“Drake, I want to have a long chat after dinner, so please don’t make any promise to amuse this young lady,” he said drily.
A slight flush came to Drake’s face as he answered quietly.
“I shall be at your service, Mr. Gaunt.”
And Lady Ethel threw him a glance that was full of mischief.
CHAPTER IX
The footman brought the coffee which he placed on a table between the chairs on which Gaunt and Drake were seated and then withdrew silently. Neither of them spoke but their faces bore an expression of great gravity, for they realized that they were about to discuss a question of vast importance, and that this discussion was likely to be a momentous one.
“I suppose it is the Congo?” Drake at last ventured to say.
“Yes—compared with that, all my other sins are light. To fulfill my promise I must try to remedy the state of affairs that I helped to bring into existence,” Gaunt said quietly.
“I know a good deal of its history, but I wish that you would tell me something from the inside. I want to be able to understand from your point of view,” Drake answered.
“It’s a gruesome subject, but I will do as you ask. It is only within the last few years that Europe has begun to grasp a little of the truth—of the infamies, of the murderings and torturings that have been committed in the name of civilization. I must go back to the commencement, and I will admit that when the late King of the Belgians entered into the agreement with Stanley to represent him in making treaties with the natives, he had no intention of exploiting the country in the way he did. King Leopold gained the consent of Europe and the United States to forming the Congo Free State with the plea that he wished to develop the country for the good of its inhabitants. In fact he termed himself a philanthropist and promised that the natives should be his first consideration. And so in 1884 the Congo Free State was formed under the benign auspices of the Great Powers of the world—England and America being especially interested. For some years—until 1891—these promises were more or less faithfully carried out, and the country was developed, the natives being paid for the work they did. But the Belgians are not born colonizers, and the financial position became desperate. King Leopold had sunk fifty thousand pounds of his own money, and in those days he was not a rich man. I suppose it is unnecessary for me to refer to the late King’s private life, to his licentiousness, to his extravagance, to his——”