"But we should not dream of attacking her--without provocation," he returned, bewildered.
"I fancy you will have a good deal of provocation," I retorted.
"Why? What makes you think that?" he demanded.
I suspected that Lord Bedale was either sounding me, or else that he had not been taken into the full confidence of those for whom he was acting.
I responded evasively:
"There are two personages in Europe, neither of whom will leave one stone unturned in the effort to involve you in war with Russia."
"And they are?"
Even as he put the question, Lord Bedale, as though acting unconsciously, raised one hand to his mustache, and gave it a p.r.o.nounced upward twirl.
"I see your lordship knows one of them," I remarked. "The other----"
He bent forward eagerly.
"Yes? The other?"
"The other is a woman."
"A woman?"
He fell back in his chair in sheer surprise.
"The other," I repeated in my most serious tone, "is a woman, perhaps the most formidable woman now living, not even excepting the Dowager Empress of China."
"And her name?"
"Her name would tell you nothing."
"Still----"
"If you really wish to hear it----"
"I more than wish. I urge you."
"Her name is the Princess Y----."
Scarcely had the name of this dangerous and desperate woman pa.s.sed my lips than I regretted having uttered it.
Had I foreseen the perils to which I exposed myself by that single slip I might have hesitated in going on with my enterprise.
As it was I determined to tell the Marquis of Bedale nothing more.
"This business is too urgent to admit of a moment"s unnecessary delay," I declared, rising to my feet. "If your lordship has no further instructions to give me, I will leave you."
"One instant!" cried Lord Bedale. "On arriving in Petersburg you will go straight to report yourself to her majesty the Empress Dagmar."
I bowed my head to conceal the expression which might have told his lordship that I intended to do nothing of the kind.
"Your credentials," he added with a touch of theatricality, "will consist of a single word."
"And that word?" I inquired.
He handed me a sealed envelope.
"I do not myself know it. It is written on a piece of paper inside that envelope, and I have to ask you to open the envelope, read the word, and then destroy the paper in my presence."
I shrugged my shoulders as I proceeded to break the seal. But no sooner did my eyes fall on the word within, and above all on the handwriting in which that word was written, than I experienced a sensation of admiring pleasure.
"Tell the writer, if you please, my lord, that I am grateful for this mark of confidence, which I shall endeavor to deserve."
I rolled up the paper into a tiny pellet, swallowed it, and left the room and the Palace without uttering another word.
CHAPTER II
THE PRINCESS Y----"S HINT
I never use the same stratagem more than once. It is to this rule that I attribute my success.
On previous missions to Russia I a.s.sumed the disguises of a French banker, of the private secretary to Prince Napoleon, of an emissary from an Indian Maharaja, and of an Abyssinian Maduga.
I now decided to go thither as an Englishman, or rather--for there is a distinction between the two--as a Little Englander.
It appeared to me that no character could be more calculated to gain me the confidence of the Anglophobes of the Russian Court. I antic.i.p.ated that they would smother me with attentions, and that from their hypocritical professions I should stand a good chance of learning what was actually in their minds.
No sooner had I taken this decision, which was while the brougham was being driven along the Mall, than I gave the order "---- House."
I was driven to the office of a well known review conducted by a journalist of boundless philanthropy and credulity. Mr. Place--as I will call him--was within, and I at once came to business.
"I am a Peace Crusader," I announced. "I have devoted myself to the sacred cause of which you are the foremost champion. At present war is threatened in the Far East. I am going to Russia to persuade the war party to abandon their designs. I have come here to ask you for your aid and countenance in this pious enterprise."
The editor gave me a doubtful glance.
"If it is a question of financial aid," he said not very encouragingly, "I must refer you to the treasurer of the World"s Peace League. I am afraid our friends----"
"No, no," I interrupted him. "It is not a question of funds. I am a wealthy man, and if you need a subscription at any time you have only to apply to me. What I desire is your moral support, your valuable advice, and perhaps a few introductions to the friends of peace in the Russian capital."
The editor"s face brightened.
"Of course!" he exclaimed in cordial tones. "I will support you with all my heart. I will write up your mission in the _Review_, and I will give you as many introductions as you need. What is your name, again?"