THE SECRET OF THE ZODIAC by JULIAN STERNE BOSWELL PUBLISHING CO., LTD . zo ESSEX STREET, LONDON, W .C .2 1933 " So you see, my dear Coningsby, that the world is governed by very different personages from what is imagined by those who are not behind the scenes. "-DISRAELI . Made and Printed in Great Britain by Hazell, Watson 6 Viney Ltd . London and Aylesbury CONTENTS CHATTER PAGR I. A POLITICAL DEBUTANT . 7 II . COMRADES IN ARMS 24 III . THE DOUBLE LIFE OF JAMES BRANDON 38 IV. AN EVENTFUL WEEK-END 50 V . THE ZODIAC . 70 VI . ROSAMUND'S STORY 84 VII . KAVANAGH HUNTS FOR DRAGONS . 101 VIII . THE VILLA PAX MUNDI . 126 IX . WITHIN THE TEMPLE 151 X . ON THE TRACK OF THE CONSPIRACY 181 XI. THE CHEKA 217 XII . COSMOS 240 XIII . A KENSINGTON TRAGEDY 267 XIV . THE END OF THE QUEST 283 XV. THE DEBACLE 304 5 THE SECRET OF THE ZODIAC CHAPTER I A POLITICAL DEBUTANT IT was a warm night in May, and Sir Alfred and Lady Frensham were giving one of their dull dinners at the House of Commons. There was really no reason why their parties should be dull . Sir Alfred, Conservative member for West- borough, was a cheery man, still on the right side of fifty, very popular in the county, and particularly in the hunting field, whilst Lady Frensham, with her charming smile and attractive clothes, had made herself beloved by every class of the constituency . Neither were the guests at her parties altogether of a boring kind . But they were badly sorted . Living in a perpetual whirl of political and social functions, Lady Frensham had no time to consider which of her guests would be congenial to each other . So, when giving dinners, she had fallen into the habit of ticking off a list of the people who were " owed invitations " and then arranging them round the table as she would have played a hand of cards, following the same suit- a duke's daughter next to a marquis, a baronet next to a knight's widow, a plain captain next to an untitled spinster, and so on . Consequently, this evening the ethereal Lady Daphne Medway, whose poems were the rage in high- 8 THE SECRET OF THE ZODIAC brow circles, was obliged to sit mutely beside the plethoric old Lord Kilbain, who thought it affected to talk of anything but hunting prospects, whilst Mrs . Blitheroe, whose weather-beaten complexion spoke of long runs across country in the teeth of a winter gale, was vainly endeavouring to make herself understood by a rising young Italian novelist who spoke only two wbrds of English . Major Terence Kavanagh, prospective Conservative candidate for South Mershire, looking round the table, wondered why people should take the trouble to give dinners and then not make them more convivial . If only Lady Daphne had been placed next to Antonio Grigio, and Mrs . Blitheroe next to Lord Kilbain, if only he himself were next to Rosamund Dare, the one girl who during the short time he had been back in London had really interested him, that would have been a dinner-party worth turning out for . Under such circumstances it might even have been possible to forget the deficiencies of the House of Commons menu . As it was, he found himself flanked on one side by Mrs . Murray Bateman, wholly monopolised by her right-hand neighbour, and on the other by Myra- the young and extremely animated daughter of the multi-millionaire, Sir Paul Greenworthy-whom but for Rosamund on the other side of the table he might have found attractive . But in his present mood Myra's scintillations rather tired him, and it was a relief when Mrs . Bateman, at last released by the member for Downborough, turned towards him with a sigh and murmured " I've been having such a terrible dose of statistics, Major Kavanagh, do tell me something amusing to take the taste away ." A POLITICAL DEBUTANT 9 Mrs. Murray Bateman, wife of the member for Lud- ford, was very popular in " the Party ." She had done so many things-worked in a hospital in France during the war, interviewed the Kaiser for a Sunday news- paper, dined with Bela Kun in Budapest, bathed with Mussolini ; it was said she had even penetrated into the heart of Thibet disguised as the wife of a Chinese mandarin, though there were cynics who unkindly shrugged their shoulders at her accounts of this last exploit . And since she knew every good restaurant in Paris, Vienna, and New York, had met every celebrated author, musician, actor, scientist, and film star, and entertained every visiting foreign celebrity at her marvellously decorated house in Curzon Street, there was no one more in request than Mrs . Murray Bateman whenever one wanted to get