At ten o’clock that morning, Lord Caterham and his daughter were
breakfasting. Bundle was looking very thoughtful.
“Father,” she said at last.
Lord Caterham, absorbed in _The Times_, did not reply.
“Father,” said Bundle again, more sharply.
Lord Caterham, torn from his interested perusal of forthcoming sales of
rare books, looked up absent-mindedly.
“Eh?” he said. “Did you speak?”
“Yes. Who is it who’s had breakfast?”
She nodded towards a place that had evidently been occupied. The rest
were all expectant.
“Oh, what’s-his-name.”
“Fat Iky?”
Bundle and her father had enough sympathy between them to comprehend
each other’s somewhat misleading observations.
“That’s it.”
“Did I see you talking to the detective this morning before breakfast?”
Lord Caterham sighed.
“Yes, he buttonholed me in the hall. I do think the hours before
breakfast should be sacred. I shall have to go abroad. The strain on my
nerves——”
Bundle interrupted unceremoniously.
“What did he say?”
“Said every one who wanted to could clear out.”
“Well,” said Bundle, “that’s all right. That’s what you’ve been
wanting.”
“I know. But he didn’t leave it at that. He went on to say that
nevertheless he wanted me to ask every one to stay on.”
“I don’t understand,” said Bundle, wrinkling her nose.
“So confusing and contradictory,” complained Lord Caterham. “And before
breakfast too.”
“What did you say?”
“Oh, I agreed, of course. It’s never any good arguing with these
people. Especially before breakfast,” continued Lord Caterham,
reverting to his principal grievance.
“Who have you asked so far?”
“Cade. He was up very early this morning. He’s going to stop on. I
don’t mind that. I can’t quite make the fellow out; but I like him—I
like him very much.”
“So does Virginia,” said Bundle, drawing a pattern on the table with
her fork.
“Eh?”
“And so do I. But that doesn’t seem to matter.”
“And I asked Isaacstein,” continued Lord Caterham.
“Well?”
“But fortunately he’s got to go back to town. Don’t forget to order the
car for the 10.40, by the way.”
“All right.”
“Now if I can only get rid of Fish too,” continued Lord Caterham, his
spirits rising.
“I thought you liked talking to him about your mouldy old books.”
“So I do, so I do. So I did, rather. But it gets monotonous when
one finds that one is always doing all the talking. Fish is very
interested, but he never volunteers any statements of his own.”
“It’s better than doing all the listening,” said Bundle. “Like one does
with George Lomax.”
Lord Caterham shuddered at the remembrance.
“George is all very well on platforms,” said Bundle. “I’ve clapped
him myself, though of course I know all the time that he’s talking
balderdash. And anyway I’m a Socialist——”
“I know, my dear, I know,” said Lord Caterham hastily.
“It’s all right,” said Bundle. “I’m not going to bring politics into
the house. That’s what George does—public speaking in private life. It
ought to be abolished by Act of Parliament.”
“Quite so,” said Lord Caterham.
“What about Virginia?” asked Bundle. “Is she to be asked to stop on?”
“Battle said everybody.”
“Says he firmly! Have you asked her to be my stepma yet?”
“I don’t think it would be any good,” said Lord Caterham mournfully.
“Although she did call me a darling last night. But that’s the worst of
these attractive young women with affectionate dispositions. They’ll
say anything, and they mean absolutely nothing by it.”
“No,” agreed Bundle. “It would have been much more hopeful if she’d
thrown a boot at you or tried to bite you.”
“You modern young people seem to have such unpleasant ideas about
love-making,” said Lord Caterham plaintively.
“It comes from reading _The Sheik_,” said Bundle. “Desert love. Throw
her about, etc.”
“What is _The Sheik_?” asked Lord Caterham simply. “Is it a poem?”
Bundle looked at him with commiserating pity. Then she rose and kissed
the top of his head.
“Dear old Daddy,” she remarked, and sprang lightly out of the window.
Lord Caterham went back to the Sale Rooms.
He jumped when addressed suddenly by Mr. Hiram Fish, who had made his
usual noiseless entry.
“Good morning, Lord Caterham.”
“Oh, good morning,” said Lord Caterham. “Good morning. Nice day.”
“The weather is delightful,” said Mr. Fish.
He helped himself to coffee. By way of food, he took a piece of dry
toast.
“Do I hear correctly that the embargo is removed?” he asked after a
minute or two. “That we are all free to depart?”
“Yes—er—yes,” said Lord Caterham. “As a matter of fact, I hoped, I
mean that I shall be delighted”—his conscience drove him on—“only too
delighted if you will stay on for a little.”
“Why, Lord Caterham——”
“It’s been a beastly visit, I know,” Lord Caterham hurried on. “Too
bad. Shan’t blame you for wanting to run away.”
“You misjudge me, Lord Caterham. The associations have been painful,
no one could deny that point. But the English country life, as lived
in the mansions of the great, has a powerful attraction for me. I am
interested in the study of those conditions. It is a thing we lack
completely in America. I shall be only too delighted to accept your
vurry kind invitation and stay on.”
