chapter 3

heart of fire

rufus van aldin passed through the revolving doors of the savoy, and walked to the reception desk. the desk clerk smiled a respectful greeting.

"pleased to see you back again, mr van aldin," he said.

the american millionaire nodded his head in a casual greeting.

"everything all right?" he asked.

"yes, sir. major knighton is upstairs in the suite now."

van aldin nodded again.

"any mail?" he vouchsafed.

"they have all been sent up, mr van aldin. oh! wait a minute."

he dived into a pigeon hole, and produced a letter.

"just come this minute," he explained.

rufus van aldin took the letter from him, and as he saw the handwriting, a woman's flowing hand, his face was suddenly transformed. the harsh contours of it softened, and the hard line of his mouth relaxed. he looked a different man. he walked across to the lift with the letter in his hand and the smile still on his lips.

in the drawing-room of his suite, a young man was sitting at a desk nimbly sorting correspondence with the ease born of long practice. he sprang up as van aldin entered.

"hallo, knighton!"

"glad to see you back, sir. had a good time?"

"so so!" said the millionaire unemotionally. "paris is rather a one- horse city nowadays. still - i got what i went over for."

he smiled to himself rather grimly.

"you usually do, i believe," said the secretary, laughing.

"that's so," agreed the other.

he spoke in a matter-of-fact manner, as one stating a well-known fact. throwing off his heavy overcoat, he advanced to the desk.

"anything urgent?"

"i don't think so, sir. mostly the usual stuff. i have not quite finished sorting it out."

van aldin nodded briefly. he was a man who seldom expressed either blame or praise. his methods with those he employed were simple; he gave them a fair trial and dismissed promptly those who

were

inefficient.

his

selections

of

people

were

unconventional.

knighton, for instance, he had met casually at a swiss resort two months previously. he had approved of the fellow, looked up his war record, and found in it the explanation of the limp with which he walked. knighton had made no secret of the fact that he was looking for a job, and indeed diffidently asked the millionaire if he knew of any available post. van aldin remembered, with a grim smile of amusement, the young man's complete astonishment when he had been offered the post of secretary to the great man himself.

"but - but i have no experience of business," he had stammered.

"that doesn't matter a cuss," van aldin had replied. "i have got three secretaries already to attend to that kind of thing. but i am likely to be in england for the next six months, and i want an englishman who - well, knows the ropes - and can attend to the social side of things for me."

so far, van aldin had found his judgment confirmed. knighton had proved quick, intelligent, and resourceful, and he had a distinct charm of manner.

the secretary indicated three or four letters placed by themselves on the top of the desk.

"it might perhaps be as well, sir, if you glanced at these," he suggested. "the top one is about the colton agreement -"

but rufus van aldin held up a protesting hand.

"i am not going to look at a darned thing tonight," he declared.

"they can all wait till the morning. except this one," he added, looking down at the letter he held in his hand. and again that strange transforming smile stole over his face.

richard knighton smiled sympathetically.

"mrs kettering?" he murmured. "she rang up yesterday and today. she seems very anxious to see you at once, sir."

"does she, now!"

the smile faded from the millionaire's face. he ripped open the envelope which he held in his hand and took out the enclosed sheet. as he read it his face darkened, his mouth set grimly in the line which wall street knew so well, and his brows knit themselves ominously. knighton turned tactfully away, and went on opening letters and sorting them. a muttered oath escaped the millionaire, and his clenched fist hit the table sharply.

"i'll not stand for this," he muttered to himself. "poor little girl, it's a good thing she has her old father behind her."

he walked up and down the room for some minutes, his brows drawn together in a scowl. knighton still bent assiduously over the desk. suddenly van aldin came to an abrupt halt. he took up his overcoat from the chair where he had thrown it.

"are you going out again, sir?"

"yes, i'm going round to see my daughter."

"if colton's people ring up -"

"tell them to go to the devil," said van aldin.

"very well," said the secretary unemotionally.

van aldin had his overcoat on by now. cramming his hat upon his head, he went towards the door. he paused with his hand upon the handle.

"you are a good fellow, knighton," he said. "you don't worry me when i am rattled."

knighton smiled a little, but made no reply.

