"It was at peace before, when--the telling came from all ends of the world."
"And no one listened."
"Those who could have helped refused to hear. And those who heard were powerless."
"So now you come----?"
"To one who, eschewing all that his wealth and position could give him of life"s leisure and delight, has dedicated his whole future to the land I--have learned to love."
"And what would you have me do?" Ruxton was smiling, but behind his smile was a brain searching and hungry.
"Do? Ah, that is it." The woman turned swiftly. All her calm had been caught up in a hot emotion. Her eyes were wide and shining as she leant towards him and searched his fair face and dark eyes. "There is peace as you said. But it is only words written upon paper with ink that is manufactured, and by a pen also manufactured. The whole peace is only manufactured. There is no peace in the hearts of the leaders of nations, only hate, which has inspired a pa.s.sionate yearning for revenge, a pa.s.sion which has intensified a thousandfold all effort towards the destruction of the hated. Need I tell you of the Teuton feelings? Ruined, blasted as has been that great machine, both military and industrial, there is still the Teuton mind ready and yearning for such a revenge as will stagger all conscious life. Well may the sensitive imagination distort and magnify the threat that cannot yet be grasped. Well may the straining mind contemplate with ecstasy the oblivion gained by those poor creatures on the _Lusitania_. But for those who would learn, and know, and see, there is a better, braver death to die than the bosom of the ocean can offer. I tell you there is work for every true Briton, man and woman. Work that can offer little else than the reward of a conscience that, maybe, is rendered easy in death. The men who would lead Britain must be men with eyes, and ears, and mind wide open. The time has gone by when England"s politicians may sit down in luxurious offices and enjoy the liberal salaries this country so generously dispenses. They must learn first hand of the dangers which threaten these impregnable sh.o.r.es. Impregnable? That has been the fetish which has been the ruin of Britain"s national spirit.
But I tell you, as surely as the sun will rise to-morrow I can prove to you that impregnability can never again be applied to these splendid sh.o.r.es. Remember, these are the days when victories and destruction are wrought by thought in peace time. The days of simple brute strength have died for all time. And that is why I have travelled far to seek Ruxton Farlow."
"You have sought me to tell me all this that I have thought for months.
That I have felt. That in my heart I have known as surely as that night follows day. You have sought _me_," he added reflectively.
The stranger leant still further towards him, and the man thrilled at the contiguity. So close was she that her breath fanned his cheek, and he found himself gazing into the eager, beautiful eyes.
"And have I not done right? Have I not done right to come to you, who have felt, and thought, and known these things for months--if I can show you even more than in your worst moments you have ever dreamed of?"
It was an intense moment. Its intensity for the man was well-nigh overpowering. Was this wonderful creature some brilliant siren luring him to destruction for very wantonness, or in the interest of others?
Was she just as she represented, just an ardent patriot, to whom chance had revealed some damaging secret of his country"s enemies, or was she merely a woman endowed with superlative beauty exercising her attraction in those enemies" interests? These things flashed through his brain, even as those feelings of s.e.x stirred his blood and made for denial. For a moment the mental side of him rose dominant.
"You are a foreigner," he challenged, in a voice he hardly recognized as his own.
"I am a Pole."
The admission came promptly.
"You speak English--perfectly," he persisted in the same voice.
"I am--glad."
"Where were you--during the war?"
"In England."
The questions and answers flew back and forth without a semblance of hesitation.
"Yes, yes." Then the man mused. "There were thousands of foreigners at large in England--then."
"But not all were--spies."
The man lowered his eyes. A flush stole up to his brow. It was a flush of shame.
"I--I beg your pardon," he said. The mind had yielded to the man.
"Why should you? Your country should be first in your thoughts. You have not hurt me."
Ruxton pa.s.sed one hand across his broad, fair forehead.
"But you--a Pole. It seems----"
"It seems that I must have some motive other than I have stated. I have." A bitter laugh accompanied the admission. Quite suddenly she threw her arms wide in a dramatic gesture. "Look at me," she cried.
"You see a Pole, but before all things you see a woman. Give riot to your heart, and leave your head for other things. Then you will understand my motives. I have lived through centuries of horror during that terrible war. A horror that even you, who know the horrors committed, will never be able to understand. The innocent women and children in Belgium and France, and my own country, on your own sh.o.r.es, on the high seas. O G.o.d," she buried her face in her hands. Then, in a moment, she looked up. "Think--think, if at some future time the Teuton demons overrun this beautiful land I love. The past, those horrors of which I have spoken are nothing to that which will be committed here in England. Now do you understand? Now--will you let me show you what--I can show you?"
"I think I understand--now."
"And you will grant my request?" The urgency was intense. But in a moment the woman went on in a changed tone. A soft smile accompanied her next words. "But no. Don"t answer now. It would not be fair to yourself. It would not be fair to your country. It would even deny all that I believe of you. Keep your answer. You will give it to me--later.
I will not let you forget. Now I must go."
She rose to her feet, and Ruxton watched her with stirring feelings as she occupied herself with that truly feminine process of smoothing out the creases of the costume which had suffered by contact with the heather.
At last she held out her white-gloved hand, and Ruxton sprang to his feet. He realized that she was about to vanish out of his life as swiftly and mysteriously as she had entered it.
"You are going?" he said quickly.
"Yes. But you will be reminded."
The man held the gloved hand a shade longer than was necessary.
"But on these cliffs? Alone?" Somehow her going had become impossible to him.
But the woman laughed easily.
"It will be only a few moments on these cliffs. It is nothing. Remember I have been wandering about for three hours--alone."
"But--Good-bye!"
The man made his farewell regretfully. He had been about to ask her how, with ten miles to Dorby, and a considerable distance to other villages, she would only be on the cliffs a few moments. But he felt that her coming and her going were her secret, and he had no right to pry into it--yet.
"Good-bye."
The woman turned away, but was promptly arrested by a swift question.
"May I not know your name?"
The stranger faced him once more, and her smile lit up her radiant features till Ruxton felt that never in his life had he seen anything to equal her beauty.
"My name? Yes--why not? It is Vladimir. Vita Vladimir."
Then, in a moment, the man stood gazing after her, as the brilliant moonlight outlined the perfect symmetry of her receding figure.
CHAPTER III