The Countess leaned forward with sudden eagerness.
"And if I free him? If I devise a way?"
The Frenchman turned quickly from contemplation of the landscape to her
face.
"Ah!" he exclaimed. "Once more you are yourself; the cleverest woman in
Europe, as, always, you are the most charming!"
"Do you know where Monsieur Martin may be found?"
Jusseret looked at her in surprise.
"I supposed he was here, consulting with you. I sent him to you with a
letter--recommending him as a useful instrument."
"He was in Algiers, but I sent him away." The Countess laughed. "He
wanted money, always money, until I wearied of furnishing his purse."
"Even if he were available he could hardly go to Puntal, Madame,"
demurred Jusseret. "Von Ritz knows him."
"True." The Countess sat for a time in deep thought.
"There is one man in Puntal," said Jusseret with sudden thought, "who
might possibly be of assistance to you. He is not legally a citizen of
Galavia. He even has a certain official connection with another
government. He is a man I cannot myself approach." Jusseret had been
talking in a low tone, too low to endanger being overheard by the
cocher, but now with excess of caution he leaned forward and whispered
a name. The name was José Reebeler.
* * * * *
It was June. Three months had passed since the Grand Duke had steamed
into Puntal Harbor as Blanco's prisoner of war. The Duke had since that
day been a guest of the King. His goings and comings were, however,
guarded with strict solicitude. One day he went after his custom for a
stroll in the Palace garden. He was accompanied by two officers of the
Palace Guard especially selected by Von Ritz for known fidelity. At the
garden gates stood picked sentinels. That evening a fisherman's boat
stole out of the harbor. Neither Louis Delgado nor his guard returned.
The sentinels failed to respond at roll-call.
As the King and the Colonel listened to the report of the escape,
Karyl's face paled a little and the features of Von Ritz hardened.
Orders were given for an instant dispatch in cipher, demanding from a
secret agent in Algiers all information obtainable as to the movements
of the Countess Astaride. The reply brought the statement that the
Countess had, several days before, sailed for Alexandria and Cairo.
Von Ritz became preternaturally active, masking every movement under his
accustomed seeming of imperturbable calm. At last he brought his report
to the King. "It signifies one thing which I had not suspected. Among
the men whom I thought I could most implicitly trust, there is treason.
How deep that cancer goes is a matter as to which we can only make
guesses."