The Lost Ambassador

The Lost Ambassador

Captain Austen Rotherby, an English ex-officer and brother of the Earl of Welmington, is in Paris pursuing a personal vendetta when a chance encounter outside the Opera draws him into a web of intrigue. Lingering after the performance, he notices a striking young girl and her enigmatic guardian, then falls into conversation with Louis, the suave head waiter of his favorite London restaurant, the Milan. Louis takes him first to Montmartre, then to a secret establishment called the Cafe des Deux Epingles, a haunt of Paris's criminal elite presided over by the notorious Bartot and watched over by the police chief Monsieur Myers. There Rotherby is stunned to spot Tapilow, the man who seduced his crippled brother's wife. Rotherby savagely beats him. Louis and two mysterious fixers, Decresson and Grisson, shield Rotherby from the law, judging his vengeance justified, and send him back to England. On the train and Channel crossing home, Rotherby again encounters the girl, Felicia, niece of the wealthy Brazilian coffee-planter Mr. Delora, and her uncle. A frosty exchange gives way to growing mutual attraction. At Charing Cross, Delora, agitated and seemingly ill, dashes off ahead, entrusting Felicia to Rotherby—but he never arrives at the Milan Hotel. His disappearance draws police and a Scotland Yard detective, though Felicia refuses their help. A telephone call convinces her he has "returned," though he remains invisible, supposedly ill in a locked room. Louis reveals that Delora carries a secret of immense value that has made him enemies, and asks Rotherby to repay his debt by impersonating Delora overnight in the hotel room to intercept an expected attack. Suspicious, Rotherby discovers his coffee and whiskey have been drugged and his own loaded cane taken. Feigning unconsciousness, he watches Louis prepare an ambush against a visitor—the same man who had been surveilling Delora and Felicia at the station. Rotherby intervenes just as Louis is about to murder the stranger with the stolen cane, exposing Louis's scheme to make him an unwitting accomplice (or scapegoat). He also glimpses Felicia in secret, obedient conference with Louis, shaking his trust in her. The stranger identifies himself as Alfonse Lamartine of the Brazilian Legation, tasked with meeting Delora on official business, and equally baffled by his disappearance. The next morning, Rotherby learns from his brother Ralph that their younger brother Dicky, in Brazil, has written asking them to show hospitality to a Delora family member arriving in London—confirming Delora's genuine wealth and status. Reassured, Rotherby returns to Felicia, who is frightened and alone, and proposes she leave the hotel's dangerous atmosphere to stay with his family in the country. The narrative breaks off as she reacts to his invitation, the mystery of Delora's disappearance, Louis's true allegiances, and the nature of the "secret" Delora carries all still unresolved.

By E. Phillips Oppenheim · First published 1926 · Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Adventure · 39 chapters · 99,774 words

First lines

There was no particular reason why, after having left the Opera House, I should have retraced my steps and taken my place once more amongst the throng of people who stood about in the _entresol_, exchanging greetings and waiting for their carriages. A backward glance as I had been about to turn into the Place de l'Opera had arrested my somewhat hurried departure. The night was young, and where else was such a sight to be seen? Besides, was it not amongst some such throng as this that the end of my search might come?

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The Lost Ambassador is listed on Textopian as a novel by E. Phillips Oppenheim, dated 1926 CE.

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mystery · adventure · espionage · political intrigue · romance · suspense · historical fiction · international relations · betrayal · secrets · detective · thriller

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