there was no reason to say any more. both listeners felt that the situation was saved; they felt, too, that jessie was absolutely right. her logic lacked no force, because it was so clear and simple. the queen paused in her agitated walk and crossed towards the door.
"that is settled, then," she said. "my dear friend here has solved the problem. but there is yet much to be done before we are safe and asturia is preserved from the grip of the wolf. i should like to see the king."
maxgregor had no objection to make. perhaps on the whole it would be better for the queen to be quite sure that he told no more than the truth. it was a sufficiently sad hour that followed before the queen returned to her hotel again. she was hardly back before lord merehaven was announced. his easy air vanished as he entered the room, he looked very old and agitated. there was just a wild gleam in his eyes as his gaze fell on jessie.
"i have been hearing strange things, madame," he said. "my niece has been confessing the truth. so it was this young lady who was responsible for so many of the startling events of the other night. not that i propose to recognise that i am in anyway——"
"for heaven's sake, forget that you are a diplomat and a minister for once, my lord," the queen[302] said. "this is a matter that closely touches your personal honour and mine. i beg you to believe that i did not know of the change of identity till this young lady accompanied me here from your house. surely you must recognise her bravery and courage, that she ran all these risks merely to help one whom she had never seen before. it was a strange position for a lady——"
"an impossible position for a lady," merehaven said drily.
"i think not," the queen said, just a little coldly. "it was done on the spur of the moment. if your niece has told you everything, surely you must be aware of that."
"my niece has told me everything, madame," merehaven went on. "she had planned a desperate enterprise to save the man she loved and she wanted to so place it that she could leave the house all the while her friends could testify that she had not gone beyond the front door. and vera came very near to success——"
"very near to success!" the queen cried. "she did succeed. she obtained possession of those missing papers. it is true that she lost them again, but they passed out of the possession of countess saens and thus deprived her of one of her most powerful weapons. the bold attempt to free mr. maxwell from blame——"
"mr. maxwell was not in the least to blame, as matters turned out," merehaven explained. "captain lancing was the culprit all through. mr. maxwell was foolish in his little flirtation with the countess—which by the way she forced upon him—gave colour to his guilt. it was maxwell's wild endeavour to save lancing that brought suspicion[303] on him, but i shall be able to satisfy maxwell's chiefs that he has nothing to ask forgiveness for when the time comes. as a matter of fact a letter written by captain lancing before he committed suicide has come to hand and he takes all the blame."
"but this need not become public property," the queen said.
"it is not going to become public property," merehaven said. "we shall let the rumour die. we shall assume that the whole thing was merely a foolish newspaper canard. all the same there were papers stolen and they did pass into countess saens's hands. and count gleikstein is acting as if he knew the contents and as if he had possession of the papers. probably it is only bluff, but it is giving me a deal of anxiety."
"you mean that you cannot feel quite certain whether or not those papers are in the hands of the count or not?" jessie asked. "he is acting as if he possessed them?"
"you are an exceedingly clever young lady," merehaven smiled. "that is exactly the point. i have a wonderfully shrewd man to deal with and he is puzzling me utterly. if he has not the papers and i can prove it, then i can afford to laugh and affect ignorance. whereas——"
"perhaps i had better tell you exactly how things stand," the queen remarked. "you need not know anything of this officially as yet, but the more fully you are posted the better for your fight with count gleikstein. i am going to tell you a story that will astonish you, diplomat as you are."
the queen did not boast. merehaven was unaffectedly astonished and showed it. he walked[304] up and down the room muttering to himself as he walked.
"did ever anybody ever hear anything so amazing," he said. "if i could only be sure now what has become of those stolen papers. does anybody guess where they are?"
"i can't go as far as that," jessie said. "but i can guess who does know. i fully believe that lost secret will be found in the possession of mr. lechmere."
merehaven gave a grunt of delight. the moody frown passed away from his face. "you really are a very clever young lady," he said. "i suppose when the time comes to smooth out things i shall have to forgive you for the part you have played. but your suggestion as to lechmere is brilliant, distinctly brilliant. i'll go to him at once."
the early edition of the evening papers was once more full of the affairs of asturia, and the newsboys were proclaiming the fact as they ran along before merehaven. it was quite clear from the rumours emanating from the asturian capital that the enemy had no real grip as yet of the true position of things. king erno was back again in his capital once more, he had met his disaffected ministers frankly and openly for once in his life, and he was prepared to place himself entirely in the hands of his advisers. he admitted that he had not been a model monarch in his time, but then, physically and intellectually, he was not fit for so exalted a position. if there was any question of his successor, he should like to name prince alix, whom he had every reason to believe was close at hand.
merehaven chuckled as he walked along reading all this from a telephone. once prince alix accepted[305] the successor, russia would be beaten. and that they should be so innocent as to stand by when, had they known it, all the cards were in their hands was a piece of diplomatic success that pleased merehaven exceedingly. he even forgot his troubles over those evening papers and the battle with gleikstein.
lechmere was not at home, but he had left directions that if anybody desired to see him particularly he was to be found for the next hour or so at the orient club, and thither merehaven made his way. he found lechmere reading an evening paper and smoking a long black cigar as if he were one of the most idle and purposeless men in the world. but as he glanced up at merehaven's face he saw that the latter knew everything. he laid his paper aside and drew merehaven into a corner.
"i suppose you have heard the amazing story, my lord?" he asked.
merehaven replied that he had nothing to acquire in that direction. he plunged immediately into his subject. he could be very direct and to the point if he chose.
"that is why i came to you," he said in conclusion. "is it not possible that you can give me a real helping hand in the direction of recovering those confounded papers?"
"i think that i can be of material assistance to you and that before very long," lechmere smiled. "i have laid the match to a carefully prepared mine and the explosion may take place at any moment. you see i take a considerable interest in the career of international adventurers, and the careers of both prince mazaroff and countess saens interest me exceedingly. i hinted to you that if[306] the continental police liked to follow certain things up it would be awkward for the lady. as to the gentleman, i gave such information about him as led to his arrest and subsequent detention in paris. unless i am greatly mistaken, he will not trouble the world much for the next few years. now it so happens that i also desire to have the countess saens out of the way for a space. there are certain possessions of hers that i desire to examine. so i have found the means."
"will that bring those papers into sight, though?" merehaven asked.
lechmere rather thought that it would. he was proceeding to explain when an excited man rushed into the smoking-room evidently primed and bursting with some fine piece of scandal. he pounced upon the two acquaintances in the window as proper recipients of the news.
"the latest, the very latest," he cried. "who on earth would have thought it? a fine woman like that with a good position and any amount of money. who do i mean? why, countess saens. arrested by the police as she was getting into her carriage and taken to bow street like a common thief. charged with forgery or something of that kind. what?"
lechmere rose very quietly from his seat and pitched his cigar into the grate.
"come along," he whispered. "there is no time to be lost. unless i am grievously out in my calculations, those papers will be in your hands before the hour is up."
