The Hermit of Hammersmith.
Guy Bourne, in his shirt sleeves, was sitting back in a long cane lounge-chair in the little front parlour when the Princess and her companion entered. He had just finished his frugal supper.
He jumped up confusedly, threw the evening paper aside, and apologised that her Highness had discovered him without a coat.
“Please don’t apologise, Mr Bourne. This is rather an unusual hour for a visit, is it not? But pray forgive me,” she said in English, with scarcely any trace of a German accent.
“Your Highness is always welcome—at any hour,” he laughed, struggling into his coat and ordering his landlady to clear away the remnants of the meal. “Leucha was here yesterday, and she told me how you were faring. I am sorry that circumstances over which I, unfortunately, have no control have not permitted my calling at the Savoy. At present I can only go out after midnight for a breath of air, and time passes rather slowly, I can assure you. As Leucha has probably told you, certain persons are making rather eager inquiries about me just now.”
“I understand perfectly,” she laughed. “It was to obtain your advice as to the best way to efface myself that I came to see you this evening. Leucha tells me you are an expert in disappearing.”
“Well, Princess,” he smiled, offering her a chair, “you see it’s part of my profession to show myself as little as possible, though self-imprisonment is always very irksome. This house is one among many in London which afford accommodation for such as myself. The landlady is a person who knows how to keep her mouth shut, and who asks no questions. She is, as most of them are, the widow of a person who was a social outcast like myself.”
“And this is one of your harbours of refuge,” her Highness exclaimed, looking around curiously upon the cheaply furnished but comfortable room. There was linoleum in lieu of carpet, and to the Londoner the cheap walnut overmantel and plush-covered drawing-room suite spoke mutely of the Tottenham Court Road and the “easy-payment” system.
The Princess was shrewd enough to notice the looks which passed between Leucha and the man to whom she was so much indebted. She detected that a passion of love existed between them. Indeed, the girl had almost admitted as much to her, and had on several occasions begged to be allowed to visit him and ascertain whether he was in want of anything.
It was an interesting and a unique study, she found, the affection between a pair of the criminal class.