The Adventures of a Lady Pearl-Broker, an electronic edition
- CHAPTER III.
by Beatrice Heron-Maxwell [Heron-Maxwell, Beatrice, d. 1927]
date: 1899
source publisher: The New Century Press, Limited
collection: Genre Fiction
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CHAPTER III.
"So your Oriental venture proved a failure,. Mrs. Delamere?" said Mr. Leighton, interrogatively, when I called at his office. "There are disappointments even in pearl-broking, are there not?"
"Blessed are they who expect not, for they shall not be disappointed," I answered flippantly.
He was looking at me keenly, and I was anxious to avoid all questions on the subject of my interview with Ali Mahomed Khan. I could scarcely think of it yet without shuddering. I believe Mr. Leighton saw that the reference was a distasteful one, for he changed the subject, and showed me some pearls that had lately come in, explaining their demerits, which to an outsider would have been inappreciable, and finally arranging that I should | | 43 see the head of a large wholesale jeweller's firm and do some business with him.
Then we said good-bye, and I left the office, with his parting injunction ringing in my ears. "I do not think," he said, "there can be any great risk attached to these next projects of yours, but I confess to having an uneasy feeling about you sometimes, and I hope you will under no circumstances be venturesome. Be discreet--I ask it as a personal favour, Mrs. Delamere--and be distrustful of everyone."
It was a lovely day; after driving part of the way home, I felt inclined for a walk, and, getting out, sent the carriage away.
I had the jewels with me certainly , but they were in their usual hiding places--and unless some accident happened to me, quite safe. They were, too, though fairly valuable, not so precious as some of my former parcels had been. The best was the large pink pearl, for which I had refused many offers--I meant to get a high price for it. I had just dismissed all anxiety from my mind, and was revelling in a vision of fair millinery at the Maison | | 44 Nouvelle, when a child's clear voice, speaking in French, made me look round. A brougham was drawn up opposite the shop, and leaning out of the window was a little girl with a most charming face, framed in a picturesque tangle of dark curls surmounted by a pink silk bonnet.
I have a weakness for pretty children in pretty bonnets, and I was interested at once.
"Tiens, maman," said the eager voice, "regards cette jolie poupée là bas. Je veux bien la voir, laisse moi descendre."
A woman with a sweet foreign face, who was just passing by me into the shop, stopped and looked back, shaking her finger.
"Tu ne peux pas descendre, Cléo, attends, je reviendrai à tantôt." And she went on into the shop.
The little face clouded over; Mdlle. Cléo looked wrathful; apparently she was accustomed to have her own way and at once.
I watched her with an amused smile as she opened the carriage door and jumped out; I supposed she was going to run after her | | 45 mother and remonstrate. But instead she ran round at the back of the brougham, and was half across the road towards the attractive doll-shop, when there was a sharp tinkle from a bicyclist and a shout from an omnibus driver, both of whom were bearing down upon her from opposite directions. I had involuntarily moved to follow her from the first, and as this happened and the child hesitated in bewilderment, I ran forward.
Her momentary pause was fatal. The omnibus and the bicycle continued their progress, and, with a little cry of terror, she was darting right under the horses' heads, when I in hot pursuit caught her arm and pulled her back. Simultaneously the front wheel of the bicycle caught my dress and whirled me off my feet, dashing me violently to the ground. My head struck the curb and I was stunned.
When I came to myself the usual crowd was surrounding me, and a policeman, in whose arms I was supported, said kindly: "That's right, miss; now, if you can hold up, there's a chemist over the way; he'll soon put you right."
| | 46I staggered to my feet, feeling sick and dizzy, and realized that a handkerchief was bound over my forehead, and that the latter was cut and bleeding.
I was only too glad to take refuge in the chemist's shop, where the cut on my head, a very slight one really, was properly bathed and plastered, and whence, after the attentions of the crowd had been gently but firmly repulsed from the doorway by my policeman, I emerged feeling almost myself again.
As I did so, a brougham drew up close to me and a lady got out. I recognised her as the mother of the child, and she hurrying up to me, held out both her hands and caught mine in them.
"How can I thank you," she exclaimed in broken English, "for your goodness, your nobleness in saving Cléo. You will let me drive you home. Oh! but you must; you are not fit to go alone. I am so ashamed to think I have not been with you, but I was so occupied with Cléo at first, and when I found she was unharmed we looked for you, and you were gone."
| | 47"She is quite safe?" I asked. "Not hurt at all?"
"Not hurt at all," was the answer, "only frightened, the naughty little one. Do come and see for yourself." She drew me to the carriage, and, as I felt rather weak and trembling, I yielded to her persuasions and got in.
The little girl was still sobbing, and as one or two witnesses of the scene loitered round the carriage, she clung to her mother, imploring to be taken away from the men who stared.
