Chapter 18

“Well, what would be the natural conclusion if you refused to give an explanation? Don't you see that the papers would make a sensation of the matter? There is no telling what they would say about you. The world would jump at the scandal bait, and you would be the most notorious of women, to be perfectly plain with you. If you refuse to expose the people who abducted you, there could be but one inference. It would simply mean that you were a party to the plot and fled to evade the wedding at St. Gudule's. Upon whom would suspicion fall? Upon the man who was supposed to have sailed for New York, and upon his friends. Where have you been during the last few weeks? If you did not answer, the world would grin and say, 'In New York, and of her own volition!' Don't you see, Dorothy, there is but one way to end this horrible mistake of mine? Only one way to protect you from humiliation, even degradation?”

“You mean by--” she began, faintly, afraid to complete the dreaded surmise.

“By the surrender of the real criminal,” he said, calmly.

“I will not agree to that!” she cried, imperatively. “If you give yourself up to them, Philip Quentin, I will deny every word of your confession,” she went on, triumphantly.

“I'm afraid they would doubt you,” he responded, but his heart leaped gladly.

“And do you know what else I shall do if you persist? I'll tell the world that you were not alone in this affair, and I'll send the officers to Castle Craneycrow to arrest every--” she was crying hysterically, when he interrupted.

“But you have promised to shield them!”

“Promised! I will forget that I ever made a promise. Philip Quentin, either I go to Brussels alone or every person in Craneycrow goes to prison with you. I'll not spare one of them. Promise? What do I care for that promise? Do as you like, Phil, but I mean every word of it!”

“You wouldn't dare, Dorothy, you wouldn't dare!” he cried, imploringly. “They are not to blame. I am the guilty one. They are not--”

“One way or the other, Phil!” she cried, firmly. “It is safety for all or disgrace for all. Now, will you go to Brussels?”

“But, my heavens, how can you explain to the world?” he cried, in deepest distress.

“I have thought of all that. Providence gave me the solution,” she said, her face beaming with the joy of victory.

“Not even Providence can supply an explanation,” he groaned.

“You forget Courant, the dead man. He cannot deny the charge if I conclude to accuse him of the crime. He is the solution!”

XXX. LOVE IS BLIND

“But Ugo can disprove it,” he said, after a moment's thought.

“Only by confessing his own duplicity,” she said, tranquilly.

“You will not marry him, Dorothy?”

She looked him full in the eyes, and no word could have answered plainer than the disdain which swept across her lovely face.

“What do you think of me, Phil?” she asked, in hurt tones, and he answered with his eyes because he could not trust his voice.

The longing to throw her arms about the man whose burning eyes had set her heart afire was almost uncontrollable; the hope that he would throw off restraint and cry out his love, drove her timidly into silent expectancy. His whole soul surged to his lips and eyes, but he fought back the words that would have made them both so happy. He knew she loved him; the faintest whisper from him would cause her lips to breathe the passion her eyes revealed. And yet he was strong enough to bide his time.

How long this exquisite communion of thoughts lasted neither knew nor cared. Through the leafy wood they drove, in utter silence, both understanding, both revealing, both waiting. He dared not look at the glorious, love-lit face, he dared not speak to her, he dared not tempt the heart that might betray his head. It was he who at last broke that joyous calm, and his voice was husky with suppressed emotion.

“You will not forget that some day I am coming to you as Phil Quentin and not in the mask of a bandit.”

“I shall expect you, robber, to appear before a certain tribunal and there explain, if you can, what led you to commit the crime that has shocked the world,” she said, brightly.

“I implore the leniency of the high court,” he said, tenderly.

“The court can only put you on probation and exact the promise that you will never steal another girl.”

“And the length of probation?”

“For all your natural life,” demurely.

“Then I must appeal to a higher court,” he said, soberly.

“What?” she cried. “Do you object to the judgment?”

“Not at all,” he said, earnestly. “I will merely appeal to the higher court for permission to live forever.” Both laughed with the buoyancy that comes from suppressed delight. “It occurs to me, Dorothy,” said he, a few minutes later, “that we are a long time in reaching the town Father Bivot told me about. We seem to be in the wilds, and he said there were a number of houses within five miles of Craneycrow. Have we passed a single habitation?”

