CHAPTER X.
THE ROMANCE OF THE GOLDEN BRICK.
"At last, at long last!" cried Mr. Blake, Lord Stranleigh's exuberant secretary, as he waved aloft a letter he had just taken out of its envelope.
"See where she stands
And waves her hands
Upon the quay.
Yo-ho, yo-ho, yo-oh-ho!"
Blake sang these lines in a deep bass voice, and Stranleigh looked up from his newspaper with the slightest possible trace of annoyance on his brow.
"I knew it would come, for it was written. It was bound to come."
"What was bound to come?" demanded Stranleigh. "If you refer to your own dementia, it hasn't come. It was here long ago."
"It is a cloud no bigger than a lady's hand—most suitable phrase that, 'a lady's hand'—but soon to increase until it becomes a suitable enclosure for a strong man's arm, looming above the horizon as the inevitable She, and Stranleigh's pose of indifference to women, in which, if he only knew it, he is a mere plagiarist of my Lord Kitchener, will dissolve."
"Oh, your brain is dissolving. What are you howling about?"
"Your High Mightiness is formally addressed in these presents by His Excellency the Austrian Ambassador. It seems that the Baroness von Arrenfels, only daughter and heiress of the late Baron von Arrenfels, is now in England on account of her health. She is something of an invalid. She desires an interview with Lord Stranleigh of Wychwood, in order to speak upon financial matters. The numerous estates in Austria which belonged to her father are now hers, and apparently she wishes the advice of one who has managed so well his own extensive properties in England and elsewhere. She probably imagines you a dried-up old financial duffer who will temporarily take the place of her aged parents, now no more. Wait a moment, and I will learn further particulars."
They were in the library, and Blake took down from the shelves a thick red volume. Turning its pages until he reached the place he was in search of, he murmured aloud some information. The Baroness was twenty-four years old; one of her estates lay in the vicinity of Vienna. The summer baronial hall of the family was built in the sixteenth century in picturesque Tyrol, and was entitled Schloss Arrenfels. Large acreage of wild lands in Transylvania. The Arrenfels Palace in Vienna was a modern building.
There you are, Lord Stranleigh. What answer is the lady to receive through her Ambassador?"
"Hand me the Ambassador's letter, please."
The young man scanned it.
"There seems to me something strange about this method of introduction," he mused.
"Not at all!" cried Blake. "The Austrians are a very etiquette-loving people—stiffest and most formal Court in Europe, I should say—therefore the lady does the proper and ponderous thing. She sets her Government in motion, and proceeds under its auspices, thus eliminating all letters of introduction, and rendering unnecessary any further credentials."
"Yes, yes; that is true enough, yet somehow instinctively, I feel a certain distrust of this proposal."
"Oh, that's merely because a woman makes it."
"Why should she wish to consult with me upon finance? It is one of the many subjects I know nothing about."
True, alas! for the vagaries of Fame, because it is the one thing the world gives you credit for. Lord knows you're not brilliant, but everyone knows you are rich."
"This letter, coming from the Austrian Ambassador, must be answered as punctiliously as it is written. Kindly indite such an epistle, and deliver it in person. Before you hand it over, however, see the Secretary of the Embassy, and find out whether he knows anything about the lady."
"Oh, the over-cautiousness of the rich! If an angel from heaven were to appear, they would not believe; want to see her passport, and all that sort of thing. It seems to me as a man of the world that all you need verity is the genuineness of the Ambassador's communication."
Blake paused, but Stranleigh made no reply, then with a sigh the secretary continued:—
"Still, I shall do exactly what you say."
Thanks," murmured Stranleigh. "That would be novel, but gratifying."
Blake's investigation proved eminently 
"She entered his drawing-room accompanied by an aged but very aristocratic English woman."
Lord Stranleigh, Philanthropist] Page 291
The young nobleman was alone when the Baroness von Arrenfels was announced. She entered his drawing-room accompanied by an aged but very aristocratic Englishwoman, who had probably seen better days, and was now acting as her ladyship's duenna. The girl was tall, and possessed a superb figure; even Stranleigh admitted to himself that she was more than ordinarily beautiful, distinguished by that patrician bearing which seems to be the birthright of the Viennese woman. The Baroness spoke English with a delicate, chaste perfection that was admirable, qualified by a slight touch of foreignness that seemed an ornament rather than a defect.
