When George Stratfield's coffee was brought to his room at the Grand
Hotel on the following morning there lay upon the tray a note which had
been brought by hand. The superscription was in educated unfamiliar
writing, evidently a woman's.
Filled with natural curiosity he tore open the envelope and read the
following in French:--
"The writer would esteem it a personal favour if Monsieur Stratfield
would accord her an interview this evening at any time or place he may
appoint. As the matter is urgent she will be obliged if Monsieur would
have the goodness to telegraph a reply addressed to Marie Blanc, Poste
Restante, Nice, before noon."
This mysterious communication he re-read several times. Who, he
wondered, was Marie Blanc, and what on earth did she want with him?
How, indeed, did she know his name? There was a distinct air of
suspicion about it.
He tossed the strange letter aside, and thoughtfully drank his coffee
and ate his roll.
Then, dressing, he went out, and strolling along the Promenade past the
house where Liane lived, he thought it over. His first inclination was
not to heed it. He was sufficiently worried by his own affairs, and had
no desire to be bothered about other people's. Marie Blanc was no doubt
some woman who had seen his name in the visitor's list and wanted the
loan of a pound or two. He had heard of such things happening at
Continental resorts. No, he would take no notice of it; so he tore the
note into fragments and cast them to the wind.
He had not called upon Liane, or seen her, since their meeting at Monte
Carlo. She had forbidden him; and although he had lounged about up and
down the broad walk nearly the whole of the previous day, he had seen no
sign of her. Evidently she had not been out, and was purposely avoiding
him.
Her attitude towards him had filled him with grief and dismay. From her
involuntary utterances it was plain that she still loved him, yet her
strange declaration that it was imperative she should marry Prince
d'Auzac perplexed him to the verge of madness. He had made inquiry
about this man, and on every hand heard with chagrin reports of his vast
wealth, of the brilliance of his fetes, and the charm of his
personality. He was, without doubt, a prominent figure in Nice society.
To one cause alone was George able to attribute this change in the
manner of his well-beloved, the fascination wealth exercises over women.
When he compared his own lowly position with that of the man who had
taken his place in Liane's heart, he sighed, and was plunged into deep
despair. Indeed, that very morning as he lay awake prior to his coffee
being brought, he reflected whether it would not be wiser to return at
once to London.
But he loved Liane. He would not yet leave her side. She loved him,
too, and although this marriage might be forced upon her, yet she was
nevertheless his own well-beloved.
Throughout that morning, in the hope of catching sight of Liane, he
sauntered about the Promenade, sat for half-an-hour in the
Posada-sur-Mer drinking vermouth, where from the open window he could
watch each person who passed. But his vigilance remained unrewarded.
Time after time he recollected the mysterious request of his unknown
correspondent, and found himself half inclined to send a telegram and
meet her. It would be an amusing adventure, if nothing else, he
thought; and at length, while strolling back to the town, he resolved to
do so, and, entering the nearest telegraph office, sent her a reply,
asking her to call at his hotel at nine o'clock.
The afternoon he spent lonely and dull. There was, it was true, plenty
of amusement going on, but in his frame of mind he was in no mood for
concerts, or the mild form of gambling offered by the Casino Municipal.
He sat in the public garden listening to the band until sundown, then
went for a stroll through the town, dined leisurely, and went to one of
the small salons in the hotel there to await his visitor.
A few minutes after nine the door was thrown open by one of the
servants, behind whom stood a tall, well-dressed lady.
"M'sieur Stra-atfeeld?" she exclaimed interrogatively, with a very
pronounced French accent.
"That is my name," he answered, bowing and inviting her into the room.
The spring nights are chilly in Nice, and she was warmly clad in furs,
and wore a neat toque with black veil, but even the spotted net was
insufficient to conceal that an eminently handsome face was beneath.
"Your room is warm and cosy," she exclaimed, when he had placed an
armchair for her. "It is quite cold outside. May I be permitted to
remove my cape?"
"Certainly, madame," he answered, still standing near her, a puzzled
expression upon his countenance as she unloosened her sealskin and
allowed it to fall over the back of her chair, revealing a trim figure
with narrow waist, neatly attired in black silk, the bodice trimmed with
cream.
"You were smoking," she said, with a smile. "Pray do not desist on my
account. I love tobacco. Indeed, if you offered I would take one of
your cigarettes--or would you think me very, very shocking?"
"By all means," he laughed. "I shall be delighted if you'll join me,"
and he offered her his cigarette-case, and took one himself. Then he
struck a vesta while she raised her veil, disclosing a pretty face and
an adorable mouth, and lit up with the air of an inveterate smoker. Her
fair hair was, he noticed, well-dressed, and her eyes were dark, but
there was just the faintest suspicion of artificial colouring in the
former, and her cheeks betrayed the use of the hare's foot and carmine.
