Part 6 (1/2)
”Yes,” he said. ”I know. You cannot deceive me.”
”You know?” cried the Frenchman, starting to his feet. ”What do you know? Have you invited me up here to threaten me again?”
”I merely say that I know the reason why you received the letter calling you to Paris this morning,” replied the Under-Secretary in a cold, calm voice. ”It was because you met and were recognised by a certain Englishman named Macbean, the secretary of that vulgar fellow we saw eating his supper half an hour ago.”
Dubard's jaw fell. He saw that by some utterly unaccountable means his enemy was aware of the real reason which compelled him to fly from Leicesters.h.i.+re.
Was it possible that he could know the whole truth? No; it was impossible. Macbean dare not speak. Of that he felt quite a.s.sured.
”Ah?” continued the general, a grim smile crossing his thin, hard features as he narrowly watched his companion. ”You see I am not quite as ignorant of the past as you believe, my dear Jules.”
”Nor am I!” cried the Frenchman, turning upon him savagely. ”Last night you threatened me, remember!”
”And to-night I have invited you here, my dear friend, to arrive at some amicable agreement that will be to our mutual advantage,” answered the clever Under-Secretary, with a suavity of manner which showed him to be a born diplomat.
”Yes, I know,” answered the other in a dry, hard voice. ”This is not the first time you and I have discussed matters, General Borselli. I know that if it suited you you'd betray your own mother. You have no conscience, no code of honour?”
”My code of honour is exactly the same as yours, _caro mio_,” replied the Italian, laughing. ”I try to turn all I can into profit for myself, just as you are trying to do. My maxim is `self first.'”
”And for that reason you are plotting the downfall of Morini and the whole Ministry!”
”A work in which you are actively a.s.sisting,” added the Under-Secretary.
”I did not come here to be insulted,” Dubard protested.
”Neither did I invite you here to pose as a censor of political morality,” responded his shrewd companion, looking straight and determinedly into his pale face. ”But why should we quarrel, when it is to our mutual interests to remain friendly?”
”I have not quarrelled. Last night you objected to me visiting the Morinis.”
”Because I am well aware of your object.”
”I admit that I intend to marry Mary,” and he removed his cigar from his mouth and examined it.
”And you have also a further object in view, my dear count--one that is even more interesting,” declared Borselli, ”a plan that I can very easily frustrate.”
”Well, you told me that last night,” he said. ”And I, on my part, frankly declare that I do not in the least fear any revelations you can make.”
”Not of the affair of General Sazarac?” whispered the cunning Italian, his dark eyes fixed upon the younger man as he bent towards him. ”Have you so completely forgotten certain events which, if recalled, would mean--well, they would mean that you would neither marry Morini's daughter nor be successful in the next very ingenious trick by which you intend to make a grand _coup_ at the expense of my country.”
At the mention of the name of General Sazarac the other's face blanched, and holding his breath he stood glaring at the man who with raised eyebrows smiled so calmly at him. He saw that this political adventurer was aware of a certain deep, terrible secret of the past which he believed was buried for ever. His enemy's att.i.tude of cool confidence was sufficient to bring him at once to a sense of his insecurity.
”Well?” he managed to gasp. ”And what is your proposal?”
”Ah, my dear friend, I am glad you are ready to listen to reason,”
responded the Sicilian. ”We must both face the future unshrinkingly, you know. You have your own schemes; I have mine. By acting in accord we shall succeed, but if we are enemies then we shall commit the very foolish and unpardonable error of exposing each other. I know quite well that there are certain rather unfortunate incidents regarding my own career, those disagreeable little matters of which you have knowledge, and by which you could retaliate. You see, I do not for a single moment intend to deny them. On the contrary, I frankly suggest that by an agreement of silence we can be helpful in each other's interests. We both desire advancement, and can gain it through the medium of Morini. Are you not agreed?”
Dubard, slowly convinced that without the general's aid he must be powerless and in peril, nodded in the affirmative. He did not discern the wily man's ulterior motive, or the secret reason of the proposed compact.
”Your primary object, my dear Jules, is of course money,” the general went on. ”Now, by a simple written declaration I shall absolve you from all connection with the Sazarac affair, while you, on your part, will deny my connection with that ugly little matter in Rome two years ago.
Both of us will then emerge again honest and upright--models of virtue.