The Great Secret
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E. Phillips Oppenheim >> The Great Secret
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"Mr. Courage," she said, "I think it only right that I should let you
know that Mr. de Valentin strongly objects to your presence at our
meeting to-night."
"I am very sorry to hear it," I answered. "May I ask upon what grounds?"
"He seems to imagine," she declared, "that you are not trustworthy."
Mr. de Valentin hastily intervened.
"My dear Mrs. Van Reinberg!" he exclaimed.
"I hope you will believe, Mr. Courage," he continued, turning towards me,
"that nothing was further from my thoughts. I simply say that as you are
not interested in the matter which we are going to discuss, your presence
is quite unnecessary, and might become a source of mutual embarrassment."
"On the contrary," I assured him, "I am very much interested. Perhaps Mr.
de Valentin does not know," I added, turning towards Mrs. Van Reinberg,
"that your stepdaughter has done me the honor of promising to be my
wife."
There was a moment's breathless pause. I saw Mrs. Van Reinberg falter,
and I saw something which I did not understand flash across Mr. de
Valentin's face.
"Even in that case," he said in a very low tone, "Miss Van Hoyt will
herself be present. It is not necessary that you should accompany her."
"I regret to say that I think differently," I answered. "Unless Mrs. Van
Reinberg withdraws her invitation, I shall certainly be present."
"That," Mrs. Van Reinberg declared, "I shall not do. Mr. Courage must do
as he thinks best."
Mr. de Valentin bowed slightly, and turned away. His lips were parted in
a very unpleasant and most peculiar smile.
"I am very sorry," I said to Mrs. Van Reinberg, "to be the cause of any
uneasiness."
"The Prince," she answered, departing for the first time from the use of
his incognito, "is very nervous. He is used to advisers and friends, and,
for almost the first time in his life, he is entirely alone. I sometimes
wonder whether he has really sufficient nerve to take up a great part in
life."
"Circumstances," I remarked, "often create the man!"
"I hope," she said a little grimly, "that they will make a man of Mr. de
Valentin."
She took a cigarette from the little gold case which hung from her
chatelaine, and lit it.
"I will tell you, Mr. Courage," she said, "why I am rather anxious for
you to be present at the meeting to-night. You are altogether
disinterested, and you should be able to form a sane opinion of Mr. de
Valentin's proposals. I should like to hear how they appeal to you."
I bowed.
"I will tell you exactly what I think," I answered.
She dismissed me with a little nod.
I went in search of Adele, but could find no trace of her in any of the
rooms. At last, in one of the corridors, I heard Nagaski barking, and
found him sitting outside the closed door of a small reading-room.
Directly I moved towards him, however, he flew at me, and seized my
trousers between his teeth. His eyes were fierce with anger, his whole
skin seemed to be quivering with excitement. At the sound of his angry
growls, the door was opened, and Adele appeared.
"Nagaski, you naughty dog!" she exclaimed.
Nagaski let go of my trousers, but continued to growl. Adele stooped to
pick him up, and he immediately attempted to lick her face. I saw then,
to my surprise, that she was very pale, and had all the appearance of
having received a shock.
"What has happened?" I asked.
She motioned me to enter the room, and closed the door behind us.
"I have just received a cable from Europe," she said in a low tone. "It
concerns you!"
I looked at her keenly.
"Well?"
"Something has been found out. A friend of Mr. Stanley's left Havre
yesterday for New York. You will not be safe for a moment after he
arrives. And in the meantime, I have a message for Mr. de Valentin. I
wonder," she added, with a faint smile, "what chance you would have of
being at the meeting to-night, if I should deliver it now?"
"Then please don't deliver it," I begged. "I am really getting curious
about this affair. You can hold it back for an hour or so, can't you?"
"Yes!" she answered quietly, "I can do that."
She was a changed being during the last hour. Her eyes were full of fear,
she seemed to have lost alike her brilliancy and her splendid courage.
She did not resist me when I took her into my arms, but her very
passiveness was ominous.
"Come," I said cheerfully, "this really isn't so serious as it seems. I
shall be away from here before Mr. Stanley's friend arrives, I may even
be out of the country. Why shouldn't you come with me, Adele?"
She disengaged herself gently from my arms.
"You are a very thoughtless person," she said quietly. "Not only would it
be impossible for me to do that, but there must not be a word about our
engagement. Remember that I have given false information about you. It is
not the risk for myself that I mind so much, but--there are other things!
To-morrow you or I must leave here!"
"It shall be I, of course," I answered. "I was going anyhow. Don't lose
heart, Adele. If we are to be separated, it shall not be for long!"
