CHAPTER XXI. JENNIE KEEPS STEP WITH THE WEDDING MARCH.
They had a smooth and speedy passage across from Calais to Dover, andthe train drew in at Charing Cross Station exactly on time. Lord Donalrecognized his uncle's brougham waiting for him, and on handing theyoung lady out of the railway carriage he espied the old man himselfclosely scrutinizing the passengers. Sir James, catching sight of him,came eagerly forward and clasped both his nephew's hands.
"Donal," he cried, "I am very glad indeed to see you. Is everythingright?"
"As right as can be, uncle."
"Then I am glad of that, too, for we have had some very disquietinghints from the East."
"They were quite justified, as I shall tell you later on; but meanwhile,uncle, allow me to introduce to you Miss Baxter, who has done me thehonour of promising to be my wife."
Jennie blushed in the searching rays of the electric light as the oldman turned quickly towards her. Sir James held her hand in his for somemoments before he spoke, gazing intently at her. Then he said slowly,"Ah, Donal, Donal, you always had a keen eye for the beautiful."
"Oh, I say," cried the young man, abashed at his uncle's frankness, "Idon't call that a diplomatic remark at all, you know."
"Indeed, Sir James," said the girl, laughing merrily, "it is better thandiplomatic, it is complimentary, and I assure you I appreciate it. Thefirst time he met me he took me for quite another person."
"Then, whoever that person is, my dear," replied the old man, "I'llguarantee she is a lovely woman. And you mustn't mind what I say; nobodyelse does, otherwise my boy Donal here would be much higher in theservice than the present moment finds him; but I am pleased to tellyou that the journey he has now finished will prove greatly to hisadvantage."
"Indeed, uncle, that is true," said the young man, looking at hisbetrothed, "for on this journey I met again Miss Baxter, whom, to mygreat grief, I had lost for some time. And now, uncle, I want you todo me a great favour. Do you know Mr. Hardwick, editor of the _DailyBugle_?"
"Yes, I know him; but I don't like him, nor his paper either."
"Well, neither do the Russians, for that matter, by this time, and Imerely wish to tell you that if it hadn't been for his action, and forthe promptness of a member of his staff, I should have failed in thismission. I was drugged by the Russian police and robbed. Miss Baxter,who was on the train, saw something of what was going forward, andsucceeded, most deftly, in despoiling the robbers. I was lyinginsensible at the time and helpless. She secured the document and handedit back to me when we had crossed the frontier, leaving in the hands ofthe Russians a similar envelope containing a copy of the _Daily Bugle_;therefore, uncle, if in future you can do anything to oblige Mr.Hardwick, you will help in a measure to cancel the obligation which ourfamily owes to him."
"My dear boy, I shall be delighted to do so. I am afraid I have beenrather uncivil to him. If you wish it, I will go at once and apologizeto him."
"Oh, no," cried Jennie, "you must not do that; but if you can help himwithout jeopardizing the service, I, for one, will be very glad."
"So shall I," said Donal.
The old man took out his card-case, and on the back of his cardscribbled a most cordial invitation to Hardwick, asking him to call onhim. He handed this to Jennie, and said,--
"Tell Mr. Hardwick that I shall be pleased to see him at any time."
"And now," said Lord Donal, "you must let us both escort you home in thecarriage."
"No, no. I shall take a hansom, and will go directly to the office ofthe _Bugle_, for Mr. Hardwick will be there by this time."
"But we can drive you there."
"No, please."
She held out her hand to Sir James and said, with the least bit ofhesitation before uttering the last word, "Good night--uncle."
"Good night, my dear," said the old man, "and God bless you," he addedwith a tenderness which his appearance, so solemn and stately, left oneunprepared for.
Lord Donal saw his betrothed into a hansom, protesting all the while atthus having to allow her to go off unprotected.
"What an old darling he is," murmured Jennie, ignoring his protests. "Ithink if Mr. Hardwick had allowed me to look after the interests of thepaper at the Foreign Office, Sir James would not have snubbed me."
"If the Foreign Office dared to do such a thing, it would hear ofsomething not to its advantage from the Diplomatic Service; and so,goodnight, my dear." And, with additions, the nephew repeated thebenediction of the uncle.
Jennie drove directly to the office of the _Daily Bugle_, and, for thelast time, mounting the stairs, entered the editorial rooms. She foundMr. Hardwick at his desk, and he sprang up quickly on seeing who hisvisitor was. "Ah, you have returned," he cried. "You didn't telegraph tome, so I suppose that means failure."
"I don't know, Mr. Hardwick. It all depends on whether or not yourobject was exactly what you told me it was."
"And what was that? I think I told you that my desire was to getpossession of the document which was being transmitted from St.Petersburg to London."
"No; you said the object was the mollifying of old Sir James Cardiff, ofthe Foreign Office."
"Exactly; that was the ultimate object, of course."
"Very well. Read this card. Sir James gave it to me at Charing CrossStation less than half an hour ago."
The editor took the card, turned it over in his hands once or twice, andread the cordial message which the old man had scribbled on the back ofit.
"Then you have succeeded," cried Hardwick. "You got the document; butwhy did you give it to Sir James yourself, instead of letting me hand itto him?"
