When I first caught sight of Mr. Ludovic Tiler he was busily engaged
in conversation with one of the guards and a couple of porters. From
his gestures, no doubt, he was describing our party, and I was
half-inclined to walk up to him and say "Behold!" But then I drew back
hesitating. I did not fear him in the least, but he would be sure to
draw the others to him, and I did not quite like the idea of having
three of them on my hands at once, and with no Colonel on my side.
I could only communicate with Colonel Annesley by a roundabout
process, and it might take him some time to reach me, even if he was
not otherwise engaged by Henriette.
This Tiler man would of course stick to me and follow me if he had the
faintest clue, and I let him have that by directing Philpotts to show
herself, passing quite close to him and walking on towards the train.
She was to return then to the waiting-room, where together we made
some change in our appearance. There were other cloaks in the bundle
of rugs, which we put on over those we were wearing. I got out a thick
veil, and Philpotts replaced her neat bonnet by a soft motor cap. More
than all, we made away with the dummy child, broke up the parcel,
resolved it into its component parts, a small pillow and many wraps,
all of which we put away in the same convenient receptacle.
Tiler certainly did not recognize us as we walked separately to the
train. He was looking for a party of two and a baby, and all he saw
was one woman who might remind him of me, but without her attendant or
any encumbrance. He had his suspicions, however, for as soon as we
started he walked through the long line of _couloir_ carriages,
deliberately peering and prying, examining the passengers of every
compartment. He passed us at first, and was much put out, I could see,
disappointed no doubt, but he came back presently and stood for some
time at our window, while I hid my face in among the rugs, and
Philpotts cowered in a corner.
He came back more than once during the journey and stared. No doubt he
would have taken a seat in our compartment, but it was reserved for
_dames seules_ or ladies alone. He was evidently in great doubt, so
much so that I began to fear he would sheer off altogether. That we
were the women he wanted was probably borne in on him, but what had
become of the baby? I could enter into the workings of his mind on
that point. What could we have done with it? Hidden it, left it
somewhere on the road in the lost property office or at a foundling
hospital? All sorts of suggestions probably presented themselves to
him, but none would satisfy him; for why, he would reason, were we
travelling to Marseilles or anywhere else without it?
To tie him still to our heels, I took the opportunity of having the
compartment to ourselves to revive and reconstitute the dummy. The
baby was quickly reborn behind the drawn blinds of the carriage, and
when at last we arrived at Marseilles at 10.30 P.M. we sallied forth
and marched in solemn procession to the Terminus Hotel under the very
eyes of our watchful detective. I almost laughed in his face as we
entered the lift near the outer door, and were carried up to our rooms
upon the second floor.
I slept late, and when I woke, refreshed and fortified against
anything that might come, I looked out on to the little square with
its fringe of plane-trees, and saw my friend Mr. Tiler walking to and
fro like a sentry on his beat. He had the hotel under observation that
was clear, and it was little I should be able to do that day unknown
to him.
It did not worry me in the least, for in the early hours of calm
reflection that followed deep, restful sleep, I had thought out the
course I should pursue. I no longer dreaded pursuit; let them all
come, the more the merrier, and I meant to fully justify Mr. Tiler in
calling them to him.
I dressed slowly, lingered leisurely over my _luncheon-déjeuner_, and
then ordered a carriage, a comfortable landau and pair. I meant to
lead my follower a fine dance, starting with the innocent intention of
giving myself and my belongings an airing. It was a brilliant day, the
Southern sun struck with semi-tropical fervour, the air was soft and
sleepy in the oppressive heat. I brought out the baby undeterred, and
installed it, slumbering peacefully, on Philpotts's knees in the seat
before me, and lying back with ostentatious indifference, drove off
in full view of the detective.
I shot one glance back as I turned down the long slope leading to the
Grâce-à-Dieu Street, and was pleased to see that he had jumped into a
_fiacre_ and was coming on after me. He should have his fill of
driving. I led him up and down and round and round, street after
street, all along the great Cannebière and out towards the Reserve,
where Roubion's Restaurant offers his celebrated fish stew,
_bouillabaise_, to all comers.
Then when Mr. Tiler's weedy horse began to show signs of distress, for
my sturdy pair had outpaced him sorely, I relented and reëntered the
town, meaning to make a long halt at the office of Messrs. Cook and
Son, the universal friends of all travellers far and near. I had long
had an idea in my mind that the most promising, if not the only
effective method of ending our trouble would be to put the seas
between us and the myrmidons of the Courts. I had always hoped to
escape to some far-off country where the King's writ does not run,
where we could settle down under genial skies, amid pleasant
surroundings, at a distance from the worries and miseries of life.
Now, with the enemy close at hand, and the real treasure in my foolish
sister's care, I could not expect to evade them, but I might surely
beguile and lead them astray. This was the plan I had been revolving
in my mind, and which took me to the tourist offices. The object I had
in view was to get a list of steamers leaving the port of Marseilles
within the next two or three days, and their destination. As everybody
knows, there is a constant moving of shipping East, West, and South,
and it ought not to be difficult to pick out something to suit me.
