wanttodiscusswithyou。“
“Anotherevening,ifyoudon’tmind,“Hamelbegged。“To-nightI
mustaskyoutoexcusemyhurryingaway。“
Mr。Fentolinlookedupfromunderneathhiseyelids。Hisglancewasquickandpenetrating。
“Whythishaste?“
Hamelshruggedhisshoulders。
“Totellyouthetruth,“headmitted,“IhadanideawhileIwasreadinganarticleoncantileverbridgesthismorning。Iwanttoworkitout。“
Mr。Fentolinglancedbehindhim。Thedoorofthedining-roomwasclosed。Theservantshaddisappeared。Meekinsalone,lookingmorelikeaprizefighterthaneverinhissombereveningclothes,hadtakentheplaceofthebutlerbehindhismaster’schair。
“Weshallsee,“Mr。Fentolinsaidquietly。
Mr。Fentolinpointedtothelittlepileofbooksuponthetable,thedeepeasy-chair,thegreen-shadedlamps,thedecanterofwine。
Hehadinsisteduponavisit,howeverbrief,tothelibrary。
“Itisastudent’sappealwhichImaketoyou,Mr。Hamel,“hesaid,withawhimsicalsmile。“Hereweareinmystudy,withthedoorclosed,secureagainstinterruption,abrightfireinthegrate,abowlingandever-increasingwindoutside。LetusgotogetheroverthegroundofyourlastwonderfulexpeditionovertheAndes。YouwillfindthatIamnotaltogetherignorantofyourprofession,orofthoseveryinterestinggeologicalproblemswhichyouspokeofinconnectionwiththatmarvellousrailwayscheme。Wewilldiscussthemsidebysideassybarites,hangourselvesaroundwithcigarettesmoke,drinkwine,andpresentlycoffee。Itisnecessary,isitnot,formanyreasons,thatwebecomebetteracquainted?Yourealisethat,Iamsure,andyouwillnotpersistinreturningtoyourselfishsolitude。“
Hamel’seyeswerefixedalittlelonginglyuponsomeofthevolumeswithwhichthetablewascovered。
“Youmustnotthinkmeungratefulorchurlish,Mr。Fentolin,“hebegged。“IhaveahabitofkeepingpromiseswhichImaketomyself,andto-nightIhavemademyselfapromisethatIwillbebackattheTowerbyteno’clock。“
“Youareobdurate?“Mr。Fentolinaskedsoftly。
“IamafraidIam。“
Mr。Fentolinbusiedhimselfwiththehandleofhischair。
“Tellme,“heinsisted,“isthereanyotherpersonsaveyourselftowhomyouhavegiventhismysteriouspromise?“
“Noone,“Hamelrepliedpromptly。
“Iamapersonverysensitivetoatmosphere,“Mr。Fentolincontinuedslowly。“SincetheunfortunatevisitofthismanDunster,Iseemtohavebeenconsciousofacertainsuspicion,alittlecloudofsuspicionunderwhichIseemtoliveandmove,evenamongthemembersofmyownhousehold。Mysister-in-lawisnervousandhysterical;
Geraldhasbeensullenanddisobedient;Estherhasavoidedme。Andnow-well,Ifindevenyourattitudealittledifficulttounderstand。Whatdoesitmean,Mr。Hamel?“
Hamelshookhishead。
“Iamnotintheconfidenceofthedifferentmembersofyourfamily,“
heanswered。“SofarasI,personally,amconcerned-“
“Itpleasesmesometimes,“Mr。Fentolininterrupted,“tointerferetosomeextentintheaffairsoftheoutsideworld。IfIdoso,thatismybusiness。Idoitformyownamusement。ItisatnotimeaseriouspositionwhichItakeup。HaveIbyanychance,Mr。
Hamel,becomeanobjectofsuspiciontoyou?“
“Therearemattersinwhichyouareconcerned,“Hameladmitted,“whichIdonotunderstand,butIseenopurposeindiscussingthem。“
Mr。Fentolinwheeledhischairroundinasemicircle。HewasnowbetweenthedoorandHamel。
“WeakermortalsthanI,Mr。Hamel,“hesaidcalmly,“havewieldedbeforenowthepowersoflifeanddeath。FrommychairIcanmakethelightningsbite。Sciencehasdoneawaywiththetriumphofmuscularity。Evenasweareheretogetheratthismoment,Mr。Hamel,ifweshoulddisagree,itisIwhoamthepreordainedvictor。“
Hamelsawtheglitterinhishand。Thiswassoend,then,ofalldoubt!Heremainedsilent。
