The Countess’s return to consciousness was very different from that ofJimmy Thesiger. It was more prolonged and infinitely1 more artistic2.
Artistic was Bundle’s word. She had been zealous3 in her ministrations—largely consisting of the application of cold water—and the Countess hadinstantly responded, passing a white, bewildered hand across her browand murmuring faintly.
It was at this point that Bill, at last relieved from his duties with tele-phone and doctors, had come bustling4 into the room and had instantlyproceeded to make (in Bundle’s opinion) a most regrettable idiot of him-self.
He had hung over the Countess with a concerned and anxious face andhad addressed a series of singularly idiotic5 remarks to her:
“I say, Countess. It’s all right. It’s really all right. Don’t try to talk. It’s badfor you. Just lie still. You’ll be all right in a minute. It’ll all come back toyou. Don’t say anything till you’re quite all right. Take your time. Just liestill and close your eyes. You’ll remember everything in a minute. Haveanother sip6 of water. Have some brandy. That’s the stuff. Don’t you think,Bundle, that some brandy .?.?. ?”
“For God’s sake, Bill, leave her alone,” said Bundle crossly. “She’ll be allright.”
And with an expert hand she flipped7 a good deal of cold water on to theexquisite makeup8 of the Countess’s face.
The Countess flinched9 and sat up. She looked considerably10 more wideawake.
“Ah!” she murmured. “I am here. Yes, I am here.”
“Take you time,” said Bill. “Don’t talk till you feel quite all right again.”
The Countess drew the folds of a very transparent11 negligée closeraround her.
“It is coming back to me,” she murmured. “Yes, it is coming back.”
She looked at the little crowd grouped around her. Perhaps somethingin the attentive12 faces struck her as unsympathetic. In any case she smileddeliberately up at the one face which clearly displayed a very oppositeemotion.
“Ah, my big Englishman,” she said very softly, “do not distress13 yourself.
All is well with me.”
“Oh! I say, but are you sure?” demanded Bill anxiously.
“Quite sure.” She smiled at him reassuringly14. “We Hungarians, we havenerves of steel.”
A look of intense relief passed over Bill’s face. A fatuous15 look settleddown there instead—a look which made Bundle earnestly long to kickhim.
“Have some water,” she said coldly.
The Countess refused water. Jimmy, kindlier to beauty in distress, sug-gested a cocktail16. The Countess reacted favourably17 to this suggestion.
When she had swallowed it, she looked round once more, this time with alivelier eye.
“Tell me, what has happened?” she demanded briskly.
“We were hoping you might be able to tell us that,” said SuperintendentBattle.
The Countess looked at him sharply. She seemed to become aware of thebig, quiet man for the first time.
“I went to your room,” said Bundle. “The bed hadn’t been slept in andyou weren’t there.”
She paused—looking accusingly at the Countess. The latter closed hereyes and nodded her head slowly.
“Yes, yes, I remember it all now. Oh, it was horrible!” She shuddered19.
“Do you want me to tell you?”
Superintendent18 Battle said, “If you please” at the same moment that Billsaid, “Not if you don’t feel up to it.”
The Countess looked from one to the other, but the quiet, masterful eyeof Superintendent Battle won the game.
“I could not sleep,” began the Countess. “The house—it oppressed me. Iwas all, as you say, on wires, the cat on the hot bricks. I knew that in thestate I was in it was useless to think of going to bed. I walked about myroom. I read. But the books placed there did not interest me greatly. Ithought I would come down and find something more absorbing.”
“Very natural,” said Bill.
“Very often done, I believe,” said Battle.
“So as soon as the idea occurred to me, I left my room and came down.
The house was very still—”
“Excuse me,” interrupted the Superintendent, “but can you give me anidea of the time when this occurred?”
“I never know the time,” said the Countess superbly, and swept on withher story.
“The house was very quiet. One could even hear the little mouse run, ifthere had been one. I come down the stairs—very quietly—”
“Very quietly?”
