CHAPTER XX. JENNIE CONVERSES WITH A YOUNG MAN SHE THINKS MUCH OF.
When the train started, they were seated together in a carriage farforward.
"One of my failings," said the girl, "is to act first, and thinkafterwards. I am sorry now that I asked you to send that telegram to thePrincess."
"Why?"
"Because I have a great deal to tell you, and perhaps you may wish towithdraw from the rash engagement you have undertaken."
"A likely thing!" cried the ardent lover. "Indeed, Miss Princess, if youthink you can get rid of me as easily as all that, you are very muchmistaken."
"Well, I want to tell you why I did not allow you to resign."
Slowly she undid the large buttons of her jacket, then, taking it bythe lapel and holding it so that no one else could see, she drew partlyforth from the inside pocket the large envelope, until the stamp of theEmbassy was plainly visible. Lord Donal's eyes opened to their widestcapacity, and his breath seemed to stop.
"Great heavens!" he gasped at last, "do you mean to say _you_ have it?"
"Yes," she said, buttoning up her jacket again. "I robbed the robbers.Listen, and I will tell you all that happened. But, first, are youarmed?"
"Yes," he replied, "I have a trumpery revolver in my pocket; little goodit did me last night."
"Very well, we shall be across the frontier by noon to-day. If theRussian authorities find before that time how they have been checkmated,and if they have any suspicion that I am the cause of it, is it notlikely that they will have me stopped and searched on some pretence orother?" Lord Donal pondered for a moment. "They are quite capable ofit," he said; "but, Jennie, I will fight for you against the wholeRussian Empire, and somebody will get hurt if you are meddled with. Thepolice will hesitate, however, before interfering with a messenger fromthe Embassy, or anyone in his charge in broad daylight on a crowdedtrain. We will not go back into that car, but stay here, where some ofour fellow-countrymen are."
"That is what I was going to propose," said Jennie. "And now listen tothe story I have to tell you, and then you will know exactly why I cameto Russia."
"Don't tell me anything you would rather not," said the young manhurriedly.
"I would rather not, but it must be told," answered the girl.
The story lasted a long time, and when it was ended the young man criedenthusiastically in answer to her question,--
"Blame you? Why, of course I don't blame you in the slightest. It wasn'tHardwick who sent you here at all, but Providence. Providence brought ustogether, Jennie, and my belief in it hereafter will be unshaken."
Jennie laughed a contented little laugh, and said she was flattered atbeing considered an envoy of Providence.
"It is only another way of saying you are an angel, Jennie," remarkedthe bold young man.
They crossed the frontier without interference, and, once in Germany,Jennie took the object of so much contention and placed it in the handsof her lover.
"There," she whispered, with a tiny sigh, for she was giving up thefruits of her greatest achievement, "put that in your despatch box, andsee that it doesn't leave that receptacle until you reach London. I hopethe Russians will like the copy of the _Daily Bugle_ they find in theirenvelope."
The two chatted together throughout the long ride to Berlin, and when11 p.m. and the Schleischer station came at last, they still seemed onlyto have begun their conversation, so much more remained to be told.
The telegram from the Princess was handed to Lord Donal at Berlin.
"I congratulate you most sincerely," she wired; "and tell Jennie thenext time you see her"--Lord Donal laughed as he read this aloud--"thatthe Austrian Government has awarded her thirty thousand pounds for hershare in enabling them to recover their gold, and little enough I thinkit is, considering what she has done."
"Now, I call that downright handsome of the Austrian Government," criedLord Donal. "I thought they were going to fight us when I read thespeech of their Prime Minister, but, instead of that, they are makingwedding presents to our nice girls."
"Ah, that comes through the good-heartedness of the Princess, and thekindness of the Prince," said Jennie. "He has managed it."
"But what in the world did you do for the Austrian Government, Jennie?"
"That is a long story, Donal, and I think a most interesting one."
