“I did not sign it, certainly,” he replied.
“And what about our treaty?” asked Fitz, eagerly.
“There is our treaty—signed,” returned Stratford, with a queer gleam in his eyes as he laid the parchment on the table. “When the Chief gets better he will find that his work was not all in vain, Lady Haigh.”
Lady Haigh blushed afterwards to remember that she was ready to kiss Stratford there and then in the first flush of her delight at the news; but she restrained herself sufficiently to do no more than wring his hand without a word. The rest were examining the treaty, which bore Stratford’s signature and another, as well as the King’s seal and that of the Grand Vizier.
“But that is not Fath-ud-Din’s signature,” said Kustendjian, who was looking at the parchment from the other side of the table.
“No,” said Stratford, drily; “it is Jahan Beg’s.”
“Jahan Beg’s?” was echoed, in tones of astonishment.
“Yes; he has succeeded Fath-ud-Din as Grand Vizier. You have a good deal to hear; but I should like some dinner first, if there is any going.”
“Have you had nothing but meat lozenges all day, Mr Stratford?” asked Fitz, laughing; and every one adjourned to the dining-room, where the dishes, which had been left untasted half an hour before, were still on the table. Everything was cold, of course, and the servants were in despair; but the makeshift meal was the most cheerful that had taken place during the whole sojourn of the Mission in Kubbet-ul-Haj, and when it was over, the party returned to the terrace, and demanded clamorously of Stratford that he should tell his story.
“It is rather long, and I am afraid you will find it a little tedious,” he said, throwing away his cigarette; “but I can assure you that the experience was much more tedious to go through than to talk about. Well, no attempt was made to molest me when I got to the Palace, and I started off as usual in the direction of the hall of audience. Generally, as you know, when we have gone to the Palace, there have been a lot of chamberlains and fellows to clear a path for us and bring us to the King, but to-day I had to elbow my way through the crowd that was hanging about. It was a sign that times were changed; but that wasn’t all, for, before I had got half-way through the mob, I felt a pull at my coat-tail, and when I could put my hand there, I found that I had been eased of my pistol. However, as I had put the pistol into that pocket for the express purpose of having it seen and stolen, I didn’t mind much. When I got to the door of the audience-chamber, the guard made a fuss about letting me in; but I said that the King had sent for me, and I meant to see him. When they saw that I would stand no nonsense, they let me pass, and I found the King and Fath-ud-Din, as I had hoped, in the room in which they had tried to bribe the Chief to sign their treaty. It is quite small, you remember, and the walls are solid, without any of the lattice-work panels you see in the big hall. The windows are high up, and all the open carving is of stone, and not of wood. It was another score for me that the King thought fit to treat me as a criminal, and didn’t invite me to come close to him, so I chose my position, and camped in the corner in a line with the door, and opposite to the King’s divan. Of course this was nominally in order that what we said should not be overheard outside. They brought in coffee; but I refused to taste it, for I didn’t see any advantage in being poisoned at the very outset, and there was no object in keeping on the mask of friendliness any longer.”