'Stemp,' said Mr. Van Torp, 'we must have something to eat on that
yacht.'
'Yes, sir. Quite so, sir.'
Stemp, who could do anything, was clipping the millionaire's thatch of
sandy hair, on the morning after the transaction last described. Mr.
Van Torp abhorred barbers and shaved himself, and in his less
'prominent' days he had been in the habit of cutting his own hair by
using two looking-glasses. The result had rarely been artistic, and
even Stemp was not what is described on some American signs as a
tonsorial artist, but he managed to clip his master's rough mane with
neatness and precision, if not in the 'Bond Street style.'
'I mean,' said Mr. Van Torp, explaining himself, 'we must have
something good to eat.'
'Oh, I see, sir,' answered Stemp, as if this were quite a new idea.
'Well, now, do you suppose you can get anything to eat in Italy?'
'Salmon-trout is very good there, sir, and quails are in season at the
end of August. They are just going back to Egypt at this time of the
year, sir, and are very fat. There's Gorgonzola cheese, too, and figs
and muscatel grapes are coming on. I think that's all, sir.'
'It's not bad. How about chickens?'
'Well, sir, the poultry in those parts is not much to boast of. An
Italian fowl is mostly either a hawk or a butterfly. That's my
experience, sir, when I travelled there with the late Duke of
Barchester, a few years ago. His Grace was most particular, sir,
having a poor stomach, and nothing to occupy his mind after the
Duchess died in a fit of rage, having thrown her wig at him, sir, they
do say, and then fallen down in a fit which was quite awful to see,
and ended as we all know.'
'As far as I can see, you'd better go on to Venice, Stemp,' said Mr.
Van Torp, not interested in his man's reminiscences. 'You'd better go
off to-night and tell Captain Brown to hurry up and get ready, because
I'm bringing a party of friends down the day after to-morrow. And then
you just scratch round and find something to eat.'
'Yes, sir. I'll telegraph to the caterers, and I think you'll be
satisfied, sir.'
'There's an American lady coming, who knows what's good to eat, and
likes it, and wants it, and means to get it, and you've got to find it
for her somehow. I can live on hog and hominy myself. And I shan't
want you in the least. You'd better take most of my baggage with you
anyway. Just leave my Tuxedo and a couple of suits, and some new
flannel pants and a shirt-case, and take the rest. But don't waste
time over that either if you've got to catch the train, for the main
thing's to get there right away. You can go first-class, Stemp--you
won't be so done up.'
'Thank you, sir.'
A silence followed, during which the valet's scissors made a
succession of little chinking noises; from time to time he turned Mr.
Van Torp's head very gingerly to a slightly different position.
'Stemp.'
'Yes, sir.'
'You take a good look around that yacht, and decide about the
state-rooms, before I come. This way. You give the best room to Miss
Donne, and have a large bouquet of carnations on the table. See?'
'Beg pardon, sir, but carnations are out of season.'
'You get them just the same.'
'Yes, sir.'
'And give the second-best room to her ladyship, Stemp, if there are
not two alike, but be extra careful to see that everything's
comfortable. Lady Maud likes wood violets, Stemp. You get a handsome
bouquet of them, and don't tell me they're out of season too, because
you've got to get them, anyway, so it's no use to talk.'
'Yes, sir. I see, sir.'
'And then you get the third-best room ready for Mrs. Rushmore, and you
get some flowers for her too, out of your own head. Maybe she likes
those roses with stems three feet long. Use your own judgment,
anyway.'
'Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.'
Another silence followed, and the hair-cutting was finished. Mr. Van
Torp glanced at himself in the glass and then turned to his valet.
'Say, Stemp, I was thinking. Maybe that third bedroom's not quite so
good as the others, and the lady might feel herself sort of
overlooked.'
'Yes, sir.'
'Well, I was thinking. If that's the case, and it looks sort of
second-class, you go out and get a man and have him gild it all around
nicely so as to brighten it up. I guess she'll think it's all right if
it's gilt and the others aren't. Some people are like that.'
'I see, sir. Yes, sir. I'll attend to it, sir. Will there be any more
ladies and gentlemen, sir?'
'There's that Russian gentleman, Count Kralinsky. Put him at the other
end of the ship, somewhere out of the way of the ladies. I suppose
he'll bring his valet, and there'll be two or three maids. That's all.
Now don't mind me any more, but just fly around, and don't forget
anything. Understand? We aren't going to be in England or the States,
where you can sit still and telephone for anything you've forgotten,
from peanuts to a funeral. You'll have to go full speed ahead in all
directions if you're going to wake things up.'
Thereupon Mr. Van Torp sat down by the window to read the paper.
