 Chapter XXVIII of the Great Impersonation This LibriVox recording is in the public domain, recording by Tom Weiss. The Great Impersonation by E. Phillips Oppenheim, Chapter XXVIII Within the course of the next few days, a strange rumor spread through Domini and the district, from the farm laborer to the farmer, from the school children to their homes, from the village post office to the neighboring hamlets. A gang of woodmen from a neighboring county, with an engine and all the machinery of their craft, had started to work raising to the ground everything in the shape of tree or shrub at the north end of the black wood. The matter of war was promptly forgotten. Before the second day, every man, woman, and child into place had paid an odd visit to the outskirts of the wood, had listened to the whir of machinery, had gazed upon the great bridge of planks leading into the wood, had peered in the hope of some strange discovery into the tents of the men who were camping out. The men themselves were not communicative, and the first time the foreman had been known to open his mouth was when Domini walked down to discuss progress on the morning after his arrival. It's a dirty bit of work, sir, he confided. I don't know as I ever came across a bit of woodland as was so utterly hopelessly rotten. Why, the wood crumbles when you touch it, and the men have to be within reach of one another the whole of the time, though we've a matter of five hundred planks down there. Come across anything unusual yet? We ain't come across anything that isn't unusual so far, sir. My men are all wearing extra leggings to keep them from being bitten by them adders, as long as my arm some of them, and there's fungus there which, when you touch it, sends out a smell enough to make a man faint. We killed the cat the first day, as big and as fierce as a young tigress. It's a queer job, sir. How long will it take? Matter of three weeks, sir, and when you've got the timber out, you'll be well advised to burn it. It's not worth a snap of the fingers. Then your pardon, sir, the man went on. The old lady in the distance there hangs about the whole of the time. Some of my men are half scared of her. Domini swung around. On a mound a little distance away in the park Rachel Unthonk was standing. In her rusty black clothes, unreleaved by any trace of color, her white cheeks and strange eyes, even in the morning light, she was a repellent figure. Domini strolled across to her. You see, Mrs. Unthonk, he began. She interrupted him. Her skinny hand was stretched out towards the wood. What are those men doing, sir, ever, our Domini? She demanded. What is your will with the wood? I am carrying out a determination I came to in the winter, Domini replied. Those men are going to cut and hue their way from one end of the black wood to the other, until not a tree or a bush remains upright. As they cut, they burn. Afterwards I shall have it drained. We may live to see a field of corn there, Mrs. Unthonk. You will dare to do this, she asked horsely. Will you dare to tell me why I should not, Mrs. Unthonk? She relapsed into silence, and Domini passed on. But that night, as Rosamund and he were lingering over their dessert, enjoying the strange quiet and the wonderful breeze which crept in at the open window, the harkens announced the visitor. Mrs. Unthonk is in the library, sir, he announced. She would be glad if you could spare her five minutes. Rosamund shivered slightly, but not it as Domini glanced towards her inquiringly. Don't let her see me, please, she begged. You must go, of course, Everard. Yes, dear? I know what you are doing out there, although you have never said a word to me about it, she continued. With an odd little note of passion in her tone. Don't let her persuade you to stop. Let them cut and burn and hue till there isn't room for a mouse to hide. You promise? I promise, he answered. Mrs. Unthonk was making every effort to keep under control her fierce discomposure. She rose as Domini entered the room and dropped an old-fashioned curtsy. Well, Mrs. Unthonk, he inquired, what can I do for you? It's about the wood again, sir, she confessed. I can't bear it. All night long I seem to hear those axes and the calling of the men. What is your objection, Mrs. Unthonk, to the destruction of the black wood? Domini asked bluntly. It is nothing more nor less than a noisome pest-hole. Its very presence there, after all that she has suffered, is a menace to Lady Domini's nurse. I am determined to sweep it from the face of the earth. The forced respect was already beginning to disappear from her manner. There's evil will come to you if you do, sir Everard, she declared doggedly. Plenty of evil has come to me from that wood, as it is, he reminded her. You mean to disturb the spirit of him whose body you threw there? She persisted. Domini looked at her calmly. Some sort of evil seemed to have lit in her face. Her lips had shrunk apart, showing her yellow teeth. The fire in her narrowed eyes was the fire of hatred. I am no murderer, Mrs. Unthonk, he said. Your son stole out from the shadow of that wood, attacked me in a cowardly manner, and we fought. He was mad when