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CHAPTER I CROWNED HEADS MEET
CHAPTER I CROWNED HEADS MEET
Bellamy, King’s Spy, and Dorward, journalist, known to fame in every English-speaking country, stood before the double window of their spacious sitting-room, looking down upon the thoroughfare beneath. Both men were laboring under a bitter sense of failure. Bellamy’s face was dark with forebodings; Dorward was irritated and nervous. Failure was a new thing to him—a thing which those behind the great journals which he represented understood less, even, than he. Bellamy loved his country, and fear
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CHAPTER II ARTHUR DORWARD’S “SCOOP”
CHAPTER II ARTHUR DORWARD’S “SCOOP”
“What’s wrong, old man?” Bellamy asked quickly. Dorward from a side table had seized the bottle of whiskey and a siphon, and was mixing himself a drink with trembling fingers. He tossed it off before he spoke a word. Then he turned around and faced his companion. “Bellamy,” he ordered, “lock the door.” Bellamy obeyed. He had no doubt now but that Dorward had lost his head in the Chancellor’s presence—had made some absurd attempt to gain the knowledge which they both craved, and had failed. “Bell
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CHAPTER III “OURS IS A STRANGE COURTSHIP”
CHAPTER III “OURS IS A STRANGE COURTSHIP”
Louise looked up eagerly as he entered. “There is news!” she exclaimed. “I can see it in your face.” “Yes,” Bellamy answered, “there is news! That is why I have come. Where can we talk?” She rose to her feet. Before them the open French windows led on to a smooth green lawn. She took his arm. “Come outside with me,” she said. “I am shut up here because I will not see the doctors whom they send, or any one from the Opera House. An envoy from the Palace has been and I have sent him away.” “You mea
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CHAPTER IV THE NIGHT TRAIN FROM VIENNA
CHAPTER IV THE NIGHT TRAIN FROM VIENNA
Dorward, whistling softly to himself, sat in a corner of his coupe rolling innumerable cigarettes. He was a man of unbounded courage and wonderful resource, but with a slightly exaggerated idea as to the sanctity of an American citizen. He had served his apprenticeship in his own country, and his name had become a household word owing to his brilliant success as war correspondent in the Russo-Japanese War. His experience of European countries, however, was limited. After the more obvious dangers
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CHAPTER V “VON BEHRLING HAS THE PACKET”
CHAPTER V “VON BEHRLING HAS THE PACKET”
Bellamy stole along the half-lit corridors of the train until he came to the coupé which had been reserved for Mademoiselle Idiale. Assured that he was not watched, he softly turned the handle of the door and entered. Louise was sitting up in her dressing-gown, drinking her coffee. He held up his finger and she greeted him only with a nod. “Forgive me, Louise,” he whispered, “I dared not knock, and I was obliged to see you at once.” She smiled. “It is of no consequence,” she said. “One is always
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CHAPTER VI VON BEHRLING IS TEMPTED
CHAPTER VI VON BEHRLING IS TEMPTED
The night was dark but fine, and the crossing smooth. Louise, wrapped in furs, abandoned her private cabin directly they had left the harbor, and had a chair placed on the upper deck. Von Behrling found her there, but not before they were nearly half-way across. She beckoned him to her side. Her eyes glowed at him through the darkness. “You are not looking after me, my friend,” she declared. “By myself I had to find this place.” Von Behrling was ruffled. He was also humbly apologetic. “It is tho
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CHAPTER VII “WE PLAY FOR GREAT STAKES”
CHAPTER VII “WE PLAY FOR GREAT STAKES”
Bellamy, travel-stained and weary, arrived at his rooms at two o’clock on the following afternoon to find amongst a pile of correspondence a penciled message awaiting him in a handwriting he knew well. He tore open the envelope. D AVID DEAR ,—I have just arrived and I am sending you these few lines at once. As to what progress I have made, I cannot say for certain, but there is a chance. You had better get the money ready and come to me here. If R. could only escape from Streuss and those who wa
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CHAPTER VIII THE HAND OF MISFORTUNE
CHAPTER VIII THE HAND OF MISFORTUNE
Between the two men, seated opposite each other in the large but somewhat barely furnished office, the radical differences, both in appearance and mannerisms, perhaps, also, in disposition, had never been more strongly evident. They were partners in business and face to face with ruin. Stephen Laverick, senior member of the firm, although an air of steadfast gloom had settled upon his clean-cut, powerful countenance, retained even in despair something of that dogged composure, temperamental and
