CHAPTER XLIII
IN SEARCH OF THE KING
Lechmere had plenty of time before him to think out the problem. Itwould be utterly useless for him to try and see Annette at any rate forsome time to come. There was consolation in the fact, too, that Annettewould have no opportunity at present for dealing with the papers.Returned to the hotel, Lechmere found that Maxgregor had succeeded ingetting his own way with the queen, who had evidently abandoned the ideaof going to Paris. She even seemed quite cheerful and resigned.
It was quite late in the evening before Lechmere received his messagefrom Peretori. It must have been an expensive one, for it was long:--
"Come over by the night boat," it ran, "accident took place half waybetween Calais and Paris, near a station called Amiens. Drive there fromthe junction at Poiteux and do not let yourself be seen, as Mazaroff ishere. Ask for Pierre Loti's hut and there await developments. Above allthings take care not to be seen. And I am on my way Eastward."
The thing was vague and in a way unsatisfactory. There was no news ofthe king in it, which was bad, as if some tragedy had happened that thesender of the telegram was afraid to put into evidence. And the mentionof Mazaroff made matters distinctly worse. That rascal was evidentlyacting as deputy to the countess, who had been recalled to England bysome urgent business. But perhaps, after all, she had not crossed theChannel, perhaps she was satisfied to find that the scheme to wreck thespecial train was certain to prove successful. At any rate she was backin England and would have to be watched. The only man who could do thatwas Ronald Hope. Lechmere found him at length at Jessie's lodgingstalking over matters with her and Ada.
"I will do anything you like," Hope said cheerfully. "My mind is quiteat rest now that Jessie is free. My dear fellow, you managed that mattervery cleverly indeed."
"Only a little diplomacy," Lechmere smiled. "After all said and done,Annette told no lie. Most emphatically she never saw Miss Harcourt inthe countess's house that night. Keep an eye on that clever lady for meand carefully report all her doings. As for me, I am crossing theChannel to-night and I may be away for a day or two. And don't forgetone thing--the papers we are looking for are still in Countess Saens'shouse."
With this significant message, Lechmere departed. The Channel passagewas right enough, but the trouble to get to Poiteux was immense. Thelocal trains were few and the breakdown of the line seemed to havedisturbed everything. It was nearly dark the next night before Lechmerereached the next village. There was an hotel of sorts there, and atfirst Lechmere considered the advisability of seeking rooms there. Butthe idea of coming face to face with Mazaroff was not to be thought of.A railway porter offered his assistance, and Lechmere gladly availedhimself of his help. The accident, so he gathered, had been caused by adefective rail on the track, a sufficiently strange thing, seeing thatthe line at that point had just been overhauled by the authorities.Lechmere's guide significantly hinted that the police were not quitesatisfied with the explanation and that one or two suspicious charactershad been arrested.
"Have you any stranger staying here just now?" Lechmere asked.
"But one, sir," the porter proceeded to explain: "a gentleman at thehotel. He came here to see the Duc de Mornay, but he is away from here.So the gentleman is staying in the hotel."
"Fine man with a dark moustache and pointed beard?" Lechmere asked.
The porter intimated that the description was fairly accurate andLechmere asked no further questions on that head. He knew quite wellthat Mazaroff was not far off. But what was the enemy doing here afterthe desired mischief had been accomplished. There was only one morequestion to ask. What had become of the King of Asturia? The porter putup his hand with a gesture of impatience.
"That is the puzzle," he said. "There were two gentlemen with the kingwhen the accident happened; they are not badly hurt, M'sieu willunderstand, and they are at two cottages in the village. They arevisited from time to time by the gentleman who is stopping at thehotel."
"Spy," Lechmere muttered to himself. "Mazaroff is leaving nothing tochance. As to the king now?"
