“Well, I’ve done all I can,” sighed Natalie. “If only I had hidden the necklace better. You wouldn’t have dared go to her without it! But I didn’t think about the window.... How stupid we all are sometimes! However, it’s too late now. Go to your fate, Antonin, but don’t forget I tried to save you.”
The boat was nearing Dover.
“You are determined to go to Black Rooks?”
“Yes, at once.”
“Clotilde is at Stirling at the Two Crowns Hotel. It would be better if she doesn’t see you.”
“And you, Natalie?”
“I don’t know,” she said wistfully. “Only time will tell what will become of me, Antonin. Good-bye. But, alas, I fear we shall meet again very soon.”
On the train I went over the situation. I must crush Durin, but Helena must be saved. It seemed to me that Durin had deliberately walked into a trap at Black Rooks. That was stupid. With one blow he thought he could put Victor and Sir Philip out of his way. He was forcing a battle which was bound to come anyway; thus his adversaries would not have time to prepare, and his advantage would be increased a hundredfold. We would see. I, too, would jump into the fight. I wanted Helena. I was going to Black Rooks to get the necklace, and this time I’d let no one take it away from me. When I had it, I’d take Helena away, either willingly or by force. I swore she’d belong no longer to Durin. I was eager for action. No one knew I was coming....
It was wiser not to go to Stirling. Clotilde was there with Sir Philip.... That would arouse his suspicion. Besides, it was too far from Black Rooks....
Uninvited, Antonin Rose arrived at the castle the next morning. My automobile, hired at Edinburgh, drew up in the wide court. Two valets took my luggage. One of them informed me his lordship was sorry that he hadn’t been able to wait for me, but that her ladyship had left orders to be told when I arrived.
His lordship! That must be Durin. And her ladyship... that was Helena. Had they been warned that I was coming? And all the time I had been counting on taking them by surprise!
Helena rushed across the wide hall. She took my hands as though I were a long lost friend, thanked me warmly for accepting her invitation and for having come so quickly.
“Oh, my dear, I didn’t dare hope I could see you before to-morrow. Are you hungry? Of course, you’re hungry.”
While Helena and I were lunching, she seemed calm; but one had only to know her as I knew her to realize that in her eyes a sombre light was burning. When luncheon was over, she drew me outside for a little walk around the grounds.
When we reached a secluded spot where we could talk without fear of being overheard, Helena asked, “How did you manage to get here so quickly, Rudy? I didn’t think you’d get my telegram until to-night.”
“I received no telegram, Helena. I came because I wanted to.”
“Oh, my dear, my thoughts must have flashed to you. And I never would have sent for you if I hadn’t felt the direst need of you. I wanted to spare you the terrible experience we are going through here. I thought I could manage everything myself. But I am so afraid, Rudy. I tremble day and night in this terrible atmosphere. Victor’s ridiculous stories are getting on my nerves, and it will end up by my believing them, too. Even now I don’t know what is true....”
“What stories is Victor telling?”
“Oh, that’s true, you don’t know. It was Victor who broke into Black Rooks the other day.”
“Yes, I knew that. He swore he’d furnish Sir Philip with proof that it was Durin who murdered Sir Archibald, and he thinks he’ll find that proof here.”
“You know that, Rudy? You are so intelligent. But you don’t know the game he’s been playing the last few nights. He’s making believe he’s a ghost. It’s foolish, I know, to be frightened by a ghost, when you know its name. Victor is doing this to work the countryside up to a superstitious frenzy so he can use these simple Scotsmen for his own purposes when the proper time arrives. He wanders through the castle dressed in a shroud, crying for vengeance as he rattles his chains, and pointing to his neck from which hangs a rope.... It’s horrible — I can’t endure this farce any longer...
Rudy!”
“He’s here in the castle, now?”
“That’s what’s so terrible about it all. He’s here, but we don’t know exactly where. Durin is sure he’s always here. But he can’t discover his hiding-place. He’s searched everywhere. It would take ten years to know this old castle, with its secret stairways and mysterious chambers. We’ve already found dungeons and traps and swinging stones. We’ve combed the wine-cellars. But we can’t find a trace of Victor.
