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diff --git a/372-h/372-h.htm b/372-h/372-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..734d45e --- /dev/null +++ b/372-h/372-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,7423 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII" /> +<title>Prince Otto, by Robert Louis Stevenson</title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + P { margin-top: .75em; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + P.gutsumm { margin-left: 5%;} + P.poetry {margin-left: 3%; } + H1, H2 { + text-align: center; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + } + H3, H4, H5 { + text-align: center; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + } + BODY{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + table { border-collapse: collapse; } +table {margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto;} + td { vertical-align: top; border: 1px solid black;} + td p { margin: 0.2em; } + .blkquot {margin-left: 4em; margin-right: 4em;} /* block indent */ + + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + .pagenum {position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: small; + text-align: right; + font-weight: normal; + color: gray; + } + img { border: none; } + img.dc { float: left; width: 50px; height: 50px; } + div.gapspace { height: 0.8em; } + div.gapline { height: 0.8em; width: 30%; } + div.gapshortdoubleline { height: 0.3em; width: 20%; + margin-left: 40%; border-top: 1px solid; + border-bottom: 1px solid; } + div.gapdoubleline { height: 0.3em; width: 50%; + margin-left: 25%; border-top: 1px solid; + border-bottom: 1px solid;} + div.gapshortline { height: 0.3em; width: 20%; margin-left:40%; + border-top: 1px solid; } + .citation {vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: none;} + img.floatleft { float: left; + margin-right: 1em; + margin-top: 0.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; } + img.floatright { float: right; + margin-left: 1em; margin-top: 0.5em; + margin-bottom: 0.5em; } + img.clearcenter {display: block; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0.5em; + margin-bottom: 0.5em} + --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> +</head> +<body> +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Prince Otto, by Robert Louis Stevenson + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Prince Otto + a Romance + + +Author: Robert Louis Stevenson + + + +Release Date: September 3, 2010 [eBook #372] +First Posted: November 25, 1995 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PRINCE OTTO*** +</pre> +<p>Transcribed from the 1905 edition by David Price, email +ccx074@pglaf.org</p> +<h1>PRINCE OTTO—A ROMANCE</h1> +<p style="text-align: center">A ROMANCE</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">by</span></p> +<p style="text-align: center">ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p0b.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Decorative graphic" +title= +"Decorative graphic" +src="images/p0s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">a new +edition</span></p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center">LONDON<br /> +CHATTO & WINDUS<br /> +1905</p> +<h2>TO NELLY VAN DE GRIFT<br /> +(MRS. ADULFO SANCHEZ, OF MONTEREY)</h2> +<p>At last, after so many years, I have the pleasure of +re-introducing you to ‘Prince Otto,’ whom you will +remember a very little fellow, no bigger in fact than a few +sheets of memoranda written for me by your kind hand. The +sight of his name will carry you back to an old wooden house +embowered in creepers; a house that was far gone in the +respectable stages of antiquity and seemed indissoluble from the +green garden in which it stood, and that yet was a sea-traveller +in its younger days, and had come round the Horn piecemeal in the +belly of a ship, and might have heard the seamen stamping and +shouting and the note of the boatswain’s whistle. It +will recall to you the nondescript inhabitants now so widely +scattered:—the two horses, the dog, and the four cats, some +of them still looking in your face as you read these +lines;—the poor lady, so unfortunately married to an +author;—the China boy, by this time, perhaps, baiting his +line by the banks of a river in the Flowery Land;—and in +particular the Scot who was then sick apparently unto death, and +whom you did so much to cheer and keep in good behaviour.</p> +<p>You may remember that he was full of ambitions and designs: so +soon as he had his health again completely, you may remember the +fortune he was to earn, the journeys he was to go upon, the +delights he was to enjoy and confer, and (among other matters) +the masterpiece he was to make of ‘Prince Otto’!</p> +<p>Well, we will not give in that we are finally beaten. We +read together in those days the story of Braddock, and how, as he +was carried dying from the scene of his defeat, he promised +himself to do better another time: a story that will always touch +a brave heart, and a dying speech worthy of a more fortunate +commander. I try to be of Braddock’s mind. I +still mean to get my health again; I still purpose, by hook or +crook, this book or the next, to launch a masterpiece; and I +still intend—somehow, some time or other—to see your +face and to hold your hand.</p> +<p>Meanwhile, this little paper traveller goes forth instead, +crosses the great seas and the long plains and the dark +mountains, and comes at last to your door in Monterey, charged +with tender greetings. Pray you, take him in. He +comes from a house where (even as in your own) there are gathered +together some of the waifs of our company at Oakland: a +house—for all its outlandish Gaelic name and distant +station—where you are well-beloved.</p> +<p style="text-align: right">R. L. S.</p> +<p><i>Skerryvore</i>,<br /> + Bournemouth.</p> +<h2>BOOK I—PRINCE ERRANT</h2> +<h3>CHAPTER I—IN WHICH THE PRINCE DEPARTS ON AN +ADVENTURE</h3> +<p>You shall seek in vain upon the map of Europe for the bygone +state of Grünewald. An independent principality, an +infinitesimal member of the German Empire, she played, for +several centuries, her part in the discord of Europe; and, at +last, in the ripeness of time and at the spiriting of several +bald diplomatists, vanished like a morning ghost. Less +fortunate than Poland, she left not a regret behind her; and the +very memory of her boundaries has faded.</p> +<p>It was a patch of hilly country covered with thick wood. +Many streams took their beginning in the glens of Grünewald, +turning mills for the inhabitants. There was one town, +Mittwalden, and many brown, wooden hamlets, climbing roof above +roof, along the steep bottom of dells, and communicating by +covered bridges over the larger of the torrents. The hum of +watermills, the splash of running water, the clean odour of pine +sawdust, the sound and smell of the pleasant wind among the +innumerable army of the mountain pines, the dropping fire of +huntsmen, the dull stroke of the wood-axe, intolerable roads, +fresh trout for supper in the clean bare chamber of an inn, and +the song of birds and the music of the village-bells—these +were the recollections of the Grünewald tourist.</p> +<p>North and east the foothills of Grünewald sank with +varying profile into a vast plain. On these sides many +small states bordered with the principality, Gerolstein, an +extinct grand duchy, among the number. On the south it +marched with the comparatively powerful kingdom of Seaboard +Bohemia, celebrated for its flowers and mountain bears, and +inhabited by a people of singular simplicity and tenderness of +heart. Several intermarriages had, in the course of +centuries, united the crowned families of Grünewald and +Maritime Bohemia; and the last Prince of Grünewald, whose +history I purpose to relate, drew his descent through Perdita, +the only daughter of King Florizel the First of Bohemia. +That these intermarriages had in some degree mitigated the rough, +manly stock of the first Grünewalds, was an opinion widely +held within the borders of the principality. The charcoal +burner, the mountain sawyer, the wielder of the broad axe among +the congregated pines of Grünewald, proud of their hard +hands, proud of their shrewd ignorance and almost savage lore, +looked with an unfeigned contempt on the soft character and +manners of the sovereign race.</p> +<p>The precise year of grace in which this tale begins shall be +left to the conjecture of the reader. But for the season of +the year (which, in such a story, is the more important of the +two) it was already so far forward in the spring, that when +mountain people heard horns echoing all day about the north-west +corner of the principality, they told themselves that Prince Otto +and his hunt were up and out for the last time till the return of +autumn.</p> +<p>At this point the borders of Grünewald descend somewhat +steeply, here and there breaking into crags; and this shaggy and +trackless country stands in a bold contrast to the cultivated +plain below. It was traversed at that period by two roads +alone; one, the imperial highway, bound to Brandenau in +Gerolstein, descended the slope obliquely and by the easiest +gradients. The other ran like a fillet across the very +forehead of the hills, dipping into savage gorges, and wetted by +the spray of tiny waterfalls. Once it passed beside a +certain tower or castle, built sheer upon the margin of a +formidable cliff, and commanding a vast prospect of the skirts of +Grünewald and the busy plains of Gerolstein. The +Felsenburg (so this tower was called) served now as a prison, now +as a hunting-seat; and for all it stood so lonesome to the naked +eye, with the aid of a good glass the burghers of Brandenau could +count its windows from the lime-tree terrace where they walked at +night.</p> +<p>In the wedge of forest hillside enclosed between the roads, +the horns continued all day long to scatter tumult; and at +length, as the sun began to draw near to the horizon of the +plain, a rousing triumph announced the slaughter of the +quarry. The first and second huntsman had drawn somewhat +aside, and from the summit of a knoll gazed down before them on +the drooping shoulders of the hill and across the expanse of +plain. They covered their eyes, for the sun was in their +faces. The glory of its going down was somewhat pale. +Through the confused tracery of many thousands of naked poplars, +the smoke of so many houses, and the evening steam ascending from +the fields, the sails of a windmill on a gentle eminence moved +very conspicuously, like a donkey’s ears. And hard +by, like an open gash, the imperial high-road ran straight +sun-ward, an artery of travel.</p> +<p>There is one of nature’s spiritual ditties, that has not +yet been set to words or human music: ‘The Invitation to +the Road’; an air continually sounding in the ears of +gipsies, and to whose inspiration our nomadic fathers journeyed +all their days. The hour, the season, and the scene, all +were in delicate accordance. The air was full of birds of +passage, steering westward and northward over Grünewald, an +army of specks to the up-looking eye. And below, the great +practicable road was bound for the same quarter.</p> +<p>But to the two horsemen on the knoll this spiritual ditty was +unheard. They were, indeed, in some concern of mind, +scanning every fold of the subjacent forest, and betraying both +anger and dismay in their impatient gestures.</p> +<p>‘I do not see him, Kuno,’ said the first huntsman, +‘nowhere—not a trace, not a hair of the mare’s +tail! No, sir, he’s off; broke cover and got +away. Why, for twopence I would hunt him with the +dogs!’</p> +<p>‘Mayhap, he’s gone home,’ said Kuno, but +without conviction.</p> +<p>‘Home!’ sneered the other. ‘I give him +twelve days to get home. No, it’s begun again; +it’s as it was three years ago, before he married; a +disgrace! Hereditary prince, hereditary fool! There +goes the government over the borders on a grey mare. +What’s that? No, nothing—no, I tell you, on my +word, I set more store by a good gelding or an English dog. +That for your Otto!’</p> +<p>‘He’s not my Otto,’ growled Kuno.</p> +<p>‘Then I don’t know whose he is,’ was the +retort.</p> +<p>‘You would put your hand in the fire for him +to-morrow,’ said Kuno, facing round.</p> +<p>‘Me!’ cried the huntsman. ‘I would see +him hanged! I’m a Grünewald +patriot—enrolled, and have my medal, too; and I would help +a prince! I’m for liberty and Gondremark.’</p> +<p>‘Well, it’s all one,’ said Kuno. +‘If anybody said what you said, you would have his blood, +and you know it.’</p> +<p>‘You have him on the brain,’ retorted his +companion. ‘There he goes!’ he cried, the next +moment.</p> +<p>And sure enough, about a mile down the mountain, a rider on a +white horse was seen to flit rapidly across a heathy open and +vanish among the trees on the farther side.</p> +<p>‘In ten minutes he’ll be over the border into +Gerolstein,’ said Kuno. ‘It’s past +cure.’</p> +<p>‘Well, if he founders that mare, I’ll never +forgive him,’ added the other, gathering his reins.</p> +<p>And as they turned down from the knoll to rejoin their +comrades, the sun dipped and disappeared, and the woods fell +instantly into the gravity and greyness of the early night.</p> +<h3>CHAPTER II—IN WHICH THE PRINCE PLAYS +HAROUN-AL-RASCHID</h3> +<p>The night fell upon the Prince while he was threading green +tracks in the lower valleys of the wood; and though the stars +came out overhead and displayed the interminable order of the +pine-tree pyramids, regular and dark like cypresses, their light +was of small service to a traveller in such lonely paths, and +from thenceforth he rode at random. The austere face of +nature, the uncertain issue of his course, the open sky and the +free air, delighted him like wine; and the hoarse chafing of a +river on his left sounded in his ears agreeably.</p> +<p>It was past eight at night before his toil was rewarded and he +issued at last out of the forest on the firm white +high-road. It lay downhill before him, with a sweeping +eastward trend, faintly bright between the thickets; and Otto +paused and gazed upon it. So it ran, league after league, +still joining others, to the farthest ends of Europe, there +skirting the sea-surge, here gleaming in the lights of cities; +and the innumerable army of tramps and travellers moved upon it +in all lands as by a common impulse, and were now in all places +drawing near to the inn door and the night’s rest. +The pictures swarmed and vanished in his brain; a surge of +temptation, a beat of all his blood, went over him, to set spur +to the mare and to go on into the unknown for ever. And +then it passed away; hunger and fatigue, and that habit of +middling actions which we call common sense, resumed their +empire; and in that changed mood his eye lighted upon two bright +windows on his left hand, between the road and river.</p> +<p>He turned off by a by-road, and in a few minutes he was +knocking with his whip on the door of a large farmhouse, and a +chorus of dogs from the farmyard were making angry answer. +A very tall, old, white-headed man came, shading a candle, at the +summons. He had been of great strength in his time, and of +a handsome countenance; but now he was fallen away, his teeth +were quite gone, and his voice when he spoke was broken and +falsetto.</p> +<p>‘You will pardon me,’ said Otto. ‘I am +a traveller and have entirely lost my way.’</p> +<p>‘Sir,’ said the old man, in a very stately, shaky +manner, ‘you are at the River Farm, and I am Killian +Gottesheim, at your disposal. We are here, sir, at about an +equal distance from Mittwalden in Grünewald and Brandenau in +Gerolstein: six leagues to either, and the road excellent; but +there is not a wine bush, not a carter’s alehouse, anywhere +between. You will have to accept my hospitality for the +night; rough hospitality, to which I make you freely welcome; +for, sir,’ he added with a bow, ‘it is God who sends +the guest.’</p> +<p>‘Amen. And I most heartily thank you,’ +replied Otto, bowing in his turn.</p> +<p>‘Fritz,’ said the old man, turning towards the +interior, ‘lead round this gentleman’s horse; and +you, sir, condescend to enter.’</p> +<p>Otto entered a chamber occupying the greater part of the +ground-floor of the building. It had probably once been +divided; for the farther end was raised by a long step above the +nearer, and the blazing fire and the white supper-table seemed to +stand upon a daïs. All around were dark, brass-mounted +cabinets and cupboards; dark shelves carrying ancient country +crockery; guns and antlers and broadside ballads on the wall; a +tall old clock with roses on the dial; and down in one corner the +comfortable promise of a wine barrel. It was homely, +elegant, and quaint.</p> +<p>A powerful youth hurried out to attend on the grey mare; and +when Mr. Killian Gottesheim had presented him to his daughter +Ottilia, Otto followed to the stable as became, not perhaps the +Prince, but the good horseman. When he returned, a smoking +omelette and some slices of home-cured ham were waiting him; +these were followed by a ragout and a cheese; and it was not +until his guest had entirely satisfied his hunger, and the whole +party drew about the fire over the wine jug, that Killian +Gottesheim’s elaborate courtesy permitted him to address a +question to the Prince.</p> +<p>‘You have perhaps ridden far, sir?’ he +inquired.</p> +<p>‘I have, as you say, ridden far,’ replied Otto; +‘and, as you have seen, I was prepared to do justice to +your daughters cookery.’</p> +<p>‘Possibly, sir, from the direction of Brandenau?’ +continued Killian.</p> +<p>‘Precisely: and I should have slept to-night, had I not +wandered, in Mittwalden,’ answered the Prince, weaving in a +patch of truth, according to the habit of all liars.</p> +<p>‘Business leads you to Mittwalden?’ was the next +question.</p> +<p>‘Mere curiosity,’ said Otto. ‘I have +never yet visited the principality of Grünewald.’</p> +<p>‘A pleasant state, sir,’ piped the old man, +nodding, ‘a very pleasant state, and a fine race, both +pines and people. We reckon ourselves part +Grünewalders here, lying so near the borders; and the river +there is all good Grünewald water, every drop of it. +Yes, sir, a fine state. A man of Grünewald now will +swing me an axe over his head that many a man of Gerolstein could +hardly lift; and the pines, why, deary me, there must be more +pines in that little state, sir, than people in this whole big +world. ’Tis twenty years now since I crossed the +marshes, for we grow home-keepers in old age; but I mind it as if +it was yesterday. Up and down, the road keeps right on from +here to Mittwalden; and nothing all the way but the good green +pine-trees, big and little, and water-power! water-power at every +step, sir. We once sold a bit of forest, up there beside +the high-road; and the sight of minted money that we got for it +has set me ciphering ever since what all the pines in +Grünewald would amount to.’</p> +<p>‘I suppose you see nothing of the Prince?’ +inquired Otto.</p> +<p>‘No,’ said the young man, speaking for the first +time, ‘nor want to.’</p> +<p>‘Why so? is he so much disliked?’ asked Otto.</p> +<p>‘Not what you might call disliked,’ replied the +old gentleman, ‘but despised, sir.’</p> +<p>‘Indeed,’ said the Prince, somewhat faintly.</p> +<p>‘Yes, sir, despised,’ nodded Killian, filling a +long pipe, ‘and, to my way of thinking, justly +despised. Here is a man with great opportunities, and what +does he do with them? He hunts, and he dresses very +prettily—which is a thing to be ashamed of in a +man—and he acts plays; and if he does aught else, the news +of it has not come here.’</p> +<p>‘Yet these are all innocent,’ said Otto. +‘What would you have him do—make war?’</p> +<p>‘No, sir,’ replied the old man. ‘But +here it is; I have been fifty years upon this River Farm, and +wrought in it, day in, day out; I have ploughed and sowed and +reaped, and risen early, and waked late; and this is the upshot: +that all these years it has supported me and my family; and been +the best friend that ever I had, set aside my wife; and now, when +my time comes, I leave it a better farm than when I found +it. So it is, if a man works hearty in the order of nature, +he gets bread and he receives comfort, and whatever he touches +breeds. And it humbly appears to me, if that Prince was to +labour on his throne, as I have laboured and wrought in my farm, +he would find both an increase and a blessing.’</p> +<p>‘I believe with you, sir,’ Otto said; ‘and +yet the parallel is inexact. For the farmer’s life is +natural and simple; but the prince’s is both artificial and +complicated. It is easy to do right in the one, and +exceedingly difficult not to do wrong in the other. If your +crop is blighted, you can take off your bonnet and say, +“God’s will be done”; but if the prince meets +with a reverse, he may have to blame himself for the +attempt. And perhaps, if all the kings in Europe were to +confine themselves to innocent amusement, the subjects would be +the better off.’</p> +<p>‘Ay,’ said the young man Fritz, ‘you are in +the right of it there. That was a true word spoken. +And I see you are like me, a good patriot and an enemy to +princes.’</p> +<p>Otto was somewhat abashed at this deduction, and he made haste +to change his ground. ‘But,’ said he, +‘you surprise me by what you say of this Prince Otto. +I have heard him, I must own, more favourably painted. I +was told he was, in his heart, a good fellow, and the enemy of no +one but himself.’</p> +<p>‘And so he is, sir,’ said the girl, ‘a very +handsome, pleasant prince; and we know some who would shed their +blood for him.’</p> +<p>‘O! Kuno!’ said Fritz. ‘An +ignoramus!’</p> +<p>‘Ay, Kuno, to be sure,’ quavered the old +farmer. ‘Well, since this gentleman is a stranger to +these parts, and curious about the Prince, I do believe that +story might divert him. This Kuno, you must know, sir, is +one of the hunt servants, and a most ignorant, intemperate man: a +right Grünewalder, as we say in Gerolstein. We know +him well, in this house; for he has come as far as here after his +stray dogs; and I make all welcome, sir, without account of state +or nation. And, indeed, between Gerolstein and +Grünewald the peace has held so long that the roads stand +open like my door; and a man will make no more of the frontier +than the very birds themselves.’</p> +<p>‘Ay,’ said Otto, ‘it has been a long +peace—a peace of centuries.’</p> +<p>‘Centuries, as you say,’ returned Killian; +‘the more the pity that it should not be for ever. +Well, sir, this Kuno was one day in fault, and Otto, who has a +quick temper, up with his whip and thrashed him, they do say, +soundly. Kuno took it as best he could, but at last he +broke out, and dared the Prince to throw his whip away and +wrestle like a man; for we are all great at wrestling in these +parts, and it’s so that we generally settle our +disputes. Well, sir, the Prince did so; and, being a weakly +creature, found the tables turned; for the man whom he had just +been thrashing like a negro slave, lifted him with a back grip +and threw him heels overhead.’</p> +<p>‘He broke his bridle-arm,’ cried +Fritz—‘and some say his nose. Serve him right, +say I! Man to man, which is the better at that?’</p> +<p>‘And then?’ asked Otto.</p> +<p>‘O, then Kuno carried him home; and they were the best +of friends from that day forth. I don’t say +it’s a discreditable story, you observe,’ continued +Mr. Gottesheim; ‘but it’s droll, and that’s the +fact. A man should think before he strikes; for, as my +nephew says, man to man was the old valuation.’</p> +<p>‘Now, if you were to ask me,’ said Otto, ‘I +should perhaps surprise you. I think it was the Prince that +conquered.’</p> +<p>‘And, sir, you would be right,’ replied Killian +seriously. ‘In the eyes of God, I do not question but +you would be right; but men, sir, look at these things +differently, and they laugh.’</p> +<p>‘They made a song of it,’ observed Fritz. +‘How does it go? Ta-tum-ta-ra . . .’</p> +<p>‘Well,’ interrupted Otto, who had no great anxiety +to hear the song, ‘the Prince is young; he may yet +mend.’</p> +<p>‘Not so young, by your leave,’ cried Fritz. +‘A man of forty.’</p> +<p>‘Thirty-six,’ corrected Mr. Gottesheim.</p> +<p>‘O,’ cried Ottilia, in obvious disillusion, +‘a man of middle age! And they said he was so +handsome when he was young!’</p> +<p>‘And bald, too,’ added Fritz.</p> +<p>Otto passed his hand among his locks. At that moment he +was far from happy, and even the tedious evenings at Mittwalden +Palace began to smile upon him by comparison.</p> +<p>‘O, six-and-thirty!’ he protested. ‘A +man is not yet old at six-and-thirty. I am that age +myself.’</p> +<p>‘I should have taken you for more, sir,’ piped the +old farmer. ‘But if that be so, you are of an age +with Master Ottekin, as people call him; and, I would wager a +crown, have done more service in your time. Though it seems +young by comparison with men of a great age like me, yet +it’s some way through life for all that; and the mere fools +and fiddlers are beginning to grow weary and to look old. +Yes, sir, by six-and-thirty, if a man be a follower of +God’s laws, he should have made himself a home and a good +name to live by; he should have got a wife and a blessing on his +marriage; and his works, as the Word says, should begin to follow +him.’</p> +<p>‘Ah, well, the Prince is married,’ cried Fritz, +with a coarse burst of laughter.</p> +<p>‘That seems to entertain you, sir,’ said Otto.</p> +<p>‘Ay,’ said the young boor. ‘Did you +not know that? I thought all Europe knew it!’ +And he added a pantomime of a nature to explain his accusation to +the dullest.</p> +<p>‘Ah, sir,’ said Mr. Gottesheim, ‘it is very +plain that you are not from hereabouts! But the truth is, +that the whole princely family and Court are rips and rascals, +not one to mend another. They live, sir, in idleness +and—what most commonly follows it—corruption. +The Princess has a lover—a Baron, as he calls himself, from +East Prussia; and the Prince is so little of a man, sir, that he +holds the candle. Nor is that the worst of it, for this +foreigner and his paramour are suffered to transact the State +affairs, while the Prince takes the salary and leaves all things +to go to wrack. There will follow upon this some manifest +judgment which, though I am old, I may survive to see.’</p> +<p>‘Good man, you are in the wrong about Gondremark,’ +said Fritz, showing a greatly increased animation; ‘but for +all the rest, you speak the God’s truth like a good +patriot. As for the Prince, if he would take and strangle +his wife, I would forgive him yet.’</p> +<p>‘Nay, Fritz,’ said the old man, ‘that would +be to add iniquity to evil. For you perceive, sir,’ +he continued, once more addressing himself to the unfortunate +Prince, ‘this Otto has himself to thank for these +disorders. He has his young wife and his principality, and +he has sworn to cherish both.’</p> +<p>‘Sworn at the altar!’ echoed Fritz. +‘But put your faith in princes!’</p> +<p>‘Well, sir, he leaves them both to an adventurer from +East Prussia,’ pursued the farmer: ‘leaves the girl +to be seduced and to go on from bad to worse, till her +name’s become a tap-room by-word, and she not yet twenty; +leaves the country to be overtaxed, and bullied with armaments, +and jockied into war—’</p> +<p>‘War!’ cried Otto.</p> +<p>‘So they say, sir; those that watch their ongoings, say +to war,’ asseverated Killian. ‘Well, sir, that +is very sad; it is a sad thing for this poor, wicked girl to go +down to hell with people’s curses; it’s a sad thing +for a tight little happy country to be misconducted; but whoever +may complain, I humbly conceive, sir, that this Otto +cannot. What he has worked for, that he has got; and may +God have pity on his soul, for a great and a silly +sinner’s!’</p> +<p>‘He has broke his oath; then he is a perjurer. He +takes the money and leaves the work; why, then plainly he’s +a thief. A cuckold he was before, and a fool by +birth. Better me that!’ cried Fritz, and snapped his +fingers.</p> +<p>‘And now, sir, you will see a little,’ continued +the farmer, ‘why we think so poorly of this Prince +Otto. There’s such a thing as a man being pious and +honest in the private way; and there is such a thing, sir, as a +public virtue; but when a man has neither, the Lord lighten +him! Even this Gondremark, that Fritz here thinks so much +of—’</p> +<p>‘Ay,’ interrupted Fritz, ‘Gondremark’s +the man for me. I would we had his like in +Gerolstein.’</p> +<p>‘He is a bad man,’ said the old farmer, shaking +his head; ‘and there was never good begun by the breach of +God’s commandments. But so far I will go with you; he +is a man that works for what he has.’</p> +<p>‘I tell you he’s the hope of +Grünewald,’ cried Fritz. ‘He doesn’t +suit some of your high-and-dry, old, ancient ideas; but +he’s a downright modern man—a man of the new lights +and the progress of the age. He does some things wrong; so +they all do; but he has the people’s interests next his +heart; and you mark me—you, sir, who are a Liberal, and the +enemy of all their governments, you please to mark my +words—the day will come in Grünewald, when they take +out that yellow-headed skulk of a Prince and that dough-faced +Messalina of a Princess, march ’em back foremost over the +borders, and proclaim the Baron Gondremark first President. +I’ve heard them say it in a speech. I was at a +meeting once at Brandenau, and the Mittwalden delegates spoke up +for fifteen thousand. Fifteen thousand, all brigaded, and +each man with a medal round his neck to rally by. +That’s all Gondremark.’</p> +<p>‘Ay, sir, you see what it leads to; wild talk to-day, +and wilder doings to-morrow,’ said the old man. +‘For there is one thing certain: that this Gondremark has +one foot in the Court backstairs, and the other in the +Masons’ lodges. He gives himself out, sir, for what +nowadays they call a patriot: a man from East Prussia!’</p> +<p>‘Give himself out!’ cried Fritz. ‘He +is! He is to lay by his title as soon as the Republic is +declared; I heard it in a speech.’</p> +<p>‘Lay by Baron to take up President?’ returned +Killian. ‘King Log, King Stork. But +you’ll live longer than I, and you will see the fruits of +it.’</p> +<p>‘Father,’ whispered Ottilia, pulling at the +speaker’s coat, ‘surely the gentleman is +ill.’</p> +<p>‘I beg your pardon,’ cried the farmer, rewaking to +hospitable thoughts; ‘can I offer you anything?’</p> +<p>‘I thank you. I am very weary,’ answered +Otto. ‘I have presumed upon my strength. If you +would show me to a bed, I should be grateful.’</p> +<p>‘Ottilia, a candle!’ said the old man. +‘Indeed, sir, you look paley. A little cordial +water? No? Then follow me, I beseech you, and I will +bring you to the stranger’s bed. You are not the +first by many who has slept well below my roof,’ continued +the old gentleman, mounting the stairs before his guest; +‘for good food, honest wine, a grateful conscience, and a +little pleasant chat before a man retires, are worth all the +possets and apothecary’s drugs. See, sir,’ and +here he opened a door and ushered Otto into a little white-washed +sleeping-room, ‘here you are in port. It is small, +but it is airy, and the sheets are clean and kept in +lavender. The window, too, looks out above the river, and +there’s no music like a little river’s. It +plays the same tune (and that’s the favourite) over and +over again, and yet does not weary of it like men fiddlers. +It takes the mind out of doors: and though we should be grateful +for good houses, there is, after all, no house like God’s +out-of-doors. And lastly, sir, it quiets a man down like +saying his prayers. So here, sir, I take my kind leave of +you until to-morrow; and it is my prayerful wish that you may +slumber like a prince.’</p> +<p>And the old man, with the twentieth courteous inclination, +left his guest alone.</p> +<h3>CHAPTER III—IN WHICH THE PRINCE COMFORTS AGE AND BEAUTY +AND DELIVERS A LECTURE ON DISCRETION IN LOVE</h3> +<p>The Prince was early abroad: in the time of the first chorus +of birds, of the pure and quiet air, of the slanting sunlight and +the mile-long shadows. To one who had passed a miserable +night, the freshness of that hour was tonic and reviving; to +steal a march upon his slumbering fellows, to be the Adam of the +coming day, composed and fortified his spirits; and the Prince, +breathing deep and pausing as he went, walked in the wet fields +beside his shadow, and was glad.</p> +<p>A trellised path led down into the valley of the brook, and he +turned to follow it. The stream was a break-neck, boiling +Highland river. Hard by the farm, it leaped a little +precipice in a thick grey-mare’s tail of twisted filaments, +and then lay and worked and bubbled in a lynn. Into the +middle of this quaking pool a rock protruded, shelving to a cape; +and thither Otto scrambled and sat down to ponder.</p> +<p>Soon the sun struck through the screen of branches and thin +early leaves that made a hanging bower above the fall; and the +golden lights and flitting shadows fell upon and marbled the +surface of that so seething pot; and rays plunged deep among the +turning waters; and a spark, as bright as a diamond, lit upon the +swaying eddy. It began to grow warm where Otto lingered, +warm and heady; the lights swam, weaving their maze across the +shaken pool; on the impending rock, reflections danced like +butterflies; and the air was fanned by the waterfall as by a +swinging curtain.</p> +<p>Otto, who was weary with tossing and beset with horrid +phantoms of remorse and jealousy, instantly fell dead in love +with that sun-chequered, echoing corner. Holding his feet, +he stared out of a drowsy trance, wondering, admiring, musing, +losing his way among uncertain thoughts. There is nothing +that so apes the external bearing of free will as that +unconscious bustle, obscurely following liquid laws, with which a +river contends among obstructions. It seems the very play +of man and destiny, and as Otto pored on these recurrent changes, +he grew, by equal steps, the sleepier and the more +profound. Eddy and Prince were alike jostled in their +purpose, alike anchored by intangible influences in one corner of +the world. Eddy and Prince were alike useless, starkly +useless, in the cosmology of men. Eddy and +Prince—Prince and Eddy.</p> +<p>It is probable he had been some while asleep when a voice +recalled him from oblivion. ‘Sir,’ it was +saying; and looking round, he saw Mr. Killian’s daughter, +terrified by her boldness and making bashful signals from the +shore. She was a plain, honest lass, healthy and happy and +good, and with that sort of beauty that comes of happiness and +health. But her confusion lent her for the moment an +additional charm.</p> +<p>‘Good-morning,’ said Otto, rising and moving +towards her. ‘I arose early and was in a +dream.’</p> +<p>‘O, sir!’ she cried, ‘I wish to beg of you +to spare my father; for I assure your Highness, if he had known +who you was, he would have bitten his tongue out sooner. +And Fritz, too—how he went on! But I had a notion; +and this morning I went straight down into the stable, and there +was your Highness’s crown upon the stirrup-irons! +But, O, sir, I made certain you would spare them; for they were +as innocent as lambs.’</p> +<p>‘My dear,’ said Otto, both amused and gratified, +‘you do not understand. It is I who am in the wrong; +for I had no business to conceal my name and lead on these +gentleman to speak of me. And it is I who have to beg of +you that you will keep my secret and not betray the discourtesy +of which I was guilty. As for any fear of me, your friends +are safe in Gerolstein; and even in my own territory, you must be +well aware I have no power.’</p> +<p>‘O, sir,’ she said, curtsying, ‘I would not +say that: the huntsmen would all die for you.’</p> +<p>‘Happy Prince!’ said Otto. ‘But +although you are too courteous to avow the knowledge, you have +had many opportunities of learning that I am a vain show. +Only last night we heard it very clearly stated. You see +the shadow flitting on this hard rock? Prince Otto, I am +afraid, is but the moving shadow, and the name of the rock is +Gondremark. Ah! if your friends had fallen foul of +Gondremark! But happily the younger of the two admires +him. And as for the old gentleman your father, he is a wise +man and an excellent talker, and I would take a long wager he is +honest.’</p> +<p>‘O, for honest, your Highness, that he is!’ +exclaimed the girl. ‘And Fritz is as honest as +he. And as for all they said, it was just talk and +nonsense. When countryfolk get gossiping, they go on, I do +assure you, for the fun; they don’t as much as think of +what they say. If you went to the next farm, it’s my +belief you would hear as much against my father.’</p> +<p>‘Nay, nay,’ said Otto, ‘there you go too +fast. For all that was said against Prince +Otto—’</p> +<p>‘O, it was shameful!’ cried the girl.</p> +<p>‘Not shameful—true,’ returned Otto. +‘O, yes—true. I am all they said of +me—all that and worse.’</p> +<p>‘I never!’ cried ‘Ottilia. ‘Is +that how you do? Well, you would never be a soldier. +Now if any one accuses me, I get up and give it them. O, I +defend myself. I wouldn’t take a fault at another +person’s hands, no, not if I had it on my forehead. +And that’s what you must do, if you mean to live it +out. But, indeed, I never heard such nonsense. I +should think you was ashamed of yourself! You’re +bald, then, I suppose?’</p> +<p>‘O no,’ said Otto, fairly laughing. +‘There I acquit myself: not bald!’</p> +<p>‘Well, and good?’ pursued the girl. +‘Come now, you know you are good, and I’ll make you +say so . . . Your Highness, I beg your humble pardon. But +there’s no disrespect intended. And anyhow, you know +you are.’</p> +<p>‘Why, now, what am I to say?’ replied Otto. +‘You are a cook, and excellently well you do it; I embrace +the chance of thanking you for the ragout. Well now, have +you not seen good food so bedevilled by unskilful cookery that no +one could be brought to eat the pudding? That is me, my +dear. I am full of good ingredients, but the dish is +worthless. I am—I give it you in one word—sugar +in the salad.’</p> +<p>‘Well, I don’t care, you’re good,’ +reiterated Ottilia, a little flushed by having failed to +understand.</p> +<p>‘I will tell you one thing,’ replied Otto: +‘You are!’</p> +<p>‘Ah, well, that’s what they all said of +you,’ moralised the girl; ‘such a tongue to come +round—such a flattering tongue!’</p> +<p>‘O, you forget, I am a man of middle age,’ the +Prince chuckled.</p> +<p>‘Well, to speak to you, I should think you was a boy; +and Prince or no Prince, if you came worrying where I was +cooking, I would pin a napkin to your tails. . . . And, O Lord, I +declare I hope your Highness will forgive me,’ the girl +added. ‘I can’t keep it in my mind.’</p> +<p>‘No more can I,’ cried Otto. ‘That is +just what they complain of!’</p> +<p>They made a loverly-looking couple; only the heavy pouring of +that horse-tail of water made them raise their voices above +lovers’ pitch. But to a jealous onlooker from above, +their mirth and close proximity might easily give umbrage; and a +rough voice out of a tuft of brambles began calling on Ottilia by +name. She changed colour at that. ‘It is +Fritz,’ she said. ‘I must go.’</p> +<p>‘Go, my dear, and I need not bid you go in peace, for I +think you have discovered that I am not formidable at close +quarters,’ said the Prince, and made her a fine gesture of +dismissal.</p> +<p>So Ottilia skipped up the bank, and disappeared into the +thicket, stopping once for a single blushing bob—blushing, +because she had in the interval once more forgotten and +remembered the stranger’s quality.</p> +<p>Otto returned to his rock promontory; but his humour had in +the meantime changed. The sun now shone more fairly on the +pool; and over its brown, welling surface, the blue of heaven and +the golden green of the spring foliage danced in fleeting +arabesque. The eddies laughed and brightened with essential +colour. And the beauty of the dell began to rankle in the +Prince’s mind; it was so near to his own borders, yet +without. He had never had much of the joy of possessorship +in any of the thousand and one beautiful and curious things that +were his; and now he was conscious of envy for what was +another’s. It was, indeed, a smiling, dilettante sort +of envy; but yet there it was: the passion of Ahab for the +vineyard, done in little; and he was relieved when Mr. Killian +appeared upon the scene.</p> +<p>‘I hope, sir, that you have slept well under my plain +roof,’ said the old farmer.</p> +<p>‘I am admiring this sweet spot that you are privileged +to dwell in,’ replied Otto, evading the inquiry.</p> +<p>‘It is rustic,’ returned Mr. Gottesheim, looking +around him with complacency, ‘a very rustic corner; and +some of the land to the west is most excellent fat land, +excellent deep soil. You should see my wheat in the +ten-acre field. There is not a farm in Grünewald, no, +nor many in Gerolstein, to match the River Farm. Some +sixty—I keep thinking when I sow—some sixty, and some +seventy, and some an hundredfold; and my own place, six +score! But that, sir, is partly the farming.’</p> +<p>‘And the stream has fish?’ asked Otto.</p> +<p>‘A fish-pond,’ said the farmer. ‘Ay, +it is a pleasant bit. It is pleasant even here, if one had +time, with the brook drumming in that black pool, and the green +things hanging all about the rocks, and, dear heart, to see the +very pebbles! all turned to gold and precious stones! But +you have come to that time of life, sir, when, if you will excuse +me, you must look to have the rheumatism set in. Thirty to +forty is, as one may say, their seed-time. And this is a +damp cold corner for the early morning and an empty +stomach. If I might humbly advise you, sir, I would be +moving.’</p> +<p>‘With all my heart,’ said Otto gravely. +‘And so you have lived your life here?’ he added, as +they turned to go.</p> +<p>‘Here I was born,’ replied the farmer, ‘and +here I wish I could say I was to die. But fortune, sir, +fortune turns the wheel. They say she is blind, but we will +hope she only sees a little farther on. My grandfather and +my father and I, we have all tilled these acres, my furrow +following theirs. All the three names are on the garden +bench, two Killians and one Johann. Yes, sir, good men have +prepared themselves for the great change in my old garden. +Well do I mind my father, in a woollen night-cap, the good soul, +going round and round to see the last of it. +‘Killian,’ said he, ‘do you see the smoke of my +tobacco? Why,’ said he, ‘that is man’s +life.’ It was his last pipe, and I believe he knew +it; and it was a strange thing, without doubt, to leave the trees +that he had planted, and the son that he had begotten, ay, sir, +and even the old pipe with the Turk’s head that he had +smoked since he was a lad and went a-courting. But here we +have no continuing city; and as for the eternal, it’s a +comfortable thought that we have other merits than our own. +And yet you would hardly think how sore it goes against the grain +with me, to die in a strange bed.’</p> +<p>‘And must you do so? For what reason?’ Otto +asked.</p> +<p>‘The reason? The place is to be sold; three +thousand crowns,’ replied Mr. Gottesheim. ‘Had +it been a third of that, I may say without boasting that, what +with my credit and my savings, I could have met the sum. +But at three thousand, unless I have singular good fortune and +the new proprietor continues me in office, there is nothing left +me but to budge.’</p> +<p>Otto’s fancy for the place redoubled at the news, and +became joined with other feelings. If all he heard were +true, Grünewald was growing very hot for a sovereign Prince; +it might be well to have a refuge; and if so, what more +delightful hermitage could man imagine? Mr. Gottesheim, +besides, had touched his sympathies. Every man loves in his +soul to play the part of the stage deity. And to step down +to the aid of the old farmer, who had so roughly handled him in +talk, was the ideal of a Fair Revenge. Otto’s +thoughts brightened at the prospect, and he began to regard +himself with a renewed respect.</p> +<p>‘I can find you, I believe, a purchaser,’ he said, +‘and one who would continue to avail himself of your +skill.’</p> +<p>‘Can you, sir, indeed?’ said the old man. +‘Well, I shall be heartily obliged; for I begin to find a +man may practise resignation all his days, as he takes physic, +and not come to like it in the end.’</p> +<p>‘If you will have the papers drawn, you may even burthen +the purchase with your interest,’ said Otto. +‘Let it be assured to you through life.’</p> +<p>‘Your friend, sir,’ insinuated Killian, +‘would not, perhaps, care to make the interest +reversible? Fritz is a good lad.’</p> +<p>‘Fritz is young,’ said the Prince dryly; ‘he +must earn consideration, not inherit.’