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diff --git a/old/ycryn10.txt b/old/ycryn10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0855a28 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/ycryn10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11308 @@ +Project Gutenberg Etext The Yellow Crayon, E. Phillips Oppenheim +#5 in our series by E. Phillips Oppenheim + + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. We need your donations. + + +The Yellow Crayon + +by E. 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The sunlight forced +its way through a chink in the blind, and stretched across the floor +in strange zigzag fashion. From without came the pleasant murmur +of bees and many lazier insects floating over the gorgeous flower +beds, resting for a while on the clematis which had made the piazza +a blaze of purple splendour. And inside, in a high-backed chair, +there sat a man, his arms folded, his eyes fixed steadily upon +vacancy. As he sat then, so had he sat for a whole day and a whole +night. The faint sweet chorus of glad living things, which alone +broke the deep silence of the house, seemed neither to disturb nor +interest him. He sat there like a man turned to stone, his +forehead riven by one deep line, his straight firm mouth set close +and hard. His servant, the only living being who had approached +him, had set food by his side, which now and then he had +mechanically taken. Changeless as a sphinx, he had sat there in +darkness and in light, whilst sunlight had changed to moonlight, +and the songs of the birds had given place to the low murmuring +of frogs from a lake below the lawns. + +At last it seemed that his unnatural fit had passed away. He +stretched out his hand and struck a silver gong which had been left +within his reach. Almost immediately a man, pale-faced, with full +dark eyes and olive complexion, dressed in the sombre garb of an +indoor servant, stood at his elbow. + +"Duson." + +"Your Grace!" + +"Bring wine--Burgundy." + +It was before him, served with almost incredible despatch--a small +cobwebbed bottle and a glass of quaint shape, on which were +beautifully emblazoned a coronet and fleur-de-lis. He drank slowly +and deliberately. When he set the glass down it was empty. + +"Duson!" + +"Your Grace!" + +"You will pack my things and your own. We shall leave for New York +this evening. Telegraph to the Holland House for rooms." + +"For how many days, your Grace?" + +"We shall not return here. Pay off all the servants save two of +the most trustworthy, who will remain as caretakers." + +The man's face was as immovable as his master's. + +"And Madame?" + +"Madame will not be returning. She will have no further use for +her maid. See, however, that her clothes and all her personal +belongings remain absolutely undisturbed." + +"Has your Grace any further orders?" + +"Take pencil and paper. Send this cablegram. Are you ready?" + +The man's head moved in respectful assent. + + "To Felix, + "No 27, Rue de St. Pierre, + "Avenue de L'Opera, Paris. +"Meet me at Sherry's Restaurant, New York, one month to-day, eleven +p.m.--V. S." + +"It shall be sent immediately, your Grace. The train for New York +leaves at seven-ten. A carriage will be here in one hour and five +minutes." + +The man moved towards the door. His master looked up. + +"Duson!" + +"Your Grace!" + +"The Duc de Souspennier remains here--or at the bottom of the +lake--what matters! It is Mr. Sabin who travels to New York, +and for whom you engage rooms at the Holland House. Mr. Sabin is +a cosmopolitan of English proclivities." + +"Very good, sir!" + +"Lock this door. Bring my coat and hat five minutes before the +carriage starts. Let the servants be well paid. Let none of them +attempt to see me." + +The man bowed and disappeared. Left to himself, Mr. Sabin rose from +his chair, and pushing open the windows, stood upon the verandah. +He leaned heavily upon his stick with both hands, holding it before +him. Slowly his eyes traveled over the landscape. + +It was a very beautiful home which he was leaving. Before him +stretched the gardens--Italian in design, brilliant with flowers, +with here and there a dark cedar-tree drooping low upon the lawn. +A yew hedge bordered the rose-garden, a fountain was playing in +the middle of a lake. A wooden fence encircled the grounds, and +beyond was a smooth rolling park, with little belts of pine +plantations and a few larger trees here and there. In the far +distance the red flag was waving on one of the putting greens. +Archie Green was strolling up the hillside,--his pipe in his mouth, +and his driver under his arm. Mr. Sabin watched, and the lines in +his face grew deeper and deeper. + +"I am an old man," he said softly, "but I will live to see them +suffer who have done this evil thing." + +He turned slowly back into the room, and limping rather more than +was usual with him, he pushed aside a portiere and passed into a +charmingly furnished country drawing-room. Only the flowers hung +dead in their vases; everything else was fresh and sweet and dainty. +Slowly he threaded his way amongst the elegant Louis Quinze +furniture, examining as though for the first time the beautiful old +tapestry, the Sevres china, the Chippendale table, which was +priceless, the exquisite portraits painted by Greuze, and the +mysterious green twilights and grey dawns of Corot. Everywhere +treasures of art, yet everywhere the restraining hand of the artist. +The faint smell of dead rose leaves hung about the room. Already +one seemed conscious of a certain emptiness as though the genius of +the place had gone. Mr. Sabin leaned heavily upon his stick, and +his head drooped lower and lower. A soft, respectful voice came +to him from the other room. + +"In five minutes, sir, the carriage will be at the door. I have +your coat and hat here." + +Mr. Sabin looked up. + +"I am quite ready, Duson!" he said. + + * * * * * + +The servants in the hall stood respectfully aside to let him pass. +On the way to the depot he saw nothing of those who saluted him. +In the car he sat with folded arms in the most retired seat, looking +steadfastly out of the window at the dying day. There were +mountains away westwards, touched with golden light; sometimes for +long minutes together the train was rushing through forests whose +darkness was like that of a tunnel. Mr. Sabin seemed indifferent +to these changes. The coming of night did not disturb him. His +brain was at work, and the things which he saw were hidden from +other men. + +Duson, with a murmur of apology, broke in upon his meditations. + +"You will pardon me, sir, but the second dinner is now being served. +The restaurant car will be detached at the next stop." + +"What of it?" Mr. Sabin asked calmly. + +"I have taken the liberty of ordering dinner for you, sir. It is +thirty hours since you ate anything save biscuits." + +Mr. Sabin rose to his feet. + +"You are quite right, Duson," he said. "I will dine." + +In half-an-hour he was back again. Duson placed before him silently +a box of cigarettes and matches. Mr. Sabin smoked. + +Soon the lights of the great city flared in the sky, the train +stopped more frequently, the express men and newspaper boys came +into evidence. Mr. Sabin awoke from his long spell of thought. He +bought a newspaper, and glanced through the list of steamers which +had sailed during the week. When the train glided into the depot +he was on his feet and ready to leave it. + +"You will reserve our rooms, Duson, for one month," he said on the +way to the hotel. "We shall probably leave for Europe a month +to-morrow." + +"Very good, sir." + +"You were Mrs. Peterson's servant, Duson, before you were mine!" + +"Yes, sir." + +"You have been with her, I believe, for many years. You are +doubtless much attached to her!" + +"Indeed I am, sir!" + +"You may have surmised, Duson, that she has left me. I desire to +ensure your absolute fidelity, so I take you into my confidence to +this extent. Your mistress is in the hands of those who have some +power over her. Her absence is involuntary so far as she is +concerned. It has been a great blow to me. I am prepared to +run all risks to discover her whereabouts. It is late in my life +for adventures, but it is very certain that adventures and dangers +are before us. In accompanying me you will associate yourself with +many risks. Therefore--" + +Duson held up his hand. + +"I beg, sir," he exclaimed, "that you will not suggest for a moment +my leaving your service on that account. I beg most humbly, sir, +that you will not do me that injustice." + +Mr. Sabin paused. His eyes, like lightning, read the other's face. + +"It is settled then, Duson," he said. "Kindly pay this cabman, and +follow me as quickly as possible." + +Mr. Sabin passed across the marble hall, leaning heavily upon his +stick. Yet for all his slow movements there was a new alertness +in his eyes and bearing. He was once more taking keen note of +everybody and everything about him. Only a few days ago she had +been here. + +He claimed his rooms at the office, and handed the keys to Duson, +who by this time had rejoined him. At the moment of turning away +he addressed an inquiry to the clerk behind the counter. + +"Can you tell me if the Duchess of Souspennier is staying here?" +he inquired. + +The young man glanced up. + +"Been here, I guess. Left on Tuesday." + +Mr. Sabin turned away. He did not speak again until Duson and he +were alone in the sitting-room. Then he drew out a five dollar bill. + +"Duson," he said, "take this to the head luggage porter. Tell him +to bring his departure book up here at once, and there is another +waiting for him. You understand?" + +"Certainly, sir!" + +Mr. Sabin turned to enter his bed-chamber. His attention was +attracted, however, by a letter lying flat upon the table. He took +it up. It was addressed to Mr. Sabin. + +"This is very clever," he mused, hesitating for a moment before +opening it. "I wired for rooms only a few hours ago--and I find +a letter. It is the commencement." + +He tore open the envelope, and drew out a single half-sheet of +note-paper. Across it was scrawled a single sentence only. + +"Go back to Lenox." + +There was no signature, nor any date. The only noticeable thing +about this brief communication was that it was written in yellow +pencil of a peculiar shade. Mr. Sabin's eyes glittered as he read. + +"The yellow crayon!" he muttered. + +Duson knocked softly at the door. Mr. Sabin thrust the letter and +envelope into his breast coat pocket. + + + +CHAPTER II + +"This is the luggage porter, sir," Duson announced. "He is prepared +to answer any questions." + +The man took out his book. Mr. Sabin, who was sitting in an +easy-chair, turned sideways towards him. + +"The Duchess of Souspennier was staying here last week," he said. +"She left, I believe, on Thursday or Friday. Can you tell me +whether her baggage went through your hands?" + +The man set down his hat upon a vacant chair, and turned over the +leaves of his book. + +"Guess I can fix that for you," he remarked, running his forefinger +down one of the pages. "Here we are. The Duchess left on Friday, +and we checked her baggage through to Lenox by the New York, New +Haven & Hartford." + +Mr. Sabin nodded. + +"Thank you," he said. "She would probably take a carriage to the +station. It will be worth another ten dollars to you if you can +find me the man who drove her." + +"Well, we ought to manage that for you," the man remarked +encouragingly. "It was one of Steve Hassell's carriages, I guess, +unless the lady took a hansom." + +"Very good," Mr. Sabin said. "See if you can find him. Keep my +inquiries entirely to yourself. It will pay you." + +"That's all right," the man remarked. "Don't you go to bed for +half-an-hour, and I guess you'll hear from me again." + +Duson busied himself in the bed-chamber, Mr. Sabin sat motionless +in his easy chair. Soon there came a tap at the door. The porter +reappeared ushering in a smart-looking young man, who carried a +shiny coachman's hat in his hand. + +"Struck it right fust time," the porter remarked cheerfully. "This +is the man, sir." + +Mr. Sabin turned his head. + +"You drove a lady from here to the New York, New Haven & Hartford +Depot last Friday?" he asked. + +"Well, not exactly, sir," the man answered. "The Duchess took my +cab, and the first address she gave was the New York, New Haven +& Hartford Depot, but before we'd driven a hundred yards she pulled +the check-string and ordered me to go to the Waldorf. She paid me +there, and went into the hotel." + +"You have not seen her since?" + +"No, sir!" + +"You knew her by sight, you say. Was there anything special about +her appearance?" + +The man hesitated. + +"She'd a pretty thick veil on, sir, but she raised it to pay me, +and I should say she'd been crying. She was much paler, too, than +last time I drove her." + +"When was that?" Mr. Sabin asked. + +"In the spring, sir,--with you, begging your pardon. You were at +the Netherlands, and I drove you out several times." + +"You seem," Mr. Sabin said, "to be a person with some powers of +observation. It would pay you very well indeed if you would +ascertain from any of your mates at the Waldorf when and with whom +the lady in question left that hotel." + +"I'll have a try, sir," the man answered. "The Duchess was better +known here, but some of them may have recognised her." + +"She had no luggage, I presume?" Mr. Sabin asked. + +"Her dressing-case and jewel-case only, sir." + +"So you see," Mr. Sabin continued, "it is probable that she did not +remain at the Waldorf for the night. Base your inquiries on that +supposition." + +"Very good, sir." + +"From your manners and speech," Mr. Sabin said, raising his head, +"I should take you to be an Englishman." + +"Quite correct, sir," the man answered. "I drove a hansom in +London for eight years." + +"You will understand me then," Mr. Sabin continued, "when I say +that I have no great confidence in the police of this country. I +do not wish to be blackmailed or bullied. I would ask you, +therefore, to make your inquiries with discretion." + +"I'll be careful, sir," the man answered. + +Mr. Sabin handed to each of them a roll of notes. The cabdriver +lingered upon the threshold. Mr. Sabin looked up. + +"Well?" + +"Could I speak a word to you--in private, sir?" + +Mr. Sabin motioned Duson to leave the room. The baggage porter +had already departed. + +"When I cleaned out my cab at night, sir, I found this. I didn't +reckon it was of any consequence at first, but from the questions +you have been asking it may be useful to you." + +Mr. Sabin took the half-sheet of note-paper in silence. It was the +ordinary stationery of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, and the following +words were written upon it in a faint delicate handwriting, but in +yellow pencil:-- + + "Sept. 10th. + "To LUCILLE, Duchesse de SOUSPENNIER.- + + "You will be at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in the main corridor + at four o'clock this afternoon." + +The thin paper shook in Mr. Sabin's fingers. There was no signature, +but he fancied that the handwriting was not wholly unfamiliar to him. +He looked slowly up towards the cabman. + +"I am much obliged to you," he said. "This is of interest to me." + +He stretched out his hand to the little wad of notes which Duson had +left upon the table, but the cabdriver backed away. + +"Beg pardon, sir," he said. "You've given me plenty. The letter's +of no value to me. I came very near tearing it up, but for the +peculiar colour pencil it's written with. Kinder took my fancy, +sir." + +"The letter is of value," Mr. Sabin said. "It tells me much more +than I hoped to discover. It is our good fortune." + +The man accepted the little roll of bills and departed. Mr. Sabin +touched the bell. + +"Duson, what time is it?" + +"Nearly midnight, sir!" + +"I will go to bed!" + +"Very good, sir!" + +"Mix me a sleeping draught, Duson. I need rest. See that I am not +disturbed until ten o'clock to-morrow morning. + + +CHAPTER III + +At precisely ten o'clock on the following morning Duson brought +chocolate, which he had prepared himself, and some dry toast to his +master's bedside. Upon the tray was a single letter. Mr. Sabin +sat up in bed and tore open the envelope. The following words were +written upon a sheet of the Holland House notepaper in the same +peculiar coloured crayon. + +"The first warning addressed to you yesterday was a friendly one. +Profit by it. Go back to Lenox. You are only exposing yourself to +danger and the person you seek to discomfort. Wait there, and some +one shall come to you shortly who will explain what has happened, +and the necessity for it." + +Mr. Sabin smiled, a slow contemplative smile. He sipped his +chocolate and lit a cigarette. + +"Our friends, then," he said softly, "do not care about pursuit and +inquiries. It is ridiculous to suppose that their warning is given +out of any consideration to me. Duson!" + +"Yes, sir!" + +"My bath. I shall rise now." + +Mr. Sabin made his toilet with something of the same deliberation +which characterised all his movements. Then he descended into the +hall, bought a newspaper, and from a convenient easy-chair kept a +close observation upon every one who passed to and fro for about +an hour. Later on he ordered a carriage, and made several calls +down town. + +At a few minutes past twelve he entered the bar of the Fifth Avenue +Hotel, and ordering a drink sat down at one of the small tables. +The room was full, but Mr. Sabin's attention was directed solely to +one group of men who stood a short distance away before the counter +drinking champagne. The central person of the group was a big man, +with an unusually large neck, a fat pale face, a brown moustache +tinged with grey, and a voice and laugh like a fog-horn. It was he +apparently who was paying for the champagne, and he was clearly on +intimate terms with all the party. Mr. Sabin watched for his +opportunity, and then rising from his seat touched him on the +shoulder. + +"Mr. Skinner, I believe?" he said quietly. + +The big man looked down upon Mr. Sabin with the sullen offensiveness +of the professional bully. + +"You've hit it first time," he admitted. "Who are you, anyway?" + +Mr. Sabin produced a card. + +"I called this morning," he said, "upon the gentleman whose name you +will see there. He directed me to you, and told me to come here." + +The man tore the card into small pieces. + +"So long, boys," he said, addressing his late companions. "See you +to-night." + +They accepted his departure in silence, and one and all favoured +Mr. Sabin with a stare of blatant curiosity. + +"I should be glad to speak with you," Mr. Sabin said, "in a place +where we are likely to be neither disturbed nor overheard." + +"You come right across to my office," was the prompt reply. "I +guess we can fix it up there." + +Mr. Sabin motioned to his coachman, and they crossed Broadway. His +companion led him into a tall building, talking noisily all the +time about the pals whom he had just left. An elevator transported +them to the twelfth floor in little more than as many seconds, and +Mr. Skinner ushered his visitor into a somewhat bare-looking office, +smelling strongly of stale tobacco smoke. Mr. Skinner at once lit +a cigar, and seating himself before his desk, folded his arms and +leaned over towards Mr. Sabin. + +"Smoke one?" he asked, pointing to the open box. + +Mr. Sabin declined. + +"Get right ahead then." + +"I am an Englishman," Mr. Sabin said slowly, "and consequently am +not altogether at home with your ways over here. I have always +understood, however, that if you are in need of any special +information such as we should in England apply to the police for, +over here there is a quicker and more satisfactory method of +procedure." + +"You've come a long way round," Mr. Skinner remarked, spitting +upon the floor, "but you're dead right." + +"I am in need of some information," Mr. Sabin continued, "and +accordingly I called this morning on Mr.--" + +Mr. Skinner held up his hand. + +"All right," he said. "We don't mention names more than we can +help. Call him the boss." + +"He assured me that the information I was in need of was easily to +be obtained, and gave me a card to you." + +"Go right on," Mr. Skinner said. "What is it?" + +"On Friday last," Mr. Sabin said, "at four o'clock, the Duchess of +Souspennier, whose picture I will presently show you, left the +Holland House Hotel for the New York, New Haven & Hartford Depot, +presumably for her home at Lenox, to which place her baggage had +already been checked. On the way she ordered the cabman to set her +down at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, which he did at a few minutes +past four. The Duchess has not returned home or been directly +heard from since. I wish to ascertain her movements since she +arrived at the Waldorf." + +"Sounds dead easy," Mr. Skinner remarked reassuringly. "Got the +picture?" + +Mr. Sabin touched the spring of a small gold locket which he drew +from an inside waistcoat pocket, and disclosed a beautifully painted +miniature. Mr. Skinner's thick lips were pursed into a whistle. +He was on the point of making a remark when he chanced to glance +into Mr. Sabin's face. The remark remained unspoken. + +He drew a sheet of note-paper towards him and made a few notes upon +it. + +"The Duchess many friends in New York?" + +"At present none. The few people whom she knows here are at Newport +or in Europe just now." + +"Any idea whom she went to the Waldorf to see? More we know the +better." + +Mr. Sabin handed him the letter which had been picked up in the cab. +Mr. Skinner read it through, and spat once more upon the floor. + +"What the h---'s this funny coloured pencil mean?" + +"I do not know," Mr. Sabin answered. "You will see that the two +anonymous communications which I have received since arriving in +New York yesterday are written in the same manner." + +Mr. Sabin handed him the other two letters, which Mr. Skinner +carefully perused. + +"I guess you'd better tell me who you are," he suggested. + +"I am the husband of the Duchess of Souspennier," Mr. Sabin answered. + +"The Duchess send any word home at all?" Mr. Skinner asked. + +Mr. Sabin produced a worn telegraph form. It was handed in at Fifth +Avenue, New York, at six o'clock on Friday. It contained the single +word 'Good-bye.' + +"H'm," Mr. Skinner remarked. "We'll find all you want to know by +to-morrow sure." + +"What do you make of the two letters which I received?" Mr. Sabin +asked. + +"Bunkum!" Mr. Skinner replied confidently. + +Mr. Sabin nodded his head. + +"You have no secret societies over here, I suppose?" he said. + +Mr. Skinner laughed loudly and derisively. + +"I guess not," he answered. "They keep that sort of rubbish on the +other side of the pond." + +"Ah!" + +Mr. Sabin was thoughtful for a moment. "You expect to find, then," +he remarked, "some other cause for my wife's disappearance?" + +"There don't seem much room for doubt concerning that, sir," Mr. +Skinner said; "but I never speculate. I will bring you the facts +to-night between eight and eleven. Now as to the business side of +it." + +Mr. Sabin was for a moment puzzled. + +"What's the job worth to you?" Mr. Skinner asked. "I am willing to +pay," Mr. Sabin answered, "according to your demands." + +"It's a simple case," Mr. Skinner admitted, "but our man at the +Waldorf is expensive. If you get all your facts, I guess five +hundred dollars will about see you through." + +"I will pay that," Mr. Sabin answered. + +"I will bring you the letters back to-night," Mr. Skinner said. +"I guess I'll borrow that locket of yours, too." + +Mr. Sabin shook his head. + +"That," he said firmly, "I do not part with." Mr. Skinner scratched +his ear with his penholder. "It's the only scrap of identifying +matter we've got," he remarked. "Of course it's a dead simple case, +and we can probably manage without it. But I guess it's as well to +fix the thing right down." + +"If you will give me a piece of paper," Mr. Sabin said, "I will make +you a sketch of the Duchess. The larger the better. I can give you +an idea of the sort of clothes she would probably be wearing." + +Mr. Skinner furnished him with a double sheet of paper, and Mr. +Sabin, with set face and unflinching figures, reproduced in a few +simple strokes a wonderful likeness of the woman he loved. He +pushed it away from him when he had finished without remark. Mr. +Skinner was loud in its praises. + +"I guess you're an artist, sir, for sure," he remarked. "This'll +fix the thing. Shall I come to your hotel?" + +"If you please," Mr. Sabin answered. "I shall be there for the rest +of the day." + +Mr. Skinner took up his hat. + +"Guess I'll take my dinner and get right to work," he remarked. +"Say, you come along, Mr. Sabin. I'll take you where they'll fix +you such a beefsteak as you never tasted in your life." + +"I thank you very much," Mr. Sabin said, "but I must beg to be +excused. I am expecting some despatches at my hotel. If you are +successful this afternoon you will perhaps do me the honour of +dining with me to-night. I will wait until eight-thirty." + +The two men parted upon the pavement. Mr. Skinner, with his small +bowler hat on the back of his head, a fresh cigar in the corner of +his mouth, and his thumbs in the armholes of his waistcoat, strolled +along Broadway with something akin to a smile parting his lips, and +showing his yellow teeth. + +"Darned old fool," he muttered. "To marry a slap-up handsome woman +like that, and then pretend not to know what it means when she bolts. +Guess I'll spoil his supper to-night." + +Mr. Sabin, however, was recovering his spirits. He, too, was +leaning back in the corner of his carriage with a faint smile +brightening his hard, stern face. But, unlike Mr. Skinner, he did +not talk to himself. + + + +CHAPTER IV + +R. Sabin, who was never, for its own sake, fond of solitude, had +ordered dinner for two at eight-thirty in the general dining-room. +At a few minutes previous to that hour Mr. Skinner presented himself. + +Mr. Skinner was not in the garb usually affected by men of the world +who are invited to dine out. The long day's exertion, too, had had +its effect upon his linen. His front, indeed, through a broad gap, +confessed to a foundation of blue, and one of his cuffs showed a +marked inclination to escape from his wrist over his knuckles. His +face was flushed, and he exhaled a strong odour of cigars and +cocktails. Nevertheless, Mr. Sabin was very glad to see him, and +to receive the folded sheet of paper which he at once produced. + +"I have taken the liberty," Mr. Sabin remarked, on his part, "of +adding a trifle to the amount we first spoke of, which I beg you +will accept from me as a mark of my gratitude for your promptness." + +"Sure!" Mr. Skinner answered tersely, receiving the little roll of +bills without hesitation, and retreating into a quiet corner, where +he carefully counted and examined every one. "That's all right!" +he announced at the conclusion of his task. "Come and have one +with me now before you read your little billet-doux, eh?" + +"I shall not read your report until after dinner," Mr. Sabin said, +"and I think if you are ready that we might as well go in. At the +head-waiter's suggestion I have ordered a cocktail with the oysters, +and if we are much later he seemed to fear that it might affect the +condition of the--I think it was terrapin, he said." + +Mr. Skinner stopped short. His tone betrayed emotion. + +"Did you say terrapin, sir?" + +Mr. Sabin nodded. Mr. Skinner at once took his arm. + +"Guess we'll go right in," he declared. "I hate to have a good +meal spoiled." + +They were an old-looking couple. Mr. Sabin quietly but faultlessly +attired in the usual evening dinner garb, Mr. Skinner ill-dressed, +untidy, unwashed and frowsy. But here at least Mr. Sabin's +incognito had been unavailing, for he had stayed at the hotel several +times--as he remembered with an odd little pang--with Lucille, and +the head-waiter, with a low bow, ushered them to their table. Mr. +Skinner saw the preparations for their repast, the oysters, the +cocktails in tall glasses, the magnum of champagne in ice, and +chuckled. To take supper with a duke was a novelty to him, but he +was not shy. He sat down and tucked his serviette into his +waistcoat, raised his glass, and suddenly set it down again. + +"The boss!" he exclaimed in amazement. + +Mr. Sabin turned his head in the direction which his companion had +indicated. Coming hastily across the room towards them, already +out of breath as though with much hurrying, was a thick-set, powerful +man, with the brutal face and coarse lips of a prizefighter; a beard +cropped so short as to seem the growth of a few days only covered +his chin, and his moustache, treated in the same way, was not thick +enough to conceal a cruel mouth. He was carefully enough dressed, +and a great diamond flashed from his tie. There was a red mark +round his forehead where his hat had been, and the perspiration was +streaming from his forehead. He strode without hesitation to the +table where Mr. Sabin and his guest were sitting, and without even +a glance at the former turned upon his myrmidon. + +"Where's that report?" he cried roughly. "Where is it?" + +Mr. Skinner seemed to have shrunk into a smaller man. He pointed +across the table. + +"I've given it to him," he said. "What's wrong, boss?" + +The newcomer raised his hand as though to strike Skinner. He +gnashed his teeth with the effort to control himself. + +"You damned blithering idiot," he said hoarsely, gripping the side +of the table. "Why wasn't it presented to me first?" + +"Guess it didn't seem worth while," Skinner answered. "There's +nothing in the darned thing." + +"You ignorant fool, hold your tongue," was the fierce reply. + +The newcomer sank into a chair and wiped the perspiration from +his streaming forehead. Mr. Sabin signaled to a waiter. + +"You seem upset, Mr. Horser," he remarked politely. "Allow me to +offer you a glass of wine." + +Mr. Horser did not immediately reply, but he accepted the glass +which the waiter brought him, and after a moment's hesitation +drained its contents. Then he turned to Mr. Sabin. + +"You said nothing about those letters you had had when you came +to see me this morning!" + +"It was you yourself," Mr. Sabin reminded him, "who begged me not +to enter into particulars. You sent me on to Mr. Skinner. I told +him everything." + +Mr. Horser leaned over the table. His eyes were bloodshot, his +tone was fierce and threatening. Mr. Sabin was coldly courteous. +The difference between the demeanour of the two men was remarkable. + +"You knew what those letters meant! This is a plot! Where is +Skinner's report?" + +Mr. Sabin raised his eyebrows. He signaled to the head-waiter. + +"Be so good as to continue the service of my dinner," he ordered. +"The champagne is a trifle too chilled. You can take it out of +the cooler." + +The man bowed, with a curious side glance at Horser. + +"Certainly, your Grace!" + +Horser was almost speechless with anger. + +"Are you going to answer my questions?" he demanded thickly. + +"I have no particular objection to doing so," Mr. Sabin answered, +"but until you can sit up and compose yourself like an ordinary +individual, I decline to enter into any conversation with you at +all." + +Again Mr. Horser raised his voice, and the glare in his eyes was +like the glare of a wild beast. + +"Do you know who I am?" he asked. "Do you know who you're talking +to?" + +Mr. Sabin looked at him coolly, and fingered his wineglass. + +"Well," he said, "I've a shocking memory for names, but yours is +--Mr. Horser, isn't it? I heard it for the first time this morning, +and my memory will generally carry me through four-and-twenty hours." + +There was a moment's silence. Horser was no fool. He accepted his +defeat and dropped the bully. + +"You're a stranger in this city, Mr. Sabin, and I guess you aren't +altogether acquainted with our ways yet," he said. "But I want you +to understand this. The report which is in your pocket has got to +be returned to me. If I'd known what I was meddling with I wouldn't +have touched your business for a hundred thousand dollars. It's got +to be returned to me, I say!" he repeated in a more threatening tone. + +Mr. Sabin helped himself to fish, and made a careful examination of +the sauce. + +"After all," he said meditatively, "I am not sure that I was wise +in insisting upon a sauce piquante. I beg your pardon, Mr. Horser. +Please do not think me inattentive, but I am very hungry. So, I +believe, is my friend, Mr. Skinner. Will you not join us--or +perhaps you have already dined?" + +There was an ugly flush in Mr. Horser's cheeks, but he struggled to +keep his composure. + +"Will you give me back that report?" + +"When I have read it, with pleasure," Mr. Sabin answered. "Before, +no." + +Mr. Horser swallowed an exceedingly vicious oath. He struck the +table lightly with his forefinger. + +"Look here," he said. "If you'd lived in New York a couple of +years, even a couple of months, you wouldn't talk like that. I tell +you that I hold the government of this city in my right hand. I +don't want to be unpleasant, but if that paper is not in my hands +by the time you leave this table I shall have you arrested as you +leave this room, and the papers taken from you." + +"Dear me," Mr. Sabin said, "this is serious. On what charge may I +ask should I be exposed to this inconvenience?" + +"Charge be damned!" Mr. Horser answered. "The police don't want +particulars from me. When I say do a thing they do it. They know +that if they declined it would be their last day on the force." + +Mr. Sabin filled his glass and leaned back in his chair. + +"This," he remarked, "is interesting. I am always glad to have the +opportunity of gaining an insight into the customs of different +countries. I had an idea that America was a country remarkable for +the amount of liberty enjoyed by its inhabitants. Your proposed +course of action seems scarcely in keeping with this." + +"What are you going to do? Come, I've got to have an answer." + +"I don't quite understand," Mr. Sabin remarked, with a puzzled look, +"what your official position is in connection with the police." + +Mr. Horser's face was a very ugly sight. "Oh, curse my official +position," he exclaimed thickly. "If you want proof of what I say +you shall have it in less than five minutes. Skinner, be off and +fetch a couple of constables." + +"I really must protest," Mr. Sabin said. "Mr. Skinner is my guest, +and I will not have him treated in this fashion, just as the +terrapin is coming in, too. Sit down, Mr. Skinner, sit down. I +will settle this matter with you in my room, Mr. Horser, after I +have dined. I will not even discuss it before." + +Mr. Horser opened his mouth twice, and closed it again. He knew +that his opponent was simply playing to gain time, but, after all, +he held the trump card. He could afford to wait. He turned to a +waiter and ordered a cigar. Mr. Sabin and Mr. Skinner continued +their dinner. + +Conversation was a little difficult, though Mr. Sabin showed no +signs of an impaired appetite. Skinner was white with fear, and +glanced every now and then nervously at his chief. Mr. Horser +smoked without ceasing, and maintained an ominous silence. Mr. +Sabin at last, with a sigh, rose, and lighting a cigarette, took +his stick from the waiter and prepared to leave. + +"I fear, Mr. Horser," he remarked, "that your presence has scarcely +contributed to the cheerfulness of our repast. Mr. Skinner, am I +to be favoured with your company also upstairs?" + +Horser clutched that gentleman's arm and whispered a few words in +his ear. + +"Mr. Skinner," he said, "will join us presently. What is your +number?" + +"336," Mr. Sabin answered. "You will excuse my somewhat slow +progress." + +They crossed the hall and entered the elevator. Mr. Horser's face +began to clear. In a moment or two they would be in Mr. Sabin's +sitting-room-alone. He regarded with satisfaction the other's slim, +delicate figure and the limp with which he moved. He felt that the +danger was already over. + + +CHAPTER V + +BUT, after all, things did not exactly turn out as Mr. Horser had +imagined. The sight of the empty room and the closed door were +satisfactory enough, and he did not hesitate for a moment. + +"Look here, sir," he said, "you and I are going to settle this +matter quick. Whatever you paid Skinner you can have back again. +But I'm going to have that report." + +He took a quick step forward with uplifted hand--and looked into +the shining muzzle of a tiny revolver. Behind it Mr. Sabin's face, +no longer pleasant and courteous, had taken to itself some very +grim lines. + +"I am a weak man, Mr. Horser, but I am never without the means of +self-defence," Mr. Sabin said in a still, cold tone. "Be so good +as to sit down in that easy-chair." + +Mr. Horser hesitated. For one moment he stood as though about to +carry out his first intention. He stood glaring at his opponent, +his face contracted into a snarl, his whole appearance hideous, +almost bestial. Mr. Sabin smiled upon him contemptuously--the +maddening, compelling smile of the born aristocrat. + +"Sit down!" + +Mr. Horser sat down, whereupon Mr. Sabin followed suit. + +"Now what have you to say to me?" Mr. Sabin asked quietly. + +"I want that report," was the dogged answer. + +"You will not have it," Mr. Sabin answered. "You can take that +for granted. You shall not take it from me by force, and I will +see that you do not charm it out of my pocket by other means. The +information which it contains is of the utmost possible importance +to me. I have bought it and paid for it, and I shall use it." + +Mr. Horser moistened his dry lips. + +"I will give you," he said, "twenty thousand dollars for its return." + +Mr. Sabin laughed softly. + +"You bid high," he said. "I begin to suspect that our friends on +the other side of the water have been more than ordinarily kind to +you." + +"I will give you--forty thousand dollars." + +Mr. Sabin raised his eyebrows. + +"So much? After all, that sounds more like fear than anything. +You cannot hope to make a profitable deal out of that. Dear me! +It seems only a few minutes ago that I heard your interesting friend, +Mr. Skinner, shake with laughter at the mention of such a thing as +a secret society." + +"Skinner is a blasted fool," Horser exclaimed fiercely. "Listen +here, Mr. Sabin. You can read that report if you must, but, as +I'm a living man you'll not stir from New York if you do. I'll +make your life a hell for you. Don't you understand that no one +but a born fool would dare to quarrel with me in this city? I +hold the prison keys, the police are mine. I shall make my own +charge, whatever I choose, and they shall prove it for me." + +Mr. Sabin shook his head. + +"This sounds very shocking," he remarked. "I had no idea that the +largest city of the most enlightened country in the world was in +such a sorry plight." + +"Oh, curse your sarcasm," Mr. Horser said. "I'm talking facts, and +you've got to know them. Will you give up that report? You can +find out all there is in it for yourself. But I'm going to give it +you straight. If I don't have that report back unread, you'll never +leave New York." + +Mr. Sabin was genuinely amused. + +"My good fellow," he said, "you have made yourself a notorious +person in this country by dint of incessant bullying and bribing +and corruption of every sort. You may possess all the powers you +claim. Your only mistake seems to be that you are too thick-headed +to know when you are overmatched. I have been a diplomatist all my +life," Mr. Sabin said, rising slowly to his feet, and with a sudden +intent look upon his face, "and if I were to be outwitted by such a +novice as you I should deserve to end my days--in New York." + +Mr. Horser rose also to his feet. A smile of triumph was on his +lips. + +"Well," he said, "we-- Come in! Come in!" The door was thrown +open. Skinner and two policemen entered. Mr. Sabin leaned towards +the wall, and in a second the room was plunged in darkness. + +"Turn on the lights!" Skinner shouted. "Seize him! He's in that +corner. Use your clubs!" Horser bawled. "Stand by the door one +of you. Damnation, where is that switch?" + +He found it with a shout of triumph. Lights flared out in the room. +They stared around into every corner. Mr. Sabin was not there. +Then Horser saw the door leading into the bed-chamber, and flung +himself against it with a hoarse cry of rage. + +"Break it open!" he cried to the policemen. + +They hammered upon it with their clubs. Mr. Sabin's quiet voice +came to them from the other side. + +"Pray do not disturb me, gentlemen," he said. "I am reading." + +"Break it open, you damned fools!" Horser cried. They battered at +it sturdily, but the door was a solid one. Suddenly they heard the +key turn in the lock. Mr. Sabin stood upon the threshold. + +"Gentlemen!" he exclaimed. "These are my private apartments. Why +this violence?" + +He held out the paper. + +"This is mine," he said. "The information which it contains is +bought and paid for. But if the giving it up will procure me the +privilege of your departure, pray take it." + +Horser was purple with rage. He pointed with shaking fist to the +still, calm figure. + +"Arrest him," he ordered. "Take him to the cells." + +Mr. Sabin shrugged his shoulders. + +"I am ready," he said, "but it is only fair to give you this warning. +I am the Duke of Souspennier, and I am well known in England and +France. The paper which you saw me hand to the porter in the hall +as we stepped into the elevator was a despatch in cipher to the +English Ambassador at Washington, claiming his protection. If you +take me to prison to-night you will have him to deal with to-morrow." + +Mr. Horser bore himself in defeat better than at any time during +the encounter. He turned to the constables. + +"Go down stairs and wait for me in the hall," he ordered. "You too, +Skinner." + +They left the room. Horser turned to Mr. Sabin, and the veins on +his forehead stood out like whipcord. + +"I know when I'm beaten," he said. "Keep your report, and be damned +to you. But remember that you and I have a score to settle, and you +can ask those who know me how often Dick Horser comes out underneath +in the long run." + +He followed the others. Mr. Sabin sat down in his easy-chair with a +quiet smile upon his lips. Once more he glanced through the brief +report. Then his eyes half closed, and he sat quite still--a tired, +weary-looking man, almost unnaturally pale. + +"They have kept their word," he said softly to himself, "after many +years. After many years!" + + * * * * * + +Duson came in to undress him shortly afterwards. He saw signs of +the struggle, but made no comment. Mr. Sabin, after a moment's +hesitation, took a phial from his pocket and poured a few drops into +a wineglassful of water. + +"Duson," he said, "bring me some despatch forms and a pencil." + +"Yes, sir." + +Mr. Sabin wrote for several moments. Then he placed the forms in +an envelope, sealed it, and handed it to Duson. + +"Duson," he said, "that fellow Horser is annoyed with me. If I +should be arrested on any charge, or should fail to return to the +hotel within reasonable time, break that seal and send off the +telegrams." + +"Yes, sir." + +Mr. Sabin yawned. + +"I need sleep," he said. "Do not call me to-morrow morning until +I ring. And, Duson!" + +"Yes, sir." + +"The Campania will sail from New York somewhere about the tenth of +October. I wish to secure the whole of stateroom number +twenty-eight. Go round to the office as soon as they open, secure +that room if possible, and pay a deposit. No other will do. Also +one for yourself." + +"Very good, sir." + + +CHAPTER VI + +"Here's a lady inquiring for you, sir--just gone up to your room in +the elevator," the hotel clerk remarked to Mr. Sabin as he paused +on his way to the door to hand in his key. "Shall I send a boy up?" + +Mr. Sabin hesitated. + +"A lady?" he remarked tentatively. + +The hotel clerk nodded. + +"Yes. I didn't notice the name, but she was an Englishwoman. I'll +send up." + +"Thank you, I will return," Mr. Sabin said. "If I should miss her +on the way perhaps you will kindly redirect her to my rooms." + + He rang for the elevator, and was swiftly transported to his own +floor. The door of his sitting-room was open. Duson was talking +to a tall fair woman, who turned swiftly round at the sound of his +approach. + +"Ah, they found you, then!" she exclaimed, coming towards him with +outstretched hands. "Isn't this a strange place and a strange +country for us to meet once more in?" + +He greeted her gallantly, but with a certain reserve, of which she +was at once aware. + +"Are there any countries in the world left which are strange to so +great a traveler as Lady Muriel Carey?" he said. "The papers +here have been full of your wonderful adventures in South Africa." + +She laughed. + +"Everything shockingly exaggerated, of course," she declared. "I +have really been plagued to death since I got here with interviewers, +and that sort of person. I wonder if you know how glad I am to see +you again?" + +"You are very kind, indeed," he said. "Certainly there was no one +whom I expected less to see over here. You have come for the yacht +races, I suppose?" + +She looked at him with a faint smile and raised eyebrows. + +"Come," she said, "shall we lie to one another? Is it worth while? +Candour is so much more original." + +"Candour by all means then, I beg," he answered. + +"I have come over with the Dalkeiths, ostensibly to see the yacht +races. Really I have come to see you." + +Mr. Sabin bowed. + +"I am delightfully flattered," he murmured. + +"I don't exactly mean for the pleasure of gazing into your face +once more," she continued. "I have a mission!" + +Mr. Sabin looked up quickly. + +"Great heavens! You, too!" he exclaimed. + +She nodded. + +"Why not?" she asked coolly. "I have been in it for years, you +know, and when I got back from South Africa everything seemed so +terribly slow that I begged for some work to do." + +"And they sent you here--to me?" + +"Yes," she answered, "and I was here also a few weeks ago, but you +must not ask me anything about that." + +Mr. Sabin's eyebrows contracted, his face darkened. She shrank +a little away from him. + +"So it is you who have robbed me of her, then," he said slowly. +"Yes, the description fits you well enough. I ask you, Lady Carey, +to remember the last time when chance brought you and me together. +Have I deserved this from you?" + +She made a little gesture of impotence. + +"Do be reasonable!" she begged. "What choice had I?" + +He looked at her steadfastly. + +"The folly of women--of clever women such as you," he said, "is +absolutely amazing. You have deliberately made a slave of +yourself--" + +"One must have distraction," she murmured. + +"Distraction! And so you play at this sort of thing. Is it worth +while?" + +Her eyes for a moment clouded over with weariness. + +"When one has filled the cup of life to the brim for many years," +she said, "what remains that is worth while?" + +He bowed. + +"You are a young woman," he said. "You should not yet have learned +to speak with such bitterness. As for me--well, I am old indeed. +In youth and age the affections claim us. I am approaching my +second childhood." + +She laughed derisively, yet not unkindly. "What folly!" she +exclaimed. + +"You are right," he admitted. "I suppose it is the fault of old +associations." + +"In a few minutes," she said, smiling at him, "we should have become +sentimental." + +"I," he admitted, "was floundering already." + +She shrugged her shoulders. + +"You talk as though sentiment were a bog." + +"There have been worse similes," he declared. + +"How horrid! And do you know, sir, for all your indignation you +have not yet even inquired after your wife's health." + +"I trust," he said, "that she is well." + +"She is in excellent health." + +"Your second visit to this country," he remarked, "follows very +swiftly upon your first." + +She nodded. + +"I am here," she said, "on your account." + +"You excite my interest," he declared. "May I know your mission?" + +"I have to remind you of your pledge," she said, "to assure you +of Lucille's welfare, and to prevent your leaving the country." + +"Marvelous!" he exclaimed, with a slight mocking smile. "And may +I ask what means you intend to employ to keep me here?" + +"Well," she said, "I have large discretionary powers. We have a +very strong branch over on this side, but I would very much rather +induce you to stay here without applying to them." + +"And the inducements?" he asked. + +She took a cigarette from a box which stood on the table and lit +one. + +"Well," she said, "I might appeal to your hospitality, might I not? +I am in a strange country which you have made your home. I want to +be shown round. Do you remember dining with me one night at the +Ambassador's? It was very hot, even for Paris, and we drove +afterwards in the Bois. Ask me to dine with you here, won't you? +I have never quite forgotten the last time." + +Mr. Sabin laughed softly, but with undisguised mirth. + +"Come," he said, "this is an excellent start. You are to play the +Circe up to date, and I am to be beguiled. How ought I to answer +you? I do remember the Ambassador's, and I do remember driving +down the Bois in your victoria, and holding--I believe I am right +--your hand. You have no right to disturb those charming memories +by attempting to turn them into bathos." + +She blew out a little cloud of tobacco smoke, and watched it +thoughtfully. + +"Ah!" she remarked. "I wonder who is better at that, you or I? +I may not be exactly a sentimental person, but you--you are a +flint." + +"On the contrary," Mr. Sabin assured her earnestly, "I am very +much in love with my wife." + +"Dear me!" she exclaimed. "You carry originality to quixoticism. +I have met several men before in my life whom I have suspected of +such a thing, but I never heard any one confess it. This little +domestic contretemps is then, I presume, disagreeable to you!" + +"To the last degree," Mr. Sabin asserted. "So much so that I +leave for England by the Campania." + +She shook her head slowly. + +"I wouldn't if I were you." + +"Why not?" + +Lady Carey threw away the end of her cigarette, and looked for a +moment thoughtfully at her long white fingers glittering with rings. +Then she began to draw on her gloves. + +"Well, in the first place," she said, "Lucille will have no time to +spare for you. You will be de trop in decidedly an uncomfortable +position. You wouldn't find London at all a good place to live in +just now, even if you ever got there--which I am inclined to doubt. +And secondly, here am I--" + +"Circe!" he murmured. + +"Waiting to be entertained, in a strange country, almost friendless. +I want to be shown everything, taken everywhere. And I am dying to +see your home at Lenox. I do not think your attitude towards me in +the least hospitable." + +"Come, you are judging me very quickly," he declared. "What +opportunities have I had?" + +"What opportunities can there be if you sail by the Campania?" + +"You might dine with me to-night at least." + +"Impossible! The Dalkeiths have a party to meet me. Come too, +won't you? They love dukes--even French ones." + +He shook his head. + +"There is no attraction for me in a large party," he answered. "I +am getting to an age when to make conversation in return for a +dinner seems scarcely a fair exchange." + +"From your host's point of view, or yours?" + +"From both! Besides, one's digestion suffers." + +"You are certainly getting old," she declared. "Come, I must go. +You haven't been a bit nice to me. When shall I see you again?" + +"It is," he answered, "for you to say." + +She looked at him for a moment thoughtfully. + +"Supposing," she said, "that I cried off the yacht race to-day. +Would you take me out to lunch?" + +He smiled. + +"My dear lady," he said, "it is for Circe to command--and for me +to obey." + +"And you'll come and have tea with me afterwards at the Waldorf?" + +"That," Mr. Sabin declared, "will add still further to my happiness." + +"Will you call for me, then--and where shall we have lunch, and at +what time? I must go and develop a headache at once, or that +tiresome Dalkeith boy will be pounding at my door." + +"I will call for you at the Waldorf at half-past one," Mr. Sabin +said. "Unless you have any choice, I will take you to a little +place downtown where we can imagine ourselves back on the Continent, +and where we shall be spared the horror of green corn." + +"Delightful," she murmured, buttoning her glove. "Then you shall +take me for a drive to Fifth Avenue, or to see somebody's tomb, +and my woman shall make some real Russian tea for us in my +sitting-room. Really, I think I'm doing very well for the first +day. Is the spell beginning to work?" + +"Hideously," he assured her. "I feel already that the only thing I +dread in life are these two hours before luncheon." + +She nodded. + +"That is quite as it should be. Don't trouble to come down with +me. I believe that Dalkeith pere is hanging round somewhere, and +in view of my headache perhaps you had better remain in the +background for the moment. At one-thirty, then!" + +Mr. Sabin smiled as she passed out of the room, and lit a cigarette. + +"I think," he said to himself, "that the arrival of Felix is +opportune." + + +CHAPTER VII + +They sat together at a small table, looking upon a scene which was +probably unique in the history of the great restaurant. The younger +man was both frankly interested and undoubtedly