In the Fog
Page 8
without so much as winking an eye, and shoved the case carefullyinto a corner. 'Your bag slipped off on the floor,' she said. 'If you'vegot any bottles in it, you had better look and see that they're notbroken.'
"And I give you my word, I was such an ass that I did open the case andlooked all through it. She must have thought I _was_ a Juggins. I gethot all over whenever I remember it. But in spite of my dulness, and hercleverness, she couldn't gain anything by sending me away, because whatshe wanted was in the hand bag and every time she sent me away the handbag went with me.
"After the incident of the dressing-case her manner changed. Either inmy absence she had had time to look through it, or, when I was examiningit for broken bottles, she had seen everything it held.
"From that moment she must have been certain that the cigar-case, inwhich she knew I carried the diamonds, was in the bag that was fastenedto my body, and from that time on she probably was plotting how to getit from me. Her anxiety became most apparent. She dropped the great ladymanner, and her charming condescension went with it. She ceased talking,and, when I spoke, answered me irritably, or at random. No doubt hermind was entirely occupied with her plan. The end of our journey wasdrawing rapidly nearer, and her time for action was being cut down withthe speed of the express train. Even I, unsuspicious as I was, noticedthat something was very wrong with her. I really believe that before wereached Marseilles if I had not, through my own stupidity, given her thechance she wanted, she might have stuck a knife in me and rolled me outon the rails. But as it was, I only thought that the long journey hadtired her. I suggested that it was a very trying trip, and asked her ifshe would allow me to offer her some of my cognac.
"She thanked me and said, 'No,' and then suddenly her eyes lighted, andshe exclaimed, 'Yes, thank you, if you will be so kind.'
"My flask was in the hand bag, and I placed it on my lap and with mythumb slipped back the catch. As I keep my tickets and railroad guide inthe bag, I am so constantly opening it that I never bother to lockit, and the fact that it is strapped to me has always been sufficientprotection. But I can appreciate now what a satisfaction, and what atorment too, it must have been to that woman when she saw that the bagopened without a key.
"While we were crossing the mountains I had felt rather chilly and hadbeen wearing a light racing coat. But after the lamps were lightedthe compartment became very hot and stuffy, and I found the coatuncomfortable. So I stood up, and, after first slipping the strap of thebag over my head, I placed the bag in the seat next me and pulled offthe racing coat. I don't blame myself for being careless; the bag wasstill within reach of my hand, and nothing would have happened ifat that exact moment the train had not stopped at Arles. It was thecombination of my removing the bag and our entering the station at thesame instant which gave the Princess Zichy the chance she wanted to robme.
"I needn't say that she was clever enough to take it. The train ran intothe station at full speed and came to a sudden stop. I had just thrownmy coat into the rack, and had reached out my hand for the bag. Inanother instant I would have had the strap around my shoulder. But atthat moment the Princess threw open the door of the compartment andbeckoned wildly at the people on the platform. 'Natalie!' she called,'Natalie! here I am. Come here! This way!' She turned upon me in thegreatest excitement. 'My maid!' she cried. 'She is looking for me. Shepassed the window without seeing me. Go, please, and bring her back.'She continued pointing out of the door and beckoning me with her otherhand. There certainly was something about that woman's tone which madeone jump. When she was giving orders you had no chance to think ofanything else. So I rushed out on my errand of mercy, and then rushedback again to ask what the maid looked like.
09 This gave the Princess Zichy the chance]
"'In black,' she answered, rising and blocking the door of thecompartment. 'All in black, with a bonnet!'
"The train waited three minutes at Aries, and in that time I suppose Imust have rushed up to over twenty women and asked, 'Are you Natalie?'The only reason I wasn't punched with an umbrella or handed over to thepolice was that they probably thought I was crazy.
"When I jumped back into the compartment the Princess was seated whereI had left her, but her eyes were burning with happiness. She placed herhand on my arm almost affectionately, and said in a hysterical way, 'Youare very kind to me. I am so sorry to have troubled you.'
