ThetwomenwhoweresuppingtogetherinthegriliroomattheCafeMilanweretalkingwithaseriousnesswhichseemedalittleoutofkeepingwiththerose-shadedlampsandtheswayingmusicofthebandfromthedistantrestaurant。Theirconversationhadstartedsomehoursbeforeintheclubsmoking-roomandhadcontinuedintermittentlythroughouttheevening。IthadreceivedafurtherstimuluswhenRichardHamel,whohadboughtanEveningStandardontheirwayfromthetheatreafewminutesago,cameacrossacertainparagraphinitwhichhereadaloud。
“HangedifIunderstandthingsoverhere,nowadays,Reggie!“hedeclared,layingthepaperdown。“Here’sanotherEnglishmanimprisonedinGermany-thistimeataplacenooneeverheardofbefore。Iwon’ttrytopronounceit。Whatdoesitallmean?It’sallverywelltoshrugyourshoulders,butwhenthereareeighteenarrestswithinoneweekonachargeofespionage,theremustbesomethingup。“
ForthefirsttimeReginaldKinsleyseemedinclinedtodiscussthesubjectseriously。Hedrewthepapertowardshimandreadthelittleparagraph,wordbyword。Thenhegavesomefurtherordertoanattentivemaitred’hotelandglancedaroundtobesurethattheywerenotoverheard。
“Lookhere,Dick,oldchap,“hesaid,“youarejustbackfromabroadandyouarenotquiteinthehangofthingsyet。Letmeaskyouaplainquestion。Whatdoyouthinkofusall?“
“Thinkofyou?“Hamelrepeated,alittledoubtfully。“Doyoumeanpersonally?“
“Takeitanywayyoulike,“Kinsleyreplied。Lookatme。Nineyearsagoweplayedcricketinthesameeleven。Idon’tlookmuchlikecricketnow,doI?“
Hamellookedathiscompanionthoughtfully。Foramanwhowasdoubtlessstillyoung,Kinsleyhadcertainlyanagedappearance。
Thehairabouthistempleswasgrey;therewerelinesabouthismouthandforehead。Hehadtheairofonewholivedinanatmosphereofanxiety。
“Tome,“Hameldeclaredfrankly,“youlookworried。IfIhadn’theardsomuchofthesuccessofyourpoliticalcareerandalltherestofit,Ishouldhavethoughtthatthingsweregoingbadlywithyou。“
“They’vegonewellenoughwithmepersonally,“Kinsleyadmitted,“butI’monlyoneofmany。Politicsisn’tthegameitwas。TheForeignOfficeespeciallyisageingitsmenfastthesefewyears。
We’vebeengoingthroughhell,Hamel,andweareupagainstitnow,hardupagainstit。“
TheslightsmilepassedfromthelipsofHamel’ssunburnt,good-naturedface。Hehimselfseemedtobecomeinfectedwithsomethingofhiscompanion’sanxiety。
“There’snothingseriouslywrong,isthere,Reggie?“heasked。
“Dick,“saidKinsley,withasigh,“Iamafraidthereis。It’sveryseldomItalkasplainlyasthistoany,onebutyouarejustthepersononecanunburdenoneselftoalittle;andtotellyouthetruth,it’sratherarelief。Asyousay,theseeighteenarrestsinoneweekdomeansomething。HalfoftheEnglishmenwhohavebeenarrestedare,tomycertainknowledge,connectedwithourSecretService,andtheyhavebeenarrested,inmanycases,wheretherearenofortificationsworthspeakingofwithinfiftymiles,ononepretextoranother。ThefactofthematteristhatthingsaregoingoninGermany,justatthepresentmoment,theknowledgeofwhichisofvitalinteresttous。“
“Thenthesearrests,“Hamelremarked,“arereallybonafide?“
“Withoutadoubt,“hiscompanionagreed。“Ionlywondertherehavenotbeenmore。IamtellingyouwhatisaprettyopensecretwhenItellyouthatthereisaconferenceduetobeheldthisweekatsomeplaceoranotheronthecontinent-Idon’tknowwhere,myself-whichwillhaveaveryimportantbearinguponourfuture。Weknowjustasmuchasthatandnotmuchmore。“
“Aconferencebetweenwhom?“Hamelasked。
Kinsleydroppedhisvoicealmosttoawhisper。
“Weknow,“hereplied,“thataverygreatmanfromRussia,agreaterstillfromFrance,aministerfromAustria,astatesmanfromItaly,andanenvoyfromJapan,havebeeninvitedtomeetaGermanministerwhosenameIwillnotmention,eventoyou。Thesubjectoftheirproposeddiscussionhasneverbeenbreathed。Onecanonlysuspect。
WhenItellyouthatnoonefromthiscountrywasinvitedtotheconference,Ithinkyouwillbeable,broadlyspeaking,todivineitspurpose。Thecloudshavebeengatheringforagoodmanyyears,andwehaveonlyburiedourheadsalittledeeperinthesands。Wehavehadourchancesandwilfullychuckedthemaway。NationalServiceorthreemorearmycorpsfouryearsagowouldhavebroughtusanalliancewhichwouldhavemeantabsolutesafetyfortwenty-oneyears。Youknowwhathappened。Wehavelivedthroughmanyrumoursandescaped,morenarrowlythanmostpeoplerealise,agreatmanydangers,butthereiseveryindicationthistimethattheendisreallycoming。“
“Andwhatwilltheendbe?“Hamelenquiredeagerly。
Kinsleyshruggedhisshouldersandpausedwhiletheirglasseswerefilledwithwine。
“Itwillbeinthenatureofadiplomaticcoup,“hesaidpresently。
“OfthatmuchIfeelsure。Englandwillbeforcedintosuchapositionthatshewillhavenoalternativeleftbuttodeclarewar。
