The Great Secret | Page 6

said, "but Mr. Blumentein is engaged. Is there
anything I can do?"
"No!" I answered him bluntly. "I want the manager, and no one else
will do. If he cannot see me now I will wait. If he does not appear in a

reasonable time, I shall go direct to Scotland Yard and lay certain
information before the authorities there."
The clerk stared at me, and then smiled in a tolerant manner. He was
short and dark, and wore glasses. His manner was pleasant enough, but
he had the air of endeavoring to soothe a fractious child--which
annoyed me.
"I will send a message down to Mr. Blumentein, sir," he said, "but he is
very busy this morning."
He called a boy, but, after a moment's hesitation, he left the office
himself. I lit a cigarette, and waited with as much patience as I could
command. The people who passed in and out interested me very little.
Suddenly, however, I gave a start and looked up quickly.
A woman had entered the reception-room, passing so close to me that
her skirts almost brushed my feet. She was tall, quietly and elegantly
dressed, and she was followed by a most correct looking maid, who
carried a tiny Japanese spaniel. I did not see her face, although I knew
by her carriage and figure that she must be young. That she was a
person of importance it was easy to see by the attention which was at
once paid her. Her interest for me, however, lay in none of these things.
I had been conscious, as she had passed, of a whiff of faint, very
delicate perfume--and with it, of a sudden, sharp recollection. It was a
perfume which I had distinguished but once before in my life, and that
only a few hours ago.
She gave her key in at the desk, received some letters, and turning
round passed within a few feet of me. Perhaps she realized that I was
watching her with more than ordinary attention, and her eyes fell for a
moment carelessly upon mine. They were withdrawn at once, and she
passed on with the slightest of frowns--just sufficient rebuke to the
person who had forgotten himself so far as to stare at a woman in a
public place. The maid, too, glanced towards me with a slight flash in
her large black eyes, as though she, also, resented my impertinence, and
the little Japanese spaniel yawned as he was carried past, and showed
me a set of dazzling white teeth. I was in disgrace all round, because I

had looked for a second too long into his mistress' deep blue eyes and
pale, proud face. Nevertheless, I presumed even further. I changed my
position, so that I could see her where she stood in the hall, talking to
her maid.
Like a man who looks half unwillingly into the land of hidden things,
knowing very well that his own doom or joy is there, if he has the wit
to see and the strength to grasp it, so did I deliberately falsify the tenets
and obligations of my order, and, standing half in the hall, half in the
office, I stared at the lady and the maid and the spaniel. She was
younger even than I had thought her, and I felt that there was
something foreign in her appearance, although of what nationality she
might be I could not determine. Her hair was of a shade between brown
and golden, and, as she stood now, with her back to me, I could see that
it was so thick and abundant that her maid's art had been barely
sufficient to keep it within bounds. In the front it was parted in the
middle, and came rather low down over her forehead. Now I could see
her profile--the rather long neck, which the lace scarf about her
shoulders seemed to leave a little more than usually bare; the soft and
yet firm outline of features, delicate enough and yet full of character.
Just then her maid said something which seemed to call her attention to
me. She half turned her head and looked me full in the face. Her eyes
seemed to narrow a little, as though she were short-sighted. Then she
very slowly and very deliberately turned her back upon me, and
continued talking to her maid. My cheeks were tanned enough, but I
felt the color burn as I prepared to move away. At that moment the lift
stopped just opposite to her, and Mr. Blumentein stepped out, followed
by his dapper little clerk.
Mr. Blumentein was a man of less than medium height, with grey hair
and beard, powerfully built and with a sleek, well-groomed appearance.
Hat in hand, and with many bows and smiles, he