When Pascale Auber is forced out of the airship of the evil Dr. Simpelstur, she finds herself rescued by a handsome Ruritanian diplomat, Theo von Hentzau. Pascale soon realizes that Theo is hiding something - something to do with the evil doctor, th...
"Miss Auber, your expression." Theo frowned. "I've angered you, haven't I?"
"What? No!" I protested. "I am not angry – it is just, I do need you to help me extricate Blaise!"
My statement was true. I did need help to rescue my brother, and I was growing more and more concerned about having to face Simpelstur. That said, Hentzau's -Elphberg's - statement had shaken me. It was not that he would not continue to be a good contact, should I ever get back into my boss's esteem. Hentzau was even more useful to me as an intimate of the Archduke than as an illegitimate royal. But to know that his beloved brother was the perfidious archduke, and to know that Theo had studied chemistry . . . I didn't want to think of him caught up in outright dynamitism, but he had told me himself he knew how to build small bombs. In an instant, he had gone from slightly-useful, likeable, gentlemanly contact, to primary suspect and possibly too well-connected to touch.
"And I will help you!" he insisted. "I will accompany you to meet with Simpelstur. I merely need to go fetch my pulse rifle and my sword, and -"
"Your sword?" I sputtered, incredulous, "Are you going to challenge Simpelstur to a duel?"
"I – well, perhaps?" Theo offered.
He looked as though he would say more, but there was a quiet knock at the door hidden behind the tapestry. My eyes flickered down to the entry hall below us, and I realised that the unformed receptionist was no longer at his post. Frowning, Theo passed in front of me and, pulling the tapestry to the side, opened the door.
The young man from the reception desk stood in the doorway, his hands cupped around a small, silver, mechanical bird. He greeted Theo with an apologetic bow, and there was a quick, whispered exchange in the sort of German they speak in Ruritania. I could follow enough to know that the clerk knew who Theo was; his speech was extremely deferential, almost subservient. He handed the clockwork carrier pigeon to Theo. Having closed the door, Theo returned to sit in the chair opposite my own.
The bird Theo held delicately in his hands was not the same model as that used by the Department. This bird was rounder and heavier, a sparrow rather than dove. The cobby little thing likely could not fly far on a single winding. A crude imitation of the Ruritanian insignia was scrawled on its back in ink, above the name " Rüdiger".
Rất tiếc! Hình ảnh này không tuân theo hướng dẫn nội dung. Để tiếp tục đăng tải, vui lòng xóa hoặc tải lên một hình ảnh khác.
Theo turned the bird on its back, then opened the compartment on its belly. He shook open the folded sheet of paper within, made a face, and handed the paper to me. I smoothed it out on my knee, reading rapidly.
Theo -
If you have ever held me in esteem or experienced joy from our friendship, you will help me now. Meet me by the river an hour after sunset. Bring your flivver. DO NOT go to the theatre!
