COVERING MY DEFEAT
As I rode through the quickly brightening dawn I endeavored to piece
together some plan of action for this visit to the house; but it was
obvious I should have to be guided largely by what might occur. It was
exceedingly improbable that I should find Minna there. It seemed in the
highest degree improbable that they would have let the girl Marie out in
such a way if they had intended to take Minna to the same house; for
they would have known I should go there at once. Certainly they did not
intend me to know Minna's whereabouts.
There were other considerations, moreover. Marie herself might still be
playing me false, or these men might be using her as a decoy to lure me
into a trap. I was inclined to the latter view. I believed the girl to
be true to her mistress, and I read the detention of the Baroness Gratz,
judged by what the girl had said of her manner, to indicate that the
treachery was hers, and not the girl's. In any event I must be on my
guard.
I felt that until I could make the Baron Heckscher understand that any
harm to either Minna or myself would be the signal for the death of the
Duke Marx there might be danger for us both.
For Minna's sake--seeing that her helplessness would be vastly increased
were anything to happen to me--I must run no unnecessary personal
risks. I would use the occasion only therefore to endeavor to ascertain
where Minna had been carried. After a few hours, as soon, that was, as I
could safely communicate with Baron Heckscher, the axis of the danger
would be shifted.
Presently the carriage stopped, and I was told that we were near the
house. Calculating that if any mischief were meant a secret approach
would be as dangerous as an open one, I ordered the coachman to drive
straight up to the door, and I jumped out, and myself thundered at the
heavy knocker, and pealed away loudly at the bell.
The noise awoke the echoes of the still, heavy, morning air, but for a
long time received no attention from within the house. I grew impatient,
and walked round it, examining the windows, which for the most part were
closely shuttered.
I went back to the door, and knocked and rang again; and then a window
at the top of the house was opened, and an old man put out his head and
asked what was the matter.
"Come down to the door at once," I replied peremptorily.
"What for?"
"Come down," I cried angrily. "At once. I order you in the name of the
Queen--or I shall have the door broken in."
The head was withdrawn and I thought I could hear the sounds of a
muffled conference.
"Who are you and what do you want?" said the old fellow, putting out his
head again.
"I order you in the name of the Queen to do as I have said," I answered,
rather liking the sound of the formula. It served my purpose, for the
man drew in his head muttering he would be down in a minute.
"Are you sure this is the house?" I asked the girl Marie.
"Positive. I will lead you straight to the room," she returned.
I waited impatiently until I heard some one fumbling with the fastenings
of the door, and after a minute it was opened by the old man, partially
dressed and yawning heavily.
"I have come for the Baroness Gratz and her companion," I said sharply
as I stepped into the hall. "Let them be roused at once."
"There's no baroness here," said the man.
"Who is in the house, then?" I asked.
The old fellow looked at me shrewdly.
"There are more than enough to guard it; but there are no ladies," he
answered.
"That I shall see for myself," said I, and I called Marie and told her
to show me the way to the room where she and the baroness had been kept.
The old man followed, protesting at every step energetically.
"This is the room, your Highness," said the girl, laying her hand on the
door.
I opened it and looked in. It was empty and dark.
"How long have you been in the house?" I asked the old man, on whom the
mention of the term "highness" had produced a marked effect.
"I live here, my lord," he answered in a tone of much greater respect.
"Were you here this afternoon and evening?" and I took out a couple of
gold pieces so that he could see them.
"No, your Highness," he said, with a bow--the mere sight of them had
given me a step in the peerage in his opinion. "I was away in the
country this morning and only returned late."
"Were there two ladies here when you returned?"
"Not that I know of, sire."
"Was your master here?"
"No, sire. He is away."
"Who is your master?"
He looked astonished.
"Herr Schemmell, your Grace."
"And were the preparations all complete at Herr Schemmell's country-seat
when you left--the preparations for the expected guests, I mean?"
The shot told; for he started and looked up and I thought he was going
to reply, when a stolid, sullen look settled on his face and he was
silent.
I jingled the two gold pieces and added a third, and then on my side I
was considerably startled, for a deep voice said from behind me:
"The bribery of a servant is not a very princely employment."
