CRISIS.
I found matters just as Olga's maid had told me. The Countess was in
the deepest distress, and was wringing her hands and crying herself
blind in agitation and alarm.
Olga had been out in the afternoon, she told me, and had come back
considerably excited. She had stayed some time in her room, and the
maid now said she had been turning over her clothes. I knew what this
meant. Then she had written the letter to me and sent the girl with
it; but the latter had scarcely left the house before the police had
arrived, had asked for Olga, and had arrested her, refusing to say a
single word as to the cause.
Olga had of course gone with them, protesting to the Countess that
there must be some mistake and that no doubt she would soon be again at
liberty and return home. When kissing her aunt the girl had whispered
to her to tell me at once, with an assurance that she was not in the
least frightened.
Knowing what I knew about the system of imprisonment in Russia and how
common a thing it was for a prisoner to be arrested on the flimsiest
suspicion, to enter a gaol and be kept from all communication with
friends and family, I did not by any means share the calmness she had
professed. The suddenness of the arrest combined with the complete
overthrow of all my plans incensed me beyond measure. I put to the two
women all the questions that occurred to me, but got no further light.
I could not hide my concern, but I did my best to make the Countess
Palitzin believe that it would be in my power to help Olga.
I hurried from the house to Paula Tueski. I reckoned to get from her
the best hints as to where my exertions could be most usefully exerted.
But I did not find her and the news at her house was disconcerting
somewhat. She had been called for suddenly and had gone out, leaving
no word where she was to be found nor when she would return. All quite
contrary to her usual custom.
I went on then to the chief police office. I was in uniform of course,
and was received with the greatest politeness, but no information was
given to me. The man who gave me an interview was complacency itself.
"I am grieved to be able to give you no information, Lieutenant," he
said, politely. "But you know how our hands are tied and how one's
lips are sealed in this office. In anything but that matter I am your
most obedient servant: indeed, if in that very affair you can suggest
how I can be of service, I pray you to command me."
"My sister was arrested by your men?" I asked.
"Most arrests are carried out by our men," was the reply.
"What is the charge against her?"
"I have not an idea."
"By whose orders was the arrest made?"
"By those of my superiors. I have but to obey."
"Where is she now?"
For answer he shrugged his shoulders, smiled blandly, and shook his
head slowly.
"Can I see her?"
"Yes, of course--with an order."
"Whose order?"
"Anyone who is my superior."
"Can you give me an order?" He repeated his gesture, murmuring an
expression of regret.
"You have not told me much," I said, and he smiled deprecatingly. "But
it is enough to tell me where I must look for information."
His smile changed to one of congratulation, and, rising, he gave me his
hand.
"Lieutenant, a brave man like you shall always command my sympathies
and services so far as my duty permits," and with that official
reservation he bowed me out with the most profuse of polite gestures.
I thought I saw from where the stroke came, and without any longer
delay I hurried to the Prince Bilbassoff.
He was at first said to be out; and for some half hour I cooled my
heels and warmed my temper and impatience striding up and down in front
of the building. Then he was denied to me on the ground that he was
very busily engaged; and only when I insisted that my business was
exceptionally urgent and personal, was I admitted to an antechamber and
left waiting there with some half dozen other.
The servant took my message, but instead of returning instantly, as had
been my previous experience, to lead me at once to the Prince's room, I
was left to fume in my impatience for several minutes.
I rang the bell angrily and when the servant came ordered him to shew
me to the Prince instantly. But he would not, saying he dared not
without orders from his master, and that he had given my message and
could do no more.
I augured ill from this reception, but was in no mood to brook delay.
I had nothing to lose now by boldness, and as soon as the fellow had
turned his back I went to the door which I knew to be that of the
Prince's room, and pushing aside the man who stood on guard outside,
knocked, opened it, and marched in unceremoniously.
The Prince was in close conference with a couple of men and when he saw
me he jumped up and asked me how I dared to intrude in that way.
"I have something urgent and private to say to you," said I, coolly.
"If these gentlemen will give us five minutes it will be enough."
A moment's reflection sufficed to change his anger to equanimity,
forced or genuine, I didn't care which, and he dismissed the men.
"There can be only one reason why you come here," he said, as soon as
we were alone, speaking in a very sharp tone.
"On the contrary there may be two," I replied, copying his sharpness.
"The only condition on which I can receive you, Lieutenant, is the one
I told you some hours since. Have you come to comply with it?"
"I have come to ask you why you have arrested my sister and where she
is."
"Arrested whom?" he asked, with a sharp look I didn't understand.
"My sister."
"Who is that?" This with a smile of indescribable meaning.
"You knew well enough when I was here this afternoon."
"On the contrary, I knew no more than I know now. I don't even know
that you have a sister. Have you?"
Either the man was a lunatic, or he knew everything. Here was
obviously the reason of the altered reception. But I would not betray
myself by a single word or gesture.