curious. Mr. Sabin, +though his eyes seemed everywhere, retained to the full extent that +nonchalance of manner which all his life he had so assiduously +cultivated. + +"It is wonderful, my dear Felix," he said, leisurely drawing his +cigarette-case from his pocket, "wonderful what good fellowship can +be evolved by a kindred interest in sport, and a bottle or so of +good champagne. But, after all, this is not to be taken seriously." + +"Shamrock the fourth! Shamrock the fourth!" + +A tall young American, his thick head of hair, which had once been +carefully parted in the middle, a little disheveled, his hard, +clean-cut face flushed with enthusiasm, had risen to his feet and +stood with a brimming glass of champagne high over his head. Almost +every one in the room rose to their feet. A college boy sprang upon +a table with extended arms. The Yale shout split the room. The +very glasses on the table rattled. + +"Columbia! Columbia!" + +It was an Englishman now who had leaped upon a vacant table with +upraised glass. There was an answering roar of enthusiasm. Every +one drank, and every one sat down again with a pleasant thrill of +excitement at this unique scene. Felix leaned back in his chair +and marveled. + +"One would have imagined," he murmured, "that America and England +together were at war with the rest of the world and had won a great +victory. To think that this is all the result of a yacht race. It +is incredible!" + +"All your life, my dear Felix," Mr. Sabin remarked, "you have +underrated the sporting instinct. It has a great place amongst the +impulses of the world. See how it has brought these people +together." + +"But they are already of the same kin," Felix remarked. "Their +interests and aims are alike. Their destinies are surely identical." + +Mr. Sabin, who had lit his cigarette, watched the blue smoke curl +upwards, and was thoughtful for a moment. + +"My dear Felix!" he said. "You are very, very young. The interests +of two great nations such as America and England can never be alike. +It is the language of diplomacy, but it is also the language of +fools." + +Their conversation was for the moment interrupted by a fresh murmur +of applause, rising above the loved hum of conversation, the laughter +of women, and the popping of corks. A little troop of waiters had +just wheeled into the room two magnificent models of yachts hewn out +of blocks of solid ice and crowned with flowers. On the one were +the Stars and Stripes, on the other the Shamrock and Thistle. There +was much clapping of hands and cheering. Lady Carey, who was +sitting at the next table with her back to them, joined in the +applause so heartily that a tiny gold pencil attached to her bracelet +became detached and rolled unobserved to Mr. Sabin's side. Felix +half rose to pick it up, but was suddenly checked by a quick gesture +from his companion. + +"Leave it," Mr. Sabin whispered. "I wish to return it myself." + +He stooped and picked it up, a certain stealthiness apparent in his +movement. Felix watched him in amazement. + +"It is Lady Carey's, is it not?" he asked. + +"Yes. Be silent. I will give it back to her presently." + +A waiter served them with coffee. Mr. Sabin was idly sketching +something on the back of his menu card. Felix broke into a little +laugh as the man retired. + +"Mysterious as ever," he remarked. + +Mr. Sabin smiled quietly. He went on with his sketch. + +"I do not want," Felix said, "to seem impatient, but you must +remember that I have come all the way from Europe in response to +a very urgent message. As yet I have done nothing except form a +very uncomfortable third at a luncheon and tea party, and listen +to a good deal of enigmatic conversation between you and the +charming Lady Carey. This evening I made sure that I should be +enlightened. But no! You have given me a wonderful dinner--from +you I expected it. We have eaten terrapin, canvas-back duck, and +many other things the names of which alone were known to me. But +of the reason for which you have summoned me here--I know nothing. +Not one word have you spoken. I am beginning to fear from your +avoidance of the subject that there is some trouble between you and +Lucille. I beg that you will set my anxiety at rest." + +Mr. Sabin nodded. + +"It is reasonable," he said. "Look here!" + +He turned the menu card round. On the back he had sketched some +sort of a device with the pencil which he had picked up, and which +instead of black-lead contained a peculiar shade of yellow crayon. +Felix sat as though turned to stone. + +"Try," Mr. Sabin said smoothly, "and avoid that air of tragedy. +Some of these good people might be curious." + +Felix leaned across the table. He pointed to the +menu card. + +"What does that mean?" he muttered. + +Mr. Sabin contemplated it himself thoughtfully. "Well," he said, +"I rather thought that you might be able to explain that to me. +I have an idea that there is a society in Europe--sort of +aristocratic odd-fellows, you know--who had adopted it for their +crest. Am I not right?" + +Felix looked at him steadfastly. + +"Tell me two things," he said. "First, why you sent for me, and +secondly, what do you mean--by that?" + +"Lucille," Mr. Sabin said, "has been taken away from me." + +"Lucille! Great God!" + +"She has been taken away from me," Mr. Sabin said, "without a single +word of warning." + +Felix pointed to the menu card. + +"By them?" he asked. + +"By them. It was a month ago. Two days before my cable." + +Felix was silent for several moments. He had not the self-command +of his companion, and he feared to trust himself to speech. + +"She has been taken to Europe," Mr. Sabin continued. "I do not +know, I cannot even guess at the reason. She left no word. I have +been warned not to follow her." + +"You obey?" + +"I sail to-morrow." + +"And I?" Felix asked. + +Mr. Sabin looked for, a moment at the drawing on the back of the +menu card, and up at Felix. Felix shook his head. + +"You must know," he said, "that I am powerless." + +"You may be able to help me," Mr. Sabin said, "without compromising +yourself." + +"Impossible!" Felix declared. "But what did they want with Lucille?" + +"That," Mr. Sabin said, "is what I am desirous of knowing. It is +what I trust that you, my dear Felix, may assist me to discover." + +"You are determined, then, to follow her?" + +Mr. Sabin helped himself to a liqueur from the bottle by his side. + +"My dear Felix," he said reproachfully, "you should know me better +than to ask me such a question." + +Felix moved uneasily in his chair. + +"Of course," he said, "it depends upon how much they want to keep +you apart. But you know that you are running great risks?" + +"Why, no," Mr. Sabin said. "I scarcely thought that. I have +understood that the society was by no means in its former +flourishing condition." + +Felix laughed scornfully. + +"They have never been," he answered, "richer or more powerful. +During the last twelve months they have been active in every part +of Europe." + +Mr. Sabin's face hardened. + +"Very well!" he said. "We will try their strength." + +"We!" Felix laughed shortly. "You forget that my hands are tied. +I cannot help you or Lucille. You must know that." + +"You cannot interfere directly," Mr. Sabin admitted. "Yet you are +Lucille's brother, and I am forced to appeal to you. If you will +be my companion for a little while I think I can show you how you +can help Lucille at any rate, and yet run no risk." + +The little party at the next table were breaking up at last. Lady +Carey, pale and bored, with tired, swollen eyes--they were always +a little prominent--rose languidly and began to gather together +her belongings. As she did so she looked over the back of her chair +and met Mr. Sabin's eyes. He rose at once and bowed. She cast a +quick sidelong glance at her companions, which he at once understood. + +"I have the honour, Lady Carey," he said, "of recalling myself to +your recollection. We met in Paris and London not so very many years +ago. You perhaps remember the cardinal's dinner?" + +A slight smile flickered upon her lips. The man's adroitness always +excited her admiration. + +"I remember it perfectly, and you, Duke," she answered. "Have you +made your home on this side of the water?" + +Mr. Sabin shook his head slowly. + +"Home!" he repeated. "Ah, I was always a bird of passage, you +remember. Yet I have spent three very delightful years in this +country." + +"And I," she said, lowering her tone and leaning towards him, "one +very stupid, idiotic day." + +Mr. Sabin assumed the look of a man who denies any personal +responsibility in an unfortunate happening. + +"It was regrettable," he murmured, "but I assure you that it was +unavoidable. Lucille's brother must have a certain claim upon me, +and it was his first day in America." + +She was silent for a moment. Then she turned abruptly towards the +door. Her friends were already on the way. + +"Come with me," she said. "I want to speak to you." + +He followed her out into the lobby. Felix came a few paces behind. +The restaurant was still full of people, the hum of conversation +almost drowning the music. Every one glanced curiously at Lady +Carey, who was a famous woman. She carried herself with a certain +insolent indifference, the national deportment of her sex and rank. +The women whispered together that she was "very English." + +In the lobby she turned suddenly upon Mr. Sabin. + +"Will you take me back to my hotel?" she asked pointedly. + +"I regret that I cannot," he answered. "I have promised to show +Felix some of the wonders of New York by night." + +"You can take him to-morrow." + +"To-morrow," Mr. Sabin said, "he leaves for the West." + +She looked closely into his impassive face. + +"I suppose that you are lying," she said shortly. + +"Your candour," he answered coldly, "sometimes approaches brutality." + +She leaned towards him, her face suddenly softened. + +"We are playing a foolish game with one another," she murmured. "I +offer you an alliance, my friendship, perhaps my help." + +"What can I do," he answered gravely, "save be grateful--and accept?" + +"Then--" + +She stopped short. It was Mr. Sabin's luck which had intervened. +Herbert Daikeith stood at her elbow. + +"Lady Carey," he said, "they're all gone but the mater and I. +Forgive my interrupting you," he added hastily. + +"You can go on, Herbert," she added. "The Duc de Souspennier will +bring me." + +Mr. Sabin, who had no intention of doing anything of the sort, +turned towards the young man with a smile. + +"Lady Carey has not introduced us," he said, "but I have seen you +at Ranelagh quite often. If you are still keen on polo you should +have a try over here. I fancy you would find that these American +youngsters can hold their own. All right, Felix, I am ready now. +Lady Carey, I shall do myself the honour of waiting upon you early +to-morrow morning, as I have a little excursion to propose. +Good-night." + +She shrugged her shoulders ever so slightly as she turned away. Mr. +Sabin smiled--faintly amused. He turned to Felix. + +"Come," he said, "we have no time to lose." + + +CHAPTER VIII + +"I regret," Mr. Sabin said to Felix as they sat side by side in the +small coupe, "that your stay in this country will be so brief." + +"Indeed," Felix answered. "May I ask what you call brief?" + +Mr. Sabin looked out of the carriage window. + +"We are already," he said, "on the way to England." + +Felix laughed. + +"This," he said, "is like old times." + +Mr. Sabin smiled. + +"The system of espionage here," he remarked, "is painfully primitive. +It lacks finesse and judgment. The fact that I have taken expensive +rooms on the Campania, and that I have sent many packages there, +that my own belongings are still in my rooms untouched, seems to our +friends conclusive evidence that I am going to attempt to leave +America by that boat. They have, I believe, a warrant for my arrest +on some ridiculous charge which they intend to present at the last +moment. They will not have the opportunity." + +"But there is no other steamer sailing to-morrow, is there?" Felix +asked. + +"Not from New York," Mr. Sabin answered, "but it was never my +intention to sail from New York. We are on our way to Boston now, +and we sail in the Saxonia at six o'clock to-morrow morning." + +"We appear to be stopping at the Waldorf," Felix remarked. + +"It is quite correct," Mr. Sabin answered. "Follow me through the +hall as quickly as possible. There is another carriage waiting at +the other entrance, and I expect to find in it Duson and my +dressing-case." + +They alighted and made their way though the crowded vestibules. At +the Thirty-fourth Street entrance a carriage was drawn up. Duson +was standing upon the pavement, his pale, nervous face whiter than +ever under the electric light. Mr. Sabin stopped short. + +"Felix," he said, "one word. If by any chance things have gone +wrong they will not have made any arrangements to detain you. Catch +the midnight train to Boston and embark on the Saxonia. There will +be a cable for you at Liverpool. But the moment you leave me send +this despatch." + +Felix nodded and put the crumpled-up piece of paper in his pocket. +The two men passed on. Duson took off his hat, but his fingers were +trembling. The carriage door was opened and a tall, spare man +descended. + +"This is Mr. Sabin?" he remarked. + +Mr. Sabin bowed. + +"That is my name," he admitted, "by which I have been generally +called in this democratic country. What is your business with me?" + +"I rather guess that you're my prisoner," the man answered. "If +you'll step right in here we can get away quietly." + +"The suggestion," Mr. Sabin remarked, "sounds inviting, but I am +somewhat pressed for time. Might I inquire the nature of the charge +you have against me?" + +"They'll tell you that at the office," the man answered. "Get in, +please." + +Mr. Sabin looked around for Felix, but he had disappeared. He took +out his cigarette-case. + +"You will permit me first to light a cigarette," he remarked. + +"All right! Only look sharp." + +Mr. Sabin kept silence in the carriage. The drive was a long one. +When they descended he looked up at Duson, who sat upon the box. + +"Duson," he said, and his voice, though low, was terrible, "I see +that I can be mistaken in men. You are a villain." + +The man sprung to his feet, hat in hand. His face was wrung with +emotion. + +"Your Grace," he said, "it is true that I betrayed you. But I did +it without reward. I am a ruined man. I did it because the orders +which came to me were such as I dare not disobey. Here are your +keys, your Grace, and money." + +Mr. Sabin looked at him steadily. + +"You, too, Duson?" + +"I too, alas, your Grace!" + +Mr. Sabin considered for a moment. + +"Duson," he said, "I retain you in my service. Take my luggage on +board the Campania to-morrow afternoon, and pay the bill at the +hotel. I shall join you on the boat." + +Duson was amazed. The man who was standing by laughed. + +"If you take my advice, sir," he remarked, "you'll order your +clothes to be sent here. I've a kind of fancy the Campania will +sail without you to-morrow." + +"You have my orders, Duson," Mr. Sabin said. "You can rely upon +seeing me." + +The detective led the way into the building, and opened the door +leading into a large, barely furnished office. + +"Chief's gone home for the night, I guess," he remarked. "We can +fix up a shakedown for you in one of the rooms behind." + +"I thank you," Mr. Sabin said, sitting down in a high-backed wooden +chair; "I decline to move until the charge against me is properly +explained." + +"There is no one here to do it just now," the man answered. "Better +make yourself comfortable for a bit." + +"You detain me here, then," Mr. Sabin said, "without even a sight +of your warrant or any intimation as to the charge against me?" + +"Oh, the chief'll fix all that," the man answered. "Don't you worry." + +Mr. Sabin smiled. + +In a magnificently furnished apartment somewhere in the neighbourhood +of Fifth Avenue a small party of men were seated round a card table +piled with chips and rolls of bills. On the sideboard there was a +great collection of empty bottles, spirit decanters and Vichy syphons. +Mr. Horser was helping himself to brandy and water with one hand and +holding himself up with the other. There was a knock at the door. + +A man who was still playing looked up. He was about fifty years of +age, clean shaven, with vacuous eyes and a weak mouth. He was the +host of the party. + +"Come in!" he shouted. + +A young man entered in a long black overcoat and soft hat. He +looked about him without surprise, but he seemed to note Mr. +Horser's presence with some concern. The man at the table threw +down his cards. + +"What the devil do you want, Smith?" + +"An important despatch from Washington has just arrived, sir. I +have brought it up with the codebook." + +"From Washington at this time of the night," he exclaimed thickly. +"Come in here, Smith." + +He raised the curtains leading into a small anteroom, and turned +up the electric light. His clerk laid the message down on the +table before him. + +"Here is the despatch, Mr. Mace," he said, "and here is the +translation." + +"English Ambassador demands immediate explanation of arrest of +Duke Souspennier at Waldorf to-night. Reply immediately what +charge and evidence. Souspennier naturalised Englishman." + +Mr. Mace sprang to his feet with an oath. He threw aside the +curtain which shielded the room from the larger apartment. + +"Horser, come here, you damned fool!" + +Horser, with a stream of magnificent invectives, obeyed the summons. +His host pointed to the message. + +"Read that!" + +Mr. Horser read and his face grew even more repulsive. A dull +purple flush suffused his cheeks, his eyes were bloodshot, and the +veins on his forehead stood out like cords. He leaned for several +moments against the table and steadily cursed Mr. Sabin, the +government at Washington, and something under his breath which he +did not dare to name openly. + +"Oh, shut up!" his host said at last. "How the devil are we going +to get out of this?" + +Mr. Horser left the room and returned with a tumbler full of brandy +and a very little water. + +"Take a drink yourself," he said. "It'll steady you." + +"Oh, I'm steady enough," Mr. Mace replied impatiently. "I want to +know how you're going to get us out of this. What was the charge, +anyhow?" + +"Passing forged bills," Horser answered. "Parsons fixed it up." + +Mr. Mace turned a shade paler. + +"Where the devil's the sense in a charge like that?" he answered +fiercely. "The man's a millionaire. He'll turn the tables on us +nicely." + +"We've got to keep him till after the Campania sails, anyhow," +Horser said doggedly. + +"We're not going to keep him ten minutes," Mace replied. "I'm going +to sign the order for his release." + +Horser's speech was thick with drunken fury. "By --- I'll see that +you don't!" he exclaimed. + +Mace turned upon him angrily. + +"You selfish fool!" he muttered. "You're not in the thing, anyhow. +If you think I'm going to risk my position for the sake of one +little job you're wrong. I shall go down myself and release him, +with an apology." + +"He'll have his revenge all the same," Horser answered. "It's too +late now to funk the thing. They can't budge you. We'll see to +that. We hold New York in our hands. Be a man, Mace, and run a +little risk. It's fifty thousand." + +Mace looked up at him curiously. + +"What do you get out of it, Horser?" + +Horser's face hardened. + +"Not one cent!" he declared fiercely. "Only if I fail it might be +unpleasant for me next time I crossed." + +"I don't know!" Mace declared weakly. "I don't know what to do. +It's twelve hours, Horser, and the charge is ridiculous." + +"You have me behind you." + +"I can't tell them that at Washington," Mace said. + +"It's a fact, all the same. Don't be so damned nervous." + +Mace dismissed his clerk, and found his other guests, too, on the +point of departure. But the last had scarcely left before a servant +entered with another despatch. + +"Release Souspennier." + +Mace handed it to his companion. + +"This settles it," he declared. "I shall go round and try and make +my peace with the fellow." + +Horser stood in the way, burly, half-drunk and vicious. He struck +his host in the face with clenched fist. Mace went down with +scarcely a groan. A servant, hearing the fall, came hurrying back. + +"Your master is drunk and he has fallen down," Horser said. "Put +him to bed--give him a sleeping draught if you've got one." + +The servant bent over the unconscious man. + +"Hadn't I better fetch a doctor, sir?" he asked. "I'm afraid he's +hurt." + +"Not he!" Horser answered contemptuously. "He's cut his cheek a +little, that's all. Put him to bed. Say I shall be round again by +nine o'clock." + +Horser put on his coat and left the house. The morning sunlight +was flooding the streets. Away down town Mr. Sabin was dozing in +his high-backed chair. + + +CHAPTER IX + +Felix, after an uneventful voyage, landed duly at Liverpool. To +his amazement the first person he saw upon the quay was Mr. Sabin, +leaning upon his stick and smoking a cigarette. + +"Come, come, Felix!" he exclaimed. "Don't look at me as though I +were a ghost. You have very little confidence in me, after all, I +see." + +"But--how did you get here?" + +"The Campania, of course. I had plenty of time. It was easy enough +for those fellows to arrest me, but they never had a chance of +holding me." + +"But how did you get away in time?" + +Mr. Sabin sighed. + +"It was very simple," he said. "One day, while one of those +wonderful spies was sleeping on my doormat I slipped away and went +over to Washington, saw the English Ambassador, convinced him of my +bonafides, told him very nearly the whole truth. He promised if I +wired him that I was arrested to take my case up at once. You sent +the despatch, and he kept his word. I breakfasted on Saturday +morning at the Waldorf, and though a great dray was driven into +my carriage on the way to the boat, I escaped, as I always do--and +here I am." + +"Unhurt!" Felix remarked with a smile, "as usual!" + +Mr. Sabin nodded. + +"The driver of my carriage was killed, and Duson had his arm broken," +he said. "I stepped out of the debris without a scratch. Come into +the Customs House now and get your baggage through. I have taken a +coupe on the special train and ordered lunch." + +Before long they were on the way to London. Mr. Sabin, whilst +luncheon was being served, talked only of the lightest matters. +But afterwards, when coffee was served and he had lit a cigarette, +he leaned over towards Felix. + +"Felix," he said, "your sister is dear to you?" + +"She is the only creature on earth," Felix said, "whom I care for. +She is very dear to me, indeed." + +"Am I right," Mr. Sabin asked, "in assuming that the old enmity +between us is dead, that the last few years has wiped away the old +soreness. + +"Yes," Felix answered. "I know that she was happy with you. That +is enough for me." + +"You and I," Mr. Sabin continued, "must work out her salvation. Do +not be afraid that I am going to ask you impossibilities. I know +that our ways must lie apart. You can go to her at once. It may +be many, many months before I can catch even a glimpse of her. +Never mind. Let me feel that she has you within the circle, and I +without, with our lives devoted to her." + +"You may rely upon that," Felix answered. "Wherever she is I am +going. I shall be there. I will watch over her." + +Mr. Sabin sighed. + +"The more difficult task is mine," he said, "but I have no fear of +failure. I shall find her surrounded by spies, by those who are +now my enemies. Still, they will find it hard to shake me off. It +may be that they took her from me only out of revenge. If that be +so my task will be easier. If there are other dangers which she is +called upon to face, it is still possible that they might accept my +service instead." + +"You would give it?" Felix exclaimed. + +"To the last drop of blood in my body," Mr. Sabin answered. "Save +for my love for her I am a dead man upon the earth. I have no +longer politics or ambition. So the past can easily be expunged. +Those who must be her guiding influence shall be mine." + +"You will win her back," Felix said. "I am sure of it." + +"I am willing to pay any price on earth," Mr. Sabin answered. "If +they can forget the past I can. I want you to remember this. I +want her to know it. I want them to know it. That is all, Felix." + +Mr. Sabin leaned back in his seat. He had left this country last +a stricken and defeated man, left it with the echoes of his ruined +schemes crashing in his ears. He came back to it a man with one +purpose only, and that such a purpose as never before had guided +him--the love of a woman. Was it a sign of age, he wondered, this +return to the humanities? His life had been full of great schemes, +he had wielded often a gigantic influence, more than once he had +made history. And now the love of these things had gone from him. +Their fascination was powerless to quicken by a single beat his +steady pulse. Monarchy or republic--what did he care? It was +Lucille he wanted, the woman who had shown him how sweet even defeat +might be, who had made these three years of his life so happy that +they seemed to have passed in one delightful dream. Were they dead, +annihilated, these old ambitions, the old love of great doings, or +did they only slumber? He moved in his seat uneasily. + +At Euston the two men separated with a silent handshake. Mr. Sabin +drove to one of the largest and newest of the modern hotels de luxe. +He entered his name as Mr. Sabin--the old exile's hatred of using +his title in a foreign country had become a confirmed habit with +him--and mingled freely with the crowds who thronged into the +restaurant at night. There were many faces which he remembered, +there were a few who remembered him. He neither courted nor shunned +observation. He sat at dinner-time at a retired table, and found +himself watching the people with a stir of pleasure. Afterwards he +went round to a famous club, of which he had once been made a life +member, but towards midnight he was wearied of the dull decorum of +his surroundings, and returning to the hotel, sought the restaurant +once more. The stream of people coming in to supper was greater +even than at dinner-time. He found a small table, and ordered some +oysters. The sight of this bevy of pleasure-seekers, all apparently +with multitudes of friends, might have engendered a sense of +loneliness in a man of different disposition. To Mr. Sabin his +isolation was a luxury. He had an uninterrupted opportunity of +pursuing his favourite study. + +There entered a party towards midnight, to meet whom the head-waiter +himself came hurrying from the further end of the room, and whose +arrival created a little buzz of interest. The woman who formed the +central figure of the little group had for two years known no rival +either at Court or in Society. She was the most beautiful woman in +England, beautiful too with all the subtle grace of her royal descent. +There were women upon the stage whose faces might have borne +comparison with hers, but there was not one who in a room would not +have sunk into insignificance by her side. Her movements, her +carriage were incomparable--the inherited gifts of a race of women +born in palaces. + +Mr. Sabin, who neither shunned nor courted observation, watched her +with a grim smile which was not devoid of bitterness. Suddenly she +saw him. With a little cry of wonder she came towards him with +outstretched hands. + +"It is marvelous," she exclaimed. "You? Really you?" + +He bowed low over her hands. + +"It is I, dear Helene," he answered. "A moment ago I was dreaming. +I thought that I was back once more at Versailles, and in the +presence of my Queen." + +She laughed softly. + +"There may be no Versailles," she murmured, "but you will be a +courtier to the end of your days." + +"At least," he said, "believe me that my congratulations come from +my heart. Your happiness is written in your face, and your husband +must be the proudest man in England." + +He was standing now by her side, and he held out his hand to Mr. +Sabin. + +"I hope, sir," he said pleasantly, "that you bear me no ill-will." + +"It would be madness," Mr. Sabin answered. "To be the most beautiful +peeress in England is perhaps for Helene a happier fate than to be +the first queen of a new dynasty." + +"And you, uncle?" Helene said. "You are back from your exile then. +How often I have felt disposed to smile when I thought of you, of +all men, in America." + +"I went into exile," Mr. Sabin answered, "and I found paradise. The +three years which have passed since I saw you last have been the +happiest of my life." + +"Lucille!" Helene exclaimed. + +"Is my wife," Mr. Sabin answered. + +"Delightful!" Helene murmured. "She is with you then, I hope. +Indeed, I felt sure that I saw her the other night at the opera." + +"At the opera!" Mr. Sabin for a moment was silent. He would have +been ashamed to confess that his heart was beating strongly, that a +crowd of eager questions trembled upon his lips. He recovered +himself after a moment. + +"Lucille is not with me for the moment," he said in measured tones. +"I am detaining you from your guests, Helene. If you will permit +me I will call upon you." + +"Won't you join us?" Lord Camperdown asked courteously. "We are +only a small party--the Portuguese Ambassador and his wife, the +Duke of Medchester, and Stanley Phillipson." + +Mr. Sabin rose at once. + +"I shall be delighted," he said. + +Lord Camperdown hesitated for a moment. + +"I present Monsieur le Due de Souspennier, I presume?" he remarked, +smiling. + +Mr. Sabin bowed. + +"I am Mr. Sabin," he said, "at the hotels and places where one +travels. To my friends I have no longer an incognito. It is not +necessary." + +It was a brilliant little supper party, and Mr. Sabin contributed +at least his share to the general entertainment. Before they +dispersed he had to bring out his tablets to make notes of his +engagements. He stood on the top of the steps above the palm-court +to wish them good-bye, leaning on his stick. Helene turned back +and waved her hand. + +"He is unchanged," she murmured, "yet I fear that there must be +trouble." + +"Why? He seemed cheerful enough," her husband remarked. + +She dropped her voice a little. + +"Lucille is in London. She is staying at Dorset House." + + +CHAPTER X + +Mr. Sabin was deep in thought. He sat in an easy-chair with his +back to the window, his hands crossed upon his stick, his eyes +fixed upon the fire. Duson was moving noiselessly about the room, +cutting the morning's supply of newspapers and setting them out +upon the table. His master was in a mood which he had been taught +to respect. It was Mr. Sabin who broke the silence. + +"Duson!" + +"Your Grace!" + +"I have always, as you know, ignored your somewhat anomalous +position as the servant of one man and the slave of a society. +The questions which I am about to ask you you can answer or not, +according to your own apprehensions of what is due to each." + +"I thank your Grace!" + +"My departure from America seemed to incite the most violent +opposition on the part of your friends. As you know, it was with +a certain amount of difficulty that I reached this country. Now, +however, I am left altogether alone. I have not received a single +warning letter. My comings and goings, although purposely devoid +of the slightest secrecy, are absolutely undisturbed. Yet I have +some reason to believe that your mistress is in London." + +"Your Grace will pardon me," Duson said, "but there is outside a +gentleman waiting to see you to whom you might address the same +questions with better results, for compared with him I know nothing. +It is Monsieur Felix." + +"Why have you kept him waiting?" Mr. Sabin asked. + +"Your Grace was much absorbed," Duson answered. + +Felix was smoking a cigarette, and Mr. Sabin greeted him with a +certain grim cordiality. + +"Is this permitted--this visit?" he asked, himself selecting a +cigarette and motioning his guest to a chair. + +"It is even encouraged," Felix answered. + +"You have perhaps some message?" + +"None." + +"I am glad to see you," Mr. Sabin said. "Just now I am a little +puzzled. I will put the matter to you. You shall answer or not, +at your own discretion." + +"I am ready," Felix declared. + +"You know the difficulty with which I escaped from America," Mr. +Sabin continued. "Every means which ingenuity could suggest seemed +brought to bear against me. And every movement was directed, if not +from here, from some place in Europe. Well, I arrived here four +days ago. I live quite openly, I have even abjured to some extent +my incognito. Yet I have not received even a warning letter. I am +left absolutely undisturbed." + +Felix looked at him thoughtfully. + +"And what do you deduce from this?" he asked. + +"I do not like it," Mr. Sabin answered drily. + +"After all," Felix remarked, "it is to some extent natural. The +very openness of your life here makes interference with you more +difficult, and as to warning letters--well, you have proved the +uselessness of them." + +"Perhaps," Mr. Sabin answered. "At the same time, if I were a +superstitious person I should consider this inaction ominous." + +"You must take account also," Felix said, "of the difference in the +countries. In England the police system, if not the most infallible +in the world, is certainly the most incorruptible. There was never +a country in which security of person and life was so keenly watched +over as here. In America, up to a certain point, a man is expected +to look after himself. The same feeling does not prevail here." + +Mr. Sabin assented. + +"And therefore," he remarked, "for the purposes of your friends I +should consider this a difficult and unpromising country in which +to work." + +"Other countries, other methods!" Felix remarked laconically. + +"Exactly! It is the new methods which I am anxious to discover," +Mr. Sabin said. "No glimmering of them as yet has been vouchsafed +to me. Yet I believe that I am right in assuming that for the +moment London is the headquarters of your friends, and that Lucille +is here?" + +"If that is meant for a question," Felix said, "I may not answer it." + +Mr. Sabin nodded. + +"Yet," he suggested, "your visit has an object. To discover my +plans perhaps! You are welcome to them." + +Felix thoughtfully knocked the ashes off his cigarette. + +"My visit had an object," he admitted, "but it was a personal one. +I am not actually concerned in the doings of those whom you have +called my friends." + +"We are alone," Mr. Sabin reminded him. "My time is yours." + +"You and I," Felix said, "have had our periods of bitter enmity. +With your marriage to Lucille these, so far as I am concerned, +ended for ever. I will even admit that in my younger days I was +prejudiced against you. That has passed away. You have been all +your days a bold and unscrupulous schemer, but ends have at any +rate been worthy ones. To-day I am able to regard you with +feelings of friendliness. You are the husband of my dear sister, +and for years I know that you made her very happy. I ask you, will +you believe in this statement of my attitude towards you?" + +"I do not for a single moment doubt it," Mr. Sabin answered. + +"You will regard the advice which I am going to offer as +disinterested?" + +"Certainly!" + +"Then I offer it to you earnestly, and with my whole heart. Take +the next steamer and go back to America." + +"And leave Lucille? Go without making any effort to see her?" + +"Yes." + +Mr. Sabin was for a moment very serious indeed. The advice given +in such a manner was full of forebodings to him. The lines from +the corners of his mouth seemed graven into his face. + +"Felix," he said slowly, "I am sometimes conscious of the fact that +I am passing into that period of life which we call old age. My +ambitions are dead, my energies are weakened. For many years I have +toiled--the time has come for rest. Of all the great passions +which I have felt there remains but one--Lucille. Life without her +is worth nothing to me. I am weary of solitude, I am weary of +everything except Lucille. How then can I listen to such advice? +For me it must be Lucille, or that little journey into the mists, +from which one does not return." + +Felix was silent. The pathos of this thing touched him. + +"I will not dispute the right of those who have taken her from me," +Mr. Sabin continued, "but I want her back. She is necessary to me. +My purse, my life, my brains are there to be thrown into the scales. +I will buy her, or fight for her, or rejoin their ranks myself. But +I want her back." + +Still Felix was silent. He was looking steadfastly into the fire. + +"You have heard me," Mr. Sabin said. + +"I have heard you," Felix answered. "My advice stands," + +"I know now," Mr. Sabin said, "that I have a hard task before me. +They shall have me for a friend or an enemy. I can still make +myself felt as either. You have nothing more to say?" + +"Nothing!" + +"Then let us part company," Mr. Sabin said, "or talk of something +more cheerful. You depress me, Felix. Let Duson bring us wine. +You look like a death's head." + +Felix roused himself. + +"You will go your own way," he said. "Now that you have chosen I +will tell you this. I am glad. Yes, let Duson bring wine. I will +drink to your health and to your success. There have been times +when men have performed miracles. I shall drink to that miracle." + +Duson brought also a letter, which Mr. Sabin, with a nod towards +Felix, opened. It was from Helene. + +"15 Park Lane, London, +"Thursday Morning. + +"My DEAR UNCLE,-- + +"I want you to come to luncheon to-day. The Princess de Catelan is +here, and I am expecting also Mr. Brott, the Home Secretary--our +one great politician, you know. Many people say that he is the +most interesting man in England, and must be our next Prime Minister. +Such people interest you, I know. Do come. + + "Yours sincerely, + "HELENE." + +Mr. Sabin repeated the name to himself as he stood for a moment with +the letter in his hand. + +"Brott! What a name for a statesman! Well, here is your health, +Felix. I do not often drink wine in the morning, but--" + +He broke off in the middle of his sentence. The glass which Felix +had been in the act of raising to his lips lay shattered upon the +floor, and a little stream of wine trickled across the carpet. +Felix himself seemed scarcely conscious of the disaster. His cheeks +were white, and he leaned across the table towards Mr. Sabin. + +"What name did you say--what name?" + +Mr. Sabin referred again to the letter which he held in his hand. + +"Brott!" he repeated. "He is Home Secretary, I believe." + +"What do you know about him?" + +"Nothing," Mr. Sabin answered. "My niece, the Countess of +Camperdown, asks me to meet him to-day at luncheon. Explain +yourself, my young friend. There is a fresh glass by your side." + +Felix poured himself out a glass and drank it off. But he remained +silent. + +"Well?" + +Felix picked up his gloves and stick. + +"You are asked to meet Mr. Brott at luncheon to-day?" + +"Yes." + +"Are you going?" + +"Certainly!" + +Felix nodded. + +"Very good," he said. "I should advise you to cultivate his +acquaintance. He is a very extraordinary man." + +"Come, Felix," Mr. Sabin said. "You owe me something more lucid in +the way of explanations. Who is he?" + +"A statesman--successful, ambitious. He expects to be Prime +Minister." + +"And what have I to do with him, or he with me?" Mr. Sabin asked +quietly. + +Felix shook his head. + +"I cannot tell you," he said. "Yet I fancy that you and he may +some time be drawn together." + +Mr. Sabin asked no more questions, but he promptly sat down and +accepted his niece's invitation. When he looked round Felix had +gone. He rang the bell for Duson and handed him the note. + +"My town clothes, Duson," he ordered. "I am lunching out." + +The man bowed and withdrew. Mr. Sabin remained for a few moments +in deep thought. + +"Brott!" he repeated. "Brott! It is a singular name." + + +CHAPTER XI + +So this was the man! Mr. Sabin did not neglect his luncheon, nor +was he ever for a moment unmindful of the grey-headed princess who +chatted away by his side with all the vivacity of her race and sex. +But he watched Mr. Brott. + +A man this! Mr. Sabin was a judge, and he appraised him rightly. +He saw through that courteous geniality of tone and gesture; the +ready-made smile, although it seemed natural enough, did not +deceive him. Underneath was a man of iron, square-jawed, nervous, +forceful. Mr. Brott was probably at that time the ablest +politician of either party in the country. Mr. Sabin knew it. +He found himself wondering exactly at what point of their lives +this man and he would come into contact. + +After luncheon Helene brought them together. + +"I believe," she said to Mr. Brott, "that you have never met my +UNCLE. May I make you formally acquainted? UNCLE, this is Mr. +Brott, whom you must know a great deal about even though you have +been away for so long--the Duc de Souspennier." + +The two men bowed and Helene passed on. Mr. Sabin leaned upon his +stick and watched keenly for any sign in the other's face. If he +expected to find it he was disappointed. Either this man had no +knowledge of who he was, or those things which were to come between +them were as yet unborn. + +They strolled together after the other guests into the winter +gardens, which were the envy of every hostess in London. Mr. Sabin +lit a cigarette, Mr. Brott regretfully declined. He neither smoked +nor drank wine. Yet he was disposed to be friendly, and selected +a seat where they were a little apart from the other guests. + +"You at least," he remarked, in answer to an observation of Mr. +Sabin's, "are free from the tyranny of politics. I am assuming, of +course, that your country under its present form of government has +lost its hold upon you." + +Mr. Sabin smiled. + +"It is a doubtful boon," he said. "It is true that I am practically +an exile. Republican France has no need of me. Had I been a +soldier I could still have remained a patriot. But for one whose +leanings were towards politics, neither my father before me nor I +could be of service to our country. You should be thankful," he +continued with a slight smile, "that you are an Englishman. No +constitution in the world can offer so much to the politician who +is strong enough and fearless enough." + +Mr. Brott glanced towards his twinkling eyes. + +"Do you happen to know what my politics are?" he asked. + +Mr. Sabin hesitated. + +"Your views, I know, are advanced," he said. "For the rest I have +been abroad for years. I have lost touch a little with affairs in +this country." + +"I am afraid," Mr. Brott said, "that I shall shock you. You are +an aristocrat of the aristocrats, I a democrat of the democrats. +The people are the only masters whom I own. They first sent me to +Parliament." + +"Yet," Mr. Sabin remarked, "you are, I understand, in the Cabinet." + +Mr. Brott glanced for a moment around. The Prime Minister was +somewhere in the winter gardens. + +"That," he declared, "is an accident. I happened to be the only +man available who could do the work when Lord Kilbrooke died. I +am telling you only what is an open secret. But I am afraid I am +boring you. Shall we join the others?" + +"Not unless you yourself are anxious to," Mr. Sabin begged. "It +is scarcely fair to detain you talking to an old man when there +are so many charming women here. But I should be sorry for you +to think me hidebound in my prejudices. You must remember that +the Revolution decimated my family. It was a long time ago, but +the horror of it is still a live thing." + +"Yet it was the natural outcome," Mr. Brott said, "of the things +which went before. Such hideous misgovernment as generations of +your countrymen had suffered was logically bound to bring its own +reprisal." + +"There is truth in what you say," Mr. Sabin admitted. He did not +want to talk about the French Revolution. + +"You are a stranger in London, are you not?" Mr. Brott asked. + +"I feel myself one," Mr. Sabin answered. "I have been away for a +few years, and I do not think that there is a city in the world +where social changes are so rapid. I should perhaps except the +cities of the country from which I have come. But then America +is a universe of itself." + +For an instant Mr. Brott gave signs of the man underneath. The air +of polite interest had left his face. He glanced swiftly and keenly +at his companion. Mr. Sabin's expression was immutable. It was +he who scored, for he marked the change, whilst Mr. Brott could not +be sure whether he had noticed it or not. + +"You have been living in America, then?" + +"For several years--yes." + +"It is a country," Mr. Brott said, "which I am particularly anxious +to visit. I see my chances, however, grow fewer and fewer as the +years go by." + +"For one like yourself," Mr. Sabin said, "whose instincts and +sympathies are wholly with the democracy, a few months in America +would be very well spent." + +"And you," Mr. Brott remarked, "how did you get on with the people?" + +Mr. Sabin traced a pattern with his stick upon the marble floor. + +"I lived in the country," he said, "I played golf and read and +rested." + +"Were you anywhere near New York?" Mr. Brott asked. + +"A few hours' journey only," Mr. Sabin answered. "My home was in +a very picturesque part, near Lenox." + +Mr. Brott leaned a little forward. + +"You perhaps know then a lady who spent some time in that +neighbourhood--a Mrs. James Peterson. Her husband was, I +believe, the American consul in Vienna." + +Mr. Sabin smiled very faintly. His face betrayed no more than a +natural and polite interest. There was nothing to indicate the +fact that his heart was beating like the heart of a young man, that +the blood was rushing hot through his veins. + +"Yes," he said, "I know her very well. Is she in London?" + +Mr. Brott hesitated. He seemed a little uncertain how to continue. + +"To tell you the truth," he said, "I believe that she has reasons +for desiring her present whereabouts to remain unknown. I should +perhaps not have mentioned her name at all. It was, I fancy, +indiscreet of me. The coincidence of hearing you mention the name +of the place where I believe she resided surprised my question. +With your permission we will abandon the subject." + +"You disappoint me," Mr. Sabin said quietly. "It would have given +me much pleasure to have resumed my acquaintance with the lady in +question." + +"You will, without doubt, have an opportunity," Mr. Brott said, +glancing at his watch and suddenly rising. "Dear me, how the time +goes." + +He rose to his feet. Mr. Sabin also rose. + +"Must I understand," he said in a low tone, "that you are not at +liberty to give me Mrs. Peterson's address?" + +"I am not at liberty even," Mr. Brott answered, with a frown, "to +mention her name. It will give me great pleasure, Duke, to better +my acquaintance with you. Will you dine with me at the House of +Commons one night next week?" + +"I shall be charmed," Mr. Sabin answered. "My address for the next +few days is at the Carlton. I am staying there under my family +name of Sabin--Mr. Sabin. It is a fancy of mine--it has been ever +since I became an alien--to use my title as little as possible." + +Mr. Brott looked for a moment puzzled. + +"Your pseudonym," he remarked thoughtfully, "seems very familiar +to me." + +Mr. Sabin shrugged his shoulders. + +"It is a family name," he remarked, "but I flattered myself that it +was at least uncommon." + +"Fancy, no doubt," Mr. Brott remarked, turning to make his adieux +to his hostess. + +Mr. Sabin joined a fresh group of idlers under the palms. Mr. +Brott lingered over his farewells. + +"Your UNCLE, Lady Camperdown," he said, "is delightful. I enjoy +meeting new types, and he represents to me most perfectly the old +order of French aristocracy." + +"I am glad," Helene said, "that you found him interesting. I felt +sure you would. In fact, I asked him especially to meet you." + +"You are the most thoughtful of hostesses," he assured her. "By +the bye, your UNCLE has just told me the name by which he is known +at the hotel. Mr. Sabin! Sabin! It recalls something to my mind. +I cannot exactly remember what." + +She smiled upon him. People generally forgot things when Helene +smiled. + +"It is an odd fancy of his to like his title so little," she +remarked. "At heart no one is prouder of their family and +antecedents. I have heard him say, though, that an exile had +better leave behind him even his name." + +"Sabin!" Mr. Brott repeated. "Sabin!" + +"It is an old family name," she murmured. + +His face suddenly cleared. She knew that he had remembered. But +he took his leave with no further reference to it. + +"Sabin!" he repeated to himself when alone in his carriage. "That +was the name of the man who was supposed to be selling plans to the +German Government. Poor Renshaw was in a terrible stew about it. +Sabin! An uncommon name." + +He had ordered the coachman to drive to the House of Commons. +Suddenly he pulled the check-string. + +"Call at Dorset House," he directed. + + * * * * * + +Mr. Sabin lingered till nearly the last of the guests had gone. +Then he led Helene once more into the winter gardens. + +"May I detain you for one moment's gossip?" he asked. "I see your +carriage at the door." + +She laughed. + +"It is nothing," she declared. "I must drive in the Park for an +hour. One sees one's friends, and it is cool and refreshing after +these heated rooms. But at any time. Talk to me as long as you +will, and then I will drop you at the Carlton." + +"It is of Brott!" he remarked. "Ah, I thank you, I will smoke. +Your husband's taste in cigarettes is excellent." + +"Perhaps mine!" she laughed. + +Mr. Sabin shrugged his shoulders. + +"In either case I congratulate you. This man Brott. He interests +me." + +"He interests every one. Why not? He is a great personality." + +"Politically," Mr. Sabin said, "the gauge of his success is of +course the measure of the man. But he himself--what manner of a +man is he?" + +She tapped with her fingers upon the little table by their side. + +"He is rich," she said, "and an uncommon mixture of the student +and the man of society. He refuses many more invitations than he +accepts, he entertains very seldom but very magnificently. He has +never been known to pay marked attentions to any woman, even the +scandal of the clubs has passed him by. What else can I say about +him, I wonder?" she continued reflectively. "Nothing, I think, +except this. He is a strong man. You know that that counts for +much." + +Mr. Sabin was silent. Perhaps he was measuring his strength in some +imagined encounter with this man. Something in his face alarmed +Helene. She suddenly leaned forward and looked at him more closely. + +"UNCLE," she exclaimed in a low voice, "there is something on your +mind. Do not tell me that once more you are in the maze, that +again you have schemes against this country." + +He smiled at her sadly enough, but she was reassured. + +"You need have no fear," he told her. "With politics--I have +finished. Why I am here, what I am here for I will tell you very +soon. It is to find one whom I have lost--and who is dear to me. +Forgive me if for to-day I say no more. Come, if you will you shall +drive me to my hotel." + +He offered his arm with the courtly grace which he knew so well how +to assume. Together they passed out to her carriage. + + +CHAPTER XII + +"After all," Lady Carey sighed, throwing down a racing calendar +and lighting a cigarette, "London is the only thoroughly civilized +Anglo-Saxon capital in the world. Please don't look at me like +that, Duchess. I know--this is your holy of holies, but the Duke +smokes here--I've seen him. My cigarettes are very tiny and very +harmless." + +The Duchess, who wore gold-rimmed spectacles, and was a person of +weight in the councils of the Primrose League, went calmly on with +her knitting. + +"My dear Muriel," she said, "if my approval or disapproval was of +the slightest moment to you, it is not your smoking of which I +should first complain. I know, however, that you consider yourself +a privileged person. Pray do exactly as you like, but don't drop +the ashes upon the carpet." + +Lady Carey laughed softly. + +"I suppose I am rather a thorn in your side as a relative," she +remarked. "You must put it down to the roving blood of my ancestors. +I could no more live the life of you other women than I could fly. +I must have excitement, movement, all the time." + +A tall, heavily built man, who had been reading some letters at the +other end of the room, came sauntering up to them. + +"Well," he said, "you assuredly live up to your principles, for you +travel all over the world as though it were one vast playground." + +"And sometimes," she remarked, "my journeys are not exactly +successful. I know that that is what you are dying to say." + +"On the contrary," he said, "I do not blame you at all for this last +affair. You brought Lucille here, which was excellent. Your +failure as regards Mr. Sabin is scarcely to be fastened upon you. +It is Horser whom we hold responsible for that." + +She laughed. + +"Poor Horser! It was rather rough to pit a creature like that +against Souspennier." + +The man shrugged his shoulders. + +"Horser," he said, "may not be brilliant, but he had a great +organisation at his back. Souspennier was without friends or +influence. The contest should scarcely have been so one-sided. To +tell you the truth, my dear Muriel, I am more surprised that you +yourself should have found the task beyond you." + +Lady Carey's face darkened. + +"It was too soon after the loss of Lucille," she said, "and besides, +there was his vanity to be reckoned with. It was like a challenge +to him, and he had taken up the glove before I returned to New York." + +The Duchess looked up from her work. + +"Have you had any conversation with my husband, Prince?" she asked. + +The Prince of Saxe Leinitzer twirled his heavy moustache and sank +into a chair between the two women. + +"I have had a long talk with him," he announced. "And the result?" +the Duchess asked. + +"The result I fear you would scarcely consider satisfactory," the +Prince declared. "The moment that I hinted at the existence of +--er--conditions of which you, Duchess, are aware, he showed alarm, +and I had all that I could do to reassure him. I find it everywhere +amongst your aristocracy--this stubborn confidence in the existence +of the reigning order of things, this absolute detestation of +anything approaching intrigue." + +"My dear man, I hope you don't include me," Lady Carey exclaimed. + +"You, Lady Muriel," he answered, with a slow smile, "are an +exception to all rules. No, you are a rule by yourself." + +"To revert to the subject then for a moment," the Duchess said +stiffly. "You have made no progress with the Duke?" + +"None whatever," Saxe Leinitzer admitted. "He was sufficiently +emphatic to inspire me with every caution. Even now I have doubts +as to whether I have altogether reassured him. I really believe, +dear Duchess, that we should be better off if you could persuade +him to go and live upon his estates." + +The Duchess smiled grimly. + +"Whilst the House of Lords exists," she remarked, "you will never +succeed in keeping Algernon away from London. He is always on the +point of making a speech, although he never does it." + +"I have heard of that speech," Lady Carey drawled, from her low +seat. "It is to be a thoroughly enlightening affair. All the +great social questions are to be permanently disposed of. The +Prime Minister will come on his knees and beg Algernon to take his +place." + +The Duchess looked up over her knitting. + +"Algernon is at least in earnest," she remarked drily. "And he +has the good conscience of a clean living and honest man." + +"What an unpleasant possession it must be," Lady Carey remarked +sweetly. "I disposed of my conscience finally many years ago. I +am not sure, but I believe that it was the Prince to whom I +entrusted the burying of it. By the bye, Lucille will be here +directly, I suppose. Is she to be told of Souspennier's arrival +in London?" + +"I imagine," the Prince said, with knitted brows, "that it will not +be wise to keep it from her. It is impossible to conceal her +whereabouts, and the papers will very shortly acquaint her with his." + +"And," Lady Carey asked, "how does the little affair progress?" + +"Admirably," the Prince answered. "Already some of the Society +papers are beginning to chatter about the friendship existing +between a Cabinet Minister and a beautiful Hungarian lady of title, +etc., etc. The fact of it is that Brott is in deadly earnest. He +gives himself away every time. If Lucille has not lost old +cleverness she will be able to twist him presently around her little +finger." + +"If only some one would twist him on the rack," the Duchess +murmured vindictively. "I tried to read one of his speeches the other +day. It was nothing more nor less than blasphemy. I do not think that I +am naturally a cruel woman, but I would hand such men over to the +public executioner with joy." + +Lucille came in, as beautiful as ever, but with tired lines under +her full dark eyes. She sank into a low chair with listless grace. + +"Reginald Brott again, I suppose," she remarked curtly. "I wish +the man had never existed." + +"That is a very cruel speech, Lucille," the Prince said, with a +languishing glance towards her, "for if it had not been for Brott +we should never have dared to call you out from your seclusion." + +"Then more heartily than ever," Lucille declared, "I wish the man +had never been born. You cannot possibly flatter yourself, Prince, +that your summons was a welcome one." + +He shrugged his shoulders. + +"I shall never, be able to believe," he said, "that the Countess +Radantz was able to do more than support existence in a small +American town--without society, with no scope for her ambitions, +detached altogether from the whole civilized world." + +"Which only goes to prove, Prince," Lucille remarked contemptuously, +"that you do not understand me in the least. As a place of residence +Lenox would compare very favourably with--say Homburg, and for +companionship you forget my husband. I never met the woman yet who +did not prefer the company of one man, if only it were the right one, +to the cosmopolitan throng we call society." + +"It sounds idyllic, but very gauche," Lady Carey remarked drily. +"In effect it is rather a blow on the cheek for you, Prince. Of +course you know that the Prince is in love with you, Lucille?" + +"I wish he were," she answered, looking lazily out of the window. + +He bent over her. + +"Why?" + +"I would persuade him to send me home again," she answered coldly. + +The Duchess looked up from her knitting. "Your husband has saved +you the journey," she remarked, "even if you were able to work upon +the Prince's good nature to such an extent." + +Lucille started round eagerly. + +"What do you mean?" she cried. + +"Your husband is in London," the Duchess answered. + +Lucille laughed with the gaiety of a child. Like magic the lines +from beneath her eyes seemed to have vanished. Lady Carey watched +her with pale cheeks and malevolent expression. + +"Come, Prince," she cried mockingly, "it was only a week ago that +you assured me that my husband could not leave America. Already +he is in London. I must go to see him. Oh, I insist upon it." + +Saxe Leinitzer glanced towards the Duchess. She laid down her +knitting. + +"My dear Countess," she said firmly, "I beg that you will listen +to me carefully. I speak to you for your own good, and I believe +I may add, Prince, that I speak with authority." + +"With authority!" the Prince echoed. + +"We all," the Duchess continued, "look upon your husband's arrival +as inopportune and unfortunate. We are all agreed that you must +be kept apart. Certain obligations have been laid upon you. You +could not possibly fulfil them with a husband at your elbow. The +matter will be put plainly before your husband, as I am now putting +it before you. He will be warned not to attempt to see or +communicate with you as your husband. If he or you disobey the +consequences will be serious." + +Lucille shrugged her shoulders. + +"It is easy to talk," she said, "but you will not find it easy to +keep Victor away when he has found out where I am." + +The Prince intervened. + +"We have no objection to your meeting," he said, "but it must be +as acquaintances. There must be no intermission or slackening in +your task, and that can only be properly carried out by the Countess +Radantz and from Dorset House." + +Lucille smothered her disappointment. + +"Dear me," she said. "You will find Victor a little hard to +persuade." + +There was a moment's silence. Then the Prince spoke slowly, and +watching carefully the effect of his words upon Lucille. + +"Countess," he said, "it has been our pleasure to make of your +task so far as possible a holiday. Yet perhaps it is wiser to +remind you that underneath the glove is an iron hand. We do not +often threaten, but we brook no interference. We have the means +to thwart it. I bear no ill-will to your husband, but to you I +say this. If he should be so mad as to defy us, to incite you to +disobedience, he must pay the penalty." + +A servant entered. + +"Mr. Reginald Brott is in the small drawing-room, your Grace," he +announced. "He enquired for the Countess Radantz." + +Lucille rose. When the servant had disappeared she turned round +for a moment, and faced the Prince. A spot of colour burned in her +cheeks, her eyes were bright with anger. + +"I shall remember your words, Prince," she said. "So far from mine +being, however, a holiday task, it is one of the most wearisome and +unpleasant I ever undertook. And in return for your warnings let +me tell you this. If you should bring any harm upon my husband you +shall answer for it all your days to me. I will do my duty. Be +careful that you do not exceed yours." + +She swept out of the room. Lady Carey laughed mockingly at the +Prince. + +"Poor Ferdinand!" she exclaimed. + + +CHAPTER XIII + +He had been kept waiting longer than usual, and he had somehow the +feeling that his visit was ill-timed, when at last she came to him. +He looked up eagerly as she entered the little reception room which +he had grown to know so well during the last few weeks, and it +struck him for the first time that her welcome was a little forced, +her eyes a little weary. + +"I haven't," he said apologetically, "the least right to be here." + +"At least," she murmured, "I may be permitted to remind you that +you are here without an invitation." + +"The worse luck," he said, "that one should be necessary." + +"This is the one hour of the day," she remarked, sinking into a +large easy-chair, "which I devote to repose. How shall I preserve +my fleeting youth if you break in upon it in this ruthless manner?" + +"If I could only truthfully say that I was sorry," he answered, +"but I can't. I am here--and I would rather be here than anywhere +else in the world." + +She looked at him with curving lips; and even he, who had watched +her often, could not tell whether that curve was of scorn or mirth. + +"They told me," she said impressively, "that you were different--a +woman-hater, honest, gruff, a little cynical. Yet those are the +speeches of your salad days. What a disenchantment!" + +"The things which one invents when one is young," he said, "come +perhaps fresh from the heart in later life. The words may sound +the same, but there is a difference." + +"Come," she said, "you are improving. That at any rate is ingenious. +Suppose you tell me now what has brought you here before four +o'clock, when I am not fit to be seen?" + +He smiled. She shrugged her shoulders. + +"I mean it. I haven't either my clothes or my manners on yet. +Come, explain." + +"I met a man who interested me," he answered. "He comes from +America, from Lenox!" + +He saw her whiten. He saw her fingers clutch the sides of her +chair. + +"From Lenox? And his name?" + +"The Duke of Souspennier! He takes himself so seriously that he +even travels incognito. At the hotel he calls himself Mr. Sabin." + +"Indeed!" + +"I wondered whether you might not know him?" + +"Yes, I know him." + +"And in connection with this man," Brott continued, "I have +something in the nature of a confession to make. I forgot for +a moment your request. I even mentioned your name." + +The pallor had spread to her cheeks, even to her lips. Yet her +eyes were soft and brilliant, so brilliant that they fascinated him. + +"What did he say? What did he ask?" + +"He asked for your address. Don't be afraid. I made some excuse. +I did not give it." + +For the life of him he could not tell whether she was pleased or +disappointed. She had turned her shoulder to him. She was looking +steadily out of the window, and he could not see her face. + +"Why are you curious about him?" she asked. + +"I wish I knew. I think only because he came from Lenox." + +She turned her face slowly round towards him. He was astonished to +see the dark rings under her eyes, the weariness of her smile. + +"The Duke of Souspennier," she said slowly, "is an old and a dear +friend of mine. When you tell me that he is in London I am anxious +because there are many here who are not his friends--who have no +cause to love him." + +"I was wrong then," he said, "not to give him your address." + +"You were right," she answered. "I am anxious that he should not +know it. You will remember this?" He rose and bowed over her hand. + +"This has been a selfish interlude," he said. "I have destroyed +your rest, and I almost fear that I have also disturbed your peace +of mind. Let me take my leave and pray that you may recover both." + +She shook her head. + +"Do not leave me," she said. "I am low-spirited. You shall stay +and cheer me." + +There was a light in his eyes which few people would have recognised. +She rose with a little laugh and stood leaning towards the fire, her +elbow upon the broad mantel, tall, graceful, alluring. Her soft +crimson gown, with its wealth of old lace, fell around her in lines +and curves full of grace. The pallor of her face was gone now--the +warmth of the fire burned her cheeks. Her voice became softer. + +"Sit down and talk to me," she murmured. "Do you remember the old +days, when you were a very timid young secretary of Sir George +Nomsom, and I was a maid-of-honour at the Viennese Court? Dear +me, how you have changed!" + +"Time," he said, "will not stand still for all of us. Yet my memory +tells me how possible it would be--for indeed those days seem but +as yesterday." + +He looked up at her with a sudden jealousy. His tone shook with +passion. No one would have recognised Brott now. In his fiercest +hour of debate, his hour of greatest trial, he had worn his mask, +always master of himself and his speech. And now he had cast it +off. His eyes were hungry, his lips twitched. + +"As yesterday! Lucille, I could kill you when I think of those +days. For twenty years your kiss has lain upon my lips--and you +--with you--it has been different." + +She laughed softly upon him, laughed more with her eyes than with +her lips. She watched him curiously. + +"Dear me!" she murmured, "what would you have? I am a woman--I +have been a woman all my days, and the memory of one kiss grows cold. +So I will admit that with me--it has been different. Come! What +then?" + +He groaned. + +"I wonder," he said, "what miserable fate, what cursed stroke of +fortune brought you once more into my life?" + +She threw her head back and laughed at him, this time heartily, +unaffectedly. + +"What adorable candour!" she exclaimed. "My dear friend, how +amiable you are." + +He looked at her steadfastly, and somehow the laugh died away from +her lips. + +"Lucille, will you marry me?" + +"Marry you? I? Certainly not." + +"And why not?" + +"For a score of reasons, if you want them," she answered. "First, +because I think it is delightful to have you for a friend. I can +never quite tell what you are going to do or say. As a husband I +am almost sure that you would be monotonous. But then, how could +you avoid it? It is madness to think of destroying a pleasant +friendship in such a manner." + +"You are mocking me," he said sadly. + +"Well," she said, "why not? Your own proposal is a mockery." + +"A mockery! My proposal!" + +"Yes," she answered steadily. "You know quite well that the very +thought of such a thing between you and me is an absurdity. I +abhor your politics, I detest your party. You are ambitious, I +know. You intend to be Prime Minister, a people's Prime Minister. +Well, for my part, I hate the people. I am an aristocrat. As +your wife I should be in a perfectly ridiculous position. How +foolish! You have led me into talking of this thing seriously. +Let us forget all this rubbish." + +He stood before her--waiting patiently, his mouth close set, his +manner dogged with purpose. + +"It is not rubbish," he said. "It is true that I shall be Prime +Minister. It is true also that you will be my wife." + +She shrank back from him--uneasily. The fire in his eyes, the +ring in his tone distressed her. + +"As for my politics, you do not understand them. But you shall! I +will convert you to my way of thinking. Yes, I will do that. The +cause of the people, of freedom, is the one great impulse which +beats through all the world. You too shall hear it." + +"Thank you," she said. "I have no wish to hear it. I do not believe +in what you call freedom for the people. I have discovered in +America how uncomfortable a people's country can be." + +"Yet you married an American. You call yourself still the Countess +Radantz ... but you married Mr. James B. Peterson!" + +"It is true, my friend," she answered. "But the American in +question was a person of culture and intelligence, and at heart he +was no more a democrat than I am. Further, I am an extravagant +woman, and he was a millionaire." + +"And you, after his death, without necessity--went to bury yourself +in his country." + +"Why not?" + +"I am jealous of every year of your life which lies hidden from me," +he said slowly. + +"Dear me--how uncomfortable!" + +"Before you--reappeared," he said, "I had learnt, yes I had learnt +to do without you. I had sealed up the one chapter of my life +which had in it anything to do with sentiment. Your coming has +altered all that. You have disturbed the focus of my ambitions. +Lucille! I have loved you for more than half a lifetime. Isn't it +time I had my reward?" + +He took a quick step towards her. In his tone was the ring of +mastery, the light in his eyes was compelling. She shrank back, +but he seized one of her hands. It lay between his, a cold dead +thing. + +"What have my politics to do with it?" he asked fiercely. "You are +not an Englishwoman. Be content that I shall set you far above +these gods of my later life. There is my work to be done, and I +shall do it. Let me be judge of these things. Believe me that it +is a great work. If you are ambitious--give your ambitions into +my keeping, and I will gratify them. Only I cannot bear this +suspense-these changing moods. Marry me-now at once, or send me +back to the old life." + +She drew her fingers away, and sank down into her easy-chair. Her +head was buried in her hands. Was she thinking or weeping? He +could not decide. While he hesitated she looked up, and he saw +that there was no trace of tears upon her face. + +"You are too masterful," she said gently. "I will not marry you. +I will not give myself body and soul to any man. Yet that is what +you ask. I am not a girl. My opinions are as dear to me in their +way as yours are to you. You want me to close my eyes while you +drop sugar plums into my mouth. That is not my idea of life. I +think that you had better go away. Let us forget these things." + +"Very well," he answered. "It shall be as you say." He did not +wait for her to ring, nor did he attempt any sort of farewell. He +simply took up his hat, and before she could realise his intention +he had left the room. Lucille sat quite still, looking into the +fire. + +"If only," she murmured, "if only this were the end." + + +CHAPTER XIV + +Duson entered the sitting-room, noiseless as ever, with pale, +passionless face, the absolute prototype of the perfect French +servant, to whom any expression of vigorous life seems to savour +of presumption. He carried a small silver salver, on which +reposed a card. + +"The gentleman is in the ante-room, sir," he announced. + +Mr. Sabin took up the card and studied it. + +"Lord Robert Foulkes." + +"Do I know this gentleman, Duson?" Mr. Sabin asked. + +"Not to my knowledge, sir," the man answered. + +"You must show him in," Mr. Sabin said, with a sigh. "In this +country one must never be rude to a lord." + +Duson obeyed. Lord Robert Foulkes was a small young man, very +carefully groomed, nondescript in appearance. He smiled +pleasantly at Mr. Sabin and drew off his gloves. + +"How do you do, Mr. Sabin?" he said. "Don't remember me, I daresay. +Met you once or twice last time you were in London. I wish I could +say that I was glad to see you here again." + +Mr. Sabin's forehead lost its wrinkle. He knew where he was now. + +"Sit down, Lord Robert," he begged. "I do not remember you, it is +true, but I am getting an old man. My memory sometimes plays me +strange tricks." + +The young man looked at Mr. Sabin and laughed softly. Indeed, +Mr. Sabin had very little the appearance of an old man. He was +leaning with both hands clasped upon his stick, his face alert, +his eyes bright and searching. + +"You carry your years well, Mr. Sabin. Yet while we are on the +subject, do you know that London is the unhealthiest city in the +world?" + +"I am always remarkably well here," Mr. Sabin said drily. + +"London has changed since your last visit," Lord Robert said, with +a gentle smile. "Believe me if I say--as your sincere well-wisher +--that there is something in the air at present positively +unwholesome to you. I am not sure that unwholesome is not too weak +a word." + +"Is this official?" Mr. Sabin asked quietly. + +The young man fingered the gold chain which disappeared in his +trousers pocket. + +"Need I introduce myself?" he asked. + +"Quite unnecessary," Mr. Sabin assured him. "Permit me to reflect +for a few minutes. Your visit comes upon me as a surprise. Will +you smoke? There are cigarettes at your elbow." + +"I am entirely at your service," Lord Robert answered. "Thanks, I +will try one of your cigarettes. You were always famous for your +tobacco." + +There was a short silence. Mr. Sabin had seldom found it more +difficult to see the way before him. + +"I imagined," he said at last, "from several little incidents which +occurred previous to my leaving New York that my presence here was +regarded as superfluous. Do you know, I believe that I could +convince you to the contrary." + +Lord Robert raised his eyebrows. + +"Mr. dear Mr. Sabin," he said, "pray reflect. I am a messenger. +No more! A hired commissionaire!" + +Mr. Sabin bowed. + +"You are an ambassador!" he said. + +The young man shook his head. + +"You magnify my position," he declared. "My errand is done when I +remind you that it is many years since you visited Paris, that +Vienna is as fascinating a city as ever, and Pesth a few hours +journey beyond. But London--no, London is not possible for you. +After the seventh day from this London would be worse than +impossible." + +Mr. Sabin smoked thoughtfully for a few moments. + +"Lord Robert," he said, "I have, I believe, the right of a personal +appeal. I desire to make it." + +Lord Robert looked positively distressed. + +"My dear sir," he said, "the right of appeal, any right of any +sort, belongs only to those within the circle." + +"Exactly," Mr. Sabin agreed. "I claim to belong there." + +Lord Roberts shrugged his shoulders. + +"You force me to remind you," he said, "of a certain decree--a +decree of expulsion passed five years ago, and of which I presume +due notification was given to you." + +Mr. Sabin shook his head very slowly. + +"I deny the legality of that decree," he said. "There can be no +such thing as expulsion." + +"There was Lefanu," Lord Robert murmured. + +"He died," Mr. Sabin answered. "That was reasonable enough." + +"Your services had been great," Lord Robert said, "and your fault +was but venial." + +"Nevertheless," Mr. Sabin said, "the one was logical, the other is +not." + +"You claim, then," the young man said, "to be still within the +circle?" + +"Certainly!" + +"You are aware that this is a very dangerous claim?" + +Mr. Sabin smiled, but he said nothing. Lord Robert hastened to +excuse himself. + +"I beg your pardon," he said. "I should have known better than +to have used such a word to you. Permit me to take my leave." + +Mr. Sabin rose. + +"I thank you, sir," he said, "for the courteous manner in which you +have discharged your mission." + +Lord Robert bowed. + +"My good wishes," he said, "are yours." + +Mr. Sabin when alone called Duson to him. + +"Have you any report to make, Duson?" he asked. + +"None, sir!" + +Mr. Sabin dismissed him impatiently. + +"After all, I am getting old. He is young and he is strong--a +worthy antagonist. Come, let us see what this little volume has +to say about him." + +He turned over the pages rapidly and read aloud. + +"Reginald Cyril Brott, born 18--, son of John Reginald Brott, Esq., +of Manchester. Educated at Harrow and Merton College, Cambridge, +M.A., LL.D., and winner of the Rudlock History Prize. Also tenth +wrangler. Entered the diplomatic service on leaving college, and +served as junior attache at Vienna." + +Mr. Sabin laid down the volume, and made a little calculation. At +the end of it he had made a discovery. His face was very white +and set. + +"I was at Petersburg," he muttered. "Now I think of it, I heard +something of a young English attache. But--" + +He touched the bell. + +"Duson, a carriage!" + +At Camperdown House he learned that Helene was out--shopping, the +hall porter believed. Mr. Sabin drove slowly down Bond Street, and +was rewarded by seeing her brougham outside a famous milliner's. He +waited for her upon the pavement. Presently she came out and smiled +her greetings upon him. + +"You were waiting for me?" she asked. + +"I saw your carriage." + +"How delightful of you. Let me take you back to luncheon." + +He shook his head. + +"I am afraid," he said, "that I should be poor company. May I +drive home with you, at any rate, when you have finished?" + +"Of course you may, and for luncheon we shall be quite alone, unless +somebody drops in." + +He took his seat beside her in the carriage. "Helene," he said, "I +am interested in Mr. Brott. No, don't look at me like that. You +need have no fear. My interest is in him as a man, and not as a +politician. The other days are over and done with now. I am on +the defensive and hard pressed." + +Her face was bright with sympathy. She forgot everything except her +old admiration for him. In the clashing of their wills the victory +had remained with her. And as for those things which he had done, +the cause at least had been a great one. Her happiness had come to +her through him. She bore him no grudge for that fierce opposition +which, after all, had been fruitless. + +"I believe you, UNCLE," she said affectionately. "If I can help +you in any way I will." + +"This Mr. Brott! He goes very little into society, I believe." + +"Scarcely ever," she answered. "He came to us because my husband +is one of the few Radical peers." + +"You have not heard of any recent change in him--in this respect?" + +"Well, I did hear Wolfendon chaffing him the other day about +somebody," she said. "Oh, I know. He has been going often to the +Duchess of Dorset's. He is such an ultra Radical, you know, and +the Dorsets are fierce Tories. Wolfendon says it is a most unwise +thing for a good Radical who wants to retain the confidence of the +people to be seen about with a Duchess." + +"The Duchess of Dorset," Mr. Sabin remarked, "must be, well--a +middle-aged woman." + +Helene laughed. + +"She is sixty if she is a day. But I daresay she herself is not +the attraction. There is a very beautiful woman staying with her +--the Countess Radantz. A Hungarian, I believe." + +Mr. Sabin sat quite still. His face was turned away from Helene. +She herself was smiling out of the window at some acquaintances. + +"I wonder if there is anything more that I can tell you?" she asked +presently. + +He turned towards her with a faint smile. + +"You have told me," he said, "all that I want to know." + +She was struck by the change in his face, the quietness of his tone +was ominous. + +"Am I meant to understand?" she said dubiously "because I don't in +the least. It seems to me that have told you nothing. I cannot +imagine what Mr. Brott and you have in common." + +"If your invitation to lunch still holds good," he said, "may I +accept it? Afterwards, if you can spare me a few minutes I will +make things quite clear to you." + +She laughed. + +"You will find," she declared, "that I shall leave you little peace +for luncheon. I am consumed with curiosity." + + +CHAPTER XV + +Nevertheless, Mr. Sabin lunched with discretion, as usual, but with +no lack of appetite. It chanced that they were alone. Lord +Camperdown was down in the Midlands for a day's hunting, and Helene +had ensured their seclusion from any one who might drop in by a +whispered word to the hall porter as they passed into the house. +It seemed to her that she had never found Mr. Sabin more +entertaining, had never more appreciated his rare gift of effortless +and anecdotal conversation. What a marvelous memory! He knew +something of every country from the inside. He had been brought at +various times during his long diplomatic career into contact with +most of the interesting people in the world. He knew well how to +separate the grain from the chaff according to the tastes of his +listener. The pathos of his present position appealed to her +irresistibly. The possibilities of his life had been so great, +fortune had treated him always so strangely. The greatest of his +schemes had come so near to success, the luck had turned against +him only at the very moment of fruition. Helene felt very kindly +towards her UNCLE as she led him, after luncheon, to a quiet corner +of the winter garden, where a servant had already arranged a table +with coffee and liqueurs and cigarettes. Unscrupulous all his life, +there had been an element of greatness in all his schemes. Even +his failures had been magnificent, for his successes he himself had +seldom reaped the reward. And now in the autumn of his days she +felt dimly that he was threatened with some evil thing against which +he stood at bay single-handed, likely perhaps to be overpowered. +For there was something in his face just now which was strange to her. + +"Helene," he said quietly, "I suppose that you, who knew nothing of +me till you left school, have looked upon me always as a selfish, +passionless creature--a weaver of plots, perhaps sometimes a +dreamer of dreams, but a person wholly self-centred, always +self-engrossed?" + +She shook her head. + +"Not selfish!" she objected. "No, I never thought that. It is +the wrong word." + +"At least," he said, "you will be surprised to hear that I have +loved one woman all my life." + +She looked at him half doubtfully. + +"Yes," she said, "I am surprised to hear that." + +"I will surprise you still more. I was married to her in America +within a month of my arrival there. We have lived together ever +since. And I have been very happy. I speak, of course, of Lucille!" + +"It is amazing," she murmured. "You must tell me all about it." + +"Not all," he answered sadly. "Only this. I met her first at +Vienna when I was thirty-five, and she was eighteen. I treated her +shamefully. Marriage seemed to me, with all my dreams of great +achievements, an act of madness. I believed in myself and my career. +I believed that it was my destiny to restore the monarchy to our +beloved country. And I wanted to be free. I think that I saw +myself a second Napoleon. So I won her love, took all that she had +to give, and returned nothing. + +"In the course of years she married the son of the American Consul +at Vienna. I was obliged, by the bye, to fight her brother, and he +carried his enmity to me through life. I saw her sometimes in the +course of years. She was always beautiful, always surrounded by a +host of admirers, always cold. When the end of my great plans here +came, and I myself was a fugitive, her brother found me out. He +gave me a letter to deliver in America. I delivered it--to his +sister. + +"She was as beautiful as ever, and alone in the world. It seemed +to me that I realised then how great my folly had been. For always +I had loved her, always there had been that jealously locked little +chamber in my life. Helene, she pointed no finger of scorn to my +broken life. She uttered no reproaches. She took me as I was, and +for three years our life together has been to me one long unbroken +harmony. Our tastes were very similar. She was well read, +receptive, a charming companion. Ennui was a word of which I have +forgotten the meaning. And it seemed so with her, too, for she +grew younger and more beautiful." + +"And why is she not with you?" Helene cried. "I must go and see +her. How delightful it sounds!" + +"One day, about three months ago," Mr. Sabin continued, "she left +me to go to New York for two days. Her milliner in Paris had sent +over, and twice a year Lucille used to buy clothes. I had +sometimes accompanied her, but she knew how I detested New York, +and this time she did not press me to go. She left me in the +highest spirits, as tender and gracefully affectionate as ever. +She never returned." + +Helene started in her chair. + +"Oh, UNCLE!" she cried. + +"I have never seen her since," he repeated. + +"Have you no clue? She could not have left you willingly. Have +you no idea where she is?" + +He bowed his head slowly. + +"Yes," he said, "I know where she is. She came to Europe with Lady +Carey. She is staying with the Duchess of Dorset." + +"The Countess Radantz?" Helene cried. + +"It was her maiden name," he answered. + +There was a moment's silence. Helene was bewildered. + +"Then you have seen her?" + +He shook his head slowly. + +"No. I did not even know where she was until you told me." + +"But why do you wait a single moment?" she asked. "There must be +some explanation. Let me order a carriage now. I will drive +round to Dorset House with you." + +She half rose. He held out his hand and checked her. + +"There are other things to be explained," he said quickly. "Sit +down, Helene." + +She obeyed him, mystified. + +"For your own sake," he continued, "there are certain facts in +connection with this matter which I must withhold. All I can tell +you is this. There are people who have acquired a hold upon +Lucille so great that she is forced to obey their bidding. Lady +Carey is one, the Duchess of Dorset is another. They are no +friends of mine, and apparently Lucille has been taken away from +me by them." + +"A--a hold upon her?" Helene repeated vaguely. + +"It is all I can tell you. You must suppose an extreme case. You +may take my word for it that under certain circumstances Lucille +would have no power to deny them anything." + +"But--without a word of farewell. They could not insist upon her +leaving you like that! It is incredible!" + +"It is quite possible," Mr. Sabin said. + +Helene caught herself looking at him stealthily. Was it possible +that this wonderful brain had given way at last? There were no +signs of it in his face or expression. But the Duchess of Dorset! +Lady Carey! These were women of her own circle--Londoners, and +the Duchess, at any rate, a woman of the very highest social +position and unimpeached conventionality. + +"This sounds--very extraordinary, UNCLE!" she remarked a little +lamely. + +"It is extraordinary," he answered drily. "I do not wonder that +you find it hard to believe me. I--" + +"Not to believe--to understand!" + +He smiled. + +"We will not distinguish! After all, what does it matter? Assume, +if you cannot believe, that Lucille's leaving me may have been at +the instigation of these people, and therefore involuntary. If +this be so I have hard battle to fight to win her back, but in the +end I shall do it." + +She nodded sympathetically. + +"I am sure," she said, "that you will not find it difficult. Tell +me, cannot I help you in any way? I know the Duchess very well +indeed--well enough to take you to call quite informally if you +please. She is a great supporter of what they call the Primrose +League here. I do not understand what it is all about, but it +seems that I may not join because my husband is a Radical." + +Mr. Sabin looked for a moment over his clasped hands through the +faint blue cloud of cigarette smoke, and sundry possibilities +flashed through his mind to be at once rejected. He shook his +head. + +"No!" he said firmly. "I do not wish for your help at present, +directly or indirectly. If you meet the Countess I would rather +that you did not mention my name. There is only one person whom, +if you met at Dorset House or anywhere where Lucille is, I would +ask you to watch. That is Mr. Brott!" + +It was to be a conversation full of surprises for Helene. Mr. +Brott! Her hand went up to her forehead for a moment, and a +little gesture of bewilderment escaped her. + +"Will you tell me," she asked almost plaintively, "what on earth +Mr. Brott can have to do with this business--with Lucille--with +you--with any one connected with it?" + +Mr. Sabin shrugged his shoulders. + +"Mr. Brott," he remarked, "a Cabinet Minister of marked Radical +proclivities, has lately been a frequent visitor at Dorset House, +which is the very home of the old aristocratic Toryism. Mr. Brott +was acquainted with Lucille many years ago--in Vienna. At that +time he was, I believe, deeply interested in her. I must confess +that Mr. Brott causes me some uneasiness." + +"I think--that men always know," Helene said, "if they care to. +Was Lucille happy with you?" + +"Absolutely. I am sure of it." + +"Then your first assumption must be correct," she declared. "You +cannot explain things to me, so I cannot help you even with my +advice. I am sorry." + +He turned his head towards her and regarded her critically, as +though making some test of her sincerity. + +"Helene," he said gravely, "it is for your own sake that I do not +explain further, that I do not make things clearer to you. Only +I wanted you to understand why I once more set foot in Europe. I +wanted you to understand why I am here. It is to win back Lucille. +It is like that with me, Helene. I, who once schemed and plotted +for an empire, am once more a schemer and a worker, but for no +other purpose than to recover possession of the woman whom I love. +You do not recognise me, Helene. I do not recognise myself. +Nevertheless, I would have you know the truth. I am here for that, +and for no other purpose." + +He rose slowly to his feet. She held out both her hands and +grasped his. + +"Let me help you," she begged. "Do! This is not a matter of +politics or anything compromising. I am sure that I could be +useful to you." + +"So you can," he answered quietly. "Do as I have asked you. Watch +Mr. Brott!" + + +CHAPTER XVI + +Mr. Brott and Mr. Sabin dined together--not, as it happened, at +the House of Commons, but at the former's club in Pall Mall. For +Mr. Sabin it was not altogether an enjoyable meal. The club was +large, gloomy and political; the cooking was exactly of that order +which such surroundings seemed to require. Nor was Mr. Brott a +particularly brilliant host. Yet his guest derived a certain amount +of pleasure from the entertainment, owing to Brott's constant +endeavours to bring the conversation round to Lucille. + +"I find," he said, as they lit their cigarettes, "that I committed +an indiscretion the other day at Camperdown House!" + +Mr. Sabin assumed the puzzled air of one endeavouring to pin down +an elusive memory. + +"Let me see," he murmured doubtfully. "It was in connection with--" + +"The Countess Radantz. If you remember, I told you that it was her +desire just now to remain incognito. I, however, unfortunately +forgot this during the course of our conversation." + +"Yes, I remember. You told me where she was staying. But the +Countess and I are old acquaintances. I feel sure that she did not +object to your having given me her address. I could not possibly +leave London without calling upon her." + +Mr. Brott moved in his chair uneasily. + +"It seems presumption on my part to make such a suggestion perhaps," +he said slowly, "but I really believe that the Countess is in +earnest with reference to her desire for seclusion just at present. +I believe that she is really very anxious that her presence in +London, just now should not be generally known." + +"I am such a very old friend," Mr. Sabin said. "I knew her when +she was a child." + +Mr. Brott nodded. + +"It is very strange," he said, "that you should have come together +again in such a country as America, and in a small town too." + +"Lenox," Mr. Sabin said, "is a small place, but a great center. +By the bye, is there not some question of an impending marriage on +the part of the Countess?" + +"I have heard--of nothing of the sort," Mr. Brott said, looking up +startled. Then, after a moment's pause, during which he studied +closely his companion's imperturbable face, he added the question +which forced its way to his lips. + +"Have you?" + +Mr. Sabin looked along his cigarette and pinched it affectionately. +It was one of his own, which he had dexterously substituted for +those which his host had placed at his disposal. + +"The Countess is a very charming, a very beautiful, and a most +attractive woman," he said slowly. "Her marriage has always seemed +to me a matter of certainty." + +Mr. Brott hesitated, and was lost. + +"You are an old friend of hers," he said. "You perhaps know more +of her recent history than I do. For a time she seemed to drop out +of my life altogether. Now that she has come back I am very anxious +to persuade her to marry me." + +A single lightning-like flash in Mr. Sabin's eyes for a moment +disconcerted his host. But, after all, it was gone with such +amazing suddenness that it left behind it a sense of unreality. +Mr. Brott decided that after all it must have been fancy. + +"May I ask," Mr. Sabin said quietly, "whether the Countess appears +to receive your suit with favour?" + +Mr. Brott hesitated. + +"I am afraid I cannot go so far as to say that she does," he said +regretfully. "I do not know why I find myself talking on this +matter to you. I feel that I should apologise for giving such a +personal turn to the conversation." + +"I beg that you will do nothing of the sort," Mr. Sabin protested. +"I am, as a matter of fact, most deeply interested." + +"You encourage me," Mr. Brott declared, "to ask you a question--to +me a very important question." + +"It will give me great pleasure," Mr. Sabin assured him, "if I am +able to answer it." + +"You know," Mr. Brott said, "of that portion of her life concerning +which I have asked no questions, but which somehow, whenever I think +of it, fills me with a certain amount of uneasiness. I refer to the +last three years which the Countess has spent in America." + +Mr. Sabin looked up, and his lips seemed to move, but he said +nothing. Mr. Brott felt perhaps that he was on difficult ground. + +"I recognise the fact," he continued slowly, "that you are the +friend of the Countess, and that you and I are nothing more than +the merest acquaintances. I ask my question therefore with some +diffidence. Can you tell me from your recent, more intimate +knowledge of the Countess and her affairs, whether there exists +any reason outside her own inclinations why she should not accept +my proposals of marriage?" + +Mr. Sabin had the air of a man gravely surprised. He shook his +head very slightly. + +"You must not ask me such a question as that, Mr. Brott," he said. +"It is not a subject which I could possibly discuss with you. But +I have no objection to going so far as this. My experience of the +Countess is that she is a woman of magnificent and effective will +power. I think if she has any desire to marry you there are or +could be no obstacles existing which she would not easily dispose +of." + +"There are obstacles, then?" + +"You must not ask me that," Mr. Sabin said, with a certain amount +of stiffness. "The Countess is a very dear friend of mine, and +you must forgive me now if I say that I prefer not to discuss her +any longer." + +A hall servant entered the room, bearing a note for Mr. Brott. He +received it at first carelessly, but his expression changed the +moment he saw the superscription. He turned a little away, and +Mr. Sabin noticed that the fingers which tore open the envelope were +trembling. The note seemed short enough, but he must have read it +half a dozen times before at last he turned round to the messenger. + +"There is no answer," he said in a low tone. + +He folded the note and put it carefully into his breast pocket. Mr. +Sabin subdued an insane desire to struggle with him and discover, +by force, if necessary, who was the sender of those few brief lines. +For Mr. Brott was a changed man. + +"I am afraid," he said, turning to his guest, "that this has been a +very dull evening for you. To tell you the truth, this club is not +exactly the haunt of pleasure-seekers. It generally oppresses me +for the first hour or so. Would you like a hand at bridge, or a +game of billiards? I am wholly at your service--until twelve +o'clock." + +Mr. Sabin glanced at the clock. + +"You are very good," he said, "but I was never much good at indoor +games. Golf has been my only relaxation for many years. Besides, +I too have an engagement for which I must leave in a very few +minutes." + +"It is very good of you," Mr. Brott said, "to have given me the +pleasure of your company. I have the greatest possible admiration +for your niece, Mr. Sabin, and Camperdown is a thundering good +fellow. He will be our leader in the House of Lords before many +years have passed." + +"He is, I believe," Mr. Sabin remarked, "of the same politics as +yourself." + +"We are both," Mr. Brott answered, with a smile, "I am afraid +outside the pale of your consideration in this respect. We are +both Radicals." + +Mr. Sabin lit another cigarette and glanced once more at the clock. + +"A Radical peer!" he remarked. "Isn't that rather an anomaly? The +principles of Radicalism and aristocracy seem so divergent." + +"Yet," Mr. Brott said, "they are not wholly irreconcilable. I have +often wished that this could be more generally understood. I find +myself at times very unpopular with people, whose good opinion I am +anxious to retain, simply owing to this too general misapprehension." + +Mr. Sabin smiled gently. + +"You were referring without doubt--" he began. + +"To the Countess," Brott admitted. "Yes, it is true. But after +all," he added cheerfully, "I believe that our disagreements are +mainly upon the surface. The Countess is a woman of wide culture +and understanding. Her mind, too, is plastic. She has few +prejudices." + +Mr. Sabin glanced at the clock for the third time, and rose to his +feet. He was quite sure now that the note was from her. He leaned +on his stick and took his leave quietly. All the time he was +studying his host, wondering at his air of only partially suppressed +excitement. + +"I must thank you very much, Mr. Brott," he said, "for your +entertainment. I trust that you will give me an opportunity shortly +of reciprocating your hospitality." + +The two men parted finally in the hall. Mr. Sabin stepped into his +hired carriage. + +"Dorset House!" he directed. + + +CHAPTER XVII + +"This little difference of opinion," the Prince remarked, looking +thoughtfully through the emerald green of his liqueur, "interests +me. Our friend Dolinski here thinks that he will not come because +he will be afraid. De Brouillac, on the contrary, says that he +will not come because he is too sagacious. Felix here, who knows +him best, says that he will not come because he prefers ever to +play the game from outside the circle, a looker-on to all +appearance, yet sometimes wielding an unseen force. It is a +strong position that." + +Lucille raised her head and regarded the last speaker steadily. + +"And I, Prince!" she exclaimed, "I say that he will come because +he is a man, and because he does not know fear." + +The Prince of Saxe Leinitzer bowed low towards the speaker. + +"Dear Lucille," he said, so respectfully that the faint irony of +his tone was lost to most of those present, "I, too, am of your +opinion. The man who has a right, real or fancied, to claim you +must indeed be a coward if he suffered dangers of any sort to stand +in the way. After all, dangers from us! Is it not a little absurd?" + +Lucille looked away from the Prince with a little shudder. He +laughed softly, and drank his liqueur. Afterwards he leaned back +for a moment in his chair and glanced thoughtfully around at the +assembled company as though anxious to impress upon his memory all +who were present. It was a little group, every member of which +bore a well-known name. Their host, the Duke of Dorset, in whose +splendid library they were assembled, was, if not the premier duke +of the United Kingdom, at least one of those whose many hereditary +offices and ancient family entitled him to a foremost place in the +aristocracy of the world. Raoul de Brouillac, Count of Orleans, +bore a name which was scarcely absent from a single page of the +martial history of France. The Prince of Saxe Leinitzer kept up +still a semblance of royalty in the State which his ancestors had +ruled with despotic power. Lady Muriel Carey was a younger +daughter of a ducal house, which had more than once intermarried +with Royalty. The others, too, had their claims to be considered +amongst the greatest families of Europe. + +The Prince glanced at his watch, and then at the bridge tables +ready set out. + +"I think," he said, "that a little diversion--what does our +hostess say?" + +"Two sets can start at least," the Duchess said. "Lucille and I +will stay out, and the Count de Brouillac does not play." + +The Prince rose. + +"It is agreed," he said. "Duke, will you honour me? Felix and +Dolinski are our ancient adversaries. It should be an interesting +trial of strength." + +There was a general movement, a re-arrangement of seats, and a +little buzz of conversation. Then silence. Lucille sat back in +a great chair, and Lady Carey came over to her side. + +"You are nervous to-night, Lucille," she said. + +"Yes, I am nervous," Lucille admitted. "Why not? At any moment +he may be here." + +"And you care--so much?" Lady Carey said, with a hard little laugh. + +"I care so much," Lucille echoed. + +Lady Carey shook out her amber satin skirt and sat down upon a low +divan. She held up her hands, small white hands, ablaze with +jewels, and looked at them for a moment thoughtfully. + +"He was very much in earnest when I saw him at Sherry's in New +York," she remarked, "and he was altogether too clever for Mr. +Horser and our friends there. After all their talk and boasting +too. Why, they are ignorant of the very elements of intrigue." + +Lucille sighed. + +"Here," she said, "it is different. The Prince and he are ancient +rivals, and Raoul de Brouillac is no longer his friend. Muriel, I +am afraid of what may happen." + +Lady Carey shrugged her shoulders. + +"He is no fool," she said in a low tone. "He will not come here +with a magistrate's warrant and a policeman to back it up, nor will +he attempt to turn the thing into an Adelphi drama. I know him well +enough to be sure that he will attempt nothing crude. Lucille, +don't you find it exhilarating?" + +"Exhilarating? But why?" + +"It will be a game played through to the end by masters, and you, +my dear woman, are the inspiration. I think that it is most +fascinating." + +Lucille looked sadly into the fire. + +"I think," she said, "that I am weary of all these things. I seem +to have lived such a very long time. At Lenox I was quite happy. +Of my own will I would never have left it." + +Lady Carey's thin lips curled a little, her blue eyes were full of +scorn. She was not altogether a pleasant woman to look upon. Her +cheeks were thin and hollow, her eyes a little too prominent, some +hidden expression which seemed at times to flit from one to the other +of her features suggested a sensuality which was a little incongruous +with her somewhat angular figure and generally cold demeanour. But +that she was a woman of courage and resource history had proved. + +"How idyllic!" she exclaimed. "Positively medieval! Fancy living +with one man three years." + +Lucille smiled. + +"Why, not? I never knew a woman yet however cold however fond of +change, who had not at some time or other during her life met a man +for whose sake she would have done--what I did. I have had as many +admirers--as many lovers, I suppose, as most women. But I can +truthfully say that during the last three years no thought of one +of them has crossed my mind." + +Lady Carey laughed scornfully. + +"Upon my word," she said. "If the Prince had not a temper, and if +they were not playing for such ruinous points, I would entertain +them all with these delightful confidences. By the bye, the Prince +himself was once one of those who fell before your chariot wheels, +was he not? Look at him now--sideways. What does he remind you +of?" + +Lucille raised her eyes. + +"A fat angel," she answered, "or something equally distasteful. How +I hate those mild eyes and that sweet, slow smile. I saw him thrash +a poor beater once in the Saxe Leinitzer forests. Ugh!" + +"I should not blame him for that," Lady Carey said coldly. "I like +masterful men, even to the point of cruelty. General Dolinski there +fascinates me. I believe that he keeps a little private knout at +home for his wife and children. A wicked little contrivance with +an ivory handle. I should like to see him use it." + +Lucille shuddered. This tete-a-tete did not amuse her. She rose +and looked over one of the bridge tables for a minute. The Prince, +who was dealing, looked up with a smile. + +"Be my good angel, Countess," he begged. "Fortune has deserted me +to-night. You shall be the goddess of chance, and smile your +favours upon me." + +A hard little laugh came from the chair where Lady Carey sat. She +turned her head towards them, and there was a malicious gleam in +her eyes. + +"Too late, Prince," she exclaimed. "The favours of the Countess +are all given away. Lucille has become even as one of those +flaxen-haired dolls of your mountain villages. She has given her +heart away, and she is sworn to perpetual constancy." + +The Prince smiled. + +"The absence," he said, glancing up at the clock, "of that most +fortunate person should surely count in our favour." + +Lucille followed his eyes. The clock was striking ten. She +shrugged her shoulders. + +"If the converse also is true, Prince," she said, "you can +scarcely have anything to hope for from me. For by