In the Baron's room at the Ritz late that night there was held a secret conference. Two shadowy figures stole down the corridor at midnight and were admitted to the room, while Prince Robin slept soundly in his remote four-poster and dreamed of something that brought a gentle smile to his lips.
The three conspirators were of the same mind: it was clear that something must be done. But what? That was the question. Gourou declared that the people were very much disturbed over the trick the great capitalist had played upon the cabinet; there were sullen threats of a revolt if the government insisted on the deposit of bonds as required by the agreement. More than that, there were open declarations that the daughter of Mr. Blithers would never be permitted to occupy the throne of Graustark. Deeply as his subjects loved the young Prince, they would force him to abdicate rather than submit to the desecration of a throne that had never been dishonoured. They would accept William W. Blithers' money, but they would have none of William W. Blithers' daughter. That was more than could be expected of any self-respecting people! According to the Minister of Police, the name of Blithers was already a common synonym for affliction—and frequently employed in supposing a malediction. It signified all that was mean, treacherous, scurrilous. He was spoken of through clenched teeth as "the blood sucker." Children were ominously reproved by the threatening use of the word Blithers. "Blithers will get you if you don't wash your face," and all that sort of thing.
There was talk in some circles of demanding the resignation of the cabinet, but even the pessimistic Gourou admitted that it was idle talk and would come to nothing if the menacing shadow of Maud Applegate Blithers could be banished from the vicinity of the throne. Graustarkians would abide by the compact made by their leading men and would be content to regard Mr. Blithers as a bona fide creditor. They would pay him in full when the loan matured, even though they were compelled to sacrifice their houses in order to accomplish that end. But, like all the rest of the world, they saw through the rich American's scheme.
The world knew, and Graustark knew, just what Mr. Blithers was after, and the worst of it all was that Mr. Blithers also knew, which was more to the point. But, said Baron Gourou, Graustark knew something that neither the world nor Mr. Blithers knew, and that was its own mind. Never, said he, would Maud Applegate be recognised as the Princess of Graustark, not if she lived for a thousand years and married Robin as many times as she had hairs on her head. At least, he amended, that was the way every one felt about it at present.
The afternoon papers had published the brief statement prepared by Robin in the seclusion of his stateroom on board the Jupiter immediately after a most enjoyable hour with Miss Guile. It was a curt and extremely positive denial of the rumoured engagement, with the additional information that he never had seen Miss Blithers and was more or less certain that she never had set eyes on him.
A rather staggering co-incidence appeared with the published report that Miss Blithers herself was supposed to be somewhere in Europe, word having been received that day from sources in London that she had sailed from New York under an assumed name. The imaginative French journals put two and two together and dwelt upon the possibility that the two young people who had never seen each other might have crossed the Atlantic on the same steamer, seeing each other frequently and yet remaining entirely in the dark, so to speak. Inspired writers began to weave a romance out of the probabilities.
On one point Robin was adamantine. He refused positively to have his identity disclosed at this time, and Gourou had to say to the newspapers that the Prince was even then on his way to Vienna, hurrying homeward as fast as steel cars could carry him. He admitted that the young man had arrived on the Jupiter that morning, having remained in the closest seclusion all the way across the Atlantic.
This equivocation necessitated the most cautious rearrangement of plans on the part of the Baron. He was required to act as though he had no acquaintance with either of the three travellers stopping at the Ritz, although for obvious reasons he took up a temporary abode there himself. Moreover, he had to telegraph the Prime Minister in Edelweiss that the Prince was not to be budged, and would in all likelihood postpone his return to the capitol. All of which stamped the honest Baron as a most prodigious liar, if one stops to think of what he said to the reporters.
The newspapers also printed a definite bit of news in the shape of a despatch from New York to the effect that Mr. and Mrs. William W. Blithers were sailing for Europe on the ensuing day, bound for Graustark!
However, the chief and present concern of the three loyal gentlemen in midnight conclave was not centred in the trouble that Mr. Blithers had started, but in the more desperate situation created by Miss Guile. She was the peril that now confronted them, and she was indeed a peril. Quinnox and Dank explained the situation to the Minister of Police, and the Minister of Police admitted that the deuce was to pay.
"There is but one way out of it," said he, speaking officially, "and that is the simplest one I know of."
"Assassination, I suppose," said Dank scornfully.
