Collected Works of Gaston Leroux

by Gaston Leroux

  He pushed a button; a panel in the wall opened and disclosed my room. There was my bed, on which I should not be able to sleep a wink. It was a curious sensation to turn from these sinister halls to see the lamp burning under a rose shade; the pyjamas spread out on a soft bed; to fall from the Middle Ages into the twentieth century in a twinkling.

  Victor, in his shroud, hesitated at the door. Finally, he said, “Good night, young man. Take my advice and get out. And don’t forget to tell the master for me that he can go to the devil!”

  The secret door closed after him and I heard the echoing clank of his chains in the stillness of the night. No matter how many times I reminded myself that it was only a young Parisian barber groaning and moaning outside, I couldn’t help being affected by the eerie sounds.

  “Douglas!” the sepulchral voice cried, “give me back my life! Douglas!”

  And then a howl:

  “Patrick! Help! Patrick!”

  For a full half-hour I heard this funereal farce. And I understood why Helena was on the verge of collapse.

  “Help! Help! Patrick!”

  Would Patrick come?

  If Victor hadn’t deceived me — and he seemed sincere — if he — hadn’t — deceived — me, — I was not — in — danger.

  Nobody had told Sir Philip; Sir Archibald knew nothing about me, and so — nobody, except — Helena and Durin, knew my real — past. — So how — were — they going — to — unmask Durin? — I had — thought — they — couldn’t get — at — the real murderer without first unmasking the false one — I, Antonin Rose. But now I was not so sure.

  “Get out, quick!” said Victor.

  Of course. That would be the best thing if it weren’t for Helena. I didn’t want to make her unhappy. I must stay to protect her. As for Durin, I would have to get the necklace from him before Patrick appeared.

  Who knew but that Victor, in getting rid of Durin, was working to my advantage. But Sir Philip would surely demand his necklace.

  I must work fast.... Would I have time in two days to get my hands on the necklace? I could not move about this huge castle freely. It was doubtful if I could ever find my way to his lordship’s suite. Then suppose someone saw me. Walls have ears; here they have eyes also. To-morrow we shall see.

  Towards eight in the morning someone tapped on my door. Durin entered.

  I was sure he hadn’t closed his eyes. There were deep lines in his face in spite of the make-up.

  “You saw Victor?”

  “Yes; he won’t listen to anything.”

  “He wants revenge, then, does he?”

  “Yes.”

  “Did he tell you why?”

  “No. Merely that you had robbed him of any reason for living... that it was your fault he had lost all he had ever loved.”

  “What a fool! You Frenchmen are all like that. A woman passes, and you all think your life is hanging in the folds of her skirt. Am I to blame if a little stenographer threw herself into the river one day, and that Victor loved her? He’ll say it was my fault, because I had made love to her. However... I had counted ON your eloquence....”

  And he laughed, a horrible laugh!

  “Well, since that failed, I shall have to have recourse to other means, means I wanted to avoid.”

  “Durin, there’s still time to disappear...

  “For you, perhaps — not for me. Don’t make me repeat what I told you last night. Wherever I’d go, those two crazed avengers would be there, ready to fafâ on me.”

  He thought a moment.

  “But you can go. You can be in Paris to-morrow if you want to.”

  “I don’t want to. I’ll stay.”

  “As you wish. Did Victor tell you how long a time he’ll give me?”

  “He said something about two days.”

  “Good. That means to-morrow night. Anyhow Patrick hasn’t appeared yet.”

  And he left. Can that be Durin? Or Mr. Flow? He certainly looked terrified, terrified by that dumb-bell of a Sir Philip and that ex-barber, Victor. I was sorry for him. We were living in the twentieth century. Could it be possible that he was afraid of the “Green Lady”? By the way, I forgot to tell him that Victor had reserved a place for him there....

  I went downstairs. Helena was alone in the diningroom.

  “Oh, Mr. Rose, shall we eat quickly and go for a drive? I want to show you our beautiful country.”

