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Let us move together and make sure that he does not evade us." "Is it an alliance which you are proposing?" de Grost asked, with a quiet smile. "Why not?" Bernadine answered. "Enemies have united before to-day against a common foe."
Bernadine alone of the others followed him inside, closing the door behind. De Grost, who appeared exceedingly comfortable, stretched out his hand and took a small black bottle from a tiny mahogany racking fixed against the wall by his side. "You will excuse me, my dear Bernadine," he said, "but I see my friend Greening has been tasting a few wines. The 'XX' upon the label here signifies approval.
They came trooping in. Sogrange welcomed them cordially. "My friend, the Baron de Grost," he explained, indicating Peter. "I am the Marquis de Sogrange. Let us know what we can do to serve you." One of the men stepped forward. "Very glad to meet you, Marquis, and you, Baron," he said. "I won't bother you with any introductions, but I and the company here represent the Press of New York.
Mademoiselle Celaire, in her tight-fitting, shabby black frock, with her wild mass of hair, her flashing eyes, her seductive gestures, was, without doubt, a marvelous person. Peter, Baron de Grost, watched her every movement with absorbed attention. When the curtain went down he forgot to clap. His eyes followed her off the stage. Violet shrugged her shoulders.
"Quite easy," said the Baron. "I'll manage it." The rubber was just finishing as De Grost re-entered the room. He touched the young man, who had been the subject of their conversation, upon the shoulder. "My wife would like to speak to you for a moment," he said. "She is in the other room." Prince Albert rose to his feet.
She was unmoved; her face had lost all expression. No one noticed in that rapt moment that Bernadine had crept from the room. "It was you," she cried, "who killed my father and sent my brothers into exile!" "God help me!" he moaned. She turned to de Grost. "Take him away with you, please," she said. "I have finished with him!" "Sophia!" he pleaded.
A few minutes later he made his excuses to his wife and with a reluctance for which he could scarcely account left the house. There was something in the air, he felt, which he did not understand. He would not have admitted it to himself, but he more than half divined the truth. The vacant seat in his wife's carriage was filled that night by the Baron de Grost.
The forms of a man and a youth, bound with ropes and gagged, lay stretched upon the floor. De Grost sighed. "I am afraid," he said, "that Mr. Greening, at any rate, is most uncomfortable." Bernadine turned off the light. "At least, Baron," he declared, "if such extreme measures should become necessary, I can promise you one thing you shall have a quicker passage into Eternity than they."
"It would break your heart," she declared. His voice sank even below a whisper. Decidedly, Peter, Baron de Grost, did not improve! He rose to leave precisely at the right time, neither too early nor too late. He had spent altogether a most amusing evening. There were one or two little comedies which had diverted him extremely.
"Incorruptible, absolutely incorruptible. I congratulate you, De Grost. Your society is one of the most wonderful upon the face of this earth. I know little about it, but my admiration is very sincere. Their attention to details, and the personnel of their staff, is almost perfect. I may tell you at once that no sum that could be offered, tempted either of these men."
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