an -understanding?" - -She spoke with so much real earnestness, that Philip was greatly -touched. It needed not the mention of Patricia's name to make plain to -him who was the object of Esther's solicitude, and he could not but -smile sadly as he thought how little worthy was she of Esther's tears -and regrets. He bent towards her and took her hand in his. - -"My dear little friend," he said, "the truest friend ever granted to an -undeserving man, I beg you not to trouble yourself about me or my -unfortunate affairs. Let me assure you that I am truly grateful to you -for the opportunity you provided me with in which once more to seek and -learn my fate. If the result, and my answer, has been but a double -repetition of that of ten years ago, is that your fault? My dear Esther, -I have looked upon my old love without prejudice or bias, and I have -seen her stripped of all the thousand and one artifices that go to make -up the woman of the world; we have stood face to face with nothing -between us save the memory of the past, and I can say to you with all -truth and earnestness, that I am not only glad, but thankful, that her -answer to my appeal was what it was. Believe me, there could never be -any solid happiness for us so long as the ten years of our separation -lies between us like a gulf, dividing our past from our present. It is -better as it is, dear Esther, it is better as it is." - -He unloosed her hand, and, rising, walked hastily up and down the room. -Mrs. Newbold was crying openly, scarcely wiping away the tears as they -fell. - -"Oh, Philip!" she pleaded, her voice pitiful and broken, "indeed, -indeed, you judge her too harshly. Oh, can you not read her heart; are -you so blind, so very blind, as not to see it is for you she cares, and -you only? It is because she loves you that she strives to hide it all; -that she laughs and jests, and is bitter, and mocking, and gay, and -frivolous by turns, and never, never once reveals the real, passionate, -throbbing woman's heart beneath these artifices. Oh, what can I say to -open your eyes?" - -"Say nothing," he replied, sternly, "it is best as it is. I am not one, -Esther, as you know, to come lightly to a decision, especially one of -such grave importance to me; but in this you cannot change me; nothing -can alter my decision. You are blinded by your loyalty, you see her as -you fain would see her, with the glamour of her beauty and her -fascination surrounding her so closely you cannot perceive the real -woman beneath. But I have beheld her as she is, cold, hard, brilliant, -illusive, heartless; she is but the mocking personation of her old self; -the outside tenement, beautiful, bewitching, but soulless and insincere. -I told you when we spoke of this before that I would not willingly again -become the plaything of a woman's vanity, and yet, so frail are man's -resolves, I did again put my fate to the touch, and have again failed -and lost. I am not likely to repeat my folly, Esther, when I can still -hear the words of scorn with which she repudiated me, and flung back my -love as not worthy her consideration." - -"It is hopeless, then," cried Esther, imploringly. - -"Yes," he replied, shortly, "it is hopeless, and I am glad that it is -so." - -When next he spoke, it was upon indifferent topics, and there was that -in his face and voice which warned Esther against reopening the former -subject. Before he left her he stood a moment, holding her hand, and -looking down into her flushed and earnest face. - -"Do not think me ungrateful," he said, with one of his rare, sweet -smiles; "I have had my opportunity, it is my fault that I failed to -utilise it to my advantage. After all, these things are arranged for us -by a higher power than our own wills. To you, Esther, I can never feel -aught but grateful, and you know whenever you need my poor services, -they are yours without the asking." - -"And hers, Philip, hers also," she pleaded, "you would not refuse your -help to her, should she ever require it?" - -"That is such an unlikely contingency, your question needs no reply," he -answered, gravely; and bending his head until his lips touched the hand -he held, he said, with simple gravity: "Good-bye, Esther, and God bless -you." - -And so he went away from her, and Mrs. Newbold, with the unreasoning -instinct of her sex, felt she had never esteemed him so highly as now, -when he refused the request she urged so ardently upon him. - - - - -CHAPTER X. - -THE SONG OF THE CIGALE. - - -Mr. Tremain, on leaving Mrs. Newbold's boudoir, made his way, without -encountering any one, to the lower hall, turning instinctively from the -billiard-room, from whence the sound of the cues against the balls, and -an occasional exclamation proclaimed the occupation of the men. - -In his present state of mind he felt no inclination to join them, or -take part in the employment of the hour. His conversation with Esther -had reawakened all the unrest and bitterness of his heart against -Patricia. Looked at in any light, her conduct could not but appear -heartless and unwomanly, and the remembrance of it--of her scornful -eyes and smiling, mocking lips--rankled in his mind and added the one -touch of vindictiveness that is so closely allied to revenge, as to be a -difference in name only. - -Mr. Tremain would have scouted any such paltry feeling as a desire for -retaliation, and yet deep down in his heart there lay the half-developed -germ. Could any vendetta strike her heart more surely than such an -action on his part, as should prove to her how brittle were the bands -she had woven, how impotent her power to hold captive the man she had -scorned? - -There remained yet an hour before the time of his departure, and Philip, -more by instinct than design, turned towards the library, and, pushing -back the noiseless _portières_, entered. The room was empty, and lay in -the half-shadow of the quick coming evening. A touch of gold from the -setting sun still lingered on the painted windows, touching to a deeper -tone the blues and purples in the classic folds of Clio's drapery. One -casement stood open, and the evening air floated in, fragrant with a -thousand odours from Nature's laboratory; strong and subtle and -all-powerful arose the keen scent of the musk plant, overcoming all -lesser perfumes, and asserting with overwhelming insistence its -supremacy. One long low ray of sunlight fell across the picture on the -easel, lighting up with magic radiance the passionate languor of Io's -face, and marking with stronger emphasis Jupiter's stern acceptation of -her allurements. - -Still following his instincts Mr. Tremain crossed the long room, and -drawing back the curtains that separated the music-parlour from the -library, stood for a moment uncertain as to his further action. The room -was unlighted save for the same level rays of dying sunlight, and the -piano that stood at the far end was thus lost in the quivering -darkness. - -Philip, even as he stood upon the threshold, and before his eyes became -accustomed to the dim light, was conscious of the presence of some one -within the room beside himself, and gradually as the obscurity became -penetrable he made out a dark figure sitting before the silent -instrument, with bowed head, about whose throat and face hung heavy, -clinging folds of black lace. Simultaneously with his discernment of -this presence, he recognised its personality, and as he did so felt -alarmed and electrified by the sudden rush and tumult which took -possession of his being. The blood leapt to his face, he felt it throb -in his temples and pulse in his veins, as he realised without further -assurance, and before the bowed head was lifted and the pale, cold face -gleamed out of the sombre surroundings, that it was Adèle Lamien who sat -there, and that he was unreasonably glad and sorry, repentant and -rejoicing, that he should thus have one more interview with her before -he should vanish out of her life, as Patricia had already passed from -out of his. - -He advanced slowly and stood before her. As he approached, she dropped -her protecting hands and sat silent, immovable, her pale face--pale with -the pallor of mental conflict--looking strange and unearthly amidst its -setting of falling black draperies, the dark bruise upon her cheek -growing livid in the half lights. Suddenly, she threw back her head and -smiled upon him. - -It was but the second time he had ever seen her smile, and as the -radiance and glory broke over her face and flooded it for one brief -moment, with a brightness and transient loveliness, he started, for -something in that smile and face, some strange, subtle, illusive -likeness to some one whom he knew, and yet whom he could not name, grew -into existence with the fleeting radiance, and faded with it before he -could grasp at the reality. It was but a mere shadow of a resemblance, -gone as soon as discovered, without substance, without reason, and yet -perceptible, even when most baffling. - -So sudden had been her transformation, and so rapid the return to the -old habitual quietude and repression of her countenance, Philip found -himself wondering if, after all, he was not under a delusion, or that -his eyes, dulled by the dim obscurity of the room, had not mistaken the -temporary flashing and paling of a sunbeam for that evanescent light on -cheek and brow. - -He had remained standing and silent, during the brief moment that -elapsed between his entrance and her recognition; he bent over her now, -and speaking quietly, said: - -"I am fortunate, Mdlle. Lamien, in finding you--and alone." - -"You are very kind," she answered, in a low, repressed voice, a voice -that had through all its repression a throb of passion. "Surely Mr. -Tremain can find pleasanter and more amusing companions than I." - -"None who can interest me so deeply, believe me," replied Philip, -gravely. "You have returned, mademoiselle, the better, I trust, for your -absence?" - -"My absence?" she queried, a little surprised; then more quickly, "Ah, -yes, my absence; it was but an affair of hours, a necessity, not a -pleasure. All the same, I thank you. I am better for the change." - -Philip had waited for some sign of invitation to remain, but as none -came, he grew bolder, interpreting her silence as best pleased him, and -drawing up a low arm-chair, took his place beside her, at such an angle -as enabled him to watch her face without effort. - -"You have been missed, mademoiselle, by more than one," he said, slowly; -"your name has been often mentioned, even by those unknown to you." - -"Indeed," she replied, more quickly than usual; "who has done me that -honour?" - -"I shall answer your question by another," said Philip; "Mdlle. Lamien, -where and when have you known Count Vladimir Mellikoff? Who and what is -he, that he should express his surprise and displeasure at your -movements?" - -She drew a long sigh, and turned her head away from him, as she answered -slowly and in a low voice: - -"Where and when have I known Count Vladimir Mellikoff? Who and what is -he? My reply can be brief enough, Mr. Tremain, to both questions: I have -never known Count Vladimir at any time, I have no idea who or what he -is." - -Her words were concise and to the point, but they failed to convince -Philip of their absolute sincerity. He said nothing for a few moments, -but the silence that fell between them was alive with suggestion; and -Philip, as he watched her, felt the old inconsequent irrational -influence of her personality creep over him, wrapping him about in a -half-magnetic, half-willing subjection; and which, while recognising its -power, he was unable to throw off. - -It was she who broke the silence with an upward gesture of disdain, as -she said: - -"Why should we speak upon so worn out a theme as my existence, Mr. -Tremain? There are none concerned in my past who would care to recognise -me now." Then suddenly, and with a quick movement towards the piano: -"Shall I play for you, Mr. Tremain?" - -She did not wait for his reply, but struck at once a few low notes, a -minor chord or two that swept across the dim half-lights, and seemed but -an outcome of the twilight, and of the last faint golden rays fading -moment by moment in the far western sky. Then a headlong rush and tumult -of melody caught up the passion, and despair, and longing of a soul in -bondage struggling to be free, beating against the bars, crying out in -anguish, then sinking back into despondency, and with a final moan -striking downwards to despair. - -Mr. Tremain, as he listened, felt himself caught up in the rush and -movement, and borne along with it, following her will and pleasure even -as her white fingers flew over the ivory keys, striking them now with -fiery impetuosity, now with caressing softness, and again with lingering -tenderness. Her slight figure in its black dress was alive and sinuous, -responding to each emotion; her pale face grew illumined beneath its -weight of white hair and drooping laces that fell about it. She was the -living incarnation of the music; and Philip, half spell-bound, half -realising the potency of the spell, found himself repeating mentally, -"the charm of woven paces and of waving hands." Was she a Vivien as -well? - -She ceased playing as he came and stood beside her, and in the hush that -fell between them, the echo of light laughter floated to them from the -rooms above. It