But why need I trouble you with that incident of long ago? Suffice it to say that my little Ella preferred money to a man's love, and she became engaged to a stout, grey-haired fellow old enough to be her father. Six months later she sickened, and then I heard that she was dead. Ah! the blow was to me terrible! I became from that day a changed man.

Since my little Ella preferred money to my love, I had again been wandering hither and thither, a careless, aimless man, just as I had wandered before meeting her. If I had had a profession it would have been different, but my father committed the unpardonable folly of leaving me comfortably off, therefore I simply developed into an idler, preferring life at the gay continental resorts--now in Monte Carlo, now in Paris, now in Rome, or elsewhere, just as my inclinations led me--to the dull humdrum existence of chambers in London. Ella--Ella! I thought of none save of my sweet dead love, now lost to me for ever.

Therefore, when Sammy hinted that I had become bewitched by Lucie Miller I firmly and frankly denied such a.s.sertion. Four years is a breach in a man's life, but even four years had not caused me to forget my first and only true pa.s.sion--the pa.s.sion that had ended so tragically. Sometimes life does not count by years. Some suffer a lifetime in a day, and so grow old between the rising and the setting of the sun.

When Price had concluded the inventory of the dead man's papers, I sorted out all those which had any official bearing. Perhaps I ought to have communicated at once with the Italian Consulate, seeing that the dead man was an Italian subject, but at the time it never occurred to me. The papers which had so evidently been abstracted from the archives of the Ministry of Justice in Rome I tied up in a bundle and placed them apart. The others, with the exception of the yellow folio and the letter of appeal, we replaced in the portmanteaux.

Later that afternoon, when alone, I drew out the letter again and re-read it. Translated into English it was as follows:--

"Your Excellency Signor Nardini--For the last time I throw myself upon your charity and ask you to speak and clear me of this disgraceful allegation they have made against me. You alone know that I am entirely innocent. You alone know that on the evening of the affair I was at the Villa Verde. Therefore, how could I have been in Rome?

How can I be culpable? A single word from you will vanquish these lying, unscrupulous enemies of mine who have thus attacked my honour and seek to connect me with an affair of which I swear I am in utter ignorance.

"Surely you will not refuse to make this one single declaration to save me! Reflect well all that it means to me--this disgraceful accusation against my honour. I know your reluctance. You fear that your own admission that I was at your villa out at Tivoli on that night may give rise to some scandalous gossip. But will you not risk it in order to save a woman's life? Shall I not suffer more than you--a man? Yet I am quite ready to face the scandal of our names being connected in order to free myself from this most disgraceful charge. Say what you wish concerning me--tell all you know, if it suits your purpose--only I pray of you to shield me from these fierce, relentless enemies of mine.

"I, a defenceless and desperate woman, beg of you to speak the truth and clear me. Will you not hear my appeal?

"To-morrow, at noon, I shall call upon you personally for a reply.

"Speak--speak, I beg of you most humbly and with all my heart. You are the only person who can save me, and I pray that G.o.d in His justice may direct your action of mercy. Lucie."

Was not the truth plainly written there? Surely she had not misled me in her motive in coming to England, to make one final appeal to the man whose lips had, alas! been closed by death!

I re-read the piteous letter, sighing the while. Every word of it showed her mad desperation at being unable to prove her innocence of this mysterious allegation. The reason of the man's silence was now obvious. If he had spoken he would have had to tell the truth--which from her letter appeared to be an unpleasant one and likely to cause scandal. Yet she a.s.serted that she was fearless of anything the world might say; therefore did not that very fact suggest that there was no ground for any scandal?

Then I opened the yellow official paper which had been preserved with the letter of appeal.

Headed "_Amministrazione di Pubblica Sicurezza_" and bearing the number 28,280, it was, I saw, the Italian police record regarding an Englishman named James Harding Miller, son of William Miller, born at Studland, in Dorsetshire, widower, and resident in Rome. After the name and the statement that he was sometimes known as Milner, a minute description was given of the person whom the record concerned, and in that column headed "Connotati," or personal appearance, was the following:--

Statura: alto.

Corporature: secco.

Colorito: bruno.

Capelli: castagna.

Barba: c.

Occhi: c.

Naso: greco.

Bocca: reg.

Fronte: guista.

Segni: porta lenti.

The meaning of this was that Mr Milner, or Miller, was tall of stature, dark complexion, chestnut beard, hair and eyes, Greek nose, and that he habitually wore pince-nez. In fact upon the back of the doc.u.ment were pasted four photographs, taken in different positions, and probably by different photographers.

The information contained in the record was, however, of more interest to me, and I read it through very carefully from end to end.

Briefly, what was chronicled there was to the effect that the Englishman Miller had on several occasions been suspected of being implicated in various schemes of fraud in a.s.sociation with certain persons against whom were previous convictions. It appeared that so strong were the suspicions concerning him in the case of an extensive fraud upon French's bank in Florence by means of forged securities two years before that Miller was arrested, but after exhaustive inquiries was allowed his freedom as there was insufficient evidence.

