"I agree with you, of course. But why later? Why not now? My object in coming here was not to be governess to your children, but to enter the service of the Government. This is the evidence of my capacity; and it is all part of my purpose. I am not a good teacher, I know; but I can do better than teach."
He listened to me attentively, his white finger-tips pressed together, and his lips pursed; and when I finished he frowned--not in anger but in thought. Presently a slight smile, very slight and rather grim, drew down the corners of his mouth. And then I knew that I had matriculated as an agent of the Government.
"Shall we finish the game, your Excellency?"
"Which?" he asked laconically, a twinkle in the hard eyes.
"It is of course for your Excellency to decide."
"You are a good player, Miss Gilmore. Where did you learn?"
"I have always been fond of problems."
"And good at guessing?"
"It is not all guessing--at chess," I replied, meaningly. "One has to see two or three moves ahead and to antic.i.p.ate your opponent"s moves."
A short laugh slipped out. "Let us play this out. You may have made a miscalculation," he said, and bent over the board.
"Not in this game, your Excellency."
"You are very confident."
"Because I am sure of winning."
He grunted another laugh and after studying the position, made a move.
"I foresaw your Excellency"s move. It is my chance. Check now, of course, and mate, next move."
"I know when I am outplayed," he said, with a glance. "I resign. And now we will talk. You play a good game and a bold one, Miss Gilmore, but chess is not politics."
"True. Politics require less brains, the stakes are worth winning, and men bar women from competing."
"It is rare to find girls of your age wishing to compete."
"I am twenty-three," I interjected.
"Still, only a girl: and a girl at your age is generally looking for a lover instead of nursing ambitions."
"I have known men of your Excellency"s age busy at the same sport,"
said I. "Besides, I may have been a girl," I added, demurely; taking care to infuse the suggestion with sufficient sentiment.
"And now?" he asked, bluntly.
"I am still a girl, I hope--but with a difference."
"You are not thinking of making a confidant of an old widower like me, are you?"
"No, I am merely laying before you my qualifications."
"You know there is no room for heart in political intrigue? Tell me, then, plainly, what do you wish to do?"
"To lend my woman"s wit to your Excellency"s Government for a fair recompense."
"What _could_ you do?"
There was a return to his former indulgent superiority in the question which nettled me.
"I could use opportunities as your agents cannot."
"How? By other clever guesses?"
"It was no guess. I have seen the jewels in Madame d"Artelle"s possession."
He tried not to appear surprised, but the effort was a failure.
"I have been entertaining a somewhat dangerous young woman in my house, it seems," he said.
"It was ridiculously easy, of course."
"Perhaps you will explain it to me."
"A conjuror does not usually give away his methods, your Excellency.
But I will tell this one. Feeling confident that Count Karl had stolen the jewels, and that his object would only be to give them to the Countess, I had only to gain access to her house to find them. I found a pretext therefore, and went to her, and--but you can probably guess the rest."
"Indeed, I cannot."
It was my turn now to indulge in a smile of superiority.
"I am surprised; but I will make it plainer. I succeeded in interesting her so that she kept me in the house some hours. I was able to amuse her; and when I had discovered where she kept her chief treasures, the rest was easy."
"You looked for yourself?"
"You do me less than justice. I am not so crude and inartistic in my methods. She showed them to me herself."
"Miss Gilmore!" Disbelief of the statement cried aloud in his exclamation.
"Why not say outright that you find that impossible of credence? Yet it is true. I mean that I led her to speak of matters which necessitated her going to that hiding-place, and interested her until she forgot that I had eyes in my head, so that, in searching for something else, she let me see the jewels themselves."
"Could you get them back?" he asked, eagerly.
I drew myself up and answered very coldly.
"I have failed to make your Excellency understand me or my motives, I fear. I could do so, of course, if I were also--a thief!"
"I beg your pardon, Miss Gilmore," he exclaimed quickly, adding with a touch of malice. "But you so interested me that I forgot who you were."
"It was only an experiment on my part; and so far successful that I won the Countess" confidence and she has pressed me to go to her."