“So you see, darling, that the countryside is echoing with the news that the ghost of Sir Archibald has come back to Black Rooks, and announces that the murderer soon will be caught. And Victor may even be prophesying other things that the natives haven’t told us. One of these nights the ghost is going to appear before one of the credulous servants of which the estate is full, and confide to him many things. In about a week all these walls and all the stones in the castle will cry out: ‘It was Douglas who strangled Sir Archibald.’”
“You mustn’t lose your head, Helena. Has Durin got to the point where he would tremble before Victor clad in a sheet? If this ghost is wandering around the castle, we’ve only got to spy on it and put a bullet into it.... It’s a legitimate defence.... What’s Durin waiting for, anyhow?”
“For the ghost to appear in his presence. You see, the ghost never appears except in rooms whose secret exits he knows. Someone sees him in a drawing-room. We rush after him. But before we get there the wall has half-opened and the phantom has disappeared.”
“That may be so, but if you see where he disappears, you’ve only to find the secret passage. That’s child’s play.”
“Baby! Nothing could be more dangerous. You have to be wary of these old Scottish castles and their hiding-places. If you risk exploring a passageway, on coming back you find the door closed, never to be opened again. You put your foot on a stone which conceals a well at the bottom of which you will repose for ever and ever. Durin thinks it’s just this kind of trap Victor is setting for him. It isn’t the ghost that’s frightening him; it’s fear of his snares. Every time he has searched, he has taken a thousand precautions, and I always stand guard at the door.”
“Why don’t you leave Black Rooks? Go quietly to Paris to the Cambridge, where there is no chance of this sorcery succeeding? It’s foolish to stay here. I can’t understand why Durin was so foolhardy as to come. But there’s still time to get out of it.”
“I have thought of all that,” sighed Helena. “But you don’t know all, darling, you don’t know all, yet.”
“And even should Victor, disguised as a ghost, say to the peasants, ‘It’s Douglas who murdered Sir Archibald,’ what good would that do, I’d like to know?”
“You don’t know everything, dear.... Patrick; do you remember Patrick?”
“Patrick, Sir Archibald’s valet?”
“Yes, he’s no longer at the castle, or, rather, he doesn’t seem to be; still, one can never tell here. Patrick knows a great deal. I think his master used to tell him everything. Perhaps he even has a copy of the papers you took last year from under the pillow.... You remember, darling?”
Did I remember? Sir Archibald was waiting for the clergyman to give him the papers and the necklace. The document contained a long account of Durin’s exploits. Helena disguised me as a clergyman and made me steal the papers and the necklace. Then she made me disappear. After I left, Durin strangled Sir Archibald. The police could come to only one conclusion: the false clergyman had killed with intent to steal. Did I remember... one doesn’t forget such things!... But it wasn’t the moment to think of them.
“You think Patrick would have a copy, Helena?”
“Durin wonders if he has.... In any event, Patrick knew. But doubtless Sir Archibald had made him swear never to say anything he had not authorized him to say. Sir Archibald is dead... Patri
ck will say nothing... unless Sir Archibald himself comes back to earth expressly to release Patrick from his vow. Now you understand, don’t you?”
“Hm, so Victor would assume the rôle of Sir Archibald’s ghost solely to release Patrick from his vow and direct him to accuse you?”
“To accuse us, darling, for you’re implicated in those papers, too. That’s why I wired you to come — to defend us, dear.... After it’s all over we will go away, you and I, alone; we will try to forget and to live as other people live who haven’t known Durin and his fiendish schemes. You see, my dear, that beautiful days are ahead of us. But you will have to save us... or else Rudy and Helena will be no more!”
“I will protect you, Helena. I am yours. And since Durin doesn’t know which way to turn, you’ll see Rudy is stronger than he is.”
“Be careful, my darling, you must be careful... for my sake.”
