“Minewasaveryfoolishrequest,“sheadmittedquietly。“IamsorrythatIevermadeit。Itwasjustanimpulse,becausethelittlebuildingwewerespeakingofhasbeenconnectedwithoneortwoverydisagreeableepisodes。Nevertheless,itwasfoolishofme。Howlongdidyouthinkofstayingthere-thatis,“sheadded,withafaintsmile,“providingthatyoufinditpossibletoproveyourclaimandtakeuppossession?“
“Oh,justforaweekorso,“heansweredlightly,“andastoregainingpossessionofit,“hewenton,aslightlypugnaciousinstinctstirringhim,“Idon’timaginethatthere’llbeanydifficultyaboutthat。“
“Really!“shemurmured。
“NotthatIwanttomakemyselfdisagreeable,“hecontinued,“buttheTowerismine,rightenough,evenifIhaveletitremainunoccupiedforsometime。“
Sheletdownthewindow-ataskinwhichhehastenedtoassisther。
Arushofsalt,coldairsweptintothecompartment。Hesniffediteagerly。
“Wonderful!“heexclaimed。
Shestretchedoutalongarmandpointed。Awayinthedistance,onthesummitofalineofpebbledshore,standing,asitseemed,sheeroverthesea,wasalittleblackspeck。
That,“shesaid,“istheTower。“
Hechangedhispositionandleanedoutofthewindow。
“Well,it’saqueerlittleplace,“heremarked。“Itdoesn’tlookworthquarrellingover,doesit?“
“Andthat,“shewenton,directinghisattentiontothehill,“isMr。Fentolin’shome,St。David’sHall。“
Forseveralmomentshemadenoremarkatall。Therewassomethingcuriouslyimpressiveinthatsuddensweepupfromthesea-line;thestrange,miniaturemountainstandinginthemiddleofthemarshes,withitstree-crownedbackground;andthelong,weather-beatenfrontofthehouseturnedbravelytothesea。
“Ineversawanythinglikeit,“hedeclared。“Why,it’sbarelyaquarterofamilefromthesea,isn’tit?“
“Alittlemorethanthat。Itisastrangelysituatedabode,isn’tit?“
“Wonderful!“heagreed,withemphasis。“Imuststudythegeologicalformationofthathill,“hecontinued,withinterest。“Why,itlooksalmostlikeanislandnow。“
“Thatisbecauseofthefloods,“shetoldhim。“Evenathightidethecreeksneverreachsofarasthebackthere。Allthewateryouseestretchingawayinlandisfloodwater-theresultofthestorm,Isuppose。Thisiswhereyougetout,“sheconcluded,risingtoherfeet。
Sheturnedawaywiththeslightestnod。Amaidwasalreadyawaitingheratthedoorofthecompartment。Hamelwassuddenlyconsciousofthefactthathedislikedhergoingimmensely。
“Weshall,perhaps,meetagainduringthenextfewdays,“heremarked。
Shehalfturnedherhead。Herexpressionwasscarcelyencouraging。
“Ihope,“shesaid,“thatyouwillnotbedisappointedinyourquarters。“
Hamelfollowedherslowlyontotheplatform,sawherescortedtoaveryhandsomemotor-carbyanobsequiousstation-master,andwatchedtheformerdisappeardownthestretchofstraightroadwhichledtothehill。Then,withastickinonehand,andthehandbagwhichwashissoleluggageintheother,heleftthestationandturnedseaward。
Mr。Fentolin,surroundedbyhissatellites,wasseatedinhischairbeforethewriting-table。Therewerepresentintheroommostofthepeopleimportanttohiminhissomewhatsingularlife。Afewfeetaway,incharacteristicattitude,stoodMeekins。DoctorSarson,withhishandsbehindhim,waslookingoutofthewindow。Atthefurtherendofthetablestoodaconfidentialtelegraphclerk,whowasjustdepartingwithalittlesheafofmessages。Byhisside,withanotebookinherhand,stoodMr。Fentolin’sprivatesecretary-awhite-hairedwoman,withastrangelytransparentskinandlightbrowneyes,dressedinsomberblack,awomanwhomighthavebeenofanyagefromthirtytofifty。Behindherwasamiddle-agedmanwhosepositioninthehouseholdnoonewasquitesureabout-aclean-shavenmanwhosenamewasRyan,andwhomightverywellhavebeenonceanactororaclergyman……InthebackgroundstoodHenderson,theperfectbutler。
“Itisperhapsopportune,“Mr。Fentolinsaidquietly,“thatyouallwhomItrustshouldbepresentheretogether。Iwishyoutounderstandonething。Youhave,Ibelieve,inmyemploylearnedthegiftofsilence。Itistobeexercisedwithregardtoacertainvisitorbroughtherebymynephew,avisitorwhomIregrettosayisnowlyingseriouslyill。“
Therewasabsolutesilence。DoctorSarsonaloneturnedfromthewindowasthoughabouttospeak,butmetMr。Fentolin’seyeandatonceresumedhisposition。