"That is a long story. To put it briefly, it was because the messengercarrying the document was Lord Donal Stirling, who is--who is--an oldfriend of mine. Sir James is his uncle, and Lord Donal promised that hewould persuade the old man to let other newspapers have no advantageswhich he refused to the _Daily Bugle_. I did not give the document toSir James, I gave it back to Lord Donal."
"Lord Donal Stirling--Lord Donal Stirling," mused the editor. "Wherehave I heard that name before?"
"He is a member of the British Embassy at St. Petersburg, so you mayhave seen his name in the despatches."
"No. He is not so celebrated as all that comes to. Ah, I remember now. Imet the detective the other night and asked him if anything had come ofthat romance in high life, to solve which he had asked your assistance.He said the search for the missing lady had been abandoned, andmentioned the name of Lord Donal Stirling as the foolish young man whohad been engaged in the pursuit of the unknown."
Jennie coloured at this and drew herself up indignantly.
"Before you say anything further against Lord Donal," she cried hotly,"I wish to inform you that he and I are to be married."
"Oh, I beg your pardon," said the editor icily. "Then, having failed tofind the other girl, he has speedily consoled himself by--"
"There was no other girl. I was the person of whom Mr. Cadbury Taylorwas in search. I willingly gave him valuable assistance in the task offailing to find myself. Having only a stupid man to deal with, I hadlittle difficulty in accomplishing my purpose. Neither Mr. Taylor norMr. Hardwick ever suspected that the missing person was in their ownemploy."
"Well, I'm blessed!" ejaculated Hardwick. "So you baffled Cadbury Taylorin searching for yourself, as you baffled me in getting hold of theRussian letter. It seems to me, Miss Baxter, that where your owninclinations do not coincide with the wishes of your employers, theinterests of those who pay you fall to the ground."
"Mr. Cadbury Taylor didn't pay me anything for my services as amateurdetective, and he has, therefore, no right to grumble. As for the St.Petersburg trip, I shall send you a cheque for all expenses incurred assoon as I reach home."
"Oh, you mistake me," asserted Mr. Hardwick earnestly. "I had no thoughtof even hinting that you have not earned over and over again all themoney the _Daily Bugle_ has paid you; besides, I was longing for yourreturn, for I want your assistance in so
lving a mystery that has ratherpuzzled us all. Paris is in a turmoil just now over the--"
Jennie's clear laugh rang out.
"I am going over to Paris in a day or two, Mr. Hardwick, to solve themystery of dressmaking, and I think, from what I know of it already, itwill require my whole attention. I must insist on returning to you thecost of the St. Petersburg journey, for, after all, it proved to berather a personal excursion, and I couldn't think of allowing the paperto pay for it. I merely came in to-night to hand you this card fromSir James Cardiff, and I also desired to tender to you personally myresignation. And so I must bid you good-bye, Mr. Hardwick," said thegirl holding out her hand; "and I thank you very much indeed for havinggiven me a chance to work on your paper."
Before the editor could reply, she was gone, and that good man sat downin his chair bewildered by the suddenness of it all, the room lookingempty and dismal, lacking her presence.
"Confound Lord Donal Stirling!" he muttered under his breath, and then,as an editor should he went on impassively with his night's work.
* * * * *
It was intended that the wedding should be rather a quiet affair, butcircumstances proved too strong for the young people. Lord Donal wasvery popular and the bride was very beautiful. Sir James thought itnecessary to invite a great many people, and he intimated to Lord Donalthat a highly placed personage desired to honour the function with hispresence. And thus the event created quite a little flutter in the smartset. The society papers affirmed that this elevated personage had beenparticularly pleased by some diplomatic service which Lord Donal hadrecently rendered him; but then, of course, one can never believe whatone reads in the society press. However, the man of exalted rank wasthere, and so people said that perhaps there might be something inthe rumour. Naturally there was a great turn-out of ambassadors andministers, and their presence gave colour and dignity to the crushat St. George's, Hanover Square. The Princess von Steinheimer made aspecial journey from Vienna to attend, and on this occasion she broughtthe Prince with her. The general opinion was that the bridegroom was avery noble-looking fellow, and that the bride, in her sumptuous weddingapparel, was quite too lovely for anything.
The Princess was exceedingly bright and gay, and she chatted with herold friends the Ambassadors from Austria and America.
"I'm _so_ sorry," she said to the Ambassador from America, "that I didnot have time to speak with you at the Duchess of Chiselhurst's ball,but I was compelled to leave early. You should have come to me sooner.The Count here was much more gallant. We had a most delightfulconversation, hadn't we, Count? I was with Lord Donal, you remember."
"Oh, yes," replied the aged Austrian, bowing low; "I shall not soonforget the charming conversation I had with your Highness, and I hopeyou, on your part, have not forgotten the cordial invitation you gave meto visit again your castle at Meran."
"Indeed, Count, you know very well how glad I am to see you at any time,either in Vienna or at Meran."
The American Ambassador remained silent, and glanced alternately fromthe bride to the Princess with a puzzled expression on his face.
The mystery of the Duchess of Chiselhurst's Ball proved too much forhim, as the search for the missing lady had proved too much for Mr.Cadbury Taylor.
THE END
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