"I must apologise, my lord earl, for this quite unwarrantable intrusion upon you. I come, however, at the suggestion of my father's friend, the Austrian Ambassador to England."
"So I understood, madam, but I beg to assure you that you are equally welcome on your own account. I hope that I may be of service to you, and thus in some slight measure make a return for the delightful hospitality I have myself received from citizens of your charming country."
The Baroness bowed, and coloured with obvious pleasure at these words.
"I am deeply grateful to you, my lord, for what you have just said, and in order to begin at once upon my mission, I may perhaps remove a misapprehension from your mind. If you have been told anything about me, I daresay you have heard I am very rich. That is not true. I am in reality poor, and this poverty is the cause of my visit to England, although I left Vienna ostensibly for the benefit of my health."
I am sorry to hear that you are poor, but very glad to observe that your health seems in no need of improvement."
The lady smiled.
"Although actual money is scarce with me, I am nevertheless in occupation of very extensive estates, which would furnish an ample income, were they not encumbered by mortgages, whose interest absorbs nearly all that the land produces. My father was a very noble-hearted, generous man, most open-handed and unsuspicious. In addition to this, he held an aristocratic contempt for business of all kinds, which disposition, I believe, was grossly taken advantage of by men of affairs in Vienna, whom he trusted. The result is that, although he died happy in the thought that he left me amply provided for, such was not in fact the case. If I am to live in Austria and keep up anything like the state to which my family has been accustomed during the past, some radical change must be made in the management of my property. That is another reason why I am living quietly here in England."
"But would not the revenue from your estates ultimately clear off the mortgages?"
The girl laughed very winningly.
You have used exactly the right word, my lord. 'Ultimately,' yes; but do I seem to you a person who could wait patiently for 'ultimately'? Is it strange to you that I wish to enjoy my life now?"
"Not strange at all. Perfectly natural!" cried Stranleigh, looking at her with undisguised admiration.
"My father being a most indifferent business man, it was likely that I should be a very inferior business woman. Nevertheless, with great patience, I have perused a mass of documents pertaining to my estates." Here, at a signal, the silent attendant opened a small handbag she carried, and drew from it a number of legal documents, which she placed on the table before the Baroness. The lady glanced up at Stranleigh with a smile.
"I have been told," she said, "that you discovered one of the richest gold mines in the world."
The young man almost blushed, and answered in some confusion.
"I fear that rumour gives us both credit for what we do not possess. I did not discover the mine, but—I made use of it. It contained merely surface gold, very soon exhausted, which was perhaps all to the good, for it was situated in a most unhealthy part of Africa. Yes; I got some gold from it—a shipload or two."
"Perhaps you are aware that Austria, so far as its minerals are concerned, takes first rank among the countries of Europe. Three million hundred-weight of gold and silver ore are mined annually, most of which is obtained in Transylvania, and in Transylvania one of my father's estates is situated. I find that shortly before his death he had commissioned mining engineers to test its gold-bearing qualities, and their reports, which I brought with me, are most encouraging. I have reason to suspect that the financiers with whom he was in touch in Vienna are aware of the richness of this estate, for they have endeavoured to buy it since my father's death. I doubt if he himself realised its possibilities, for the land is on the very eastern boundary of Austria, a portion of the country he never visited, so far as I know. I may be over-suspicious, but I believe that if I made any attempt to develop the mineral resources of this district, by endeavouring to get capital in Vienna, these financiers would foreclose, or in some manner dispossess me of the land which they represent as worthless, and I daresay it is barren enough for any other purpose than mine.
"My hope, then, is that you will send to this property English engineers, who are silent and can be trusted, and that if their reports warrant you in proceeding further, I may enlist your aid in forming a mining company that will pay me whatever value your English engineers estimate it is worth. With this money I can then clear my other estates of all encumbrances, and receive from them an income sufficient for my needs."
