THE RED LETTER B
In the Baron's room at the Ritz late that night there was held a secret
conference. Two shadowy figures stole down the corridor at midnight and
were admitted to the room, while Prince Robin slept soundly in his
remote four-poster and dreamed of something that brought a gentle smile
to his lips.
The three conspirators were of the same mind: it was clear that
something must be done. But what? That was the question. Gourou
declared that the people were very much disturbed over the trick the
great capitalist had played upon the cabinet; there were sullen threats
of a revolt if the government insisted on the deposit of bonds as
required by the agreement. More than that, there were open declarations
that the daughter of Mr. Blithers would never be permitted to occupy
the throne of Graustark. Deeply as his subjects loved the young Prince,
they would force him to abdicate rather than submit to the desecration
of a throne that had never been dishonoured. They would accept William
W. Blithers' money, but they would have none of William W. Blithers'
daughter. That was more than could be expected of any self-respecting
people! According to the Minister of Police, the name of Blithers was
already a common synonym for affliction--and frequently employed in
supposing a malediction. It signified all that was mean, treacherous,
scurrilous. He was spoken of through clenched teeth as "the blood
sucker." Children were ominously reproved by the threatening use of the
word Blithers. "Blithers will get you if you don't wash your face," and
all that sort of thing.
There was talk in some circles of demanding the resignation of the
cabinet, but even the pessimistic Gourou admitted that it was idle talk
and would come to nothing if the menacing shadow of Maud Applegate
Blithers could be banished from the vicinity of the throne.
Graustarkians would abide by the compact made by their leading men and
would be content to regard Mr. Blithers as a bona fide creditor. They
would pay him in full when the loan matured, even though they were
compelled to sacrifice their houses in order to accomplish that end.
But, like all the rest of the world, they saw through the rich
American's scheme.
The world knew, and Graustark knew, just what Mr. Blithers was after,
and the worst of it all was that Mr. Blithers also knew, which was more
to the point. But, said Baron Gourou, Graustark knew something that
neither the world nor Mr. Blithers knew, and that was its own mind.
Never, said he, would Maud Applegate be recognised as the Princess of
Graustark, not if she lived for a thousand years and married Robin as
many times as she had hairs on her head. At least, he amended, that was
the way every one felt about it at present.
The afternoon papers had published the brief statement prepared by
Robin in the seclusion of his stateroom on board the _Jupiter_
immediately after a most enjoyable hour with Miss Guile. It was a curt
and extremely positive denial of the rumoured engagement, with the
additional information that he never had seen Miss Blithers and was
more or less certain that she never had set eyes on him.
A rather staggering co-incidence appeared with the published report
that Miss Blithers herself was supposed to be somewhere in Europe, word
having been received that day from sources in London that she had
sailed from New York under an assumed name. The imaginative French
journals put two and two together and dwelt upon the possibility that
the two young people who had never seen each other might have crossed
the Atlantic on the same steamer, seeing each other frequently and yet
remaining entirely in the dark, so to speak. Inspired writers began to
weave a romance out of the probabilities.
On one point Robin was adamantine. He refused positively to have his
identity disclosed at this time, and Gourou had to say to the
newspapers that the Prince was even then on his way to Vienna, hurrying
homeward as fast as steel cars could carry him. He admitted that the
young man had arrived on the _Jupiter_ that morning, having remained in
the closest seclusion all the way across the Atlantic.
This equivocation necessitated the most cautious rearrangement of plans
on the part of the Baron. He was required to act as though he had no
acquaintance with either of the three travellers stopping at the Ritz,
although for obvious reasons he took up a temporary abode there
himself. Moreover, he had to telegraph the Prime Minister in Edelweiss
that the Prince was not to be budged, and would in all likelihood
postpone his return to the capitol. All of which stamped the honest
Baron as a most prodigious liar, if one stops to think of what he said
to the reporters.
The newspapers also printed a definite bit of news in the shape of a
despatch from New York to the effect that Mr. and Mrs. William W.
Blithers were sailing for Europe on the ensuing day, bound for
Graustark!
However, the chief and present concern of the three loyal gentlemen in
midnight conclave was not centred in the trouble that Mr. Blithers had
started, but in the more desperate situation created by Miss Guile. She
was the peril that now confronted them, and she was indeed a peril.
Quinnox and Dank explained the situation to the Minister of Police, and
the Minister of Police admitted that the deuce was to pay.
"There is but one way out of it," said he, speaking officially, "and
that is the simplest one I know of."
"Assassination, I suppose," said Dank scornfully.