half-past ten +he will be here." + +The Prince picked up his cards and sorted them mechanically. + +"We shall see," he remarked. "It is true, Countess, that you are +here, but in this instance you are set with thorns." + +"To continue the allegory, Prince," she answered, passing on to +the next table, "also with poisonous berries. But to the hand +which has no fear, neither are harmful." + +The Prince laid down his hand. + +"Now I really believe," he said gently, "that she meant to be rude. +Partner, I declare hearts!" + +Felix was standing out from the next table whilst his hand was +being played by General Dolinski, his partner. He drew her a +little on one side. + +"Do not irritate Saxe Leinitzer," he whispered. "Remember, +everything must rest with him. Twice to-night you have brought +that smile to his lips, and I never see it without thinking of +unpleasant things." + +"You are right," she answered; "but I hate him so. He and Muriel +Carey seem to have entered into some conspiracy to lead me on to +say things which I might regret." + +"Saxe Leinitzer," he said, "has never forgotten that he once +aspired to be your lover." + +"He has not failed to let me know it," she answered. "He has even +dared--ah!" + +There was a sudden stir in the room. The library door was thrown +open. The solemn-visaged butler stood upon the threshold. + +"His Grace the Duke of Souspennier!" he announced. + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +There was for the moment a dead silence. The soft patter of cards +no longer fell upon the table. The eyes of every one were turned +upon the newcomers. And he, leaning upon his stick, looked only +for one person, and having found her, took no heed of any one else. + +"Lucille!" + +She rose from her seat and stood with hands outstretched towards +him, her lips parted in a delightful smile, her eyes soft with +happiness. + +"Victor, welcome! It is like you to have found me, and I knew +that you would come." + +He raised her fingers to his lips--tenderly--with the grace of a +prince, but all the affection of a lover. What he said to her none +could hear, for his voice was lowered almost to a whisper. But the +colour stained her cheeks, and her blush was the blush of a girl. + +A movement of the Duchess recalled him to a sense of his social +duty. He turned courteously to her with extended hand. + +"I trust," he said, "that I may be forgiven my temporary fit of +aberration. I cannot thank you sufficiently, Duchess, for your +kind invitation." + +Her answering smile was a little dubious. + +"I am sure," she said "that we are delighted to welcome back +amongst us so old and valued a friend. I suppose you know every +one?" + +Mr. Sabin looked searchingly around, exchanging bows with those +whose faces were familiar to him. But between him and the Prince +of Saxe Leinitzer there passed no pretense at any greeting. The +two men eyed one another for a moment coldly. Each seemed to be +trying to read the other through. + +"I believe," Mr. Sabin said, "that I have that privilege. I see, +however, that I am interrupting your game. Let me beg you to +continue. With your permission, Duchess, I will remain a spectator. +There are many things which my wife and I have to say to one +another." + +The Prince of Saxe Leinitzer laid his cards softly upon the table. +He smiled upon Mr. Sabin--a slow, unpleasant smile. + +"I think," he said slowly, "that our game must be postponed. It +is a pity, but I think it had better be so." + +"It must be entirely as you wish," Mr. Sabin answered. "I am at +your service now or later." + +The Prince rose to his feet. + +"Monsieur le Due de Souspennier," he said, "what are we to +conclude from your presence here this evening?" + +"It is obvious," Mr. Sabin answered. "I claim my place amongst you." + +"You claim to be one of us?" + +"I do!" + +"Ten years ago," the Prince continued, "you were granted immunity +from all the penalties and obligations which a co-membership with +us might involve. This privilege was extended to you on account +of certain great operations in which you were then engaged, and +the object of which was not foreign to our own aims. You are aware +that the period of that immunity is long since past." + +Mr. Sabin leaned with both hands upon his stick, and his face was +like the face of a sphinx. Only Lucille, who knew him best of all +those there, saw him wince for a moment before this reminder of his +great failure. + +"I am not accustomed," Mr. Sabin said quietly, "to shirk my share +of the work in any undertaking with which I am connected. Only in +this case I claim to take the place of the Countess Lucille, my +wife. I request that the task, whatever it may be which you have +imposed upon her, may be transferred to me." + +The Prince's smile was sweet, but those who knew him best wondered +what evil it might betoken for his ancient enemy. + +"You offer yourself, then, as a full member?" + +"Assuredly!" + +"Subject," he drawled, "to all the usual pains and privileges?" + +"Certainly!" + +The Prince played with the cards upon the table. His smooth, fair +face was unruffled, almost undisturbed. Yet underneath he was +wondering fiercely, eagerly, how this might serve his ends. + +"The circumstances," he said at last, "are peculiar. I think that +we should do well to consult together--you and I, Felix, and +Raoul here." + +The two men named rose up silently. The Prince pointed to a +small round table at the farther end of the apartment, half +screened off by a curtained recess. + +"Am I also," Mr. Sabin asked, "of your company?" + +The Prince shook his head. + +"I think not," he said. "In a few moments we will return." + +Mr. Sabin moved away with a slight enigmatic gesture. Lucille +gathered up her skirts, making room for him by her side on a +small sofa. + +"It is delightful to see you, Victor," she murmured. "It is +delightful to know that you trusted me." + +Mr. Sabin looked at her, and the smile which no other woman had +ever seen softened for a moment his face. + +"Dear Lucille," he murmured, "how could you ever doubt it? There +was a day, I admit, when the sun stood still, when, if I had felt +inclined to turn to light literature, I should have read aloud +the Book of Job. But afterwards--well, you see that I am here." + +She laughed. + +"I knew that you would come," she said, "and yet I knew that it +would be a struggle between you and them. For--the Prince--" she +murmured, lowering her voice, "had pledged his word to keep us +apart." + +Mr. Sabin raised his head, and his eyes traveled towards the +figure of the man who sat with his back to them in the far distant +corner of the room. + +"The Prince," he said softly, "is faithful to his ancient enmities." + +Lucille's face was troubled. She turned to her companion with a +little grimace. + +"He would have me believe," she murmured, "that he is faithful to +other things besides his enmities." + +Mr. Sabin smiled. + +"I am not jealous," he said softly, "of the Prince of Saxe Leinitzer!" + +As though attracted by the mention of his name, which must, however, +have been unheard by him, the Prince at that moment turned round and +looked for a moment towards them. He shot a quick glance at Lady +Carey. Almost at once she rose from her chair and came across to +them. + +"The Prince's watch-dog," Lucille murmured. "Hateful woman! She is +bound hand and foot to him, and yet--" + +Her eyes met his, and he laughed. + +"Really," he said, "you and I in our old age might be hero and +heroine of a little romance--the undesiring objects of a hopeless +affection!" + +Lady Carey sank into a low chair by their side. "You two," she +said, with a slow, malicious smile, "are a pattern to this wicked +world. Don't you know that such fidelity is positively sinful, and +after three years in such a country too?" + +"It is the approach of senility," Mr. Sabin answered her. "I am +an old man, Lady Muriel!" + +She shrugged her shoulders. + +"You are like Ulysses," she said. "The gods, or rather the +goddesses, have helped you towards immortality." + +"It is," Mr. Sabin answered, "the most delicious piece of flattery +I have ever heard." + +"Calypso," she murmured, nodding towards Lucille, "is by your side." + +"Really," Mr. Sabin interrupted, "I must protest. Lucille and I +were married by a most respectable Episcopalian clergyman. We have +documentary evidence. Besides, if Lucille is Calypso, what about +Penelope?" + +Lady Carey smiled thoughtfully. + +"I have always thought," she said, "that Penelope was a myth. In +your case I should say that Penelope represents a return to sanity +--to the ordinary ways of life." + +Mr. Sabin and Lucille exchanged swift glances. He raised his +eyebrows. + +"Our little idyll," he said, "seems to be the sport and buffet of +every one. You forget that I am of the old world. I do not +understand modernity." + +"Ulysses," she answered, "was of the old world, yet he was a +wanderer in more senses of the word than one. And there have been +times--" + +Her eyes sought his. He ignored absolutely the subtlety of meaning +which lurked beneath the heavy drooping eyelids. + +"One travels through life," he answered, "by devious paths, and a +little wandering in the flower-gardens by the way is the lot of every +one. But when the journey is over, one's taste for wandering has +gone--well, Ulysses finished his days at the hearth of Penelope." + +She rose and walked away. Mr. Sabin sat still and watched her as +though listening to the soft sweep of her gown upon the carpet. + +"Hateful woman!" Lucille exclaimed lightly. "To make love, and +such love, to one's lawful husband before one's face is a little +crude, don't you think?" + +He shook his head. + +"Too obvious," he answered. "She is playing the Prince's game. +Dear me, how interesting this will be soon." + +She nodded. A faint smile of bitterness had stolen into her tone. + +"Already," she said, "you are beginning to scent the delight of +the atmosphere. You are stiffening for the fight. Soon--" + +"Ah, no! Don't say it," he whispered, taking her hand. "I shall +never forget. If the fight seems good to me it is because you are +the prize, and after all, you know, to fight for one's womenkind +is amongst the primeval instincts." + +Lady Carey, who had been pacing the room restlessly, touching an +ornament here, looking at a picture there, came back to them and +stood before Mr. Sabin. She had caught his last words. + +"Primeval instincts!" she exclaimed mockingly. "What do you know +about them, you of all men, a bundle of nerves and brains, with a +motor for a heart, and an automatic brake upon your passions? Upon +my word, I believe that I have solved the mystery of your perennial +youth. You have found a way of substituting machinery for the human +organ, and you are wound up to go for ever." + +"You have found me out," he admitted. "Professor Penningram of +Chicago will supply you too with an outfit. Mention my name if you +like. It is a wonderful country America." + +The Prince came over to them, fair and bland with no trace upon his +smooth features or in his half-jesting tone of any evil things. + +"Souspennier," he said, holding out his hand, "welcome back once +more to your old place. I am happy to say that there appears to be +no reason why your claim should not be fully admitted." + +Mr. Sabin rose to his feet. + +"I presume," he said, "that no very active demands are likely to be +made upon my services. In this country more than any other I fear +that the possibilities of my aid are scanty." + +The Prince smiled. + +"It is a fact," he said, "which we all appreciate. Upon you at +present we make no claim." + +There was a moment's intense silence. A steely light glittered in +Mr. Sabin's eyes. He and the Prince alone remained standing. The +Duchess of Dorset watched them through her lorgnettes; Lady Carey +watched too with an intense eagerness, her eyes alight with mingled +cruelty and excitement. Lucille's eyes were so bright that one +might readily believe the tears to be glistening beneath. + + +CHAPTER XIX + +"I will not pretend," Mr. Sabin said, "to misunderstand you. My +help is not required by you in this enterprise, whatever it may be, +in which you are engaged. On the contrary, you have tried by many +and various ways to keep me at a distance. But I am here, Prince +--here to be dealt with and treated according to my rights." + +The Prince stroked his fair moustache. + +"I am a little puzzled," he admitted, "as to this--shall I not +call it self-assertiveness?--on the part of my good friend +Souspennier." + +"I will make it quite clear then," Mr. Sabin answered. "Lucille, +will you favour me by ringing for your maid. The carriage is at +the door." + +The Prince held out his hand. + +"My dear Souspennier," he said, "you must not think of taking +Lucille away from us." + +"Indeed," Mr. Sabin answered coolly. "Why not?" + +"It must be obvious to you," the Prince answered, "that we did not +send to America for Lucille without an object. She is now engaged +in an important work upon our behalf. It is necessary that she +should remain under this roof." + +"I demand," Mr. Sabin said, "that the nature of that necessity +should be made clear to me." + +The Prince smiled with the air of one disposed to humour a wilful +child. + +"Come!" he said. "You must know very well that I cannot stand here +and tell you the bare outline, much less the details of an important +movement. To-morrow, at any hour you choose, one from amongst us +shall explain the whole matter--and the part to be borne in it by +the Countess!" + +"And to-night?" Mr. Sabin asked. + +The Prince shrugged his shoulders and glanced at the clock. + +"To-night, my dear friend," he said, "all of us, I believe, go on +to a ball at Carmarthen House. It would grieve me also, I am sure, +Duke, to seem inhospitable, but I am compelled to mention the fact +that the hour for which the carriages have been ordered is already +at hand." + +Mr. Sabin reflected for a few moments. + +"Did I understand you to say," he asked, "that the help to be given +to you by my wife, Lucille, Duchess of Souspennier, entailed her +remaining under this roof?" + +The Prince smiled seraphically. + +"It is unfortunate," he murmured, "since you have been so gallant +as to follow her, but it is true! You will understand this +perfectly--to-morrow." + +"And why should I wait until to-morrow?" Mr. Sabin asked coolly. + +"I fear," the Prince said, "that it is a matter of necessity." + +Mr. Sabin glanced for a moment in turn at the faces of all the +little company as though seeking to discover how far the attitude +of his opponent met with their approval. Lady Carey's thin lips +were curved in a smile, and her eyes met his mockingly. The +others remained imperturbable. Last of all he looked at Lucille. + +"It seems," he said, smiling towards her, "that I am called upon +to pay a heavy entrance fee on my return amongst your friends. But +the Prince of Saxe Leinitzer forgets that he has shown me no +authority, or given me no valid reason why I should tolerate such +flagrant interference with my personal affairs." + +"To-morrow--to-morrow, my good sir!" the Prince interrupted. + +"No! To-night!" Mr. Sabin answered sharply. "Lucille, in the +absence of any reasonable explanation, I challenge the right of the +Prince of Saxe Leinitzer to rob me even for an hour of my dearest +possession. I appeal to you. Come with me and remain with me +until it has been proved, if ever it can be proved, that greater +interests require our separation. If there be blame I will take it. +Will you trust yourself to me?" + +Lucille half rose, but Lady Carey's hand was heavy upon her +shoulder. As though by a careless movement General Dolinski and +Raoul de Brouillac altered their positions slightly so as to come +between the two. The Duke of Dorset had left the room. Then Mr. +Sabin knew that they were all against him. + +"Lucille," he said, "have courage! I wait for you." + +She looked towards him, and her face puzzled him. For there +flashed across the shoulders of these people a glance which was +wholly out of harmony with his own state of barely subdued passion +--a glance half tender, half humorous, full of subtle promise. +Yet her words were a blow to him. + +"Victor, how is it possible? Believe me, I should come if I could. +To-morrow--very soon, it may be possible. But now. You hear what +the Prince says. I fear that he is right!" + +To Mr. Sabin the shock was an unexpected one. He had never doubted +but that she at least was on his side. Her words found him unprepared, +and a moment he showed his discomfiture. His recovery however, was +swift and amazing. He bowed to Lucille, and by the time he raised +his head even the reproach had gone from his eyes. + +"Dear lady," he said, "I will not venture to dispute your decision. +Prince, will you appoint a time to-morrow when this matter shall be +more fully explained to me?" + +The Prince's smile was sweetness itself, and his tone very gentle. +But Mr. Sabin, who seldom yielded to any passionate impulse, kept +his teeth set and his hand clenched, lest the blow he longed to +deal should escape him. + +"At midday to-morrow I shall be pleased to receive you," he said. +"The Countess, with her usual devotion and good sense, has, I trust, +convinced you that our action is necessary!" + +"To-morrow at midday," Mr. Sabin said, "I will be here. I have the +honour to wish you all good-night." + +His farewell was comprehensive. He did not even single out Lucille +for a parting glance. But down the broad stairs and across the +hall of Dorset House he passed with weary steps, leaning heavily +upon his stick. It was a heavy blow which had fallen upon him. As +yet he scarcely realised it. + +His carriage was delayed for a few moments, and just as he was +entering it a young woman, plainly dressed in black, came hurrying +out and slipped a note into his hand. + +"Pardon, monsieur," she exclaimed, with a smile. "I feared that I +was too late." + +Mr. Sabin's fingers closed over the note, and he stepped blithely +into the carriage. But when he tore it open and saw the handwriting +he permitted himself a little groan of disappointment. It was not +from her. He read the few lines and crushed the sheet of paper in +his hand. + + "I am having supper at the Carlton with some friends on our way + to C. H. I want to speak to you for a moment. Be in the Palm + Court at 12.15, but do not recognise me until I come to you. If + possible keep out of sight. If you should have left my maid will + bring this on to your hotel. + "M. C." + +Mr. Sabin leaned back in his carriage, and a frown of faint +perplexity contracted his forehead. + +"If I were a younger man," he murmured to himself, "I might believe +that this woman was really in earnest, as well as being Saxe +Leinitzer's jackal. We were friendly enough in Paris that year. +She is unscrupulous enough, of course. Always with some odd fancy +for the grotesque or unlikely. I wonder--" + +He pulled the check-string, and was driven to Camperdown House. A +great many people were coming and going. Mr. Sabin found Helene's +maid, and learnt that her mistress was just going to her room, and +would be alone for a few minutes. He scribbled a few words on the +back of a card, and was at once taken up to her boudoir. + +"My dear UNCLE," Helene exclaimed, "you have arrived most +opportunely. We have just got rid of a few dinner people, and we +are going on to Carmarthen House presently. Take that easy-chair, +please, and, light a cigarette. Will you have a liqueur? Wolfendon +has some old brandy which every one seems to think wonderful." + +"You are very kind, Helene," Mr. Sabin said. "I cannot refuse +anything which you offer in so charming a manner. But I shall not +keep you more than a few minutes." + +"We need not leave for an hour," Helene said, "and I am dressed +except for my jewels. Tell me, have you seen Lucille? I am so +anxious to know." + +"I have seen Lucille this evening," Mr. Sabin answered. + +"At Dorset House!" + +"Yes." + +Helene sat down, smiling. + +"Do tell me all about it." + +"There is very little to tell," Mr. Sabin answered. + +"She is with you--she returns at least!" + +Mr. Sabin shook his head. + +"No," he answered. "She remains at Dorset House." + +Helene was silent. Mr. Sabin smoked pensively a moment or two, and +sipped the liqueur which Camperdown's own servant had just brought +him. + +"It is very hard, Helene," he said, "to make you altogether +understand the situation, for there are certain phases of it which +I cannot discuss with you at all. I have made my first effort to +regain Lucille, and it has failed. It is not her fault. I need +not say that it is not mine. But the struggle has commenced, and +in the end I shall win." + +"Lucille herself--" Helene began hesitatingly. + +"Lucille is, I firmly believe, as anxious to return to me as I am +anxious to have her," Mr. Sabin said. + +Helene threw up her hands. + +"It is bewildering," she exclaimed. + +"It must seem so to you," Mr. Sabin admitted. + +"I wish that Lucille were anywhere else," Helene said. "The Dorset +House set, you know, although they are very smart and very +exclusive, have a somewhat peculiar reputation. Lady Carey, +although she is such a brilliant woman, says and does the most +insolent, the most amazing things, and the Prince of Saxe Leinitzer +goes everywhere in Europe by the name of the Royal libertine. They +are powerful enough almost to dominate society, and we poor people +who abide by the conventions are absolutely nowhere beside them. +They think that we are bourgeois because we have virtue, and +prehistoric because we are not decadent." + +"The Duke--" Mr. Sabin remarked. + +"Oh, the Duke is quite different, of course," Helene admitted. +"He is a fanatical Tory, very stupid, very blind to anything except +his beloved Primrose League. How he came to lend himself to the +vagaries of such a set I cannot imagine." + +Mr. Sabin smiled. + +"C'est la femme toujours!" he remarked. "His Grace is, I fear, +henpecked, and the Duchess herself is the sport of cleverer people. +And now, my dear niece, I see that the time is going. I came to +know if you could get me a card for the ball at Carmarthen House +to-night." + +Helene laughed softly. + +"Very easily, my dear UNCLE. Lady Carmarthen is Wolfendon's cousin, +you know, and a very good friend of mine. I have half a dozen blank +cards here. Shall I really see you there?" + +"I believe so," Mr. Sabin answered. + +"And Lucille?" + +"It is possible." + +"There is nothing I suppose which I can do in the way of +intervention, or anything of that sort?" + +Mr. Sabin shook his head. + +"Lucille and I are the best of friends," he answered. "Talk to her, +if you will. By the bye, is that twelve o'clock? I must hurry. +Doubtless we shall meet again at the ball." + +But Carmarthen House saw nothing of Mr. Sabin that night. + + +CHAPTER XX + +Mr. Sabin from his seat behind a gigantic palm watched her egress +from the supper-room with a little group of friends. + +They came to a halt in the broad carpeted way only a few feet from +him. Lady Carey, in a wonderful green gown, her neck and bosom +ablaze with jewels, seemed to be making her farewells. + +"I must go in and see the De Lausanacs," she exclaimed. "They are +in the blue room supping with the Portuguese Ambassador. I shall +be at Carmarthen House within half an hour--unless my headache +becomes unbearable. Au revoir, all of you. Good-bye, Laura!" + +Her friends passed on towards the great swing doors. Lady Carey +retraced her steps slowly towards the supper-room, and made some +languid inquiries of the head waiter as to a missing handkerchief. +Then she came again slowly down the broad way and reached Mr. Sabin. +He rose to his feet. + +"I thank you very much for your note," he said. "You have something, +I believe, to say to me." + +She stood before him for a moment in silence, as though not unwilling +that he should appreciate the soft splendour of her toilette. The +jewels which encircled her neck were priceless and dazzling; the soft +material of her gown, the most delicate shade of sea green, seemed +to foam about her feet, a wonderful triumph of allegoric dressmaking. +She saw that he was studying her, and she laughed a little uneasily, +looking all the time into his eyes. + +"Shockingly overdressed, ain't I?" she said. "We were going straight +to Carmarthen House, you know. Come and sit in this corner for a +moment, and order me some coffee. I suppose there isn't any less +public place!" + +"I fear not," he answered. "You will perhaps be unobserved behind +this palm." + +She sank into a low chair, and he seated himself beside her. She +sighed contentedly. + +"Dear me!" she said. "Do men like being run after like this?" + +Mr. Sabin raised his eyebrows. + +"I understood," he said, "that you had something to say to me of +importance." + +She shot a quick look up at him. + +"Don't be horrid," she said in a low tone. "Of course I wanted to +see you. I wanted to explain. Give me one of your cigarettes." + +He laid his case silently before her. She took one and lit it, +watching him furtively all the time. The man brought their coffee. +The place was almost empty now, and some of the lights were turned +down. + +"It is very kind of you," he said slowly, "to honour me by so much +consideration, but if you have much to say perhaps it would be +better if you permitted me to call upon you to-morrow. I am afraid +of depriving you of your ball--and your friends will be getting +impatient." + +"Bother the ball--and my friends," she exclaimed, a certain +strained note in her tone which puzzled him. "I'm not obliged to +go to the thing, and I don't want to. I've invented a headache, +and they won't even expect me. They know my headaches." + +"In that case," Mr. Sabin said, "I am entirely at your service." + +She sighed, and looked up at him through a little cloud of tobacco +smoke. + +"What a wonderful man you are," she said softly. "You accept +defeat with the grace of a victor. I believe that you would triumph +as easily with a shrug of the shoulders. Haven't you any feeling at +all? Don't you know what it is like to feel?" + +He smiled. + +"We both come," he said, "of a historic race. If ancestry is worth +anything it should at least teach us to go about without pinning +our hearts upon our sleeves." + +"But you," she murmured, "you have no heart." + +He looked down upon her then with still cold face and steady eyes. + +"Indeed," he said, "you are mistaken." + +She moved uneasily in her chair. She was very pale, except for a +faint spot of pink colour in her cheeks. + +"It is very hard to find, then," she said, speaking quickly, her +bosom rising and falling, her eyes always seeking to hold his. +"To-night you see what I have done--I have, sent away my friends +--and my carriage. They may know me here--you see what I have +risked. And I don't care. You thought to-night that I was your +enemy--and I am not. I am not your enemy at all." + +Her hand fell as though by accident upon his, and remained there. +Mr. Sabin was very nearly embarrassed. He knew quite well that +if she were not his enemy at that moment she would be very shortly. + +"Lucille," she continued, "will blame me too. I cannot help it. +I want to tell you that for the present your separation from her +is a certain thing. She acquiesces. You heard her. She is quite +happy. She is at the ball to-night, and she has friends there who +will make it pleasant for her. Won't you understand?" + +"No," Mr. Sabin answered. + +She beat the ground with her foot. + +"You must understand," she murmured. "You are not like these fools +of Englishmen who go to sleep when they are married, and wake in +the divorce court. For the present at least you have lost Lucille. +You heard her choose. She's at the ball to-night--and I have come +here to be with you. Won't you, please," she added, with a little +nervous laugh, "show some gratitude?" + +The interruption which Mr. Sabin had prayed for came at last. The +musicians had left, and many of the lights had been turned down. +An official came across to them. + +"I beg your pardon, sir," he said, addressing Mr. Sabin, "but we are +closing now, unless you are a guest in the hotel." + +"I am staying here," Mr. Sabin answered, rising, "but the lady--" + +Lady Carey interrupted him. + +"I am staying here also," she said to the man. + +He bowed at once and withdrew. She rose slowly to her feet and +laid her fingers upon his arm. He looked steadily away from her. + +"Fortunately," he said, "I have not yet dismissed my own carriage. +Permit me." + + * * * * * + +Mr. Sabin leaned heavily upon his stick as he slowly made his way +along the corridor to his rooms. Things were going ill with him +indeed. He was not used to the fear of an enemy, but the memory +of Lady Carey's white cheeks and indrawn lips as she had entered +his carriage chilled him. Her one look, too, was a threat worse +than any which her lips could have uttered. He was getting old +indeed, he thought, wearily, when disappointment weighed so heavily +upon him. And Lucille? Had he any real fears of her? He felt a +little catch in his throat at the bare thought--in a moment's +singular clearness of perception he realised that if Lucille were +indeed lost the world was no longer a place for him. So his feet +fell wearily upon the thickly carpeted floor of the corridor, and +his face was unusually drawn and haggard as he opened the door of +his sitting-room. + +And then--a transformation, amazing, stupefying. It was Lucille +who was smiling a welcome upon him from the depths of his favourite +easy-chair--Lucille sitting over his fire, a novel in her hand, +and wearing a delightful rose-pink dressing-gown. Some of her +belongings were scattered about his room, giving it a delicate air +of femininity. The faint odour of her favourite and only perfume +gave to her undoubted presence a wonderful sense of reality. + +She held out her hands to him, and the broad sleeves of her +dressing-gown fell away from her white rounded arms. Her eyes +were wonderfully soft, the pink upon her cheeks was the blush of +a girl. + +"Victor," she murmured, "do not look so stupefied. Did you not +believe that I would risk at least a little for you, who have +risked so much for me? Only come to me! Make the most of me. +All sorts of things are sure to happen directly I am found out." + +He took her into his arms. It was one of the moments of his +lifetime. + +"Tell me," he murmured, "how have you dared to do this?" + +She laughed. + +"You know the Prince and his set. You know the way they bribe. +Intrigues everywhere, new and old overlapping. They have really +some reason for keeping you and me apart, but as regards my other +movements, I am free enough. And they thought, Victor--don't be +angry--but I let them think it was some one else. And I stole +away from the ball, and they think--never mind what they think. +But you, Victor, are my intrigue, you, my love, my husband!" + +Then all the fatigue and all the weariness, died away from Mr. +Sabin's face. Once more the fire of youth burned in his heart. +And Lucille laughed softly as her lips met his, and her head sank +upon his shoulder. + + +CHAPTER XXI + +Lady Carey suddenly dropped her partner's arm. She had seen a +man standing by himself with folded arms and moody face at the +entrance to the ball-room. She raised her lorgnettes. His +identity was unquestionable. + +"Will you excuse me for a moment, Captain Horton," she said to her +escort. "I want particularly to speak to Mr. Brott." + +Captain Horton bowed with the slight disappointment of a hungry +man on his way to the supper-room. + +"Don't be long," he begged. "The places are filling up." + +Lady Carey nodded and walked swiftly across to where Brott was +standing. He moved eagerly forward to meet her. + +"Not dancing, Mr. Brott?" + +He shrugged his shoulders. + +"This sort of thing isn't much in my way," he answered. "I was +rather hoping to see the Countess here. I trust that she is not +indisposed." + +She looked at him steadily. + +"Do you mean," she said, "that you do not know where she is?" + +"I?" he answered in amazement. "How should I? I have not seen her +at all this evening. I understood that she was to be here." + +Lady Carey hesitated. The man was too honest to be able to lie like +this, even in a good cause. She stood quite still for a moment +thinking. Several of her dearest friends had already told her that +she was looking tired and ill this evening. At that moment she was +positively haggard. + +"I have been down at Ranelagh this afternoon," she said slowly, +"and dining out, so I have not seen Lucille. She was complaining +of a headache yesterday, but I quite thought that she was coming +here. Have you seen the Duchess?" + +He shook his head. + +"No. There is such a crowd." + +Lady Carey glanced towards her escort and turned away. + +"I will try and find out what has become of her," she said. "Don't +go away yet." + +She rejoined her escort. + +"When we have found a table," she said, "I want you to keep my place +for a few moments while I try and find some of my party." + +They passed into the supper-room, and appropriated a small table. +Lady Carey left her partner, and made her way to the farther end of +the apartment, where the Prince of Saxe Leinitzer was supping with +half a dozen men and women. She touched him on the shoulder. + +"I want to speak to you for a moment, Ferdinand," she whispered. + +He rose at once, and she drew him a little apart. + +"Brott is here," she said slowly. + +"Brott here!" he repeated. "And Lucille?" + +"He is asking for her--expected to find her here. He is downstairs +now, looking the picture of misery." + +He looked at her inquiringly. There was a curious steely light in +her eyes, and she was showing her front teeth, which were a little +prominent. + +"Do you think," he asked, "that she has deceived us?" + +"What else? Where are the Dorsets?" + +"The Duchess is with the Earl of Condon, and some more people at +the round table under the balcony." + +"Give me your arm," she whispered. "We must go and ask her;" + +They crossed the room together. Lady Carey sank into a vacant +chair by the side of the Duchess and talked for a few minutes to +the people whom she knew. Then she turned and whispered in the +Duchess's ear. + +"Where is Lucille?" + +The Duchess looked at her with a meaning smile. + +"How should I know? She left when we did." + +"Alone?" + +"Yes. It was all understood, wasn't it?" + +Lady Carey laughed unpleasantly. + +"She has fooled us," she said. "Brott is here alone. Knows +nothing of her." + +The Duchess was puzzled. + +"Well, I know nothing more than you do," she answered. "Are you +sure the man is telling the truth?" + +"Of course. He is the image of despair." + +"I am sure she was in earnest," the Duchess said. "When I asked +her whether she should come on here she laughed a little nervously, +and said perhaps or something of that sort." + +"The fool may have bungled it," Lady Carey said thoughtfully. "I +will go back to him. There's that idiot of a partner of mine. I +must go and pretend to have some supper." + +Captain Horton found his vis-a-vis a somewhat unsatisfactory +companion. She drank several glasses of champagne, ate scarcely +anything, and rushed him away before he had taken the edge off his +appetite. He brought her to the Duchess and went back in a huff +to finish his supper alone. Lady Carey went downstairs and +discovered Mr. Brott, who had scarcely moved. + +"Have you seen anything of her?" she asked. + +He shook his head gloomily. + +"No! It is too late for her to come now, isn't it?" + +"Take me somewhere where we can talk," she said abruptly. "One of +those seats in the recess will do." + +He obeyed her, and they found a retired corner. Lady Carey wasted +no time in fencing. + +"I am Lucille's greatest friend, Mr. Brott, and her confidante," +she said. + +He nodded. + +"So I have understood." + +"She tells me everything." + +He glanced towards her a little uneasily. + +"That is comprehensive!" he remarked. + +"It is true," she answered. "Lucille has told me a great deal about +your friendship! Come, there is no use in our mincing words. +Lucille has been badly treated years ago, and she has a perfect +right to seek any consolation she may find. The old fashioned +ideas, thank goodness, do not hold any longer amongst us. It is +not necessary to tie yourself for life to a man in order to procure +a little diversion." + +"I will not pretend to misunderstand you, Lady Carey," he said +gravely, "but I must decline to discuss the Countess of Radantz in +connection with such matters." + +"Oh, come!" she declared impatiently; "remember that I am her +friend. Yours is quite the proper attitude, but with me it doesn't +matter. Now I am going to ask you a plain question. Had you any +engagement with Lucille to-night?" + +She watched him mercilessly. He was colouring like a boy. Lady +Carey's thin lips curled. She had no sympathy with such amateurish +love-making. Nevertheless, his embarrassment was a great relief to +her. + +"She promised to be here," he answered stiffly. + +"Everything depends upon your being honest with me," she continued. +"You will see from my question that I know. Was there not something +said about supper at your rooms before or after the dance?" + +"I cannot discuss this matter with you or any living person," he +answered. "If you know so much why ask me?" + +Lady Carey could have shaken the man, but she restrained herself. + +"It is sufficient!" she declared. "What I cannot understand is why +you are here--when Lucille is probably awaiting for you at your +rooms." + +He started from his chair as though he had been shot. + +"What do you mean?" he exclaimed. "She was to--" + +He stopped short. Lady Carey shrugged her shoulders. + +"Oh, written you or something, I suppose!" she exclaimed. "Trust +an Englishman for bungling a love affair. All I can tell you is +that she left Dorset House in a hansom without the others, and said +some thing about having supper with some friends." + +Brott sprang to his feet and took a quick step towards the exit. + +"It is not possible!" he exclaimed. + +She took his arm. He almost dragged her along. + +"Well, we are going to see," she said coolly. "Tell the man to +call a hansom." + +They drove almost in silence through the Square to Pall Mall. +Brott leaped out onto the pavement directly the cab pulled up. + +"I will wait here," Lady Carey said. "I only want to know that +Lucille is safe." + +He disappeared, and she sat forward in the cab drumming idly with +her forefingers upon the apron. In a few minutes he came back. +His appearance was quite sufficient. He was very pale. The change +in him was so ludicrous that she laughed. + +"Get in," she said. "I am going round to Dorset House. We must +find out if we can what has become of her." + +He obeyed without comment. At Dorset House Lady Carey summoned +the Duchess's own maid. + +"Marie," she said, "you were attending upon the Countess Radantz +to-night?" + +"Yes, my lady." + +"At what time did she leave?" + +"At about, eleven, my lady." + +"Alone?" + +"Yes, my lady." + +Lady Carey looked steadily at the girl. + +"Did she take anything with her?" + +The girl hesitated. Lady Carey frowned. + +"It must be the truth, remember, Marie." + +"Certainly, my lady! She took her small dressing-case." + +Lady Carey set her teeth hard. Then with a movement of her head +she dismissed the maid. She walked restlessly up and down the +room. Then she stopped short with a hard little laugh. + +"If I give way like this," she murmured, "I shall be positively +hideous, and after all, if she was there it was not possible for +him--" + +She stopped short, and suddenly tearing the handkerchief which she +had been carrying into shreds threw the pieces upon the floor, and +stamped upon them. Then she laughed shortly, and turned towards +the door. + +"Now I must go and get rid of that poor fool outside," she said. +"What a bungler!" + +Brott was beside himself with impatience. + +"Lucille is here," she announced, stepping in beside him. "She has +a shocking headache and has gone to bed. As a matter of fact, I +believe that she was expecting to hear from you." + +"Impossible!" he answered shortly. He was beginning to distrust +this woman. + +"Never mind. You can make it up with her to-morrow. I was foolish +to be anxious about her at all. Are you coming in again?" + +They were at Carmarthen House. He handed her out. + +"No, thanks! If you will allow me I will wish you good-night." + +She made her way into the ball-room, and found the Prince of Saxe +Leinitzer, who was just leaving. + +"Do you know where Lucille is?" she asked. + +He looked up at her sharply. "Where?" + +"At the Carlton Hotel--with him." + +He rose to his feet with slow but evil promptitude. His face just +then was very unlike the face of an angel. Lady Carey laughed +aloud. + +"Poor man," she said mockingly. "It is always the same when you +and Souspennier meet." + +He set his teeth. + +"This time," he muttered, "I hold the trumps." + +She pointed at the clock. It was nearly four. "She was there at +eleven," she remarked drily. + + +CHAPTER XXII + +"His Highness, the Prince of Saxe Leinitzer!" + +Duson stood away from the door with a low bow. The Prince--in +the buttonhole of whose frock-coat was a large bunch of Russian +violets, passed across the threshold. Mr. Sabin rose slowly +from his chair. + +"I fear," the Prince said suavely, "that I am an early visitor. +I can only throw myself upon your indulgence and plead the urgency +of my mission." + +His arrival appeared to have interrupted a late breakfast of the +Continental order. The small table at which Lucille and Mr. Sabin +were seated was covered with roses and several dishes of wonderful +fruit. A coffee equipage was before Lucille. Mr. Sabin, dressed +with his usual peculiar care and looking ten years younger, had +just lit a cigarette. + +"We have been anticipating your visit, Prince," Mr. Sabin remarked, +with grim courtesy. "Can we offer you coffee or a liqueur?" + +"I thank you, no," the Prince answered. "I seldom take anything +before lunch. Let me beg that you do not disturb yourselves. With +your permission I will take this easy-chair. So! That is excellent. +We can now talk undisturbed." + +Mr. Sabin bowed. + +"You will find me," he said, "an excellent listener." + +The Prince smiled in an amiable manner. His eyes were fixed upon +Lucille, who had drawn her chair a little away from the table. +What other woman in the world who had passed her first youth could +sit thus in the slanting sunlight and remain beautiful? + +"I will ask you to believe," the Prince said slowly, "how sincerely +I regret this unavoidable interference in a domestic happiness so +touching. Nevertheless, I have come for the Countess. It is +necessary that she returns to Dorset House this morning." + +"You will oblige me," Mr. Sabin remarked, "by remembering that my +wife is the Duchesse de Souspennier, and by so addressing her." + +The Prince spread out his hands--a deprecating gesture. + +"Alas!" he said, "for the present it is not possible. Until the +little affair upon which we are now engaged is finally disposed of +it is necessary that Lucille should be known by the title which she +bears in her own right, or by the name of her late husband, Mr. +James B. Peterson." + +"That little affair," Mr. Sabin remarked, "is, I presume, the matter +which you have come to explain to me." + +The Prince smiled and shook his head. + +"Explain! My dear Duke, that is not possible. It is not within +your rights to ask questions or to require any explanation as to +anything which Lucille is required to do by us. You must remember +that our claim upon her comes before yours. It is a claim which +she cannot evade or deny. And in pursuance of it, Countess, I +deeply regret having to tell you that your presence at Dorset House +within the next hour is demanded." + +Lucille made no answer, but looked across the table at Mr. Sabin +with a little grimace. + +"It is a comedy," she murmured. "After all, it is a comedy!" + +Mr. Sabin fingered his cigarette thoughtfully. + +"I believe," he said, "that the Duchess realises her +responsibilities in this matter. I myself have no wish to deny +them. As ordinary members we are both pledged to absolute obedience. +I therefore place no embargo upon the return of my wife to Dorset +House. But there are certain conditions, Prince, that considering +the special circumstances of the case I feel impelled to propose." + +"I can recognise," the Prince said, "no conditions." + +"They are very harmless," Mr. Sabin continued calmly. "The first is +that in a friendly way, and of course under the inviolable law of +secrecy, you explain to me for what part Lucille is cast in this +little comedy; the next that I be allowed to see her at reasonable +intervals, and finally that she is known by her rightful name as +Duchesse de Souspennier." + +The forced urbanity which the Prince had assumed fell away from him +without warning. The tone of his reply was almost a sneer. + +"I repeat," he said, "that I can recognise no conditions." + +"It is perhaps," Mr. Sabin continued, "the wrong word to use. We +submit to your authority, but you and I are well aware that your +discretionary powers are large. I ask you to use them." + +"And I," the Prince said, "refuse. Let me add that I intend to +prevent any recurrence of your little adventure of last night. +Lucille shall not see you again until her task is over. And as for +you, my dear Duke, I desire only your absence. I do not wish to +hurt your feelings, but your name has been associated in the past +with too many failures to inspire us with any confidence in engaging +you as an ally. Countess, a carriage from Dorset House awaits you." + +But Lucille sat still, and Mr. Sabin rose slowly to his feet. + +"I thank you, Prince," he said, "for throwing away the mask. +Fighting is always better without the buttons. It is true that I +have failed more than once, but it is also true that my failures +have been more magnificent than your waddle across the plain of life. +As for your present authority, I challenge you to your face that you +are using it to gain your private ends. What I have said to you I +shall repeat to those whose place is above yours. Lucille shall go +to Dorset House, but I warn you that I hold my life a slight thing +where her welfare is concerned. Your hand is upon the lever of a +great organization, I am only a unit in the world. Yet I would have +you remember that more than once, Prince, when you and I have met +with the odds in your favour the victory has been mine. Play the +game fairly, and you have nothing to fear from me but the open +opposition I have promised you. Bring but the shadow of evil upon +her, misuse your power but ever so slightly against her, and I warn +you that I shall count the few years of life left to me a trifle +--of less than no account--until you and I cry quits." + +The Prince smiled, a fat, good-natured smile, behind which the +malice was indeed well hidden. + +"Come, come, my dear Souspennier," he declared. "This is unworthy +of you. It is positively melodramatic. It reminds me of the plays +of my Fatherland, and of your own Adelphi Theatre. We should be men +of the world, you and I. You must take your defeats with your +victories. I can assure you that the welfare of the Countess Lucille +shall be my special care." + +Lucille for the first time spoke. She rose from her chair and rested +her hands affectionately upon her husband's shoulder. + +"Dear Victor," she said, "remember that we are in London, and, need +I add, have confidence in me. The Prince of Saxe Leinitzer and I +understand one another, I believe. If we do not it is not my fault. +My presence here at this moment should prove to you how eagerly I +shall look forward to the time when our separation is no longer +necessary." + +She passed away into the inner room with a little farewell gesture +tender and regretful. Mr. Sabin resumed his seat. + +"I believe, Prince," he said, "that no good can come of any further +conference between you and me. We understand one another too well. +Might I suggest therefore that you permit me to ring?" + +The Prince rose to his feet. + +"You are right," he said. "The bandying of words between you and +me is a waste of time. We are both of us too old at the game. But +come, before I go I will do you a good turn. I will prove that I +am in a generous mood." + +Mr. Sabin shrugged his shoulders. + +"If anything in this world could inspire me with fear," he remarked, +"it would be the generosity of the Prince of Saxe Leinitzer." + +The Prince sighed. + +"You always misunderstand me," he murmured. "However, I will prove +my words. You spoke of an appeal." + +"Certainly," Mr. Sabin answered. "I intend to impeach you for +making use of the powers entrusted to you for your own private ends +--in other words, for making an arbitrary misuse of your position." + +The Prince nodded. + +"It is very well put," he said. "I shall await the result of your +appeal in fear and trembling. I confess that I am very much afraid. +But, come now, I am going to be generous. I am going to help you +on a little. Do you know to whom your appeal must be made?" + +"To the Grand Duke!" Mr. Sabin replied. + +The Prince shook his head. + +"Ah me!" he said, "how long indeed you have been absent from the +world. The Grand Duke is no longer the head of our little affair. +Shall I tell you who has succeeded him?" + +"I can easily find out," Mr. Sabin answered. + +"Ah, but I warned you that I was in a generous mood," the Prince +said, with a smile. "I will save you the trouble. With your +permission I will whisper the name in your ear. It is not one which +we mention lightly." + +He stepped forward and bent his head for a moment. Afterwards, as +he drew back, the smile upon his lips broadened until he showed all +his teeth. It was a veritable triumph. Mr. Sabin, taken wholly +by surprise, had not been able to conceal his consternation. + +"It is not possible," he exclaimed hoarsely. "He would not dare." + +But in his heart he knew that the Prince had spoken the truth. + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +"After all," said the Prince, looking up from the wine list, "why +cannot I be satisfied with you? And why cannot you be satisfied +with me? It would save so much trouble." + +Lady Carey, who was slowly unwinding the white veil from her picture +hat, shrugged her shoulders. + +"My dear man," she said, "you could not seriously expect me to fall +in love with you." + +The Prince sipped his wine--a cabinet hock of rare vintage--and +found it good. He leaned over towards his companion. + +"Why not?" he asked. "I wish that you would try--in earnest, I +mean. You are capable of great things, I believe--perhaps of the +great passion itself." + +"Perhaps," she murmured derisively. + +"And yet," he continued, "there has always been in our love-making +a touch of amateurishness. It is an awkward word, but I do not +know how better to explain myself." + +"I understand you perfectly," she answered. "I can also, I think, +explain it. It is because I never cared a rap about you." + +The Prince did not appear altogether pleased. He curled his fair +moustache, and looked deprecatingly at his companion. She had so +much the air of a woman who has spoken the truth. + +"My dear Muriel!" he protested. + +She looked at him insolently. + +"My good man," she said, "whatever you do don't try and be +sentimental. You know quite well that I have never in my life +pretended to care a rap about you--except to pass the time. You +are altogether too obvious. Very young girls and very old women +would rave about you. You simply don't appeal to me. Perhaps I +know you too well. What does it matter!" + +He sighed and examined a sauce critically. They were lunching at +Prince's alone, at a small table near the wall. + +"Your taste," he remarked a little spitefully, "would be considered +a trifle strange. Souspennier carries his years well, but he must +be an old man." + +She sipped her wine thoughtfully. + +"Old or young," she said, "he is a man, and all my life I have +loved men,--strong men. To have him here opposite to me at this +moment, mine, belonging to me, the slave of my will, I would give +--well, I would give--a year of my life--my new tiara--anything!" + +"What a pity," he murmured, "that we cannot make an exchange, you +and I, Lucille and he!" + +"Ah, Lucille!" she murmured. "Well, she is beautiful. That goes +for much. And she has the grand air. But, heavens, how stupid!" + +"Stupid!" he repeated doubtfully. + +She drummed nervously upon the tablecloth with her fingers. + +"Oh, not stupid in the ordinary way, of course, but yet a fool. I +should like to see man or devil try and separate us if I belonged +to him--until I was tired of him. That would come, of course. It +comes always. It is the hideous part of life." + +"You look always," he said, "a little too far forward. It is a +mistake. After all, it is the present only which concerns us." + +"Admirable philosophy," she laughed scornfully, "but when one is +bored to death in the present one must look forward or backward for +consolation." + +He continued his lunch in silence for a while. + +"I am rebuked!" he said. + +There came a pause in the courses. He looked at her critically. +She was very handsomely dressed in a walking costume of dove-coloured +grey. The ostrich feathers which drooped from her large hat were +almost priceless. She had the undeniable air of being a person of +breeding. But she was paler even than usual, her hair, +notwithstanding its careful arrangement, gave signs of being a +little thin