"Who are you, sir?" I cried, turning quickly on the newcomer.
"Some one to whom you will be good enough to address any further
questions, if you please. Ludwig, go away." The old man shambled off
down the long corridor. "And now, sir, you will be well advised to leave
the house--while the way is open. You may find it difficult later."
"That may be as it will, but I am not going until I have effected my
purpose and satisfied myself that those whom I seek are not here." I
spoke resolutely.
"You are a trespasser, and will be good enough to leave when I tell
you."
"This is the house to which those whom I seek were kidnapped and
brought, and I will not leave until I have searched it."
"One of the persons kidnapped is by your side now," said he, pointing to
the girl; "but you will not be allowed to search the house. If you
attempt it, you will be detained and given an excellent opportunity of
searching one of the cellars, but no more."
"You dare not interfere with me. I am no woman!" said I hotly.
"You will be well advised to moderate your language. You are one man, we
are many. You have forced yourself into this house, and, if we deal
harshly with you, you will have only yourself to blame. Personally, I
have no wish to do you any hurt. You have served our turn, and can do no
further harm."
I bit my lip in vexation.
"Is the Baroness Gratz in the house, or the Countess Minna von
Gramberg?" I asked after a pause of embarrassment.
"I decline to answer your questions. And again I warn you to leave, or I
will not be responsible for the consequences."
"I will search the house!" I exclaimed, and, without further words, I
plunged along the corridor, trying to open the doors of the rooms which
I passed.
They were all locked, and when I turned to the staircase it was only to
find that a couple of men armed with revolvers had been posted there to
prevent my ascending.
"Stand aside and let me pass!" I cried firmly.
"You will fire, if necessary," commanded the man who had followed me,
and he took up a place by them. Then to me he added: "My patience is
exhausted now, and I will give you three minutes only to leave the
house. At the end of that time the doors will be closed, and I shall
keep you here a prisoner. You are but one against a dozen, and can do
nothing. It will be sheer madness to attempt to resist us."
I saw this well enough; but the thought of the ignominious failure to
get even information galled and maddened me. But it would have been
greater madness to resist.
"Will you give me a moment in private?" I asked the man.
He came aside with me readily.
"Can you give me any assurance that my cousin, the Countess Minna, is
safe?"
"I have no instructions to give you any information whatever, but to the
best of my knowledge she is perfectly safe."
"Where is the Count von Nauheim?"
"I decline to tell you, sir," he answered curtly, and I could get no
more from him.
Thus, baffled and exasperated, I left the house.
I had gained little or nothing definite by my venture, and yet, despite
my disappointment, I was in a sense relieved of some of my anxiety in
regard to Minna's safety. Whether she was in the house or not I could
not say, and, until I had seen Baron Heckscher, I had not ventured to
take any too desperate steps to ascertain; but as I drove back to the
house I determined on a much bolder measure to take presently.
I stopped the carriage a little way from the house, and sent back the
coachman to wait and watch if the baroness or Minna left the place, and
told the man to remain until Steinitz should relieve him. I drove the
carriage home, and then despatched Steinitz with instructions to keep a
strict watch on any movements from the house, and particularly to follow
Minna should she leave the house.
As I knew that I must have a trying day before me, I lay down for an
hour or two until the time for my visit to Baron Heckscher.
I arrived at his house just as he was in the act of starting for a
meeting of the Council of State, which had been hurriedly summoned.
"I cannot stay to speak to you now, sir. I have to go out," he said
shortly.
"On the contrary, you cannot go out until you have spoken to me," I
replied, copying his manner.
"This is no time for play-acting," he said significantly. "There are
serious matters of State to be settled, caused by your trickery or
treachery."
"You are an authority on the latter, at any rate. But I have not come to
bandy words. I wish to know where the Countess Minna von Gramberg has
been carried, and to demand her instant and unconditional release."
"In what character do you demand that information?" he said, with a
sneer.
"As her cousin, the Prince von Gramberg."
"The Prince. You still hold to that farce?"
"Be good enough to explain what you mean."
