Читать книгу The Lady in Blue - Fred M. White - Страница 4

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The passioned intensity in Audrey's voice touched Denver and appealed to his kindly nature. Cynical and worldly as he was, he had every sympathy with those in distress, and that Audrey Blair was in sore need of a friend he did not doubt. Something very much out of the common had happened which he would know all about in good time, but this was no place for the interchange of confidences. He smiled down into the anxious, white face.

"You must tell me all about it," he said. "I can do nothing to help you unless I have some sort of idea as to the source of the trouble. And you will have to be very candid with me. I've got a pretty shrewd idea of the cause of the dilemma—a trouble which, obviously, Hermann shares with you. I suppose you are not engaged to him by any chance?"

There was a ghost of a smile in her blue eyes.

"How ridiculous!" Audrey murmured. "Just as if anybody could be engaged to a silly boy like that! We are very good friends, of course, but nothing more. It is all my fault, but that does not make me feel any the less helpless. Oh! I must get that gem back at any cost. It was stolen from my dressing-table in the most unblushing fashion, and I—I dared not protest. I was compelled to stand there and watch it done. You heard what Madame Trevenner said, you heard the audacious way in which she declared that the tiara had been given her by the Grand Duke. And she thought that she was quite safe, because she believed that his Highness was thousands of miles away. Did you notice how frightened she was when you told her the contrary? I believe you know a great deal more about this matter than you pretend, and that's why I'm asking you to help me. And there is not a moment to be lost."

"You mean that we must begin now?" Denver asked.

"I do. Before I sleep to-night, if it is possible for any one so distracted to sleep——"

"Very well, then, I will get rid of the others and you had better come round with me to my flat. Oh, I see you don't like the idea, but what else is there to be done? It might be better perhaps for me to come round to your house?"

Audrey hesitated, and a dash of colour crept into the cheeks. It was not till after Denver had spoken that he remembered the mystery that surrounded Audrey Blair's residence. No one knew where she lived or whence she came, or, indeed, anything at all about her, except the fact that she was a beautiful and brilliant actress. Denver was a little inclined to blame himself for his want of tact.

"I don't want to force your confidence," he said; "but I cannot help you unless you assist me. Believe me, I am not in the least curious, but I am anxious to be of use. You must either come with me or I must go with you. Now, which is it to be?"

"I know, I know!" Audrey whispered. "If you dreamt how I was situated you would be sorry indeed for me. I know that people wonder who I am and whence I come; I know they regard the secret of my house as a pose; but, believe me, it is nothing of the kind. Therefore, I must come to you. I will be round at your rooms in half an hour, and I shall bring with me the lady who looks after me and who has been my constant companion for years, so, if you don't mind, I should like Mr. Kelso to be present. It may be only fancy on my part but I am sure he would be a good friend. Now, will you please find my car for me?"

Blanche Trevenner had gone off a moment or two before, and Reggie Hermann was nowhere to be seen. Kelso was standing on the pavement waiting for the others. A small, dark car pulled up by the side of the kerb, and Audrey jumped in. Kelso caught a glimpse of a faded-looking figure inside the car and the outline of a white, wax-like face fringed with grey hair. Without another word being said the car sped away, and Denver placed his hand in Kelso's arm. He looked just a little bewildered.

"Is this a comedy or a tragedy?" he asked.

"That is precisely what we have to find out," Denver replied. "At any rate, that dear little girl is in bitter trouble, and she has paid me the compliment of asking me for my advice. Moreover, she has taken rather a fancy to you, and suggested that you should be present and hear the story. She is coming round to my flat presently with her companion. Very wisely, I think, young Hermann has been left out. So come along, and over a whisky and soda and a cigarette, I will tell you all I know."

They were seated presently in Denver's luxurious smoking-room, and there the latter proceeded to outline the strange story, as far as he knew.

"It is quite a romance," he said. "Upon my word, it has the making of a remarkably good play. To begin with, we have a beautiful and talented young actress who is very near the top of the tree in her particular line. She is unmistakably a lady, and, assuredly, well connected. Yet three years ago she was singing in an East End music-hall. Her photographs are everywhere, and, despite the fact that her name is a household word, nobody has the smallest idea who she is or even where she lives. She comes down to the theatre every night in a modest-looking car, attended by a faded lady, who invariably wears white satin, and who always waits for her outside the theatre, till the performance is over. I suppose you have read Dickens' 'Great Expectations,' haven't you?"

"Half a dozen times," Kelso said. "But what's the connection between that book and Miss Blair's companion?"

"Well, I've caught sight of her once or twice, and she always reminds me of Miss Haversham. We shall know more about her presently, because she is coming round here with Audrey Blair."

"Really!" Kelso exclaimed. "And I take it that the trouble admits of no delay. You are a much cleverer chap than I am, Denver, and I have no doubt that you have a pretty fair idea as to the source of the mischief. As I have the privilege of being taken into the confidence of Miss Blair, perhaps you wouldn't mind giving me a few hints as to how matters stand."

"Well, it's more or less guesswork, of course," Denver went on. "But in some way or another our fascinating little friend found herself in possession of that tiara. Mind you, it is no ordinary ornament. It actually forms part of an imperial regalia, and, I have not the smallest doubt that the Grand Duke stole it, though, of course, there has never been any open scandal."

"The Grand Duke is a shady character, then?"

