CHAPTER XXXVIII
HONEYMOONING
Hunterleys saw the Right Honourable Meredith Simpson and MonsieurDouaille off to Paris early that morning. Then he called round at thehospital to find that Sidney Roche was out of danger, and went on to thevilla with the good news. On his way back he stayed chatting with thebank manager until rather later than usual, and afterwards strolled onto the Terrace, where he looked with some eagerness towards a certainpoint in the bay. The _Minnehaha_ had departed. Mr. Grex and hisfriends, then, had been set free. Hunterleys returned to the hotelthoughtfully. At the entrance he came across two or three trunks beingwheeled out, which seemed to him somehow familiar. He stopped to look atthe initials. They were his wife's.
"Is Lady Hunterleys leaving to-day?" he asked the luggage-porter.
"By the evening train, sir," the man announced. "She would have caughtthe _Cote d'Azur_ this morning but there was no place on the train."
Hunterleys was perplexed. Some time after luncheon he enquired for LadyHunterleys and found that she was not in the hotel. A reception clerkthought that he had seen her go through on her way to the Sporting Club.Hunterleys, after some moments of indecision, followed her. He waspuzzled at her impending departure, unable to account for it. TheDraconmeyers, he knew, proposed to stay for another month. He walkedthoughtfully along the private way and climbed the stairs into the Club.He looked for his wife in her usual place. She was not there. He made alittle promenade of the rooms and eventually he found her amongst thespectators around the baccarat table. He approached her at once.
"You are not playing?"
She started at the sound of his voice. She was dressed very simply intravelling clothes, and there were lines under her eyes, as though shewere fatigued.
"No," she admitted, "I am not playing."
"I understood in the hotel," he continued, "that you were leavingto-day."
"I am going back to England," she announced. "It does not amuse me hereany longer."
He realised at once that something had happened. A curious sense ofexcitement stole into his blood.
"If you are not playing here, will you come and sit down for a fewmoments?" he invited. "I should like to talk to you."
She followed him without a word. He led the way to one of the divans inthe roulette room.
"Your favourite place," he remarked, "is occupied."
She nodded.
"I have given up playing," she told him.
He looked at her in some surprise. She drew a little breath and kept hereyes steadily averted.
"You will probably know sometime or other," she continued, "so I willtell you now. I have lost four thousand pounds to Mr. Draconmeyer. I amgoing back to England to realise my own money, so as to be able to payhim at once."
"You borrowed four thousand pounds from Mr. Draconmeyer?" he repeatedincredulously.
"Yes! It was very foolish, I know, and I have lost every penny of it. Iam not the first woman, I suppose, who has lost her head at MonteCarlo," she added, a little defiantly.
"Does Mr. Draconmeyer know that you are leaving?" he asked.
"Not yet," she answered, after a moment's hesitation. "I had aninterview with him yesterday and I realised at once that the money mustbe paid, and without delay. I realised, too, that it was better I shouldleave Monte Carlo and break off my association with these people for thepresent."
In a sense it was a sordid story, yet to Hunterleys her words soundedlike music.
"I am very pleased indeed," he said quietly, "that you feel like that.Draconmeyer is not a man to whom I should like my wife to owe money fora moment longer than was absolutely necessary."
"Your estimate of him was correct," she confessed slowly. "I am sorry,Henry."
He rose suddenly to his feet. An inspiration had seized him.
"Come," he declared, "we will pay Draconmeyer back without sending youhome to sell your securities. Come and stand with me."
She looked at him in amazement.
"Henry!" she exclaimed. "You are not going to play? Don't! Take myadvice and don't!"
He laughed.
"We'll see," he replied confidently. "You wouldn't believe that I was afatalist, would you? I am, though. Everything that I had hoped for seemsto be happening to-day. You have found out Draconmeyer, we havecheckmated Mr. Grex, I have drunk the health of Felicia and DavidBriston--"
"Felicia and David Briston?" she interrupted quickly. "What do youmean?"
"You knew, of course, that they were engaged?" he explained. "I calledround at the villa this morning, after I had been to the hospital, andfound them busy fixing the wedding day."
She looked at him vaguely.
"Engaged?" she murmured. "Why, I thought--"
A spot of colour suddenly burned in her cheeks. She was beginning tounderstand. It was Draconmeyer who had put those ideas into her head.Her heart gave a little leap.
