The Weight of the Crown

"Let's get into the house without delay," Peretori said. "It's any odds that her ladyship has not said anything to her servants and that she has not aroused the household. She is in the habit of disappearing from time to time thus when urgent business calls."

It proved exactly as Peretori had prophesied. None of the servants were about, on the table in the hall was an open note for Annette saying that her mistress had gone to Paris and that she would wire what time she was coming home again. Lechmere looked a little ironically at his companion.

"So far so good," he said. "The coast is quite clear. What do you propose to do next? You can hardly expect me to creep into Annette's bedroom like a vulgar burglar and examine the girl's possessions. That is, even if we knew where to look, which we don't."

Peretori shook his head. That was not precisely his way of doing business, he explained. He had a much better scheme than that. He proceeded to the hall door and rung the bell loudly. Lechmere looked at him in blank astonishment. He knew that Peretori was really a man of infinite resources, but his intense love of a practical joke at all times over-ruled all dictates of prudence.

"Are you mad?" Lechmere cried. "What insane folly possesses you? Why, you will have all the servants in the place down upon you at once."

"There is a kind of proverb of yours that says 'let 'em all come.'" Peretori smiled. "I beg to remark, my dear friend, that this is not one of my escapades. I'll give the bell another ring to make sure. Ah, the rats are beginning to stir in the hole at last!"

Unmistakable sounds of motion overhead came to the ears of the listeners below. A frightened butler in a long coat and carrying a poker in his hand looked over the banisters and demanded feebly what was wrong. A footman or two hovered in sight, and there was a glimpse of petticoats hastily donned behind.

"Come down here at once, all of you," Peretori commanded. "This is a pretty thing. I come here to bring back a little ornament that the countess lost to-night, and I ring the bell and nobody even takes the trouble to reply. Then I make the discovery that everybody is in bed, I also make the discovery that the front door has not been fastened up, leaving the place absolutely to the first burglar that comes along. I may be wrong but it seemed to me that somebody crept into the house as I came up the steps. It is important that the house should be searched. Put the lights up everywhere. I will go to the top of the house and guard the fanlight leading to the roof. Now get about it at once."

Nobody demurred, nobody ventured to ask questions. There was an air of command about the speaker that shewed him as one accustomed to be obeyed. His face was very stern, but he winked at Lechmere as he proceeded to make his way up the stairs. It was a fairly long search, for the suggestion of a possible burglar in the house had given the shock of alarm that such a suggestion always produces in the women kind and they were loud in the determination that the men should search everywhere.

"And we can lock up after the kind gentlemen have gone," Annette proclaimed. "See, here is a letter from my mistress addressed to me. She has gone off to Paris suddenly by the early boat. It is one of the eccentric expeditions that the countess loves. Has anybody searched the basement?"

Nobody had searched the basement for the simple reason that nobody cared to face the task.

"Begin at the bottom and work up," suggested Lechmere with cynical amusement. "If there is a man here he can't possibly escape you if that system is adopted, as my friend guards the exit in the roof."

"Which is immediately above my bedroom," Annette said with a shudder. "Par bleu, we might have all been murdered as we lay asleep. Let the men look everywhere."

It was presently borne in upon the men servants that nobody was in the house, so that their courage rose. They no longer hunted in couples. They were near the top of the house now, they were quite certain that nobody was about when Peretori descended.

"It was either a false alarm or the man got away by the skylight," he said. "Did I understand someone to say that the countess was not returning to-night. In that case you had better see that the door is properly fastened after this gentleman and myself have gone. Good-night to you all. I will say nothing of this to the countess if you promise to be more careful in the future."

The big door closed behind Peretori and Lechmere and was properly secured this time. Lechmere turned to his companion and demanded to know what it all meant.

"Well, I think that is pretty plain," Peretori said. "Our way lies together, does it not? And I confess that I am most terribly sleepy. Oh, yes, as to my scheme. Well, I wanted to get a good idea of the servants' quarters, and where Mademoiselle Annette slept. Mightily snug quarters these maids get in these good houses. And Annette is no exception to the general rule."