"It rests with me, gentlemen," said the Baron, ignoring the
lieutenant's remark, "to find Miss Guile and take her into my
confidence in respect--"
"No use," said Dank, and, to his surprise, the Count repeated the words
after him.
"Miss Guile is a lady. Baron," said the latter gloomily. "You cannot go
to her with a command to clear out, keep her hands off, or any such
thing. She would be justified in having you kicked out of the house. We
must not annoy Miss Guile. That is quite out of the question."
"By jove!" exclaimed Dank, so loudly that his companions actually
jumped in their seats. They looked at him in amazement,--the Count with
something akin to apprehension in his eyes. Had the fellow lost his
mind over the girl? Before they could ask what he meant by shouting at
the top of his voice, he repeated the ejaculation, but less
explosively. His eyes were bulging and his mouth remained agape.
"What ails you, Dank?" demanded the Baron, removing his eyes from the
young man's face long enough to glance fearfully at the transom.
"I've--I've got it!" cried the soldier, and then sank back in his
chair, quite out of breath. The Baron got up and took a peep into the
hallway, and then carefully locked the door. "What are you locking the
door for?" demanded Dank, sitting up suddenly. "It's only a theory that
I've got--but it is wonderful. Absolutely staggering."
"Oh!" said Gourou, but he did not unlock the door. "A theory, eh?" He
came back and stood facing the young man.
"Count," began Dank excitedly, "you remember the big red letter B on
all of her trunks, don't you? Hobbs is positive he--"
Count Quinnox sprang to his feet and banged the table with his fist.
"By jove!" he shouted, suddenly comprehending.
"The letter B?" queried Gourou, perplexed.
"The newspapers say that she sailed from New York under an assumed
name," went on Dank, thrilled by his own amazing cleverness. "There you
are! Plain as day. The letter B explains everything. Now we know who
Miss Guile really is. She's--"
"Maud" exclaimed Quinnox, sinking back into his chair.
"Miss Blithers!" cried Gourou, divining at last. "By jove!" And thus
was the jovian circle completed.
It was two o'clock before the three gentlemen separated and retired to
rest, each fully convinced that the situation was even more complicated
than before, for in view of this new and most convincing revelation
there now could be no adequate defence against the alluring Miss Guile.
Robin was informed bright and early the next morning. In fact, he was
still in his pajamas when the news was carried to him by the exhausted
Dank, who had spent five hours in bed but none in slumber. Never in all
his ardent career had the smart lieutenant been so bitterly afflicted
with love-sickness as now.
"I don't believe a word of it," said the Prince, promptly. "You've been
dreaming, old chap."
"That letter B isn't a dream, is it?"
"No, it isn't," said Robin, and instantly sat up in bed, his face very
serious. "If she should turn out to be Miss Blithers, I've cooked my
goose to a crisp. Good Lord, when I think of some of the things I said
to her about the Blithers family! But wait! If she is Miss Blithers do
you suppose she'd sit calmly by and hear the family ridiculed? No, sir!
She would have taken my head off like a flash. She--"
"I've no doubt she regarded the situation as extremely humorous," said
Dank, "and laughed herself almost sick over the way she was fooling
you."
"That might sound reasonable enough, Dank, if she had known who I was.
But where was the fun in fooling an utter outsider like R. Schmidt? It
doesn't hold together."
"Americans have an amazing notion of humour, I am reliably informed.
They appear to be able to see a joke under the most distressing
circumstances. I'll stake my head that she is Miss Blithers."
"I can't imagine anything more terrible," groaned Robin, lying down
flat again and staring at the ceiling.
"I shouldn't call her terrible," protested Dank, rather stiffly.
"I refer to the situation, Dank,--the mess, in other words. It _is_ a
mess, isn't it?"
"I suppose you'll see nothing more of her, your highness," remarked
Dank, a sly hope struggling in his breast.
"You'd better put it the other way. She'll see nothing more of me,"
lugubriously.
"I mean to say, sir, you can't go on with it, can you?"
"Go on with what?"
"The--er--you know," floundered Dank.
"If there is really anything to go on with, Dank, I'll go on with it,
believe me."
The lieutenant stared. "But if she _should_ be Miss Blithers, what
then?"
"It might simplify matters tremendously," said Robin, but not at all
confidently. "I think I'll get up, Dank, if you don't mind. Call Hobbs,
will you? And, I say, won't you have breakfast up here with me?"
"I had quite overlooked breakfast, 'pon my soul, I had," said Dank, a
look of pain in his face. "No wonder I have a headache, going without
my coffee so long."
