Her majesty was in the hall as Jessie had anticipated. She was chattingquite gaily with Lady Merehaven as the girl came up. She flashed Jessiea significant glance.
"Your aunt has been pleased to accede to my whim," she said. "And so youare coming with me, Vera. I understand your maid is sending everythingto our hotel. Good-night, Lady Merehaven, and please do not allow thosepeople to play cards too long. My dear child, come along."
"It is a very great honour for the child," Lady Merehaven murmured."Good-night, madame, good-night."
The queen swept Jessie into the brougham before her. There was a tinyelectric lamp behind the queen's head so that it shone full on Jessie'sface. Jessie felt the latter's eyes going all over her.
"Now tell me your story," she said. "Tell me freely and don't be afraid.I shall be your good friend."
"You give me courage to proceed," Jessie murmured. "In the first placeI'll tell you why I so dreaded passing the night at Merehaven House. Ishould certainly have been found out in the morning and then everythingwould have been ruined. Not that I cared for myself, but for the sake ofothers. Madame, is it possible that you fail to see that I am not MissGalloway at all?"
The queen fairly gasped with astonishment. Those dark eyes of hers tookin Jessie's identity. It was a long time before she spoke again.
"You are quite right," she said slowly and thoughtfully. "I noticelittle subtle differences now you mention it. And yet the likeness iswonderful. My dear, you are a lady."
"I am a lady, yes. My father was Colonel Harcourt, in fact I am aconnection of the Merehavens. There has been nothing vulgar about myadventure to-night."
"That I am absolutely certain of. Really, the likeness is marvellous.And I have been talking to you and confiding in you all the evening asif you were my friend Vera Galloway."
"Instead of your friend Jessie Harcourt," the girl said with a wistfulsmile. "Believe me, I am as devoted to your interests as is the onewhose part I play. I have given proof of it enough to-night. I mighthave gone on deceiving you to the end but I could not do it."
"I see, I see. You are telling the truth, you are making me love you.And why did you do this for one who a little time ago was a perfectstranger to you? If you know anything of our cause----"
"But I do now--and you can command me in any way. Perhaps I had betterbegin at the beginning. It was Vera Galloway who took me up. She came tome at a moment when I was absolutely desperate. It is strange how thewarp of fate has dragged me into this business!"
"You cannot tell how deeply I am interested," the queen said softly.
"It is very good of your majesty. Miss Galloway came to me. She hadheard of me, evidently. She came to me at the very moment when I wasdismissed from my situation. I had been accused of a disgracefulflirtation with the son of one of the shop customers. As a matter offact the coward had tried to kiss me and he let all the blame rest on myshoulders. I was dismissed without any chance of a further situation, Ihad only a few shillings in the world and an invalid sister partiallydependent upon me. At that moment I was desperate enough for anything.Quite early the complication began. The name of the coward who broughtall this trouble on me was Prince Boris Mazaroff."
"I am not surprised," the queen said with just a touch of weary scorn inher voice. "We are all creatures of fate. I know that I am. But thecoincidence is a little strange."
"Miss Galloway wrote me a letter and asked me to call upon her in myworking dress. When I saw her I could not but be struck by the amazinglikeness between us. Then she unfolded her plan--the plan that we wereto change places for a little time. Someone whom she cared for was introuble and it was impossible that she should get away without beingsuspected. Your Majesty may guess that the somebody in trouble was noother than Mr. Charles Maxwell and at the bottom of the trouble was themissing papers relating to Asturia."
The queen nodded, her dark eyes gleaming in the light of the lamp.
"I see," she exclaimed. "Those papers that found their way into thehands of the Countess Saens. The papers that she was robbed of almost assoon as she had obtained possession of them. What an amazing daringthing to do. I seem to see quite clearly now. Miss Galloway slipped offand stole them while all the time her friends and relations thoughtthat she was in the house of her uncle! Ah, what will not a woman do forthe sake of the man she loves! And she was quite successful!"
"Quite. We know that by the scene made by the countess' maid atMerehaven House. I did not guess until the maid looked at me and saidthat I was the thief. Of course everybody who heard it laughed, but thewoman stuck to her story. The statement was a flood of light to me, whenI heard it I knew then exactly what had happened as well as if I hadbeen present and seen the robbery."
"Vera Galloway saved Asturia and her lover at the same time," the queensaid. "But why did not Miss Galloway come back and resume her properplace?"
"Oh, that is the unfortunate part of it," Jessie said sadly. "She was soovercome with her good fortune that she walked down Piccadilly in adazed state. Then she was run over by a cab and taken to Charing CrossHospital. She is there at this moment."
A cry of passionate anger broke from the queen. Her hands were claspedtogether closely.
"Of all the misfortunes!" she gasped. "Will nothing ever come righthere? Go on and tell me the worst."
"The worst is that Vera lost the papers," Jessie resumed. "When the newsof the accident came to me, I slipped out and with great risk went tothe hospital. Dr. Varney gave me a permit. Vera had lost the papers, shehad not the least idea what had become of them. But that is not all.Countess Saens has found out that a girl answering to my description hadbeen taken to the hospital and she went there. Fortunately she wasrefused admission. But she will get this in the morning and that is whyI want to go out so early. The suspicions of the countess are aroused,she begins to understand. And there is Prince Mazaroff."
"What can he possibly have to do with it?" the Queen asked.
"Your Majesty is forgetting that Prince Mazaroff knows both VeraGalloway and Jessie Harcourt, the shop girl whom he honoured with hishated attentions. He knows that there is a girl in London identical inlooks to Miss Galloway, he heard what Countess Saens's maid said. Indeedhe went so far to-night to hint to Lord Merehaven that a trick was beingplayed upon her ladyship. There is only one thing that prevented hisdiscovery outright."
"And what was that?" the queen asked. "Why should he hesitate?"
"Because he was not absolutely sure of his ground," Jessie said. "Heknew the shop girl Jessie Harcourt. But he was puzzled because he didnot imagine that a shop girl would be so wonderfully at ease in goodsociety and have all the manners of it at her fingers' ends. He did notknow that the Bond Street girl was of gentle birth, and he was puzzled.Do you see my point?"
The queen saw the point perfectly well and admitted that it was a veryclever one.
"I am more than glad that you have told me all this," she said in athrilling voice. "Your frankness may save the situation in the long run.One thing is certain, we must get Vera out of the hospital and backagain here without delay. And for the time being you must disappear. Iseem to have as many enemies here as I have in Asturia, only they arecleverer ones. These people are all in the pay of Russia. Countess Saensmust be baffled at any cost. Wait a moment."
The carriage had pulled up, but the footman did not dismount from thebox. So far as Jessie could judge, the carriage had stopped nowhere nearthe Queen of Asturia's headquarters. She smiled as Jessie looked up witha questioning eye.
"You are wondering why we are here," she said. "It is imperative beforeI sleep to-night that I should have a few words with General Maxgregor.I understand that he has a suite of rooms in the big block of flats. Ifancy those are his windows on the second floor, those with the lightsup. Somebody has just come in and looked out of the window. My child,who is that?"
The queen's voice changed suddenly, her tones were harsh and rasping. Aman in evenin
g dress stood in one of the lighted windows looking out.
"You saw what happened at Lady Merehaven's," the queen went on. "We leftthe king there with the faithful Alexis behind his chair. We have comedirect here. The whole thing is maddening. Who do you reckon that man tobe who was looking out of the window?"
Jessie looked up with bewildered eyes. The old dreamy feeling was comingover her again. She gazed steadily at the figure framed in the flood oflight.
"There is no mistake about it," she gasped. "That is his majesty theKing of Asturia!"