The Castle Of The Shadows, Page 4

  CHAPTER IV

  THE CLOSED DOOR

  The Marchese Loria ordered tea, and the two newly made allies pretendedto have no important more business than eating and drinking. But certainthat nobody was within hearing distance, Loria squandered little time infrivolities. At any moment some one they knew might come in and interrupttheir talk.

  "You said that I looked 'very down,'" he began abruptly. "That is coolEnglish for broken-hearted, no doubt. I'm half mad, I think, LadyGardiner. For four nights I haven't slept; for three days I've scarcelyeaten. You know why; there's no use in wasting words on explanation."

  "You love her so much?" exclaimed Kate.

  "I love her so much. You believe me?"

  "Yes; for you have the reputation of being a rich man, and it can't beall a bubble, or you wouldn't buy eighty-pound presents--for gratitude,and rather premature gratitude at that."

  "Ah! the gift hasn't been made yet."

  "I fancy it will be made. And the principle is the same. You can't be afortune-hunter, like many agreeable, titled countrymen of yours whom Ihave met."

  "If a man began by seeking out Miss Beverly as a fortune-hunter, he wouldend by being her lover. She is the most beautiful girl on earth, and--themost maddening. I think I shall go mad if I am to lose her."

  "How you Italians can love--and hate!"

  "Yes, we can hate also, it is true. There is no half-way with us. LadyGardiner, I used to think that you disliked me; but to-day you aredifferent. I was as desperately in need of help as a drowning man, and Icaught at the new look of kindness in your eyes, as such a man catches ata floating spar."

  "Perhaps it was the appeal in your eyes that called out the answer inmine," said Kate, half believing that she told the truth; for there was acertain magnetic power in the man's passion, which was, at least,sincere. "What help can I give you?"

  "First of all, you can answer a few questions. What have I done to changeMiss Beverly so completely?"

  "Frankly, I don't know. There's something odd going on--something whichinterests her so much that she can think of nothing else."

  "The change began on the day of--our ride. Our last ride! The last ofeverything worth having, it has been for me. She was angry because I wasunwilling to go into--that valley. But afterward, when she learned howintimately I had been associated with the people at the chateau there,how could she blame me? I suppose she _did_ learn the story?"

  "She learned something of it, I know, the night after we rode up thevalley. You remember there was a dance? I had left my fan in oursitting-room, and ran up to find it. There was no light in the room, andVirginia and Sir Roger were on the balcony. Of course, I didn't mean tolisten, but I couldn't find the fan at first, and I didn't like tostartle them by suddenly switching on the light, so I--er--I overheard alittle of the conversation. Sir Roger was telling her the story of thatunfortunate Maxime Dalahaide--why, Marchese, how you must have loved him!The very mention of his name turns you pale."

  "We were like brothers," said Loria in a low voice. "But go on. Did SirRoger Broom mention me in connection with the story?"

  "Yes."

  "The scoundrel! That explains all, then. This is your honourable Englishgentleman, who traduces a man behind his back, to ruin him with the girlthey both love!"

  "You do Roger Broom injustice. He defended you. Virginia thought thatyour friendship was not worth much, since you believed Maxime Dalahaideguilty, but Sir Roger assured her you had behaved exceedingly well."

  "H'm! One knows what faint praise can do. Did he give her all the detailsof that loathsome story?"

  "No; he refused. I was rather sorry, as I was interested by that time.Besides, I had wanted to know, and I couldn't think of any one it wouldbe convenient to ask, except Sir Roger or you."

  "I wish he had told her all! If he had, she would never have wished tohear of the Dalahaides again."

  "You speak bitterly of your old friends."

  "I? No, you misunderstand. I mean only that a girl--a stranger--would behorrified if she could know the full details. It was a ghastly affair. Iloved Max, but there was no excuse for him--none. And it would be betterfor Miss Beverly to have nothing to do with that family. They bringunhappiness to all who come near them. It is as if they were under acurse, which every one connected with them must share. I can't bear tothink that so black a shadow should darken _her_ sunlight. Already, yousee, she has changed. She goes once to the Chateau de la Roche, and thespell falls upon her."

  "I'm not sure that she hasn't been more than once," said Lady Gardiner.

