We drove down, Philpotts and I, to the wharf where the steamers of the
Transatlantique Company lie. The _Oasis_ had her blue peter flying,
and a long gangway stretched from her side to the shore, up and down
which a crowd passed ceaselessly, passengers embarking, porters with
luggage, and dock hands with freight. At the top of the slope was the
chief steward and his men, in full dress, white shirts, white ties,
and white gloves, who welcomed us, asking the number of our stateroom,
and offering to relieve us of our light baggage.
One put out his arms to take the baby from Philpotts, but she shook
her head vigorously, and I cried in French that it was too precious.
Next moment a voice I recognized said:
"Certainly they are there, and they have it with them. Why not seize
it at once?"
"Not so fast, Lord Blackadder," I interposed, turning on him fiercely.
"No violence, if you please, or you may make the acquaintance of
another police commissary."
I had heard the whole story of the affair at Aix from the Colonel, who
I may say at once I had seen shortly before, and who was at no great
distance now.
"Go on, Philpotts, get down below and lock yourself in," I said
boldly. "Our cabin is thirty-seven--" checking myself abruptly as
though I had been too outspoken.
"But, Lady Claire, permit me," it was Lord Blackadder behind, speaking
with quite insinuating softness. "Do be more reasonable. Surely you
perceive how this must end? Let me entreat you not to drive me to
extremities. I mean to have the child, understand that; but we ought
to be able to arrange this between us. Give it up to me of your own
accord, you shall not regret it. Ask what you choose, anything--a
pearl collar or a diamond bracelet--"
"Can you really be such a base hound, such an abject and contemptible
creature, as to propose terms of that sort to me? How dare you think
so ill of me? Let me pass; I cannot stay here, it would poison me to
breathe the same air. Never speak to me again," I almost shouted,
filled with bitter shame and immeasurable scorn, and I turned and left
him.
Down-stairs I found Philpotts in the cabin, busily engaged in putting
her "doll" to bed in the third berth.
"Are you at all afraid of being left with these wretches?" I asked a
little doubtfully, counting upon her devotion, but loth to lay too
great a burden on her.
"Why, how can you suppose such a thing, my lady? What can they do to
me? They will be furiously angry, of course, but the laugh will be
against them. If the worst comes to the worst they will appeal to the
captain, and they will get no satisfaction from him. I can take care
of myself, never fear. You shall hear from Tripoli to the same hotel
in Marseilles."
"If we go on your letter will follow us. Come back there as soon as
you possibly can and you will find further instructions. Now it must
be good-bye, there goes the bell to warn people ashore. One last word:
I advise you when well out to sea to go to my lord and offer to go
over to his side and desert me altogether. Tell him you will help him
to get the child,--that you will put it into his hands indeed,--at a
price."
"As if I would touch his dirty money, my lady!"
"It will be only spoiling the Egyptians! Squeeze all you can out of
him, I say. But that is as you please. You know I shall always be your
firm friend whatever you do, and that I shall never forget what I owe
you."
I should have said much more, but now the second bell was ringing, and
if I was to carry out my scheme it was time for me to go.
On leaving the cabin I walked forward along the lower deck seeking
another issue, the position of which I had fixed the day before,
having visited the _Oasis_ on purpose. In a minute I had emerged into
the open air, and found myself in the midst of the sailors sending
down cargo into the forehold. I should have been utterly confused,
bewildered, and terrified, but I felt a strong, firm hand close on
mine, and a quiet, steady voice in my ear.
"This way, Lady Claire, only a couple of steps," said the Colonel as
he led me to the side of the steamer farthest from the shore. A ladder
was fixed here and a boat was made fast to the lowest rung. Carefully,
tenderly guided by my ever trusty henchman I made the descent, took my
seat in the stern of the small boat, it was cast loose, and we pushed
off into the waterway. Half an hour later we were back at the Terminus
Hotel.
For the first time in all that stirring and eventful week I breathed
freely. At any rate the present peril was overpast, we had eluded
pursuit, and had a clear time of perfect security to consider our
situation and look ahead.
As soon as Henriette was visible, I went up to her room to talk
matters over. She was very humble and apologetic, and disarmed me if I
had intended to take her to task for all the trouble and anxiety she
had caused us. But when I magnanimously said, "I am not going to scold
you," she was in my arms at once.
