IV
Being now definitely committed to whatever adventures were in store for me, I drew up a chair to the side of Nancy's desk.
“Let us go to work,” I said. “If we are to start for Ireland to-night, there are many things to be done. It is now half past four o'clock, and the Irish mail leaves Euston at a quarter to nine, so that we have really very little time. Tell me, Nancy, what arrangements you have made already, so that 1 may know exactly where we stand.”
“The only arrangement made,” she replied, “is that we are to cross to-night by the mail and go on to Sir Desmond's place to-morrow. My maid is packing our trunks, and we have no other preparations to make. From this time you will take all the traveling arrangements out of our hands. You are to act as handy man generally.”
“No,” I said, “I am to act as director in chief. I shall expect explicit obedience to my orders. Now please answer some questions which I desire to put to you. First, of how many persons will our party consist?”
“Four—the princess, myself, yourself, and Patty Moore, my maid.”
“Ah, your maid! Is she a person to be trusted?”
“She has been with me for five years, and I would trust her with my life.”
“Ah, yes! But is she to be trusted with a secret? Lives are cheap—a secret usually fetches a fair market price.”
“Cosmo! Yes—yes—yes! At any rate, I have trusted her with several.”
“Very good! Who is going to take charge of those amethysts and things?”
“Well, seeing that they belong to Amirel, and that she has already brought them safely, all alone, halfway across Europe, I should say that she will take charge of them herself,” she answered.
“Also very good!” said I. “Now where is the money necessary for all this business?”
“I have a hundred pounds here in notes and gold,” she told me. “Will that be sufficient for our present expenses?”
“Amply sufficient. Hand it over to me. Now listen,” I went on, as I put the money carefully away in my breast pocket. “With the receipt of this money I assume command of the campaign to conduct yourself and your highborn friend to Sir Desmond Adare's baronial hall in Ireland, and 'to keep you there in safety until Sir Desmond arrives. By the way, I suppose the princess is of full age?”
“She is of my own age.”
“Then she is twenty-five, and ought to know her own mind. Again very good! Now please give me a map of Ireland and this month's railway guide.”
“How glad I am that I met you, Cosmo!” she said, as she rose to obey my commands.
“Thanks! By the way, Nancy, am I to address you as Miss St. Clair or as Nancy while we are engaged in this adventure?”
“Oh, call me Nancy!” she exclaimed impulsively. “Amirel calls me Nancy, of course, because I was only Nancy when she first knew me. I shall tell her the truth as regards you—that you are a very old friend—”
“Tried by the separation of fifteen years, eh? Very good! Now for the railway guide. Here we are—Euston, 8.45; Holyhead, 2.17; Dublin, Westland Row, 6 am. A miserable hour in which to arrive anywhere, Nancy, isn't it? Now then for the map—where is this castle?”
“It is called Annalleen Castle, and is a few miles from Ennis,” she answered, opening an atlas and turning to a map of Ireland. “There are so many castles just about there—ah, here it is!”
“Let me see, yes—Annalleen Castle. It seems to be about five miles south of Ennis. We must travel by the Great Southern and Western, I think.”
Nancy looked down at the map, the railway guide, and myself.
“Couldn't we spend just one day in Dublin?” she said.
“I wanted to see the little street again. Perhaps we might induce whoever lives in the old house to let us sit down in the parlor just for a moment.”
“I'm afraid this isn't a time for sentiment, Nancy,” I replied; “but I don't see why we shouldn't stay in Dublin for a day and a night and go on to Ennis the next day. I'll wire to the Shelbourne for rooms. Ah, Nancy, I've never been in Dublin since—”
The sudden opening of the door put an end to my eloquence. I saw Nancy smile a welcome as she glanced in that direction. I turned—the Princess Amirel of Amavia stood framed in the doorway.
It needed no second glance to know that one stood in the presence of a great lady. She was indeed a gracious figure, taller than the average woman. Her dark hair, of an indescribable sheen and shimmer, framed a countenance in which every feature was faultless, and of which the coloring was perfect. Her eyes were of the deepest blue, grave, frank, and candid.
“Ah, pardon!” she said, with a smile. “I did not know—”
She started to go, but Nancy sprang forward.
“No, Amirel, stay. This is Mr. Hanmer, who gave me Euphemia years ago,” said Nancy. “Cosmo, make your best bow to the Princess Amirel of Amavia!”
But the princess had already stretched out her hand to me with a frank, hearty graciousness that was all in keeping with her presence.
“Then Mr. Hanmer is quite an old friend,” she said. “If one may make a person's acquaintance by hearing much of him, I have already made his; but”—she looked inquiringly at Nancy—“I thought you had lost Euphemia's grandpapa, as you used to call Mr. Hanmer, long since.”
“We have met again,” said Nancy; “and—but sit down, Amirel—I have something to tell you. Dear, you trust me in everything, do you not?”
“Trust you, Nancy!”
“Then, dear, listen. I have told my old friend Cosmo”—she laid her hand on my arm as she spoke—“who was so good to my father and to me, long years ago, everything about our present difficulty—everything. He will help us. You do not mind, Amirel?”
The princess turned from Nancy to me.
“I have not so many friends that I dare refuse to accept a new one,” she said. “Thank you, Mr. Hanmer!”
“I will serve you to the best of my power, princess,” I said. “I fear I can do no more than play the part of watchdog, but I will play it faithfully.”
She smiled again, and sat down, looking from me to Nancy.
“I conclude that you and Mr. Hanmer have been conspiring together,” she said. “At what result have you arrived?”
Nancy explained everything to her. She comprehended every detail readily.
“Yes, that seems perfect,” she said. “I thank you both so much! I think we have nothing to fear unless my brother and his friend the count should find us out and annoy us. Adalbert is so weak and so easily led, and the count is so pertinacious, that if he discovers my whereabouts he will certainly persuade Adalbert to travel over to Ireland and lay siege to this castle, just as if we were living in the Middle Ages. I shall be glad when Desmond arrives, Nancy!”
“But the jewels and the amethyst, princess?” I inquired.
“Ah, yes—the amethyst!” she replied, a new emotion overspreading her face. “I will defend my amethyst and my jewels against all the world!”
“I am anxious about their safety,” I said. “May I inquire how they are to be conveyed to Ireland?”
The princess looked at Nancy.
“I brought them here in my suitcase,” she answered. “Would not that serve?”
“I should prefer to have them securely attached to the person of some member of the party,” I told her.
“Then I must carry them,” said the princess with decision; “but I can't fasten a suitcase about me!”
Nancy touched the bell.
“Patty will tell us,” she said.
“Your maid?” I inquired.
“Yes—she is clever at finding a way out of difficulties.”
I was glad to find that Patty Moore was a healthy-looking English girl of a rather superior type, who seemed to be both intelligent and efficient. Nancy explained the difficulty in a few words. The maid produced a leather satchel, which had a patent lock and a couple of stout straps fitting about the waist and the shoulders.
“Ah!” said the princess. “Let us test its capacity.”
It was now that I saw the famous Amavia amethyst for the first time. It was a remarkably fine specimen; but the splendor of the pearls, diamonds, and rubies aroused many anxious thoughts in my mind.
The cases were securely locked, the satchel was placed in the safe, and Nancy pocketed the key. With an assurance that I would complete all arrangements and return to the flat at eight o'clock, I took my leave.
In the hallway of the apartment house a tall man with a fierce mustache and a red nose was attentively reading the board which contained the tenants' names. He looked up as I ran down, and for a second I thought he was going to speak to me. Then he turned to the board again, and I passed out and forgot him.