CHAPTER XXVII.
When I first caught sight of Mr. Ludovic Tiler he was busily engagedin conversation with one of the guards and a couple of porters. Fromhis gestures, no doubt, he was describing our party, and I washalf-inclined to walk up to him and say "Behold!" But then I drew backhesitating. I did not fear him in the least, but he would be sure todraw the others to him, and I did not quite like the idea of havingthree of them on my hands at once, and with no Colonel on my side.
I could only communicate with Colonel Annesley by a roundaboutprocess, and it might take him some time to reach me, even if he wasnot otherwise engaged by Henriette.
This Tiler man would of course stick to me and follow me if he had thefaintest clue, and I let him have that by directing Philpotts to showherself, passing quite close to him and walking on towards the train.She was to return then to the waiting-room, where together we madesome change in our appearance. There were other cloaks in the bundleof rugs, which we put on over those we were wearing. I got out a thickveil, and Philpotts replaced her neat bonnet by a soft motor cap. Morethan all, we made away with the dummy child, broke up the parcel,resolved it into its component parts, a small pillow and many wraps,all of which we put away in the same convenient receptacle.
Tiler certainly did not recognize us as we walked separately to thetrain. He was looking for a party of two and a baby, and all he sawwas one woman who might remind him of me, but without her attendant orany encumbrance. He had his suspicions, however, for as soon as westarted he walked through the long line of _couloir_ carriages,deliberately peering and prying, examining the passengers of everycompartment. He passed us at first, and was much put out, I could see,disappointed no doubt, but he came back presently and stood for sometime at our window, while I hid my face in among the rugs, andPhilpotts cowered in a corner.
He came back more than once during the journey and stared. No doubt hewould have taken a seat in our compartment, but it was reserved for_dames seules_ or ladies alone. He was evidently in great doubt, somuch so that I began to fear he would sheer off altogether. That wewere the women he wanted was probably borne in on him, but what hadbecome of the baby? I could enter into the workings of his mind onthat point. What could we have done with it? Hidden it, left itsomewhere on the road in the lost property office or at a foundlinghospital? All sorts of suggestions probably presented themselves tohim, but none would satisfy him; for why, he would reason, were wetravelling to Marseilles or anywhere else without it?
To tie him still to our heels, I took the opportunity of having thecompartment to ourselves to revive and reconstitute the dummy. Thebaby was quickly reborn behind the drawn blinds of the carriage, andwhen at last we arrived at Marseilles at 10.30 P.M. we sallied forthand marched in solemn procession to the Terminus Hotel under the veryeyes of our watchful detective. I almost laughed in his face as weentered the lift near the outer door, and were carried up to our roomsupon the second floor.
I slept late, and when I woke, refreshed and fortified againstanything that might come, I looked out on to the little square withits fringe of plane-trees, and saw my friend Mr. Tiler walking to andfro like a sentry on his beat. He had the hotel under observation thatwas clear, and it was little I should be able to do that day unknownto him.
It did not worry me in the least, for in the early hours of calmreflection that followed deep, restful sleep, I had thought out thecourse I should pursue. I no longer dreaded pursuit; let them allcome, the more the merrier, and I meant to fully justify Mr. Tiler incalling them to him.
I dressed slowly, lingered leisurely over my _luncheon-dejeuner_, andthen ordered a carriage, a comfortable landau and pair. I meant tolead my follower a fine dance, starting with the innocent intention ofgiving myself and my belongings an airing. It was a brilliant day, theSouthern sun struck with semi-tropical fervour, the air was soft andsleepy in the oppressive heat. I brought out the baby undeterred, andinstalled it, slumbering peacefully, on Philpotts's knees in the seatbefore me, and lying back with ostentatious indifference, drove offin full view of the detective.
I shot one glance back as I turned down the long slope leading to theGrace-a-Dieu Street, and was pleased to see that he had jumped into a_fiacre_ and was coming on after me. He should have his fill ofdriving. I led him up and down and round and round, street afterstreet, all along the great Cannebiere and out towards the Reserve,where Roubion's Restaurant offers his celebrated fish stew,_bouillabaise_, to all comers.
Then when Mr. Tiler's weedy horse began to show signs of distress, formy sturdy pair had outpaced him sorely, I relented and reentered thetown, meaning to make a long halt at the office of Messrs. Cook andSon, the universal friends of all travellers far and near. I had longhad an idea in my mind that the most promising, if not the onlyeffective method of ending our trouble would be to put the seasbetween us and the myrmidons of the Courts. I had always hoped toescape to some far-off country where the King's writ does not run,where we could settle down under genial skies, amid pleasantsurroundings, at a distance from the worries and miseries of life.
Now, with the enemy close at hand, and the real treasure in my foolishsister's care, I could not expect to evade them, but I might surelybeguile and lead them astray. This was the plan I had been revolvingin my mind, and which took me to the tourist offices. The object I hadin view was to get a list of steamers leaving the port of Marseilleswithin the next two or three days, and their destination. As everybodyknows, there is a constant moving of shipping East, West, and South,and it ought not to be difficult to pick out something to suit me.
