CHAPTER XIV--_Too Many Women_
General Sadgrove relaxed his grip on Azimoolah's lean neck, not as aconsequence of Alec Forsyth's exclamation, but because he and hiscaptive had crossed the threshold of the French window--gone "off," infact, from the stage on which he had been playing a little comedy forthe benefit of an invisible audience. Forsyth guessed at once that thepulley-hauley business on the terrace had only been a sham, from thehalf-playful push with which his uncle released the now passive Indian,and also from the more than half-contemptuous glance flung at himself.
The next moment the other party to the tussle on the terrace elucidatedthe matter by walking up to the window instead of running away. It wasthe Duke himself, outwardly calm, but somewhat disheveled by the fray,and looking very sleepy. Entering the room he gave Forsyth's hand anaffectionate squeeze, and turned to secure the window.
"It's all right," he said, in the listless tone that he always usednowadays. "When the train got stuck up I smelt rats, and cleared outfrom the locality--thought it better to cut across country on foot thanto stay about a spot where I was probably being looked for. But thisbeggar," pointing to Azimoolah, standing at "attention," proudly erect,"must have shadowed me, and caught me up just as I was coming to tap atthe window. You will confer a great favor on me by letting him go."
This dogged determination to take no prisoners strengthened theGeneral's suspicions of his host, and there was a harsh ring in thelaugh with which he explained that Azimoolah was his own emissary, who,on returning from the scene of the accident, had mistaken the Duke forone of their unknown adversaries. He did not mention that there were twogenuine prowlers outside who, but for Azimoolah's intervention, wouldhave fallen on their prey, and who were probably intensely puzzled byfinding someone else playing the same game as themselves.
"And now, if your Grace will go to bed, I will guarantee you a goodnight's rest," added the General. "You must not forget that you willhave ladies to entertain to-morrow."
Beaumanoir gave a tired shrug.
"Even without that inducement I'd take your prescription, General," hereplied. "This hide-and-seek is rather wearing; but if you two goodfellows can keep me in the land of the living for the next few days, Ishan't worry you further."
He left the room, dragging his lame foot painfully, and the General,stricken with a sudden sympathy, whispered Forsyth to accompany him.
"The poor beggar is troubled," he said. "Sleep on the sofa in his room,and don't be afraid to close your eyes--as soon as _he_ is asleep.Azimoolah and I will see there's no bother. But your friend mustn't beleft alone. Danger from his own pistol--see?"
Forsyth nodded with grieved comprehension, and followed the Duke. On hisdeparture the General turned to Azimoolah, who had stood like a statuesince his release, and the twain exchanged a twinkle of mutualcongratulation.
"We managed that quite in the old style, O taker of many thieves," saidthe General in Hindustani. "'Twas well that you heard and quickly obeyedmy whisper to offer resistance, for so we have deceived the malefactorswho beheld us into the belief that you also are an enemy of the house."
"The sahib's praise is sweet as the honey of Kashmir," respondedAzimoolah, gravely. "Is it the Heaven-born's will that I should go outand slay these dealers in iniquity?"
The commission entrusted to him, however, held promise of no suchluxury. On the contrary, Azimoolah received strict injunction to avoidviolence except in the last extremity--in self-defence or to prevententry into the house. The duty laid down for him was to patrol thegrounds, and instantly apprise the General of any action on the part ofthe two trespassers that pointed to a renewal of aggressiveness thatnight.
"I shall remain in this room till daybreak; if anything occurs, make thesignal outside," were the General's final instructions as he loosed hishuman watch-dog on to the terrace, after putting out the lights toconceal the opening of the window. Then, having carefully closed it, hesat himself down in the dark, and presently slumbered, secure in theknowledge that none could approach the mansion while Azimoolah was onguard. Also, he was pretty sure that the siege would not be raised tillthe two prowlers should have reported to their superiors the doings and,as they would believe, the capture of the strange rival who hadforestalled them.
