Part 6

"And no one knows of his Excellency's death?"

"Outside those pledged to silence, no one."

"Let me see," I murmured, reflectively; "his secretary's name is--?"

"Ling Wen, with, say, twenty odd additions."

"Ling Wen will be sufficient. At seven o'clock to-night, monsieur, you will send an imperative message that you must see Ling Wen at once, and--No, that is all you need do. You will not skate? Then, _mon ami, au revoir_."

It was ten minutes past seven when my _coupe_, drew up at the door of L'Imperatrice Hotel, and I requested to be conducted to the apartments of his Excellency Hun Sun; and I felt pleased with myself, for my much-tried milliner had obliterated volumes of misdeeds with a gown and cloak that were perfection. A shade of perplexity gathered upon the face of the waiter as he heard my request, and that perplexity was deepened in the features of monsieur le manager, when he was called and listened to my desire.

"His Excellency Hun Sun had only just departed."

I had serious thoughts of recommending that man to Monsieur Roche as an uncultivated diplomat.

"And"--he seemed prepared to sink into the ground at the humiliation of disappointing me--"his Excellency's secretary, Ling Wen, had also just been called away."

"It did not matter; I would wait;" and because my own countrymen can refuse a pretty woman nothing, I gained my point, and was conducted by the gentleman himself to the suite of the envoy, to await, as he again so diplomatically put it, "the one who should first return."

There were three rooms--a reception-room, a bedroom, and a study--and I trembled with excitement as I realized that the object of my visit, the stolen seal, was somewhere in those rooms, and in a few minutes I might be passing out of the hotel, and all would be over.

An obliging bunch of keys lay invitingly upon the study table, and rapidly I opened drawer after drawer in that apartment and the bedroom, and became more and more irritated, as my search proved ever fruitless.

The reception-room only was left, and my vexation evaporated in a laugh of approaching triumph, as I realized that a cunning man would hide what he had to hide in the most open room, and not in the most private.

There was only an ormolu writing-table with fancy drawers that refused to yield to the persuasion of my keys, but a broad-bladed Oriental knife tempted me, and, thrusting it into the edge, I pressed upon it, and forced the front from the drawer.

It came with a sharp snap, and a quiet chuckle caused me to turn with a start.

His Excellency's secretary, Ling Wen, was sitting in a chair, his hands upon his knees, smiling blandly at me.

I did not speak. For the first time in my life I could not find the right words to say, but could only gaze into the face of Ling Wen, who sat there, his long fingers spread out over the knees of his yellow, embroidered silk robe. I glanced at the clock. I had been at work over an hour.

"You are searching for something," he said, quietly--"pray continue;" and the invitation was too gracious not to be accepted. I swept the contents of the drawer upon the carpet.

There were only a few bundles of official-looking papers. I pushed them aside with my shoe and frowned in annoyance.

"So it is not a paper you seek, madame?" Ling Wen suavely murmured. "That is good."

"It is a trifle," I nervously answered; "a trinket that I mislaid when I stayed here last."

Ling Wen, with his hand upon his chin, nodded; but I did not like the nod, for with it oozed a smile that seemed more a compliment to my readiness of invention than belief in my veracity.

"A trinket?" he said, rising from his seat, his sharp, narrow eyes directed full upon me.

"One I valued greatly, your Excellency."

"Women are ever careless of what they value most," he answered; "allow me to help you."

And then I could not restrain a half-cry of annoyance, for he commenced his search where I should have done an hour ago; and taking a Sevres vase from the mantel-piece, turned it upside down, and something glittering in the light rolled out upon the carpet.

It was the seal I sought, a large ruby cut with a monogram and mounted in filigree gold.

"You have found it," he said, with a guileless smile, as I picked it up.

"I can never thank you sufficiently," I replied, and then, as he shrugged his shoulders deprecatingly, I, in the elation of my victory, bestowed my most dazzling smile upon him and begged him to forgive my unceremonious intrusion.

"You ask too much," he replied, with a glance that made me feel how well I was suited by my gown--"you ask too much, madame; my privilege must be ever to remember it."

The seal was in my hand as he gently placed my cloak around my shoulders, in my left hand as he raised my right to his lips, still there as he bowed again and again to me, and I walked towards the door, tried it, and found it locked.

