THE GRAND BABYLON HOTEL MYSTERY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20800, 17 February 1931, Page 16

THE GRAND BABYLON HOTEL MYSTERY.

By ARNOLD BENNETT.

(COPYRIGHT.)

Author of "Anna of tho Five Towns," "Teresa of Wntling Street," "Mr, Prohack."

A THRILLING STORY OF CRIME, LOVE, MYSTERY AND INTRIGUE.

SYNOPSIS. Jules, the celebrated waiter of the Grand Bnbylon Hotel, was attending to the. middleaged man in the conservatory who ordored an AngeL Kiss. Jules stated they did not keep this. The visitor then explained how it was made and demanded it shjpuld be sent up to him each morning. Jules then joined Miss Spencer, who was as important in the hotel as Jules himself. Jules asked her who the visitor waß who had ordered the Angel Kiss, and was occupying room No. 107, and was told he was Mr. Theodore Racksole, of New York, and'that Miss Rucksole was also a guest, occupying room No. 111, on which Jules suggested she bo trnnsferred to a different room. That evening father and daughter dined alone, and Jules wailed upon them. Mr. Racksolo ordered steak for two and a bottlo of Bnss, hut was told it was not on the menu. Consequently he left the room in order to see the owner, Mr. Babylon. At the end of the Interview he hnd arranged to buy *tho hotel himself at the price <y?ked. Mr. Babylon called for Jules and informed him of the sudden change of owners. That same evening tho buyer and seller of the Grand Babylon Hotel signed a curt document and Racksolo took ovor the ownership. However, Mr. Babylon informed the new proprietor that ho (Rncitsole) would regret the purchase and when asked for the reason replied that there wps something about the hotel—and throwing up his hands loft tho new owner in mystery. CHAPTER ll.—(Continued).- " Servants rob you, of course." "Of course. I suppose I lose ft hundred pounds a week in that way. But it is not that I mean. It is the guests. The guests are too—too distinguished. The great Ambassadors, the great financiers, the great nobles, all the men that move the world, put up under my roof. London is the centre of everything, and my hotel—your hotoi—is the centre of London. Once I had a King and a Dowager Empress staying here at the same time. Imagine that!"

A great honour, Mr. Babylon. But wherein lies the difficulty ?" " Mr. Racksole," was the grim reply, " what has become of your shrewdness — that shrewdness which has made your fortune so immense that even you cannot calculate it ? Do you not perceive that the roof which habitually shelters a|l the force, all the authority of the world, must necessarily also shelter nameless and numberless plotters, schemers, evil-doers, and workers of mischief ? The thing is as clear as day—and as dark as night. Mr. Racksole, I never know by whom I am surrounded. I never know what is going forward. Only sometimes I get hints, glimpses of strange acts and strange secrets. You mentioned my servants. They are almost all good servants, skilled, competent. But what are they besides ? For anything I know,, my fourth sub-chef may bo an agent of some European Government. For anything I know, my invaluable Miss Spencer may be in the pay of a court dressmaker or a Frankfort banker. Even Bocco may be sonieono else in addition to Roccfo."

That makes it all the more interesting," remarked Theodore Racksole. * # # # *

"What a long time you have been, father," said Nella, when he returned to table No. 17 in the salle a manger. " Only twenty minutes, my dove." " But you said two seconds. There is a difference."

" Well, you see, I had to wait for the steak to cook."

" Did you have much trouble in getting my birthday treat!" "No trouble.. But it didn't come quite as cheap as you said." " What do you mean, father ?" " Only that I've bought the entire hotel. But don't split." " Father, you always were a delicious parent. Shall you give me the hotel for a birthday present?" " No. I shall run it—as an amusement. By the way, who is that chair for ?" He noticed that a third cover had been laid at the table. " That is for a friend of mine .who came in about five minutes ago. Of course. I told him he must share our steak. He'll be here in a moment."

" May I respectfully Inquire his name?" " Dimmock—Christian name Reginald; profession, English companion to Prince Aribert of Posen. I met him when I was in St. Petersburg with cousin Hetty last fall. Oh, here ho is. Mr. Dimmock, this is my dear father. He has succeeded with the steak." Theodore Racksole found himself confronted by a very young man, with deep black eyes, and a fresh, boyish expression. They began to talk. ."Jules approached with the steak. Backsole tried to catch the waiter's eye, but could not. The dinner proceeded.