  "Ah! that was one of the things I wished to ask. You think so?"

  "I don't know. The morning after we all went there she disappeared forhours, and would say nothing except that she had slept badly, got upearly, and gone off for a ride. Whether Mr. Trent was with her or not Ican't tell but when I first saw her, after looking everywhere, they weretogether, so absorbed in what they were saying that I believe if arevolver had been fired within a dozen yards of them they would hardlyhave heard it. At luncheon that same day, Sir Roger was telling me how hehad seen the agent, and found out about the chateau, as it appears shehad asked him to do--she has but to ask and to have, with him, you mustknow!--and though she was pleased and interested to a certain extent,still, she seemed to be thinking of something else."

  "That _something else_! If I could find out what that was, I might knowwho is taking her from me."

  "I'm afraid it's not as simple an affair to unravel as that; for I cantell you one of the things, at least, which was apparently occupying herthoughts at the time, yet I can't quite see why or how it could have muchto do with you. You remember, perhaps, that you came while we were atluncheon the day after our ride into the Valley of the Shadow, andproposed that we should all go to Monte Carlo on your motor-car, that weshould spend the afternoon in the Casino, and dine with you at the Hotelde Paris? Virginia said that she had important letters to write, andcouldn't go; and her manner was rather distant."

  "It chilled my heart."

  "Well, she asked Sir Roger and Mr. Trent to come up to her sitting-roomafter luncheon. Naturally, I was there too; I've been told to look uponthe room as my own. She did not tell what she had been doing in themorning, but, wherever she had been, she had contrived to discover a gooddeal more about the Dalahaide story than Sir Roger had been willing totell her the night before, and she announced boldly, that in spite ofeverything, she believed Maxime Dalahaide was innocent. She demanded ofRoger--who has spent a good deal of time in France, you know, and issupposed to be well up in French law--whether it wouldn't be possible tohave the case brought up again, with the best lawyers in the country,expense to be no object. When Roger had shown her that the thing couldn'tbe done, and there was no use discussing it, she wanted him to say thatby setting some wonderful detectives on the trail of the real criminalthe truth might be discovered, and the man unjustly accused brought homein triumph from Noumea by a penitent Government. Sir Roger assured herthat was hopeless. That, in the first place, Maxime Dalahaide wasn'tinnocent, and that, in the second place, even if he were, his innocencewould be still more impossible to prove after all these years than itwould have been at the time of the trial."

  "What did she reply to that?"

  "Nothing. She was silent and seemed impressed. She became verythoughtful. Since then I have not heard her say one word of theDalahaides, except incidentally about the chateau, which she actuallymeans to buy, and have restored in time to come to it, if she likes, nextyear. Now, I don't see why her interest in the Dalahaides, if shecontinues to feel it, should interfere with her friendship for you."

  Loria did not answer. He sat thinking intently, his dark eyes staringunseeingly out of the window. At last he spoke. "Why--_why_ should sheinterest herself in this cold-blooded murderer, whose best friends turnedfrom him in horror at his crime? Is it pure philanthropy? Has the sisterimplored Miss Beverly to throw her money into this bottomless gulf? Whathappened when you were at the chateau that day I never knew.
"

  "We thought that the subject was disagreeable to you," said Kate. "We sawand spoke with Miss Dalahaide, a pale, cold girl, dressed in black, witha voice that somehow sounded--_dead_. She did not mention her brother,and seemed so reserved that I should think it would be difficult to breakthe ice with her. Indeed, she appeared very annoyed at the necessity forshowing us a little room with a life-size picture in it, which I fanciedmust be a portrait of the brother."

  A curious shiver passed through Loria's body.

  "Miss Beverly saw that portrait?" he asked in a low, strained voice.

  "Yes, and I noticed that she kept glancing at it again and again while westopped in the room. I suppose a morbid sort of curiosity regarding amurderer is natural, even in a young girl, provided his personality isinteresting."

  Once more Loria remained silent, his face set in hard lines.

  "Such a man as Maxime Dalahaide must have been before his fall, would bea dangerous rival," Lady Gardiner went on, with a spice of malice. Shewas watching Loria as she spoke, and thrilled a little at the look in hiseyes as he turned them upon her. "Oh, these Italians!" she thought. "Theyare so emotional that they frighten one. Their passions are like cagedtigers, and you never quite know whether the cage door is safely locked."

