The Golden Slipper

A >> Anna Katharine Green >> The Golden Slipper

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20

THE GOLDEN SLIPPER
And Other Problems for Violet Strange

by ANNA KATHARINE GREEN
(Mrs. Charles Rohlfs)

CONTENTS

I THE GOLDEN SLIPPER

II THE SECOND BULLET

III THE INTANGIBLE CLEW

IV THE GROTTO SPECTRE

V THE DREAMING LADY

VI THE HOUSE OF CLOCKS

VII THE DOCTOR, HIS WIFE, AND THE CLOCK

VIII MISSING: PAGE THIRTEEN

IX VIOLET'S OWN

The Golden Slipper And Other Problems for Violet Strange

PROBLEM I THE GOLDEN SLIPPER

"She's here! I thought she would be. She's one of the three
young ladies you see in the right-hand box near the proscenium."

The gentleman thus addressed--a man of middle age and a member
of the most exclusive clubs--turned his opera glass toward the
spot designated, and in some astonishment retorted:

"She? Why those are the Misses Pratt and--"

"Miss Violet Strange; no other."

"And do you mean to say--"

"I do--"

"That yon silly little chit, whose father I know, whose fortune
I know, who is seen everywhere, and who is called one of the
season's belles is an agent of yours; a--a--"

"No names here, please. You want a mystery solved. It is not a
matter for the police--that is, as yet,--and so you come to me,
and when I ask for the facts, I find that women and only women
are involved, and that these women are not only young but one
and all of the highest society. Is it a man's work to go to the
bottom of a combination like this? No. Sex against sex, and, if
possible, youth against youth. Happily, I know such a person--a
girl of gifts and extraordinarily well placed for the purpose.
Why she uses her talents in this direction--why, with means
enough to play the part natural to her as a successful
debutante, she consents to occupy herself with social and other
mysteries, you must ask her, not me. Enough that I promise you
her aid if you want it. That is, if you can interest her. She
will not work otherwise."

Mr. Driscoll again raised his opera glass.

"But it's a comedy face," he commented. "It's hard to associate
intellectuality with such quaintness of expression. Are you sure
of her discretion?"

"Whom is she with?"

"Abner Pratt, his wife, and daughters."

"Is he a man to entrust his affairs unadvisedly?"

"Abner Pratt! Do you mean to say that she is anything more to
him than his daughters' guest?"

"Judge. You see how merry they are. They were in deep trouble
yesterday. You are witness to a celebration."

"And she?"

"Don't you observe how they are loading her with attentions?
She's too young to rouse such interest in a family of notably
unsympathetic temperament for any other reason than that of
gratitude."

"It's hard to believe. But if what you hint is true, secure me
an opportunity at once of talking to this youthful marvel. My
affair is serious. The dinner I have mentioned comes off in
three days and--"

"I know. I recognize your need; but I think you had better enter
Mr. Pratt's box without my intervention. Miss Strange's value to
us will be impaired the moment her connection with us is
discovered."

"Ah, there's Ruthven! He will take me to Mr. Pratt's box,"
remarked Driscoll as the curtain fell on the second act. "Any
suggestions before I go?"

"Yes, and an important one. When you make your bow, touch your
left shoulder with your right hand. It is a signal. She may
respond to it; but if she does not, do not be discouraged. One of
her idiosyncrasies is a theoretical dislike of her work. But once
she gets interested, nothing will hold her back. That's all,
except this. In no event give away her secret. That's part of the
compact, you remember."

Driscoll nodded and left his seat for Ruthven's box. When the
curtain rose for the third time he could be seen sitting with
the Misses Pratt and their vivacious young friend. A widower and
still on the right side of fifty, his presence there did not
pass unnoted, and curiosity was rife among certain onlookers as
to which of the twin belles was responsible for this change in
his well-known habits. Unfortunately, no opportunity was given
him for showing. Other and younger men had followed his lead
into the box, and they saw him forced upon the good graces of
the fascinating but inconsequent Miss Strange whose rapid fire
of talk he was hardly of a temperament to appreciate.

Did he appear dissatisfied? Yes; but only one person in the
opera house knew why. Miss Strange had shown no comprehension of
or sympathy with his errand. Though she chatted amiably enough
between duets and trios, she gave him no opportunity to express
his wishes though she knew them well enough, owing to the signal
he had given her.

