Читать книгу The Kidnapping of Madame Storey and Other Stories (Madame Storey) - Footner Hulbert - Страница 5

A few minutes later Mme. Storey and I, having changed our dresses, were seated on the terrace behind the Casino. It was in the middle of the afternoon. After the fogs and frost of Northern France, the hot and brilliant sunshine was like Paradise. Below us the calm sea was bluer than ultramarine. The fantastic architecture of the Casino; the gay clothes of the women; the profusion of flowers; the band playing a Strauss waltz; everything contributed to the holiday spirit. We dissolved in satisfaction.

"Let's do something foolish," said Mme. Storey.

Presently a young man came strolling by. One of the handsomest young men I have ever seen. He looked like a Spaniard or a South American; smooth, olive face; glowing dark eyes; slim and graceful as Mercury. He looked at Mme. Storey out of the corners of his eyes, walked on a little way, and came back again.

"Here's one of them," she murmured.

"Surely not!" I protested. "That boy looks like one of the young angels painted by the Italian masters."

"Quite!" she said dryly. "But you never can tell about young men. They don't begin to show their real characters until they pass thirty."

When he passed the second time he looked directly at Mme. Storey with his velvety, compelling eyes. She smiled frankly, and he stopped.

"Charming afternoon," he said, raising his hat. His English was as good as my own.

"Charming!" said Mme. Storey. She glanced at the vacant seat beside her, and he dropped into it. He looked about twenty-four, but may have been older. Dressed with the plainness that the most fashionable young men affect, everything about him was just right.

"You have just come," he said.

"How did you guess it?"

His eyes were fixed on hers. "The terrace has a brightness it never had before," he said seriously.

She laughed delightedly. "Well! You're what we call a fast worker in America!"

He did not smile, he wasn't looking at me, but I could feel the almost hypnotic effect of his eyes. "I mean it," he said. "I have never seen anybody like you."

"Compliments are so nice," murmured Mme. Storey, trying not to laugh; "You see, they've gone out of fashion in my country."

He glanced at me significantly and then back at her as much as to say that if she would get rid of me he would really tell her something. But Mme. Storey made believe not to get it.

"A woman like you is wasted in a country of business men," he said.

"Well, one can always get on a ship," she said. "Here I am!"

"I had a feeling when I got up this morning that something wonderful was going to happen to-day," he murmured thrillingly.

Mme. Storey could no longer hold in her laughter. It rang out delightedly. The young man turned angry and sore. When she was able to speak she said—still rippling with laughter:

"I'm so sorry! I like you, really. You're so easy to look at. But I can't play up to you. Surely it must be a strain on you too, to be so romantic. Be yourself and let's enjoy the lovely weather."

There was a struggle visible in his handsome face. He scowled, and rubbed his upper lip. Then suddenly he joined in her laughter. It changed the whole character of his face. Made him look like one of our nice American boys. He had beautiful white teeth. I began to like him.

"You're right," he said, "it is a strain. But..." He finished with an expressive shrug.

Mme. Storey finished his sentence for him. "You mean it's your job to be romantic. I know. And I ought to tell you that I am a very poor prospect. You'd better toddle along and look for some older lady who is starving for romance."

His head went down, and a spasm of shame crossed his face. "You see too much," he murmured. "You despise me."

She shook her head. "I never despise anybody."

He raised his head. He was humbler now. "I'd like to take a holiday from my job," he murmured. "If you would let me stay with you."

"Why not?" she said. "I'm sure you're the handsomest young man in Monte Carlo. What shall we do?"

"Do you like dancing?" he asked eagerly.

"I adore it!"

"There's a gala at the Sporting Club this afternoon."

"Let's go.... But we must introduce ourselves. I am Mrs. Renfrew and this is Miss Renfrew my sister-in-law."

"I am Raoul d'Aymara," he said as simply as if he had been a Marquis. Perhaps he was. Spanish Marquises have fallen on evil days just now.

"We must have another man," he went on. "There are several fellows I know along the terrace.... There's Nickol Copenhaver the Dane. Dumb, but he can dance." Raoul signalled to an elegant young fellow who was loafing by the balustrade of the terrace, and the latter started towards us.

Raoul said hurriedly, half ashamed, "You understand, I shall have to play romantic when Nickol is in hearing. He wouldn't understand anything else."

The new young man came up and was introduced. He fell to my share. Tall and blonde, he seemed to be slightly in the gauze the whole time. I kept wondering if he had a real man's feelings inside his handsome shell.

It began to grow chilly on the terrace, and we adjourned to the Sporting Club. As the old Casino begins to grow out of date, the management has provided this gorgeous new palace of amusement to keep up the tone of Monte Carlo. There is nothing like it in our country. The ceiling of the restaurant must be forty feet high. One has a grand feeling of spaciousness. And what a floor! what music! what food!

The dumb Nickol danced like another Maurice. It was heavenly, but all the time I wondered if I was in the arms of a blackmailer and a robber. Well, danger added a spice to my pleasure. I envied the other couple a little. Raoul could not only dance, he could talk. He seemed to be filled with a kind of desperate gaiety.

When the four of us were together at the table it was funny to see him start making love to Mme. Storey with a perfectly serious face. I suppose the boys spied on each other. However, as there were two orchestras, there was not much pause between dances.

Once or twice Raoul asked me to dance just for appearance' sake. When he was out of Nickol's hearing the poor lad seemed to be more frank and open. I liked him better and better. He said with a laugh:

"You know, I wouldn't be let in here alone."

