"Woller first, now Grey-Mortimer," I said to myself. "What can it mean?
I shall go to the Admiralty and obtain full particulars."
"I will accompany you," said the Colonial Secretary. "Good-night, Countess, and many thanks for your hospitality. I am sorry indeed that this news should have reached us at such a time."
"And I too," she answered. Then, turning to me, she continued: "I hope you will come and see me again, Sir George?"
As she said it, she looked into my face with a glance that would have set many hearts, less susceptible than mine, beating with unusual vigour. The memory of that look accompanied me down the stairs and remained with me for some time after I was seated in the Colonial Secretary"s brougham. Then we set off to the Admiralty to learn the details of the disaster. Alas! as Castellan had said, it proved only too true. The steamship _Sultan of Sedang_ had reached Madeira safely, and had anch.o.r.ed in the Bay. Nothing of a suspicious nature occurred, nor was any boat seen near the ship after dark. Suddenly a terrific explosion was heard, and the great vessel was blown to pieces, the only men who escaped with their lives being a stoker, a sergeant in the Midlandshire regiment, and an officer"s servant. At the time of telegraphing, boats were out searching the Bay, while the most careful investigation as to the cause of the disaster was proceeding on sh.o.r.e.
The Colonial Secretary and I left the Admiralty when we had heard all there was to be told, and proceeded into the street once more. The coachman had been ordered not to wait, as we had decided to walk on home.
Late as the hour was the alarming intelligence had spread like wildfire through London, and already a considerable crowd had collected in Whitehall. Fortunately, Castellan and I were able to slip out unrecognised, and then we set off in the direction of Trafalgar Square.
The Colonial Secretary"s residence, as all the world is aware, is in Carlton House Terrace. At the corner of the small thoroughfare that winds its way from c.o.c.kspur Street into Carlton House Terrace, we stopped, and stood for some moments conversing there together. Then we wished each other good-night, Castellan going down the narrow street of which I have spoken, while I proceeded along Pall Mall and Piccadilly in the direction of my own abode. My thoughts were the reverse of pleasant as I strode along. A Cabinet Council had been summoned for the following morning, and, with this sad intelligence to be brought before it, there could be no doubt that it was likely to be a gloomy one.
Next morning I rose early. I had a large amount of work to get through before the meeting, which was to take place at eleven o"clock. At a quarter to that hour I drove down to Whitehall, and made my way to the Foreign Office.
"This is terrible news indeed, Manderville," said the Prime Minister, as we shook hands. "Poor Grey-Mortimer and all those gallant men! I scarcely like to think of the effect it will produce upon the country.
First, that succession of disastrous defeats, then Woller"s extraordinary disappearance, and now this new catastrophe. However, as we shall have to discuss that directly, I will say no more at present.
Are we all here?"
There was only one person who had not arrived, the Colonial Secretary.
"It"s not like Castellan to be unpunctual," said the Prime Minister.
"Doubtless, however, it won"t be long before he puts in an appearance."
When ten minutes had elapsed and still he did not come, a messenger was despatched to the Colonial Office in search of him. It was not long before he returned with the information that Castellan had not yet arrived at his office. Close upon the heels of this message came another from Mrs Castellan anxiously inquiring for her husband, who, it appeared, had not come home on the previous night, nor had any communication been received from him. As I heard this a great fear took possession of me. I had said good-night to him in c.o.c.kspur Street, only a few paces from his own front door, and had seen him walk in that direction. How was it, then, that he had not reached it? Was he the victim of a plot? Had he disappeared like Woller, never to be heard of again?
CHAPTER IV
Some idea of the wave of consternation which swept over England, when it became known that the Right Honourable Benjamin Castellan, Secretary of State for the Colonies had disappeared as mysteriously as Sir William Woller had done before him, will be derived when I say that edition after edition of the evening papers had been sold by three o"clock in the afternoon. It was in every sense a grave national calamity, for, as we all know, at this particular juncture in the country"s history, Benjamin Castellan, of all others, was the man who could least be spared.
"You are sure, I suppose, Sir George, that Castellan intended going home after you parted in c.o.c.kspur Street," the Prime Minister enquired, looking at me along the table.
"As certain as I am of anything," I replied. "He complained of feeling tired, and laughingly declared his intention of going to bed early, in order that he might be fresh for our meeting this morning."
"He did not seem depressed in any way, I suppose?" put in the First Lord of the Admiralty.
"He was naturally extremely downcast by the news we had received concerning the _Sultan of Sedang_, but in no other sense," I answered.
"I am sorry now that I did not walk with him to his door as I originally intended doing."