"Yes, but you did not find the papers, I suppose?" Lechmere asked with some impatience.

Peretori paused to light a fresh cigarette. His face was quite grave though his eyes danced.

"Not quite," he said. "The maid was a bit too quick for me. But the papers are hidden behind a plaster cast of the Adoration of the Magi high up on the left hand side of the bedroom. I have said it!"

CHAPTER XL

THIN ICE

With all her loyalty and determination in the interests of her new friend, Jessie could not repress a sigh of relief once Vera Galloway was safe in the shelter of the queen's hotel. After all said and done, the events of the previous night had been exceedingly trying, and Jessie was feeling in need of a rest. Vera Galloway did not fail to notice this.

"It is impossible for me to properly thank you," she said in a voice that was very unsteady. "What I should have done without you, goodness knows. By this time the man I love would have been ruined. Charlie Maxwell would never have been able to hold up his head again. Oh, if only I had not lost the papers!"

"They will be found," Jessie said. "I feel quite sure that they will be found and you will regain possession of them. At any rate the countess is powerless for present evil. Everything is against her."

The queen came into the room at the same moment. She was kindness itself to Vera, though her face had its sternest expression. She held in her hand a copy of the Mercury. She had been reading the sensational interview carefully. Never had there been a more daring or outrageous plot. And thanks to the courage and promptitude of Lechmere it had failed.

"This thing is infamous, daring to a degree," the queen said. "But fortunately the Herald comes to our aid. And the king is already on his way to Asturia. It is only the matter of those papers… Vera, I suppose I must forgive you for the trick you played on me."

"It was in a good cause," Vera smiled faintly. "You see, there were complicating interests. And yet they were absolutely identical. I wanted to save Charlie and you at the same time and but for a most distressing and unforeseen accident I should have done so. But what a perfect substitute I left behind me! Could any other girl possibly have behaved like Jessie Harcourt?"

The queen forgot her anger and distress for a moment. A little time later and Jessie was walking to her lodgings, her ears tingling with pride and pleasure. She was never going to want a friend again, the way was rosy before her for the future. Ada's pale anxious face brightened and her eyes filled with tears as Jessie came in. It had been an anxious time for Ada.

"You look so strong and happy and yet so tired," she said. "Sit down in the armchair and tell me everything. There is something about you that suggests adventure. But you have not failed."

No, Jessie had not failed, she explained. She told Ada everything from beginning to end; she had to answer a thousand eager questions. When she mentioned the name of Ronald Hope Ada smiled demurely. That was the best news of it all.

"I am glad you and Ronald have met again," Ada said quietly. "We ought never to have left the old home without writing to him. It has been on my mind to do so frequently, but I thought perhaps that you would not like it, Jessie. Now you are going to sit there and rest whilst I run out and get some paints for those Christmas cards. I have been so miserably anxious about you that I dared not go out before. The walk will freshen me up."

Jessie nodded lazily. A delicious sense of fatigue stole over her. Her eyes closed and she fell into a half sleep. When she came to herself again Ronald was bending over her. Her face flushed as he stooped down and pressed his lips to hers. Perhaps she had been more guarded had she not been taken by surprise, for she returned the pressure.

"That was not fair," she said with a trembling smile. "You caught me unawares, Ronald."

Ronald coolly took a seat close to Jessie's side. He took her hand in his and it was not withdrawn.

"It isn't as if you didn't love me," he said. "You know perfectly well that we always cared for one another. And you would not have kissed me if you had not loved me, Jess. Why you disappeared in that strange manner I never could understand. What difference did the fact make that your poor father had left you penniless? I knew that he was a poor man and that I had nothing to expect but your dear self, and you were quite aware of it. Then when I go to India you disappear and I don't hear any more of you till rumours reach me of the goddess in Bond Street. Jess, you are never going to run away from me again?"

"It does not seem so," Jessie said demurely, "especially if you hold my hand and my waist as tightly as you are holding them at the present time. But seriously, Ronald – "

"That's the way to talk, seriously! Seriously, my darling Jess, don't you love me?"

