CHAPTER XXI. PERIL.

One quick gasp, a deadly pallor of the face ghastly behind the artificial colouring, and the woman was herself again. She led the way to a secluded seat where they could talk without the chance of being overheard.

"Now tell me about it, Louis," she said.

"Madame, there is but little to tell. You are indebted to that Paris firm for nearly a hundred thousand pounds. They call themselves financial agents, but they are moneylenders of the hardest type. Maitrank is as hard as your diamonds. And he has found you out, Countess."

"Found me out! Why, only yesterday I had a letter from him consenting to a further advance on the property at San Salvator. And after all is said and done, there is a property at San Salvator. On that I have borrowed----"

"Nearly half a million from first to last. I ought to know, for it was I who added those fresh papers to the original deeds and forged those reports of the prosperity of the mine. Maitrank seemed quite satisfied till yesterday. Then he made a great discovery. It was an unfortunate discovery and a cruel piece of luck for you."

"Go on, man. I am all impatience."

"I am coming to the point fast enough. You know Lefevre of Lyons?"

"Of course. Did we not raise money on the San Salvator property from him also? That was nearly a hundred thousand pounds."

"Quite so," Louis Balmayne said coolly, "for I also manipulated those papers. The romance of the mine and the way it came into your possession fascinated Lefevre. He lent you money at a great rate of interest, but he lent it. On him comes the misfortune. Lefevre has been speculating and burnt his fingers badly. He wanted money badly. He comes to Paris to borrow it from Maitrank----"

The Countess smote her fan on her gloves passionately.

"You need not tell me any more," she whispered hoarsely. "He offered the San Salvator as security to Maitrank, and the murder is out."

"Precisely. But not quite in the way you imagine. Directly Maitrank saw those deeds he knew exactly what had happened. But that wonderful man did not betray himself. His confidential secretary told me that he never turned a hair. He simply regretted that he had no spare capital; he got a warrant for your arrest, and he will be in London tomorrow morning."

"Ah! If I could only lay my hands on a good sum, Louis! Then I might induce Maitrank to wait. For the sake of his own pocket he would keep the secret. He will do nothing so long as he can recover part of his own property."

"You are a wonderful woman," Balmayne said admiringly. "You have guessed it. As to the money, it is to your hand. The coast is clear now, the incumbrance is out of the way. We have only to act at once."

"And where is the money you speak so casually about?"

"The means of safety, madame, seem to me to dangle at the end of a rope."

The woman's eyes gave a flash of triumph.

"Ah!" she exclaimed. "I had forgotten that. In the press of other things it had been swept out of my mind. A professional acrobat like yourself should make light of a task like that. The way is all clear for the experiment. But when?"

"What better time could we have than tonight?"

"Tonight. Impossible. There are matters to be got ready. My absence at this hour would attract attention. If I could only be in two places at once!"

"So you can," Balmayne said coolly. "I have taken the liberty to borrow the only machine in London that permits you to do that seemingly impossible feat. Put that long cloak over your dress and come with me. It is not your cloak, but it does not matter. I pledge my word that you shall be back here at the end of an hour--long before the performance is over. Come."

There was no further hesitation. This was an adventure after the woman's own heart. With the purloined cloak covering her from head to foot she passed down the steps and into the roadway. Nobody noticed her, for the spectacle was not a very uncommon one. Under the shadow of the portico a little way off stood a motor, watched by a nightbird who would have done anything for a few coppers.

"I like this," Leona Lalage exclaimed, "it braces the nerves. If those people in New York only do as they promise I shall be free yet. A little courage and I shall pluck safety from the Corner House yet."

The motor passed along swiftly in the darkness. Inside the opera house many people noticed that Countess Lalage's box was only tenanted through the second act of the new opera by a very pretty girl in white, with no ornaments in her hair. Hetty, on the other hand noticed nothing at all but the stage; she had actually forgotten that her employer was not there. The opera was a rare treat to her, and she revelled in music.

There was a veritable scene of triumph at the end of the third act, and whilst the curtain was raised for the second time Countess Lalage and her companion returned. They strolled into the box with the calm air of people quite accustomed to this sort of thing; they might have been merely flirting outside.

"Twelve o'clock," Balmayne whispered; "not a minute later. On this occasion the longest way round will be the shortest way home."

The applause was gradually dying down. Hetty, conscious of a figure behind her, moved back. The box door shut and the air grew oppressive. Leona Lalage, still talking earnestly to her companion, motioned Hetty to open it.

She did so just as a telegraph boy came along with one of the orange-coloured envelopes in his hand. He looked at the address and at the number of the box.

"Box 11a, grand tier?" he suggested. "Miss Lawrence?"

"For me," Hetty replied. "What a strange thing!"

The boy passed on whistling under his breath. Outside Hetty opened her message. Her fingers trembled slightly.

"On no account let Countess leave house before midnight," it ran. "When she gets home keep her there till after twelve, at all costs."