"My dear fellow, he is one of the biggest black-guards in Europe. To put it bluntly and tersely, he is a born wrong 'un. He has no respect for his word; he would as soon betray a friend as an enemy, and no one who ever came in contact with him has a good word to say on his behalf. He dare not show his face in the land of his birth, where he is execrated equally by peer and peasant. I have heard the most disgraceful stories about him."

"I am sorry to hear all this," Kelso said uneasily. "I don't like the idea of an innocent and beautiful girl like Miss Blair being in any way mixed up with a yahoo such as your Grand Duke seems to be. Surely, she can know nothing of his real character?"

"I am not so sure that there is anything between them," Denver smiled. "You find it hard to believe that, don't you? You want to know how it is possible for a young and popular actress to be seen in public wearing imperial diadems without being on the best of terms with the owner. In the face of that you would be astonished to hear that Miss Blair does not even know the Grand Duke by sight, and yet I am quite prepared to believe it. In fact, my theory goes all to pieces if it is not so. And, moreover, Blanche Trevenner knew this perfectly well, or she could never have played her part so boldly or so successfully. Now, I want you to bear in mind the fact that a few years ago the Grand Duke was very much enamoured of Blanche Trevenner. They were seen together everywhere, and he made no secret of the fact that he was going to marry her. But this was just a little more than the imperial court could stand, and the power behind the throne put pressure upon his Highness. They let him know pretty plainly that if he carried out his intention they would sequester his estates and leave him without any money at all. Of course, this was a weapon that the Grand Duke had to respect, and, in the end, he and the lady parted, with a great deal of anger on her side, for, being a woman, she could not quite understand the situation, and she was under the impression that Oro was merely trying to repudiate his bargain."

"All this is very interesting," Kelso murmured. "But it does not explain how the tiara came into the possession of Miss Blair, or why it was stolen from her in such a barefaced fashion. It was stolen by a woman who was fully aware of the fact that she could walk off with it with a comfortable conviction that not a word would be said. And, yet, at the same time, Miss Blair could stand on the stage, before hundreds of eyes, and wear that tiara in her hair. Upon my word, the more I think it over the more mysterious it becomes. Then I'll ask you another question. Where does that poor, feeble creature, Hermann, come in? Why should he be so fearfully depressed and downcast over the matter? Is he engaged to Miss Blair?"

"Not a bit of it. But everything will be made plain presently. I won't spoil your appreciation of the story by saying too much now. I can hear the lift coming up, and I should not be surprised if it contains the ladies we are waiting for."

A moment later Audrey Blair entered, followed by her companion. As a rule, the fascinating little actress filled the eye to the exclusion of other things, but for the moment the attention of the two men was riveted upon the woman who followed her. She was tall and straight with a rigidity that suggested a casing of whalebone. She was slim and spare to the point of emaciation. She was clad in some thick and glossy satin garment, faded by age and years to a dingy yellow hue, and her face was so still and motionless as to suggest that it was covered with an ivory mask. It was a face still as death under a ragged fringe of grey hair, and, from the dead ghastliness of the features, there shone a pair of black eyes that scintillated and flushed with sudden fires. She bowed without a word, and she was introduced to the two men, introduced simply as 'my companion' and nothing more. She allowed herself to so far bend as to take a chair, where she sat erect and frigid, on the very edge, much as if she had been a broken stick. From the moment she entered till the interview was over, not one word escaped her, nor did she appear to take the faintest interest in the conversation; indeed she might have been no more than an artist's lay figure, save for the liquid fire in the dark eyes, blazing from behind the ivory mask. She held Kelso in a fascinated grip, to such an extent that he had to avert his glance from her before he could bring himself to take an intelligent interest in the conversation.

"Oh, I quite see that there is no time to be lost," Denver was saying. "But you will have to be quite candid with me. Now, why should you be afraid of Blanche Trevenner? You see, I am putting you quite pertinent questions. Has she got some power over you which enables her to walk off with a valuable tiara like that, fully under the impression that you dare not protest? Mind you, I believe every word that you say. Now, do you regard the missing ornament as your own property?"

"Oh, good heavens, no!" Audrey exclaimed. "Why, I haven't the remotest notion—at least, I hadn't till to-night——"

She broke off with some confusion, and the hot blood flowed into her face. It seemed to Kelso, who was watching the scene intensely, that the girl's anxious face was turned upon the woman opposite, as if in fear. But the frozen figure sat there on the edge of her chair, like a body bereft of its soul.

"Go on," Denver said encouragingly. "Please don't be afraid of me. Now, let me help you a bit. Am I right in assuming that you don't know the Grand Duke even by sight, and that you had not the remotest notion that you were wearing his property when you appeared on the stage with the tiara in your hair last night?"

"That is true enough," Audrey stammered, "though I am sure no one else would believe it. I could not understand what it meant last night when the Grand Duke's card was brought round to me with a request that I would see him. I was too dreadfully upset over the loss of the gems to think of anything else. Therefore I told the messenger that there was no reply. Three minutes later I left the theatre myself. What has happened since that moment you know as well as I do. Oh, can nothing be done to get those stones back?"

"I am not discouraged," Denver said. "But, now, will you kindly tell me where you got the jewels from?"

Again the warm colour flooded Audrey's cheeks.

"It was all stupid vanity," she murmured. "It was the first night of our new piece, and I thought how nice it would be. .. So I asked Reggie Hermann to lend me some diamonds. He borrowed them from his father's strong room, and he was to have had them back to-day. I didn't know who they belonged to, and, well, I didn't care. But now they're gone, and that silly boy who trusted me will be ruined. What am I to do? Oh! what am I to do?"

Her head fell forward and she burst into tears.