was a discord, a false note in the intensity of the -theme. - -Philip bent towards her, almost touching the white hair with his lips; -it was a moment of exquisite uncertainty. Then she struck the notes -again, and a plaintive prelude stole out, while in a low voice, -monotonous yet musical, that seemed but the continuation of the melody, -she said rather than sang: - - "I am a woman, - Therefore I may not - Fly to him, cry to him, - Bid him delay not. - What though he part from me, - Tearing my heart from me, - Hurt without cure!" - -Her voice faltered, sank into silence, her hands fell from the keys and -lay motionless upon her lap. Philip, to whom the first line of her song -had come not as a surprise, but as an expected climax, bent forward -eagerly. Once again he heard the mocking voice of his vision, once again -the faint sweet perfume of violets stole upward, robbing him of the -reality of the present, restoring to him the past with all its -unfulfilled promise and its hope. - -It was the passion of surprise, not of arrangement or premeditation, -that held him, and that swaying him against his better self, made him -speak from the emotion of the moment. - -"Adèle," he said, his voice low and restrained. "Adèle, you have -doubtless heard my story; you know that I have been the sport, the -plaything of one woman's vanity for all the better years of my life; and -yet I dare to offer you the heart she has scorned. Adèle, will you -accept it? Will you restore my faith and belief in womanhood; that faith -and trust which another woman has so nearly destroyed? Hush, wait one -moment before you speak. Yes, I know I am almost a stranger to you, I -have seen you but half-a-dozen times; you know but little of me, and -that little is not of the best. And, I too, what do I know of you? -Nothing, save what Esther was pleased to tell us all concerning you. I -realise that your past is seared and crossed by sorrow and grief, but -always, Adèle, always since first I saw you, you have haunted me, you -have possessed me, you have laid me under a spell. Break that spell now -by saying you will listen to me; by telling me that at last, however -late in life, my faith, my belief, my trust shall not be given in vain." - -He stopped, and she looking up quickly saw the flush of earnestness upon -his face, the light of eagerness in his eyes. She let fall her glance, -and a little smile--was it of triumph or of pity?--crept out about the -mouth, that died ere he could catch its curves. She had listened to him -apparently without surprise, and without betraying emotion of any kind; -her voice fell dull and cold when she spoke. - -"You proffer a strange request, Mr. Tremain, and one not easy of reply. -Is it possible you can be in earnest? Have you not heard my story? Has -not the whole of Madame Newbold's world become cognisant of its -details? Do you not know that Adèle Lamien is a woman on whom rests the -blight of suspicion, if not of guilt? A woman whose life has been one of -no common misery. Do you realise what it means to be suspected of crime, -branded as a fugitive, an outcast? Can you gauge the depths of misery -contained in the words ruined and repudiated? Do you not know that one -spot upon a woman's reputation, though incurred through no fault of her -own, stamps her for ever in the eyes of your world. Can you, knowing all -this, realising it, yet ask me to listen to your words of vehemence? -You, Philip Tremain! Ah, do you not know I would give my very heart's -happiness if I might so listen? No, no; that is not what I mean. You are -mad, Mr. Tremain, mad with the desire born of a moment's passion." - -"I am not mad, Adèle," he urged. "I ask you again to listen to me, and I -tell you again that I neither care nor wish to know more of your past -than you desire to tell me. Cannot we forget that, cannot I make for you -a future that shall outlive your past? Nay, wait one moment, there is -something more I must say. You know I have no fresh first devotion to -offer you, I have not even a heart swept and garnished for your -acceptancy. I did not wish to love you, I am not sure I love you even -now; all I know is that you draw me to you with invisible chains; that -you take from me all resistance, all desire to resist." - -"Ah," she exclaimed, with infinite bitterness, "you speak as a man. We -women do not so easily break the bonds that have held us for so long. -Suppose I were to take you at your word, suppose I were to listen to -you, to your own undoing? What would be the outcome of it? I, a woman, -Adèle Lamien, who perchance has looked shame in the face, who may have -swept the by-ways of wickedness with her skirts, I to demand of you this -sacrifice, and for what? That you may hear my name spoken in whispers -and with bated breath; that you may see me pointed at in scorn and -derision; that never may you look at me, never see my face, without the -bitter memory of my buried past rising up between us. No, this may not -be; you have loved before, it is not love you feel now, it is -resentment, disappointment, anger. Put by your fancy of the hour, Mr. -Tremain, and let Adèle Lamien fade out of your life even as she has come -into it, an accident only. Do you not remember the fable and fate of the -poor Cigale? - - 'The grasshopper so blithe and gay, - Sang the summer time away; - Pinched and poor the spendthrift grew, - When the keen north-easter blew.' - -I am that poor Cigale. I have had my summer time, and now it is winter; -and you would fain make me believe that one can conjure up a second -summer from out the ruins of autumn's blasts; nay, that is impossible -alike for you as for me. Believe me, no good has ever come from a -passion so suddenly developed, as this you plead now. You will live to -thank me for my words, even if now, at this very moment, you are not -confessing their justice." - -She rose as she finished, and moved somewhat away from him. The darkness -of the early May evening had crept up and about them unnoticed; she had -become indistinct and unreal, a part of the shadows that surrounded her; -and Mr. Tremain, as he listened to the low, even notes of her voice, -felt the unreality of his position grow more and more defined. - -He had been mad--mad with a moment's passion; and yet--and yet, what was -this impalpable, intangible influence that drew him to her with -invisible cords, even while he realised the wisdom of her words, and -rejoiced in the freedom she forced back upon him? - -The silence and the darkness increased; she became but a dim outline -against the deeper tones of shadow, her pale face alone showing in the -gloom. - -"You scarcely give me a choice, Adèle," he said; "and yet how is it -possible for me to accept your decision?" - -His words were followed by a light laugh; a chord struck sharply, and -then from out the obscurity came her voice again. But what was this -change in it? What was this undertone of mocking raillery that sounded -so familiar and yet so incongruous? - -"Said I not truly, Mr. Tremain, you are mad to ask me to listen to you; -and yet--ah, Philip--perhaps it would be wiser for us both could I but -yield." - -"Then listen, I entreat, Adèle," he cried, impetuously, "do not make -your decision a final one; leave it open as a possibility for future -consideration. Do not let me ask in vain; only say that you will think -twice before you refuse me definitely. Do I ask too much?" - -"Too much!" she echoed, and her voice sank to a whisper. "Is it too much -to put the cup of water to the parched lips of a dying man, and bid him -drink? Will he refuse, think you? Do you know how greatly you tempt me? -Shall not you and I come to repent with bitterness this parleying with -the inevitable? Well, then, since you will have it so, and since my will -is weak--ah, so very weak--and fate is strong, it shall be as you wish. -I will make no final decision. I will wait. Surely this should be -triumph enough, even for me, to know that I have won you from the -remembrance--nay, from the very presence of--Patricia Hildreth!" - -At Patty's name thrust thus sharply and unexpectedly upon him, Philip -started forward, impelled by the same unknown, unreasoning force that -had held and controlled him throughout their interview, but he was too -late. He was conscious of a light silken rustle, a low laugh, a hand -laid for a moment on his, and then he was alone. - -As Mdlle. Lamien drew the _portières_ behind her, two figures crept back -into the obscurity of the room beyond, and as she passed swiftly on and -out into the hall, a whisper in a woman's voice echoed across the -shadows: - -"Are you satisfied--convinced? There is no mistake?" - -"I am absolutely convinced, mademoiselle, there can be no mistake," -answered a second, carefully modulated voice. - -A moment later Miss James stole quietly out of the now dark library, -followed by the sombre, gliding figure of Vladimir Mellikoff. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - -INTROSPECTION. - - -The party at the Folly had broken up at last, and, going the way of all -things terrestrial, was already numbered among the pleasures of the have -been. - -Mrs. Newbold had flitted seaward with little Marianne, her husband, her -maid, and a small army of dress-baskets and boxes. The golden glory of -July held the gardens and woods, the terraces and parterres, in the -spell of midsummer colouring; flinging abroad with generous hand its -meed of sunshine, its wealth of fruit, its richness of blossom, its long -hours of fullest beauty, when the intense blue heavens above, the -smiling earth below, and the very atmosphere of soft delicious haze -seemed to palpitate with their own tropical luxuriance. - -Mrs. Newbold's island home never looked more enchanting or enchanted -than in this "royal month," and yet it was just at this perfected time -that stern fashion decreed she should leave it, and seek for pleasure -and relaxation within the narrow limits and confined area of George -Newbold's yacht. And Esther, with a courage worthy of a better cause, -never dreamed of disputing fashion's mandate, but bore with heroic -fortitude the thousand and one restrictions entailed upon her by -existence in the _Deerhound_; for even in that most luxurious schooner -her convenience had to suit itself to space. - -And so, while the _Deerhound_ lay moored at Newport, and Mrs. Esther -entertained and was entertained with almost royal splendour, and the -long summer days were given up to feasting and amusement, and the long -summer nights to dancing and intrigue, the Folly was deserted, its -blinds close drawn, its hospitable doors locked and barred; and the -roses came to perfection, and ran riot in their wantonness, showering -their petals in such lavish prodigality that the garden paths lay strewn -and heaped with the crimson and white of their livery. - -Even as in ancient Rome a certain youthful emperor, satiated with every -guise of amusement, worn out with pleasure and fulfilled desire, buried -the companions of his licentiousness beneath an avalanche of -rose-leaves, which, as they fell, became their grave-clothes and their -pall. - -And have we of to-day no likeness to this pagan Heliogabalus? Do not we -bury the best-beloved of our past beneath a cere-cloth, formed of the -sweet sentiments of forgetfulness; and, turning from their appealing -eyes and sadly accusing faces, enter with fresh zest and renewed -enthusiasm upon the untried excitements of the hour? Are we, after two -thousand years of Christ's humanity, and the awful lessons of Gethsemane -and Golgotha, so much less pagan? - -Mrs. Newbold had taken Dick Darling with her in her flitting; she had -come to have a very true affection for that somewhat crude young lady, -for Esther possessed so much of the alchemist's power as to recognise -pure gold when she found it; and also Miss Darling's outspoken -admiration for Patricia Hildreth acted as a salve to her disappointed -and fruitless projects. - -To Dick herself the prospect of three weeks or a month at Newport on -board the most perfectly appointed yacht of the squadron, with unlimited -license to enjoy the passing hour to the full, was, in her own -phraseology, "just too most awfully nailing!" She danced and she -flirted, the latter in her own half-boyish fashion. She smoked -everybody's cigarettes save her own. She won the ladies' single-handed -lawn tennis tournament, and sported the prize--a jewelled racket and -ball brooch--with frank delight in her own prowess. She drove Freddy -Slade's tandem up and down Bellevue Avenue all one morning, and sailed -Jack Howard's microscopic cutter out to the Narrows and back in the -afternoon. - -She was, indeed, as happy as the day was long; like Browning's -'Duchess,' "she loved whate'er she looked on, and her looks went -everywhere." And then, oh, happy thought, were there not more worlds to -conquer in the immediate future? Did not visions of New London, Shelter -Island, Mount Desert, and the Isle of Shoales stretch out in endless -perspective before her? What girl could dare to be otherwise than -sublimely happy so long as the sea laughed, and the sun shone, and there -were such beneficent factors in the scheme of life and Providence as -horses, and dogs, and boats, to say nothing of men and boys, who were -but the playthings of existence? - -And through all those long, luxurious summer days, Mr. Tremain