Читать книгу A Queen of the Stage - Fred M. White - Страница 8

Table of Contents

The front door stood wide open, and Elsie and Vera could see across the street. To passers-by they were two young and beautiful women chatting together as if they had not a single trouble in the world. The situation spoke for itself. One woman was going to a fancy-dress ball and the other was standing to witness her departure. Some way off down the street, was the sound of horse's hoofs as a cab came along in response to Vera's whistle. She wore a smile on her lips, but the words she spoke convinced Elsie of the danger ahead.

"Don't appear to be too curious," she said, standing with her back to the door. "But if you take a quick glance across the road you will see two figures lingering there. They come and go in various guises, and have been hanging about for the last few days. They are watching the house."

Elsie's sharp glance took in the outline of the two skulking objects in the shadow opposite. At the same moment, neatly disguised as a lady's maid, Gerald Rashleigh came along the hall carrying a bundle of wraps over his arm. In a deferential way he proceeded to envelope Elsie's glittering dress in one of the wraps. She turned to him in a haughty manner, which was entirely assumed for the benefit of the watchers. Then the group went towards the cab.

"I think that's about all," Vera whispered. "Good luck be with you. I will know no peace till you return. Let us hope our little scheme has baffled those people across the road."

"I am not so sure of that," Elsie remarked. "If you look down the street you will see a cab at the corner. Why should a cab be loafing there at this time of night? I fancy it is waiting for these detectives if they happen to want one in a hurry."

Vera said nothing, and the cab started. It was very late, and vehicular traffic had almost ceased. With a foreboding of evil, Elsie looked out of the window, and saw that another cab was following. It was the cab she had seen at the corner of Regent Terrace, for she recognised the grey horse. A sigh escaped her.

"What is it?" Rashleigh asked anxiously. "Anything wrong?"

"It is just what I anticipated," Elsie explained. "That cab is following us. Still, I don't want to imagine disaster. The men may merely be taking precautions. If they had penetrated your disguise they would have arrested you as you left the house."

"That seems logical," Rashleigh responded. "I expect they are following us on the chance of picking up a clue. Still, we must shake them off if possible."

The opportunity came sooner than Elsie and her companion had expected. In Piccadilly they were held up by a block of traffic. A great function was in progress, and the whole street was jambed with horses and carriages, so that the vehicles were brought to a standstill. A badly steered motor caused a pair of high-mettled animals to swerve and prance, so that the carriage-pole came sharply round and caught the wheel of Elsie's cab with a violent impact. A moment later and the cab was lying on its side. The whole thing had happened so quickly that Elsie had not even time to be frightened. Willing hands rescued her and her companion. The cab-man lay in the gutter insensible.

"I am very sorry for the man," Elsie whispered, "but we cannot stay. It would be too dangerous. Look behind you. There is the cab with the grey horse, and the occupants are wondering what has become of us. We could not have a better chance of dodging them. Let us walk on."

"Impossible," Rashleigh cried. "Look at the state of the pavements, and you in white satin shoes and stockings. How will they look by the time you reach the Covent Garden? Unfortunately, there is not another cab to be seen."

Elsie admitted that Rashleigh's objection was sound. As she gazed about her seeking for some conveyance her eyes fell upon a neat little auto-car drawn up by the pavement. A sudden inspiration seized her.

"This is no time to be nice," she whispered eagerly. "Look at that car left unattended. Did you ever learn to drive one of these things? If so——"

"I see," Rashleigh said. "I understand exactly what you mean. I know that kind of car, and have driven one hundreds of times. I am willing to risk it if you are."

"I am prepared to risk anything," Elsie said impatiently. "I am anxious to finish my task and return to your sister. You know how concerned she will be."

A moment later and the two were seated in the car. There was a flash of the lever, a quivering of the car, then it slid away as if it were alive. Not more than a hundred yards or so had been covered before there was a great shout, followed by the blowing of a police whistle. Rashleigh turned swiftly into the comparative obscurity of a side street.

"They have discovered their loss," he said, "and we are being pursued. If we get to Covent Garden all right the rest will matter nothing. The only thing that puzzles me is what to do with the car when we get there. It won't take many minutes to trace us, and no doubt several people in the crowd saw your fancy dress. The police will put two and two together, and come to the conclusion that the thieves are on the premises of Covent Garden Theatre. My dear young lady, it seems that I am going to lead you into serious trouble."

