that I was one man you knew in whom you had never been disappointed."
The listless eyes were blazing into her own now. "_I_ have never been
disappointed in you. I will not permit you to disappoint me now. The
secrets of your government are mine if I can get them--but I won't allow
you to tell them to me."
"My government!" Miss Thorne repeated, and her lips curled sadly. "I--I
have no government. I have been cast off by that government, stripped of
my rank, and branded as a traitor!"
"Traitor!" Mr. Grimm's lips formed the word silently.
"I failed, don't you see?" she rushed on. "Ignominy is the reward of
failure. Prince d'Abruzzi went on to New York that night, cabled a full
account of the destruction of the compact to my government, and sailed
home on the following day. I was the responsible one, and now it all
comes back on me." For a moment she was silent. "It's so singular, Mr.
Grimm. The fight from the first was between us--we two; and you won."
XXVI
IN WHICH THEY BOTH WIN
Mr. Grimm dropped into a chair with his teeth clenched, and his face
like chalk. For a minute or more he sat there turning it all over in his
mind. Truly the triumph had been robbed of its splendor when the blow
fell here--here upon a woman he loved.
"There's no shame in the confession of one who is fairly beaten," Isabel
went on softly, after a little. "There are many things that you don't
understand. I came to Washington with an authority from my sovereign
higher even than that vested in the ambassador; I came _as_ I did and
compelled Count di Rosini to obtain an invitation to the state ball for
me in order that I might meet a representative of Russia there that
night and receive an answer as to whether or not they would join the
compact. I received that answer; its substance is of no consequence now.
"And you remember where I first met you? It was while you were
investigating the shooting of Señor Alvarez in the German embassy. That
shooting, as you know, was done by Prince d'Abruzzi, so almost from the
beginning my plans went wrong because of the assumption of authority by
the prince. The paper he took from Señor Alvarez after the shooting was
supposed to bear vitally upon Mexico's attitude toward our plan, but, as
it developed, it was about another matter entirely."
"Yes, I know," said Mr. Grimm.
"The event of that night which you did _not_ learn was that Germany
agreed to join the compact upon conditions. Mr. Rankin, who was attached
to the German embassy in an advisory capacity, delivered the answer to
me, and I pretended to faint in order that I might reasonably avoid
you."
"I surmised that much," remarked Mr. Grimm.
"The telegraphing I did with my fan was as much to distract your
attention as anything else, and at the same time to identify myself to
Mr. Rankin, whom I had never met. You knew him, of course; I didn't."
She was silent a while as her eyes steadily met those of Mr. Grimm.
Finally she went on:
"When next I met you it was in the Venezuelan legation; you were
investigating the theft of the fifty thousand dollars in gold from the
safe. I thrust myself into that case, because I was afraid of you; and
mercilessly destroyed a woman's name in your eyes to further my plans. I
made you believe that Señorita Rodriguez stole that fifty thousand
dollars, and I returned it to you, presumably, while we stood in her
room that night. Only it was not her room--it was _mine!_ _I_ stole the
fifty thousand dollars! All the details, even to her trip to see Mr.
Griswold in Baltimore in company with Mr. Cadwallader, had been
carefully worked out; and she _did_ bring me the combination of the safe
from Mr. Griswold on the strength of a forged letter. But she didn't
know it. There was no theft, of course. I had no intention of keeping
the money. It was necessary to take it to distract attention from the
thing I _did_ do--break a lock inside the safe to get a sealed packet
that contained Venezuela's answer to our plan. I sealed that packet
again, and there was never a suspicion that it had been opened."
"Only a suspicion," Mr. Grimm corrected.
