第13章

“Minewasaveryfoolishrequest，“sheadmittedquietly。“IamsorrythatIevermadeit。Itwasjustanimpulse，becausethelittlebuildingwewerespeakingofhasbeenconnectedwithoneortwoverydisagreeableepisodes。Nevertheless，itwasfoolishofme。Howlongdidyouthinkofstayingthere-thatis，“sheadded，withafaintsmile，“providingthatyoufinditpossibletoproveyourclaimandtakeuppossession？“

“Oh，justforaweekorso，“heansweredlightly，“andastoregainingpossessionofit，“hewenton，aslightlypugnaciousinstinctstirringhim，“Idon’timaginethatthere’llbeanydifficultyaboutthat。“

“Really！“shemurmured。

“NotthatIwanttomakemyselfdisagreeable，“hecontinued，“buttheTowerismine，rightenough，evenifIhaveletitremainunoccupiedforsometime。“

Sheletdownthewindow-ataskinwhichhehastenedtoassisther。

Arushofsalt，coldairsweptintothecompartment。Hesniffediteagerly。

“Wonderful！“heexclaimed。

Shestretchedoutalongarmandpointed。Awayinthedistance，onthesummitofalineofpebbledshore，standing，asitseemed，sheeroverthesea，wasalittleblackspeck。

That，“shesaid，“istheTower。“

Hechangedhispositionandleanedoutofthewindow。

“Well，it’saqueerlittleplace，“heremarked。“Itdoesn’tlookworthquarrellingover，doesit？“

“Andthat，“shewenton，directinghisattentiontothehill，“isMr。Fentolin’shome，St。David’sHall。“

Forseveralmomentshemadenoremarkatall。Therewassomethingcuriouslyimpressiveinthatsuddensweepupfromthesea-line；thestrange，miniaturemountainstandinginthemiddleofthemarshes，withitstree-crownedbackground；andthelong，weather-beatenfrontofthehouseturnedbravelytothesea。

“Ineversawanythinglikeit，“hedeclared。“Why，it’sbarelyaquarterofamilefromthesea，isn’tit？“

“Alittlemorethanthat。Itisastrangelysituatedabode，isn’tit？“

“Wonderful！“heagreed，withemphasis。“Imuststudythegeologicalformationofthathill，“hecontinued，withinterest。“Why，itlooksalmostlikeanislandnow。“

“Thatisbecauseofthefloods，“shetoldhim。“Evenathightidethecreeksneverreachsofarasthebackthere。Allthewateryouseestretchingawayinlandisfloodwater-theresultofthestorm，Isuppose。Thisiswhereyougetout，“sheconcluded，risingtoherfeet。

Sheturnedawaywiththeslightestnod。Amaidwasalreadyawaitingheratthedoorofthecompartment。Hamelwassuddenlyconsciousofthefactthathedislikedhergoingimmensely。

“Weshall，perhaps，meetagainduringthenextfewdays，“heremarked。

Shehalfturnedherhead。Herexpressionwasscarcelyencouraging。

“Ihope，“shesaid，“thatyouwillnotbedisappointedinyourquarters。“

Hamelfollowedherslowlyontotheplatform，sawherescortedtoaveryhandsomemotor-carbyanobsequiousstation-master，andwatchedtheformerdisappeardownthestretchofstraightroadwhichledtothehill。Then，withastickinonehand，andthehandbagwhichwashissoleluggageintheother，heleftthestationandturnedseaward。

Mr。Fentolin，surroundedbyhissatellites，wasseatedinhischairbeforethewriting-table。Therewerepresentintheroommostofthepeopleimportanttohiminhissomewhatsingularlife。Afewfeetaway，incharacteristicattitude，stoodMeekins。DoctorSarson，withhishandsbehindhim，waslookingoutofthewindow。Atthefurtherendofthetablestoodaconfidentialtelegraphclerk，whowasjustdepartingwithalittlesheafofmessages。Byhisside，withanotebookinherhand，stoodMr。Fentolin’sprivatesecretary-awhite-hairedwoman，withastrangelytransparentskinandlightbrowneyes，dressedinsomberblack，awomanwhomighthavebeenofanyagefromthirtytofifty。Behindherwasamiddle-agedmanwhosepositioninthehouseholdnoonewasquitesureabout-aclean-shavenmanwhosenamewasRyan，andwhomightverywellhavebeenonceanactororaclergyman……InthebackgroundstoodHenderson，theperfectbutler。

“Itisperhapsopportune，“Mr。Fentolinsaidquietly，“thatyouallwhomItrustshouldbepresentheretogether。Iwishyoutounderstandonething。Youhave，Ibelieve，inmyemploylearnedthegiftofsilence。Itistobeexercisedwithregardtoacertainvisitorbroughtherebymynephew，avisitorwhomIregrettosayisnowlyingseriouslyill。“

Therewasabsolutesilence。DoctorSarsonaloneturnedfromthewindowasthoughabouttospeak，butmetMr。Fentolin’seyeandatonceresumedhisposition。