This might be in character but it hardly suited his views; and,
being a man of resolution, he took advantage of an absorbing
minute on the stage to lean forward and whisper in her ear:

"It's my daughter for whom I request your services; as fine a
girl as any in this house. Give me a hearing. You certainly can
manage it."

She was a small, slight woman whose naturally quaint appearance
was accentuated by the extreme simplicity of her attire. In the
tier upon tier of boxes rising before his eyes, no other
personality could vie with hers in strangeness, or in the
illusive quality of her ever-changing expression. She was
vivacity incarnate and, to the ordinary observer, light as
thistledown in fibre and in feeling. But not to all. To those who
watched her long, there came moments--say when the music rose to
heights of greatness--when the mouth so given over to laughter
took on curves of the rarest sensibility, and a woman's lofty
soul shone through her odd, bewildering features.

Driscoll had noted this, and consequently awaited her reply in
secret hope.

It came in the form of a question and only after an instant's
display of displeasure or possibly of pure nervous irritability.

"What has she done?"

"Nothing. But slander is in the air, and any day it may ripen
into public accusation."

"Accusation of what?" Her tone was almost pettish.

"Of--of theft," he murmured. "On a great scale," he emphasized,
as the music rose to a crash.

"Jewels?"

"Inestimable ones. They are always returned by somebody. People
say, by me."

"Ah!" The little lady's hands grew steady,--they had been
fluttering all over her lap. "I will see you to-morrow morning
at my father's house," she presently observed; and turned her
full attention to the stage.

Some three days after this Mr. Driscoll opened his house on the
Hudson to notable guests. He had not desired the publicity of
such an event, nor the opportunity it gave for an increase of
the scandal secretly in circulation against his daughter. But
the Ambassador and his wife were foreign and any evasion of the
promised hospitality would be sure to be misunderstood; so the
scheme was carried forward though with less eclat than possibly
was expected.

Among the lesser guests, who were mostly young and well
acquainted with the house and its hospitality, there was one
unique figure,--that of the lively Miss Strange, who, if
personally unknown to Miss Driscoll, was so gifted with the
qualities which tell on an occasion of this kind, that the
stately young hostess hailed her presence with very obvious
gratitude.

The manner of their first meeting was singular, and of great
interest to one of them at least. Miss Strange had come in an
automobile and had been shown her room; but there was nobody to
accompany her down-stairs afterward, and, finding herself alone
in the great hall, she naturally moved toward the library, the
door of which stood ajar. She had pushed this door half open
before she noticed that the room was already occupied. As a
consequence, she was made the unexpected observer of a beautiful
picture of youth and love.

A young man and a young woman were standing together in the glow
of a blazing wood-fire. No word was to be heard, but in their
faces, eloquent with passion, there shone something so deep and
true that the chance intruder hesitated on the threshold, eager
to lay this picture away in her mind with the other lovely and
tragic memories now fast accumulating there. Then she drew back,
and readvancing with a less noiseless foot, came into the full
presence of Captain Holliday drawn up in all the pride of his
military rank beside Alicia, the accomplished daughter of the
house, who, if under a shadow as many whispered, wore that shadow
as some women wear a crown.

Miss Strange was struck with admiration, and turned upon them
the brightest facet of her vivacious nature all the time she was
saying to herself: "Does she know why I am here? Or does she
look upon me only as an additional guest foisted upon her by a
thoughtless parent?"

There was nothing in the manner of her cordial but composed
young hostess to show, and Miss Strange, with but one thought in
mind since she had caught the light of feeling on the two faces
confronting her, took the first opportunity that offered of
running over the facts given her by Mr. Driscoll, to see if any
reconcilement were possible between them and an innocence in
which she must henceforth believe.

They were certainly of a most damaging nature.

Miss Driscoll and four other young ladies of her own station in
life had formed themselves, some two years before, into a coterie
of five, called The Inseparables. They lunched together, rode
together, visited together. So close was the bond and their
mutual dependence so evident, that it came to be the custom to
invite the whole five whenever the size of the function warranted
it. In fact, it was far from an uncommon occurrence to see them
grouped at receptions or following one another down the aisles of
churches or through the mazes of the dance at balls or
assemblies. And no one demurred at this, for they were all
handsome and attractive girls, till it began to be noticed that,
coincident with their presence, some article of value was found
missing from the dressing-room or from the tables where wedding
gifts were displayed. Nothing was safe where they went, and
though, in the course of time, each article found its way back to
its owner in a manner as mysterious as its previous abstraction,
the scandal grew and, whether with good reason or bad, finally
settled about the person of Miss Driscoll, who was the showiest,
least pecuniarily tempted, and most dignified in manner and
speech of them all.

