"And now about this count who is interested in the anonymous lady. I
suppose he may pass for Athos. That makes it complete. Have some rye.
Smuggled it. Said it was medicine. The customs fellow tried it neat,
and said I had poisoned him."
I declined the wine of my country, and answered him that Athos, as I
had learned, was a man of high character who had lately joined the
Foreign Office, a keen imperialist, happily married and rich.
"Then certainly it cannot be the wife."
"No, I think I said so; I am thankful to be able to say that it is
not. But what part the woman has in this muddle is past my
comprehension."
"Stop a little," said my D'Artagnan. "You are having a good deal of
trouble to keep this short-legged Emperor from getting John Bull and
the rest to bully us into peace."
"Yes, there has been trouble brewing all summer." I could not imagine
what the man was after.
"Well, the woman seemed pleased when she learned that you were an
American. You said so, and also that the count charged you with being
in that affair. He slipped up a bit there. He seemed to believe you to
be engaged in something of which he did not want to talk freely."
"Yes, that is true."
The blue eyes held mine for a moment, and then he inquired, "Was
she--" and he paused.
"My dear captain, she is an American and a lady."
"I ask her pardon. A lady? You are sure she is a lady?"
"Yes."
"Then it is a matter of--let me think--not jealousy? Hardly. We may
leave that out."
"Certainly."
"Don't you catch on, Mr. Greville?"
"No, I must say I do not."
"Well, consider it coolly. Exclude love, jealousy, any gross fraud,
and what is left? What can be left?"
"I do not know."
"How about politics," he smiled. "How does that strike you?"
The moment he let fall this key-word, "Politics," I began to suspect
that he was right. The woman had exhibited relief when I had said I
was an American. We lived in a maze of spies of nearly every class of
life, rarely using the post-office, trusting no one. With our own
secret agents I had little to do. The first secretary or the minister
saw them, and we were not badly served either in England or France;
but all this did not do more than enable me to see my D'Artagnan's
notion as possibly a reasonable guess.
After a moment's thought I said: "You may be right; but even if you
are, the matter remains a problem which we are very unlikely ever to
solve. But how can a handsome young American woman be so deeply
concerned in some political affair as to account for this amazing
conduct of a secretary not yet a week old in the work of the imperial
Foreign Office."
Merton smiled. "We exhaust personal motives--what else is left?
Politics! She may know something which it seems to be desirable she
should not know. We must find her."
The more I considered his theory, the more I inclined to doubt it. At
all events as things stood it was none of our business--and after a
moment's reflection I said:
"We have quite enough on our hands without the woman. I shall see the
count to-day, and then we may be in a better position to know what
further should be done."
"Done?" laughed the captain. "I shall give all three fools what is
called satisfaction. I don't take much stock in them. I hate Aramis.
It's the woman interests me the most."
"The woman? I assure you, I am out of that."
"Oh, no, no! We must find her. She is in trouble."