The General's confidence was justified, for the night passed withoutfurther alarms, and the three gentlemen met at the breakfast-table underordinary country-house conditions. The servants being in the room, noreference was made to the abnormal circumstances that had brought themtogether, though Beaumanoir, in the course of reading letters that hadcome by post, held up a gorgeously monogrammed note, and remarked thatMrs. Talmage Eglinton had accepted his invitation and would be with themon the morrow.
"She writes rather flippantly for a stranger," he added, eyeing thescented missive doubtfully, but not offering to show it. "I hope it'sall right for her to meet my cousin Sybil, and--er--the other ladies.She's coming on your recommendation, you know, General, so you mustvouch for her good behavior."
Sadgrove growled unintelligibly, and was at pains to conceal a suddenupheaval of his facial muscles. For the Duke's reference to Mrs. TalmageEglinton in her relations to the other guests had all at once opened upto his mind a contingency which he had overlooked--a terriblecontingency, which demanded instant consideration before the Americanwidow was admitted to the house. He made an early excuse for quittingthe table, and, exacting a promise that Beaumanoir and Forsyth would forthe present remain indoors, he went out into the park to face theposition alone, and thresh it out to a conclusion.
Walking under the trees in the historic elm avenue, it was not till hehad smoked a whole cigar and lit another that he was able to approachthe problem with anything like calmness. For he was suffering from thehumiliation of having to admit that he had committed the grievous errorof imperiling the life of a woman--one, too, whom he held inaffectionate regard only second to his wife. If his suspicion of Mrs.Talmage Eglinton was as well founded as instinct told him, she oughtnever to have been asked to stay under the same roof as Sybil Hanbury,her victorious rival in the affections of a man who had repulsed heradvances by stolidly ignoring them.
"Gad! but I'd cut my hand off rather than harm should come to that girl,let alone never being able to look Alec in the face again," he muttered,as he gnawed his white mustache in perplexity.
The situation was indeed serious from the point of view that Mrs.Talmage Eglinton was head of a gang of international criminals, and thatshe was, moreover, as he put it in his simple soldier phrase, "sweetupon" his nephew Alec. If, for her as yet unexplained ends, she wouldnot stick at assassinating the Duke of Beaumanoir, she would be capableof wreaking a deadly vengeance on the girl who had won the heart shehungered for. Once installed as a guest in the mansion, she would haveplenty of facilities of which she might make venomous use. The Generalhad engineered her invitation with the laudable purpose of keeping herunder constant observation and of making communication with herconfederates difficult; but in his zeal for check-mating her predatorydesigns he had forgotten her amatory ones.
It was true that Sybil's engagement had not yet been published to theworld, but the Shermans, who were also to be the Duke's guests, knew ofit, and to enter into explanations with Mrs. Sherman, the voluble andunsophisticated, would be going far towards defeating his cherished hopeof protecting that lady's husband from the gang without implicating theDuke. As it was, the invitation of Mrs. Talmage Eglinton, of which hewas suspected of being the cause, had excited more than curiosity amonghis American visitors, who had nearly upset his arrangements bycanceling their own visit on learning that their mysterious fellowcountrywoman was to be of the party. One crumb of comfort he derivedfrom the fact that in all things he could rely on his wife's discretion.Though they had exchanged no word on the subject, he knew that, withoutpenetrating or wishing to penetrate his motive in trafficking with Mrs.Talmage Eglinton, his wife guessed that he had one; he knew that hecould depend upon her unquestioning aid if he asked for it.
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"I guess I've bitten off more than I can chew, as Sherman himself wouldput it," he mused, with a sigh for the old days of jinglingbridle-chains and night rides, when he had merrily run down his Thugsand Dacoits without female influence upsetting his calculations. Thefemale influence had been there, doubtless, with all its jealousies andconsequent treacheries; but all that had been Azimoolah's department. Ithad fallen to the silent-footed, black-bearded Pathan to explore theunder-currents of social life in the native villages, and he had notworried his chief with details till the patient sapping of traitorousbrains was done, and all that remained was to sally forth and hunt thefaithless lover or erring husband who was also a breaker of laws.Azimoolah's knowledge in India of the eternal feminine had beenextensive and peculiar; but the General felt that he could not withpropriety set him poking into love affairs which included Sybil Hanburyin its scope.