"Henry!" she whispered.
He was already at the table, however. He changed five mille notesdeliberately, counted his plaques and turned to her.
"I am going to play on your principle," he declared. "I have alwaysthought it an interesting one. See, the last number was twenty-two. I amgoing to back twenty and all the _carres_."
He covered the board around number twenty. There were a few minutes ofsuspense, then the click as the ball fell into the little space.
"_Vingt-huit, noir, passe et pair!_" the croupier announced.
Hunterleys' stake was swept away. He only smiled.
"Our numbers are going to turn up," he insisted cheerfully. "I amcertain of it now. Do you know that this is the first time I have playedsince I have been in Monte Carlo?"
She watched him half in fear. This time he staked on twenty-nine, withthe maximum _en plein_ and all the _carres_ and _chevaux_. Again the fewmoments of suspense, the click of the ball, the croupier's voice.
_"Vingt-neuf, noir, impair et passe!"_
She clutched at his arm.
"Henry!" she gasped.
He laughed.
"Open your bag," he directed. "We'll soon fill it."
He left his stake untouched. Thirty-one turned up. He won two _carres_and let the table go once without staking. Ten was the next number.Immediately he placed the maximum on number fourteen, _carres_ and_chevaux_. Again the pause, again the croupier's voice.
_"Quatorze rouge, pair et manque!"_
Hunterleys showed no exultation and scarcely any surprise. He gatheredin his winnings and repeated his stake. This time he won one of his_carres_. The next time _quatorze_ turned up again. For half-an-hour hecontinued, following his few chosen numbers according to the run of thetable. At the end of that time Violet's satchel was full and he wasbeginning to collect mille notes for his plaques. He made a littlecalculation in his mind and decided that he must already have won morethan the necessary amount.
"Our last stake," he remarked coolly.
The preceding number had been twenty-six. He placed the maximum ontwenty-nine, the _carres_, _chevaux_, the column, colour and last dozen.He felt Violet's fingers clutching his arm. There was a little buzz ofexcitement all round the table as the croupier announced the number.
_"Vingt-neuf noir, impair et passe!..."_
They took their winnings into the anteroom beyond, where Hunterleysordered tea. There was a little flush in Violet's cheeks. They countedthe money. There was nearly five thousand pounds.
"Henry!" she exclaimed. "I think that that last coup was the mostmarvellous win I ever saw!"
"A most opportune one, at any rate," he replied grimly. "Look who iscoming."
Draconmeyer had entered the room, and was peering everywhere as thoughin search of some one. He suddenly caught sight of them, hesitated for amoment and then approached. He addressed himself to Violet.
"I have just seen Linda," he said. "She is broken-hearted at the thoughtof your departure."
"I am sorry to leave her," Violet replied, "but I feel that I havestayed quite long enough in Monte Carlo. By the
bye, Mr. Draconmeyer,there is that little affair of the money you were kind enough to advanceto me."
Draconmeyer stood quite still. He looked from husband to wife.
"Four thousand pounds, my wife tells me," Hunterleys remarked coolly, ashe began to count out the notes. "It is very good of you indeed to haveacted as my wife's banker. Do you mind being paid now? Our movements area little uncertain and it will save the trouble of sending you acheque."
Draconmeyer laughed. It was not a pleasant laugh, nor was it in theleast mirthful.
"Dear me!" he exclaimed. "I had forgotten that little matter. As youwill, certainly."
He accepted the notes and stuffed them into his pocket.
"By the bye," he continued, "I think that I ought to congratulate you,Sir Henry. That last little affair of yours was wonderfullystage-managed. Your country owes you more than it is ever likely to pay.You have succeeded, at any rate, in delaying the inevitable."
"I trust," Hunterleys enquired politely, "that you were not detainedupon the yacht for very long?"
"We landed at the Villa at twelve o'clock this morning," Draconmeyerreplied. "You know, of course, of the little surprise our young Americanfriend had prepared for Mr. Grex?"
Hunterleys shook his head.
"I have heard nothing definite."
"He was married to the daughter of the Grand Duke Augustus at midday atNice," Draconmeyer announced. "His Serene Highness received a telephonemessage only a short time ago."
Violet gave a little cry. She leaned across the table eagerly.
"You mean that they have eloped?"
