第12章

“Iwentintoexile，“Mr。Sabinanswered，“andIfoundparadise。ThethreeyearswhichhavepassedsinceIsawyoulasthavebeenthehappiestofmylife。“

“Lucille！“Heleneexclaimed。

“Ismywife，“Mr。Sabinanswered。

“Delightful！“Helenemurmured。“Sheiswithyouthen，Ihope。

Indeed，IfeltsurethatIsawhertheothernightattheopera。“

“Attheopera！“Mr。Sabinforamomentwassilent。Hewouldhavebeenashamedtoconfessthathisheartwasbeatingstrongly，thatacrowdofeagerquestionstrembleduponhislips。Herecoveredhimselfafteramoment。

“Lucilleisnotwithmeforthemoment，“hesaidinmeasuredtones。

“Iamdetainingyoufromyourguests，Helene。IfyouwillpermitmeIwillcalluponyou。“

“Won’tyoujoinus？“LordCamperdownaskedcourteously。“Weareonlyasmallparty-thePortugueseAmbassadorandhiswife，theDukeofMedchester，andStanleyPhillipson。“

Mr。Sabinroseatonce。

“Ishallbedelighted，“hesaid。

LordCamperdownhesitatedforamoment。

“IpresentMonsieurleDuedeSouspennier，Ipresume？“heremarked，smiling。

Mr。Sabinbowed。

“IamMr。Sabin，“hesaid，“atthehotelsandplaceswhereonetravels。TomyfriendsIhavenolongeranincognito。Itisnotnecessary。“

Itwasabrilliantlittlesupperparty，andMr。Sabincontributedatleasthissharetothegeneralentertainment。Beforetheydispersedhehadtobringouthistabletstomakenotesofhisengagements。Hestoodonthetopofthestepsabovethepalm-courttowishthemgood-bye，leaningonhisstick。Heleneturnedbackandwavedherhand。

“Heisunchanged，“shemurmured，“yetIfearthattheremustbetrouble。“

“Why？Heseemedcheerfulenough，“herhusbandremarked。

Shedroppedhervoicealittle。

“LucilleisinLondon。SheisstayingatDorsetHouse。“

Mr。Sabinwasdeepinthought。Hesatinaneasy-chairwithhisbacktothewindow，hishandscrosseduponhisstick，hiseyesfixeduponthefire。Dusonwasmovingnoiselesslyabouttheroom，cuttingthemorning’ssupplyofnewspapersandsettingthemoutuponthetable。Hismasterwasinamoodwhichhehadbeentaughttorespect。ItwasMr。SabinWhobrokethesilence。

“Duson！“

“YourGrace！“

“Ihavealways，asyouknow，ignoredyoursomewhatanomalouspositionastheservantofonemanandtheslaveofasociety。

ThequestionswhichIamabouttoaskyouyoucananswerornot，accordingtoyourownapprehensionsofwhatisduetoeach。“

“IthankyourGrace！“

“MydeparturefromAmericaseemedtoincitethemostviolentoppositiononthepartofyourfriends。Asyouknow，itwaswithacertainamountofdifficultythatIreachedthiscountry。Now，however，Iamleftaltogetheralone。Ihavenotreceivedasinglewarningletter。Mycomingsandgoings，althoughpurposelydevoidofthe~lightestsecrecy，areabsolutelyundisturbed。YetIhavesomereasontobelievethatyourmistressisinLondon。“

“YourGracewillpardonme，“Dusonsaid，“butthereisoutsideagentlemanwaitingtoseeyoutowhomyoumightaddressthesamequestionswithbetterresults，forcomparedwithhimIknownothing。

ItisMonsieurFelix。“

“Whyhaveyoukepthimwaiting？“Mr。Sabinasked。

“YourGracewasmuchabsorbed，“Dusonanswered。

Felixwassmokingacigarette，andMr。Sabingreetedhimwithacertaingrimcordiality。

“Isthispermitted-thisvisit？“heasked，himselfselectingacigaretteandmotioninghisguesttoachair。

