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diff --git a/40907-0.txt b/40907-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e68b464 --- /dev/null +++ b/40907-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11517 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40907 *** + + A Dash For a Throne + + By Arthur W. Marchmont + + Author of "By Right of Sword," etc. + + + Illustrated by + D. Murray Smith + + NEW AMSTERDAM BOOK COMPANY, NEW YORK + HUTCHINSON & CO., LONDON + 1899 + + COPYRIGHT, 1899, BY + NEW AMSTERDAM BOOK COMPANY + + + + +[Illustration: HE RAISED HIS RIGHT HAND ON HIGH] + + + + +CONTENTS + + + CHAPTER PAGE + + I. My Death 9 + + II. A Gate of Life 20 + + III. "As Your Highness Will" 33 + + IV. "You are Head of the House Now" 46 + + V. The Scent of Treachery 57 + + VI. "My Cousin" 69 + + VII. At Munich 81 + + VIII. Praga's Story 94 + + IX. My Plan of Campaign 105 + + X. A Council of Conspiracy 115 + + XI. "Even One Subject May Make a Kingdom" 127 + + XII. My Scheme Develops 139 + + XIII. A Check 152 + + XIV. The Abduction 164 + + XV. A Treacherous Attack 175 + + XVI. The Ball at the Palace 187 + + XVII. Checkmate 198 + + XVIII. After the Abduction 207 + + XIX. The Maid's Story 219 + + XX. Covering My Defeat 229 + + XXI. News of Minna 239 + + XXII. At Landsberg 249 + + XXIII. The Pursuit 260 + + XXIV. The Meeting 272 + + XXV. "I am Not the Prince" 283 + + XXVI. Flight 296 + + XXVII. An Old Enemy 309 + + XXVIII. The Emperor 323 + + XXIX. Count von Rudloff 336 + + XXX. The End 343 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + + PAGE + + He flung his wine right at my face 11 + + She turned and bowed to me with a smile 50 + + Grasping my stick with both hands, I clenched + my teeth, and rushed upon the villains from behind 91 + + He raised his right hand on high 124 + + I leaned out as far as I dared, and, taking careful + aim, fired 184 + + Instead of Minna, the face of Clara Weylin met mine 206 + + "I was thinking--cousin" 288 + + The horse had fallen on him and rolled over him 293 + + + + +A DASH FOR A THRONE + + + + +CHAPTER I + +MY DEATH + + +"To a man who has been dead nearly five years everything would be +forgiven, probably--except his resurrection." + +This half-cynical thought was suggested by the extraordinary change +which a few hours of one memorable July day had wrought in my +circumstances and position. + +As the thought occurred to me I was standing in the library of Gramberg +Castle, my hands plunged deep in my pockets, deliberately dallying with +my fate, as I watched the black dress of the Prince's beautiful daughter +moving slowly among the gayly colored flower-beds in the warm sunshine, +like a soothing shadow in the brilliant glare. + +I was face to face with a temptation which I found infinitely alluring +and immeasurably difficult to resist. + +For five years I had been enduring an existence of monotonous emptiness, +that depressed me till my heart ached and my spirit wearied; and now a +chance of change had been thrust upon me, all against my seeking, at +which my pulses were beating high with the bound of hope, my blood +running once again with the old quick tingling of excitement, and, +through the reopened portals of a life akin to that from which I had +been thrust, desire, ambition, pleasure, hazard, were all beckoning to +me with fascinating invitation. + +I turned from the window and threw myself into a deep easy-chair to +think. + +Five years before I had passed in a moment from a position of Royal +favor, with limitless ambition and opportunities, to one where death was +avowedly the only alternate. + +And no one had recognized this more readily than I myself. + +I am half English by birth. My mother was an English woman, and went to +the Prussian Court in the small suite of the bride whom "Unser Fritz" +carried from England. My father rose very high in Royal favor, and, as a +consequence, I was thrown early in life in the company of the young +Princes. We grew up close and intimate companions; and when I chose the +navy for my profession every facility was employed to insure my +advancement. I had been about five years in the navy, and was already a +flag-lieutenant, when the smash came. Happily my father and mother were +both dead then. + +We were not puritans in those days, and there were some wild times. The +last of these in which I took a part finished up on the Imperial yacht; +and a wild enough time it was. + +I had drunk much more freely than the rest--there were only some +half-dozen of us altogether--and then, being a quarrelsome, hot-headed +fool, I took fire at some words that fell from the Prince, and I gave +him the lie direct. Exactly what happened I don't clearly remember; +but I know that he flung his wine right at my face, and I, forgetting +entirely that he was at once my future Emperor and my commanding +officer, clenched my fist and struck him a violent blow in the face +which knocked him down. He hit his head in falling, and lay still as +death. We thought at first he was dead. What followed can be imagined. I +cannot describe it. It sobered the lot of us; and our relief when we +found he was not dead, but only stunned, cannot be put in words. + +[Illustration: HE FLUNG HIS WINE RIGHT AT MY FACE] + +He was lifted up and laid on the table, his face all ghastly gray-white, +save where the mark of my blow on the cheek stood out red and livid--a +sight I shall never forget. + +When the doctor came we told him the Prince had had an ugly fall, and, +as soon as he showed signs of coming round, I left and went off to my +ship, in a condition of pitiable consternation and remorse. + +I nearly shot myself that night. I took out my revolver twice and laid +it between my teeth, and was only stopped by the consideration that, if +I did it, my suicide would be connected with the affair, and some +garbled account of the brawl and of what was behind it would leak out. + +The next day old Count von Augener, who had been telegraphed for, came +to my cabin. He hated me as he had hated my father, and I knew it. + +The interview was brief enough, and he sounded the keynote in the +sentence with which he opened it. + +"You are still alive, lieutenant?" he said, bending on me a piercing +look from under his shaggy, beetling brows. + +"Say what you have to say, and be good enough to keep from taunts," I +answered, and then told him the thought that alone had stopped me from +shooting myself. + +He listened in silence, and at the close nodded. + +"You have enough wit when the wine's out, and you understand what you +have done. Were you other than you are, you would be tried by +court-martial and shot. But your act is worse than that of a +mutineer--you are a coward"--I started to my feet--"because you have +struck a man you know cannot demand satisfaction." + +I sank again into my chair and covered my face in shame, for the taunt +was true. But to have it thus flung at me ruthlessly was worse than a +red-hot brand plunged into my flesh. + +The old man stopped and looked at me, pleased that he had thus tortured +me. + +"There is but one course open to you. You know that?" + +"I know it," I answered sullenly. + +"Only one reparation you can make. Your death can appear to be either +accidental or natural--anyhow, provided that it is at once. You can have +a week; after that, if you are alive, you will die an infamous death." + +"I understand," I replied, rising as he rose. "Will you give my +assurance to the Prince and the Emperor that ..." + +"I am no tale-bearer, sir," he answered sternly. "The one desire now is +to forget that you ever lived." And flinging these harsh words at me, he +left me humiliated, ashamed, angry, and impotently remorseful. + +Not another word should pass my lips. How should I die? It was not so +easy as it seemed. A fatal accident to appear genuine called for clever +stage-management, and I did not see how to arrange matters. + +I applied for leave, and went to Berlin. There was one man there who +could help me--old Dr. Mein. He was a bachelor recluse, an Englishman +who had been naturalized, and in the old days he had been in love with +my mother. It was she who told me the tale just before her death, when +urging me to trust him should I ever find myself in need of an +absolutely reliable, level-headed friend. I knew that he loved me for +the English blood in my veins. I told him what I had to do; but at first +did not mention the cause. He listened intently, questioned me shrewdly, +and then stopped to think. + +"You want me to murder you, or at least give you the means of murdering +yourself?" he said bluntly. + +"If you don't help me, I shall do it without you, that's all," I +returned. + +He paused again to think, pursing up his lips, and fixing his keen blue +eyes upon me. + +"I have loved you like my own son, and you ask me to kill you?" + +"My mother would have had me come to you, because I am in trouble." + +"You have no right to be in trouble. You are no fool. You have all your +father's wealth--millions of marks; you have your mother's English +blood--which is much better; you have her brains--which is best of all; +you have a noble profession--the sea; you enjoy the Imperial favor and +friendship--a slippery honor, maybe; and you are certain of rapid +promotion to almost any height you please. Why, then, should you want to +die?" + +"Because I have sacrificed everything by my reckless temper," I +answered, and told him what had happened. "I have no option but to die," +I concluded. "If you will not help me----" I broke the sentence and got +up to go. + +"I didn't say I wouldn't help you--I will." I sat down again. "You don't +care how you die, so long as it's quickly?" I shook my head. "Very well. +I have in my laboratory the bacilli of a deadly fever. I will inject the +virus into your veins. In three days you will be in the fever's grip, +and in less than a week you will be dead." I took off my coat and bared +my arms to show my readiness. "I make only one condition. You must be +ill here; I must watch the progress of the experiment." + +"Nothing will suit me better," I returned. + +He made the injection there and then, and gave me two days to be away +and wind up my affairs; and when I returned to him he made another +injection and put me to bed. That night I was in a raging fever. All the +paraphernalia of a sick-bed were soon in evidence, and the following day +it was known all over Berlin that the wealthy young Count von Rudloff +was down in the grip of a fever at the house of a once well-known +physician, Dr. Mein. The little house was besieged with callers. A few +only were admitted. Von Augener was one, and he brought with him the +Court physician. + +I grew worse rapidly, and only in intermittent gleams of intelligence +was I conscious of the lean, grizzled face and watchful blue eyes of the +doctor bending over me, assuring me that I was a most interesting case, +and rapidly growing worse. For three days this continued, until in a +moment of consciousness I heard him say to the nurse: + +"He cannot last through the night," and the woman turned and looked +sympathetically toward the bed. + +I tried to speak, but could not. I could scarcely move; but they noticed +my restlessness, and the doctor came and bent over me. + +"Am I dying?" I whispered. + +"Yes. You must have courage. You are dying." + +"I am glad. Thank you. I have no pain." + +He turned away, and after a moment gave me my medicine. Then with a +touch soft like a woman's he smoothed the bedclothes, and bending down +put his lips to my forehead, and left me glad, as I had said, that the +end had come thus calmly. + +I must have become unconscious again almost directly after that, for I +know nothing of what happened until I awoke gradually and found myself +in a place that was pitch dark. I was lying on the floor, though it felt +soft like a mattress, and when I stretched out my arm I touched a wall +that was soft like the floor. + +I was quick in jumping to a conclusion. The doctor had fooled me, and +probably had fooled everybody else, about my illness and death. If I had +ever been ill, I was quite well now, and I scrambled up and strode about +the place, feeling all the walls and floor and everything within my +reach. I soon knew where I was. It was the old fellow's padded room. I +knew, too, that I could do no good by struggling or shouting or trying +to get out of it. I must wait, and I sat down on the floor to think. + +After what seemed like many hours an electric light was switched on, and +I saw a sheet of paper pinned to the wall. It was a letter from the +doctor. + +"I have done what your mother would have wished. You have the makings of +a real man in you, and you must not die. Every one thinks you dead; and +not a soul suspects. Your funeral took place yesterday, amid all the +pomp of Court mourning; and all the papers to-day are full of +descriptions of your career, your illness, death, and funeral. But you +will live to do yourself justice; if need be, in another name. Your next +career you must make, however, and not merely inherit. But you are your +mother's son, and will not flinch." + +The old man had known me better than I knew myself. I had been glad to +die; but the pulse of life runs strong in the twenties; and the shrewd +old beggar was right. Half an hour later I was glad to live; and when he +came to me I was quite ready to thank him for what he had done. + +We had a long talk about my future, and he urged me to go to England. + +"You can be an Englishman; indeed, you are one already. Your family must +have rich and powerful friends there; and there you can make a career." + +But I would not give my assent. I had no plans, and was in the mood to +make none. + +"I will see," I answered. "I am a dead man, and the dead are more the +concern of Providence than the living. I will drift for a while in the +back waters," and I shrugged my shoulders. + +I made no plans. That night I left Berlin, and as the train whirled me +southward I tried with resolute hand to make the barrier that shut out +the old life so bullet-proof that not even the stinging thoughts of +impotent remorse and regret could wound me. I was only human, however, +and barely twenty-three; and the sorrow of my loneliness was like a +cankered wound. I felt like a shipwrecked derelict waif on the wide +callous sea of stranger humanity. + +And like a derelict I drifted for a while, and accident determined a +course for me. At Frankfort, where I stayed a considerable time, a +chance meeting in a hotel gave me as a companion an actor, and in his +room at the theatre one night he asked me if I would care to join his +company. All life was to be but a burlesque for me, and, as it seemed +the training might be useful, I consented. + +I threw myself into the mimic business with ardor, and stayed with the +company four years. Under the guise of professional enthusiasm I became +a past master in the art of making up, and altered my appearance +completely. I changed my voice until it was two full tones lower than by +nature, and I practised an expression and accent altogether unlike my +own. Under the tuition of a clever old acrobat, who had deformed himself +until he was past work, I changed entirely the character of my walk and +carriage. I cultivated assiduously marked peculiarities of gesture and +manner; and by constant massage even the contour of my features was +altered, and lines and wrinkles were brought with results that +astonished me. + +After some three years of this I tested these results by a visit to the +only man who knew me to be alive--Dr. Mein. I wished him to know what I +was doing, but was not willing to trust the secret on paper. I went to +him in my professional name, Heinrich Fischer, and consulted him for +about half an hour about an imaginary complaint, without his having an +idea of my identity. Once or twice he looked at me with an expression of +rather doubting inquiry; but he did not know me. He wrote me a +prescription, and, rising to go, I laid a fee on his table. + +Then I lingered on, and he glanced at me in polite surprise. I smiled; +and he fixed his little glittering eyes on mine steadily, as if I were a +lunatic. + +"Have you any more bacilli to spare, doctor?" I whispered. + +A start, a quick frown, and the closing together of his eyebrows showed +his surprise. Then he wheeled me round to the light. + +"Are you----?" + +He stopped short, his face alight with doubt and interrogation. + +"I am Heinrich Fischer, an actor--now," I replied. + +The last word was quite enough, and the tough old man almost broke down +in the delight of recognition. When I explained to him the elaborate +processes by which I had changed my figure, looks, and voice, he grew +intensely interested in me as a strange experiment, and declared that +not a soul in all the world would recognize me. + +My visit was a brief one, though he pressed me earnestly to stay with +him; and when I would not he said he would come to me at Frankfort, and +that I must be his adopted son. But he never came, and we never met +again. A letter or two passed between us--I had altered even my +handwriting--and then a year later came the news to me that he was +dead--had died suddenly in the midst of his work--and that I was left +his heir. + +This again changed my life, for his fortune gave me abundant means; and +as I considered my actor training had been sufficient, I resolved to +close that chapter of my life. + +It would have been a commonplace affair enough, with an accompaniment of +nothing more than a few mutual personal regrets, but for one incident. +One of the actresses--a handsome, passionate woman, named Clara +Weylin--had done me the quite unsolicited honor to fall violently in +love with me; and when, at the time of parting, I could not tell her +that we should ever meet again--for I had not the least intention or +wish to do so--she was first tearful, then hysterical, and at last +vindictively menacing. + +"There's a secret about you, Fischer," she cried passionately. "I've +always thought so; and, mark me, I'll find it out some day; and then +you'll remember this, and your treatment of Clara Weylin. Look to +yourself." + +I tried to reason away her somewhat theatrical resentment, but she +interpreted my words as an indication that she had struck home; and she +flung away, with a toss of the head, another threat, and a look of +bitter anger. I thought no more of the incident then--though afterward I +had occasion enough to recall it; and when the evening brought me a +letter from her, couched in very loving terms, I tossed it into the fire +with a feeling akin to contempt. The next morning I left the town early, +and was off on a purposeless and once more planless ramble. + +With the stage I dropped also my stage name, for I had no wish to be +known as an ex-play-actor; and as the old doctor's original counsel +chanced to occur to me, I turned English. I now let my beard and +mustaches grow; and I was satisfied that, with my changed carriage and +looks, not a soul in the whole fatherland would recognize in Henry +Fisher, a sober-looking English gentleman, travelling for pleasure and +literary purposes, the once well-known and dashing naval lieutenant and +Court favorite, the Count von Rudloff. + +I moved from point to point aimlessly for some months until the vapid, +vacuous monotony of the existence sickened and appalled me. Then +suddenly chance or Fate opened a gate of life. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +A GATE OF LIFE + + +I was droning in the small Rhine town Hamnel, close to Kehl, and struck +up a casual acquaintance with a man of about my own age, named von +Fromberg, to whom I had been at first attracted somewhat by the fact +that in some respects he resembled myself. It happened, too, that one +night I was able to render him a little service. + +I was walking late near the river when he came rushing up to me to beg +me to help him against the attack of a couple of men who were running +after him with some angry threats. He was trembling and very much +excited, although there did not seem to me to be much cause for fear; +for the men sheered off as soon as they saw he was no longer alone. + +My companion was greatly agitated, however, and talked, as I thought +very absurdly, about my having saved his life. For the next two or three +days he would scarcely leave my side; and during that time he poured +into my ears much of what was filling his soul. It was only a little +soul, and the contents mere tags and patches of dishevelled passion and +emotions, though to him all real and disturbing enough. + +He was a student and a dreamer, and of course in love. He had in some +way got mixed up in some brawling with the men who I had seen pursuing +him, and the whole trouble had set his little pulses throbbing and +palpitating with the fear of terrible but quite vague consequences. + +He told me also his love troubles. The girl he wished to marry was +French, and while his people hated the French, her father would only +allow him to marry the daughter if he would become a Frenchman. And +mingled up with all this was a strange story of family complications. +The pith of this was that his uncle, the head of the family, the Prince +von Gramberg, a well enough known man, had written to urge him to go at +once to the castle, declaring that his instant presence was imperative. +Von Fromberg was thus the prey of three sets of emotions--desire to +marry the French girl; terror of the men he had in some way provoked; +and deadly fear that his uncle would prevent his turning French, and so +stop his marriage. The last disquieted him the most. + +"He has never seen me," he cried quite passionately, "never even given a +thought to me, till I suppose he thinks that, as his son is now dead, I +can be of some use to him. And he is such a fire-eating old devil he +would think nothing of kidnapping me and shutting me up till I did what +he wanted, and gave up my marriage. He loathes everything French." + +It was difficult to associate von Fromberg with any very fire-eating +kith and kin, but I sympathized vaguely, and soon found out his reasons +for giving me his confidence. He wanted me to help him, and the request +took a singular shape. He was to be married, and was crossing the +frontier to Charmes for the purpose; and as he was very fearful of +interruption and pursuit, he wished me to remain in Hamnel for a couple +of days in his name. + +It sounded ridiculous, and of course I demurred, pointing to a dozen +difficulties that might follow. He pressed me very strongly, however, +until I had to tell him pretty curtly that I would do nothing of the +sort. He was silent a minute and then said: + +"Of course it must be as you please, but if I tell people that your name +is really von Fromberg and mine Fisher it will not hurt any one." + +"I shall very speedily undeceive them," I answered promptly, and thought +little more about the matter. But on that day I had to change my +residence, and the next morning I found to my annoyance that he had +indeed told the people at both houses that my name was in reality von +Fromberg and his Fisher. + +It was too small a matter to make a fuss about; and as I reflected that +the only result would be to let him get married with fewer fears, I kept +my anger till we should meet again. + +But I little foresaw the consequences. + +I was away for several hours in the latter part of the day, walking and +sketching, and on my return to the house at night I thought there was +something strange in the manner of a servant who met me and said two +gentlemen were waiting for me in my room. + +"For me?" I said, with some astonishment; for I could not think of any +two men in the whole empire likely to come for me. + +"Yes, sir, for you. They asked for you first as Herr von Fromberg, then +as Mr. Fisher." + +"Some more tomfoolery," I thought, as I went up the stairs, and then it +flashed across me that they might be connected with the visit von +Fromberg had been fearing. + +A glance at the two men who rose at my entrance showed me they were at +least gentlemen--officers, I thought, in mufti. They were both dark, +and one--the elder--carried a beard, the other a heavy mustache only. + +"Good evening, gentlemen," I said quietly. "To what do I owe the favor +of this visit?" + +I was disposed to be on my guard for von Fromberg's sake. The man with +the beard answered. + +"This is the first time we have met, Herr von Fromberg. My name is von +Krugen, and my friend's Steinitz." + +I was not quite sure whether to repudiate von Fromberg's name at once, +or to wait until I knew more of the errand. I decided that it could do +no harm to wait. + +"And your object in coming?" I asked. + +I saw a glance pass between the two, and the younger stepped past me +casually, and took up a position close to the door. This interested me +at once. It was quite obviously a move to prevent my running away. They +seemed to understand von Fromberg's character. + +"I think you will be able to guess," he replied, waiting until his +companion had carried out the manoeuvre. "We wish to have a little +private conversation with you, and to induce you to go with us--you will +know where." + +"And to make sure that it shall be private, I suppose you got your +friend to stand over there by the door," I said, motioning toward him. + +"A merely superfluous caution, I am sure," was the answer, given with a +smile; "but a locked door always keeps intruders out." + +"And prisoners in," I retorted. + +"True," he assented, with another smile. "So you may as well lock it, +Steinitz," and this was done promptly. + +I laughed. I had, of course, nothing to fear. + +"I shouldn't run away," I said. "You interest me too much, though what +on earth you are doing here I can't for the life of me guess." + +"We come from your uncle, the Prince von Gramberg, and I am specially +charged to tell you that matters of the deepest moment, involving issues +of life and death, make it absolutely imperative that you should go with +us to the castle at once." + +He spoke in so earnest a tone that his words produced an immediate +effect upon me. I had no right to play fast and loose with the affairs +of a powerful family--and the Prince's reputation was well enough known +to me. Obviously I must at once explain the mistake as to my identity. I +was sorry I had not done so at once. + +"You are speaking in error, and I must tell you before you say another +word. I am not the nephew of the Prince von Gramberg." + +"I am aware you have denied yourself. You are Herr von Fromberg? I +addressed you so a minute since." + +"No. My name is not von Fromberg, but Fisher. I am English." + +"Oh, yes, I know that. They told me that you preferred to be called +that. But I am not here to pay heed to small preferences of the kind. +These are no trifling concerns." + +"They are no concerns of mine at all," I answered shortly. "And now that +I have explained this, have the goodness to leave my rooms." + +I turned to the door as I spoke, but the man standing there made no +movement at all. + +"Where, then, is Herr von Fromberg?" asked the older man, with +incredulity manifest in his tone. + +"I cannot tell you. I believe I know, but I am not at liberty to say." + +"I did not think you would be," he returned dryly. "But are you prepared +to go to the castle with us? You can explain afterward that we have +taken you there wrongfully," he added, with ironical courtesy. + +"Certainly I am not." + +I spoke warmly, for his manner irritated me. + +"Then will you have the goodness to inform me how it is that you are +here in the character of Herr von Fromberg, with the people of the house +looking upon you as that gentleman, and yourself answering to the name?" + +My story was too tame and lame for me to think of telling it. I took +shelter behind indignation. + +"I shall certainly give no explanation which is demanded of me by those +who have forced themselves into my room and hold me a prisoner in it in +this way," I answered hotly. + +"Then you will scarcely be surprised that, as I have been informed you +are Herr von Fromberg, and you have answered to the name to me, I cannot +accept your repudiation. I do not know why you are so anxious to deny +your identity and to keep away from the great position that has opened +to you since the death of the Prince's son." + +This was thrown out to test me. + +"I should refuse no position offered to me, I can assure you, if it were +offered rightfully. But I am not the Prince's nephew." + +"You are sufficiently like him to satisfy me, and I'm a good deal +mistaken if you have not a good deal of his Highness's spirit. But now +it is useless to talk any more here. You will go with us, of course? he +asked abruptly. + +"Of course I will do nothing of the sort." + +"Very well, then, I suppose we must go alone. Steinitz!" he called +sharply, jerking his head as if bidding the other to unlock the door; +and he himself made as if to leave the room. + +My back was to the second man, and before I even suspected treachery he +sprang upon me from behind, pinioned my arms, and bound them, while the +elder man held a revolver pointed right between my eyes. + +"I am sorry you have driven me to do this," he said; "for I am perhaps +making you a deadly enemy when I would rather serve you with my life if +necessary. But my master's orders are imperative. We are playing for +high stakes there, and have to throw boldly at times. Your presence is +necessary at the castle, and my instructions are to take you there, free +or by force. Will you go without compelling me to use force?" + +I looked calmly at his revolver. There was no fear he would fire. + +"We can scarcely cross the empire in a procession of this kind," I said, +meeting his stern look with a smile and a shrug of the shoulders. + +"We shall not try," he answered promptly. "We shall go as doctors--you +as a mad patient, who has escaped from an asylum. I have come prepared +with the necessary papers; and I need not remind you that your own +actions here have helped this plan." + +"I tell you again I am not the man you seek," I cried angrily; for I saw +the power of his threat. + +"I take my chance of that. You can explain to the Prince." + +"This is monstrously ridiculous," I exclaimed hotly. "There are a +thousand proofs here in this room that I am not the man you want. Put +your hand in my pocket here and you will see by my letters that I am +not." + +After a moment's pause he did so; and then, too late, I remembered von +Fromberg had given me one of his uncle's letters to read which I had not +returned. The man chanced to take it out first and held it up. + +"Your own proof," he said laconically, and thrust them all back again. + +"You are making fools of every one concerned," I cried, very angrily. + +"Will you give your word of honor to go with us?" was his answer, +stolidly spoken. "It is time to start." + +It was useless to fight further, so with another shrug of the shoulders +I gave up. + +"I warn you the whole thing's a farce, though I can't make you believe +it. I'll go with you; but you must put up with the consequences." + +In another moment I was free, and he was profuse with his apologies. + +As he opened the door to leave some one came running up the stairs +looking hot and agitated. To my relief it was von Fromberg. + +"How is it you're back so soon?" I cried. "Never mind how it is; you +come in the nick of time anyhow. This is Herr von Fromberg, gentlemen. +These gentlemen are from your uncle, and wish you to go with them." + +"You said you would go freely with us, sir," whispered the elder man at +my side. "You gave your word of honor." + +"But this is the man you want," I cried, pointing to von Fromberg, who +was staring like one panic-stricken from me to the others. + +The elder man turned to him. + +"Are you the Herr von Fromberg?" + +"Certainly not," he stammered, with a quick look of appeal to me. "This +is----" He quailed before the look I gave him and stopped. + +"You are not going to deny yourself, man?" I cried. + +"Deny myself, von Fromberg," he answered, with a forced, uneasy laugh. +"Why should I? My name is Fisher. Do you want me?" he said to the two. + +"Certainly not. Our business is with this gentleman. This is Herr von +Fromberg, is it not?" + +"Yes, certainly," was the reply, with another forced laugh. + +"Now, will you keep your word?" said the man in a meaning tone to me. +"Or will you compel me ..." He did not finish the sentence. + +"Oh, just as you like. Only I warn you it's all an infernal blunder," +and with that I went with them. + +At the bottom of the stairs I turned and looked up at the man for whom I +was mistaken. He nodded and made signs to me as if thanking me, and +urging me to keep up the deception. + +I said not a word more, but went with the two men in dogged silence. +When we reached the station, I flung myself into a corner of the railway +carriage, my companions mounting guard over me, one at my side, the +other in the opposite corner. + +We travelled through the night, changing trains more than +once--sometimes travelling at express speed, sometimes crawling, and now +and again making long stops at junctions. I scarcely spoke, except to +protest that it was all a fool's journey; and when the elder man +attempted to talk to me, I stopped him peremptorily, saying that as a +stranger I had not the least wish to learn anything of the family's +affairs. I would not hear a word until we reached the castle. + +There, however, a surprise awaited me that pierced the shell of my +apathy in an instant, and filled me with a sudden longing to go on with +the strange part for which my companions had thus cast me. + +The greatest deference was shown to me on my arrival, and I was ushered +into a large and lofty room, while the elder man went to inform the +Prince of my arrival, the younger man remaining with me. + +The castle was certainly magnificent; and I could not refrain from an +intense wish that I were indeed the heir to such a glorious place and +position. My thoughts slipped back to the old life that I had thrown +away, contrasting it with the mockery of my stale, humdrum existence, +and I asked myself what I would not give for such a career as I felt I +could build out of the materials Fortune had now shovelled into my lap +with this taunting munificence. + +Then I saw from the window a young golden-haired girl, standing among +the flower-beds. She was dressed all in black, the exquisitely beautiful +and regular features set and saddened with an expression of profound +grief and melancholy. She was holding some freshly plucked roses in her +hand, and after she had plucked one or two others a serving-maid +approached and said something to her; and she turned and looked toward +the window at which I stood. Probably mere curiosity was the motive, but +to me it seemed as if the look were instinct with anxiety, doubt, and +appeal. + +Suddenly I saw her start and glance round; and if ever a face told of +fear and repulsion hers did, for all the struggle that her pride made to +repress the evidence of her emotion, and to force up a smile to cover an +aching heart. + +Then I saw the cause of the change. + +A man came into view, and my heart gave a great leap of anger that had +long slumbered. I had known him in the old life for the falsest +scoundrel that ever cheated a friend or ruined a woman. The mere sight +of him set me on fire. He had dealt me a foul and treacherous wrong, and +when I had sought him to call him to account he had fled, and I could +never trace him. + +I watched him now as he spoke to the girl, and my old hate awoke till I +could have found it in me to rush out there and then to cast his +foulness in his face and choke his life out of him. And my brow gathered +in an angry scowl as I watched the girl's struggle between pride and +loathing when she answered him, and shrank back from the sensual brute +stare of his eyes. + +As soon as I could keep my voice steady I called my companion to the +window. + +"Who are those?" I asked. + +"The Countess Minna, the Prince's only daughter, now his only child. It +is she who, under heaven, will be the Queen of----" + +He checked himself when he caught my look of intense surprise. + +"And the man. Who is he?" + +"The Count von Nauheim, her future husband." + +"God help her, then," said I, with involuntary fervor. + +My companion started and looked at me. + +"Do you know----" + +"I know nothing," I replied very curtly. "These are no concerns of mine. +But I can read a face." He looked at me searchingly, but I had taken my +watch out and was playing with the guard. "This Prince seems a devil of +a long time sending for me. If he keeps me much longer I shall lose my +train back." + +I spoke indifferently, and threw myself into a chair to think. + +I sat a long time buried in these old rustled reflections, until the +chain of thought was snapped abruptly, and I sprang to my feet as a +great cry ran through the castle, and the sound of a woman's sobbing. + +"What's that?" I asked of the man with me, who had changed color and was +manifestly disturbed. + +"I don't understand it," he said, after a long pause, during which he +went and stood by the door, as if doubting whether I might try to leave. + +The sounds of confusion in the castle increased. Servants were hurrying +in all directions; but no one came to us. + +Later on the toll of a heavy bell sounded with vibrating echoes through +the hot, heavy, sleepy air. A minute after it was repeated; and before +the sound had died away the elder of the two men came back into the +room. He was deadly pale, and so agitated that his voice trembled. He +approached me and bowed with signs of deep respect. + +"I bring you the worst of news. The Prince is dead; and your Highness is +master in his stead." + +"Dead!" I cried, in the profoundest astonishment. + +"He was stricken this morning, and lay dying when we entered the castle. +And he was dead before your Highness could be summoned." + +A protest leapt to my lips. But I did not give it utterance. The thought +of the girl I had seen, the Countess Minna, left helpless in the power +of that consummate villain von Nauheim, silenced me. I would wait until +at least I had time to think out a course of action. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +"AS YOUR HIGHNESS WILL" + + +The perplexing difficulty of my position was extreme. The eyes of both +men were fixed on me, noting every expression that crossed my face, +waiting upon my lightest word, and eager to show their allegiance to me +as the new head of the house. + +A career of magnificent promise lay invitingly at my very feet, and I +had but to utter a word to step into a position of power and influence. + +Moreover, every chivalrous instinct of my nature was stirred with a +desire to save the beautiful girl I had seen from the clutch of the man +threatening her with worse than ruin; while my red-hot desire for +revenge on the man himself was prompting me to stay where I was until at +least I could expose and punish him. + +His sin against me had been the one absolutely unforgivable. He had +married my sister; and too late we had discovered that at the time he +was already married. The blow and the shame had killed her and broken my +mother's heart; and over my sister's coffin I had sworn to have his life +for hers. But he had fled, and no efforts of mine had been able to find +him up to the hour of my own supposed death. And now here he was +delivered into my hands, and actually in the very act of repeating his +foul offence. Fate had surely brought us together in this dramatic +fashion. I could not disclose my identity to him; but I could be the +agent to detect this new sin, and could thus myself punish him for the +old. + +With my pulses throbbing with this fire, was it likely that I could make +an instant decision in accordance with the dictates of mere surface +conventionality? I held back from the decision, and even then might have +persisted in avowing the truth, when the man himself came ruffling into +the room. His strong, dark, coarse features wore an expression of +bullying assertiveness; his manner was that of the lord of the place +toward an interloper; and he spoke to me in the hectoring tone of a +master toward an inferior servant. The personal contact with him, the +sound of his voice, the insolent look of his heavy eyes, and my old hate +of him were like so many knots on a whiplash goading me to fury. + +"I heard you had come, but I suppose you know your errand is a fruitless +one." + +Had I been the most contemptible lickspittle on the meanest and +greediest quest, his expression could not have been worse. I saw the +other two men exchange a rapid glance. + +"What do you deem my errand?" I asked quietly. + +"Oh, that's plain enough," he answered, with a sneer. "You've come after +what you can get. The Prince probably sent you by these agents of +his"--with a contemptuous sweep of the hand toward them--"some wonderful +account of the good things in store for you here, and very naturally you +came to gather them. But the Prince's death has knocked the bottom out +of that barrel," and he laughed very coarsely. "There's nothing here for +you except an empty title, and a beggarly old castle mortgaged from the +bottom of the old moat to the tip-top of the flagstaff. That and a mess +of very hazardous intrigue is all you can hope for here." + +This speech, coarse and contemptible as it was under such circumstances, +was not to be compared with the ineffable brutality of the manner which +marked its delivery. I was astounded that any man could so behave; but I +saw his motive instinctively. + +He had heard little of me except as a meek-spirited student, likely to +shy at any danger, and his object was to frighten me away. + +"And who are you, then?" I asked. "These gentlemen have told me nothing +of the position of matters here." + +"Then the sooner you know something the better. Have the goodness to +leave us, Captain von Krugen." + +The latter started, as I thought angrily, at the sharp imperious tone in +which he was addressed, and glanced at me in some hesitation. + +"Do you hear me, sir?" exclaimed von Nauheim, still more sharply; and +then, getting no sign from me, the two men left the room. "That fellow +gets more presuming every day. The Prince made far too much of him; but +I'll soon have a change. So you don't know the position of things here, +eh, Mr. Student? Do you set much store on your life?" And he eyed me +very sharply, expecting to see me wince. + +I did not disappoint him. I started and, in a tone of some alarm, asked: + +"Why? There is no danger of that sort here, is there?" + +"Do you know how your late cousin, Gustav, lost his?" + +"What do you mean?" + +"Ah, I thought the question would surprise you. I'm not going to tell +you everything, because these matters are for men of action, and not +bookworms. He died in a duel, forced on him for the sole reason that he +was the Prince's next heir." + +"Oh, but that cannot be possible," I cried, as if incredulous. + +"Possible," he echoed, with a laugh. "Can you fight? I mean, do you +think you can stand before the finest swordsmen or the picked shots in +all Bavaria?" + +"I don't see the necessity." + +"Perhaps not--just yet," he returned dryly. "Poor Gustav didn't--but the +time came none the less. The man who puts on the mantle of the dead +Prince upstairs must look to find little in the pockets except +challenges." + +"But what of you? Who are you? Why do you tell me this?" + +"Because I dislike attending funerals," he replied, with a grim laugh. +"Besides, I am a soldier; and it's my business to fight. You have +probably heard my name already. I'm the Count von Nauheim, and the late +Prince's daughter is my betrothed wife." + +"And you mean, I suppose, that all the Prince's wealth will pass to the +daughter?" + +"That is the Prince's will. And you weren't in time to get him to alter +it, you see," he sneered; but I let the sneer pass for the moment. + +"Then you will be the head of the family in all but the name--the +husband of the daughter, the owner of the wealth, and the guardian of +its honor?" + +"You can put a point with the clearness of a lawyer," he said. + +"Have you, then, fought the man who killed the son Gustav?" + +As I asked the question I kept my eyes fixed steadily on his, and all +his bluster could not hide his discomfiture. + +"These are things you don't understand," he said bruskly. "There is much +behind--too much to explain to you." + +"But if you say that my cousin Gustav was murdered, that you know this +to be so, that fighting is your business, and that you are the guardian +of the family's honor, why have you not called the murderer to account?" + +"I tell you you don't understand these things. We don't manage matters +like a parcel of swaggering student duels." + +"Apparently not," I answered in a studiously quiet tone. "Students would +say in such a case that you did not fight because--you dared not." + +"You speak with a strange license, and if you are not careful you will +get yourself into trouble!" he cried furiously, trying to frighten me +with a bullying stare. "You won't find every one ready to make such +allowances for your _gaucherie_ as I am. You will have the goodness to +withdraw that suggestion." + +"I will do so with pleasure the moment I know you have challenged the +man you call a murderer, or have repeated in his presence what you have +said about him to me." + +His surprise at this unexpected tone of quiet insistence on my part was +almost laughable; but he tried to carry it off and bear me down with his +boisterous, bullying manner. + +"You had better take heed how you presume on my forbearance toward one +in your position, or even the fact that you are nominally a member of +the family will not prevent me from giving you a pretty severe lesson." + +"You mean, I suppose, that, although you dared not challenge the man who +killed Gustav, you think you might tackle me with impunity. That is not +a very high standard of courage," and I shrugged my shoulders, and +curled my lips in contempt, as I added, "If that is all the protection +the Gramberg honor can rely upon, God save the family reputation." + +The sneer drove him mad, and the blood rushed to his face, until every +one of his coarse features glowed with his passion. + +"With the Prince lying dead in the castle, this is not the time for such +a matter to be settled; but I will not suffer such an insult even from +you to pass unpunished. Why should you seek to force a quarrel on me at +such a time?" + +"You forget the quarrel is of your making," I answered coolly. "The +moment you entered this room you insulted me by saying I had come here +for what I could get, and sneered that I was too late to induce the +Prince to alter the will leaving his property to his daughter. In my +view that will is perfectly just and right. Then for some object, I know +not what as yet, you tried to frighten me into running away from the +place altogether. You have mistaken your man, sir. I have no hankering +for the late Prince's wealth; but what you have said of yourself is more +than enough to prove that the honor of my family is not in safe keeping +when left in your hands. As there is nothing but that honor, I will +accept that part of the inheritance." + +Rage, hate, threats, and baffled malice were in the look he turned on me +at this. + +"You wish to make me your enemy?" + +"At least I have no wish to make you my friend," I retorted. + +"You will live to repent this bitterly!" he cried, with an oath. "We +will have no meddlers here in the path of our purpose," and, still more +enraged by the smile which the threat evoked from me, he went hurriedly +out of the room. + +Truly my years of self-repression had wrought a great change in me. Five +years before his hot insolence would have so fired me that I would have +made him answer for it on the spot; but now I could hold my anger in +check and wait for my revenge. But this little conflict was my first +live experience for five years, and the sense of it pleased me. + +When the man had left me I had no longer any scruples about going +forward with my new character. There was no one to be robbed of a +fortune, no one to be supplanted in a coveted position--nothing but an +overpawned castle to be gained. There was apparently a dangerous +intrigue to be faced, and a sweet girl's honor to be saved, and a +treacherous villain to be exposed and punished--not the kind of +inheritance which many men would covet. But then few men were ever +placed in my situation. + +I was thinking hard over all this when my two captors came back into the +room hurriedly, both very angry. Von Nauheim had seen them after leaving +me, and had vented his anger on them. They asked me now excitedly if it +was my wish that they should leave the castle immediately after the +Prince's funeral. I listened to them very quietly. I had already had +pretty strong evidence of the lengths to which their zeal for the +family's affairs would induce them to go; and von Nauheim's hostility +to them was a powerful recommendation in my eyes. + +"I beg you to be calm, gentlemen," I said, "and to bear in mind that I +know very little of the position of affairs here. I have understood from +you that you were both largely in the late Prince's confidence--indeed, +you have given me pretty good proof of that since yesterday. But beyond +that I do not know what your relations here have been in the past." + +"We have been for years in the Prince's confidential service; I myself +enjoyed his closest confidence," answered Captain von Krugen. "But my +allegiance is to the head of the house. I recognize no one else." + +"And you desire to remain in that service?" + +"I have no other wish in life, sir," he replied earnestly. + +"Nor I," assented the other. + +"If you were in his confidence, you will know that the late Prince has +left to his successor no means of maintaining a large retinue." + +"What I am and all that I have I owe to your late uncle," said the +captain in the same earnest tone. "I ask nothing else than to place my +sword and my fortune alike at your disposal. And I can speak for +Steinitz here. Our liberty and lives are indeed at issue in the present +crisis; and if all is not to fail ignominiously now, we must have a +strong hand and a clear head in command." + +There was no mistaking the man's sincerity, and, usurper though I was, +the offer touched me. + +"I believe you absolutely, Captain von Krugen, and you, Herr Steinitz," +and I gave them my hand. "But, all the same, I do not know what crisis +you mean. Tell me freely." + +"I tried to tell you on the journey here, but you prevented me. Do you +know the history of your family--the lineage on the side of the late +Prince's wife?" + +"I know very little. Speak as freely as if I knew nothing. You will not +try my patience." + +"Steinitz, see that there is no one about; and keep guard outside the +door that no one enters." + +He paused while the younger man withdrew, and then, leading me to a deep +window-seat at the end of the room, began to speak in a low tone: + +"There is a traitor somewhere among us, and thus the greatest need for +caution. For a long time previous to his death your uncle was engaged in +a task that involved the highest issues of State. The extreme discontent +at the antics of the madman who is now King of Bavaria induced a number +of the more prominent and bolder men in the country to plot his +overthrow. There is a slip in his ancestry, and the disappearance of a +certain Prince Otto, who was the heir to the throne, let in the younger +branch of the family, through whom the title has descended to the +present King. Otto was supposed to have died; but he was only eccentric. +He lived in secret retirement, married, and left a son. From that son, +who was unquestionably the rightful heir, the late wife of your uncle +came in direct descent. She was the only child of the eldest line, and +by right she should have reigned as Queen. As you know, she died, and +left the two children--Gustav, who was killed in a duel, and the +daughter, who is in the castle at this moment." + +"Do you mean----?" I began when he paused. + +"I mean that the Countess Minna von Gramberg should at this moment be +the Queen of Bavaria; and that by God's help we shall all live to see +her crowned." + +His dark face flushed and his eyes glowed with the enthusiasm of this +speech. + +My own feeling was more wonderment than enthusiasm, however. If this +most hazardous and ambitious scheme were afoot, what could be the +meaning of von Nauheim's share in it as the betrothed husband of a +future queen? + +"The Prince's first intention was of course to put his son on the +throne, and matters were indeed well ripe for this, when unfortunately +he became embroiled in a duel and was killed. That duel we believe to +have been forced on him--murder in all but the actual form." + +"And the man who killed him?" I asked. + +"A noted Italian swordsman, Praga, hired and paid, as we believe, for +his work." + +"Hired? By whom?" + +"By the family who stand next in succession to the throne. The King, as +you know, has no children, and the succession passes to the Ostenburg +branch of the family. That was my master's main hope. Our claims are +stronger than theirs; and we had on this account secured the support of +most of the prominent men in the country." + +"Well?" I asked, for he paused with a gesture of disappointment. + +"Count Gustav's death threw everything back. Where they had been ready +to stand by a man, some of them drew back, frightened, from supporting a +young girl--and, unless a bold stroke be made now, everything may be +lost." + +"What bold stroke do you mean?" + +"Like that planned before. Everything was ready. We thought the +Ostenburg agents had not a suspicion of our plans. We had resolved to +take advantage of the mad King's fancies to lure him out on one of those +wild midnight drives of his, and then to seize his person and put one of +ourselves into his place, made up, of course, to resemble him; and to +let the dummy play the part of King long enough to enable us to get the +madman where he ought to have been long since--into restraint. Then the +dummy was to throw aside his disguise and declare that he had been +acting by the King's orders; that the latter had abdicated and had +proclaimed the Count Gustav his successor, as being the rightful lineal +heir. We should have done the rest. It was a brave scheme." + +"It was as mad as the King himself," said I. "But what then?" + +"It was just before things were ripe that the other side got wind +through some treachery somewhere; and the count was killed in the duel." + +"Well?" + +"Half the cowards drew away. But they will all come back the moment they +see us strike a blow; and it was to have you close at hand, helping in +the good work, that the Prince sent for you." + +"And the Count von Nauheim?" + +"The Prince had supreme confidence in him. He was not with us at first; +but his coming secured us the help of a very large and influential +section of the people--enough to turn the balance, indeed, and make the +scheme certain of success. The Prince welcomed him heartily enough, and +cheerfully complied with the condition fixed by those for whom he +acted--that the Countess Minna should be given to him in marriage." + +This made me thoughtful, knowing as I did the man's character. + +"And the daughter herself?" + +My companion frowned, drawing his dark brows close together, and pursed +up his lips, as he replied ambiguously: + +"Neither man nor woman at such a time can think of any but reasons of +State." + +"You mean that she consented to give her hand, but could not give her +heart with it." + +"I mean more than that, sir, and I must speak frankly to you. The +Countess Minna has never favored the scheme, but has strongly opposed +it--and opposes it still. Women have no ambition. She has no longing for +a throne; and now that her father is dead I fear--well, I do not know +what she may do. If you will urge her, she is her father's daughter, and +will, I believe, go through with it. But much will depend upon you." + +"And if she does not go on with it--what then?" + +"We are all pledged too deeply to draw back now, your Highness," he +answered, very earnestly. "We must either succeed or fail--there is no +middle course; and failure means a prison or a convent for the Prince's +daughter, and worse than ruin for the rest of us. As for yourself, you, +I warn you, will be the certain object of attack, for there is no safe +obscurity here. The enemies of your Highness's house will never rest +satisfied while a possible heiress to the throne remains at large, or +while those who have helped to put her there are alive and at liberty. +As I told you at Hamnel, we are playing for desperate stakes, and must +play boldly and like men." + +Before I had time to reply we heard Steinitz in conversation with some +one outside the door, and a moment later he opened it, and said that the +Countess Minna was anxious to see me, and was coming to the library for +that purpose. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +"YOU ARE HEAD OF THE HOUSE NOW" + + +My chief feeling as I rose to receive the Prince's daughter was a sort +of shamefaced regret that I had allowed myself to be hurried into a +position which made it necessary for me to mislead her. I meant her +nothing but good. I had been brought to the castle all against my will. +I had stayed there largely in order that I might be the means of saving +her from danger; and everything I heard only served to increase that +danger in my view. Yet the fact of the deception I was practising +hampered and embarrassed me in her presence. + +She was garbed now in the deepest black, was pale and hollow-eyed, and +trembling under the stress of her new sudden sorrow; and she seemed so +frail and fragile that my heart ached for her, while my senses were +thrilled by her exquisite beauty and by a strange subtle influence which +her presence exercised upon me. My pulses beat fast with a tumultuous +desire to help her in her helplessness. Never, indeed, had woman moved +me like this. + +She paused a moment on the threshold, her hand on the arm of an elderly +lady who accompanied her; and her large blue eyes rested on my face, +searching, reading, and appealing, as I hastened across the room toward +her. Her scrutiny appeared to give her confidence, for she withdrew her +hand from her companion's arm and held it out to greet me. + +"I felt I must come to bid you welcome, cousin," she said in a low, +sweet voice that trembled. "You are welcome--very welcome." + +I took the hand and raised it to my lips. + +"You should not have distressed yourself to come; I should have +understood," I answered. + +"I felt that I must see you," she said, very graciously; and I, +remembering what I had seen in the garden and all that von Krugen had +told me, knew well enough the doubts and fears, anxieties and hopes, +that might lie behind the words. + +I racked my brain for some sentence that would convey some assurance of +my wish to serve her; but I could find no words that pleased me; and +after a pause, that to me was awkward enough, she added: + +"You are now my only relative in the world except my dear aunt here, the +Baroness Gratz." + +The old lady made me a very stately and ceremonious bow, which I +returned with such courtesy as I could command. + +"A great heritage has come to you, sir, and a trust that must test to +the utmost one so young in years," she said. + +"My one life-purpose shall be to prove worthy of it," I answered +earnestly; and I thought the girl's eyes lightened a little at the +words. + +"We were alarmed, sir, when we heard that you were unwilling to come," +said the baroness. + +"I am here, madam, to remove that alarm." + +"The future fortunes of this noble house rest largely in your hands, as +well as those of this sweet child. You know that?" she asked in reply. + +"I know little as yet; but in all I shall strive earnestly to win the +confidence of you both." + +"You will have mine, cousin," said the girl, impulsively and almost +eagerly, as it seemed to me. "And at the earliest moment I wish to tell +you all that is in my thoughts and to ask your help." + +"You will never ask that in vain, believe me," I returned, raising my +eyes to hers, which had all the time been fixed on my face. + +"I do believe you--I am sure of you," she cried, again impulsively; and +I could have blessed her for the words. "And, oh, I am so glad you have +come. There is so much to change and set right." + +"Minna!" said the aunt in a gently warning tone. + +"I am with friends, and I can speak freely. I feel it. I am sure we +shall be friends, cousin. Shall we not? And you will be on my side?" + +At this Captain von Krugen, who had remained at the other end of the +room, took two or three steps forward as if to speak; but the baroness +interposed, and after a warning glance at him whispered to the girl: + +"We have not come for this now, child." + +"The captain will be my friend, too, whatever happens, I am confident," +said the girl, looking toward him; "even if I will not go forward with a +scheme that must die----" + +The word distressed her, and she caught her breath, and her lips +faltered so that she could not finish the sentence. She sighed deeply +and turned to lean on her companion's arm again. + +"You must not distress yourself, Minna," said the baroness gently. + +A rather long, trying pause followed, during which the Countess Minna +appeared to be struggling to regain her self-composure. And at the +close she said, sadly and listlessly, and yet with a great effort to +speak firmly: + +"I did not come to speak of these things now, but to ask you, cousin, to +do all that has to be done at this time of--of sorrow. You are the head +of the house now, and I trust you will use the authority." + +"Until you desire otherwise," I answered. "You may depend upon me +absolutely." + +"That is my wish, cousin; and when I can trust myself, we will have a +long conference." + +She gave me her hand, and I was in the act of putting it once more to my +lips when hurried steps approached, and the Count von Nauheim entered +the room hastily. I felt the girl's fingers start, and involuntarily +they closed on mine in a little trembling gesture of half agitation and +fear. The touch thrilled me. + +"I am surprised to find you here, Minna," he said bruskly. "I think, +baroness, it would have been more seemly if Minna had kept in her +apartments." + +The old lady was more afraid of him than Minna herself, I could see, and +she murmured some half-incoherent excuses. + +"I see no wrong in coming here to welcome the head of the house," said +the girl, trying to appear firm. + +"Head of the house," he cried, with a sneer. "You are the head of the +house, and, as your affianced husband, it is for me to say what is +necessary in these matters of courtesy. I have already seen Herr von +Fromberg to welcome him, as you say. Nothing more was necessary. Let me +give you my arm to take you to my apartments. Come." + +She hesitated an instant, and seemed as if about to refuse; but then +changed and placed the tips of her fingers on his arm, and as she did +so turned and bowed to me with a smile on her sweet, sad, pale face. + +[Illustration: SHE TURNED AND BOWED TO ME WITH A SMILE.] + +"I shall see you, cousin Hans, soon, as I said just now. In the mean +time I rely upon you to order all such arrangements as you think +best--as your position here now requires." + +"This gentleman need not trouble himself," said the man, frowning +heavily and angrily. "I have given all necessary instructions." + +"I will do what you wish," I said to her, ignoring him entirely. + +I kept out of sight my rage at his conduct until the three had left the +room, and then, forgetting that I was not alone, I vented it in a heavy, +bitter oath, and turned to find von Krugen's keen dark eyes fixed upon +me. + +I was annoyed to have thus bared my feelings to his quick gaze. I did +not wish him to know that I suspected, or even disliked, the count; but +he had seen it already. + +"He would try to overrule even the Prince himself in the latter time; +and he takes interference very ill. He will ride roughshod over all of +us if he can." + +"Ah, you do not like him," I answered. "But there is no room for +dissensions among ourselves. Let it go no farther." + +"Have you any commands to give, your Highness? If I am to take them from +him, I am to leave the castle." + +This was intended to see if I should exercise my authority. + +"You will not leave, Captain von Krugen," I replied promptly. "Heaven +knows there is too much need of a faithful friend at such a juncture." +He bowed, and his eyes lighted with pleasure at my words. "And now," +I added, "we will discuss together what has to be done, and try to +settle the arrangements." + +There were, of course, many arrangements to be made, and the +consultation occupied a long time. As a result I issued a number of +directions such as seemed best, including those for the funeral, which I +fixed for three days later. + +Then I had to consider my own matters, and to mature a plan which I had +formed after my interview with the Countess Minna. I felt that I could +not continue the deception in regard to myself; and I resolved that I +would use the interval before the funeral to try and find the real von +Fromberg, and bring him to the castle to take his own position. I would +come with him, and, by using the knowledge I possessed, help him in a +task which, if he had a spark of honor in his nature, he could not but +undertake. + +The next day I took the captain so far into my confidence as to tell him +there was an urgent private matter to which I was compelled to attend, +and that I must return to Hamnel for that purpose. I told him to keep +the fact of my absence as secret as possible, saying merely that I was +out riding or walking, and that I would return soon. If the countess +asked for me, he was in confidence to tell her the truth, and to assure +her that, in any event, I should be back before the day of the funeral. +Moreover, he was to keep a most vigilant watch over everything and +everybody, and if my presence was urgently needed to telegraph to me to +Hamnel. But to no one was he to give that address. + +I started early, and the same evening arrived at Hamnel, but failed to +find von Fromberg either in his own name or in mine; and theft I +hurried on to Charmes. There I caught him at the house of the Compte de +Charmes, whose daughter, Angele, he was to marry. + +At first he was like an emotional girl. He rushed into the room, and +would have embraced me had I not prevented him, while he loaded me with +thanks and praise for having helped him to get free from his uncle by +not declaring myself; while, with all this, he was profuse and gushingly +voluble with his apologies. + +He acted like an hysterical fool, bubbling over with silly laughter one +moment and shedding equally silly tears the next. He was ridiculously +light-spirited and happy, until his fantastic hilarity angered me. He +appeared to think that, as he had become a Frenchman, he ought to behave +as a sort of feather-headed clown. + +His one consuming wish was that I should see Angele--the girl was the +one object in his mental outlook at that moment, and everything else was +all out of perspective. + +It was a long time before I could make him understand that a much more +serious matter than his love-farce had brought me to Charmes; and even +while I compelled him to listen to the position of affairs at the +castle, and the plight of his cousin there, I could see that his +thoughts were away out of the room with his Angele. + +"I am sorry for her, poor soul. I am sure I would have every one happy +at a time like this. But I suppose it will be all settled somehow and +some day," he said at the close, in a tone which made me fully realize +that he considered it no business of his. + +"There is a train that starts from Charmes in an hour and a half," said +I, thinking it best to assume that he would go back with me. "We can +catch by that a fairly good connection at Strasburg, and can reach the +castle to-morrow." + +"You are going back, then?" he queried. + +"I think I can be of help to you." + +"How can you help me if you are going there?" + +"You will wish, of course, to hasten to the castle to save the honor of +your family and of your cousin?" + +"My family is here. My home is France. I am no longer a German. I have +made the declaration to become naturalized. Do you think I would leave +Angele on almost the eve of my wedding-day? To-morrow we shall be man +and wife. Shall I instead, then, go to look after the affairs of a dead +old man who never worried himself the paring of a nail about me until he +thought I could be of use to him? What do you suppose Angele's father +would say? Pouf! I can hear him. 