"Company-forming," said Stranleigh, after a moment's pause, "is a business I have had very little to do with. The reputation of a confirmed company-former in this country is considered somewhat shady. I must admit that your proposition seems very attractive, but before anything could be done towards submitting it to the public, honest and competent mining engineers must be sent there to investigate."
"That is exactly what I suggested," sweetly murmured the lady.
"Precisely. Well, mining engineers are a most estimable body of men; nevertheless, it has been known that occasionally their reports were not justified by subsequent working. A great deal of money has been lost in this country in mining operations. I have never willingly allowed my name to appear upon a company's prospectus, yet in this case I would make an exception to my rule, provided the reports of those sent out to Transylvania warranted the forming of a company. There's only one engineer in whose knowledge and honesty I have complete confidence, and he happens to be in Brazil at the present moment. Are you in a hurry about this company-forming, Baroness?"
"Why, of course, I should like to get the money as soon as possible, so that I may return to Vienna. If all you fear is that those who subscribe to the company will lose their money, I can quite readily make their position sure by placing all my other estates at your disposal as a guarantee against loss."
Stranleigh thought this offer showed she was not much of a business woman after all, for if her estates were already mortgaged up to the hilt, they would form but indifferent security. However, her proposal appeared to him an evidence of good faith.
"There is no necessity of doing that," he said. "It would merely complicate matters. I'd rather go into this plan on its own merits. There need not be much delay. I'll send a couple of engineers over at my own risk. If their report on the property is favourable, well and good; there will be no difficulty in finding the money. If unfavourable, then it would be undesirable to go further into the matter."
"Ah, but if unfavourable, how could I then repay you the money expended?" she asked with troubled brow.
"Oh, that would not matter in the least," said Stranleigh. "The cost will not be great; merely the time of a pair of engineers for, say, two weeks. I often examine different properties, and now and then secure something very good, which a thousand times makes up for the loss caused by those investigations which are failures. No; there will be nothing at all to pay if the researches of these men prove fruitless, though I hope for your sake the reverse will be the case."
You are very good, Lord Stranleigh, but I fear you make light of what should be a real obligation on my part. Still, I take you at your word. Here are the title deeds of the Transylvania estate, which I will leave in your care until such time as they can be transferred to the company, and here are the reports of the engineers from Vienna. Do you read German?"
"Oh, yes."
"In that case I shall not offer to have translations made." The Baroness rose.
"If you wait a moment, I will give you a receipt for these documents."
The lady laughed in very musical cadence.
"I need no receipt, Lord Stranleigh. They are quite safe in your care; safer, indeed, than in mine," and again thanking him, she departed.
Lord Stranleigh sat there very quietly, deep in reverie, and it was not of the gold mine he was thinking. His house seemed, somehow, to become empty, lonesome, deserted. He wished she had stayed longer, and now chided himself for lack of presence of mind. He should have raised objections, or asked further explanations. He might have brought down a map, inducing her to point out the exact location of her estate: a hundred methods now suggested themselves to him by which a departure could have been postponed.
How exquisitely charming she was! Although dealing with dry finance and company-forming, these details, usually so disliked by him, had taken on a certain romantic atmosphere caused by the sweet music of her voice. Then he remembered she had not left him any address, and next moment surmised, quite correctly, that she could be communicated with through the Austrian Embassy. Stranleigh admitted to himself that at last his fancy had become entangled with a woman. His thoughts turned towards friends who had married foreigners, and in every case he could remember, these international unions had been most successful.
Among these visions passing before the eyes of his mind, there naturally occurred the form of Peter Mackcller, who had wedded a rich American lady. Their marriage had turned out supremely happy, despite the fact that Peter developed into a rather cross-grained, grumpy sort of person; at least, so far as his relations with Stranleigh were concerned. The American girl married Mackeller when he was a mining engineer, not very well off, but Peter had become an important man since that day; a person to be reckoned with in the financial circles of London. Sometimes Stranleigh had favoured him, and sometimes luck had favoured him, so that now he was undoubtedly rich.