"It rests with me, gentlemen," said the Baron, ignoring the lieutenant's remark, "to find Miss Guile and take her into my confidence in respect—"
"No use," said Dank, and, to his surprise, the Count repeated the words after him.
"Miss Guile is a lady. Baron," said the latter gloomily. "You cannot go to her with a command to clear out, keep her hands off, or any such thing. She would be justified in having you kicked out of the house. We must not annoy Miss Guile. That is quite out of the question."
"By jove!" exclaimed Dank, so loudly that his companions actually jumped in their seats. They looked at him in amazement,—the Count with something akin to apprehension in his eyes. Had the fellow lost his mind over the girl? Before they could ask what he meant by shouting at the top of his voice, he repeated the ejaculation, but less explosively. His eyes were bulging and his mouth remained agape.
"What ails you, Dank?" demanded the Baron, removing his eyes from the young man's face long enough to glance fearfully at the transom.
"I've—I've got it!" cried the soldier, and then sank back in his chair, quite out of breath. The Baron got up and took a peep into the hallway, and then carefully locked the door. "What are you locking the door for?" demanded Dank, sitting up suddenly. "It's only a theory that I've got—but it is wonderful. Absolutely staggering."
"Oh!" said Gourou, but he did not unlock the door. "A theory, eh?" He came back and stood facing the young man.
"Count," began Dank excitedly, "you remember the big red letter B on all of her trunks, don't you? Hobbs is positive he—"
Count Quinnox sprang to his feet and banged the table with his fist.
"By jove!" he shouted, suddenly comprehending.
"The letter B?" queried Gourou, perplexed.
"The newspapers say that she sailed from New York under an assumed name," went on Dank, thrilled by his own amazing cleverness. "There you are! Plain as day. The letter B explains everything. Now we know who Miss Guile really is. She's—"
"Maud" exclaimed Quinnox, sinking back into his chair.
"Miss Blithers!" cried Gourou, divining at last. "By jove!" And thus was the jovian circle completed.
It was two o'clock before the three gentlemen separated and retired to rest, each fully convinced that the situation was even more complicated than before, for in view of this new and most convincing revelation there now could be no adequate defence against the alluring Miss Guile.
Robin was informed bright and early the next morning. In fact, he was still in his pajamas when the news was carried to him by the exhausted Dank, who had spent five hours in bed but none in slumber. Never in all his ardent career had the smart lieutenant been so bitterly afflicted with love-sickness as now.
"I don't believe a word of it," said the Prince, promptly. "You've been dreaming, old chap."
"That letter B isn't a dream, is it?"
"No, it isn't," said Robin, and instantly sat up in bed, his face very serious. "If she should turn out to be Miss Blithers, I've cooked my goose to a crisp. Good Lord, when I think of some of the things I said to her about the Blithers family! But wait! If she is Miss Blithers do you suppose she'd sit calmly by and hear the family ridiculed? No, sir! She would have taken my head off like a flash. She—"
"I've no doubt she regarded the situation as extremely humorous," said Dank, "and laughed herself almost sick over the way she was fooling you."
"That might sound reasonable enough, Dank, if she had known who I was. But where was the fun in fooling an utter outsider like R. Schmidt? It doesn't hold together."
"Americans have an amazing notion of humour, I am reliably informed. They appear to be able to see a joke under the most distressing circumstances. I'll stake my head that she is Miss Blithers."
"I can't imagine anything more terrible," groaned Robin, lying down flat again and staring at the ceiling.
"I shouldn't call her terrible," protested Dank, rather stiffly.
"I refer to the situation, Dank,—the mess, in other words. It is a mess, isn't it?"
"I suppose you'll see nothing more of her, your highness," remarked Dank, a sly hope struggling in his breast.
"You'd better put it the other way. She'll see nothing more of me," lugubriously.
"I mean to say, sir, you can't go on with it, can you?"
"Go on with what?"
"The—er—you know," floundered Dank.
"If there is really anything to go on with, Dank, I'll go on with it, believe me."
The lieutenant stared. "But if she should be Miss Blithers, what then?"
"It might simplify matters tremendously," said Robin, but not at all confidently. "I think I'll get up, Dank, if you don't mind. Call Hobbs, will you? And, I say, won't you have breakfast up here with me?"