remained -in town, returning a curt negative to all alluring invitations. - -He had not seen Mrs. Newbold again after his momentous interview with -Mademoiselle Lamien; indeed, he had left the Folly immediately after it, -walking into New Brighton, and proving but a sorry companion to John -Mainwaring, during their journey to New York. - -To tell the truth, he felt himself to be somewhat of a traitor to -Esther, in that he had permitted himself to become a traitor to the -memory of Patricia. He could not quite forget or put from him Esther's -earnest words, Esther's eyes filled with tears, and Esther's undeviating -fidelity to the love of his youth; that love from which he had now -deliberately and by his own act cut himself off for ever. He knew that -to Esther he could only appear as the most weak and vacillating of men; -his own words rang too clearly in his ears to allow him for one moment -to doubt what her judgment upon his action would be. - -There are two things no woman can excuse or palliate in a man: -disaffection from herself where she has once been the first object of -his devotion, or disaffection to an ideal which she has set up as a -fetich, and to which unswerving fidelity is expected as a matter of -right. Esther had set up in this position the old love of ten years ago -that had existed between himself and Patricia; she had, so to speak, dug -its dead body from out its unquiet grave, and breathing into it her own -vitality and desire, had set herself to work to re-create answering -sentiments in his heart. With the impetuosity of woman's nature, which -considers no office so legitimately its own as that of binding up broken -hearts, and reuniting broken troths, she endeavoured now to re-construct -and rehabilitate this passion of his youth, never pausing to reflect -upon his attitude in the case, or the probabilities of failure which -amounted to certainties. - -She had failed, it was true; but that is only half a failure that -leaves matters at the point from which they started. There is always -room for hope so long as certain premises remain unchanged. Philip was -still unbound and unfettered, and Patricia was still Patricia Hildreth. -Were not these sufficient foundations on which to build as fancy -dictated? - -Reflecting on this, and on his own position from Esther's point of view, -Mr. Tremain could not but acknowledge that his proposal to Mdlle. -Lamien, and their partial engagement, could only be regarded by Esther -in the light of direst treachery. Any reasons he might bring to bear in -defence of his present situation and the circumstances that had led up -to it, would, he knew, be scoffed at and scouted by his staunch little -friend. Of what use would it be for him to enter into the physiological -side of the question? He could not hope to explain to her the vague, -impersonal power that drove him on to this finale. Should he plead that -he was not altogether a free agent, and advance in confirmation of this -the subtle illusive resemblance of Mdlle. Lamien to another some one, -equally shadowy and unreal, he would be met with an incredulous smile, -and a suggestion that since he could urge no stronger reason than that -of a chance likeness, why need he hesitate to _exploiter_ his delusion? -Or why choose Adèle Lamien's negative unreality, in place of Patricia -Hildreth's positive personality? - -It would be vain also to remind Esther that not only had Patricia twice -deliberately refused him in words, but by open raillery and covert -mockery had emphasized those refusals, more times than his pride cared -to count. No, Esther would be convinced by none of these things; it was -worse than hopeless to expect it of her, and therefore worse than -useless to appeal to her. In selecting Adèle Lamien for his future wife, -he had cut himself adrift from his own life, and from the close sympathy -and intimacy of those few friends whose affection had made existence -worth living. - -He realised perfectly that in thus choosing a woman upon whose past lay -not only the blight of secrecy but the curse of suspicion, he made that -past his own with all its weight of shame and sin, nay, perhaps, even of -crime, at which she had so vaguely hinted. He knew now that in that -moment of surprise and overmastering passion, when the spell of her -music and her presence held him against his will, he had not reasoned, -he had not considered. He had let the potency of the moment bear him -away; he had, indeed, seen dimly what the outcome must inevitably be, -and yet he had allowed himself to drift on with the current, and made no -resistance. - -His love, his pride, smarting and burning beneath the cool insolence of -Patricia's scorn, hurried him on to such a declaration as should be -final, and break for ever the bonds of those ten years that had held him -so long, and galled him so intolerably. He would be free, and Patricia -should see and recognise his freedom and own its justice, even though -she laughed gaily and jested mockingly upon it. - -It was indeed in this half defined and scarcely acknowledged -retaliation, that he now found his chief solace, for the matter of his -new engagement cannot be said to have contributed to his happiness. -Still, if fate was so untoward as to eliminate all the higher degrees of -perfection from his destiny, it was at least something gained to know -that he retained the power of wounding one woman through another. It was -not the greatest or grandest revenge, nay, it had something pitifully -mean and ignoble about it; but it was revenge, and Philip was still -human enough not to have mastered that divine perfection, which kisses -the hand bearing the rod, and blesses the scourge even while the blows -fall. - -In the meantime he hugged his secret, and kept his unhappiness to -himself; refused to mingle with his own kind, and rarely stirred from -out his chambers, except for the daily walk to and from his office, and -grew silent, morose, unapproachable. - -The July days came and went with lingering, regretful steps; but they -brought him no comfort. He grew to hate the long, bright, cruel hours, -during which the sun shone so fiercely in the intense blue sky whose -wide expanse was unsoftened by cloud or mist; even as he came to loathe -the short midsummer nights, with the flooding moonlight and the radiant -stars set in the vaulted firmament of God's glory. - -No news and no word came to him from Mdlle. Lamien; he had neither seen -nor heard from her since their unsatisfactory parting. He had waited -expecting each day some expression from her, some recognition or -repudiation of the promise that bound him; but each day brought him only -disappointment, until at last, as the days grew into weeks, he ceased -expecting and accepted his position almost with relief. He was ready and -waiting whenever Mdlle. Lamien should signify her need of him; he would -not lift a finger to break the slight chain that bound him, but neither -would he by act or word rivet that chain closer. - -Of Patricia he knew absolutely nothing; not even the echo of her name -reached him. That most energetic of society chronicles, _Town Optics_, -was never counted in his literature, though, had he known it, even that -authority was silent concerning her movements. She had apparently -dropped out of his life as completely as even he could desire; and, as -he acknowledged with a bitter smile, she was not likely to vex or -trouble him more, in the changed conditions of his future. - -Ah, well, let her rest in peace! Patty, his wilful, loving, perverse -little Patty, had been dead to him for ten long years. - -But with the last week of July, Mr. Tremain aroused himself, and, -throwing off his lethargy, hastily packed a light portmanteau and betook -himself to a certain landing-stage down in the city's depths; and as the -sun set in a harmony of gorgeous splendour over Bowling Green and Castle -Garden, making a golden symbol of Trinity's tall spire, and flooding the -city with transient beauty, he stood upon the deck of a small steamer, -bound for the rocky shores of Maine, and, two days later, had vanished -amidst the deep far-stretching pine forests of that eastern state, -pitching his tent beside an outlet of wild Hemlock Lake, and lost -completely to civilisation in the form of post, or telegraph, or daily -paper. - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - -PLOTTING. - - -Count Mellikoff had also on leaving the Folly betaken himself to New -York, and re-established his locale in that quiet but eminently -aristocratic hotel, which has for years been a sort of Mecca to European -wanderers, who finding life on the plan of the ordinary huge American -caravansary, too public and _en évidence_, have sought with thankfulness -the more retired existence of this favoured resort. - -Most people object to that process of public cleansing usually regarded -as the attribute of vulgarity; but one need not be vulgar to object to -consuming one's roast beef and port wine under the public eye. It is -not a pleasant sensation to come to look upon one's self as only an atom -in the great scheme of a _table d'hôte_; one loses one's identity at -such times, and with the loss of identity goes also one's self-respect. -If you wish to retain your dignity in your own eyes and in the eyes of -your world, keep yourself to yourself; and, above all, do your eating -and drinking in private. Nothing is so much desired as that which is -difficult of attainment; and no man has so many dinner invitations as he -who is known to be fastidious, as to whose table he will honour with his -presence. - -On the evening of the same day as that on which Mr. Tremain started off -on his lonely wanderings, Count Mellikoff sat in a private apartment of -his hotel busy over a variety of despatches and papers, heaped together -on a writing-table. - -The day had been very warm, and even with the approach of night the -atmosphere became but little less intolerable. The windows were open, -but the latticed blinds were let down, and through the crevices the -moonlight fell in broken lines across the walls, the rays of the small -lamp on the writing-table being too faint to outshine the moonbeams; the -room, in consequence, had a half unreal appearance, through the mingled -reflections of oil and moonlight. - -A few blocks up Fifth Avenue, a barrel-organ was groaning out a popular -melody, interrupted at intervals by a Strauss valse from the German band -performing in Washington Square. - -On the centre table stood a tray with a bottle of claret and Apollinaris -water, and a glass bowl filled with cracked ice. - -Despite the intensity of the temperature, Count Mellikoff was -scrupulously dressed in evening costume, the gardenia in his button-hole -showing white against his coat; beneath the flower the tiny red button -of honour, that had so fascinated Miss James, stood out like a drop of -blood. - -With rapid, accustomed fingers, Count Vladimir opened one by one the -letters and papers, scanning their contents with quick comprehension, -and laying each document aside with accurate decision. As he came to the -last, he put it down before him, and bending forward, touched a little -gong that stood near his despatch-box; then he leant back in his chair -and waited. A door leading to an inner room was partially open. - -In the few seconds that intervened before his summons was answered, his -face, seen now in the full light of the lamp, seemed to grow more pallid -and anxious, the mouth beneath the straight moustache and beard grew -hard, the eyes from out their shadowy caverns burned with a restless -light, the cheeks appeared thinner, the forehead more pronounced, the -hand as it rested on the table more nervous and attenuated, while the -ruby in his ring glowed with an evil fire. - -The sharp metallic echo had scarcely died away before the door leading -to the other room was pulled noiselessly open, and a short dark figure -emerged from the interior shadows, and came forward with a cringing, -uncertain gait. - -"Did the Excellenza ring?" the man asked in Italian, standing before the -Count, and speaking in a voice that was both unctuous and false. - -Mellikoff looked at him for an instant before replying, while a smile of -infinite scorn and disgust curled his lips. - -"Yes," he answered shortly, and in the same language, "I did ring; I -require your most valuable services, Mattalini." - -The Italian bowed, and rubbed his hands together. - -"Si, si, Signor," he mumbled, "I am but your servant; you command, I -obey." - -Vladimir paid no attention to this protestation save for another of -those slow, scornful smiles, neither of which escaped the Italian's -notice. - -"You will take this letter, Mattalini," Count Mellikoff continued, -lifting a sealed packet and passing it across the table, "to M. -Stubeloff, who is at present in this city. You will deliver it into his -hands and bring me back a written reply--you understand, Mattalini--a -written reply." - -There was that in the Count's tone that caused the blood to leap hotly -within the Italian's veins; but he only bowed the more obsequiously as -he replied: - -"Si, Signor, I comprehend. The M. Stubeloff is he who represents our -father the Tsar in this _inferno_ of a country; he makes a sojourn here. -_Bene_, he shall receive your packet, Excellenza, from my own hand, and -you shall have his Excellency's written