Marie Belloc Lowndes - The Chink in the Armour

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"I wish to thank you for your kindness to my poor Paul," the Duchesse
spoke in a low, hesitating voice. "You have so much influence over him,
Madame."

Sylvia shook her head.

"Ah! But yes, you have!" She looked imploringly at Sylvia. "You know what
I mean? You know what I would ask you to do? My husband could give Paul
work in the country, work he would love, for he adores horses, if only he
could be rescued from this terrible infatuation, this passion for play."

She stopped abruptly, for the Count and his little, fairy-like godmother
had turned round, and were now coming towards them.

Sylvia rose instinctively to her feet, for the tiny Marquise was very
imposing.

"Sit down, Madame," she said imperiously, and Sylvia meekly obeyed.

The old lady fixed her eyes with an appraising gaze on her godson's
English friend.

"Permit me to embrace you," she exclaimed suddenly. "You are a very
pretty creature! And though no doubt young lips often tell you this, the
compliments of the old have the merit of being quite sincere!"

She bent down, and Sylvia, to her confusion and surprise, felt her cheeks
lightly kissed by the withered lips of Paul de Virieu's godmother.

"Madame Bailey's rouge is natural; it does not come off!" the old lady
exclaimed, and a smile crept over her parchment-coloured face. "Not but
what a great deal of nonsense is talked about the usage of rouge, my
dear children! There is no harm in supplementing the niggardly gifts of
nature. You, for instance, Marie-Anne, would look all the better for a
little rouge!" She spoke in a high, quavering voice.

The Duchesse smiled. Her brother had always been the old Marquise's
favourite.

"But I should feel so ashamed if it came off," she said lightly; "if, for
instance, I felt one of my cheeks growing pale while the other remained
bright red?"

"That would never happen if you used what I have often told you is
the only rouge a lady should use, that is, the sap of the geranium
blossom--that gives an absolutely natural tint to the skin, and my own
dear mother always used it. You remember how Louis XVIII. complimented
her on her beautiful complexion at the first Royal ball held after the
Restoration? Well, the Sovereign's gracious words were entirely owing to
the geranium blossom!"

CHAPTER XIV

The day after her memorable expedition to Paris opened pleasantly for
Sylvia Bailey, though it was odd how dull and lifeless the Villa du Lac
seemed to be without Count Paul.

But he would be back to-morrow, and in the morning of the next day they
were to begin riding together.

Again and again she went over in retrospect every moment of the two hours
she had spent in that great house in the Faubourg St. Germain.

How kind these two ladies had been to her, Paul's gentle sister and his
stately little fairy-like godmother! But the Duchesse's manner had been
very formal, almost solemn; and as for the other--Sylvia could still feel
the dim, yet terribly searching, eyes fixed on her face, and she wondered
nervously what sort of effect she had produced on the old Marquise.

Meanwhile, she felt that now was the time to see something of Anna
Wolsky. The long afternoon and evening stretching before her seemed
likely to be very dull, and so she wrote a little note and asked Anna if
she would care for a long expedition in the Forest of Montmorency. It was
the sort of thing Anna always said bored her, but as she was not going to
the Casino a drive would surely be better than doing nothing.

* * * * *

And now Sylvia, sitting idly by her bed-room window, was awaiting Anna's
answer to her note. She had sent it, just before she went down to
luncheon, by a commissionaire, to the Pension Malfait, and the answer
ought to have come ere now.

After their drive she and Anna might call on the Wachners and offer to
take them to the Casino; and with the thought of the Wachners there came
over Sylvia a regret that the Comte de Virieu was so fastidious. He
seemed to detest the Wachners! When he met them at the Casino, the most
he would do was to incline his head coldly towards them. Who could wonder
that Madame Wachner spoke so disagreeably of him?

Sylvia Bailey's nature was very loyal, and now she reminded herself that
this couple, for whom Count Paul seemed to have an instinctive dislike,
were good-natured and kindly. She must ever remember gratefully how
helpful Madame Wachner had been during the first few days she and Anna
had been at Lacville, in showing them the little ways about the place,
and in explaining to them all sorts of things about the Casino.

And how kindly the Wachners had pressed Anna yesterday to have supper
with them during Sylvia's absence in Paris!

* * * * *

There came a knock at the door, and Sylvia jumped up from her chair. No
doubt this was Anna herself in response to the note.

"Come in," she cried out, in English.

There was a pause, and another knock. Then it was not Anna?

