THE BARGAIN
There had been silence in the great, bare work-room for some time,
silence only broken by Beresteyn's restless pacing up and down the
wooden floor. Diogenes had resumed his seat, his shrewd glance following
every movement of the other man, every varied expression of his face.
At last Nicolaes came to a halt opposite to him.
"Am I to understand then, sir," he asked, looking Diogenes straight
between the eyes and affecting not to note the mocking twinkle within
them, "that you accept my proposition and that you are prepared to do me
service?"
"Absolutely, sir," replied the other.
"Then shall we proceed with the details?"
"An it please you."
"You will agree to do me service for the sum of 4,000 guilders?"
"In gold."
"Of course. For this sum you will convey Jongejuffrouw Beresteyn out of
Haarlem, conduct her with a suitable escort and in perfect safety to
Rotterdam and there deliver her into the hands of Mynheer Ben Isaje--the
banker--who does a vast amount of business for me and is entirely and
most discreetly devoted to my interests. His place of business is
situated on the Schiedamsche Straat and is a house well known to every
one in Rotterdam seeing that Mynheer Ben Isaje is the richest
money-lending Jew in the city."
"That is all fairly simple, sir," assented Diogenes.
"You will of course tender me your oath of secrecy."
"My word of honour, sir. If I break that I would be as likely to break
an oath."
"Very well," said Beresteyn after a moment's hesitation during which he
tried vainly to scrutinize a face which he had already learned was quite
inscrutable. "Shall we arrange the mode of payment then?"
"If you please."
"How to obtain possession of the person of the jongejuffrouw is not my
business to tell you. Let me but inform you that to-day being New Year's
day she will surely go to evensong at the cathedral and that her way
from our home thither will lead her along the bank of the Oude Gracht
between the Zijl Straat where our house is situate and the Hout Straat
which debouches on the Groote Markt. You know the bank of the Oude
Gracht better than I do, sir, so I need not tell you that it is lonely,
especially at the hour when evensong at the cathedral is over. The
jongejuffrouw is always escorted in her walks by an elderly duenna whom
you will of course take to Rotterdam, so that she may attend on my
sister on the way, and by two serving men whose combined courage is not,
of course, equal to your own. This point, therefore, I must leave you to
arrange in accordance with your desire."
"I thank you, sir."
"In the same way it rests with you what arrangements you make for the
journey itself; the providing of a suitable carriage and of an adequate
escort I leave entirely in your hands."
"Again I thank you."
"I am only concerned with the matter itself, and with the payment which
I make to you for your services. As for your route, you will leave
Haarlem by the Holy Cross gate and proceed straight to Bennebrock, a
matter of a league or so. There I will meet you at the half-way house
which stands at the cross-roads where a signpost points the way to
Leyden. The innkeeper there is a friend of mine, whose natural
discretion has been well nurtured by frequent gifts from me. He hath
name Praff, and will see to the comfort of my sister and of her duenna,
while you and I settle the first instalment of our business, quite
unbeknown to her. There, sir, having assured myself that my sister is
safe and in your hands, I will give over to you the sum of 1,000
guilders, together with a letter writ by me to the banker Ben Isaje of
Rotterdam. He knows Jongejuffrouw Beresteyn well by sight, and in my
letter I will ask him, firstly, to ascertain from herself if she is well
and safe, and secondly to see that she is at once conveyed, still under
your escort, to his private residence which is situate some little
distance out of the city between Schiedam and Overschie on the way to
Delft, and lastly, to hand over to you the balance of 3,000 guilders
still due then by me to you."
He paused a moment to draw breath after the lengthy peroration, then, as
Diogenes made no comment, he said somewhat impatiently:
"I hope, sir, that all these arrangements meet with your approval!"
"They fill me with profound respect for you, sir, and admiration for
your administrative capacities," replied Diogenes, with studied
politeness.
"Indeed I do flatter myself ..." quoth the other.
"Not without reason, sir. The marvellous way in which you have provided
for the safety of three-fourths of your money, and hardly at all for
that of your sister, fills me with envy which I cannot control."