  "Maxime Dalahaide will never be dangerous to any man again on thisearth--not even to himself, since the worst has happened to him that canhappen," answered Loria.

  "Strange if, although he is buried in a prison-land at the other end ofthe world, he might still, in a vague, dim way, be a rival to fear morethan another," Kate reflected dreamily. Aloud she went on: "It seemsridiculous to say so, but I believe that Virginia is making a hero ofhim. She has never seen this man--she never can see him; yet hisimage--evolved from that portrait at the chateau which was his oldhome--may blur others nearer to her."

  "Great heavens! You believe that?"

  "I merely suggest it. The idea only occurred to me at this moment. ButVirginia is certainly thinking of Maxime Dalahaide. To-day, she wasreading a French book about Noumea. She hid it when I came into the room;but later I came across it by accident. Yes, she is thinking of him, butit is only a girl's foolish, romantic fancy, of course--a spoilt child,crying for the moon, because it's the one thing that no adoring personcan get for her. I shouldn't worry about it much, if I were you. Indeed,perhaps she sees herself that she is not very wise, and wants to forget.Now she has set her heart on a yachting trip; but you must not speak ofit to her or the others, for she asked me not to tell."

  "She gives me little enough chance to speak of anything. A short time agoshe would not have cared for a yachting trip, unless I were to be of theparty. Now, I suppose, her wish is to be rid of me."

  "Her wish is also to be rid of me."

  "You are not to go?"

  "Not if Virginia can make a decent excuse to leave me behind."

  "Who, then, goes with her?"

  "Her half-brother, and Sir Roger Broom. She isn't even going to take amaid."

  "Heavens! It is Sir Roger Broom, then, who will win her!"

  "I don't know what to think. She has refused him; he is many years olderthan she, and she has known him since she was a child, for Sir Roger wentoften to America while her father--his cousin--was alive. Why should shesuddenly make up her mind to marry him? He was her guardian during herminority, or what remained of it after her father's death; now she hashad her one-and-twentieth birthday, and is her own mistress. I fanciedthat she intended to remain so for a time, unless she lost her head--orher heart--and Sir Roger, nice as he is, is scarcely the man to make agirl like Virginia Beverly do either. Still, I don't understand theyachting trip. It is in every way mysterious; and since you have asked myadvice, it is this: find out where they are going, and appear there, asif by chance. By that time our spoiled beauty's mind may have changed."

  "Won't you tell me where they are going?"

  "I would if I could." This was true, since Kate was sure that, change asVirginia might, she would never return to her brief, ballroom fancy forthe Italian. "I hinted at Naples, Greece, and Egypt, and Virginiaanswered that it would be 'something of the sort'--answered evasively,saying nothing was decided yet; and so the conversation would have endedif George Trent hadn't come bursting in, very excited, exclaiming beforehe saw me that he'd got hold of exactly the right steam yacht, with _fourcannon_."

  Loria started like a sensitive woman. "A yacht with four cannon! What canthey want with cannon?"

  "I asked if they were fitting out for pirates, and Mr. Trent assured methat the cannon being on board was a mere accident; they would not havethem removed, but they had no intention of making use of them. Still,there's no doubt that there's some mystery behind this yachtingexpedition. I can't make it out at all. Whether it is Mr. Trent'splan----"

  "But he would not wish to go without you."

  "A few days ago, perhaps not. But others besides Virginia have changed.That day when we rode up the Valley of the Shadow, as they call it, wasdestined to be an eventful day for us all."

  "You mean----"

  "I mean that George Trent is a different man since he went to the Chateaude la Roche."

  A dark flush rose to Loria's forehead. "He met Madeleine Dalahaide?"

  "One might think, from your expression and accent, that you werejealous."

  "One would think wrongly then. A man can't be in love with two women atthe same time."

  "Can't he? I wasn't sure. Men are strange; perhaps there's something ofthe dog in the manger about them, at times. At all events, George Trentis much interested in the yachting trip, and he _doesn't_ want me to go.Perhaps Miss Dalahaide is to be of the party; and in that case I shouldbe the odd woman. Not that it matters to me. George was pleasant to flirtwith but I should not marry again, unless I married money. Virginia'sgreat fortune comes from her father, George's step-father, who wasjealous of the mother's affection for the first husband's son, anddisliked him. George will accept nothing from Virginia, and has only whathis mother could leave him--a miserable five thousand dollars a year."

