I paused to think. It was not reassuring, and yet there was a possibility that there was no cause for apprehension.
“We will give him a few hours more, Pierrot,” I said; but I was ill at ease.
CHAPTER XVIII.
MISSING.
When the day was far spent and there was still no sign of M. de Lambert, I began to share Madame de Brousson’s solicitude. That he could be again duped when he knew that Najine was miles away, seemed improbable, but I could expect almost any folly from his impetuosity. Pierrot had been out in search of him, but without result, and came back manifestly disquieted, for years had not dulled his suspicion of the Russian. He told me too that he had seen Tikhon in the vicinity of my quarters, and I saw that he suspected some plot to make away with M. Guillaume. This seemed improbable to me, because of the czar’s order for his departure, for it would be unnecessary to deal summarily with the young man until he failed to obey the instructions. However, I became uneasy and, ordering my horse, took Pierrot and started for Prince Dolgoruky’s house. I could, at least, observe the prince, and learn something of his designs, especially if he had really interfered with M. de Lambert. We rode at a smart pace, and in a few moments I was dismounting in the courtyard. While he did not assume the state of Mentchikof, Dolgoruky belonged to the older boyars, and there was more of the ceremony of twenty years before about his household. I was ushered into his presence by an old Russian attendant who had probably performed that office in the family for fifty years. The prince was not alone, but surrounded by a group of friends, and, to my discomfiture, attended by Zotof, who, I fancied, smiled a little at my entrance. His presence disconcerted me, suggesting, as it did, an intimate relation between the two, and therefore strengthening the probability of Dolgoruky’s interference with my friend. However, I put a bold face upon the matter, and, waiving the formal courtesy of the occasion, spoke to the point, inventing a story for the purpose of entrapping him.
“I come on a pressing errand, prince,” I said at once. “M. de Lambert, a gentleman of my suite, left my house this morning at a summons from one of your household and has not yet returned. His presence being imperative at my quarters, owing to a message from his Majesty the Czar, I came here to inquire for him. Doubtless you can tell me where he is.”
Dolgoruky stared at me with an astonishment that was either genuine or exceedingly well feigned; then, turning to his friends, he exclaimed,—
“I call you to witness, gentlemen, the extraordinary demand of M. de Brousson. He asks me to produce a French soldier whom I have not seen for at least a fortnight and then at the palace.”
“M. de Brousson is a very extraordinary person,” remarked Zotof, calmly. “He demands M. de Lambert at your hands, and yet refused to account for my niece, Najine Alexeievna, when she visited his wife.”
“Then let us make a bargain, M. l’Ambassadeur,” said Dolgoruky, smiling; “if you will produce Najine Zotof, we will endeavor to find M. de Lambert.”
I shrugged my shoulders. “I am not a magician, gentlemen,” I said dryly, “but I must account to the king my master for an officer of his household troops, in the person of Guillaume de Lambert. King Louis loves not an injury offered to any true Frenchman.”