CHAPTER XIII
THE MODERN JOURNALIST
The old diplomatist looked coldly and suspiciously at the speaker. Itwas hardly the way for a young man to address a Cabinet Minister, andone who, moreover, was Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. Varneysaw what was passing through Lord Merehaven's mind and promptlyinterfered.
"For heaven's sake, don't stand on ceremony!" he said. "This is anexceedingly serious matter. Certain important papers are missing fromthe Foreign Office. It is alleged that confidence has been betrayed byCaptain Lancing and Mr. Charles Maxwell. The boys are shouting it in thestreets, probably most of your guests know all about it by this time.Those papers have been sold, or given to somebody who has made use ofthem. This is no canard to sell a few miserable papers."
"The documents you refer to were in my hands at seven o'clock," LordMerehaven said. "I read them and made notes on the margin of them in myoffice not long before dinner----"
"And did you lock them up in your safe afterwards?" Varney asked.
"No, I didn't. There is no safe in my office. I gave the papers toCaptain Lancing and Mr. Maxwell, and asked them to see that they weresecurely placed away. Then I came home. Do you mean to say that thisthing has been over London for the past hour and I never knew it?"
"So it seems," Varney said coolly. "How should you know it when you havenot been out of the house all the evening? And none of your guests couldget at you to ask questions, seeing that you have been closeted with oneambassador or another ever since dinner."
"That's quite true," Lord Merehaven admitted moodily. "But what is to bedone? You don't suggest that the contents of those papers is madepublic?"
"I fancy not," Varney replied. "My dear Sir Reginald, you have read thatparagraph. What does it say?"
The stricken man in the armchair looked up with dulled eyes. It was somelittle time before he could be made to understand the drift of thequestion.
"I am trying to remember," he said, passing his hand over his forehead."As far as I can recollect, there were no details given. The paragraphsaid that certain important papers had been stolen from the ForeignOffice, and handed over to the enemies of this country. The editor ofthe _Mercury_ was supposed to be in a position to vouch for this, and hehinted very freely at the identity of the culprits. A resume of themissing papers was promised for the morning issue of the _Mercury_to-morrow. Then there was a break in the report, and down below a shorthistory of my son's suicide. This was pointed to as an absoluteconfirmation of the news, the suggestion being that my son had shothimself after reading the nine o'clock edition of the _Mercury_, whichcontained the first part of the report."
"There is some foul and mysterious business here," Ronald Hope saidsternly. "It is only twenty minutes ago that I heard what the boys werecalling out. I immediately took a hansom to Maxwell's rooms, to findthat he had gone to Paris in a great hurry. He had left no messagebehind him. He had not even taken his man, whom he never travelswithout."
"He has fled," Merehaven said promptly. "This thing is absolutely true.What beats me is the prompt way in which these _Mercury_ peoplecollected the news."
"That is where I come in," Varney remarked. "We'll get Lechmere intothis, if you don't mind? Sir Reginald had better stay here for thepresent. Lechmere shall go and interview Hunt of the _Mercury_. And ifhe does not bring back some very startling news, I shall be greatlymistaken."
Lechmere came into the study cool, collected, and imperturbable as ever.He had quite relinquished his old pursuits and occupations now, but hewas delighted to do anything to be of service to Lord Merehaven and theGovernment; in point of fact, he would rather enjoy this adventure. Whatwas he to do?
"Find Hunt of the _Mercury_," Varney said. "Run him down in a corner,and let him know that you are not the man to be trifled with. And whenyou have done that, make him tell you the exact time that he got hisinformation over those missing papers."
Lechmere nodded without asking further questions. He knew that he wouldbe told everything in time. He would do what he could, and return andreport progress as soon as possible. His first move was to take a hansomand go down to the office of the _Mercury_ and there ask for Mr. Hunt.But Hunt was not in; he had gone away about half-past seven and had notreturned yet. Usually he looked in a little after midnight to see thatthe evening edition of the paper was progressing all right. So far asthe chief sub-editor could say, Mr. Hunt had gone to the Carlton tosupper.
