The Great Pearl SecretWilliamson, C. N. (Charles Norris)
General
The Great Pearl Secret
Williamson, C. N. (Charles Norris)
Detective and mystery stories; Jewelry theft -- Fiction
"I can't find Claremanagh anywhere, or hear of his movements since two
o'clock," Manners said. "He was then at a club you probably never
heard of. It's called 'The Joint'. All sorts of men belong--actors,
writers, lawyers, sportsmen, and at least one private detective! Pat
isn't a member. I shouldn't have thought of the place if a man I know
(the one who will introduce me to Mademoiselle Pavoya) hadn't mentioned
seeing Pat there this morning with two men. That's why I went round,
after I'd tried everywhere else. Well, he was there at five, with the
detective I spoke of just now, and a Frenchman named Defasquelle. That
name will strike you! He had an appointment to come back and dine with
Defasquelle who, it seems, came with an introduction and has been made
a foreign member. In fact, he's staying at the club, and I have been
talking with him. In the hope of seeing Pat at eight, I waited,
because Defasquelle was so sure he would come. But at half-past nine
he hadn't turned up. I've 'phoned everywhere I can think of since, and
left word that I'm to be called whenever there's news, no matter what
time. When I go out--as I must do if I'm to meet the _lady_--I shall
leave my address with the Tarascon people."
"What can have happened to Pat!" Manners heard Juliet cry.
"Don't worry. He's certain to be all right," Jack assured her. But he
wasn't quite comfortable upon that point himself and had quietly
'phoned all the hospitals. It looked queer that Claremanagh hadn't
kept that engagement with Defasquelle. He had apparently been anxious
to keep it. If there had been an accident to a man so well known,
surely the news would have got into the evening papers. Yet there was
no news anywhere of any kind, since the Duke had walked out of "The
Joint" at five. Were such a thing not too absurdly far-fetched, Jack
would have asked himself if any one existed who might wish Claremanagh
to disappear?
CHAPTER XIII
A WOMAN'S EYES
"Mademoiselle Pavoya, this is Captain John Manners, just back from
France: a cousin of the Duchess of Claremanagh's," said the manager who
was introducing Jack.
Lyda Pavoya lifted her drooping head a little--only a little, and fixed
upon Manners a pair of dark eyes. "A pair of dark eyes!" Simple
words, and a simple act. There are many women in the world with dark
eyes, and many had looked at John Manners. But these eyes of the
Polish woman----!
As they gave that upward look from under heavy lashes Manners felt
himself a traitor. He had heard all sorts of stories about Lyda
Pavoya. He had got an impression that she was a "tigress woman." And
then, the dancing that he had seen her do was wild and barbaric. But
to-night she was a swan.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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