“Herintellectisdefective,“Mr。Fentolinremarked,“ononepointonly。ThegoodwomanisobsessedbytheideathatherhusbandandsonsarestillcallingtoherfromtheDaggerRocks。Itisalmostpitifultomeetherwanderingaboutthereonastormynight。Theseacoastsarefulloftheselittlevillagetragedies-realtragedies,too,howeverinsignificanttheymayseemtous。“
Mr。Fentolin’stonewasgentlysympathetic。Hechangedthesubjectamomentortwolater,however。
“Nerofiddlesto-night,“hesaid,“whileRomeburns。Therearehundredsinourposition,yetitcertainlyseemsqueerthatweshouldbesittingheresoquietlywhenthewholecountryisinsuchastateofexcitement。Iseethepressthismorningispreachinganimmediatedeclarationofwar。“
“Againstwhom?“Mrs,Fentolinasked。
Mr。Fentolinsmiled。
“Thatdoesseemtoberatherthetrouble,“headmitted。“Russia,Austria,Germany,Italy,andFranceareallassistingataConferencetowhichnoEnglishrepresentativehasbeenbidden。Inasense,ofcourse,thatisequivalenttoanactofhostilityfromallthesecountriestowardsEngland。ThequestioniswhetherwehaveorhavenotasecretunderstandingwithFrance,andifso,howfarshewillbeboundbyit。ThereisarumourthatwhenMonsieurDeschelleswasaskedformallywhomherepresented,thathereplied-’FranceandGreatBritain。’Theremaybesomethinginit。ItishardtoseehowanyEnglishstatesmancouldhaveleftunguardedtheMediterranean,withallthatitmeans,trustingsimplytothefaithofacountrywithwhomwehavenobindingagreement。Ontheotherhand,thereisthemobilisationofthefleet。IfFranceisreallyfaithful,onewondersiftherewasneedforsuchanextremestep。“
“Iamoutoftouchwithpoliticalaffairs,“Hameldeclared。“IhavebeenawayfromEnglandforsolong。“
“I,ontheotherhand,“Mr。Fentolincontinued,hiseyesglitteringalittle,“havemadethestudyofthepoliticalsituationinEuropemyhobbyforyears。IhavesenttometheleadingnewspapersofBerlin,Rome,Paris,St。Petersburg,andVienna。FortwohourseverydayIreadthem,sidebyside。ItiscurioussometimestonotethecommonunderstandingwhichseemstoexistbetweenthePowersnotboundbyanyformalalliance。Foryearswarseemedaveryunlikelything,andnow,“headded,leaningforwardinhischair,“Ipronounceitalmostacertainty。“
Hamellookedathishostalittlecuriously。Mr。Fentolin’sgentlenessofexpressionseemedtohavedeparted。Hisfacewashard,hiseyesagleam。Hebadalmostthelookofabirdofprey。
Forsomereason,thethoughtofwarseemedtobeajoytohim。
PerhapshereadsomethingofHamel’swonderinhisexpression,forwithashrugoftheshouldershedismissedthesubject。
“Well,“heconcluded,“allthesethingslieonthekneesofthegods。
Idaresayyouwonder,Mr。Hamel,whyapooruselesscreaturelikemyselfshouldtaketheslightestinterestinpassingevents?Itisjustthefascinationofthelooker-on。Iwantyouropinionaboutthatchampagne。Florencedear,youmustjoinus。WewilldrinktoMr。Hamel’shealth。WewillperhapscouplethattoastinourmindswiththesentimentwhichIamsureisnotveryfarfromyourthoughts,Florence。“
Hamelraisedhisglassandbowedtohishostandhostess。Hewasnotwhollyathisease。Itseemedtohimthathewasbeingwatchedwithaqueerpersistencebybothofthem。Mrs,Fentolincontinuedtotalkandlaughwithagaietywhichwastooobviouslyforced。Mr。
Fentolinposedforawhileasthebenevolentlistener。Hemildlyapplaudedhissister-in-law’sstories,andencouragedHamelintherecitalofsomeofhisreminiscences。Suddenlythedoorwasopened。
MissPriceappeared。ShewalkedsmoothlyacrosstheroomandstoodbyMr。Fentolin’sside。Stoopingdown,shewhisperedinhisear。Hepushedhischairbackalittlefromthetable。Hisfacewasdarkwithanger。
“Isaidnotbeforetento-night,“hemuttered。
Againshespokeinhisear,sosoftlythatthesoundofhervoiceitselfscarcelytravelledevenasfaraswhereHamelwassitting。
Mr。Fentolinlookedsteadfastlyforamomentathissister-in-lawandfromhertoHamel。Thenhebackedhischairawayfrontthetable。
“Ishallhavetoasktobeexcusedforthreeminutes,“hesaid。
“Imustspeakuponthetelephone。Itisacallfromsomeonewhodeclaresthattheyhaveimportantnews。“
Heturnedthesteering-wheelofhischair,andwithMissPricebyhissidepassedacrossthedining-room,outoftheOasisofrose-shadedlightsintotheshadows,andthroughtheopendoor。
>Fromthereheturnedhisheadbeforehedisappeared,asthoughtowatchhisguest。Mrs,Fentolinwasbusyfondlingoneofherdogs,whichshehadraisedtoherlap,andHamelwaswatchingherwithatolerantsmile。
“Koto,youlittleidiot,whycan’tyousituplikeyoursister?
