as it so happened—though as yet the girls were ignorant of the fact—they had no need to be afraid of the countess saens for the present. she had been cleverly fooled by a trick, as lechmere learnt directly he was out of the house after hearing the countess read her wire to hunt of the mercury. just for a moment hunt had suspected the king of asturia of a further act of treachery. but no sooner was he out of the house than prince peretori pounced upon him. there was a keen glitter in his eyes.
"well?" he asked. "i left you in that place yonder with a purpose. did my bait take?"
"oh, it was you who sent that card, then?" lechmere exclaimed. "how did you manage to do that?"
"the idea came to me like an inspiration. we wanted the countess out of the way, and it seemed to me that i knew the exact plan for doing it. i rushed off to the queen's hotel and procured one of her incognito cards to give the thing a real air. then i forged a message from the king asking the countess to meet him in paris to-morrow night. all i had to do was to place the thing in the hands of a district messenger boy, and there you are! the question is, did my bait take?"
"as the countess is at present rushing through the pages of bradshaw, i should say that the bait had taken," lechmere said drily. "our fascinating friend will assuredly be off to paris by the very[253] first train that is available. isn't there an early morning boat? of course there is, seeing that i have travelled by it many times. the countess will be off in an hour. we'll just hang about here and make sure, and then we can go to bed with easy minds."
prince peretori laughed grimly. he lighted a cigarette and smoked it with the air of a patient man.
"we're not going to bed yet," he said. "our task does not even begin till the countess has gone. i'll throw myself heart and soul into this business, and i don't let go now till i see it through. when the countess has gone, you and i are going to do a little burglary of our own."
"what for?" asked lechmere. "what are we going to gain by a risk like that? besides, if you are after those foreign office papers most assuredly they are not in the countess's possession."
"no, but they are in the possession of her maid annette," was the startling reply. "so i have at length succeeded in astonishing even the stolid lechmere. my dear fellow, when i went into that house to-night, i found that annette was entertaining a lover—one robert, who is unmistakably a gentleman's servant. we must find out who robert is, and where he comes from, because he may be very useful to us later on. but annette has those papers, because i heard her say so. a stupid policeman picked them up and handed them to annette without having the least idea of their value. but the girl has, and she proposes to dispose of them for a good round sum."
"then our course is quite easy," lechmere said; he had quite recovered from his surprise again. "the countess will be out of the way for eight and[254] forty hours at least. that gives us ample time to open pour-parlers with the girl for the recovery of the papers."
"and perhaps frighten her and arouse her suspicions. how can you and i approach the girl? my own good friend, it seems to me that my own way is the best. let us get into the house and search for the papers. if they are of the slightest value, the girl has not hidden them in her box. that would be too dangerous a game, and she is clever. what do you say?"
lechmere replied that generally he was ready for anything. it was beginning to get light as the countess, accompanied by hunt, left the house. she was dressed in black with a dark veil, and she carried a small travelling bag in her hand. it was quite evident that the countess had given scant attention to her wardrobe on this occasion as lechmere pointed out to his companion.
"let's get into the house without delay," peretori said. "it's any odds that her ladyship has not said anything to her servants and that she has not aroused the household. she is in the habit of disappearing from time to time thus when urgent business calls."
it proved exactly as peretori had prophesied. none of the servants were about, on the table in the hall was an open note for annette saying that her mistress had gone to paris and that she would wire what time she was coming home again. lechmere looked a little ironically at his companion.
"so far so good," he said. "the coast is quite clear. what do you propose to do next? you can hardly expect me to creep into annette's bedroom like a vulgar burglar and examine the girl's[255] possessions. that is, even if we knew where to look, which we don't."
peretori shook his head. that was not precisely his way of doing business, he explained. he had a much better scheme than that. he proceeded to the hall door and rung the bell loudly. lechmere looked at him in blank astonishment. he knew that peretori was really a man of infinite resources, but his intense love of a practical joke at all times over-ruled all dictates of prudence.
"are you mad?" lechmere cried. "what insane folly possesses you? why, you will have all the servants in the place down upon you at once."
"there is a kind of proverb of yours that says 'let 'em all come.'" peretori smiled. "i beg to remark, my dear friend, that this is not one of my escapades. i'll give the bell another ring to make sure. ah, the rats are beginning to stir in the hole at last!"
unmistakable sounds of motion overhead came to the ears of the listeners below. a frightened butler in a long coat and carrying a poker in his hand looked over the banisters and demanded feebly what was wrong. a footman or two hovered in sight, and there was a glimpse of petticoats hastily donned behind.
"come down here at once, all of you," peretori commanded. "this is a pretty thing. i come here to bring back a little ornament that the countess lost to-night, and i ring the bell and nobody even takes the trouble to reply. then i make the discovery that everybody is in bed, i also make the discovery that the front door has not been fastened up, leaving the place absolutely to the first burglar that comes along. i may be wrong but it seemed to[256] me that somebody crept into the house as i came up the steps. it is important that the house should be searched. put the lights up everywhere. i will go to the top of the house and guard the fanlight leading to the roof. now get about it at once."
nobody demurred, nobody ventured to ask questions. there was an air of command about the speaker that shewed him as one accustomed to be obeyed. his face was very stern, but he winked at lechmere as he proceeded to make his way up the stairs. it was a fairly long search, for the suggestion of a possible burglar in the house had given the shock of alarm that such a suggestion always produces in the women kind and they were loud in the determination that the men should search everywhere.
"and we can lock up after the kind gentlemen have gone," annette proclaimed. "see, here is a letter from my mistress addressed to me. she has gone off to paris suddenly by the early boat. it is one of the eccentric expeditions that the countess loves. has anybody searched the basement?"
nobody had searched the basement for the simple reason that nobody cared to face the task.
"begin at the bottom and work up," suggested lechmere with cynical amusement. "if there is a man here he can't possibly escape you if that system is adopted, as my friend guards the exit in the roof."
"which is immediately above my bedroom," annette said with a shudder. "par bleu, we might have all been murdered as we lay asleep. let the men look everywhere."
it was presently borne in upon the men servants that nobody was in the house, so that their courage rose. they no longer hunted in couples. they were near[257] the top of the house now, they were quite certain that nobody was about when peretori descended.
"it was either a false alarm or the man got away by the skylight," he said. "did i understand someone to say that the countess was not returning to-night. in that case you had better see that the door is properly fastened after this gentleman and myself have gone. good-night to you all. i will say nothing of this to the countess if you promise to be more careful in the future."
the big door closed behind peretori and lechmere and was properly secured this time. lechmere turned to his companion and demanded to know what it all meant.
"well, i think that is pretty plain," peretori said. "our way lies together, does it not? and i confess that i am most terribly sleepy. oh, yes, as to my scheme. well, i wanted to get a good idea of the servants' quarters, and where mademoiselle annette slept. mightily snug quarters these maids get in these good houses. and annette is no exception to the general rule."
"yes, but you did not find the papers, i suppose?" lechmere asked with some impatience.
peretori paused to light a fresh cigarette. his face was quite grave though his eyes danced.
"not quite," he said. "the maid was a bit too quick for me. but the papers are hidden behind a plaster cast of the adoration of the magi high up on the left hand side of the bedroom. i have said it!"
