Near the bar, however, solemnly digesting a liqueur, stood a man to whom the choppy sea evidently gave no concern. He had the square shoulders, neat-fitting clothes and closely clipped appearance at the back of the neck which mark the British officer; but he also stood square on his feet and swayed with unconscious ease whether the vessel pitched or rolled or executed the combined movement.
"Now, I wonder," said Brett, "if that is Captain Gaultier. He must be.
Gaultier, from his name, should be a Jersey man, hence his facility in foreign languages and his employment as a Foreign Office messenger. It"s worth trying. I will make the experiment."
He reached the bar and ordered a whisky and soda. Turning affably to the stranger, he remarked--
"Nasty night, isn"t it? I hope we shan"t be much behind time."
The stranger glanced at him with sharp and inquisitive eyes, but the glance evidently rea.s.sured him, for he replied quite pleasantly--
"Oh, no. A matter of a few minutes, perhaps. They usually manage to make up any delay after we leave Calais."
"That"s good," said Brett, "because I want to be in Paris at the earliest possible moment."
The other man smiled.
"We are due there at 5.38," he said. "Rather an early hour for business, isn"t it?"
"Well, yes," a.s.sented the barrister, "under ordinary circ.u.mstances, but as my only business in Paris is to examine an hotel register and then get something to eat before I return, I do not wish to waste time unnecessarily on the road."
The other man nodded affably, but gave no sign of further interest.
"So," communed Brett, "if it be Gaultier, he has not heard the latest developments. I must try a frontal attack."
"Does your name happen to be Gaultier?" he went on.
The stranger arrested his liqueur gla.s.s in the final tilt.
"It does," he said; "but I do not think I have the pleasure of knowing you."
"No," said Brett, "you haven"t."
"Well?" said the other man.
"The fact is," said Brett, "I heard you had been in London. I guessed from your appearance that you might be a King"s messenger, and it was just possible that the Captain Gaultier in whom I was interested might start back to the Continent to-night, so I put two and two together, don"t you see, with the result that they made four, a thing which doesn"t always happen in deduction if in mathematics."
Now, Foreign Office messengers are not chosen for their simplicity or general want of intelligence. Captain Gaultier eyed his questioner with some degree of stern suspicion as he said from behind his cigar--
"May I ask who you are?"
"Certainly," replied Brett, producing his card.
After a quick glance at the pasteboard, Gaultier continued--
"I suppose, Mr. Brett, you have some motive in addressing me? What is it?"
"I am interested in the fate of a man named Talbot," was the straightforward reply, "and as you told the Under-Secretary that you had seen Talbot crossing to Paris in company with a lady last Tuesday, I hoped that perhaps you would not mind discussing the matter with me."
Captain Gaultier was evidently puzzled. Private conversations with Under-Secretaries of State are not, as a rule, public property, and his momentary intention to decline further conversation with this good-looking and fascinating stranger was checked by remembrance of the fact.
"Really, Mr. Brett," he said, "although I do not question the accuracy of your statement, you will readily understand that I can hardly discuss the matter with you under the circ.u.mstances."
"Naturally. You would not be holding a responsible position in His Majesty"s service if you were at all likely to do any such thing. But I propose, in the first instance, to rea.s.sure you as to my bona fides, and I may point out, in the second place, that as I have met you by a fortunate chance, you can hardly deem it a breach of confidence to discuss with me the mere accidental appearance on a cross-Channel steamer of a man known not only to both of us, but to society at large."
Gaultier clearly hesitated, but did not refuse to accept the Under-Secretary"s letter, which Brett handed to him, with the words--
"You know the handwriting, no doubt?"
"That speaks for itself." The King"s messenger smiled when he returned the note. "It is an odd coincidence," he added, "and still more curious that you should spot me so readily. However, Mr. Brett, we have now cleared the air. What can I do for you?"
"Simply this," said the barrister; "do you mind telling me how you came to recognize Mr. Talbot?"
"Well, for one thing," was the thoughtful reply, "I knew his overcoat. I often met Talbot in the Foreign Office, and one day he drove me to his club wearing a very handsome coat lined with astrachan. It struck me as a peculiarly comfortable and well-fitting one, and although there are plenty of men about town who may possess astrachan coats, it is a reasonable a.s.sumption that this was the identical garment when it happened to be worn by the man himself."
"Then you are quite certain it was Talbot?" went on the barrister.
"Quite certain."
"Would you swear it was he, though his life depended on your accuracy?"
"Well, no, perhaps not that; but I would certainly swear that I believed it was Mr. Talbot."
"Ah, that is a material difference. The only way in which you could be positively certain was to enter into conversation with him, was it not?"
"Yes, that is so."
"I do not want you to think, Captain Gaultier, that I am cross-examining you. Let me tell you at once that I believe you saw someone masquerading in Talbot"s clothes, and made up to represent him. Was there anything about his appearance that might lend credence to such a view?"
The other reflected a little while before answering.
"There was only one thing," he said--"he did not seem to notice me. Now, he is a sharp sort of chap, and as it was broad daylight and a fine day, he must have seen me, for he knows me well. Again, from all that I have heard of him, I do not think that he would either pa.s.s an acquaintance without speaking to him, nor take flying trips to the Continent with ladies of the music-hall persuasion."
"You have supplied two very powerful reasons why the individual you saw should not be Jack Talbot. Yet, as you say, it was broad daylight, and you had a good look at him."
"No, no," interrupted the other. "I had a good look at his coat--and the lady. Whoever the man was, he appeared to be wrapped up in both of them, and he certainly did not court observation. I naturally thought that the feminine attachment accounted for this, and for the same reason, I did not even seek to scrutinize him too closely. To put the thing in a nutsh.e.l.l, I saw a man whom I believed to be Jack Talbot--and who certainly resembled him in face and figure--attired in Talbot"s clothes, and wearing a coat which I had noted so particularly as to be able to describe it to my tailor when ordering a similar one. Add to that the appearance of an attractive lady, young and unknown, and you have my soul laid bare to you in the matter."
"Thank you," said Brett. "I am much obliged."
He would have quitted the saloon, but Captain Gaultier laughed--
"Hold on a bit: it is my turn now. Suppose I try to pump you."
A giant wave took hold of the vessel and shook her violently, and Brett, though an average amateur sailor, felt that the saloon was no place for him.
"Between you and the ship, Captain Gaultier," he said, "the success of the operation would be certain. I have secured a quiet corner of the deck. If you wish for further talk we must adjourn there."
The transit was effected without incident, much to Brett"s relief. After a minute or two he felt that a cigar was possible. He turned to his companion with a quiet observation--
"The vessel has failed. You can start now."