{"product_id":"2940012881731","title":"A BUTTERFLY ON THE WHEEL","description":"CHAPTER I\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt was shortly after midnight in the great Hôtel des Tuileries at Paris.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBeyond the façade of the hotel the gardens of the Tuileries were\u003cbr\u003esleeping in the warm night. To the left the Louvre etched itself in\u003cbr\u003esolid black against the sky, and all up and down the Rue de Rivoli\u003cbr\u003ecarriages and automobiles were still moving.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut in the great thoroughfare the tide of vehicles and foot passengers\u003cbr\u003ewas perceptibly thinning. Paris is a midnight city, it is true, and at\u003cbr\u003ethis hour the heights of Montmartre were thronged with pleasure-seekers,\u003cbr\u003edancing and supping till the pale dawn should come with its message of\u003cbr\u003epurity and reproach.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut down in the Rue de Rivoli even the great hotels were beginning to\u003cbr\u003eprepare for sleep.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOne enters the Hôtel des Tuileries, as every one knows, through the\u003cbr\u003erevolving doors, passes into the entresol, and then into the huge\u003cbr\u003eglass-domed lounge with its comfortable fauteuils, its big settee, its\u003cbr\u003elittle tables covered with beaten copper, and its great palms, which\u003cbr\u003eseem as if they had been cunningly enamelled jade-green by some\u003cbr\u003ejeweller.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe lounge was now almost empty of people, though the shaded electric\u003cbr\u003elight threw a topaz-coloured radiance over everything.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn one corner--just where the big marble stair-case springs upwards to\u003cbr\u003ethe gilded gallery--two men in evening dress were sitting together.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThey were obviously English, tall, thin, bronzed men, as obviously in\u003cbr\u003ethe service. As a matter of fact, one was Colonel Adams, attached to the\u003cbr\u003eViceroy's staff in India, the other a civilian's secretary--Henry\u003cbr\u003ePasshe.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThey were both smoking briar pipes--delighted that the lateness of the\u003cbr\u003ehour allowed them to do so in the lounge; and before each man was a long\u003cbr\u003eglass full of crushed ice and some effervescing water innocent of\u003cbr\u003ewhisky.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA man in black clothes, obviously a valet, came up to Colonel Adams.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I've put everything ready in your room, sir,\" he said. \"Is there\u003cbr\u003eanything else?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"No, there is nothing else, Snell,\" the soldier answered. \"You can go to\u003cbr\u003ebed now.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe man was moving away when Adams called him back.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Oh, by the way, Snell, did you find out what I asked you? It is Mrs.\u003cbr\u003eAdmaston who is staying here, isn't it?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Yes, sir, she is here with her maid, and----\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Well?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe man seemed to hesitate slightly, but at length he spoke: \"Mr.\u003cbr\u003eRoderick Collingwood is here too, sir.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Is he, by Jove!\" Adams said, more to his friend than to his servant.\u003cbr\u003e\"Very well, Snell. Good night.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe valet withdrew, and Colonel Adams puffed vigorously at his pipe for\u003cbr\u003ea minute or two.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"_The_--the Mrs. Admaston?\" the civilian asked.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eColonel Adams nodded. \"The great, little Peggy herself,\" he said; \"none\u003cbr\u003eother. Surely you've met her, Passhe?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I was introduced to her some months ago at a Foreign Office reception,\"\u003cbr\u003ethe younger man answered; \"but I really can't say that I know her. I've\u003cbr\u003enever been to any of the Admastons' parties. In fact, my dear Adams, I\u003cbr\u003eam a little bit out of things in town now. Ask me anything about any of\u003cbr\u003ethe Indian set and I can tell you, but as far as society goes in London\u003cbr\u003eI am a back number. I won't say, though, that I haven't heard this and\u003cbr\u003ethat about the Admastons. One can't go anywhere without hearing their\u003cbr\u003enames. However, I know nothing of the rights or wrongs of the story--if\u003cbr\u003estory there is at all. But certainly every one has heard this man\u003cbr\u003eCollingwood's name mentioned in connection with that of Mrs. Admaston.\u003cbr\u003eWho was she, any way? You know everything about everybody. Tell me all\u003cbr\u003eabout them.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eColonel Adams sipped his Perrier quietly, and his brown, lean face\u003cbr\u003ebecame unusually meditative.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Aren't you sleepy?\" he said.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Can't sleep, confound it!\" Passhe replied. \"Liver. Have lunch, take an\u003cbr\u003eafternoon nap, and then can't get to sleep at night for the Lord knows\u003cbr\u003ehow long.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I know,\" Adams said sympathetically. \"Liver is the very devil. That's\u003cbr\u003ethe worst of India. Now, there is nothing, my dear chap, that I should\u003cbr\u003eenjoy more at this moment than a two-finger peg of whisky. Can I take\u003cbr\u003eit? Damn it, no! I should have heartburn for hours--that's India! But\u003cbr\u003esince you are not sleepy, and I am sure I'm not, I will tell you about\u003cbr\u003ethe Admastons.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe colonel's pipe had gone out. He relit it, pressed down the ashes\u003cbr\u003ewith the head of a little silver pencil-case which he took from his\u003cbr\u003ewaistcoat pocket, sent out a cloud of fragrant blue-grey smoke, leant\u003cbr\u003eback in his arm-chair, and began.","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47073677050096,"sku":"2940012881731","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940012881731_p0.jpg?v=1763585024","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940012881731","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}