  A few minutes later we were spinning along the road, Helena at the wheel. She turned towards me:

  “Oh, Rudy, look at me! Look at me well. You may never see me again!”

  “Come now, Helena, you’re not going to begin to weaken, too, are you?” —

  “Weaken? Oh no, darling. I’ve already made up my mind. Everything will be over to-morrow night.”

  “But why, Helena, why? If you say the word, we can be in London in a few hours.”

  She shook her head.

  “Too late,” she said. “It’s too late. The battle is on now. I wish you were not here, Rudy. I’m driving you to Stirling; you can take the train there if you like.”

  “Do you think I’d leave you like this, Helena?”

  “You’re wrong, dear; you must go.”

  “Only yesterday you said I might die with you.”

  “Forget that. It’s no longer a matter of mere dying. It’s a question of living in the room of the ‘ Green Lady.’ And that’s no place for you. Everybody loves you, Rudy. You’re going to lunch at Stirling; my little sister-in-law will invite you, I think. And afterwards you must leave. Leave, Rudy, go away. Go back to France.”

  “No, Helena, I want to stay with you.”

  “Lunch at Stirling, Rudy; then we’ll see if you still want to go back to Black Rooks.”

  When the first houses of the little town came in sight Helena stopped the car.

  “You must get out here, Rudy. And kiss me just once more.

  “Good-bye, my darling. You will know later how much I loved you. Good-bye, my dear, good-bye.”

  I got out, but I said, “I’ll see you to-night, Helena.” She did not answer, turned the car around quickly and drove on.

  I found myself alone on the road. Why had she left me thus? Why had I got out? Why had she insisted that I lunch at Stirling? Was Durin planning something new in my absence? Well, I’d go on to Stirling and lunch there and then go back to Black Rooks. I wanted, to be there in case something happened.

  In five minutes I reached the Two Crowns Hotel. At the door I bumped into Natalie, who was surprised to see me.

  “You here, Antonin?”

  “My dear Natalie, I came to ask you to have luncheon with me.”

  She looked at me searchingly.

  “How did you get here, Antonin?”

  “By automobile.”

  “From Black Rooks? Who drove you?”

  “Surely...”

  “Ah!...”

  “What is so surprising about that, Natalie?”

  “Come with me. I’m taking a little drive before lunch.”

  “I’d like to. Isn’t Clotilde here?”

  “No. She left last night with Sir Philip.”

  “Gone back to France?”

  “I haven’t the slightest idea, Antonin. And I’m not sure I’d tell you even if I did know.”

  We drove on a little, and again she asked if I had come by car.

  “Yes, naturally, Natalie. You didn’t expect me to walk, did you?”

  “And... and was it your own idea to lunch at Stirling?”

  What good to pretend? I told the whole truth.

  “No, it really wasn’t. Someone asked me to go for a drive and all of a sudden I was told I was to lunch here.”

  “.Ah...

  She was lost in thought.

  “Ah... that’s really strange... and... and you have an engagement to-night at Black Rooks?”

  “No. Someone advised me to leave, to hurry back to France.”

  “A good idea, but a little late! What did these people
want of you? I was expecting anything but that.”

  “I didn’t expect it either, Natalie, and I don’t understand any more than you do. That’s exactly why I will go back to Black Rooks this evening.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I’m afraid that while I’m absent something will happen for which I’ll be held responsible later.”

  “I don’t see what they can do... was it she or he who drove you over?”

  “She did.”

  “Strange, very strange.... They don’t reckon with me, do they?... We shall see....”

  She shook her head, almost defiantly.

  “Let us take gratefully,” she said at last with a smile, “the little gifts the gods provide, even if they do come by disagreeable messengers. It will make me happy, Antonin, to lunch with you.”

  We walked along a path strewn with dead leaves.

  “Will you believe me when I say I do not like the country? I’d rather be in the rue des Bernardins. And you? Do you like Black Rooks?”