He reflected however, that in a Frenchwoman these little aids to beauty
might be forgiven. Her handsome head was well poised, her throat soft
and well-rounded, her white gloves new, and her dress a model of
combined neatness and elegance. Her exact age was difficult to
determine, nevertheless she was still young-looking, and possessed the
_chic_ of the true Parisienne, which to Englishmen seldom fails to prove
attractive.
He made a movement to close the window, but with a pretty pout she
detained him, declaring that the room was a little warm, and at least
for the present she felt no draught.
He sank back into his chair, and regarded her with an expression half of
curiosity, half of surprise. Their eyes met. The silence was awkward,
and he broke it by apologising for receiving her somewhat abruptly.
"Ah, you bachelors are generally abrupt to unwelcome visitors?" she
answered in her pleasant broken English, with a low rippling laugh. "It
is only my much abused sex who prevent you from reverting to utter
barbarity. You are not married. Ah, you should have a wife to look
after you."
"Perhaps I may have one--some day," he answered, smiling at her
frankness.
Slowly she removed the cigarette from her lips, and her gaze wandered
round the brightly-furnished room.
"But you declare yourself to be an unwelcome visitor," he continued.
"Why?"
For a moment she regarded the end of her cigarette contemplatively, then
turning her dark eyes upon his, answered in a half-apologetic tone--
"Well, you must think my visit here curious, m'sieur. It is.
Nevertheless, I trust I may be forgiven for encroaching upon your time,
and coming here without introduction. The object of my call is of some
concern to you, inasmuch as it is in the interests of one who loves
you."
"One who loves me!" he echoed in surprise. "Who?"
"Liane Brooker," answered his fair visitor. "In her interests, and in
yours."
"Are you, then, a friend of Liane's?" he inquired, suddenly interested.
"Well, not exactly," she replied, a little evasively he thought.
Then she replaced her cigarette daintily between her lips, and continued
smoking with that ease and grace acquired by ladies who are in the habit
of soothing their nerves with tobacco.
"Are you acquainted with Captain Brooker?" he asked.
"Yes, we have met," she answered. "You know him, of course? He is such
a kind-hearted man, such a thorough Bohemian, yet such a perfect
gentleman."
"Unfortunately, I have only met him on one or two occasions," George
said. In an instant it had occurred to him that from his mysterious
visitor he might learn what Liane and poor Nelly had always refused to
tell him. "He has lived here, in France, for some years. What has been
his profession?"
"Profession!" she exclaimed, raising her dark well shaped eyebrows.
"What! are you unaware?"
"I am entirely ignorant."
"Well, although a military officer, of late years his chief field of
operations has been the trente-et-quarante table at Monte Carlo, where
he is as well-known as--well, as the fat old gentleman who sits in the
bureau to examine one's visiting card."
"A gambler!" he cried, in a tone of disbelief.
"Yes, a gambler," she went on. "Few men of late years have lost such
large sums so recklessly as he has. Once everybody followed his play,
believing him to be a sort of wizard who could divine the cards undealt;
but at last his ill-luck became proverbial, and after ruining himself he
left with Liane and Nelly Bridson and went to England."
"And Liane? What of her?" he inquired, dismayed that the man he had
held in high esteem as a good-hearted, easy-going fellow should actually
turn out to be an adventurer.
"Ah! she has led a strange life," sighed the handsome Frenchwoman. "I
have seen her many times, but have seldom spoken much with her. I often
met her father in the days of his success, but he for some reason
avoided introducing me. Although the circle in which Erle Brooker moved
was usually composed of thieves, adventuresses, and the scum of the
gambling-hells, he held his daughter aloof from it all. He would never
permit her to mix with any of his companions, appearing to entertain a
curious suspicion towards even respectable folk, fearing lest she should
become contaminated by the world's wickedness. Thus," she added, "Liane
and her companion Nelly grew to be sweet and altogether ingenuous girls,
who were everywhere respected and admired."
There was a short pause, during which he pondered deeply over the facts
his strange visitor had explained. The truth was out at last. Liane
was the daughter of an adventurer. He recollected how well she had been
dressed when he had met her on the terrace at Monte Carlo, and reflected
that her father must be again winning. The reason why she had compelled
him to leave her that afternoon, why she had always preserved such a
reticence regarding her past life, was now entirely plain. She did not
wish that he should know the truth.
"You said that you called in Liane's interests," he observed, presently,
glancing at her with earnestness. "How?"