"Simply that you are no more the Prince von Gramberg than I am, but
Heinrich Fischer, an ex-play-actor. Do you dare to deny that?"
"Certainly I do."
He shrugged his shoulders.
"Then who are you?"
"For the present, and for the purposes of this interview, I am the
Prince von Gramberg, and you will be good enough so to regard me."
"Swashbuckling talk is of no use to frighten me, and I have no time for
any further antics of yours. You deceived me for a time, I admit, but I
know you now, and, unless you leave my house, I will call my servants,
and have you expelled from it and handed over to the police for an
impostor."
"No, Baron Heckscher, you will not," I answered firmly, shaking my head.
"I know the whole of this inner plot of yours, and can expose it, and
will, too, as I told you last night."
"Possibly an effective weapon in a stage-play," he sneered. "But I have
no time for folly of this sort."
He crossed the room to the bell, and stretched out his hand as if to
ring it.
"I know the scheme to marry my cousin to a man already married, and so
to betray and ruin her. And, mark me, if you attempt to send me away, I
will go straight to Berlin and denounce the whole of your foul treachery
against that girl."
"You speak a fool's tale!" he cried angrily, though he withdrew his hand
from the bell.
"Maybe, but even a fool's tale, as you call it, can be sifted. Your
scheme now seems on the point of succeeding. The gist of it is that when
my cousin Minna is not forthcoming--through your own machinations, mark
you--the cry should be raised for the Duke Marx. I have known that
throughout, and I too have had my plans. You will find it difficult to
play your game of chess without the King."
I enjoyed the start of surprise my words caused. It was now my turn to
smile with an air of confidence.
"What do you mean by that?" he asked, frowning.
"All that is in your thoughts, and more," said I significantly.
"What do you mean?" he repeated, coming toward me and looking
searchingly at me.
"I mean," I began very earnestly, as if about to tell him; but changed
my tone, and asked, "Where is the Countess Minna?"
He took his eyes off my face, and glanced quickly from side to side, as
some men will in moments of swift, searching thought.
"You have not dared----" he began, and paused.
"You have dared to seize the Queen," said I quickly. "Why should I not
dare to seize your King? This is no child's game we are playing."
He started again, pursed his lips, and frowned. I had beaten him. I knew
it.
"It is checkmate," said I quietly. "And you may as well admit it. But my
game is a cleaner one than yours. You have thought to ruin the Countess
Minna either by a bigamous marriage or by a fate so foul that none but a
soulless, intriguing traitor would have conceived it. I mean your King
no harm; but I swear by every god that man has ever set up for a fetich
that if so much as a hair of the pure girl's head is harmed I will visit
it a thousandfold on my hostage. Now, will you tell me where is the
Countess Minna?"
I had him now fast in my clutches, and turn which way he would there was
no escape. To do him justice, so soon as his first dismay had passed his
face wore an impassive, expressionless look that told me little. But I
could read his other actions.
He had been going to his colleagues to propose that the agitation to
bring the Duke Marx forward should be set on foot at once; and this move
of mine had beaten him absolutely. Once or twice he let out of his eyes
a glance of malice that told me what he would have done had he dared;
but I had drawn his fangs, and for the time he was powerless to harm.
While I sat thus watching him and enjoying my triumph, a knock came to
the door and a servant entered to say that a messenger had come for me,
and wished to see me urgently.
"I will return in a moment," I said as I went out.
The man had brought me a telegram. I tore it open and found it was from
von Krugen.
"Safe so far."
I dismissed the man and returned to the baron with a feeling of even
greater exultation and confidence than before. I was like a man drowning
who, at the last moment, had pulled himself into safety.
"Well, baron?" I asked as I re-entered the room. "Have you decided to
answer my question?"
He was writing hurriedly, and glanced up a moment without speaking, then
resumed, finished the letter, rang for a servant, and ordered it to be
delivered at once.
"That is your answer. It is a letter to excuse my presence for half an
hour. It will give time for our conference. Now, what is your motive,
and what are your terms?"
As he put the question he wheeled his chair round so that he could face
me as he waited for the answer.