in front. There were wrinkles at the corners of her +eyes. She knew these things, but she bore his inspection with +indifference. + +"I wonder," he said reflectively, "what we men see in you. You +have plenty of admirers. They say that Grefton got himself shot +out at the front because you treated him badly. Yet--you are not +much to look at, are you?" + +She laughed at him. Hers was never a pleasant laugh, but this time +it was at least natural. + +"How discriminating," she declared. "I am an ugly woman, and men +of taste usually prefer ugly women. Then I am always well dressed. +I know how to wear my clothes. And I have a shocking reputation. +A really wicked woman, I once heard pious old Lady Surbiton call me! +Dear old thing! It did me no end of good. Then I have the very +great advantage of never caring for any one more than a few days +together. Men find that annoying." + +"You have violent fancies," he remarked, "and strange ones." + +"Perhaps," she admitted. "They concern no one except myself." + +"This Souspennier craze, for instance!" + +She nodded. + +"Well, you can't say that I'm not honest. It is positively my only +virtue. I adore the truth. I loathe a lie. That is one reason, +I daresay, why I can only barely tolerate you. You are a shocking +--a gross liar." + +"Muriel!" + +"Oh, don't look at me like that," she exclaimed irritably. "You +must hear the truth sometimes. And now, please remember that I +came to lunch with you to hear about your visit this morning." + +The Prince gnawed his moustache, and the light in his eyes was not +a pleasant thing to see. This woman with her reckless life, her +odd fascination, her brusque hatred of affectations, was a constant +torment to him. If only he could once get her thoroughly into his +power. + +"My visit," he said, "was wholly successful. It could not well be +otherwise. Lucille has returned to Dorset House. Souspennier is +confounded altogether by a little revelation which I ventured to +make. He spoke of an appeal. I let him know with whom he would +have to deal. I left him nerveless and crushed. He can do nothing +save by open revolt. And if he tries that--well, there will be +no more of this wonderful Mr. Sabin." + +"Altogether a triumph to you," she remarked scornfully. "Oh, I +know the sort of thing. But, after all, my dear Ferdinand, what of +last night. I hate the woman, but she played the game, and played +it well. We were fooled, both of us. And to think that I--" + +She broke off with a short laugh. The Prince looked at her +curiously. + +"Perhaps," he said, "you had some idea of consoling the desolate +husband?" + +"Perhaps I had," she answered coolly. "It didn't come off, did it? +Order me some coffee, and give me a cigarette, my friend. I have +something else to say to you." + +He obeyed her, and she leaned back in the high chair. + +"Listen to me," she said. "I have nothing whatever to do with you +and Lucille. I suppose you will get your revenge on Souspennier +through her. It won't be like you if you don't try, and you ought +to have the game pretty well in your own hands. But I won't have +Souspennier harmed. You understand?" + +He shrugged his shoulders. + +"Souspennier," he said, "must take care. If he oversteps the bounds +he must pay the penalty." + +She leaned forward. There was a look in her face which he knew +very well. + +"You and I understand one another," she said coolly. "If you want +me for an enemy you can have me. Very likely I shall tell you +before long that you can do what you like with the man. But until +I do it will be very dangerous for you if harm comes to him." + +"It is no use," he answered doggedly. "If he attacks he must be +silenced." + +"If he attacks," she answered, "you must give me twenty-four hours +clear notice before you move a hand against him. Afterwards--well, +we will discuss that." + +"You had better," he said, looking at her with an ugly gleam in his +eyes, "persuade him to take you for a little tour on the Continent. +It would be safer." + +"If he would come," she said coolly, "I would go to-morrow. But he +won't--just yet. Never mind. You have heard what I wanted to say. +Now shall we go? I am going to get some sleep this afternoon. +Everybody tells me that I look like a ghost." + +"Why not come to Grosvenor Square with me?" he leaning a little +across the table. "Patoff shall make you some Russian tea, and +afterwards you shall sleep as long as you like." + +"How idyllic!" she answered, with a faint sarcastic smile. "It +goes to my heart to decline so charming an invitation. But, to +tell you the truth, it would bore me excessively." + +He muttered something under his breath which startled the waiter at +his elbow. Then he followed her out of the room. She paused for a +few moments in the portico to finish buttoning her gloves. + +"Many thanks for my lunch," she said, nodding to him carelessly. +"I'm sure I've been a delightful companion." + +"You have been a very tormenting one," he answered gloomily as he +followed her out on to the pavement. + +"You should try Lucille," she suggested maliciously. + +He stood by her side while they waited for her carriage, and looked +at her critically. Her slim, elegant figure had never seemed more +attractive to him. Even the insolence of her tone and manner had +an odd sort of fascination. He tried to hold for a moment the +fingers which grasped her skirt. + +"I think," he whispered, "that after you Lucille would be dull!" + +She laughed. + +"That is because Lucille has morals and a conscience," she said, +"and I have neither. But, dear me, how much more comfortably one +gets on without them. No, thank you, Prince. My coupe is only +built for one. Remember." + +She flung him a careless nod from the window. The Prince remained +on the pavement until after the little brougham had driven away. +Then he smiled softly to himself as he turned to follow it. + +"No!" he said. "I think not! I think that she will not get our +good friend Souspennier. We shall see!" + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +A barely furnished man's room, comfortable, austere, scholarly. +The refuge of a busy man, to judge by the piles of books and papers +which littered the large open writing-table. There were despatch +boxes turned upside down, a sea of parchment and foolscap. In the +midst of it all a man deep in thought. + +A visitor, entering with the freedom of an old acquaintance, laid +his hand upon his shoulder and greeted him with an air of suppressed +enthusiasm. + +"Planning the campaign, eh, Brott? Or is that a handbook to Court +etiquette? You will need it within the week. There are all sorts +of rumours at the clubs." + +Brott shook himself free from his fit of apathetic reflection. He +would not have dared to tell his visitor where his thoughts had +been for the last half hour. + +"Somehow," he said, "I do not think that little trip to Windsor +will come just yet. The King will never send for me unless he is +compelled." + +His visitor, an ex-Cabinet Minister, a pronounced Radical and a +lifelong friend of Brott's, shrugged his shoulders. + +"That time," he said, "is very close at hand. He will send for +Letheringham first, of course, and great pressure will be brought +to bear upon him to form a ministry. But without you he will be +helpless. He has not the confidence of the people." + +"Without me," Brott repeated slowly. "You think then that I should +not accept office with Letheringham?" + +His visitor regarded him steadily for a moment, open-mouthed, +obviously taken aback. + +"Brott, are you in your right senses?" he asked incredulously. "Do +you know what you are saying?" + +Brott laughed a little nervously. + +"This is a great issue, Grahame," he said. "I will confess that I +am in an undecided state. I am not sure that the country is in a +sufficiently advanced state for our propaganda. Is this really our +opportunity, or is it only the shadow of what is to come thrown +before? If we show our hand too soon all is lost for this +generation. Don't look at me as though I were insane, Grahame. +Remember that the country is only just free from a long era of +Conservative rule." + +"The better our opportunity," Grahame answered vigorously. "Two +decades of puppet government are enervating, I admit, but they +only pave the way more surely to the inevitable reaction. What is +the matter with you, Brott? Are you ill? This is the great moment +of our lives. You must speak at Manchester and Birmingham within +this week. Glasgow is already preparing for you. Everything and +everybody waits for your judgment. Good God, man, it's magnificent! +Where's your enthusiasm? Within a month you must be Prime Minister, +and we will show the world the way to a new era." + +Brott sat quite still. His friend's words had stirred him for the +moment. Yet he seemed the victim of a curious indecision. Grahame +leaned over towards him. + +"Brott, old friend," he said, "you are not ill?" + +Brott shook his head. + +"I am perfectly well," he said. + +Grahame hesitated. + +"It is a delicate thing to mention," he said. "Perhaps I shall +pass even the bounds of our old comradeship. But you have changed. +Something is wrong with you. What is it?" + +"There is nothing," Brott answered, looking up. "It is your fancy. +I am well enough." + +Grahame's face was dark with anxiety. + +"This is no idle curiosity of mine," he said. "You know me better +than that. But the cause which is nearer my heart than life itself +is at stake. Brott, you are the people's man, their promised +redeemer. Think of them, the toilers, the oppressed, God's +children, groaning under the iniquitous laws of generations of evil +statesmanship. It is the dawn of their new day, their faces are +turned to you. Man, can't you hear them crying? You can't fail +them. You mustn't. I don't know what is the matter with you, +Brott, but away with it. Free yourself, man." + +Brott sighed wearily, but already there was a change in him. His +face was hardening--the lines in his face deepened. Grahame +continued hastily--eagerly. + +"Public men," he said, "are always at the mercy of the halfpenny +press, but you know, Brott, your appearance so often in Society +lately has set men's tongues wagging. There is no harm done, but +it is time to stop them. You are right to want to understand these +people. You must go down amongst them. It has been slumming in +Mayfair for you, I know. But have done with it now. It is these +people we are going to fight. Let it be open war. Let them hear +your programme at Glasgow. We don't want another French Revolution, +but it is going to be war against the drones, fierce, merciless war! +You must break with them, Brott, once and for ever. And the time +is now." + +Brott held out his hand across the table. No one but this one man +could have read the struggle in his face. + +"You are right, Grahame. I thank you. I thank you as much for +what you have left unsaid as for what you have said. I was a fool +to think of compromising. Letheringham is a nerveless leader. We +should have gone pottering on for another seven years. Thank God +that you came when you did. See here!" + +He tossed him over a letter. Grahame's cheek paled as he read. + +"Already!" he murmured. + +Brott nodded. + +"Read it!" + +Grahame devoured every word. His eyes lit up with excitement. + +"My prophecy exactly," he exclaimed, laying it down. "It is as I +said. He cannot form the ministry without you. His letter is +abject. He gives himself away. It is an entreaty. And your +answer?" + +"Has not yet gone," Brott said. "You shall write it yourself if +you like. I am thankful that you came when you did." + +"You were hesitating?" Grahame exclaimed. + +"I was." + +Grahame looked at him in wonder, and Brott faced him sturdily. + +"It seems like treason to you, Grahame!" he said. "So it does to +me now. I want nothing in the future to come between us," he +continued more slowly, "and I should like if I can to expunge the +memory of this interview. And so I am going to tell you the truth." +Grahame held out his hand. + +"Don't!" he said. "I can forget without." + +Brott shook his head. + +"No," he said. "You had better understand everything. The +halfpenny press told the truth. Yet only half the truth. I have +been to all these places, wasted my time, wasted their time, from +a purely selfish reason--to be near the only woman I have ever +cared for, the woman, Grahame!" + +"I knew it," Grahame murmured. "I fought against the belief, I +thought that I had stifled it. But I knew it all the time." + +"If I have seemed lukewarm sometimes of late," Brott said, "there +is the cause. She is an aristocrat, and my politics are hateful +to her. She has told me so seriously, playfully, angrily. She +has let me feel it in a hundred ways. She has drawn me into +discussions and shown the utmost horror of my views. I have cared +for her all my life, and she knows it. And I think, Grahame, that +lately she has been trying constantly, persistently, to tone down +my opinions. She has let me understand that they are a bar between +us. And it is a horrible confession, Grahame, but I believe that +I was wavering. This invitation from Letheringham seemed such a +wonderful opportunity for compromise." + +"This must never go out of the room," Grahame said hoarsely. "It +would ruin your popularity. They would never trust you again." + +"I shall tell no one else," Brott said. + +"And it is over?" Grahame demanded eagerly. + +"It is over." + + * * * * * + +The Duke of Dorset, who entertained for his party, gave a great +dinner that night at Dorset House, and towards its close the +Prince of Saxe Leinitzer, who was almost the only non-political +guest, moved up to his host in response to an eager summons. The +Duke was perturbed. + +"You have heard the news, Saxe Leinitzer?" + +"I did not know of any news," the Prince answered. "What is it?" + +"Brott has refused to join with Letheringham in forming a ministry. +It is rumoured even that a coalition was proposed, and that Brott +would have nothing to do with it." + +The Prince looked into his wineglass. + +"Ah!" he said. + +"This is disturbing news," the Duke continued. "You do not seem to +appreciate its significance." + +The Prince looked up again. + +"Perhaps not," he said. "You shall explain to me." + +"Brott refuses to compromise," the Duke said. "He stands for a +ministry of his own selection. Heaven only knows what mischief +this may mean. His doctrines are thoroughly revolutionary. He is +an iconoclast with a genius for destruction. But he has the ear of +the people. He is to-day their Rienzi." + +The Prince nodded. + +"And Lucille?" he remarked. "What does she say?" + +"I have not spoken to her," the Duke answered. "The news has only +just come." + +"We will speak to her," the Prince said, "together." + +Afterwards in the library there was a sort of informal meeting, and +their opportunity came. + +"So you have failed, Countess," her host said, knitting his grey +brows at her. + +She smilingly acknowledged defeat. + +"But I can assure you," she said, "that I was very near success. +Only on Monday he had virtually made up his mind to abandon the +extreme party and cast in his lot with Letheringham. What has +happened to change him I do not know." + +The Prince curled his fair moustache. + +"It is a pity," he said, "that he changed his mind. For one thing +is very certain. The Duke and I are agreed upon it. A Brott +ministry must never be formed." + +She looked up quickly. + +"What do you mean?" + +The Prince answered her without hesitation. + +"If one course fails," he said, "another must be adopted. I regret +having to make use of means which are somewhat clumsy and obvious. +But our pronouncement on this one point is final. Brott must not +be allowed to form a ministry." + +She looked at him with something like horror in her soft full eyes. + +"What would you do?" she murmured. + +The Prince shrugged his shoulders. + +"Well," he said, "we are not quite medieval enough to adopt the +only really sensible method and remove Mr. Brott permanently from +the face of the earth. We should stop a little short of that, but +I can assure you that Mr. Brott's health for the next few months is +a matter for grave uncertainty. It is a pity for his sake that you +failed." + +She bit her lip. + +"Do you know if he is still in London?" she asked. + +"He must be on the point of leaving for Scotland," the Duke answered. +"If he once mounts the platform at Glasgow there will be no further +chance of any compromise. He will be committed irretrievably to +his campaign of anarchy." + +"And to his own disaster," the Prince murmured. + +Lucille remained for a moment deep in thought. Then she looked up. + +"If I can find him before he starts," she said hurriedly, "I will +make one last effort." + + +CHAPTER XXV + +He peered forward over his desk at the tall graceful figure whose +entrance had been so noiseless, and whose footsteps had been so +light that she stood almost within a few feet of him before he was +even aware of her presence. Then his surprise was so great that he +could only gasp out her name. + +"You! Lucille!" + +She smiled upon him delightfully. + +"Me! Lucille! Don't blame your servant. I assured him that I was +expected, so he allowed me to enter unannounced. His astonishment +was a delightful testimony to your reputation, by the bye. He was +evidently not used to these invasions." + +Brott had recovered himself by this time, and if any emotion still +remained he was master of it. + +"You must forgive my surprise!" he said. "You have of course +something important to say to me. Will you not loosen your cloak?" + +She unfastened the clasp and seated herself in his most comfortable +chair. The firelight flashed and glittered on the silver ornaments +of her dress; her neck and arms, with their burden of jewels, gleamed +like porcelain in the semi-darkness outside the halo of his student +lamp. And he saw that her dark hair hung low behind in graceful +folds as he had once admired it. He stood a little apart, and she +noted his traveling clothes and the various signs of a journey +about the room. + +"You may be glad to see me," she remarked, looking at him with a +smile. "You don't look it." + +"I am anxious to hear your news," he answered. "I am convinced +that you have something important to say to me." + +"Supposing," she answered, still looking at him steadily, "supposing +I were to say that I had no object in coming here at all--that it +was merely a whim? What should you say then?" + +"I should take the liberty," he answered quietly, "of doubting the +evidence of my senses." + +There was a moment's silence. She felt his aloofness. It awoke +in her some of the enthusiasm with which this mission itself had +failed to inspire her. This man was measuring his strength against +hers. + +"It was not altogether a whim," she said, her eyes falling from +his, "and yet--now I am here--it does not seem easy to say what +was in my mind." + +He glanced towards the clock. + +"I fear," he said, "that it may sound ungallant, but in case this +somewhat mysterious mission of yours is of any importance I had +better perhaps tell you that in twenty minutes I must leave to catch +the Scotch mail." + +She rose at once to her feet, and swept her cloak haughtily around +her. + +"I have made a mistake," she said. "Be so good as to pardon my +intrusion. I shall not trouble you again." + +She was half-way across the room. She was at the door, her hand +was upon the handle. He was white to the lips, his whole frame was +shaking with the effort of intense repression. He kept silence, +till only a flutter of her cloak was to be seen in the doorway. +And then the cry which he had tried so hard to stifle broke from +his lips. + +"Lucille! Lucille!" + +She hesitated, and came back--looking at him, so he thought, with +trembling lips and eyes soft with unshed tears. + +"I was a brute," he murmured. "I ought to be grateful for this +chance of seeing you once more, of saying good-bye to you." + +"Good-bye!" she repeated. + +"Yes," he said gravely. "It must be good-bye. I have a great work +before me, and it will cut me off completely from all association +with your world and your friends. Something wider and deeper than +an ocean will divide us. Something so wide that our hands will +never reach across." + +"You can talk about it very calmly," she said, without looking at +him. + +"I have been disciplining myself," he answered. + +She rested her face upon her hand, and looked into the fire. + +"I suppose," she said, "this means that you have refused Mr. +Letheringham's offer." + +"I have refused it," he answered. + +"I am sorry," she said simply. + +She rose from her chair with a sudden start, began to draw on her +cloak, and then let it fall altogether from her shoulders. + +"Why do you do this?" she asked earnestly. "Is it that you are so +ambitious? You used not to be so--in the old days." + +He laughed bitterly. + +"You too, then," he said, "can remember. Ambitious! Well, why not? +To be Premier of England, to stand for the people, to carry through +to its logical consummation a bloodless revolution, surely this is +worth while. Is there anything in the world better worth having +than power?" + +"Yes," she answered, looking him full in the eyes. + +"What is it then? Let me know before it is too late." + +"Love!" + +He threw his arms about her. For a moment she was powerless in his +grasp. + +"So be it then," he cried fiercely. "Give me the one, and I will +deny the other. Only no half measures! I will drink to the bottom +of the cup or not at all." + +She shook herself free from him, breathless, consumed with an anger +to which she dared not give voice. For a moment or two she was +speechless. Her bosom rose and fell, a bright streak of colour +flared in her cheeks. Brott stood away from her, white and stern. + +"You--are clumsy!" she said. "You frighten me!" + +Her words carried no conviction. He looked at her with a new +suspicion. + +"You talk like a child," he answered roughly, "or else your whole +conduct is a fraud. For months I have been your slave. I have +abandoned my principles, given you my time, followed at your heels +like a tame dog. And for what? You will not marry me, you will +not commit yourself to anything. You are a past mistress in the +art of binding fools to your chariot wheels. You know that I love +you--that there breathes on this earth no other woman for me but +you. I have told you this in all save words a hundred times. And +now--now it is my turn. I have been played with long enough. You +are here unbidden--unexpected. You can consider that door locked. +Now tell me why you came." + +Lucille had recovered herself. She stood before him, white but calm. + +"Because," she said, "I am a woman." + +"That means that you came without reason--on impulse?" he asked. + +"I came," she said, "because I heard that you were about to take a +step which must separate us for ever." + +"And that," he asked, "disturbed you?" + +"Yes!" + +"Come, we are drawing nearer together," he said, a kindling light +in his eyes. "Now answer me this. How much do you care if this +eternal separation does come? Here am I on the threshold of action. +Unless I change my mind within ten minutes I must throw in my lot +with those whom you and your Order loathe and despise. There can +be no half measures. I must be their leader, or I must vanish from +the face of the political world. This I will do if you bid me. But +the price must be yourself--wholly, without reservation--yourself, +body and soul." + +"You care--as much as that?" she murmured. + +"Ask me no questions, answer mine!" he cried fiercely. "You shall +stay with me here--or in five minutes I leave on my campaign." + +She laughed musically. + +"This is positively delicious," she exclaimed. "I am being made +love to in medieval fashion. Other times other manners, sir! Will +you listen to reason?" + +"I will listen to nothing--save your answer, yes or no," he +declared, drawing on his overcoat. + +She laid her hand upon his shoulder. + +"Reginald," she said, "you are like the whirlwind--and how can I +answer you in five minutes!" + +"You can answer me in one," he declared fiercely. "Will you pay my +price if I do your bidding? Yes or no! The price is yourself. Now! +Yes or no?" + +She drew on her own cloak and fastened the clasp +with shaking fingers. Then she turned towards the +door. + +"I wish you good-bye and good fortune, Reginald," she said. "I +daresay we may not meet again. It will be better that we do not." + +"This then is your answer?" he cried. + +She looked around at him. Was it his fancy, or were those tears +in her eyes? Or was she really so wonderful an actress? + +"Do you think," she said, "that if I had not cared I should have +come here?" + +"Tell me that in plain words," he cried. "It is all I ask." + +The door was suddenly opened. Grahame stood upon the threshold. +He looked beyond Lucille to Brott. + +"You must really forgive me," he said, "but there is barely time +to catch the train, Brott. I have a hansom waiting, and your +luggage is on." + +Brott answered nothing. Lucille held out her hands to him. + +"Yes or no?" he asked her in a low hoarse tone. + +"You must--give me time! I don't want to lose you. I--" + +He caught up his coat. + +"Coming, Grahame," he said firmly. "Countess, I must beg your +pardon ten thousand times for this abrupt departure. My servants +will call your carriage." + +She leaned towards him, beautiful, anxious, alluring. + +"Reginald!" + +"Yes or no," he whispered in her ear. + +"Give me until to-morrow," she faltered. + +"Not one moment," he answered. "Yes--now, this instant--or I go!" + +"Brott! My dear man, we have not a second to lose." + +"You hear!" he muttered. "Yes or no?" + +She trembled. + +"Give me until to-morrow," she begged. "It is for your own sake. +For your own safety." + +He turned on his heel! His muttered speech was profane, but +inarticulate. He sprang into the hansom by Grahame's side. + +"Euston!" the latter cried through the trap-door. "Double fare, +cabby. We must catch the Scotchman." + +Lucille came out a few moments later, and looked up and down the +street as her brougham drove smartly up. The hansom was fast +disappearing in the distance. She looked after it and sighed. + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +Lucille gave a little start of amazement as she realised that she +was not alone in the brougham. She reached out for the check-cord, +but a strong hand held hers. + +"My dear Lucille," a familiar voice exclaimed, "why this alarm? Is +it your nerves or your eyesight which is failing you?" + +Her hand dropped. She turned towards him. + +"It is you, then, Prince!" she said. "But why are you here? I do +not understand." + +The Prince shrugged his shoulders. + +"It is so simple," he said. "We are all very anxious indeed to +hear the result of your interview with Brott--and apart from that, +I personally have too few opportunities to act as your escort to +let a chance go by. I trust that my presence is not displeasing +to you?" + +She laughed a little uneasily. + +"It is at any rate unnecessary," she answered. "But since you are +here I may as well make my confession. I have failed." + +"It is incredible," the Prince murmured. + +"As you will--but it is true," she answered. "I have done my very +best, or rather my worst, and the result has been failure. Mr. +Brott has a great friend--a man named Grahame, whose influence +prevailed against mine. He has gone to Scotland." + +"That is serious news," the Prince said quietly. + +Lucille leaned back amongst the cushions. + +"After all," she declared, "we are all out of place in this country. +There is no scope whatever for such schemes and intrigues as you +and all the rest of them delight in. In France and Russia, even in +Austria, it is different. The working of all great organisation +there is underground--it is easy enough to meet plot by counterplot, +to suborn, to deceive, to undermine. But here all the great games +of life seem to be played with the cards upon the table. We are +hopelessly out of place. I cannot think, Prince, what ill chance +led you to ever contemplate making your headquarters in London." + +The Prince stroked his long moustache. + +"That is all very well, Lucille," he said, "but you must remember +that in England we have very large subscriptions to the Order. +These people will not go on paying for nothing. There was a meeting +of the London branch a few months ago, and it was decided that +unless some practical work was done in this country all English +subscriptions should cease. We had no alternative but to come over +and attempt something. Brott is of course the bete noire of our +friends here. He is distinctly the man to be struck at." + +"And what evil stroke of fortune," Lucille asked, "induced you to +send for me?" + +"That is a very cruel speech, dear lady," the Prince murmured. + +"I hope," Lucille said, "that you have never for a moment imagined +that I find any pleasure in what I am called upon to do." + +"Why not? It must be interesting. You can have had no sympathy +with Brott--a hopeless plebeian, a very paragon of Anglo-Saxon +stupidity?" + +Lucille laughed scornfully. + +"Reginald Brott is a man, at any rate, and an honest one," she +answered. "But I am too selfish to think much of him. It is +myself whom I pity. I have a home, Prince, and a husband. I +want them both." + +"You amaze me," the Prince said slowly. "Lucille, indeed, you +amaze me. You have been buried alive for three years. Positively +we believed that our summons would sound to you like a message from +Heaven." + +Lucille was silent for a moment. She rubbed the mist from the +carriage window and looked out into the streets. + +"Well," she said, "I hope that you realise now how completely you +have misunderstood me. I was perfectly happy in America. I have +been perfectly miserable here. I suppose that I have grown too old +for intrigues and adventures." + +"Too old, Lucille," the Prince murmured, leaning a little towards +her. "Lucille, you are the most beautiful woman in London. Many +others may have told you so, but there is no one, Lucille, who is +so devotedly, so hopelessly your slave as I." + +She drew her hand away, and sat back in her corner. The man's hot +breath fell upon her cheek, his eyes seemed almost phosphorescent +in the darkness. Lucille could scarcely keep the biting words from +her tongue. + +"You do not answer me, Lucille. You do not speak even a single +kind word to me. Come! Surely we are old friends. We should +understand one another. It is not a great deal that I ask from +your kindness--not a great deal to you, but it is all the +difference between happiness and misery for me." + +"This is a very worn-out game, Prince," Lucille said coldly. "You +have been making love to women in very much the same manner for +twenty years, and I--well, to be frank, I am utterly weary of +being made love to like a doll. Laugh at me as you will, my +husband is the only man who interests me in the slightest. My +failure to-day is almost welcome to me. It has at least brought +my work here to a close. Come, Prince, if you want to earn my +eternal gratitude, tell me now that I am a free woman." + +"You give me credit," the Prince said slowly, "for great generosity. +If I let you go it seems to me that I shall lose you altogether. +You will go to your husband. He will take you away!" + +"Why not?" Lucille asked. "I want to go. I am tired of London. +You cannot lose what you never possessed--what you never had the +slightest chance of possessing." + +The Prince laughed softly--not a pleasant laugh, not even a +mirthful one. + +"Dear lady," he said, "you speak not wisely. For I am very much +in earnest when I say that I love you, and until you are kinder +to me I shall not let you go." + +"That is rather a dangerous threat, is it not?" Lucille asked. +"You dare to tell me openly that you will abuse your position, +that you will keep me bound a servant to the cause, because of +this foolish fancy of yours?" + +The Prince smiled at her through the gloom--a white, set smile. + +"It is no foolish fancy, Lucille. You will find that out before +long. You have been cold to me all your life. Yet you would find +me a better friend than enemy." + +"If I am to choose," she said steadily, "I shall choose the latter." + +"As you will," he answered. "In time you will change your mind." + +The carriage had stopped. The Prince alighted and held out his +hand. Lucille half rose, and then with her foot upon the step she +paused and looked around. + +"Where are we?" she exclaimed. "This is not Dorset House." + +"No, we are in Grosvenor Square," the Prince answered. "I forgot +to tell you that we have a meeting arranged for here this evening. +Permit me." But Lucille resumed her seat in the carriage. + +"It is your house, is it not?" she asked. + +"Yes. My house assuredly." + +"Very well," Lucille said. "I will come in when the Duchess of +Dorset shows herself at the window or the front door--or Felix, or +even De Brouillae." + +The Prince still held open the carriage door. + +"They will all be here," he assured her. "We are a few minutes +early." + +"Then I will drive round to Dorset House and fetch the Duchess. +It is only a few yards." + +The Prince hesitated. His cheeks were very white, and something +like a scowl was blackening his heavy, insipid face. + +"Lucille," he said, "you are very foolish. It is not much I ask of +you, but that little I will have or I pledge my word to it that +things shall go ill with you and your husband. There is plain +speech for you. Do not be absurd. Come within, and let us talk. +What do you fear? The house is full of servants, and the carriage +can wait for you here." + +Lucille smiled at him--a maddening smile. + +"I am not a child," she said, "and such conversations as I am forced +to hold with you will not be under your own roof. Be so good as to +tell the coachman to drive to Dorset House." + +The Prince turned on his heel with a furious oath. + +"He can drive you to Hell," he answered thickly. + +Lucille found the Duchess and Lady Carey together at Dorset House. +She looked from one to the other. + +"I thought that there was a meeting to-night," she remarked. + +The Duchess shook her head. + +"Not to-night," she answered. "It would not be possible. General +Dolinski is dining at Marlborough House, and De Broullae is in +Paris. Now tell us all about Mr. Brott." + +"He has gone to Scotland," Lucille answered. "I have failed." + +Lady Carey looked up from the depths of the chair in which she was +lounging. + +"And the prince?" she asked. "He went to meet you!" + +"He also failed," Lucille answered. + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +Mr. SABIN drew a little breath, partly of satisfaction because he +had discovered the place he sought, and partly of disgust at the +neighbourhood in which he found himself. Nevertheless, he descended +three steps from the court into which he had been directed, and +pushed open the swing door, behind which Emil Sachs announced his +desire to supply the world with dinners at eightpence and vin +ordinaire at fourpence the small bottle. + +A stout black-eyed woman looked up at his entrance from behind the +counter. The place was empty. + +"What does monsieur require she asked, peering forward through the +gloom with some suspicion. For the eightpenny dinners were the +scorn of the neighbourhood, and strangers were rare in the wine +shop of Emil Sachs." + +Mr. Sabin smiled. + +"One of your excellent omelettes, my good Annette," he answered, +"if your hand has not lost its cunning!" + +She gave a little cry. + +"It is monsieur!" she exclaimed. "After all these years it is +monsieur! Ah, you will pardon that I did not recognise you. This +place is a cellar. Monsieur has not changed. In the daylight one +would know him anywhere." + +The woman talked fast, but even in that dim light Mr. Sabin knew +quite well that she was shaking with fear. He could see the corners +of her mouth twitch. Her black eyes rolled incessantly, but refused +to meet his. Mr. Sabin frowned. + +"You are not glad to see me, Annette!" + +She leaned over the counter. + +"For monsieur's own sake," she whispered, "go!" + +Mr. Sabin stood quite still for a short space of time. + +"Can I rest in there for a few minutes?" he asked, pointing to the +door which led into the room beyond. + +The woman hesitated. She looked up at the clock and down again. + +"Emil will return," she said, "at three. Monsieur were best out of +the neighbourhood before then. For ten minutes it might be safe." + +Mr. Sabin passed forward. The woman lifted the flap of the counter +and followed him. Within was a smaller room, far cleaner and better +appointed than the general appearance of the place promised. Mr. +Sabin seated himself at one of the small tables. The linen cloth, +he noticed, was spotless, the cutlery and appointments polished and +clean. + +"This, I presume," he remarked, "is not where you serve the +eightpenny table d'hote?" + +The woman shrugged her shoulders. + +"But it would not be possible," she answered. "We have no customers +for that. If one arrives we put together a few scraps. But one must +make a pretense. Monsieur understands?" + +Mr. Sabin nodded. + +"I will take," he said, "a small glass of fin champagne." + +She vanished, and reappeared almost immediately with the brandy in +a quaintly cut liqueur glass. A glance at the clock as she passed +seemed to have increased her anxiety. + +"If monsieur will drink his liqueur and depart," she prayed. "Indeed, +it will be for the best." + +Mr. Sabin set down his glass. His steadfast gaze seemed to reduce +Annette into a state of nervous panic. + +"Annette," he said, "they have placed me upon the list." + +"It is true, monsieur," she answered. "Why do you come here?" + +"I wanted to know first for certain that they had ventured so far," +Mr. Sabin said. "I believe that I am only the second person in +this country who has been so much honoured." + +The woman drew nearer to him. + +"Monsieur," she said, "your only danger is to venture into such +parts as these. London is so safe, and the law is merciless. They +only watch. They will attempt nothing. Do not leave England. +There is here no machinery of criminals. Besides, the life of +monsieur is insured." + +"Insured?" Mr. Sabin remarked quietly. "That is good news. And +who pays the premium?" + +"A great lady, monsieur! I know no more. Monsieur must go indeed. +He has found his way into the only place in London where he is not +safe." + +Mr. Sabin rose. + +"You are expecting, perhaps," he said, "one of my friends from +the--" + +She interrupted him. + +"It is true," she declared. "He may be here at any instant. The +time is already up. Oh, monsieur, indeed, indeed it would not do +for him to find you." + +Mr. Sabin moved towards the door. + +"You are perhaps right," he said regretfully, "although I should +much like to hear about this little matter of life insurance while +I am here." + +"Indeed, monsieur," Annette declared, "I know nothing. There is +nothing which I can tell monsieur." + +Mr. Sabin suddenly leaned forward. His gaze was compelling. His +tone was low but terrible. + +"Annette," he said, "obey me. Send Emil here." + +The woman trembled, but she did not move. Mr. Sabin lifted his +forefinger and pointed slowly to the door. The woman's lips parted, +but she seemed to have lost the power of speech. + +"Send Emil here!" Mr. Sabin repeated slowly. + +Annette turned and left the room, groping her way to the door as +though her eyesight had become uncertain. Mr. Sabin lit a cigarette +and looked for a moment carefully into the small liqueur glass out +of which he had drunk. + +"That was unwise," he said softly to himself. "Just such a blunder +might have cost me everything." + +He held it up to the light and satisfied himself that no dregs +remained. Then he took from his pocket a tiny little revolver, and +placing it on the table before him, covered it with his handkerchief. +Almost immediately a door at the farther end of the room opened and +closed. A man in dark clothes, small, unnaturally pale, with +deep-set eyes and nervous, twitching mouth, stood before him. +Mr. Sabin smiled a welcome at him. + +"Good-morning, Emil Sachs," he said. "I am glad that you have shown +discretion. Stand there in the light, please, and fold your arms. +Thanks. Do not think that I am afraid of you, but I like to talk +comfortably." + +"I am at monsieur's service," the man said in a low tone. + +"Exactly. Now, Emil, before starting to visit you I left a little +note behind addressed to the chief of the police here--no, you +need not start--to be sent to him only if my return were unduly +delayed. You can guess what that note contained. It is not +necessary for us to revert to--unpleasant subjects." + +The man moistened his dry lips. + +"It is not necessary," he repeated. "Monsieur is as safe here--from +me--as at his own hotel." + +"Excellent!" Mr. Sabin said. "Now listen, Emil. It has pleased me +chiefly, as you know, for the sake of your wife, the good Annette, +to be very merciful to you as regards the past. But I do not +propose to allow you to run a poison bureau for the advantage of the +Prince of Saxe Leinitzer and his friends--more especially, perhaps, +as I am at present upon his list of superfluous persons." + +The man trembled. + +"Monsieur," he said, "the Prince knows as much as you know, and he +has not the mercy that one shows to a dog." + +"You will find," Mr. Sabin said, "that if you do not obey me, I +myself can develop a similar disposition. Now answer me this! You +have within the last few days supplied several people with that +marvelous powder for the preparation of which you are so justly +famed." + +"Several--no, monsieur! Two only." + +"Their names?" + +The man trembled. + +"If they should know!" + +"They will not, Emil. I will see to that." + +"The first I supplied to the order of the Prince." + +"Good! And the second?" + +"To a lady whose name I do not know." + +Mr. Sabin raised his eyebrows. + +"Is not that," he remarked, "a little irregular?" + +"The lady wrote her request before me in the yellow crayon. It was +sufficient." + +"And you do not know her name, Emil?" + +"No, monsieur. She was dark and tall, and closely veiled. She was +here but a few minutes since." + +"Dark and tall!" Mr. Sabin repeated to himself thoughtfully. "Emil, +you are telling me the truth?" + +"I do not dare to tell you anything else, monsieur," the man answered. + +Mr. Sabin did not continue his interrogations for a few moments. +Suddenly he looked up. + +"Has that lady left the place yet, Emil?" + +"No, monsieur!" + +Mr. Sabin smiled. + +"Have you a back exit?" he asked. + +"None that the lady would know of," Emil answered. "She must pass +along the passage which borders this apartment, and enter the bar +by a door from behind. If monsieur desires it, it is impossible for +her to leave unobserved." + +"That is excellent, Emil," Mr. Sabin said. "Now there is one more +question--quite a harmless one. Annette spoke of my life being in +some way insured." + +"It is true, monsieur," Emil admitted. "A lady who also possessed +the yellow crayon came here the day that--that monsieur incurred +the displeasure of--of his friends. She tried to bribe me to blow +up my laboratory and leave the country, or that I should substitute +a harmless powder for any required by the Prince. I was obliged to +refuse." + +"And then?" + +"Then she promised me a large sum if you were alive in six months, +and made me at once a payment. + +"Dear me," Mr. Sabin said, "this is quite extraordinary." + +"I can tell monsieur the lady's name," Emil continued, "for she +raised her veil, and everywhere the illustrated papers have been +full of her picture. It was the lady who was besieged in a little +town of South Africa, and who carried despatches for the general, +disguised as a man." + +"Lady Carey!" Mr. Sabin remarked quietly. + +"That was the lady's name," Emil agreed. + +Mr. Sabin was thoughtful for a few moments. Then he looked up. + +"Emil Sachs," he said sternly, "you have given out at least one +portion of your abominable concoction which is meant to end my days. +Whether I shall escape it or not remains to be seen. I am forced at +the best to discharge my servant, and to live the life of a hunted +man. Now you have done enough mischief in the world. To-morrow +morning a messenger will place in your hands two hundred pounds. A +larger sum will await you at Baring's Bank in New York. You will go +there and buy a small restaurant in the business quarter. This is +your last chance, Emil. I give it to you for the sake of Annette." + +"And I accept it, monsieur, with gratitude." + +"For the present " + +Mr. Sabin stopped short. His quick ears had caught the swish of +woman's gown passing along the passage outside. Emil too had +heard it. + +"It is the dark lady," he whispered, "who purchased from me the +other powder. See, I open gently this door. Monsieur must both +see and hear." + +The door at the end of the passage was opened. A woman stepped out +into the little bar and made her way towards the door. Here she +was met by a man entering. Mr. Sabin held up his forefinger to stop +the terrified exclamation which trembled on Emil's lips. The woman +was Lucille, the man the Prince. It was Lucille who was speaking. + +"You have followed me, Prince. It is intolerable." + +"Dear Lucille, it is for your own sake. These are not fit parts +for you to visit alone." + +"It is my own business," she answered coldly. + +The Prince appeared to be in a complaisant mood. + +"Come," he said, "the affair is not worth a quarrel. I ask you no +questions. Only since we are here I propose that we test the +cooking of the good Annette. We will lunch together." + +"What, here?" she answered. "Absurd." + +"By no means," he answered. "As you doubtless know, the exterior +of the place is entirely misleading. These people are old servants +of mine. I can answer for the luncheon." + +"You can also eat it," came the prompt reply. "I am returning to +the carriage." + +"But--" + +Mr. Sabin emerged through the swing door. "Your discretion, my +dear Lucille," he said, smiling, "is excellent. The place is +indeed better than it seems, and Annette's cookery may be all that +the Prince claims. Yet I think I know better places for a luncheon +party, and the ventilation is not of the best. May I suggest that +you come with me instead to the Milan?" + +"Victor! You here?" + +Mr. Sabin smiled as he admitted the obvious fact. The Prince's +face was as black as night. + +"Believe me," Mr. Sabin said, turning to the Prince, "I sympathise +entirely with your feelings at the present moment. I myself have +suffered in precisely the same manner. The fact is, intrigue in +this country is almost an impossibility. At Paris, Vienna, Pesth, +how different! You raise your little finger, and the deed is done. +Superfluous people--like myself--are removed like the hairs from +your chin. But here intrigue seems indeed to exist only within the +pages of a shilling novel, or in a comic opera. The gentleman with +a helmet there, who regards us so benignly, will presently earn a +shilling by calling me a hansom. Yet in effect he does me a far +greater service. He stands for a multitude of cold Anglo-Saxon +laws, adamant, incorruptible, inflexible--as certain as the laws +of Nature herself. I am quite aware that by this time I ought to +be lying in a dark cellar with a gag in my mouth, or perhaps in +the river with a dagger in my chest. But here in England, no!" + +The Prince smiled--to all appearance a very genial smile. + +"You are right, my dear friend," he said, "yet what you say +possesses, shall we call it, a somewhat antediluvian flavour. +Intrigue is no longer a clumsy game of knife and string and bowl. +It becomes to-day a game of finesse. I can assure you that I have +no desire to give a stage whistle and have you throttled at my feet. +On the contrary, I beg you to use my carriage, which you will find +in the street. You will lunch at the Milan with Lucille, and I +shall retire discomfited to eat alone at my club. But the game is +a long one, my dear friend. The new methods take time." + +"This conversation," Mr. Sabin said to Lucille, "is interesting, +but it is a little ungallant. I think that we will resume it at +some future occasion. Shall we accept the Prince's offer, or shall +we be truly democratic and take a hansom." + +Lucille passed her arm through his and laughed. + +"You are robbing the Prince of me," she declared. "Let us leave +him his carriage." + +She nodded her farewells to Saxe Leinitzer, who took leave of them +with a low bow. As they waited at the corner for a hansom Mr. Sabin +glanced back. The Prince had disappeared through the swing doors. + +"I want you to promise me one thing," Lucille said earnestly. + +"It is promised," Mr. Sabin answered. + +"You will not ask me the reason of my visit to this place?" + +"I have no curiosity," Mr. Sabin answered. "Come!" + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +Mr. Sabin, contrary to his usual custom, engaged a private room at +the Milan. Lucille was in the highest spirits. + +"If only this were a game instead of reality!" she said, flashing +a brilliant smile at him across the table, "I should find it most +fascinating. You seem to come to me always when I want you most. +And do you know, it is perfectly charming to be carried off by you +in this manner." + +Mr. Sabin smiled at her, and there was a look in his eyes which +shone there for no other woman. + +"It is in effect," he said, "keeping me young. Events seem to have +enclosed us in a curious little cobweb. All the time we are +struggling between the rankest primitivism and the most delicate +intrigue. To-day is the triumph of primitivism." + +"Meaning that you, the medieval knight, have carried me off, the +distressed maiden, on your shoulder." + +"Having confounded my enemy," he continued, smiling, "by an +embarrassing situation, a little argument, and the distant view +of a policeman's helmet." + +"This," she remarked, with a little satisfied sigh as she selected +an ortolan, "is a very satisfactory place to be carried off to. +And you," she added, leaning across the table and touching his +fingers for a moment tenderly, "are a very delightful knight-errant." + +He raised the fingers to his lips--the waiter had left the room. +She blushed, but yielded her hand readily enough. + +"Victor," she murmured, "you would spoil the most faithless woman +on earth for all her lovers. You make me very impatient." + +"Impatience, then," he declared, "must be the most infectious of +fevers. For I too am a terrible sufferer." + +"If only the Prince," she said, "would be reasonable." + +"I am afraid," Mr. Sabin answered, "that from him we have not much +to hope for." + +"Yet," she continued, "I have fulfilled all the conditions. Reginald +Brott remains the enemy of our cause and Order. Yet some say that +his influence upon the people is lessened. In any case, my work is +over. He began to mistrust me long ago. To-day I believe that +mistrust is the only feeling he has in connection with me. I shall +demand my release." + +"I am afraid," Mr. Sabin said, "that Saxe Leinitzer has other reasons +for keeping you at Dorset House." + +She shrugged her shoulders. + +"He has been very persistent even before I left Vienna. But he must +know that it is hopeless. I have never encouraged him." + +"I am sure of it," Mr. Sabin said. "It is the incorrigible vanity +of the man which will not be denied. He has been taught to believe +himself irresistible. I have never doubted you for a single moment, +Lucille. I could not. But you have been the slave of these people +long enough. As you say, your task is over. Its failure was always +certain. Brott believes in his destiny, and it will be no slight +thing which will keep him from following it. They must give you +back to me." + +"We will go back to America," she said. "I have never been so +happy as at Lenox." + +"Nor I," Mr. Sahin said softly. + +"Besides," she continued, "the times have changed since I joined +the Society. In Hungary you know how things were. The Socialists +were carrying all before them, a united solid body. The aristocracy +were forced to enter into some sort of combination against them. +We saved Austria, I am not sure that we did not save Russia. But +England is different. The aristocracy here are a strong resident +class. They have their House of Lords, they own the land, and will +own it for many years to come, their position is unassailable. It +is the worst country in Europe for us to work in. The very climate +and the dispositions of the people are inimical to intrigue. It is +Muriel Carey who brought the Society here. It was a mistake. The +country is in no need of it. There is no scope for it." + +"If only one could get beyond Saxe Leinitzer," Mr. Sabin said. + +She shook her head. + +"Behind him," she said, "there is only the one to whom all reference +is forbidden. And there is no man in the world who would be less +likely to listen to an appeal from you--or from me." + +"After all," Mr. Sabin said, "though Saxe Leinitzer is our enemy, +I am not sure that he can do us any harm. If he declines to +release you--well, when the twelve months are up you are free +whether he wishes it or not. He has put me outside the pale. But +this is not, or never was, a vindictive Society. They do not deal +in assassinations. In this country at least anything of the sort +is rarely attempted. If I were a young man with my life to live in +the capitals of Europe I should be more or less a social outcast, I +suppose. But I am proof against that sort of