"Very nearly," replied Forsyth; and he proceeded to narrate the events of the night, and also what Beaumanoir had told him of the previous attempts on his life. At mention of the Duke's absolute refusal to disclose the cause of the vendetta and to invoke the protection of the police, General Sadgrove drew a long breath. On hearing that he had in the small hours of that morning, thanks to the vigilance of Sybil Hanbury, held one of his would-be assassins at his mercy, but had quietly escorted him to the door and let him go, the whilom hunter of Dacoits uttered inarticulate grunts.
"And now, Uncle Jem, I have come to you for help," Forsyth proceeded earnestly. "I have persuaded the Duke to permit me to tell you in strictest confidence as much as he has told me, and I think if you can make any suggestions for baffling these unknown malefactors that he will adopt them—always provided your advice does not entail going to the police. He has given me his word of honor to remain at Beaumanoir House until I return; but the odds are they'll have another shy at him directly he pokes his nose outside."
The General had been absently toying with a tray of Indian curios, but he now looked sharply up at his nephew.
"You are not exactly blind, Alec, and can read between the lines," he said. "Reluctance on the part of a man threatened with murder to communicate with the authorities must mean that he has got an ugly sort of secret himself."
"You know his record, sir. Charles Hanbury was never anyone's enemy but his own, and I expect the Duke of Beaumanoir is much the same," replied Forsyth with a warmth which left the General quite unmoved. The old warrior reverted to his curios and spent a couple of minutes in balancing an Afghan dagger on his finger, till, apparently inspired by the performance, he laid the venomous blade aside.
"I agree with you in one aspect of the case," he said. "An insurance company, knowing what we know, would be ill-advised to take a risk on his Grace's life. The chances are in favor of his being a dead man within twenty-four hours of his quitting his present shelter. I presume that precautions have been taken against any more bogus detectives, or bogus anything else, gaining access to him during your absence?"
Forsyth replied that the Duke had promised to remain in his own room till he returned, and that the butler had been instructed to admit no one into the house on any pretence whatever. Moreover, he added, with a proud note in his voice, Sybil was co-operating, and was thoroughly alive to the emergency.
"Then," said the General, briskly, "I will finish dressing, and when we have had a mouthful of breakfast I will go back with you to Beaumanoir House. We must get your Duke into the interior of a safer zariba than a Piccadilly mansion before we can open parallel trenches against such a persistent enemy."
General Sadgrove and Alec breakfasted alone together, the former, indeed, hurrying the meal purposely so as to get away before the ladies appeared. He had seen enough the previous day, when the Duke was calling on the Shermans, to make him shy of explaining to his guests that he was bound for Beaumanoir House at nine o'clock in the morning, both Mrs. Sherman and Leonie being aware that his acquaintance with the Duke only dated from yesterday. He shrewdly suspected that the young people who had been fellow-passengers on the St. Paul took more than a platonic interest in each other, and he did not want to stimulate that interest into anxiety until he was better informed.
He pursued the subject apologetically as soon as he was in the cab with his nephew.