she felt her knees shake under her and thought she was going toswoon. she put out her disengaged hand to steady herself, and ifthe face which was turned to him was pale, there was a steadfastresolution in her dark eyes.
"let me relieve you of that, miss holland," said kara, in hissilkiest tones.
he wrenched rather than took the box from her hand, replaced itcarefully in the drawer, pushed the drawer to and locked it,examining the key as he withdrew it. then he closed the safe andlocked that.
"obviously," he said presently, "i must get a new safe."he had not released his hold of her wrist nor did he, until he hadled her from the room back to the library. then he released thegirl, standing between her and the door, with folded arms and thatcynical, quiet, contemptuous smile of his upon his handsome face.
"there are many courses which i can adopt," he said slowly. "ican send for the police - when my servants whom you havedespatched so thoughtfully have returned, or i can take yourpunishment into my own hands.""so far as i am concerned," said the girl coolly, "you may sendfor the police."she leant back against the edge of the desk, her hands holding theedge, and faced him without so much as a quaver.
"i do not like the police," mused kara, when there came a knock atthe door.
kara turned and opened it and after a low strained conversation hereturned, closing the door and laid a paper of stamps on thegirl's table.
"as i was saying, i do not care for the police, and i prefer myown method. in this particular instance the police obviouslywould not serve me, because you are not afraid of them and in allprobability you are in their pay - am i right in supposing thatyou are one of mr. t. x. meredith's accomplices!""i do not know mr. t. x. meredith," she replied calmly, "and i amnot in any way associated with the police.""nevertheless," he persisted, "you do not seem to be very scaredof them and that removes any temptation i might have to place youin the hands of the law. let me see," he pursed his lips as heapplied his mind to the problem.
she half sat, half stood, watching him without any evidence ofapprehension, but with a heart which began to quake a little. forthree months she had played her part and the strain had beengreater than she had confessed to herself. now the great momenthad come and she had failed. that was the sickening, maddeningthing about it all. it was not the fear of arrest or ofconviction, which brought a sinking to her heart; it was thedespair of failure, added to a sense of her helplessness againstthis man.
"if i had you arrested your name would appear in all the papers,of course," he said, narrowly, "and your photograph would probablyadorn the sunday journals," he added expectantly.
she laughed.
"that doesn't appeal to me," she said.
"i am afraid it doesn't," he replied, and strolled towards her asthough to pass her on his way to the window. he was abreast ofher when he suddenly swung round and catching her in his arms hecaught her close to him. before she could realise what heplanned, he had stooped swiftly and kissed her full upon themouth.
"if you scream, i shall kiss you again," he said, "for i have sentthe maid to buy some more stamps - to the general post office.""let me go," she gasped.
now for the first time he saw the terror in her eyes, and theresurged within him that mad sense of triumph, that intoxication ofpower which had been associated with the red letter days of hiswarped life.
"you're afraid!" he bantered her, half whispering the words,"you're afraid now, aren't you? if you scream i shall kiss youagain, do you hear?""for god's sake, let me go," she whispered.
he felt her shaking in his arms, and suddenly he released her witha little laugh, and she sank trembling from head to foot upon thechair by her desk.
"now you're going to tell me who sent you here," he went onharshly, "and why you came. i never suspected you. i thought youwere one of those strange creatures one meets in england, agentlewoman who prefers working for her living to the more simplebusiness of getting married. and all the time you were spying -clever - very clever!"the girl was thinking rapidly. in five minutes fisher wouldreturn. somehow she had faith in fisher's ability and willingnessto save her from a situation which she realized was fraught withthe greatest danger to herself. she was horribly afraid. sheknew this man far better than he suspected, realized the treacheryand the unscrupulousness of him. she knew he would stop short ofnothing, that he was without honour and without a single attributeof goodness.
he must have read her thoughts for he came nearer and stood overher.
"you needn't shrink, my young friend," he said with a littlechuckle. "you are going to do just what i want you to do, andyour first act will be to accompany me downstairs. get up."he half lifted, half dragged her to her feet and led her from theroom. they descended to the hall together and the girl spoke noword. perhaps she hoped that she might wrench herself free andmake her escape into the street, but in this she was disappointed.
the grip about her arm was a grip of steel and she knew safety didnot lie in that direction. she pulled back at the head of thestairs that led down to the kitchen.