thing." + +Lucille looked a little doubtful. + +"The Prince," she said, "is an intriguer of the old school. I know +that in Vienna he has more than once made use of more violent means +than he would dare to do here. And there is an underneath machinery +very seldom used, I believe, and of which none of us who are ordinary +members know anything at all, which gives him terrible powers." + +Mr. Sabin nodded grimly. + +"It was worked against me in America," he said, "but I got the best +of it. Here in England I do not believe that he would dare to use +it. If so, I think that before now it would have been aimed at +Brott. I have just read his Glasgow speech. If he becomes +Premier it will lead to something like a revolution." + +She sighed. + +"Brott is a clever man, and a strong man," she said. "I am sorry +for him, but I do not believe that he will never become Prime +Minister of England." + +Mr. Sabin sipped his wine thoughtfully. + +"I believe," he said, "that intrigue is the resource of those who +have lived their lives so quickly that they have found weariness. +For these things to-day interest me very little. I am only anxious +to have you back again, Lucille, to find ourselves on our way to +our old home." + +She laughed softly. + +"And I used to think," she said, "that after all I could only keep +you a little time--that presently the voices from the outside world +would come whispering in your ears, and you would steal back again +to where the wheels of life were turning." + +"A man," he answered, "is not easily whispered out of Paradise." + +She laughed at him. + +"Ah, it is so easy," she said, "to know that your youth was spent +at a court." + +"There is only one court," he answered, "where men learn to speak +the truth." + +She leaned back in her chair. + +"Oh, you are incorrigible," she said softly. "The one role in life +in which I fancied you ill at ease you seem to fill to perfection." + +"And that?" + +"You are an adorable husband!" + +"I should like," he said, "a better opportunity to prove it!" + +"Let us hope," she murmured, "that our separation is nearly over. +I shall appeal to the Prince to-night. My remaining at Dorset +House is no longer necessary." + +"I shall come," he said, "and demand you in person." + +She shook her head. + +"No! They would not let you in, and it would make it more +difficult. Be patient a little longer." + +He came and sat by her side. She leaned over to meet his embrace. + +"You make patience," he murmured, "a torture!" + + * * * * * + +Mr. Sabin walked home to his rooms late in the afternoon, well +content on the whole with his day. He was in no manner prepared +for the shock which greeted him on entering his sitting-room. +Duson was leaning back in his most comfortable easy-chair. + +"Duson!" Mr. Sabin said sharply. "What does this mean?" + +There was no answer. Mr. Sabin moved quickly forward, and then +stopped short. He had seen dead men, and he knew the signs. Duson +was stone dead. + +Mr. Sabin's nerve answered to this demand upon it. He checked his +first impulse to ring the bell, and looked carefully on the table +for some note or message from the dead man. He found it almost at +once--a large envelope in Duson's handwriting. Mr. Sabin hastily +broke the seal and read: + + "Monsieur,--I kill myself because it is easiest and best. The + poison was given me for you, but I have not the courage to become + a murderer, or afterwards to conceal my guilt. Monsieur has been + a good master to me, and also Madame la Comtesse was always + indulgent and kind. The mistake of my life has been the joining + the lower order of the Society. The money which I have received + has been but a poor return for the anxiety and trouble which have + come upon me since Madame la Comtesse left America. Now that I + seek shelter in the grave I am free to warn Monsieur that the + Prince of S. L. is his determined and merciless enemy, and that + he has already made an unlawful use of his position in the Society + for the sake of private vengeance. If monsieur would make a + powerful friend he should seek the Lady Muriel Carey. + + "Monsieur will be so good as to destroy this when read. My will + is in my trunk. + "Your Grace's faithful servant, + "Jules Duson." + +Mr. Sabin read this letter carefully through to the end. Then he +put it into his pocket-book and quickly rang the bell. + +"You had better send for a doctor at once," he said to the waiter +who appeared. "My servant appears to have suffered from some sudden +illness. I am afraid that he is quite dead." + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +"You spoke, my dear Lucille," the Duchess of Dorset said, "of your +departure. Is not that a little premature?" + +Lucille shrugged her beautiful shoulders, and leaned back in her +corner of the couch with half-closed eyes. The Duchess, who was +very Anglo-Saxon, was an easy person to read, and Lucille was +anxious to know her fate. + +"Why premature?" she asked. "I was sent for to use my influence +with Reginald Brott. Well, I did my best, and I believe that for +days it was just a chance whether I did not succeed. However, as +it happened, I failed. One of his friends came and pulled him away +just as he was wavering. He has declared himself now once and for +all. After his speech at Glasgow he cannot draw back. I was brought +all the way from America, and I want to go back to my husband." + +The Duchess pursed her lips. + +"When one has the honour, my dear," she said, "of belonging to so +wonderful an organisation as this we must not consider too closely +the selfish claims of family. I am sure that years ago I should +have laughed at any one who had told me that I, Georgina Croxton, +should ever belong to such a thing as a secret society, even though +it had some connection with so harmless and excellent an +organisation as the Primrose League." + +"It does seem remarkable," Lucille murmured. + +"But look what terrible times have come upon us," the Duchess +continued, without heeding the interruption. "When I was a girl a +Radical was a person absolutely without consideration. Now all our +great cities are hot-beds of Socialism and--and anarchism. The +whole country seems banded together against the aristocracy and the +landowners. Combination amongst us became absolutely necessary in +some shape or form. When the Prince came and began to drop hints +about the way the spread of Socialism had been checked in Hungary +and Austria, and even Germany, I was interested from the first. +And when he went further, and spoke of the Society, it was I who +persuaded Dorset to join. Dear man, he is very earnest, but very +slow, and very averse to anything at all secretive. I am sure the +reflection that he is a member of a secret society, even although +it is simply a linking together of the aristocracy of Europe in +their own defence, has kept him awake for many a night." + +Lucille was a little bored. + +"The Society," she said, "is an admirable one enough, but just now +I am beginning to feel it a little exacting. I think that the +Prince expects a good deal of one. I shall certainly ask for my +release to-night." + +The Duchess looked doubtful. + +"Release!" she repeated. "Come, is that not rather an exaggerated +expression? I trust that your stay at Dorset House has not in any +way suggested an imprisonment." + +"On the contrary," Lucille answered; "you and the Duke have been +most kind. But you must remember that I have home of my own--and +a husband of my own." + +"I have no doubt," the Duchess said, "that you will be able to +return to them some day. But you must not be impatient. I do not +think that the Prince has given up all hopes of Reginald Brott yet." + +Lucille was silent. So her emancipation was to be postponed. After +all, it was what she had feared. She sat watching idly the Duchess's +knitting needles. Lady Carey came sweeping in, wonderful in a black +velvet gown and a display of jewels almost barbaric. + +"On my way to the opera," she announced. "The Maddersons sent me +their box. Will any of you good people come? What do you say, +Lucille?" + +Lucille shook her head. + +"My toilette is deficient," she said; "and besides, I am staying +at home to see the Prince. We expect him this evening." + +"You'll probably be disappointed then," Lady Carey remarked, "for +he's going to join us at the opera. Run and change your gown. +I'll wait." + +"Are you sure that the Prince will be there?" Lucille asked. + +"Certain." + +"Then I will come," she said, "if the Duchess will excuse me." + +The Duchess and Lady Carey were left alone for a few minutes. +The former put down her knitting. + +"Why do we keep that woman here," she asked, "now that Brott has +broken away from her altogether?" + +Lady Carey laughed meaningly. + +"Better ask the Prince," she remarked. + +The Duchess frowned. + +"My dear Muriel," she said, "I think that you are wrong to make such +insinuations. I am sure that the Prince is too much devoted to our +cause to allow any personal considerations to intervene." + +Lady Carey yawned. + +"Rats!" she exclaimed. + +The Duchess took up her knitting, and went on with it without remark. +Lady Carey burst out laughing. + +"Don't look so shocked," she exclaimed. "It's funny. I can't help +being a bit slangy. You do take everything so seriously. Of course +you can see that the Prince is waiting to make a fool of himself +over Lucille. He has been trying more or less all his life." + +"He may admire her," the Duchess said. "I am sure that he would +not allow that to influence him in his present position. By the +bye, she is anxious to leave us now that the Brott affair is over. +Do you think that the Prince will agree?" + +Lady Carey's face hardened. + +"I am sure that he will not," she said coolly. "There are reasons +why she may not at present be allowed to rejoin her husband." + +The Duchess used her needles briskly. + +"For my part," she said, "I can see no object in keeping her here +any longer. Mr. Brott has shown himself quite capable of keeping +her at arm's length. I cannot see what further use she is." + +Lady Carey heard the flutter of skirts outside and rose. + +"There are wheels within wheels," she remarked. "My dear Lucille, +what a charming toilette. We shall have the lady journalists +besieging us in our box. Paquin, of course. Good-night, Duchess. +Glad to see you're getting on with the socks, or stockings, do you +call them?" + +Insolent aristocratic, now and then attractive in some strange +suggestive way, Lady Carey sat in front of the box and exchanged +greetings with her friends. Presently the Prince came in and took +the chair between the two women. Lady Carey greeted him with a nod. + +"Here's Lucille dying to return to her lawful husband," she remarked. +"Odd thing, isn't it? Most of the married women I ever knew are +dying to get away from theirs. You can make her happy or miserable +in a few moments." + +The Prince leaned over between them, but he looked only at Lucille. + +"I wish that I could," he murmured. "I wish that that were within +my power." + +"It is," she answered coolly. "Muriel is quite right. I am most +anxious to return to my husband." + +The Prince said nothing. Lady Carey, glancing towards him at that +moment, was surprised at certain signs of disquietude in his face +which startled her. + +"What is the matter with you?" she asked almost roughly. + +"Matter with me? Nothing," he answered. "Why this unaccustomed +solicitude?" + +Lady Carey looked into his face fiercely. He was pale, and there +was a strained look about his eyes. He seemed, too, to be listening. +From outside in the street came faintly to their ears the cry of a +newsboy. + +"Get me an evening paper," she whispered in his ear. + +He got up and left the box. Lucille was watching the people below +and had not appreciated the significance of what had been passing +between the two. Lady Carey leaned back in the box with half-closed +eyes. Her fingers were clenched nervously together, her bosom was +rising and falling quickly. If he had dared to defy her! What was +it the newsboys were calling? What a jargon! Why did not Saxe +Leinitzer return? Perhaps he was afraid! Her heart stood still +for a moment, and a little half-stifled cry broke from her lips. +Lucille looked around quickly. + +"What is the matter, Muriel?" she asked. "Are you faint?" + +"Faint, no," Lady Carey answered roughly. "I'm quite well. Don't +take any notice of me. Do you hear? Don't look at me." + +Lucille obeyed. Lady Carey sat quite still with her hand pressed +to her side. It was a stifling pain. She was sure that she had +heard at last. "Sudden death of a visitor at the Carlton Hotel." +The place was beginning to go round. + +Saxe Leinitzer returned. His face to her seemed positively ghastly. +He carried an evening paper in his hand. She snatched it away from +him. It was there before her in bold, black letters: + +"Sudden death in the Carlton Hotel." + +Her eyes, dim a moment ago, suddenly blazed fire upon him. + +"It shall be a life for a life," she whispered. "If you have killed +him you shall die." + +Lucille looked at them bewildered. And just then came a sharp tap +at the box door. No one answered it, but the door was softly opened. +Mr. Sabin stood upon the threshold. + +"Pray, don't let me disturb you," he said. "I was unable to refrain +from paying you a brief visit. Why, Prince, Lady Carey! I can +assure you that I am no ghost." + +He glanced from one to the other with a delicate smile of mockery +parting his thin lips. For upon the Prince's forehead the +perspiration stood out like beads, and he shrank away from Mr. +Sabin as from some unholy thing. Lady Carey had fallen back across +her chair. Her hand was still pressed to her side, and her face +was very pale. A nervous little laugh broke from her lips. + + +CHAPTER XXX + +Mr. Sabin found a fourth chair, and calmly seated himself by +Lucille's side. But his eyes were fixed upon Lady Carey. She +was slowly recovering herself, but Mr. Sabin, who had never +properly understood her attitude towards him, was puzzled at the +air of intense relief which almost shone in her face. + +"You seem--all of you," he remarked suavely, "to have found the +music a little exciting. Wagner certainly knew how to find his +way to the emotions. Or perhaps I interrupted an interesting +discussion?" + +Lucille smiled gently upon him. + +"These two," she said, looking from the Prince to Lady Carey, "seem +to have been afflicted with a sudden nervous excitement, and yet I do +not think that they are, either of them, very susceptible to music." + +Lady Carey leaned forward, and looked at him from behind the large +fan of white feathers which she was lazily fluttering before her face. + +"Your entrance," she murmured, "was most opportune, besides being +very welcome. The Prince and I were literally--on the point of +flying at one another's throats." + +Mr. Sabin glanced at his neighbour and smiled. + +"You are certainly a little out of sorts, Saxe Leinitzer," he +remarked. "You look pale, and your hands are not quite steady. +Nerves, I suppose. You should see Dr. Carson in Brook Street." + +The Prince shrugged his shoulders. + +"My health," he said, "was never better. It is true that your +coming was somewhat of a surprise," he added, looking steadily at +Mr. Sabin. "I understood that you had gone for a short journey, +and I was not expecting to see you back again so soon." + +"Duson," Mr. Sabin said, "has taken that short journey instead. +It was rather a liberty, but he left a letter for me fully +explaining his motives. I cannot blame him." + +The Prince stroked his moustache. + +"Ah!" he remarked. "That is a pity. You may, however, find it +politic, even necessary, to join him very shortly." + +Mr. Sabin smiled grimly. + +"I shall go when I am ready," he said, "not before!" + +Lucille looked from one to the other with protesting eyebrows. + +"Come," she said, "it is very impolite of you to talk in riddles +before my face. I have been flattering myself, Victor, that you +were here to see me. Do not wound my vanity." + +He whispered something in her ear, and she laughed softly back at +him. The Prince, with the evening paper in his hand, escaped from +the box, and found a retired spot where he could read the little +paragraph at his leisure. Lady Carey pretended to be absorbed by +the music. + +"Has anything happened, Victor?" Lucille whispered. + +He hesitated. + +"Well, in a sense, yes," he admitted. "I appear to have become +unpopular with our friend, the Prince. Duson, who has always been +a spy upon my movements, was entrusted with a little sleeping +draught for me, which he preferred to take himself. That is all." + +"Duson is--" + +He nodded. + +"He is dead!" + +Lucille went very pale. + +"This is horrible!" she murmured + +"The Prince is a little annoyed, naturally," Mr. Sabin said. "It +is vexing to have your plans upset in such a manner." + +She shuddered. + +"He is hateful! Victor, I fear that he does not mean to let me +leave Dorset House just yet. I am almost inclined to become, like +you, an outcast. Who knows--we might go free. Bloodshed is always +avoided as much as possible, and I do not see how else they could +strike at me. Social ostracism is their chief weapon. But in +America that could not hurt us." + +He shook his head. + +"Not yet," he said. "I am sure that Saxe Leinitzer is not playing +the game. But he is too well served here to make defiance wise." + +"You run the risk yourself," she protested. + +He smiled. + +"It is a different matter. By the bye, we are overheard." + +Lady Carey had forgotten to listen any more to the music. She was +watching them both, a steely light in her eyes, her fingers +nervously entwined. The Prince was still absent. + +"Pray do not consider me," she begged. "So far as I am concerned, +your conversation is of no possible interest. But I think you had +better remember that the Prince is in the corridor just outside." + +"We are much obliged to you," Mr. Sabin said. "The Prince may hear +every word I have to say about him. But all the same, I thank you +for your warning." + +"I fear that we are very unsociable, Muriel," Lucille said, "and, +after all, I should never have been here but for you." + +Lady Carey turned her left shoulder upon them. + +"I beg," she said, "that you will leave me alone with the music. +I prefer it." + +The Prince suddenly stood upon the threshold. His hand rested +lightly upon the arm of another man. + +"Come in, Brott," he said. "The women will be charmed to see you. +And I don't suppose they've read your speeches. Countess, here is +the man who counts all equal under the sun, who decries class, and +recognises no social distinctions. Brott was born to lead a +revolution. He is our natural enemy. Let us all try to convert him." + +Brott was pale, and deep new lines were furrowed on his face. +Nevertheless he smiled faintly as he bowed over Lucille's fingers. + +"My introduction," he remarked, "is scarcely reassuring. Yet here +at least, if anywhere in the world, we should all meet upon equal +ground. Music is a universal leveler." + +"And we haven't a chance," Lady Carey remarked with uplifted +eyebrows, "of listening to a bar of it." + +Lucille welcomed the newcomer coldly. Nevertheless, he manoeuvred +himself into the place by her side. She took up her fan and +commenced swinging it thoughtfully. + +"You are surprised to see me here?" he murmured. + +"Yes!" she admitted. + +He looked wearily away from the stage up into her face. + +"And I too," he said. "I am surprised to find myself here!" + +"I pictured you," she remarked, "as immersed in affairs. Did I +not hear something of a Radical ministry with you for Premier?" + +"It has been spoken of," he admitted. + +"Then I really cannot see," she said, "what you are doing here." + +"Why not?" he asked doggedly. + +She shrugged her shoulders. + +"In the first place," she said, "you ought to be rushing about +amongst your supporters, keeping them up to the mark, and all that +sort of thing. And in the second--" + +"Well?" + +"Are we not the very people against whom you have declared war?" + +"I have declared war against no people," he answered. "It is +systems and classes, abuses, injustice against which I have been +forced to speak. I would not deprive your Order of a single +privilege to which they are justly entitled. But you must remember +that I am a people's man. Their cause is mine. They look to me as +their mouthpiece." + +Lucille shrugged her shoulders. + +"You cannot evade the point," she said. "If you are the, what do +you call it, the mouthpiece of the people, I do not see how you can +be anything else than the enemy of the aristocracy." + +"The aristocracy? Who are they?" he asked. "I am the enemy of all +those who, because they possess an ancient name and inherited wealth, +consider themselves the God-appointed bullies of the poor, dealing +them out meagre charities, lordly patronage, an unspoken but bitter +contempt. But the aristocracy of the earth are not of such as these. +Your class are furnishing the world with advanced thinkers every year, +every month! Inherited prejudices can never survive the next few +generations. The fusion of classes must come." + +She shook her head. + +"You are sanguine, my friend," she said. "Many generations have +come and gone since the wonderful pages of history were opened to +us. And during all these years how much nearer have the serf and +the aristocrat come together? Nay, have they not rather drifted +apart? ... But listen! This is the great chorus. We must not +miss it." + +"So the Prince has brought back the wanderer," Lady Carey whispered +to Mr. Sabin behind her fan. "Hasn't he rather the air of a sheep +who has strayed from the fold?" + +Mr. Sabin raised the horn eyeglass, which he so seldom used, and +contemplated Brott steadily. + +"He reminds me more than ever," he remarked, "of Rienzi. He is +like a man torn asunder by great causes. They say that his speech +at Glasgow was the triumph of a born orator." + +Lady Carey shrugged her shoulders. + +"It was practically the preaching a revolution to the people," she +said. "A few more such, and we might have the red flag waving. He +left Glasgow in a ferment. If he really comes into power, what are +we to expect?" + +"To the onlookers," Mr. Sabin remarked, "a revolution in this +country would possess many interesting features. The common people +lack the ferocity of our own rabble, but they are even more +determined. I may yet live to see an English Duke earning an honest +living in the States." + +"It depends very much upon Brott," Lady Carey said. "For his own +sake it is a pity that he is in love with Lucille." + +Mr. Sabin agreed with her blandly. + +"It is," he affirmed, "a most regrettable incident." + +She leaned a little towards him. The box was not a large one, and +their chairs already touched. + +"Are you a jealous husband?" she asked. + +"Horribly," he answered. + +"Your devotion to Lucille, or rather the singleness of your devotion +to Lucille," she remarked, "is positively the most gauche thing about +you. It is--absolutely callow!" + +He laughed gently. + +"Did I not always tell you," he said, "that when I did marry I +should make an excellent husband?" + +"You are at least," she answered sharply, "a very complaisant one." + +The Prince leaned forward from the shadows of the box. + +"I invite you all," he said, "to supper with me. It is something +of an occasion, this! For I do not think that we shall all meet +again just as we are now for a very long time." + +"Your invitation," Mr. Sabin remarked, "is most agreeable. But +your suggestion is, to say the least of it, nebulous. I do not see +what is to prevent your all having supper with me to-morrow evening." + +Lady Carey laughed as she rose, and stretched out her hand for her +cloak. + +"To-morrow evening," she said, "is a long way off. Let us make +sure of to-night--before the Prince changes his mind." + +Mr. Sabin bowed low. + +"To-night by all means," he declared. "But my invitation remains +--a challenge!" + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +The Prince, being host, arranged the places at his supper-table. +Mr. Sabin found himself, therefore, between Lady Carey and a young +German attache, whom they had met in the ante-room of the restaurant. +Lucille had the Prince and Mr. Brott on either side of her. + +Lady Carey monopolised at first the greater part of the conversation. +Mr. Sabin was unusually silent. The German attache, whose name was +Baron von Opperman, did not speak until the champagne was served, +when he threw a bombshell into the midst of the little party. + +"I hear," he said, with a broad and seraphic smile, "that in this +hotel there has to-day a murder been committed." + +Baron von Opperman was suddenly the cynosure of several pairs of +eyes. He was delighted with the success of his attempt towards +the general entertainment. + +"The evening papers," he continued, "they have in them news of a +sudden death. But in the hotel here now they are speaking of +something--what you call more--mysterious. There has been ordered +an examination post-mortem!" + +"It is a case of poisoning then, I presume?" the Prince asked, +leaning forward. + +"It is so supposed," the attache answered. "It seems that the +doctors could find no trace of disease, nothing to have caused death. +They were not able to decide anything. The man, they said, was in +perfect health--but dead." + +"It must have been, then," the Prince remarked, "a very wonderful +poison." + +"Without doubt," Baron Opperman answered. + +The Prince sighed gently. + +"There are many such," he murmured. "Indeed the science of +toxicology was never so ill-understood as now. I am assured that +there are many poisons known only to a few chemists in the world, a +single grain of which is sufficient to destroy the strongest man +and leave not the slightest trace behind. If the poisoner be +sufficiently accomplished he can pursue his--calling without the +faintest risk of detection." + +Mr. Sabin sipped his wine thoughtfully. + +"The Prince is, I believe, right," he remarked. "It is for that +reason, doubtless, that I have heard of men whose lives have been +threatened, who have deposited in safe places a sealed statement of +the danger in which they find themselves, with an account of its +source, so that if they should come to an end in any way mysterious +there may be evidence against their murderers." + +"A very reasonable and judicious precaution," the Prince remarked +with glittering eyes. "Only if the poison was indeed of such a +nature that it was not possible to trace it nothing worse than +suspicion could ever be the lot of any one." + +Mr. Sabin helped himself carefully to salad, and resumed the +discussion with his next course. + +"Perhaps not," he admitted. "But you must remember that suspicion +is of itself a grievous embarrassment. No man likes to feel that +he is being suspected of murder. By the bye, is it known whom the +unfortunate person was?" + +"The servant of a French nobleman who is staying in the hotel," Mr. +Brott remarked. "I heard as much as that." + +Mr. Sabin smiled. Lady Carey glanced at him meaningly. + +"You have worried the Prince quite sufficiently," she whispered. +"Change the subject." + +Mr. Sabin bowed. + +"You are very considerate--to the Prince," he said. + +"It is perhaps for your sake," she answered. "And as for the Prince +--well, you know, or you should know, for how much he counts with +me." + +Mr. Sabin glanced at her curiously. She was a little flushed as +though with some inward excitement. Her eyes were bright and soft. +Despite a certain angularity of figure and her hollow cheeks she was +certainly one of the most distinguished-looking women in the room. + +"You are so dense," she whispered in his ear, "wilfully dense, +perhaps. You will not understand that I wish to be your friend." + +He smiled with gentle deprecation. + +"Do you blame me," he murmured, "if I seem incredulous? For I am +an old man, and you are spoken of always as the friend of my enemy, +the friend of the Prince." + +"I wonder," she said thoughtfully, "if this is really the secret +of your mistrust? Do you indeed fear that I have no other interest +in life save to serve Saxe Leinitzer?" + +"As to that," he answered, "I cannot say. Yet I know that only a +few months ago you were acting under orders from him. It is you +who brought Lucille from America. It was through you that the first +blow was struck at my happiness." + +"Cannot I atone?" she murmured under her breath. "If I can I will. +And as for the present, well, I am outside his schemes now. Let us +be friends. You would find me a very valuable ally." + +"Let it be so," he answered without emotion. "You shall help me, +if you will, to regain Lucille. I promise you then that my gratitude +shall not disappoint you." + +She bit her lip. + +"And are you sure," she whispered, "that Lucille is anxious to be +won back? She loves intrigue, excitement, the sense of being +concerned in important doings. Besides--you must have heard what +they say about her--and Brott. Look at her now. She wears +her grass widowhood lightly enough." + +Mr. Sabin looked across the table. Lucille had indeed all the +appearance of a woman thoroughly at peace with the world and herself. +Brott was talking to her in smothered and eager undertones. The +Prince was waiting for an opportunity to intervene. Mr. Sabin +looked into Brott's white strong face, and was thoughtful. + +"It is a great power--the power of my sex," Lady Carey continued, +with a faint, subtle smile. "A word from Lucille, and the history +book of the future must be differently written." + +"She will not speak that word," Mr. Sabin said. Lady Carey shrugged +her shoulders. The subtlety of her smile faded away. Her whole +face expressed a contemptuous and self-assured cynicism. + +"You know her very well," she murmured. "Yet she and I are no +strangers. She is one who loves to taste--no, to drink--deeply +of all the experiences of life. Why should we blame her, you and +I? Have we not the same desire?" + +Mr. Sabin lit a cigarette. + +"Once, perhaps," he remarked. "You must not forget that I am no +longer a young man." + +She leaned towards him. + +"You will die young," she murmured. "You are not of the breed of +men who grow old." + +"Do you mean to turn my head?" he asked her, with a humorous smile. + +"It would be easier," she answered, "than to touch your heart." + +Then Lucille looked across at them--and Mr. Sabin suddenly +remembered that Reginald Brott knew them both only as strangers. + +"Muriel," she said, "you are behaving disgracefully." + +"I am doing my best," Lady Carey answered, "to keep you in +countenance." + +The eyes of the two women met for a moment, and though the smiles +lingered still upon their faces Lady Carey at any rate was not able +to wholly conceal her hatred. Lucille shrugged her shoulders. + +"I am doing my best," she said, "to convert Mr. Brott." + +"To what?" Lady Carey asked. + +"To a sane point of view concerning the holiness of the aristocracy," +Lucille answered. "I am afraid though that I have made very little +impression. In his heart I believe Mr. Brott would like to see us +all working for our living, school-teachers and dressmakers, and +that sort of thing, you know." + +Mr. Brott protested. + +"I am not even," he declared, "moderately advanced in my views as +regards matters of your sex. To tell you the truth, I do not like +women to work at all outside their homes." + +Lady Carey laughed. + +"My dear," she said to Lucille, "you and I may as well retire in +despair. Can't you see the sort of woman Mr. Brott admires? She +isn't like us a bit. She is probably a healthy, ruddy-cheeked +young person who lives in the country, gets up to breakfast to pour +out the coffee for some sort of a male relative, goes round the +garden snipping off roses in big gloves and a huge basket, interviews +the cook, orders the dinner, makes fancy waistcoats for her husband, +and failing a sewing maid, does the mending for the family. You +and I, Lucille, are not like that." + +"Well, you have mentioned nothing which I couldn't do, if it seemed +worth while," Lucille objected. "It sounds very primitive and +delightful. I am sure we are all too luxurious and too lazy. I +think we ought to turn over a new leaf." + +"For you, dear Lucille," Lady Carey said with suave and deadly +satire, "what improvement is possible? You have all that you could +desire. It is much less fortunate persons, such as myself, to whom +Utopia must seem such a delightful place." + +A frock-coated and altogether immaculate young man approached their +table and accosted Mr. Sabin. + +"I beg your pardon, sir," he said, "but the manager would be much +obliged if you would spare him a moment or two in his private room +as soon as possible." + +Mr. Sabin nodded. + +"In a few minutes," he answered. + +The little party broke up almost immediately. Coffee was ordered +in the palm court, where the band was playing. Mr. Sabin and the +Prince fell a little behind the others on the way out of the room. + +"You heard my summons?" Mr. Sabin asked. + +"Yes!" + +"I am going to be cross-examined as regards Duson. I am no longer +a member of the Order. What is to prevent my setting them upon +the right track?" + +"The fact," the Prince said coolly, "that you are hoping one day +to recover Lucille." + +"I doubt," Mr. Sabin said, "whether you are strong enough to keep +her from me." + +The Prince smiled. All his white teeth were showing. + +"Come," he said, "you know better than--much better than that. +Lucille must wait her release. You know that." + +"I will buy it," Mr. Sabin said, "with a lie to the manager here, +or I will tell the truth and still take her from you." + +The Prince stood upon the topmost step of the balcony. Below was +the palm court, with many little groups of people dotted about. + +"My dear friend," he said, "Duson died absolutely of his own free +will. You know that quite well. We should have preferred that the +matter had been otherwise arranged. But as it is we are safe, +absolutely safe." + +"Duson's letter!" Mr. Sabin remarked. + +"You will not show it," the Prince answered. "You cannot. You +have kept it too long. And, after all, you cannot escape from the +main fact. Duson committed suicide." + +"He was incited to murder. His letter proves it." + +The Prince shrugged his shoulders. + +"By whom? Ah, how your story would excite ridicule. I seem to +hear the laughter now. No, my dear Souspennier, you would bargain +for me with Lucille. Look below. Are we likely to part with her +just yet?" + +In a corner, behind a gigantic palm, Lucille and Brott were talking +together. Lady Carey had drawn Opperman a little distance away. +Brott was talking eagerly, his cheeks flushed, his manner earnest. +Mr. Sabin turned upon his heel and walked away. + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +Mr. Sabin, although he had registered at the hotel under his +accustomed pseudonym, had taken no pains to conceal his identity, +and was well known to the people in authority about the place. He +was received with all the respect due to his rank. + +"Your Grace will, I trust, accept my most sincere apologies for +disturbing you," Mr. Hertz, the manager, said, rising and bowing at +his entrance. "We have here, however, an emissary connected with +the police come to inquire into the sad incident of this afternoon. +He expressed a wish to ask your Grace a question or two with a view +to rendering your Grace's attendance at the inquest unnecessary." + +Mr. Sabin nodded. + +"I am perfectly willing," he said, "to answer any questions you may +choose to put to me." + +A plain, hard-featured little man, in a long black overcoat, and +holding a bowler hat in his hand, bowed respectfully to Mr. Sabin. + +"I am much obliged to you, sir," he said. "My name is John Passmore. +We do not of course appear in this matter unless the post-mortem +should indicate anything unusual in the circumstances of Duson's +death, but it is always well to be prepared, and I ventured to ask +Mr. Hertz here to procure for me your opinion as regards the death +of your servant." + +"You have asked me," Mr. Sabin said gravely, "a very difficult +question." + +The eyes of the little detective flashed keenly. + +"You do not believe then, sir, that he died a natural death?" + +"I do not," Mr. Sabin answered. + +Mr. Hertz was startled. The detective controlled his features +admirably. + +"May I ask your reasons, sir?" + +Mr. Sabin lightly shrugged his shoulders. + +"I have never known the man to have a day's illness in his life," +he said. "Further, since his arrival in England he has been +acting in a strange and furtive manner, and I gathered that he had +some cause for fear which he was indisposed to talk about." + +"This," the detective said, "is very interesting." + +"Doubtless," Mr. Sabin answered. "But before I say anything more +I must clearly understand my position. I am giving you personally +a few friendly hints, in the interests of justice perhaps, but still +quite informally. I am not in possession of any definite facts +concerning Duson, and what I say to you here I am not prepared to +say at the inquest, before which I presume I may have to appear as +a witness. There, I shall do nothing more save identify Duson and +state the circumstances under which I found him." + +"I understand that perfectly, sir," the man answered. "The less +said at the inquest the better in the interests of justice." + +Mr. Sabin nodded. + +"I am glad," he said, "that you appreciate that. I do not mind going +so far then as to tell you that I believe Duson died of poison." + +"Can you give me any idea," the detective asked, "as to the source?" + +"None," Mr. Sabin answered. "That you must discover for yourselves. +Duson was a man of silent and secretive habits, and it has occurred +to me more than once that he might possibly be a member of one of +those foreign societies who have their headquarters in Soho, and +concerning which you probably know more than I do." + +The detective smiled. It was a very slight flicker of the lips, +but it attracted Mr. Sabin's keen attention. + +"Your suggestions," the detective said, "are making this case a very +interesting one. I have always understood, however, that reprisals +of this extreme nature are seldom resorted to in this country. +Besides, the man's position seems scarcely to indicate sufficient +importance--perhaps--" + +"Well?" Mr. Sabin interjected. + +"I notice that Duson was found in your sitting-room. It occurs to +me as a possibility that he may have met with a fate intended for +some one else--for yourself, for instance, sir!" + +"But I," Mr. Sabin said smoothly, "am a member of no secret society, +nor am I conscious of having enemies sufficiently venomous to desire +my life." + +The detective sat for a moment with immovable face. + +"We, all of us, know our friends, sir," he said. "There are few of +us properly acquainted with our enemies." + +Mr. Sabin lit a cigarette. His fingers were quite steady, but this +man was making him think. + +"You do not seriously believe," he asked, "that Duson met with a +death which was intended for me?" + +"I am afraid," the detective said thoughtfully, "that I know no +more about it than you do." + +"I see," Mr. Sabin said, "that I am no stranger to you." + +"You are very far from being that, sir," the man answered. "A +few years ago I was working for the Government--and you were not +often out of my sight." + +Mr. Sabin smiled. + +"It was perhaps judicious," he remarked, "though I am afraid it +proved of very little profit to you. And what about the present +time?" + +"I see no harm in telling you, sir, that a general watch is kept +upon your movements. Duson was useful to us ... but now Duson +is dead." + +"It is a fact," Mr. Sabin said impressively, "that Duson was a +genius. My admiration for him continually increases." + +"Duson made harmless reports to us as we desired them," the +detective said. "I have an idea, however, that if this course had +at any time been inimical to your interests that Duson would have +deceived us." + +"I am convinced of it," Mr. Sabin declared. + +"And Duson is dead!" + +Mr. Sabin nodded gravely. + +The little hard-visaged man looked steadily for a moment upon the +carpet. + +"Duson died virtually whilst accepting pay from if not actually +in the employ of our Secret Service Department. You will +understand, therefore, that we, knowing of this complication in +his life, naturally incline towards the theory of murder. Shall +I be taking a liberty, sir, if I give you an unprofessional word +of warning?" + +Mr. Sabin raised his eyebrows. + +"By no means," he answered. "But surely you cannot--" + +The man smiled. + +"No, sir," he said drily. "I do not for one moment suspect you. +The man was our spy upon your movements, but I am perfectly aware +that there has been nothing worth reporting, and I also know that +you would never run such a risk for the removal of so insignificant +a person. No, my warning comes to you from a different point of +view. It is, if you will pardon my saying so, none the less +personal, but wholly friendly. The case of Duson will be sifted to +the dregs, but unless I am greatly mistaken, and I do not see room +for the possibility of a mistake, I know the truth already." + +"You will share your knowledge?" Mr. Sabin asked quietly. + +The detective shook his head. + +"You shall know," he said, "before the last moment. But I want to +warn you that when you do now it--it will be a shock to you." + +Mr. Sabin stood perfectly still for several moments. This little +man believed what he was saying. He was certainly deceived. Yet +none the less Mr. Sabin was thoughtful. + +"You do not feel inclined," he said slowly, "to give me your entire +confidence." + +"Not at present, sir," the man answered. "You would certainly +intervene, and my case would be spoilt." + +Mr. Sabin glanced at the clock. + +"If you care to call on me to-morrow," he said, "I could perhaps +show you something which might change your opinion." + +The detective bowed. + +"I am always open, sir," he said, "to conviction. I will come +about twelve o'clock." + +Mr. Sabin went back to the palm lounge. Lucille and Reginald +Brott were sitting together at a small table, talking earnestly +to one another. The Prince and Lady Carey had joined another +party who were all talking together near the entrance. The latter, +directly she saw them coming, detached herself from them and came +to him. + +"Your coffee is almost cold," she said, "but the Prince has found +some brandy of wonderful age, somewhere in the last century, I +believe." + +Mr. Sabin glanced towards Lucille. She appeared engrossed in her +conversation, and had not noticed his approach. Lady Carey shrugged. + +"You have only a few minutes," she said, "before that dreadful +person comes and frowns us all out. I have kept you a chair." + +Mr. Sabin sat down. Lady Carey interposed herself between him and +the small table at which Lucille was sitting. + +"Have they discovered anything?" she asked. + +"Nothing!" Mr. Sabin answered. + +She played with her fan for a moment. Then she looked him steadily +in the face. + +"My friend?" + +He glanced towards her. + +"Lady Carey!" + +"Why are you so obstinate?" she exclaimed in a low, passionate +whisper. "I want to be your friend, and I could be very useful to +you. Yet you keep me always at arm's length. You are making a +mistake. Indeed you are. I suppose you do not trust me. Yet +reflect Have I ever told you anything that was not true? Have I +ever tried to deceive you? I don't pretend to be a paragon of the +virtues. I live my life to please myself. I admit it. Why not? +It is simply applying the same sort of philosophy to my life as +you have applied to yours. My enemies can find plenty to say about +me--but never that I have been false to a friend. Why do you keep +me always at arm's length, as though I were one of those who wished +you evil?" + +"Lady Carey," Mr. Sabin said, "I will not affect to misunderstand +you, and I am flattered that you should consider my good will of +any importance. But you are the friend of the Prince of Saxe +Leinitzer. You are one of those even now who are working actively +against me. I am not blaming you, but we are on opposite sides." + +Lady Carey looked for a moment across at the Prince, and her eyes +were full of venom. + +"If you knew," she murmured, "how I loathe that man. Friends! That +is all long since past. Nothing would give me so much pleasure as +never to see his face again." + +"Nevertheless," Mr. Sabin reminded her, "whatever your private +feelings may be, he has claims upon you which you cannot resist." + +"There is one thing in the world," she said in a low tone, "for +which I would risk even the abnegation of those claims." + +"You would perjure your honour?" + +"Yes--if it came to that." + +Mr. Sabin moved uneasily in his chair. The woman was in earnest. +She offered him an invaluable alliance; she could show him the way +to hold his own against even the inimical combination by which he +was surrounded. If only he could compromise. But her eyes were +seeking his eagerly, even fiercely. + +"You doubt me still," she whispered. "And I thought that you had +genius. Listen, I will prove myself. The Prince has one of his +foolish passions for Lucille. You know that. So far she has shown +herself able to resist his fascinations. He is trying other means. +Lucille is in danger! Duson! --but after all, I was never really +in danger, except the time when I carried the despatches for the +colonel and rode straight into a Boer ambush." + +Mr. Sabin saw nothing, but he did not move a muscle of his face. A +moment later they heard the Prince's voice from behind them. + +"I am very sorry," he said, "to interrupt these interesting +reminiscences, but you see that every one is going. Lucille is +already in the cloak-room." + +Lady Carey rose at once, but the glance she threw at the Prince was +a singularly malicious one. They walked down the carpeted way +together, and Lady Carey left them without a word. In the vestibule +Mr. Sabin and Reginald Brott came face to face. + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +The greeting between the two men was cold, and the Prince almost +immediately stepped between them. Nevertheless, Brott seemed +to have a fancy to talk with Mr. Sabin. + +"I was at Camperdown House yesterday," he remarked. "Her Ladyship +was regretting that she saw you so seldom." + +"I have been a little remiss," Mr. Sabin answered. "I hope to lunch +there to-morrow." + +"You have seen the evening paper, Brott?" the Prince asked. + +"I saw the early editions," Brott answered. "Is there anything +fresh?" + +The Prince dropped his voice a little. He drew Brott on one side. + +"The Westminster declared that you had left for Windsor by an early +train this afternoon, and gives a list of your Cabinet. The Pall +Mall, on the other hand, declares that Letheringham will assuredly +be sent for to-morrow." + +Brott shrugged his shoulders. + +"There are bound to be a crop of such reports at a time like this," +he remarked. + +The Prince dropped his voice almost to a whisper. + +"Brott," he said, "there is something which I have had it in my +mind to say to you for the last few days. I am not perhaps a great +politician, but, like many outsiders, I see perhaps a good deal of +the game. I know fairly well what the feeling is in Vienna and +Berlin. I can give you a word of advice." + +"You are very kind, Prince," Brott remarked, looking uneasily over +his shoulder. "But--" + +"It is concerning Brand. There is no man more despised and disliked +abroad, not only because he is a Jew and ill-bred, but because of +his known sympathy with some of these anarchists who are perfect +firebrands in Europe." + +"I am exceedingly obliged to you," Brott answered hurriedly. "I am +afraid, however, that you anticipate matters a good deal. I have +not yet been asked to form a Cabinet. It is doubtful whether I ever +shall. And, beyond that, it is also doubtful whether even if I am +asked I shall accept." + +"I must confess," the Prince said, "that you puzzle me. Every one +says that the Premiership of the country is within your reach. It +is surely the Mecca of all politicians." + +"There are complications," Brott muttered. "You--" + +He stopped short and moved towards the door. Lucille, unusually +pale and grave, had just issued from the ladies' ante-room, and +joined Lady Carey, who was talking to Mr. Sabin. She touched the +latter lightly on the arm. + +"Help us to escape," she said quickly. "I am weary of my task. +Can we get away without their seeing us?" + +Mr. Sabin offered his arm. They passed along the broad way, and +as they were almost the last to leave the place, their carriage +was easily found. The Prince and Mr. Brott appeared only in time +to see Mr. Sabin turning away, hat in hand, from the curb-stone. +Brott's face darkened. + +"Prince," he said, "who is that man?" + +The Prince shrugged his shoulders. + +"A man," he said, "who has more than once nearly ruined your +country. His life has been a splendid failure. He would have +given India to the Russians, but they mistrusted him and trifled +away their chance. Once since then he nearly sold this country +to Germany; it was a trifle only which intervened. He has been +all his life devoted to one cause." + +"And that?" Brott asked. + +"The restoration of the monarchy to France. He, as you of course +know, is the Duc de Souspennier, the sole living member in the +direct line of one of the most ancient and historical houses in +England. My friend," he added, turning to Mr. Sabin, "you have +stolen a march upon us. We had not even an opportunity of making +our adieux to the ladies." + +"I imagine," Mr. Sabin answered, "that the cause of quarrel may +rest with them. You were nowhere in sight when they came out." + +"These fascinating politics," the Prince remarked. "We all want +to talk politics to Mr. Brott just now." + +"I will wish you good-night, gentlemen," Mr. Sabin said, and passed +into the hotel. + +The Prince touched Brott on the arm. + +"Will you come round to the club, and take a hand at bridge?" he said. + +Brott laughed shortly. + +"I imagine," he said, "that I should be an embarrassing guest to +you just now at, say the Mallborough, or even at the St. James. +I believe the aristocracy are looking forward to the possibility of +my coming into power with something like terror." + +"I am not thoroughly versed; in the politics of this country," the +Prince said, "but I have always understood that your views were +very much advanced. Dorset solemnly believes that you are pledged +to exterminate the large landed proprietors, and I do not think he +would be surprised to hear that you had a guillotine up your sleeve." + +The two men were strolling along Pall Mall. The Prince had lit a +large cigar, and was apparently on the best of terms with himself +and the world in general. Brott, on the contrary, was most unlike +himself, preoccupied, and apparently ill at ease. + +"The Duke and his class are, of course, my natural opponents," Brott +said shortly. "By the bye, Prince," he added, suddenly turning +towards him, and with a complete change of tone, "it is within your +power to do me a favour." + +"You have only to command," the Prince assured him good-naturedly. + +"My rooms are close here," Brott continued. "Will you accompany +me there, and grant me the favour of a few minutes' conversation?" + +"Assuredly!" the Prince answered, flicking the end off his cigar. +"It will be a pleasure." + +They walked on towards their destination in silence. Brott's +secretary was in the library with a huge pile of letters and +telegrams before him. He welcomed Brott with relief. + +"We have been sending all over London for you, sir," he said. + +Brott nodded. + +"I am better out of the way for the present," he answered. "Deny +me to everybody for an hour, especially Letheringham. There is +nothing here, I suppose, which cannot wait so long as that?" + +The secretary looked a little doubtful. + +"I think not, sir," he decided. + +"Very good. Go and get something to eat. You look fagged. And +tell Hyson to bring up some liqueurs, will you! I shall be engaged +for a short time." + +The secretary withdrew. A servant appeared with a little tray of +liqueurs, and in obedience to an impatient gesture from his master, +left them upon the table. Brott closed the door firmly. + +"Prince," he said, resuming his seat, "I wished to speak with you +concerning the Countess." + +Saxe Leinitzer nodded. + +"All right," he said. "I am listening!" + +"I understand," Brott continued, "that you are one of her oldest +friends, and also one of the trustees of her estates. I presume +that you stand to her therefore to some extent in the position of +an adviser?" + +"It is perfectly true," the Prince admitted. + +"I, too, am an old friend, as she has doubtless told you," Brott +said. "All my life she has been the one woman whom I have desired +to call my wife. That desire has never been so strong as at the +present moment." + +The Prince removed his cigar from his mouth and looked grave. + +"But, my dear Brott," he said, "have you considered the enormous +gulf between your--views? The Countess owns great hereditary +estates, she comes from a family which is almost Royal, she herself +is an aristocrat to the backbone. It is a class against which you +have declared war. How can you possibly come together on common +ground?" + +Brott was silent for a moment. Looking at him steadily the Prince +was surprised at the change in the man's appearance. His cheeks +seemed blanched and his skin drawn. He