“You are discretion itself,” Delora said. “Some day I will remember this as a joke against you. Have you been reading Gaboriau, my young friend, or his English disciples? This is your own city—London—the most law-abiding place on God’s earth.”
“I know it,” I answered, “and yet a place is so much what the people who live in it may make it. I must confess that your five exits, two on to the river, would have given me a little shiver if I had not known for certain that I had made my visit to you safe.”
Delora tried to smile. As a matter of fact, I could see that the man was shaking with fury.
“You are a strange person, Captain Rotherby,” he said. “If I had not seen you bear yourself as a man of courage I should have been tempted to congratulate your army upon its freedom from your active services. You have no more to say to me?”
“Nothing more,” I answered.
“To-morrow morning at eleven o’clock,” Delora said, “you will be arrested for the attempted murder of Stephen Tapilow.”
“It is exceedingly kind of you,” I answered, “to give me this warning. I will make my arrangements accordingly.”
“One thing,” Delora said, “would change the course of Fate.”
“That one thing,” I remarked, “being that I should not send this cablegram.”
“Exactly!” Delora answered, “in which case you will find your banking account the richer by ten thousand pounds.”
I looked at him steadfastly.
“What manner of a swindle is this,” I asked, “In which you, Louis, poor Bartot, the Chinese ambassador, and Heaven knows how many more, are concerned?”
“You are an ignorant person to use such words!” Delora replied.
“Tell me, at least,” I begged, “whether your niece is implicated in this?”
“Why do you ask?” Delora exclaimed.
“Because I want to marry her,” I answered.
“Do nothing until the day after to-morrow, Captain Rotherby, and you shall marry her and have a dowry of fifty thousand pounds, besides what her Uncle Nicholas will leave her.”
“You overwhelm me!” I answered, turning toward the door.
He made no movement to arrest my departure. Suddenly I turned towards him. Why should I not give him the benefit of this one chance!
“Delora,” I said, “from the moment when you disappeared from Charing Cross I have had but one idea concerning you, and that is that you are engaged in some nefarious if not criminal undertaking. I believe so at this minute. On the other hand, there is, of course, the chance that you may be, as you say, engaged in carrying out some enterprise, political or otherwise, which necessitates these mysterious doings on your part. I have no wish to be your enemy, or to interfere in any legitimate operation. If you care to take me into your confidence you will not find me unreasonable.”
Delora bowed. I caught the gleam of his white teeth underneath his black moustache. I knew that he had made up his mind to fight.
“Captain Rotherby,” he said, “I am much obliged for your offer, but I am not in need of allies. Send your cable as soon as you will. You will only make a little mischief of which you will afterwards be ashamed.”
I shrugged my shoulders and turned away. No one came to let me out, but I undid the bolts myself, and stepped into my taxicab with a little breath of relief. Somehow or other I felt as though I had escaped from a danger which I could not define, and yet which I had felt with every breath I had drawn in that damp, unwholesome-looking house!
XXXVI. AN ABORTIVE ATTEMPT
Table of Contents
Immediately I arrived at my brother’s hotel I rang up the hall-porter of the Milan and informed him of my whereabouts. Afterwards Ralph and I between us concocted a cable to Dicky, for which I was thankful that I had not to pay. I had now taken Ralph into my entire confidence, and I found that he took very much the same view of Delora’s behavior as I did. This is what we said,—
Have seen Delora. Behavior very mysterious. Is living apart from niece in secrecy. Seen several times with Chinese ambassador. Offered me large bribe refrain cabling you till Thursday. Fear something wrong.
“Do you think that you could give me a bed here to-night, Ralph?” I asked.
“By all means, old fellow,” my brother answered. “To tell you the truth, I think you are better here than at the Milan. You can have the rooms you had the other night.”