Some instances had been given by way of further enlightenment.
This is one: A theatre party was in progress. There were twelve
in the party, five of whom were the Inseparables. In the course of
the last act, another lady--in fact, their chaperon--missed her
handkerchief, an almost priceless bit of lace. Positive that she
had brought it with her into the box, she caused a careful
search, but without the least success. Recalling certain whispers
she had heard, she noted which of the five girls were with her in
the box. They were Miss Driscoll, Miss Hughson, Miss Yates, and
Miss Benedict. Miss West sat in the box adjoining.

A fortnight later this handkerchief reappeared--and where? Among
the cushions of a yellow satin couch in her own drawing-room. The
Inseparables had just made their call and the three who had sat
on the couch were Miss Driscoll, Miss Hughson, and Miss Benedict.

The next instance seemed to point still more insistently toward
the lady already named. Miss Yates had an expensive present to
buy, and the whole five Inseparables went in an imposing group to
Tiffany's. A tray of rings was set before them. All examined and
eagerly fingered the stock out of which Miss Yates presently
chose a finely set emerald. She was leading her friends away when
the clerk suddenly whispered in her ear, "I miss one of the
rings." Dismayed beyond speech, she turned and consulted the
faces of her four companions who stared back at her with
immovable serenity. But one of them was paler than usual, and
this lady (it was Miss Driscoll) held her hands in her muff and
did not offer to take them out. Miss Yates, whose father had
completed a big "deal" the week before, wheeled round upon the
clerk. "Charge it! charge it at its full value," said she. "I buy
both the rings."

And in three weeks the purloined ring came back to her, in a box
of violets with no name attached.

The third instance was a recent one, and had come to Mr.
Driscoll's ears directly from the lady suffering the loss. She
was a woman of uncompromising integrity, who felt it her duty to
make known to this gentleman the following facts: She had just
left a studio reception, and was standing at the curb waiting for
a taxicab to draw up, when a small boy--a street arab--darted
toward her from the other side of the street, and thrusting into
her hand something small and hard, cried breathlessly as he
slipped away, "It's yours, ma'am; you dropped it." Astonished,
for she had not been conscious of any loss, she looked down at
her treasure trove and found it to be a small medallion which she
sometimes wore on a chain at her belt. But she had not worn it
that day, nor any day for weeks. Then she remembered. She had
worn it a month before to a similar reception at this same
studio. A number of young girls had stood about her admiring it--
she remembered well who they were; the Inseparables, of course,
and to please them she had slipped it from its chain. Then
something had happened,--something which diverted her attention
entirely,--and she had gone home without the medallion; had, in
fact, forgotten it, only to recall its loss now. Placing it in
her bag, she looked hastily about her. A crowd was at her back;
nothing to be distinguished there. But in front, on the opposite
side of the street, stood a club-house, and in one of its windows
she perceived a solitary figure looking out. It was that of Miss
Driscoll's father. He could imagine her conclusion.

In vain he denied all knowledge of the matter. She told him other
stories which had come to her ears of thefts as mysterious,
followed by restorations as peculiar as this one, finishing with,
"It is your daughter, and people are beginning to say so."

And Miss Strange, brooding over these instances, would have said
the same, but for Miss Driscoll's absolute serenity of demeanour
and complete abandonment to love. These seemed incompatible with
guilt; these, whatever the appearances, proclaimed innocence--an
innocence she was here to prove if fortune favoured and the
really guilty person's madness should again break forth.

For madness it would be and nothing less, for any hand, even the
most experienced, to draw attention to itself by a repetition of
old tricks on an occasion so marked. Yet because it would take
madness, and madness knows no law, she prepared herself for the
contingency under a mask of girlish smiles which made her at once
the delight and astonishment of her watchful and uneasy host.

With the exception of the diamonds worn by the Ambassadress,
there was but one jewel of consequence to be seen at the dinner
that night; but how great was that consequence and with what
splendour it invested the snowy neck it adorned!

