“Ah, that I don’t know, and there, it seems to me, is the weak point. What if the Jesuits also want Jerusalem? If so, he may hand it over to the Jews first, and then kick them out of it for the benefit of the other lot. ‘Mala sorte, buona fede’ is the family motto, you know, but no one ever thinks of quoting it except as ‘Buona sorte, mala fede.’”
“But why do the Jews and the Jesuits both think so much of him?”
“He is a very unusual man, no one can doubt it. His enemies are fond of asserting that he is not a genuine Malasorte, but his likeness to Timoleon I. is enough to disprove that calumny. His father was in the Scythian service, and married a Greek lady, descended, of course, from the Byzantine Emperors. That gives him a great pull with the Orthodox, and he is a personal friend of the Emperor of Scythia, who is very much under his influence. He believes he can induce him to withdraw his troops from Palestine, and Goldberg and the rest believe it too. So he is to have his chance.”
“It’s awfully queer how things are mixed up,” said Usk. “Do you know this chap wanted to marry Félicia?”
“This same man—Timoleon Lucanor? Yes, I remember, he was military attaché at Washington. And why didn’t he?”
“Her father didn’t think his chances good enough, I fancy.”
“No; I think the blood of the Albrets rose against the parvenu, even then. But this is interesting, Usk. Could Malasorte have had any idea of Mr Steinherz’s secret? No, of course not. He would not have allowed himself to be choked off in that case. It was the money he was after, and he missed what would have been better to him than millions. Did Miss Logan approve of his suit, do you know?”
“Yes; Hicks said she pushed it all she knew.”
“And yet she didn’t tell him? It’s pretty clear, then, that whatever she knows she has learnt since. My dear Usk, you may thank your stars that I am a wretched crack-brained failure, if you want to keep your Félicia. There are the makings of a most tremendous plot lying about—infinite possibilities—and I can’t see how to put them together.”