Leslie Charteris - The Saint and the Hapsburg Necklace

She made a moue.

“Don’t be silly. I took that with me, to be stolen, as I knew it might be.”

The Saint inhaled long and deeply.

“Where did you hide the real one?”

“Attached to a cord around my waist, under my last petticoat”

At last he could only laugh.

“Well, we almost got down to it, didn’t we?”

Leopold was shaking and his face had gone from red to white.

“You made a fool of me. That is one thing we Denksdorffs never permit.”

Frankie’s smile was wicked.

“Perhaps your family motto should be ‘We only make fools of ourselves.’ ”

The Saint felt sorry for the young man. Frankie was being unnecessarily cruel.

The arrival of their first course, and the opening and tasting of a bottle of Willm Gewurztraminer, made a sorely needed interlude.

Frankie herself must have realised that she risked going too far. As soon as the waiters had dispersed again, she said: “Darling Leopold! You are behaving like a hero in a romantic novel.”

He gave her a look which was filled with both love and hate.

“And you are behaving like a spoiled child!”

“I do think it’s time you stopped tormenting us,” Simon intervened peaceably. “So you were smart enough not to trust anybody. I can’t say I blame you. But I’m sure it wasn’t Leopold you were afraid of.”

“I knew all along that Max was out to get the Necklace,” she said.

“But it was you who introduced him to me,” Leopold said.

She shrugged.

“Everyone in Austria knows he’s a crook. Everyone but you, mein Liebchen. You are the original pure knight on a white charger. You do no evil and see no evil. But Max is a showpiece. That is why he is so popular in Austria. We like amusing rogues.”

“But why did you allow him to become our partner then?”

“He was just the man I wanted. ‘Set a thief to catch a thief’ is an old proverb. But that works in another way too. You could say ‘Set a thief to steal something!’ Max had all the skills, crookedness, money and organisation that I needed. He lent us all of them — nicht wahr?”

The Saint could not help admiring this girl. She had caused him a lot of trouble but she certainly had what it took. It might indeed be pleasant to find out what it did take with her, just so long as he gave away nothing himself.

“You could have told me,” Leopold said angrily.

“Yes, and I was afraid that if I did, my dear cousin, you might let the cat out of the bag. You are so impetuous.”

“But what made you so sure that in the end you would be more clever than Max?”

“I was not altogether sure at first.” Frankie’s smile was shamelessly gamine. “But after I had the Saint on my side, I was sure.”

Simon’s admiration for this girl deepened. She was confirming much of what he had guessed, but he did not know many women who would have had the nerve and the gambler’s instinct to act in the almost Saint-like way that she had all along.

He raised his glass to her again.

“I’m glad I was around,” he murmured. “Well, so we go our various ways. And what’s yours?”

“I’m going to the Semmering for a bit of skiing,” she replied. “Wouldn’t you like to come?” she added, batting her eyelashes at him provocatively.

“I’d love to, but with Schicklgruber in the saddle there may be more serious things to think about.” He turned to Leopold. “And what are your plans?”

The young man’s eyes were wide and almost desperate.

“I am going to marry Frankie,” he announced thunderously, as if he were an archduke declaring a bazaar open. “She needs to be settled down.”

“I hope you can do it for her,” said the Saint. “I can’t imagine a better match. The fact that she is twenty years older than you shouldn’t be any handicap at all.”

Leopold looked at him in amazement.

“What do you mean? We are practically the same age.”

“All women are twenty years older than any man.”

Frankie blew Simon a kiss.

“Except you.” Her eyes met the Saint’s steadily. “I wonder if you will meet Max Annellatt again one day. He would certainly be disguised.”

“I’ll still recognise him,” said the Saint, “if he’s wearing his old school Thai.”

The “Saint and the Hapsburg Necklace” is the title of a 1976 mystery novel featuring the character of Simon Templar, alias “The Saint”. The novel is written by Christopher Short, but per the custom at this time, the author credit on the cover goes to Leslie Charteris, who created the Saint in 1928, and who served in an editorial capacity.