“Oh, well,” said Lord Caterham, “that’s that. Absolutely delighted, my
dear fellow, absolutely delighted.”
Spurring himself on to a false geniality of manner, Lord Caterham
murmured something about having to see his bailiff and escaped from the
room.
In the hall, he saw Virginia just descending the staircase.
“Shall I take you into breakfast?” asked Lord Caterham tenderly.
“I’ve had it in bed, thank you. I was frightfully sleepy this morning.”
She yawned.
“Had a bad night, perhaps?”
“Not exactly a bad night. From one point of view decidedly a good
night. Oh, Lord Caterham”—she slipped her hand inside his arm and
gave it a squeeze—“I _am_ enjoying myself. You were a darling to ask
me down.”
“You’ll stop on for a bit, then, won’t you? Battle is lifting the—the
embargo, but I want you to stay particularly. So does Bundle.”
“Of course I’ll stay. It’s sweet of you to ask me.”
“Ah!” said Lord Caterham.
He sighed.
“What is your secret sorrow?” asked Virginia. “Has anyone bitten you?”
“That’s just it,” said Lord Caterham mournfully.
Virginia looked puzzled.
“You don’t feel, by any chance, that you want to throw a boot at me?
No, I can see you don’t. Oh, well, it’s of no consequence.”
Lord Caterham drifted sadly away, and Virginia passed out through a
side door into the garden.
She stood there for a moment, breathing in the crisp October air which
was infinitely refreshing to one in her slightly jaded state.
She started a little to find Superintendent Battle at her elbow. The
man seemed to have an extraordinary knack of appearing out of space
without the least warning.
“Good morning, Mrs. Revel. Not too tired, I hope?”
Virginia shook her head.
“It was a most exciting night,” she said. “Well worth the loss of a
little sleep. The only thing is, to-day seems a little dull after it.”
“There’s a nice shady place down under that cedar tree,” remarked the
superintendent. “Shall I take a chair down to it for you?”
“If you think it’s the best thing for me to do,” said Virginia solemnly.
“You’re very quick, Mrs. Revel. Yes, it’s quite true, I do want a word
with you.”
He picked up a long wicker chair and carried it down the lawn. Virginia
followed him with a cushion under her arm.
“Very dangerous place, that terrace,” remarked the detective. “That is,
if you want to have a private conversation.”
“I’m getting excited again, Superintendent Battle.”
“Oh, it’s nothing important.” He took out a big watch and glanced at
it. “Half-past ten. I’m starting for Wyvvern Abbey in ten minutes to
report to Mr. Lomax. Plenty of time. I only wanted to know if you could
tell me a little more about Mr. Cade.”
“About Mr. Cade?”
Virginia was startled.
“Yes, where you first met him, and how long you’ve known him and so
forth.”
Battle’s manner was easy and pleasant enough. He even refrained from
looking at her, and the fact that he did so made her vaguely uneasy.
“It’s more difficult than you think,” she said at last. “He did me a
great service once——”
Battle interrupted her.
“Before you go any further, Mrs. Revel, I’d just like to say something.
Last night, after you and Mr. Eversleigh had gone to bed, Mr. Cade told
me all about the letters and the man who was killed in your house.”
“He did?” gasped Virginia.
“Yes, and very wisely too. It clears up a lot of misunderstanding.
There’s only one thing he didn’t tell me—how long he had known you.
Now I’ve a little idea of my own about that. You shall tell me if I’m
right or wrong. I think that the day he came to your house in Pont
Street was the first time you had ever seen him. Ah! I see I’m right.
It was so.”
Virginia said nothing. For the first time she felt afraid of this
stolid man with the expressionless face. She understood what Anthony
had meant when he said there were no flies on Superintendent Battle.
“Has he ever told you anything about his life?” the detective
continued. “Before he was in South Africa, I mean. Canada? Or before
that, the Sudan? Or about his boyhood?”
Virginia merely shook her head.
“And yet I’d bet he’s got something worth telling. You can’t mistake
the face of a man who’s led a life of daring and adventure. He could
tell you some interesting tales if he cared to.”
“If you want to know about his past life, why don’t you cable to that
friend of his, Mr. McGrath?” Virginia asked.
“Oh, we have. But it seems he’s up country somewhere. Still, there’s no
doubt Mr. Cade was in Bulawayo when he said he was. But I wondered what
he’d been doing before he came to South Africa. He’d only had that job
with Castle’s about a month.” He took out his watch again. “I must be
off. The car will be waiting.”
Virginia watched him retreat to the house. But she did not move from
her chair. She hoped that Anthony might appear and join her. Instead
came Bill Eversleigh, with a prodigious yawn.
“Thank God, I’ve got a chance to speak to you at last, Virginia,” he
complained.
“Well, speak to me very gently, Bill darling, or I shall burst into
tears.”
“Has some one been bullying you?”
“Not exactly bullying me. Getting inside my mind and turning it inside
out. I feel as though I’d been jumped on by an elephant.”