The obliging clerk at the counter gave me abundant, almost unending,information.
"To the East? Why, surely, there are several opportunities. The P. andO. has half a dozen steamers for the East, pointing first for PortSaid and Suez Canal, and bound to India, Ceylon, China, and theAntipodes; the same line for Gibraltar and the West. The MessageriesMaritime, for all Mediterranean ports, the General Navigation of Italyfor Genoa and Naples, the Transatlantique for various Algerian ports,Tunis, Bone, Philippeville, and Algiers, other companies serving thecoast of Morocco and especially Tangier."
Truly an embarrassing choice! I took a note of all that suited, andpromised to return after I had made a round of the shippingoffices,--another jaunt for Tiler, and a pretty plain indication ofwhat was in my mind.
After full inquiry I decided in favour of Tripoli, and for severalreasons. A steamer offered in a couple of days, Sunday, just when Iwanted it, although it was by no means my intention to go to Tripolimyself. That it was somewhat out of the way, neither easy to reach norto leave, as the steamers came and went rarely, served my purposewell. If I could only inveigle my tormentors into the trap, they mightbe caught there longer than they liked.
Accordingly, I secured a good cabin on board the S.S. _Oasis_ of theTransatlantique, leaving Marseilles for Tripoli at 8 A.M. thefollowing Sunday, and paid the necessary deposit on the passageticket.
It was a satisfaction to me to see my "shadow's" _fiacre_ draw up atthe door soon after I left, and Mr. Ludovic Tiler enter the office. Imade no doubt he would contrive, very cleverly as he thought, to findout exactly what I had been doing with regard to the _Oasis_.
Later in the day, out of mere curiosity, I walked down to the officesto ask a trivial question about my baggage. It was easy to turn thetalk to other matters connected with the voyage and my fellowpassengers.
Several other cabins had been engaged, two of them in the name ofLudovic Tiler.
There was nothing left for me but to bide my time. I telegraphed thatevening to Colonel Annesley, reporting myself, so to speak, andcounted upon hearing his whereabouts in reply next day.
Tiler did not show up nor trouble me, nor did I concern myself abouthim. We were really waiting for each other, and we knew enough of eachother's plans to bide in tranquil expectation of what we thought mustcertainly follow. When I was at dinner in the hotel restaurant hecalmly came into the room, merely to pass his eye over me as it were,and I to
ok it so much as a matter of course that I looked up, and felthalf-inclined to give him a friendly nod. We were like duellistssaluting each other before we crossed swords, each relying upon hisown superior skill.
[_We need not reproduce in detail the rest of the matters set forth byLady Claire Standish while she and the detective watched each otherat Marseilles. Tiler, on the Saturday morning, made it plain, fromhis arrogance and self-sufficient air as he walked through the hotelrestaurant, that all was going well, and he had indeed heard fromFalfani that he would arrive with Lord Blackadder that night._
_Later on that Saturday a telegram from Culoz reached Lady Claire fromColonel Annesley giving the latest news, and bringing down LadyHenriette's movements to the time of her departure for Marseilles. Hepromised a later message from somewhere along the road with laterinformation, and soon after 9 P.M. Lady Claire was told they werecoming through by the night train, due at Marseilles at 4 A.M. nextmorning. Thus all the parties to this imbroglio were about to beconcentrated in the same place, and it must depend upon the skill anddetermination of one clever woman to turn events her way._]
She goes on to say:
It was a shock to me to hear that Henriette still lingered on thefringe of danger, and I was very much disturbed at finding she mightbe running into the very teeth of it. But I trusted to my goodfortune, and, better still, to good management, to keep her out ofharm's way until the coast was clear.
I was on the platform at 10 P.M. watching for the Blackadderlot when they appeared. Tiler was there to receive them and spoke afew words to my lord, who instantly looked round, for me no doubt, andI slipped away. I did not wish to anticipate a crisis, and he wasquite capable of making a scene, even at the hotel at that time ofnight. I was relieved at seeing him pass on, and the more so that hedid not take the turn into the Terminus Hotel, my hotel, but wenttowards the entrance where a carriage was waiting for him. He meant ofcourse to put up in the town, either at the Noailles or the Louvre.
I lay down to take a short rest, but was roused in time to be again onthe platform at 4 A.M. to meet my friends. It was a joyfulmeeting, but we lost little time over it. Henriette was fairly wornout, and all but broke down when she saw me. The Colonel came to therescue as usual, and said briefly, after we had shaken hands:
"Take charge of her, Lady Claire, I will see to everything now. We cantalk later."
"Can you be at the entrance to the hotel in a couple of hours' time?I shall want your advice, probably your assistance."
"You know you have only to ask," he answered, with the prompt,soldierlike obedience, and the honest, unflinching look in his eyesthat I knew so well and loved in him. Here was, indeed, a brave, loyalsoul, to be trusted in implicitly, and with my whole heart.
I felt now that I should succeed in the difficult task I had setmyself. The plan I had conceived and hoped to work out was to sendLord Blackadder to sea, all the way to Tripoli, with Philpotts and thesham child.