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diff --git a/old/jnmsh10.txt b/old/jnmsh10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..842e8dc --- /dev/null +++ b/old/jnmsh10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10593 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Jeanne Of The Marshes, by E. Phillips Oppenheim +#11 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 distributing this or any other +Project Gutenberg file. + +We encourage you to keep this file, exactly as it is, on your +own disk, thereby keeping an electronic path open for future +readers. Please do not remove this. + +This header should be the first thing seen when anyone starts to +view the etext. 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Eyebrows and hands betrayed +alike both her agitation of mind and her nationality. + +"Madame," she said, "did I not say so to monsieur? I begged him to +call again. I told him that madame was lying down with a bad +headache, and that it was as much as my place was worth to disturb +her. What did he answer? Only this. That it would be as much as my +place was worth if I did not come up and tell you that he was here +to see you on a very urgent matter. Indeed, madame, he was very, +very impatient with me." + +"Of whom are you talking?" the Princess asked. + +"But of Major Forrest, madame," Annette declared. "It is he who +waits below." + +The Princess closed her eyes for a moment and then slowly opened +them. She stretched out her hand, and from a table by her side took +up a small gilt mirror. + +"Turn on the lights, Annette," she commanded. + +The maid illuminated the darkened room. The Princess gazed at +herself in the mirror, and reaching out again took a small powder- +puff from its case and gently dabbed her face. Then she laid both +mirror and powder-puff back in their places. + +"You will tell monsieur," she said, "that I am very unwell indeed, +but that since he is here and his business is urgent I will see him. +Turn out the lights, Annette. I am not fit to be seen. And move my +couch a little, so." + +"Madame is only a little pale," the maid said reassuringly. "That +makes nothing. These Englishwomen have all too much colour. I go to +tell monsieur." + +She disappeared, and the Princess lay still upon her couch, +thinking. Soon she heard steps outside, and with a little sigh she +turned her head toward the door. The man who entered was tall, and +of the ordinary type of well-born Englishmen. He was carefully +dressed, and his somewhat scanty hair was arranged to the best +advantage. His features were hard and lifeless. His eyes were just a +shade too close together. The maid ushered him in and withdrew at +once. + +"Come and sit by my side, Nigel, if you want to talk to me," the +Princess said. "Walk softly, please. I really have a headache." + +"No wonder, in this close room," the man muttered, a little +ungraciously. "It smells as though you had been burning incense +here." + +"It suits me," the Princess answered calmly, "and it happens to be +my room. Bring that chair up here and say what you have to say." + +The man obeyed in silence. When he had made himself quite +comfortable, he raised her hand, the one which was nearest to him, +to his lips, and afterwards retained it in his own. + +"Forgive me if I seem unsympathetic, Ena," he said. "The fact is, +everything has been getting on my nerves for the last few days, and +my luck seems dead out." + +She looked at him curiously. She was past middle age, and her face +showed signs of the wear and tear of life. But she still had fine +eyes, and the rejuvenating arts of Bond Street had done their best +for her. + +"What is the matter, Nigel?" she asked. "Have the cards been going +against you?" + +He frowned and hesitated for a moment before replying. + +"Ena," he said, "between us two there is an ancient bargain, and +that is that we should tell the truth to one another. I will tell +you what it is that is worrying me most. I have suspected it for +some time, but this afternoon it was absolutely obvious. There is a +sort of feeling at the club. I can't exactly describe it, but I am +conscious of it directly I come into the room. For several days I +have scarcely been able to get a rubber. This afternoon, when I cut +in with Harewood and Mildmay and another fellow, two of them made +some sort of an excuse and went off. I pretended not to notice it, +of course, but there it was. The thing was apparent, and it is the +very devil!" + +Again she looked at him closely. + +"There is nothing tangible?" she asked. "No complaint, or scandal, +or anything of that sort?" + +He rejected the suggestion with scorn. + +"No!" he said. "I am not such an idiot as that. All the same there +is the feeling. They don't care to play bridge with me. There is +only young Engleton who takes my part, and so far as playing bridge +for money is concerned, he would be worth the whole lot put together +if only I could get him away from them--make up a little party +somewhere, and have him to myself for a week or two." + +The Princess was thoughtful. + +"To go abroad at this time of the year," she remarked, "is almost +impossible. Besides, you have only just come back." + +"Absolutely impossible," he answered. "Besides, I shouldn't care to +do it just now. It looks like running away. A week or so ago you +were talking of taking a villa down the river. I wondered whether +you had thought any more of it." + +The Princess shook her head. + +"I dare not," she answered. "I have gone already further than I +meant to. This house and the servants and carriages are costing me a +small fortune. I dare not even look at my bills. Another house is +not to be thought of." + +Major Forrest looked gloomily at the shining tip of his patent boot. + +"It's jolly hard luck," he muttered. "A quiet place somewhere in the +country, with Engleton and you and myself, and another one or two, +and I should be able to pull through. As it is, I feel inclined to +chuck it all." + +The Princess looked at him curiously. He was certainly more than +ordinarily pale, and the hand which rested upon the side of his +chair was twitching a little nervously. + +"My dear Nigel," she said, "do go to the chiffonier there and help +yourself to a drink. I hate to see you white to the lips, and +trembling as though death itself were at your elbow. Borrow a little +false courage, if you lack the real thing." + +The man obeyed her suggestion with scarcely a protest. + +"I had hoped, Ena," he remarked a little peevishly, "to have found +you more sympathetic." + +"You are so sorry for yourself," she answered, "that you seem +scarcely to need my sympathy. However, sit down and talk to me +reasonably." + +"I talk reasonably enough," he answered, "but I really am hard up +against it. Don't think I have come begging. I know you've done all +you can, and it's a matter with me now of more than a few hundreds. +My only hope is Engleton. Can't you suggest anything?" + +The Princess rested her head slightly upon the long slender fingers +of her right hand. Bond Street had taken care of her complexion, but +the veins in her hand were blue, and art had no means of concealing +a certain sharpness of features and the thin lines about the eyes, +nameless suggestions of middle age. Yet she was still a handsome +woman. She knew how to dress, and how to make the best of herself. +She had the foreigner's instinct for clothes, and her figure was +still irreproachable. She sat and looked with a sort of calculating +interest at the man who for years had come as near touching her +heart as any of his sex. Curiously enough she knew that this new +aspect in which he now presented himself, this incipient cowardice-- +the first-fruits of weakening nerves--did not and could not affect +her feelings for him. She saw him now almost for the first time with +the mask dropped, no longer cold, cynical and calculating, but a man +moved to his shallow depths by what might well seem to him, a +dweller in the narrow ways of life, as a tragedy. It looked at her +out of his grey eyes. It showed itself in the twitching of his lips. +For many years he had lived upon a little less than nothing a year. +Now for the first time his means of livelihood were threatened. His +long-suffering acquaintances had left him alone at the card-table. + +"You disappoint me, Nigel," she said. "I hate to see a man weaken. +There is nothing against you. Don't act as though there could be. As +to this little house-party you were speaking of, I only wish I could +think of something to help you. By the by, what are you doing to- +night?" + +"Nothing," he answered, "except that Engleton is expecting me to +dine with him." + +"I have an idea," the Princess said slowly. "It may not come to +anything, but it is worth trying. Have you met my new admirer, Mr. +Cecil de la Borne?" + +Forrest shook his head. + +"Do you mean a dandified-looking boy whom you were driving with in +the Park yesterday?" + +The Princess nodded. + +"We met him a week or so ago," she answered, "and he has been very +attentive. He has a country place down in Norfolk, which from his +description is, I should think, like a castle in Hermitland. Jeanne +and I are dining with him to-night at the Savoy. You and Engleton +must come, too. I can arrange it. It is just possible that we may be +able to manage something. He told me yesterday that he was going +back to Norfolk very soon. I fancy that he has a brother who keeps +rather a strict watch over him, and he is not allowed to stay up in +town very long at a time." + +"I know the name," Forrest remarked. "They are a very old Roman +Catholic family. We'll come and dine, if you say that you can +arrange it. But I don't see how we can all hope to get an invitation +out of him on such a short acquaintance." + +The Princess was looking thoughtful. + +"Leave it to me," she said. "I have an idea. Be at the Savoy at a +quarter past eight, and bring Lord Ronald." + +Forrest took up his hat. He looked at the Princess with something +very much like admiration in his face. For years he had dominated +this woman. To-day, for the first time, she had had the upper hand. + +"We will be there all right," he said. "Engleton will only be too +glad to be where Jeanne is. I suppose young De la Borne is the same +way." + +The Princess sighed. + +"Every one," she remarked, "is so shockingly mercenary!" + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +The Princess helped herself to a salted almond and took her first +sip of champagne. The almonds were crisp and the champagne dry. She +was wearing a new and most successful dinner-gown of black velvet, +and she was quite sure that in the subdued light no one could tell +that the pearls in the collar around her neck were imitation. Her +afternoon's indisposition was quite forgotten. She nodded at her +host approvingly. + +"Cecil," she said, "it is really very good of you to take in my two +friends like this. Major Forrest has just arrived from Ostend, and I +was very anxious to hear about the people I know there, and the +frocks, and all the rest of it. Lord Ronald always amuses me, too. I +suppose most people would call him foolish, but to me he only seems +very, very young." + +The young man who was host raised his glass and bowed towards the +Princess. + +"I can assure you," he said, "that it has given me a great deal of +pleasure to make the acquaintance of Major Forrest and Lord Ronald, +but it has given me more pleasure still to be able to do anything +for you. You know that." + +She looked at him quickly, and down at her plate. Such glances had +become almost a habit with her, but they were still effectual. Cecil +de la Borne leaned across towards Forrest. + +"I hear that you have been to Ostend lately, Major Forrest," he +said. "I thought of going over myself a little later in the season +for a few days." + +"I wouldn't if I were you," Forrest answered. "It is overrun just +now with the wrong sort of people. There is nothing to do but +gamble, which doesn't interest me particularly; or dress in a +ridiculous costume and paddle about in a few feet of water, which +appeals to me even less." + +"You were there a little early in the season," the Princess reminded +him. + +Major Forrest assented. + +"A little later," he admitted, "it may be tolerable. On the whole, +however, I was disappointed." + +Lord Ronald spoke for the first time. He was very thin, very long, +and very tall. He wore a somewhat unusually high collar, but he was +very carefully, not to say exactly, dressed. His studs and links and +waistcoat buttons were obviously fresh from the Rue de la Paix. The +set of his tie was perfection. His features were not unintelligent, +but his mouth was weak. + +"One thing I noticed about Ostend," he remarked, "they charge you a +frightful price for everything. We never got a glass of champagne +there like this." + +"I am glad you like it," their host said. "From what you say I don't +imagine that I should care for Ostend. I am not rich enough to +gamble, and as I have lived by the sea all my days, bathing does not +attract me particularly. I think I shall stay at home." "By the by, +where is your home, Mr. De la Borne?" the Princess asked. "You told +me once, but I have forgotten. Some of your English names are so +queer that I cannot even pronounce them, much more remember them." + +"I live in a very small village in Norfolk, called Salthouse," Cecil +de la Borne answered. "It is quite close to a small market-town +called Wells, if you know where that is. I don't suppose you do, +though," he added. "It is an out-of-the-way corner of the world." + +The Princess shook her head. + +"I never heard of it," she said. "I am going to motor through +Norfolk soon, though, and I think that I shall call upon you." + +Cecil de la Borne looked up eagerly. + +"I wish you would," he begged, "and bring your step-daughter. You +can't imagine," he added, with a glance at the girl who was sitting +at his left hand, "how much pleasure it would give me. The roads are +really not bad, and every one admits that the country is +delightful." + +"You had better be careful," the Princess said, "or we may take you +at your word. I warn you, though, that it would be a regular +invasion. Major Forrest and Lord Ronald are talking about coming +with us." + +"It's just an idea," Forrest remarked carelessly. "I wouldn't mind +it myself, but I don't fancy we should get Engleton away from town +before Goodwood." + +"Well, I like that," Engleton remarked. "Forrest's a lot keener on +these social functions than I am. As a matter of fact I am for the +tour, on one condition." + +"And that?" the Princess asked. + +"That you come in my car," Lord Ronald answered. "I haven't really +had a chance to try it yet, but it's a sixty horse Mercedes, and +it's fitted up for touring. Take the lot of us easy, luggage and +everything." + +"I think it would be perfectly delightful," the Princess declared. +"Do you really mean it?" + +"Of course I do," Lord Ronald answered. "It's too hot for town, and +I'm rather great on rusticating, myself." + +"I think this is charming," the Princess declared. "Here we have one +of our friends with a car and another with a house. But seriously, +Cecil, we mustn't think of coming to you. There would be too many of +us." + +"The more the better," Cecil said eagerly. "If you really want to +attempt anything in the shape of a rest-cure, I can recommend my +home thoroughly. I am afraid," he added, with a shrug of the +shoulders, "that I cannot recommend it for anything else." + +"A rest," the Princess declared, "is exactly what we want. Life here +is becoming altogether too strenuous. We started the season a little +early. I am perfectly certain that we could not possibly last till +the end. Until I arrived in London with an heiress under my charge, +I had no idea that I was such a popular person." + +The girl who was sitting on the other side of their host spoke +almost for the first time. She was evidently quite young, and her +pale cheeks, dark full eyes, and occasional gestures, indicated +clearly enough something foreign in her nationality. She addressed +no one in particular, but she looked toward Forrest. + +"That is one of the things," she said, "which puzzles me. I do not +understand it at all. It seems as though every one is liked or +disliked, here in London at any rate, according to the amount of +money they have." + +"Upon my word, Miss Jeanne, it isn't so with every one," Lord Ronald +interposed hastily. + +She glanced at him indifferently. + +"There may be exceptions," she said. "I am speaking of the great +number." + +"For Heaven's sake, child, don't be cynical!" the Princess remarked. +"There is no worse pose for a child of your age." + +"It is not a pose at all," Jeanne answered calmly. "I do not want to +be cynical, and I do not want to have unkind thoughts. But tell me, +Lord Ronald, honestly, do you think that every one would have been +as kind to a girl just out of boarding-school as they have been to +me if it were not that I have so much money?" + +"I cannot tell about others," Lord Ronald answered. "I can only +answer for myself." + +His last words were almost whispered in the girl's ears, but she +only shrugged her shoulders and did not return his gaze. Their host, +who had been watching them, frowned slightly. He was beginning to +think that Engleton was scarcely as pleasant a fellow as he had +thought him. + +"Well," he said, "Miss Le Mesurier will find out in time who are +really her friends." + +"It is a safe plan," Major Forrest remarked, "and a pleasant one, to +believe in everybody until they want something from you. Then is the +time for distrust." + +Jeanne sighed. + +"And by that time, perhaps," she said, "one's affections are +hopelessly engaged. I think that it is a very difficult world." + +The Princess shrugged her shoulders. + +"Three months," she remarked, "is not a long time. Wait, my dear +child, until you have at least lived through a single season before +you commit yourself to any final opinions." + +Their host intervened. He was beginning to find the conversation +dull. He was far more interested in another matter. + +"Let us talk about that visit," he said to the Princess. "I do wish +that you could make up your mind to come. Of course, I haven't any +amusements to offer you, but you could rest as thoroughly as you +like. They say that the air is the finest in England. There is +always bridge, you know, for the evenings, and if Miss Jeanne likes +bathing, my gardens go down to the beach." + +"It sounds delightful," the Princess said, "and exactly what we +want. We have a good many invitations, but I have not cared to +accept any of them, for I do not think that Jeanne would care much +for the life at an ordinary country house. I myself," she continued, +with perfect truth, "am not squeamish, but the last house-party I +was at was certainly not the place for a very young girl." + +"Make up your mind, then, and say yes," Cecil de la Borne pleaded. + +"You shall hear from us within the next few days," the Princess +answered. "I really believe that we shall come." + +The little party left the restaurant a few minutes later on their +way into the foyer for coffee. The Princess contrived to pass out +with Forrest as her companion. + +"I think," she said under her breath, "that this is the best +opportunity you could possibly have. We shall be quite alone down +there, and perhaps it would be as well that you were out of London +for a few weeks. If it does not come to anything we can easily make +an excuse to get away." + +Forrest nodded. + +"But who is this young man, De la Borne?" he asked. "I don't mean +that. I know who he is, of course, but why should he invite perfect +strangers to stay with him?" + +The Princess smiled faintly. + +"Can't you see," she answered, "that he is simply a silly boy? He is +only twenty-four years old, and I think that he cannot have seen +much of the world. He told me that he had just been abroad for the +first time. He fancies that he is a little in love with me, and he +is dazzled, of course, by the idea of Jeanne's fortune. He wants to +play the host to us. Let him. I should be glad enough to get away +for a few weeks, if only to escape from these pestering letters. I +do think that one's tradespeople might let one alone until the end +of the season." + +Forrest, who was feeling a good deal braver since dinner, on the +whole favoured the idea. + +"I do not see," he remarked, "why it should not work out very well +indeed. There will be nothing to do in the evenings except to play +bridge, and no one to interfere." + +"Besides which," the Princess remarked, "you will be out of London +for a few weeks, and I dare say that if you keep away from the clubs +for a time and lose a few rubbers when you get back your little +trouble may blow over." + +"I suppose," Forrest remarked thoughtfully, "this young De la Borne +has no people living with him, guardians, or that sort of thing?" + +"No one of any account," the Princess answered. "His father and +mother are both dead. I am afraid, though, he will not be of any use +to you, for from what I can hear he is quite poor. However, Engleton +ought to be quite enough if we can keep him in the humour for +playing." + +"Ask him a few more questions about the place," Forrest said. "If it +seems all right, I should like to start as soon as possible." + +They had their coffee at a little table in the foyer, which was +already crowded with people. Their conversation was often +interrupted by the salutations of passing acquaintances. Jeanne +alone looked about her with any interest. To the others, this sort +of thing--the music of the red-coated band, the flowers, and the +passing throngs of people, the handsomest and the weariest crowd in +the world--were only part of the treadmill of life. + +"By the by, Mr. De la Borne," the Princess asked, "how much longer +are you going to stay in London?" + +"I must go back to-morrow or the next day," the young man answered, +a little gloomily. "I sha'n't mind it half so much if you people +only make up your minds to pay me that visit." + +The Princess motioned to him to draw his chair a little nearer to +hers. + +"If we take this tour at all," she remarked, "I should like to start +the day after to-morrow. There is a perfectly hideous function on +Thursday which I should so like to miss, and the stupidest dinner- +party on earth at night. Should you be home by then, do you think?" + +"If there were any chance of your coming at all," the young man +answered eagerly, "I should leave by the first train to-morrow +morning." + +"I think," the Princess declared softly, "that we will come. Don't +think me rude if I say that we could not possibly be more bored than +we are in London. I do not want to take Jeanne to any of the country +house-parties we have been invited to. You know why. She really is +such a child, and I am afraid that if she gets any wrong ideas about +things she may want to go back to the convent. She has hinted at it +more than once already." + +"There will be nothing of that sort at Salt-house," Cecil de la +Borne declared eagerly. "You see, I sha'n't have any guests at all +except just yourselves. Don't you think that would be best?" + +"I do, indeed," the Princess assented, "and mind, you are not to +make any special preparations for us. For my part, I simply want a +little rest before we go abroad again, and we really want to come to +you feeling the same way that one leaves one's home for lodgings in +a farmhouse. You will understand this, won't you, Cecil?" she added +earnestly, laying her fingers upon his arm, "or we shall not come." + +"It shall be just as you say," he answered. "As a matter of fact the +Red Hall is little more than a large farmhouse, and there is very +little preparation which I could make for you in a day or a day and +a half. You shall come and see how a poor English countryman lives, +whose lands and income have shrivelled up together. If you are dull +you will not blame me, I know, for all that you have to do is to go +away." + +The Princess rose and put out her hand. + +"It is settled, then," she declared. "Thank you, dear Mr. Host, for +your very delightful dinner. Jeanne and I have to go on to +Harlingham House for an hour or two, the last of these terrible +entertainments, I am glad to say. Do send me a note round in the +morning, with the exact name of your house, and some idea of the +road we must follow, so that we do not get lost. I suppose you two," +she added, turning to Forrest and Lord Ronald, "will not mind +starting a day or two before we had planned?" + +"Not in the least," they assured her. + +"And Miss Le Mesurier?" Cecil de la Borne asked. "Will she really +not mind giving up some of these wonderful entertainments?" + +Jeanne smiled upon him brilliantly. It was a smile which came so +seldom, and which, when it did come, transformed her face so +utterly, that she seemed like a different person. + +"I shall be very glad, indeed," she said, "to leave London. I am +looking forward so much to seeing what the English country is like." + +"It will make me very happy," Cecil de la Borne said, bowing over +her hand, "to try and show you." + +Her eyes seemed to pass through him, to look out of the crowded +room, as though indeed they had found their way into some corner of +the world where the things which make life lie. It was a lapse from +which she recovered almost immediately, but when she looked at him, +and with a little farewell nod withdrew her hand, the transforming +gleam had passed away. + +"And there is the sea, too," she remarked, looking backwards as they +passed out. "I am longing to see that again." + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +Perhaps there was never a moment in the lives of these two men when +their utter and radical dissimilarity, physically as well as in the +larger ways, was more strikingly and absolutely manifest. Like a +great sea animal, huge, black-bearded, bronzed, magnificent, but +uncouth, Andrew de la Borne, in the oilskins and overalls of a +village fisherman, stood in the great bare hall in front of the open +fireplace, reckless of his drippings, at first only mildly amused by +the half cynical, half angry survey of the very elegant young man +who had just descended the splendid oak staircase, with its finely +carved balustrade, black and worm-eaten, Cecil de la Borne stared at +his brother with the angry disgust of one whose sense of all that is +holiest stands outraged. Slim, of graceful though somewhat +undersized figure, he was conscious of having attained perfection in +matters which he reckoned of no small importance. His grey tweed +suit fitted him like a glove, his tie was a perfect blend between +the colour of his eyes and his clothes, his shoes were of immaculate +shape and polish, his socks had been selected with care in the Rue +de la Paix. His hair was brushed until it shone with the proper +amount of polish, his nails were perfectly manicured, even his +cigarette came from the dealer whose wares were the caprice of the +moment. That his complexion was pallid and that underneath his eyes +were faint blue lines, which were certainly not the hall-marks of +robust health, disturbed him not at all. These things were correct. +Health was by no means a desideratum in the set to which he was +striving to belong. He looked through his eyeglass at his brother +and groaned. + +"Really, Andrew," he said calmly, but with an undernote of anger +trembling in his tone, "I am surprised to see you like this! You +might, I think, have had a little more consideration. Can't you +realize what a sight you are, and what a mess you're making!" + +Andrew took off his cap and shook it, so that a little shower of +salt water splashed on to the polished floor. + +"Never mind, Cecil," he said good-humouredly. "You've all the +deportment that's necessary in this family. And salt water doesn't +stain. These boards have been washed with it many a time." + +The young man's face lost none of his irritation. + +"But what on earth have you been doing?" he exclaimed. "Where have +you been to get in a state like that?" + +Andrew's face was suddenly overcast. It did not please him to think +of those last few hours. + +"I had to go out to bring a mad woman home," he said. "Kate Caynsard +was out in her catboat a day like this. It was suicide if I hadn't +reached her in time." + +"You--did reach her in time?" the young man asked quickly. + +Andrew turned to face the questioner, and the eyes of the brothers +met. Again the differences between them seemed to be suddenly and +marvellously accentuated. Andrew's cheeks, bronzed and hardened with +a life spent wholly out of doors, were glistening still with the +salt water which dripped down from his hair and hung in sparkling +globules from his beard. Cecil was paler than ever; there was +something almost furtive in that swift insistent look. Perhaps he +recognized something of what was in the other's mind. At any rate +the good-nature left his manner--his tone took to itself a sterner +note. + +"I came back," he said grimly. "I should not have come back alone. +She was hard to save, too," he added, after a moment's pause. + +"She is mad," Cecil muttered. "A queer lot, all the Caynsards." + +"She is as sane as you or I," his brother answered. "She does rash +things, and she chooses to treat her life as though it were a matter +of no consequence. She took a fifty to one chance at the bar, and +she nearly lost. But, by heaven, you should have seen her bring my +little boat down the creek, with the tide swelling, and a squall +right down on the top of us. It was magnificent. Cecil!" + +"Well?" + +"Why does Kate Caynsard treat her life as though it were of less +value than the mackerel she lowers her line for? Do you know?" + +The younger man dropped his eyeglass and shrugged his shoulders +contemptuously. + +"Since when," he demanded, "have I shown any inclination to play the +village Lothario? Thick ankles and robust health have never appealed +to me--I prefer the sicklier graces of civilization." + +"Kate Caynsard," Andrew said thoughtfully, "is not of the villagers. +She leads their life, but her birth is better on her father's side, +at any rate, than our own." + +"If I might be allowed to make the suggestion," Cecil said, +regarding his brother with supercilious distaste, "don't you think +it would be just as well to change your clothes before our guests +arrive?" + +"Why should I?" Andrea asked calmly. + +"They are not my friends. I scarcely know even their names. I +entertain them at your request. Why should I be ashamed of my +oilskins? They are in accord with the life I live here. I make no +pretence, you see, Cecil," he added, with a faintly amused smile, +"at being an ornamental member of Society." + +His brother regarded him with something very much like disgust. + +"No!" he said sarcastically. "No one could accuse you of that." + +Something in his tone seemed to suggest to Andrew a new idea. He +looked down at the clothes he wore beneath his oilskins--the clothes +almost of a working man. He glanced for a moment at his hands, +hardened and blistered with the actual toil which he loved--and he +looked his brother straight in the face. + +"Cecil," he said, "I believe you're ashamed of me." + +"Of course I am," the younger man answered brutally. "It's your own +fault. You choose to make a fisherman or a labouring man of +yourself. I haven't seen you in a decent suit of clothes for years. +You won't dress for dinner. Your hands and skin are like a +ploughboy's. And, d--n it all, you're my elder brother! I've got to +introduce you to my friends as the head of the De la Bornes, and +practically their host. No wonder I don't like it!" + +There was a moment's silence. If his words hurt, Andrew made no +sign. With a shrug of the shoulders he turned towards the staircase. + +"There is no reason," he remarked, carelessly enough, "why I should +inflict the humiliation of my presence on you or on your friends. I +am going down to the Island. You shall entertain your friends and +play the host to your heart's content. It will be more comfortable +for both of us." + +Cecil prided himself upon a certain impassivity of features and +manner which some fin de siecle oracle of the cities had pronounced +good form, but he was not wholly able to conceal his relief. Such an +arrangement was entirely to his liking. It solved the situation +satisfactorily in more ways than one. + +"It's a thundering good idea, Andrew, if you're sure you'll be +comfortable there," he declared. "I don't believe you would get on +with my friends a bit. They're not your sort. Seems like turning you +out of your own house, though." + +"It is of no consequence," Andrew said coldly. "I shall be perfectly +comfortable." + +"You see," Cecil continued, "they're not keen on sport at all, and +you don't play bridge--" + +Andrew had already disappeared. Cecil turned back into the hall and +lit a cigarette. + +"Phew! What a relief!" he muttered to himself. "If only he has the +sense to keep away all the time!" + +He rang the bell, which was answered by a butler newly imported from +town. + +"Clear away all this mess, James," Cecil ordered, pointing in +disgust to the wet places upon the floor, and the still dripping +southwester, "and serve tea here in an hour, or directly my friends +arrive--tea, and whisky and soda, and liqueurs, you know, with +sandwiches and things." + +"I will do my best, sir," the man answered. "The kitchen +arrangements are a little--behind the times, if I might venture to +say so." + +"I know, I know," Cecil answered irritably. "The place has been +allowed to go on anyhow while I was away. Do what you can, and let +them know outside that they must make room for one, or perhaps two +automobiles...." + +Upstairs Andrew was rapidly throwing a few things together. With an +odd little laugh he threw into the bottom of a wardrobe an unopened +parcel of new clothes and a dress suit which had been carefully +brushed. In less than twenty minutes he had left the house by the +back way, with a small portmanteau poised easily upon his massive +shoulders. As he turned from the long ill-kept avenue, with its +straggling wind-smitten trees all exposed to the tearing ocean +gales, into the high road, a great automobile swung round the corner +and slackened speed. Major Forrest leaned out and addressed him. + +"Can you tell me if this is the Red Hall, my man--Mr. De la Borne's +place?" he asked. + +Andrew nodded, without a glance at the veiled and shrouded women who +were leaning forward to hear his answer. + +"The next avenue is the front way," he said. "Mind how you turn in-- +the corner is rather sharp." + +He spoke purposely in broad Norfolk, and passed on. + +"What a Goliath!" Engleton remarked. + +"I should like to sketch him," the Princess drawled. "His shoulders +were magnificent." + +But neither of them had any idea that they had spoken with the owner +of the Red Hall. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +About half-way through dinner that night, Cecil de la Borne drew a +long sigh of relief. At last his misgivings were set at rest. His +party was going to be, was already, in fact, pronounced, a success. +A glance at his fair neighbour, however, who was lighting her third +or fourth Russian cigarette since the caviare, sent a shiver of +thankfulness through his whole being. What a sensible fellow Andrew +had been to clear out. This sort of thing would not have appealed to +him at all. + +"My dear Cecil," the Princess declared, "I call this perfectly +delightful. Jeanne and I have wanted so much to see you in your own +home. Jeanne, isn't this nicer, ever so much nicer, than anything +you had imagined?" + +Jeanne, who was sitting opposite, lifted her remarkable eyes and +glanced around with interest. + +"Yes," she admitted, "I think that it is! But then, any place that +looks in the least like a home is a delightful change after all that +rushing about in London." + +"I agree with you entirely," Major Forrest declared. "If our friend +has disappointed us at all, it is in the absence of that +primitiveness which he led us to expect. One perceives that one is +drinking Veuve Clicquot of a vintage year, and one suspects the +nationality of our host's cook." + +"You can have all the primitivism you want if you look out of the +windows," Cecil remarked drily. "You will see nothing but a line of +stunted trees, and behind, miles of marshes and the greyest sea +which ever played upon the land. Listen! You don't hear a sound like +that in the cities." + +Even as he spoke they heard the dull roar of the north wind booming +across the wild empty places which lay between the Red Hall and the +sea. A storm of raindrops was flung against the window. The Princess +shivered. + +"It is an idyll, the last word in the refining of sensations," Major +Forrest declared. "You give us sybaritic luxury, and in order that +we shall realize it, you provide the background of savagery. In the +Carlton one might dine like this and accept it as a matter of +course. Appreciation is forced upon us by these suggestions of the +wilderness without." + +"Not all without, either," Cecil de la Borne remarked, raising his +eyeglass and pointing to the walls. "See where my ancestors frown +down upon us--you can only just distinguish their bare shapes. No De +la Borne has had money enough to have them renovated or even +preserved. They have eaten their way into the canvases, and the +canvases into the very walls. You see the empty spaces, too. A +Reynolds and a Gainsboro' have been cut out from there and sold. I +can show you long empty galleries, pictureless, and without a scrap +of furniture. We have ghosts like rats, rooms where the curtains and +tapestries are falling to pieces from sheer decay. Oh! I can assure +you that our primitivism is not wholly external." + +He turned from the Princess, who was not greatly interested, to find +that for once he had succeeded in riveting the attention of the +girl, whose general attitude towards him and the whole world seemed +to be one of barely tolerant indifference. + +"I should like to see over your house, Mr. De la Borne," she said. +"It all sounds very interesting." + +"I am afraid," he answered, "that your interest would not survive +very long. We have no treasures left, nor anything worth looking at. +For generations the De la Bornes have stripped their house and sold +their lands to hold their own in the world. I am the last of my +race, and there is nothing left for me to sell," he declared, with a +momentary bitterness. + +"Hadn't you--a half brother?" the Princess asked. + +Cecil hesitated for a moment. He had drifted so easily into the +position of head of the house. It was so natural. He felt that he +filled the place so perfectly. + +"I have," he admitted, "but he counts, I am sorry to say, for very +little. You are never likely to come across him--nor any other +civilized person." + +There was a subtle indication in his tone of a desire not to pursue +the subject. His guests naturally respected it. There was a moment's +silence. Then Cecil once more leaned forward. He hesitated for a +moment, even after his lips had parted, as though for some reason he +were inclined, after all, to remain silent, but the consciousness +that every one was looking at him and expecting him to speak induced +him to continue with what, after all, he had suddenly, and for no +explicit reason, hesitated to say. + +"You spoke, Miss Le Mesurier," he began, "of looking over the house, +and, as I told you, there is very little in it worth seeing. And yet +I can show you something, not in the house itself, but connected +with it, which you might find interesting." + +The Princess leaned forward in her chair. + +"This sounds so interesting," she murmured. "What is it, Cecil? A +haunted chamber?" + +Their host shook his head. + +"Something far more tangible," he answered, "although in its way +quite as remarkable. Hundreds of years ago, smuggling on this coast +was not only a means of livelihood for the poor, but the diversion +of the rich. I had an ancestor who became very notorious. His name +seems to have been a by-word, although he was never caught, or if he +was caught, never punished. He built a subterranean way underneath +the grounds, leading from the house right to the mouth of one of the +creeks. The passage still exists, with great cellars for storing +smuggled goods, and a room where the smugglers used to meet." + +Jeanne looked at him with parted lips. + +"You can show me this?" she asked, "the passage and the cellars?" + +Cecil nodded. + +"I can," he answered. "Quite a weird place it is, too. The walls are +damp, and the cellars themselves are like the vaults of a cathedral. +All the time at high tide you can hear the sea thundering over your +head. To-morrow, if you like, we will get torches and explore them." + +"I should love to," Jeanne declared. "Can you get out now at the +other end?" + +Cecil nodded. + +"The passage," he said, "starts from a room which was once the +library, and ends half-way up the only little piece of cliff there +is. It is about thirty feet from the ground, but they had a sort of +apparatus for pulling up the barrels, and a rope ladder for the men. +The preventive officers would see the boat come up the creek, and +would march down from the village, only to find it empty. Of course, +they suspected all the time where the things went, but they could +not prove it, and as my ancestor was a magistrate and an important +man they did not dare to search the house." + +The Princess sighed gently. + +"Those were the days," she murmured, "in which it must have been +worth while to live. Things happened then. To-day your ancestor +would simply have been called a thief." + +"As a matter of fact," Cecil remarked, "I do not think that he +himself benefited a penny by any of his exploits. It was simply the +love of adventure which led him into it." + +"Even if he did," Major Forrest remarked, "that same predatory +instinct is alive to-day in another guise. The whole world is +preying upon one another. We are thieves, all of us, to the tips of +our finger-nails, only our roguery is conducted with due regard to +the law." + +The Princess smiled faintly as she glanced across the table at the +speaker. + +"I am afraid," she said, with a little sigh, "that you are right. I +do not think that we have really improved with the centuries. My own +ancestors sacked towns and held the inhabitants to ransom. To-day I +sit down to bridge opposite a man with a well-filled purse, and my +one idea is to lighten it. Nothing, I am convinced, but the fear of +being found out, keeps us reasonably moral." + +"If we go on talking like this," Lord Ronald remarked, "we shall +make Miss Le Mesurier nervous. She will feel that we, and the whole +of the rest of the world, have our eyes upon her moneybags." + +"I am absolutely safe," Jeanne answered smiling. "I do not play +bridge, and even my signature would be of no use to any one yet." + +"But you might imagine us," Lord Ronald continued, "waiting around +breathlessly until the happy time arrived when you were of age, and +we could pursue our diabolical schemes." + +Jeanne shook her head. + +"You cannot frighten me, Lord Ronald," she said. "I feel safe from +every one. I am only longing for to-morrow, for a chance to explore +this wonderful subterranean passage." + +"I am afraid," their host remarked, "that you will be disappointed. +With the passing of smuggling, the romance of the thing seems to +have died. There is nothing now to look at but mouldy walls, a bare +room, and any amount of the most hideous fungi. I can promise you +that when you have been there for a few minutes your only desire +will be to escape." + +"I am not so sure," the girl answered. "I think that associations +always have an effect on me. I can imagine how one might wait there, +near the entrance, hear the soft swish of the oars, look down and +see the smugglers, hear perhaps the muffled tramp of men marching +from the village. Fancy how breathless it must have been, the +excitement, the fear of being caught." + +Cecil curled his slight moustache dubiously. + +"If you can feel all that in my little bit of underground world," he +said, "I shall think that you are even a more wonderful person--" + +He dropped his voice and leaned toward her, but Jeanne laughed in +his face and interrupted him. + +"People who own things," she remarked, "never look upon them with +proper reverence. Don't you see that my mother is dying for some +bridge?" + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +The Princess was only obeying a faint sign from Forrest. She leaned +forward and addressed her host. + +"It isn't a bad idea," she declared. "Where are we going to play +bridge, Cecil? In some smaller room, I hope. This one is really +beginning to get on my nerves a little. There is an ancestor exactly +opposite who has fixed me with a luminous and a disapproving eye. +And the blank spaces on the wall! Ugh! I feel like a Goth. We are +too modern for this place, Cecil." + +Their host laughed as he rose and turned towards Jeanne. + +"Your mother," he said, "is beginning to be conscious of her +environment. I know exactly how she is feeling, for I myself am a +constant sufferer. Are you, too, sighing for the gilded salons of +civilization?" + +"Not in the least," Jeanne answered frankly. "I am tired of mirrors +and electric lights and babble. I prefer our present surroundings, +and I should not mind at all if some of those disapproving ancestors +of yours stepped out of their frames and took their places with us +here." + +Cecil laughed. + +"If they have been listening to our conversation," he said, "I think +that they will stay where they are. Like royalty," he continued, "we +can boast an octagonal chamber. I fear that its glories are of the +past, but it is at least small, and the wallpaper is modern. I have +ordered coffee and the card-tables there. Shall we go?" + +He led the way out of the gloomy room, chilly and bare, yet in a way +magnificent still with its reminiscences of past splendour, across +the hall, modernized with rugs and recent furnishing, into a smaller +apartment, where cheerfulness reigned. A wood fire burnt in an open +grate. Lamps and a fine candelabrum gave a sufficiency of light. The +furniture, though old, was graceful, and of French design. It had +been the sitting chamber of the ladies of the De la Borne family for +generations, and it bore traces of its gentler occupation. One thing +alone remained of primevalism to remind them of their closer contact +with the great forces of nature. The chamber was built in the tower, +which stood exposed to the sea, and the roar of the wind was +ceaseless. + +"Here at least we shall be comfortable, I think," Cecil remarked, as +they all entered. "My frescoes are faded, but they represent +flowers, not faces. There are no eyes to stare at you from out of +the walls here, Princess." + +The Princess laughed gaily as she seated herself before a Louis +Quinze card-table, and threw a pack of cards across the faded green +baize cloth. + +"It is charming, this," she declared. "Shall we challenge these two +boys, Nigel? You are the only man who understands my leads, and who +does not scold me for my declarations." + +"I am perfectly willing," Forrest answered smoothly. "Shall we cut +for deal?" + +Cecil de la Borne leaned over and turned up a card. + +"I am quite content," he remarked. "What do you say, Engleton?" + +Engleton hesitated for a moment. The Princess turned and looked at +him. He was standing upon the hearthrug smoking, his face as +expressionless as ever. + +"Let us cut for partners," he drawled. "I am afraid of the Princess +and Forrest. The last time I found them a quite invincible couple." + +There was a moment's silence. The Princess glanced toward Forrest, +who only shrugged his shoulders. + +"Just as you will," he answered. + +He turned up an ace and the Princess a three. + +"After all," he remarked, with a smile, "it seems as though fate +were going to link us together." + +"I am not so sure," Cecil de la Borne said, also throwing down an +ace. "It depends now upon Engleton." + +Engleton came to the table, and drew a card at random from the pack. +Forrest's eyes seemed to narrow a little as he looked down at it. +Engleton had drawn another ace. + +"Forrest and I," he remarked. "Jolly low cutting, too. I have played +against you often, Forrest, but I think this is our first rubber +together. Here's good luck to us!" + +He tossed off his liqueur and sat down. They cut again for deal, and +the game proceeded. + +Jeanne had moved across towards the window, and laid her fingers +upon the heavy curtains. Cecil de la Borne, who was dummy, got up +and stood by her side. + +"Do you know," she said, "although your frescoes are flowers, I feel +that there are eyes in this room, too, only that they are looking in +from the night. Can one see the sea from here, Mr. De la Borne?" + +"It is scarcely a hundred yards away," he answered. "This window +looks straight across the German Ocean, and if you look long enough +you will see the white of the breakers. Listen! You will hear, too, +what my forefathers, and those who begat them, have heard, from the +birth of the generations." + +The girl, with strained face, stood looking out into the darkness. +Outside, the wind and sea imposed their thunder upon the land. +Within, there was no sound but the softer patter of the cards, the +languid voices of the four who played bridge. A curious little +company, on the whole. The Princess of Strurm, whose birth was as +sure as her social standing was doubtful, the heroine of countless +scandals, ignored by the great heads of her family, impoverished, +living no one knew how, yet remaining the legal guardian of a +stepdaughter, who was reputed to be one of the greatest heiresses in +Europe. The courts had moved to have her set aside, and failed. A +Cardinal of her late husband's faith, empowered to treat with her on +behalf of his relations, offered a fortune for her cession of +Jeanne, and was laughed at for his pains. Whatever her life had +been, she remained custodian of the child of the great banker whom +she had married late in life. She endured calmly the threats, the +entreaties, the bribes, of Jeanne's own relations. Jeanne, she was +determined, should enter life under her wing, and hers only. In the +end she had her way. Jeanne was entering life now, not through the +respectable but somewhat bourgeois avenue by which her great monied +relatives would have led her, but under the auspices of her +stepmother, whose position as chaperon to a great heiress had +already thrown open a great many doors which would have been +permanently closed to her in any other guise. The Princess herself +was always consistent. She assumed to herself an arrogant right to +do as she pleased and live as she pleased. She was of the House of +Strurm, which had been noble for centuries, and had connections with +royalty. That was enough. A few forgot her past and admitted her +claim. Those who did not she ignored.... + +Then there was Lord Ronald Engleton, an orphan brought up in Paris, +a would-be decadent, a dabbler in all modern iniquities, redeemed +from folly only by a certain not altogether wholesome cleverness, +yet with a disposition which sometimes gained for him friends in +most unlikely quarters. He had excellent qualities, which he did his +best to conceal; impulses which he was continually stifling. + +By his side sat Forrest, the Sphynx, more than middle-aged, a man +who had wandered all over the world, who had tried many things +without ever achieving prosperity, and who was searching always, +with tired eyes, for some new method of clothing and feeding himself +upon an income of less than nothing a year. He had met the Princess +at Marienbad years ago, and silently took his place in her suite. +Why, no one seemed to know, not even at first the Princess herself, +who thought him chic, and adored what she could not understand. +Curious flotsam and jetsam, these four, of society which had +something of a Continental flavour; personages, every one of them, +with claim to recognition, but without any noticeable hall-mark.... + +There remained the girl, Jeanne herself, half behind the curtain +now, her head thrust forward, her beautiful eyes contracted with the +effort to penetrate that veil of darkness. One gift at least she +seemed to have borrowed from the woman who gambled with life as +easily and readily as with the cards which fell from her jewelled +fingers. In her face, although it was still the face of a child, +there was the same inscrutable expression, the same calm languor of +one who takes and receives what life offers with the indifference of +the cynic, or the imperturbability of the philosopher. There was +little of the joy or the anticipation of youth there, and yet, +behind the eyes, as they looked out into the darkness, there was +something--some such effort, perhaps, as one seeking to penetrate +the darkness of life must needs show. And as she looked, the white, +living breakers gradually resolved them-selves out of the dark, thin +filmy phosphorescence, and the roar of the lashed sea broke like +thunder upon the pebbled beach. She