had lost flesh, his eyes +were hollow, and he frequently betrayed in small mannerisms a +nervousness wholly new and unfamiliar to him. + +"You speak as a man of sense, Prince," he said after a while. "You +are absolutely correct. This matter has caused me a great deal of +anxious thought. To falter at this moment is to lose, politically, +all that I have worked for all my life. It is to lose the confidence +of the people who have trusted me. It is a betrayal, the thought of +which is a constant shame to me. But, on the other hand, Lucille +is the dearest thing to me in life." + +The Prince's expression was wholly sympathetic. The derision which +lurked behind he kept wholly concealed. A strong man so abjectly +in the toils, and he to be chosen for his confidant! It was +melodrama with a dash of humour. + +"If I am to help you," the Prince said, "I must know everything. +Have you made any proposals to Lucille? In plain words, how much +of your political future are you disposed to sacrifice?" + +"All!" Brott said hoarsely. "All for a certainty of her. Not +one jot without." + +"And she?" + +Brott sprang to his feet, white and nervous. + +"It is where I am at fault," he exclaimed. "It is why I have asked +for your advice, your help perhaps. I do not find it easy to +understand Lucille. Perhaps it is because I am not well versed in +the ways of her sex. I find her elusive. She will give me no +promise. Before I went to Glasgow I talked with her. If she +would have married me then my political career was over--thrown on +one side like an old garment. But she would give me no promise. +In everything save the spoken words I crave she has promised me her +love. Again there comes a climax. In a few hours I must make my +final choice. I must decline to join Letheringham, in which case +the King must send for me, or accept office with him, and throw away +the one great chance of this generation. Letheringham's Cabinet, +of course, would be a moderate Liberal one, a paragon of milk and +water in effectiveness. If I go in alone we make history. The +moment of issue has come. And, Prince, although I have pleaded +with all the force and all the earnestness I know, Lucille remains +elusive. If I choose for her side--she promises me--reward. But +it is vague to me. I don't, I can't understand! I want her for my +wife, I want her for the rest of my life--nothing else. Tell me, +is there any barrier to this? There are no complications in her +life which I do not know of? I want your assurance. I want her +promise. You understand me?" + +"Yes, I understand you," the Prince said gravely. "I understand +more than you do. I understand Lucille's position." + +Brott leaned forward with bright eyes. + +"Ah!" + + +"Lucille, the Countess of Radantz, is at the present moment a +married woman." + +Brott was speechless. His face was like a carved stone image, +from which the life had wholly gone. + +"Her husband--in name only, let me tell you, is the Mr. Sabin +with whom we had supper this evening." + +"Great God!" + +"Their marriage had strange features in it which are not my concern, +or even yours," the Prince said deliberately. "The truth is, that +they have not lived together for years, they never will again, for +their divorce proceedings would long ago have been concluded but +for the complications arising from the difference between the +Hungarian and the American laws. Here, without doubt, is the reason +why the Countess has hesitated to pledge her word directly." + +"It is wonderful," Brott said slowly. "But it explains everything." + +There was a loud knock at the door. The secretary appeared upon +the threshold. Behind him was a tall, slim young man in traveling +costume. + +"The King's messenger!" Brott exclaimed, rising to his feet. + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + +The Prince presented himself with a low bow. Lucille had a copy +of the morning paper in her hand. + +"I congratulate you, Countess," he said. "You progress admirably. +It is a great step gained." + +Lucille, who was looking pale and nervous, regarded him with anxiety. + +"A step! But it is everything. If these rumours are true, he +refuses the attempt to form a Cabinet. He takes a subordinate +position under Letheringham. Every paper this morning says that if +this is so his political career is over. It is true, is it not?" + +"It is a great gain," the Prince said slowly. + +"But it is everything," Lucille declared, with a rising note of +passion in her tone. "It was my task. It is accomplished. I +demand my release." + +The Prince was silent for a moment. + +"You are in a great hurry, Lucille," he said. + +"What if I am!" she replied fiercely. "Do you suppose that this +life of lies and deceit is pleasant to me? Do you suppose that it +is a pleasant task to lure a brave man on to his ruin?" + +The Prince raised his eyebrows. + +"Come," he said, "you can have no sympathy with Reginald Brott, the +sworn enemy of our class, a Socialist, a demagogue who would parcel +out our lands in allotments, a man who has pledged himself to nothing +more nor less than a revolution." + +"The man's views are hateful enough," she answered, "but he is in +earnest, and however misguided he may be there is something noble in +his unselfishness, in his, steady fixedness of purpose." + +The Prince's face indicated his contempt. + +"Such men," he declared, "are only fit to be crushed like vermin +under foot. In any other country save England we should have dealt +with him differently." + +"This is all beside the question," she declared. "My task was to +prevent his becoming Prime Minister, and I have succeeded." + +The Prince gave vent to a little gesture of dissent. "Your task," +he said, "went a little farther than that. We require his political +ruin." + +She pointed to the pile of newspapers upon the table. + +"Read what they say!" she exclaimed. "There is not one who does +not use that precise term. He has missed his opportunity. The +people will never trust him again." + +"That, at any rate, is not certain," the Prince said. "You must +remember that before long he will realise that he has been your +tool. What then? He will become more rabid than ever, more also +to be feared. No, Lucille, your task is not yet over. He must be +involved in an open and public scandal, and with you." + +She was white almost to the lips with passion. + +"You expect a great deal!" she exclaimed. "You expect me to ruin +my life, then, to give my honour as well as these weary months, +this constant humiliation." + +"You are pleased to be melodramatic," he said coldly. "It is quite +possible to involve him without actually going to extremes." + +"And what of my husband?" she asked. + +The Prince laughed unpleasantly. + +"If you have not taught him complaisance," he said, "it is possible, +of course, that Mr. Sabin might be unkind. But what of it? You +are your own mistress. You are a woman of the world. Without him +there is an infinitely greater future before you than as his wife +you could ever enjoy." + +"You are pleased," she said, "to be enigmatic." + +The Prince looked hard at her. Her face was white and set. He +sighed. + +"Lucille," he said, "I have been very patient for many years. Yet +you know very well my secret, and in your heart you know very well +that I am one of those who generally win the thing upon which they +have set their hearts. I have always loved you, Lucille, but +never more than now. Fidelity is admirable, but surely you have done +your duty. He is an old man, and a man who has failed in the great +things of life. I, on the other hand, can offer you a great future. +Saxe Leinitzer, as you know, is a kingdom of its own, and, Lucille, +I stand well with the Emperor. The Socialist party in Berlin are +strong and increasing. He needs us. Who can say what honours may +not be in store for us? For I, too, am of the Royal House, Lucille. +I am his kinsman. He never forgets that. Come, throw aside this +restlessness. I will tell you how to deal with Brott, and the +publicity, after all, will be nothing. We will go abroad directly +afterwards." + +"Have you finished?" she asked. + +"You will be reasonable!" he begged. + +"Reasonable!" She turned upon him with flashing eyes. "I wonder +how you ever dared to imagine that I could tolerate you for one +moment as a lover or a husband. Wipe it out of your mind once and +for all. You are repellent to me. Positively the only wish I have +in connection with you is never to see your face again. As for my +duty, I have done it. My conscience is clear. I shall leave this +house to-day." + +"I hope," the Prince said softly, "that you will do nothing rash!" + +"In an hour," she said, "I shall be at the Carlton with my husband. +I will trust to him to protect me from you." + +The Prince shook his head. + +"You talk rashly," he said. "You do not think. You are forbidden +to leave this house. You are forbidden to join your husband." + +She laughed scornfully, but underneath was a tremor of uneasiness. + +"You summoned me from America," she said, "and I came ... I was +forced to leave my husband without even a word of farewell. I did +it! You set me a task--I have accomplished it. I claim that I +have kept my bond, that I have worked out my own freedom. If you +require more of me, I say that you are overstepping your authority, +and I refuse. Set the black cross against my name if you will. I +will take the risk." + +The Prince came a little nearer to her. She held her own bravely +enough, but there was a look in his face which terrified her. + +"Lucille," he said, "you force me to disclose something which I +have kept so far to myself. I wished to spare you anxiety, but +you must understand that your safety depends upon your remaining +in this house, and in keeping apart from all association with +--your husband." + +"You will find it difficult," she said, "to convince me of that." + +"On the contrary," he said, "I shall find it easy--too easy, +believe me. You will remember my finding you at the wine-shop of +Emil Sachs?" + +"Yes!" + +"You refused to tell me the object of your visit. It was foolish, +for of course I was informed. You procured from Emil a small +quantity of the powder prepared according to the recipe of Herr +Estentrauzen, and for which we paid him ten thousand marks. It is +the most silent, the most secret, the most swift poison yet +discovered." + +"I got it for myself," she said coldly. "There have been times +when I have felt that the possession of something of that sort was +an absolute necessity." + +"I do not question you as to the reason for your getting it," he +answered. "Very shortly afterwards you left your carriage in Pall +Mall, and without even asking for your husband you called at his +hotel--you stole up into his room." + +"I took some roses there and left them," she said "What of that?" + +"Only that you were the last person seen to enter Mr. Sabin's rooms +before Duson was found there dead. And Duson died from a dose of +that same poison, a packet of which you procured secretly from Emil +Sachs. An empty wineglass was by his side--it was one generally +used by Mr. Sabin. I know that the English police, who are not so +foolish as people would have one believe, are searching now for the +woman who was seen to enter the sitting-room shortly before Mr. +Sabin returned and found Duson there dead." + +She laughed scornfully. + +"It is ingenious," she admitted, "and perhaps a little unfortunate +for me. But the inference is ridiculous. What interest had I in +the man's death?" + +"None, of course!" the Prince said. "But, Lucille, in all cases +of poisoning it is the wife of whom one first thinks!" + +"The wife? I did not even know that the creature had a wife." + +"Of course not! But Duson drank from Mr. Sabin's glass, and you +are Mr. Sabin's wife. You are living apart from him. He is old +and you are young. And for the other man--there is Reginald Brott. +Your names have been coupled together, of course. See what an +excellent case stands there. You procure the poison--secretly. +You make your way to your husband's room--secretly. The fatal +dose is taken from your husband's wineglass. You leave no note, +no message. The poison of which the man died is exactly the same +as you procured from Sachs. Lucille, after all, do you wonder that +the police are looking for a woman in black with an ermine toque? +What a mercy you wore a thick veil!" + +She sat down suddenly. + +"This is hideous," she said. + +"Think it over," he said, "step by step. It is wonderful how all +the incidents dovetail into one another." + +"Too wonderful," she cried. "It sounds like some vile plot to +incriminate me. How much had you to do with this, Prince?" + +"Don't be a fool!" he answered roughly. "Can't you see for yourself +that your arrest would be the most terrible thing that could happen +for us? Even Sachs might break down in cross-examination, and you +--well, you are a woman, and you want to live. We should all be +in the most deadly peril. Lucille, I would have spared you this +anxiety if I could, but your defiance made it necessary. There was +no other way of getting you away from England to-night except by +telling you the truth." + +"Away from England to-night," she repeated vaguely. "But I will +not go. It is impossible." + +"It is imperative," the Prince declared, with a sharp ring of +authority in his tone. "It is your own folly, for which you have +to pay. You went secretly to Emil Sachs. You paid surreptitious +visits to your husband, which were simply madness. You have +involved us all in danger. For our own sakes we must see that +you are removed." + +"It is the very thing to excite suspicion--flight abroad," she +objected. + +"Your flight," he said coolly, "will be looked upon from a different +point of view, for Reginald Brott must follow you. It will be an +elopement, not a flight from justice." + +"And in case I should decline?" Lucille asked quietly. + +The Prince shrugged his shoulders. + +"Well, we have done the best we can for ourselves," he said. "Come, +I will be frank with you. There are great interests involved here, +and, before all things, I have had to consider the welfare of our +friends. That is my duty! Emil Sachs by this time is beyond risk +of detection. He has left behind a letter, in which he confesses +that he has for some time supplemented the profits of his wine-shop +by selling secretly certain deadly poisons of his own concoctions. +Alarmed at reading of the death of Duson immediately after he had +sold a poison which the symptoms denoted he had fled the country. +That letter is in the hands of the woman who remains in the +wine-shop, and will only be used in case of necessity. By other +means we have dissociated ourselves from Duson and all connection +with him. I think I could go so far as to say that it would be +impossible to implicate us. Our sole anxiety now, therefore, is to +save you." + +Lucille rose to her feet. + +"I shall go at once to my husband," she said. "I shall tell him +everything. I shall act on his advice." + +The Prince stood over by the door, and she heard the key turn. + +"You will do nothing of the sort," he said quietly. "You are in +my power at last, Lucille. You will do my bidding, or--" + +"Or what?" + +"I shall myself send for the police and give you into custody!" + + +CHAPTER XXXV + +The Prince crossed the hall and entered the morning-room. Felix +was there and Raoul de Brouillac. The Duchess sat at her +writing-table, scribbling a note. Lady Carey, in a wonderful white +serge costume, and a huge bunch of Neapolitan violets at her bosom, +was lounging in an easy-chair, swinging her foot backwards and +forwards. The Duke, in a very old tweed coat, but immaculate as to +linen and the details of his toilet, stood a little apart, with a +frown upon his forehead, and exactly that absorbed air which in the +House of Lords usually indicated his intention to make a speech. The +entrance of the Prince, who carefully closed the door behind him, +was an event for which evidently they were all waiting. + +"My good people," he said blandly, "I wish you all a very +good-morning." + +There was a little murmur of greetings, and before they had all +subsided the Duke spoke. + +"Saxe Leinitzer," he said, "I have a few questions to ask you." + +The Prince looked across the room at him. + +"By all means, Duke," he said. "But is the present an opportune +time?" + +"Opportune or no, it is the time which I have selected," the Duke +answered stiffly. "I do not altogether understand what is going +on in this house. I am beginning to wonder whether I have been +misled." + +The Prince, as he twirled his fair moustache, glanced carelessly +enough across at the Duchess. She was looking the other way. + +"I became a--er--general member of this Society," the Duke +continued, "sympathising heartily with its objects as explained to +me by you, Prince, and believing, although to confess it is somewhat +of a humiliation, that a certain amount of--er--combination +amongst the aristocracy has become necessary to resist the terrible +increase of Socialism which we must all so much deplore." + +"You are not making a speech, dear," the Duchess remarked, looking +coldly across the room at him. "We are all anxious to hear what +the Prince has to say to us." + +"Your anxiety," the Duke continued, "and the anxiety of our friends +must be restrained for a few minutes, for there are certain things +which I am determined to say, and to say them now. I must confess +that it was at first a painful shock to me to realise that the time +had come when it was necessary for us to take any heed of the +uneducated rabble who seem born into the world discontented with +their station in life, and instead of making honest attempts to +improve it waste their time railing against us who are more +fortunately placed, and in endeavours to mislead in every possible +way the electorate of the country." + +The Prince sighed softly, and lit a cigarette. Lady Carey and +Felix were already smoking. + +"However," the Duke continued, "I was convinced. I have always +believed in the principle of watching closely the various signs +of the times, and I may say that I came to the conclusion that a +combination of the thinking members of the aristocratic party +throughout the world was an excellent idea. I therefore became +what is, I believe, called a general member of the Order, of +which I believe you, Prince, are the actual head." + +"My dear James," the Duchess murmured, "the Prince has something +to say to us." + +"The Prince," her husband answered coldly, "can keep back his +information for a few minutes. I am determined to place my position +clearly before all of you who are present here now. It is only +since I have joined this Society that I have been made aware that +in addition to the general members, of which body I believe that +the Duchess and I are the sole representatives here, there are +special members, and members of the inner circle. And I understand +that in connection with these there is a great machinery of intrigue +going on all the time, with branches all over the world, spies +everywhere with unlimited funds, and with huge opportunities of +good or evil. In effect I have become an outside member of what is +nothing more nor less than a very powerful and, it seems to me, +daring secret society." + +"So far as you are concerned, Duke," the Prince said, "your +responsibility ceases with ordinary membership. You can take no +count of anything beyond. The time may come when the inner circle +may be opened to you." + +The Duke coughed. + +"You misapprehend me," he said. "I can assure you I am not anxious +for promotion. On the contrary, I stand before you an aggrieved +person. I have come to the conclusion that my house, and the +shelter of my wife's name, have been used for a plot, the main +points of which have been kept wholly secret from me." + +The Prince flicked his cigarette ash into the grate. + +"My dear Dorset," he said gently, "if you will allow me to explain--" + +"I thank you, Saxe Leinitzer," the Duke said coldly, "but it is +beginning to occur to me that I have had enough of your explanations. +It seemed natural enough to me, and I must say well conceived, that +some attempt should be made to modify the views of, if not wholly +convert, Reginald Brott by means of the influence of a very charming +woman. It was my duty as a member of the Order to assist in this, +and the shelter of my house and name were freely accorded to the +Countess. But it is news to me to find that she was brought here +practically by force. That because she was an inner member and +therefore bound to implicit obedience that she was dragged away from +her husband, kept apart from him against her will, forced into +endeavours to make a fool of Brott even at the cost of her good name. +And now, worst of all, I am told that a very deeply laid plot on +the part of some of you will compel her to leave England almost at +once, and that her safety depends upon her inducing Reginald Brott +to accompany her." + +"She has appealed to you," the Prince muttered. + +"She has done nothing so sensible," the Duke answered drily. "The +facts which I have just stated are known to every one in this room. +I perhaps know less than any one. But I know enough for this. I +request, Saxe Leinitzer, that you withdraw the name of myself and +my wife from your list of members, and that you understand clearly +that my house is to be no more used for meetings of the Society, +formal or informal. And, further, though I regret the apparent +inhospitality of my action, my finger is now, as you see, upon the +bell, and I venture to wish you all a very good-morning. Groves," +he added to the servant who answered the door, "the Prince of Saxe +Leinitzer's carriage is urgently required." + +The Prince and Lady Carey descended the broad steps side by side. +She was laughing softly but immoderately. The Prince was pale +with fury. + +"Pompous old ass," he muttered savagely. "He may have a worse +scandal in his house now than he dreams of." + +She wiped her eyes. + +"Have I not always told you," she said, "that intrigue in this +country was a sheer impossibility? You may lay your plans ever so +carefully, but you cannot foresee such a contretemps as this." + +"Idiot!" the Prince cried. "Oh, the dolt! Why, even his wife was +amazed." + +"He may be all those pleasant things," Lady Carey, said, "but he +is a gentleman." + +He stopped short. The footman was standing by the side of Lady +Carey's victoria with a rug on his arm. + +"Lucille," he said thoughtfully, "is locked in the morning-room. +She is prostrate with fear. If the Duke sees her everything is +over. Upon my word, I have a good mind to throw this all up and +cross to Paris to-night. Let England breed her own revolutions. +What do you say, Muriel? Will you come with me?" + +She laughed scornfully. + +"I'd as soon go with my coachman," she said. + +His eyebrows narrowed. A dull, purple flush crept to his forehead. + +"Your wit," he said, "is a little coarse. Listen! You wish our +first plan to go through?" + +"Of course!" + +"Then you must get Lucille out of that house. If she is left there +she is absolutely lost to us. Apart from that, she is herself not +safe. Our plan worked out too well. She is really in danger from +this Duson affair." + +The laughter died away from Lady Carey's face. She hesitated with +her foot upon the step of her carriage. + +"You can go back easily enough," the Prince said. "You are the +Duke's cousin, and you were not included in his tirade. Lucille is +in the morning-room, and here is the key. I brought it away with me. +You must tell her that all our plans are broken, that we have +certain knowledge that the police are on the track of this Duson +affair. Get her to your house in Pont Street, and I will be round +this afternoon. Or better still, take her to mine." + +Lady Carey stepped back on to the pavement. She was still, however, +hesitating. + +"Leave her with the Duke and Duchess," the Prince said, "and she will +dine with her husband to-night." + +Lady Carey took the key from his hand. + +"I will try," she said. "How shall you know whether I succeed?" + +"I will wait in the gardens," he answered. "I shall be out of sight, +but I shall be able to see you come out. If you are alone I shall +come to you. If she is with you I shall be at your house in an +hour, and I promise you that she shall leave England to-night with +me." + +"Poor Brott!" she murmured ironically. + +The Prince smiled. + +"He will follow her. Every one will believe that they left London +together. That is all that is required." + +Lady Carey re-entered the house. The Prince made his way into the +gardens. Ten minutes passed--a quarter of an hour. Then Lady Carey +with Lucille reappeared, and stepping quickly into the victoria were +driven away. The Prince drew a little sigh of relief. He looked at +his watch, called a hansom, and drove to his club for lunch. + +Another man, who had also been watching Dorset House from the +gardens for several hours, also noted Lucille's advent with relief. +He followed the Prince out and entered another hansom. + +"Follow that victoria which has just driven off," he ordered. +"Don't lose sight of it. Double fare." + +The trap-door fell, and the man whipped up his horse. + + +CHAPTER XXXVI + +Mr. Sabin received an early visitor whilst still lingering over +a slight but elegant breakfast. Passmore seated himself in an +easy-chair and accepted the cigar which his host himself selected +for him. + +"I am glad to see you," Mr. Sabin said. "This affair of Duson's +remains a complete mystery to me. I am looking to you to help me +solve it." + +The little man with the imperturbable face removed his cigar from +his mouth and contemplated it steadfastly. + +"It is mysterious," he said. "There are circumstances in connection +with it which even now puzzle me very much, very much indeed. There +are circumstances in connection with it also which I fear may be a +shock to you, sir." + +"My life," Mr. Sabin said, with a faint smile, "has been made up of +shocks. A few more or less may not hurt me." + +"Duson," the detective said, "was at heart a faithful servant!" + +"I believe it," Mr. Sabin said. + +"He was much attached to you!" + +"I believe it." + +"It is possible that unwittingly he died for you." + +Mr. Sabin was silent. It was his way of avoiding a confession of +surprise. And he was surprised. "You believe then," he said, +after a moment's pause, "that the poison was intended for me?" + +"Certainly I do," the detective answered. "Duson was, after all, +a valet, a person of little importance. There is no one to whom +his removal could have been of sufficient importance to justify +such extreme measures. With you it is different." + +Mr. Sabin knocked the ash from his cigarette. + +"Why not be frank with me, Mr. Passmore?" he said. "There is no +need to shelter yourself under professional reticence. Your +connection with Scotland Yard ended, I believe, some time ago. You +are free to speak or to keep silence. Do one or the other. Tell me +what you think, and I will tell you what I know. That surely will +be a fair exchange. You shall have my facts for your surmises." + +Passmore's thin lips curled into a smile. "You know that I have +left Scotland Yard then, sir?" + +"Quite well! You are employed by them often, I believe, but you +are not on the staff, not since the affair of Nerman and the code +book." + +If Passmore had been capable of reverence, his eyes looked it at +that moment. + +"You knew this last night, sir?" + +"Certainly!" + +"Five years ago, sir," he said, "I told my chief that in you the +detective police of the world had lost one who must have been their +king. More and more you convince me of it. I cannot believe that +you are ignorant of the salient points concerning Duson's death." + +"Treat me as being so, at any rate," Mr. Sabin said. + +"I am pardoned," Passmore said, "for speaking plainly of family +matters--my concern in which is of course purely professional?" + +Mr. Sabin looked up for a moment, but he signified his assent. + +"You left America," Passmore said, "in search of your wife, formerly +Countess of Radantz, who had left you unexpectedly." + +"It is true!" Mr. Sabin answered. + +"Madame la Duchesse on reaching London became the guest of the +Duchess of Dorset, where she has been staying since. Whilst there +she has received many visits from Mr. Reginald Brott." + +Mr. Sabin's face was as the face of a sphinx. He made no sign. + +"You do not waste your time, sir, over the Society papers. Yet you +have probably heard that Madame la Duchesse and Mr. Reginald Brott +have been written about and spoken about as intimate friends. They +have been seen together everywhere. Gossip has been busy with their +names. Mr. Brott has followed the Countess into circles which +before her coming he zealously eschewed. The Countess is everywhere +regarded as a widow, and a marriage has been confidently spoken of." + +Mr. Sabin bowed his head slightly. But of expression there was in +his face no sign. + +"These things," Passmore continued, "are common knowledge. I have +spoken up to now of nothing which is not known to the world. I +proceed differently." + +"Good!" Mr. Sabin said. + +"There is," Passmore continued, "in the foreign district of London +a man named Emil Sachs, who keeps a curious sort of a wine-shop, and +supplements his earnings by disposing at a high figure of certain +rare and deadly poisons. A few days ago the Countess visited him +and secured a small packet of the most deadly drug the man possesses." + +Mr. Sabin sat quite still. He was unmoved. + +"The Countess," Passmore continued, "shortly afterwards visited +these rooms. An hour after her departure Duson was dead. He died +from drinking out of your liqueur glass, into which a few specks +of that powder, invisible almost to the naked eye, had been dropped. +At Dorset House Reginald Brott was waiting for her. He left shortly +afterwards in a state of agitation." + +"And from these things," Mr. Sabin said, "you draw, I presume, the +natural inference that Madame la Duchesse, desiring to marry her +old admirer, Reginald Brott, first left me in America, and then, +since I followed her here, attempted to poison me." + +"There is," Passmore said, "a good deal of evidence to that effect." + +"Here," Mr. Sabin said, handing him Duson's letter, "is some +evidence to the contrary." + +Passmore read the letter carefully. + +"You believe this," he asked, "to be genuine?" + +Mr. Sabin smiled. + +"I am sure of it!" he answered. + +"You recognise the handwriting?" + +"Certainly!" + +"And this came into your possession--how?" + +"I found it on the table by Duson's side." + +"You intend to produce it at the inquest?" + +"I think not," Mr. Sabin answered. + +There was a short silence. Passmore was revolving a certain matter +in his mind--thinking hard. Mr. Sabin was apparently trying to +make rings of the blue smoke from his cigarette. + +"Has it occurred to you," Passmore asked, "to wonder for what reason +your wife visited these rooms on the morning of Duson's death?" + +Mr. Sabin shook his head. + +"I cannot say that it has." + +"She knew that you were not here," Passmore continued. "She left +no message. She came closely veiled and departed unrecognised." +Mr. Sabin nodded. + +"There were reasons," he said, "for that. But when you say that +she left no message you are mistaken." + +Passmore nodded. + +"Go on," he said. + +Mr. Sabin nodded towards a great vase of La France roses upon a +side table. + +"I found these here on my return," he said, "and attached to them +the card which I believe is still there. Go and look at it." + +Passmore rose and bent over the fragrant blossoms. The card still +remained, and on the back of it, in a delicate feminine handwriting: + + "For my husband, + "with love from + "Lucille." + + +Mr. Passmore shrugged his shoulders. He had not the vice of +obstinacy, and he knew when to abandon a theory. + +"I am corrected," he said. "In any case, a mystery remains as well +worth solving. Who are these people at whose instigation Duson was +to have murdered you--these people whom Duson feared so much that +suicide was his only alternative to obeying their behests?" + +Mr. Sabin smiled faintly. + +"Ah, my dear Passmore," he said, "you must not ask me that question. +I can only answer you in this way. If you wish to make the biggest +sensation which has ever been created in the criminal world, to +render yourself immortal, and your fame imperishable--find out! I +may not help you, I doubt whether you will find any to help you. But +if you want excitement, the excitement of a dangerous chase after +a tremendous quarry, take your life in your hands, go in and win." + +Passmore's withered little face lit up with a gleam of rare +excitement. + +"These are your enemies, sir," he said. "They have attempted your +life once, they may do it again. Assume the offensive yourself. +Give me a hint." + +Mr. Sabin shook his head. + +"That I cannot do," he said. "I have saved you from wasting your +time on a false scent. I have given you something definite to work +upon. Further than that I can do nothing." + +Passmore looked his disappointment, but he knew Mr. Sabin better +than to argue the matter. + +"You will not even produce that letter at the inquest?" he asked. + +"Not even that," Mr. Sabin answered. + +Passmore rose to his feet. + +"You must remember," he said, "that supposing any one else stumbles +upon the same trail as I have been pursuing, and suspicion is +afterwards directed towards madame, your not producing that letter +at the inquest will make it useless as evidence in her favour." + +"I have considered all these things," Mr. Sabin said. "I shall +deposit the letter in a safe place. But its use will never be +necessary. You are the only man who might have forced me to produce +it, and you know the truth." + +Passmore rose reluctantly. + +"I want you," Mr. Sabin said, "to leave me not only your address, +but the means of finding you at any moment during the next +four-and-twenty hours. I may have some important work for you." + +The man smiled as he tore leaf from his pocketbook and a made a +few notes. + +"I shall be glad to take any commission from you, sir," he said. +"To tell you the truth, I scarcely thought that you would be content +to sit down and wait." + +Mr. Sabin smiled. + +"I think," he said, "that very shortly I can find you plenty to do." + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + +Mr. Sabin a few minutes afterwards ordered his carriage, and was +driven to Dorset House. He asked for Lucille, but was shown at once +into the library, where the Duke was awaiting him. Then Mr. Sabin +knew that something had happened. + +The Duke extended his hand solemnly. + +"My dear Souspennier," he said, "I am glad to see you. I was in +fact on the point of despatching a messenger to your hotel." + +"I am glad," Mr. Sabin remarked, "that my visit is opportune. To +tell you the truth, Duke, I am anxious to see my wife." + +The Duke coughed. + +"I trust," he said, "that you will not for a moment consider me +guilty of any discourtesy to the Countess, for whom I have a great +respect and liking. But it has come to my knowledge that the +shelter of my roof and name were being given to proceedings of which +I heartily disapproved. I therefore only a few hours ago formally +broke off all connection with Saxe Leinitzer and his friends, and to +put the matter plainly, I expelled them from the house." + +"I congratulate you heartily, Duke, upon a most sensible proceeding," +Mr. Sabin said. "But in the meantime where is my wife?" + +"Your wife was not present at the time," the Duke answered, "and I +had not the slightest intention of including her in the remarks I +made. Whether she understood this or not I cannot say, but I have +since been given to understand that she left with them." + +"How long ago?" Mr. Sabin asked. + +"Several hours, I fear," the Duke answered. "I should like, +Souspennier, to express to you my regrets that I was ever induced +to become connected in any way with proceedings which must have +caused you a great deal of pain. I beg you to accept my apologies." + +"I do not blame you, Duke," Mr. Sabin said. "My one desire now is +to wrest my wife away from this gang. Can you tell me whether she +left alone or with any of them?" + +"I will endeavour to ascertain," the Duke said, ringing the bell. + +But before the Duke's somewhat long-winded series of questions had +gone very far Mr. Sabin grasped the fact that the servants had +been tampered with. Without wasting any more time he took a +somewhat hurried leave and drove back to the hotel. One of the +hall porters approached him, smiling. + +"There is a lady waiting for you in your rooms, sir," he announced. +"She arrived a few minutes ago." + +Mr. Sabin rang for the elevator, got out at his floor and walked +down the corridor, leaning a little more heavily than usual upon +his stick. If indeed it were Lucille who had braved all and come +to him the way before them might still be smooth sailing. He +would never let her go again. He was sure of that. They would +leave England--yes, there was time still to catch the five o'clock +train. He turned the handle of his door and entered. A familiar +figure rose from the depths of his easy-chair. Her hat lay on the +table, her jacket was open, one of his cigarettes was between her +lips. But it was not Lucille. + +"Lady Carey!" he said slowly. "This is an unexpected pleasure. +Have you brought Lucille with you?" + +"I am afraid," she answered, "that I have no ropes strong enough." + +"You insinuate," he remarked, "that Lucille would be unwilling to +come." + +"There is no longer any need," she declared, with a hard little +laugh, "for insinuations. We have all been turned out from Dorset +House neck and crop. Lucille has accepted the inevitable. She has +gone to Reginald's Brott's rooms." + +Mr. Sabin smiled. + +"Indeed. I have just come from Dorset House myself. The Duke has +supplied me with a highly entertaining account of his sudden +awakening. The situation must have been humorous." + +Her eyes twinkled. + +"It was really screamingly funny. The Duke had on his house of +Lords manner, and we all sat round like a lot of naughty children. +If only you had been there." + +Mr. Sabin smiled. Suddenly she laid her hand upon his arm. + +"Victor," she said, "I have come to prove that I am your friend. +You do not believe that Lucille is with Reginald Brott. It is true! +Not only that, but she is leaving England with him to-night. The +man's devotion is irresistible--he has been gaining on her slowly +but surely all the time." + +"I have noticed," Mr. Sabin remarked calmly, "that he has been +wonderfully assiduous. I am sure I congratulate him upon his +success, if he has succeeded." + +"You doubt my word of course," she said. "But I have not come here +to tell you things. I have come to prove them. I presume that what +you see with your own eyes will be sufficient." + +Mr. Sabin shook his head. + +"Certainly not," he answered. "I make it a rule to believe nothing +that I see, and never to trust my ears." + +She stamped her foot lightly upon the floor. + +"How impossible you are," she exclaimed. "I can tell you by what +train Lucille and Reginald Brott will leave London to-night. I can +tell you why Lucille is bound to go." + +"Now," Mr. Sabin said, "you are beginning to get interesting." + +"Lucille must go--or run the risk of arrest for complicity in the +murder of Duson." + +"Are you serious?" Mr. Sabin asked, with admirably assumed gravity. + +"Is it a jesting matter?" she answered fiercely. "Lucille bought +poison, the same poison which it will be proved that Duson died of. +She came here, she was the last person to enter your room before +Duson was found dead. The police are even now searching for her. +Escape is her only chance." + +"Dear me," Mr. Sabin said. "Then it is not only for Brott's sake +that she is running away." + +"What does that matter? She is going, and she is going with him." + +"And why," he asked, "do you come to give me warning? I have plenty +of time to interpose." + +"You can try if you will. Lucille is in hiding. She will not see +you if you go to her. She is determined. Indeed, she has no +choice. Lucille is a brave woman in many ways, but you know that +she fears death. She is in a corner. She is forced to go." + +"Again," he said, "I feel that I must ask you why do you give me +warning?" + +She came and stood close to him. + +"Perhaps," she said earnestly, "I am anxious to earn your gratitude. +Perhaps, too, I know that no interposition of yours would be of any +avail." + +Mr. Sabin smiled. + +"Still," he said, "I do not think that it is wise of you. I might +appear at the station and forcibly prevent Lucille's departure. +After all, she is my wife, you know." + +She shrugged her shoulders. + +"I am not afraid," she said. "You will make inquiries when I have +gone, and you will find out that I have spoken the truth. If you +keep Lucille in England you will expose her to a terrible risk. It +is not like you to be selfish. You will yield to necessity." + +"Will you tell me where Lucille is now?" he asked. + +"For your own sake and hers, no," she answered. "You also are +watched. Besides, it is too late. She was with Brott half an hour +after the Duke turned us out of Dorset House. Don't you understand, +Victor--won't you? It is too late." + +He sat down heavily in his easy-chair. His whole appearance was +one of absolute dejection. + +"So I am to be left alone in my old age," he murmured. "You have +your revenge now at last. You have come to take it." + +She sank on her knees by the side of his chair, and her arms fell +upon his shoulders. + +"How can you think so cruelly of me, Victor," she murmured. "You +were always a little mistaken in Lucille. She loved you, it is +true, but all her life she has been fond of change and excitement. +She came to Europe willingly--long before this Brott would have +been her slave save for your reappearance. Can't you forget her +--for a little while?" + +Mr. Sabin sat quite still. Her hair brushed his cheeks, her arms +were about his neck, her whole attitude was an invitation for his +embrace. But he sat like a figure of stone, neither repulsing nor +encouraging her. + +"You need not be alone unless you like," she whispered. + +"I am an old man," he said slowly, "and this is a hard blow for me +to bear. I must be sure, absolutely sure that she has gone." + +"By this time to-morrow," she murmured, "all the world will know it." + +"Come to me then," he said. "I shall need consolation." + +Her eyes were bright with triumph. She leaned over him and kissed +him on the lips. Then she sprang lightly to her feet. + +"Wait here for me," she said, "and I will come to you. You shall +know, Victor, that Lucille is not the only woman in the world who +has cared for you." + +There was a tap at the door. Lady Carey was busy adjusting her +hat. Passmore entered, and stood hesitating upon the threshold. +Mr. Sabin had risen to his feet. He took one of her hands and +raised it to his lips. She gave him a swift, wonderful look and +passed out. + +Mr. Sabin's manner changed as though by magic. He was at once +alert and vigorous. + +"My dear Passmore," he said, "come to the table. We shall want +those Continental time-tables and the London A.B.C. You will have +to take a journey to-night." + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII + +The two women were alone in the morning-room of Lady Carey's house +in Pont Street. Lucille was walking restlessly up and down twisting +her handkerchief between her fingers. Lady Carey was watching her, +more composed, to all outward appearance, but with closely compressed +lips, and boding gleam in her eyes. + +"I think," Lady Carey said, "that you had better see him." + +Lucille turned almost fiercely upon her. + +"And why?" + +"Well, for one thing he will not understand your refusal. He may +be suspicious." + +"What does it matter? I have finished with him. I have done all +that I pledged myself to. What more can be expected of me? I do +not wish to see him again." + +Lady Carey laughed. + +"At least," she said, "I think that the poor man has a right to +receive his congé from you. You cannot break with him without a +word of explanation. Perhaps--you may not find it so easy as it +seems." + +Lucille swept around. + +"What do you mean?" + +Lady Carey shrugged her shoulders. + +"You are in a curious mood, my dear Lucille. What I mean is obvious +enough. Brott is a strong man and a determined man. I do not think +that he will enjoy being made a fool of." + +Lucille was indifferent. + +"At any rate," she said, "I shall not see him. I have quite made +up my mind about that." + +"And why not, Countess?" a deep voice asked from the threshold. +"What have I done? May I not at least know my fault?" + +Lady Carey rose and moved towards the door. + +"You shall have it out between yourselves," she declared, looking +up, and nodding at Brott as she passed. "Don't fight!" + +"Muriel!" + +The cry was imperative, but Lady Carey had gone. Mr. Brott closed +the door behind him and confronted Lucille. A brilliant spot of +colour flared in her pale cheeks. + +"But this is a trap!" she exclaimed. "Who sent for you? Why did +you come?" + +He looked at her in surprise. + +"Lucille!" + +His eyes were full of passionate remonstrance. She looked nervously +from him towards the door. He intercepted her glance. + +"What have I done?" he asked fiercely. "What have I failed to do? +Why do you look as though I had forced myself upon you? Haven't I +the right? Don't you wish to see me?" + +In Brott's face and tone was all the passionate strenuousness of a +great crisis. Lucille felt suddenly helpless before the directness +of his gaze, his storm of questions. In all their former intercourse +it had been she who by virtue of her sex and his blind love for her +had kept the upper hand. And now the position was changed. All +sorts of feeble explanations, of appeals to him, occurred to her +dimly, only to be rejected by reason of their ridiculous inadequacy. +She was silent-abjectly silent. + +He came a little closer to her, and the strength of the man was +manifest in his intense self-restraint. His words were measured, +his tone quiet. Yet both somehow gave evidence of the smouldering +fires beneath. + +"Lucille," he said, "I find you hard to understand to-day. You +have made me your slave, you came once more into my life at its +most critical moment, and for your sake I have betrayed a great +trust. My conscience, my faith, and although that counts for +little, my political career, were in the balance against my love +for you. You know which conquered. At your bidding I have made +myself the jest of every man who buys the halfpenny paper and +calls himself a politician. My friends heap abuse upon me, my +enemies derision. I cannot hold my position in this new Cabinet. +I had gone too far for compromise. I wonder if you quite +understand what has happened?" + +"Oh, I have heard too much," she cried. "Spare me the rest." + +He continued as though he had not heard her. + +"Men who have been my intimate associates for many years, and whose +friendship was dear to me, cross the road to avoid: meeting me, day +by day I am besieged with visitors and letters from the suffering +people to whom my word had been pledged, imploring me for some +explanation, for one word of denial. Life has become a hell for me, +a pestilent, militant hell! Yet, Lucille, unless you break faith +with me I make no complaint. I am content." + +"I am very sorry," she said. "I do not think that you have properly +understood me. I have never made you any promise." + +For a moment he lost control of himself. She shrank back at the +blaze of indignation, half scornful, half incredulous, which lit up +his clear, grey eyes. + +"It is a lie!" he answered. "Between you and me it can be no +question of words. You were always very careful of your pledges, +but there are limits even to your caution--as to my forbearance. +A woman does not ask a man who is pleading to her for her love to +give up everything else he cares for in life without hope of reward. +It is monstrous! I never sought you under false pretenses. I never +asked you for your friendship. I wanted you. I told you so plainly. +You won't deny that you gave me hope--encouraged me? You can't +even deny that I am within my rights if I claim now at this instant +the reward for my apostasy." + +Her hands were suddenly locked in his. She felt herself being drawn +into his arms. With a desperate effort she avoided his embrace. He +still held her left wrist, and his face was dark with passion. + +"Let me go!" she pleaded. + +"Not I!" he answered, with an odd, choked little laugh. "You +belong to me. I have paid the price. I, too, am amongst the long +list of those poor fools who have sold their gods and their honour +for a woman's kiss. But I will not be left wholly destitute. You +shall pay me for what I have lost." + +"Oh, you are mad!" she answered. "How could you have deceived +yourself so? Don't you know that my husband is in London?" + +"The man who calls himself Mr. Sabin?" he answered roughly. "What +has that to do with it? You are living apart. Saxe Leinitzer and +the Duchess have both told me the history of your married life. Or +is the whole thing a monstrous lie?" he cried, with a sudden dawning +sense of the truth. "Nonsense! I won't believe it. Lucille! +You're not afraid! I shall be good to you. You don't doubt that. +Sabin will divorce you of course. You won't lose your friends. I--" + +There was a sudden loud tapping at the door. Brott dropped her +wrist and turned round with an exclamation of anger. To Lucille it +was a Heaven-sent interposition. The Prince entered, pale, and +with signs of hurry and disorder about his usually immaculate person. + +"You are both here," he exclaimed. "Good! Lucille, I must speak +with you urgently in five minutes. Brott, come this way with me." + +Lucille sank into a chair with a little murmur of relief. The +Prince led Brott into another room, and closed the door carefully +behind him. + +"Mr. Brott," he said, "can I speak to you as a friend of Lucille's?" + +Brott, who distrusted the Prince, looked him steadily in the face. +Saxe Leinitzer's agitation was too apparent to be wholly assumed. +He had all the appearance of being a man desperately in earnest. + +"I have always considered myself one," Brott answered. "I am +beginning to doubt, however, whether the Countess holds me in the +same estimation." + +"You found her hysterical, unreasonable, overwrought!" the Prince +exclaimed. "That is so, eh?" + +The Prince drew a long breath. + +"Brott," he said, "I am forced to confide in you. Lucille is in +terrible danger. I am not sure that there is anybody who can +effectually help her but you. Are you prepared to make a great +sacrifice for her sake--to leave England at once, to take her to +the uttermost part of the world?" + +Brott's eyes were suddenly bright. The Prince quailed before the +fierceness of his gaze. + +"She would not go!" he exclaimed sharply. + +"She will," the Prince answered. "She must! Not only that, but +you will earn her eternal gratitude. Listen, I must tell you the +predicament in which we find ourselves. It places Lucille's life +in your hands." + +"What?" + +The exclamation came like a pistol shot. The Prince held up his +hand. + +"Do not interrupt. Let me speak. Every moment is very valuable. +You heard without doubt of the sudden death at the Carlton Hotel. +It took place in Mr. Sabin's sitting-room. The victim was Mr. +Sabin's servant. The inquest was this afternoon. The verdict was +death from the effect of poison. The police are hot upon the case. +There was no evidence as to the person by whom the poison was +administered, but by a hideous combination of circumstances one +person before many hours have passed will be under the surveillance +of the police." + +"And that person?" Brott asked. + +The Prince looked round and lowered his voice, although the room +was empty. + +"Lucille," he whispered hoarsely. + +Brott stepped backwards as though he were shot. + +"What damned folly!" he exclaimed. + +"It is possible that you may not think so directly," Saxe Leinitzer +continued. "The day it happened Lucille bought this same poison, +and it is a rare one, from a man who has absconded. An hour before +this man was found dead, she called at the hotel, left no name, but +went upstairs to Mr. Sabin's room, and was alone there for five +minutes, The man died from a single grain of poison which had been +introduced into Mr. Sabin's special liqueur glass, out of which he +was accustomed to drink three or four times a day. All these are +absolute facts, which at any moment may be discovered by the police. +Added to that she is living apart from her husband, and is known to +be on bad terms with him." + +Brott as gripping the back of a chair. He was white to the lips. + +"You don't think," he cried hoarsely. "You can't believe--" + +"No" the Prince answered quickly, "I don't believe anything of the +sort. I will tell you as man to man that I believe she wished Mr. +Sabin dead. You yourself should know why. But no, I don't believe +she went so far as that. It was an accident. But what we have to +do is to save her. Will you help?" + +"Yes." + +"She must cross to the Continent to-night before the police get on +the scent. Afterwards she must double back to Havre and take the +Bordlaise for New York on Saturday. Once there I can guarantee her +protection." + +"Well?" + +"She cannot go alone." + +"You mean that I should go with her?" + +"Yes! Get her right away, and I will employ special detectives and +have the matter cleared up, if ever it can be. But if she remains +here I fear that nothing can save her from the horror of an arrest, +even if afterwards we are able to save her. You yourself risk much, +Brott. The only question that remains is, will you do it?" + +"At her bidding--yes!" Brott declared. + +"Wait here," the Prince answered. + + +CHAPTER XXXIX + +Saxe Leinitzer returned to the morning-room, and taking the key +from his pocket unlocked the door. Inside Lucille was pale with +fury. + +"What! I am a prisoner, then!" she exclaimed. "How dare you +lock me in? This is not your house. Let me pass! I am tired of +all this stupid espionage." + +The Prince stood with his back to the door. + +"It is for your own sake, Lucille. The house is watched." + +She sank into a low chair, trembling. The Prince had all the +appearance of a man himself seriously disturbed. + +"Lucille," he said, "we will do what we can for you. The whole +thing is horribly unfortunate. You must leave England to-night. +Muriel will go with you. Her presence will help to divert suspicion. +Once you can reach Paris I can assure you of safety. But in this +country I am almost powerless." + +"I must see Victor," she said in a low tone. "I will not go +without." + +The Prince nodded. + +"I have thought of that. There is no reason, Lucille, why he should +not be the one to lead you into safety." + +"You mean that?" she cried. + +"I mean it," the Prince answered. "After what has happened you are +of course of no further use to us. I am inclined to think, too, +that we have been somewhat exacting. I will send a messenger to +Souspennier to meet you at Charing Cross to-night." + +She sprang up. + +"Let me write it myself." + +"Very well," he agreed, with a shrug of the shoulders. "But do not +address or sign it. There is danger in any communication between +you." + +She took a sheet of note-paper and hastily wrote a few words. + +"I have need of your help. Will you be at Charing Cross at twelve +o'clock prepared for a journey.