  Loria scarcely listened. His level black brows were drawn together. "Shewas reading a book about Noumea," he said slowly. "What if--no, it isimpossible--impossible!"

  "What is impossible? If I am to help you, you must have no secrets fromme."

  "She could not hope, if she went there, to see him. Bah! The bare thoughtis monstrous."

  "It is a little far-fetched," said Kate. "I should think the adventurethey are undertaking will be no more startling than an attempt to reachthe Second Cataract. The cannon _might_ be needed there, you know."

  "That is true. But, Lady Gardiner, you must find out where they aregoing, and let me know. A hundred diamond serpents would not be enough totestify my gratitude. You mean to go with them?"

  "If they will take me."

  "They must take you. They must! You are my only hope, the only link thatwill be left between me and Virginia Beverly. Listen! We are talkingfrankly to each other, you and I. We never thought to be suchfriends--but we are friends, and must trust each other to succeed. Youoften speak, half-jestingly, of being poor. I have money--I don't sayenough; who has enough? But I am not a poor man. Watch Virginia for me;watch Sir Roger Broom. Let me know where this yacht is taking you, whomshe carries, all that happens on board of her. Advise me, from what yousee of passing events; and for all these services, worth an inestimablesum to me, I will give you what I can afford--say, a thousand pounds. Youshall have half down the day you start, and the other half the day thatyou return."

  "You are generous; and--I will be loyal," said Kate. "It will not be myfault, I promise you, if the yacht sails without me. Now I must go. Wemust have been talking here for more than an hour, for Virginia'scarriage, which she lent me, has just driven up to the door. Wheneverthere is a new development of this mystery, which interests us both, youshall know it. I wish I could take you up to Cap Martin with me, if youare ready to go that way, but perhaps it would be wiser not--especiallyas the victoria isn't my
own."

  Kate Gardiner had not been in the hotel an hour when a box was brought toher door by the Marchese Loria's valet. Inside was the diamond serpent.She told herself that she had done a very good afternoon's work.

  * * * * *

  Soon every one knew that the American heiress and beauty, Miss VirginiaBeverly, had bought, for twenty thousand pounds, the famous steam yachtwhich the mad Spanish Prince d'Almidares had used as a despatch boat atthe time of the American war with Spain. For some time it had been forsale, lying in harbour at Nice; but it had been too costly a toy; thecannon with which it was armed were worth only the price of old iron tomost buyers of yachts. They were equally useless to Miss Beverly and herparty, as she and George Trent and Roger Broom impressed upon all whoasked questions; but, then, what was the use in wasting time enough todismantle the yacht, as she was wanted immediately, and the cannon weretoo cleverly concealed to injure the smart appearance of the littlecraft?

  It was given out that the _Bella Cuba_ would touch at Greece, go on toEgypt, and perhaps visit Algiers and Lisbon, steaming at last up theThames to Tilbury. Virginia Beverly ostentatiously bought thin summerclothing, saying that it would be summer weather on the sea before shebade good-bye to the water. Still, Virginia announced that she did notwish to be bound down to a definite programme, and Kate Gardiner had tobe satisfied with a prospect of vagueness if she intended to be of theparty.

  Not for a single moment had she abandoned that intention. Even if she hadnot stood to earn a thousand pounds she would have moved heaven and earthto go, for more and more, as the days of preparation went on, hercuriosity and excitement increased.

  Roger Broom, it was clear, had been intensely annoyed when he wasinformed that Lady Gardiner had so far overcome her fear of the sea, asto wish to be a passenger on the _Bella Cuba_. He had said little, buthis face was expressive, and Kate was of opinion that he would have saida great deal more, had not some strong motive restrained him. Perhaps,she thought, this motive was fear of rousing her suspicions if he tooemphatically advocated her stopping behind. But--suspicions of _what_?That was the question she often asked herself, and could never answer.

