The Knave of Diamonds Read online

  THE KNAVE OF DIAMONDS

  By ETHEL M. DELL

  Author of "The Way Of An Eagle"

  1912

  I DEDICATE THIS BOOK TO MY FRIEND AND SISTER IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE OFHER SYMPATHY AND HELP

  O Charity, all patiently Abiding wrack and scaith!O Faith that meets ten thousand cheats Yet drops no jot of faith!Devil and brute Thou dost transmute To higher, lordlier show,Who art in sooth that lovely Truth The careless angels know!

  _To the True Romance_.

  RUDYARD KIPLING

  CONTENTS

  PART I

  CHAPTER

  I.--THE MISSING HEART

  II.--THE QUEEN'S JESTER

  III.--THE CHARIOT OF THE GODS

  IV.--CAKE MORNING

  V.--THE FIRST ENCOUNTER

  VI.--AT THE MEET

  VII.--THE FALL

  VIII.--THE RIDE HOME

  IX.--THE HEAD OF THE HOUSE

  X.--THE HAND OF A FRIEND

  XI.--THE STING OF A SCORPION

  XII.--BROTHERS

  XIII.--THE JESTER'S INFERNO

  XIV.--A BIG THING

  XV.--THE CHAMPION

  XVI.--THE MASQUERADE

  XVII.--THE SLAVE OF GOODNESS

  XVIII.--THE DESCENT FROM OLYMPUS

  XIX.--VENGEANCE

  XX.--THE VISION

  XXI.--AT THE MERCY OF A DEMON

  XXII.--THE CITY OF REFUGE

  PART II

  I.--THE JESTER'S RETURN

  II.--THE KERNEL OF THE DIFFICULTY

  III.--THE FIRST ORDEAL

  IV.--THE FATAL STREAK

  V.--THE TOKEN

  VI.--THE BURIAL OF A HATCHET

  VII.--A QUESTION OF TRUST

  VIII.--A SUDDEN BLOW

  IX.--THE BOON

  X.--A DAY IN PARADISE

  XI.--THE RETURN TO EARTH

  XII.--IN THE FACE OF THE GODS

  XIII.--AN APPEAL AND ITS ANSWER

  XIV.--THE IRRESISTIBLE

  XV.--ON THE EDGE OF THE PIT

  XVI.--DELIVERANCE

  PART III

  I.--THE POWER DIVINE

  II.--THE WORKER OF MIRACLES

  III.--THE WOMAN'S PART

  IV.--THE MESSAGE

  V.--THE SLOUGH OF DESPOND

  VI.--A VOICE THAT CALLED

  VII.--THE UNINVITED GUEST

  VIII.--THE HEART OF A SAVAGE

  IX.--THE DIVINE SPARK

  X.--THE QUEEN'S PARDON

  XI.--SOMETHING GREAT

  XII.--A FRIENDLY UNDERSTANDING

  XIII.--THE FINAL DEFEAT

  XIV.--AT THE GATE OF DEATH

  XV.--THE KING'S DECREE

  XVI.--THE STRAIGHT GAME

  XVII.--THE TRANSFORMING MAGIC

  XVIII.--THE LAST ORDEAL

  XIX.--OUT OF THE FURNACE

  XX.--THE PROMOTION OF THE QUEEN'S JESTER

  XXI.--THE POWER THAT CASTS OUT DEVILS

  PART I

  CHAPTER I

  THE MISSING HEART

  There came a sudden blare of music from the great ballroom below, and thewoman who stood alone at an open window on the first floor shrugged hershoulders and shivered a little. The night air blew in brisk and coldupon her uncovered neck, but except for that slight, involuntary shivershe scarcely seemed aware of it. The room behind her was brilliantlylighted but empty. Some tables had been set for cards, but the cards wereuntouched. Either the attractions of the ballroom had remainedomnipotent, or no one had penetrated to this refuge of the bored--no onesave this tall and stately woman robed in shimmering, iridescent green,who stood with her face to the night, breathing the chill air as one whohad been on the verge of suffocation. It was evidently she who had flungup the window. Her gloved hands leaned upon the woodwork on each side ofit. There was a certain constraint in her whole attitude, a tension thatwas subtly evident in every graceful line. Her head was slightly bent asthough she intently watched or listened for something.

  Yet nothing could have been audible where she stood above the hubbub ofmusic, laughter, and stamping feet that rose from below. It filled thenight with uproar. Nor was there anything but emptiness in the narrowside-street into which she looked.

