E. Phillips Oppenheim - 21 Greatest Spy Thrillers in One Premium Edition (Mystery & Espionage Series)

“Very well,” he answered, “only remember that my movements must depend very largely upon Dorward’s. The train leaves at eight o’clock, station time. I have already a coupe reserved.”

“I come with you,” she murmured. “I am very weary of this city.”

They walked on for a few paces in silence. Bellamy looked around the gardens, brilliant with flowering shrubs and rose trees, with here and there some delicate piece of statuary half-hidden amongst the wealth of foliage. The villa had once belonged to a royal favorite, and the grounds had been its chief glory. They reached a sheltered seat and sat down. A few yards away a tiny waterfall came tumbling over the rocks into a deep pool. They were hidden from the windows of the villa by the boughs of a drooping chestnut tree. Bellamy stooped and kissed her upon the lips.

“Ours is a strange courtship, Louise,” he whispered softly.

She took his hand in hers and smoothed it. She had returned his kiss, but she drew a little further away from him.

“Ah! my dear friend,” looking at him with sorrow in her eyes, “courtship is scarcely the word, is it? For you and me there is nothing to hope for, nothing beyond.”

He leaned towards her.

“Never believe that,” he begged. “These days are dark enough, Heaven knows, yet the work of every one has its goal. Even our turn may come.”

Something flickered for a moment in her face, something which seemed to make a different woman of her. Bellamy saw it, and hardened though he was he felt the slow stirring of his own pulses. He kissed her hand passionately and she shivered.

“We must not talk of these things,” she said. “We must not think of them. At least our friendship has been wonderful. Now I must go in. I must tell my maid and arrange to steal away to-night.”

They stood up, and he held her in his arms for a moment. Though her lips met his freely enough, he was very conscious of the reserve with which she yielded herself to him, conscious of it and thankful, too. They walked up the path together, and as they went she plucked a red rose and thrust it through his buttonhole.

“If we had no dreams,” she said softly, “life would not be possible. Perhaps some day even we may pluck roses together.”

He raised her fingers to his lips. It was not often that they lapsed into sentiment. When she spoke again it was finished.

“You had better leave,” she told him, “by the garden gate. There are the usual crowd in my anteroom, and it is well that you and I are not seen too much together.”

“Till this evening,” he whispered, as he turned away. “I shall be at the station early. If Dorward is taken, I shall still leave Vienna. If he goes, it may be an eventful journey.”

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Dorwood, whistling softly to himself, sat in a corner of his coupe rolling innumerable cigarettes. He was a man of unbounded courage and wonderful resource, but with a slightly exaggerated idea as to the sanctity of an American citizen. He had served his apprenticeship in his own country, and his name had become a household word owing to his brilliant success as war correspondent in the Russo-Japanese War. His experience of European countries, however, was limited. After the more obvious dangers with which he had grappled and which he had overcome during his adventurous career, he was disposed to be a little contemptuous of the subtler perils at which his friend Bellamy had plainly hinted. He had made his escape from the hotel without any very serious difficulty, and since that time, although he had taken no particular precautions, he had remained unmolested. From his own point of view, therefore, it was perhaps only reasonable that he should no longer have any misgiving as to his personal safety. ARREST as a thief was the worst which he had feared. Even that he seemed now to have evaded.

The coupe was exceedingly comfortable and, after all, he had had a somewhat exciting day. He lit a cigarette and stretched himself out with a murmur of immense satisfaction. He was close upon the great triumph of his life. He was perfectly content to lie there and look out upon the flying landscape, upon which the shadows were now fast descending. He was safe, absolutely safe, he assured himself. Nevertheless, when the door of his coupe was opened, he started almost like a guilty man. The relief in his face as he recognized his visitor was obvious. It was Bellamy who entered and dropped into a seat by his side.

“Wasting your time, aren’t you?” the latter remarked, pointing to the growing heap of cigarettes.

“Well, I guess not,” Dorward answered. “I can smoke this lot before we reach London.”

Bellamy smiled enigmatically.

“I don’t think that you will,” he said.

“Why not?”

“You are such a sanguine person,” Bellamy sighed. “Personally, I do not think that there is the slightest chance of your reaching London at all.”

Dorward laughed scornfully.

“And why not?” he asked.

Bellamy merely shrugged his shoulders. Dorward seemed to find the gesture irritating.

“You’ve got espionage on the brain, my dear friend,” he declared dryly. “I suppose it’s the result of your profession. I may not know so much about Europe as you do, but I am inclined to think that an American citizen traveling with his passport on a train like this is moderately safe, especially when he’s not above a scrap by way of taking care of himself.”

“You’re a plucky fellow,” remarked Bellamy.

“I don’t see any pluck about it. In Vienna, I must admit, I shouldn’t have been surprised if they’d tried to fake up some sort of charge against me, but anyhow they didn’t. Guess they’d find it a pretty tall order trying to interfere with an American citizen.”

Bellamy looked at his friend curiously.

“I suppose you’re not bluffing, by any chance, Dorward?” he said. “You really believe what you say?”

“Why in thunder shouldn’t I?” Dorward asked.

Bellamy sighed.

“My dear Dorward,” he said, “it is amazing to me that a man of your experience should talk and behave like a baby. You’ve taken some notice of your fellow-passengers, I suppose?”

“I’ve seen a few of them,” Dorward answered carelessly. “What about them?”

“Nothing much,” Bellamy declared, “except that there are, to my certain knowledge, three high officials of the Secret Police of Austria in the next coupe but one, and at least four or five of their subordinates somewhere on board the train.”

Dorward withdrew his cigarette from his mouth and looked at his friend keenly.

“I guess you’re trying to scare me, Bellamy,” he remarked.

But Bellamy was suddenly grave. There had come into his face an utterly altered expression. His tone, when he spoke, was almost solemn.

“Dorward,” he said, “upon my honor, I assure you that what I have told you is the truth. I cannot seem to make you realize the seriousness of your position. When you left the Palace with that paper in your pocket, you were, to all intents and purposes, a doomed man. Your passport and your American citizenship count for absolutely nothing. I have come in to warn you that if you have any last messages to leave, you had better give them to me now.”

“This is a pretty good bluff you’re putting up!” Dorward exclaimed contemptuously. “The long and short of it is, I suppose, that you want me to break the seal of this document and let you read it.”

Bellamy shook his head.

“It is too late for that, Dorward,” he said. “If the seal were broken, they’d very soon guess where I came in, and it wouldn’t help the work I have in hand for me to be picked up with a bullet in my forehead on the railway track.”