“Itisevenencouraged，“Felixanswered。

“Youhaveperhapssomemessage？“

“None。“

“Iamgladtoseeyou，“Mr。Sabinsaid。“JustnowIamalittlepuzzled。Iwillputthemattertoyou。Youshallanswerornot，atyourowndiscretion。“

“Iamready，“Felixdeclared。

“YouknowthedifficultywithwhichIescapedfromAmerica，“Mr。

Sabincontinued。“Everymeanswhichingenuitycouldsuggestseemedbroughttobearagainstme。Andeverymovementwasdirected，ifnotfromhere，fromsomeplaceinEurope。Well，Iarrivedherefourdaysago。Ilivequiteopenly，Ihaveevenabjuredtosomeextentmyincognito。YetIhavenotreceivedevenawarningletter。Iamleftabsolutelyundisturbed。“

Felixlookedathimthoughtfully。

“Andwhatdoyoudeducefromthis？“heasked。

“Idonotlikeit，“Mr。Sabinanswereddrily。

“Afterall，“Felixremarked，“itistosomeextentnatural。Theveryopennessofyourlifeheremakesinterferencewithyoumoredifficult，andastowarningletters-well，youhaveprovedtheuselessnessofthem。“

“Perhaps，“Mr。Sabinanswered。“Atthesametime，ifIwereasuperstitiouspersonIshouldconsiderthisinactionominous。“

“Youmusttakeaccountalso，“Felixsaid，“ofthedifferenceinthecountries。InEnglandthepolicesystem，ifnotthemostinfallibleintheworld，iscertainlythemostincorruptible。Therewasneveracountryinwhichsecurityofpersonandlifewassokeenlywatchedoverashere。InAmerica，uptoacertainpoint，amanisexpectedtolookafterhimself。Thesamefeelingdoesnotprevailhere。“

Mr。Sabinassented。

“Andtherefore，“heremarked，“forthepurposesofyourfriendsI

shouldconsiderthisadifficultandunpromisingcountryinwhichtowork。“

“Othercountries，othermethods！“Felixremarkedlaconically。

“Exactly！ItisthenewmethodswhichIamanxioustodiscover，“

Mr。Sabinsaid。“Noglimmeringofthemasyethasbeenvouchsafedtome。YetIbelievethatIamrightinassumingthatforthemomentLondonistheheadquartersofyourfriends，andthatLucilleishere？“

“Ifthatismeantforaquestion，“Felixsaid，“Imaynotanswerit。“

Mr。Sabinnodded。

“Yet，“hesuggested，“yourvisithasanobject。Todiscovermyplansperhaps！Youarewelcometothem。“

Felixthoughtfullyknockedtheashesoffhiscigarette。

“Myvisithadanobject，“headmitted，“butitwasapersonalone。

Iamnotactuallyconcernedinthedoingsofthosewhomyouhavecalledmyfriends。“

“Wearealone，“Mr。Sabinremindedhim。“Mytimeisyours。“

“YouandI，“Felixsaid，“havehadourperiodsofbitterenmity。

WithyourmarriagetoLucillethese，sofarasIamconcerned，endedforever。IwillevenadmitthatinmyyoungerdaysIwasprejudicedagainstyou。Thathaspassedaway。Youhavebeenallyourdaysaboldandunscrupulousschemer，butendshaveatanyratebeenworthyones。To-dayIamabletoregardyouwithfeelingsoffriendliness。Youarethehusbandofmydearsister，andforyearsIknowthatyoumadeherveryhappy。Iaskyou，willyoubelieveinthisstatementofmyattitudetowardsyou？“

“Idonotforasinglemomentdoubtit，“Mr。Sabinanswered。

“YouwillregardtheadvicewhichIamgoingtoasdisinterested？“

“Certainly！“

“ThenIofferittoyouearnestly，andwithmywholeheart。TakethenextsteamerandgobacktoAmerica。“

“AndleaveLucille？Gowithoutmakinganyefforttoseeher？“

“Yes。“