Dangerous Escapade Read Free

soundless on the wooden floor.
    Lord Debenham
lay still, his breathing soft and regular. He was conscious that Wellbeloved
was bending over him. Apparently, he was assured that Debenham was sound asleep,
for he began a systematic search of the apartment.
    He began with Debenham's
clothes, taking each article and examining not only the pockets but the hems
and linings as well. What he sought was not to be found in the sleeping Earl's discarded
raiment and, next, he turned his attention to the valise, which stood upon a
carved wooden chest by the bed.
    Lord Debenham
could not have believed that a case could be forced open so silently or that
its contents could be ransacked so thoroughly in so short a time. He began to
have considerable respect for his visitor. Still, Wellbeloved searched in vain.
He recrossed to the bed; there was only one place
remaining in which a prudent man might choose to hide his valuables. Slowly,
Wellbeloved put out his hand and, with infinite care, slid it under my Lord's
pillow.
    Suddenly, his
wrist was grasped in a grip so harsh that he bit back a cry of pain, and his
ears were unpleasantly assailed by the gentle tones of his host.
    “I think not,
my fine fellow!” drawled the voice. “I prefer to retain my purse.”
    As he spoke,
he leapt up, pulling back the curtains with his free hand while, with the other,
he held the arm of his assailant in such a way that the slightest movement
caused the unfortunate Wellbeloved exquisite agony.
    As moonlight
streamed into the room, Debenham turned to face his captive.
    “Good God,
you!” he cried in accents of greatest amazement. “Explain yourself, Sir, if you
can.”
    “I beg of you,
my Lord, loose me! This is a terrible mistake!” whined Wellbeloved. “Indeed, I
thought this to be my own chamber. In this pitch dark, I knew not where I might
be.”
    The Earl was
still looking extremely dangerous, but his hold loosened. The other man took a step
backwards, chafing his wrist and saying in an aggrieved tone: “I consider this
attack most uncalled for, my Lord. I am very sorry to have disturbed you, but
the error was a natural one, and there is no need whatsoever for such violence.”
    “Your pardon, Sir,”
drawled Debenham. “It is not my custom to offer housebreakers a warm welcome,
and I could not know that you were my visitor. Had I known, I might still have
felt obliged to instruct you in the unwisdom of entering, however
unintentionally, the wrong bedchamber.”
    With these
blighting words he crossed to the chamber door, opened it, and bowed his
visitor from the room. Mr Wellbeloved departed, the picture of outraged rectitude,
and Debenham returned to his bed, where he fell asleep upon the instant as
though he had not a trouble in the world to vex him.

 
 
 
    Two

 
    Despite Mr
Wellbeloved's gloomy prognostication, the next morning proved bright and calm. The
assembled passengers were able to board the Calais Packet soon after consuming
an early breakfast. The company consisted of Lord Debenham; Mr Wellbeloved; a
high-born dame travelling with an entourage of servants, couriers, lapdogs, and
a resigned female, who appeared to be her companion; and, lastly, a respectable
attorney in a full-bottomed wig that proclaimed his learned profession. John,
to his disgust, was left to await his master in Dover. An addition was made at
the last moment of a vociferous family of Belgians, comprising Mere, Pere, and
several infants, all of whom ran screeching around the decks, rendering the
voyage hideous for the rest of the passengers, saving only the attorney, whom,
it was discovered, was stone deaf.
    As the weather
continued fair, the crossing was made in very good time and before Debenham had
become too weary of his travelling companions. The journey from Calais to Paris
was completed so expeditiously that it was not quite one week from the receipt of
the letter that Lord Debenham stood upon the doorstep of the Maison Beauclare .
    It was not