leaned a little more forward, +carried away with her fancy--that the shrill grinding of the pebbles +was indeed the scream of human voices in pain! + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +With the coming of dawn the storm passed away northwards, across a +sea snow-flecked and still panting with its fury, and leaving behind +many traces of its violence, even upon these waste and empty places. +A lurid sunrise gave little promise of better weather, but by six +o'clock the wind had fallen, and the full tide was swelling the +creeks. On a sand-bank, far down amongst the marshes, Jeanne stood +hatless, with her hair streaming in the breeze, her face turned +seaward, her eyes full of an unexpected joy. Everywhere she saw +traces of the havoc wrought in the night. The tall rushes lay broken +and prostrate upon the ground; the beach was strewn with timber from +the breaking up of an ancient wreck. Eyes more accustomed than hers +to the outline of the country could have seen inland dismantled +cottages and unroofed sheds, groups of still frightened and restive +cattle, a snapped flagstaff, a fallen tree. But Jeanne knew none of +these things. Her face was turned towards the ocean and the rising +sun. She felt the sting of the sea wind upon her cheeks, all the +nameless exhilaration of the early morning sweetness. Far out +seaward the long breakers, snow-flecked and white crested, came +rolling in with a long, monotonous murmur toward the land. Above, +the grey sky was changing into blue. Almost directly over her head, +rising higher and higher in little circles, a lark was singing. +Jeanne half closed her eyes and stood still, engrossed by the +unexpected beauty of her surroundings. Then suddenly a voice came +travelling to her from across the marshes. + +She turned round unwillingly, and with a vague feeling of irritation +against this interruption, which seemed to her so inopportune, and +in turning round she realized at once that her period of absorption +must have lasted a good deal longer than she had had any idea of. +She had walked straight across the marshes towards the little +hillock on which she stood, but the way by which she had come was no +longer visible. The swelling tide had circled round through some +unseen channel, and was creeping now into the land by many creeks +and narrow ways. She herself was upon an island, cut off from the +dry land by a smoothly flowing tidal way more than twenty yards +across. Along it a man in a flat-bottomed boat was punting his way +towards her. She stood and waited for him, admiring his height, and +the long powerful strokes with which he propelled his clumsy craft. +He was very tall, and against the flat background his height seemed +almost abnormal. As soon as he had attracted her attention he ceased +to shout, and devoted all his attention to reaching her quickly. +Nevertheless, the salt water was within a few feet of her when he +drove his pole into the bottom, and brought the punt to a momentary +standstill. She looked down at him, smiling. + +"Shall I get in?" she asked. + +"Unless you are thinking of swimming back," he answered drily, "it +would be as well." + +She lifted her skirts a little, and laughed at the inappropriateness +of her thin shoes and open-work stockings. Andrew de la Borne held +out his strong hand, and she sprang lightly on to the broad seat. + +"It is very nice of you," she said, with her slight foreign accent, +"to come and fetch me. Should I have been drowned?" + +"No!" he answered. "As a matter of fact, the spot where you were +standing is not often altogether submerged. You might have been a +prisoner for a few hours. Perhaps as the tide is going to be high, +your feet would have been wet. But there was no danger." + +She settled down as comfortably as possible in the awkward seat. + +"After all, then," she said, "this is not a real adventure. Where +are you going to take me to?" + +"I can only take you," he answered, "to the village. I suppose you +came from the Hall?" + +"Yes!" she answered. "I walked straight across from the gate. I +never thought about the tide coming up here." + +"You will have to walk back by the road," he answered. "It is a good +deal further round, but there is no other way." + +She hung her hand over the side, rejoicing in the touch of the cool +soft water. + +"That," she answered, "does not matter at all. It is very early +still, and I do not fancy that any one will be up yet for several +hours." + +He made no further attempt at conversation, devoting himself +entirely to the task of steering and propelling his clumsy craft +along the narrow way. She found herself watching him with some +curiosity. It had never occurred to her to doubt at first but that +he was some fisherman from the village, for he wore a rough jersey +and a pair of trousers tucked into sea-boots. His face was bronzed, +and his hands were large and brown. Nevertheless she saw that his +features were good, and his voice, though he spoke the dialect of +the country, had about it some quality which she was not slow to +recognize. + +"Who are you?" she asked, a little curiously. "Do you live in the +village?" + +He looked down at her with a faint smile. + +"I live in the village," he answered, "and my name is Andrew." + +"Are you a fisherman?" she asked. + +"Certainly," he answered gravely. "We are all fishermen here." + +She was not altogether satisfied. He spoke to her easily, and +without any sort of embarrassment. His words were civil enough, and +yet he had more the air of one addressing an equal than a villager +who is able to be of service to some one in an altogether different +social sphere. + +"It was very fortunate for me," she said, "that you saw me. Are you +up at this hour every morning?" + +"Generally," he answered. "I was thinking of fishing, higher up in +the reaches there." + +"I am sorry," she said, "that I spoiled your sport." + +He did not answer at once. He, in his turn, was looking at her. In +her tailor-made gown, short and fashionably cut, her silk stockings +and high-heeled shoes, she certainly seemed far indeed removed from +any of the women of those parts. Her dark hair was arranged after a +fashion that was strange to him. Her delicately pale skin, her deep +grey eyes, and unusually scarlet lips were all indications of her +foreign extraction. He looked at her long and searchingly. This was +the girl, then, whom his brother was hoping to marry. + +"You are not English," he remarked, a little abruptly. + +She shook her head. + +"My father was a Portuguese," she said, "and my mother French. I was +born in England, though. You, I suppose, have lived here all your +life?" + +"All my life," he repeated. "We villagers, you see, have not much +opportunity for travel." + +"But I am not sure," she said, looking at him a little doubtfully, +"that you are a villager." + +"I can assure you," he answered, "that there is no doubt whatever +about it. Can you see out yonder a little house on the island +there?" + +She followed his outstretched finger. + +"Of course I can," she answered. "Is that your home?" + +He nodded. + +"I am there most of my time," he answered. + +"It looks charming," she said, a little doubtfully, "but isn't it +lonely?" + +He shrugged his shoulders. + +"Perhaps," he answered. "I am only ten minutes' sail from the +mainland, though." + +She looked again at the house, long and low, with its plaster walls +bare of any creeping thing. + +"It must be rather fascinating," she admitted, "to live upon an +island. Are you married?" + +"No!" he answered. + +"Do you mean that you live quite alone?" she asked. + +He smiled down upon her as one might smile at an inquisitive child. +"I have a ser--some one to look after me," he said. "Except for that +I am quite alone. I am going to set you ashore here. You see those +telegraph posts? That is the road which leads direct to the Hall." + +She was still looking at the island, watching the waves break +against a little stretch of pebbly beach. + +"I should like very much," she said, "to see that house. Can you not +take me out there?" + +He shook his head. + +"We could not get so far in this punt," he said, "and my sailing +boat is up at the village quay, more than a mile away." + +She frowned a little. She was not used to having any request of hers +disregarded. + +"Could we not go to the village," she asked, "and change into your +boat?" + +He shook his head. + +"I am going fishing," he said, "in a different direction. Allow me." + +He stepped on to land and lifted her out. She hesitated for a moment +and felt for her purse. + +"You must let me recompense you," she said coldly, "for the time you +have lost in coming to my assistance." + +He looked down at her, and again she had an uncomfortable sense that +notwithstanding his rude clothes and country dialect, this man was +no ordinary villager. He said nothing, however, until she produced +her purse, and held out a little tentatively two half-crowns. + +"You are very kind," he said. "I will take one if you will allow me. +That is quite sufficient. You see the Hall behind the trees there. +You cannot miss your way, I think, and if you will take my advice +you will not wander about in the marshes here except at high tide. +The sea comes in to the most unexpected places, and very quickly, +too, sometimes. Good morning!" + +"Good morning, and thank you very much," she answered, turning away +toward the road. + +* * * + +Cecil de la Borne was standing at the end of the drive when she +appeared, a telescope in his hand. He came hastily down the road to +meet her, a very slim and elegant figure in his well-cut flannel +clothes, smoothly brushed hair, and irreproachable tie. + +"My dear Miss Jeanne," he exclaimed, "I have only just heard that +you were out. Do you generally get up in the middle of the night?" + +She smiled a little half-heartedly. It was curious that she found +herself contrasting for a moment this very elegant young man with +her roughly dressed companion of a few minutes ago. + +"To meet with an adventure such as I have had," she answered, "I +would never go to bed at all. I have been nearly drowned, and +rescued by a most marvellous person. He brought me back to safety in +a flat-bottomed punt, and I am quite sure from the way he stared at +them that he had never seen open-work stockings before." + +"Are you in earnest?" Cecil asked doubtfully. + +"Absolutely," she answered. "I was walking there among the marshes, +and I suddenly found myself surrounded by the sea. The tide had come +up behind me without my noticing. A most mysterious person came to +my rescue. He wore the clothes of a fisherman, and he accepted half +a crown, but I have my doubts about him even now. He said that his +name was Mr. Andrew." + +Cecil opened the gate and they walked up towards the house. A slight +frown had appeared upon his forehead. + +"Do you know him?" she asked. + +"I know who he is," he answered. "He is a queer sort of fellow, +lives all alone, and is a bit cranky, they say. Come in and have +some breakfast. I don't suppose that any one else will be down for +ages." + +She shook her head. + +"I will send my woman down for some coffee," she answered. "I am +going upstairs to change. I am just a little wet, and I must try and +find some thicker shoes." + +Cecil sighed. + +"One sees so little of you," he murmured, "and I was looking forward +to a tete-a-tete breakfast." + +She shook her head as she left him in the hall. + +"I couldn't think of it," she declared. "I'll appear with the others +later on. Please find out all you can about Mr. Andrew and tell me." + +Cecil turned away, and his face grew darker as he crossed the hall. + +"If Andrew interferes this time," he muttered, "there will be +trouble!" + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +The Princess appeared for luncheon and declared herself to be in a +remarkably good humour. + +"My dear Cecil," she said, helping herself to an ortolan in aspic, +"I like your climate and I like your chef. I had my window open for +at least ten minutes, and the sea air has given me quite an +appetite. I have serious thoughts of embracing the simple life." + +"You could scarcely," Cecil de la Borne answered, "come to a better +place for your first essay. I will guarantee that life is +sufficiently simple here for any one. I have no neighbours, no +society to offer you, no distractions of any sort. Still, I warned +you before you came." + +"Don't be absurd," the Princess declared. "You have the sea almost +at your front door, and I adore the sea. If you have a nice large +boat I should like to go for a sail." + +Cecil looked at her with upraised eyebrows. + +"If you are serious," he said, "no doubt we can find the boat." + +"I am absolutely serious," the Princess declared. "I feel that this +is exactly what my system required. I should like to sit in a +comfortable cushioned seat and sail somewhere. If possible, I should +like you men to catch things from the side of the boat." + +"You will get sunburnt," Lord Ronald remarked drily; "perhaps even +freckled." + +"Adorable!" the Princess declared. "A touch of sunburn would be +quite becoming. It is such an excellent foundation to build a +complexion upon. Jeanne is quite enchanted with the place. She's had +adventures already, and been rescued from drowning by a marvellous +person, who wore his trousers tucked into his boots and found fault +with her shoes and stockings. She has promised to show me the place +after luncheon, and I am going to stand there myself and see if +anything happens." + +"You will get your feet very wet," Cecil declared. + +"And sand inside your shoes," Forrest remarked. + +"These," the Princess declared, "are trifles compared with the +delightful sensation of experiencing a real adventure. In any case +we must sail one afternoon, Cecil. I insist upon it. We will not +play bridge until after dinner. My luck last night was abominable. +Oh, you needn't look at me like that," she added to Cecil. "I know I +won, but that was an accident. I had bad cards all the time, and I +only won because you others had worse. Please ring the bell, Mr. +Host, and see about the boat." + +"Really," Cecil remarked, as he called the butler and gave him some +instructions, "I had no idea that I was going to entertain such +enterprising guests." + +"Oh, there are lots of things I mean to do!" the Princess declared. +"I am seriously thinking of going shrimping. I suppose there are +shrimps here, and I should love to tuck up my skirts and carry a big +net, like somebody's picture." + +"Perhaps," Cecil suggested, "you would like to try the golf links. I +believe there are some quite decent ones not far away." + +The Princess shook her head. + +"No!" she answered. "Golf is too civilized a game. We will go out in +a fishing boat with plenty of cushions, and we will try to catch +fish. I know that Jeanne will love it, and that you others will hate +it. Between the two of you it should be amusing." + +"Very well," Cecil declared, with an air of resignation, "whatever +happens will be upon your own shoulders. There is a boat in the +village which we can have. I will have it brought up to our own quay +in an hour's time. If the worst comes to the worst, and we are bored +to death, we can play bridge on the way." + +"There will be no cards upon the boat," the Princess declared +decidedly. "I forbid them. We are going to lounge and look at the +sea and get sunburnt. Jeanne can wear a veil if she likes. I shall +not." + +Cecil shrugged his shoulders. + +"Very well," he said. "Whatever happens, don't blame me." + +* * * + +The Princess had her way and behaved like a schoolgirl. She sat in +the most comfortable place, surrounded with a multitude of cushions, +with her tiny Japanese spaniel in her arms, and a box of French +bonbons by her side. Jeanne stood in the bows, bareheaded and happy. +Lord Ronald, who was feeling a little sea-sick, sat at her feet. + +"I had no idea," he remarked plaintively, "that your mother was +capable of such crudities. If I had known, I certainly would not +have trusted myself to such a party. This sea air is hateful. It has +tarnished my cigarette-case already, and one's nails will not be fit +to be seen. To be out of doors like this is worse than drinking +unfiltered water." + +Jeanne smiled down at him a little contemptuously. + +"You are a child of the cities, Lord Ronald," she remarked. "Next +year I am going to buy a yacht myself, but I shall not ask you to +come with us." + +Lord Ronald groaned. + +"That is the worst of all heiresses," he said. "You have such queer +tastes. I shall never summon up my courage to propose to you." + +"There is always leap year," Jeanne reminded him. + +"What a bewildering suggestion!" he murmured, looking uncomfortably +over the side of the boat. "I say, Forrest, what do you think of +this sort of thing?" + +"Idyllic!" Forrest declared cynically. "To sit upon a hard plank and +to have one's digestion unmercifully interfered with like this is +unqualified rapture. If only there were cabins one might sleep." + +"There will be cabins on my yacht," Jeanne declared laughing, "but I +shall not ask either of you. You are both of you knights of the +candle light. I shall get some great strong fisherman to be captain, +and I shall go round the world and forget the days and the months." + +Forrest shivered slightly. + +"The country," he remarked to the Princess, "is having a terrible +effect upon your stepdaughter." + +The Princess nodded and thrust a bonbon into the languid jaws of the +dog she was holding. + +"It is my fault," she declared. "It is I who have set this fashion. +It was a whim, and I am tired of it. Tell our host that we will go +back." + +They tacked a few minutes later, and swept shoreward. Jeanne, still +standing in the bows, was gazing steadfastly upon the little island +at the entrance of the estuary. + +"I should like," she declared, pointing it out to Cecil, "to land +there and have some tea." + +Cecil looked at her doubtfully. + +"We shall be home in a little more than an hour," he said, "and I +don't suppose we could get any tea there, even if we were able to +land." + +"I have a conviction that we should," Jeanne declared. "Mother," she +added, turning round to the older woman, "there is an island just +ahead of us with a delightful looking cottage. I believe my +preserver of this morning lives there. Wouldn't it be lovely to go +and beg him to give us all tea?" + +"Charming!" the Princess declared, sitting up amongst her cushions. +"I should love to see him, and tea is the one thing in the world I +want to make me happy." + +Cecil de la Borne stood silent for a moment or two, looking +steadfastly at the whitewashed cottage upon the island. It seemed +impossible, after all, to escape from Andrew! + +"The man lives there alone, I believe," he said. "I don't suppose +there is any one to get us tea. He would only be embarrassed by our +coming, and not know what to do." + +Jeanne smiled reflectively. + +"I do not think," she said, "that it would be easy to embarrass Mr. +Andrew. However, if you like we will put it off to another +afternoon, on one condition." + +"Let me hear the condition at any rate," Cecil asked. + +"That we go straight back, and that you show us that subterranean +passage," Jeanne declared. + +"Agreed!" Cecil answered. "I warn you that you will find it only +damp and mouldy and depressing, but you shall certainly see it." + +The girl moved toward the side of the boat, and stood leaning over, +with her eyes fixed upon the island. Standing on the small grass +plot in front of the cottage she could see the tall figure of a man +with his face turned toward them. A faint smile parted her lips as +she watched. She took out her handkerchief and waved it. The man for +a moment stood motionless, and then raising his cap, held it for a +moment above his head. The boat sped on, and very soon they were out +of sight. She stood there, however, watching, until they had rounded +the sandy spit and entered the creek which led into the harbour. +There was something unusually piquant to her in the thought of that +greeting with the man. whose response to it had been so unwilling, +almost ungracious. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +"Not another step!" the Princess declared. "I am going back at +once." + +"I too," Forrest declared. "Your smuggling ancestors, my dear De la +Borne, must indeed have loved adventure, if they spent much of their +time crawling about here like rats." + +"As you will," Cecil answered. "The expedition is Miss Jeanne's, not +mine." + +"And I am going on," Jeanne declared. "I want to see where we come +out on the beach." + +"This way, then," Cecil said. "You need not be afraid to walk +upright. The roof is six feet high all the way. You must tread +carefully, though. There are plenty of holes and stones about." + +The Princess and Forrest disappeared. Jeanne, with her skirts held +high in one hand, and an electric torch in the other, followed Cecil +slowly along the gloomy way. The walls were oozing with damp, +glistening patches, like illuminated salt stains, and queer fungi +started out from unexpected places. Sometimes their footsteps fell +on the rock, awaking strange echoes down the gallery. Sometimes they +sank deep into the sand. Cecil looked often behind, and once held +out his hand to help his companion over a difficult place. At last +he paused, and she heard him struggling to turn a key in a great +worm-eaten door on their right. + +"This is the room," he explained, "where they held their meetings, +and where the stuff was hidden. It was used for more than twenty +years, and the Customs' people never seemed to have had even an +inkling of its existence." + +He pushed the door open with difficulty. They found themselves in a +gloomy chamber, with vaulted roof and stone floor. A faint streak of +daylight from an opening somewhere in the roof, partially lit the +place. Here, too, the walls were damp and the odour appalling. There +were some fragments of broken barrels at one end, and an oak table +in the middle of the floor. Jeanne looked round and shivered. + +"Let us go on to the end," she said. + +Cecil nodded, and they made their way on down the passage. + +"The roof is getting lower now," he said. "You had better stoop a +little." + +She stopped short. + +"What is that?" she asked fearfully. + +A sound like rolling thunder, faint at first, but growing more +distinct at every step, broke the chill silence of the place. + +"The sea," Cecil answered. "We are getting near to the beach." + +Jeanne nodded and crept on. Louder and louder the sound seemed to +become, until at last she paused, half terrified. + +"Where are we?" she gasped. "It sounds as though the sea were right +over our heads." + +Cecil shook his head. + +"It is an illusion," he said. "The sound comes from the air-hole +there. We are forty yards from the cliff still." + +They crept on, until at last, after a turn in the gallery, they saw +a faint glimmering of light. A few more yards and they came to a +standstill. + +"The entrance is boarded up, you see," Cecil said, "but you can see +through the chinks. There is the sea just below, and the rope ladder +used to hang from these staples." + +She looked out. Sheer below was the sea, breaking upon the rocks and +sending a torrent of spray into the air with every wave. + +"We can't get out this way, then?" she asked. + +He shook his head. + +"No, we should want a rope ladder," he said, "and a boat. Have you +seen enough?" + +"More than enough," Jeanne answered. "Let us get back." + +* * * + +Jeanne sank into a garden seat a few minutes later with a little +exclamation of relief. + +"Never," she declared, "have I appreciated fresh air so much. I +think, Mr. De la Borne, that smuggling, though it was a very +romantic profession, must have had its unpleasant side." + +Cecil nodded. + +"There were more air-holes in those days," he said, "but our +ancestors were a tougher race than we. Coarse brutes, most of them, +I imagine," he added, lighting a cigarette. "Drank beer for +breakfast, and smoked clay pipes before meals. Fancy if one had +their constitutions and our tastes!" + +"The two would scarcely go together," Jeanne remarked. "But after +all I should think that absinthe and cigarettes are more +destructive. I am dying for some tea. Let us go in and find the +others." + +Tea was set out in the hall, but only Engleton was there. Forrest +and the Princess were walking slowly up and down the avenue. + +"I imagine," the latter was saying drily, "that we are fairly free +from eavesdroppers here. Now tell me what it is that you have to +say, Nigel." + +"I am bothered about Engleton," Forrest said. "I didn't like his +insisting upon cutting last night. What do you think he meant by +it?" + +The Princess shrugged her shoulders. + +"Nothing at all," she answered. "He may have thought that we were +lucky together, and of course he knows that you are the best player. +There is no reason why he should be willing to play with Cecil de la +Borne, when by cutting with you he would be more likely to win." + +"You think that that is all?" Forrest asked. + +"I think so," the Princess answered. "What had you in your mind?" + +"I wondered," Forrest said thoughtfully, "whether he had heard any +of the gossip at the club." + +The Princess frowned impatiently. + +"For Heaven's sake, don't be imaginative, Nigel!" she declared. "If +you give way like this you will lose your nerve in no time." + +"Very well," Forrest said. "Let us take it for granted, then, that +he did it only because he preferred to play with me to playing +against me. What is to become of our little scheme if we cut as we +did last night all the time?" + +The Princess smiled. + +"You ought to be able to manage that," she said carelessly. "You are +so good at card tricks that you should be able to get an ace when +you want it. I always cut third from the end, as you know." + +"That's all very well," Forrest answered, "but we can't go on +cutting two aces all the time. I ran it pretty fine last night, when +for the second time I gave you a three or a four, and drew a two +myself. But he seems to have the devil's own luck. They cut under +us, as you know." + +The Princess looked up toward the house. She had seen Jeanne and +Cecil appear. + +"Those people are back from their underground pilgrimage," she +remarked. "Have you anything definite to suggest? If not, we had +better go in." + +"There is only one way, Ena," Forrest said, "in which we could +improve matters." + +"And what is that?" she asked quickly. + +"Don't you think we could get our host in?" + +The Princess was silent for several moments. + +"It is a little dangerous, I am afraid," she said. + +"I don't see why," Forrest answered. "If he were once in he'd have +to hold his tongue, and you can do just what you like with him. He +seems to me to be just one of those pulpy sort of persons whom you +could persuade into a thing before he had had time to think about +it." + +"I will drop him a hint if you like," the Princess said +thoughtfully, "and see how he takes it. Are you sure that the game +is worth the candle?" + +"Absolutely," Forrest answered eagerly. "I saw Engleton drop two +thousand playing baccarat one night, and he never turned a hair. I +wasn't playing, worse luck." + +"If I can get Cecil alone before dinner," the Princess said, "I will +sound him. I think we had better go back now. We are a little old +for romantic wanderings, and the wind is beginning to disarrange my +hair." + +"See what you can do with him, then," Forrest said, as they retraced +their steps. "I'll call in and hear if you've anything to tell me on +my way down for dinner." + +The Princess nodded. They entered the hall, and Cecil at once drew +an easy-chair to the tea-table. + +"My good people," the Princess declared, "I am famished. Your sea +air, Cecil, is the most wonderful thing in the world. For years I +have not known what it was like to be hungry. Hot cakes, please! +And, Jeanne, please make my tea. Jeanne knows just how I like it. +Tell us about the smuggler's cave, Jeanne. Was it really so +wonderful?" + +Jeanne laughed. + +"It was very, very weird and very smelly," she said. "I think that +you were wise to turn back." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +Andrew came face to face with his brother in the village street on +the next morning. He looked at him for a moment in surprise. + +"What have you been doing?" he asked, drily. "Sitting up all night?" + +Cecil nodded dejectedly. + +"Pretty well," he admitted. "We played bridge till nearly five +o'clock." + +"You lost, I suppose?" Andrew asked. + +"Yes, I lost!" Cecil admitted. + +"Your party," Andrew said, "does not seem to me to be an unqualified +success." + +"It is not," Cecil admitted. "Miss Le Mesurier has been quite +unapproachable the last few days. She's just civil to me and no +more. She isn't even half as decent as she was in town. I wish I +hadn't asked them here. It's cost a lot more money than we can +afford, and done no good that I can see." + +Andrew looked away seaward for a moment. Was it his fancy, or was +there indeed a slim white figure coming across the marshes from the +Hall? + +"Cecil," he said, "are you quite sure that your guests are worth the +trouble you have taken to entertain them? I refer more particularly +to the two men." + +"They go everywhere," Cecil answered. "Lord Ronald is a bit of a +wastrel, of course, and I am not very keen on Forrest, but we were +all together when I gave the invitation, and I couldn't leave them +out." + +Andrew nodded. + +"Well," he said, "I should be careful how I played cards with +Forrest if I were you." + +Cecil's face grew even a shade paler. + +"You do not think," he muttered, "that he would do anything that +wasn't straight?" + +"On the contrary," Andrew answered, "I have reason to believe that +he would. Isn't that one of your guests coming? You had better go +and meet her." + +Andrew passed on his way, and Cecil walked towards Jeanne. All the +time, though, she was looking over his shoulder to where Andrew's +tall figure was disappearing. + +"What a nuisance!" she pouted. "I wanted to see Mr. Andrew, and +directly I came in sight he hurried away." + +"Can I give him any message?" Cecil asked with faint irony. "He will +no doubt be up with the fish later in the day." + +She turned her back on him. + +"I am going back to the house," she said. "I did not come out here +to walk with you." + +"Considering that I am your host," he began-- + +"You lose your claim to consideration on that score when you remind +me of it," she answered. "Really the only man who has not bored me +for weeks is Mr. Andrew. You others are all the same. You say the +same things, and you are always paving the way toward the same end. +I am tired of it. Stop!" + +She turned suddenly round. + +"I quite forgot," she said. "I must go into the village after all. I +am going to send a telegram." + +They retraced their steps in silence. As they entered the telegraph- +office Andrew was just leaving, and the postmistress was wishing him +a respectful farewell. He touched his hat as the two entered, and +stepped on one side. Jeanne, however, held out her hand. + +"Mr. Andrew," she said, "I am so glad to see you. I want to go out +again in that great punt of yours. Please, when can you take me?" + +"I am afraid," Andrew answered, "that I am rather busy just now. I-- +" + +He stopped short, for something in her face perplexed him. It was +impossible for her, of course, to feel disappointment to that +extent, and yet she had all the appearance of a child about to cry. +He felt suddenly awkward and ill at ease. + +"Of course," he said, "if you really care about it, I should be very +pleased to take you any morning toward the end of the week." + +"To-morrow morning, please," she begged. + +He glanced towards his brother, who shrugged his shoulders. + +"If Miss Le Mesurier is really inclined to go, Andrew," the latter +said, "I am sure that you will take good care of her. Perhaps some +of us will come, too." + +She nodded her farewells to Andrew, and turned back with her host +toward the Hall. Cecil looked at her a little curiously. It was +certain that she seemed in better spirits than a short time ago. +What a creature of caprices! + +"Will you tell me, Mr. De la Borne," she asked, "why the +postmistress called Mr. Andrew 'sir' if he is only a fisherman?" + +"Habit, I suppose," Cecil answered carelessly. "They call every one +sir and ma'am." + +"I am not so sure that it was habit," she said thoughtfully. "I +think that Mr. Andrew is not quite what he represents himself to be. +No one who had not education and experience of nice people could +behave quite as he does. Of course, he is rough and brusque at +times, I know, but then many men are like that." + +Cecil did not reply. A grey mist was sweeping in from the sea, and +Jeanne shivered a little as they turned into the avenue. + +"I wonder," she said pensively, "why we came here. My mother as a +rule hates to go far from civilization, and I am sure Lord Ronald is +miserable." + +"I think one reason why your mother brought you here," Cecil said +slowly, "is because she wanted to give me a chance." + +She picked up her skirts and ran, ran so lightly and swiftly that +Cecil, who was taken by surprise, had no chance of catching her. +From the hall door she looked back at him, panting behind. + +"Too many cigarettes," she laughed. "You are out of training. If you +do not mind you will be like Lord Ronald, an old young man, and I +would never let any one say the sort of things you were going to say +who couldn't catch me when I ran away." + +She went laughing up the stairs, and Cecil de la Borne turned into +his study. The Princess was playing patience, and the two men were +in easy-chairs. + +"At last!" the Princess remarked, throwing down her cards. "My dear +Cecil, do you realize that you have kept us waiting nearly an hour?" + +"I thought, perhaps," he answered, "that you had had enough bridge." + +"Absurd!" the Princess declared. "What else is there to do? Come and +cut, and pray that you do not draw me for a partner. My luck is dead +out--at patience, anyhow." + +"Mine," Cecil remarked, with a hard little laugh, "seems to be out +all round. Touch the bell, will you, Forrest. I must have a brandy +and soda before I start this beastly game again." + +The Princess raised her eyebrows. + +"I trust," she said, "that my charming ward has not been unkind?" + +"Your charming ward," Cecil answered, "has as many whims and fancies +as an elf. She yawns when I talk to her, and looks longingly after +one of my villagers. Hang the fellow!" + +"A very superior villager," the Princess remarked, "if you mean Mr. +Andrew." + +Forrest looked up, and fixed his cold intent eyes upon his host. + +"I suppose," he said, "you are sure that this man Andrew is really +what he professes to be, and not a masquerader?" + +"I have known him," Cecil answered, "since I was old enough to +remember anybody. He has lived here all his life, and only been away +three or four times." + +They played until the dressing-bell rang. Then Cecil de la Borne +rose from his seat with a peevish exclamation. + +"My luck seems dead out," he said. + +The Princess raised her eyebrows. + +"Possibly, my dear boy," she said, "but you must admit that you also +played abominably. Your last declaration of hearts was indefensible, +and why you led a diamond and discarded the spade in Lord Ronald's +'no trump' hand, Heaven only knows!" + +"I still think that I was right," Cecil declared, a little sullenly. + +The Princess said nothing, but turned toward the door. + +"Any one dining to-night, Mr. Host?" she said. + +"No one," he answered. "To tell you the truth there is no one to ask +within a dozen miles, and you particularly asked not to be bothered +with meeting yokels." + +"Quite right," the Princess answered, "only I am getting a little +bored, and if you had any yokels of the Mr. Andrew sort, with just a +little more polish, they might be entertaining. You three men are +getting deadly dull." + +"Princess!" Lord Ronald declared reproachfully. "How can you say +that? You never give any one a chance to see you until the +afternoon, and then we generally start bridge. One cannot be +brilliantly entertaining while one is playing cards." + +The Princess yawned. + +"I never argue," she said. "I only state facts. I am getting a +little bored. Some one must be very amusing at dinner-time or I +shall have a headache." + +She swept up to her room. + +"I suppose we'd better go and change," Cecil remarked, leading the +way out into the hall. + +Forrest, who was at the window, screwed his eyeglass in and leaned +forward. A faint smile had parted the corner of his lips, and he +beckoned to Cecil, who came over at once to his side. On the top of +the sand-dyke two figures were walking slowly side by side. Jeanne, +with the wind blowing her skirts about her small shapely figure, was +looking up all the time at the man who walked by her side, and who, +against the empty background of sea and sky, seemed of a stature +almost gigantic. + +"Quite an idyll!" Forrest remarked with a little sneer. + +Cecil bit his lip, and turned away without a word. + + + + +CHAPTER X + + +"I don't think," Engleton said slowly, "that I care about playing +any more--just now." + +The Princess yawned as she leaned back in her chair. Both Forrest +and De la Borne, who had left his place to turn up one of the lamps, +glanced stealthily round at the speaker. + +"I am not keen about it myself," Forrest said smoothly. "After all, +though, it's only three o'clock." + +Cecil's fingers shook, so that his tinkering with the lamp failed, +and the room was left almost in darkness. Forrest, glad of an excuse +to leave his place, went to the great north window and pulled up the +blind. A faint stream of grey light stole into the room. The +Princess shrieked, and covered her face with her hands. + +"For Heaven's sake, Nigel," she cried, "pull that blind down! I do +not care for these Rembrandtesque effects. Tobacco ash and cards and +my complexion do not look at their best in such a crude light." + +Forrest obeyed, and the room for a moment was in darkness. There was +a somewhat curious silence. The Princess was breathing softly but +quickly. When at last the lamp burned up again, every one glanced +furtively toward the young man who was leaning back in his chair +with his eyes fixed absently upon the table. + +"Well, what is it to be?" Forrest asked, reseating himself. "One +more rubber or bed?" + +"I've lost a good deal more than I care to," Cecil remarked in a +somewhat unnatural tone, "but I say another brandy and soda, and one +more rubber. There are some sandwiches behind you, Engleton." + +"Thank you," Engleton answered without looking up. "I am not +hungry." + +The Princess took up a fresh pack of cards, and let them fall idly +through her fingers. Then she took a cigarette from the gold case +which hung from her chatelaine, and lit it. + +"One more rubber, then," she said. "After that we will go to bed." + +The others came toward the table, and the Princess threw down the +cards. They all three cut. Engleton, however, did not move. + +"I think," he said, "that you did not quite understand me. I said +that I did not care to play any more." + +"Three against one," the Princess remarked lightly. + +"Why not play cut-throat, then?" Engleton remarked. "It would be an +excellent arrangement." + +"Why so?" Forrest asked. + +"Because you could rob one another," Engleton said. "It would be +interesting to watch." + +A few seconds intense silence followed Engleton's words. It was the +Princess who spoke first. Her tone was composed but chilly. She +looked toward Engleton with steady eyes. + +"My dear Lord Ronald," she said, "is this a joke? I am afraid my +sense of humour grows a little dull at this hour of the morning." + +"It was not meant for a joke," Engleton said. "My words were spoken +in earnest." + +The Princess, without any absolute movement, seemed suddenly to +become more erect. One forgot her rouge, her blackened eyebrows, her +powdered cheeks. It was the great lady who looked at Engleton. + +"Are we to take this, Lord Ronald," she asked, "as a serious +accusation?" + +"You can take it for what it is, madam," Engleton answered--"the +truth." + +Cecil de la Borne rose to his feet and leaned across the table. His +cheeks were as pale as death. His voice was shaking. + +"I am your host, Engleton," he said, "and I demand an explanation of +what you have said. Your accusation is absurd. You must be drunk or +out of your senses." + +"I am neither drunk nor out of my senses," Engleton answered, "nor +am I such an utter fool as to be so easily deceived. The fact that +you, as my partner, played like an idiot, made rotten declarations, +and revoked when one rubber was nearly won, I pass over. That may or +may not have been your miserable idea of the game. Apart from that, +however, I regret to have discovered that you, Forrest, and you, +madam," he added, addressing the Princess, "have made use throughout +the last seven rubbers of a code with your fingers, both for the +declarations and for the leads. My suspicions were aroused, I must +confess, by accident. It was remarkably easy, however, to verify +them. Look here!" + +Engleton touched his forehead. + +"Hearts!" he said. + +He touched his lip. + +"Diamonds!" he added. + +He passed his fingers across his eyebrows. + +"Clubs!" he remarked. + +He beat with his fourth finger softly upon the table. + +"Spades!" + +Major Forrest rose to his feet. + +"Lord Ronald," he said, "I am exceedingly sorry that owing to my +introduction you have become a guest in this house. As for your +ridiculous accusation, I deny it." + +"And I," the Princess murmured. + +"Naturally," Engleton answered smoothly. "I really do not see what +else you could do. I regret very much to have been the unfortunate +means of breaking up such a pleasant little house-party. I am going +to my room now to change my clothes, and I will trespass upon your +hospitality, Mr. De la Borne, only so far as to beg you to let me +have a cart, or something of the sort, to drive me into Wells, as +soon as your people come on the scene." + +Engleton rose to his feet, and with a stiff little bow, walked +toward the door. He, too, seemed somehow during the last few minutes +to have shown signs of a greater virility than was at any time +manifest in his boyish, somewhat unintelligent, face. He carried +himself with a new dignity, and he spoke with the decision of an +older man. For a moment they watched him go. Then Forrest, obeying a +lightning-like glance from the Princess, crossed the room swiftly +and stood with his back to the door. + +"Engleton," he said, "this is absurd. We can afford to ignore your +mad behaviour and your discourtesy, but before you leave this room +we must come to an understanding." + +Lord Ronald stood with his hands behind his back. + +"I had imagined," he said, "that an understanding was exactly what +we had come to. My words were plain enough, were they not? I am +leaving this house because I have found myself in the company of +sharks and card-sharpers." + +Forrest's eyes narrowed. A quick little breath passed between his +teeth. He took a step forward toward the young man, as though about +to strike him. + +Engleton, however, remained unmoved. + +"You are going to carry away a story like this?" he said hoarsely. + +"I shall tell my friends," Engleton answered, "just as much or as +little as I choose of my visit here. Since, however, you are +curious, I may say that should I find you at any future time in any +respectable house, it will be my duty to inform any one of my +friends who are present of the character of their fellow-guest. Will +you be so good as to stand away from that door?" + +"No!" Forrest answered. + +Engleton turned toward Cecil. + +"Mr. De la Borne," he said, "may I appeal to you, as it is your +house, to allow me egress from it?" + +Cecil came hesitatingly up to the two. The Princess, with a sweep of +her skirts, followed him. + +"Major Forrest is right," she declared. "We cannot have this madman +go back to London to spread about slanderous tales. Major Forrest +will stand away from that door, Lord Ronald, as soon as you pass +your word that what has happened to-night will remain a secret." + +Engleton laughed contemptuously. + +"Not I," he answered. "Exactly what I said to Major Forrest, I +repeat, madam, to you, and to you, sir, my host. I shall give my +friends the benefit of my experience whenever it seems to me +advisable." + +Forrest locked the door, and put the key into his pocket. + +"We shall hope, Lord Ronald," he said quietly, "to induce you to +change your mind." + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +"Every one down for luncheon!" Jeanne declared. "What energy! Where +is Lord Ronald, by the by?" she added, looking around the room. "He +promised to take me out sailing this morning. I wonder if I missed +him on the marshes." + +The Princess yawned, and glanced at the clock. + +"By this time," she remarked, "Lord Ronald is probably in London. He +had a telegram or something in the middle of the night, and went +away early this morning." + +Jeanne looked at them in surprise. + +"How queer!" she remarked. "I was down before nine o'clock. Had he +left then?" + +"Long before then, I believe," Forrest answered. "He is very likely +coming back in a day or two." + +Jeanne nodded indifferently. The intelligence, after all, was of +little importance to her. + +"Has the luncheon gong gone?" she asked. "I have been out since ten +o'clock, and I am starving." + +Cecil led the way across the hall into the dining-room. + +"Come along," he said. "I wish we all had such healthy appetites." + +She glanced at him, and then at the others. + +"Well," she said, "you certainly look as though you had been up very +late last night. What is the matter with you all?" + +"We were very foolish," Major Forrest said softly. "We sat up a +great deal too late, and I am afraid that we all smoked too many +cigarettes. You see it was our last night, for without Engleton our +bridge is over." + +"We must try," Cecil said, "and find some other form of +entertainment for you. Would you like to sail again this afternoon, +Princess?" + +"I believe," she answered, "that I should like it if I may have +plenty of cushions and a soft place for my head, so that if I feel +like it I can go to sleep. Really, these late nights are dreadful. I +am almost glad that Lord Ronald has gone. At least there will be no +excuse for us to sit up until daylight." "To-night," Major Forrest +remarked, "let us all be primitive. We will go to bed at eleven +o'clock, and get up in the morning and walk with Miss Le Mesurier +upon the marshes. What do you find upon the sands, I wonder," he +added, turning a little suddenly toward the girl, "to bring such a +colour to your cheeks, and to keep you away from us for so many +hours?" + +Jeanne looked at him for a moment without change of features. + +"It would not be easy," she said, "for me to tell you, for I find +things there which you could not appreciate or understand." + +"You find them alone?" Major Forrest asked smiling. + +She turned her left shoulder upon him and addressed her host. + +"Major Forrest is very impertinent," she said. "I think that I will +not talk with him any more. Tell me, Mr. De la Borne, do you really +mean that we can go sailing this afternoon?" + +"If you will," he answered. "I have sent down to the village to tell +them to bring the boat up to our harbourage." + +She nodded. + +"I shall love it," she declared. "It will be such a good thing for +you three, too, because it will make you all sleepy, and then you +will be able to go to bed and not worry about your bridge. When is +Lord Ronald coming back?" + +"He was not quite sure," the Princess remarked. "It depends upon the +urgency of his business which summoned him away." + +"How odd," Jeanne remarked, "to think of Lord Ronald as having any +business at all. I cannot understand even now why I did not hear the +car go. My room is just over the entrance to the courtyard." + +"It is a proof," Major Forrest remarked, "that you sleep as soundly +as you deserve." + +"I am not so sure about that," Jeanne said. "Last night, for +instance, it seemed to me that I heard all manner of strange +sounds." + +Cecil de la Borne looked up quickly. + +"Sounds?" he repeated. "Do you mean noises in the house?" + +She nodded. + +"Yes, and voices! Once I thought that you must be all quarrelling, +and then I thought that I heard some one fall down. After that there +was nothing but the opening and shutting of doors." + +"And after that," the Princess remarked smiling, "you probably went +to sleep." + +"Exactly," Jeanne admitted. "I went to sleep listening for +footsteps. I think it was very rude of Ronald to go away without +saying good-bye to me." + +"You would have thought it still ruder," Cecil remarked, "if he had +had you roused at five o'clock or so to make his adieux." + +The Princess and Jeanne left the table together a few minutes before +the other two, and Jeanne asked her stepmother a question. + +"How long are we going to stop here?" she inquired. "I thought that +our visit was for two or three days only." + +The Princess hesitated. + +"Cecil is such a nice boy," she said, "and he is so anxious to have +us stay a little longer. What do you say? You are not bored?" + +"I am not bored," Jeanne answered, "so long as you can keep him from +saying silly things to me. On the contrary, I like to be here. I +like it better than London. I like it better than any place I have +been in since I left school." + +The Princess looked at her a little curiously. + +"I wonder," she said, "whether I ought to be looking after you a +little more closely, my child. What do you do on the marshes there +all the time? Do you talk with this Mr. Andrew?" + +"I went with him in his boat this morning," Jeanne answered +composedly. "It was very pleasant. We had a delightful sail." + +The Princess shrugged her shoulders. + +"Well," she said, "one must amuse oneself, and I suppose it is only +reasonable that we should all choose different ways. I think I need +not tell even such a child as you that men are the same all the +world over, and that even a fisherman, if he is encouraged, may be +guilty sometimes of an impertinence." + +Jeanne raised her eyebrows. + +"I have not the slightest fear," she said, "that Mr. Andrew would +ever be guilty of anything of the sort. I wish I could say the same +of some of the people whom I have met in our own circle of society." + +The Princess smiled tolerantly. + +"Nowadays," she remarked, "it is perfectly true that men do take too +great liberties. Well, amuse yourself with your fisherman, my dear +child. It is your legitimate occupation in life to make fools of all +manner of men, and there is no harm in your beginning as low down as +you choose if it amuses you." + +Jeanne walked deliberately away. The Princess laughed a little +uneasily. As she watched Jeanne ascend the stairs, Forrest and Cecil +came out into the hall. They all three moved together into the +further corner, where coffee was set out upon a small table, and it +was significant that they did not speak a word until they were +there, and even then Major Forrest looked cautiously around before +he opened his lips. + +"Well?" he asked. + +The Princess smiled scornfully at their white, anxious faces. + +"What are you afraid of?" she asked contemptuously. "Jeanne suspects +nothing, of course. There is nothing which she could suspect. She +has not mentioned his name even." + +Cecil drew a little breath of relief. His face seemed to have grown +haggard during the last few hours. + +"I wish to God," he muttered, "we were out of this!" + +The Princess turned her head and looked at him coldly. + +"My young friend," she said, "you men are all the same. You have no +philosophy. The inevitable has happened, or rather the inevitable +has been forced upon us. What we have done we did deliberately. We +could not do otherwise, and we cannot undo it. Remember that. And if +you have a grain of philosophy or courage in you, keep a stouter +heart and wear a smile upon your face." + +Cecil rose to his feet. + +"You are right," he said. "Are you ready, Forrest? Will you come +with me?" + +Forrest rose slowly to his feet. + +"Of course," he said. "By the by, a sail this afternoon was a good +idea. We must develop an interest in country pursuits. It is +possible even," he added, "that we may have to take to golf." + +The Princess, too, rose. + +"Come into my room, one of you," she said, "and see me for a moment, +afterwards. I suppose we shall start for our sail about three?" + +Cecil nodded. + +"The boat will be here by then," he said. + +"And I will come up and bring you the news, if there is any," +Forrest added. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +The man who stood with a telescope glued to his eye watching the +coming boat, shut it up at last with a little snap. He walked round +to the other side of the cottage, where Andrew was sitting with a +pipe in his mouth industriously mending a fishing net. + +"Andrew," he said, "there are some people coming here, and I am +almost sure that they mean to land." + +Andrew rose to his feet and strolled round to the little stretch of +beach in front of the cottage. When he saw who it was who +approached, he stopped short and took his pipe from his mouth. + +"By Jove, it's Cecil," he exclaimed, "and his friends!" + +His companion nodded. He was a man still on the youthful side of +middle age, with bronzed features, and short, closely-cut beard. He +looked what he was, a traveller and a sportsman. + +"So I imagined," he said, "but I don't see Ronald there." + +Andrew shaded his eyes with his hand. + +"No!" he said. "There is the Princess and Cecil, and Major Forrest +and Miss Le Mesurier. No one else. They certainly do look as though +they were going to land here." + +"Why not?" the other man remarked. "Why shouldn't Cecil come to +visit his hermit brother?" + +Andrew frowned. + +"Berners," he said, "I want you to remember this. If they land here +and you see anything of them, will you have the goodness to +understand that I am Mr. Andrew, fisherman, and that you are my +lodger?" + +Andrew's companion looked at him in surprise. + +"What sort of a game is this, Andrew?" he asked. + +Andrew de la Borne shrugged his shoulders and smiled good-naturedly. + +"Never mind about that, Dick," he answered. "Call it a whim or +anything else you like. The fact is that Cecil had some guests +coming whom I did not particularly care to meet, and who certainly +would not have been interested in me. I thought it would be best to +clear out altogether, so I have left Cecil in possession of the +Hall, and they don't even know that I exist." + +The man named Berners looked up at his host with twinkling eyes. + +"Right!" he said. "So far as I am concerned, you shall be Mr. +Andrew, fisherman. Will you also kindly remember that if any +curiosity is evinced as to my identity, I am Mr. Berners, and that I +am here for a rest-cure. By the by, how are you going to explain +that elderly domestic of yours?" + +"He is your servant, of course," Andrew answered. "He understands +the position. I have spoken to him already. Yes, they are coming +here right enough! Suppose you help me to pull in the boat for +them." + +The two men sauntered down to the shelving beach. The boat was close +to them now, and Cecil was standing up in the bows. + +"We want to land for a few minutes," he called out. + +"Throw a rope, then," Andrew answered briefly. "You had better come +in this side of the landing-stage." + +The rope was thrown, and the boat dragged high and dry upon the +pebbly beach. The Princess, after a glance at him through her +lorgnette, surrendered herself willingly to Andrew's outstretched +hands. + +"I am quite sure," she said, "that you will not let me fall. You +must be the wonderful person whom my daughter has told me about. Is +this queer little place really your home?" + +"I live here," Andrew de la Borne said simply. + +Jeanne leaned over towards him. + +"Won't you please help me, Mr. Andrew?" she said, smiling down at +him. + +He held out his arms, and she sprang lightly to the ground. + +"I hope you don't mind our coming," she said to him. "I was so +anxious to see your cottage." + +"There is little enough to see," Andrew answered, "but you are very +welcome." + +"We are sorry to trouble you," Cecil said, a little uneasily, "but +would it be possible to give these ladies some tea?" + +"Certainly," Andrew answered. "I will go and get it ready." + +"Oh, what fun!" Jeanne declared. "I am coming to help. Please, Mr. +Andrew, do let me help. I am sure I could make tea." + +"It is not necessary, thank you," Andrew answered. "I have a lodger +who has brought his own servant. As it happens he was just preparing +some tea for us. If you will come round to the other side, where it +is a little more sheltered, I will bring you some chairs." + +They moved across the grass-grown little stretch of sand. The +Princess peered curiously at Berners. + +"Your face," she remarked, "seems quite familiar to me." + +Berners did not for the moment answer her. He was looking towards +Forrest, who was busy lighting a cigarette. + +"I am afraid, madam," he said, after a slight pause, "that I cannot +claim the honour of having met you." + +The Princess was not altogether satisfied. Jeanne had gone on with +Andrew, and she followed slowly walking with Berners. + +"I have such a good memory for faces," she remarked, "and I am very +seldom mistaken." + +"I am afraid," Berners said, "that this must be one of those rare +occasions. If you will allow me I will go and help Andrew bring out +some seats." + +He disappeared into the cottage, and came out again almost directly +with a couple of chairs. This time he met Forrest's direct gaze, and +the two men stood for a moment or two looking at one another. +Forrest turned uneasily away. + +"Who the devil is that chap?" he whispered to Cecil. "I'll swear +I've seen him somewhere." + +"Very likely," Cecil answered wearily, throwing himself down on the +turf. "I've no memory for faces." + +Jeanne had stepped into the cottage, and gave a little cry of +delight as she found herself in a small sitting-room, the walls of +which were lined with books and guns and fishing-tackle. + +"What a delightful room, Mr. Andrew!" she exclaimed. "Why--" + +She paused and looked up at him, a little mystified. + +"Do the fishermen in Norfolk read Shakespeare and Keats?" she asked. +"And French books, too, De Maupassant and De Musset?" + +"They are my lodger's," Andrew answered. "This is his room. I sit in +the kitchen when I am at home." + +His dialect was more marked than ever, and his answer had been +delivered without any hesitation. Nevertheless, Jeanne was still a +little puzzled. + +"May I come into the kitchen, please?" she asked. + +"Certainly," he answered. "You will find Mr. Berners' servant there +getting tea ready." + +Jeanne peeped in, and looked back at Andrew, who was standing behind +her. + +"What a lovely stone floor!" she exclaimed. "And your copper kettle, +too, is delightful! Do you mean that when you have not a lodger +here, you cook and do everything for yourself?" + +"There are times," he answered composedly, "when I have a little +assistance. It depends upon whether the fishing season has been +good." + +Berners came in, and threw himself into an easychair in the sitting- +room. + +"Make what use you like of my man, Andrew," he said. "I will have a +cup of tea in here afterwards." + +"I'm very much obliged, sir," Andrew answered. + +The Princess called out to him, and he stepped back once more to +where they were all sitting. + +"It is a shame," she said, "that we drive your lodger away from his +seat. Will you not ask him to take tea with us?" + +"I am afraid," Andrew answered, "that he is not a very sociable +person. He has come down here because he wants a complete rest, and +he does not speak to any one unless he is obliged. He has just asked +me to have his tea sent into his room." + +"Where does he come from, this strange man?" the Princess asked. "It +is all the time in my mind that I have met him somewhere. I am sure +that he is one of us." + +"I believe that he lives in London," Andrew answered, "and his name +is Berners, Mr. Richard Berners." + +"I do not seem to remember the name," the Princess remarked, "but +the man's face worries me. What a delightful looking tea-tray! Mr. +Andrew, you must really sit down with us. We ought to apologize for +taking you by storm like this, and I have not thanked you yet for +being so kind to my daughter." Andrew stepped back toward the +cottage with a firm refusal upon his lips, but Jeanne's hand +suddenly rested upon the arm of his coarse blue jersey. + +"If you please, Mr. Andrew," she begged, "I want you to sit by me +and tell me how you came to live in so strange a place. Do you +really not mind the solitude?" + +Andrew looked down at her for a moment without answering. For the +first time, perhaps, he realized the charm of her pale expressive +face with its rapid changes, and the soft insistent fire of her +beautiful eyes. He hesitated for a moment and then remained where he +was, leaning against the flag-staff. + +"It is very good of you, miss," he said. "As to why I came to live +here, I do so simply because the house belongs to me. It was my +father's and his father's. We folk who live in the country make few +changes." + +She looked at him curiously. The men whom she had known, even those +of the class to whom he might be supposed to belong, were all in a +way different. This man talked only when he was obliged. All the +time she felt in him the attraction of the unknown. He answered her +questions and remarks in words, the rest remained unspoken. She +looked at him contemplatively as he stood by her side with a tea-cup +in his hand, leaning still a little against the flag-staff. +Notwithstanding his rough clothes and heavy fisherman's boots, there +was nothing about his attitude or his speech, save in its dialect, +to denote the fact that he was of a different order from that in +which she had been brought up. She felt an immense curiosity +concerning him, and she felt, too, that it would probably never be +gratified. Most men were her slaves from the moment she smiled upon +them. This one she fancied seemed a little bored by her presence. He +did not even seem to be thinking about her. He was watching steadily +and with somewhat bent eyebrows Cecil de la Borne and Forrest. +Something struck her as she looked from one to the other. + +"I read once," she remarked, "that people who live in a very small +village for generation after generation grow to look like one +another. In a certain way I cannot conceive two men more unlike, and +yet at that moment there was something in your face which reminded +me of Mr. De la Borne." + +He looked down at her with a quick frown. Decidedly he was annoyed. + +"You are certainly the first," he said drily, "who has ever +discovered the likeness, if there is any." + +"It does not amount to a likeness," she answered, "and you need not +look so angry. Mr. De la Borne is considered very good-looking. Dear +me, what a nuisance! Do you see? We are going!" + +Andrew de la Borne took the cup from her hand and helped to prepare +the boat. With a faint smile upon his lips he heard a little +colloquy between Cecil and the Princess which amused him. The +Princess, as he prepared to hand her into the boat, showed herself +at any rate possessed of the instincts of her order. She held out +her hand and smiled sweetly upon Andrew. + +"We are so much obliged to you for your delightful tea, Mr. Andrew," +she said. "I hope that next time my daughter goes wandering about in +dangerous places you may be there to look after her." + +Andrew looked swiftly away towards Jeanne. Somehow or other the +Princess' words seemed to come to him at that moment charged with +some secondary meaning. He felt instinctively that notwithstanding +her thoroughly advanced airs, Jeanne was little more than a child as +compared with these people. She met his eyes with one of her most +delightful smiles. + +"Some day, I hope," she said, "that you will take me out in the punt +again. I can assure you that I quite enjoyed being rescued." + +The little party sailed away, Cecil with an obvious air of relief. +Andrew turned slowly round, and met his friend issuing from the door +of the cottage. + +"Andrew," he said, "no wonder you did not care about being host to +such a crowd!" + +There was meaning in his tone, and Andrew looked at him +thoughtfully. + +"Do you know--anything definite?" he asked. + +Berners nodded. + +"About one of them," he said, "I certainly do. I wonder what on +earth has become of Ronald. He was with them yesterday." + +"Had enough, perhaps," Andrew suggested. + +Berners shook his head. + +"I am afraid not," he answered slowly. "I wish I could think that he +had so much sense." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + +Cecil came into the room abruptly, and closed the door behind him. +He was breathing quickly as though he had been running. His lips +were a little parted, and in his eyes shone an unmistakable +expression of fear. Forrest and the Princess both looked towards him +apprehensively. + +"What is it, Cecil?" the latter asked quickly. "You are a fool to go +about the house looking like that." + +Cecil came further into the room and threw himself into a chair. + +"It is that fellow upon the island," he said. "You remember we all +said that his face was familiar. I have seen him again, and I have +remembered." + +"Remembered what?" the Princess asked. + +"Where it was that I saw him last," Cecil answered. "It was in Pall +Mall, and he was walking with--with Engleton. It was before I knew +him, but I knew who he was. He must be a friend of Engleton's. What +do you suppose that he is doing here?" + +Cecil was shaking like a leaf. The Princess looked towards him +contemptuously. + +"Come," she said, "there is no need for you to behave like a +terrified child. Even if you have seen him once with Lord Ronald, +what on earth is there in that to be terrified about? Lord Ronald +had many friends and acquaintances everywhere. This one is surely +harmless enough. He behaved quite naturally on the island, +remember." + +Cecil shook his head. + +"I do not understand," he said. "I do not understand what he can be +doing in this part of the world, unless he has some object. I saw +him just now standing behind a tree at the entrance to the drive, +watching me drive golf balls out on to the marsh. I am almost +certain that he was about the place last night. I saw some one who +looked very much like him pass along the cliffs just about dinner- +time." + +"You are frightened at shadows," the Princess declared +contemptuously. "If he were one of Lord Ronald's friends, and he had +come here to look for him, he wouldn't play about watching you from +a distance. Besides, there has been no time yet. Lord Ronald only-- +left here yesterday morning." + +"What is he doing, then, watching this house?" Cecil asked. "That is +what I do not like." + +The Princess raised her eyebrows contemptuously. + +"My dear Cecil," she said, "it is just a coincidence, and not a very +remarkable one at that. Lord Ronald had the name, you know, of +having acquaintances in every quarter of the world." + +Cecil drew a little breath. + +"It may be all right," he said, "but I am not used to this sort of +thing, and it gives me the creeps." + +"Of course it is all right," the Princess said composedly. "One +would think that we were a pack of children, to take any notice of +such trifles. It is too early, my dear Cecil, by many a day, to look +for trouble yet. Lord Ronald always wandered about pretty much as he +chose. It will be months before--" + +"Don't go on," Cecil interrupted. "I suppose I am a fool, but all +the time I am fancying things." + +Forrest moved away with a little laugh, and the Princess rose and +thrust her arm through Cecil's. + +"Silly boy!" she said. "You have nothing to be frightened about, I +can assure you." + +"I am not frightened," Cecil answered. "I don't think that I was +ever a coward. All the same, there are some things about this fellow +which I don't quite understand." + +The Princess laughed as she swept from the room. + +"Don't be foolish, Cecil," she said. "Remember that we are all here, +and that nothing can go wrong unless we lose our nerve." + +Forrest found the Princess alone a little later in the evening, +waiting in the hall for the dinner-gong. He drew her into a corner, +under pretext of showing her one of the old engravings, dark with +age, which hung upon the wall. + +"Ena," he said, "I suppose that you trust Cecil de la Borne? You +haven't any fear about him, eh?" + +The Princess shrugged her shoulders. + +"No!" she answered. "He is a coward at heart, but he has enough +vanity, I believe, to keep him from doing anything foolish. All the +same, I think it is wiser not to leave him alone here." + +"He would not stay," Forrest remarked. "He told me so only this +morning." + +"You suggested leaving?" the Princess asked. + +Forrest nodded. + +"I couldn't help it," he said, a little sullenly. "There is +something about these great empty rooms, and the silence of the +place, that's getting on my nerves. I start every time that great +front-door bell clangs, or I hear an unfamiliar footstep in the +hall. God! What fools we have been," he added, with a sudden bitter +strength. "I couldn't have believed that I could ever have done +anything so clumsy. Fancy giving ourselves away to a fool like +Engleton, a self-opinionated young cub scarcely out of his cradle." + +He felt his damp forehead. The Princess was watching him curiously. + +"Don't be a fool, Nigel," she said. "We underrated Engleton, that +was all. If ever a man looked an idiot, he did, and you must +remember that we were in a corner. Yet," she added, leaning a little +forward in her chair and gazing with hard, set face into the fire, +"it was foolish of me. With Jeanne to play with, I ought to have had +no such difficulties. I never counted upon the tradespeople being so +unreasonable. If they had let me finish the season it would have +been all right." + +Forrest walked restlessly across the room, and stood for a moment +looking out of the window. Outside, the wind had suddenly changed. +The sunshine had departed, and a grey fog was blowing in from the +sea. He turned away with a shiver. + +"What a cursed place this is!" he muttered. "I've half a mind even +now to turn my back upon it and to run." + +The Princess watched his pale face scornfully. + +"I thought, Nigel," she said, "that you were a more reasonable +person. Remember that if we show the white feather now, it is the +end of everything--the Colonies, if you like, or a little cheap +watering-place at the best. As for me, I might have a better chance +of brazening it out, but remember that I could never afford to be +seen in the company of a suspected person." + +"It was the fear of losing you," he muttered, "which made me so +rash." + +The Princess laughed very softly. + +"My dear friend," she said, "I do not believe you. I may seem to you +sometimes very foolish, but at least I understand this. Life with +you is self, self, self, and nothing more. You have scarcely a +generous instinct, scarcely a spark of real affection left in you." + +"And yet--" he began quietly. + +"And yet," she whispered, repulsing him with a little gesture, but +with a suddenly altered look in her face, "and yet we women are +fools!" + +She turned round to meet her host, who was crossing the hall, and +almost simultaneously the dinner gong rang out. Their party was +perhaps a little more cheerful than it had been on any of the last +few evenings. Forrest drank more wine than usual, and exerted +himself to entertain. Cecil followed his example, and the Princess, +who sat by his side, looked often into his face, and whispered now +and then in his ear. Jeanne was the only one who was a little +distrait. She left the table early, as usual, and slipped out into +the garden. The Princess, contrary to her custom, rose from the +table and followed her. A sudden change of wind had blown the fog +away, and the night was clear. The wind, however, had gathered +force, and the Princess held down her elaborately coiffured hair and +cried out in dismay. + +"My dear Jeanne," she exclaimed, "but it is barbarous to wander +about outside a night like this!" + +Jeanne laughed. Her own more simply arranged hair was blown all over +her face. + +"I love it," she explained. "You don't want me indoors. I am going +to walk down the grove and look at the sea." + +"Come back into the hall one moment," the Princess said. "I want to +speak to you." + +Jeanne turned unwillingly round, and her step-mother drew her into +the shelter of the open door. + +"Jeanne," she said, "you seem to meet your friend the fisherman very +often. If you should see anything of him to-morrow, I wish you would +inquire particularly as to his lodger. You know whom I mean, the man +who was on the island with him yesterday afternoon." + +Jeanne looked at her stepmother curiously. + +"What am I to ask about him?" she demanded. + +"Where he comes from, and what he is doing here," the Princess said. +"Find out if you can if Berners is really his name. I have a curious +idea about him, and Cecil fancies that he has seen him before." + +Jeanne looked for a minute interested. + +"You are not usually so curious about people," she remarked. + +The Princess lowered her voice a little. + +"Jeanne," she said, "I will tell you something. Lord Ronald, when he +left here, was very angry with us all. There was a quarrel, and he +behaved very absurdly. Cecil fancies that this man Berners is a +friend of Lord Ronald's. We want to know if it is so." + +Jeanne raised her head and looked her stepmother steadily in the +face. + +"This is all very mysterious," she said. "I do not understand it at +all. We seem to be almost in hiding here, seeing no one and going +nowhere. And I notice that Major Forrest, whenever he walks even in +the garden, is always looking around as though he were afraid of +something. What did you quarrel with Lord Ronald about?" + +"It is no concern of yours," the Princess answered, a little +sharply. "Major Forrest has had a somewhat eventful career, and he +has made enemies. It was chiefly his quarrel with Lord Ronald, and +it was over a somewhat serious matter. He has an idea that this man +Berners is connected with it in some way or other. Do find out if +you can, there's a dear child." + +"I do not suppose," Jeanne said, "that Mr. Andrew would know +anything. However, when I see him I will ask him." + +The Princess turned away from the open door, shivering. + +"You are not really going out?" she said. + +"Certainly I am," Jeanne answered. "I suppose you three will play +cards, and it does not interest me to watch you. There is nothing +which interests me here at all except the gardens and the sea. I am +going down to the beach, and then I shall sit there behind the +hollyhocks until it is bedtime." + +The Princess looked at her curiously. + +"You're a queer child," she said, turning away. + +"It is not strange, that," Jeanne answered, with a little curl of +the lips. + +The Princess went back to the library. Coffee and liqueurs had +already been served, and the card-table was set out, although none +of the three had the slightest inclination to play. Jeanne walked +along the beach and then came back to her favourite seat, sheltered +by the little grove of stunted trees and the tall hollyhocks which +bordered the garden. Her eyes were fixed upon the darkening sea, +whitened here and there by the long straight line of breakers. The +marshes on her right hand were hung with grey mists, floating about +like weird phantoms, and here and there between them shone the +distant lights of the village. She half closed her eyes. The soft +falling of the waves upon the sand below, and the murmur of the wind +through the bushes and scanty trees was like a lullaby. She sat +there she scarcely knew how long. She woke up with a start, +conscious that two men were standing talking together within a few +yards of her in the rough lane that led down to the sea. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + +The Princess was attempting a new and very complicated form of +patience. Forrest was watching her. Their host was making an attempt +to read the newspaper. + +"In five minutes," the Princess declared, "I shall have achieved the +impossible. This time I am quite sure that I am going to do it." + +A breathless silence followed her announcement. The Princess, +looking up in surprise, found that the eyes of her two companions +were fixed not upon her but upon the door. She laid down her cards +and turned her head. It was Jeanne who stood there, her hair tossed +and blown by the wind, her face ashen white. + +"What is the matter, child?" the Princess demanded. + +Jeanne came a little way into the room. + +"There were two men," she faltered, "talking in the shrubbery close +to where I was sitting behind the hollyhocks. I could not understand +all that they said, but they are coming here. They were speaking of +Lord Ronald." + +"Go on," Forrest muttered, leaning forward with dilated eyes. + +"They spoke as though something might have happened to him here," +the girl whispered. "Oh! it is too horrible, this! What do you think +that they meant?" + +She looked at the three people who confronted her. There was nothing +reassuring in the faces of the two men. The Princess leaned back in +her chair and laughed. + +"My dear child," she said, "you have been asleep and dreamed these +foolish things; or if not, these yokels to whom you have been +listening are mad. What harm do you suppose could come to Lord +Ronald here?" + +"I do not know," Jeanne said, speaking in a low tone, and with the +fear still in her dark eyes. + +"I told you," the Princess continued, "that there was some sort of a +quarrel. What of it? Lord Ronald simply chose to go away. Do you +suppose that there is any one here who would think of trying to +hinder him? Look at us three and ask yourself if it is likely. Look +at Major Forrest here, for instance, who never loses his temper, and +whose whole life is a series of calculations. Or our host. Look at +him," the Princess continued, with a little wave of her hand. "He +may have secrets that we know nothing of, but if he is a desperate +criminal, I must say that he has kept the knowledge very well to +himself. As for me, you know very well that I quarrel with no one. +Le jeu ne vaut pas la peine." + +Jeanne drew a little breath. Her face was less tragic. There was a +moment's silence. Then Cecil de la Borne moved toward the fireplace. +He was pale, but his manner was more composed. The Princess' speech, +drawn out, and very slowly spoken, of deliberate intent, had +achieved its purpose. The first terror had passed away from all of +them. + +"I will ring the bell," Cecil said, "and find out who these +trespassers are, wandering about my grounds at this hour of the +night. Or shall we all go out and look for them ourselves?" + +"As you will," Forrest answered. "Personally, I should think that +Miss Jeanne has overheard some gossip amongst the servants, and +misunderstood it. However, this sort of thing is just as well put a +stop to." + +A sudden peal rang through the house. The front-door bell, a huge +unwieldy affair, seldom used, because, save in the depths of winter, +the door stood open, suddenly sent a deep resonant summons echoing +through the house. The bareness and height of the hall, and the fact +that the room in which they were was quite close to the front door +itself, perhaps accounted for the unusual volume of sound which +seemed created by that one peal. It was more like an alarm bell, +ringing out into the silent night, than any ordinary summons. Coming +in the midst of those tense few seconds, it had an effect upon the +people who heard it which was almost indescribable. Cecil de la +Borne was pale with the nervousness of the coward, but Forrest's +terror was a real and actual thing, stamped in his white face, +gleaming in his sunken eyes, as he stood behind the card-table with +his head a little thrust forward toward the door, as though +listening for what might come next. The Princess, if she was in any +way discomposed, did not show it. She sat erect in her chair, her +head slightly thrown back, her eyebrows a little contracted. It was +as though she were asking who had dared to break in so rudely upon +her pastime. Jeanne had sunk back into the window, and was sitting +there, her hands clasped together. + +Cecil de la Borne glanced at the clock. + +"It is nearly eleven o'clock," he said. "The servants will have gone +to bed. I must go and see who that is." + +No one attempted to stop him. They heard his footsteps go echoing +down the silent hall. They heard the harsh clanking of the chain as +he drew it back, and the opening of the heavy door. They all looked +at one another in tense expectation. They heard Cecil's challenge, +and they heard muffled voices outside. Then there came the closing +of the door, and the sound of heavy footsteps in the hall. Forrest +grasped the table with both hands, and his face was bloodless. The +Princess leaned towards him. + +"For God's sake, Nigel," she whispered in his ear, "pull yourself +together! One look into your face is enough to give the whole show +away. Even Jeanne there is watching you." + +The man made an effort. Even as the footsteps drew near he dashed +some brandy into a tumbler and drank it off. Cecil de la Borne +entered, followed by the man who had been Andrew's guest and +another, a small dark person with glasses, and a professional air. +Cecil, who had been a little in front, turned round to usher them +in. + +"I cannot keep you out of my house, gentlemen, I suppose," he said, +"although I consider that your intrusion at such an hour is entirely +unwarrantable. I regret that I have no other room in which I can +receive you. What you have to say to me, you can say here before my +friends. If I remember rightly," he added, "your name is Berners, +and you are lodging in this neighbourhood." + +The man who had called himself Berners bowed to the Princess and +Jeanne before replying. His manner was grave, but not in any way +threatening. His companion stood behind him and remained silent. + +"I have called myself Berners," he said, "because it is more +convenient at times to do so. I am Richard Berners, Duke of +Westerham. A recent guest of yours--Lord Ronald--is my younger +brother." + +The silence which reigned in the room might almost have been felt. +The Duke, looking from one to the other, grew graver. + +"I suppose," he continued, "I ought to apologize for coming here so +late at night, but my solicitor has only just arrived from London, +and reported to me the result of some inquiries he has been making. +Ronald is my favourite brother, although I have not seen much of him +lately. I trust, therefore," he continued, still speaking to Cecil +de la Borne, "that you will pardon my intrusion when I explain that +from the moment of quitting your house my brother seems to have +completely disappeared. I have come to ask you if you can give me +any information as to the circumstances of his leaving, and whether +he told you his destination." + +Cecil de la Borne was white to the lips, but he was on the point of +answering when the Princess intervened. She leaned forward toward +the newcomer, and her face expressed the most genuine concern. + +"My dear Duke," she said, "this is very extraordinary news that you +bring. Lord Ronald left here for London. Do you mean to say that he +has never arrived there?" + +The Duke turned towards his companion. + +"My solicitor here, Mr. Hensellman," he said, "has made the most +careful inquiries, and has even gone so far as to employ detectives. +My brother has certainly not returned to London. We have also wired +to every country house where a visit from him would have been a +probability, without result. Under those circumstances, and others +which I need not perhaps enlarge upon, I must confess to feeling +some anxiety as to what has become of him." + +"Naturally," the Princess answered at once. "And yet," she +continued, "it is only a few days ago since he left here. Your +brother, Duke, who seemed to me a most delightful young man, was +also distinctly peculiar, and I do not think that the fact of your +not being able to hear of him at his accustomed haunts for two or +three days is in any way a matter which need cause you any anxiety." + +The Duke bowed. + +"Madam," he said, "I regret having to differ from you. I beg that +you will not permit anything which I say to reflect upon yourself or +upon Mr. De la Borne, whose honour, I am sure, is above question. +But you have amongst you a person whom I am assured is a very bad +companion indeed for boys of my brother's age. I refer to you, sir," +he added, addressing Forrest. + +Forrest bowed ironically. + +"I am exceedingly obliged to you, sir," he said, "for your amiable +opinion, although why you should go out of your way to volunteer it +here, I cannot imagine." + +"I do so, sir," the Duke answered, "because during the last two or +three days cheques for a considerable amount have been honoured at +my brother's bank, bearing your endorsement. I may add, sir, that I +came down here to see my brother. I wished to explain to him that +you were not a person with whom it was advisable for him to play +cards." + +Forrest took a quick step forward. + +"Sir," he exclaimed, "you are a liar!" + +The Duke bowed. + +"I do not quote my own opinion," he said. "I speak from the result +of the most careful investigations. Your reputation you cannot deny. +Even at your own clubs men shrug their shoulders when your name is +mentioned. I will give you the benefit of any doubt you wish. I will +simply say that you are a person who is suspected in any assembly +where gentlemen meet together, and that being so, as my brother has +disappeared from this house after several nights spent in playing +cards with you, I am here to learn from you, and from you, sir," he +added, turning to Cecil de la Borne, "some further information as to +the manner of my brother's departure, or to remain here until I have +acquired that information for myself." + +The Princess rose to her feet and laid her hand upon Forrest's +shoulder. The veins were standing out upon his forehead, and his +face was black with anger. He seemed to be in the act of springing +upon the man who made these charges against him. + +"Nigel," she said, "please let me talk to the Duke. Remember that, +after all, from his own point of view, what he is saying is not so +outrageous as it seems to us. Cecil, please don't interfere," she +added turning towards him. "Duke," she continued, speaking firmly, +and with much of the amiability gone from her tone, "you are playing +the modern Don Quixote to an extent which is unpardonable, even +taking into account your anxiety concerning your brother. Lord +Ronald was a guest here of Mr. De la Borne's, and to the best of my +knowledge he lost little more than he won all the time he was here. +In any case, on Major Forrest's behalf, and as an old friend, I deny +that there was any question whatever as to the fairness of any games +that were played. Your brother received a telegram, and asked to be +allowed the use of the car to take him to Lynn Station early on the +following morning. He promised to return within a week." + +"You have heard from him since he left?" the Duke asked quickly. + +"We have not," the Princess answered. "Only yesterday morning I +remarked that it was slightly discourteous. Your brother left here +on excellent terms with us all. You can interview, if you will, any +member of the household. You can make your inquiries at the station +from which he departed. Your appearance here at such an untimely +hour, and your barely veiled accusations, remind me of the fable of +the bull in the china shop. If you think that we have locked your +brother up here, pray search the house. If you think," she added, +with curling lip, "that we have murdered him, pray bring down an +army of detectives, invest the place, and pursue your investigations +in whatever direction you like. But before you leave, I should +advise you, if you wish to preserve your reputation as a person of +breeding, to apologize to Mr. De la Borne for your extraordinary +behaviour here to-night, and the extraordinary things at which you +have hinted." + +The Duke smiled pleasantly. + +"Madam," he said, "I came here to-night not knowing that you were +amongst the difficulties which I should have to deal with. I wish to +speak to Mr. De la Borne. You will permit me?" + +The Princess shrugged her shoulders and turned away. + +"I have ventured to speak for both of them," she remarked, "for the +sake of peace, because I am a woman and can keep my temper, and they +are men who might have resented your impertinence." + +The Duke remained as though he had not heard her speech. He laid his +hand upon Cecil's shoulder. + +"De la Borne," he said, "you and I are scarcely strangers, although +we have never met. There have been friendships in our families for +many years. Don't be afraid to speak out if anything has gone a +little wrong here and you are ashamed of it. I want to be your +friend, as you know very well. Tell me, now. Can't you help me to +find Ronald. Haven't you any idea where he is?" + +"None at all," Cecil answered. + +"Tell me this, then," the Duke said, his clear brown eyes fixed +steadily upon Cecil's miserable white face. "Were there any unusual +circumstances at all connected with his leaving here?" + +"None whatever," Cecil answered, with an uneasy little laugh, +"except that I had to get up to see him off, and it was a beastly +cold morning." + +The lawyer, who had been standing silent all this time, drew the +Duke for a moment on one side. + +"I should recommend, sir," he whispered, "that we went away. If they +know anything they do not mean to tell, and the less we let them +know as to whether we are satisfied or not, the better." + +The Duke nodded, and turned once more to Cecil. + +"I am forced to accept your word, Mr. De la Borne," he said, "and +when my brother confirms your story I shall make a special visit +here to offer you my apologies. Madam," he added, bowing to the +Princess, "I regret to have disturbed your interesting occupation." + +Forrest he completely ignored, turning his back upon him almost +immediately. Cecil went out with them into the hall. In a moment the +great front door was opened and closed. Cecil came back into the +room, and the perspiration stood out in great beads upon his +forehead. Now that the Duke had departed, something seemed to have +fallen from their faces. They looked at one another as the ghosts of +their real selves might have looked. Forrest stumbled toward the +sideboard. Cecil was already there. + +"The brandy!" he muttered. "Quick!" + + + + +CHAPTER XV + + +Bareheaded, Jeanne walked upon the yellow sands close to the softly +breaking waves. Inland stretched the marshes, with their patches of +vivid green, their clouds of faintly blue wild lavender, their +sinuous creeks stealing into the bosom of the land. She climbed on +to a grassy knoll, warm with the sun's heat, and threw herself down +upon the turf. She turned her back upon the Hall and looked steadily +seawards, across the waste of sands and pasture-land to where sky +and sea met. Here at least was peace. She drew a long breath of +relief, cast aside the book which she had never dreamed of reading, +and lay full length in the grass, with her eyes upturned to where a +lark was singing his way down from the blue sky. + +Andrew came before long, speeding his way out of the village harbour +in his little catboat. She watched him cross the sandy bar of the +inlet, and run his boat presently upon the beach below where she +sat. Then she shook out her skirts and made room for him by her +side. + +"Really, Mr. Andrew," she said, resting her chin upon her hands, and +looking up at him with her full dark eyes, "you are becoming almost +gallant. Until now, when I have been weary, and have wished to talk +to you, I have had almost to come and fetch you. To-day it is you +who come to me. That is a good sign." + +"It is true," he admitted. "I have kept my telescope fixed upon the +sands here for more than an hour. I wanted to see you." + +"You have something to tell me about last night?" she asked gravely. + +"No!" he answered, "I did not come here to talk about that." + +"Did you know," she asked, "who your lodger really was?" + +"Yes," he said, "I guessed! I will be frank with you, Miss Jeanne, +if you will allow me. I do not like your stepmother and I do not +like Major Forrest, but I think that the Duke is going altogether +too far when he suspects them of having anything to do with the +disappearance of his brother." + +She drew a little sigh of relief. + +"Oh! I am glad to hear you say that," she declared. "It is all so +horrible. I could not sleep last night for thinking about it." + +"Lord Ronald will probably turn up in a day or two," Andrew said +gravely. "We will not talk any more about him." + +She settled herself a little more comfortably, and smoothed out her +skirts. Then she looked up at him with faintly parted lips. + +"What shall we talk about, Mr. Andrew?" she said softly. + +"About ourselves," he answered, "or rather about you. It seems to me +that we both stand a little outside the game of life, as your +friends up there understand it." + +He waved his large brown hand in the direction of the Hall. + +"You are a child, fresh from boarding-school, too young to +understand, too young to know where to look for your friends, or +discriminate against your enemies. I am a rough sort of fellow, +also, outside their lives, from necessity, from every reason which +the brain of man could evolve. Sometimes we outsiders see more than +is intended. Is the Princess of Strurm really your stepmother?" + +"Of course she is," Jeanne answered. "She was married to my father +when I was quite a little girl, and she has visited me at the +convent where I was at school, all my life, and when I left last +year it was she who came for me. Why do you ask so strange a +question?" + +"Because," he said, "I should consider her about the worst possible +guardian that a child like you could have. Tell me, what is it that +goes on all day up at the Hall there--or rather what was it that did +go on before Engleton went away?--eating and drinking, cards, and +God knows what sort of foolishness! Nothing else, nothing worth +doing, not a thing said worth listening to! It's a rotten life for a +child like you. They tell me you're an heiress. Are you?" + +She smoothed her crumpled skirts, and looked steadily at the tip of +her brown shoe. + +"One of the greatest in Europe," she answered. "No one knows how +rich I am. You see all the money was left to me when I was six years +old, and it is so strictly tied up that no one has had power to +touch a single penny until I am of age. That is why it has gone on +increasing and increasing." + +"And when are you of age?" he asked. + +"Next year," she answered. + +"By that time, I imagine," Andrew continued, "your stepmother will +have sold you to some broken-down hanger-on of hers. Haven't you any +other relations, Miss Jeanne?" + +She laughed softly. + +"You are a ridiculous person," she said. "I am very fond of my +stepmother. I think that she is a very clever woman." + +"Bah!" he exclaimed in disgust. "A clever woman she may be, but a +good woman, no! I am sure of that. You may judge a person by the +company they keep. Neither she or this man Forrest are fit +associates for a child of your age." + +She laughed softly. + +"They don't do me any harm," she said. "Mr. De la Borne and Lord +Ronald have asked me to marry them, of course, but then every young +man does that when he knows who I am. My stepmother has promised me +at least that I shall not be bothered by any of them just yet. I am +going to be presented next season, we are going to have a house in +town, and I am going to choose a husband of my own." + +It was Andrew now who looked long and steadily out seawards. She +watched him covertly from under her heavily lidded eyes. + +"Mr. Andrew," she said softly, "I wish very much--" + +Then she stopped short, and he looked at her a little abruptly. + +"What is it that you wish?" he asked. + +"I wish that you did not wear such strange clothes and that you did +not talk the dialect of these fishermen, and that you had more +money. Then you too might come and see me, might you not, when we +have that house in London?" + +He laughed boisterously. + +"I fancy I see myself in London, paying calls," he declared. "Give +me my catboat and fishing line. I'd rather sail down the home creek, +with a northeast gale in my teeth, than walk down Piccadilly in +patent boots." + +She sighed. + +"I am afraid," she admitted, "that as a town acquaintance you are +hopeless." + +"I am afraid so," he answered, looking steadily seawards. "We +country people have strong prejudices, you see. It seems to us that +all the sin and all the unhappiness and all the decadence and all +the things that mar the beauty of the world, come from the cities +and from life in the cities. No wonder that we want to keep away. It +isn't that we think ourselves better than the other folk. It is +simply that we have realized pleasures greater than we could find in +paved streets and under smoke-stained skies. We know what it is to +smell the salt wind, to hear it whistling in the cords and the sails +of our boats, to feel the warmth of the sun, to listen to the song +of the birds, to watch the colouring of God's land here. I suppose +we have the thing in our bloods; we can't leave it. We hear the call +of the other things sometimes, but as soon as we obey we are +restless and unhappy. It is only an affair of time, and generally a +very short time. One cannot fight against nature." + +"No!" she answered softly. "One cannot fight against nature. But +there are children of the cities, children of the life artificial as +well as children of nature. Look at me!" + +He turned toward her quickly. + +"Look at me!" she commanded, and he obeyed. + +He saw her pale skin, which the touch of the sun seemed to have no +power to burn or coarsen. The clear, wonderful eyes, the delicate +eyebrows, the masses of dark hair, the scarlet lips. He saw her +white throat swelling underneath her muslin blouse. The daintiness +of her gown, airy and simple, yet fresh from a Paris workshop. The +stockings and shoes, exquisite, but strangely out of place with +their high heels buried in the sand. + +"How do I know," she demanded, "that I am not one of the children of +the cities, that I was not fashioned and made for the gas-lit life, +to eat unreal food at unreal hours, and feed my brain upon the +unreal epigrams of the men whom you would call decadents. Two days +here, a week--very well. In a month I might be bored. Who shall +guarantee me against it?" + +"No one," he answered. "And yet there is something in your blood +which calls for the truth, which hates the shams, which knows real +beauty. Why don't you try and cultivate it? In your heart you know +where the true things lie. Consider! Every one with great wealth can +make or mar many lives. You enter the world almost as a divinity. +Your wealth is reckoned as a quality. What you do will be right. +What you condemn will be wrong. It is a very important thing for +others as well as yourself, that you should see a clear way through +life." + +A moment's intense dejection seized upon her. The tears stood in her +eyes as she looked away from him. + +"Who is there to show it me?" she asked. "Who is there to help me +find it?" + +"Not those friends whom you have left to play bridge in a room with +drawn curtains at this hour of the day," he answered. "Not your +stepmother, or any of her sort. Try and realize this. Even the +weakest of us is not dependent upon others for support. There is +only one sure guide. Trust yourself. Be faithful to the best part of +yourself. You know what is good and what is ugly. Don't be coerced, +don't be led into the morass." + +She looked at him and laughed gaily. Her mood had changed once more +with chameleon-like swiftness. + +"It is all very well for you," she declared. "You are six foot four, +and you look as though you could hew your way through life with a +cudgel. One could fancy you a Don Quixote amongst the shams, +knocking them over like ninepins, and moving aside neither to the +right nor to the left. But what is a poor weak girl to do? She wants +some one, Mr. Andrew, to wield the cudgel for her." + +It was several seconds before he turned his head. Then he found +that, although her lips were laughing, her eyes were longing and +serious. She sprang suddenly to her feet and leaned towards him. + +"This is the most delightful nonsense," she whispered. "Please!" + +She was in his arms for a moment, her lips had clung to his. Then +she was away, flying along the sands at a pace which seemed to him +miraculous, swinging her hat in her hands, and humming the maddening +refrain of some French song, which it seemed to him was always upon +her lips, and which had haunted him for days. He hesitated, +uncertain whether to follow, ashamed of himself, ashamed of the +passion which was burning in his blood. And while he hesitated she +passed out of sight, turning only once to wave her hand as she +crossed the line of grass-grown hillocks which shut him out from her +view. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + + +"To-morrow," the Princess said softly, "we shall have been here a +fortnight." + +Cecil de la Borne came and sat by her side upon the sofa. + +"I am afraid," he said, "that leaving out everything else, you have +been terribly bored." + +"I have been nothing of the sort," she answered. "Of course, the +last week has been a strain, but we are not going to talk any more +about that. You prepared us for semi-barbarism, and instead you have +made perfect sybarites of us. I can assure you that though in one +way to go will be a release, in another I shall be very sorry." + +"And I," he said, in a low tone, "shall always be sorry." + +He let his hand fall upon hers, and looked into her eyes. The +Princess stifled a yawn. This country style of love-making was a +thing which she had outgrown many years ago. + +"You will find other distractions very soon," she said, "and +besides, the world is a small place. We shall see something of you, +I suppose, always. By the by, you have not been particularly +attentive to my stepdaughter during the last few days, have you?" + +"She gives me very little chance," he answered, in a slightly +aggrieved tone. + +"She is very young," the Princess said, "too young, I suppose, to +take things seriously. I do not think that she will marry very +early." + +Cecil bent over his companion till his head almost touched hers. + +"Dear lady," he said, "I am afraid that I am not very interested in +your stepdaughter while you are here." + +"Absurd!" she murmured. "I am nearly twice your age." + +"If you were," he answered, "so much the better, but you are not. Do +you know, I think that you have been rather unkind to me. I have +scarcely seen you alone since you have been here." + +She laughed softly, and took up her little dog into her arm as +though to use him for a shield. + +"My dear Cecil," she said earnestly, "please don't make love to me. +I like you so much, and I should hate to feel that you were boring +me. Every man with whom I am alone for ten minutes thinks it his +duty to say foolish things to me, and I can assure you that I am +past it all. A few years ago it was different. To-day there are only +three things in the world I care for--my little spaniel here, +bridge, and money." + +His face darkened a little. + +"You did not talk like this in London," he reminded her. + +"Perhaps not," she admitted. "Perhaps even now it is only a mood +with me. I can only speak as I feel for the moment. There are times +when I feel differently, but not now." + +"Perhaps," he said jealously, "there are also other people with whom +you feel differently." + +"Perhaps," she admitted calmly. + +"When I came into the room the other day," he said, "Forrest was +holding your hand." + +"Major Forrest," she said, "has been very much upset. He needed a +little consolation. He has some other engagements, and he ought to +have left before now, but, as you know, we are all prisoners. I +wonder how long it will last." + +"I cannot tell," Cecil answered gloomily. "Forrest knows more about +it than I do. What does he say to you?" + +"He thinks," the Princess said slowly, "that we may be able to leave +in a few days now." + +"Then while you do stay," Cecil begged, "be a little kinder to me." + +She withdrew her hand from her dog and patted his for a moment. + +"You foolish boy," she said. "Of course I will be a little kinder to +you, if you like, but I warn you that I shall only be a +disappointment. Boys of your age always expect so much, and I have +so little to give." + +"Why do you say that?" he asked. + +She shrugged her shoulders. + +"Because it is the truth," she answered. "You must not expect +anything more from me than the husk of things. Believe me, I am not +a poseuse. I really mean it." + +"You may change your mind," he said. + +"I may," she answered. "I have no convictions, and my enemies would +add, no principles. If any one could make me feel the things which I +have forgotten how to feel, I myself am perfectly willing! But don't +hope too much from that. And do, there's a dear boy, go and stop my +maid. I can see her on her way down the drive there. She has some +telegrams I gave her, and I want to send another." + +Cecil hurried out, and the Princess, moving to the window, beckoned +to Forrest, who was lounging in a wicker chair with a cigarette in +his mouth. + +"Nigel," she said, "how much longer?" + +Forrest looked despondently at his cigarette. + +"I cannot tell," he answered. "Perhaps one day, perhaps a week, +perhaps--" + +"No!" the Princess interrupted, "I do not wish to hear that +eventuality." + +"You know that the Duke is still about?" Forrest said gloomily. "I +saw him this morning. There has been a fellow, too--a detective, of +course--enquiring about the car and who was able to drive it." + +"But that," the Princess interrupted, "is all in our favour. You +were seen to bring it back up the drive about ten o'clock in the +morning." + +Forrest nodded. + +"Don't let's talk about it," he said. "Where is Jeanne? Do you +know?" + +The Princess pointed toward the lawn to where Cecil and Jeanne were +just starting a game of croquet. Forrest watched them for a few +minutes meditatively. + +"Ena," he said, dropping his voice a little, "what are you going to +do with that child? I have never quite understood your plans. You +promised to talk to me about it while we were down here." + +"I know," the Princess answered, "only this other affair has driven +everything out of our minds. What I should like to do," she +continued, "is to marry her before she comes of age, if I can find +any one willing to pay the price." + +"The price?" he repeated doubtfully. + +The Princess nodded. + +"Supposing," she continued, "that her fortune amounted to nearly +four hundred thousand pounds, I think that twenty-five thousand +pounds would be a very moderate sum for any one to pay for a wife +with such a dowry." + +"Have you any one in your mind?" he asked. + +The Princess nodded. + +"I have a friend in Paris who is making some cautious inquiries," +she answered. "I am expecting to hear from her in the course of a +few days." + +"So far," he remarked, "you have made nothing out of your +guardianship except a living allowance." + +She nodded. + +"And a ridiculously small one," she remarked. "All that I have had +is two thousand a year. I need not tell you, my dear Nigel, that +that does not go very far when it has to provide dresses and +servants and a home for both of us. Jeanne is content, and never +grumbles, or her lawyers might ask some very inconvenient +questions." + +"Supposing," he asked, "that she won't have anything to do with this +man, when you have found one who is willing to pay?" + +"Until she is of age," the Princess answered, "she is mine to do +what I like with, body and soul. The French law is stricter than the +English in this respect, you know. There may be a little trouble, of +course, but I shall know how to manage her." + +"She has likes and dislikes of her own," he remarked, "and fairly +positive ones. I believe if she had her own way, she would spend all +her time with this fisherman here." + +The Princess smoothed the lace upon her gown, and gazed reflectively +at the turquoises upon her white fingers. + +"Jeanne's father," she remarked, "was bourgeois, and her mother had +little family. Race tells, of course. I have never attempted to +influence her. When there is a great struggle ahead, it is as well +to let her have her own way in small things. Hush! She is coming. I +suppose the croquet has been a failure." + +Jeanne came across to them, swinging her mallet in her hand. + +"Will some one," she begged, "take our too kind host away from me? +He follows me everywhere, and I am bored. I have played croquet with +him, but he is not satisfied. If I try to read, he comes and sits by +my side and talks nonsense. If I say I am going for a walk, he wants +to come with me. I am tired of it." + +The Princess looked at her stepdaughter critically. Jeanne was +dressed in white, with a great red rose stuck through her waistband. +She was paler even than usual, her eyes were dark and luminous, and +the curve of her scarlet lips suggested readily enough the weariness +of which she spoke. + +The Princess shrugged her shoulders and gathered up her skirts. + +"Do what you like, my dear," she said. "I will tell Cecil to leave +you alone. But remember that he is our host. You must really be +civil to him." + +She strolled across the lawn to where Cecil was still knocking the +croquet balls about. Jeanne sank into her place, and Forrest looked +at her for a few moments attentively. + +"You are a strange child," he said at last. + +She glanced towards him as though she found his speech an +impertinence. Then she looked away across the old-fashioned, +strangely arranged garden, with its irregular patches of many +coloured flowers, its wind-swept shrubs, its flag-staff rising from +the grassy knoll at the seaward extremity. She watched the seagulls, +wheeling in from the sea, and followed the line of smoke of a +distant steamer. She seemed to find all these things more +interesting than conversation. + +"You do not like me," he remarked quietly. "You have never liked +me." + +"I have liked very few of my stepmother's friends," she answered, +"any more than I like the life which I have been compelled to lead +since I left school." + +"You would prefer to be back there, perhaps?" he remarked, a little +sarcastically. + +"I should," she answered. "It was prison of a sort, but one was at +least free to choose one's friends." + +"If," he suggested, "you could make up your mind that I was a person +at any rate to be tolerated, I think that I could make things easier +for you. Your stepmother is always inclined to follow my advice, and +I could perhaps get her to take you to quieter places, where you +could lead any sort of life you liked." + +"Thank you," she answered. "Before very long I shall be my own +mistress. Until then I must make the best of things. If you wish to +do something for me you can answer a question." + +"Ask it, then," he begged at once. "If I can, I shall be only too +glad." + +"You can tell me something which since the other night," she said, +"has been worrying me a good deal. You can tell me who it was that +drove Lord Ronald to the station the morning he went away. I thought +that he sent his chauffeur away two days ago, and that there was no +one here who could drive the car." + +Forrest was momentarily taken aback. He answered, however, with +scarcely any noticeable hesitation. + +"I did," he answered. "I didn't make much of a job of it, and the +car has been scarcely fit to use since, but I managed it somehow, or +rather we did between us. He came and knocked me up about five +o'clock, and begged me to come and try." + +She looked at him with peculiar steadfastness. There was nothing in +her eyes or her expression to suggest belief or disbelief in his +words. + +"But I have heard you say so often," she remarked, "that you knew +absolutely nothing about the mechanism of a car, and that you would +not drive one for anything in the world." + +He nodded. + +"I am not proud of my skill," he answered, "but I did try at Homburg +once. There was nothing else to do, and I had some idea of buying a +small car for touring in the Black Forest. If you doubt my words, +you can ask any of the servants. They saw me bring the car up the +avenue later in the morning." + +"It was being dragged up," she reminded him. "The engine was not +going." + +He looked a little startled. + +"It had only just gone wrong," he said. "I had brought it all the +way from Lynn." + +She rose to her feet. + +"Thank you for answering my question," she said. "I am going for a +walk now." + +He leaned quite close to her. + +"Alone?" he asked suggestively. + +She swept away without even looking at him. He shrugged his +shoulders as he resumed his seat. + +"I am not sure," he said reflectively, as he lit a cigarette, "that +Ena will find that young woman so easy to deal with as she +imagines!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + + +Andrew looked up from his gardening, startled by the sudden peal of +thunder. Absorbed in his task, he had not noticed the gathering +storm. The sky was black with clouds, riven even while he looked +with a vivid flash of forked lightning. The ground beneath his feet +seemed almost to shake beneath that second peal of thunder. In the +stillness that followed he heard the cry of a woman in distress. He +threw down his spade and raced to the other side of the garden. +About twenty yards from the shore, Jeanne, in a small boat, was +rowing toward the island. She was pulling at the great oars with +feeble strokes, and making no headway against the current which was +sweeping down the tidal way. There was no time for hesitation. +Andrew threw off his coat, and wading into the water, reached her +just in time. He clambered into the boat and took the oars from her +trembling fingers. He was not a moment too soon, for the long tidal +waves were rushing in now before the storm. He bent to his task, and +drove the boat safely on to the beach. Then he stood up, dripping, +and handed her out. + +"My dear young lady," he said, a little brusquely, and forgetting +for the moment his Norfolk dialect, "what on earth are you about in +that little boat all by yourself?" + +She was still frightened, and she looked at him a little piteously. + +"Please don't be angry with me," she said. "I wanted to come here +and see you, to--to ask your advice. The boat was lying there, and +it looked such a very short distance across, and directly I had +started the big waves began to come in and I was frightened." + +The storm broke upon them. Another peal of thunder was followed by a +downpour of rain. He caught hold of her hand. + +"Run as hard as you can," he said. + +They reached the cottage, breathless. He ushered her into his little +sitting-room. + +"Has your friend gone?" she asked. + +"Yes!" he answered. "He went last night." + +"I am glad," she declared. "I wanted to see you alone. You said that +he was lodging here, did you not?" + +Andrew nodded. + +"Yes," he said, "but he only stayed for a few days." + +"You have an extra room here, then?" she asked. + +"Certainly," he answered, wondering a little at the drift of her +questions. + +"Will you let it to me, please?" she asked. "I am looking for +lodgings, and I should like to stay for a little time here." + +He looked at her in amazement. + +"My dear young lady!" he exclaimed. "You are joking!" + +"I am perfectly serious," she answered. "I will tell you all about +it if you like." + +"But your stepmother!" he protested. "She would never come to such a +place. Besides, you are Mr. De la Borne's guests." + +"I do not wish to stay there any longer," she said. "I do not wish +to stay with my stepmother any longer. Something has happened which +I cannot altogether explain to you, but which makes me feel that I +want to get away from them all. I have enough money, and I am sure I +should not be much trouble. Please take me, Mr. Andrew." + +He suddenly realized what a child she was. Her dark eyes were raised +wistfully to his. Her oval face was a little flushed by her recent +exertions. She wore a very short skirt, and her hair hung about her +shoulders in a tangled mass. Her little foreign mannerisms, half +inciting, half provocative, were forgotten. His heart was full of +pity for her. + +"My dear child," he said, "you are not serious. You cannot possibly +be serious. Your stepmother is your guardian, and she certainly +would not allow you to run away from her like this. Besides, I have +not even a maid-servant. It would be absolutely impossible for you +to stay here." + +Her eyes filled with tears. She dropped her arms with a weary little +gesture. + +"But I should love it so much," she said. "Here I could rest, and +forget all the things which worry me in this new life. Here I could +watch the sea come in. I could sit down on the beach there and +listen to the larks singing on the marshes. Oh! it would be such a +rest--so peaceful! Mr. Andrew, is it quite impossible?" + +He played his part well enough, laughing at her good-humouredly. + +"It is more than impossible," he said. "If you stayed here for any +time at all, your stepmother would come and fetch you back, and I +should get into terrible disgrace. Mr. De la Borne would probably +turn me out of my house," he added as an afterthought. + +She sat down and looked out of the window in despair. The storm was +still raging. The skies were black, and the window-pane streaming +with rain-drops. She shivered a little. + +"If I could help you in any other way," he continued, after a +moment's pause, "I should be very glad to try." + +She turned upon him quickly. + +"How can you help me, or any one," she demanded, "unless you can +take me away from these people? Listen! Until a few months ago I had +scarcely seen my stepmother. She fetched me away from the convent, +took me to Paris for some clothes, and since then I have done +nothing but go to parties and houses where the people seem all to +have fine names, but behave horribly. I know that I am rich. They +told me that before I left the convent, so that I might be a little +prepared, but is that any reason why every man, old and young, +should say foolish things to me, and pretend that they have fallen +in love, when I know all the time that it is my fortune they are +thinking of. And my stepmother speaks of marrying me as though I +were a piece of merchandise, to be disposed of to the highest +bidder. I do not like her friends. I do not like the way they live. +I have never liked Major Forrest. Last night your lodger and another +man came to the Hall. They asked questions about Lord Ronald. They +asked questions and they were told lies. I am sure of it. It got on +my nerves. I thought I should shriek. Major Forrest said that it was +he who drove Lord Ronald into Lynn, thirty-five miles away, at six +o'clock in the morning. I am sure that he could not have driven the +car a hundred yards." + +"Good God!" Andrew muttered. + +"I am sure of it," Jeanne continued. "Two days before Lord Ronald +disappeared, he wanted the car to take us over to Sandringham, and +he could not find the chauffeur. It seems that he was down at the +public-house at the village, and he came back intoxicated. Lord +Ronald was angry, and he sent the man away. The car was there in the +coach-house, and there was no one who could drive it." + +"But," Andrew protested, "Major Forrest was seen returning in the +car." + +"He was pulled up the avenue in it," Jeanne answered. "How he got +the car there I don't know, but I do not believe that it had ever +been any further." + +"Why do you not believe that?" Andrew asked. + +She leaned towards him. + +"Because," she said, "I was up early. The car was there at eight +o'clock, alone, just outside the gates. There were the marks where +it had come down from the house, but there were no marks on the +other side. I am sure that it had been no further. I felt the engine +and it was cold. I do not believe that it had been started at all." + +Andrew was looking very serious. + +"Then," he said, "if Lord Ronald was not taken to Lynn that morning, +what do you suppose has become of him?" + +"I do not know," she cried. "I am afraid. I dare not stay there. +They all look at one another and leave off talking when I come into +the room unexpectedly. They all seem as though some trouble were +hanging over them. I am afraid to be there, Mr. Andrew." + +Andrew was very serious indeed now. + +"I will go up to the Hall at once," he said, "and I will see Mr. De +la Borne. I have some influence with him, and I will get to the +bottom of the whole matter. I will take you back, and I will make +inquiries at once." + +She settled down in his easy chair. Her dark eyes were full of +pleading. + +"But, Mr. Andrew," she said, "I do not want to go back to the Hall. +I am afraid of them all, and I am afraid of my stepmother more than +any of them. Why may I not stay here? I will be very good, and I +will give you no trouble at all." + +"My child," he said firmly, "you are talking nonsense. I am only a +village fisherman, but you could not possibly stay in my house here. +I have not even a housekeeper." + +"That," she declared calmly, "is an excellent reason why I should +stop. I will be your housekeeper. Come and sit here by me and let us +talk about it." + +He walked instead to the window. He did not choose at that moment +that she should see his face. + +"You do not wish to have me!" she cried. + +He turned round. She slid out of her chair and came over to his +side. + +"I can only tell you," he said gravely, "that it is impossible for +you to stay here, and that I must take you home at once." + +She took his arm and looked up into his face. + +"At once, Mr. Andrew?" she asked timidly. + +"As soon as the storm goes down," he answered, glancing uneasily +towards the clock. "Listen, please, Miss--" + +"Jeanne," she whispered. + +"Miss Jeanne, then," he said. "There are some things which you do +not yet understand very well, because you have been brought up +differently to most English girls. I have some influence with Mr. De +la Borne, and I shall do what I can for you up at the house. But it +is very certain that you must not think of leaving your stepmother +unless you have some other relative who is willing to take you. A +child of your age cannot live alone. It is unheard of." + +She sighed, and turned away. + +"Very well, Mr. Andrew," she said. "If you do not wish to be +troubled with me I will go back. I am ready when you are." + +Andrew looked once more out of the window. + +"We cannot cross just yet," he said. "The tide is coming in very +fast, and even here there is a big sea." + +"It is magnificent," she answered, stealing back to his side. "I +only wish that we were outside." + +"You could not stand up," he answered. "Listen!" + +The thunder of the incoming waves seemed to fill the room. Even +while they stood there a little shower of pebbles and spray were +dashed against the windows. Andrew looked anxiously across the +estuary and tapped the barometer by his side. + +"I am afraid," he said, "that you are going to be late for dinner +to-night. You are a bona fide prisoner here for an hour or more at +least." + +"I am so glad," she answered. + +There was a knock at the door. A man entered with a tea-tray. He was +in plain clothes and was obviously a servant. Jeanne looked at him +in surprise. + +"Has Mr. Berners left his servant here?" she asked. + +"For a day or two," Andrew answered hastily. "He may come back, you +see, and he went away in a great hurry. Martin, bring another +teacup, and make the tea. please." + +The man set down the tray and bowed. + +"Very good, sir," he answered. + +Jeannie watched him disappear, perplexed. Was it because he was so +perfectly trained a servant that he addressed the man at her side +with the same respect that he would have shown to his own master? + +"I may stay for tea, may I?" she asked. "That is something, at any +rate. I am going to look round at your things. You don't mind, do +you?" + +"Certainly not," he answered. "That big fish on the wall was caught +within fifty yards of this island. Those sea-birds, too, were all +shot from here." + +"What strange little creatures!" she murmured. "You seem to find +quite a lot of time to read and do other things beside fish, Mr. +Andrew," she remarked, as she looked over his bookcases. "You puzzle +me very much sometimes. I had no idea," she added, looking at him +hesitatingly, "that people who have to work, as you have to, for a +living, understood and read books like this." + +"Ah, well," he answered, "I had perhaps a little more education than +some of them." + +The servant returned with some more things upon a tray. Jeanne sat +down with a little laugh in front of the teapot. She was very much +afraid of saying more than was polite, and she felt that she was +amongst utterly strange surroundings. Yet it seemed to her a most +extraordinary thing that a fisherman in a country village should +possess a silver teapot and old Worcester china, and should be +waited upon by a man servant even though he were the man servant of +a lodger. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + + +The storm died away with the coming of evening, but a great sea +still broke upon the island beach and floated up the estuary. Andrew +stood outside his door and looked across toward the mainland with a +perplexed frown. It was barely a hundred yards crossing, but it was +certain that no boat could live for half the distance. Jeanne, who +had recovered her spirits, stood by his side, and smiled as she saw +the white crested waves come rolling up. + +"It is beautiful, this," she declared. "Do you not love to feel the +spray on your cheeks, Mr. Andrew? And how salt it smells, and +fresh!" + +"That is all very well," Andrew answered, "but I am wondering how we +are going to get over to the other side there." + +"I do not think," she answered, "that it will be possible for a +long, long time. You will have to take me as a lodger whether you +want to or not. I would not trust myself in a boat even with you, +upon a sea like that." + +"It will be high tide in half an hour," Andrew said, "and the sea +will go down fast enough then." + +"It may not," she answered hopefully. "I rather believe that there +is another storm blowing up." + +"There will be no dinner for you," he warned her. + +"That I can endure cheerfully," she declared. "I am sick of dinners. +I hate them. They come much too soon, and one has always the same +things to eat. I am quite sure that I shall dine quite nicely with +you, Mr. Andrew." + +He glanced at his watch and looked out seaward. It was even as she +had said. There were indications of another storm. Even while they +stood there the large raindrops fell. + +"We had better go in," Andrew said. "It is going to rain again." + +She clapped her hands, and danced lightly back into the house. She +subsided into his easy chair and clasped her hands over her head. + +"Come and stand there on the hearthrug," she demanded, "and tell me +stories--stories of fishing adventures and storms, and things that +have happened to yourself. Never mind how ordinary they may seem. I +want to hear them. Remember that everything is new to me. Everything +is interesting." He accepted the inevitable at last, and they talked +until the twilight filled the room. It was strange how much and yet +how little she knew. The fascination of her worldly ignorance was a +thing which grew continually upon him. Suddenly she burst into a +little peal of laughter. + +"I was wondering," she remarked, "whether they are waiting dinner +for me. I can just imagine how frightened they all are." + +"I had forgotten all about them," Andrew confessed. "Wait a moment." + +He left the room and walked out on to the beach. The sea was still +dashing its spray high over the roof of the little cottage. The +stones outside were wet to within a few feet of his door. He looked +across toward the mainland. Far away he fancied that he could see +men carrying lanterns like will-o'-the-wisps, in that part of the +marshes near the Hall. He retraced his steps to the sitting-room. + +"I am afraid," he said, "that it will not be possible to take you +back to-night. The sea is still too rough for my boat, and shows no +sign of going down." + +She clapped her hands. + +"I am very glad," she declared frankly. "I would very much rather +stay here than go back. Shall we go and see what there is for +dinner? I can cook quite well. I learnt at the convent, but I have +never had a chance to really try what I can do." + +He smiled. + +"Well," he said, "you can do exactly what you like with the contents +of my larder, but so far as I am concerned, I must go." + +"Go?" she repeated wonderingly. "If I cannot leave the island, +surely you cannot!" + +"Yes!" he answered. "There is another way. I am going to swim over +to the mainland and let them know at the Hall where you are." + +She was suddenly serious, serious as well as disappointed. + +"You must not," she declared. "It is too dangerous. I will not have +you try it. You must stay here with me. I am not used to being left +alone. I should be very lonely indeed. You must please not think of +going." + +"Miss Jeanne," he said quietly, "there are many things which you do +not know, and you must let me tell you this, that it is not possible +for me to keep you here as my guest until to-morrow. You cannot +leave the island, so I am going to. I can assure you that it is +nothing whatever of a swim, and I shall get to the other side quite +easily. Then I am going down to the village to get some dry clothes, +and I shall go up to the Hall and talk to your stepmother." + +"If you make me go back," she declared, "I shall run away the first +time I have an opportunity, and if you will not have me, I dare say +I can find some one else who has a room to let, who will." + +"I am not your keeper," he answered, "but please don't do anything +rash until I tell you what your stepmother says." + +"It is you who are rash," she declared. "I do not think that I can +let you go. I am afraid, and the water looks so cruel to-night." + +He laughed as he stepped outside. + +"I am going round to leave some orders with Mr. Berners' servant," +he said, "and after that I am going. You must ring for anything you +want, and the man will show you your room if you want to lie down. I +dare say, though, that some one will come from the Hall presently. +The sea will be calmer in a few hours' time." + +She walked with him to the edge of the beach. When he drew off his +coat and turned up his sleeves she trembled with anxiety. + +"Oh, I am afraid," she muttered. "I don't like your going in. I +don't like your doing this. I am sorry that I ever came." + +He laughed a little scornfully, and plunged in. She watched his head +appear and disappear, her heart beating fast all the time. Once she +lost sight of it altogether and screamed. Almost immediately he came +up to the surface again, and turning round waved his hand to her. + +"I am all right," he sang out. "Going strong. It's quite easy." + +A few minutes later she saw him wading, and directly afterwards he +stood upon the sands opposite to her. He waved his hand. She put her +fingers to her lips and threw him a kiss. He pretended not to +notice, and started off toward the village, and her low laugh came +floating to him in a momentary lull of the wind. + +Half-way across the marshes he changed his course, clambered up a +high bank on to the road, and turned toward the Hall. Barer than +ever the great gaunt building seemed to stand out against the sky +line, but from every window lights were flashing, and the windows of +the dining-room seemed to reflect a perfect blaze of light. Andrew +made his way to the back entrance, and entering unobserved, made his +way up to his own room. + +* * * + +Dinner was over, and the little party of three were settling down to +their coffee and cigarettes when the Princess' maid came down and +whispered in her mistress' ear. The Princess turned to her host +perplexed. + +"Has any one seen anything of Jeanne?" she inquired. "Reynolds has +just told me that she has not returned at all." + +"I thought you said that she was lying down with a headache," Cecil +interposed eagerly. + +"I thought so myself," the Princess answered. "Early this afternoon +she told me that she had no sleep last night, that she had a very +bad headache, and that she was going to bed. As a matter of fact she +went out almost at once, and has not returned." Cecil was already on +his way to the door. + +"We will send out into the village at once," he said, "and some one +must go on the marshes. There are plenty of places there where it +would have been absolutely unsafe for her in such a storm as we have +had. Ring the bell, Forrest, will you?" + +Andrew stepped in and closed the door behind him. + +"It is not necessary," he said. "I can tell you all about Miss Le +Mesurier." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + + +There was a moment's breathless silence as Andrew stood there +looking in upon the little group. Then he left his position at the +door and came up to the table round which they were seated. + +"Madam," he said to the Princess, "your daughter is safe. She came +down to the island this afternoon, and was unable to return owing to +the storm." + +The Princess gave a little sigh of relief. + +"Foolish child!" she said. "But where is she now, Mr. Andrew?" + +"She is still at the island," Andrew answered. "It was impossible +for her to leave, so I came here to tell you of her whereabouts." + +"It was extremely thoughtful of you," the Princess said graciously. + +"If Miss Le Mesurier was unable to leave the island, how was it that +you came?" Major Forrest asked, looking at Andrew through his +eyeglass as though he were some sort of natural curiosity. + +"I swam over," Andrew answered. "It was a very short distance." + +It was about this time that they all noticed the fact that Andrew +was wearing clothes of an altogether different fashion to the +fisherman's garb in which they had seen him previously. The Princess +looked at him perplexed. Cecil felt instinctively that the event +which he had most dreaded was about to happen. + +"And you came up here purposely to relieve our minds, Mr. Andrew," +the Princess said. "Really it is most kind of you. I wish that there +were some way--" + +She hesitated, a slight note of question in her tone, expressed also +by her upraised eyebrows. + +"I had a further reason for coming," Andrew said slowly. "I am very +sorry indeed to seem inhospitable or discourteous, but there is a +certain matter which must be cleared up, and at once. I refer to the +disappearance of Lord Ronald." + +There was an instant's dead silence. Then Forrest, with white face, +leaned across the table. + +"Who the devil are you?" he asked. + +"I am Andrew de la Borne," Andrew answered, "the owner of these poor +estates, which I am very well content to leave for the greater part +of the time in my brother's care, only that he is young, and is +liable to make mistakes. He has made one, sir, I fear, in offering +you the hospitality of the Red Hall." + +Forrest rose slowly to his feet. The Princess held out her hand as +though to beg him not to speak. She turned towards Andrew. + +"I do not understand, sir," she said, "why you have chosen to +masquerade under another name, and why you come now to insult your +brother's guests in such a manner. Is what he says true, Cecil?" she +added, turning towards him. "Is this man your brother?" + +"Yes!" Cecil answered sullenly. "He tells the truth. It is just like +him to make such a thundering idiot of himself." + +"I beg your pardon," Andrew answered. "It is not I, Cecil, who +desire to come here and say these things to any guest of yours. It +is you who are sheltering under this roof one man at least to whom +you should never have offered your hospitality. The Duke of +Westerham, who has been my guest for the last few days, told me all +that one needs to know about you, sir, and your career." + +Forrest asked no more questions. He turned to Cecil. + +"Mr. De la Borne," he said, "I have understood that you were my +host, and I appeal to you. Is this person indeed your elder +brother?" + +"Yes!" Cecil answered. + +"You know what this means," Forrest continued, speaking to Cecil. "I +cannot remain in this house any longer. I could only accept +hospitality from those who have at least learned to comport +themselves as gentlemen." + +Andrew smiled. + +"I will not grudge you, sir," he said, "any reasonable excuse for +leaving this house as quickly as may be, but before you go, I insist +upon knowing what has become of Lord Ronald." + +Cecil turned towards his brother angrily. + +"I am sick of hearing about Engleton!" he declared. "I tell you that +he left here, Andrew, on Wednesday morning, and caught the 9-5 train +to London, or at any rate to Peterboro'. Whether he went north, +south, east, or west, is no concern of ours. We only know that he +promised to come back and has not come." + +"There is more to be learnt then," Andrew answered. "How did he get +to Lynn Station that morning?" + +"In the motor car," Cecil answered. + +"Who drove it?" Andrew asked. + +"Major Forrest," Cecil answered. + +"It is a lie!" Andrew declared. "The car never went a hundred yards +beyond the gates. I know that for a fact." + +Again there was silence. The Princess intervened. + +"Mr. Andrew," she began--"I beg your pardon, Mr. De la Borne-- +supposing Lord Ronald did wish to keep his departure and the manner +of it a great secret, why should it trouble you? You don't suppose, +I presume, that there has been a fight, or anything of that sort?" + +"I only know," Andrew answered, "that the brother of one of my +dearest friends has disappeared from this house, after spending +several days in the company of a man of bad reputation. That is +quite enough for me. I am determined to get to the bottom of the +matter." + +"It is a very little matter, after all," the Princess said calmly. +"Perhaps--" + +She hesitated, and looked at the two other men. + +"Perhaps," she continued slowly, "it would be as well to tell you +the truth." + +"If you do not, madam," Andrew answered, "it is more than probable +that I shall speedily elicit it." + +Both Forrest and Cecil seemed stricken speechless, and before they +could recover themselves the Princess had commenced her story, +talking with easy and convincing fluency. + +"Lord Ronald," she said, "did leave here at the time you and the +Duke have been told, and Major Forrest did try to drive him in the +motor to Lynn Station. When he found that that was impossible, that +they could not get the engine to go, Lord Ronald left his luggage +here and walked to Wells. That is the last we have heard of him. He +asked that his luggage should be sent to his rooms in London, and we +sent it off the next day. He left here on good terms with everybody, +but he told us distinctly that the business on which he was summoned +away was of a very unpleasant nature. I think that some one was +trying to blackmail him. Now you can make what inquiries you like, +but I am very certain of one thing, that anything you may discover +is more likely to bring discredit upon Lord Ronald himself than +anybody else." + +"Madam," Andrew said, "your story, of course, I am bound to accept +as the truth, but I must tell you frankly that I shall pass it on to +the Duke, who will take up his inquiries from the point you name. If +he finds that the facts do not correspond with what you have told +me, I fear that the consequences will be disagreeable for all of +you." + +"Of what on earth do you suspect us?" Major Forrest asked sharply. +"Do you think that we have made away with Engleton? Why should we? +We may be the adventurers you delicately suggest, but at least we +should have an object in our crimes. Engleton had not a ten-pound +note of ready money with him. I know that for a fact, because I lent +him some money to pay his chauffeur's wages when he sent him away." + +"You are perhaps holding some of his IOU's?" Andrew asked. + +"I certainly am," Forrest answered, "and the sooner I hear from him +the better. If you are really the owner of this house, I shall leave +to-morrow morning." + +Andrew bowed coldly. + +"That," he said, "would certainly seem to be your best course. On +the contrary," he added, "I am not altogether sure that I am +justified in letting you go." + +The Princess frowned at him indignantly. + +"You talk nonsense, my dear Mr. Andrew, or Mr. Andrew de la Borne," +she said. "If you tried to retain Major Forrest on such a cock and +bull pretext, you would be probably very soon sorry for it. Besides +you have no power to do anything of the sort." + +"Madam," Andrew answered, "I am a magistrate, and I could sign a +warrant on the spot. I do not, however, feel justified in going to +such lengths. I feel sure that if Major Forrest is wanted, we shall +be able to find him." + +"Of course you will," the Princess intervened calmly. "Men like +Major Forrest do not run away just because some one chooses to make +a ridiculous charge against them. If only I could get Jeanne, I +would leave myself to-night." + +"My dear Princess," Cecil said, "I hope that you do not mean it. My +brother has said more than he means, I am sure." + +"I have said less." Andrew replied. "I have the very best reasons +for believing that Major Forrest has lied his way into whatever +friendship he may have had with Lord Ronald and my brother." + +Forrest moved toward the door. + +"Mr. De la Borne," he said to Cecil, "you will forgive me if I +decline to remain here to be insulted by your brother." + +The Princess followed him from the room. Cecil and Andrew were +alone. + +"D--n you, Andrew!" the former said, turning upon him, whitefaced, +and with a sort of petulant anger. "Why do you come here and spoil +things like this?" + +Andrew stood upon the hearthrug, and looked at his brother, black +and forbidding. + +"Cecil," he said, "my life has been spoilt by paying for your +excesses. Ever since I came of age I have been hampered all the time +by paying your debts and providing you with money. I even let you +pose here as the master of the Red Hall because it pleased you. I +have had enough of it. If you run up any more debts, you must pay +them yourself. I am master here and I intend to remain so." + +Cecil was suddenly pale. + +"Do you mean," he asked, "that you intend to remain here now?" + +Andrew hesitated. + +"Your guests are leaving," he said. "Why not?" + +"But they may not go until to-morrow or the next day," Cecil said. +"I cannot turn them out." + +Andrew stood for a moment looking thoughtfully at the door. + +"They cannot stay more than a day," he said, "if Major Forrest is +really their friend. In any case, I shall not return until they are +gone." + +Cecil's face cleared a little, but he was still perplexed. + +"They had just promised," he said, "to stay another week." + +"If you wish to entertain the Princess and Miss Le Mesurier," Andrew +said, "and they are willing to stop after what has passed, I have +nothing, of course, to say against it. But the man Forrest I will +not have here. If ever cheat and coward were written in a man's +face, your friend carries the marks in his." + +"He has won nothing to speak of from me here," Cecil declared. + +"You are probably too small game," Andrew answered. "How about +Engleton? Did he lose?" + +"I am not sure," Cecil answered. "Not very much, if anything." + +The Princess came rustling back. She held her little spaniel up to +her cheek, and she affected not to notice the somewhat strained +attitude of the two men. She went at once to Andrew. + +"Mr. De la Borne," she said, "I think that you have been very unjust +and very rude to Major Forrest, who is an old friend of mine. I am +sure that you have been misled, and I am sure that some day you will +ask his pardon." + +Andrew bowed slightly, and looked her straight in the face. + +"Princess," he said, "may I ask how long you have known the +gentleman who has just left us?" + +"For a very great many years," she answered. "Why?" + +"Are you sure of your own knowledge," Andrew asked, "that he is +really a person of good repute and against whom there have been no +scandalous reports?" + +"I do not listen to gossip," the Princess answered. "Major Forrest +goes everywhere in London, and I have seen nothing in his deportment +at any time to induce me to withdraw my friendship." + +"I fancy, then," Andrew said, "that some day you will find you have +been a little deceived." + +"What about Lord Ronald?" the Princess asked. "Perhaps, Mr. De la +Borne, you think that we are all a little company of adventurers. +This is such a likely spot for our operations, isn't it?" + +"Lord Ronald," Andrew said, "is the brother of my old friend, and he +is, of course, above suspicion, but Lord Ronald appears to have left +you somewhat abruptly, I might almost say mysteriously." + +"He was here for some time," the Princess said, "and he is coming +back." + +"In the meantime," Andrew continued, "he appears to have vanished +from the face of the earth." + +The Princess turned away carelessly. + +"That," she said, "is scarcely our affair. I have not the slightest +doubt but that he will turn up again." + +"If it should turn out that I am mistaken," Andrew said stiffly, "I +should be glad to ask your pardons, but from my present information +I can only say I do not care to extend the hospitality of my house +to Major Forrest, nor do I consider him a fit associate, madam, for +you and your step-daughter." + +"May I ask," the Princess inquired, "who Major Forrest's traducers +have been?" + +"My information," Andrew answered, "comes from the Duke of +Westerham. I have every reason to believe that the case against him +has been understated." + +"The Duke," Cecil declared, "is a pig-headed old fool!" + +Andrew shrugged his shoulders. + +"I have always found him a man of remarkably keen judgment," he +said. + +"What are you going to do about Jeanne?" the Princess asked, +changing the subject abruptly. + +"I should suggest," Andrew answered, "that you have a maid pack a +bag and prepare to go with me over to the island early in the +morning. There is no chance to cross before then, as the tide would +be high." + +"But how nervous she will be there all alone!" the Princess +exclaimed. + +"My servant is there," Andrew answered, "and also an old woman who +cooks for me. They will, I am sure, do everything they can to make +her comfortable. I shall go myself and bring her back here as soon +as it is daylight." + +"We are giving you a great deal of trouble, I am afraid, Mr. De la +Borne," the Princess said stiffly. "To-morrow, as soon as my maid +can pack, we will return to London." + +Andrew bowed as he turned to leave the room. + +"I trust," he said, "that you will not let my presence interfere +with your plans. I shall remain on the island myself to-morrow, +after I have brought your daughter back." + + + + +CHAPTER XX + + +Jeanne awoke the next morning to find herself between lavender +scented sheets in a small iron bedstead, with a soft sea-wind +blowing in through the half-open window. Her maid was ready to wait +upon her, and her bath was of salt water fresh from the sea. She +descended to find Andrew at work in the garden, the sun already high +in the heavens, and the sea as blue and placid as though the storm +of the night before were a thing long past and forgotten. + +"I am never going away," she declared, as they sat at breakfast. "I +take your rooms, Monsieur Andrew. I will import as many chaperons as +you please, but I will not leave this island." + +"I am afraid," he answered smiling, "that there are other people who +would have something to say about that. Your stepmother is already +anxious. I have promised that you shall be back at the Hall by ten +o'clock." + +The gaiety suddenly faded from her face. Her lips, which had been +curved in laughter, quivered. + +"You mean that?" she faltered. + +"Most assuredly," he answered. "I have no place for lodgers here. As +a matter of fact, if you knew the truth, you would admit that your +staying here is quite impossible." + +"Well," she said, "I should like to know the truth. Suppose you tell +it me." + +"I must confess, then," Andrew answered, "that I am somewhat of a +fraud. Berners was my friend, not my lodger, and I am Andrew de la +Borne, Cecil's elder brother." + +She looked at him for several moments steadily. + +"I think that you might have told me," was all she said. + +He shrugged his shoulders. + +"Why?" he asked, a little brusquely. "I am not of your world, or +your stepmother's. When Cecil told me that he had invited some of +his fashionable friends down here to stay, I begged him to leave me +out of it. I chose to retire here, and I preferred not to see any of +you. Mine are country ways, Miss Le Mesurier. I am at heart what I +pretended to be, fisherman, countryman, yokel, call me what you +will. The other side of life, Cecil's side, doesn't appeal to me a +bit. I felt that it would be more comfortable for you people and for +me, if I kept out of the way." + +"You class me with them," she remarked quietly, "a little +ruthlessly. I think you forget that as yet I have not chosen my way +in life." + +"That is true," he answered, "but how can you help but choose what +every one of those who call themselves your friends regards as +inevitable. You must dance in many ballrooms, and make your bow +before the great ones of the earth. It is a part of the penalty that +you must pay for your name and riches. All that I can wish you is +that you lose as little of yourself as possible in the days that lie +before you." + +"I thank you," she answered quietly. "You will let me know when you +are ready to take me back." + +"Have I offended you?" he asked, as they rose from the table. "I am +clumsy, I know, and the words do not come readily to my mouth. But +after all, you must understand." + +"Yes," she said sadly, "I do understand." + +They went down to the beach and he helped her into the boat. Her +maid sat by her side, and he rowed them across with a few powerful +strokes. + +"Storm and sunshine," he remarked, "follow one another here as +swiftly as in any corner of the world. Yesterday we had wind and +thunder and rain. To-day, look! The sky is cloudless, the birds are +singing everywhere upon the marshes, the waves can do no more than +ripple in upon the sands. Will you walk across the marshes, Miss +Jeanne, or will you come to the village and wait while I send for a +carriage?" + +"We will walk," she answered. "It may be for the last time." + +The maid fell behind. Andrew and his companion, who seemed smaller +and slimmer than ever by his side, started on their tortuous way, +here and there turning to the right and to the left to follow the +course of some tidal stream, or avoid the swampy places. The faint +odour of wild lavender was mingled with the brackish scent of the +sea. The ground was soft and spongy beneath their feet, and a breeze +as soft as a caress blew in their faces. Up before them always, +gaunt and bare, surrounded by its belts of weather-stricken trees, +stood the Red Hall. Andrew looked toward it gloomily. + +"Do you wonder," he asked, "that a man is sometimes depressed who is +born the heir to a house like that, and to fortunes very similar?" + +"Are you poor?" she asked him. "I thought perhaps you were, as your +brother tried to make love to me." + +He frowned impatiently at her words. + +"For Heaven's sake, child," he said, "don't be so cynical! Don't +fancy that every kind word that is spoken to you is spoken for your +wealth. There are sycophants enough in the world, Heaven knows, but +there are men there as well. Give a few the credit of being honest. +Try and remember that you are--" + +He looked at her and away again toward the sea. + +"That you are," he repeated, "young enough and attractive enough to +win kind words for your own sake." + +"Then," she whispered, leaning towards him, "I do not think that I +am very fortunate." + +"Why not?" he asked. + +"Because," she answered, "one person who might say kind things to +me, and whom my money would never influence a little bit in the +world, does not say them." + +"Are you sure," he asked, "that you believe that there is any one in +the world who would be content to take you without a penny?" + +She shook her head. + +"Not that," she said sadly. "I am not what you call conceited enough +for that, but I would like to believe that I might have a kind word +or two on my own account." + +She tried hard to see his face, but he kept it steadfastly turned +away. She sighed. Only a few yards behind the maid was walking. + +"Mr. Andrew," she said, "it was you whom I meant. Won't you say +something nice to me for my own sake?" + +They were nearing the Hall now, and it seemed natural enough that he +should hold her hand for a minute in his. + +"I will tell you," he said quietly, "that your coming has been a +pleasure, and your going will be a pain, and I will tell you that +you have left an empty place that no one else can fill. You have +made what our people here call the witch music upon the marshes for +me, so that I shall never walk here again as long as I live without +hearing it and thinking of you." + +"Is that all?" she whispered. + +He pretended not to hear her. + +"I am nearly double your age," he said, "and I have lived an idle, +perhaps a worthless, life. I have done no harm. My talents, if I +have any, have certainly been buried. If I had met you out in the +world, your world, well, I might have taught myself to forget--" + +He broke off abruptly in his sentence. Cecil stood before them, +suddenly emerged from the hand-gate leading into the Hall gardens. +"At last!" he exclaimed, taking Jeanne by the hands. "The Princess +is distracted. We have all been distracted. How could you make us so +unhappy?" + +She drew her hands away coldly. + +"I fancy that my stepmother," she said, "will have survived my +absence. I was caught in a storm. I expect that your brother has +already told you about it." + +He looked from one to the other. + +"So you have told her, Andrew," he said simply. + +Andrew nodded. The three walked up toward the house in somewhat +constrained silence. She was trying her hardest to make Andrew look +at her, and he was trying his hardest to resist. The Princess came +out to them. The morning was warm, and she was wearing a white +wrapper. Her toilette was not wholly completed, but she was +sufficiently picturesque. + +"My dear Jeanne," she cried, "you have nearly sent us mad with +anxiety. How could you wander off like that!" + +Jeanne stood a little apart. She avoided the Princess' hands. She +stood upon the soft turf with her hands clasped, her cheeks very +pale, her eyes bright with some inward excitement. + +"Do you wish me to answer that question?" she said. + +The Princess stared. + +"What do you mean, my child?" she exclaimed. + +"You ask me," Jeanne said, "why I went wandering off into the +marshes. I will tell you. It is because I am unhappy. It is because +I do not like the life into which you have brought me, nor the +people with whom we live. I do not like late hours, supper parties +and dinner parties, dances where half the people are bourgeois, and +where all the men make stupid love to me. I do not like the shops, +the vulgar shop people, fashionable clothes, and fashionable +promenading. I am tired of it already. If I am rich, why may I not +buy the right to live as I choose?" + +The Princess rarely allowed herself to show surprise. At this +moment, however, she was completely overcome. + +"What is it you want, then, child?" she demanded. + +"I should like," Jeanne answered, "to buy Mr. De la Borne's house +upon the island, and live there, with just a couple of maids, and my +books. I should like some friends, of course, but I should like to +find them for myself, amongst the country people, people whom I +could trust and believe in, not people whose clothes and manners and +speech are all hammered out into a type, and whose real self is so +deeply buried that you cannot tell whether they are honest or +rogues. That is what I should like, stepmother, and if you wish to +earn my gratitude, that is how you will let me live." + +The Princess stared at the child as though she were a lunatic. + +"Jeanne," she exclaimed weakly, "what has become of you?" + +"Nothing," Jeanne answered, "only you asked me a question, and I +felt an irresistible desire to answer you truthfully. It would have +come sooner or later." + +Andrew turned slowly toward the girl, who stood looking at her +stepmother with flushed cheeks and quivering lips. + +"Miss Le Mesurier," he said, "on one condition I will sell you the +island, but on only one." + +"And that is?" she asked. + +The Princess recovered herself just in time, and sailed in between +them. + +"Mr. De la Borne," she said, "my daughter is too young for such +conversations. For two years she is under my complete guidance. She +must obey me just as though she were ten years older and married, +and I her husband. The law has given me absolute control over her. +You understand that yourself, don't you, Jeanne?" + +"Yes," Jeanne answered quietly, "I understand." + +"Go indoors, please," the Princess said. "I have something to say to +Mr. De la Borne." + +"And I, too," Jeanne said. "Let me stay and say it. I will not be +five minutes." + +The Princess pointed toward the door. + +"I will not have it," she said coldly. "Cecil, take my daughter +indoors. I insist upon it." + +She turned away unwillingly. The Princess took Andrew by the arm and +led him to a more distant seat. + +"Now, if you please, my dear Mr. Andrew," she said, "will you tell +me what it is that you have done to my foolish little girl?" + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + + +The Princess arranged her skirts so that they drooped gracefully, +and turned upon her companion with one of those slow mysterious +smiles, which many people described but none could imitate. + +"Mr. De la Borne," she said, "I can talk to you as I could not talk +to your brother, because you are an older and a wiser man. You may +not have seen much of the world, but you are at any rate not a young +idiot like Cecil. Will you listen to me, please?" + +"It seems to me," Andrew answered drily, "that I am already doing +so." + +"I am not going to ask you," she continued, "whether you are in love +with my little girl or not, because the whole thing is too +ridiculous. I have no doubt that she has some sort of a fancy for +you. It is evident that she has. I want you to remember that she is +fresh from school, that as yet she has not entered life, and that a +few months ago she did not know a man from a gate-post." + +"An admirable simile," Andrew murmured. + +"What I want you to understand is," the Princess continued, "that as +yet