friend'sletters?" he asked himself at last. "Yet--yet it is not for my ownbenefit. Would Hugh ever forgive me if he knew all? If he knew mysecret--ah! by heaven! it's too horrible, the very thought of the crime,of its punishment, unnerves me. Coward--yes, coward at heart; afraid ofjustice, and under the thrall of a daring unscrupulous gang. What can Ido, how can I act? Surely there can be no great harm in opening this."
He stood several moments in silence.
"Yes!" he exclaimed suddenly, "I'll do it!"
Then he held the envelope in the stream of steam. In a few moments thegum had become loosened, and he was reading the missive.
When he had finished it his face grew hard and stern. Slowly hereplaced the letter in its envelope and re-gummed the flap in itsoriginal position. Standing before the fire, his arms folded, his headbent deep in thought, he muttered to himself:
"So that is your plan, Valerie! As a masterpiece of ingenuity andchicanery, it does you great credit, and fully sustains your reputation.But the bird is scarcely in the net yet. You have me under yourmerciless hand, it is true, and you know well that I dare not exposeyou, for you could send me to a convict's cell, or worse. No, I am notsuch a fool as to run the risk. I know you and your brutal myrmidonstoo well for that. I cannot show you in your true colours, exceptvaguely, and therefore ineffectually; still we may be quits yet."
Taking the lamp from the table, he placed it upon the old bureau whereinHugh had found the strange letters and photograph.
"You gave me this to use in your interests," he continued, taking asmall key from his pocket. "I've searched for the missing letters.I've been a thief, because I'm compelled, like the cringing slave that Iam. But how little you dream of what still remains! The mostcleverly-arranged schemes are apt to fail sometimes."
Inserting the key, he unhesitatingly opened the bureau. On pressing oneof the dark panels of the side it fell forward, revealing a secretcavity, the existence of which Hugh had never discovered. All itcontained was a slip of paper, together with an old copy of the_Gaulois_ newspaper.
"Yes," he said, aloud, "these will prove useful, perhaps, some day.They will be safer in my possession than here."
Replacing the panel, he closed and locked the bureau, and, turning tothe table, first read the words upon the piece of paper, then spread outthe newspaper, and became absorbed in a long report which had beenmarked round with coloured crayon.
"And after all," he reflected, when he had placed the papers in hispocket, "I may be only forging fetters for my own wear. Who knows?"
Then he sank back into his armchair, and, lighting his meerschaum,calmly smoked until the return of the pair who had been gossiping by thesea.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN.
QUEEN OF THE SILENT KINGDOM.
One of the most pleasant thoroughfares in Brussels is perhaps that broadboulevard, lying on the La Cambre side, between the Fontaine Debroeckereand the Porte de Hal. The Boulevard de Waterloo is scarcely asfashionable as the Bontanique or the Regent, but it certainly possessesanother and greater charm, inasmuch as the trees are more abundant, and,being older than those in the other boulevards, their branches meetoverhead, forming long avenues of dark foliage which in summerconstitute a cool and pleasant promenade.
Hugh Trethowen, dressed with evident care, had strolled from his hotelin the Place Royale one afternoon, three days later, and, walking up theRue de Namur, had turned into this leafy resort of idlers.
Under a clear blue sky the sun shone upon the fresh green of the springfoliage, lighting up the usually sombre pathways with a shimmeringgolden light, and presenting the boulevard at its best, with its crowdsof _flaneurs_ strolling under the old elms, or seated enjoying theexhilarating air.
But by Hugh the picturesqueness of the scene was unappreciated. He wastoo deeply absorbed in his own thoughts to notice the beauty or charmsof his surroundings; he was only bent on finding the house Valerie hadgiven as her address. Crossing the boulevard without scarcely giving ita glance, he found himself before a long row of tall houses which linethe left side, and constitute the Avenue de la Toison d'Or. Their deadwhite fronts were the reverse of artistic, although their generalcharacter spoke of stability and wealth, for the majority were of almoststereotyped exactness, each with its wide _porte cochere_, its enormousdoor, its three tall drawing-room windows with white jalousies thrownback, and its four storeys above.