“I have not seen one, but I'm sorry the time seems long,” she said.

“I wonder if we have lost the way,” he went on, a troubled expression in his eyes. “This certainly isn't a highway, and he said we would come to one within three miles of the castle. See; it is eleven o'clock, and we have been driving for more than two hours at a pretty fair gait. By the eternal, Dorothy, we may be lost!”

“How delightful!” she cried, her eyes sparkling.

“I don't believe you care,” he exclaimed, in surprise.

“I should have said how frightful,” she corrected, contritely.

“This isn't getting you on a train, by any manner of means,” he said. “Could I have misunderstood the directions he gave?” He was really disturbed.

“And the poor horse seems so tired, too,” she said, serenely.

“By Jove! Didn't we cross a stream an hour or so ago?” he cried.

“A horrid, splashy little stream? We crossed it long ago.”

“Well, we shouldn't have crossed it,” he said, ruefully. “I should have turned up the hill over the creek road. We're miles out of the way, Dorothy.”

“What shall we do?” she asked, with a brave show of dismay.

“I don't know. We're in a deuce of a pickle, don't you see?” he said.

“I can't say that I do see,” she said. “Can't we drive back to the creek?”

“We could if I could turn the confounded trap about. But how, in the name of heaven, can I turn on a road that isn't wide enough for two bicycles to pass in safety? Steep, unclimable hill on our left, deep ravine on our right.”

“And a narrow bit of a road ahead of us,” she said. “It looks very much as if the crooked and narrow path is the best this time.”

That narrow road seemed to have no end and it never widened. The driving at last became dangerous, and they realized that the tired horse was drawing them up a long, gradual slope. The way became steeper, and the road rough with rocks and ruts. Her composure was rapidly deserting her, and he was the picture of impatience.

“If we should meet anyone else driving, what would happen?” she asked, fearfully.

“We won't meet anyone,” he answered. “Nobody but a mountain goat would wittingly venture up this road. This poor old nag is almost dead. This is a pretty mess! How do you like the way I'm taking you to the train?”

“Is this another abduction?” she asked, sweetly, and both laughed merrily, in spite of their predicament. His haggard face, still showing the effects of illness, grew more and more troubled, and at last he said they would have to get down from the trap, not only to avoid the danger of tipping over the cliff, but to relieve the horse. In this sorry fashion they plodded along, now far above the forest, and in the cool air of the hilltops.

“There certainly must be a top to this accursed hill,” he panted. He was leading the horse by the bit, and she was bravely trudging at his side.

“There is a bend in the road up yonder, Phil,” she said.

When they turned the bend in the tortuous mountain road, both drew up sharply, with a gasp of astonishment. For a long time neither spoke, their bewildered minds struggling to comprehend the vast puzzle that confronted them. Even the fagged horse pricked up his ears and looked ahead with interest. Not three hundred yards beyond the bend stood the ruins of an enormous castle.

“It is Craneycrow!” gasped the man, leaning dizzily against the shaft of the trap. She could only look at him in mute consternation. It was Craneycrow, beyond all doubt, but what supernatural power had transferred it bodily from the squarrose hill on which it had stood for centuries, to the spot it now occupied, grim and almost grinning? “Is this a dream, Dorothy? Are we really back again?”

“I can't believe it,” she murmured. “We must be deceived by a strange resem--”

“There is Bob himself! Good heavens, this paralyzes me! Hey, Bob! Bob!”

A few minutes later a limping horse dragged his bones into the courtyard and two shame faced travelers stood before a taunting quartet, enduring their laughter, wincing under their jests, blushing like children when the shots went home. For hours they had driven in a circle, rounding the great row of hills, at last coming to the very gate from which they had started forth so confidently. They were tired and hungry and nervous.

“Did you telegraph your mother you were coming?” asked Dickey Savage.

“We did not even see a telegraph wire,” answered Dorothy, dismally.

“What did you see?” he asked, maliciously,

“You should not ask confusing questions, Richard,” reprimanded Lady Jane, with mock severity.

“Well, we'll try it over again to-morrow,” decided Quentin, doggedly.

“Do you expect me to let you kill every horse I own?” demanded Lord Bob. “They can't stand these round-the-world pleasure trips every day, don't you know. Glad to oblige you, my boy, but I must be humane.”