</p> +<p>‘He has long worked upon the place, sir,’ insisted +Mr. Gottesheim; ‘and at my great age, for I am +seventy-eight come harvest, it would be a troublesome thought to +the proprietor how to fill my shoes. It would be a care +spared to assure yourself of Fritz. And I believe he might +be tempted by a permanency.’</p> +<p>‘The young man has unsettled views,’ returned +Otto.</p> +<p>‘Possibly the purchaser—’ began Killian.</p> +<p>A little spot of anger burned in Otto’s cheek. +‘I am the purchaser,’ he said.</p> +<p>‘It was what I might have guessed,’ replied the +farmer, bowing with an aged, obsequious dignity. ‘You +have made an old man very happy; and I may say, indeed, that I +have entertained an angel unawares. Sir, the great people +of this world—and by that I mean those who are great in +station—if they had only hearts like yours, how they would +make the fires burn and the poor sing!’</p> +<p>‘I would not judge them hardly, sir,’ said +Otto. ‘We all have our frailties.’</p> +<p>‘Truly, sir,’ said Mr. Gottesheim, with +unction. ‘And by what name, sir, am I to address my +generous landlord?’</p> +<p>The double recollection of an English traveller, whom he had +received the week before at court, and of an old English rogue +called Transome, whom he had known in youth, came pertinently to +the Prince’s help. ‘Transome,’ he +answered, ‘is my name. I am an English +traveller. It is, to-day, Tuesday. On Thursday, +before noon, the money shall be ready. Let us meet, if you +please, in Mittwalden, at the “Morning +Star.”’</p> +<p>‘I am, in all things lawful, your servant to +command,’ replied the farmer. ‘An +Englishman! You are a great race of travellers. And +has your lordship some experience of land?’</p> +<p>‘I have had some interest of the kind before,’ +returned the Prince; ‘not in Gerolstein, indeed. But +fortune, as you say, turns the wheel, and I desire to be +beforehand with her revolutions.’</p> +<p>‘Very right, sir, I am sure,’ said Mr. +Killian.</p> +<p>They had been strolling with deliberation; but they were now +drawing near to the farmhouse, mounting by the trellised pathway +to the level of the meadow. A little before them, the sound +of voices had been some while audible, and now grew louder and +more distinct with every step of their advance. Presently, +when they emerged upon the top of the bank, they beheld Fritz and +Ottilia some way off; he, very black and bloodshot, emphasising +his hoarse speech with the smacking of his fist against his palm; +she, standing a little way off in blowsy, voluble distress.</p> +<p>‘Dear me!’ said Mr. Gottesheim, and made as if he +would turn aside.</p> +<p>But Otto went straight towards the lovers, in whose dissension +he believed himself to have a share. And, indeed, as soon +as he had seen the Prince, Fritz had stood tragic, as if awaiting +and defying his approach.</p> +<p>‘O, here you are!’ he cried, as soon as they were +near enough for easy speech. ‘You are a man at least, +and must reply. What were you after? Why were you two +skulking in the bush? God!’ he broke out, turning +again upon Ottilia, ‘to think that I should waste my heart +on you!’</p> +<p>‘I beg your pardon,’ Otto cut in. ‘You +were addressing me. In virtue of what circumstance am I to +render you an account of this young lady’s conduct? +Are you her father? her brother? her husband?’</p> +<p>‘O, sir, you know as well as I,’ returned the +peasant. ‘We keep company, she and I. I love +her, and she is by way of loving me; but all shall be +above-board, I would have her to know. I have a good pride +of my own.’</p> +<p>‘Why, I perceive I must explain to you what love +is,’ said Otto. ‘Its measure is kindness. +It is very possible that you are proud; but she, too, may have +some self-esteem; I do not speak for myself. And perhaps, +if your own doings were so curiously examined, you might find it +inconvenient to reply.’</p> +<p>‘These are all set-offs,’ said the young +man. ‘You know very well that a man is a man, and a +woman only a woman. That holds good all over, up and +down. I ask you a question, I ask it again, and here I +stand.’ He drew a mark and toed it.</p> +<p>‘When you have studied liberal doctrines somewhat +deeper,’ said the Prince, ‘you will perhaps change +your note. You are a man of false weights and measures, my +young friend. You have one scale for women, another for +men; one for princes, and one for farmer-folk. On the +prince who neglects his wife you can be most severe. But +what of the lover who insults his mistress? You use the +name of love. I should think this lady might very fairly +ask to be delivered from love of such a nature. For if I, a +stranger, had been one-tenth part so gross and so discourteous, +you would most righteously have broke my head. It would +have been in your part, as lover, to protect her from such +insolence. Protect her first, then, from +yourself.’</p> +<p>‘Ay,’ quoth Mr. Gottesheim, who had been looking +on with his hands behind his tall old back, ‘ay, +that’s Scripture truth.’</p> +<p>Fritz was staggered, not only by the Prince’s +imperturbable superiority of manner, but by a glimmering +consciousness that he himself was in the wrong. The appeal +to liberal doctrines had, besides, unmanned him.</p> +<p>‘Well,’ said he, ‘if I was rude, I’ll +own to it. I meant no ill, and did nothing out of my just +rights; but I am above all these old vulgar notions too; and if I +spoke sharp, I’ll ask her pardon.’</p> +<p>‘Freely granted, Fritz,’ said Ottilia.</p> +<p>‘But all this doesn’t answer me,’ cried +Fritz. ‘I ask what you two spoke about. She +says she promised not to tell; well, then, I mean to know. +Civility is civility, but I’ll be no man’s +gull. I have a right to common justice, if I <i>do</i> keep +company!’</p> +<p>‘If you will ask Mr. Gottesheim,’ replied Otto, +‘you will find I have not spent my hours in idleness. +I have, since I arose this morning, agreed to buy the farm. +So far I will go to satisfy a curiosity which I +condemn.’</p> +<p>‘O, well, if there was business, that’s another +matter,’ returned Fritz. ‘Though it beats me +why you could not tell. But, of course, if the gentleman is +to buy the farm, I suppose there would naturally be an +end.’</p> +<p>‘To be sure,’ said Mr. Gottesheim, with a strong +accent of conviction.</p> +<p>But Ottilia was much braver. ‘There now!’ +she cried in triumph. ‘What did I tell you? I +told you I was fighting your battles. Now you see! +Think shame of your suspicious temper! You should go down +upon your bended knees both to that gentleman and me.’</p> +<h3>CHAPTER IV—IN WHICH THE PRINCE COLLECTS OPINIONS BY THE +WAY</h3> +<p>A little before noon Otto, by a triumph of manoeuvring, +effected his escape. He was quit in this way of the +ponderous gratitude of Mr. Killian, and of the confidential +gratitude of poor Ottilia; but of Fritz he was not quit so +readily. That young politician, brimming with mysterious +glances, offered to lend his convoy as far as to the high-road; +and Otto, in fear of some residuary jealousy and for the +girl’s sake, had not the courage to gainsay him; but he +regarded his companion with uneasy glances, and devoutly wished +the business at an end. For some time Fritz walked by the +mare in silence; and they had already traversed more than half +the proposed distance when, with something of a blush, he looked +up and opened fire.</p> +<p>‘Are you not,’ he asked, ‘what they call a +socialist?’</p> +<p>‘Why, no,’ returned Otto, ‘not precisely +what they call so. Why do you ask?’</p> +<p>‘I will tell you why,’ said the young man. +‘I saw from the first that you were a red progressional, +and nothing but the fear of old Killian kept you back. And +there, sir, you were right: old men are always cowards. But +nowadays, you see, there are so many groups: you can never tell +how far the likeliest kind of man may be prepared to go; and I +was never sure you were one of the strong thinkers, till you +hinted about women and free love.’</p> +<p>‘Indeed,’ cried Otto, ‘I never said a word +of such a thing.’</p> +<p>‘Not you!’ cried Fritz. ‘Never a word +to compromise! You was sowing seed: ground-bait, our +president calls it. But it’s hard to deceive me, for +I know all the agitators and their ways, and all the doctrines; +and between you and me,’ lowering his voice, ‘I am +myself affiliated. O yes, I am a secret society man, and +here is my medal.’ And drawing out a green ribbon +that he wore about his neck, he held up, for Otto’s +inspection, a pewter medal bearing the imprint of a Phoenix and +the legend <i>Libertas</i>. ‘And so now you see you +may trust me,’ added Fritz, ‘I am none of your +alehouse talkers; I am a convinced revolutionary.’ +And he looked meltingly upon Otto.</p> +<p>‘I see,’ replied the Prince; ‘that is very +gratifying. Well, sir, the great thing for the good of +one’s country is, first of all, to be a good man. All +springs from there. For my part, although you are right in +thinking that I have to do with politics, I am unfit by intellect +and temper for a leading rôle. I was intended, I +fear, for a subaltern. Yet we have all something to +command, Mr. Fritz, if it be only our own temper; and a man about +to marry must look closely to himself. The husband’s, +like the prince’s, is a very artificial standing; and it is +hard to be kind in either. Do you follow that?’</p> +<p>‘O yes, I follow that,’ replied the young man, +sadly chop-fallen over the nature of the information he had +elicited; and then brightening up: ‘Is it,’ he +ventured, ‘is it for an arsenal that you have bought the +farm?’</p> +<p>‘We’ll see about that,’ the Prince answered, +laughing. ‘You must not be too zealous. And in +the meantime, if I were you, I would say nothing on the +subject.’</p> +<p>‘O, trust me, sir, for that,’ cried Fritz, as he +pocketed a crown. ‘And you’ve let nothing out; +for I suspected—I might say I knew it—from the +first. And mind you, when a guide is required,’ he +added, ‘I know all the forest paths.’</p> +<p>Otto rode away, chuckling. This talk with Fritz had +vastly entertained him; nor was he altogether discontented with +his bearing at the farm; men, he was able to tell himself, had +behaved worse under smaller provocation. And, to harmonise +all, the road and the April air were both delightful to his +soul.</p> +<p>Up and down, and to and fro, ever mounting through the wooded +foothills, the broad white high-road wound onward into +Grünewald. On either hand the pines stood coolly +rooted—green moss prospering, springs welling forth between +their knuckled spurs; and though some were broad and stalwart, +and others spiry and slender, yet all stood firm in the same +attitude and with the same expression, like a silent army +presenting arms.</p> +<p>The road lay all the way apart from towns and villages, which +it left on either hand. Here and there, indeed, in the +bottom of green glens, the Prince could spy a few congregated +roofs, or perhaps above him, on a shoulder, the solitary cabin of +a woodman. But the highway was an international undertaking +and with its face set for distant cities, scorned the little life +of Grünewald. Hence it was exceeding solitary. +Near the frontier Otto met a detachment of his own troops +marching in the hot dust; and he was recognised and somewhat +feebly cheered as he rode by. But from that time forth and +for a long while he was alone with the great woods.</p> +<p>Gradually the spell of pleasure relaxed; his own thoughts +returned, like stinging insects, in a cloud; and the talk of the +night before, like a shower of buffets, fell upon his +memory. He looked east and west for any comforter; and +presently he was aware of a cross-road coming steeply down hill, +and a horseman cautiously descending. A human voice or +presence, like a spring in the desert, was now welcome in itself, +and Otto drew bridle to await the coming of this stranger. +He proved to be a very red-faced, thick-lipped countryman, with a +pair of fat saddle-bags and a stone bottle at his waist; who, as +soon as the Prince hailed him, jovially, if somewhat thickly, +answered. At the same time he gave a beery yaw in the +saddle. It was clear his bottle was no longer full.</p> +<p>‘Do you ride towards Mittwalden?’ asked the +Prince.</p> +<p>‘As far as the cross-road to Tannenbrunn,’ the man +replied. ‘Will you bear company?’</p> +<p>‘With pleasure. I have even waited for you on the +chance,’ answered Otto.</p> +<p>By this time they were close alongside; and the man, with the +countryfolk instinct, turned his cloudy vision first of all on +his companion’s mount. ‘The devil!’ he +cried. ‘You ride a bonny mare, friend!’ +And then, his curiosity being satisfied about the essential, he +turned his attention to that merely secondary matter, his +companion’s face. He started. ‘The +Prince!’ he cried, saluting, with another yaw that came +near dismounting him. ‘I beg your pardon, your +Highness, not to have recognised you at once.’</p> +<p>The Prince was vexed out of his self-possession. +‘Since you know me,’ he said, ‘it is +unnecessary we should ride together. I will precede you, if +you please.’ And he was about to set spur to the grey +mare, when the half-drunken fellow, reaching over, laid his hand +upon the rein.</p> +<p>‘Hark you,’ he said, ‘prince or no prince, +that is not how one man should conduct himself with +another. What! You’ll ride with me incog. and +set me talking! But if I know you, you’ll preshede +me, if you please! Spy!’ And the fellow, +crimson with drink and injured vanity, almost spat the word into +the Prince’s face.</p> +<p>A horrid confusion came over Otto. He perceived that he +had acted rudely, grossly presuming on his station. And +perhaps a little shiver of physical alarm mingled with his +remorse, for the fellow was very powerful and not more than half +in the possession of his senses. ‘Take your hand from +my rein,’ he said, with a sufficient assumption of command; +and when the man, rather to his wonder, had obeyed: ‘You +should understand, sir,’ he added, ‘that while I +might be glad to ride with you as one person of sagacity with +another, and so receive your true opinions, it would amuse me +very little to hear the empty compliments you would address to me +as Prince.’</p> +<p>‘You think I would lie, do you?’ cried the man +with the bottle, purpling deeper.</p> +<p>‘I know you would,’ returned Otto, entering +entirely into his self-possession. ‘You would not +even show me the medal you wear about your neck.’ For +he had caught a glimpse of a green ribbon at the fellow’s +throat.</p> +<p>The change was instantaneous: the red face became mottled with +yellow: a thick-fingered, tottering hand made a clutch at the +tell-tale ribbon. ‘Medal!’ the man cried, +wonderfully sobered. ‘I have no medal.’</p> +<p>‘Pardon me,’ said the Prince. ‘I will +even tell you what that medal bears: a Phoenix burning, with the +word <i>Libertas</i>.’ The medallist remaining +speechless, ‘You are a pretty fellow,’ continued +Otto, smiling, ‘to complain of incivility from the man whom +you conspire to murder.’</p> +<p>‘Murder!’ protested the man. ‘Nay, +never that; nothing criminal for me!’</p> +<p>‘You are strangely misinformed,’ said Otto. +‘Conspiracy itself is criminal, and ensures the pain of +death. Nay, sir, death it is; I will guarantee my +accuracy. Not that you need be so deplorably affected, for +I am no officer. But those who mingle with politics should +look at both sides of the medal.’</p> +<p>‘Your Highness . . . ’ began the knight of the +bottle.</p> +<p>‘Nonsense! you are a Republican,’ cried Otto; +‘what have you to do with highnesses? But let us +continue to ride forward. Since you so much desire it, I +cannot find it in my heart to deprive you of my company. +And for that matter, I have a question to address to you. +Why, being so great a body of men—for you are a great +body—fifteen thousand, I have heard, but that will be +understated; am I right?’</p> +<p>The man gurgled in his throat.</p> +<p>‘Why, then, being so considerable a party,’ +resumed Otto, ‘do you not come before me boldly with your +wants?—what do I say? with your commands? Have I the +name of being passionately devoted to my throne? I can +scarce suppose it. Come, then; show me your majority, and I +will instantly resign. Tell this to your friends; assure +them from me of my docility; assure them that, however they +conceive of my deficiencies, they cannot suppose me more unfit to +be a ruler than I do myself. I am one of the worst princes +in Europe; will they improve on that?’</p> +<p>‘Far be it from me . . .’ the man began.</p> +<p>‘See, now, if you will not defend my government!’ +cried Otto. ‘If I were you, I would leave +conspiracies. You are as little fit to be a conspirator as +I to be a king.’</p> +<p>‘One thing I will say out,’ said the man. +‘It is not so much you that we complain of, it’s your +lady.’</p> +<p>‘Not a word, sir’ said the Prince; and then after +a moment’s pause, and in tones of some anger and contempt: +‘I once more advise you to have done with politics,’ +he added; ‘and when next I see you, let me see you +sober. A morning drunkard is the last man to sit in +judgment even upon the worst of princes.’</p> +<p>‘I have had a drop, but I had not been drinking,’ +the man replied, triumphing in a sound distinction. +‘And if I had, what then? Nobody hangs by me. +But my mill is standing idle, and I blame it on your wife. +Am I alone in that? Go round and ask. Where are the +mills? Where are the young men that should be +working? Where is the currency? All paralysed. +No, sir, it is not equal; for I suffer for your faults—I +pay for them, by George, out of a poor man’s pocket. +And what have you to do with mine? Drunk or sober, I can +see my country going to hell, and I can see whose fault it +is. And so now, I’ve said my say, and you may drag me +to a stinking dungeon; what care I? I’ve spoke the +truth, and so I’ll hold hard, and not intrude upon your +Highness’s society.’</p> +<p>And the miller reined up and, clumsily enough, saluted.</p> +<p>‘You will observe, I have not asked your name,’ +said Otto. ‘I wish you a good ride,’ and he +rode on hard. But let him ride as he pleased, this +interview with the miller was a chokepear, which he could not +swallow. He had begun by receiving a reproof in manners, +and ended by sustaining a defeat in logic, both from a man whom +he despised. All his old thoughts returned with fresher +venom. And by three in the afternoon, coming to the +cross-roads for Beckstein, Otto decided to turn aside and dine +there leisurely. Nothing at least could be worse than to go +on as he was going.</p> +<p>In the inn at Beckstein he remarked, immediately upon his +entrance, an intelligent young gentleman dining, with a book in +front of him. He had his own place laid close to the +reader, and with a proper apology, broke ground by asking what he +read.</p> +<p>‘I am perusing,’ answered the young gentleman, +‘the last work of the Herr Doctor Hohenstockwitz, cousin +and librarian of your Prince here in Grünewald—a man +of great erudition and some lambencies of wit.’</p> +<p>‘I am acquainted,’ said Otto, ‘with the Herr +Doctor, though not yet with his work.’</p> +<p>‘Two privileges that I must envy you,’ replied the +young man politely: ‘an honour in hand, a pleasure in the +bush.’</p> +<p>‘The Herr Doctor is a man much respected, I believe, for +his attainments?’ asked the Prince.</p> +<p>‘He is, sir, a remarkable instance of the force of +intellect,’ replied the reader. ‘Who of our +young men know anything of his cousin, all reigning Prince +although he be? Who but has heard of Doctor Gotthold? +But intellectual merit, alone of all distinctions, has its base +in nature.’</p> +<p>‘I have the gratification of addressing a +student—perhaps an author?’ Otto suggested.</p> +<p>The young man somewhat flushed. ‘I have some claim +to both distinctions, sir, as you suppose,’ said he; +‘there is my card. I am the licentiate Roederer, +author of several works on the theory and practice of +politics.’</p> +<p>‘You immensely interest me,’ said the Prince; +‘the more so as I gather that here in Grünewald we are +on the brink of revolution. Pray, since these have been +your special studies, would you augur hopefully of such a +movement?’</p> +<p>‘I perceive,’ said the young author, with a +certain vinegary twitch, ‘that you are unacquainted with my +opuscula. I am a convinced authoritarian. I share +none of those illusory, Utopian fancies with which empirics blind +themselves and exasperate the ignorant. The day of these +ideas is, believe me, past, or at least passing.’</p> +<p>‘When I look about me—’ began Otto.</p> +<p>‘When you look about you,’ interrupted the +licentiate, ‘you behold the ignorant. But in the +laboratory of opinion, beside the studious lamp, we begin already +to discard these figments. We begin to return to +nature’s order, to what I might call, if I were to borrow +from the language of therapeutics, the expectant treatment of +abuses. You will not misunderstand me,’ he continued: +‘a country in the condition in which we find +Grünewald, a prince such as your Prince Otto, we must +explicitly condemn; they are behind the age. But I would +look for a remedy not to brute convulsions, but to the natural +supervenience of a more able sovereign. I should amuse you, +perhaps,’ added the licentiate, with a smile, ‘I +think I should amuse you if I were to explain my notion of a +prince. We who have studied in the closet, no longer, in +this age, propose ourselves for active service. The paths, +we have perceived, are incompatible. I would not have a +student on the throne, though I would have one near by for an +adviser. I would set forward as prince a man of a good, +medium understanding, lively rather than deep; a man of courtly +manner, possessed of the double art to ingratiate and to command; +receptive, accommodating, seductive. I have been observing +you since your first entrance. Well, sir, were I a subject +of Grünewald I should pray heaven to set upon the seat of +government just such another as yourself.’</p> +<p>‘The devil you would!’ exclaimed the Prince.</p> +<p>The licentiate Roederer laughed most heartily. ‘I +thought I should astonish you,’ he said. ‘These +are not the ideas of the masses.’</p> +<p>‘They are not, I can assure you,’ Otto said.</p> +<p>‘Or rather,’ distinguished the licentiate, +‘not to-day. The time will come, however, when these +ideas shall prevail.’</p> +<p>‘You will permit me, sir, to doubt it,’ said +Otto.</p> +<p>‘Modesty is always admirable,’ chuckled the +theorist. ‘But yet I assure you, a man like you, with +such a man as, say, Doctor Gotthold at your elbow, would be, for +all practical issues, my ideal ruler.’</p> +<p>At this rate the hours sped pleasantly for Otto. But the +licentiate unfortunately slept that night at Beckstein, where he +was, being dainty in the saddle and given to half stages. +And to find a convoy to Mittwalden, and thus mitigate the company +of his own thoughts, the Prince had to make favour with a certain +party of wood-merchants from various states of the empire, who +had been drinking together somewhat noisily at the far end of the +apartment.</p> +<p>The night had already fallen when they took the saddle. +The merchants were very loud and mirthful; each had a face like a +nor’west moon; and they played pranks with each +others’ horses, and mingled songs and choruses, and +alternately remembered and forgot the companion of their +ride. Otto thus combined society and solitude, hearkening +now to their chattering and empty talk, now to the voices of the +encircling forest. The starlit dark, the faint wood airs, +the clank of the horse-shoes making broken music, accorded +together and attuned his mind. And he was still in a most +equal temper when the party reached the top of that long hill +that overlooks Mittwalden.</p> +<p>Down in the bottom of a bowl of forest, the lights of the +little formal town glittered in a pattern, street crossing +street; away by itself on the right, the palace was glowing like +a factory.</p> +<p>Although he knew not Otto, one of the wood-merchants was a +native of the state. ‘There,’ said he, pointing +to the palace with his whip, ‘there is Jezebel’s +inn.’</p> +<p>‘What, do you call it that?’ cried another, +laughing.</p> +<p>‘Ay, that’s what they call it,’ returned the +Grünewalder; and he broke into a song, which the rest, as +people well acquainted with the words and air, instantly took up +in chorus. Her Serene Highness Amalia Seraphina, Princess +of Grünewald, was the heroine, Gondremark the hero of this +ballad. Shame hissed in Otto’s ears. He reined +up short and sat stunned in the saddle; and the singers continued +to descend the hill without him.</p> +<p>The song went to a rough, swashing, popular air; and long +after the words became inaudible the swing of the music, rising +and falling, echoed insult in the Prince’s brain. He +fled the sounds. Hard by him on his right a road struck +towards the palace, and he followed it through the thick shadows +and branching alleys of the park. It was a busy place on a +fine summer’s afternoon, when the court and burghers met +and saluted; but at that hour of the night in the early spring it +was deserted to the roosting birds. Hares rustled among the +covert; here and there a statue stood glimmering, with its +eternal gesture; here and there the echo of an imitation temple +clattered ghostly to the trampling of the mare. Ten minutes +brought him to the upper end of his own home garden, where the +small stables opened, over a bridge, upon the park. The +yard clock was striking the hour of ten; so was the big bell in +the palace bell-tower; and, farther off, the belfries of the +town. About the stable all else was silent but the stamping +of stalled horses and the rattle of halters. Otto +dismounted; and as he did so a memory came back to him: a whisper +of dishonest grooms and stolen corn, once heard, long forgotten, +and now recurring in the nick of opportunity. He crossed +the bridge, and, going up to a window, knocked six or seven heavy +blows in a particular cadence, and, as he did so, smiled. +Presently a wicket was opened in the gate, and a man’s head +appeared in the dim starlight.</p> +<p>‘Nothing to-night,’ said a voice.</p> +<p>‘Bring a lantern,’ said the Prince.</p> +<p>‘Dear heart a’ mercy!’ cried the +groom. ‘Who’s that?’</p> +<p>‘It is I, the Prince,’ replied Otto. +‘Bring a lantern, take in the mare, and let me through into +the garden.’</p> +<p>The man remained silent for a while, his head still projecting +through the wicket.</p> +<p>‘His Highness!’ he said at last. ‘And +why did your Highness knock so strange?’</p> +<p>‘It is a superstition in Mittwalden,’ answered +Otto, ‘that it cheapens corn.’</p> +<p>With a sound like a sob the groom fled. He was very +white when he returned, even by the light of the lantern; and his +hand trembled as he undid the fastenings and took the mare.</p> +<p>‘Your Highness,’ he began at last, ‘for +God’s sake . . . ’ And there he paused, +oppressed with guilt.</p> +<p>‘For God’s sake, what?’ asked Otto +cheerfully. ‘For God’s sake let us have cheaper +corn, say I. Good-night!’ And he strode off +into the garden, leaving the groom petrified once more.</p> +<p>The garden descended by a succession of stone terraces to the +level of the fish-pond. On the far side the ground rose +again, and was crowned by the confused roofs and gables of the +palace. The modern pillared front, the ball-room, the great +library, the princely apartments, the busy and illuminated +quarters of that great house, all faced the town. The +garden side was much older; and here it was almost dark; only a +few windows quietly lighted at various elevations. The +great square tower rose, thinning by stages like a telescope; and +on the top of all the flag hung motionless.</p> +<p>The garden, as it now lay in the dusk and glimmer of the +starshine, breathed of April violets. Under night’s +cavern arch the shrubs obscurely bustled. Through the +plotted terraces and down the marble stairs the Prince rapidly +descended, fleeing before uncomfortable thoughts. But, +alas! from these there is no city of refuge. And now, when +he was about midway of the descent, distant strains of music +began to fall upon his ear from the ball-room, where the court +was dancing. They reached him faint and broken, but they +touched the keys of memory; and through and above them Otto heard +the ranting melody of the wood-merchants’ song. Mere +blackness seized upon his mind. Here he was, coming home; +the wife was dancing, the husband had been playing a trick upon a +lackey; and meanwhile, all about them, they were a by-word to +their subjects. Such a prince, such a husband, such a man, +as this Otto had become! And he sped the faster onward.</p> +<p>Some way below he came unexpectedly upon a sentry; yet a +little farther, and he was challenged by a second; and as he +crossed the bridge over the fish-pond, an officer making the +rounds stopped him once more. The parade of watch was more +than usual; but curiosity was dead in Otto’s mind, and he +only chafed at the interruption. The porter of the back +postern admitted him, and started to behold him so +disordered. Thence, hasting by private stairs and passages, +he came at length unseen to his own chamber, tore off his +clothes, and threw himself upon his bed in the dark. The +music of the ball-room still continued to a very lively measure; +and still, behind that, he heard in spirit the chorus of the +merchants clanking down the hill.</p> +<h2>BOOK II—OF LOVE AND POLITICS</h2> +<h3>CHAPTER I—WHAT HAPPENED IN THE LIBRARY</h3> +<p>At a quarter before six on the following morning Doctor +Gotthold was already at his desk in the library; and with a small +cup of black coffee at his elbow, and an eye occasionally +wandering to the busts and the long array of many-coloured books, +was quietly reviewing the labours of the day before. He was +a man of about forty, flaxen-haired, with refined features a +little worn, and bright eyes somewhat faded. Early to bed +and early to rise, his life was devoted to two things: erudition +and Rhine wine. An ancient friendship existed latent +between him and Otto; they rarely met, but when they did it was +to take up at once the thread of their suspended intimacy. +Gotthold, the virgin priest of knowledge, had envied his cousin, +for half a day, when he was married; he had never envied him his +throne.</p> +<p>Reading was not a popular diversion at the court of +Grünewald; and that great, pleasant, sunshiny gallery of +books and statues was, in practice, Gotthold’s private +cabinet. On this particular Wednesday morning, however, he +had not been long about his manuscript when a door opened and the +Prince stepped into the apartment. The doctor watched him +as he drew near, receiving, from each of the embayed windows in +succession, a flush of morning sun; and Otto looked so gay, and +walked so airily, he was so well dressed and brushed and +frizzled, so point-device, and of such a sovereign elegance, that +the heart of his cousin the recluse was rather moved against +him.</p> +<p>‘Good-morning, Gotthold,’ said Otto, dropping in a +chair.</p> +<p>‘Good-morning, Otto,’ returned the +librarian. ‘You are an early bird. Is this an +accident, or do you begin reforming?’</p> +<p>‘It is about time, I fancy,’ answered the +Prince.</p> +<p>‘I cannot imagine,’ said the Doctor. +‘I am too sceptical to be an ethical adviser; and as for +good resolutions, I believed in them when I was young. They +are the colours of hope’s rainbow.’</p> +<p>‘If you come to think of it,’ said Otto, ‘I +am not a popular sovereign.’ And with a look he +changed his statement to a question.</p> +<p>‘Popular? Well, there I would distinguish,’ +answered Gotthold, leaning back and joining the tips of his +fingers. ‘There are various kinds of popularity; the +bookish, which is perfectly impersonal, as unreal as the +nightmare; the politician’s, a mixed variety; and yours, +which is the most personal of all. Women take to you; +footmen adore you; it is as natural to like you as to pat a dog; +and were you a saw-miller you would be the most popular citizen +in Grünewald. As a prince—well, you are in the +wrong trade. It is perhaps philosophical to recognise it as +you do.’</p> +<p>‘Perhaps philosophical?’ repeated Otto.</p> +<p>‘Yes, perhaps. I would not be dogmatic,’ +answered Gotthold.</p> +<p>‘Perhaps philosophical, and certainly not +virtuous,’ Otto resumed.</p> +<p>‘Not of a Roman virtue,’ chuckled the recluse.</p> +<p>Otto drew his chair nearer to the table, leaned upon it with +his elbow, and looked his cousin squarely in the face. +‘In short,’ he asked, ‘not manly?’</p> +<p>‘Well,’ Gotthold hesitated, ‘not manly, if +you will.’ And then, with a laugh, ‘I did not +know that you gave yourself out to be manly,’ he +added. ‘It was one of the points that I inclined to +like about you; inclined, I believe, to admire. The names +of virtues exercise a charm on most of us; we must lay claim to +all of them, however incompatible; we must all be both daring and +prudent; we must all vaunt our pride and go to the stake for our +humility. Not so you. Without compromise you were +yourself: a pretty sight. I have always said it: none so +void of all pretence as Otto.’</p> +<p>‘Pretence and effort both!’ cried Otto. +‘A dead dog in a canal is more alive. And the +question, Gotthold, the question that I have to face is this: Can +I not, with effort and self-denial, can I not become a tolerable +sovereign?’</p> +<p>‘Never,’ replied Gotthold. ‘Dismiss +the notion. And besides, dear child, you would not +try.’</p> +<p>‘Nay, Gotthold, I am not to be put by,’ said +Otto. ‘If I am constitutionally unfit to be a +sovereign, what am I doing with this money, with this palace, +with these guards? And I—a thief—am to execute +the law on others?’</p> +<p>‘I admit the difficulty,’ said Gotthold.</p> +<p>‘Well, can I not try?’ continued Otto. +‘Am I not bound to try? And with the advice and help +of such a man as you—’</p> +<p>‘Me!’ cried the librarian. ‘Now, God +forbid!’</p> +<p>Otto, though he was in no very smiling humour, could not +forbear to smile. ‘Yet I was told last night,’ +he laughed, ‘that with a man like me to impersonate, and a +man like you to touch the springs, a very possible government +could be composed.’</p> +<p>‘Now I wonder in what diseased imagination,’ +Gotthold said, ‘that preposterous monster saw the light of +day?’</p> +<p>‘It was one of your own trade—a writer: one +Roederer,’ said Otto.</p> +<p>‘Roederer! an ignorant puppy!’ cried the +librarian.</p> +<p>‘You are ungrateful,’ said Otto. ‘He +is one of your professed admirers.’</p> +<p>‘Is he?’ cried Gotthold, obviously +impressed. ‘Come, that is a good account of the young +man. I must read his stuff again. It is the rather to +his credit, as our views are opposite. The east and west +are not more opposite. Can I have converted him? But +no; the incident belongs to Fairyland.’</p> +<p>‘You are not then,’ asked the Prince, ‘an +authoritarian?’</p> +<p>‘I? God bless me, no!’ said Gotthold. +‘I am a red, dear child.’</p> +<p>‘That brings me then to my next point, and by a natural +transition. If I am so clearly unfitted for my post,’ +the Prince asked; ‘if my friends admit it, if my subjects +clamour for my downfall, if revolution is preparing at this hour, +must I not go forth to meet the inevitable? should I not save +these horrors and be done with these absurdities? in a word, +should I not abdicate? O, believe me, I feel the ridicule, +the vast abuse of language,’ he added, wincing, ‘but +even a principulus like me cannot resign; he must make a great +gesture, and come buskined forth, and abdicate.’</p> +<p>‘Ay,’ said Gotthold, ‘or else stay where he +is. What gnat has bitten you to-day? Do you not know +that you are touching, with lay hands, the very holiest inwards +of philosophy, where madness dwells? Ay, Otto, madness; for +in the serene temples of the wise, the inmost shrine, which we +carefully keep locked, is full of spiders’ webs. All +men, all, are fundamentally useless; nature tolerates, she does +not need, she does not use them: sterile flowers! +All—down to the fellow swinking in a byre, whom fools point +out for the exception—all are useless; all weave ropes of +sand; or like a child that has breathed on a window, write and +obliterate, write and obliterate, idle words! Talk of it no +more. That way, I tell you, madness lies.’ The +speaker rose from his chair and then sat down again. He +laughed a little laugh, and then, changing his tone, resumed: +‘Yes, dear child, we are not here to do battle with giants; +we are here to be happy like the flowers, if we can be. It +is because you could, that I have always secretly admired +you. Cling to that trade; believe me, it is the right +one. Be happy, be idle, be airy. To the devil with +all casuistry! and leave the state to Gondremark, as +heretofore. He does it well enough, they say; and his +vanity enjoys the situation.’</p> +<p>‘Gotthold,’ cried Otto, ‘what is this to +me? Useless is not the question; I cannot rest at +uselessness; I must be useful or I must be noxious—one or +other. I grant you the whole thing, prince and principality +alike, is pure absurdity, a stroke of satire; and that a banker +or the man who keeps an inn has graver duties. But now, +when I have washed my hands of it three years, and left +all—labour, responsibility, and honour and enjoyment too, +if there be any—to Gondremark and +to—Seraphina—’ He hesitated at the name, +and Gotthold glanced aside. ‘Well,’ the Prince +continued, ‘what has come of it? Taxes, army, +cannon—why, it’s like a box of lead soldiers! +And the people sick at the folly of it, and fired with the +injustice! And war, too—I hear of war—war in +this teapot! What a complication of absurdity and +disgrace! And when the inevitable end arrives—the +revolution—who will be to blame in the sight of God, who +will be gibbeted in public opinion? I! Prince +Puppet!’</p> +<p>‘I thought you had despised public opinion,’ said +Gotthold.</p> +<p>‘I did,’ said Otto sombrely, ‘but now I do +not. I am growing old. And then, Gotthold, there is +Seraphina. She is loathed in this country that I brought +her to and suffered her to spoil. Yes, I gave it her as a +plaything, and she has broken it: a fine Prince, an admirable +Princess! Even her life—I ask you, Gotthold, is her +life safe?’</p> +<p>‘It is safe enough to-day,’ replied the librarian: +‘but since you ask me seriously, I would not answer for +to-morrow. She is ill-advised.’</p> +<p>‘And by whom? By this Gondremark, to whom you +counsel me to leave my country,’ cried the Prince. +‘Rare advice! The course that I have been following +all these years, to come at last to this. O, ill-advised! +if that were all! See now, there is no sense in beating +about the bush between two men: you know what scandal says of +her?’</p> +<p>Gotthold, with pursed lips, silently nodded.</p> +<p>‘Well, come, you are not very cheering as to my conduct +as the Prince; have I even done my duty as a husband?’ Otto +asked.</p> +<p>‘Nay, nay,’ said Gotthold, earnestly and eagerly, +‘this is another chapter. I am an old celibate, an +old monk. I cannot advise you in your marriage.’</p> +<p>‘Nor do I require advice,’ said Otto, +rising. ‘All of this must cease.’ And he +began to walk to and fro with his hands behind his back.</p> +<p>‘Well, Otto, may God guide you!’ said Gotthold, +after a considerable silence. ‘I cannot.’</p> +<p>‘From what does all this spring?’ said the Prince, +stopping in his walk. ‘What am I to call it? +Diffidence? The fear of ridicule? Inverted +vanity? What matter names, if it has brought me to +this? I could never bear to be bustling about nothing; I +was ashamed of this toy kingdom from the first; I could not +tolerate that people should fancy I believed in a thing so +patently absurd! I would do nothing that cannot be done +smiling. I have a sense of humour, forsooth! I must +know better than my Maker. And it was the same thing in my +marriage,’ he added more hoarsely. ‘I did not +believe this girl could care for me; I must not intrude; I must +preserve the foppery of my indifference. What an impotent +picture!’</p> +<p>‘Ay, we have the same blood,’ moralised +Gotthold. ‘You are drawing, with fine strokes, the +character of the born sceptic.’</p> +<p>‘Sceptic?—coward!’ cried Otto. +‘Coward is the word. A springless, putty-hearted, +cowering coward!’</p> +<p>And as the Prince rapped out the words in tones of unusual +vigour, a little, stout, old gentleman, opening a door behind +Gotthold, received them fairly in the face. With his +parrot’s beak for a nose, his pursed mouth, his little +goggling eyes, he was the picture of formality; and in ordinary +circumstances, strutting behind the drum of his corporation, he +impressed the beholder with a certain air of frozen dignity and +wisdom. But at the smallest contrariety, his trembling +hands and disconnected gestures betrayed the weakness at the +root. And now, when he was thus surprisingly received in +that library of Mittwalden Palace, which was the customary haunt +of silence, his hands went up into the air as if he had been +shot, and he cried aloud with the scream of an old woman.</p> +<p>‘O!’ he gasped, recovering, ‘Your +Highness! I beg ten thousand pardons. But your +Highness at such an hour in the library!—a circumstance so +unusual as your Highness’s presence was a thing I could not +be expected to foresee.’</p> +<p>‘There is no harm done, Herr Cancellarius,’ said +Otto.</p> +<p>‘I came upon the errand of a moment: some papers I left +over-night with the Herr Doctor,’ said the Chancellor of +Grünewald. ‘Herr Doctor, if you will kindly give +me them, I will intrude no longer.’</p> +<p>Gotthold unlocked a drawer and handed a bundle of manuscript +to the old gentleman, who prepared, with fitting salutations, to +take his departure.</p> +<p>‘Herr Greisengesang, since we have met,’ said +Otto, ‘let us talk.’</p> +<p>‘I am honoured by his Highness’s commands,’ +replied the Chancellor.</p> +<p>‘All has been quiet since I left?’ asked the +Prince, resuming his seat.</p> +<p>‘The usual business, your Highness,’ answered +Greisengesang; ‘punctual trifles: huge, indeed, if +neglected, but trifles when discharged. Your Highness is +most zealously obeyed.’</p> +<p>‘Obeyed, Herr Cancellarius?’ returned the +Prince. ‘And when have I obliged you with an +order? Replaced, let us rather say. But to touch upon +these trifles; instance me a few.’</p> +<p>‘The routine of government, from which your Highness has +so wisely dissociated his leisure . . . ’ began +Greisengesang.</p> +<p>‘We will leave my leisure, sir,’ said Otto. +‘Approach the facts.’</p> +<p>‘The routine of business was proceeded with,’ +replied the official, now visibly twittering.</p> +<p>‘It is very strange, Herr Cancellarius, that you should +so persistently avoid my questions,’ said the Prince. +‘You tempt me to suppose a purpose in your dulness. I +have asked you whether all was quiet; do me the pleasure to +reply.’</p> +<p>‘Perfectly—O, perfectly quiet,’ jerked the +ancient puppet, with every signal of untruth.</p> +<p>‘I make a note of these words,’ said the Prince +gravely. ‘You assure me, your sovereign, that since +the date of my departure nothing has occurred of which you owe me +an account.’</p> +<p>‘I take your Highness, I take the Herr Doctor to +witness,’ cried Greisengesang, ‘that I have had no +such expression.’</p> +<p>‘Halt!’ said the Prince; and then, after a pause: +‘Herr Greisengesang, you are an old man, and you served my +father before you served me,’ he added. ‘It +consists neither with your dignity nor mine that you should +babble excuses and stumble possibly upon untruths. Collect +your thoughts; and then categorically inform me of all you have +been charged to hide.’</p> +<p>Gotthold, stooping very low over his desk, appeared to have +resumed his labours; but his shoulders heaved with subterranean +merriment. The Prince waited, drawing his handkerchief +quietly through his fingers.</p> +<p>‘Your Highness, in this informal manner,’ said the +old gentleman at last, ‘and being unavoidably deprived of +documents, it would be difficult, it would be impossible, to do +justice to the somewhat grave occurrences which have +transpired.’</p> +<p>‘I will not criticise your attitude,’ replied the +Prince. ‘I desire that, between you and me, all +should be done gently; for I have not forgotten, my old friend, +that you were kind to me from the first, and for a period of +years a faithful servant. I will thus dismiss the matters +on which you waive immediate inquiry. But you have certain +papers actually in your hand. Come, Herr Greisengesang, +there is at least one point for which you have authority. +Enlighten me on that.’</p> +<p>‘On that?’ cried the old gentleman. +‘O, that is a trifle; a matter, your Highness, of police; a +detail of a purely administrative order. These are simply a +selection of the papers seized upon the English +traveller.’</p> +<p>‘Seized?’ echoed Otto. ‘In what +sense? Explain yourself.’</p> +<p>‘Sir John Crabtree,’ interposed Gotthold, looking +up, ‘was arrested yesterday evening.’</p> +<p>‘It this so, Herr Cancellarius?’ demanded Otto +sternly.</p> +<p>‘It was judged right, your Highness,’ protested +Greisengesang. ‘The decree was in due form, invested +with your Highness’s authority by procuration. I am +but an agent; I had no status to prevent the measure.’</p> +<p>‘This man, my guest, has been arrested,’ said the +Prince. ‘On what grounds, sir? With what colour +of pretence?’</p> +<p>The Chancellor stammered.</p> +<p>‘Your Highness will perhaps find the reason in these +documents,’ said Gotthold, pointing with the tail of his +pen.</p> +<p>Otto thanked his cousin with a look. ‘Give them to +me,’ he said, addressing the Chancellor.</p> +<p>But that gentleman visibly hesitated to obey. +‘Baron von Gondremark,’ he said, ‘has made the +affair his own. I am in this case a mere messenger; and as +such, I am not clothed with any capacity to communicate the +documents I carry. Herr Doctor, I am convinced you will not +fail to bear me out.’</p> +<p>‘I have heard a great deal of nonsense,’ said +Gotthold, ‘and most of it from you; but this beats +all.’</p> +<p>‘Come, sir,’ said Otto, rising, ‘the +papers. I command.’</p> +<p>Herr Greisengesang instantly gave way.</p> +<p>‘With your Highness’s permission,’ he said, +‘and laying at his feet my most submiss apologies, I will +now hasten to attend his further orders in the +Chancery.’</p> +<p>‘Herr Cancellarius, do you see this chair?’ said +Otto. ‘There is where you shall attend my further +orders. O, now, no more!’ he cried, with a gesture, +as the old man opened his lips. ‘You have +sufficiently marked your zeal to your employer; and I begin to +weary of a moderation you abuse.’</p> +<p>The Chancellor moved to the appointed chair and took his seat +in silence.</p> +<p>‘And now,’ said Otto, opening the roll, +‘what is all this? it looks like the manuscript of a +book.’</p> +<p>‘It is,’ said Gotthold, ‘the manuscript of a +book of travels.’</p> +<p>‘You have read it, Doctor Hohenstockwitz?’ asked +the Prince.</p> +<p>‘Nay, I but saw the title-page,’ replied +Gotthold. ‘But the roll was given to me open, and I +heard no word of any secrecy.’</p> +<p>Otto dealt the Chancellor an angry glance.</p> +<p>‘I see,’ he went on. ‘The papers of an +author seized at this date of the world’s history, in a +state so petty and so ignorant as Grünewald, here is indeed +an ignominious folly. Sir,’ to the Chancellor, +‘I marvel to find you in so scurvy an employment. On +your conduct to your Prince I will not dwell; but to descend to +be a spy! For what else can it be called? To seize +the papers of this gentleman, the private papers of a stranger, +the toil of a life, perhaps—to open, and to read +them. And what have we to do with books? The Herr +Doctor might perhaps be asked for his advice; but we have no +<i>index expurgatorius</i> in Grünewald. Had we but +that, we should be the most absolute parody and farce upon this +tawdry earth.’</p> +<p>Yet, even while Otto spoke, he had continued to unfold the +roll; and now, when it lay fully open, his eye rested on the +title-page elaborately written in red ink. It ran thus:</p> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center">MEMOIRS<br /> +OF A VISIT TO THE VARIOUS<br /> +COURTS OF EUROPE,<br /> +BY<br /> +SIR JOHN CRABTREE, BARONET.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Below was a list of chapters, each bearing the name of one of +the European Courts; and among these the nineteenth and the last +upon the list was dedicated to Grünewald.</p> +<p>‘Ah! The Court of Grünewald!’ said +Otto, ‘that should be droll reading.’ And his +curiosity itched for it.</p> +<p>‘A methodical dog, this English Baronet,’ said +Gotthold. ‘Each chapter written and finished on the +spot. I shall look for his work when it appears.’</p> +<p>‘It would be odd, now, just to glance at it,’ said +Otto, wavering.</p> +<p>Gotthold’s brow darkened, and he looked out of +window.</p> +<p>But though the Prince understood the reproof, his weakness +prevailed. ‘I will,’ he said, with an uneasy +laugh, ‘I will, I think, just glance at it.’</p> +<p>So saying, he resumed his seat and spread the +traveller’s manuscript upon the table.</p> +<h3>CHAPTER II—‘ON THE COURT OF +GRÜNEWALD,’ BEING A PORTION OF THE TRAVELLER’S +MANUSCRIPT</h3> +<p>It may well be asked (<i>it was thus the English traveller +began his nineteenth chapter</i>) why I should have chosen +Grünewald out of so many other states equally petty, formal, +dull, and corrupt. Accident, indeed, decided, and not I; +but I have seen no reason to regret my visit. The spectacle +of this small society macerating in its own abuses was not +perhaps instructive, but I have found it exceedingly +diverting.</p> +<p>The reigning Prince, Otto Johann Friedrich, a young man of +imperfect education, questionable valour, and no scintilla of +capacity, has fallen into entire public contempt. It was +with difficulty that I obtained an interview, for he is +frequently absent from a court where his presence is unheeded, +and where his only rôle is to be a cloak for the amours of +his wife. At last, however, on the third occasion when I +visited the palace, I found this sovereign in the exercise of his +inglorious function, with the wife on one hand, and the lover on +the other. He is not ill-looking; he has hair of a ruddy +gold, which naturally curls, and his eyes are dark, a combination +which I always regard as the mark of some congenital deficiency, +physical or moral; his features are irregular, but pleasing; the +nose perhaps a little short, and the mouth a little womanish; his +address is excellent, and he can express himself with +point. But to pierce below these externals is to come on a +vacuity of any sterling quality, a deliquescence of the moral +nature, a frivolity and inconsequence of purpose that mark the +nearly perfect fruit of a decadent age. He has a worthless +smattering of many subjects, but a grasp of none. ‘I +soon weary of a pursuit,’ he said to me, laughing; it would +almost appear as if he took a pride in his incapacity and lack of +moral courage. The results of his dilettanteism are to be +seen in every field; he is a bad fencer, a second-rate horseman, +dancer, shot; he sings—I have heard him—and he sings +like a child; he writes intolerable verses in more than doubtful +French; he acts like the common amateur; and in short there is no +end to the number of the things that he does, and does +badly. His one manly taste is for the chase. In sum, +he is but a plexus of weaknesses; the singing chambermaid of the +stage, tricked out in man’s apparel, and mounted on a +circus horse. I have seen this poor phantom of a prince +riding out alone or with a few huntsmen, disregarded by all, and +I have been even grieved for the bearer of so futile and +melancholy an existence. The last Merovingians may have +looked not otherwise.</p> +<p>The Princess Amalia Seraphina, a daughter of the Grand-Ducal +house of Toggenburg-Tannhäuser, would be equally +inconsiderable if she were not a cutting instrument in the hands +of an ambitious man. She is much younger than the Prince, a +girl of two-and-twenty, sick with vanity, superficially clever, +and fundamentally a fool. She has a red-brown rolling eye, +too large for her face, and with sparks of both levity and +ferocity; her forehead is high and narrow, her figure thin and a +little stooping. Her manners, her conversation, which she +interlards with French, her very tastes and ambitions, are alike +assumed; and the assumption is ungracefully apparent: Hoyden +playing Cleopatra. I should judge her to be incapable of +truth. In private life a girl of this description embroils +the peace of families, walks attended by a troop of scowling +swains, and passes, once at least, through the divorce court; it +is a common and, except to the cynic, an uninteresting +type. On the throne, however, and in the hands of a man +like Gondremark, she may become the authoress of serious public +evils.</p> +<p>Gondremark, the true ruler of this unfortunate country, is a +more complex study. His position in Grünewald, to +which he is a foreigner, is eminently false; and that he should +maintain it as he does, a very miracle of impudence and +dexterity. His speech, his face, his policy, are all +double: heads and tails. Which of the two extremes may be +his actual design he were a bold man who should offer to +decide. Yet I will hazard the guess that he follows both +experimentally, and awaits, at the hand of destiny, one of those +directing hints of which she is so lavish to the wise.</p> +<p>On the one hand, as <i>Maire du Palais</i> to the incompetent +Otto, and using the love-sick Princess for a tool and mouthpiece, +he pursues a policy of arbitrary power and territorial +aggrandisement. He has called out the whole capable male +population of the state to military service; he has bought +cannon; he has tempted away promising officers from foreign +armies; and he now begins, in his international relations, to +assume the swaggering port and the vague, threatful language of a +bully. The idea of extending Grünewald may appear +absurd, but the little state is advantageously placed, its +neighbours are all defenceless; and if at any moment the +jealousies of the greater courts should neutralise each other, an +active policy might double the principality both in population +and extent. Certainly at least the scheme is entertained in +the court of Mittwalden; nor do I myself regard it as entirely +desperate. The margravate of Brandenburg has grown from as +small beginnings to a formidable power; and though it is late in +the day to try adventurous policies, and the age of war seems +ended, Fortune, we must not forget, still blindly turns her wheel +for men and nations. Concurrently with, and tributary to, +these warlike preparations, crushing taxes have been levied, +journals have been suppressed, and the country, which three years +ago was prosperous and happy, now stagnates in a forced inaction, +gold has become a curiosity, and the mills stand idle on the +mountain streams.</p> +<p>On the other hand, in his second capacity of popular tribune, +Gondremark is the incarnation of the free lodges, and sits at the +centre of an organised conspiracy against the state. To any +such movement my sympathies were early acquired, and I would not +willingly let fall a word that might embarrass or retard the +revolution. But to show that I speak of knowledge, and not +as the reporter of mere gossip, I may mention that I have myself +been present at a meeting where the details of a republican +Constitution were minutely debated and arranged; and I may add +that Gondremark was throughout referred to by the speakers as +their captain in action and the arbiter of their disputes. +He has taught his dupes (for so I must regard them) that his +power of resistance to the Princess is limited, and at each fresh +stretch of authority persuades them, with specious reasons, to +postpone the hour of insurrection. Thus (to give some +instances of his astute diplomacy) he salved over the decree +enforcing military service, under the plea that to be well +drilled and exercised in arms was even a necessary preparation +for revolt. And the other day, when it began to be rumoured +abroad that a war was being forced on a reluctant neighbour, the +Grand Duke of Gerolstein, and I made sure it would be the signal +for an instant rising, I was struck dumb with wonder to find that +even this had been prepared and was to be accepted. I went +from one to another in the Liberal camp, and all were in the same +story, all had been drilled and schooled and fitted out with +vacuous argument. ‘The lads had better see some real +fighting,’ they said; ‘and besides, it will be as +well to capture Gerolstein: we can then extend to our neighbours +the blessing of liberty on the same day that we snatch it for +ourselves; and the republic will be all the stronger to resist, +if the kings of Europe should band themselves together to reduce +it.’ I know not which of the two I should admire the +more: the simplicity of the multitude or the audacity of the +adventurer. But such are the subtleties, such the quibbling +reasons, with which he blinds and leads this people. How +long a course so tortuous can be pursued with safety I am +incapable of guessing; not long, one would suppose; and yet this +singular man has been treading the mazes for five years, and his +favour at court and his popularity among the lodges still endure +unbroken.</p> +<p>I have the privilege of slightly knowing him. Heavily +and somewhat clumsily built, of a vast, disjointed, rambling +frame, he can still pull himself together, and figure, not +without admiration, in the saloon or the ball-room. His hue +and temperament are plentifully bilious; he has a saturnine eye; +his cheek is of a dark blue where he has been shaven. +Essentially he is to be numbered among the man-haters, a +convinced contemner of his fellows. Yet he is himself of a +commonplace ambition and greedy of applause. In talk, he is +remarkable for a thirst of information, loving rather to hear +than to communicate; for sound and studious views; and, judging +by the extreme short-sightedness of common politicians, for a +remarkable provision of events. All this, however, without +grace, pleasantry, or charm, heavily set forth, with a dull +countenance. In our numerous conversations, although he has +always heard me with deference, I have been conscious throughout +of a sort of ponderous finessing hard to tolerate. He +produces none of the effect of a gentleman; devoid not merely of +pleasantry, but of all attention or communicative warmth of +bearing. No gentleman, besides, would so parade his amours +with the Princess; still less repay the Prince for his +long-suffering with a studied insolence of demeanour and the +fabrication of insulting nicknames, such as Prince Featherhead, +which run from ear to ear and create a laugh throughout the +country. Gondremark has thus some of the clumsier +characters of the self-made man, combined with an inordinate, +almost a besotted, pride of intellect and birth. Heavy, +bilious, selfish, inornate, he sits upon this court and country +like an incubus.</p> +<p>But it is probable that he preserves softer gifts for +necessary purposes. Indeed, it is certain, although he +vouchsafed none of it to me, that this cold and stolid politician +possesses to a great degree the art of ingratiation, and can be +all things to all men. Hence there has probably sprung up +the idle legend that in private life he is a gross romping +voluptuary. Nothing, at least, can well be more surprising +than the terms of his connection with the Princess. Older +than her husband, certainly uglier, and, according to the feeble +ideas common among women, in every particular less pleasing, he +has not only seized the complete command of all her thought and +action, but has imposed on her in public a humiliating +part. I do not here refer to the complete sacrifice of +every rag of her reputation; for to many women these extremities +are in themselves attractive. But there is about the court +a certain lady of a dishevelled reputation, a Countess von Rosen, +wife or widow of a cloudy count, no longer in her second youth, +and already bereft of some of her attractions, who unequivocally +occupies the station of the Baron’s mistress. I had +thought, at first, that she was but a hired accomplice, a mere +blind or buffer for the more important sinner. A few +hours’ acquaintance with Madame von Rosen for ever +dispelled the illusion. She is one rather to make than to +prevent a scandal, and she values none of those +bribes—money, honours, or employment—with which the +situation might be gilded. Indeed, as a person frankly bad, +she pleased me, in the court of Grünewald, like a piece of +nature.</p> +<p>The power of this man over the Princess is, therefore, without +bounds. She has sacrificed to the adoration with which he +has inspired her not only her marriage vow and every shred of +public decency, but that vice of jealousy which is so much dearer +to the female sex than either intrinsic honour or outward +consideration. Nay, more: a young, although not a very +attractive woman, and a princess both by birth and fact, she +submits to the triumphant rivalry of one who might be her mother +as to years, and who is so manifestly her inferior in +station. This is one of the mysteries of the human +heart. But the rage of illicit love, when it is once +indulged, appears to grow by feeding; and to a person of the +character and temperament of this unfortunate young lady, almost +any depth of degradation is within the reach of possibility.</p> +<h3>CHAPTER III—THE PRINCE AND THE ENGLISH TRAVELLER</h3> +<p>So far Otto read, with waxing indignation; and here his fury +overflowed. He tossed the roll upon the table and stood +up. ‘This man,’ he said, ‘is a +devil. A filthy imagination, an ear greedy of evil, a +ponderous malignity of thought and language: I grow like him by +the reading! Chancellor, where is this fellow +lodged?’</p> +<p>‘He was committed to the Flag Tower,’ replied +Greisengesang, ‘in the Gamiani apartment.’</p> +<p>‘Lead me to him,’ said the Prince; and then, a +thought striking him, ‘Was it for that,’ he asked, +‘that I found so many sentries in the garden?’</p> +<p>‘Your Highness, I am unaware,’ answered +Greisengesang, true to his policy. ‘The disposition +of the guards is a matter distinct from my functions.’</p> +<p>Otto turned upon the old man fiercely, but ere he had time to +speak, Gotthold touched him on the arm. He swallowed his +wrath with a great effort. ‘It is well,’ he +said, taking the roll. ‘Follow me to the Flag +Tower.’</p> +<p>The Chancellor gathered himself together, and the two set +forward. It was a long and complicated voyage; for the +library was in the wing of the new buildings, and the tower which +carried the flag was in the old schloss upon the garden. By +a great variety of stairs and corridors, they came out at last +upon a patch of gravelled court; the garden peeped through a high +grating with a flash of green; tall, old gabled buildings mounted +on every side; the Flag Tower climbed, stage after stage, into +the blue; and high over all, among the building daws, the yellow +flag wavered in the wind. A sentinel at the foot of the +tower stairs presented arms; another paced the first landing; and +a third was stationed before the door of the extemporised +prison.</p> +<p>‘We guard this mud-bag like a jewel,’ Otto +sneered.</p> +<p>The Gamiani apartment was so called from an Italian doctor who +had imposed on the credulity of a former prince. The rooms +were large, airy, pleasant, and looked upon the garden; but the +walls were of great thickness (for the tower was old), and the +windows were heavily barred. The Prince, followed by the +Chancellor, still trotting to keep up with him, brushed swiftly +through the little library and the long saloon, and burst like a +thunderbolt into the bedroom at the farther end. Sir John +was finishing his toilet; a man of fifty, hard, uncompromising, +able, with the eye and teeth of physical courage. He was +unmoved by the irruption, and bowed with a sort of sneering +ease.</p> +<p>‘To what am I to attribute the honour of this +visit?’ he asked.</p> +<p>‘You have eaten my bread,’ replied Otto, +‘you have taken my hand, you have been received under my +roof. When did I fail you in courtesy? What have you +asked that was not granted as to an honoured guest? And +here, sir,’ tapping fiercely on the manuscript, ‘here +is your return.’</p> +<p>‘Your Highness has read my papers?’ said the +Baronet. ‘I am honoured indeed. But the sketch +is most imperfect. I shall now have much to add. I +can say that the Prince, whom I had accused of idleness, is +zealous in the department of police, taking upon himself those +duties that are most distasteful. I shall be able to relate +the burlesque incident of my arrest, and the singular interview +with which you honour me at present. For the rest, I have +already communicated with my Ambassador at Vienna; and unless you +propose to murder me, I shall be at liberty, whether you please +or not, within the week. For I hardly fancy the future +empire of Grünewald is yet ripe to go to war with +England. I conceive I am a little more than quits. I +owe you no explanation; yours has been the wrong. You, if +you have studied my writing with intelligence, owe me a large +debt of gratitude. And to conclude, as I have not yet +finished my toilet, I imagine the courtesy of a turnkey to a +prisoner would induce you to withdraw.’</p> +<p>There was some paper on the table, and Otto, sitting down, +wrote a passport in the name of Sir John Crabtree.</p> +<p>‘Affix the seal, Herr Cancellarius,’ he said, in +his most princely manner, as he rose.</p> +<p>Greisengesang produced a red portfolio, and affixed the seal +in the unpoetic guise of an adhesive stamp; nor did his perturbed +and clumsy movements at all lessen the comedy of the +performance. Sir John looked on with a malign enjoyment; +and Otto chafed, regretting, when too late, the unnecessary +royalty of his command and gesture. But at length the +Chancellor had finished his piece of prestidigitation, and, +without waiting for an order, had countersigned the +passport. Thus regularised, he returned it to Otto with a +bow.</p> +<p>‘You will now,’ said the Prince, ‘order one +of my own carriages to be prepared; see it, with your own eyes, +charged with Sir John’s effects, and have it waiting within +the hour behind the Pheasant House. Sir John departs this +morning for Vienna.’</p> +<p>The Chancellor took his elaborate departure.</p> +<p>‘Here, sir, is your passport,’ said Otto, turning +to the Baronet. ‘I regret it from my heart that you +have met inhospitable usage.’</p> +<p>‘Well, there will be no English war,’ returned Sir +John.</p> +<p>‘Nay, sir,’ said Otto, ‘you surely owe me +your civility. Matters are now changed, and we stand again +upon the footing of two gentlemen. It was not I who ordered +your arrest; I returned late last night from hunting; and as you +cannot blame me for your imprisonment, you may even thank me for +your freedom.’</p> +<p>‘And yet you read my papers,’ said the traveller +shrewdly.</p> +<p>‘There, sir, I was wrong,’ returned Otto; +‘and for that I ask your pardon. You can scarce +refuse it, for your own dignity, to one who is a plexus of +weaknesses. Nor was the fault entirely mine. Had the +papers been innocent, it would have been at most an +indiscretion. Your own guilt is the sting of my +offence.’</p> +<p>Sir John regarded Otto with an approving twinkle; then he +bowed, but still in silence.</p> +<p>‘Well, sir, as you are now at your entire disposal, I +have a favour to beg of your indulgence,’ continued the +Prince. ‘I have to request that you will walk with me +alone into the garden so soon as your convenience +permits.’</p> +<p>‘From the moment that I am a free man,’ Sir John +replied, this time with perfect courtesy, ‘I am wholly at +your Highness’s command; and if you will excuse a rather +summary toilet, I will even follow you, as I am.’</p> +<p>‘I thank you, sir,’ said Otto.</p> +<p>So without more delay, the Prince leading, the pair proceeded +down through the echoing stairway of the tower, and out through +the grating, into the ample air and sunshine of the morning, and +among the terraces and flower-beds of the garden. They +crossed the fish-pond, where the carp were leaping as thick as +bees; they mounted, one after another, the various flights of +stairs, snowed upon, as they went, with April blossoms, and +marching in time to the great orchestra of birds. Nor did +Otto pause till they had reached the highest terrace of the +garden. Here was a gate into the park, and hard by, under a +tuft of laurel, a marble garden seat. Hence they looked +down on the green tops of many elm-trees, where the rooks were +busy; and, beyond that, upon the palace roof, and the yellow +banner flying in the blue. I pray you to be seated, +sir,’ said Otto.</p> +<p>Sir John complied without a word; and for some seconds Otto +walked to and fro before him, plunged in angry thought. The +birds were all singing for a wager.</p> +<p>‘Sir,’ said the Prince at length, turning towards +the Englishman, ‘you are to me, except by the conventions +of society, a perfect stranger. Of your character and +wishes I am ignorant. I have never wittingly disobliged +you. There is a difference in station, which I desire to +waive. I would, if you still think me entitled to so much +consideration—I would be regarded simply as a +gentleman. Now, sir, I did wrong to glance at these papers, +which I here return to you; but if curiosity be undignified, as I +am free to own, falsehood is both cowardly and cruel. I +opened your roll; and what did I find—what did I find about +my wife; Lies!’ he broke out. ‘They are +lies! There are not, so help me God! four words of truth in +your intolerable libel! You are a man; you are old, and +might be the girl’s father; you are a gentleman; you are a +scholar, and have learned refinement; and you rake together all +this vulgar scandal, and propose to print it in a public +book! Such is your chivalry! But, thank God, sir, she +has still a husband. You say, sir, in that paper in your +hand, that I am a bad fencer; I have to request from you a lesson +in the art. The park is close behind; yonder is the +Pheasant House, where you will find your carriage; should I fall, +you know, sir—you have written it in your paper—how +little my movements are regarded; I am in the custom of +disappearing; it will be one more disappearance; and long before +it has awakened a remark, you may be safe across the +border.’</p> +<p>‘You will observe,’ said Sir John, ‘that +what you ask is impossible.’</p> +<p>‘And if I struck you?’ cried the Prince, with a +sudden menacing flash.</p> +<p>‘It would be a cowardly blow,’ returned the +Baronet, unmoved, ‘for it would make no change. I +cannot draw upon a reigning sovereign.’</p> +<p>‘And it is this man, to whom you dare not offer +satisfaction, that you choose to insult!’ cried Otto.</p> +<p>‘Pardon me,’ said the traveller, ‘you are +unjust. It is because you are a reigning sovereign that I +cannot fight with you; and it is for the same reason that I have +a right to criticise your action and your wife. You are in +everything a public creature; you belong to the public, body and +bone. You have with you the law, the muskets of the army, +and the eyes of spies. We, on our side, have but one +weapon—truth.’</p> +<p>‘Truth!’ echoed the Prince, with a gesture.</p> +<p>There was another silence.</p> +<p>‘Your Highness,’ said Sir John at last, ‘you +must not expect grapes from a thistle. I am old and a +cynic. Nobody cares a rush for me; and on the whole, after +the present interview, I scarce know anybody that I like better +than yourself. You see, I have changed my mind, and have +the uncommon virtue to avow the change. I tear up this +stuff before you, here in your own garden; I ask your pardon, I +ask the pardon of the Princess; and I give you my word of honour +as a gentleman and an old man, that when my book of travels shall +appear it shall not contain so much as the name of +Grünewald. And yet it was a racy chapter! But +had your Highness only read about the other courts! I am a +carrion crow; but it is not my fault, after all, that the world +is such a nauseous kennel.’</p> +<p>‘Sir,’ said Otto, ‘is the eye not +jaundiced?’</p> +<p>‘Nay,’ cried the traveller, ‘very +likely. I am one who goes sniffing; I am no poet. I +believe in a better future for the world; or, at all accounts, I +do most potently disbelieve in the present. Rotten eggs is +the burthen of my song. But indeed, your Highness, when I +meet with any merit, I do not think that I am slow to recognise +it. This is a day that I shall still recall with gratitude, +for I have found a sovereign with some manly virtues; and for +once—old courtier and old radical as I am—it is from +the heart and quite sincerely that I can request the honour of +kissing your Highness’s hand?’</p> +<p>‘Nay, sir,’ said Otto, ‘to my +heart!’</p> +<p>And the Englishman, taken at unawares, was clasped for a +moment in the Prince’s arms.</p> +<p>‘And now, sir,’ added Otto, ‘there is the +Pheasant House; close behind it you will find my carriage, which +I pray you to accept. God speed you to Vienna!’</p> +<p>‘In the impetuosity of youth,’ replied Sir John, +‘your Highness has overlooked one circumstance. I am +still fasting.’</p> +<p>‘Well, sir,’ said Otto, smiling, ‘you are +your own master; you may go or stay. But I warn you, your +friend may prove less powerful than your enemies. The +Prince, indeed, is thoroughly on your side; he has all the will +to help; but to whom do I speak?—you know better than I do, +he is not alone in Grünewald.’</p> +<p>‘There is a deal in position,’ returned the +traveller, gravely nodding. ‘Gondremark loves to +temporise; his policy is below ground, and he fears all open +courses; and now that I have seen you act with so much spirit, I +will cheerfully risk myself on your protection. Who +knows? You may be yet the better man.’</p> +<p>‘Do you indeed believe so?’ cried the +Prince. ‘You put life into my heart!’</p> +<p>‘I will give up sketching portraits,’ said the +Baronet. ‘I am a blind owl; I had misread you +strangely. And yet remember this; a sprint is one thing, +and to run all day another. For I still mistrust your +constitution; the short nose, the hair and eyes of several +complexions; no, they are diagnostic; and I must end, I see, as I +began.’</p> +<p>‘I am still a singing chambermaid?’ said Otto.</p> +<p>‘Nay, your Highness, I pray you to forget what I had +written,’ said Sir John; ‘I am not like Pilate; and +the chapter is no more. Bury it, if you love me.’</p> +<h3>CHAPTER IV—WHILE THE PRINCE IS IN THE ANTE-ROOM . . +.</h3> +<p>Greatly comforted by the exploits of the morning, the Prince +turned towards the Princess’s ante-room, bent on a more +difficult enterprise. The curtains rose before him, the +usher called his name, and he entered the room with an +exaggeration of his usual mincing and airy dignity. There +were about a score of persons waiting, principally ladies; it was +one of the few societies in Grünewald where Otto knew +himself to be popular; and while a maid of honour made her exit +by a side door to announce his arrival to the Princess, he moved +round the apartment, collecting homage and bestowing compliments +with friendly grace. Had this been the sum of his duties, +he had been an admirable monarch. Lady after lady was +impartially honoured by his attention.</p> +<p>‘Madam,’ he said to one, ‘how does this +happen? I find you daily more adorable.’</p> +<p>‘And your Highness daily browner,’ replied the +lady. ‘We began equal; O, there I will be bold: we +have both beautiful complexions. But while I study mine, +your Highness tans himself.’</p> +<p>‘A perfect negro, madam; and what so fitly—being +beauty’s slave?’ said Otto.—‘Madame +Grafinski, when is our next play? I have just heard that I +am a bad actor.’</p> +<p>‘<i>O ciel</i>!’ cried Madame Grafinski. +‘Who could venture? What a bear!’</p> +<p>‘An excellent man, I can assure you,’ returned +Otto.</p> +<p>‘O, never! O, is it possible!’ fluted the +lady. ‘Your Highness plays like an angel.’</p> +<p>‘You must be right, madam; who could speak falsely and +yet look so charming?’ said the Prince. ‘But +this gentleman, it seems, would have preferred me playing like an +actor.’</p> +<p>A sort of hum, a falsetto, feminine cooing, greeted the tiny +sally; and Otto expanded like a peacock. This warm +atmosphere of women and flattery and idle chatter pleased him to +the marrow.</p> +<p>‘Madame von Eisenthal, your coiffure is +delicious,’ he remarked.</p> +<p>‘Every one was saying so,’ said one.</p> +<p>‘If I have pleased Prince Charming?’ And +Madame von Eisenthal swept him a deep curtsy with a killing +glance of adoration.</p> +<p>‘It is new?’ he asked. ‘Vienna +fashion.’</p> +<p>‘Mint new,’ replied the lady, ‘for your +Highness’s return. I felt young this morning; it was +a premonition. But why, Prince, do you ever leave +us?’</p> +<p>‘For the pleasure of the return,’ said Otto. +‘I am like a dog; I must bury my bone, and then come back +to great upon it.’</p> +<p>‘O, a bone! Fie, what a comparison! You have +brought back the manners of the wood,’ returned the +lady.</p> +<p>‘Madam, it is what the dog has dearest,’ said the +Prince. ‘But I observe Madame von Rosen.’</p> +<p>And Otto, leaving the group to which he had been piping, +stepped towards the embrasure of a window where a lady stood.</p> +<p>The Countess von Rosen had hitherto been silent, and a thought +depressed, but on the approach of Otto she began to +brighten. She was tall, slim as a nymph, and of a very airy +carriage; and her face, which was already beautiful in repose, +lightened and changed, flashed into smiles, and glowed with +lovely colour at the touch of animation. She was a good +vocalist; and, even in speech, her voice commanded a great range +of changes, the low notes rich with tenor quality, the upper +ringing, on the brink of laughter, into music. A gem of +many facets and variable hues of fire; a woman who withheld the +better portion of her beauty, and then, in a caressing second, +flashed it like a weapon full on the beholder; now merely a tall +figure and a sallow handsome face, with the evidences of a +reckless temper; anon opening like a flower to life and colour, +mirth and tenderness:—Madame von Rosen had always a dagger +in reserve for the despatch of ill-assured admirers. She +met Otto with the dart of tender gaiety.</p> +<p>‘You have come to me at last, Prince Cruel,’ she +said. ‘Butterfly! Well, and am I not to kiss +your hand?’ she added.</p> +<p>‘Madam, it is I who must kiss yours.’ And +Otto bowed and kissed it.</p> +<p>‘You deny me every indulgence,’ she said, +smiling.</p> +<p>‘And now what news in Court?’ inquired the +Prince. ‘I come to you for my gazette.’</p> +<p>‘Ditch-water!’ she replied. ‘The world +is all asleep, grown grey in slumber; I do not remember any +waking movement since quite an eternity; and the last thing in +the nature of a sensation was the last time my governess was +allowed to box my ears. But yet I do myself and your +unfortunate enchanted palace some injustice. Here is the +last—O positively!’ And she told him the story +from behind her fan, with many glances, many cunning strokes of +the narrator’s art. The others had drawn away, for it +was understood that Madame von Rosen was in favour with the +Prince. None the less, however, did the Countess lower her +voice at times to within a semitone of whispering; and the pair +leaned together over the narrative.</p> +<p>‘Do you know,’ said Otto, laughing, ‘you are +the only entertaining woman on this earth!’</p> +<p>‘O, you have found out so much,’ she cried.</p> +<p>‘Yes, madam, I grow wiser with advancing years,’ +he returned.</p> +<p>‘Years,’ she repeated. ‘Do you name +the traitors? I do not believe in years; the calendar is a +delusion.’</p> +<p>‘You must be right, madam,’ replied the +Prince. ‘For six years that we have been good +friends, I have observed you to grow younger.’</p> +<p>‘Flatterer!’ cried she, and then with a change, +‘But why should I say so,’ she added, ‘when I +protest I think the same? A week ago I had a council with +my father director, the glass; and the glass replied, “Not +yet!” I confess my face in this way once a +month. O! a very solemn moment. Do you know what I +shall do when the mirror answers, “Now”?’</p> +<p>‘I cannot guess,’ said he.</p> +<p>‘No more can I,’ returned the Countess. +‘There is such a choice! Suicide, gambling, a +nunnery, a volume of memoirs, or politics—the last, I am +afraid.’</p> +<p>‘It is a dull trade,’ said Otto.</p> +<p>‘Nay,’ she replied, ‘it is a trade I rather +like. It is, after all, first cousin to gossip, which no +one can deny to be amusing. For instance, if I were to tell +you that the Princess and the Baron rode out together daily to +inspect the cannon, it is either a piece of politics or scandal, +as I turn my phrase. I am the alchemist that makes the +transmutation. They have been everywhere together since you +left,’ she continued, brightening as she saw Otto darken; +‘that is a poor snippet of malicious gossip—and they +were everywhere cheered—and with that addition all becomes +political intelligence.’</p> +<p>‘Let us change the subject,’ said Otto.</p> +<p>‘I was about to propose it,’ she replied, +‘or rather to pursue the politics. Do you know? this +war is popular—popular to the length of cheering Princess +Seraphina.’</p> +<p>‘All things, madam, are possible,’ said the +Prince; and this among others, that we may be going into war, but +I give you my word of honour I do not know with whom.’</p> +<p>‘And you put up with it?’ she cried. +‘I have no pretensions to morality; and I confess I have +always abominated the lamb, and nourished a romantic feeling for +the wolf. O, be done with lambiness! Let us see there +is a prince, for I am weary of the distaff.’</p> +<p>‘Madam,’ said Otto, ‘I thought you were of +that faction.’</p> +<p>‘I should be of yours, <i>mon Prince</i>, if you had +one,’ she retorted. ‘Is it true that you have +no ambition? There was a man once in England whom they call +the kingmaker. Do you know,’ she added, ‘I +fancy I could make a prince?’</p> +<p>‘Some day, madam,’ said Otto, ‘I may ask you +to help make a farmer.’</p> +<p>‘Is that a riddle?’ asked the Countess.</p> +<p>‘It is,’ replied the Prince, ‘and a very +good one too.’</p> +<p>‘Tit for tat. I will ask you another,’ she +returned. ‘Where is Gondremark?’</p> +<p>‘The Prime Minister? In the prime-ministry, no +doubt,’ said Otto.</p> +<p>‘Precisely,’ said the Countess; and she pointed +with her fan to the door of the Princess’s +apartments. ‘You and I, <i>mon Prince</i>, are in the +ante-room. You think me unkind,’ she added. +‘Try me and you will see. Set me a task, put me a +question; there is no enormity I am not capable of doing to +oblige you, and no secret that I am not ready to +betray.’</p> +<p>‘Nay, madam, but I respect my friend too much,’ he +answered, kissing her hand. ‘I would rather remain +ignorant of all. We fraternise like foemen soldiers at the +outposts, but let each be true to his own army.’</p> +<p>‘Ah,’ she cried, ‘if all men were generous +like you, it would be worth while to be a woman!’ +Yet, judging by her looks, his generosity, if anything, had +disappointed her; she seemed to seek a remedy, and, having found +it, brightened once more. ‘And now,’ she said, +‘may I dismiss my sovereign? This is rebellion and a +<i>cas pendable</i>; but what am I to do? My bear is +jealous!’</p> +<p>‘Madam, enough!’ cried Otto. +‘Ahasuerus reaches you the sceptre; more, he will obey you +in all points. I should have been a dog to come to +whistling.’</p> +<p>And so the Prince departed, and fluttered round Grafinski and +von Eisenthal. But the Countess knew the use of her +offensive weapons, and had left a pleasant arrow in the +Prince’s heart. That Gondremark was +jealous—here was an agreeable revenge! And Madame von +Rosen, as the occasion of the jealousy, appeared to him in a new +light.</p> +<h3>CHAPTER V—. . . GONDREMARK IS IN MY LADY’S +CHAMBER</h3> +<p>The Countess von Rosen spoke the truth. The great Prime +Minister of Grünewald was already closeted with +Seraphina. The toilet was over; and the Princess, +tastefully arrayed, sat face to face with a tall mirror. +Sir John’s description was unkindly true, true in terms and +yet a libel, a misogynistic masterpiece. Her forehead was +perhaps too high, but it became her; her figure somewhat stooped, +but every detail was formed and finished like a gem; her hand, +her foot, her ear, the set of her comely head, were all dainty +and accordant; if she was not beautiful, she was vivid, +changeful, coloured, and pretty with a thousand various +prettinesses; and her eyes, if they indeed rolled too +consciously, yet rolled to purpose. They were her most +attractive feature, yet they continually bore eloquent false +witness to her thoughts; for while she herself, in the depths of +her immature, unsoftened heart, was given altogether to manlike +ambition and the desire of power, the eyes were by turns bold, +inviting, fiery, melting, and artful, like the eyes of a +rapacious siren. And artful, in a sense, she was. +Chafing that she was not a man, and could not shine by action, +she had conceived a woman’s part, of answerable domination; +she sought to subjugate for by-ends, to rain influence and be +fancy free; and, while she loved not man, loved to see man obey +her. It is a common girl’s ambition. Such was +perhaps that lady of the glove, who sent her lover to the +lions. But the snare is laid alike for male and female, and +the world most artfully contrived.</p> +<p>Near her, in a low chair, Gondremark had arranged his limbs +into a cat-like attitude, high-shouldered, stooping, and +submiss. The formidable blue jowl of the man, and the dull +bilious eye, set perhaps a higher value on his evident desire to +please. His face was marked by capacity, temper, and a kind +of bold, piratical dishonesty which it would be calumnious to +call deceit. His manners, as he smiled upon the Princess, +were over-fine, yet hardly elegant.</p> +<p>‘Possibly,’ said the Baron, ‘I should now +proceed to take my leave. I must not keep my sovereign in +the ante-room. Let us come at once to a +decision.’</p> +<p>‘It cannot, cannot be put off?’ she asked.</p> +<p>‘It is impossible,’ answered Gondremark. +‘Your Highness sees it for herself. In the earlier +stages, we might imitate the serpent; but for the ultimatum, +there is no choice but to be bold like lions. Had the +Prince chosen to remain away, it had been better; but we have +gone too far forward to delay.’</p> +<p>‘What can have brought him?’ she cried. +‘To-day of all days?’</p> +<p>‘The marplot, madam, has the instinct of his +nature,’ returned Gondremark. ‘But you +exaggerate the peril. Think, madam, how far we have +prospered, and against what odds! Shall a +Featherhead?—but no!’ And he blew upon his +fingers lightly with a laugh.</p> +<p>‘Featherhead,’ she replied, ‘is still the +Prince of Grünewald.’</p> +<p>‘On your sufferance only, and so long as you shall +please to be indulgent,’ said the Baron. ‘There +are rights of nature; power to the powerful is the law. If +he shall think to cross your destiny—well, you have heard +of the brazen and the earthen pot.’</p> +<p>‘Do you call me pot? You are ungallant, +Baron,’ laughed the Princess.</p> +<p>‘Before we are done with your glory, I shall have called +you by many different titles,’ he replied.</p> +<p>The girl flushed with pleasure. ‘But +Frédéric is still the Prince, <i>monsieur le +flatteur</i>,’ she said. ‘You do not propose a +revolution?—you of all men?’</p> +<p>‘Dear madam, when it is already made!’ he +cried. ‘The Prince reigns indeed in the almanac; but +my Princess reigns and rules.’ And he looked at her +with a fond admiration that made the heart of Seraphina +swell. Looking on her huge slave, she drank the +intoxicating joys of power. Meanwhile he continued, with +that sort of massive archness that so ill became him, ‘She +has but one fault; there is but one danger in the great career +that I foresee for her. May I name it? may I be so +irreverent? It is in herself—her heart is +soft.’</p> +<p>‘Her courage is faint, Baron,’ said the +Princess. ‘Suppose we have judged ill, suppose we +were defeated?’</p> +<p>‘Defeated, madam?’ returned the Baron, with a +touch of ill-humour. ‘Is the dog defeated by the +hare? Our troops are all cantoned along the frontier; in +five hours the vanguard of five thousand bayonets shall be +hammering on the gates of Brandenau; and in all Gerolstein there +are not fifteen hundred men who can manœuvre. It is +as simple as a sum. There can be no resistance.’</p> +<p>‘It is no great exploit,’ she said. +‘Is that what you call glory? It is like beating a +child.’</p> +<p>‘The courage, madam, is diplomatic,’ he +replied. ‘We take a grave step; we fix the eyes of +Europe, for the first time, on Grünewald; and in the +negotiations of the next three months, mark me, we stand or +fall. It is there, madam, that I shall have to depend upon +your counsels,’ he added, almost gloomily. ‘If +I had not seen you at work, if I did not know the fertility of +your mind, I own I should tremble for the consequence. But +it is in this field that men must recognise their +inability. All the great negotiators, when they have not +been women, have had women at their elbows. Madame de +Pompadour was ill served; she had not found her Gondremark; but +what a mighty politician! Catherine de’ Medici, too, +what justice of sight, what readiness of means, what elasticity +against defeat! But alas! madam, her Featherheads were her +own children; and she had that one touch of vulgarity, that one +trait of the good-wife, that she suffered family ties and +affections to confine her liberty.’