The curtain fell upon the first act of "Louise." The lights were turned
up, the tenseness relaxed, men made dives for their hats, and the
unmusical murmured the usual platitudes. Naida leaned forward from the
corner of her box to the man who was her sole companion.
"Father," she said, "I am expecting a caller with whom I wish to
speak--Lord Dorminster. If he comes, will you leave us alone? And if any
one else should be here, please take them away."
"More mysteries," her father muttered, not unkindly. "Who is this man
Dorminster?"
Naida leaned back in her chair and fanned herself slowly.
"No one I know very much about," she acknowledged. "I have selected him
in my mind, however as being a typical Englishman of his class. I wish
to talk to him, to appreciate his point of view. You know what Paul said
when he gave you the appointment and sent us over here: 'Find out for me
what sort of men these Englishmen are.'"
"Matinsky should know," her father observed. "He was here twelve years
ago. He came over with the first commission which established regular
relations with the British Government."
"No doubt," she said equably, "he was able to gauge the official
outlook, but this country, during the last ten years, has gone through
great vicissitudes. Besides, it is not only the official outlook in
which Paul is interested. He doesn't understand, and frankly I don't,
the position of what they call over here 'the man in the street.' You
see, he must be either a fool, or he must be grossly deceived."
"So far as my dealings with him go, I should never call the Englishman a
fool," Karetsky confessed.
"There are degrees and conditions of fools," his daughter declared
calmly. "A man with a perfectly acute brain may have simply idiotic
impulses towards credulity, and a credulous man is always a fool.
Anyhow, I know what Paul wants."
There was a knock at the door. Karetsky opened it and stood aside to let
Nigel pass in. Naida held out her hand to the latter with a smile.
"I am so glad that you have come," she said, raising her eyes for a
minute to his. "Father, you remember Lord Dorminster?"
The two men exchanged a few commonplace remarks. Then Karetsky reached
for his hat.
"Your arrival, Lord Dorminster," he observed, "leaves me free to make a
few calls myself. We shall, I trust, meet again."
Nigel murmured a few courteous words and watched the retreating figure
with some curiosity.
"Your father is very typical," he declared. "He reminds me of your
country itself. He is massive, has suggestions of undeveloped strength."
"Add that he is a little ponderous," Naida said lightly, "slow to make
up his mind, but as obstinate as the Urals themselves, and you have
described him. Now tell me what you think of a young woman who rings you
up without the slightest encouragement and invites you to come to the
Opera purposely to visit her box."
"I deny the absence of encouragement, and I am very grateful for the
opportunity of coming," Nigel answered. "And if I were to tell you all
that I think of you," he added, after a moment's pause, "it would take
me a great deal longer than this quarter of an hour's interval."
These were their first few moments absolutely alone. Neither of them was
unduly emotional, neither wholly free from experience, yet they looked
and spoke and felt as though the coming of new things was at hand. The
atmosphere of music, still present, was a wonderful background to the
intensified sensations of which both were conscious. Naida had the
utmost difficulty in steadying her voice.
"I wanted to talk to you seriously because you can help me very much if
you will," she began. "In a sense, I am over here upon a mission. Some
of us in Russia feel that your nation is imperfectly understood there.
We are bearing grudges against you which may not be wholly justified.
You see, to speak very plainly, we are under the constant influence of a
people which cherishes no feelings of friendship towards you."
For a moment the personal element had disappeared. Nigel remembered who
his companion was and all that she stood for. He drew his chair a little
nearer to hers.
"If you are looking for a typical Englishman," he said, "I fear that I
shall be a disappointment to you. The typical Englishman of to-day is
hiding his head in the sand. I am not disposed to do anything of the
sort. I recognise a great coming danger, and I am afraid of your
country."
"The attitude of the official Englishman I know," she declared, a little
eagerly. "What I want to find out is whether there are many like
yourself, who are awake."
"I am afraid that I am in the minority," he confessed. "I am trying to
carry on the work which my uncle commenced. I am trying to secure firm
and definite evidence of a certain plot which I believe to be brewing in
your country and in Germany."
"Tell me exactly what you know," she begged.
Nigel looked at her for several moments in silence. She was wearing a
Russian headdress, a low tiara of bound coils of pearls. A rope of
pearls hung from her neck. Her white net gown was trimmed with ermine.
At her first appearance in the front of the box she had created almost a
sensation among those to whom she was visible. In these darker shadows
the sensuous disturbance of which he had been conscious since his
entrance swept over him once more with overmastering power.
