The Master Mummer Part 39

"Mr. Greatson," she said, "do you know what I should want you to do if I were Isobel--what I am quite sure that she must want you to do now?"

"Tell me!"

"Why, marry her! She would be quite safe then, wouldn't she?"

I tried to smile in a non-committal sort of way, but I am afraid there were things in my face beyond my power to control.

"You forget," I answered. "I am thirty-four, and Isobel is only eighteen. Besides, there is someone else who wants to marry Isobel. He is young, and they have been great friends always. I think that she is fond of him."

She shook her head doubtfully.

"I do not think that thirty-four is old at all, and if you care for Isobel, I would not let anyone else marry her," she declared. "Is that Calais?"

"Yes."

"I think that I will go now in case my maid should see us together," she said. "Oh, I can tell you where we are going in Paris. Will that help you?"

"Of course it will," I answered.

"Number 17, Rue Henriette," she whispered. "Please come a little further this way a moment."

I obeyed her at once. We were quite out of sight now, in the quietest corner of the s.h.i.+p.

"Mr. Greatson," she said, "you will think that I am a very strange girl.

I am going to be married in a few months to a man I do not care for one little bit, and it seems to me that that will be the end of my life. I want you to marry Isobel, and I hope you will both be very happy--and--will you please kiss me once? I am Isobel's cousin, you know."

I leaned forward and touched her lips. Then I grasped her hands warmly.

"You are very, very kind," I said gratefully, "and you can't think how much happier you have made me feel. If only--you were not a Princess!"

She flitted away into the darkness with a little broken laugh. She pa.s.sed me half an hour later in the Customs' house with a languid impa.s.sive stare which even her mother could not have excelled.

CHAPTER III

Feurgeres looked at me in surprise.

"What have you been doing to yourself?" he exclaimed. "Is the fresh air so wonderful a tonic, or have you been asleep and dreaming of Paradise?"

I laughed.

"The sea air was well enough," I answered, "but I have been having a most interesting conversation."

"With whom?" he asked.

"The Princess Adelaide!"

He drew a little closer to me.

"You are serious?"

"Undoubtedly. Listen!"

Then I told him of my conversation with Isobel's cousin, excepting the last episode. His gratification was scarcely equal to mine. He was a little thoughtful for some time afterwards. I am sure he felt that I had been indiscreet.

"The Princess Adelaide," I said, "will not betray us. I am sure of that.

She will tell her mother nothing."

"These Waldenburgs," he answered gravely, "are a crafty race. It is in their blood. They cannot help it."

"Isobel is a Waldenburg," I reminded him.

"She is her mother's daughter," he said. "There is always one alien temperament in a family."

"In this case," I declared, "two!"

He shrugged his shoulders.

"We shall soon know," he said, "whether this young lady is honest or not. A man will meet us at Paris with an exact record of the doings of the Archd.u.c.h.ess and her party. We shall know then where Isobel is. If the address is the same as that given you by the Princess Adelaide, I will believe in her."

"But not till then?" I remarked, smiling.

"Not till then!" he a.s.sented.

Before we left Calais, Feurgeres sent more telegrams, and for an hour afterwards he sat opposite to me with wide-open eyes, seeing nothing, as was very evident, save the images created by his own thoughts. As we reached Amiens, however, he spoke to me.

"You had better try and get some sleep," he said. "You may have little time for rest in Paris."

"And you?" I asked.

"It is another matter," he answered. "I am accustomed to sleeping very little; and besides, it is probable that this affair may become one which it will be necessary for you to follow up alone. The sight of me, or the mention of my name, is like poison to all the Waldenburgs. They would only be the more bitter and hard to deal with if they knew that I, too, had joined in the chase. I hope to be able to do my share secretly."

I followed his suggestion, and slept more or less fitfully all the way to Paris. I was awakened to find that the train had come to a standstill. We were already in the station, and as I hastily collected my belongings I saw that Feurgeres had left me, and was standing on the platform talking earnestly to a pale, dark young Frenchman, sombrely dressed and of insignificant appearance. I joined him just as his companion departed. He turned towards me with a peculiar smile.

"My apologies to the Princess," he said. "The address is correct. They have gone to a suite of rooms belonging to the Baron von Leibingen."

"They are there still, then?" I exclaimed.

"They are there still," Feurgeres a.s.sented, "and they show no immediate signs of moving on. They are apparently waiting for someone--perhaps for the Princess Adelaide. Inside the house and out they are being closely watched, and directly their plans are made I shall know of them."

I looked, as I felt, a little surprised. Feurgeres smiled.

"I am at home here," he said, "and I have friends. Come! My own apartments are scarcely a stone's-throw away from the Rue Henriette.

Estere will see our things safely through the Customs."