"I had quite overlooked breakfast, 'pon my soul, I had," said Dank, a look of pain in his face. "No wonder I have a headache, going without my coffee so long."
Later on, while they were breakfasting in Robin's sitting room, Hobbs brought in the morning newspapers. He laid one of them before the Prince, and jabbed his forefinger upon a glaring headline.
"I beg pardon, sir; I didn't mean to get it into the butter. Very awkward, I'm sure. Hi, garcon! Fresh butter 'ere, and lively about it, too. Buerre! That's the word—buttah."
Robin and Dank were staring at the headline as if fascinated. Having successfully managed the butter, Hobbs at once restored his attention to the headline, reading it aloud, albeit both of the young men were capable of reading French at sight. He translated with great profundity.
"'Miss Blithers Denies Report. Signed Statement Mysteriously Received. American Heiress not to wed Prince of Graustark.' Shall I read the harticle, sir?"
Robin snatched up the paper and read aloud for himself. Hobbs merely wiped a bit of butter from his finger and listened attentively.
The following card appeared at the head of the column, and was supplemented by a complete resume of the Blithers-Graustark muddle:
"Miss Blithers desires to correct an erroneous report that has appeared in the newspapers. She is not engaged to be married to the Prince of Graustark, nor is there even the remotest probability that such will ever be the case. Miss Blithers regrets that she has not the honour of Prince Robin's acquaintance, and the Prince has specifically stated in the public prints that he does not know her by sight. The statements of the two persons most vitally affected by this disturbing rumour should be taken as final. Sufficient pain and annoyance already has been caused by the malicious and utterly groundless report." The name of Maud Applegate Blithers was appended to the statement, and it was dated Paris, August 29.
Thereafter followed a lengthy description of the futile search for the young lady in Paris, and an interview with the local representatives of Mr. Blithers, all of whom declared that the signature was genuine, but refused to commit themselves further without consulting their employer. They could throw no light upon the situation, even going so far as to declare that they were unaware of the presence of Miss Blithers in Paris.
It appears that the signed statement was left in the counting-rooms of the various newspapers by a heavily veiled lady at an hour agreed upon as "about ten o'clock." There was absolutely no clue to the identity of this woman.
Instead of following the suggestion of Miss Blithers that "sufficient pain and annoyance already had been caused," the journalists proceeded to increase the agony by venturing the hope that fresh developments would materialise before the day was done.
"Well, she appears to be here," said Robin, as he laid down the last of the three journals and stared at Dank as if expecting hope from that most unreliable source.
"I suppose you will now admit that I am right about the letter B," said Dank sullenly.
"When I see Miss Guile I shall ask point blank if she is Maud Applegate, Dank, and if she says she isn't, I'll take her word for it," said Robin.
"And if she says she is?"
"Well," said the Prince, ruefully, "I'll still take her word for it."
"And then?"
"Then I shall be equally frank and tell her that I am Robin of Graustark. That will put us all square again, and we'll see what comes of it in the end."
"You don't mean to say you'll—you'll continue as you were?" gasped Dank.
"That depends entirely on Miss Guile, Boske."
"But you wouldn't dare to marry Maud Applegate Blithers, sir. You would be driven out of Graustark and—"
"I think that would depend a good deal on Miss Guile, too, old chap," said Robin coolly.
Dank swallowed very hard. "I want to be loyal to you, your highness," he said as if he did not think it would be possible to remain so.
"I shall count on you, Dank," said Robin earnestly.
"But—" began the lieutenant, and then stopped short.
"Let me finish it for you. You don't feel as though you could be loyal to Miss Blithers, is that it?"
"I think that would depend on Miss Blithers," said Dank, and then begged to be excused. He went out of the room rather hurriedly.
"Well, Hobbs," said Robin, after his astonishment had abated, "what do you think of it?"
"I think he's in love with her, sir," said Hobbs promptly.
"Good Lord! with—with Miss Guile?"
"Precisely so, sir."
"Well, I'll be darned!" said the American half of Prince Robin with great fervour.
"Tut, tut, sir," reproved Hobbs, who, as has been said before, was a privileged character by virtue of long service and his previous calling as a Cook's interpreter. "Are you going out, sir?"
"Yes. I'm going out to search the highways and by-ways for Bedelia," said Robin, a gay light in his eyes. "By the way, did you, by any chance, learn the name of the 'andsome young gent as went away with 'er, 'Obbs?"