'Very well, monsieur, go away. Attend +to these people--these Germans--leave my daughter. Show yourself more +German than French, and give the lie to your protestations. Pretend to +become a Frenchman one moment and the next recognize the claim of your +Fatherland and your German blood and kinship. Go, by all means, but do +not return. Never set eyes on Angele again!' Eh, do you think I could do +that?" and he threw up his hands, shoulders, and eyebrows in a perfect +ecstasy of repudiation of the mere idea. + +"A helpless young girl, your only kin in the world, is waiting there +dependent upon your assistance. You are now the head of that great +family whose honor and future are now threatened; and the entire +fortunes of your noble house are at a crisis which make it imperative +in all honor that you should assume the responsibilities of the +position." + +"And is there not a helpless girl here who will be dependent upon me? Am +I not here taking the headship of a noble family? With this +difference--that here I was not forgotten and ignored until I became +necessary as a prop for a tottering wall. Would honor, think you, have +nothing to say against my desertion of this family in the way you +suggest? No, no, my friend; these people have appealed to your +sentimental side. My place is here, and here I stop." + +From that resolve no pleas, reproaches, arguments, or goads could move +him. Nothing should make him budge from Angele; and he viewed everything +from that one new standpoint. + +"If you are eager to free my family from the mess their affairs have got +into, take my place, go back and do it. You may claim by right all there +is to be got; for certainly I could not help if I would. If he who was +all his life at this work could not keep his house from falling, his son +from being killed, and his daughter from danger, what can I hope to +do?--I, a student, who have lived three-quarters of my life in France, +who loathe a military life, and know absolutely nothing of the +intricacies of diplomatic intrigue? You say you could help me? I don't +know how; but if you could, what is the gain for me? My uncle is dead +and leaves me nothing but a mess of intrigue and danger. My cousin is +engaged and therefore will marry--and what is her husband to me?" + +"Surely you are not dead to the demands of honor?" I cried; but against +the wall of his selfishness the sea would have broken itself in vain. + +"How do I serve my honor by forsaking Angele? No, no. I tell you I have +ceased to be a German; I have renounced my family, and shall live under +a new name. I am a student. This is work for men like you. Go and do it. +I am rendering that girl a far greater service by sending you than by +going myself." + +It was useless to argue with him. He was hopelessly callous; and I sat +biting my lips in anxious thought. + +"When they know I have become a Frenchman, do you think they will accept +help at my hands? Will they welcome my French wife, or my new family? +Should I wreck my own happiness to enable them to insult me, and all +that are now dear to me? Am I a fool? I will do what I can, but not +that. If my cousin should need a home, she shall have as comfortable a +one as my means will provide. But they must not claim me as one of their +own kin. That is all." + +"They are not likely to make any claim of the kind on you," I said. And +the bitter contempt I felt for him came out in my tone. + +He winced and flushed, and for a moment was stung to anger; but it +passed. + +"You think poorly of me because I have decided matters thus. As you +will. We shall not meet again. Probably I shall never again cross the +frontier. To show you my decision is no mere whim, but a deliberately +chosen course, here I have a duly drawn up declaration renouncing my +heirship. I drew it, of course, before I knew of the Prince's death, and +I declined absolutely his proposals, and announced my intention to +change my name and become a Frenchman. I was going to have this attested +before a notary, and then send it to my uncle; but you can take it as it +is, if you like. I will make a sworn declaration at any time it is +desired. Do just what you will. And this I swear to you: I will never +breathe a word of what has passed unless you wish me to speak. I owe you +that for having brought you into the mess." + +I took the paper and rose to leave. + +"I will take means to let you know what is done. Here, I suppose?" + +I spoke curtly, for I felt strongly. + +"I do not wish to hear anything. A letter here will find me, of course, +but my name for the future will be Henri Frombe--Hans von Fromberg will +have ceased to exist, unless you are he." So indifferent was he to the +critical seriousness of the affair that he laughed as he said this, and +added: "After all, then, you will not see Angele. I am grieved at that," +and he held out his hand. + +"I cannot take your hand, M. Frombe," I said sternly. "I remain a +German. Your desertion of your family at such a juncture of need makes +any friendly feeling toward you impossible on my part. You hold that any +man can lightly renounce his family and country. I do not. I take the +strongest view of your conduct. France profits little by her newest +citizen, and the Fatherland gains by the loss of so self-satisfied a +renegade. I trust that we shall not meet again." + +He was a coward, and shrank and paled under the lash of my words; but he +made no attempt to resent them, and I left him with a feeling of bitter +contempt and disgust at his conduct. + +During the whole of my long journey back to the castle I sat absorbed in +close thought, mapping out my plans, recalling old memories, and rousing +my wits and energies for the task which Fate had set me, and from which +apparently I could not break away. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE SCENT OF TREACHERY + + +When I reached the castle, Captain von Krugen met me with several +stories about steps which von Nauheim had taken to contest my authority. +Orders I had given had been countermanded, and several arrangements +changed. These things were small in themselves, but as his object was +evidently to fight my influence and dispute my authority, I deemed it +best to put my foot down at once. + +I sent for all to whom the contradictory instructions had been given, +and then requested von Nauheim's presence. At first he would not come, +and then I sent the captain to tell him exactly what I meant to do, and +that if he did not come every man and woman in the place would be warned +to take no orders from him under pain of instant dismissal. Von Krugen +carried the message with glee, and it roused the count to such anger +that he came at once in a fury. Without giving him time to speak, I +said: + +"I sent for you, Count von Nauheim, because these good people here are +in some difficulty as to where they are to look for orders. Will you +explain to them that, although the Prince has left his fortune to his +daughter, the castle passes to me with the headship of the house, and +that, as at times like these there can be only one master, they must +take their orders from me, and that where any instructions clash with +mine they must be referred to me?" + +He eyed me angrily, but could not dispute what I implied. + +"I am no mouthpiece for you," he answered sullenly. "I have been +accustomed to control matters here, for an obvious reason known to every +one, that I have the honor to be the Countess Minna's affianced husband. +What object, then, have you for any change?" + +"Will you tell them what I have said, or will you compel me to issue +peremptory orders, and cancel openly what you have done?" I asked in a +quick, resolute tone, but low enough to be heard only by him. + +"If you dare to humiliate me in that way----" he began. + +"Quick, decide," I interposed sharply. "There can't be two masters +here." + +He hesitated, glancing first at and then away from me, while I kept my +eyes fixed steadily on his face. + +"Quick," I repeated sternly. + +"Curse you, I'll make you pay for this!" he swore under his breath, with +a vicious scowl. Then aloud, "Of course you people will understand that +for the moment the present Prince here is your master," and with a wave +of the hand he indicated me. He did it as ungraciously as he dared, and +as soon as he had finished he left the room. + +The effect of the incident was twofold--it strengthened my authority in +the castle, and it made it more difficult than ever for me to draw back. +But I had no thought now of doing that. I felt that I had cut off my +retreat; and that, although I would much rather have told the Countess +Minna exactly what my position was, any such candor was for the moment +at least quite out of the question. + +Of the girl herself I saw nothing during the next few days, and I passed +the time absorbing all the information I could get, and trying to form a +plan of campaign. + +I guessed that nothing would be done by the agents of the Ostenburg +family until a sufficient time had elapsed after the Prince's funeral to +make it plain what we intended to do; and I judged that their next move +would be determined by our own acts. + +The funeral took place and directly afterward von Nauheim left the +castle without acquainting me with his plans; and for four or five days +following the Countess Minna gave no sign of a desire to see me. I began +to grow impatient. I had no wish to force myself on her or into her +confidence, but it was imperative that I should at least learn her +wishes both in regard to von Nauheim and the big scheme of which her +marriage was a part. In the mean time von Krugen was urging me to come +to a decision to strike a blow to show our friends in Munich that we +were going on with the matter. + +I had come to the conclusion, however, that there was no chance whatever +of carrying through any such plot as the old Prince had attempted. If it +had ever been practicable to carry it out successfully, the chance had +passed when the son, Gustav, had been killed. Up to that time there had, +indeed, been a pretty widespread sympathy with the movement; and if a +bold coup had been made, the lunatic King kidnapped, the young fellow +proclaimed, and the Prince's power, shrewdness, and enormous influence +thrown into the scales, it was possible that enough strength might have +been paraded in the country to force the hands of the Imperial +Government. But with the death of the son went half the support; and now +with the death of the Prince I judged that more than half the remainder +would go. It seemed to me, therefore, a sheer impossibility to carry +such a scheme through successfully. The utmost I could hope to achieve +would be to make such terms as should secure the safety of the Countess +Minna, as well as of those who had been concerned in the plot thus far. + +Obviously they were compromised up to the hilt; and the manner in which +Gustav's death had been compassed showed that among the Ostenburg +interest there were men of great daring and recklessness ready to go to +any length in defence of their own. They were on the winning side now, +moreover, and I deemed it certain that to whatever lengths they might go +they were pretty certain to secure the covert sanction of the +authorities at Berlin. Berlin would side with the successful, I +reckoned. Thus the more closely I probed the situation the less I liked +it. + +But in these desperate circumstances, where each man who took a part was +playing with his life, what was a coward like von Nauheim doing? Even if +he was angling to get possession of the wealth which would be the +portion of the countess, he was not the man to run his neck into a +noose: and whoever married the Countess Minna would inevitably have as +part of that dowry the implacable enmity of her enemies. + +What, then, ought I to do? My instincts were all in favor of striking +some kind of blow, and of being the attacker instead of waiting to be +attacked. We appeared to be in danger of being squeezed out of +existence. Our supporters were falling away, our position growing +weaker, and our resources becoming feebler the longer we waited. If we +could only effect some little thing, it seemed that we should be in a +better position to negotiate than if we merely did nothing. But what +could we do? + +There was another serious danger in delay, moreover, arising out of the +consummate uncertainty of my own position. It was one thing to be +mistaken for the rightful heir to the Prince, but quite another to +attempt to make good that claim legally; and I soon had a sharp reminder +of this. + +The old lawyer who had acted for the Prince came to me a few days after +the funeral for his instructions. I expressed in a general way what I +wished, and then he said: + +"There are certain of the estates which have always gone with the title, +and should go now. It would be possible to make a claim to them against +the actual provisions of the will." + +He put it suggestively. + +"I shall make no claim," I answered. "I do not for a moment intend to +interfere with the Prince's disposition of matters." + +"But he would have wished you to have them, I know. Indeed, I have +letters from him to that effect." + +"I shall not interfere with the will," I returned, rather abruptly. + +"They are very rich estates." + +"That makes no difference to me." + +"The cost of maintaining the dignity of your Highness's title and +position will be very heavy, and without them scarcely practicable." + +"I have my private fortune, and that will and must suffice." + +"Indeed!" he exclaimed in surprise. "I thought I knew to a mark the +extent of your mother's small income. It is derived almost entirely from +the Graffenheim property; and I understand that within the last few days +you have ordered it to be sold. Do you not intend your affairs to remain +in my hands?" + +Here was clearly a mess I had not foreseen. The real man was getting rid +of his German property when he turned Frenchman. + +"You will certainly have my confidence, my dear sir," I said, in a +carefully courteous manner. "And of course my affairs will remain in +your hands. This, however, is only a very small thing, and I did not +know of my uncle's death when I put it in hand." + +"The Prince was always desirous of purchasing that property, because, as +you know, it lies in the midst of the Gramberg estates. If you wish to +sell it I should advise the Countess Minna to purchase it." + +"I shall not sell it to the Countess Minna," I said, at a loss how to +parry him. "I mean that probably I shall withdraw it from sale +altogether now." + +He looked at me in such surprise that I saw he knew something which made +my reply ridiculous; but, being afraid to offend me, he said no more +about it, and answered: + +"That is, of course, just as you will. Then should I get on with the +preparation of the papers of formal proof of your succession?" + +"I don't know what is wanted," said I indifferently, though the man's +words had sprung a mine under my very feet. + +"Mere formalities, of course; just tracing your descent. The +certificates of birth and such matters." + +"Oh, yes; whatever is necessary you may prepare. Will it take long?" + +His answer would tell me what time I should have for the whole business. + +"No. A day or two--not more." + +The reply filled me with consternation. I could not possibly make a +legal claim to what did not belong to me; and yet I must have +time--weeks, at least, and probably months. I let no sign of my feeling +show in my face, but sat impassively thoughtful. Then, as if debating a +point, I answered: + +"You will have to create some delay in the matter. It is useless keeping +my confidence from you. This will of the Prince's leaves me nothing but +the castle, and that seems to have been about the only part of his +property that he had mortgaged; so that practically there is nothing. +Whether I shall accept the inheritance, therefore--and, of course, the +title with it--is a question I have yet to decide; and I must have as +long a time for that decision as possible; but, mark you, no one must +know of this but yourself. This is my first confidential commission to +you. Certain things might determine me at once; but marriages cannot be +arranged in a week. You understand? And I have no fancy for the life of +a man weighted with a big title and no means to support it properly." + +He bowed as if in acquiescence, although this glaring contradiction of +what I had said only a minute before obviously perplexed and +disconcerted him. + +"And now that you have my confidence," I said, laying great stress on +the word, "tell me how long can we postpone these formalities--or, in +other words, how long can I have to carry out my--my plan?" And I +smiled slightly, as though the plan were some such matrimonial one as I +had hinted at. + +"A month, perhaps two months, without provoking much comment--of course, +provided there is no opposition," he replied cautiously. + +"I will find a way to deal with any opposition," said I promptly. "And +now we understand one another." + +With that I dismissed him. I saw the danger of this new development. The +least suspicion would inevitably cause inquiry; and the most superficial +inquiry would as inevitably bring the whole house of cards tumbling +about my ears. But I had certainly one month, and perhaps two; and I +must put the time to the best use I could. + +The question of what that use should be was considerably influenced by +von Nauheim, who returned that night, and immediately sought an +interview with me. I noticed at once a marked change in his attitude. + +"I want a confidential talk with you, Prince," he said; "and before we +begin I wish to say I am very sorry I made a bear of myself to you +before the funeral. But I was frightfully upset at the Prince's sudden +death. It seemed to me that all our plans were going to the devil, and +it was impossible for a man who had had only a student's career like +yours to be of any use in such a case as ours. I own that I tried to +frighten you into leaving here without going into matters; and then it +was I saw what a different kind of man you were. But I was too wild to +own it." + +"And what has changed you since?" + +"I've been in Munich in conference with our friends there to ascertain +what effect the Prince's death will have." + +"Well?" + +"Von Krugen tells me you know everything, and the long and short of it +is that if you'll join us we shall all be only too glad to have your +help. I need scarcely tell you that those who stand by us now will reap +the harvest when we've succeeded. It's deuced hard on you to have the +whole of the Prince's fortune left away to Minna. Once this thing gets +through she won't want it, of course; and it'll be my business to see +that the Gramberg estates go with the title. I give you my word on +that." + +The man was lying, of course; but it wouldn't do to show that I knew it. + +"I don't think the terms are high enough," said I quietly, as if +weighing them. "The risk is enormous." + +"It might be if we were not certain of success." + +"And we certainly are not." + +"Why, what can stand in the way? The feeling against the King grows +every day. What do you think is his last freak? Another confounded +palace, and this time underground. It will cost millions of +marks--millions. Do you suppose the people are going to put up forever +with this sort of thing? It has only just leaked out in Munich; and I +tell you, man, the whole country will take fire and clamor for his +deposition. There never was such a chance, and never will be such +another." + +There was a ring of sincerity in this indignation quite foreign to his +usual manner, and I could not understand it. + +"And what is your plan?" I asked. + +"To strike--and strike at once," he cried loudly, dashing his fist down +on the table, "while Munich is mad with anger." + +It was plausible enough, but I knew the man for a scoundrel. + +"And my cousin--what does she say?" I asked. + +"She can have no choice," he returned readily. "She must leave these +things to us. She has a kind of reluctance, I know, and her heart has +never been really in the work. But she is pledged to the finger-tips and +can't draw back--at least without betraying the lot of us, as well as +ruining herself. Sometimes I wish, indeed, that she had more spirit. Had +I known she felt so strongly I should never have gone in so deep +myself." + +"Before I decide anything I must know her wishes," I said. + +"Her wishes will be ours--if we make her understand that the alternative +will be the ruin of all who have taken up her cause, and probably the +death of every man here. Of course you'll force this home upon her?" + +"It must first be forced home on me," said I. + +"You know von Krugen's views," he urged. + +He was showing too much earnestness now, and his whole manner was +suggestive of a secret purpose. What it was I could not guess, of +course; but no one could fail to read it in his manner. + +"Yes, I know von Krugen's views; but I am accustomed to form my own +opinions and to act on my own judgment." + +"If you will come with me to Munich, I will give you plenty of facts to +convince you." + +He spoke with an assumption of lightness in his tone, and accompanied +the words with a shrug of the shoulders, as of indifference. But the man +was as easy to read as a book in some respects. I saw instantly that he +had approached one of the chief points at which he had been aiming. + +"Of course I will go with you to Munich," I answered readily; and a +momentary flash of pleasure in his eyes gave me the clew I needed. It +was at Munich that Minna's brother had been inveigled into the duel and +killed, and this man had come back from there with some such plan +against myself. My death would leave the girl absolutely without a +friend in the world. + +The game was indeed becoming engrossing in its interests; and at that +moment I began to see the course I would take to cut the coils which +threatened her. + +"Before I go," I added, after a pause that was scarcely perceptible for +all the revelation that had come to me in it, "I will see my cousin, and +hear from her lips what she wishes." + +"We will see her at once," he answered instantly. + +"With your permission, I will see her alone." + +"That is rather a strange request, Prince," he returned in a tone of +surprise, "considering she is my promised wife. What reason have you for +making it?" + +"I wish her to speak freely to me, unfettered by either you or von +Krugen's insistent persuasions. She will speak more freely alone, and, +as head of the house, I choose my own steps." + +"I see no reason for it," he replied sharply. "Do you suggest I +intimidate her?" + +"I suggest nothing," I returned quietly. "I get my information in my own +way, that is all. If you object to my doing that, I decline to get it in +yours. My visit to Munich can stand over meanwhile." + +"But things can't wait; this business must be done at once." + +"Then the short cut to it must be as I prefer to direct." + +The mask nearly fell from him. He bit his lips, and I saw the anger rush +to his eyes and face; but he checked it, and, though he had to fight +hard to keep from breaking out, he answered sufficiently calmly: + +"Oh, if you set so much store by it as all that, certainly see her +alone. You will find out no more than I have said." + +But I had a different opinion; and I sent up a message at once to the +Countess Minna to ask for an interview immediately. + +"And when shall we start for Munich?" I asked when the messenger had +gone. "To-morrow?" + +"The sooner the better," he replied; and again I caught a fleeting, +stealthy glint of pleasure in his eyes. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +MY "COUSIN" + + +My short conversation with von Nauheim, the sudden change in his +attitude toward me, and the slight indications of his real feelings +which I had observed did more than anything which had yet occurred to +impress me with the deadly seriousness of the task I had undertaken. I +was convinced that as the result of this visit to Munich some fresh +development of treachery had been planned, and that he was closely +concerned as either principal or tool. Fortunately for me he was a poor +diplomatist, and as my former knowledge of him gave me a sufficient clew +to his real character, he could not so dissemble his manner as to +mislead me. Without that clew he might have tricked me, of course, as he +had tricked, others. Apparently his interests lay entirely in carrying +forward the plot to place the girl he was to marry on the throne. He +would certainly secure her fortune, while as her consort he would enjoy +a position of magnificent power, infinitely alluring to a man of his +nature. Moreover, he was the chosen representative of one of the most +influential sections of Bavarian society, whose power must be an +enormous factor in any struggle. + +Then I had been a good deal impressed by his momentary flash of +sincerity when he had been speaking of the King's mad excesses. He was +then expressing a sincere opinion, I was sure, though whether his own +or inspired by others for whom he was acting I could not say. But the +thought kept recurring to me with ever-increasing suggestiveness. + +The key to his conduct lay, I was convinced, in Munich--and to Munich I +would go at any risk. That there would be risk a child could see; and +the nature of it would depend on the character of this man's treachery, +the people with whom he was co-operating, and the length they were +prepared to go in silencing me. + +I regarded it as quite possible that I should not return. If, as was +supposed, the death of the Count Gustav had been deliberately planned, I +might take it for granted that I should be pursued with almost equal +hostility. This I had read plainly in the man's manner, and it prepared +me to believe that he himself in some way had been connected with +Gustav's murder. + +But there was another very serious consideration. If I was put out of +the way and no one at the castle had proof of von Nauheim's treachery, +what would be Minna's position? Obviously it must at once become one of +consummate peril. Ought I to go away, therefore, without warning her of +the man's true character, and without arranging some definite plan of +action? Yet how was I to warn her without telling her what I knew and +how I knew it--in other words, unless I took her into my confidence as +to who I was? + +It will be easily understood how these thoughts perplexed me as I made +my way up the broad stairway of the castle to the room where she was to +receive me, and how infinitely the embarrassment was magnified by the +unwonted emotions which her presence now, as formerly, roused in my +breast. + +She greeted me with sweet cordiality, and the eyes, which had an +indescribable fascination for me, wore now an expression of almost +anxious alarm as their gaze rested on my very grave face. The Baroness +Gratz was with her, a circumstance which made me unwilling to speak +plainly and added to my embarrassment. + +I inquired after the health of the two and uttered one or two +commonplaces, when Minna, after a pause, during which she had most +attentively studied my looks, exclaimed: + +"You have not come only to say these things, cousin. Your face tells me +plainly enough there is something urgent." + +"That is true. I have much to say that concerns you very closely." + +She was very quick and understood me. + +"You wish to speak to me alone. I am sure you will not object, aunt, if +my cousin and I speak together in the window there"--and she rose and +walked toward a large bay window at the far end of the room, and +motioned to me to sit beside her. + +The old baroness looked surprised and a little indignant. It was no +occasion to stand on trifles, but I did not wish to offend her at a time +when her help might be urgently needed--perhaps within a few hours; so I +made a low deferential bow and said: + +"You will understand this rather unusual step, baroness, when I tell you +that I have already declined to hold this interview with my cousin even +in the presence of the Count von Nauheim, and that my object is merely +to have direct from my cousin's lips alone her wishes and intentions as +to the future." + +"I understand, Prince," she replied, with her stately bow; but I thought +I could detect some symptoms of alarm. Whether this was merely awe of +me, or the evidence of some other hidden fear, I could not decide. But +the whole atmosphere of the palace reeked so foully with intrigue that I +did not know whether she was true or in von Nauheim's plot. + +As I took my seat by Minna's side she welcomed me with a little smile, +which, sad and wan though it was, seemed like a little messenger of +confidence. Then she put a hand on my arm and said wistfully: + +"You will treat me quite frankly, cousin? I have been relying on that so +strongly." + +"As frankly as I can, but remember very little yet. Moreover, it is your +frankness that is to be tested. Do you think you can trust me +sufficiently to do as you said when I saw you last--tell me the whole of +your wishes unreservedly?" + +"Certainly I will," she replied instantly. "I have been waiting to do so +ever since the day of my dear father's funeral." + +"I understood that I was to await some sign from you. You said as much," +I reminded her. + +"True; but your message to me, that you would seek an interview as soon +as practicable, has kept me waiting till now. I have been impatient; but +it does not matter now," she ended, with a smile. + +"Who gave you my message?" I asked. I had sent none, of course, but +guessed that it was a ruse of von Nauheim's to keep us apart while he +was away in Munich. + +"The count himself," answered the girl in some astonishment, and with a +look of quick suspicion. "Did you not send any?" + +"There has been some misunderstanding," I said quietly. "But I was +waiting to hear from you, and I was to the full as impatient as you +could have been." + +She cast her eyes down and frowned, and her little foot tapped quickly +on the floor. + +"It must be as you say--he misunderstood you--or else he was afraid of +my speaking plainly to you while he was away." The first sentence was +spoken with hesitation, the second quickly and with a touch of +indignation, and directly afterward her pulse quickened and she said +volubly: "Cousin Hans, I can tell you what I dared not tell my father. I +am afraid of the count. You have asked me what I wish. I have two +wishes--to be released from this marriage, and to stop all this hateful +intrigue for the throne. I am not fit for it. I do not wish it. I am +only afraid and harassed and distracted. Oh, I long with a regret I +cannot put in words for the days of quiet and peace when none of this +was ever thought of! Then I had not a care or grief, and now life is all +fear and sorrow. I am the most miserable girl on earth." + +She lifted her hands and let them fall again on her lap with a gesture +eloquent of despair, and now that the momentary excitement had passed +her voice grew heavy with the accents of sorrow. + +I was silent, not quite knowing how to meet such an outburst of grief +and confidence. + +More than that, however: I had heard with a rush of joy, which I dared +not let her see, the outcry against the marriage. At that moment the +feeling seemed to me like a guilty one, but I vowed to myself that if it +cost me every drop of blood in my body I would save her from it. But I +sat now grave, silent, and thoughtful, while the little pathetic glances +of appeal for help which she cast at me shot right into my heart and +thrilled me till I could scarcely hold myself under restraint. + +When I did not reply--and I did not because I dared not trust +myself--she sighed deeply, and said in a tone even more despairing than +before: + +"I suppose your silence means that you also are against me. Oh, this +ambition! What a curse it is! What has it not cost us? But for it my +brother would be alive to-day. My dear father was just as surely another +of its victims. I am forced to sacrifice all I care for on earth and to +wed a man whom I fear. And now you, fresh from a life of books, on whom +I built so much, are caught by the same madness, the fever burns in your +blood, and you join this mad hue-and-cry after ruin. Ambition--ah, my +father often rated me for my lack of it; but what has it brought to us +but death, and what does it promise but misery? Cousin Hans, I beseech +you with all my heart and soul do not join with those against me. Try to +see this with my eyes, and do not urge me. I know you will think me weak +and a child, a feeble, helpless coward; but I cannot go on. You are now +my only hope. Cousin, do say you will not side against me!" + +As she spoke her hands clasped my arm as if clinging to me for help, and +she gazed into my face with such yearning appeal that had I been a +stone, or the stern, self-contained man I had tried to appear, I must +have been moved. And I was no stone where she was concerned. + +"God forbid that I should force you," I said, my voice scarcely steady, +despite my efforts to control it. "Do not doubt that I am with you in +whatever you decide." + +"Oh, thank God, thank God! How I have hoped it! Now I have a friend +indeed." + +No words of mine can describe the radiant look that came on her face as +she cried this; and the smile she gave me lives in my memory as one of +the loveliest sights my eyes have ever beheld. + +After this outburst of emotion we sat silent some minutes--she, in all +innocence of relief, keeping my hand between her own two; and I, on my +side, drinking in, until I was intoxicated, the sweetness of emotions +such as had never stirred my heart before. + +I made the first movement--a slight attempt to withdraw my hand. She let +go, and then, with another smile of frank pleasure and trust, she said: + +"Not only my cousin, but my friend." + +"There is yet much to do," I said gently. + +"But we shall do it together. I am no longer alone with all against me, +even my dear father. Tell me what is first to be done. I know that you +will be successful, for you have given me hope. Will you tell the Count +von Nauheim that the marriage project is at an end, or shall I? I will, +if you wish, though I have been afraid of him; but no longer, for you +are on my side." + +Sweet as these renewed protestations of trust were to my ears and +senses, they were not without embarrassment. + +"If you trust me, you will have to do so wholly," I said; "and you must +do as I wish, even if it is altogether distasteful to you." + +"I will do whatever you tell me," she assented readily. + +"Then in the first place we must act as if this conversation had altered +nothing." + +"Do you mean...?" she began, with a frown of repugnance, and then +stopped. + +"I mean that for the present your relations with the count must remain +as they have been. Do not ask all my reasons. But for the present it is +necessary that no one, you understand, no one shall have any thought +that we are not going on with your father's scheme." I told her then of +von Nauheim's visit to Munich and its result, and that before we settled +anything we must know more. "I should be deceiving you," I added, "if I +did not tell you that grave risks have yet to be run in this matter, and +the danger to some of us may prove greater than we can avert. I cannot +tell you all my thoughts, but I am going to Munich----" + +"Ah, no, not there, cousin. That is where Gustav was killed." + +"They will not kill me," I answered, smiling to reassure her. "It is +essential for me to go that I may probe certain matters to the bottom. +Then I shall know better what to do for the best." + +"You will never come back. They will not let you," she wailed, wringing +her hands. + +"We are not children to foster silly fears," I said. "Of course there +are risks in going, but there is certain failure if I do not go. And I +go forewarned, with your brother's fate to caution me to be wary, and +with the knowledge that you depend upon me to rouse my wits. Do not +fear. I shall return and bring with me a plan of action. But if by any +chance I should not, you will know there is danger for you. I shall +leave Captain von Krugen here, and if on any day he does not hear from +me, that very day you and the Baroness Gratz must leave the castle under +his care, cross the French frontier, and fly to Paris. I shall leave +full directions as to this with von Krugen. From Paris your cause can be +best fought. But above all things be careful not to let your whereabouts +be known to any one except the captain. He will know from me how to +act." + +She sat trembling and agitated. + +"Why not say at once that the marriage has been broken off, that the +plot is abandoned, and cross the frontier immediately?" + +"Because I hope to win our way to a far different ending than exile. +That is well enough as a last resource of a helpless woman; but these +men will find me--well, I will utter no big words till I know more and +have done something. I am looking for a stroke of double cunning +somewhere, and I do not expect to look in vain. In my view you are safe +so long as these men believe we have no suspicion of them; but their +attitude toward you may change at any moment. And now remember that even +von Krugen, honest and stanch as I believe him, must know nothing of our +abandonment of the plot on which he has set his hopes. I am compelled to +mislead even him, and the secret must be yours and mine--ours only. You +promise?" + +"From the bottom of my heart," she answered earnestly, putting her hand +into mine. "When shall I see you again?" she asked suddenly. "I can be +brave when you are with me, and I will try not to play the coward in +your absence. But"--with a sigh--"I have no friend but you." + +"Yes, you have a stanch and brave friend in Captain von Krugen," I +answered, "and I shall be back within a few days." + +I spoke cheeringly and as though with absolute conviction. + +"You have opened a new gate of hope for me, cousin," she said as I rose +from beside her. "But the thought of your leaving me is almost like +shutting it again." + +"It shall never be shut, if I can help it, until you have passed through +to a safe and happy life." + +I spoke earnestly as I felt, and with that I left her. + +I had much to do before I could set out on my journey, and one matter +especially troubled me. I must stop von Fromberg from selling the +property of which the old lawyer had spoken to me, and I was at a loss +how to communicate with him. To send a letter through the post I dared +not; to go to him myself was impossible; yet whom could I trust to carry +a letter or message? If the sale were not stopped, suspicion would +certainly be created; and after much consideration I resolved to word a +guarded letter addressed to Henri Frombe, and entrust it to Steinitz. I +had meant to take him with me to Munich lest I should need assistance, +but this other matter was more urgent. + +I sent for him now and charged him on his honor to take the letter, and +himself to place it in M. Frombe's hands when no one else was present; +to ask no questions, and to answer none; but simply to bring back to me +direct to Munich the reply, and not to breathe a word to a soul about +the mission. + +"My life may depend on your loyalty," I said when I gave him the packet, +"and probably also that of the Countess Minna, and most certainly the +whole future of our scheme," and I exacted a pledge of loyalty. + +It was a risk, of course, but then risks were all about me, and I could +not avoid taking some. All I could hope to do was to manage to select +the smaller ones. + +Then I had a close and, to a point, confidential conference with von +Krugen; and I explained clearly what he was to do in the event of +anything happening to me at Munich. + +"If there is no treachery there will be no danger in this journey of +mine; but if there is, and I am only too sure of it, then we know that +those who are playing traitor will try to get rid of me in order to +render my cousin helpless and in their power. That you must prevent; and +her safety will rest almost solely with you." + +"But the Count von Nauheim?" he asked in some surprise. + +"You will trust no one but yourself, captain," I returned significantly. + +"If I had proof that he was a traitor!" he growled. + +"I am going to get proofs concerning everything. Unless this is all +genuine, our scheme is bound to be shipwrecked." + +His face grew very dark and lowering. + +"My place is by your side in Munich," he said. + +"If I can find the traitors, you may share in their punishment; but +meanwhile your place is here in Gramberg to guard my cousin. And if you +should have even a thought of danger while I am away, call me back at +once. But if my calculations are correct there will be no immediate +danger for her." + +"Your Highness will not reckon on me in vain. But I would to God I could +be with you there. You are taking your life in your hands, and ought not +to go alone." + +"If there is that amount of danger, better I alone than you with me; +but I am well prepared, and shall not suffer things to reach that +pass"--and I repeated at great length and detail all that I wished him +to do in the event of his having to fly to Paris. + +At the close of the interview he gave me a solemn pledge to carry out my +wishes, and showed many signs of loyal regard for myself, mingled with +genuine anxiety as to the issue of this journey to Munich. Then I sent +word to von Nauheim that I should be ready to start with him on the +following day, and I passed a sleepless, tossing night seeking to piece +together in a connected whole the fragments of the problem as I +possessed them, and to estimate the actual perils and risks of what I +knew must be an eventful journey. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +AT MUNICH + + +When we started for Munich it required very little observation to see +that von Nauheim was striving sedulously to conceal the fact that he +attached such critical importance to my accompanying him. Indeed, had I +had no prior knowledge of him, I think his demeanor would have roused my +suspicions. + +"I suppose you will tell me what passed between you and Minna +yesterday," he said when we were in the train. "You've produced a +considerable change in her, for I found her much more willing to go on +with us than she was before." + +"I gave her to understand that very much must depend on the result of +this journey. If I am satisfied that there is reason to hope for +success, it will be at least an impartial opinion--for at present I have +not much faith. And I suppose she attaches a great deal of importance to +that." + +"Did you urge her not to throw us over? I presume you did." + +"Why should I? I am not convinced myself." + +"Well, here are signs enough of the popular indignation, at any rate," +he said as he tossed me a morning paper with some very strong comments +on the lunatic King's acts. + +"Discontent is one thing, rebellion another," I replied as I opened the +paper to read what he pointed out. I had no wish to talk, but to think, +and I made as though I were engrossed in the paper. + +My companion took another journal and played at reading it; but I saw +him watching me every now and then, until the paper fell on his lap, and +he stared out of the window obviously buried in his thoughts. I knew the +tenor of them later when his face changed, and he turned to speak. + +"You will stay with me, of course, Prince?" he said. + +"Certainly," I replied readily, although half a hundred suspicions were +started of his probably sinister motive for the invitation. + +"It will be so much more convenient for our purpose than your going to +the Gramberg town-house," he said. "I've been thinking of the best +course to take. What sort of proof do you wish to have that measures are +ripe?" + +"An interview with those who are to carry them out, of course." + +"That will be best; and fortunately most of them are in Munich. Then I +presume you will be prepared to do what all the rest of us have +done--take an oath of allegiance to the new Queen?" + +"When I join you, I will do whatever the rest do." + +"We are all pledged to the hilt. Every man of us has made the oath and +signed a declaration to uphold the good cause." + +"Signed a declaration? That seems a strong step," I said, though all +forms were pretty much the same thing to me. + +"But a necessary one. There is no drawing back then," he answered. + +"Well, I will sign what I see others sign and do what others do," I +replied firmly. "But, understand, I must see these things done before my +eyes." I said this because of an idea that flashed into my thoughts at +that moment. + +"You are disposed to be cautious to the verge of timidity, eh?" he +sneered. + +"I am resolved to satisfy myself," I returned; and for a reason that I +kept to myself I rather liked the idea of what he had said. + +After a pause he continued: + +"Roughly, what I propose is this: I will take you round to introduce you +to the more prominent men--in particular to Baron Heckscher, who is +really the leader of us; and then we will have a meeting at my rooms, +where everything can be explained and settled. What say you?" + +"I agree; but of course I reserve my right to take any other step I may +think necessary that suggests itself to me." + +"Naturally, naturally!" he exclaimed. "Now that the Prince has gone we +are only too glad to have a cautious, calculating head to take his +part." + +The words were as false as the man. I read it in his tone and manner; +and he was far more ready to curse me, had he dared, for my profession +of caution. But I pressed it, because I knew that this exaggerated +carefulness was the best evidence of my seeming sincerity. + +A long silence followed, during which I weighed carefully all he had +said. His manner in speaking of these details was tinged by a singular +nervousness; he blurted out his points like a man who has been given a +task which has overweighted him. And he suggested to me the condition of +a poor actor who has had his part drilled into him by a subtler hand, +and says his lesson badly. + +Presently he began again: + +"Of course you'll understand we are all putting ourselves into your +hands and in your power in this matter; and the more so with every +additional step we take." He was coming to another point in his lesson, +I thought. "You will give me your solemn pledge not to divulge a single +name you hear, nor a single fact that is told to you. If you'll do that +now, I'll give you an outline of our plans at once." + +"You can tell me as much or as little as you please. I pledge my honor +to use nothing, except as the interest of my cousin may require--and +that, I presume, is the intention of all concerned." + +He frowned and bit his lips and thought a moment. + +"Of course that's the intention; what else could it be?" + +"Then if you want me to join you you must trust me; otherwise I may as +well go back to Gramberg at once. But, of course, my return will be the +signal for throwing the whole thing up at once. It is for you to +choose." + +"I had better tell you," he said after another pause. "Things are nearly +ripe; almost as forward as when that hot-headed fellow Gustav wrecked +everything by losing his temper and getting involved in that duel. We +have resolved to take up the Prince's scheme pretty much where it was +dropped. In a fortnight's time there will be an excellent time for +striking the final blow. We have friends in all the public offices; +several of the Ministers themselves are ready to welcome the change; the +whole bodyguard of the King at the palace is practically composed of our +men; and everything promises success. The King will be at the palace, +and we have arranged that a great fancy-dress ball shall be given on a +certain night. His lunatic Majesty is, as perhaps you know, rather +madder on that subject than on any other; and he delights in dressing +himself up in half a dozen different costumes in the course of a single +night to perplex, as he thinks, all who are present, and get at the real +sentiments of his people about him. But his attendants always arrange +that his costume shall bear a certain mark by which he will be known. In +this way the ass of a King is fooled to the top of his bent, and instead +of hearing genuine opinions about himself hears only those which are +carefully tuned for his ears. Well, our scheme is to have this royal +mark worn by some one who is not the King; to have the King himself +seized and placed under restraint; to let Minna be at hand at the ball, +and as soon as it is known that the King has gone to proclaim her there +and then." + +"An ingenious scheme, so far as the easy part of abducting the King is +concerned," I replied. "But the difficulties only begin when he is out +of the way. What are you going to do with him--kill him?" + +"No, there will be no bloodshed. There is no need. The whole country is +ready for the abdication; nine-tenths of the best men are on our +side--and the other tenth will come in; and to give the thing +plausibility we are going to have a sort of drama at the ball, in which +the King--the sham one, of course--will announce his abdication and +appoint his successor--Minna. That act of abdication will be written, +and on examination will be found to be actually in the handwriting of +the King himself. The whole scene will be described to the country as an +actual occurrence; and this will be on the authority of the foremost +men in Bavaria--a sort of informal Council of State. It will be a +definite and formal abdication. That of itself will silence opposition +and carry the people, who are, indeed, only too eager to need much +argument." + +"And the King himself?" + +"He will simply be put where he ought to have been long enough +ago--under restraint." + +It was a clever plot, and, given the power behind those carrying it out, +as likely to be successful as any that human wit could have devised. + +"But what of the Ostenburg interest?" I rapped out the question sharply, +with a keen, quick glance, and for a moment it seemed to disconcert him +slightly. + +"We do not put their power very high," he said then. "They think our +chances ended with Gustav's death, and that, now the old Prince has +gone, there is no one to carry the thing a step farther. But we must, of +course, lose no time, and must strike before they even think we are +contemplating any action at all. We shall catch them utterly unprepared; +and, in a thing of this kind, to be unprepared is to lose." + +"Do you mean you think they will surrender their claim to the throne +without a struggle of any sort?" + +"No; but they can do nothing when once we are in possession." + +"But the Imperial authorities at Berlin, man?" + +"The one consideration there is the _de facto_ argument. Let us get +possession, backed by formal abdication and the actual document +appointing Minna to the succession, and Berlin may do what it likes. +They will think twice before risking a civil war in the country to +maintain the rights of a lunatic. At least so longer heads than mine +hold, and I agree with them." + +"Well, I shall see," and I was bound to confess to myself that, if +everything was genuine, the inference he drew was right. I knew enough +of the sort of argument that weighs at Berlin to be sure of this. + +But was it genuine? If not, where was the flaw? And all the rest of the +journey I sat pondering this part of the problem, and reviewing again +and again all he had said. + +I was much impressed by it. + +Two points in particular stood out boldly in my thoughts: If this plot +could be carried through--and I was half inclined to believe it +possible--Minna could make far better terms, if she still wished to +recede, when success had been attained than she could at present. If +there were at the back of the scheme all this influence of which von +Nauheim had spoken, it would be a dangerous thing for her to throw over +those who had supported her without securing, at least, their safety as +well as her own. That would be dishonorable and cowardly, and I knew she +would not consent to such a course. If these representations were +correct, therefore, I began to fear that Minna had been too far pledged +to be able to draw back at this juncture. We must go forward until the +best terms could be made. + +But against this I knew that the man who was giving me the information +was as false as hell itself; and, even while I sat meditating and +brooding over what he had said, I caught the swift, searching, cunning +glances which he darted every now and then at me as if to see how far he +had fooled me. + +It was in this mood of fresh doubt that I arrived at Munich, and drove +with him to his rooms. The sumptuous comfort and costly appointments of +these surprised me. When I had known him years before, he had had but +scanty means, and his family were comparatively poor. Yet these rooms of +his were fit for a man of the largest fortune. Even this circumstance +added to my suspicions. If he was a traitor, he was being well paid for +his treachery. + +The journey with me in the train and the fact that he was now in his own +house seemed to put him more at his ease. + +"I shall have to leave you for a considerable time, Prince, while I +prepare our friends for your visits," he said; "but you will of course +consider this quite as your own house. This evening, or probably +to-morrow, we can get to work. In the mean time, if you do not already +know Munich, you will find no lack of interesting sights." + +For the rest of that day I was left to my own devices, and we did not +meet until late in the evening, when he told me his plans for the next +day, and that he had arranged for a round of interviews with the leading +men on our side. + +The result of them was only to increase my perplexity. Wherever I went I +was welcomed cordially, my co-operation requested, my caution approved, +and the most complete assurances given to me on all points. Had the +success of the scheme depended entirely upon my joining in it, I could +not have been more warmly welcomed. + +I could not understand it in the least. Every question I asked was +answered, as it seemed, quite fully and frankly; and every investigation +I made only convinced me that the ramifications of the plot were vastly +wider than I imagined, and that the prospects of success were enough to +force me to believe in it. + +And yet I could not shake off my suspicions. I could find no ground for +them other than my knowledge of von Nauheim. There was nothing but that +to warrant them. But the more closely I watched him the more uneasy I +became, and the more convinced that he at least had some double motive. + +I was in the position of a man who is being persuaded to a course he +dislikes against every prejudice and instinct of his nature, and despite +his earnest desire to trust his instinct. I did not wish to find the +affair genuine, but I could find no flaw anywhere, probe, search, +suspect, and investigate as I would. + +At the end of the fourth day I could not deny they had a right to ask +for a definite decision for me to throw in my lot with them, and, while +I was dead against doing so, I could not suggest a single reason of +value and force for my opinion. The meeting to receive my decision was +fixed for the sixth evening, and I looked forward to it with +considerable apprehension. + +The previous day I resolved to use for a purpose that was almost as +critical as the object of the visit to Munich. It was an inquiry that I +alone could make as to von Nauheim's past. + +I knew that in the days when he had dealt his dastardly injury on my +family he had a wife, whom he had married secretly, living in Thuringia. +I was almost alone in the knowledge, which I had gained by accident, and +my purpose now was to ascertain if she was still alive. + +Fortune favored my investigation. The wife was still in the town, living +in a humble way as a shop-keeper, and still ignorant of the real +position and character of her husband. I had no difficulty in finding +her, and using part of my knowledge of years before. I had some +conversation with her and her two children, eliciting the fact that she +had not seen von Nauheim for years, did not know whether he was alive or +dead, and did not care. She was earning her own living and educating her +children, and prayed only that she might be troubled by the man no more. + +It was not my cue to stir muddy waters. All I needed was to know where +to put my hand upon her at any moment that it might be necessary to +spoil the scoundrel's schemes. + +The villain meant to deceive Minna von Gramberg as he had deceived my +sister years before, and my thoughts about him were bitter and black and +wrathful as the train whirled me back through the summer night to +Munich. But I was jubilant too; for I held the knowledge that must +inevitably frustrate his scheme, and I resolved that I would use it at +the forthcoming meeting, if no other cause suggested itself, to refuse +to go forward any farther. It was, of course, an ample reason for such +refusal; and as I had the proofs so fresh in my hands, there was not a +man of honor in the affair who would not say I was doing right. But +events were to happen destined to change all this current of my +thoughts. + +When I reached Munich it was late, but a mild, soft night, and I +loitered through the deserted streets on my way to von Nauheim's house, +enjoying the walk. I had to pass through one of the outlying parts of +the city, and I was walking very slowly, thinking and smoking, when I +was startled by a loud and sudden cry for help that came from some +distance ahead of me. I am a swift runner, and I set off at my fastest +pace, the cry, which was repeated, being my guide. I passed two or three +streets, crossed a broad, dark square, and then I heard the cry for the +third time, and with it the sound of men struggling and fighting, and +the clash of steel. I had no weapon with me save a stout oak stick; but +I gave no thought to my own danger as I rushed on, and set up an +answering shout to let it be known that I was at hand. As I reached the +other side of the square I came suddenly in full view of the +disturbance. + +Four men, two armed with swords and two having knives, were attacking +one man, who, with his back to the wall, was fighting for his life like +a demon, parrying, lunging, and thrusting with amazing dexterity and +skill. He had been wounded, however, I could tell, and although he had +wounded more than one of his assailants, he was in a very fair way of +coming badly out of the fight. + +Fired by the infernal cowardice of the four men in setting on one, I let +out an oath, and, grasping my stick with both hands, I clenched my +teeth, and rushed upon the villains from behind. I brought the heavy +knob of my stick down with crushing force upon the arm of the man +nearest me, making the arm drop nerveless by his side, and sending his +sword clattering down on the stones; and then I turned and smashed it +with all my force right into the face of a second man who made as if to +attack me. At the same instant he who had been assailed in the first +instance drove his sword through a third; and, seeing this unexpected +turn given to matters, the fourth ran away--an example which the rest +followed. + +[Illustration: GRASPING MY STICK WITH BOTH HANDS, I CLENCHED MY TEETH, +AND RUSHED UPON THE VILLAINS FROM BEHIND.] + +"You came in the nick of time, friend," said the man coolly, coming +toward me. "Another two minutes or so and these beasts would have +done----What! Heinrich Fischer!" he cried, in a tone of the greatest +astonishment, holding out his hand. "This is well met indeed." + +I did not think so; for it was with something akin to dismay that I +recognized a French fencing-master, named Guion, with none too savory a +reputation, from whom, in the days of my play-acting, I had lessons in +stage fencing. I gave him my hand, but I could not make the clasp +cordial. + +"How came you in this plight, M. Guion?" + +He laughed. + +"Guion? Was that my name then? French, I suppose. By the body of the +devil, I have such a lot of names and countries I can't remember them +all. But I only use one at a time, and now, my good sir, I am a +Corsican, and my name is Praga--Juan Praga, at your service, and not +ashamed to own that I owe you my life. But what's the matter with you?" + +"Praga!" I cried. "So it's you, is it, who fought the young Count von +Gramberg and killed him?" + +"Ho, and what in the name of the devil's skin do you know about that? +But it's true, and it's equally true that to-night's business is part of +the result. But, by the blood!"--and his face snarled like an angry +dog's--"I'll make them pay." + +"I can help you to your revenge," I said impulsively. "Let's go where we +can be alone." + +He stared at me as if in the greatest astonishment, then shrugged his +shoulders, laughed, swore copiously, and then laughed again and said: + +"You? Well, you've saved my life, so it's only fair you should do what +you please with it. Come along with me." + +And he led me away, vowing and protesting, by all the saints in and out +of the calendar, that all he had in the world, whether purse, sword, or +life itself, was at my absolute disposal. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +PRAGA'S STORY + + +My thoughts as I walked with my devil-may-care companion to his rooms +were busy enough. How could I get out of him what he knew without +compromising myself, and how explain that I was no longer Heinrich +Fischer, the actor, but the Prince von Gramberg, without starting his +suspicions? My hasty exclamation that I could help him to his revenge +had been exceedingly foolish, and I was at a loss to know how far I +could trust him to keep any secret. + +He took me to his rooms, and very comfortable quarters they were. I +noticed, too, that he was far better dressed than I had ever seen him in +Frankfort. He was a dark, swarthy, lean-faced, lithe fellow, and his +black eyes, keen and daring, noticed my look of questioning surprise, +and he laughed, showing his gleaming white teeth in the lamplight. + +"Not the first time I owe my life to that little fellow," he said, +laying his sword-stick, an ordinary-looking stout malacca cane, on the +table. "A workman should never travel without his tools, remember that, +my friend. And so you are surprised to see me so comfortably placed, eh? +Well, I am a man of means, and live at my ease--at least I was. But +shall I tell you?" + +"By all means," said I, throwing myself into a chair, anxious to get him +to talk freely. + +"First let us drink; and I may thank the Holy Virgin and you--but +especially you, I think--that my throat is still sound enough to swallow +good liquor--the one thing in life the loss of which makes one think of +death regretfully." + +And he tossed off a glass of wine. + +"Are you wounded?" I asked. + +"A scratch somewhere on my arm--may God blight the hand that dealt it!" +He changed in a moment from a light tone to one of vehement passion, and +then as quickly back again to one of cheery chatter. "If He doesn't, I +will; so that's settled. Let's see to the scratch, though." He took off +his coat, examined the hurt, and I bathed it and bound it up carefully. +"A mere nothing," he said, "for me, that is--not for him." + +For a moment or two he moved about the room as if occupied, and then he +turned to me, and with a light laugh, but a piercing look from his dark, +glittering eyes, he asked: + +"And now, tell me, who are you?" + +"The Prince von Gramberg," I answered instantly. + +I was, indeed, half prepared for the question, for I had been studying +him carefully. The answer pleased him. + +"Good. You are not afraid to tell me the truth. But I knew it. You had +been pointed out to me here in Munich--pointed out, do you understand, +for a purpose. And I said to myself, the Prince von Gramberg and +Heinrich Fischer are the same person. Why? And when I could not answer +the question I thought to myself: I will wait. Here is a secret. It may +pay me to keep my tongue still. So you see I know you." + +"You were going to tell me about yourself. That will interest me more +than your speculations as to my reasons for turning actor for a year or +two." + +I spoke with an air of indifference. + +"The canaille!" he exclaimed angrily, with a bitter scowl. "They were +sick of me. I know too much. I am dangerous. I will no longer do their +work; and so, by the fires of hell, they think to get rid of me! Wait, +wait, my masters, and you shall see what you have done." He threw his +right arm up, and clenched his fist with a most dramatic gesture. "It +was surely their evil genius sent you my way just now. Do you know how +near death you are at this moment?" he asked; "or you would be, if I had +taken up their cursed work." + +"I shall know a great deal better if you will speak clearly," I replied, +not letting him see how his question surprised me. + +"I will. I don't know whether you wish me to regard you as a Prince or +play-actor; but, whichever it is, you saved my life to-night, and if I +turn against you may I go to hell straightway." + +"You can please yourself what you call me. I am the Prince von Gramberg +in fact, whatever I may have seemed formerly." + +"And I am Juan Praga, the Corsican. Not French, or Italian, or German, +or any of the dozen different damned parts I have played; but Juan +Praga, the Corsican. I left Frankfort before you did--about eighteen +months ago--and I wandered about the country till my reputation as a +fencer, and my lack of it in other things, first set me up as a master +in Berlin, and then brought these devils to me. They approached me +slyly, stealthily, like cats, flattering my skill, and saying there was +good work for my sword. And with lies they brought me here to Munich. I +knew nothing except that there was money to be made, and the life of a +man of pleasure to lead. I suspected nothing; even when one of them came +and told me my skill as a swordsman had been called in question, my +honor impeached, and myself charged with being an impostor, and that if +I could not clear myself I must be off for a rogue." + +"I begin to see," I exclaimed when he paused. + +"Yes, yes, you will guess what it meant," he replied, nodding his head +vigorously. "But I could not then. And it came out gradually that the +man who had dared to say this was young Count Gustav von Gramberg. I +demanded to meet him face to face and give him the lie. Reluctantly, as +it seemed--by the nails of the Cross! it was the reluctance of infernal +traitors--they agreed and promised that we should meet. Then they fired +him with wine, and fed him with a lie about me; and when we met we were +like two tigers thirsting to be at one another's throats. You know what +happened!" he exclaimed, throwing up his hand again. "We quarrelled, I +struck him, he challenged me; and when we met I ran him through the +heart." + +"It was murder for you to fight a man like that with swords," I cried +sternly. + +"It was murder, Prince," he answered slowly. Then he added, with voluble +passion, "Deep, deliberate, cold-blooded, damnable murder; but I was not +the murderer. Mine was the hand, but theirs was the plot; and I never +realized it till they came to me and told me that they had planned its +every detail and step, that I was in their power; and that if I dared to +falter in any order they gave me, they would have me charged openly as a +murderer, and swear to such a story as would have me on the scaffold in +a trice. What could I do? I was powerless. I raged and swore, and cursed +for an hour; but they had me fast in their clutches, with never a chance +of escape. But they did not know me." + +He broke off and chuckled with demoniacal cunning, filled himself +another bumper of wine, and drained the glass at a gulp. + +"What did you do? And who are the men?" + +He looked round at me with a leer of triumph, and, spreading out his +hands with a wide sweeping gesture, he laughed and said: + +"I spread a net, wide and fine and strong, and when all was right I +baited it for a coward--a thin-blooded, hellish coward--and I caught +him. You know him well enough; and if you saved my life just now, I can +save yours in return. I snared him here to these rooms with a lie that I +was ill and dying and wanted to make my peace with Heaven and confess; +and he came running here in white-livered fear of what I should tell. +That was ten days ago; and in the mean time, for weeks and months I had +been probing and digging, and spying and discovering, till I had such +knowledge of their doings as made a tale worth one's telling to any +inquisitive old fool of a priest--and I let my lord the count have an +inkling of this." + +He leant back, laughed, and swore with glee. + +"He came. I was in bed all white and shaking," and he illustrated the +words with many gestures; "and my voice was feeble and quavering, like a +dying pantaloon's, as I gurgled out what I meant, and said, 'I have +written everything in a paper.' You should have seen his eyes glint at +this. He urged me to be careful, not to speak too freely; and he asked +to see the paper. I told him it was in a desk, and when he went to get +it and his back was to me I was out of bed and upon him in a trice. I +thrust him back into a chair and stood over him with my drawn sword, +vowing by all the calendar that I would drive it into his bowels if he +dared to so much as utter a squeak; and, by the Holy Ghost! I meant it +too." + +"Well?" I cried impatiently when he paused. + +"Ho, but your white-livered, pigeon-hearted, sheepish coward is a pretty +sight when his flesh goes gray, and his haggard eyes, drawn with fear, +stare up at you from under a brow all flecked with fright-sweat. I wish +you could have seen him. Well, I held him thus, told him all I knew, and +made him write out a confession of the true means by which the young +count had been lured to his death, the object of it all, and the story +of the double plot this treacherous villain is carrying on. I had found +out much, guessed more, and made him fill in what I didn't know. More +than that, too, I made him promise me certain definite rewards when the +plot succeeded, and to take me in with the rest as one of them--to work +with them now and share with them afterward." + +"You are one of them?" I cried. + +"You saw the answer to that to-night by the old church. They played the +game shrewdly enough. When I had let him go, one or two of the others +came to me and wished me to attend a meeting. I promised; but I am not a +lunatic, if their fool of a King is. No, no; I would not. Then they +changed and said there was another quarrel to be picked with you, my +friend; to send you to call on the young Count Gustav. But I said no; +that you were a great swordsman, better than myself, which was a lie of +course--but lies are everywhere in this Munich--and that I would not +meet you. So they will find some other end for you. Then the next little +friendly attention for me was the interview which you interrupted +to-night." + +The effect of this recital upon me, so quaintly and so dramatically +told, may be conceived; and I sat turning it over and over and judging +it by the light of what I myself already knew. + +"And what are you going to do now?" I asked at length. + +"Sell what I know to the best purchaser--unless you can do what you +said, help me to my revenge. I know you are in this; though you little +guess the part they have cast for you." + +"What's your price? I can take care of myself," I answered. + +"Revenge is my chief point. I am a Corsican; and, by the Holy Tomb! I'll +never stay my hand till I've dragged the chief villain down." + +"You mean?" I asked. + +"That snake von Nauheim--the Count von Nauheim. The Honorable Count, a +member of the aristocracy. A lily-livered maggot." + +He changed from irony to vehement, ungovernable rage with swift, +tempestuous suddenness. + +"To whom will you sell your secret? The Ostenburgs?" + +At the mention of the name he turned and looked at me intently, the +light of the lamp throwing up the strong shadows of the face; and he +stood staring thus for a full minute. Then he laughed. + +"So you haven't guessed the riddle yet, eh? You're a deal simpler than I +thought." He came close to me, sat down, and put his face right into +mine, turning his head on one side and closing one eye with a gesture +of indescribable suggestion. "Have you never asked yourself how it was +that with all these people so dead set on putting a Gramberg on the +throne they should take the trouble to get the heir of that renowned +family killed?" + +"Yes, it was because the Ostenburg agents got wind of the plot." + +"Pouf!" + +He laughed in my face and threw his hand up, and then rose and filled +himself another glass of wine, tossing it off like the rest. + +"You can play a good game, no doubt, Prince, but you don't know the +cards you hold. If your young relative was killed by the Ostenburgs, +what the devil's hoofs was von Nauheim doing in that boat? And what the +devil's tail does he want to set me on to you for? Does he think the +Gramberg chances are to be improved by first killing off the heir and +then getting rid of you, the girl's chief protection? I know all about +Minna von Gramberg, and the plot to put her on the throne. I know this, +too, that she has no more chance of sitting on that throne than I have +of eating it. Body of Bacchus, man, these are foul fiends you are +leagued with and want knowing." + +I began to see everything now, and my pulses quickened up with +excitement; and I guessed what was coming. + +"What is your aim in all this?" he asked suddenly. + +"I have come to Munich to see exactly how matters stand." + +"And nicely they've fooled you, maybe--or at least they might have done +so if you hadn't been lucky enough to be within sound of my shout +to-night. I'll give you the key to the whole thing. There's a plot +within a plot, and all the Grambergs are being fooled. This type of +innocence, von Nauheim, is the tool of the Ostenburg interest. The +indignation against the King is all genuine enough; the people would +welcome his abdication to-morrow, and wouldn't seriously concern +themselves even if the abdication came by way of a dagger-thrust or a +pistol bullet. But the Ostenburg faction dare not force the abdication +for two reasons: because, in the first place, the people on your side +are strong enough to make a fight of it; and, in the second, if a fight +did come, no one can say what line the people at Berlin would take. It +is quite possible that they would swoop down and clear both sides out. +What these precious Ostenburgs have to do, therefore, is to get the +Crown without a suspicion of treachery." + +He broke off with another of his sardonic laughs, and took more wine. + +I did not interrupt, and a moment later he continued: + +"Then came your old Prince as a stalking-horse. He wanted to make a grab +for the throne, fostered the discontent and rebellion, put his son +forward, and sounded the people here as to his chances. The Ostenburgs +knew of it directly, of course, and laid a clever, devilish plot to +profit by it. A large number of the wealthiest and most influential +supporters appeared to favor your Gustav; they warmed, made indirect +overtures, and then went over in a body, making it a condition that the +man they put forward as one of their leaders, von Nauheim, should marry +your old Prince's daughter. By the bag of Iscariot, a shrewd stroke! The +Prince saw nothing, and agreed, and that's the reason of that +love-match." + +"A damnable scheme!" I exclaimed, between my teeth. + +"Wait, wait," he said calmly, laying a hand on my arm. "Your Gustav was +in the way, and it is a canon of the Ostenburg code that there shall be +no Gramberg claimant to the throne alive, or, at any rate, fit to claim +it. So the quarrel and the duel were engineered, and there remained only +the Countess Minna. Then they had a stroke of luck. The old Prince died, +and the girl alone remained, helpless and friendless, except for you. +Your turn will therefore come, and then this is the plan: The plot to +place the Countess Minna on the throne will go forward gayly, is going +forward now, in point of fact. But--and mark this carefully--at the +critical moment your Countess Minna will have vanished, and then see the +position. The mad King will be gone, the throne will be vacant, the cry +of the conspirators and of Munich will be for the new Queen, and there +will be no Queen to answer. What next? Why, that the thoughts of all men +will turn to the Ostenburgs--the loyal, faithful, true, innocent, +do-nothing Ostenburgs--and the Duke Marx, their heir, will consent, when +the matter is forced upon him by the united populace, to mount the +throne. No taint of suspicion against him, no thought of treachery, +actually an opponent of the movement against this mad royalty, a stanch +upholder of the right divine of monarchs--he will be hailed by all as +the only possible successor to a King who cannot be found, and Berlin +will rejoice to see an ugly trouble got over in this easy fashion. Now!" +he exclaimed, with a grin full of meaning, "you can see much where +before you could see nothing at all." + +"And what of the Countess Minna?" + +He paused, and then answered in a low, guttural voice, and with a look +of deep, suggestive meaning: + +"Von Nauheim will see to that. There is something in regard to him I do +not know; but I do know that, married to him, she would be impossible +for a Queen, for he is of the scum of the gutter, and there is worse +behind, I believe. But von Nauheim is no stickler for ceremonies. He may +not marry her at all; and, ruined by him, you may guess what her chances +of the throne would be." + +"Hell!" I cried, leaping to my feet in fury. + +He had got inside my impassiveness now, and I was like a madman at the +thoughts he had raised. + +"I must see you to-morrow. Ride ten miles out on the Linden road, and +wait for me at noon. I shall go mad if I stay here longer." + +And with that I rushed away. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +MY PLAN OF CAMPAIGN + + +The first effect upon me of Praga's story was to rouse and thrill every +pulse of passion in my nature. I could not think connectedly, and as I +plunged along through the early morning to von Nauheim's house I was +impelled by an overwhelming desire to call that villain instantly to +account. Insane plans flitted through my head of dashing into his room +and making him fight me to the death; and I gloated in the belief that I +could kill him. + +But as the air cooled my fever my steps slackened their speed, my +judgment began to reassert its rule, and I saw that I should make a huge +mistake if I allowed myself to be led in such a crisis by the mere +impulses of blind rage. I had another to think of beside myself. He was +waiting up for me, no doubt curious and anxious to learn what I had been +doing; but I dared not trust myself to be with him then; so I sent a +message that I was unwell, and I hurried at once to my rooms. + +Then I made the first practical admission that I felt myself in peril; +for I searched the rooms carefully to see that no one was concealed in +them, and I looked carefully to the fastenings of the doors to make +certain that no one could get in while I slept. I resolved also to buy +myself arms on the following day. I could not sleep, of course. I lay +tossing from side to side all through the hours of the dawn, thinking, +puzzling, speculating, and scheming; striving my hardest to decide what +I ought to do. + +After what I had seen in the attack on Praga, I could not doubt that my +own personal danger was great. My cousin Gustav's fate had shown that +the men I had to deal with were infinitely cunning in resource and +absolutely desperate in resolve. Where, then, might I look for any +attack? I judged that it would be most likely to come in some shape that +would be difficult to trace to its authors; and I felt that I must guard +against getting embroiled in any quarrel, must go armed, and must be +always most vigilant and alert when I found myself in circumstances that +would lend themselves to my being attacked with impunity. + +I own that I did not like the prospect. I don't think I'm a coward, and +claim no greater bravery than other men; but the thought that any moment +might find me the mark for an assassin's dagger or bullet tested my +courage to the utmost. My main problem, however, was of course as to +what I should do in regard to the plot. There were undoubtedly a number +of men pledged to support Minna's cause; loyal, true, faithful men of +honor, who had risked much for her and would uphold her to the last; but +how was I to distinguish the false from the true? If I could do that, my +path would be plain enough. I could reveal the whole business to them, +and we could together take means to checkmate the inner treachery. But I +could not distinguish them; nor on the other hand could Minna in honor +desert them. + +There was the alternative of flight, of course; I could return to +Gramberg and rush the girl across the French frontier; but in addition +to the distaste for abandoning those who had been true to her, there +were other solid reasons against the flight. I could not see that there +was any permanent safety for Minna that way. As Praga had put it, it was +a canon of the Ostenburg position that there should be no Gramberg +claimant to the throne left alive or fit to claim the throne; and I did +not doubt for a moment that she might still be the object of attack +wherever she went. Their arm would be long enough to reach her. Thus +flight would thwart the Ostenburg scheme, but it would not achieve what +was far more important to us, the safety of all concerned. + +Thus I was driven back again upon my former conclusion that the policy +of flight must be only the last resource when other things had failed. +And I made up my mind that if at all possible this Ostenburg scheme must +be met and outwitted. + +After many hours of thought on these lines, I began to see two courses. +We must go on with the scheme up to the very verge of its completion. +Then Minna should indeed disappear; but the disappearance should be +stage-managed by us, and not by the Ostenburg agents; and a daring +thought occurred to me, to entrap these men with their own snare when +pledged to the hilt to support Minna. + +I would not only let her reappear at the very moment when they would be +reckoning on her absence to push the claims of their own man, the Duke +Marx; but I would get hold of this duke himself and put him away in her +place. We would thus hold the throne against them for long enough to +make such terms of compromise as we chose to dictate. + +It would be a dare-devil piece of work, and call for one or two +desperate men. But I had two already to hand--von Krugen and Praga, +with Steinitz as a faithful third--and we might find one or two more +among those who were faithful to Minna's interests. + +The thought of this so roused me that I could not stay in my bed, but +paced up and down my room in a glow of excitement as I thought out, +pondered, and planned the details move by move to the final climax. + +My first step must be, of course, to mislead all those concerned in the +scheme to believe that I was with them, and that I pledged Minna herself +to the same course; and I went to meet von Nauheim in the morning with +this idea clear in my thoughts. + +"You were out of town yesterday, Prince?" he said. + +"Yes, I am accustomed to quietude, and can clear my thoughts best in the +country. This affair worries me." + +"I understood you were ill when you came back?" + +"Merely an excuse. I was fatigued, and in no mood for conversation. It +was late." + +"It was--very," he replied dryly. + +I made no answer, and after a moment he said: + +"I presume you were thinking about our matters?" + +"They were not out of my thoughts all day, and have kept me awake all +night. I could wish I had never heard of them!" I exclaimed sharply. + +"I suppose it is rather a big thing for you to decide?" he said, with a +laugh; and then added quickly, "I presume you have decided, though? We +shall expect to know to-night definitely." + +"I am disposed to advise my cousin to join you and go on; but it may be +nervousness, or that I am unused to such weighty affairs--whatever it +is, I scarcely know how to answer." + +"Well, you have had five or six days, you know." + +"I've had to change all my views. I came to Munich with the conviction +that such a scheme must fail, and could only end in disaster or, +perhaps, worse." + +"And now?" he asked, eyeing me sharply. + +"I see the risks are enormous; but success seems much more probable than +I thought. Indeed, if all is as it appears to be, I don't see where +failure can come. I was trying to see that all day yesterday." + +"What do you mean 'if all is as it appears'? What else can it be?" + +"In a thousand schemes every one must have a weak spot somewhere. In +this I fear what Berlin may do." + +This answer relieved the doubt I had purposely raised, and he smiled as +though my objection were ridiculous. + +"Discuss that with Baron Heckscher. You'll soon see there's no cause for +fear in it." + +"If I were sure of that, my last objection would be gone." + +"Then you are ours at last!" he exclaimed triumphantly, "and I'm right +glad of it, Prince. You'll never repent throwing in your lot with us, +for we shall rule this kingdom as surely as you and I are sitting at +this table." + +Gradually I allowed myself to be led on by him to copy, in a modified +degree, his tone of jubilant enthusiasm, until he had no longer a doubt +that I had been won over completely; and I spoke as if in some awe of +the magnificent mission and great opportunities which a woman of Minna's +high character and aims would have as the future Queen of Bavaria. He +indulged this vein in the belief that he was drawing out my earnestness +and encouraging my loyalty, and, indeed, fooling me to the top of my +bent. + +He asked me how I would spend the day, and whether I wished to see any +more of our friends, before the meeting, to discuss my lingering doubts +as to interference from Berlin; but I said I would rather be alone, as I +was accustomed to solitary meditation, and that I was going to ride. He +placed his stable at my disposal, and suggested one or two places of +interest to which I could go. + +I pretended to accept his suggestions, and he watched me ride off, +standing bare-headed and gazing after me. When I turned, he waved his +hand, and his face wore a smile of confident self-congratulation at the +cleverness with which he had duped me. I kept to the road which he had +mentioned for a short distance, riding at a slow pace, and then, turning +off from it, I threaded the outskirts of the town until I struck the +Linden road, when I put my horse to a sharp canter to keep my +appointment. + +One point I had to consider carefully--how far to trust Praga. He was a +man to beware of, unscrupulous, recklessly daring, and bitterly +vengeful; but I had saved his life, and I believed that he had in his +disposition that kind of rough and dogged chivalry which would incline +him to feel under an obligation to me, at least until he had paid the +debt in kind. Assistance of some sort from some one with inside +knowledge I must have, for the case was desperate enough; and there was +no doubt that he would be infinitely valuable to me. I had strong +inducements to offer, too--revenge for his own injuries; gratitude for +my help on the preceding night; momentary reward to any reasonable +amount; and advancement to a post of confidence. There was a risk that +he would betray me, of course; but I could not weigh these risks too +carefully, and this was one I felt I must be content to take. + +I had ridden some ten or eleven miles, and was walking my horse slowly +past a small coppice, when I heard him call to me from among the trees. +He had chosen a cunning hiding-place. He knew his business. + +"Ride on to the next turning on this side, Prince, and turn in at the +first gate." + +I followed his instructions, and found him already at the gate, on foot, +having tied his horse to a tree. I fastened mine and then joined him. + +"Were you followed from my house last night?" he asked; and when I told +him no, he added: "Good; I had to shake them off this morning. The game +is getting warmer. We must not stay long together. What have you to say +to me?" + +"Will you show me the paper you made von Nauheim sign?" I asked. + +"I will take your word of honor for its safe keeping," he returned, his +dark face smiling. "I guessed you would wish to see it." And he handed +it to me. + +"You trust it to me?" I cried, in some surprise. + +"I am no fool, Prince," he answered. "If you keep that, it means we +shall work together, and that is what I wish. If we are not to do so, +you are too honorable a man not to return it. I trust either wholly, or +not at all." He raised his hands, shoulders, and eyebrows in a combined +gesture, as though suggesting there was no more to be said about the +matter. "But you, what are you going to do? You have some plan, of +course?" + +"Will you work with me?" I asked. + +"I told you last night--my purse, my sword, and my life are at your +service, and if your plan helps my revenge I will keep as stanch and +true as a hound." + +"I am going to put my whole scheme in your possession," was my answer; +and in the fewest words I told him what I had resolved, keeping back +only such parts of the plan as touched the Countess Minna and myself +personally. + +He listened with rapt attention, his swarthy face drawn into thoughtful +lines, and he did not interrupt me once. When I had finished, he +remained silent a long while thinking it all over carefully. + +"It is a shrewd scheme, Prince, very shrewd. There is only one +difficulty." + +"Well?" + +"For you and me to keep alive sufficiently long to carry it through. The +attempt last night will not be the last, and the efforts won't be +confined to me. They have not touched you so far, probably because they +feel it will strengthen their hands with the Countess Minna to get your +open adherence to the plot. But when that has once been obtained, you +will only be in the way, and you had better lay your account with that. +But if we can keep our hearts beating and our throats unslit until the +time of crisis comes, we shall win. By the sword of the archangel, but I +like the scheme!" + +"There is a meeting to-night at which I announce my formal adherence, +and then I shall return to Gramberg to complete my arrangements." + +"If you live to leave the town," he said grimly. "But you understand now +the sort of men you are fighting. And what do you wish me to do?" + +"Yours will be the most dangerous and, in some respects, I think the +most difficult work of all--the post of honor. You must prepare the +means by which the Duke Marx von Ostenburg can be got into our power, +and you must be prepared to carry out the seizure the moment I give the +signal. It had best be done on the very day of the court ball." + +To my surprise he smiled and declared that that part of the business +would not be difficult of accomplishment. + +"I may need one man to help me, though I can probably do it all alone; +and you will only have to say where you wish him carried." + +"I have to find the place yet," I replied. "But how can you do this? Why +are you so sure?" + +"I can move the female lever which can move him," he returned, with his +hard smile. + +"But at that moment he himself will be all anxiety for these matters of +State, and his presence in Munich will be simply imperative for their +interests." + +"No matter. If he was buried under a mountain and had to claw his way +out with his nails and teeth, he would do it at her bidding. Have no +fear." + +"He will not be harmed?" + +"That we can settle when we get him," he answered grimly. + +I said no more. So long as we could make secure the person of the duke +at the moment we needed him, I would see to the rest. Then I arranged +how we two were to hold communication and untethered my horse to leave. + +"You will go to that meeting to-night, Prince?" he asked. + +"Certainly, it is necessary." + +"You will go armed, then?" + +"Arms will not be of much use; but I shall take them." + +"I need not warn you again. But this I would say: At the very moment +when you feel safest expect their attack. And now, as a last word, let +me give you a pledge that whatever happens I will not let a word between +my teeth. On the honor of a Corsican." + +He raised his hat and stood bare-headed. He had the dramatic instinct +keenly developed, and he did everything with pose and gesture that might +have been taken for artificiality. But I was convinced that he was +stanch enough in this affair. + +I rode back to Munich by a different route, and my thoughts were busy +with the forthcoming meeting. I did not consider it at all likely that +any sort of violence would be attempted then; but Praga's words of +caution began to run in my head--"When you feel safest, expect the +attack." All the afternoon they were buzzing in my thoughts, and when +von Nauheim returned in time for a very hurried late dinner, and the +hour of the meeting drew nigh, they were more insistent than ever. + +In the afternoon I bought myself arms--a sword-stick and a revolver; and +while I was alone I took careful note of the room where the meeting was +to be held, its entrances and exits. There was a window in the corner +which opened on to a quadrangle at the back of the house, and I resolved +to take my seat near that, lest I should need a speedy way of escape. + +I had, indeed, determined upon one somewhat daring step, and I could not +foretell what consequences might ensue. + +When the hour for the meeting came, I took my seat and watched the men +as they entered; and sat steadying my nerves and planning my moves in +the game which was about to open in such deadly earnest, and which might +have such momentous consequences for all concerned. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +A COUNCIL OF CONSPIRACY + + +My first thought about the meeting was that I had misjudged, in an +almost ludicrous manner, what the proceedings would be. My nerves were, +no doubt, a little overstrung by the events of the past day or two: the +dramatic exaggeration which had characterized almost every gesture and +action of the Corsican, the actual evidence of my own eyes of the +ruthless intensity of purpose with which these people pursued their +plans, and my own exceeding conventional conceptions of what such a plot +as this would be, had led me to anticipate some sort of more or less +theatrical exhibition of conspiracy at the meeting. But there was +nothing of the kind. + +The men dropped in one after another, just as they might into any small +social gathering, chatted with each other, grouped themselves in twos +and threes, joked and laughed, discussed the latest scandal, exchanged +notes on the newest play, and for a long time talked of nothing but the +subjects on which any of them found a common surface interest. All of +them made occasion to come to me and exchange a word or two: How I liked +Munich, whether I had been to the opera, if I took any interest in the +races, had I heard of the new military order from Berlin, and so on. +Nothing more. Yet each contrived to convey that he was very glad to see +me present, leaving me to infer anything more. + +After a considerable time, the man whom von Nauheim had mentioned to me +most often, Baron Heckscher, one of the wealthiest men in Munich, and +the strongest leader in the scheme, came across and began to talk to me. +He said he took the greatest interest in me; that it was a matter of +great regret I had been so long absent from Munich and Gramberg; and +that the honor of the great title I bore was an enormous responsibility +for so young a man. + +"But I am sure you will prove equal to it, Prince. Our conversations +during these last few days have convinced me of this. You will play a +great part in the kingdom and--who shall say?--perhaps in the Empire." + +I murmured some conventional reply, and he added: + +"There is only one thing against you. You will need wealth. The Gramberg +estates should have gone with the title. I cannot understand my old +friend's will. But that can be, and, of course, will be, rectified." + +"I am not very ambitious of a State career," I replied, appreciating the +proffered bribe. + +"The State has need of all her strong men, Prince," he answered readily, +"and she would be jealous of desertion; she cannot spare you. We old men +have had our day, and it is part of our duty, and, despite the +jealousies of some of us, part of our pleasure too, to mark out the +rising men--the men worthy to rise, that is--and see that they have +their opportunities. In the time that is coming you will have a +magnificent part, for the actualities of power are not on, but around, +the throne." + +In this way he led adroitly round to the subject, and I knew that all +his flattery was just so much verbiage. He had had no opportunities of +telling whether I was a fool or a genius. + +"There is a great deal of doubt about the future," said I sententiously; +"but to have earned the good opinion of so shrewd a judge of men as +yourself is much." + +If he could flatter, so could I. + +He paused a moment, and then, in a slightly lower tone, and with a +suggestion of increased importance, he said, motioning toward von +Nauheim: + +"Our friend has told me your very shrewd doubts as to the probable +action of those at Berlin. They are very natural, and you are quite +right to express them; but--there is no fear on that score. The Imperial +Government is as sick of the vagaries of the King as we Bavarians +ourselves. He is a constant anxiety. You will see why. A madman on a +throne is a standing menace to the principle of the Divine Right on +which a monarchy must in reality depend. They will not interfere, +because openly they dare not countenance a movement to upset a throne." + +And he went on to give me elaborate arguments to explain away my doubts. +I listened very carefully, stated my objections, and discussed them all; +and then allowed myself to appear to be won round by his persuasion to +the view that when once the plot were carried to a successful climax +Berlin would recognize the new position and acquiesce in it. This I +believed myself, moreover. + +As I held the clew to his real motives, I was greatly interested to note +the subtlety with which he avoided the points that were more closely +concerned with the duplicity of the inner plot, and dwelt on those where +he could be sincere. + +"It will depend greatly on the solidarity of the movement and the +loyalty to each other of all concerned in it," I said at the close. + +"That is the pith and marrow of it all; and of that there cannot be a +doubt. There are some twenty of us here," he exclaimed, with a wave of +the hand round the room; "and each of us represents and can speak for at +least one strong interest and section. Besides, we are not groping in +the dark. I myself have secured assurances from Berlin. We have not a +weak link." + +He stopped, and looked at me with an invitation to make my declaration. + +I noticed, too, that in some way the fact had communicated itself to the +rest of those present that the moment of importance had arrived. They +had at first drawn a little away from the table at which we two sat; and +I had seen many little quick glances shot in our direction during the +discussion between the baron and myself; but there had been no check in +the general flow of chatter. + +Now, however, there was a decided lull, save where one man was telling +noisily an incident in which he had been the principal and was laughing +at his own joke. The rest were for the most part smoking stolidly with +only low murmurs of broken talk. + +Von Nauheim was restless and fidgety, champing his cigar with quick, +nervous bites, and blowing out the smoke rapidly in heavy puffs, and +stealing furtive glances at me. + +The situation was just as I would have had it. I had effectually +concealed the fact that I had entered the room resolved to join them, +and had produced the impression that at the last moment the baron's +arguments had talked away my doubts. I kept my face impassive and set, +as though weighing my words to the last moment. + +"We shall go on with you, baron," I said quietly; "but of course under +conditions." + +"How can you make conditions, Prince?" he asked; and now the whole room +was waiting upon our words. + +"There must be a fresh declaration of allegiance to the Countess Minna +as the future Queen." + +"We are already pledged, every man of us, Prince," he returned. + +"My uncle's death has altered matters," I answered. "And the declaration +will be signed by all concerned here to-night and in my presence." + +"That is scarcely necessary, as we have signed already. But if you make +a point of it, yes." + +"I do press it," I said firmly. + +I had a strong reason which they did not yet see. I paused a moment +before I made my next move, for it was a strong one. + +"Again, as my uncle's death is so recent, it will not be seemly--indeed, +it is impossible--for my cousin's marriage with the Count von Nauheim to +take place until after she is on the throne--unless, indeed, all matters +are postponed until a sufficient interval takes place." + +I counted much on this stroke, and that it was a shrewd one was +instantly apparent. It was, indeed, nothing less than a sharp test of +the loyalty of every man present, and it started warm discussion among +them all, several protests being made. + +The avowed object of the marriage was to cement the co-operation of the +powerful section of which Baron Heckscher was the head, by securing half +the royal power to their representative; but the secret motive, as I +knew, was to render Minna personally unfit to be Queen. Thus to postpone +the marriage until after she was actually on the throne seemed on the +surface to destroy the very pith of the inner plot, and so to wreck the +Ostenburg plans altogether. Hence those who were for that interest felt +bound to oppose the suggestion, while those who were genuinely for us +would admit its reasonableness. To the one side it meant failure, and to +the other, at the worst, mere postponement; and my object was thus to +detach the latter and see who were really our friends. To my dismay +there were but two in the room, and these the least influential; but I +marked them closely while I stuck doggedly to my point. + +It was the Baron Heckscher who came to the rescue. + +"I have been waiting to hear the general opinion," he said--he had been +sitting rapt in deep thought--"and I do not see there is any solid +objection to the condition. We are all aware that this marriage, like +most Court nuptials, has been arranged for certain definite +purposes"--and he glanced round the room with an effect I did not fail +to observe. "And if proper guarantees of these purposes are afforded, I +do not see any objection. We are merely gaining the same end by slightly +different means. As Count von Nauheim carries certain interests on his +shoulders in the marriage, all we have to see is that those interests +are protected." + +It was most adroitly wrapped up, but I knew too much to be deceived; and +as I had now gained my end--the separation of the sheep from the wolves +in this assorted pack--I said no more than to agree that any desired +guarantees should be given. + +"The other condition is perhaps fanciful, as it is certainly personal," +I said, "and it is somewhat connected with that which we have just +discussed. My cousin, the Countess Minna, cannot, of course, go forward +in a hazardous work of this kind, now we are agreed the marriage must be +postponed, without a male relative to guide and counsel her. And as we +Grambergs have been so unfortunate as to lose two prominent members, +there is only myself remaining. One of us, my cousin Gustav, certainly +lost his life in this cause, through the treachery of the Ostenburg +agents, and therefore we look to you all--I look to you all, +gentlemen"--and here I raised my voice slightly--"to secure me against +an attack from any source that may threaten my life. I know I do not +count on you in vain, because you are all loyal to the cause; but there +is an additional and very special reason for my thus calling on you. +Upon my life and safety the continuance or end of this scheme depends, +so far as my cousin Minna is concerned. You may need to redouble your +vigilance against our enemies, and to strain your efforts to the utmost +to anticipate and prevent attacks upon me; but understand quite clearly +that if you suffer me to be attacked and to fall, at that moment my +cousin will withdraw from the scheme, and openly abandon all claim to +the throne." + +The disconcerting effect of this short speech was profound. + +A dead silence fell on the room for a few moments, and I am bound to +confess that I enjoyed immensely the general consternation. It appeared +to me the strongest confirmation I could have had of the existence of a +plot against my life, and that this move of mine was regarded as a +checkmate. But I shut out of my face every expression save one of a kind +of friendly expectation of personal assurances of agreement. + +"Why I paused before replying, Prince," said Baron Heckscher presently, +"was merely that, while I am confident there is not a man in the room, +nor among all the thousands for whom we can speak, who would not +cheerfully risk his life in defence of one so valuable--indeed, so +essential--to the cause and the country as your own, it is a little +difficult for us to pledge ourselves to abandon a cause for which we +have made such sacrifices, and incurred such tremendous personal risks, +should accident intervene to harm you." + +He was talking to gain time, I could see that easily enough. + +"There was no one found ready to defend my cousin Gustav from a man who +was no better than an assassin," I said, somewhat curtly. "And I have +heard that the man is still mixing with some of you." + +Von Nauheim's tell-tale face paled at this thrust. + +"Your cousin's rashness was the cause of that quarrel, Prince," said the +baron, "and it was all against our advice and our most earnest entreaty +that the duel ever took place. As to Praga's connection with the matter +since, you know, of course, that in affairs of this kind we must use as +instruments such as we find ready to hand. But his connection with the +movement is of the flimsiest and most superficial kind." + +"My cousin's death remains unavenged," I answered sternly. + +"It will not remain so," said the baron significantly. + +"No, indeed," I returned, intentionally misunderstanding him, "for I +myself will call the man to account." + +"Not until after our plans have been carried through." + +"At the first moment I meet with him," said I, with an air of +recklessness. + +"This must not be!" exclaimed the baron quickly. "Do you not see what +you are doing, Prince? You tell us that if you fall the Countess Minna +will desert us and abandon the whole movement on the very eve of its +success; and yet in the next breath you declare that you are going to +court death by fighting a duel with one of the greatest masters of +fencing in Europe. Would you wreck the whole scheme?" + +"I would avenge my cousin's death!" I cried sternly. "Unless, indeed, +the Count von Nauheim, as a future member of the family, or some other +gentleman here, is loyal enough to us to take up this work." + +"I do not fight with hired bravos," growled von Nauheim. + +"There is no man in Bavaria can stand before that Praga's sword," said +the baron, while I enjoyed his perplexity. + +"Well, then, call the man out and shoot him!" I exclaimed brutally. +"But, in all truth, I can't for the life of me understand, since you are +all afraid of his sword-play, why you allowed Gustav to meet him." + +"We had not then had this fearful evidence of his skill; and your cousin +denied it, and believed him an impostor," said the baron. + +"Nor do I believe in it," I answered vehemently, and I saw that I had +produced the impression I wished of extreme caution in some things, +coupled with recklessness in others, and had made them believe me +thoroughly in earnest in my condition that, if my life were taken, my +cousin Minna would go no farther. I had no wish to press matters any +more, therefore. + +"You are a true Gramberg, Prince, it is easy to see," said the baron, +smiling uneasily. "And I fear you will give us trouble." + +I meant to, but not of the kind as anticipated. + +"That may be," I replied, ungraciously and curtly. "But now, if you +please, as to these conditions." + +"We can accept them if you will pledge yourself to take no rash action +in hazarding your life until we have succeeded. Otherwise I for one +shall withdraw, even now." + +I could have laughed aloud at the firm, decisive tone in which he said +this--for it was the proof of how I had turned the tables upon them. I +hesitated before replying, as if to think. + +"Yes, it is fair that I should give such a pledge," I said then. "I will +wait. It will not be long." + +"In a fortnight, by the grace of God, all will be effected," cried Baron +Heckscher fervently. Then, rising, he said with enthusiasm: "Gentlemen, +to our future Queen--Queen Minna of Bavaria. May the blessing of God +light upon her, and let her bring peace to this distracted State. In the +name of God I swear allegiance to the new ruler of Bavaria." + +He raised his right hand on high as he took this equivocal and falsely +true oath, and every man present followed his example. It was an +impressive scene, and I made haste to improve the occasion. + +"We will sign the declaration now," I said quietly. + +The baron produced that which had been formerly signed--a short, simply +worded document pledging the signatories to allegiance; and as he +appeared loath to allow the paper to pass out of his own hands, he +himself copied and then burnt it. I raised no objection to this +proceeding, or to the wording, which was sufficiently compromising for +the purpose I had in view. The other men signed it first, and I observed +that the baron hung back until the last. + +"I am the last to join you, I will sign last," I said quietly, and I +laid it before him. + +He wished to protest, I could see, but there was no valid reason. For +the present at any rate I was in the position of power. + +He wrote his name slowly and, I thought, reluctantly, and when he had +finished, he put the paper across the small table, and held it firmly in +one hand, pointing with the other to the place where I should write my +name. I saw his object was the same as my own--to get and keep +possession of a paper on which the life of every man signing it might +depend. But it was an essential part of my plan that I myself should +have possession of the paper to use as I might afterward find necessary. +And I outwitted him. Not giving a sign of my intention, I took the pen +he gave me and glanced at it. + +"A pen that will have a history," I said, looking at him. + +Then in making a movement as of preparation to sign I dropped the pen, +and as I stooped and picked it up I broke the nib designedly, exclaiming +at my carelessness. + +"No matter, there is another pen there," I cried hurriedly, and with a +sudden pull I snatched the sheet from his grasp, carried it to another +table, and signed it before he had recovered from his surprise and +vexation. Then I blotted it quickly, folded it, and put it away in my +pocket, as though this were the most natural and ordinary course. + +But I saw the men look from one to the other with half-hidden +apprehension in their glances. I knew it was a crisis, and I carried it +through with a dash. + +"As head of my house, and the only blood relative of our future Queen, I +shall guard with religious care this declaration of your allegiance and +fidelity, this charter of the new Bavarian freedom," I said, raising my +voice and speaking with as much dignity as I could assume. "In my +cousin's name I thank you for your help, and I promise you the most +earnest, most cordial, and most generous recognition of your efforts. +From this moment her life belongs to her country. For myself, I assure +you that, although I am the last to join you, no man shall be found more +active, resolute, and vigilant in the cause. God bless Queen Minna of +Bavaria!" + +They echoed the words, but there was little heartiness in the tone, +except from the two men whom I knew to be loyal; and I stood on my +guard, half expecting some kind of attack. + +But the moment passed and nothing was said or done to thwart me; and +after a few words of lying congratulation upon the evening's work from +the baron, the meeting broke up. + +As the men left I could tell that my acts had produced a great +impression on them, and that I had at least convinced them that I was +not a man with whom they could safely trifle. + +But my task had only begun. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +"EVEN ONE SUBJECT MAY MAKE A KINGDOM" + + +When the last of the men had left, and I had seen von Nauheim go out +with the old baron in close consultation, I sat on alone for a time +thinking with some exultation of the result of my week's work in Munich, +and of the vastly changed position which my shuffling of the cards had +created. + +I should certainly sleep the sounder for the value I had contrived to +put on my life in their eyes; for I calculated that until they had had +time to reconstruct their plans they would not venture to attack me. + +What would they do? I pondered the question very carefully, turning it +over and over in my thoughts as I knew that wily old baron was doing at +the self-same moment--unless he had already made a plan and had taken +von Nauheim out to impart it to him. + +One thing soon made itself quite clear. Whatever form their next move +might take, it would closely concern Minna. She was the pivot on which +everything turned in their inner plot. So long as she was a free agent, +and able to do what I had said--openly renounce the scheme and publicly +abandon her claim to the throne--they would not touch me. But the +instant they could get her into their control my power would be broken. +I should no longer be necessary to them, but in the way. I could guess +what would follow. + +I determined, therefore, to take the initiative and force the game with +von Nauheim; and, fortunately, he gave me an opportunity. + +After I had been alone about an hour he returned, and did not take any +trouble to hide the fact that he was in a very bad temper. When the +surface was scratched, he was too much of a cad to remember that he was +my host. He swaggered into the room and poured himself out a stiff glass +of brandy and drank it. Then he turned to me. + +"I suppose you think you've managed things devilish well to try and play +the master in this way?" + +"Well, I haven't done badly," I said, with a shrug of the shoulders. + +"I should like to know what you mean about your condition about my +marriage--cursed interference, I call it." + +"My meaning was plain enough to the rest; surely I need not repeat it." + +"Oh, I know what you mean. But what the devil is it to you? Is it your +game to try and stop this marriage altogether? You won't, you know, so +you needn't try." + +"I would rather discuss family affairs with you when you're----" I was +going to say sober, but checked myself and changed it to--"when you are +less excited." + +"What do you mean by that?" he cried, taking fire and speaking +furiously. "Do you mean to insinuate that I'm drunk?" and he rose and +came up close to me. + +At that I guessed his motive by a kind of intuition. He meant to put a +quarrel on me over this postponement of the marriage; and probably to +let it develop into a scuffle, in which he would try to regain +possession of the paper I had put in my pocket. + +"I prefer not to continue the conversation now," I said coolly. + +"But you'll have to, whether you wish it or not. I'm not going to let +you ride roughshod over me, I can tell you. You'll just have the +goodness to apologize to me for your insinuation that I'm drunk. D'ye +hear?" + +"I have not the least intention of apologizing to you for anything," +said I sharply. + +"Oh, won't you? We'll see about that," he cried, in an even louder +voice; and then by deliberate intention I saw him knock over a small +table on which a number of bottles and glasses stood. These fell to the +ground with a loud clatter and crash, and the next moment a couple of +servants came running into the room. + +I judged that it was a preconcerted signal, for the moment they appeared +he put his hand on my arm and, staring threateningly into my face, swore +at me. + +"You shall not leave the room till you've apologized," he said, calling +the two men to his side. + +I kept cool enough. I had no difficulty in shaking off his hand, and I +stared him full in the face with so stern a look that, bully as he was, +he flinched and wavered and changed color. + +"Are you mad, Count von Nauheim, that you would make me forget I am +under your roof?" + +"No, I'm not mad nor drunk either, but you shall repent this night's +work. Here," he called to the men again. + +What he meant to do I know not, for my next action produced so wholly +unexpected a result that he had no chance to do anything. + +I whipped out the revolver I had in my pocket and levelled it +point-blank in the lackeys' faces and bade them in ringing tones to be +off out of the room. They stayed for no second bidding, but turned on +their heels and scampered for their lives, leaving their master looking +very much of a fool in the middle of the room. I put the revolver away +again then and turned to him. + +"Now that we are alone again, what do you mean to do?" + +But his courage had fled as fast as his servants, and with a feeble +attempt at a lying laugh he mumbled out something to the effect that he +had meant no more than a joke, and turned away to hide his confusion in +another full dose of brandy. + +I saw my chance and took it. + +"I do not allow people to play jokes of that kind upon me, Count von +Nauheim," I said, as sternly as I could. "I prefer to trust the evidence +of my own wits and say that you were in earnest in the attempt to use +some violence toward me. Under these circumstances I cannot, of course, +remain another hour in your house; and you will understand this to mean +that I cannot receive you at Gramberg. You will therefore spare me the +unpleasantness of telling my servants to refuse you admittance by not +attempting to come there." + +"Do you mean that you will try to keep me from my affianced wife?" + +"Unless my cousin chooses to meet you elsewhere than at Gramberg, that +is precisely what will happen," I answered. + +"I suppose you want the fortune for yourself?" he sneered. + +"You have a short memory, count. You have forgotten you told me the +fortune would come to me as soon as this matter was successfully +accomplished." + +He flushed, for he had evidently forgotten that part of his former +instructions, and my reminder irritated him. + +"Then maybe you want Minna, and have a fancy yourself to sit on the +throne?" + +"I have nothing further to say to you," I answered stiffly. "Any +communication I have to make regarding matters here shall be made to +Baron Heckscher." And with that I left the room and the house. + +I was glad of the quarrel for many reasons. We should be rid of the +man's presence at Gramberg while making our preparations there; and I +should feel much freer in any future visits to Munich. But most welcome +of all was the fact that I knew Minna would be delighted at my having +secured that she should not see him again. + +I went to a hotel, passed a very comfortable night after a very full +day, and the next morning before setting out for Gramberg I paid a visit +to each of the two men whom I had ascertained to be loyal to Minna. +Their names were Kummell and Beilager; and I urged them, for reasons +which I would explain, to pay a secret visit to Gramberg. Then I +returned to the castle lighter in heart and even busier in thought than +I had set out. Busy as I was with the details of my own schemes, +however, I found more than once my thoughts running ahead of me to the +castle in pleased speculation as to how Minna would meet me and what she +would say to my news. + +When I had finished my train journey, and was driving to the castle, I +could not help comparing my present feelings with those on my first +arrival at the place. I had played the part of the Prince so completely +during the exciting experiences of the two weeks that had passed since +my arrival, every one had accepted my impersonation so unconditionally, +and I had acted and spoken so entirely as if I were indeed the head of +that great house, that I had actually begun to feel that I was in +reality the Prince. I looked upon the signs of deference, the honors, +the ready compliance with my wishes, the submission to my orders, as +though they were my just due; and I was conscious of a greatly increased +sense of dignity, which, I have no doubt, imparted itself to my mien and +speech. + +I had now no thought of drawing back, of course, until at least I had +cut the knot of Minna's difficulties; and I had begun to entertain some +very unpleasant and disquieting doubts and anxieties as to how I could +shake off my borrowed plumes and return to the humdrum, meaningless, +empty, incognito existence. + +As to that, indeed, a new set of thoughts had begun to take shape in my +mind--wild and forlorn hopes, in truth, but none the less cherished. The +idea was to try and so carry through this business of the Munich plot as +to ingratiate myself sufficiently into the favor of the great ones at +Berlin to win back my own position and inheritance. + +The most spurring motive that can move a man was developing in me, and +developing fast. As a supposititious Prince von Gramberg I was +absolutely impossible as a suitor for Minna's hand. Even if I could save +her from this terrible entanglement, and escape any recognition, I could +not marry her. My life would then have to be lived over a mine which +might be exploded under my feet at any moment, to the ruin of both her +life and my own. + +As an English adventurer and ex-play-actor my case was just as hopeless. +But as Count von Rudloff there would be no such bar of family between +us; my family was indeed as old as any in the kingdom, and I set my wits +to work zealously to find means by which I could use this plot to that +end. But the odds against me were enough to make any one despair, and +the knowledge almost appalled me. + +I was not long left in doubt as to the manner of my reception at +Gramberg. My cousin was waiting for me on the very threshold, and she +came to meet me, her face aglow with pleasure, and her eyes beaming with +the warmest of welcomes. She took my hand in both hers, and for the +moment could do no more than murmur words of welcome and gladness at my +return. As for me, the sweetness of her beauty, the touch of her hands +in mine, and the sheer delight I felt in her presence held me +tongue-tied. + +Then her words burst out with a rush, and she plied me with question +upon question about my news, my doings in Munich, what was to happen, +and a thousand other things, until I caught von Krugen's dark eyes--he +had met me at the station and was standing by me now--fixed upon her in +shrewd speculation. + +"I could not hold back my impatience a minute longer, cousin Hans," she +said at length, with a smile. "Although my good aunt Gratz would have +had me wait upstairs in my rooms until you would find it convenient to +see me. You will forgive me for this unceremonious assault?" + +I would have loved to tell her what I really thought about it; but I put +a curb on any such madness by reflecting that her anxiety had nothing in +it personal to myself. + +"It would take so long in the telling," I answered. "I can scarcely tell +it to you here." + +A look of regret and surprise dashed her face for the moment, and she +withdrew her hands from mine and bit her lips. + +"I have done wrong in rushing to you thus. You will think it unseemly. +Will you let me know how soon you can come to me? Do believe, cousin, I +would not wittingly do anything to displease you." + +I stood silent like a dumb fool; and then after a pause she added: + +"I ought to have reflected you would have many things to do, and that +I--that I should be in the way. I will go." + +"No, don't go," I blurted out, and then could say no more. + +She looked at me in justifiable astonishment, and wrinkled her brows in +perplexity. + +"The Prince was saying as we drove here that he must see you at once, +countess," interposed von Krugen, and I could have blessed him for the +words. Then he went forward and threw open the door of the room next, +and looked round as if inviting us to enter. It was the library. + +I shook myself together with an effort and gathered my scattered wits. + +"Can you spare me an interview at once?" I asked Minna. + +"Cousin!" and her astonishment deepened and found expression in her +tone. "Am I not here for that very purpose--and dying to learn the news? +Come;" and she went into the room and led the way to the far end, as it +chanced to the very window from the embrasure of which I had first seen +her. "I hope your first news is that all this plot is at an end, and +that the project of the marriage is dead with it?" + +I had mastered my stupid embarrassment by this time and had found my +tongue again. + +"You must listen carefully to all I have to tell you, and then to what I +propose to do," I replied, and plunged at once into as plain a recital +as I could give of all that part of the proceedings which I deemed it +necessary to tell her. I dwelt upon the reasons why in my opinion it was +impossible to draw back yet, and upon all I expected to gain by the +counterplot I had devised. + +"I will not see the Count von Nauheim again," she said, and her dislike +of him was the first and strongest feeling she expressed. Nor did I +grieve at this. + +"He will not come here," I said. "I was going to force a quarrel on him +to make that impossible when he saved me the trouble by putting one on +me. I then warned him off the place." + +"Good, very good!" she cried, her eyes flashing. "If I were to see him +again, I could not restrain my hatred. I should tell him exactly how I +feel toward him. It is loathsome even to be linked in name with such a +man. But as that is settled, I will do whatever you wish. I knew you +would be too much for them all, cousin Hans, if they did not kill you, +as I sadly feared they would. I shall never be able to repay you," she +added, looking to me and smiling. "If I were only a man, I could----" + +"What?" I asked when she stopped. + +"I could at least fight with you instead of being a clog and a drag." + +"You are our inspiration," I said earnestly, and at that her cheeks +flushed and she cast down her eyes. + +"I wish all the trouble were over," she said presently. + +"We must not be in too great a hurry. We have done very well so far. A +little pluck and dash, and slice or two of luck, and we shall get +through all right. But now tell me, can you think of any place in +Munich, or near there, where you can go secretly and hide when the +moment comes?" + +"Why must I be put out of the way in this fashion? It seems like running +away at the very moment of peril, and I am not afraid. Do you think I am +a coward?" + +"This is no question of bravery or cowardice. It is merely a matter of +tactics. The very keystone of this inner plot of theirs is that you +shall be missing when the cry is raised for you to ascend the throne. To +secure that these people will stick at nothing--they would even take +your life. Now, for the success of my counter-scheme, I must be able to +have you at hand just when I want you. That is all-important. You will +have to go to Munich in apparent compliance with their wishes for you to +be ready for the final coup, and we shall show no sign of suspicion, but +you will have trusty guards to protect you against attack. My scheme is +to let them carry off some one in your place, and for that purpose I +shall endeavor to get wind of their plan of abduction. What I wish to do +is to shut out suspicion that we have fooled them until it is too late +for them to change their plans. Is there any one among your maids whom +you could trust to personate you, who is sufficiently like you in height +and color and so on to be mistaken for you by a stranger, knowing you +only by description or having only seen you once? She would of course be +dressed to represent you, and she must be sufficiently devoted to you to +take a risk and hold her tongue." + +"Yes, my dressing-maid, Marie, might pass for me under such +circumstances, and I would answer for her stanchness." + +"Tell her nothing until the time is close at hand. Then let her know +what has to be done. She will wear your dress and will be carried off; +you will slip away; and I shall go in a fine rage to von Nauheim to +frighten him from getting to see his captive, and thus discover the +trick. Your present task, then, will be to get ready for that part of +the scheme, and also to think of some safe place to which you can go." + +"I will willingly do more, if it will help you," she said. + +The completeness of her trust in me was apparent in every word she +spoke. + +"There will be plenty of exciting work to follow," I replied, with a +smile, for I was pleased by her eagerness to help. "Your Majesty may +depend upon it that a throne is not to be gained without a struggle." + +"I should make a poor Queen," she answered. + +"You will make a beautiful one; and if the Bavarians once get sight of +you, they will not readily let you go." + +She looked at me earnestly and, with half a sigh, said: + +"You should not pay me empty compliments, cousin Hans. You should not +say things you do not mean." + +"Perhaps it would be truer that I must not say all I do mean," I +returned, and for the moment my eyes spoke even more than my words; and +I made haste to add, in as light a tone as I could: "Your Majesty will +have at least one devoted subject, whatever may happen." + +"I believe that with all my heart," she answered, in a tone and with a +look of confidence and trust that thrilled me. Then she smiled very +slightly, and added: "Even one subject may make a kingdom; though I'm +sadly afraid I should not be the ruler of even such a realm." + +I longed to turn her jest to earnest, and assure her that if she did not +no one else ever should; but I pulled myself up on the verge, and +remembered that, after all, I was an impostor, though loyal enough to +her. And so I made no reply, and dared not even look at her. + +After a pause she rose, and, with what sounded like a half-suppressed +sigh, she went away. + +I let her go, and it was not until she had left the room that the +thought struck me that my silence might have seemed currish and +curmudgeonly. Then I would have gone after her and told her, and I made +a step toward the door; but the thought of what I should say and how to +explain my meaning stopped me, and as I hesitated Captain von Krugen +came in to resume the conference we had commenced during the drive from +the station. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +MY SCHEME DEVELOPS + + +I took von Krugen into my confidence as to my discoveries and plans. I +showed him the documents I had brought back from Munich; told him of my +meeting with Praga; the secret history of the duel which had ended young +Gustav's life; and, at the close, invited him to say plainly what he +thought of the counter-scheme, and of our chances of carrying it +through. + +"It is about the only chance," he said, "and once on the throne there is +no reason why the countess should not stay there." + +"On the contrary, there are two overpowering reasons--her own +disinclination, and the attitude of the Imperial authorities at Berlin." + +"There may be a third," he growled into his beard, looking sharply at +me. + +"What is that?" I asked, though I could almost guess his meaning. But he +turned the question adroitly. + +"That her Majesty would have little wish for a royal marriage with an +imperially selected consort chosen by Berlin. Her Majesty has a heart, +unfortunately, and God bless her for it." + +"That will be all as she pleases," said I quietly. "At any rate, our +purpose is to give her the opportunity of declining the throne, and to +save her from these villains who would hound her down." + +His face grew as dark as night. + +"God! if that villain ever dares to cross her path again, I'll run my +sword through his carcass, if I die the next minute; and if he doesn't +come near her, I'll seek him out the moment this business is through, +and make him fight me. He has put not one but a thousand insults on +me--and he a traitor all the time. And to think the Prince believed in +him implicitly to the last. And so did I." + +"Maybe the Prince had not the private knowledge of the man that I had, +nor had you," I said unguardedly. + +My companion started and looked at me in such surprise that I saw my +blunder in a moment. + +"You had known him previously?" he asked slowly. + +"I had known of him," I answered in a tone of indifference. "It's a long +story, and I may tell it you some day." + +"It is not for me to question your Highness, of course, but I should +never betray a confidence," he replied, piqued, as I thought, that I +said no more; and for the moment I was hugely tempted to tell him the +whole story. + +It might be enormous value to have a stanch ally in my full confidence +for the task I had to carry through; but, on the other hand, I could not +tell how such a man would care to take his orders from an ex-play-actor, +and I decided that I dared not run a risk at such a crisis. So I held my +tongue, and sat as if my thoughts were busy with our plans. + +"There is much to do, captain," I said at length, "and we must waste as +little time as possible in consultation. In the first place, we have to +keep open a means of communicating with Praga. Are you too well known +in Munich to go backward and forward?" + +"I fear so; but there is Steinitz. He is scarcely known at all there; +but he has not yet returned from where you sent him." + +I had forgotten altogether about him and his mission; and, now that the +matter was recalled to me, the length of his absence gave me an uneasy +twinge. There must be some very serious cause for so long a delay. + +"He should have been back some days ago," I replied slowly. "Probably he +will be here to-day or to-morrow, at latest, and that will be in time +for our purpose. I myself shall return to Munich in a day or two; but I +have purposely made no appointment as yet, and shall make none till the +eve of my going, because, if my absence from here were to be known in +advance, it might probably be the signal for some attempt against the +Countess Minna." + +"How shall you foil the attempt when it does come?" asked von Krugen. + +"By vigilance mainly; but I mean also to appear to play into this Baron +Heckscher's hands, while in reality forcing them. I shall see him and +tell him that all here will be in Munich two days before the Court ball. +That will give them time to make their plans to strike during those two +days. Further, my present idea is that for the whole of those two days +the character of the countess shall be doubled; this waiting-maid of +hers will be dressed precisely as she herself is dressed the whole time, +and, except when any one comes to the house who is in the house, and who +knows the countess on sight, the girl will be the countess to every one. +This means that the servants we take with us must be strangers, with +the exception of one or two on whom we can rely implicitly. And I depend +on you to make the selection." + +"There are several here for whom I would answer as for myself; but isn't +there a risk in so long a doubling of the parts?" + +"Maybe; but we must be content to take it. My object is so to arrange +matters that we ourselves shall virtually select the moment when they +will try to get hold of my cousin. Thus I shall make it quite plain to +them that during every moment of every hour she is in Munich she will be +strictly watched and guarded by us; but I shall manage to let a weak +link appear in the chain, and I have chosen this one. During the two +days I shall give it out that my cousin is not well, and can only +receive one or two persons. But there is to be a reception at the palace +by the King on the afternoon of the day of the Court ball, and I shall +let it appear that our vigilance must be relaxed on the return drive +from the palace to the house. It will seem an excellent opportunity for +them. But while the countess shall go herself to the reception, I shall +arrange for the maid to take her place on the return drive with the +Baroness Gratz, and my cousin will make a sufficient change of dress in +the retiring-rooms to enable her to leave the palace unknown." + +"But the Baroness Gratz?" + +"You have no doubt of her loyalty?" I asked sharply. "Speak out plainly +if you have." + +"None in the least. I have no cause. I meant, what of the danger to +her?" + +"There will be little or none. They may indeed be glad to let her get +away, while they will do her no harm even if they keep her prisoner. But +the points in favor of such a scheme outweigh all against it. It will +suit both them and us to have the abduction made as close to the time of +the ball as possible--them, because we should then have no time to make +a disturbance; us, because the shorter time we have to keep watch over +von Nauheim to prevent his finding out the deception the better. A few +hours later we shall be absolute masters of the situation." + +"It's a scheme that stirs one's blood," cried von Krugen warmly. "But +those few hours will be anxious ones." + +"Meanwhile the Duke Marx will have been caught in the toils set for him, +and will be in our power; the King will be taken at the ball, and thus +our whole course will be clear. The mimic ceremony of abdication will +take place, the cry will be raised for the Queen Minna, and just when +they are chuckling that she cannot be found I shall lead her forward and +put her in the place of honor, and make some sort of speech in her +name--probably to the effect that she will take time to consider her +course. They will be thus caught like rats in a hole they themselves +have undermined; and there will be a pretty tableau." + +"And then?" + +"Well, our first step will be to look out for ourselves. The attack on +me and you will commence at the moment they believe they have outwitted +us; and the danger will spread to us all the instant they find we have +outwitted them. But our holding of their duke as a hostage will disarm +them." + +"You are sure of Praga, and that he can get hold of the duke?" + +"I am sure of no one but you," I returned; "and of nothing except of +things as they occur from hour to hour. We can only lay our plans and +do our best to carry them out; but in such a case any instant may see +the unexpected happening, and the shipwreck of the best laid scheme. But +I like Praga's lever--a woman is a most useful mechanism when you +understand how to use her; and when I left Praga every vein of his was +burning with a raging lust for revenge. And he is a Corsican. But if +that part of the scheme fails, we must patch up another way, that's all. +I mean to be stopped by nothing." + +"By Heaven, but you're a man I love to follow!" cried my companion, his +eyes kindling with enthusiasm. + +Then I saw his expression change, and he peered curiously at me. + +"And to think you've never been anything but a student. One might think +you had lived in the atmosphere of intrigue all your life. The Prince +little knew you. He believed you were a milksop. How he would have loved +you for a man after his own heart. Some one must have been lying to him +sorely about you." + +"Dead slanders are of no import to us, captain, nor living flattery +either," I said shortly. "We have to plan out our respective work and to +set about doing it." + +And with that I told him precisely that part of the plan which would +fall to his share, and gave him suggestions as to the best way of +carrying it out. When I had fully instructed him, I sent him away, and +mapped out in my thoughts the further developments I had yet to plan. + +The absence of Steinitz gave me much uneasiness. It seemed so grossly +out of perspective that a big scheme such as was on hand should be +endangered by a trumpery little matter like the selling of a couple of +farms. Yet that was the fear I had. If Steinitz had been able to find +von Fromberg and to give him my message, he ought to have been back long +since; but if he had not found the man, I could not stop the sale of the +property. Yet if it went on it was almost certain that the old lawyer +would in some way get into communication with the men who were selling +the place for von Fromberg, and my identity would at once be questioned. + +I would have paid the money, of course, willingly enough; but obviously +I could not buy an estate from myself. Again, I could not get over the +difficulty in any such way as I had employed with Praga--that it was a +freak. + +The more I considered the thing the easier it appeared to me that I +might be tripped up and exposed through it; and when the whole of that +day passed without the return of Steinitz, my anxiety grew fast. + +He arrived on the following afternoon, but he brought no relief with +him. He had not found von Fromberg. He had gone to Charmes, and had +arrived there after the wedding had taken place, and then he had set out +to follow the bride and bridegroom on their tour. He had traced them +from hotel to hotel, to Nancy, Bar-le-Duc, Rheims, Amiens, and thence to +Paris; but in the French capital all sign of them was lost, and after +making many useless inquiries there he had deemed it best to return to +me and bring back the letter. I told him he had done right, but the +incident added to my disquiet. It was such a contemptibly little thing, +and yet, like a poisonous pin-prick, it threatened to gangrene the whole +venture. + +To add to my annoyance and perplexity, moreover, the old lawyer came to +me again on the following day to tell me that further negotiations had +taken place for the sale of the farms, and he pestered me to know +whether I really meant to sell them out of the family, and whether the +Count von Nauheim, as the Countess Minna's future husband, ought not to +be told of the matter. His manner showed that he had a suspicion that +something was being kept from him, and he resented it strongly. + +It was obvious, of course, that if he went to von Nauheim the latter +would jump at the chance of giving me trouble, and that if any +suspicions were even hinted to him the results might be exceedingly +awkward. Yet I could do nothing; and I was so irritated by the lawyer's +persistence that I sent him away with a sharp reply that if he wished to +retain my business he had better mind his own. + +I could see he was vastly astonished at this and I more than half +repented my words, but he had gone before I had quite recovered my +temper. It was unbearable, however, that just when I had all the weight +of a really important crisis on my shoulders I should be worried by a +trumpery thing of this sort. I let him go, therefore, and tried to +dismiss the matter from my thoughts, while I went on with the completion +of my plans. + +Everything else went as well as we could have wished. Minna herself +entered heart and soul into the work, and in the many interviews we had +during the next few days I could not have wished for a more loyal and +trusty ally. Our little confidential conferences drew us very close +together, moreover, and I saw with great delight that her spirits +brightened. + +The preparations for the critical work in Munich occupied her so fully +that her thoughts were taken away from the grief caused by the death of +her father, while the belief that success in our venture would open up a +new life for her by freeing her from the marriage with von Nauheim and +from the dreaded responsibilities of the throne raised hopes which +brought with them happiness such as she had not known for months. + +"I owe it all to you, cousin," she said once, for she grew to speak with +absolute candor and unrestraint to me. "If only you had come to Gramberg +earlier, I am sure you would have persuaded my father to abandon the +scheme altogether; although I think sometimes that----" + +"Well?" I asked when she paused. + +"That it is a good thing you did not come earlier." + +Her eyes were laughing, and the light in them was a pleasing thing to +see. + +"Perhaps it is. But why do you think so?" + +"You have a way of making unpleasant things pleasant; and you might have +persuaded me to do what he wished." + +"There are not many women who would need much persuasion to be a Queen." + +"Without conditions, perhaps." + +"There is one condition I would never have advocated," said I, raising +my eyes to hers. "But you will be a Queen after all, and we your humble +servants, wishful only to obey your royal commands." + +"I have settled one of the first uses I shall make of my power," she +said, looking up and speaking as if seriously. + +"And that will be?" + +"You will be the object of it. I shall issue an order in council--Privy +Council." + +"Privy Council! You are getting learned in the jargon of State. I am +afraid your Privy Council will be a very small one." + +"Yes," she cried, nodding her head and smiling. "We two. And the order +will be that my chief councillor shall tell me all the story of his +life. If you won't tell it to your cousin, you must tell it to your +Queen. And I know there are secrets in it. You think I don't take notice +of you, I suppose; and never know when your thoughts are slipping away +to the past and never see that you fence with my questions, and glide +away so cleverly from the little traps I lay. You mustn't think because +you would make me a Queen that I have ceased to be a woman--and, being a +woman, to be curious." + +"We have no time in these days----" + +"There you go," she laughed. "I know what you'll say. You never think of +the past because you are so busy thinking of all this business; that +when a man is planning a big scheme like this, and has all the details +to arrange, he has no time, etc., etc. But you have a secret, cousin +Hans--a secret that is never out of your thoughts; that has nothing to +do with all this fresh trouble and intrigue; that took you away from the +castle for two days just after you arrived; and that has written its +lines on your face. That may be because you can find no one to tell it +to. Of course you think of me only as a girl--you self-contained strong +men always do that--and that I should make no sort of a friend to be +trusted with secrets. And yet----" she paused, and laying her hand +gently on mine said softly and wistfully, "you have done so much for me +I should like to be a little help to you. Can I, cousin? I'm not Queen +yet, you know, and cannot command. I'm only a grateful girl, and can do +no more than ask." + +I was not a little disconcerted to find that she had been watching me so +closely, and I could not remain untouched by the last little appeal. But +I could not reply to it. + +"You are a stanch little comrade," I answered. "But we must put off the +story until the Queen commands," I answered, smiling. + +"That is at least an open postponement, if not a frank refusal. But the +Queen will command, cousin. I want to know why you would not come here +at the first; what made you change your mind; how it was that all our +ideas about you were wrong; why you are so different from what we all +expected--oh, there are a thousand questions that sting the tip of my +tongue with the desire to ask them." + +"You think a student cannot also be a man of affairs?" I said, divided +between pleasure at her interest in me and perplexity at her questions. + +"But you are not even a student. You never open a book; you never quote +things--ah, now you start because I have watched you. I can read your +eyes, although you think you can drape them with the curtains of +impassiveness. But your wit is not always on guard to draw the curtains +close enough. Yes, that's better; now they are saying nothing." + +All this time she had been looking straight into my eyes, and laughing +in gleeful triumph. And I found it embarrassing enough. Then she changed +suddenly, and said: + +"Does my teasing worry you and weary you, cousin? I can school my +curiosity if it does. But you will tell me all some day?" + +"Is that schooling it?" I asked, and she laughed again. "Yes, I will +tell you some day what there may be to tell. But it could do no good to +do so yet." + +"Is it a sad secret?" she began again after half a minute's silence, and +would no doubt have gone on with her pretty cross-examination had we +not, fortunately for me, been interrupted by a servant, who brought word +that Steinitz, whom I had sent to Munich, had returned, and was asking +to see me instantly. + +"I hope there is no trouble?" said Minna, looking alarmed. + +"I anticipate none; no more, that is, than that we must break off our +conference." + +"You have given me your promise," she said. + +"I ought to have made a condition--that you do not read me quite so +carefully," I answered lightly as I rose. + +"Then I have read aright? To me your eyes are as books." + +"Yet you must be careful how you read them," said I. + +"Why?" + +"You may chance on the chapter with your name at the head." + +"I wish I could," and she laughed and her eyes brightened. "I would give +the world to know whether it is headed Queen of Bavaria or cousin Minna. +Which is it? Tell me, at least, so much." + +"It may be neither," I answered ambiguously; but she seemed to +understand something of my meaning, and to be pleased, for her cheeks +were aglow with color as I hurried away. + +Steinitz was awaiting me impatiently. + +"There is ugly news, your Highness," he said shortly. "I saw Praga early +this morning, and he bade me urge you to hurry at once to Munich. He +has got wind of a move on the other side, which he prefers to tell to +you alone. He will meet you to-morrow at noon where you met before, and +he declares that the strictest vigilance must be used in regard to the +countess, especially while you are away from the castle, and that your +visit to the city should be made with the greatest secrecy." + +"He told you nothing more of what he had discovered?" + +"No more than I say. But I gathered his meaning to be that an attempt of +some kind is imminent to get the countess out of our hands here." + +This was likely enough, but I did not take so serious a view of the +matter as Praga, because I felt that when I had explained our movements +to Baron Heckscher he would be almost sure to select the moment when the +thing could apparently be done with the least risk of discovery, and +that would be at the last moment, when Minna returned from the palace +after the reception. + +At the same time I would go to Munich. I had already planned to go there +on the following day in any event, and had announced my intention; but I +settled to start at once. I sent for von Krugen and told him, charging +him to keep the strictest watch over Minna; and after a very brief +interview with her, in which she showed the liveliest concern for my +safety, mingled, as it pleased me to think, with regret at our +separation, I started with Steinitz on what I knew might be a critical +expedition. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +A CHECK + + +Matters were now hurrying fast to a crisis; and I hoped the result of my +journey would be to complete all my preparations, and leave me nothing +to do but return to escort Minna to Munich. So far all had gone well +enough. I had no reason to think that either Heckscher or von Nauheim +had the remotest idea that I knew of their treachery; and it was, of +course, of the very essence of my plan that they should remain in +ignorance. On this account I was unwilling to meet Praga again +personally, and I resolved therefore to send Steinitz to him as soon as +we reached Munich to tell him my intentions, and to get from him in +return what he believed to be the Ostenburg move. I myself went straight +to Baron Heckscher. He received me with apparent cordiality; but it was +not difficult to see that as the day of the crisis drew near his anxiety +was growing. + +"All is going well, I hope," I said, after I had greeted him. "We have +all our preparations made." + +"All is going very well," he replied. "But you are a day earlier in +Munich than we anticipated." + +"I have not come to remain," I answered, "although I have some important +business. My cousin is not well; and her nerves are giving way as the +day approaches. I have difficulty in keeping her courage up. Like a +woman, she has some foolish fear that at the last moment something will +happen to her--some disaster to overthrow her. But I have nearly +conquered that fear, I trust." + +"How?" + +"She associates the fear with her visit here, and I have assured her +that night and day, every hour and every minute, she herself will be +surrounded by absolutely stanch friends who would give their lives for +her. The death of her brother just at the moment when success seemed to +be within grasp is frightening her. Nor is that unnatural, especially +when we reflect that her nerves have again been strained by her father's +death." + +My words had the effect I desired. It did not suit his plans that Minna +should be guarded in this way. + +"The Countess is not ill, I trust," he said after a pause. + +"Oh, no, not positively ill. But she is very young, and so full of +alarms that even I myself am inclined at times to question the wisdom of +all this." Perceiving the value of the line I had taken, I went on to +make the most of it. "Indeed, I want some very confidential talk with +you. You understand that I am resolved to go on, and I have not breathed +a word to suggest to her that there is even an alternative course; but +there are two points on which I wish to consult you. In the first place, +is it quite impracticable to abandon the thing? I am convinced my cousin +would only too gladly renounce all claim to the throne." + +He looked at me sharply and with manifest consternation. + +"It is absolutely impossible, Prince, absolutely," he said emphatically. +"But you are not in earnest. Why, it would be madness, sheer madness to +think of such a thing. Since you were here we have sounded men in all +directions, and there is not one who is not enthusiastic at the idea of +getting rid once and for all of this madman." + +"But my cousin can only make a weak Queen at the best." + +"My dear Prince, her weakness will be the strength of the country. Our +great object is not so much to change the person of the ruler as to +break the traditions of the ruler's power--to put on the throne some one +whose title will rest, not on any right divine, but on the people's +power and will and choice. A woman will thus be far more dependent on +the people than a man. Prince, the countess cannot draw back." + +"But supposing she were willing to acquiesce in the election of the +Ostenburg heir, and thus unite all sections of the people?" + +"It is impossible, equally impossible!" he exclaimed readily. "It would +be a betrayal of us all. It is not to be thought of." + +I sat as if thinking this over, but in truth this prompt rejection of +the means to do fairly what I knew he was plotting to do by foul had +filled me with anger. + +"And what would be the immediate consequences of a withdrawal?" I asked. + +"Do you mean the personal consequences to the countess and yourself?" he +asked, with a suggestion of contempt for such a consideration. + +"I mean to all concerned." + +"What could but be the consequences where three-fourths of a nation had +been worked up to desire a revolution and found themselves cheated at +the last moment by the--the timorousness of those in whose name and for +whose sake the whole movement has been carried out? The badge of +cowardice is a hard one to bear, Prince, and the anger of a disappointed +people would not lighten the disgrace." + +"We are no cowards, Baron Heckscher," I replied warmly, as if stung by +his taunt. + +"Then you must not so act that people may mistake you." + +"We will not," I returned, with an air of angry decision. + +"I was sure of it, and am only sorry you thought it necessary even to +moot the suggestion. But now what is your second point? Not another +objection, I hope." + +"It is merely to discuss with you the last arrangements. Under the +circumstances you will, I am sure, see the necessity for making them as +simple as possible--indeed, my cousin's health will not permit anything +else." + +"Up to the moment of our great coup they cannot possibly be too simple. +Anything else would be a great mistake. Up till somewhere about midnight +of this day week, Wednesday next, the countess is of course no one but +the very charming young lady that I am assured she is--I mean she is a +private person. In that capacity she will attend the reception, and in +order that there may be no suspicion attaching to her making a public +appearance so soon after her father's death it has been arranged that a +special desire for her attendance shall be expressed by the King. She +will merely attend, kiss hands, and pass through the presence chamber, +and leave the palace at once, should it be desired. She can return home +and go to the ball, where she should be at about ten o'clock. She must +be at hand of course when the great drama is played in which we are to +take part. When the Act of Abdication has been read, you will lead her +forward. That is all. We shall do the rest." + +"And what will follow then?" + +"I think she will stay at the palace. It is just in the few hours +succeeding that scene that we shall have to be alert. The King will be +missing, and a Council of State will be called on the following morning, +when she will be proclaimed to the country. After that, events will +settle themselves rapidly. We are prepared with a petition to the +Imperial authorities, which will be signed by nearly every man of +influence in the country, to recognize the succession and validate the +abdication." + +"But that Act of the King will surely be found to be a forgery?" I said. + +My companion smiled and shook his head. + +"On the contrary, it will be genuine. We should not use such clumsy +means as forgery. We have it already written. For once his Majesty's +lunacy has done his subjects a good service," he said bitterly. "He was +minded recently to play a farce of abdication in favor of one of his +hounds, declaring with his customary facetiousness that the Bavarians +were dogs, and a fit King for them would be a hound. Accordingly he held +what he was pleased to call a Privy Council--consisting of himself and +his dogs. But those about him knew their business, and when he thought +he had abdicated in favor of his dog they fooled him to the top of his +bent, but drew the document in such a way that the insertion of the +countess's name would be an easy matter. The addition of a date will +make everything complete; and thus when the madman thought he was only +insulting his people, he was in fact signing away his throne. He had +this dog, a clever poodle, seated in the chair in the Council Chamber, +garbed in State robes, and crowned with the crown of Bavaria. I tell +you, Prince, that one act would stir the blood of even a nation of +cravens--and we Bavarians are no cowards. My blood boils at the +thought," he cried, clenching his fist, while his eyes flashed, and his +face, usually immobile and cold, lighted up with the fires of passion. + +I joined him in a hot outburst of indignation. + +"But the time is past for mere anger," he said presently. "We are +resolved to act; and that farce of his shall cost him dear. As to +Berlin, so soon as we have driven home the conviction that we are in +dead earnest, and that practically the whole country is with us, there +will be no opposition. The usual official intimation will be published +that the King's health has failed, and the rest follows naturally." + +"But you are forgetting the Ostenburg interest." + +"I forget nothing, Prince," he replied, somewhat curtly. "I know the +public feeling. The very inaction they are showing will make the Duke +Marx impossible in the eyes of the people. While the country has been +writhing and suffering under the insults and iniquities of this madman, +what have the Ostenburgs done? Has one of them raised a finger to help +the people or protest against this royal mumming? Has any one of them +said a word? And how do you suppose the nation is to interpret that +silence and inaction, except as approval of what has been done? They had +the better right of succession and a strong following on their side; +they have forfeited the one by their apathy and have lost the other as a +consequence;" and he went on to give many reasons for this conclusion. + +"I admit," he said at the close, "there will be some anxious hours just +after the Countess Minna is proclaimed; but, with all the will in the +world, they can do nothing. I tell you there is nothing can stay our +success nor shake your cousin's seat on the throne when she has once +taken it." + +I allowed myself to appear to share his convictions, even while I +marvelled at the depth of his duplicity, and I then told him the plan of +our movements. He listened closely, and made several suggestions which I +said we would adopt; and he quite acquiesced in my view that during the +time Minna was to be in Munich she should remain in the greatest +seclusion, giving audience only to himself and two or three others. + +When I left him my task in Munich was practically finished, so far as he +was concerned; but he advised me to attend a reception at the palace on +the following day but one, the Friday, and I agreed. I felt sure I had +left the impression I had gone to create--that their best time for +abducting Minna would be at the moment of her return from the palace; +and I completed my arrangements on that basis. + +Steinitz was waiting for me at the hotel with an important communication +from Praga, giving me the particulars of an intended attempt to carry +off Minna from Gramberg during the night; and though it seemed to me a +mad scheme enough, and pretty certain to be abandoned after my interview +with Baron Heckscher, I despatched Steinitz post-haste back to the +castle to put von Krugen on his guard. Whether it were abandoned or not, +the fact that we had knowledge of it would render it certain to fail, +and I felt no great anxiety on that score. + +But I soon had cause for anxiety in another direction. The two men whom +I had asked to visit Gramberg had not been there, and we were, in fact, +perilously short-handed for all the work that had to be done. I was the +more anxious, too, to get extra help because of a weak spot in my plans, +which I could not remedy without further assistance. + +If the Ostenburg agents held the person of the King, and I checkmated +them at the last moment by producing Minna and keeping their duke in +confinement, there was a chance that they might counter my stroke by +bringing the mad King back on the scene, and thus checkmate me in turn. +The only means of preventing this would be to secure that those who held +the King in custody should be loyal to Minna; and it was for this part +of the scheme that I had hoped to make use of the two men, Kummell and +Beilager. I set out to find them, therefore. + +I chanced upon them together at the house of Kummell, and it did not +take me a minute to perceive that there was a decided restraint in their +manner toward me. I had meant to be perfectly frank with them, telling +them, indeed, all I knew; but their attitude made this impossible, and +for a moment I was at a loss what line to take. While gaining time to +think, I talked at large upon the importance of the affair generally, +and at length asked them point-blank why they had not been to Gramberg. + +"We have been very busy," replied Kummell, who spoke for both; and the +answer was rather curtly given. + +"Scarcely a sufficient reason, gentlemen, in an affair of this sort," I +replied in quite as curt a tone, "nor, I presume, the only one." + +They hesitated, and glanced at one another. + +"I think you must excuse us if we do not answer the question. In point +of fact, I am not yet in a position to do so." + +"I cannot understand you, and, under the circumstances, I must really +press you very closely to be frank with me," I urged; and, although they +still hesitated and equivocated, I was resolved not to leave without an +answer, and I told them as much. + +"You put us in a very awkward position, indeed, but the fact is we had +intended to make the visit, and had fixed the day, when we were advised +not to do so by Herr Bock." + +"And who is Herr Bock, pray?" + +So utterly unsuspicious was I of any possible mischief that I put a good +deal of indignation into the question. Yet it was a blunder of the +grossest kind, and the reply astounded me utterly. + +"Herr Bock is your own lawyer, who has been negotiating the sale to me +of your late mother's property." + +That confounded property again! + +My four years' training on the stage stood me in good stead now, and I +masked my surprise with a laugh as I exclaimed: + +"Oh, that Bock! I did not know it was you who were contemplating a +purchase. But why should that keep you away from Gramberg? Were you +afraid that a look at the property would put you out of conceit with the +bargain, or that I should charge you more, thinking you were growing +eager?" + +But there was more in this than a laugh could carry off. + +"No, but he has been in communication with your old family lawyer, and +together they say or think they are on the track of some kind of strange +complication which I believe in some way touches yourself; how I do not +know, but Bock advised me to wait." + +"This has a somewhat serious sound, sir," I said, sternly enough to +cover my apprehension. + +"I cannot help that. You asked me, pressed me, indeed, for an answer to +your question. In times like these you will understand I feel great need +to be cautious--overcautious perhaps you may deem it. But still here it +is." + +"And what is the nature of this supposed ridiculous complication?" + +"You must excuse me if I say no more. You know Herr Bock's address here +in Munich." + +The scent was getting warm. + +"I shall of course see him," I answered readily. "And I will find a +short method of dealing with a couple of meddlesome attorneys as soon as +this business of next week is through. And what then do you propose to +do?" + +"I think we had better not discuss any matters except in the presence of +Baron Heckscher." + +I rose to leave. I had met with my first serious check. + +"I thought I could have relied implicitly upon your loyalty to the House +of Gramberg," I said loftily. + +"To the House of Gramberg, yes," was the answer, stolidly spoken, yet +with a significance I could not mistake. + +I went back to my hotel angry and apprehensive. I could have twisted von +Fromberg's neck for his maladroitness in hurrying to sell his property, +and then getting beyond my reach and keeping there. + +Moreover, I could not see what to do. These two bungling old fools of +lawyers had no doubt been comparing notes, and probably comparing the +different handwritings of von Fromberg and myself; and had hatched a +pretty cock-and-bull story about me. Probably they were already making +all sorts of inquiries. Yet I dared not go and face the man Bock. I +could not tell if he had ever seen von Fromberg. If he had, he would +proclaim me an impostor straight away; and Heaven only knew what the +consequences of such a step would be at such a time. + +On the other hand the two men I had just left were obviously suspicious +of me. Knowing nothing of the double plot, it was as likely as not that +they viewed me as some kind of spy and traitor, either from the mad +King's party or the Ostenburgs; and they would go blabbing their +suspicions to every one else. And all through that greedy renegade von +Fromberg. + +I paced my room like a caged beast, searching every nook and cranny of +my mind for some device to stop these fools of lawyers. Everything might +be jeopardized. This pair of blundering meddlers might even now be in +Charmes, and face to face with the real man; and the truth might come +flashing over the wires at any moment. + +But all my anger brought me no nearer a solution. There was just one +chance--that von Fromberg might stay away on his honeymoon long enough +to get us over the business of the next week, and to that fragile reed I +must trust. Certainly I myself must not take the time necessary to go to +Charmes, and as certainly there was no one I could trust with the +secret. There was nothing for it, therefore, but to wait, and be +resolved to fight when the time came. + +I was in this state of excitement when a servant came and said a lady +wished to see me. + +"A lady?" I cried in astonishment. "What is her name? It must be a +mistake. There can be no one----Stay; show her up," I broke off, for it +occurred to me that after all there might be some one with information +to give or sell; or, perhaps, a messenger from Praga. It would do no +harm to see her. + +She came in very closely veiled, and very beautifully, if very showily, +dressed. + +"You wish to see me, madam? What is your name?" + +She stood silent until the servant had left the room; and I looked at +her with considerable curiosity. + +"So you are the Prince von Gramberg. I trust your Highness is in +excellent health." + +Despite the mocking accent, I could recognize the voice, though I could +not recall the speaker. It was certainly no one whom I ought to have +known as the Prince von Gramberg, and I accordingly made ready for +another unpleasant surprise. + +"I am sorry I cannot recall your name. I think I have heard your voice; +it is too sweet to forget." + +It is never wrong to flatter a woman. + +My visitor stamped her foot angrily. + +"Yes, you know my voice, and used to like to hear it." + +The little impatient angry gesture told me who she was--Clara Weylin, +the actress, who had pestered my life out at Frankfort and had vowed to +be revenged on me for slighting her. + +I wondered what particular strain of ill luck had brought her across my +path at this juncture, and I wished her and her pretty face and sweet +voice at the other end of the earth. + +The coils were indeed drawing closer round me. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE ABDUCTION + + +For another week at least I dared not make an enemy of my altogether +unexpected and vastly unwelcome visitor, so I answered her with a smile, +and went to greet her with outstretched hand, as though glad enough to +renew our old acquaintance. + +"I know you now," I said cordially. "Of course it is my old friend and +comrade Clara Weylin. This is an unexpected pleasure," said I warmly. + +But she stepped back, and did not take my hand. + +"Unexpected, no doubt; but pleasure, scarcely. You were not much of an +actor at any time; but that would not take in a fool. You are very much +astonished to see me, and equally angry; so you may as well acknowledge +it." + +She tapped her foot again angrily. Next she removed an outer veil, which +she had of course put on to mystify me on her entrance; and she stood +staring me in the face with a look of defiant hostility. + +I shrugged my shoulders, and said: + +"You are always more beautiful in a passion, Clara; but I'm sorry to +find you in one now with me. Won't you sit down and tell me all about +yourself?" + +And I recalled regretfully our last interview, and bitterly deplored my +stupidity in not having answered her letter. An angry woman, knowing +what she knew, could do no end of mischief at this juncture. + +"The chief thing about myself, as you say," she exclaimed spitefully, +"is that my feelings toward you have changed. I was your friend then, +now I will be your enemy." + +"Then I am very sorry to hear it"--and the tone was genuine enough. +"But, under the circumstances, why take the trouble to come and tell me +so?" + +"Because I wished to see your Highness, to observe how your Highness +bore your great honors, and to bask in the radiant light of your +Highness's eyes--ugh! Your Highness, indeed!" + +I began to hope. Her bitterness was so very bitter that I thought some +of it at least might be assumed. + +"How do you play at that game, Clara?" I laughed. "While you are +'basking,' what should I do?" + +"Not flatter me with lies about being glad to see me," she burst out +angrily, "when you would rather have seen the devil." + +"I won't go so far as that," said I lightly. "I don't admire the devil, +and I always did admire you, though, if you wish me to be candid, I +would much rather have seen you at another time." + +"Perhaps after you are married," she cried, with a vicious glance. + +"I did not say I wished never to see you again," I returned. + +"You used not to lie even by implication in the old days," she said, +showing she understood me. + +"Nor you to insult me without implication," I retorted. "But I wish you +would sit down. It is just as easy to be an enemy sitting as standing." + +She sat down, and I thought her expression was a little less wrathful. + +"Now, then, just tell me plainly why you think it worth while to come +here, why you are such an enemy, and what particular injury you think +and wish to do me?" + +"Much more than you seem to imagine," she exclaimed sharply, her eyes +flashing again. + +The answer pleased me, for it seemed to show that I was successfully +concealing the alarm which her visit had caused. Certainly I must not +let her have an inkling of the fact that she could really do any harm. + +"You are a most incomprehensible creature, my dear Clara. During the +years I knew you I paid you as high a compliment as a man can pay a +woman--by holding you in the highest esteem and entertaining for you the +most honorable admiration. And you repay it--by this." + +"You flouted and laughed at me and scorned me," she cried vehemently. + +"You mean I did not make love to you. Let us be frank with one another. +Being what I was, I could not make love to you honorably; and because I +held you in too high esteem to do so dishonorably will you say I scorned +you?" + +"Your Highness kept the fact of your noble birth very secret," she +snapped, with an accent on the "highness" I did not like. + +I began to fear how much she knew. + +"I had the strongest reasons, but it was not done to make so clever a +woman as yourself my enemy." + +"Then you succeeded unwittingly. One of the prerogatives of your sudden +and unexpected inheritance." + +"Well, we are fighting the air--an unprofitable waste of effort. If you +won't tell me, as a friend, anything about yourself, then, as an enemy, +tell me in what way I can oblige you by letting you injure me?" + +She laughed unpleasantly. + +"So you are not altogether free from alarm that I can injure you? You +are right; I can." + +"All Munich is open to you," I answered, with a show of indifference. + +"Why do you want my Duke Marx lured out of the way next Wednesday?" + +She dealt the thrust so sharply and watched me so keenly that I +marvelled at my own self-control in hiding all sign of my consternation. + +"Who is your Duke Marx, and what on earth do you mean?" I asked, my wits +busy with the thoughts which the question started. + +If she was the decoy on whom Praga relied, she was in love with him, and +her motive in coming to me was just sheer revenge and woman's rage. She +held the very kernel of my scheme in her hands, and could blight it in a +moment, revealing everything to the other side. Perhaps she had done so +already. What a fool Praga had been to trust such a woman! And yet how +was I to gauge the power and extent of her love for him, and say to what +it might not drive her? All this rushed through my head to the +accompaniment of the soft, musical, mocking laugh with which she greeted +my question. + +"I thought you did not lie by implication," she said. + +"I thought so, too," I answered, speaking at random, and waiting for a +cue from her. + +"You are a clever man, Prince--if Prince you really are, and not merely +a daring adventurer--but you have left out of your calculations what a +woman's revenge may do." + +"My dear Clara, we all expect the unexpected in a way, and never prepare +for it." I rose from my chair as if to close the interview. "Whatever +you wish to do, please go at once and do it." + +"I will," she replied, rising also and going to the door. + +If she left the room the plan would be at an end. I felt that, and I +would have given all I had in the world to feel able to stop her. But I +dared not show a sign of weakness. I should be in her power forever, and +the scheme would be wrecked that way. + +I held the door open for her, keeping my face set and expressionless. + +At the door she turned and looked at me, right into my eyes, when our +faces were within a few inches of one another. + +"You will be sorry for this!" she cried, almost between her teeth. + +"I never regret my decisions, except as they injure others," I replied +coldly. + +She started, and stamped her foot, and still stood staring hard at me. I +thought I knew the struggle that was shaking her. It was a fight whether +her old hate for me or her new love for Praga was the stronger. Her +excitement and passion increased with every second that the contest +endured. + +"I hate you!" she cried vehemently. "I hate you, and I can ruin you!" + +I made no sign of having even heard the words. I thought she was going, +when suddenly her love gained a sweeping victory. + +With impetuous force she wrenched the door from me, and slammed it to +with great violence, and seemed almost as if she would strike me in the +face. + +"You are a coward and a bully!" she exclaimed hysterically. "You only +act like this because you know I dare not do what is in my power." + +Then she turned and rushed back to her seat, where she covered her face +and burst into a storm of passionate tears. + +I took a curious course. I left the room. I did not wish her to think I +had been gloating over her defeat. I scribbled a hasty note that I had +been called away, and should be glad to see her another time, and left +this to be given to her. + +This interview had the necessary effect of increasing my uneasiness +materially. Each day seemed now to be revealing a fresh weak spot, and +the chances of failure were growing fast. Now it was not only the +failure of the plot that threatened us, but the disgrace of personal +exposure. + +I had had no dishonorable motives in the personation of the Prince von +Gramberg; but the consequences threatened to be entirely embarrassing, +and, had there been no one else to consider but myself, I should have +thrown the thing up there and then. But there was Minna, and her +helpless and precarious position made retreat, on my part, quite +impossible. It would be dishonorable to think of myself at such a time, +while every chivalrous instinct in my nature made me keenly anxious to +secure her safety. + +But I must see Praga, and hear from him precisely how matters stood in +regard to Clara Weylin, and how far she was likely to betray us. With +much difficulty, and in the face of considerable risk of my +communications with the Corsican being discovered, I succeeded in +getting the interview with him. He came to my hotel disguised, and after +much trouble in shaking off the spies, who, he declared, were now +always dogging his footsteps. + +Matters were as I had surmised. The actress was in love with him, and +they were to be married. They had played often in Munich, and the Duke +Marx von Ostenburg had become infatuated with her. He was persecuting +her with proposals, and was in that calf stage in which he would do +anything, and risk anything, at her mere bidding. There was not the +least doubt in the world, declared Praga, that the woman could lure him +anywhere she pleased with such a bait as she would pretend to offer. The +two had, indeed, concocted a pretty little scheme between them, in while +she and the duke were to be together, Praga, as the injured lover, was +to interrupt them. Then they calculated that the duke, to save his +skin--for his courage was not of very high quality--would consent to do +anything that might be demanded. + +The actress had come to Munich to put the matter in course, and, hearing +of me only incidentally as the Prince von Gramberg, she had no suspicion +that I was in reality the Heinrich Fischer against whom she had always +nurtured her revenge, until a chance meeting with me in the street had +revealed this to her. + +I told him, of course, all that had passed between us, and questioned +him closely as to what she was now likely to do. He declared his +readiness to answer for her as for himself; and I had no alternative but +to be contented with that pledge. Then we discussed many other points of +the plan, and so arranged that there need not be another interview, +unless unforeseen mishaps arose. + +Before he left my momentary hesitation had passed, and I resolved to go +on, and to trust to my wits to get out of any awkward consequences that +might come. But those few days in Munich were among the most trying of +any in my life. I passed them in a fever of suspense, anticipating all +sorts of trouble; constantly on my guard; suspecting every one with whom +I came in contact; and in such a condition of strain and tension that, +when I returned to Gramberg to fetch Minna, she could not but notice +with deep concern how worn and anxious I looked. + +"This is wearing you out, cousin Hans," she said very gently. "You look +more like a student now, and one who has been burning far too much +midnight oil." + +"There are only two or three days now, and then the worst will be over," +I replied cheerfully; but I would have given the world to have been able +to tell her what was my chief anxiety. "Munich does not agree with me, I +think." + +She looked at me searchingly. + +"Is it that secret of yours?" she asked quietly. "When will you share it +with me?" + +"Probably after Wednesday," I answered, smiling. "But you will believe +me loyal to you whether you hear it or not?" + +"Loyal? A quick way to make me an enemy would be for any one to hint the +contrary." + +"You may have your faith tested yet." + +"Does the secret concern me, then?" she asked quickly, adding, with a +smile, "I think I am glad if it does. I thought----" + +And she stopped. I hoped I could guess the thought. + +"It touches the whole question of my loyalty to you and my presence +here." + +"Then I do not want to hear it. I would trust you if the whole world +turned against you, and sought to turn me also. I do not care now what +it may be," she said earnestly, so earnestly that she brought the color +in a great rush to my face, and while still flushed in this way she +asked: "You do not think anything could shake me?" + +"No, I do not," and my love was very near declaring itself as I spoke. + +On the journey to Munich her manner to me was so gentle, and tender, and +confiding that I scarcely ventured to look at her lest she should read +in my eyes the later secret that I was now guarding even more jealously +than the former; and in Munich I would not trust myself to be alone with +her during the day and a half that preceded the ball. + +We stayed in the large mansion in the middle of the town that now +belonged to her and had been the residence of the late Prince; and while +there we carried out to the letter the plans I had arranged. + +Only a few persons came to see Minna--Baron Heckscher and one or two +others. Von Nauheim called, but she refused to see him, pleading +illness. + +During the whole of that time we kept the strictest and closest guard +over her, watching vigilantly day and night. The house might have been +in a state of siege, indeed. But no attempt was made to approach her, +and I gathered therefore that the other side had taken my bait and had +chosen the moment for their attempt which I wished. + +The maid who was to personate her on the return ride from the reception +was coached and drilled in every particular of her part; and every +detail even of dress was most carefully considered and decided. + +I began to feel that after all my fears had been premature, for not a +hint or suggestion was dropped anywhere to show that any further +discovery about myself had been made. But none the less I was in a +condition of much inward concern when we started for the reception at +the palace, Minna, the Baroness Gratz, and myself being in the carriage. + +Everything went without a hitch, however. I was in the presence chamber +when Minna kissed hands, and it was with a feeling of genuine pleasure +that I noticed almost immediately afterward Baron Heckscher making his +way to me. He came up and engaged me in conversation, and I knew that +his object was to keep me occupied so that Minna would leave the palace +without my escort. I raised no difficulty; and entered into a vigorous +argument with him on some point about which I knew little and cared +less. + +When he thought he had kept me long enough to serve his purpose he left +me and I strolled slowly through the magnificent rooms, taking heed of +the many quick glances directed at me; and I walked out to the entrance +hall. I wasted a little more time there before I told the servants to +call my carriage and inquire for my cousin. + +More minutes passed, and presently they came and told me my carriage had +already gone and the Countess Minna in it. I made a show of annoyance at +this; and then some one came forward with the offer of his carriage. I +declined it, of course. Now that they believed they had Minna, I might +look for an attack on myself at any moment. + +I had told von Krugen to be ready in the lobbies to watch for Minna in +her changed dress and to see that she reached home safely and secretly; +for we had determined that after all it would be best for her to return +in her disguise to the Gramberg house rather than go to any other place. +As I could see no trace of him anywhere, I concluded Minna had already +gone, and I set out on foot. + +I was very anxious, of course, to learn the result of the plan, and it +was with infinite satisfaction that I met von Krugen and learned from +him that Minna was safe in the house, and that the carriage with the +Baroness Gratz and the servant had not returned. + +The next thing was to simulate our agitation on account of Minna's +supposed absence; and my task was to find von Nauheim and keep him under +such observation as would prevent his getting to see the girl who had +been carried off in Minna's place, and so find out the trick we had +played. + +After waiting half an hour I changed my Court dress, took my +sword-stick, thrust my revolver into my pocket, for I did not know what +I might have to face, and set out. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +A TREACHEROUS ATTACK + + +It was not until I was being driven to von Nauheim's house that I saw a +blunder in my plan. I ought not to have left the palace at all, nor to +have allowed von Nauheim to be for one moment out of my sight. I had +seen him while I was in conversation with the baron; and he had, indeed, +appeared to keep near me ostentatiously. This I attributed to his wish +to make me dissociate him from the attempt on Minna; and I knew he was +at the palace when I left. But he had now had half an hour's grace, and +it was obvious that I might have trouble in finding him, and, further, +that he might use the time to get to see Minna's double, supposing she +had not been carried too far away. My suspense during the short drive +was very keen. While all was going so well, I myself had endangered the +whole scheme by this act of incredible shortsightedness. But at his +house I was relieved. When I inquired for him, the servant told me he +was at home. + +"Has he been long back from the palace?" I asked indifferently. + +"Not very long, your Highness; about half an hour," said the man. + +I breathed freely once more. It was better luck than I had deserved. + +"Show me to him at once," I said sharply. + +The room was empty when I entered, and the man explained that his master +was dressing, and that he would announce my visit. Suspicious of +trickery in even small things, I kept the room door open lest von +Nauheim should attempt to slip away while I was shut up inside it. But +he made no attempt of the sort, and after keeping me waiting long enough +to try my patience he came in smiling and wearing an air of insolent +triumph. + +"Ah, Prince, so you've come to pay me a visit, eh? I thought you were +never going to enter my doors again. My man told me it was urgent +business, too. You look a bit out of sorts. What's up?" + +"I come with very serious news," I said. + +"Egad, you look it, too," he broke in. "What's the matter?" + +"That our whole scheme has fallen through. My cousin, I have every +reason to fear, has been carried off by the Ostenburg agents." + +"Carried off by the Ostenburgs! why, man, what nonsense is this?" he +cried, with an air of incredulity. "Half an hour ago she was kissing +that lunatic's hand." + +"Nevertheless what I say is true. When she left the throne-room she and +the Baroness Gratz entered the carriage to return home, and the carriage +has never reached the house. I cannot account for it," I cried, as if +amazed and baffled. "That is the only moment she has not been under the +strictest guard and watch. But she has gone, and what can it mean but +that they have got her?" + +"You mean to say you were so foolish as to let her drive through Munich +alone, or, rather, with no one but a silly old woman with her, on a day +like this, and at such a crisis. Well, you took the responsibility of +guarding her, and must put up with the consequences. But I can't believe +it." + +"The thing is just as I say," I answered, watching him closely. + +He pretended to think, then he shook his head and replied: + +"You must have jumped to a wrong conclusion altogether. The thing's +monstrous. I expect she's just ordered the coachman to drive about the +city a bit to show off her fine clothes, and is back by this time." + +"You know her too well to think anything of the sort. She has a very +clear knowledge of the dangers surrounding her." + +"Then you shouldn't have taken her out of my control. And why do you +come to me? The last time you were here you made quite a theatrical +scene, after which you and I were to be strangers, I thought. Why, then, +come to me now?" + +"You have an even closer interest in this part of the plot than any one +else. She is your promised wife; and it was my duty to acquaint you +first with what had happened, and get your assistance in any search to +be made." + +"You're wonderfully mindful of your duty all of a sudden," he sneered, +"Now that you've got us into this mess, you come whining to me to get +you out of it." + +"I've come out of no regard for you," I answered warmly. + +"You've come quite as willingly as I welcome you. Believe that. And what +do you want me to do?" + +"You had better join with me in searching for her." + +"Thank you--for less than nothing. I am to be put to the trouble of +trying to find her in order that you may once more have the pleasure of +keeping her away from me. I think you had better go and do your own +spy-work." + +We were each deceiving the other, though I had the clew to his attitude, +and we were both wasting time in quarrelling which, had we been in +earnest, we should have been only too eager to spend in the search. My +motive was of course so to occupy his time that he would have no time to +go to the girl; and his object was to keep me as long as possible from +making inquiries to trace Minna. I let him appear to have his way, and +we spent over an hour wrangling, disputing, and recriminating. + +At last he exclaimed that it was no use for us to quarrel; we had better +go and tell the news to Baron Heckscher and consult him. So long as we +remained together, I did not care where we went nor whom we saw; and +after he had occupied a very long time in changing his dress again--time +wasted purposely, of course--we drove to the baron's house. + +He was a far better actor than von Nauheim, and his consternation and +anger were excellently assumed. + +"It is ruin to everything. How could you allow it, Prince? We have +placed the most precious charge in your hands, have left to you what it +was your right, as the only male relative of the countess, to claim, the +most delicate work of protecting the person of our future Queen; and now +this has happened. I am astounded, dismayed, completely baffled. I had +not the faintest idea that even a soul among the whole Ostenburg circle +had a thought of what we were planning; and now, just when everything is +all but ripe, this calamity has fallen like a thunderbolt." + +And he continued to lament in this fashion at great length and with most +voluble energy--an exceedingly artistic waste of much further time. + +"Heaven knows what may happen next," he cried later on. "If these men +get wind who has been in the plot, the whole city will be red with +murder. For God's sake, Prince, be careful. You must be of course +associated with the unfortunate countess as her relative and as the late +Prince's successor, and I warn you most solemnly to be on your guard, +most careful and vigilant." + +It was a clever stroke, and I understood it well enough. I was to be +attacked, but my suspicions of any complicity on his part were to be +silenced by this warning. + +"My life is of no account; I will not live, indeed, if, through my lack +of care, anything happens to my cousin. Death would be my only solace!" +I exclaimed passionately. + +And this was made the text for a further and longer discussion, until at +last Baron Heckscher cried out, as if in sudden dismay: + +"But what are we doing? Wasting time in unavailing discussion, while +that innocent girl may be enduring God only knows what." + +I sprang to my feet also, as if equally distressed. We had occupied +hours of valuable time where minutes would have sufficed had we really +been in earnest; and the hour when we were due at the ball was fast +approaching. + +"But what of to-night's proceedings?" asked von Nauheim. + +"We must go forward as if nothing of this had happened. I, for one, am +all against giving up until we are really beaten. I will cause inquiry +to be made at once in a hundred different quarters by our friends and +agents, and maybe we shall yet find the countess in time for to-night's +work. Is not that best?" + +I pretended to demur. + +"I fear it is useless. Cannot everything be put off until my cousin is +found?" + +"No, no, far safer to go on," answered the baron, a little too eagerly. +"Even if we cannot present the countess as the future Queen to the +people to-night, we are almost sure to be able to find her before +to-morrow; and we must make the best excuse possible for her absence +to-night." + +I raised more objections, and thus wasted more time, only giving way in +the end with apparent reluctance. Nearly another hour passed in a fresh +heated discussion, and when we separated it was ten o'clock. + +I calculated that von Nauheim might safely be left now. I had kept him +without food for five hours, and I knew he would barely have time to +rush home, put on his fancy-dress costume, snatch a hasty meal, and get +to the ball at the appointed time for the meeting of the chief actors in +the night's business. + +I was soon to have evidence, however, that if I had been active in my +preparations my antagonists had also been busy, and had laid deliberate +plans for my overthrow at that very moment. + +When I left the baron's house, I found, to my surprise, that my carriage +had gone. + +"You can't even keep in touch with your own servants, it seems, when you +want them, to say nothing of guarding the Countess Minna," sneered von +Nauheim. + +"Apparently not," I answered; but my momentary chagrin was merged the +next instant in the thought that this was probably no accident. I +remembered that von Nauheim had left the room once for a few minutes, +and I read the incident as a danger-signal. + +"We'd better have a cab called," he added, and he sent a servant out for +one. + +When the man returned with one, my companion said: + +"Come along, Prince, we've no time to lose." + +For a moment I hung back, but, reflecting that I had better not even yet +show my hand, I followed him. + +The man drove off slowly at first, and as the vehicle lumbered heavily +along I felt in my pocket to make sure my revolver was ready for use in +need. Von Nauheim was obviously nervous. At first he whistled and +drummed with his fingers on the window, and peered out into the streets. +It was a dark night, and the driver had left the main road and was +taking us through some narrow and ill-lighted streets, and was driving +much more quickly. + +"Where's the idiot taking us?" exclaimed von Nauheim, assuming a tone of +anger. "Doesn't the dolt know his way?" + +"He shouldn't have left the main street, should he?" I asked +unconcernedly. "Tell him which way to drive. I don't know it." + +He put his head out and called to the driver, and a short heated +altercation took place, which ended in von Nauheim bidding him drive as +fast as he could, since we were in a furious hurry. + +The man now whipped up his horse, the cab travelling at a very quick +pace indeed, rattling and jolting, swaying and bumping over the rough +road with great violence. I began to think there was a plan to overturn +it and take the chance of dealing me some injury in the consequent +confusion when I might lie in the ruins of it. But there was more than +that intended. + +I did not know the district in the least, but I knew we had already been +much longer in the vehicle than should have sufficed to carry us either +to von Nauheim's house or mine, and I thought it time to put a stop to +the little play. + +"Stop him," I said to my companion. "I am going no farther in this crazy +thing. He's either a fool or drunk, or worse." + +"What are you afraid of?" he returned, with a laugh. "We're going all +right. I know where we are." And I saw him look out anxiously into the +dark. + +"Well, I'm going no farther." + +And I put my hand out of the window and loosened the handle of the door, +while I called to the driver to stop. I would not turn my back to von +Nauheim for fear of treachery. + +"He can't hear you," he gibed. "Put your head out of the window and call +him, unless; you're afraid of the dark," and he laughed again. + +The situation was becoming graver every moment, and I cursed myself for +having been such a foolhardy idiot as to have stepped into a snare set +right before my eyes. The carriage was travelling at a high rate of +speed, and I had no doubt that I was being carried away from Munich in +order to prevent my being present at the ball. + +To jump out was impossible without giving my companion an opportunity to +deal me a blow or a stab from behind, which, even if it did not kill me, +would certainly disable me at a juncture when everything depended upon +my retaining the fullest use of every faculty and every ounce of +strength I possessed. Yet I suspected that to sit still and do nothing +was to allow myself to be carried into some carefully prepared ambush, +where the consequences might be even worse. + +"I believe you are afraid of the dark," said my companion after a pause; +and I could see in the indistinct, vacillating light that his face wore +a confident, sneering look of infinitely malicious triumph. + +I felt it would be madness to let him carry the matter farther. + +"There is some devilment here," I said sternly. "This is all +preconcerted. Stop that mad fool out there, and let's have no more of +it." + +"What do you mean? How dare you?" + +Then he stopped suddenly, and I saw him rise from his seat and look out +through the front windows of the carriage. + +"By God! what does it mean?" he exclaimed excitedly. + +His face had lost all its jaunty, blustering expression and had turned +gray with sudden fear. + +"He's fallen off the box, or jumped off," he cried in a tone hoarse with +panic. + +It was true. The driver had disappeared, and the horse, freed from all +control, was stretching himself out at a wild gallop. + +"For God's sake, what had we better do, Prince?" cried the coward, +turning to me in positively abject fear. + +It was my turn now to smile. His precious play had broken up completely, +and instead of having got me into a snare he had brought himself into a +mess that was likely enough to cost him his life. + +"It serves you right," I growled, with a rough oath. "You'll be lucky if +you get out of this mess alive." + +He was a coward through and through, and the revulsion of feeling from +triumph at having tricked me into his power to the realization that he +himself was in dire peril was more than his nerves could stand. He +groaned, and covered his eyes as if to shut out the danger, and then +fell back in his seat, limp and flaccid, like a girl in a terror-swoon. + +There was nothing more to be feared from him, and I turned to consider +to help myself. I opened the door of the swaying, swinging carriage, and +tried to judge the chances of a leap out into the road. + +I could see nothing except in the feeble, oscillating, fitful light of +the lamps, while the door bumped and dashed against me so violently that +I had to grip hard to prevent myself being thrown out altogether. It +seemed impossible to hope for escape that way. + +Yet I did not know the road; and, for aught I could tell, any minute +might find us dashed to pieces. To sit still, therefore, and wait for +the worst to happen was at least equally perilous. + +I thought of trying to clamber on to the box-seat so as to get control +of the horse; but with the vehicle swaying and bumping as it was the +chances were ten thousand to one against. And if I fell in the effort, I +should be under the wheels. + +Then an idea occurred to me--to wound the horse with a revolver-shot. It +was desperate; but all courses were that. The light from the lamps shone +on the horse sufficiently to let me see where to shoot; and, gripping +with my left hand on to the door frame, I leaned out as far as I dared +and, taking careful aim, fired. + +[Illustration: I LEANED OUT AS FAR AS I DARED, AND TAKING CAREFUL AIM, +FIRED.] + +I missed the horse altogether, or grazed him very slightly, and +frightened him; for I felt the vehicle give a violent jolt to one side +and then forward, being nearly upset in the process. Then it dashed +onward at a greater speed than before. + +I leaned out once more and, getting this time a clearer aim, I fired +again. There was a wild and desperate plunge, during which the carriage +seemed to stop dead, then there was a terrific smash, and the next +instant horse and carriage were lying in an indistinguishable heap in +the middle of the road; and I found myself lying unhurt a few yards off. + +I got up, and ran to look for von Nauheim. One of the lamps was still +burning, and by the light of it I made a discovery that told me much. +The horse was no ordinary cab hack, but a valuable beast worth a place +in any man's stud. This was clear evidence to me that the whole thing +had been planned. + +My companion was lying under a heap of the wrecked carriage; and after +much trouble I hauled him out, laid him by the roadside, and endeavored +to find out whether he was much hurt, or had only fainted from fright. + +I could not get him round, however; and as my presence in Munich was too +essential to admit of my remaining with him, I was just starting to walk +back, meaning to send him help as soon as I could find it, when I heard +the voices of men approaching. + +I was still suspicious of treachery, and instantly on my guard. + +"Is that you, Fritz?" called a voice through the dark. "Why didn't you +come on to the proper place?" + +I jumped to the conclusion that these were the men who were waiting in +ambush at the spot where the carriage ought to have taken me. But I did +not know who Fritz was, unless he were the driver, who had fallen off. + +"We have had an accident here," I called in reply, muffling my voice; +"and the Prince von Gramberg has been badly hurt." + +"Is that your Honor speaking?" asked the voice again. + +"Come along quickly," I cried. "Fritz"--I blurred the word so that it +might pass for any name--"has fallen off the box. You know what to do +with the Prince. I must return at once." + +"We know," was the answer. "Your Honor's horse is here"--and a man came +up with a led horse. + +"Do your work properly," I said as I clambered into the saddle, "and +mind he's a bit delirious. Pay no heed to what he says till you get my +instructions." + +And with that I clapped my heels into the ribs of my borrowed horse and +galloped off through the dark, laughing to myself at the thought that +von Nauheim himself had fallen into the clutches of the very rascals in +whose hands he had designed to leave me. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE BALL AT THE PALACE + + +The count had good cattle, and the horse that carried me back to Munich +answered gamely to the calls I made on him. At any cost I must get back +to the house at the earliest possible moment; and though I did not know +the road, and could see scarce a dozen feet ahead of the horse's ears, I +plunged along at a hand-gallop, trusting to his instinct and my own +luck, that had already stood me in such good stead that night. + +I had not much difficulty in finding the way, and I reined up twice to +ask it of people whom I met; and at last I chanced on a man on +horseback, who rode with me to within a few doors of my destination. + +I kept a wary eye about me as I rode into the courtyard of the house, +and my first act was to call a groom on whose discretion I knew I could +rely. + +"Take this horse round at once to Count von Nauheim's stables," I told +the man, "and say he has requested you to bring it. Don't mention my +name. I wish you to find out whether the horse is one of his, but not to +say a word to show that I have sent you. Report to me immediately on +your return. I must have your news before I go out to-night." + +The man mounted and was off instantly, and, as I had expected, he +brought me back word that the horse was one of the count's stud. + +In the mean while my arrival allayed the very reasonable alarm which my +prolonged absence had caused. It was long past the time at which we were +to have started for the ball, and all the others were dressed and +waiting for me impatiently. + +Von Krugen came to me with a telegram which had arrived some time +before, and as I tore open the envelope with feverish haste I told him +the pith of what had happened. The message was from Praga, and to my +intense relief it was worded as we had agreed it should be if all went +well. + +"Caught mail. Arrive by first delivery." + +Innocent words to read, but meaning much to me. The Duke Marx had been +secured, and Praga himself was coming on to Munich at the earliest +moment. I was glad enough of this. If these attacks were to continue, +the stronger force we had the better. + +"The countess is full of anxiety to see you, Prince," said von Krugen +when I had told him the news. + +"I will go to her directly, but I must dress at once. See that something +for me to eat is got ready directly. Is there any news of the Baroness +Gratz or of the girl?" + +"None, there is not a suspicion of the trick." + +My spirits were rising fast, for everything was going well. Despite all +their devilment I was master of the position. I held their man in my +clutches; and before the night was a couple of hours older they should +see openly enough that I had outwitted them. But it was exciting work. + +Before hurrying to put on my fancy-dress costume--I was going as a +French courtier, a dress in which I could wear a sword and could conceal +a revolver easily--I went to Minna's rooms to let her know I had +returned. + +She came to me looking so radiantly lovely that I gazed at her in +rapture. We had chosen her dress with a care for the part she had to +play that night, and she wore a double costume. In the first place she +was to wear a plain dark domino covering her entirely from head to foot, +the head, of course, to be hooded and the face entirely concealed by a +large mask. But underneath this she wore a gorgeously brilliant dress as +Maria Theresa; the rich magnificence of the costume being further set +off by a profusion of jewels of all kinds, which sparkled and glittered +with dazzling brilliance. On her head as crown she wore a splendid tiara +of magnificent pearls. + +This was all arranged of set purpose. My object was that in the first +part of the evening she should run no risk of recognition at all; and +that in the second when I led her forward as the actual Queen, she might +produce the greatest possible impression of queenly wealth, grandeur, +dignity, and loveliness. + +If the impression on others were only half as striking as it was upon +me, I should be more than satisfied; and if a beautiful and queenly +presence could win adherents there was not a man in the ball-room who +would not be on her side. + +She enjoyed the effect of her loveliness upon me, and stood smiling with +bright eyes as I gazed at her. + +"Shall I do, cousin?" she asked, with a dash of coquetry. + +"The most lovely vision I have ever seen," I cried. + +"Not vision, cousin Hans," she said, shaking her head and shrugging her +shoulders till the million facets of her jewels gleamed with iridescent +lustre. "Only flesh and blood--and rather frightened flesh too. I was +beginning to fear for you. What has happened?" + +"All is going splendidly," I said; but I could not keep my eyes from +her. "You are a Queen indeed," I added. "If all Queens were like you, +royalty would have no enemies. You will make a profound impression +to-night." + +"I am satisfied if you are pleased," she answered. "But I am afraid of +to-night's work, Hans," she added, with a slight, movement of alarm, +like a passing chill of fear. "I shall be glad when it is over, and we +are all safe back here." + +"If all goes well, you will sleep in the palace to-night as Queen-elect +of Bavaria--the Queen of us all." + +"No, no; I don't wish that. I wish to be here among my friends. I feel +safe here; I should be frightened there." + +"Your friends will be with you there also. You do not think we should +desert you; by to-morrow your friends will have multiplied to half a +nation." + +"But my enemies--what of them? That is my fear." + +"I hold the hostage that will silence them, and----But trust me and all +will be well, better, I hope, than you can think. We have played a +hazardous game, I know; but I have just heard that the move which must +decide it in our favor has been made successfully." + +"I wish I could feel your enthusiasm," she said, rather sadly. + +"I have you to enthuse me," I cried. "And for your sake----" + +I stopped, I was losing my head in the craze of her beauty. + +"You would what?" she asked, putting her hand on mine, and setting me on +fire with a look which I thought and hoped I could read. + +I thrust away the almost maddening temptation to say what was in my +heart and thoughts. + +"I would remember that there is yet much to do," I said stolidly, +dropping my eyes. + +She snatched her hand away, and turned away from me with a toss of the +head. + +"I wish I had never gone on with this!" she exclaimed impetuously. "It +was not my wish. I should not if you had not persuaded me----No, I +don't mean that at all. Forgive me, cousin, I am so thoughtless!" she +cried, changing again quickly. "I know all you have done for me, and I +am not ungrateful. Forgive me." She came again and put her hands back +into mine. "I am such a poor Queen even for a sham one." + +This was even more trying than before, and I had to fight hard to hold +myself in hand. But I succeeded. + +"Don't speak of forgiveness; there is nothing to forgive. What lies +before us to-night is enough to make any one anxious. I can understand +you." + +"Can you?" she answered, peering with shining, eloquent eyes into mine. +"No, no, no, a hundred times no. But I am glad you like my dress and--I +will try to bear myself to-night so as to be worthy of--of all you have +dared for me." + +"God grant we may all come safely through it, and that to-night may see +you Queen indeed," I replied fervently; and I was putting my lips to her +hand as a sign of my homage, though I meant more, when she drew her hand +hastily away. + +"I am not Queen yet," she exclaimed; and I was wondering at the meaning +of this little action all the time I was donning my courtier's garb. Her +changefulness puzzled me. Sometimes I hoped--well, I scarce know what I +was not fool enough to think; and at others I feared. But my hopes were +stronger than my fears on that account, and had there not been such +important work on hand that night I think I could not have resisted +putting the ball to far other use than its promoters had projected. + +I could not drive with her to the palace, as it was necessary that I +should arrive alone, and I had procured an invitation for her in another +name. Von Krugen was to be in constant attendance upon her, with urgent +instructions never to let her out of his sight; and Steinitz, who was +also garbed as a courtier and carried a sword, was to be an additional +guard, remaining at a distance and keeping in touch with me, so that I +might know where to find Minna at the instant I needed. In order that +there might be no difficulty in my recognizing her, supposing there were +another domino of the same color and shape, we had had a small cross of +red silk sewn on each shoulder. + +I was very busy with my thoughts and full of anxiety as I drove away. So +far as I could see now, my plans were complete. I had the Duke Marx in +my hands; I had outwitted my opponents and could produce Minna at the +very moment when they, reckoning on her absence, would have pledged +themselves over the hilt in her cause; no one had breathed a hint to +show that my assumption of the part of the Prince was more certainly +known than a few days previously; and I had a fairly accurate knowledge +of my opponents' tactics and aims, while they were ignorant of mine. + +It was probable enough that my appearance at the ball safe and sound +after von Nauheim's attempt on me would cause some consternation, and no +doubt I must be well on my guard for the rest of the evening. + +I was very late in entering, but that would only give color to the +supposition that I had been trapped by von Nauheim; and I thought I +might perhaps turn it to account by surprising something out of the men +who did not expect me. + +With this object I fastened my mask very firmly--it was a large one, and +hid my features successfully; and, taking a hint from my old stage +experiences, I humped up one of my shoulders, limped on one leg, and in +this way hobbled, with the gait of an old man, into the ball-room. + +It was a brilliant scene indeed. The magnificent suite of rooms was +decorated in the most lavish manner, each in a different style and +period; and the garish blaze of light in places contrasting with the +soft, seductive tints of others, the artistic combination of decorative +coloring, the changing play of the electric fairy lamps of every +conceivable hue, the grouping of hundreds of palms and ferns with +contrasting masses of gorgeously colored flowers, a thousand guests in +all the exuberant splendor of the most exquisite costumes, and the +sparkling glitter of myriads of jewels, made up a scene of positively +gorgeous fascination. + +To me it was a great stage, on which all the people present were but +supers, walking, dancing chatting, laughing, and love-making, to fill up +time until the really important characters should have their entrances +called. + +Near to the door, as I entered, a clown was fooling clumsily and +awkwardly, and passing silly jests in a disguised voice with all who +passed him. + +I knew him directly. It was the mad King, and on the sleeve of his +clown's tunic I saw the mark that told us who he was. Round him in busy +hum I heard loud whispers about the greatness and cleverness of the +King, and every now and then he would stop his silly jesting to listen +to these comments. + +"'Tis easy to see thou art a soldier, old hobbler," he called to me, and +ran and planted himself in my path, and peered up in my face. + +"Why's that, clown?" I asked in an old man's voice. + +"Because thou canst not help shouldering arms," he cried, humping up his +own shoulder in ridicule of mine; and at the silly jest the crowd round +burst into roars of loud Court laughter, with cries of "How excellent!" +"What wit!" "Who is this great jester?" and a hundred other notes of +praise of his wonderful clowning. + +I passed on, not ill pleased to have been mistaken for an old man, and I +made my way slowly round the grand rooms, looking for the men I had to +meet, and wondering why the King was still at large. I kept turning to +look back at the place where I had met him, and when at length I saw +that he had gone I judged that this meant he had left to change his +costume, and that the occasion of that change would be seized for the +purposes of the plot. And just as I noticed that a voice which I +recognized as the Baron Heckscher's fell on my ear. + +"It is long past the hour. Something may have happened." + +"I have suspected him from the first. It spells treachery," said +another. + +It was Herr Kummell. + +I had reached the far end of the suite of rooms, and at the back of me +was a deep alcove or small ante-room, at the mouth of which the two men +were standing, some others being farther inside. I guessed they were +speaking of me, and I stood concealed by one of the pillars which +supported the domed roof, and kept my back to them, listening with all +my ears. + +"I do not wish to think that," answered the baron in a tone of assumed +reluctance. "But what you have told me is very extraordinary." + +"He has purposely put her out of our reach. You will never find her. I +am for letting matters pass. If he were here I would tell him to his +face what I think." + +It was certainly nothing less than a disaster that the two men who, of +all those in the scheme, were really loyal to Minna, and should have +been of the utmost value in co-operating with me, were, through the +unfortunate turn of things, suspicious of me and hostile. I could, of +course, do nothing now to undeceive them; but it was an additional +aggravation that Minna's supposed disappearance should have been made to +appear as the result of my treachery. + +"We cannot go back now," I heard the baron say. "Indeed the curtain has +drawn up already. The King has gone for his change of dress." + +They turned then into the alcove to join the rest, and I moved away. +Soon afterward I dropped the shuffling gait of an old man and walked to +the alcove with quick, firm footsteps. + +"Good evening, gentlemen," I said. "I am late, but that is no fault of +my own." + +My arrival produced an evident surprise, and even the astute Baron +Heckscher showed some signs of it. + +"You are indeed very late, Prince," he said. "We had begun to fear that +you were going to fail us at the last moment." + +"Have you found the Countess Minna?" asked Kummell. "Or perhaps you have +been detained searching for her?" + +His tone rang with contempt, and he made no attempt to hide his +suspicions of me. + +"That is a question we should put to Baron Heckscher here," I answered +in a tone which made the latter start and look at me. "I mean, of +course, that he almost pledged his word to find her in time for +to-night's work. Have you any news, baron?" + +"I have every hope that all will yet be right," he said. + +"Those who hide can find," said Kummell. + +"They can, and I wish they'd be quick about it," I assented curtly. "But +we have no time now for discussion. We have to act. And I shall be glad +to be informed how matters stand. Are all the arrangements complete?" + +Kummell and his friend Beilager, the baron, and I had been standing +apart from the rest, who were grouped together, engaged in a low but +animated conversation, of which I did not doubt I was the subject. Baron +Heckscher moved across to the larger group as I put the question, and I +took advantage of the moment to say to Kummell in a low, earnest tone: + +"You have done me the ill turn to suspect me, and before the night is +out you will have cause to admit your error. I shall rely upon you +implicitly to stand by your loyalty in what is to come to-night. +Afterward we can have an explanation if necessary," and without giving +him time to reply I went after the baron. + +A short and hurried statement of the present position of things +followed, the pith of which was that all was in readiness, and we might +expect the news at any moment that the final coup was to be made. + +A few minutes later a messenger hurried into the alcove and spoke to the +baron, who then turned to us, and in a low tone said: + +"Gentlemen, the King is ours. God bless the new ruler of Bavaria." + +A murmured echo of the words from all present was drowned by a loud +fanfare of trumpets and thumping of drums from the other end of the +domed hall, and these heralded, as we knew, the coming of the King's +substitute. We moved out at once to take our places for the big drama, +and I looked round anxiously for the dark domino of Minna. As I caught +sight of her in the distance I found that my heart was beating with +quite unusual violence and speed. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +CHECKMATE + + +The entrance of the mad King's understudy had been arranged with +scrupulous eye to effect. The King himself had ordered all details, and +they were carried out exactly as he had planned, on a scale of +ostentatious and almost insane extravagance in which he was wont to +indulge. + +The supposed King was made up to represent a Chinese Emperor, the full +robes offering effectual concealment of any difference between the +figures of the King and his substitute. His head was bald save for the +ornamental head-dress and the long, coal-black pigtail. His features +were entirely concealed behind the skin mask of a painted Chinese face +drawn very tight, lifelike, yet infinitely grotesque; and his robes were +gorgeous and most costly, embroidered with thousands of jewels in the +quaintest and weirdest of Chinese designs. + +He was seated in a royal palanquin, bore by eight bearers in most +hideous garbs, each wearing a skin mask of the same kind as the central +figure; and as they put down their burden in the middle of the hall they +turned in all directions, and set their faces grinning and mouthing and +grimacing with a most weird effect. The palanquin itself was decorated +and bejewelled with the same lavish prodigality with which the lunatic +King was accustomed to squander his people's money in trifles and +fooling. + +So gorgeous and costly was every appointment of it, indeed, that even +while the spectators marvelled at its brilliance they cursed the +wastefulness that made it practicable. + +But it was quite impossible to mistake the whole thing for anything but +a royal freak; and those present did not need the private mark that was, +as usual, on the arm to reveal to them that the bowing, grinning, +sumptuously apparelled figure that sat amid the cushions of the +palanquin, squeaking out gibberish in a high-pitched voice as though +indulging in Chinese greetings, was their King. + +The whole scene was too characteristic of him. + +Behind the palanquin, grouped with clever regard to color effects, were +the members of a numerous suite, all attired in rich Chinese costumes, +while musicians, playing upon all kinds of extraordinary instruments, +clanged and clashed, trumpeted and drummed, squeaked and groaned, in a +medley of indescribable discords and unrhythmic jangle. Yet in all the +babel and confusion there was the method of shrewd organization and +carefully thought out plan. + +When the first effect of the dramatic entrance was over, the bearers +took up the palanquin, a procession was formed, and the courtiers and +musicians, reinforced by a number of dancing-girls and men, made a +progress round the ball-rooms, and at last grouped themselves about and +around a raised dais, on one side of which stood an improvised throne. + +A programme of dancing was then gone through, followed by a number of +ceremonial acts, all intended as a preface to the chief performance for +which we were waiting so anxiously--the play of the formal abdication. + +During the whole of this fantastic business my excitement had been +growing fast. I knew that with comparatively few exceptions all the +people present were dead against me and in favor of the Ostenburg +interest. For months--for years, indeed--they had been working, +striving, and plotting for the end which they now thought to be within +their reach. Among them, as I had had abundant evidence, were men +desperate enough to stop short of no excesses to gain that end, and yet +I was seeking to checkmate them in the very hour of success by a single +bold stroke. + +All the men who had taken a leading part in the plot had dispersed among +the audience, each having a definite part assigned to him. I myself +stood apart leaning against a pillar, with Steinitz not far from me, and +when the procession had just passed me a deep voice close to my ear +said: + +"A striking ceremonial, Prince." + +I looked round, and thought I recognized the lithe, sinewy face of the +Corsican Praga, whose dark, glittering eyes were staring at me through +his mask. + +"Very striking. Who are you?" I asked cautiously. + +"I carry the tools of my trade," he replied, touching lightly his sword. +"And I am badly in want of work." + +"Why are you here?" + +"I am a sort of postman--I bring news of the mail." + +I understood the play of the words, and knew him by it for certain. + +"And what is the news?" + +"Of the best, except for one thing." + +His tone alarmed me somewhat. We drew away then from the crowd, and, +standing apart together, he told me what had happened. + +"That Clara is a devil, Prince, and we must beware of her. She hates +you, and has been torn in two ways by this business." + +"What do you mean, man? Speak out. Where is the Duke Marx?" + +"Safe, and where no one will find him. Drunk as a Christian duke should +be, and the wine that was made from the water couldn't make him drunker. +She lured him out to Spenitz; and, when she had got him separated from +his servants, drove with him to the house at Friessen alone." This was +the place we had secured for the purpose in a lonely spot some fifty +miles from the city. "He would have gone to the world's end in the mood +she worked him into, and I chuckled louder every fresh mile we covered." + +"You! What were you doing there?" I asked in astonishment. + +"I was the driver, of course. We wanted no servants--there was no place +for them--and, once we started from Spenitz, I vowed that he should go +on if I had to brain him to get him there. Bacchus, but he's a fool!" + +"Get on with the story, man," said I impatiently. "I want to know what +you fear is wrong." + +"He went out like a lamb, protesting only now and then that he must be +back soon, and must be in Munich to-night; but she stopped his protests +with a kiss, and the fool was as happy as a drunken clown. We reached +Friessen, and then the play began. While they were billing and fooling +in the house I slipped a saddle on the horse's back in place of his +harness, went out on to the road, and, after I had given him less than +half an hour with Clara, I came galloping up to the house at full +stretch, for all the world as if I had followed them every yard of the +way from Spenitz, and I rushed into the room with my sword drawn, +spluttering out oaths, and vowing I'd have his life on the spot." + +"Well?" + +"There's a good assortment of cowardice in that little body of his. He +has too many good things in this life to wish to leave it, I suppose, +for he could scarcely make enough show of fight to make it plausible for +Clara to rush in between us, throw herself on her knees, and, with a +clever bit of acting, pray that there should be no bloodshed. I +blustered and raged, and at length consented to spare his wee chip of a +life; but I forced him to swallow an opiate that made him as drunk as a +fool, and will keep him quiet for a dozen hours or more. Then I bound +and gagged him to make doubly sure, and locked him up in an underground +cellar. We can keep him there a close prisoner for a month if need be +and not a soul will be the wiser, unless----" + +"Unless what?" I cried. + +"Unless the beloved Clara should choose to say what she knows." + +"Do you suspect her?" + +"I don't know what she means, or what she wants. She is torn between her +desire to help me and to hurt you; and which will win in the end I can't +say. She has done this for me, but, having done it, she is singular +enough to turn round and try to hit at you in some other direction. I +can't answer for her; and I thought it best to tell you so." + +"If you think she means to tell of his whereabouts, we'll send out +to-night at once and change it." + +"I can't think that, because it would be treachery to me. In fact, I'm +sure she won't. She knows me pretty well by this time, and I swore to +her that if she did anything of the kind I'd wreak a bitter vengeance on +her and the duke. I'll do it too," he growled, with a deep guttural +oath. + +"But what do you fear, then?" + +"She is back to-night in Munich for some object; and as she is deep in +with the Ostenburg lot, trusted by them, too--it is through her that +most things have leaked to me--we may look for her to fend off suspicion +from herself for this decoy work by striking at you in some other way. +So you know what to expect." + +"But if she is helping you, why should she turn against me?" I said, +perplexed. + +"For the best of all reasons, Prince--she is a woman." + +The fact that I could not solve the enigma did not decrease my disquiet +at the news, and had there been time I would have taken some measures of +precaution. But it was too late now. We must go on, whether to succeed +or to fail; for a glance at the dais showed me that the moment for the +act of abdication had arrived, and we both turned to watch the +proceedings. + +This ceremonial was also very carefully planned to give it the +appearance of formal reality. A loud flourish of trumpets was sounded, +and the Court herald stepped forward and announced that his Majesty the +King had a weighty communication to make at once. Every one of the Privy +Councillors present went forward and stood in a group about the throne, +and among them were the Baron Heckscher, and five or six of the men who +had been associated as leaders in the scheme. To them the pseudo King +made many bows, and, choosing the Baron Heckscher as his mouthpiece, +delivered by him a message to the rest. Then the trumpets blared again, +and the supposed King, standing up, laid aside the outer Chinese robe he +wore, and stood revealed in the ordinary Court dress of the King +himself; but he remained masked, of course. He next handed a paper to +the baron, who handed it to one of the heralds, and the latter, who had +been properly coached as to its contents, read it out in a loud, ringing +voice to all the people assembled. + +This was the royal proclamation that his Majesty had resolved to +abdicate, and that he had nominated the Countess Minna von Gramberg, the +nearest heir, as his successor, and called upon the people to support +her. At this juncture I made my way to where Minna was standing in her +hooded domino by von Krugen, and took my place beside her. She was +trembling violently, and I whispered a word or two of encouragement. + +"You had better get ready to unmask, and throw aside the domino," I +said, and her reply was drowned in the ringing cheers of the crowd. + +There was no mistaking the heartiness which greeted the news of the +abdication; but the question for us was whether there would be the same +cheering when it was found that Minna herself was present to accept the +honor thus offered her. + +At first those people who were not in the secret had been altogether +unable to grasp the meaning of the proceedings; but those in the plot +soon led the way, and as they scattered thickly all about the room, they +spread the news quickly and by assuming to take the whole thing as +genuine induced the rest to indorse an event they desired only too +keenly. + +Then followed the Act of Abdication. + +The crown was brought by a page to the King, and he took it and placed +it on his head. + +This was followed by a moment of silence. + +The trumpets blared out again; and the herald announced that his Majesty +would lay aside the crown in accordance with the proclamation and as a +sign that he renounced it forever in favor of his successor. + +The action was watched in deep, dead silence; but no sooner had it been +completed than the chorusing crowd, who had been carefully coached, +broke out into loud and vociferous cries and shouts of "Long live Queen +Minna!" + +"Now, Minna," I whispered anxiously; for she seemed too anxious to make +the slightest attempt to prepare. "In another moment I must lead you +forward." + +As the cries died away the man on the throne, now uncrowned, moved +aside, and, with a bow to those round him, walked quickly away out of +the hall. + +There was another blare of trumpets and a fresh call for the Queen. + +"Come, Minna; you must come," I said firmly; and I myself unmasked, +drawing the attention of many in the room upon me by this act. + +But the girl at my side made no movement. She had ceased to tremble, +however, as I found when she put her hand on my arm. + +"Everything will be ruined, Minna, if you do not come," I said, and in +my excitement I touched her domino, as if to draw it away. + +A low soft laugh was the answer I got. + +I looked up in the deepest astonishment. I began to fear I knew not +what. A glance at the secret mark on the domino told me there was no +mistake. The little red cross on the shoulder next me was distinctly +visible. But an instant later I knew what it all meant. + +The mask was slipped off, but instead of Minna the face of Clara Weylin +met mine with a look of exasperating mockery in the insolent, triumphant +eyes. + +[Illustration: INSTEAD OF MINNA, THE FACE OF CLARA WEYLIN MET MINE.] + +For the moment I was like a man bereft of his senses. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +AFTER THE ABDUCTION + + +"This is my revenge, Herr Fischer." + +The words were spoken in an angry, taunting voice, quite loud enough for +many people round us to hear, and they looked at us in the broadest +astonishment. + +They recalled my scattered wits. + +"Captain von Krugen, what is the meaning of this?" I demanded in a +quick, stern tone of the man who was staring in abject helpless +bewilderment at the woman who had thus tricked us so cleverly. + +"I am absolutely at a loss----" he began; but I cut him short. + +"You have betrayed your trust, sir, and God alone knows what the +consequences will be." + +Meanwhile the cries for the Queen Minna were growing in volume and +echoing all around us, and I saw the Baron Heckscher look across at me. +The men about the throne had unmasked. I thought rapidly. It was no use +wasting time in reproaching or abusing the woman who had fooled us. We +were in a mess which might ruin not only my scheme, but the whole of us. +While the people were still shouting for the Queen, I hurried back to +where Praga was standing, and in a few words told him what had occurred. + +"She is the devil. I feared something. I'll----" + +"Don't waste time. We have one strong card yet, and must keep possession +of it. You are still true to me?" I asked. + +"As true as death, I'll show----" + +"Then you must do this. Return at once to Friessen with all possible +speed--you and Captain von Krugen. Take the duke away anywhere, and +lodge him in a place of safety. If neither of you can think of a better +place, carry him to Gramberg; but one of you will probably know of some +place where he can be kept as a hostage. If I cannot hold him prisoner +our last hope is gone." + +"She will never say----" + +"I trust no woman again in a thing of this sort. Put him where she +cannot tell any one where he is. You will have to ride all the way, I +expect. No matter. Take the best horses in the stables here and ride +them to a standstill, if necessary. You must go at a hand-gallop the +whole way: or perhaps you can get a special train to Spenitz. Anything, +but for God's sake go--and at once. You can deal with the woman +afterward." + +I called up von Krugen, and gave him the hurried orders. + +"Remember at any cost to keep him a prisoner, and let me know where he +is." + +These were my last words to the two, and spoken with almost fierce +earnestness. As I turned from them I beckoned Steinitz to me. + +"I am going to speak to that woman in a dark domino. When I leave her +watch her as you would watch the devil, and let me know where she goes +and to whom she speaks." + +I went back to Clara Weylin. + +"Will you give me an interview presently?" I asked, very quietly, adding +significantly, "It will be safer." + +"I am not afraid of you," she replied scornfully. + +"It will be safer," I repeated. + +"I don't wish to speak to you." + +"It will be safer," I said for the third time; and then I crossed the +room to where the men clustered about the throne were waiting for me. + +"Where is the Countess Minna?" asked Baron Heckscher; and he could not +restrain the evidence of his feeling of triumph. + +"I regret that the Countess Minna von Gramberg is unable to be present. +Baron Heckscher has known for some hours that this would be the case." I +said this loudly enough for those about us to hear, and a glance into +the man's face told me that he knew of my sudden disappointment, and was +enjoying his triumph supremely. I kept out of my voice and manner all +signs of alarm or anger, and added quietly to the baron, "You had better +announce her indisposition, and stop this clamor." + +On seeing me cross to the throne those who were leading the chorus took +up the cry for Minna with redoubled energy. + +"I will not answer for the effect of the disappointment," he said. + +"Yet you will have to," said I, with a look he could not fail to +understand. + +"I don't understand you," he returned hotly. + +"I will not fail to make my meaning quite plain," I retorted. "And you +may not find the course so clear as you think." + +"What message shall I have announced?" + +"That the Countess Minna von Gramberg accepts the high mission to which +she is called, but that to-night she is too unwell to be present," I +answered; "and let the message be given at once." + +"We can't do that," he replied, seeing my object--to bind him to this +public acceptance of the throne by Minna. "She must be here in person to +make that possible." + +"If that is not done and at once," I cried, going close to him and +speaking the words between my teeth, "I myself will proclaim the fact +that the man who was here a minute since was not the King, but your +dummy, and that the whole thing is a farce got up by you and these +gentlemen. You will then have to bring back the King himself, and you +can judge as well as I how he will view the acts that have been done +here to-night, and reward the actors." + +"You dare not play the traitor in that way!" + +"Dare not? I dare do more than that," and I clipped my words short as I +whispered them into his ear. "I dare stand up now and tell the whole +story of your double treachery, for I know it all: and, by God! if you +thwart me any farther I'll make my words good to the last letter." + +I meant every syllable of the threat, and I made this perfectly plain in +my manner. Whether the man was actually afraid for himself I know not; +but he saw clearly enough that any such sensational statement made by me +at that juncture would inevitably result in the complete overthrow of +the scheme for which he had worked so hard. + +"I don't affect to understand your meaning," he said; "but one way is as +good as another to put an end to a scene that must be ended somehow." + +"Then give the instructions, and let the people see that they come from +you," and I drew back. + +He called the man who had been acting as herald, and spoke to him in an +undertone; and the latter was turning to the people when I interposed. + +"As this is the first utterance from the Queen, you had better have the +trumpeters call for silence, and let the herald end the declaration with +the formal prayer, God save the Queen." + +This was done, though the men round me frowned in angry dissent; and as +soon as the announcement had been made the signal was given, the band +struck up for the dancing to recommence, and the throng of people began +to melt away from the dais on which we had all been collected. + +So far, I felt I had done the best I could to repair the disconcerting +smash-up of my plans, and already I had in my thoughts a rough idea of +the line I would take later with the baron and his friends of the +Ostenburg interest. They had outplayed me at my own game, and had dealt +me a shrewd and clever stroke, which must have completely defeated me +but for the fact that I had kidnapped their man, the Duke Marx. For the +moment everything must yield to the necessity of keeping him secure, and +thus for some hours at least I dared not say a word to let them know +what I had done with him. + +I calculated that von Krugen and Praga would take about five hours to +get to the place where he was concealed, and they would need at least +further four or five hours to get him to some other spot. That at the +least. I had given them a difficult piece of work, but they were both +resolute and indeed desperate men, and I had ample confidence that, +given sufficient time, they would overcome the difficulty. It was now +past midnight, and I reckoned, therefore, that I must hold my tongue +about the duke until the following morning. + +In the mean time I had the problem of Minna's whereabouts to solve. I +must also ascertain whether the woman had told anything of the part +which she and Praga had played together in getting hold of the duke. + +I looked round the room in search of her, and, not seeing either her or +Steinitz, I was moving off the dais to make a tour of the rooms to find +her, when the two men Kummell and Beilager stopped me. + +"You promised an explanation of your conduct," said the former in a +curt, angry tone. "Be so good as to give it." + +"You will have an ample explanation later, gentlemen. Matters of greater +moment are pressing me now." + +"Nothing could be of greater moment than the reason for the Countess +Minna's non-appearance here to-night; for that statement about her +indisposition was, of course, untrue." + +"It was untrue, as you say. But until the whole matter can be told it is +a waste of valuable time to discuss a small part of it," I answered +coolly, although the insult in his tone and words was more than galling. + +"I differ from you, and demand an explanation at once--or I shall draw +my own conclusions." + +"That is at your discretion. You have taken a course throughout this +which makes you largely responsible for the result." + +"Do you insinuate that we are in any way responsible for spiriting away +the countess?" he asked hotly. + +"I must decline to discuss this with you in your present frame of mind +and temper. Your manner to me is an insinuation and an insult." + +"You will have to discuss it all the same, or I will publicly insult you +here, in the presence of the whole room." + +The hot-headed fool was likely to spoil everything. + +"That must also be as your indiscretion prompts you," I returned +sharply. "If you think you will serve the interests of my family by +wrangling here, and causing me to run you through the body afterward, +take your own course. But you will do far better to keep a sharp watch +on the man who has apparently been duping you--I mean Baron +Heckscher--and try to thwart the deep scheme he has laid." + +"I believe you to be a traitor; to have worked openly for the Countess +Minna, and secretly to have intrigued against her; and that you have +kept her out of the way purposely in the interests of the Ostenburg +family. You are a spy; nothing better." + +"And you are a foolish little man, whose sight is as short as your +temper, and whose wits are as dull as your silly suspicions are keen. +You are the dupe of the Baron Heckscher." + +"You shall answer to me for this--or at least you should, if you were +worthy of consideration." + +He was so angry and excited that he could scarcely keep from striking, +and this last insinuation of his had leapt out in his exasperation. + +I had been expecting something of the kind, and it prepared me for the +line which the rest would take later; but at that moment I caught sight +of Steinitz, moving among the crowd in the distance, and I put an end to +this altercation promptly. + +"When you know the facts, sir, you will be far more ready to apologize +to me than to challenge me. But if you should then wish this matter to +go forward, you will not find me in the least unwilling." + +I bowed ceremoniously and, putting on my mask again, hurried away after +Steinitz. + +It was quite clear now that these men had got hold of some tale from the +two lawyers about me, and the baron was quite shrewd enough, in order to +separate from me the only two men among the leaders who were really +loyal to Minna, to turn it to good account by proclaiming me a spy in +the Ostenburg interest. + +It was an exceedingly plausible story to account for my having kept +Minna out of the way. In the mean time my anxiety on her account was +growing very keen, and had I not known that happily von Nauheim was laid +by the heels and, as I sincerely hoped, badly hurt, I should have been +desperate enough. As it was, however, I held a hostage for her safety, +and I was eagerly impatient for the moment to come when I could show the +baron the real strength of my position. + +Steinitz pointed out to me the actress, who had thrown off her domino, +and was standing in the middle of a group of men and women laughing and +talking merrily. I shouldered my way among the promenading dancers to a +spot near her, and then stood forward that she might see me. As soon as +she caught sight of me she threw a glance of angry defiance in my +direction, and, turning her back, recommenced her gay chatter with her +companions. But I was in no mood to let her trifle with me nor to allow +her to think she could treat me as she pleased. I went up and requested +an immediate interview. + +"Can't you see that I am engaged? My dance card is full," she replied, +with supercilious nonchalance. + +"The business that I have with you cannot wait," I said firmly. "And if +you cannot give me a private interview, I shall be compelled to discuss +it here and now in public." + +She looked at me to see if I were in earnest, and apparently came to the +conclusion that I was, for with an angry toss of the head she said: + +"I can spare you three minutes until my next dance." + +I led her to one of the many luxurious cosy corners of the place. + +"You have taken a very bitter revenge, and a very cowardly one, for no +real offence," I said. "Is your anger satisfied with the one stroke, or +am I to look for another?" + +"I warned you that you had made an enemy of me." + +"And you have made the warning good. Have you done anything else? You +know I refer to your work to-day at Friessen." + +"If I can harm you I will." + +"And Praga?" + +"I hate you!" she cried, with intense bitterness. + +"You have given ample proof of that. Have you betrayed him in regard to +that affair of to-day?" + +"I shall not tell you. Who are you that you should cross-question me in +this manner? I am no servant of yours." + +"Have you told the people for whom you have to-night tricked me that you +have decoyed the Duke Marx into the hands of those who, if need be, will +take his life?" + +I struck home with this thrust; and she glanced about her in manifest +alarm. + +"Don't speak like that," she cried in a hurried whisper. "There is no +fear of anything of that kind." + +"You mistake," I answered shortly and sternly. "If anything happens to +the girl whom you have betrayed to-night, the man whom you lured away +will pay for it with his life; and I myself will explain every detail of +your share in the matter." + +It was a little cowardly to play on her fears in this way; but it was +not my own safety--it was Minna's--I was fighting for. + +The woman's agitation increased with each word. + +"It must not be. It shall not be. You dare not," she cried. + +"There is no dare not in schemes like these," I answered grimly. + +"But I was promised there should be no violence." + +"You had not then played us false and worn that domino." + +"I will go at once and tell all I know," she exclaimed excitedly. + +Good. She had not told. + +"It is too late. You were the decoy, but the duke is now in the hands of +my men, and no power on earth can save him if I but issue the order. Do +you think I do my work so poorly as to leave him where you, or those +whom you send, could find him?" + +She sat, her fingers interlocked and her eyes staring in a fixed, set +gaze of abject fright, while her breath came and went with quick catches +of agitation. + +"You have played the subtle part of double treachery, and you will find +it deadly dangerous," I went on sternly. + +It was necessary to frighten her thoroughly for the object I had, and I +let a couple of minutes pass in silence, while this conviction of her +danger forced itself home. Then I opened the door of relief. + +"It rests with you to save his life, and your own, and Praga's," I said. + +She was too panic-stricken to act, and the hope in her face at my words +made me rejoice. + +"Save the Countess Minna von Gramberg. Help me to find her." + +The light died out as suddenly as it had come. + +"I cannot. I know nothing of her whereabouts." + +"Tell me all you know about this trick by which you personated her." + +At that moment a man dressed as a Venetian gondolier approached to claim +her for a dance. + +"I must know everything at once," I whispered hurriedly. "You must +refuse him." + +It was a test of my power. If she went off to dance I should accept it +as a sign of defeat. + +"I must not refuse. I dare not," she said nervously. + +"You understand what it means," I replied in the same undertone. + +The man came up, and the nervous movements of my companion's fingers +showed me something of her agitation. + +"This is our dance, I think," he murmured, bowing. + +"Yes, I--yes, it is," and she half rose from her seat, but then sank +back again. "But I am not quite well enough to dance. I am sitting here +for the cooler air. Please excuse me." + +"Permit me to sit it out with you then," he said, and he turned toward +me as if expecting me to give way. + +I did not budge, of course, but stared out in front of me as if I had +not seen his look. + +"I am sorry, but--a friend has--has brought me some important--news, and +it has distressed me--and I wish to continue the conversation." + +It was as clumsy an excuse as any child in her teens could have mumbled +out, and given in a manner altogether unlike her own. But fortunately +the man took umbrage at the obvious slight, and with a stiff bow went +off. + +I had won again. + +"Now you can tell me all you know." + +"Wait a moment. Let me be quiet, or I shall faint." + +She was now trembling violently, and I sat waiting until she should have +recovered her self-composure sufficiently to tell me the news I was +burning to learn. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE MAID'S STORY + + +"I have really very little to tell you," said the actress after a long +silence, in which she had been making strenuous efforts to recover +self-possession. "I know very little. I have known, of course, for a +long time that there was to be special interest attaching to the +proceedings here to-night, and for Signor Praga's sake I had learned all +that I could." + +"I wish to know the particular facts in connection with your taking the +place of the countess, that's all," for the time was slipping by and my +anxiety on Minna's account was growing to fever heat. + +"I was merely told that I had to play the part of another woman, and +that I was to be paid for doing so. More than that, I was given to +understand that in the event of the matter being carried through +successfully I should gain the favor of some of those high in +authority." + +"Do you mean you were doing this for money only?" + +"No, but because I believed there was some other great advantage to be +gained." + +"Did you tell Praga?" + +"No. Why should I tell him everything? I did not know for certain until +my return to-night what was really intended. I might have drawn back +then if I could--if I had not also known that I should be dealing a blow +at you and revenging myself." + +"How did you get possession of the countess's domino, and when did you +take her place by the side of the man guarding her?" + +"I did not get her domino. The one I wore was ready for me when I +arrived here to-night. Some one had described exactly the dress the +Countess Minna was to wear, and everything was ready for me when I +arrived." + +"Did you know it was the Countess Minna you were to personate?" + +"Yes. I was not told, but I guessed; and when they told me that you +would come up to me and lead me forward to the throne, I knew of course +all that was meant. I did not do all I was told to do, however. I was to +have kept my mask on and to have walked across the room with you to the +dais, and then have thrown it off, to shame and confuse you before every +one." + +"And why didn't you?" + +"I preferred to enjoy my revenge privately. And I had it when I saw your +look of dismay on catching sight of my face." + +"And how was the change effected?" + +"Simply and easily enough. Some of those in the secret began to crowd +and crush round the Countess Minna; others resented this, a confusion +was caused, and in the moment I slipped into her place, while some one +made up to look like the man with her went up and led her, as he said, +to a place of refuge from the pressure of the crowd." + +"Where did they take her?" I asked anxiously. + +"I don't know. I know no more than yourself what happened afterward. I +had not been in my place more than a few minutes before you came up to +me. You know the rest." + +"Who told you all our plans and made this thing possible?" + +For it was clear that I had been betrayed by some one in our closest +confidence--some one who knew even of the secret mark on Minna's domino. +It was no mere case of her having been seen and recognized while at the +ball; for the dress had obviously been ready before Minna herself had +arrived. + +"I was not told," replied my companion. + +Whoever it was, the betrayal had been complete. I had been allowed to +think that my ruse of substituting the waiting-maid Marie for her +mistress had been successful; and just when I had thought everything +safe I had the mine sprung right under my feet. They had reckoned I +should be all unconscious of such a stroke, and unfortunately they had +reckoned correctly. + +But who was the traitor? This was no plan that could be laid in an hour. +It showed that from the first there had been some leakage by which my +whole scheme was carried over to my enemies; and it appeared to me that +it must lie between two people, the Baroness Gratz and the waiting-maid +Marie. + +"Who gave you your instructions?" I asked sharply. + +"I will not tell you," was the equally sharp reply, and though pressed +she held to her refusal. + +"Have you seen the Count von Nauheim here to-night?" + +"No, he is not here." + +"How do you know?" + +"I overheard surprise expressed at his absence." + +"Can you give any clew as to where I shall find the Countess Minna?" + +"No, none whatever. I know no more than you yourself." + +It was useless to ask any more questions. It was clear that she had been +used as a tool for this particular task, and had been trusted no +further. I must seek my information elsewhere; from either von Nauheim, +if I could find him, or from Baron Heckscher. + +But I was altogether unwilling to see the latter until sufficient time +had passed for von Krugen and Praga to have secured the person of the +Duke Marx. + +It was a sheer impossibility, however, for me to remain inactive while +Minna was in the hands of her enemies, and I resolved to try to trace +von Nauheim. From what the actress told me, it appeared probable either +that his accident in the carriage with me had hurt him sufficiently to +prevent his coming to the ball, or else that he had found it difficult +to escape from the hands of the men whom he had planned should hold me. +In either event he would be unable to get to Minna, and so long as that +was the case her danger was proportionately less. + +But I must find him if possible; for the suspense of the present +uncertainty was maddening. + +I crossed to Steinitz, and telling him to follow me I threaded my way +through the laughing, gossiping, excited throng and made my way to the +nearest exit. + +In the ante-room through which I had to pass a group of men were +standing deep in conversation. Among them were several of the leaders of +the movement, and I recognized, to my annoyance, Kummell and Beilager +among them. + +Kummell was, as usual, gesticulating rather wildly, and on catching +sight of me he stepped forward and barred my progress. + +"Here is the traitor, gentlemen," he cried angrily. "We have caught him +in the very act of trying to sneak away. You won't pass here, my fine +fellow, I can tell you." + +It was the very climax of irony that this man, who should have been so +valuable an ally, should in this way be perpetually crossing and +thwarting me. In my angry mood at the moment I could have found it in me +to strike him. + +"That has yet to be proved," I answered as quietly as my anger would +permit. + +An audible sneer ran round the group. + +"I will prove it, for I will stop you," and he planted himself right in +front of me, put his arms akimbo, and stared me insolently in the face. + +"Good!" exclaimed one or two of the others. + +I took off my mask before I answered. His insulting, swaggering manner +was almost more than I could brook, although I knew the other men were +deliberately endeavoring to provoke a fight, and, further, that it would +be the height of folly for two men who were in reality heart and soul +together in pursuit of the same object to go out and try to kill each +other. + +"You can scarcely be in earnest, Herr Kummell," I said, after a pause. +"I have already told you once to-night that later on I shall be ready to +hold myself at your disposal, should you wish it. We are still in the +precincts of the palace, and the business of the night is one on which +you and I are in heart agreed. There are those here whom nothing would +please better than to see us two crossing swords; and it is they who are +the traitors"--I looked round at the rest--"and if any one of them is +minded to make this quarrel his own he will not find me backward. But +with you and Herr Beilager I will not fight at present." + +"I shall not allow you to pass for all your big words," said the little +hot-headed fool in the same tone. + +"The work I have is too urgent to be delayed now. Stand aside, if you +please," I answered sternly. + +"You shall not pass here." + +"'Fore God, sir, take care, or you will drive me to do that which I may +regret." I thundered the words out, and putting on as stern and fierce a +look as I could I moved on. He stood his ground a moment, but then +winced and retreated a step. + +At this a taunting, jeering laugh came from one of the rest. + +I wheeled round instantly upon the group, and, not knowing which of the +men it was, I picked out the biggest of them and, walking up to him till +my face was close to his, I stared him dead in the eyes for some +seconds. + +"Did you do me the honor to speak, sir?" + +"No, I did not," he answered. + +I turned to the rest. + +"One of you gentlemen either spoke or sneered. Which of you was it? I am +rather anxious to show him that it is not altogether safe to play in +this way with me." I stared at each of them in turn, but none said a +word. + +"To-morrow, Herr Kummell," I said then to the little man, whose +fierceness had very much abated, "you may look for the explanation I +have promised you; and as soon as the business on which I am urgently +engaged is finished I shall be at your service," and with that I swung +forward out of the place, nor was there any longer the least attempt +made to interfere with me. + +The incident ruffled my temper considerably, and I went hurriedly out +into the night and set off at a sharp pace for the Gramberg house, when +Steinitz came up and whispered a word or two about the need for caution. + +"Won't you drive home?" he asked. "To walk seems like inviting an +attack." + +"No, I'll walk. The air will do me good. No one will be expecting me to +do so; and I will be on my guard." + +In truth I did not know what my opponents' next move against me might +be. It was not at all improbable that, as they had now the knowledge +which would enable them to accuse me of imposture, they would deem it +needless to run any risks by attacking me with violence. They could +probably get at me by some kind of legal process. + +I did not care in the least. I had no thought except the overpowering +desire and resolve to find Minna and rescue her. I was indifferent to +all else. + +It was therefore with intense pleasure that I learned when I reached the +house that there was important news. The maid, Marie, had arrived there +about half an hour previously, and was waiting in feverish anxiety to +tell me her story. I was no less anxious to hear it. + +"Tell me as plainly and as shortly as you can," I said, "everything that +has passed since you left the palace with the baroness up to this +moment." + +"The first thing I noticed was that there was a stranger on the box as +coachman, and that there were also two strangers on the board behind. We +drove away slowly through the lines of people and until we had gone +about half a mile. Then the carriage turned away to the right, and began +to thread a number of streets, the pace gradually increasing until the +outskirts of the town were reached. There the carriage stopped with a +jerk, and a stranger sprang in and took his seat opposite to us. + +"'Do not be alarmed, ladies,' he said, 'but the Prince desires you +should call first at the house of Baron Heckscher to complete certain +details.' I made no opposition, because you had told me not to speak a +word if I could avoid doing so; and thus we drove on for about half an +hour at a rapid pace." + +"Do you know the road?" I asked. + +"Yes, it was the Linden road. Then the carriage turned in through some +side gates," continued the girl, "and we drew up at the door of a large +house." + +"'You will come in,' said the man, alighting and leading the way. I +noticed a large number of men about, who took careful heed of us, as we +were led into a room at the far end of a long corridor. There we were +left for a few minutes alone, when the stranger came back to us. + +"'I have to tell you now,' he said to the baroness, 'that it will be +necessary for you to remain here some time. Reasons of State have made +it desirable that you should be separated from those whom you have +hitherto looked on as your friends; but, of course, no harm will come to +you, and the detention will only be for a few hours. You will not need +an attendant, baroness, as this young woman'--waving his hand toward +me--'can transfer to you the services she is accustomed to render to her +mistress, the Countess Minna.' + +"'What do you mean, sir?' I asked, for I could not keep quiet. + +"'That it is perfectly well known to me that you are not the Countess +Minna von Gramberg, but merely her waiting-maid. You will therefore be +good enough to attend to the baroness,' and with that he went out of the +room." + +"And the baroness?" I asked eagerly. + +"I was so overcome at learning that the scheme had got known to them, +and that, therefore, the danger to my dear young mistress was as great +as ever, perhaps greater, that I did not know what to say, or think, or +do. The baroness seemed to think I had been guilty of treachery, but, +your Highness, I would die sooner than be the means of any harm coming +to my mistress," cried the girl, with what appeared to me to be the +energy of truth, and with the tears in her eyes. + +"'Have you told any one of this change?' the baroness asked me, and, +despite my utter protests, I could not make her believe that I had not. +I sat there utterly miserable, only thinking and fearing what might +happen to my mistress. + +"The baroness would not speak to me, and hour after hour passed in this +awful suspense. They brought us food, but I could not touch it, though +the baroness ate some, and told me to do the same. But I could not. The +dreadful thought of my mistress' danger seemed to shut out everything +else, even anger at these suspicions of treachery." + +"Well, how did you get away?" I asked as she paused. "Stay, will you +know the house again? And could you guide me to it?" + +"Yes, your Highness," was the ready answer. + +I sent for Steinitz and told him to have a carriage got ready for me at +once. + +"After we had been thus for some hours," the girl resumed when I turned +to her again, "I thought I heard the sound of a horse galloping up to +the house, and about an hour later the same man came to our room. + +"'You can get ready to go. We have done with you,' he said bluntly to +me. 'I regret it is impossible to release you yet, baroness; but your +niece will certainly have need of you, and you will probably wish to be +with her again.' + +"'Can I not go to my mistress?' I asked, in distress at the thought of +her being in this man's power. + +"'No, you can return to the Prince von Gramberg, and tell him the next +time he plans a coup to do it more shrewdly.' + +"I wrung my hands in despair and prayed and begged of him to let me go +to the countess; but he scowled and frowned me down and ordered me to be +silent. Then he led me away alone to where a carriage was waiting for +me, and after I had been driven back to the city they set me down, and I +hurried here as fast as I could." + +I had already resolved to go to the place, although it was almost +certain I should not find Minna there. + +"Get ready to go with me. You will take your place by the coachman and +direct him where to drive;" and after a rapid change of dress I armed +myself and set out for the house where the girl had been detained, +bidding the man drive as fast as his horses could travel. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +COVERING MY DEFEAT + + +As I rode through the quickly brightening dawn I endeavored to piece +together some plan of action for this visit to the house; but it was +obvious I should have to be guided largely by what might occur. It was +exceedingly improbable that I should find Minna there. It seemed in the +highest degree improbable that they would have let the girl Marie out in +such a way if they had intended to take Minna to the same house; for +they would have known I should go there at once. Certainly they did not +intend me to know Minna's whereabouts. + +There were other considerations, moreover. Marie herself might still be +playing me false, or these men might be using her as a decoy to lure me +into a trap. I was inclined to the latter view. I believed the girl to +be true to her mistress, and I read the detention of the Baroness Gratz, +judged by what the girl had said of her manner, to indicate that the +treachery was hers, and not the girl's. In any event I must be on my +guard. + +I felt that until I could make the Baron Heckscher understand that any +harm to either Minna or myself would be the signal for the death of the +Duke Marx there might be danger for us both. + +For Minna's sake--seeing that her helplessness would be vastly increased +were anything to happen to me--I must run no unnecessary personal +risks. I would use the occasion only therefore to endeavor to ascertain +where Minna had been carried. After a few hours, as soon, that was, as I +could safely communicate with Baron Heckscher, the axis of the danger +would be shifted. + +Presently the carriage stopped, and I was told that we were near the +house. Calculating that if any mischief were meant a secret approach +would be as dangerous as an open one, I ordered the coachman to drive +straight up to the door, and I jumped out, and myself thundered at the +heavy knocker, and pealed away loudly at the bell. + +The noise awoke the echoes of the still, heavy, morning air, but for a +long time received no attention from within the house. I grew impatient, +and walked round it, examining the windows, which for the most part were +closely shuttered. + +I went back to the door, and knocked and rang again; and then a window +at the top of the house was opened, and an old man put out his head and +asked what was the matter. + +"Come down to the door at once," I replied peremptorily. + +"What for?" + +"Come down," I cried angrily. "At once. I order you in the name of the +Queen--or I shall have the door broken in." + +The head was withdrawn and I thought I could hear the sounds of a +muffled conference. + +"Who are you and what do you want?" said the old fellow, putting out his +head again. + +"I order you in the name of the Queen to do as I have said," I answered, +rather liking the sound of the formula. It served my purpose, for the +man drew in his head muttering he would be down in a minute. + +"Are you sure this is the house?" I asked the girl Marie. + +"Positive. I will lead you straight to the room," she returned. + +I waited impatiently until I heard some one fumbling with the fastenings +of the door, and after a minute it was opened by the old man, partially +dressed and yawning heavily. + +"I have come for the Baroness Gratz and her companion," I said sharply +as I stepped into the hall. "Let them be roused at once." + +"There's no baroness here," said the man. + +"Who is in the house, then?" I asked. + +The old fellow looked at me shrewdly. + +"There are more than enough to guard it; but there are no ladies," he +answered. + +"That I shall see for myself," said I, and I called Marie and told her +to show me the way to the room where she and the baroness had been kept. + +The old man followed, protesting at every step energetically. + +"This is the room, your Highness," said the girl, laying her hand on the +door. + +I opened it and looked in. It was empty and dark. + +"How long have you been in the house?" I asked the old man, on whom the +mention of the term "highness" had produced a marked effect. + +"I live here, my lord," he answered in a tone of much greater respect. + +"Were you here this afternoon and evening?" and I took out a couple of +gold pieces so that he could see them. + +"No, your Highness," he said, with a bow--the mere sight of them had +given me a step in the peerage in his opinion. "I was away in the +country this morning and only returned late." + +"Were there two ladies here when you returned?" + +"Not that I know of, sire." + +"Was your master here?" + +"No, sire. He is away." + +"Who is your master?" + +He looked astonished. + +"Herr Schemmell, your Grace." + +"And were the preparations all complete at Herr Schemmell's country-seat +when you left--the preparations for the expected guests, I mean?" + +The shot told; for he started and looked up and I thought he was going +to reply, when a stolid, sullen look settled on his face and he was +silent. + +I jingled the two gold pieces and added a third, and then on my side I +was considerably startled, for a deep voice said from behind me: + +"The bribery of a servant is not a very princely employment." + +"Who are you, sir?" I cried, turning quickly on the newcomer. + +"Some one to whom you will be good enough to address any further +questions, if you please. Ludwig, go away." The old man shambled off +down the long corridor. "And now, sir, you will be well advised to leave +the house--while the way is open. You may find it difficult later." + +"That may be as it will, but I am not going until I have effected my +purpose and satisfied myself that those whom I seek are not here." I +spoke resolutely. + +"You are a trespasser, and will be good enough to leave when I tell +you." + +"This is the house to which those whom I seek were kidnapped and +brought, and I will not leave until I have searched it." + +"One of the persons kidnapped is by your side now," said he, pointing to +the girl; "but you will not be allowed to search the house. If you +attempt it, you will be detained and given an excellent opportunity of +searching one of the cellars, but no more." + +"You dare not interfere with me. I am no woman!" said I hotly. + +"You will be well advised to moderate your language. You are one man, we +are many. You have forced yourself into this house, and, if we deal +harshly with you, you will have only yourself to blame. Personally, I +have no wish to do you any hurt. You have served our turn, and can do no +further harm." + +I bit my lip in vexation. + +"Is the Baroness Gratz in the house, or the Countess Minna von +Gramberg?" I asked after a pause of embarrassment. + +"I decline to answer your questions. And again I warn you to leave, or I +will not be responsible for the consequences." + +"I will search the house!" I exclaimed, and, without further words, I +plunged along the corridor, trying to open the doors of the rooms which +I passed. + +They were all locked, and when I turned to the staircase it was only to +find that a couple of men armed with revolvers had been posted there to +prevent my ascending. + +"Stand aside and let me pass!" I cried firmly. + +"You will fire, if necessary," commanded the man who had followed me, +and he took up a place by them. Then to me he added: "My patience is +exhausted now, and I will give you three minutes only to leave the +house. At the end of that time the doors will be closed, and I shall +keep you here a prisoner. You are but one against a dozen, and can do +nothing. It will be sheer madness to attempt to resist us." + +I saw this well enough; but the thought of the ignominious failure to +get even information galled and maddened me. But it would have been +greater madness to resist. + +"Will you give me a moment in private?" I asked the man. + +He came aside with me readily. + +"Can you give me any assurance that my cousin, the Countess Minna, is +safe?" + +"I have no instructions to give you any information whatever, but to the +best of my knowledge she is perfectly safe." + +"Where is the Count von Nauheim?" + +"I decline to tell you, sir," he answered curtly, and I could get no +more from him. + +Thus, baffled and exasperated, I left the house. + +I had gained little or nothing definite by my venture, and yet, despite +my disappointment, I was in a sense relieved of some of my anxiety in +regard to Minna's safety. Whether she was in the house or not I could +not say, and, until I had seen Baron Heckscher, I had not ventured to +take any too desperate steps to ascertain; but as I drove back to the +house I determined on a much bolder measure to take presently. + +I stopped the carriage a little way from the house, and sent back the +coachman to wait and watch if the baroness or Minna left the place, and +told the man to remain until Steinitz should relieve him. I drove the +carriage home, and then despatched Steinitz with instructions to keep a +strict watch on any movements from the house, and particularly to follow +Minna should she leave the house. + +As I knew that I must have a trying day before me, I lay down for an +hour or two until the time for my visit to Baron Heckscher. + +I arrived at his house just as he was in the act of starting for a +meeting of the Council of State, which had been hurriedly summoned. + +"I cannot stay to speak to you now, sir. I have to go out," he said +shortly. + +"On the contrary, you cannot go out until you have spoken to me," I +replied, copying his manner. + +"This is no time for play-acting," he said significantly. "There are +serious matters of State to be settled, caused by your trickery or +treachery." + +"You are an authority on the latter, at any rate. But I have not come to +bandy words. I wish to know where the Countess Minna von Gramberg has +been carried, and to demand her instant and unconditional release." + +"In what character do you demand that information?" he said, with a +sneer. + +"As her cousin, the Prince von Gramberg." + +"The Prince. You still hold to that farce?" + +"Be good enough to explain what you mean." + +"Simply that you are no more the Prince von Gramberg than I am, but +Heinrich Fischer, an ex-play-actor. Do you dare to deny that?" + +"Certainly I do." + +He shrugged his shoulders. + +"Then who are you?" + +"For the present, and for the purposes of this interview, I am the +Prince von Gramberg, and you will be good enough so to regard me." + +"Swashbuckling talk is of no use to frighten me, and I have no time for +any further antics of yours. You deceived me for a time, I admit, but I +know you now, and, unless you leave my house, I will call my servants, +and have you expelled from it and handed over to the police for an +impostor." + +"No, Baron Heckscher, you will not," I answered firmly, shaking my head. +"I know the whole of this inner plot of yours, and can expose it, and +will, too, as I told you last night." + +"Possibly an effective weapon in a stage-play," he sneered. "But I have +no time for folly of this sort." + +He crossed the room to the bell, and stretched out his hand as if to +ring it. + +"I know the scheme to marry my cousin to a man already married, and so +to betray and ruin her. And, mark me, if you attempt to send me away, I +will go straight to Berlin and denounce the whole of your foul treachery +against that girl." + +"You speak a fool's tale!" he cried angrily, though he withdrew his hand +from the bell. + +"Maybe, but even a fool's tale, as you call it, can be sifted. Your +scheme now seems on the point of succeeding. The gist of it is that when +my cousin Minna is not forthcoming--through your own machinations, mark +you--the cry should be raised for the Duke Marx. I have known that +throughout, and I too have had my plans. You will find it difficult to +play your game of chess without the King." + +I enjoyed the start of surprise my words caused. It was now my turn to +smile with an air of confidence. + +"What do you mean by that?" he asked, frowning. + +"All that is in your thoughts, and more," said I significantly. + +"What do you mean?" he repeated, coming toward me and looking +searchingly at me. + +"I mean," I began very earnestly, as if about to tell him; but changed +my tone, and asked, "Where is the Countess Minna?" + +He took his eyes off my face, and glanced quickly from side to side, as +some men will in moments of swift, searching thought. + +"You have not dared----" he began, and paused. + +"You have dared to seize the Queen," said I quickly. "Why should I not +dare to seize your King? This is no child's game we are playing." + +He started again, pursed his lips, and frowned. I had beaten him. I knew +it. + +"It is checkmate," said I quietly. "And you may as well admit it. But my +game is a cleaner one than yours. You have thought to ruin the Countess +Minna either by a bigamous marriage or by a fate so foul that none but a +soulless, intriguing traitor would have conceived it. I mean your King +no harm; but I swear by every god that man has ever set up for a fetich +that if so much as a hair of the pure girl's head is harmed I will visit +it a thousandfold on my hostage. Now, will you tell me where is the +Countess Minna?" + +I had him now fast in my clutches, and turn which way he would there was +no escape. To do him justice, so soon as his first dismay had passed his +face wore an impassive, expressionless look that told me little. But I +could read his other actions. + +He had been going to his colleagues to propose that the agitation to +bring the Duke Marx forward should be set on foot at once; and this move +of mine had beaten him absolutely. Once or twice he let out of his eyes +a glance of malice that told me what he would have done had he dared; +but I had drawn his fangs, and for the time he was powerless to harm. + +While I sat thus watching him and enjoying my triumph, a knock came to +the door and a servant entered to say that a messenger had come for me, +and wished to see me urgently. + +"I will return in a moment," I said as I went out. + +The man had brought me a telegram. I tore it open and found it was from +von Krugen. + +"Safe so far." + +I dismissed the man and returned to the baron with a feeling of even +greater exultation and confidence than before. I was like a man drowning +who, at the last moment, had pulled himself into safety. + +"Well, baron?" I asked as I re-entered the room. "Have you decided to +answer my question?" + +He was writing hurriedly, and glanced up a moment without speaking, then +resumed, finished the letter, rang for a servant, and ordered it to be +delivered at once. + +"That is your answer. It is a letter to excuse my presence for half an +hour. It will give time for our conference. Now, what is your motive, +and what are your terms?" + +As he put the question he wheeled his chair round so that he could face +me as he waited for the answer. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +NEWS OF MINNA + + +I did not reply to Baron Heckscher for a few seconds. It was obvious, of +course, that matters had taken a new turn, and I sat thinking how to use +the situation to Minna's best advantage. + +"Now that you are reasonable, we will go back a little way," I said +deliberately. "What do you mean by asking me my motive?" + +"Presumably you have some strong motive and some object to gain. Though +for the purposes of this interview, as you say, I am willing to call you +the Prince von Gramberg, or anything else you like, I have proofs that +you are nothing of the kind. Apparently you are an adventurer. Certainly +you have been Heinrich Fischer, an actor at Frankfort, and that within a +year or two. You were there for several years, and have been identified +beyond question. What you were before then I neither know nor care. You +have played the part of the Prince von Gramberg, and played it with +plenty of dash, spirit, skill, and shrewdness. But men don't do these +things for no object. You have run an hourly risk of detection as an +impostor, and have certainly rendered yourself liable to heavy +imprisonment; indeed, proceedings are already in course for your +prosecution. Why, then, have you acted in this way?" + +"Those are my private affairs," I answered after a pause; "and until +you can disprove my assertion I remain the Prince von Gramberg, if you +please." + +"As you will, your Highness." He gave the title with excellent irony. "I +may tell you that when the information reached us it was at the request +of the countess's only surviving relative that she was removed from your +custody." + +"You mean the Baroness Gratz. I had already suspected her treachery; but +you will save much trouble by keeping to the plain truth. Your object +was not to get the countess out of my custody, but into your own, so +that while this plot to place her on the throne had apparently been +engineered in her interest it was the Ostenburg heir who should benefit. +It was your work to put forward that scoundrel von Nauheim as her +husband, so that when she had been ruined by him she would be impossible +as a claimant for the throne. We may as well be frank." + +He made a movement of anger at this, and then asked sharply: + +"If what you say of him be true, how did you know it?" + +"We may pass that by," I replied, with a wave of the hand; "sufficient +that I did know him. To save her from such a fate has been my motive." + +"You have aimed high, young man; but the Countess Minna von Gramberg's +hand is not for an ex--for the present Prince von Gramberg." He made the +change of phrase with dry significance. "She herself quite understands +that." + +It was my turn to start at this. + +"You mean that what you have said has been told to her?" + +"Your tone is enough to show me my information is correct. You will be +wise to abandon that idea once for all. Neither her title nor her wealth +is for a nameless adventurer." + +His words stung me deeply, as no doubt he intended they should. + +"If you knew----" I began, but then checked myself in the act of +blurting out what I myself might afterward repent, and said instead: "If +you knew my real plans, you would see the futility of pursuing this any +further." + +"That is why I asked what your plans are. What are your terms? Most men +have a price. Name yours, and I'll see whether we can pay it." + +He spoke with cold deliberation. + +"My terms are the safety and immediate liberation of the countess." + +"They are impossible, at the present juncture. Impossible." + +"Very good; then we resume matters precisely where they were when I +entered this room," I replied, and rose as if to leave. + +"You have been playing for a big stake, and I have shown you it is out +of your reach. This girl is nothing to you--unless she has succeeded in +winning your valuable heart. But you are no fool to waste your strength +in chasing the unattainable. Give her up. Name your own terms in money +and position. Enlist on my side, and whatever you ask you shall have." + +"I am not for sale," I answered indignantly. + +"Then you will be a fool, that's all. You have said enough to me here, +coupled with the fact that you are what I know you to be, to warrant me +in clapping you into a jail straightaway, and I will do it, believe me, +if you force me." + +"If you like to sign the death warrant of the Duke Marx in that way, +you can. I have not come here to you without knowing you, and preparing +for eventualities. Your part in all this is known to others besides me, +and I leave you to judge where you, or those joined with you, would +benefit if there were no Ostenburg heir to take the throne. Berlin would +have to bring back the madman, or put the Countess Minna on the throne, +or some stranger; and, in either event, your power and influence would +be gone. But you know all this well enough. Clap me into jail as you +say, or have my head cut off if you like it better, but how would it +help you? No, baron, you will have to try something else. The cards I +hold are too strong for you." + +I flung the words at him with a reckless air, and he knew the truth of +them. After a moment he replied: + +"You mean you will keep to your mad plan of marrying the Countess +Minna?" + +"I have said nothing of the sort. My object is merely to free her from a +position of danger from those against whom alone she is powerless to +fight. It has been part of your infernal scheme to ruin her, to take her +life, or to shut her up somewhere for the rest of it, because she +interferes in some way with your plans." + +"And you wished to put her on the throne in spite of us?" + +"She has no more wish to become Queen of Bavaria than to become one of +your kitchen wenches. You have known this throughout. She has always +been against it, and it was only for the purposes of your own double +treachery that you would not recognize it openly. Give her the chance +and she would renounce all claim to the throne at this very instant. But +you would give her no opportunity. You used her to mask your own hidden +scheme, and you have always harbored a design against her safety. And +now your own precious scheme has failed, as it deserved to. She has been +your victim throughout, just as that infamous von Nauheim has been your +abominable instrument. Where is that scoundrel now?" I cried. + +He paid no heed to the question, but was rapt in thought for some +seconds, and, seeing yet another development opening, I resumed my seat. + +"Can I believe you?" he asked at length slowly. + +"You can please yourself." + +"It might be possible," he said thoughtfully, and as if half communing +with himself. "You say your terms are that the countess be at once +released? What use will she make of her liberty? Or rather, what use +will you make of it for her? If she is released, when will the Duke Marx +return to Munich? And where would the Countess Minna be?" + +I saw his drift in a moment. + +"You mean, will I undertake that she is away long enough for this scheme +of yours to go through even now?" + +"You can put it that way." + +"I must see her for myself before I answer." + +"Even that might be practicable," he replied cautiously. "I will see." + +"Where is she?" + +"If this is done, and she is willing, do you pledge yourself to get her +away out of the country for the present?" + +Something in his accent and tone roused my suspicions, and I watched him +very closely as he added: + +"And further, that the Duke Marx shall return to Munich as soon as she +is at liberty." + +"The Countess Minna's fortune must be secured to her," I said, speaking +more to gain time to think than with any real care for the money. + +"You are cautious for a young man in love," he sneered; "but you need +have no fear on that score. You will not lose that." + +I saw his object then pretty fully. He perceived that a marriage with an +actor and adventurer such as he deemed me would help his plans for the +Ostenburgs at least as much as a marriage with von Nauheim. Everything +could go forward with his scheme. Minna would be out of the way even as +he had planned, and she could still be used as a stalking-horse to cover +his great object, and thus the Duke Marx would be called to the throne +apparently without having plotted for it. + +There was one obstacle that I saw--von Nauheim. + +"What of von Nauheim?" I asked. "Where is he?" + +The answer was a wave of the hand, as though such a consideration were +beneath serious notice. + +"Is he with the Countess Minna now?" I asked, my face growing dark. + +"He met with some sort of accident last night, it seems," he said, with +a shrewd glance at me. "But for that he might have been with her, by the +desire of Baroness Gratz. But as it is----" he added, with another hand +wave. + +"I don't regard him so lightly," said I, in reply to the gesture. + +"You have already had to face much more serious obstacles." + +"I could not choose the terms then; I can now. But I will take the +chance of what I may do. I can almost pledge myself for the countess, +unless you have undermined my influence with her. That is your lookout. +But if you set her free at once, and she consents, I will pledge myself +to let your scheme go on as you desire, and will see that the Duke Marx +is back in Munich as soon as the Countess Minna is safe out of the +clutches of your agents and across the French frontier. There is no time +to lose," I added, rising, for the thought of seeing Minna had filled me +with eagerness. + +"What guarantee have I that you will do this?" + +"None. What can you have--except that the sooner I have shaken myself +free from this infernal intrigue the better I shall be pleased." + +The sincerity with which I said this appeared to satisfy him; for after +a moment he rose to end the interview. + +"And where shall I find the Countess Minna?" I asked. + +"She had better not return to Munich. She can join you at Gramberg." + +"Thank you, I prefer to fetch her myself," I interposed quickly. + +"There is a difficulty----" he began thoughtfully. + +"Then the sooner it is smoothed away the better," I interrupted. + +"I will send you word where to find her. But, first, there are certain +matters which must be set straight." + +"I don't trust your agents, baron; you had better understand that. What +is to be done must be done to-day." + +"I am as anxious as you can be for haste. There is more to apprehend +from delay than you appear to think. At any moment we may have some +interruption from Berlin. But I can say no more now. If you return to +the Gramberg house and hold yourself in readiness to start, I will +communicate with you at the earliest possible moment. I can do no more. +At this instant I myself do not know the exact whereabouts of the +countess. She was taken last night to Herr Schemmell's house, close to +town here, and early this morning was to have been removed--almost +directly after your visit, indeed, of which I was, of course, +informed--and was to be taken to his country-seat near Landsberg. But +until I know that she has arrived there it would be folly for me to send +you out. Those who have charge of her are to use their discretion as +events may require." + +"I will wait till I hear from you," I said, and as a last word asked, +"You say she has been told that I am not her kinsman, the Prince von +Gramberg?" + +"Certainly. And probably the tale has been garnished with abundant +details. The Baroness Gratz is no friend of yours." + +"And von Nauheim?" + +"If he is well enough he may have gone after them. I cannot say." + +"If there is any wrong done to her, I shall set it to your account," I +cried passionately, for this news of von Nauheim filled me with rage. + +With this I left him, the fear that von Nauheim might even yet be able +to deal some treacherous blow haunting me. + +On my way from the baron's I called at von Nauheim's house, and there I +learned something that added to my disquiet. He had returned home in the +small hours of the morning, and after a brief stay in the house had left +again, declaring he might be absent for some time. This was to me like +oil poured on to a roaring fire. + +"Had your master been hurt?" I inquired of the servant. + +"Yes, your Highness. I believe he had had a narrow escape in some +carriage accident; but he had almost entirely recovered; and happily no +serious injury was caused. He was bruised, of course, but seemed much +himself again this morning." + +This was ill news enough, and I gnashed my teeth in impotent anger, when +I reached the house and had to sit kicking my heels in idleness while I +waited for news from the baron; and that at the very hour when, for all +I knew, von Nauheim might be forcing his abominable attentions on Minna. + +Late in the morning, toward noon, something happened that increased my +uneasiness. A letter was brought me from Minna. It had been hurriedly +written, and was scarcely coherent. + + "COUSIN HANS,--I am in sore trouble and fear. There is no doubt I + am in the hands of the Ostenburg agents--they tricked me at the + ball, and I am being taken away from Munich. My aunt Gratz is with + me, and it seems that Marie was false and told everything--though I + scarcely distrust her. That is one story. Another is so dreadful I + dare not think of it. They dare to tell me you are not my cousin, + but a spy paid by the King's party to cheat us all and wreck the + whole scheme. I don't believe it. I would trust you against the + world. I do trust you. But I do so long to see you face to face + again and hear from your own lips that all this is false. I believe + I am being taken to Landsberg to the country-house of a Herr + Schemmell. Aunt Gratz says so, and thinks you could come after us. + She will get this letter to you. Try and follow me at once, and + save me from I know not what. All this is killing me. Your + distracted cousin, + + MINNA." + +What on earth could this jumble mean? The Baroness Gratz the medium of +news of this sort. First assuring Minna that I was a rascally spy, and +then suggesting that I could follow and rescue them. Of course it was +treachery somewhere. Was it to put me off the scent altogether? Were +they being taken to some other place? It baffled me, and I could not see +a solution. + +The fact that von Nauheim had recovered, and, as I knew, had followed +them, led me to connect him with the business in some way, but how? + +The thought was so maddening that I was raging and fuming at the delay +in hearing from the Baron Heckscher when, to my further surprise, Praga +was announced. + +He had come, he told me, to consult about the disposal of our hostage, +the duke. + +I turned for a moment with relief from the bewildering puzzle of Minna's +letter to ask him his news of the duke. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +AT LANDSBERG + + +Praga was in his customary devil-may-care humor, and in reply to my +earnest request for information he laughed and showed his teeth, tossed +his head and shrugged his shoulders, and his first answer was a volley +of his strangely phrased oaths. + +"Safe so far, Prince, but it was a devilish tight place you put us in. +That fellow of yours, von Krugen, is true grit, by the devil, a good +fellow right through." + +"What have you done with the duke? Don't waste words, man," I said, with +much impatience. + +"Poor little beast!" exclaimed the Corsican, with an ugly laugh. "We had +to frighten him till the sweat stood thick on his forehead, his teeth +chattered, and his knees knocked together like loose spokes in a rickety +wheel. In truth we didn't know what to do with him, and I was half for +knocking him on the head to be done with it, but von Krugen wouldn't. +Then it occurred to us that we could play at being about to put him to +death, and, as von Krugen was in his fancy dress, we let him play the +part of his mad Majesty's executioner. We patched up a few lies, sewed +them together with threats, and trimmed them with plenty of oaths. Told +him the whole plot was discovered, that the madman's agents had found it +all out, that my lord the duke was first on the honorable list for +having his head chopped off, and that von Krugen had been sent out to +give him the happy despatch. It was magnificent," and he laughed loudly +at the recollection. + +"Well?" I cried, the delay irritating me. + +"Your duke's a lily-livered wretch enough when it comes to facing cold +steel, and I'm bound to say von Krugen looked devilish ugly and dead set +in earnest as, wearing his mask, he drew his sword and gave the little +crank five minutes to balance up his ledgers with Heaven. He was in no +mood for that sort of work, as we had guessed of course, and instead of +putting up a few concentrated prayers of the customary strength he +flopped down on his knees and begged us to spare his life, and he +grovelled and squirmed and wriggled on his belly and wept till I could +have spat on him. Faugh!" and the Corsican's face was a picture of +disgust. + +"I begin to see," I said. + +"Not quite," said my companion, with a laugh. "For the next act was that +von Krugen and I quarrelled, and we pretended to wrangle and jangle +until I seemed to gain my end, and the little fool thought he owed his +life to me. He clung to me and shrank from the 'executioner,' and was +altogether in a fit state to promise anything I told him in order to +save his skin. I told him it would cost von Krugen his life if it were +known that he had not done the work, and that if any one had even a +suspicion of who the duke was and who we were all our lives would be +sacrificed in a twinkling. By that time he was about wet through with +fear, so we told him he must consent to be thought a mad patient of ours +whom we, as doctor and attendant, were conveying to an asylum. In this +way we took him to Gramberg--not to the castle, but to some place where +von Krugen said he would be safe for a time. There he is awaiting your +instructions. He's safe enough for a few days, but what after?" + +"You have done well and cleverly," I said warmly. "A little fright won't +hurt him, and meanwhile matters here have taken a turn which may render +it necessary for us to set him free in a few hours," and I told Praga +what had happened--except as to the discovery of my imposture--and the +tale made a considerable impression on him. + +"When that wily old Iscariot says one thing, I always look for another +meaning. But you had a master card to play. He must have been mad. And +what will you do?" + +"If I do not hear from him at once, I shall go on to Landsberg on the +chance of my cousin's letter being right, and I will send a messenger to +the baron at once." + +I was in the act of ringing for a servant when one entered to tell me +that Baron Heckscher was waiting to see me. + +"He had better not see me," said the Corsican. + +"There is no need. I will go to him. Meanwhile get ready to go with me, +and communicate with von Krugen to keep the duke where he is until he +hears from me." + +Then I hurried to the room where Baron Heckscher was waiting. + +"I deemed it best to come to you myself," he said on my entrance. "I +have been delayed, because I wished to be able to assure you that others +are with us in what we propose. Further, there is very important news." + +"Stay, if you please," I interposed, "before you tell me any more of +your news. Understand, I am not, and will not, be a party to any of your +schemes. I have no wish to be in any degree in your confidence." + +I guessed that the purport of his news was that some sort of +interference from Berlin was threatened, and I had the strongest reasons +for keeping clear of any complications whatever in that direction. + +"I don't think I quite understand you," he said sharply. + +"I mean that up to this point you have been working against the Countess +Minna and myself and I against you. So far I have outwitted you, and you +are taking the present step of freeing the countess because you can't +help yourself, not in any spirit of co-operation with me, but under +pressure from me, and because, if you don't do it, you know that your +whole plan will be spoiled. We are still opponents, and I decline to be +associated with you and your colleagues, and I retain complete freedom +of action and entire liberty to explain exactly the circumstances under +which this new development has taken place." + +"You mean that you have threatened to murder the rightful heir to the +Bavarian throne," he said, harshly and angrily. + +"That I have taken less shameful steps in regard to one of the heirs +than you took in regard to the other. Precisely," I retorted. + +"If you will not act with us, there must be an end of things, then." + +"Yes, if you mean that I must act with you, I will have no hand in your +plot." + +"You make needless difficulties." + +"On the contrary, I make no difficulties. I refuse only to be drawn into +your plot, or to be considered as one of you." + +"A sudden development of scruples, under the circumstances," he +sneered. + +"A proper development of caution I prefer to call it, seeing that I am +acting as the only real representative of the Countess Minna, and am +dealing with those who have tricked her so abominably." + +I spoke with all the warmth I felt. + +"You wish to pose as my enemy?" + +"I am quite indifferent. I know already the whereabouts of the countess +from a source independent of you, and I have taken means to insure her +safety." + +This was not strictly accurate, but it was indirectly true, for I knew +that so long as the Duke Marx remained in my hands Minna was safe +enough. + +He paused to think. + +"Do you mean you wish to break away from the arrangement we made this +morning?" + +"Not so far as the renunciation of the throne is concerned; but the +arrangement as to my cousin's freedom is to be considered as forced from +you, not made in complicity with you. I do not wish you to tell me +anything because you think I am acting with you. I am not." + +"So long as you do what you've agreed, I ask no more," he answered, with +a shrug of the shoulders, as though he considered the matter not worth +discussing. + +But I knew his indifference was only assumed to cover his chagrin. + +"The news is that the greatest haste is now imperative, or everything +will be lost. The Duke Marx must be back in Munich to-night or at latest +to-morrow. The whole city is in an uproar, and if the duke is not back +the ill consequences may be irretrievable. Moreover, I have news of +action from Berlin." + +"You mean you wish to pull the wires at once for an agitation in favor +of your duke, I suppose, but dare not until you know he is at liberty +and able to come forward. A very pretty dilemma," and I smiled. "I am in +luck, it seems. But now what of this Landsberg business? The countess is +there. What have you done?" + +"I have wired to our leader there, Major Gessler, to expect you to take +away the countess; and I have written you an authority to him that will +do all you need. Give him that--you will know him, for you saw him last +night when you visited the town-house of Herr Schemmell--and that very +moment the countess will be placed in your hands." + +"Good!" I cried gladly, my blood warming at the thought of Minna being +again in my charge. "But you know that von Nauheim has gone to +Landsberg." + +A frown crossed his face, but with an impatient wave of the hand he +exclaimed: + +"He can do nothing. Now as to your part. As soon as the countess is in +your care again you will hand to Gessler an authority to set the Duke +Marx at liberty?" + +"Yes," I replied after a moment's consideration. + +"Then the sooner you are en route the better," he said, rising as he +spoke. "I have no more to say to you. We part as----?" + +"As we met--opponents, Baron Heckscher," I answered promptly; and as +soon as he had gone I hurried back to Praga to tell him what had +occurred. Within a few minutes we were driving rapidly on our way to +Landsberg. + +My heart was beating with pleased anticipation of seeing Minna, though I +was not without some apprehension as to how she would take the news I +had to tell of myself and of the deception I had practised. Nor was I +altogether free from disquieting fears that in some way there was +danger to her from the presence of von Nauheim. I had, too, many plans +to make regarding our future movements, so that I was in no mood for +conversation. + +Praga began to beguile the journey by attempting to tell me a number of +piquant and characteristic anecdotes of his experiences; but he soon +found I was not listening, and he then relapsed into silence, and sat +smoking furiously. + +Once when he broke a long silence his words chanced to chime with my +thoughts and I answered. + +"When am I to have my revenge on that brute von Nauheim?" he asked, his +dark face lowering with anger. + +"You have had much of it already, for most of his plans have +miscarried." + +"Ay, but I want to be face to face with him, with nothing between but a +couple of sharp swords," and his eyes flashed as he spoke. + +"That may come sooner than we think. I care not how soon," I said. + +"But I do. Body of Bacchus, but I long to see him squirm and shiver and +shrink when I fix his eyes with mine and press his sword with the touch +of death." + +"I have a score to settle with him, too, and it grows in the waiting." + +"My turn first. You can have him when I've done with him--or at least +what's left of him," he cried, with a callous laugh. "Not before. And +what are you going to do afterward?" + +"I am still undecided," I replied; and again we were both silent. + +The journey was a very tedious one, for the train was slow, and we were +much delayed owing to a breakdown on the line, which made our train +several hours late. The delay fretted and galled me, for I could not +make sure that von Nauheim would not use the interval for some devilment +of his own. My impatience made the time pass with wings of lead. + +It was well toward evening when we reached our destination, and then +came another delay. There was an eight-mile drive to the house, and at +first we couldn't get horses. + +After much difficulty we procured a couple of riding hacks of very +indifferent quality, and as soon as we were mounted we pushed forward at +such speed as the nature of our beasts would allow. The effect of the +comparatively rapid motion through the air was exhilarating and braced +me. It was dusk, however, when we reached the village, at the far end of +which was the mansion. + +"At last!" I exclaimed as we turned in through a pair of massive gates +and rattled up the drive at a quick trot. + +As I glanced at the great, grim, square building, in which scarcely a +light was to be seen, a thought that all was not right was put into +words by my companion, who exclaimed with an oath: + +"I don't like the look of this place, Prince. I seem to smell something +wrong. I'm not for trusting myself inside." + +"It's all right," I answered. "It must be; there's no object now to be +gained by playing us false," and I jumped from the saddle and ran up the +broad flight of steps to the front door. + +"Maybe," growled Praga. "But I'd rather stay where I am. I'll turn +horse-minder. If it's a trap, it's as well for one of us to remain on +the outside of it." + +I was not sorry for him to do that, as I did not wish Minna to see him +until she knew how he had been helping us. His name was too repugnant to +her in connection with her brother's death. + +My summons was answered at once, and I asked for Major Gessler. I was +shown to a room at once, and as the door closed on me I heard a rush of +footsteps, a cry or two of anger, a shout from Praga that we were +betrayed, and then the quick gallop of horses down the drive. + +Before I had recovered from my consternation the door was opened again +quickly, and an officer appeared at it, accompanied by a couple of men, +who covered me with their guns. + +"What is the meaning of this?" I cried angrily. "Where is Major Gessler? +I am the Prince von Gramberg, and am here with an authority from Baron +Heckscher to the major. You will repent this attack, sir, whoever you +are." + +"If you will be good enough to hand over any weapons you may have, and +to sit down quietly there"--pointing to a chair--"I shall be glad to +answer you." + +"I'll see you damned first!" I cried in a blind rage, and I whipped out +my revolver and levelled it point-blank at his face. "Stand out of my +way, or I'll shoot you like a dog!" + +He was as cool as though I was merely offering him my card. + +"You will gain nothing by shooting me, except that my men will promptly +shoot you," he answered. + +"Then tell me what the devil you mean by this outrage," I said; and +despite my rage I saw readily the truth of what he said. + +"I allow no man to force me in this way," he answered calmly, looking me +steadily in the face. "Give up your revolver and no harm will be done +to you. Indeed I shall be glad to explain matters." + +I tossed the pistol on to the table, and he picked it up, handed it to +one of the men, and ordered them to leave the room. + +"Remain at hand to come if I call," he told them. Then to me he said, +shutting the door: "I am merely obeying orders. Major Gessler is away +for a time, and my instructions were to detain you until he returned." + +"Why is not the major here? He was prepared for my coming by a telegram +from Baron Heckscher." + +"You must put your questions to him. I only obey orders. But there has +been some ugly business here in regard to the Countess Minna von +Gramberg. She left the place secretly with her aunt and the Count von +Nauheim, about three hours ago, and the major is gone in pursuit of +them." + +The news set me on fire. + +"I must go after them!" I cried. "Don't try to stop me. Where have they +gone?" + +"My orders are that you remain here," he answered stolidly, "and I +cannot disobey them." + +"But I have come to fetch the countess. This is the authority to Major +Gessler to deliver her up to me," and, snatching the baron's letter from +my pocket, I handed it to the officer. + +He took it slowly, examined it carefully, and held it out again. + +"It is addressed to my superior officer, I cannot open it," he said, +with the same deliberate coolness. + +I tore open the envelope and gave him the letter. + +He shook his head. + +"It is not for me. I cannot read my superior's letters. I could not act +upon it if I did." + +"But, good God, man, these women may be in desperate peril! You must +read it!" + +He shook his head again with dogged obstinacy. + +At that I lost all control of myself, and with an oath I threw myself +upon him to drag him out of the way of my escape from the place. + +He clung to me, and wrestled furiously, and with a call brought in the +two men, who soon overpowered and forced me back in my chair, fuming +with rage. + +"It is useless to struggle," he said in his cold, even tone. "I have my +orders, and more than enough strength to see that they are obeyed." + +I recognized the force of this, and, though I cursed the blockhead +stolidity of the man, I could do nothing but yield. + +I ceased to struggle, but felt like a madman in my baffled fury and fear +for Minna. Heaven alone knew what use von Nauheim might make of this +opportunity. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +THE PURSUIT + + +"Will you cease to resist if my men leave you?" asked the officer after +I had been quiet some time. + +"Yes, but I shall hold you responsible for the consequences of this +detention of me, and they may be heavy and serious," I replied. + +"I am only acting under orders," was his answer, and he signed to the +men to withdraw again. "I am sorry you have compelled me to resort to +force. It was not my wish." + +"How long will Major Gessler be?" + +"It is impossible to say. He may return in five minutes or in five +hours; I can have no idea." + +"He knew that I was coming?" + +"Obviously, for I was told to expect you, and detain you when you +arrived." + +"Told to lay a trap for me, you mean?" + +He made no reply. + +"Did your instructions include the unwarrantable attack I heard being +made upon my companion?" + +"My instructions were to detain you, and I must really leave all +explanations to my superior." + +"Then I wish you'd leave the room as well," I retorted curtly, and, to +my surprise, he took me at my word, and went out immediately, giving a +command, in a tone loud enough to reach me, that the men stationed +outside the door were to remain there. + +As soon as I was alone I resolved to escape by the window. I got up and +stole softly to it. It was shuttered, but the fastenings were on the +inside, and as I tried them gently and slowly I found they were easy to +release. But I knew the men outside the door would be on the alert, and +that the least noise I made would bring them in. + +I sat down again, therefore, and began to make a noisy clatter with some +of the furniture. I banged the door of the big stove, upset a couple of +chairs, and threw down some things from the table. As I stooped to pick +them up one of the men put his head in at the door. + +"Well, what the devil do you want?" I cried, with an angry scowl. + +"I thought you called, sir," he answered. + +"That's a ready lie, my man. You came because you heard a noise. That +was the noise," and I picked up a chair and threw it across the room at +the door. "Just hand it back, will you?" + +He picked it up and placed it near the door, and went out, and I heard +him mutter something to his companion about my being a "queer sort." + +I slipped to the window then, and, not being afraid of making a noise, I +unfastened the shutters to find the catch of the window, and was in the +act of undoing that when I heard steps approaching the door across the +hall. In a moment I replaced the shutters, slipped back to my chair, and +was yawning heavily when the door was opened and the officer came in. + +"They report to me that you have been making some disturbance here," he +said shortly. "I will, therefore, leave a man in the room with you." + +I cursed the clumsiness of my ruse, which had thus frustrated the chance +of my escape. + +"I decline to submit to such an indignity, sir," I said angrily. "I will +have no jailer here." + +But my protest, like everything else with this wooden idiot, passed +unheeded, and one of the men was told to stand by the door inside. + +For a moment I was in despair. My first thought was to try and bribe +him, but I abandoned the idea as readily, for I saw that if I failed he +would report the attempt to the officer, and I should be in a worse +plight than ever. Yet the thought that time was flying, and von Nauheim +getting farther and farther away with Minna, while I was condemned to +this helpless inactivity, was like hell to me. Then a last and desperate +scheme suggested itself to me. The room was lighted by an oil lamp, and +my thought was to try and extinguish it, and escape in the consequent +confusion and darkness. I knew now that in a moment I could open the +window. + +Keeping up my character for eccentricity, I jumped to my feet so +suddenly that the man started and grasped his weapon, and, declaring +that I was cold--though the evening was stifling, and my rage made me as +hot as a fever patient--I began to stamp up and down the room, taking +care at first to keep well away from the window, lest he should suspect +my object. Next I declared that the lamp smelt vilely, and I set it down +near the stove, and opened the little door that the fumes might escape +up the flue. My next step was to whip the cover off the table, and throw +it around my shoulders. + +The man kept his eyes steadily on me, obviously regarding me as more +than half insane, but he made no attempt to interfere with me, and I +continued my monotonous march backward and forward, backward and +forward, until I noticed that his vigilant watch was gradually being +relaxed. Then I altered my direction slightly, until each turn took me +nearer and nearer to the window, and at last I prepared to make my +effort. + +"Turn that lamp down a bit, it stinks," I said, with a vigorous grimace +of disgust, and, without in the least suspecting my intention, he went +to do it. + +For a moment his back was toward me, and at that instant I snatched the +cloth from my shoulders and threw it with all my force at the lamp, +enveloping both it and the man as he was bending over it to do as I had +requested. + +He shouted lustily for help, but there were a few seconds of darkness +before any one could reach me, and I tore back the shutters, opened the +window, leapt out, and dashed away through the darkness at top speed, +running in zigzag fashion for the cover of some shrubbery about fifty +yards distant. + +Before I reached the cover I heard the sounds of great commotion in the +house, and a number of men started out in pursuit of me, but I plunged +through the bushes at as great a speed as possible. The noise I made +would, I knew, render pursuit an easy matter, and thus when I gained a +small clearing I changed my direction, and raced across the lawn, taking +my chance of where I was going. Fortune favored me, and I came upon a +boundary wall, over which I climbed, dropping breathless and excited, +but free, into a deep, dry ditch by the side of a lane. I lay down to +regain my breath and to listen for any further signs of pursuit, as well +as to think out my next step. I had escaped, but what use to make of my +freedom I could not for a moment tell. + +Presently I heard the sound of a horse cantering on the turf by the +side of the lane, and looking up cautiously I saw, by the light of the +moon, which was shining brilliantly, a man riding toward me. As he came +closer I recognized, to my infinite pleasure, that it was the Corsican, +Praga. I scrambled out of the ditch and stood up to wait for him, +calling to him when he was some twenty yards away. He reined up and +jumped from his horse. I told him my experiences with that dolt of an +officer in the house, and he told me he was just riding back to see what +had become of me, and that he had news. + +"It is great news," he said. "When they tried to get at me, I galloped +off, and in the village I stumbled against an old Munich acquaintance, +who is here over this business, and was just coming back from a start he +had made with Major Gessler. He told me something of what had happened +here to-day. It seems that that brute von Nauheim got wind that +something was going to happen which he didn't like--I suppose it was +your coming--and he bolted with the Countess Minna and her aunt. At that +Gessler seems to have thought treachery was in the wind, and that you +were in some way connected with it--these officers are always fools, +especially when some one tells them about half the truth--and he set out +after the runaways, and left orders that if you did come you were to be +kept. I was coming back to try if I couldn't find you, and perhaps get +you out of the house, so that we might start in pursuit on our own +account." + +"Where has von Nauheim gone? Does any one know?" I asked. + +"Yes, the major is on their track, I think. They are supposed to have +taken the south road, von Nauheim's object being apparently to strike +the railway when some miles out, and presumably get out of Bavaria as +soon as possible." + +"I have no horse," I said. "You had better give me yours, and then try +to get one and follow me as soon as you can. I am on fire. I cannot +wait." + +"It's not much of a beast, and very tired, but it may serve till you can +get a better," said Praga. "Make for Waal first, and then try to find +some traces, and leave word for me where I am to follow. I think I can +find your horse. He followed me out of the place, and I tethered him up +somewhere about here." + +I mounted, and after a few more hurried words from him about the +direction to be taken I clapped my heels into the horse's ribs, and set +off at a pace that was as near a gallop as the tired brute could +imitate. The clattering of the beast's hoofs on the rough, uneven road +woke the echoes around me as I dashed forward, filled with the one +consuming thought of rescuing Minna from the hands of the dastard who +had carried her off from me. + +I found to my dismay, however, that my horse was quite incapable of any +great effort, and soon began to show signs of fatigue. I had to ease him +constantly, and after a few miles I could not urge him beyond a rather +slow trot. To get another horse appeared difficult, and I did not pass +any place that even offered a hope of one. My progress was thus +irritatingly slow, and every mile I covered seemed to detract from, +rather than add to, the chances of my overtaking von Nauheim. + +I had no difficulty, however, in tracing the fugitives. Major Gessler, +in company with three other men, had passed scarcely two hours ahead of +me, and as they had made inquiries all along the route, they had left a +broad trail easy enough for me to follow. If they were on the right +track it was certain that I was. + +After riding for a couple of hours at this slow pace I saw a mile or two +ahead of me the lights of a small town, and, in the hope of being able +to get a fresh mount there, I urged on my shambling steed to the utmost +of his powers. But he was quite used up, and as I was forcing him down a +slight hill I felt him stagger and stumble under me; and then down he +went in a heap, throwing me clear of him. I could not afford to waste +time over him, and as soon as I had managed to drag him to his feet I +tied his head to a tree by the wayside, and set out to finish the +remaining distance to the town on foot. + +I had not walked more than a few hundred yards, however, when I +discovered that the fall from the horse had shaken me considerably. I +turned dizzy, and reeled and staggered as I walked. I kept on as long as +I could, but at last, despite my burning impatience to get forward, I +was compelled to sit down by the roadside and rest until the feeling +passed off. + +How long I sat there I do not know, but I think that for a short time I +must have lost consciousness. The rest refreshed me, however, and, +feeling almost myself again, I jumped to my feet quickly, eager to +resume my journey. + +As I did so I was startled by a low cry, like an exclamation of fear, +from some one close to me; and by the moon's light I made out the darkly +dressed figure of a woman some twenty or thirty paces ahead. I had been +sitting in the shadow of an overhanging tree, and, no doubt, my sudden +appearance had frightened her. + +She stood looking at me irresolutely, and when I commenced to walk +toward her she turned and sped away on the grass by the roadside +noiselessly, in the hope, no doubt, that I had not seen her. Obviously +she wished to avoid me. + +She was nothing to me, and as I had no wish to add to her fright, I let +her go, and merely watched her as she ran. I had no other feeling but +curiosity, tempered with regret that all unwittingly I had been the +means of frightening her. She had nearly passed out of sight when I +heard her cry out again, this time a louder and shriller cry, and I +thought I saw her trip and fall. I went after her then, as quickly as I +could, and found her kneeling on the ground moaning, with her hands to +her head. + +"Are you hurt?" I asked. "I am afraid I frightened you. I trust----" + +I stopped in amazement, for she turned her face quickly to me, and the +next instant I was down by her side with my arm round her. It was Minna +herself. + +"Oh, Hans, is it really you? I am so frightened. Save me." And without +another word she let her head sink on my shoulder, while she twined her +arms round me in quite hysterical fear. + +"Hush, my child. You are safe now," I said gently, in the soothing tone +one might use to a child who had hurt itself. + +And I held her in my arms in silence, my heart too full for words, as, +indeed, hers was, with mingled fear, relief, and agitation. + +"Where are you hurt, Minna?" I asked after a time. "Let's see if I +cannot help you." + +"Don't leave me; pray don't leave me," she whispered, clinging to me +more tightly than ever. "I shall be better in a moment--now I am safe. I +was running away from you. I was frightened when you jumped up suddenly +in the road, and I fell and hurt my head. Don't leave me. I want to +realize that I am really, really safe." + +"Don't doubt that. None can hurt you now." + +I would have added many a passionate protestation in my excitement, but +I checked myself, remembering all I had yet to tell her. I let a longer +interval pass before I spoke again; for, though I was burning with +impatience to learn how she came to be in this way alone on the road and +to take means to get her to some place of safety, I could not resist the +thrilling delight of feeling her arms about me and her head nestling +confidingly against my breast. The mere touch of her was an ecstasy of +passion. + +"Let me see to your hurt, Minna," I whispered. "We have a long journey +before us." + +At that she started, and began to tremble again, and said, her lips +faltering as the words fell from them: + +"I had forgotten. I had forgotten everything when I felt your arms +around me; but he will follow us. We must hurry on. Where can I go to +escape him?" + +"You mean von Nauheim?" I asked, my face frowning at thought of him. + +"Oh, there is so much to tell and to ask. What does it all mean, Hans? I +am not much hurt. It is here," and she put her hand to her forehead, +which was bleeding slightly. "I struck it against a stone when I tripped +and fell, I think. And to think I was running from you, of all the +world!" + +I could not answer the tenderness of her tone or the love that breathed +in every syllable of the words. If I had tried, the passion that was +pent in me must have come rushing out. I sought to affect indifference, +therefore; and though my fingers trembled as I touched her face, and my +heart ached at the sight of the little wound, I dressed it in silence, +and bound it up with my handkerchief. + +She smiled to me several times as I did this, and when I had finished +she murmured, lifting her eyes to mine: + +"It will soon be well, now you have touched it, cousin." And she sighed. +But the next instant she started, and a look of fear showed on her face. +"I can hear the sounds of a horse at full gallop. I have been hearing +nothing else in imagination for the last two hours; but this time it is +real." + +She spoke very wildly. + +I listened intently, but could hear nothing. + +"It is only imagination still," I replied. "And if it were real, it +would mean nothing." + +"Listen!" and she put up her finger and strained her ears. + +She was right. She had caught the sound before me; but now I could +distinguish the beat of hoofs in the far distance. + +"I hear it now. Which way is the sound from?" I asked. + +She began to tremble, and clung to me again. + +"It is from that way," pointing in the direction from which I had come. + +I listened again, and again found she was right. + +"Good!" I exclaimed. "It will be Praga. He is following me." + +"Praga! The villain who killed Gustav! Oh, Hans, it is true then that +you are in league with that terrible man. I would not believe it when +they told me." And she moved away from me as she spoke, and stood at a +little distance, trembling. + +But it was only for an instant. I had not time to reply before she came +again to my side and clung to me as before, crying with quick agitation: + +"I did not mean that, cousin Hans. I did not mean anything in distrust +of you. I trust you altogether with my whole heart and soul. If he is +with you, I know it will be not that you help him to do harm, but that +he helps you to do good. I know that. Believe and forgive me for +shrinking away like that. But I have always had such a dread and +loathing at his mere name, for dear Gustav's sake. Oh, there is so much +to be made clear." + +"It will all be clear enough to you when I have told you my story," I +said in as unmoved a tone as I could command at this fresh proof of her +absolute confidence. "And that will be as soon as we can get out of our +present plight. Even Praga has been wronged, and in this matter at least +he is with us." + +After that we stood in silence listening to the now fast approaching +gallop of the horse. + +Then came to our ears the whinnying of another horse. The galloping +stopped. The horse was pulled up short. + +"What does that mean?" asked Minna in a whisper of alarm; for all sounds +breathed the language of danger in her present agitation. + +"I left my horse tied to the hedge some distance behind there, and Praga +has found it, I expect." + +Almost directly after that Minna started again and cried: + +"There is another horseman coming from the opposite direction. That will +be the Count von Nauheim." + +"It is luck that Praga is close at hand, then," said I, "for I have no +arms. It will be a dramatic meeting." + +And now Minna was pressing close to my side again; and in this way we +stood and listened to the more distant horseman's approach, and heard +also the man I judged to be Praga bring his animal back on to the hard +road and set off at a sharp trot toward us. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE MEETING + + +If Minna was right in her conjecture that the horseman coming up on our +right was von Nauheim, it was easy to foresee that the meeting between +him and Praga would have an ugly ending. I knew well enough that the +Corsican's fiery hatred of the count would urge him to take his revenge +on the spot, and for the moment I was a little at a loss how to act. + +Praga was now close to us, riding slowly and peering anxiously on each +side of him for any traces of me. Obviously I had better let him know +that I was at hand. + +Minna and I were standing close under the shadow of a tree whose low +branches concealed us effectually. + +"Stop here while I go to speak to him," I said in a low tone. + +"No, no, don't leave me," she urged, holding my arm in a nervous clutch. + +"Have no fear. It is not you who need to fear now, but that villain von +Nauheim, if it is indeed he coming up the hill." + +"Don't go out of sight, then, cousin. I can't help being afraid--except +with you close to me." + +I whispered a word of reassurance, and stepped out from the shadow of +the tree into the moonlight and went toward Praga. + +"Who is there?" he called, stopping his horse. + +"It is I, Praga--the Prince." + +"Well met, indeed. Is that your horse tied to a tree back there a bit?" + +"Yes, he fell and threw me; but I am all right. Quick, bring your horse +on to the grass here, and under this tree," and I led him into the +shadow of the tall hedge. + +"Have you any traces of them?" he asked impatiently. + +"Yes, I have the best news. I have found the Countess Minna. She has +escaped from that villain, and I believe that the horseman you can hear +coming up the hill now is the man himself coming in pursuit of her." + +"Ah!" He drew in his breath. "We are in luck indeed. There is a good +light," and he glanced up at the moon, and I heard him swear into his +mustache, and mutter, "At last!" Then, after listening a moment, he +said: "He is breathing his horse up the hill. He little guesses who's +here to give him a welcome. I'll go forward and meet him. I hope to God +he has a sword with him. Will you stay here? You can act as second for +us both, and see that all is fair, though it would serve the dog right +if I were to shoot him down without a chance." + +He walked his horse slowly forward on the grass, making no noise, and +keeping out of sight in the shadow of the hedge. + +I went back to Minna. + +The on-coming horseman was now in full sight of us on the slope of the +white hill, the moonlight showing up the figures of both horse and +rider, as he turned to look behind him, and sat listening intently. The +silence was so intense that we seemed to feel it, and even the creak of +the saddle leather, as he turned, reached our ears. + +Then we saw him face round quickly and dash his heels into his horse's +ribs as if to gallop forward; but, at the same instant, he caught sight +of Praga, and he checked his horse again almost as he was in the very +act of urging it forward. The next moment Praga was at his side. + +For a second neither spoke. Then through the still night air we heard +the Corsican laugh. + +"You're riding late, my lord, the most noble Count von Nauheim," he said +in a mocking tone. + +No answer was made, and Praga put in words the thought that flashed upon +me. + +"Don't think of trying to escape. You won't do it this time." He spoke +sternly, adding, in the previous mocking tone, "And what brings you out +for horse exercise at this uncanny hour, most noble?" + +The reply was sudden and unexpected by me, but not by the Corsican. + +Von Nauheim drew a revolver, and fired point-blank at Praga, and then +dashed his heels into his horse's sides, and tried to make off. But the +other was fully prepared for the manoeuvre, and when the noise of the +shot, which frightened Minna excessively, and woke the echoes of the +woods round us, had died away, I saw that the Corsican had grasped the +bridle of von Nauheim's horse in a grip of steel, till the beast swerved +round and nearly unhorsed its rider, while with his other hand Praga had +struck the revolver from his opponent's grasp. + +Then he laughed again. + +"A hand is rarely steady when a man's shivering with fright," he said in +his bantering tone; but he changed it swiftly, and, in a voice deep with +passion, he cried, "Get off your horse, you coward, or I'll drag you +from your saddle! Do you hear?" + +Von Nauheim made no reply, and no effort to dismount. + +"Do you hear me? Dismount!" thundered the Corsican, his deep, rolling +voice vibrating with wrath; and when von Nauheim still hesitated, Praga +bent forward, and, with a strength that surprised me, tore him from his +horse, and forced him to the ground. + +Von Nauheim seemed helpless with terror. + +"What is he going to do?" asked Minna, shivering. + +"We must wait," I answered. + +Praga dismounted then, and, tying the reins of the two horses together, +led them to a tree, and fastened them. Every action was done with cool, +methodical purpose, which I knew was carefully calculated to increase +the other's fear; and though the Corsican pretended not to watch the +latter's actions, I could see that the whole time the dark, dangerous +eyes were taking the keenest note of every gesture and movement. + +When he had tethered the horses, he crossed the road back to where von +Nauheim stood in an attitude of sullen dejection. He was like one +fascinated and paralyzed with fear. + +All at once I saw Praga start and glance in my direction, as a thought +seemed to occur to him. + +"Come," he said in a voice of rough command, short, sharp, and stern. +"This way," motioning along the road toward the spot where Minna and I +stood. + +I wondered what he meant to do. + +Von Nauheim did not move, and Praga, seizing him by the arm, half led, +half dragged him forward. + +"You can do an act of justice for once in your life." + +He clipped the words, and followed them with a short, sneering laugh, a +curious mixture of humor and anger. + +"We are not alone here, and I have a fancy that you shall tell what you +know about the death of young Gustav von Gramberg." + +At this von Nauheim looked up, and stared rather wildly about him. I saw +Praga's motive then, and was glad. + +"Halt! most noble and honorable of counts," he cried when they stood +about twenty paces from us. Then, in a rough, stern tone, he added, "Now +tell the truth--the part you played in it." + +At that von Nauheim made a sudden dash and struggle to get free from his +antagonist's grip; but he might as well have tried to get away from his +master, the devil, as from the iron hand that held and then shook him +till his teeth chattered. + +I guessed that he had caught sight of us. + +"Now the truth!" cried Praga in a truly terrifying tone. "Out with it. +You know me by this time." + +The other glanced about him in abject fright, and then said, in a +whisper hoarse and husky with agitation: + +"Are you there, Minna?" + +"Silence!" thundered Praga, shaking him again. "Speak what I have told +you--no more, no less." + +For a time von Nauheim tried vainly to find words, and the sight of his +fear was so appalling and repulsive that Minna clung closer to me, and +hid her face against my arm. + +Another threat and command came from Praga, and then, in a voice that +shook and quavered, and broke again and again, he began the shameful +story of his own abominable part in the intrigue which had led to the +duel between Minna's brother and the Corsican; and the latter would not +let him halt until the whole villanous tale was complete. + +It took a long time in the telling, and I could feel the girl shrink +and wince as the truth came out in the dreary, monotonous voice of the +terror-possessed wretch. + +"Take me away, cousin Hans, I cannot bear this," she cried to me +piteously. "My poor, poor brother!" + +"Yes, we will go," I said. "But it was right for you to hear the tale, +and to know who in reality played the villain's part in it." + +I led her out in the moonlight then, and told Praga that we should go. + +"As you will," he answered; "I will follow. Take my horse, and I'll do +the best I can with yours." + +In turning to speak to me he loosened his hold somewhat of von Nauheim +for an instant, and the latter, with what sounded like a great sob of +fear, broke away, and threw himself on the ground at Minna's feet. + +"For God's sake, don't go away, Minna. Don't leave me with this man. He +will murder me. Have mercy on me. Plead with him for me. You can save +me. Minna, do you hear? For God's sake, have mercy," and he caught hold +of her dress and clung to her--the type of broken, abject, +fright-becrazed cowardice. + +"Don't touch me!" she cried. "Your hands are red with my brother's +blood." + +"Get up, you crawling, unclean brute, and cease your whining," said +Praga, dragging him to his feet. + +"Don't let him be killed, cousin Hans," whispered Minna. "He is not fit +to die. But, oh, take me away. This scene is killing me," she cried in +distress. + +At that von Nauheim broke out with more pleas and entreaties, his voice +shaking as he trembled in his fear. I did not know what to do. I had +promised Praga his revenge; and in all truth I could see no reason for +interfering to save the man's life. He had played the scoundrel all +through, and if ever a man deserved death he did. + +But at the same time it was Minna who asked for mercy, and I loved her +for it, and my heart was moved by her appeal. I stood thus in +hesitation, when an interruption came which, for the instant, I welcomed +gladly. + +We were to have more company on that lonely spot; and we all four heard +at the same moment the sound of horses coming quickly up the hill. A +minute later we caught sight of a couple of figures in the moonlight. + +The effect on von Nauheim was electrical. + +He sprang up and gave a loud shout for help. + +"Help, help! Murder! Help!" + +The cry rang over the country-side and awakened a thousand echoes in the +still night air. + +An answering shout came from the approaching men, and they dashed +headlong toward us, reigning up their horses almost on to their +haunches. + +"What is this?" cried a voice which I seemed to recognize. "Who called +for help?" + +"It is Major Gessler, Hans," whispered Minna. "Take care." + +While I was assuring her that all was well, and that I had an order to +him for her release, Praga was answering him. + +"You come in excellent time, gentlemen, whoever you are. This is the +thing that screeched for help," pointing to von Nauheim. + +"Ah, the Count von Nauheim," said the major in a tone of satisfaction. + +"There is the lady you seek, Major Gessler," said the poltroon, pointing +a trembling finger to Minna. "And I call you to witness that I have +been stopped on the highway by these two men and my life threatened. I +claim your protection." + +The major looked from one to the other of us in indecision, and then the +Corsican laughed a deep, rolling laugh of contemptuous anger. + +"By the nails that pierced the feet, you are a paltry thing!" he cried. +"Nothing's too vile and base for you to save your dirty little life; is +it? A minute since you were grovelling to the Countess Minna, hanging to +her skirts, and begging her to save you; and now you think to try and +curry favor with Major Gessler by this lick-spittling attempt to betray +her. But you don't know him, lily-liver; he's the last man in the world +to step in to prevent an affair of this kind. This is an affair of +honor, major, if we can use that term with a man like this; and of +course you will not think of interfering, except to see that everything +is done duly and in good order." + +There was a significance in his tone which did not escape me. + +"I must first learn the reason of your all being here, if you please." + +"I was returning to----" began von Nauheim, when Praga cut him short. + +"Silence!" he thundered; "you will only lie." Then to the major he said, +"I know no reason why I should explain my conduct to you." + +"I can best explain this, I think," I said. "The Count von Nauheim had +induced or compelled the Countess Minna here to leave your custody, and +after some time she escaped from him. I was following, and by the +happiest of coincidences we met. She will now remain in my care. Signor +Praga was riding after me, and the Count von Nauheim came up soon +afterward in search of the countess. Between Signor Praga and the count +there is an old quarrel, and it was in course of arrangement when you +arrived." + +"Then you will return with me, countess?" said the officer. + +"On the contrary, as I have already said, my cousin will remain in my +charge," and I handed him the letter from Baron Heckscher. + +He read it by the light of the moon, and we waited in silence till he +had finished. + +"You are to hand me an authority to your agents," he said as he folded +up the letter. + +"I have also to demand an explanation for the treatment I received on my +arrival, as I understood, by your instructions," I answered sharply. + +"It can all best be done at the house itself. My work is finished here, +and I must set about this other matter of the Duke Marx without delay," +he said. "Count von Nauheim has also an explanation to give me. We had +better proceed to the house, Prince." + +At this Praga showed signs of restiveness, while von Nauheim agreed +eagerly. + +"I have a word to say about that," exclaimed the Corsican, intervening. +"I have brought this fox to earth, and have no mind to see him slip +through my fingers. Prince, you won't forget our compact?" + +"I shall be responsible for the count's custody," put in Major Gessler. + +"Maybe, but you have an unfortunate trick of letting your prisoners slip +the leash," cried Praga bluntly. "I shouldn't trust myself in that house +again, Prince, if I were you. There may be more treachery there." + +"Those are ugly words, sir," exclaimed the major hotly. + +"They describe an ugly fact, major," returned Praga recklessly, with a +shrug of the shoulders. "I am not concerned to pick my words to tickle +your ears. If you don't like them"--and he threw up his hands--"I can't +help it." + +"I need not give you my assurance, I trust, Prince von Gramberg," said +the officer, turning to me, "that so long as I am at that house your +personal safety and that of the Countess Minna will be absolutely +secure." + +"If I doubt it, you have only the acts of your own men to blame," I +answered curtly. + +"That can be explained. When the Countess Minna was taken away by +this"--he was going to say gentleman, but substituted--"by this count, I +feared that some further plot might be afloat, and I left instructions +that you should be detained until my return from my search for her. If +my men exceeded their instructions in any way--I had only time to give +them very hurriedly--I beg to tender you my sincerest apologies. But at +least the countess here will tell you that while she was in my care +complete regard was paid alike to her comfort and safety." + +"Certainly I would trust Major Gessler's word," said Minna. + +"Will you return to the house?" I asked. + +"Yes, if we have his word that we are to be at liberty to leave it. But +I would rather go to Gramberg." + +"I pledge you my word on that," said the major. + +I reflected that we had better not go to Gramberg until I had had an +opportunity of explaining the whole position to Minna, and in fact I had +another plan in my thoughts. + +But while this conversation had been taking place, and our attention had +been engrossed, von Nauheim had stolen unobserved to the place where +Praga had tethered the horses, and, having cut the reins which tied the +two together, he leapt on the back of his own and made off down the road +at a hard gallop. + +With a furious oath Praga ran to his horse, caught it cleverly, jumped +into the saddle, and dashed after the fugitive in mad pursuit. The major +told the man who was with him to follow, and we stood and watched the +wild race as the three streamed down the hill from us at unequal +distances, along a flat stretch of level road at the bottom, and then up +a long incline beyond. + +Praga was the better horseman or had the better mount, for we saw him +gaining fast on the dark figure in front, and then as they neared the +top of the incline we heard the report of a pistol shot, followed at a +short interval by another. + +A moment later the two leading figures passed out of sight, and we were +left to conjecture what had happened. + +"Had you better not push on to the house?" asked the major. "I will ride +back and see the result. It has an ugly look. I shall probably overtake +you before long," and with that he wheeled his horse round and galloped +off, leaving Minna and myself alone again. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +"I AM NOT THE PRINCE" + + +"I think we had better return to that house," I said to Minna. "My horse +is close here, and you can ride while I lead him. You must be worn out." + +"I will do whatever you think best. I believe Major Gessler is to be +trusted." + +"Yes, I think so now. I have given him an order from those for whom he +is acting that you are to be detained no longer." + +"How did you find out where I was?" she asked. "I am longing to hear +everything." + +"You had better have some rest first. There is much to tell and a +weighty decision to make. Let us start." + +I led the way to where I had tied the horse, and, having unfastened the +reins, I walked him up and down once or twice to see if he showed any +signs of lameness as the result of his fall, and whether he was fit to +carry the girl. He appeared all right and much the fresher for the rest, +so I lifted her into the saddle, and taking the rein in my hand started +on the return journey. + +"You can tell me as we go along what has happened to you since the +ball," I said. + +"It has been a terrible experience, but it is simple enough to describe. +In the crowd at the ball I got separated from Captain von Krugen, and +some one just like him came up and said we had better stand out of the +throng a minute; and when we had moved away, he added that you wished me +to be in the ante-room instead of the ball-room. I suspected nothing, of +course, and went with him, and then some people came pressing round me, +and some one said that as a matter of fact they had bad news to break to +me--that you had met with an accident and were seriously hurt, and +wished me to go at once to you. I did not hesitate an instant when I +heard that, and so I fell into the trap. You don't blame me?" + +"Blame you for being solicitous about me?" I asked, turning and glancing +up to her with a smile. "But it was a cowardly scheme. And had you not +seen me in the ball-room?" + +"Yes, of course, and I said so. But they told me it had happened only a +few minutes before, and that you had been carried at once to the house +of a doctor, where you were expecting me. They told me you might die, +and at that I was so eager to get to you that I would have gone +anywhere." + +She paused again here, but this time I would not trust myself to look +round. + +"In this way," she continued, "I was lured into the carriage, and after +that, of course, I was helpless. They took me to some house near Munich, +and the place seemed alive with armed men. There, to my surprise, I +found aunt Gratz, who told me that Marie had betrayed us all, and that I +was in a trap. I felt at first glad in a sense, because I knew then that +you were not hurt after all; but presently I grew angry, for she began +to tell me all kinds of horrible things about you; I will tell you them +some time. And when my anger passed, I was nearly broken-hearted, for, +as all our plans were known to the others, I was afraid, horribly +afraid, of what might happen to you, and what mischief my foolish +credulity might cause you. It was a time crowded with terror," she +sighed. + +"And after that?" I asked, wishing her to finish her story before I +began mine. + +"In the early morning Major Gessler sent word that we were to prepare +for a journey, and then we thought of writing you. I should not have +thought it possible, but aunt Gratz suggested it, and said that she was +sure she could get it delivered to you. I wrote it then readily enough; +but what I said I do not know--I scarcely knew at the time--it must have +read like a wild, incoherent cry--for that's what it was." + +"How did you know you were coming to Landsberg? I have been much +perplexed by your letter, why your aunt should have spoken in this way +of me in regard to it." + +"I am afraid I can give you the clew. She knew about Landsberg--she +seemed to know everything; and from what I have heard to-night, she was +acting in collusion with that man. His object was, as I now know, to let +you have the clew where to follow us, so that he could draw you into a +snare, for some object I am almost afraid to think of. But something +happened to interfere with the plans." + +"I know what that was. He learnt, probably from Major Gessler, that I +was coming to Landsberg direct from Baron Heckscher, and probably there +would be some special reference to him in the baron's message." + +"That may have been it. At any rate he came to us in a state of great +excitement, declared that he had found out a plot to kill me, that you +had communicated with him, and that we three were to set off at once to +meet you at a place he named; I forget its name. I was suspicious at +first; but when he declared that there was to be a clear-up of +everything and a complete understanding between us all, and that all +they had said about you was not true, and when aunt Gratz joined in +persuading me, I consented. We got away secretly, and I was glad indeed +to leave. They all appear to have known that with me your name was the +one argument sure to prevail," she said softly. + +"It has led you into plenty of perils, Minna," I replied. + +"But it will lead me out of them again. You have done it already, and I +do not care now what happens. It is good to have some one to trust--and, +best of all, to be with him." She paused and sighed contentedly, and +then exclaimed: "But why don't you say something? I have not done wrong, +have I?" + +What could I say, if I spoke at all, but turn and tell her that this +trust in me was just the sweetest savor that could be put into my life; +and that to hear it from her own lips was enough to set every pulse in +my body beating fast with my love? But yet I could not speak this until +I had told her all from my side; and so I gripped the bridle rein the +tighter and plodded on through the moonlight, keeping my face resolutely +turned from her lest the sight of her beauty and the knowledge of her +trust should burst the last bonds of my self-restraint. + +"No, you have done no wrong, Minna; but tell me the rest." + +She waited a second, and then continued: + +"In the carriage, to-night, the truth came out. Aunt Gratz and he +quarrelled, and with a sort of blunt, brutal frankness he blurted out +the truth that we were flying from, not to, you, and that he was +carrying me away to make me his wife. In his mad rage against you he +heaped all kinds of abuse on you, knowing that it made my blood boil. He +is a villain." + +"He has paid for his treachery by now, probably," I said, and then there +came a longer pause. + +"Don't you wish to hear any more?" she asked gently, as if anxious to +make me speak to her; and when I told her that I was only too eager to +hear it all, she went on: "I thought it best to say nothing, but I made +up my mind that I would slip away and seek any one's help rather than +stay with them. My great thought was to get back to the house at +Landsberg; and I sat as if prostrated with grief and waited, watching +for a chance. It came at last, at a town where we stopped to change +horses, and he got out of the carriage. There was some delay; and I saw +him enter the house. Aunt Gratz was half dead with fatigue, and lay back +in the carriage and fell asleep. I opened the door on my side very +softly and slipped out, without disturbing her, and then ran off in the +thick dusk for my life. I was soon missed, of course, and should not +have escaped had it not been that there was a wagon standing not far +away, though out of sight of those in the carriage. There was no one in +it, and I jumped in and hid myself among some hay and sacks that lay in +the bottom. I lay concealed there a long time and heard the hue and cry +raised, and people searching for me, though no one thought to look in +the wagon. Presently the wagoner came, and we started off at a slow +pace. I let him go on for a few miles, and then to his intense +astonishment I rose up suddenly from among the sacks and told him I +would give him money if he would take me toward Landsberg." + +"Poor Minna! What an experience for you." + +"I did not care then, for I was free from that man. The wagoner was a +good fellow and, though I did not know it, we had been coming in this +direction, and he set me down about a mile from here, where his road +turned off. I walked on to be frightened again, but this time--by you; +and then to feel safe, oh, so safe, again." + +"You did splendidly!" I cried warmly; for her pluck and resource had +been admirable. And then I walked on in silence thinking how best I +could commence my confession. + +"Can you hear sounds of any one coming?" she asked. + +I stopped the horse directly and stood listening. Turning my head, I +glanced in her face and saw a smile there. + +"I hear nothing; do you?" I asked. + +"No. I didn't expect to. I----" She stopped. + +"You what?" + +"I've seen nothing but the back of your head for two miles, I should +think, at the least. And I thought perhaps the horse might need a rest." + +It was a little act of coquetry after all. + +"He must be a sorry beast if he tires in carrying such a burden," said +I, smiling. "But we have come half the distance, I think. You haven't +much farther to go. Aren't you tired?" + +I was standing close to the saddle, and she looked down into my face +without speaking for a while. Then she said: + +"I was thinking--cousin." + +[Illustration: "I WAS THINKING--COUSIN."] + +The pause before the use of the word and the emphasis upon it told me +she had more than her usual meaning. + +"I can guess your thought, I believe," I said. + +"Well?" + +"You were wondering whether you are right still to call me cousin." + +"I don't believe what they told me," she replied quickly, for I had +guessed her thought. + +"What did they tell you? No; I won't ask that either. I will tell you +freely all that has to be told." + +I paused an instant, and suddenly the clean, clear moonlight which +flooded everything so brilliantly seemed to turn chill and fear-laden +for me. + +The horse moved restlessly, striking the ground harshly with his fore +hoof. I stroked his neck to quiet him and left my hand on the crest of +it. + +"Well?" The question was asked softly and gently. + +"It is hard to tell it," I answered in a low and rather unsteady voice. + +"To me? Are you afraid of me?" and I felt a hand placed on mine. + +"It is hard to speak words that may divide us--but I have deceived you. +I am not your cousin. I am not the Prince." + +I felt the fingers on mine start and tighten for a second, and then +close in a warm, trustful pressure. + +"Can I make the telling easier for you? I had made up my mind that that +was so; but the rest? Who are you? Don't tell me unless you wish. I +trust you none the less. You remember I told you days ago--how long it +seems--you had a secret and that I saw it. Now I know part of it; and I +am glad of the knowledge--not glad that you are not my cousin Hans; glad +only that you have told me. But I am eager for the unknown part." + +I could not beat down my feelings to speak coolly; so I waited to fight +for my self-control. + +"They told me only one thing that should be hard for you to tell me--and +that I know was untrue," she continued, as if it were a pleasure to bare +her heart to me. "That you were not true to me, but seeking to betray +me. I would have laughed at the absurdity if the malignity of such a +slander had not maddened me." + +"No, I have been no traitor to you," I answered readily. "That I can +declare from my soul. But I have kept this knowledge from you. Even that +I would not have done but that I could not see how else I could go on +helping you. I could do nothing unless men thought I was the Prince." + +"Yet you could have trusted me," she said, with a gentle sigh of +reproach. + +"Had I told you, I could no longer have remained at the castle. It was +not that I did not trust you--indeed, I longed to tell you, not only +that but all the rest." + +"The rest?" she repeated softly in a low voice that trembled; and again +I felt her fingers on mine start. + +"Yes. The secret at which even you did not guess. I can judge pretty +much what these people have told you--that I am an adventurer and an +ex-play-actor. There is a secret behind that which I have not shared +with a single soul on earth; but I will tell you." + +Then I told her plainly of my meeting with von Fromberg, the mistake +under which I was first taken to Gramberg, and the chain of +circumstances which had kept me from breaking silence as to my identity +and had seemed to drive me into accepting the part that had been thrust +upon me. + +I did not dwell too strongly upon the one motive that had influenced +me--the wish to save her from the plot against her safety. But she was +quick to read it all; and maybe her feelings for me prompted her to +give it exaggerated importance. + +She listened almost in silence, merely asking a question here and there +when some point was not clear, and at the close she sat thoughtful, and +said sweetly: + +"It means a great loss to me--and yet perhaps a greater gain." + +I looked up with a question in my eyes. + +"I have lost my cousin, it seems--surely the truest cousin that ever a +woman had; but then I have gained a friend whose stanchness must be even +greater than my cousin's, for there was no claim of kinship to motive +his sacrifices for me. But, cousin or friend, you are still----" She did +not finish the sentence. + +"Still what?" I asked. + +I think she was going to make some pretty quip in reply, for I saw a +smile half mischievous and all witching on her face; but, reading by my +looks how much store I set on her answer, she said earnestly: + +"The one man in the world who has proved himself as true as steel to me, +and whom I trust with my whole heart." + +"You may," I answered, with an earnestness equal to her own, and my +hand, which was resting on the horse's neck, turned and sought hers, and +pressed it in a strong, firm clasp. "Whatever happens," I added, "I can +at least be your friend, and I will." + +We stood thus awhile, our heart-thoughts in close sympathy, till she +started and lifted her head. Those quick ears of hers had caught the +sound of a horse's hoofs approaching from behind us. + +"Some one is coming. You have not yet told me something. How am I to +call you, and by what name to think of you?" + +"There is still a longish story to tell, and I will tell it all to you; +but for the present we must keep up our play of cousinship until the +truth can be safely told. That will not be long now." + +"And then? But there, I do not wish our cousinship to end. I am glad to +know so much, however. Every time I say 'cousin' I shall think of this +talk to-night." + +I took the horse's bridle again then, and led him on, for the sounds of +the hoofs behind us were growing clear and distinct, and we did not +speak until Major Gessler rode up to us. + +"You have not got so far as I expected, Prince," was his greeting. "I'm +afraid I seemed to leave you rather in the lurch." + +"This horse of ours was tired, and we stayed a time on the road," I +answered, not without a slight feeling of embarrassment. We should +probably have reached the house at Landsberg but for the long halt I had +made in telling my story. "But what is your news, major?" + +"They are following," he said briefly, and he made a sign to me that +something very serious had occurred, which I judged he did not care to +tell before Minna. + +She saw the gesture and read it also. + +"Have they fought?" she asked. + +"No, there was no fighting; but the Count von Nauheim has met with a +serious accident--very serious." + +He thought evidently that any ill news in regard to him might need to be +broken carefully to Minna. + +"You may speak plainly," I said. "Is he dead?" + +"Yes, he is dead. When he ran off in that way, and Signor Praga after +him, the shots we heard were fired at the count's horse by his pursuer. +His object was not to kill the man, but to prevent his escape. Both +shots missed their aim, however, and then he determined to ride the man +down. On the brow of the hill, where you saw them disappear, comes a +straight bit of road for a couple of miles, at the end of which is a +steep, dangerous hill. Both men rode like madmen across the +level--Praga, who is a splendid horseman, gaining steadily all the time. +Finding that he was being caught, von Nauheim began to punish his horse +mercilessly, and when they came to the steep descent the poor brute +seems to have stretched himself for a final effort to answer the call on +him. For a moment he raced away from the other, but when about half-way +down the hill he collapsed suddenly, and dropped like a stone. So +frightful was the speed at which they had been going that horse and +rider rolled over and over several times in an almost indistinguishable +mass. Praga, who was not far behind, had great difficulty in avoiding +them and in checking his own horse. When he went back to von Nauheim he +found him dead. The stirrups had prevented him from getting free when +the smash came, and the horse had fallen on him and rolled over him, +breaking his back and crushing the life out of him. He was a horrible +sight." + +[Illustration: THE HORSE HAD FALLEN ON HIM AND ROLLED OVER HIM.] + +"I am glad Praga didn't kill him," I said. "But I can't say I am sorry +he has met his death. He deserved it." + +The others made no reply, and we held on our way without speaking. The +officer rode on the other side of Minna; and the silence of the night +was broken only by the sound of the horses' hoofs, the major's being +restive, and breaking now and then into an amble. + +"Do you know much of Signor Praga, Prince?" asked the major after a long +silence. + +"Not enough to speak of him," I replied shortly; and the effort at +conversation closed as abruptly as it had begun. + +When we had covered a couple more miles, he said he would ride on and +prepare for our arrival, and I was not sorry to be quit of him. + +"It is a terrible end," said Minna thoughtfully, referring to von +Nauheim. + +"A more merciful one than he deserved," said I. I could find no pity for +such a scoundrel. "He has been a traitor all his life." + +"He is dead," said the girl gently. + +"But he lived too long. Years ago I would have killed him had he not run +from me." + +"You knew him years ago?" + +"And never knew anything but ill of him. It was because of my knowledge +of him that I stayed on at Gramberg. That is part of the story I have +yet to tell you." + +"When?" she asked eagerly. + +"To-morrow. I would tell it you now, but we are close to the house." + +And a few minutes later we turned in at the lodge gates, and were +winding our way through the high shrubs which lined the drive for more +than half the way to the mansion. + +When we reached the house an old motherly woman came forward to receive +Minna and take her to her rooms. + +The girl stood a moment, and put both her hands into mine, with a +gesture she had used once just after my arrival at Gramberg. She was +thinking of it, too. + +"Do you remember my telling you at Gramberg how I trusted you?" she +asked, leaving her hands in mine and looking into my eyes. + +"I could never forget it," said I, speaking low. + +"My instinct was very true, wasn't it? I knew. And after to-night I +trust my friend more than I even trusted my cousin. Goodnight, +friend--and cousin." + +"Goodnight." + +A slight shade passed over her face for a moment, though a great light +was shining in her eyes, and she waited as it I should say more. + +"Good night, Minna," I whispered. + +And then she cast her eyes down and blushed; and after standing thus for +the space of perhaps five seconds she took her hands gently out of mine, +glanced once rapidly into my face, smiled, and turned to the woman, who +was waiting at a distance. + +"Be up early, cousin," I called to her in a tone of assumed +indifference, as if anything about her could be indifferent to me, "for +we must make our plans." + +"I am quite as anxious as you," she replied; but the real answer was +with her eyes, which reflected the thought beneath my words--that I +should be all eagerness till the time came for us to meet again. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +FLIGHT + + +As soon as Minna had left me the major brought the officer to apologize +for the conduct which had so exasperated me on my arrival. The man had +of course exceeded his instructions, and although the explanation did +not by any means make amends for what I had endured, it was tendered in +good faith, and I accepted it. I was in no mood to harbor anger against +any one. What I most wished now was to be alone to recall the scene with +Minna on the road, the ineffable sweetness of her voice, the soft +tenderness of her looks, and the magic thrill of her touch. + +When the major asked me my plans, I answered almost at random, for my +thoughts were away back with the darkly robed figure on the horse +looking down on me with a light in the eyes which it filled me with +sheer ecstasy to believe had been kindled by the torch of love. + +I pleaded that I was vastly fatigued, and then went to my room, to lie +tossing from side to side like a love-mad loon, grudging even the hours +to sleep because I should not be able to think of Minna. + +I was in truth crazed with the knowledge that she loved me; and when I +awoke in the morning--for sleep conquered my silly resistance--it was +with just the same fevered longing to be with her. + +Yet I had plenty to think of and to plan; and when I forced myself to +think that even now, though things had gone so well thus far, there was +much to do before Minna's safety was secured, I began to think +rationally and connectedly. + +As I stepped into the fresh morning air I found Praga out before me, +pacing up and down in heavy thought. He had not been to bed at all, but +was like iron, and seemed as fresh as the morning itself. + +"I was thinking of rousing you, Prince," he said. "What about the Duke +Marx? That best of good fellows von Krugen may be getting anxious." + +"I can say nothing yet; but I think my purpose is accomplished, and that +I shall send you to him with an order for the duke's release." + +"What!" he cried in a tone of astonishment. "Throw it all up when you +have the game in your hands? A couple of days' firmness and the countess +will have the throne as surely as I know how to whip a sword from its +scabbard. You're not turning chicken-hearted, surely?" + +"You do not understand matters," I said shortly. + +"Understand! There's not much wit needed to understand this business. I +know enough what the people think and want, and what a bold coup would +do at this crisis; and if ever a woman had a crown at her feet, and for +the mere picking up, it's the countess." + +"Maybe; but matters are as I say. I will give you my decision later." + +"I hope you won't let yourself be ruled by a woman's tricky fears. +There's danger that way, too. Once give these Ostenburg folk the power, +and you may whistle for your chances of any safety. I wouldn't trust one +of them. What will you do?" + +"I have not decided," I repeated; and it was evident that my apparent +vacillation mortified him. But the mood passed in a second, as did most +moods with him, except revenge, and he laughed. + +"Well, of course, it must be as you please. It is your game, not mine," +and he waved his hand as though the matter were settled. Then he asked +with another change of tone: + +"And about the burial of that carrion von Nauheim?" + +"Where is the body lying?" + +"In the shed of a cottage nearest to the spot where he broke his +miserable neck." + +"I will leave directions here for the funeral. There will be some sort +of inquiry, and you may have to be present as witness. But I don't +suppose any of those who have used him will take much heed of his death, +and probably Major Gessler will be able to make all arrangements." + +Later on I discussed this with him, and he agreed to see that everything +the authorities might require should be done. + +"If you're giving up things, you'll have no more need of me, I suppose?" +asked the Corsican after a pause. + +"You put it bluntly," I answered. "I hope, of course, that all these +complications are nearly over, but if you will let me I shall wish to +see you about your future. But for you I could not have carried this +through, and I shall not forget that." + +"I never take too serious thought about what you call my future, Prince. +If I killed the brother, I've helped to save the sister, and, if she +knows it, that's enough for me." He said this with as much earnestness +as I had ever observed in him save in his moods of furious passion. But +he lapsed into his more customary temper immediately after, and added: +"Besides, I've had my revenge, although I'm sorry I didn't run the brute +through before he had the luck to break his neck. To the close of my +life I shall regret never having had him to play with at the end of my +sword." + +At that moment Major Gessler came out of the house looking very serious +and called me aside. + +"I have very grave news from Munich, Prince," he said. I noticed that he +was now always very careful to give me the title which I think he knew +did not belong to me. "Last night the Kaiser's confidential adviser, von +Augener, arrived there from Berlin. The news of this business has caused +a big stir in the capital, and the Emperor himself is expected at +Munich. The Duke Marx should be there without an hour's unnecessary +delay." + +"Had you held the Countess Minna safe in your charge yesterday, Major +Gessler, he might have been there now. It is not I who am responsible +for the delay." + +I spoke firmly, for I resented the too peremptory tone he adopted. + +"What are your plans, then?" he asked next. "Will you give me the +authority for his release?" + +"I can tell you better an hour hence, when I have seen my cousin." + +"You must be good enough to give me some definite news to send to +Munich." + +"You can send them the reason for the delay," I retorted hotly. "I +decline your dictation, sir, and can dispense with your interference." + +He was about to reply with equal warmth when Minna came out of one of +the windows. + +"Good morning, gentlemen," she said brightly. "Good morning, cousin +Hans," and, her face radiant with smiles, she came to me holding out her +hands. + +All my anger fled at the sight of her, and when I held her hands in mine +and read in her eyes the answering emotions to those which were rushing +out through mine I had no thoughts save of peace, gladness, goodwill, +and love. + +"We must speak together at once," I said. "Shall we walk in the gardens +here?" + +I led her to a large, wide lawn, through the centre of which ran a broad +path. It was a spot where we could not well be overheard. + +"I passed the night in wondering what I was to hear this morning," she +said. "I think it must be good news, for I was so happy." + +"You have not slept, then?" + +"Oh, yes. But while I slept I dreamt, and now and then had spells of +delicious wakefulness. I don't know which was the better--the dreams +that all was right, or the waking beliefs that all would soon be." + +"I hope it will be," I declared earnestly. + +"Nay, I am sure it all will," she declared, as if in rebuke of my doubt. +"Isn't this a lovely old garden?" she cried. "Not so good as Gramberg, +of course, because no place could be so dear to me as that. But yet +lovely. And what flowers! Did you ever see such magnificence? And the +perfumes! They seem to distil the very essence of peace. And what a +change from yesterday. It was a prison then--to-day a veritable palace +of delight. Heigho! And you have changed it for me! And now for this +news. You know where you left off? I do. I think I could repeat every +word you said. You are going to tell me who you were before you became +Heinrich Fischer, the actor at Frankfort." + +"I was a nameless wanderer, and went there almost direct from my death +and burial." + +She stood still in the path and looked at me in blank surprise; her face +wrinkled in perplexity that was only half earnest; and, despite the +serious nature of things, her mood partially infected me. + +"Your death?" she said in wonderment. + +"It is all true. Did you ever hear your brother speak of a young Count +von Rudloff, in the navy, who was at one time a friend of the Royal +Family, and whose death at Berlin about five years ago aroused some +comment? It happened almost immediately after the Prince, now his +Majesty the Emperor, had met with an accident on board the Imperial +yacht." + +"The Count von Rudloff?" she repeated thoughtfully, saying the name over +once or twice as though some old memories were partly stirred by it. "I +think I did--but what is that to us?" + +"To me much--everything, indeed. I am the Count von Rudloff," and then I +told her unreservedly the whole of my strange story. + +Her first comment surprised me. + +"Is this the story you thought would part us?" she asked. + +"I had misled you." + +"Yes, and for a base and cruel purpose--to help me out of my trouble," +and she raised her eyebrows as she smiled. "You must judge me curiously +if you think I should consider that a cause for sacrificing the truest +friend a helpless girl could have. I believe I could almost be angry +with you for that judgment." + +"But my helping you was, after all, only for a selfish purpose," I said +after a pause. + +"What was that?" she asked quickly, all unsuspecting. + +"I loved you, Minna." + +We were near the end of the gravel walk and, instead of turning as we +had done before, I walked on past some large laurels which hid us from +the house. + +I stopped there and took her hand, which she left freely in mine. + +"I have told you all now," I whispered. "Your answer?" + +"This is the happiest day of my life," she murmured. + +I put my arm round her and held her to my heart. + +"You love me, then?" + +Her face was close to me, she was smiling trustfully and lovingly, and +the answer came in the pressure of her lips to mine as our hearts met in +pledge of our betrothal. After that we stood together there, just a pair +of happy lovers, for whom the sun was made to shine and the earth to be +beautiful, and forgetting all else save the one immeasurable fact of our +avowed love. A commotion somewhere near the house recalled us to +ourselves as the sounds floated across to our ears. They broke in upon +our love ecstasy, and with a sigh Minna unwound her arms from my neck, +and we stood hand in hand a minute. + +"Better than friendship or cousinship, Minna?" I asked. + +The glad glow on her cheeks and in her eyes answered me, and I kissed +her again. + +"And now we must be common-sense folk, for we have to decide what course +to take." + +"I can make no decision--except that you must not leave me," she said. + +"Yet we are forgetting you are the Queen." + +"Do you remember what I once told you would be my first command?" + +"Your Majesty has been anticipated. I have told you all--and the +assembly was certainly a very Privy Council." + +"Yes. Just Queen--and----" she paused, and then, hiding her face on my +shoulder, added softly, "and King. I want no other throne than this." + +It was very sweet fooling, though not very witty, and I would have been +glad enough to continue it if I had not seen through the little gaps in +the bushes that a number of people had come out of the house and were +walking in different directions through the grounds. Some were coming +our way. + +"Let us walk on here, dearest," I whispered. "There are men coming from +the house in search of me, I think. And remember I must still be for the +present the Prince, and you my cousin." + +We moved away then and walked as if in consultation, and I told her what +I thought we had best do. + +"I do not know how matters will go at Munich," I said; "but I hear this +morning that the Kaiser himself will see what the trouble is, and that +already old von Augener--the 'Kaiser's own man,' as they call him--is +there making inquiries." + +"He is the awful man who came to you years ago, isn't he?" cried Minna, +with fear speaking from her eyes at the mere thought of danger to me. + +"Yes--but there is no reason to fear that he will recognize me. I am so +completely changed. The more serious consideration is what view he will +take of your supposed part in the disturbance, and of my having +kidnapped the Duke Marx on your behalf. I told Baron Heckscher that you +were only too anxious to resign all claim to the throne, and that I +would use my influence with you--it was not so great then as now," I +broke off to say. + +"Oh, yes, I should always have done whatever you wished," replied Minna. +"It never occurred to me to do anything else." + +"Well, I told him I thought you would remain in hiding long enough for +him to settle matters in the Ostenburg interest. And this coming of von +Augener makes me more inclined than ever to advise you to put the +frontier between yourself and these plotters." + +"When shall we start?" she asked instantly. + +"And then I can watch your interests at Munich." + +"You do not wish me to go alone?" + +"Not to _go_ alone. But unless you know of some better place you might +well go to Charmes to your real cousin; and you could stay there until +these troubles have blown over." + +"And you?" + +"I shall of course go with you to Charmes, and then return with all +speed to Munich to watch matters there." + +"Why should you go back to face the risks there alone?" + +"I can do more good for you as well as for myself if I know you are in a +place of safety." + +"We can talk of that on the way; but what should I do now if anything +happened to you?" she cried in distress. + +I loved her for the words, but could not thank her as I would, for at +that moment one of the men caught sight of us and came hastily toward +me. + +"Major Gessler is very desirous of seeing your Highness at once," he +said. + +"I will come to the house," I said, and with that we turned, the man +hastening on to give my message. + +"I am sorry to have to press you, Prince," said the major, coming to +meet me; "but I am most anxious to send tidings to Munich. Have you made +your decision? It is nearly three hours since I spoke to you." + +I saw Minna start with surprise at this mention of the time we had been +together. + +"It has been a complicated problem to discuss, major," I answered +gravely. "But we have decided it at last. The countess will leave by the +first train from Landsberg, and I shall accompany her. At the station I +will hand the authority you need to you and Signor Praga." + +"And your destination?" he asked. + +"Is our own affair, sir," I returned stiffly. + +"I merely asked so that I should know when to meet you at the station;" +and he turned on his heel and left us abruptly. + +"I can be ready directly," said Minna, and she ran into the house. + +A few minutes later she returned, and we had breakfast together, in the +middle of which a messenger from Major Gessler brought me a list of the +chief trains in each direction. I chose the first that started westward; +and we set out soon afterward for the station. + +There Praga was waiting, and I gave him the authority which I had +written out to von Krugen to release the Duke Marx, and added in a tone +loud enough for the major to hear: + +"I shall be in Munich to-night or to-morrow. You can see me there." + +A minute later the train started. + +"Now for freedom, Minna. A few hours more and we shall be across the +French frontier!" I exclaimed. + +"Did you hear Major Gessler say that we had been three hours in the +garden this morning, Karl?" asked Minna, blushing and smiling. "Can it +really have been so long?" + +"The time did not fly on the same wings for him as for us," I answered; +"and if the next half-dozen or so will only speed at the same pace, I +shall breathe all the more freely." + +"And will they, do you think?" she asked demurely as she crossed from +her seat to that next mine. + +They did, although I had many moments of anxiety. + +The journey itself was as uneventful for some hours as a tourist's trip. +We had the compartment to ourselves for the greater part of the time, +though occasionally an unwelcome passenger came in for a few miles, and +so broke the thread of our long, delicious talk. But my anxiety began to +increase when, as the hot afternoon passed and the cool evening air +refreshed us, we began to approach the frontier. I could not put my +fears into words, nor could I see any probable reason to fear +interruption. But whenever we stopped I looked out with an +ever-increasing apprehension I could not entirely allay, and scanned +curiously the people standing about on the platforms. + +As we ran into the frontier station this feeling quickened up into +excitement. A few minutes would see Minna safe, if only there were no +interruption. + +The officials came to examine tickets, then others to see the baggage, +and still all was going well. We had no baggage, of course, and sat +watching the different effects which that most irritating process of +examination produced upon the tempers of our fellow-travellers. + +As the time slipped away I fast grew easier in mind, and I joined with +Minna in laughing at one or two comical incidents. But my laughter died +away as I saw a couple of officials walking slowly along the train, +scrutinizing closely all who were in the carriages. + +On catching sight of me one of the men started, and drew the attention +of a companion, who looked quickly in my direction, and then referred to +some papers. The papers seemed to satisfy him, for he called up a couple +of men, and all four came to our carriage. + +"Something is wrong," I whispered to Minna. "Be on your guard." + +"Pardon me, sir," said the man, bowing, "but I think you are the Prince +von Gramberg, and this lady is the Countess Minna von Gramberg?" + +"Yes. What do you want?" I replied. + +"I am sorry to incommode your Highness, but may I ask you to alight for +a moment?" + +"How much time is there before the train starts?" I asked sharply. + +"There will be plenty of time. Will you come to the waiting-room, and +you, madam, as well, if you please?" + +"No, I will not," I answered firmly. "If you have anything to say to me, +say it here. What is it?" + +"I regret that my instructions are to detain your Highness." + +"Let me see your instructions." + +"Pardon me, I am not at liberty to show them. But I trust you will make +this repugnant duty as little unpleasant as possible. It is inevitable," +and a glance at the men around him emphasized his meaning. + +"Where are your instructions from? At whose instigation is this +unwarrantable liberty taken with us?" I asked, with as grand an air as I +could assume. + +"I can say no more now than that you must really do what I wish. You +will surely see the uselessness of resistance." + +His tone changed slightly, and he showed a little more authority. + +Minna had turned very pale, and sat trembling. + +"We had better go," she said in reply to a glance from me. + +"I comply--under protest, mind," I said to the official. "I shall hold +you responsible for this outrage." + +He spread out his hands and shrugged his shoulders by way of reply; and, +when we left the carriage, he and his men walked on each side of us to +the waiting-room. He came in alone with us, signing to the others to +stay outside, and he gave utterance to the most voluble apologies for +his unpleasant duty. + +At that moment the whistle sounded, and the train started. + +"You said there was plenty of time for this to be explained before the +train went," I cried angrily. + +"Before your train, your Highness; and, besides, I wished to avoid any +scene. But I am pained to say you must consider yourselves under arrest, +and must be prepared to return to Munich by the first available train." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +AN OLD ENEMY + + +I saw at once it would be hopeless to attempt any resistance to this new +development. My first feeling was one of bitter chagrin and +exasperation, mingled with genuine alarm for the consequences to Minna. +Who had dealt the blow, and for what object? I knew that I had rendered +myself liable to arrest and prosecution for my impersonation of the +Prince von Gramberg, although, despite what Baron Heckscher had said, I +could not understand who would attempt to set the law in motion. + +But with Minna it was very different. It was certain that the conspiracy +with which she had nominally been concerned might carry very ugly +consequences; but, at the worst, any such act would constitute only a +political offence against the Bavarian laws, and I did not think that +outside Bavaria she could be touched. But we had long passed that +frontier safely. Whose hand, then, was this? + +I recalled, with something of a shudder, the news which Major Gessler +had told me, to the effect that von Augener had gone to Munich, and I +saw that, if our arrest was made at his instigation, the results might +be even more serious than I had anticipated. + +"I have no intention to offer resistance to this step," I said after a +pause of thought; "but, of course, you must satisfy me of your authority +for it." + +"I am the chief of the police here," replied the official, "and hold +full instructions--very full instructions indeed, and very urgent ones. +The case is a very exceptional one." + +"But surely you can tell me the nature of the charge for which you say I +am to consider myself under arrest?" + +"Under ordinary circumstances I could and should, of course, do so; but +not in this. I trust you will understand my position." + +"You have performed an unpleasant task very tactfully. But can you tell +me no more than you have--if not officially, then as a matter of +courtesy?" + +"We are not allowed much latitude for courtesy, I fear, your Highness; +but I may tell you privately that I have not been informed of any charge +against you. My instructions are merely to prevent your crossing the +frontier should you attempt to do so, and to see that you return to +Munich; and these instructions, which came first from Munich, have been +repeated as urgent from Berlin." + +"I need no more than that, and will not mention that you told me. We +will return to Munich, Minna," I said, turning to her. + +There was an hour to wait for the train, the man told me, and we filled +up the time by getting some supper. It was a doleful enough meal. The +police official did his best to make the fact that we were under arrest +as little obvious as possible; but it was plain to me that we were kept +under the strictest surveillance. + +"What do you think it means?" asked Minna. + +"It can scarcely be anything very serious, I think. Probably it is the +outcome of old von Augener's presence at Munich, and maybe half an +hour's conversation with him will be enough to put things right again. +I had intended to see him in any event." + +I spoke much more lightly of the matter than I thought, in order to +reassure her, and I was pleased to see my words had the effect I +desired. + +When the train came in, the police official showed us to a carriage, +and, with another apology for his intrusion, entered it after us. I made +no demur, because I knew it would be superfluous. We must make the best +of a bad job, and consequently I settled Minna comfortably in a corner +of the carriage so that she might sleep through the night. I took my +seat opposite to her, and during the whole of the long, wearisome +journey I sat rapt in thought, speculating upon the possible reasons for +the arrest and trying to see the best course to be taken in her +interest. + +I was now disposed to blame myself bitterly, since matters had come to +this pass, for not having, in the first instance, abstained from +meddling with the plot against the mad King. I had pitted my wits +against the men in the Ostenburg interest, and had allowed Minna to +appear to be implicated in everything that was done, trusting to my own +ingenuity to beat them at their own game. I had done it successfully to +a point; but now I could see how, like a fool, I had miscalculated the +real effect of this intervention from Imperial headquarters. + +The flaw in the present situation was one I could see easily enough now. +I had neglected to provide anything like sufficient proof of Minna's +innocence, her dislike of the scheme, and her disinclination even to +think of accepting the throne. I could see now clearly what I ought to +have seen at the start--that if Minna had actually left the country at +the moment following her father's death, and had openly relinquished +all claim to the throne, she would have had an absolutely clean case so +far as Berlin was concerned, and, if necessary, could have appealed +there for protection against any efforts of the Ostenburgs to harm her. + +The danger to her from the Ostenburgs, which had then loomed so large in +my thought, was dwarfed now by this greater and actual danger from +Berlin. How, then, was I to repair the blunder I had made? + +There was one possible chance--forlorn so far as Minna was concerned, +and almost desperate for myself. But the pith of everything would be now +that I should be able to prove beyond question and suspicion the +absolute sincerity of my motives, and be able to thoroughly convince the +Emperor and his advisers that my version of the facts was the correct +one. Everything might turn upon this. + +As an adventurer who had been known first as Heinrich Fischer, an actor, +next as Henry Fisher, an Englishman, and afterward as Hans von Fromberg, +only to change once more into the Prince von Gramberg, I could not hope +to be believed. Even this very attempt to get Minna out of the country +would be charged against me as a crowning offence; while I might rely +upon it that every word and act I had spoken and done in the character +of the Prince would be construed in the worst light by my enemies. + +But what if I declared myself in my true character? + +The question stirred a host of old memories and associations which came +crowding thick and fast upon me with conflicting force and perplexing +contradictions. I lived again in thought the crowded week of my life +that came between the scene on the yacht and my supposed death. I could +not tell how far that act of expiation on my part had changed the royal +feeling toward me; nor on the other hand could I gauge what effect would +be produced by the avowal that I cheated every one by the farce of my +supposed death. + +There was one thing on which I thought I could rely, however. + +There had been many acts of close friendship between the Prince and +myself, and on one occasion I had rendered him a service which he +declared at the time would make him ready to grant me any favor I should +ever ask. I had none too high an opinion of the gratitude of princes, +and had never urged any request; while it was more than likely he would +consider what had happened since had completely cancelled any +obligation. But I was prepared to risk any and every thing now, and to +exhaust every possible resource to help Minna at this juncture. + +I had never had such a motive to spur my energies, and I ransacked my +memory for incidents which I thought might be turned to help my purpose. + +I was in this frame of mind when we arrived at Munich; but I had not got +much farther in my plans than a resolve to use every means that might +offer, regardless of any effect upon myself. + +Minna awoke, chilled and cramped by the long journey, and the cold gray +light of the morning depressed her spirits. She looked pale and +frightened as the train entered the station, and we peered out curiously +to see what reception awaited us. + +"Keep a brave heart, Minna," I whispered. + +And she smiled a rather wan, weary smile in reply. + +"Where are we to go?" I asked the police official. + +"I expect to find instructions here," he answered. + +Then Minna gave a little start and cry of surprise. + +"There is aunt Gratz," she said. "What can that mean?" + +I could make no suggestion; but the reason of her presence was soon +clear enough. + +As we alighted she came forward. + +"I should think you are ashamed of yourself, Minna," was her greeting. +"If not, I am ashamed of you. Thank God, we have saved you, though only +on the very brink, it seems." + +"There is no need for you to say that to me," returned Minna warmly. + +"There is very great need, indeed. You have been the victim of this +man's villany." + +"There has been no villany--except, perhaps, that which you and the +Count von Nauheim attempted yesterday, and cousin Hans succeeded in +foiling." + +"Cousin Hans, indeed. Poor child; it's only your own obstinacy which +prevents your seeing that this man is a wicked impostor who has----" + +"Pardon me, baroness----" I began, when she turned on me. + +"I will not pardon you nor allow you to speak to me or to the poor girl +whom you have so shamefully deceived. But you are unmasked at last, and +will be punished as you deserve. Come, Minna. You are to come with me." + +At that moment the police official who had travelled with us came +forward with another man, who said: + +"The countess is to go to her own house here with this lady; and you are +to accompany me, if you please." + +"As you will," I answered. + +At that the tears forced themselves into Minna's eyes, and she came very +close to me and gave me her hand. + +"We shall meet again soon. I am sure of that. Meanwhile"--and she raised +her head proudly as she looked round at the others present, and said: "I +wish all to know that I am your promised wife. You have saved my life, +and more than my life; and I can never sufficiently repay you for all +you have done. When every one else was treacherous, you were stanch and +brave on my behalf. Let them say what they will, I know the truth, and +nothing shall ever make me doubt you." + +I had no words ready for a reply, but I raised her hand to my lips; and, +with a lingering look into my eyes, she went away, her face aflame with +her gallant little act of loyalty to me. + +Then I turned to the man who had spoken to me. + +"And what is the charge against me?" I asked. + +"You will learn it to-day," he said, with courteous curtness. "Be good +enough to come with me." + +We entered a carriage that was waiting, and drove to the police bureau, +the official stolidly declining to exchange a single word on the way. +There they gave me breakfast, and afterward I was left by myself for +some two or three hours. At the end of that time the same man entered +the room--for I had not been put to the indignity of having to enter a +police cell--and requested me to accompany him, though again he would +not say where we were to go. + +I was not much surprised, however, when I found the carriage approaching +the palace, for I had detected old von Augener's hand in the matter. He +delighted in secrecy and surprises. I was led through several corridors +into an ante-room, where I waited some time until the door of an inner +room was opened and I was told to enter. + +I went forward, and, as I had anticipated, the first object which my +eyes encountered in the room was the hard, stern face of von Augener, +whose sharp, piercing eyes looked at me, curiously and menacingly, from +under the heavy brows I knew well enough. + +He let me stand before his table for some minutes without a word, and +after his first glance at me pretended to be writing. He finished this, +and then took up a bundle of papers, which he turned over leisurely. I +guessed that his motive was to make me understand by this brusk +treatment the change in my position. But I let him understand quietly +that it had no such effect on me as he wished. I carried a chair close +to the side of his table and sat down, saying lightly, as I crossed my +legs: + +"I've had rather a long journey, so you'll excuse me if I sit down until +you are ready to commence our conversation." + +At the sound of my voice I saw him start, bend a sharp, keen look on me, +and then appear to dive into his capacious memory for the connection +which it stirred. Then he said as sternly and harshly as he could: + +"This is no drawing-room audience. I don't allow prisoners to sit in my +presence. Be so good as to stand up," and he motioned with his hand. + +"Thank you, but I deny your right to address me in that tone. I am no +prisoner, and this is no court. While I am here I demand to be treated +with common courtesy." + +"I will send you to a police cell to learn manners," he cried. + +"As you please. I would rather sit in a jail than stand to be hectored +by you," and I smiled and shrugged my shoulders. + +Like my voice, the smile appeared to set his wits gleaning for the facts +that would piece together the puzzle my voice and gesture had set him. + +For a moment he seemed as if he would carry out his threat; but I judged +he would be much more eager to learn what I knew of the conspiracy than +to stickle over the question whether I sat or stood in his presence. And +so it proved. + +"You still dare to carry things with a high hand, even with me?" + +"On the contrary, I am here for the express purpose of discussing the +whole of this affair with you in its new light. But I tell you at the +outset that if you think to frighten me with threats or to treat me as +what you call a prisoner, with the meaning your accent gives to the +term, you will get nothing from the interview." + +"We shall see," he said grimly; but he said no more about my standing +up. + +A long pause followed, in which I saw him look several times at me with +obvious doubt and interest; and I knew by these glances that he was +trying hard to place me in his memory and failing. + +"Now, sir," he said at length in a quick, sharp tone. "Who are you?" + +"At present I am generally known as the Prince von Gramberg--but that is +not my real name." + +"A needless addition. What is your real name? Who were you before you +were known as Heinrich Fischer, the actor at Frankfort? I warn you to +speak freely. Your only hope lies in that." + +"For the present I prefer not to tell you," I answered very quietly. "It +does not concern this matter--in its present stage, that is." + +"You refuse to tell me?" + +"If you put it so, I refuse to tell you." + +"What was your object in usurping the character of the Prince von +Gramberg?" + +"I was forced by a series of blunders on the part of others to take the +position; it was done by the desire of the real heir of the Prince, Hans +von Fromberg, who is now known as Henri Frombe; and I kept up the part +in order to protect the Countess Minna from a foul conspiracy against +her, in which a scoundrel who is now dead was one of the chief agents." +And then I told him at considerable length the exact circumstances under +which I had first been taken to Gramberg by von Krugen and Steinitz. +"You can easily verify what I say," I added. + +"You mean by those two men who have since been your tools in the +affair?" he sneered. + +"I mean by finding the real von Fromberg and questioning him." + +Despite his sneer I could see that the story impressed him; and he put a +number of questions to test its consistency and truth. + +"You don't attempt to deny, then, that you were willing to continue the +impersonation of the late Prince and to accept the inheritance?" + +"There were no gains in what you call the inheritance. The only +inheritance was the castle of Gramberg itself, mortgaged for a great +deal more than its value. Scarcely a valuable prize for such an +adventurer as men appear to have described me to you. I have my own +private fortune--a large one." + +"There was something else at the castle besides a mortgage," he sneered. + +"Indeed there was," I replied quickly, purposely misunderstanding him. +"There was a mess of intrigue and treachery against the Countess Minna." + +"And you were the cavalier to save her from it--and for yourself." + +The gibe made my blood boil. + +"That is the sneer of a coward," I cried hotly. "And if that is to be +the tone in which you dare to address me, I decline to say another word +or to remain in your presence. I am prepared to tell you the whole +truth, and to lay bare every word, motive, and act of mine throughout; +but I will not allow you or any man to insult me in that coarse and +brutal fashion." + +He laughed coldly. + +"You use bold terms," he said. + +"I will back them with acts. Unless you pledge yourself to abstain from +further insults, you can send me to jail or to hell itself before I'll +remain here." + +"I'm not accustomed to make compacts with prisoners." + +"Nor I to hold converse with bullies who forget themselves!" I cried, +all my old hate of the man fired by his manner and words. + +I got up and turned to the door. + +"Come back at once, sir," he thundered. "If you dare to attempt to leave +this room you go straight to a prison." + +"Rather there than here." I flung the words at him over my shoulder, and +went on toward the door. + +He struck the bell on his table sharply, and the door opened as I neared +it to admit two men in uniform. + +"Will you return here?" he called to me. + +"No, not without a pledge that you cease to insult me." + +"Detain that man," he cried to the others, who came and stood on either +side of me, and laid their hands on my shoulders. + +I stood with my back to the table. + +"Face him round," he ordered, his voice thick with anger. + +The men forced me to turn round. + +"Now, sir, I give you a last chance," he cried, pointing his finger at +me and shaking it menacingly. + +"I don't accept it," I answered recklessly. "I've had enough of this +Inquisition process. I will have a public trial. I am not ashamed of +what I have done; but I should be ashamed of myself if I stayed here to +be bullied and browbeaten and insulted and sneered at by you. Do what +you like." + +My recklessness was a factor on which he had not calculated, and I could +tell by his indecision how it perplexed him. Without my version of the +plot he could not hope to get a full grasp of the facts, and I reckoned +that in an affair of such real State importance he would be altogether +unwilling to have any public trial. + +"Leave us a moment," he said to the men; and when they had gone he +asked, "Do you mean to persist in this obstinacy?" + +"'Obstinacy!' Is that what you call my refusal to be a stalking-horse +for your ill-conditioned flouts and gibes, after you have had me dragged +three hundred or four hundred miles, and hauled in here that you may +treat me like a dog or a thief, without even telling me the charge +preferred against me? If that be obstinacy, then indeed I am obstinate, +and shall remain so. But I will do more than that. I will appeal to the +Emperor himself, and tell him the story to which you have refused a +courteous ear." + +"The Emperor does not concern himself with the private offences of +every nameless adventurer in his empire." + +"I am no nameless adventurer. I bear a name----" + +I stopped, checked by the cold, steely glance of his eye. + +"What name is that? Or what do you say it is?" he asked when I paused. + +"I decline to tell you;" and with that I turned on my heel and walked to +the back door. + +Again the bell was rung, and the two men entered. + +"Detain the prisoner in the ante-room," cried von Augener peremptorily; +"and send the chief of the police to me at once. I'll find a way to make +you talk," he added angrily to me. + +I was led out into the ante-room, and the men mounted guard over me, the +rest of those present, who were lolling and chatting idly, staring at me +with some curiosity. I cared nothing. My temper was still excited, and +my pulses throbbing with anger, as I sat paying scant heed to what went +on around me. + +Suddenly there came a change. Every man in the room leapt to his feet +and stood rigid at attention. A strong, firm, somewhat harsh voice was +heard, which I knew well; and, like the rest, I rose instinctively as I +saw the Emperor enter the room, followed by two officers of his suite. A +single, hurried, sweeping glance of his appeared to notice everything in +the place, and after a rapid, lightning look in my direction, the eyes +dwelling on my face for one second, he passed through the door and +entered the room which I had just left. When I resumed my seat my heart +was beating fast, no longer with anger against von Augener, but with the +thought of meeting again under such altered circumstances the powerful +and remarkable monarch who, as a Prince, had been my intimate companion. +I hoped and more than half believed that he had come so that he might +be present at my examination. I guessed he would have been told the hour +fixed for it, and, let the risks be what they might, I resolved that the +opportunity should not pass, if I could possibly help it, without my +obtaining an audience. I would put everything to the hazard in order to +lay before him directly the true story of the plot from Minna's point of +view, and I would back my statement with an avowal of my identity. A +quarter of an hour later the door was opened again--and how anxiously I +had kept my eyes glued to it may be imagined--and I was ordered to +return alone into the room. My excitement, as I rose to obey, was so +intense and unnerving that it was all I could do to command myself +sufficiently to be able to walk steadily into the presence. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +THE EMPEROR + + +When I entered the room the second time, old von Augener was still +sitting at the table, and the Emperor was standing at one of the +windows, his stern, strong profile showing to me clear cut and hard +against the light. I halted just inside the door, and stood gazing at +him. I was in a sense half fascinated by the crowd of emotions which his +presence roused. To me he was still what he had always been--the type of +much that is best and highest in mankind, while his actual greatness and +nobility were magnified many times by the glamour of my old personal +affection for him. Had he known who I was, what, I wondered, would have +been the manner of my reception? As I entered the room the two members +of the suite left it, and we three--the Emperor, von Augener, and +I--were left alone. Ignorant though the harsh old man was of my +identity, yet the hate and hostility which he had felt for me originally +appeared to motive him now, for he scowled to the full as angrily as on +that day when he had come to my cabin to pass the virtual sentence of +death upon me. + +"Now," he called suddenly, with a sharp, rasping jerk of his voice, for +he saw that my eyes were fixed on the Emperor, "stand here, if you +please," and he pointed to a spot in front of his table. "You refused to +speak a few minutes since, and to tell me what you know of this matter. +Perhaps you will do so now since his Majesty has graciously vouchsafed +to give you another chance." + +The harshness of his manner did more than anything else could have done +to collect my somewhat scrambled wits. + +"I did not refuse to say what I knew--I refused to submit to +insinuations that were insulting to me. I told you that if you would +question me without insult I would reply. I am only too anxious to make +known every fact in my possession, and it was my intention to solicit an +audience of his Majesty for that purpose." + +The old bully listened with very ill grace to this, and would have +frowned me down had he dared; but I was not to be stopped by him. + +"You have told me how you went to Gramberg, and you allege that you +remained there to protect the Countess Minna from a plot against her. +How came you as a stranger to know anything about such a plot?" + +"I was told that the Count von Nauheim was the acknowledged +representative of a powerful section of the Gramberg supporters here in +Munich, and that it was a part of the compact that he should have the +countess as his wife; the alleged reason being the desire to secure to +that section a direct share of the influence which the throne would +naturally wield. As I knew that the count was already married, and a man +of the vilest and most infamous character, the inference of treachery +lay on the surface." + +"The inference might affect the man himself, but how do you know that +others were aware of his character?" + +"The fact itself was a sufficient motive to induce me to try and save +the girl from such a man--the proofs that others were concerned with +him came afterward and gradually." + +"What proofs?" + +"That von Nauheim, at the instigation of others, had virtually murdered +the Countess Minna's brother at the moment when a former plot was rife +to carry the throne and put the Count Gustav upon it. The murder was in +this wise;" and I told the story of Praga's duel. + +As I spoke, unfolding the story gradually and with such skill as I had +at command, I saw the face by the window growing darker and gloomier and +sterner every minute. + +"There is a nest of vermin here that needs clearing out," exclaimed von +Augener at the close. "How do you know all this?" + +"From Praga himself, who extorted the confession of the whole plot from +von Nauheim both in writing and afterward in the presence of the +Countess Minna and myself. Praga was himself attacked in turn by the +agents of these men, because he had refused to do what they wished--to +murder me. By a lucky stroke of fortune, it was I who chanced to come to +his help." + +"What attempts have been made on you, and, in your opinion, why?" + +For answer I described the means by which I had at the meeting managed +to make my life necessary for the carrying on of their scheme. + +"There was a plot within a plot," I said--"an open plot, of which the +securing of the crown for the Countess Minna was the object ostensibly; +and a secret one, which aimed at her ruin, to make her unfit to become +Queen by mating her with a man already married, or to ruin her by +putting her into his power for an object infinitely more foul and vile. +It was against that I had to fight, and to fight almost single-handed;" +and I went on to describe at length many of the incidents of the past +few weeks. + +"Why did you not come to Berlin, sir?" + +The question came from the Emperor, who wheeled round on me as if +clinching an accusation, while he stared fixedly at me, those searching, +piercing, wonderful eyes of his boring into my head. + +"You would have spared us all this trouble." + +"I should have spared myself also the humiliation of having no +sufficient answer to your Majesty's question," was my reply. "I see it +now. My motive was that I feared the enmity of the Ostenburg family +would reach the Countess Minna wherever she might be. I was told, and +believed that indeed, that they would suffer no Gramberg rival for the +throne to remain alive and at liberty. I knew that they had compassed +the death of the brother and had plotted a dishonor worse than death +against the countess herself, and I believed there were no limits to +their venom and hostility." + +"But how could you hope to save her by allowing things to go on?" he +asked again after a pause in the same sharp, indicting tone. + +"I thought I had devised a scheme by which I could put the countess in a +position of such strength that she could dictate virtually her own +terms, and so secure that liberty which I feared they would never +otherwise concede. My plan was to allow the conspiracy to go forward for +putting the countess upon the throne, to postpone the marriage with von +Nauheim, and then to watch for and thwart the attempt I knew would be +made to get her into their power; and at the same time to deliver a +counter-blow and to get the Ostenburg heir, the Duke Marx, into my own +hands. I calculated that then I could make my own terms in the +countess's interests." + +"'Fore Heaven, sir, you don't lack daring to play fast and loose with +thrones in this way," cried von Augener; while the Emperor stood sternly +silent, revolving what I had said. + +"Tell me the rest," he said abruptly. + +"My scheme broke in my hands, because I was myself betrayed to them. The +Baron Heckscher succeeded in gaining information of my plans, or rather +of that part of them which I had made for the safe-keeping of the +countess, and he outwitted me at the last moment," and I described the +whole ruse by which Minna had been carried off at the ball and Clara +Weylin put in her place. + +The story was interesting enough to them, and both listened closely. +When I ended, von Augener bent to read some of the papers on his desk, +in order, as I saw, to compare what I had told him with what had been +previously reported to him. + +But the Kaiser needed no notes; that extraordinary memory of his carried +every detail, item, and particular, and as I was telling him my version +he was comparing it link for link with what he already knew, in a +process of subtle mental analysis. + +"And your next step?" he asked sharply after a short pause. + +"To make my possession of the Duke Marx perfectly secure, and then to +warn Baron Heckscher that I held the duke as a hostage for the safety of +the countess." + +"Do you mean to admit that you openly threatened to use violence on the +person of the duke, the heir to the throne?" asked von Augener, as if +aghast at my temerity in venturing on such a confession. + +"I threatened it, and I meant it too," I replied, in a voice firm enough +to prove that I was in earnest. + +"You can see the heinousness of that offence?" + +"It was not a tenth part so bad as the offences of the Ostenburg party. +They had actually murdered one heir and threatened another. I had chosen +a course and was compelled to carry it out my own way. But I knew the +baron would never drive me to an extreme step of that kind. While I held +the duke in pawn the baron was helpless and had no option but to yield +to me. And this I made him understand," and with that I gave them a full +report of my last interview with Baron Heckscher, and of the compact we +then made--that Minna should be given up to me and the Duke Marx set at +liberty, the condition being that the former should go away and leave +the latter at liberty to come forward when called to the throne, and +that there should be a subsequent definite renunciation by Minna of all +claim to the crown. + +"A pretty ring of king-makers, indeed!" exclaimed von Augener. + +"And that 'compact,' as you term it, was carried out?" asked the +Emperor. + +"Yes, sire. But everything was jeopardized at the eleventh hour by the +villany of the man von Nauheim, who made a bold effort to break away +with the countess, having as his confederate her aunt, the Baroness +Gratz." + +"You scatter your charges with a free hand, young man. Every one appears +to be a rogue but yourself," ejaculated von Augener, whose malice +apparently prompted him to see and put my conduct in the worst light. + +The Emperor lifted a protesting hand, however. + +"Tell your tale," he said, addressing me curtly. + +"Every word I say can be tested by independent inquiry," I answered. +"These people are accused not by my words, but by their own acts." + +I described then my journey to Landsberg and what had happened there, +though I said nothing of the love scenes. + +"And by that time, I suppose, you thought you had done enough to warrant +you in running off with the countess herself?" said old von Augener. + +I made no reply, but kept my face as though he had not spoken. + +"How came you to attempt to fly the country?" asked the Emperor. + +"I was not attempting to fly the country, sire," I replied readily. "I +had told the countess of the interview with Baron Heckscher, and my +advice to her was that she should put the frontier between her and the +enemies who had betrayed and persecuted her with such virulence. I was +taking her to Charmes, to the care of the man in whose place I stood, +Herr von Fromberg, now known as M. Henri Frombe; and I had told her that +I should immediately return either here or to Berlin to lay her case +before your Majesty, that her interests might be secured and herself +protected from further violence." + +"But you kept up your personation of the Prince," cried von Augener, +seeing another point to be scored against me. + +"I deemed that a necessary step until all could be explained. The +countess was left at Landsberg without a friend to whom she could turn. +The Baroness Gratz, who should have protected her, had first betrayed +her to Baron Heckscher, and then connived at von Nauheim stealing away +with her from Landsberg. What then was I to do? I had explained to her +that I was not the Prince, and it seemed that my only possible course +was to take her to where she would at least be in the care of a +relative, and, as I judged, safe. What else should I have done?" + +"Is that all you have to say of your part in the plot?" + +The question came from the Emperor as sharply as a pistol shot. + +"I think I have told your Majesty everything of my share in it." + +"You haven't told us what you hoped to gain by your work," said the +vindictive old man, ruthless in his desire to injure me. "But I suppose +it's no use to ask that," he added--this with a shrug of the shoulders, +as if to suggest that I was no better than a paltry, unreliable rascal, +who would tell any tale and any lie to serve his own ends. + +I let the sneer pass unheeded. + +"Could you form any opinion of the state of feeling in Munich or in the +kingdom?" was the Emperor's next question. + +"I know but little of either Munich or Bavaria, sire. The men I came in +contact with were certainly men of influence, and as certainly were +moved by feelings of deep resentment against the conduct of the King, +his extravagance in particular. But I was planning for the Countess +Minna's safety, and not probing Bavarian politics." + +The Kaiser's face gave no indication of the impression which my words +created, and after a moment's thought he dismissed that part of the +matter with a sentence, and turned to another. + +"You will write out a list of all the men whom you met. And now, what +of the Countess Minna? Speak as plainly of her part as you have of your +own." + +The last words were welcome indeed. Like the wave of a brush, they wiped +out the sneers of von Augener, and showed me they had produced no +effect. + +"I thank you, sire," I answered, my pulse quickening. "The countess has +had no part or lot in all this, save that of passive acquiescence in my +suggestions. She was against the scheme when her brother was the +claimant for the throne; she remained hostile to it when he had been +killed; and when the Prince, her father, died, she was resolute never +under any circumstances to consent to take the crown. It was only the +knowledge that her own personal safety was imperilled, and the belief +that by this apparent agreement with the scheme she could best secure +that safety, which induced her to consent--to even appear to consent--to +any such plot being carried on in her name. For that belief I myself +accept the responsibility. She left it to me to select the best road to +safety, and she is as innocent as any unborn babe of even an intention +to conspire against the King." + +"You have taken a grave responsibility," he said sternly. + +"And I trust your Majesty will visit on me alone the consequences," I +answered earnestly. "This unfortunate girl had scarcely any one round +her but those who were plotting to betray her, and it will be a strange +irony if I, who at least was loyal to her, have brought her under the +heavy lash of your Majesty's displeasure." + +I spoke with warm feeling, and went on to put such reasons as my fear +and love for Minna prompted why any penalty for what had been done +should fall on me. + +And as I spoke I watched the Emperor with eager, hungry keenness for +some sign that my pleading was likely to prevail. But not a feature was +relaxed for an instant, not a sign or token did he give of feeling. The +face retained the same set, impassive, inflexible, gloomy sternness +which he had maintained throughout. He heard me to the end, but made no +response or reply. + +There remained then but one thing more for me to say, one more avowal to +make, and I thought of it with something like foreboding. He seemed so +cold, so unimpressionable, so infinitely removed from me, that I could +not bring myself to hope that any good would result from my declaring my +identity. There appeared no chords of old friendship, no associations of +comradeship to reawaken. But there was at least the chance that it would +convince him I had spoken the truth. + +He appeared to me as the type and embodiment of cold, rarefied, +unemotional intellectuality. Judgment founded on justice, but +feelingless; mind, not heart; the very presentment of retributive +righteousness without the warmth of charity. A man who had accepted the +high mission of his rulership in a spirit of unshakable faith in the +heavenly character of the mission, but who in accepting it had bound +down with the iron clamps of an implacable will the milder attributes +which go to make humanity human. + +Who was to say what would be the effect of an avowal like mine which, +like a sudden sword-thrust, might pierce for once his armor of +inflexibility and set flowing again the blood of his older nature? + +It was he who touched the subject first, and in the form which I had +anticipated. He broke a long pause to say: + +"You have spoken freely enough, but what is the guarantee of your +truth?" + +I paused an instant, and, looking him straight in the face, I answered, +with slow emphasis: + +"I have never told your Majesty a lie in my life." + +The unexpected character of the reply set him thinking, and he fixed his +eyes on mine. + +"What do you mean by that? Who are you and what was your real motive in +this?" + +Von Augener was also staring hard at me, and I could see that both were +thinking hard in the effort to solve the puzzle I had evidently set +them. + +I let a minute pass without a word, and then said in a low voice: + +"I am a man who for years has been under a ban, condemned to live an +empty, useless, purposeless life. I saw in this affair at once a means +of helping a helpless girl who was sorely beset by dangers; I longed for +some sphere of activity for myself again; and I hoped that possibly I +might even achieve an object that is never out of my thoughts." + +I found myself speaking for the first time with nervousness and +hesitation; and I faltered, and then stopped. + +The Emperor made no reply, but kept his eyes fixed piercingly on my +face. + +Old von Augener sneered. + +"We are getting to the truth now, I suppose." + +The sneer was just the tonic I needed. I found my voice again, and went +on in the same low tone. + +"For years I have been one of the most pitiable and remorseful of your +Majesty's subjects, and I was fighting in this thing in the vague hope +that it might possibly in some means enable me to regain part of my old +character." + +I thought I could detect a faint symptom of concern on the tense, set +face turned full on me--just a momentary dilation of the nostrils; but +it passed before my pause ended, and in quite as brief, stern a tone as +he had before used he asked: + +"Who are you?" + +I took heart, and tried to brace myself for the final effort. + +"Your Majesty, one day some years ago in one of the upper reaches of the +Elbe where the current was known to be fierce and dangerous two lads, +who had stolen away from their companions, were bathing alone. The river +was flooded and swollen, and the stream more than commonly perilous to +the swimmers. It proved too powerful for one of them, and he gave a cry +and sank. His friend--for they were close friends then--himself +struggling hard with the stream, was ahead, and had nearly reached the +bank, but turned back and dived for his friend, and under the mercy of +God was the means of saving his life." + +I stopped. The Emperor was staring at me with a look of such intentness +as I have never seen on any human face before or since. He had drawn +himself to his full height; and every muscle of his sinewy, powerful, +tireless frame was at full tension, while his breath was labored, and +came and went through his dilated nostrils as though the passing of it +were a pain. + +But he made no answer. + +"One of the lads, sire, the one whose life was in danger, was the future +ruler of the mighty German empire; the other"--I paused again, and then +suddenly threw myself on one knee before him--"was your Majesty's most +miserable subject, the Count Karl von Rudloff, whose shameful, violent +deed against you later has now been punished by five years of bitter +remorse and hopeless solitude. I am that unhappiest of men." + +"Von Rudloff?" cried the Emperor, now in amazement, while the older man +sprang to his feet, and both stood looking down at me in unbounded +astonishment. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +COUNT VON RUDLOFF + + +The effect of my announcement was supreme. I myself was deeply affected, +and in the moments of critical silence during which the Emperor and his +old confidential adviser stood gazing at me I could not raise my head to +meet their looks. + +The Kaiser was the first to speak. + +"You have amazed me. I know you now, but I did not. What was the meaning +of your pretended death? Rise, I do not wish you to kneel to me." + +There seemed a little hope in the last sentence. I got up slowly. + +"It was not premeditated, sire. I gave my word to Count von Augener +here--" + +"Stay," interposed the Kaiser quickly, turning a frowning face to his +adviser. "What is this?" + +"I should prefer to discuss these matters in private with your Majesty," +was the answer, not without what appeared to me to be some anxiety. + +"Would you prefer to retire at once?" + +"As your Majesty pleases." + +This reply was given with great reluctance. + +"Be it so, then," and the old man went away, giving me a glance of hate +as he passed. + +I did not understand the meaning of this development, and stood waiting +in silence for the Imperial command to speak. + +The silence lengthened itself into minutes, and, when I ventured to +glance at the Kaiser, I was disconcerted to find that he was staring at +me fixedly, and, as it seemed, very sternly. But there were certain +symptoms of unrest and agitation that made me believe that he was +forcing himself rather to repress every trace of the feelings I had +roused. + +When at length he spoke, his voice had a depth and vibration which told +me, who knew him so well, how strongly he was moved. + +"Why have you done this? Why deceive me with a gorgeous lie of your +death and funeral? Why never declare yourself till now?" + +There was much more reproach than anger in the tone, and I began to hope +again. + +"May I tell your Majesty plainly all that occurred? When that mad thing +happened on the yacht--a madness that will be an ever-pressing grief and +shame to me to my dying hour--I went out feeling that only death at my +own hands could wipe out the disgrace of it. I should have killed myself +that night but for the reflection that my death might come to be +publicly associated with what had happened. Then, the next day, Count +von Augener came and told me that unless I was dead within a week my +death would be an infamous one. The threat was unneeded, sire. That day +I went to Berlin to Dr. Mein S----." + +And I went on to give him a succinct account of all the circumstances by +which the old doctor had led me to believe that I was dying, and had +played out the drama of my funeral while I lay in his house unconscious. + +"I set out from Berlin," I continued, "to make the career which the old +man had spoken of, and my first effort was on the stage. There I learnt +the secret of disguise, and became what you see me, to all intents and +purposes another man in appearance. A little more than a year ago the +doctor died and left me his large fortune, and I was once again set +roaming, alive, but without a life to live, when I was carried, against +my will and in spite of my protests, to Gramberg, and plunged into the +seething cauldron of intrigue there. The rest your Majesty knows, and it +remains only for me to say that the one wild hope I had in carrying the +intrigue forward was that I might perhaps so control the position here +in Munich as to prove myself of service to you, sire, and be able to +plead it as a ground for your pardon." + +His Majesty had made no comment during the whole narrative, and now he +stood for some moments without making a reply. He stared steadfastly at +me the whole time with an expression of sombre, stern melancholy. When +he spoke at length it was in the firm, quick, decisive tone which he +used when his mind was made up and his course chosen. + +"I accept your story absolutely, for I believe you incapable of +intentional deceit toward me. So far as the Countess Minna is concerned, +it will be my personal care to see that she is righted, and her enemies +thwarted." + +He ceased as abruptly as he had spoken. + +"May I thank you----" I began. + +"You have no right to speak for her," he interrupted shortly. + +I took the rebuff in silence, and stood wondering what he would say as +to my own affairs. There came another long, trying pause. + +"You did wrong, very wrong," he burst out, with sudden vehemence, +speaking almost passionately. "I have been badly served in your matters. +You were no more to blame than I myself, and you have made me bear for +five years the secret fear that I drove you to your death. And I have +cares enough without that." + +He stopped, and I looked up as if to speak, but he silenced me with a +gesture; and the grandeur of his dignity awed me. I recognized the +supremely unselfish magnanimity of his act, and I longed to put my +feelings into words; but I fell back abashed and speechless before the +sense of intense power and majesty which surrounded him like a subtle, +magnetic force. He stood buried in thought, wholly self-absorbed for +some minutes; and then in the same abrupt manner broke the silence to +dismiss me. + +"Leave me now, and remain in the ante-room. I will see you later or send +you my decision as to yourself." + +I backed to the door, bowing, and had all but reached it in silence when +a hasty movement of his caused me to look up. + +"Stay," he cried, and he came toward me with his quick, firm stride. "I +cannot let you go like this. I am glad you are living. You come back to +me out of the past that is, and must be, dead; and our friendship is one +of the dead things in it. An Emperor has no friend but his God. Still we +were friends once, and this is our more proper parting." + +He held out his hand to me, and took mine and clasped it; and at the +clasp of it my blood thrilled in accord with a thousand thoughts and +promptings. I carried his hand to my lips. + +"If your Majesty will give me a chance of serving you again in any +capacity, my life shall be ever at your bidding." + +I spoke from my heart, and my voice trembled under the strain of my +feelings. + +"I believe you. But you yourself have made it difficult. Save for that, +what might we not have been!" + +There was no sternness or harshness in this. It was not my Emperor who +spoke, but for one fleeting instant it was the personal lament of my old +true friend whose friendship I had cast away. The words brought the +tears to my eyes, and I could not look up at him, though I knew his eyes +were bent upon me, and judged that their light was a kindly one. A +moment later the mood passed with him, or was crushed back by the +relentless power of his stern will. He drew himself up to his customary, +rigid, soldier-like attitude, and said in the short, sharp tone of a +military command: + +"And now leave me." + +I backed out, and took my place in the ante-room, a prey to a tumultuous +rush of emotions which flooded upon me, preventing for the moment any +attempt at consecutive thought. My mind was a maelstrom, in which hopes, +regrets, fear, and delight were mingled in an indistinguishable +whirlpool. + +Presently, out of the roar and rush of inchoate emotions, three thoughts +began to dominate me. + +Regret--bitter, maddening, and unavailing--for the years I had lost and +the career I had thrown away; wrath, wild and vengeful, against the old +enemy of my family, von Augener, for the treachery of his action toward +me; and delight, infinitely sweet, that Minna's safety was secured, and +that, after all, it was I who had secured it. + +The last outweighed the others, and I lost myself in the maze of a love +reverie as I sat there, picturing the joy that would leap from her eyes +and the light that would gladden her beautiful face if only I could be +the messenger of the good news. And it was to be so. + +After I had waited I know not how long, for time goes unmeasured in love +dreams, some one came and addressed me by a name that made me jump to my +feet and stare at the messenger like one half beside himself. + +"Count von Rudloff!" + +It was one of the two members of the suite I had seen with the Emperor +before my interview with him. + +"You are addressing me, sir?" I asked. + +"I am addressing the Count von Rudloff," he answered, with that air of +impassive coolness that men of his kind affect. + +I made an effort to regain my self-possession, and to answer him with +the same measured calmness. + +"I am the Count von Rudloff," I said. + +"I bring you a letter from the Emperor, count." + +He waited while I tore it open with fingers that trembled. It was short +and peremptory enough, but what did it not mean to me? + +"I have decided to restore to you your title and possessions. The +question of your future career remains in abeyance for the present." + +That was all; with the signature of the Emperor himself. + +"May I be the first to offer a word of congratulation, count?" asked the +messenger. + +"Thank you, thank you," I murmured. "It is all unexpected." + +He still waited, and I thought there might be something more to add. + +"Is there anything more to add?" I asked. + +"His Majesty suggests that you should travel for a time--a year or so, +perhaps--so that the manner of your return to Berlin and your resumption +of your position may not seem to come as the result of this business +here in Munich." + +"I understand," I said, though I still seemed in a dream. "And am I free +to go where I please now?" + +"Certainly," he returned, smiling. "Can I be of any assistance?" + +"No, thank you. No. I have some urgent business that will not wait +another second." + +A minute after that I had left the palace, and was hurrying as fast as +horses could drag me to Minna to tell her the brilliant news. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +THE END + + +When I reached Minna's house, I had an experience that at first amused +me. I could not, of course, any longer treat the house as my own, nor +look on myself as having any right to enter, and I found the servants +very reluctant to admit me at all, and it was only after some difficulty +that I succeeded in getting shown into a room close to the door, while +they said they would carry my message. I waited in some little fever of +impatience, and when the delay had grown into minutes I began to wonder +that Minna should take so coolly the fact of my return and the news she +must know I should carry. I saw the explanation, however, when the door +was opened and the Baroness Gratz sailed in, pompous and very angry. + +"What can be your business here now?" she asked, staring at me through +her eyeglass. + +"I have come to see Minna," I replied, with an inclination to smile at +her conduct. + +"I am astounded that you should have the assurance to come here after +your egregious imposture. Of course you do not expect to see her?" + +"Indeed I do," said I quickly, "and as soon as possible." + +"And pray in what character now?" + +This with a contemptuous and insulting curl of the lip. I paused to give +my reply the greater emphasis. + +"In a double character--a messenger from his Majesty the Emperor, and as +her affianced husband." + +"You are not her affianced husband, and I will not suffer that tale to +be told in my presence. As for the rest, it is more like a play-actor's +story. You imposed upon us too long. You will not do it again." She said +this very angrily indeed, and added, almost spitefully: "The countess +does not wish to see you." + +"In this case I am afraid she cannot choose," I answered. "The Emperor's +business cannot wait upon any prejudices for or against his messengers." +There was a little stretch of authority insinuated in this. "Moreover, I +am bound to say that I prefer to have her decision straight from +herself." + +"You suggest that I lie, I suppose," she cried, her eyes flashing. "You +are too brave a man not to seize a chance of insulting a defenceless +woman. That is your stage chivalry. But you will find I am not so +defenceless as you suppose." + +She rang the bell sharply twice, and then, somewhat to my surprise, and +a good deal to my pleasure, the Baron Heckscher was shown in. + +"I am told you wish to see me, baroness," he said, ignoring my presence. + +"I wish you to tell this person what we have decided as to his +prosecution." + +I swung round on him instantly. + +"I am glad there is a man to deal with. How dare you presume to meddle +in my affairs, Baron Heckscher?" + +"Really--but how shall I call you? Not the Prince any longer, I presume? +Then what?" and he regarded me with an insolent smile. + +"His Majesty the Emperor, within the last few minutes, has been good +enough to call me by my own name--the Count von Rudloff. That may be a +precedent good enough for even you to follow." + +He stared at me in blank astonishment. The fact that I had been closeted +with the Emperor might mean everything to him, and at the thought all +other considerations were dwarfed. I enjoyed his discomfiture. All his +insolence disappeared. + +"You do not believe what he says, surely?" cried the vindictive old lady +when he made no immediate answer, for he stood in great perplexity what +course to take toward me. + +"You will see you cannot remain here in the face of the baroness's +attitude," he said to me at length, with an air that was half truculent +and half deprecatory. + +I laughed. + +"I see you are vastly disconcerted to hear that I have had an audience +with his Majesty, and have left him under circumstances that augur ill +for you; and well you may be," I added meaningly. "You dare to meddle in +my matters at a time when you will need all your wits to save your own +from shipwreck. But I have had enough of you, and of this folly. I now +demand in the name of the Emperor to see the Countess Minna von +Gramberg, and if you attempt to stop me," I said sternly to the Baroness +Gratz, "the consequences may be far more grave than you think." + +Her anger and dislike of me gave her plenty of courage, however, and she +still set me at defiance, abusing me for an impostor and a cheat; and +when I declared that if they did not take my message to Minna I would +myself go straight to her rooms, she planted herself in front of the +door and dared me to attempt to leave it for that purpose, and vowed she +would call the servants if I would not go away. + +The situation began to verge upon the ridiculous, despite the fact that +it was in a measure embarrassing. I could not for the moment see what to +do, and was debating this in my thoughts when a sudden turn was given to +matters by the entrance of Minna herself, the door being opened from +without. + +"Ah, Minna!" I cried, hastening to her. + +The Baroness Gratz stepped in between us, however, and lifted her hand +as if to keep me away. + +"The countess is here in my charge," she cried to me; "and while that is +so I forbid you to go near her." + +But love laughs at prohibitions. A moment later we were hand-locked, and +she had read in my glad face that my news was good. Then she turned +angrily upon the baroness, her face flushed and her eyes shining: + +"You have no right to interfere with me," she said, her words shortly +and sharply spoken. "I have just heard, to my intense indignation, that +you have even ventured to tell my servants who shall and who shall not +enter my house. Is this true?" + +"So far as it relates to this person, of course it is true. You are in +my charge, and it is my duty----" + +"You have mistaken your duty and overstepped your privileges. You have +no right to give such orders, and to do it in my name. You must have +known as well as I that the last man in the world against whom my door +would ever be shut would be--my affianced husband;" and she raised her +head, and stood very erect, looking rarely beautiful in her pride and +happiness. + +"I did it to save you from the wiles of an adventurer who----" + +"Silence, aunt Gratz, and shame to you for those words," cried Minna +hotly. "It was this 'adventurer,' as you dare to say, who saved me from +the hands of the villain whose schemes you helped, and from the +cowardly double plot of the Baron Heckscher there. As for you, sir, if +you knew the character of your puppet and tool von Nauheim, as I firmly +believe you did," she cried to Baron Heckscher, "there are no words bad +enough to paint the infamous vileness of your treachery. While +pretending to conspire in my interest, and while professing loyalty to +me and mine, you plotted to ruin and dishonor me; and when I find you +here to-day I can only believe you have some further abominable motive +or plot against me, and that you are here to suborn some of those about +me for your purposes. Be good enough to leave the house." + +"I have come to protest to you----" he began in reply. + +"I decline to listen to you, sir," she interrupted, with quiet dignity. + +He stood a moment, scowling viciously, and then, with an ugly glance at +me, said: + +"Your nameless friend there----" + +"I have already told you," I broke in angrily, "that I am the Count von +Rudloff, and that the Emperor himself has addressed me in my name." + +"I have known for some time all the facts as to this," added Minna, a +swift flash from her eyes telling me her delight at the news, "and of +the load of infinite obligation I owe to the Count von Rudloff; not the +least part of it is for the defeat and exposure of your schemes against +me. Be good enough to spare me the necessity of bidding my servants +expel you from the house." + +"You had better go, baron," I put in. "You will probably find at your +house by this time a summons to the Emperor's presence, for he has heard +from me the whole story of your acts." + +This statement completed his disquiet, and without another word he +hurried away. + +"You will be troubled by him no more, Minna," I said. "I bring you the +best of news. The Emperor has given a personal pledge to answer for your +safety and to uphold your interests." + +"The Emperor!" she cried in a tone of surprise. + +"More than that: I have told him all, and he has acknowledged my title," +and I showed her the Imperial letter. + +Her face shone with pride and delight. + +"I can forgive every one now, for it has all ended so splendidly for +you," she said. + +"For us," I corrected; and she acknowledged the correction with a blush +and a smile of love which exasperated the Baroness Gratz, who had been +listening to us in indignant silence. + +"Then I suppose you have no more use for me?" she declared, with an +angry toss of the head, as she turned to leave us. + +"I am afraid you yourself have made it difficult for you to share in my +happiness--in our happiness, I mean," said Minna gently. "I am so happy +that I have no room for any thought on that score but regret that it +should be so." + +"You were always an ungrateful girl, Minna," replied the old lady very +ungraciously, bitter to the end against me. "And I have no wish to share +with you, or deprive you of any part of, such happiness as you may +expect to find in company with a man who is sometimes play-actor, +sometimes Prince, and always an impostor," and with that parting taunt +she flung away. + +"Poor aunt Gratz!" sighed Minna. + +Then she put her hands in mine, and, nestling close to me, asked with a +winsome coquettishness: + +"Am I ungrateful, Karl?" + +My answer may be guessed, and it took long in telling. But we returned +after a time to the ways of common sense, and then I told her what had +passed during the audience with the Kaiser; that I was to travel for a +year, and then return to Berlin to take up formally my old title and +position. + +At first the news brought a cloud to her happy face. + +"A year is a long time, Karl," she murmured. "Shall you never be in +either Munich or Gramberg all that time?" + +"I think not. I expect it means at least a year away from the +Fatherland." + +She was silent and looked almost sad. + +"But a year will soon pass," I whispered. + +A gesture of pretty reproach answered me. + +"If you would make a little sacrifice, it would help, I think." + +"Sacrifice!" she echoed, not catching my meaning. And when I did not +reply she lifted her head from my shoulder and peered into my eyes, her +own full of curiosity. + +"You used to pride yourself on reading my secrets," said I. + +She thought a minute; then a look of wonderment shone in her eyes, +followed almost directly by a great, glad blush that spread all over her +face, dyeing her cheeks with crimson and driving her to hide them +against my shoulder. + +"I don't guess this one," she said. + +But I was sure she had. + +"Don't?" + +"Won't, then," she murmured into my coat lapel. + +"It could not be yet, of course," said I. "But in three months----" + +"You said sacrifice," she interrupted, and glanced up with a quick +darting of the eyes. + +"It would have to be very quiet--very, very quiet." + +"It is no sacrifice to travel--in company." + +And there we left it; but we knew well enough each other's hopes and +desires. + + * * * * * + +To accomplish our purpose called for some little tact and effort, +because the Emperor was for having Minna taken to Berlin when the Munich +troubles had been arranged. + +His prompt and drastic measures soon settled these, indeed. + +An official announcement was made that the King had been suffering from +an indisposition, but had happily recovered completely; and a couple of +days later saw him back at the palace--but with a change in the +executive which was calculated to work vastly beneficial results for the +country. The Heckscher party was broken up, their influence destroyed, +and their leaders dealt with secretly, but in some cases none the less +severely. The question of the succession to the throne was settled upon +a sound basis--one of the points being the renunciation by Minna of all +the Gramberg claims. + +And it was in settling this that the matter of her marriage was mooted +and the Imperial consent gained to her becoming my wife. We succeeded, +too, in getting the necessary interval fixed at three months. + +The time passed very pleasantly. It was the sweet preface to a life-long +romance. + +As the outcome of the dash we had made for the throne I had one or two +arrangements to complete, and in some respects the most difficult of +these was in regard to the Corsican Praga. I could not retain him in my +service, because of his association with the death of Minna's brother; +while I hoped, too, that the time would never recur when I might have +need of his clever, sharp, ready sword. I told him the case plainly, and +he was too careless to make demur. He was going to marry and settle in +Berlin, he assured me--his bride was to be the actress, Clara Weylin, +who had made her peace with him in the score of her act of +treachery--and he meant to be the greatest fencing master in Berlin, he +declared. I gave him as a wedding present a considerable sum of money, +and we parted with many assurances, characteristic and voluble, on his +part that he would ever be devoted to me and my interests. + +Steinitz I kept with me as secretary, and von Krugen was to remain as +guardian of our interests at Gramberg. There was one commission we gave +to the two just before our marriage--to go to Charmes and endeavor to +bring the real von Fromberg to Munich to be present at the marriage. + +Minna and I were together when they started, and she was looking more +radiant and beautiful than ever in the anticipative joy of the marriage. + +I gave them full instructions, and then, with a smile, I turned to von +Krugen. + +"Be more careful this time," I said, "and be sure you bring the right +man." + +"I could not have brought a better man last time, count," he replied. + +And in the tone and earnestness spoke all the regard and esteem of a +stanch and sincere friend. + +"What do you say to that, Minna?" I asked as they drove off. + +"A happier mistake was never made, but I don't want him to do it again. +The only throne I care for is won now," and, reaching up on tiptoe, she +put up her face to mine for a tribute of my loyalty, and I paid it +willingly. + + + + +THE END + + * * * * * + +_New Amsterdam Book Company_ + +Popular Books + +IN + +Paper Covers at a Popular Price + + +During the Spring and Summer of 1899 the New Amsterdam Book Company will +publish a New Edition of Clark Russell's greatest story, "The Copsford +Mystery," Grant Allan's "Under Sealed Orders," and some other popular +novels by well known authors, which have heretofore been obtainable only +in an expensive cloth binding. The titles of these will be announced +later. + +The paper and presswork will be up to the high standard maintained by +the New Amsterdam Book Company, the covers attractive and unique, the +price reasonable, and the selling qualities of the titles unquestioned. + +They will start the series with + +By Right of Sword + +BY ARTHUR W. MARCHMONT + +Fully Illustrated + +This deservedly popular military novel has already gone through six +editions in cloth, and the advance orders for it in its new form bid +fair to eclipse its former success. + +Ready early in February. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Dash .. .. .. For a Throne, by +Arthur W. Marchmont + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40907 *** |