"Well, let us thank heaven that we have a long journey for you to tellit and me to listen."
And saying this, the unabashed, forward young man took the libertyof kissing his fair companion good-night, right there amidst all theturmoil and bustle of the Schleischer Bahnhof in Berlin.
It was early in the morning when the two met again in the restaurantcar. The train had passed Cologne and was now rushing up thatpicturesque valley through which runs the brawling little river Vesdre.Lord Donal and Jennie had the car to themselves, and they chose a tablenear the centre of it and there ordered their breakfast. The situationwas a most picturesque one. The broad, clear plate glass windows on eachside displayed, in rapid succession, a series of landscapes well worthviewing; the densely wooded hills, the cheerful country houses, theswift roaring stream lashing itself into fleecy foam; now and then aglimpse of an old ruined castle on the heights, and, in the deep valley,here and there a water mill.
It was quite evident that Jennie had slept well, and, youth being on herside, her rest had compensated for the nightmare of the Russian journey.She was simply but very effectively dressed, and looked as fresh andpretty and cool and sweet as a snowdrop. The enchanted young man foundit impossible to lure his eyes away from her, and when, with a littlelaugh, Jennie protested that he was missing all the fine scenery, heanswered that he had something much more beautiful to look upon; whereatJennie blushed most enticingly, smiled at him, but made no furtherprotest. Whether it was his joy in meeting Jennie, or the result of hisnight's sleep, or his relief at finding that his career was not wrecked,as he had imagined, or all three together, Lord Donal seemed his oldself again, and was as bright, witty, and cheerful as a boy home for theholidays. They enjoyed their breakfast with the relish that youth anda healthy appetite gives to a dainty meal well served. The rolls werebrown and toothsome, the butter, in thick corrugated spirals, was of adelicious golden colour, cold and crisp. The coffee was all that coffeeshould be, and the waiter was silent and attentive. Russia, like an evilvision, was far behind, and the train sped through splendid sceneryswiftly towards England and home.
The young man leaned back in his chair, interlaced his fingersbehind his head, and gazed across at Jennie, drawing a sigh of deepsatisfaction.
"Well, this _is_ jolly," he said.
"Yes," murmured Jennie, "it's very nice. I always did enjoy foreigntravel, especially when it can be done in luxury; but, alas! luxurycosts money, doesn't it?"
"Oh, you don't need to mind, you are rich."
"That is true; I had forgotten all about it."
"I hope, Jennie, that the fact of my travelling on a _train de luxe_has not deluded you regarding my wealth. I should have told you that Iusually travel third class when I am transporting myself in my privatecapacity. I am wringing this pampered elegance from the reluctantpockets of the British taxpayer. When I travel for the BritishGovernment I say, as _Pooh Bah_ said to _Koko_ in the 'Mikado,' 'Do itwell, my boy,' or words to that effect."
"Indeed," laughed Jennie, "I am in a somewhat similar situation; thenewspaper is paying all the expenses of this trip, but I shall insiston returning the money to the _Bugle_ now that I have failed in mymission."
"Dear me, how much more honest the newspaper business is than diplomacy!The idea of returning any money never even occurred to me. The meresuggestion freezes my young blood and makes each particular hair tostand on end like quills upon the fretful porcupine. Our motto in theservice is, Get all you can, and keep all you get."
"But then, you see, your case differs from mine; you did your best tosucceed, and I failed through my own choice; and thus I sit here atraitor to my paper."
"Well, Jennie," said the young man, picking up the despatch-box, whichhe never allowed to leave his sight, and placing it on the table,"you've only to say the word, and this contentious letter is in yourpossession again. Do you regret your generosity?"
"Oh, no, no, no, no, I would not have it back on any account. Evenlooking at the matter in the most materialistic way, success means farmore to you than it does to me. As you say, I am rich, therefore I amgoing to give up my newspaper career. I suppose that is why women veryrarely make great successes of their lives. A woman's career so often ismerely of incidental interest to her; a man's career is his whole life."
