CHAPTER XIX
"I will not pretend," Mr. Sabin said, "to misunderstand you. My help isnot required by you in this enterprise, whatever it may be, in which youare engaged. On the contrary, you have tried by many and various ways tokeep me at a distance. But I am here, Prince--here to be dealt with andtreated according to my rights."
The Prince stroked his fair moustache.
"I am a little puzzled," he admitted, "as to this--shall I not call itself-assertiveness?--on the part of my good friend Souspennier."
"I will make it quite clear then," Mr. Sabin answered. "Lucille, willyou favour me by ringing for your maid. The carriage is at the door."
The Prince held out his hand.
"My dear Souspennier," he said, "you must not think of taking Lucilleaway from us."
"Indeed," Mr. Sabin answered coolly. "Why not?"
"It must be obvious to you," the Prince answered, "that we did notsend to America for Lucille without an object. She is now engaged in animportant work upon our behalf. It is necessary that she should remainunder this roof."
"I demand," Mr. Sabin said, "that the nature of that necessity should bemade clear to me."
The Prince smiled with the air of one disposed to humour a wilful child.
"Come!" he said. "You must know very well that I cannot stand hereand tell you the bare outline, much less the details of an importantmovement. To-morrow, at any hour you choose, one from amongst usshall explain the whole matter--and the part to be borne in it by theCountess!"
"And to-night?" Mr. Sabin asked.
The Prince shrugged his shoulders and glanced at the clock.
"To-night, my dear friend," he said, "all of us, I believe, go on to aball at Carmarthen House. It would grieve me also, I am sure, Duke, toseem inhospitable, but I am compelled to mention the fact that the hourfor which the carriages have been ordered is already at hand."
Mr. Sabin reflected for a few moments.
"Did I understand you to say," he asked, "that the help to be given toyou by my wife, Lucille, Duchess of Souspennier, entailed her remainingunder this roof?"
The Prince smiled seraphically.
"It is unfortunate," he murmured, "since you have been so gallant asto follow her, but it is true! You will understand thisperfectly--to-morrow."
"And why should I wait until to-morrow?" Mr. Sabin asked coolly.
"I fear," the Prince said, "that it is a matter of necessity."
Mr. Sabin glanced for a moment in turn at the faces of all the littlecompany as though seeking to discover how far the attitude of hisopponent met with their approval. Lady Carey's thin lips were curvedin a smile, and her eyes met his mockingly. The others remainedimperturbable. Last of all he looked at Lucille.
"It seems," he said, smiling towards her, "that I am called upon to paya heavy entrance fee on my return amongst your friends. But the Princeof Saxe Leinitzer forgets that he has shown me no authority, or given meno valid reason why I should tolerate such flagrant interference with mypersonal affairs."
"To-morrow--to-morrow, my good sir!" the Prince interrupted.
"No! To-night!" Mr. Sabin answered sharply. "Lucille, in the absence ofany reasonable explanation, I challenge the right of the Prince of SaxeLeinitzer to rob me even for an hour of my dearest possession. I appealto you. Come with me and remain with me until it has been proved, ifever it can be proved, that greater interests require our separation. Ifthere be blame I will take it. Will you trust yourself to me?"
Lucille half rose, but Lady Carey's hand was heavy upon her shoulder.As though by a careless movement General Dolinski and Raoul de Brouillacaltered their positions slightly so as to come between the two. TheDuke of Dorset had left the room. Then Mr. Sabin knew that they were allagainst him.
"Lucille," he said, "have courage! I wait for you."
She looked towards him, and her face puzzled him. For there flashedacross the shoulders of these people a glance which was wholly out ofharmony with his own state of barely subdued passion--a glance halftender, half humorous, full of subtle promise. Yet her words were a blowto him.
"Victor, how is it possible? Believe me, I should come if I could.To-morrow--very soon, it may be possible. But now. You hear what thePrince says. I fear that he is right!"
To Mr. Sabin the shock was an unexpected one. He had never doubted butthat she at least was on his side. Her words found him unprepared, anda moment he showed his discomfiture. His recovery however, was swift andamazing. He bowed to Lucille, and by the time he raised his head eventhe reproach had gone from his eyes.
"Dear lady," he said, "I will not venture to dispute your decision.Prince, will you appoint a time to-morrow when this matter shall be morefully explained to me?"
The Prince's smile was sweetness itself, and his tone very gentle. ButMr. Sabin, who seldom yielded to any passionate impulse, kept his teethset and his hand clenched, lest the blow he longed to deal should escapehim.
"At midday to-morrow I shall be pleased to receive you," he said."The Countess, with her usual devotion and good sense, has, I trust,convinced you that our action is necessary!"
"To-morrow at midday," Mr. Sabin said, "I will be here. I have thehonour to wish you all good-night."