"Why not?" I asked.

He spun me around. "Because of my fatal beauty.... You see the management employs dancing men of their own. There's one of them ... there's another on your left. Nice lads but a bit passé. Beginning to be a little bald on the crown, and thick through the middle. Anything as fresh and willowy as me shows up the old boys at a disadvantage."

In all his fun there was a bitter, reckless note that made me want to mother him.

Most of the time he talked about Mme. Storey. "Isn't she wonderful? I wouldn't have believed it possible that a woman of brains could be so ... so ... well, you know what I mean; so lovable!"

"Then you know who she is," I said.

"Of course I know. Rosika Storey. Such a thing can't be hidden. I would be willing to bet that everybody here knows who she is. I can hear them murmuring when we dance around together."

We danced for awhile. Raoul's style was bolder and faster than Nickol's. He guided me as smoothly and surely through the crowding couples as a bird goes through the branches of a tree. Presently he said with the laugh that didn't hide the feeling in his voice:

"Meeting a woman like that has pulled me right up by the roots. I'll never be the same man again. What is it you say in America? I'm a gone coon!"

When the dance was over we strolled out into the beautifully lighted gardens. I saw that Mme. Storey and Raoul had some sort of an understanding. They dropped Nickol politely at the foot of the hotel steps, but Raoul came up to our suite with us. There was a sharp mean look in the face of the young Dane as he turned away that I didn't like. Raoul didn't seem to care.

Up in our salon all Raoul's pumped-up gaiety dropped away. His smooth young face looked drawn and haggard. He refused to sit down. "I can't stay," he muttered. "This place is about as healthy for me as Fascist headquarters to a Communist." He moved around the room in a halting way, his head down, stroking the backs of the chairs.

"You said you had something to say to me," said Mme. Storey gravely.

"Yes. I'd better say it and go...." It wasn't so easy for him to get it out. He made a couple of false starts. "Something has happened to me this afternoon. I ... I ... Oh well, never mind me. I don't mean anything in your life."

"If you're up against it you do," she said quickly. "If you're sick of your crooked job here."

He laughed. "Sick of my job! Oh, God! Believe me, I've been sick of my job for a long time. But I kidded myself. Now I can't kid myself any longer.... No!" he cried out sharply. "Leave me out of it! This is what I want to say. You must get out of Monte Carlo. At once. By the first train!"

"But why?" asked Mme. Storey.

"I can't tell you that. I can only say that you're in danger. Horrible danger! You can't fight this thing. It's too well covered. They'll get you if you stay here!"

It was obvious that he thought Mme. Storey had accepted the job of breaking the ring of blackmailers. She didn't undeceive him.

She said, "If I were to leave now it would be suspected that you had warned me."

He laughed a bitter note. "I expect they know it already."

"What will you do?" she said. "You can't go on with your present life."

"Never mind that. Only do what I say. You see that I'm in earnest. It's true I'm taking a risk in warning you. But let that go. It's the first decent act of my life. Let me feel that I've done some good. Will you do what I say? Will you go?"

"I don't know. I'll have to consider it," said Mme. Storey.

He turned to me in a kind of desperation. "You persuade her," he said. "I can see that you're fond of her. Don't let her soil her hands with this pitch. Go away from here. There are plenty of places where you can amuse yourselves. If she stays here they'll get her!"

I could only spread out my hands helplessly. It was not for me to say anything.

"Raoul," said Mme. Storey frankly, "come in with us. You're in wrong. Join up with us and get a fresh deal. With your aid I could smash these scoundrels!"

He shook his head. "No," he said gloomily, "I couldn't betray my mob. That's the right word, isn't it? I've done pretty nearly everything in my short life, but I've never been a traitor."

"Then get out of Monte Carlo yourself," she said. "And keep on going until you are out of reach of the ring. Go to America if necessary. I'll stake you. Because I think you're worth saving."

He stared at her, and a wonderful light broke in his face. He seemed to be dazed by her offer. "A fresh deal?" he stammered. "Could I? ... Could I?"

Mme. Storey unlocked her writing case. "You'd better get away in a hurry," she said.

He pulled himself together. "Yes! I'll be followed from the moment I leave here. But I think I can shake them off. I'll walk out of town. The railway station will be watched. I'll pick up the bus for Nice somewhere along the road, and take the train from there."

Mme. Storey had taken a packet of bank notes from her case, and was writing a card. "Give this to my agent in Paris," she said, "and let me hear from you through him."

Raoul thrust the notes and the card in his breast pocket. His face was working strangely. "I can't say anything," he muttered.

"Don't try," said Mme. Storey.

He seized her hand, and was about to kiss it, but she drew it away. "You may kiss my lips, handsome boy," she said smiling.

He did so; and immediately ran out of the room.

When he had gone I dropped into a chair. I felt as if all the strength had oozed out of my legs. "What will you do?" I faltered. "When he disappears they will suppose that he has confessed everything to you."

"I reckon they will," said Mme. Storey coolly. She considered for a moment. "I don't know what I will do," she said slowly. "But certainly I'm not going to let anybody run me out of Monte Carlo."

I knew she was going to say it, but a little groan escaped me.

"But you don't have to stay here, Bella," she added with quick kindness. "After all, this is a holiday. There is no need for you to be frightened to death."

"I stay where you are," I said grimly.