Robert Chambers - In the Quarter

``I hope Mrs Braith is well. She met you all right at Vienna?''

Braith bowed stiffly, without answering.

Rex gave him a quick look, and turning on his heel, said carelessly:

``I see you and Mr Braith are old acquaintances, so I won't scruple to leave you with him for a moment. Bring Mr Bulfinch over to the music stand, Braith.'' And smiling, as if he were assisting at a charming reunion, he led Clifford away. The latter turned, as he departed, an eye of delighted intelligence upon Braith.

To renew his acquaintance with Mr Bulfinch was the last thing Braith desired, but since the meeting had been thrust upon him he thanked Gethryn's tact for removing such a witness of it as Clifford would have been. He had no intention, however, of talking with the little Mirror man, and maintained a profound silence, smoking steadily. This conduct so irritated the other that he determined to force an explanation of the matter which seemed so distasteful to his ungracious companion. He certainly thought he had his own reasons for resenting the sight of Braith upon a high horse, and he resumed the conversation with all the jaunty ease which the calling of newspaper correspondent is said to cultivate.

``I hope Mrs Braith found no difficulty in meeting you in Vienna?''

``Madame was not my wife, and we did not meet in Vienna,'' said Braith shortly.

Bulfinch began to stare, and to feel a little less at ease.

``She told me – that is, her courier came to me and – ''

``Her courier? Mr Bulfinch, will you please explain what you are talking about?'' Braith turned square around and looked at him in a way that caused a still further diminution of his jauntiness and a proportionate increase of respect.

``Oh – I'll explain, if I know what you want explained. We were at Brindisi, were we not?''

``Yes.''

``On our way to Cairo?''

``Yes.''

``In the same hotel?''

``Yes.''

``But I had no acquaintance with madame, and had only exchanged a word or two with you, when you were suddenly summoned to Paris by a telegram.''

Braith bowed. He remembered well the false dispatch that had drawn him out of the way.

``Well, and when you left you told her you would be obliged to give up going to Cairo, and asked her to meet you in Vienna, whither you would have to go from Paris?''

``Oh, did I?''

``And you recommended a courier to her whom you knew very well, and in whom you had great confidence.''

``Ah! And what was that courier's name?''

``Emanuel Pick. I wasn't fond of Emanuel myself,'' with a sharp glance at Braith's eyes, ``but I supposed you knew something in his favor, or you would not have left – er – the lady in his charge.''

Braith was silent.

``I understood him to be your agent,'' said the little man, cautiously.

``He was not.''

``Oh!''

A long silence followed, during which Mr Bulfinch sought and found an explanation of several things. After a while he said musingly:

``I should like to meet Mr Pick again.''

``Why should you want to meet him?''

``I wish to wring his nose two hundred times, one for each franc I lent him.''

``How was that?'' said Braith, absently.

``It was this way. He came to me and told me what I have repeated to you, and that you desired madame to go on at once and wait for you in Vienna, which you expected to reach in a few days after her arrival. That you had bought tickets – one first class for madame, two second class for him and for her maid – before you left, and had told her you had placed plenty of money for the other expenses in her dressing case. But this morning, on looking for the money, none could be found. Madame was sure it had not been stolen. She thought you must have meant to put it there, and forgotten afterwards. If she only had a few francs, just to last as far as Naples! Madame was well known to the bankers on the Santa Lucia there! etc. Well, I'm not such an ass that I didn't first see madame and get her to confirm his statement. But when she did confirm it, with such a charming laugh – she was very pretty – I thought she was a lady and your wife – ''

Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, на ЛитРес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.