I had had a tiring day, and I dropped off to sleep almost as soon as my head touched the pillow. I was awakened by the sound of the telephone bell close to my head. I had no idea as to the time, but from the silence everywhere I judged that I had been asleep for several hours. I took up the receiver and held it to my ear.
“Hullo!” I exclaimed.
“Is that Captain Rotherby?” a familiar voice asked.
“Yes!” I said. “That’s Ashley, isn’t it?”
“Yes, sir!” the man answered. “I am on night duty here. Will you excuse my asking you, sir, if you have lent your room to any one?”
“Certainly not!” I replied. “Why?”
“It’s a very odd thing, sir,” he continued. “A person arrived here with a small bag a little time ago and presented your card,—said that you had given him permission to sleep in your room. I let him go up, but I didn’t feel altogether comfortable about it, so I took the liberty of ringing up Claridge’s to see if you were there. I thought that as you were here this evening, you would have told us if you had proposed lending it.”
“You are quite right, Ashley,” I declared. “I have lent the room to no one. You had better go and see who it is at once. Shall I come round?”
“I will ring you up again, sir,” the man answered, “as soon as I have been upstairs.”
“By the bye,” I asked, “he didn’t look like a Frenchman, did he?”
“I could not say so,” Ashley replied. “I will ring you up in a few minutes. I shall go up and inquire into this myself.”
I sat on the edge of the bed, waiting. In less than ten minutes the telephone bell rang again. Once more I heard Ashley’s voice.
“I am ringing up from your sitting-room, sir,” he said. “There is no one here at all, but the room has been opened. So far as I can see, nothing has been taken, but a bottle of chloroform has been dropped and broken upon the floor in your bedroom, and I have a strong idea that some one left the room by the other door as I entered the sitting-room.”
“I’ll come along at once, Ashley,” I said,—“that is, as soon as I can get dressed.”
“I was wondering, sir,” was the quiet reply, “whether I would advise you to do so. I did not like the look of the man who came, and I am afraid he was not up to any good here. He is somewhere in the hotel now.”
“You say that nothing has been disturbed?” I asked.
“Nothing at all, sir. It wasn’t for robbery he came!”
“I think I can guess what he wanted, Ashley,” said I. “Perhaps you are right. I won’t come round till the morning.”
“If anything fresh happens, sir, I will let you know,” the man said. “Good night, sir!”
“Good night, Ashley!” I answered.
I got back into bed, but I did not immediately fall off to sleep again. There was no doubt at all that my visitor had come at the instigation of Delora, and that his object had been to prevent my sending that cable, which was already on its way. I got up and saw that my door was securely fastened. I am ashamed to confess that at that moment I felt a tremor of fear! I no longer had the slightest doubt that Delora, if not an impostor, was engaged in some great criminal operation. And Felicia! I thought of the matter in every way. It was impossible that Delora could be an impostor pure and simple. Felicia was content to travel with him. She knew him for her uncle. He must be her uncle, unless she herself had deceived me! I felt my blood run cold at the thought. I flung it from me. I would have no more of it. Felicia, at least, was above suspicion! Delora had, perhaps, been led into this enterprise, whatever it
might be, by Louis and his friends. At any rate, the morrow was likely to clear things up. I was the more convinced of that when I remembered that it was one day’s grace only that Delora had begged of me. I went off to sleep again soon, and only woke when my brother’s servant called me for my bath. At half-past ten, after a consultation with my brother, I drove to the Brazilian Embassy. I sent in my card, and asked to see Mr. Lamartine. He came to me in a few minutes.
“Captain Rotherby!” he exclaimed, holding out his hand. “You have some news?”
“I am not sure whether you will call it news,” I answered. “I came to see you about this man Delora.”
“Sit down,” Lamartine said. “I only wish that you had given me all your confidence the other day.”
“To tell you the truth, I am not sure whether I have any to give now,” I answered. “There are just one or two facts which seem to me so peculiar that I decided to look you up.”