Another point which harassed the General's soul was the new light shedon the Duke's attitude towards Mrs. Talmage Eglinton by his milddispleasure at the style of her note. The General was assured that theremark at the breakfast-table had been the genuine expression of anhonest doubt as to the fitness of the sparkling widow to mix withgentle-women; whereas the Duke could have had no doubt whatever if hehad had relations with the gang of whom he, the General, believed thiswoman to be the moving spirit. It certainly seemed that the Duke wasignorant that she was a dangerous adventuress, for, though he might havesuspected her of designs against himself and yet have consented to herpresence at Prior's Tarrant, he would never have subjected Sybil to theperil of daily intercourse with a potential murderess. All alongBeaumanoir had shown a chivalrous disposition to protect his cousin fromeven minor annoyances.
"Perhaps there are two distinct crowds after Sherman's gold bonds, andBeaumanoir is in with the Ziegler lot, and Mrs. Talmage Eglinton isplaying against them," the General mused as he turned his steps back tothe house. "To think that the fellow holds the key of it all, and won'tspeak, is what riles me."
The immediate dilemma confronted him whether or no to impart to hisnephew the cause for alarm that had arisen about Sybil. He had beensurprised at first that a man of Alec Forsyth's shrewdness had not seenfor himself a danger threatening the girl he loved; but closerexamination disclosed a reason. Forsyth was too modest, too little of acoxcomb, for it to occur to him that violence could result from amisplaced passion for himself. On the whole, the General decided that,as Mrs. Talmage Eglinton was not due till the next day, he would saynothing to Alec at present.
"If I can make Beaumanoir disgorge his secret, the trouble may notarise," he comforted himself. Though the veteran's faith in himself wasshaken, and he wished he had resisted the temptation to meddle withcrime outside his old Eastern sphere, he was not the man to take hishand from the plough. He would devote all his diplomacy to penetratingthe cause of the Duke's obstinate silence.
As he had anticipated, there was a lull that day in the activity of theenemy--at any rate of overt attempts. No communication reached him fromAzimoolah, who would certainly have been heard from if suspiciouscharacters had been on the move in the neighborhood of the mansion; for,though unseen, that tireless tracker might be trusted to be at his post,which was anywhere and everywhere within the radius of a mile. Thedenser thickets of the park possibly concealed him, or it might be thathe hovered in the nearer precincts of the gardens, unseen but ready. Hispresence relieved the General from disturbing the routine of thehousehold by special instructions to the servants, who were stillfluttered by the lassooing of the lame gardener on the previous Sunday.So far, all the precaution that the General had delegated to others thanhimself and Forsyth was to give the bailiff a quiet hint, as a messagefrom the Duke, not to admit the "artists" to the park, should theypresent themselves again. But up to the hour of luncheon the painters of"deer like unto swine" had not renewed their application or put in anappearance.
In the afternoon Beaumanoir, shaking off some of his weary apathy, wentdown to the portico with his male guests to receive the four ladies, whoarrived in time for tea, which, with the General's acquiescence, was tobe taken on the terrace. No sooner were the first greetings over thanMrs. Sadgrove caught her husband's eye and telegraphed the informationthat she had something for his private ear at the earliest opportunity.He therefore contrived to lag behind with her while Beaumanoir did thehonors to Leonie and her mother, and Forsyth paired off with Sybil, asthe party mounted the marble steps to the terrace.
"Jem," said Mrs. Sadgrove, scanning the rugged face of her spouse with asidelong scrutiny, "I received an anonymous letter this morning. Letthem get ahead a bit, and I'll show it to you."
The screed which she put into his hand contained but five words:
"_There is danger from Ziegler._"
General Sadgrove's Eastern experiences had not educated him into anexpert in calligraphy, but it needed no particular insight to perceivethat this was a lady's handwriting, clumsily disguised. He transferredhis attention to the paper, half a sheet of "note"; and here he wasrewarded with a startling discovery. He had noticed that the letter ofacceptance from Mrs. Talmage Eglinton, which the Duke had received atbreakfast, had been heavily charged with a peculiar perfume, and thisunsigned missive was simply reeking of the same pungent fragrance. Hehad sat next the Duke, and knew that there was no mistake.
