Part 17 (1/2)
His Excellency hesitated, and his grey brows contracted.
”Yes, Mary,” he answered, after a brief pause. ”He would. There are secrets there--secrets which if revealed might imperil the safety of Italy.”
”And they are in your keeping?”
”They are in my keeping as Minister of War.”
”And some of them affect you--personally? Tell me the truth,” she urged, her gloved hand laid upon the edge of the table.
”They affect me both as Minister and as a loyal subject of His Majesty,”
was His Excellency's response, his face growing a trifle paler.
If the truths contained within that safe really leaked out, the result, he knew, would be irretrievable ruin. Even the contemplation of such a catastrophe caused him to hold his breath.
”Then I a.s.sure you, father, that nearly half the doc.u.ments within have been carefully and methodically examined by this man who poses as your friend.”
”And to tell you the truth, dear, I cannot credit it. He can have no key that would open the door, unless he recovered it from the Arno-- which is not likely. They never dredge that part, for it is too deep.
Besides, that portion of the river is my own property, and before it could be dredged they would have to give me notice.”
”But a duplicate--could he not possess one?”
”Impossible. That safe was specially manufactured in London for me, and is one of the strongest ever constructed. I had it made specially of treble strength which will resist any drill or wedge--even dynamite would only break the lock and leave the bolts shot. The only manner it could be forced without the key would be to place it in a furnace or apply electrical heat, which would cause the steel to give. The makers specially designed it so that no second key could ever be fitted.”
”Then you disbelieve me?” she said, looking into her father's face.
”No, I don't actually disbelieve you, my dear,” he responded, placing his hand tenderly upon hers; ”only the whole affair seems so absolutely incredible.”
”Everything is credible in the present situation,” she said, and then went on to relate what Dubard had told her regarding the conspiracy of the Socialists, who intended to hound the Ministry from office.
She was seated in her father's private cabinet at the Ministry of War, in the large leather-covered chair opposite his big littered table, the chair in which sat so many high officials day after day discussing the military matters of the Italian nation. The double doors were closed, as they always were, against eavesdroppers.
She had, at her own request, managed to have a telegram sent her by him, and with Teresa had arrived in Rome only an hour ago. She had driven straight to the Ministry, and on her arrival Morini had quickly dismissed the general commanding in Sicily, to whom at that moment he was giving audience.
The story his daughter had related seemed utterly incredible. He knew from Ricci of the deep plot against him, but that the safe should really have been opened, and by Dubard of all men, staggered belief. That was why, in his astonishment, he declared that she must have been dreaming.
But in a few moments he became convinced, by her manner, that it was no dream, but an actual fact. Dubard, who had shown himself a friend, had actually pried into what was hidden from all. Why?
What had he discovered? That was the question.
Mary told him of the memoranda, and of the impressions upon the blotting-pad, whereupon he exclaimed quickly--
”I'll send someone up to San Donato to-night to bring the blotting-pad here. Granati, the handwriting expert, shall examine it.” Then after a brief pause, he bent towards her, saying, ”You do not believe that he really discovered what he was in search of?”
”No; he seemed disappointed.”
His Excellency heaved a sigh of relief. If Jules Dubard really had opened the safe, then he feared too well the reason--the motive of the search was plain enough to him.
His teeth set themselves hard, his face blanched at thought of it; and he brushed the scanty grey hair from his forehead with his hand.
And yet it seemed impossible--utterly impossible--that the safe could really have been opened and its contents examined.