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"Just as you like, of course," the other remarked, with studied unconcern. "What sort of place would it be?" Sogrange asked. The newcomer drew them on one side, although, as a matter of fact, every one else had already melted away. "Have you ever heard of the Secret Societies of New York?" he inquired. "Well, I guess you haven't, any way not to know anything about them. Well, then, listen.
He was ready for what might come, seemingly still half asleep, yet indeed with every sense of intuition and observation keenly alert. Sogrange leaned over from his place. "It is a lonely country, this, into which we are coming, madame," he remarked. She shrugged her shoulders. "Indeed, it is not so lonely here as you will think it when we arrive at our destination," she replied.
"Have them sent up at once," he directed, "every one of them." "What, all at the same time?" Peter asked. "All at the same time it must be," Sogrange answered. "Give them to understand that it is an affair of five minutes only." They came trooping in. Sogrange welcomed them cordially. "My friend the Baron de Grost," he explained, indicating Peter. "I am the Marquis de Sogrange.
Sogrange and Peter were shown into a modern bathroom by a servant who was so anxious to wait upon them that they had difficulty in sending him away. As soon as he was gone and the door closed behind him, Peter put his foot against it and turned the key. "You were going to write something to me in the car?" Sogrange nodded. "There was a moment," he admitted, "when I had a suspicion. It has passed.
We will lunch at one of the fashionable restaurants and drive in the Park afterwards. First of all, however, we must take a stroll along this wonderful Fifth Avenue." The two men spent a morning after their own hearts. They lunched astonishingly well at Sherry's and drove afterwards in the Central Park. When they returned to the hotel Sogrange was in excellent spirits.
Sogrange rose to his feet. "Well," he said, "I am not inclined to bear malice, but you must understand this from me, Philip Burr. As a Society, I dissolve you. I deprive you of your title and of your signs. Call yourself what you will, but never again mention the name of the 'Double-Four. With us in Europe, another era has dawned. We are on the side of law and order.
Is it my fault that I blunder? By the merest accident I have already committed a hideous faux pas. You ought to have warned me." "What do you mean?" "I have spoken to the Duchesse of the Maine disaster." The eyes of Sogrange gleamed for a moment, but he lay perfectly still. "Why not?" he asked. "A good many people are talking about it.
Peter recognised him at once and touched Sogrange on the arm. The new-comer accosted them pleasantly. "Say, you'll excuse my butting in," he began, "but I can see you are kind of disappointed. These suckers" indicating the ex-detective "talk a lot about what they're going to show you, and when they get you round, it all amounts to nothing.
"You mean " Peter began. "I mean that Bernadine must die," Sogrange declared. There was a brief silence. Outside, the early morning street noises were increasing in volume as the great army of workers, streaming towards the heart of the city from a hundred suburbs, passed on to their tasks.
He, at his own expense, would raise the Maine. If it were true that the explosion occurred from outside, he would find the money. You see, the message has arrived. After all these years, the sea has given up its secret. Marsine will return to Spain with an unlimited credit behind him. The House of Asturias will crumble up like a pack of cards." Sogrange looked out into the darkness.
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