when my life was at stake?"
She shook her head seriously, replying, "No, it was impossible."
Was I still being duped? Those were the only words that beat a constantand painful tattoo in my brain.
"Tell me," I said, laying my hand upon her shoulder, "tell me the reasonwhy you have kept this secret of yours till now?"
"Hark!" she said, listening intently.
I could hear nothing beyond the roar of the traffic in Trafalgar Square.
She crossed quickly to the window, and flinging aside the curtains,opened it.
"Come here," she commanded.
I obeyed her.
"See! below. There is a man selling newspapers. Listen to what hesays?"
I leant out of the window, and as I did so a hoarse cry broke upon myear. It caused me to start, for the words the man shouted were, "Extraspecial! Attempt to murder the Czar! Exciting Scenes! Extra special!"
"What has that to do with it?" I asked, puzzled, as she closed thewindow and drew the curtains again.
"Everything," she replied, sighing. "Sit down, and I will tell you thestory."
I flung myself into an easy-chair, and she came and stood beside me.Her hand smoothed my forehead with a tender caress, yet somehow I couldnot trust her; the ironic and brutal strokes of Fate had paralysed me,and I felt myself wholly stupefied.
"Sometimes, Frank, an unforeseen incident, a chance, an exteriorinfluence, may bring on a disastrous crisis. It has unfortunately beenso in my case," she said, in a deep, earnest voice.
"Begin at the beginning. Let me know what is this strange mystery whichhas shadowed your life," I urged, taking her hand in mine.
"Hush! we must not be overheard," she replied, glancing apprehensivelyat the door. "I--I fully recognise how painful all these complicationsmust have been to you, dear, but I assure you it is not my fault that Ihave not divulged. I had taken an oath--"
"An oath!"
"Yes. I know it was purely from love that you married me, enveloped inmystery as I was; and, then, when you saw me in the Dene, and--and--thought me untrue--ah--you surely should have known me better than that.You know how I love you; and yet you suspected me!" she criedpassionately.
"Don't let's talk of that," I said, impatiently.
"When I have told you," she continued, her eyes filling with tears, "youwill no longer believe me Valse, even though I--your wife--have stainedmy Hands with crime!"
"What!" I cried, in amazement, "you?"
"Ah, no," she answered, "and yet mine is a horrible crime. Listen!Years ago, when I was a little child, my father, Count Nicholas, held aresponsible position at the Court of the Czar at Petersburg. Hisclosest friend was Sergius Orselska--the man you know as Hertzen--hishalf-brother. His son, Demetrius, and I were playmates."
"But what of Boris. The man who gave evidence to-day?"
"He is my brother. When the Russo-Turkish war broke out, my father, whowas an officer, was placed in command of a troop, Boris having in themeantime joined the Cossacks. The Count served with distinctionthroughout the campaign; but, alas! after the fall of Plevna, hereceived news that my brother had been killed in an engagement with someinsurgents in Georgia.
"Overcome with sorrow, my father retired from the army, and took me tolive in a gloomy old house in the Njazlov at Warsaw. While we wereleading a somewhat secluded existence the revolutionary movement sprangup in Poland; the people commenced their struggle for freedom, and thepropaganda took root with alarming rapidity. My father, a loyal subjectof the Czar, believed that his warmest friend, Serge Orselska, heldviews similar to his own, but, as I afterwards discovered, he wasmistaken. This half-brother was a scheming scoundrel, who having alliedhimself with the Terrorists, determined upon making it a lucrativebusiness by becoming a police spy, so that he could give secretinformation regarding the conspirators. In this he had more than oneobject in view. My father had occasion to travel to Petersburg onbusiness connected with his estate, and remained there several weeks.On the day following his return to Warsaw the grand _coup_ was made, andthe Czar was assassinated by a bomb thrown at his sleigh. The world wasconvulsed. My father, honest loyalist that he was, regarded this actionof the Nihilists most unfavourably.