up an entertain- ment, run a cabaret ball, or organise a bazaar in aid of Party funds . She knew exactly how things should be done, and who should be asked to do them, and as she never held any special opinions on Party differences, she was able to retain her popularity with all the various coteries that made up official Conservative society . Cabinet Ministers adored her. Whilst other women plied them with tiresome questions on affairs of State, Mrs . Murray Bateman could be safely trusted to lead the conversation at dinner over country where lay no pitfalls, so that a weary minister could throw off restraint and let himself go without the fear of un- guardedly committing himself to some expression of opinion . Kavanagh, however, not being a minister, but a soldier not long home from service in India and still in the first flush of his political enthusiasm, listened with some impatience whilst Mrs . Bateman talked to him of the 1o THE SECRET OF THE ZODIAC charming little spot she had heard of in Austria, where she hoped to find rest and peace after the London season, of the marvellous Roumanian pianist she had discovered, . and of the latest volume of Memoirs which had just appeared, and was said to be so scandalous that quite a lot of libel actions might be expected . All this might be amusing enough in normal times, but in this year of 1934, with the fate of the Empire in the balance, some discussion of more vital questions might be expected . Yet in spite of the failure of the " National Party " since it had taken office-with Mr . Nelson Parbury, a leading Conservative, as Prime Minister-to solve the grave problems confronting the nation, no one seemed in the least disturbed . Still, one could not accuse these people of being idlers . The women particularly seemed to be ex- tremely busy with charitable and political work . Kavanagh could hear snatches of their conversation all round the table " Dear Florrie, isn't she wonderful ? Were you at her party to meet the Prime Minister ? . .. Yes, I always think her chef is quite the best in London .... We've got six film stars to come and help at our bazaar for the Mothers' Conservative Guild next month . It ought to be a success ... We really must get dear old Tommy in at the Westshire by- election." Then someone said plaintively " Poor Lady Winkmere, she sent out five hundred invitations to a drawing-room meeting for the Young Imperialists' League, and only fifty people came I All those rows and rows of gilt chairs empty ! And she had two Cabinet Ministers to speak ! " Yes, so disappointing, wasn't it ? And even some A POLITICAL MUTANT =i of the fifty crept out in the middle of the Home Secre- tary's speech . No, I wasn't there myself ; it was the day of the Sandmarket Stakes, you know ." " Well, anyhow, the cabaret ball for the League was a great success . Such a crowd 1 Poor Mrs . Parbury got jammed in the doorway and had to be taken home in an ambulance ." Kavanagh was wondering whether anybody bothered about the objects of the Young Imperialist League or of the Mothers' Conservative Union and how Tommy's success at the polls would affect the destinies of the nation, when old Lady Kilbain leant across the table and said earnestly " Oh, Major Kavanagh, I do hope you're coming to the meeting for the Dogs' Borstal ! " " The Dogs' Borstal ? " Kavanagh repeated in a puzzled tone. " Yes . Hadn't you heard about it ? Lady Lutter- worth's getting it up . She feels it's so hard that a dog should only be allowed one bite . If there was a Dogs' Borstal he could be sent to and placed under good influences he might become quite a reformed character . And then it would give work to some of the unemployed ! " " So that, if he still felt like biting he could bite the unemployed ? " Kavanagh could not help remarking. But Lady Kilbain looked shocked and said : " Oh, I'm sure he wouldn't want to do that . There'd be nothing to irritate him at a nice, kind Home . Do come to the meeting on Friday 1 " Only towards the end of dinner the Conservative set-backs in the provinces came under discussion . " All want of organisation," Mr . Oscar Franklin observed impressively . iz THE SECRET OF THE ZODIAC Everyone turned respectfully in his direction . The multi-millionaire was the guest of the evening . Born some fifty years ago in Frankfurt, he had migrated in early youth to the United States and had assumed American citizenship . But at the age of forty he had developed a keen interest in the affairs of Great Britain, and acquired the habit of spending the season in London .