The acquisition of money had not sweetened his temper: he was imperious, and inclined to be unreasonable, yet as Stranleigh thought about him, he knew that here was the engineer to visit Austria if he could be induced to go. Whatever might be held against Mackeller, his rigid honesty was beyond question. Should there be gold in that land, Peter would discover it, and if there was not, no bribe could prevent him from telling the truth. There was, however, the difficulty that Peter, now wealthy, would resent being asked to take once more to mining engineering, and might thus refuse with scorn.
Stranleigh pondered a few minutes, wondering, if he brought about a meeting between Peter and the Baroness, whether the charm and magnetism of the gentlewoman would exercise the same influence on the stern Mackeller that had so effectually led to his own capture, but he dismissed this as unlikely, although it might be tried as a last resort.
The Baroness had complained of the dishonesty she suspected in her Viennese advisers, so Stranleigh believed that nothing would advance her own interests better than enlisting on her behalf the assistance of a man so blunt and incorruptible as Mr. Peter Mackeller.
"Ah well," he cried with a sigh, "at worst Peter can only refuse. I'll ring him up and get yes or no, and cast the subject from my mind."
His lordship had been thinking of luck favouring Peter, but he was now to profit by an instance of the fickle goddess putting in good work for himself, assisted by the defective nature of the telephone, and the peculiar construction of the English language. He unhooked, and placed against his ear, the receiver of the telephone which stood on the table beside him.
"Give me seven-nought-double-nine City . . . Ah! is that Mr. Mackeller's office? Is Mr. Mackeller in? . . . Very good. Would you ask him to come to the 'phone? . . . What? . . . The Earl of Stranleigh—Lord Stranleigh—S-t-r-a-n-l-e-i-g-h . . . thank you. I'll hold the line."
Now there will be given what Stranleigh knew he said, and supposed that Mackeller heard, and later will be shown the mistake that arose.
"That you, Peter? How are you?"
"Oh, first-rate. What can I do for you?"
"I suppose you're pretty busy just now?"
"Yes, and shall be for the next month to come."
"Well, then, now's a good time to desert duty and join me. You always prospered, Peter, when you linked your fortunes with mine."
"What do you want?"
"I have become interested in a mining property. I want you to go right away and examine it."
"Oh, hang it all, I've given up that sort of thing long ago! London is full of excellent mining engineers."
"True; but they are not Peter Mackellers," and then Stranleigh added under his breath, "Thank the Lord!" but that injudicious ejaculation did not go over the wires.
"I'm sorry it is impossible, Stranleigh."
"Nothing is impossible, Peter, when a man has made up his mind. I always did manage your business better than you could yourself, though you never had the decency to admit it. Now, I'll look after it while you're away. In these days of speedy communications, the journey won't take you long. This project is an undeveloped gold mine in Transylvania. It promises the richness of Midas, and I want to know the truth. You can then come in with me on the ground floor, if you think it worth while."
"I thought there weren't any undeveloped gold-mines in that region. It's been, if anything, over-prospected, and I'm nearly certain all lands worth having have been taken up long ago."
"Is that so? I, of course, know nothing of the district. Still, I'll accept all the risk if you'll go."
"I can't promise at the moment, Stranleigh, but by a curious coincidence, my wife spoke only this morning about going there. If you'll wait half an hour, I will get into communication with her, and should she prove to be of the same mind, I'll take it on."
"Thanks, Mackeller; that's first-rate."
"How long shall you be in?"
"If you promise to call, I'll wait here till you come."
"I'll call and get particulars if I determine to go across; otherwise I will telephone you. Good-bye."
Stranleigh hung up the receiver.
"Now, what vagary," said the young man to himself, "has struck the beautiful Mrs. Mackeller, that she should wish to go into the wilds of Transylvania, practically alongside Roumania? Ah, I see; Vienna is the attraction. She will take up residence there while Peter investigates the mining property."
When Peter arrived at Stranleigh House, and learned that for "gold mine" he had understood "coal mine," and for "Transylvania" "Pennsylvania," he gave an excellent rendition of a man in a rage, storming up and down the room, alternating maledictions upon that useful modern invention, the telephone, with denunciations of Stranleigh's defective articulation. His lordship smiled appreciatively at the outbreak, but at last calmed Peter, and wrung from him a reluctant consent.