"The door is locked!" I cried, sharply.

"Exactly," he murmured, blandly; "the door is locked."

I walked across the room again, and, throwing back my cloak from my shoulders, sank upon a lounge, while he seated himself opposite me, and, with his hands again spread out upon his knees, watched and waited for me to speak; but I would not, and presently he broke the silence.

"I caught sight of that trinket when it dropped," he said, smoothly, "and it seemed to me that I have seen it once before in the possession of my master, his Excellency Hun Sun."

"Well?" I demanded, spitefully, for it was bitter to see my victory dwindling to failure, to know that I had been frustrated, and my boast to Monsieur Roche was idle.

"Well, what then?"

"That being so, I ask to examine it more closely."

"And if I refuse, your Excellency," I sneered. "Even the Chinese, I presume, do not use force to a woman."

"Even the French," he answered, "do not, I presume, permit barefaced theft."

"I tell you the trinket is mine, and that should be sufficient. If you knew me you dare not doubt my word."

"You are but a grudging courtier of your own charms," he answered, with a ceremonious bow. "Who could once see Madame Lerestelle and ever forget her?"

I placed the seal upon a Moorish stool by my side, and he nodded approvingly.

"Let us consider the matter from a diplomatic point of view, your Excellency."

"I have the most profound respect for diplomacy, madame, for I am ignorant even of its rudiments."

The idea that first came to me when Monsieur Roche recounted the incident had grown in my mind until it became fixed as the truth. I determined to force this bland heathen into submission, or at least acquiescence.

"Ling Wen."

"Madame."

I leaned impressively towards him and sank my voice to a whisper.

"Why did you remove Hun Sun?"

Only a slight in-drawing of the lips followed my question, a twitch for the fraction of a second passed over his expressionless features.

"You are aware, then, that his Excellency is dead?"

"Yes. Why did you murder him?"

"This is childish, madame, and outside the point at issue."

"Neither the one nor the other, Ling Wen, for because I know this you are going to hand me that seal and conduct me to my carriage."

"You will be pleased to prove it, madame."

"Undoubtedly. Hun Sun was sent with a message to be delivered by word of mouth to France. A message that dare not be written."

Ling Wen nodded ever so slightly.

"It may be so, madame; I do not know."

"A man who knew what Hun Sun did was too dangerous to be allowed to return to China, for he might hold even the Emperor himself within the hollow of his hand."

"I follow your reasoning, madame; it is excellent."

"The life of a man in China is always counted as insignificant. Is it not so, Ling Wen?"

"Who could be so ungallant as to contradict you?" he suavely responded.

"Hun Sun was sent with the message, and you, Ling Wen, were to kill him when he had delivered it."

"Well, madame?"

"Because I know this, you will give me the seal and conduct me to my carriage."

Ling Wen shook his head.

"No, madame, the price is too high for a series of deductions, clever though they be. His Excellency died from natural causes."

"You are sure the physicians will say so?"

"Their opinion will not be asked. The French government cannot insult our illustrious dead. Hun Sun is dead. That is sufficient."

"But because of the part you have played, Ling Wen, I demand the seal as the price of my silence."

He rose from his seat and paced the room, and when he spoke again his voice, for a Chinaman, had grown strangely incisive.

"I should not be swayed by a threat, madame, but if I can grant you a favor, I will."

"Call it by which name you please," I cried, seeing signs of his wavering.

"Why do you want the seal?"

"Are you for France or Russia, Ling Wen?"

"I am for China," he answered, quietly; "even a heathen has patriotism. Why do you want the seal?"

I sat and pondered. How much must I tell him, and how much hold back? I looked anxiously at the seal as it lay upon the stool, and he interpreted my glance.

"For the moment," he said, "it is on neutral ground, and shall remain so until we have diplomatically solved the problem."

I still hesitated; but there was no other way, and so perforce I took the only one open to me.

"It is to seal an alliance between France and China."

"Ah!" He smiled with delight, nodded his head approvingly, and spread out his long fingers, as though he warmed them at a fire.

I took new courage to my heart.