she cannot possibly be in a position to make up her mind as to +her future. She has seen nothing of the world, and what she has seen +has been the least favourable side. She has a perfectly enormous +fortune, so ridiculously tied up that although I am never out of +debt and always borrowing money, I cannot touch a penny of it, not +even with her help. Very soon she will be of age, and the amount of +her fortune will be known. I can assure you that it will be a +surprise to every one." + +Andrew bowed his head indifferently. + +"Very possibly," he answered, "and yet, madam, if your daughter has +the wisdom to see that the matter of her wealth is after all but a +trifle amongst the conditions which make for happiness, why should +you deny her the benefits of that wisdom?" + +"My dear friend," she continued earnestly, "for this reason--because +Jeanne to-day is too young to choose for herself. She has not got +over that sickly sentimental age, when a girl makes a hero of +anything unusual in the shape of a man, and finds a sort of +unwholesome satisfaction in making sacrifices for his sake. It may +be that Jeanne may, after all, look to what you call the simple life +for happiness. Well, if she does that after a year or so, well and +good. But she shall not do so with my consent, without indeed my +downright opposition, until she has had an opportunity of testing +both sides, of weighing the matter thoroughly from every point of +view. Do you not agree with me, Mr. De la Borne?" + +"You speak reasonably, madam," he assented. + +"Jeanne," she continued, "has perhaps charmed you a little. She is, +after all, just now a child of nature. She is something of an +artist, too. Beautiful places and sights and sounds appeal to her. + +"She is ready, with her imperfect experience, to believe that there +is nothing greater or better worth cultivating in life. But I want +you to consider the effects of heredity. Jeanne comes from restless, +brilliant people. Her mother was a leader of society, a pleasure- +loving, clever, unscrupulous woman. Her father was a financier and a +diplomat, many-sided, versatile, but with as complex a disposition +as any man I ever met. Jeanne will ripen as the years go on; +something of her mother, something of her father will appear. It is +my place, knowing these things, to see that she does not make a +fatal mistake. All that I say to you, Mr. De la Borne, is to let her +go, to give her her chance, to let her see with both eyes before she +does anything irremediable. I think that I may almost appeal to you, +as a reasonable man and a gentleman, to help me in this." + +Andrew de la Borne looked out through the wizened branches of his +stunted trees, to the white-flecked sea rolling in below. The +Princess was right. He knew that she was right. Those other thoughts +were little short of madness. Jeanne was no coquette at heart, but +she was a child. She had great responsibilities. She was turned into +the world with a heavy burden upon her shoulders. It was not he or +any man who could help her. She must fight her own battle, win or +lose her own happiness. A few years' time might see her the wife of +a great statesman or a great soldier, proud and happy to feel +herself the means by which the man she loved might climb one step +higher upon the great ladder of fame. How like a child's dream these +few days upon the marshes, talking to one who was no more than a +looker-on at the great things of life, must seem! He could imagine +her thinking of them with a shiver as she remembered her escape. The +Princess was right, she was very right indeed. He rose to his feet. + +"Madam," he said, "I have not pretended to misunderstand you. I +think that you have spoken wisely. Your stepdaughter must solve for +herself the great riddle. It is not for any one of us to handicap +her in her choice while she is yet a child." + +"You are going, Mr. De la Borne?" she asked. + +He pointed to a brown-sailed fishing-boat passing slowly down from +the village toward the sea. + +"That is one of my boats," he said. "I shall signal to her from the +island to call for me. I need a change, and she is going out into +the North Sea for five weeks' fishing." + +The Princess held out her hand, and Andrew took it in his. + +"You are a man," she said. "I wish there were more of your sort in +the world where I live." + +The Princess stood for a moment on the edge of the lawn, watching +Andrew's tall figure as he strode across the marsh toward the +village. Never once did he look back or hesitate on his swift, +vigorous way. Then she sighed a little and turned away toward the +house. After all, this was a man, although he was so far removed +from the type she knew and understood. + +Cecil was walking restlessly up and down the hall when she entered. +He drew her eagerly into the library. + +"Look here," he said, "Forrest declares that he is going. He is +upstairs now packing his things." + +"Your brother," the Princess answered, "scarcely left him much +alternative." + +"That's all very well," Cecil answered, "but if he goes I go. I am +not going to be left here alone." + +The Princess looked at him, and the colour came into his cheeks. It +is never well for a man when he sees such a look upon a woman's +face. + +"It isn't that I'm afraid," Cecil declared. "I can stand any +ordinary danger, but I am not going to be left shut up here alone, +with the whole responsibility upon me. I couldn't do it. It wouldn't +be fair to ask me." + +"There is no fresh news, I suppose?" the Princess asked. + +"None," Cecil answered gloomily. "If only we could see our way to +the end of it, I shouldn't mind." + +The Princess was thoughtful for a few moments. + +"Well," she said, "I don't know, after all, if Forrest need go just +yet. Your brother has made up his mind to go fishing for several +weeks. I think that he is going to start to-day." + +"Do you mean it?" Cecil exclaimed, incredulously. + +The Princess nodded. + +"He has been philandering with Jeanne," she said, "and his +magnificent conscience is taking him out into the North Sea." + +Cecil's features relaxed. After all, though he played at maturity, +he was little more than a boy. + +"Fancy old Andrew!" he exclaimed. "Gone on a child like Miss Jeanne, +too! Well, anyhow, that makes it all right about Forrest staying, +doesn't it?" + +"He shall stop," the Princess answered slowly. "Jeanne and I will +stay, too, until Monday. Perhaps by that time--" + +"By that time," Cecil repeated, "something may have happened." + + + + +BOOK II + +CHAPTER I + + +His Grace the Duke of Westerham stepped forward from the hearthrug, +in the middle of which he had been standing, and held out both his +hands. His lips were parted in a smile, and there was a twinkle in +his eyes. + +"My dear Andrew," he exclaimed, "it is delightful to see you. You +seem to bring the salt of the North Sea into our frowsy city." + +Andrew grasped his friend's hands. + +"I have been fishing with some of my men for three weeks," he said, +"off the Dogger Bank. The salt does cling to one, you know, and I +suppose I am as black as a nigger." + +The Duke sighed a little. + +"My dear Andrew," he said, "you make one wonder whether it is worth +while to count for anything at all in the world. You represent the +triumph of physical fitness. You could break me, or a dozen like me, +in your hands. You know what the faddists of the moment say? They +declare that brains and genius have had their day--that the greatest +man in the world nowadays is the strongest." + +Andrew smiled as he settled down in the armchair which his friend +had wheeled towards him. + +"You do not believe in your own doctrines," he remarked. "You would +not part with a tenth part of your brains for all my muscle." + +The Duke paused to think. + +"It is not only the muscle," he said. "It is this appearance of +splendid physical perfection. You have but to show yourself in a +London drawing-room, and you will establish a cult. Do you want to +be worshipped, friend Andrew--to wear a laurel crown, and have +beautiful ladies kneeling at your feet?" + +"Chuck it!" Andrew remarked good humouredly. "I didn't come here to +be chaffed. I came here on a serious mission." + +The Duke nodded. + +"It must indeed have been serious," he said, "for you to have had +your hair cut and your beard trimmed, and to have attired yourself +in the garments of civilization. You are the last man whom I should +have expected to have seen in a coat which might have been cut by +Poole, if it wasn't, and wearing patent boots." + +"Jolly uncomfortable they are," Andrew remarked, looking at them. +"However, I didn't want to be turned away from your doors, and I +still have a few friends in town whom I daren't disgrace. Honestly, +Berners, I came up to ask you something." + +The Duke was sympathetic but silent. + +"Well?" he remarked encouragingly. + +"The fact is," Andrew continued, "I wonder whether you could help me +to get something to do. We have decided to let the Red Hall, Cecil +and I. The rents have gone down to nothing, and altogether things +are pretty bad with us. I don't know that I'm good for anything. I +don't see, to tell you the truth, exactly what place there is in the +world that I could fill. Nevertheless, I want to do something. I +love the villager's life, but after all there are other things to be +considered. I don't want to become quite a clod." + +The Duke produced a cigar box, passed it to Andrew, and deliberately +lighted a cigar himself. + +"Friend Andrew," he said, "you have set me a puzzle. You have set me +a good many since I used to run errands for you at Eton, but I think +that this is the toughest." + +Andrew nodded. + +"You'll think your way through it, if any one can," he remarked. "I +don't expect anything, of course, that would enable me to afford +cigars like this, but I'd be glad to find some work to do, and I'd +be glad to be paid something for it." + +The Duke was silent for a moment. He looked down at his cigar and +then suddenly up again. + +"Has that young idiot of a brother of yours been making a fool of +himself?" he asked. + +"Cecil is never altogether out of trouble," Andrew answered drily. +"He seems to have taken bridge up with rather unfortunate results, +and there were some other debts which had to be paid, but we needn't +talk about those. The point is that we're jolly well hard up for a +year or two. He's got to work, and so have I. If it wasn't for +looking after him, I should go to Canada to-morrow." + +"D----d young idiot!" the Duke muttered. "He's spent his own money +and yours too, I suppose. Never mind, the money's gone." + +"It isn't only the money," Andrew interrupted. "The fact is, I'm not +altogether satisfied, as I told you before, with living just for +sport. I'm not a prejudiced person. I know that there are greater +things in the world, and I don't want to lose sight of them +altogether. We De la Bornes have contributed poets and soldiers and +sailors and statesmen to the history of our country, for many +generations. I don't want to go down to posterity as altogether a +drone. Of course, I'm too late for anything really worth doing. I +know that just as well as you can tell me. At the same time I want +to do something, and I would rather not go abroad, at any rate to +stay. Can you suggest anything to me? I know it's jolly difficult, +but you were always one of those sort of fellows who seem to see +round the corner." + +"Do you want a permanent job?" the Duke asked. "Or would a temporary +one fit you up for a time?" + +"A temporary one would be all right, if it was in my line," Andrew +answered. + +"We've got to send three delegates to a convention to be held at The +Hague in a fortnight's time, for the revision of the International +Fishing laws," the Duke remarked. "Could you take that on?" + +"I should think so," Andrew answered. "I've been out with the men +from our part of the world since I was a child, and I know pretty +well all that there is to be known on our side about it. What is the +convention about?" + +"There are at least a dozen points to be considered," the Duke +answered. "I'll send you the papers to any address you like, to- +morrow. They're at my office now in Downing Street. Look 'em +through, and see whether you think you could take it on. I have two +men already appointed, but they are both lawyers, and I wanted some +one who knew more about the practical side of it." + +"I should think," Andrew remarked, "that this is my job down to the +ground. What's the fee?" + +"The fee's all right," the Duke answered. "You won't grumble about +that, I promise you. You'll get a lump sum, and so much a day, but +the whole thing, of course, will be over in a fortnight. What to do +with you after that I can't for the moment think." + +"We may hit upon something," Andrew said cheerfully. "What are you +doing for lunch? Will you come round to the 'Travellers' with me? +It's the only London club I've kept going, but I dare say we can get +something fit to eat there." + +"I'm jolly sure of it," the Duke answered, "but while you're in +London you're going to do your lunching with me. We'll go to the +Athenaeum and show these sickly-looking scholars and bishops what a +man should look like. It's almost time for luncheon, isn't it?" + +"Past," Andrew answered. "It was half-past twelve when I got here." + +"Then we will leave at once," the Duke declared. "I have nothing to +do this morning, fortunately. You don't care about driving, I know. +We'll walk. It isn't half a mile." + +They turned into the street together. + +"By the by," the Duke asked, "what has become of your brother's +friends? I mean the little party that we broke into so +unceremoniously." + +"The Princess and Miss Le Mesurier are, I believe, in London," +Andrew answered. "I was very surprised to hear this morning that +Forrest was still down at the Red Hall with Cecil. By the by, Ronald +has turned up again, of course?" + +The Duke hesitated for so long that Andrew turned towards him, and +noticed for the first time the anxious lines in his face. + +"Since the day he left the Red Hall," the Duke said, "Ronald has +neither been seen nor heard from. I forgot that you had been outside +civilization for nearly a month. Although I have tried hard, I have +not been able to keep the affair altogether out of the papers." + +Andrew was thunderstruck. + +"Good God!" he exclaimed. "Why, Berners, this is one of the +strangest things I ever heard of. What are you doing about it?" + +"I am employing detectives," the Duke answered. "I do not see what +else I could do. They have been down to the Red Hall. In fact I +believe one of them is still in the vicinity. Your brother's story +as to his departure seems to be quite in order, although no one at +the railway station is able to remember his travelling by that +train. They seem to remember the car, however, which is practically +the same thing, and several people saw Major Forrest bringing it +back early in the morning." + +"Did any one," Andrew asked slowly, "see Lord Ronald in the car on +his way to the station?" + +"Not a soul," the Duke answered. + +Andrew was honestly perplexed. Jeanne's statement that she had seen +Forrest leaving the Red Hall with the car empty except for himself, +he had never regarded seriously. Even now he could only conclude +that she had been mistaken. + +"Have any large cheques been presented against your brother's +account?" he asked. + +The Duke shook his head. + +"Not one," he answered. + +"Have the detectives any clue at all?" + +"Not the ghost of one," the Duke answered. "Ronald had a few +harmless little entanglements, but absolutely nothing that could +have proved of any anxiety to him. He had several engagements during +the last ten days which I know that he meant to keep. Something must +have happened to him, God knows when or where! But here we are at +the club. Andrew, I see that you have no umbrella, so I need not +repeat the old joke about the bishops." + +"What a selfish fellow I am!" Andrew remarked, as they seated +themselves at a small table in the luncheon room. "Here have I been +bothering you about my affairs, and all the time you have had this +thing on your mind. Berners, I want you to tell me something." + +"Go ahead," the Duke answered. + +"Have you any idea in your head that Ronald has come to any harm at +the Red Hall?" + +The Duke shook his head. + +"No!" he answered decidedly. "Frankly, if he had been there with +Forrest alone, that would have been my first idea, but with your +brother there, and the Princess, it is impossible to suspect +anything, even if one knew what to suspect. The only possible clue +as to his disappearance which is connected in any way with the Red +Hall is that I understand he was paying attentions to Miss Le +Mesurier, which she was disinclined to accept." + +Andrew nodded. + +"I think," he said, "that is probable." + +"On the other hand," the Duke continued, "Ronald isn't in the least +the sort of man to make away with himself or hide, because a girl, +whom he could not have known very well, refused to marry him." + +"Have you seen anything of the Princess in town?" Andrew asked, a +little irrelevantly. + +"I met her with her stepdaughter at Hereford House last night," the +Duke answered. "The Princess was looking as brilliant as ever, but +the little girl was pale and bored. She had a dozen men around her, +and not a smile for one of them. Dull little thing, I should think." + +Andrew said nothing. He was looking out of the window upon Pall +Mall, but his eyes saw a little sandy hillock with blades of +sprouting grass. Behind, the lavender-streaked marsh; in front, the +yellow sands and the rippling sea. The sun seemed to warm his +cheeks, the salt wind blew in his face. Westerham wondered for a +moment what his friend saw in the grey flagged street to bring that +faint reminiscent smile to his lips. + +A messenger from the hall outside came in, and respectfully +addressed the Duke. + +"Your Grace is wanted upon the telephone," he announced. + +The Duke excused himself. He was absent only for a few minutes, and +when he returned and took his place he leaned over towards Andrew. + +"My message was from the detective," he said. "He wants to see me. +In fact, he is coming round here directly." + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +Cecil came face to face with his brother in the room where +refreshments were being dispensed by solemn-looking footmen and trim +parlour-maids. He stared at him for a moment in surprise. + +"What on earth are you doing here, Andrew?" he asked. + +"Exactly what I was wondering myself," Andrew answered, setting down +his empty glass. "I met Bellamy Smith this afternoon in Bond Street, +and he asked me to dine, without saying anything about this sort of +show afterwards. By the by, Cecil," he added, "what are you doing in +town? I thought you said that you were not coming up until the late +autumn." + +"No more I am, for any length of time," Cecil answered. "I am up for +the day, back to-morrow. There were one or two things I wanted, and +it was easier to come up and see about them than to write." + +"Is Forrest still with you?" Andrew asked. + +Cecil hesitated, and his brother had an unpleasant conviction that +for a moment he was uncertain whether to tell the truth or no. + +"Yes!" Cecil answered, "he is still there. I know you don't like +him, Andrew, but he really isn't a bad sort, and he's quite a +sportsman." + +"Does he play cards with you?" Andrew asked. + +"Never even suggested it," Cecil declared eagerly. "Fact is, we're +out shooting all day, duck shooting, or fishing, or motoring, and we +go to bed soon after dinner." + +"You can't come to much harm at that," Andrew admitted. "By the by, +do you know that Engleton has never turned up?" + +"I have heard so," Cecil admitted. "I am not so surprised." + +"Why not?" Andrew asked. + +Cecil raised his eyebrows in a superior manner. + +"Well," he said, "I know he was very sick about his brother looking +too closely into his concerns. He has a little affair on just now +that he wants to keep to himself, and I think that that is the +reason he went off so quietly." + +"His brother is very upset about it," Andrew remarked. + +"Oh! the Duke was always a heavy old stick," Cecil answered. "I see +you've been doing your duty to-night," he added, making a determined +effort to change the conversation. + +Andrew nodded. + +"Do I look so hot?" he asked. "I am not used to these close rooms, +or dancing either. Unfortunately they seem short of men, and Mrs. +Bellamy Smith had me set." + +Cecil grinned. + +"That's the worst of dining before a dance," he remarked. "You're +pretty well cornered before the crowd comes. Upon my word, old +chap," he added, looking his brother up and down with an air of +kindly patronage, "you don't turn out half badly. Country tailor +still, eh?" + +"Mind your own business, you young jackanapes," Andrew answered. "Do +you think that no one can wear town clothes except yourself?" + +Cecil laughed. After all, considering everything, Andrew was a good- +natured fellow. + +"By the by," he said, "do you know who is here this evening?" + +Andrew demolished another sandwich. + +"Every one, I should think," he answered. "I never saw such a crowd +in my life." + +"The Princess and Jeanne are here," Cecil said. "I don't suppose we +shall either of us get near them. People are getting to know about +Jeanne's little dot, and they are fairly mobbed everywhere." + +Andrew stood for a moment quite still. His first emotion was one of +dismay, and Cecil, noticing it, laughed at him. + +"You can go ahead with your little flirtation," he remarked. "I had +quite forgotten that. You needn't consider me. I haven't a chance +with Miss Jeanne. She's too cranky a young person for me. I like +something with a little more go in it." + +Cecil drifted away, and Andrew glanced at his card. There were two +dances for which he was still engaged, and he made his way slowly +back to the ballroom. There was a slight block at the entrance, and +he had to stand aside to let several couples pass out. One of the +last of these was Jeanne, on the arm of young Bellamy Smith. Andrew +stood quite still looking at her. He saw her start for a moment as +she recognized him, and her eyes swept him over with a half +incredulous, half startled expression. She drew a little breath. And +then Andrew saw her suddenly and instinctively stiffen. She looked +him in the face and bowed very slightly, without the vestige of a +smile. + +"How do you do, Mr. De la Borne?" she said as she passed on, without +taking the slightest notice of the hand, which, forgetting where he +was, he had half extended towards her. + +Andrew went on into the ballroom, found his partner, and danced with +her. As soon as he could he made his adieux and hurried off to the +cloakroom. His coat was already upon his arm when Cecil discovered +him. + +"What are you bolting off for, old man?" he asked. + +"I've had enough," Andrew answered. "I can't stand the atmosphere, +and I hate dancing, as you know. See you to-morrow, Cecil. I want to +have a talk with you. I am going away for a few weeks." + +"Right oh!" Cecil answered. "But you can't go just yet. Mademoiselle +Le Mesurier sent me for you. She wants to speak to you at once." + +Andrew hesitated. + +"Do you mean this, Cecil?" he asked. + +"Of course I do," Cecil answered. "I haven't been rushing about +looking into every corner of the place for nothing. Come along. I'll +take you to where she is." + +Andrew handed back his coat and hat to the attendant, and followed +Cecil into the ballroom. In a passage leading to the billiard-room, +where several chairs had been arranged for sitting out, Jeanne was +ensconced, with two men leaning over her. She waved them away when +she saw who it was coming. Without a smile, or the vestige of one, +she motioned to Andrew to take the vacant seat by her side. + +"I have executed your commission, Miss Le Mesurier," Cecil said, +bowing before her. "I will claim my reward when we meet again." + +He sauntered away, leaving them alone. Jeanne turned at once towards +her companion. + +"I am sorry," she said, "if my sending for you was in any way an +annoyance. I understand, of course, you have made it quite clear to +me, that our little friendship, or whatever you may choose to call +it, is at an end. But I do insist upon knowing what it was that you +and my stepmother were discussing for nearly half an hour in the +gardens of the Red Hall. The truth, mind. You and I should owe one +another that." + +"We talked of you," he answered. "What other subject can you +possibly imagine your stepmother and I could have in common?" + +"That is a good start," she answered. "Now tell me the rest." + +"I am not sure," he answered, "that I feel inclined to do that." + +She leaned forward and looked at him. Unwillingly he turned his head +to meet her gaze. + +"You must tell me, please," she said. "I insist upon knowing." + +"Your stepmother," he said, "was perfectly reasonable and very +candid. She reminded me that you were a great heiress, and that as +yet you had seen nothing of the world. I do not know why she thought +it necessary to point this out to me, except that perhaps she +thought that in some mad moment I might have conceived the idea that +you--" + +"That I?" she repeated softly, as he hesitated. + +He set his teeth hard and frowned. + +"You know what I mean," he said coldly. "Your stepmother is a clever +woman, and a woman of the world. She takes into account all +contingencies, never mind how improbable they might be. She was +afraid that I might think things were possible between us which +after all must always remain outside serious consideration. She +wanted to warn me. That was all. It was kindness, but I am sure that +it was unnecessary." + +"You are not very lucid," she murmured. "It is because I am a great +heiress, then, that you go off fishing for three weeks without +saying good-bye; that you leave our next meeting to happen by chance +in the last place I should have expected to see you? What do you +think of me, Mr. Andrew? Do you imagine that I am of my stepmother's +world, or ever could be? Have the hours we have spent together +taught you nothing different?" + +"You are a child," he answered evasively. "You do not know as yet to +what world you will belong. It is as your stepmother said to me. +With your fortune you may marry into one of the great families of +Europe. You might almost take a part in the world's history. It is +not for such as myself to dream of interfering with a destiny such +as yours may be." + +"For that reason," she remarked, leaning a little towards him, "you +went fishing in a dirty little boat with those common sailors for +three weeks. For that reason you bow to me when you meet me as +though I were an acquaintance whom you barely remembered. For that +reason, I suppose, you were hurrying away when your brother found +you." + +"It was the inevitable thing to do," he answered. "You may think to- +day one thing, but it is for others who are older and wiser than you +to remember that you are only a child, and that you have not +realized yet the place you fill in the world. If it pleases you to +know it, let me tell you that I am very glad indeed that you came to +Salthouse. You have made me think more seriously. You have made me +understand that after all the passing life is short, that idle days +and physical pleasures do not make up the life which is worthiest. I +am going to try other things. For the inspiration which bids me seek +them, I have to thank you." + +She touched his great brown hand with the delicate tips of her +fingers. + +"Dear Mr. Andrew," she said, "you are very big and strong and +obstinate. You will have your own way however I may plead. Go, then, +and strike your great blows upon the anvil of life. You say that I +am passing the threshold, that as yet I am ignorant. Very well, I +will make my way in with the throng. I will look about me, and see +what this thing, life, is, and how much more it may mean to me +because I chance to be the possessor of many ill-earned millions. +Before very long we will meet again and compare notes, only I warn +you, Mr. Andrew, that if any change comes, it comes to you. I am one +of the outsiders who has looked into life, and who knows very well +what is there even from across the borders." + +He rose at once. To stay there was worse torture than to go. + +"So it shall be," he said. "We will each take our draught of +experience, and we will meet again and speak of the flavour of it. +Only remember that whatever may be your lot, hold fast to those +simple things which we have spoken of together, and the darkest days +of all can never come." + +She gave him her hand, and flashed a look at him which he was not +likely to forget. + +"So!" she said simply. "I shall remember." + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +The Princess was enjoying a few minutes of well-earned repose. She +had lunched with Jeanne at Ranelagh, where they had been the guests +of a lady who certainly had the right to call herself one of the +leaders of Society. The newspapers and the Princess' confidences to +a few of her friends had done all that was really necessary. Jeanne +was accepted, and the Princess passed in her wake through those +innermost portals which at one time had come perilously near being +closed upon her. She was lying on a sofa in a white negligee gown. +Jeanne had just brought in a pile of letters, mostly invitations. +The Princess glanced them through, and smiled as she tossed them on +one side. + +"How these people amuse one!" she exclaimed. "Eighteen months ago I +was in London alone, and not a soul came near me. To-day, because I +am the guardian of a young lady whom the world believes to be a +great heiress, people tumble over one another with their invitations +and their courtesies." + +Jeanne looked up. + +"Why do you say 'believes to be?'" she asked quickly. "I am a great +heiress, am I not?" + +The Princess smiled, a slow, enigmatic smile, which might have meant +anything, but which to Jeanne meant nothing at all. + +"My dear child," she said, "of course you are. The papers have said +so, Society has believed them. If I were to go out and declare right +and left that you had nothing but a beggarly twenty thousand pounds +or so, I should not find a soul to believe me. Every one would +believe that I was trying to scare them off, to keep you for myself, +or some one of my own choice. Really it is a very odd world!" + +Jeanne was looking a little pensive. Her stepmother sometimes +completely puzzled her. + +"Who are the trustees of my money?" she asked, a little abruptly. + +The Princess raised her eyebrows. + +"Bless the child!" she exclaimed. "What do you know about trustees?" + +"When I am of age," Jeanne said calmly, "which will happen sometime +or other, I suppose, it will interest me to know exactly how much +money I have and how it is invested." + +The Princess looked a little startled. + +"My dear Jeanne," she exclaimed, "pray don't talk like that until +after you are married. Your money is being very well looked after. +What I should like you to understand is this. You are going to meet +to-night at dinner the man whom I intend you to marry." + +Jeanne raised her eyebrows. + +"I had some idea," she murmured, "of choosing a husband for myself." + +"Impossible!" the Princess declared. "You have had no experience, +and you are far too important a person to be allowed to think of +such a thing. To-night at dinner you will meet the Count de +Brensault. He is a Belgian of excellent family, quite rich, and very +much attracted by you. I consider him entirely suitable, and I have +advised him to speak to you seriously." + +"Thank you," Jeanne said, "but I don't like Belgians, and I do not +mean to marry one." + +The Princess laughed, a little unpleasantly. + +"My dear child," she said, "you may make a fuss about it, but +eventually you will have to marry whom I say. You must remember that +you are French, not English, and that I am your guardian. If you +want to choose for yourself, you will have to wait three or four +years before the law allows you to do so." + +"Then I will wait three or four years," Jeanne answered quietly. "I +have no idea of marrying the Count de Brensault." + +The Princess raised herself a little on her couch. + +"Child," she said, "you would try any one's patience. Only a month +or so ago you told me that you were quite indifferent as to whom you +might marry. You were content to allow me to select some one +suitable." "A few months," Jeanne answered, "are sometimes a very +long time. My views have changed since then." + +"You mean," the Princess said, "that you have met some one whom you +wish to marry?" + +"Perhaps so," Jeanne answered. "At any rate I will not marry the +Count de Brensault." + +The Princess' face had darkened. + +"I do not wish to quarrel with you, Jeanne," she said, "but I think +that you will. Whom else is it that you are thinking of? Is it our +island fisherman who has taken your fancy?" + +"Does that matter?" Jeanne answered calmly. "Is it not sufficient if +I say that I will not marry the Count de Brensault." + +"No, it is not quite sufficient," the Princess remarked coldly. "You +will either marry the man whom I have chosen, or give me some +definite and clear reason for your refusal." + +"One very definite and clear reason," Jeanne remarked, "is that I do +not like the Count de Brensault. I think that he is a noisy, +forward, and offensive young man." + +"His income is nearly fifty thousand a year," the Princess remarked, +"so he must be forgiven a few eccentricities of manner." + +"His income," Jeanne said, "scarcely matters, does it? If my money +is ever to do anything for me, it should at least enable me to +choose a husband for myself." + +"That's where you girls always make such absurd mistakes," the +Princess remarked. "You get an idea or a liking into your mind, and +you hold on to it like wax. You forget that the times may change, +new people may come, the old order of things may pass altogether +away. Suppose, for instance, you were to lose your money?" + +"I should not be sorry," Jeanne answered calmly. "I should at least +be sure that I was not any longer an article of merchandise. I could +lead my own life, and marry whom I pleased." + +The Princess laughed scornfully. + +"Men do not take to themselves penniless brides nowadays," she +remarked. + +"Some men--" Jeanne began. + +The Princess interrupted her. + +"Bah!" she said. "You are thinking of your island fisherman again. I +see by the papers that he has gone away. He is very wise. He may be +a very excellent person, but the whole world could not hold a less +suitable husband for you." + +Jeanne smiled. + +"Well," she said, "we shall see. I certainly do not think that he +will ever ask me to marry him. He is one of those whom my gold does +not seem to attract." + +"He is clumsy," the Princess remarked. "A word of encouragement +would have brought him to your feet." + +"If I had thought so," Jeanne remarked, "I would have spoken it." + +The Princess looked across at her stepdaughter searchingly. + +"Tell me the truth, Jeanne," she said. "Have you been idiot enough +to really care for this man?" + +"That," Jeanne answered, "is a subject which I cannot discuss with +any one, not even you." + +"It is all very well," the Princess answered, "but whatever happens, +I must see that you do not make an idiot of yourself. It is very +important indeed, for more reasons than you know of." + +Jeanne looked up. + +"Such as--?" she asked. + +The Princess hesitated. There were two evils before her. It was not +possible to escape from both. She found herself weighing the chances +of each of them, their nearness to disaster. + +"Well," she said, "great fortunes even like yours are not above the +chances of the money-markets. Your fortune, or a great part of it, +might go. What would happen to you then? You would be a pauper." + +Jeanne smiled. + +"I can see nothing terrifying in that," she answered, "but at the +same time I do not think that a fortune such as mine is a very +fluctuating affair." + +"You are right, of course," the Princess said. "You will be one of +the richest young women in the country. There is nothing to prevent +it. It is a good thing that you have me to look after you." + +Jeanne leaned a little forward in her chair, and looked steadfastly +at her stepmother. + +"I suppose," she said, "that you are right. You know the world, at +any rate, and you are clever. But often you puzzle me. Why at first +did you want me to marry Major Forrest?" + +The Princess' face seemed suddenly to harden. + +"I never wished you to," she said coldly. "However, we will not talk +about that. For certain reasons I think that it would be well for +you to be married before you actually come of age. That is why I +have invited the Count de Brensault here to-night." + +Jeanne's dark eyes were fixed curiously upon the Princess. + +"Sometimes," she said, "I do not altogether understand you. Why +should there be all this nervous haste about my marriage? Do you +know that it would trouble me a great deal more, only that I have +absolutely made up my mind that nothing will induce me to marry any +one whom I do not really care for." + +The Princess raised her head, and for a moment the woman and the +girl looked at one another. It was almost a duel--the Princess' +intense, almost threatening regard, and Jeanne's set face and +steadfast eyes. + +"My father left me all this money," Jeanne said, "that I might be +happy, not miserable. I am quite determined that I will not ruin my +life before it has commenced. I do not wish to marry at all for +several years. I think that you have brought me into what you call +Society a good deal too soon. I would rather study for a little +time, and try and learn what the best things are that one may get +out of life. I am afraid, from your point of view, that I am going +to be a failure. I do not care particularly about dances, or the +people we have met at them. I think that in another few weeks I +shall be as bored as the most fashionable person in London." + +A servant knocked at the door announcing Major Forrest. Jeanne rose +to her feet and passed out by another door. The Princess made no +attempt to stop her. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +The Princess looked up with ill-concealed eagerness as Forrest +entered. + +"Well," she asked, "have you any news?" + +Forrest shook his head. + +"None," he answered. "I am up for the day only. Cecil will not let +me stay any longer. He was here himself the day before yesterday. We +take it by turns to come away." + +"And there is nothing to tell me?" the Princess asked. "No change of +any sort?" + +"None," Forrest answered. "It is no good attempting to persuade +ourselves that there is any." + +"What are you up for, then?" she asked. + +He laughed hardly. + +"I am like a diver," he answered, "who has to come to the surface +every now and then for fresh air. Life down at Salthouse is very +nearly the acme of stagnation. Our only excitement day by day is the +danger--and the hope." + +"Is Cecil getting braver?" the Princess asked. + +"I think that he is, a little," Forrest answered. + +The Princess nodded. + +"We met him at the Bellamy Smiths'," she said. "It was quite a +reunion. Andrew was there, and the Duke." + +Forrest's face darkened. + +"Meddling fool," he muttered. "Do you know that there are two +detectives now in Salthouse? They come and go and ask all manner of +questions. One of them pretends that he believes Engleton was +drowned, and walks always on the beach and hires boatmen to explore +the creeks. The other sits in the inn and bribes the servants with +drinks to talk. But don't let's talk about this any longer. How is +Jeanne?" + +"We are going," the Princess said quietly, "to have trouble with +that child." + +"Why?" Forrest asked. + +"She is developing a conscience," the Princess remarked. "Where she +got it from, Heaven knows. It wasn't from her father. I can answer +for that." + +"Anything else?" Forrest asked. + +"It is a curious thing," the Princess replied, "but ever since those +few days down at that tumbledown old place of Cecil de la Borne's, +she seems to have developed in a remarkable manner. I don't know how +much nonsense she talked with that fisherman of hers, but some of +it, at any rate, seems to have stuck. I am sure," she added, with a +little sigh, "that we are going to have trouble." + +Forrest smiled grimly. + +"So far as I'm concerned," he remarked, "the trouble has arrived. +I've a good mind to chuck it altogether." + +The Princess looked up. Worn though her face was, she possessed one +feature, her eyes, which still entitled her to be called a beautiful +woman. She looked at Forrest steadily, and he felt himself growing +uncomfortable before the contempt of her steady regard. + +"I wonder how it is," she said pensively, "that all men are more or +less cowards. You shield yourselves by speaking of an attack of +nerves. It is nothing more nor less than cowardice." + +"I believe you are right," Forrest assented. "I'm not the man I +was." + +"You are not," the Princess agreed. "It is well for you that you +have had me to look after you, or you would have gone to pieces +altogether. You talk of giving up cards and retiring to the +Continent. My dear man, what do you propose to live on?" + +He did not answer. He had bullied this woman for a good many years. +Now he felt that the tables were being turned upon him. + +"What has become of the De la Borne money?" she asked. "I never +thought that you would get it, but he paid up every cent, didn't +he?" + +Forrest nodded. + +"He did," he admitted, "or rather his brother did for him. I lost +four hundred at Goodwood, and there were some of my creditors I +simply had to give a little to, or they would have pulled me up +altogether. You talk about nerves, Ena, but, hang it all, it's +enough to give anyone the hum to lead the sort of life I've had to +lead for the last few years. I'm nothing more nor less than a common +adventurer." + +"Whatever you are," the Princess answered steadily, "you are too old +to change your life or the manner of it. One can start again afresh +on the other side of forty, but at fifty the thing is hopeless. +Fortunately you have me." + +"You!" he repeated bitterly. "You mean that I can dip into your +purse for pocket-money when you happen to have any. I have done too +much of it. You forget that there is one way into a new world, at +any rate." + +The Princess smiled. + +"My dear Nigel," she said, "it is a way which you will never take. +Don't think I mean to be unkind when I say that you have not the +courage. However, we will not talk about that. I sent for you to +tell you that De Brensault is really in earnest about Jeanne. He is +dining here to-night. I will get some other people and we will have +bridge. De Brensault is conceited, and a bad player, and what is +most important of all, he can afford to lose." + +Forrest began to look a little less gloomy. + +"You were fortunate," he remarked, "to get hold of De Brensault. +There are not many of his sort about. I am afraid, though, that he +will not make much of an impression upon Jeanne." + +The Princess' face hardened. + +"If Jeanne is going to be obstinate," she said, "she must suffer for +it. De Brensault is just the man I have been looking for. He wants a +young wife, and although he is rich, he is greedy. He is the sort of +person I can talk to. In fact I have already given him a hint." + +Forrest nodded understandingly. + +"But, Ena," he said, "if he really does shell out, won't you be +sailing rather close to the wind?" + +She shrugged her shoulders. + +"I am not afraid," she said. "I know De Brensault and his sort. If +he feels that he has been duped, he will keep it to himself. He is +too vain a man to allow the world to know it. Poor Jeanne! I am +afraid, I am very much afraid that he will take it out of her." + +"I do not quite see," Forrest said reflectively, "how you are going +to make Jeanne marry any one, especially in this country." + +"Jeanne is French, not English," the Princess remarked, "and she is +not of age. A mother has considerable authority legally, as I dare +say you are aware. We may not be able to manage it in England, but I +think I can guarantee that if De Brensault doesn't disappoint us, +the wedding will take place." + +Forrest helped himself to a cigarette from an open box by his side. + +"I think," he said, "that if it comes off we ought to go to the +States for a year or so. They don't know us so well there, and those +people are the easiest duped of any in the world." + +The Princess nodded. + +"I have thought of that," she remarked. "There are only one or two +little things against it. However, we will see. You had better go +now. I have some callers coming and must make myself respectable." + +She gave him her hands and he raised them to his lips. Her eyes +followed him as he turned away and left the room. For a few moments +she was thoughtful. Then she shrugged her shoulders. + +"Well," she said, "all things must come to an end, I suppose." + +She rang the bell and sent for Jeanne. It was ten minutes, however, +before she appeared. + +"What have you been doing?" the Princess asked with a frown. + +"Finishing some letters," Jeanne answered calmly. "Did you want me +particularly?" + +"To whom were you writing?" the Princess demanded. + +"To Monsieur Laplanche for one person," Jeanne answered calmly. + +The Princess raised her eyebrows. + +"And what had you," she asked, "to say to Monsieur Laplanche?" + +"I have written to ask him a few particulars concerning my fortune," +Jeanne answered. + +"Such as?" the Princess inquired steadily. + +"I want to know," Jeanne said, "at what age it becomes my own, and +how much it amounts to. It seems to me that I have a right to know +these things, and as you will not tell me, I have written to +Monsieur Laplanche." + +The Princess held out her hand. + +"Give me the letter," she said. + +Jeanne made no motion to obey. + +"Do you object to my writing?" she asked. + +"I object," the Princess said, "to your writing anybody on any +subject without my permission, and so far as regards the information +you have asked for from Monsieur Laplanche, I will tell you all that +you want to know." + +"I prefer," Jeanne said steadily, "to hear it from Monsieur +Laplanche himself. There are times when you say things which I do +not understand. I have quite made up my mind that I will have things +made plain to me by my trustee." + +The Princess was outwardly calm, but her eyes were like steel. + +"You are a foolish child," she said. "I am your guardian. You have +nothing whatever to do with your trustees. They exist to help me, +not you. Everything that you wish to know you must learn from me. It +is not until you are of age that any measure of control passes from +me. Give me that letter." + +Jeanne hesitated for a moment. Then she turned toward the door. + +"No!" she said. "I am going to post it." + +The Princess rose from her chair, and crossing the room locked the +door. + +"Jeanne," she said, "come here." + +The girl hesitated. In the end she obeyed. The Princess reached out +her hand and struck her on the cheek. + +"Give me that letter," she commanded. + +Jeanne shrank back. The suddenness of the blow, its indignity, and +these new relations which it seemed designed to indicate, bewildered +her. She stood passive while the Princess took the letter from her +fingers and tore it into pieces. Then she unlocked the door. + +"Go to your room, Jeanne," she ordered. + +Jeanne heard the sound of people ascending the stairs, and this time +she did not hesitate. The Princess drew a little breath and looked +at the fragments of the letter in the grate. It was victory of a +sort, but she realized very well that the ultimate issue was more +doubtful than ever. In her room Jeanne would have time for +reflection. If she chose she might easily decide upon the one step +which would be irretrievable. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +The Count de Brensault was a small man, with a large pale face. +There were puffy little bags under his eyes, from which the colour +had departed. His hair, though skilfully arranged, was very thin at +the top, and his figure had the lumpiness of the man who has never +known any sort of athletic training. He looked a dozen years older +than his age, which was in reality thirty-five, and for the last ten +years he had been a constant though cautious devotee of every form +of dissipation. Jeanne, who sat by his side at dinner-time, found +herself looking at him more than once in a sort of fascinated +wonder. Was it really possible that any one could believe her +capable of marrying such a creature! There were eight people at +dinner, in none of whom she was in the least interested. The Count +de Brensault talked a good deal, and very loudly. He spoke of his +horses and his dogs and his motor cars, but he omitted to say that +he had ceased to ride his horses, and that he never drove his motor +car. Jeanne listened to him in quiet contempt, and the Princess +fidgetted in her chair. The man ought to know that this was not the +way to impress a child fresh from boarding-school! + +"You seem," Jeanne remarked, after listening to him almost in +silence for a long time, "to give most of your time to sports. Do +you play polo?" + +He shook his head. + +"I am too heavy," he said, "and the game, it is a little dangerous." + +"Do you hunt?" she asked. + +"No!" he admitted. "In Belgium we do not hunt." + +"Do you race with your motor cars?" + +"I entered one," he answered, "for the Prix des Ardennes. It was the +third. My driver, he was not very clever." + +"You did not drive it yourself, then?" she asked. + +He laughed in a superior manner. + +"I do not wish," he said, "to have a broken neck. There are so many +things in life which I still find very pleasant." + +He smiled at her in a knowing manner, and Jeanne looked away to hide +her disgust. + +"Your interest in sport," she remarked, "seems to be a sort of +second-hand one, does it not?" + +"I do not know that," he answered. "I do not know quite what you +mean. At Ostend last year I won the great sweepstakes." + +"For shooting pigeons?" she asked. + +"So!" he admitted, with content. + +She smiled. + +"I see that I must beg your pardon," she said. "Have you ever done +any big game shooting?" + +He shook his head. + +"I do not like to travel very much," he answered. "I do not like the +cooking, and I think that my tastes are what you would call very +civilized." + +The Princess intervened. She felt that it was necessary at any cost +to do so. + +"The Count," she told Jeanne, "has just been elected a member of the +Four-in-Hand Club here. If we are very nice to him he will take us +out in his coach." + +"As soon," De Brensault interposed hastily, "as I have found another +team not quite so what you call spirited. My black horses are very +beautiful, but I do not like to drive them. They pull very hard, and +they always try to run away." + +The Princess sighed. The man, after all, was really a little +hopeless. She saw clearly that it was useless to try and impress +Jeanne. The affair must take its course. Afterwards in the drawing- +room the Count came and sat by Jeanne's side. + +"Always," he declared, "in England it is bridge. One dines with +one's friends, and one would like to talk for a little time, and it +is bridge. It must be very dull for you little girls who are not old +enough to play. There is no one left to talk to you." + +Jeanne smiled. + +"Perhaps," she said, "I am an exception. There are very few people +whom I care to have talk to me." + +She looked him in the eyes, but he was unfortunately a very spoilt +young man, and he only stroked the waxed tip of a scanty moustache. + +"I am very glad to hear you say so, mademoiselle," he said. "That +makes it the more pleasant that your excellent mother gives me one +quarter of an hour's respite from bridge that we may have a little +conversation. Have you ever been in my country, Miss Le Mesurier?" + +"I have only travelled through it," Jeanne answered; "but I am +afraid that you did not understand what I meant just now. I said +that there were very few people with whom I cared to talk. You are +not one of those few, Monsieur le Comte." + +He looked at her with a half-open mouth. His eyes were suddenly like +beads. + +"I do not understand," he said. + +"I am afraid," Jeanne answered, with a sigh, "that you are very +unintelligent. What I meant to say was that I do not like to sit +here and talk with you. It wearies me, because you do not say +anything that interests me, and I should very much rather read my +book." + +The Count de Brensault was nonplussed. He looked at Jeanne, and he +looked vaguely across the room at the Princess, as though wondering +whether he ought to appeal to her. + +"Have I offended you?" he asked. "Perhaps I have said something that +you do not like. I am sorry." + +"No, it is not that at all," Jeanne answered sweetly. "It is simply +that I do not like you. You must not mind if I tell you the truth. +You see I have only just come from boarding-school, and there we +were always taught to be quite truthful." + +De Brensault stared at her again. This was the most extraordinary +young woman whom he had ever met in his life. Had not the Princess +only an hour ago told him that although he might find her a little +difficult at first, she was nevertheless prepared to receive his +advances. He had imagined himself dazzling her a little with his +title and possessions, gracefully throwing the handkerchief at her +feet, and giving her that slight share in his life and affection +which his somewhat continental ideas of domesticity suggested. Had +she really meant to be rude to him, or was she nervous? He looked at +her once more, still with that unintelligent stare. Jeanne was +perfectly composed, with her pale cheeks and large serious eyes. She +was obviously speaking the truth. Then as he looked the expression +in his eyes changed. She was gradually becoming desirable, not only +on account of her youth and dowry--there were other things. He felt +a sudden desire to kiss those very shapely, somewhat full lips, +which had just told him so calmly that their owner disliked him. +Already he was telling himself in his mind that some day, when she +was his altogether, for a plaything or what he chose to make of her, +he would remind her of this evening. + +"I am sorry," he said, "that you do not like me, but that is because +you are not used to men. Presently you will know me better, and then +I am sure it will be different. As for you," he continued, looking +at her in a manner which he felt should certainly awaken some +different feeling in her inexperienced heart, "I admire you very +much indeed. I have seen you only once or twice, but I have thought +of you much. Some day I hope that we shall be very much better +friends." + +He leaned a little toward her, and Jeanne calmly removed herself a +little further away. She turned her head now to look at him, as she +sat upright upon the sofa, very slim and graceful in her white gown. + +"I do not think so," she said. "I do not care about being friendly +with people whom I dislike, and I am beginning to dislike you very +much indeed because you will not go away when I ask you." + +He rose to his feet a little offended. + +"Very well," he said, "I will go and talk to your stepmother, who +wants me to play bridge, but very soon I shall come back, and before +long I think that I am going to make you like me very much." + +He crossed the room, and Jeanne's eyes followed his awkward gait +with a sudden flash of quiet amusement. She watched him talk to her +stepmother, and she saw the Princess' face darken. As a matter of +fact De Brensault felt that he had some just cause for complaint. + +"Dear Princess," he said, "you did not tell me that she was so very +farouche, so very shy indeed. I speak to her quite kindly, and she +tells me that she does not like me, and that she wished me to go +away." + +The Princess looked across the room towards Jeanne, who was calmly +reading, and apparently oblivious of everything that was passing. + +"My dear Count," she said, tapping his hand with her fan, "she is +very, very serious. She would like to have been a nun, but of course +we would not hear of it. I think that she was a little afraid of +you. You looked at her very boldly, you know, and she is not used to +the glances of men. At her age, perhaps--you understand?" + +The Count was not quite sure that he did understand. He had a most +unpleasant recollection of the firmness and decision with which +Jeanne had announced her views with regard to him, but he looked +towards her again and the look was fatal. Jeanne was certainly a +most desirable young person, quite apart from her dowry. + +"It may be as you say, Princess," he said. "I must leave her to you +for a little time. You must talk to her. She is quite pretty," he +added with an involuntary note of condescension in his tone. "I am +very pleased with her. In fact I am quite attracted." + +"You will remember," the Princess said, dropping her voice a little, +"that before anything definite is said, you and I must have a little +conversation." + +De Brensault twirled his moustache. He looked up at the Princess as +though trying to fathom the meaning of her words. + +"Certainly," he answered slowly. "I have not forgotten what you +said. Of course, her dot is very large, is it not?" + +"It is very large indeed," the Princess answered, "and there are a +great many young men who would be very grateful to me indeed if I +were willing even to listen to them." + +De Brensault nodded. + +"Very well," he said. "We will have that little talk whenever you +like." + +The Princess nodded. + +"I suppose," she said, "we must play bridge now. They are waiting +for us." + +De Brensault looked behind to where Jeanne was still sitting +reading. Her head was resting upon a sofa pillow, deep orange +coloured, against which the purity of her complexion, the delicate +lines of her eyebrows, the shapeliness of her exquisite mouth, were +all more than ever manifest. She read with interest, and without +turning her head away from the pages of the book which she held in +long, slender fingers. De Brensault sighed as he turned away. + +"Certainly," he said. "We will go and play bridge. But I will tell +you what it is, my dear Princess. I think I am very near falling in +love with your little stepdaughter." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +Forrest crossed the room and waited his opportunity until the +Princess was alone. + +"Let me take you somewhere," he said. "I want to talk to you." + +She laid her fingers upon his arm, and they walked slowly away from +the crowded part of the ballroom. + +"So you are up again," she remarked looking at him curiously. "Does +that mean--?" + +"It means nothing, worse luck," he answered, "except that I have +twenty-four hours' leave. I am off back again at eight o'clock to- +morrow morning. Tell me about this De Brensault affair. How is it +going on?" + +"Well enough on his side," she answered. "The amusing part of it is +that the more Jeanne snubs him, the keener he gets. He sends roses +and chocolates every day, and positively haunts the house. I never +was so tired of any one." + +"Make him your son-in-law quickly," he said grimly. "You'll see +little enough of him then." + +"I'm not sure," the Princess said reflectively, "whether it is quite +wise to hurry Jeanne so much." + +"Wise or not," Forrest said, "it must be done. Even supposing the +other affair comes out all right, London is getting impossible for +me. I don't know who's at the bottom of it, but people have stopped +sending me invitations, and even at my pothouse of a club the men +seem to have as little to say to me as possible. Some one's at work +spreading reports of some sort or another. I am not over sensitive, +but the thing's becoming an impossibility." + +"Do you suppose," she asked quietly, "that it is the Engleton +affair?" + +He nodded. + +"People are saying all sorts of things," he answered. "I'd go abroad +to-morrow and leave De la Borne to look out for himself, but I +haven't even the money to pay my railway fare." + +The Princess shrugged her shoulders expressively. + +"Oh, I'm not begging!" he continued. "I know you're pretty well in +the same box." + +"That," the Princess remarked, "scarcely expresses it. I am a great +deal worse off than you, because I have a houseful of unpaid +servants, and a mob of tradespeople, who are just beginning to +clamour. I see that you are looking at my necklace," she continued. +"I can assure you that I have not a single real stone left. +Everything I possess that isn't in pawn is of paste." + +"Then don't you see, Ena," he said, "that this thing really must be +hurried forward? De Brensault is ready enough, isn't he?" + +"Quite," she answered. + +"And he understands the position?" + +"I think so," the Princess answered. "I have given him to understand +it pretty clearly." + +"Then have a clear business talk with him," Forrest said, "and then +have it out with Jeanne. You could all go abroad together, and they +could be married at the Embassy, say at Paris." + +"Jeanne is the only difficulty," the Princess said. "It would suit +me better, for upon my word I don't know where I could get credit +for her trousseau." + +"It isn't any use waiting," Forrest said. "I have watched them +together, and I am sure of it. De Brensault isn't one of those +fellows who improve upon acquaintance. Look, there they are. Nothing +very lover-like about that, is there?" + +De Brensault and Jeanne were crossing the room together. Only the +very tips of her fingers rested upon his coat-sleeve, and there was +a marked aloofness about her walk and the carriage of her head. He +was saying something to her to which she seemed to be paying the +scantiest of attention. Her head was thrown back, and in her eyes +was a great weariness. Suddenly, just as they reached the entrance, +they saw her whole expression change. A wave of colour flooded her +cheeks. Her eyes were suddenly filled with life. They saw her lips +part. Her hands were outstretched to greet the man who, crossing the +room, had stopped at her summons. Both the Princess and Forrest +frowned when they saw who it was. It was Andrew de la Borne. + +"That infernal fisherman!" Forrest muttered. "I saw in the paper +that he had returned this afternoon from The Hague." + +The Princess made an involuntary movement forward, but Forrest +checked her. + +"You can do no good," he said. "Wait and see what happens." + +What did happen was very simple, and for the Count de Brensault a +little humiliating. Jeanne passed her arm through the newcomer's and +with the curtest of nods to her late companion, disappeared through +an open doorway. The Belgian stood looking after them, twirling his +moustache with shaking fingers. His face was paler even than usual, +and he was shaking with anger. + +"Leave him alone for a few minutes," Forrest said to the Princess. +"You will do no good at all by speaking to him just now. Ena, it is +absolutely necessary that you make Jeanne understand the state of +affairs." + +"I think," the Princess said thoughtfully, "that it will be best to +take her away from London. Lately I have noticed a development in +Jeanne which I do not altogether understand. She has begun to think +for herself most unpleasantly. She plays at being a child with De +Brensault, but that is simply because it is the easiest way to +repulse him." + +Meanwhile Jeanne, whose face was transfigured, and whose whole +manner was changed, was sitting with her companion in the quietest +corner they could find. + +"It is delightful to see you again," she said frankly. "I do not +think that any one ever felt so lonely as I do." + +He smiled. + +"I can assure you that I find it delightful to be back again," he +said, "although I have enjoyed my work very much. By the by, who +introduced you to the man whom you were with when I found you?" + +"My stepmother," she answered. "He is the man, by the by, whom I am +told I am to marry." + +Andrew looked as he felt for a moment, shocked. + +"I am sorry to hear that," he said quietly. + +"You need not be afraid," she answered. "I am not of age, and I was +brought up in a country where one's guardians have a good deal of +authority, but nothing in the world would ever induce me to marry a +creature like that." + +His face cleared somewhat. + +"I am very surprised," he said, "that your stepmother should have +thought of it. He is an unfit companion for any self-respecting +woman." + +"I do not understand," Jeanne said quietly, "why they are so anxious +that I should marry quickly, but I know that my stepmother thinks of +nothing else in connection with me. Look! They are coming through +the conservatories. Let us go out by the other door." + +They came face to face with a tall, grave-looking man, who wore an +order around his neck. Andrew stopped suddenly. + +"I should like," he said to Jeanne, "to introduce you to my friend. +You have met him before down at the Red Hall, and on the island, but +that scarcely counts. Westerham, this is Miss Le Mesurier. You +remember that you saw her at Salthouse." + +The Duke shook hands with the girl, looking at her attentively. His +manner was kind, but his eyes seemed to be questioning her all the +time. + +"I am very glad to know you, Miss Le Mesurier," he said. "My friend +Andrew here has spoken of you to me." + +They remained talking together for some minutes, until, in fact, +Forrest and the Princess, who were in pursuit of them, appeared. The +Princess looked curiously at the Duke, and Forrest frowned heavily +when he recognized him. There was a moment's almost embarrassed +silence. Then Andrew did what seemed to him to be the reasonable +thing. + +"Princess," he said, "will you allow me to present my friend the +Duke of Westerham. The Duke was staying with me a few weeks ago, as +you know, and at that time he had a particular reason for not +wishing his whereabouts to be known." + +The Duke bowed over the Princess' hand, which was offered him at +once, and without hesitation, but his greeting to Forrest was +markedly cold. Forrest had evidently lost his nerve. He seemed +tongue-tied, and he was very pale. It was the Princess alone who +saved the situation from becoming an exceedingly embarrassing one. + +"I have heard of you very often, Duke," she said. "Your brother, +Lord Ronald, took us down to Norfolk, you know. By the by, have you +heard from him yet?" + +"Not yet, madam," the Duke said, "but I can assure you that it is +only a matter of time before I shall discover his whereabouts. I +wonder whether your ward will do me the honour of giving me this +dance?" he added, turning to her. "I am afraid I am not a very +skilful performer, but perhaps she will have a little consideration +for one who is willing to do his best." + +He led Jeanne away from them, and Andrew, after a moment's +stereotyped conversation, also departed. The Princess and Forrest +were alone. + +"This is getting worse and worse," Forrest muttered. "He is +suspicious. I am sure that he is. They say that young Engleton was +his favourite brother, and that he is determined--" + +"Hush!" the Princess said. "There are too many people about to talk +of these things. I wonder why the Duke took Jeanne off." + +"An excuse for getting away from us," Forrest said. "Did you see the +way he looked at me? Ena, I cannot hang on like this any longer. I +must have a few thousand pounds and get away." + +The Princess nodded. + +"We will go and talk to De Brensault," she said. "I should think he +would be just in the frame of mind to consent to anything." + + The Duke, who was well acquainted with the house in which they +were, led Jeanne into a small retiring room and found her an easy +chair. + +"My dear young lady," he said, "I hope you will not be disappointed, +but I have not danced for ten years. I brought you here because I +wanted to say something to you." + +Jeanne looked up at him a little surprised. + +"Something to me?" she repeated. + +He bowed. + +"Andrew de la Borne is one of my oldest and best friends," he said, +"and what I am going to say to you is a little for his sake, +although I am sure that if I knew you better I should say it also +for your own. You must not be annoyed or offended, because I am old +enough to be your father, and what I say I say altogether for your +own good. They tell me that you are a young lady with a great +fortune, and you know that nowadays half the evil that is done in +the world is done for the sake of money. Frankly, without wishing to +say a word against your stepmother, I consider that for a young girl +you are placed in a very difficult and dangerous position. The man +Forrest--mind you must not be offended if he should be a friend of +yours--but I am bound to tell you that I believe him to be an +unscrupulous adventurer, and I am afraid that your stepmother is +very much under his influence. You have no other relatives or +friends in this country, and I hear that a man named De Brensault is +a suitor for your hand." + +"I shall never marry him," Jeanne said firmly. "I think that he is +detestable." + +"I am glad to hear you say so," the Duke continued, "because he is +not a man whom I would allow any young lady for whom I had any shade +of respect or affection, to become acquainted with. Now the fact +that your stepmother deliberately encourages him makes me fear that +you may find yourself at any moment in a very difficult position. I +do not wish to say anything against your friends or your stepmother. +I hope you will believe that. But nowadays people who are poor +themselves, but who know the value and the use of money, are tempted +to do things for the sake of it which are utterly unworthy and +wrong. I want you to understand that if any time you should need a +friend it will give me very great happiness indeed to be of any +service to you I can. I am a bachelor, it is true, but I am old +enough to be your father, and I can bring you into touch at once +with friends more suitable for you and your station. Will you come +to me, or send for me, if you find yourself in any sort of trouble?" + +She said very little, but she looked at him for a moment with her +wonderful eyes, very soft with unshed tears. + +"You are very, very kind," she said. "I have been very unhappy, and +I have felt very lonely. It will make everything seem quite +different to know there is some one to whom I may come for advice +if--if--" + +"I know, dear," the Duke interrupted, rising and holding out his +arm. "I know quite well what you mean. All I can say is, don't be +afraid to come or to send, and don't let any one bully you into +throwing away your life upon a scoundrel like De Brensault. I am +going to give you back to Andrew now. He is a good fellow--one of +the best. I only wish--" + +The Duke broke off short. After all, he remembered, he had no right +to complete his sentence. Andrew, he felt, was no more of a marrying +man than he himself, and he was the last person in the world to ever +think of marrying a great heiress. They found him waiting about +outside. + +"I must relinquish my charge," the Duke said smiling. "You will not +forget, Miss Le Mesurier?" + +"I am never likely to," she answered gratefully. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +The Count de Brensault had seldom been in a worse temper. That +Jeanne should have flouted him was not in itself so terrible, +because he had quite made up his mind that sooner or later he would +take a coward's revenge for the slights he had been made to endure +at her hands. But that he should have been flouted in the presence +of a whole roomful of people, that he should have been deliberately +left for another man, was a different matter altogether. His first +impulse when Jeanne left him, was to walk out of the house and have +nothing more to say to the Princess or Jeanne herself. The world was +full of girls perfectly willing to tumble into his arms, and mothers +only too anxious to push them there. Why should he put himself in +this position for Jeanne, great heiress though she might be? But +somehow or other, after he had tossed off two glasses of champagne +at the buffet, he realized that his fancy for her was a real thing, +and one from which he could not so readily escape. If she had wished +to deliberately attract him, she could scarcely have chosen means +more calculated to attain that end than by this avowed indifference, +even dislike. He sat by himself in a small smoking-room and thought +of her--her slim girlish perfection of figure and bearing, her +perfect complexion, her beautiful eyes, her scarlet lips. All these +things came into his mind as he sat there, until he felt his cheeks +flush with the desire to succeed, and his eyes grow bright at the +thought of the time when he should hold her in his arms and take +what revenge he chose for these slights. No! he would not let her +go, he determined. Dignified or undignified, he would pursue her to +the end, only he must have an understanding with the Princess, +something definite must be done. He would not run the risk again of +being made a laughing-stock before all his friends. Forrest found +him in exactly the mood most suitable for his purpose. + +"Come and talk to the Princess," he said. "She has something to say +to you." + +De Brensault rose somewhat heavily to his feet. + +"And I," he said, "I, too, have something to say to her. We will +take a glass of champagne together, my friend Forrest, and then we +will seek the Princess." + +Forrest nodded. + +"By all means," he said. "To tell you the truth I need it." + +De Brensault looked at him curiously. + +"You are very pale, my friend," he said. "You look as though things +were not going too well with you." + +"I have been annoyed," Forrest answered. "There is a man here whom I +dislike, and it made me angry to see him with Miss Jeanne. I think +myself that the time has come when something definite must be done +as regards that child. She is too young to be allowed to run loose +like this, and a great deal too inexperienced." + +"I agree with you," De Brensault said solemnly. "We will drink that +glass of wine together, and we will go and talk to the Princess." + +They found the Princess where Forrest had left her. She motioned to +De Brensault to sit by her side, and Forrest left them. + +"My dear Count," the Princess said, "to-night has proved to me that +it is quite time Jeanne had some one to look after her. Let me ask +you. Are you perfectly serious in your suit?" + +"Absolutely!" De Brensault answered eagerly. "I myself would like +the matter settled. I propose to you for her hand." + +The Princess bowed her head thoughtfully. + +"Now, my dear Count," she said, "I am going to talk to you as a +woman of the world. You know that my husband, in leaving his fortune +entirely to Jeanne, treated me very badly. You may know this, or you +may not know it, but the fact remains that I am a very poor woman." + +De Brensault nodded sympathetically. He guessed pretty well what was +coming. + +"If I," the Princess continued, "assist you to gain my stepdaughter +Jeanne for your wife, and the control of all her fortune, it is only +fair," she continued, "that I should be recompensed in some way for +the allowance which I have been receiving as her guardian, and which +will then come to an end. I do not ask for anything impossible or +unreasonable. I want you to give me twenty thousand pounds the day +that you marry Jeanne. It is about one year's income for her rentes, +a mere trifle to you, of course." + +"Twenty thousand pounds," De Brensault repeated reflectively. + +The Princess nodded. She was sorry that she had not asked thirty +thousand. + +"I am not a mercenary woman," she said. "If I were not almost a +pauper I would accept nothing. As it is, I think you will call my +proposal a very fair one." + +"The exact amount of Mademoiselle Jeanne's dot," he remarked, "has +never been discussed between us." + +"The figures are altogether beyond me," the Princess said. "To tell +you the truth I have never had the heart to go into them. I have +always thought it terribly unfair that my husband should have left +me nothing but an annuity, and this great fortune to the child. +However, as you are both rich, it seems to me that settlements will +not be necessary. On your honeymoon you can go and see her trustees +in Paris, and you yourself will, of course, then take over the +management of her fortune." + +De Brensault looked thoughtful for a moment or two. + +"Perhaps," he said, "it would be better if I had a business +interview with her trustees before the ceremony." + +"Just as you like," the Princess answered carelessly. "Monsieur +Laplanche is in Cairo just now, but he will be back in Paris in a +few weeks' time. Perhaps you would rather delay everything until +then?" + +"No!" De Brensault said, after a moment's hesitation. "I would like +to delay nothing. I would like to marry Mademoiselle Jeanne at once, +if it can be arranged." + +"To tell you the truth," the Princess said, "I think it would be +much the best way out of a very difficult situation. I am finding +Jeanne very difficult to manage, and I am quite sure that she will +be happier and better off married. I am proposing, if you are +willing, to exercise my authority absolutely. If she shows the +slightest reluctance to accept you, I propose that we all go over to +Paris. I shall know how to arrange things there." + +De Brensault smiled. The prospect of winning Jeanne at any cost +became more and more attractive to him. The Princess, who was +looking at him through half closed eyes, saw that he was perfectly +safe. + +"And now, my dear Count," she said, "I am going to ask you a favour. +I am doing for you something for which you ought to be grateful to +me all your life. For a mere trifle which will not recompense me in +the least for what I am giving up, I am finding you one of the most +desirable brides in Europe. I want you to help me a little." + +"What is it that I can do?" he asked. + +"Let me have five thousand pounds on account of what you are going +to give me, to-morrow morning," she said coolly. + +De Brensault hesitated. He was prepared to pay for what he wanted, +but five thousand pounds was nevertheless a great deal of money. + +"I would not ask you," the Princess continued, "if I were not really +hard up. I have been gambling, a foolish thing to do, and I do not +want to sell my securities, because I know that very soon they will +pay me over and over again. Will you do this for me? Remember, I am +giving you my word that Jeanne is to be yours." + +"Make it three thousand," De Brensault said slowly. "Three thousand +pounds I will send you a cheque for, to-morrow morning." + +The Princess nodded. + +"As you will," she said. "I think if I were you, though, I should +make it five. However, I shall leave it for you to do what you can. +Now will you take me out into the ballroom. I am going to look for +Jeanne." + +They found her at supper with the Duke and Andrew and a very great +lady, a connection of the Duke's, who was one of those few who had +refused to accept the Princess. The Princess swept up to the little +party and laid her hand upon Jeanne's shoulder. + +"I do not want to hurry you, dear," she said, "but when you have +finished supper I should be glad to go. We have to go on to +Dorchester House, you know." + +Jeanne sighed. She had been enjoying herself very much indeed. + +"I am ready now," she said, standing up, "but must we go to +Dorchester House? I would so much rather go straight home. I have +not had such a good time since I have been in London." + +The Duke offered her his arm, ignoring altogether Count De +Brensault, who was standing by. + +"At least," he said, "you will permit me to see you to your +carriage." + +The Princess smiled graciously. It was bad enough to be ignored, as +she certainly was to some extent, but on the other hand it was good +for De Brensault to see Jeanne held in such esteem. She took his arm +and they followed down the room. The Duke was bending down and +talking earnestly to Jeanne; this surprised the Princess. + +"I wonder," she remarked, more to herself than to her companion, +"what he is saying." + +De Brensault shrugged his shoulders. + +"I do not care," he said. "We will keep to our bargain, you and I. +In a few days it will be my arm that she shall take, and nobody +else's. Perhaps I shall be a little jealous. Who can say? In a +little time she will not mind." + +"Remember," the Duke was saying, as he drew Jeanne's hand through +his arm, "that I was very much in earnest in what I said to you just +now. I have seen a good deal of the world, and you nothing at all, +and I cannot help believing that the time when you may need some +one's help is a good deal nearer than you yourself imagine." + +"I wonder," she asked, a little timidly, "why you are so kind to +me?" + +"I accept you upon trust," the Duke said, "for the sake of my friend +Andrew. I know that he lives out of the world, and has not much +experience in judging others, but I do believe that when he has made +up his mind about anybody, he is generally right. Frankly, from what +I have heard, and a little that I know, I am afraid that I should +have been suspicious about even a child like you, because of your +associates. But because I believe in you, I am all the more sure +that very soon you are going to find yourself in trouble. It is +agreed, remember, that when that time comes you will remember that I +am your friend." + +"I will remember," she murmured. "I am not likely to forget. Except +for you and Mr. De la Borne, no one has been really kind to me since +I left school. They all say foolish things, and try to make me like +them, because I am a great heiress, but one understands how much +that is worth." + +The Duke looked at her, and seemed half inclined to say something. +Whatever it may have been, however, he thought better of it. He +contented himself with taking her hand in his and shaking it warmly. + +"Good night," he said, "little Miss Jeanne, and remember, No. 51, +Grosvenor Square. If I am not there, I have a very nice old +housekeeper who will look after you until I turn up." + +"No. 51," she repeated softly. "No, I shall not forget!" + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +The Princess and Jeanne drove homewards in a silence which remained +unbroken until the last few minutes. The events of the evening had +been somewhat perplexing to the former. She scarcely understood even +now why a great personage like the Duke of Westerham had shown such +interest in her charge. + +"Tell me, Jeanne," she asked at last, "why is the Duke of Westerham +so friendly with your fisherman?" + +Jeanne raised her eyebrows slightly. + +"'My fisherman,' as you call him," she answered, "is, after all, +Andrew de la Borne! They were at school together." + +"That is all very well," the Princess answered, "but I cannot see +what possible sympathy there can be between them now. Their stations +in life are altogether different. You talked with the Duke for some +time, Jeanne?" + +"He was very kind to me," Jeanne answered. + +"Did he give you any idea," the Princess asked, "as to why he was +staying down at Salthouse with Mr. Andrew?" + +"None at all," Jeanne answered. + +"You know very well," the Princess continued, "of what I am +thinking. Did he speak to you at all of Major Forrest?" + +"Not a word," Jeanne answered. + +"Of his brother, then?" + +"He did not mention his name," Jeanne declared. + +"He asked you no questions at all about anything which may have +happened at the Red Hall?" + +Jeanne shook her head. + +"Certainly not!" + +"You do not think, then," the Princess persisted, "that it was for +the sake of gaining information about his brother that he talked +with you so much?" + +"Why should I think so?" Jeanne asked. "He scarcely mentioned any of +your names even. He talked to me simply out of kindness, and I think +because he knew that Mr. Andrew and I were friends." + +The Princess smiled. + +"You seem," she remarked, "to have made quite a conquest. I +congratulate you. The Duke has not the reputation of being an easy +man to get on with." + +The carriage pulled up before their house in Berkeley Square, and +the Princess did not pursue the subject, but as Jeanne left her for +the night, her stepmother called her back. + +"To-morrow morning," she said, "I should be glad if you would come +to my room at twelve o'clock, I have something to say to you." + + Jeanne slept well that night. For the first time she felt that she +had lost the feeling of friendlessness which for the last few weeks +had constantly oppressed her. Andrew de la Borne was back in London, +and the Duke, who seemed to have some sort of understanding as to +the troubles which were likely to beset her, had gone out of his way +to offer her his help. She felt now that she would not have to fight +her stepmother's influence unaided. Yet when she sought her room at +twelve o'clock the next morning she had very little idea of the sort +of fight which she might indeed have to make. + +The Princess had already spent an hour at her toilette. Her hair was +carefully arranged and her face massaged. She received her +stepdaughter with some show of affection, and bade her sit close to +her. + +"Jeanne," she said, "you are now nearly twenty years old. For many +reasons I wish to see you married. The Count de Brensault formally +proposed for you last night. He is coming at three o'clock this +afternoon for his answer." + +Jeanne sat upright in her chair. Her stepmother noticed a new air of +determination in the poise of her head, and the firm lines of her +mouth. + +"The Count might have spared himself the trouble," she said. "He +knows very well what my answer will be. I think that you know, too. +It is no, most emphatically and decidedly! I will not marry the +Count de Brensault." + +"Before you express yourself so irrevocably," the Princess said +calmly, "I should like you to understand that it is my wish that you +accept his offer." + +"In all ordinary matters," Jeanne answered, "I am prepared to obey +you. In this, no! I think that I have the right to choose my husband +for myself, or at any rate to approve of whomever you may select. I- +-do not approve of the Count de Brensault. I do not care for him, +and I never could care for him, and I will not marry him!" + +The Princess said nothing for several moments. Then she moved toward +the door which led into her sleeping chamber, where her maid was +still busy, and turned the key in the lock. + +"Jeanne," she said when she returned, "I think it is time that you +were told something which I am afraid will be a shock to you. This +great fortune of yours, of which you have heard so much, and which +has been so much talked about, is a myth." + +"What do you mean?" Jeanne asked, looking at her stepmother with +startled eyes. + +"Exactly what I say," the Princess continued. "Your father made huge +gifts to his relatives during the last few years of his life, and he +left enormous sums in charity. To you he left the remainder of his +estate, which all the world believed to amount to at least a million +pounds. But when things came to be realized, all his securities +seemed to have depreciated. The legacies were paid in cash. The +depreciation of his fortune all fell upon you. When everything had +been paid, there was something like twenty-five thousand pounds +left. More than half of that has gone in your education, and in an +allowance to myself since I have had the charge of you. There is a +little left in the hands of Monsieur Laplanche, but very little +indeed. What there is we owe for your dresses, the rent of this +house, and other things." + +"You mean," Jeanne interrupted bewildered, "that I have no money at +all?" + +"Practically none," the Princess answered. "Now you can see why it +is so important that you should marry a rich man." + +Jeanne was bewildered. It was hard to grasp these things which her +stepmother was telling her. + +"If this be true," she said, "how is it that every one speaks of me +as being a great heiress?" + +The Princess glanced at her with a contemptuous smile. + +"You do not suppose," she said, "that I have found it necessary to +take the whole world into my confidence." + +"You mean," Jeanne said, "that people don't know that I am not a +great heiress?" + +"Certainly not," the Princess replied, "or we should scarcely be +here." + +"The Count de Brensault?" Jeanne asked. + +"He does not know, of course," the Princess answered. "He is a rich +man. He can afford quite well to marry a girl without a DOT." + +Jeanne's head fell slowly between her hands. The suddenness of this +blow had staggered her. It was not the loss of her fortune so much +which affected her as the other contingencies with which she was +surrounded. She tried to think, and the more she thought the more +involved it all seemed. She looked up at last. + +"If my fortune is really gone," she said, "why do you let people +talk about it, and write about me in the papers as though I were +still so rich?" + +The Princess shrugged her shoulders. + +"For your own sake," she answered. "It is necessary to find you a +husband, is it not, and nowadays one does not find them easily when +there is no DOT." + +Jeanne felt her cheeks burning. + +"I am to be married, then," she said slowly, "by some one who thinks +I have a great deal of money, and who afterwards will be able to +turn round and reproach me for having deceived him." + +The Princess laughed. + +"Afterwards," she said, "the man will not be too anxious to let the +world know that he has been made a fool of. If you play your cards +properly, the afterwards will come out all right." + +Jeanne rose slowly to her feet. + +"I do not think," she said, "that you have quite understood me. I +should like you to know that nothing would ever induce me to marry +any one unless they knew the truth. I will not go on accepting +invitations and visiting people's houses, many of whom have only +asked me because they think that I am very rich. Every one must know +the truth at once." + +"And how, may I ask, do you propose to live?" the Princess asked +quietly. + +"If there is nothing left at all of my money," Jeanne said, "I will +work. If it is the worst which comes, I will go back to the convent +and teach the children." + +The Princess laughed softly. + +"Jeanne," she said, "you are talking like a positive idiot. It is +because you have had no time to think this thing out. Remember that +after all you are not sailing under any false colours. You are your +father's daughter, and you are also his heiress. If the newspapers +and gossip have exaggerated the amount of his fortune, that is not +your affair. Be reasonable, little girl," she added, letting her +hand fall upon Jeanne's. "Don't give us all away like this. Remember +that I have made sacrifices for your sake. I owe more money than I +can pay for your dresses, for the carriage, for the house here. +Nothing but your marriage will put us straight again. You must make +up your mind to this. The Count de Brensault is so much in love with +you that he will ask no questions. You must marry him." + +Jeanne drew herself away from her stepmother's touch. + +"Nothing," she said, "would induce me to marry the Count de +Brensault, not even if he knew that I am penniless. If we cannot +afford to live in this house, or to keep carriages, let us go away +at once and take rooms somewhere. I do not wish to live under false +pretences." + +The Princess was very pale, but her eyes were hard and steely. + +"Child," she said, "don't be a fool. Don't make me angry, or I may +say and do things for which I should be sorry. It is no fault of +mine that you are not a great heiress. I have done the next best +thing for you. I have made people believe that you are. Be +reasonable, and all will be well yet. If you are going to play the +Quixote, it will be ruin for all of us. I cannot think how a child +like you got such ideas. Remember that I am many years older and +wiser than you. You should leave it to me to do what is best." + +Jeanne shook her head. + +"I cannot," she said simply. "I am sorry to disappoint you, but I +shall tell every one I meet that I have no money, and I will not +marry the Count de Brensault." + +The Princess grasped her by the wrist. + +"You will not obey me, child?" she said. + +"I will obey you in everything reasonable," Jeanne said. + +"Very well, then," the Princess answered, "go to your room at once." + +Jeanne turned and walked toward the door. On the threshold, however, +she paused. There were many times, she remembered, when her +stepmother had been kind to her. She looked around at the Princess, +sitting with her head resting upon her clasped hands. + +"I am very sorry," Jeanne said timidly, "that I cannot do what you +wish. It is not honest. Cannot you see that it is not honest?" + +The Princess turned slowly round. + +"Honest!" she repeated scornfully. "Who is there in our world who +can afford to be honest? You are behaving like a baby, Jeanne. I +only hope that before long you may come to your senses. Will you +obey me if I tell you not to leave your room until I send for you?" + +Jeanne hesitated. + +"Yes!" she said. "I will obey you in that." + +"Then go there and wait," the Princess said. "I must think what to +do." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +The Count de Brensault called in Berkeley Square at three o'clock +precisely that afternoon, but it was the Princess who received him, +and the Princess was alone. + +"Well?" he asked, a little eagerly. "Mademoiselle Jeanne is more +reasonable, eh? You have good news?" + +The Princess motioned him to a seat. + +"I think," she said, "we had forgotten how young Jeanne really is. +The idea of getting married to any one seems to terrify her. After +all, why should we wonder at it? The school where she was brought up +was a very, very strict one, and this plunge into life has been a +little sudden." + +"You think, then," De Brensault asked eagerly, "that it is not I +personally whom she objects to so much?" + +"Certainly not," the Princess answered. "It is simply you as the man +whom it is proposed that she should marry that she dislikes. I have +been talking to her for a long time this afternoon. Frankly, I do +not know which would be best--to give up the idea of anything of the +sort for some time, or to--to--" + +"To what?" De Brensault demanded, as the Princess hesitated. + +"To take extreme measures," the Princess answered slowly. "Mind, I +would not consider such a thing for a moment, if I were not fully +convinced that Jeanne, when she is a little older, would be +perfectly satisfied with what we have done. On the other hand, one +hesitates naturally to worry the child." + +"She will not see me?" De Brensault asked. "It is possible that I +might be able to persuade her." + +"You would do more harm than good," the Princess answered decidedly. +"She is terrified just now at the idea. She is in her room shaking +like a schoolgirl who is going to be punished. Really, I don't know +why I should have been plagued with such a charge. There are so many +things I want to do, and I have to stay here to look after Jeanne, +because she is too foolish to be trusted with any one else. I want +to go to America, and a very dear friend of mine has invited me to +go with her and some delightful people on a yachting cruise around +the world." + +"Then why not use those measures you spoke of?" De Brensault said +eagerly. "I shall make Jeanne a very good husband, I assure you. I +shall promise you that in a fortnight's time she will be only too +delighted with her lot." + +The Princess looked at him thoughtfully. + +"I wonder," she said, "whether I could trust you." + +"Trust me, of course you could, dear Princess!" De Brensault +exclaimed eagerly. "I will be kind to her, I promise you. Be +sensible. She would feel this way with any one. You yourself have +said so. There can be no more suitable marriage for her than with +me. Let us call it arranged. Tell me what it is that you propose. +Perhaps I may be able to help." + +"Jeanne is, of course, not of age," the Princess said thoughtfully, +"and she is entirely under my control. In England people are rather +foolish about these things, but abroad they understand the situation +better." + +"Why not in Belgium?" De Brensault exclaimed. "We might go to a +little town I know of very near to my estates. Everything could be +arranged there very easily. I am quite well-known, and no questions +would be asked." + +The Princess nodded thoughtfully. + +"That might do," she admitted. + +"Why not start at once?" De Brensault suggested. "There is nothing +to be gained by waiting. We might even leave to-morrow." + +The Princess shook her head. + +"You are too impetuous, my dear Count," she said. + +"But what is there to wait for?" he demanded. + +"I must see my lawyers first," she answered slowly, "and before I +leave London I must pay some bills." + +The Count drew a cheque book from his pocket. + +"I will keep my word," he said. "I will pay you on account the +amount we spoke of." + +The Princess opened her escritoire briskly. + +"There is a pen and ink there," she said, "and blotting paper. +Really your cheque will be a god-send to me. I seem to have had +nothing but expenses lately, and Jeanne's guardians are as mean as +they can be. They grumble even at allowing me five thousand a year." + +De Brensault twirled his moustache as he seated himself at the +table. + +"Five thousand a year," he muttered. "It is not a bad allowance for +a young girl who is not yet of age." + +The Princess shrugged her shoulders. + +"My dear Count," she said, "you do not know what our expenses are. +Jeanne is extravagant, so am I extravagant. It is all very well for +her, but for me it is another matter. I shall be a poor woman when I +have resigned my charge." + +De Brensault handed the cheque across. + +"You will not find me," he said, "ungrateful. And now, my dear lady, +let us talk about Jeanne. Do you think that you could persuade her +to leave London so suddenly?" + +"I am going up-stairs now," the Princess said, "to have a little +talk with her. Dine with me here to-night quite quietly, and I will +tell you what fortune I have had." + +De Brensault went away, on the whole fairly content with his visit. +The Princess endorsed his cheque, and with a sigh of relief enclosed +it in an envelope, rang for a maid and ordered her carriage. Then +she went up-stairs to Jeanne, whom she found busy writing at her +desk. She hesitated for a moment, and then went and stood with her +hand resting upon the girl's shoulder. + +"Jeanne," she said, "I think that we have both been a little hasty." + +Jeanne looked up in surprise. Her stepmother's tone was altered. It +was no longer cold and dictatorial. There was in it even a note of +appeal. Jeanne wondered to find herself so unmoved. + +"I am sorry," she said, "if I have said anything unbecoming. You +see," she continued, after a moment's pause, "the subject which we +were talking about did not seem to me to leave much room for +discussion." + +"There is no harm in discussing anything," the Princess said, +throwing herself into a wicker chair by the side of Jeanne's table. +"I am afraid that all that I said must have sounded very cruel and +abrupt. You see I have had this thing on my mind for so long. It has +been a trouble to me, Jeanne." + +Jeanne raised her large eyes and looked steadily at her stepmother. +She felt almost ashamed of her coldness and lack of sympathy. The +Princess was certainly looking worn and worried. + +"I am sorry," Jeanne said stiffly. "I cannot imagine how you could +have supported life for a day under such conditions." + +Her stepmother sighed. + +"That," she said, "is because you have had so little experience of +life, and you do not understand its practical necessities. Children +like you seem to think that the commonplace necessaries of life drop +into our laps as a matter of course, or that they are a sort of gift +from Heaven to the deserving. As a matter of fact," the Princess +continued, "nothing of the sort happens. Life is often a very cruel +and a very difficult thing. We are given tastes, and no means to +gratify them. How could I, for instance, face life as a lodging- +house keeper, or at best as a sort of companion to some ill-tempered +old harridan, who would probably only employ me to have some one to +bully? You yourself, Jeanne, are fond of luxuries." + +It was a new reflection to Jeanne. She became suddenly thoughtful. + +"I have noticed your tastes," the Princess continued. "You would be +miserable in anything but silk stockings, wouldn't you? And your +ideas of lingerie are quite in accord with the ideas of the modern +young woman of wealth. You fill your rooms with flowers. You buy +expensive books," she added, taking up for a moment a volume of De +Ronsard, bound in green vellum, with uncut edges. "Your tastes in +eating and drinking, too," she continued, "are a little on the +sybaritic side. Have you realized what it will mean to give all +these things up--to wear coarse clothes, to eat coarse food, to get +your books from a cheap library, and look at other people's +flowers?" + +Jeanne frowned. The idea was certainly not pleasing. + +"It will be bad for you," the Princess continued, "and it will be +very much worse for me, because I have been used to these things all +my life. You may think me very brutal at having tried to help you +toward the only means of escape for either of us, but I think, dear, +you scarcely realize the alternative. It is not only what you +condemn yourself to. Remember that you inflict the same punishment +on me." + +"It is not I who do anything," Jeanne said. "It is you who have +brought this upon both of us. All this money that has been spent +upon luxuries, it was absurd. If I was not rich I did not need them. +I think that it was more than absurd. It was cruel." + +The Princess produced a few inches of lace-bordered cambric. A +glance at Jeanne's face showed her that the child had developed a +new side to her character. There was something pitiless about the +straightened mouth, and the cold questioning eyes. + +"Jeanne," the Princess said, "you are a fool. Some day you will +understand how great a one. I only trust that it may not be too +late. The Count de Brensault may not be everything that is to be +desired in a husband, but the world is full of more attractive +people who would be glad to become your slaves. You will live mostly +abroad, and let me assure you that marriage there is the road to +liberty. You have it in your power to save yourself and me from +poverty. Make a little sacrifice, Jeanne, if indeed it is a +sacrifice. Later on you will be glad of it. If you persist in this +unreasonable attitude, I really do not know what will become of us." + +Jeanne turned her head, but she did not respond in the least to the +Princess' softened tone. There was a note of finality about her +words, too. She spoke as one who had weighed this matter and made up +her mind. + +"If there was no other man in the world," she said, "or no other way +of avoiding starvation, I would not marry the Count de Brensault." + +The Princess rose slowly to her feet. + +"Very well," she said, "that ends the matter, of course. I hope you +will always remember that it is you who are responsible for anything +that may happen now. You had better," she continued, "leave off +writing letters which will certainly never be posted, and get your +clothes together. We shall go abroad at the latest to-morrow +afternoon." + +"Abroad?" Jeanne repeated. + +"Yes!" the Princess answered. "I suppose you have sense enough to +see that we cannot stay on here for you to make your interesting +confessions. I should probably have some of these tradespeople +trying to put me in prison." + +"I will tell Saunders at once," Jeanne said. "I am quite ready to do +anything you think best." + +The Princess laughed hardly. + +"You will have to manage without Saunders," she answered. "Paupers +like us can't afford maids. I am going to discharge every one this +afternoon. Have your boxes packed, please, to-night. Your dinner +will be sent up to you." + +The Princess left the room, and Jeanne heard the key turn in the +lock. + + + + +CHAPTER X + + +Jeanne's packing was after all a very small matter. She ignored the +cupboards full of gowns, nor did she open one of the drawers of her +wardrobe. She simply filled her dressing-case with a few necessaries +and hid it under the table. At eight o'clock one of the servants +brought her dinner on a tray. Jeanne saw with relief that it was one +of the younger parlour maids, and not the Princess' own maid. + +"Mary," Jeanne said, taking a gold bracelet from her wrist and +holding it out to her, "I am going to give you this bracelet if you +will do just a very simple thing for me." + +The girl looked at Jeanne and looked at the bracelet. She was too +amazed for speech. + +"I want you," Jeanne said, "when you go out to leave the door +unlocked. That is all. It will not make any difference to you so far +as your position here is concerned, because your mistress is sending +you all away in a few days." + +The girl looked at the bracelet and did not hesitate for a moment. + +"I would do it for you without anything, Miss Jeanne," she said. +"The bracelet is too good for me." + +Jeanne laughed, and pushed it across the table to her. + +"Run along," she said. "If you want to do something else, open the +back door for me. I am coming downstairs." + +The girl looked a little perplexed. The bracelet which she was +holding still engrossed most of her thoughts. + +"You are not doing anything rash, Miss Jeanne, I hope?" she asked +timidly. + +Jeanne shook her head. + +"What I am doing is not rash at all," she said softly. "It is +necessary." + +Five minutes later Jeanne walked unnoticed down the back stairs of +the house, and out into the street. She turned into Piccadilly and +entered a bus. + +"Where to, miss?" the man asked, as he came for his fare. + +"I do not know," Jeanne said. "I will tell you presently." + +The man stared at her and passed on. Jeanne had spoken the truth. +She had no idea where she was going. Her one idea was to get away +from every one whom she knew, or who had known her, as the Princess' +ward and a great heiress. She