"I love you with my whole heart and soul, Ronald," Jessie whispered. "I never realised how much I loved you till we came to be parted and I thought that I had lost you for ever. This time yesterday I was one of the most miserable girls in England, now I am one of the happiest."

"And you are going to marry me right away, dearest?" Hope whispered. "A quiet wedding."

"Presently," Jessie smiled. "Not so fast, if you please. I have my new friends to think of. I can't forget that but for them I might never have seen you again, Ronald. Till that business is finished I am not a free agent. Even at the present moment I am in danger of being arrested on a charge of stealing some papers from the residence of Countess Saens."

"But, my dear girl, you never so much as saw those confounded papers."

"That does not make the slightest difference. The papers were stolen from the residence of Countess Saens by a young girl answering to my description and dressed exactly as I am dressed at the present moment. If I was confronted now with the Countess's maid Annette she would identify me as the thief."

"The real thief being Miss Vera Galloway all the time, Jessie."

"Of course she is. But could I say so? Could I in my own defence go into the witness box and tell the story of my bold impersonation of Vera Galloway so that she could be free to regain those papers? Why, by so doing we admit the existence of the papers that we deny existence to at all. If any scandal arises over them, I shall have to bear it alone. Vera Galloway's share must not even be suggested. It must be assumed that I traded on my marvellous resemblance to Vera to obtain certain things from the countess."

"But this is monstrous," cried Ronald. "If it came to a matter of imprisonment – "

"I should go through with it if it did," Jessie declared quietly. "At least I should do so until it was safe to have the truth out. Countess Saens is a bitter foe when – "

"Who can do you no harm," said Ronald. "At present she is on her way to Paris. She has been lured there by a dexterous trick to keep her out of the way."

"But she might have put the matter in the hands of the police before she left?"

"Perhaps so. I had not thought of that, Jessie. It behoves you to be careful. If any attempt was made to arrest you, but I dare not think of it. If danger threatens, go back to the queen. She can help you if anybody can. Hullo, here is Ada."

Ada's reception of the visitor was flattering enough. She was delighted to see Ronald again, she was almost tearfully glad to find that Ronald and Jessie had come to an understanding. But all the same she confessed that she was frightened. A man had accosted her on her way home with an enquiry as to the spot where Miss Jessie Harcourt lived. He had a parcel in his hand and came from the shop of Madame Malmaison. It appeared that Jessie had left some of her possessions behind and the messenger was anxious to deliver it.

"And I don't believe that he was a messenger at all," Ada said breathlessly. "He was far too prim and dark. He gave me an impression of Scotland Yard. Of course I pretended to know nothing, but I was frightened. Go and see what you think, Ronald. He is in Seymour Street; he has a box under his arm."

Ronald departed hastily. He came back a little time later with a grim face and an uneasy air.

"I am afraid that Ada is right," he said. "The fellow has police force written all over him. I suppose the police are following up the enquiries they made last night. You must go back to the queen without delay, Jess. I fancy I have managed it. I see that there is a way out of these block of rooms in Dean Street. Go down there and stand in the doorway. Presently I shall pull up with a cab just for a second and you are to jump in. Don't lose any time. If you are arrested many questions will be asked, if you can tide over the next day you may escape altogether. I'll see what Lechmere can do."

Hope bustled away and a little time later Jessie crept down the stone stairs leading to Dean Street. She had not long to wait there, for presently a cab drove up and Ronald looked anxiously out. Like a flash Jessie was across the pavement and into the cab.

"Saved this time," Ronald muttered. "I shall leave you in Piccadilly to go back alone. Glad to see that you took the precaution to veil your features. After I have left you I'll go as far as Lechmere's rooms. I daresay we can beat those people yet."

CHAPTER XLI

ANNETTE AT BAY

But meanwhile Lechmere had not been idle. His steadygoing brain had not failed to see the danger arise after the matter of the countess's burglary had come into the hands of the police. And he seemed to fancy that he had discovered a way out of the difficulty. After a message to Scotland Yard making an appointment an hour later at the house of Countess Saens he had proceeded to the queen's hotel. He was a little disappointed to find that already Jessie had departed some short time.

