Part 34 (1/2)
CHAPTER XXIV
A TANTALIZING GLIMPSE
Felicia laid down the receiver and looked at me. There was scarcely any need for words. Her disappointment was written into her white face.
”You are not to come!” I said.
”I am not--to come,” she repeated. ”After all, my holiday is not yet.”
”Will you tell me,” I asked, ”where I can find your uncle?”
She shook her head.
”You must not ask me such a thing,” she declared.
”Remember,” I said, ”that I have really called to make his acquaintance as a matter of courtesy on behalf of my brother. What excuse do you give me for his absence? Tell me what it is that you are supposed to say in such a case?”
”Simply that he is away for a few days, engaged in the most important business,” she answered. ”He will rejoin me here directly it is settled.”
”And in the meantime,” I said thoughtfully, ”you are left in a strange hotel without friends, without a chaperon, absolutely unprotected, and with only a head-waiter in your confidence. Felicia, there is something very wrong here. I am not sure,” I continued, ”that it is not my duty to run away with you.”
She clasped her hands.
”Delightful!” she murmured. ”But I mustn't think of it,” she added, with a sudden gravity, ”nor must you talk to me like that. What my uncle says is best to be done. He knows and understands. If he has had to leave me here alone, it is because it is necessary.”
”You have a great deal of faith in him,” I remarked.
”He has always been kind to me,” she answered, ”and I know that the business upon which he is engaged just now is hazardous and difficult. There are men who do not wish it to go through, and they watch for him. If they knew his whereabouts they would try to stop him.”
”Felicia, do you know what that business is?” I asked.
”I have some idea of it,” she answered.
Her answer puzzled me. If Felicia really had any idea as to the nature of it, and was content to play the part she was playing, it certainly could not be anything of an illicit nature. Yet everything else which had come under my notice pointed to Delora's being a.s.sociated with a criminal undertaking. I paced the room, deep in thought. Felicia all the time was watching me anxiously.
”You are not going to leave me?” she asked very softly.
I came to a standstill before her.
”No, Felicia,” I said, ”I am not going to leave you! But I want to tell you this. I am going to try and find out for myself the things which you will not tell me. No, you must not try to stop me!” I said, antic.i.p.ating the words which indeed had trembled upon her lips. ”It must be either that or farewell, Felicia. I cannot remain here and do absolutely nothing. I want to find your uncle, and to have some sort of an explanation from him, and I mean to do it.”
She shook her head.
”There are others who are trying to find him,” she said, ”but I do not think that they will succeed. The young man who was here the other night, for instance.”
”If I fail, I fail,” I answered. ”At any rate, I shall be doing something. I must go back to my brother's to-night, Felicia, because I have promised to stay with him. In a day or two I shall return to my rooms here, and I shall do my best to find out the meaning of your uncle's mysterious movements. It may seem impertinent to you to interfere in anybody else's concerns. I cannot help it. It is for your sake. The present position is impossible!”
”You are not staying here to-night?” she asked.
”To-night, no!” I answered. ”I will let you know directly I return.”