"You are very beautiful," he said, a little abruptly.
"I am glad you think so," she murmured, with a very sweet answering
light in her eyes, "but I am hoping that you have other things to tell
me."
"You are the friend of Immelan," he reminded her.
"To some extent, yes," she assented, "but I admit of no prejudices. The
greatest friend I have in the world is Paul Matinsky, and it is at his
wish that I am here. He is anxious above all things not to make a
mistake."
"Your country is very much under the dominance of Germany," he ventured.
"Very much, I admit, but not utterly so. You must remember that after
the cataclysm of 1917, Russia has been born again in travail and agony.
No hand was outstretched to help her, save that of Germany alone, for
her own sake ultimately, perhaps, but nevertheless with invaluable
results to Russia. We had vast resources which Germany exploited,
magnificent human material which Germany has educated and disciplined.
The two nations have grown together for their common interest. At the
same time, Paul Matinsky and very many others have always felt that
there is one of Germany's great ambitions in which Russia ought not
necessarily to become involved. I think--I hope that you understand me."
"In plain words," Nigel said, "you refer to this projected plan of
isolating England."
"In plain words, I do," she admitted. "Russia's intentions concerning
that are trembling in the balance. Germany is pressing her hard. Nothing
will be finally decided until I return to Petrograd. You see, I speak to
you quite openly, for I myself have had some experience of your present
statesmen. I believe if you were to repeat this conversation to any one
of them, if, even, you could open their eyes to what is happening, they
would only shrug their shoulders and say that they relied for their
protection on the League of Nations."
"You are unhappily right," Nigel groaned, "yet one perseveres, and after
all there is an element of mystery about the whole affair. The French,
as you know, have not imitated our blind credulity. Their frontier would
seem to be impregnable, and the difficulties of invading England, even
from the air, are very much as they were during the last war. It was
these considerations which made my uncle persevere in his attempt at
secret-service work on the Continent. Everything depends upon our
knowing exactly what is in store for us."
"And have you discovered that?" she enquired.
He shook his head.
"Everything that we have learnt so far has been of negative value," he
replied. "The German citizen army is large, but not threateningly so. So
far as we have been able to discover, they do not seem to have any
secret store of guns or ammunition. Their docks hold no secrets. Yet we
know that there is something brewing. Both the men upon whom my uncle
relied have been murdered."
"But one of them succeeded in getting a dispatch through, did he not?"
she asked quietly.
"Yes, he succeeded," Nigel acknowledged. "My uncle was murdered,
however, in the act of decoding it, and the dispatch itself was stolen."
"You are very frank," she said. "I suppose I ought to feel flattered
that you treat me with so little reserve."
"If you are a friend to Germany," he replied, "you probably know all
that I can tell you. If you are inclined towards friendship with us,
then it is as well that you should know everything."
"That is reasonable," she admitted. "Now listen. This conversation can
only last a few minutes longer. It is true that Oscar Immelan is my
father's old friend and also mine, but my judgment in all matters which
relate to the welfare of my country is not influenced by that fact."
"There was a report once," Nigel said, taking his courage into both
hands, "that you were engaged to be married to him."
She looked him in the eyes. Against the whiteness of his skin, the
colour of her own seemed more wonderful than ever.
"That is not true," she replied. "It will never be true."
"I am glad," he declared fervently.
There was a brief pause. Both seemed conscious of a renewal of that air
of disturbance which had reigned between them during their first few
moments alone. It was Naida who made an effort to restore their
conversation to its former tone.
"If Germany has any scheme against this country," she said, "believe me,
it will not be so obvious as you seem to think. It will be a scheme
which can only be carried out with the assistance of other countries,
and that assistance is not yet wholly promised. I cannot betray to you
my knowledge of certain things," she went on, after a moment's
hesitation, "but I can at least give you this warning. It is not for his
health alone that Prince Shan is flying from China to Paris. If there is
a single member of your Government who has the least apprehension of
world politics, now is the time for action."
"There is no one," Nigel answered gloomily.
The box was suddenly invaded. Karetsky reappeared with several other
men. In the rear of the little procession came Immelan. His face
darkened as he recognised Nigel. Naida looked across at him with a
slight frown upon her forehead.
"You have changed your mind?" she remarked. "I thought you were for
Paris to-night?"
"A fortunate chance intervened," Immelan replied.
"Fortunate?"
Immelan watched Nigel's retreating figure with a menacing frown.
"I find it so," he replied. "Our wonderful prima donna is in great voice
to-night--and I like to be prepared for all possible combinations."