To Transylvania, therefore, Peter Mackeller went, and reported that the estate was the most promising gold property he had ever examined. Stranleigh put the forming of the company into the hands of his City business men, with a result that his lordship's name on the prospectus caused the capital to be subscribed about ten times over. There was paid to the Baroness one hundred thousand pounds in cash, after she had signed the necessary documents, which conveyed the Transylvanian property to the English company.
This final stage of the business was accomplished at the Austrian Embassy, under the auspices of that clever secretary, Lieutenant Grunwald, a nephew of Count Hammerstein, the Ambassador. Disgruntled Peter refused to join the company in any capacity, and so Stranleigh's wish that he should manage the mining fell through. He then determined to wait for a month until his efficient young man from Brazil, for whom he cabled, could get across, and this delay turned out, in the circumstances, to be a blessing in disguise.
One morning Stranleigh opened his newspaper and read with dismay the following item:—
" DEATH OF THE BARONESS VON ARRENFELS."
"We deeply regret to state that last night, at Brighton, there died Baroness von Arrenfels, only daughter of the late Baron von Arrenfels, of Vienna and Tyrol. About six months ago she was ordered by her physicians to Brighton, in the hope that the bracing air of that resort might cure an anæmic disorder that had kept her bedridden for more than a year. To the regret of her many friends, this hope has proved fallacious. The Baroness, who was only twenty-four years of age, leaves many estates and great wealth, which now pass to a distant relative. General Goetz, of the Emperor's Staff in Vienna."
Stranleigh put the newspaper in his pocket, asked Blake to bring him all the letters and documents pertaining to the Baroness, drove to the Austrian Embassy, and sent in his card to the Ambassador. He found the Count very much perturbed about the death of the young lady.
"I cannot imagine," he said, "why she had been here for six months without ever communicating with me, for her father was one of my oldest friends."
He was still more astonished when Stranleigh showed him letters purporting to be his own, relating to the Baroness.
"These," he said, "were written by my secretary, Lieutenant Grunwald. I knew nothing of them."
"Could I see your secretary?" asked Stranleigh.
A shade of annoyance passed over the Ambassador's face.
"I regret to say that you cannot. The lieutenant is a nephew of mine, and I have been very patient with him, giving him every opportunity for advancement, but a short time since he left me, and has gone to Paris, where he has many friends. His only explanation was that a legacy of a hundred thousand pounds had come to him, and he was tired of office routine. The new secretary finds his affairs in a state of great confusion, and we are now engaged in disentangling them."
"A hundred thousand pounds!" echoed Stranleigh, his brows contracting.
"Yes. The lieutenant, I am sorry to say, is rather wild, and a confirmed gambler. I'm afraid the money won't last him long in Paris. Still," concluded the Ambassador with a sigh, "Gustav is not too scrupulous, and generally wins more than he loses."
"We will say no more of him for the present," remarked Stranleigh, "but there is one other piece of information I should like to obtain. Was there in attendance on the Baroness, since she came to England, a tall, elegantly formed, and very beautiful young woman, who speaks English to perfection?"
Count Hammerstein gazed searchingly at the young man, an expression of trouble on his face. After a long pause the Ambassador said:
"Why do you ask that question?"
"There is such a person, then? I'll tell you why I ask the question when I have received such particulars about her as you may be willing to give."
"You refer undoubtedly to Fraulein Seidel. She is the daughter of a peasant, and I sometimes think possesses the cunning and cupidity of a peasant, although she was taken up when only five or six years old by the mother of the late Baroness, as a companion for her daughter. She was educated with that daughter, and treated throughout like one of the family. During the last years of the Baron's life she developed a very acute business talent, and devoted much of her time to helping him in a secretarial capacity. The last time I saw the Baron in relation to his affairs, it was quite evident to me that she knew more about them than he did; a dangerously clever person, I should say."
"Was Miss Seidel acquainted with your nephew, the secretary?"