"I did not, sir. I stood at his helbow for quite some time at the Gare St. Lazare and the only words he spoke that I could hear distinctly was 'wot the devil do you mean, me man? Ain't there room enough for you here without standing on my toes like that? Move hover.' Only, of course, sir, he used the haspirates after a fashion of his own. The haitches are mine, sir."
"Is he an American?"
"It's difficult to say, sir. He may be from Boston, but you never can tell, sir."
"Do you know Boston, Hobbs?" inquired the Prince, adjusting his tie before the mirror.
"Not to speak it, sir," said Hobbs.
The day was warm and clear, and Paris was gleaming. Robin stretched his long legs in a brisk walk across the Place Vendome and up the Rue de la Paix to the Boulevard. Here he hesitated and then retraced his steps slowly down the street of diamonds, for he suspected Miss Guile of being interested in things that were costly. Suddenly inspired, he made his way to the Place de la Concorde and settled himself on one of the seats near the entrance to the Champs Elysees. It was his shrewd argument that if she planned a ride on that exquisite morning it naturally would be along the great avenue, and in that event he might reasonably hope to catch her coming or going. A man came up and took a seat beside him.
"Good morning, Mr. Schmidt," said the newcomer, and Robin somewhat gruffly demanded what the deuce he meant by following him. "I have some interesting news," said Baron Gourou quietly, removing his hat to wipe a damp brow. He also took the time to recover his breath after some rather sharp dodging of automobiles in order to attain his present position of security. Even a Minister of Police has to step lively in Paris.
"From home?" asked Robin carelessly.
"Indirectly. It comes through Berlin. Our special agent there wires me that the offices of Mr. Blithers in that city have received instructions from him to send engineers to Edelweiss for the purpose of estimating the cost of remodelling and rebuilding the castle,—in other words to restore it to its condition prior to the Marlanx rebellion fifteen years ago."
There was a tantalising smile on the Baron's face as he watched the changing expressions in that of his Prince.
"Are you in earnest?" demanded Robin, a bright red spot appearing in each cheek. The Baron nodded his head. "Well, he's got a lot of nerve!"
"I shudder when I think of what is likely to happen to those architects when they begin snooping around the castle," said Gourou drily. "By the way, have you seen Miss Guile this morning?"
Robin's cheeks were now completely suffused. "Certainly not."
"She was in the Rue de la Paix half an hour ago. I thought you might—"
"You saw her, Baron?"
"Yes, highness, and it may interest you to know that she saw you."
"The deuce you say! But how do you know that it was Miss Guile. You've no means of knowing."
"It is a part of my profession to recognise people from given descriptions. In this case, however, the identification was rendered quite simple by the actions of the young lady herself. She happened to emerge from a shop just as you were passing and I've never seen any one, criminal or otherwise, seek cover as quickly as she did. She darted back into the shop like one pursued by the devil. Naturally I hung around for a few minutes to see the rest of the play. Presently she peered forth, looked stealthily up and down the street, and then dashed across the pavement to a waiting taxi-metre. It affords me pleasure to inform your highness that I took the number of the machine." He glanced at his cuff-band.
"Where did she go from the Rue de la Paix?" asked Robin impatiently.
"To the Ritz. I was there almost as soon as she. She handed an envelope—containing a letter, I fancy—to the carriage man and drove away in the direction of the Place de l'Opera. I have a sly notion, my Prince, that you will find a note awaiting you on your return to the hotel. Ah, you appear to be in haste, my young hunter."
"I am in haste. If you expect to keep alongside, Baron, you'll have to run I'm afraid," cried the Prince, and was instantly in his seven-league boots.
There was a note in Robin's rooms when he reached the hotel. It was not the delicately perfumed article that usually is despatched by fictional heroines but a rather business-like envelope bearing the well-known words "The New York Herald" in one corner and the name "R. Schmidt, Hotel Ritz," in firm but angular scrawl across its face. As Robin ripped it open with his finger, Baron Gourou entered the room, but not without giving vent to a slight cough in the way of an announcement.
"You forget, highness, that I am a short man and not possessed of legs that travel by yards instead of feet," he panted. "Forgive me for lagging behind. I did my best to keep up with you."