  “Good God!” I laughed, “how depressing it would be if we didn’t have a ghost to amuse us. We have a real one. The other night he kept on wailing, ‘Douglas, Douglas, give me back my life!’ You would have thought it was a make-believe ghost, it did so well!” And I tried to imitate his cries.

  “Brrr.. said Natalie.... “I certainly wouldn’t like that! Weren’t you frightened, Antonin?”

  “What do you take me for, Natalie? I’ve been trained in the hard-boiled school of the Paris cafés. I was so far from frightened that I had quite a nice little chat with the ghost.”

  “No?”

  “Yes, I did. He’s very approachable, and he seemed to have nothing against me. He advised me in no uncertain terms to go back at once to France; and he assured me I had nothing to fear from him.”

  “No joking, Antonin? Did you really talk with Victor? And was it your own idea?”

  “No, it was a commission from his lordship.”

  “Oh... and Victor... did he receive the suggestions kindly?”

  “Not in the slightest.... He said he only wanted vengeance.”

  “And Durin knows it?”

  “Of course. I told him this morning.”

  “Then,” she said, “I understand less and less.” She was thinking.

  “What is it you don’t understand, Natalie?”

  “Why they brought you here.... At least that...”

  “Now listen, Natalie.... Don’t be so mysterious.... I’ve got to know. And you owe me the truth, since you say you love me. No more reservations, I beg of you.... Speak... Natalie, so I can understand.”

  She shook her head.

  “What’s the use? Either you don’t believe me, or you take what I say to be the opposite of what I mean. So I have let you alone to do what you wanted to, then I have patched up your mistakes. Don’t ask any more about it.”

  “Yes, I will. Why are you so surprised that they brought me over here to Stirling?”

  “No, that’s the very thing I don’t want to explain. I can see only one explanation, and I don’t like it; I think it’s impossible.”

  “Tell me, Natalie, tell me.”

  “It seems to me that they made you come here to make use of you, to compromise you, to use you to get themselves out of their difficulties.”

  “But she wants to save me.”

  “Oh, be quiet.... I know her better than you do.... Meanwhile, let’s have luncheon.”

  We went back to Stirling, and sat down to a pretty bad lunch at the hotel. We were both silent, lost in our thoughts. When we had finished, Natalie looked at me and said:

  “How are you going to get back to Black Rooks to-night?”

  “I’ll look up a car. There’s no other way.”

  “If you’d like me to, I’ll drive you back.”

  “You, Natalie?”

  “Why not?”

  Natalie showed herself to be a very good driver — calm, careful, competent. Perhaps it was because she was such a well-balanced woman that she annoyed me so.

  We had already gone about fifteen miles along a straight road and were nearing Black Rooks. Suddenly I felt the car slowing up.

  “What’s the matter, Natalie?”

  “A car just stopped ahead on the left. A little road comes in there.”

  “That’s no reason for slowing down.”

  “You think not?” she asked mockingly. But she didn’t hurry at all.

  “Do you fear something?”

  “Well, that depends upon what you mean by fear.”

  After we had gone a few feet farther, the other car was turned directly across our road.

  “Now here’s the time, Antonin, for you to do some talking.”

  “Some talking?”

  She did not answer, but went on slowly. A few feet farther on, she stopped.

  It was Helena alone in her car who was blocking the road. She made a sharp turn, drew up beside our car and got out.

  “Get out, too,” Natalie said to me.

  When Helena begged pardon for having obliged us to stop, Natalie replied:

  “Really, Madame, I am indebted to you for having saved us several miles. My friend, Antonin, whom I am driving to your place, can now go on in your car and I can return sooner than I had expected.”

  “But you surely want him to go back to Stirling with you, Miss Natalie?” And, turning to me, Helena added: “You mustn’t go to Black Rooks, darling. You mustn’t be there at this time.”

  “Helena, if you won’t take me there, Natalie will.” She was silent a moment,.then said:

  “And if I say to you that I don’t wish to, darling?”

  “I would still say that I want to be there to protect you.”

  She looked at Natalie.

  “And you, how can you possibly bring yourself to take him to Black Rooks?”

