"What is the gentleman to you?" she was interrogated.
"Absolutely nothing," contemptuously.
The minister inspected his rings.
"He has annoyed me at various times," continued Nora; "that is all. And his actions on Friday night warrant every suspicion I have entertained against him."
The chief of police turned toward the bandaged chauffeur. "You recognize the gentleman?"
"No, Monsieur, I never saw him before. It was an old man who engaged me."
"Go on."
"He said that Mademoiselle"s old teacher was very ill and asked for a.s.sistance. I left Mademoiselle at the house and drove away. I was hired from the garage. That is the truth, Monsieur."
Nora smiled disbelievingly. Doubtless he had been paid well for that lie.
"And you?" asked the chief of Nora"s chauffeur.
"He is certainly the gentleman, Monsieur, who attempted to bribe me."
"That is true," said Courtlandt with utmost calmness.
"Mademoiselle, if Monsieur Courtlandt wished, he could accuse you of attempting to shoot him."
"It was an accident. His sudden appearance in my apartment frightened me.
Besides, I believe a woman who lives comparatively alone has a legal and moral right to protect herself from such unwarrantable intrusions. I wish him no physical injury, but I am determined to be annoyed by him no longer."
The minister"s eyes sought Courtlandt"s face obliquely. Strange young man, he thought. From the expression of his face he might have been a spectator rather than the person most vitally concerned in this little scene. And what a pair they made!
"Monsieur Courtlandt, you will give me your word of honor not to annoy Mademoiselle again?"
"I promise never to annoy her again."
For the briefest moment the blazing blue eyes clashed with the calm brown ones. The latter were first to deviate from the line. It was not agreeable to look into a pair of eyes burning with the hate of one"s self. Perhaps this conflagration was intensified by the placidity of his gaze. If only there had been some sign of anger, of contempt, anything but this incredible tranquillity against which she longed to cry out! She was too wrathful to notice the quickening throb of the veins on his temples.
"Mademoiselle, I find no case against Monsieur Courtlandt, unless you wish to appear against him for his forcible entrance to your apartment." Nora shook her head. The chief of police stroked his mustache to hide the fleeting smile. A peculiar case, the like of which had never before come under his scrutiny! "Circ.u.mstantial evidence, we know, points to him; but we have also an alibi which is incontestable. We must look elsewhere for your abductors. Think; have you not some enemy? Is there no one who might wish you worry and inconvenience? Are your a.s.sociates all loyal to you? Is there any jealousy?"
"No, none at all, Monsieur," quickly and decidedly.
"In my opinion, then, the whole affair is a hoax, perpetrated to vex and annoy you. The old man who employed this chauffeur may not have been old.
I have looked upon all sides of the affair, and it begins to look like a practical joke, Mademoiselle."
"Ah!" angrily. "And am I to have no redress? Think of the misery I have gone through, the suspense! My voice is gone. I shall not be able to sing again for months. Is it your suggestion that I drop the investigation?"
"Yes, Mademoiselle, for it does not look as if we could get anywhere with it. If you insist, I will hold Monsieur Courtlandt; but I warn you the magistrate would not hesitate to dismiss the case instantly. Monsieur Courtlandt arrived in Ma.r.s.eilles Thursday morning; he reached Paris Friday morning. Since arriving in Paris he has fully accounted for his time. It is impossible that he could have arranged for the abduction. Still, if you say, I can hold him for entering your apartment."
"That would be but a farce." Nora rose. "Monsieur, permit me to wish you good day. For my part, I shall pursue this matter to the end. I believe this gentleman guilty, and I shall do my best to prove it. I am a woman, and all alone. When a man has powerful friends, it is not difficult to build an alibi."
"That is a reflection upon my word, Mademoiselle," quietly interposed the minister.
"Monsieur has been imposed upon." Nora walked to the door.
"Wait a moment, Mademoiselle," said the prefect. "Why do you insist upon prosecuting him for something of which he is guiltless, when you could have him held for something of which he is really guilty?"
"The one is trivial; the other is a serious outrage. Good morning." The attendant closed the door behind her.
"A very determined young woman," mused the chief of police.
"Exceedingly," agreed the minister.
Courtlandt got up wearily. But the chief motioned him to be reseated.
"I do not say that I dare not pursue my investigations; but now that mademoiselle is safely returned, I prefer not to."
"May I ask who made this request?" asked Courtlandt.
"Request? Yes, Monsieur, it was a request not to proceed further."
"From where?"
"As to that, you will have to consult the head of the state. I am not at liberty to make the disclosure."
The minister leaned forward eagerly. "Then there is a political side to it?"
"There would be if everything had not turned out so fortunately."
"I believe that I understand now," said Courtlandt, his face hardening.
Strange, he had not thought of it before. His skepticism had blinded him to all but one angle. "Your advice to drop the matter is excellent."
The chief of police elevated his brows interrogatively.
"For I presume," continued Courtlandt, rising, "that Mademoiselle"s abductor is by this time safely across the frontier."
CHAPTER VII
BATTLING JIMMIE
There is a heavenly terrace, flanked by marvelous trees. To the left, far down below, is a curving, dark-shaded, turquoise body of water called Lecco; to the right there lies the queen of lakes, the crown of Italy, a corn-flower sapphire known as Como. Over and about it--this terrace--poets have raved and tousled their neglected locks in vain to find the perfect phrasing; novelists have come and gone and have carried away peace and inspiration; and painters have painted it from a thousand points of view, and perhaps are painting it from another thousand this very minute. It is the Place of Honeymoons. Rich lovers come and idle there; and lovers of modest means rush up to it and down from it to catch the next steamer to Menaggio. Eros was not born in Greece: of all barren mountains, unstirring, Hymettus, or Olympus, or whatever they called it in the days of the junketing G.o.ds, is completest. No; Venus went a-touring and abode a while upon this same gracious spot, once dear to Pliny the younger.
Between the blessed ledge and the towering mountains over the way, rolls a small valley, caressed on either side by the lakes. There are flower gardens, from which in summer rises the spicy perfume of lavender; there are rows upon rows of grape-vines, terraced downward; there are purple figs and white and ruby mulberries. Around and about, rising sheer from the waters, wherever the eye may rove, heaven-touching, salmon-tinted mountains abound, with scarfs of filmy cloud aslant their rugged profiles, and beauty-patches of snow. And everywhere the dark and brooding cypress, the copper beech, the green pine accentuate the pink and blue and white stucco of the villas, the rich and the humble.
Behind the terrace is a promontory, three or four hundred feet above the waters. Upon the crest is a cultivated forest of all known evergreens.
There are ten miles of cool and fragrant paths, well trodden by the devotees of Eros. The call of love is heard here; the echoes to-day reverberate with the impa.s.sioned declarations of yesterday. The Englishman"s reserve melts, the American forgets his coupons, the German puts his arm around the robust waist of his frau or fraulein. (This is nothing for him; he does it unconcernedly up and down the great urban highways of the world.)