he attacked me. He fought like a madman, and notwithstanding my superior strength, I was glad to get away alive. I never touched his body. It lay where he fell. He crept into the wood and died there, then his death was not at my door. He sought for my life, as I never sought for his. You've done him wrong, the woman muttered. That again is false. His passion for Lady Domini was uninvited and unreciprocated. Her only feeling concerning him was one of fear. That, the whole countryside knows. Your son was a lonely, a morose, and an ill-living man, Mrs. Unthonk. If either of us had murder in our hearts, it was he, not I. And as for you, Domini went on after a moment's pause, I think that you have had your revenge, Mrs. Unthonk. It was you who nursed my wife into insanity. It was you who fed her with the horror of your son's so-called spirit. I think that if I had stayed away another two years, Lady Domini would have been in a madhouse today. I would to heaven the woman cried that you'd rotted to death in Africa. You carry your evil feelings far, Mrs. Unthonk, he replied. Take my advice. Give up this foolish idea that the black wood is still the home of your son's spirit. Go and live on your annuity in another part of the country, and forget. They moved across the room to throw open a window. Her eyes followed him wanderingly. I have heard a rumor, she said slowly. There has been a word spoken here and there about you. I've had my doubts some time. I have them again every time you speak. Are you really ever our Domini? He swung around and faced her. Who else? There's one, she went on, has never believed it, and that's her ladyship. I've heard strange talk from the people who've come under your masterful ways. You're a harder man than the ever our Domini I remember. What if you should be an imposter? You have only to prove that, Mrs. Unthonk, Domini replied, and a portion at any rate of the black wood may remain standing. You will find it a little difficult, though. You must excuse my ringing the bell. I see no object in asking you to remain longer. She rose unwillingly to her feet. Her manner was sullen and unyielding. You are asking for the evil things, she warned him. Be assured, Domini answered, that if they come, I shall know how to deal with them. Domini found Rosamund and Dr. Harrison, who had walked over from the village, lingering on the terrace. He welcomed the latter warmly. You are a godsend, doctor, he declared. I have been obliged to leave my port untasted for want of a companion. You will excuse us for a moment, Rosamund? She nodded pleasantly, and the doctor followed his house into the dining room and took a seat at the table where the dessert still remained. Old woman threatening mischief, the latter asked, with a keen glance from under his shaggy gray eyebrows. I think she means it, Domini replied, as he filled his guest's glass. Personally, he went on after a moment's pause. The present situation is beginning to confirm an old suspicion of mine. I am a hard and fast materialist, you know, doctor, in certain matters, and I have not the slightest faith in the vindictive mother, terrified to death, lest the raising of a wood of unwholesome character should turn out into the cold world, the spirit of her angel son. What do you believe, the doctor asked Lundy. I would rather not tell you at the present moment, Domini answered. It would sound too fantastic. Your note this afternoon spoke of urgency, the doctor observed. The matter is urgent. I want you to do me a great favor, to remain here all night. You are expecting something to happen? I wish at any rate to be prepared. I'll stay with pleasure, the doctor promised. You can lend me some paraphernalia, I suppose, and give me a shake down somewhere near Lady Domini. By the by, he began and hesitated. I have followed your advice, or rather your orders, Domini interrupted a little harshly. It has not always been easy, especially in London, where Rosamund is away from these associations. I am hoping great things from what may happen tonight, or very soon. The doctor nodded sympathetically. I shouldn't wonder if you weren't on the right track, he declared. Rosamund came in through the window to them and seated herself by Domini's side. Why are you two whispering like conspirators, she demanded. Because we are conspirators, he replied lightly. I have persuaded Dr. Harrison to stay the night. He would like a room in our wing. Will you let maids know, dear? She nodded thoughtfully. Of course, there are several rooms quite ready. Mrs. Midgeley thought that we might be bringing down some guests. I am quite sure that we can make Dr. Harrison comfortable. No doubt about that, Lady Domini, the doctor declared. Let me be as near to your apartment as possible. There was a shade of anxiety in her face. You think that tonight something will happen? She asked. Tonight or one night, very soon, Domini ascended. It is just as well for you to be prepared. You will not be afraid, dear? You will have the doctor on one side of you and me on the other. I am only afraid of one thing, she answered a little enigmatically. I have been so happy lately. Domini changed into ordinary