The lines of even writing went on to state: "The man's daughter, Lucie Lilian Miller, is constantly with him, and may partic.i.p.ate in his schemes. There is, however, no direct allegation against her." Miller, it continued, evidently possessed a secret source of income which was believed to be derived from dishonest sources, though the actual truth had not yet been discovered. The record ended with the words added as a postscript in another handwriting: "After exhaustive inquiries made by the Questura in Rome, in Florence and in Leghorn, it is now established beyond doubt that the Englishman is in active communication with a clever international a.s.sociation of `sharpers'."

After reading that I was compelled to accept the truth of Sammy's statement. The man Miller had evidently plotted and obtained the securities in the young Chilian's despatch-box.

Yet had Lucie, I wondered, any knowledge of that dastardly conspiracy which had ended in a tragedy?

CHAPTER EIGHT.

"THE MYSTERIOUS MR MILLER."

On the following day, about noon, I took a cab to the Italian Emba.s.sy, that fine stone-built mansion in Grosvenor Square.

A tall footman with powdered hair asked me into the great reception-room where, at one end, hung a great portrait of the late King Humbert, the other end of the room opening upon a large conservatory where stood a grand piano. It was a sombre apartment, furnished with solid, old-fashioned taste and embellished with a number of photographs of noteworthy persons presented to the popular Amba.s.sador and his wife in the various cities wherein His Excellency had represented his sovereign.

Like most London reception-rooms, it looked its best at night under the myriad electric lamps. At noon, as I sat there, it looked a trifle too dull and gloomy. Presently one of the staff of the Emba.s.sy, a short, pleasant-faced, elderly Italian of charming manner, and speaking perfect English, greeted me courteously and inquired the object of my request to see His Excellency.

"I have called," I said, "in order to give some confidential information which may be of interest to His Excellency. The fact is I have been present at the death of the ex-Minister for Justice Nardini."

"His death!" exclaimed the pleasant official. "What do you mean? Is he dead?"

"He died here, in London, and unrecognised. It was only on searching his papers that I discovered his ident.i.ty. He came to an obscure boarding-house in Shepherd's Bush, giving the name of Ma.s.sari, but on the following day he died. He had for a long time been suffering from an internal complaint and suddenly collapsed. The effort of the rapid journey from Rome and the anxiety were evidently too great for him."

"This is astounding! We had no idea he was here! There were orders given for his arrest, you know," remarked the Emba.s.sy archivist, for such I afterwards found him to be--a trusted official who for many years has held that position, and is well-known and popular in the diplomatic circle in London. "But," he added suddenly, "how were you enabled to establish his ident.i.ty?"

"By these," I answered, drawing out a packet of official papers from my pocket, opening them and handing him one of them to read.

The instant his eyes fell upon it he started, turned it over, and looked up at me amazed.

"I presume you know Italian?" he asked quickly.

I nodded in the affirmative.

"Then you are aware what these papers are--most important Government doc.u.ments, abstracted from the archives of the Ministry of Justice in Rome?"

"I know," I replied briefly. "That is why I secured them, and why I have brought them to His Excellency. They certainly should not be allowed to go into the hands of any one, for they contain much confidential information regarding certain well-known persons."

"Of course," he said. "His Excellency will, I'm sure, be extremely indebted to you for acting with such discretion. Had they fallen into the hands of the London police they might have been copied, and the secret of our methods known. Besides, in any case, it surely would be most detrimental to our prestige, if the public knew that confidential reports of this character were being allowed to pa.s.s from hand to hand for any one to read."

"I viewed the matter from exactly the same standpoint," I said. "My own opinion is that Nardini intended either to sell them, or to levy blackmail by their means."

But the official only shrugged his shoulders in ignorance. It was not likely that he would condemn his own compatriot, even though at heart he despised both the man and his dishonest methods.

Each paper he examined carefully, and once or twice gave vent to e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.ns of surprise when he read facts concerning certain persons in high positions in Rome which amazed him.

"At this moment His Excellency is unfortunately out, but I trust, Mr Leaf, you will leave these with me," he suggested. "We shall send them back under seal to Rome."

"Of course, that was my intention," I said. And then, in reply to some further questions, I described to him the circ.u.mstances in which Nardini had died. Of course I made no mention of Lucie Miller nor of her strange story of the dead man's mysterious hatred of myself. I only apologised that I had not thought of communicating with the Italian Consulate, and expressed a hope that the restoration of these doc.u.ments might partly atone for my remissness.

"There is, I suppose, nothing else among the dead man's belongings to interest us?" he asked seriously. "You have, of course, made careful search?"

"Yes. I have had an inventory made by a solicitor. There is nothing else," I answered; and after giving my courteous friend my club address, and chatting for some ten minutes longer, I received his renewed thanks, and departed.

My one thought now was of Lucie Miller, the woman whose piteous appeal to the fugitive had been in vain. Several matters puzzled me and held me mystified.