Heinecke could only stare, muttering to himself, “No satisfaction to be
had. Too bad.”
Sana was eager to get away from de Rochelle, from the hotel, from
everybody, so hurriedly taking Heinecke by the arm, she fairly dragged
him away, saying, for want of something better, “Now, look at what you
have done!”
From the time that Sana had been carried unconscious from the morgue,
in New York, to the hour of her departure for Europe Sana had been
under the constant care of Dr. White and the O’Briens and they had
purposely withheld from her the news that the body that had been found
in the river was not that of de Rochelle. A newspaper reporter, who was
at the scene of the drowning when the body was recovered, took it upon
himself to say that the man was de Rochelle. Some cards and papers had
been found on the body bearing the name of “François de Rochelle,” so
it was as a “François de Rochelle” that the man was buried. As a matter
of fact it developed a few days later that the suicide was a young bank
clerk, who, with de Rochelle, had speculated heavily with part of the
funds raised for the purpose of carrying out the work of the Sahara
Development Organization. Things had gone wrong on the market that day
and the clerk had called on de Rochelle, with a view to securing some
money to cover their margins. De Rochelle was not to be found, but on
the table lay a note, addressed to Sana, in which he stated that he had
been discovered at last. He was going away forever. He asked her, also,
to tell the bank clerk of his leaving.
The clerk, believing at once that de Rochelle was referring to his
shady dealings on the Street, in his note to Sana, set about to destroy
the note upon the radiator. He had been equally guilty in these money
matters and wanted to hide his trail as much as possible. It was while
crossing the Bridge that his mind, haunted by the fear of possible
consequences, gave way and he took the fatal leap.
Once more had Fate thrown Sana and de Rochelle together. To the girl
it meant grave dangers and misery. In the silence of her apartment she
determined to leave the place--secretly if necessary. Slipping quietly
down to the lobby of the hotel, she dispatched a message to her mother,
announcing her intention to come home. Sana realized what she would
have to sacrifice, but nothing counted. She only wanted to get away,
far away from de Rochelle.
The following day, about noon, Sana was crossing the gardens at the
Kurhaus, where hundreds were promenading and listening to the band. She
had been shopping, purchasing little odds and ends, among them gifts
for her mother.
Suddenly a hand was placed upon her arm. Frightened she turned to
confront de Rochelle. She tried to evade him, but he only grasped her
arm more tightly so that escape was impossible. In a low, but not
unkindly tone, de Rochelle spoke, asking her to join him at lunch at
the Messmer. Sana refused and while he was insisting upon her doing so,
aid came in the form of Heinecke.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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