morning clothes, with a thick cord tied round his body, a revolver in his pocket, and a loaded stick in his hand, spent the remainder of the night and part of the early morning concealed behind a great clump of rhododendrons, his eyes fixed upon the shadowy stretch of park which lay between the house and the black wood. The night was moonless but clear, and when his eyes were once accustomed to the pale but somber twilight, the whole landscape and the moving objects upon it were dimly visible. The habits of his years of bush life seemed instinctively, in those few hours of waiting, to have re-established themselves. Every sense was strained and active. Every night's sound, of which the hooting of some owls disturbed from their lurking place in the black wood, was predominant, heard and accounted for. And then, just as he had glanced at his watch and found that it was close upon two o'clock, came the first real intimation that something was likely to happen. Looking across the park towards him, he heard the sound of a faint patter, curious and irregular in rhythm, which came from behind a range of low hillocks. He raised himself up on his hands and knees to watch. His eyes were fastened upon a certain spot, a stretch of the open park between himself and the hillocks. The patter ceased and began again. Into the open there came a dark shape, the irregularity of its movements swiftly explained. It moved it first upon all fours, then on two legs, then on all fours again. It crept nearer and nearer, and Dominique, as he watched, laid aside his stick. It reached the terrace, paused beneath Rosamund's window, now barely half a dozen yards from where he was crouching. Deliberately he waited, waited for what he knew must soon come. Then the deep silence of the breathless night was broken by that familiar unearthly scream. Dominique waited till even its echoes had died away. Then he ran a few steps bent double and stretched out his hands. Once more for the last time, that devil's cry broke the deep stillness of the August morning, throbbing a little as though with a new fear, dying away as though the fingers which crushed it back down the straining throat had indeed crushed with it the last flicker of some unholy life. When Dr. Harrison made his hurried appearance a few moments later, he found Dominique seated upon the terrace, furiously smoking a cigarette. On the ground a few yards away lay something black and motionless. What is it, the doctor gasped? For the first time, Dominique showed some signs of a lack of self-control. His voice was choked and uneven. Go and look at it, doctor, he said. It's tied up, hand and foot. You can see where the spirit of Roger Unthonk has hidden itself. Bosh, the doctor answered with grim contempt. It's Roger Unthonk himself, the beast. A little stream of servants came running out. Dominique gave a few orders quickly. Ring up the garage, he directed, and I shall want one of the men to go into Norwich to the hospital. Doctor, will you go up and see, Lady Dominique? The habits of a lifetime broke down. Parkins, the immaculate, the silent, the perfect automaton asked an eager question. What is it, sir? There was the sound of a window opening overhead. At that moment, Parkins would not have asked in vain for an annuity. Dominique glanced at the little semicircle of servants and raised his voice. It is the end, I trust, of these foolish superstitions about Roger Unthonk's ghost. There lies Roger Unthonk, half beast, half man. For some reason or other, some lunatics reason, of course, he has chosen to hide himself in the black wood all these years. His mother, I presume, has been his accomplice and taken him food. He is still alive, but in a disgusting state. There was a little odd murmur. Dominique's voice had become quite a matter of fact. I suppose he continued his first idea was to revenge himself upon us and this household by whom he imagined himself badly treated. The man, however, was half a madman when he came to the neighborhood and has behaved like one ever since. Johnson, Dominique continued, singling out a sturdy footman with sound common sense, get ready to take this creature in an orange hospital. Say that if I do not come in during the day, a letter of explanation will follow from me. The rest of you, with the exception of parkens, please go to bed. With little exclamations of wonder they began to disperse. Then one of them paused and pointed across the park. Moving with incredible swiftness came the gaunt black figure of Rachel Unthonk, swaying sometimes on her feet, yet in their midst before they could realize it. She staggered to the prostate body and threw herself upon her knees. Her hands rested upon the unseen face, her eyes glared across at Dominique. So you've got him at last, she gasped. Mrs. Unthonk, Dominique said sternly, you are in time to accompany your son to the hospital at Norwich. The car will be here in two minutes. I have nothing to say to you. Your own conscience should be sufficient punishment for keeping that poor creature alive in such a fashion, administering during my absence to his accursed desire for vengeance. He would have died if I hadn't brought him