"It is, perhaps, as well that you did not," a.s.serted one of the others, "for in that case we might have lost you too. Surely my Lord," he continued, addressing the Prime Minister, "the Police Authorities should be able to obtain some clue respecting his disappearance? Deserted as the pa.s.sage usually is at that hour of the night, for I have pa.s.sed through it myself, there _must_ have been some one in the main thoroughfares at either end who would have given the alarm had they noticed anything out of the common."
"It is not altogether certain that the crime, if crime it is--and of that we have as yet no evidence--was perpetrated in the pa.s.sage of which you speak," said the Prime Minister; "but wherever, or however, the deed was committed, the Police I am sure will do their utmost to unravel the mystery. The mere fact that General Woller"s disappearance has not yet been accounted for is giving rise to a vast amount of uneasiness.
That the same fate should have befallen Mr Castellan will not be likely to add to the public peace of mind. I am sure the Secretary of State for the Home Department will do all that lies in his power to see that no time is lost in bringing the offenders to justice."
When the meeting broke up I made my way with all haste to Carlton House Terrace, in order to a.s.sure my friend"s wife of my sympathy, and to help her in any way that lay in my power. Prostrated with grief though she was, she consented to see me, and I was accordingly admitted to her presence.
"Oh, Sir George!" she cried, hastening forward to greet me, "is it possible that you bring news of him? Ah! I can see you do not."
She threw herself into a chair with a little cry of despair, and for a moment I scarcely knew what to say to comfort her.
"We must hope for the best, Mrs Castellan," I said at last, and then added with an a.s.surance that my heart was far from sharing--"no one knows what the next few hours may bring forth."
"But where can he be?" she cried--"and who can have been base enough to harm him? I know that he has enemies, as every man who has made a great name for himself must have, but I cannot think of one who would go so far as to rob me of him. Oh! it is too cruel! too cruel!"
We were still talking when news reached us that two members of the Police Department had arrived, and were anxious for an interview.
"I cannot see them," the poor lady declared. "I can tell them nothing that they do not know!"
"Then let me see them for you," I said. "I think I can answer any questions they may ask, and at the same time it will spare you the pain such an interview would entail."
"G.o.d bless you for your kindness! You are a true friend."
I thereupon left her, and followed my colleague"s secretary along the hall in the direction of the study.
"This is a sad affair indeed, Mr Gedge," I said, after we had left the morning-room. "I presume you have never heard Mr Castellan say anything as to his being shadowed by any one?"
"Never," he replied; "though I will confess that I have suggested to him on numerous occasions the advisability of having a companion with him when he walked home late at night from the House. That, you remember, was a favourite habit of his. He used to say that the fresh air revived him after a long debate."
"And he was quite right," I replied. "Now let us hear what the police have to say."
The two members of the Detective Force, who had been detailed to take charge of the case, rose as we entered the room. They seemed somewhat surprised at seeing me, but upon my informing them how I came to be connected with the matter, willingly excused Mrs Castellan from attendance.
"Do I understand you to say that you were the last of his friends to see Mr Castellan before his disappearance?" asked the taller of the two men, who looked more like a burly Yorkshire farmer than a member of the Scotland Yard Detective Force.
"It would appear so," I replied. "We left Wiltshire House on hearing the news of the disaster to the _Sultan of Sedang_, drove to the Admiralty to learn the latest particulars, and then, having dismissed the carriage, strolled as far as c.o.c.kspur Street in each other"s company."
"And you parted at the pa.s.sage that leads from c.o.c.kspur Street into Carlton House Terrace, I believe?" said the other man. "You did not happen to notice whether any person was following you, I suppose?"
"I don"t fancy either of us looked round during the whole distance," I answered, with an inward wish that I had been suspicious enough to have taken that simple precaution. "We had too much to occupy our thoughts without observing the actions of other people."
"And how long did you remain on the pavement? I should be obliged if you would endeavour to be as accurate as possible, sir, in your answer to this question."
I considered a moment before I replied.
"Between eight and ten minutes I should say, certainly not more. I remember comparing my watch with a clock above the shop window at the corner, and remarking as I did so that I was nearly three minutes slow."
"In that case you should be able to fix the time of his leaving you to within a minute or two," said the elder of the two men, taking a note-book and pencil from his pocket as he spoke.
"I can do so exactly. It was five minutes past twelve when we bade each other good-night."
"Was any one near you on the pavement while you were standing talking?"
"No one, the street was almost deserted."
"I notice that you say _almost_ deserted, sir. Then there were other people in sight. Do you happen to remember if any one was standing near you--that is to say, within fifty feet or so?"