Mr。Fentolinheldhishandinfrontofhiseyes,asthoughtoshutoutsomeunwelcomevision。
“Dearme,“heexclaimed,“howunpleasantWhyshouldyouforcemetodisclosemyplans?Becontent,dearMr。Dunster,withtheknowledgeofthisonefact:wecannotpartwithyou。Ihavethoughtitoverfromeverypointofview,andIhavecometothatconclusion;
alwayspresuming,“hewenton,“thattheknowledgeofthatlittlewordofwhichwehavespokenremainsinitssecretchamberofyourmemory。“
Mr。Dunstersmokedinsilenceforafewminutes。
“Iamverycomfortablehere,“heremarked。
“Youdelightme,“Mr。Fentolinmurmured。
“Yourcook,“Mr。Dunstercontinued,“haswonmyheartfeltappreciation。Yourcigarsandwinesarefitforanynobleman。
Perhaps,afterall,thislittlerestisgoodforme。“
Mr。Fentolinlistenedattentively。
“Donotforget,“hesaid,“thatthereisalwaysalimitfixed,whetheritbeoneday,twodays,orthreedays。“
“Alimittoyourcomplacence,Ipresume?“
Mr。Fentolinassented。
“Obviously,then,“Mr。Dunsterconcluded,“youwishthosewhosentmetobelievethatmymessagehasbeendelivered。YetthereImustconfessthatyoupuzzleme。WhatIcannotseeis,toputitbluntly,whereyoucomein。Anyoneofthecountriesrepresentedatthislittleconferencewouldonlybethegainersbythemiscarriageofmymessage,whichis,withoutdoubt,sofarastheyareconcerned,ofadistastefulnature。Yourowncountryalonecouldbethesufferer。Nowwhatinterestintheworld,then,isthereleft-whatinterestintheworldcanyoupossiblyrepresent-whichcanbethegainerbyyourpresentaction?“
Mr。Fentolin’seyesgrewsuddenlyalittlebrighter。Therewasalightuponhisfacestrangetowitness,“Thepowerwhichistobethegainer,“hesaidquietly,“isthepowerencompassedbythesewalls,“
Hetouchedhischest;hislong,slimfingerswerefoldeduponit。
“WhenImeetamanwhomIlike,“hecontinuedsoftly,“Itakehimintomyconfidence。Pictureme,ifyouwill,asakindofPuck。
Haven’tyouheardthatwiththedecayofthebodycomessometimesamalignantgrowthinthebrain;aCaliban-likedesireforeviltofallupontheworld;adesiretoescapefromthelonelinessofsuffering,theisolationofblackmisery?“
Mr。JohnP。Dunsterlethiscigarburnout。Helookedsteadfastlyatthisstrangelittlefigurewhosechairhadimperceptiblymovedalittlenearertohis。
“Youknowwhatthewithholdingofthismessageyoucarrymaymean,“
Mr。Fentolinproceeded。“Youcomehere,bearingtoEuropethewordofagreatpeople,apeoplewhosevoiceispowerfulenougheventostillthegatheringfuries。Ihavereadyourcipheredmessage。ItiswhatIfeared。Itismywill,mine-MilesFentolin’s-thatthatmessagebenotdelivered。“
“Iwonder,“Mr。Dunstermutteredunderhisbreath,“whetheryouareinearnest。“
“Inyourheart,“Mr。Fentolintoldhim,“youknowthatIam。Icanseethetruthinyourface。Now,forthefirsttime,youbegintounderstand。“
“Toacertainextent,“Mr。Dunsteradmitted。“WhereIamstillinthedark,however,iswhyyoushouldexpectthatIshouldbecomeyourconfederate。Itistruethatbyholdingmeupandobstructingmymessage,youmaybringabouttheevilyouseek,butunlessthatwordiscabledbacktoNewYork,andmysendersbelievethatmymessagehasbeendelivered,therecanbenocertainty。Whathasbeentrustedtomeasthesafestmeansoftransmission,might,inanemergency,becommittedtoacable。“
“Excellentreasoning,“Fentolinagreed。“Fortheveryreasonsyounamethatwordwillbegiven。“
Mr。Dunster’sfacewasmomentarilytroubled。Therewassomethinginthestill,coldemphasisofthisman’svoicewhichmadehimshiver。
“Doyouthink,“Mr。Fentolinwenton,“thatIspendagreatfortunebuyingthesecretsoftheworld,thatIlivefromdaytodaywiththeriskofignominiousdetectionalwayshoveringaboutme-doyouthinkthatIdothisandamyetunpreparedtorunthefinalrisksoflifeanddeath?Haveyouevertalkedwithamurderer,Mr。Dunster?