food, she muttered. I have wept all the tears a woman's broken heart could wring out, beseeching him to come back to me. Yet, Dominique insisted, you shared his foul plot for vengeance against a harmless woman. You let him come and make ghoulish noises night by night under these windows without a word of remonstrance. You knew very well what their accursed object was. You were the delicate woman in your charge who trusted you. You are an evil pair, but of the two you are worse than your half-witted son. The woman made no reply. She was still on her knees, bending over the prostrate figure, from whose lips now came a faint moaning. Then the lights of the car flashed out as it left the garage, passed through the iron gates, and drew up a few yards away. Help him in, Dominique ordered. You can loosen his cords, Johnson, as soon as you have started. He has very little strength. Tell them at the hospital, I shall probably be there during the day or tomorrow. With a little shiver the two men stooped to their task. Their prisoner muttered to himself all the time, but made no resistance. Rachel on thunk as she stepped in to take her place by his side, turned once more to Dominique. She was a broken woman. You're rid of us, she saw, perhaps forever. You said harsh things of both of us. Roger isn't always so bad. Sometimes he's more gentle than at others. You'd have thought then that he was just a baby, living there for love of the wind and the trees and the birds. He comes to, her voice broke, Dominique's reply was swift and not unkind. He pointed to the window above. If Lady Dominique recovers, you and your son are forgiven. If she never recovers, I wish you both the blackest corner of hell. The car drove off. Dr. Harrison met Dominique on the threshold as he turned towards the house. Her ladyship is unconscious now, he announced. That is a good sign. I never liked that on natural calm. She'll be unconscious, I think, for a great many hours. For God's sake, come and get a whiskey and soda and give me one. The early morning sunshine lay upon the park when the two men at last separated. They stood for a moment looking out. From the black wood came the whir of a saw. The little troop of men had left their tents. The crash of a fallen tree heralded their morning's work. You are still going on with that, the doctor asked. To the very last stump of a tree, to the last push, to the last cluster of weeds, Dominique replied, with a sudden passion in his tone. I will have that place raised to the bare level of the earth, and I will have its poisonous swamps suck dry. I have hated that foul spot, he went on, ever since I realized what suffering it meant to her. My reign here may not be long, doctor. I have my own tragedy to deal with, but those who come after me will never feel the blight of that accursed place. The doctor grunted, his inner thoughts he kept to himself. Maybe you're right, he conceded. End of Chapter 28, Recording by Tom Weiss. The Great Impersonation by E. Phillips Oppenheim, Chapter 29. The heat of a sulfurous afternoon, a curious parallel in its pre-sage of coming storm to the fast approaching crisis in Dominique's own affairs, had driven Dominique from his study on to the terrace. In a chair by his side, lounged Eddie Pelham, immaculate in a suit of white flannels. It was the fifth day since the mystery of the black wood had been solved. Ripping old chap of you to have me down here, the young man remarked amily, his hand stretching out to a tumbler which stood by his side. The country, when you can get ice, is a paradise in this weather, especially when London's so full of ghastly rumors and all that sort of thing. What's the latest news of her ladyship? Still unconscious, Dominique replied. The doctors, however, seemed perfectly satisfied. Everything depends on her waking moments. The young man abandoned his subject with a murmur of hopeful sympathy. His eyes were fixed upon a little cloud of dust in the distance. Seeing visitors today, he asked, should not be surprised with a somewhat laconic answer. The young man stood up, yawned, and stretched himself. I'll make myself scarce, he said. Joe, he added approvingly, lingering for a moment, jolly well cut the tunic of your uniform, Dominique. If a country in peril ever decides to wave the matter of my indifferent physique and send me out to the rescue, I should go to your man. Dominique smiled. Mine is only the local yeomanry rig out, he replied. They will nab you for the guards. Dominique stepped back through the open windows into a study as Pelham strolled off. He was seated at his desk, pouring over some letters, when a few minutes later Seaman was ushered into the room. For a single moment his muscles tightened, his frame became tense. Then he realized his visitors outstretched hands of welcome, and he relaxed. Seaman was perspiring, vociferous, and excited. At last he explained, Donner, my God, Dominique, what is this? Thirteen years ago, Dominique explained, I resigned to commission in the Norfolk yeomanry. That little matter, however, has been adjusted. At a crisis like this, my friend, you are wonderful, Seaman interrupted solemnly. You are a man after my