tales of two people 55

tales of two people 55

The Duke could not entirely repress a slight movement of surprise and

pleasure.

 

“This your house? Then you are----?” he began.

 

“Yes, yes, the Duke of Belleville,” interrupted the young man. “But

there’s nobody in the house. I’m not expected----”

 

“I suppose not,” murmured the Duke.

 

“There are no servants, and I don’t know how to get in. It’s very

awkward, because I’m expecting a--a friend to call.”

 

“With my assistance,” said the Duke deferentially, “your Grace might

effect an entry by the window.”

 

“True!” cried the young man. “Bring your lantern and give me a light.

Look here, I don’t want this talked about.”

 

“It is a matter quite between ourselves, your Grace,” the Duke assured

him, as he led the way to the window.

 

“By-the-by, you might help me in another matter if you like. I’ll make

it worth your while.”

 

“I shall be very glad,” said the Duke.

 

“Could you be spared from your beat for an hour?”

 

“It might be possible.”

 

“Good. Come in with me, and we’ll talk it over.”

 

The Duke had by this time opened the window of his villa; he gave the

young man a leg-up, and afterwards climbed in himself.

 

“Shut the window again,” commanded the stranger. “Oh, and you might as

well just close the shutters.”

 

“Certainly, your Grace,” said the Duke, and he did as he was bid.

 

The young man began to move round the room, examining the articles that

furnished the side-tables and decorated the walls. The Duke of

Belleville had been for a year or two an eager collector of antique

plate, and had acquired some fine specimens in both gold and silver.

Some of these were now in the villa, and the young man scrutinised them

with close attention.

 

“Dear me,” said he in a vexed tone, as he returned to the hearth, “I

thought the Queen Bess flagon was here. Surely I sent it here from

Belleville Castle!”

 

The Duke smiled; the Queen Bess flagon had never been at Belleville

Castle, and it was now in a small locked cabinet which stood on the

mantelpiece. He made no remark; a suspicion had begun to take shape in

his mind concerning this strange visitor. Two thousand seven hundred and

forty guineas was the price that he had paid for the Queen Bess flagon;

all the other specimens in the little room, taken together, might be

worth perhaps a quarter as much.

 

“Your Grace spoke of some other matter in which I might assist you?” he

suggested, for the young man seemed to have fallen into a reverie.

 

“Why, yes. As I tell you, I expect a friend; and it looks very absurd to

have no servant. You’re sure to find a suit of dress clothes in my

bedroom. Pray put them on and represent my valet. You can resume your

uniform afterwards.”

 

The Duke bowed and left the room. The moment the door closed behind him

he made the best of his way to the kitchen. A few words were enough to

impart his suspicions to the policeman. A daring and ingenious scheme

was evidently on foot, its object being the theft of the Queen Bess

flagon. Even now, unless they acted quickly, the young man might lay

hands on the cabinet in which the treasure lay and be off with it. In a

trice the Duke had discarded the police uniform, its rightful owner had

resumed it, and the Duke was again in the convenient black suit which

befits any man, be he duke or valet. Then the kitchen window was

cautiously opened, and the policeman crawled silently round to the front

of the house; here he lay in waiting for a summons or for the appearance

of a visitor. The Duke returned immediately to the sitting-room.

 

On entering, he perceived the young man standing in front of the locked

cabinet, and regarding it with a melancholy air. The Duke’s appearance

roused him, and he glanced with visible surprise at the distinguished

and aristocratic figure which the supposed policeman presented. But he

made no comment and his first words were about the flagon.

 

“Now I come to remember,” said he, “I put the Queen Bess flagon in this

cabinet. It must be so, although, as I have left my key at my rooms in

St James’s Street, I can’t satisfy myself on the point.”

 

The Duke, now perfectly convinced of the character of his visitor,

waited only to see him lay his hands on the cabinet. Such an action

would be the signal for his instant arrest. But before the young man had

time either to speak again or to put out his hand towards the cabinet,

there came the sound of wheels quickly approaching the villa. A moment

later a neat brougham rolled up to the door. The young man darted to the

window, tore open the shutters, and looked out. The Duke, suspecting the

arrival of confederates, turned towards the cabinet and took his stand

in front of it.

 

“Go and open the door,” ordered the young man, turning round. “Don’t

keep the lady waiting outside at this time of night.”