"You have no idea who sent this?" he asked.
"I seem to recognize the scent as having come to me before innotes--proper, signed notes," Mrs. Sadgrove replied, evasively. And thenshe added, with gentle significance, not from curiosity, but from adesire to help him in case he did not know: "I heard the name of Zieglerwhen we were calling at the Cecil yesterday. It was mentioned, I think,by one of the attendants as that of the gentleman occupying the roomswhere the disturbance was."
The General looked hard at her, and saw that his little drama had notdeceived the companion of his Indian days.
"Yes," he said, shortly. "Do not trouble about this, Madge. It's all inthe day's work."
But he himself was greatly troubled, inasmuch as if that anonymouswarning came from Mrs. Talmage Eglinton all his "case" was demolished,and a perfect maze of new problems was presented. A warning from herwould be presumptive evidence that she was an ally, and--sad blow to his_amour propre_--would stultify all the theories he had based on what hehad fondly hoped was an unerring intuition. He would have to begin allover again, solacing himself--and it was no small solace--with thereflection that he had raised an unnecessary bogey in anticipatingdanger to Sybil Hanbury from Mrs. Talmage Eglinton's visit.
Yet by the time he reached the top of the terrace steps reaction had setin, and he began to think that his brain could not have lost all itscunning. For, unless in the very improbable event of Mrs. TalmageEglinton having found out something about the mysterious Ziegler throughoccupying the next suite to him since yesterday, she must still be theheart and core of the evil influence he had to combat. Without knowledgeshe would not have been in a position to warn; and, like the Duke, howcould she have obtained knowledge without complicity? Why, too, shouldshe also be unwilling to use her knowledge openly? No, he came back tothe opinion that there must originally have been one gigantic plotagainst Senator Sherman's precious charge, and that there must have beena split in the camp; but from which section, or whether by bothsections, the Duke was threatened was an irritating conundrum. Anyhow,Sybil Hanbury's peril assumed ugly shape again in the General's mind.
"The woman must have sent it to mislead--to throw dust in my eyes," hemurmured, not knowing that he spoke aloud. And following up that trainof reasoning he found it grow into conviction. The letter was not reallyanonymous. That is to say, the writer had been at particular pains todisclose her identity by means of the scent if General Sadgrove deemedthe communication sent to his wife of sufficient importance toinvestigate. The letter had been despatched, he now felt assured, withthe express purpose of whitewashing the sender in the event of anyfurther "accident" happening to the Duke. In short, he was of opinionthat Mrs.
Talmage Eglinton had suspected his manoeuvre at the hotel, andhad devised this method of hoodwinking him, and of diverting hisvigilance from herself during her forthcoming visit if her suspicionswere correct. The craftiness of the idea was obvious, and the Generalwas beginning to be delighted with his perspicacity when, lo and behold,the whole fabric crumbled again, from a flaw at the very base of thestructure. It was inconceivable that Mrs. Talmage Eglinton, if she wasguilty of criminal intent, should have directed his thoughts to Ziegler,who, if not a confederate, was certainly part and parcel of the mystery.
"Too many women in it," he growled, testily, unaware, in the brown studyinto which he had fallen, that he had seated himself in one of the canechairs round about the tea-table at which Sybil Hanbury was alreadypresiding. He was also unconscious that he had expressed himselfaudibly--at least, so far as concerned Sybil, who at that momenthappened to be handing him his cup. Indeed, he repeated the phrase, thesentiment of it growing in vigor from the sight of Leonie Shermanlistening to Beaumanoir's description of his ancestral home, and of Mrs.Sherman and Mrs. Sadgrove talking to Alec Forsyth.