"where are you taking me?" she asked.
"i am going to put you into safe custody," he said. "on the wholei think it is best that the police take this matter in hand and ishall lock you into my wine cellar and go out in search of apoliceman."the big wooden door opened, revealing a second door and this karaunbolted. she noticed that both doors were sheeted with steel,the outer on the inside, and the inner door on the outside. shehad no time to make any further observations for kara thrust herinto the darkness. he switched on a light.
"i will not deny you that," he said, pushing her back as she madea frantic attempt to escape. he swung the outer door to as sheraised her voice in a piercing scream, and clapping his hand overher mouth held her tightly for a moment.
"i have warned you," he hissed.
she saw his face distorted with rage. she saw kara transfiguredwith devilish anger, saw that handsome, almost godlike countenancethrust into hers, flushed and seamed with malignity and ahatefulness beyond understanding and then her senses left her andshe sank limp and swooning into his arms.
when she recovered consciousness she found herself lying on aplain stretcher bed. she sat up suddenly. kara had gone and thedoor was closed. the cellar was dry and clean and its walls wereenamelled white. light was supplied by two electric lamps in theceiling. there was a table and a chair and a small washstand, andair was evidently supplied through unseen ventilators. it wasindeed a prison and no less, and in her first moments of panic shefound herself wondering whether kara had used this undergrounddungeon of his before for a similar purpose.
she examined the room carefully. at the farthermost end wasanother door and this she pushed gently at first and thenvigorously without producing the slightest impression. she stillhad her bag, a small affair of black moire, which hung from herbelt, in which was nothing more formidable than a penknife, asmall bottle of smelling salts and a pair of scissors. the lattershe had used for cutting out those paragraphs from the dailynewspapers which referred to kara's movements.
they would make a formidable weapon, and wrapping her handkerchiefround the handle to give it a better grip she placed it on thetable within reach. she was dimly conscious all the time that shehad heard something about this wine cellar - something which, ifshe could recollect it, would be of service to her.
then in a flash she remembered that there was a lower cellar,which according to mrs. beale was never used and was bricked up.
it was approached from the outside, down a circular flight ofstairs. there might be a way out from that direction and wouldthere not be some connection between the upper cellar and thelower!
she set to work to make a closer examination of the apartment.
the floor was of concrete, covered with a light rush matting.
this she carefully rolled up, starting at the door. one half ofthe floor was uncovered without revealing the existence of anytrap. she attempted to pull the table into the centre of theroom, better to roll the matting, but found it fixed to the wall,and going down on her knees, she discovered that it had been fixedafter the matting had been laid.
obviously there was no need for the fixture and, she tapped thefloor with her little knuckle. her heart started racing. thesound her knocking gave forth was a hollow one. she sprang up,took her bag from the table, opened the little penknife and cutcarefully through the thin rushes. she might have to replace thematting and it was necessary she should do her work tidily.
soon the whole of the trap was revealed. there was an iron ring,which fitted flush with the top and which she pulled. the trapyielded and swung back as though there were a counterbalance atthe other end, as indeed there was. she peered down. there was adim light below -the reflection of a light in the distance. aflight of steps led down to the lower level and after a second'shesitation she swung her legs over the cavity and began herdescent.
she was in a cellar slightly smaller than that above her. thelight she had seen came from an inner apartment which would beunderneath the kitchen of the house. she made her way cautiouslyalong, stepping on tip-toe. the first of the rooms she came towas well-furnished. there was a thick carpet on the floor,comfortable easy-chairs, a little bookcase well filled, and areading lamp. this must be kara's underground study, where hekept his precious papers.
a smaller room gave from this and again it was doorless. shelooked in and after her eyes had become accustomed to the darknessshe saw that it was a bathroom handsomely fitted.
the room she was in was also without any light which came from thefarthermost chamber. as the girl strode softly across thewell-carpeted room she trod on something hard. she stooped andfelt along the floor and her fingers encountered a thin steelchain. the girl was bewildered-almost panic-stricken. she shrunkback from the entrance of the inner room, fearful of what shewould see. and then from the interior came a sound that made hertingle with horror.
it was a sound of a sigh, long and trembling. she set her teethand strode through the doorway and stood for a moment staring withopen eyes and mouth at what she saw.
"my god!" she breathed, "london' . . . . in the twentiethcentury . . . !"