own heart. You are thorough. You leave nothing undone. That is why, he added, lowering his voice a little, we are the greatest race in the world. Drink before everything, my friend, he went on. Drink I must have. What a day! The very clouds that hide the sun are full of sulfurous heat. Dominique rang the bell, ordered hawk and seltzer and ice. Seaman drank and threw himself into an easy chair. There is no fear of you being called out of the country because of that, I hope, Dominique asked a little anxiously, nodding his head towards his companion's uniform. Not at present, Dominique answered, I am a trifle overage to go with the first batch or two. Where have you been? Seaman hitched his chair a little nearer. In Ireland, he confided, sorry to desert you as I did, but you do not begin to count for us just yet. There was just a faint doubt as to what they were going to do about internment. That is why I had to get the Irish trip off my mind. What has been decided? The government has the matter under consideration, Seaman replied with a chuckle. I can certainly give myself six months before I need to slip off. Now tell me, why do I find you down here? After Turnilove left, Dominique explained, I felt I wanted to get away. I had been asked to start some recruiting work down here. Turnilove left his little volume with you? Where is it? Safe, Dominique replied. Seaman mopped his forehead. It needs to be emuttered. I have orders to see it destroyed. We can talk of that presently. Sometimes when I am away from you, I tremble. It may sound foolish, but you have in your possession just the two things, that map and von Turnilove's memoirs, which would wreck our propaganda in every country of the world. Both are safe, Dominique assured him. By the by, my friend, he were on. Do you know that you yourself are forgetting your usual caution? In what respect? Seaman demanded quickly. As you stoop to sit down just now, I instinctively saw the shape of your revolver in your hip pocket. You know, as well as I do, that with your name and the fact that you are only a naturalized Englishman, it is inexcusably foolish to be carrying firearms about just now. Seaman thrust his hand into his pocket and threw the revolver upon the table. You are quite right, he acknowledged. Take care of it for me. I took it with me to Ireland because one never knows what may happen in that amazing country. Dominique swept it carelessly into the drawer of the desk at which he was sitting. Our weapons from now on, Seaman continued, must be the weapons of guile and craft. You and I will have, alas, to see less of one another, Dominique. In many ways it is unfortunate that we have not been able to keep England out of this for a few more months. However, the situation must be dealt with as it exists. So far as you are concerned, you have practically secured yourself against suspicion. You will hold a brilliant and isolated place amongst those who are serving the great warlord. When I do approach you, it will be for sympathy and assistance against the suspicions of those far-seeing Englishmen. Dominique nodded. You will stay the night, he asked. If I may, Seaman ascended, it is the last time for many months when it will be wise for us to meet on such intimate terms. Perhaps our dear friend Parkins will take Venice's note of the occasion. In other words, Dominique said, you propose that we shall drink the Dominique cabinet, Hock, and the Dominique port to the glory of our country. So be it, my friend. Listen. A car had passed along the avenue in front of the house. There was the sound of voices in the hall, a knock at the door, the rustle of a woman's clothes. Parkins, a little disturbed, announced the arrivals. The princess of Eidersstrom, Anne, a gentleman. The princess said that her errand with you was urgency. He added, turning apologetically towards his master. The princess was already in the room, and following her a short man in a suit of somber black, wearing a white tie, and carrying a black bowler hat. He blinked across the room through his thick glasses, and Dominique knew that the end had come. The door was closed behind them. The princess came a little further into the room. Her hand was extended towards Dominique, but not in greeting. Her white finger pointed straight at him. She turned to her companion. Which is that, Dr. Schmidt, she demanded. The Englishman by God Schmidt answered. The silence which reigned for several seconds was intense and profound. The coolest of all four was perhaps Dominique. The princess was pale with a passion which seemed to sob behind her words. And for our Dominique, she cried, what have you done with my lover? What have you done with Leopold von Raghastain? He met with the fate, Dominique replied, which he had prepared for me. We fought, and I conquered. You killed him? I killed him, Dominiqueote. It was a matter of necessity. His body sleeps on the bed of the Blue River, and your life here has been a lie. On the contrary, it has been the truth, Dominique. I assured you at the Carlton when you first spoke to me, and I have assured you a dozen times since that I was Everard Dominique. That is my name. That is who I