Robin stared at his visitor haughtily for a moment and then broke into a good-humoured laugh.
"Won't you sit down, Baron? I'll be at liberty in a minute or two," he said, and coolly proceeded to scan the brief message from Miss Guile.
"Well," said Gourou, as the young man replaced the letter in the envelope and stuck it into his pocket.
Robins's face was glowing with excitement. He put his hands in his trousers pockets and nervously jingled the coins therein, all the while regarding his Minister of Police with speculative eyes. Then he turned to the window and continued to stare down into the Place Vendome for several minutes, obviously turning something over in his mind before coming to a decision. The Baron waited. None knew better than he how to wait. He realised that a great deal hung upon the next few sentences to be uttered in that room, and yet he could be patient.
At last Robin faced him, but without speaking. An instant later he impulsively withdrew the letter from his pocket and held it out to the Baron, who strode across the room and took it from his hand. Without a word, he extracted the single sheet of paper and read what was written thereon.
"I gather from the nature of the invitation that you are expected to enjoy stolen fruit, if I may be so bold as to put it in just that way," said he grimly. "Apparently Miss Guile finds the presence of a duenna unnecessarily wise."
"There's no harm in a quiet little excursion such as she suggests, Baron," said Robin, defensively.
"You forget that I have seen the beautiful Miss Guile," said Gourou drily. "I take it, then, that you approve of the young lady's scheme."
"Scheme sounds rather sinister, doesn't it?"
"Trick, if it please you more than the other. Moreover, I cannot say that she suggests the quiet little excursion. It occurs to me that she commands, your highness." He held the missive to the light and read, a tender irony in his voice: "'My motor will call for you at three this afternoon, and we will run out to St. Cloud for tea; at the Pavilion Bleu. Mrs. Gaston is spending the day with relatives at Champigny, and we may as well be mice under the circumstances. If you have another engagement, pray do not let it interfere with the pleasure I am seeking.' Nothing could be more exacting, my dear Prince. She signs herself 'B. Guile,' and I am sure she is magnificently beguiling, if you will pardon the play on words."
"You wouldn't adopt that tone of suspicion if you knew Miss Guile," said Robin stiffly. "I am sure nothing could be more frank and above-board than her manner of treating the—"
"And nothing so cock-sure and confident," put in the Baron. "It would serve her right if you ignored the letter altogether."
"If I were as old as you, Baron, I haven't the least doubt that I should do so," said Robin coolly. "And by the same token, if you were as young as I, you'd do precisely the thing that I intend to do. I'm going to St. Cloud with her."
"Oh, I haven't been in doubt about that for an instant," said Gourou. "At your age I greatly favoured the clandestine. You will not pretend to assume that this is not a clandestine excursion."
"It's a jolly little adventure," was all that Robin could say, in his youthfulness.
The Baron was thoughtful. "There is something behind this extraordinary behaviour on the part of a lady generally accredited with sense and refinement," said he after a moment. "I think I have it, too. She is deliberately putting you to a rather severe test."
"Test? What do you mean?"
"She is trying you out, sir. Miss Guile,—or possibly Miss Blithers,—is taking a genuine risk in order to determine whether you are a real gentleman or only a make-believe. She is taking a chance with you. You may call it a jolly little adventure, but I call it the acid test. Young women of good breeding and refinement do not plan such adventures with casual, ship-board acquaintances. She intends to find out what, not who, you are. I must say she's exceedingly clever and courageous."
Robin laughed. "Thank you, Baron. Forewarned is forearmed. I shall remain a gentleman at any cost."
"She is so shrewd and resourceful that I am almost convinced she can be no other than the daughter of the amazing Mr. Blithers. I believe he achieved most of his success through sheer impudence, though it is commonly described as daring."
"In any case. Baron, I shall make it a point to find out whether she is the lady who defies the amazing Mr. Blithers, and goes into print about it."
"She has merely denied that she is engaged to the Prince of Graustark. Pray do not come back to us with the news that she is engaged to R. Schmidt," said Gourou significantly.
Robin smiled reflectively. "That would make a jolly adventure of it, wouldn't it?"
At three o'clock, a big limousine swung under the porte cochere at the Ritz and a nimble footman hopped down and entered the hotel. Robin was waiting just inside the doors. He recognised the car as the one that had taken Miss Guile away from the Gare St. Lazare, and stepped forward instantly to intercept the man.
