"Suspicions do not concern you, signorina. When I give you orders, it
is for you first to execute them as secretly and expeditiously as
possible, and secondly to have a care that your association with me is
never discovered. You understand? I am merely Filipo Florena, shipping
agent, of Genoa, and you write to me always to my office in the Via
Balbi. Should you ever be in real peril, you have that code address by
which a telegram will find me, either at home or abroad."
She saw that her remark caused him annoyance, therefore she began to
apologise and declare her readiness to serve the War Department of her
country in every way possible.
"As I have already said," he remarked in a quiet voice, obtaining her
permission to smoke, "you have shown yourself in every way adapted to
the responsible office I intend that you shall hold. You come of good
family, although at present in straitened circumstances; you possess
good looks, and you are a perfect model of all the virtues. Your
mother, the widow of my old friend, Colonel Nodari, would, of course,
object to the capacity in which you have once or twice served Italy.
Yet it is for the honour and safety of your country, recollect. You are
an agent of the Ministry of War, and being in its employ should act
obediently, without expressing any surprise at the information you are
asked to obtain, or attempting to deduct any logical conclusion."
She sat silent, listening to the advice the schemer gave her. Her late
father, a colonel of cavalry, had been the Under-Secretary's friend, and
the latter had been a frequent guest at their house. Indeed, she had
known General Borselli ever since she had been a child, and of late, by
clever ruses, this man had contrived to use her quick woman's
intelligence for his own ends. In recognition of her services, he had
sent her small sums of money, which she found very useful for her dress
bills, and on one or two occasions had sent her little trinkets, which
she had locked up carefully from her mother's prying eyes.
The Under-Secretary for War, far-seeing and deeply scheming always,
recognised in her a very valuable assistant. She was known to the
officers of a dozen garrisons, for she had been reared in the military
atmosphere, therefore she was enabled to discover for him facts about
persons that it would otherwise have been impossible for the Ministry to
obtain.
A dozen times had she been successful in elucidating various sources of
discontent, and gaining other information of greatest value to the War
Office in Rome, information which Borselli used for his own ends and
with the purpose of undermining the power of the Minister Camillo
Morini. As the dead colonel's daughter, and very popular on account of
her bright disposition and good looks, she was the last person suspected
of collecting that information which so mysteriously found its way to
headquarters. And yet, under Borselli's secret tuition, she had become
as clever and ingenious an agent as any the Government employed.
Truth to tell, however, the part she had played in the Solaro affair,
now that she realised how the unfortunate captain had been entrapped,
caused her a deep pang of conscience. Several months before, in that
very room, she had met the Under-Secretary by appointment, and he had,
after some preliminaries, remarked upon her acquaintance with Captain
Solaro, whereupon she blushingly explained that they had known each
other for some years, ever since her father was in garrison on the
frontier at Ventimiglia. He put some direct questions to her, and
discovered that, although they corresponded frequently, she was in no
way in love with him. Then he gave her instructions how to act,
declaring that the captain was strongly suspected of secret dealing with
a French agent, and that if she received a sealed packet by post from
the Alpine garrison she was to hold it, and deal with it exactly in the
manner which the captain ordered, but in the meantime she was also to
communicate with the supposed shipping agent in the Via Balbi in Genoa--
himself. In brief, she was to appear very friendly with the captain,
inspire him with every confidence, and yet betray him into the hands of
the authorities. To her, the suggestion was a very unwelcome one, but
Borselli urged her to carry out the delicate negotiation from patriotic
motives--as daughter of a brave soldier who had served Italy so
faithfully and well in the struggles of the sixties. It was this
claptrap appeal to her loyalty that had caused her to become a secret
agent of the Under-Secretary, which had now resulted, she knew, in the
disgrace of an innocent man.
Why had the trap been baited so cunningly? she wondered within herself.
There was some hidden motive in the expulsion of Solaro from the army;
what could it be? Surely that packet she had given the polite Frenchman
had not really contained plans, for it was not likely that the War
Office would actually connive at its own betrayal to France?
"I know that this recent little affair in the north has puzzled you,
signorina," the general remarked slowly, his eyes fixed upon her. "But
you will see that we have right on our side one day. Act with care,
exercise a wise discretion always, and you will not only be able to
assist us, but you will, in future, receive a secret payment from the
Ministry of seven thousand lire per annum, together with a fair
allowance for expenses. The first payment has already been made to you
in recognition of your tact towards Solaro," he added, and taking from
his wallet a slip of paper, he handed it to her, adding, "This is a
draft on the Bank of Italy for the amount. Leave it in the bank if you
wish--you will probably find it useful one day. You see it is upon the
private account of Filipo Florena."
She, wondering, held the draft between her fingers. It was the first
she had ever seen, and she told him so.
"Put it away in your writing-desk or your jewel-case. And when you want
it you can cash it on sight at any branch of the Bank of Italy--or,
indeed, at any moneychanger's."
She folded it carefully, and slowly placed it in her purse, while he,
glancing at her furtively and seeing that possession of such a sum had
given her confidence, suddenly exclaimed--
"And now let me tell you the real reason why I am here."