AT BAY
The entrance of these two persons into the room, apart from its
astonishing significance to us, seemed to excite a certain amount of
interest amongst the ordinary throng. My lady of the turquoises wore
a dark-blue closely fitting gown, which only a Paris tailor could have
cut, a large and striking hat, and a great bunch of red roses in the
front of her dress. But, after all, it was upon her companion, not
upon her, that our regard was riveted. He was dressed with the neat
exactitude of a Frenchman of fashion. He wore a red ribbon in his
button-hole. His white hair and moustaches were perfectly arranged. He
leaned heavily upon a stick, and he had the appearance of a man
prematurely aged, as though by an illness or some great suffering. His
tone, as he turned to his companion, was courteous enough but
querulous.
"My dear," he said, "this place is full of draughts. We must find a
table over there by the palm."
He pointed with his stick, and it was just at this moment that Louis,
rounding the corner from a distant part of the room, came face to face
with them. Once before during the last twenty-four hours I had been
struck with the pallor of Louis' expression. This time he stood quite
still in the middle of the floor, as though he had seen a ghost! He
was close to a pillar, and I saw his hand suddenly go out to it as
though in search of support. His breath was coming quickly. From where
I sat I could see the little beads of sweat breaking out upon his
forehead.
"Monsieur!" he exclaimed.
The newcomer turned to look at him. For a moment he seemed puzzled. It
was as though some old memory were striving to reassert itself.
"My man," he said to Louis, "surely I know your face? You have been
here a long time, haven't you?"
"Ten years, sir," Louis answered. "Permit me!"
He gave them a table not far away from mine. The memory of his face as
he preceded them down the room never left me. I glanced instinctively
towards Delora. His back was turned towards the entrance of the
restaurant, and he had apparently seen nothing. Felicia, on the
contrary, sat as though she were turned to stone. I saw her lean over
and whisper to her companion. A little murmur of excitement broke from
my companion's lips.
"This," he murmured, "is amazing! The girl is a fool to bring him
here. She must know that Louis is in it!"
"Who is the man?" I asked.
Lamartine looked at me with a curious expression in his dark eyes.
"Do you mean to say that you cannot guess?" he asked.
I shook my head.
"Only that he must be some relation to Delora," I declared. "There has
been no time, though, for his brother to get across from South
America."
Lamartine smiled.
"You are dull," he said. "But watch! What is going to happen now, I
wonder?"
Delora had risen to his feet. He had the look of a man who has
received a shock. He brushed past some people who were taking their
places at a table without remark or apology. He passed my companion
and myself without even, I believe, being conscious of our presence.
He walked straight to the table where the two newcomers sat. I saw his
hand fall upon the shoulder of the other man.
"Ferdinand!" he said.
The lady of the turquoises was leaning forward in her place as though
to push Delora away. A few feet in the background Louis was hovering.
"Ferdinand," I heard Delora repeat, "what are you doing here? Who is
this person? You know that you are not well enough to travel."
The older man looked at him with a slightly puzzled air. There was a
certain vacuity in his expression, for which one found it hard to
account.
"You!" he murmured, as though perplexed. "Why, this is not Paris,
Maurice!"
Louis had glided a little nearer to the table. My lady of the
turquoises half rose to her feet. Her blue eyes were fierce with
anger. She looked as though she would have struck Delora.
"You shall not take him away!" she cried. "Don't have anything to say
to them!" she added, bending downwards to her companion. "You are not
safe with any one else except me!"
Delora turned towards her with an angry exclamation.
"Madame," he said, "this gentleman is my relation, and he is ill. He
is certainly not in a condition to be travelling about the country
with--with you!"
Her self-control was beginning to evaporate. She addressed him
shrilly. People at the surrounding tables were beginning to observe
this unusual conversation.
"What, then?" she cried. "Is he not safer with me than you? How about
Henri--Henri who came over here because we had been deceived, he and
I,--poor Henri who died?"
"This," Delora muttered, "is your revenge, then!"
"It is my revenge, and I mean to have it," she answered, "This
afternoon you will see."
Louis advanced and bowed to the man who still sat at the table,
looking a little puzzled, and with his eyes still fixed upon Delora.
"Monsieur," he said, "shall I serve luncheon?"
There was an instant's pause. I fancied that I saw something pass
between Louis and Delora. The latter turned away with a little shrug
of the shoulders.
