‘White horses,’ said Sigi. ‘Poor Nanny.’
At last the burglar said, ‘All right. If you like to give me a hand with this.’ He passed him a small leather writing-case.
‘Coo!’ said Sigi. ‘Heavy, isn’t it?’
‘Heavy because full of gold.’
‘Can I see?’
‘No. We’re arriving. Be a good boy, bring it to me on the boat, cabin 11, can you remember? Then I’ll give you a bit for a keep-sake.’
‘Oh here he is. You shouldn’t wander off like that, darling, we were quite worried.’ The train stopped with a bump.
‘What’s that satchel, dear?’ Nanny asked as they went towards the Customs shed.
‘I’m looking after it for Papa –’
‘That makes eighteen pieces then – I’d only counted seventeen. Where is that porter going?’
Charles-Edouard told Grace and Nanny to go on board. ‘I’ll see to the luggage.’ He gave Grace their tickets. ‘And it’s cabin No. 7.’
‘Eighteen pieces of luggage, sir.’
‘Thank you, Nanny. Run along, Sigi.’
‘No, no,’ said Sigi, ‘this is the part I enjoy.’
Charles-Edouard laughed and said to Grace, ‘We saw some idiot taken away last time, for smuggling, I suppose he hopes for the best again.’
‘I do. Very much indeed.’
A huge heap of luggage, mostly, of course, belonging to Sigi, was piled on to the counter in the Customs shed. Charles-Edouard stood by, with his back to the counter, talking to a friend who was in the Ambassador’s party. They were both roaring with laughter still about the Dexters.
Sigi put his little writing-case on top of the other things and said, confidentially, to the Customs man, ‘If I were you, officer, I would take a look inside that.’
‘These all your things, sir?’ The officer leant forward and spoke rather loudly to Charles-Edouard, who replied, half-looking round, ‘Yes, yes, all mine’, and went on talking with his friend. The officer, who knew Charles-Edouard by sight, began chalking the cases as he passed them.
Sigi, getting very fidgety, said, ‘You mustn’t mark that one without opening it first.’
The officer laughed. ‘What are you up to? Smuggling?’
‘Not me, my papa. Oh do look – do look inside.’
The officer good-naturedly snapped open the case, which seemed at first sight to contain coffee in half-pound bags. Still laughing, he took one out. Then his face changed. He tore open the bag and gave a loud whistle. Charles-Edouard was saying to his friend ‘See you in a few minutes then.’ The friend went on out of the shed and Charles-Edouard turned to the Customs officer who said, ‘Excuse me, sir, is this your case?’
‘I think so. If it’s with the others,’ he said, rather puzzled at the sudden gravity of the man’s expression.
‘Then I’m afraid I must ask you to follow me.’
‘Follow you. Why?’
‘This way, sir, please.’
‘Yes, but why?’
‘Your case is full of gold coins,’ said the officer, showing him.
‘Nom de nom,’ said Charles-Edouard, very much taken aback. ‘But wait a moment, that’s not my case, I’ve never seen it before.’
‘You’ve just said it was yours, sir.’
‘Sigi – does this case belong to you?’
‘Oh no, Papa, you gave it to me to hold, don’t you remember?’ Sigi was wildly twisting up his hair.
Two Englishwomen said to each other, ‘Shame, making the child smuggle for him.’
Charles-Edouard gave Sigi a very searching look and said, ‘Sigismond, what is all this? Now will you please go on board this minute, go to cabin 1, find M. l’Ambassadeur and ask him to come here.’
Sigi ran off and Charles-Edouard followed the Customs man into a back office.
When Sigi got on to the ship he made no effort to find cabin 1 or the Ambassador. Since he had time to get rid of, and did not want to run into his burglar, he made his way to the ladies’ room, where, as he knew he would, he found Nanny lying down with her skirt off and occupying the entire attention of the stewardess, who stood over her with a bottle of sea-sick tablets. ‘Not as bad as all that,’ the stewardess was saying, ‘bumpier this side. You go right off to sleep, dear, that’ll be the best.’
‘And what about the little monkey?’
‘I’ll be all right,’ said Sigi. ‘I’m just waiting for the boat to start and then I’ll go and find Mummy. I’ve got some very interesting news for Mummy, but only when we’ve started.’
‘Won’t be long now,’ said the stewardess, looking at her watch.
Meanwhile the Ambassador’s servant had arrived in his cabin, saying, ‘M. le Marquis de Valhubert is in trouble with the Customs and it doesn’t look as if they will allow him to travel.’
The Ambassador did not hesitate. He had a word with the ship’s captain and immediately went on shore again, accompanied by an officer who took him straight to the room where Charles-Edouard was talking with several Customs men.
‘What is all this about?’ said the Ambassador, in English.
Charles-Edouard said furiously, ‘My child, who seems to be a member of the criminal classes, has planted a case full of gold coins on me. Don’t ask me how he got them. I’m in a very awkward position indeed.’
The Ambassador said to the senior official, ‘It’s absolutely out of the question that M. de Valhubert should be smuggling gold. You need not consider it even as a possibility. There must be a mistake.’
‘Yes, sir, we feel sure there is. But we must find out where all this gold comes from. Where is the little boy?’
‘He went off to find you,’ Charles-Edouard said to the Ambassador.
‘I haven’t seen him. My valet told me you’d been delayed, that’s why I came.’
‘It was most good of you, mon cher, I’m exceedingly grateful.’
‘I could do no less.’
Another official now put his head round the door.
‘Mr Porter, please, one moment.’
Mr Porter, went out, and was back again almost at once.
‘I think we’ve got to the bottom of it,’ he said. ‘A man has just been arrested on board. If I might have your name and address, sir, you’ve time to catch the boat, I’m