"For Mr. Schmidt?" he inquired.
"Oui, M'sieur."
Thrilled by a pleasurable sense of excitement, the Prince of Graustark entered the car. He was quick to observe that the curtains in the side windows were partially drawn across the glass. The fact that she elected to journey to the country in a limousine on this hot day did not strike him as odd, for he knew that the comfort loving French people prefer the closed vehicle to the wind-inviting, dust-gathering touring body of the Americans and British. He observed the single letter L in gold in the panel of the door, and made mental note of the smart livery of the two men on the front seat.
A delicate perfume lingered in the car, convincing proof that Miss Guile had left it but a few minutes before its arrival at the Ritz. As a matter of fact, she was nearer than he thought, for the car whirled into the Rue de la Paix and stopped at the curb not more than a hundred yards from the Place Vendome.
Once more the nimble footman hopped down and threw open the door. A slender, swift-moving figure in a blue linen gown and a wide hat from which sprung two gorgeous blue plumes, emerged from the door of a diamond merchant's shop, and, before Robin could move from his corner, popped into the car and sat down beside him with a nervous little laugh on her lips—red lips that showed rose-like and tempting behind a thick chiffon veil, obviously donned for an excellent reason. The exquisite features of Miss Guile were barely distinguishable beneath the surface of this filmy barrier. The door closed sharply and, almost before the Prince had recovered from his surprise, the car glided off in the direction of the Place de l'Opera.
"Isn't it just like an elopement?" cried Miss Guile, and it was quite plain to him that she was vastly pleased with the sprightly introduction to the adventure. Her voice trembled slightly and she sat up very straight in the wide, comfortable seat.
"Is it really you?" cried Robin, and he was surprised to find that his own voice trembled.
"Oh," she said, with a sudden diffidence, "how do you do? What must you think of me, bouncing in like that and never once speaking to you?"
"If I were to tell you what I think of you, you'd bounce right out again without speaking to me," said he, smiling. "How do you do?" He extended his hand, but it was ignored. She sank back into the corner and looked at him for a moment as if uncertain what to say or do next. The shadowy red lips were smiling and the big dark eyes were eloquent, even through the screen.
"I may as well tell you at the outset, Mr. Schmidt, that I've never—never—done a thing like this before," she said, an uneasy note in her voice.
"I am quite sure of that," said he, "and therefore confess to a vast wealth of satisfaction."
"What do you think of me?"
"I think that you are frightened almost out of your boots," said he boldly.
"No, I'm not," said she resolutely. "I am only conscious of feeling extremely foolish."
"I shouldn't feel that way about stealing off for a cup of tea," said he. "It's all quite regular, you know, and is frequently done in the very best circles when the cat's away."
"You see, I couldn't quite scrape up the courage to go directly to the hotel for you," she said. "I know several people who are stopping there and I—I—well, you won't think I'm a dreadful person, will you?"
"Not at all," he declared promptly. Then he resolved to put one of the questions he had made up his mind to ask at the first opportunity. "Do you mind telling me why you abandoned me so completely, so heartlessly on the day we landed?"
"Because there was no reason why I should act otherwise, Mr. Schmidt," she said, the tremor gone from her voice.
"And yet you take me to St. Cloud for tea," he said pointedly.
"Ah, but no one is to know of this," she cried warmly. "This is a secret, a very secret adventure."
He could not help staring. "And that is just why I am mystified. Why is to-day so different from yesterday?"
"It isn't," she said. "Doesn't all this prove it?"
His face fell. "Don't you want to be seen with me, Miss Guile? Am I not—"
"Wait! Will you not be satisfied with things as they are and refrain from asking unnecessary questions?"
"I shall have to be satisfied," said he ruefully.
"I am sorry I said that, Mr. Schmidt," she cried, contrite at once. "There is absolutely no reason why I should not be seen with you. But won't you be appeased when I say that I wanted to be with you alone to-day?"
He suddenly remembered the Baron's shrewd conjecture and let the opportunity to say something banal go by without a word. Perhaps it was a test, after all. He merely replied that she was paying him a greater compliment than he deserved.