We started back to the castle. She fairly staggered along the path. This woman I had seen so proud, so gay, often drunk with the pleasures of life; so self-possessed under many different circumstances, this same woman was now shaking like a poor frightened child. I put my arm around her and encouraged her with tender words of love.
“It’s too much, Rudy. If it goes on much longer I’ll not be able to bear it. But you are here, my love, and I have the consolation of thinking that I saw you before...”
The strange thing was that her despair calmed me. How I had changed. Last year it was she who comforted me and led me through hazardous adventure. I had now become a man. A strong man. From now on she could lean on me.
By the time we reached the gate she was composed and her calm self again.
“Beware of Durin, Rudy! I think you’re going to win. But beware of Durin.”
Why beware? I felt stronger than Durin and Victor and all the world put together. Scared by a false ghost! An ex-barber made up as a spectre!
“His lordship” had just come back. He was walking up and down in the gun-room, waiting for us. “His lordship” looked preoccupied, but seemed relieved to see us.
“How do you do, my dear master. You’ve come in good time. A ghost has taken possession of the castle and is driving all the occupants crazy.”
He led me into the library and we began to talk freely, feeling more secure in our privacy.
“I have sounded all these walls,” he said, “taken up all the flagstones to see if they hide a trap-door, and searched the vaulted ceilings. I think this room is safe.
I wouldn’t say so of any other room. And that reminds me. Be careful when you’re in the dining-room. Those walls have ears.” He lowered his voice. “My dear master, if we’re not on our guard, you and Helena and I, forty-eight hours will see the end of us.”
I shrugged my shoulders incredulously.
“Yes, so Helena told me. She’s quite unnerved. I can understand it in a woman; but you make me laugh. You’ve seen other desperate situations, Dur...”
“Hush; are you crazy? Why use names?”
“All right. But you can’t make me believe you’re afraid of a crazy man made up as a ghost.”
“Don’t make the mistake of thinking it’s a crazy man,” Durin said very seriously. “I made a mistake about him. I let him slip into the hands of one of my enemies, and when I learned that he had betrayed me, I didn’t punish him at once. I don’t know how much Sir Philip pays him. But if he’d come back to me I’d have given him anything he asked. Probably Helena spoke to you of Patrick. If Victor and Patrick meet, I don’t see how we can possibly save ourselves.”
“Ridiculous! For ten years you’ve tricked the police of the whole world; you’ve broken out of the strongest prisons; you’ve hoodwinked all the judges. You can’t poke fun at me!”
“Good God!” said Durin, “don’t you understand at all? I’m not afraid of police, or prisons, or judges. I’m afraid only of those who take justice into their own hands. Do you follow me?”
“No. Sir Philip is an amorous old puppet, and you can make him dance as you pull the strings.”
“Perhaps at certain times you did pull the strings because you had the good luck to starve in the rue des Bernardins next door to two young women doing the same thing. I warn you not to count too much on their aid, in case Sir Philip should suspect you. However, I felt that if you were here you would have a better chance to defend yourself.”
“My defence would be more effective if I were elsewhere. If you were wise, you’d leave Black Rooks at once.”
“I knew you were going to tell me that. But you’re wrong. It would be the same wherever I was. It isn’t because I’m in this castle that a ghost is wandering about here. The ghost is seeking Patrick — there’s the whole thing in a nutshell. If Patrick is persuaded to break his silence, no one will even consider betraying me to the police. I will be declared guilty by a private court, composed only of Sir Philip. And from then on, whether I’m in India, France, Austria or America, they will find me and carry out the sentence. I’d rather fight an open battle here than live in fear of every glass of water, every automobile coming up behind me. No! Let’s end it at once. It’s much simpler; I’m tired of it all.”
Durin spoke calmly and, I thought, frankly. Because he was fighting a desperate battle he played the trump card represented by Clotilde’s love for me. He bound up my interests with his, thinking that Sir Philip; in order to spare me, would spare him also.
“Well,” I said, “this all sounds childish. However, what do you want me to do?”
