by J. C. Snaith
CHAPTER VII
COVERDALE'S REPORT
In the afternoon I rode over to the Grange to learn if there was anynews and to see how Fitz was bearing up. He was certainly doinguncommonly well. His face was less haggard, his eyes were not so wild,while a change of linen and a razor had helped his appearanceconsiderably.
Coverdale had telegraphed to say that the car had been traced to agarage in Regent Street, and that before long he hoped to be inpossession of further information.
Fitz seemed to regard the finding of the car as a favourable omen. Atleast his emotions were under far better control than on the previousday. His manner was no longer overwrought, and he was able to take amore practical view of the situation.
He promised to keep me informed of any fresh development, and I lefthim without misgiving. He seemed much more fit to cope with eventsthan when I had left him the night before.
It was in the afternoon of the following day that I saw Fitz again. Ithappened that I was just about to set out from my own door when hedrove up in a dogcart. He was accompanied by Coverdale.
Fitz has a curiously mobile countenance. It is quick to advertise thefleeting emotions of its owner. This afternoon there was a light inhis eye and a look of resolution and alertness about him which saidthat news had come, and that, whatever its nature, Nevil Fitzwaren wasnot prepared to submit tamely to fate.
"I was on the point of coming to see you," I explained as I led them in.
The presence of Coverdale seemed to indicate an important development.It would have been difficult, however, to deduce so much from thebearing of the Chief Constable. He is such a discreet and sagaciousindividual, that no amount of special information is capable ofdetracting from or adding to his habitual air of composed importance.
My visitors were supplied with a little sustenance in a liquid formbefore I asked for the news; and then in answer to my demand Fitzcalled upon Coverdale to put me _au fait_ with the latest information.
It appeared that Coverdale had hastened to take Scotland Yard into hisconfidence, and that that famous organisation had been able in asurprisingly short space of time to shed a light upon the mysteriousdisappearance of Mrs. Fitz.
"She has been traced to the Illyrian Embassy in Portland Place," saidCoverdale.
"Indeed!" said I. "In that case we can congratulate you, Fitz, thatshe is likely to come by no harm in that dignified seclusion."
"Yes, that aspect of the affair is decidedly favourable," saidCoverdale. "But as far as the Commissioner is able to learn, the ladyis to all intents and purposes being held a close prisoner."
"A very singular state of things, surely."
"Decidedly singular. But there can be no doubt that the IllyrianAmbassador is acting upon strict instructions from his Sovereign."
"He must be a pretty cool hand, to kidnap the wife of an Englishman inthis country in the broad light of day, and the monarch for whom heacts strikes one also as being a pretty cool customer."
Coverdale laughed. He knocked the ash off the end of his cigar with anair of reflective enjoyment.
"Kings are kings in Illyria," said he. "Saving the presence of theson-in-law of Ferdinand the Twelfth, his Majesty is no believer in thisdamned constitutional nonsense. He has his own ideas and his ownlittle way of carrying them out."
"He has, apparently. But unfortunately for Ferdinand the Twelfth andfortunately for his son-in-law, Fitz, we in this country are ratherdecided believers in this damned constitutional nonsense. I daresay,Coverdale, your friend the Commissioner will be able to put hisIllyrian Majesty right upon the point."
The stealthy air of enjoyment that was hovering about Coverdale'srubicund visage seemed to deepen.
"You'd think so, wouldn't you?" he said, with a cheerful puff, "but itseems it is not quite so easy as you'd suppose."
I confessed to surprise.
"You see, Arbuthnot, even in a country like ours, kings are entitled toa measure of respect. The reigning family of Illyria--under the favourof our distinguished friend"--the Chief Constable bowed to Fitz with asolemn unction that to my mind was indescribably comic--"has ties ofblood with nearly all the royal houses of Europe; the Illyrian Embassyis by no means a negligible quantity at the Court of Saint James, forif Illyria is not very large it is devilish well connected; and again,as the Commissioner assures me, an embassy is sacred earth which liesoutside his jurisdiction."
"He seems to have come up against rather a tough proposition."
"He is the first to admit it. Here we have a flagrant outragecommitted upon the personal property of a law-abiding Englishman, underhis own vine and fig-tree, in his own little county; the perpetratorsof the outrage sit unconcerned in Portland Place; yet there seems to beno machinery in this admirably governed and highly constitutionalisland which can redress this flagrant hardship."
"But surely, Coverdale, a way can be found?"
"The Commissioner declined point-blank to undertake anything on his ownresponsibility. Accordingly we went to the Foreign Office and had aninterview with an Official. The Official didn't seem to know what thepractice of the Office was in such cases, for the simple reason that itwas the first time that the Office appeared to have acquired anypractice in them. But upon one point he was perfectly clear. It wasthat the Commissioner would do well to return without delay to hisfingermarks and his photographs of notorious criminals, and contrive toforget that "L'Affaire Fitz" had been brought to his notice."
"But that is absurd."
"That is how the matter stands at all events," said Coverdale with anair of detachment.
"Did the Official confer with the Minister?"
"Yes; and the Minister conferred with the Official; and their jointwisdom amounted to this: if a British subject indulges in the luxury ofa Ferdinand the Twelfth for a father-in-law, he must refer to God anylittle differences that may arise between them, because the law ofEngland does not contemplate and declines to take cognisance of thesedomesticities."
"It is incredible!"
"I agree with you, Arbuthnot; and yet if you look at the matter in allits bearings, it is difficult to see what other conclusion could havebeen arrived at. The whole affair bristles with difficulties. Thereis no specific evidence that the Crown Princess of Illyria is actuallyin need of aid. Although many of the details of her flight fromBlaenau five years ago are known to the Foreign Office, it is incomplete ignorance of the fact that she was in residence in thiscountry. And again, the whole thing is far too delicate to risk a fallwith the Illyrian Ambassador."