Draconmeyer assented.
"All Monte Carlo will be talking about it to-morrow," he declared. "TheGrand Duke has been doing all he can to get it hushed up, but it isuseless. I will not detain you any longer. I see that you are about tohave tea."
"We shall meet, perhaps, in London?" Hunterleys remarked, as Draconmeyerprepared to depart.
Draconmeyer shook his head.
"I think not," he replied. "The doctors have advised me that the climateof England is bad for my wife's health, and I feel that my own workthere is finished. I have received an offer to go out to South Americafor a time. Very likely I shall accept."
He passed on with a final bow. Violet looked across their table and hereyes shone.
"It seems like a fairy tale, Henry," she whispered. "You don't know whata load on my mind that money has been, and how I was growing to detestMr. Draconmeyer."
He smiled.
"I was rather hating the beast myself," he admitted. "Tell me, what areyour plans, really?"
"I hadn't made any," she confessed, "except to get away as quickly as Icould."
He leaned a little across the table.
"Elopements are rather in the fashion," he said. "What do you think?Couldn't we have a little dinner at Ciro's and catch the last train toNice; have a look at Richard and his wife and then go on to Cannes, andmake our way back to England later?"
She looked at him and his face grew younger. There was something in hereyes which reminded him of the days which for so many weary months hehad been striving to forget.
"Henry," she murmured, "I have been very foolish. If you can trust meonce more, I think I can promise that I'll never be half so idioticagain."
He rose to his feet blithely.
"It has been my fault just as much," he declared, "and the fault ofcircumstances. I couldn't tell you the whole truth, but there has been avillainous conspiracy going on here. Draconmeyer, Selingman, and theGrand Duke were all in it and I have been working like a slave. Now it'sall over, finished this morning on Richard's yacht. We've done what wecould. I'm a free lance now and we'll spend the holidays together."
She gave him her fingers across the table and he held them firmly inhis. Then she, too, rose and they passed out together. There was awonderful change in Hunterleys. He seemed to have grown years younger.
"Come," he exclaimed, "they call this the City of Pleasure, but theseare the first happy moments I have spent in it. We'll gamble infive-franc pieces for an hour or so. Then we'll go back to the hotel andhave our trunks sent down to the station, dine at Ciro's and wireRichard. Where are you going to stake your money?"
"I think I shall begin with number twenty-nine," she laughed.
* * * * *
They lunched with Richard and his wife, a few days later, at the Casinoat Cannes. The change in the two young people was most impressive.Fedora had lost the dignified aloofness of Monte Carlo. She seemed asthough she had found her girlhood. She was brilliantly, supremely happy.Richard, on the other hand, was more serious. He took Hunterleys on oneside as they waited for the cars.
"We are on our way to Biarritz," he said, "by easy stages. The yachtwill meet us there and we are going to sail at once for America."
"Fedora doesn't mind?" Hunterleys asked.
"Not in the least," Richard declared exultantly. "She knows what my dutyis, and, Hunterleys, I am going to try and do it. The people over theremay need a lot of convincing, but they are going to hear the truth fromme and have it drummed into them. It's going to be 'Wake up, America!'as well as 'Wake up, England!'"
"Stick at it, Richard," Hunterleys advised. "Don't mind a littlediscouragement. Men who see the truth and aren't afraid to keep oncalling attention to it, get laughed at a great deal. People speak ofthem tolerantly, listen to what they say, doubt its reasonableness andput it at the back of their heads, but in the end it does good. Yourpeople and mine are slow to believe and slow to understand, but thetruth sinks in if one proclaims it often enough and loudly enough. Weare going through it in our own country just now, with regard toNational Service, for one thing. Here come your cars. You travel instate, Richard."
The young man laughed good-naturedly.
"There's nothing in life which I could give her that Fedora sha'n'thave," he asserted. "We spent the first two days absolutely alone. Nowher maid and my man come along with the luggage in the heavy car, and wetake the little racer. Jolly hard work they have to keep anywhere nearus, I can tell you. Say, may I make a rather impertinent remark, SirHenry?"
"You have earned the right to say anything to me you choose," Hunterleysreplied. "Go ahead."
"Why, it's only this," Richard continued, a little awkwardly. "I havenever seen Lady Hunterleys look half so ripping, and you seem yearsyounger."
Hunterleys smiled.
