AN UNEXPECTED GUEST
Lord Littimer returned, as he declared, with the spirits and appetite of
a schoolboy. All the same, he did not for one moment abandon his usual
critical analysis. He rattled on gaily, but he was studying his guest all
the same. She might have been the typical American lady student; but he
was not blind to the fact that the plain muslin and lace frock she wore
was made in Paris or that her manners and style must have been picked up
in the best society. She sat there under the shaded lights and behind the
bank of flowers like as to the manner born, and her accent was only
sufficiently American to render her conversation piquant.
"You have always been used to this class of life?" Littimer asked.
"There you are quite mistaken," Christabel said, coolly. "For the last
few years my existence has been anything but a bed of roses. And your
remark, my lord, savours slightly of impertinent curiosity. I might as
well ask you why your family is not here."
"We agree to differ," Littimer responded. "I recollect it caused me a
great deal of annoyance at the time. And my son chose to take his
mother's part. You knew I had a son?"
"Yes," said Christabel, without looking up from the peach she was
peeling. "I have met him."
"Indeed. And what opinion did you form of my son, may I ask?"
"Well, I rather liked him. He seemed to me to be suffering from some
great trouble, and trouble I am sure that was not of his own creating."
"Which means to say you feel rather sorry for Frank. But when you say the
trouble was not of his own creating you are entirely mistaken. It is not
a nice thing to say, Miss Lee, but my son was an utter and most
unmitigated young scoundrel. If he came here he would be ordered out of
the house. So far as I am concerned, I have no son at all. He sides with
his mother, and his mother has a considerable private fortune of her own.
Where she is at the present moment I have no idea. Nor do I care. Seems
odd, does it not, that I should have been very fond of that woman at one
time, just as it seems odd to think that I should have once been fond of
treacle tart?"
Littimer spoke evenly and quietly, with his eyes full upon the girl. He
was deceiving himself, but he was not deceiving her for a moment. His
callousness seemed to be all the more marked because the servants were in
the room. But Christabel could see clearly what an effort it was.
"You love your wife still," she said, so low that only Littimer heard.
His eyes flashed, his face flamed with a sudden spasm of passion.
"Are we to quarrel so early as this?" he whispered.
"I never quarrel," Christabel said, coolly; "I leave my antagonist to do
that. But I have met your son, and I like him. He may be weak, but he is
a gentleman. You have made a mistake, and some day you will be sorry for
it. Do you grow those orchids yourself?"
Littimer laughed, with no sign of anger remaining. All the same,
Christabel could see that his thin brown hand was shaking. She noticed
the lines that pain had given under those shrewd black eyes.
"You must see my orchids," he said. "Most of the specimens I obtained
myself. They tell me I have at least three unique kinds. And now, if you
will permit me, I am going to smoke. The drawing-room is at your
disposal, though I rarely enter it myself. I always retire at eleven, but
that need not bind you in any way. It has been altogether a most
delightful evening."
But Christabel did not dally long in the drawing-room. As she went
upstairs and along the corridor she heard the snapping of the electric
lights all over the house as the servants were preparing to retire. She
paused just a moment in the alcove where the precious Rembrandt was and
located carefully the position of the switch there. Then she retired to
her own room, where she changed her dress for a simple black gown. A big
clock somewhere was striking twelve as she finished. She looked out of
her door. The whole house was in darkness, the silence seemed to cling
like a curtain.
She paused for a moment as if afraid to take the next step. If it was
fear, she shook it aside resolutely and crept into the corridor. She
carried something shining in her hands--something that gleamed in the
dim, uncertain light from the big window. She stood just for an instant
with a feeling that somebody was climbing up the ivy outside the house.
She felt her way along until she came to the alcove containing the
Rembrandt and then she stopped. Her hand slid along the wall till her
fingers touched the switch of the electric light.
She stood for a long time there perfectly motionless. It was a still
night outside, and there was nothing to account for the rustling of the
ivy leaves. The rattling came in jerks, spasmodically, stopping every now
and then and resuming again. It was no longer a matter of imagination, it
was a certainty. Somebody was climbing up the ivy to the window.
Leaning eagerly forward, Christabel could hear the sound of laboured
breathing. She seemed to see the outline of an arm outside, she could
catch the quick rattle of the sash, she could almost see a bent wire
crooked through the beaded edges of the casement. Yes, she was right.
The window swung noiselessly back and a figure stood poised on the
ledge outside.
With a quick breath and a fluttering of her heart Christabel felt for
the switch.
"It will be all right," she murmured; "the other one will fancy that the
light is necessary. Courage, my dear courage, and the game is yours. Ah!"
The intruder dropped inside and pulled the window behind him. Evidently
he was on familiar ground, though he seemed to be seeking an unfamiliar
object. Christabel's hand stole along to the switch; there was a click,
and the alcove was bathed in brilliant light. The intruder shrank back
with a startled cry. He rubbed his dazed eyes.
"Why not come in through the front door, Mr. Littimer?" Christabel
drawled, coolly.
Frank Littimer had no words for a moment. He was wondering who this woman
was and what she was doing here. American, evidently, by her accent, and
also by the revolver that she handled so assuredly.
"That is the way you used to enter," Christabel proceeded, "when you had
been out contrary to parental instructions and the keepers expected to
have a fracas with the poachers. Your bedroom being exactly opposite,
detection was no easy matter. Your bedroom has never been touched since
you left. The key is still outside the door. Will you kindly enter it?"
"But--" Frank stammered. "But I assure you that I cannot--"
"Take the Rembrandt away. You cannot. The frame is of iron, and it is
fastened to the wall. It would take an experienced carpenter quite a
long time to remove it. Therefore your mission has failed. It is very
annoying, because it puts the other man in a very awkward position.
The position is going to be still more awkward presently. Please go to
your room."
"My dear lady, if my father knows that I am in the house--"
"He is not going to know that you are in the house, at least not for some
little time. And when you see him it will be better not to say more than
is necessary. Later on you will recognise what a friend I am to you."
"You are not showing it at present," Littimer said, desperately.
"The patient rarely sees any virtue in his medicine. Now, please, go to
your room. I can hear the other man muttering and getting anxious down
below. Now, if you approach that window again I am pretty certain that my
revolver will go off. You see, I am an American, and we are so careless
with such weapons. Please go to your room at once."
"And if I refuse your ridiculous request?"
"You will not find my request in the least ridiculous. If you refuse I
shall hold you up with my weapon and alarm the whole house. But I don't
want to do that, for the sake of the other man. He is so very
respectable, you know, and anything unconventional may be so awkward for
him. Yes, it is just as I expected. He is coming up the ivy to
investigate himself. Go!"
The revolver covered Littimer quite steadily. He could see into the blue
rim, and he was conscious of strange cold sensations down his spine. A
revolver is not a pretty thing at the best of times; it is doubly
hazardous in the hands of a woman.
"What do you want with me?" he asked.
"My dear man, I want to do nothing with you. Only do as you are told
and--there! The other man is coming up the ivy. He can't understand the
light and you not returning. He imagines that you are looking in the
wrong place. Please go."
Littimer backed before the weapon, backed until he was in the doorway.
Suddenly the girl gave him a push, shut the door to, and turned the key
in the lock. Almost at the same instant another figure loomed large in
the window-frame.