Elsie set her teeth firmly together.

"It can't be helped," she said. "I have given my promise, and I won't go back upon it. So long as you are safe, I don't care what happens. If I am discovered, I suppose I shall be fined, and, besides, it will not be difficult to get rid of the car. When we reach our destination you have only to give a couple of loafers half a crown each to take it to some fictitious address. Mr. Rashleigh, I am really beginning to feel quite like a criminal myself. I hope I shall wake up presently and find it nothing but a dream."

"Heaven grant we both may?" Gerald said fervently. "But here we are at the theatre. But what on earth is the matter? The place is in darkness. There is not a light to be seen anywhere. Has Vera, in the excitement of the moment, mistaken the night?"

She took the card of admission out of her pocket and examined it by the aid of a street lamp. A cry of dismay escaped her lips as she turned to Rashleigh.

"You have guessed it," she said. "Vera has made a mistake. The fancy-dress dance is on the seventeenth, and this is the eleventh. The error is partly excusable because the figures are very badly printed, and the 17 might be read for 11. Your sister has been so worried and harassed that we must excuse her. But what is to be done?"

"Upon my word, I don't know," Rashleigh admitted. "It is a terrible dilemma, and the worst of it is that within an hour my friends will be waiting for me. I can't do anything till the appointed time."

Elsie grasped the arm of her companion eagerly. Her quick eye had noted the presence of two constables, on bicycles, coming from Tavistock-street.

"Start the car again," she cried. "Drive ahead anywhere as fast as you can. I am sure these officers are after us. No doubt the police have been using the telephone freely. It doesn't matter where we go so long as these men lose sight of us."

Rashleigh did not need a second bidding. The car leapt forward at a high rate of speed which would have been dangerous at any other time of the day, and in a few minutes they were racing down Oxford-street. Then they left the Marble Arch behind them, and by a circuitous route reached Grosvenor Crescent. Once again they were in the thick of traffic, for a dance was being held at Lady Starfield's. The great doors of the mansion were thrown back so that one could see into the brilliantly-lighted hall and mark the guests as they flitted up and down the marble staircase. A chance remark made by some bystander attracted Elsie's attention. Her eyes were gleaming and her mouth was set in a firm line of determination. At a sign from her Rashleigh stopped the car.

"What have you got in your mind?" he asked.

"Here's the chance to escape," Elsie said. "These people are giving a fancy-dress ball. I haven't the remotest notion who they are, but that does not matter. Let us leave the car in one of side streets, and then I will explain."

Rashleigh obeyed without further question. The car had been turned into a yard and the fugitives were just leaving it when a policeman strolled up. He had a scrap of paper in his hand which he began to compare with the number on the motor. Rashleigh realised the danger in a flash. His right hand shot out and landed full on the side of the policeman's head. The man went down like a log and lay half-insensible upon the pavement.

"That was a close call," Rashleigh whispered. "No, I don't think the man is much hurt. We must get away. If only you hadn't that conspicuous dress on."

"The conspicuous dress is going to save us," Elsie said coolly. "You want to know what I am going to do, and I will tell you. I am going as a guest to the fancy-dress dance at the big house round the corner and you are coming as my maid. There is a risk, but positively I am looking forward to the adventure. It will give us an hour or two to turn round and make our plans complete. I dare say you will be asked into the servants' hall, where I can send for you when I need you. I will call you Mapp. It is an ugly name, and one is not likely to forget it. Now, please, come along before my courage oozes at my finger-tips. I dare not wait any longer."

Coolly, as if she had been brought up to this kind of thing all her life, Elsie walked into the house and handed her wraps to Rashleigh. Then she turned to one of the liveried servants and bade him take her maid to the servants' quarters. She did not wait to give her name, but ran lightly up the steps to the suite of rooms which had been given over for the dance. Fortunately the hostess was busy with a batch of new arrivals, and did not appear to notice Elsie at all. Elsie consoled herself with the reflection that possibly the large lady in the magnificent diamonds did not know half her guests by sight.

The girl stood in that glittering throng, trying to still the beating of her heart, and praying for an assumption of self-possession. For a moment she lost herself in the beauty of the scene, the like of which she had never looked upon before. A tall figure in the dress of a courtier of the time of Charles II. came smilingly up to her and held out his hand.

"How do you do, Miss Vane?" he said. "Really, this is a most unexpected pleasure. When did you come?"