Part 11 (2/2)
”You will do me the service of conveying to him a message from me,”
she continued. ”This man Seaman pointed out to me the unwisdom of any a.s.sociation between myself and Leopold, under present conditions. I listened to all that he had to say. I reserved my decision. I have now considered the matter. I will compromise with necessity. I will be content with the acquaintance of Sir Everard Dominey, but that I will have.”
”For myself,” the Amba.s.sador reflected, ”I do not even know what Von Ragastein's mission over here is, but if in Berlin they decide that, for the more complete preservation of his incognito, a.s.sociation between you and him is undesirable--”
She laid her fingers upon his arm.
”Stop!” she ordered. ”I am not of Berlin. I am not a German. I am not even an Austrian. I am Hungarian, and though I am willing to study your interests, I am not willing to place them before my own life. I make terms, but I do not surrender. Those terms I will discuss with Leopold.
Ah, be kind to me!” she went on, with a sudden change of voice. ”Since these few minutes at midday I have lived in a dream. Only one thing can quiet me. I must speak to him. I must decide with him what I will do.
You will help?”
”An acquaintance between you and Sir Everard Dominey,” he admitted, ”is certainly a perfectly natural thing.”
”Look at me,” she begged.
He turned and looked into her face. Underneath her beautiful eyes were dark lines; there was something pitiful about the curve of her mouth. He remembered that although she had carried herself throughout the evening with all the dignity which was second nature to her, he had overheard more than one sympathetic comment upon her appearance.
”I can see that you are suffering,” he remarked kindly.
”My eyes are hot, and inside I am on fire,” she continued. ”I must speak to Leopold. Freda has asked me to stay and talk to her for an hour. My car waits. Arrange that he drives me home. Oh! believe me, dear friend, I am a very human woman, and there is nothing in the world to be gained by treating me as though I were of wood or stone. To-night I can see him without observation. If you refuse, I shall take other means. I will make no promises. I will not even promise that I will not call out before him in the streets that he is a liar, that his life is a lie. I will call him Leopold Von Ragastein--”
”Hus.h.!.+” he begged her. ”Stephanie, you are nervous. I have not yet answered your entreaty.”
”You consent?”
”I consent,” he promised. ”After our interview, I shall bring the young man to Freda's room and present him. You will be there. He can offer you his escort.”
She suddenly stooped and kissed his hand. An immense relief was in her face.
”Now I will keep you no longer. Freda is waiting for me.”
The Amba.s.sador strolled thoughtfully away into his own den at the back of the house, where Dominey was waiting for him.
”I am glad to see you,” the former said, holding out his hand. ”For five minutes I desire to talk to your real self. After that, for the rest of your time in England, I will respect your new ident.i.ty.”
Dominey bowed in silence. His host pointed to the sideboard.
”Come,” he continued, ”there are cigars and cigarettes at your elbow, whisky and soda on the sideboard. Make yourself at home in that chair there. Africa has really changed you very little. Do you remember our previous meeting, in Saxony?”
”I remember it perfectly, your Excellency.”
”His Majesty knew how to keep Court in those days,” the Amba.s.sador went on. ”One was tempted to believe oneself at an English country party.
However, that much of the past. You know, of course, that I entirely disapprove of your present position here?”
”I gathered as much, your Excellency.”
<script>