CHAPTER XVIII
Nine o'clock on the following day, punctual almost to the minute, foundBrowne exchanging greetings with the _concierge_ at the foot of thestairs, who, by this time, had come to know his face intimately. Thelatter informed him that Mademoiselle Petrovitch was at home, but thatMadame Bernstein had gone out some few minutes before. Brownecongratulated himself upon the latter fact, and ran upstairs threesteps at a time. Within four minutes from entering the buildingKatherine was in his arms.
"Are you pleased to see me again, darling?" he inquired, after thefirst excitement of their meeting had passed away.
"More pleased than I can tell you," she answered; and as she spokeBrowne could see the love-light in her eyes. "Ever since your telegramarrived yesterday, I have been counting the minutes until I should seeyou. It seems like years since you went away, and such long years too!"
What Browne said in reply to this pretty speech, it does not behove meto set down here. Whatever it was, however, it seemed to give greatsatisfaction to the person to whom it was addressed. At length theysat down together upon the sofa, and Browne told her of thearrangements he had made. "I did not write to you about them, dear,"he said, "for the reason that, in a case like this, the less that isput on paper the better for all parties concerned. Letters may goastray, and there is no knowing what may happen to them. Therefore Ithought I would keep all my news until I could tell it to you face toface. Are you ready for your long journey?"
"Yes, we are quite ready," said Katherine. "We are only waiting foryou. Madame has been very busy for the last few days, and so have I."She mentioned Madame's name with some little trepidation, for shefeared lest the old subject, which had caused them both so much pain onthe last occasion that they had met, might be revived. Browne,however, was careful, as she was, not to broach it.
"And when will your yacht leave England?" she inquired, after he haddetailed his arrangements to her.
"On Monday next at latest," he answered. "We shall not be very farbehind you."
"Nevertheless it will be a long, long time before I shall see youagain," she continued in a sad tone. "Oh, Jack, Jack, I cannot tellyou how wicked I feel in allowing you to do so much for me. Even now,at this late hour, I feel I have no right to accept such a sacrifice atyour hands."
"Stop," he replied, holding up his finger in warning. "I thought wehad agreed that nothing more should be said about it."
At this juncture there was the sound of a footstep in the passageoutside, and a few seconds later Madame Bernstein entered the room. Onseeing Browne she hastened forward, and greeted him with all theeffusiveness of which she was mistress. "Ah, Monsieur Browne," shesaid, "now that I see you my courage returns. As Katherine hasdoubtless told you, everything is prepared, and we are ready to startfor Marseilles as soon as you give the order. Katherine is lookingforward to the voyage; but as for me---- Ah! I do hate the sea morethan anything in the world. That nasty little strip of salt waterwhich divides England from France is a continual nightmare to me, and Inever cross it without hoping it may be the last time."
Browne tried to comfort her by telling her of the size of the vessel inwhich they were to travel, and assured her that, even if she should beill, by the time they were out of the Mediterranean she would haverecovered. Seeing that no other consolation was forthcoming, Madamewas compelled to be content with this poor comfort.
Though Browne had already breakfasted in the solid, substantial Englishfashion, he was only too glad to persuade Madame Bernstein and hissweetheart to partake of _dejeuner_ at one of the famous cafes on theBoulevards. After the meal Madame returned to the Rue Jacquarie inorder to finish a little packing, which she had left to the lastmoment; while Browne, who had been looking forward to this opportunity,assumed possession of Katharine, and carried her to one of the largeshops in the Rue de la Paix, where he purchased for her the bestdressing-bag ever obtained for love or money; to which he added a setof sables that would have turned even Russian Royalty green with envy.Never had his money seemed so useful to Browne. These commissionsexecuted, they returned to the Rue Jacquarie, where they found MadameBernstein ready for the journey. The express was due to leave Parisfor Marseilles at 2.15 p.m. Twenty minutes before that hour a cabdrove up to the door, and in it Browne placed Madame Bernstein andKatherine, following them himself. Wonderful is the power of a gift!Browne carried the bag, he had given Katherine that morning, down tothe cab with his own hands, and without being asked to do so, placed iton the seat beside her. He noticed that her right hand went out totake it, and held it lovingly until they reached the station, where shesurrendered it to him again.
When they made their appearance on the platform an official hurriedforward to meet them, and conducted them forthwith to the specialsaloon carriage Browne had bespoken for their use that morning. As shestepped into it Katherine gave a little grateful glance at her lover toshow that she appreciated his generosity. Poor as she had always been,she found it hard to realize what his wealth meant. And yet there weremany little signs to give her evidence of the fact--the obsequiousrailway officials; his own majestic English servant, who brought them asheaf of papers without being instructed to do so; and last, but by nomeans least, the very railway carriage itself, which was of the mostluxurious description. On Madame Bernstein entering the compartmentshe placed herself in a corner, arranged her travelling-rug, hersmelling-salts, her papers, and her fan to her satisfaction; and by thetime she had settled down the journey had commenced. The train was anexpress, and did not stop until it reached Laroche at 4.40. Hereafternoon tea was procured for the ladies; while on reaching Dijon, twohours and a half later, it was discovered that an unusually luxuriousdinner had been ordered by telegraph, and was served in the secondcompartment of the carriage. Having done justice to it, theyafterwards settled themselves down for the night. It is a verysignificant fact that when Browne looks back upon that journey now, theone most important fact, that strikes his memory, is that MadameBernstein fell asleep a little after eight o'clock, and remained sountil they had passed Pontanevaux. During the time she slept, Brownewas able to have a little private conversation with Katherine; andwhatever trouble he had taken to ensure the journey being a successfulone, he was amply compensated for it. At ten o'clock the politeconductor begged permission to inform mesdames and monsieur that theirsleeping apartments were prepared for them. Browne accordingly badethe ladies good-night.
