Selingman sat forward once more in his place.
"Look here," he intervened, "you go too far, my friend. You never spoke to me of this. What have you against Hunterleys?"
"His nationality," Draconmeyer answered coolly. "I hate all Englishmen!"
The gaiety had left Selingman"s face. He gazed at his companion with a curious expression.
"My friend," he murmured, "I fear that you are vindictive."
"Perhaps," Draconmeyer replied quietly. "In these matters I like to be on the safe side."
Jean Coulois struck the table lightly with his small, feminine hand. He showed all his teeth as though he had been listening to an excellent joke.
"It is to be done," he decided. "There is no more to be said."
Some visitors had taken the next table. Coulois drew his chair a little closer to Draconmeyer.
"I accept the engagement," he continued. "We will talk no more. Monsieur desires my address? It is here,"--scribbling on a piece of paper. "But monsieur may be warned," he added, with a lightning-like flash in his eyes as he became conscious of the observation of some pa.s.sers-by. "I will not dance in England. I will not leave Monte Carlo before May. Half that sum--three hundred louis, mind--must come to me on trust; the other three hundred afterwards. Never fear but that I will give satisfaction.
Keep your part of the bargain," he added, under his breath, "and the Wolves" fangs are already in this man"s throat."
He danced again. The two men watched him. Draconmeyer"s face was as still and colourless as ever. In Selingman"s there was a shade of something almost like repulsion. He poured himself out a gla.s.s of champagne.
"Draconmeyer," he exclaimed, "you are a cold-blooded fish, indeed! You can sit there without blinking and think of this thing which we have done. Now as for me, I have a heart. I can never see the pa.s.sing out of the game of even a bitter opponent, without a shiver. Talk philosophy to me, Draconmeyer. My nerves are shaken."
Draconmeyer turned his head. He, too, raised his wine to his lips and drank deliberately.
"My friend," he said, "there is no philosophy save one. A child cries for the star he may not have; the weak man comforts himself in privation by repeating to himself the dry-as-dust axioms conceived in an alien brain, and weaving from them the miserable comfort of empty words. The man who knows life and has found wisdom, pays the price for the thing he desires, and obtains it!"
CHAPTER XVII
DUTY INTERFERES AGAIN
Hunterleys sat that night alone in a seat at the Opera for a time and lost himself in a maze of recollections. He seemed to find himself growing younger as he listened to the music. The days of a more vivid and ardent sentimentality seemed to rea.s.sert themselves. He thought of the hours when he had sat side by side with his wife, the only woman to whom he had ever given a thought; of the thrill which even the touch of her fingers had given him, of the drive home together, the little confidences and endearments, the glamour which seemed to have been thrown over life before those unhappy misunderstandings. He remembered so well the beginning of them all--the terrible pressure of work which was thrown upon his shoulders, his engrossed days, his disturbed nights; her patience at first, her subsequent petulance, her final anger. He was engaged often in departmental work which he could not even explain. She had taken up with unhappy facility the role of a neglected wife. She declared that he had ceased to care for the lighter ways. There had certainly been a time when her complaints had been apparently justified, when the Opera had been banned, theatres were impossible, when she could not even rely upon his escort to a dinner or to a reception. He had argued with her very patiently at first but very unsuccessfully. It was then that her friendship with Linda Draconmeyer had been so vigorously renewed, a friendship which seemed from the first to have threatened his happiness. Had it been his fault? he wondered. Had he really been too much engrossed in his work? His country had made large demands upon him in those days. Had he ever explained the matter fully and carefully enough to her? Perhaps not. At any rate, he was the sufferer. He realised more than ever, as the throbbing of the music stole into his blood, the loneliness of his life. And yet it seemed so hopeless.
Supposing he threw up his work and let things take their course? The bare thought chilled him. He recognised it as unworthy. The great song of mortification from the broken hero rang in his ears. Must every woman bring to every man the curse of Delilah!...
He pa.s.sed out of the building into the cool, starlit night. People were strolling about in evening clothes, hatless, the women in white opera cloaks and filmy gowns, their silk-stockinged feet very much in evidence, resembling almost some strange kind of tropical birds with their little shrill laughter and graceful movements, as they made their way towards the Club or round to the Rooms, or to one of the restaurants for supper. Whilst Hunterleys hesitated, there was a touch upon his arm.
He glanced around.
"Hullo, David!" he exclaimed. "Were you waiting for me?"
The young man fell into step by his side.
"I have been to the hotel," he said, in a low tone. "They thought you might be here. Can you come up later--say at one o"clock?"
"Certainly," Hunterleys answered. "Where"s Sidney?"
"He"s working now. He"ll be home by half-past twelve unless anything goes wrong. He thinks he"ll have something to tell you."
"I"ll come," Hunterleys agreed. "How"s Felicia?"
"All right, but working herself to death," the young man replied. "She is getting anxious, too. Give her a word of encouragement if you see her to-night. She was hoping you might have been up to see her."
"I won"t forget," Hunterleys promised.
The young man drifted silently away, and Hunterleys, after a moment"s hesitation and a glance at his watch, turned towards the Club. He climbed the broad staircase, surrendered his hat and turned in at the roulette room. The magic of the music was still in his veins, and he looked around him almost eagerly. There was no sign of Violet. He strolled into the baccarat room but she was not there. Perhaps she, too, had been at the Opera. In the bar he found Richard Lane, sitting moodily alone. The young man greeted him warmly.
"Come and have a drink, Sir Henry," he begged. "I"ve got the hump."
Hunterleys sat down by his side.
"Whiskey and apollinaris," he ordered. "What"s the matter with you, Richard?"
"She isn"t here," the young man declared. "I"ve been to the Rooms and she isn"t there either."
"What about the Opera?" Hunterleys asked.
"I started at the Opera," Lane confessed, "took a box so as to be able to see the whole house. I sat through the first act but there wasn"t a sign of her. Then I took a spin out and had another look at the villa.
It was all lit up as though there were a party. I very nearly marched in."
"Just as well you didn"t, I think," Hunterleys remarked, smiling. "I see you"re feeling just the same about it."
The young man did not even vouchsafe an answer.
"Then you"re not going to take advantage of your little warning and clear out?" Hunterleys continued.
"Don"t you think I"m big enough to take care of myself?" Lane asked, with a little laugh. "Besides, there"s an American Consul here, and plenty of English witnesses who saw the whole thing. Can"t think why they"re trying on such a silly game."
"Mr. Grex may have influence," Hunterleys suggested.
"Who the mischief is my prospective father-in-law?" Richard demanded, almost testily. "There"s an atmosphere about that house and the servants I can"t understand a bit."
"You wouldn"t," Hunterleys observed drily. "Well, in a day or two I"ll tell you who Mr. Grex is. I"d rather not to-night."
"By the way," Lane continued, "your wife was asking if you were here, a few minutes ago."
Hunterleys rose quickly to his feet.
"Where is she?"
"She was at her usual place at the top roulette table, but she gave it up just as I pa.s.sed, said she was going to walk about," the young man replied. "I don"t think she has left yet."
Hunterleys excused himself hastily. In the little s.p.a.ce between the restaurant and the roulette rooms he came suddenly upon Violet. She was leaning back in an obscure corner, with her hands clasped helplessly in her lap before her. She was sitting quite still and his heart sank when he saw her. The lines under her eyes were unmistakable now; her cheeks, too, seemed to have grown hollow. Her first look at him almost made him forget all their differences. There was something piteous in the tremble of her lips. He drew a chair to her side.
"Richard told me that you wished to speak to me," he began, as lightly as he could.