"My sister I shall send to the old Castle of Tchernoff and keep her there as long as it suits my purpose. It is a veritable tomb, far away in the Caucasus. I have arranged that she starts to-night. Our good Stepan will later have his instructions. As he is practically deaf and almost incapable of speech, he can tell no tales. Besides, he is devoted to me."

Corsini, close up against the curtains, had listened to all this with every nerve strained and his brain working at high pressure.

He had learned two things of great importance. Zouroff, in a roundabout way, had confessed to the murder of La Belle Quero.

Secondly, the Princess was to be taken _that night_ to this gloomy castle in the Caucasus. And he, in his character of Stepan, the man who could not hear and only speak with the greatest difficulty, was to be an instrument in her abduction. Here was food for thought. Oh, for five minutes with that man of subtle brain and resource, Golitzine! At such a moment, even the inferior Beilski would have been welcome, even one of the four men waiting outside! How could he save the innocent young Princess from the vile schemes of her remorseless brother? A few minutes could alone decide this momentous issue. Why had she not taken his advice, proffered a few hours earlier?

The conspirators talked presently in lower tones of a great _coup_ to be brought off to-morrow night at a big reception at the Winter Palace. But although they spoke almost in whispers, as if fearful of the magnitude of the stupendous event, Corsini had sharp ears and heard quite enough. This would be great news for Golitzine, as soon as he could see him.

The conference was ended, the supper partaken of. No servants ever a.s.sisted at these simple feasts. An hour after the meal was finished, La Belle Quero, the handsome singer, the idol of more than one capital, had pa.s.sed away in the arms of her faithful maid, done to death by the implacable vengeance of Zouroff.

One by one the traitors filed out. The Prince came last and made signs to the waiting janitor, supposed to be Stepan.

"You will come with me to the Palace. You will convey two women, my sister and her maid, to the Castle of Tchernoff, in the Caucasus. When you have deposited them safely there, return to the Palace, where I will find you further employment. It is very likely that Madame Quero will have no further need of your services."

Corsini replied in appropriate signs that he comprehended his Excellency's wishes.

Together they drove to the side door of the Palace, in front of which a carriage was standing. Two burly men, the Prince's chosen confederates, were beside it. Zouroff motioned to Corsini to stay where he was.

A few moments later the forms of two helpless women, the Princess Nada and her maid, were carried out and placed in the carriage. The Prince was well served in his household. Evidently both had been drugged.

The two men stood waiting for the sign of departure from the Prince.

And, in that moment, a flash of inspiration came to Corsini.

He spread out his arms and burst into a chuckling sort of laugh, like one demented. He sprang on the box, seized the reins, and whipped up the horses. He was well out of sight before the Prince and his two ruffians could recover from their consternation at the unexpected turn of affairs.

Had Stepan suddenly gone out of his sense? was the Prince's first thought.

CHAPTER XXIII

Zouroff shook his fist at the retreating carriage. He looked, and felt, like a demon. Why had this fool taken this particular moment to go off his head? He knew that Stepan had suffered from a weak intellect for many years, but he was not prepared for this sudden ebullition of insanity.

"We cannot catch him up, your Excellency, he has driven like the wind," remarked one of the two burly men who were in attendance on the Prince.

"Let him drive to the devil," snarled Zouroff, in his most vicious tone. He was really trying to mask his alarm under an a.s.sumption of indifference. "What harm can the idiot do? He cannot hear, he can only make guttural, and unintelligible sounds when he attempts to speak."

"He can write, your Excellency. Do not forget that. Say that at the moment he has gone crazy. That carriage will halt somewhere in St.

Petersburg, or the environs, the police will be on the spot, inquiries will be made. If he cannot speak, they will make him write."

But Zouroff by now had recovered his incurable optimism. "He will recover his senses shortly and drive back to the Palace for instructions. We will wait up for him."

The two men were not quite so convinced, although they did not dare openly to dispute their employer's opinion. They were not quite sure of Stepan's sudden attack of insanity. There was more in this than met the eye.

Corsini, intensely agitated by the novelty of the unexpected situation, drove recklessly for the first few moments, anxious to put as much s.p.a.ce as possible between Zouroff and himself, striving to collect his thoughts.

As he had sat silent by the side of the Prince on their progress from the villa to the Palace, he had thought well over the only plan of campaign that seemed open to him. At the first stopping-place on that long journey to the gloomy Castle of Tchernoff, he would alight, go to the nearest police station and divulge the facts of the Princess's abduction.

Well, fate had ruled it otherwise. The unconscious girl and her maid were still in St. Petersburg and under his charge. Whither should he convey them? But he must be quick. Zouroff was a man of resource. He might have hired a pa.s.sing conveyance and, accompanied by his two burly satellites, be rapidly on his track.