"Scold me! I should think not! I have been scolded quite enough these
last twenty-four hours. I never met a man I disliked so much as your
fine friend, that Colonel Annesley, the rudest, most presuming,
overbearing wretch. He talked to me and ordered me about as if I was
still in the schoolroom, he actually dared to find fault with my
actions, and dictated to me what I should do next. I--I--"
"Did it, Henriette? Like a lamb, eh? That's a way he has, my dear," I
laughed.
"I don't envy you one bit, Claire. You'll be a miserable woman. You
hate to give way, and he'll make you. He'll tame you, and lord it over
you, he'll be a hard, a cruel master, for all he thinks so much of you
now."
"And does he?" What sweeter music in a woman's ear than to be told of
the sway she exercises over the man of her choice?
"Why, of course, he thinks all the world of you. He would say nothing,
decide nothing until you had been consulted. Your word is law to him,
your name always on his lips. You know of your latest conquest, I
suppose?"
"There are things one does not care to discuss, my dear, even with
one's sister," I answered, rather coldly. I was a little hurt by her
tone and manner, although what she told me gave me exquisite pleasure.
"Come, come," Henriette rallied me. "Make a clean breast of it.
Confess that you are over head and ears in love with your Colonel. Why
not? You are free to choose, I was not," and her eyes filled with
tears at the sad shipwreck of her married life.
I strove hard to calm her, to console her, pointing to her little
Ralph, and promising her a future of happiness with her child.
"If I am allowed to keep him, yes. But how can I keep him after that
wicked decision of the Court, and with such a persistent enemy as
Ralph Blackadder? For the moment we are safe, but by and by he will
come back, he will leave no stone unturned until he finds me, and I
shall lose my darling for ever."
The hopelessness of evading pursuit for any time sorely oppressed me,
too. There seemed no safety but in keeping continually on the move, in
running to and fro and changing our hiding place so soon as danger of
discovery loomed near. We were like pariahs ostracized from our
fellows, wandering Jews condemned to roam on and on, forbidden to
pause or find peace anywhere.
Yet, after a pleasant _déjeuner_, the three of us held a council of
war.
"The thing is perfectly simple," said my dear Colonel, in his
peremptory, but to me reassuring fashion. "I have thought it all out
and can promise you immediate escape from all your difficulties. You
must go as quickly as you can get there, to Tangier."
"Tangier!" I cried, amazed.
"Yes, Lady Claire, Tangier. It is the only refuge left for
criminals--forgive me, I mean no offence," and he laughed heartily as
he went on. "You have broken the law, you are flying from the law, and
you are amenable to it all the world over, save and except in Morocco
alone. You must go to Tangier, there is no extradition, the King's
warrant does not run there. You will be perfectly safe if you elect to
stay there, safe for the rest of your days."
"You seem very anxious to get rid of us and bury us at the back of
beyond," I said, nettled and unable to conceal my chagrin at the
matter-of-fact way in which he wished to dispose of us.
"I venture to hope I may be permitted to accompany you, and remain
with you--"
It was now Henriette's turn to laugh outright at this rather blunt
proposal, and I regret to add that I blushed a rosy red.
"To remain with you and near you so long as my services may be
required," he went on, gravely, by no means the interpretation my
sister had put upon his remark; for he fixed his eyes on me with
unmistakable meaning, and held them so fixedly that I could not look
away. There could no longer be any doubt how "it stood with us;" my
heart went out to him then and there, and I nodded involuntarily, more
in answer to his own thoughts than his suggestion. I knew from the
gladness on his frank, handsome face that he understood and rejoiced.
"You see," he went on, quickly, dealing with the pressing matter in
hand, "I know all about the place. I have soldiered at Gibraltar and
often went over to Africa. It's not half bad, Tangier, decent hotels,
villas furnished if you prefer it. Sport in the season, and plenty of
galloping ground. The point is, how we should travel?"
I could be of service in this; my inquiries at Cook's had qualified me
to act as a shipping clerk, and we soon settled to take a steamer of
the Bibby Line due that afternoon, which would land us at Gibraltar in
two or three days. Thence to Tangier was only like crossing a ferry.
The Colonel's man, l'Echelle, was sent to secure cabins, and we caught
the ship in due course. Three days later we were soon comfortably
settled in the Hotel Atlas, just above the wide sweep of sands that
encircle the bay. It was the season of fierce heat, but we faced the
northern breezes full of invigorating ozone.