"_Entrez!_"

The commissionaire by whom Sylvia had sent her note to Madame Wolsky
walked into the room. To her great surprise he handed her back her own
letter to her friend. The envelope had been opened, and together with her
letter was a sheet of common notepaper, across which was scrawled, in
pencil, the words, "_Madame Wolsky est partie_."

Sylvia looked up. "_Partie?_" The word puzzled her. Surely it should have
been "_Sortie._" Perhaps Anna had gone to Paris for the day to bank her
large winnings. "Then the lady was out?" she said to the man.

"The lady has left the Pension Malfait," he said, briefly. "She has gone
away."

"There must be some mistake!" Sylvia exclaimed, in French. "My friend
would never have left Lacville without telling me."

The commissionaire went on: "But I have brought back a motor-cab as
Madame directed me to do."

She paid him, and went downstairs hurriedly. What an extraordinary
mistake! It was out of the question that Anna should have left Lacville
without telling her; but as the motor was there she might as well drive
to the Pension Malfait and find out the meaning of the curt message, and
also why her own letter to Anna had been opened.

If Anna had gone into Paris for the day, the only thing to do was to go
for a drive alone. The prospect was not exhilarating, but it would be
better than staying indoors, or even in the garden by herself, all
afternoon.

Sylvia felt rather troubled and uncomfortable as she got into the open
motor. Somehow she had counted on seeing Anna to-day. She remembered her
friend's last words to her. They had been kind, tender words, and though
Anna did not approve of Sylvia's friendship for Paul de Virieu, she had
spoken in a very understanding, sympathetic way, almost as a loving
mother might have spoken.

It was odd of Anna not to have left word she was going to Paris for the
day. In any case, the Wachners would know when Anna would be back. It was
with them that she had had supper yesterday evening--.

While these thoughts were passing disconnectedly through Sylvia's mind,
she suddenly saw the substantial figure of Madame Wachner walking slowly
along the sanded path by the side of the road.

"Madame Wachner! Madame Wachner!" she cried out eagerly, and the car drew
up with a jerk.

That citizeness of the world, as she had called herself, stepped down
from the kerb. She looked hot and tired. It was a most unusual time for
Madame Wachner to be out walking, and by herself, in Lacville.

But Sylvia was thinking too much about Anna Wolsky to trouble about
anything else.

"Have you heard that Anna Wolsky is away for the day?" she exclaimed. "I
have received such a mysterious message from the Pension Malfait! Do come
with me there and find out where she has gone and when she is coming
back. Did she say anything about going into Paris when she had supper
with you last night?"

With a smile and many voluble thanks Madame Wachner climbed up into the
open car, and sat back with a sigh of satisfaction.

She was very stout, though still so vigorous, and her shrewd, determined
face now turned smilingly to the pretty, anxious-eyed Englishwoman. But
she waited a few moments before answering Sylvia's eager questions. Then,

"I cannot tell you," she said slowly and in French, "what has happened to
Madame Wolsky--"

"What has happened to her!" cried Sylvia. "What do you mean, Madame
Wachner?"

"Oh, of course, nothing 'as 'appened." Madame Wachner dropped soothingly
into English. "All I mean is that Madame Wolsky did not come to us
yesterday evening. We stayed in on purpose, but, as English people say
so funnily, she never turn up!"

"But she was coming to tea as well as to supper!"

"Yes, we waited for 'er a long time, and I 'ad got such a beautiful
little supper! But, alas! she did not come--no, not at all."

"How odd of her! Perhaps she got a telegram which contained bad news--"

"Yes," said Madame Wachner eagerly, "no doubt. For this morning when I go
to the Pension Malfait, I 'ear that she 'as gone away! It was for that I
was 'urrying to the Villa du Lac to see if you knew anything, dear
friend."

"Gone away?" repeated Sylvia, bewildered. "But it is inconceivable that
Anna could have left Lacville without telling me--or, for the matter of
that, without telling you, too--"

"She 'as taken what you in England call 'French leave,'" said Madame
Wachner drily. "It was not very considerate of 'er. She might 'ave sent
us word last night. We would not then 'ave waited to 'ave our nice
supper."

"She can't have gone away without telling me," repeated Sylvia. She was
staring straight into her companion's red face: Madame Wachner still
looked very hot and breathless. "I am sure she would never have done such
a thing. Why should she?"

The older woman shrugged her shoulders.

"I expect she will come back soon," she said consolingly. "She 'as left
her luggage at the Pension Malfait, and that, after all, does not look as
if she 'as gone for evare!"