response." - -The man's voice was quiet and respectful enough; but Vladimir caught the -sudden look of hatred that flashed up for one moment in his eyes, and -knew that Mattalini was his secret enemy. As he turned away, Count -Mellikoff spoke again: - -"You will give directions below at the office, that should a lady ask -for me she is to be shown up at once--at once; do you understand?" - -"Si, Signor," replied the man, quietly; and then, with creeping step and -drooping shoulders, he crossed the room, appearing for one moment in the -moonbeams like the shadow of an evil spectre, and then vanishing as -noiselessly as he had entered. - -Once outside the room he stopped and drew a deep breath, lifting his -bowed form, and, raising his right hand, shook the open palm and long -fingers at the closed door. - -"Curse him," he muttered, "curse him root and branch. May the evil eye -never leave him now or hereafter, in life or death!" Then he turned and -walked swiftly down the passage towards the stairs. - -Count Mellikoff, left alone, leant back in his chair with a heavy sigh, -passing his hand wearily across his eyes. The rival musicians had -settled their difficulties by the withdrawal of the barrel-organ, and -only the strains from the German band floated in, mellowed by distance. -It was the "Blue Danube" they were playing, and unconsciously, Vladimir -Mellikoff kept time to the pathos of the under theme with his thoughts. -The look of anxiety deepened on his face, emphasized by the additional -expression of sadness that crept into his eyes. - -And, indeed, he had reason to be both sad and anxious; of late he had -detected in Patouchki's letters and despatches a latent tone of distrust -and suspicion, which he was quick to feel and to resent. - -There were no more veiled allusions to his past ability and faithful -services; no assurances of his proved fidelity to the Tsar; no -commendation of the work already accomplished, such as had come rarely, -to be sure, but yet with sufficient regularity in the earlier stages of -his mission. Rather were there peremptory commands, undisguised -admonitions, and barely concealed innuendoes of dissatisfaction and -distrust on the part of the Chancellerie. - -"Rest assured I shall be the last to misjudge or condemn you, Vladimir," -had run the chief's last letter; "but it becomes me to warn you that -there are others who take a less lenient view of your position than I -do, and who will not scruple to use every indiscretion against you. He -who serves Russia must be prepared to find her not only suspicious, but -ungrateful; it is your high privilege, Vladimir, to be counted among the -most loyal of her servitors; but even to you may come the bitter lesson, -that trifling with her decrees is followed by swift and sure punishment. -The sworn presence of the woman, Adèle Lamien, in Petersburg, to which -Tolskoi has given his oath, but which, as yet, we have been unable to -verify, greatly complicates your position, since the Chancellerie knows -that it was to find her you undertook your present mission. If, in the -month that elapsed between your arrival in the States and her alleged -appearance here, you have allowed her to slip through your fingers, you -know full well the judgment that will be passed upon you. Your telegrams -of late have been vague and uncertain, your letters no more assuring. In -the meantime, and up to this present moment, we have been unable to put -our hands upon this woman; she has disappeared as mysteriously as she -came. And since there is room for doubt in the matter, we prefer to give -you the benefit of that doubt, at least for the present." - -This had been the substance of Patouchki's communication, and Vladimir -could not mistake its tone, even if its meaning had not been further -enhanced by the arrival of the Italian, Mattalini, who came ostensibly -as a bearer of despatches, and with a request, which was more of a -command, that Count Mellikoff would kindly retain him in his service. - -A bitter smile had come to Vladimir's lips as he read the letter of -recommendation and looked at the candidate for his favour standing -before him. Well might Ivor Tolskoi have said, that lying craft and -duplicity were stamped on his every feature. Vladimir Mellikoff but -confirmed these words when he said, half sadly to himself, as the man -turned away: - -"And has it come to this, my chief? Am I to be dogged and watched by -such a paid miscreant as this Italian? Is he to be my 'double,' and am I -to stand or fall according to his testimony? Oh, Russia, hard indeed are -you as a task-mistress, heavy your yoke of iron, and bitter your -recompense!" - -It did not require any great perspicuity to read through the -Chancellerie's design in sending Mattalini to be servant to Count -Mellikoff; and, from the moment the sullen Italian entered his service, -Vladimir felt his evil star had arisen, and his evil hour arrived. - -That Tolskoi should have been the one to swear to the actual presence of -Adèle Lamien, or Lallovich, in Petersburg, when he--Mellikoff--was -hunting her down in America, troubled him but little. Firm in his own -belief, and secure of his ultimate success, he paid small heed to a -chance likeness that might easily have deceived so gay and volatile a -young man as Ivor. Was it likely that he, Valdimir Mellikoff, an old and -tried servant of the Tsar--old at least in experience if not in -years--should be distanced and out-done by a yellow-haired youth still -almost in his adolescence? Count Mellikoff smiled, and put the thought -aside as valueless. - -Much more disturbing and distressing was the scant news he received of -his betrothed. Olga had written once or twice during the first two -months of his self-imposed exile, and then suddenly her letters had -ceased, and he could obtain no further news of her than what he could -glean between the lines of the official telegrams in the daily -newspapers. These were meagre in the extreme, only a bare mention now -and then of the more important items of Russian politics, or her -attitude on the Bulgarian question; but they at least told him that the -Court was still at Petersburg, and therefore he knew Olga to be there -also. With the beginning of the Russian summer she would accompany her -Imperial mistress to Gatschina, or the baths, and then he felt he should -indeed be separated from her. - -Oh, for this weary time of probation to pass! This winning of one more -honour, one more decoration, to lay at her feet; and then to claim his -recompense, his prize, and with his first rapturous kiss upon her proud -lips seal his fealty, and bid a final good-bye to worldly ambition and -reward! - -Immersed in such meditations, Count Mellikoff started nervously as a -sharp rap on the door awoke him from his reverie; with the immediate -self-command of long habit, he instantly controlled both face and -voice, and calling out a "Come in," rose from his chair and walked to -the middle of the room. - -The door was thrown open with the words, "A lady to see you, sir," and -then quickly closed. A slight figure dressed in black, and with a heavy -veil drawn over the face, advanced towards him, and, as Vladimir came -forward, a voice, high pitched despite its whispered words, said -quickly: - -"I have come, but I must beg you will not keep me long." - -For answer Count Mellikoff bowed respectfully and pulled forward an easy -chair. - -"Let me ask you to be seated," he said in his suavest tones, "and pray -remove your veil. I entreat, I insist; the evening is stifling." - -Without a word his visitor sank down upon the chair, and mechanically -unpinned and removed her thick veil; the face beneath the hard outline -of the black hat looked hollow and aged, the dark eyes burned -feverishly, the thin lips were colourless. - -Even to the most superficial observer great and marked were the changes -that a few weeks had wrought there; it bore but a faint and blurred -resemblance to the face that Mr. Tremain had looked on, not unkindly, -two short months ago at the Folly. - -Count Mellikoff turned to the table, and pouring out a glass of claret, -added the ice and Apollinaris with careful exactness, and brought it to -his guest. - -"You must drink this, mademoiselle," he said. "You are looking very -exhausted. _Ma foi_, I cannot compliment you on the temperature of an -American summer!" - -She took the tumbler from him and drank the contents thirstily; as she -put down the empty glass her ungloved hand came within the radius of the -lamp-light. It looked shrunken and attenuated, the rings upon the thin -fingers hung loosely and jangled one against the other. She sat back -wearily, looking up at him with an eager, anxious expression. - -"I must ask you not to keep me long," she said again, "I may be missed -at any moment. It is important I should return as soon as possible." - -Count Mellikoff drew a chair in front of her, and sitting down leant -slightly forward, joining his hands together by the finger-tips. His -position and gesture recalled another like occasion in which she and he -were the chief actors; she shuddered violently and drew back from him -involuntarily. - -"Miss James," began Count Vladimir, in his cold, even tones, "I beg you -will believe that I am fully alive to your disinterestedness in thus -coming to me, and also to the risks you run in so doing. But, as I told -you during our first conversation, in seeking your co-operation in my -work I was well aware you would have to encounter much that must of -necessity be disagreeable to you, since defying or breaking the canons -of conventionality is always an unpleasant experience. You, however, -elected to become my partner in this work--an honour of which I am -deeply appreciative--and you were content to chance the consequences if -you could but work out your own ends in furthering mine. Am I not -correct in my statements?" - -"Yes, yes, oh yes," she replied, hurriedly. "You are quite right, -perfectly correct." - -"I can assure you, mademoiselle," went on Count Vladimir, with a little -smile, leaning somewhat more forward until the heavy, languorous scent -of the gardenia seemed almost to stifle her, "that I have no desire to -detain you longer than is absolutely necessary, though, were I to -consult my pleasure, I would willingly lengthen the visit of one for -whom I entertain such sentiments of respectful admiration. However, -since we cannot consult inclination, let us proceed to duty. What news -have you to give me of our _dramatis personæ_? Let us commence with -Philip Tremain." - -At the mention of this name the girl's white face paled perceptibly, and -her lips quivered. She loved Philip as well and as generously as it lay -in her nature to love any one; and though he had passed her by, even -when conscious of her love for him, it was none the less bitter to find -herself in the position of a spy and informer against him. - -Vladimir Mellikoff saw her hesitancy and read its meaning. - -"It's not pleasant, I admit, mademoiselle," he said, "to be obliged to -speak uncompromisingly of any one; especially must this be the case now -and with you, when you recall Mr. Tremain's pronounced--friendship." - -His jibe told. It was this very friendliness of Philip's attitude -towards her against which she most revolted and beat her passion to -tatters; she could better have borne his anger or hate, than his calm -indifference of friendly interest. - -"Mr. Tremain is no friend of mine," she said, sharply, and with a -short, hard laugh; "his goings and comings are nothing to me, except in -so far as they influence _her_. I have fully admitted to you, Count -Mellikoff, the reason why I shall be glad to see her humbled and -exposed. I do not know why she should nourish, and flaunt her beauty in -my face, when it lies in my power to tear the mask from her and reveal -her real self to the world that flatters and adores her every whim and -caprice." - -"You have both reason and cause on your side, Miss James," replied -Vladimir, quietly. "A woman scorned makes a dangerous enemy. But pardon -me, if I remind you who it is that has placed the power of enmity within -your reach." - -"I have not forgotten," she answered, with almost sullen bitterness; "it -is to you, Count Mellikoff, I owe my weapon of vengeance. I am not -ungrateful." - -Count Mellikoff made a slight bow, and said: "And now as to this Mr. -Tremain, where is he at present; and have you any further news of her?" - -"Up to this morning, Mr. Tremain was not two miles distant from here," -replied Miss James. "He had not left town since his last interview -with--her, until this evening." - -"And has he gone now?" inquired Vladimir, quickly, sitting upright in -his chair. "This is news, indeed. Where has he gone?" - -"That I cannot tell you, but certainly not to her. I called at his -chambers ostensibly on an errand of charity, and the janitor told me he -had left town suddenly. A little judicious questioning elicited the -further details that he had taken but one small portmanteau, given his -man a holiday, and ordered himself to be driven to a landing stage, too -far down town for any boat to start from but an ocean or Sound steamer. -He left no directions for the forwarding of his letters, and made no -plan for returning. He has vanished from out our circle for the present, -and I can give you no clue to his possible destination." - -"It