The obliging clerk at the counter gave me abundant, almost unending,
information.
"To the East? Why, surely, there are several opportunities. The P. and
O. has half a dozen steamers for the East, pointing first for Port
Said and Suez Canal, and bound to India, Ceylon, China, and the
Antipodes; the same line for Gibraltar and the West. The Messagéries
Maritime, for all Mediterranean ports, the General Navigation of Italy
for Genoa and Naples, the Transatlantique for various Algerian ports,
Tunis, Bône, Philippeville, and Algiers, other companies serving the
coast of Morocco and especially Tangier."
Truly an embarrassing choice! I took a note of all that suited, and
promised to return after I had made a round of the shipping
offices,--another jaunt for Tiler, and a pretty plain indication of
what was in my mind.
After full inquiry I decided in favour of Tripoli, and for several
reasons. A steamer offered in a couple of days, Sunday, just when I
wanted it, although it was by no means my intention to go to Tripoli
myself. That it was somewhat out of the way, neither easy to reach nor
to leave, as the steamers came and went rarely, served my purpose
well. If I could only inveigle my tormentors into the trap, they might
be caught there longer than they liked.
Accordingly, I secured a good cabin on board the S.S. _Oasis_ of the
Transatlantique, leaving Marseilles for Tripoli at 8 A.M. the
following Sunday, and paid the necessary deposit on the passage
ticket.
It was a satisfaction to me to see my "shadow's" _fiacre_ draw up at
the door soon after I left, and Mr. Ludovic Tiler enter the office. I
made no doubt he would contrive, very cleverly as he thought, to find
out exactly what I had been doing with regard to the _Oasis_.
Later in the day, out of mere curiosity, I walked down to the offices
to ask a trivial question about my baggage. It was easy to turn the
talk to other matters connected with the voyage and my fellow
passengers.
Several other cabins had been engaged, two of them in the name of
Ludovic Tiler.
There was nothing left for me but to bide my time. I telegraphed that
evening to Colonel Annesley, reporting myself, so to speak, and
counted upon hearing his whereabouts in reply next day.
Tiler did not show up nor trouble me, nor did I concern myself about
him. We were really waiting for each other, and we knew enough of each
other's plans to bide in tranquil expectation of what we thought must
certainly follow. When I was at dinner in the hotel restaurant he
calmly came into the room, merely to pass his eye over me as it were,
and I took it so much as a matter of course that I looked up, and felt
half-inclined to give him a friendly nod. We were like duellists
saluting each other before we crossed swords, each relying upon his
own superior skill.
[_We need not reproduce in detail the rest of the matters set forth by
Lady Claire Standish while she and the detective watched each other
at Marseilles. Tiler, on the Saturday morning, made it plain, from
his arrogance and self-sufficient air as he walked through the hotel
restaurant, that all was going well, and he had indeed heard from
Falfani that he would arrive with Lord Blackadder that night._
_Later on that Saturday a telegram from Culoz reached Lady Claire from
Colonel Annesley giving the latest news, and bringing down Lady
Henriette's movements to the time of her departure for Marseilles. He
promised a later message from somewhere along the road with later
information, and soon after 9 P.M. Lady Claire was told they were
coming through by the night train, due at Marseilles at 4 A.M. next
morning. Thus all the parties to this imbroglio were about to be
concentrated in the same place, and it must depend upon the skill and
determination of one clever woman to turn events her way._]
She goes on to say:
It was a shock to me to hear that Henriette still lingered on the
fringe of danger, and I was very much disturbed at finding she might
be running into the very teeth of it. But I trusted to my good
fortune, and, better still, to good management, to keep her out of
harm's way until the coast was clear.
I was on the platform at 10 P.M. watching for the Blackadder
lot when they appeared. Tiler was there to receive them and spoke a
few words to my lord, who instantly looked round, for me no doubt, and
I slipped away. I did not wish to anticipate a crisis, and he was
quite capable of making a scene, even at the hotel at that time of
night. I was relieved at seeing him pass on, and the more so that he
did not take the turn into the Terminus Hotel, my hotel, but went
towards the entrance where a carriage was waiting for him. He meant of
course to put up in the town, either at the Noailles or the Louvre.
I lay down to take a short rest, but was roused in time to be again on
the platform at 4 A.M. to meet my friends. It was a joyful
meeting, but we lost little time over it. Henriette was fairly worn
out, and all but broke down when she saw me. The Colonel came to the
rescue as usual, and said briefly, after we had shaken hands:
"Take charge of her, Lady Claire, I will see to everything now. We can
talk later."
"Can you be at the entrance to the hotel in a couple of hours' time?
I shall want your advice, probably your assistance."
"You know you have only to ask," he answered, with the prompt,
soldierlike obedience, and the honest, unflinching look in his eyes
that I knew so well and loved in him. Here was, indeed, a brave, loyal
soul, to be trusted in implicitly, and with my whole heart.
I felt now that I should succeed in the difficult task I had set
myself. The plan I had conceived and hoped to work out was to send
Lord Blackadder to sea, all the way to Tripoli, with Philpotts and the
sham child.