"There are many things I want to speak about, Mr. Schmidt, and—and you know how impossible it is to—to get a moment to one's self when one is being watched like a child, as I am being watched over by dear Mrs. Gaston. She is my shield and armour, my lovely one-headed dragon. I placed myself in her care and—well, she is a very dependable person. You will understand, won't you?"
"Pray do not distress yourself, Miss Guile," he protested. "The last word is spoken. I am too happy to spoil the day by doubting its integrity. Besides, I believe I know you better than you think I do."
He expected her to reveal some sign of dismay, but she was suddenly on guard.
"Then you will not mind my eccentricities," she said calmly, "and we shall have a very nice drive, some tea and a—lark in place of the more delectable birds prescribed by the chef at the Pavilion Bleu."
As the car turned into the Boulevard des Capucines Robin suppressed an exclamation of annoyance on beholding Baron Gourou and Dank standing on the curb almost within arm's length of the car as it passed. The former was peering rather intently at the two men on the front seat, and evinced little or no interest in the occupants of the tonneau.
"Wasn't that your friend Mr. Dank?" inquired Miss Guile with interest. He felt that she was chiding him.
"Yes," said he, and then turned for another look at his compatriots. Gourou was jotting something down on his cuff-band. The Prince mentally promised him something for his pains. "But let us leave dull care behind," he went on gaily.
"He isn't at all dull," said she.
"But he is a care," said he. "He is always losing his heart, Miss Guile."
"And picking up some one else's, I fancy," said she.
"By the way, who was the good-looking chap that came to Cherbourg to meet you?"
"A very old friend, Mr. Schmidt. I've known him since I was that high." (That high was on a line with her knee.)
"Attractive fellow," was his comment.
"Do you think so?" she inquired innocently, and he thought she over-played it a little. He was conscious of an odd sense of disappointment in her. "Have you never been out to St. Cloud? No? I never go there without feeling a terrible pity for those poor prodigals who stood beside its funeral pyre and saw their folly stripped down to the starkest of skeletons while they waited. The day of glory is short, Mr. Schmidt, and the night that follows is bitterly long. They say possession is nine points of the law, but what do nine points mean to the lawless? The rich man of to-day may be the beggar of to-morrow, and the rich man's sons and daughters may be serving the beggars of yesterday. I have been told that in the lower east side of New York City there are men and women who were once princes and princesses, counts and countesses, dukes and duchesses. Why doesn't some one write a novel about the royalty that hides its beggary in the slums of that great city?"
"What's this? Epigrams and philosophy, Miss Guile?" he exclaimed wonderingly. "You amaze me. What are you trying to convey? That some day you may be serving yesterday's beggar?"
"Who knows!" she said cryptically. "I am not a philosopher, and I'm sorry about the epigrams. I loathe people who make use of them. They are a cheap substitution for wisdom. Do you take sugar in your tea?" It was her way of abandoning the topic, but he looked his perplexity. "I thought I'd ask now, just for the sake of testing my memory later on." She was laughing.
"Two lumps and cream," he said. "Won't you be good enough to take off that veil? It seriously obstructs the view."
She complacently shook her head. "It doesn't obstruct mine," she said. "Have you been reading what the papers are saying about your friend Mr. Blithers and his obstreperous Maud?"
Robin caught his breath. In a flash he suspected an excellent reason for keeping the veil in place. It gave her a distinct advantage over him.
"Yes. I see that she positively denies the whole business."
"Likewise the prospective spouse," she added. "Isn't it sickening?"
"I wonder what Mr. Blithers is saying to-day," said he audaciously. "Poor old cock, he must be as sore as a crab. By the way, it is reported that she crossed on the steamer with us."
"I am quite certain that she did, Mr. Schmidt," said she.
"You really think so?" he cried, regarding her keenly.
"The man who came to meet me knows her quite well. He is confident that he saw her at Cherbourg."
"I see," said he, and was thoroughly convinced. "I may as well confess to you. Miss Guile, that I also know her when I see her."
"But you told me positively that you had never seen her, Mr. Schmidt," she said quickly.
"I had not seen her up to the second day out on the Jupiter," he explained, enjoying himself immensely.
"It was after that that you—"
"I know," he said, as she hesitated; "but you see I didn't know she was Miss Blithers until sometime after I had met you." There was a challenge in his manner amounting almost to a declaration.
She leaned forward to regard him more intently.
"Is it possible, Mr. Schmidt, that you suspect me of being that horrid, vulgar creature?"