" Oh! father," cried Nella " what a lot of mustard you have taken ! Have I ?" he said, and then he happened to glance into a mirror on his lefthand, between two windows. He saw the reflection of Jules, who stood behind his chair, and ha saw Jules give a slow, significant, ominous wink to Mr. Dimmock —Christian name, Reginald." He examined his mustard in silence. He thought that perhaps he had helped himself rather plent.eously to mustard. Mr. Reginald Dimmock proved himself, despite his extreme youth, to be a man of the world and of experience, and a practised talker. Conversation between him and Nella Backsole seemed never to flag. They chattered about St. Petersburg, ntid the ice on the Neva, and the tenor at the, opera who had been exiled to Siberia, and the quality of Russian tea, and tho sweetness of Russian champagne, and various other aspects of Muscovite existence. Russia exhausted, Nella lightly outlined her own doings since sho had met the young man in the Tsar's capital, and this recital brought the topic round to London, whore it stnyed till .the final piece of steak was eaten. Theodore Racksole noticed that Mr. Dimmock gave very meagre information about his own movements, cither past or future. He regarded the youth as a typical hangßr-on of courts, and wondered how he had obtained his post of companion of Prince Aribert of Poson, and who Prince Aribert of Posen might be. Tho millionaire thought he had once heard of Posen, but he wasn't sure; he rather fancied it was one of those small nondescript German states of which five-sixths of the-subjects are palace officials and tho rest charcoalburners or inn-keepers. Pntil the meal was nearly over Racksole said little—perhaps his thoughts were too busy with Jules' wink to Mr. Dimmock, but when ices had been followed by coffee he* decided that it might bo as well, in the interests of the hotel, to discover something about his daughter's friend. He never for an instant questioned her right to possess her own friends; ho had always left her in the most amazing liberty, relying on her inherited good sense to keep her out of mischief; but, quite apart from tho wink, be was struck by Nolla's attitude towards Mr. Dimmock, an attitude in which an amiable scorn was blended with an evident desire to propitiate and please. " Nella tells me, Mr. Dimmock, that, you hold a confidential position with Prince Aribert of Posen," said Racksole. " You will .pardon an American's ignorance, but is Prince Aribert a reigning Prince—what, I believe, you call in Europe, a Prince Regnant ?" " His Highness is. not a reigning Prince, nor ever likely to be," answered Dimmock. " The Grand Ducal Tlirono of Posen is occupied by his Highncss's nephew, the Grand Duke Eugen." " Nephew ?" cried Nella with astonishment.

Why not, dear Indy ?" " But Prince Aribert is surely very young?" " The Prince, by one of those vagaries of chance which occur sometimes in the history of families, Is precisely the same age as the Grand Duke. The lato Grand Duke's father was twice married. Hence this yonthfulness on the part of an uncle."

" How delicious to be the uncle of someone as old as yourself!. Bub I suppose ib i§ no fun for Prince Aribert. I suppose ho has to bo frightfully respectful and obedient, and all that, to his nephew ?"'

" The Grand Duke and my Serene mastor are like brothers. At present, of course, Prince Aribert is nominally heir to the throne, but as no doubt you are aware, the Grand Duke will shortly marry a near relation of the Emperor's, and should there be a family—" Mr. Dimmock stopped and shrugged his -straight shoulders. "The Grand Duke," he went on without finishing tho last sentence, " would much prefer Prince Aribert to be his successor. He really doesn't want to marry. Between ourselves, strictly between ourselves, he regards marriage as rather a bore. But, of course, being a German Grand Duke be is bound to marry. Ho owes it to his country, to Posen." CHAPTER 111. HACKSOTjE continues his talk with DIMMOCK. " How large is Posen ! " asked Racksole bluntly. " Father," Nella interposed, laughing, " you shouldn't ask such inconvenient questions. You 'ought to have guessed that it isn't etiquette to inquire about the size of a German Dukedom." " I am sure," said Dimmock, with a polite smile, "that the Grand Duke is as much amused as anyone at tho size of his territory. I forget the exact acreage, but I remember that once Prince Aribert and myself walked across it and back again in a single day." " Then tho Grand Duke cannot travel very far within his own dominions ? You may say that the sun does set on his empire ? " " It does," said Dimmock. " Unless the weather is cloudy," Nella put in. "Is the Grand Duke content always to stay at home ? " "On tho contrary, he is a great traveller, much more so than Prince Aribert. I may toll you what no one knows at present outside this hotel, that His Royal Highness the Grand Duke, with a small suite, will be here to morrow." "In London?" asked Nella. " Yes." " In this hotel ? " " Yes."