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CHAPTER IX ROBBING THE DEAD
CHAPTER IX ROBBING THE DEAD
The roar of the day was long since over. The rattle of vehicles, the tinkling of hansom bells, the tooting of horns from motor-cars and cabs, the ceaseless tramp of footsteps, all had died away. Outside, the streets were almost deserted. An occasional wayfarer passed along the flagged pavement with speedy footsteps. Here and there a few lights glimmered at the windows of some of the larger blocks of offices. The bustle of the day was finished. There is no place in London so strangely quiet as th
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CHAPTER X BELLAMY IS OUTWITTED
CHAPTER X BELLAMY IS OUTWITTED
Bellamy was a man used to all hazards, whose supreme effort of life it was to meet success and disaster with unvarying mien. But this was disaster too appalling even for his self-control. He felt his knees shake so that he caught at the edge of the table before which he was standing. There was no possible doubt about it, he had been tricked. Von Behrling, after all,—Von Behrling, whom he had looked upon merely as a stupid, infatuated Austrian, ready to sell his country for the sake of a woman, h
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CHAPTER XI VON BEHRLING’S FATE
CHAPTER XI VON BEHRLING’S FATE
It seemed to Louise that she had scarcely been in bed an hour when the more confidential of her maids—Annette, the Frenchwoman—woke her with a light touch of the arm. She sat up in bed sleepily. “What is it, Annette?” she asked. “Surely it is not mid-day yet? Why do you disturb me?” “It is barely nine o’clock, Mademoiselle, but Monsieur Bellamy—Mademoiselle told me that she wished to receive him whenever he came. He is in the boudoir now, and very impatient.” “Did he send any message?” “Only tha
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CHAPTER XII BARON DE STREUSS’ PROPOSAL
CHAPTER XII BARON DE STREUSS’ PROPOSAL
The Baron adjusted his eyeglass with shaking fingers. His face now was waxen-white as he spread out the newspaper upon the table and read the paragraph word by word. TERRIBLE CRIME IN THE CITY Early this morning the body of a man was discovered in a narrow passageway leading from Crooked Friars to Royal Street, under circumstances which leave little doubt but that the man’s death was owing to foul play. The deceased had apparently been stabbed, and had received several severe blows about the hea
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CHAPTER XIII STEPHEN LAVERICK’S CONSCIENCE
CHAPTER XIII STEPHEN LAVERICK’S CONSCIENCE
Stephen Laverick was a bachelor—his friends called him an incorrigible one. He had a small but pleasantly situated suite of rooms in Whitehall Court, looking out upon the river. His habits were almost monotonous in their regularity, and the morning following his late night in the city was no exception to the general rule. At eight o’clock, the valet attached to the suite knocked at his door and informed him that his bath was ready. He awoke at once from a sound sleep, sat up in bed, and remember
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CHAPTER XIV ARTHUR MORRISON’S COLLAPSE
CHAPTER XIV ARTHUR MORRISON’S COLLAPSE
The Square was a small one, and in a particularly unsavory neighborhood. Laverick, who had once visited his partner’s somewhat extensive suite of rooms in Jermyn Street, rang the bell doubtfully. The door was opened almost at once, not by a servant but by a young lady who was obviously expecting him. Before he could open his lips to frame an inquiry, she had closed the door behind him. “Will you please come this way?” she said timidly. Laverick found himself in a small sitting-room, unexpectedly
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CHAPTER XV LAVERICK’s PARTNER FLEES
CHAPTER XV LAVERICK’s PARTNER FLEES
The doctor, a grave, incurious person, arrived within a few minutes to find Morrison already conscious but absolutely exhausted. He felt his patient’s pulse, prescribed a draught, and followed Laverick down into the sitting room. “An ordinary case of nervous exhaustion,” he pronounced. “The patient appears to have had a very severe shock lately. He will be all right with proper diet and treatment, and a complete rest. I will call again to-morrow.” He accepted the fee which Laverick slipped into
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CHAPTER XVI THE WAITER AT THE “BLACK POST”
CHAPTER XVI THE WAITER AT THE “BLACK POST”
