“Well, we know how to manage Neustria.”
“But that is not the worst, Excellency. M. Lucien Salomans is dead.”
“What, murdered?”
“They call it suicide. He was present at some public entertainment, at which one of the performers made a violent attack on the Jews. He remonstrated, and became involved in a heated discussion with several gentlemen near him. It is alleged that he left the hall exclaiming that, Jew though he was, it was in his power to destroy Neustria if he chose——”
“Blatant fool!” cried Cyril furiously.
“Excellency, he is dead. He was arrested that evening, and his house searched. In prison he was visited by two high officials, who spent some time in his cell. This was late at night, and in the morning he was discovered to be dead. They say that he shot himself to avoid being surprised into disclosures, but it is whispered that one of his visitors, enraged by his persistent silence, killed him with the revolver which had been held to his head to extort a confession.”
“But surely he had not had the madness—— Did things end there?”
“Oh no, Excellency. Since his death the houses of the principal Jews interested in our movement have been repeatedly subjected to sudden visits from the police.”
“Good. They are baffled so far, then. And in other countries?”
“When the excitement began in Neustria, Excellency, the Continental press in general reserved judgment, as though alarmed at the temerity of the Lutetian papers. But when two or three days passed, and there was no sign from you, they grew bold, and revived all their old infamies, busying themselves also with the future of Palestine. It is now recommended everywhere that Jerusalem shall be occupied by the Powers jointly, and the Jews excluded from it. The Powers are also to have charge of all the foreign relations of the new state, the Jews regulating only such of its affairs as are purely national and domestic. The alarm in the Jewish world is very great. The Chevalier Goldberg has telegraphed again and again, asking for some assurance that you have the situation in hand. He is afraid to take any steps lest he should jeopardise some plan of yours, and I could not reassure him, for you did not contemplate such a crisis as this in your instructions.”