"ruth is my only child," said van aldin, "and there is no one on this earth who knows quite what she means to me."

a faint smile irradiated his face. he slipped his hand into his pocket.

"care to see something, knighton?"

he came back towards the secretary.

from his pocket he drew out a parcel carelessly wrapped in brown paper. he tossed off the wrapping and disclosed a big, shabby, red velvet case. in the centre of it were some twisted initials surmounted by a crown. he snapped the case open, and the secretary drew in his breath sharply. against the slightly dingy white of the interior, the stones glowed like blood.

"my god! sir," said knighton. "are they - are they real?"

van aldin laughed a quiet little cackle of amusement.

"i don't wonder at your asking that. amongst these rubies are the three largest in the world. katherine of russia wore them, knighton. that centre one there is known as heart of fire. it's perfect - not a flaw in it."

"but," the secretary murmured, "they must be worth a fortune."

"four or five hundred thousand dollars," said van aldin nonchalantly, "and that is apart from the historical interest."

"and you carry them about - like that, loose in your pocket?"

van aldin laughed amusedly.

"i guess so. you see, they are my little present for ruthie."

the secretary smiled discreetly.

"i can understand now mrs kettering's anxiety over the telephone," he murmured. but van aldin shook his head. the hard look returned to his face.

"you are wrong there," he said. "she doesn't know about these; they are my little surprise for her."

he shut the case, and began slowly to wrap it up again.

"it's a hard thing, knighton," he said, "how little one can do for those one loves. i can buy a good portion of the earth for ruth, if it would be any use to her, but it isn't. i can hang these things round her neck and give her a moment or two's pleasure, maybe, but -"

he shook his head.

"when a woman is not happy in her home -"

he left the sentence unfinished. the secretary nodded discreetly. he knew, none better, the reputation of the hon derek kettering. van aldin sighed. slipping the parcel back in his coat pocket, he nodded to knighton and left the room.

第三章 火心宝石

鲁夫斯·冯·阿尔丁走进伦敦萨活旅馆的旋转门，接着就走入招待厅。招待员彬彬有礼地上前问候。

“能够接待您感到很高兴，冯·阿尔丁先生。”

这位百万富翁毫不在意地点了一下头。

“都办妥了吗？”他问道。

“是这样的，奈顿少校先生在楼上您的房间里等候您。”

冯·阿尔丁又点点头。

“有信件吗？”

“都拿到楼上去了。噢，对不起，请您等一下。”

他从一大堆信件中又挑出一封。

“这是刚才来的信。”

鲁夫斯·冯·阿尔丁把信接过来。当他看到这封信是女人的字迹的时候，他的神态刷的一下变了，脸面上严肃的表情顿时消失了，完全变成了另外一个人。他拿着信上了楼，脸上带着着难以抑制的微笑。

在他的房间里，有一个青年人坐在写字台旁边看报。他见鲁夫斯·冯·阿尔丁进来，立即站起身。

“哈罗，奈顿。”

“您又回到伦敦，非常高兴。先生，在巴黎过得好吗？”

“马马虎虎。”这位百万富翁心不在焉地说，“巴黎变得微乎其微了。我想得到什么就可能得到什么。”

“您总是这样。”他的秘书说道，脸上堆着笑容。

“当然。”百万富翁补充说道。态度冷漠，如同往常做交易时那样。

“有什么要紧的事吗？”

“没什么。只是有些事，我还没来得及安排。”

冯·阿尔丁点了一下头。他是一个不轻易称赞和责备别人的人，对待他的职员方式也很简单。他在任何人面前都喜欢抛头露面，遇到不如意的事就毫不犹豫地脱身。

在选择下属人员方面，也有他自已不同寻常的办法。就拿奈顿来说，是他两个月前在瑞士的一个休养所里认识的。他比较喜欢这个人，尽管奈顿因战时负伤腿有点瘸。那时奈顿坦率地请冯·阿尔丁帮他找一个工作做。往事又萦绕在冯·阿尔丁的脑海里：当这个年青人听说冯·阿尔丁录用他当自己的私人秘书时，他由于惊讶几乎说不出话来。

“我可没有做生意的实际经验。”当时奈顿有点口吃地说道。

“这我并不在意。”冯·阿尔丁回答道。“我已经有了三个私人秘书了。考虑到我可能要在英国呆六个月，因此需要一个英国人。他要有很好的社会关系，有体面应酬的才能。”