That evening Father Bivot came to the castle, just as they were leaving the dinner table. He brought startling news. Not an hour before, while on his way from the nearest village, he had come upon a big party of men, quartered on the premises of a gardener down the valley. It required but little effort on his part to discover that they were officers from the capital, and that they were looking for the place where Courant's body was found. The good Father also learned that detectives from Brussels were in the party, and that one of the men was a prince. The eager listeners in Castle Craneycrow soon drew from the priest enough to convince them that Ugo was at the head of the expedition, and that it was a matter of but a few hours until he and his men would be knocking at the gates.

“The prince did not address me,” said Father Bivot, “but listened intently, as I now recall, to everything I said in response to the Luxemburg officer's questions. That person asked me if Lord Robert Saxondale owned a place in the valley, and I said that his lordship dwelt in Castle Craneycrow. The men were very curious, and a tall Italian whispered questions to the officer, who put them to me roughly. There was no harm in telling them that his lordship was here with a party of friends--”

“Good Lord!” gasped Dickey, despairingly.

“It is all over,” said Quentin, his face rigid.

“What will they do?” demanded Dorothy, panic-stricken.

“I do not understand your agitation, good friends,” said the priest, in mild surprise. “Have I done wrong in telling them you are here? Who are they? Are they enemies?”

“They are searching for me, Father Bivot,” said Dorothy, resignedly.

“For you, my child?” in wonder.

“They want to take me back to Brussels, You would not understand, Father, if I told you the story, but I do not want them to find me here.”

A frightened servant threw open the door unceremoniously at this juncture and controlling his excitement with moderate success, announced that a crowd of men were at the gates, demanding admission.

“My God, Bob, this will ruin you and Lady Saxondale!” groaned Quentin. “What can we do? Escape by the underground passage?”

Lord Saxondale was the coolest one in the party. He squared his shoulders, sniffed the air belligerently, and said he would take the matter in his own hands.

“Frances, will you take Miss Garrison upstairs with you? And Jane, I suspect you would better go, too The secret passage is not to be considered. If we attempt to leave the place, after the information Father Bivot has given them, it will be a clean admission of guilt. We will face them down. They can't search the castle without my permission, and they can't trespass here a minute longer than I desire. Do you care to see the prince, Quentin?”

“See him? It is my duty and not yours to meet him. It means nothing to me and it means disgrace to you, Bob, Let me talk to--”

“If you intend to act like an ass, Phil, you shan't talk to him. I am in control here, and I alone can treat with him and the officers.”

“Please, sir, they are becoming very angry, and say they will break down the gates in the name of the law,” said the servant, reentering hurriedly.

“I will go out and talk to them about the law,” said Saxondale, grimly. “Don't be alarmed, Miss Garrison. We'll take care of you. Gad, you look as if you want to faint! Get her upstairs, Frances.”

“I must speak with you, Lord Saxondale,” cried Dorothy, clutching his arm and drawing him apart from the pale-faced group. Eagerly she whispered in his ear, stamping her foot in reply to his blank objections. In the end she grasped both his shoulders and looked up into his astonished eyes determinedly, holding him firmly until he nodded his head gravely. Then she ran across the room to the two ladies and the bewildered priest, crying to the latter:

“You must come upstairs and out of danger, Father. We have no time to lose. Good luck to you, Lord Saxondale!” and she turned an excited face to the three men who stood near the door.

“He shall not have you, Dorothy,” cried Quentin. “He must kill me first.”

“Trust to Lord Saxondale's diplomacy, Phil,” she said, softly, as she passed him on her way to the stairs.

XXXI. HER WAY

The grim smile that settled on the faces of the three men after the women and the trembling priest had passed from the hall, was not one of amusement. It was the offspring of a desperate, uneasy courage.

“Quentin, the safety of those women upstairs depends on your thoughtfulness. You must leave this affair to me. We can't keep them waiting any longer. Gad, they will tear down the historic gate I had so much difficulty in building last year. Wait for me here. I go to meet the foe.”