“Suspicionswhichare,inasense,absurd,“Mr。Fentolincontinued,“havegrownuntilIfindthemobtrusiveandobnoxious。WhathaveI
todowithMr。JohnP。Dunster?Isenthimoutfrommyhouse。Ifheislostorill,theaffairisnotmine。Yetonebyonethosearoundmearefallingaway。ItoldyouanhouragothatGeraldwasatBrancaster。Itisalie。Hehasleftthishouse,butnosoulinitknowshisdestination。“
Hamelstarted。
“Youmeanthathehasrunaway?“
Mr。Fentolinnodded。
“AllthatIcansurmiseisthathehasfollowedDunster,“heproceeded。“HehasanideathatinsomewayIrobbedorinjuredtheman。Hehasbrokenthebondofrelationshipbetweenus。Hehasbrokenhissolemnvow。Hehasrunagraveandterriblerisk。“
“WhatofMissEsther?“Hamelaskedquickly。
“Ihavesentheraway,“Mr。Fentolinreplied,“untilwecometoaclearunderstanding,youandI。Youseemtobeaharmlessenoughperson,Mr。Hamelbutappearancesaresometimesdeceptive。Ithasbeensuggestedtomethatyouareaspy。“
“Bywhom?“Hameldemanded。
“BythoseinwhomItrust,“Mr。Fentolintoldhimsternly。“YouareafriendofReginaldKinsley。YoumethiminNorwichtheotherday-secretly。Kinsley’schiefisamemberoftheGovernment。HeisoneofthosewhowillfindeternalobloquyifTheHagueConferencecomestoasuccessfultermination。Forsomestrangereason,IamsupposedtohaverobbedorharmedtheonemanintheworldwhosemessagemightbringtonoughtthatConference。Areyouheretowatchme,Mr。Hamel?AreyouoneofthosewhobelievethatIameitherinthepayofaforeigncountry,orthatmyharmlesseffortstointerestmyselfingreatthingsareeffortsinimicaltothiscountry;thatIam,inshort,atraitor?“
“Youmustadmitthatmanyofyouractionsareincomprehensible,“
Hamelrepliedslowly。“TherearethingsherewhichIdonotunderstand-whichcertainlyrequireexplanation。“
“Still,whydoyoumakethemyourbusiness?“Mr。Fentolinpersisted。“IfindeedthecoursewhichIsteerisaharmlessone,“
hecontinued,withastrangenewglitterinhiseyes,“thenyouareanimpertinentstrangertowhommydoorscannotanylongerbeopen。
Ifyouhavetakenadvantageofmyhospitalitytospyuponmeandmyactions,ifindeedyouhaveamissionhere,thenyoucancarryitwithyoudownintohell!“
“Iunderstandthatyouarethreateningme?“Hamelmurmured。
Mr。Fentolinsmiled。
“Scarcelythat,myyoungfriend。Iamnotquitetheobvioussortofvillainwhoflourishesrevolversandlureshisvictimsintosecretchambers。Thesewordstoyouaresimplywordsofwarning。
Iamnotlikeothermen,neitheramIusedtobeingcrossed。WhenIamcrossed,Iamdangerous。Leavehere,ifyouwill,insafety,andmindyourownaffairs;butifyoushowoneparticleofcuriosityastomine,ifyouinterfereinmatterswhichconcernmeandmeonly,rememberthatyouareencircledbypowerswhichareentirelyruthless,absolutelyomnipotent。YoucanwalkbacktotheTowerto-nightandrememberthatthereisn’tastepyoutakewhichmightnotbeyourlastifIwilledit,andneverasoulthewiser。
There’saveryhungrylittlemotherherewhotakeshervictimsandholdsthemtight。Youcanhearhercallingtoyounow。Listen!“
Hehelduphisfinger。Thetidehadturned,andthroughthehalf-openwindowcamethelowthunderofthewaves。
“Youdeclinetosharemyevening,“Mr。Fentolinconcluded。“Letitbeso。Goyourownway,Hamel,onlytakecarethatyourwaydoesnotcrossmine。“
Hebackedhischairslowlyandpressedthebell。Hamelfelthimselfdismissed。Hepassedoutintothehall。Thedoorofthedrawing-roomstoodopen,andheheardthesoundofMrs,Fentolin’sthinvoicesingingsomelittleFrenchsong。Hehesitatedandthensteppedin。Withonehandshebeckonedhimtoher,continuingtoplayallthetime。Hesteppedovertoherside。
“Icometomakemyadieux,“hewhispered,withaglancetowardsthedoor。
“Youareleaving,then?“sheaskedquickly。
Henodded。