He was about to go off in search of Jessie when she returned with her story. Lechmere smiled with the air of a man who holds the key to the situation.

"You need not be in the least alarmed," he said. "Hope was quite right when he suggested that perhaps I could help you in the matter. Not only am I going to help, but I am going to put you a long way out of the reach of the police. We are going as far as Countess Saens's house."

"I am!" Jessie exclaimed. "Why, the mere fact of my being there face to face with the countess – "

"My dear young lady, you are not going to be face to face with the countess. She has gone abroad. You will go with me in a cab, you will keep your veil down and you will wait in the drawing-room until I want you. I daresay all this sounds very abrupt, but it is quite necessary. Now come bustle along before other things come to complicate matters."

Jessie followed in a helpless kind of way. It seemed to her that she was off on another series of bewildering adventures before the last series was closed almost. But she had her previous experience to keep her courage to the sticking point and Lechmere's face gave her confidence. "When am I going to get out of this coil?" she asked with a smile.

"You are going to get out of it very quietly," Lechmere said gravely. "And after that you are going to marry my young friend Ronald Hope, whom I regard as a very lucky fellow. When the tangle itself is likely to end, Heaven only knows. The best thing that could happen to the Queen of Asturia would be the death of the king. She would know what peace meant then and the removal of the king by natural means would enable Europe to interfere and so check the designs of Russia. But here we are."

The cab stopped at length and the occupants alighted. At Lechmere's bidding, Jessie raised her veil.

"The countess is not at home?" Lechmere asked the footman. "How annoying! It is rather an urgent and private affair that Miss Vera Galloway desires to see your mistress upon. But perhaps Annette the maid will be able to answer a few questions for me. Shew us into the drawing-room and send Annette to us there."

The footman bowed and shewed no signs of astonishment. He was too used to strange requests and equally strange visitors to that house. He led the way gravely enough upstairs and announced that he would at once send for Annette to see Miss Galloway.

"So far, so good," Lechmere muttered. "I shall want you to see Annette a little later on, Miss Harcourt, but for the present I shall be glad if you will take your seat in the little inner drawing-room. It is just as well perhaps that you should overhear all that is said."

Jessie asked no questions, but she could not altogether repress a natural curiosity to know what was going to take place next. From where she was seated she had a perfect view of all that was going on in the large drawing-room without being seen herself. Annette came in quite self-possessed and just a little demure in the presence of the tall grey-faced stranger.

"I was told that Miss Galloway was here, M'sieu," she said. "It strikes to me, M'sieu – "

"As a matter of fact Miss Galloway is not here at all," said Lechmere coolly. "This is another young lady whom you will see all in good time, but not quite yet. I had no desire to arouse the curiosity of your fellow servants. The footman, for instance, who is a very good-looking fellow, may be a lover of yours. Ah, so there has been tender passages between you?"

"M'sieu is a gentleman and cannot be contradicted," Annette said demurely. "If you say so – "

"Oh, well. That is bad hearing, I am afraid you are a sad flirt. What a dreadful tragedy might be precipitated here if this thing came to the ears of your devoted Robert."

Annette changed colour and the smile died out of her eyes. She looked quite anxiously at the speaker.

"Listen to me," he said sternly. "I am disposed to help you and shield you if you help me. If we make a kind of compact together I will say nothing about those champagne suppers and I will keep my own council over certain important papers that may later on be sold for a good round sum – a sum so big, in fact, that Robert and yourself will be able to take a boarding-house. Where was it that you preferred the establishment? Ah, I have it – in Brook Street."

All the blood left the listener's cheeks, the audacious expression faded and left her eyes cloudy and troubled.

"M'sieu is too clever for me," she whispered. "What do you want me to do?"

