William Le Queux

“ He turned to Lady Mary, who led him to a small morning-room, and spread paper and envelopes before him.
“You are very fond of Isobel?” he asked, before he began his letter, a rather long one, to Moreno.
“I love her like a younger sister, Mr Farquhar,” replied Mary enthusiastically. “And, of course, she very soon will be my sister. And, moreover, being a woman, I love all true lovers. She and Guy are so absorbed in each other.”
“Ah!” said the youthful barrister shortly. “And you love your brother too?”
“Dear old Guy! I simply adore him. He is one of the most lovable of men.” ”

“ Would you not have played a more manly part, if you had come to me with a frank and proper explanation of those events?”
“That is just what I ought to have done,” said Guy Rossett humbly. He had never admired her more than now. Up to the present moment he had no idea that this dainty, slender woman, more or less of a butterfly, had such spirit in her fragile frame.
“Instead of that,” pursued Violet Hargrave in her inflexible, vibrating tones, “you adopt a device pursued by many men I know, by the type of man who lacks moral courage. ”

“ The Earl began to splutter again. “My word, the world is coming to something. You talk as if a father had no right, no authority over his children. Look what I have done for him. I wrung this appointment from Greatorex, with my own personal influence.”
Lady Mary laid a light, cool kiss upon his inflamed cheek.
“Dearest father, do try and be just for once. You did not get this appointment solely for Guy’s benefit. You know you don’t care a straw whether he succeeds in his profession. Your real motive was to drive him out of England, so that he should be separated from Isobel Clandon.” ”

“ Farquhar shook his head. “I don’t deny it for a moment. I was very much in love with Isobel. I always wanted her for my wife, but the consideration of ways and means prevented. When I did ask her, I learned that she had accepted your brother—”
“And you are still in love with her?” questioned Mary, a little eagerly.
“It is no use being in love with a girl who is betrothed to another man. It is one of those vain dreams that a sensible man dismisses. Isobel Clandon is to me now a dear cousin, a good friend.” Somehow, Lady Mary looked relieved. ”

“ Carlos Somoza, the fisherman, saluted him reverently, but beneath his breath he exclaimed in Spanish:
“May the Holy Madonna curse him for ever!”
“Why?” inquired the man in grey, whose name was Garcia Zorrilta, a native of Toledo, who had come in secret from Madrid in order to meet his fisherman friend.
“Because he may recognise you. There may be a hitch.”
“Bah! There will be no hitch. There cannot be. You people here in the country are so often faint-hearted. We in the capital are not. All goes well, and success must be ours. It is but a simple matter of waiting—waiting in patience.” ”

“ Lady Mary spoke with an equal irritation.
“You are unjust, father, unjust both to Guy and Isobel. You have no right to ruin these two young lives with your prejudices and your old-world notions.” Her voice dropped into a half-sob as she concluded. “What is there in the world better than real love? And these two love each other devotedly.”
The Earl was about to reply angrily, for he was a somewhat obstinate old man, and hated being thwarted. But, before he could utter a word, the door opened to admit Guy Rossett.
Guy was a very handsome young fellow, with a winning and genial expression. ”

“ Contraras looked after the two young people with those keen eyes which age had not very greatly dimmed.
“The Englishwoman I know well,” he whispered to Alvedero. “She is a protégée, almost an adopted daughter, of our staunch comrade Jaques. What about this Moreno? Is he to be trusted?”
“You know that Luçue vouches for both.”
“Ah!” sighed Contraras. “Luçue is a keen judge of men. I have never known him make a mistake. But I do not like the English mother.”
“And, in the case of Violet Hargrave, you have the English father. And yet, you have no suspicion of her.” ”

“ Farquhar explained patiently that, in his opinion, Guy Rossett was in a position of considerable danger.
Naturally, at this point, Lord Saxham went off at a violent tangent.
“Then why the devil doesn’t Greatorex recall him, as I have begged him to do. Good heavens! I have been supporting this wretched Government through thick and thin. Can’t they grant me this little favour? My poor boy! He doesn’t want their infernal promotion. He will inherit a big fortune from his great-aunt. He can snap his fingers at Greatorex and the rest of them.” ”