</p> +<p>These singular views of history, strictly <i>ad usum +Seraphinæ</i>, did not weave their usual soothing spell +over the Princess. It was plain that she had taken a +momentary distaste to her own resolutions; for she continued to +oppose her counsellor, looking upon him out of half-closed eyes +and with the shadow of a sneer upon her lips. ‘What +boys men are!’ she said; ‘what lovers of big +words! Courage, indeed! If you had to scour pans, +Herr Von Gondremark, you would call it, I suppose, Domestic +Courage?’</p> +<p>‘I would, madam,’ said the Baron stoutly, +‘if I scoured them well. I would put a good name upon +a virtue; you will not overdo it: they are not so enchanting in +themselves.’</p> +<p>‘Well, but let me see,’ she said. ‘I +wish to understand your courage. Why we asked leave, like +children! Our grannie in Berlin, our uncle in Vienna, the +whole family, have patted us on the head and sent us +forward. Courage? I wonder when I hear +you!’</p> +<p>‘My Princess is unlike herself,’ returned the +Baron. ‘She has forgotten where the peril lies. +True, we have received encouragement on every hand; but my +Princess knows too well on what untenable conditions; and she +knows besides how, in the publicity of the diet, these whispered +conferences are forgotten and disowned. The danger is very +real’—he raged inwardly at having to blow the very +coal he had been quenching—‘none the less real in +that it is not precisely military, but for that reason the easier +to be faced. Had we to count upon your troops, although I +share your Highness’s expectations of the conduct of +Alvenau, we cannot forget that he has not been proved in chief +command. But where negotiation is concerned, the conduct +lies with us; and with your help, I laugh at danger.’</p> +<p>‘It may be so,’ said Seraphina, sighing. +‘It is elsewhere that I see danger. The people, these +abominable people—suppose they should instantly +rebel? What a figure we should make in the eyes of Europe +to have undertaken an invasion while my own throne was tottering +to its fall!’</p> +<p>‘Nay, madam,’ said Gondremark, smiling, +‘here you are beneath yourself. What is it that feeds +their discontent? What but the taxes? Once we have +seized Gerolstein, the taxes are remitted, the sons return +covered with renown, the houses are adorned with pillage, each +tastes his little share of military glory, and behold us once +again a happy family! “Ay,” they will say, in +each other’s long ears, “the Princess knew what she +was about; she was in the right of it; she has a head upon her +shoulders; and here we are, you see, better off than +before.” But why should I say all this? It is +what my Princess pointed out to me herself; it was by these +reasons that she converted me to this adventure.’</p> +<p>‘I think, Herr von Gondremark,’ said Seraphina, +somewhat tartly, ‘you often attribute your own sagacity to +your Princess.’</p> +<p>For a second Gondremark staggered under the shrewdness of the +attack; the next, he had perfectly recovered. ‘Do +I?’ he said. ‘It is very possible. I have +observed a similar tendency in your Highness.’</p> +<p>It was so openly spoken, and appeared so just, that Seraphina +breathed again. Her vanity had been alarmed, and the +greatness of the relief improved her spirits. +‘Well,’ she said, ‘all this is little to the +purpose. We are keeping Frédéric without, and +I am still ignorant of our line of battle. Come, +co-admiral, let us consult. . . . How am I to receive him +now? And what are we to do if he should appear at the +council?’</p> +<p>‘Now,’ he answered. ‘I shall leave him +to my Princess for just now! I have seen her at work. +Send him off to his theatricals! But in all +gentleness,’ he added. ‘Would it, for instance, +would it displease my sovereign to affect a headache?’</p> +<p>‘Never!’ said she. ‘The woman who can +manage, like the man who can fight, must never shrink from an +encounter. The knight must not disgrace his +weapons.’</p> +<p>‘Then let me pray my <i>belle dame sans +merci</i>,’ he returned, ‘to affect the only virtue +that she lacks. Be pitiful to the poor young man; affect an +interest in his hunting; be weary of politics; find in his +society, as it were, a grateful repose from dry +considerations. Does my Princess authorise the line of +battle?’</p> +<p>‘Well, that is a trifle,’ answered +Seraphina. ‘The council—there is the +point.’</p> +<p>‘The council?’ cried Gondremark. +‘Permit me, madam.’ And he rose and proceeded +to flutter about the room, counterfeiting Otto both in voice and +gesture not unhappily. ‘What is there to-day, Herr +von Gondremark? Ah, Herr Cancellarius, a new wig! You +cannot deceive me; I know every wig in Grünewald; I have the +sovereign’s eye. What are these papers about? +O, I see. O, certainly. Surely, surely. I wager +none of you remarked that wig. By all means. I know +nothing about that. Dear me, are there as many as all +that? Well, you can sign them; you have the +procuration. You see, Herr Cancellarius, I knew your +wig. And so,’ concluded Gondremark, resuming his own +voice, ‘our sovereign, by the particular grace of God, +enlightens and supports his privy councillors.’</p> +<p>But when the Baron turned to Seraphina for approval, he found +her frozen. ‘You are pleased to be witty, Herr von +Gondremark,’ she said, ‘and have perhaps forgotten +where you are. But these rehearsals are apt to be +misleading. Your master, the Prince of Grünewald, is +sometimes more exacting.’</p> +<p>Gondremark cursed her in his soul. Of all injured +vanities, that of the reproved buffoon is the most savage; and +when grave issues are involved, these petty stabs become +unbearable. But Gondremark was a man of iron; he showed +nothing; he did not even, like the common trickster, retreat +because he had presumed, but held to his point bravely. +‘Madam,’ he said, ‘if, as you say, he prove +exacting, we must take the bull by the horns.’</p> +<p>‘We shall see,’ she said, and she arranged her +skirt like one about to rise. Temper, scorn, disgust, all +the more acrid feelings, became her like jewels; and she now +looked her best.</p> +<p>‘Pray God they quarrel,’ thought Gondremark. +‘The damned minx may fail me yet, unless they +quarrel. It is time to let him in. Zz—fight, +dogs!’ Consequent on these reflections, he bent a +stiff knee and chivalrously kissed the Princess’s +hand. ‘My Princess,’ he said, ‘must now +dismiss her servant. I have much to arrange against the +hour of council.’</p> +<p>‘Go,’ she said, and rose.</p> +<p>And as Gondremark tripped out of a private door, she touched a +bell, and gave the order to admit the Prince.</p> +<h3>CHAPTER VI—THE PRINCE DELIVERS A LECTURE ON MARRIAGE, +WITH PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATIONS OF DIVORCE</h3> +<p>With what a world of excellent intentions Otto entered his +wife’s cabinet! how fatherly, how tender! how morally +affecting were the words he had prepared! Nor was Seraphina +unamiably inclined. Her usual fear of Otto as a marplot in +her great designs was now swallowed up in a passing distrust of +the designs themselves. For Gondremark, besides, she had +conceived an angry horror. In her heart she did not like +the Baron. Behind his impudent servility, behind the +devotion which, with indelicate delicacy, he still forced on her +attention, she divined the grossness of his nature. So a +man may be proud of having tamed a bear, and yet sicken at his +captive’s odour. And above all, she had certain +jealous intimations that the man was false and the deception +double. True, she falsely trifled with his love; but he, +perhaps, was only trifling with her vanity. The insolence +of his late mimicry, and the odium of her own position as she sat +and watched it, lay besides like a load upon her +conscience. She met Otto almost with a sense of guilt, and +yet she welcomed him as a deliverer from ugly things.</p> +<p>But the wheels of an interview are at the mercy of a thousand +ruts; and even at Otto’s entrance, the first jolt +occurred. Gondremark, he saw, was gone; but there was the +chair drawn close for consultation; and it pained him not only +that this man had been received, but that he should depart with +such an air of secrecy. Struggling with this twinge, it was +somewhat sharply that he dismissed the attendant who had brought +him in.</p> +<p>‘You make yourself at home, <i>chez moi</i>,’ she +said, a little ruffled both by his tone of command and by the +glance he had thrown upon the chair.</p> +<p>‘Madam,’ replied Otto, ‘I am here so seldom +that I have almost the rights of a stranger.’</p> +<p>‘You choose your own associates, +Frédéric,’ she said.</p> +<p>‘I am here to speak of it,’ he returned. +‘It is now four years since we were married; and these four +years, Seraphina, have not perhaps been happy either for you or +for me. I am well aware I was unsuitable to be your +husband. I was not young, I had no ambition, I was a +trifler; and you despised me, I dare not say unjustly. But +to do justice on both sides, you must bear in mind how I have +acted. When I found it amused you to play the part of +Princess on this little stage, did I not immediately resign to +you my box of toys, this Grünewald? And when I found I +was distasteful as a husband, could any husband have been less +intrusive? You will tell me that I have no feelings, no +preference, and thus no credit; that I go before the wind; that +all this was in my character. And indeed, one thing is +true, that it is easy, too easy, to leave things undone. +But Seraphina, I begin to learn it is not always wise. If I +were too old and too uncongenial for your husband, I should still +have remembered that I was the Prince of that country to which +you came, a visitor and a child. In that relation also +there were duties, and these duties I have not +performed.’</p> +<p>To claim the advantage of superior age is to give sure +offence. ‘Duty!’ laughed Seraphina, ‘and +on your lips, Frédéric! You make me +laugh. What fancy is this? Go, flirt with the maids +and be a prince in Dresden china, as you look. Enjoy +yourself, <i>mon enfant</i>, and leave duty and the state to +us.’</p> +<p>The plural grated on the Prince. ‘I have enjoyed +myself too much,’ he said, ‘since enjoyment is the +word. And yet there were much to say upon the other +side. You must suppose me desperately fond of +hunting. But indeed there were days when I found a great +deal of interest in what it was courtesy to call my +government. And I have always had some claim to taste; I +could tell live happiness from dull routine; and between hunting, +and the throne of Austria, and your society, my choice had never +wavered, had the choice been mine. You were a girl, a bud, +when you were given me—’</p> +<p>‘Heavens!’ she cried, ‘is this to be a +love-scene?’</p> +<p>‘I am never ridiculous,’ he said; ‘it is my +only merit; and you may be certain this shall be a scene of +marriage <i>à la mode</i>. But when I remember the +beginning, it is bare courtesy to speak in sorrow. Be just, +madam: you would think me strangely uncivil to recall these days +without the decency of a regret. Be yet a little juster, +and own, if only in complaisance, that you yourself regret that +past.’</p> +<p>‘I have nothing to regret,’ said the +Princess. ‘You surprise me. I thought you were +so happy.’</p> +<p>‘Happy and happy, there are so many hundred ways,’ +said Otto. ‘A man may be happy in revolt; he may be +happy in sleep; wine, change, and travel make him happy; virtue, +they say, will do the like—I have not tried; and they say +also that in old, quiet, and habitual marriages there is yet +another happiness. Happy, yes; I am happy if you like; but +I will tell you frankly, I was happier when I brought you +home.’</p> +<p>‘Well,’ said the Princess, not without constraint, +‘it seems you changed your mind.’</p> +<p>‘Not I,’ returned Otto, ‘I never +changed. Do you remember, Seraphina, on our way home, when +you saw the roses in the lane, and I got out and plucked +them? It was a narrow lane between great trees; the sunset +at the end was all gold, and the rooks were flying +overhead. There were nine, nine red roses; you gave me a +kiss for each, and I told myself that every rose and every kiss +should stand for a year of love. Well, in eighteen months +there was an end. But do you fancy, Seraphina, that my +heart has altered?’</p> +<p>‘I am sure I cannot tell,’ she said, like an +automaton.</p> +<p>‘It has not,’ the Prince continued. +‘There is nothing ridiculous, even from a husband, in a +love that owns itself unhappy and that asks no more. I +built on sand; pardon me, I do not breathe a reproach—I +built, I suppose, upon my own infirmities; but I put my heart in +the building, and it still lies among the ruins.’</p> +<p>‘How very poetical!’ she said, with a little +choking laugh, unknown relentings, unfamiliar softnesses, moving +within her. ‘What would you be at?’ she added, +hardening her voice.</p> +<p>‘I would be at this,’ he answered; ‘and hard +it is to say. I would be at this:—Seraphina, I am +your husband after all, and a poor fool that loves you. +Understand,’ he cried almost fiercely, ‘I am no +suppliant husband; what your love refuses I would scorn to +receive from your pity. I do not ask, I would not take +it. And for jealousy, what ground have I? A +dog-in-the-manger jealousy is a thing the dogs may laugh +at. But at least, in the world’s eye, I am still your +husband; and I ask you if you treat me fairly? I keep to +myself, I leave you free, I have given you in everything your +will. What do you in return? I find, Seraphina, that +you have been too thoughtless. But between persons such as +we are, in our conspicuous station, particular care and a +particular courtesy are owing. Scandal is perhaps not easy +to avoid; but it is hard to bear.’</p> +<p>‘Scandal!’ she cried, with a deep breath. +‘Scandal! It is for this you have been +driving!’</p> +<p>‘I have tried to tell you how I feel,’ he +replied. ‘I have told you that I love you—love +you in vain—a bitter thing for a husband; I have laid +myself open that I might speak without offence. And now +that I have begun, I will go on and finish.’</p> +<p>‘I demand it,’ she said. ‘What is this +about?’</p> +<p>Otto flushed crimson. ‘I have to say what I would +fain not,’ he answered. ‘I counsel you to see +less of Gondremark.’</p> +<p>‘Of Gondremark? And why?’ she asked.</p> +<p>‘Your intimacy is the ground of scandal, madam,’ +said Otto, firmly enough—‘of a scandal that is agony +to me, and would be crushing to your parents if they knew +it.’</p> +<p>‘You are the first to bring me word of it,’ said +she. ‘I thank you.’</p> +<p>‘You have perhaps cause,’ he replied. +‘Perhaps I am the only one among your +friends—’</p> +<p>‘O, leave my friends alone,’ she +interrupted. ‘My friends are of a different +stamp. You have come to me here and made a parade of +sentiment. When have I last seen you? I have governed +your kingdom for you in the meanwhile, and there I got no +help. At last, when I am weary with a man’s work, and +you are weary of your playthings, you return to make me a scene +of conjugal reproaches—the grocer and his wife! The +positions are too much reversed; and you should understand, at +least, that I cannot at the same time do your work of government +and behave myself like a little girl. Scandal is the +atmosphere in which we live, we princes; it is what a prince +should know. You play an odious part. Do you believe +this rumour?’</p> +<p>‘Madam, should I be here?’ said Otto.</p> +<p>‘It is what I want to know!’ she cried, the +tempest of her scorn increasing. ‘Suppose you +did—I say, suppose you did believe it?’</p> +<p>‘I should make it my business to suppose the +contrary,’ he answered.</p> +<p>‘I thought so. O, you are made of baseness!’ +said she.</p> +<p>‘Madam,’ he cried, roused at last, ‘enough +of this. You wilfully misunderstand my attitude; you +outwear my patience. In the name of your parents, in my own +name, I summon you to be more circumspect.’</p> +<p>‘Is this a request, <i>monsieur mon mari</i>?’ she +demanded.</p> +<p>‘Madam, if I chose, I might command,’ said +Otto.</p> +<p>‘You might, sir, as the law stands, make me +prisoner,’ returned Seraphina. ‘Short of that +you will gain nothing.’</p> +<p>‘You will continue as before?’ he asked.</p> +<p>‘Precisely as before,’ said she. ‘As +soon as this comedy is over, I shall request the Freiherr von +Gondremark to visit me. Do you understand?’ she +added, rising. ‘For my part, I have done.’</p> +<p>‘I will then ask the favour of your hand, madam,’ +said Otto, palpitating in every pulse with anger. ‘I +have to request that you will visit in my society another part of +my poor house. And reassure yourself—it will not take +long—and it is the last obligation that you shall have the +chance to lay me under.’</p> +<p>‘The last?’ she cried. ‘Most +joyfully?’</p> +<p>She offered her hand, and he took it; on each side with an +elaborate affectation, each inwardly incandescent. He led +her out by the private door, following where Gondremark had +passed; they threaded a corridor or two, little frequented, +looking on a court, until they came at last into the +Prince’s suite. The first room was an armoury, hung +all about with the weapons of various countries, and looking +forth on the front terrace.</p> +<p>‘Have you brought me here to slay me?’ she +inquired.</p> +<p>‘I have brought you, madam, only to pass on,’ +replied Otto.</p> +<p>Next they came to a library, where an old chamberlain sat half +asleep. He rose and bowed before the princely couple, +asking for orders.</p> +<p>‘You will attend us here,’ said Otto.</p> +<p>The next stage was a gallery of pictures, where +Seraphina’s portrait hung conspicuous, dressed for the +chase, red roses in her hair, as Otto, in the first months of +marriage, had directed. He pointed to it without a word; +she raised her eyebrows in silence; and they passed still forward +into a matted corridor where four doors opened. One led to +Otto’s bedroom; one was the private door to +Seraphina’s. And here, for the first time, Otto left +her hand, and stepping forward, shot the bolt.</p> +<p>‘It is long, madam,’ said he, ‘since it was +bolted on the other side.’</p> +<p>‘One was effectual,’ returned the Princess. +‘Is this all?’</p> +<p>‘Shall I reconduct you?’ he asking, bowing.</p> +<p>‘I should prefer,’ she asked, in ringing tones, +‘the conduct of the Freiherr von Gondremark.’</p> +<p>Otto summoned the chamberlain. ‘If the Freiherr +von Gondremark is in the palace,’ he said, ‘bid him +attend the Princess here.’ And when the official had +departed, ‘Can I do more to serve you, madam?’ the +Prince asked.</p> +<p>‘Thank you, no. I have been much amused,’ +she answered.</p> +<p>‘I have now,’ continued Otto, ‘given you +your liberty complete. This has been for you a miserable +marriage.’</p> +<p>‘Miserable!’ said she.</p> +<p>‘It has been made light to you; it shall be lighter +still,’ continued the Prince. ‘But one thing, +madam, you must still continue to bear—my father’s +name, which is now yours. I leave it in your hands. +Let me see you, since you will have no advice of mine, apply the +more attention of your own to bear it worthily.’</p> +<p>‘Herr von Gondremark is long in coming,’ she +remarked.</p> +<p>‘O Seraphina, Seraphina!’ he cried. And that +was the end of their interview.</p> +<p>She tripped to a window and looked out; and a little after, +the chamberlain announced the Freiherr von Gondremark, who +entered with something of a wild eye and changed complexion, +confounded, as he was, at this unusual summons. The +Princess faced round from the window with a pearly smile; nothing +but her heightened colour spoke of discomposure.</p> +<p>Otto was pale, but he was otherwise master of himself.</p> +<p>‘Herr von Gondremark,’ said he, ‘oblige me +so far: reconduct the Princess to her own apartment.’</p> +<p>The Baron, still all at sea, offered his hand, which was +smilingly accepted, and the pair sailed forth through the +picture-gallery.</p> +<p>As soon as they were gone, and Otto knew the length and +breadth of his miscarriage, and how he had done the contrary of +all that he intended, he stood stupefied. A fiasco so +complete and sweeping was laughable, even to himself; and he +laughed aloud in his wrath. Upon this mood there followed +the sharpest violence of remorse; and to that again, as he +recalled his provocation, anger succeeded afresh. So he was +tossed in spirit; now bewailing his inconsequence and lack of +temper, now flaming up in white-hot indignation and a noble pity +for himself.</p> +<p>He paced his apartment like a leopard. There was danger +in Otto, for a flash. Like a pistol, he could kill at one +moment, and the next he might he kicked aside. But just +then, as he walked the long floors in his alternate humours, +tearing his handkerchief between his hands, he was strung to his +top note, every nerve attent. The pistol, you might say, +was charged. And when jealousy from time to time fetched +him a lash across the tenderest of his feeling, and sent a string +of her fire-pictures glancing before his mind’s eye, the +contraction of his face was even dangerous. He disregarded +jealousy’s inventions, yet they stung. In this height +of anger, he still preserved his faith in Seraphina’s +innocence; but the thought of her possible misconduct was the +bitterest ingredient in his pot of sorrow.</p> +<p>There came a knock at the door, and the chamberlain brought +him a note. He took it and ground it in his hand, +continuing his march, continuing his bewildered thoughts; and +some minutes had gone by before the circumstance came clearly to +his mind. Then he paused and opened it. It was a +pencil scratch from Gotthold, thus conceived:</p> +<blockquote><p>‘The council is privately summoned at +once.</p> +<p style="text-align: right">G. v. H.’</p> +</blockquote> +<p>If the council was thus called before the hour, and that +privately, it was plain they feared his interference. +Feared: here was a sweet thought. Gotthold, +too—Gotthold, who had always used and regarded him as a +mere peasant lad, had now been at the pains to warn him; Gotthold +looked for something at his hands. Well, none should be +disappointed; the Prince, too long beshadowed by the uxorious +lover, should now return and shine. He summoned his valet, +repaired the disorder of his appearance with elaborate care; and +then, curled and scented and adorned, Prince Charming in every +line, but with a twitching nostril, he set forth unattended for +the council.</p> +<h3>CHAPTER VII—THE PRINCE DISSOLVES THE COUNCIL</h3> +<p>It was as Gotthold wrote. The liberation of Sir John, +Greisengesang’s uneasy narrative, last of all, the scene +between Seraphina and the Prince, had decided the conspirators to +take a step of bold timidity. There had been a period of +bustle, liveried messengers speeding here and there with notes; +and at half-past ten in the morning, about an hour before its +usual hour, the council of Grünewald sat around the +board.</p> +<p>It was not a large body. At the instance of Gondremark, +it had undergone a strict purgation, and was now composed +exclusively of tools. Three secretaries sat at a +side-table. Seraphina took the head; on her right was the +Baron, on her left Greisengesang; below these Grafinski the +treasurer, Count Eisenthal, a couple of non-combatants, and, to +the surprise of all, Gotthold. He had been named a privy +councillor by Otto, merely that he might profit by the salary; +and as he was never known to attend a meeting, it had occurred to +nobody to cancel his appointment. His present appearance +was the more ominous, coming when it did. Gondremark +scowled upon him; and the non-combatant on his right, +intercepting this black look, edged away from one who was so +clearly out of favour.</p> +<p>‘The hour presses, your Highness,’ said the Baron; +‘may we proceed to business?’</p> +<p>‘At once,’ replied Seraphina.</p> +<p>‘Your Highness will pardon me,’ said Gotthold; +‘but you are still, perhaps, unacquainted with the fact +that Prince Otto has returned.’</p> +<p>‘The Prince will not attend the council,’ replied +Seraphina, with a momentary blush. ‘The despatches, +Herr Cancellarius? There is one for Gerolstein?’</p> +<p>A secretary brought a paper.</p> +<p>‘Here, madam,’ said Greisengesang. +‘Shall I read it?’</p> +<p>‘We are all familiar with its terms,’ replied +Gondremark. ‘Your Highness approves?’</p> +<p>‘Unhesitatingly,’ said Seraphina.</p> +<p>‘It may then be held as read,’ concluded the +Baron. ‘Will your Highness sign?’</p> +<p>The Princess did so; Gondremark, Eisenthal, and one of the +non-combatants followed suit; and the paper was then passed +across the table to the librarian. He proceeded leisurely +to read.</p> +<p>‘We have no time to spare, Herr Doctor,’ cried the +Baron brutally. ‘If you do not choose to sign on the +authority of your sovereign, pass it on. Or you may leave +the table,’ he added, his temper ripping out.</p> +<p>‘I decline your invitation, Herr von Gondremark; and my +sovereign, as I continue to observe with regret, is still absent +from the board,’ replied the Doctor calmly; and he resumed +the perusal of the paper, the rest chafing and exchanging +glances. ‘Madame and gentlemen,’ he said, at +last, ‘what I hold in my hand is simply a declaration of +war.’</p> +<p>‘Simply,’ said Seraphina, flashing defiance.</p> +<p>‘The sovereign of this country is under the same roof +with us,’ continued Gotthold, ‘and I insist he shall +be summoned. It is needless to adduce my reasons; you are +all ashamed at heart of this projected treachery.’</p> +<p>The council waved like a sea. There were various +outcries.</p> +<p>‘You insult the Princess,’ thundered +Gondremark.</p> +<p>‘I maintain my protest,’ replied Gotthold.</p> +<p>At the height of this confusion the door was thrown open; an +usher announced, ‘Gentlemen, the Prince!’ and Otto, +with his most excellent bearing, entered the apartment. It +was like oil upon the troubled waters; every one settled +instantly into his place, and Griesengesang, to give himself a +countenance, became absorbed in the arrangement of his papers; +but in their eagerness to dissemble, one and all neglected to +rise.</p> +<p>‘Gentlemen,’ said the Prince, pausing.</p> +<p>They all got to their feet in a moment; and this reproof still +further demoralised the weaker brethren.</p> +<p>The Prince moved slowly towards the lower end of the table; +then he paused again, and, fixing his eye on Greisengesang, +‘How comes it, Herr Cancellarius,’ he asked, +‘that I have received no notice of the change of +hour?’</p> +<p>‘Your Highness,’ replied the Chancellor, +‘her Highness the Princess . . . ’ and there +paused.</p> +<p>‘I understood,’ said Seraphina, taking him up, +‘that you did not purpose to be present.’</p> +<p>Their eyes met for a second, and Seraphina’s fell; but +her anger only burned the brighter for that private shame.</p> +<p>‘And now, gentlemen,’ said Otto, taking his chair, +‘I pray you to be seated. I have been absent: there +are doubtless some arrears; but ere we proceed to business, Herr +Grafinski, you will direct four thousand crowns to be sent to me +at once. Make a note, if you please,’ he added, as +the treasurer still stared in wonder.</p> +<p>‘Four thousand crowns?’ asked Seraphina. +‘Pray, for what?’</p> +<p>‘Madam,’ returned Otto, smiling, ‘for my own +purposes.’</p> +<p>Gondremark spurred up Grafinski underneath the table.</p> +<p>‘If your Highness will indicate the destination . . . +’ began the puppet.</p> +<p>‘You are not here, sir, to interrogate your +Prince,’ said Otto.</p> +<p>Grafinski looked for help to his commander; and Gondremark +came to his aid, in suave and measured tones.</p> +<p>‘Your Highness may reasonably be surprised,’ he +said; ‘and Herr Grafinski, although I am convinced he is +clear of the intention of offending, would have perhaps done +better to begin with an explanation. The resources of the +state are at the present moment entirely swallowed up, or, as we +hope to prove, wisely invested. In a month from now, I do +not question we shall be able to meet any command your Highness +may lay upon us; but at this hour I fear that, even in so small a +matter, he must prepare himself for disappointment. Our +zeal is no less, although our power may be inadequate.’</p> +<p>‘How much, Herr Grafinski, have we in the +treasury?’ asked Otto.</p> +<p>‘Your Highness,’ protested the treasurer, +‘we have immediate need of every crown.’</p> +<p>‘I think, sir, you evade me,’ flashed the Prince; +and then turning to the side-table, ‘Mr. Secretary,’ +he added, ‘bring me, if you please, the treasury +docket.’</p> +<p>Herr Grafinski became deadly pale; the Chancellor, expecting +his own turn, was probably engaged in prayer; Gondremark was +watching like a ponderous cat. Gotthold, on his part, +looked on with wonder at his cousin; he was certainly showing +spirit, but what, in such a time of gravity, was all this talk of +money? and why should he waste his strength upon a personal +issue?</p> +<p>‘I find,’ said Otto, with his finger on the +docket, ‘that we have 20,000 crowns in case.’</p> +<p>‘That is exact, your Highness,’ replied the +Baron. ‘But our liabilities, all of which are happily +not liquid, amount to a far larger sum; and at the present point +of time it would be morally impossible to divert a single +florin. Essentially, the case is empty. We have, +already presented, a large note for material of war.’</p> +<p>‘Material of war?’ exclaimed Otto, with an +excellent assumption of surprise. ‘But if my memory +serves me right, we settled these accounts in January.’</p> +<p>‘There have been further orders,’ the Baron +explained. ‘A new park of artillery has been +completed; five hundred stand of arms, seven hundred baggage +mules—the details are in a special memorandum.—Mr. +Secretary Holtz, the memorandum, if you please.’</p> +<p>‘One would think, gentlemen, that we were going to +war,’ said Otto.</p> +<p>‘We are,’ said Seraphina.</p> +<p>‘War!’ cried the Prince, ‘and, gentlemen, +with whom? The peace of Grünewald has endured for +centuries. What aggression, what insult, have we +suffered?’</p> +<p>‘Here, your Highness,’ said Gotthold, ‘is +the ultimatum. It was in the very article of signature, +when your Highness so opportunely entered.’</p> +<p>Otto laid the paper before him; as he read, his fingers played +tattoo upon the table. ‘Was it proposed,’ he +inquired, ‘to send this paper forth without a knowledge of +my pleasure?’</p> +<p>One of the non-combatants, eager to trim, volunteered an +answer. ‘The Herr Doctor von Hohenstockwitz had just +entered his dissent,’ he added.</p> +<p>‘Give me the rest of this correspondence,’ said +the Prince. It was handed to him, and he read it patiently +from end to end, while the councillors sat foolishly enough +looking before them on the table.</p> +<p>The secretaries, in the background, were exchanging glances of +delight; a row at the council was for them a rare and welcome +feature.</p> +<p>‘Gentlemen,’ said Otto, when he had finished, +‘I have read with pain. This claim upon +Obermünsterol is palpably unjust; it has not a tincture, not +a show, of justice. There is not in all this ground enough +for after-dinner talk, and you propose to force it as a <i>casus +belli</i>.’</p> +<p>‘Certainly, your Highness,’ returned Gondremark, +too wise to defend the indefensible, ‘the claim on +Obermünsterol is simply a pretext.’</p> +<p>‘It is well,’ said the Prince. ‘Herr +Cancellarius, take your pen. “The council,” he +began to dictate—‘I withhold all notice of my +intervention,’ he said, in parenthesis, and addressing +himself more directly to his wife; ‘and I say nothing of +the strange suppression by which this business has been smuggled +past my knowledge. I am content to be in +time—“The council,”’ he resumed, +‘“on a further examination of the facts, and +enlightened by the note in the last despatch from Gerolstein, +have the pleasure to announce that they are entirely at one, both +as to fact and sentiment, with the Grand-Ducal Court of +Gerolstein.” You have it? Upon these lines, +sir, you will draw up the despatch.’</p> +<p>‘If your Highness will allow me,’ said the Baron, +‘your Highness is so imperfectly acquainted with the +internal history of this correspondence, that any interference +will be merely hurtful. Such a paper as your Highness +proposes would be to stultify the whole previous policy of +Grünewald.’</p> +<p>‘The policy of Grünewald!’ cried the +Prince. ‘One would suppose you had no sense of +humour! Would you fish in a coffee cup?’</p> +<p>‘With deference, your Highness,’ returned the +Baron, ‘even in a coffee cup there may be poison. The +purpose of this war is not simply territorial enlargement; still +less is it a war of glory; for, as your Highness indicates, the +state of Grünewald is too small to be ambitious. But +the body politic is seriously diseased; republicanism, socialism, +many disintegrating ideas are abroad; circle within circle, a +really formidable organisation has grown up about your +Highness’s throne.’</p> +<p>‘I have heard of it, Herr von Gondremark,’ put in +the Prince; ‘but I have reason to be aware that yours is +the more authoritative information.’</p> +<p>‘I am honoured by this expression of my Prince’s +confidence’ returned Gondremark, unabashed. ‘It +is, therefore, with a single eye to these disorders that our +present external policy has been shaped. Something was +required to divert public attention, to employ the idle, to +popularise your Highness’s rule, and, if it were possible, +to enable him to reduce the taxes at a blow and to a notable +amount. The proposed expedition—for it cannot without +hyperbole be called a war—seemed to the council to combine +the various characters required; a marked improvement in the +public sentiment has followed even upon our preparations; and I +cannot doubt that when success shall follow, the effect will +surpass even our boldest hopes.’</p> +<p>‘You are very adroit, Herr von Gondremark,’ said +Otto. ‘You fill me with admiration. I had not +heretofore done justice to your qualities.’</p> +<p>Seraphina looked up with joy, supposing Otto conquered; but +Gondremark still waited, armed at every point; he knew how very +stubborn is the revolt of a weak character.</p> +<p>‘And the territorial army scheme, to which I was +persuaded to consent—was it secretly directed to the same +end?’ the Prince asked.</p> +<p>‘I still believe the effect to have been good,’ +replied the Baron; ‘discipline and mounting guard are +excellent sedatives. But I will avow to your Highness, I +was unaware, at the date of that decree, of the magnitude of the +revolutionary movement; nor did any of us, I think, imagine that +such a territorial army was a part of the republican +proposals.’</p> +<p>‘It was?’ asked Otto. ‘Strange! +Upon what fancied grounds?’</p> +<p>‘The grounds were indeed fanciful,’ returned the +Baron. ‘It was conceived among the leaders that a +territorial army, drawn from and returning to the people, would, +in the event of any popular uprising, prove lukewarm or +unfaithful to the throne.’</p> +<p>‘I see,’ said the Prince. ‘I begin to +understand.’</p> +<p>‘His Highness begins to understand?’ repeated +Gondremark, with the sweetest politeness. ‘May I beg +of him to complete the phrase?’</p> +<p>‘The history of the revolution,’ replied Otto +dryly. ‘And now,’ he added, ‘what do you +conclude?’</p> +<p>‘I conclude, your Highness, with a simple +reflection,’ said the Baron, accepting the stab without a +quiver, ‘the war is popular; were the rumour contradicted +to-morrow, a considerable disappointment would be felt in many +classes; and in the present tension of spirits, the most lukewarm +sentiment may be enough to precipitate events. There lies +the danger. The revolution hangs imminent; we sit, at this +council board, below the sword of Damocles.’</p> +<p>‘We must then lay our heads together,’ said the +Prince, ‘and devise some honourable means of +safety.’</p> +<p>Up to this moment, since the first note of opposition fell +from the librarian, Seraphina had uttered about twenty +words. With a somewhat heightened colour, her eyes +generally lowered, her foot sometimes nervously tapping on the +floor, she had kept her own counsel and commanded her anger like +a hero. But at this stage of the engagement she lost +control of her impatience.</p> +<p>‘Means!’ she cried. ‘They have been +found and prepared before you knew the need for them. Sign +the despatch, and let us be done with this delay.’</p> +<p>‘Madam, I said “honourable,”’ returned +Otto, bowing. ‘This war is, in my eyes, and by Herr +von Gondremark’s account, an inadmissible expedient. +If we have misgoverned here in Grünewald, are the people of +Gerolstein to bleed and pay for our mis-doings? Never, +madam; not while I live. But I attach so much importance to +all that I have heard to-day for the first time—and why +only to-day, I do not even stop to ask—that I am eager to +find some plan that I can follow with credit to +myself.’</p> +<p>‘And should you fail?’ she asked.</p> +<p>‘Should I fail, I will then meet the blow +half-way,’ replied the Prince. ‘On the first +open discontent, I shall convoke the States, and, when it pleases +them to bid me, abdicate.’</p> +<p>Seraphina laughed angrily. ‘This is the man for +whom we have been labouring!’ she cried. ‘We +tell him of change; he will devise the means, he says; and his +device is abdication? Sir, have you no shame to come here +at the eleventh hour among those who have borne the heat and +burthen of the day? Do you not wonder at yourself? I, +sir, was here in my place, striving to uphold your dignity +alone. I took counsel with the wisest I could find, while +you were eating and hunting. I have laid my plans with +foresight; they were ripe for action; and then—‘she +choked—‘then you return—for a forenoon—to +ruin all! To-morrow, you will be once more about your +pleasures; you will give us leave once more to think and work for +you; and again you will come back, and again you will thwart what +you had not the industry or knowledge to conceive. O! it is +intolerable. Be modest, sir. Do not presume upon the +rank you cannot worthily uphold. I would not issue my +commands with so much gusto—it is from no merit in yourself +they are obeyed. What are you? What have you to do in +this grave council? Go,’ she cried, ‘go among +your equals? The very people in the streets mock at you for +a prince.’</p> +<p>At this surprising outburst the whole council sat aghast.</p> +<p>‘Madam,’ said the Baron, alarmed out of his +caution, ‘command yourself.’</p> +<p>‘Address yourself to me, sir!’ cried the +Prince. ‘I will not bear these +whisperings!’</p> +<p>Seraphina burst into tears.</p> +<p>‘Sir,’ cried the Baron, rising, ‘this +lady—’</p> +<p>‘Herr von Gondremark,’ said the Prince, ‘one +more observation, and I place you under arrest.’</p> +<p>‘Your Highness is the master,’ replied Gondremark, +bowing.</p> +<p>‘Bear it in mind more constantly,’ said +Otto. ‘Herr Cancellarius, bring all the papers to my +cabinet. Gentlemen, the council is dissolved.’</p> +<p>And he bowed and left the apartment, followed by Greisengesang +and the secretaries, just at the moment when the Princess’s +ladies, summoned in all haste, entered by another door to help +her forth.</p> +<h3>CHAPTER VIII—THE PARTY OF WAR TAKES ACTION</h3> +<p>Half an hour after, Gondremark was once more closeted with +Seraphina.</p> +<p>‘Where is he now?’ she asked, on his arrival.</p> +<p>‘Madam, he is with the Chancellor,’ replied the +Baron. ‘Wonder of wonders, he is at work!’</p> +<p>‘Ah,’ she said, ‘he was born to torture +me! O what a fall, what a humiliation! Such a scheme +to wreck upon so small a trifle! But now all is +lost.’</p> +<p>‘Madam,’ said Gondremark, ‘nothing is +lost. Something, on the other hand, is found. You +have found your senses; you see him as he is—see him as you +see everything where your too-good heart is not in +question—with the judicial, with the statesman’s +eye. So long as he had a right to interfere, the empire +that may be was still distant. I have not entered on this +course without the plain foresight of its dangers; and even for +this I was prepared. But, madam, I knew two things: I knew +that you were born to command, that I was born to serve; I knew +that by a rare conjuncture, the hand had found the tool; and from +the first I was confident, as I am confident to-day, that no +hereditary trifler has the power to shatter that +alliance.’</p> +<p>‘I, born to command!’ she said. ‘Do +you forget my tears?’</p> +<p>‘Madam, they were the tears of Alexander,’ cried +the Baron. ‘They touched, they thrilled me; I, forgot +myself a moment—even I! But do you suppose that I had +not remarked, that I had not admired, your previous bearing? your +great self-command? Ay, that was princely!’ He +paused. ‘It was a thing to see. I drank +confidence! I tried to imitate your calm. And I was +well inspired; in my heart, I think that I was well inspired; +that any man, within the reach of argument, had been +convinced! But it was not to be; nor, madam, do I regret +the failure. Let us be open; let me disclose my +heart. I have loved two things, not unworthily: +Grünewald and my sovereign!’ Here he kissed her +hand. ‘Either I must resign my ministry, leave the +land of my adoption and the queen whom I had chosen to +obey—or—’ He paused again.</p> +<p>‘Alas, Herr von Gondremark, there is no +“or,”’ said Seraphina.</p> +<p>‘Nay, madam, give me time,’ he replied. +‘When first I saw you, you were still young; not every man +would have remarked your powers; but I had not been twice +honoured by your conversation ere I had found my mistress. +I have, madam, I believe, some genius; and I have much +ambition. But the genius is of the serving kind; and to +offer a career to my ambition, I had to find one born to +rule. This is the base and essence of our union; each had +need of the other; each recognised, master and servant, lever and +fulcrum, the complement of his endowment. Marriages, they +say, are made in heaven: how much more these pure, laborious, +intellectual fellowships, born to found empires! Nor is +this all. We found each other ripe, filled with great ideas +that took shape and clarified with every word. We grew +together—ay, madam, in mind we grew together like twin +children. All of my life until we met was petty and +groping; was it not—I will flatter myself openly—it +<i>was</i> the same with you! Not till then had you those +eagle surveys, that wide and hopeful sweep of intuition! +Thus we had formed ourselves, and we were ready.’</p> +<p>‘It is true,’ she cried. ‘I feel +it. Yours is the genius; your generosity confounds your +insight; all I could offer you was the position, was this throne, +to be a fulcrum. But I offered it without reserve; I +entered at least warmly into all your thoughts; you were sure of +me—sure of my support—certain of justice. Tell +me, tell me again, that I have helped you.’</p> +<p>‘Nay, madam,’ he said, ‘you made me. +In everything you were my inspiration. And as we prepared +our policy, weighing every step, how often have I had to admire +your perspicacity, your man-like diligence and fortitude! +You know that these are not the words of flattery; your +conscience echoes them; have you spared a day? have you indulged +yourself in any pleasure? Young and beautiful, you have +lived a life of high intellectual effort, of irksome intellectual +patience with details. Well, you have your reward: with the +fall of Brandenau, the throne of your Empire is +founded.’</p> +<p>‘What thought have you in your mind?’ she +asked. ‘Is not all ruined?’</p> +<p>‘Nay, my Princess, the same thought is in both our +minds,’ he said.</p> +<p>‘Herr von Gondremark,’ she replied, ‘by all +that I hold sacred, I have none; I do not think at all; I am +crushed.’</p> +<p>‘You are looking at the passionate side of a rich +nature, misunderstood and recently insulted,’ said the +Baron. ‘Look into your intellect, and tell +me.’</p> +<p>‘I find nothing, nothing but tumult,’ she +replied.</p> +<p>‘You find one word branded, madam,’ returned the +Baron: ‘“Abdication!”’</p> +<p>‘O!’ she cried. ‘The coward! He +leaves me to bear all, and in the hour of trial he stabs me from +behind. There is nothing in him, not respect, not love, not +courage—his wife, his dignity, his throne, the honour of +his father, he forgets them all!’</p> +<p>‘Yes,’ pursued the Baron, ‘the word +Abdication. I perceive a glimmering there.’</p> +<p>‘I read your fancy,’ she returned. ‘It +is mere madness, midsummer madness. Baron, I am more +unpopular than he. You know it. They can excuse, they +can love, his weakness; but me, they hate.’</p> +<p>‘Such is the gratitude of peoples,’ said the +Baron. ‘But we trifle. Here, madam, are my +plain thoughts. The man who in the hour of danger speaks of +abdication is, for me, a venomous animal. I speak with the +bluntness of gravity, madam; this is no hour for mincing. +The coward, in a station of authority, is more dangerous than +fire. We dwell on a volcano; if this man can have his way, +Grünewald before a week will have been deluged with innocent +blood. You know the truth of what I say; we have looked +unblenching into this ever-possible catastrophe. To him it +is nothing: he will abdicate! Abdicate, just God! and this +unhappy country committed to his charge, and the lives of men and +the honour of women . . .’ His voice appeared to fail +him; in an instant he had conquered his emotion and resumed: +‘But you, madam, conceive more worthily of your +responsibilities. I am with you in the thought; and in the +face of the horrors that I see impending, I say, and your heart +repeats it—we have gone too far to pause. Honour, +duty, ay, and the care of our own lives, demand we should +proceed.’</p> +<p>She was looking at him, her brow thoughtfully knitted. +‘I feel it,’ she said. ‘But how? He +has the power.’</p> +<p>‘The power, madam? The power is in the +army,’ he replied; and then hastily, ere she could +intervene, ‘we have to save ourselves,’ he went on; +‘I have to save my Princess, she has to save her minister; +we have both of us to save this infatuated youth from his own +madness. He in the outbreak would be the earliest victim; I +see him,’ he cried, ‘torn in pieces; and +Grünewald, unhappy Grünewald! Nay, madam, you who +have the power must use it; it lies hard upon your +conscience.’</p> +<p>‘Show me how!’ she cried. ‘Suppose I +were to place him under some constraint, the revolution would +break upon us instantly.’</p> +<p>The Baron feigned defeat. ‘It is true,’ he +said. ‘You see more clearly than I do. Yet +there should, there must be, some way.’ And he waited +for his chance.</p> +<p>‘No,’ she said; ‘I told you from the first +there is no remedy. Our hopes are lost: lost by one +miserable trifler, ignorant, fretful, fitful—who will have +disappeared to-morrow, who knows? to his boorish +pleasures!’</p> +<p>Any peg would do for Gondremark. ‘The +thing!’ he cried, striking his brow. ‘Fool, not +to have thought of it! Madam, without perhaps knowing it, +you have solved our problem.’</p> +<p>‘What do you mean? Speak!’ she said.</p> +<p>He appeared to collect himself; and then, with a smile, +‘The Prince,’ he said, ‘must go once more +a-hunting.’</p> +<p>‘Ay, if he would!’ cried she, ‘and stay +there!’</p> +<p>‘And stay there,’ echoed the Baron. It was +so significantly said, that her face changed; and the schemer, +fearful of the sinister ambiguity of his expressions, hastened to +explain. ‘This time he shall go hunting in a +carriage, with a good escort of our foreign lancers. His +destination shall be the Felsenburg; it is healthy, the rock is +high, the windows are small and barred; it might have been built +on purpose. We shall intrust the captaincy to the Scotsman +Gordon; he at least will have no scruple. Who will miss the +sovereign? He is gone hunting; he came home on Tuesday, on +Thursday he returned; all is usual in that. Meanwhile the +war proceeds; our Prince will soon weary of his solitude; and +about the time of our triumph, or, if he prove very obstinate, a +little later, he shall be released upon a proper understanding, +and I see him once more directing his theatricals.’</p> +<p>Seraphina sat gloomy, plunged in thought. +‘Yes,’ she said suddenly, ‘and the +despatch? He is now writing it.’</p> +<p>‘It cannot pass the council before Friday,’ +replied Gondremark; ‘and as for any private note, the +messengers are all at my disposal. They are picked men, +madam. I am a person of precaution.’</p> +<p>‘It would appear so,’ she said, with a flash of +her occasional repugnance to the man; and then after a pause, +‘Herr von Gondremark,’ she added, ‘I recoil +from this extremity.’</p> +<p>‘I share your Highness’s repugnance,’ +answered he. ‘But what would you have? We are +defenceless, else.’</p> +<p>‘I see it, but this is sudden. It is a public +crime,’ she said, nodding at him with a sort of horror.</p> +<p>‘Look but a little deeper,’ he returned, +‘and whose is the crime?’</p> +<p>‘His!’ she cried. ‘His, before +God! And I hold him liable. But +still—’</p> +<p>‘It is not as if he would be harmed,’ submitted +Gondremark.</p> +<p>‘I know it,’ she replied, but it was still +unheartily.</p> +<p>And then, as brave men are entitled, by prescriptive right as +old as the world’s history, to the alliance and the active +help of Fortune, the punctual goddess stepped down from the +machine. One of the Princess’s ladies begged to +enter; a man, it appeared, had brought a line for the Freiherr +von Gondremark. It proved to be a pencil billet, which the +crafty Greisengesang had found the means to scribble and despatch +under the very guns of Otto; and the daring of the act bore +testimony to the terror of the actor. For Greisengesang had +but one influential motive: fear. The note ran thus: +‘At the first council, procuration to be +withdrawn.—<span class="smcap">Corn</span>. <span +class="smcap">Greis</span>.’</p> +<p>So, after three years of exercise, the right of signature was +to be stript from Seraphina. It was more than an insult; it +was a public disgrace; and she did not pause to consider how she +had earned it, but morally bounded under the attack as bounds the +wounded tiger.</p> +<p>‘Enough,’ she said; ‘I will sign the +order. When shall he leave?’</p> +<p>‘It will take me twelve hours to collect my men, and it +had best be done at night. To-morrow midnight, if you +please?’ answered the Baron.</p> +<p>‘Excellent,’ she said. ‘My door is +always open to you, Baron. As soon as the order is +prepared, bring it me to sign.’</p> +<p>‘Madam,’ he said, ‘alone of all of us you do +not risk your head in this adventure. For that reason, and +to prevent all hesitation, I venture to propose the order should +be in your hand throughout.’</p> +<p>‘You are right,’ she replied.</p> +<p>He laid a form before her, and she wrote the order in a clear +hand, and re-read it. Suddenly a cruel smile came on her +face. ‘I had forgotten his puppet,’ said +she. ‘They will keep each other company.’ +And she interlined and initiated the condemnation of Doctor +Gotthold.</p> +<p>‘Your Highness has more memory than your servant,’ +said the Baron; and then he, in his turn, carefully perused the +fateful paper. ‘Good!’ said he.</p> +<p>‘You will appear in the drawing-room, Baron?’ she +asked.</p> +<p>‘I thought it better,’ said he, ‘to avoid +the possibility of a public affront. Anything that shook my +credit might hamper us in the immediate future.’</p> +<p>‘You are right,’ she said; and she held out her +hand as to an old friend and equal.</p> +<h3>CHAPTER IX—THE PRICE OF THE RIVER FARM; IN WHICH +VAINGLORY GOES BEFORE A FALL</h3> +<p>The pistol had been practically fired. Under ordinary +circumstances the scene at the council table would have entirely +exhausted Otto’s store both of energy and anger; he would +have begun to examine and condemn his conduct, have remembered +all that was true, forgotten all that was unjust in +Seraphina’s onslaught; and by half an hour after would have +fallen into that state of mind in which a Catholic flees to the +confessional and a sot takes refuge with the bottle. Two +matters of detail preserved his spirits. For, first, he had +still an infinity of business to transact; and to transact +business, for a man of Otto’s neglectful and +procrastinating habits, is the best anodyne for conscience. +All afternoon he was hard at it with the Chancellor, reading, +dictating, signing, and despatching papers; and this kept him in +a glow of self-approval. But, secondly, his vanity was +still alarmed; he had failed to get the money; to-morrow before +noon he would have to disappoint old Killian; and in the eyes of +that family which counted him so little, and to which he had +sought to play the part of the heroic comforter, he must sink +lower than at first. To a man of Otto’s temper, this +was death. He could not accept the situation. And +even as he worked, and worked wisely and well, over the hated +details of his principality, he was secretly maturing a plan by +which to turn the situation. It was a scheme as pleasing to +the man as it was dishonourable in the prince; in which his +frivolous nature found and took vengeance for the gravity and +burthen of the afternoon. He chuckled as he thought of it: +and Greisengesang heard him with wonder, and attributed his +lively spirits to the skirmish of the morning.</p> +<p>Led by this idea, the antique courtier ventured to compliment +his sovereign on his bearing. It reminded him, he said, of +Otto’s father.</p> +<p>‘What?’ asked the Prince, whose thoughts were +miles away.</p> +<p>‘Your Highness’s authority at the board,’ +explained the flatterer.</p> +<p>‘O, that! O yes,’ returned Otto; but for all +his carelessness, his vanity was delicately tickled, and his mind +returned and dwelt approvingly over the details of his +victory. ‘I quelled them all,’ he thought.</p> +<p>When the more pressing matters had been dismissed, it was +already late, and Otto kept the Chancellor to dinner, and was +entertained with a leash of ancient histories and modern +compliments. The Chancellor’s career had been based, +from the first off-put, on entire subserviency; he had crawled +into honours and employments; and his mind was prostitute. +The instinct of the creature served him well with Otto. +First, he let fall a sneering word or two upon the female +intellect; thence he proceeded to a closer engagement; and before +the third course he was artfully dissecting Seraphina’s +character to her approving husband. Of course no names were +used; and of course the identity of that abstract or ideal man, +with whom she was currently contrasted, remained an open +secret. But this stiff old gentleman had a wonderful +instinct for evil, thus to wind his way into man’s citadel; +thus to harp by the hour on the virtues of his hearer and not +once alarm his self-respect. Otto was all roseate, in and +out, with flattery and Tokay and an approving conscience. +He saw himself in the most attractive colours. If even +Greisengesang, he thought, could thus espy the loose stitches in +Seraphina’s character, and thus disloyally impart them to +the opposite camp, he, the discarded husband—the +dispossessed Prince—could scarce have erred on the side of +severity.</p> +<p>In this excellent frame he bade adieu to the old gentleman, +whose voice had proved so musical, and set forth for the +drawing-room. Already on the stair, he was seized with some +compunction; but when he entered the great gallery and beheld his +wife, the Chancellor’s abstract flatteries fell from him +like rain, and he re-awoke to the poetic facts of life. She +stood a good way off below a shining lustre, her back +turned. The bend of her waist overcame him with physical +weakness. This was the girl-wife who had lain in his arms +and whom he had sworn to cherish; there was she, who was better +than success.</p> +<p>It was Seraphina who restored him from the blow. She +swam forward and smiled upon her husband with a sweetness that +was insultingly artificial. +‘Frédéric,’ she lisped, ‘you are +late.’ It was a scene of high comedy, such as is +proper to unhappy marriages; and her <i>aplomb</i> disgusted +him.</p> +<p>There was no etiquette at these small drawing-rooms. +People came and went at pleasure. The window embrasures +became the roost of happy couples; at the great chimney the +talkers mostly congregated, each full-charged with scandal; and +down at the farther end the gamblers gambled. It was +towards this point that Otto moved, not ostentatiously, but with +a gentle insistence, and scattering attentions as he went. +Once abreast of the card-table, he placed himself opposite to +Madame von Rosen, and, as soon as he had caught her eye, withdrew +to the embrasure of a window. There she had speedily joined +him.</p> +<p>‘You did well to call me,’ she said, a little +wildly. ‘These cards will be my ruin.’</p> +<p>‘Leave them,’ said Otto.</p> +<p>‘I!’ she cried, and laughed; ‘they are my +destiny. My only chance was to die of a consumption; now I +must die in a garret.’</p> +<p>‘You are bitter to-night,’ said Otto.</p> +<p>‘I have been losing,’ she replied. +‘You do not know what greed is.’</p> +<p>‘I have come, then, in an evil hour,’ said he.</p> +<p>‘Ah, you wish a favour!’ she cried, brightening +beautifully.</p> +<p>‘Madam,’ said he, ‘I am about to found my +party, and I come to you for a recruit.’</p> +<p>‘Done,’ said the Countess. ‘I am a man +again.’</p> +<p>‘I may be wrong,’ continued Otto, ‘but I +believe upon my heart you wish me no ill.’</p> +<p>‘I wish you so well,’ she said, ‘that I dare +not tell it you.’</p> +<p>‘Then if I ask my favour?’ quoth the Prince.</p> +<p>‘Ask it, <i>mon Prince</i>,’ she answered. +‘Whatever it is, it is granted.’</p> +<p>‘I wish you,’ he returned, ‘this very night +to make the farmer of our talk.’</p> +<p>‘Heaven knows your meaning!’ she exclaimed. +‘I know not, neither care; there are no bounds to my desire +to please you. Call him made.’</p> +<p>‘I will put it in another way,’ returned +Otto. ‘Did you ever steal?’</p> +<p>‘Often!’ cried the Countess. ‘I have +broken all the ten commandments; and if there were more +to-morrow, I should not sleep till I had broken these.’</p> +<p>‘This is a case of burglary: to say the truth, I thought +it would amuse you,’ said the Prince.</p> +<p>‘I have no practical experience,’ she replied, +‘but O! the good-will! I have broken a work-box in my +time, and several hearts, my own included. Never a +house! But it cannot be difficult; sins are so +unromantically easy! What are we to break?’</p> +<p>‘Madam, we are to break the treasury,’ said Otto +and he sketched to her briefly, wittily, with here and there a +touch of pathos, the story of his visit to the farm, of his +promise to buy it, and of the refusal with which his demand for +money had been met that morning at the council; concluding with a +few practical words as to the treasury windows, and the helps and +hindrances of the proposed exploit.</p> +<p>‘They refused you the money,’ she said when he had +done. ‘And you accepted the refusal? +Well!’</p> +<p>‘They gave their reasons,’ replied Otto, +colouring. ‘They were not such as I could combat; and +I am driven to dilapidate the funds of my own country by a +theft. It is not dignified; but it is fun.’</p> +<p>‘Fun,’ she said; ‘yes.’ And then +she remained silently plunged in thought for an appreciable +time. ‘How much do you require?’ she asked at +length.</p> +<p>‘Three thousand crowns will do,’ he answered, +‘for I have still some money of my own.’</p> +<p>‘Excellent,’ she said, regaining her levity. +‘I am your true accomplice. And where are we to +meet?’</p> +<p>‘You know the Flying Mercury,’ he answered, +‘in the Park? Three pathways intersect; there they +have made a seat and raised the statue. The spot is handy +and the deity congenial.’</p> +<p>‘Child,’ she said, and tapped him with her +fan. ‘But do you know, my Prince, you are an +egoist—your handy trysting-place is miles from me. +You must give me ample time; I cannot, I think, possibly be there +before two. But as the bell beats two, your helper shall +arrive: welcome, I trust. Stay—do you bring any +one?’ she added. ‘O, it is not for a +chaperon—I am not a prude!’</p> +<p>‘I shall bring a groom of mine,’ said Otto. +‘I caught him stealing corn.’</p> +<p>‘His name?’ she asked.</p> +<p>‘I profess I know not. I am not yet intimate with +my corn-stealer,’ returned the Prince. ‘It was +in a professional capacity—’</p> +<p>‘Like me! Flatterer!’ she cried. +‘But oblige me in one thing. Let me find you waiting +at the seat—yes, you shall await me; for on this expedition +it shall be no longer Prince and Countess, it shall be the lady +and the squire—and your friend the thief shall be no nearer +than the fountain. Do you promise?’</p> +<p>‘Madam, in everything you are to command; you shall be +captain, I am but supercargo,’ answered Otto.</p> +<p>‘Well, Heaven bring all safe to port!’ she +said. ‘It is not Friday!’</p> +<p>Something in her manner had puzzled Otto, had possibly touched +him with suspicion.</p> +<p>‘Is it not strange,’ he remarked, ‘that I +should choose my accomplice from the other camp?’</p> +<p>‘Fool!’ she said. ‘But it is your only +wisdom that you know your friends.’ And suddenly, in +the vantage of the deep window, she caught up his hand and kissed +it with a sort of passion. ‘Now go,’ she added, +‘go at once.’</p> +<p>He went, somewhat staggered, doubting in his heart that he was +over-bold. For in that moment she had flashed upon him like +a jewel; and even through the strong panoply of a previous love +he had been conscious of a shock. Next moment he had +dismissed the fear.</p> +<p>Both Otto and the Countess retired early from the +drawing-room; and the Prince, after an elaborate feint, dismissed +his valet, and went forth by the private passage and the back +postern in quest of the groom.</p> +<p>Once more the stable was in darkness, once more Otto employed +the talismanic knock, and once more the groom appeared and +sickened with terror.</p> +<p>‘Good-evening, friend,’ said Otto +pleasantly. ‘I want you to bring a corn +sack—empty this time—and to accompany me. We +shall be gone all night.’</p> +<p>‘Your Highness,’ groaned the man, ‘I have +the charge of the small stables. I am here +alone.’</p> +<p>‘Come,’ said the Prince, ‘you are no such +martinet in duty.’ And then seeing that the man was +shaking from head to foot, Otto laid a hand upon his +shoulder. ‘If I meant you harm,’ he said, +‘should I be here?’</p> +<p>The fellow became instantly reassured. He got the sack; +and Otto led him round by several paths and avenues, conversing +pleasantly by the way, and left him at last planted by a certain +fountain where a goggle-eyed Triton spouted intermittently into a +rippling laver. Thence he proceeded alone to where, in a +round clearing, a copy of Gian Bologna’s Mercury stood +tiptoe in the twilight of the stars. The night was warm and +windless. A shaving of new moon had lately arisen; but it +was still too small and too low down in heaven to contend with +the immense host of lesser luminaries; and the rough face of the +earth was drenched with starlight. Down one of the alleys, +which widened as it receded, he could see a part of the lamplit +terrace where a sentry silently paced, and beyond that a corner +of the town with interlacing street-lights. But all around +him the young trees stood mystically blurred in the dim shine; +and in the stock-still quietness the upleaping god appeared +alive.</p> +<p>In this dimness and silence of the night, Otto’s +conscience became suddenly and staringly luminous, like the dial +of a city clock. He averted the eyes of his mind, but the +finger rapidly travelling, pointed to a series of misdeeds that +took his breath away. What was he doing in that +place? The money had been wrongly squandered, but that was +largely by his own neglect. And he now proposed to +embarrass the finances of this country which he had been too idle +to govern. And he now proposed to squander the money once +again, and this time for a private, if a generous end. And +the man whom he had reproved for stealing corn he was now to set +stealing treasure. And then there was Madame von Rosen, +upon whom he looked down with some of that ill-favoured contempt +of the chaste male for the imperfect woman. Because he +thought of her as one degraded below scruples, he had picked her +out to be still more degraded, and to risk her whole irregular +establishment in life by complicity in this dishonourable +act. It was uglier than a seduction.</p> +<p>Otto had to walk very briskly and whistle very busily; and +when at last he heard steps in the narrowest and darkest of the +alleys, it was with a gush of relief that he sprang to meet the +Countess. To wrestle alone with one’s good angel is +so hard! and so precious, at the proper time, is a companion +certain to be less virtuous than oneself!</p> +<p>It was a young man who came towards him—a young man of +small stature and a peculiar gait, wearing a wide flapping hat, +and carrying, with great weariness, a heavy bag. Otto +recoiled; but the young man held up his hand by way of signal, +and coming up with a panting run, as if with the last of his +endurance, laid the bag upon the ground, threw himself upon the +bench, and disclosed the features of Madame von Rosen.</p> +<p>‘You, Countess!’ cried the Prince.</p> +<p>‘No, no,’ she panted, ‘the Count von +Rosen—my young brother. A capital fellow. Let +him get his breath.’</p> +<p>‘Ah, madam . . . ’ said he.</p> +<p>‘Call me Count,’ she returned, ‘respect my +incognito.’</p> +<p>‘Count be it, then,’ he replied. ‘And +let me implore that gallant gentleman to set forth at once on our +enterprise.’</p> +<p>‘Sit down beside me here,’ she returned, patting +the further corner of the bench. ‘I will follow you +in a moment. O, I am so tired—feel how my heart +leaps! Where is your thief?’</p> +<p>‘At his post,’ replied Otto. ‘Shall I +introduce him? He seems an excellent companion.’</p> +<p>‘No,’ she said, ‘do not hurry me yet. +I must speak to you. Not but I adore your thief; I adore +any one who has the spirit to do wrong. I never cared for +virtue till I fell in love with my Prince.’ She +laughed musically. ‘And even so, it is not for your +virtues,’ she added.</p> +<p>Otto was embarrassed. ‘And now,’ he asked, +‘if you are anyway rested?’</p> +<p>‘Presently, presently. Let me breathe,’ she +said, panting a little harder than before.</p> +<p>‘And what has so wearied you?’ he asked. +‘This bag? And why, in the name of eccentricity, a +bag? For an empty one, you might have relied on my own +foresight; and this one is very far from being empty. My +dear Count, with what trash have you come laden? But the +shortest method is to see for myself.’ And he put +down his hand.</p> +<p>She stopped him at once. ‘Otto,’ she said, +‘no—not that way. I will tell, I will make a +clean breast. It is done already. I have robbed the +treasury single-handed. There are three thousand two +hundred crowns. O, I trust it is enough!’</p> +<p>Her embarrassment was so obvious that the Prince was struck +into a muse, gazing in her face, with his hand still +outstretched, and she still holding him by the wrist. +‘You!’ he said at last. ‘How?’ And +then drawing himself up, ‘O madam,’ he cried, +‘I understand. You must indeed think meanly of the +Prince.’</p> +<p>‘Well, then, it was a lie!’ she cried. +‘The money is mine, honestly my own—now yours. +This was an unworthy act that you proposed. But I love your +honour, and I swore to myself that I should save it in your +teeth. I beg of you to let me save it’—with a +sudden lovely change of tone. ‘Otto, I beseech you +let me save it. Take this dross from your poor friend who +loves you!’</p> +<p>‘Madam, madam,’ babbled Otto, in the extreme of +misery, ‘I cannot—I must go.’</p> +<p>And he half rose; but she was on the ground before him in an +instant, clasping his knees. ‘No,’ she gasped, +‘you shall not go. Do you despise me so +entirely? It is dross; I hate it; I should squander it at +play and be no richer; it is an investment, it is to save me from +ruin. Otto,’ she cried, as he again feebly tried to +put her from him, ‘if you leave me alone in this disgrace, +I will die here!’ He groaned aloud. +‘O,’ she said, ‘think what I suffer! If +you suffer from a piece of delicacy, think what I suffer in my +shame! To have my trash refused! You would rather +steal, you think of me so basely! You would rather tread my +heart in pieces! O, unkind! O my Prince! O +Otto! O pity me!’ She was still clasping him; +then she found his hand and covered it with kisses, and at this +his head began to turn. ‘O,’ she cried again, +‘I see it! O what a horror! It is because I am +old, because I am no longer beautiful.’ And she burst +into a storm of sobs.</p> +<p>This was the <i>coup de grâce</i>. Otto had now to +comfort and compose her as he could, and before many words, the +money was accepted. Between the woman and the weak man such +was the inevitable end. Madame von Rosen instantly composed +her sobs. She thanked him with a fluttering voice, and +resumed her place upon the bench, at the far end from Otto. +‘Now you see,’ she said, ‘why I bade you keep +the thief at distance, and why I came alone. How I trembled +for my treasure!’</p> +<p>‘Madam,’ said Otto, with a tearful whimper in his +voice, ‘spare me! You are too good, too +noble!’</p> +<p>‘I wonder to hear you,’ she returned. +‘You have avoided a great folly. You will be able to +meet your good old peasant. You have found an excellent +investment for a friend’s money. You have preferred +essential kindness to an empty scruple; and now you are ashamed +of it! You have made your friend happy; and now you mourn +as the dove! Come, cheer up. I know it is depressing +to have done exactly right; but you need not make a practice of +it. Forgive yourself this virtue; come now, look me in the +face and smile!’</p> +<p>He did look at her. When a man has been embraced by a +woman, he sees her in a glamour; and at such a time, in the +baffling glimmer of the stars, she will look wildly well. +The hair is touched with light; the eyes are constellations; the +face sketched in shadows—a sketch, you might say, by +passion. Otto became consoled for his defeat; he began to +take an interest. ‘No,’ he said, ‘I am no +ingrate.’</p> +<p>‘You promised me fun,’ she returned, with a +laugh. ‘I have given you as good. We have had a +stormy <i>scena</i>.’</p> +<p>He laughed in his turn, and the sound of the laughter, in +either case, was hardly reassuring.</p> +<p>‘Come, what are you going to give me in exchange,’ +she continued, ‘for my excellent declamation?’</p> +<p>‘What you will,’ he said.</p> +<p>‘Whatever I will? Upon your honour? Suppose +I asked the crown?’ She was flashing upon him, +beautiful in triumph.</p> +<p>‘Upon my honour,’ he replied.</p> +<p>‘Shall I ask the crown?’ she continued. +‘Nay; what should I do with it? Grünewald is but +a petty state; my ambition swells above it. I shall +ask—I find I want nothing,’ she concluded. +‘I will give you something instead. I will give you +leave to kiss me—once.’</p> +<p>Otto drew near, and she put up her face; they were both +smiling, both on the brink of laughter, all was so innocent and +playful; and the Prince, when their lips encountered, was +dumbfoundered by the sudden convulsion of his being. Both +drew instantly apart, and for an appreciable time sat +tongue-tied. Otto was indistinctly conscious of a peril in +the silence, but could find no words to utter. Suddenly the +Countess seemed to awake. ‘As for your +wife—’ she began in a clear and steady voice.</p> +<p>The word recalled Otto, with a shudder, from his trance. +‘I will hear nothing against my wife,’ he cried +wildly; and then, recovering himself and in a kindlier tone, +‘I will tell you my one secret,’ he added. +‘I love my wife.’</p> +<p>‘You should have let me finish,’ she returned, +smiling. ‘Do you suppose I did not mention her on +purpose? You know you had lost your head. Well, so +had I. Come now, do not be abashed by words,’ she +added somewhat sharply. ‘It is the one thing I +despise. If you are not a fool, you will see that I am +building fortresses about your virtue. And at any rate, I +choose that you shall understand that I am not dying of love for +you. It is a very smiling business; no tragedy for +me! And now here is what I have to say about your wife; she +is not and she never has been Gondremark’s mistress. +Be sure he would have boasted if she had. +Good-night!’</p> +<p>And in a moment she was gone down the alley, and Otto was +alone with the bag of money and the flying god.</p> +<h3>CHAPTER X—GOTTHOLD’S REVISED OPINION; AND THE +FALL COMPLETED</h3> +<p>The Countess left poor Otto with a caress and buffet +simultaneously administered. The welcome word about his +wife and the virtuous ending of his interview should doubtless +have delighted him. But for all that, as he shouldered the +bag of money and set forward to rejoin his groom, he was +conscious of many aching sensibilities. To have gone wrong +and to have been set right makes but a double trial for +man’s vanity. The discovery of his own weakness and +possible unfaith had staggered him to the heart; and to hear, in +the same hour, of his wife’s fidelity from one who loved +her not, increased the bitterness of the surprise.</p> +<p>He was about half-way between the fountain and the Flying +Mercury before his thoughts began to be clear; and he was +surprised to find them resentful. He paused in a kind of +temper, and struck with his hand a little shrub. Thence +there arose instantly a cloud of awakened sparrows, which as +instantly dispersed and disappeared into the thicket. He +looked at them stupidly, and when they were gone continued +staring at the stars. ‘I am angry. By what +right? By none!’ he thought; but he was still +angry. He cursed Madame von Rosen and instantly +repented. Heavy was the money on his shoulders.</p> +<p>When he reached the fountain, he did, out of ill-humour and +parade, an unpardonable act. He gave the money bodily to +the dishonest groom. ‘Keep this for me,’ he +said, ‘until I call for it to-morrow. It is a great +sum, and by that you will judge that I have not condemned +you.’ And he strode away ruffling, as if he had done +something generous. It was a desperate stroke to re-enter +at the point of the bayonet into his self-esteem; and, like all +such, it was fruitless in the end. He got to bed with the +devil, it appeared: kicked and tumbled till the grey of the +morning; and then fell inopportunely into a leaden slumber, and +awoke to find it ten. To miss the appointment with old +Killian after all, had been too tragic a miscarriage: and he +hurried with all his might, found the groom (for a wonder) +faithful to his trust, and arrived only a few minutes before noon +in the guest-chamber of the Morning Star. Killian was there +in his Sunday’s best and looking very gaunt and rigid; a +lawyer from Brandenau stood sentinel over his outspread papers; +and the groom and the landlord of the inn were called to serve as +witnesses. The obvious deference of that great man, the +innkeeper, plainly affected the old farmer with surprise; but it +was not until Otto had taken the pen and signed that the truth +flashed upon him fully. Then, indeed, he was beside +himself.</p> +<p>‘His Highness!’ he cried, ‘His +Highness!’ and repeated the exclamation till his mind had +grappled fairly with the facts. Then he turned to the +witnesses. ‘Gentlemen,’ he said, ‘you +dwell in a country highly favoured by God; for of all generous +gentlemen, I will say it on my conscience, this one is the +king. I am an old man, and I have seen good and bad, and +the year of the great famine; but a more excellent gentleman, no, +never.’</p> +<p>‘We know that,’ cried the landlord, ‘we know +that well in Grünewald. If we saw more of his Highness +we should be the better pleased.’</p> +<p>‘It is the kindest Prince,’ began the groom, and +suddenly closed his mouth upon a sob, so that every one turned to +gaze upon his emotion—Otto not last; Otto struck with +remorse, to see the man so grateful.</p> +<p>Then it was the lawyer’s turn to pay a compliment. +‘I do not know what Providence may hold in store,’ he +said, ‘but this day should be a bright one in the annals of +your reign. The shouts of armies could not be more eloquent +than the emotion on these honest faces.’ And the +Brandenau lawyer bowed, skipped, stepped back, and took snuff, +with the air of a man who has found and seized an +opportunity.</p> +<p>‘Well, young gentleman,’ said Killian, ‘if +you will pardon me the plainness of calling you a gentleman, many +a good day’s work you have done, I doubt not, but never a +better, or one that will be better blessed; and whatever, sir, +may be your happiness and triumph in that high sphere to which +you have been called, it will be none the worse, sir, for an old +man’s blessing!’</p> +<p>The scene had almost assumed the proportions of an ovation; +and when the Prince escaped he had but one thought: to go +wherever he was most sure of praise. His conduct at the +board of council occurred to him as a fair chapter; and this +evoked the memory of Gotthold. To Gotthold he would go.</p> +<p>Gotthold was in the library as usual, and laid down his pen, a +little angrily, on Otto’s entrance. +‘Well,’ he said, ‘here you are.’</p> +<p>‘Well,’ returned Otto, ‘we made a +revolution, I believe.’</p> +<p>‘It is what I fear,’ returned the Doctor.</p> +<p>‘How?’ said Otto. ‘Fear? Fear is +the burnt child. I have learned my strength and the +weakness of the others; and I now mean to govern.’</p> +<p>Gotthold said nothing, but he looked down and smoothed his +chin.</p> +<p>‘You disapprove?’ cried Otto. ‘You are +a weather-cock.’</p> +<p>‘On the contrary,’ replied the Doctor. +‘My observation has confirmed my fears. It will not +do, Otto, not do.’</p> +<p>‘What will not do?’ demanded the Prince, with a +sickening stab of pain.</p> +<p>‘None of it,’ answered Gotthold. ‘You +are unfitted for a life of action; you lack the stamina, the +habit, the restraint, the patience. Your wife is greatly +better, vastly better; and though she is in bad hands, displays a +very different aptitude. She is a woman of affairs; you +are—dear boy, you are yourself. I bid you back to +your amusements; like a smiling dominie, I give you holidays for +life. Yes,’ he continued, ‘there is a day +appointed for all when they shall turn again upon their own +philosophy. I had grown to disbelieve impartially in all; +and if in the atlas of the sciences there were two charts I +disbelieved in more than all the rest, they were politics and +morals. I had a sneaking kindness for your vices; as they +were negative, they flattered my philosophy; and I called them +almost virtues. Well, Otto, I was wrong; I have forsworn my +sceptical philosophy; and I perceive your faults to be +unpardonable. You are unfit to be a Prince, unfit to be a +husband. And I give you my word, I would rather see a man +capably doing evil than blundering about good.’</p> +<p>Otto was still silent, in extreme dudgeon.</p> +<p>Presently the Doctor resumed: ‘I will take the smaller +matter first: your conduct to your wife. You went, I hear, +and had an explanation. That may have been right or wrong; +I know not; at least, you had stirred her temper. At the +council she insults you; well, you insult her back—a man to +a woman, a husband to his wife, in public! Next upon the +back of this, you propose—the story runs like +wildfire—to recall the power of signature. Can she +ever forgive that? a woman—a young woman—ambitious, +conscious of talents beyond yours? Never, Otto. And +to sum all, at such a crisis in your married life, you get into a +window corner with that ogling dame von Rosen. I do not +dream that there was any harm; but I do say it was an idle +disrespect to your wife. Why, man, the woman is not +decent.’</p> +<p>‘Gotthold,’ said Otto, ‘I will hear no evil +of the Countess.’</p> +<p>‘You will certainly hear no good of her,’ returned +Gotthold; ‘and if you wish your wife to be the pink of +nicety, you should clear your court of +demi-reputations.’</p> +<p>‘The commonplace injustice of a by-word,’ Otto +cried. ‘The partiality of sex. She is a +demirep; what then is Gondremark? Were she a +man—’</p> +<p>‘It would be all one,’ retorted Gotthold +roughly. ‘When I see a man, come to years of wisdom, +who speaks in double-meanings and is the braggart of his vices, I +spit on the other side. “You, my friend,” say +I, “are not even a gentleman.” Well, +she’s not even a lady.’</p> +<p>‘She is the best friend I have, and I choose that she +shall be respected,’ Otto said.</p> +<p>‘If she is your friend, so much the worse,’ +replied the Doctor. ‘It will not stop +there.’</p> +<p>‘Ah!’ cried Otto, ‘there is the charity of +virtue! All evil in the spotted fruit. But I can tell +you, sir, that you do Madame von Rosen prodigal +injustice.’</p> +<p>‘You can tell me!’ said the Doctor shrewdly. +‘Have you, tried? have you been riding the +marches?’</p> +<p>The blood came into Otto’s face.</p> +<p>‘Ah!’ cried Gotthold, ‘look at your wife and +blush! There’s a wife for a man to marry and then +lose! She’s a carnation, Otto. The soul is in +her eyes.’</p> +<p>‘You have changed your note for Seraphina, I +perceive,’ said Otto.</p> +<p>‘Changed it!’ cried the Doctor, with a +flush. ‘Why, when was it different? But I own I +admired her at the council. When she sat there silent, +tapping with her foot, I admired her as I might a +hurricane. Were I one of those who venture upon matrimony, +there had been the prize to tempt me! She invites, as +Mexico invited Cortez; the enterprise is hard, the natives are +unfriendly—I believe them cruel too—but the +metropolis is paved with gold and the breeze blows out of +paradise. Yes, I could desire to be that conqueror. +But to philander with von Rosen! never! Senses? I +discard them; what are they?—pruritus! +Curiosity? Reach me my Anatomy!’</p> +<p>‘To whom do you address yourself?’ cried +Otto. ‘Surely you, of all men, know that I love my +wife!’</p> +<p>‘O, love!’ cried Gotthold; ‘love is a great +word; it is in all the dictionaries. If you had loved, she +would have paid you back. What does she ask? A little +ardour!’</p> +<p>‘It is hard to love for two,’ replied the +Prince.</p> +<p>‘Hard? Why, there’s the touchstone! O, +I know my poets!’ cried the Doctor. ‘We are but +dust and fire, too and to endure life’s scorching; and +love, like the shadow of a great rock, should lend shelter and +refreshment, not to the lover only, but to his mistress and to +the children that reward them; and their very friends should seek +repose in the fringes of that peace. Love is not love that +cannot build a home. And you call it love to grudge and +quarrel and pick faults? You call it love to thwart her to +her face, and bandy insults? Love!’</p> +<p>‘Gotthold, you are unjust. I was then fighting for +my country,’ said the Prince.</p> +<p>‘Ay, and there’s the worst of all,’ returned +the Doctor. ‘You could not even see that you were +wrong; that being where they were, retreat was ruin.’</p> +<p>Why, you supported me!’ cried Otto.</p> +<p>‘I did. I was a fool like you,’ replied +Gotthold. ‘But now my eyes are open. If you go +on as you have started, disgrace this fellow Gondremark, and +publish the scandal of your divided house, there will befall a +most abominable thing in Grünewald. A revolution, +friend—a revolution.’</p> +<p>‘You speak strangely for a red,’ said Otto.</p> +<p>‘A red republican, but not a revolutionary,’ +returned the Doctor. ‘An ugly thing is a +Grünewalder drunk! One man alone can save the country +from this pass, and that is the double-dealer Gondremark, with +whom I conjure you to make peace. It will not be you; it +never can be you:—you, who can do nothing, as your wife +said, but trade upon your station—you, who spent the hours +in begging money! And in God’s name, what for? +Why money? What mystery of idiocy was this?’</p> +<p>‘It was to no ill end. It was to buy a +farm,’ quoth Otto sulkily.</p> +<p>‘To buy a farm!’ cried Gotthold. ‘Buy +a farm!’</p> +<p>‘Well, what then?’ returned Otto. ‘I have +bought it, if you come to that.’</p> +<p>Gotthold fairly bounded on his seat. ‘And how +that?’ he cried.</p> +<p>‘How?’ repeated Otto, startled.</p> +<p>‘Ay, verily, how!’ returned the Doctor. +‘How came you by the money?’</p> +<p>The Prince’s countenance darkened. ‘That is +my affair,’ said he.</p> +<p>‘You see you are ashamed,’ retorted +Gotthold. ‘And so you bought a farm in the hour of +our country’s need—doubtless to be ready for the +abdication; and I put it that you stole the funds. There +are not three ways of getting money: there are but two: to earn +and steal. And now, when you have combined Charles the +Fifth and Long-fingered Tom, you come to me to fortify your +vanity! But I will clear my mind upon this matter: until I +know the right and wrong of the transaction, I put my hand behind +my back. A man may be the pitifullest prince; he must be a +spotless gentleman.’</p> +<p>The Prince had gotten to his feet, as pale as paper. +Gotthold,’ he said, ‘you drive me beyond +bounds. Beware, sir, beware!’</p> +<p>‘Do you threaten me, friend Otto?’ asked the +Doctor grimly. ‘That would be a strange +conclusion.’</p> +<p>‘When have you ever known me use my power in any private +animosity?’ cried Otto. ‘To any private man +your words were an unpardonable insult, but at me you shoot in +full security, and I must turn aside to compliment you on your +plainness. I must do more than pardon, I must admire, +because you have faced this—this formidable monarch, like a +Nathan before David. You have uprooted an old kindness, +sir, with an unsparing hand. You leave me very bare. +My last bond is broken; and though I take Heaven to witness that +I sought to do the right, I have this reward: to find myself +alone. You say I am no gentleman; yet the sneers have been +upon your side; and though I can very well perceive where you +have lodged your sympathies, I will forbear the taunt.’</p> +<p>‘Otto, are you insane?’ cried Gotthold, leaping +up. ‘Because I ask you how you came by certain +moneys, and because you refuse—’</p> +<p>‘Herr von Hohenstockwitz, I have ceased to invite your +aid in my affairs,’ said Otto. ‘I have heard +all that I desire, and you have sufficiently trampled on my +vanity. It may be that I cannot govern, it may be that I +cannot love—you tell me so with every mark of honesty; but +God has granted me one virtue, and I can still forgive. I +forgive you; even in this hour of passion, I can perceive my +faults and your excuses; and if I desire that in future I may be +spared your conversation, it is not, sir, from +resentment—not resentment—but, by Heaven, because no +man on earth could endure to be so rated. You have the +satisfaction to see your sovereign weep; and that person whom you +have so often taunted with his happiness reduced to the last +pitch of solitude and misery. No,—I will hear +nothing; I claim the last word, sir, as your Prince; and that +last word shall be—forgiveness.’</p> +<p>And with that Otto was gone from the apartment, and Doctor +Gotthold was left alone with the most conflicting sentiments of +sorrow, remorse, and merriment; walking to and fro before his +table, and asking himself, with hands uplifted, which of the pair +of them was most to blame for this unhappy rupture. +Presently, he took from a cupboard a bottle of Rhine wine and a +goblet of the deep Bohemian ruby. The first glass a little +warmed and comforted his bosom; with the second he began to look +down upon these troubles from a sunny mountain; yet a while, and +filled with this false comfort and contemplating life throughout +a golden medium, he owned to himself, with a flush, a smile, and +a half-pleasurable sigh, that he had been somewhat over plain in +dealing with his cousin. ‘He said the truth, +too,’ added the penitent librarian, ‘for in my +monkish fashion I adore the Princess.’ And then, with +a still deepening flush and a certain stealth, although he sat +all alone in that great gallery, he toasted Seraphina to the +dregs.</p> +<h3>CHAPTER XI—PROVIDENCE VON ROSEN: ACT THE FIRST<br /> +SHE BEGUILES THE BARON</h3> +<p>At a sufficiently late hour, or to be more exact, at three in +the afternoon, Madame von Rosen issued on the world. She +swept downstairs and out across the garden, a black mantilla +thrown over her head, and the long train of her black velvet +dress ruthlessly sweeping in the dirt.</p> +<p>At the other end of that long garden, and back to back with +the villa of the Countess, stood the large mansion where the +Prime Minister transacted his affairs and pleasures. This +distance, which was enough for decency by the easy canons of +Mittwalden, the Countess swiftly traversed, opened a little door +with a key, mounted a flight of stairs, and entered +unceremoniously into Gondremark’s study. It was a +large and very high apartment; books all about the walls, papers +on the table, papers on the floor; here and there a picture, +somewhat scant of drapery; a great fire glowing and flaming in +the blue tiled hearth; and the daylight streaming through a +cupola above. In the midst of this sat the great Baron +Gondremark in his shirt-sleeves, his business for that day fairly +at an end, and the hour arrived for relaxation. His +expression, his very nature, seemed to have undergone a +fundamental change. Gondremark at home appeared the very +antipode of Gondremark on duty. He had an air of massive +jollity that well became him; grossness and geniality sat upon +his features; and along with his manners, he had laid aside his +sly and sinister expression. He lolled there, sunning his +bulk before the fire, a noble animal.</p> +<p>‘Hey!’ he cried. ‘At last!’</p> +<p>The Countess stepped into the room in silence, threw herself +on a chair, and crossed her legs. In her lace and velvet, +with a good display of smooth black stocking and of snowy +petticoat, and with the refined profile of her face and slender +plumpness of her body, she showed in singular contrast to the +big, black, intellectual satyr by the fire.</p> +<p>‘How often do you send for me?’ she cried. +‘It is compromising.’