"Truth to tell," I said at last, "she has made an allegation against the
woman I love."
"Against Ella Laing?" he exclaimed, a faint shadow of anger crossing his
brow. "What has she said? Tell me; perhaps I can suggest a way of
dealing with her," he added quickly. "She's most unscrupulous; her
tongue is tipped with venom."
"She has given me to understand that Ella is an adventuress, and my most
bitter enemy," I blurted out suddenly.
He flung down his pen in anger, a fierce imprecation in Russian upon his
lips. The reason of his sudden annoyance was a mystery, but his quick
eyes noticed my amazement, and in on instant he assumed a calm
demeanour, saying, in a voice of reproach,--
"So this woman, who has libelled Ella, you are striving to assist, eh?
Well, what ground has she for her allegation?"
"She will tell me only on one condition."
"And what is that?"
"If I induce you to give her a false passport, and promise not to inform
the frontier police of her intended departure, she will relate to me the
truth," I said.
"And are you actually prepared to accept as truth the allegations which
this woman uses as a lever to compel you to exercise your good offices
on her behalf?" he observed, in a tone of reproach.
I was silent, for I now recognised for the first time the strength of
his argument.
"You see her position is this," he continued. "She has nothing to lose
and everything to gain. You get her the permit she desires; and she, in
return, will tell you some absurd romance or other, concocted, perhaps,
because she has taken a fancy to you and is jealous of Ella. We are
friends, Deedes, or I should not speak so plainly. But I tell you that
if I were in your place I would refuse to hear any lies from this
pretty, soft-spoken criminal."
"I quite appreciate your argument," I answered, reflectively, "and I
thank you for your good advice." Were the words she had uttered lies, I
wondered? Assuredly, her allegation that Ella was my enemy was a foul
falsehood; nevertheless that she was well aware of the tragic end of
Dudley Ogle I could not doubt, and her assertion that it had been
intended that I should be the victim had startled me and aroused my
curiosity. I was determined, at all hazards, to ascertain the truth.
"Do not be entrapped by a pretty face or a fine pair of eyes, that's my
advice," my companion said, slowly striking a match.
"I can assure you, old fellow, I shall not be misled by any pretty face,
even if it has diamond eyes," I said, quite unthinkingly, Sonia's
strange words recurring to me at that moment.
"Diamond eyes!" gasped Paul Verblioudovitch, starting visibly and
holding the burning match still between his fingers without lighting his
cigarette. He had in that instant grown paler, and I thought I detected
that his hand trembled, almost imperceptibly be it said. "What do you
mean?" he demanded, with a strange fierceness in his gaze. "What do you
know of Diamond Eyes?"