"I protested that every woman on the platform was dressed in black.
"'Indeed I am so sorry,' she said, laughing; and she continued to laughuntil she began to breathe so quickly that I thought she was going tofaint.
"I can see now that the last part of that journey must have been aterrible half hour for her. She had the cigar-case safe enough, but sheknew that she herself was not safe. She understood if I were to open mybag, even at the last minute, and miss the case, I would know positivelythat she had taken it. I had placed the diamonds in the bag at the verymoment she entered the compartment, and no one but our two selves hadoccupied it since. She knew that when we reached Marseilles she wouldeither be twenty thousand pounds richer than when she left Paris, orthat she would go to jail. That was the situation as she must have readit, and I don't envy her her state of mind during that last half hour.It must have been hell.
10 She knew she would be twenty thousand pounds richer]
"I saw that something was wrong, and in my innocence I even wondered ifpossibly my cognac had not been a little too strong. For she suddenlydeveloped into a most brilliant conversationalist, and applauded andlaughed at everything I said, and fired off questions at me like amachine gun, so that I had no time to think of anything but of what shewas saying. Whenever I stirred she stopped her chattering and leanedtoward me, and watched me like a cat over a mouse-hole. I wondered how Icould have considered her an agreeable travelling companion. I thoughtI would have preferred to be locked in with a lunatic. I don't like tothink how she would have acted if I had made a move to examine the bag,but as I had it safely strapped around me again, I did not open it, andI reached Marseilles alive. As we drew into the station she shook handswith me and grinned at me like a Cheshire cat.
"'I cannot tell you,' she said, 'how much I have to thank you for.' Whatdo you think of that for impudence!
"I offered to put her in a carriage, but she said she must find Natalie,and that she hoped we would meet again at the hotel. So I drove off bymyself, wondering who she was, and whether Natalie was not her keeper.
"I had to wait several hours for the train to Nice, and as I wanted tostroll around the city I thought I had better put the diamonds in thesafe of the hotel. As soon as I reached my room I locked the door,placed the hand bag on the table and opened it. I felt among the thingsat the top of it, but failed to touch the cigar-case. I shoved my handin deeper, and stirred the things about, but still I did not reach it.A cold wave swept down my spine, and a sort of emptiness came to the pitof my stomach. Then I turned red-hot, and the sweat sprung out all overme. I wet my lips with my tongue, and said to myself, 'Don't be an ass.Pull yourself together, pull yourself together. Take the things out, oneat a time. It's there, of course it's there. Don't be an ass.'
"So I put a brake on my nerves and began very carefully to pick out thethings one by one, but after another second I could not stand it, andI rushed across the room and threw out everything on the bed. But thediamonds were not among them. I pulled the things about and tore themopen and shuffled and rearranged and sorted them, but it was no use. Thecigar-case was gone. I threw everything in the dressing-case out on thefloor, although I knew it was useless to look for it there. I knew thatI had put it in the bag. I sat down and tried to think. I remembered Ihad put it in the satchel at Paris just as that woman had entered thecompartment, and I had been alone with her ever since, so it was shewho had robbed me. But how? It had never left my shoulder. And then Iremembered that it had--that I had taken it off when I had changedmy coat and for the few moments that I was searching for Natalie. Iremembered that the woman had sent me on that goose chase, and
that atevery other station she had tried to get rid of me on some fool errand.
11 I threw out everything on the bed]
"I gave a roar like a mad bull, and I jumped down the stairs six stepsat a time.
"I demanded at the office if a distinguished lady of title, possibly aRussian, had just entered the hotel.
"As I expected, she had not. I sprang into a cab and inquired at twoother hotels, and then I saw the folly of trying to catch her withoutoutside help, and I ordered the fellow to gallop to the office of theChief of Police. I told my story, and the ass in charge asked me to calmmyself, and wanted to take notes. I told him this was no time for takingnotes, but for doing something. He got wrathy at that, and I demandedto be taken