I dined at a small table alone in the big crowded _table-d'hote_ room of
the hotel. About me were some of the most exclusive set in Italy,
well-dressed men and women, Roman princes, marquises and counts, with a
fair sprinkling of the Hebrew fraternity. At the table next mine sat a
young prince of great wealth together with the fair American girl to
whom he was engaged to be married, and the young lady's mother. The
prince and his fiancee were speaking Italian, and the old lady from
Idaho City, understanding no other language but her own, seemed to be
having anything but an amusing time.
All this, however, interested me but little. I was reflecting upon the
events of that afternoon, trying to devise some means by which to solve
the enigma that was now driving me to desperation.
My well-beloved was in a deadly peril. How could I save her?
I saw that rapid and decided action was necessary. Should I return to
England and watch the actions of the man I had known as Lieutenant
Shacklock, or should I go on to Rome and try and discover something both
regarding the object of Miller's journey there and the part of the
Italian who, prior to his death, had consigned to me that mysterious
packet?
As I ate my dinner in silence I decided to first take a flying visit to
Rome. I could return to England afterwards. Ella's marriage was not
for three weeks or so, therefore I might, in that time, succeed in
solving the enigma as far as Miller was concerned, and by doing so
obtain further information against his accomplice, Gordon-Wright.
Therefore at midnight I left Leghorn by way of Colle Salvetti, and
through the night travelled across the Maremma fever-marshes, until at
nine o'clock next morning the train drew into the great echoing terminus
of the "Eternal City."
I went to the Hotel Milano, where it was my habit to stay. I knew Rome
well and preferred the Milano--which, as you know, is opposite the
Chamber of Deputies in the Piazza Colonna--to the Grand, the Quirinale,
or the new Regina. At the Milano there was an unpretentious old-world
comfort appreciated too by the Italian deputies themselves, for many of
them had their _pied-a-terre_ there while attending to their
parliamentary duties in the capital.
Rome lay throbbing beneath the August heat and half deserted, for every
one who can get away in those breathless blazing days when the fever is
prevalent does so. Numbers of the shops in the Corso and the Via
Vittorio were closed, the big doors and _persiennes_ of the palaces and
embassies were shut, showing that their occupants were away at the sea,
or in the mountains, in France, Switzerland or England for cool air,
while the cafes were deserted, and the only foreigners in the streets a
few perspiring German and American sightseers.
Unfortunately I had not inquired of Lucie her father's address and knew
nothing except that he was staying with a doctor named Gavazzi.
Therefore at the hotel I obtained the directory and very soon discovered
that there was a doctor named Gennaro Gavazzi living in the Via del
Tritone, that long straight thoroughfare of shops that run from the
Piazza S. Claudio to the Piazza Barberini.
It was about midday when I found the house indicated by the directory, a
large palazzo which in Italian style was let out in flats, the ground
floor being occupied by shops, while at the entrance an old white-haired
hall-porter was dozing in a chair.
I awoke him and inquired in Italian if the Signore Dottore Gavazzi lived
there.
"_Si signore. Terzo piano_," was the old fellow's reply, raising his
forefinger to his cap.
"Thank you," I said, slipping five francs into his ready palm. "But by
the way," I added as an afterthought, "do you know whether he has an
English signore staying with him--a tall dark-haired thin man?"
"There's a gentleman staying with the Signore Dottore, but I do not
think he is an Englishman. He spoke perfect Italian to me yesterday."
"Ah, of course, I forgot. He speaks Italian perfectly," I said. "And
this Dottore Gavazzi. How long has he lived here?"
"A little over a year. He acted as one of the private secretaries to
His Excellency the Minister Nardini--he who ran away from Rome a little
time ago, and hasn't since been heard of."
"Oh! was he," I exclaimed at once, highly interested. "Nardini played a
sharp game, didn't he?"
"Embezzled over a million francs, they say," remarked the porter. "But
whenever he came here, and it was often, he always gave me something to
get a cigar with. He was very generous with the people's money, I will
say that for him," and the old fellow laughed. "They say there was a
lady in the case, and that's why he fled from Rome."
"A lady! Who was she?"
"Nobody seems to know. There's all sorts of reports about, of course.
I hope the police will find him. They must arrest him some day, don't
you think so, signore?"
"Perhaps," I said, thinking deeply. "But I'm interested to hear about
the lady. What is it you've heard?"
"Only very little. According to the rumour, the police found at the
Villa Verde, out at Tivoli, after he had gone, the dead body of a young
lady locked in the study. It was at once hushed up, and not a word of
it has been allowed to get into the papers. The Government gave orders
to the police, I suppose, to suppress it, fearing to make the scandal
graver. I heard it, however, on very good authority from my son who is
in the _carabinieri_ and stationed at Tivoli. The body, he says, was
that of a well-dressed young lady about twenty-six or seven. When the
carabineers went with the _commissario_ to seal up the fugitive's
effects, they found the body lying full length on the carpet. She still
had her hat on and seemed as though she had suddenly fallen dead.
Another curious thing is that the doctors discovered no wound, and don't
seem to know what was the cause of her death."
"That's strange!" I remarked. "I suppose they photographed the body?"
"Of course. But the portrait hasn't been published because the police
are compelled to hush up the affair."
"Does your son know any further particulars, I wonder?"
"No more than what he's told me. He says that quite a number of secret
police agents have been over to Tivoli trying to establish the lady's
identity, and that they think they know who she was. He was here only
yesterday and we were talking about it."
"And who do they think she was?"
"Well, my son has, of course, a lot to do with the police, and a few
days ago a friend of his of the _squadra mobile_ told him that they had
established the fact that the dead girl was English."
"English! Do they know her name?"
"No, only they say that she was in Rome a great deal last winter, and
was seen generally in the company of a tall, dark, English girl, her
friend. Indeed, they say that both of them were seen in the Corso,
accompanied by a middle-aged English gentleman, about a week before
Nardini took to flight. They had apparently returned to Rome."
"And they know none of their names?"
"They've found out that the English signore stayed at the Grand, they
don't know where the young ladies were living, probably at some small
pension. They are now doing all they can to find out, but it is
difficult, as most of the pensions are closed just now. They've,
however, discovered the name of the dead girl's friend--through some
dressmaker, I think. It was Mille--Milla--or some name like that. The
English names are always so puzzling."
"Miller!" I gasped, staring at the old fellow, as all that Lucie had
admitted to me regarding her visit to the villa at Tivoli flashed
through my bewildered brain. "And she was the intimate friend of this
unknown girl who has been found dead in the empty house and whose tragic
end has been officially hushed up!"