"I have never been at one oftheir so-called trials, but it must be very horrible."
"Neither have I," said Moreno. "I see, like myself, you don'tanticipate much pleasure from it."
"But you are going to save him, and I am going to help you," she cried alittle wildly. "You have not yet told me where I come in. The time isvery short; you will have to speak soon. Why not speak now?"
The young man hesitated for a few seconds. How far should he trust her?Caution whispered not too far.
He spoke in a gloomy tone. "To tell you the truth, I am not so sure ofsaving him as I was. Certain things have happened which I had not takeninto my calculations."
He was watching her narrowly as he spoke, to note the effect upon her ofhis words. She clasped her hands together and her voice faltered.
"I am so in the dark, you tell me nothing, you keep everything toyourself." She betrayed great agitation, but it was evident shebelieved his statements implicitly.
As a matter of fact, nothing had occurred to upset Moreno's plans in theslightest degree. But there was something about which he had been alittle careless. He had pretty well secured his own safety, but he hadnot secured hers.
"I cannot enter into a lot of explanations, when circumstances alterfrom hour to hour," he said rather brusquely. "On the whole, I believeI have a better chance of saving him without your co-operation. Now,please don't ask me why I think so!"
"I won't, if you don't wish it," she answered submissively. "I wish youcould have been more frank with me, have given me some hint of what youintend to do. It will be very terrible for me to be there, waiting onthe turn of events."
"You no longer desire revenge on Guy Rossett?" he asked, looking at herintently.
"Not that sort of revenge," she answered truthfully. "For I supposemurder is in their thoughts."
"I had a brief talk with Contraras this morning; he came round to myrooms. He was more frank than he usually is with his subordinates. Isuppose he was pleased with the way in which I have, so far, conductedthe affair. He thought there would be great difficulty in getting holdof Guy Rossett."
"Will you tell me, some day, why you found it easy?"
"Some day, perhaps; but not now. To return to our chief, Contraras. Heexplained to me that he has no desire to remove this particular man, ifhe will fall into line with him. He frankly admits that he is too smallgame, that he would willingly avoid the odium that such a deed wouldbring on the brotherhood."
"Ah!" Violet was very interested now. "If he falls in line with him.What does that mean? Or perhaps," she added bitterly, "this is anothersecret that is to be hidden from me."
"Not at all," was the quiet answer. "I usually keep my own secrets, butI am not always so scrupulous with regard to the secrets of others.Contraras is going to offer him two alternatives. The first is--that heresigns from the Embassy on some plausible pretext, and takes a solemnoath to do nothing to thwart the brotherhood. The other alternative youcan guess."
"Death," whispered Violet in a hollow voice, and her face went as paleas death itself.
"And you can guess what Rossett's answer will be?" said Moreno, breakingthe long silence that ensued between them after those significant words.
"I know, I know. He will choose death unless you can save him." Thewoman in her came suddenly to the surface, and she broke down, sobbingbitterly.
Moreno looked at her steadily, but not unkindly, for a long time. Heremotion was genuine enough, he was sure. When the dastardly project hadonly been in the air, so to speak, she had not realised the full horrorof it. Now that it was so near to accomplishment, she was stricken withremorse for having harboured such revengeful thoughts.
And presently he spoke again, in his quiet, deliberate accents.
"By a miracle, it may be possible for me to save him, if I can outwitthem."
"But cannot I help you? I know you do not believe much in the capacityof women, but I am not a fool, and in a crisis I believe my nerves aresteady."
"If it is fated for me to succeed, I shall work better alone. But Iwould like to ask you this. It will be a cruel ordeal for you to bepresent at this scene, especially at the moment when you will be calledupon to record your vote as a member of the tribunal. Would you begrateful to me if I could save you from that ordeal?"
"Very, very grateful," sobbed the now sorely stricken woman. "But it isimpossible. I have seen Contraras to-day also. He has arranged forAlvedero to fetch me to-morrow evening, and to conduct me to that awfulhouse where we are to receive Guy Rossett. It is impossible."
"There are very few things in this world that are impossible," saidMoreno, a little impatiently. "The first idea I had was that you wouldfrankly throw yourself on the compassion of Contraras, tell him thatthis man was once your lover, and that you must be excused from takingpart in the proceedings on the ground of common humanity. The questionis, would that work? It might, because I know he is still remorsefulabout the fate of Valerie Delmonte. But we are not sure. He is afanatic of the deepest dye."
"Absolutely a fanatic," corroborated Mrs Hargrave. "To him the welfareof the brotherhood is the one supreme thing. All human emotions must besubjugated, all consideration of friends and kindred swept aside, inpursuance of the one object."
"I am disposed to agree," said Moreno. "Contraras' sense of compassionis a doubtful factor. We will discard that idea. Will you put yourselfin my hands?"
She looked intently into the dark, brilliant eyes, and what she readthere reassured her. He was stubbornly secretive, but he was kind andsympathetic. He was ready to do his best to serve her.
"Yes, I will," she said bravely. "I trust you."
"Good! Then that is settled. Alvedero will call for you to-morrowevening as arranged, but you will not accompany him. He will comealone."
"How are you going to do it?" she cried breathlessly. Her admirationfor the man had grown intensely during the last few days. He seemedable to work miracles.
"I shall keep that a secret too till to-morrow morning, when I shall beround at eleven o'clock. If I told you now, you would not get a wink ofsleep all night."
"I shall not get a wink of sleep as it is," she answered.
But, secretive to the last, Moreno was not to be tempted into frankness."Oh, yes, you will. Anyway, you have promised to leave yourself in myhands. To-morrow morning, at eleven o'clock."
They shook hands without another word. Moreno walked back to hislodgings reflecting deeply.
Was this attractive young woman really as bad as he had once thought?Was she not rather a creature of strong passions, of impulses at timesungovernable? Were there not in her womanly feelings that could becherished and fostered by sympathetic companionship?
Anyway, if she followed his instructions, as she had agreed to do, hehad secured her safety as well as his own. And that would be a resultthat would gratify him exceedingly.
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.
Save for a little impatience when his judgment was impugned, or somebodyquestioned the soundness of his opinions, Moreno was a person of themost equable temperament, and singularly light hearted.
Still, when he rose early on the morning of this most eventful day, hewas in a very grave and thoughtful mood. He was playing a mostdifficult and dangerous game. Even if he outwitted the Heads of thebrotherhood in Spain, as he believed he had, there were left Lucue andJaques in London to deal with.
To save Guy Rossett was easy enough; he had laid his plans very surelyfor that. But he had to save himself; also to save Violet Hargrave. Inthe plausible explanations that he would have to give in London, theremust be no loopholes.
Very early in the morning he again saw the Chief of Police, in companywith Farquhar, who, now that the game was really afoot, was manifestinga keen interest in the chase. They rehearsed the whole programme allover again.
"He is cleverer than I thought him at first," whispered Moreno to hisfriend, when the somewhat stout man had withdrawn for a moment toconsult
one of his lieutenants. "But I am relying on you to beconstantly at his elbow. You are not the sort of chap to get flurried."
And Farquhar, although quite a modest kind of fellow, agreed that hecould keep his head in a crisis.
At eleven o'clock, as arranged, Moreno presented himself at the lodgingsof Mrs Hargrave. She looked very pale and there were dark rings roundher eyes. It was easy to see that her night had been a perturbed one,that she had enjoyed little or no sleep.
"You don't look in the best of health and spirits," he said kindly."Well, you have got to pluck up your courage. You will want plenty ofit for the next twenty-four hours."
She shivered. "If I had