And then the thought came swiftly to him. He would turn the carriage round and drive by devious ways to the house of Golitzine. Once in the Count's care, his precious charge would be safe. And, if he took that devious route, there would be no chance of encountering the formidable Zouroff on the way.

He halted at the door of the Count's house; but here an unexpected difficulty awaited him. He dare not leave his horses, high-mettled and but slightly blown by their short gallop. Ah, there was a convenient lamp-post, a couple of feet in front of him. He would dismount and tie his reins round it while he knocked at the door.

While he was engaged in this task, a carriage drove up out of the dark, as it were, and halted beside the other one. A cold sweat broke out over the young man as he observed its arrival. This devil of a Zouroff had been too quick for him.

Then his countenance cleared as he recognised the first man who stepped out. It was the leader of his faithful bodyguard. He had, in the excitement of pa.s.sing events, forgotten them.

"You have lost sight of us, Signor, but, you see, we have not lost sight of you," said the chief of the party. "We followed you to that mean street where your friend lodged, we saw you come out transformed in appearance, we followed you to the villa of Madame Quero, we drove behind you and Prince Zouroff to the Palace, we saw what happened there, and we came after you at lightning speed. Now, how can we help you? There is some strange work going on, that is easy to see. This is the house of Count Golitzine, you want to see him. But I expect they are all gone to bed."

"Yes, my friend, so much has happened in the last hour or two that I had forgotten you," was Corsini's answer. "Tell one of the men to knock at the door till it is opened. If the Count has gone to bed, he must get up. And you and the others guard that carriage and look out for Prince Zouroff."

The house seemed wrapped in darkness, and in fact everybody had retired to rest except the energetic Count himself. Five nights out of six he worked into the morning hours. To-night he had a special reason for sitting up late. At any moment he might expect a visit from the young Italian, to report the results of the meeting at the Villa Quero.

He peered into the darkness and his astonished gaze rested on more than he expected to see. He was prepared to see Corsini, to observe the bodyguard lurking in the background; but the carriage and two impatient horses champing at their bits was more than he had bargained for.

"In Heaven's name, what is this, Corsini?"

Nello advanced and whispered in his ear. "I dare say these men suspect as much as I know, but for the present we need not a.s.sume it. Inside that carriage are two helpless women, drugged by that ruffian Zouroff, the Princess Nada and her maid. I will tell you all the details of the adventure later. Enough to say that I have been able to rescue them from his clutches and drive them to your house. You will not refuse them shelter?"

"Of course not," replied the Count at once. "Bring them in and I will at once arouse the Countess. Drugged, you say! Send round one of the fellows for the nearest doctor: he is the same man who succoured you at Pavlovsk. Stay, I will give the address myself."

The two helpless forms were carried in. The Countess Golitzine was aroused. The doctor arrived. It was some time before he could bring them round. Zouroff and his satellites were evidently acquainted with the secret of a very powerful narcotic. He came down at length to the Count in his study, where he found Corsini.

"Good-evening, Signor. Well, Count, I have brought them back to consciousness, have prescribed a little light food. They were very heavily drugged."

He turned to the young Italian. "It carries me back to that night at the little inn at Pavlovsk, but you were a more difficult case. Then you had had more than one dose. These young women have had only one. I should say, by the symptoms, a similar drug, administered by the same hand."

"Right, doctor; I will tell you all in good time," said Golitzine; "but perhaps in a few days all St. Petersburg may hear of it. You will see them in the morning?"

The doctor promised to call early the next day, but he a.s.sured them that they need fear no anxiety; both young women had vigorous const.i.tutions. He was too discreet to mention that he had recognised one of them as the Princess Nada. He had often seen her at the Opera and driving in the Nevski Prospekt.

And Golitzine was a man to appreciate discretion; he could do much for this young doctor if he chose; therefore he would keep his mouth shut till it was time for him to open it. Golitzine saw him to the door and laid his finger impressively upon his lip.

"Silence for the present, doctor, as to all these strange events you have witnessed. I charge myself with your future advancement." The doctor bowed and went his way.

Upstairs, Nada was slowly regaining her senses. She looked round the big, handsomely-furnished chamber. On a sofa, a little away, was stretched the form of Katerina, recovering more slowly than her mistress.

"How did I come here? Where am I?" she murmured.

The Countess Golitzine, a handsome woman, some twenty years younger than her husband, was sitting by the bedside, holding the Princess's hand.

She whispered in a kind voice: "Do not speak much, my dear Nada, you are too tired; but be quite sure you are amongst friends. Do you recognise me?"

Memory came back in the wake of that long stupor. "The Countess Golitzine, of course; we met a few days ago. But why am I in your house and not at the Palace?"