  She had asked it of Loria also, when they met--as secretly as if the bondbetween them had been a forbidden love. But if the truth about theyachting trip had been told, even he had no solution ready for thepuzzle.

  At last the yacht, which had been re-painted, was ready, the captain andcrew of picked men, all Englishmen, were engaged, and the _Bella Cuba_steamed into the harbour at Mentone, exactly one month from the date (asKate happened to remember) of the eventful ride into the Valley of theShadow.

  They were to start in two days, and Lady Gardiner's heart sank at thethought of all the physical suffering she was doomed to endure.Nevertheless, when Virginia hinted that, if she chose to think better ofher decision, it was not yet too late, she courageously assured the girlthat she was looking forward to the trip. She had always wanted to seeEgypt!

  The yacht was swift, and had proved herself seaworthy, but she wascomparatively small, and when Kate went on board with Virginia to inspectthe accommodation, she was surprised to be shown only five passengercabins. Still, as she had been informed that there were to be but four inthe party, she did not see why it would be impossible for Virginia's maidto go, and ventured to say as much.

  "But we have decided to take a doctor," explained Virginia. "We shall beso long at sea that otherwise it really wouldn't be safe."

  "For my part I'd much rather have a maid than a doctor," sighed Kate, towhom Virginia's Celestine had made herself agreeably useful. "We shallhave nothing worse the matter with us than seasickness; and how _are_ weto do our hair?"

  Thus bemoaning her fate, she passed along the line of white and goldpainted doors, and stopped suddenly at a sixth, the only one which wasclosed. Gently she tried the handle. It did not yield.

  "One would think that this ought to be another cabin," she remarkedsweetly; "else what becomes of the symmetry? Now, if only it _were_ one,you might take Celestine. You'd be so _much_ more comfortable."

  "That cabin can't be used," Virginia said, her eyes very bright, hercheeks very red. "And if you want Celestine, Kate, you must stop onland."

  Lady Gardiner at once protested that she was not thinking of _herself_;oh, indeed no! but merely of her _dear_ girl, who was not used to beingher own maid. She said no more of the locked door, but she could think ofnothing else. Why could the cabin not be used, and why had Virginiasuddenly grown cross at the bare suggestion that it should be? Was itpossible that Madeleine Dalahaide was going after all, that her presencewas to be kept secret from Kate until the last moment, and that she wasto have this stateroom? Perhaps, Lady Gardiner's jealous suspicionwhispered, she was already in the cabin, and had locked herself in,fearing just such an intrusion as the turned key had prevented.

  That night she saw Loria, and told him precisely what had happened onboard. "I shouldn't wonder," she said reflectively, "if the whole mysteryof this trip were not on the other side of that closed door. Somethingtells me it is so."

  "When do you start?" asked the Italian.

  "To-morrow, at five in the afternoon."

  "Could you make an excuse to go on board in the morning alone?"

  "Yes. Celestine has taken most of our things on to-day, and put them awayfor us. We are not supposed to leave the hotel till three o'clock. But Icould say I had lost something, and hoped that I'd left it on the _BellaCuba_. Or perhaps I could slip on board without saying anything untilafterward. But what good would it do me? The door isn't likely to beunlocked; and I can see nothing through the keyhole. I tried thisafternoon."

  "I will get you a key which, if there isn't one already on the inside,will open the door."

  In the night Kate Gardiner had strange dreams of the locked cabin. Twentytimes in her sleep she was on the point of finding out the secret, butalways woke before she had made it her own. She was up early in themorning, and went out, saying, as if carelessly, to Celestine, that shemust buy a few last things which she had forgotten. In the town she metLoria, as they had arranged over-night, and he put into her handsomething in a sealed envelope.

  "You are sure this will do it?" she asked.

  "Sure," returned the Italian.

  Then they parted; Kate took a small boat and was rowed out to the _BellaCuba_, which lay anchored not far from shore.

  "I have come on board to look for a diamond ring which I think I droppedin my cabin yesterday," she remarked to the captain.

  He turned away, all unsuspicious and Kate hurried to the saloon off whichthe cabins opened. Already she had broken the seal on the envelope, andtaken out a small, peculiarly shaped steel implement. With a quick glanceover her shoulder and a loud beating of the heart, she thrust themaster-key into the lock of the closed door.