Robin was not to be trapped. There was something in the shadowy eyes that warned him.
"At least, I may say that I do not suspect you of being a horrid, vulgar creature," he said evasively.
"What else can this Miss Blithers be if not that?"
"Would you say that she is vulgar because she refuses to acknowledge a condition that doesn't exist? I think she did perfectly right in denying the engagement."
"You haven't answered my question, Mr. Schmidt."
"Well," he began slowly, "I don't suspect you of being Miss Blithers."
"But you did suspect it."
"I was pleasantly engaged in speculation, that's all. It is generally believed that Miss Blithers sailed under an assumed name—literally, not figuratively."
"Is there any reason why you should imagine that my name is not Guile?"
"Yes. Your luggage is resplendently marked with the second letter in the alphabet—a gory, crimson B."
"I see," she said reflectively. "You examined my luggage, as they say in the customs office. And you couldn't put B and G together, is that it?"
"Obviously."
"If you had taken the trouble to look, you would have found an equally resplendent G on the opposite end of each and every trunk, Mr. Schmidt," she said quietly.
"I did not examine your luggage, Miss Guile," said he stiffly. She hadn't left much for him to stand upon. "Rather unique way to put one's initials on a trunk, isn't it?"
"It possesses the virtue of originality," she admitted, "and it never fails to excite curiosity. I am sorry you were misled. Nothing could be more distressing than to be mistaken for the heroine of a story and then turn out to be a mere nobody in the end. I've no doubt that if the amiable Miss Blithers were to hear of it, she'd rush into print and belabour me with the largest type that money could buy."
"Oh, come now, Miss Guile," he protested, "it really isn't fair to Miss Blithers. She was justified in following an illustrious example. You forget that the Prince of Graustark was the first to rush into print with a flat denial. What else could the poor girl do?"
"Oh, I am not defending the Prince of Graustark. He behaved abominably, rushing into print as you say. Extremely bad taste, I should call it."
Robin's ears burned. He could not defend himself. There was nothing left for him to do but to say that it "served him jolly well right, the way Miss Blithers came back at him."
"Still," she said, "I would be willing to make a small wager that the well-advertised match comes off in spite of all the denials. Given a determined father, an ambitious mother, a purse-filled daughter and an empty-pursed nobleman, and I don't see how the inevitable can be avoided."
His face was flaming. It was with difficulty that he restrained the impulse to put her right in the matter without further ado.
"Are you sure that the Prince is so empty of purse as all that?" he managed to say, without betraying himself irretrievably.
"There doesn't seem to be any doubt that he borrowed extensively of Mr. Blithers," she said scornfully. "He is under some obligations to his would-be-father-in-law, I submit, now isn't he?"
"I suppose so, Miss Guile," he admitted uncomfortably.
"And therefore owes him something more than a card in the newspapers, don't you think?"
"Really, Miss Guile, I—I—"
"I beg your pardon. The Prince's affairs are of no importance to you, so why should I expect you to stand up for him?"
"I confess that I am a great deal more interested in Miss Blithers than I am in the Prince. By the way, what would you have done had you been placed in her position?"
"I think I should have acted quite as independently as she."
"If your father were to pick out a husband for you, whether or no, you would refuse to obey the paternal command?"
"Most assuredly. As a matter of fact, Mr. Schmidt, my father has expressed a wish that I should marry a man who doesn't appeal to me at all."
"And you refuse?"
"Absolutely."
"More or less as Miss Blithers has done," he said pointedly.
"Miss Blithers, I understand, has the advantage of me in one respect. I am told that she wants to marry another man and is very much in love with him."
"A chap named Scoville," said Robin, unguardedly.
"You know him, Mr. Schmidt?"
"No. I've merely heard of him. I take it from your remark that you don't want to marry anybody—at present."
"Quite right. Not at present. Now let us talk of something else. A bas Blithers! Down with the plutocrats! Stamp out the vulgarians! Is there anything else you can suggest?" she cried gaily.
"Long live the Princess Maud!" said he, and doffed his hat. The satirical note in his voice was not lost on her. She started perceptibly, and caught her breath. Then she sank back into the corner with a nervous, strained little laugh.
"You think she will marry him?"
"I think as you do about it, Miss Guile," said he, and she was silenced.