Part 19 (2/2)
”Indeed? Is it a good match, Baron?”
The Baron smiled. ”I think so. He has been a trifle wild, but I believe he has settled down. Splendid family. He is desperately in love, as you may have noted.”
”I hadn't thought much about it. Is she in love with him?”
”She sees a great deal of him,” was the diplomatic answer.
Truxton considered well for a minute or two, and then bluntly asked:
”Would you mind telling me just who she is, Baron? What is her name?”
Dangloss was truly startled. He gave the young man a quick, penetrating glance; then a set, hard expression came into his eyes.
”Do you mean, sir, that you don't know her?” he asked, almost harshly.
”I don't know her name.”
”And you had the effrontery to--My excellent friend, you amaze me. I can't believe it of you. Why, sir, how dare you say this to me? I know that Americans are bold, but, by gad, sir, I've always looked upon them as gentlemen. You--”
”Hold on, Baron Dangloss,” interrupted Truxton, very red in the face.
”Don't say it, please. You'd better hear my side of the story first. She went to school with my sister. She knows me, but, confound it, sir, she refuses to tell me who she is. Do you think that is fair? Now, I'll tell you how it came about.” He related the story of the goldfish and the pinhook. The Baron smiled comfortably to himself, a sphinx-like expression coming into his beady eyes as he stared steadily on ahead; her trim grey back seemed to encourage his admiring smile.
”Well, my boy, if she elects to keep you in the dark concerning her name, it is not for me to betray her,” he said at the end of the recital. ”Ladies in her position, I dare say, enjoy these little mysteries. If she wants you to know, she'll tell you. Perhaps it would be well for you to be properly, officially presented to her hi--to the young lady. Your countryman, Mr. Tullis, will be glad to do so, I fancy.
But let me suggest: don't permit your ingenuousness to get the better of you again. She's having sport with you on account of it. We all know her propensities.”
It was dusk when they entered the northern gates. Above the Castle, King said good-bye to Tullis and the Countess, gravely saluted the sleepy Prince, and followed Mr. Hobbs off to the heart of the city. He was hot with resentment. Either she had forgotten to say good-bye to him or had wilfully decided to ignore him altogether; at any rate, she entered the gates to the Castle grounds without so much as an indifferent glance in his direction.
Truxton knew in advance that he was to have a sleepless, unhappy night.
In his room at the hotel he found the second anonymous letter, unquestionably from the same source, but this time printed in crude, stilted letters. It had been stuck under the door, together with some letters that had been forwarded from Teheran.
”_Leave the city at once. You are in great danger. Save yourself_!”
This time he did not laugh. That it was from Olga Platanova he made no doubt. But why she should interest herself so persistently in his welfare was quite beyond him, knowing as he did that in no sense had he appealed to her susceptibility. And what, after all, could she mean by ”great danger”? ”Save yourself!” He sat for a long time considering the situation. At last he struck the window sill a resounding thwack with his fist and announced his decision to the silent, disinterested wall opposite.
”I'll take her advice. I'll get out. Not because I'm afraid to stay, but because there's no use. She's got no eyes for me. I'm a plain impossibility so far as she's concerned. It's Vos Engo--d.a.m.n little rat!
Old Dangloss came within an ace of speaking of her as 'her Highness.'
That's enough for me. That means she's a princess. It's all very nice in novels, but in real life men don't go about picking up any princess they happen to like. No, sir! I might just as well get out while I can. She treated me as if I were a yellow dog to-day--after I'd been d.a.m.ned agreeable to her, too, standing between her and the lightning. I might have been struck. I wonder if she would have been grateful. No; she wouldn't. She'd have smiled her sweetest, and said: ”wasn't it lucky?”
He picked up the note once more. ”If I were a storybook hero, I'd stick this thing in my pocket and set out by myself to unravel the mystery behind it. But I've chucked the hero job for good and all. I'm going to hand this over to Dangloss. It's the sensible thing to do, even if it isn't what a would-be hero in search of a princess aught to do. What's more, I'll hunt the Baron up this very hour. Hope it doesn't get Olga into trouble.”
He indulged in another long spell of thoughtfulness. ”No, by George, I'll not turn tail at the first sign of danger. I'll stay here and a.s.sist Dangloss in unravelling this matter. And I'll go up to that Witch's hole before I'm a day older to have it out with her. I'll find out where the smoke came from and I'll know where that eye went to.” He sighed without knowing it. ”By Jove, I'd like to do something to show her I'm not the blooming duffer she thinks I am.”
He could not find Baron Dangloss that night, nor early the next day.
Hobbs, after being stigmatised as the only British coward in the world, changed his mind and made ready to accompany King to the hovel in Ganlook Gap.
By noon the streets in the vicinity of the Plaza were filled with strange, rough-looking men, undeniably labourers.
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