She shook her head, but she smiled at me, although it was a little sadly.
"We may not have the power to decide that for ourselves," she answered.
"Listen!"
The great clock in the tower over the stables was striking eleven. We
listened until it had finished.
"Now kiss me, dear," she said, leaning towards me.
I stooped down, and her arms were suddenly around me like a vise. She
clung to me with her whole body, and held me so that I could scarcely
breathe.
"I will not let you go," she cried. "It is death for you if you learn
their plans. Fate has given you to me, and no one shall take you away.
Oh! stay with me, Jim--my sweetheart--my dear! dear! dear!"
Her lips were upon mine before I could speak. She was drawing me away
from the door. Her eyes, her arms, her whole body seemed to be pleading
with me. Then suddenly there came a low knocking at the door. I stood
away--no longer a prisoner. It was a wonderful intervention this! How
else could I have escaped?
The door opened slowly. It was the French maid who stood there. She
looked around the room and beckoned to the dog.
"I beg mademoiselle's pardon," she said. "I came for Nagaski. I heard him
whine, and I thought that he was alone."
She stood there motionless, her pale, expressionless face turned towards
us, her full black eyes turned hurriedly away. I think that she knew what
she had done. Adele sank down upon the sofa, and Nagaski, with a low
growl at me, sprang into her lap. I left the room ungracefully enough,
with only a muttered word of farewell. As I passed along the corridor, I
heard Nagaski's bark of joy!
CHAPTER XXVI
FOR VALUE RECEIVED
There were exactly twelve people present when I entered the room and took
my place at the long table--six men and six women, Mr. de Valentin sat at
the extreme end, and as I entered his face grew dark with sudden anger.
He glanced quickly at Mrs. Van Reinberg, who, however, was whispering to
her husband, and declined to look. Then he half rose to his feet and
addressed me.
"Mr. Courage," he said, "this is a little private gathering between these
friends of mine and myself, to discuss a private matter in which we are
all much interested. Under these circumstances, I trust that you will not
think it discourteous if I ask you to withdraw. Your presence might very
possibly tend to check free discussion, and, I might add, would be a
source of embarrassment to myself."
I glanced towards Mrs. Van Reinberg.
"I am here," I said, "by the invitation of our hostess. If Mrs. Van
Reinberg asks me to withdraw, I should, of course, have no alternative
but to do so. I should like to say, however, that it would give me very
much pleasure to be admitted to your conference, and any advice I might
be able to offer as an impartial person would be entirely at your
service."
Mrs. Van Reinberg whispered for a moment with her husband, who then
leaned over towards me.
"Mr. Courage," he said, "I believe you to be a person of common sense. I
am not sure that I can say the same for the rest of us here. Seems to me
I'd like to have you stop; but there is one thing I think should be
understood. This is a private meeting of friends. Are you prepared, as a
man of honor, to give your word to keep secret whatever passes here?"
I was afraid that some condition of this sort would be imposed, but I was
ready with my answer.
"Most certainly I am, Mr. Van Reinberg," I declared, "with one
reservation, and that is that nothing is proposed which is inimical to my
country. I presume that I may take that for granted?"
"You may," Mr. Van Reinberg answered shortly. "We are not such fools as
to run up against the old country. On the contrary, Mr. de Valentin has
assured us that his scheme has a little more than the moral support of
your government."
Mr. de Valentin intervened with a little gesture of excitement.
"No!" he exclaimed, "I do not. I must not go so far as that. I do not
mention any government by name."
"Quite right," Mr. Van Reinberg assented, "but the fact's there all the
same. I guess you can stay where you are, Mr. Courage!"
Mr. de Valentin shot an evil glance at me, but he leaned back in his
chair with the air of a man who has no more to say. Mr. Van Reinberg, on
the other hand, cleared his throat and stood up.
"Well," he said, "we'll get to business. I've a word or two to say first
to you, Hickson, and my other friends. We've none of us been idlers in
the world. We started out to make money, and we've made it. We're
probably worth more than any other five men in the world. We can control
the finance of every nation, we can rule the money markets of every
capital in Europe. Personally I'm satisfied. I guess you are. It seems,
however, that our wives aren't. I'm sorry for it, but it can't be helped.
