CHAPTER III.
A MOST ADVANTAGEOUS OFFER.
“Come in, come in,” said Lady Haigh, hospitably, leading the way into her sitting-room. “Well, Cecil, my dear (for I really must call you so), were you very much astonished at the sight of that formidable array? Wasn’t it just like Denarien Bey to make such a tremendous business of it? I suppose it’s his nature to like to have a great fuss about everything.”
“But hadn’t the Pasha appointed the council of selection?” asked Miss Arbuthnot.
“Not a bit of it,” laughed Lady Haigh. “Of course, for one thing, Denarien Bey was in a terrible fright. If Cecil turned out unsatisfactory, or if he bungled the business in any way, he might lose his head. So he gets together as many people as he can with whom to share the responsibility, so that he can put the blame on them if anything goes wrong, while some of them are too strong for the Pasha to touch, and the others are out of his reach. But it was simply a desire to make a great business of the matter which made him drag poor old Tussûn Bey here from the Embassy.”
“Yes; I could not quite see what he had to do with it,” said Miss Arbuthnot.
“Why, my dear Marian,” cried Lady Haigh, “he is the Pasha’s agent in the Embassy. Of course it is not called so. We say that he is ‘connected with the Pasha by old ties of friendship,’ but that only means that he is in his pay. He is originally and officially an ordinary secretary of Embassy; but his private and particular business is to watch over the Pasha’s interests, and warn him of any danger from his enemies here, either in the Embassy or in our own Government.”
“And all the other gentlemen, who were they?” asked Cecil.
“The Easterns were various Levantines and Armenians settled in London, also devoted to the Pasha’s interests. Some of them are in his pay, and some of them pay him. Of course what he gives them is called remuneration for services performed, and what they give him is called a present, or a tribute of respect, or something of that sort.”
“My dear Elma!” said Miss Arbuthnot, “I had no idea of the network of corruption into which you were leading us.”
“Corruption?” said Lady Haigh. “You might call it corruption in England, but for Ahmed Khémi Pasha it is really only self-defence. He knows that he is surrounded by spies and people who are longing to see him make a false step, and then report it at Constantinople, poor man! Of course I don’t defend his methods; I only say that from his point of view he has some excuse for them. His position is frightfully insecure. And that reminds me, you noticed the Englishman who watched over our conference just now?”