“We are all watched,” said Wanda, with a short and careless laugh. “But
you are going away--that is all that matters.”
“I am not going away. I am only going across the frontier, and shall be
back this afternoon.”
Wanda turned and looked towards the door. They were alone in the room,
which was a vast one. If there were any other first-class passengers,
they were waiting the arrival of the train from Lemberg in the
restaurant, which is the more usual way of gaining access to the
platform. She probably guessed that he was going across the frontier to
post a letter.
“You must leave Warsaw,” she said; “it is not safe for you to stay here.
You have by accident acquired some knowledge which renders it imperative
for you to go away. Your life, you understand, is in danger.”
She kept her eyes on the door as she spoke. The ticket-collector on duty
at the entrance of the two waiting-rooms was a long way off, and could
not hear them even if he understood English, which was improbable. There
were so many other languages at this meeting-place of East and West
which it was essential for him to comprehend. The room was absolutely
bare; not so much as a dog could be concealed in it. It these two had
anything to say to each other this was assuredly the moment, and this
bare railway station the place to say it in.
Cartoner did not laugh at the mention of danger, or shrug his shoulders.
He was too familiar with it, perhaps, to accord it this conventional
salutation.
“Martin would have warned you,” she went on, “but he did not dare to.
Besides, he thought that you knew something of the danger into which you
had unwittingly run.”
“Not unwittingly,” said Cartoner, and Wanda turned to look at him. He
said so little that his meaning needed careful search.
“I cannot tell you much--” she began, and he interrupted her at once.
“Stop,” he said, “you must tell me nothing. It was not unwitting. I am
here for a purpose. I am here to learn everything--but not from you.”
“Martin hinted at that,” said Wanda, slowly, “but I did not believe
him.”
And she looked at Cartoner with a sort of wonder in her eyes. It was as
if there were more in him--more of him--than she had ever expected.
And he returned her glance with a simplicity and directness which were
baffling enough. He looked down at her. He was taller than she, which
was as it should be. For half the trouble of this troubled world comes
from the fact that, for one reason or another, women are not always able
to look up to the men with whom they have dealings.
“It is true enough,” he said, “fate has made us enemies, princess.”
“You said that even the Czar could not do that. And he is stronger than
fate--in Poland. Besides----”
“Yes.”
“You, who say so little, were indiscreet enough to confide something in
your enemy. You told me you had written for your recall.”
And again her eyes brightened, with an anticipating gleam of relief.
“It has been refused.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account