“I am very glad indeed to see you, Captain Rotherby,” Lamartine said. “Something is happening in connection with this person which I am afraid may lead to very serious trouble. I know now more than I did when I hung around you and Miss Delora at Charing Cross Station, and in the course of the day I hope to know more.”
“I should have washed my hands of the whole affair,” I told him, “before now, but from the fact that I have received a cable from my brother, who is in Rio, concerning these very people. He had first of all, in a letter, asked me to be civil and to look them up. His cable begged me, on behalf of an elder brother out there, to look after Delora, find out what he was doing, and report. I gathered that he was over here on some special mission as to the progress of which he should have made reports to his brother in Brazil. He has not done so, nor has he used the private code agreed upon between those two.”
“This is very interesting,” Lamartine said,—“very interesting indeed!”
“I came to you,” I said, “because, since the receipt of this cable, I have convinced myself that Delora is engaged in some sort of underground work the crisis of which must be very close at hand. I found him last night in a miserable, deserted sort of building down near the river in Bermondsey. He offered me ten thousand pounds not to reply to his brother’s cable, I think that he would have done his best to have detained me there but for the fact that I had taken precautions before I started.”
“Have you any idea,” Lamartine asked, “what the nature of this underground business is?”
“I cannot imagine,” I answered. “In some way it seems to me that it is connected with the Chinese ambassador, because I have seen them several times together. That, however, is only surmise. I can give you one more piece of information,” I added, “and that is that the Chinese ambassador and Delora have recently visited Newcastle.”
Lamartine smiled.
“I know everything except one thing,” he said, “and that we shall both of us know before the day is out. Our friend Delora has played a great game. Even now I cannot tell you whether he has played to win or to lose. Since you have been so kind as to look me up, Captain Rotherby,” he went on, “let us spend a little time together. Do me, for instance, the honor to lunch with me at the Milan at one o’clock.”
“With Louis?” I asked grimly.
“I do not think that Louis will hurt us,” Lamartine answered. “There is just a chance, even, that we may not find him on duty to-day.”
“I will lunch with you with pleasure,” I said, “but there is one thing which I must do first.”
Lamartine looked at me narrowly.
“You want to see Miss Delora?” he asked.
It was foolish to be offended. I admitted the fact.
“Well,” he said, “it is natural. Miss Delora is a very charming young lady, and, so far as I know, she believes in her uncle. At the same time, I am not sure, Captain Rotherby, that the neighborhood of the Milan is very safe for you just now.”
“At this hour of the morning,” I said, “one should be able to protect one’s self.”
“It is true,” Lamartine answered. “Tell me, Captain Rotherby, at what hour did you send that cable last night?”
“At midnight,” I answered.
Lamartine glanced at the clock.
“Soon,” he said, “we shall have an official cable here, and then things will be interesting. Shall we meet, then, at the Milan?”
“Precisely,” I answered. “You don’t feel inclined,” I added, “to be a little more candid with me? My head has ached for a good many days over this business.”
“A few hours longer won’t hurt you,” Lamartine answered, laughing. “I can promise you that it will be worth waiting for.”
XXXVII. DELORA RETURNS
Table of Contents
At a few minutes before twelve I entered the Milan by the Court entrance, and received at once some astonishing news. Ashley, who came out to meet me, drew me at once upon one side with a little gesture of apology.
“Mr. Delora has returned, sir,” he said.
For the moment I had forgotten the sensation which Delora’s non-arrival on that first evening had made, and which had always left behind it a flavor of mystery. I could see from Ashley’s face that he was puzzled.
“Is Mr. Delora with his niece?” I asked.
“They have moved into Number 35, sir,” Ashley told me. “Mr. Delora complained very much of his rooms, said they were too small, and threatened to move to Claridge’s. Number 35 is the best suite we have.”
I stood, for a moment, thinking. Ashley, meanwhile, had retreated to his place behind the counter. I approached him slowly.
