Christina was still staring at the Marquis, and she suddenly burst out, `I will not be sent home! I wish to remain out here!
'We are not concerned with your wishes, Mademoiselle; and you will do exactly as you are told,' said the Marquis coldly.
She was standing within a few feet of Upson. Turning towards her, he said, `And while you are with me, little lady, don't try any funny business. Can't afford to do gentle restraining acts in a small aircraft like mine. If you start anything, you'll get a backhander, hard, right on your snub nose. Understand?'
With glaring eyes she spat at him, `I am not coming with you! I'll scratch your eyes out if you try to make me.'
Upson shrugged, and looking across at his employer broke into French. `Monsieur le Marquis will agree that it would be dangerous to take her up in her present state, as she might easily bring about an accident. May I suggest that she should be given a shot of dope?'
The Marquis nodded and Jules commented, `We thought that might be necessary. Obviously it is, and we'll see about it in good time before you start.'
Christina's lips drew back in a snarl. `I will not let you! I will tear the face off the first one of you who touches me Then, after a moment, she added in a different tone, `I will go only if you let John Fountain come with me.'
`That,' said the Marquis firmly, `is impossible.'
Jules turned to John and said, `I may as well tell you now what we intend to do with you. I warned you that you would get hurt if you tried to interfere with us, and you have. I got hurt, too, although not as much, and that's all in the day's work; so I bear no malice. But that is beside the point. By butting in you have seen enough to bring a case against us for kidnapping; therefore we cannot: afford to let you go. In fact, you have made it necessary for us to keep you out of the way for a considerable time. You will remain here for a few days, then you will be picked up by one of our cargo steamers on its way from Marseilles to North Africa.'
`Africa!' John exclaimed, aghast.
`Yes. You will be put ashore without money or papers in some small Libyan port, and by the time you have made your way home all this will be ancient history. Should you still bring a case, we shall be able to show that you went at your own wish, and had been suffering from mental trouble.'
John had come to his feet, but he endeavoured to keep the anger and apprehension out of his voice as he asked, `How would you show that?'
`Because you are going to write a letter to me, saying that, owing to overwork, you have recently caught yourself imagining things and fear a nervous breakdown; so feel that a long sea trip is just what you need to put you right, and are very glad to accept my offer to send you round the Mediterranean in one of our vessels. Incidentally, should it come to a case, our Captain will swear to it that you left the ship without warning him of your intention to do so; and to land without money or papers will be further evidence that you have been off your nut.'
`And what if I refuse to write such a letter?'
Jules sighed. `I fear that we shall be unable to provide you with food or drink until you do.'
To everyone's surprise Christina cried, `Send me to North Africa with him!'
`You are going to England,' declared the Marquis, his lean face for the first time showing irritation.
`I am not! I refuse!' cried Christina furiously. Then she pulled off her left glove and, looking away from it herself, displayed the glistening ring on her swollen finger.
`Do you not see? I am tied to him by this. I must go wherever he goes.'
Jules stared at her in astonishment. `But.... but you told me this evening that your engagement to him was only a phony one.'
She shuddered and violently shook her head. `That was before the two of you had a fight. When he overcame you I knew I was his. Now I am bound to him ... bound to him.'
Flecks of foam had appeared at the corners of her mouth, and they all thought that at any moment she was going to have a fit. The Marquis moved quickly over to a side table on which there was an array of drinks. A siphon was among them, and squirting some soda water into a glass he carried it over to her.
`Mademoiselle, calm yourself, I beg,' he said. `Drink this, and sit down for a moment.'
Christina took the glass and drank most of its contents. She did not sit down. No one spoke for a moment, then Jules said to John
`There is another letter which it would be advisable for you to write. This one would be just as much in your interest as in ours. It would be to your mother, to allay her anxiety about your disappearance. You could simply say that you have accepted an invitation from me to go for a cruise round the Mediterranean and expect to be back in about six weeks.'
`You want me to do that in the hope that it will stop her putting the police on to you?'
`Exactly. She will realise, of course, that the “invitation” was one which you were not allowed to refuse; but if she knows what has happened to you and believes you to be safe, there will be no point in her asking the police to trace you.'
`Again, what happens if I refuse?'
`Nothing!' Jules smiled. `We shall have to have you kept on board the ship a few weeks longer, to counteract the possibility of a French Consul having you flown back, should your case have been put on his list by the police if your mother asked them to conduct a search for you; but that is all. The point is that once you are on board it will be quite impossible for the police to trace you until you land. And no one else will inform your mother what has become of you, unless you agree to do so yourself. Therefore, if you refuse this offer, she may be caused great distress for some time to come, believing you to be dead. It was to suggest to you that you should write this letter now, for delivery to morrow, that we had you brought up here instead of putting you straight into a cell. Come, what do you say?'
John found himself caught in a cleft stick. The last thing he wanted to do was to protect the de Grasses from police enquiries, and by giving a reason for his disappearance he might hamper his mother in getting them to take the case further than a routine questioning of Jules who, of course, would have a plausible story all ready for them. On the other hand, he knew how desperately worried his mother would become if she had no news of him. To allow her to remain in a state of terrible anxiety for several weeks, when he could easily reassure her, was unthinkable. So he said
`Very well. I will write to my mother on the lines you suggest.'
It was at that instant that Christina shot the Marquis.
12
The Fight in the Chateau
John did not see Christina grab the gun up from the table, or fire it. He was looking at Jules; and Jules, the Marquis and Upson were all looking at him, waiting to hear whether he would decide to write the letter to his mother. Christina had taken advantage of that moment. She had stretched out her hand as though to pick up the glass she had set down a few moments before and finish the drink the Marquis had given her; instead, she snatched the automatic that Upson had left lying within a few inches of his own hand, aimed it, and pressed the trigger.
Simultaneously with the crash of the pistol, the Marquis clasped his right shoulder. Reeling back, he collapsed on a Louis Seize settee. It was as well for him that he did, as Christina sent a second shot at him. It thudded into the Gobelin tapestry behind his head.
Upson was the first to move. The Marquis had hardly staggered under the impact of the bullet before the airman swung a blow at Christina's head. She ducked it as she fired her second shot, sprang away and turned the pistol on him. There was murder in her eyes. Seeing it, his face blanched and he made a futile gesture, throwing out his hands as though to ward off the bullet.