"Then came the abduction of Monsieur Boisségur, the French ambassador. I
plunged into that case as I did in the other because I was afraid of you
and had to know just how much you knew. It was explained to you as an
attempt at extortion with details which I carefully supplied. As a
matter of fact, Monsieur Boisségur opposed our plans, even endangered
them; and it was not advisable to have him recalled or even permit him
to resign at the moment. So we abducted him, intending to hold him
until direct orders could reach him from Paris. Understand, please, that
all these things were made possible by the aid and cooperation of
dozens, scores, of agents who were under my orders; every person who
appeared in that abduction was working at my direction. The ambassador's
unexpected escape disarranged our plans; but he was taken out of the
embassy by force the second time under your very eyes. The darkness
which made this possible was due to the fact that while you were looking
for the switch, and I was apparently aiding, I was holding my hand over
it all the time to keep you from turning on the light. You remember
that?"
Mr. Grimm nodded.
"All the rest of it you know," she concluded wearily. "You compelled me
to leave the Venezuelan legation by your espionage, but in the crowded
hotel to which I moved I had little difficulty avoiding your Mr.
Hastings, your Mr. Blair and your Mr. Johnson, so I came and went
freely without your knowledge. The escape of the prince from prison you
arranged, so you understand all of that, as well as the meeting and
attempted signing of the compact, and the rapid recovery of Señor
Alvarez. And, after all, it was my fault that our plans failed, because
if I had not been--been uneasy as to your condition and had not made the
mistake of going to the deserted little house where you were a prisoner,
the plans would have succeeded, the compact been signed."
"I'm beginning to understand," said Mr. Grimm gravely, and a wistful,
tender look crept into his eyes. "If it had not been for that act
of--consideration and kindness to me--"
"We would have succeeded in spite of you," explained Isabel. "We were
afraid of you, Mr. Grimm. It was a compliment to you that we considered
it necessary to account for your whereabouts at the time of the signing
of the compact."
"And if you had succeeded," remarked Mr. Grimm, "the whole civilized
world would have come to war."
"I never permitted myself to think of it that way," she replied frankly.
"There is something splendid to me in a battle of brains; there is
exaltation, stimulation, excitement in it. It has always possessed the
greatest fascination for me. I have always won, you know, until now. I
failed! And my reward is 'Traitor!'"
"Just a word of assurance now," she went on after a moment. "The Latin
compact has been definitely given up; the plan has been dismissed,
thanks to you; the peace of the world is unbroken. And who am I? I know
you have wondered; I know your agents have scoured the world to find
out. I am the daughter of a former Italian ambassador to the Court of
St. James. My mother was an English woman. I was born and received my
early education in England, hence my perfect knowledge of that tongue.
In Rome I am, or have been, alas, the Countess Rosa d'Orsetti; now I am
an exile with a price on my head. That is all, except for several years
I was a trusted agent of my government, and a friend of my queen."
She rose and extended both hands graciously. Mr. Grimm seized the
slender white fingers and stood with eyes fixed upon hers. Slowly a
flush crept into her pallid cheeks, and she bowed her head.
"Wonderful woman!" he said softly.
"I shall ask a favor of you now," she went on gently. "Let all this that
you have learned take the place of whatever you expected to learn, and
go. Believe me, there can only be one result if you meet--if you meet
the inventor of the wireless cap upon which so much was staked, and so
much lost." She shuddered a little, then raised the blue-gray eyes
beseechingly to his face. "Please go."
Go! The word straightened Mr. Grimm in his tracks and he allowed her
hands to fall limply. Suddenly his face grew hard. In the ecstasy of
adoration he had momentarily forgotten his purpose here. His eyes lost
their ardor; his nerveless hands dropped beside him.
"No," he said.
"You must--you must," she urged gently. "I know what it means to you.
You feel it your duty to unravel the secret of the percussion cap? You
can't; no man can. No one knows the inventor more intimately than I, and
even I couldn't get it from him. There are no plans for it in existence,
and even if there were he would no more sell them than you would have
accepted a fortune at the hands of Prince d'Abruzzi to remain silent.
The compact has failed; you did that. The agents have scattered--gone to
other duties. That is enough."