  The door of the room was ajar and gradually swinging wider in thedraught. Very soon it would be wide enough for anyone passing in thepassage outside to spy the slim figure that stood so motionless beforethe open window. It was almost wide enough now. Surely it was wideenough, for suddenly it ceased to move. The draught continued to eddyround the room, stirring the soft brown hair about the woman's temples,but the door stood still as at the behest of an unseen hand.

  For fully half a minute nothing happened; then as suddenly and silentlyas a picture flashed from a magic lantern slide, a man's head came intoview. A man's eyes, dusky, fierce, with something of a stare in them,looked the motionless figure keenly up and down.

  There followed another interval as though the intruder were debatingwith himself upon some plan of action, then, boldly but quite quietly, hepushed the door back and entered.

  He was a slight, trim man, clean-shaven, with high cheek-bones that madea long jaw seem the leaner by contrast. His sleek black hair was partedin the middle above his swarthy face, giving an unmistakably foreigntouch to his appearance. His tread was light and wary as a cat's.

  His eyes swept the room comprehensively as he advanced, coming backto the woman at the window as though magnetically drawn to her. Butshe remained quite unaware of him, and he, no whit disconcerted,calmly seated himself at one of the tables behind her and took up apack of cards.

  The dance-music in the room below was uproariously gay. Some of thedancers were singing. Now and then a man's voice bellowed through theclamour like the blare of a bull.

  Whenever this happened, the man at the table smiled to himself a faint,thin-lipped smile, and the woman at the window shivered again.

  Suddenly, during a lull, he spoke. He was counting out the cards intoheaps with lightning rapidity, turning up one here and there, and he didnot raise his eyes from his occupation.

  "I say, you know," he said in a drawl that was slightly nasal, "you willhave to tell me how old you are. Is that an obstacle?"

  She wheeled round at the first deliberate syllable. The electriclight flared upon her pale, proud face. She stood in dead silence,looking at him.

  "You mustn't mind," he said persuasively, still without lifting his eyes."I swear I'll never tell. Come now!"

  Very quietly she turned and closed the window; then with a certainstateliness she advanced to the table at which he sat, and stoppedbefore it.

  "I think you are making a mistake," she said, in a voice that had a hintof girlish sweetness about it despite its formality.

  He looked up then with a jerk, and the next instant was on his feet.

  "Gad! I'm tremendously sorry! What must you take me for? I took you forMrs. Damer. I beg you will forgive me."

  She smiled a little, and some of the severity went out of her face. For amoment that too seemed girlish.

  "It is of no consequence. I saw it was a mistake."

  "An idiotic mistake!" he declared with emphasis. "And you are not a bitlike Mrs. Damer either. Are you waiting for someone? Would you like me toclear out?"

  "Certainly not. I am going myself."

  "Oh, but don't!" he begged her very seriously. "I shall take it horriblyto heart if you do. And really, I don't deserve such a snub as that."

  Again she faintly smiled. "I am not feeling malicious, but you areexpecting your partner. And I--"

  "No, I am not," he asserted. "My partner has basely deserted me fora
nother fellow. I came in here merely because I was wandering aboutseeking distraction. Please don't go--unless I bore you--in which caseyou have only to dismiss me."

  She turned her eyes questioningly upon the cards before him. "What areyou doing with them? Is it a game?"

  "Won't you sit down?" he said, "and I will tell you."

  She seated herself facing him. "Well?"

  He considered the cards for a little, his brows bent. Then, "It is amagician's game," he said. "Let me read your fortune."

  She hesitated.

  Instantly he looked up. "You are not afraid?"

  She met his look, a certain wistfulness in her grey eyes. "Oh, no, notafraid--only sceptical."

  "Only sceptical!" he echoed. "That is a worldwide complaint. But anyonewith imagination can always pretend. You are not good at pretending?"

  "Not particularly."

  His eyes challenged hers. "Perhaps you have never needed an anaesthetic?"he said coolly.

  She looked slightly startled. "What do you mean?"

  He leaned deliberately forward across the table. "You know what ananaesthetic does, don't you? It cheats the senses of pain. And a littlehumbug does the same for the mind. Of course you don't believe anything.I don't myself. But you can't stand for ever and contemplate an abyss ofutter ignorance. You must weave a little romance about it for the sake ofyour self-respect."

  She looked straight into the challenging eyes. The wistfulness was stillin her own. "Then you are offering to weave a little romance for me?" shesaid, with a faint involuntary sigh.

  He made her a brief bow. "If you will permit me to do so."

  "To relieve your boredom?" she suggested with a smile.

  "And yours," he smiled back, taking up the cards.

  She did not contradict him. She only lowered her eyes to the deft handsthat were disposing the cards in mystic array upon the table.

