Three Weeks Page 28

  CHAPTER XXVIII

  The Lady Henrietta was desolated when Paul and his father announced theirintention of taking a month or six weeks' cruise with Captain Grigsby. Sounnecessary, she said, at this time of the year, almost the beginning ofMay, when England was really getting most enjoyable. And they were obligedto pacify her as best they could.

  The Mediterranean! Such miles off--and so eccentric, too, starting whenother people would be leaving! Really, she had never ceased regretting everhaving tolerated her son's travels the year before. Since then there hadbeen no certainty in any of his movements.

  "Darling mother," said Paul, "I must see the world."

  And Sir Charles had snorted and chuckled, as was his habit.

  So they sailed away from Marseilles, this party of three, like a gunboatunder sealed orders. A cruise to the Greek Isles, and beyond, was what theysaid attracted them. "Especially the beyond!" Captain Grigsby had added,with a grunt to Sir Charles. And if the ardour of love and impatienceboiled in Paul's veins, the spirit of interested adventure animated his oldfriend and his parent.

  They had not spoken much on the subject to the young man. He had brieflyasked Mark Grigsby to do him this service to take him to a far sea in thenew _Blue Heather_, and there to land him when he should give the word.

  May was a fair month, and an adventure is an adventure all the world over,so Mark Grigsby had given a joyful assent.

  Then Sir Charles had suggested accompanying them, and was welcomed by theother two as a third for their party with extra pleasure.

  "I shall grow a young man again before I have done, Grig!" he had saidhappily. But down in his heart lurked some undefined fear for Paul, andthat was the real reason for his journey.

  They had a pleasant voyage, and picked up letters at Naples, which onlyadded to Paul's impatience to be there. But they were not to arrive beforethe end of May, so the Grecian Archipelago could be investigated.

  Life in these sunny seas was a joy to all concerned, and Paul'seyes--illuminated by his lady's ever-present spirit--saw beauties and feltshades and balances of which his companions never dreamed. So they came atlast to the Bosphorus and Constantinople.

  Here full instructions awaited them. That night Paul took his father andhis friend some way into his confidence, as he showed them the chart andread aloud the directions. On the 29th of May, should the weather provefavourable, they were to anchor towards night at a certain spot--latitudeand longitude given--and when they heard a sea-bird cry sharply threetimes, Paul was to come ashore to where he would see a green light. Vasiliwould be waiting for him, and from there it was but a few steps to thegarden gate of the villa by the sea, in which his lady was passing thesummer. It all seemed perfectly simple--only, the directions added, he mustleave again before dawn, and the yacht be out of sight before daylight, ascomplications had occurred since the letter to Naples, and the To-be-hatedone had not left the capital, so things were not so easy to manage, orsafe.

  Paul's impatience knew no bounds. The concentrated pent-up longing of allthese months was animating him. To see his lady again! To clasp her! Tokiss her--to kneel to her--and give her homage and worship. And to beholdhis little son. Always he carried the minute flaxen curl in a locket, andoften he had looked at it, and tried to picture the wee head from which ithad been cut. But she--his love--would bring his son to him--and perhapslet him hold him in his arms. Ah! he shut his eyes and imagined the tenderscene. Would she be changed? Should he see the traces of suffering? But hewould caress all memory of pain away, and surely this meeting would only bethe forerunner of others to come. Fate could never intend such deep, truelove as theirs to be apart. An exaltation uplifted him. And if his ladywere a Queen, and wore a crown, he felt himself the greatest king on earth,for was not he the absolute ruler of her heart? And who could wish for amore glorious kingdom?

  The hours from Constantinople seemed longer than the whole voyage. He couldhardly keep his attention to talk coherently about ordinary things atmeals, and his father and Mark Grigsby left him practically alone.

  At last, at last, the 29th of May dawned, boiling hot and cloudlessly fair.

  For obvious reasons they stayed beyond sight of the coast until darknessfell, and then came close inshore. It was a starlit night, with not abreath of air, and no moon would illuminate their whereabouts.

  Paul dressed with the greatest care; never had he been more particular overhis toilet. Tompson found him _exigeant!_

  He had broadened and filled out in the past year, and his fair face wastanned, and blooming with health and excitement.

  "The best-looking young devil a woman's eye could light on!" Mark Grigsbysaid, as he and Sir Charles watched him descend the gangway to the boat,when the impatiently awaited signal had been given.

  "God keep him safe, Grig," was all Sir Charles could mutter, with a gruntin his throat.

  The maddest excitement was racing through Paul, as he held the tiller-ropesand made straight for the light. And once he felt in his pocket to assurehimself he had not forgotten Dmitry's pistol, which he had cleaned andloaded himself that afternoon.

  He knew this adventure might be a dangerous one, simple as it lookedsuperficially, and now he was an expert revolver shot, thanks to constantpractice.

  The light proved to be in a little sheltered cove, with a smalllanding-stage. And--yes--the man who held it was the Kalmuck, Vasili.

  "Welcome, welcome to the _Siyatelstvo_," he whispered, as he kissed Paul'shand. And then in perfect silence they began to ascend a path. Presentlyit stopped abruptly. They had come up perhaps not fifty feet, when theirway was barred by a great nail-studded door.

  "Hist!" said Vasili softly, and instantly it was opened from within, andDmitry peered anxiously at them.

  "Ah, the saints be blessed, the Excellency is safe," he said. But they mustnot delay a minute, he added. The Excellency must return to the waitingboat! A slight but unexpected ill-fortune had befallen them, connected withthe to-be-execrated Troublesome one, and it would not be safe for theImperial Highness if the Excellency should land tonight. She had sent himto say that the Excellency was to keep out at sea for two days, and returnsteaming past, and if he saw a white flag flying from the villa roof, thenat night he was to anchor and come ashore at this same time. If not, forthe moment he must go on back to Constantinople, where news and furtherinstructions would be sent him.

  As he spoke Dmitry indicated the return path, and bid the Excellency followhim, and hasten, hasten. This was a terrible blow to Paul, but the thoughtthat he might bring danger to his beloved one made him not hesitate amoment.

  They descended the path in silence, and as he stepped into the boat the oldservant whispered, the Imperial Highness had bid him assure the Excellencythat all was well, the meeting was only deferred, when they should haveseveral days together in safety. "The saints protect the Excellency," thefaithful creature added. Then, when Paul was safely in the boat, he stoodback to make sharply three times the sea-bird's cry.

  The weird minor notes floating out on the night seemed a wailing echo ofthe agonised disappointment in Paul's heart--more than once a mad impulseto go back convulsed his being before he reached the yacht--but it was nottill afterwards that he remembered as a strange circumstance the fact thatwith Dmitry's first words at the nail-studded door Vasili had vanished intodarkness.