"Hun Sun delivered it to Monsieur Roche, and the instant after purloined it and rendered his mission futile. Hun Sun was in the pay of Russia."

"Ss's the dog!" Ling Wen hissed; "I always suspected it. The dog!"

"But you, Ling Wen, will make amends for the deed of this traitor?"

"Gladly," he cried; "the neutrality is broken." He bent over, took the seal in his fingers, and I extended my hand to receive it.

"You are as clever as you are beautiful," he said, "and deserve to succeed, but unfortunately you cannot."

He dropped the seal into the open pocket of his loose silk robe.

"What do you mean?" I cried, starting in passionate amazement from my seat.

"You have much to learn, madame, before you become a skilled diplomat; you are too trustful, too confiding, and, as others of your lovely sex, you talk too much. I, too, am in the pay of Russia."

I drew my breath through my closed teeth, and clinched my hands, for I could have killed him as he stood and blandly smiled. I had been tricked and fooled. I had failed, and worse than failed, for I had dealt an irreparable blow at my own country.

"You play a rash game, Ling Wen," I cried, with cold rage.

"But a successful one, madame."

"France's representations to Peking will secure your disgrace for the part you have played in this affair."

"Tush! France can make no representations with his Excellency Hun Sun's mission unanswered."

"We can at least show how we have been cajoled."

"And if it were believed, the desire of China for alliance with a power which had proved so stupid would vanish; but it would not be believed; they would say you were scheming for delay. You had better take defeat with a pleasant grace."

I smothered my rage, and smiled a thin smile.

"Very well, Ling Wen," I answered; "I will learn diplomacy from you, and put a good face upon the matter."

"It is the truest wisdom to accept the inevitable with complacency," he murmured.

"You may see me to my carriage."

"I would that our ambitions were the same," he said, as he unlocked and opened the door. "I am humiliated in refusing you."

"Where there are victors there must be vanquished," I answered, as one who spoke a platitude, for I was disheartened and wretched at my failure.

He took my hand, and raised it to his lips.

"_Au revoir_, madame."

"Perhaps France can pay more than Russia, Ling Wen?" and I looked at him inquiringly.

"No country can pay better than Russia for secret service, madame," he answered; and then a dull sparkle came into his narrow eyes, and he pushed the door to, and laid his hand upon my arm.

"Sit down," he said, and I walked with him, my eyes cast down upon the carpet, fearful lest he should see the triumph glowing in them; with a grain of fortune, the victory yet was mine.

The inspiration came to me, clear as the noonday sun, when he opened the door for me to leave.

I trembled lest he should detect the new color rising in my cheeks, and with my glance still cast down, I took my seat again, and waited.

He stood beside me, and rested his long, thin fingers lightly on my shoulder.

"No country can pay better than Russia for secret service, madame," he repeated, with emphasis.

"It is not to be thought of," I answered, hesitatingly.

"Think what Russia would pay for your services, you in the heart of the secrets of diplomatic France."

"Not sufficient to destroy my patriotism," I said, lest it should seem that I yielded too easily.

"The ardor of one's patriotism regulates one's price," he responded. "Think what would they not pay you."

"Tush!" I cried; "this is foolishness. You wish to tempt me to place myself in your power, for fear I may yet prove dangerous. What authority do you possess to make promises for Russia? It is childish; I will go."

I moved to rise from my seat, but he restrained me.

"You are a clever woman," he said, "and that is why I would have you on our side. I tell you frankly that your value would be incalculable to Russia--to the Russian party in China. On behalf of Russia, I can make the payment whatever you desire."

"It is difficult to believe, _mon ami_," I replied, with a laugh, and I looked him in the face now, for a little excitement was pardonable. "The protestations you made earlier in the evening have proved too false to inspire confidence."

"That may be so," he exclaimed, with a quiet chuckle, "but if I can show you an official document of the Russian government proclaiming me what I say I am, giving me such powers as I say I possess, what then?"

"Then we will discuss the position diplomatically," I answered. "Where is the paper?"

"In the adjoining room," he said, and again I bent my eyes upon the ground.

"It is made jointly to Hun Sun and myself. We were the two great Russian allies in China, and we, by strange coincidence, were chosen to deliver this message to France. Your deduction that I killed Hun Sun, although clever, is wrong. The Emperor of China does not guard his secrets quite so barbarously. Hun Sun was advanced in years, and died a natural death."