“Irelyuponyouall,“Mr。Fentolincontinuedsoftly。“Henderson,you,perhaps,havethemostdifficulttask,foryouhavetheservantstocontrol。Nevertheless,Irelyuponyou,also。Ifonewordofthisvisitor’spresencehereleaksoutevensofarasthevillage,outtheygo,everyoneofthem。
Iwillnothaveaservantintheplacewhodoesnotrespectmywishes。Youcangiveanyreasonyoulikeformyorders。Itisawhim。Ihavewhims,andIchoosetopayforthem。Youareallbetterpaidthananymanbreathingcouldpayyou。InreturnIaskonlyforyourimplicitobedience。“
Hestretchedouthishandandtookacigarettefromacuriouslycarvedivoryboxwhichstoodbyhisside。Hetappeditgentlyuponthetableandlookedup。
“Ithink,sir,“Hendersonsaidrespectfully,“thatIcananswerfortheservants。Beingmostlyforeigners,theyseelittleornothingofthevillagepeople。“
Nooneelsemadeanyremark。Itwasstrangetoseehowdominatedtheyallwerebythatqueerlittlefragmentofhumanity,whoseheadscarcelyreachedafootabovethetablebeforewhichhesat。Theydepartedsilently,almostabjectly,dismissedwithasinglewaveofthehand。Mr。Fentolinbeckonedhissecretarytoremain。Shecamealittlenearer。
“Sitdown,Lucy,“heordered。
Sheseatedherselfafewfeetawayfromhim。Mr。Fentolinwatchedherforseveralmoments。Hehimselfhadhisbacktothelight。
Thewoman,ontheotherhand,wasfacingit。Thewindowswerehigh,andthecurtainsweredrawnbacktotheirfullestextent。Acoldstreamofnorthernlightfelluponherface。Mr。Fentolingazedatherandnoddedherheadslightly。
“MydearLucy,“hedeclared,“youarewonderful-aperfectcameo,agem。Tolookatyounow,withyourdelightfulwhitehairandyourflawlessskin,onewouldneverbelievethatyoubadeverspokenasingleangryword,thatyouhadeverfeltthebloodflowthroughyourveins,orthatyoureyeshadeverlookeduponthegentlethingsoflife。“
Shelookedathim,stillwithoutspeech。Theimmobilityofherfacewasindeedamarvellousthing。Mr。Fentolin’sexpressiondarkened。
“Sometimes,“hemurmuredsoftly,“IthinkthatifIhadstrongfingers-reallystrongfingers,youknow,Lucy-Ishouldwanttotakeyoubythethroatandholdyoutighterandtighter,untilyourbreathcamefast,andyoureyescameoutfromtheirshadows。“
Sheturnedoverafewpagesofhernotebook。Toallappearanceshehadnotheardaword。
“To-day,“sheannounced,“isthefourthofApril。ShallIsendoutthevariouscheckstothosemeninParis,NewYork,Frankfort,St。
Petersburg,andTokio?“
“Youcansendthechecks,“hetoldher。“Besurethatyoudrawthem,asusual,upontheCreditLyonaiseandinthenameyouknowof。SaytoLebonaitreofParisthatyouconsiderhislastreportsfaulty。NomentionwasmadeofMonsieurC’svisittotheRussianEmbassy,orofthesupperpartygiventotheBaronvonErlsteinbyacertainRussiangentleman。Warnhim,ifyouplease,thatreportswithsuchomissionsareuselesstome。“
Shewroteafewwordsinherbook。
“Youmadeanoteofthat?“
Sheraisedherhead。
“Idonotmakemistakes,“shesaid。
Hiseyebrowsweredrawntogether。Thiswashiswork,hetoldhimself,thismagnificentphysicalsubjection。Yethisinabilitytostirhersometimesmaddenedhim。
“Youknowwhoisinthishouse?“heasked。“Youknowthenameofmyunknownguest?“
“Iknownothing,“shereplied。“Hispresencedoesnotinterestme。“
“SupposingIdesireyoutoknow?“hepersisted,leaningalittleforward。“SupposingItellyouthatitisyourdutytoknow?“
“Then,“shesaid,“IshouldtellyouthatIbelievehimtobethespecialenvoyfromNewYorktoTheHague,orwhateverplaceontheContinentthiscomingconferenceistobeheldat。“
“Right,woman!“Mr。Fentolinansweredsharply。“Right!Itisthespecialenvoy。Hehashismandatewithhim。Ihavethemboth-themanandhismandate。CanyouguesswhatIamgoingtodowiththem?“
“Itisnotdifficult,“shereplied。“Yourmethodsarescarcelyoriginal。Hismandatetotheflames,andhisbodytothesea!“
SheraisedhereyesasshespokeandlookedoverMr。Fentolin’sshoulder,acrossthemarshlandtothegreystretchofocean。Hereyesbecamefixed。Itwasnotpossibletosaythattheyheldanyexpression,andyetonefeltthatshesawbeneaththegreywaves,eventotherocksandcavernsbelow。
“Itdoesnotterrifyyou,then,“heaskedcuriously,“tothinkthatamanunderthisroofisabouttodie?“
“Whyshouldit?“sheretorted。“Deathdoesnotfrightenme-myownoranybodyelse’s。Doesitfrightenyou?“