  “If you insist, Madame, that he should not return, you have only to remain away yourself.”

  “Yes, I, too, have thought of that. But then I should lose him in another way. I know... the other one. What has he planned to do?”

  Natalie looked at Helena coldly. She thought a few moments, then said:

  “Madame, you may take him.”

  Turning to me, she said:

  “I need not advise you to be brave; all I ask of you is not to be foolish.”

  She asked Helena if Patrick had made his appearance. “Yes,” answered Helena.

  “In that case I must go back at once. Good-bye, Antonin,” she said quietly. “Good-bye, Madame.”

  She shook hands, nodded rather curtly to Helena, started up her car and was soon out of sight.

  Helena watched her until she was out of sight. Then she turned to me.

  “I wasn’t looking for this to happen. Evidently both Miss Natalie and Fate want us to go back to Black Rooks. We’ll play the game together. But you must swear you will not listen to Durin, or do one thing he tells you to Swear, Rudy, swear!”

  I gave her my word; ten minutes later we were back at Black Rooks.

  The castle looked bleaker to me than ever. The servants went about with a mysterious air. Durin was nowhere to be seen.

  I went to get ready for dinner.

  Alone, I would be able to think things out. All this mystery irritated me. “Patrick has come?”... Why did neither Helena nor Natalie want to talk to me? Why all those cryptic words? It was all very baffling.

  I was just beginning to dress when Durin entered.

  “Have a pleasant drive, my dear master?”

  “That has nothing to do with ‘Has Patrick come?’” I spoke up sharply. “I’m getting pretty sick of all this business about Patrick.”

  “So am I,” answered Durin.

  He looked serious.

  “Tell me, hasn’t this Patrick nonsense gone to everybody’s head?” I insisted. “Are you all really afraid of this crude peasant I saw last year?”

  “Yes, it’s true. Yes, I am very much afraid. But I can understand that you are
not. You are an honest man... almost honest towards other people and really honest in regard to me. What can Patrick do to you? Nothing, my dear master.”

  “Why don’t you explain all this to me? Perhaps then I could be useful to you.”

  “No, you couldn’t. I am following my destiny.

  Neither you nor anyone else could prevent what is going to happen.... If I should live,” he said with deep feeling, “I will not forget what you have just said. You have every reason to hate me, yet you want to help me out!”

  He seemed to be lost in thought.

  “In a few hours I may not be able to do anything for you.”

  Suddenly he rose from his chair.

  “You want the necklace very much, don’t you?”

  “Yes,” I answered frankly.

  “Just a moment. Here it is.”

  With a quick movement he unbuttoned his collar, unfastened the clasp, and offered me the gorgeous jewel.

  “There,” he said, “I think our account is settled.”

  I could not believe my eyes.

  “Take it, take it, give it to Helena... do with it what you want.... It’s yours. If by chance I should escape...”

  “If you do,” I said decisively, “I will not give it back to you.”

  His lips tightened into a bitter smile.

  “I know that. But I’ll get it back from you. So why not accept it now?”

  I took it; examined it carefully. Yes, it was the real necklace; the twelfth pearl was spotted.

  Durin looked at me cynically.

  “This is no time for me to attempt to deceive anyone,” he said sadly. “Now let me give you the advice that all your friends have given you: leave here at once.”

  “No,” I said.

  “Your staying will not save Lady Helena; go.”

  “No,” I said, louder this time.

  “Very well. That’s your own business. Good-bye, dear master.”

  He got up to leave, but on the threshold turned around.

  “Give me the imitation necklace, just for luck.”

  I gave it to him. He left. What a strange incident was this! Durin must be very sure something serious was going to happen to him to be willing to give up the necklace he had gone to such pains to get. True, he said he’d get it back if by some miracle he escaped. But that was mere bravado. In the first place, Helena would probably sell it at once. Then I wouldn’t be so stupid as to hide it again in a fireplace. I had the necklace; that was all that mattered. The important thing now was to save Helena.