“ To-night she was under the wing of a popular chaperon, in whose veins ran the proudest blood of Spain. The Duchess, acting according to instructions, introduced her to everybody she came across.
Mademoiselle Delmonte, handsome, brilliant, and vivacious, was an immediate success. This aristocratic assemblage, ignorant of her antecedents, only recognising that she was under the wing of the popular Duchess, took her at her real valuation.
Being a woman, she was naturally pleased with her momentary success. ”

“ Moreno often smiled when he thought what humbug it all was, this profession of democracy and equality. Because they were, comparatively speaking, humble members of the brotherhood, they were stowed away in poky lodgings. Contraras had a suite of rooms at the best hotel in the city, and went occasionally to Court.
“What a gigantic farce,” he thought. “As if you could alter the primeval instincts of human nature by a carefully adjusted system of labels. And, as for tyranny and oppression, if I were a Spanish citizen, I would rather live under the rule of Alfonso than that of Contraras. ”

“ A good angel, in the shape of Moreno himself, was watching over him.
He cast his glance rapidly over the masked men confronting him. Where was the black-browed young journalist whom he had known in old days?
Yes, there on the right, nearest to the door. Had that position been chosen by accident or design? He recognised at once the short, squat figure. Through the holes of the mask, he could see the gleam of those dark eyes. His demeanour would be more indomitable than ever.
Contraras opened the proceedings in his most judicial manner. ”

“ Valerie could never recall the years that succeeded without a shudder. The circus was broken up, she was left helpless and friendless.
It was during those terrible years that the iron entered her soul, when she experienced the keen, cruel suffering of the really poor, when she went to bed night after night, cold and hungry, after tramping the streets in vain for work.
A weaker spirit would have succumbed to the temptation that was always at hand, for she was a very attractive girl. But she was resolved, with her indomitable grit, to keep herself pure. ”

“ But Isobel was very much touched with Guy’s delicate feeling.
“Wasn’t he a darling to come over?” she said to Lady Mary. “I should have forgiven him if he hadn’t, but I love him ever so much more because he did.”
To which somewhat incoherent declaration Mary had replied with her usual air of experience and worldly wisdom.
“All men have something bad in them, and most women. But I think dear old Guy has the least bad in him that a man can have.”
Lord Saxham was very kind, very gentle, very paternal to his son’s betrothed. ”

“ I think I have only known three good women in my life, two of whom were my mother and a girl I was once engaged to—she died a week before our wedding day.”
Rossett regarded him with a sympathetic gaze. So this swarthy, black-browed young Spaniard had had his romance. His voice had broken as he spoke of his dead sweetheart.
“I am sorry for your experience. Most of the women I have known have been very good, the fingers of one hand would count the bad. But tell me more about Violet Hargrave. She hates me, you say?”
“I should say with a very bitter and malignant hatred,” was Moreno’s answer. ”

“ Contraras next addressed himself to Moreno.
“I also met in London our comrade Luçue, the man who introduced you to the brotherhood.”
“Ah, what a great man!” cried Moreno, with the fervour of a new and enthusiastic recruit. “The only man, in my opinion, who would ever be worthy to wear your mantle, if ever it should drop from your shoulders. May that day be far distant!” he added piously.
Contraras, ever pleased with a little judicious flattery, became more amiable than ever. The glance he bent upon the young journalist was almost a benevolent one. ”

“ Moreno assented. “You are quite right. You say you now don’t desire the removal of Rossett. To be quite frank, no more do I.”
She looked at him sharply out of her tear-dimmed eyes, red and swollen with the violent weeping of a few seconds ago.
“But why do you wish to spare Guy Rossett? You say you are a true son of the Revolution.”
“I am,” replied Moreno composedly. “I am with certain reservations.” He felt he could not trust her too implicitly yet. “When they attack the Heads, the great ones of the earth, I am in the heartiest sympathy with them—that is the way to obtain our ends. ”

“ A vivid flush overspread the fair face. “It is quite true, I love somebody else.”
“The man you were dining with, Guy Rossett?” replied Farquhar quietly.
“Ah, you have guessed! But it is quite a secret. My father knows. His sister knows. His father is obstinate and prejudiced; he wants him to marry a woman in his own world. We are waiting for his consent.”
“I quite understand,” said Farquhar gloomily. “I am too late, I can see. Honestly, Isobel, had I asked you, say, a year ago, would your answer have been different?”
Her frank and candid gaze met his steadfast glance. ”