"I am speaking of my sister, Olga Petrovitch, whom you rescued from the
hands of Major Devinsky. Now, do you know what I mean?"
"No," he answered stolidly.
"Well, do you know whom I mean?"
"I know of Olga Petrovitch."
"Then what the devil do you mean?" I cried angrily. "You have arrested
her, haven't you?"
"She has been arrested," he answered quietly.
"What for?"
"You seem very anxious on her account."
"Would you have a man indifferent when his sister is whisked off to
gaol by the police devils of yours?"
"Indifferent? No, indeed; certainly not. Even I am not indifferent
about it. It has been of the utmost use to me, in fact."
"How long are you going to keep up these riddles, Prince? I don't
pretend to be your equal at that kind of fence, and as it's perfectly
evident to me you think you have a knotted whip for my back I'll wait
till you're ready to lay it on."
He laughed at that.
"Are you going to accept my conditions?" he asked.
"It will depend absolutely on the result of this interview."
He paused half a minute and then taking a paper from his pocket tossed
it to me with a laugh.
"Here's the key. How do you read it?" he asked, lightly.
It was indeed the key, and the instant my eyes fell on it I saw
everything.
It was the permit found on Olga.
The game was up; but I wouldn't play the craven.
I tossed it back to him and laughed, a more natural and mirthful laugh
than his, though I scented death in the air.
"I understand it pretty well," I said, as lightly as he had spoken.
"But if you don't mind I think I'll keep my own counsel."
"You know what it means?" he asked.
"To me?" He nodded. "I can guess," I said.
"And to her?"
"No, I don't know that. But I know your law is damned hard on women."
"And this Tueski woman--why did she get this permit for--your sister?"
He paused on the word.
"Wanted her out of the way, that's all."
"Is what she says true--all true?"
"That depends on what she says."
"It's a strange tale. That you're not what you call yourself; that
you've taken the place of Lieutenant Alexis Petrovitch; that you're a
Nihilist of the Nihilists; that you murdered her husband; and that she
has the proofs of all this."
"Why did you arrest her?" I asked, as an idea occurred to me.
"That," he said, pointing to the permit.
"Did she volunteer her statement?"
A laugh of diabolical cunning spread over his face.
"Yes--when she believed you had deceived her and had fled with--your
sister. Boy, no one can guard himself against a jealous Russian woman."
"Now, I see a little more clearly. But why did you arrest Olga
Petrovitch?"
"Your visit to my sister this afternoon. You were too solicitous for
the poor girl's nerves, and we thought it might be better for you to
know that she was in safe guardianship until you had made your
decision. There would at any rate be no pressing need for you to think
of her leaving the country; or feel it desirable to go with her to take
care of her in her shattered condition. And we were right. But even I
did not expect a tithe of all that has come from the step. It is
indeed seldom that I get so genuine a surprise."
"And what are you going to do--now?"
"How much of this woman's tale is true?"
"One third of it. I am not Alexis Petrovitch; but neither am I a
Nihilist, nor a murderer."
"Who are you!"
"An Englishman--Hamylton Tregethner."
"But your speech--your accent--your Russian?"
"I was brought up in Moscow for the first sixteen years of my life."
"Tregethner, Hamylton Tregethner," he murmured, repeating the name as
if it were not wholly unfamiliar to him. Then after a pause he asked
me where the real Lieutenant Petrovitch was; and questioned me
searchingly and very shrewdly as to the whole details of my change of
identity. I concealed nothing.
"You English are devils," he said, when his questions were nearly
exhausted. "I hate the lot of you--except you. And you're as big a
devil as any of them. But you have the pluck of a hundred."
I shrugged my shoulders, laughed, lolled back in my chair and lighted a
cigarette.
"I've enjoyed it," I said, "and that's the plain truth. I didn't like
the lies I had to tell; but then I never had any training in the
diplomatic service, and that makes the difference. But all the same
I've enjoyed it; and what's more, if it had been possible, I'd have
fought for the Little Father as keenly as any born Russ in the ranks.
But it's over, and so far as I'm concerned, you can do what you like
with me. I should like to save that girl. She's one in ten thousand
for pluck. And you owe her something too, as she saved my life from a
treacherous thrust of Devinsky's sword for you to take it. You might
let her have her liberty in its place. It's infernally hard on the
girl that her cowardly brute of a brother should let her in for all
this mess; and then that I, with all the good will in the world, should
thrust her deeper into the mud. It's damned hard!"
The Prince was watching me closely and thinking hard.
"Why did you hesitate to accept my proposal?" he asked, sharply.
"For a very plain reason. While I appreciated the honour and advantage
of an alliance with your sister, I loved Olga Petrovitch, and preferred
to marry her."
"I won't tell my sister that," he said, laughing sardonically. After a
pause he added:--"How much does--your sister know of our matter?"
"Everything."
"Names?" and he stared as if to penetrate right into my brain.
"No--not of the man to be fought."
"On your honour?"
"On my honour."
"If she is released, will you go on with it?"
