NO TIME TO LOSE
Lechmere would have walked off with his fishing line, but Maxgregor
called him back. There was no reason for mystery over this business so
far as the General could see. But Lechmere shook his head.
"I'll be back in a very few minutes," he said, "and then you can tell me
what has happened. On the other hand I shall have a great deal to tell
you. Which way did Mazaroff go?"
So far as Maxwell could judge, Mazaroff had not left the building. He
was pretty sure that the Russian had not come to Maxgregor with any
sinister design. Beyond question, Mazaroff was looking for a certain
suite of rooms, though Maxgregor doubted it.
"The fellow would have shewn his teeth fast enough if it had not been
for Maxwell," he said. "It is possible that he is looking for a certain
suite of rooms, I should not be at all surprised to find that he has not
yet left the building."
Lechmere muttered something to the effect that he was absolutely certain
of it. He was very anxious to know if there was a back staircase from
the floor and whether it was much used so late at night.
"It isn't used at all after the servants have gone," Maxgregor
explained. "There are several very rapid young men living on this floor
and they find the back staircase useful for the purpose of evading
creditors. The stairs are at the far end of the corridor."
Lechmere murmured his thanks and hurried away. He had hardly disappeared
before there was a tiny tap on the door and Jessie came in. She seemed
anxious and uneasy, nor was her confusion lessened by the expression of
blank astonishment, not to say displeasure, on Maxwell's face.
"Vera," he cried reproachfully. "Oh, I forgot. Events are moving so fast
that it is difficult to keep pace with them. And you are so wonderfully
like Vera Galloway. I had to be told the facts, you see. Oh, of course
you told me yourself by the hospital. But what are you doing here?"
"I came with the queen," Jessie explained. "I am going to her hotel with
her. But the queen declared that she could not rest to-night unless she
had seen General Maxgregor. Is he better?"
"I am going on as well as possible," Maxgregor said from his bed. "It is
dreadful to be laid up just now, at this time of all others. It was good
of the queen to think of me, but it occurs to me to be dreadfully
imprudent for her to come here now."
"But she had to," Jessie persisted. "There was no help for it. And
another extraordinary thing happened. We left the king at Merehaven
House being closely guarded by Captain Alexis. When we came away his
majesty was actually playing bridge. And yet, as the carriage pulled up
outside these mansions, we saw the king seated in one of the windows."
"Impossible," Maxgregor cried. "The king has not been here at all."
"So I should have said if I had been able to disbelieve my own eyes,"
Jessie went on. "I tell you I have just seen the king. At first I
thought that he was actually here. Now I know that he must be on the
next suite to this. He was in evening dress just as we left him, but he
had his orders on. And the queen is in a position to confirm what I
say."
"I am certainly in a position to do what Miss----er----this lady says,"
came a voice from the doorway as the queen came in. "We must get to the
bottom of this."
Maxgregor groaned. He admired the pluck and spirit of the queen but he
deplored the audacity that brought her here. The thing was absolutely
madness. The queen smiled anxiously.
"Are you any worse, my dear old friend," she asked. "Are you suffering
at all?"
"My pain is more mental than physical," Maxgregor replied. "Oh, why did
you come here, why did you not leave matters to me? Heaven only knows
how many spies are dogging your footsteps. And it is impossible that the
king can be where you say he is."
"The king's recuperative powers are marvellous," Maxwell remarked. "At
one hour he is apparently at the point of death, an hour later he is an
honoured guest of the Foreign Secretary. A little time later this young
lady and I see him seated in the drawing-room of Countess Saens's house
and quite at his ease there. At this moment he seems to be in two places
at once. Can anybody explain. Can _you_?"
The last question was put to Lechmere, who had stepped into the room
again. The diplomatist smiled.
"I hope to explain the whole thing and prove what has happened before
long," he said. "It was to aid you in that purpose that I borrowed the
salmon line. Is your majesty safe here?"