matters but very little," replied Vladimir. "When his presence is -required, the orbit of his destiny will swing round to us again. We can -dismiss him for the present, and be thankful he has so opportunely -vanished into space. And of her, mademoiselle, of Adèle Lamien, as it is -wisest still to call her, since even walls have ears?" - -"You are over-prudent, Count Mellikoff, surely. Still, perhaps it is as -well to keep up the farce to the end. Of Adèle Lamien's escape there is -no fear. She is absolutely in our power; I know her every movement, her -daily avocations; I can put my hand upon her at any moment. She is as -unsuspicious and ignorant of the net closing so securely about her, as -she is that in me she sees her deadliest foe. No, there can be no -failure there; whatever else fails, I am sure of that revenge; that is," -she added, suddenly, "if _you_ are certain--if you are not deceived." - -"No, I am not deceived," replied Count Mellikoff, slowly. "We shall not -have much longer to remain inactive, mademoiselle; I do but attend a -final telegram, and then the blow will fall." - -"I hope so," answered the girl, bitterly; "and may it crush both him and -her when it comes." - -There was a moment's silence before Count Mellikoff spoke again; when he -did, his voice had regained its lighter tones. - -"And Madame Newbold and the charming Miss Dick," he asked; "what of -them?" - -"Still at Newport, on board the _Deerhound_; but they are to weigh -anchor to-night for a longer cruise than any they have yet taken. After -this evening it will be impossible to say when or where telegrams or -letters could reach them." She stopped for a moment, and then said, -abruptly: "And the warrant--you will have no difficulty about that?" - -"I anticipate none. The first steps can, of course, be but -preliminaries. There is no doubt of our securing an arrest, and that is -our first move. With Mr. Tremain lost, so to speak, the _Deerhound_ and -her passengers started on an uncertain cruise; and, New York an empty -wilderness, there is nothing to interrupt the march of events, -mademoiselle. We may look any day now, any hour, for the consummation of -fate." - -"I am glad," again replied the girl; "yes, I am glad. And now I must go; -it grows late. Have you any further instructions to give me?" - -She took out her veil as she spoke, and tied it closely over her face, -listening earnestly meantime to Count Mellikoff's low and rapid -utterances. He spoke quickly, but with decision, and she acquiesced by -her absolute silence. - -As he finished she rose, and drawing her thin black mantle closely about -her, walked rapidly towards the door. Vladimir Mellikoff held it open -for her, but she passed him without word or salutation. - -Half-way down the narrow passage a man overtook her, and turned to -glance at her as he passed. It was the Italian, Mattalini. - - * * * * * - -Later on that same evening, while Philip Tremain paced the deck of the -out-going steamer with restless footsteps, and did battle with the -conflicting emotions that raged within him, Patricia Hildreth, leaning -on the arm of the most distinguished partner of the hour, floated -languidly around to the strains of "Dreamland" waltzes, the most admired -woman of all the bevy of fair women who filled the spacious -drawing-rooms of the "Eversleigh" at Long Branch. Her draperies of -lustrous silk were not more white than her fair face, nor were the -jewels on her bosom more bright and cold, than was the blue fire of her -eyes. Only her smile retained its old charm and sweetness, and belied -the weariness that rested upon her brow. - -She conferred distinction by her presence, and dispensed her favours -with so royal a grace, the recipients of her bounty never stopped to -weigh their value, or count their cost. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - -THÉ ANGLAIS. - - -Ivor Tolskoi did not see Mdlle. Naundorff again for several weeks. - -On leaving her at the private entrance of the Palace, he had walked away -with Patouchki, towards the Chancellerie, where he was kept busily at -work until late in the afternoon. He purposely avoided the Court circle -in the evening, his presence not being officially demanded, for he felt -he could not so soon again meet Olga's reproachful eyes, and pale -suffering face; a longer interval must elapse before he could greet her -in his accustomed manner. - -The next day he heard of her sudden indisposition through that same -Countess Vera, whose trivial words had first set alight the fire of -vindictiveness in his heart. Ivor was a great favourite in all the -Petersburg _salons_, and his appearance in Countess Vera's drawing-rooms -at the magic tea-hour was hailed with delight. - -A considerable number of the best known _beau-mondaines_ were already -gathered there, to whom the Countess--who was a pronounced follower of -all customs English--was dispensing tea from out a most -un-English-looking samovar. She welcomed Ivor with effusion, and bade -him take the vacant chair beside her low gipsy-table, which with its -dainty tea-cloth and royal Worcester tea-service, looked distinctly out -of place in the large, formal, mirror-hung apartment. - -"It is delightful to see you, _mon cher_," lisped the Countess in her -high voice, looking at him languishingly; "it is ages, eternities, -centuries, since you last honoured one of my _thés anglais_ with your -presence. Positively I believe you have not before seen my newest -importation from that land of fogs and delights. Behold, this is my very -last!" and she pointed gaily to the little table. "I assure you it is -quite correct, quite _comme il faut_, cloth and all. I have it direct -from my dear friend, the Duchess of Hever; it is an exact copy of the -one used by the Princess at Sandringham. The dear English! one quite -grows to love them." - -And the Countess clasped her hands together dramatically, letting them -fall with effect upon her plush tea-gown; against the ruby folds the -diamonds and rubies of her rings flashed triumphantly. - -Tolskoi laughed, his full-hearted boyish laugh, as he took the English -tea-cup she held out to him. - -"You have the courage of your opinions, Countess," he said; "it is well -you are protected by Imperial favour. I know some houses in Petersburg, -where were such frank expressions of Anglo-mania indulged in, they -would be followed by a swift and emphatic caution from the -Chancellerie." - -The Countess shrugged her shoulders. - -"_Ma foi_, I am no politician, no intriguer. I am but a silly moth of -fashion, I do not even pose as a butterfly; but it appeals to my sense -of _bien-etre_ to be on good terms with England; and certainly it is -more politic, since through our Grand Duchess, and our Tsarina, our -dynasty is doubly allied with that country. But there, I see your eyes -are wandering after your thoughts; I regret your disappointment, _mon -cher_, for you will not see her here to-day." - -Tolskoi acknowledged the raillery with another laugh. "Ah, Countess, you -are the fairy of the story books! And why does not Mdlle. Naundorff -honour your _salon_ to-day?" - -"Because she is indisposed," answered Countess Vera, looking up at him -sharply; "she is obliged to keep her own apartments. I fear you took but -poor care of the future Countess Mellikoff, monsieur, for she returned -from the Petropavlovsk inspection looking like a ghost, and scarcely -able to render her light services to the Tsarina, during the evening. -Were the horrors of the Fortress so very pronounced, _mon cher_? You -will have to answer to Count Vladimir, you know, if on his return he -finds his _fiancée_ changed. Already Petersburg rings with your openly -displayed admiration for her cold beauty." - -She laughed as she concluded, and got up slowly from her low chair. Ivor -rose also. - -"I shall be only too happy to answer any charge of Count Mellikoff's," -he said, deliberately, "when he returns." - -Then the Countess Vera glided away from him, and with a word here, a -whisper there, a smile, a nod, a gesture, set afloat the rumour that -society might look for another highly-spiced scandal, as soon as Count -Mellikoff returned, for Ivor Tolskoi, not content with stealing away his -_fiancée's_ allegiance, intended to challenge him as well. - -Wasn't it quite dreadful? Ah, yes, but very romantic! added the little -Countess, to whom intrigue and scandal were as the breath of her -nostrils. - -The conversation now became general, and of course the favourite topic -under discussion was the Imperial visit of yesterday to Petropavlovsk. -Ivor found himself in constant requisition, and his ingenuity not a -little put to the test in replying vaguely yet satisfactorily to the -eager questions poured upon him. - -All interest in the reunion had, however, flown for him directly he -heard the cause of Olga Naundorff's non-appearance, and he managed as -soon as possible to make his _adieux_ to the Countess. - -"Ah," said that little lady, lifting her eyebrows in mock despair. "So -we are to lose you already! We cannot offer you a sufficient attraction, -_mon cher_, to keep you in the absence of the Court favourite. Let me -warn you again, Count Mellikoff is not a man to be trifled with." - -"Nor am I," answered Ivor, incautiously; whereat the Countess Vera -laughed. - -"_Ma foi_," she said, "if you carry matters with so high a hand we shall -have even a more dramatic _esclandre_ than the Stevan Lallovich affair. -By the way, Ivor, what news is afloat concerning Count Vladimir, and his -search for the missing woman? Oh, yes, you see it is no secret to me, -the reason of his departure _là-bas_." - -With which vague and descriptive term and a gesture equally disdainful, -the Countess indicated the broad continent of America. To her -intelligence and imagination, it was but a land of semi-barbarians and -savages, where existence was not worth the price of her smallest luxury. - -Tolskoi replied with a little bow. - -"Ah, Countess," he said, "who can hope to keep any secret from you, and -indeed who would wish to do so? I believe Count Mellikoff is fully -satisfied with his advance so far; it remains only for the Chancellerie -to express an equal approbation." - -Then he bent over the Countess's hand, and with a passing compliment, -made his devoirs and left her. She stood for a moment looking after him -thoughtfully. - -"I would rather not be in Count Mellikoff's shoes," she said to herself, -"should he not succeed. Ivor Tolskoi is not likely to prove a light -enemy, and Ivor Tolskoi means to steal from him not only his sweetheart, -but his reputation." - -Then she laughed a little as she turned gaily back to her gipsy-table, -and her _thé à l'anglaise_. - -Meantime Tolskoi on leaving the Palace Vera, turned his steps towards -the Boulevard de Cavalerio, in the direction of his own apartments. His -brow was clouded and his lips stern as he walked along the gaily-lighted -streets. Evening had already closed in, the long evening of a day late -in March, and the boulevard was full of life and movement. - -Ivor, however, took but little heed of his surroundings, the news he had -just heard concerning Olga, disquieted him not a little, the more so as -his love for her was very great, and he felt that he alone was -answerable for her mental and physical illness. He would have spared her -had it been possible for him to do so, and had he seen any other way out -of his difficulties. His first great object was to win her away from -Mellikoff, whom he knew to be his only serious rival, and to do this he -was willing to descend to any subterfuge. - -He knew her nature sufficiently well to be aware that nothing short of -falsity to her, on Vladimir's part, would serve to break even the light -bonds that held her to him. Mellikoff's greatest power lay in the -protested claims of this his first and only love; and she, in listening -to his protestations, had been more swayed by the sense of her undivided -sovereignty over him, than by any feeling of affection. - -His years and his honours gave him the right to pose as a man of -fashion, whose experiences of a certain kind were but foregone -conclusions; instead, however, of pleading this as a reason for his wish -to _ranger_ himself, he actually offered her a virgin heart, that had -known no warmer mistress than ambition, until he met her, and fell -captive beneath her smile and proud, cold loveliness. - -The paradox of his life was unique, especially in Petersburg; and Olga -had felt a thrill of pride when she looked upon Vladimir's stern face, -and noted the many distinctions of honour that marked his Court dress, -and realised that she, and she only, had won his love and his devotion. -She was the first woman before whom he had bowed his head in haughty -pleading. It was no mean triumph, even for Olga Naundorff, to win and -rule him as an accepted suitor. - -All this Tolskoi realised to the full, and as his passion grew and -strengthened, he determined to hesitate at nothing--no duplicity, no -falsehood--if by it he could awaken suspicion in her mind, and so gain -time for the perfecting of his own ends. Mellikoff's prolonged absence, -and the unexpected meeting with Adèle Lamien in St. Isaac's, gave him -ample basis upon which to work, and furnished him with a plan of attack, -with so much of possible truth in it as to carry instant conviction to -Olga's mind. - -Her heart had always remained untouched, even by Vladimir's devotion; -she had not therefore, the divine instinct of love, by which to sift out -the false from the true. - -And of Ivor it may be said, he believed enough in his allegations to -make their fulfilment an easy possibility; it was, however, quite -outside his calculations that Olga, by a real or feigned illness, should -effectually shut herself off from his personal influence; the more so, -as in a few days he was obliged to leave Petersburg, for his own estates -in the Ural provinces, and his absence would extend over several weeks. -What security had he against adverse circumstances and influences, while -separated from her? Was it not even possible that Mellikoff might -return triumphant? In which case, of what avail would be his schemes and -intrigues? - -Fate, however, was against him, for he did not see Mdlle. Naundorff -before his departure. He was often at the Palace, frequenting the Court -_salon_ with sedulous regularity; but Olga never appeared, and he -learned from the Countess Vera that she was still indisposed, "though -not in danger of death," that little lady added, sharply, and with a -meaning look at Ivor's downcast face. