"_Monsieur, monsieur,_" she exclaimed accusingly, "_dites moi, qu"est-ce que vous avez fait?_"
"_Je n"ai rien fait, Aline,_" he replied coldly; "_je ne sais rien._"
She gazed at him in a puzzled fashion. For all her habitual crafty appearance, he felt sure she had no knowledge of this dreadful business. In her way she had a certain loyalty to her mistress which might readily dispose her to regard him as an enemy.
"_Moi non plus, monsieur,_" she said with hesitation. "_Mais vous savez, hier soir Madame a ete tellement fachee contre Monsieur que je croyais..._"
"_ca ne fait rien,_" he interrupted, striding past her impatiently.
With the muddled feeling of sleep still upon him he unlocked his own door and went through to the bathroom, where he hastily washed his face in cold water. Then as he dried it with a bath-towel he took a quick survey of the room. All was exactly as he had left it the night before: the full-length cas.e.m.e.nt window stood half open, as it usually did; the bottle of Evian was on the shelf where he had placed it. That at any rate was still safe, he reflected. Therese had not been able to get at it, thanks to his precautions.
As he quitted the room, relocking the door, Chalmers approached him and spoke in a whisper.
"Do you think it"s all right, sir?" he inquired. "She"s gone to ask the doctor if he knows anything about her ladyship."
Following the direction of the old man"s eyes, Roger saw the black-clad figure of the maid at the first door along the pa.s.sage. Her voice, high-pitched with excitement, reached his ears, mingled with the doctor"s heavy tones.
"Let her alone; it can"t do any harm. You are still sure he didn"t communicate with her ladyship at all?"
"Positive, sir. I"m sure he"s never stirred from his room."
"We"d better make quite sure she"s not in the house somewhere," said Roger slowly. "And then if we don"t find her----"
"What then, sir?"
"Then I think there is nothing for me to do but communicate with the police."
"I see, sir. Then you"ve talked to Miss Rowe, sir?"
"Yes, Chalmers. I have heard more than enough."
As he spoke he realised suddenly that they were now plunged into the midst of a revolting sensation. In a few hours the newspapers would blazon it to the world, and all Cannes, all France, perhaps, would be searching for the beautiful Lady Clifford, wanted on the charge of murdering her husband.
"Aline," he said as the woman came towards him, "what was Madame wearing? Have you thought to look?"
"_Ah, non, monsieur, mais tenez! Je vous dirai toute de suite._"
She hurried into Therese"s room and returned almost at once with a face still more perplexed. There was nothing missing from Madame"s wearing apparel, as far as she could see, except the black chiffon gown Madame wore last evening. Madame had not undressed at eleven o"clock, when she desired to be left alone.
"Do you mean to say there is no coat gone? No wrap of any kind, nor a hat?"
"_Monsieur peut regarder. C"est comme je dis._"
The three exchanged puzzled glances.
"She may be in the house," hazarded Roger at last. "We had better find out."
In a few minutes they had made a tour of the entire villa. Roger himself tried the fastenings of all the windows on the ground-floor, and the doors leading onto the terrace from the salon. All was secure.
There remained only the doctor"s room, and Aline, who had been inside it a moment ago, was prepared to swear her ladyship was not there.
Roger shot a speculative glance at the maid. Was it possible she was lying? Was this all part of some scheme on Therese"s part to allow her time to get away? Had Aline connived at her escape? The suspicion took root. They were now at the top of the house, where there were only servants" quarters and box-rooms. Two flights of stairs lay between them and the front door. What if the woman had led them hither in order to leave the lower regions unguarded?
"Listen, sir! Was that a car starting?"
All stood still, attentive to the sound below. Then with a sudden idea Roger strode to the small oval window in the mansard roof, and tried to see down into the garden. Far below an engine whirred, tires grated on the drive. He caught sight of a car just disappearing out of the gateway.
"By G.o.d, Chalmers, they"ve gone! They"ve made off together."
"Was it the doctor"s car, sir? I thought I knew the sound."
There was no good being upset about it, Roger reflected; certainly he could not detain the two unless he had a warrant for their arrest. Yet he experienced a feeling of chagrin at being so easily outwitted. The doctor"s room, seen in disorder through the open door when they descended the stairs, told a story of a hasty departure.
"She was probably hiding in his room all the time," Roger remarked grimly as he eyed the untidy bed. "They"ve gone off somewhere together, though I"m astonished that they"d be so stupid. It"s a damaging admission, or might be regarded in that light."
"For the life of me, I can"t think how she got out of her room without my seeing her, sir," the old man commented with a rueful shake of the head.
"Well, there it is, and I believe this woman"s been fooling us all along."
"Do you think their idea is to try to escape, sir?"
"Oh, I hardly think so! It is far more likely they are on their way to the police with some concocted story against Miss Rowe and against me.
They will arrange it together, thinking to have the advantage of denouncing me before I can denounce them."
He became, aware that the sharp, black eyes of Aline were fixed on his face curiously. He wondered how much English she understood.
"It would have been difficult to prevent their leaving the house in any case," he added slowly. "But I believe I can circ.u.mvent them in another way. I have a plan of action, Chalmers. I am going first to a chemist Miss Rowe has told me about, and after that I intend to make a statement at police headquarters. You might get me the telephone book and a cup of coffee while I change my clothes."
As he spoke a subdued but pathetic whine reached their ears. It came from Therese"s little Aberdeen terrier, who stood in the boudoir door, looking up with eyes of patient inquiry and uttering continuous plaints.
"_Il pleurs tout le temps,_" murmured Aline. "_Ah, Tony, Tony, qu"est-ce que tu as? Ah, le pauvre!_"
"Come, Tony, old boy," called Roger, stooping to stroke the dog for a moment. "What"s the matter? Put him outdoors, Chalmers; perhaps he only wants to go out."
The butler obeyed, and Roger entered his room to change his attire.
His mind was heavily oppressed with the ordeal that lay before him, yet he was keyed up with a strange excitement. He felt there must now be no delay in the matter of laying a formal charge against the woman who for six years had been his father"s wife and also against a highly respected member of the medical profession. That he would encounter a terrific opposition he did not question for a moment. He was not in the least sure that his case would be plain sailing. He saw himself, his aunt, Chalmers, and, last and hardest to contemplate, Esther in the witness-box--Esther, whose nerves were temporarily shattered by her frightful experience.... Had Therese been a party to the attempt on her life? Whether she had or not, she must have known about it and condoned it.
Outside in the garden the wretched dog continued to howl. What possessed the poor little creature? In the stillness of the early morning the long-drawn, disconsolate sounds rose and tell with a dirge-like hint of desolation. He must be silenced somehow; he would disturb Esther.
Presently the howling ceased, and a second later Chalmers came up bringing rolls and coffee, the dog at his heels, shivering and whining.
"I can"t make out what"s wrong with him, sir; he"s regularly upset. He wanted to come in, yet when I opened the door he stood there looking as if he had something on his mind. Try to eat a bit, sir; you"ve been a long time without proper food, and you"ve a hard day ahead of you."
Roger forced himself to drink a cup of coffee. It was true he had given no thought to himself for days. He gazed unseeingly out of the window at the acacias, glistening with the wet of last night"s steady rain, gloomy under the still grey sky. Oppression lay heavy upon his spirit.
"Yes, Chalmers, there"s a bad time ahead of us. If we don"t look sharp those two will find a way out."
"You think there"s a chance of them escaping, sir?"
"Not that. I mean they may manage to be acquitted."