</p> +<p>Gondremark laughed. ‘Speaking of that,’ said +he, ‘what in the devil’s name were you about? +You were not home till morning.’</p> +<p>‘I was giving alms,’ she said.</p> +<p>The Baron again laughed loud and long, for in his +shirt-sleeves he was a very mirthful creature. ‘It is +fortunate I am not jealous,’ he remarked. ‘But +you know my way: pleasure and liberty go hand in hand. I +believe what I believe; it is not much, but I believe +it.—But now to business. Have you not read my +letter?’</p> +<p>‘No,’ she said; ‘my head ached.’</p> +<p>‘Ah, well! then I have news indeed!’ cried +Gondremark. ‘I was mad to see you all last night and +all this morning: for yesterday afternoon I brought my long +business to a head; the ship has come home; one more dead lift, +and I shall cease to fetch and carry for the Princess +Ratafia. Yes, ’tis done. I have the order all +in Ratafia’s hand; I carry it on my heart. At the +hour of twelve to-night, Prince Featherhead is to be taken in his +bed and, like the bambino, whipped into a chariot; and by next +morning he will command a most romantic prospect from the donjon +of the Felsenburg. Farewell, Featherhead! The war +goes on, the girl is in my hand; I have long been indispensable, +but now I shall be sole. I have long,’ he added +exultingly, ‘long carried this intrigue upon my shoulders, +like Samson with the gates of Gaza; now I discharge that +burthen.’</p> +<p>She had sprung to her feet a little paler. ‘Is +this true?’ she cried.</p> +<p>‘I tell you a fact,’ he asseverated. +‘The trick is played.’</p> +<p>‘I will never believe it,’ she said. +‘An order in her own hand? I will never believe it, +Heinrich.’</p> +<p>‘I swear to you,’ said he.</p> +<p>‘O, what do you care for oaths—or I either? +What would you swear by? Wine, women, and song? It is +not binding,’ she said. She had come quite close up +to him and laid her hand upon his arm. ‘As for the +order—no, Heinrich, never! I will never believe +it. I will die ere I believe it. You have some secret +purpose—what, I cannot guess—but not one word of it +is true.’</p> +<p>‘Shall I show it you?’ he asked.</p> +<p>‘You cannot,’ she answered. ‘There is +no such thing.’</p> +<p>‘Incorrigible Sadducee!’ he cried. +‘Well, I will convert you; you shall see the +order.’ He moved to a chair where he had thrown his +coat, and then drawing forth and holding out a paper, +‘Read,’ said he.</p> +<p>She took it greedily, and her eye flashed as she perused +it.</p> +<p>‘Hey!’ cried the Baron, ‘there falls a +dynasty, and it was I that felled it; and I and you +inherit!’ He seemed to swell in stature; and next +moment, with a laugh, he put his hand forward. Give me the +dagger,’ said he.</p> +<p>But she whisked the paper suddenly behind her back and faced +him, lowering. ‘No, no,’ she said. +‘You and I have first a point to settle. Do you +suppose me blind? She could never have given that paper but +to one man, and that man her lover. Here you +stand—her lover, her accomplice, her master—O, I well +believe it, for I know your power. But what am I?’ +she cried; ‘I, whom you deceive!’</p> +<p>‘Jealousy!’ cried Gondremark. ‘Anna, I +would never have believed it! But I declare to you by all +that’s credible that I am not her lover. I might be, +I suppose; but I never yet durst risk the declaration. The +chit is so unreal; a mincing doll; she will and she will not; +there is no counting on her, by God! And hitherto I have +had my own way without, and keep the lover in reserve. And +I say, Anna,’ he added with severity, ‘you must break +yourself of this new fit, my girl; there must be no +combustion. I keep the creature under the belief that I +adore her; and if she caught a breath of you and me, she is such +a fool, prude, and dog in the manger, that she is capable of +spoiling all.’</p> +<p>‘All very fine,’ returned the lady. +‘With whom do you pass your days? and which am I to +believe, your words or your actions?’</p> +<p>‘Anna, the devil take you, are you blind?’ cried +Gondremark. ‘You know me. Am I likely to care +for such a preciosa? ’Tis hard that we should have +been together for so long, and you should still take me for a +troubadour. But if there is one thing that I despise and +deprecate, it is all such figures in Berlin wool. Give me a +human woman—like myself. You are my mate; you were +made for me; you amuse me like the play. And what have I to +gain that I should pretend to you? If I do not love you, +what use are you to me? Why, none. It is as clear as +noonday.’</p> +<p>‘Do you love me, Heinrich?’ she asked, +languishing. ‘Do you truly?’</p> +<p>‘I tell you,’ he cried, ‘I love you next +after myself. I should be all abroad if I had lost +you.’</p> +<p>‘Well, then,’ said she, folding up the paper and +putting it calmly in her pocket, ‘I will believe you, and I +join the plot. Count upon me. At midnight, did you +say? It is Gordon, I see, that you have charged with +it. Excellent; he will stick at nothing—’</p> +<p>Gondremark watched her suspiciously. ‘Why do you +take the paper?’ he demanded. ‘Give it +here.’</p> +<p>‘No,’ she returned; ‘I mean to keep +it. It is I who must prepare the stroke; you cannot manage +it without me; and to do my best I must possess the paper. +Where shall I find Gordon? In his rooms?’ She +spoke with a rather feverish self-possession.</p> +<p>‘Anna,’ he said sternly, the black, bilious +countenance of his palace <i>rôle</i> taking the place of +the more open favour of his hours at home, ‘I ask you for +that paper. Once, twice, and thrice.’</p> +<p>‘Heinrich,’ she returned, looking him in the face, +‘take care. I will put up with no +dictation.’</p> +<p>Both looked dangerous; and the silence lasted for a measurable +interval of time. Then she made haste to have the first +word; and with a laugh that rang clear and honest, ‘Do not +be a child,’ she said. ‘I wonder at you. +If your assurances are true, you can have no reason to mistrust +me, nor I to play you false. The difficulty is to get the +Prince out of the palace without scandal. His valets are +devoted; his chamberlain a slave; and yet one cry might ruin +all.’</p> +<p>‘They must be overpowered,’ he said, following her +to the new ground, ‘and disappear along with +him.’</p> +<p>‘And your whole scheme along with them!’ she +cried. ‘He does not take his servants when he goes +a-hunting: a child could read the truth. No, no; the plan +is idiotic; it must be Ratafia’s. But hear me. +You know the Prince worships me?’</p> +<p>‘I know,’ he said. ‘Poor Featherhead, +I cross his destiny!’</p> +<p>‘Well now,’ she continued, ‘what if I bring +him alone out of the palace, to some quiet corner of the +Park—the Flying Mercury, for instance? Gordon can be +posted in the thicket; the carriage wait behind the temple; not a +cry, not a scuffle, not a footfall; simply, the Prince +vanishes!—What do you say? Am I an able ally? +Are my <i>beaux yuex</i> of service? Ah, Heinrich, do not +lose your Anna!—she has power!’</p> +<p>He struck with his open hand upon the chimney. +‘Witch!’ he said, ‘there is not your match for +devilry in Europe. Service! the thing runs on +wheels.’</p> +<p>‘Kiss me, then, and let me go. I must not miss my +Featherhead,’ she said.</p> +<p>‘Stay, stay,’ said the Baron; ‘not so +fast. I wish, upon my soul, that I could trust you; but you +are, out and in, so whimsical a devil that I dare not. Hang +it, Anna, no; it’s not possible!’</p> +<p>‘You doubt me, Heinrich?’ she cried.</p> +<p>‘Doubt is not the word,’ said he. ‘I +know you. Once you were clear of me with that paper in your +pocket, who knows what you would do with it?—not you, at +least—nor I. You see,’ he added, shaking his +head paternally upon the Countess, ‘you are as vicious as a +monkey.’</p> +<p>‘I swear to you,’ she cried, ‘by my +salvation . . . ‘</p> +<p>‘I have no curiosity to hear you swearing,’ said +the Baron.</p> +<p>‘You think that I have no religion? You suppose me +destitute of honour. Well,’ she said, ‘see +here: I will not argue, but I tell you once for all: leave me +this order, and the Prince shall be arrested—take it from +me, and, as certain as I speak, I will upset the coach. +Trust me, or fear me: take your choice.’ And she +offered him the paper.</p> +<p>The Baron, in a great contention of mind, stood irresolute, +weighing the two dangers. Once his hand advanced, then +dropped. ‘Well,’ he said, ‘since trust is +what you call it . . .’</p> +<p>‘No more,’ she interrupted, ‘Do not spoil +your attitude. And now since you have behaved like a good +sort of fellow in the dark, I will condescend to tell you +why. I go to the palace to arrange with Gordon; but how is +Gordon to obey me? And how can I foresee the hours? +It may be midnight; ay, and it may be nightfall; all’s a +chance; and to act, I must be free and hold the strings of the +adventure. And now,’ she cried, ‘your Vivien +goes. Dub me your knight!’ And she held out her +arms and smiled upon him radiant.</p> +<p>‘Well,’ he said, when he had kissed her, +‘every man must have his folly; I thank God mine is no +worse. Off with you! I have given a child a +squib.’</p> +<h3>CHAPTER XII—PROVIDENCE VON ROSEN: ACT THE SECOND<br /> +SHE INFORMS THE PRINCE</h3> +<p>It was the first impulse of Madame von Rosen to return to her +own villa and revise her toilette. Whatever else should +come of this adventure, it was her firm design to pay a visit to +the Princess. And before that woman, so little beloved, the +Countess would appear at no disadvantage. It was the work +of minutes. Von Rosen had the captain’s eye in +matters of the toilette; she was none of those who hang in Fabian +helplessness among their finery and, after hours, come forth upon +the world as dowdies. A glance, a loosened curl, a studied +and admired disorder in the hair, a bit of lace, a touch of +colour, a yellow rose in the bosom; and the instant picture was +complete.</p> +<p>‘That will do,’ she said. ‘Bid my +carriage follow me to the palace. In half an hour it should +be there in waiting.’</p> +<p>The night was beginning to fall and the shops to shine with +lamps along the tree-beshadowed thorough-fares of Otto’s +capital, when the Countess started on her high emprise. She +was jocund at heart; pleasure and interest had winged her beauty, +and she knew it. She paused before the glowing +jeweller’s; she remarked and praised a costume in the +milliner’s window; and when she reached the lime-tree walk, +with its high, umbrageous arches and stir of passers-by in the +dim alleys, she took her place upon a bench and began to dally +with the pleasures of the hour. It was cold, but she did +not feel it, being warm within; her thoughts, in that dark +corner, shone like the gold and rubies at the jewellers; her +ears, which heard the brushing of so many footfalls, transposed +it into music.</p> +<p>What was she to do? She held the paper by which all +depended. Otto and Gondremark and Ratafia, and the state +itself, hung light in her balances, as light as dust; her little +finger laid in either scale would set all flying: and she hugged +herself upon her huge preponderance, and then laughed aloud to +think how giddily it might be used. The vertigo of +omnipotence, the disease of Cæsars, shook her reason. +‘O the mad world!’ she thought, and laughed aloud in +exultation.</p> +<p>A child, finger in mouth, had paused a little way from where +she sat, and stared with cloudy interest upon this laughing +lady. She called it nearer; but the child hung back. +Instantly, with that curious passion which you may see any woman +in the world display, on the most odd occasions, for a similar +end, the Countess bent herself with singleness of mind to +overcome this diffidence; and presently, sure enough, the child +was seated on her knee, thumbing and glowering at her watch.</p> +<p>‘If you had a clay bear and a china monkey,’ asked +Von Rosen, ‘which would you prefer to break?’</p> +<p>‘But I have neither,’ said the child.</p> +<p>‘Well,’ she said, ‘here is a bright florin, +with which you may purchase both the one and the other; and I +shall give it you at once, if you will answer my question. +The clay bear or the china monkey—come?’</p> +<p>But the unbreeched soothsayer only stared upon the florin with +big eyes; the oracle could not be persuaded to reply; and the +Countess kissed him lightly, gave him the florin, set him down +upon the path, and resumed her way with swinging and elastic +gait.</p> +<p>‘Which shall I break?’ she wondered; and she +passed her hand with delight among the careful disarrangement of +her locks. ‘Which?’ and she consulted heaven +with her bright eyes. ‘Do I love both or +neither? A little—passionately—not at +all? Both or neither—both, I believe; but at least I +will make hay of Ratafia.’</p> +<p>By the time she had passed the iron gates, mounted the drive, +and set her foot upon the broad flagged terrace, the night had +come completely; the palace front was thick with lighted windows; +and along the balustrade, the lamp on every twentieth baluster +shone clear. A few withered tracks of sunset, amber and +glow-worm green, still lingered in the western sky; and she +paused once again to watch them fading.</p> +<p>‘And to think,’ she said, ‘that here am +I—destiny embodied, a norn, a fate, a providence—and +have no guess upon which side I shall declare myself! What +other woman in my place would not be prejudiced, and think +herself committed? But, thank Heaven! I was born +just!’ Otto’s windows were bright among the +rest, and she looked on them with rising tenderness. +‘How does it feel to be deserted?’ she thought. +‘Poor dear fool! The girl deserves that he should see +this order.’</p> +<p>Without more delay, she passed into the palace and asked for +an audience of Prince Otto. The Prince, she was told, was +in his own apartment, and desired to be private. She sent +her name. A man presently returned with word that the +Prince tendered his apologies, but could see no one. +‘Then I will write,’ she said, and scribbled a few +lines alleging urgency of life and death. ‘Help me, +my Prince,’ she added; ‘none but you can help +me.’ This time the messenger returned more speedily, +and begged the Countess to follow him: the Prince was graciously +pleased to receive the Frau Gräfin von Rosen.</p> +<p>Otto sat by the fire in his large armoury, weapons faintly +glittering all about him in the changeful light. His face +was disfigured by the marks of weeping; he looked sour and sad; +nor did he rise to greet his visitor, but bowed, and bade the man +begone. That kind of general tenderness which served the +Countess for both heart and conscience, sharply smote her at this +spectacle of grief and weakness; she began immediately to enter +into the spirit of her part; and as soon as they were alone, +taking one step forward and with a magnificent +gesture—‘Up!’ she cried.</p> +<p>‘Madame von Rosen,’ replied Otto dully, ‘you +have used strong words. You speak of life and death. +Pray, madam, who is threatened? Who is there,’ he +added bitterly, ‘so destitute that even Otto of +Grünewald can assist him?’</p> +<p>‘First learn,’ said she, ‘the names of the +conspirators; the Princess and the Baron Gondremark. Can +you not guess the rest?’ And then, as he maintained +his silence—‘You!’ she cried, pointing at him +with her finger. ‘’Tis you they threaten! +Your rascal and mine have laid their heads together and condemned +you. But they reckoned without you and me. We make a +<i>partie carrée</i>, Prince, in love and politics. +They lead an ace, but we shall trump it. Come, partner, +shall I draw my card?’</p> +<p>‘Madam,’ he said, ‘explain yourself. +Indeed I fail to comprehend.’</p> +<p>‘See, then,’ said she; and handed him the +order.</p> +<p>He took it, looked upon it with a start; and then, still +without speech, he put his hand before his face. She waited +for a word in vain.</p> +<p>‘What!’ she cried, ‘do you take the thing +down-heartedly? As well seek wine in a milk-pail as love in +that girl’s heart! Be done with this, and be a +man. After the league of the lions, let us have a +conspiracy of mice, and pull this piece of machinery to +ground. You were brisk enough last night when nothing was +at stake and all was frolic. Well, here is better sport; +here is life indeed.’</p> +<p>He got to his feet with some alacrity, and his face, which was +a little flushed, bore the marks of resolution.</p> +<p>‘Madame von Rosen,’ said he, ‘I am neither +unconscious nor ungrateful; this is the true continuation of your +friendship; but I see that I must disappoint your +expectations. You seem to expect from me some effort of +resistance; but why should I resist? I have not much to +gain; and now that I have read this paper, and the last of a +fool’s paradise is shattered, it would be hyperbolical to +speak of loss in the same breath with Otto of +Grünewald. I have no party, no policy; no pride, nor +anything to be proud of. For what benefit or principle +under Heaven do you expect me to contend? Or would you have +me bite and scratch like a trapped weasel? No, madam; +signify to those who sent you my readiness to go. I would +at least avoid a scandal.’</p> +<p>‘You go?—of your own will, you go?’ she +cried.</p> +<p>‘I cannot say so much, perhaps,’ he answered; +‘but I go with good alacrity. I have desired a change +some time; behold one offered me! Shall I refuse? +Thank God, I am not so destitute of humour as to make a tragedy +of such a farce.’ He flicked the order on the +table. ‘You may signify my readiness,’ he added +grandly.</p> +<p>‘Ah,’ she said, ‘you are more angry than you +own.’</p> +<p>‘I, madam? angry?’ he cried. ‘You +rave! I have no cause for anger. In every way I have +been taught my weakness, my instability, and my unfitness for the +world. I am a plexus of weaknesses, an impotent Prince, a +doubtful gentleman; and you yourself, indulgent as you are, have +twice reproved my levity. And shall I be angry? I may +feel the unkindness, but I have sufficient honesty of mind to see +the reasons of this <i>coup d’état</i>.’</p> +<p>‘From whom have you got this?’ she cried in +wonder. ‘You think you have not behaved well? +My Prince, were you not young and handsome, I should detest you +for your virtues. You push them to the verge of +commonplace. And this ingratitude—’</p> +<p>‘Understand me, Madame von Rosen,’ returned the +Prince, flushing a little darker, ‘there can be here no +talk of gratitude, none of pride. You are here, by what +circumstance I know not, but doubtless led by your kindness, +mixed up in what regards my family alone. You have no +knowledge what my wife, your sovereign, may have suffered; it is +not for you—no, nor for me—to judge. I own +myself in fault; and were it otherwise, a man were a very empty +boaster who should talk of love and start before a small +humiliation. It is in all the copybooks that one should die +to please his lady-love; and shall a man not go to +prison?’</p> +<p>‘Love? And what has love to do with being sent to +gaol?’ exclaimed the Countess, appealing to the walls and +roof. ‘Heaven knows I think as much of love as any +one; my life would prove it; but I admit no love, at least for a +man, that is not equally returned. The rest is +moonshine.’</p> +<p>‘I think of love more absolutely, madam, though I am +certain no more tenderly, than a lady to whom I am indebted for +such kindnesses,’ returned the Prince. ‘But +this is unavailing. We are not here to hold a court of +troubadours.’</p> +<p>‘Still,’ she replied, ‘there is one thing +you forget. If she conspires with Gondremark against your +liberty, she may conspire with him against your honour +also.’</p> +<p>‘My honour?’ he repeated. ‘For a +woman, you surprise me. If I have failed to gain her love +or play my part of husband, what right is left me? or what honour +can remain in such a scene of defeat? No honour that I +recognise. I am become a stranger. If my wife no +longer loves me, I will go to prison, since she wills it; if she +love another, where should I be more in place? or whose fault is +it but mine? You speak, Madame von Rosen, like too many +women, with a man’s tongue. Had I myself fallen into +temptation (as, Heaven knows, I might) I should have trembled, +but still hoped and asked for her forgiveness; and yet mine had +been a treason in the teeth of love. But let me tell you, +madam,’ he pursued, with rising irritation, ‘where a +husband by futility, facility, and ill-timed humours has +outwearied his wife’s patience, I will suffer neither man +nor woman to misjudge her. She is free; the man has been +found wanting.’</p> +<p>‘Because she loves you not?’ the Countess +cried. ‘You know she is incapable of such a +feeling.’</p> +<p>‘Rather, it was I who was born incapable of inspiring +it,’ said Otto.</p> +<p>Madame von Rosen broke into sudden laughter. +‘Fool,’ she cried, ‘I am in love with you +myself!’</p> +<p>‘Ah, madam, you are most compassionate,’ the +Prince retorted, smiling. ‘But this is waste +debate. I know my purpose. Perhaps, to equal you in +frankness, I know and embrace my advantage. I am not +without the spirit of adventure. I am in a false +position—so recognised by public acclamation: do you grudge +me, then, my issue?’</p> +<p>‘If your mind is made up, why should I dissuade +you?’ said the Countess. ‘I own, with a bare +face, I am the gainer. Go, you take my heart with you, or +more of it than I desire; I shall not sleep at night for thinking +of your misery. But do not be afraid; I would not spoil +you, you are such a fool and hero.’</p> +<p>‘Alas! madam,’ cried the Prince, ‘and your +unlucky money! I did amiss to take it, but you are a +wonderful persuader. And I thank God, I can still offer you +the fair equivalent.’ He took some papers from the +chimney. ‘Here, madam, are the title-deeds,’ he +said; ‘where I am going, they can certainly be of no use to +me, and I have now no other hope of making up to you your +kindness. You made the loan without formality, obeying your +kind heart. The parts are somewhat changed; the sun of this +Prince of Grünewald is upon the point of setting; and I know +you better than to doubt you will once more waive ceremony, and +accept the best that he can give you. If I may look for any +pleasure in the coming time, it will be to remember that the +peasant is secure, and my most generous friend no +loser.’</p> +<p>‘Do you not understand my odious position?’ cried +the Countess. ‘Dear Prince, it is upon your fall that +I begin my fortune.’</p> +<p>‘It was the more like you to tempt me to +resistance,’ returned Otto. ‘But this cannot +alter our relations; and I must, for the last time, lay my +commands upon you in the character of Prince.’ And +with his loftiest dignity, he forced the deeds on her +acceptance.</p> +<p>‘I hate the very touch of them,’ she cried.</p> +<p>There followed upon this a little silence. ‘At +what time,’ resumed Otto, ‘(if indeed you know) am I +to be arrested?’</p> +<p>‘Your Highness, when you please!’ exclaimed the +Countess. ‘Or, if you choose to tear that paper, +never!’</p> +<p>‘I would rather it were done quickly,’ said the +Prince. ‘I shall take but time to leave a letter for +the Princess.’</p> +<p>‘Well,’ said the Countess, ‘I have advised +you to resist; at the same time, if you intend to be dumb before +your shearers, I must say that I ought to set about arranging +your arrest. I offered’—she +hesitated—‘I offered to manage it, intending, my dear +friend—intending, upon my soul, to be of use to you. +Well, if you will not profit by my goodwill, then be of use to +me; and as soon as ever you feel ready, go to the Flying Mercury +where we met last night. It will be none the worse for you; +and to make it quite plain, it will be better for the rest of +us.’</p> +<p>‘Dear madam, certainly,’ said Otto. +‘If I am prepared for the chief evil, I shall not quarrel +with details. Go, then, with my best gratitude; and when I +have written a few lines of leave-taking, I shall immediately +hasten to keep tryst. To-night I shall not meet so +dangerous a cavalier,’ he added, with a smiling +gallantry.</p> +<p>As soon as Madame von Rosen was gone, he made a great call +upon his self-command. He was face to face with a miserable +passage where, if it were possible, he desired to carry himself +with dignity. As to the main fact, he never swerved or +faltered; he had come so heart-sick and so cruelly humiliated +from his talk with Gotthold, that he embraced the notion of +imprisonment with something bordering on relief. Here was, +at least, a step which he thought blameless; here was a way out +of his troubles. He sat down to write to Seraphina; and his +anger blazed. The tale of his forbearances mounted, in his +eyes, to something monstrous; still more monstrous, the coldness, +egoism, and cruelty that had required and thus requited +them. The pen which he had taken shook in his hand. +He was amazed to find his resignation fled, but it was gone +beyond his recall. In a few white-hot words, he bade adieu, +dubbing desperation by the name of love, and calling his wrath +forgiveness; then he cast but one look of leave-taking on the +place that had been his for so long and was now to be his no +longer; and hurried forth—love’s prisoner—or +pride’s.</p> +<p>He took that private passage which he had trodden so often in +less momentous hours. The porter let him out; and the +bountiful, cold air of the night and the pure glory of the stars +received him on the threshold. He looked round him, +breathing deep of earth’s plain fragrance; he looked up +into the great array of heaven, and was quieted. His little +turgid life dwindled to its true proportions; and he saw himself +(that great flame-hearted martyr!) stand like a speck under the +cool cupola of the night. Thus he felt his careless +injuries already soothed; the live air of out-of-doors, the quiet +of the world, as if by their silent music, sobering and dwarfing +his emotions.</p> +<p>‘Well, I forgive her,’ he said. ‘If it +be of any use to her, I forgive.’</p> +<p>And with brisk steps he crossed the garden, issued upon the +Park, and came to the Flying Mercury. A dark figure moved +forward from the shadow of the pedestal.</p> +<p>‘I have to ask your pardon, sir,’ a voice +observed, ‘but if I am right in taking you for the Prince, +I was given to understand that you would be prepared to meet +me.’</p> +<p>‘Herr Gordon, I believe?’ said Otto.</p> +<p>‘Herr Oberst Gordon,’ replied that officer. +‘This is rather a ticklish business for a man to be +embarked in; and to find that all is to go pleasantly is a great +relief to me. The carriage is at hand; shall I have the +honour of following your Highness?’</p> +<p>‘Colonel,’ said the Prince, ‘I have now come +to that happy moment of my life when I have orders to receive but +none to give.’</p> +<p>‘A most philosophical remark,’ returned the +Colonel. ‘Begad, a very pertinent remark! it might be +Plutarch. I am not a drop’s blood to your Highness, +or indeed to any one in this principality; or else I should +dislike my orders. But as it is, and since there is nothing +unnatural or unbecoming on my side, and your Highness takes it in +good part, I begin to believe we may have a capital time +together, sir—a capital time. For a gaoler is only a +fellow-captive.’</p> +<p>‘May I inquire, Herr Gordon,’ asked Otto, +‘what led you to accept this dangerous and I would fain +hope thankless office?’</p> +<p>‘Very natural, I am sure,’ replied the officer of +fortune. ‘My pay is, in the meanwhile, +doubled.’</p> +<p>‘Well, sir, I will not presume to criticise,’ +returned the Prince. ‘And I perceive the +carriage.’</p> +<p>Sure enough, at the intersection of two alleys of the Park, a +coach and four, conspicuous by its lanterns, stood in +waiting. And a little way off about a score of lancers were +drawn up under the shadow of the trees.</p> +<h3>CHAPTER XIII—PROVIDENCE VON ROSEN: ACT THE THIRD<br /> +SHE ENLIGHTENS SERAPHINA</h3> +<p>When Madame von Rosen left the Prince, she hurried straight to +Colonel Gordon; and not content with directing the arrangements, +she had herself accompanied the soldier of fortune to the Flying +Mercury. The Colonel gave her his arm, and the talk between +this pair of conspirators ran high and lively. The +Countess, indeed, was in a whirl of pleasure and excitement; her +tongue stumbled upon laughter, her eyes shone, the colour that +was usually wanting now perfected her face. It would have +taken little more to bring Gordon to her feet—or so, at +least, she believed, disdaining the idea.</p> +<p>Hidden among some lilac bushes, she enjoyed the great decorum +of the arrest, and heard the dialogue of the two men die away +along the path. Soon after, the rolling of a carriage and +the beat of hoofs arose in the still air of the night, and passed +speedily farther and fainter into silence. The Prince was +gone.</p> +<p>Madame von Rosen consulted her watch. She had still, she +thought, time enough for the tit-bit of her evening; and hurrying +to the palace, winged by the fear of Gondremark’s arrival, +she sent her name and a pressing request for a reception to the +Princess Seraphina. As the Countess von Rosen unqualified, +she was sure to be refused; but as an emissary of the +Baron’s, for so she chose to style herself, she gained +immediate entry.</p> +<p>The Princess sat alone at table, making a feint of +dining. Her cheeks were mottled, her eyes heavy; she had +neither slept nor eaten; even her dress had been neglected. +In short, she was out of health, out of looks, out of heart, and +hag-ridden by her conscience. The Countess drew a swift +comparison, and shone brighter in beauty.</p> +<p>‘You come, madam, <i>de la part de Monsieur le +Baron</i>,’ drawled the Princess. ‘Be +seated! What have you to say?’</p> +<p>‘To say?’ repeated Madame von Rosen, ‘O, +much to say! Much to say that I would rather not, and much +to leave unsaid that I would rather say. For I am like St. +Paul, your Highness, and always wish to do the things I should +not. Well! to be categorical—that is the +word?—I took the Prince your order. He could not +credit his senses. “Ah,” he cried “dear +Madame von Rosen, it is not possible—it cannot be I must +hear it from your lips. My wife is a poor girl misled, she +is only silly, she is not cruel.” “<i>Mon +Prince</i>,” said I, “a girl—and therefore +cruel; youth kills flies.”—He had such pain to +understand it!’</p> +<p>‘Madame von Rosen,’ said the Princess, in most +steadfast tones, but with a rose of anger in her face, ‘who +sent you here, and for what purpose? Tell your +errand.’</p> +<p>‘O, madam, I believe you understand me very well,’ +returned von Rosen. ‘I have not your +philosophy. I wear my heart upon my sleeve, excuse the +indecency! It is a very little one,’ she laughed, +‘and I so often change the sleeve!’</p> +<p>‘Am I to understand the Prince has been arrested?’ +asked the Princess, rising.</p> +<p>‘While you sat there dining!’ cried the Countess, +still nonchalantly seated.</p> +<p>‘You have discharged your errand,’ was the reply; +‘I will not detain you.’</p> +<p>‘O no, madam,’ said the Countess, ‘with your +permission, I have not yet done. I have borne much this +evening in your service. I have suffered. I was made +to suffer in your service.’ She unfolded her fan as +she spoke. Quick as her pulses beat, the fan waved +languidly. She betrayed her emotion only by the brightness +of her eyes and face, and by the almost insolent triumph with +which she looked down upon the Princess. There were old +scores of rivalry between them in more than one field; so at +least von Rosen felt; and now she was to have her hour of victory +in them all.</p> +<p>‘You are no servant, Madame von Rosen, of mine,’ +said Seraphina.</p> +<p>‘No, madam, indeed,’ returned the Countess; +‘but we both serve the same person, as you know—or if +you do not, then I have the pleasure of informing you. Your +conduct is so light—so light,’ she repeated, the fan +wavering higher like a butterfly, ‘that perhaps you do not +truly understand.’ The Countess rolled her fan +together, laid it in her lap, and rose to a less languorous +position. ‘Indeed,’ she continued, ‘I +should be sorry to see any young woman in your situation. +You began with every advantage—birth, a suitable +marriage—quite pretty too—and see what you have come +to! My poor girl, to think of it! But there is +nothing that does so much harm,’ observed the Countess +finely, ‘as giddiness of mind.’ And she once +more unfurled the fan, and approvingly fanned herself.</p> +<p>‘I will no longer permit you to forget yourself,’ +cried Seraphina. ‘I think you are mad.’</p> +<p>‘Not mad,’ returned von Rosen. ‘Sane +enough to know you dare not break with me to-night, and to profit +by the knowledge. I left my poor, pretty Prince Charming +crying his eyes out for a wooden doll. My heart is soft; I +love my pretty Prince; you will never understand it, but I long +to give my Prince his doll, dry his poor eyes, and send him off +happy. O, you immature fool!’ the Countess cried, +rising to her feet, and pointing at the Princess the closed fan +that now began to tremble in her hand. ‘O wooden +doll!’ she cried, ‘have you a heart, or blood, of any +nature? This is a man, child—a man who loves +you. O, it will not happen twice! it is not common; +beautiful and clever women look in vain for it. And you, +you pitiful schoolgirl, tread this jewel under foot! you, stupid +with your vanity! Before you try to govern kingdoms, you +should first be able to behave yourself at home; home is the +woman’s kingdom.’ She paused and laughed a +little, strangely to hear and look upon. ‘I will tell +you one of the things,’ she said, ‘that were to stay +unspoken. Von Rosen is a better women than you, my +Princess, though you will never have the pain of understanding +it; and when I took the Prince your order, and looked upon his +face, my soul was melted—O, I am frank—here, within +my arms, I offered him repose!’ She advanced a step +superbly as she spoke, with outstretched arms; and Seraphina +shrank. ‘Do not be alarmed!’ the Countess +cried; ‘I am not offering that hermitage to you; in all the +world there is but one who wants to, and him you have +dismissed! “If it will give her pleasure I should +wear the martyr’s crown,” he cried, “I will +embrace the thorns.” I tell you—I am quite +frank—I put the order in his power and begged him to +resist. You, who have betrayed your husband, may betray me +to Gondremark; my Prince would betray no one. Understand it +plainly,’ she cried, ‘’tis of his pure +forbearance that you sit there; he had the power—I gave it +him—to change the parts; and he refused, and went to prison +in your place.’</p> +<p>The Princess spoke with some distress. ‘Your +violence shocks me and pains me,’ she began, ‘but I +cannot be angry with what at least does honour to the mistaken +kindness of your heart: it was right for me to know this. I +will condescend to tell you. It was with deep regret that I +was driven to this step. I admire in many ways the +Prince—I admit his amiability. It was our great +misfortune, it was perhaps somewhat of my fault, that we were so +unsuited to each other; but I have a regard, a sincere regard, +for all his qualities. As a private person I should think +as you do. It is difficult, I know, to make allowances for +state considerations. I have only with deep reluctance +obeyed the call of a superior duty; and so soon as I dare do it +for the safety of the state, I promise you the Prince shall be +released. Many in my situation would have resented your +freedoms. I am not’—and she looked for a moment +rather piteously upon the Countess—‘I am not +altogether so inhuman as you think.’</p> +<p>‘And you can put these troubles of the state,’ the +Countess cried, ‘to weigh with a man’s +love?’</p> +<p>‘Madame von Rosen, these troubles are affairs of life +and death to many; to the Prince, and perhaps even to yourself, +among the number,’ replied the Princess, with +dignity. ‘I have learned, madam, although still so +young, in a hard school, that my own feelings must everywhere +come last.’</p> +<p>‘O callow innocence!’ exclaimed the other. +‘Is it possible you do not know, or do not suspect, the +intrigue in which you move? I find it in my heart to pity +you! We are both women after all—poor girl, poor +girl!—and who is born a woman is born a fool. And +though I hate all women—come, for the common folly, I +forgive you. Your Highness’—she dropped a deep +stage curtsey and resumed her fan—‘I am going to +insult you, to betray one who is called my lover, and if it +pleases you to use the power I now put unreservedly into your +hands, to ruin my dear self. O what a French comedy! +You betray, I betray, they betray. It is now my cue. +The letter, yes. Behold the letter, madam, its seal +unbroken as I found it by my bed this morning; for I was out of +humour, and I get many, too many, of these favours. For +your own sake, for the sake of my Prince Charming, for the sake +of this great principality that sits so heavy on your conscience, +open it and read!’</p> +<p>‘Am I to understand,’ inquired the Princess, +‘that this letter in any way regards me?’</p> +<p>‘You see I have not opened it,’ replied von Rosen; +‘but ’tis mine, and I beg you to +experiment.’</p> +<p>‘I cannot look at it till you have,’ returned +Seraphina, very seriously. ‘There may be matter there +not meant for me to see; it is a private letter.’</p> +<p>The Countess tore it open, glanced it through, and tossed it +back; and the Princess, taking up the sheet, recognised the hand +of Gondremark, and read with a sickening shock the following +lines:—</p> +<blockquote><p>‘Dearest Anna, come at once. Ratafia +has done the deed, her husband is to be packed to prison. +This puts the minx entirely in my power; <i>le tour est +joué</i>; she will now go steady in harness, or I will +know the reason why. Come.</p> +<p style="text-align: right"><span +class="smcap">Heinrich</span>.’</p> +</blockquote> +<p>‘Command yourself, madam,’ said the Countess, +watching with some alarm the white face of Seraphina. +‘It is in vain for you to fight with Gondremark; he has +more strings than mere court favour, and could bring you down +to-morrow with a word. I would not have betrayed him +otherwise; but Heinrich is a man, and plays with all of you like +marionnettes. And now at least you see for what you +sacrificed my Prince. Madam, will you take some wine? +I have been cruel.’</p> +<p>‘Not cruel, madam—salutary,’ said Seraphina, +with a phantom smile. ‘No, I thank you, I require no +attentions. The first surprise affected me: will you give +me time a little? I must think.’</p> +<p>She took her head between her hands, and contemplated for a +while the hurricane confusion of her thoughts.</p> +<p>‘This information reaches me,’ she said, +‘when I have need of it. I would not do as you have +done, but yet I thank you. I have been much deceived in +Baron Gondremark.’</p> +<p>‘O, madam, leave Gondremark, and think upon the +Prince!’ cried von Rosen.</p> +<p>‘You speak once more as a private person,’ said +the Princess; ‘nor do I blame you. But my own +thoughts are more distracted. However, as I believe you are +truly a friend to my—to the—as I believe,’ she +said, ‘you are a friend to Otto, I shall put the order for +his release into your hands this moment. Give me the +ink-dish. There!’ And she wrote hastily, +steadying her arm upon the table, for she trembled like a +reed. ‘Remember; madam,’ she resumed, handing +her the order, ‘this must not be used nor spoken of at +present; till I have seen the Baron, any hurried step—I +lose myself in thinking. The suddenness has shaken +me.’</p> +<p>‘I promise you I will not use it,’ said the +Countess, ‘till you give me leave, although I wish the +Prince could be informed of it, to comfort his poor heart. +And O, I had forgotten, he has left a letter. Suffer me, +madam, I will bring it you. This is the door, I +think?’ And she sought to open it.</p> +<p>‘The bolt is pushed,’ said Seraphina, +flushing.</p> +<p>‘O! O!’ cried the Countess.</p> +<p>A silence fell between them.</p> +<p>‘I will get it for myself,’ said Seraphina; +‘and in the meanwhile I beg you to leave me. I thank +you, I am sure, but I shall be obliged if you will leave +me.’</p> +<p>The Countess deeply curtseyed, and withdrew.</p> +<h3>CHAPTER XIV—RELATES THE CAUSE AND OUTBREAK OF THE +REVOLUTION</h3> +<p>Brave as she was, and brave by intellect, the Princess, when +first she was alone, clung to the table for support. The +four corners of her universe had fallen. She had never +liked nor trusted Gondremark completely; she had still held it +possible to find him false to friendship; but from that to +finding him devoid of all those public virtues for which she had +honoured him, a mere commonplace intriguer, using her for his own +ends, the step was wide and the descent giddy. Light and +darkness succeeded each other in her brain; now she believed, and +now she could not. She turned, blindly groping for the +note. But von Rosen, who had not forgotten to take the +warrant from the Prince, had remembered to recover her note from +the Princess: von Rosen was an old campaigner, whose most violent +emotion aroused rather than clouded the vigour of her reason.</p> +<p>The thought recalled to Seraphina the remembrance of the other +letter—Otto’s. She rose and went speedily, her +brain still wheeling, and burst into the Prince’s +armoury. The old chamberlain was there in waiting; and the +sight of another face, prying (or so she felt) on her distress, +struck Seraphina into childish anger.</p> +<p>‘Go!’ she cried; and then, when the old man was +already half-way to the door, ‘Stay!’ she +added. ‘As soon as Baron Gondremark arrives, let him +attend me here.’</p> +<p>‘It shall be so directed,’ said the +chamberlain.</p> +<p>‘There was a letter . . . ’ she began, and +paused.</p> +<p>‘Her Highness,’ said the chamberlain, ‘will, +find a letter on the table. I had received no orders, or +her Highness had been spared this trouble.’</p> +<p>‘No, no, no,’ she cried. ‘I thank +you. I desire to be alone.’</p> +<p>And then, when he was gone, she leaped upon the letter. +Her mind was still obscured; like the moon upon a night of clouds +and wind, her reason shone and was darkened, and she read the +words by flashes.</p> +<blockquote><p>‘Seraphina,’ the Prince wrote, +‘I will write no syllable of reproach. I have seen +your order, and I go. What else is left me? I have +wasted my love, and have no more. To say that I forgive you +is not needful; at least, we are now separate for ever; by your +own act, you free me from my willing bondage: I go free to +prison. This is the last that you will hear of me in love +or anger. I have gone out of your life; you may breathe +easy; you have now rid yourself of the husband who allowed you to +desert him, of the Prince who gave you his rights, and of the +married lover who made it his pride to defend you in your +absence. How you have requited him, your own heart more +loudly tells you than my words. There is a day coming when +your vain dreams will roll away like clouds, and you will find +yourself alone. Then you will remember</p> +<p style="text-align: right"><span +class="smcap">Otto</span>.’</p> +</blockquote> +<p>She read with a great horror on her mind; that day, of which +he wrote, was come. She was alone; she had been false, she +had been cruel; remorse rolled in upon her; and then with a more +piercing note, vanity bounded on the stage of +consciousness. She a dupe! she helpless! she to have +betrayed herself in seeking to betray her husband! she to have +lived these years upon flattery, grossly swallowing the bolus, +like a clown with sharpers! she—Seraphina! Her swift +mind drank the consequences; she foresaw the coming fall, her +public shame; she saw the odium, disgrace, and folly of her story +flaunt through Europe. She recalled the scandal she had so +royally braved; and alas! she had now no courage to confront it +with. To be thought the mistress of that man: perhaps for +that. . . . She closed her eyes on agonising vistas. Swift +as thought she had snatched a bright dagger from the weapons that +shone along the wall. Ay, she would escape. From that +world-wide theatre of nodding heads and buzzing whisperers, in +which she now beheld herself unpitiably martyred, one door stood +open. At any cost, through any stress of suffering, that +greasy laughter should be stifled. She closed her eyes, +breathed a wordless prayer, and pressed the weapon to her +bosom.</p> +<p>At the astonishing sharpness of the prick, she gave a cry and +awoke to a sense of undeserved escape. A little ruby spot +of blood was the reward of that great act of desperation; but the +pain had braced her like a tonic, and her whole design of suicide +had passed away.</p> +<p>At the same instant regular feet drew near along the gallery, +and she knew the tread of the big Baron, so often gladly welcome, +and even now rallying her spirits like a call to battle. +She concealed the dagger in the folds of her skirt; and drawing +her stature up, she stood firm-footed, radiant with anger, +waiting for the foe.