“Irelyuponyouall，“Mr。Fentolincontinuedsoftly。“Henderson，you，perhaps，havethemostdifficulttask，foryouhavetheservantstocontrol。Nevertheless，Irelyuponyou，also。Ifonewordofthisvisitor’spresencehereleaksoutevensofarasthevillage，outtheygo，everyoneofthem。

Iwillnothaveaservantintheplacewhodoesnotrespectmywishes。Youcangiveanyreasonyoulikeformyorders。Itisawhim。Ihavewhims，andIchoosetopayforthem。Youareallbetterpaidthananymanbreathingcouldpayyou。InreturnIaskonlyforyourimplicitobedience。“

Hestretchedouthishandandtookacigarettefromacuriouslycarvedivoryboxwhichstoodbyhisside。Hetappeditgentlyuponthetableandlookedup。

“Ithink，sir，“Hendersonsaidrespectfully，“thatIcananswerfortheservants。Beingmostlyforeigners，theyseelittleornothingofthevillagepeople。“

Nooneelsemadeanyremark。Itwasstrangetoseehowdominatedtheyallwerebythatqueerlittlefragmentofhumanity，whoseheadscarcelyreachedafootabovethetablebeforewhichhesat。Theydepartedsilently，almostabjectly，dismissedwithasinglewaveofthehand。Mr。Fentolinbeckonedhissecretarytoremain。Shecamealittlenearer。

“Sitdown，Lucy，“heordered。

Sheseatedherselfafewfeetawayfromhim。Mr。Fentolinwatchedherforseveralmoments。Hehimselfhadhisbacktothelight。

Thewoman，ontheotherhand，wasfacingit。Thewindowswerehigh，andthecurtainsweredrawnbacktotheirfullestextent。Acoldstreamofnorthernlightfelluponherface。Mr。Fentolingazedatherandnoddedherheadslightly。

“MydearLucy，“hedeclared，“youarewonderful-aperfectcameo，agem。Tolookatyounow，withyourdelightfulwhitehairandyourflawlessskin，onewouldneverbelievethatyoubadeverspokenasingleangryword，thatyouhadeverfeltthebloodflowthroughyourveins，orthatyoureyeshadeverlookeduponthegentlethingsoflife。“

Shelookedathim，stillwithoutspeech。Theimmobilityofherfacewasindeedamarvellousthing。Mr。Fentolin’sexpressiondarkened。

“Sometimes，“hemurmuredsoftly，“IthinkthatifIhadstrongfingers-reallystrongfingers，youknow，Lucy-Ishouldwanttotakeyoubythethroatandholdyoutighterandtighter，untilyourbreathcamefast，andyoureyescameoutfromtheirshadows。“

Sheturnedoverafewpagesofhernotebook。Toallappearanceshehadnotheardaword。

“To-day，“sheannounced，“isthefourthofApril。ShallIsendoutthevariouscheckstothosemeninParis，NewYork，Frankfort，St。

Petersburg，andTokio？“

“Youcansendthechecks，“hetoldher。“Besurethatyoudrawthem，asusual，upontheCreditLyonaiseandinthenameyouknowof。SaytoLebonaitreofParisthatyouconsiderhislastreportsfaulty。NomentionwasmadeofMonsieurC’svisittotheRussianEmbassy，orofthesupperpartygiventotheBaronvonErlsteinbyacertainRussiangentleman。Warnhim，ifyouplease，thatreportswithsuchomissionsareuselesstome。“

Shewroteafewwordsinherbook。

“Youmadeanoteofthat？“

Sheraisedherhead。

“Idonotmakemistakes，“shesaid。

Hiseyebrowsweredrawntogether。Thiswashiswork，hetoldhimself，thismagnificentphysicalsubjection。Yethisinabilitytostirhersometimesmaddenedhim。

“Youknowwhoisinthishouse？“heasked。“Youknowthenameofmyunknownguest？“

“Iknownothing，“shereplied。“Hispresencedoesnotinterestme。“

“SupposingIdesireyoutoknow？“hepersisted，leaningalittleforward。“SupposingItellyouthatitisyourdutytoknow？“

“Then，“shesaid，“IshouldtellyouthatIbelievehimtobethespecialenvoyfromNewYorktoTheHague，orwhateverplaceontheContinentthiscomingconferenceistobeheldat。“

“Right，woman！“Mr。Fentolinansweredsharply。“Right！Itisthespecialenvoy。Hehashismandatewithhim。Ihavethemboth-themanandhismandate。CanyouguesswhatIamgoingtodowiththem？“

“Itisnotdifficult，“shereplied。“Yourmethodsarescarcelyoriginal。Hismandatetotheflames，andhisbodytothesea！“

SheraisedhereyesasshespokeandlookedoverMr。Fentolin’sshoulder，acrossthemarshlandtothegreystretchofocean。Hereyesbecamefixed。Itwasnotpossibletosaythattheyheldanyexpression，andyetonefeltthatshesawbeneaththegreywaves，eventotherocksandcavernsbelow。

“Itdoesnotterrifyyou，then，“heaskedcuriously，“tothinkthatamanunderthisroofisabouttodie？“

“Whyshouldit？“sheretorted。“Deathdoesnotfrightenme-myownoranybodyelse’s。Doesitfrightenyou？“