Part 3 (1/2)
”All will be prepared, Excellency.”
Von Ragastein laid his hand upon the doctor's shoulder.
”Come outside, Schmidt,” he said. ”I have something to tell you of my plans.”
The two men seated themselves in the long, wicker chairs, the doctor in an att.i.tude of strict attention. Von Ragastein turned his head and listened. From Dominey's quarters came the sound of deep and regular breathing.
”I have formed a great plan, Schmidt,” Von Ragastein proceeded. ”You know what news has come to me from Berlin?”
”Your Excellency has told me a little,” the doctor reminded him.
”The Day arrives,” Von Ragastein p.r.o.nounced, his voice shaking with deep emotion. He paused a moment in thought and continued, ”the time, even the month, is fixed. I am recalled from here to take the place for which I was destined. You know what that place is? You know why I was sent to an English public school and college?”
”I can guess.”
”I am to take up my residence in England. I am to have a special mission. I am to find a place for myself there as an Englishman. The means are left to my ingenuity. Listen, Schmidt. A great idea has come to me.”
The doctor lit a cigar.
”I listen, Excellency.”
Von Ragastein rose to his feet. Not content with the sound of that regular breathing, he made his way to the opening of the banda and gazed in at Dominey's slumbering form. Then he returned.
”It is something which you do not wish the Englishman to hear?” the doctor asked.
”It is.”
”We speak in German.”
”Languages,” was the cautious reply, ”happen to be that man's only accomplishment. He can speak German as fluently as you or I. That, however, is of no consequence. He sleeps and he will continue to sleep.
I mixed him a sleeping draught with his whisky and soda.”
”Ah!” the doctor grunted.
”My princ.i.p.al need in England is an ident.i.ty,” Von Ragastein pointed out. ”I have made up my mind. I shall take this Englishman's. I shall return to England as Sir Everard Dominey.”
”So!”
”There is a remarkable likeness between us, and Dominey has not seen an Englishman who knows him for eight or ten years. Any school or college friends whom I may encounter I shall be able to satisfy. I have stayed at Dominey. I know Dominey's relatives. To-night he has babbled for hours, telling me many things that it is well for me to know.”
”What about his near relatives?”
”He has none nearer than cousins.”
”No wife?”
Von Ragastein paused and turned his head. The deep breathing inside the banda had certainly ceased. He rose to his feet and, stealing uneasily to the opening, gazed down upon his guest's outstretched form. To all appearance, Dominey still slept deeply. After a moment or two's watch, Von Ragastein returned to his place.
”Therein lies his tragedy,” he confided, dropping his voice a little lower. ”She is insane--insane, it seems, through a shock for which he was responsible. She might have been the only stumbling block, and she is as though she did not exist.”