HascuriosityevertakenyouwithinthewallsofSingSing?Haveyousatwithinthecellofadoomedmanandfeltthethrillofhistouch,ofhisclosepresence?Well,Iwillnotaskyouthosequestions。I
willsimplytellyouthatyouaretalkingtoonenow。“
Mr。Dunsterhadforgottenhisextinctcigar。HefounditdifficulttoremovehiseyesfromMr。Fentolin’sface。Hewashalffascinated,halfstirredwithavague,mysteriousfear。Underneaththesewildwordsranalwaysthathardnoteoftruth。
“Youseemtobeinearnest,“hemuttered。
“Iam,“Mr。Fentolinassuredhimquietly。“Ihavemorethanoncebeeninstrumentalinbringingaboutthedeathofthosewhohavecrossedmypurposes。IpleadguiltytotheweaknessofNero。
Sufferinganddeatharethingsofjoytome。There!“
“Iamnotsure,“Mr。Dunstersaidslowly,“thatIoughtnottowringyourneck。“
Mr。Fentolinsmiled。Hischairrecededaninchortwo。Therewasneveratimewhenhisexpressionhadseemedmoreseraphic。
“Thereisnoemergencyofthatsort,“heremarked,“forwhichIamnotprepared。“
Hislittlerevolvergleamedforaminutebeneathhiscuff。Hebackedhischairslowlyandwithwonderfulskilltowardsthedoor。
“Wewillfixtheperiodofyourprobation,Mr。Dunster,at-say,twenty-fourhours,“hedecided。“Pleasemakeyourselfuntilthenentirelyathome。Mycook,mycellar,mycigarcabinets,areatyourdisposal。Ifsomehappyimpulse,“heconcluded,“shouldshowyoutheonlyreasonablecoursebydinnertime,itwouldgivemetheutmostpleasuretohaveyoujoinusatthatmeal。Icanpromiseyouachequebeneathyourplatewhichevenyoumightthinkworthconsidering,wineinyourglasswhichkingsmightsighfor,cigarsbyyoursidewhichevenyourMr。PierpontMorgancouldnotbuy。
Aurevoir!“
Thedooropenedandclosed。Mr。Dunstersatstaringintotheopenspacelikeamanstillalittledazed。
ThebeautifulbutsomewhatausterefrontofSt。David’sHallseemed,inasense,transformed,asHamelandhiscompanionclimbedtheworngreystepswhichledontothebroadsweepofterrace。Evidentlyvisitorshadrecentlyarrived。Adark,rathergood-lookingwoman,withpleasantroundfaceandaceaselessflowofconversation,waschatteringawaytoMr。Fentolin。ByhersidestoodanotherwomanwhowasastrangertoHamel-thin,stillelegant,withtired,wornface,andtheshadowofsomethinginhereyeswhichremindedhimatonceofEsther。SheworealargepicturehatandcarriedalittlePomeraniandogunderherarm。Inthebackground,aninsignificant-lookingmanwithgreyside-whiskersandspectacleswasbeaminguponeverybody。
Mr。FentolinwavedhishandandbeckonedtoHamelandEstherastheysomewhathesitatinglyapproached。
“Thisisoneofmyfortunatemornings,yousee,Esther!“heexclaimed,smiling。“LadySaxthorpehasbroughtherhusbandovertolunch。LadySaxthorpe,“headded,turningtothewomanathisside,“letmepresenttoyouthesonofoneofthefirstmentorealisetheelusivebeautyofourcoast。ThisisMr。Hamel,sonofPeterHamel,R。A-theCountessofSaxthorpe。“
LadySaxthorpe,whohadbeenengagedingreetingEsther,heldoutherhandandsmiledgood-humour-
edlyatHamel。
“Iknowyourfather’sworkquitewell,“shedeclared,“andIdon’twonderthatyouhavemadeapilgrimagehere。Theytellmethathepaintednineteenpictures-picturesofimportance,thatistosay-withinthislittleareaoftenmiles。Doyoupaint,Mr。Hamel?“
“Notatall,“Hamelanswered。
“OurfriendHamel,“Mr。Fentolinintervened,“woosotherandsternermuses。Hefightsnatureindistantcountries,spanshergorgeswithironbridges,stemsthefuryofherrivers,andcarriestotheboundaryoftheworldthatlittletwinlineofmetalwhichbringsmenlikeantstothework-heapsoftheuniverse。MydearFlorence,“
headded,suddenlyturningtothewomanathisotherside,“forthemomentIhadforgotten。Youhavenotmetourguestyet。Hamel,thisismysister-in-law,Mrs。SeymourFentolin。“
Sheheldoutherhandtohim,unnaturallythinandwhite,coveredwithjewels。Againhesawsomethinginhereyeswhichstirredhimvaguely。
“Itissonicethatyouareabletospendafewdays:withus,Mr。
Hamel,“shesaidquietly。“IamsorrythatIhavebeentooindisposedtomakeyouracquaintanceearlier。“
“And,Mr。Fentolincontinued,“youmustknowmyyoungfriendhere,too。Mr。Hamel-LordSaxthorpe。“