Again the Count looked worried.
"I should like to know your reason for that enquiry," he said.
"Because it was assuredly Miss Seidel who called upon me in the guise of the Baroness, and I received her, after questioning your secretary regarding the genuineness of your letter of introduction. I received every assurance from this Embassy that the lady was what she purported to be. As a consequence I purchased a Transylvania estate alleged to be hers, and here are the papers she signed at this Embassy. I paid the very considerable sum of one hundred thousand pounds which, by an odd coincidence, is the amount bequeathed to your nephew."
"Oh, good God! good God!" cried the Ambassador, rising and clasping his hands over his brow as he walked up and down the room. "This is terrible! As bad as cheating at cards. But what you say explains everything."
"Explains what, my lord Count?"
"The letters my wretched nephew left behind him in his carelessness. Letters from this woman, recently written, indicating that he had promised to marry her, and asking fulfilment of his word. After all I have done for him! This means my disgrace and ruin."
Stranleigh's deep sympathy with the honest old man in his distress was evident.
"Not so, my lord Count. May I beg you to sit down again? We must avoid publicity, and then I ask you to leave the disentanglement to me. Do you happen to know General Goetz, heir to the Arrenfels estate?"
"I know him very well indeed. He is a valued friend of mine."
"A good man? One who would not take advantage of a fellow creature in a crisis?"
"One of the best; a Viennese gentleman. I can give him no higher praise."
"Then, with your own hand write me a letter of introduction to him. I leave for Vienna to-night."
When this letter was presented Stranleigh rose, thanked the Count not only for the epistle, but for the reception accorded him, and the explanation so freely given. One would think, to listen to the young man, that the Ambassador had conferred on him a great obligation, instead of being the primary cause of a serious loss.
"I think," said his lordship, "that I understand the situation, and can deal with it, avoiding publicity of any sort. There is just one crucial point in any question, and in this case it is the securing legal possession of the property the company supposed itself buying. With such a man as you describe General Goetz to be, I am unlikely to meet any difficulty, therefore I hope you will not allow my visit to disturb you further."
The old man's emotions did not allow him to speak, but he wrung the hand of his visitor with thankfulness.
Lord Stranleigh took the nine o'clock train that evening from Charing Cross to Dover. The train was but sparsely occupied, and in passing along it to find an empty compartment, he caught sight of a lady dressed in deep mourning, whom he instantly recognised, in spite of the fact that she was heavily veiled. After a moment's hesitation (there was little time to make up his mind, for the guard was already waving his green flag) he opened the door and stepped in.
"I hope you will pardon my intrusion. Miss Seidel, but I think, perhaps, you will admit that you owe me a word or two of explanation."
"I owe you much more than that, my lord, but I possess nothing with which to repay you."
"The conversation which you permit will do that. I merely wish to know if my surmises are correct. I may be doing an injustice in my thoughts to a person whom I will not name."
You mean me? Whatever your thoughts are, I well deserve them."
"No; I did not mean you."
"You cannot think too badly of me. I have lied, I have cheated, I have forged, I have stolen. There is little that is wicked left for me to do. My punishment may be inadequate, but it is grievous enough. I am deserted, I am penniless, I am out of employment."
"Oh, these things can be remedied. Now, let's get over the disagreeable part of this at once. Did you give the money to Lieutenant Grunwald?"
"Yes."
"All of it?"
"Every penny."
"And he deserted you, after promising marriage?"
"Yes; and wrote me a brutal letter."
"I take it that he originated the plan for obtaining the money?"
"Yes; and arranged it so that I alone must bear the brunt. He can prove that he merely borrowed it from me, not knowing its source."
"He is a thorough-paced scoundrel!"
"I am now on my way to Vienna to give myself up to the police and make confession."
"You will do nothing of the sort."
"Why not?"
Because I forbid it. Furthermore, to show that you are not bereft of friends, I shall proceed direct from Vienna to Paris, seek out this man, challenge him, fight him, and kill him, if I can."
"Oh, no, no, no, no!" cried the girl, for the first time some animation coming into her voice.
"Why not?"
"Because—because I love him."