Later on, while they were breakfasting in Robin's sitting room, Hobbs
brought in the morning newspapers. He laid one of them before the
Prince, and jabbed his forefinger upon a glaring headline.
"I beg pardon, sir; I didn't mean to get it into the butter. Very
awkward, I'm sure. Hi, _garcon!_ Fresh butter 'ere, and lively about
it, too. _Buerre!_ That's the word--buttah."
Robin and Dank were staring at the headline as if fascinated. Having
successfully managed the butter, Hobbs at once restored his attention
to the headline, reading it aloud, albeit both of the young men were
capable of reading French at sight. He translated with great profundity.
"'Miss Blithers Denies Report. Signed Statement Mysteriously Received.
American Heiress not to wed Prince of Graustark.' Shall I read the
harticle, sir?"
Robin snatched up the paper and read aloud for himself. Hobbs merely
wiped a bit of butter from his finger and listened attentively.
The following card appeared at the head of the column, and was
supplemented by a complete resume of the Blithers-Graustark muddle:
"Miss Blithers desires to correct an erroneous report that has appeared
in the newspapers. She is not engaged to be married to the Prince of
Graustark, nor is there even the remotest probability that such will
ever be the case. Miss Blithers regrets that she has not the honour of
Prince Robin's acquaintance, and the Prince has specifically stated in
the public prints that he does not know her by sight. The statements of
the two persons most vitally affected by this disturbing rumour should
be taken as final. Sufficient pain and annoyance already has been
caused by the malicious and utterly groundless report." The name of
Maud Applegate Blithers was appended to the statement, and it was dated
Paris, August 29.
Thereafter followed a lengthy description of the futile search for the
young lady in Paris, and an interview with the local representatives of
Mr. Blithers, all of whom declared that the signature was genuine, but
refused to commit themselves further without consulting their employer.
They could throw no light upon the situation, even going so far as to
declare that they were unaware of the presence of Miss Blithers in
Paris.
It appears that the signed statement was left in the counting-rooms of
the various newspapers by a heavily veiled lady at an hour agreed upon
as "about ten o'clock." There was absolutely no clue to the identity of
this woman.
Instead of following the suggestion of Miss Blithers that "sufficient
pain and annoyance already had been caused," the journalists proceeded
to increase the agony by venturing the hope that fresh developments
would materialise before the day was done.
"Well, she appears to be here," said Robin, as he laid down the last of
the three journals and stared at Dank as if expecting hope from that
most unreliable source.
"I suppose you will now admit that I am right about the letter B," said
Dank sullenly.
"When I see Miss Guile I shall ask point blank if she is Maud
Applegate, Dank, and if she says she isn't, I'll take her word for it,"
said Robin.
"And if she says she is?"
"Well," said the Prince, ruefully, "I'll still take her word for it."
"And then?"
"Then I shall be equally frank and tell her that I am Robin of
Graustark. That will put us all square again, and we'll see what comes
of it in the end."
"You don't mean to say you'll--you'll continue as you were?" gasped
Dank.
"That depends entirely on Miss Guile, Boske."
"But you wouldn't dare to marry Maud Applegate Blithers, sir. You would
be driven out of Graustark and--"
"I think that would depend a good deal on Miss Guile, too, old chap,"
said Robin coolly.
Dank swallowed very hard. "I want to be loyal to you, your highness,"
he said as if he did not think it would be possible to remain so.
"I shall count on you, Dank," said Robin earnestly.
"But--" began the lieutenant, and then stopped short.
"Let me finish it for you. You don't feel as though you could be loyal
to Miss Blithers, is that it?"
"I think that would depend on Miss Blithers," said Dank, and then
begged to be excused. He went out of the room rather hurriedly.
"Well, Hobbs," said Robin, after his astonishment had abated, "what do
_you_ think of it?"
"I think he's in love with her, sir," said Hobbs promptly.
"Good Lord! with--with Miss Guile?"
"Precisely so, sir."
"Well, I'll be _darned!_" said the American half of Prince Robin with
great fervour.
"Tut, tut, sir," reproved Hobbs, who, as has been said before, was a
privileged character by virtue of long service and his previous calling
as a Cook's interpreter. "Are you going out, sir?"
"Yes. I'm going out to search the highways and by-ways for Bedelia,"
said Robin, a gay light in his eyes. "By the way, did you, by any
chance, learn the name of the 'andsome young gent as went away with
'er, 'Obbs?"