"Drive on," said the lady, and for a few moments she occupied herself in quieting the child; then she turned to me.
"I do so hope you are feeling better," she said. "I do not know how to express my gratitude--will you tell me your name?--I feel that I owe my child's life to you."
"It was nothing," I said, "I was watching your little girl at the moment and happened to see her danger--that was all. Anyone else would have done the same. If you will kindly drive me home I should be very grateful to | | 48 you. My head aches a little, but I shall be all right as soon as I get home and lie down."
She pulled the check-string. "Where shall I tell him to drive?" she said.
And even as she said it, her face faded away from me, and I sank back fainting.
I remembered nothing more, until I awakened to find myself lying on a sofa in a room that was strange to me, and it was some time before I could collect my thoughts sufficiently to recall what had happened before I was brought there.
At last it all came back to me, and, sitting up on the couch, I looked round for someone to question. But I was quite alone.
My hat, jacket, and bodice had been taken off, and were lying on a chair close by; on another chair were salts, a bottle of sal volatile, some brandy in a wine-glass, and eau-de-Cologne.
The room was a boudoir, exquisitely furnished, and hung with rose silk draperies, festooned here and there to display panelled mirrors. A book on one of the tables attracted my attention; I took it up and looked at the | | 49 fly leaf. "Amélie Berthe de Mérgas" was written in thin foreign writing, and above in bolder characters: "A la Comptesse, hommages."
So! my invisible hostess, doubtless the mother of Cléo, was a countess, or was at all events called so. And this was an offering from some admirer.
But where was she, and why was I left alone?
It seemed a little odd. I recalled at the moment Mr. Leighton's injunctions. Be discreet and distrustful.
Heavens! I hoped my jewels were safe.
At the thought my energy returned. I dressed hastily, and examined my hidden pockets for the stones. They were all there except one--the pink pearl was missing!
I looked for a bell to ring, but could see none--then I went to the door. I would find someone if possible, I thought--at all events I would not waste another moment there. The door was locked--and on the outside. All my lurking uneasiness took shape when I found that I was a prisoner, and I seemed to suddenly | | 50 understand that something strange was going to happen to me; that what had occurred already was a sort of preliminary which seemed to be leading up to some approaching climax.
There was a window, but when I looked out I found that a descent from it would be impossible--it was too high up, and beneath was a court-yard with a high wall all round it.
I do not know what made me go straight to one of the mirrors, when I turned in despair from the window, and, pulling aside the rose-silk curtain, press my fingers on a knob that was concealed under it.
It was a veritable intuition. The knob slid into a groove, and, the mirror receding, showed me a passage with a glass door at the end of it.
I walked along it, and looked through. There were curtains hanging at the other side, but they were parted, and between them I could see a large oblong table, round which sat nine men, one at the head and four on each side.
The one at the top of the table was leaning his head on his hands, and I could not see his face.
| | 51The others were talking together.
For a minute or two their words were indistinguishable then, as my ear grew accustomed to their voices, I found I could hear what they were saying.
"It is the rule of the society," said one man, with a dark, dangerous-looking face; "do we make rules to break them?"
"There are exceptions to all rules," broke in another, whose face and voice were both much more pleasant than the first speaker's. I moved to get a clearer view of him. He looked little more than a lad; a handsome, well-bred face that seemed familiar to me.
"In this case," he continued, "the intrusion has been an involuntary one. It is impossible that there could be any plot connected with it. The whole affair happened by chance. The lady was absolutely unconscious, and has not yet regained her senses. Is it not so, Countess?"
The changed inflection of his voice in the last sentence betrayed a sentimental interest in the person he addressed.
| | 52To my surprise, the reply was in the Countess's own voice. She was there, then; I could not see her, as my limited range of vision only permitted a clear view of those in the direct line of the door.
"She has not yet recovered; I have left her in my room, and the door is locked. None of the household know she is there. It would be easy to remove her before she comes to herself, and I would greatly prefer it to the other alternatives. Remember, gentlemen, she has just saved my child's life."
"Of course, if sentiment is allowed to weigh with the society--" began the dark man, with a sneer.
But he was interrupted by a murmur of disapproval from several of the others, and a unanimous demand for a speech from the president.
The man sitting alone at the end of the table, of whom I could only just catch an oblique glimpse, slowly raised his head from his hands, and looked round at his colleagues.
I caught my breath, and almost betrayed my presence by an audible cry.
| | 53The sight of his face made the whole thing, and the danger of it, clear to me at once.
I had fallen literally into a "den of thieves."
The president was the man who had tried to chloroform and rob me at the hotel.
He looked pale and harassed, and spoke in a tired tone.