"Left her luggage?" cried Sylvia, in a relieved tone. "Why, then,
of course, she is coming back! I expect she has gone to Paris for a
night in order to see friends passing through. How could the Pension
Malfait people think she had gone--I mean for good? You know, Madame
Wachner"--she lowered her voice, for she did not wish the driver to hear
what she was about to say--"you know that Anna won a very large sum of
money two nights ago."

Sylvia Bailey was aware that people had been robbed and roughly handled,
even in idyllic Lacville, when leaving the Casino after an especial
stroke of luck at the tables.

"I do hope nothing has happened to her!"

"'Appened to 'er? What do you mean?" Madame Wachner spoke quite crossly.
"Who ever thought of such a thing!" And she fanned herself vigorously
with a paper fan she held in her left hand. "As to her winnings--yes,
she won a lot of money the night she took the bank. But, remember that
she 'as 'ad plenty of time yesterday to lose it all again--ah, yes!"

"But she meant to give up play till Monday," said Sylvia, eagerly. "I
feel sure she never went inside the Casino yesterday."

"Oh, but she did. My 'usband saw her there."

"At what time?" asked Sylvia, eagerly.

"Let me see--"

"Of course, it must have been early, as you were back waiting for her
late in the afternoon."

"Yes, it must have been early. And once in the Casino!--well, dear
friend, you know as well as I do that with Madame Wolsky the money flies!
Still, let us suppose she did not lose 'er money yesterday. In that case
surely Madame Wolsky would 'ave done well to leave Lacville with 'er
gains in 'er pocket-book."

Madame Wachner was leaning back in the car, a ruminating smile on her
broad, good-tempered face.

She was thoroughly enjoying the rush through the air. It was very hot,
and she disliked walking. Her morose husband very seldom allowed her to
take a cab. He generally forced her to walk to the Casino and back.

Something of a philosopher was Madame Wachner, always accepting with
eager, out-stretched hands that with which the gods provided her.

And all at once pretty Sylvia Bailey, though unobservant as happy,
prosperous youth so often is, conceived the impression that her companion
did not at all wish to discuss Anna's sudden departure. Madame Wachner
had evidently been very much annoyed by Anna's lack of civility, and
surely the least Anna could have done would have been to send a message
saying that it was impossible for her to come to supper at the Chalet des
Muguets!

"I am quite sure Anna did not mean to be rude, dear Madame Wachner," said
Sylvia, earnestly. "You know she may have sent you a letter or a message
which miscarried. They are rather careless people at the Pension
Malfait."

"Yes, of course, that is always possible," said the other rather coldly.

And then, as they came within sight of the Pension Malfait, Madame
Wachner suddenly placed her large, powerful, bare hand on Sylvia's small
gloved one.

"Look 'ere, my dear," she said, familiarly, "do not worry about Madame
Wolsky. Believe me, she is not worth it."

Sylvia looked at her amazed, and then Madame Wachner broke into French:
"She thought of nothing but play--that is the truth! Play, play, play!
Other times she was half asleep!"

She waited a moment, then slowly, and in English, she said, "I believe in
my 'eart that she 'as gone off to Aix. The play 'ere was not big enough
for 'er. And remember that you 'ave good friends still left in Lacville.
I do not only speak of me and of my 'usband, but also of another one."

She laughed, if good-naturedly, then a little maliciously.

But Sylvia gave no answering smile. She told herself that Madame Wachner,
though kindly, was certainly rather vulgar, not to say coarse. And her
words about Madame Wolsky were really unkind. Anna was not such a gambler
as was Fritz Wachner.

They were now at the gate of the boarding house.

"We will, at any rate, go in and find out when Anna left, and if she said
where she was going," said Sylvia.

"If you do not mind," observed Madame Wachner, "I will remain out here,
in the car. They have already seen me this morning at the Pension
Malfait. They must be quite tired of seeing me."

Sylvia felt rather disappointed. She would have liked the support of
Madame Wachner's cheerful presence when making her inquiries, for she was
aware that the proprietors of Anna's pension--M. and Madame Malfait--had
been very much annoyed that she, Sylvia, had not joined her friend there.

Madame Malfait was sitting in her usual place--that is, in a little glass
cage in the hall--and when she saw Mrs. Bailey coming towards her, a look
of impatience, almost of dislike, crossed her thin, shrewd face.

"Bon jour, Madame!" she said curtly. "I suppose you also have come to ask
me about Madame Wolsky? But I think you must have heard all there is to
hear from the lady whom I see out there in the car. I can tell you
nothing more than I have already told her. Madame Wolsky has treated us
with great want of consideration. She did not come home last evening.
Poor Malfait waited up all night, wondering what could be the matter. And
then, this morning, we found a letter in her room saying she had gone
away!"

