She Fell Among Thieves Read Free

air, and Carson would drive back to Anise the following day. And at Anise I was to stay, until I received my orders to leave for Jezreel.
    I confess that I was uneasy.
    I found my commission distasteful, and I felt very sure I was not the man for the job. Had anyone other than Mansel proposed to me such an office, I would have refused it point-blank: but Mansel’s judgment was so rare and he was so faithful a friend that when he smiled down my objections, I said no more. Still, I think I should have tried to withstand him, had I not been possessed by an instinct for which I can never account. I felt that behind this curtain which we were to seek to lift, there was set a scene which was waiting for Mansel and me: that the play to be rendered was far more grim and momentous than Mansel dreamed, and that he would have need of someone to stand with their back against his, if he and his fortune were not to go down together before, as the Psalmist has it, the terror by night and the arrow that flieth by day.
    The last words that he had spoken came into my mind.
    ‘Remember, my son, no compunction. You must take it from me, that emotion would be out of place. Vanity Fair respects neither God nor man, and the only way to get her is by using the sort of weapons she uses herself. And so, be natural, William. When in doubt, be natural: and always tell her the truth.’
    And there I had a rise which I did not deserve, and a moment later I landed a very fine trout.
    For a moment I stared at the fish. Then I put a hand to my head. The thing was absurd, yet true. Mansel was a beautiful angler, and I was the worst in the world. But there on the sward was lying ‘Vanity Fair’.
     
    Three weeks and one day had gone by, July had come in in splendour, and I was sitting, smoking, by the side of a country road six miles from Jezreel. The Rolls was berthed in the shade on the opposite side of the way, and Bell was thirty yards off at a bend in the road.
    As I heard a car coming, I got to my feet.
    With my eyes upon Bell I waited, for he could see the car which was out of my sight. But Bell made no sign.
    The car came nearer and nearer… Then at last it whipped round the blind bend – to find the Rolls full in its way.
    Its chauffeur applied his brakes and did what he could, but the wings of the two cars met with a hollow crash.
    Bell came running, and I stepped into the road.
    As the chauffeur got out of his car –
    ‘It wasn’t my fault, sir,’ he said. He pushed back his cap. ‘You’re on your wrong side, you know: and you shouldn’t leave a car on a bend.’
    ‘You’re perfectly right,’ said I. ‘The fault was mine. I don’t know what possessed me to do such a stupid thing.’
    The three of us examined the damage. Except that the wings were buckled, there seemed to be no harm done.
    When I said as much –
    ‘I touched your wheel, sir,’ said Mansel. ‘My steering’ll have to come down, and I think you’d be well advised to do the same.’
    ‘Oh, hell,’ said I. And then, ‘I don’t see any mark.’
    ‘I hit your tire with my hub-cap. Look out. Here’s another car coming. We don’t want another smash.’
    He sounded his horn like fury, and Bell ran round the corner with outstretched arms. A moment later a small van crawled into view. As it made its way by, its occupants were minding our business with bulging eyes.
    ‘Could I have your name, sir,’ said Mansel. ‘I’m sure I don’t want to make trouble, but I’ve only been here two weeks and I don’t want to lose my job. Madame de —’s my lady, of the Château Jezreel. I don’t know what she’ll say. I oughtn’t to be driving really – I haven’t a French licence yet.’
    ‘Where is the château?’ I said. ‘I’d better come up myself and tell her the truth.’
    ‘Very kind if you would, sir. It’s only about six miles.’
    ‘I can’t do much less,’ said I, and got into the Rolls. ‘You’d better lead the way.’
    ‘I shall go dead slow,