"What are her interests are yours; are they not?" she asked.
"Certainly."
"You love her?"
He smiled at the abruptness of her question. She was leaning back,
regarding him with her keen, dark eyes, and holding her cigarette
daintily between her bejewelled fingers.
"She has promised to become my wife," he answered.
A strange look crossed her features. There was something of surprise
mingled with anger; but in an instant she hid it beneath a calm,
sphinx-like expression.
"I fear she will never marry you," she said, with a sigh.
"Why?"
"Because of her engagement to the Prince d'Auzac."
"I care nothing for that," he cried, in anger at mention of his rival's
name. "We love each other, and will marry."
"Such a course is impossible," she answered, in a deep impressive voice.
"It would be far better if you returned to London--better for you
both--for she cannot marry you."
"Why?" he demanded. He suddenly recollected that from this mysterious
woman who knew so much of their personal affairs he might obtain
knowledge of the secret his well-beloved had refused to disclose. "Why
cannot she abandon him, and marry the man she loves?"
"There is a secret reason," his visitor replied. "She dare not."
"Are you aware of the reason?" he demanded, quickly.
"I can guess. If it is as I suspect, then marriage with you is entirely
out of the question. She must marry Zertho."
"Because she is in fear of him?" he hazarded.
She shrugged her shoulders with that vivacity which only Frenchwomen
possess, but no reply left her lips.
"From what does her strange fear arise?" he asked, bending towards her
in his eagerness to learn the truth.
"An overwhelming terror holds her to Zertho. It is a bond which,
although he may be hateful to her, as undoubtedly he is, she cannot
break. She must become Princess d'Auzac."
"She fears lest he should expose some hidden secret of her past?" he
suggested.
"I don't say that," she answered. "Remember I have only suspicions.
Nevertheless, from whatever cause arises her terrible dread its result
is the same--it prevents her from becoming your wife."
"Yes," he admitted, plunged in gloomy reflections. "It does. I have
come out here from London to see her, but she will tell me nothing
beyond the fact that she is betrothed to this man, Zertho d'Auzac. At
first I believed that the attractions of wealth had proved too strong
for her to resist; but your words, in combination with hers, are proof
positive that there is some strange, dark secret underlying her
engagement to him."
"He has forced her to it," his fair visitor said in a harsh voice.
"He's absolutely unscrupulous."
"You know him?"
"Yes," she answered, with a slight hesitancy. "His career has been a
curious one. Not long ago he was a fellow-adventurer with Captain
Brooker, and well-known in all the gaming-houses in Europe--at Monte
Carlo, Spa, Ostend, Namur, and Dinant--as one who lived by exercising
his superior intelligence over his fellow-men. He was an `escroc'--one
who lived by his wits, won money at the tables, and when luck was
against him did not hesitate to descend to card-sharping in order to
secure funds. He was the black sheep of a noble family, an outcast, a
cheat and a swindler," she went on with a volubility that surprised him.
"He possessed all Erle Brooker's shrewdness without any of his good
qualities; for, although the Captain may be an adventurer he has never
stooped to meanness. He has always lost and won honourably, regarding
his luck, good or ill, with the same imperturbable grim humour and
reckless indifference. In the days of his prosperity his hand was ever
in his pocket to assist his fellow-gamesters upon whom Misfortune had
laid a heavy hand, and more than one young man, drawn to the tables by
the hope of winning, has been held back from ruin by his kindly and
timely advice. The one was, and is still, a dishonest, despicable
knave; while the other was a man of honour, truth and singleness of
heart. Suddenly, not long ago, the fortunes of Zertho d'Auzac changed,
for his father died and he found himself possessor of a truly princely
income and estates. He left the gaming-tables, burned the packs of
cards with which he had fleeced so many unsuspecting ones, and returned
to Luxembourg to claim his possessions. Since then he has led a life of
ease and idleness; yet he is still now, as he ever was, vicious,
recreant, and utterly unprincipled."
"And to this man Liane is bound?"
"Yes," she sighed. "Irrevocably, I fear; unless she can discover some
means whereby to hold him at defiance."
"But she must. I would rather see her dead than the wife of such a
man," he cried.
She remained silent for some minutes. Her cigarette had gone out and
she tossed it away. At last she turned to him, exclaiming,--
"Towards her release I am striving. I want your assistance."
"I will render you every help in my power," he answered eagerly. "What
can I do?"
"First," she said, glancing at him curiously through her half-raised
veil, "first describe to me in detail the whole of the circumstances in
which poor Nelly Bridson was killed."
"What!" he exclaimed quickly. "Has her fear any connection with that
tragic incident?"
