“I understand....”
“Well, you’ll see me play to-morrow. I’ll take my seat at three o’clock sharp.”
“I’ll be there.”
“I have them in the hollow of my hand. They don’t suspect, they don’t dream. But to-morrow they will begin to be uneasy, and as I close my hand to crush them they will be seized with panic, they will be filled with despair. That will be the time I shall need some one to aid me, to protect me, for I am old. I want a young man full of intelligence, of courage, to guard me, and if need be, to carry on my work. For instance,—you! Now do you understand why I have asked you here to-night, why I have told you all I have?... We’ll talk again of this.”
It was late when Hugh left the old man and returned to his room. Margot was still bent over her embroidery.
“You’ll hurt your eyes,” he remonstrated; but she shook her head obstinately.
“No, I won’t stop. I promised madame I’d finish this for to-morrow.”
3.
When he arrived at the Casino the following afternoon, he saw a crowd collected under the great rubber tree on the edge of the “Cheese.” To his amazement he found that it was gathered around Mrs. Fitzoswald and her little brood. He heard exclamations such as: “The poor dears! What a shame! Such a plucky little woman!”
Mrs. Fitz was excited. The light of battle was in her eyes. Her cheeks were flushed. She proclaimed her wrongs to the skies.