Monsieur Guillot was a man of emotional temperament. For more than an
hour after Granet had left him, he paced up and down his little room,
stood before the high windows which overlooked the Thames, raised his
hands above his head and gazed with flashing eyes into the future--such
a future! All his life he had been a schemer, his eyes turned towards
the big things, yet with himself always occupying the one glorified
place in the centre of the arena. He was, in one sense of the word, a
patriot, but it was the meanest and smallest sense. There was no great
France for him in which his was not the commanding figure. In every
dream of that wonderful future, of a more splendid and triumphant
France, he saw himself on the pinnacle of fame, himself acclaimed by
millions the strong great man, the liberator. France outside himself
lived only as a phantasy. And now at last his chance had come. The
minutes passed unnoticed as he built his way up into the future. He was
shrewd and calculating, he took note of the pitfalls he must avoid. One
by one he decided upon the men whom gradually and cautiously he would
draw into his confidence. Finally he saw the whole scheme complete, the
bomb-shell thrown, France hysterically casting laurels upon the man who
had brought her unexpected peace.
The door-bell rang. He answered it a little impatiently. A slim,
fashionably dressed young Frenchman stood there, whose face was vaguely
familiar to him.
“Monsieur Guillot?” the newcomer inquired politely.
Guillot bowed. The young man handed him a card.
“I am the Baron D’Evignon,” he announced, “second secretary at the
Embassy here.”
Monsieur Guillot held the card and looked at his visitor. He was very
puzzled. Some dim sense of foreboding was beginning to steal in upon
him.
“Be so kind as to come in, Monsieur le Baron,” he invited. “Will you not
be seated and explain to me to what I am indebted for this honour? You
do not, by any chance, mistake me for another? I am Monsieur Guillot,
lately, alas! Of Lille.”
The Baron smiled ever so slightly as he waved away the chair.
“There is no mistake, Monsieur Guillot,” he said. “I come to you with
a message from my Chief. He would be greatly honoured if you would
accompany me to the Embassy. He wishes a few minutes’ conversation with
you.”
“With me?” Monsieur Guillot echoed incredulously. “But there is some
mistake.”
“No mistake, I assure you,” the young man insisted.
Monsieur Guillot drew back a little into the room.
“But what have I to do with the Ambassador, or with diplomatic matters
of any sort?” he protested. “I am here on business, to see what can be
saved from the wreck of my affairs. Monsieur the Ambassador is mistaking
me for another.”
The Baron shook his head.
“There is no mistake, my dear sir,” he insisted. “We all recognise,” he
added, with a bow, “the necessities which force the most famous of us
to live sometimes in the shadow of anonymity. If the Chief could find
little to say to Monsieur Guillot of Lille, he will, I am sure, be very
interested in a short conversation with Monsieur Henri Pailleton.”
There was a brief, tense silence. The man who had called himself Guillot
was transformed. The dreams which had uplifted him a few minutes
ago, had passed. He was living very much in the present--an ugly and
foreboding present. The veins stood out upon his forehead and upon
the back of his hands, his teeth gleamed underneath his coarse, white
moustache. Then he recovered himself.
“There is some mistake,” he said, “but I will come.”
In silence they left the hotel and drove to the Embassy, in silence the
young man ushered his charge into the large, pleasant apartment on
the ground floor of the Embassy, where the ambassador was giving
instructions to two of his secretaries. He dismissed them with a little
wave of his hand and bowed politely to his visitor. There was no longer
any pretext on the part of Monsieur Guillot. He recognised its complete
futility.
“Monsieur Pailleton,” the ambassador began, “will you take a seat? It is
very kind of you to obey so quickly my summons.”
“I had no idea,” the latter remarked, “that my presence in England was
known. I am here on private business.”
The ambassador bowed suavely.
“Precisely, my friend! You see, I use the epithet ‘my friend’ because
at a time like this all Frenchmen must forget their differences and
work together for the good and honour of their country. Is it not so,
monsieur?”
“That is indeed true,” Monsieur Pailleton admitted slowly. “We may work
in different ways but we work towards the same end.”
