"And so, Ma'm'selle la Comtesse, it comes to this: you would have me
reward hospitality with treachery? You would have me betray my host,
my father's friend, and his son, into the hands of Russia?--for that
is what it would come to. No; I thank you for your kindness and
condescension in taking me into your confidence, but I cannot consent
to become your accomplice."
Adelaide de Conde had just been listening, in her own sitting-room at
Orrel Court, to Sophie's cunningly-worded suggestion that she should
go on board the _Nadine_ as her friend and ally, and assist in the
capture of the vessel by certain means which she pointed out, one of
which was a liberal use of drugs on the passengers and crew when the
critical moment was drawing near. A few months before she would have
entered with repugnance, but without hesitation, into any scheme which
bade fair to recover what she considered to be an inheritance which
the fates had robbed her off; but since then she had learnt to love
Shafto Hardress as she had never believed she could love any man; and
love had wrought its usual miracle. She hated Chrysie Vandel with the
whole-hearted hatred of her impetuous and masterful Bourbon spirit;
she looked upon her as one of her ancestors would have looked upon an
usurper or an invader--something to be abolished or suppressed, at any
price and by any means. Her father, too, she thoroughly hated--not
only through personal antipathy, but as one of those who possessed
something that should have been hers. To Lord Orrel and Lady Olive she
was practically indifferent; and, so far as they were concerned, she
would have entered even willingly into any scheme which promised to
take from them what they had taken from her. For the Franco-Russian
alliance she cared little, yet she would infinitely prefer to see
France sharing the control of the world with Russia than that it
should be in the hands of an Anglo-American business syndicate.
Moreover, was there not that promise made to her father long ago by an
exalted personage, that, since Russia would prefer a monarchy to a
republic as a friend and ally, she would not look unfavourably on the
restoration of the House of Bourbon in the person of the prince,
should circumstances--such, for instance, as a victorious war fought
with Russia's aid--make such an event possible. Many a time, indeed,
she had even been ready to curse this unfortunate love which had come
into her life to shake her resolution and spoil her purpose. But for
that how easy it would all be, especially with an ally--brilliant,
daring, and unscrupulous--like Sophie Valdemar; and yet, how could she
help to betray the man she loved, even to destroy her rival and get
him for herself? So, after a long pause of thought, she repeated
again, aloud:
"No, no; I couldn't do it. It would be too base."
"My dear Adelaide," replied Sophie, familiarly, and almost
affectionately, "I hope you will forgive me if I suggest that the
attitude you have taken up, dignified and virtuous as I admit it looks
at first sight, is really a trifle absurd."
"Really, countess," replied Adelaide, frigidly, "if you are going to
forget your manners, I think the conversation may as well end. You
have sought to tempt me to an act of treachery, and because I refuse,
you begin to forget your manners. You seem to have forgotten, also,
that you have put it into my power to warn the viscount and his
friends of the danger you have prepared for them."
This was, of course, a danger which Sophie had foreseen. It was a
grave one; but she was accustomed to run risks, and she was ready for
this one.
"My dear Adelaide," she replied, still with the most perfect good
humour, "please don't get angry with me. We have always been very good
friends, and I think this is the first time you have called me
countess for years. Don't take the trouble to be formal any more, but
just be sensible and listen. I am not tempting you at all. I am simply
trying to help you against our common enemy, and I am asking you to
help France and Russia in the great and good work of wresting the
command of the world from these upstart Anglo-Saxons, and reducing
them once for all to their proper place. You are not a friend to the
Republic; neither am I, nor any of us, for the matter of that. But you
are a Frenchwoman, who ought to be Queen of France, and, if all goes
well with us, may be."
"What," exclaimed Adelaide, taken off her guard for a moment, "do you
mean that, Sophie? Do you believe that Russia----"
"Would not rather have as an ally a monarchy--the old monarchy of
France, ruled over by your most gracious majesty, than a republic,
managed by a plebeian pack of stockjobbers and shopkeepers? Do you
know why your lamented father the prince was such a welcome guest at
the court of Petersburg?"
"Ah, then you know----"
"Yes," replied Sophie, taking the venture; "I do know, and I can
assure you that your majesty, when the day comes, will find no
stronger partisan than I shall be. My father, too, is one of your most
devoted adherents, though, of course, he can say nothing about it now,
and, as you know, there are other personages far more exalted."
"Yes, yes, I know," said Adelaide. "It was almost a promise."
"Help us, and you shall find that it was a promise," half guessing
what the promise was. Then, pushing her advantage, she continued:
"And, after all, you know, my dear Adelaide, is it not a little
inconsistent for you to talk of treason or betrayal. Do you really
think that you would now be a guest in Lord Orrel's house any more
than I should if he knew of your connection with a certain ex-captain
of Uhlans, or of that visit you paid with him to General Ducros?