</p> +<p>The Baron was announced, and entered. To him, Seraphina +was a hated task: like the schoolboy with his Virgil, he had +neither will nor leisure to remark her beauties; but when he now +beheld her standing illuminated by her passion, new feelings +flashed upon him, a frank admiration, a brief sparkle of +desire. He noted both with joy; they were means. +‘If I have to play the lover,’ thought he, for that +was his constant preoccupation, ‘I believe I can put soul +into it.’ Meanwhile, with his usual ponderous grace, +he bent before the lady.</p> +<p>‘I propose,’ she said in a strange voice, not +known to her till then, ‘that we release the Prince and do +not prosecute the war.’</p> +<p>‘Ah, madam,’ he replied, ‘’tis as I +knew it would be! Your heart, I knew, would wound you when +we came to this distasteful but most necessary step. Ah, +madam, believe me, I am not unworthy to be your ally; I know you +have qualities to which I am a stranger, and count them the best +weapons in the armoury of our alliance:—the girl in the +queen—pity, love, tenderness, laughter; the smile that can +reward. I can only command; I am the frowner. But +you! And you have the fortitude to command these comely +weaknesses, to tread them down at the call of reason. How +often have I not admired it even to yourself! Ay, even to +yourself,’ he added tenderly, dwelling, it seemed, in +memory on hours of more private admiration. ‘But now, +madam—’</p> +<p>‘But now, Herr von Gondremark, the time for these +declarations has gone by,’ she cried. ‘Are you +true to me? are you false? Look in your heart and answer: +it is your heart I want to know.’</p> +<p>‘It has come,’ thought Gondremark. +‘You, madam!’ he cried, starting back—with +fear, you would have said, and yet a timid joy. ‘You! +yourself, you bid me look into my heart?’</p> +<p>‘Do you suppose I fear?’ she cried, and looked at +him with such a heightened colour, such bright eyes, and a smile +of so abstruse a meaning, that the Baron discarded his last +doubt.</p> +<p>‘Ah, madam!’ he cried, plumping on his +knees. ‘Seraphina! Do you permit me? have you +divined my secret? It is true—I put my life with joy +into your power—I love you, love with ardour, as an equal, +as a mistress, as a brother-in-arms, as an adored, desired, +sweet-hearted woman. O Bride!’ he cried, waxing +dithyrambic, ‘bride of my reason and my senses, have pity, +have pity on my love!’</p> +<p>She heard him with wonder, rage, and then contempt. His +words offended her to sickness; his appearance, as he grovelled +bulkily upon the floor, moved her to such laughter as we laugh in +nightmares.</p> +<p>‘O shame!’ she cried. ‘Absurd and +odious! What would the Countess say?’</p> +<p>That great Baron Gondremark, the excellent politician, +remained for some little time upon his knees in a frame of mind +which perhaps we are allowed to pity. His vanity, within +his iron bosom, bled and raved. If he could have blotted +all, if he could have withdrawn part, if he had not called her +bride—with a roaring in his ears, he thus regretfully +reviewed his declaration. He got to his feet tottering; and +then, in that first moment when a dumb agony finds a vent in +words, and the tongue betrays the inmost and worst of a man, he +permitted himself a retort which, for six weeks to follow, he was +to repent at leisure.</p> +<p>‘Ah,’ said he, ‘the Countess? Now I +perceive the reason of your Highness’s disorder.’</p> +<p>The lackey-like insolence of the words was driven home by a +more insolent manner. There fell upon Seraphina one of +those storm-clouds which had already blackened upon her reason; +she heard herself cry out; and when the cloud dispersed, flung +the blood-stained dagger on the floor, and saw Gondremark reeling +back with open mouth and clapping his hand upon the wound. +The next moment, with oaths that she had never heard, he leaped +at her in savage passion; clutched her as she recoiled; and in +the very act, stumbled and drooped. She had scarce time to +fear his murderous onslaught ere he fell before her feet.</p> +<p>He rose upon one elbow; she still staring upon him, white with +horror.</p> +<p>‘Anna!’ he cried, ‘Anna! +Help!’</p> +<p>And then his utterance failed him, and he fell back, to all +appearance dead.</p> +<p>Seraphina ran to and fro in the room; she wrung her hands and +cried aloud; within she was all one uproar of terror, and +conscious of no articulate wish but to awake.</p> +<p>There came a knocking at the door; and she sprang to it and +held it, panting like a beast, and with the strength of madness +in her arms, till she had pushed the bolt. At this success +a certain calm fell upon her reason. She went back and +looked upon her victim, the knocking growing louder. O yes, +he was dead. She had killed him. He had called upon +von Rosen with his latest breath; ah! who would call on +Seraphina? She had killed him. She, whose irresolute +hand could scarce prick blood from her own bosom, had found +strength to cast down that great colossus at a blow.</p> +<p>All this while the knocking was growing more uproarious and +more unlike the staid career of life in such a palace. +Scandal was at the door, with what a fatal following she dreaded +to conceive; and at the same time among the voices that now began +to summon her by name, she recognised the +Chancellor’s. He or another, somebody must be the +first.</p> +<p>‘Is Herr von Greisengesang without?’ she +called.</p> +<p>‘Your Highness—yes!’ the old gentleman +answered. ‘We have heard cries, a fall. Is +anything amiss?’</p> +<p>‘Nothing,’ replied Seraphina ‘I desire to +speak with you. Send off the rest.’ She panted +between each phrase; but her mind was clear. She let the +looped curtain down upon both sides before she drew the bolt; +and, thus secure from any sudden eyeshot from without, admitted +the obsequious Chancellor, and again made fast the door.</p> +<p>Greisengesang clumsily revolved among the wings of the +curtain, so that she was clear of it as soon as he.</p> +<p>‘My God!’ he cried ‘The Baron!’</p> +<p>‘I have killed him,’ she said. ‘O, +killed him!’</p> +<p>‘Dear me,’ said the old gentleman, ‘this is +most unprecedented. Lovers’ quarrels,’ he added +ruefully, ‘redintegratio—’ and then +paused. ‘But, my dear madam,’ he broke out +again, ‘in the name of all that is practical, what are we +to do? This is exceedingly grave; morally, madam, it is +appalling. I take the liberty, your Highness, for one +moment, of addressing you as a daughter, a loved although +respected daughter; and I must say that I cannot conceal from you +that this is morally most questionable. And, O dear me, we +have a dead body!’</p> +<p>She had watched him closely; hope fell to contempt; she drew +away her skirts from his weakness, and, in the act, her own +strength returned to her.</p> +<p>‘See if he be dead,’ she said; not one word of +explanation or defence; she had scorned to justify herself before +so poor a creature: ‘See if he be dead’ was all.</p> +<p>With the greatest compunction, the Chancellor drew near; and +as he did so the wounded Baron rolled his eyes.</p> +<p>‘He lives,’ cried the old courtier, turning +effusively to Seraphina. ‘Madam, he still +lives.’</p> +<p>‘Help him, then,’ returned the Princess, standing +fixed. ‘Bind up his wound.’</p> +<p>‘Madam, I have no means,’ protested the +Chancellor.</p> +<p>‘Can you not take your handkerchief, your neck-cloth, +anything?’ she cried; and at the same moment, from her +light muslin gown she rent off a flounce and tossed it on the +floor. ‘Take that,’ she said, and for the first +time directly faced Greisengesang.</p> +<p>But the Chancellor held up his hands and turned away his head +in agony. The grasp of the falling Baron had torn down the +dainty fabric of the bodice; and—‘O Highness!’ +cried Greisengesang, appalled, ‘the terrible disorder of +your toilette!’</p> +<p>‘Take up that flounce,’ she said; ‘the man +may die.’</p> +<p>Greisengesang turned in a flutter to the Baron, and attempted +some innocent and bungling measures. ‘He still +breathes,’ he kept saying. ‘All is not yet +over; he is not yet gone.’</p> +<p>‘And now,’ said she ‘if that is all you can +do, begone and get some porters; he must instantly go +home.’</p> +<p>‘Madam,’ cried the Chancellor, ‘if this most +melancholy sight were seen in town—O dear, the State would +fall!’ he piped.</p> +<p>‘There is a litter in the Palace,’ she +replied. ‘It is your part to see him safe. I +lay commands upon you. On your life it stands.’</p> +<p>‘I see it, dear Highness,’ he jerked. +‘Clearly I see it. But how? what men? The +Prince’s servants—yes. They had a personal +affection. They will be true, if any.’</p> +<p>‘O, not them!’ she cried. ‘Take Sabra, +my own man.’</p> +<p>‘Sabra! The grand-mason?’ returned the +Chancellor, aghast. ‘If he but saw this, he would +sound the tocsin—we should all be butchered.’</p> +<p>She measured the depth of her abasement steadily. +‘Take whom you must,’ she said, ‘and bring the +litter here.’</p> +<p>Once she was alone she ran to the Baron, and with a sickening +heart sought to allay the flux of blood. The touch of the +skin of that great charlatan revolted her to the toes; the wound, +in her ignorant eyes, looked deathly; yet she contended with her +shuddering, and, with more skill at least than the +Chancellor’s, staunched the welling injury. An eye +unprejudiced with hate would have admired the Baron in his swoon; +he looked so great and shapely; it was so powerful a machine that +lay arrested; and his features, cleared for the moment both of +temper and dissimulation, were seen to be so purely +modelled. But it was not thus with Seraphina. Her +victim, as he lay outspread, twitching a little, his big chest +unbared, fixed her with his ugliness; and her mind flitted for a +glimpse to Otto.</p> +<p>Rumours began to sound about the Palace of feet running and of +voices raised; the echoes of the great arched staircase were +voluble of some confusion; and then the gallery jarred with a +quick and heavy tramp. It was the Chancellor, followed by +four of Otto’s valets and a litter. The servants, +when they were admitted, stared at the dishevelled Princess and +the wounded man; speech was denied them, but their thoughts were +riddled with profanity. Gondremark was bundled in; the +curtains of the litter were lowered; the bearers carried it +forth, and the Chancellor followed behind with a white face.</p> +<p>Seraphina ran to the window. Pressing her face upon the +pane, she could see the terrace, where the lights contended; +thence, the avenue of lamps that joined the Palace and town; and +overhead the hollow night and the larger stars. Presently +the small procession issued from the Palace, crossed the parade, +and began to thread the glittering alley: the swinging couch with +its four porters, the much-pondering Chancellor behind. She +watched them dwindle with strange thoughts: her eyes fixed upon +the scene, her mind still glancing right and left on the +overthrow of her life and hopes. There was no one left in +whom she might confide; none whose hand was friendly, or on whom +she dared to reckon for the barest loyalty. With the fall +of Gondremark, her party, her brief popularity, had fallen. +So she sat crouched upon the window-seat, her brow to the cool +pane; her dress in tatters, barely shielding her; her mind +revolving bitter thoughts.</p> +<p>Meanwhile, consequences were fast mounting; and in the +deceptive quiet of the night, downfall and red revolt were +brewing. The litter had passed forth between the iron gates +and entered on the streets of the town. By what flying +panic, by what thrill of air communicated, who shall say? but the +passing bustle in the Palace had already reached and re-echoed in +the region of the burghers. Rumour, with her loud whisper, +hissed about the town; men left their homes without knowing why; +knots formed along the boulevard; under the rare lamps and the +great limes the crowd grew blacker.</p> +<p>And now through the midst of that expectant company, the +unusual sight of a closed litter was observed approaching, and +trotting hard behind it that great dignitary Cancellarius +Greisengesang. Silence looked on as it went by; and as soon +as it was passed, the whispering seethed over like a boiling +pot. The knots were sundered; and gradually, one following +another, the whole mob began to form into a procession and escort +the curtained litter. Soon spokesmen, a little bolder than +their mates, began to ply the Chancellor with questions. +Never had he more need of that great art of falsehood, by whose +exercise he had so richly lived. And yet now he stumbled, +the master passion, fear, betraying him. He was pressed; he +became incoherent; and then from the jolting litter came a +groan. In the instant hubbub and the gathering of the crowd +as to a natural signal, the clear-eyed quavering Chancellor heard +the catch of the clock before it strikes the hour of doom; and +for ten seconds he forgot himself. This shall atone for +many sins. He plucked a bearer by the sleeve. +‘Bid the Princess flee. All is lost,’ he +whispered. And the next moment he was babbling for his life +among the multitude.</p> +<p>Five minutes later the wild-eyed servant burst into the +armoury. ‘All is lost!’ he cried. +‘The Chancellor bids you flee.’ And at the same +time, looking through the window, Seraphina saw the black rush of +the populace begin to invade the lamplit avenue.</p> +<p>‘Thank you, Georg,’ she said. ‘I thank +you. Go.’ And as the man still lingered, +‘I bid you go,’ she added. ‘Save +yourself.’</p> +<p>Down by the private passage, and just some two hours later, +Amalia Seraphina, the last Princess, followed Otto Johann +Friedrich, the last Prince of Grünewald.</p> +<h2>BOOK III—FORTUNATE MISFORTUNE</h2> +<h3>CHAPTER I—PRINCESS CINDERELLA</h3> +<p>The porter, drawn by the growing turmoil, had vanished from +the postern, and the door stood open on the darkness of the +night. As Seraphina fled up the terraces, the cries and +loud footing of the mob drew nearer the doomed palace; the rush +was like the rush of cavalry; the sound of shattering lamps +tingled above the rest; and, overtowering all, she heard her own +name bandied among the shouters. A bugle sounded at the +door of the guard-room; one gun was fired; and then with the yell +of hundreds, Mittwalden Palace was carried at a rush.</p> +<p>Sped by these dire sounds and voices, the Princess scaled the +long garden, skimming like a bird the starlit stairways; crossed +the Park, which was in that place narrow; and plunged upon the +farther side into the rude shelter of the forest. So, at a +bound, she left the discretion and the cheerful lamps of Palace +evenings; ceased utterly to be a sovereign lady; and, falling +from the whole height of civilisation, ran forth into the woods, +a ragged Cinderella.</p> +<p>She went direct before her through an open tract of the +forest, full of brush and birches, and where the starlight guided +her; and, beyond that again, must thread the columned blackness +of a pine grove joining overhead the thatch of its long +branches. At that hour the place was breathless; a horror +of night like a presence occupied that dungeon of the wood; and +she went groping, knocking against the boles—her ear, +betweenwhiles, strained to aching and yet unrewarded.</p> +<p>But the slope of the ground was upward, and encouraged her; +and presently she issued on a rocky hill that stood forth above +the sea of forest. All around were other hill-tops, big and +little; sable vales of forest between; overhead the open heaven +and the brilliancy of countless stars; and along the western sky +the dim forms of mountains. The glory of the great night +laid hold upon her; her eyes shone with stars; she dipped her +sight into the coolness and brightness of the sky, as she might +have dipped her wrist into a spring; and her heart, at that +ethereal shock, began to move more soberly. The sun that +sails overhead, ploughing into gold the fields of daylight azure +and uttering the signal to man’s myriads, has no word apart +for man the individual; and the moon, like a violin, only praises +and laments our private destiny. The stars alone, cheerful +whisperers, confer quietly with each of us like friends; they +give ear to our sorrows smilingly, like wise old men, rich in +tolerance; and by their double scale, so small to the eye, so +vast to the imagination, they keep before the mind the double +character of man’s nature and fate.</p> +<p>There sat the Princess, beautifully looking upon beauty, in +council with these glad advisers. Bright like pictures, +clear like a voice in the porches of her ear, memory re-enacted +the tumult of the evening: the Countess and the dancing fan, the +big Baron on his knees, the blood on the polished floor, the +knocking, the swing of the litter down the avenue of lamps, the +messenger, the cries of the charging mob; and yet all were far +away and phantasmal, and she was still healingly conscious of the +peace and glory of the night. She looked towards +Mittwalden; and above the hill-top, which already hid it from her +view, a throbbing redness hinted of fire. Better so: better +so, that she should fall with tragic greatness, lit by a blazing +palace! She felt not a trace of pity for Gondremark or of +concern for Grünewald: that period of her life was closed +for ever, a wrench of wounded vanity alone surviving. She +had but one clear idea: to flee;—and another, obscure and +half-rejected, although still obeyed: to flee in the direction of +the Felsenburg. She had a duty to perform, she must free +Otto—so her mind said, very coldly; but her heart embraced +the notion of that duty even with ardour, and her hands began to +yearn for the grasp of kindness.</p> +<p>She rose, with a start of recollection, and plunged down the +slope into the covert. The woods received and closed upon +her. Once more, she wandered and hasted in a blot, +uncheered, unpiloted. Here and there, indeed, through rents +in the wood-roof, a glimmer attracted her; here and there a tree +stood out among its neighbours by some force of outline; here and +there a brushing among the leaves, a notable blackness, a dim +shine, relieved, only to exaggerate, the solid oppression of the +night and silence. And betweenwhiles, the unfeatured +darkness would redouble and the whole ear of night appear to be +gloating on her steps. Now she would stand still, and the +silence, would grow and grow, till it weighed upon her breathing; +and then she would address herself again to run, stumbling, +falling, and still hurrying the more. And presently the +whole wood rocked and began to run along with her. The +noise of her own mad passage through the silence spread and +echoed, and filled the night with terror. Panic hunted her: +Panic from the trees reached forth with clutching branches; the +darkness was lit up and peopled with strange forms and +faces. She strangled and fled before her fears. And +yet in the last fortress, reason, blown upon by these gusts of +terror, still shone with a troubled light. She knew, yet +could not act upon her knowledge; she knew that she must stop, +and yet she still ran.</p> +<p>She was already near madness, when she broke suddenly into a +narrow clearing. At the same time the din grew louder, and +she became conscious of vague forms and fields of +whiteness. And with that the earth gave way; she fell and +found her feet again with an incredible shock to her senses, and +her mind was swallowed up.</p> +<p>When she came again to herself, she was standing to the +mid-leg in an icy eddy of a brook, and leaning with one hand on +the rock from which it poured. The spray had wet her +hair. She saw the white cascade, the stars wavering in the +shaken pool, foam flitting, and high overhead the tall pines on +either hand serenely drinking starshine; and in the sudden quiet +of her spirit she heard with joy the firm plunge of the cataract +in the pool. She scrambled forth dripping. In the +face of her proved weakness, to adventure again upon the horror +of blackness in the groves were a suicide of life or +reason. But here, in the alley of the brook, with the kind +stars above her, and the moon presently swimming into sight, she +could await the coming of day without alarm.</p> +<p>This lane of pine-trees ran very rapidly down-hill and wound +among the woods; but it was a wider thoroughfare than the brook +needed, and here and there were little dimpling lawns and coves +of the forest, where the starshine slumbered. Such a lawn +she paced, taking patience bravely; and now she looked up the +hill and saw the brook coming down to her in a series of +cascades; and now approached the margin, where it welled among +the rushes silently; and now gazed at the great company of heaven +with an enduring wonder. The early evening had fallen +chill, but the night was now temperate; out of the recesses of +the wood there came mild airs as from a deep and peaceful +breathing; and the dew was heavy on the grass and the tight-shut +daisies. This was the girl’s first night under the +naked heaven; and now that her fears were overpast, she was +touched to the soul by its serene amenity and peace. Kindly +the host of heaven blinked down upon that wandering Princess; and +the honest brook had no words but to encourage her.</p> +<p>At last she began to be aware of a wonderful revolution, +compared to which the fire of Mittwalden Palace was but the crack +and flash of a percussion-cap. The countenance with which +the pines regarded her began insensibly to change; the grass too, +short as it was, and the whole winding staircase of the +brook’s course, began to wear a solemn freshness of +appearance. And this slow transfiguration reached her +heart, and played upon it, and transpierced it with a serious +thrill. She looked all about; the whole face of nature +looked back, brimful of meaning, finger on lip, leaking its glad +secret. She looked up. Heaven was almost emptied of +stars. Such as still lingered shone with a changed and +waning brightness, and began to faint in their stations. +And the colour of the sky itself was the most wonderful; for the +rich blue of the night had now melted and softened and +brightened; and there had succeeded in its place a hue that has +no name, and that is never seen but as the herald of +morning. ‘O!’ she cried, joy catching at her +voice, ‘O! it is the dawn!’</p> +<p>In a breath she passed over the brook, and looped up her +skirts and fairly ran in the dim alleys. As she ran, her +ears were aware of many pipings, more beautiful than music; in +the small dish-shaped houses in the fork of giant arms, where +they had lain all night, lover by lover, warmly pressed, the +bright-eyed, big-hearted singers began to awaken for the +day. Her heart melted and flowed forth to them in +kindness. And they, from their small and high perches in +the clerestories of the wood cathedral, peered down sidelong at +the ragged Princess as she flitted below them on the carpet of +the moss and tassel.</p> +<p>Soon she had struggled to a certain hill-top, and saw far +before her the silent inflooding of the day. Out of the +East it welled and whitened; the darkness trembled into light; +and the stars were extinguished like the street-lamps of a human +city. The whiteness brightened into silver, the silver +warmed into gold, the gold kindled into pure and living fire; and +the face of the East was barred with elemental scarlet. The +day drew its first long breath, steady and chill; and for leagues +around the woods sighed and shivered. And then, at one +bound, the sun had floated up; and her startled eyes received +day’s first arrow, and quailed under the buffet. On +every side, the shadows leaped from their ambush and fell +prone. The day was come, plain and garish; and up the steep +and solitary eastern heaven, the sun, victorious over his +competitors, continued slowly and royally to mount.</p> +<p>Seraphina drooped for a little, leaning on a pine, the shrill +joy of the woodlands mocking her. The shelter of the night, +the thrilling and joyous changes of the dawn, were over; and now, +in the hot eye of the day, she turned uneasily and looked +sighingly about her. Some way off among the lower woods, a +pillar of smoke was mounting and melting in the gold and +blue. There, surely enough, were human folk, the +hearth-surrounders. Man’s fingers had laid the twigs; +it was man’s breath that had quickened and encouraged the +baby flames; and now, as the fire caught, it would be playing +ruddily on the face of its creator. At the thought, she +felt a-cold and little and lost in that great out-of-doors. +The electric shock of the young sun-beams and the unhuman beauty +of the woods began to irk and daunt her. The covert of the +house, the decent privacy of rooms, the swept and regulated fire, +all that denotes or beautifies the home life of man, began to +draw her as with cords. The pillar of smoke was now risen +into some stream of moving air; it began to lean out sideways in +a pennon; and thereupon, as though the change had been a summons, +Seraphina plunged once more into the labyrinth of the wood.</p> +<p>She left day upon the high ground. In the lower groves +there still lingered the blue early twilight and the seizing +freshness of the dew. But here and there, above this field +of shadow, the head of a great outspread pine was already +glorious with day; and here and there, through the breaches of +the hills, the sun-beams made a great and luminous entry. +Here Seraphina hastened along forest paths. She had lost +sight of the pilot smoke, which blew another way, and conducted +herself in that great wilderness by the direction of the +sun. But presently fresh signs bespoke the neighbourhood of +man; felled trunks, white slivers from the axe, bundles of green +boughs, and stacks of firewood. These guided her forward; +until she came forth at last upon the clearing whence the smoke +arose. A hut stood in the clear shadow, hard by a brook +which made a series of inconsiderable falls; and on the threshold +the Princess saw a sun-burnt and hard-featured woodman, standing +with his hands behind his back and gazing skyward.</p> +<p>She went to him directly: a beautiful, bright-eyed, and +haggard vision; splendidly arrayed and pitifully tattered; the +diamond ear-drops still glittering in her ears; and with the +movement of her coming, one small breast showing and hiding among +the ragged covert of the laces. At that ambiguous hour, and +coming as she did from the great silence of the forest, the man +drew back from the Princess as from something elfin.</p> +<p>‘I am cold,’ she said, ‘and weary. Let +me rest beside your fire.’</p> +<p>The woodman was visibly commoved, but answered nothing.</p> +<p>‘I will pay,’ she said, and then repented of the +words, catching perhaps a spark of terror from his frightened +eyes. But, as usual, her courage rekindled brighter for the +check. She put him from the door and entered; and he +followed her in superstitious wonder.</p> +<p>Within, the hut was rough and dark; but on the stone that +served as hearth, twigs and a few dry branches burned with the +brisk sounds and all the variable beauty of fire. The very +sight of it composed her; she crouched hard by on the earth floor +and shivered in the glow, and looked upon the eating blaze with +admiration. The woodman was still staring at his guest: at +the wreck of the rich dress, the bare arms, the bedraggled laces +and the gems. He found no word to utter.</p> +<p>‘Give me food,’ said she,—‘here, by +the fire.’</p> +<p>He set down a pitcher of coarse wine, bread, a piece of +cheese, and a handful of raw onions. The bread was hard and +sour, the cheese like leather; even the onion, which ranks with +the truffle and the nectarine in the chief place of honour of +earth’s fruits, is not perhaps a dish for princesses when +raw. But she ate, if not with appetite, with courage; and +when she had eaten, did not disdain the pitcher. In all her +life before, she had not tasted of gross food nor drunk after +another; but a brave woman far more readily accepts a change of +circumstances than the bravest man. All that while, the +woodman continued to observe her furtively, many low thoughts of +fear and greed contending in his eyes. She read them +clearly, and she knew she must begone.</p> +<p>Presently she arose and offered him a florin.</p> +<p>‘Will that repay you?’ she asked.</p> +<p>But here the man found his tongue. ‘I must have +more than that,’ said he.</p> +<p>‘It is all I have to give you,’ she returned, and +passed him by serenely.</p> +<p>Yet her heart trembled, for she saw his hand stretched forth +as if to arrest her, and his unsteady eyes wandering to his +axe. A beaten path led westward from the clearing, and she +swiftly followed it. She did not glance behind her. +But as soon as the least turning of the path had concealed her +from the woodman’s eyes, she slipped among the trees and +ran till she deemed herself in safety.</p> +<p>By this time the strong sunshine pierced in a thousand places +the pine-thatch of the forest, fired the red boles, irradiated +the cool aisles of shadow, and burned in jewels on the +grass. The gum of these trees was dearer to the senses than +the gums of Araby; each pine, in the lusty morning sunlight, +burned its own wood-incense; and now and then a breeze would rise +and toss these rooted censers, and send shade and sun-gem +flitting, swift as swallows, thick as bees; and wake a brushing +bustle of sounds that murmured and went by.</p> +<p>On she passed, and up and down, in sun and shadow; now aloft +on the bare ridge among the rocks and birches, with the lizards +and the snakes; and anon in the deep grove among sunless +pillars. Now she followed wandering wood-paths, in the maze +of valleys; and again, from a hill-top, beheld the distant +mountains and the great birds circling under the sky. She +would see afar off a nestling hamlet, and go round to avoid +it. Below, she traced the course of the foam of mountain +torrents. Nearer hand, she saw where the tender springs +welled up in silence, or oozed in green moss; or in the more +favoured hollows a whole family of infant rivers would combine, +and tinkle in the stones, and lie in pools to be a bathing-place +for sparrows, or fall from the sheer rock in rods of +crystal. Upon all these things, as she still sped along in +the bright air, she looked with a rapture of surprise and a +joyful fainting of the heart; they seemed so novel, they touched +so strangely home, they were so hued and scented, they were so +beset and canopied by the dome of the blue air of heaven.</p> +<p>At length, when she was well weary, she came upon a wide and +shallow pool. Stones stood in it, like islands; bulrushes +fringed the coast; the floor was paved with the pine needles; and +the pines themselves, whose roots made promontories, looked down +silently on their green images. She crept to the margin and +beheld herself with wonder, a hollow and bright-eyed phantom, in +the ruins of her palace robe. The breeze now shook her +image; now it would be marred with flies; and at that she smiled; +and from the fading circles, her counterpart smiled back to her +and looked kind. She sat long in the warm sun, and pitied +her bare arms that were all bruised and marred with falling, and +marvelled to see that she was dirty, and could not grow to +believe that she had gone so long in such a strange disorder.</p> +<p>Then, with a sigh, she addressed herself to make a toilette by +that forest mirror, washed herself pure from all the stains of +her adventure, took off her jewels and wrapped them in her +handkerchief, re-arranged the tatters of her dress, and took down +the folds of her hair. She shook it round her face, and the +pool repeated her thus veiled. Her hair had smelt like +violets, she remembered Otto saying; and so now she tried to +smell it, and then shook her head, and laughed a little, sadly, +to herself.</p> +<p>The laugh was returned upon her in a childish echo.</p> +<p>She looked up; and lo! two children looking on,—a small +girl and a yet smaller boy, standing, like playthings, by the +pool, below a spreading pine. Seraphina was not fond of +children, and now she was startled to the heart.</p> +<p>‘Who are you?’ she cried hoarsely.</p> +<p>The mites huddled together and drew back; and +Seraphina’s heart reproached her that she should have +frightened things so quaint and little, and yet alive with +senses. She thought upon the birds and looked again at her +two visitors; so little larger and so far more innocent. On +their clear faces, as in a pool, she saw the reflection of their +fears. With gracious purpose she arose.</p> +<p>‘Come,’ she said, ‘do not be afraid of +me,’ and took a step towards them.</p> +<p>But alas! at the first moment, the two poor babes in the wood +turned and ran helter-skelter from the Princess.</p> +<p>The most desolate pang was struck into the girl’s +heart. Here she was, twenty-two—soon +twenty-three—and not a creature loved her; none but Otto; +and would even he forgive? If she began weeping in these +woods alone, it would mean death or madness. Hastily she +trod the thoughts out like a burning paper; hastily rolled up her +locks, and with terror dogging her, and her whole bosom sick with +grief, resumed her journey.</p> +<p>Past ten in the forenoon, she struck a high-road, marching in +that place uphill between two stately groves, a river of +sunlight; and here, dead weary, careless of consequences, and +taking some courage from the human and civilised neighbourhood of +the road, she stretched herself on the green margin in the shadow +of a tree. Sleep closed on her, at first with a horror of +fainting, but when she ceased to struggle, kindly embracing +her. So she was taken home for a little, from all her toils +and sorrows, to her Father’s arms. And there in the +meanwhile her body lay exposed by the highwayside, in tattered +finery; and on either hand from the woods the birds came flying +by and calling upon others, and debated in their own tongue this +strange appearance.</p> +<p>The sun pursued his journey; the shadow flitted from her feet, +shrank higher and higher, and was upon the point of leaving her +altogether, when the rumble of a coach was signalled to and fro +by the birds. The road in that part was very steep; the +rumble drew near with great deliberation; and ten minutes passed +before a gentleman appeared, walking with a sober elderly gait +upon the grassy margin of the highway, and looking pleasantly +around him as he walked. From time to time he paused, took +out his note-book and made an entry with a pencil; and any spy +who had been near enough would have heard him mumbling words as +though he were a poet testing verses. The voice of the +wheels was still faint, and it was plain the traveller had far +outstripped his carriage.</p> +<p>He had drawn very near to where the Princess lay asleep, +before his eye alighted on her; but when it did he started, +pocketed his note-book, and approached. There was a +milestone close to where she lay; and he sat down on that and +coolly studied her. She lay upon one side, all curled and +sunken, her brow on one bare arm, the other stretched out, limp +and dimpled. Her young body, like a thing thrown down, had +scarce a mark of life. Her breathing stirred her not. +The deadliest fatigue was thus confessed in every language of the +sleeping flesh. The traveller smiled grimly. As +though he had looked upon a statue, he made a grudging inventory +of her charms: the figure in that touching freedom of +forgetfulness surprised him; the flush of slumber became her like +a flower.</p> +<p>‘Upon my word,’ he thought, ‘I did not think +the girl could be so pretty. And to think,’ he added, +‘that I am under obligation not to use one word of +this!’ He put forth his stick and touched her; and at +that she awoke, sat up with a cry, and looked upon him +wildly.</p> +<p>‘I trust your Highness has slept well,’ he said, +nodding.</p> +<p>But she only uttered sounds.</p> +<p>‘Compose yourself,’ said he, giving her certainly +a brave example in his own demeanour. ‘My chaise is +close at hand; and I shall have, I trust, the singular +entertainment of abducting a sovereign Princess.’</p> +<p>‘Sir John!’ she said, at last.</p> +<p>‘At your Highness’s disposal,’ he +replied.</p> +<p>She sprang to her feet. ‘O!’ she cried, +‘have you come from Mittwalden?’</p> +<p>‘This morning,’ he returned, ‘I left it; and +if there is any one less likely to return to it than yourself, +behold him!’</p> +<p>‘The Baron—’ she began, and paused.</p> +<p>‘Madam,’ he answered, ‘it was well meant, +and you are quite a Judith; but after the hours that have +elapsed, you will probably be relieved to hear that he is fairly +well. I took his news this morning ere I left. Doing +fairly well, they said, but suffering acutely. +Hey?—acutely. They could hear his groans in the next +room.’</p> +<p>‘And the Prince,’ she asked, ‘is anything +known of him?’</p> +<p>‘It is reported,’ replied Sir John, with the same +pleasurable deliberation, ‘that upon that point your +Highness is the best authority.’</p> +<p>‘Sir John,’ she said eagerly, ‘you were +generous enough to speak about your carriage. Will you, I +beseech you, will you take me to the Felsenburg? I have +business there of an extreme importance.’</p> +<p>‘I can refuse you nothing,’ replied the old +gentleman, gravely and seriously enough. ‘Whatever, +madam, it is in my power to do for you, that shall be done with +pleasure. As soon as my chaise shall overtake us, it is +yours to carry you where you will. But,’ added he, +reverting to his former manner, ‘I observe you ask me +nothing of the Palace.’</p> +<p>‘I do not care,’ she said. ‘I thought +I saw it burning.’</p> +<p>‘Prodigious!’ said the Baronet. ‘You +thought? And can the loss of forty toilettes leave you +cold? Well, madam, I admire your fortitude. And the +state, too? As I left, the government was +sitting,—the new government, of which at least two members +must be known to you by name: Sabra, who had, I believe, the +benefit of being formed in your employment—a footman, am I +right?—and our old friend the Chancellor, in something of a +subaltern position. But in these convulsions the last shall +be first, and the first last.’</p> +<p>‘Sir John,’ she said, with an air of perfect +honesty, ‘I am sure you mean most kindly, but these matters +have no interest for me.’</p> +<p>The Baronet was so utterly discountenanced that he hailed the +appearance of his chaise with welcome, and, by way of saying +something, proposed that they should walk back to meet it. +So it was done; and he helped her in with courtesy, mounted to +her side, and from various receptacles (for the chaise was most +completely fitted out) produced fruits and truffled liver, +beautiful white bread, and a bottle of delicate wine. With +these he served her like a father, coaxing and praising her to +fresh exertions; and during all that time, as though silenced by +the laws of hospitality, he was not guilty of the shadow of a +sneer. Indeed his kindness seemed so genuine that Seraphina +was moved to gratitude.</p> +<p>‘Sir John,’ she said, ‘you hate me in your +heart; why are you so kind to me?’</p> +<p>‘Ah, my good lady,’ said he, with no disclaimer of +the accusation, ‘I have the honour to be much your +husband’s friend, and somewhat his admirer.’</p> +<p>‘You!’ she cried. ‘They told me you +wrote cruelly of both of us.’</p> +<p>‘Such was the strange path by which we grew +acquainted,’ said Sir John. ‘I had written, +madam, with particular cruelty (since that shall be the phrase) +of your fair self. Your husband set me at liberty, gave me +a passport, ordered a carriage, and then, with the most boyish +spirit, challenged me to fight. Knowing the nature of his +married life, I thought the dash and loyalty he showed +delightful. “Do not be afraid,” says he; +“if I am killed, there is nobody to miss me.” +It appears you subsequently thought of that yourself. But I +digress. I explained to him it was impossible that I could +fight! “Not if I strike you?” says he. +Very droll; I wish I could have put it in my book. However, +I was conquered, took the young gentleman to my high favour, and +tore up my bits of scandal on the spot. That is one of the +little favours, madam, that you owe your husband.’</p> +<p>Seraphina sat for some while in silence. She could bear +to be misjudged without a pang by those whom she contemned; she +had none of Otto’s eagerness to be approved, but went her +own way straight and head in air. To Sir John, however, +after what he had said, and as her husband’s friend, she +was prepared to stoop.</p> +<p>‘What do you think of me?’ she asked abruptly.</p> +<p>‘I have told you already,’ said Sir John: ‘I +think you want another glass of my good wine.’</p> +<p>‘Come,’ she said, ‘this is unlike you. +You are not wont to be afraid. You say that you admire my +husband: in his name, be honest.’</p> +<p>‘I admire your courage,’ said the Baronet. +‘Beyond that, as you have guessed, and indeed said, our +natures are not sympathetic.’</p> +<p>‘You spoke of scandal,’ pursued Seraphina. +‘Was the scandal great?’</p> +<p>‘It was considerable,’ said Sir John.</p> +<p>‘And you believed it?’ she demanded.</p> +<p>‘O, madam,’ said Sir John, ‘the +question!’</p> +<p>‘Thank you for that answer!’ cried +Seraphina. ‘And now here, I will tell you, upon my +honour, upon my soul, in spite of all the scandal in this world, +I am as true a wife as ever stood.’</p> +<p>‘We should probably not agree upon a definition,’ +observed Sir John.</p> +<p>‘O!’ she cried, ‘I have abominably used +him—I know that; it is not that I mean. But if you +admire my husband, I insist that you shall understand me: I can +look him in the face without a blush.’</p> +<p>‘It may be, madam,’ said Sir John; ‘nor have +I presumed to think the contrary.’</p> +<p>‘You will not believe me?’ she cried. +‘You think I am a guilty wife? You think he was my +lover?’</p> +<p>‘Madam,’ returned the Baronet, ‘when I tore +up my papers, I promised your good husband to concern myself no +more with your affairs; and I assure you for the last time that I +have no desire to judge you.’</p> +<p>‘But you will not acquit me! Ah!’ she cried, +‘<i>he</i> will—he knows me better!’</p> +<p>Sir John smiled.</p> +<p>‘You smile at my distress?’ asked Seraphina.</p> +<p>‘At your woman’s coolness,’ said Sir +John. ‘A man would scarce have had the courage of +that cry, which was, for all that, very natural, and I make no +doubt quite true. But remark, madam—since you do me +the honour to consult me gravely—I have no pity for what +you call your distresses. You have been completely selfish, +and now reap the consequence. Had you once thought of your +husband, instead of singly thinking of yourself, you would not +now have been alone, a fugitive, with blood upon your hands, and +hearing from a morose old Englishman truth more bitter than +scandal.’</p> +<p>‘I thank you,’ she said, quivering. +‘This is very true. Will you stop the +carriage?’</p> +<p>‘No, child,’ said Sir John, ‘not until I see +you mistress of yourself.’</p> +<p>There was a long pause, during which the carriage rolled by +rock and woodland.</p> +<p>‘And now,’ she resumed, with perfect steadiness, +‘will you consider me composed? I request you, as a +gentleman, to let me out.’</p> +<p>‘I think you do unwisely,’ he replied. +‘Continue, if you please, to use my carriage.’</p> +<p>‘Sir John,’ she said, ‘if death were sitting +on that pile of stones, I would alight! I do not blame, I +thank you; I now know how I appear to others; but sooner than +draw breath beside a man who can so think of me, I +would—O!’ she cried, and was silent.</p> +<p>Sir John pulled the string, alighted, and offered her his +hand; but she refused the help.</p> +<p>The road had now issued from the valleys in which it had been +winding, and come to that part of its course where it runs, like +a cornice, along the brow of the steep northward face of +Grünewald. The place where they had alighted was at a +salient angle; a bold rock and some wind-tortured pine-trees +overhung it from above; far below the blue plains lay forth and +melted into heaven; and before them the road, by a succession of +bold zigzags, was seen mounting to where a tower upon a tall +cliff closed the view.</p> +<p>‘There,’ said the Baronet, pointing to the tower, +‘you see the Felsenburg, your goal. I wish you a good +journey, and regret I cannot be of more assistance.’</p> +<p>He mounted to his place and gave a signal, and the carriage +rolled away.</p> +<p>Seraphina stood by the wayside, gazing before her with blind +eyes. Sir John she had dismissed already from her mind: she +hated him, that was enough; for whatever Seraphina hated or +contemned fell instantly to Lilliputian smallness, and was +thenceforward steadily ignored in thought. And now she had +matter for concern indeed. Her interview with Otto, which +she had never yet forgiven him, began to appear before her in a +very different light. He had come to her, still thrilling +under recent insult, and not yet breathed from fighting her own +cause; and how that knowledge changed the value of his +words! Yes, he must have loved her! this was a brave +feeling—it was no mere weakness of the will. And she, +was she incapable of love? It would appear so; and she +swallowed her tears, and yearned to see Otto, to explain all, to +ask pity upon her knees for her transgressions, and, if all else +were now beyond the reach of reparation, to restore at least the +liberty of which she had deprived him.