AT THE WINDOW
Maxwell turned over the card thoughtfully and studied the neat
handwriting thereon.
"We are dealing with one of the cleverest women in Europe," he said.
"See how wonderfully she recovers her mistakes and picks up the tracks
again. But I don't see that Maxgregor can have anything to do with it.
What do you say, doctor?"
"I should say that Maxgregor had a great deal to do with it," Varney
replied. "If he were not a deadly foe to these people here, there would
have been no attempt to shoot him as there was to-night. Do you think
that he has been tracked back to his lodgings?"
"I should say not," Jessie put in. "I was very careful about that. I
told you all about the fair woman in the lane, and the way I prevented
her from following the General when he went away in the ill-fitting
evening dress of the king. But there might have been spies who----"
"I don't think so," Varney interrupted. "Evidently these people have
found out that Maxgregor blocks the way. Depend upon it that the report
has gone out to the effect that the king has left here--or so Countess
Saens thinks. She calculated that Maxgregor is still here, because the
messenger is sent to Mazaroff at the house. If they knew that Maxgregor
was lying wounded at his lodgings, they would work at their leisure and
there would have been no occasion to send that letter here."
"Which must not miscarry," Maxwell suggested. "If it does they will
never think that the whole affair is an accident. My idea is that
Mazaroff must have that letter and never imagine for a moment that we
have read it. We can see that Maxgregor comes to no harm."
Varney was disposed to regard the suggestion as a good one. But before
doing anything he would like to discuss the matter with Lechmere.
Maxwell's face fell.
"In that case I will stay here till you have finished," he said. "I
don't feel much like facing anybody at present, though I am as innocent
of this business as a child."
"What nonsense!" Varney cried. "This is no time to stand on ceremony.
Lechmere is a man of the world and a friend of yours. He is not in the
least likely to condemn you until the charge is proved. I appreciate
your feelings, but an empire is at stake."
Without another word the doctor slipped away and returned presently with
Lechmere. He nodded in his cool, collected way at Maxwell as if nothing
had happened.
"I have no doubt we shall get to the bottom of this business between
us," he said. "Varney has been telling me what has happened. I am quite
of your opinion, Maxwell, that Mazaroff must have that letter. When he
has read it he shall be watched and followed."
"But how to get it into the fellow's hands without suspicion?" Maxwell
asked.
"That is easy enough. I suppose you acted on the spur of the moment, but
you were foolish to tear that envelope open without steaming it.
Fortunately the envelope seems to have many counterparts in Lord
Merehaven's study, and luckily it is a different texture to the
correspondence card on which the message is written. Amongst my many
gifts is a fair talent for copying the handwriting of other people. I'll
get this fixed up. When the thing is done one of the guests shall hand
the letter to Mazaroff and say that he had picked it up in the garden. I
think I'll select a lady for the part. Stay here for a moment."
A little later on, and somebody touched Mazaroff's arm as he was
watching a game of bridge in the card room. He turned to see a pretty
girl standing by and smiling into his face. She held a letter in her
hand.
"I fancy this is for you, Prince Mazaroff," she said. "I picked it up in
the garden. On the whole, I came very near to having an adventure over
it."
Mazaroff glanced at the envelope and his eyes gleamed. Then quite
leisurely he tore off the ends and read the message. He smiled in a
careless way, as if the message were of no importance.
"I am sorry there was any danger," he said, "especially as the note is
so trivial. Where does the adventure come in?"
"You have destroyed my romance," the girl laughed. "I suppose it was the
messenger who brought this letter for you, and not a burglar after all.
I expect the messenger made a mistake and came into the garden by the
door leading from the lane. Anyway, a gardener pounced upon him and the
man fled. It was quite thrilling to look at, I assure you. When I had
recovered from my fright I saw that letter on the grass. Then the real
solution of the mystery burst in upon me."
Mazaroff laughed as if he enjoyed the story. His face grew a little
grave.
"I should not tell anybody if I were you," he said. "It isn't many women
here who have your pluck. If they know they will fight shy of the
garden, and many a promising flirtation will be spoilt. And flirtations
very often lead to marriage, you know."
The girl laughed in her turn and flitted away. Lechmere stood by the
doorway awaiting her.
"You did it very well," he said. "You are a born actress, Miss
Cheylesmere. Oh, yes, the joke develops; you shall play your part in it.
Now, I want you to keep an eye upon Mazaroff, and if he leaves the house
let me know at once."
Lechmere strolled off, pleased with the way in which events were going,
and quite certain that Mazaroff had not the slightest idea what had
happened. A pretty scheme was evolving itself in his mind. He went back
to the study, where the others were awaiting him.
"So far so good," he said. "Mazaroff has received his letter without
guessing what we know of it. At the present moment he is hunting all
over the place for Maxgregor, ignorant of the fact that Maxgregor has
gone long ago. Mazaroff will ask Lady Merehaven if the General has gone,
and she will naturally say no, as the General did not wish her
good-night. Mazaroff will be quite certain that Maxgregor would never
commit such a social slip, so that I confidently hope that he will
continue his hunt."
"But surely there is a much more important thing to do?" Jessie
exclaimed. "Mr. Maxwell, have you forgotten whom we saw in the
drawing-room with Countess Saens just now?"
"I had forgotten," Maxwell admitted. "Miss--er--Harcourt told me that
the King of Asturia was here. She went on to say that he was not only
here, but in such a condition that he would have to stay all night and
be conveyed home in a cab. Why was he shamming?"
"Shamming!" Varney cried. "I'll stake my professional reputation that
the king was not shamming. He has had some near shaves during the time
he has been under my care, but never has he been nearer to death's door
than he was to-night. I sincerely believe that it was only the
administration of a very powerful drug that saved him."
"I know, I know," Jessie cried. "I saw a good deal of it myself. When I
left him the king was unconscious. And yet not half an hour ago I saw
him in the Countess Saens's dining-room."
Varney and Lechmere smiled incredibly. They both shook their heads.
"Impossible!" the former said. "Quite impossible, my dear young lady.
For the last hour, or nearly an hour, the King of Asturia has been in
this house clothed and in his right mind. It was I who brought him
downstairs. It was I who produced his majesty to the utter confusion of
Mazaroff and Gleikstein, the Russian _charge d'affaires_. You must have
been utterly mistaken."
"It was no mistake," Maxwell put in. "I have seen the king often enough
here and elsewhere. I am prepared to swear in any court of justice that
within the last half hour I have seen the King of Asturia in close
companionship with Countess Saens in her own house."
Varney and Lechmere looked a little bewildered. There still appeared to
be cards in the game of which they knew nothing. Varney was about to
speak when Lechmere touched his arm and indicated two figures that had
just entered the study.
"To prove that you two are mistaken," he said, "look there. If you know
the King of Asturia so well, perhaps you will tell me who that is?"
"The king," Maxwell cried. "And the queen. And yet I am ready to
swear.... You don't think that he might have slipped out and----"
"No, I don't," Lechmere said curtly. "As a matter of fact, his majesty
is being too carefully watched for that. He has been here all the time,
I assure you."
"It's like a dream," Jessie said. "The king is in two places at once.
And seeing that _that_ is the king, who was the man we saw in Countess
Saens's dining-room?"