sat in a corner of the bus, and she +watched the stream of people pass by. Even there she shrank from any +face or figure which seemed to her familiar. She almost forgot that +she, too, had been a victim of her stepmother's deception. She +remembered only that she had been the principal figure in it, and +that to the whole world she must seem an object for derision and +contempt. It was not her fault that she had played a false part in +life. But nevertheless she had played it, and it was not likely that +many would believe her innocent. The thought of appealing to the +Duke, or to Andrew de la Borne, for help, made her cheeks burn with +shame. In any ordinary trouble she would have gone to them. This, +however, was something too humiliating, too impossible. She felt +that it was a blow which she could ask no one to share. + +The omnibus rolled on eastwards and reached Liverpool Street. A +sudden overwhelming impulse decided Jeanne as to her destination. +She remembered that peculiar sense of freedom, that first escape +from her cramped surroundings, which had come to her walking upon +the marshes of Salthouse. She would go there again, if it was only +for a day or two; find rooms somewhere in the village, and write to +Monsieur Laplanche from there. Visitors she knew were not uncommon +in the little seaside village, and she would easily be able to keep +out of the way of Cecil, if he were still there. The idea seemed to +her like an inspiration. She went up to the ticket-office and asked +for a ticket for Salthouse. The man stared at her. + +"Never heard of the place, miss," he said. "It's not on our line." + +"It is near Wells on the east coast," she said. "Now I think of it, +I remember one has to drive from Wells. Can I have a ticket to +there?" + +He glanced at the clock. + +"The train goes in ten minutes, miss," he said. + +Jeanne travelled first, because she had never thought of travelling +any other way. She sat in the corner of an empty carriage, looking +steadily out of the window, and seeing nothing but the fragments of +her little life. Now that she was detached from it, she seemed to +realize how little real pleasure she had found in the life which the +Princess had insisted upon dragging her into. She remembered how +every man whom she had met addressed her with the same EMPRESSEMENT, +how their eyes seemed to have followed her about almost covetously, +how the girls had openly envied her, how the court of the men had +been so monotonous and so unreal. She drew a little breath, almost +of relief. When she was used to the idea she might even be glad that +this great fortune had taken to itself wings and flitted away. She +was no longer the heiress of untold wealth. She was simply a girl, +standing on the threshold of life, and looking forward to the +happiness which at that age seems almost a natural heritage. + +The sense of freedom grew on her next morning, as she walked once +more upon the marshes, listened to the larks, now in full song, and +felt the touch of the salt wind upon her cheeks. She had found rooms +very easily, and no one had seemed to treat her coming as anything +but a matter of course. One old fisherman of whom she asked +questions, told her many queer stories about the Red Hall and its +occupants. + +"As restless young men as them two as is there now," he admitted, +"Mr. Cecil and his friend, I never did see. Fust one of them one day +goes to London, back he comes on the next day, and away goes the +other. Why they don't go both together the Lord only knows, but that +is so for a fact, miss, and you can take it from me. Every week of +God's year, one of them goes to London, and directly he comes back +the other goes." + +"And Mr. Andrew de la Borne?" she asked. "Has he gone back there +yet?" + +"He have not," the man answered, "but I doubt he'll be back again +one day 'fore long. Sure he need be. They're beginning to talk about +the shuttered windows at the Red Hall." + +The girl turned and looked toward the house, bleak and desolate- +looking enough now that the few encircling trees were shorn of their +leaves. + +"I shouldn't care to live there all the year round," she remarked. + +"I've heerd others say the same thing," he answered, "and yet in +Salthouse village we're moderate well satisfied with life. It's them +as have too much," he continued, "who rush about trying to make +more. A simple life and a simple lot is what's best in this world." + +"Things were livelier up there," Jeanne remarked, seating herself on +the edge of his boat, "when the smugglers used to bring in their +goods." + +The old man smiled. + +"Why that's so, lady," he admitted. "Lord! When I was a boy I mind +some great doings. One night there was a great fight. I mind it now. +Fifteen of the King's men were lying hidden close to the cove there, +and it looked for all the world as though the boats which were being +rowed ashore must fall right into their hands. They were watching +from the Hall, though, and the Squire's new alarm was set going. It +were a cry like a siren, rising and falling like. The boats heerd it +and turned back, but three of the Squire's men were set on, and a +rare fight there was that night. There was broken heads to be +mended, and no mistake. Mat Knowles here, the father of him who +keeps the public now, he right forgot to shut his inn, and there it +was open two hours past the lawful time, and all were drinking as +though it were a great day of rejoicing, instead of being one of +sorrow for the De la Bornes. I mind you were here a few weeks ago, +miss. You know the two Mr. De la Bornes?" + +"Yes!" Jeanne admitted. "I know them slightly." + +"Mr. Andrew, he be one of the best," the man declared, "but Mr. +Cecil we none of us can understand, him nor his friends. What he is +doing up there now with this man what's staying with him, there's +none can tell. Maybe they gamble at cards, maybe they just sit and +look at one another, but 'tis a strange sort of life anyhow." + +"I think it is a very interesting place to live in," Jeanne said. +"What became of the siren which warned the smugglers?" + +"There's no one here as can tell that, miss," the man answered, +"There are them as have fancied on windy nights as they've heerd it, +but fancy it have been, in my opinion. Five and twenty years have +gone since I've heerd it mysen, and there's few 'as better ears." + +"Mr. Andrew de la Borne is not here now, is he?" she asked. + +The fisherman shook his head. + +"Mr. Andrew," he said, "is mortal afraid of strangers and such like, +and there's photographers and newspaper men round in these parts +just now, by reason of the disappearance of this young lord that you +heerd tell on. Some say he was drowned, and I have heerd folk +whisper about a duel with the gentleman as is with Mr. Cecil now. +Anyway, it was here that he disappeared from, and though I've not +seen it in print, I've heerd as his brother is offering a reward of +a thousand pounds to any as might find him. It's a power of money +that, miss." + +"It is a great deal of money," Jeanne admitted. "I wonder if Lord +Ronald was worth it." + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +The two men sat opposite to one another separated only by the small +round table upon which the dessert which had followed their dinner +was still standing. Even Forrest's imperturbable face showed signs +of the anxiety through which he had passed. The change in Cecil, +however, was far more noticeable. There were lines under his eyes +and a flush upon his cheeks, as though he had been drinking heavily. +The details of his toilette, usually so immaculate, were uncared +for. He was carelessly dressed, and his hair no longer shone with +frequent brushings. He looked like a person passing through the +rapid stages of deterioration. + +"Forrest," he said, "I cannot stand it any longer. This place is +sending me mad. I think that the best thing we can do is to chuck +it." + +"Do you?" Forrest answered drily. "That may be all very well for +you, a countryman, with enough to live on, and the whole world +before you. As for me, I couldn't face it. I have passed middle age, +and my life runs in certain grooves. It must run in them now until +the end. I cannot break away. I would not if I could. Existence +would simply be intolerable for me if that young fool were ever +allowed to tell his story." + +"We cannot keep him for ever," Cecil answered gloomily. "We cannot +play the jailer here all our lives. Besides, there is always the +danger of being found out. There are two detectives in the place +already, and I am fairly certain that if they have been in the house +while we have been out--" + +"There is nothing for them to discover here," Forrest answered. "I +should keep the doors open. Let them search if they want to." + +"That is all very well," Cecil answered, "but if these fellows hang +about the place, sooner or later they will hear some of the stories +these villagers are only too anxious to tell." + +Forrest nodded. + +"There," he said, "I am not disinclined to agree with you. Hasn't it +ever struck you, De la Borne," he continued, after a moment's slight +hesitation, "that there is only one logical way out of this?" + +"No!" Cecil answered eagerly. "What way? What do you mean?" + +Forrest filled his glass to the brim with wine before he answered. +Then he passed the decanter back to Cecil. + +"We are not children, you and I," he said. "Why should we let a boy +like Engleton play with us? Why do we not let him have the issue +before him in black and white? We say to him now--'Sign this paper, +pledge your word of honour, and you may go.' He declines. He +declines because the alternative of staying where he is is +endurable. I propose that we substitute another alternative. Drink +your wine, De la Borne. This is a chill house of yours, and one +loses courage here. Drink your wine, and think of what I have said." + +Cecil set down his glass empty. + +"Well," he said, "what other alternative do you propose?" + +"Can't you see?" Forrest answered. "We cannot keep Engleton shut up +for ever. I grant you that that is impossible. But if he declines to +behave like a reasonable person, we can threaten him with an +alternative which I do not think he would have the courage to face." + +"You mean?" Cecil gasped. + +"I mean," Forrest answered, "what your grandfather would have told +him, or your great grandfather, in half a dozen words weeks ago. At +full tide there is sea enough to drown a dozen such as he within a +few yards of where he lies. Why should we keep him carefully and +safe, knowing that the moment he steps back into life you and I are +doomed men?" + +Cecil drew a little breath and lifted his hand to his forehead. He +was surprised to find it wet. All the time he was gazing at Forrest +with fascinated eyes. + +"Look here," he said, in a hoarse whisper, "we mustn't talk like +this. Engleton will turn round in a day or two. People would think, +if they heard us, that we were planning a murder." + +"In a woman's decalogue," Forrest said, "there is no sin save the +sin of being found out. Why not in ours? No one ever had such a +chance of getting rid of a dangerous enemy. The whole thing is in +our hands. We could never be found out, never even questioned. If, +by one chance in a thousand, his body is ever recovered, what more +natural? Men have been drowned before on the marshes here many a +time." + +"Go on!" Cecil said. "You have thought this out. Tell me exactly +what you propose." + +"I propose," Forrest answered, "that we narrow the issues, and that +we put them before him in plain English, now--to-night--while the +courage is still with us. It must be silence or death. I tell you +frankly how it is with me. I would as soon press a pistol to my +forehead and pull the trigger as have this boy go back into the +world and tell his story. For you, too, it would be ruin." + +Cecil sank back into his chair, and looked with wide-open but +unseeing eyes across the table, through the wall beyond. He saw his +future damned by that one unpardonable accusation. He saw himself +sent out into the world penniless, an outcast from all the things in +life which made existence tolerable. He knew very well that Andrew +would never forgive. There was no mercy to be hoped for from him. +There was nothing to be looked for anywhere save disaster, absolute +and entire. He looked across at Forrest, and something in his +companion's face sent a cold shiver through his veins. + +"We might go and see what he says," he faltered. "I haven't been +there since the morning, have you?" + +"No!" Forrest answered. "Solitude is good for him. Let us go now, +together." + +Without another word they rose from the table. Cecil led the way +into the library, where he rang for a servant. + +"Set out the card-table here," he ordered, "and bring in the whisky +and soda. After that we do not wish to be disturbed. You +understand?" + +"Certainly, sir," the man answered. + +They waited until the things were brought. Afterwards they locked +the door. Cecil went to a drawer and took out a couple of electric +torches, one of which he handed to Forrest. Then he went to the +wall, and after a few minutes' groping, found the spring. The door +swung open, and a rush of unwholesome air streamed into the room. +They made their way silently along the passage until at last they +reached the sunken chamber. Cecil took a key from his pocket and +opened the door. + +* * * + +Engleton was in evil straits, but there was no sign of yielding in +his face as he looked up. He was seated before a small table upon +which a common lamp was burning. His clothes hung about him loosely. +His face was haggard. A short, unbecoming beard disfigured his face. +He wore no collar or necktie, and his general appearance was +altogether dishevelled. Forrest looked at him critically. + +"My dear Engleton!" he began. + +"What the devil do you want with me at this time of night?" Engleton +interrupted. "Have you come down to see how I amuse myself during +the long evenings? Perhaps you would like to come and play cut- +throat. I'll play you for what stakes you like, and thank you for +coming, if you'll leave the door open and let me breathe a little +better air." + +"It is your own fault that you are here," Cecil de la Borne +declared. "It is all your cursed obstinacy. Listen! I tell you once +more that what you saw, or fancied you saw, was a mistake. Forget +it. Give your word of honour to forget it, never to allude to it at +any time in your life, and you can walk out of here a free man." + +Engleton nodded. + +"I have no doubt of it," he answered. "The worst of it is that +nothing in the world would induce me to forego the pleasure I +promise myself, before very long, too, of giving to the whole world +the story of your infamy. I am not tractable to-night. You had +better go away, both of you. I am more likely to fight." + +Forrest sat down on the edge of a chest. + +"Engleton," he said, "don't be a fool. It can do you no particular +good to ruin Cecil here and myself, just because you happen to be +suspicious. Let that drop. Tell us that you have decided to let it +drop, and the world can take you into its arms again." + +"I refuse," Engleton answered. "I refuse once and for always. I tell +you that I have made up my mind to see you punished for this. How I +get out I don't care, but I shall get out, and when I do, you two +will be laid by the heels." + +"We came here to-night," Forrest said slowly, "prepared to +compromise with you." + +"There is no compromise," Engleton answered fiercely. "There is +nothing which you could offer which could repay me for the horror of +the nights you have left me to shiver here in this d--d vault. Don't +flatter yourself that I shall ever forget it. I stay on because I +cannot escape, but I would sooner stay here for ever than beg for +mercy from either of you." + +"Upon my word," Forrest declared, "our friend is quite a hero." + +"I am hero enough, at any rate," Engleton answered, "to refuse to +bargain with you. Get out, both of you, before I lose my temper." + +Forrest came a little further into the room. The thunder of the sea +seemed almost above their heads. The little lamp on the table by +Engleton's side gave little more than a weird, unnatural light +around the circle in which he sat. + +"That isn't quite all that we came to say," Forrest remarked coldly. +"To tell you the truth we have had enough of playing jailer." + +"I can assure you," Engleton answered, "that I have had equally +enough of being your prisoner." + +"We are agreed, then," Forrest continued smoothly. "You will +probably be relieved when I tell you that we have decided to end +it." + +Engleton rose to his feet. + +"So much the better," he said. "You might keep me here till +doomsday, and the end would be the same." + +"We do not propose," Forrest continued, "to keep you here till +doomsday, or anything like it. What we have come to say to you is +this--that if you still refuse to give your promise--I need not say +more than that--we are going to set you free." + +"Do you mean that literally?" Engleton asked. + +"Perhaps not altogether as you would wish to understand it," Forrest +admitted. "We shall give you a chance at high tide to swim for your +life." + +Engleton shrunk a little back. After all, his nerves were a little +shattered. + +"Out there?" he asked, pointing to the seaward end of the passage. + +Forrest nodded. + +"It will be a chance for you," he said. + +Engleton looked at them for a moment, dumbfounded. + +"It will be murder," he said slowly. + +Forrest shrugged his shoulders. + +"You may call it so if you like," he answered. "Personally, I should +not be inclined to agree with you. You will be alive when you go +into the sea. If you cannot swim, the fault is not ours." + +"And when, may I ask," Engleton continued, "do you propose to put +into operation your amiable plan?" + +"Just whensoever we please, you d--d obstinate young puppy!" Forrest +cried, suddenly losing his nerve. "Curse your silent tongue and your +venomous face! You think you can get the better of us, do you? Well, +you are mistaken. You'll tell no stories from amongst the seaweed." + +Engleton nodded. + +"I shall take particular good care," he said, "to avoid the +seaweed." + +"Enough," Forrest declared. "Listen! Here is the issue. We are tired +of negative things. To-night you sign the paper and give us your +word of honour to keep silent, or before morning, when the tide is +full, you go into the sea!" + +"I warn you," Engleton said, "that I can swim." + +"I will guarantee," Forrest answered suavely, "that by the time you +reach the water you will have forgotten how." + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +The days that followed were strange ones for Jeanne. Every morning +at sunrise, or before, she would steal out of the little cottage +where she was staying, and make her way along the top of one of the +high dyke banks to the sea. Often she saw the sun rise from some +lonely spot amongst the sandbanks or the marshes, heard the +awakening of the birds, and saw the first glimpses of morning life +steal into evidence upon the grey chill wilderness. At such times +she saw few people. The house where she was staying was apart from +the village, and near the head of one of the creeks, and there were +times when she would leave it and return without having seen a +single human being. She knew, from cautious inquiries made from her +landlady's daughter, that Cecil and Major Forrest were still at the +Red Hall, and for that reason during the daytime she seldom left the +cottage, sitting out in the old-fashioned garden, or walking a +little way in the fields at the back. For the future she made no +plans. She was quite content to feel that for the present she had +escaped from an intolerable situation. + +The woman from whom Jeanne had taken the rooms, a Mrs. Caynsard, she +had seen only once or twice. She was waited upon most of the time by +an exceedingly diminutive maid servant, very shy at first, but very +talkative afterwards, in broad Norfolk dialect, when she had grown a +little accustomed to this very unusual lodger. Now and then Kate +Caynsard, the only daughter of the house, appeared, but for the most +time she was away, sailing a fishing boat or looking after the +little farm. To Jeanne she represented a type wholly strange, but +altogether interesting. She was little over twenty years of age, but +she was strong and finely built. She had the black hair and dark +brown eyes, which here and there amongst the villagers of the east +coast remind one of the immigration of worsted spinners and silk +weavers from Flanders and the North of France, many centuries ago. +She was very handsome but exceedingly shy. When Jeanne, as she had +done more than once, tried to talk to her, her abrupt replies gave +little opening for conversation. One morning, however, when Jeanne, +having returned from a long tramp across the sand dunes, was sitting +in the little orchard at the back of the house, she saw her +landlady's daughter come slowly out to her from the house. Jeanne +put down her book. + +"Good morning, Miss Caynsard!" she said. + +"Good morning, miss!" the girl answered awkwardly. "You have had a +long walk!" + +Jeanne nodded. + +"I went so far," she said, "that I had to race the tide home, or I +should have had to wade through the home creek." + +Kate nodded. + +"The tide do come sometimes," she said, "at a most awful pace. I +have been out after whelks myself, and had to walk home with the sea +all round me, and nothing but a ribbon of dry land. One needs to +know the ways about on this wilderness." + +"One learns them by watching," Jeanne remarked. "I suppose you have +lived here all your life." + +"All my life," the girl answered, "and my father and grandfather +before me. 'Tis a queer country, but them as is born and bred here +seldom leaves it. Sometimes they try. They go to the next village +inland, or to some town, or to foreign parts, but sooner or later if +they live they come back." + +Jeanne nodded sympathetically. + +"It is a wonderful country," she said. "When I saw it first it +seemed to me that it was depressing. Now I love it!" + +"And I," the girl remarked, with a sudden passion in her tone, "I +hate it!" + +Jeanne looked at her, surprised. + +"It sounds so strange to hear you say that," she remarked. "I should +have thought that any one who had lived here always would have loved +it. Every day I am here I seem to discover new beauties, a new +effect of colouring, a new undertone of the sea, or to hear the cry +of some new bird." + +"It is beautiful sometimes," the girl answered. "I love it when the +creeks are full, and the April sun is shining, and the spring seems +to draw all manner of living things and colours from the marsh and +the pasturage lands. I love it when the sea changes its colour as +the clouds pass over the sun, and the wind blows from the west. The +place is well enough then. But there are times when it is nothing +but a great wilderness of mud, and the grey mists come blowing in, +and one is cold here, cold to the bone. Then I hate the place worse +than ever." + +"Have you ever tried to go away for a time?" Jeanne asked. + +"I went once to London," the girl said, turning her head a little +away. "I should have stayed there, I think, if things had turned out +as I had expected, but they didn't, and my father died suddenly, so +I came home to take care of the farm." + +Jeanne nodded sympathetically. She was beginning to wonder why this +girl had come out from the house with the obvious intention of +speaking to her. She stood by her side, not exactly awkward, but +still not wholly at her ease, her hands clasped behind her straight +back, her black eyebrows drawn together in a little uneasy frown. +Her coarse brown skirt was not long enough to conceal her +wonderfully shaped ankles. Sun and wind had done little more than +slightly tan her clear complexion. She had somehow the appearance of +a girl of some other nation. There was something stronger, more +forceful, more brilliant about her, than her position seemed to +warrant. + +"There is a question, miss," she said at last, abruptly, "I should +like to ask you. I should have asked you when you first came, if I +had been in when you came to look at the rooms." + +"What is it?" Jeanne asked quietly. + +"I've a good eye for faces," Kate said, "and I seldom forget one. +Weren't you the young lady who was staying up at the Red Hall a few +weeks ago?" + +Jeanne nodded. + +"Yes," she said, "I was staying there. It was because I liked the +place so much, and because I was so much happier here than in +London, that I came back." + +There was a moment's silence. Jeanne looked up and found Kate's +magnificent eyes fixed steadfastly upon her face. + +"Is it for no other reason, miss," she asked, "that you have come +back?" + +"For none other in the world," Jeanne answered. "I was unhappy in +London, and I wanted to get somewhere where I should be quite +unknown. That is why I came here." + +"You didn't come back," Kate asked, "to see more of Mr. De la Borne, +then?" + +The simple directness of the question seemed to rob it of its +impertinence. Jeanne laughed goodhumouredly. + +"I can assure you that I did not," she answered. "To tell you the +truth, and I hope that you will be kind and remember that I do not +wish any one to know this, the reason why I only go out so early in +the morning or late at night is because I do not wish to see any one +from the Red Hall. I do not wish them to know that I am here." + +"They do gossip in a small place like this most amazing," the girl +said slowly. "When you and the other lady came down from London to +stay up yonder, they did say that you were a great heiress, and that +Mr. De la Borne was counting on marrying you, and buying back all +the lands that have slipped away from the De la Bornes back to +Burnham Market and Wells township." + +Jeanne shrugged her shoulders. + +"I cannot help," she said, "what people say. Every one has spoken of +me always as being very rich, and a good many men have wanted to +marry me to spend my money. That is why I came down here, if you +want to know, Miss Caynsard. I came to escape from a man whom my +stepmother was determined that I should marry, and whom I hated." + +The girl looked at her wonderingly. + +"It is a strange manner of living," she said, "when a girl is not to +choose her own man." + +"In any case," Jeanne said smiling, "if I had but one or two to +choose from in the world, I should never choose Mr. De la Borne." + +The girl was gloomily silent. She was looking up towards the Red +Hall, her lips a little parted, her face dark, her brows lowering. + +"'Tis a family," she said slowly, "that have come down well-nigh to +their last acre. They hold on to the Hall, but little else. Folk say +that for four hundred years or more the De la Bornes have heard the +sea thunder from within them walls. 'Tis, perhaps, as some writer +has said in a book I've found lately, that the old families of the +country, when once their menkind cease to be soldiers or fighters in +the world, do decay and become rotten. It is so with the De la +Bornes, or rather with one of them." + +"Mr. Andrew," Jeanne remarked timidly. + +"Mr. Andrew," the girl interrupted, "is a great gentleman, but he is +never one of those who would stop the rot in a decaying race. He is +a great strong man is Mr. Andrew, and deceit and littleness are +things he knows nothing of. I wish he were here to-day." + +The girl's face wore a troubled expression. Jeanne began to suspect +that she had not as yet come to the real object of this interview. + +"Why do you wish that Mr. Andrew were here?" Jeanne asked. "What +could he do for you that Mr. Cecil could not?" + +A strange look filled the girl's eyes. + +"I think," she said, "that I would not go to Mr. Cecil whatever +might betide, but there is a matter--" + +She hesitated again. Jeanne looked at her thoughtfully. + +"You have something on your mind, I think, Miss Caynsard," she said. +"Can I help you? Do you wish to tell me about it?" + +The girl seemed to have made up her mind. She was standing quite +close to Jeanne now, and she spoke without hesitation. + +"You remember the young lord," she said, "of whom there has been so +much in the papers lately? He was staying at the Red Hall when you +were, and is supposed to have left for London early one morning and +disappeared." + +"Lord Ronald Engleton," Jeanne said. "Yes, I know all about that, of +course." + +"Sometimes," Kate said slowly, "I have had strange thoughts about +him. Mr. Cecil and the other man, Major Forrest they call him, are +still at the Hall, and the servants say that they do little but +drink and swear at one another. I wonder sometimes why they are +there, and why Mr. Andrew stays away." + +Jeanne leaned a little forward in her chair. Something in the +other's words had interested her. + +"There is something," she said, "behind in your thoughts. What is +it?" + +The girl was silent for a moment. + +"To-night," she said, "if you have the courage to come with me, I +will show you what I mean." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + +"I am afraid," Jeanne declared, "that I cannot go on. I have not the +eyes of a cat. I cannot see one step before me." + +Her companion laughed softly as she turned round. + +"I forgot," she said. "You are town bred. To us the darkness is +nothing. Do not be afraid. I know the way, every inch of it. Give me +your hand." + +"But I cannot see at all," Jeanne declared. "How far is this place?" + +"Less than a mile," Kate answered. "Trust to me. I will see that +nothing happens to you. Hold my hand tightly, like that. Now come." + +Jeanne reluctantly trusted herself to her companion's guidance. They +made their way down the rough road which led from the home of the +Caynsards, half cottage, half farmhouse, to the lane at the bottom. +There was no moon, and though the wind was blowing hard, the sky +seemed everywhere covered with black clouds. When Kate opened the +wooden gate which led on to the marshes, Jeanne stopped short. + +"I am not going any farther," she declared. "Even you, I am sure, +could not find your way on the marshes to-night. Didn't you hear +what the fisherman said, too, that it was a flood tide? Many of the +paths are under water. I will not go any farther, Kate. If there is +anything you have to tell me, say it now." + +She felt a hand suddenly tighten upon her arm, a hand which was like +a vice. + +"You must come with me," Kate said. "As to the other things, do not +be foolish. On these marshes I am like a cat in a dark room. I could +feel my way across every inch of them on the blackest night that +ever was. I know how high the tide is. I measured it but half an +hour since by Treadwell's pole. You come with me, miss. You'll not +miss your way by a foot. I promise you that." + +Even then Jeanne was reluctant. They were on the top of the grass- +grown dyke now, and below she could dimly see the dark, swelling +water lapping against the gravel bottom. + +"But you do not understand," she declared. "I do not even know where +to put my feet. I can see nothing, and the wind is enough to blow us +over the sides. Listen! Listen how it comes booming across the sand +dunes. It is not safe here. I tell you that I must go back." + +Her companion only laughed a little wildly. + +"There will be no going back to-night," she said. "You must come +with me. Set your feet down boldly. If you are afraid, take this." + +She handed her a small electric torch. + +"It's one of those new-fangled things for making light in the +darkness," she remarked. "It's no use to me, for if I could not see +I could feel. For us who live here, 'tis but an instinct to find our +way, in darkness or in light, across the land where we were born. +But if you are nervous, press the knob and you will see." + +Jeanne took the torch with a little sigh of relief. + +"Go on," she said. "I don't mind so much now I have this." + +Nevertheless, as they moved along she found it sufficiently +alarming. The top of the bank was but a few feet wide. The west +wind, which came roaring down across the great open spaces, with +nothing to check or divide its strength, was sometimes strong enough +to blow them off their balance. On either side of the dyke was the +water, black and silent. Here and there the torch light showed them +a fishing-smack or a catboat, high and dry a few hours ago, now +floating on the bosom of the full tide. They came to a stile, and +Jeanne's courage once more failed her. + +"I cannot climb over this," she said. "I shall fall directly I lift +up my feet." + +Kate turned round with a little laugh of contempt. Jeanne felt +herself suddenly lifted in a pair of strong arms. Before she knew +where she was she was on the other side. Breathless she followed her +guide, who came to a full stop a few yards farther on. + +"Turn on your light," Kate ordered. "Look down on the left. There +should be a punt there." + +Jeanne turned on the torch. A great flat-bottomed boat, shapeless +and unwieldy, was just below. Kate stepped lightly down the steep +bank, and with one foot on the side of the punt, held out her hand +to Jeanne. + +"Come," she said. "Step carefully." + +"But what are we going to do?" Jeanne asked. "You are not going in +that?" + +"Why not?" Kate laughed. "It is a few strokes only. We are going to +cross to the ridges." + +Jeanne followed her. Somehow or other she found it hard to disobey +her guide. None the less she was afraid. She stepped tremblingly +down into the punt, and sat upon the broad wet seat. Kate, without a +moment's hesitation, took up the great pole and began pushing her +way across the creek. The tide was almost at its height, but even +then the current was so strong that they went across almost +sideways, and Jeanne heard her companion's breath grow shorter and +shorter, as with powerful strokes she did her best to guide and +propel the clumsy craft. + +"We are going out toward the sea," Jeanne faltered. "It is getting +wider and wider." + +She flashed her torch across the dark waters. They could not see the +bank which they had left or the ridges to which they were making. + +"Don't be afraid," Kate answered. "After all, you know, we can only +die once, and life isn't worth making such a tremendous fuss over." + +"I do not want to die," Jeanne objected, "and I do not like this at +all." + +Kate laughed contemptuously. + +"Sit still," she said, "and you are as safe as though you were in +your own armchair. No current that ever ran could upset this clumsy +raft. The only reason I am working so hard is that I do not want to +be carried down past the ridges. If we get too low down we shall +have to walk across the black mud." + +Jeanne kept silence, listening only to the swirl of the water struck +by the pole, and to the quick breathing of her companion. Once she +asked whether she could not help. + +"There is no need," Kate answered. "Shine your torch on the left. We +are nearly across." + +Almost as she spoke they struck the sandy bottom. Jeanne fell into +the bottom of the boat. Kate, with a little laugh, sprang ashore and +held out her hand. + +"Come," she said, "we have crossed the worst part now." + +"Where are we going?" Jeanne asked, a little relieved as she felt +her feet land on the sodden turf. + +"Towards the Hall," Kate answered. "Give me your hand, if you like, +or use your torch. The way is simple enough, but we must twist and +turn to-night. It has been a flood tide, and there are great pools +left here and there, pools that you have never seen before." + +"But how do you know?" Jeanne asked, in amazement. "I can see +nothing." + +Her guide laughed contemptuously. + +"I can see and I can feel," she said. "It is an instinct with me to +walk dry-footed here. To the right now--so." + +"Stand still for a moment," Jeanne pleaded. "The wind takes my +breath." + +"You have too many clothes on," Kate said contemptuously. "One +should not wear skirts and petticoats and laces here." + +"If you would leave my clothes alone and tell me where you are +going," Jeanne declared, a little tartly, "it would be more +reasonable." + +The girl laughed. She thrust her arm through her companion's and +drew her on. + +"Don't be angry," she said. "It is quite easy now to find our way. +There is room for us to walk like this. Can you hear what I say to +you?" + +"I can hear," Jeanne answered, raising her voice, "but it is getting +more difficult all the time. Is that the sea?" + +"Yes!" Kate answered. "Can't you feel the spray on your cheeks? The +wind is blowing it high up above the beach. Let me go first again. +There is an inlet here. Be careful." + +They came to a full stop before a dark arm of salt water. They +skirted the side and crossed round to the other side. + +"Be careful, now," Kate said. "This way." + +They turned inland. In a few minutes her guide stopped short. + +"Turn on your torch," she said. "There ought to be a wall close +here." + +Jeanne did as she was bid, and gave a little stifled cry. + +"Why, we are close to the Red Hall!" she said. Kate nodded. + +"A little way farther up there is a gate," she said. "We are going +in there." + +"You are not going to the house?" Jeanne asked, in terror. + +"No," Kate answered, "I am not going there! Follow me, and don't +talk more than you can help. The wind is going down." + +"But it is the middle of the night," Jeanne said. "No one will be +astir." + +"One cannot tell," Kate answered slowly. "It is in my mind that +there have been strange doings here, and I know well that there is a +man who watches this place by day and by night. He has discovered +nothing, but it is because he has not known where to look." + +"What do you mean?" Jeanne asked hoarsely. + +"Wait!" her companion said. + +They passed through the wooden gate. They were now in a little weedy +plantation of undersized trees. The ground was full of rabbit holes, +and Jeanne stumbled more than once. + +"How much farther?" she asked. "We are getting toward the house." + +"Not yet," Kate answered. "There are the gardens first, but we are +not going there. Wait a moment." + +She felt for one of the trees, and passed her hand carefully round +its trunk. Then she took a few steps forward and stopped short. + +"Wait!" she said. + +She lay flat down upon the grass and was silent for several minutes. +Then she whispered to Jeanne. + +"Don't turn on your torch," she said. "Lie down here by my side, put +your ear to the ground, and tell me whether you can hear anything." + +Jeanne obeyed her breathlessly. At first she could hear nothing. Her +own heart was beating fast, and the boughs of the trees above them +were creaking and groaning in the wind. Presently, however, she gave +a little cry. From somewhere underground it seemed to her that she +could hear a faint hammering. + +"What is it?" she asked. + +Kate sat up. + +"There is no animal," she said, "which makes a noise like that. It +is somewhere there underground. It seems to me that it is some one +who is trying to get out." + +"Some one underground?" Jeanne repeated. + +Kate leaned over and whispered in her ear. + +"There is a passage underneath here," she said, "which goes from the +Hall to the cliffs, and a room, or rather a vault." + +"I know," Jeanne declared suddenly. "Mr. De la Borne showed it to +us. It was the way the smugglers used to bring their goods up to the +cellars of the Red Hall." + +"We are just above the room here," Kate said slowly, "and I fancy +that there is some one there." + +A sudden light broke in upon Jeanne. + +"You think that it is Lord Engleton!" she declared. + +"Why not?" Kate answered. "Listen again, with your ear close to the +ground. Last night I was almost sure that I heard him call for +help." + +Jeanne did as she was told, and her face grew white as death. +Distinctly between the strokes she heard the sound of a man moaning! + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + +Once more the two men sat over the remnants of their evening meal. +This time the deterioration in their own appearance seemed to have +spread itself to their surroundings. The table was ill-laid, there +were no flowers, an empty bottle of wine and several decanters +remained where they had been set. There was every indication that +however little the two might have eaten, they had been drinking +heavily. Yet they were both pale. Cecil's face even was ghastly, and +the hand which played nervously with the tablecloth shook all the +time. + +"Forrest," he said abruptly, "it is a mistake to clear out all the +servants like this. Not only have we had to eat a filthy dinner, but +it's enough to make people suspicious, eh? Don't you think so? Don't +you think afterwards that they may wonder why we did it?" + +"No!" Forrest answered, with something that was almost like a snarl. +"No, I don't! Shut up, and don't be such an infernal young fool! We +couldn't have town servants spying and whispering about the place. I +caught that London butler of yours hanging around the library this +afternoon as though he were looking for something. They were a d--d +careless lot, anyhow, with no mistress or housekeeper to look after +them, and they're better gone. Who is there left exactly now?" + +"There's a kitchen-maid, who cooked this wretched mess," Cecil +answered, "and another under her from the village, who seems half an +idiot. There is no one else except Pawles, a man who comes in from +the stables to do the rough work and pump the water up for the bath. +We are practically alone in the house." + +"Thank Heaven it's our last night," Forrest answered. + +"You really mean, then," Cecil asked, in a hoarse whisper, "to +finish this now?" + +"I mean that we are going to," Forrest answered. "You know I'm half +afraid of you. Sometimes you're such a rotten coward. If ever I +thought you looked as though you were going back on me, I'd get even +with you, mind that." + +"Don't talk like a fool!" Cecil answered. "What we do, we do +together, of course, only my nerves aren't strong, you know. I can't +bear the thought of the end of it." + +"Whatever happens to him," Forrest said, "he's asking for it. He has +an easy chance to get back to his friends. It is brutal obstinacy if +he makes us end it differently. You're only a boy, but I've lived a +good many years, and I tell you that if you don't look out for +yourself and make yourself safe, there are always plenty of people, +especially those who call themselves your friends, who are ready and +waiting to kick you down into Hell. I am going to have something +more to drink. Nothing seems to make any difference to me to-night. +I can't even get excited, although we must have drunk a bottle of +wine each. We'll have some brandy. Here goes!" + +He filled a wine-glass and passed the bottle to Cecil. + +"You're about in the same state," he remarked, looking at him +keenly. "Why the devil is it that when one doesn't require it, wine +will go to the head too quickly, and when one wants to use it to +borrow a little courage and a little forgetfulness, the stuff goes +down like water. Drink, Cecil, a wine-glass of it. Drink it off, +like this." + +Forrest drained his wine-glass and set it down. Then he rose to his +feet. His cheeks were still colourless, but there was an added +glitter in his eyes. + +"Come, young man," he said, "you have only to fancy that you are one +of your own ancestors. I fancy those dark-looking ruffians, who +scowl down on us from the walls there, would not have thought so +much of flinging an enemy into the sea. It is a wise man who wrote +that self-preservation was the first law of nature. Come, Cecil, +remember that. It is the first law of nature that we are obeying. +Ring the bell first, and see that there are no servants about the +place." + +Cecil obeyed, ringing the bell once or twice. No one came. They +stepped out into the hall. The emptiness of the house seemed almost +apparent. There was not a sound anywhere. + +"The servants' wing is right over the stables, a long way off," +Cecil remarked. "They could never hear a bell there that rang from +any of the living-rooms." + +Forrest nodded. + +"So much the better," he said. "Come along to the library. I have +everything ready there." + +They crossed the hall and entered the room to which Forrest pointed. +Their footsteps seemed to awake echoes upon the stone floor. The +hall, too, was all unlit save for the lamp which Forrest was +carrying. Cecil peered nervously about into the shadows. + +"It's a ghostly house this of yours," Forrest said grumblingly, as +they closed the door behind them. "I shall be thankful to get back +to my rooms in town and walk down Piccadilly once more. What's that +outside?" + +"The wind," Cecil answered. "I thought it was going to be a rough +night." + +The window had been left open at the top, and the roar of the wind +across the open places came into the room like muffled thunder. The +lamp which Forrest carried was blown out, and the two men were left +in darkness. + +"Shut the window, for Heaven's sake, man!" Forrest ordered sharply. +"Here!" + +He took an electric torch from his pocket, and both men drew a +little breath of relief as the light flashed out. Cecil climbed on +to a chair and closed the window. Forrest glanced at the clock. + +"It's quite late enough," he said. "It should be high tide in a +quarter of an hour, and the sea in that little cove of yours is +twenty feet deep. Come along and work this door." + +"Have you got everything?" Cecil asked nervously. + +"I have the chloroform," Forrest answered, touching a small bottle +in his waistcoat pocket. "We don't need anything else. He hasn't the +strength of a rabbit, and you and I can carry him down the passage. +If he struggles there's no one to hear him." + +Cecil pushed his way against the panels and opened the clumsy door. +They groped their way down the passage. + +"Faugh!" Forrest exclaimed. "What smells! Cecil," he added, "I +suppose half the village know about this place, don't they?" + +"They know that it has been here always," Cecil answered, "but they +most of them think that it is blocked up now. We did try to, Andrew +and I, but the masonry gave way. These lumps on the floor are the +remains of our work. Keep your torch down. You'll fall over them." + +Forrest stopped short. Curiously enough, it was he now who seemed +the more terrified. The wind and the thunder of the sea together +seemed to reach them through the walls of earth in a strange +monotonous roar, sometimes shriller as the wind triumphed, sometimes +deep and low so that the very ground beneath their feet vibrated as +the sea came thundering up into the cove. Cecil, who was more used +to such noises, heard them unmoved. + +"If my people had left me such a dog's hole as this," Forrest +declared viciously, "I'd have buried them in it and blown it up to +the skies. It's only fit for ghosts." + +The very weakening of the other man seemed for the moment to give +Cecil added courage. He laughed hoarsely. + +"There are worse things to fear," he muttered, "than this. Hold +hard, Forrest. Here is the door. I'll undo the padlock. You stand by +in case he makes a rush." + +But there was no rush about Engleton. He was lying on his back, +stretched on a rough mattress at the farther end of the room, +moaning slightly. The two men exchanged quick glances. + +"We are not going to have much trouble," Forrest muttered. "What a +beastly atmosphere! No wonder he's knocked up." + +Cecil, however, looked about suspiciously. + +"Don't you notice," he whispered, "that we can hear the wind much +plainer here than in the passage? I believe I can feel a current of +fresh air, too. I wonder if he's been trying to cut his way through +to the air-hole. It's only a few feet up." + +He flashed his light upon the wall near where Engleton was lying. +Then he turned significantly to Forrest. + +"See," he said, "he has cut steps in the wall and tried to make an +opening above. He must have guessed where the ventilating pipe was. +I wonder what he did it with." + +They crossed the room. The man on the couch opened his eyes and +looked at them dully. + +"So you've been improving the shining hour, eh?" Forrest remarked, +pointing to the rough steps. "We shall have to find what you did it +with. Hidden under the mattress, I suppose." + +He stooped down, and Engleton flew at his throat with all the fury +of a wild cat. Forrest was taken aback for a moment, but the effort +was only a brief one. Engleton's strength seemed to pass away even +before he had concluded his attack. He sank back and collapsed upon +the floor at a touch. + +"You brutes!" he muttered. + +Cecil lifted the mattress. There was a large flat stone, sharp-edged +and coated with mud, lying underneath. + +"I thought so," he whispered. "Jove, he's gone a long way with it, +too!" he muttered, looking upward. "Another foot or so and he would +have been outside. I wonder the place didn't collapse." + +Engleton dragged himself a little way back. He remained upon the +floor, but there was support for his back now against the wall. + +"Well," he said, "what is it this evening?" + +"The end," Forrest answered shortly. + +Engleton did not flinch. Of the three men, although his physical +condition was the worst, he seemed the most at his ease. + +"The end," he remarked. "Well, I don't believe it. I don't believe +you have either of you the pluck to go through life with the fear of +the rope round your neck every minute. But if I am indeed a +condemned man. I ought to have my privileges. Give me a cigarette, +one of you, for God's sake." + +Forrest took out his gold case and threw him a couple of cigarettes. +Then he struck a match and passed it over. + +"Smoke, by all means," he said. "Listen! In five minutes we are +going to throw you from the seaward end of this place, down into the +cove or creek, or whatever they call it. It is high tide, and the +sea there is twenty feet deep. As for swimming, you evidently +haven't the strength of a cat, and there is no breathing man could +swim against the current far enough to reach any place where he +could climb out. But to avoid even that risk, we are going to give +you a little chloroform first. It will make things easier for you, +and we shall not be distressed by your shrieks." + +"An amiable programme," Engleton muttered. "I am quite ready for +it." + +"Then I don't think we need waste words," Forrest said slowly. "You +have made up your mind, I suppose, that you do not care about life. +Remember that it is not we who are your executioners. You have an +easy choice." + +"If you mean," Engleton said, "will I purchase my liberty by letting +you two blackguards off free, for this and for your dirty card- +sharping, I say no! I will take my chances of life to the last +second. Afterwards I shall know that I am revenged. Men don't go +happily through life with the little black devil sitting on their +shoulders." + +"We'll take our risk," Forrest said thickly. "You have chosen, then? +This is your last chance." + +"Absolutely!" Engleton answered. + +Forrest took out the phial from his pocket and held his handkerchief +on the palm of his hand. + +"Open the door, will you, Cecil," he said, "so that we can carry him +out." + +Cecil opened it, and came slowly back to where Forrest was counting +the drops which fell from the bottle on to his handkerchief. Then he +suddenly came to a standstill. Forrest, too, paused in his task and +looked up. He gave a nervous start, and the bottle fell from his +fingers. + +"What in God's name was that?" he asked. + +It came to them faintly down the long passage, but it was +nevertheless alarming enough. The hoarse clanging of a bell, pulled +by impetuous fingers. Cecil and Forrest stared at one another for a +moment with dilated eyes. + +"Can't you speak, you d----d young fool?" Forrest asked. "What bell +is that?" + +"It is the front-door bell of the Red Hall," Cecil answered, in a +voice which he scarcely recognized as his own. "There it goes +again." + +They stood perfectly silent and listened to it, listened until its +echoes died away. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + + +For the fourth time the bell rang. The two men had now retraced +their steps. Cecil, who had been standing in the hall within a few +feet of the closed door, started away as though he had received some +sort of shock. Forrest, who was lurking back in the shadows, cursed +him for a timid fool. + +"Open the door, man," he whispered. "Don't stand fumbling there. +Remember you are angry at being disturbed. Send them away, whoever +they are. Look sharp! They are going to ring again. Can't you hear +that beastly bell-wire quivering?" + +Cecil set his teeth, turned the huge key, and pulled back the heavy +door. He gave a little gasp of astonishment. It was a woman who +stood there. He held out his electric torch and stepped back with a +sharp exclamation. + +"Kate!" he cried. "What on earth are you doing here at this hour? +What do you mean by ringing the bell like that?" + +The girl stepped into the hall. + +"Close the door," she said. "The wind will blow the pictures off the +walls, and I can scarcely hear you speak." + +Cecil obeyed at once. + +"Light a lamp," she said. "It is not fair that you should have all +the light. I want to see your face too." + +"But Kate," Cecil interrupted, "why did you come like this? Why did +you not--" + +She interrupted. + +"Never mind," she answered sternly. "Perhaps I did not come to see +you at all. Light the lamp. There is something I have to say to +you." + +Forrest stepped forward from the obscurity and struck a match. The +girl showed no signs of fear at his coming. As the lamp grew +brighter she looked at him steadfastly. + +"So this is the reason we are waked up in the middle of the night," +Forrest remarked, with a smile which somehow or other seemed to lose +its suggestiveness. "A little affair of this sort, eh, Mr. Cecil? +Why don't you teach the young lady a simpler way of summoning you +than by that infernal bell?" + +Still Kate did not reply. She was standing with her back to the oak +table in the centre of the hall, and the men, who were both watching +her covertly, were conscious of a certain significance in her +attitude. Her black hair was tossed all over her face; from its +tangled web her eyes seemed to gleam with a steady inimical gaze. +Her dress of dark red stuff was splashed in places with the salt +water, and her feet were soaking. With her left hand she clasped the +table; her right seemed hidden in the folds of her skirt. + +"What do you want, Kate?" Cecil asked at last. "What do you mean by +coming here like this? If you want to see me you know how, without +arousing the whole household at this time of night." + +"You are not fool enough," Kate said calmly, "to imagine that I came +to-night to listen to your lies. I came to know whom it is that you +are keeping hidden away in the smugglers' room." + +Neither man answered. They looked at one another, and Cecil's face +grew once more as pale as death. + +"What do you mean?" he exclaimed. "What rubbish is this you are +talking, Kate?" he added, in a sharper tone. "There is no one there +that I know of." + +"You lie," she answered calmly. "You lie, as you always do whenever +it answers your purpose. Only an hour ago I lay upon the turf in the +plantation there, and I heard a man moaning down in the store-room. +Now tell me the truth, Cecil de la Borne. I do not wish to bring any +harm upon you, although God knows you deserve it, but if you do not +bring me the man whom you have down there, and set him free before +my eyes at once, I'll bring half the village up to the mound there +and dig him out." + +Forrest stepped forward. His manner was suave and his tone was +smooth, but there was a dangerous glitter in his eyes. + +"This is rather absurd, Cecil," he said. "I do not know whom this +young lady is, but I feel sure that she will listen to reason. There +is no one down in the smugglers' store-room. If she heard anything, +it was probably the rabbits." + +"Lies!" Kate answered calmly. "You are another of the breed; I can +see it in your face. I would not trust the word of either of you." + +Forrest shrugged his shoulders. He glanced towards Cecil with a +slight uplifting of the eyebrows. + +"Your friend, my dear Cecil," he remarked, "is like most of her sex, +a trifle unreasonable. However, since she says that she will believe +no evidence save the evidence of her eyes, show her the smugglers' +room. It would be a quaint excursion to take at this time of night, +but I will go with you for the sake of the proprieties," he added, +with a little laugh. + +Cecil looked at him for a moment steadily, and then turned away. +There was fear now upon his face, a new fear. What was this thing +which Forrest could propose? + +"She can come if she insists," he said slowly, "but the place has +not been opened for a long time. The air is bad. It really is not +fit for any human being." + +The girl faced them both without shrinking. + +"Perhaps you think that I should be afraid," she answered. "Perhaps +you think that when I am there it would be very easy to dispose of +me, so that I shall ask no more inconvenient questions. Never mind. +I am not afraid. I will go with you." + +Cecil shrugged his shoulders as he led the way across the hall. + +"There is nothing to fear," he said, "except the bad air and the +ghosts of smugglers, if you are superstitious enough to fear them. +Only, when you are perfectly satisfied, and you are convinced that +your errand here has been fruitless, perhaps I may have something to +say." + +The girl's lips parted. Curiously enough there was a note almost of +real merriment in the laugh which followed. + +"I am not very brave, my dear Cecil," she said, "but I am not afraid +of you. I think that one does not fear the things that one +understands too well, and you I do understand too well, much too +well." + +They reached the empty gun-room. Cecil threw open the hidden door. + +"Will you go first or last?" he said to the girl. "Choose your own +place." + +The girl laughed. + +"The door seemed to open easily," she remarked, "considering that it +has not been used for so long." + +"Never mind about that," Cecil said sharply. "Are you coming with +us?" + +"I am coming," Kate answered composedly, "and I will walk last." + +"As you please," Cecil answered. "Come, Forrest, you may as well see +this thing through with me." + +As they stumbled along the narrow way, Cecil whispered in Forrest's +ear. + +"What are we going to do with her?" + +"God knows!" Forrest answered. "Do you suppose that any one knows +where she is? Who is she?" + +"One of the village girls," Cecil answered, "an old sweetheart of +mine. They are strange people, and have few friends. I doubt whether +any one knows that she is out to-night." + +Forrest passed on. + +"If we are going to put our necks into the halter," he muttered, "a +little extra trouble won't hurt us." + +They paused before the door. The girl was looking at the padlock. + +"A new padlock, I see," she remarked. "Listen!" + +They all listened, and now there was no doubt about it. From inside +the room they could hear the sound of a man, half singing, half +moaning. + +"Are those rabbits?" the girl asked, leaning forward, so that her +eyes seemed to gleam like live coal through the darkness. "Cecil, +you are being made a fool of by this man. I don't wish you any harm. +Do the right thing now, and I'll stick by you. Let this man free, +whoever he is. Don't listen to what he tells you," she added, +pointing toward Forrest. + +Cecil hesitated. Forrest, who was watching him closely, could not +tell whether that hesitation was genuine or only a feint. + +"It was only a joke, this, Kate," he muttered. "It was a joke which +we have carried a little too far. Yes, you shall help me if you +will. I have had enough of it. Go inside and see for yourself who is +there." + +Cecil threw open the door and Kate stepped boldly inside. Forrest +entered last and remained near the threshold. Engleton started to +his feet when he saw a third person. + +"We have brought you a visitor," Forrest cried out. "You have +complained of being lonely. You will not be lonely any longer." + +Kate turned toward him. + +"What do you mean?" she said. "We are going to leave here together, +that man and myself, within the next few minutes." + +"You lie!" Forrest answered fiercely. "You have thrust yourself into +a matter which does not concern you, and you are going to take the +consequences." + +"And what might they be?" Kate asked slowly. + +"They rest with him," Forrest answered, pointing toward Engleton. +"There is a man there who was our friend until a few days ago. He +dared to accuse us of cheating at cards, and if we let him go he +will ruin us both. We are doing what any reasonable men must do. We +are seeking to preserve ourselves. We have kept him here a prisoner, +but he could have gained his freedom on any day by simply promising +to hold his peace. He has declined, and the time has come when we +can leave him no more. To-night, if he is obstinate, we are going to +throw him into the sea." + +"And what about me?" Kate asked. + +"You are going with him," Forrest answered. "If he is obstinate fool +enough to chuck your life away and his, he must do it. Only he had +better remember this," he added, looking across at Engleton, "it +will mean two lives now, and not one." + +Engleton rose to his feet slowly. + +"Who is she?" he asked, pointing to the girl. + +"I am Kate Caynsard, one of the village people here," she answered. +"I heard you working to-night from outside. You heard me shout +back?" + +He nodded. + +"Yes!" he said. "I know." + +"I will tell the truth," the girl continued. "I was fool enough once +to come here to meet that man"--she pointed to De la Borne--"that is +all over. But one night I was restless, and I came wandering through +the plantation here. It was then I saw from the other end that the +place had been altered, and it struck me to listen there where the +air-shaft is. I heard voices, and the next day they were all talking +about the disappearance of Lord Ronald Engleton. You, I suppose," +she added, "are Lord Ronald." + +"I believe I was," he answered, with a little catch in his throat. +"God knows who I am now! I give it up, De la Borne. If you are going +to send the girl after me, I give it up. I'll sign anything you +like. Only let me out of the d--d place!" + +A flash of triumph lit up Forrest's face, but it lasted only for a +second. Kate had suddenly turned upon them, and was standing with +her back to the wall. The hand which had been hidden in the folds of +her dress so long, was suddenly outstretched. There was a roar which +rang through the place like the rattle of artillery, the smell of +gunpowder, and a little cloud of smoke. Through it they could see +her face; her lips parted in a smile, the wild disorder of her hair, +her sea-stained gown, her splendid pose, all seemed to make her the +central figure of the little tableau. + +"I have five more barrels," she said. "I fired that one to let you +know that I was in earnest. Now if you do not let us go free, and +without conditions, it will be you who will stay here instead of us, +only you will stay here for ever!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + + +The smoke cleared slowly away. Engleton had risen to his feet, the +light of a new hope blazing in his eyes. Forrest and Cecil de la +Borne stood close together near the door, which still stood ajar. +The girl, who stood with her back to the wall, saw their involuntary +movement towards it, and her voice rang out sharp and clear. + +"If you try it on I shoot!" she exclaimed. "You know what that +means, Cecil. A pistol isn't a plaything with me." + +Cecil looked no more toward the door. He came instead a little +farther into the room. + +"My dear Kate," he said, "we are willing to admit, Forrest and I, +that we are beaten. You can do exactly what you like with us except +leave us here. Our little joke with Engleton is at an end. Perhaps +we carried it too far. If so, we must face the penalty. Take him +away if you like. Personally I do not find this place attractive." + +Kate lowered her revolver and turned to Engleton. + +"Come over to my side," she said. "We are going to leave this +place." + +Engleton staggered towards her. He had always been thin, but he +seemed to have lost more flesh in the last few days. + +"For God's sake let's get out!" he said. "If I don't breathe some +fresh air soon, it will be the end of me." + +"In any order you please," Cecil de la Borne said smiling. "The only +condition I make is that before you leave the place altogether, +Kate, I have a few minutes' conversation with you. You can hold your +pistol to my temple, if you like, while I talk, but there are a few +things I must say." + +"Afterwards, then," she answered. "We are going first out of the +place. We shall turn seawards and wait for you. When you have come +out, you will hand us your electric torches and go on in front." + +"You are quite a strategist," Forrest remarked grimly. "Do as she +says, Cecil. The sooner we are out of this, the better." + +Kate passed her hand through Engleton's arm. + +"Come along," she said. "Lean on me if you are not feeling well. Do +not be afraid. They will not dare to touch us." + +Engleton laughed weakly, but with the remains of the contempt with +which he had always treated his jailers. + +"Afraid of them!" he exclaimed contemptuously. "I fancy the boot has +been on the other leg. Who you are, my dear young lady, I do not +know, but upon my word you are the most welcome companion a man ever +had." + +The pair moved toward the doorway. Neither Forrest nor Cecil de la +Borne made any effort to prevent their passing out. Kate turned a +little to the right, and then stood with the revolver clasped in her +hand. + +"Please come out now," she said. "You will give your electric torch +to him." + +She indicated Engleton, who stretched out his hand. Cecil and +Forrest obeyed her command to the letter. Engleton held the torch, +and they all four made their way along the noisome passage. Forrest +turned his head once cautiously toward his companion's, but Cecil +shook his head. + +"Wait," he whispered softly. + +The thunder of the sea grew less and less distinct. Before them +shone a faint glimmer of light. Soon they reached the three steps +which led up into the gun-room. Cecil and Forrest climbed up. Kate +and Engleton followed. Cecil carefully closed the door behind them. + +"You see," he remarked, "we are reconciled to our defeat. Let us sit +down for a moment and talk." + +"Open the window and give me some brandy," Engleton said. + +Kate felt him suddenly grow heavy upon her arm. + +"Bring a chair quick," she ordered. "He is going to faint." + +She bent over him, alarmed at the sudden change in his face. Her +attention for one moment was relaxed. Then she felt her wrist seized +in a grip of iron. The revolver, which she was still holding, fell +to the ground, and Cecil calmly picked it up and thrust it into his +pocket. + +"You have played the game very well, Kate," he said. "Now I think it +is our turn." + +She looked at him indignantly, but without any trace of fear. + +"You brute!" she exclaimed. "Can't you see that he has fainted? Do +you want him to die here?" + +"Not in the least," Cecil answered. "Here, Forrest, you take care of +this," he added, passing the revolver over to him. "I'll look after +Engleton." + +He led him to an easy-chair close to the window. He opened it a few +inches, and a current of strong fresh air came sweeping in. Then he +poured some brandy into a glass and gave it to Kate. + +"Let him sip this," he said. "Keep his head back. That's right. We +will call a truce for a few moments. I am going to talk with my +friend." + +He turned away, and Kate, with a sudden movement, sprang toward the +fireplace and pulled the bell. Cecil looked around and smiled +contemptuously. + +"It is well thought of," he remarked, "but unfortunately there is +not a servant in the house. Go on ringing it, if you like. All that +it can awake are the echoes." + +Kate dropped the rope and turned back towards Engleton. The colour +was coming slowly back to his cheeks. With an effort he kept from +altogether losing consciousness. + +"I am not going to faint," he said in a low tone. "I will not. Tell +me, they have the pistol?" + +"Yes," Kate answered, "but don't be afraid. I am not going back +there again, nor shall they take you." + +He pressed her hand. + +"You are a plucky girl," he muttered. "Stick to me now and I'll +never forget it. I've held out so long that I'm d--d if I let them +off their punishment now." + +Cecil came slowly across the room. + +"Feeling better, Engleton?" he asked. + +Engleton turned his head. + +"Yes," he answered, "I am well enough. What of it?" + +"We'd better have an understanding," Cecil said. + +"Have it, then, and be d----d to you!" Engleton answered. "You won't +get me alive down into that place again. If you are going to try, +try." + +"Come," Cecil said, "there is no need to talk like that. Why not +pass your word to treat this little matter as a joke? It's the +simplest way. Go up to your room, change your clothes and shave, +have a drink with us, and take the morning train to town. It's not +worth while risking your life for the sake of a little bit of +revenge on us for having gone too far. I admit that we were wrong in +keeping you here. You terrified us. Forrest has more enemies than +friends and I am unknown in London. If you went to the club with +your story, people would believe it. We shouldn't have a chance. +That is why we were afraid to let you go back. Forget the last few +days and cry quits." + +"I'll see you d----d first," Engleton answered. + +Cecil's face changed a little. + +"Well," he said, "I have made you a fair offer. If you refuse, I +shall leave it to my friend Forrest to deal with you. You may not +find him so easy, as I have been." + +Kate stepped for a moment forward, and laid her hand on Cecil's +shoulder. + +"Mr. De la Borne," she said, "we don't want to have anything to say +to your friend. We trust him less than you. Open the door and let us +out." + +"Where are you going to?" Cecil asked. "Engleton is not fit to walk +anywhere." + +"I am going to take him back home with me," Kate answered. "Oh, I +can get him there all right. I am not afraid of that. He will have +plenty of strength to walk away from this place." + +"It is impossible, my dear Kate," Cecil answered. "Take my advice. +Leave him to us. We will deal with him reasonably enough. Kate, +listen." + +He passed his arm through hers and drew her a little on one side. + +"Kate," he said, "I'm afraid I haven't behaved exactly well to you. +I got up in London amongst a lot of people who seemed to look at +things so differently, and there were distractions, and I'm afraid +that I forgot some of my promises. But I have never forgotten you. +Why do you take the part of that miserable creature over there? He +is just a young simpleton, who, because he was half drunk, dared to +accuse us of cheating. We were obliged to keep him shut up until he +took it back. Leave him to us. He shall come to no harm. I give you +my word, and I will never forget it." + +Kate looked at him a little curiously. + +"Will you keep your promise?" she asked curiously. + +Cecil hesitated, but only for a minute. + +"Yes," he said, "I will even do that." + +She withdrew her arm firmly, but without haste. + +"Is that all you have to say?" she asked. + +"I offer you my promise," he answered. "Isn't that worth something?" + +"Something," she answered, "not much. I want no more to do with you, +Mr. Cecil de la Borne. Don't think you can make terms with me for +you can't. I only hope that you get punished for what you have +done." + +Cecil raised his hand as though about to strike her. + +"You little cat!" he exclaimed. "We'll see the thing through, then. +You are prisoners here just as much as though you were in the +vault." + +Forrest, who had spoken very little, came suddenly forward. + +"We have talked too much," he said, "and wasted too much time. Let +us have the issue before us in black and white. Engleton, are you +well enough to understand what I say?" + +"Perfectly," Engleton answered. "Go on." + +"Will you sign a retraction of your charges against us, and pledge +your word of honour never to repeat them, or to make any complaint, +formal or otherwise, as to your detention here." + +"I'm d----d if I will!" Engleton answered. + +"Consider what your refusal means first," Forrest said. "Open the +passage door, Cecil." + +Cecil pushed it back, and a little breath of the noxious odour stole +into the room. + +"You either make us that promise, Engleton," he said, "or as sure as +I'm standing here, we'll drag you both down that passage, right to +the end, and throw you into the sea." + +"And hang for it afterwards," Engleton said, with a sneer. + +"Not we," Forrest declared. "The currents down there are strange +ones, and it would be many weeks before your bodies were recovered. +Your character in London is pretty well known, and Kate here has +been seen often enough on her way up to the Hall. People will soon +put two and two together. There are a dozen places in the Spinney +where one could slip off into the sea. Besides we shall have a +little evidence to offer. Oh, there is nothing for us to fear, I can +assure you. Now then. I can see it's no use arguing with you any +longer." + +"One moment," Kate said. "What about the young lady I left outside?" + +Cecil turned upon her swiftly. + +"Don't tell lies, Kate," he said. "It's a poor sort of tale that." + +"At any rate it's no lie," Kate answered. "When I came to your front +door, I left the young lady who was staying here only a few weeks +ago, Miss Le Mesurier you called her, sitting in the barn waiting." + +Cecil laughed scornfully. + +"Did she drop from the clouds?" he asked. + +"She has been staying at the farm," Kate answered, "for days. I +brought her with me to-night because I thought that she might know +something about Lord Ronald's disappearance. She is there waiting. +If I do not return by daylight, she will go to the police." + +"I think," Forrest remarked ironically, "that we will risk the young +lady outside. Your story, my dear, is ingenious, but scarcely +plausible. If you are ready, Cecil--" + +The four of them were suddenly stupefied into a dead silence. Their +eyes were riveted upon the door which led to the underground +passage. Cecil's face was almost grotesque with the terrible writing +of fear. Distinctly they could all hear footsteps stumbling along +the uneven way. Forrest was first to recover the power of speech. He +called out to Cecil from the other end of the room. + +"Shut the door! Shut it, I say!" + +Cecil took a quick step forward. Before he could reach the door, +however, the girl had thrown her arms round his waist. + +"You shall not close it," she cried. + +"Who is it coming?" Cecil cried panting. + +"God knows!" she answered. "They say the ghosts walk here." + +He strove to loosen himself from her grasp, but he was powerless. +Nevertheless he got a little nearer to the door. Forrest came +swiftly across the room. Engleton struck at him with a chair, but +the blow was harmless. + +"Stand aside, Cecil," Forrest said. "I'll close it." + +"I'm hanged if you will," was the sudden reply. + +Andrew de la Borne stepped out of the darkness and stood upright, +blinking and looking around in amazement. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + + +Jeanne was sitting in the garden of the Caynsard farm. The +excitement of the last twenty-four hours had left her languid. For +once she lay and watched with idle, almost with indifferent eyes, +the great stretch of marshes riven with the incoming sea. She saw +the fishing boats that a few hours ago were dead inert things upon a +bed of mud, come gliding up the tortuous water-ways. On the horizon +was the sea bank, with its long line of poles, and the wires +connecting the coastguard stations. They stood like silent +sentinels, clean and distinct against the empty background. Jeanne +sighed as she watched, and the thoughts came crowding into her head. +It was a restful country this, a country of timeworn, mouldering +grey churches, and of immemorial landmarks, a country where +everything seemed fixed and restful, everything except the sea. A +wave of self pity swept over her. After all she had lived a very +little time to know so much unhappiness. Worse than all, this +morning she was filled with apprehensions. She feared something. She +scarcely knew what, or from what direction it might come. The song +of the larks brought her no comfort. The familiar and beautiful +places upon which she looked pleased her no more. She was glad when +Kate Caynsard came out of the house and moved slowly towards her. + +Kate, too, showed some of the signs of the recent excitement. There +were black lines under her wonderful eyes, and she walked +hesitatingly, without any of the firm splendid grace which made her +movements a delight to watch. Jeanne was afraid at first that she +was going to turn away, and called to her. + +"Kate," she exclaimed, "I want you. Come here and talk to me." + +Kate threw herself on to the ground by Jeanne's side. + +"All the talking in the world," she murmured, "will not change the +things that happened last night. They will not even smooth away the +evil memories." + +Jeanne was silent. There was a thought in her head which had been +there twisting and biting its way in her brain through the silent +hours of the night and again in her waking moments. She looked down +towards her companion stretched at her feet. + +"Kate," she said, "how did Mr. Andrew get the message that brought +him to the Red Hall last night?" + +"I sent it," Kate answered. "I sent him word that there were things +going on at the Red Hall which I could not understand. I told him +that I thought it would be well if he came." + +"You knew his address?" Jeanne asked, a little coldly. + +"Yes!" Kate answered. + +"You have written him before, perhaps?" Jeanne asked. + +"Yes!" the girl answered absently. + +There was a short silence. Each of the two seemed occupied in her +own thoughts. When Jeanne spoke again her manner was changed. The +other girl noticed it, without being conscious of the reason. + +"What has happened this morning, do you know?" Jeanne asked. + +"They are all at the Red Hall still," Kate answered. "Major Forrest +tried to leave this morning, but Mr. Andrew would not let him. He +will not let either of them go away until Lord Ronald is well enough +to say what shall be done." + +"I wonder," Jeanne said, "what would have happened if Mr. Andrew had +not arrived last night." + +"God knows!" Kate answered. "He is a wily brute, the man Forrest. +How was it that you," she added, "found Mr. Andrew?" + +"I waited on the mound in the plantation," Jeanne said, "with my ear +to the ground, and presently I heard a pistol shot and then a +scuffle, and afterwards silence. I was frightened, and I made my way +to the road and hurried along toward the village. Then I saw a cart +and I stopped it, and inside was Mr. Andrew, on his way from Wells. +I told him something of what was happening, and he put me in the +cart and sent me back. Then he went on to the Red Hall." + +Kate nodded slowly. + +"I am glad that I sent for him," she said. "I am afraid that last +night there would have been bloodshed if he had not come. When he +was there there was not one who dared speak or move any more, except +as he directed. He is very strong, and he was made, I think, to +command men." + +Jeanne's lips quivered for a moment. Her eyes were fixed upon the +distant figure, motionless now, upon the raised sandbanks. Kate had +turned her head toward the Red Hall, and was looking at one of the +windows there as though her eyes would pierce the distance. + +"Tell me," Jeanne asked. "I have seen you once with Mr. De la Borne. +He is a great friend of yours?" + +"He was," the girl at her feet whispered. + +Jeanne found herself shaking. She stooped down. + +"What do you mean?" she whispered. + +Kate looked up from the ground. She raised herself a little. For a +moment her eyes flashed. + +"I mean," she said, "that before you came he was more than a friend. +It was you who drove his thoughts of me away. You with your great +fortune, and your childish, foreign ways. Oh, I talk like a fool, I +know!" she said, springing up, "but I am not a fool. I do not hate +you. I have never tried to do you any harm. It is not your fault. It +is what one calls fate. Once," she cried, "we Caynsards lived along +the coast there in a house greater than the Red Hall, and our lands +were richer. Generation after generation of us have been pushed by +fortune downwards and downwards. The men lose lands and money, and +the women disgrace themselves, or creep into some corner to die with +a broken heart. I talk to you as one of the villagers here. I know +very well that I speak the dialect of the peasants, and that my +words are ill-chosen. How can I help it? We are all paupers, every +one of us. That is why sometimes I feel that I cannot breathe. That +is why I do mad things, and people believe that I am indeed out of +my mind." + +She sprang to her feet. Jeanne tried to detain her. + +"Let me talk to you for a little time, Kate," she begged. "You are +none of the things you fancy, and I am very sure that Mr. De la +Borne does not care for me, or for my fortune. Stay just for a +minute." + +But Kate was already gone. Jeanne could see her speeding down to the +harbour, and a few minutes later gliding down the creek in her +little catboat. + + The Count de Brensault was angry, and he had not sufficient dignity +to hide it. The Princess, in whose boudoir he was, regarded him from +her sofa as one might look at some strange animal. + +"My dear Count," she said, "it is not reasonable that you should be +angry with me. Is it my fault that I am plagued with a stepdaughter +of so extraordinary a temperament? She will return directly, or we +shall find her. I am sure of it. The wedding can be arranged then as +speedily as you wish. I give her to you. I consent to your marriage. +What could woman do more?" + +"That is all very well," the Count said, "all very well indeed, but +I do not understand how it is that a young lady could disappear from +her home like this, and that her guardian should know nothing about +it. Where could she have gone to? You say that she had very little +money. Why should she go? Who was unkind to her?" + +"All that I did," the Princess answered, "was to tell her that she +must marry you." + +The Count twirled his moustache. + +"Is it likely," he demanded, "that that should drive her away from +her home? The idea of marriage, it may terrify these young misses at +the first thought, but in their hearts they are very, very glad. +Ah!" he added softly, "I have had some experience. I am not a boy." + +The Princess looked at him. Whatever her thoughts may have been, her +face remained inscrutable. + +"No!" the Count continued, drawing his chair a little nearer to the +Princess' couch, and leaning towards her, "I do not believe that it +was the fear of marriage which drove little Jeanne to disappear." + +"Then what do you believe, my dear Count?" the Princess asked. + +His eyes seemed to narrow. + +"Perhaps," he said significantly, "you may have thought that with +her great fortune, and seeing me a little foolish for her, that you +had not driven quite a good enough bargain, eh?" + +"You insulting beast!" the Princess remarked. + +The Count grinned. He was in no way annoyed. + +"Ah!" he said. "I am a man whom it is not easy to deceive. I have +seen very much of the world, and I know the ways of women. A woman +who wants money, my dear Princess, is very, very clever, and not too +honest." + +"Your experiences, Count," the Princess said, "may be interesting, +but I do not see how they concern me." + +"But they might concern you," the Count said, "if I were to speak +plainly; if, for instance, I were to double that little amount we +spoke of." + +"Do you mean to insinuate," the Princess remarked, "that I know +where Jeanne is now? That it is I who have put her out of the way +for a little time, in order to make a better bargain with you?" + +The Count bowed his head. + +"A very clever scheme," he declared, "a very clever scheme indeed." + +The Princess drew a little breath. Then she looked at the Count and +suddenly laughed. After all, it was not worth while to be angry with +such a creature. Besides, if Jeanne should turn up, she might as +well have the extra money. + +"You give me credit, I fear," she said, "for being a cleverer woman +than I am, but as a matter of curiosity, supposing I am able to hand +you over Jeanne very shortly, would you agree to double the little +amount we have spoken of?" + +"I will double it," the Count declared solemnly. "You see when I +wish for a thing I am generous. I can only hope," he added, with a +peculiar smile, "Miss Jeanne may soon make her reappearance." There +was a knock at the door. The Princess looked up, frowning. Her maid +put her head cautiously in. + +"I am sorry to disturb you, madam, against your orders," she said, +"but Miss Jeanne has just arrived." + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + + +The Count opened his mouth. It was his way of expressing supreme +astonishment. The Princess sat bolt upright on her couch and gazed +at Jeanne with wide-open and dilated eyes. Curiously enough it was +the Count who first recovered himself. + +"Is it a game, this?" he asked softly. "You press the button and the +little girl appears. That means that I increase the stakes and the +prize pops up." + +The Princess rose to her feet. She crossed the room to meet Jeanne +with outstretched arms. + +"Shut up, you fool!" she said to the Count in passing. "Jeanne my +child," she added, "is it really you?" + +Jeanne accepted the proffered embrace, without enthusiasm. She +recognized the Count, however, with a little wave of colour. + +"Yes," she said quietly, "I have come back. I am sorry I went away. +It was a mistake, a great mistake." + +"You have driven us nearly wild with anxiety," the Princess +declared. "Where have you been to?" + +"Yes!" the Count echoed, fixing his eyes upon her, "where have you +been to?" + +Jeanne behaved with a composure which astonished them both. She +calmly unbuttoned her gloves and seated herself in the easy-chair. + +"I have been to Salthouse," she said. + +"What! back to the Red Hall?" the Princess exclaimed. + +Jeanne shook her head. + +"No!" she said, "I have been in rooms at a farmhouse there, +Caynsard's farm. I went away because I did not like the life here, +and because my stepmother," she continued, turning toward the Count, +"seemed determined that I should marry you. I thought that I would +go away into the country, somewhere where I could think quietly. I +went to Salthouse because it was the only place I knew." + +"You are the maddest child!" the Princess exclaimed. + +Jeanne smiled, a little wearily. + +"If I have been mad," she said, "I have come to my senses again." + +The Count leaned toward her eagerly. + +"I trust," he said, "that that means that you are ready now to obey +your stepmother, and to make me very, very happy." + +Jeanne looked at him deliberately. + +"It depends," she said, "upon circumstances." + +"Tell me what they are quickly," the Count declared. "I am +impatient. I cannot bear that you keep me waiting. Let me know of my +happiness." + +The Princess was suddenly uneasy. There was one weak point in her +schemes, a weakness of her own creating. Ever since she had told +Jeanne the truth about her lack of fortune, she had felt that it was +a mistake. Suppose she should be idiot enough to give the thing +away! The Princess felt her heart beat fast at the mere supposition. +There was something about Jeanne's delicate oval face, her straight +mouth and level eyebrows, which somehow suggested that gift which to +the Princess was so incomprehensible in her sex, the gift of +honesty. Suppose Jeanne were to tell the Count the truth! + +"First of all, then," Jeanne said, "I must ask you whether my +stepmother has told the truth about myself and my fortune." + +The Princess knew then that the game was up. She sank back upon the +sofa, and at that moment she would have declared that there was +nothing in the world more terrible than an ungrateful and +inconsiderate child. + +"The truth?" the Count remarked, a little puzzled. "I know only what +the world knows, that you are the daughter of Carl le Mesurier, and +that he left you the residue of one of the greatest fortunes in +Europe." + +Jeanne drew a letter from her pocket. + +"The Princess," she remarked, "must have forgotten to tell you. This +great fortune that all the world has spoken of, and that seems to +have made me so famous, has been all the time something of a myth. +It has existed only in the imaginations of my kind friends. A few +days ago my stepmother here told me of this. I wrote at once to +Monsieur Laplanche, my trustee. She would not let me send the +letter. When I was at Salthouse, however, I wrote again, and this +time I had a reply. It is here. There is a statement," she +continued, "which covers many pages, and which shows exactly how my +father's fortune was exaggerated, how securities have dwindled, and +how my stepmother's insisting upon a very large allowance during my +school-days, has eaten up so much of the residue. There is left to +me, it appears, a sum of fourteen thousand pounds. That is a very +small fortune, is it not?" she asked calmly. + +The Count was gazing at her as one might gaze upon a tragedy. + +"It is not a fortune!" he exclaimed. "It is not even a dot! It is +nothing at all, a year's income, a trifle." + +"Nevertheless," Jeanne said calmly, "it is all that I possess. You +see," she continued, "I have come back to my stepmother to tell her +that if I am bound by law to do as she wishes until I am of age, I +will be dutiful and marry the man whom she chooses for me, but I +wish to tell you two things quite frankly. The first you have just +heard. The second is that I do not care for you in the least, that +in fact I rather dislike you." + +The Princess buried her head in her hands. She was not anxious to +look at any one just then, or to be looked at. The Count rose to his +feet. There were drops of perspiration upon his forehead. He was +distracted. + +"Is this true, madam?" he asked of the Princess. + +"It is true," she admitted. + +He leaned towards her. + +"What about my three thousand pounds?" he whispered. "Who will pay +me back that? It is cheating. That money has been gained by what you +call false pretences. There is punishment for that, eh?" + +The Princess dabbed at her eyes with a little morsel of lace +handkerchief. + +"One must live," she murmured. "It was not I who talked about +Jeanne's fortune. It was all the world who said how rich she was. +Why should I contradict them? I wanted a place once more in the only +Society in Europe which counts, English society. There was only one +way and I took it. So long as people believed Jeanne to be the +heiress of a great fortune, I was made welcome wherever I chose to +go. That is the truth, my dear Count." + +"It is all very well," the Count answered, "but the money I have +advanced you?" + +"You took your own risk," the Princess answered, coldly. "I was not +to know that you were expecting to repay yourself out of Jeanne's +fortune. It is not too late. You are not married to her." + +"No," the Count said slowly, "I am not married to her." + +The Princess watched him from the corners of her eyes. He was +evidently very much distracted. He walked up and down the room. +Every now and then he glanced at Jeanne. Jeanne was very pale, but +she wore a hat with a small green quill which he had once admired. +Certainly she had an air, she was distinguished. There was something +vaguely provocative about her, a charm which he could not help but +feel. He stopped short in the middle of his perambulations. It was +the moment of his life. He felt himself a hero. + +"Madam," he said, addressing the Princess, "I have been badly +treated. There is no one who would not admit that. I have been +deceived--a man less kind than I might say robbed. No matter. I +forget it all. I forget my disappointment, I forget that this young +lady whom you offer me for a wife has a dot so pitifully small that +it counts for nothing. I take her. I accept her. Jeanne," he added, +moving towards her, "you hear? It is because I love you so very, +very much." + +Jeanne shrank back in her chair. + +"You mean," she cried, "that you are willing to take me now that you +know everything, now that you know I have so little money? You mean +that you want to marry me still?" + +The Count assented graciously. Never in the course of his whole +life, had he admired himself so much. + +"I forget everything," he declared, with a little wave of the hand, +"except that I love you, and that you are the one woman in the world +whom I wish to make the Comtesse de Brensault. Mademoiselle permits +me?" + +He stooped and raised her cold hand to his lips. Jeanne looked at +him with the fascinated despair of some stricken animal. The +Princess rose to her feet. It was wonderful, this--a triumph beyond +all thought. + +"Jeanne, my child," she said, "you are the most fortunate girl I +know, to have inspired a devotion so great. Count," she added, "you +are wonderful. You deserve all the happiness which I am sure will +come to you." + +The Count looked as though he were perfectly convinced of it. All +the same he whispered in her ear a moment later-- + +"You must pay me back that three thousand pounds!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + + +For the Princess it was a day full of excitements. The Count had +only just reluctantly withdrawn, and Jeanne had gone to her room +under the plea of fatigue, when Forrest was shown in. She started at +the look in his drawn face. + +"Nigel," she exclaimed hastily, "is everything all right?" + +He threw himself into a chair. + +"Everything," he answered, "is all wrong. Everything is over." + +The Princess saw then that he had aged during the last few days, +that this man whose care of himself had kept him comparatively +youthful looking, notwithstanding the daily routine of an +unwholesome life, was showing signs at last of breaking down. There +were lines about his eyes, little baggy places underneath. He +dragged his feet across the carpet as though he were tired. The +Princess pushed up an easy-chair and went herself to the sideboard. + +"Give me a little brandy," he said, "or rather a good deal of +brandy. I need it." + +The Princess felt her own hand shake. She brought him a tumbler and +sat down by his side. + +"You had to kill him?" she asked, in a whisper. "Is it that?" + +Forrest set down his glass--empty. + +"No!" he answered. "We were going to, when a mad woman who lives +there got into the place and found us out. We had them safe, the two +of them, when the worst thing happened which could have befallen us. +Andrew de la Borne broke in upon us." + +The Princess listened with set face. + +"Go on," she said. "What happened?" + +"The game was up so far as we were concerned," he answered. "Cecil +crumpled up before his brother, and gave the whole show away. There +was nothing left for me to do but to wait and hear what they had to +say, before I decided whether or no to make my graceful exit from +the stage." + +"Go on," she commanded. "What happened exactly?" + +"We were kept there," he continued, "until this morning, waiting +until Engleton was well enough to make up his mind what to do. The +end is simple enough. Considering that but for that girl's +intervention Engleton would have been in the sea by now, and he +knows it, I suppose it might have been worse. I have signed a paper +undertaking to leave England within forty-eight hours, and never to +show myself in this country again. Further, I am not to play cards +at any time with any Englishman." + +"Is that all?" the Princess asked. + +"Yes!" Forrest answered. "I suppose you would say that they have let +me off lightly. I wish I could feel so. If ever a man was sick of +those dirty disreputable foreign places, where one holds on to life +and respectability only with the tips of one's fingernails, I am. I +think I shall chuck it, Ena. I am tired of those foreign crowds, +suspicious, semi-disreputable. There's something wrong with every +one of them. Even the few decent ones you know very well speak to +you because you are in a foreign country, and would cut you in Pall +Mall." + +"It isn't so bad as that," the Princess said calmly. "There are some +of the places worth living in. You must live a quieter life, spend +less, and find distractions. You used to be so fond of shooting and +golf." + +He laughed hardly. + +"How am I to live," he demanded, "away from the card-tables? What do +you suppose my income is? A blank! It is worse than a blank, for I +owe bills which I shall never pay. How am I going to live from day +to day unless I go on the same infernal treadmill. I am an +adventurer, I know," he went on, "but what is one to do who has the +tastes and education of a gentleman, and not even money enough to +buy a farm and work with one's hands for a living?" + +The Princess moved to the window and back again. + +"I, too, Nigel," she said, "have had shocks. Jeanne has come back. +She has been at Salthouse all the time." + +"It was probably she, then, who sent for De la Borne," Forrest said +wearily. + +"Perhaps so," the Princess assented, "but listen to this. It will +surprise you. She came back and she told De Brensault in this room +only a short while ago that her supposed fortune was a myth. De +Brensault took it like a lamb. He wants to marry her still." + +Forrest looked up in amazement. + +"And will he?" he asked. + +"Oh, I do not know!" the Princess answered. "Nigel, I am sick of +life myself. There are times when everything you have been trying +for seems not worth while, when even one's fundamental ideas come +tottering down. Just now I feel as though every stone in the +foundation of what has seemed to me to mean life, is rotten and +insecure. I am tired of it. Shall I tell you what I feel like +doing?" + +"Yes!" he answered. + +"I have a little house in Silesia, where I am still a great lady, +half-a-dozen servants, perhaps, farms which bring in a trifle of +money. I think I will go and live there. I think I will get up in +the mornings as Jeanne does, and try to love my mountains, and go +about amongst my people, and try to spell life with different +letters. Come with me, Nigel. There is shooting and fishing there, +and horses wild enough for even you to find pleasure in riding. We +have tried many things in life. Let us make one last throw, and try +the land of Arcady." + +He looked at her, at first in amazement. Afterwards some change +seemed to come into his face, called there, perhaps, by what he saw +in hers. + +"Ena," he said, "you mean it?" + +"Absolutely," she answered. "Fortunately we are both free, and we +can set our peasants an absolutely respectable example. You shall be +farmer and I will be housewife. Nigel, it is an inspiration." + +He bent over her fingers. + +"I wonder," he murmured, "if there is good enough left in me to make +it worth your while." + +Late that afternoon another caller thundered at the door of the +house in Berkeley Square. The Duke of Westerham desired to see Miss +Le Mesurier. The butler was respectful but doubtful. Miss Le +Mesurier had just arrived from a journey and was lying down. The +Duke, however, was insistent. He waited twenty minutes in a small +back morning-room and presently Jeanne came in to him. + +He held out his hands. + +"Little girl," he said, "you know what you promised. I am afraid +that you have forgotten." + +She smiled pitifully. + +"No," she said, "I have not forgotten. I went away alone because I +had to go, because I wanted to be quite alone and quite quiet. Now I +have come home, and there is no one who can help me at all." + +"Rubbish!" he answered. "There was never trouble in the world where +a friend couldn't help. What is it now?" + +She shook her head. + +"I cannot tell you," she said, "only I am going to marry the Count +de Brensault." + +"I'm hanged if you are!" the Duke declared vigorously. "Look here, +Miss Jeanne. This is your stepmother's doing. I know all about it. +Don't you believe that in this country you are obliged to marry any +one whom you don't want to." + +"But I do want to," Jeanne answered, "or rather I don't mind whom I +do marry, or whether I marry any one or no one." + +The Duke was grave. + +"I thought," he said, "that my friend Andrew had a chance." + +Her face was suddenly burning. + +"Mr. Andrew," she said, "does not want me; I mean that it is +impossible. Oh, if you please," she added, bursting into tears, +"won't you let me alone? I am going to marry the Count de Brensault. +I have quite made up my mind. Perhaps you have not heard that it is +all a mistake about my having a great fortune. The Count de +Brensault is very kind, and he is going to marry me although I have +no money." + +The Duke stared at her for several moments. Then he rang the bell. + +"Will you tell your mistress," he said to the servant, "that the +Duke of Westerham would be exceedingly obliged if she would spare +him five minutes here and now." + +The man bowed and withdrew. The Princess came almost at once. + +"Madam," the Duke said, "I trust that you will forgive my sending +for you, but I am very much interested in the happiness of our +little friend Miss Jeanne here. She tells me that she is going to +marry the Count de Brensault, that she has lost her fortune and she +is evidently very unhappy. Will you forgive me if I ask you whether +this marriage is being forced upon her?" + +The Princess hesitated. + +"No," she said, "it is not that. Jeanne told him of her loss of +fortune. She told him, too, without any prompting from me, that she +would marry him if he still wished it. That is all that I know." + +The Duke bowed. He moved a few steps across towards the Princess. + +"Princess," he said, "will you make a friend? Will you let me take +your little girl to my sister's for say one week? You shall have her +back then, and you shall do as you will with her." + +"Willingly," the Princess answered. "I am only anxious that she +should be happy." + +The Duke marvelled then at the sincerity in her tone. Nevertheless, +for fear she should change her mind, he hurried Jeanne out of the +house into his brougham. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + + +"So this," the Duke said, "is your wonderful land." + +"Is there anything like it in the world?" Jeanne asked as she stood +bareheaded on the grass-banked dyke with her face turned seaward. + +Above their heads the larks were singing. To their right stretched +the marshes and pasture land, as yet untouched by the sea, glorious +with streaks of colour, fragrant with the perfume of wild lavender +and mosses. To their left, through the opening in the sandbanks, +came streaming the full tide, rushing up into the land, making +silver water-ways of muddy places, bringing with it all the salt and +freshness and joy of the sea. Over their heads the seagulls cried. +Far away a heron lifted its head from a tuft of weeds, and sent his +strange call travelling across the level distance. + +"Oh, it is beautiful to be here again!" Jeanne said. "Even though it +hurts," she added, in a lower tone, "it is beautiful." + +A little boat came darting down the shallows. Kate Caynsard stood up +and waved her hand. Jeanne waved back. A sudden flush of colour +stained her cheeks. Her first impulse seemed to be to turn away. She +conquered it, however, and beckoned to the girl, who ran her boat +close to them. + +"My last sail," the girl cried, as she stepped to land. "I am saying +good-bye to all these wonderful places, Miss Le Mesurier," she +added. "To-morrow we are going to sail for Canada." + +Jeanne looked at her in amazement. + +"You are going to Canada?" she asked. + +The girl, too, was surprised. + +"Have you not heard?" she said. "I thought, perhaps, that Mr. Andrew +might have told you. Cecil and I are sailing to-morrow, directly +after we are married. He has bought a farm out there." + +Jeanne felt for a moment that the beautiful world was spinning round +her. She clutched at the Duke's arm. + +"You are going to Canada with Cecil?" she exclaimed. + +"Of course," Kate answered, a little shyly. "I thought, in fact I +know that I told you about him. Won't you wish me joy?" she added, +holding out her hand a little timidly. + +Jeanne grasped it. To the girl's surprise Jeanne's eyes were full of +tears. + +"Oh, I am so foolish!" she declared. "I have been so mad. I thought- +-You said Mr. De la Borne." + +"Hang it all!" the Duke exclaimed. "I believe you thought that she +meant our friend Andrew. Don't you know that all the world here half +the time calls Cecil, Mr. De la Borne, and Andrew, Mr. Andrew?" + +Kate looked behind her, and touched the Duke on the sleeve. + +"Wouldn't you like, sir," she asked, a little timidly, "to come for +a sail with me?" + +The Duke saw what she saw, and notwithstanding his years and his +weight, he clambered into the little boat. Jeanne turned round and +walked slowly towards the man who came so swiftly along the dyke. It +was a dream! She felt that it must be a dream! + +Andrew, with his gun over his shoulder, his rough tweed clothes +splashed with black mud, gazed at her as though she were an +apparition. Then he saw something in her face which told him so much +that he forgot the little catboat, barely out of sight, he forgot +the little red-roofed village barely a mile away, he forgot the lone +figures of the shrimpers, standing like sentinels far away in the +salt pools. He took Jeanne into his arms, and he felt her lips melt +upon his. + +"The Duke was right, then," he murmured a moment later, as he stood +back for a moment, his face transformed with the new thing that had +come into his life. + +"Dear man!" Jeanne murmured. + +They watched the boat gliding away in the distance. + +"I believe," he declared, "that they went away on purpose." + +She laughed as they scrambled down on to the marsh, and turned +toward the place where he had first met her. + +"I believe they did," she answered. + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Jeanne Of The Marshes, by E. Phillips Oppenheim + |