As the young man lay in his sleeping compartment that night, and thetrain made its way across France towards its most important sea-port,Browne's dreams were of many things. At one moment he was back in theOpera House at Covent Garden, listening to _Lohengrin_, and watchingKatherine's face as each successive singer appeared upon the stage.Then, as if by magic, the scene changed, and he was on the windymountain-side at Merok, and Katherine was looking up at him from herplace of deadly peril a few feet below. He reached down and tried tosave her, but it appeared to be a question of length of arm, and hiswas a foot too short. "Pray allow me to help you," said Maas; andbeing only too grateful for any assistance, Browne permitted him to doso. They accordingly caught her by the hands and began to pull. Thensuddenly, without any warning, Maas struck him a terrible blow upon thehead; both holds were instantly loosed, and Katherine was in the act offalling over the precipice when Browne awoke. Great beads ofperspiration stood upon his forehead, and, under the influence of thisfright, he trembled as he did not remember ever to have done in hislife before. For upwards of an hour he lay awake, listening to therhythm of the wheels and the thousand and one noises that a train makesat night. Then once more he fell asleep, and, as before, dreamt ofKatherine. Equally strange was it that on this occasion also Maas wasdestined to prove his adversary. They were in Japan now, and the scenewas a garden in which the Wistaria bloomed luxuriously. Katherine wasstanding on a rustic bridge, looking down into the water below, andMaas was beside her. Suddenly the bridge gave way, and the girl wasprecipitated into the water. Th
ough she was drowning, he noticed thatMaas did nothing to help her, but stood upon what remained of thebridge and taunted her with the knowledge that, if she were drowned,her mission to the East would be useless. After this no further sleepwas possible. At break of day he accordingly rose and dressed himself.They were passing through the little town of Saint-Chamas at the time.It was a lovely morning; not a cloud in the sky, and all the air andcountry redolent of life and beauty. It was a day upon which a manmight be thankful for the right to live and love. Yet Browne was sadat heart. Was he not about to part from the woman he loved for nearlytwo whole months? Brave though he was in most things, it must beconfessed he feared that separation, as a confirmed coward fears ablow. But still the train flew remorselessly on, bringing them everymoment nearer and nearer their destination.
When they reached it they drove direct to an hotel. Here theybreakfasted, and afterwards made their way to the steamer. Browne'sheart was sinking lower and lower, for never before had Katherineseemed so sweet and so desirable. Once on board the vessel they calleda steward to their assistance, and the two ladies were shown to theircabins. As they afterwards found out, they were the best that Brownecould secure, were situated amidships, and were really intended each toaccommodate four passengers. While they were examining them Brownehunted out the chief steward, and the stewards who would be likely towait upon his friends. These he rewarded in such a way that, if themen only acted up to their protestations, the remainder of thepassengers would have very good cause to complain. Having finishedthis work of bribery and corruption, he went in search of the ladies,only to be informed by the stewardess that they had left their cabinsand had gone on deck. He accordingly made his way up thecompanion-ladder, and found them standing beside the smoking-roomentrance.
"I hope you found your cabins comfortable," he said. "I have just seenthe chief steward, and he has promised that everything possible shallbe done to make you enjoy your voyage."
"How good you are!" said Katherine in a low voice, and with a littlesqueeze of his hand; while Madame protested that, if it were possiblefor anything to reconcile her to the sea, it would be Monsieur Browne'skindness. Then the warning whistle sounded for non-passengers to leavethe ship. Madame Bernstein took the hint, and, having bade himgood-bye, made her way along the deck towards the companion-ladder,leaving the lovers together. Katherine's eyes had filled with tearsand she had grown visibly paler. Now that the time had come forparting with the man she loved, she had discovered how much he was toher.
"Katherine," said Browne, in a voice that was hoarse with suppressedemotion, "do you know now how much I love you?"
"You love me more than I deserve," she said. "I shall never be able torepay you for all you have done for me."
"I want no repayment but your love," he answered.
"Si vous n'etes pas un voyageur, m'sieu, ayez l'obligeance dedebarquer," said a gruff voice in his ear.
Seeing that there was nothing left but to say good-bye, Browne kissedKatherine, and, unable to bear any more, made for the gangway. Fiveminutes later the great ship was under way, and Katherine had embarkedupon her voyage to the East.