"As to the king nobody knows anything," the porter resumed. "He simplyvanished. There are some who say that he was spirited away byAnarchists, that the whole thing was a vile conspiracy. The other twogentlemen lay stunned on the ground so that they could see nothing ofwhat was going on. And they are just as puzzled and bewildered over thedisappearance of the king as anybody else."
Lechmere nodded as if the thing were of the most trivial importance tohim, but he was utterly puzzled. What was the motive or the sense inspiriting off the king in this way? If he was dead, then the game of theconspirators would simply be played for without any further efforts oftheirs. Had the king contrived to escape unhurt, and had he taken thischance to get away from those whom he virtually regarded as littlebetter than his gaolers? By this time he was probably enjoying himselfin Paris, heedless of the trouble that he was giving to others.
Lechmere figured it out that he would have to get to the bottom of thisbusiness for himself. He dared not go near either to Maxwell or Alexisfor fear of meeting Mazaroff. It was imperative that Mazaroff should notknow of his presence in the village.
The only thing to be done now was to settle down in his lodging and keepout of Mazaroff's way. A clean but frugal meal was provided anddespatched, for Lechmere was keen set and for the most part he did notcare what he ate when on expeditions like these. After the meal was donehe sat smoking and thinking over the problem. Suddenly it occurred tohim that he had been told by Peretori's cablegram to ask for the hut ofPierre Loti. Pierre Loti, he found, bore anything but a good character.It was a moot point as to how he got his living; he lived in a hut inthe woods close by where the accident had happened and he had been firston the spot. All this interested Lechmere and he decided to try andfind Loti at once. He had no difficulty in running down his man, who wasmaking hurdles in the wood. He received the advances of the Englishmanwith evident suspicion.
"It is no use fencing about like this," Lechmere said at length. "I havecome all the way from England to see you. I had a telegram asking me todo so. Do you understand?"
The man nodded and blinked slowly. His cunning little eyes were turnedon Lechmere's face. He took from his pocket a dirty piece of paper andproceeded to spell out some rude signs there.
"I have a friend," he said, "a gentleman who has been very good to me.He was with me in my hut last night. And before he went away he saidthat very likely a gentleman would come from England to see me. And hesaid that the gentleman's name began by a certain letter. Would M'sieube so good as to suggest what that letter is likely to be?"
Lechmere was on the right track at last and could afford to be patient.He smiled at this caution.
"I should say it would be the letter L," he said, "followed by Lechmere.Is that good enough for you or do you want further proof?"
"That is exactly as it should be," Loti said approvingly. "Lechmere isthe name. Now, sir, I was close by when the accident happened yesterday.It was I who helped the wounded people out. The driver and his assistantwere killed. One gentleman was unconscious and the other had a littlesense left. He asked me to take care of the third gentleman, to get himaway in fact and say nothing to anybody till the signal came. Only hewanted my name. Then this gentleman he failed also, and a little timelater people came on the scene. I carried away the one gentleman to myhut and said nothing of it to anybody till another gentleman came along.He was the gentleman who was kind to me and told me that a friend of hiscalled Lechmere would come along presently and reward me. I shall haveto be rewarded, for I am doing what in the eyes of our law is acrime----"
"You need not worry in the least about your reward," Lechmere saidimpatiently. "Take me to your hut and let me speak to the person you arehiding there."
"Let him speak to you?" Loti said with widely open eyes. "I do notunderstand. You do not understand. But come this way; I keep my lipssealed and I say nothing to anybody. It is a dangerous position, butmoney can
accomplish most things. This way, sir; I will see that you arenot followed, for there are dogs about with sharp noses. This way."
The hut was reached at length, the door closed cautiously. In a littlelean-to shed was a heap of straw, and this straw Loti proceeded toremove with a careful hand.
"Look down," he whispered. "Look down and see if you have ever seen himbefore."
Lechmere started back surprised and dismayed, almost unnerved for themoment. For the dead white face looking so calmly up at him was that ofthe ill-fated King of Asturia!
"_The dead white face--was that of the ill-fated King ofAsturia._"]