"A letter in her room?" exclaimed Sylvia. "Madame Wachner did not tell me
that my friend had left a letter--"

But Madame Malfait went on angrily:

"Madame Wolsky need not have troubled to write! A word of explanation
would have been better, and would have prevented my husband sitting up
till five o'clock this morning. We quite feared something must have
happened to her. But we have a great dislike to any affair with the
police, and so we thought we would wait before telling them of her
disappearance, and it is indeed fortunate that we did so!"

"Will you kindly show me the letter she left for you?" said Sylvia.

Without speaking, Madame Malfait bent down over her table, and then held
out a piece of notepaper on which were written the words:

Madame Malfait,--

Being unexpectedly obliged to leave Lacville, I enclose herewith 200
francs. Please pay what is owing to you out of it, and distribute the
rest among the servants. I will send you word where to forward my
luggage in a day or two.

Sylvia stared reflectively at the open letter.

Anna had not even signed her name. The few lines were very clear, written
in a large, decided handwriting, considerably larger, or so it seemed to
Sylvia, than what she had thought Anna's ordinary hand to be. But then
the Englishwoman had not had the opportunity of seeing much of her Polish
friend's caligraphy.

Before she had quite finished reading the mysterious letter over a second
time, Madame Malfait took it out of her hand.

But Sylvia Bailey was entirely unused to being snubbed--pretty young
women provided with plenty of money seldom are snubbed--and so she did
not turn away and leave the hall, as Madame Malfait hoped she would do.

"What a strange thing!" she observed, in a troubled tone. "How
extraordinary it is that my friend should have gone away like this,
leaving her luggage behind her! What can possibly have made her want to
leave Lacville in such a hurry? She was actually engaged to have dinner
with our friends, Monsieur and Madame Wachner. Did she not send them any
sort of message, Madame Malfait? I wish you would try and remember what
she said when she went out."

The Frenchwoman looked at her with a curious stare.

"If you ask me to tell you the truth, Madame," she replied, rather
insolently, "I have no doubt at all that your friend went to the Casino
yesterday and lost a great deal of money--that she became, in fact,
_decavee_."

Then, feeling ashamed, both of her rudeness and of her frankness, she
added:

"But Madame Wolsky is a very honest lady, that I will say for her. You
see, she left enough money to pay for everything, as well as to provide
my servants with handsome gratuities. That is more than the last person
who left the Pension Malfait in a hurry troubled to do!"

"But is it not extraordinary that she left her luggage, and that she did
not even tell you where she was going?" repeated Sylvia in a worried,
dissatisfied tone.

"Pardon me, Madame, that is not strange at all! Madame Wolsky probably
went off to Paris without knowing exactly where she meant to stay, and no
one wants to take luggage with them when they are looking round for an
hotel. I am expecting at any moment to receive a telegram telling me
where to send the luggage. You, Madame, if you permit me to say so, have
not had my experience--my experience, I mean, in the matter of ladies who
play at the Lacville Casino."

There was still a tone of covert insolence in her voice, and she went on,
"True, Madame Wolsky has not behaved as badly as she might have done.
Still, you must admit that it is rather inconsiderate of her, after
engaging the room for the whole of the month of August, to go off like
this!"

Madame Malfait felt thoroughly incensed, and did not trouble to conceal
the fact. But as Mrs. Bailey at last began walking towards the front
door, the landlady of the pension hurried after her.

"Madame will not say too much about her friend's departure, will she?"
she said more graciously. "I do not want any embarrassments with the
police. Everything is quite _en regle_, is it not? After all, Madame
Wolsky had a right to go away without telling anyone of her plans, had
she not, Madame?"

Sylvia turned round. "Certainly, she had an entire right to do so," she
answered coldly. "But, still, I should be much obliged if you will send
me word when you receive the telegram you are expecting her to send you
about the luggage."

* * * * *

"Well?" cried Madame Wachner eagerly, as Sylvia silently got into the
motor again. "Have you learnt anything? Have they not had news of our
friend?"

"They have heard nothing since they found that odd letter of hers," said
Sylvia. "You never told me about the letter, Madame Wachner?"

"Ah, that letter! I saw it, too. But it said nothing, absolutely
nothing!" exclaimed Madame Wachner.

And Sylvia suddenly realised that in truth Anna's letter did say nothing.

