The Prisoner in the Mask by Dennis Wheatley

Author:Dennis Wheatley [Wheatley, Dennis]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2013-02-16T11:00:00+00:00

17

THE ONLY WAY

It had been arranged that the brougham should wait for them a hundred yards down the Avenue Messine, which was only just across the Rue de Lisbonne from the cul-de-sac leading to the Park. Three minutes’ walk brought them to it. On the box sat a figure they knew to be the General only by its shortness and broad shoulders, as a woollen muffler hid the lower part of his face and his cockaded top hat was pulled well down over his eyes. For that the chill of the night and a touch of fog was ample justification. He greeted them only by raising his whip. They got in, and the carriage moved off.

The streets through which they drove for the first few minutes were dark, but they soon entered the Madeleine district with its cafés and shops. At it was Christmas Eve many of the latter that sold food were still open; but France’s present-giving festival being New Year’s Day, the scene was not as animated as it would have been in the capitals of many other countries. To keep Angela’s thoughts away from the hazardous business to which they were now committed de Quesnoy began to tell her about Weinachsfest in Vienna, with its Christmas trees, lighted candles in all the windows, and carol singers. That revived for her memories of her Christmas while still a young girl in England, and for ten minutes or so they talked of holly, mince-pies, stockings, snap-dragon and jolly, carefree parties.

It was not until they had crossed the river and were some way along the Boulevard St. Germain that he said to her: ‘Now, I want you to listen very carefully. To begin with, as your maid, I can play only the part of an onlooker; so the whole initiative will lie with you. Should the Colonel suggest leaving me in some lobby while he takes you to see his prisoner alone, you must in no circumstances agree to that. Pretend to be very nervous and insist that I should remain within call. On the grounds of propriety that is a perfectly reasonable request, and it will ensure my being taken with you to the ante-room of the cell. Two warders are permanently stationed there. It is to be hoped that the Colonel will send them out into the passage. If he does not, tell him, again on the grounds of propriety, that you wish the door from the ante-room to the cell to be left ajar, but will he please spare you the embarrassment of anyone other than him and myself overhearing what passes between you and the prisoner. He can then hardly refuse to send the two men outside. Lastly, should the Prince have on this leather mask, you must persuade the Colonel to remove it. As he knows that you are aware who the prisoner is he can have no reasonable objection. Then, when you are alone with the Prince, you must on no account give him any idea that you have come there to rescue him.

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