The Pauper of Park Lane

by William Le Queux

Petrovitchs."

  "But, my dear young lady!" he cried. "They had servants. Surely thereis one who could give us some very valuable information."

  "Perhaps so, if he or she could be found," she remarked. "They, nodoubt, took every precaution against being followed. As a matter offact, so great a care has the Doctor taken that his most intimate friendin London is in ignorance."

  "And who is he, pray?" asked the millionaire quickly.

  "A gentleman named Barclay--Mr Max Barclay."

  "Max Barclay! I've heard of him. A friend of your brother's, eh? Andso he was the Doctor's friend?"

  "They were inseparable, but the Doctor left without a word of farewell."

  "And also the daughter--except to you, Miss Rolfe," he said, looking ather meaningly.

  "To me?"

  "Yes," he went on, his keen gaze again upon her. "It is useless toassume ignorance. You know quite well that the doctor's daughter, onthe night of their disappearance, made a statement to you--an importantstatement."

  "My brother told you that!" she cried. "He has told you everything!"

  "He has told me nothing," replied the old man coldly. "I only askwhether you deny that she made a statement."

  The girl hesitated.

  "She certainly spoke to me," she admitted at last. "I was her mostintimate friend, and it was only natural perhaps that she told me whatwas most uppermost in her mind."

  "And what was that?"

  "I regret," she replied, "that I cannot repeat it; Mr Statham."

  "What! You refuse to say anything?"

  "Under compulsion--yes," was her firm answer. "I did not know," sheadded, "that you had invited me here to ply me with questions in thismanner."

  "Or you would not have come, eh?" he laughed. "Well, my dear younglady, you apparently don't quite realise how very important it is to meto discover Doctor Petrovitch. I have asked you here in order to beg afavour of you. I may be rough and matter-of-fact, but I trust you willpardon my apparent rudeness."

  "There is nothing to forgive, Mr Statham," was her quiet, dignifiedresponse. "My reply, quite brief and at the same time unalterable, isthat I have nothing to say."

  "You mean you refuse to tell me?"

  She nodded.

  He thrust his hands deep into the pockets of his old grey trousers, andstared down at the carpet. Marion Rolfe was more difficult to questionthan he had anticipated. She possessed the same firm, resolute natureof her father and her brother. That Maud Petrovitch had made astatement to her which possessed a most important bearing upon theserious interests involved, he was absolutely certain. Ever since theday following the strange disappearance, certain secret agents of hishad been at work, but they had discovered next to nothing. Marion Rolfealone was in possession of the actual facts. He knew that full well,and was therefore determined that she should be compelled to speak andexplain.

  "I wish, Miss Rolfe, that I could impress upon you the extremeimportance of this matter to myself personally," he said, assuming anair quite conciliatory in the hope that he might induce her to revealthe truth. "I have begged of you to assist me in a very difficulttask--one which, if I fail in accomplishing, will mean an enormousfinancial revenue. Your brother is in my service, while you yourselfare also indirectly in my service," he added; "and if, as result of yourinformation, I am able to discover the Doctor, I need not tell you thatI shall mark your services in an appreciable manner."

  "You have already been very generous to us both, Mr Statham, but Ithink you cannot know much of me if you believe that for sake of rewardI will betray the Doctor," was her dignified answer.

  "It is not a question of betrayal," he hastened to reassure her. "It isto his own interest as well as to mine that we should meet. If we donot, it will mean ruin to him."

  "And if he is dead?" suggested Marion.

  "My own belief is that he is not dead," was the millionaire's reply. "Iknow more of him and of his past than you imagine. There is everyreason why he should live."

  "And Maud--what of her?"

  He shrugged his shoulders, and replied:

  "As regards her--you know best. She told you the truth."

  "Yes--and which I will not repeat."

  "Oh! but, my dear young lady, you must! Why waste time like this?Every day, nay every hour, causes the affair to assume increasedgravity. I would have gone to the police long ago, only such a coursewould have brought the Doctor into a criminal dock. I have hisinterests, as well as my own at heart."

  "I have given my promise of secrecy, Mr Statham, and I will not betrayit," she repeated, again rising from her chair, anxious to leave thehouse.

  "You still refuse!" he cried starting to his feet also, and standingbefore her. "You still refuse--even to save yourself!"

  "To save myself!" she exclaimed. "I do not follow you, Mr Statham."

  A sinister grin spread over his grey face.

  "You are perfectly free to leave this place, Miss Rolfe," he said in ahard, meaning voice, "but first reflect what they will say atCunnington's regarding your visit here to-night!"

  "You--you will tell them!" she gasped, drawing back from him, pale asdeath as she realised, for the first time, how she had imperilled hergood name, and how completely she was in his power. "I--I believed, MrStatham, that you were an honourable man!"

  "Where a man's life is concerned it is not a question of honour," washis reply. "You refuse to assist me--and I refuse to assist you. Thatis all!"

  CHAPTER THIRTY ONE.

  "HIS NAME!"

  "Not a question of honour, Mr Statham!" she cried. "Is it not aquestion of my own honour!" and she stood before him, erect and defiant.

  "My dear young lady," he laughed, "pray calm yourself. Let us discussthe matter quietly."

  "There is nothing to discuss," she exclaimed resentfully, lookingstraight into the old man's grey face. "You have threatened to divulgethe secret of my visit to you to-night if--if I refuse to betray myfriend! Is such an action honourable? Does such a threat against adefenceless woman do you credit?" she asked.

  "You misunderstand me," he hastened to assure her, realising the mistakehe had made.

  "I understand that you ask me a question," she said. "You wish me torepeat what was told to me in confidence--the secret imparted to me bythe girl who was my beat friend!"

  "Yes; I wish to know what Maud Petrovitch told you," he answered,standing with his thin hands behind his back.

  "Then I regret that I am unable to satisfy your curiosity," was her firmresponse. "I now realise your motive in inviting me here at this hourto see you in secret. You meant me to compromise myself--to remain awayfrom Cunnington's and be punished for my absence--the punishment ofdismissal," she went on, her fine eyes flashing in anger at hisdastardly tactics. "You know quite well, Mr Statham, that the world isonly too ready to think ill of a woman! You anticipate that I willbetray my friend, in order to save myself from calumny and dismissalfrom the service of the firm. But in that you are mistaken. No wordshall pass my lips, and I wish you good-night," she added with servehauteur, moving towards the door.

  "No, Miss Rolfe!" he cried, quickly intercepting her. "Surely it isunnecessary to create this scene. I hate scenes. Life is really notworth them. You have denounced what you are pleased to call myungentlemanly tactics. Well, I can only say in my defence that SamuelStatham, although he is not all that he might be, has never acted theblackguard towards a woman, and more especially, towards the daughter ofhis dear friend."

  "You have told me that you will refuse to assist me further!" she said."In other words, you decline to preserve the secret of my visit here,although you made a promise that my absence to-night from Cunnington'sshould not be noted!"

  "I have given you a promise, Miss Rolfe, and I shall keep it," was hisquiet and serious response.

  She looked at him with distrust.

  "You have asked me a question, Mr Statham--one to which I am notpermitted to reply," she said.

  "W
hy not?"

  "Because--well, because I have made a vow to regard what was told me asstrictly in confidence."

  Sam Statham pursed his lips. Few were the secrets he could not learnwhen he set his mind upon learning them. In every capital in Europe hehad his agents, who, at orders from him, set about to discover what hewished to know, whether it be a carefully-guarded diplomatic secret, orwhether it concerned the love affair of some royal prince to whom he wasmaking a loan. He