"Oh ! How lovely ! " " That is why your humble servant is here to-night—a sorb of advance guard."

" But I understood," Racksole said, " that you were—er —attached to Prince Aribert, tho uncle." " I am. Prince Aribert will also be here. Tho Grand Duke and the Prince have business about important investments connected with tho Grand Duke's marriago settlement ... In the highest quarters, .you understand." " For so discreet a person," thought Racksolo, "you are fairly communicative." Then he said aloud: " Shall wo go out on the terrac^ 1 ! " As they crossed the d;ning room Jules stopped Mr. Dimmock and handed him a letter. " Just come, sir, by messenger," said Jules.

Nella dropped behind for a second with her father.

" Leave me alone with this boy a little—there's a dear parent," she whispered in his car. .

"I am a mere cypher, an obedient nobody," Racksole replied, pinching her arm surreptitiously. " Treat me as such. Use me as you like. I will go and look after my hotel." And soon afterwards he disappeared. Nella and Mr. Dimmock sat together 011 the terrace, sipping iced drinks. They made a handsome couple, bowered amid plants which blossomed at the command of a Chelsea florist. People who passed by remarked privately that from the look of things there was the beginning of a romance in that conversation. Perhaps there was, but a more intimate acquaintance with the character of Nella Racksole would have been necessary in order to predict what precise form that romance would take.

Jules himself served the liquids, and at ten o'clock ho brought, another note. Entreating a thousand pardons, Reginald Dimmock, after he had glanced at tho note, excused himself on tho plea of urgent business for his Serene master, uncle of tho Grand Duko of Posen. He asked if ho might fetch Mr. Racksole, or escort Miss Racksolo to her father. But Miss Racksolo, said gaily that she felt no need of an escort, and should go to bed. She added that her father and herself always endeavoured to bo independent of each other. Just then Theodore Racksolo had found his -way once more into Mr. Babylon's private room.

" Have a cigar, Mr. Racksole," said the urbane Mr. Babylon, " and a mouthful of the oldest cognac in all Europe."

In a few minutes those two were talking eagerly, rapidly. Felix Babylon was astonished at Racksole's capacity for absorbing - the details of hotel management. And as for Racksole, he soon realised that Felix Babylon must be a prince of hotel • managers. It had never occurred to Racksole before that to manage a hotel, even a large hotel, could be a specially interesting affair, or that it could make any exclusive demands upon the brains of the manager; hut he came to see that he had underrated the possibilities of a hotel.

The business of tho Grand Babylon was enormous. It took Racksolo, with all his genius for organisation, exactly half-an-hour to master the details of the hotel laundry work. .And tho laundry work was but one branch of activity amid scores, and not a very large one at that. The machinery for checking supplies and of establishing a mean ratio boLween the raw stuff received in the kitchon and tho number of meals served in the snllo a' manger and the private rooms was very complicated and delicate. When Racksole had grasped it he at once suggested some improvements, and this led to a long theoretical discussion, and tho discussion led to disgressions, and then Felix Babylon, in . a moment of absent-mindedness, yawned. Racksolo looked at the gilt clock on the high mantelpicco. " Great Scott," he said. " It's three o'clock. Mr. Babylon, accept my apologies for having kept you up to such an absurd hour."

" I have not spent so pleasant an evening for many years. You have let me ride my hobby to my heart's content. It "is I who should apologiso." Racksolo rose.

" I should like to ask you one question," said Babylon. " Have you ever had anything to do with hotels before ?" ' Never," said Racksole.

■ " Then you have missed your vocation. You could have been tho greatest of all hotel managers. You would have been greater than mo, and I am unequallod, (hough I keep only one hotel, and some men have half-a-dozen. Mr. Racksole, why have you never run a hotel?" "Heaven knows," ho laughed; "but you flatter mo, Mr. Babylon."

"I? Flatter? You do not know me. I flatter no one, except, perhaps, now and then, an exceptionally distinguished guost, In which case I givo suitablo instructions as to tho bill."

" Speaking of distinguished guests, I am told that a couple of German princes are coming hero to morrow." " That is so."

"Does ono do anything? Does ono receive (hem formally—stand bowing in the cntranco-hall, or anything of that sort ?" " Not necessarily. Not unless one wishes. The modern hotel proprietor is not like an inn-keeper of the Middlo Ages, and even princes do not expect to see him unless something should happen to go wrong. As a matter of fact., though the Grand Duke of Posen and Prince Aribert have both honoured me by staying here before, I have never even set eyes on them. You will find all arrange nients have been made." (To be oontinued daily.)