"I did not, sir. I stood at his helbow for quite some time at the Gare
St. Lazare and the only words he spoke that I could hear distinctly was
'wot the devil do you mean, me man? Ain't there room enough for you
here without standing on my toes like that? Move hover.' Only, of
course, sir, he used the haspirates after a fashion of his own. The
haitches are mine, sir."
"Is he an American?"
"It's difficult to say, sir. He may be from Boston, but you never can
tell, sir."
"Do you know Boston, Hobbs?" inquired the Prince, adjusting his tie
before the mirror.
"Not to speak it, sir," said Hobbs.
The day was warm and clear, and Paris was gleaming. Robin stretched his
long legs in a brisk walk across the Place Vendome and up the Rue de la
Paix to the Boulevard. Here he hesitated and then retraced his steps
slowly down the street of diamonds, for he suspected Miss Guile of
being interested in things that were costly. Suddenly inspired, he made
his way to the Place de la Concorde and settled himself on one of the
seats near the entrance to the Champs Elysees. It was his shrewd
argument that if she planned a ride on that exquisite morning it
naturally would be along the great avenue, and in that event he might
reasonably hope to catch her coming or going. A man came up and took a
seat beside him.
"Good morning, Mr. Schmidt," said the newcomer, and Robin somewhat
gruffly demanded what the deuce he meant by following him. "I have some
interesting news," said Baron Gourou quietly, removing his hat to wipe
a damp brow. He also took the time to recover his breath after some
rather sharp dodging of automobiles in order to attain his present
position of security. Even a Minister of Police has to step lively in
Paris.
"From home?" asked Robin carelessly.
"Indirectly. It comes through Berlin. Our special agent there wires me
that the offices of Mr. Blithers in that city have received
instructions from him to send engineers to Edelweiss for the purpose of
estimating the cost of remodelling and rebuilding the castle,--in other
words to restore it to its condition prior to the Marlanx rebellion
fifteen years ago."
There was a tantalising smile on the Baron's face as he watched the
changing expressions in that of his Prince.
"Are you in earnest?" demanded Robin, a bright red spot appearing in
each cheek. The Baron nodded his head. "Well, he's got a lot of nerve!"
"I shudder when I think of what is likely to happen to those architects
when they begin snooping around the castle," said Gourou drily. "By the
way, have you seen Miss Guile this morning?"
Robin's cheeks were now completely suffused. "Certainly not."
"She was in the Rue de la Paix half an hour ago. I thought you might--"
"You saw her, Baron?"
"Yes, highness, and it may interest you to know that she saw you."
"The deuce you say! But how do you know that it was Miss Guile. You've
no means of knowing."
"It is a part of my profession to recognise people from given
descriptions. In this case, however, the identification was rendered
quite simple by the actions of the young lady herself. She happened to
emerge from a shop just as you were passing and I've never seen any
one, criminal or otherwise, seek cover as quickly as she did. She
darted back into the shop like one pursued by the devil. Naturally I
hung around for a few minutes to see the rest of the play. Presently
she peered forth, looked stealthily up and down the street, and then
dashed across the pavement to a waiting taxi-metre. It affords me
pleasure to inform your highness that I took the number of the
machine." He glanced at his cuff-band.
"Where did she go from the Rue de la Paix?" asked Robin impatiently.
"To the Ritz. I was there almost as soon as she. She handed an
envelope--containing a letter, I fancy--to the carriage man and drove
away in the direction of the Place de l'Opera. I have a sly notion, my
Prince, that you will find a note awaiting you on your return to the
hotel. Ah, you appear to be in haste, my young hunter."
"I am in haste. If you expect to keep alongside, Baron, you'll have to
run I'm afraid," cried the Prince, and was instantly in his
seven-league boots.
There was a note in Robin's rooms when he reached the hotel. It was not
the delicately perfumed article that usually is despatched by fictional
heroines but a rather business-like envelope bearing the well-known
words "The New York Herald" in one corner and the name "R. Schmidt,
Hotel Ritz," in firm but angular scrawl across its face. As Robin
ripped it open with his finger, Baron Gourou entered the room, but not
without giving vent to a slight cough in the way of an announcement.
"You forget, highness, that I am a short man and not possessed of legs
that travel by yards instead of feet," he panted. "Forgive me for
lagging behind. I did my best to keep up with you."
Robin stared at his visitor haughtily for a moment and then broke into
a good-humoured laugh.
"Won't you sit down, Baron? I'll be at liberty in a minute or two," he
said, and coolly proceeded to scan the brief message from Miss Guile.
"Well," said Gourou, as the young man replaced the letter in the
envelope and stuck it into his pocket.