with all her loyalty and determination in the interests of her new friend, jessie could not repress a sigh of relief once vera galloway was safe in the shelter of the queen's hotel. after all said and done, the events of the previous night had been exceedingly trying, and jessie was feeling in need of a rest. vera galloway did not fail to notice this.
"it is impossible for me to properly thank you," she said in a voice that was very unsteady. "what i should have done without you, goodness knows. by this time the man i love would have been ruined. charlie maxwell would never have been able to hold up his head again. oh, if only i had not lost the papers!"
"they will be found," jessie said. "i feel quite sure that they will be found and you will regain possession of them. at any rate the countess is powerless for present evil. everything is against her."
the queen came into the room at the same moment. she was kindness itself to vera, though her face had its sternest expression. she held in her hand a copy of the mercury. she had been reading the sensational interview carefully. never had there been a more daring or outrageous plot. and thanks to the courage and promptitude of lechmere it had failed.
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"this thing is infamous, daring to a degree," the queen said. "but fortunately the herald comes to our aid. and the king is already on his way to asturia. it is only the matter of those papers.... vera, i suppose i must forgive you for the trick you played on me."
"it was in a good cause," vera smiled faintly. "you see, there were complicating interests. and yet they were absolutely identical. i wanted to save charlie and you at the same time and but for a most distressing and unforeseen accident i should have done so. but what a perfect substitute i left behind me! could any other girl possibly have behaved like jessie harcourt?"
the queen forgot her anger and distress for a moment. a little time later and jessie was walking to her lodgings, her ears tingling with pride and pleasure. she was never going to want a friend again, the way was rosy before her for the future. ada's pale anxious face brightened and her eyes filled with tears as jessie came in. it had been an anxious time for ada.
"you look so strong and happy and yet so tired," she said. "sit down in the armchair and tell me everything. there is something about you that suggests adventure. but you have not failed."
no, jessie had not failed, she explained. she told ada everything from beginning to end; she had to answer a thousand eager questions. when she mentioned the name of ronald hope ada smiled demurely. that was the best news of it all.
"i am glad you and ronald have met again," ada said quietly. "we ought never to have left the old home without writing to him. it has been on[260] my mind to do so frequently, but i thought perhaps that you would not like it, jessie. now you are going to sit there and rest whilst i run out and get some paints for those christmas cards. i have been so miserably anxious about you that i dared not go out before. the walk will freshen me up."
jessie nodded lazily. a delicious sense of fatigue stole over her. her eyes closed and she fell into a half sleep. when she came to herself again ronald was bending over her. her face flushed as he stooped down and pressed his lips to hers. perhaps she had been more guarded had she not been taken by surprise, for she returned the pressure.
"that was not fair," she said with a trembling smile. "you caught me unawares, ronald."
ronald coolly took a seat close to jessie's side. he took her hand in his and it was not withdrawn.
"it isn't as if you didn't love me," he said. "you know perfectly well that we always cared for one another. and you would not have kissed me if you had not loved me, jess. why you disappeared in that strange manner i never could understand. what difference did the fact make that your poor father had left you penniless? i knew that he was a poor man and that i had nothing to expect but your dear self, and you were quite aware of it. then when i go to india you disappear and i don't hear any more of you till rumours reach me of the goddess in bond street. jess, you are never going to run away from me again?"
"it does not seem so," jessie said demurely, "especially if you hold my hand and my waist as[261] tightly as you are holding them at the present time. but seriously, ronald——"
"that's the way to talk, seriously! seriously, my darling jess, don't you love me?"
"i love you with my whole heart and soul, ronald," jessie whispered. "i never realised how much i loved you till we came to be parted and i thought that i had lost you for ever. this time yesterday i was one of the most miserable girls in england, now i am one of the happiest."
"and you are going to marry me right away, dearest?" hope whispered. "a quiet wedding."
"presently," jessie smiled. "not so fast, if you please. i have my new friends to think of. i can't forget that but for them i might never have seen you again, ronald. till that business is finished i am not a free agent. even at the present moment i am in danger of being arrested on a charge of stealing some papers from the residence of countess saens."
"but, my dear girl, you never so much as saw those confounded papers."
"that does not make the slightest difference. the papers were stolen from the residence of countess saens by a young girl answering to my description and dressed exactly as i am dressed at the present moment. if i was confronted now with the countess's maid annette she would identify me as the thief."
"the real thief being miss vera galloway all the time, jessie."
"of course she is. but could i say so? could i in my own defence go into the witness box and tell the story of my bold impersonation of vera galloway so that she could be free to regain those[262] papers? why, by so doing we admit the existence of the papers that we deny existence to at all. if any scandal arises over them, i shall have to bear it alone. vera galloway's share must not even be suggested. it must be assumed that i traded on my marvellous resemblance to vera to obtain certain things from the countess."
"but this is monstrous," cried ronald. "if it came to a matter of imprisonment——"
"i should go through with it if it did," jessie declared quietly. "at least i should do so until it was safe to have the truth out. countess saens is a bitter foe when——"
"who can do you no harm," said ronald. "at present she is on her way to paris. she has been lured there by a dexterous trick to keep her out of the way."
"but she might have put the matter in the hands of the police before she left?"
"perhaps so. i had not thought of that, jessie. it behoves you to be careful. if any attempt was made to arrest you, but i dare not think of it. if danger threatens, go back to the queen. she can help you if anybody can. hullo, here is ada."
ada's reception of the visitor was flattering enough. she was delighted to see ronald again, she was almost tearfully glad to find that ronald and jessie had come to an understanding. but all the same she confessed that she was frightened. a man had accosted her on her way home with an enquiry as to the spot where miss jessie harcourt lived. he had a parcel in his hand and came from the shop of madame malmaison. it appeared that jessie had left some of her possessions behind and the messenger was anxious to deliver it.
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"and i don't believe that he was a messenger at all," ada said breathlessly. "he was far too prim and dark. he gave me an impression of scotland yard. of course i pretended to know nothing, but i was frightened. go and see what you think, ronald. he is in seymour street; he has a box under his arm."
ronald departed hastily. he came back a little time later with a grim face and an uneasy air.
"i am afraid that ada is right," he said. "the fellow has police force written all over him. i suppose the police are following up the enquiries they made last night. you must go back to the queen without delay, jess. i fancy i have managed it. i see that there is a way out of these block of rooms in dean street. go down there and stand in the doorway. presently i shall pull up with a cab just for a second and you are to jump in. don't lose any time. if you are arrested many questions will be asked, if you can tide over the next day you may escape altogether. i'll see what lechmere can do."
hope bustled away and a little time later jessie crept down the stone stairs leading to dean street. she had not long to wait there, for presently a cab drove up and ronald looked anxiously out. like a flash jessie was across the pavement and into the cab.
"saved this time," ronald muttered. "i shall leave you in piccadilly to go back alone. glad to see that you took the precaution to veil your features. after i have left you i'll go as far as lechmere's rooms. i daresay we can beat those people yet."
