“Who could it be?” she whispered.
She had little hope of solving this problem when an automobile light solved it for her and gave her a shock besides. The light fell full upon the man’s face. She recognized him instantly.
“Jaeger!” She said the name out loud and trembled from head to foot.
Jaeger was the detective who haunted the boxes at the opera.
“He is shadowing me!” She could not doubt this. “He believes I stole those pearls. Perhaps he thinks he can catch me trying them on. Not much chance of that.” She laughed uneasily. “It is well enough to know you are innocent; but to convince others, that is the problem.”
She thought of the lady in black. “If only I could see her, speak to her!” She drew the shades, threw on the light and disrobed, still in a thoughtful mood. She was remembering the voice of that lady.
There was something hauntingly familiar about that voice. It brought to her mind a feeling of forests and rippling waters, the scent of balsam and the song of birds. Yet she could not tell where she had heard it before.
Joan of Arc was Jeanne’s idol. Once as a child, wandering with the gypsies, she had slept within the shadows of the church where Joan received her visions. At another time she had sat for an entire forenoon dreaming the hours away in the chamber that had once been Joan’s own. Yet, unlike Joan, she did not love wearing the clothes of a boy. She was fond of soft, clinging, silky things, was this delicate French child. So, dressed in the silkiest of all silks and the softest of satin robes, she built herself a veritable mountain of pillows before the fire and, sinking back into that soft depth, proceeded to think things through.
To this strange girl sitting at the mouth of her cave made of pillows, the fire on the hearth was a magic fire. She prodded it. As it blazed red, she saw in it clearly the magic curtain. She felt again the thrill of this mysterious discovery. Once more she was gazing upon strange smoking images, bronze eagles, giants’ heads, dragons. She smelled the curious, choking incense. And again the feeling of wild terror seized her.
So real was the vision that she leaped to her feet, sending the soft walls of her cave flying in every direction.