The Game Played in the Dark | Page 6

the driver.
"No, no," interposed the lady, with decision, "let him stop at the
beginning of the street. It is not far to walk. My husband would be on
the verge of distraction if he thought in the dark that it was the arrival
of the police--who knows?"
"Brackedge Road, opposite the end of Heronsbourne Place," amended
Carrados.
Heronsbourne Place had the reputation, among those who were curious
in such matters, of being the most reclusive residential spot inside the
four-mile circle. To earn that distinction it was, needless to say, a
cul-de-sac. It bounded one side of Heronsbourne Park but did not at any
point of its length give access to that pleasance. It was entirely devoted
to unostentatious little houses, something between the villa and the
cottage, some detached and some in pairs, but all possessing the
endowment of larger, more umbrageous gardens than can generally be
secured within the radius. The local house agent described them as
"delightfully old-world" or "completely modernized" according to the

requirement of the applicant.
The cab was dismissed at the corner and Madame Ferraja guided her
companion along the silent and deserted way. She had begun to talk
with renewed animation, but her ceaseless chatter only served to
emphasize to Carrados the one fact that it was contrived to disguise.
"I am not causing you to miss the house with looking after me--No. 7,
Madame Ferraja?" he interposed.
"No, certainly," she replied readily. "It is a little farther. The numbers
are from the other end. But we are there. Ecco!"
She stopped at a gate and opened it, still guiding him. They passed into
a garden, moist and sweet scented with the distillate odours of a dewy
evening. As she turned to relatch the gate the blind man endeavoured
politely to anticipate her. Between them his hat fell to the ground.
"My clumsiness," he apologized, recovering it from the step. "My old
impulses and my present helplessness, alas, Madame Ferraja!"
"One learns prudence by experience," said Madame sagely. She was
scarcely to know, poor lady, that even as she uttered this trite aphorism,
under cover of darkness and his hat, Mr. Carrados had just ruined his
signet ring by blazoning a golden "7" upon her garden step to establish
its identity if need be. A cul-de-sac that numbered from the closed end
seemed to demand some investigation.
"Seldom," he replied to her remark. "One goes on taking risks. So we
are there?"
Madame Ferraja had opened the front door with a latchkey. She
dropped the latch and led Carrados forward along the narrow hall. The
room they entered was at the back of the house, and from the position
of the road it therefore overlooked the park. Again the door was locked
behind them.
"The celebrated Mr. Carrados!" announced Madame Ferraja, with a

sparkle of triumph in her voice. She waved her hand towards a lean,
dark man who had stood beside the door as they entered. "My
husband."
"Beneath our poor roof in the most fraternal manner," commented the
dark man, in the same derisive spirit. "But it is wonderful."
"The even more celebrated Monsieur Dompierre, unless I am
mistaken?" retorted Carrados blandly. "I bow on our first real meeting."
"You knew!" exclaimed the Dompierre of the earlier incident
incredulously. "Stoker, you were right and I owe you a hundred lire.
Who recognized you, Nina?"
"How should I know?" demanded the real Madame Dompierre crossly.
"This blind man himself, by chance."
"You pay a poor compliment to your charming wife's personality to
imagine that one could forget her so soon," put in Carrados. "And you a
Frenchman, Dompierre!"
"You knew, Monsieur Carrados," reiterated Dompierre, "and yet you
ventured here. You are either a fool or a hero."
"An enthusiast--it is the same thing as both," interposed the lady.
"What did I tell you? What did it matter if he recognized? You see?"
"Surely you exaggerate, Monsieur Dompierre," contributed Carrados.
"I may yet pay tribute to your industry. Perhaps I regret the
circumstance and the necessity but I am here to make the best of it. Let
me see the things Madame has spoken of and then we can consider the
detail of their price, either for myself or on behalf of others."
There was no immediate reply. From Dompierre came a saturnine
chuckle and from Madame Dompierre a titter that accompanied a
grimace. For one of the rare occasions in his life Carrados found
himself wholly out of touch with the atmosphere of the situation.
Instinctively he turned his face towards the other occupant of the room,

the man addressed as "Stoker," whom he knew to be standing near the
window.
"This unfortunate business has brought me an introduction," said a
familiar voice.
For one dreadful moment the universe stood still round Carrados. Then,