They want something that dollars in the ordinary way can't buy. This
scheme is to meet that case. It's my wife's idea--my wife's and Mr. de
Valentin's between them. I take it that if you go into it you'll go into
it for the same reason that I do--for your wives' sakes. I want to make
this clear, for I tell you frankly I think it's the biggest fool's game
I've ever taken a hand in. I'm proud of my name, if my wife isn't. If any
one got calling me Monsieur le Duc of anything, I guess my fingers 'd
itch to knock him down. If our wives, however, won't be happy till they
hear themselves called Madame la Duchesse, I suppose we've got to take a
back seat. Mr. de Valentin here says that he's the rightful King of
France. I know nothing about history, but no doubt he's right. He says,
too, that in their hearts the French people want him on the throne, and,
with money, he says he could find his way there. The bargain is, I
understand, that we find the money, and he establishes our wives well
amongst the aristocracy of France. He asks for twelve million dollars,
that is two millions each. If my wife asks me to, I shall put my lot
down, much as I should buy her the Czar of Russia's crown if it came on
the market, and she wanted it. It's for you to say whether you want to
come in. If you want to ask any questions, there's Mr. de Valentin. He's
come over to fix the thing up, and I guess he's prepared to give you all
particulars."
There was a little murmur of conversation. Mr. de Valentin rose to his
feet.
"My friends," he said, "Mr. Van Reinberg in his very plain words has put
before you the outline of my plans. It is not very much more that I can
tell you beyond this. The army and the navy are loyalists. I have friends
everywhere. They wait only for an opportunity. When it comes, all will be
easily arranged. Those who are indifferent I bribe. There is already a
great secret society in both services. One whole army corps is pledged to
me. Look, then, this is what happens. A great Power"--Mr. de Valentin
looked steadfastly at me--"a great Power one day makes a demonstration
against France. It is a bolt from a clear blue sky; for my country, alas,
is always preparing but never ready for war. The Press--I bribe the
Press, those who are not already my friends--is hysterical. It strikes
the note of fear, it attacks vehemently the government. The moment of war
arrives. All is confusion. I appear! I address the people of France; I
appeal to my fellow-countrymen. 'Put your trust in me,' I cry, 'and I
will save you.' The Power of whom I have spoken stays its hand. Its Press
declares for me. The government resigns. I march boldly into Paris at the
head of the army, and behold--it is finished. The people are at my feet,
the crown is on my head. Not a drop of blood has been spilt; but war is
averted, and a great, new alliance is formed. France takes once more her
place amongst the great nations of the world."
The man was in earnest beyond a doubt. The perspiration stood out in
little beads upon his forehead, his dark eyes were on fire, his tone and
manner tremulous with the eloquence of conviction. There was a little
murmur from the women--a soft whisper of applause.
"Monsieur," I said quietly, "you have spoken well and convincingly.
Pardon my presumption, if I venture to ask you one question. The Power of
whom you have spoken--is it England?"
He faced me bravely enough.
"Sir," he said, "you ask a question which you know well it is impossible
that I should answer. It is not for me to betray a confidence such as
this. But to those who are curious, I would say this. Which is the Power,
think you, most likely to play such a magnificent, such a generous part
in the history of the nations? Answer your own question, Mr. Courage! It
should not be an impossible task."
Six ladies leaned forward in their places, and looked at me with flashing
eyes. It was a suitable triumph for Mr. de Valentin. And yet I knew now
all that I desired. Dimly I began to understand the great plot, and all
that it meant.
Mr. Van Reinberg looked across the table.
"Well, Stern?" he asked.
"My husband's cheque is ready," the lady at his side answered quickly. "I
guess the Prince can have it right now, if he chooses."
"And mine!" five other ladies declared almost in a breath.
Mr. Van Reinberg smiled.
"Then I guess the deal is fixed," he remarked.
A dark-haired, little woman, sitting at my right hand, leaned forward
towards Mr. de Valentin. She wore a magnificent crown of diamonds and
sapphires, which had once graced a Royal head, and a collar of diamonds
which was famous throughout the world.
"I'd like to know," she said, "are we to choose our own titles? I've
fixed on one I want."
Mr. de Valentin rose in his place.
"My dear lady," he said, "that would not be possible. To Mrs. Van
Reinberg alone I have been able to offer the name she desired. That, I
think, you will none of you object to, for it is through Mrs. Van
Reinberg that you are all here to-night. For the rest, I have taken five
of the great names of France, of whom to-day there are no direct
descendants. It is for you yourselves to say how these shall be
allotted."
Five ladies looked at one another a little doubtfully. Mr. Van Reinberg
glanced at me, and there was a shrewd twinkle in his keen eyes.
"I should think you had better draw for them," he suggested. "Mr. de
Valentin can write the names down on pieces of paper, and Mr. Courage, as
a disinterested party, can hold the hat."
