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The Dollar Library


PARLOUS TIMES




THE DOLLAR LIBRARY
OF AMERICAN FICTION

       *       *       *       *       *

THE GIRL AT THE HALFWAY HOUSE.
By E. HOUGH.

PARLOUS TIMES.
By D. D. WELLS.

LORDS OF THE NORTH.
By A. C. LAUT.

THE CHRONIC LOAFER.
By NELSON LLOYD.

HER MOUNTAIN LOVER.
By HAMLIN GARLAND.

ETC. ETC. ETC.

       *       *       *       *       *

LONDON: WM. HEINEMANN.




PARLOUS TIMES

       *       *       *       *       *

A NOVEL OF MODERN DIPLOMACY

       *       *       *       *       *

BY
DAVID DWIGHT WELLS

AUTHOR OF
"HER LADYSHIP'S ELEPHANT," "HIS LORDSHIP'S LEOPARD"

[Illustration]

       *       *       *       *       *

LONDON: WILLIAM HEINEMANN. 1901




CONTENTS


  CHAPTER                                                           PAGE
        I. The Conspiracy                                              5
       II. Wanted--a Chaperon                                         15
      III. Parlous Times                                              29
       IV. A Lady in Distress                                         41
        V. A Gentleman in Distress                                    51
       VI. Afternoon Tea                                              63
      VII. An Irate Husband                                           75
     VIII. Diplomatic Instructions                                    88
       IX. A House-warming                                            95
        X. Before Dinner                                             105
       XI. After Dinner                                              117
      XII. A Morning Call                                            129
     XIII. The Serious Side of Miss Fitzgerald's Nature              141
      XIV. The Serious Side of the Secretary's Nature                149
       XV. The Secretary's Intentions                                156
      XVI. Man Proposes                                              169
     XVII. Her Husband                                               179
    XVIII. The Door with the Silver Nails                            190
      XIX. A Midnight Message                                        201
       XX. The Wisdom of Age                                         209
      XXI. The Resources of Diplomacy                                219
     XXII. A Little Commission                                       229
    XXIII. Forty Thousand Pounds                                     240
     XXIV. A Very Awkward Predicament                                252
      XXV. The Rustle of a Skirt                                     264
     XXVI. Face to Face                                              274
    XXVII. The Marriage Register                                     284
   XXVIII. Two Questions                                             296
     XXIX. In which Death is a Relief                                309
      XXX. Two Letters                                               322
     XXXI. Miss Fitzgerald Burns her Boats                           335
    XXXII. The Top of the Tower                                      346
   XXXIII. The Secret of the Door                                    356
    XXXIV. Within the Tower                                          366
     XXXV. The Short Way Out                                         374
    XXXVI. The Day of Reckoning                                      384
   XXXVII. The Price of Knowledge                                    397
  XXXVIII. The Price of Love                                         406
    XXXIX. The Price of Silence                                      422
       XL. The Price of a Lie                                        433




CHAPTER I

THE CONSPIRACY


"Forty thousand pounds is a pretty sum of money."

"Bribery is not a pretty word."

"No--there should be a better name for private transactions when the
amount involved assumes proportions of such dignity." The speaker smiled
and glanced covertly at his companion.

"Darcy is our man without doubt. Can you land him? He may hold out for
the lion's share and then refuse on the ground of--honour."

"Darcy and honour! That is a far call."

"There is much unsuspected honesty going around."

"Perhaps--but not Darcy."

"But what if he refuse?"

"He cannot."

"Why not?"

"That's my secret. I force Darcy's hand for you, and in return I expect
fair recognition."

"You have our promise, but it must be to-night. There is no time to
lose. I'll go on to the house. Where will you see Darcy?"

"Leave that to me. Until morning--_adios_," and he vanished among the
deep shadows and dark shrubbery.

       *       *       *       *       *

The sun had sunk red and fiery below the edge of the waving mesa, and a
full tropical moon shed its glory over the landscape, making dark and
mysterious the waving fields of cane, which surrounded the whitewashed
courts of the palatial hacienda. The building was brilliantly lighted
within, and from it came such sounds of discordant merriment as could be
produced only by a singularly inferior native orchestra. Through one of
the long French windows which gave on to the veranda of the house, there
stepped forth the figure of a man. He stood for a moment taking long
breaths of the heavy miasmatic air, as if it were grateful and
refreshing after the stifling atmosphere of the ballroom. Had he not
worn the uniform of a British officer he would still have been
unmistakably military in appearance, standing six feet