"What a pity it is," mused the young man, "that one person's successusually means another person's failure. If I were the generous,whole-souled person I sometimes imagine myself to be, I should refuseto accept success at the price of your failure. You have actuallysucceeded, while I have actually failed. With a generosity that makes mefeel small and mean, you hand over your success to me, and I selfishlyaccept it. But I compound with my conscience in this way. You and I areto be married; then we will be one. That one shall be heir to all thesuccesses of each of us and shall disclaim all the failures of each.Isn't that a good idea?"
"Excellent," replied Jennie; "nevertheless, I cannot help feeling just alittle sorry for poor Mr. Hardwick."
"Who is he--the editor?"
"Yes. He _did_ have such faith in me that it seems almost a pity todisappoint him."
"You mustn't trouble your mind about Hardwick. Don't think of him atall; think of me instead."
"I am afraid I do, and have done so for some time past; nevertheless, Ishall get off at Liege and telegraph to him that I am not bringing thedocument to London."
"I will send the telegram for you when we reach there; but, if Iremember rightly what you told me of his purpose, he can't be verydeeply disappointed. I understood you to say that he did not intend topublish the document, even if he got it."
"That is quite true. He wished to act as the final messenger himself,and was to meet me at Charing Cross Station, secure the envelope, andtake it at once to its destination."
"I must confess," said the young man, with a bewildered expression,"that I don't see the object of that. Are you sure he told you thetruth?"
"Oh, yes. The object was this. It seems that there is in the ForeignOffice some crusty old curmudgeon who delights in baffling Mr. Hardwick.This official--I forget his name; in fact, I don't think Mr. Hardwicktold me who he was--seems to forget the _Daily Bugle_ when importantitems of news are to be given out, and Mr. Hardwick says that he favoursone of the rival papers, and the _Bugle_ has been unable, so far, toreceive anything like fair treatment from him; so Mr. Hardwick wantedto take the document to him, and thus convince him there was danger inmaking an enemy of the _Daily Bugle_. As I understood his project, whichdidn't commend itself very much to me, Hardwick had no intention ofmaking a bargain, but simply proposed to hand over the document, and askthe Foreign Office man to give the _Bugle_ its fair share in what wasgoing."
"Do you mean to say that the official in question is the man to whom Iam to give this letter?"
"Yes."
"Oh, my prophetic soul, my uncle! Why, that is Sir James Cardiff, theelder brother of my mother; he is a dear old chap, but I can wellunderstand an outsider thinking him gruff and uncivil. If the editorreally means what he says, then there will be no difficulty and nodisappointment. If all that is needed is the winning over of old Jimmyto be civil to Hardwick, I can guarantee that. I am the especial_protege_ of my uncle. Everything I know I have learned from him.He cannot understand why the British Government does not appoint meimmediately Ambassador to France; Jimmy would do it to-morrow if he hadthe power. It was through him that I heard of this letter, and I believehis influence had a good deal to do with my getting the commission ofspecial messenger. It was the chagrin that my uncle Jimmy would havefelt, had I failed, that put the final drop of bitterness in my cup ofsorrow when I came to my senses after my encounter with the Russianpolice. That would have been a stunning blow to Sir James Cardiff. Weshall reach Charing Cross about 7.30 to-night, and Sir James will bethere with his brougham to take charge of me when I arrive. Now, whatdo you say to our settling all this under the canopy of Charing CrossStation? If you telegraph Mr. Hardwick to meet us there, I willintroduce him to Sir James, and he will never have any more trouble inthat quarter."
"I think," said the girl, looking down at the tablecloth, "that I'drather not have Mr. Hardwick meet us."
"Of course not," answered the young man quickly. "What was I thinkingabout? It will be a family gathering, and we don't want any outsidersabout, do we?"
Jennie laughed, but made no reply.