With little difficulty Hugh discovered that the house he was in searchof was situated at the corner of the Place Louise, and that its facadewas more imposing than that of its neighbours.
Meanwhile, seated on a low gypsy chair, in a small but elegant room,Valerie was deciphering a long letter which had been just handed to herby the man who sat near, Victor Berard.
"Well, what do you think of it?" asked the latter, twirling theneedle-like points of his moustache, as she folded the paper slowly andreplaced it in the envelope.
"It only shows how very near he was to bungling--the idiot! If he had,well--the results would have been too dreadful to think of."
"Matters are progressing as well as can be wished, and the disappearancehas been accomplished excellently, with the exception of that onehitch--"
"Which might have sent us both to a very unfashionable lodging," sheinterrupted.
Nodding acquiescence, he replied--
"_Sapristi_! that's all very well. But you have the money; you can'tgrumble. Again, why need we fear the failure? You have beauty--indeed,you're the best-looking woman in Brussels. As long as you retain thatcharm, we need not be apprehensive."
"You pay me a pretty compliment, Victor," she laughed. "Nevertheless, Imust admit my face has always been my fortune."
"And other people's misfortune, eh?" observed her companion, smilinggrimly.
"Well, that's certainly one way of putting it, but you--"
"M'sieur Trethowen desires to see mademoiselle," Nanette said, for shehad opened the door unobserved.
"Trethowen!" gasped Victor, twisting his moustache nervously. "He mustnot find us together."
"No," exclaimed Valerie. "Go quickly through the garden, and out by theside door."
He had already put on his hat, and without further hesitation he wavedhis hand, and vanished through a door communicating with theconservatory.
"_Au revoir_," he said. "You will know how to manage him, and I willreturn at six to take you to the Moliere."
She went to a long mirror and hurriedly arranged her hair; then, turningto the maid, ordered her visitor to be shown in.
"I wonder what his object is in coming here," she muttered to herself,as she sank into her wicker chair, and commenced twisting her ringsround her shapely fingers perplexedly. "Surely he cannot suspect! Yetthe threats of that fool Egerton still ring in my ears," and she frownedthoughtfully.
When her visitor entered she rose, calm and pale, to meet him.
"So you have returned to me at last, Hugh," she said in a falteringvoice, almost overcome with emotion.
"Yes, dearest," he replied, placing his arm around her waist, anddrawing her closely to him. "I have come to beg forgiveness for beingso rash."
"My forgiveness!" she exclaimed in a tone of surprise, looking up intohis face. "Why, I have nothing really to forgive."
"I judged you too hastily, Valerie, and, now I have learned the error ofmy ways, I have come over here to receive your pardon."
"And I grant that freely," she said, with a happy smile, for she wasunfeignedly delighted that he had returned.
"Do you know," he said, as he slowly released her, and sank into a chairbeside her, "I've been unspeakably dull and miserable. By Jove! lifehasn't been worth living lately."
"Why?" asked she naively.
"Because you have been absent."
"I should scarcely have thought it," observed mademoisellemischievously. "You had Jack Egerton's model. Surely she did notobject to a mild flirtation?"
"Dolly Vivian! I flirt with her!" he echoed in surprise. "No, indeed,I've neve
r done so. She is my friend, it is true; but nothing more."
"Ah, don't tell me that, Hugh. You men are all alike. A pretty woman'sface, a smile, a pair of merry eyes, and you are captivated."
"But I have not been, except by yourself," he declared, grasping herhand, and raising it reverently to his lips. "You do not know how blankand colourless my life has been without you--what an utterly miserableexistence mine is when we are apart."
He spoke low and earnestly, for all the fervour of the old love hadreturned, and, heedless of the warnings of his friends, he was repeatingassurances of affection to the woman who held him in her toils for lifeor death. She did not
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