am. Seaman's voice seemed to come from a long way off. For the moment the man had neither courage nor initiative. He seemed as though he had received some sort of stroke. His mind was traveling backwards. You came to me at Cape Town, he muttered. You had all von Raghastain's letters. You knew his history. You had the imperial mandate. Von Raghastain and I exchanged the most intimate competences in his camp, Dominique said, as Dr. Schmidt there knows. I told him my history. And he told me his. The letters and papers I took from him. Schmidt had covered his face with his hands for a moment. His shoulders were heaving. My beloved chief, he saw. My dear devoted master, killed by that drunken Englishman. Not so drunk as you fancied him, Dominique said coolly. Not so far gone in his course of dissipation, but that he was able to pull himself up when the great incentive came. The princess looked from one to the other of the two men. Seaman had still the appearance of a man struggling to extricate himself from some sort of nightmare. My first and only suspicion, he faltered, was that night when Wolf disappeared. Wolf's coming was rather a tragedy, Dominique admitted. Fortunately, I had a secret serviceman in the house who was able to dispose of him. It was you who planned his disappearance, Seaman gasped. Naturally, Dominique said. He knew the truth and was trying all the time to communicate with you. And the money, Seaman continued blinking rapidly. One hundred thousand pounds and more? I understood that was a gift, Dominique replied. If the German secret service, however, cares to formulate a claim and sue me, the princess suddenly erupted. Her eyes seemed on fire. What are you, you two? She cried, stretching out her hand. Are you lumps of earth, clods, creatures without courage and intelligence? You can let him stand there, the Englishman who has murdered my lover, who has befooled you. You let him stand there and mock you and you do and say nothing? Is his life a sacred thing? Has he none of your secrets in his charge? The great God above us, Seaman, groaned with a sudden white horror in his face. He has the princess's memory. He has the Kaiser's map. On the contrary, Dominique replied, both are deposited at the Foreign Office. We hope to find them very useful a little later on. Seaman sprang forward like a tiger and went down in the heat as he almost threw himself upon Dominique's outflung fist. Schmidt came stealing across the room and from underneath his cup something gleaned. You are two to one, the princess cried passionately, as both assailants hesitated. I would to God that I had a weapon or that I were a man. My dear princess, a good-humored voice remarked from the window. Four to two the other way, I think. What? Eddie Pelham, his hands in his pockets, but a very alert gleam in his usually vaucous face, stood in the window doorway. From behind him two exceedingly formidable looking men slipped into the room. There was no fight, not even a struggle. Seaman, who had never recovered from the shock of his surprise and was now completely unnerved, was handcuffed in a moment and Schmidt disarmed. The latter was the first to break the curious silence. What have I done, he demanded. Why am I treated like this? Not to Schmidt, Eddie asked pleasantly. That is my name, sir, was the fierce reply. I have just landed from East Africa. We knew nothing of the war when we started. I came to expose that man. He is an imposter, a murderer. He has killed a German nobleman. He has committed Lee's majesty, seaman guest. He has deceived the Kaiser. He has dared to sit in his presence as the Baron von Raghastain. The young man in flannels glanced across at Domini and smiled. I say, you two don't mean to be funny, but you are, he declared. First of all, there's Dr. Schmidt accuses Sir Everard here of being an imposter because he assumed his own name, accuses him of murdering a man who had planned in cold blood. You were in that, by the way, Schmidt, to kill him. And then there's our friend here, the secretary of the society for propagating better relations between the businessmen of England and Germany, complaining because Sir Everard carried through in Germany or England exactly what he believed the Baron von Raghastain was carrying out here for Germany. You are a curious, thick-headed race, you Germans. I demand again, Schmidt, shout it to know by what right I am treated as a criminal. Because you are one, Eddie answered coolly. You and von Raghastain together planned the murder of Sir Everard Domini in East Africa. And I caught you creeping across the floor just now with a knife in your hand. That'll do for you. Any questions to ask, Simon? None was the surly reply. You are well advised, the young man remarked coolly. Within the last two days, your house in Forest Hill and your offices in London Wall have been searched. You have said enough, Simon declared. Fate has gone against me. I thank God that our master has abler servants than I, and the strength to crush this island of popponges and fools. Popponges seemed severe, Eddie murmured in a hard tone. However, to get on with this little matter, he added, turning to one of his two