Sybil gave the old man a queer look, more affectionate than reproachful;and when she had finished pouring out tea came and took a vacant seatbeside him. For a while she drank her tea in silence, stealing ahalf-amused glance now and then at the puckered face of the checkedhunter of men. The General was gazing moodily across the green expanseof park, wishing with all his heart that Azimoolah, on guard out therein the leafy solitudes, was a fitting oracle to consult in a mattertouching the private feelings of _memsahibs_.
"No," he growled regretfully, and again aloud; "this must be a whiteman's war."
Sybil leaned over and tapped his knee with her gold tea-spoon. TheGeneral started, smiled fatuously at the celebrated Beaumanoir heirloom,as though he were expected to admire it, and then suddenly came downfrom the clouds, realizing that the young woman with the bright eyessearching his face was something more than a source of anxiety to him.She was a factor to be reckoned with, and if he was a judge of the humancountenance she was about to enforce that view.
"A white man's war with too many women in it, General?" she asked,archly. "Isn't that rather an anomaly?"
"It's gospel truth," the General replied, with sturdy insistence. "Signof senile decay, though, thinking aloud."
"_You_ are not decayed. You might as well accuse _me_ of being in myfirst childhood, and I have really passed that," Sybil smiled back athim. "But," she added, "I am childish enough to be a little hurt thatyou don't appear to think so."
"My dear girl, what have I done? 'Pon honor, I don't know that I havedone anything," the General protested piteously.
"That's just it. It's because you have done nothing, or next to nothing,that your contemptuous reference to 'too many women' seems to me atrifle unkind," replied Sybil, pretending to misunderstand him. "Whatwould have happened to my cousin, when the panel was cut the other nightat Beaumanoir House, if it hadn't been for a woman?"
The General accepted the reproof in thoughtful silence, forced to admitto himself that it was not uncalled for. If it had not been for SybilHanbury's nerve and courage on the occasion when the bogus detectiveofficer had secreted himself in the Duke's town house, the answer to herquestion might have had to be written in blood. Her quick apprehensionof subtle danger, her determination to sit up and watch, and her coolpresence of mind in face of the emergency when it arose, had saved thesituation and stamped her as of sterling metal.
"I apologize," he jerked out presently. "I still think there are toomany women in the business, but you ain't one of 'em."
"Thank you," Sybil returned, drily. "And, that being so, wouldn't it bea good plan to ask a woman to help you, on the principle of setting athief to catch a thief, you know?"
The General shot a rather shamefaced glance at the firm mouth andsteadfast eyes of this plucky young enthusiast, and thereupon he decidedto enlist her as an adviser in the more intricate questions that vexedhim. There was the chance that woman's wit would fathom woman's guile,and tell him why Mrs. Talmage Eglinton should want to point the index ofsuspicion at Ziegler, who was probably her _confrere_ in crime. Woman'swit might even tell him why his Grace the Duke of Beaumanoir, engaged insuch a simple ducal pastime as making sheep's-eyes at a pretty Americangirl, should yet recoil abashed whenever Leonie turned her franklyresponsive but puzzled gaze on him. Above all, the course proposed wouldenable this brave English girl to do what he was beginning to fear hecould not do for her--to take care of herself.
"Yes," he said, putting down his cup with a grim smile, "I'll take youon, soon as you've finished your tea. And," he added, fumbling for hiscigar-case, "I'll try and not frighten you."
Sybil rose at once, and together they strolled along the terrace to adistance from the chatter round the tea-table, which had drowned theirincipient confidences. When they were quite out of earshot Sybil turnedand confronted the General, and the lighter tone with which she had"played" him was lacking now.
"Tell me," she said gravely, "why Mrs. Talmage Eglinton is so anxious tokill my poor cousin and spoil that charming idyll."
"Mrs. Talmage Eglinton!" stammered the General. "How on earth did youknow that?"
"How did I know!" his new coadjutor repeated with scorn. "In the sameway that she must know herself that _you_ know, you dear silly old man.Because of the absolutely absurd invitation to her to come and stay hereat Prior's Tarrant without rhyme or reason."
And then, when General Sadgrove had recovered from the shock of findingthat he was not quite inscrutable, they talked, very seriously, forupwards of half an hour.