"Certainly the national horror of looking foolish appears to justifythe F.O. in the _role_ of Agag. But in my humble judgment its masterlyinactivity is desperately hard on a British subject."
"Well," said Coverdale, having recourse to the plain man's philosophy,"if a British subject will indulge in a Ferdinand the Twelfth for afather-in-law!"
During our extremely piquant discussion--to me it was certainly that,however tame and flat it may appear in the bald prose in which it isnow invested--the person most affected by it was a study in sombreself-repression. He spoke not a word, he hardly indulged in a gesture;yet his whole bearing had significance. And when at last the time camefor him to speak, he used a quiet deliberation as though every word hadbeen sought out and weighed beforehand.
"There is only one thing to be done," he said. "As the law won't helpme, I must help the law."
Not only in its substance, but also in the manner of its delivery, suchan announcement was entirely worthy of the son-in-law of Ferdinand theTwelfth.
I saw the rather amused uplift of Coverdale's eyebrows, but knowing theunusual calibre of the speaker, I felt instinctively that at this stagea display of scepticism would be out of place. Fitz was quite capableof helping the law of England, if he really felt that it required hisassistance.
"I can't thank you, Coverdale," he said simply. "You have done for mewhat I can't repay. This applies to you also, Arbuthnot. I shallnever forget what
you've done for me. But now I am going to ask youboth as fellow Englishmen, with wives and children of your own, tostand by me while I try to get fair play."
Such words affected us both.
"You can certainly count upon me for what I may be worth," said I, "butfrankly, my dear fellow, I fail to see what you can do in face of theForeign Office decree."
"I shall play Ferdinand at his own game and beat him at it as I've donebefore to-day."
It was a vaunt that Fitz was entitled to make. The elopement fromBlaenau must have been the work of a bold and resourceful man.
"Of one thing I am convinced," Fitz proceeded: "there is not an hour tolose. My wife may be taken back to Blaenau at any moment. I amconfident that von Arlenberg, the Ambassador, has orders fromFerdinand. If I am to save the life of Sonia, I must act withoutdelay."
Coverdale nodded his head in silence, while I felt a pang of dismay.The argument was clear enough, but Fitz's impotence in the presence ofevents made him a figure for pity.
His demeanour, however, betrayed no consciousness of this. In thosestrange eyes there was purpose, and something had entered his voice.
"I want half a dozen good fellows--sportsmen--to stand by me. You areone, Arbuthnot. You too, Coverdale. You will stand by me, eh?"
The Chief Constable looked a little uneasy. To the official mind sucha request was decidedly ambiguous, not to say uncomfortable.
"I should be glad, Fitzwaren," said he, "if you will tell me preciselywhat responsibilities I shall incur if I pledge myself to this course."
"It depends on circumstances," said Fitz. "But if I find my back tothe wall, as I daresay I shall before I am through with this business,I should like to have at my elbow a few men I can trust."
"So long as you don't depute me to throw a bomb into the Embassy!" saidCoverdale.
Fitz's scheme for the recovery of his lawful property was not sodrastic as that, yet when it came to be unfolded it was somewhat of anature to give pause to a pair of Englishmen converging upon middleage, pledged especially to observe the law.
"I intend to have her out of Portland Place. She must come awayto-morrow. There is not an hour to lose. But I must find a few palswho are good at need, because it won't be child's play, you know."
"It certainly won't be child's play," agreed the Chief Constable, "ifit is your intention to break into the Illyrian Embassy and seize theCrown Princess by force."
"There is no help for it," said Fitz, quietly.
Coverdale grew thoughtful. It was tolerably clear that Fitz wascontemplating an act of open violence; and as a breach of the peacemust at all times be construed as a breach of the law, it was scarcelyfor him to aid and abet him. At heart, nevertheless, the worthy ChiefConstable was a downright honest, four-square, genuine fellow. He didnot say as much, but there was something in his manner which impliedthat he had come to the conclusion that those repositories of justice,national and international, Scotland Yard and the Foreign Office, wereconniving at a frank injustice to a fellow Briton.
"It is a hard case," said Coverdale; "and in the circumstances I don'taltogether see how you can be blamed if you take reasonable steps torecover your property."
"In other words, Coverdale," said I, "you are prepared to countenancethe raid on the Illyrian Embassy?"
The Chief Constable laughed.
"I don't say that exactly. And yet, after all, this is a free country;and if a parcel of damned foreigners bagged my wife, and the law couldafford me no redress, I'm afraid, I'm sadly afraid----"
"It would be 'Up Guards and at 'em'?"
"Upon my word, Arbuthnot, I'm not sure it wouldn't!"
"Thank you, Coverdale," said Fitz. "And I take it that both of youwill go up to London with me to-morrow."
"What do you ask us precisely to do?"
"Leave the details to me"--Fitz's air was that of a staff officer."You can trust me not to go out of my way to look for trouble. But itis not much use for one man single-handed to attempt to force his wayinto the Illyrian Embassy for the purpose of effecting the rescue ofthe Crown Princess."
"It would be suicidal for one man to attempt it," we agreed.
"What is the minimum of assistance you will require?" said I.
"Half a dozen stout fellows ought to be able to manage it comfortably.There's Coverdale and you and me. If I can enlist three others betweennow and to-morrow, the thing is as good as done."
Fitz's calm tone of optimism was certainly surprising. The ChiefConstable and myself exchanged rather rueful glances. We appeared tohave pledged ourselves to a course of action that might have the mostserious and far-reaching consequences.