"Let us review the matter," he said, "and put it to the vote. My wife arrives home to-day with a strange lady, in a state of insensibility. She tells us that the lady rescued our child when on the point of being run over. The countess offered in gratitude to drive her to her own house, but the lady fainted before giving her address. There was, therefore, no choice but to bring her here. If my wife drives her at once to a doctor's house it will no doubt be easy for him to restore her, and she can then go home. Even if she should recover before starting, or during the time that she is carried downstairs and placed in the carriage, I do not see that there could possibly be any danger to the society. If you insist on the observance of the rule, we shall have | | 54 to wait until she is conscious, and to have her brought before us here; when, after being informed of our existence, which seems to me wholly unnecessary, she will be given her choice of two courses, either to become one of us, or to forfeit her life. The latter alternative is one we have never had to contemplate yet, and seems to me to involve us in a far more serious danger. However, I put it to the vote."
There was a dead silence for a few moments. I do not know how to describe my own sensations during this interval; I felt as if the whole occurrence must be a dream, or as if it were happening to someone else, and I was merely a spectator. I did not attempt to make any plan! I simply waited for their decision.
The silence was broken by the Countess, who said hurriedly:
"Gentlemen, I hope you will consider me in this matter. Some of you have children of your own. Imagine your feelings if you were obliged to repay the saviour of your child's life by forcing on her the choice you speak of. I cannot believe that you will place me in such | | 55 a position. There is honour I have been told even among--"
But she was interrupted fiercely by the dark man.
"Do you wish to insult us, madam?" he cried, springing to his feet.
"Silence," said the fair boy, also standing up, "I will complete the Countess's sentence, and you can direct your questions to me. There is honour even among thieves."
As he spoke, I suddenly remembered him; he was the son of an old friend of mine, a man who was proud of a good old name, untarnished and well-known. I had heard of this boy's gambling proclivities, but nothing worse of him. We had met sometimes in society--I had even danced with him. I wondered idly whether I should ever have the chance of meeting him in society again. It did not seem like it--nevertheless it was to be so.
"Your votes, gentlemen," said the president.
As he spoke, a slight sound behind me made me turn; and I saw Cléo standing in the aperture left by the open panel in the boudoir.
| | 56If she spoke I was lost! I hurried to her, putting my finger to her lips, and gently pushing her inside the room, was about to close the panel, when the door was quickly unlocked, and the Countess entered.
She saw at a glance what had happened, and turned as white as death.
"You have been listening?" she said breathlessly. "You know? Then what am I to do?"
She told me quickly that the majority of the votes were against me in one respect; that is to say, if I were still unconscious I was to go free--if otherwise I was to appear before the council.
"I must return to them in a few minutes," she said, "and I will not give you up to them. What can I do?"
She wrung her hands in distress, but Cléo pulled at her arm and whispered something.
"Yes, that might do," the Countess said, "that must do. See! the child will confess that she unlocked the door and came in to you during my absence--and that you asked her to show you the | | 57 way out as you were anxious to get home. When you find yourself in the road, turn quickly to the right and walk across the heath to some red houses, where they will direct you to a station close by. I will tell my husband you have taken the other road. Promise me never to betray us--remember, though you have done much for me, I have done much for you, and that it would mean ruin to me and mine."
"I promise," I said, and she put her arms round my neck and kissed me.
Then, guided by the child, I made my way quietly down a back staircase, and through a side door into the road, and afraid even to look back, I hurried away across the heath as she had directed me.
When I reached the row of red brick villas that fringed the common, I asked which was my nearest station, and found, to my great relief, that I was close to one on the District Railway, and that I should be at home in half-an-hour. I have never told, and I shall never tell to anyone, the name of that station, nor any detail that could lead to the recognition of | | 58 that house where, for a time, my life hung in the balance. My promise is sacred to me for the sake of "the Countess" and little Cléo, who had both won my heart.
My grief at the loss of the pink pearl was very great, but it did not last long; for before I had time to communicate it to Mr. Leighton I received a registered letter by post, and found to my joy it contained the pearl.
A small type-written paper inside held these words:
"My husband recognised you when he carried you into the house, and I am therefore able to trace your name and address. He wishes me to restore this to you, and to assure you that you are perfectly safe from any kind of danger at his hands in future. None of the others know who you are, and he will never tell them. Cléo happens to be the only thing in the world he cares about, and his gratitude therefore equals mine. We are your friends henceforth, and we trust to your honour that you will be ours."
So my third adventure ended very quietly | | 59 after all, and I began to hope that it would be my last, for my taste for unusual experiences was greatly modified since I began pearl-broking.
I had fancied till then that in London one must be absolutely safe, but there are many hidden tragedies there, submergences that make no ripple on the surface; and although my experience of a very dangerous society was personally a unique one, I believe that this superior Association of Gentlemen Burglars is not by any means the only one, nor the most unscrupulous, that lives and thrives in and near our law-ridden city.
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