LORD OF MANY SECRETS

FIFTY FOUR

Clements was sitting very still in his chair, his glance never wavering from Ferdinand's face. "Go on, Mr Ferdinand", he said. "I am waiting to hear what it is you will say".

"Nothing!" Ferdinand said quickly.

"Not even the name of the man who hired you?" said the Earl softly.

"Nothing, I tell you! No one hired me!"

The Earl shut his snuff box. "No doubt you are wise", he said. "He might - who knows? - take steps to put you out of the way, might he not? And I am afraid that even if you had the courage to divulge his name it would not be of very much use. It would be your word against his, Ferdinand, and to be honest with you I hardly think yours would be heeded. You see, I have considered all that".

"No need!" Ferdinand said, glaring at him. "I've told you I shall divulge nothing!"

"I am glad to find that you have such a wholesome regard for your skin", murmured Clements. "I hope that I may prompt you to keep away from Sir Patrick in the future. I should go into the country for a while, if I were you. I have an odd notion that if anything were to happen to him while you were in Rome you might suffer for it".

Ferdinand forced out a laugh. "Very interesting, my lord, but I'm no believer in premonitions!"

"Ah!" said the Earl. "But that was more in the nature of a promise, Ferdinand. One blunder may be forgiven, a second would prove fatal". He rose and picked up his gloves and cane. "That is all I wanted to say to you".

Ferdinand jumped up. "Wait, my lord!" he said, griping the edge of the table and seeming to search for words.

"Well?" said the Earl.

Ferdinand licked his lips. "I could be of use to you!" he said desperately.

"You are mistaken", said the Earl in a tone that struck a chill into Ferdinand's veins. "No man who has bungled once is of the least use to me".

Ferdinand sank down into his chair again, looking after the Earl's tall figure with an expression of mingled venom and despair in his eyes. Clements strolled away toward the parlor door.

He had not reached it when his gaze alighted on the figure of a gentleman who had entered the tavern a few minutes earlier, and was standing at the other end of the taproom, fixedly regarding him.

The Earl checked, gently put aside a slightly inebriated sailor who was in his way, and walked across the room to the new comer. "Your servant, Mr Tellaro", he said.

Mr Tellaro bowed formally. "Good evening, Lord Clements".

The fingers of the Earl's right hand began to play with the ribbon of his quizzing glass. "Well, Mr Tellaro, what is it?" he asked.

Bartholomew Tellaro raised his brows. "What is it?" he repeated. "What is what, my lord?"

"You seemed to me to be much interested in my movements", said Clements. "Or am I at fault?"

"Interested..." said Mr Tellaro. "I was not so much interested, sir, as surprised, since you ask me".

"To find me here? I am often to be seen in Boa's Parlor", replied the Earl.

"I am aware of it. What I was not aware of, and which, I must confess, occasioned some surprise in me, was that you are also to be seen in such company as Ferdinand's".

This was said plainly enough, and with a straight look that met Clements' cynical gaze squarely. It did not, however, appear to embarrass the Earl. "Ah, but I frequently find myself in strange company at Boa's, Mr Tellaro", he said.

Mr a Tellaro's lips tightened. After a moment's silence he said in a measured way, "you will admit, Lord Clements, that to see you in conversation with a person who only this morning set out to fight a duel with your ward must present a very odd appearance. Or are you perhaps in ignorance of today's affairs?"

The Earl's fingers slid down the ribbon to the shaft of his quizzing glass. He raised it. "No, Mr Tellaro, I was not in ignorance of it".

There was another silence, during which Bartholomew Tellaro seemed to be trying to read what thoughts might lie behind the Earl's suave manner. "You were not in ignorance, and yet..."

"Curiously enough", said Clements, "it was on that very subject that I have been talking to Mr Ferdinand".

"Indeed!"

"Yes", said the Earl. "But why should we fence, Mr Tellaro? You suspect me, I think, of taking a large interest in the affairs of Ferdinand, and you are quite right. I have informed him - and I believe he understood me tolerably well - that his part is played. So you must not worry about him, my dear sir".

Mr Tellaro frowned. "I don't entirely understand you, sir. I did not come here to insult you with accusations which must be absurd, but I think it will not be inopportune to assure you that I have the interests of my cousins very much at heart, and should not hesitate to serve either of them to the utmost of my power".

"I am profoundly moved by your assurance, Mr Tellaro", said the Earl, with an unpleasant smile, "but I cannot help feeling that you would be wiser to refrain from meddling in your cousin's affairs".

Mr Tellaro stiffened. "If I read you correctly, my lord, you mean rather that I should be wiser to refrain from meddling in your affairs".

"Well, that is to put the matter very crudely", said the Earl, still smiling. "Nevertheless, you do read me quite correctly. Those who meddle in my affairs do not prosper".

"Please do not address threats to me, Lord Clements!" said Tellaro quietly. "I am not to be frightened out of a proper regard for my cousins' well being".

The Earl spoke so softly that no one but Tellaro could catch his words. "Let me remind you, Mr Tellaro, that the well being of your cousins does not lie in your hands, but in mine. You have been very assiduous in your attentions, but if you were cherishing dreams of a bridal, banish them. You will never marry Elizabeth Tellaro".