Miss Strange, in compliment to the noble foreigners, had put on
one of her family heirlooms--a filigree pendant of extraordinary
sapphires which had once belonged to Marie Antoinette. As its
beauty flashed upon the women, and its value struck the host, the
latter could not restrain himself from casting an anxious eye
about the board in search of some token of the cupidity with
which one person there must welcome this unexpected sight.

Naturally his first glance fell upon Alicia, seated opposite to
him at the other end of the table. But her eyes were elsewhere,
and her smile for Captain Holliday, and the father's gaze
travelled on, taking up each young girl's face in turn. All were
contemplating Miss Strange and her jewels, and the cheeks of one
were flushed and those of the others pale, but whether with dread
or longing who could tell. Struck with foreboding, but alive to
his duty as host, he forced his glances away, and did not even
allow himself to question the motive or the wisdom of the
temptation thus offered.

Two hours later and the girls were all in one room. It was a
custom of the Inseparables to meet for a chat before retiring,
but always alone and in the room of one of their number. But this
was a night of innovations; Violet was not only included, but the
meeting was held in her room. Her way with girls was even more
fruitful of result than her way with men. They might laugh at
her, criticize her or even call her names significant of disdain,
but they never left her long to herself or missed an opportunity
to make the most of her irrepressible chatter.

Her satisfaction at entering this charmed circle did not take
from her piquancy, and story after story fell from her lips, as
she fluttered about, now here now there, in her endless
preparations for retirement. She had taken off her historic
pendant after it had been duly admired and handled by all
present, and, with the careless confidence of an assured
ownership, thrown it down upon the end of her dresser, which, by
the way, projected very close to the open window.

"Are you going to leave your jewel there?" whispered a voice in
her ear as a burst of laughter rang out in response to one of her
sallies.

Turning, with a simulation of round-eyed wonder, she met Miss
Hughson's earnest gaze with the careless rejoinder, "What's the
harm?" and went on with her story with all the reckless ease of a
perfectly thoughtless nature.

Miss Hughson abandoned her protest. How could she explain her
reasons for it to one apparently uninitiated in the scandal
associated with their especial clique.

Yes, she left the jewel there; but she locked her door and
quickly, so that they must all have heard her before reaching
their rooms. Then she crossed to the window, which, like all on
this side, opened on a balcony running the length of the house.
She was aware of this balcony, also of the fact that only young
ladies slept in the corridor communicating with it. But she was
not quite sure that this one corridor accommodated them all. If
one of them should room elsewhere! (Miss Driscoll, for instance).
But no! the anxiety displayed for the safety of her jewel
precluded that supposition. Their hostess, if none of the others,
was within access of this room and its open window. But how about
the rest? Perhaps the lights would tell. Eagerly the little
schemer looked forth, and let her glances travel down the full
length of the balcony. Two separate beams of light shot across it
as she looked, and presently another, and, after some waiting, a
fourth. But the fifth failed to appear. This troubled her, but
not seriously. Two of the girls might be sleeping in one bed.

Drawing her shade, she finished her preparations for the night;
then with her kimono on, lifted the pendant and thrust it into a
small box she had taken from her trunk. A curious smile, very
unlike any she had shown to man or woman that day, gave a
sarcastic lift to her lips, as with a slow and thoughtful
manipulation of her dainty fingers she moved the jewel about in
this small receptacle and then returned it, after one quick
examining glance, to the very spot on the dresser from which she
had taken it. "If only the madness is great enough!" that smile
seemed to say. Truly, it was much to hope for, but a chance is a
chance; and comforting herself with the thought, Miss Strange put
out her light, and, with a hasty raising of the shade she had
previously pulled down, took a final look at the prospect.

Its aspect made her shudder. A low fog was rising from the
meadows in the far distance, and its ghostliness under the moon
woke all sorts of uncanny images in her excited mind. To escape
them she crept into bed where she lay with her eyes on the end of
her dresser. She had closed that half of the French window over
which she had drawn the shade; but she had left ajar the one
giving free access to the jewels; and when she was not watching
the scintillation of her sapphires in the moonlight, she was
dwelling in fixed attention on this narrow opening.