“ And he would inherit a big fortune from his grand-aunt, the Lady Henrietta.
Poor Isobel felt a very lonely maiden as she listened to this splendid recital. As a mere man, with his good looks and charm, he could choose where he liked. With these advantages in addition, he could pick from the noblest in the land.
Of course, she was a little fool, and the sooner she said good-bye to her vain dreams the better. Guy Rossett was attracted by her for the moment, no doubt. But it was impossible a man in his position, with his prospects, could mean anything serious. ”

“ Contraras looked at her approvingly from under his bushy eyebrows. “There spoke a true daughter of the Revolution which is to remake the world. If years had not come upon me, if my eyesight were more keen, my hand more sure, I would not delegate this task to another, less especially to a woman.”
Zorrilta hastened to observe obsequiously, “We cannot afford to hazard your precious life, Contraras. You are the head and brain of this organisation. The general directs the battle from safe ground. He does not go into the firing-line like the common soldier.” ”

“ The Earl of Saxham was vastly annoyed when his son, Guy, fell in love with a “penniless nobody,” and announced that he would marry her against all opposition. He determined to separate the lovers; to which end he persuaded an influential friend in the Foreign Office to secure an appointment for Guy in the Embassy at Madrid. He little knew that he was sending his son into the centre of a hotbed of anarchism, that Guy’s footsteps were to be dogged by a vindictive and revengeful woman, that his life was to hold many a thrilling moment and not a few narrow escapes. ”

“ Moreno’s words had suddenly roused him to action. He was now blaming in his mind, those very traits on which he had been wont to pride himself, his scrupulousness, his excessive caution.
He had always thought that Isobel liked him, that she would not be reluctant to entertain his advances, when he had judged the time was right to make them.
And, of course, he had been a fool. He had not looked at the position from the girl’s point of view. A girl, however much she may be inclined towards a man, is not disposed to wait indefinitely while he is making up his mind, nicely balancing pros and cons. ”

“ When I once suspected, the rest was easy.”
“It was Guy Rossett who gave me away?” she cried, and an angry gleam came into her eyes.
Moreno looked at her a little contemptuously.
“And you have known this man well, and loved him! Are you not a shrewder judge of human nature than to harbour such a suspicion? Why, Rossett is just that dogged type of Englishman who would rather be put to death than betray a confidence.” ”

“ Stonehenge shook his head sadly, after a prolonged pause. “Revolution, my dear fellow, is in the air all over Europe. Even in our commonsense and law-abiding country, there are ominous growlings and mutterings. Everywhere, the proletariat is getting out of hand. Sometimes I feel grateful that I am an old man, that what I dread is coming will not come in my time.”
Rossett assented gravely. He was taking himself quite seriously now. His deep love for Isobel Clandon had purified him of light fancies. ”

“ But Contraras was still patient. He was trying to reason with this obstinate young man, whose bold bearing moved his admiration.
“We cannot tell how the great Revolution will shape itself ultimately. But let us deal with present facts. A charming girl is waiting for you, longing for the moment when she can be your wife.”
A shadow of pain passed over Guy’s face. To-night, he had set out to visit his beloved Isobel, and he had been snared.
Contraras watched him narrowly through the holes of his mask. ”

“ And Violet sighed for the elegant flat in Mount Street, with its perfect appointments. She had grown to loathe this sun-baked Biscayan coast.
Being thrown so much in each other’s society, caution had been a little relaxed on the woman’s side—Moreno had never for a moment relaxed his. Violet Hargrave was still an enigma to him. He was not prepared to trust her in the smallest degree. But in his peculiar position he could trust nobody.
One day she had been very confidential. It had been after a good dinner, followed by one or two potent liqueurs. ”

“ He promised to meet her on her arrival at Madrid and conduct her to her friends. He would say nothing to Guy Rossett till he had her permission.
For at the eleventh hour Isobel’s heart a little failed her. From what point of view would Guy contemplate this rather wild adventure? Would he take it as a proof of her devoted love, or would he frown at the escapade, as a little unwomanly? Men of the straightforward English type like Rossett are apt to be a little uncertain in their judgment of what is seemly in their womenkind, and what is the reverse. ”