"You can't possibly love him now!" exclaimed Stranleigh, with indignation.
The girl made no answer, but began to cry.
"Do you mean to say you would marry Lieutenant Grunwald if he asked you?"
"Yes," she murmured. "When a woman is really in love, all pride forsakes her."
Stranleigh sat back in his corner, too angry and disgusted to carry on further conversation. Another instance, he said to himself, proving that he did not comprehend women, and he quoted inaudibly the lines—
"'You smiled and spoke and I believed,
By every word and smile deceived.
Yet let not this last wish be vain,
Deceive, deceive me once again.'"
"Are you now on your way to Paris?" she asked timidly.
"No; to Vienna. I must see General Goetz at once. The Ambassador gave me a letter."
"Ah, I understand," she whispered. Again, after a long silence, she spoke: "You go from Vienna to Paris?"
"Yes; but I shall not challenge Lieutenant Grunwald."
"May I tell you something of that Transylvania estate? Would you believe me if I did?"
"I will believe anything you say."
You saw in the newspapers this morning that the Baroness is dead?"
"Yes."
"A week ago I knew that the end was not far off. I telegraphed to her relatives in Austria, two women who do not inherit the estates, but will doubtless benefit financially, for she was not poor, as I told you. They arrived two days ago, and I, being of no further use, was dismissed. I had devoted my whole life to the Baroness, which was only my duty, for her father and mother, and she herself have been both kind and generous to me. The Transylvania estate was not inherited by her father, but purchased by him, because of its mineral properties. She had never seen it, and cared nothing for the prospects that had interested her father. I assisted Baron von Arrenfels in this and other things, tabulating the reports of the engineers, and arranging all the papers concerning it. I spoke about its potential wealth so often that one day the Baroness said she would leave it to me, that being the only property she could bequeath. I know she intended to do this, and perhaps she has done so. I truly hope she has, but fear not, because as she grew weaker and weaker, her memory seemed to fail. I therefore in a measure, you see, regarded this as my own. Unluckily, I told Lieutenant Grunwald, and he persuaded me to treat it as my own, which led me into this horrible entanglement of deceit and fraud."
"Well, well; we will talk no more about it. I am much distressed that I should have forced this painful conversation upon you."
"Do you believe me?"
"Of course I do."
General Goetz, now Baron von Arrenfels, received the young man with charming politeness and cordiality, and when Stranleigh explained the purpose of his visit a shade of disappointment came over the Baron's face.
"I am very sorry," he said, "you did not telegraph me before leaving London, then I might have saved you a journey to Vienna."
"What!" cried Stranleigh in alarm, "has the property already been sold?"
"No; it does not belong to me. It was bequeathed by the Baroness to her attendant, Fraulein Seidel. You see, for some time I have been aware of the contents of the will made by the Baroness. She instructed her men of business to give me a copy."
When his lordship left for Paris he was a hundred thousand pounds richer than he had supposed himself to be when he quitted London.
At the very aristocratic club of Henri Quatre in Paris, famous for its high play, Lord Stranleigh had the advantage of an introduction to Lieutenant Grunwald, of Austria, enjoying the temporary celebrity of being the most fortunate gambler that the Club then contained.
Stranleigh laughed when challenged to play.
"No," he said, "I never venture, because all games of cards are unknown to me. Besides, I shouldn't care to play for the piffling stakes indulged in at the Henri Quatre. To labour at dealing out cards, to wait patiently for the result, and then win only three or four thousand pounds, what's the use of it? It is merely hard work without adequate recompense."
His audience laughed at this. Immense fortunes had been lost and won at the tables of the Henri Quatre ever since the time of that merry monarch.
"I think," said the Lieutenant, "we can play high enough to suit even you. There are other games besides those of cards."
"Will you play a game so simple that even a fool like myself can understand it?"
"Certainly! Play anything, so long as there's money at the end of it."
"Right you are!" exclaimed Stranleigh. "Now, here's a pack face downwards on the table between us. Venture any sum you like, and I'll cover it. We each lift a pile of cards from the top, and the man with the highest card takes the lucre. Then the man who loses puts up enough to cover the united stakes. Some outsider shuffles the pack, and the game thus proceeds until one or the other of us is cleaned out."