Turk was standing in the courtyard with a revolver in his hand. Lord Bob commanded him to put away the weapon and to “stow his bellicoseness.” Mere chance caused Turk to obey the command in full; half of it he did not understand. The voices outside the gate were much more subdued than his lordship expected, but he did not know that Prince Ugo had warily enjoined silence, fearing the flight of the prey.

“Who is there?” called Lord Bob, from the inside

“Are you Lord Saxondale?” demanded a guttural voice on the outside.

“I am. What is the meaning of this disturbance?”

“We are officers of the government, and we are looking for a person who is within your walls. Open the gate, my lord.”

“How am I to know you are officers of the law? You may be a pack of bandits. Come back to-morrow, my good friends.”

“I shall be compelled to break down your gate, sir,” came from without, gruffly.

“Don't do it. The first man who forces his way will get a bullet in his head. If you can give me some assurance that you are officers and not thieves, I may admit you.” Lord Bob was grinning broadly, much to the amazement of the servant who held the lantern. There were whispers on the outside.

“Prince Ravorelli is with us, my lord. Is he sufficient guarantee?” asked the hoarse voice.

“Is Giovanni Pavesi there, also?” asked Saxondale, loudly.

“I do not know him, my lord. The prince's companions are strangers to me. Is such a person here?” Lord Bob could almost see the look on Ugo's face when the question was put to him.

“I never heard the name,” came the clear voice of the Italian. “My friends are well known to Lord Saxondale. He remembers Count Sallaconi and the Duke of Laselli. Two men from Brussels are also here--Captains Devereaux and Ruz.”

“I recognize the prince's voice,” said Saxondale, unlocking the gate. “Come inside, gentlemen,” he said, as he stood before the group. “Sorry to have kept you waiting, you know, but it is wise to be on the safe side. So you are looking for some one who is in my castle? May I inquire the name of that person?”

“You know very well, Lord Saxondale,” said Ugo, now taking the lead. He stood boldly, defiantly before the Englishman.

“Carmenita Malban is dead, your excellency,” said Bob, coolly.

“I do not know what you are talking about, sir,” grated the prince. “Dorothy Garrison is here, held against her will, and I, her affianced husband, command you to surrender her.”

“Have you the authority to take her, if I refuse to obey?” asked the other, with exasperating coolness.

“These officers have the authority to arrest you and to take her from your hands, violently, if necessary.”

“Oh, well, that makes a difference, of course. Miss Garrison is here, Prince Ravorelli, but I doubt your authority to take her away.”

“There is a reward for her, dead or alive,” said Count Sallaconi, savagely.

“And for the abductors,” added the burly man from Luxemburg. “I shall have to place you under arrest, my lord.”

“One moment, my good man. Miss Garrison is her own mistress, I believe?” addressing the prince.

“What has that to do with it?”

“I'm sure I don't know, but it may be important. If you will kindly request your followers to remain in the courtyard, you may enter the castle and converse with Miss Garrison herself, Prince Paves--I should say Ravorelli.” There was a wild, hunted look in the Italian's eyes, and there was murder in his heart. “I will ask you and the count and the duke and Officer Luxemburg to come with me.”

With rare dignity Lord Saxondale strode across the flags and deliberately threw open the huge castle door. After a moment of indecision and not a little trepidation, Prince Ugo followed, with his two countrymen not far behind. The Luxemburg officer gave hurried instructions to his men and took his place among the favored few.

It was a sharply-drawn hiss, ending in a triumphant “ah,” that came from the lips of Ugo when he was face to face with Philip Quentin. His glittering eyes plainly said that his suspicions were confirmed. The discovery of the fact, a week before, that the two Americans had not sailed for New York provided the foundation for a shrewd guess and he had not been wrong.

“It is as I suspected,” he said, tersely. “I trust I am not too late to save Miss Garrison from outrage.”

“One moment, please,” commanded Lord Bob. “You are here through sufferance, and you must, for the time being, imagine yourself a gentleman. If you care to talk over the situation with us while we wait for Lady Saxondale and Miss Garrison, I shall be only too glad to have you do so. Will you be seated, gentlemen?”

“We are not here to be directed by you, Lord Saxondale. We have tracked this scoundrel to earth, and we are--” Ugo was saying hotly when his lordship turned on him sternly.