"Insolent...."
"No, no, my good sir," interposed Diogenes blandly, "we have already
agreed that we are not going to quarrel, you and I ... we have too great
a need for one another; for that 3,000 guilders--which, after
deductions, will be my profit in this matter--means a fortune to a
penniless adventurer, and you are shrewd enough to have gauged that
fact, else you had not come to me with such a proposal. I will do you
service, sir, for the 3,000 guilders which will enable me to live a life
of independence in the future, and also for another reason, which I
would not care to put into words, and which you, sir, would fail to
understand. So let us say no more about all these matters. I agree to
your proposals and you accept my services. To-night at ten o'clock I
will meet you at the half-way house which stands in the hamlet of
Bennebrock at the cross-roads where a signpost points the way to
Leyden."
"To-night! That's brave!" exclaimed Beresteyn. "You read my thoughts,
sir, even before I could tell you that delay in this affair would render
it useless."
"To-night then, sir," said Diogenes in conclusion, "I pray you have no
fear of failure. The jongejuffrouw will sleep at Leyden, or somewhere
near there, this night. The city is distant but half-a-dozen leagues,
and we can reach it easily by midnight. From thence in the morning we
can continue our journey, and should be in sight of Rotterdam
twenty-four hours later. For the rest, as you say, the manner of our
journey doth not concern you. If the frost continues and we can travel
by sledge all the way we could reach Rotterdam in two days; in any
event, even if a thaw were to set in we should not be more than three
days on the way."
He rose from his chair and stood now facing Beresteyn. His tall figure,
stretched to its full height, seemed to tower above the other man,
though the latter was certainly not short; but Diogenes looked
massive--a young lion sniffing the scent of the desert. The mocking
glance, the curve of gentle irony were still there in eyes and mouth,
but the nostrils quivered with excitement, with the spirit of adventure
which never slept so soundly but that it awakened at a word.
"And now, sir," he said, "there are two matters both of equal
importance, which we must settle ere I can get to work."
"What may these be, sir?"
"Firstly the question of money. I have not the wherewithal to make
preparations. I shall have to engage a sleigh for to-night, horses, an
escort as far as Leyden. I shall have to make payments for promises of
secrecy...."
"That is just, sir. Would 200 guilders meet this difficulty?"
"Five hundred would be safer," said Diogenes airily, "and you may deduct
that sum from your first payment at Bennebrock."
Beresteyn did not choose to notice the impertinent tone which rang
through the other man's speech. Without wasting further words, he took a
purse from his wallet, and sitting down on one corner of the model's
platform, he emptied the contents of the purse upon it.
He counted out five hundred guilders, partly in silver and partly in
gold. These he replaced in the purse and then handed it over to
Diogenes. The latter had not moved from his position during this time,
standing as he did at some little distance so that Beresteyn had to get
up in order to hand him the money. Diogenes acknowledged its receipt
with a courteous bow.
"And what is the other matter, sir?" asked Nicolaes, after he had placed
the rest of his money back into his wallet, "what is the other matter
which we have failed to settle?"
"The jongejuffrouw, sir.... I am a comparative stranger in Haarlem.... I
do not know the illustrious lady by sight."
"True, I had not thought of that. But this omission can very easily be
remedied ... if you, sir, will kindly call our friend Hals; he has, an I
mistake not, more than one sketch of my sister in his studio and a
half-finished portrait of her as well."
"Then I pray you, sir," rejoined Diogenes airily, "do you go and
acquaint our mutual friend of your desire to show me the half-finished
portrait of the jongejuffrouw, for I must now exchange this gorgeous
doublet of a prosperous cavalier for one more suited to this day's
purpose."
And he immediately proceeded to undress without paying the slightest
heed to Beresteyn's look of offended dignity.
It was no use being angry with this independent knave; Nicolaes
Beresteyn had found that out by now, therefore he thought it best to
appear indifferent to this new display of impudence and himself to go
and seek out Frans Hals as if this had been his own intention all along.
Inwardly fuming but without uttering another word he turned on his heel
and went out of the room, slamming the door to behind him.