"The document I handed to you was exchanged for that dummy, and an hour
later the whole thing was telegraphed _in extenso_ to Russia. The
original was in your possession, and even if you are not actually in the
pay of our enemies, you were so negligent of your duty towards your
Queen and country that you are undeserving the name of Englishman."
"But does not London swarm with Russian agents?" I said. "Have we not
had ample evidence of that lately?"
"I admit it," he answered. "But what proof is there to show that you
yourself did not hand the original document to one of these enterprising
gentlemen who take such a keen interest in our affairs?"
"There is no proof that I am a spy," I cried hotly. "There never will
be; for I am entirely innocent of this disgraceful charge. You overlook
the fact that after it had been deposited in the safe it may have been
tampered with."
"I have overlooked no detail," he answered, with calmness. "Your
suggestion is an admirable form of excuse, but, unfortunately for you,
it will not hold water. First, because, as you must be aware, there is
but one key to that safe, and that never leaves my person; secondly, no
one but you and I are possessed of the secret whereby the safe may be
opened or closed; thirdly, the packet you gave me did not remain in the
safe. In order that you should believe that the document was deposited
there, I put it in in your presence, but when you left my room I took it
out again, and carried it home with me to Berkeley Square, intending to
show it to Lord Maybury. The Premier did not call as he had promised,
but I kept the document in my pocket the whole time, and at six o'clock
returned to the Foreign Office and deposited it again in the safe.
Almost next moment--I had not left the room, remember--some thought
prompted me to reopen the envelope and reassure myself of the wording of
one of the clauses. Walking to the safe, I took out the envelope and
cut it open, only to discover that I had been tricked. The paper was
blank!"
"It might have been stolen while in your possession just as easily as
while in mine!" I exclaimed, experiencing some satisfaction at being
thus able to turn his own arguments against himself.
"Knowing its vital importance, I took the most elaborate precautions
that such circumstances were rendered absolutely impossible."
"From your words, when Hammerton arrived from Berlin, it was plain that
you suspected treachery. On what ground were your suspicions founded?"
Upon his sphinx-like face there rested a heavy frown of displeasure as
he replied,--
"I refuse to submit to any cross-examination, sir. That I entertained
certain suspicions is enough."
"And you actually accuse me without the slightest foundation?" I cried
with warmth.
"You are in error," he retorted very calmly, returning to his
writing-table and taking up some papers. "I have here the original of
the telegram handed in at the branch post-office in the Strand yesterday
afternoon."
"Well?"
"It has been examined by the calligraphic expert employed by the police,
and declared to be in your handwriting."
"What?" I gasped, almost snatching the yellow telegraph form from his
hand in my eagerness to examine the mysterious jumble of letters and
figures composing the cypher. My heart sank within me when next instant
I recognised they were in a hand so nearly resembling my own that I
could scarcely detect any difference whatever.
As I stood gazing at this marvellous forgery, open-mouthed in abject
dismay, there broke upon my ear a short, harsh laugh--a laugh of
triumph.
Raising my head, the Earl's penetrating gaze met mine. "Now," he
exclaimed, "come, acknowledge the truth. It is useless to prevaricate."
"I have told the truth," I answered. "I never wrote this."
For an instant his steely eyes flashed as his blanched face assumed an
expression of unutterable hatred and disgust. Then he shouted,--
"You are a thief, a spy and a liar, sir! Leave me instantly. Even in
the face of such evidence as this you protest innocence with childish
simplicity. You have betrayed your country into the hands of her
enemies, and are, even now, seeking to throw blame and suspicion upon
myself. You--"
"I have not done so. I merely suggested that the document might have
been exchanged while in your possession. Surely--"
"And you actually come to me with a lame, absurd tale that the only man
who can clear you is dead! The whole defence is too absurd," he
thundered. "You have sold your country's honour and the lives of your
fellow-men for Russian roubles. Go! Never let me see you again, except
in a felon's dock."
"But surely I may be permitted to clear myself?" I cried.
"Your masters in St Petersburg will no doubt arrange for your future.
In London we require your faithless services no longer," the Earl
answered, with intense bitterness. "Go!"