"Then let me see this paper and I will believe you, and perhaps--"

He smiled and turned away from me, and I rose from my seat.

"I will bring it to you."

"We are not allies yet, Ling Wen, and I do not trust you. I will come."

"As you will," he answered. "I admire your caution, for it tells me how invaluable you will be to us;" and with a bow he crossed the room, and held the door of the inner apartment open for me to enter.

I half advanced, paused irresolute, and then drew back.

"You may precede me," I said. "I will again be candid. I do not trust you;" and I stood aside for him to pass, and took the handle of the door, which opened towards me, in my left hand.

He laughed quietly again, and turned and faced me.

"An excess of caution is bad diplomacy, madame," he said, "for it creates suspicion. If I did not know how impossible it was, I should think you still had designs upon the seal."

With another soft chuckle he passed on and entered the doorway; and then like a flash, the instant his back was turned, I caught his silk embroidered robe in my right hand, and with my left flung to the door and locked it.

There was a guttural exclamation from within as he tried to tear his gown free, but my glance fell upon the Oriental knife that I had used before, and, holding the silk in my hand, with a slash I cut it through, and the seal, which lay in the corner of the deep pocket, was again in my possession.

Ling Wen was beating furiously upon the panels, so I took the precaution of locking the outer door as I departed, and descended the stairs, elated with a feeling of supreme contentment, for was not my promise to Monsieur Roche amply and well fulfilled?

MONSIEUR ROCHE'S DEFEAT

"_Mon ami_, you jest!"

"I never jest," Monsieur Roche snappishly replied. "Before the week is through Paris will have a sensation, the ministry will be defeated--more than defeated, disgraced. I have been deceived, miserably betrayed, and by the man I trusted most. A friend of yours, madame--Gaspard Levive."

"It is not true," I cried; and the blood mounted to my cheeks in anger, for truly Gaspard Levive was a friend of mine, one whom I delighted to call my greatest friend.

"It is only too true," Monsieur Roche gravely answered. "I am disgraced, and the young fool is ruined. At least not ruined," he bitterly continued: "doubtless he will be rewarded by the new ministry."

"If this be the prelude to a commission, monsieur, I refuse it."

"There is no commission, madame; the day is hopelessly lost. I have been betrayed by my own secretary."

We had met crossing the Place de la Concorde, and had stayed talking by the Luxor Obelisk, and now I deliberately obscured Monsieur Roche with my sunshade, and gazed up the vista of the Champs-Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe. Suddenly I turned, closed my parasol with a vicious snap, and looked angrily into his face.

"I accept the commission, monsieur; tell me all."

He placed his hand upon my arm.

"You are angry, _ma chere_, and so am I. You are wounded, and I am also. Let it pass; there is no commission."

"Some mystery," I cried.

"No mystery and no solution; all is too wretchedly clear. You are anxious to defend Gaspard, so am I; but it is useless; he stands self-condemned, and we had best forget his very existence."

"Tell me," I said, stonily.

"He has stolen a document from my safe and sold it to those who can, who will, use it to disgrace and overthrow me."

"It is false."

"A month ago France was insulted--deliberately insulted in such a manner that it became almost a declaration of war. It was equivalent to a challenge for war, and yet one that we dare not take up. War to France would mean ruin. She would inevitably lose, and sink to the condition of a second-rate power."

"Well!"

"We decided we could not go to war. We must diplomatically ignore the slur, at least until we were more prepared; but it was a matter for France, and not for the ministry alone. If our course of action became known, it might be the first step towards revolution. There was no help for it, and I privately conferred with the head of the opposition, my greatest political enemy, Monsieur Desormes."

"One of the most unscrupulous men in France."

"One of the greatest diplomats."

"The terms are frequently synonymous, monsieur. Proceed."

"Wonderful to relate, he was with us. War was impossible--we dare not declare it, we must accept the distasteful position--but I insisted that his support of that policy should be given me in writing, that he should bind himself to an adhesion to our views, so that he could not withdraw; and he agreed, and wrote a confidential document in which he declared that he stood firm with us for peace. That document has been stolen from my safe by Gaspard Levive, and returned to Desormes, who now laughs in my face, sneeringly announcing that he will publicly charge my ministry with degrading France in the eyes of Europe, and crush us."