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. - -"FIND ME THE WOMAN." - - -It was early April, when Tolskoi reluctantly quitted Petersburg, and it -was June before he returned. - -The Court was still at the Winter Palace, for the winter season had been -a long and cruel one, and even with the first days of June, summer -advanced with but lagging footsteps, seemingly unwilling to awake the -gay capital from its long frost-bitten sleep. - -Political affairs also held the Emperor, whose presence in the -metropolis was considered by his ministers to be a necessity; therefore, -when Ivor shook off the dust of many days, travel and alighted from his -_coupé_ at the railway terminus, it was to see the familiar standard -floating from the Winter Palace, and the tall lance-like spire of -Petropavlovsk rising above the creeping waters of the Neva, and piercing -the vivid blue of the sky beyond. The Troitski bridge and Boulevard-park -were gay with passing traffic, and noisy with the cries of the flower -vendors, whose trays and baskets overflowed with the blue violets of the -Novgorod. - -Tolskoi made his way at once to the Imperial Chancellerie, where he -found Patouchki, as he had left him, seated at his desk and busy over -what seemed to Ivor the identical despatches that had surrounded him two -months ago. The only observable change in the chief's _entourage_ lay in -the open windows, and the softness of the west wind, as it stirred the -papers with a gentle touch, and yet that had a bitter chill even in its -caresses. - -Patouchki, he thought, looked worn and harassed; the sallowness of the -flesh tints, the deeper lines about his forehead and mouth, spoke of -days and nights of ceaseless occupation and anxiety; and to Ivor, fresh -from the almost limitless freedom of his wide frontiers, spoke also of -the despotic rule and iron obedience with which those who serve Russia, -must accept Russia's dictates. - -The chief looked up, and greeted him as though but a day's separation -lay between them. - -"Ah, Ivor," he said, "so you are come back. You are welcome." - -Ivor thanked him and turned towards his own desk, where lay neatly piled -together various documents and papers, anticipatory of his expected -return. Several newly cut quills were in the pen-tray, and a fresh -unstained pad was opened invitingly. An amused smile came to the young -man's face; it was all so absurdly natural and familiar; his absence of -weeks faded away and became visionary and unreal, in this crude -matter-of-fact light of official routine. - -What did it matter to Patouchki that he, Ivor, had but just come from -those distant, far-reaching steppes, where the shy game and wild -animals flew before his footsteps, and the miles of low stunted forest -ended only with the horizon line, to meet which the cold grey sky -appeared to curve in an almost perceptible arch. - -Standing alone, amidst his vast possessions, surrounded by a limitless -silence, Tolskoi had better understood than ever before the meaning of -the word freedom, and the unfathomableness of that undefined yet -distinct craving for something higher and greater, than this world -gives, which is implanted in every human heart. That vain, vague -stretching after the unattainable, the blue flower of the mountains, the -edelweiss of the Alps, which grows only on the heights of sacrifice and -abnegation, and which, like the precious stone set with the jewels of -suffering, is only attainable "to him that overcometh." Great indeed is -his reward, "and his joy no man taketh from him." - -Ivor had carried with him during all his long return journey by road -and rail, a recollection of this wider outlook, and it gave him -therefore somewhat of a moral shock to find the world of Petersburg--his -world--busily engaged just as he had left it, not only not recognising -any spiritual change in him, but not even aware of any better or higher -aims than those attainable by intrigue, and shameless pandering to the -powers of the moment. - -Although he had stood face to face with God and Nature, for one brief -moment, what was that to them? Here, in Petersburg, neither the Almighty -nor Nature, had part or lot in the fierce, unending struggle called -life. - -With a shrug of his shoulders Ivor took his accustomed place, and as he -broke the first seal felt the better influences fall from him, and the -old power reassert itself. - -If, as we are told, each soul has its fatal moment of choice, on which -depends its final development, this was that moment for Ivor Tolskoi, -and in accepting the old life with that careless gesture and cynical -smile, he put from him for ever the higher calling that might have been -his, and set his feet in the downward path of deterioration. - -After a short interval of silence, Patouchki turned towards him with his -old imperiousness of manner, and said, abruptly: - -"About this woman, Tolskoi, this Adèle Lamien, whom you avow you saw. So -far we have been unable to obtain any trace of her here, or learn -anything concerning her movements; while on the other hand Count -Mellikoff sends repeated messages of confidence as to his assured -success, and the infallibility of his approaching _coup de main_. So -after all, my dear Ivor, you must have been the victim of a delusion. It -is impossible for Adèle Lamien to be in Petersburg without the -Chancellerie's knowledge." - -"I was not mistaken, chief," replied Ivor, quietly. "I saw Adèle -Lallovich with my own eyes. Hers is not a face to be easily mistaken, -and I would rather trust to my own instincts, than to Count Mellikoff's -written assertions. Answer me one question, chief: has Vladimir -Mellikoff ever, to your knowledge, seen Adèle Lallovich?" - -"Really, Tolskoi, that is a strange question," answered Patouchki; -"frankly, I have never had occasion to ask him. The woman's face was -common property to all Petersburg, at one time, through the -photographers, and considering how well Count Vladimir knew Stevan -Lallovich, it is but natural to suppose his opportunities for seeing his -mistress were numerous." - -"Pardon me, chief, if I differ from you on one or two points," replied -Ivor, with unwonted gravity. "In the first place, you must admit that -Stevan Lallovich did not for some time regard Adèle Lamien in the light -of a mistress. He married her, remember, according to the ceremonies of -the Church of Rome, and it was not until his passion for her grew cold, -that he sought Imperial interference. He kept her exclusively at his -villa across the Neva, and so long as he upheld her position as his wife -was over-scrupulous in his care of her. I have reason to believe that -not one of Count Stevan's boon companions, even Vladimir Mellikoff, was -ever admitted to her presence. The marriage was secret and kept so, and -as long as the infatuation lasted Lallovich showed nothing but respect -to her. _We_ know how sudden was the Imperial ukase, and how little -prepared she must have been for it, was shown by the tragic vengeance -that overtook him. You understand then, chief, why I prefer to trust to -my own instincts rather than to Count Mellikoff's assertions. I did once -see Adèle Lallovich in her happier days, and I am not likely to mistake -her face now, even though disfigured by shame and crime." - -Patouchki had listened attentively to Tolskoi's remarks; he replied to -them by a slight gesture and the words: - -"Granted all that you say is true, Ivor, I fail to see how not knowing -personally this unfortunate woman is any real disadvantage to Count -Mellikoff. He has every facility for tracing her, and we know by -experience that the last evidence to build upon in such a quest is -personal appearance. It needs but the adjuncts of paint, powder, and a -wig, to deceive even Lucifer himself. No, no, that troubles me but -little; what is more of an anxiety is my inability to trace in any way -the accomplice who first assisted Adèle Lamien out of Russia, and who -now--placing credence upon your words--has accomplished her return. -Could I but put my hand on that accomplice, I would soon unearth the -criminal." - -Ivor made no reply save by a significant smile, and the slightest -possible shrug. Patouchki noticed both, and felt irritated at the -implied dissension expressed by them. - -"You have doubtless some theory to advance upon this also," he said, -sharply; "perhaps you will have the goodness to impart it to me." - -"I do not know if my deductions may be dignified by so specific a title -as theory, chief," Ivor replied, imperturbably; "I was but working out a -small sum of calculation, which is at your service. In December last, -Stevan Lallovich was murdered, and the woman calling herself his -wife--though a suspect, and closely watched as such--disappeared, -vanished absolutely. In the following January, Count Mellikoff, at the -request of the Chancellerie, undertook a mission of discovery in the -United States, whither the woman, according to trustworthy evidence, was -supposed to have flown. Two months elapse, and nothing is discovered or -revealed; meantime, you receive satisfactory, if vague, reports from -Count Mellikoff, and the Chancellerie is lulled to inaction for the time -being. At the end of March, I meet Adèle Lallovich face to face in the -heart of Petersburg, where she has arrived without the knowledge of the -Chancellerie, or its agents. That is my problem, chief; now to its -solution. The same powerful influence--whose word was law, whose will -was coercion--that got this woman out of Russia at a critical moment, -has again been successful in sending her back to Petersburg, at a time -when suspicion was thrown off its guard, and when Petersburg was a safer -hiding-place than New York. That is my theory, chief, so far as I have -worked it out." - -Patouchki did not speak for several moments. He sat looking straight -before him, the furrows wrought by anxiety and care plainly visible on -his sallow, stern, set face. - -The shadow of Ivor's veiled meaning was not lost to his quick -perceptions; but he put it from him as unworthy of debate, and turning -again to the young man said, even more sternly than before: - -"I would advise you to be careful, Ivor, in your own interests; it is -best to say less than you know, still less than you suspect. To me you -may speak freely, indeed, I desire you to do so; but beyond these walls, -have a care. What further conclusions do you draw from your elaborate -premises?" - -Ivor, with a quick flush at the suggestion of sarcasm in Patouchki's -voice, replied quietly: - -"But one, and to you, chief, my deductions may seem both absurd and -impossible. You will remember the circumstances of the murder, and you -will, I am sure, concur with me, when I assert that to plan and -accomplish such a crime could not have been the sole unaided work of a -woman. There must have been a bolder and surer brain behind, one who had -sufficient reason to make the perpetration of the murder serve as a -double revenge. Very well then, granting such was the case, who would be -better fitted or more competent to assist the accomplice in crime in her -flight, than he who had helped her to her revenge? Self-preservation -would render this shielding power compulsory, where she was concerned; -for, once she fell into the hands of the Chancellerie, not her life -only, but his, would be the forfeit. I have no doubt, chief, that he who -helped Adèle Lallovich across our frontier, has conveyed her back -again, and--for a reason." - -Tolskoi, as he finished, walked slowly across the room and back again, -halting beside Patouchki. The latter looked up at him with a strange -drawn expression upon his face. There was complete silence for a few -moments; when the chief spoke it was in a very different voice to his -usual harsh tones. - -"And you would suspect----" - -"I suspect no one, chief," answered the young man, his blue eyes -flashing coldly. "I would only suggest that it is a strange coincidence -at least, that shortly after Count Mellikoff's arrival in America, Adèle -Lallovich should reappear in Petersburg." - -He said no more, but turning abruptly, walked back to his desk. - -Patouchki sat immovable