"Something gained," Lechmere muttered, as he drove to the Carlton. "Ifthat chap left the office at half-past seven, that sensational paragraphhad already been passed for the Press. No assistant editor would dare toshove that into a paper on his own responsibility. Very smart of them toget Lancing's suicide. But I expect some American reporter shadowed thepoor chap."
Mr. Hunt had been to the Carlton; in fact, he had just arrived there,but he was in a private room with a lady, and had asked not to bedisturbed. Intimating that he would wait, Lechmere took his seat at alittle table in one of the public rooms and asked for something. He hada sovereign on the table by the side of his glass, and lookedsignificantly at the waiter.
"That is for you to earn," he said, "if you are smart and do your workproperly. In the first place, do you happen to know Mr. Hunt, the editorof the _Mercury_?"
The man replied that he knew Mr. Hunt quite well. In fact, he was prettyintimately acquainted with all the American colony in London. Mr. Huntsupped at the Carlton frequently; he was supping now with a lady in aroom upstairs. Lechmere began to see his way.
"Did you happen to see the lady?" he asked. "If so, what was she like?"
"I saw them come not many minutes ago. In fact, they looked in here, andthe lady wanted to take the table by the door, but Mr. Hunt said 'No.'They appeared to be in a great hurry, seeing that it is getting late;and it seemed to me that Mr. Hunt was not so amiable as usual. The ladywas tall and dark; she had a black wrap, and under it was a dress ofyellow satin."
"Good man!" Lechmere said with genial warmth. "You have earned yourmoney. All you have to do now is to let me know the moment that Mr. Huntis leaving the hotel. In any case it can't be long, because it is nearlytwenty minutes past twelve now."
The waiter came back presently and pocketed his sovereign. Mr. Hunt andthe lady were just leaving the hotel. Lechmere sauntered into the halland stood watching the other two. He smiled to himself as he noted theface and features of Hunt's companion. A hansom stood at the door, andinto it the American handed his companion and raised his hat.
"It will come out all right," Lechmere heard the lady say. "Don't lookso annoyed. Your paper is not going to be allowed to suffer.Good-night!"
The hansom drove away, and Hunt raised his hat. As he stopped to light acigarette, Lechmere crept up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder.The American turned in a startled way.
"Mr. Lechmere!" he stammered. "Really, you gave me a start. If there isanything that I can do for you----?"
"There is," Lechmere said in a sharp, stern way. "I want to know theexact time that your office received the unfortunate news of theForeign Office business."
The directness of the attack took the American quite off his balance.The truth broke from him.
"About ten minutes to seven," he stammered. "That is to say---- But,confound it all, what business is that of yours?"
Lechmere smiled; he could afford to let the other bluster now that hehad learnt everything. He turned the matter aside as a joke. He madesome remark about the beauty of the night, and a minute later he wasbowling back in a hansom to Merehaven House.
"Yes, I have done pretty well," he said in reply to Varney's questioninggaze. "I have seen Hunt, whom I traced to the Carlton, where he wassupping hastily in company with Countess Saens. I sort of fool-mated himover that paragraph, and he told me that the information reached the_Mercury_ at about ten minutes to seven. He tried to bluster afterwards,but it was too late. At ten minutes to seven Hunt knew all about thatscandal at the Foreign Office."
Lord Mereh
aven threw up his hands with a gesture of astonishment. Varneysmiled.
"I knew that you would come back with some amazing information," thelatter said. "See how the mystery gets thicker. Lord Merehaven is goingto say something."
"I am going to say this," Merehaven remarked sternly. "The _Mercury_knew of those missing papers before seven o'clock. _At_ seven o'clockthose papers were in my hands, and the scandal had not begun then. Andyet the _Mercury_ paragraph, written before the robbery, is absolutelytrue! What does it mean?"