“Ashley,” I said, “ring up and tell Mr. Delora that I have called.”
Ashley went at once to the telephone.
“Don’t be surprised,” I said, “if his reply isn’t exactly polite. I don’t think he is very well pleased with me just now.”
I strolled away for a few minutes to look into the café, where the waiters were preparing for luncheon. There was no sign of Louis. When I returned, Ashley leaned forward to me from the other side of the desk.
“Mr. Delora wishes you to step up, sir,” he said.
I was a little surprised, but I moved promptly to the lift.
“On the third floor, isn’t it?” I asked.
“Exactly, sir,” Ashley answered. “Shall I send a page with you?”
I shook my head.
“I can find it all right,” I said.
My knock at the door was answered by a dark-faced valet. He ushered me into a large and very handsome sitting-room. Felicia and Delora were standing talking together near the mantelpiece. They both ceased at my entrance, but I had an instinctive feeling that I had been the subject of their conversation. Felicia greeted me timidly. There were signs of tears in her face, and I felt that by some means or other this man had been able to reassert his influence over her. Delora himself was a changed being. He was dressed with the almost painful exactness of the French man of fashion. His slight black imperial was trimmed to a point, his moustache upturned with a distinctly foreign air. He wore a wonderful pin in his carefully arranged tie, and a tiny piece of red ribbon in his button-hole. The manicurist whom I had met in the passage had evidently just left him, for as I entered he was regarding his nails thoughtfully. He did not offer me his hand. He stared at me instead with a certain restrained insolence.
“I should be glad to know, Captain Rotherby,” he said calmly, “to what I owe this intrusion?”
“I am sorry that you look upon it in that light, sir,” I answered. “My visit, as a matter of fact, was intended for your niece.”
She took a step towards me, but Delora’s outstretched arm barred her progress.
“My niece is very much honored,” he answered, “but her friends and her acquaintances are mine. You were so good as to render me some service on our arrival at Charing Cross a few days ago, but you have since then presumed upon that service to an unwarrantable extent.”
“I am sorry tha
t you should think so,” I answered.
“I did not know,” Delora continued, “that the young men of your country had time enough to spare to devote themselves to other people’s business in the way that you have done. I came to this country upon a peculiar and complicated mission, intrusted to me by my own government. The chief condition of success was that it should be performed in secrecy. You were only a chance acquaintance, and how on earth you should have had the impertinence to associate yourself with my doings I cannot imagine! But the fact remains that you made my task more difficult, and, in fact, at one time seriously endangered its success. Not only that,” Delora continued, “but you have chosen to ally yourself with those whose object it has been to wreck my undertaking. Yet, with the full knowledge of these things, you have had the supreme impudence to force your company upon my niece,—even, I understand, to pay her your addresses!”
“The dowry of fifty thousand pounds,” I began,—
He stretched out his hand with a commanding air.
“We will not allude to that, sir,” he declared. “I was forced to make an attempt to bribe you, I admit, but it was under very difficult circumstances. As it is, I am only thankful that you declined my offer. I have arranged matters so that your cable shall do me no harm. It has precipitated matters by twenty-four hours, but that is no one’s loss and my gain. When I heard your name sent up I could scarcely believe my ears, but since you are here, since you have ventured to pay this call, I wish to inform you, on behalf of my niece and myself, that we consider your further acquaintance undesirable in the extreme.”
The man’s deportment was magnificent. But for the fact that I had long ago lost all faith in him I should have felt, without the shadow of a doubt, that I had made a supreme fool of myself. But as it was, my faith was only shaken. The hideous possibility that I had made a mistake was there like a shadow, but I could not accept it as a certainty.
“Mr. Delora,” I said, “from one point of view I am very glad to hear you speak like this. If I have been mistaken in supposing that your extraordinary behavior in London—”
21 Greatest Spy Thrillers in One Premium Edition (Mystery & Espionage Series) Page 415