Laverick, notwithstanding that the hour was becoming late, found an outfitter’s shop in the Strand still open, and made such purchases as he could on Morrison’s behalf. Then, with the bag ready packed, he returned to his rooms. Time had passed quickly during the last three hours. It was nearly nine o’clock when he stepped out of the lift and opened the door of his small suite of rooms with the latchkey which hung from his chain. He began to change his clothes mechanically, and he had nearly fini
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CHAPTER XVII THE PRICE OF SILENCE
CHAPTER XVII THE PRICE OF SILENCE
The man’s manner was expressive. Laverick repeated his phrase, frowning. “His life!” “Yes, sir!” Laverick shrugged his shoulders. “Come,” he declared, “you must not go too far with this thing. I have admitted, so as to clear the way for anything you have to say, that Mr. Morrison would not care to have his name mentioned in connection with this affair. But because he left your bar a few minutes after the murdered man, it is sheer folly to assume that therefore he is necessarily implicated in his
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CHAPTER XVIII THE LONELY CHORUS GIRL
CHAPTER XVIII THE LONELY CHORUS GIRL
They stood together upon the platform watching the receding train. The girl’s eyes were filled with tears, but Laverick was conscious of a sense of immense relief. Morrison had been at the station some time before the train was due to leave, and, although a physical wreck, he seemed only too anxious to depart. He had all the appearance of a broken-spirited man. He looked about him on the platform, and even from the carriage, in the furtive way of a criminal expecting apprehension at any moment.
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CHAPTER XIX MYSTERIOUS INQUIRIES
CHAPTER XIX MYSTERIOUS INQUIRIES
As soon as he had gone through his letters on the following morning, Laverick, in response to a second and more urgent message, went round to his bank. Mr. Fenwick greeted him gravely. He was feeling keenly the responsibilities of his position. Just how much to say and how much to leave unsaid was a question which called for a full measure of diplomacy. “You understand, Mr. Laverick,” he began, “that I wished to see you with regard to the arrangement we came to the day before yesterday.” Laveric
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CHAPTER XX LAVERICK IS CROSS-EXAMINED
CHAPTER XX LAVERICK IS CROSS-EXAMINED
One by one the young ladies of the chorus came out from the stage-door of the Universal, in most cases to be assisted into a waiting hansom or taxicab by an attendant cavalier. Laverick stood back in the shadows as much as possible, smiling now and then to himself at this, to him, somewhat novel way of spending the evening. Zoe was among the last to appear. She came up to him with a delightful little gesture of pleasure, and took his arm as a matter of course as he led her across to the waiting
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CHAPTER XXI MADEMOISELLE IDIALE’S VISIT
CHAPTER XXI MADEMOISELLE IDIALE’S VISIT
Laverick, on the following morning, found many things to think about. He was accustomed to lunch always at the same restaurant, within a few yards of his office, and with the same little company of friends. Just as he was leaving, an outside broker whom he knew slightly came across the room to him. “Tell me, Laverick,” he asked, “what’s become of your partner?” “He has gone abroad for a few weeks. As a matter of fact, we shall be announcing a change in the firm shortly.” “Queer thing,” the broke
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CHAPTER XXII ACTIVITY OF AUSTRIAN SPIES
CHAPTER XXII ACTIVITY OF AUSTRIAN SPIES
Louise left her brougham in Piccadilly and walked across the Green Park. Bellamy, who was waiting, rose up from a seat, hat in hand. She took his arm in foreign fashion. They walked together towards Buckingham Palace—a strangely distinguished-looking couple. “My dear David,” she said, “the man perplexes me. To look at him, to hear him speak, one would swear that he was honest. He has just those clear blue eyes and the stolid face, half stupid and half splendid, of your athletic Englishman. One w
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CHAPTER XXIII LAVERICK AT THE OPERA
CHAPTER XXIII LAVERICK AT THE OPERA
Laverick, in presenting his card at the box office at Covent Garden that evening, did so without the slightest misconception of the reasons which had prompted Mademoiselle Idiale to beg him to become her guest. It was sheer curiosity which prompted him to pursue this adventure. He was perfectly convinced that personally he had no interest for her. In some way or other he had become connected in her mind with the murder which had taken place within a few yards of his office, and in some other equ
