The Double Traitor | Page 3

strangled upon her lips. He turned his head and followed the direction of her eyes. Three young men in the uniform of officers had entered the room, and stood there as though looking about for a table. Before them the little company of head-waiters had almost prostrated themselves. The manager, summoned in breathless haste, had made a reverential approach.
"Who are these young men?" Norgate enquired.
His companion made no reply. Her fine, silky eyebrows were drawn a little closer together. At that moment the tallest of the three newcomers seemed to recognise her. He strode at once towards their table. Norgate, glancing up at his approach, was simply conscious of the coming of a fair young man of ordinary German type, who seemed to be in a remarkably bad temper.
"So I find you here, Anna!"
The Baroness rose as though unwillingly to her feet. She dropped the slightest of curtseys and resumed her place.
"Your visit is a little unexpected, is it not, Karl?" she remarked.
"Apparently!" the young man answered, with an unpleasant laugh.
He turned and stared at Norgate, who returned his regard with half-amused, half-impatient indifference. The Baroness leaned forward eagerly.
"Will you permit me to present Mr. Francis Norgate to you, Karl?"
Norgate, who had suddenly recognised the newcomer, rose to his feet, bowed and remained standing. The Prince's only reply to the introduction was a frown.
"Kindly give me your seat," he said imperatively. "I will conclude your entertainment of the Baroness."
For a moment there was a dead silence. In the background several of the _ma?tres d'h?tel_ had gathered obsequiously around. For some reason or other, every one seemed to be looking at Norgate as though he were a criminal.
"Isn't your request a little unusual, Prince?" he remarked drily.
The colour in the young man's face became almost purple.
"Did you hear what I said, sir?" he demanded. "Do you know who I am?"
"Perfectly," Norgate replied. "A prince who apparently has not learnt how to behave himself in a public place."
The young man took a quick step forward. Norgate's fists were clenched and his eyes glittering. The Baroness stepped between them.
"Mr. Norgate," she said, "you will please give me your escort home."
The Prince's companions had seized him, one by either arm. An older man who had been dining in a distant corner of the room, and who wore the uniform of an officer of high rank, suddenly approached. He addressed the Prince, and they all talked together in excited whispers. Norgate with calm fingers arranged the cloak around his companion and placed a hundred mark note upon his plate.
"I will return for my change another evening," he said to the dumbfounded waiter. "If you are ready, Baroness."
They left the restaurant amid an intense hush. Norgate waited deliberately whilst the door was somewhat unwillingly held open for him by a _ma?tre d'h?tel,_ but outside the Baroness's automobile was summoned at once. She placed her fingers upon Norgate's arm, and he felt that she was shivering.
"Please do not take me home," she faltered. "I am so sorry--so very sorry."
He laughed. "But why?" he protested. "The young fellow behaved like a cub, but no one offered him any provocation. I should think by this time he is probably heartily ashamed of himself. May I come and see you to-morrow?"
"Telephone me," she begged, as she gave him her hand through the window. "You don't quite understand. Please telephone to me."
She suddenly clutched his hand with both of hers and then fell back out of sight among the cushions. Norgate remained upon the pavement until the car had disappeared. Then he looked back once more into the restaurant and strolled across the brilliantly-lit street towards the Embassy.
CHAPTER II
Norgate, during his month's stay in Berlin, had already adopted regular habits. On the following morning he was called at eight o'clock and rode for two hours in the fashionable precincts of the city. The latter portion of the time he spent looking in vain for a familiar figure in a green riding-habit. The Baroness, however, did not appear. At ten o'clock Norgate returned to the Embassy, bathed and breakfasted, and a little after eleven made his way round to the business quarters. One of his fellow-workers there glanced up and nodded at his arrival.
"Where's the Chief?" Norgate enquired.
"Gone down to the Palace," the other young man, whose name was Ansell, replied; "telephoned for the first thing this morning. Ghastly habit William has of getting up at seven o'clock and suddenly remembering that he wants to talk diplomacy. The Chief will be furious all day now."
Norgate lit a cigarette and began to open his letters. Ansell, however, was in a discoursive mood. He swung around from his desk and leaned back in his chair.
"How can a man," he demanded, "see a question from the same point of view at seven o'clock in the