"No," said Mr. Grimm. There was a strange fear tearing at his
heart,--"No one knows the inventor more intimately than I." "No," he
said again. "I won from my government a promise to be made good upon a
condition--I must fulfil that condition."
"But there is nothing, promotion, honor, reward, that would compensate
you for the loss of your life," she entreated. "There is still time."
She was pleading now, with her slim white hands resting on his
shoulders, and the blue-gray eyes fixed upon his face.
"It's more than all that," he said. "That condition is you--your
safety."
"For me?" she repeated. "For me? Then, won't you go for--for my sake?"
"No."
"Won't you go if you know you will be killed," and suddenly her face
turned scarlet, "and that your life is dear to me?"
"No."
Isabel dropped upon her knees before him.
"This inventor--this man whom you insist on seeing is half insane with
disappointment and anger," she rushed on desperately. "Remember that a
vast fortune, honor, fame were at his finger tips when you--you placed
them beyond his reach by the destruction of the compact. He has sworn to
kill you."
"I can't go!"
"If you _know_ that when you meet one of you will die?"
"No." The answer came fiercely, through clenched teeth. Mr. Grimm
disengaged his right hand and drew his revolver; the barrel clicked
under his fingers as it spun.
"If I tell you that of the two human beings in this world whom I love
this man is one?"
"No."
A shuffling step sounded in the hallway just outside. Mr. Grimm stepped
back from the kneeling figure, and turned to face the door with his
revolver ready.
"Great God!" It was a scream of agony. "He is my brother! Don't you
see?"
She came to her feet and went staggering across to the door. The key
clicked in the lock.
"Your brother!" exclaimed Mr. Grimm.
"He wouldn't listen to me--_you_ wouldn't listen to me, and now--and
_now_! God have mercy!"
There was a sharp rattling, a clamor at the door, and Isabel turned to
Mr. Grimm mutely, with arms outstretched. The revolver barrel clicked
under his hand, then, after a moment, he replaced the weapon in his
pocket.
"Please open the door," he requested quietly.
"He'll kill you!" she screamed.
Exhausted, helpless, she leaned against a chair with her face in her
hands. Mr. Grimm went to her suddenly, tore the hands from her face, and
met the tear-stained eyes.
"I love you," he said. "I want you to know that!"
"And I love you--that's why it matters so."
Leaving her there, Mr. Grimm strode straight to the door and threw it
open. He saw only the outline of a thin little man of indeterminate age,
then came a blinding flash under his eyes, and he leaped forward. There
was a short, sharp struggle, and both went down. The revolver! He must
get that! He reached for it with the one idea of disarming this madman.
The muzzle was thrust toward him, he threw up his arm to protect his
head, and then came a second flash. Instantly he felt the figure in his
arms grow limp; and after a moment he rose. The face of the man on the
floor was pearly gray; and a thin, scarlet thread flowed from his
temple.
[Illustration: In a stride Mr. Grimm was beside her.]
He turned toward Isabel. She lay near the chair, a little crumpled heap.
In a stride he was beside her, and had lifted her head to his knee. The
blue-gray eyes opened into his once, then they closed. She had fainted.
The first bullet had pierced her arm; it was only a flesh wound. He
lifted her gently and placed her on a couch, after which he disappeared
into another room. In a little while there came the cheerful ting-a-ling
of a telephone bell.
"Is this the county constable's office?" he inquired. "Well, there's
been a little shooting accident at the Murdock Williams' place, five
miles out from Alexandria on the old Baltimore Road. Please send some of
your men over to take charge. Two hours from now call up Mr. Grimm at
Secret Service headquarters in Washington and he will explain. Good-by."
And a few minutes later Mr. Grimm walked along the road toward an
automobile a hundred yards away, bearing Miss Thorne in his arms. The
chauffeur cranked the machine and climbed to his seat.
"Washington!" directed Mr. Grimm. "Never mind the speed laws."
THE END