"Yet as soon as Alexander the Third had succeeded the dead Emperor mypoor father was arrested, conveyed to Petersburg, and charged with beingimplicated in the assassination! Though the accusation was utterlyunfounded, the perjured evidence was much against him. He was foundguilty, and condemned to Siberian hard labour for life. I was in Courtand heard sentence pronounced. Ah! _Grand Dieu_! Shall I ever forgetthat day?
"He was despatched with a convoy of prisoners to Asia, but on the wayendeavoured to escape, and was shot dead. It was the new Czar who wasresponsible for my beloved father's death; he was his murderer! and Iswore it should be avenged, even if my own life were sacrificed in theattempt. Then I went to live under the guardianship of Serge Orselska,who, hearing my vow, admitted that he was a Nihilist, and persuaded meto take the oath to the Executive. I did so, and, confident of success,swore that I would make three attempts to remove the Autocrat of theRussias, adding, as a stipulation, that if none were successful the oathshould be removed. Thus I developed into an enthusiastic and patrioticTerrorist. Bent upon avenging my father's wrongs, I was prepared to goto any length, and to follow the examples of Jessy Helfman and SophiaPerovskaia in order to accomplish my object."
"Fancy, you--a Nihilist!" I said, incredulously in abject astonishment.
"Yes, and I was not idle either. The schemes of our Circle havingmatured sufficiently to allow me to make the first attempt, I did so.We were living in Petersburg at the time, and although everythingappeared to favour me, the plot failed at the last moment. The police,however grew suspicious, and we were compelled to fly from Russia. Myuncle--who had assumed the name of Hertzen--and I, travelled first toParis, and for a couple of years led a wandering life, visiting nearlyall the European capitals. I devoted to the Cause a large portion ofthe fortune left me by my father, and was looked upon by the members ofthe Circle as one who would probably be successful in effecting ourpurpose. If I did, I told myself it would be but a life for a life. Ibelieved that a terrible victory would be obtained by the Party, and saweverything in a rose-coloured light."
Notwithstanding the overwhelming passion which filled her heart, andrevealed itself painfully in spite of her, in her face, and her voice,she tried to speak slowly and calmly. There was an expression ofindescribable suffering, too, around her mouth and in her eyes, whichtold me that this chapter of her life she would have hidden forever, ifshe could.
"Then it was during these wanderings that we met?" I said.
"Exactly. Fate brought us together in Genoa just as we were arrangingthe second attempt. I was in sore need of a friend, and--why should Ihesitate to admit it--when first we met, I loved you. But, cruel Fate!mine has been a love which has almost brought death to you," shefaltered.
"How?"
"My uncle--always a scheming villain--laid his plans deeply in this, asin other things. I was the instigator of the attempt to be made, andwas at my wits' ends to know how to get the instrument conveyed toPetersburg. The police were keeping a sharp look-out, and for any ofour Circle to have entered Russia would have been highly dangerous.Notwithstanding this, I was determined to succeed. Meanwhile ouraffection was not unnoticed by Orselska, who spoke to me upon thesubject. Remember, he was my guardian, and, not being of age, I wasbound to obey him in a certain measure. When I admitted that I lovedyou and that you had asked me to be your wife, he flew into a passion,and said he would never give his consent. For several days he was harshand unkind, when suddenly his manner changed and he again referred tothe matter. He said he would give his consent with one stipulation:that I should, as a test of your love, get you to take the instrument toPetersburg, the--"
"The instrument! What do you mean?" I asked.
"I mean, that the box you took to the Russian capit
al did not containjewels at all; it was dynamite clock!"
"An infernal machine!"
"Yes. It was that which wrecked the Winter Palace on the day you werearrested. But listen, and you will learn the depth of Orselska'svillainy. Already by his treachery my poor father had been degraded andkilled, and the fortune left to me was in his hands. He was determinedto keep it, and there were but two ways of doing this: either I, too,must be killed, or marry his son Demetrius. Now you see why he schemedthat you should be sent upon that dangerous errand. You were sent,Frank dear, so that on your arrival he, as a police spy, could giveinformation which would secure your arrest and exile?"
"Impossible!" I cried. "Yet the explosion accounts for the excitementon