Mr. de Valentin shrugged his shoulders. His composure was not in the
least disturbed. Whatever he may have felt, he treated the suggestion
with perfect seriousness.
"If the ladies are agreeable," he declared, "I myself am quite
indifferent how it is arranged. As regards the money, I shall give to
each an undertaking to repay the amount in treasury notes within a year
of my ascending the throne of my country."
My neighbor in the diamonds was still a little disturbed.
"Say," she inquired, "what do these titles amount to anyway? What shall
we be able to call ourselves?"
"Either Madame la Comtesse or Madame la Marquise," Mr. de Valentin
answered.
"Madame la Marquise!" she repeated, "that's the one I should like."
"So should I!" nearly all the ladies declared in unison.
Mr. Van Reinberg laughed softly to himself. For the first time, he seemed
to be enjoying the situation.
"There's nothing for it but the hat, Mr. de Valentin," he declared.
Mr. de Valentin bowed.
"If every one is agreeable," he said stiffly, drawing a sheet of note
paper towards him and beginning to write.
No one seemed quite satisfied; but, on the other hand, no one had any
other suggestion to make. Mr. Van Reinberg leaned forward in his chair.
He was beginning, apparently, to take a keen interest in the proceedings.
"Of course," he said softly, "the names could be read out, and if any of
you took a special fancy to any of the titles, we could have a sort of
auction, the proceeds to go to the fund."
Mr. de Valentin turned towards him with a stony look. Only his eyes
expressed his anger.
"I presume that you are not in earnest, Mr. Van Reinberg," he said in a
low tone. "Such a course is utterly out of the question."
Mr. Van Reinberg scratched his chin thoughtfully. Mr. de Valentin
completed his task, and handed the slips of paper over to me.
"I shall ask Mr. Courage," he said, rising, "to distribute these through
the agency of chance. For myself, I will, with your permission, retire. I
will only say this to you, ladies, and to my friends. I hope and believe
that it will not be long before I shall have the pleasure of meeting you
under very different circumstances. You will be very welcome to the Court
of France. I trust that together we may be able to revive some of her
former glories, and I do believe that your presence amongst our ancient
aristocracy will be for her lasting good."
So Mr. de Valentin left the room a little abruptly, and I thought it the
most graceful thing he had done. I shook up the slips of paper, which he
had given me in a hat, and handed them round.
There was an intense silence, and then a perfect babel of exclamations.
"Marquise de Lafoudre! My, isn't that fine!"
"Comtesse de St. Estien! Well, I declare!"
"Comtesse de Vinoy. Say, Richard, are you listening? Madame la Comtesse
de Vinoy. Great, isn't it!"
Mrs. Van Reinberg smiled upon them all the well-satisfied smile of one
whose guerdon is deservedly greater than these. The little dark woman
turned towards her abruptly.
"Tell us yours, Edith!" she exclaimed. "Don't say you're a Princess."
Mrs. Van Reinberg shook her head, unconsciously her manner was already a
little changed. She was, after all, a swan amongst these geese!
"We are to have the Duchy of Annonay," she answered. "I suppose I shall
be Madame la Duchesse."
Monsieur le Duc touched me on the shoulder.
"Here," he exclaimed in my ear, "let's get out of this!"
CHAPTER XXVII
INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
Mr. Van Reinberg led the way silently into the smoking-room, and ordered
Scotch whisky. "Mr. Courage," he said from the depths of his easy-chair,
"I've got to ask you a question. What do you think of us?"
I laughed outright.
"I think," I answered, "that you are a very good husband."
He lit a cigar and pushed the box towards me.
"I'm glad you put it like that," he said earnestly. "And yet I guess
we're to blame. We've let our wives slip away from us. Only natural, I
suppose. We have our battlefields and they must have theirs. We rule the
money markets, and they aspire to rule in society. I don't know how to
blame my wife, Mr. Courage, but I hope you'll believe me when I tell you
this: I'd sooner chuck ten or twenty millions into the Atlantic than be
mixed up with this affair."
"I believe you, Mr. Van Reinberg," I answered.
He drew a sigh of relief. I think that my assurance pleased him.
"Tell me now," he said; "you are a man of common sense. Is that fellow a
crank, or is he going to pull this thing off?"
I hesitated.
"His scheme is ingenious enough," I said, "and I believe it is quite true
that there are a great many people in France who would be glad to see the
Monarchy revived. They are a people, too, whom it is easy to catch on the
top of a wave of sentiment. But, so far as I can see, there are at least
two things against him."
