""Oh, of course!" he replied. "In fifteen minutes, madame?"
"I didn"t fancy going out at midnight, yet I had undertaken the matter and I would see it through. I had not changed from my travelling suit and it hadn"t a pocket in it; nor had I one such as Madame Durrand employed, so I was carrying the letter pinned inside my waist. Now I took it out and put it in my hand-bag, all the while thinking over the affair and liking it less the more I thought. It was pretty late at night, and there was something suspicious about the affair. I went to the desk and hurriedly wrote a note to the friends that I had just left; then I called a page, and ordered him to take it at once to the Sh.o.r.eham. On the envelope I had written the instruction that it was not to be delivered until morning.
"As I finished, the telephone rang and Mr. and Mrs. Buissard, I think that was the name, were announced as coming by appointment. I went down at once. Mrs. Buissard was in evening dress, a pretty, vivacious woman, Mr. Buissard was a man of thirty, slender, with a little black moustache and black hair. Somehow I didn"t like him; and I was glad he had brought his wife--she was charming.
"They had a cab instead of a car or taxi. We got in and drove up Fourteenth to H, and out H to Sixteenth. As we swung in Sixteenth, the man leaned forward to the window on my side.
""Look at that!" he exclaimed excitedly.
"As I turned to look, the woman flung her silk wrap over my head and twisted it tightly about my neck.
"I tried to cry out, but a hand closed over my mouth and only a weak gurgle responded.
""Listen, Mrs. Clephane!" said the man, "We mean you no harm. Give us the package you have for the French Amba.s.sador, and we will at once return you to your hotel."
"I"m pretty much a coward, yet I managed to hold myself together and not faint, and to say nothing. I didn"t care a straw for the letter, but I didn"t fancy being defeated at that stage of the game. I tried to think--but thinking is a bit difficult under such circ.u.mstances. Just as the wrap went over my head, my hand happened to be on my hand-bag. I quietly opened it, dropped the letter close along the seat, and closed the bag. Here was a slight chance to balk them--at all events, it was the only course occurring to me at the moment.
""Has she fainted?" asked the man.
""I think so," said the woman, "or she is scared to death."
"Here was a suggestion--and I took it. I remained perfectly quiet.
""Well," was his answer, "we"re almost there, and it"s a lucky chance.
No trouble at all, Seraphina."
"I had felt the cab round several corners; almost immediately after the last it stopped. I"m a trifle hazy as to what they did; but finally I was pa.s.sed out of the cab like a corpse and carried into a house. There the wrap was removed from my head; I blinked uncertainly, and looked around in a bewildered fashion.
""Where am I?" I gasped.
"The woman replied, "You"re in absolutely no danger, Mrs. Clephane. We want the package you have for the French Amba.s.sador; when we have it, we will send you back to your hotel."
""What is to be done with the cab?" someone asked.
""Nothing," another replied. "The horse will find his way to his stand; he"s almost there."
""But I haven"t any package!" I protested.
""Come, come!" the woman answered briskly. "You have it about you somewhere; that was what you were going to the Emba.s.sy to deliver?"
""Who are you?" I demanded.
""It matters not who we are--we want the package."
""The package is not with me," I remarked. "It"s locked in the hotel safe."
""Will you permit yourself to be searched?" she asked, with an amused smile. I knew it was a threat.
""I"m perfectly willing to submit to a search by _you_," I said. "The quicker you set about it, the quicker I"ll be released. I don"t care for these diplomatic affairs; they may be regular but they seem unnecessarily dangerous. I was simply a subst.i.tute anyway, and I won"t subst.i.tute again; though how you people discovered it I don"t see."
""Because you"re new at the game," she replied, as we pa.s.sed into the drawing-room.
"She closed the door--and I soon satisfied her that the package was not concealed about me.
""I may go now?" I inquired.
""I think so, but I must consult the Chief," she replied. "I"ll be back in a minute."
"They seemed high-cla.s.s knaves at least; but it was quite evident that the diplomatic game and its secret service were distinctly not in my line. I want no more of them even to oblige a friend in distress. I hate a mess!"
"I"m very glad for this mess," Harleston interjected. "Otherwise I should not have--met you."
"And you are the only compensation for the mess, Mr. Harleston!" she smiled.
She said it so earnestly Harleston was almost persuaded that she meant it--though he replied with a shrug and a sceptical laugh.
"But the woman was long in returning," Mrs. Clephane resumed; "and after a while I put out the light, and going to the window raised the shade.
The cab was no longer before the house; it had moved a little distance to the left, and the horse was lying down in the shafts. As I was debating whether to risk the jump from the window, a man came down the street and halted at the cab.--That man was you, Mr. Harleston. The rest of the tale you know much better than I--and the material portion you are to tell me, or rather to give me."
"How did you know the man at the cab was I? You didn"t recognize me in the corridor, this afternoon."
"Oh, yes I did--but I waited to see if you would follow me, or would go up to the other woman in black and roses."
"I never was in doubt!" Harleston laughed. "I told you, on the telephone, that I could pick you out in a crowd; after a glimpse of you, I could--" he ended with a gesture.
"Still pick me out," she supplied. "Well, the important thing is that you _did_ pick me out--and that you"re a gentleman. Also you forget that your picture has been pretty prominent lately, on account of the Du Portal affair; and besides you"ve been pointed out to me a number of times during the last few years as something of a celebrity. So, you see, it was not a great trick to recognize you under the electric lights, even at one o"clock in the morning."
Harleston nodded. It was plausible surely. Moreover, he was prepared to accept her story; thus far it seemed straightforward and extremely credible.
"It was about three when you telephoned to me--where were you then?" he asked.
"At the Chateau. They were kind enough to release me about three o"clock, and to send me back in a private car--at least, it wasn"t a taxi. Now, have you any other questions?"
"I think not, for the present."
"Have I satisfied you that my tale is true?"
"I am satisfied," he replied.
"Then you will give me the letter?" she said joyfully.
"And what of the roses?"
"I presented them to you last night."
"And of this handkerchief?" drawing it from his pocket.
She took the bit of lace, glanced at it, and handed it back.