But nothing happened, and two o'clock, then three o'clock struck,
without a dimming of the blue scintillations on the end of her
dresser. Then she suddenly sat up. Not that she heard anything
new, but that a thought had come to her. "If an attempt is made,"
so she murmured softly to herself, "it will be by--" She did not
finish. Something--she could not call it sound--set her heart
beating tumultuously, and listening--listening--watching--
watching--she followed in her imagination the approach down the
balcony of an almost inaudible step, not daring to move herself,
it seemed so near, but waiting with eyes fixed, for the shadow
which must fall across the shade she had failed to raise over
that half of the swinging window she had so carefully left shut.

At length she saw it projecting slowly across the slightly
illuminated surface. Formless, save for the outreaching hand, it
passed the casement's edge, nearing with pauses and hesitations
the open gap beyond through which the neglected sapphires beamed
with steady lustre. Would she ever see the hand itself appear
between the dresser and the window frame? Yes, there it comes,--
small, delicate, and startlingly white, threading that gap--
darting with the suddenness of a serpent's tongue toward the
dresser and disappearing again with the pendant in its clutch.

As she realizes this,--she is but young, you know,--as she sees
her bait taken and the hardly expected event fulfilled, her pent-
up breath sped forth in a sigh which sent the intruder flying,
and so startled herself that she sank back in terror on her
pillow.

The breakfast-call had sounded its musical chimes through the
halls. The Ambassador and his wife had responded, so had most of
the young gentlemen and ladies, but the daughter of the house was
not amongst them, nor Miss Strange, whom one would naturally
expect to see down first of all.

These two absences puzzled Mr. Driscoll. What might they not
portend? But his suspense, at least in one regard, was short.
Before his guests were well seated, Miss Driscoll entered from
the terrace in company with Captain Holliday. In her arms she
carried a huge bunch of roses and was looking very beautiful. Her
father's heart warmed at the sight. No shadow from the night
rested upon her.

But Miss Strange!--where was she? He could not feel quite easy
till he knew.

"Have any of you seen Miss Strange?" he asked, as they sat down
at table. And his eyes sought the Inseparables.

Five lovely heads were shaken, some carelessly, some wonderingly,
and one, with a quick, forced smile. But he was in no mood to
discriminate, and he had beckoned one of the servants to him,
when a step was heard at the door and the delinquent slid in and
took her place, in a shamefaced manner suggestive of a cause
deeper than mere tardiness. In fact, she had what might be called
a frightened air, and stared into her plate, avoiding every eye,
which was certainly not natural to her. What did it mean? and
why, as she made a poor attempt at eating, did four of the
Inseparables exchange glances of doubt and dismay and then
concentrate their looks upon his daughter? That Alicia failed to
notice this, but sat abloom above her roses now fastened in a
great bunch upon her breast, offered him some comfort, yet, for
all the volubility of his chief guests, the meal was a great
trial to his patience, as well as a poor preparation for the hour
when, the noble pair gone, he stepped into the library to find
Miss Strange awaiting him with one hand behind her back and a
piteous look on her infantile features.

"O, Mr. Driscoll," she began,--and then he saw that a group of
anxious girls hovered in her rear--"my pendant! my beautiful
pendant! It is gone! Somebody reached in from the balcony and
took it from my dresser in the night. Of course, it was to
frighten me; all of the girls told me not to leave it there. But
I--I cannot make them give it back, and papa is so particular
about this jewel that I'm afraid to go home. Won't you tell them
it's no joke, and see that I get it again. I won't be so careless
another time."

Hardly believing his eyes, hardly believing his ears,--she was
so perfectly the spoiled child detected in a fault--he looked
sternly about upon the girls and bade them end the jest and
produce the gems at once.

But not one of them spoke, and not one of them moved; only his
daughter grew pale until the roses seemed a mockery, and the
steady stare of her large eyes was almost too much for him to
bear.

The anguish of this gave asperity to his manner, and in a
strange, hoarse tone he loudly cried:

"One of you did this. Which? If it was you, Alicia, speak. I am
in no mood for nonsense. I want to know whose foot traversed the
balcony and whose hand abstracted these jewels."

A continued silence, deepening into painful embarrassment for
all. Mr. Driscoll eyed them in ill-concealed anguish, then
turning to Miss Strange was still further thrown off his balance
by seeing her pretty head droop and her gaze fall in confusion.

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20