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CHAPTER XXIV A SUPPER PARTY AT LUIGI’S
CHAPTER XXIV A SUPPER PARTY AT LUIGI’S
Laverick walked into Luigi’s Restaurant at about a quarter to twelve, and found the place crowded with many little supper-parties on their way to a fancy dress ball. The demand for tables was far in excess of the supply, but he had scarcely shown himself before the head maitre d’hotel came hurrying up. “Mademoiselle Idiale is waiting for you, sir,” he announced at once. “Will you be so good as to come this way?” Laverick followed him. She was sitting at the same table as last night, but she was
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CHAPTER XXV JIM SHEPHERD’S SCARE
CHAPTER XXV JIM SHEPHERD’S SCARE
It was, in its way, a pathetic sight upon which Laverick gazed when he stole into that shabby little sitting-room. Zoe had fallen asleep in a small, uncomfortable easy-chair with its back to the window. Her supper of bread and milk was half finished, her hat lay upon the table. A book was upon her lap as though she had started to read only to find it slip through her fingers. He stood with his elbow upon the mantelpiece, looking down at her. Her eyelashes, long and silky, were more beautiful tha
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CHAPTER XXVI THE DOCUMENT DISCOVERED
CHAPTER XXVI THE DOCUMENT DISCOVERED
On the following morning, Laverick surprised his office cleaner and one errand-boy by appearing at about a quarter to nine. He found a woman busy brushing out his room and a man Cleaning the windows. They stared at him in amazement. His arrival at such an hour was absolutely unprecedented. “You can leave the office just as it is, if you please,” he told them. “I have a few things to attend to at once.” He was accordingly left alone. He had reckoned upon this as being the one period during the da
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CHAPTER XXVII PENETRATING A MYSTERY
CHAPTER XXVII PENETRATING A MYSTERY
About an hour after Mademoiselle Idiale’s departure a note marked “Urgent” was brought in and handed to Laverick. He tore it open. It was dated from the address of a firm of stockbrokers, with two of the partners of which he was on friendly terms. It ran thus: M Y DEAR L AVERICK ,—I want a chat with you, if you can spare five minutes at lunch time. Come to Lyons’ a little earlier than usual, if you don’t mind,—say at a quarter to one. J. H ENSHAW . Laverick read the typewritten note carelessly e
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CHAPTER XXVIII LAVERICK’S NARROW ESCAPE
CHAPTER XXVIII LAVERICK’S NARROW ESCAPE
At precisely a quarter past four, nothing having happened in the meantime but a steady rush of business, Laverick ordered a taxicab to be summoned. He then unlocked his safe, placed the pocket-book securely in his breast pocket, walked through the office, and directed the man to drive to Chancery Lane. Here at the headquarters of the Safe Deposit Company he engaged a compartment, and down in the strong-room locked up the pocket-book. There was only now the document left. Stepping once more into
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CHAPTER XXIX LASSEN’S TREACHERY DISCOVERED
CHAPTER XXIX LASSEN’S TREACHERY DISCOVERED
About twenty minutes past six on the same evening, Bellamy, his clothes thick with dust, his face dark with anger, jumped lightly from a sixty horse-power car and rang the bell of the lift at number 15, Dover Street. Arrived on the first floor, he was confronted almost immediately by the sad-faced man-servant of Mademoiselle Idiale. “Mademoiselle is in?” Bellamy asked quickly. The man’s expression was one of sombre regret. “Mademoiselle is spending the day in the country, sir. Bellamy took him b
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CHAPTER XXX THE CONTEST FOR THE PAPERS
CHAPTER XXX THE CONTEST FOR THE PAPERS
Laverick, sitting with Zoe at dinner, caught his companion looking around the restaurant with an expression in her face which he did not wholly understand. “Something is the matter with you this evening, Zoe,” he said anxiously. “Tell me what it is. You don’t like this place, perhaps?” “Of course I do.” “It is your dinner, then, or me?” he persisted. “Come, out with it. Haven’t we promised to tell each other the truth always?” The pink color came slowly into her cheeks. Her eyes, raised for a mo
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CHAPTER XXXI MISS LENEVEU’S MESSAGE
CHAPTER XXXI MISS LENEVEU’S MESSAGE