“Not Battle?”
“Yes, Battle. He’s a terrible man really.”
“Well, never mind Battle. I say, Virginia, I do love you so awfully——”
“Not this morning, Bill. I’m not strong enough. Anyway, I’ve always
told you the best people don’t propose before lunch.”
“Good Lord,” said Bill. “I could propose to you before breakfast.”
Virginia shuddered.
“Bill, be sensible and intelligent for a minute. I want to ask your
advice.”
“If you’d once make up your mind to it, and say you’d marry me, you’d
feel miles better, I’m sure. Happier, you know, and more settled down.”
“Listen to me, Bill. Proposing to me is your _idée fixe_. All men
propose when they’re bored and can’t think of anything to say. Remember
my age and my widowed state, and go and make love to a pure young girl.”
“My darling Virginia—Oh, blast! here’s that French idiot bearing down
on us.”
It was indeed M. Lemoine, black-bearded and correct of demeanour as
ever.
“Good morning, madame. You are not fatigued, I trust?”
“Not in the least.”
“That is excellent. Good morning, Mr. Eversleigh.”
“How would it be if we promenaded ourselves a little, the three of us?”
suggested the Frenchman.
“How about it, Bill?” said Virginia.
“Oh, all right,” said the unwilling young gentleman by her side.
He heaved himself up from the grass, and the three of them walked
slowly along. Virginia between the two men. She was sensible at once of
a strange undercurrent of excitement in the Frenchman, though she had
no clue as to what caused it.
Soon, with her usual skill, she was putting him at his ease, asking him
questions, listening to his answers, and gradually drawing him out.
Presently he was telling them anecdotes of the famous King Victor. He
talked well, albeit with a certain bitterness, as he described the
various ways in which the detective bureau had been outwitted.
But all the time, despite the real absorption of Lemoine in his own
narrative, Virginia had a feeling that he had some other object in
view. Moreover, she judged that Lemoine, under cover of his story, was
deliberately striking out his own course across the park. They were
not just strolling idly. He was deliberately guiding them in a certain
direction.
Suddenly, he broke off his story and looked round. They were
standing just where the drive intersected the park before turning an
abrupt corner by a clump of trees. Lemoine was staring at a vehicle
approaching them from the direction of the house.
Virginia’s eyes followed his.
“It’s the luggage cart,” she said, “taking Isaacstein’s luggage and his
valet to the station.”
“Is that so?” said Lemoine. He glanced down at his own watch and
started. “A thousand pardons. I have been longer here than I
meant—such charming company. Is it possible, do you think, that I
might have a lift to the village?”
He stepped out on to the drive, and signalled with his arm. The luggage
cart stopped, and after a word or two of explanation Lemoine climbed in
behind. He raised his hat politely to Virginia, and drove off.
The other two stood and watched the cart disappearing with puzzled
expressions. Just as the cart swung round the bend, a suit-case fell
off into the drive. The cart went on.
“Come on,” said Virginia to Bill. “We’re going to see something
interesting. That suit-case was thrown out.”
“Nobody’s noticed it,” said Bill.
They ran down the drive towards the fallen piece of luggage. Just as
they reached it, Lemoine came round the corner of the bend on foot. He
was hot from walking fast.
“I was obliged to descend,” he said pleasantly. “I found that I had
left something behind.”
“This?” said Bill, indicating the suit-case.
It was a handsome case of heavy pigskin, with the initials H. I. on it.
“What a pity!” said Lemoine gently. “It must have fallen out. Shall we
lift it from the road?”
Without waiting for a reply, he picked up the suit-case, and carried it
over to the belt of trees. He stooped over it, something flashed in his
hand, and the lock slipped back.
He spoke, and his voice was totally different, quick and commanding.
“The car will be here in a minute,” he said. “Is it in sight?”
Virginia looked back towards the house.
“No.”
“Good.”
With deft fingers he tossed the things out of the suit-case.
Gold-topped bottle, silk pyjamas, a variety of socks. Suddenly his
whole figure stiffened. He caught up what appeared to be a bundle of
silk underwear, and unrolled it rapidly.
A slight exclamation broke from Bill. In the centre of the bundle was a
heavy revolver.
“I hear the horn,” said Virginia.
Like lightning, Lemoine repacked the suit-case. The revolver he wrapped
in a silk handkerchief of his own, and slipped into his pocket. He
snapped the locks of the suit-case, and turned quickly to Bill.
“Take it. Madame will be with you. Stop the car, and explain that it
fell off the luggage cart. Do not mention me.”
Bill stepped quickly down to the drive just as the big Lanchester
limousine with Isaacstein inside it came round the corner. The
chauffeur slowed down, and Bill swung the suit-case up to him.
“Fell off the luggage cart,” he explained. “We happened to see it.”
He caught a momentary glimpse of a startled yellow face as the
financier stared at him, and then the car swept on again.
They went back to Lemoine. He was standing with the revolver in his
hand, and a look of gloating satisfaction in his face.
“A long shot,” he said. “A very long shot. But it came off.”
22