"Is my majesty safe anywhere?" the queen asked in bitter contempt. "I
have taken every precaution. There was nobody to be seen as I drove up
and I have sent my horses to wait for me in the square. Then I could not
stop any longer, I could not wait for my dear little friend here to
bring me news. And I was most miserably anxious about General Maxgregor.
Is there any news?"
"I was just coming to the news," Lechmere said. "Our enemies have tried
on the most dangerous and daring thing that I have ever heard of. When
the _Mercury_ appears to-morrow it will contain a long and particular
account of an interview between the King of Asturia and the Editor. I
have seen the Editor of the _Mercury_, and by a stratagem I became
possessed of an advanced copy of the paper. I should like your majesty
to see what it is that the British public will find on their breakfast
tables later on."
Lechmere produced his copy of the _Mercury_ and flattened it on the
table. Then he handed it to the queen. She waved the sheet aside
impatiently, she could not read to-night, her eyes were too heavy.
"Let us have the pith of it," she said. "I am curious to know what it
all means."
Lechmere proceeded to read the article aloud. It was well done and the
insinuations it conveyed were worse than the actual truth. For instance,
it was not boldly said that the King of Asturia had visited the offices
of the _Mercury_ in a state of intoxication, but it was shrewdly
inferred. The brutal callous indifference of the whole thing was most
strongly marked. The king had abdicated his throne, he cared nothing for
his country or what his subjects thought of it. Here was an article
calculated to arouse the greatest sensation in Europe. The queen was not
slow to see the danger of it.
"But the thing is all a lie," she cried. "It is impossible. We know that
the king has not left Merehaven House since dinner-time. And this
interview is stated to have taken place later. Is this what your
journalism is coming to in this country, Mr. Lechmere?"
"Not our journalism, madame," Lechmere said coolly. "No English daily
paper would have been so depraved and unpatriotic as to print that
interview without consulting some Minister of State. As a matter of fact
the _Mercury_ is American, it is published to sell, it is the pioneer
paper floated to capture the cream of our Press. Hunt has no scruples."
"But he has invented the whole thing," the queen said. "It is a
dastardly fraud."
"No," Lechmere said calmly. "No doubt somebody called on Hunt and told
him that story. I believe Hunt to be genuinely under the impression that
he had the honour of the confidence of the King of Asturia. In a way he
has been hoaxed with the rest."
"If we could only prove it," the queen said under her breath. "If we
could only prove it."
"I hope to be able to do so within the next half hour," Lechmere went on
in his cool way. "I have a pretty shrewd idea what has taken place. In a
measure we have to thank the little scheme planned out between this
young lady here and her double, Miss Vera Galloway. It suggested an
idea to Countess Saens. And fortunately for her the material was at
hand. After all said and done the Editor of the _Mercury_ could only
have seen the king in the most casual way and he would be easily imposed
on. In the circumstances, he would be quite ready and even eager to be
imposed upon. The fact that the whole affair subsequently proved to be a
hoax would not in the least disturb Hunt. He would get his sensation and
his extra copies sold, the mistake itself would be forgotten in a day or
two."
"But not in Europe," the queen cried. "By to-morrow Europe will be
ringing with that vile lie. The telegraph will be put in motion, our
enemies will see that it is promptly reported from one end of Asturia to
another. Once the lie is floated on the stream of public opinion we
shall never catch it up again. The whole thing has been engineered with
the deliberate intention of ruining us. What can we do?"
"What man can do I have already done," Lechmere said. "The thing will be
contradicted and proved to be a lie by the _Herald_ newspaper, to whose
Editor I have told everything. The two papers will start fairly, the one
with the lie and the other with the truth. And as you know the _Herald_
is looked upon as a respectable journal. The telegraph that flashes the
news for the one will flash the refutation for the other. And I have
taken an extremely bold step. The _Herald_ to-morrow will be responsible
for the announcement that so far from resigning his crown, King Erno of
Asturia has started already by a series of special trains to Asturia.
Madame, you will see that this is done?"