"Hulloa, Charlie! Who'd have thought of finding you here?"
Armytage looked up quickly, and, to his surprise, found standing before
him his old college chum and fellow clubman, Frank Tristram.
"Why, Frank, old fellow!" he cried, jumping up and grasping the other's
hand warmly. "We haven't met for how long? The last time was one night
in the Wintergarden at Berlin, fully two years ago--eh?"
"Yes. Neither of us are much in London nowadays, therefore we seldom
meet. But what are you doing here?" asked the King's messenger, looking
cool and smart in his suit of grey flannel.
"Killing time, as usual," his friend replied, with a smile.
"Lucky devil!" Tristram exclaimed. "While I'm compelled to race from
end to end of Europe for a paltry eight hundred a year, you laze away
your days in an out-of-the-world place like this." And he glanced
significantly at the sweet, fair-faced woman who, having given him a
swift look, was now sitting motionless, her hands idly crossed upon her
lap, her eyes fixed blankly upon the sunlit sea.
"Let me introduce you," Armytage exclaimed in Italian, noticing his
friend's look of admiration. "The Signorina Gemma Fanetti--my friend,
Captain Frank Tristram."
The latter bowed, made a little complimentary speech in excellent
Italian, and seated himself with Armytage beside her.
"Well," Tristram said, still speaking in Italian, "this is quite an
unexpected pleasure. I thought that in addition to the Ambassador out
at Ardenza, and the jovial Jack Hutchinson, the Consul, I was the only
Englishman in this purely Tuscan place." Then turning to his friend's
companion, he asked, "Are you Livornese?"
"Oh, no," she replied, with a gay, rippling laugh, "I live in Florence;
only just now the place is stifling, so I'm down here for fresh air."
"Ah, Florence!" he said. "The old city is justly termed `La Bella.' I
sometimes find myself there in winter, and it is always interesting,
always delightful."
At that moment an English lady, the wife of an Italian officer, bowed in
passing, and Armytage sprang to his feet and began to chat to her. He
had known her well during his stay in Florence earlier in the year.
As soon as Gemma noticed that her lover was no longer listening, her
manner at once changed, and bending quickly towards the Captain, she
exclaimed in rapid Italian, which she knew Armytage could not
understand--
"Well, did you see Vittorina safely to London?"
Tristram started at the unexpected mention of that name.
"Yes," he answered, with slight hesitation. "I saw her safely as far as
Charing Cross, but was compelled to leave her there, and put her in a
cab for Hammersmith."
"How far is that?"
"About five kilometres," he replied.
"I have had no telegram from her," she observed. "She promised to wire
to me as soon as she arrived, and I am beginning to feel anxious about
her."
"Worry is useless," he said calmly. "She is no doubt quite safe with
her friends. I gave the cabman the right address. My official business
was pressing, or I would have gone out to Hammersmith with her."
"You remember what I told you on the night we parted in Florence?" she
said mysteriously.
He nodded, and his dark face grew a shade paler.
"Well, I have discovered that what I suspected was correct," she said,
her eyes flashing for an instant with a strange glint. "Some one has
betrayed the secret."
"Betrayed you!" he gasped.
She shrugged her shoulders. Her clear eyes fixed themselves fiercely
upon him.
"You alone knew the truth," she said. "And you have broken your promise
of silence."
He flinched.
"Well?" he said. "You are, of course, at liberty to make any charge you
like against me, but I can only declare that I have not divulged one
single word." Then he added quickly, "But what of Armytage? Does he
know anything?"
"Absolutely nothing," she answered quickly. "I love him. Remember that
you and I have never met before our introduction this afternoon."
"Of course," the Captain answered.
"Curious that Vittorina has disappeared! If I hear nothing of her, I
shall go to London and find her," Gemma observed, after a few moments'
silence.
"Better not, if you really have been betrayed," he answered quickly.
"I have been betrayed, Captain Tristram," she said rapidly, with
withering scorn, her face flushing instantly, her large, luminous eyes
flashing. "You are well aware that I have; and, further, you know that
you yourself are my bitterest enemy. I spare you now, mean, despicable
coward that you are, but utter one word to the man I love, and I will
settle accounts with you swiftly and relentlessly."
She held her breath, panting for an instant, then turning from him,
greeted her lover with a sweet, winning smile, as at that moment he
returned to her side.