</p> +<p>Swiftly she sped along the highway, and, as the road wound out +and in about the bluffs and gullies of the mountain, saw and lost +by glimpses the tall tower that stood before and above her, +purpled by the mountain air.</p> +<h3>CHAPTER II—TREATS OF A CHRISTIAN VIRTUE</h3> +<p>When Otto mounted to his rolling prison he found another +occupant in a corner of the front seat; but as this person hung +his head and the brightness of the carriage lamps shone outward, +the Prince could only see it was a man. The Colonel +followed his prisoner and clapped-to the door; and at that the +four horses broke immediately into a swinging trot.</p> +<p>‘Gentlemen,’ said the Colonel, after some little +while had passed, ‘if we are to travel in silence, we might +as well be at home. I appear, of course, in an invidious +character; but I am a man of taste, fond of books and solidly +informing talk, and unfortunately condemned for life to the +guard-room. Gentlemen, this is my chance: don’t spoil +it for me. I have here the pick of the whole court, barring +lovely woman; I have a great author in the person of the +Doctor—’</p> +<p>‘Gotthold!’ cried Otto.</p> +<p>‘It appears,’ said the Doctor bitterly, +‘that we must go together. Your Highness had not +calculated upon that.’</p> +<p>‘What do you infer?’ cried Otto; ‘that I had +you arrested?’</p> +<p>‘The inference is simple,’ said the Doctor.</p> +<p>‘Colonel Gordon,’ said the Prince, ‘oblige +me so far, and set me right with Herr von +Hohenstockwitz.’</p> +<p>‘Gentlemen,’ said the Colonel, ‘you are both +arrested on the same warrant in the name of the Princess +Seraphina, acting regent, countersigned by Prime Minister +Freiherr von Gondremark, and dated the day before yesterday, the +twelfth. I reveal to you the secrets of the +prison-house,’ he added.</p> +<p>‘Otto,’ said Gotthold, ‘I ask you to pardon +my suspicions.’</p> +<p>‘Gotthold,’ said the Prince, ‘I am not +certain I can grant you that.’</p> +<p>‘Your Highness is, I am sure, far too magnanimous to +hesitate,’ said the Colonel. ‘But allow me: we +speak at home in my religion of the means of grace: and I now +propose to offer them.’ So saying, the Colonel +lighted a bright lamp which he attached to one side of the +carriage, and from below the front seat produced a goodly basket +adorned with the long necks of bottles. ‘<i>Tu spem +reducis</i>—how does it go, Doctor?’ he asked +gaily. ‘I am, in a sense, your host; and I am sure +you are both far too considerate of my embarrassing position to +refuse to do me honour. Gentlemen, I drink to the +Prince!’</p> +<p>‘Colonel,’ said Otto, ‘we have a jovial +entertainer. I drink to Colonel Gordon.’</p> +<p>Thereupon all three took their wine very pleasantly; and even +as they did so, the carriage with a lurch turned into the +high-road and began to make better speed.</p> +<p>All was bright within; the wine had coloured Gotthold’s +cheek; dim forms of forest trees, dwindling and spiring, scarves +of the starry sky, now wide and now narrow, raced past the +windows, through one that was left open the air of the woods came +in with a nocturnal raciness; and the roll of wheels and the tune +of the trotting horses sounded merrily on the ear. Toast +followed toast; glass after glass was bowed across and emptied by +the trio; and presently there began to fall upon them a luxurious +spell, under the influence of which little but the sound of quiet +and confidential laughter interrupted the long intervals of +meditative silence.</p> +<p>‘Otto,’ said Gotthold, after one of these seasons +of quiet, ‘I do not ask you to forgive me. Were the +parts reversed, I could not forgive you.’</p> +<p>‘Well,’ said Otto, ‘it is a phrase we +use. I do forgive you, but your words and your suspicions +rankle; and not yours alone. It is idle, Colonel Gordon, in +view of the order you are carrying out, to conceal from you the +dissensions of my family; they have gone so far that they are now +public property. Well, gentlemen, can I forgive my +wife? I can, of course, and do; but in what sense? I +would certainly not stoop to any revenge; as certainly I could +not think of her but as one changed beyond my +recognition.’</p> +<p>‘Allow me,’ returned the Colonel. ‘You +will permit me to hope that I am addressing Christians? We +are all conscious, I trust, that we are miserable +sinners.’</p> +<p>‘I disown the consciousness,’ said Gotthold. +‘Warmed with this good fluid, I deny your +thesis.’</p> +<p>‘How, sir? You never did anything wrong? and I +heard you asking pardon but this moment, not of your God, sir, +but of a common fellow-worm!’ the Colonel cried.</p> +<p>‘I own you have me; you are expert in argument, Herr +Oberst,’ said the Doctor.</p> +<p>‘Begad, sir, I am proud to hear you say so,’ said +the Colonel. ‘I was well grounded indeed at +Aberdeen. And as for this matter of forgiveness, it comes, +sir, of loose views and (what is if anything more dangerous) a +regular life. A sound creed and a bad morality, +that’s the root of wisdom. You two gentlemen are too +good to be forgiving.’</p> +<p>‘The paradox is somewhat forced,’ said +Gotthold.</p> +<p>‘Pardon me, Colonel,’ said the Prince; ‘I +readily acquit you of any design of offence, but your words bite +like satire. Is this a time, do you think, when I can wish +to hear myself called good, now that I am paying the penalty (and +am willing like yourself to think it just) of my prolonged +misconduct?’</p> +<p>‘O, pardon me!’ cried the Colonel. +‘You have never been expelled from the divinity hall; you +have never been broke. I was: broke for a neglect of +military duty. To tell you the open truth, your Highness, I +was the worse of drink; it’s a thing I never do now,’ +he added, taking out his glass. ‘But a man, you see, +who has really tasted the defects of his own character, as I +have, and has come to regard himself as a kind of blind teetotum +knocking about life, begins to learn a very different view about +forgiveness. I will talk of not forgiving others, sir, when +I have made out to forgive myself, and not before; and the date +is like to be a long one. My father, the Reverend Alexander +Gordon, was a good man, and damned hard upon others. I am +what they call a bad one, and that is just the difference. +The man who cannot forgive any mortal thing is a green hand in +life.’</p> +<p>‘And yet I have heard of you, Colonel, as a +duellist,’ said Gotthold.</p> +<p>‘A different thing, sir,’ replied the +soldier. ‘Professional etiquette. And I trust +without unchristian feeling.’</p> +<p>Presently after the Colonel fell into a deep sleep and his +companions looked upon each other, smiling.</p> +<p>‘An odd fish,’ said Gotthold.</p> +<p>‘And a strange guardian,’ said the Prince. +‘Yet what he said was true.’</p> +<p>‘Rightly looked upon,’ mused Gotthold, ‘it +is ourselves that we cannot forgive, when we refuse forgiveness +to our friend. Some strand of our own misdoing is involved +in every quarrel.’</p> +<p>‘Are there not offences that disgrace the +pardoner?’ asked Otto. ‘Are there not bounds of +self-respect?’</p> +<p>‘Otto,’ said Gotthold, ‘does any man respect +himself? To this poor waif of a soldier of fortune we may +seem respectable gentlemen; but to ourselves, what are we unless +a pasteboard portico and a deliquium of deadly weaknesses +within?’</p> +<p>‘I? yes,’ said Otto; ‘but you, +Gotthold—you, with your interminable industry, your keen +mind, your books—serving mankind, scorning pleasures and +temptations! You do not know how I envy you.’</p> +<p>‘Otto,’ said the Doctor, ‘in one word, and a +bitter one to say: I am a secret tippler. Yes, I drink too +much. The habit has robbed these very books, to which you +praise my devotion, of the merits that they should have +had. It has spoiled my temper. When I spoke to you +the other day, how much of my warmth was in the cause of virtue? +how much was the fever of last night’s wine? Ay, as +my poor fellow-sot there said, and as I vaingloriously denied, we +are all miserable sinners, put here for a moment, knowing the +good, choosing the evil, standing naked and ashamed in the eye of +God.’</p> +<p>‘Is it so?’ said Otto. ‘Why, then, +what are we? Are the very best—’</p> +<p>‘There is no best in man,’ said Gotthold. +‘I am not better, it is likely I am not worse, than you or +that poor sleeper. I was a sham, and now you know me: that +is all.’</p> +<p>‘And yet it has not changed my love,’ returned +Otto softly. ‘Our misdeeds do not change us. +Gotthold, fill your glass. Let us drink to what is good in +this bad business; let us drink to our old affection; and, when +we have done so, forgive your too just grounds of offence, and +drink with me to my wife, whom I have so misused, who has so +misused me, and whom I have left, I fear, I greatly fear, in +danger. What matters it how bad we are, if others can still +love us, and we can still love others?’</p> +<p>‘Ay!’ replied the Doctor. ‘It is very +well said. It is the true answer to the pessimist, and the +standing miracle of mankind. So you still love me? and so +you can forgive your wife? Why, then, we may bid conscience +“Down, dog,” like an ill-trained puppy yapping at +shadows.’</p> +<p>The pair fell into silence, the Doctor tapping on his empty +glass.</p> +<p>The carriage swung forth out of the valleys on that open +balcony of high-road that runs along the front of Grünewald, +looking down on Gerolstein. Far below, a white waterfall +was shining to the stars from the falling skirts of forest, and +beyond that, the night stood naked above the plain. On the +other hand, the lamp-light skimmed the face of the precipices, +and the dwarf pine-trees twinkled with all their needles, and +were gone again into the wake. The granite roadway +thundered under wheels and hoofs; and at times, by reason of its +continual winding, Otto could see the escort on the other side of +a ravine, riding well together in the night. Presently the +Felsenburg came plainly in view, some way above them, on a bold +projection of the mountain, and planting its bulk against the +starry sky.</p> +<p>‘See, Gotthold,’ said the Prince, ‘our +destination.’</p> +<p>Gotthold awoke as from a trance.</p> +<p>‘I was thinking,’ said he, ‘if there is any +danger, why did you not resist? I was told you came of your +free will; but should you not be there to help her?’</p> +<p>The colour faded from the Prince’s cheeks.</p> +<h3>CHAPTER III—PROVIDENCE VON ROSEN: ACT THE LAST<br /> +IN WHICH SHE GALLOPS OFF</h3> +<p>When the busy Countess came forth from her interview with +Seraphina, it is not too much to say that she was beginning to be +terribly afraid. She paused in the corridor and reckoned up +her doings with an eye to Gondremark. The fan was in +requisition in an instant; but her disquiet was beyond the reach +of fanning. ‘The girl has lost her head,’ she +thought; and then dismally, ‘I have gone too +far.’ She instantly decided on secession. Now +the <i>Mons Sacer</i> of the Frau von Rosen was a certain rustic +villa in the forest, called by herself, in a smart attack of +poesy, Tannen Zauber, and by everybody else plain Kleinbrunn.</p> +<p>Thither, upon the thought, she furiously drove, passing +Gondremark at the entrance to the Palace avenue, but feigning not +to observe him; and as Kleinbrunn was seven good miles away, and +in the bottom of a narrow dell, she passed the night without any +rumour of the outbreak reaching her; and the glow of the +conflagration was concealed by intervening hills. Frau von +Rosen did not sleep well; she was seriously uneasy as to the +results of her delightful evening, and saw herself condemned to +quite a lengthy sojourn in her deserts and a long defensive +correspondence, ere she could venture to return to +Gondremark. On the other hand, she examined, by way of +pastime, the deeds she had received from Otto; and even here saw +cause for disappointment. In these troublous days she had +no taste for landed property, and she was convinced, besides, +that Otto had paid dearer than the farm was worth. Lastly, +the order for the Prince’s release fairly burned her +meddling fingers.</p> +<p>All things considered, the next day beheld an elegant and +beautiful lady, in a riding-habit and a flapping hat, draw bridle +at the gate of the Felsenburg, not perhaps with any clear idea of +her purpose, but with her usual experimental views on life. +Governor Gordon, summoned to the gate, welcomed the omnipotent +Countess with his most gallant bearing, though it was wonderful +how old he looked in the morning.</p> +<p>‘Ah, Governor,’ she said, ‘we have surprises +for you, sir,’ and nodded at him meaningly.</p> +<p>‘Eh, madam, leave me my prisoners,’ he said; +‘and if you will but join the band, begad, I’ll be +happy for life.’</p> +<p>‘You would spoil me, would you not?’ she +asked.</p> +<p>‘I would try, I would try,’ returned the Governor, +and he offered her his arm.</p> +<p>She took it, picked up her skirt, and drew him close to +her. ‘I have come to see the Prince,’ she +said. ‘Now, infidel! on business. A message +from that stupid Gondremark, who keeps me running like a +courier. Do I look like one, Herr Gordon?’ And she +planted her eyes in him.</p> +<p>‘You look like an angel, ma’am,’ returned +the Governor, with a great air of finished gallantry.</p> +<p>The Countess laughed. ‘An angel on +horseback!’ she said. ‘Quick work.’</p> +<p>‘You came, you saw, you conquered,’ flourished +Gordon, in high good humour with his own wit and grace. +‘We toasted you, madam, in the carriage, in an excellent +good glass of wine; toasted you fathom deep; the finest woman, +with, begad, the finest eyes in Grünewald. I never saw +the like of them but once, in my own country, when I was a young +fool at College: Thomasina Haig her name was. I give you my +word of honour, she was as like you as two peas.’</p> +<p>‘And so you were merry in the carriage?’ asked the +Countess, gracefully dissembling a yawn.</p> +<p>‘We were; we had a very pleasant conversation; but we +took perhaps a glass more than that fine fellow of a Prince has +been accustomed to,’ said the Governor; ‘and I +observe this morning that he seems a little off his mettle. +We’ll get him mellow again ere bedtime. This is his +door.’</p> +<p>‘Well,’ she whispered, ‘let me get my +breath. No, no; wait. Have the door ready to +open.’ And the Countess, standing like one inspired, +shook out her fine voice in ‘Lascia ch’io +pianga’; and when she had reached the proper point, and +lyrically uttered forth her sighings after liberty, the door, at +a sign, was flung wide open, and she swam into the Prince’s +sight, bright-eyed, and with her colour somewhat freshened by the +exercise of singing. It was a great dramatic entrance, and +to the somewhat doleful prisoner within the sight was +sunshine.</p> +<p>‘Ah, madam,’ he cried, running to +her—‘you here!’</p> +<p>She looked meaningly at Gordon; and as soon as the door was +closed she fell on Otto’s neck. ‘To see you +here!’ she moaned and clung to him.</p> +<p>But the Prince stood somewhat stiffly in that enviable +situation, and the Countess instantly recovered from her +outburst.</p> +<p>‘Poor child,’ she said, ‘poor child! +Sit down beside me here, and tell me all about it. My heart +really bleeds to see you. How does time go?’</p> +<p>‘Madam,’ replied the Prince, sitting down beside +her, his gallantry recovered, ‘the time will now go all too +quickly till you leave. But I must ask you for the +news. I have most bitterly condemned myself for my inertia +of last night. You wisely counselled me; it was my duty to +resist. You wisely and nobly counselled me; I have since +thought of it with wonder. You have a noble +heart.’</p> +<p>‘Otto,’ she said, ‘spare me. Was it +even right, I wonder? I have duties, too, you poor child; +and when I see you they all melt—all my good resolutions +fly away.’</p> +<p>‘And mine still come too late,’ he replied, +sighing. ‘O, what would I not give to have +resisted? What would I not give for freedom?’</p> +<p>‘Well, what would you give?’ she asked; and the +red fan was spread; only her eyes, as if from over battlements, +brightly surveyed him.</p> +<p>‘I? What do you mean? Madam, you have some +news for me,’ he cried.</p> +<p>‘O, O!’ said madam dubiously.</p> +<p>He was at her feet. ‘Do not trifle with my +hopes,’ he pleaded. ‘Tell me, dearest Madame +von Rosen, tell me! You cannot be cruel: it is not in your +nature. Give? I can give nothing; I have nothing; I +can only plead in mercy.’</p> +<p>‘Do not,’ she said; ‘it is not fair. +Otto, you know my weakness. Spare me. Be +generous.’</p> +<p>‘O, madam,’ he said, ‘it is for you to be +generous, to have pity.’ He took her hand and pressed +it; he plied her with caresses and appeals. The Countess +had a most enjoyable sham siege, and then relented. She +sprang to her feet, she tore her dress open, and, all warm from +her bosom, threw the order on the floor.</p> +<p>‘There!’ she cried. ‘I forced it from +her. Use it, and I am ruined!’ And she turned +away as if to veil the force of her emotions.</p> +<p>Otto sprang upon the paper, read it, and cried out +aloud. ‘O, God bless her!’ he said, ‘God +bless her.’ And he kissed the writing.</p> +<p>Von Rosen was a singularly good-natured woman, but her part +was now beyond her. ‘Ingrate!’ she cried; +‘I wrung it from her, I betrayed my trust to get it, and +’tis she you thank!’</p> +<p>‘Can you blame me?’ said the Prince. +‘I love her.’</p> +<p>‘I see that,’ she said. ‘And +I?’</p> +<p>‘You, Madame von Rosen? You are my dearest, my +kindest, and most generous of friends,’ he said, +approaching her. ‘You would be a perfect friend, if +you were not so lovely. You have a great sense of humour, +you cannot be unconscious of your charm, and you amuse yourself +at times by playing on my weakness; and at times I can take +pleasure in the comedy. But not to-day: to-day you will be +the true, the serious, the manly friend, and you will suffer me +to forget that you are lovely and that I am weak. Come, +dear Countess, let me to-day repose in you entirely.’</p> +<p>He held out his hand, smiling, and she took it frankly. +‘I vow you have bewitched me,’ she said; and then +with a laugh, ‘I break my staff!’ she added; +‘and I must pay you my best compliment. You made a +difficult speech. You are as adroit, dear Prince, as I +am—charming.’ And as she said the word with a +great curtsey, she justified it.</p> +<p>‘You hardly keep the bargain, madam, when you make +yourself so beautiful,’ said the Prince, bowing.</p> +<p>‘It was my last arrow,’ she returned. +‘I am disarmed. Blank cartridge, <i>O mon +Prince</i>! And now I tell you, if you choose to leave this +prison, you can, and I am ruined. Choose!’</p> +<p>‘Madame von Rosen,’ replied Otto, ‘I choose, +and I will go. My duty points me, duty still neglected by +this Featherhead. But do not fear to be a loser. I +propose instead that you should take me with you, a bear in +chains, to Baron Gondremark. I am become perfectly +unscrupulous: to save my wife I will do all, all he can ask or +fancy. He shall be filled; were he huge as leviathan and +greedy as the grave, I will content him. And you, the fairy +of our pantomime, shall have the credit.’</p> +<p>‘Done!’ she cried. ‘Admirable! +Prince Charming no longer—Prince Sorcerer, Prince +Solon! Let us go this moment. Stay,’ she cried, +pausing. ‘I beg dear Prince, to give you back these +deeds. ’Twas you who liked the farm—I have not +seen it; and it was you who wished to benefit the peasants. +And, besides,’ she added, with a comical change of tone, +‘I should prefer the ready money.’</p> +<p>Both laughed. ‘Here I am, once more a +farmer,’ said Otto, accepting the papers, ‘but +overwhelmed in debt.’</p> +<p>The Countess touched a bell, and the Governor appeared.</p> +<p>‘Governor,’ she said, ‘I am going to elope +with his Highness. The result of our talk has been a +thorough understanding, and the <i>coup d’état</i> +is over. Here is the order.’</p> +<p>Colonel Gordon adjusted silver spectacles upon his nose. +‘Yes,’ he said, ‘the Princess: very +right. But the warrant, madam, was +countersigned.’</p> +<p>‘By Heinrich!’ said von Rosen. ‘Well, +and here am I to represent him.’</p> +<p>‘Well, your Highness,’ resumed the soldier of +fortune, ‘I must congratulate you upon my loss. You +have been cut out by beauty, and I am left lamenting. The +Doctor still remains to me: <i>probus</i>, <i>doctus</i>, +<i>lepidus</i>, <i>jucundus</i>: a man of books.’</p> +<p>‘Ay, there is nothing about poor Gotthold,’ said +the Prince.</p> +<p>‘The Governor’s consolation? Would you leave +him bare?’ asked von Rosen.</p> +<p>‘And, your Highness,’ resumed Gordon, ‘may I +trust that in the course of this temporary obscuration, you have +found me discharge my part with suitable respect and, I may add, +tact? I adopted purposely a cheerfulness of manner; mirth, +it appeared to me, and a good glass of wine, were the fit +alleviations.’</p> +<p>‘Colonel,’ said Otto, holding out his hand, +‘your society was of itself enough. I do not merely +thank you for your pleasant spirits; I have to thank you, +besides, for some philosophy, of which I stood in need. I +trust I do not see you for the last time; and in the meanwhile, +as a memento of our strange acquaintance, let me offer you these +verses on which I was but now engaged. I am so little of a +poet, and was so ill inspired by prison bars, that they have some +claim to be at least a curiosity.’</p> +<p>The Colonel’s countenance lighted as he took the paper; +the silver spectacles were hurriedly replaced. +‘Ha!’ he said, ‘Alexandrines, the tragic +metre. I shall cherish this, your Highness, like a relic; +no more suitable offering, although I say it, could be made. +“<i>Dieux de l’immense plaine et des vastes +forêts</i>.” Very good,’ he said, +‘very good indeed! “<i>Et du geôlier +lui-même apprendre des leçons</i>.” Most +handsome, begad!’</p> +<p>‘Come, Governor,’ cried the Countess, ‘you +can read his poetry when we are gone. Open your grudging +portals.’</p> +<p>‘I ask your pardon,’ said the Colonel. +‘To a man of my character and tastes, these verses, this +handsome reference—most moving, I assure you. Can I +offer you an escort?’</p> +<p>‘No, no,’ replied the Countess. ‘We go +incogniti, as we arrived. We ride together; the Prince will +take my servant’s horse. Hurry and privacy, Herr +Oberst, that is all we seek.’ And she began impatiently to +lead the way.</p> +<p>But Otto had still to bid farewell to Dr. Gotthold; and the +Governor following, with his spectacles in one hand and the paper +in the other, had still to communicate his treasured verses, +piece by piece, as he succeeded in deciphering the manuscript, to +all he came across; and still his enthusiasm mounted. +‘I declare,’ he cried at last, with the air of one +who has at length divined a mystery, ‘they remind me of +Robbie Burns!’</p> +<p>But there is an end to all things; and at length Otto was +walking by the side of Madame von Rosen, along that mountain +wall, her servant following with both the horses, and all about +them sunlight, and breeze, and flying bird, and the vast regions +of the air, and the capacious prospect: wildwood and climbing +pinnacle, and the sound and voice of mountain torrents, at their +hand: and far below them, green melting into sapphire on the +plains.</p> +<p>They walked at first in silence; for Otto’s mind was +full of the delight of liberty and nature, and still, +betweenwhiles, he was preparing his interview with +Gondremark. But when the first rough promontory of the rock +was turned, and the Felsenburg concealed behind its bulk, the +lady paused.</p> +<p>‘Here,’ she said, ‘I will dismount poor +Karl, and you and I must ply our spurs. I love a wild ride +with a good companion.’</p> +<p>As she spoke, a carriage came into sight round the corner next +below them in the order of the road. It came heavily +creaking, and a little ahead of it a traveller was soberly +walking, note-book in hand.</p> +<p>‘It is Sir John,’ cried Otto, and he hailed +him.</p> +<p>The Baronet pocketed his note-book, stared through an +eye-glass, and then waved his stick; and he on his side, and the +Countess and the Prince on theirs, advanced with somewhat quicker +steps. They met at the re-entrant angle, where a thin +stream sprayed across a boulder and was scattered in rain among +the brush; and the Baronet saluted the Prince with much +punctilio. To the Countess, on the other hand, he bowed +with a kind of sneering wonder.</p> +<p>‘Is it possible, madam, that you have not heard the +news?’ he asked.</p> +<p>‘What news?’ she cried.</p> +<p>‘News of the first order,’ returned Sir John: +‘a revolution in the State, a Republic declared, the palace +burned to the ground, the Princess in flight, Gondremark +wounded—’</p> +<p>‘Heinrich wounded?’ she screamed.</p> +<p>‘Wounded and suffering acutely,’ said Sir +John. ‘His groans—’</p> +<p>There fell from the lady’s lips an oath so potent that, +in smoother hours, it would have made her hearers jump. She +ran to her horse, scrambled to the saddle, and, yet half seated, +dashed down the road at full gallop. The groom, after a +pause of wonder, followed her. The rush of her impetuous +passage almost scared the carriage horses over the verge of the +steep hill; and still she clattered further, and the crags echoed +to her flight, and still the groom flogged vainly in pursuit of +her. At the fourth corner, a woman trailing slowly up +leaped back with a cry and escaped death by a +hand’s-breadth. But the Countess wasted neither +glance nor thought upon the incident. Out and in, about the +bluffs of the mountain wall, she fled, loose-reined, and still +the groom toiled in her pursuit.</p> +<p>‘A most impulsive lady!’ said Sir John. +‘Who would have thought she cared for him?’ And +before the words were uttered, he was struggling in the +Prince’s grasp.</p> +<p>‘My wife! the Princess? What of her?’</p> +<p>‘She is down the road,’ he gasped. ‘I +left her twenty minutes back.’</p> +<p>And next moment, the choked author stood alone, and the Prince +on foot was racing down the hill behind the Countess.</p> +<h3>CHAPTER IV—BABES IN THE WOOD</h3> +<p>While the feet of the Prince continued to run swiftly, his +heart, which had at first by far outstripped his running, soon +began to linger and hang back. Not that he ceased to pity +the misfortune or to yearn for the sight of Seraphina; but the +memory of her obdurate coldness awoke within him, and woke in +turn his own habitual diffidence of self. Had Sir John been +given time to tell him all, had he even known that she was +speeding to the Felsenburg, he would have gone to her with +ardour. As it was, he began to see himself once more +intruding, profiting, perhaps, by her misfortune, and now that +she was fallen, proffering unloved caresses to the wife who had +spurned him in prosperity. The sore spots upon his vanity +began to burn; once more, his anger assumed the carriage of a +hostile generosity; he would utterly forgive indeed; he would +help, save, and comfort his unloving wife; but all with distant +self-denial, imposing silence on his heart, respecting +Seraphina’s disaffection as he would the innocence of a +child. So, when at length he turned a corner and beheld the +Princess, it was his first thought to reassure her of the purity +of his respect, and he at once ceased running and stood +still. She, upon her part, began to run to him with a +little cry; then, seeing him pause, she paused also, smitten with +remorse; and at length, with the most guilty timidity, walked +nearly up to where he stood.</p> +<p>‘Otto,’ she said, ‘I have ruined +all!’</p> +<p>‘Seraphina!’ he cried with a sob, but did not +move, partly withheld by his resolutions, partly struck stupid at +the sight of her weariness and disorder. Had she stood +silent, they had soon been locked in an embrace. But she +too had prepared herself against the interview, and must spoil +the golden hour with protestations.</p> +<p>‘All!’ she went on, ‘I have ruined +all! But, Otto, in kindness you must hear me—not +justify, but own, my faults. I have been taught so cruelly; +I have had such time for thought, and see the world so +changed. I have been blind, stone-blind; I have let all +true good go by me, and lived on shadows. But when this +dream fell, and I had betrayed you, and thought I had +killed—’ She paused. ‘I thought I +had killed Gondremark,’ she said with a deep flush, +‘and I found myself alone, as you said.’</p> +<p>The mention of the name of Gondremark pricked the Princes +generosity like a spur. ‘Well,’ he cried, +‘and whose fault was it but mine? It was my duty to +be beside you, loved or not. But I was a skulker in the +grain, and found it easier to desert than to oppose you. I +could never learn that better part of love, to fight love’s +battles. But yet the love was there. And now when +this toy kingdom of ours has fallen, first of all by my demerits, +and next by your inexperience, and we are here alone together, as +poor as Job and merely a man and a woman—let me conjure you +to forgive the weakness and to repose in the love. Do not +mistake me!’ he cried, seeing her about to speak, and +imposing silence with uplifted hand. ‘My love is +changed; it is purged of any conjugal pretension; it does not +ask, does not hope, does not wish for a return in kind. You +may forget for ever that part in which you found me so +distasteful, and accept without embarrassment the affection of a +brother.’</p> +<p>‘You are too generous, Otto,’ she said. +‘I know that I have forfeited your love. I cannot +take this sacrifice. You had far better leave me. O, +go away, and leave me to my fate!’</p> +<p>‘O no!’ said Otto; ‘we must first of all +escape out of this hornet’s nest, to which I led you. +My honour is engaged. I said but now we were as poor as +Job; and behold! not many miles from here I have a house of my +own to which I will conduct you. Otto the Prince being +down, we must try what luck remains to Otto the Hunter. +Come, Seraphina; show that you forgive me, and let us set about +this business of escape in the best spirits possible. You +used to say, my dear, that, except as a husband and a prince, I +was a pleasant fellow. I am neither now, and you may like +my company without remorse. Come, then; it were idle to be +captured. Can you still walk? Forth, then,’ +said he, and he began to lead the way.</p> +<p>A little below where they stood, a good-sized brook passed +below the road, which overleapt it in a single arch. On one +bank of that loquacious water a foot-path descended a green +dell. Here it was rocky and stony, and lay on the steep +scarps of the ravine; here it was choked with brambles; and +there, in fairy haughs, it lay for a few paces evenly on the +green turf. Like a sponge, the hillside oozed with +well-water. The burn kept growing both in force and volume; +at every leap it fell with heavier plunges and span more widely +in the pool. Great had been the labours of that stream, and +great and agreeable the changes it had wrought. It had cut +through dykes of stubborn rock, and now, like a blowing dolphin, +spouted through the orifice; along all its humble coasts, it had +undermined and rafted-down the goodlier timber of the forest; and +on these rough clearings it now set and tended primrose gardens, +and planted woods of willow, and made a favourite of the silver +birch. Through all these friendly features the path, its +human acolyte, conducted our two wanderers downward,—Otto +before, still pausing at the more difficult passages to lend +assistance; the Princess following. From time to time, when +he turned to help her, her face would lighten upon his—her +eyes, half desperately, woo him. He saw, but dared not +understand. ‘She does not love me,’ he told +himself, with magnanimity. ‘This is remorse or +gratitude; I were no gentleman, no, nor yet a man, if I presumed +upon these pitiful concessions.’</p> +<p>Some way down the glen, the stream, already grown to a good +bulk of water, was rudely dammed across, and about a third of it +abducted in a wooden trough. Gaily the pure water, +air’s first cousin, fleeted along the rude aqueduct, whose +sides and floor it had made green with grasses. The path, +bearing it close company, threaded a wilderness of briar and +wild-rose. And presently, a little in front, the brown top +of a mill and the tall mill-wheel, spraying diamonds, arose in +the narrows of the glen; at the same time the snoring music of +the saws broke the silence.</p> +<p>The miller, hearing steps, came forth to his door, and both he +and Otto started.</p> +<p>‘Good-morning, miller,’ said the Prince. +‘You were right, it seems, and I was wrong. I give +you the news, and bid you to Mittwalden. My throne has +fallen—great was the fall of it!—and your good +friends of the Phoenix bear the rule.’</p> +<p>The red-faced miller looked supreme astonishment. +‘And your Highness?’ he gasped.</p> +<p>‘My Highness is running away,’ replied Otto, +‘straight for the frontier.’</p> +<p>‘Leaving Grünewald?’ cried the man. +‘Your father’s son? It’s not to be +permitted!’</p> +<p>‘Do you arrest us, friend?’ asked Otto, +smiling.</p> +<p>‘Arrest you? I?’ exclaimed the man. +‘For what does your Highness take me? Why, sir, I +make sure there is not a man in Grünewald would lay hands +upon you.’</p> +<p>‘O, many, many,’ said the Prince; ‘but from +you, who were bold with me in my greatness, I should even look +for aid in my distress.’</p> +<p>The miller became the colour of beetroot. ‘You may +say so indeed,’ said he. ‘And meanwhile, will +you and your lady step into my house.’</p> +<p>‘We have not time for that,’ replied the Prince; +‘but if you would oblige us with a cup of wine without +here, you will give a pleasure and a service, both in +one.’</p> +<p>The miller once more coloured to the nape. He hastened +to bring forth wine in a pitcher and three bright crystal +tumblers. ‘Your Highness must not suppose,’ he +said, as he filled them, ‘that I am an habitual +drinker. The time when I had the misfortune to encounter +you, I was a trifle overtaken, I allow; but a more sober man than +I am in my ordinary, I do not know where you are to look for; and +even this glass that I drink to you (and to the lady) is quite an +unusual recreation.’</p> +<p>The wine was drunk with due rustic courtesies; and then, +refusing further hospitality, Otto and Seraphina once more +proceeded to descend the glen, which now began to open and to be +invaded by the taller trees.</p> +<p>‘I owed that man a reparation,’ said the Prince; +‘for when we met I was in the wrong and put a sore affront +upon him. I judge by myself, perhaps; but I begin to think +that no one is the better for a humiliation.’</p> +<p>‘But some have to be taught so,’ she replied.</p> +<p>‘Well, well,’ he said, with a painful +embarrassment. ‘Well, well. But let us think of +safety. My miller is all very good, but I do not pin my +faith to him. To follow down this stream will bring us, but +after innumerable windings, to my house. Here, up this +glade, there lies a cross-cut—the world’s end for +solitude—the very deer scarce visit it. Are you too +tired, or could you pass that way?’</p> +<p>‘Choose the path, Otto. I will follow you,’ +she said.</p> +<p>‘No,’ he replied, with a singular imbecility of +manner and appearance, ‘but I meant the path was +rough. It lies, all the way, by glade and dingle, and the +dingles are both deep and thorny.’</p> +<p>‘Lead on,’ she said. ‘Are you not Otto +the Hunter?’</p> +<p>They had now burst across a veil of underwood, and were come +into a lawn among the forest, very green and innocent, and +solemnly surrounded by trees. Otto paused on the margin, +looking about him with delight; then his glance returned to +Seraphina, as she stood framed in that silvan pleasantness and +looking at her husband with undecipherable eyes. A weakness +both of the body and mind fell on him like the beginnings of +sleep; the cords of his activity were relaxed, his eyes clung to +her. ‘Let us rest,’ he said; and he made her +sit down, and himself sat down beside her on the slope of an +inconsiderable mound.</p> +<p>She sat with her eyes downcast, her slim hand dabbling in +grass, like a maid waiting for love’s summons. The +sound of the wind in the forest swelled and sank, and drew near +them with a running rush, and died away and away in the distance +into fainting whispers. Nearer hand, a bird out of the deep +covert uttered broken and anxious notes. All this seemed +but a halting prelude to speech. To Otto it seemed as if +the whole frame of nature were waiting for his words; and yet his +pride kept him silent. The longer he watched that slender +and pale hand plucking at the grasses, the harder and rougher +grew the fight between pride and its kindly adversary.</p> +<p>‘Seraphina,’ he said at last, ‘it is right +you should know one thing: I never . . .’ He was +about to say ‘doubted you,’ but was that true? +And, if true, was it generous to speak of it? Silence +succeeded.</p> +<p>‘I pray you, tell it me,’ she said; ‘tell it +me, in pity.’</p> +<p>‘I mean only this,’ he resumed, ‘that I +understand all, and do not blame you. I understand how the +brave woman must look down on the weak man. I think you +were wrong in some things; but I have tried to understand it, and +I do. I do not need to forget or to forgive, Seraphina, for +I have understood.’</p> +<p>‘I know what I have done,’ she said. +‘I am not so weak that I can be deceived with kind +speeches. I know what I have been—I see myself. +I am not worth your anger, how much less to be forgiven! In +all this downfall and misery, I see only me and you: you, as you +have been always; me, as I was—me, above all! O yes, +I see myself: and what can I think?’</p> +<p>‘Ah, then, let us reverse the parts!’ said +Otto. ‘It is ourselves we cannot forgive, when we +deny forgiveness to another—so a friend told me last +night. On these terms, Seraphina, you see how generously +<i>I</i> have forgiven myself. But am not I to be +forgiven? Come, then, forgive yourself—and +me.’</p> +<p>She did not answer in words, but reached out her hand to him +quickly. He took it; and as the smooth fingers settled and +nestled in his, love ran to and fro between them in tender and +transforming currents.</p> +<p>‘Seraphina,’ he cried, ‘O, forget the +past! Let me serve and help you; let me be your servant; it +is enough for me to serve you and to be near you; let me be near +you, dear—do not send me away.’ He hurried his +pleading like the speech of a frightened child. ‘It +is not love,’ he went on; ‘I do not ask for love; my +love is enough . . .’</p> +<p>‘Otto!’ she said, as if in pain.</p> +<p>He looked up into her face. It was wrung with the very +ecstasy of tenderness and anguish; on her features, and most of +all in her changed eyes, there shone the very light of love.</p> +<p>‘Seraphina?’ he cried aloud, and with a sudden, +tuneless voice, ‘Seraphina?’</p> +<p>‘Look round you at this glade,’ she cried, +‘and where the leaves are coming on young trees, and the +flowers begin to blossom. This is where we meet, meet for +the first time; it is so much better to forget and to be born +again. O what a pit there is for sins—God’s +mercy, man’s oblivion!’</p> +<p>‘Seraphina,’ he said, ‘let it be so, indeed; +let all that was be merely the abuse of dreaming; let me begin +again, a stranger. I have dreamed, in a long dream, that I +adored a girl unkind and beautiful; in all things my superior, +but still cold, like ice. And again I dreamed, and thought +she changed and melted, glowed and turned to me. And +I—who had no merit but a love, slavish and +unerect—lay close, and durst not move for fear of +waking.’</p> +<p>‘Lie close,’ she said, with a deep thrill of +speech.</p> +<p>So they spake in the spring woods; and meanwhile, in +Mittwalden Rath-haus, the Republic was declared.</p> +<h2>BIBLIOGRAPHICAL POSTSCRIPT TO COMPLETE THE STORY</h2> +<p>The reader well informed in modern history will not require +details as to the fate of the Republic. The best account is +to be found in the memoirs of Herr Greisengesang (7 Bände: +Leipzig), by our passing acquaintance the licentiate +Roederer. Herr Roederer, with too much of an author’s +licence, makes a great figure of his hero—poses him, +indeed, to be the centre-piece and cloud-compeller of the +whole. But, with due allowance for this bias, the book is +able and complete.</p> +<p>The reader is of course acquainted with the vigorous and +bracing pages of Sir John (2 vols., London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, +Orme and Brown). Sir John, who plays but a tooth-comb in +the orchestra of this historical romance, blows in his own book +the big bassoon. His character is there drawn at large; and +the sympathy of Landor has countersigned the admiration of the +public. One point, however, calls for explanation; the +chapter on Grünewald was torn by the hand of the author in +the palace gardens; how comes it, then, to figure at full length +among my more modest pages, the Lion of the caravan? That +eminent literatus was a man of method; ‘Juvenal by double +entry,’ he was once profanely called; and when he tore the +sheets in question, it was rather, as he has since explained, in +the search for some dramatic evidence of his sincerity, than with +the thought of practical deletion. At that time, indeed, he +was possessed of two blotted scrolls and a fair copy in +double. But the chapter, as the reader knows, was honestly +omitted from the famous ‘Memoirs on the various Courts of +Europe.’ It has been mine to give it to the +public.</p> +<p>Bibliography still helps us with a further glimpse of our +characters. I have here before me a small volume (printed +for private circulation: no printer’s name; n.d.), +‘Poésies par Frédéric et +Amélie.’ Mine is a presentation copy, obtained +for me by Mr. Bain in the Haymarket; and the name of the first +owner is written on the fly-leaf in the hand of Prince Otto +himself. The modest epigraph—‘Le rime +n’est pas riche’—may be attributed, with a good +show of likelihood, to the same collaborator. It is +strikingly appropriate, and I have found the volume very +dreary. Those pieces in which I seem to trace the hand of +the Princess are particularly dull and conscientious. But +the booklet had a fair success with that public for which it was +designed; and I have come across some evidences of a second +venture of the same sort, now unprocurable. Here, at least, +we may take leave of Otto and Seraphina—what do I say? of +Frédéric and Amélie—ageing together +peaceably at the court of the wife’s father, jingling +French rhymes and correcting joint proofs.</p> +<p>Still following the book-lists, I perceive that Mr. Swinburne +has dedicated a rousing lyric and some vigorous sonnets to the +memory of Gondremark; that name appears twice at least in Victor +Hugo’s trumpet-blasts of patriot enumeration; and I came +latterly, when I supposed my task already ended, on a trace of +the fallen politician and his Countess. It is in the +‘Diary of J. Hogg Cotterill, Esq.’ (that very +interesting work). Mr. Cotterill, being at Naples, is +introduced (May 27th) to ‘a Baron and Baroness +Gondremark—he a man who once made a noise—she still +beautiful—both witty. She complimented me much upon +my French—should never have known me to be +English—had known my uncle, Sir John, in +Germany—recognised in me, as a family trait, some of his +<i>grand air</i> and studious courtesy—asked me to +call.’ And again (May 30th), ‘visited the +Baronne de Gondremark—much gratified—a most +<i>refined</i>, <i>intelligent</i> woman, quite of the old +school, now, <i>hélas</i>! extinct—had read my +<i>Remarks on Sicily</i>—it reminds her of my uncle, but +with more of grace—I feared she thought there was less +energy—assured no—a softer style of presentation, +more of the <i>literary grace</i>, but the same firm grasp of +circumstance and force of thought—in short, just +Buttonhole’s opinion. Much encouraged. I have a +real esteem for this patrician lady.’ The +acquaintance lasted some time; and when Mr. Cotterill left in the +suite of Lord Protocol, and, as he is careful to inform us, in +Admiral Yardarm’s flag-ship, one of his chief causes of +regret is to leave ‘that most <i>spirituelle</i> and +sympathetic lady, who already regards me as a younger +brother.’</p> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PRINCE OTTO***</p> +<pre> + + +***** This file should be named 372-h.htm or 372-h.zip****** + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/7/372 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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