CHAPTER XVI
WAS IT RUSSIA?
Dr. Varney went slowly and thoughtfully back to the house after seeingJessie start on her adventure. The brilliant old scientist had amplefood for thought as he walked along. It was not as if he did notthoroughly grasp the situation. He had a reputation for somethingbesides medicine; his practice largely lay amongst diplomatists andstatesmen. Once, even, he had been summoned to a consultation on theillness of a king.
So that he knew most of the inner political game by heart. He could bebold and discreet at the same time. Very little of the scandal that hungover the Asturian throne like a blighting cloud was hidden from him. Hecould have placed his finger on the fatal blot at once.
In the library, Lord Merehaven with Ronald Hope and Lechmere were stilltalking over matters. Sir Reginald Lancing had disappeared, to Varney'srelief. The stricken old man had avowed himself to be better. He wassorry that he had obtruded his grief on his friends; he would like to gohome at once; he did not wish for anybody to accompany him.
"All this is very irregular," Lord Merehaven was saying as Varney joinedthe group again and carefully closed the door behind him. "According toall precedent I should not discuss this matter with you gentlemen atall."
"But think what we may accomplish," Ronald said eagerly. "The wholescandal may be averted. I fancy that you can trust everybody here, mylord."
"I have been the recipient of a few secrets in my time," Lechmere saiddrily. "Lord Merehaven will not forget what my audacity accomplished inthe Moscow case."
"Officially, I know nothing about it," Lord Merehaven murmured."Officially----"
"Officially you know nothing about this matter," Lechmere interruptedwith some impatience. "A Minister cannot hold himself responsible forthe statements made in an irresponsible paper which is notoriouslycontrolled by Americans. The _Mercury_ suggests that certain papers havebeen stolen, and that one of the culprits has fled, whilst the other hascommitted suicide. Who shall say that Mr. Maxwell has fled? Certainly hehas departed suddenly for Paris. Unfortunately, Captain Lancing hascommitted suicide. At the same time, it is a notorious fact that he hashad heavy losses at cards and on the turf, which may account foreverything. And as to those papers alleged to be stolen, why, LordMerehaven had them in his own hands at seven o'clock to-night."
"An excellent piece of political logic," said Lord Merehaven. "I couldnot have given a better explanation from my place in the House. But Ifear that if I were pressed to say that I had taken steps to discover ifthose papers were intact----. You see my position?"
"I must speak plainly," Lechmere went on. "It is any odds that thepapers have gone. The thing has been arranged for some time; the housewhere the papers were to be handed over to the arch thief was actuallyfixed. The arch thief, taking the thing as a settled fact, gave a broadoutline of what was going to happen to the editor of the _EveningMercury_. He saw a chance of a 'scoop,' and decided to take the chanceof the papers not being delivered. If there was a hitch at the lastmoment, Hunt could easily wriggle out of it. But the papers changedhands, and Hunt's bold plan was justified. Lancing saw the paragraph andshot himself."
"But why should he shoot himself?" Lord Merehaven asked.
"I fancy that is pretty obvious," Lechmere went on. "Lancing wasbetrayed. Don't you see that Hunt promised to-morrow to give a _precis_of the stolen documents? If my deductions are correct, Lancing onlyborrowed the papers on the distinct understanding that they should bereturned. Lancing had a large sum of money for that act of his. If wefind that he had considerable cash about him I shall be certain. Nosooner had he parted with the papers than he was coolly betrayed. Thereceiver of the papers simply laughed at him. Who was the receiver ofthe papers?"
"Some foe of England," Lord Merehaven said. "A Russian agent probably.If those papers are made public we shall have our trouble for our painsin Asturia, and Russia will buy the King of Asturia out. So far, I cansee this thing quite plainly."
"You are right beyond a doubt, my lord," Lechmere went on. "With yourpermission I am going to locate exactly where those papers went. Theywent to a woman."
"I should doubt that," Lord Merehaven said. "I should doubt it very muchindeed."
"Nevertheless, I am going to prove it to you," said Lechmere.
"Those papers must have been disposed of after seven o'clock to-night.By nine o'clock Lancing had read in print how he had been cruellybetrayed. Well, with all his faults, Lancing was a man of high courage.He had great physical strength as well. What did he do directly he readthat paragraph and saw that he had been deluded. Did he go off and shoothimself at once? Not he! He got up from the dinner table of his clubquite quietly and called a hansom. Obviously he was going to lose notime in seeing the person to whom he delivered the important Statepapers. Is that logic?"
The listeners standing round the fire-place admitted that it was.Interest was painted on every face.
"We know now that Lancing failed in his mission which was proved by thefact that he returned to his club and shot himself there. Now, Iconclude that Lancing did not fail to find his deceiver. He would nothave given up the search so easily as all that. It was not the man'scharacter, nor could the deceiver have left London, because it wasimperative that the same deceiver should be on the spot to watch theprogress of events. My idea is that Lancing saw the deceiver and failedto get the papers back."
"Then where does his strength and courage come in?" Merehaven asked."Remember that you began to draw a series of inferences from that samecourage."
"I have not finished yet, my lord," Lechmere said quietly. "Lancingfailed because his courage and personal strength was useless in thiscase. If he had been dealing with a man he would not have hesitated.But poor Lancing was seriously handicapped by the fact that he had awoman for his antagonist. You can't ill-treat a woman; you can't damageher features and knock her teeth out. And that is why Lancing failed. Hesaw the woman, and she laughed at him. She defied him to do his worst.He could not denounce her without proclaiming his own shame, and theclever woman traded on that. Therefore Lancing went and shot himself.What do you think of my argument?"
It was evident from the silence that followed that each of the littlegroup was considerably impressed by the clear logic of the speaker'sstory. It was not often that Lechmere said so much, though hisreputation was high, and more than one knotty trouble had been solved byhim.
"Our friend is absolutely right," Varney said at length. "The more Ithink of it the more certain I am. Perhaps he can tell us the name ofthe woman?"
"That I am also in a position to do," Lechmere proceeded, without theslightest shade of triumph in his voice. "Accident helped me to that. Inthe hall some time ago there was a little scene between Countess Saensand her maid. The maid came to say that a strange robbery had takenplace at the house of the countess. Nothing had been taken but papersfrom a certain drawer. Now I was close by and heard that, and I had agood opportunity of seeing that lady's face. Rage, anger, despair,murder almost, danced like so many devils in her dark eyes. The countesswas quick to recover herself, but she had betrayed herself to me. I didnot think so very much of this at the time, but when I subsequently sawthe countess leave the house and subsequently find that she had gone offto have supper with Hunt of the _Evening Mercury_ in a private room atthe Carlton, I knew as well as if she had told me that she had met Huntto tell him why she could not give him the chance of printing the cruxof those stolen papers in the morning edition of the _Mercury_--for thesimple reason that the papers had in turn been stolen from her."
Ronald Hope turned as if to speak, then as suddenly changed his mind. Itwould be a mistake to still further complicate matters at this junction,he thought.
"It was to Countess Saens that Lancing delivered those papers," Lechmeresaid finally. "Lord Merehaven looks dubious; but his lordship does notknow, and I do, that the brilliant society creature, Countess Saens, isreally one of the cleverest adventuresses in Europe--a police spy,passing as a kind of socialist and the rest. If
I could see the King ofAsturia----"
"You shall," Varney snapped out. "You shall see him before half an hourhas passed. Stay where you are and---- Stop! Hope, keep an eye on PrinceMazaroff, and see that he does not leave the house."