"I see, Mr. Thorold," said Geraldine Rainshore, "that you are about to ask me for the next dance. It is yours."
"You are the queen of diviners," Cecil replied, bowing.
It was precisely half-past nine on Thursday evening, and they had met in a corner of the pillared and balconied salle de danse, in the Kursaal behind the concert-hall. The slippery, glittering floor was crowded with dancers— the men in ordinary evening dress, the women very variously attired, save that nearly all wore picture-hats. Geraldine was in a white frock, high at the neck, with a large hat of black velvet; and amidst that brilliant, multicoloured, light-hearted throng, lit by the blaze of the electric chandeliers and swayed by the irresistible melody of the "Doctrinen" waltz, the young girl, simply dressed as she was, easily held her own.
"So you've come back from Brussels?" Cecil said, taking her arm and waist.
"Yes. We arrived just on time for dinner. But what have you been doing with father? We've seen nothing of him."
"Ah!" said Cecil mysteriously. " We've been on a little voyage, and, like you, we've only just returned."
"In the Claribel?"
He nodded.
"You might have waited," she pouted.
"Perhaps you wouldn't have liked it. Things happened, you know."
"Why, what ? Do tell me."
"Well, you left your poor father alone, and he was moping all day on Tuesday. So on Tuesday night I had the happy idea of going out in the yacht to witness a sham night attack by the French Channel Squadron on Calais. I caught your honoured parent just as he was retiring to bed, and we went. He was only too glad. But we hadn't left the harbour much more than an hour and a half when our engines broke down."
"What fun! And at night, too!"
"Yes. Wasn't it ? The shaft was broken. So we didn't see much of any night attack on Calais. Fortunately the weather was all that the weather ought to be when a ship's engines break down. Still, it took us over forty hours to repair— over forty hours! I'm proud we were able to do the thing without being ignominiously towed into port. But I fear your father may have grown a little impatient, though we had excellent views of Ostend and Dunkirk, and the passing vessels were a constant diversion."
"Was there plenty to eat?" Geraldine asked simply.
"Ample."
"Then father wouldn't really mind. When did you land?"
"About an hour ago. Your father did not expect you to-night, I fancy. He dressed and went straight to the tables. He has to make up for a night lost, you see."
They danced in silence for a few moments, and then suddenly Geraldine said—
"Will you excuse me? I feel tired. Good night."
The clock under the orchestra showed seventeen minutes to ten.
"Instantly?" Cecil queried.
"Instantly." And the girl added, with a hint of mischief in her voice, as she shook hands: "I look on you as quite a friend since our last little talk; so you will excuse this abruptness, won't you?"
He was about to answer when a sort of commotion arose near behind them. Still holding her hand he turned to look.
"Why!" he said. "It's your mother! She must be unwell!"
Mrs. Rainshore, stout, and robed, as always, in tight, sumptuous black, sat among a little bevy of chaperons. She held a newspaper in trembling hands, and she was uttering a succession of staccato " Oh-oh's," while everyone in the vicinity gazed at her with alarm. Then she dropped the paper, and, murmuring, " Simeon's dead!" sank gently to the polished floor just as Cecil and Geraldine approached.
Geraldine's first instinctive move was to seize the newspaper, which was that day's Paris edition of the New York Herald. She read the headlines in a flash: "Strange disappearance of Simeon Rainshore. Suicide feared. Takes advantage of his family's absence. Heavy drop in Dry Goods. Shares at 72 and still falling."
VI.
"My good Rebecca, I assure you that I am alive." This was Mr. Rainshore's attempt to calm the hysteric sobbing of his wife, who had recovered from her short swoon in the little retreat of the person who sold Tauchnitzes, picture-postcards, and French novels, between the main corridor and the reading-rooms. Geraldine and Cecil were also in the tiny chamber.
"As for this," Simeon continued, kicking the newspaper, "it's a singular thing that a man can't take a couple of days off without upsetting the entire universe. What should you do in my place, Thorold? This is the fault of your shaft."
"I should buy Dry Goods shares," said Cecil.
"And I will."
There was an imperative knock at the door. An official of police entered.
"Monsieur Ryneshor?"
"The same."
"We have received telegraphs from New York and Londres to demand if you are dead."
"I am not. I still live."
"But Monsieur's hat has been found on the beach."
"My hat?"
"It carries Monsieur's name."
"Then it isn't mine, sir."
"Mais comment donc―"
"I tell you it isn't mine, sir."
"Don't be angry, Simeon," his wife pleaded between her sobs.
The exit of the official was immediately followed by another summons for admission, even more imperative. A lady entered and handed to Simeon a card: "Miss Eve Fincastle. The Morning Journal."
"My paper―" she began.
"You wish to know if I exist, madam!" said Simeon.
"I?" Miss Fincastle caught sight of Cecil Thorold, paused , and bowed stiffly. Cecil bowed; he also blushed.
"I continue to exist, madam," Simeon proceeded. "I have not killed myself. But homicide of some sort is not improbable if― In short, madam, good night!"
Miss Fincastle, with a long, searching, silent look at Cecil, departed.
"Bolt that door," said Simeon to his daughter.
Then there was a third knock, followed by a hammering.
"Go away!" Simeon commanded.
"Open the door! " pleaded a muffled voice.
"It's Harry!" Geraldine whispered solemnly in Cecil's ear. "Please go and calm him. Tell him I say it's too late to-night."
Cecil went, astounded.
"What's happened to Geraldine?" cried the boy, extremely excited, in the corridor. "There are all sorts of rumours. Is she ill?"
Cecil gave an explanation, and in his turn asked for another one. " You look unnerved," he said.
"What are you doing here? What is it? Come and have a drink. And tell me all, my young friend." And when, over cognac, he had learnt the details of a scheme which had no connection with his own, he exclaimed, with the utmost sincerity: "The minx! The minx!"
"What do you mean ? " inquired Harry Vaux-Lowry.
"I mean that you and the minx have had the nearest possible shave of ruining your united careers. Listen to me. Give it up, my boy. I'll try to arrange things. You delivered a letter to the father-in-law of your desire a few days ago. I'll give you another one to deliver, and I fancy the result will be, different."
The letter which Cecil wrote ran thus:—
Dear Rainshore,
I