rattled
on, "that Jacques should be called 'Le Bon,' for he is the worst man in
Marseilles? They say that his ugly grin when he draws a knife would
frighten anybody!"

CHAPTER XVI

THE HALL-PORTER'S DOUBTS

When one o'clock came and Edith had not arrived, the three men waiting
in the hotel made no further effort to conceal their anxiety. The
impetuous Fairholme was eager to commence an immediate search of
Marseilles, but Brett steadily adhered to his resolution not to stir
from their sitting-room until either Miss Talbot came back in person or
it became quite certain that she was detained by some other influence
than her own unfettered volition.

"It may be," he argued, "that she will require some action on our part
the moment we see her, and nothing could be more stupid than for the
three of us to be wandering about this great city hopelessly inquiring
for a missing English lady, whilst she was impatiently awaiting our
return in the knowledge that valuable time was being lost to no purpose.
What is there to fear? Miss Talbot is absolutely unknown to all the
parties concerned in the affair. Even if she attracted their attention,
which is improbable, it is almost inconceivable that they should connect
her with the search being made for them. The only risk she runs is that
of insult by some semi-intoxicated reveller, and even in a rowdy city
like this, it must indeed be a strange locality in which she would be
denied some protection. Of course I will be much relieved when Miss
Talbot returns, but up to the present I see no reason for undue anxiety
on our part. Indeed, we ought to congratulate ourselves on the fact that
she deems it necessary to leave us for such a long period. The
probability is that she is making highly important discoveries which may
tend materially to reduce the area of inquiry."

With this view Talbot could not help concurring, so Fairholme had to
content himself by smoking many cigarettes and walking uneasily about
the room. Sit down he could not, whilst any casual ring at the hotel
door found him leaning over the balustrade of the inner court and
listening intently for the first words of the new arrival.

But the Englishmen were not the only persons in the hotel that night
whose composure was disturbed. Their extraordinary behaviour caused
uneasiness to the manager and those members of his staff who remained on
duty. The facts disclosed by the hall-porter were certainly remarkable.