His attention was arrested by a sensational 'scare-head' about a thief
and a ruby worth fifty thousand dollars. Some disaffected colleague in
London had known, or cleverly guessed, where the stone was that had
been stolen from Mr. Pinney's, and had informed the police; the
nice-looking young fellow who spoke like an English gentleman had
walked directly into the arms of the plain-clothes man waiting for
him on the pier in New York, the stone had been found sewn up in his
waistcoat, and his pleasant career of liberty had ended abruptly in a
cell.
Mr. Van Torp whistled softly as he read the account a second time.
Then he neatly cut the column out of the paper, folded it with great
precision, smoothed it with care and placed it in his pocket-book next
to a cheap little photograph of Madame da Cordova as 'Juliet,' which
he had bought in a music-shop in New York the day after he had heard
her for the first time, and had carried in his pocket ever since. He
looked up to see what Stemp was doing, and as the man was kneeling
before a box on the floor, with his back turned, he took out the
rather shabby photograph and gazed at it quietly for fully thirty
seconds before he put it back again.
He took up the mutilated newspaper and looked up and down the columns,
and among other information which he gathered in a few moments was the
fact that Logotheti's yacht had 'passed Cape Saint Vincent, going
east, owner and party on board.' The previous telegram had not escaped
him, and if he had entertained any doubts as to the destination of the
_Erinna_, they vanished now. She was certainly bound for the
Mediterranean. He remembered having heard that many steam yachts
coming from England put into Gibraltar for coal and fresh provisions,
coal being cheaper there than in French and Italian ports, and he
thought it very probable that the _Erinna_ would do the same; he also
made some deductions which need not be explained yet. The only one
worth mentioning here was that Logotheti would be likely to hear in
Gibraltar that the ruby had been found and was on its way back to
England, and that as he would know that Margaret would be anxious
about it, since he had already given it to her, he would hardly let
the occasion of communicating with her go by. As for writing from
Gibraltar to any place whatsoever in the hope that a letter will
arrive in less than a week, it is sheer folly. Mr. Van Torp had never
tried it, and supposed it possible, as it looks, but he was tolerably
sure that Logotheti would telegraph first, and had perhaps done so
already, for the news of his passing Cape Saint Vincent was already
twenty-four hours old.
This was precisely what had happened. When Mr. Van Torp opened his
door, he came upon Margaret and Mrs. Rushmore on the landing, on the
point of going out for a walk, and a servant had just brought the
Primadonna a telegram which she was reading aloud, so that the
American could not help hearing her.
'"Cruising till wanted,"' she read quickly. '"Ruby found. Address,
yacht _Erinna_, Naples."'
She heard Van Torp close his door, though she had not heard him open
it, and turning round she found herself face to face with him. Her
eyes were sparkling with anger.
'Very sorry,' he said. 'I couldn't help hearing.'
'It's of no consequence, for I should have told you,' Margaret
answered briefly.
He argued well for himself from her tone and manner, but he chose to
show that he would not force his company upon her just then, when she
was in a visible rage, and instead of stopping to exchange more words
he passed the two ladies hat in hand, and bowing rather low, after his
manner, he went quietly downstairs.
Margaret watched him till he disappeared.
'I like that man,' she said, as if to herself, but audibly. 'I cannot
help it.'
Mrs. Rushmore was more than delighted, but had tact enough not to make
any answer to a speech which had probably not been meant for her ears.
'Perhaps,' she said, 'you would rather not go out just yet, my dear?'
Margaret was grateful for the suggestion, and they turned back into
their rooms.
Meanwhile Van Torp had reached the door of the hotel, and found Lady
Maud standing there with her parasol up, for the sun was streaming in.
'I was waiting for you,' she said simply, as soon as he reached her
side, and she stepped out into the street. 'I thought you would come
down, and I wanted to speak to you, for I did not get a chance last
night. They were both watching me, probably because they thought I was
ill, and I had to chatter like a magpie to keep up appearances.'
'You did it very well,' Van Torp said. 'If I had not seen your face at
the window when I got out of the automobile yesterday, I shouldn't
have guessed there was anything wrong.'
'But there is--something very wrong--something I can hardly bear to
think of, though I must, until I know the truth.'
They turned into the first deserted street they came to.
'I daresay I can give a guess at what it is,' Van Torp answered
gravely. 'I went to see him alone yesterday on purpose, before he
started, and I must say, if it wasn't for the beard I'd feel pretty
sure.'
'He had a beard when I married him, and it was like that--just like
that!'
Lady Maud's voice shook audibly, for she felt cold, even in the
sunshine.