"I trust," Mr. Van Reinberg murmured, "that they are big enough."
"In the first place," I continued, "I doubt whether Mr. de Valentin is a
sufficiently heroic figure to fire the imagination of the people. He does
not seem to me to have the daring to carry a mob with him, and he will
need that. And in the second place--"
"Well?"
I glanced around the room. We were absolutely alone, but I dropped my
voice.
"Is this in confidence, Mr. Van Reinberg?" I asked.
"Sure!"
"I do not believe that the Power whose intervention he relies so much
upon is England. I do not believe that my country would risk so much to
gain so little. We are on excellent terms with France as it is. Secret
negotiations with Mr. de Valentin would be unpardonable chicanery on our
part, and I do not think that our ministers would lend themselves to it."
Mr. Van Reinberg nodded.
"Whom do you believe he referred to then?" he asked.
"Germany," I told him. "That is where I believe that he has made a fatal
mistake. He will never make a successful bid for the sympathies of the
French people, if he presents himself before them backed by their
historic enemy. Of course, you must understand," I added, "that this is
pure speculation on my part. I may be altogether wrong. One can only
surmise."
"On the whole, then," Mr. Van Reinberg asked anxiously, "you would not
back his chances?"
"I should not," I admitted.
For a man who had just invested two million dollars in those chances, Mr.
Van Reinberg looked remarkably cheerful.
"I'm right down glad to hear you say that," he admitted. "I know nothing
about things over in Europe myself, and my wife seemed so confident.
It'll be a blow to her, I'm afraid, if it doesn't come off; but I fancy
it'll be a bigger one to me if it does!"
"You do not fancy yourself, then, as Monsieur le Duc," I remarked
smiling.
He looked at me in speechless scorn.
"Do I look like a duke?" he asked indignantly. "Besides, I'm an American
citizen, an American born and bred, and I love my country," he added with
a note of pride in his tone. "Paris, to me, means the Grand Hotel, the
American bar, the telephone and an interpreter. Mrs. Van Reinberg will
stay at the Ritz. I guess I sleep there and that's all. No! sir! When I'm
through with business, I'm meaning to spend what I can of my dollars in
the country where I made them, and not go capering about amongst a lot of
people whose language I don't understand, and who wouldn't care ten cents
about me anyway. Some people have a fancy to end their days up in the
mountains, where they can hear the winds blow and the birds sing, and
nothing else. I'm not quite that way myself. I hope I'll die with my
window wide open, so that I can hear the ferry-boats in the river, and
the Broadway cars, and the rattle of the elevated trains. That's the
music that beats in my blood, Mr. Courage! and I guess I'll never be able
to change the tune. Say, will you pass that bottle, sir? We'll drink once
more, sir, and I'll give you a toast. May that last investment of mine go
to smash! I drink to the French Republic!"
I pledged him and we set down our glasses hastily. We heard voices and
the trailing of dresses in the corridor. In a moment they all came
trooping in.
Mrs. Stern looked round the room eagerly.
"If he's gone to bed I'll never forgive him," she declared. "I'm just
crazy to know whether there isn't some sort of old chateau belonging to
the family, that Richard can buy and fix up. Have you seen Mr. de
Valentin?" she asked us.
"He's gone upstairs, sure enough," Mr. Van Reinberg answered. "Give the
poor man a rest till the morning. Where's the Marquis? Come and have a
drink, Marquis!"
"Quit fooling," Mr. Stern declared testily. "Here's Esther saying I'll
have to wear black satin knickerbockers and a sword!"
"Wear them in Wall Street," Mr. Van Reinberg declared, "and I'll stand
you terrapin at the Waldorf. Come on, Count, and the rest of you
noblemen. Let's toast one another."
Mrs. Van Reinberg motioned me to follow her into the billiard-room.
"Well!" she exclaimed, looking at me searchingly,
I could scarcely keep from smiling, but she was terribly in earnest.
"I want to know exactly," she said, "what you think of it all. I know my
husband has been making fun of it. He does not understand. He never
will."
"Mr. de Valentin's scheme is a good one," I said slowly, "but he has not
told us everything. If you want my opinion--"
"Of course I do," she declared.
"Then I think," I continued, "that his success depends a good deal upon
something which he did not tell us."
"What is it?" she asked, eagerly.
"It depends, I think," I said, "upon the Power which has agreed to back
his claims. If that Power is England, as he tried to make us believe, he
has a great chance. If it is Germany, I think that he will fail."
She frowned impatiently.
"You are prejudiced," she declared.
"Perhaps," I answered. "Still, I may be right, you know."
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