for a long time. Ivor's suggestion had fallen -upon him with almost crushing certainty, while mingled with the sense of -humiliation and irritation at being outwitted, was also the feeling of -pain and sorrow that he, who had thus outwitted him, should be the one -in whom he had most implicitly trusted. - -Like Olga Naundorff, there appeared to him no room for doubt. Ivor's -very appearance, his boyish _insouciance_ and frank bearing, were but -additional witnesses to that other's treachery. And yet, and yet, could -it be true? Should he not do well to wait just a little longer before -condemning the absent? Could he but find the woman, could he but put his -hand upon her! Were she really in Petersburg now, what greater evidence -of perfidy could he desire, with those damning proofs in the shape of -recent despatches and cables lying now on his desk? He turned at last, -and spoke with apparent effort. - -"Tolskoi, your warning is understood. Find me the woman, here in -Petersburg, and I shall then know how to act." - -"I will find her," replied Ivor, with stern brevity; and, accepting -Patouchki's words as a dismissal, he bowed and left the room. - - - - -CHAPTER XV. - -"THIS LITTLE HAND." - - -Late that same evening Tolskoi made his appearance at the Palace, in the -outer _salon_, where he found the usual gathering of officials and -_dames d'honneur_ with their invited guests. His reception was a -flattering one, and his return to the _beau-mondaine_ circles hailed -with acclamation. - -The heavy curtains to the inner _salon_ were closely drawn, indicative -of the Tsar and Tsarina's desire to remain unmolested for the present. -The evening was very warm, and most of the long windows stood open, the -wind gently swaying the light draperies. - -Beneath the casements the Neva crept by in slow rippling motion; the -moonlight falling athwart its grey opaqueness, woke here and there -sudden gleams of radiance. It struck also across the blank stone wall of -the Trubetskoi bastion, accentuating its grim outlines, and, shooting -far upwards, tipped the lance-like spire of Peter's Fortress with golden -fire. - -The Countess Vera was the first to welcome Tolskoi, smiling up at him, -as she did so, and waving her great fan of scented lace to and fro -languidly. - -"Oh, are you returned, _mon cher_? What a pleasure! And what a surprise -to _some one_! Oh, yes, she is here, and quite ravishingly beautiful. -For the moment she is with her Imperial Majesty. How hot it is, _mon -cher_, and what a cruelty that the Court regards no one's convenience, -save its own! One so longs to be flying westward." - -"Is it so unsupportable?" replied Ivor in his clear youthful voice, -looking very handsome and young as he bent down towards the miniature -lady. "Upon my word, when I am near the Countess Vera, I lose all -sensation but one of supreme well-being." - -"Ah, flatterer!" cried the little Countess, tapping him lightly on the -arm with her fan. "See, here she comes." - -At that moment the velvet curtains at the far end of the grand _salon_ -parted for a moment, to allow the egress of a tall slight figure, that -moved down the room with an almost regal grace, and whose white -draperies of soft lustreless silk swept after her in rhythmic curves. - -It was Olga, and Ivor, as he beheld her after two months of separation, -felt his heart leap up in glad response to her beauty. - -Indeed, never had she looked more beautiful. The grand curves of her -perfect figure, well defined by the low-cut bodice and falling laces of -her dress, her head, carried with all its imperial haughty grace, -crowned by the masses of her golden hair, her eyes so deep and wonderful -beneath the dark level brows, the "pomegranate flower" of her mouth -showing vividly against the colourless fairness of her complexion. She -wore a sapphire and diamond ornament upon her neck, and the rare stones -flashed and scintillated beneath her quick-coming breath. - -Ivor stepped forward eagerly, his face flushed with the renewed ecstasy -of her presence, and bending low before her, murmured some inaudible -greeting. The Countess Vera watched them, a smile on her brilliant -little face. - -Olga drew back, with an almost imperceptible movement, and with a sudden -dramatic gesture repelled, rather than welcomed, the young man. She had -not seen him since that day when at his thinly veiled allusions, and -suggestive words, all trust and belief in the truth and honesty of human -nature died within her. In that brief hour's drive it seemed to her she -had grown years older, and beyond that day she never looked. - -With the melting of the snows of winter she had put from her whatever -of softness or leniency belonged to her girlhood; with her womanhood she -adopted the creed of her world, "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a -tooth." - -"Ah, Ivor," she exclaimed, controlling instantly both voice and manner, -and holding out her hand in greeting, "so you have come back. What an -eternity you have been away! Petersburg has been only half itself -without you." - -She smiled as she spoke, and the charm of her smile counterbalanced the -indifference of her tones. - -"Petersburg cannot have been so desolate without me, as I have been -without Petersburg," answered Tolskoi, gaily. "Is one permitted, -mademoiselle, to express one's admiration and pleasure in beholding you -so radiant and so--happy?" - -"One is permitted always to speak one's mind in this age of -enlightenment," she replied, carelessly, though the meaning of Ivor's -question had not escaped her. - -"And what news do you bring with you?" she continued, a little -hurriedly. "One is bored to extinction here, kept so late in town, and -with such a dearth of novelty that counting flies upon the wall becomes -an exciting pastime." - -She had walked on as she spoke, separating herself from the Countess -Vera by a slight farewell gesture; Ivor kept pace at her side. When they -drew near one of the deep embrasured windows she stopped, and motioned -Ivor to the low cushioned seat beneath. But he refused to avail himself -of her invitation, preferring to stand at her side and look down upon -her. She sank languidly back upon the velvet cushions. - -In the music gallery, at one end of the great _salon_, the Household -band were playing an arrangement of some of the wild, sad, national -airs. The strains floated to them across the rippling current of light -laughter and gay voices, like the under-chord of melancholy that runs -always side by side with the happier melodies of life's theme. - -Ivor was the first to speak, and, as he did so, Olga turned her head -somewhat away from him. - -"You ask me for news, mademoiselle; that is, indeed, somewhat singular. -How can I bring you news from my wild province which should prove of -interest to you? Let me rather ask that question. What do you hear from -Count Mellikoff, mademoiselle, and how prospers his mission?" - -She did not reply at once, and Tolskoi, watching her averted face, saw -the jewels on her bosom rise with a sudden, quick, indrawn breath. - -When she spoke it was with an almost exaggerated assumption of -carelessness. - -"I hear nothing of, or from Count Mellikoff." Then, after a moment's -pause, "Are you more fortunate?" - -"If you like to call it so. My latest intelligence is to the effect, -that having been successful beyond his expectations, he looks forward to -an immediate return, and to the reward he feels he has fairly earned." - -"Ah!" she exclaimed, quickly, "you surprise me. And the woman--is she -found?" - -"According to Count Mellikoff's despatches he does not doubt his soon -having her in his power," answered Ivor, slowly. "But as we know, -mademoiselle, there is considerable truth in the old saying about the -cup and the lip. Even Count Mellikoff may find himself mistaken." - -"And you?" she asked, still with averted head, and in her assumed -careless voice. "May not you be mistaken? It would seem that this--this -woman--whom you say you saw, must after all, have been but a delusion of -your too ready imagination, since Count Mellikoff is so certain of his -success." - -"No, I am not mistaken, mademoiselle," answered Ivor, gravely. "When -Count Mellikoff returns victorious, it will be my turn to win -distinction; and he who wins last wins best, you know. When that time -comes, Olga, _I_ shall claim my reward, and you will give it to me." - -"Your reward?" she questioned, turning her face towards him at last, and -looking up straight into his eyes. - -"Yes, my reward," he replied, "my reward, which will indeed have been -hardly won." - -He stooped and lifted her hand. "This hand, Olga, this little slender -hand; that is what I shall claim, and that is what you will give to me." - -She made him no answer, save to let her fingers lie passively in his. -Presently he bent and kissed them, then quietly putting her hand down, -he turned and walked from her. - -When near the great doors he looked back. She was sitting as he had left -her, passive and unmoved, with the shadows cast by the lightly swaying -curtains half shielding her face, and the grey darkness of the starless -sky for a background. - -Her hand lay as he had put it down, motionless upon her lap. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. - -ARRESTED! - - -It was September before Philip Tremain turned his face homeward again, -leaving behind him the deep, silent forests, already donning their -wonderful autumn tints, and the silent waveless lake on whose bosom his -boat had so often lain motionless for hours, drifting slowly with the -almost imperceptible movement of the tide; while he, stretched full -length along its narrow planking, his arms folded beneath his head, -watched with speculative eyes the clear blue of the heavens, the passing -of the fleecy clouds, the sweeping up of the rain mists, the birth of -the stars, the rising loveliness of the crescent moon. - -He had sought these solitudes to find some specific against the unrest -and discontent of his heart. He had flown from the haunts of men, -craving the healing power of nature, trusting to find forgetfulness in -her potent charm. He had come to the very fountain head of nature, -hoping to forget Patricia, and behold, nowhere was she more present to -him. Nowhere did the spell of her beauty, her contradictions, work such -havoc to his peace of mind. - -The very motion of the boat, the blue waters of the lake, the "breath of -the pine woods," the low rapid flight of a bird across the sky, all -reminded him of her, and brought her so vividly before him as to cause -him defined physical pain. - -It was not, however, as the Miss Hildreth of the present, that she -appeared to him--the successful beauty, the indifferent woman of the -world, the jesting advocate of to-day's hateful creeds--but rather as -the Patty of ten years ago; the Patty of his first passion, the love of -his adolescence, the clear-eyed, honest-hearted, bewitching, wilful -Patty of his first devotion. - -He had sought for forgetfulness, but he had not found it; and so, after -a month spent in unsatisfying and unsatisfactory inter-communion, he -repacked his portmanteau one glorious autumn morning, bid good-bye to -his little skiff, and to the silent sympathy of the pine woods, cast a -long regretful look over the deep blue lake, and turning his steps -towards the inartistic railway station, five miles distant, by afternoon -of the same day was crossing the tortuous streets of Boston, preparatory -to ensconcing himself comfortably in a "Pullman Express" for New York. - -He reached that city in due time, and was at once immersed in the rush -and go of its restless life. The streets were all alight, the open -windows of hotels and restaurants displaying brightly dressed groups -within, to whom the chief aim of existence for the hour was apparently, -the excellence of a favourite ice, or the proper quality of the -champagne _frappé_. Along the side-walks a varied crowd was constantly -passing; shop-girls mostly, in large hats and pretty frocks, whose tired -faces were flushed and eager, or pale and weary, according as they -walked alone, or kept company with some smart young male assistant. -Philip noticed with a half wonder, that each of these work-girls wore -long gloves half-way up their arms, and that their low shoes were -"dressy" to a degree, with patent tips and abnormally high heels, on -which they limped along with heroic courage. The theatres were not out -as yet; but Delmonico's and the Brunswick, were in the full swing of -early evening traffic, and many were the envious glances cast by the -weary pedestrians upon the more favoured few of fortune within those -hospitable walls. - -As Mr. Tremain let himself into his rooms with a pass key, he could not -but feel how dreary and un-homelike was such a return. He had not -telegraphed word of his arrival, and so found himself the sole occupant -of the dark building; his servant and the care-taker were evidently -enjoying life abroad this fine evening, and apparently the other -_habitués_ of the place were similarly employed. - -He threw open the door of his sitting-room and entered; the room was in -semi-darkness, the only light being a reflected one from the street -lamps, and the moon which shone through the unsheltered windows. The -furniture looked ghostly in the chintz over-coverings, and the faint -gleam of