  There followed a few moments of silence; then in his careless, unmusicaldrawl the man spoke.

  "Do you mind telling me your first name? It is essential to the game, ofcourse, or I shouldn't presume to ask."

  "My name is Anne," she said.

  The noise below had lessened considerably, and this fact seemed to causeher some relief. The tension had gone out of her bearing. She sat withher chin upon her hand.

  Not a beautiful woman by any means, she yet possessed that indescribablecharm which attracts almost in spite of itself. There was about herevery movement a queenly grace that made her remarkable, and yet she wasplainly not one to court attention. Her face in repose had a look ofunutterable weariness.

  "How old are you please?" said the magician.

  "Twenty-five."

  He glanced up at her.

  "Yes, twenty-five," she repeated. "I am twenty-five to-day."

  He looked at her fixedly for a few seconds, then in silence returned tohis cards.

  She continued to watch him without much interest. The dance-music wasquickening to the _finale_. The hubbub of voices had died away. Evidentlya good many people had ceased to dance.

  Suddenly her companion spoke. "Do you like diamonds?"

  She smiled at the question. "Yes, I like them. I haven't a passionfor them."

  "No," he said, without raising his eyes. "You haven't a passion foranything at present. You will have soon."

  "I think it very unlikely," she said.

  "Of course you do." He was manoeuvring the cards rapidly with one hand."Your eyes have not been opened yet. I see an exciting time before you.You are going to have an illness first. That comes in the near future."

  "I have never been ill in my life," she said.

  "No? It will be an experience for you, then--not a very painful one, Ihope. Are you getting nervous?"

  "Not in the least."

  "Ah! That's as well, because here comes the King of Diamonds. He hastaken a decided fancy to you, and if you have any heart at all, whichI can't discover, you ought to end by being the Queen. No, here comesthe Knave--confound his impudence!--and, by Jove, yes, followed by themissing heart. I am glad you have got one anyway, even if the King isnot in it. It looks as if you will have some trouble with that Knave,so beware of him." He glanced up at her for a moment. "Beware of him!"he repeated deliberately. "He is a dangerous scamp. The King is theman for you."

  She received his caution with that faint smile of hers that softened herface but never seemed to reach her eyes.

  He continued his contemplation of the cards in silence for some seconds."Yes," he said finally, "I see an exciting future before you. I hope youwill look out for me when you come into your own. I should value yourmajesty's favour immensely."

  "I will give you a place at court as the Queen's jester," she said.

  He glanced up again sharply, met her smile, and bowed with much ceremony."Your majesty's most humble servant!" he declared, "I enter upon myfunctions from this day forward. You will see my cap and bells in theforefront of the throng when you ride to your coronation."

  "You are sure there will be a coronation?" she asked.

  "It is quite evident," he replied with conviction.

  "Even though I chance to be married already?"

  He raised his brows. "That so?" he drawled. "Well, it rather complicatesmatters, doesn't it? Still--" He looked again at the cards. "It seemspretty certain. If it weren't for that hobgoblin of a Knave I should sayit was quite so. He comes between the King and the heart, you see. Ishouldn't be too intimate with him if I were you."

  She rose, still smiling. "I shall certainly keep him at a respectfuldistance," she said. "Good-bye."

  "Oh, are you going? Let me escort you! Really, I've nothing else to do."He swept the cards together and sprang to his feet. "Where may I takeyou? Would you like some refreshment?"

  She accepted his proffered arm though she instantly negatived hisproposal. "Shall we go down to the vestibule? No doubt you have a partnerfor the next dance."

  "Have you?" he questioned keenly.

  "That is beside the point," she remarked.

  "Not at all. It is the centre and crux of the situation. Do say you aredisengaged for the next!" His manner became almost boyishly eager. Hehad shed his drawl like a garment. "Say it!" he insisted.

  She stood in the doorway as one halting between two opinions. "But if Iam not disengaged?" she said.

  He laughed. "There is a remedy for that, I fancy. And the Queen can dono wrong. Don't be a slave to the great god Convention! He's such ahideous bore."

  His bold dark eyes smiled freely into hers. It was evident that he wastedlittle time before the shrine of the deity he condemned. But for alltheir mastery, they held a certain persuasive charm as well. Shehesitated a moment longer--and was lost.

  "Well, where shall we go?"

  "I know of an excellent sitting-out place if your majesty will deign toaccompany me," he said, "a corner where one can see without beingseen--always an advantage, you will allow."

  "You seem to know this place rather well," she observed, as she sufferedhim to lead her away in triumph.

  He smiled shrewdly. "A wise general always studies his ground," he said.