"If she is put across the frontier," I returned grimly.
"Don't you trust me?"
"You, yes; but your agents, no." He smiled.
"You should go far with the daring with which you push your fortunes."
"Probably I shall go on till my head falls by the wayside," I answered.
I was utterly reckless now. But my tactics succeeded when nothing else
could have won.
He took a form and wrote.
"Here is the permit for her to leave the country. It is yours--on
conditions."
"What are they? Never mind what they are," I added, quickly. "I
accept them in advance. Save that girl, who is innocent, and do what
you like with me."
"Do you know what I ought to do with you?" he asked.
"Yes; better than you do. Write me a permit also and have me conducted
to the frontier at the same time. But I don't know what you think you
should do."
"I ought to write out a very different order and have you both sent
straight to the Mallovitch yonder; and let things take their course."
"Well, it's fortunate for me then," I replied, with a laugh, "that your
interest and your judgment pull different ways. You won't do that,
Prince."
"How do I know that you are not a Nihilist?"
"Instinct, judgment, knowledge of men, knowledge of me--everything.
Besides, if you want proof, no one knows better than yourself that a
cipher telegram sent to London, and inquiries made in half a dozen
places that I can mention, will put ample proofs in your hands to shew
who I am. So far as I know there's one man in Russia at the present
moment and actually coming to Moscow, who'll stir up the British
Legation and every British consulate in the country to the search for
Hamylton Tregethner. That's the Hon. Rupert Balestier." Then I told
him what had happened in Paris. At first he smiled, but soon grew
thoughtful again.
"I warn you, too," I added, when he made no answer, "that if you chop
my head off or stifle me in one of your infernal prisons, or send me
packing to Siberia, Balestier is just the man to raise a devil of a
clatter. And you don't want a row with our Foreign Office just at the
moment when things are so ticklish with the Sick Man."
He waved his hand as if to put all such considerations away from him.
"If the girl you call your sister had got away, did you mean to try to
escape?"
"Certainly I did," replied I, frankly, and I told him the scheme I had
formed.
"And now?"
"If I give my word I shall keep it. You Russians never seem to think a
man will keep his parole to his own disadvantage. We English think
differently--and act as we think."
"If we postpone this talk till to-morrow, have I your word that you'll
make no attempt to escape?"
"No, indeed, you haven't. Let this girl go at once; then you can have
it and welcome."
"You seem to forget that I can keep you under guard?"
"I forget nothing of the kind. Clap me into a prison and you may
whistle for anyone to carry out--to do what you wish. You can decide
now, or lose the option. That's in the rules of a game like this."
"You carry things with a high hand," he cried angrily.
"Most probably I shouldn't be here if I didn't," said I, with a laugh.
"It's my advantage to force the pace at this juncture; and the risk's
too big to throw away a single chance."
He made no reply, but pushing back his chair got up and walked about
the room, in a state of indecision absolutely foreign to his character
and habits.
I knew how momentous the decision was. If I were the dangerous
Nihilist that Paula Tueski had declared, the risk of letting me free
and entrusting to me such a task as that we had discussed was critical
and deadly. The Russian instinct was to clap me into a gaol and be
done with me; but the personal feeling pulled him in the other
direction--to use me for a tool in the project that was all in all to
him. With the Grand Duke once out of his path there was nothing
between him and almost absolute rule.
I watched him with an anxiety he little suspected, for my manner was
studiously careless, indifferent, and reckless.
"Did you give this girl any particular task if she escaped?" he asked,
stopping suddenly in his walk close to me.
"Certainly; to find Rupert Balestier, tell him of my position, and get
him to try and smooth away the difficulties. I had also arranged how
she could communicate with and find me if I managed to get away."
He took the answer as I gave it with perfect frankness, and it seemed
to help his decision. He resumed his pacing backwards and forwards.
Two or three minutes later he stopped his walk and taking the permit he
had written held it out to me.
"Will you give me your word as an English gentleman that if I give you
this and allow the girl to leave Russia, you will make no attempt to
escape, and will go on with the proposal we have discussed?"
It was my turn to hesitate now.
"No, I cannot," I said after a moment's thought. "An Englishman cannot
lend himself out as an assassin, Prince Bilbassoff. I will do this. I
will give you my word of honour not to attempt to leave Russia, and if
a meeting between the Grand Duke and myself can be arranged without
dishonour to me, I pledge myself to meet him. I will never take that
word back unless you release me; but more I cannot do. Let Olga
Petrovitch go, and you shall do as you will with me."
"I take your word," he said, quietly. "Your identity will remain
unknown. Your sister will leave for the frontier under escort at
midnight. You can take the news to her, and she can leave with you to
make her arrangements for departure. I hold you responsible for her;
and you will explain only what is necessary to her. You remain a
Russian."
And with the permit and the order for her instant release in my hand I
left him, conscious that I had been brushing my back against a dungeon
door the whole time and had only just escaped finding myself on the
wrong side of it.