Part 36 (2/2)
Perousse looked at him with grim amus.e.m.e.nt.
”It is a curious and unpleasant fact that the 'descendants' of these days do not care a b.u.t.ton for their ancestors,” he said; ”They generally try to forget them as fast as possible. What do the descendants of Robespierre, (if there are any), care about him? The descendants of Wellington? The descendants of Beethoven or Lord Byron? Among the many numerous advantages attending the world-wide fame of Shakespeare is that he has left no descendants. If he had, his memory would have been more vulgarised by _them,_ than by any Yankee kicker at his grave! One of the most remarkable features of this progressive age is the cheerful ease with which sons forget they ever had fathers! I am afraid, Marquis, you are not likely to escape the common doom!”
Lutera rose slowly, and prepared to take his departure.
”I shall call a Cabinet Council for Monday,” he said; ”This is Friday.
You will find it convenient to attend?”
Perousse, rising at the same time, a.s.sented smilingly.
”You will see things in a better and clearer light by then,” he said.
”Rely on me! I have not involved you thus far with any intention of bringing you to loss or disaster. Whatever befalls you in this affair must equally befall me; we are both in the same boat. We must carry things through with a firm hand, and show no hesitation. As for the King, his business is to be a Dummy; and as Dummy he must remain.”
Lutera made no reply. They shook hands,--not over cordially,--and parted; and as soon as Perousse heard the wheels of the Premier's carriage grinding away from his outer gate, he applied himself vigorously to the handle of one of the numerous telephone wires fitted up near his desk, and after getting into communication with the quarter he desired, requested General Bernhoff, Chief of the Police, to attend upon him instantly. Bernhoff's headquarters were close by, so that he had but to wait barely a quarter of an hour before that personage,--the same who had before been summoned to the presence of the King,--appeared.
To him Perousse handed a slip of paper, on which he had written the words 'Pasquin Leroy.'
”Do you know that name?” he asked.
General Bernhoff looked at it attentively. Only the keenest and closest observer could have possibly detected the slight flicker of a smile under the stiff waxed points of his military moustache, as he read it.
He returned it carefully folded.
”I fancy I have heard it!” he said cautiously; ”In any case, I shall remember it.”
”Good! There is a man of that name in this city; trace him if you can! Take this note to Mr. David Jost”--and while he spoke he hastily scrawled a few lines and addressed them--”and he will give you an exact personal description of him. He is reported to have left for Moscow,--but I discredit that statement. He is a foreign spy, engaged, we believe, in the work of taking plans of our military defences,--he must be arrested, and dealt with rigorously at once. You understand?”
”Perfectly,” replied Bernhoff, accepting the note handed to him; ”If he is to be discovered, I shall not fail to discover him!”
”And when you think you are on the track, let me have information at once,” went on Perousse; ”But be well on your guard, and let no one learn the object of your pursuit. Keep your own counsel!”
”I always do!” returned Bernhoff bluntly. ”If I did not there might be trouble!”
Perousse looked at him sharply, but seeing the wooden-like impa.s.siveness of his countenance, forced a smile.
”There might indeed!” he said; ”Your tact and discretion, General, do much to keep the city quiet. But this affair of Pasquin Leroy is a private matter.”
”Distinctly so!” agreed Bernhoff quietly; ”I hold the position entirely!”
He shortly afterwards withdrew, and Carl Perousse, satisfied that he had at any rate taken precautions to make known the existence of a spy in the city, if not to secure his arrest, turned to the crowding business on his hands with a sense of ease and refreshment. He might not have felt quite so self-a.s.sured and complacent, had he seen the worthy Bernhoff smiling broadly to himself as he strolled along the street, with the air of one enjoying a joke, the while he murmured,--
”Pasquin Leroy,--engaged in taking plans of the military defences--is he? Ah!--a very dangerous amus.e.m.e.nt to indulge in! Engaged in taking plans!--Ah!--Yes!--Very good,--very good; excellent! Do I know the name? Yes! I fancy I might have heard it! Oh, yes, very good indeed--excellent! And this spy is probably still in the city?
Yes!--Probably! Yes--I should imagine it quite likely!”
Still smiling, and apparently in the best of humours with himself and the world at large, the General continued his easy stroll by the sea-fronted ways of the city, along the many picturesque terraces, and up flights of marble steps built somewhat in the fas.h.i.+on of the prettiest corners of Monaco, till he reached the chief promenade and resort of fas.h.i.+on, which being a broad avenue running immediately under and in front of the King's palace facing the sea, was in the late suns.h.i.+ne of the afternoon crowded with carriages and pedestrians. Here he took his place with the rest, saluting a fellow officer here, or a friend there,--and stood bareheaded with the rest of the crowd, when a light gracefully-shaped landau, drawn by four greys, and escorted by postillions in the Royal liveries, pa.s.sed like a triumphal car, enshrining the cold, changeless and statuesque beauty of the Queen, upon whom the public were never weary of gazing. She was a curiosity to them--a living miracle in her unwithering loveliness; for, apparently unmoved by emotion herself, she roused all sorts of emotions in others.
Bernhoff had seen her a thousand times, but never without a sense of new dazzlement.
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