To E.A.B
In memory of a journey, some lion stories
and a request that I should some day write
the “Mystery of the Mill House”
Prologue1
Nadina, the Russian dancer who had taken Paris by storm, swayed to thesound of the applause, bowed and bowed again. Her narrow black eyesnarrowed themselves still more, the long line of her scarlet2 mouth curvedfaintly upwards3. Enthusiastic Frenchmen continued to beat the groundappreciatively as the curtain fell with a swish, hiding the reds and bluesand magentas of the bizarre décor. In a swirl4 of blue and orange draperiesthe dancer left the stage. A bearded gentleman received her enthusiastic-ally in his arms. It was the Manager.
“Magnificent, petite, magnificent,” he cried. “Tonight you have sur-passed yourself.” He kissed her gallantly5 on both cheeks in a somewhatmatter-of-fact manner.
Madame Nadina accepted the tribute with the ease of long habit andpassed on to her dressing6 room, where bouquets7 were heaped carelesslyeverywhere, marvellous garments of futuristic design hung on pegs8, andthe air was hot and sweet with the scent9 of the massed blossoms and withthe more sophisticated perfumes and essences. Jeanne, the dresser, min-istered to her mistress, talking incessantly10 and pouring out a stream of ful-some compliments.
A knock at the door interrupted the flow, Jeanne went to answer it, andreturned with a card in her hand.
“Madame will receive?”
“Let me see.”
The dancer stretched out a languid hand, but at the sight of the name onthe card, “Count Sergius Paulovitch,” a sudden flicker11 of interest came intoher eyes.
“I will see him. The maize12 peignoir, Jeanne, and quickly. And when theCount comes you may go.”
“Bien, Madame.”
Jeanne brought the peignoir, an exquisite13 wisp of corn-coloured chiffonand ermine. Nadina slipped into it, and sat smiling to herself, whilst onelong white hand beat a slow tattoo14 on the glass of the dressing table.
The Count was prompt to avail himself of the privilege accorded to him—a man of medium height, very slim, very elegant, very pale, extraordin-arily weary. In feature, little to take hold of, a man difficult to recognizeagain if one left his mannerisms out of account. He bowed over the dan-cer’s hand with exaggerated courtliness.
“Madame, this is a pleasure indeed.”
So much Jeanne heard before she went out, closing the door behind her.
Alone with her visitor, a subtle change came over Nadina’s smile.
“Compatriots though we are, we will not speak Russian, I think,” she ob-served.
“Since we neither of us know a word of the language, it might be aswell,” agreed her guest.
By common consent, they dropped into English, and nobody, now thatthe Count’s mannerisms had dropped from him, could doubt that it washis native language. He had, indeed, started life as a quick-change music-hall artiste in London.
“You had great success tonight,” he remarked. “I congratulate you.”
“All the same,” said the woman, “I am disturbed. My position is not whatit was. The suspicions aroused during the War have never died down. Iam continually watched and spied upon.”
“But no charge of espionage15 was ever brought against you?”
“Our chief lays his plans too carefully for that.”
“Long life to the ‘Colonel,’ ” said the Count, smiling. “Amazing news, is itnot, that he means to retire? To retire! Just like a doctor, or a butcher, or aplumber—”
“Or any other business man,” finished Nadina. “It should not surpriseus. That is what the ‘Colonel’ has always been—an excellent man of busi-ness. He has organized crime as another man might organize a boot fact-ory. Without committing himself, he has planned and directed a series ofstupendous coups16, embracing every branch of what we might call his ‘pro-fession.’ Jewel robberies, forgery17, espionage (the latter very profitable inwartime), sabotage18, discreet19 assassination20, there is hardly anything he hasnot touched. Wisest of all, he knows when to stop. The game begins to bedangerous?—he retires gracefully—with an enormous fortune!”
“H’m!” said the Count doubtfully. “It is rather—upsetting for all of us.
We are at a loose end, as it were.”
“But we are being paid off—on a most generous scale!”
Something, some undercurrent of mockery in her tone, made the manlook at her sharply. She was smiling to herself, and the quality of hersmile aroused his curiosity. But he proceeded diplomatically:
“Yes, the ‘Colonel’ has always been a great paymaster. I attribute muchof his success to that—and to his invariable plan of providing a suitablescapegoat. A great brain, undoubtedly22 a great brain! And an apostle of themaxim, ‘If you want a thing done safely, do not do it yourself !’ Here arewe, every one of us incriminated up to the hilt and absolutely in hispower, and not one of us has anything on him.”
He paused, almost as though he were expecting her to disagree withhim, but she remained silent, smiling to herself as before.
“Not one of us,” he mused23. “Still, you know, he is superstitious24, the oldman. Years ago, I believe, he went to one of these fortune-telling people.
She prophesied25 a lifetime of success, but declared that his downfall wouldbe brought about through a woman.”
He had interested her now. She looked up eagerly.
“That is strange, very strange! Through a woman you say?”
He smiled and shrugged26 his shoulders.
“Doubtless, now that he has—retired, he will marry. Some young societybeauty, who will disperse27 his millions faster than he acquired them.”
Nadina shook her head.
“No, no, that is not the way of it. Listen, my friend, tomorrow I go toLondon.”
“But your contract here?”
“I shall be away only one night. And I go incognito28, like Royalty29. No onewill ever know that I have left France. And why do you think that I go?”
“Hardly for pleasure at this time of the year. January, a detestable foggymonth! It must be for profit, eh?”
“Exactly.” She rose and stood in front of him, every graceful21 line of herarrogant with pride. “You said just now that none of us had anything onthe chief. You were wrong. I have. I, a woman, have had the wit and, yes,the courage—for it needs courage—to double-cross him. You rememberthe De Beer diamonds?”