“Mr. Quentin is my guest. Another remark of that character and I will throw you bodily from the room. This is my house, Prince Ravorelli.” Paying no heed to the malevolent glare in the Italian's eyes, Saxondale turned and bade a servant ask Miss Garrison to come down if it pleased her to do so.

“I presume Brussels is very much excited over Miss Garrison's disappearance,” said he to the livid-faced prince.

“Brussels is horrified, but she will rejoice tomorrow. Thank God, we have not toiled in vain.”

“Sit down. May I inquire for the health of Mrs. Garrison?” The four newcomers, more or less ill at ease, sat down with Lord Bob, the two Americans standing. Quentin leaned against the big post at the foot of the steps, his face the picture of gloomy defiance.

“I am not her physician, sir.”

“Hoity-toity! She is quite well, then, I may reasonably infer. Can you tell me whether she is in Brussels?”

“She will be in Luxemburg in the morning, if my message reaches her to-night. But we are not here for the purpose of bandying words with you, sir. This house must be searched, whether you like it or not. Captain, call in your men,” cried the prince, his rage getting the better of him.

“You will find that the door is barred, captain,” said Saxondale, easily. The expression that came into the faces of the four men was one not soon to be forgotten. For a full minute there was absolute silence.

“Do you mean that we are prisoners?” demanded Ugo, his teeth showing, but not in a smile.

“Not at all. The door has a habit of locking itself.”

“I command you to open that door!” cried the prince, looking about him like a trapped rat. He snarled with rage when he saw the smile on Quentin's face. Dickey's sudden chuckle threw dismay into the ranks of the confident besiegers.

“Do not be alarmed, gentlemen,” said Saxondale. “The door shall be opened in good time. Ah, I think the ladies are coming.”

As he spoke Dorothy and Lady Saxondale appeared at the top of the stairs. Ugo would have dashed up to meet them had not the two Americans blocked the way. Slowly Dorothy came down the oaken steps, followed by Lady Saxondale. Lady Jane and Father Bivot were not far behind them.

“Dorothy!” cried Ugo. “Thank heaven, I have found you!”

She stopped on the bottom step, within arm's length of Philip Quentin. There was a moment of indecision, a vivid flush leaped into her lovely cheek, and then her hand went quickly forth and rested on Quentin's shoulder. He started and looked at her for the first time.

“I am sorry, Ugo, for the wrong I have done you,” she said, steadily, but her hand trembled convulsively on Phil's shoulder. Mechanically he reached up and took the slim fingers in his broad, strong hand and rose to the step beside her.

“The wrong?” murmured the prince, mechanically.

“In running away from you as I did,” she said, hurriedly, as if doubting her power to proceed. “It was heartless of me, and it subjected you to the crudest pain and humiliation. I cannot ask you to forgive me. You should despise me.”

“Despise you?” he gasped, slowly. The truth began to dawn on two men at the same time. Ugo's heart sank like a stone and Quentin's leaped as if stung by an electric shock. His figure straightened, his chin was lifted, and the blood surged from all parts of his body to his turbulent heart.

“I loved him, Prince Ravorelli, better than all the world. It was a shameless way to leave you, but it was the only way,” she said, her voice full. Then she lifted her eyes to Quentin's and for the moment all else was forgotten.

“My God, you--you did not leave Brussels of your own free will!” cried the prince, his eyes blazing, Sallaconi and Laselli moved toward the door, and the police officer's face was a study.

“I ran away with the man I love,” she answered, bravely.

“It is a lie!” shrieked the Italian. Saxondale seized his hand in time to prevent the drawing of a revolver from his coat pocket. “'Damn you! This is a trick!”

“You have Miss Garrison's word for it, your excellency. She was not abducted, and your search has been for naught,” said the big Englishman. “There are no abductors here. The famous abduction was a part of the game and it was abetted by the supposed victim.”

“But there is a reward for her return to Brussels,” interrupted the Luxemburg official, speaking for the first time. “I must insist that she come with me.”

“The reward is for Dorothy Garrison, is it not?” demanded Saxondale.

“Yes, my lord.”

“Well, as you cannot get out of the castle and your friends cannot get into it until we open the doors, there is absolutely no possibility of your taking Dorothy Garrison to Brussels.”

“Do you mean to oppose the law?” cried Ugo, panting with rage.