“Away we went then, and we drove for at least an hour. ColonelLysander Stark had said that it was only seven miles, but I shouldthink, from the rate that we seemed to go, and from the timethat we took, that it must have been nearer twelve. He sat at myside in silence all the time, and I was aware, more than once whenI glanced in his direction, that he was looking at me with greatintensity. The country roads seem to be not very good in that partof the world, for we lurched and jolted terribly. I tried to lookout of the windows to see something of where we were, but theywere made of frosted glass, and I could make out nothing save theoccasional bright blur of a passing light. Now and then I hazardedsome remark to break the monotony of the journey, but thecolonel answered only in monosyllables, and the conversation soonflagged. At last, however, the bumping of the road was exchangedfor the crisp smoothness of a gravel-drive, and the carriage cameto a stand. Colonel Lysander Stark sprang out, and, as I followedafter him, pulled me swiftly into a porch which gaped in front ofus. We stepped, as it were, right out of the carriage and into thehall, so that I failed to catch the most fleeting glance of the frontof the house. The instant that I had crossed the threshold thedoor slammed heavily behind us, and I heard faintly the rattle ofthe wheels as the carriage drove away.
“It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbledabout looking for matches and muttering under his breath.
Suddenly a door opened at the other end of the passage, and along, golden bar of light shot out in our direction. It grew broader,and a woman appeared with a lamp in her hand, which she heldabove her head, pushing her face forward and peering at us. Icould see that she was pretty, and from the gloss with which thelight shone upon her dark dress I knew that it was a rich material.
She spoke a few words in a foreign tongue in a tone as thoughasking a question, and when my companion answered in a gruffmonosyllable she gave such a start that the lamp nearly fell fromher hand. Colonel Stark went up to her, whispered something in herear, and then, pushing her back into the room from whence she hadcome, he walked towards me again with the lamp in his hand.
“ ‘Perhaps you will have the kindness to wait in this room for afew minutes,’ said he, throwing open another door. It was a quiet,little, plainly furnished room, with a round table in the centre, onwhich several German books were scattered. Colonel Stark laiddown the lamp on the top of a harmonium beside the door. ‘I shallnot keep you waiting an instant,’ said he, and vanished into thedarkness.
“I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of myignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatiseson science, the others being volumes of poetry. Then I walkedacross to the window, hoping that I might catch some glimpse ofthe country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred, was foldedacross it. It was a wonderfully silent house. There was an old clockticking loudly somewhere in the passage, but otherwise everythingwas deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began to steal overme. Who were these German people, and what were they doingliving in this strange, out-of-the-way place? And where was theplace? I was ten miles or so from Eyford, that was all I knew, butwhether north, south, east, or west I had no idea. For that matter,Reading, and possibly other large towns, were within that radius,so the place might not be so secluded, after all. Yet it was quitecertain, from the absolute stillness, that we were in the country. Ipaced up and down the room, humming a tune under my breathto keep up my spirits and feeling that I was thoroughly earning myfifty-guinea fee.
“Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of theutter stillness, the door of my room swung slowly open. Thewoman was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hallbehind her, the yellow light from my lamp beating upon hereager and beautiful face. I could see at a glance that she was sickwith fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held upone shaking finger to warn me to be silent, and she shot a fewwhispered words of broken English at me, her eyes glancing back,like those of a frightened horse, into the gloom behind her.
“ ‘I would go,’ said she, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to speakcalmly; ‘I would go. I should not stay here. There is no good foryou to do.’
“ ‘But, madam,’ said I, ‘I have not yet done what I came for. Icannot possibly leave until I have seen the machine.’
“ ‘It is not worth your while to wait,’ she went on. ‘You can passthrough the door; no one hinders.’ And then, seeing that I smiledand shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint andmade a step forward, with her hands wrung together. ‘For the loveof Heaven!’ she whispered, ‘get away from here before it is toolate!’
“But I am somewhat headstrong by nature, and the more readyto engage in an affair when there is some obstacle in the way. Ithought of my fifty-guinea fee, of my wearisome journey, and ofthe unpleasant night which seemed to be before me. Was it all togo for nothing? Why should I slink away without having carriedout my commission, and without the payment which was my due?
This woman might, for all I knew, be a monomaniac. With a stoutbearing, therefore, though her manner had shaken me more than Icared to confess, I still shook my head and declared my intentionof remaining where I was. She was about to renew her entreatieswhen a door slammed overhead, and the sound of several footstepswas heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw upher hands with a despairing gesture, and vanished as suddenly andas noiselessly as she had come.
“The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thickman with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of hisdouble chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson.
“ ‘This is my secretary and manager,’ said the colonel. ‘By theway, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just now.