“Yes, I remember. At Kimberley, just before the war broke out? I hadnothing to do with it, and I never heard the details, the case was hushedup for some reason, was it not? A fine haul too.”
“A hundred thousand pounds” worth of stones. Two of us worked it—under the ‘Colonel’s’ orders, of course. And it was then that I saw mychance. You see, the plan was to substitute some of the De Beer diamondsfor some sample diamonds brought from South America by two youngprospectors who happened to be in Kimberley at the time. Suspicion wasthen bound to fall on them.”
“Very clever,” interpolated the Count approvingly.
“The ‘Colonel’ is always clever. Well, I did my part—but I also did onething which the ‘Colonel’ had not foreseen. I kept back some of the SouthAmerican stones — one or two are unique and could easily be provednever to have passed through De Beers’ hands. With these diamonds inmy possession, I have the whip-hand of my esteemed30 chief. Once the twoyoung men are cleared, his part in the matter is bound to be suspected. Ihave said nothing all these years, I have been content to know that I hadthis weapon in reverse, but now matters are different. I want my price—and it will be big, I might almost say a staggering price.”
“Extraordinary,” said the Count. “And doubtless you carry these dia-monds about with you everywhere?”
His eyes roamed gently around the disordered room.
Nadina laughed softly.
“You need suppose nothing of the sort. I am not a fool. The diamondsare in a safe place where no one will dream of looking for them.”
“I never thought you a fool, my dear lady, but may I venture to suggestthat you are somewhat foolhardy? The ‘Colonel’ is not the type of man totake kindly31 to being blackmailed32, you know.”
“I am not afraid of him,” she laughed. “There is only one man I haveever feared—and he is dead.”
The man looked at her curiously33.
“Let us hope that he will not come to life again, then,” he remarkedlightly.
“What do you mean?” cried the dancer sharply.
The Count looked slightly surprised.
“I only meant that resurrection would be awkward for you,” he ex-plained. “A foolish joke.”
She gave a sigh of relief.
“Oh, no, he is dead all right. Killed in the war. He was a man who once—loved me.”
“In South Africa?” asked the Count negligently34.
“Yes, since you ask it, in South Africa.”
“That is your native country, is it not?”
She nodded. Her visitor rose and reached for his hat.
“Well,” he remarked, “you know your own business best, but, if I wereyou, I should fear the ‘Colonel’ far more than any disillusioned35 lover. He isa man whom it is particularly easy to—underestimate.”
She laughed scornfully.
“As if I did not know him after all these years!”
“I wonder if you do?” he said softly. “I very much wonder if you do.”
“Oh, I am not a fool! And I am not alone in this. The South African mailboat docks at Southampton tomorrow, and on board her is a man who hascome specially36 from Africa at my request and who has carried out certainorders of mine. The ‘Colonel’ will have not one of us to deal with, but two.”
“Is that wise?”
“It is necessary.”
“You are sure of this man?”
A rather peculiar37 smile played over the dancer’s face.
“I am quite sure of him. He is inefficient38, but perfectly39 trustworthy.” Shepaused, and then added in an indifferent tone of voice: “As a matter offact, he happens to be my husband.”
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1
prologue
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| n.开场白，序言；开端，序幕 | |
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scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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swirl
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| v.(使)打漩，(使)涡卷；n.漩涡，螺旋形 | |
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gallantly
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| adv. 漂亮地，勇敢地，献殷勤地 | |
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dressing
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| n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料 | |
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7
bouquets
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| n.花束( bouquet的名词复数 )；（酒的）芳香 | |
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pegs
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| n.衣夹( peg的名词复数 )；挂钉；系帐篷的桩；弦钮v.用夹子或钉子固定( peg的第三人称单数 )；使固定在某水平 | |
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scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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incessantly
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| ad.不停地 | |
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flicker
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| vi./n.闪烁，摇曳，闪现 | |
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12
maize
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| n.玉米 | |
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exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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14
tattoo
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| n.纹身，(皮肤上的)刺花纹；vt.刺花纹于 | |
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15
espionage
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| n.间谍行为，谍报活动 | |
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16
coups
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| n.意外而成功的行动( coup的名词复数 )；政变；努力办到难办的事 | |
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17
forgery
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| n.伪造的文件等，赝品，伪造（行为） | |
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18
sabotage
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| n.怠工，破坏活动，破坏；v.从事破坏活动，妨害，破坏 | |
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19
discreet
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| adj.(言行)谨慎的；慎重的；有判断力的 | |
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20
assassination
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| n.暗杀；暗杀事件 | |
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21
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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22
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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23
mused
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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24
superstitious
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| adj.迷信的 | |
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25
prophesied
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| v.预告，预言( prophesy的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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26
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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27
disperse
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| vi.使分散；使消失；vt.分散；驱散 | |
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28
incognito
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| adv.匿名地；n.隐姓埋名；adj.化装的，用假名的，隐匿姓名身份的 | |
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29
royalty
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| n.皇家，皇族 | |
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30
esteemed
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| adj.受人尊敬的v.尊敬( esteem的过去式和过去分词 )；敬重；认为；以为 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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32
blackmailed
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| 胁迫，尤指以透露他人不体面行为相威胁以勒索钱财( blackmail的过去式 ) | |
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33
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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34
negligently
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35
disillusioned
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| a.不再抱幻想的，大失所望的，幻想破灭的 | |
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36
specially
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| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
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37
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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38
inefficient
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| adj.效率低的，无效的 | |
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39
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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