In an instant he remembered the finding of a hairpin near the spot, a
pin which had been proved conclusively not to belong to the murdered
girl.
"I know it was you who discovered the body," she went on, disregarding
his inquiry. "Tell me the whole of the sad affair as far as your
knowledge extends. I have, of course, read the accounts of the inquest
which appeared in the papers at the time, but I am anxious to ascertain
some further details."
"Of what nature?"
"I want you to tell me, if you will," she replied with an interested
look, "the exact position of the body when you discovered it."
Her question brought to his memory his ghastly discovery in all its
hideousness. There arose before his vision the blanched upturned face
of the girl prostrate in the dust, the fallen cycle, and the white,
deserted English lane, silent and gloomy in the evening mist.
"Why do you desire me to recall an event so painful?" he asked in a calm
tone.
"Because it is necessary that you should tell me exactly how you
discovered her," she replied. "You had an appointment with Liane at
that very spot on that same evening, had you not?"
"Yes," he answered. "I was, unfortunately, late in keeping it, and rode
to the railway bridge at full gallop, expecting to find her still
waiting, but instead, found Nelly dead."
"She was lying in the centre of the road?"
"Almost. But a little to the right," he answered. "The road passing
beneath the railway takes an abrupt but short incline just where I found
her. She was evidently mounting the hill on her cycle when she was shot
down."
"Tell me exactly how you discovered her, and how you acted immediately
afterwards," she urged. "Begin at the beginning, and tell me all. It
may be that you can assist me in releasing Liane from her bondage."
Her words puzzled him, nevertheless, in obedience to her wish, he
related in their proper sequence each of the events of that memorable
evening; how he had made the appalling discovery, how he had found the
long-lost miniature of Lady Anne, had ridden with all speed down to the
village for assistance, and how he had subsequently discovered the
mysterious hairpin among the long grass by the gateway.
"Have you been able to determine how the missing miniature came into
Nelly's possession?" she asked.
"No," he said. "It is entirely a mystery. It almost seems as if she
had carried it in her hand, and it fell from her fingers when she was
struck."
"The papers also mentioned a brooch which was missing from Nelly's
dress," she observed.
"Yes," he replied. "It was no doubt stolen by the murderer."
"Why are you so certain the assassin was also the thief?" she inquired.
"Well, everything points to such being the case," he said.
"When you first discovered the crime are you certain that the brooch was
not still at her throat?" his mysterious visitor asked, eyeing him
seriously.
He paused, reflecting deeply for a moment.
"I took no notice," he answered. "I was too much upset by the startling
discovery to take heed what jewellery the victim wore."
"Cannot you sufficiently recall the appearance of the unfortunate girl
when first you saw her to say positively whether or not she was still
wearing the ornament? Try; it is most important that this fact should
be cleared up," she urged. Her gay carelessness had left her, and she
was full of serious earnestness.
Again he reflected. Once more before his vision rose the tragic scene
just as he had witnessed it, and somehow, he felt a growing
consciousness that this woman's suggestion was correct. Yes, he felt
certain that Nelly, although her eyes were sightless and her heart had
ceased to beat, still wore the brooch which her admirer had given her.
Again and again he strove to decide, and each time he found himself
convinced of the one fact alone--that at that moment the brooch was
still there.
"Well," she exclaimed at last, after intently watching every expression
of his face, "what is your reply?"
"Now that I come to reflect, I am almost positive that the brooch had
not been stolen," he answered, slowly.
"You are quite confident of that?" she cried, quickly.
"I will not swear," he answered, "but if my memory does not deceive me
it was still at her throat. I recollect noticing a strange mark beneath
her chin, and wondering how it had been caused. Without doubt when her
head sunk heavily upon her breast in death her chin had pressed upon the
brooch."
"In that case you certainly have sufficient justification to take an
oath if the question were put to you in a court of justice," she
observed, her brows knit reflectively.
George was puzzled how this fact could affect Liane's future welfare, or
rescue her from marriage with the Prince. This woman, too, was a
mystery, and he found himself wondering who and what she was.
"You are already aware of my name," he observed, after a brief pause.
"Now that we have exchanged confidences in this manner, may I not know
yours?"
"It is no secret, m'sieur," she replied, looking into his face and
smiling. "My name is Mariette Lepage."
"Mariette Lepage!" he gasped, starting from his chair, and glaring at
her in bewilderment.
"That, m'sieur, is my name," she answered, opening her dark eyes widely
in surprise at his strange and sudden attitude. "Surely it is not so
very extraordinary that, in giving you, a stranger, an address at the
Post Restante I should have used a name that was not my own?"