That,ofcourse,willbetheendofus。Withourridiculouslysmallarmyandabsolutelynosaneschemeforhomedefence,weshallloseallthatwehaveworthfightingfor-ourcolonies-withoutbeingabletostrikeablow。Thethingissoridiculouslyobvious。
Ithasbeenadmittedtimeaftertimebyeverysealordandeverycommander-in-chief。Wehavelistenedtoit,andthat’sall。Ourfleetisneededunderpresentconditionstoprotectourownshores。
Thereisn’tasinglebattleshipwhichcouldbesafelyspared。Canada,Australia,NewZealand,Egypt,India,musttakecareofthemselves。
Iwonderwhenanationoftheworldeverplayedfastandloosewithgreatpossessionsaswehavedone!“
“Thisisanicesortofthingtohearalmostone’sfirstnightinEngland,“Hamelremarkedalittlegloomily。“Tellmesomemoreaboutthisconference。Areyousurethatyourinformationisreliable?“
“Ourinformationismiserablyscanty,“Kinsleyadmitted。“Curiouslyenough,themanwhomustknowmostaboutthewholethingisanEnglishman,oneofthemostcuriousmortalsintheBritishEmpire。
Aspyofhissucceededinlearningmorethananyofourpeople,andwithoutbeingarrested,too。“
“Andwhoisthissingularperson?“Hamelasked。
“Amanofwhomyou,Isuppose,neverheard,“Kinsleyreplied。“HisnameisFentolin-MilesFentolin-andhelivessomewheredowninNorfolk。Heisoneofthestrangestcharactersthateverlived,strangerthananyeffortoffictionIevermetwith。HewasintheForeignOfficeonce,andeveryonewaspredictingforhimabrilliantcareer。Thentherewasanaccident-letmesee,itmusthavebeensomesixorsevenyearsago-andhehadtohavebothhislegsamputated。Nooneknowsexactlyhowtheaccidenthappened,andtherewasalwaysacertainamountofmysteryconnectedwithit。Sincethenhehasburiedhimselfinthecountry。Idon’tthink,infact,thatheevermovesoutsidehisplace;butsomehoworotherhehasmanagedtokeepintouchwithallthepoliticalmovementsoftheday。“
“Fentolin,“Hamelrepeatedsoftlytohimself。“Tellme,whereaboutsdoeshelive?“
“QuiteawonderfulplaceinNorfolk,Ibelieve,somewherenearthesea。I’veforgottenthename,forthemoment。Hehashadwirelesstelegraphyinstalled;hehasatelegraphofficeinthehouse,half-a-dozenprivatewires,andtheysaythathespendsanimmenseamountofmoneykeepingintouchwithforeignpolitics。Hisexcuseisthathespeculateslargely,asIdaresayhedoes;butjustlately,“Kinsleywentonmoreslowly,“hehasbeenanobjectofanxietytoallofus。ItwashewhosentthefirstagentouttoGermany,totryanddiscoveratleastwherethisconferencewastobeheld。Hismanreturnedinsafety,andhehasoneovertherenowwhohasnotbeenarrested。Weseemtohavelostnearlyallofours。“
“DoyoumeantosaythatthismanFentolinactuallypossessesinformationwhichtheGovernmenthasn’tastotheintentionsofforeignPowers?“Hamelasked。
Kinsleynodded。Therewasaslightflushuponhispallidcheeks。
“Henotonlyhasit,buthedoesn’tmeantopartwithit。Afewhundredyearsago,whentherulersofthiscountryweremenwithbloodintheirveins,he’dhavebeengivenjustonechancetotellallheknew,andhungasatraitorifhehesitated。Wedon’tdothatsortofthingnowadays。Werathergoinforpreservingtraitors。WepermitthemeveninourownHouseofCommons。However,Idon’twanttodepressyouandplaythealarmistsosoonafteryourreturntoLondon。Idaresaytheoldcountry’llmuddlealongthroughourtime。“
“Don’tbefoolish,“Hamelbegged。“There’snoothersubjectofconversationcouldinterestmehalfasmuch。Haveyouformedanyideayourselfastothenatureofthisconference?“
“Weallhaveanidea,“Kinsleyrepliedgrimly;“IndiaforRussia;alargesliceofChinaforJapan,withprobablyAustraliathrownin;
Alsace-LorraineforFrance’sneutrality。There’sbriberyforyou。
What’stobecomeofpoorEnglandthen?Ourfriendsareonlyhuman,afterall,andit’smerelyaquestionofhandingovertothemsufficientspoil。Theymustconsiderthemselvesfirst:that’sthefirstdutyoftheirpoliticianstowardstheircountry。“
“Youmeantosay,“Hamelasked,“thatyouseriouslybelievethataconferenceisonthepointofbeingheldatwhichFranceandRussiaaretobeinvitedtoconsidersuggestionslikethis?“
“Iamafraidthere’snodoubtaboutit,“Kinsleydeclared。“TheirambassadorsinLondonprofesstoknownothing。That,ofcourse,istheirreasonableattitude,butthere’snodoubtwhateverthattheconferencehasbeenplanned。Ishouldsaythatto-nightwearenearerwar,ifwecansummonenoughspirittofight,thanwehavebeensinceFashoda。“
“QueerifIhavereturnedjustintimeforthescrap,“Hamelremarkedthoughtfully。“IwasintheMilitiaonce,soIexpectIcangetajob,ifthere’sanyfighting。“
“Icangetyouabetterjobthanfighting-oneyoucanstartonto-morrow,too,“Kinsleyannouncedabruptly,“thatisifyoureallywanttohelp?“