--Lucille." + +The Prince took the letter from her and hastily folded it up. + +"I will deliver it myself," he announced. "It will perhaps be +safest. Until I return, Lucille, do not stir from the house or see +any one. Muriel has given the servants orders to admit no one. +All your life," he added, after a moment's pause, "you have been a +little cruel to me, and this time also. I shall pray that you will +relent before our next meeting." + +She rose to her feet and looked him full in the face. She seemed +to be following out her own train of thought rather than taking +note of his words. + +"Even now," she said thoughtfully, "I am not sure that I can trust +you. I have a good mind to fight or scream my way out of this +house, and go myself to see Victor." + +He shrugged his shoulders. + +"The fighting or the screaming will not be necessary, dear +Countess," he said. "The doors are open to you. But it is as clear +as day that if you go to the hotel or near it you will at once be +recognised, and recognition means arrest. There is a limit beyond +which one cannot help a wilful woman. Take your life in your hands +and go your own way, or trust in us who are doing our best to save +you." + +"And what of Reginald Brott?" she asked. + +"Brott?" the Prince repeated impatiently. "Who cares what becomes +of him? You have made him seem a fool, but, Lucille, to tell you +the truth, I am sorry that we did not leave this country altogether +alone. There is not the soil for intrigue here, or the possibility. +Then, too, the police service is too stolid, too inaccessible. And +even our friends, for whose aid we are here--well, you heard the +Duke. The cast-iron Saxon idiocy of the man. The aristocracy here +are what they call bucolic. It is their own fault. They have +intermarried with parvenus and Americans for generations. They are +a race by themselves. We others may shake ourselves free from them. +I would work in any country of the globe for the good of our cause, +but never again in England." + +Lucille shivered a little. + +"I am not in the humour for argument," she declared. "If you would +earn my gratitude take that note to my husband. He is the only man +I feel sure of--whom I know can protect me." + +The Prince bowed low. + +"It is our farewell, Countess," he said. + +"I cannot pretend," she answered, "to regret it." + +Saxe Leinitzer left the room. There was a peculiar smile upon his +lips as he crossed the hall. Brott was still awaiting for him. + +"Mr. Brott," he said, "the Countess is, as I feared, too agitated +to see you again for the present, or any one else. She sends you, +however, this message." + +He took the folded paper from his waistcoat pocket and handed it +to the other man. Brott read it through eagerly. His eyes shone. + +"She accepts the situation, then?" he exclaimed. + +"Precisely! Will you pardon me, my friend, if I venture upon one +other word. Lucille is not an ordinary woman. She is not in the +least like the majority of her sex, especially, I might add, amongst +us. The fact that her husband was living would seriously influence +her consideration of any other man--as her lover. The present +crisis, however, has changed everything. I do not think that you +will have cause to complain of her lack of gratitude." + +Brott walked out into the streets with the half sheet of note-paper +twisted up between his fingers. For the first time for months he +was conscious of a distinct and vivid sense of happiness. The +terrible period of indecision was past. He knew now where he stood. +Nor was his immediate departure from England altogether unpleasant +to him. His political career was shattered--friends and enemies +were alike cold to him. Such an act of cowardice as his, such +pitiful shrinking back at the last fateful moment, was inexplicable +and revolting. Even Letheringham was barely civil. It was certain +that his place in the Cabinet would be intolerable. He yearned for +escape from it all, and the means of escape were now at hand. In +after years he knew very well that the shadow of his broken trust, +the torture of his misused opportunities, would stand for ever +between him and the light. But at that moment he was able to clear +his mind of all such disquieting thoughts. He had won Lucille +--never mind at what cost, at what peril! He had won Lucille! + +He was deeply engrossed, and his name was spoken twice in his ear +before he turned round. A small, somewhat shabby-looking man, with +tired eyes and more than a day's growth of beard upon his chin, had +accosted him. + +"Mr. Brott, sir. A word with you, please." + +Brott held out his hand. Nevertheless his tone when he spoke lacked +heartiness. + +"You, Hedley! Why, what brings you to London?" + +The little man did not seem to see the hand. At any rate he made +no motion to take it. + +"A few minutes' chat with Mr. Brott. That's what I've come for." + +Brott raised his eyebrows, and nodded in somewhat constrained +fashion. + +"Well," he said, "I am on my way to my rooms. We can talk as we +go, if you like. I am afraid the good people up in your part of +the world are not too well pleased with me." + +The little man smiled rather queerly. + +"That is quite true," he answered calmly. "They hate a liar and +a turn-coat. So do I!" + +Brott stopped short upon the pavement. + +"If you are going to talk like that to me, Hedley," he said, "the +less you have to say the better." + +The man nodded. + +"Very well," he said. "What I have to say won't take me very long. +But as I've tramped most of the way up here to say it, you'll have +to listen here or somewhere else. I thought you were always one who +liked the truth." + +"So I do!" Brott answered. "Go on!" + +The man shuffled along by his side. They were an odd-looking pair, +for Brott was rather a careful man as regards his toilet, and his +companion looked little better than a tramp. + +"All my life," he continued, "I've been called 'Mad Hedley,' or +'Hedley, the mad tailor.' Sometimes one and sometimes the other. +It don't matter which. There's truth in, it. I am a bit mad. You, +Mr. Brott, were one of those who understood me a little. I have +brooded a good deal perhaps, and things have got muddled up in my +brain. You know what has been at the bottom of it all. + +"I began making speeches when I was a boy. People laughed at me, +but I've set many a one a-thinking. I'm no anarchist, although +people call me one. I'll admit that I admire the men who set the +French Revolution going. If such a thing happened in this country +I'd be one of the first to join in. But I've never had a taste +for bloodshed. I'd rather the thing had been done without. From +the first you seemed to be the man who might have brought it about. +We listened to you, we watched your career, and we began to have +hopes. Mr. Brott, the bodies and souls of millions of your +fellow-creatures were in the hollow of your hand. It was you who +might have set them free. It was you who might have made this the +greatest, the freest, the happiest country in the world. Not so +much for us perhaps as for our children, and our children's children. +We didn't expect a huge social upheaval in a week, or even a decade +of years. But we did expect to see the first blow struck. Oh, yes, +we expected that." + +"I have disappointed you, I know, you and many others," Brott said +bitterly. "I wish I could explain. But I can't!" + +"Oh, it doesn't matter," the man answered. "You have broken the +hearts of thousands of suffering men and women--you who might have +led them into the light, have forged another bolt in the bars which +stand between them and liberty. So they must live on in the +darkness, dull, dumb creatures with just spirit enough to spit and +curse at the sound of your name. It was the greatest trust God +ever placed in one man's hand--and you--you abused it. They were +afraid of you--the aristocrats, and they bought you. Oh, we are +not blind up there--there are newspapers in our public houses, and +now and then one can afford a half-penny. We have read of you at +their parties and their dances. Quite one of them you have become, +haven't you? But, Mr. Brott, have you never been afraid? Have you +never said to yourself, there is justice in the earth? Suppose it +finds me out?" + +"Hedley, you are talking rubbish," Brott said. "Up here you would +see things with different eyes. Letheringham is pledged." + +"If any man ever earned hell," Hedley continued, "it is you, Brott, +you who came to us a deliverer, and turned out to be a lying prophet. +'Hell,'" he repeated fiercely, "and may you find it swiftly." + +The man's right hand came out of his long pocket. They were in the +thick of Piccadilly, but his action was too swift for any +interference. Four reports rang suddenly out, and the muzzle of +the revolver was held deliberately within an inch or so of Brett's +heart. And before even the nearest of the bystanders could realise +what had happened Brott lay across the pavement a dead man, and +Hedley was calmly handing over the revolver to a policeman who had +sprang across the street. + +"Be careful, officer," he said, "there are still two chambers loaded. +I will come with you quite quietly. That is Mr. Reginald Brott, the +Cabinet Minister, and I have killed him." + + +CHAPTER XL + +"For once," Lady Carey said, with a faint smile, "your 'admirable +Crichton' has failed you." + +Lucille opened her eyes. She had been leaning back amongst the +railway cushions. + +"I think not," she said. "Only I blame myself that I ever trusted +the Prince even so far as to give him that message. For I know +very well that if Victor had received it he would have been here." + +Lady Carey took up a great pile of papers and looked them carelessly +through. + +"I am afraid," she said, "that I do not agree with you. I do not +think that Saxe Leinitzer had any desire except to see you safely +away. I believe that he will be quite as disappointed as you are +that your husband is not here to aid you. Some one must see you +safely on the steamer at Havre. Perhaps he will come himself." + +"I shall wait in Paris," Lucille said quietly, "for my husband." + +"You may wait," Lady Carey said, "for a very long time." + +Lucille looked at her steadily. "What do you mean?" + +"What a fool you are, Lucille. If to other people it seems almost +certain on the face of it that you were responsible for that drop +of poison in your husband's liqueur glass, why should it not seem +so to himself?" + +Lucille laughed, but there was a look of horror in her dark eyes. + +"How absurd. I know Victor better than to believe him capable of +such a suspicion. Just as he knows me better than to believe me +capable of such an act." + +"Really. But you were in his rooms secretly just before." + +"I went to leave some roses for him," Lucille answered. "And if +you would like to know it, I will tell you this. I left my card +tied to them with a message for him." + +Lady Carey yawned. + +"A remarkably foolish thing to do," she said. "That may cause you +trouble later on. Great heavens, what is this?" + +She held the evening paper open in her hand. Lucille leaned over +with blanched face. + +"What has happened?" she cried. "Tell me, can't you!" + +"Reginald Brott has been shot in Piccadilly," Lady Carey said. + +"Is he hurt?" Lucille asked. + +"He is dead!" + +They read the brief announcement together. The deed had been +committed by a man whose reputation for sanity had long been +questioned, one of Brott's own constituents. He was in custody, +and freely admitted his guilt. The two women looked at one another +in horror. Even Lady Carey was affected. + +"What a hateful thing," she said. "I am glad that we had no hand +in it." + +"Are you so sure that we hadn't?" Lucille asked bitterly. "You see +what it says. The man killed him because of his political apostasy. +We had something to do with that at least." + +Lady Carey was recovering her sang froid. + +"Oh, well," she said, "indirect influences scarcely count, or one +might trace the causes of everything which happens back to an absurd +extent. If this man was mad he might just as well have shot Brott +for anything." + +Lucille made no answer. She leaned back and closed her eyes. She +did not speak again till they reached Dover. + +They embarked in the drizzling rain. Lady Carey drew a little +breath of relief as they reached their cabin, and felt the boat +move beneath them. + +"Thank goodness that we are really off. I have been horribly +nervous all the time. If they let you leave England they can have +no suspicion as yet." + +Lucille was putting on an ulster and cap to go out on deck. + +"I am not at all sure," she said, "that I shall not return to +England. At any rate, if Victor does not come to me in Paris I +shall go to him." + +"What beautiful trust!" Lady Carey answered. "My dear Lucille, you +are more like a school-girl than a woman of the world." + + +A steward entered with a telegram for Lucille. It was banded in at +the Haymarket, an hour before their departure. Lucille read it, and +her face blanched. "I thank you for your invitation, but I fear +that it would not be good for my health.--S." + +Lady Carey looked over her shoulder. She laughed hardly. + +"How brutal!" she murmured. "But, then, Victor can be brutal +sometimes, can't he?" + +Lucille tore it into small pieces without a word. Lady Carey +waited for a remark from her in vain. + +"I, too," she said at last, "have had some telegrams. I have been +hesitating whether to show them to you or not. Perhaps you had +better see them." + +She produced them and spread them out. The first was dated about +the same time as the one Lucille had received. + +"Have seen S. with message from Lucille. Fear quite useless, as +he believes worst." + +The second was a little longer. + +"Have just heard S. has left for Liverpool, and has engaged berth in +Campania, sailing to-morrow. Break news to Lucille if you think well. +Have wired him begging return, and promising full explanation." + +"If these," Lucille said calmly, "belonged to me I should treat them +as I have my own." + +"What do you mean?" + +"I should tear them up." + +Lady Carey shrugged her shoulders with the air of one who finds +further argument hopeless. + +"I shall have no more to say to you, Lucille, on this subject," she +said. "You are impossible. In a few days you will be forced to +come round to my point of view. I will wait till then. And in the +meantime, if you think I am going to tramp up and down those sloppy +decks and gaze at the sea you are very much mistaken. I am going +to lie down like a civilized being, and try and get a nap. You had +better do the same." + +Lucille laughed. + +"For my part," she said, "I find any part of the steamer except the +deck intolerable. I am going now in search of some fresh air. +Shall I send your woman along?" + +Lady Carey nodded, for just then the steamer gave a violent lurch, +and she was not feeling talkative. Lucille went outside and walked +up and down until the lights of Calais were in sight. All the time +she felt conscious of the observation of a small man clad in a huge +mackintosh, whose peaked cap completely obscured his features. As +they were entering the harbour she purposely stood by his side. He +held on to the rail with one hand and turned towards her. + +"It has been quite a rough passage, has it not?" he remarked. + +She nodded. + +"I have crossed," she said, "when it has been much worse. I do not +mind so long as one may come on deck." + +"Your friend," he remarked, "is perhaps not so good a sailor?" + +"I believe," Lucille said, "that she suffers a great deal. I just +looked in at her, and she was certainly uncomfortable." + +The little man gripped the rail and held on to his cap with the +other hand. + +"You are going to Paris?" he asked. + +Lucille nodded. + +"Yes." + +They were in smoother water now. He was able to relax his grip of +the rail. He turned towards Lucille, and she saw him for the first +time distinctly--a thin, wizened-up little man, with shrewd kindly +eyes, and a long deeply cut mouth. + +"I trust," he said, "that you will not think me impertinent, but it +occurred to me that you have noticed some apparent interest of mine +in your movements since you arrived on the boat." + +Lucille nodded. + +"It is true," she answered. "That is why I came and stood by your +side. What do you want with me?" + +"Nothing, madam," he answered. "I am here altogether in your +interests. If you should want help I shall be somewhere near you +for the next few hours. Do not hesitate to appeal to me. My +mission here is to be your protector should you need one." + +Lucille's eyes grew bright, and her heart beat quickly. + +"Tell me," she said, "who sent you?" + +He smiled. + +"I think that you know," he answered. "One who I can assure you +will never allow you to suffer any harm. I have exceeded my +instructions in speaking to you, but I fancied that you were looking +worried. You need not. I can assure you that you need have no +cause." + +Her eyes filled with tears. + +"I knew," she said, "that those telegrams were forgeries." + +He looked carefully around. + +"I know nothing about any telegrams," he said, "but I am here to +see that no harm comes to you, and I promise you that it shall not. +Your friend is looking out of the cabin door. I think we may +congratulate ourselves, madam, on an excellent passage." + +Lady Carey disembarked, a complete wreck, leaning on the arm of her +maid, and with a bottle of smelling salts clutched in her hand. She +slept all the way in the train, and only woke up when they were +nearing Paris. She looked at Lucille in astonishment. + +"Why, what on earth have you been doing to yourself?" she exclaimed. +"You look disgustingly fit and well." + +Lucille laughed softly. + +"Why not? I have had a nap, and we are almost at Paris. I only +want a bath and a change of clothes to feel perfectly fresh." + +But Lady Carey was suspicious. + +"Have you seen any one you know upon the train?" she asked. + +Lucille shook her head. + +"Not a soul. A little man whom I spoke to on the steamer brought +me some coffee. That is all." + +Lady Carey yawned and shook out her skirts. "I suppose I'm getting +old," she said. "I couldn't look as you do with as much on my mind +as you must have, and after traveling all night too." + +Lucille laughed. + +"After all," she said, "you know that I am a professional optimist, +and I have faith in my luck. I have been thinking matters over +calmly, and, to tell you the truth, I am not in the least alarmed." + +Lady Carey looked at her curiously. + +"Has the optimism been imbibed," she asked, "or is it spontaneous?" + +Lucille smiled. + +"Unless the little man in the plaid mackintosh poured it into the +coffee with the milk," she said, "I could not possibly have imbibed +it, for I haven't spoken to another soul since we left." + +"Paris! Here we are, thank goodness. Celeste can see the things +through the customs. She is quite used to it. We are going to the +Ritz, I suppose!" + + +CHAPTER XLI + +At eight o'clock in the evening Lucille knocked at the door of +Lady Carey's suite of rooms at the hotel. There was no answer. +A chambermaid who was near came smiling up. + +"Miladi has, I think, descended for dinner," she said. + +Lucille looked at her watch. She saw that she was a few minutes +late, so she descended to the restaurant. The small table which +they had reserved was, however, still unoccupied. Lucille told the +waiter that she would wait for a few moments, and sent for an +English newspaper. + +Lady Carey did not appear. A quarter of an hour passed. The head +waiter came up with a benign smile. + +"Madam will please to be served?" he suggested, with a bow. + +"I am waiting for my friend Lady Carey," Lucille answered. "I +understood that she had come down. Perhaps you will send and see +if she is in the reading-room." + +"With much pleasure, madam," the man answered. + +In a few minutes he returned. + +"Madam's friend was the Lady Carey?" he asked. + +Lucille nodded. + +The man was gently troubled. + +"But, Miladi Carey," he said, "has left more than an hour ago." + +Lucille looked up, astonished. + +"Left the hotel?" she exclaimed. + +"But yes, madam," he exclaimed. "Miladi Carey left to catch the +boat train at Calais for England." + +"It is impossible," Lucille answered. "We only arrived at midday." + +"I will inquire again," the man declared. "But it was in the office +that they told me so." + +"They told you quite correctly," said a familiar voice. "I have +come to take her place. Countess, I trust that in me you will +recognise an efficient substitute." + +It was the Prince of Saxe Leinitzer who was calmly seating himself +opposite to her. The waiter, with the discretion of his class, +withdrew for a few paces and stood awaiting orders. Lucille looked +across at him in amazement. + +"You here?" she exclaimed, "and Muriel gone? What does this mean?" + +The Prince leaned forward. + +"It means," he said, "that after you left I was in torment. I felt +that you had no one with you who could be of assistance supposing +the worst happened. Muriel is all very well, but she is a woman, +and she has no diplomacy, no resource. I felt, Lucille, that I +should not be happy unless I myself saw you into safety." + +"So you followed us here," Lucille remarked quietly. + +"Exactly! You do not blame me. It was for your sake--as well as +my own." + +"And Muriel--why has she left me without farewell--without warning +of any sort?" + +The Prince smiled and stroked his fair moustache. + +"Well," he said, "it is rather an awkward thing for me to explain, +but to tell you the truth, Muriel was a little--more than a little +--annoyed at my coming. She has no right to be, but--well, you +know, she is what you call a monopolist. She and I have been +friends for many years." + +"I understand perfectly what you have wished to convey," Lucille +said. "But what I do not understand are the exact reasons which +brought you here." + +The Prince took up the carte de jour. + +"As we dine," he said, "I will tell you. You will permit me to +order?" + +Lucille rose to her feet. + +"For yourself, certainly," she answered. "As for me, I have +accepted no invitation to dine with you, nor do I propose to do so." + +The Prince frowned. + +"Be reasonable, Lucille," he pleaded. "I must talk with you. There +are important plans to be made. I have a great deal to say to you. +Sit down." + +Lucille looked across at him with a curious smile upon her lips. + +"You have a good deal to say to me?" she remarked. "Yes, I will +believe that. But of the truth how much, I wonder?" + +"By and bye," he said, "you will judge me differently. For hors +d'oeuvres what do you say to oeufs de pluvier? Then--" + +"Pardon me," she interrupted, "I am not interested in your dinner!" + +"In our dinner," he ventured gently. + +"I am not dining with you," she declared firmly. "If you insist +upon remaining here I shall have something served in my room. You +know quite well that we are certain to be recognised. One would +imagine that this was a deliberate attempt on your part to +compromise me." + +"Lucille," he said, "do not be foolish! Why do you persist in +treating me as though I were your persecutor?" + +"Because you are," she said coolly. + +"It is ridiculous," he declared. "You are in the most serious +danger, and I have come only to save you. I can do it, and I will. +But listen--not unless you change your demeanour towards me." + +She laughed scornfully. She had risen to her feet now, and he was +perforce compelled to follow her example. + +"Is that a challenge?" she asked. + +"You may take it as such if you will," he answered, with a note of +sullenness in his tone. "You know very well that I have but to +lift my finger and the gendarmes will be here. Yes, we will call +it a challenge. All my life I have wanted you. Now I think that +my time has come. Even Souspennier has deserted you. You are +alone, and let me tell you that danger is closer at your heels than +you know of. I can save you, and I will. But I have a price, and +it must be paid." + +"If I refuse?" she asked. + +"I send for the chief of the police." + +She looked him up and down, a measured, merciless survey. He was +a tall, big man, but he seemed to shrink into insignificance. + +"You are a coward and a bully," she said slowly. "You know quite +well that I am innocent of any knowledge even concerning Duson's +death. But I would sooner meet my fate, whatever it might be, than +suffer even the touch of your fingers upon my hand. Your presence +is hateful to me. Send for your chief of the police. String your +lies together as you will. I am satisfied." + +She left him and swept from the room, a spot of colour burning in +her cheeks, her eyes lit with fire. The pride of her race had +asserted itself. She felt no longer any fear. She only desired +to sever herself at once and completely from all association with +this man. In the hall she sent for her maid. + +"Fetch my cloak and jewel case, Celeste," she ordered. "I am going +across to the Bristol. You can return for the other luggage." + +"But, madam--" + +"Do as I say at once," Lucille ordered. + +The girl hesitated and then obeyed. Lucille found herself suddenly +addressed in a quiet tone by a man who had been sitting in an +easy-chair, half hidden by a palm tree. + +"Will you favour me, madam, with a moment's conversation?" + +Lucille turned round. She recognised at once the man with whom she +had conversed upon the steamer. In the quietest form of evening +dress, there was something noticeable in the man's very +insignificance. He seemed a little out of his element. Lucille +had a sudden inspiration, The man was a detective. + +"What do you wish to say?" she asked, half doubtfully. + +"I overheard," he remarked, "your order to your maid. She had +something to say to you, but you gave her no opportunity." + +"And you?" she asked, "what do you wish to say?" + +"I wish to advise you," he said, "not to leave the hotel." + +She looked at him doubtfully. + +"You cannot understand," she said, "why I wish to leave it. I +have no alternative." + +"Nevertheless," he said, "I hope that you will change your mind." + +"Are you a detective?" she asked abruptly. + +"Madam is correct!" + +The flush of colour faded from her cheeks. + +"I presume, then," she said, "that I am under your surveillance?" + +"In a sense," he admitted, "it is true." + +"On the steamer," she remarked, "you spoke as though your interest +in me was not inimical." + +"Nor is it," he answered promptly. "You are in a difficult position, +but you may find things not so bad as you imagine. At present my +advice to you is this: Go upstairs to your room and stay there." + +The little man had a compelling manner. Lucille made her way +towards the elevator. + +"As a matter of fact," she murmured bitterly, "I am not, I suppose, +permitted to leave the hotel?" + +"Madam puts the matter bluntly," he answered; "but certainly if +you should insist upon leaving, it would be my duty to follow you." + +She turned away from him and entered the elevator. The door of +her room was slightly ajar, and she saw that a waiter was busy at +a small round table. She looked at him in surprise. He was +arranging places for two. + +"Who gave you your orders?" she asked. + +"But it was monsieur," the man answered, with a low bow. "Dinner +for two." + +"Monsieur?" she repeated. "What monsieur?" + +"I am the culprit," a familiar voice answered from the depths of +an easy-chair, whose back was to her. "I was very hungry, and it +occurred to me that under the circumstances you would probably not +have dined either. I hope that you will like what I have ordered. +The plovers' eggs look delicious." + +She gave a little cry of joy. It was Mr. Sabin. + + +CHAPTER XLII + +The Prince dined carefully, but with less than his usual appetite. +Afterwards he lit a cigarette and strolled for a moment into the +lounge. Celeste, who was waiting for him, glided at once to his +side. + +"Monsieur!" she whispered. "I have been here for one hour." + +He nodded. + +"Well?" + +"Monsieur le Duc has arrived." + +The Prince turned sharply round. + +"Who?" + +"Monsieur le Duc de Souspennier. He calls himself no longer Mr. +Sabin." + +A dull flush of angry colour rose almost to his temples. + +"Why did you not tell me before?" he exclaimed. + +"Monsieur was in the restaurant," she answered. "It was impossible +for me to do anything but wait." + +"Where is he?" + +"Alas! he is with madam," the girl answered. + +The Prince was very profane. He started at once for the elevator. +In a moment or two he presented himself at Lucille's sitting-room. +They were still lingering over their dinner. Mr. Sabin welcomed +him with grave courtesy. + +"The Prince is in time to take his liqueur with us," he remarked, +rising. "Will you take fin champagne, Prince, or Chartreuse? I +recommend the fin champagne." + +The Prince bowed his thanks. He was white to the lips with the +effort for self-mastery. + +"I congratulate you, Mr. Sabin," he said, "upon your opportune +arrival. You will be able to help Lucille through the annoyance +to which I deeply regret that she should be subjected." + +Mr. Sabin gently raised his eyebrows. + +"Annoyance!" he repeated. "I fear that I do not quite understand." + +The Prince smiled. + +"Surely Lucille has told you," he said, "of the perilous position +in which she finds herself." + +"My wife," Mr. Sabin said, "has told me nothing. You alarm me." + +The Prince shrugged his shoulders. + +"I deeply regret to tell you," he said, "that the law has proved +too powerful for me. I can no longer stand between her and what +I fear may prove a most unpleasant episode. Lucille will be +arrested within the hour." + +"Upon what charge?" Mr. Sabin asked. + +"The murder of Duson." + +Mr. Sabin laughed very softly, very gently, but with obvious +genuineness. + +"You are joking, Prince," he exclaimed. + +"I regret to say," the Prince answered, "that you will find it very +far from a joking matter." + +Mr. Sabin was suddenly stern. + +"Prince of Saxe Leinitzer," he said, "you are a coward and a +bully." + +The Prince started forward with clenched fist. Mr. Sabin had no +weapon, but he did not flinch. + +"You can frighten women," he said, "with a bogie such as this, but +you have no longer a woman to deal with. You and I know that such +a charge is absurd--but you little know the danger to which you +expose yourself by trifling with this subject. Duson left a letter +addressed to me in which he announced his reasons for committing +suicide." + +"Suicide?" + +"Yes. He preferred suicide to murder, even at the bidding of the +Prince of Saxe Leinitzer. He wrote and explained these things to +me--and the letter is in safe hands. The arrest of Lucille, my +dear Prince, would mean the ruin of your amiable society." + +"This letter," the Prince said slowly, "why was it not produced at +the inquest? Where is it now?" + +"It is deposited in a sealed packet with the Earl of Deringham," +Mr. Sabin answered. "As to producing it at the inquest--I thought +it more discreet not to. I leave you to judge of my reasons. But +I can assure you that your fears for my wife's safety have been +wholly misplaced. There is not the slightest reason for her to +hurry off to America. We may take a little trip there presently, +but not just yet." + +The Prince made a mistake. He lost his temper. + +"You!" he cried, "you can go to America when you like, and stay +there. Europe has had enough of you with your hare-brained schemes +and foolish failures. But Lucille does not leave this country. We +have need of her. I forbid her to leave. Do you hear? In the name +of the Order I command her to remain here." + +Mr. Sabin was quite calm, but his face was full of terrible things. + +"Prince," he said, "if I by any chance numbered myself amongst your +friends I would warn you that you yourself are a traitor to your +Order. You prostitute a great cause when you stoop to use its +machinery to assist your own private vengeance. I ask you for your +own sake to consider your words. Lucille is mine--mine she will +remain, even though you should descend to something more despicable, +more cowardly than ordinary treason, to wrest her from me. You +reproach me with the failures of my life. Great they may have been, +but if you attempt this you will find that I am not yet an impotent +person." + +The Prince was white with rage. The sight of Lucille standing by +Mr. Sabin's side, her hand lightly resting upon his, her dark eyes +full of inscrutable tenderness, maddened him. He was flouted and +ignored. He was carried away by a storm of passion. He tore a +sheet of paper from his pocket book, and unlocking a small gold +case at the end of his watch chain, shook from it a pencil with +yellow crayon. Mr. Sabin leaned over towards him. + +"You sign it at your peril, Prince," he said. "It will mean worse +things than that for you." + +For a second he hesitated. Lucille also leaned towards him. + +"Prince," she said, "have I not kept my vows faithfully? Think! +I came from America at a moment's notice; I left my husband without +even a word of farewell; I entered upon a hateful task, and though +to think of it now makes me loathe myself--I succeeded. I have +kept my vows, I have done my duty. Be generous now, and let me go." + +The sound of her voice maddened him. A passionate, arbitrary man, +to whom nothing in life had been denied, to be baulked in this +great desire of his latter days was intolerable. He made no answer +to either of them. He wrote a few lines with the yellow crayon +and passed them silently across to Lucille. + +Her face blanched. She stretched out an unwilling hand. But Mr. +Sabin intervened. He took the paper from the Prince's hand, and +calmly tore it into fragments. There was a moment's breathless +silence. + +"Victor!" Lucille cried. "Oh, what have you done!" + +The Prince's face lightened with an evil joy. + +"We now, I think," he said, "understand one another. You will +permit me to wish you a very pleasant evening, and a speedy +leave-taking." + +Mr. Sabin smiled. + +"Many thanks, my dear Prince," he said lightly. "Make haste and +complete your charming little arrangements. Let me beg of you to +avoid bungling this time. Remember that there is not in the whole +of Europe to-day a man more dangerous to you than I." + +The Prince had departed. Mr. Sabin lit a cigarette and stood on +the hearthrug. His eyes were bright with the joy of fighting. + +"Lucille," he said, "I see that you have not touched your liqueur. +Oblige me by drinking it. You will find it excellent." + +She came over to him and hung upon his arm. He threw his cigarette +away and kissed her upon the lips. + +"Victor," she murmured, "I am afraid. You have been rash!" + +"Dearest," he answered, "it is better to die fighting than to stand +aside and watch evil things. But after all, there is no fear. Come! +Your cloak and dressing case!" + +"You have plans?" she exclaimed, springing up. + +"Plans?" He laughed at her a little reproachfully. "My dear +Lucille! A carriage awaits us outside, a special train with steam +up at the Gard de L'ouest. This is precisely the contingency for +which I have planned." + +"Oh, you are wonderful, Victor," she murmured as she drew on her +coat. "But what corner of the earth is there where we should be +safe?" + +"I am going," Mr. Sabin said, "to try and make every corner of the +earth safe." + +She was bewildered, but he only laughed and held open the door for +her. Mr. Sabin made no secret of his departure. He lingered for +a moment in the doorway to light a cigarette, he even stopped to +whisper a few words to the little man in plain dinner clothes who +was lounging in the doorway. But when they had once left the hotel +they drove fast. + +In less than half an hour Paris was behind them. They were +traveling in a royal saloon and at a fabuulous cost, for in France +they are not fond of special trains. But Mr. Sabin was very happy. +At least he had escaped an ignominious defeat. It was left to him +to play the great card. + +"And now," Lucille said, coming out from her little bed-chamber +which the femme de chambre was busy preparing, "suppose you tell +me where we are going." + +Mr. Sabin smiled. + +"Do not be alarmed," he said, "even though it will sound to you the +least likely place in the world. We are going to Berlin." + + +CHAPTER XLIII + +The great room was dimly enough lit, for the windows looking out +upon the street were high and heavily curtained, The man who sat +at the desk was almost in the shadow. Yet every now and then a +shaft of sunlight fell across his pale, worn face. A strange +combination this of the worker, the idealist, the man of affairs. +From outside came the hum of a great city. At times, too, there +came to his ears as he sat here the roar of nations at strife, +the fierce underneath battle of the great countries of the world +struggling for supremacy. And here at this cabinet this man sat +often, and listened, strenuous, romantic, with the heart of a lion +and the lofty imagination of an eagle, he steered unswervingly on +to her destiny a great people. Others might rest, but never he. + +He looked up from the letter spread out before him. Lucille was +seated at his command, a few yards away. Mr. Sabin stood +respectfully before him. + +"Monsieur le Duc," he said, "this letter, penned by my illustrious +father to you, is sufficient to secure my good offices. In what +manner can I serve you?" + +"Your Majesty," Mr. Sabin answered, "in the first place by +receiving me here. In the second by allowing me to lay before +you certain grave and very serious charges against the Order of +the Yellow Crayon, of which your Majesty is the titular head." + +"The Order of the Yellow Crayon," the Emperor said thoughtfully, +"is society composed of aristocrats pledged to resist the march of +socialism. It is true that I am the titular head of this +organisation. What have you to say about it?" + +"Only that your Majesty has been wholly deceived," Mr. Sabin said +respectfully, "concerning the methods and the working of this +society. Its inception and inauguration were above reproach. I +myself at once became a member. My wife, Countess of Radantz, and +sole representative of that ancient family, has been one all her +life." + +The Emperor inclined his head towards Lucille. + +"I see no reason," he said, "when our capitals are riddled with +secret societies, all banded together against us, why the great +families of Europe should not in their turn come together and +display a united front against this common enemy. The Order of +the Yellow Crayon has had more than my support. It has had the +sanction of my name. Tell me what you have against it." + +"I have grave things to say concerning it," Mr. Sahin answered, +"and concerning those who have wilfully deceived your Majesty. +The influences to be wielded by the society were mainly, I believe, +wealth, education, and influence. There was no mention made of +murder, of an underground alliance with the 'gamins' of Paris, the +dregs of humanity, prisoners, men skilled in the art of secret +death." + +The Emperor's tone was stern, almost harsh. + +"Duc de Souspennier, what are these things which you are saying?" +he asked. + +"Your Majesty, I speak the truth," Mr. Sabin answered firmly. +"There are in the Order of the Yellow Crayon three degrees of +membership. The first, which alone your Majesty knows of, simply +corresponds with what in England is known as the Primrose League. +The second knows that beneath is another organisation pledged to +frustrate the advance of socialism, if necessary by the use of +their own weapons. The third, whose meetings and signs and whose +whole organisation is carried on secretly, is allied in every +capital in Europe with criminals and murderers. With its great +wealth it has influence in America as well as in every city of +the world where there are police to be suborned, or desperate men +to be bought for tools. At the direction of this third order +Lavinski died suddenly in the Hungarian House of Parliament, Herr +Krettingen was involved in a duel, the result of which was assured +beforehand, and Reginald Brott, the great English statesman, was +ruined and disgraced. I myself have just narrowly escaped death +at his hands, and in my place my servant has been driven to death. +Of all these things, your Majesty, I have brought proofs." + +The Emperor's face was like a carven image, but his tone was cold +and terrible. + +"If these things have been sanctioned," he said, "by those who are +responsible for my having become the head of the Order; they shall +feel my vengeance." + +"Your Majesty," Mr. Sabin said earnestly, "a chance disclosure, and +all might come to light. I myself could blazon the story through +Europe. Those who are responsible for the third degree of the Order +of the Yellow Crayon, and for your Majesty's ignorance concerning +its existence, have trifled with the destiny of the greatest +sovereign of modern times." + +"The Prince of Saxe Leinitzer," the Emperor said, "is the acting +head of the Order." + +"The Prince of Saxe Leinitzer," Mr. Sabin said firmly, "is +responsible for the existence of the third degree. It is he who +has connected the society with a system of corrupt police or +desperate criminals in every great city. It is the Prince of Saxe +Leinitzer, your Majesty, and his horde of murderers from whom I +have come to seek your Majesty's protection. I have yet another +charge to make against him. He has made, and is making still, use +of the society to further his own private intrigues. In the name +of the Order he brought my wife from America. She faithfully +carried out the instructions of the Council. She brought about +the ruin of Reginald Brott. By the rules of the society she was +free then to return to her home. The Prince, who had been her +suitor, declined to let her go. My life was attempted. The story +of the Prince's treason is here, with the necessary proofs. I +know that orders have been given to the hired murderers of the +society for my assassination. My life even here is probably an +uncertain thing. But I have told your Majesty the truth, and the +papers which I have brought with me contain proof of my words." + +The Emperor struck a bell and gave a few orders to the young officer +who immediately answered it. Then he turned again to Mr. Sabin. + +"I have summoned Saxe Leinitzer to Berlin," he said. "These matters +shall be gone into most thoroughly. In the meantime what can I do +for you?" + +"We will await the coming of the Prince," Mr. Sabin answered grimly. + + * * * * * + +Lady Carey passed from her bath-room into a luxurious little +dressing-room. Her letters and coffee were on a small table near +the fire, an easy-chair was drawn up to the hearthrug. She fastened +the girdle of her dressing-gown, and dismissed her maid. + +"I will ring for you in half an hour, Annette," she said. "See that +I am not disturbed." + +On her way to the fireplace she paused for a moment in front of a +tall looking-glass, and looked steadily at her own reflection. + +"I suppose," she murmured to herself, "that I am looking at my best +now. I slept well last night, and a bath gives one colour, and +white is so becoming. Still, I don't know why I failed. She may +be a little better looking, but my figure is as good. I can talk +better, I have learnt how to keep a man from feeling dull, and there +is my reputation. Because I played at war correspondence, wore a +man's clothes, and didn't shriek when I was under fire, people have +chosen to make a heroine of me. That should have counted for +something with him--and it didn't. I could have taken my choice +of any man in London--and I wanted him. And I have failed!" + +She threw herself back in her easy-chair and laughed softly. + +"Failed! What an ugly word! He is old, and he limps, and I--well, +I was never a very bashful person. He was beautifully polite, but +he wouldn't have anything to say to me." + +She began to tear open her letters savagely. + +"Well, it is over. If ever anybody speaks to me about it I think +that I shall kill them. That fool Saxe Leinitzer will stroke his +beastly moustache, and smile at me out of the corners of his eyes. +The Dorset woman, too--bah, I shall go away. What is it, Annette?" + +"His Highness the Prince of Saxe Leinitzer has called, milady." + +"Called! Does he regard this as a call?" she exclaimed, glancing +towards the clock. "Tell him, Annette, that your mistress does not +receive at such an hour. Be quick, child. Of course I know that +he gave you a sovereign to persuade me that it was important, but I +won't see him, so be off." + +"But yes, milady," Annette answered, and disappeared. + +Lady Carey sipped her coffee. + +"I think," she said reflectively, "that it must be Melton." + +Annette reappeared. + +"Milady," she exclaimed, "His Highness insisted upon my bringing +you this card. He was so strange in his manner, milady, that I +thought it best to obey." + +Lady Carey stretched out her hand. A few words were scribbled on +the back of his visiting card in yellow crayon. She glanced at it, +tore the card up, and threw the pieces into the fire. + +"My shoes and stockings, Annette," she said, "and just a morning +wrap--anything will do." + +The Prince was walking restlessly up and down the room, when Lady +Carey entered. He welcomed her with a little cry of relief. + +"Heavens!" he exclaimed. "I thought that you were never coming." + +"I was in no hurry," she answered calmly. "I could guess your news, +so I had not even the spur of curiosity." + +He stopped short. + +"You have heard nothing! It is not possible?" + +She shrugged her shoulders. + +"No, but I know you, and I know him. I am quite prepared to hear +that you are outwitted. Indeed, to judge from your appearance +there can be no doubt about it. Remember I warned you." + +The Prince was pale with fury. + +"No one could foresee this," he exclaimed. "He has walked into the +lion's den." + +"Then," Lady Carey said, "I am quite prepared to hear that he tamed +the lion." + +"If there was one person living whom I could have sworn that this +man dared not visit, it was our Emperor," the Prince said. "It is +only a few years since, through this man's intrigues, Germany was +shamed before the world." + +"And yet," Lady Carey said sweetly, "the Emperor has received him." + +"I have private intelligence from Berlin," Saxe Leinitzer answered. +"Mr. Sabin was in possession of a letter written to him by the +Emperor Frederick, thanking him for some service or other; and the +letter was a talisman." + +"How like him," Lady Carey murmured, "to have the letter." + +"What a pity," the Prince sneered, "that such devotion should remain +unrewarded." + +Lady Carey sighed. + +"He has broken my heart," she replied. + +The Prince threw out his hands. + +"You and I," he cried, "why do we behave like children! Let us +start afresh. Listen! The Emperor has summoned me to Berlin." + +"Dear me," Lady Carey murmured. "I am afraid you will have a most +unpleasant visit." + +"I dare not go," the Prince said slowly. "It was I who induced +the Emperor to become the titular head of this cursed Order. Of +course he knew nothing about the second or third degree members and +our methods. Without doubt he is fully informed now. I dare not +face him." + +"What shall you do?" Lady Carey asked curiously. + +"I am off to South America," he said. "It is a great undeveloped +country, and there is room for us to move there. Muriel, you know +what I want of you." + +"My good man," she answered, "I haven't the faintest idea." + +"You will come with me," he begged. "You will not send me into +exile so lonely, a wanderer! Together there may be a great future +before us. You have ambition, you love intrigue, excitement, danger. +None of these can you find here. You shall come with me. You shall +not say no. Have I not been your devoted slave? Have--" + +She stopped him. Her lips were parted in a smile of good-natured +scorn. + +"Don't be absurd, Saxe Leinitzer. It is true that I love intrigue, +excitement and danger. That is what made me join your Order, and +really I have had quite a little excitement out of it, for which +I suppose I ought to thank you. But as for the rest, why, you are +talking rubbish. I would go to South America to-morrow with the +right man, but with you, why, it won't bear talking about. It makes +me angry to think that you should believe me capable of such shocking +taste as to dream of going away with you." + +He flung himself from the room. Lady Carey went back to her coffee +and letters. She sent for Annette. + +"Annette," she directed, "we shall go to Melton to-morrow. Wire +Haggis to have the Lodge in order, and carriages to meet the midday +train. I daresay I shall take a few people down with me. Let +George go around to Tattershalls at once and make an appointment +for me there at three o'clock this afternoon. Look out my habits +and boots, too, Annette." + +Lady Carey leaned back in her chair for a moment with half-closed +eyes. + +"I think," she murmured, "that some of us in our youth must have +drunk from some poisoned cup, something which turned our blood into +quicksilver. I must live, or I must die. I must have excitement +every hour, every second, or break down. There are others too +--many others. No wonder that that idiot of a man in Harley +Street talked to me gravely about my heart. No excitement. A +quiet life! Bah! Such wishy-washy coffee and only one cigarette." + +She lit it and stood up on the hearthrug. Her eyes were half +closed, every vestige of colour had left her cheeks, her hand was +pressed hard to her side. For a few minutes she seemed to struggle +for breath. Then with a little lurch as though still giddy, she +stooped, and picking up her fallen cigarette, thrust it defiantly +between her teeth. + +"Not this way," she muttered. "From a horse's back if I can with +the air rushing by, and the hot joy of it in one's heart ... Only +I hope it won't hurt the poor old gee ... Come in, Annette. What +a time you've been, child." + +****** + +The Emperor sent for Mr. Sabin. He declined to recognise his +incognito. + +"Monsieur le Duc," he said, "if proof of your story were needed +it is here. The Prince of Saxe Leinitzer has ignored my summons. +He has fled to South America." + +Mr. Sabin bowed. + +"A most interesting country," he murmured, "for the Prince." + +"You yourself are free to go when and where you will. You need no +longer have any fears. The Order does not exist. I have crushed it." + +Mr. Sabin bowed. + +"Your Majesty," he said, "has shown exemplary wisdom." + +"From its inception," the Emperor said, "I believe that the idea was +a mistaken one. I must confess that its originality pleased me; my +calmer reflections, however, show me that I was wrong. It is not +for the nobles of the earth to copy the methods of socialists and +anarchists. These men are a pest upon humanity, but they may have +their good uses. They may help us to govern alertly, vigorously, +always with our eyes and ears strained to catch the signs of the +changing times. Monsieur le Duc, should you decide to take up your +residence in this country I shall at all times be glad to receive +you. But your future is entirely your own." + +Mr. Sabin accepted his dismissal from audience, and went back to +Lucille. + +"The Prince," he told her, "has gone--to South America. The Order +does not exist any longer. Will you dine in Vienna, or in +Frankfort?" + +She held out her arms. + +"You wonderful man!" she cried. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg Etext The Yellow Crayon, E. Phillips Oppenheim + |