"Very little. It is about a robbery here. Now it is positively absurd that Miss Galloway could be the thief as you suggested. You smile, you fancy that perhaps Miss Galloway has a double. Now it all rests on you to say whether that double is the proper person or not. If she was produced by the police and you said it was not the lady who surprised you last night, why, there would be an end of the matter – for you and Robert."

A look of quiet cunning intelligence flashed across Annette's face.

"It is plain what you mean," she said. "I quite understand. I am brought face to face with the young lady and I stare at her again and again. I study her with a puzzled frown on my face – like this – and then I say that it is not the person. I am absolutely certain of my facts. She is different, the eyes are not the same colour. I know not what the eyes and hair of your friend the young lady are like, but whether they are like the missing thief's are different. See, M'sieu?"

"I see perfectly well, Annette," Lechmere smiled. "You see that man loitering on the other side of the road? Fetch him up here and say that Mr. Lechmere is waiting. He is a leading official at Scotland Yard, and I am to meet him here by appointment. Oh, by the way, where is your Robert to be found?"

"Guards Buildings," Annette whispered. "He waits on the second floor gentleman there. But you will not – "

"No, I will not," said Lechmere, passing his hand over his face to hide a smile, for he had made a further discovery. "Play your part properly and I will play mine. And now go and fetch Inspector Taske here and say that I am waiting for him."

Inspector Taske came up and Lechmere conducted him into the small drawing-room. At a sign from him Jessie raised her veil. She began to understand what was coming.

"This is Miss Jessie Harcourt," said Lechmere, "daughter of my old friend Colonel Harcourt. It has been suggested that Miss Harcourt came here last night and stole certain papers. She only found it out this morning when she – er – came out of the hospital. All this absurd bother has arisen because Miss Harcourt is exceedingly like Miss Galloway whom the maid Annette here stupidly picked out as the thief, picked her out at Merehaven House, mind you, when she was in full evening dress at a party! Then suspicions were directed to my young lady friend here, forsooth because of the likeness, and she is being tracked by your fellows, Taske. There is a strong light here, and I am going to settle the matter once and for all. Now, Annette, look very carefully at this lady and say if you have ever seen her before."

Jessie bore the scrutiny more or less firmly and haughtily because she herself had never seen Annette's face before. Everything depended upon the girl's reply. Her examination was long and careful, as if she did not want to outrage her conscience in the smallest degree. Then she shook her head.

"The likeness is great," she said. "Positively there are three young ladies almost the same. And we make mistakes – and did not you police bring a man all the way here from Australia the other day on a charge of murder only to find he was the wrong person? And he had been sworn to, ma foi. Therefore it behoves me to be careful. All the same, I can speak with confidence. If it were dark I could say that here was the thief. But in the daylight, non. Her eyes were dark, the hair very rich brown. And here the eyes are grey and the hair a lovely shade of gold. This is not the lady."

The Inspector turned slightly on his heel as if he had heard quite sufficient.

"This ends the matter," he said. "I am sorry that Miss Harcourt has been molested and I will see that she is not further annoyed. I wish you good morning, sir."

The Inspector departed and at a sign from Lechmere, Jessie followed. Annette bowed demurely, but the smile on her face vanished and her eyes grew troubled as she found herself alone. Down in the street the newsboys were shouting something. Lechmere listened eagerly to hear: —

"Alarming railway accident near Paris. Breakdown of a special train. Suspected outrage on the part of the French Anarchists. Serious accident to the King of Asturia. Special."

CHAPTER XLII

THE COUNTESS RETURNS

Lechmere bought a paper and read the paragraph for himself. It seemed strange that this thing should happen at a time when everybody was talking of Asturia and its rulers. First there was the sensational interview in the Mercury to set all tongues talking and then, almost before the public had grasped what had happened, the Herald came out with a flat contradiction and a dignified statement to the effect that the Mercury had been hoaxed by an impudent practical joker.

Here was an excellent chance for the evening papers and they did their best to make a good thing of it. But the more things came to be investigated the firmer became the position of the Herald. Beyond all doubt the real king had been safe at Merehaven House at the very time when his deputy was closeted with the editor of the Mercury.