The two men stepped back into the hotel. The cashier had returned to his desk, and the incident which had just transpired seemed to have passed unnoticed. Nevertheless, Laverick felt that the studied indifference of his companion’s manner had its significance, and he endeavored to imitate it. “Shall we go through into the bar?” he asked. “There’s very seldom any one there at this time.” “Anywhere you say,” Bellamy answered. “It’s years since we had a drink together.” They passed into the inner r
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CHAPTER XXXII MORRISON IS DESPERATE
CHAPTER XXXII MORRISON IS DESPERATE
Certainly it was a strange little gathering that waited in Morrison’s room for the coming of Laverick. There was Lassen—flushed, ugly, breathing heavily, and watching the door with fixed, beady eyes. There was Adolf Kahn, the man who had strolled out from the Milan Hotel as Laverick had entered it, leaving the forged order behind him. There was Streuss—stern, and desperate with anxiety. There was Morrison himself, in the clothes of a workman, worn to a shadow, with the furtive gleam of terrified
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CHAPTER XXXIII LAVERICK’S ARREST
CHAPTER XXXIII LAVERICK’S ARREST
“At last, David!” Louise welcomed her visitor eagerly with outstretched hands, which Bellamy raised for a moment to his lips. Then she turned toward the third person, who had also risen at the opening of the door—a short, somewhat thick-set man, with swarthy complexion, close-cropped black hair, and upturned black moustache. “You remember Prince Rosmaran?” she said to Bellamy. “He left Servia only the day before yesterday. He has come to England on a special mission to the King.” Bellamy shook h
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CHAPTER XXXIV MORRISON’S DISCLOSURE
CHAPTER XXXIV MORRISON’S DISCLOSURE
Into New Oxford Street, one of the ceaseless streams of polyglot humanity, came Zoe from her cheerless day bound for the theatre. She was a little whiter, a little more tired than usual. All day long she had heard nothing of Laverick. All day long she had sat in her tiny room with the memory of that horrible night before her. She had tried in vain to sleep,—she had made no effort whatever to eat. She knew now why Arthur Morrison had fled away. She knew the cause of that paroxysm of fear in which
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CHAPTER XXXV BELLAMY’S SUCCESS
CHAPTER XXXV BELLAMY’S SUCCESS
Late that afternoon the hall-porter at the Milan Hotel, the commissionaire, and the chief maitre d’hotel from the Café, who happened to be in the hall, together with several others around the place who knew Stephen Laverick by sight, were treated to an unexpected surprise. A large closed motor-car drove up to the front entrance and several men descended, among whom was Laverick himself. He nodded to the hall-porter, whose salute was purely mechanical, and making his way without hesitation to the
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CHAPTER XXXVI LAVERICK ACQUITTED
CHAPTER XXXVI LAVERICK ACQUITTED
At mid-day on the following morning Laverick stepped down from the dock at Bow Street and, as the evening papers put it, “in company with his friends left the court.” The proceedings altogether took scarcely more than half-an-hour. Laverick’s solicitor first put Shepherd in the box, who gave his account of Morrison’s visit to the restaurant, spoke of his hurried exit, and identified the knife which he had seen him snatch up. Cross-examined as to why he had kept silent, he explained that Mr. Morr
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CHAPTER XXXVII THE PLOT THAT FAILED
CHAPTER XXXVII THE PLOT THAT FAILED
The progress of the Czar from Buckingham Palace to the Mansion House, where he had, after all, consented to lunch with the Lord Mayor, witnessed a popular outburst of enthusiasm absolutely inexplicable to the general public. It was known that affairs in Central Europe were in a dangerously precarious state, and it was felt that the Czar’s visit here, and the urgent summons which had brought from St. Petersburg his Foreign Minister, were indications that the long wished-for entente between Russia
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CHAPTER XXXVIII A FAREWELL APPEARANCE
CHAPTER XXXVIII A FAREWELL APPEARANCE
“One thing, at least, these recent adventures should teach whoever may be responsible for the government of this country,” Bellamy remarked to his wife, as he laid down the morning paper. “For the first time in many years we have taken the aggressive against Powers of equal standing. We were always rather good at bullying smaller countries, but the bare idea of an ultimatum to Germany would have made our late Premier go lightheaded.” “And yet it succeeded,” Louise reminded him. “Absolutely,” he
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