 

Curiosity conquered prudence; the Duke set more value on a night’s

amusement than on the Queen Bess flagon. He went obediently and opened

the door of the villa. On the step stood a young and very handsome girl.

Great agitation was evident in her manner.

 

“Is--is the Duke here?” she asked.

 

“Yes, madam. If I lead you to the sitting-room, you will find him

there,” answered the Duke gravely; and with a bow he preceded her along

the passage.

 

When they reached the room, the lady, passing by him, darted forward and

flung herself affectionately into the young man’s arms. He greeted her

with equal warmth, while the Duke stood in the doorway in some natural

embarrassment.

 

“I escaped so successfully!” cried the lady. “My aunt went to bed at

eleven; so did I. At twelve I got up and dressed. Not a soul heard me

come downstairs, and the brougham was waiting at the door just as you

said.”

 

“My darling!” murmured the young man fondly. “Now, indeed, is our

happiness certain. By to-morrow morning we shall be safe from all

pursuit.” Then he turned to the Duke. “I need not tell you,” said he,

“that you must observe silence on this matter. Oblige me now by going to

my room and packing a bag; you’ll know what I shall want for two or

three days; I can give you a quarter of an hour.”

 

The Duke stood in momentary hesitation. He was bewildered at the sudden

change in the position caused by the appearance of this girl. Was he

assisting, then, not at a refined and ingenious burglary, but at another

kind of trick? The disguise assumed by the young man might have for its

object the deception of a trustful girl, and not an abduction of the

Queen Bess flagon.

 

“Well, why don’t you obey?” asked the young man sharply; and, stepping

up to the Duke, he thrust a ten-pound note into his hand, whispering,

“Play your part, and earn your money, you fool.”

 

The Duke lingered no longer. Leaving the room, he walked straight,

rapidly, and with a firm tread, upstairs. When he reached the top he

paused to listen. All was still! Stay! A moment later he heard a slight

noise--the noise of some metal instrument turning, proceeding from the

room which he had just left. The Duke sat down on the landing and took

off his boots. Then with silent feet he crept cautiously downstairs

again. He paused to listen for an instant outside the sitting-room door.

Voices were audible, but he could not hear the words. The occupants of

the room were moving about. He heard a low amused laugh. Then he pursued

his way to the hall door. He had not completely closed it after

admitting the lady, and he now slipped out without a sound. The brougham

stood in front of the door. The Duke dodged behind it, and the driver,

who was leaning forward on his seat, did not see him. The next moment he

was crouching down by the side of his friend the policeman, waiting for

the next development in the plot of this comedy, or crime, or whatever

it might turn out to be. He put out his hand and touched his ally. To

his amusement the man, sitting there on the ground, had fallen fast

asleep.

 

“Another proof,” mused the Duke in whimsical despair, “that it is

impossible to make any mode of life permanently interesting. How this

fellow would despise the state of excitement which I, for the moment, am

so fortunate as to enjoy! Well, I won’t wake him unless need arises.”

 

For some little while nothing happened. The policeman slept on, and the

driver of the brougham seemed sunk in meditation, unless, indeed, he

also were drowsy. The shutters of the sitting-room were again closely

shut, and no sound came from behind them. The Duke crouched motionless

but keenly observant.

 

Then the hall door creaked. The policeman snored quietly, but the Duke

leant eagerly forward, and the driver of the brougham suddenly sat up

quite straight, and grasped his reins more firmly. The door was

cautiously opened: the lady and the young man appeared on the threshold.

The young man glanced up and down the lane; then he walked quickly

towards the brougham, and opened the door. The lady followed him. As she

went she passed within four or five feet of where the Duke lay hidden.

And, as she went by, the Duke saw--what he half-expected, yet what he

could but half-believe--the gleam of the gold of the Queen Bess flagon,

which she held in her gloved hands.

 

As has been hinted, the Duke attached no superstitious value to this

article. The mad fever of the collector had left him long ago; but

amidst the death of other emotions and more recondite prejudices there

survives in the heart of man the primitive dislike of being “done.” It

survived in the mind of the Duke of Belleville, and sprang to strong and

sudden activity when he observed his Queen Bess flagon in the hands of

the pretty unknown lady.

 

With a sudden and vigorous spring he was upon her; with a roughness

which the Duke trusted that the occasion to some extent excused, he

seized her arm with one hand, and with the other violently twisted the

Queen Bess flagon out of her grasp. A loud cry rang from her lips. The