"You go too fast, monsieur; why stolen by Gaspard Levive?"

"Because he for a few hours had the key of my safe in his possession. It is he or I."

"I would sooner suspect you, monsieur."

"Last night I left my keys with him. This morning before I arrived he had a mysterious visitor, a woman--"

"Well, monsieur, what of that?"

"When I opened the safe the letter was gone, and a blank sheet of paper substituted; that is all."

"And his explanation?"

"He refuses any. Declines even to say who the visitor was, or why she called."

"I see no case against him," I said, soberly, but my heart was chilling because of this unknown woman.

"That is not all," Monsieur Roche continued, "for I know who she was--the Countess Renaze, the closest friend of Mlle. Desormes, one of the most bewitching women in Paris, beautiful enough to tempt any man from his duty. I found this handkerchief with her monogram and crest in his room."

"Good-day, monsieur."

"Good-bye, _ma chere_; we've both made a mistake--good-bye."

I did not want to talk with my diplomatic friend; I did not want to talk with any one. I left him, and walked towards the Boulevard des Capucines, the words ringing in my ears, "We've both made a mistake." I hated myself, I hated diplomats, and I wondered if I was so wretched because Gaspard was false to France or because he had been false to me.

Then as I strolled, a little scene came back to my mind that I had witnessed that morning upon the platform of the Gare du Nord. The Countess Renaze was departing for London. I could see her now as she leaned from the carriage window. So it could not be she who had called upon Gaspard, and Monsieur Roche's reasoning was at fault in that particular. Why not in more than that; why not in all?

But my next thought condemned Gaspard almost beyond appeal, for I remembered that, as the train started, the Countess dropped her lace handkerchief from between her fingers, and, too late to hand it back, her friend, Mlle. Desormes, the daughter of Monsieur Roche's enemy, picked it up. It was she who had called upon Gaspard immediately afterwards, and had coaxed or tricked him into delivering the paper to her; and I, who would have given all to prove Gaspard's innocence, had found evidence to condemn him even more strongly.

I stopped in sudden surprise, for the man whom I would have avoided stood before me.

"You have heard I am ruined and disgraced," he said, for he could not but perceive the constraint in my manner.

"I have just left Monsieur Roche. How could you be so mad?"

His lips twitched even as though my words came as a shock to him.

"I thought one woman would believe me. I was on my way to ask for your assistance."

"Assistance is impossible, monsieur, with half-hearted confidences. A lady called upon you, and you refuse her name."

"Monsieur Roche discovered that it was the Countess Renaze."

"It was Mlle. Desormes," I said, coldly. Gaspard's face turned even a shade paler, and his eyes fell before my gaze.

"You know that?" he said, in astonishment.

"Yes; why did you not tell Monsieur Roche?"

"Because there are circumstances in which explanation may be counted as half-confession."

"Indeed."

"I was appalled at the accusation, and such an admission must have stamped my guilt. Think, the daughter of the very man who had tricked us, Monsieur Roche's implacable enemy. It was impossible, and so I kept silent."

"It was a criminal silence, a worse falsehood than a spoken untruth. Why did she call?"

Gaspard flushed, and after a moment's pause spoke in a voice that was hesitating and constrained.

"I had promised to lend her a government book upon the island of Martinique."

And then--for I could scarce restrain a smile--it was so ridiculous for one of the belles of Paris to take to the study of official reports; he hotly continued: "Now you see why I did not tell Monsieur Roche the truth, for even you do not believe it. It seems too childish, too ridiculous."

"It seems too childish to be false, _mon ami_," I answered; "but are you sure there was not some little--what shall I say when a beautiful woman and a clever man are concerned?--some little--"

"You need say nothing, Aide," he answered, looking me straight in the face; "you know there was not."

And my heart seemed to suddenly grow so light that I forgot the serious business that troubled us.

"Well, _mon cher_ Gaspard, I think it is a mistake; a promising diplomat ought to have tendencies towards matrimony, because it is so respectable."