"Presently will be time," he said. "We will speak together, all three
of us, before you leave."
The woman struck the table with the palm of her hand.
"There is nothing which you need say!" she exclaimed. "It is
finished, this fine scheme of yours! See, he is here himself. This
afternoon we go to warn those whom you would rob!"
Once more that look flashed between Louis and Delora, and this time
there was borne in upon me the swift consciousness of what it might
mean. Delora returned to his place opposite Felicia. I bent across the
table to Lamartine.
"Lamartine," I said, "there was a man who came here once--a companion
of that woman--Bartot. He came to make trouble with Louis, and he
dined here once. He dined nowhere else on earth!"
Lamartine was suddenly grave.
"Would Louis dare!" he muttered.
"Why not?" I answered. "See, Louis is watching us even now!"
Lamartine half rose from his seat. I pushed him back.
"No!" I said. "It is not for you! It is I who will arrange this
thing."
I left my place and walked towards the table where the two were
sitting. I saw Delora lay down his knife and fork and watch me with
fixed, intent gaze. I saw Louis' lips twist into a snarl. He glided to
the table even as I did. I held out my hand to the woman.
"You have not forgotten me, I hope?" I asked. "I am very glad indeed
to see you in London."
She gave me her hand, and smiled her most bewitching smile. I turned
and stared at Louis. He had no alternative but to fall back a pace or
two.
"Madame," I said, bending towards her, "it was here that Bartot came
and dined. I have heard it whispered that it is not safe to eat here
if you are not a friend of Louis'!"
For a moment she failed to grasp the significance of my words. Then
the color died slowly out of her cheeks. Her face was like the face
of an old woman. Fear had come suddenly, and she was haggard.
"You mean that he would dare, monsieur?" she said--
"It is easy," I answered. "A dozen or more of these waiters are his
creatures. From what I have heard I gather that your visit here with
this gentleman is for a purpose inimical to some scheme in which
Delora and Louis are interested. I warn you that if it is so, you had
better change your mind about lunching."
"We will go at once!" she answered. "You are very kind. I came to
confront Louis and that other with me," she declared, nodding
vigorously at her companion. "I came because I would have them
understand who it was that had ruined their plans, because they made
use of me--of Bartot and me--and threw us aside like gloves that were
finished with. But it was a foolish thing to do, monsieur. I see that,
and I thank you now for your warning."
She gathered her things together for her departure, and leaned across
towards her companion. What she said to him I do not know, for I
returned to my place.
"They will not eat," I whispered to Lamartine. "Tell me, who is the
man?"
"Hush!" Lamartine said. "Look there!"
Apparently angry words had been passing between Felicia and
Delora. She had risen to her feet, notwithstanding his efforts to
detain her, swept past my table with scarcely a glance, and made her
way towards where the two latest arrivals were sitting. She stooped
down towards the man, and talked to him earnestly for several moments.
All the time he looked at her with the puzzled, half-vacant expression
of a child who is confronted with something which it does not
understand. Delora had risen to his feet, and stood nervously
clutching the serviette in his hand. Louis hurried up to him, and they
talked together for a moment.
"At all costs," I heard Louis say, "she must be fetched away. They
will not remain here to eat. Rotherby has warned them. See how he is
looking at her! It is not safe!"
Something more passed between them in a low tone. Delora glanced at
his watch, and then at the clock. Finally he crossed the room to where
his niece was standing, and laid his hand upon the man's shoulder.
"Ferdinand," he said, "I am glad to see that you are better. Come up
to my rooms for a few minutes. We must have a talk."
At the sound of his voice something seemed to come back to the face of
the older man. He rose slowly to his feet. I could see his white
fingers trembling, but I could see his eyes suddenly fill with a new
and stronger light.
"You!" he exclaimed. "Yes, I am here to talk to you! It had better be
at once! Lead the way!"
I saw Delora look towards the lady of the turquoises. Apparently he
made some remark which I failed to overhear.
"This lady is my companion," I heard the other say. "She has been
very kind to me--kinder, I am afraid, as a stranger, than others have
been on whom I should have relied. She will accompany us. She does not
leave me."
Then the four of them turned towards the door. Lamartine jogged my
shoulder and I too rose. Behind, Louis was hovering, watching their
departure with a nervous anxiety which he could not conceal. Lamartine
and I went out close upon their heels.
"A new move, Louis?" I asked, as I passed.
"The last, monsieur," Louis answered, with a bow.