'I didn't know,' Van Torp answered. 'That alters the case. If we're
not mistaken, what can I do to help you? Let's see. You only had that
one look at him, through the window, is that so?'
'Yes. But the window was open, and it's not high above the ground, and
my eyes are good. He took off his hat when he said good-bye to you,
and I saw his face as distinctly as I see yours. When you've been
married to a man'--she laughed harshly--'you cannot be easily mistaken
about him, when you're as near as that! That is the man I married. I'm
intimately convinced of it, but I must be quite sure. Do you
understand?'
'Of course. If he's really Leven, he's even a better actor than I used
to think he was. If he's not, the resemblance is just about the most
extraordinary thing! It's true I only saw Leven three or four times in
my life, but I saw him to look at him then, and the last time I did,
when he made the row in Hare Court, he was doing most of the talking,
so I remember his voice.'
'There's only one difficulty,' Lady Maud said. 'Some one else may have
been killed last June. It may even have been the pickpocket who had
stolen his pocket-book. Such things have happened, or do in books! But
this is certainly the man you met in New York and who sold you the
stone you gave me, is he not?'
'Oh, certainly. And that was at the end of July, and Leven was killed
late in June.'
'Yes. That only leaves a month for him to have been to Asia--that's
absurd.'
'Utterly, totally, and entirely impossible,' asseverated Mr. Van Torp.
'One of two things. Either this man is your husband, and if he is,
he's not the man who found the rubies in Asia. Or else, if he is that
man, he's not Leven. I wish that heathen girl had been here yesterday!
She could have told in a minute. She'd better have been here anyway
than cutting around the Mediterranean with that fellow Logotheti!'
'Yes,' Lady Maud answered gravely. 'But about myself--if Leven is
alive, what is my position--I mean--I don't really quite know where I
am, do I?'
'Anybody but you would have thought of marrying again already,'
observed Mr. Van Torp, looking up sideways to her eyes, for she was
taller than he. 'Then you'd really be in a bad fix, wouldn't you? The
Enoch Arden thing, I suppose it would be. But as it is, I don't see
that it makes much difference. The man's going under a false name, so
he doesn't mean to claim you as his wife, nor to try and get a divorce
again, as he did before. He's just going to be somebody else for his
own good, and he'll get married that way, maybe. That's his business,
not yours. I don't suppose you're going to get up in church and forbid
the banns, are you?'
'I would, like a shot!' said Lady Maud. 'So would you, I'm sure! Think
of the other woman!'
'That's so,' answered Van Torp without enthusiasm. 'However, we've got
to think about you and the present, and decide what we'll do. I
suppose the best thing is for me to put him off with some excuse, so
that you can come on the yacht.'
'Please do nothing of the sort!' cried Lady Maud.
'But I want you to come,' objected her friend.
'I mean to come. Do you think I am afraid to meet him?'
Van Torp looked at her in some surprise, and not without admiration.
'There isn't anybody like you, anyway,' he said quietly. 'But there's
going to be a circus on that ship if he's Leven,' he added. 'If he
makes a fuss, I'll read the Riot Act and lock him up.'
'Oh, no,' answered Lady Maud, who was used to Mr. Van Torp's familiar
vocabulary, 'why need there be any trouble? You've not told him I am
coming, you say. Very well. If he sees me suddenly after he has been
on board a little while, he'll certainly betray himself, and then I
shall be sure. Leven is a man of the world --"was" or "is"--God knows
which! But if it is he, and he doesn't want to be recognised, he'll
behave as if nothing had happened, after the first moment of surprise.
At least I shall be certain! You may wonder--I don't know myself,
Rufus--I wish you could help me!'
'I will, as far as I can.'
'No, you don't know what I mean! There's something in my life that I
never quite told you, I can't tell why not. There must be people who
know it besides my mother--I don't think my father ever did. Margaret
has an idea of it--I let fall a few words one day. In one way, you and
I have been so intimate for years --and yet----'
She stopped short, and the soft colour rose in her cheeks like a dawn.
Van Torp looked down at the pavement as he walked.
'See here,' he said in a low voice, 'you'd better not tell me. Maybe
you'll be sorry some day if you do.'
'It would be the first time,' she answered softly, 'and I've often
wished you knew everything. I mean to tell you now--just wait a
moment.'
They walked on; they were already in the outskirts of the dull little
town. Van Torp did not again raise his eyes to her face, for he knew
she would speak when she was ready. When she did, her voice was a
little muffled, and she looked straight before her as he was doing.
They were quite alone in the road now.