“Merely this: speak to Victor and offer him, as from me, anything he wants, providing he leaves Sir Philip, or rather that he tells Sir Philip he was mistaken.”
“Why don’t you do it yourself?”
“Because Victor would not talk to me. I have tried. I have put myself in the ghost’s way. But he was afraid of a trap. He was right. He thinks I’ll kill him if I can.... But he’ll not be afraid of you. He thinks you’re an honest man. By that, I mean a man who shuns murder. Also, he knows you have some influence with his employer, Sir Philip. He will welcome an opportunity to talk with you.”
I thought a moment. Helena had told me to be on my guard against Durin. But I’d not mind having a little talk with Victor.
“Where can I find Victor?”
“Usually around midnight he stalks in the gun-room, along the upper balcony.”
“I’ll be there to-night.”
“I thought you would, my dear master. Better go and dress now, Helena will be waiting for us for dinner.”
We had finished dinner. Helena seemed calmer. But pretending fatigue, she withdrew early. Soon Durin advised me not to go to bed too late.
I went to my room. In a few minutes Helena tapped on my door. She had the same terrified look I had seen in the afternoon.
“What did he tell you?”
I repeated it. She thought a moment.
“Yes, my Rudy, you may do that. Yes, I want you to. But beware of Durin. Beware!”
She kissed me.
“I will allow you to die with me, my love; but I will not let you die without me.”
The gun-room was faintly lighted. I went to the upper gallery. I was smoking one of his lordship’s excellent cigars. I felt very much master of the situation. I hoped Victor would come. I was waiting for him. On the last stroke of twelve, an invisible door opened; chains clanked across the floor. Good God, this was silly! However, if he still wanted Patrick at this price...
Here was the ghost! He didn’t risk coming in at once. He leaned down and looked around before coming on to the balcony.
I coughed slightly. He started up. “Good evening, Victor,” I whispered.
He glimpsed me in the semi-darkness, then looked me up and down.
“Come,” he whispered in turn, I rose. He shook his chains, probably to drown the noise of my footsteps. Half a minute later, I found myself seated face to face with him on a granite bench in a tiny recess.
His drawn face was enough to frighten me. I shuddered an
d looked away.
“What brought you here?” he said.
“To speak to you, Victor. What sort of game is this you’re up to, parading around in a Scotch castle in a shroud? Wouldn’t you and I be more at home in Paris?”
“He sent you,” said Victor. “He had you come. What does he want?”
“To make peace with you at your own price.”
“You can tell him to go straight to hell.”
“Better think again. He’s very powerful, you know. Perhaps you will regret.”
“Never! Too strong for me? Never! And if you’d take my advice, you’d get out of here quick. I’ve always spared you. I never said anything about you to Sir Archibald, or to Sir Philip either, and your work has won my admiration. Perhaps you and I may do wonderful things together, later. Although you weren’t very considerate of me at Deauville, when you aroused Sir Philip’s suspicions, I don’t hold it against you.... Well, you’d better be going now. Wait, I know a better way than back through the gun-room. I’ll take you to your room.”
He went along one passageway, then another.
“But you probably won’t get away,” he broke the silence, “because she’s holding you. Don’t you realize yet that she’s only Durin’s tool? However, you just wait a day or two and see what happens to her. If you can stand that sight, you’d better stay. But tell the master he can go to the devil. When anyone has done to me what he did, there are not millions enough in the world to pay for it. Who cares for money? The Skarletts are misers, but they know how to get revenge, and that’s what I want. I hope Sir Philip will turn Durin over to me; how I will enjoy seeing him quake! He will be taken into the room of the ‘Green Lady’ and his jailer will be Victor, who has no other reason for living now that he has lost all he loved, thanks to Durin. I’ll not tell you that story; he can tell you himself if he wants to.... Just tell him I don’t need his money because I have a fine new job — jailer in the ‘ Green Lady’s’ room. But enough of that. You’re making me waste my time. Here we are at your room.”
Collected Works of Gaston Leroux Page 490