“Naturally I do not want to disturb the household,” said the Countess re-proachfully. “I come in here. I go into this corner and I search the shelvesfor a suitable book.”
“Having of course switched on the light?”
“No, I did not switch on the light. I had, you see, my little electric torchwith me. With that, I scanned the shelves.”
“Ah!” said the Superintendent.
“Suddenly,” continued the Countess dramatically, “I hear something. Astealthy sound. A muffled20 footstep. I switch out my torch and listen. Thefootsteps draw nearer—stealthy, horrible footsteps. I shrink behind thescreen. In another minute the door opens and the light is switched on. Theman—the burglar is in the room.”
“Yes, but I say—” began Mr. Thesiger.
A large-sized foot pressed his, and realizing that Superintendent Battlewas giving him a hint, Jimmy shut up.
“I nearly died of fear,” continued the Countess. “I tried not to breathe.
The man waited for a minute, listening. Then, still with that horrible,stealthy tread—”
Again Jimmy opened his mouth in protest, and again shut it.
“—he crossed to the window and peered out. He remained there for aminute or two, then he recrossed the room and turned out the lights again,locking the door. I am terrified. He is in the room, moving stealthily aboutin the dark. Ah, it is horrible. Suppose he should come upon me in thedark! In another minute I hear him again by the window. Then silence. Ihope that perhaps he may have gone out that way. As the minutes passand I hear no further sound, I am almost sure that he has done so. IndeedI am in the very act of switching on my torch and investigating when—prestissimo!—it all begins.”
“Yes?”
“Ah! But it was terrible—never—never shall I forget it! Two men tryingto murder each other. Oh, it was horrible! They reeled about the room,and furniture crashed in every direction. I thought, too, that I heard a wo-man scream—but that was not in the room. It was outside somewhere.
The criminal had a hoarse21 voice. He croaked22 rather than spoke23. He keptsaying ‘Lemme go—lemme go.’ The other man was a gentleman. He had acultured English voice.”
Jimmy looked gratified.
“He swore—mostly,” continued the Countess.
“Clearly a gentleman,” said Superintendent Battle.
“And then,” continued the Countess, “a flash and a shot. The bullet hitthe bookcase beside me. I—I suppose I must have fainted.”
She looked up at Bill. He took her hand and patted it.
“You poor dear,” he said. “How rotten for you.”
“Silly idiot,” thought Bundle.
Superintendent Battle had moved on swift, noiseless feet over to thebookcase a little to the right of the screen. He bent24 down, searching.
Presently he stooped and picked something up.
“It wasn’t a bullet, Countess,” he said. “It’s the shell of the cartridge25.
Where were you standing26 when you fired, Mr. Thesiger.”
Jimmy took up a position by the window.
“As nearly as I can see, about here.”
Superintendent Battle placed himself in the same spot.
“That’s right,” he agreed. “The empty shell would throw right rear. It’s a.455. I don’t wonder the Countess thought it was a bullet in the dark. It hitthe bookcase about a foot from her. The bullet itself grazed the windowframe and we’ll find it outside tomorrow—unless your assailant happensto be carrying it about in him.”
Jimmy shook his head regretfully.
“Leopold, I fear, did not cover himself with glory,” he remarked sadly.
The Countess was looking at him with most flattering attention.
“Your arm!” she exclaimed. “It is all tied up! Was it you then—?”
Jimmy made her a mock bow.
“I’m so glad I’ve got a cultured, English voice,” he said. “And I can assureyou that I wouldn’t have dreamed of using the language I did if I had hadany suspicion that a lady was present.”
“I did not understand all of it,” the Countess hastened to explain. “Al-though I had an English governess when I was young—”
“It isn’t the sort of thing she’d be likely to teach you,” agreed Jimmy.
“Kept you busy with your uncle’s pen, and the umbrella of the gardener’sniece. I know the sort of stuff.”
“But what has happened?” asked the Countess. “That is what I want toknow. I demand to know what has happened.”
There was a moment’s silence whilst everybody looked at Superintend-ent Battle.