"To tell you the truth, I feel it. You see, years ago, when we startedout for our honeymoon, there was a crisis after the first week and wehad to rush back to England. We seem to have forgotten to ever finishthat honeymoon of ours. We are doing it now."
The two women came down the steps, the cynosure of a good many eyes, thetwo most beautiful women in the Casino. Richard helped his wife into herplace, wrapped her up and took the steering wheel.
"Hyeres to-night and Marseilles to-morrow," he announced, "Biarritz onSaturday. We shall stay there for a week, and then--'Wake up, America!'"
The cars glided off. Hunterleys and his wife stood on the steps, wavingtheir hands.
"Something about those children," Hunterleys declared, as they vanished,"makes me feel absurdly young. Let's go shopping, Violet. I want to buyyou some flowers and chocolates."
She smiled happily as she took his arm for a moment.
"And then?"
"What would you like to do afterwards?" he asked.
"I think," she replied, leaning towards him, "that I should like to goto that nice Englishman who lets villas, and find one right at the edgeof the sea, quite hidden, and lock the gates, and give no one ouraddress, and have you forget for just one month that there was any workto do in the world, or any one else in it except me."
"Just to make up," he laughed softly.
"Women are like that, you know," she murmured.
"The man's office is this way," Hunterleys said, turning off the mainstreet.
THE END
* * * * *
/> E. Phillips Oppenheim's Novels
We do not stop to inquire into the measure of his art any more than weinquire into that of Alexander Dumas. We only realize that here is abenefactor of tired men and women seeking relaxation.--_Independent_,New York.
Mr. Grex of Monte Carlo An amazing revelation of war in the making.
The Vanished Messenger What resulted when the Powers conspired against England.
A People's Man How a socialistic leader became involved in international affairs.
The Double Life of Mr. Alfred Burton Oppenheim in a new vein--a pure comedy.
The Mischief-Maker A blending of love, romance, and international intrigue.
The Lighted Way A mystery story that involves the revolution in Portugal.
Havoc An engrossing story of love, mystery, and international intrigue.
Peter Ruff and the Double-Four Deals with a shrewd detective and a mysterious secret society.
The Moving Finger A mystifying story dealing with a wealthy M. P.'s experiment.
Berenice A masterly tale of a strong love that is tragic in its outcome.
The Prince of Sinners An engrossing story of English social and political life.
Anna the Adventuress A surprising tale of a bold deception.
The Master Mummer The strange romance of beautiful Isobel de Sorrens.
The Mysterious Mr. Sabin The ingenious story of a bold international intrigue.
The Yellow Crayon Mr. Sabin's exciting experiences with a powerful secret society.
A Millionaire of Yesterday A gripping story of a wealthy West African miner.
The Man and His Kingdom A dramatic tale of adventure in South America.
The Traitors A capital romance of love, adventure, and Russian intrigue.
The Betrayal A thrilling story of treachery in high diplomatic circles.
A Sleeping Memory The story of an unhappy girl who was deprived of her memory.
Enoch Strone: A Master of Men A tremendously strong story of a self-made man.
A Maker of History A daring tale that "explains" a great historical event.
The Malefactor An amazing story of a strange revenge.
A Lost Leader A realistic romance woven around a striking personality.
The Great Secret Unfolds a stupendous international conspiracy.
The Avenger Unravels the deepest of mysteries with consummate power.
The Long Arm of Mannister Deals with a wronged man's ingenious revenge.
The Tempting of Tavernake In which an unromantic Englishman falls in love and learns something about women.
The Governors A romance of the intrigues of American finance.
Jeanne of the Marshes Strange doings at an English house party are here set forth.
As a Man Lives Discloses the mystery surrounding the fair occupant of a yellow house.
The Illustrious Prince Exposes a Japanese political intrigue in London.
The Lost Ambassador A straightforward mystery tale of Paris and London.
A Daughter of the Marionis A tale of a beautiful Sicilian whose love interfered with her revenge.
The Mystery of Mr. Bernard Brown An ingenious solution of a murder mystery.
The Survivor A striking story of a young Englishman's uphill fight.
The World's Great Snare The love romance of a pretty American girl and an English prospector.
Those Other Days A collection of gripping and vivid stories.
For the Queen Remarkable stories of diplomatic scandals and political intrigue.
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