"Agreed," said the Lieutenant, placing on the table a hundred and twenty-five thousand francs in French bank-notes. Stranleigh took out a pocket-book, and selected five Bank of England notes for a thousand pounds each, throwing them down. The Lieutenant pulled a three of spades, and Stranleigh a queen of hearts. The money passed over to his lordship's side.
"Ten thousand pounds. Lieutenant."
The Lieutenant compressed his lips, but produced the amount. This time he drew an ace, and Stranleigh a king, and twenty thousand pounds lay heaped before the officer. Stranleigh calmly put down twenty Bank of England notes, and won.
"Damn it all!" cried the Lieutenant. "I don't carry the Bank of France in my pocket. Will you accept my I.O.U.?"
"No," laughed Stranleigh. "I belong to a country of tradesmen, and like to do business on a cash basis. But fortunately the day is early. We have reliable servants in this Club. Send a message to your bank. As a military man, you know when to bring up reinforcements."
The messenger was sent, and when he returned the play went on,until three hundred and twenty thousand pounds were shoved across the table to Lord Stranleigh. Perspiration was pouring down the Lieutenant's face. He trembled with anger as he rose to his feet.
"I appeal to the Club!" he vociferated. "This is villainously unfair. Lord Stranleigh has come here prepared to crush me with the weight of money. He comes as a banker, not as a gentleman."
"Really, Lieutenant," put in the Duc d'Archambault, "if you have any complaint, it should be referred to the Committee, and not made a matter of brawling in the Club."
"Oh!" protested Stranleigh, "there's nothing here for the Committee to decide. You all saw that I entered this contest only after being repeatedly challenged. This money is mine by the rules of the game, and my possession of it cannot be questioned. The game is as simple as A. B.C., and was explained thoroughly to the Lieutenant before he began."
"That's true," murmured several of the members.
"I demand to know how much money Lord Stranleigh brought into this Club. I declare that a search will show his pockets full of English banknotes; the flimsies that have ever been the curse of Europe."
"You have no right to make such a demand. However, as a matter of fact, I have less than a hundred pounds left. Here they are. I regret that luck has been against you, Lieutenant, but if you had won the last hazard, I should have occupied the position in which you now find yourself, namely, I should be compelled to send to my bank for more money. Of course I did not anticipate any trouble. I never had the pleasure of meeting the Lieutenant before. But let us have no disagreement."
"Easy to say that," growled the Lieutenant, "with three hundred and twenty thousand pounds in your grip."
"But I shall now propose to release my grip, unless any man here says the money was won unfairly."
"No one asserts that," said the Due d'Archambault.
"Very well. Lieutenant. We are here, as it were, two foreigners, Austrian and English, in the most gallant country in the world. I make a sporting offer that will appeal to this gallantry. But first let me ask you Are you a married man?"
"No," replied the Lieutenant.
"Neither am I. Now, you select a wife for me, and I'll select a wife for you. Whichever of us marries first, this money forms at least part of his wife's dowry. Until one or other of us marries, the money lies in trust in custody of this Club."
There was great cheering at this proposition, while Lieutenant Grunwald made no answer, but glared across the table at the genial Stranleigh.
"I call that a munificent offer," approved the Duc, "when you remember that the money belongs entirely, unquestionably to Lord Stranleigh."
"No matter for that," declared his lordship. "Now, Lieutenant, name the lady."
The Lieutenant, with a scowl, said—
"I name the Princess Azelie of Austria."
Stranleigh laughed.
"You see, gentlemen, how clever he is? He has beaten me in this contest of wits. The lady in question," Stranleigh bowed deeply, "from the proudest Court in Europe, will reject my suit with scorn, and serve me right. I name, as Lieutenant Grunwald's wife, Fraulein Seidel, of Vienna, with whom the Lieutenant is already acquainted."
A month later the impounded fortune was claimed by the Lieutenant, and paid over to his bride.
The End.
London : Ward, Lock & Co., Limited.