“It’s very simple,” said Battle mildly. “Attempted robbery. Some politicalpapers stolen from Sir Stanley Digby. The thieves nearly got away withthem, but thanks to this young lady”—he indicated Loraine—“they didn’t.”
The Countess flashed a glance at the girl—rather an odd glance.
“Indeed,” she said coldly.
“A very fortunate coincidence that she happened to be there,” said Su-perintendent Battle, smiling.
The Countess gave a little sigh and half closed her eyes again.
“It is absurd, but I still feel extremely faint,” she murmured.
“Of course you do,” cried Bill. “Let me help you up to your room. Bundlewill come with you.”
“It is very kind of Lady Eileen,” said the Countess, “but I should prefer tobe alone. I am really quite all right. Perhaps you will just help me up thestairs.”
She rose to her feet, accepted Bill’s arm and, leaning heavily on it, wentout of the room. Bundle followed as far as the hall, but, the Countess reit-erating her assurance—with some tartness—that she was quite all right,she did not accompany them upstairs.
But as she stood watching the Countess’s graceful27 form, supported byBill, slowly mounting the stairway, she stiffened28 suddenly to acute atten-tion. The Countess’s negligée, as previously29 mentioned, was thin—a mereveil of orange chiffon. Through it Bundle saw distinctly below the rightshoulder blade a small black mole30.
With a gasp31, Bundle swung impetuously round to where SuperintendentBattle was just emerging from the library. Jimmy and Loraine had pre-ceded him.
“There,” said Battle. “I’ve fastened the window and there will be a manon duty outside. And I’ll lock the door and take the key. In the morningwe’ll do what the French call reconstruct the crime—Yes, Lady Eileen,what is it?”
“Superintendent Battle, I must speak with you,—at once.”
“Why, certainly, I—”
George Lomax suddenly appeared, Dr. Cartwright by his side.
“Ah, there you are, Battle. You’ll be relieved to hear that there’s nothingseriously wrong with O’Rourke.”
“I never thought there would be much wrong with Mr. O’Rourke,” saidBattle.
“He’s had a strong hypodermic administered to him,” said the doctor.
“He’ll wake perfectly32 all right in the morning, perhaps a bit of a head, per-haps not. Now then, young man, let’s look at this bullet wound of yours.”
“Come on, nurse,” said Jimmy to Loraine. “Come and hold the basin ormy hand. Witness a strong man’s agony. You know the stunt33.”
Jimmy, Loraine and the doctor went off together. Bundle continued tothrow agonized34 glances in the direction of Superintendent Battle, who hadbeen buttonholed by George.
The Superintendent waited patiently till a pause occurred in George’s lo-quacity. He then swiftly took advantage of it.
“I wonder, sir, if I might have a word privately35 with Sir Stanley? In thelittle study at the end there.”
“Certainly,” said George. “Certainly. I’ll go and fetch him at once.”
He hurried off upstairs again. Battle drew Bundle swiftly into the draw-ing room and shut the door.
“Now, Lady Eileen, what is it?”
“I’ll tell you as quickly as I can—but it’s rather long and complicated.”
As concisely36 as she could, Bundle related her introduction to the SevenDials Club and her subsequent adventures there. When she had finished,Superintendent Battle drew a long breath. For once, his facial woodennesswas laid aside.
“Remarkable,” he said. “Remarkable. I wouldn’t have believed it pos-sible—even for you, Lady Eileen. I ought to have known better.”
“But you did give me a hint, Superintendent Battle. You told me to askBill Eversleigh.”
“It’s dangerous to give people like you a hint, Lady Eileen. I neverdreamt of your going to the lengths you have.”
“Well, it’s all right, Superintendent Battle. My death doesn’t lie at yourdoor.”
“Not yet, it doesn’t,” said Battle grimly.
He stood as though in thought, turning things over in his mind. “WhatMr. Thesiger was about, letting you run into danger like that, I can’tthink,” he said presently.