"I should have thought they would have had a telegram to-day about the
luggage."

"So would I," said Sylvia. And then musingly, "I should never, never have
expected Anna Wolsky to go off like that. So--so mysteriously--"

"Well, there, I quite disagree with you! It is just what I should have
expected her to do!" exclaimed Madame Wachner. "She told me of that visit
you both made to the soothsayer. Perhaps she made up in her mind to
follow that person's advice. Our friend was always a little mysterious,
was she not? Did she ever talk to you of her family, of her friends?" She
looked inquisitively at her companion.

"Yes--no," said Sylvia, hesitating. "I do not think poor Anna has many
relations. You see, she is a widow. I believe her father and mother are
dead."

"Ah, that is very sad! Then you do not know of anyone to write to about
her?"

"I?" said Sylvia. "No, of course I don't know of anyone to write to. How
could I? I haven't known her very long, you know, Madame Wachner. But we
became friends almost at once."

The motor was still stationary. The driver turned round for orders.
Sylvia roused herself.

"Can I drive you back to the Chalet des Muguets?" she asked. "Somehow I
don't feel inclined to take a drive in the forest now."

"If you do not mind," said Madame Wachner, "I should prefer to be driven
to the station, for l'Ami Fritz had to go to Paris." She laughed
ruefully. "To fetch money, as usual! His system did not work at all
well yesterday--poor Fritz!"

"How horrid!" said Sylvia. "It must be very disappointing to your husband
when his system goes wrong."

"Yes, very," answered the wife drily. "But when one system fails--well,
then he at once sets himself to inventing another! I lose a great deal
more in the lower room playing with francs than Fritz does at baccarat
playing with gold. You see, a system has this good about it--the player
generally comes out even at the end of each month."

"Does he, indeed?"

But Sylvia was not attending to what the other was saying. She was still
absorbed in the thought of her friend, and of the mystery of her friend's
sudden departure from Lacville.

When at last they reached the station, Madame Wachner turned and grasped
Sylvia by the hand.

"We must not let you become low-spirited!" she exclaimed. "It is a great
pity your kind friend has gone away. But doubtless you will soon be going
away, too?"

And, as Sylvia made no answer, "Perhaps it would be well not to say too
much concerning Madame Wolsky having left like this. She might come back
any moment, and then she would not like it if there had been a fuss made
about it! If I were you I would tell nobody--I repeat emphatically
_nobody_."

Madame Wachner stared significantly at Sylvia. "You do not know what the
police of Lacville are like, my dear friend. They are very unpleasant
people. As you were Anna's only friend in the place, they might give you
considerable trouble. They would ask you where to look for her, and they
would torment you incessantly. If I were you I would say as little as
possible."

Madame Wachner spoke very quickly, almost breathlessly, and Sylvia felt
vaguely uncomfortable. There was, of course, only one person to whom she
was likely to mention the fact, and that was Paul de Virieu.

Was it possible that Madame Wachner wished to warn her against telling
him of a fact which he was sure to discover for himself in the course of
a day or two?

CHAPTER XV

As Sylvia drove away alone from the station, she felt exceedingly
troubled and unhappy.

It was all very well for Madame Wachner to take the matter of Anna
Wolsky's disappearance from Lacville so philosophically. The Wachners'
acquaintance with Madame Wolsky had been really very slight, and they
naturally knew nothing of the Polish woman's inner nature and
temperament.

Sylvia told herself that Anna must have been in great trouble, and that
something very serious must have happened to her, before she could have
gone away like this, without saying anything about it.

If poor Anna had changed her mind, and gone to the Casino the day before,
she might, of course, have lost all her winnings and more. Sylvia
reminded herself that it stood to reason that if one could make hundreds
of pounds in an hour or two, then one might equally lose hundreds of
pounds in the same time. But somehow she could hardly believe that her
friend had been so foolish.

Still, how else to account for Anna's disappearance, her sudden exit
from Lacville? Anna Wolsky was a proud woman, and Sylvia suspected that
if she had come unexpectedly to the end of her resources, she would have
preferred to go away rather than confide her trouble to a new friend.

Tears slowly filled Sylvia Bailey's blue eyes. She felt deeply hurt by
Anna's strange conduct.

Madame Wachner's warning as to saying as little as possible of the
other's departure from Lacville had made very little impression on
Sylvia, yet it so far affected her that, instead of telling Monsieur
Polperro of the fact the moment she was back at the Villa du Lac, she
went straight up to her own room. But when there she found that she could
settle down to nothing--neither to a book nor to letters.

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