Part 82 (1/2)

Calabressa calmly waited for him; but in his heart he was saying exultingly, ”_Ha! the dagger quivers in the board: his eyes are starting from his head; is it Calabressa or Cagliostro that has paralyzed him?_”

At length the wretched creature opposite him gasped out,

”Beratinsky--”

But he could say no more. He motioned to a waiter to bring him some soda-water.

”Yes, Beratinsky?” said Calabressa, calmly regarding the livid face.

”--has betrayed us!” he said, with trembling lips. In fact, there was no fight in him at all, no angry repudiation; he was helpless with this sudden bewilderment of fear.

”Not quite,” said Calabressa; and he now spoke in a low, eager voice.

”It is for you to save yourself by forestalling him. It is your one chance; otherwise the decree; and good-bye to this world for you!

See--look at this card--I say it is your only chance, friend Reitzei--for I am empowered by the Council to promise you, or Beratinsky, or any one, a free pardon on confession. Oh, I a.s.sure you the truth is clear: has not one eyes? You, poor devil, you cannot speak: shall I go to Beratinsky and see whether he can speak?”

”What must I do--what must I do?” the other gasped, in abject terror.

Calabressa, regarding this exhibition of cowardice, could not help wondering how Lind had allowed such a creature to a.s.sociate with him.

Then Calabressa, sure of victory, began to breathe more freely. He a.s.sumed a lofty air.

”Trust in me, friend Reitzei. I will instruct you. If you can persuade the Council of the truth of your story, I promise you they will absolve you from the operations of a certain Clause which you know of. Meanwhile you will come to my lodgings and write a line to Lind, excusing yourself for the day; then this evening I dare say it will be convenient for you to start for Naples. Oh, I a.s.sure you, you owe me thanks: you did not know the danger you were in; hereafter you will say, 'Well, it was no other than Calabressa who pulled me out of that quagmire.'”

A few minutes thereafter Calabressa was in a telegraph-office, and this was the message he despatched:

”Colonna, London: to Bartolotti, Vicolo Isotta, No. 15, Naples. Ridotto will arrive immediately, colors down. Send orders for Luigi and Ba.s.sano to follow.”

”It is a bold stroke,” he was saying to himself, as he left the office, ”but I have run some risks in my time. What is one more or less?”

CHAPTER LII.

FIAT JUSt.i.tIA.

This scheme of Calabressa's had been so rapidly conceived and put in execution, that he had had no time to think of its possible or certain consequences, in the event of his being successful. His immediate and sole anxiety was to make sure of his captive. There was always the chance that a frightened and feeble creature like Reitzei might double back; he might fly to Lind and Beratinsky, and seek security in a new compact; for who could prove any thing if the three were to maintain their innocence? However, as Calabressa shrewdly perceived, Reitzei was in the dark as to how much the Council knew already. Moreover, he had his suspicions of Beratinsky. If there was to be a betrayal, he was clearly resolved to have the benefit of it. Nevertheless, Calabressa did not lose sight of him for a moment. He took him to his, Calabressa's lodgings; kept a.s.suring him that he ought to be very grateful for being thus allowed to escape; got him to write and despatch a note to Lind, excusing himself for that day and the next, and then proceeded to give him instructions as to what he should do in Naples. These instructions, by-the-way, were entirely unnecessary; it is no part of Calabressa's plan to allow Reitzei to arrive in Naples alone.

After a mid-day meal, Calabressa and Reitzei walked up to the lodgings of the latter, where he got a few travelling things put together.

By-and-by they went to the railway station, Calabressa suggesting that it was better for Reitzei to get away from London as soon as possible.

The old albino saw his companion take his seat in the train for Dover, and then turned away and re-entered the busy world of the London streets.

The day was fine after the rain; the pavements were white and dry; he kept in the sunlight for the sake of the warmth; but he had not much attention for the sights and sounds around him. Now that this sudden scheme promised to be entirely successful, he could consider the probable consequences of that success; and, as usual, his first thought was about Natalie.

”Poor child--poor child!” he said to himself, rather sadly. ”How could she tell how this would end? If she saves the life of her lover, it is at the cost of the life of her father. The poor child!--must misfortune meet her whichever way she turns?”

And then, too, some touch of compunction or even remorse entered into his own bosom. He had been so eager in the pursuit? he had been so anxious to acquit himself to the satisfaction of the Council, that he had scarcely remembered that his success would almost certainly involve the sacrifice of one who was at least an old colleague. Ferdinand Lind and Calabressa had never been the very best of friends; during one period, indeed, they had been rivals; but that had been forgotten in the course of years, and what Calabressa now remembered was that Lind and he had at least been companions in the old days.