“He didn’t know till afterwards,” said Bundle. “I’m not a complete mug,Superintendent Battle. And, anyway, he’s got his hands full looking afterMiss Wade37.”
“Is that so?” said the Superintendent. “Ah!”
He twinkled a little.
“I shall have to detail Mr. Eversleigh to look after you, Lady Eileen.”
“Bill!” said Bundle contemptuously. “But, Superintendent Battle, youhaven’t heard the end of my story. The woman I saw there—Anna—No 1.
Yes, No 1 is the Countess Radzky.”
And rapidly she went on to describe her recognition of the mole.
To her surprise the Superintendent hemmed38 and hawed.
“A mole isn’t much to go upon, Lady Eileen. Two women might have anidentical mole very easily. You must remember that the Countess Radzkyis a very well-known figure in Hungary.”
“Then this isn’t the real Countess Radzky. I tell you I’m sure this is thesame woman I saw there. And look at her tonight—the way we found her.
I don’t believe she ever fainted at all.”
“Oh, I shouldn’t say that, Lady Eileen. That empty shell striking thebookcase beside her might have frightened any woman half out of herwits.”
“But what was she doing there anyway? One doesn’t come down to lookfor a book with an electric torch.”
Battle scratched his cheek. He seemed unwilling39 to speak. He began topace up and down the room, as though making up his mind. At last heturned to the girl.
“See here, Lady Eileen, I’m going to trust you. The Countess’s conduct issuspicious. I know that as well as you do. It’s very suspicious—but we’vegot to go carefully. There mustn’t be any unpleasantness with the Em-bassies. One has got to be sure.”
“I see. If you were sure .?.?.”
“There’s something else. During the war, Lady Eileen, there was a greatoutcry about German spies being left at large. Busybodies wrote letters tothe papers about it. We paid no attention. Hard words didn’t hurt us. Thesmall fry were left alone. Why? Because through them, sooner or later, wegot the big fellow—the man at the top.”
“You mean?”
“Don’t bother about what I mean, Lady Eileen. But remember this. Iknow all about the Countess. And I want her let alone.”
“And now,” added Superintendent Battle ruefully, “I’ve got to think ofsomething to say to Sir Stanley Digby!”
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1
infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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artistic
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| adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的 | |
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zealous
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| adj.狂热的，热心的 | |
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bustling
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| adj.喧闹的 | |
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idiotic
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| adj.白痴的 | |
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sip
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| v.小口地喝，抿，呷；n.一小口的量 | |
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flipped
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| 轻弹( flip的过去式和过去分词 )； 按（开关）； 快速翻转； 急挥 | |
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makeup
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| n.组织；性格；化装品 | |
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flinched
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| v.（因危险和痛苦）退缩，畏惧( flinch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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transparent
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| adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的 | |
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attentive
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| adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的 | |
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distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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reassuringly
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| ad.安心，可靠 | |
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fatuous
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| adj.愚昧的；昏庸的 | |
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16
cocktail
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| n.鸡尾酒；餐前开胃小吃；混合物 | |
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favourably
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| adv. 善意地，赞成地 =favorably | |
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superintendent
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| n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长 | |
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shuddered
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| v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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muffled
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| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
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hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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croaked
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| v.呱呱地叫( croak的过去式和过去分词 )；用粗的声音说 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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cartridge
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| n.弹壳，弹药筒；(装磁带等的)盒子 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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stiffened
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| 加强的 | |
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previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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mole
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| n.胎块；痣；克分子 | |
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gasp
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| n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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stunt
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| n.惊人表演，绝技，特技；vt.阻碍...发育，妨碍...生长 | |
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agonized
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| v.使（极度）痛苦，折磨( agonize的过去式和过去分词 )；苦斗；苦苦思索；感到极度痛苦 | |
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privately
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| adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地 | |
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concisely
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| adv.简明地 | |
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wade
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| v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉 | |
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hemmed
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| 缝…的褶边( hem的过去式和过去分词 )； 包围 | |
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unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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