Really, you will forgive me if I say that your suggestion as to
warning the viscount about my little scheme is a trifle illogical,
even if you wished to betray us, which I don't suppose you would
seriously dream of. How could you do it without betraying yourself?
You would have to accuse me and papa, and, through us, Russia, of an
act of contemplated piracy. We should be compelled, in self-defence,
to prove that you know just as much of the true nature of the Storage
Works as we do, and that you and your ex-captain are the real authors
of the French expedition--in short, that you are every whit as bitter
an enemy of the Trust, and all concerned in it, as we are. I fully
admit that you will spoil our scheme for the time being; but, instead
of being a guest of the _Nadine_, the guest of the man you love, with
the power in your hand of abolishing the woman who will certainly
marry him, if you don't, you would suffer the indignity of being
ordered out of his house as a spy and a traitress."
The logic was as exact as it was pitiless, and Adelaide de Conde saw
that Sophie Valdemar was, for the time being at least, mistress of the
situation. She had come to Orrel Court as a guest, with the full
intention of playing a double part. She had played it until one day
she had chanced to overhear a few half-tender, half-chaffing words
pass between Chrysie Vandel and Hardress. Then she had awakened to the
full certainty of what, in her inmost soul, she had long
suspected--that she loved this man with all the strength of a strong
and imperious nature; and since then she had been living in constant
dread that he should by some means come to know her as she was.
Now the crisis had come. Sophie Valdemar had woven toils round her
from which there was no escape; she must play the double part she had
chosen to the end. It was the only possible chance of gratifying at
once her love and her hate, and of perhaps attaining the object of her
ambitions after all. She moved slowly once or twice across the room,
with her hands clasped behind her back. Sophie waited and watched her
with a half-smile on her lips and a gleam of triumph in her eyes. She
knew that she had won, for she could read every thought that was
passing in Adelaide de Conde's soul. Then Adelaide stopped in the
middle of the room and faced her, with her head slightly thrown back,
and said slowly:
"Yes, Sophie; I see, after all, that you are right. I should be no
more a traitor on board the yacht than I have been here, and one
should help one's friends and allies rather than one's enemies. It
will, of course, be an enormous advantage to our cause if this yacht
can be seized. No doubt, too, there will be ciphers on board, which
will enable us to communicate with the works, and if there are, that
will be an immense gain to us. It shall be part of my business to find
that out. Yes; I will go, and I will help you as far as I can; but
there is one compact, Sophie, that you must make with me."
"My dear Adelaide," replied Sophie, warmly, and coming forward with
both hands outstretched, "after what you have said I will make any
compact you please that does not injure the cause of Holy Russia. She
is the only God, and her service is the only religion I have, and if I
make the compact, I swear to you by Holy Russia that I will keep it.
What is it?"
"Then you must swear to me," said Adelaide, taking her hand, "that,
whatever happens, whether we succeed or fail, no evil shall come to
the viscount or his father and sister, either in person or property.
If we get possession of the works, and the alliance conquers England
and America after it has disposed of Germany, they shall be considered
and treated as friends, not enemies; for you must remember that until
I reign as queen in Paris I propose to reign as mistress at Orrel
Court. As for the American woman and her father, and all the rest of
them, the sooner you get them out of the way the better pleased I
shall be."
"My dear Adelaide," replied Sophie, "you looked adorable as you said
those last words. Yes; of course, it shall be so; not a hair of their
heads, not a centime of their property shall be touched. They shall be
yours, and, as yours, sacred against all ills. That I swear and
promise you in the name of Holy Russia."
"Then," replied Adelaide, looking straight into her eyes, now
brilliant with the light of triumph, "I am with you to the end,
whether it be good or bad, success or failure, life or death."
"And for Holy Russia and the old regime of France!" added Sophie,
almost solemnly. "And now, suppose we go and join these good people on
the lawn?"
As they went out, arm-in-arm, laughing and chatting as though they
hadn't a care on their minds, no one would have dreamt that these two
beautiful women had been a moment before plotting the ruin, not only
of those whose hospitality they were enjoying, but of their country
and people as well; but as Miss Chrysie saw them, her pretty brows
came together for an instant, she turned aside, and said to her father
in a low tone:
"That Frenchwoman and the Russian girl have been together ever since
breakfast--hatching some mischief, I'll bet. I don't like it,
poppa--any more than I like the Frenchwoman coming across on the
yacht. She's coming for no good, I'm sure; but the viscount's about as
blind as a wall-eyed mule where that woman's concerned. Anyhow, I'll
watch her pretty closely; she can bet all her titles and ancient
lineage on that."
"That's right, Chrysie; and I reckon I sha'n't be sleeping much while
she's around," replied her father.