Wasitstailintheway,then!Mr。Hamel,“shewhisperedunderherbreath,sosoftlythathebarelycaughtthewords,althoughhewasonlyafewfeetaway,“don’tlookatme。Ifeelasthoughwewerebeingwatchedallthetime。Youcandestroythatpieceofpaperinyourpocket。Allthatitsaysis’Leavehereimmediatelyafterdinner>’“
Hamelsippedhiswineinanonchalantfashion。Hisfingershadstrayedoverthesilkycoatofthelittledog,whichshehadheldoutasthoughforhisinspection。
“HowcanI?“heasked。“WhatexcusecanImake?“
“Inventone,“sheinsistedswiftly。“Leaveherebeforeteno’clock。
Don’tletanythingkeepyou。Anddestroythatpieceofpaperinyourpocket,ifyoucan-now。“
“But,Mrs,Fentolin-“hebegan。
Shecaughtuponeofherabsurdlittlepetsandheldittohermouth。
“Meekinsisinthedoorway,“shewhisperedDon’targuewithme,please。Youareindangeryouknownothingabout。Passmethecigarettes。“
Sheleanedbackinherchair,smokingquickly。Sheheldoneofthedogsonherkneeandtalkedrubbishtoit。Hamelwatchedher,leaningbackinhiscarvedoakchair,andhefoundithardtokeepthepityfromhiseyes。Thewomanwasplayingapart,playingitwithdesperateandpitifulearnestness,apartwhichseemedthemoretragicalbecauseofthesoftsplendouroftheirsurroundings。Fromtheshadowywalls,huge,dimly-seenpictureshungaboutthem,astrangeandyetimpressivebackground。Theirsmallrounddining-table,withitsrarecutglass,itsperfectappointments,itsbowlsofpinkroses,waslikeaspotofwonderfulcolourinthegreatroom。Twomenservantsstoodatthesideboardafewyardsaway,atriumphofnegativeness。Thebutler,whohadbeenabsentforamoment,stoodnowsilentlywaitingbehindhismaster’splace。Hamelwasoppressed,duringthosefewminutesofwaiting,byacurioussenseofunreality,asthoughheweretakingpartinsomestrangetableau。Therewassomethingunrealabouthissurroundingsandhisownpresencethere;somethingunrealintheatmosphere,chargedasitseemedtobewithsomeomenofimpendinghappenings;somethingunrealinthatwhisperedwarning,thosefewhoarselyutteredwordswhichhadstolentohishearingacrosstheclustersofdroopingroses;theabsurdbabbleofthewoman,whosattherewithtragicthingsunderthepowderwithwhichherfacewasdaubed。
“Kotomustlearntosituponhistail-likethat。No,notanothergrapetillhesitsup。There,then!“
Shewasleaningforwardwithagrapebetweenherteeth,towardsthetinyanimalwhowastryinginvaintobalancehisabsurdlyshapedlittlebodyuponthetablecloth。Hamel,withoutlookingaround,knewquitewellwhatwashappening。Soonheheardtheclickofthechair。Mr。Fentolinwasbackinhisplace。Hisskinseemedpalerandmoreparchment-likethanever。Hiseyesglittered。
“Itseems,“heannouncedquietly,asheraisedhiswine-glasstohislipswiththeairofoneneedingsupport,“thatweentertainedanangelunawareshere。ThisMr。Dunsterislostforthesecondtime。
Averyimportantpersonageheturnsouttobe。“
“YoumeantheAmericanwhomGeraldbroughthomeaftertheaccident?“
Mrs,Fentolinaskedcarelessly。
Mr。Fentolinreplied。“Heinsisteduponcontinuinghisjourneybeforehewasstrongenough。Iwarnedhimofwhatmighthappen。
Hehasevidentlybeentakeillsomewhere。ItseemsthathewasonhiswaytoTheHague。“
“Doyoumeanthathehasdisappearedaltogetherthistime?“Hamelasked。
Mr。Fentolinshookhishead。
“No,hehasfoundhiswaytoTheHaguesafelyenough。Heislyingthereatahotelinthecity,butheisunconscious。Thereissometalkabouthishavingbeenrobbedontheway。Atanyrate,theyaretracinghismovementsbackwards。WearetobehonouredwithavisitfromoneofScotlandYard’sdetect,ives,toreconstructhisjourneyfromhere。Ourquietlittlecorneroftheworldisbecomingquitenotorious。Florencedear,youaretired。Icanseeitinyoureyes。Yourheadachecontinues,Iamsure。Wewillnotbeselfish。Mr。HamelandIaregoingtohavealongeveninginthelibrary。Letmerecommendaphenacetinandbed。“
Sheroseatoncetoherfeet,withadogundereitherarm。
“I’lltakethephenacetin,“shepromised,“butIhategoingtobedearly。ShallIseeyouagain,Iwonder,Mr。Hamel?“
“Notthisevening,Ifear,“heanswered。“IamgoingtoaskMr。
Fentolintoexcusemeearly。“
Shepassedoutoftheroom。Hamelescortedherasfarasthedoorandthenreturned。Mr。Fentolinwassittingquitestillinhischair。Hiseyeswerefixeduponthetablecloth。HelookedupquicklyasHamelresumedhisseat。
“Youarenotinearnest,Ihope,Mr。Hamel,“hesaid,“whenyoutellmethatyoumustleaveearly?Ihavebeenanticipatingalongevening。MylibraryisfilledwithbooksonSouthAmericawhichI