His farewell was comprehensive. He did not even single out Lucille for aparting glance. But down the broad stairs and across the hall of DorsetHouse he passed with weary steps, leaning heavily upon his stick. It wasa heavy blow which had fallen upon him. As yet he scarcely realised it.
His carriage was delayed for a few moments, and just as he was enteringit a young woman, plainly dressed in black, came hurrying out andslipped a note into his hand.
"Pardon, monsieur," she exclaimed, with a smile. "I feared that I wastoo late."
Mr. Sabin's fingers closed over the note, and he stepped blithelyinto the carriage. But when he tore it open and saw the handwriting hepermitted himself a little groan of disappointment. It was not from her.He read the few lines and crushed the sheet of paper in his hand.
"I am having supper at the Carlton with some friends on our way to C. H. I want to speak to you for a moment. Be in the Palm Court at 12.15, but do not recognise me until I come to you. If possible keep out of sight. If you should have left my maid will bring this on to your hotel. "M. C."
Mr. Sabin leaned back in his carriage, and a frown of faint perplexitycontracted his forehead.
"If I were a younger man," he murmured to himself, "I might believethat this woman was really in earnest, as well as being Saxe Leinitzer'sjackal. We were friendly enough in Paris that year. She is unscrupulousenough, of course. Always with some odd fancy for the grotesque orunlikely. I wonder--"
He pulled the check-string, and was driven to Camperdown House. A greatmany people were coming and going. Mr. Sabin found Helene's maid, andlearnt that her mistress was just going to her room, and would be alonefor a few minutes. He scribbled a few words on the back of a card, andwas at once taken up to her boudoir.
"My dear UNCLE," Helene exclaimed, "you have arrived most opportunely.We have just got rid of a few dinner people, and we are going on toCarmarthen House presently. Take that easy-chair, please, and, light acigarette. Will you have a liqueur? Wolfendon has some old brandy whichevery one seems to think wonderful."
"You are very kind, Helene," Mr. Sabin said. "I cannot refuse anythingwhich you offer in so charming a manner. But I shall not keep you morethan a few minutes."
"We need not leave for an hour," Helene said, "and I am dressed exceptfor my jewels. Tell me, have you seen Lucille? I am so anxious to know."
"I have seen Lucille this evening," Mr. Sabin answered.
"At Dorset House!"
"Yes."
Helene sat down, smiling.
"Do tell me all about it."
"There is very little to tell," Mr. Sabin answered.
"She is with you--she returns at least!"
Mr. Sabin shook his head.
"No,"
he answered. "She remains at Dorset House."
Helene was silent. Mr. Sabin smoked pensively a moment or two, andsipped the liqueur which Camperdown's own servant had just brought him.
"It is very hard, Helene," he said, "to make you altogether understandthe situation, for there are certain phases of it which I cannot discusswith you at all. I have made my first effort to regain Lucille, and ithas failed. It is not her fault. I need not say that it is not mine. Butthe struggle has commenced, and in the end I shall win."
"Lucille herself--" Helene began hesitatingly.
"Lucille is, I firmly believe, as anxious to return to me as I amanxious to have her," Mr. Sabin said.
Helene threw up her hands.
"It is bewildering," she exclaimed.
"It must seem so to you," Mr. Sabin admitted.
"I wish that Lucille were anywhere else," Helene said. "The Dorset Houseset, you know, although they are very smart and very exclusive, havea somewhat peculiar reputation. Lady Carey, although she is such abrilliant woman, says and does the most insolent, the most amazingthings, and the Prince of Saxe Leinitzer goes everywhere in Europe bythe name of the Royal libertine. They are powerful enough almost todominate society, and we poor people who abide by the conventions areabsolutely nowhere beside them. They think that we are bourgeois becausewe have virtue, and prehistoric because we are not decadent."
"The Duke--" Mr. Sabin remarked.
"Oh, the Duke is quite different, of course," Helene admitted. "He is afanatical Tory, very stupid, very blind to anything except his belovedPrimrose League. How he came to lend himself to the vagaries of such aset I cannot imagine."
Mr. Sabin smiled.
"C'est la femme toujours!" he remarked. "His Grace is, I fear,henpecked, and the Duchess herself is the sport of cleverer people. Andnow, my dear niece, I see that the time is going. I came to know if youcould get me a card for the ball at Carmarthen House to-night."
Helene laughed softly.
"Very easily, my dear UNCLE. Lady Carmarthen is Wolfendon's cousin, youknow, and a very good friend of mine. I have half a dozen blank cardshere. Shall I really see you there?"
"I believe so," Mr. Sabin answered.
"And Lucille?"
"It is possible."
"There is nothing I suppose which I can do in the way of intervention,or anything of that sort?"
Mr. Sabin shook his head.
"Lucille and I are the best of friends," he answered. "Talk to her, ifyou will. By the bye, is that twelve o'clock? I must hurry. Doubtless weshall meet again at the ball."
But Carmarthen House saw nothing of Mr. Sabin that night.