gilded picture-frames and mirrors only added a further touch of -unreality. On the writing-table he could just distinguish a pile of -letters and newspapers--the accumulation of four weeks' absence; they -seemed to him as the hand of civilisation, stretched out across the -month of isolation and solitude, which separated him from the world of -yesterday and to-day. - -Striking a match he lit two of the wax candles in a small girandole; but -they served only to make the darkness more apparent, and he was turning -impatiently towards his bedroom, still holding the lighted taper, when -the sound of quick hurrying feet, coming rapidly up the stone staircase, -arrested his attention. - -Why these particular sounds should at once arouse surprise and -apprehension in his mind, he could not tell; many footsteps passed up -and down the staircase in the course of the twenty-four hours, and as a -rule he neither heard nor heeded them. But something in these quick -agitated steps, with the tap of a light heel on each stair, disturbed -him strangely. - -The wax vesta burned down to his fingers and went out; and as the red -spark vanished the footsteps halted, and Philip could distinctly hear -the hurried respiration and quick-caught breath of some one just without -his door. No sensation of fear or supernatural alarm overcame him, he -stood quite still and waited; and as he thus stood counting these brief -moments of suspense, he felt himself to be saying inwardly, that he was -not at all surprised, it was only what he had expected--this night -visitant--it was what he had come home for, the reason why he dared not -linger longer beside the blue lake, in the depths of the keen-scented -hemlock forest. - -The hurried breathing grew more distinct; an uncertain hand was laid -upon the handle of the scarcely closed outer door; there was the click -of the catch being pushed hastily back; the rustle of a garment, the -quick steps along the short passage, and then a figure detached itself -from the enshrouding shadows and stood irresolute upon the threshold of -the room. - -A figure closely muffled in a long dark cloak, and a shadowy hat, -beneath whose wide brim a white face flashed, and two eager eyes looked -out, peering into the half lighted obscurity beyond. - -It was but half a second the figure stood there, irresolute; then with a -swift impulsive gesture it moved forward towards Philip, and as the -light from the candles fell full upon the face, Mr. Tremain started, and -then advanced quickly. - -"Miss Dick!" he exclaimed. "You, and here!" - -"Oh, yes," cried that young lady, still breathing very fast and speaking -incoherently, her words rushing one on top of the other. "Oh, yes, it is -I, and I am so glad to find you! I've been here twice already, each -evening since we came back, and the door was always locked. To-night I -saw the lights and thought at least I should hear something about you. -Oh, Mr. Tremain, I am so glad you have come back at last!" - -She stopped and looked at him appealingly, clasping and unclasping her -fingers, with nervous impatience. - -Philip was the least vain of men, but for one moment certainly a -terrible thought did half form itself in his mind, as to the motive -which had induced this most compromising visit. Was his little friend -Miss Dick quite off her head, and was he in any way answerable for her -aberration? The idea was not agreeable. - -"My dear Miss Dick," he began, gravely, but she interrupted him. - -"Oh, I thought you were never, never coming back again! That idiot of a -care-taker and your fool of a servant, couldn't, or wouldn't, tell me -anything about you. They only grinned discreetly behind their hands. Oh, -what have you been doing to stay away like this, and never leave a scrap -of an address behind you?" - -"Good heavens!" thought Philip, "decidedly the poor girl is out of her -mind, and if Tomkins, or Mrs. Barker have seen her like this, it will be -all over town in a week, and her reputation nowhere." - -"My dear Miss Dick," he said again, but Miss Darling evidently had no -ears save for her own voice. - -"It's perfectly dreadful--awful," she continued. "It has nearly broken -my heart, and to think you should be away just when you were most -needed, and I _couldn't_ find you. And it is so hot, too, and such a -season to be shut up in New York. Oh, why didn't you come before? What -made you go away at all? I told Esther I would never rest until I found -you, because I knew you could do something. You have always been a good -friend to me, Mr. Tremain, you won't refuse me, will you?" - -The tears were in her bright brown eyes as she spoke, and Philip, roused -out of his self-consciousness by the sight of her earnestness, found -himself saying, impetuously: - -"What is it I can do for you, Miss Dick? You know I won't refuse, -whatever you may ask." - -"Oh, then go, go at once! Why do you stand looking at me so stupidly?" -she cried, impatiently. "Every moment is precious, and here you are -wasting them by the dozen!" She stamped her foot. "Why don't you go?" -she repeated. - -Philip, made more and more bewildered, could only look at her in vacant -surprise, a fact that had the effect of reducing Miss Darling to -silence, out of sheer rage. - -"Go?" he said, slowly, repeating her words mechanically. "Go?--but where -am I to go?" - -"Ah," she gasped, beating her hands together, "how stupid you are, how -cold, how cruel! Where are you to go? Why--but no, stay, it will be -better if you come with me. Will you come--at once, directly? Here is -your hat," and she caught up that article of apparel from off the table, -and held it out to him. "Oh, do make haste," she cried, "do come with me -at once." - -But Mr. Tremain was not to be carried off in so unceremonious a manner. -He took the hat out of her hand and laid it back on the table, before he -said very quietly: - -"My dear Miss Dick, I will go with you to any place you may name; but -first, I do beg of you, compose yourself a little, and tell me what it -is you want me to do; who it is you want me to see?" - -Miss Darling pulled herself together with an evident effort. - -"I want you to go with me to Ludlow Street Jail," she said, speaking -very slowly, "to see Patricia Hildreth." - -Had a cannon ball dropped at his feet, or the foundations of the house -given way beneath him, Mr. Tremain could not have experienced a more -sudden or appalling shock. The words reached him, but it seemed as if -they came from miles away. He saw the dark, alert figure standing before -him, whose bright, dark eyes never left his face, whose nervously -working hands were so suggestive; but it lost all identity to him. It -was not Dick Darling who stood there, entreating him to make haste, not -to delay; it was some phantom, some Nemesis from out the past, whose -words and entreaties were as unreal as the shadows that came creeping -out of the corners, revealing bit by bit the cunningly-concealed -spectres. - -"Come with you to Ludlow Street!" he gasped at last, "to see Patricia -Hildreth. What do you mean?" - -"Oh, I mean what I say," cried Dick, her voice high and strained; "it is -quite true. She is there. She has been arrested." - -"Arrested!" gasped Philip. "Arrested--Patricia!" - -"Oh! yes, yes," sobbed Miss Darling, the tears running down her face. -"She has been arrested, she is in prison--she will die. She is innocent. -I know she is innocent, I know it." - -"Arrested!" cried Philip again, unable to grasp more than this one -direct fact, and quite unmindful of Dick's tears and protestations. -"Arrested! And for what?" - -"Oh, that is the most terrible thing of all," wept Dick. "It's so -horrible I don't know how to tell you; she is arrested on a suspicion -of murder." - -"My God!" cried Philip. "What horrible mockery is this?" - -"Oh, will you come, will you come?" implored Dick, wringing her hands. -"Oh, only think, she is shut up there all alone. She has been in that -hateful place for hours, for days, while we have all been away dancing, -and flirting, and being happy and amused; and she has been alone--all -alone--shut up in prison with no one to go to her, no one to help her. -Oh, I could beat myself for never knowing, never dreaming of her -trouble!" - -"It is horrible," said Philip again, in the same low, inward voice in -which he had spoken since Dick's first outburst. "It is infamous. Who -has done this thing? Who has brought this charge?" - -He spoke sternly, and looked at Dick with eyes that burned her very -soul. - -"The Russian Count," she answered slowly. "Vladimir Mellikoff." - -Mr. Tremain made no reply. He turned abruptly away from her and walked -over to the window, and stood there looking out into the night. - -The street was a quiet one at all times, and now even a solitary passing -footstep echoed far ahead in the absolute silence. But had it been -mid-day, with its roar and rumble of traffic, Philip would have heeded -it as little as he now heeded the stillness and desertion. - -His mind was far away, busy with a thousand wild conjectures, a thousand -improbable suggestions. The whole of the past ten years appeared to roll -themselves out before him, full to overflowing with dark suspicions, -unassailable doubts, maddening possibilities. The poison distilled by -Miss James's smooth tongue had done its work; how could he tell what -those past years might cover, what deed or crime be hidden in their -protecting folds? - -Ten years lay between him and the Patricia of his youth; was his faith -in her so unshaken as to admit of no room for doubt? Ah, there lay the -sting! He did doubt, and in that lay the keenest torture of this -terrible moment. Indeed, as he thought of her mocking raillery, of her -pronounced indifference, her assumed cynicism and misanthropy, he felt -there was room for doubt, there was room for suspicion, there was room -for condemnation. Would to God, that he could proclaim aloud a like -faith in her innocence, a like belief in her unsullied past, a like -valour in her defence, as did Miss Darling! Would to God he had but the -memory of her--pure and untainted--as she was ten years ago in which to -trust, and by which to fight for her! - -For indeed, he knew it would come to that; he should fight for her, yes, -inch by inch, even though the game was a losing one. He would give her -of his best, he would bring to bear all his possessions of legal acumen, -brilliant pleading, forensic argument; she should not fail or be beaten -down, if his strength and his reputation counted for anything. - -He had loved her--yes--and he loved her now; he knew it; better perhaps -in her hour of humiliation than in that of her triumph; and for that -love's sake he would spend and be spent in her behalf. And yet, ah yet, -there must be ever and always resting between him and her that - - "Little rift within the lute, - That ever widening, makes the music mute." - -Meantime Miss Darling, standing where he had left her, watched him -keenly. The eyes beneath the broad brim of her hat were soft and gentle, -the tears still lay upon her cheeks. Instinctively she recognised the -anguish of the man before her, and she respected it, looking on with -reverent but unspoken sympathy. Presently she moved quietly across the -room and approached him; he paid no attention to her; apparently he had -forgotten her very existence. She put one hand timidly on his arm. - -"Will you come?" she said. "Oh, will you come with me--to Patricia? -Only think how long she has waited! Only think of Patricia--our -Patricia--in prison on so vile a suspicion!" - -He looked down upon her, and at the hand resting on his arm; his face -was drawn and aged, his eyes dark with suffering. - -"Yes, I will come," he said; "I will go with you. My God, only to think -of it! Patricia--Patty--in prison, and for murder!" - -He took up his hat mechanically, and followed her as she led the way -down the dimly lighted stairs, their footsteps echoing drearily behind -them. And so together they passed on and out of the dark building, and -were swallowed up in the greater darkness of the night. - -The wax candles in the wall-sconces burnt on all through the long night -hours, and died out only as the early sunlight struck athwart their -feeble rays. On the table lay the accumulated letters and papers, one -marked across the face "immediate," in a strong, bold hand. On the -floor a glove had dropped, and close beside the door lay a withered -rose-bud, as it had fallen from Dick's breast-knot. - -And the morning hours grew into noontide, and gave place to afternoon, -followed in turn by the shadows of evening; but neither the master of -the deserted room, nor the girl with the bright eyes beneath the wide -hat, came back to it. And so another day was born, and died, and slipped -away into eternity within the narrow confines of that solitary chamber. - - -END OF VOL. II. - - * * * * * - -CHARLES DICKENS AND EVANS, CRYSTAL PALACE PRESS. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Miss Hildreth, Volume 2 of 3, by -Augusta de Grasse Stevens - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MISS HILDRETH, VOLUME 2 OF 3 *** - -***** This file should be named 40432-8.txt or 40432-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/0/4/3/40432/ - -Produced by Robert Cicconetti, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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