'When I was very young--nearly eleven years ago, in my first season--I
met a man I liked very much, and he liked me. We grew very, very fond
of each other. He was not much older than I, and had just joined the
army. We couldn't marry, because we had no money--my father had not
come into the title then, you know--but we promised each other that we
would wait. We waited, and no one knew, except, perhaps, my mother,
and she kept us from seeing each other as much as she could. Then came
the Boer war, and he was killed--killed in a wretched skirmish--not
even in a battle--buried somewhere on the Veldt--if I only knew where!
I read it in a despatch--just "killed"--nothing more. One doesn't die
of things, I suppose, and years passed, and I went out just the same,
and they wanted me to marry. You know how it is with a girl! I married
to get rid of myself--I married Leven because he was good-looking and
had money, and--I don't quite know why, but it seemed easier to marry
a foreigner than an Englishman. I suppose you cannot understand that!
It made all comparison impossible--perhaps that was it. When mine was
dead, I could never have taken another who could possibly have known
him, or who could be in the remotest degree like him.'
'I understand that quite well,' said Van Torp, as she paused.
'I'm glad, then, for it makes it easier to explain the rest. I don't
think I always did my best to be nice to Leven. You see, he soon grew
tired of me, and went astray after strange goddesses. Still, I might
have tried harder to keep him if I had cared what he did, but I was
faithful to him, in my own way, and it was much harder than you can
guess, or any one. Oh, it was not any living man that made it
hard--not that! It was the other. He came back--dead men do
sometimes--and he told me I was his, and not Leven's wife; and I
fought against that, just as if a man had made love to me in society.
It didn't seem honest and true to my real husband, in my thoughts, you
know, and in some things thoughts are everything. I fought with all my
might against that one, that dear one. I think that was the beginning
of my work--being sorry for other women who perhaps had tried to fight
too, and wondering whether I should do much better if my dead man came
back alive. Do you see? I'm telling you things I've hardly ever told
myself, let alone any one else.'
'Yes, I see. I didn't know any one could be as good as that.'
'You can guess the rest,' Lady Maud went on, not heeding what he said.
'When I believed that Leven was dead the fight was over, and I took my
dead man back, because I was really free. But now, if Leven is alive
after all, it must begin again. I ought to be brave and fight against
it; I must--but I can't, I can't! It's too hard, now! These two months
have been the happiest in my life since the day he was killed! How can
I go back again! And yet, if I cannot be an honest woman in my
thoughts I'm not an honest woman at all--I'm no better than if I
deserved to be divorced. I never believed in technical virtue.'
Van Torp had seen many sides of human nature, good and bad, but he had
never dreamed of anything like this, even in the clear depths of this
good woman's heart, and what he heard moved him. Men born with great
natures often have a tender side which the world does not dream of;
call it nervousness, call it degeneracy, call it hysterical who will;
it is there. While Lady Maud was finishing her poor little story in
broken phrases, with her heart quivering in her voice, Mr. Rufus Van
Torp's eyes became suddenly so very moist that he had to pass his hand
over them hastily lest a drop or two should run down upon his flat
cheeks. He hoped she would not notice it.
But she did, for at that moment she turned and looked at his face, and
her own eyes were dry, though they burned. She saw that his glistened,
and she looked at him in surprise.
'I'm sorry,' he said, apologising as if he had done something rude. 'I
can't help it.'
Their hands were hanging near together as they walked, and hers
touched his affectionately and gratefully, but she said nothing, and
they went on in silence for some time before she spoke again.
'You know everything now. I must be positively sure whether Leven is
alive or dead, for what I have got back in these last two months is my
whole life. A mere recognition at first sight and at ten yards is not
enough. It may be only a marvellous resemblance, for they say every
one has a "double" somewhere in the world.'
'They used to say, too, that if you met your "double" one of you would
die,' observed Van Torp. 'Those things are all stuff and nonsense, of
course. I was just thinking. Well,' he continued, dwelling on his
favourite monosyllable, 'if you decide to come on the yacht, and if
the man doesn't blow away, we shall know the truth in three or four
days from now, and that's a comfort. And even if he turns out to be
Leven, maybe we can manage something.'
Lady Maud chose not to ask what her friend thought he could 'manage';
for she had glanced at his face when he had spoken, and though it was
half turned away from her, she saw his expression, and it would have
scared a nervous person. She did not like him to be in that mood, and
was sorry that she had brought him to it.
But Mr. Van Torp, who was a strong man, and had seen more than one
affray in his ranching days, could not help thinking how uncommonly
easy it would be to pick up Count Kralinsky and drop him overboard on
a dark night next week, when the _Lancashire Lass_ would be doing
twenty-two knots, and there might be a little weather about to drown
the splash.