subordinates, you will find a military car outside. Take these men over to the guard room at the Norwich barracks. I have arranged for an escort to see them to town. Tell the Colonel I'll be over later in the day. The princess rose from the chair into which she had subsided a few moments before. Domini turned towards her. Princess, he said, there can be little conversation between us, yet I shall ask you to remember this. Conraigstein planned my death in cold blood. I could have slain him as an assassin without the slightest risk, but I preferred to meet him face to face with the truth upon my lips. It was his life or mine. I fought for my country's sake as he did for his. The princess looked at him with glittering eyes. I shall hate you till the end of my days, she declared, because you killed the thing I love. But although I am a woman, I know justice. You were chivalrous towards me. You treated Leopold perhaps better than he would have treated you. I pray that I shall never see your face again. Be so good as to suffer me to leave this house at once and unattended. Domini threw open the windows which led on to the terrace and stood on one side. She passed by without a glance at him and disappeared. Eddie came strolling along the terrace a few moments later. Nice old ducks, those two, dear heart, he confided. Seaman has just offered foresight, my burly ruffian in the blue-served suit, a hundred pounds to shoot him on the pretense that he was escaping. And what about Schmidt? He insisted on his rights as an officer and demanded the front seat and a cigar before the car started. A pretty job, Domini, and neatly cleaned up. Domini was watching the dust from the two cars which were disappearing down the avenue. Tell me, Eddie, he asked, there's one thing I have always been curious about. How did you manage to keep that fellow wolf when there wasn't a war on and he wasn't breaking the law? The young man grinned. We had to stretch a point there, old deer, he admitted. Plans of a fortress, eh? Do you mean to say that he had plans of a fortress upon him? Domini asked. Picture postcard of Norwich Castle, the young man confided, but keep it dark. Can I have a drink before I get the little car going? The turmoil of the day was over and Domini, after once silent but passionate outburst of thankfulness at the passing from his life of this unnatural restraint, found all his thoughts absorbed by the struggle which was being fought out in the bed chamber above. The old doctor came down and joined him at dinner time. He met Domini's eager glance with a little nod. She's doing all right, he declared. No fever or anything? Bless you, no. She's as near as possible in perfect health physically. A different woman from what she was this time last year, I can tell you. When she wakes up, she'll either be herself again without a single illusion of any sort or the doctor paused, sipped his wine, beat his glass and set it down approvingly or Domini insisted or that part of her brain will be more or less permanently affected. However, I am hoping for the best. Thank heavens, you're on the spot. They finished their dinner almost in silence. Afterwards, they smoked for a few minutes upon the terrace. Then they made their way softly upstairs. The doctor parted with Domini at the door of the latter's room. I shall remain with her for an hour or so, he said. After that, I shall leave her entirely to herself. You'll be here in case there's a change? I shall be here, Domini promised. The minutes passed into ours uncounted, unnoticed. Domini sat in his easy chair, stirred by a tumultuous wave of passionate emotion. The memory of those earlier days of his return came back to him with all their poignant longings. He felt again the same tearing at the heartstrings, the same strange unnerving tenderness. The great world's drama in which he knew that he too would surely continue to play his part seemed like a thing far off, the concern of another race of men. Every fiber of his being seemed attuned to the magic and the music of one wild hope. Yet when there came what he had listened for so long, the hope seemed frozen into fear. He sat a little forward in his easy chair, his hands gripping its size, his eyes fixed upon the slowly widening crack in the panel. It was as it had been before. She stooped low, stood up again, and came towards him. From behind an unseen hand closed the panel. She came to him with her arms outstretched and all the wonderful things of life and love in her shining eyes, that faint touch of the senambulist had passed. She came to him as she had never come before. She was a very real and a very live woman. Everard, she cried. He took her into his arms. At their first kiss she thrilled from head to foot. For a moment she laid her head upon his shoulder. Oh, I have been so silly, she confessed. There were times when I couldn't believe that you were my Everard, mine. And now I know. Her lips sought his again, his parched with the desire of years. Along the corridor the old doctor tiptoed his way to his room with a pleased smile upon his face. This is the end of The Great Impersonation by E. Phillips Oppenheim. Recording by Tom Weiss.