“No one has ever doubted your patriotism, Monsieur Pailleton,” the
ambassador continued. “It is my privilege now to put it to the
test. There is a little misunderstanding in Brazil, every particular
concerning which, and the views of our Government, is contained in the
little parcel of documents which you see upon this table. Put them in
your pocket, Monsieur Pailleton. I am going to ask you to serve your
country by leaving for Liverpool this afternoon and for Brazil to-morrow
on the steamship Hermes.”
Monsieur Pailleton had been a little taken aback by the visit of the
Baron. He sat now like a man temporarily stupefied. He was too amazed to
find any sinister significance in this mission. He could only gasp. The
ambassador’s voice, as he continued talking smoothly, seemed to reach
him from a long way off.
“It may be a little contrary to your wishes, my friend,” the latter
proceeded, “to find yourself so far from the throb of our great
struggle, yet in these days we serve best who obey. It is the wish of
those who stand for France that you should take that packet and board
that steamer.”
Monsieur Pailleton began in some measure to recover himself. He was
still, however, bewildered.
“Monsieur,” he protested, “I do not understand. This mission to Brazil
of which you speak--it can have no great importance. Cannot it be
entrusted to some other messenger?”
“Alas! No, my dear sir,” was the uncompromising reply. “It is
you--Monsieur Pailleton--whom the President desires to travel to
Brazil.”
The light was breaking in upon Pailleton. He clenched his fists.
“I am to be got out of the way!” he exclaimed. “The President fears me
politically, he fears my following!”
The ambassador drew himself a little more upright, a stiff unbending
figure. His words seemed suddenly to become charged with more weight.
“Monsieur Pailleton,” he said, “the only thing that France fears is
treachery!”
Pailleton gripped at the back of his chair. The room for a moment swam
before his eyes.
“Is this an insult, Monsieur l’Ambassadeur?” he demanded.
“Take it as an insult if in your heart there is no shadow of treachery
towards the France that is today, towards the cause of the Allies as it
is to-day,” was the stern answer.
“I refuse to accept this extraordinary mission,” Pailleton declared,
rising to his feet. “You can send whom you will to Brazil. I have
greater affairs before me.”
The ambassador shrugged his shoulders.
“I shall not press you,” he said. “I shall only put before you the
alternative. You are at this present moment upon French soil. If you
refuse this mission which has been offered to you, I shall detain you
here until I have the means of sending you under escort to France.”
“Detain me? On what charge?” Pailleton exclaimed angrily.
“On the charge of treason,” was the quiet reply. “I shall have you
stripped and searched in this room. I shall have your luggage and your
room searched at the Milan Hotel. And now, Monsieur Pailleton?”
Once more the man was bewildered. This time, however, it was
bewilderment of a different sort. He thought for a moment steadfastly.
Who was there who could have betrayed him?
“What is the nature of this document, monsieur, which you expect to find
amongst my belongings?” he demanded.
“An authorised offer of peace from Germany to the French people,” the
ambassador answered slowly. “It is the second attempt which has been
made. The first was torn into fragments before the face of the person
who had the effrontery to present it. The second, Monsieur Pailleton, is
in your possession. You may keep it if you will. In Brazil you will find
it of little use.”
Monsieur Pailleton folded his arms.
“I am a Frenchman,” he proclaimed. “What I may do, I do for France.”
“You refuse my mission, then?”
“I refuse it.”
The ambassador struck a bell upon his table. One of his secretaries
promptly appeared.
“Send Colonel Defarge to me at once,” his chief ordered.
There was a brief pause. The ambassador was busy writing at his table.
Pailleton, who was breathing heavily, said nothing. Presently an officer
in French uniform entered.
“Monsieur le Colonel,” the ambassador said, stretching out his hand
towards Pailleton, “you will accept the charge of this man, whom you
will consider under arrest. I take the full responsibility for this
proceeding. You will conduct him to your rooms here and you will search
him. Any document found in his possession you will bring to me. When you
have finished, let me know and I will give you an authority to proceed
to his apartments in the Milan Hotel. You understand?”
“Certainly, my chief.”
The officer saluted and moved to Pailleton.
“You will come quietly, monsieur, is it not so?” he asked.
Pailleton waved him away. He turned to the ambassador.
“Monsieur,” he decided, “I will go to Brazil.”