直到现在，冯·阿尔丁对他的选择并不后悔。奈顿很聪明，反应敏捷，人也蛮可爱的。

秘书指着旁边的三四封信。

“这几封信需要您亲自过目一下，先生！”奈顿说，“因为这些信是涉及到与科尔顿那桩交易的事。”

可是，冯·阿尔丁却打了个手势，发誓似的说道：“今天晚上我决不看一眼这些东西。留待明天再说，这一封可要另当别论了。”

冯·阿尔丁把指着手里的那封信。笑容又浮上他的面孔，完全是另一种表情。

理查特·奈顿微笑着点了点头。

“是凯特林女士来的信吗？”他喃喃说道，“昨天和今天都给您来过电话，可能是有要紧的事想告诉您。”

“真的吗？”

笑容马上从百万富翁的脸面上消失了。他拆开信大略地看了一下内容。他的脸面上刹时间布满了阴云，嘴角上又出现了严肃的皱纹，紧锁起眉头。奈顿又埋头于自己的工作中。久久压抑的愤怒从这个百万富翁的身上暴发出来。只听“哐啷”一声，他紧握起拳头猛击在桌面上。

“这是我决不允许的！”他喃喃地说，“可怜的女孩！好吧，你有你的老父亲做后盾。”

冯·阿尔丁在房间里迈着沉重的步子，踱来踱去。然后收住了脚步，顺手拿起他进屋时穿的扔到坐椅上的大衣。

“您还要出去吗，先生？”

“到我女儿那里去。”

“如果科尔顿来电话……”

“你就说，让他去见鬼去吧！”

“是！”秘书面无表情地回答说。

冯·阿尔丁把帽子扣到头上便走出了门，扶着门把手回过头来说道：“你是一个好人，奈顿。你不要打扰我，我心里不太快活。”

奈顿微笑了一下，没有吱声。

“露丝是我唯一的孩子。”冯·阿尔丁说，“不会有人晓得她对我意味着什么。”

冯·阿尔丁面颊上涌上一丝笑容，把手伸进口袋。

“你想看看吗，奈顿？”

冯·阿尔丁转身走近秘书，从口袋里掏出一个蓝色的纸包。当他把外面的那一层纸撕掉时，露出一个绒布盒子，盒盖的当中是绒线织成的皇冠。他打开盒子，秘书几乎屏住了呼吸。在有些弄脏的白色底衬上，有几颗深红色的宝石闪闪发光。

“啊，上帝啊！”奈顿惊叹道，“这是，这是原物吗？”

冯·阿尔丁大笑起来。

“你的惊异并不使我感到意外。在这几颗宝石里有世界上最大的一颗，就是俄国女皇卡塔琳娜（指俄国女皇叶卡特琳娜·阿列克塞耶夫娜·卡塔琳娜二世）戴过的那颗。当中的那颗‘火心宝石’就是。简直宝贵极了，是世界上绝无仅有的珍品。”

“但是，”秘书说，“总得给这些宝石作出估价才好吧？”

“可能值四十万到五十万美元。”冯·阿尔丁不加思索地说道。

“完全符合这一宝物的历史价值。”

“如此昂贵的东西您竟随便地装在口袋里，带来带去？”

冯·阿尔丁神秘地一笑。

“现在我懂了，为什么凯特林女士在电话里那么激动。”

冯·阿尔丁摇了摇头，面部的神色又严肃下来。

“你弄错了。”他说，“她还不知道这件事。我是想叫她突然高兴。”他把盒子盖上，缓慢地包好。

“奈顿，如果一个人对他心爱的人做得太少的话，那是很令人痛苦的事。如果需要的话，我可以把半个世界买下来给露丝，可惜没有这种必要。我可以把这件东西戴在她的脖子上，她会在一段时间里沉浸在快乐里，但是……”

他又摇了一下头。

“如果一个女人的婚姻是不幸的……”

冯·阿尔丁的话语停顿下来了。秘书默不作声是点了点头。谁也不如他更了解德里克·凯特林的名声了。冯·阿尔丁叹着气，他把东西又放进口袋里，向秘书点点头便离开了房间。